"How long have we been fighting?"
She held her ground as an inferno raged all around her. Her body was littered with burns and bruises from the flames of the demon in front of her.
"Three hours? Four? The recruits have stopped screaming."
Aoi lept back as the flames flared, but paid for it as a demonic figure flew out of the fire.
"My name is Aoi Kanzaki. I was, was not, and now am a demon slayer once again. The lives of my family were stolen from me by demons. I wanted to avenge them. But at that time... I was too weak. There was a time when I gave up, when I was too scared to pick up a blade ever again. But he..."
Aoi dodged a flaming kick, repositioning and throwing a flaming strike of her own.
"Along with many others... gave me the courage to fight again. I will never let my cowardice hold me back again. I will fight to keep them safe. I will fight to destroy all demons. I will fight so that no one will ever have to fight again."
Aoi tried to keep up with Righty, but the good demon moved so fast that all she could see was a hazy, flaming silhouette. Righty danced around her as all she could do was try to see an attack coming.
"I will not fail myself again!!!"
As Righty went in for a strike, Aoi switched to water breathing. This sudden change in her footwork allowed her to dodge the punch and slice open Righty's arm with a flowing strike.
"My friends and comrades are all giving it their all, I cannot be left in the dust. I have to get even stronger."
She couldn't react as a fist planted itself in her side. She rolled with the impact but was sent flying regardless. She tumbled on the ground before regaining her footing. One hand gripped her sword, the other clutched her side.
"More!!!" She yelled and ran toward the red flame.
"I will keep training. I will gain and master Hamon. I will survive. That is all I want. Strength. Power. To live. To ensure their survival. That is all I want in this life."
---------
🎵All I wanna do...🎵
🎵Is see you tap into...🎵
🎵The Golden Ripple!🎵
🎵A Golden Ripple!🎵
While Aoi was having an intense internal struggle, Righty was humming to himself. He sent a barrage of attacks her way. Aoi summoned stamina from nowhere and desperately dodged, a hairs length between her and the devastating attacks. Aoi brought her sword down again, sinking deep into his shoulder.
🎵All I wanna be...🎵
🎵Is the boy who gets to see...🎵
🎵A Golden Gipple!🎵
Aoi tried to retract the blade, but it didn't budge. Righty held a grin with his tongue lodged in between his teeth. The flesh Aoi had sunk into was changed to Nichirin. He planted a fist in her gut, and Aoi was sent back, her sword still lodged in his shoulder. Righty chuckled and pulled the sword out, tossing it to the side. Aoi tracked where it would land and sprinted toward it. Righty cut her off in an instant and kicked her in her still-sore side.
🎵Oh, I know it'll be great!🎵
🎵And I just can't wait!🎵
🎵To see Hamon; golden, sparked, and glowing!🎵
Aoi crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain. Righty raised his foot high and she rolled out of the way right before Righty stomped where she was. The earth shook as Righty pulled his foot out of the crater he had made. He roared as a red flame spewed from his mouth, and Aoi continuously kept away from imminent death. Aoi finally got a good foothold and burst to the side, jumping over another wave of fire. Screw the sword. She didn't need it.
🎵Take in your breath,🎵
🎵And feel it deep in your chest!🎵
Aoi took in a deep breath...
And she felt it.
🎵Because I know...🎵
🎵That you can do this!!!🎵
The faintest of fuzzy warmth in the deepest recesses of her chest.
She gritted her teeth and charged towards Righty. His eyes widened and he whipped the flame he was spewing out of his mouth back toward her. She changed directions and ran to the side, the fire licking her ankles as she sprinted. Righty was beginning to worry that he'd actually end up seriously hurting her, and his flame waned the slightest bit.
Aoi capitalized.
🎵Your power will rise like Never before!!!🎵
Aoi turned on a dime and jumped over the cone of flame, landing on her feet and turning to Righty with an iron conviction to finish this. She yelled out a roar of fury as she broke into a sprint toward him.
🎵Just tap into the power deep in your core!!!🎵
Righty panicked and whipped his head back towards her. He was utterly amazed at the sight in front of him. She was doing it. She was channeling Hamon, and she glowed brighter than any other user he had ever seen.
🎵We're waiting for you!🎵
Aoi took in a deep breath and bathed herself in the golden light, dodging straight through the fire. Her skin lit up with searing pain, but she didn't care. The fire in her heart burned far brighter than this flame. The closer the flames got to her, the brighter the golden light in her chest glowed.
🎵For you to tap into!🎵
She disappeared into a flash of golden light as she waved through the flames. Passing through them in enough time to be unscathed by the searing heat.
🎵The Golden Ripple...🎵
"What the..." It was beginning to dawn on Righty...
🎵The Golden Ripple!!!🎵
"She..." Righty's eyes widened.
🎵All I wanna be...🎵
"She's using my techniques!!!" Righty realized how similar this footwork was to Serpent of the Stars. Righty shut his mouth before roaring, letting out a pulse of flame from his entire body.
🎵Is the boy who gets to see...🎵
The golden energy traveled up her fist, lighting it with crackling energy. She was about to be bathed in flames, but she didn't care. She made a fist as she finally reached him, and as the flames finally washed over her...
🎵The Golden Ripple.🎵
CRACK!!!
Aoi roared and planted threw a golden fist so powerful, and so fast that it displaced the flames and blasted straight into Righty's Sternum. The sound of bones shattering was heard before Righty was sent flying into a tree.
"I'm..." Righty chuckled weakly, clutching his chest. "So proud..." Righty crumpled to his knees.
Aoi held a bloodied hand, still glowing with Hamon. Her knuckles were broken by the impact against Righty's bone. Her clothes and parts of her hair were singed, and parts of her skin wore minor burns. Her breath slowly calmed as exhaustion and pain began to catch up to her. She fell to her knees and took in another deep breath, satisfied as the hum of Hamon surrounded her once again, alleviating some of the pain. The golden glow was there to stay, and she had done it.
"You did it..." Righty smiled widely, despite the blood gurgling in his lungs.
"Are you okay...?" Aoi asked weakly.
"I should be asking you that..." Righty sighed and got up, healing his chest wound while limping over to Aoi and helping her to her feet. "Good thing I was only giving it ten percent, otherwise you'd be-"
"You were only giving ten percent?" The smile on Aoi's face waned slightly
"Shoot..." Righty averted his gaze.
---------
Righty had all of the recruits laid out on the ground. As usual, their wounds were brutal, but not debilitating.
"Can I go now?" Nezuko asked him, licking the blood off of her fingers.
"Dismissed." Righty said as he began to heal the recruits one by one.
Nezuko nodded and turned to leave, but paused and rubbed her belly.
"Righty-" Nezuko was cut off when she caught a blood cup Righty had tossed her. "Thanks!" She smiled and left.
---------
"So... Need anything else?" Lefty leaned on the wall to Ume's room-cell, and Ume sat on her bed.
"..." Ume hand a finger on her chin. It seemed she was trying to find an excuse to keep him there.
"Cause if not, I got training to do." Lefty said.
"What kind of monsters are you fighting for something like you to need training?" Ume asked.
"You wouldn't know the half of it..." Lefty averted his gaze as memories of the Upper Moons, including her, flashed in his mind. "Besides, It's less of me training, and more of me training other people."
"Does that make... Gyutaro a monster?" Ume muttered.
"FUCK!!!" Lefty punched himself internally. He had let too much slip.
"W-well-"
"It's true isn't it?" Ume looked him in the eye.
"It's a lot more complicated than that..." Lefty didn't meet her gaze.
"Then tell me!" She yelled at him.
"..." Lefty gritted his teeth. "Is that what you've been doing?" Lefty hissed.
"Wha-" Ume was cut off.
"Have you just been trying to get close to me so you could get more information!?" Lefty bared his teeth as he raised his voice.
Ume held a look of shock on her face, before it morphed into anger.
"What choice do I have!? I'm cooped up in here with no fucking idea of the reason why!!!" She got up from the bed and began screaming in his face. "I don't know anything about what's going on outside of this fucking place!!! Where we are!? What year is it!? Why I can't remember anything!!! I have no fucking clue!!!" She screamed. "Did you honestly think I'd give a damn about you if It wasn't for an anterior motive!?" Ume knew that part of her was lying, but she didn't care.
"...You're the same, no matter the fucking reincarnation!" Lefty yelled, before hitting himself again.
"What do you mean by that...?" Ume suddenly quieted.
"..." Lefty's mouth smashed shut. "I told you I can't-" Lefty was cut off when he was slammed into the wall with inhuman strength. He let out a choked cry as he felt sharp claws dig into his arms.
"Tell. Me." Ume's skin had turned a pale white, and black veins sprouted all over her body once again. The most terrifying detail was the addition of fangs to her bared teeth.
"Calm down..." Lefty whispered as Ume let out an angered hiss.
"TELL ME!!!"
"I just can't-" Lefty cried out when she dug her claws in deeper.
"LIAR!!!" Ume screamed in his face, nearly bursting his eardrums.
"Look at yourself..." Lefty hissed weakly. He felt her grip loosen as Ume realized what she had done. She pulled her fingers out of Lefty and stepped back as he crumpled to the floor. She shook as she saw the blood on her fingers. Her breath quickened when she saw the black veins lining her arms.
"What the hell am I...?" Ume whispered.
Lefty clutched his shoulder and gritted his teeth. He surveyed the damage and chuckled dryly. She had punched ten holes into his shoulders and arms effortlessly.
"Why does this smell so good...?"
Lefty's eyes widened and he tore his gaze to Ume. She had her gaze transfixed on the blood dripping from her fingers, sniffing it inquisitively. She slowly parted her jaws, bringing the fingers closer to her face.
"No!!!" Lefty burst forward and tackled her onto the bed. He tried to hold her down, restraining her hands as she thrashed under his grip. He couldn't let his blood near the mouth of a demon that had any chance of still being evil.
"Yushiro!!!" Lefty yelled.
"The next dose isn't ready!!!" He heard the cat cry from the corner.
"Shit!" Lefty yelled. "SHIT!!!" His grip was weakening as the wounds in his arms throbbed.
He had no other choice.
He slammed his forehead into Ume's.
And everything went black.