As the big cloud of dust slowly cleared up, the two demon slayers waited with wide eyes the outcome of the fight they just witnessed. Never had they seen such an unbelievable and intense encounter between two Hashira's and an Upper Moon Demon.
The fight was breath taking to say the least. Swords colliding against hands, flames and ice combined sending powerful attacks to the demon. And not forget to mention the inhuman speed Tanjiro saw both Hashira's move. He could barely follow their movements with his eyes. Even Inosuke, who always thought of himself as a strong slayer admitted he couldn't do whatever his upper class man where executing.
Had he even tried to mingle into the fight he surely would have died.
However blood was also spilled. Not from the demon because of his regeneration system but from the Hashira's. Rengoku had blood pouring down his forehead and his eye had been damaged. Thankfully minor injuries.
You on the other hand weren't so lucky. Akaza had inflicted much more sever wounds. His fist had hit your left side, crushing your ribs and giving you an internal bleeding. You had giving it shot to close it with your breathing but unfortunately it was too bad to heal like that.
Seeing your exhausted and crucial state Rengoku had tried to persuade you to leave the fight to him. But your stubborn character didn't allow it. So against his better judgement he reluctantly let you continue fighting with your injuries.
As the fight carried on both of you started to get drained out of your energy. Panting heavily you rubbed the sweat of your forehead. However when you prepared yourself to lung at Akaza again a sudden flash of pain coursed trough your entire body causing you to drop on your knees. Using this opportunity the demon charged at you to land a punch but his arm was cut off by the Flame pillar.
Flipping backwards he smirked " At least one of you still has some energy left"
Using your sword for support you spit some blood out of your mouth before getting back up only to have a hand land on your shoulder keeping you down. Tilting your head up Rengoku looked at you seriously " L/n, let me do this" before you could protest he gave your shoulder a firm squeeze " I know you can keep going but I need you to rest a little so you can recharge and later join me " he quickly added
Gritting your teeth you complied to his wish and let yourself relax. Well relax was a bad description because the moment you did so your entire body felt sore. You figured that the adrenaline had hidden the fact that you where in much more pain than anticipated.
While your partner fought the demon on his own Tanjiro had scrambled your way to check on you. There wasn't much he could do other than reassuring you that everything would probably be okay.
His words would turn out to be lie.
Now that you where down Akaza leashed out all of his attacks at the flame pillar resulting in injuring him further. He had now the same amount of deadly wounds as you.
Everything became too much to the point where Rengoku abruptly came to a halt. Akaza did the same and eyed his opponent from head to toe. Your worst fear had come true when you took in his beating and shaken up posture.
" Don't you dare die on me now Kyojuro" Akaza aggressively mumbled. The demon continued rambling about him becoming a demon so he could fight with him for eternity and what so ever.
And this angered you so bad that Tanjiro had to hold you by the uniform to keep you in place.
Considering the shape he was in, you hoped that he had some kind of escape plan. But knowing Rengoku's personality and believes that was out of the question. And your suspicion got confirmed when rays of fire bursted out of him. His whole body was surrounded by this blinding light causing your eyes to stare at him in awe. It was a beautiful sight.
In the blink of an eye the two began to fight again at an incredible speed much more rapidly than minutes ago. Only you where able to follow every movement while Tanjiro wailed about not seeing much.
Rengoku's determination light a fire inside of you. Giving you enough courage and invisible strength to rejoin the battle. And even though Tanjiro tried to pursue you not to go, nothing could change your mind ones it was settled
Taking a deep breath you inhaled as much air as you could and closed your eyes to fully concentrate on your inner energy. Cold air emerged out of your body and Tanjiro looked bewildered as snow flakes fell around you. Withdrawing your sword you mumbled something and then in a blink of an eye you where in front of Akaza.
His eyes widen every so slightly before giving you a toothy grin. He wasn't the only one surprised. Rengoku stared in disbelief before chuckling and swinging his sword at the same time as you. A tiger from fire and a wolf of ice charged at Akaza who's amused grin widen with excitement.
He was feeling beyond joy. Finally after so long he had found not one but two opponents who weren't weak and fought with all their heart and soul. But he found it quite a shame that neither of you had accepted his proposal in becoming a demon. He felt sympathy at the thought of you two dying.
Focussing his entire power in both his arms he dashed towards the bright and overwhelming source of power. Tho it was strong he easily broke trough it and only had several cuts and parts of him sliced off. Grunting he extended one of his arm and pointed it directly at Rengoku.
Noticing this a look of horror lingered in your orbs and without hesitation you pushed the flame hashira out of the way just in time as Akaza's arm pierced right trough your abdomen.
And that was the awful sight the three boys currently had displayed in front of them.
Tanjiro let out a blood curdling scream with tears pouring out of his eyes. He pounded his fist on the ground while his companion the boar demon slayer was visibly shaking
Hearing this cries Rengoku pushed himself off the ground and turned only to see Akaza detach his arm and jumping into the dark forest as rays of sunlight came from beyond the mountain.
However chasing the demon was the last thing on his mind. His eyes shot in your direction and as you stumbled forward he darted towards you and caught you in his arms. You winced at the touch and Rengoku made sure to lower you delicately to the ground.
For the first seconds no words where exchanged. Total silence, the only sound being the birds chirping and the calming rustling leaves. It was comfortable considering the loud racket from just minutes ago. Closing your eyes you shakily inhaled the calm atmosphere before reopening them and starring into red,yellow eyes.
To you many things about Rengoku where wonderful. His free and energetic spirit that would always get you cracked up with laughter. But you also admired his believes and way of making the best out of life. Despite the demon attacks and hard training to protect the civilians from this world. On top of that he was of course handsome.
Never did this man fail to make your heart flutter
And as cliché as it sounds the thing that made you drawn to him where his orbs. Even though most of the time Rengoku had a smile plastered across his features, which to you sometimes seemed a bit forced, his eyes always gave away his true inner feelings.
If you recalled, the only time he seemed to have another smile other than his usual one was the day you told him how you felt. Back then it looked like a nervous one. Which was adorable and made you like him even more.
" Guess he escaped " you softly whimpered and reached out your hand to caress the flame pillar his cheek. The contact of your palm against his skin made his eyes soften. He had absolutely no reason for smiling but his lips turned slightly upwards anyway. He didn't want to you to see him frowning " That may be true, but all the passengers are safe. All two hundred."
" Thank god" you sighed relieved
Rengoku eyed your wound, your ones black uniform and blue/white cape had now turned into a crimson colour one. Considering the amount of blood you where losing and the big whole in your stomach the flame pillar knew that you weren't going to make it. Even if Shinobu was here, the size of your wound went way beyond her capabilities.
Thinking about what he could have done to prevent this from happening he tightly clenched his jaw together. Tho he had his mouth closed you could feel his mouth muscles tense. And by the look in his eyes you could see he held himself back from breaking down.
" Hey, nothing of this is your fault. "
" L/n if I had reacted faster you wouldn't have taken the blow and I-"
" Kyojuro " you sternly cut him off " I would gladly lay down my own life if it meant saving the one I hold the most dear to me" you admitted
" Besides, I think I was already not going to make it considering the state of my previous injuries"
Rengoku guessed that that was lie to make him feel less miserable. Had he knocked you unconscious so you wouldn't fight, the chance of getting you fixed up would probably have been a piece of cake for the insect pillar
Feeling yourself grow weak and your body getting cold you knew that your time was coming. Your hand that rested against Rengoku's cheek slide down but the flame hashira caught it. Holding it close to his heart he leaned down and carefully placed his lips against yours.
No words where needed as you felt every feeling of the Hashira trough this contact. Fluttering your eyes close you melted into his touch.
The warm and tingling feeling where the last thing you felt as darkness consumed you.
Parting Rengoku watched your face who held such a peaceful expression. In a weird sense it made him glad to know that your last minutes weren't agonizing considering the state you where in.
A wet substance rolled down his cheek and he delicately touched it. Retreating his hand he looked at it and realized that he was crying. This was probably the second time since the death of his mother.
Just now did it dawn on him that this was the very last time he got to be with you. Having you travel with him, training together, arguing and laughing. All those things had come to an end.
Just like that
-
Who has seen the Demon slayer movie? I recently did, and let me tell you it was so good! I was at loss for words at the end.
And I'm feeling a bit ashamed to admit that I cried during the movie. But the funny thing is that I was so captivated by the beauty of the animation that I went a second time. And I have absolutely no regrets!
So QOTC: What is your opinion on the movie?