"Airi. Giyū. I have a favor to ask both of you." Ubuyashiki Kagaya spoke smoothly. His voice was intoxicating. The two Hashira sat next to each other behind him, waiting for their master's proposal in the midst of the night.
Airi was slightly annoyed that her beauty sleep was interrupted. Giyū was determined, but tired as well.
"Anything you ask, I will do." Airi responded firmly.
The master smiled, "Good. Traces of Kibutsuji were sensed in a nearby village by some of my messengers a few lengths from Mt. Sagiri. The other Hashira are unavailable, so I would like you two to go scope it out. If Kibutsuji is spotted, I will know as soon as possible."
"As you wish." The pillars replied together. Airi cocked an eyebrow toward her partner jokingly after they jinxed each other. Giyū responded with a blank stare at her.
Thus, the Light Hashira, Hanata Airi, and the Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyū, were immediately out of sight once they were dismissed.
"I'm surprised Oyakata-sama called upon us to track down Kibutsuji. I would have expected Himejima-san or Uzui-san to have been selected for this since they're so talented." Airi commented as the two pillars swiftly ran on the outskirts of a nearby village.
"Agreed. But we have to carry out our duties if this is really Kibutsuji we're talking about. None of us have seen him." Giyū responded nonchalantly.
Airi hummed in response. She was worried, extremely worried. If Kibutsuji Muzan is nearby ravaging on innocent human beings, and she runs into him, who knows what fight could spring out. She kept her guard on high alert.
Tomioka's hands felt sweaty as he ran through many landscapes with Airi. He was just as nervous as her. The man didn't show it, but deep inside him, he was as fearful as ever. He didn't want to scare the beautiful girl more if he displayed fear in front of her.
Airi grew hungry, "Tomioka-san, I'm gonna buy some soba real quick. You want any?"
"No." He responded bluntly. Although his stomach would occasionally grumble.
"I'll get you some anyway." She smiled, causing the young nineteen year old to feel as if he should smile at her too.
Within the minute, Airi had found a shop at the outskirts of a town and bought soba for the two of them.
"We should walk for a little, don't wanna waste our energy." Airi commented with her mouth full of the delicious food.
Giyū cocked a brow towards her before he took a bite, "Don't talk with your mouth full."
"Okay, father. Whatever you say." Airi giggled, her amber eyes dazzling with the moonlight as she looked at the water pillar.
He couldn't help but feel the corners of his lips rise; he smiled in response.
'I like it when you smile, Giyū.' Airi thought, observing the young man and his features.
——•——
It was a frigid winter morning. The Light Hashira was exhausted from traveling the night nonstop, but her closest friend kept her feeling alive and energized. She would always tease the young man in attempts to put their minds off of their mission at hand.
The Water Hashira refused to admit it, but his companion brought a little bit of happiness into his life. Just like their childhood.
The two had approached the bottom of a snow covered mountain. Airi noticed traces of a black aura that went up the mountain in an odd route. The aura zigzagged in the strangest places on the mountain. She tied her blindfold across her eyes.
"I can tell Kibutsuji was here. His aura was here." Airi commented as the two instantly disappeared into the mountain swiftly.
"Stay behind me." Giyū said with a blank face as he ran far faster than his partner in the snow. Airi could not fathom how he managed to run so fast in the deep snow.
Even though she was a mountain child, she still struggled to run in snow.
Airi sensed the aura of a demon, but a demon that had just been awakened, a newborn.
She noticed that Giyū had already beaten her to where the demon was.
Immediately after, she noticed a young demon, resembling a little girl, who was pinning down a young boy who looked thirteen. She had long dark hair with vermillion tips and a ripped kimono.
He, on the other hand, had flaming red hair that was tied up, crimson eyes, and a scar on his forehead. From Airi's perspective, the boy was holding a hatchet in between her teeth, avoiding getting bit.
Their auras were pure, even though the
demon was attacking him. Airi could not help but observe the situation from afar.
She trusted Giyū's judgement. All demons must die.
Giyū attempted to strike the demon off the boy, but the boy had grabbed the girl and dodged the blow. He held onto the girl with his dear life. The girl kept growling, and it seemed as if her size grew smaller after Giyū struck them. She struggled in the boy's grasp, but he held onto her nonetheless.
Airi leapt upon a low tree branch and watched carefully as Giyū and the boy interacted.
"Why are you protecting it?" Giyū asked the boy, his facial expression unmoving.
"She's my sister! She's my younger sister!" The boy replied, his voice piercing through the Light Hashira's ears. Now, she could understand what the boy was going through. She had experienced loss.
Airi noticed Giyū's blank stare broke as his eyebrows furrowed at the two children. The demon girl struggled to get out of the grip as he called her name.
"Nezuko!"
"You call that thing your sister?" Giyū asked bluntly.
'Of course, dipshit. They look alike, even in her state of agony.' Airi thought in her mind, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked through her silk blindfold.
The boy hadn't seemed to notice Airi's presence, and she left it as such. In a blink of an eye, Giyū lunged toward the boy leaning on the trunk of a tree and took the demon girl into his own grasp. The action was so quick that the boy attempted to protect her, but by the time he threw his body over to where she was, she was already gone.
The girl struggled in Giyū's grasp, but his hand never moved. His grasp seemed like child's play based on his stature.
"Nezuko!" The boy shouted.
"Don't move," A gust of wind shot through the scene and the boy disappeared from Giyū's sight, "My job is to slay demons. Needless to say, I'm going to decapitate your sister."
Airi's palms grew sweaty and her head was racing with thoughts, 'I don't think that's a good idea, Tomioka. You'll destroy the poor boy's life even more.'
"Hold on!" The boy responded, his voice laced with fear, "Nezuko hasn't killed anyone! Back at my house, there was a scent that I've never smelled before!"
'Kibutsuji,' Airi thought, 'That piece of shit.'
"That's probably the one who killed my family! It wasn't Nezuko! I don't know why she turned into something like that, but...but still." The boy yelled. Airi understood the pain he felt.
"It's quite simple," Giyū responded, his face blank and his eyes cloudy, "Because her wounds were exposed to demon blood, she turned into a demon. That's how man eating demons multiply."
"Nezuko would never eat humans!" The boy yelled, standing in front of the Water Hashira.
'It's most likely she will, kid.' Airi thought, hoping that Giyū wouldn't destroy the boy's heart.
"You gotta be kidding," Giyū remarked, "Just now, you were about to be devoured."
"You're wrong! I'm sure she knows who I am! I won't let her hurt anyone! I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human! I swear I'll heal her!" The boy quickly shouted back. Airi couldn't help but notice his earrings.
'I've seen those somewhere.' She thought.
"She can't be healed, kid." Airi said to the boy from the branch. The boy looked up at her quizzically, just noticing her presence. Her long dark hair and white haori danced in the winter breeze as she unveiled her eyes.
The boy looked deeply into them, he could smell and see the sympathy radiating from her.
"Once you become a demon, you can never go back to being a human." Giyū commented as the boy snapped back to him.
"I'll find a way no matter what! So please... So please, don't kill her!" The boy outstretched his arms dramatically and clutched his fist to his chest.
"I'll hunt down the one who slaughtered my family! I'll make everything alright!" The boy started to raise his voice even more as Giyū aimed his sword towards the girl's head.
"Giyū..." Airi mumbled under her breath as she nearly leapt down from the tree.
"Please, please. Don't do it!" The crimson haired boy screamed at Giyū.
Don't take anyone else from me.
The boy cried, speaking inbetween sobs, "I'm begging you not to...Please. Don't kill my little sister! Please don't do it! I'm begging you..." The boy bowed into the snow, begging Giyū not to kill his sister.
Giyū grip on his sword never changed in that moment.
Until he trembled. His aura grew angry.
"Don't ever give others a chance to murder you!" Giyū yelled, his expression angry. Airi had never seen him in this state.
The boy gasped, his eyes widening. Airi felt her heart being torn. She hated seeing a young boy going through such pain.
"Stop that pathetic groveling. If it was the least bit effective, your family wouldn't be dead! Can a weakling who can't take the initiative in such a situation heal his sister?! Hunt down the enemy?! Don't make me laugh!" Giyū spat.
'Hell, Tomioka. I never knew you could be angry.' Airi thought, feeling almost amused at what she was witnessing. She adjusted her position on the tree branch, leaning against the main trunk of the tree.
"The weak have no rights or choices!" Giyū continued on with his rant, "Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong! The demons might know how to cure your sister! But don't think that a demon will respect your will or wishes! Naturally, I have no respect for you, either! That's reality!"
Giyū nearly threw the girl with his arm movements. Airi agreed with Giyū, but she still was slightly irritated with him showing no mercy toward the boy.
The boy had a shocking look on his face as he listened to Giyū's reprimanding.
"Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier?" Giyū questioned the boy, "Was that your way of protecting her? Why didn't you swing your hatchet? Why did you show your back to me? All those blunders led to your sister's capture! I could've skewed her along with you!"
Giyū pointed his sword at the boy. The girl struggled incredibly in Giyū's grip.
"That's enough. Give the kid a break." Airi's tone was bitter toward her companion.
She hated to be angry with him, but she felt it was necessary. The boy's tears never stopped flowing.
'Don't cry,' Giyū thought, 'Don't despair. Now's not the time for that. You are lucky the woman with me is here. I know you're devastated; your family was massacred, and your sister's become a demon. I know it's painful. I know you want to scream. The woman and I get it. If only we'd gotten here half a day sooner, your family might not have ended up dead. But there's no way to turn back time.'
'Feel the rage. The powerful, pure rage of not being able to forgive will become your unswerving drive to take action! With such a fragile resolve like yours, you can't protect your sister or heal her, or get revenge for your family!'
Giyū aimed his shiny sapphire sword once more at the girl.
"No!" The boy yelled as Giyū sliced through her flesh.
Airi's amber eyes widened at the scene. She felt irritated, convicted, emotional. She understood the boy's pain, but she understood her duties as a demon slayer more.
The girl screamed in pain as the boy yelled intensely, "Stop!"
The boy took action, throwing a small stone at Giyū. Giyū had blocked the stone with his sword easily. Airi observed, sweat falling down her face as she intensely watched what would happen next.
A gust of wind intensely blew through the air, creating a harsh moment of a snowy fog. The last thing she saw was the boy running away behind the trees. He was breathing heavily, his hatchet in his hands as he struggled to attack the water pillar.
He threw another stone at Giyū, to which he immediately dodged in a quick, fluid movement. The boy screamed a scream filled with rage, agony, and fear. He charged toward Giyū, driven by emotion, his hatchet no longer in his hands. Airi knew Giyū was being tricked from her perspective.
"You fool!" Giyū spat striking the boy harshly on his back with the grip of his blade. Airi snickered, knowing the boy was unarmed. The boy immediately went unconscious as his sister stared wide-eyed at what happened.
She immediately pinpointed the hatchet from above that nearly struck Giyū's head right off. Giyū was immediately startled by the boy's scheme, and Airi knew he was slightly impressed.
The demon girl struck Giyū in return as he was thrown back. Airi's eyes grew wide.
'Damn!' Both Hashira thought together.
Airi gasped as the demon girl ran in front of her unconscious brother, seemingly protecting him. Both Hashira were stunned, even Giyū's eyes were widened in shock.
The girl charged toward Giyū. Leaping off of the same tree that Airi was resting on, aiming to attack Giyū. Airi grabbed the branch and flipped under it, striking the girl in the neck with her hand tightly held together like a board. The girl was immediately unconscious as she crashed into the soft snow.
"Don't you think you were a little aggressive to them?" Airi asked with nonchalance in her voice.
"Are you out of your mind, Airi? Our job is to slay demons, not be merciful to them!" Giyū retorted, his face growing angrier by the second.
"I saw their auras, idiot! I think the boy is right!" Airi argued back. Giyū grew slightly offended by what she called him. He didn't want her to call him that, not in the slightest.
Giyū breathed in deeply, clearing his thoughts, "Fine. You know we are risking our titles here, right? We could die if we do this?"
"I don't care if we both have to commit seppuku or not. There is something special about these two, and I trust my senses." Airi's tone grew softer and sweeter as she spoke.
The two wrapped the siblings warmly and waited for the boy to regain consciousness. Giyū created a bamboo muzzle, so the girl couldn't bite her brother if she was tempted to.
Immediately after he awakened, the boy with the scar on his forehead grasped on the robe the two Hashira gave his sister. He started crying, crystal tears flowing down his cheeks. He was thankful, extremely thankful.
"You awake?" Giyū asked the boy as the boy gasped, feeling startled.
The boy looked ahead and saw the two experienced Demon Slayers leaning on the same tree. The boy immediately reacted and held his sister in his arms.
"Go see an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri," Giyū spoke, his arms crossed as Airi leaned on his frame, "Tell him that Giyū Tomioka and Airi Hanata sent you."
"She seems to be alright since it's cloudy now," Giyū continued and stepped away from the tree, startling Airi as she nearly lost her balance from leaning on him, "but never let her be exposed to the sunlight, okay?"
After that, Giyū disappeared immediately, leaving a quizzical Airi.
"Hey," Airi stepped forward to him, crouching down to him and his sister.
"If you need help, don't hesitate to come and find me," Airi explained, her eyes screaming kindness and mercy, "I may seem like I'm the big bad wolf, but I understand your pain."
She cupped both siblings' cheeks with her open hands, "Take care of each other."
The boy felt that her eyes were extremely alluring and intoxicating, blushing lightly. All he could do was nod as the little demon girl slept soundly.
Airi gave the boy a small salute before she disappeared the same way as Giyū.
The two Hashira met again a minute after, rushing down the mountain to return to headquarters.
"Do we tell Oyakata-sama we brought mercy to a demon?" Airi questioned Giyū kindly, showing no irritation anymore toward him.
"Not yet." He said, his face returning to it's blank state per usual.
"He'll know when the time is right."