Run. That's all they said. Run and run, no matter what. Run. It's a simple word, yet at that moment in time it was incomprehensible. Run. It sounded distant as she heard the screams of torture, of agony. Run. That's all they had time for. No 'goodbye', no 'I love you', no 'see you later'. Just run. Her long brown hair flowed gracefully in the wind. She had no time to pull it up. They told her to run, and stop for nothing. She barely got out the door with her shoes on. It was cold, and the snow stung her cheeks, but she ran. She was an expert at running, she could out run any boy in the village at the base of the mountain. Her white, pink, and grey patterned haori was barely enough to keep her limbs warm and covered. Her legs were exposed to the cold dancing of the wind, but she ran.
Why was she running? Why were they screaming? What was happening that they didn't want her to see? What was it? Why did she do as they told her? Why didn't they tell her goodbye? Or I love you? Why were they in such a rush to get her to leave?
Her eyes widened as a sudden pain clawed its way into her shoulder and back, and spread through her entire body. She could feel the warmth of her own blood seeping through her clothing as she fell hard onto the ground. She didn't give in though. She would do what her family told her to do, and as her vision started to blur she got up and started to run once again.
Was this why she was running? Was there a feral beast on the loose? No, it was much to big, no animal around got so big it could kill an entire family, or frighten hers as much as it did. So what was it? Why were the claws so sharp? What was it? Why was it so vicious? She didn't understand. The family always babied her, is that why she was the only one running? Why did she always obey? Would she have been better staying?
Her breathing became rushed, and almost nonexistent as she started to stumble on the snow. It was dark, and a wooded area on top of a mountain. She yelped, though, as her foot slid against the snow and she started rolling down the steep side of the mountain. She hit the ground in loud thuds, and rolled into and over a rock. Nearing the bottom of the mountain, she landed upside down with her back against a tree. Her legs fell to the side, and she gasped for air like a fish out of water. She couldn't breath, her vision was blurry. Her heart was pounding so loudly, she couldn't hear anything. Everything hurt. But despite that, she got up again and started walking towards the village. She wasn't far now, maybe she could make it.
She was wrong. She felt the harsh impact of a hand hit her and send her flying into another tree. Maybe it was a bear... She no longer thought about the words of her family. She didn't think about anything. She couldn't. She fell harsh onto the ground and coughed blood up in the process. She couldn't feel anything but the bitter cold. It was as if her entire body was numb. She refused to give up, though, even after seeing the red snow beneath her. She knew she was in bad shape, but she was going to do what her family told her too.
Her legs wobbled as she used the tree she was thrown into as a helper to get up. She could tell just by the pain she had several breaks, but that didn't mean anything to her. She had never felt such enormous pain, but she knew she couldn't give up. Not when she was so close. Her vision was almost completely gone with black specks tainting it. She shook her head in disbelief, she was going to get our alive. She had to, for the sake of her family. She was sure they were dead, but couldn't check to make sure. All she knew was that it was getting harder and harder to breath, much less move at all. Her limbs were heavy, but she couldn't. Not now. Not ever. She picked up the pace once more, not traveling nearly fast enough to get away. But it was something. She felt warmth slide down her cheek and off her chin. She reached up to touch her face, and sure enough, her cheek was bleeding, along with the other side of her forehead.
Her feet stumbled again under her as she lost one of her shoes. Run. It echoed in her mind as she stood back up not daring enough to look for the missing shoe. Run, the voices of her family sang. It was simple. A little to simple, but she finally understood. Run. It's what she's known for. Her speed is unmatched, unheard of.
She flinched as she looked behind her and saw another hand aiming for her. She fell into the ground, but didn't feel anymore pain than what she had before. Instead, she saw a silhouette of a man. She didn't want to burden him further, and stood back up to run.
"Stay still!" The unfamiliar man shouted. It made her flinch, and fall back to the ground. She laid in the cold snow on her side. She wasn't running anymore. Why? Was it because she felt she had to obey every command? Was it because she couldn't? Why? Why wasn't she running anymore?
She saw the man fighting whatever it was that attacked her. Her body was cold, numb. But she could feel the warmth of the blood that seemed to be spilling out of her from everywhere. Her arms, legs, face, torso. All of it was bleeding. Was that why he told her to stay still? She didn't know anything anymore. She wanted to, but didn't. All she knew was that she was going to bleed out like this. She could clearly see the white snow around her turning red, and she knew by the raspy breaths she was taking that she wasn't getting enough oxygen. She didn't want to bear the pain anymore, she didn't. But she had too. No matter what. She wasn't giving up.
She huddled her knees closer to her body as her eyes began to grow heavy. She didn't let them fall closed, though, because she knew what would happen if they did. Instead, she let herself shiver in the cold as she watched the man battle it out with the creature in the darkness. He was preoccupied but looked back a few times to make sure she was still alive. Why did he tell her to stay? Did he want to protect her? Or did he know what she knew? He probably knew what she knew...
After what seemed like forever, the man finally decapitated the beast, and immediately ran to her side. She heard him curse under his breath as he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't know how she was still awake, much less alive. Take it or leave it, he thought to himself as he carefully picked her up. "You're going to be alright, okay? I'll make sure of it." He sounded determined as he rushed through the wooded area as if he knew it growing up. His grip was gentle, it reminded her of her father's when he would pick her up because she fell asleep outside. She did that a lot. She felt safe around her home, and often took naps on the grass during the summer.
"You're... warm..." she concluded but tried her best to stay awake. She had gotten this far, someone was even helping her, why would she give up?
"And you're freezing. Don't try to talk much, you'll only further wound yourself. Just stay alive, I know you have the fight within you." He encouraged her as best he could. She felt safe then, in his arms, it was a fatherly touch. He was most likely a father of his own children, why was her out here helping a stranger? Why did any of this happen? Did she have more luck than her family? Why did she survive out of everyone? She was the most sheltered and babied, is that why? Because they felt the need to protect her?
She coughed in his arms, blood coming out of her mouth from the corners. It was an unsightly scene, but he wasn't far from his destination. She luckily didn't live far to begin with, but it was far enough he knew she wouldn't make it, much less knew about it. He didn't know how or why she was still alive and conscious, but something was obviously driving the girl. What that drive was? He could only guess.
The girl with long brown hair heard the harsh sliding of doors as the man started running down twisting and winding hallways. He didn't slow down, and she didn't know how he could run that fast for so long, especially with added weight.
She heard gasps from all over as the man ran. When he finally stopped his eyes glowed with determination, "Shinobu, Kanae! Please, hurry-!" He spoke with a rushed tone. Just by looking at her they could tell she had been through a lot. The situation was dire. One of the two began shouting commands to near by people as the other showed the man where to put her and how to lay her. Her breathing was thin, and her heartbeat was fading, but she was still awake. Still ready to keep pursuing life. At least for now. She wanted to understand why people did what they did for her sake. She flinched at the pain, and the man was rushed out of the room so they could work properly.
After a few hours, the girl slept peacefully on one of their beds. She was on her side in case of any unseen consequences of the night. A girl with short black hair that faded to purple asked the man, "How did she end up like that, and how is she still alive?"
He peered through the doorway just as confused. "A demon attacked her and her family. I found her in that condition, and yet she still tried running. She seems to be oddly familiar with following orders, though, as when I told her to stay still, she dropped like a fly to the ground and stayed like that."
"Her family?"
"Dead. The demon was already following her when I got there. But the mother of the family was still alive too, but there was no way you or I were going to save her. She told me she had a daughter running down the mountain and to save her. That's all I know." His arms were crossed and he looked down at the short teenage girl.
"Well, I'm just glad she's going to pull through... probably."
Run. It still echoed in her mind. The simple words her family told her. Run, don't stop. Why didn't they run as well? Why was she the only one left? Why...
She jolted up from her sleep with wide eyes, and immediately felt soothing hands on her shoulders. It stung one of them, so she flinched. The hand retaliated from her, and she looked towards it. She saw a familiar looking face, but it wasn't the same. "Who are you?" She said plainly, as if she'd forgotten about the pain she felt everywhere.
His hair was golden with red flares spread out around his face. His eyes looked oddly similar to the man from before, his eyebrows looked similar as well. The once worried look on his face dissipated as a bright smile formed. "I'm the son of the man who found you. Rengoku Kyoujuro!" He said proudly. "What's your name? You never told us before you fell asleep." He explained with the same enthusiastic tone.
"(L/N) (F/N)." Her voice was almost a whisper as her body felt the pain. It soared through every fiber of her being, especially on her back.
"Careful, careful! Your back was severely injured, you should learn to take it easy!"
She gave the boy a confused look with her head tilted slightly, "Take it easy...? I've done nothing but take it easy..." the boy sighed obviously not getting through to her. He seemed to be older than her, and was much more easy going than she was.
A creak of the wood startled (Y/N) as she flinched at the small noise. He noticed her reaction and smiled softly, out of what happened he was surprised she was awake, but even more so that she wasn't screaming her lungs out because of fear. "Sorry, kiddo. Kyoujuro, you should have let us know she was awake." He scolded the boy. (Y/N) looked up and saw the man from the night of the attack. Her face immediately lit up.
"It's not his fault, he didn't have the time to before I tried to get up!"
The man chuckled, "Honest, I like that. Even still, he should let one of us know. On a different note, how are you feeling? I didn't expect you to be awake so soon."
She smiled widely, "I felt better the moment you picked me up. It reminded me of..." she hesitated for a moment, "of when father picked me up when he found me napping outside." She giggled lightly. She must have known. She had to of. So why did she seem so happy? What was going through her head?
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, kiddo, but your family..."
"I know. I could hear it, every bit of it." Her face was blank and her tone was flat. It didn't resemble the happy girl at all, in fact it was like a completely different one. "I don't understand why, though. Why they told me to run... And they didn't." She looked down at her hands. "Is it because I'm weak and sheltered? Or is it because they just wanted to leave me behind... Why didn't they run as well..."
The tall man sighed, "look, kid. They cared about you. That's why. And I can say with certainty... You aren't weak. In fact you're probably one of the strongest people I've met." He smiled as he placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder. When she found her self again, her head lifted along with them corners of her mouth. It was sweet and gentle, but he could tell she was upset. She was only a kid. He looked at her clothing and noticed blood was seeping through them again. She had several broken ribs, one of her legs were fractured badly, along with a dislocated shoulder and two head wounds. Not to mention all the flesh wounds. Some of which were quite bad. Kyoujuro looked hurt just by seeing the sight, and seemed to inch closer to his father. "What made you want to live so badly?" He questioned suddenly after inspecting her back.
"Momma and brother told me to run and to not stop. So that is what I did. I ran and didn't stop..." She paused, "until you told me to." He couldn't deny her words as false. If she were to become a demon slayer... She would probably be great at it.
"Well, why don't you consider training with my son and I, to become a demon slayer, of course. I think you have what it takes. Sure you'd be behind him, but nothing a little extra work can't fix." He smiled brightly, and Kyoujuro seemed to mimic it perfectly. She had no choice but to accept. Where else would she go?
A/N: most chapter will be in second person... Unless, of course, it's not. Also the timing isn't perfect, and in future chapters, I'm only guessing at what age each character did what they had done in the manga. Sorry about that 🙏 (YALL 😭, it's supposed to be xREADER but I was 15 when I wrote this and I'm NOT rewriting it, like get over the fact I said she had brown hair please 🙏 )