Inori stared at her reflection, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Tonight was the night of the Final Selection, and she didn't know whether her heart was beating rapidly out of excitement or fear since she was grinning and sweating at the same time.
"Inori? Are you done yet?" Muichiro peeked into her room. Inori shouldn't be surprised, she knew from the start that Muichiro was a genius, but the fact that he would be coming along with her after just one month of training still baffled her.
Still, she flashed him a smile. "Yeah, let's go."
Inori skimmed her hand over the two swords strapped to her dark purple hakama. Kagaya had lent Muichiro a sword for the Final Selection, but Inori borrowed hers from Shinobu, who was more than willing, and Sanemi, who had threatened to slaughter her if she so much as chipped it. Inori originally asked Sanemi first because they happened to bump into each other, but he only had one spare sword, so she borrowed the other one from Shinobu.
They bid goodbye to the Ubuyashiki family before making their way towards the Butterfly Estate. Muichiro initially wanted to head to Mount Fujikasane immediately, but Inori wanted to go with Aoi, so he agreed to take a little detour.
Muichiro spared a sideway glance at Inori, noticing her tense expression and quivering fingers. "Are you scared?" He looped their hands together on impulse.
Inori gripped his hand tighter, and Muichiro realized just how clammy her hand was. She gave him a smile, wry and tense. "Is it pathetic of me to say I don't know?" She asked with a grimace. "Because I don't know if I'm just impatient to cut some demon heads or scared I'll end up dead."
You won't. Muichiro squeezed her hand. "Don't worry," he assured her. "You faced one of the Twelve Demon Moons and escaped Kibutsuji Muzan without any proper training. I'm sure you can deal with some weak and hungry demons."
Inori laughed. It was laced with anxiousness, but it was a laugh, nonetheless. "I can't believe you remember that, and I only told you once."
I don't know either. Muichiro didn't give her a verbal answer, he only smiled softly as he stared into her mismatched eyes that no longer looked so tense. I just don't want to forget anything about you.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
Muichiro watched disinterestedly as Inori tried to calm a nervous Aoi down. He didn't understand the butterfly girl. Kanzaki, was it? The Final Selection wasn't a game for weaklings who couldn't even stop shaking. He didn't understand why she didn't just stay and become a helper like Kocho told her to.
"Inori? What are you doing?"
Muichiro stopped in his tracks, looking back at Inori who was picking the wisteria flowers blooming along the road, Aoi was looking up at her with wide eyes.
"Inori, what are you doing?" He asked dumbly, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Does she like wisteria? No, he remembered her telling him she loves lavenders. Maybe he forgot and she actually liked wisterias. Then again, Inori loves the color purple, so maybe that's why she's picking wisterias.
"Picking wisterias," Inori answered, stuffing the wisterias into a small pouch. "So I can make some wisteria poison in case I need it." Muichiro raised an eyebrow, but did not question her. From all the time he spent with Inori, he knew just how chaotically creative she could be and had gotten used to it.
They reached the halfway point, passing through the gates to see many people already present. Inori didn't even try to remember their faces. But one of them, a boy with a kitsune mask, stood out. Ah, this must be one of the fox children that's always killed by a mutant demon in the Final Selection. Inori remembered the group of children in fox masks who would teach her the Breath of Water. They told me I'm not allowed to touch that demon since it was for the foxes to kill, but I should at least warn him. But before Inori could take another step, two voices broke the silence.
"Greetings everyone," Kiriya and Nichika greeted the participants. Inori honestly wanted to applaud the mature five-year-olds who came in their father's place.
"Thank you for joining the Final Selection. There are lots of demons held captive on this mountain by demon slayers," Kiriya said eerily. "They are unable to escape."
"Because from the mountain foot to halfway up," Nichika continued, "there is a lot of demon-repelling wisteria that blooms all year long."
"However." The lantern in Kiriya's hand jiggled as he shifted to the side. "From here on out, there are no more wisterias. Only demons. If you can survive here for seven days."
"Then, you pass the Final Selection." Nichika stepped aside, finishing their speech. "Now, let the Final Selection begin."
Aoi coughed and wheezed, trying her best to keep up with Inori and Muichiro who were several steps ahead of her. The speed Inori was using to scale her way upward was much faster than what Aoi was used to seeing when they trained together. Moreover, Muichiro was having no trouble keeping up with her. Just how far did they go during that one-month training? I can't keep up with them at all.
"Aoi-san, are you okay?" Aoi looked up to see Inori with her arm outstretched to help her. "We're not seeing any demons yet, so we shouldn't waste our stamina." Aoi wanted to laugh in frustration. Inori didn't mean any harm, but Aoi knew that out of three of them, she was the only one who was already out of breath.
"Oi, oi, what do you mean by no demons?" A staggering figure appeared out of the trees. "There's a demon right he—"
Muichiro sliced its head off without waiting for it to finish talking. He stomped on the disintegrating head, turning to look at both girls. "We should go higher."
"Yeah." Inori nodded, beheading another demon that tried to sneak up on them. "Let's go, Aoi-san." She grabbed Aoi's arm, pulling her along as the three of them ran up the mountain.
Aoi had lost count of how many demons Muichiro and Inori had decapitated, she stopped counting after five. Aoi felt a wave of inferiority and uselessness wash over her. She had been training for over a year, yet she couldn't keep up with Inori or Muichiro who only had one or a few months of training. She entered the Final Selection in hopes of slaying demons, but she froze up every time a demon appeared, leaving Inori to save her. She was terrified she would be another victim of the Final Selection, but her body refused to swing her sword.
"Aoi-san!"
Inori's scream snapped her out of her thoughts, but it was too late. Just as she looked up, Aoi could see an avalanche of boulders coming down on them, as well as the shadow of a demon cackling from above the steep cliff. Inori hastily shoved Aoi backward as hard as she could, causing the older girl to stumble far away. The last thing Aoi saw before the boulders destroyed the path was Muichiro rushing to shield Inori with his body.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
"Muichiro, you need to let go of me!" Inori struggled to get out of Muichiro's hold. They were falling and at this rate, they would either die from the fall or somehow survive, then get crushed by the boulders. She needed to stop them from falling first.
"What are you planning?" Muichiro didn't let Inori go, but he did see the calculative expression on her face. "If it's something suicidal, I swear—Inori!"
Inori wrenched herself free. She circled her arm around Muichiro's waist, half carrying him as she jumped from boulder to boulder. Inori lost hold of Muichiro when a large rock fell on her arm, but Muichiro didn't need Inori to carry him for him to leap around the boulders. Parting ways, they continued jumping from boulder to boulder until they found a tree to take refuge in.
Muichiro scaled through the trees until he found the branch Inori was sitting on. "Is your arm broken?" He asked upon realizing that she was rubbing her left arm.
"No, just bruised." Muichiro gently took her arm, raising the sleeves of her lilac yukata to reveal a bluing large bruise where the rock hit her. A wave of guilt washed over him. It's my fault. I wasn't fast enough to react. I—
His thoughts were interrupted when Inori flicked his forehead. "You don't have to look so guilty, it's nothing big and I can still swing my swords." She huffed, yanking her sleeve back down. "Besides, we need to look for Aoi-san."
"The sun is already coming up, I'm sure she's fine." Muichiro pointed towards the brightening sky. "Let's rest first."
Muichiro stared at the orange sunrise, basking in its warmth. The first day of the Final Selection was over, just six more days to go. He leaned his head until it rested on Inori's shoulder, enjoying the warm morning sun and the hand that was raking through his hair.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
Water Breathing: Second Form: Water Wheel
Aoi spun her body, cutting the demon's head. She landed with a huff, gasping for breath. She has been running around the mountain for hours, trying to find Inori and Muichiro. The sun had already risen, but some part of the mountain was sunlight-free, so demons were still roaming during the day.
Aoi knew that the chances of them surviving that kind of fall were slim, they were at the edge of the mountain, after all. But she believed that if anyone could survive, it was them.
They probably fell to the halfway point again, so I should head down. I should go somewhere with sunlight. Inori and Muichiro had been climbing the mountain as a form of challenge, much to Aoi's irritation. They wanted to climb to the top, then go back down to kill as many demons as possible. Call her a coward, but while Aoi didn't particularly like the idea, she stayed close to them because she knew they were strong. But now they were separated, and Aoi's entire body was trembling in fear.
"Aoi-san, you need to take a deep breath and calm down, you can't cut demons with trembling hands," Inori's voice whispered in her ears, soothing and calm, and Aoi could just see her smile. "Water Breathing mimics the movements of flowing water. If the water is agitated, the flow will be chaotic. Calm down."
Aoi shut her eyes. I'm trying, Inori, I'm trying. But I'm not strong like you. I'm weak and a wimp. I'm scared.
"Help...please." Aoi swiveled her head towards the source of the voice, finding a fellow examinee crawling towards her with his hand outstretched. Aoi was about to help him when a hand suddenly slammed onto his head, crushing it.
Aoi screamed. Her legs buckled, and she fell on her back. She scooted as far away as possible from the hand that was dragging the boy towards the dark trees. She knew what was beyond that tree, she knew the demon was there. If Inori was here, she would probably charge in and kill the demon. But Aoi was not Inori. Her attacks weren't as graceful or powerful as Inori's. Her techniques weren't as varied either. Her bravery was practically non-existent. She couldn't do this. She could never do this.
"Calm down."
Aoi gripped her sword until her knuckles turned white. She forced her shaky legs to stand. The demon, a hideously mutated demon with many hands, emerged from behind the trees.
Water Breathing: Third Form: Flowing Dance
Aoi weaved through the demon, slashing its many hands that were coming her way. She jumped back, landing a fair distance away from the demon.
"A Water Breathing user?" The demon mused. "But you don't have a fox mask. You're not his student." Aoi had no idea what the demon was talking about, and she didn't want to know. She just wanted to hurry up and kill it.
Water Breathing: First Form: Water Surface Slash
Despite aiming for its neck, Aoi could only manage to cut its hands. The demon grinned, unaffected by all the missing limbs. It dug its hands into the ground, ready to resurface it beneath the girl. The girl may not be Urokodaki's apprentice, but she was still food.
Aoi yelped when hands began sprouting from beneath her. She did a last-second jump, but it was futile as one of the hands grabbed her leg. Her eyes widened in panic and fear. She could literally feel herself standing in front of death's door. I couldn't dodge. I can't escape. I don't know how. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.
"Calm down."
Water Breathing: Fourth Form: Striking Tide
Aoi forced her hands to move, swinging her sword while tears streamed down her eyes. She continued to move forward, slashing blindly at the hands that continued to attack her. Aoi no longer knew what to think, she was acting on impulse and desperation. She leaped, aiming for the demon's neck.
Water Breathing: First Form: Water Surface Splash
The sound of her sword snapping in half echoed in her ears like a death knell. As if the world was moving in slow motions, she could see one of the demon's hands reaching out for her neck, ready to crush it. She was going to die, and she knew it.
Shinobu-sama, Inori, Kanao, Naho, Sumi, Kiyo, I'm sorry.
Water Breathing: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Someone in a fox mask sliced the demon's hands, grabbing Aoi and leaping away from the demon. Aoi was still too petrified to even react.
"That mask!" The demon roared. "That's Urokodaki's damned mask! I'll kill you like all the other apprentices I've killed!"
The boy in the kitsune mask didn't give a verbal answer. He readied his sword, leaping towards the demon again.
But Aoi didn't stay to watch. She forced her shaky legs to stand. Swallowing her tears and fear, Aoi turned her back and ran away with tears of anger and terror streaming down her face.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
"Inori, what are you doing?" Muichiro felt like he asked that question a million times by now.
Inori was currently grinding the wisteria she plucked. "I'm making poison. I'm going to drench some sharp rocks in wisteria, then I'll throw them at the demons."
"You can't aim." Muichiro deadpanned in response.
"Then, I'll find a huge rock that won't miss."
"You don't have enough strength to lift a huge rock or enough poison to cover it," he pointed out dryly. "Why do you even have a grinder? Just what did you bring in that pouch of yours?"
Inori dumped the contents of her pouch to the ground, revealing the first aid kit, rope, lighter, a few vials of colorful liquid, a beaker, and a small water bottle.
"Inori, is that pouch magical? How did you fit all that and not break anything?"
Muichiro did not feel at ease when Inori gave him a perfect replica of Shinobu's venomous smile.
Eventually, Inori finished making the poison. The translucent purple liquid was bubbling, and Muichiro didn't need to have toxicological knowledge to know that it was poisonous.
His uneasiness grew as Inori snickered, mixing the poison with some other liquids in the beaker. He swore he heard her mumble something along the lines of, 'I'll make a bomb so flamboyant, Uzui-san will be jealous' and it did nothing but add anxiousness on top of his unease.
"You're not really trying to make an explosive, are you?"
Inori looked up from her little project, cocking her head to the side as if she was confused. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm trying to make a wisteria bomb. Imagine all the demons I can kill just by throwing this in their direction. I don't even need to have a good aim for this."
Muichiro stared back at her like she was the stupidest thing in the world. "Why?"
"I've always wanted to try making a bomb."
"Why?"
"There was a yakuza I befriended who told me that bombs have high damage and are effective, and I heard they pop like fireworks, so I wanted to see it for myself."
Of course, it was the dead who taught her something like that. Muichiro sighed. "You'll kill humans too, don't you know that?"
Inori shrugged. "Then, we just got to make sure there's no human nearby. Why do you think I insisted on climbing to the higher parts?"
Muichiro wanted to facepalm. They both agreed to climb the mountains, then go back down, to kill as many demons as possible. Though he did it because he was avoiding the incompetent participants who couldn't even climb higher.
Well. Muichiro watched as Inori did the finishing touches for her bomb. As long as the demons are killed.
"You better finish it soon. The sun is about to set," Muichiro pointed out, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop her, not that he wanted to in the first place. Watching demons explode may not be his favorite sight, but if it would kill demons, then it would do.
Muichiro surveyed the area from the cliff he was sitting on. According to Inori, the explosive wouldn't be that big, so it's fine if he could just gather the demons in one small spot and the humans away from said spot. Muichiro didn't need to worry about any humans because none of them survived long enough to reach the mountain tops, aside from him and Inori.
Inori's chosen spot for the explosion was somewhere without trees or anything that could lead to a forest fire. She didn't want to be scolded for destroying an entire mountain. She also surrounded the area with rocks to make sure the demons didn't escape. Muichiro had to admit that she was very persistent in her explosive plan.
He gave Inori a thumbs up. Even though Muichiro had admonished it, Inori still insisted on using her blood as bait. He knew it was effective when the demons gathered near her blood, but he didn't like the sight of Inori's blood splattered all over the ground for some monsters' food.
Still, he watched as Inori dropped the bomb.
The booming sound and strong gust of wind came first. Next was the sound of demons screeching, and the horrid smell of burnt flesh, blood, and smoke. Muichiro watched emotionlessly as more and more demons tried to futilely crawl away.
"Is this really like a firework?" Muichiro asked as soon as the last demon melted from the poison. "Looks like a sick torture chamber." Despite his words, Muichiro's voice was devoid of any sympathy.
"They're basically prisoners sentenced for execution." Inori shrugged, somehow not feeling guilty over what she had done, as much as it made her stomach twist. "I'm just using them as experiment subjects for Muzan. Now I know that I will never use bombs ever again, too much effort and destruction, and I can't always just drop it. And it didn't even look like fireworks."
Muichiro turned his head to look at the concealed anger in her eyes. "Inori, I never asked, but do demons go to the stars too when they die?"
"I hope not," Inori answered with a frown. "As far as I know, the stars are just another word for heaven or afterlife, it's a place of everlasting peace for the human soul. Demons who have abandoned their humanity don't deserve a place in the stars, they should be chained to the earth or burnt in the deepest part of hell, in Avici."
"Life and death talks are confusing." Muichiro leaned his head on her shoulder, gazing at the starry sky.
"Yeah, it is. That's why I'd rather not talk about it." Inori gently pushed Muichiro back, standing on her feet to stretch her limbs. "Besides, we still need to find Aoi-san."
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
"Just how big is this mountain?" Inori growled. "We've been running around for seven whole days, but we never found Aoi-san. I'm worried."
Muichiro hummed, not remembering who Aoi was but he assumed it was a friend of hers. "You helped train her, right? She should be fine. Let's just go back and see for ourselves."
"That doesn't stop me from worrying."
Inori's worry was proven right when she saw Aoi leaning against the gates. She immediately ran towards her. "Aoi-san? What's wrong? What happened?"
Aoi didn't say anything, she only hugged her. Aoi's fingers gripped her yukata so tightly that Inori was sure it would rip. Inori didn't need a verbal answer to know that whatever happened to Aoi traumatized her badly, she could take a guess.
Instead, Inori looked around at the surviving participants. Of all twenty-three faces she remembered seeing, only six were present. And the boy with the kitsune mask was one of the people who weren't present. Ah. She suddenly understood. The demon that killed those fox children, killed yet another fox. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for not being able to help you go to the stars.
Muichiro was confused when Inori's expression suddenly morphed from worry to sadness. He anxiously hovered his hand above her head, overthinking things through, before patting her head awkwardly. He grew even more confused when Inori started to cry, embracing Aoi tighter and pulling him to join the hug.
The three of them quickly paid for their uniform and picked their alloy, not wanting to stay there a second longer. They began their way back towards the Butterfly Estate. Inori had to carry Aoi who suddenly passed out on the way back, but she didn't mind.
The little girls were waiting at the front door and immediately burst into tears upon seeing Aoi and Inori—and Muichiro, despite not knowing him well—returning alive. Their loud cries brought Shinobu to the front doors. Inori noticed how her tense shoulders slumped in relief as soon as she saw them.
Neither Inori nor Muichiro stayed for long. They had Shinobu treat their injuries, then immediately left to get their uniform adjusted. Shinobu, smiling so venomously sweetly, did give them some oil and matches before they left though much to their confusion.
Inori didn't hear it until a week later, but whatever Aoi faced during the Final Selection traumatized her to the point she decided to stay behind the front lines.
·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙