Groaning I pushed myself up from where I was laying on the forest floor and looked to see a large puddle of blood underneath me that was blurry. I couldn't help but think that perhaps this was where I was going to die. Let's go back and I will explain what happened to put me in this state.
Flashback
It took me a day of travelling and rest to arrive in the town that Kuro had directed me to that had people disappearing in when they entered the forest. Along the way I went foraging for different herbs, flowers and weeds that I could use in elixirs and I also made a new batch of elixirs that would make sure that any wound that I got wouldn't get infected. I also took this time to continue reading the books that Urokodaki had given me as well as the books I had found in different towns when I had the time to look for them. In doing so I learnt a lot about different plants and even different parts of animals that could be used in different mixtures to help out different wounds. That wasn't the only thing I was doing as each day I would draw at least eight vials of my own blood to not only study it but also experiment with it. I tried adding it to an animal's blood but it mixed in like nothing was different about it and I didn't have any other human blood to use at the moment. I would ask Tanjiro when I next saw him. The last thing that distracted me while I travelled was that I added two more charcoal drawings to the ones already stored in my box. One of Tamayo with Yushiro and then one of Susamaru, Yahaba and the third demon that I never got the name of. Even if they were demons, they still deserved to have someone remember them. Every demon that I had killed, even the ones from the Final selection, had a drawing stored in my box so that I could remember them and mourn the lives that they had lived.
Arriving at the town that the demon was at I stretched my arms up glad I was out of the bandages since the cuts weren't that deep and I was also well rested for once. This town was different then the ones that I had been in since I could see everyone was on edge looking over their shoulders, there were no stalls set up down the main road and no one was sticking around, they were all hurrying into their homes or the shops that they were going to.
"Are you a demon slayer? The Demon Slayer Corps sent you didn't they?" A voice asked and I looked to see a boy that was a few years older than me standing there.
"Yes they have, I am Akatsuki, I guess you know about the Demon Slayer Corps then" I said and watched his aura. It was filled with terror, sadness, hopelessness and panic.
"Yes come with me and I will explain everything, my father was the one that sent for you" He said and then gestured for me to follow him. I couldn't see any mistrust or lies in his aura so I followed him back to a large house.
"Haku! What have I told you about leaving the house! It is far too dangerous!" An older man scowled as the boy walked towards him.
"Sorry father, I went to see if the demon slayer had come yet and look they have arrived" The boy, Haku beamed as he gestured to him.
"Hello sir, I have been informed that people have been disappearing when they enter the forest. Any other information that you have will be greatly appreciated" I said with a small bow to show my respect to my elders.
"I see, come in and have some tea while I explain" Haku's father said and we headed into the house where I was shown to a sitting room and I sat at the table as they poured me some tea and also some for themselves.
"To start off with we paid no attention to the disappearances, it was just travellers about once a month so we thought that the travellers were moving onto different towns but then they started to disappear more frequently" Haku said.
"We still thought that it might have been the travellers moving onto the next town but then villagers started to disappear as well. It has gone bad enough now that we can't go a night without someone else being taken and we never see them again. Haku's fiancee was taken last night" Haku's Father finished squeezing his son's shoulder to comfort him.
"I see in that case there is no time to waste, it will be getting dark soon so I will head into the forest and get rid of the demon in there" I said as I stood up straightening up my box and then placing a hand on my crimson blade hilt.
"You are actually going to try and fight that thing?" Haku whispered, looking to be holding back tears. It was then that I noticed the scratches all over his arms and face as well as the bruising. He had obviously fought very hard to protect his fiancee. I wanted to tell him that there was a chance that she might still be alive but I couldn't bear to give him that hope in case it wasn't true.
"Yes I am, I am going to make sure that they do not bother anyone else. Thank you for your help" I said bowing my head before heading outside and following the potent aura of a demon that seemed to be all over town.
"Do you think he stands a chance, Father?" Haku asked worriedly.
"I do not know my son but he is a Demon Slayer so perhaps he will succeed where we have failed," He answered.
Following the aura to the edge of the forest I took my box off my back and placed it in the bushes so it would be hidden and not give in my way of the fight that I was sure to be in soon enough. I then made sure that both of my swords were easily accessible before heading into the forest just as the sun began to set. Just like the town the forest was covered in the aura of a demon so it was going to be hard to find the demon with just my eyesight so I sharpened all of my senses and began my total concentration breathing. I had been working on doing total concentration breathing all the time, even when I was sleeping but it was a working progress. Stopping in place I heard a crunching noise coming from my left and it was soon followed by a female scream. Quickly I got into the trees before jumping along the branches and soon enough I arrived at a clearing where the demon was eating what looked to me like a human leg but to the side in what looked to be a cage was a girl who was shaking with tears streaming down her face. She didn't look to be hurt and from the aura surrounding her she was human, she must be Haku's fiancee. It was no surprise that the demon hadn't eaten her yet seeing as she was only taken last night and if the demon was hunting every day then it would take him time to eat the people he hunted.
'Total concentration, Water Breathing Second Form: Water Wheel' I thought as I flipped towards the demon slicing straight through its neck as it let out a choked sound of surprise.
"It's going to be okay, don't worry" I assured the girl with a nod since she couldn't see my smile from behind my mask. She just looked terrified and shook her head looking straight back at me.
"Behind you!" She shrieked but her warning was too late as I felt pain rip through me as something did rip through the left side of my stomach. Quickly turning around I stop the second attack with my crimson blade and look to see that there was another demon there, not just any demon but one that was the exact copy of the one that I had just killed.
"What have you done! My other self do not leave me!" The new demon shrieked while watching the first demon disappear into ash.
"YOU! I'll devour you!" The demon roared as he turned towards me before faltering.
"How lucky, you're a Marechi! With the power that you will give me, losing my other self will not worry me seeing as I can just make another one! But what is this terror that I feel, why do you frighten me!" The demon grinned before frowning and I did notice the terror in his aura. That wasn't all that I saw either, there was more than just the two of them. I counted at least another six demons in the shadows all of them had identical auras meaning that they were actually the same demon that had managed to make multiple of himself.
"You are frightened because you know what this blade is capable of, I will take your head, demon" I said, posing myself ready and drawing my short blade. I was already at a disadvantage with my side being injured, it would probably need stitches and I was losing blood fast. What the demons didn't know was that they were at a disadvantage as well since I was bleeding, if they so much as touched my blood it would drive them insane from hunger and want to devour me. The demon shrieked before throwing himself towards me but I dodged the attack before moving out of the way as a third one showed himself.
"Help me my other selves. Help me destroy and devour this Marechi," The second one hissed and that made the other five demons that had been hidden show themselves making me grit my teeth. There was no way that I would be able to defeat six demons by myself while protecting the girl behind me and also dodging their attacks. They were focused on me for now so I wouldn't have to worry about protecting the girl but I wasn't going to get caught off guard again so I kept an eye on her while also focusing on dodging their attacks while I focused on coming up with a plan. Even with me trying to dodge and block their attacks I was still getting hit but thankfully the uniform was taking most of the damage but that didn't mean that they weren't drawing blood. They were lucky enough to not come into contact with my blood yet since they were hitting my haori and uniform. That was it! The wind demon that I had been fighting against, when he was dying he was screaming out that I was his and if he couldn't have me then no one would have me. If my blood drove them insane as well as made them possessive over who got to eat me then maybe they would turn on each other. It was only a slim chance but it was a chance. Moving my blade I placed it to my side where blood was still pouring out though it was sluggish now. Unfortunately this meant that I couldn't block the blow that was coming towards me and one the demons swiped their claws down my chest making me grit my teeth as the buttons ripped off my uniform and there were small cuts through my shirt underneath. My front was now open to them and any attack towards there would end with me shedding more blood which I couldn't afford but didn't have a choice. I had one chance, I would have to combine two different forms again. This time I would combine the steps from the third form: Flowing dance and use the sixth form: Whirlpool. Using the two of these techniques together was going to take a lot out of me since it would create a literal whirlpool even if I wasn't in the water. Even if they didn't get killed by the whirlpool then they would at least be hit by my attack and with blood on my blade they would be hit with that as well. Hearing a yelp I turned and swung, scaring the demon away that had been going towards the lady but I wasn't quick enough. She now had a large wound on her left shoulder that if I didn't treat soon would kill her.
'Total concentration, water breathing Sixth form: Whirlpool' I thought while doing the foot movements from the third form. I felt more blood pouring out of my wounds but I gritted my teeth and controlled the whirlpool and watched as the demons inside of it were shredded while screaming. When the whirlpool disappeared the body parts from the demons dropped to the forest floor and began to disappear since their heads had been severed.
"What have you done!?" A voice shrieked and I felt pain rip across my body as a large horizontal cut appeared from the final demon's claws. He began to shake and I saw the madness start to coat his aura so I acted quickly while he was busy trying to figure out what was going on and cut off his head while taking two blood samples before I crashed to the ground, blood pooling around me.
Flashback end
That is what brought me to laying on the ground gasping for breath as I lost more blood and my vision was blurry and black was starting to creep at the edges. So this was how I died huh? Laying in an unknown forest with no one around me and no one would ever know what happened. Hearing a groan my eyes snapped open and I turned to see Haku's fiance passed out on the ground, her shoulder sluggishly bleeding. That's right, I couldn't just lay here and give up, this girl was still counting on me to protect her and get her back to her village. Pushing myself up onto my hands and knees I gritted my teeth and pulled my mask to the side of my head just in time as I broke into a coughing fit. My vision was still threatening to go black so I wouldn't have time to get back to my box and sew my wounds up and I couldn't carry her back in my condition but there was still a chance. Looking at the ground around me I quickly gathered a bunch of leaves, small sticks and a rock. Grabbing my shorter blade out I struck it with the rock a few times hoping that it would create a spark. Thankfully on the eighth strike it created a spark that jumped to the leaves and sticks that I had gathered making a small fire. gritting my teeth I forced myself into an upward position and took my haori, jacket and shirt off showing my chest area off. There was the large wound across my stomach that I was lucky hadn't damaged any of my organs and then also the wound to my side, both were still bleeding. Placing my short sword in the fire I used my shirt to try and clean up the blood as much as I could while I waited. Finally after a few minutes the blade of the sword in the fire was glowing red and I grabbed my haori and shoved part of it into my mouth and bit down hard on it. This was going to hurt and I wasn't sure if I could survive it but I had to try something. Grabbing the sword I wasted no time in placing it over the wound on my stomach and pressing down as hard as I could. I screamed out behind my haori as blinding white pain raced through me, my legs kicked, my hands wanted to jerk but I didn't let them and tears streamed down my face. After a few minutes I put the blade back in the fire to heat it up again and did the same thing again to make sure that the stomach wound was sealed. Once I was sure that it was sealed I did the same thing to my side. The pain was so intense I could feel my eyes closing, I wanted to pass out, I wanted to do anything I could to stop the pain but I knew if I did I wouldn't survive. Finally both of the wounds were flash sealed, meaning that I had burnt the wounds close so that they were no longer bleeding. It was a brutal thing to do and it was going to leave horrible scars but I didn't care so long as I would survive. My body wanted to give in to the fight then but I pushed myself to put the fire out and grabbed my swords putting them in their holders and then grabbed the girl onto my back. Tears streamed down my face under my mask that I had replaced and I was letting out sobs because of the pain each step was causing me but I continued, I had to get out of the forest. I had no idea if any other demon was around and if they were they would be drawn to us from my blood.
I cried in relief when I saw the bushes that I had hidden my box in and gently sat the girl up against a tree. I needed to treat the wound on her shoulder. Moving her kimono to the side to see the damage I reached forward and touched it before realising my hands were covered in my own blood so I pulled them back and wiped them as best as I could. Quickly I bandaged up the wound as well as using some of my elixirs to make sure it wouldn't get infected. Once that was done I once again got her on my back and grabbed the straps of my box and began to drag it while walking towards Haku's house. The boy in question and his Father were standing outside of the house looking worried.
"Akatsuki? HANA!" Haku yelled before rushing towards us making my eyes widen seeing as I didn't have time to get out of the way and if he was going to jump on us like I thought he was, I wouldn't be able to take it.
"HAKU! Control yourself" Haku's father's voice boomed, making him stop in his tracks.
"Both of them are hurt, go and get the doctor quickly" He ordered and Haku nodded before racing a few houses down and banging on the door. Haku's father on the other hand helped me by taking Hana off my back. As soon as her weight was gone I could no longer keep myself standing so I collapsed my hand letting go of the strap of my box.
"Akatsuki" I heard yelled and I saw Haku's face invade my vision as well as an elderly woman's face as well.
"Her.....Her shoulder" I slurred out before everything went black and I finally gave into the darkness.