"N-Now, have we.. passed the test?" Tanjiro panted out as his palms were on the dirt floor. He gasps for air but no matter how much oxygen he breathes in, it won't work. Y/n was the same. Sweat came rolling down from her forehead as she wheezed, her lungs almost giving up on her. Urokodaki untied the cloth on his head and said in a gruff voice, "The test starts now,"
That made y/n nearly pass out. Strands of her short h/c hair stuck on her face with sweat as glue. Tanjiro looks as if he wanted to pass out too. "We're going to climb a mountain," Urokodaki said.
Tanjiro gasped in horror, his eyes wide. "I-- think-- I'm-- going---to-- die--" y/n gasped dramatically.
✿
Tanjiro set Nezuko on the futon as Y/n was standing next to Urokodaki. "I'll make sure to take care of your friend for you," he turned to Y/n. "I'm counting on you, grandpa," y/n smiled. Urokodaki ruffled Y/n's hair.
✿
The bright moon was blanketed with soft and luxurious clouds. The dry leaves were stepped on by Urokodaki, Tanjiro, and Y/n. The mist and fog decorated the scene with such mystery. The tall trees and the dark sky adds its own component for the dramatic scene. Tanjiro's red eyes were wide as every breath he took was a pant.
I'm so exhausted. My legs are starting to buckle! I'm starting to feel dizzy, too. Is Y/n okay? Go Tanjiro, make sure that y/n's okay, Tanjiro thought. He went over to Y/n's side and grabbed her hand gently. "Are you okay, Y/n?" Tanjiro asked, his wine-colored eyes softening. Y/n turned to her friend. "Fine," she gasped out. "Just... the air here is really cold," Y/n shivered. Tanjiro gave her hand a little squeeze as Y/n just smiled gratefully at Tanjiro.
Then they stopped in their tracks. Urokodaki turned to them. "Now, from here, go back down to the house at the foot of the mountain," Urokodaki commanded. "This time, I'm not going to wait till daybreak!" he exclaimed. The mist blanketed him as his figure disappeared with a snap.
"So, we'll just need to go back to the foot of the mountain? That's fine! I remember his scent," Tanjiro exclaimed. Y/n looked around. "It can't be that easy, Tanjiro," Y/n said sternly. "There's gotta be more to this," she added, her brows furrowed as she took the lead. "Y/n! Wait!" Tanjiro exclaimed as he followed her. Y/n then tripped over the ropes and rocks came shooting out from the side but her eyes widened when Tanjiro got hit. He accidentally stumbled over his feet and pushed her, she fell into a pile of dry leaves but fell into a hole instead, she let out a grunt of pain, Tanjiro's eyes widened.
"Y/n! I'm so sorry! Here, let me help!" Tanjiro exclaimed in worry as he went to her laying figure. He lend out a hand and she gladly pulled herself up. "Thank you," she mumbled, still in pain. They climbed out of the hole and Tanjiro was about to place his hand down when Y/n told him not to. "Don't! There's a rope there," she panted. The air was thinner than they thought as it made it painful to breathe, Tanjiro stopped before he stood up and jumped over the rope. Y/n following afterward.
Tanjiro's eyes widened. "If we keep on running into traps like these, we'll never make it!" Y/n exclaimed. "The air's too thin here--" Tanjiro added. They both ran in speed before they stopped in their tracks. Y/n looked at Tanjiro. "Calm your breathing down, we need to sense where the traps are going to come!" Y/n exclaimed. Tanjiro nodded before Y/n closed her eyes and took peaceful strings of gentle breaths before she touched the trees and felt the wooden hard texture that rang on her fingers.
Tanjiro shut his eyes tightly as he calmed his breathing. The scent of ropes and the other traps came flying to him, inhaling deeply, the scent was sucked in sharply through his nostrils. Y/n, focus. Focus! Y/n thought. Her hair on her arms and the back of her neck raise up sharply. Y/n felt the structure, the surface, and the core of the traps, thanks to the wind, temperature, and her deep understanding and feeling of touch.
Y/n looked at Tanjiro as he looked at her and nodded, determined to reach down. Tanjiro and Y/n started running, y/n tripping over a rope as one log came to hit her but she dodged it with Tanjiro, then another log came to hit them both but they both dodged it. A log then swang to Y/n but she dodged it.
They both ran as dry leaves were flying by Y/n's running. Tanjiro and Y/n sometimes stumble when running but they kept running. There's a huge piece of wood that came falling on Tanjiro but he ran and dodged it. Then Y/n and Tanjiro ducked down from a rope but stumbled a bit when they tripped over the second rope.
A log came shooting at them both but they dodged it by separating. The rocks came flying to them but Y/n swiped them towards the ground as her sore legs kept running. Pebbles and rocks came shooting at Tanjiro but he jumped and let it hit roughly on the ground. Tanjiro was about to celebrate. Y/n was running behind her. "TANJIRO! WATCH OUT! THERE'S A BAMBOO--"
Too late. He stepped on the bamboo and he got threw him into the air and hit roughly on the ground as clouds of dirt flew. Y/n's eyes widened. "Tanjiro! Watch out--" she had let her guard down, she didn't realize that a log was flying to her. Her eyes snapped to her back before she was brought down harshly by the flying log, Y/n groaned in pain as bamboo was beating Tanjiro at the moment.
Y/n weakly stood up before she walked limply to Tanjiro. "Tanjiro!" she weakly exclaimed before she stumbled down and panted. Blood mixed with sweat rolled off her forehead as her eyes watered in tears of failure, but then her eyes widened as she looked at the leaves. Kigiku's. Never. Let. Their. Heads. Droop. Down. Even. In. Failures, she thought, but then she shivered. Maybe I'm not a Kigiku after all... she thought as pain shot through from her stomach and head, the log had hit her too hard on the stomach, making her even feel more of a failure. Her head stung after she thought of that.
I'm sorry Nezuko, I'm sorry Tanjiro, I'm sorry Grandpa, I'm sorry... dad.. she thought as she closed her eyes as tears fell from her dazzling e/c eyes. Get up, a voice rang in her head. Try harder, the voice rang. I can't, I feel so weak, she thought as tears fell. Don't let your weak state overtake you, you are a Kigiku. Heads up with pride and straighten your back with a fearless posture. You can't give up. Not now. Not after your mother and father had let you go with Tanjiro. Y/n closed her eyes as she wiped her own tears away and she looked up. Heads up. HEADS UP! Rocks came shooting at her but she gritted her teeth and protect her head from the rocks with her arms. The harsh structure scraped her arms but she couldn't care less.
That's it! You're doing it! The voice rang. A real Kigiku will never give up! she thought. Tanjiro came out of the smoke of dust before he had a determined face. "Y/n, are you alright?" his eyes softening as he winced in pain looking at your wounds. Y/n nodded with a determined smile.
"Let's go, Tanjiro-Kun," Y/n said before she looked over the path in front of them.
[ notes ]
- holy cheese! we've reached 200 readers! thank you so much to all of you who are reading this!
- hehe-- erm.. sorry for not posting yesterday-- but it's okay because i'm gonna post twice today!