It was already February, the same time of her birthday as if it wasn't ironic before.
Giyuu felt her stomach twist inside once she had arrived at the wisteria mountain. Her eyes started to look around for someone that might have appeared in the dream, or rather, her past life.
Everything felt so nostalgic to her, from the trees full of purple, to the sight of the twenty or so kids all with a few different trademarks to distinguish them, to the woman at the top holding a paper lantern.
She couldn't help but remember all of the gruesome memories that had resurfaced at the scenery. Still she had to keep a straight face.
"The Final Selection..."
Her major point here was to survive, and even if she had to get involved in fighting then around half of the breath users were water breath so she didn't worry about where she could get a blade from.
"Of course it would be a pain if I encountered the hand demon alone."
"Hm? Hand demon?"
A girl with raven short hair and blue bell eyes had appeared behind without her noticing.
I was too concentrated in my thoughts, dammit.
"Hm? I see you don't have a blade with you, did your teacher not lent it to you?" the petite girl said as her cyan eyes traveled to examine her carefully.
"I...I don't have a blade."
"So how are you going to cut a demon's head? The Nirichin blades are the only thing which can kill a demon you know."
"I... just need to survive." While it sounded a bit selfish, that was the only main point in the final selection, in the dream he hadn't even killed a single demon that week thanks to Sabito, and while he did try to find the hand demon it was already too late.
"Well I guess that's true... Say, do you want to be paired up with me once we enter here?"
Just as Giyuu was about to refuse, she noticed the fox mask dangling from the girl's head, it was obvious as to who she was now.
"Yes, what's your name?"
"Oh, right I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Makomo"
"Tomioka Giyuu."
Just as they finished, the young woman of white hair who looked a little older than Makomo, began to talk.
"Welcome to the final selection your goal here will be to survive these seven days. Good luck to all of you."
The final selection had started.
On the first day not much was shown apart from 2 demons appearing, but Makomo had managed to kill them in one technique.
"Makomo, who trained you?" It was obvious by the fox mask and the great reflexes that Urokodaki-San was her teacher, but the silence needed to be broken once in a while, and Giyuu was worried for her old master.
She hadn't known about him throughout all these years, and if her memory served her well, then she should have been training with him now.
Urokodaki-San must have found a better student.
After all, Giyuu had never met Makomo.
"Oh Urokodaki-San! he took me in when my family had just been killed by a demon, and well I tried to train as much as I could from him as a way to thank him and get my revenge."
Giyuu kept on listening the many tales of her and Urokodaki-San as they both ate some berries, warming themselves with the small fire placed in the middle.
"....Then there's Sabito." Giyuu's eyes avarted from the sky to her direction as fast as they could, paying full attention to every word she said from that name foward.
"He's only twelve but his strength is a lot more than what mine was when I was his age, he's also a fast learner, I'm guessing he will start the final selection next year."
"So, his family had died." Already.
Giyuu's stomach had a bittersweet feeling inside of her.
Maybe I should have started a year before.
It was just like the day he found Tanjiro on the snow. She was always too late to save someone's happiness she cared about.
"Yeah...hey Giyuu if it isn't much trouble for you, why did you choose to become a demon slayer?"
"My sister...she died while trying to protect me from a demon." Makomo's eyes softened, her lips turning into a small frown.
"I'm sorry for your loss Giyuu."
"It's alright." After all, every other slayer had it worse than her.
Makomo made sure to change the subject after that.
"Right what about you Giyuu? Who's your teacher?"
She stopped her tongue she could say Urokodaki-San, and slowly tried to think back to the person who trained her this time.
"It's Otou-San for me."
"Oh my, that's nice, I would have never thought of a father wanting to teach his daughter, especially after knowing how dangerous demon slaying can be."
"He's not my real Otou-San, I call him that because he adopted me after my sister died."
"Oh, alright! And now let's talk about something else....something like..." Her mind drifterd for a few moments for later to start smirking like a dork.
"Are there any types of boys you like?!"
This was going to be a long night.
She started to look up at the sky, closing her eyes as Makomo began her long ramble of cute boys she saw at the entrance.
___
It was indeed a long night, but after the sun had risen once again for the fourth time in this place, those long nights grew to be more accustomed to Giyuu.
They had also learned more about each other in the mean time.
Makomo was an agile and a merciless slayer, not even giving a second thought after a demon had once beg her to not kill her, a surprise one might find when they where facing against weaker demons who have only eaten one or two demons to get their consciousness back.
Yet somehow she was one of the nicest and most calmed person's Giyuu had ever seen in a while, it reminded her of someone from a long time.
Shinobu would love this girl.
Once again her mind trailed to those times where the bold butterfly appeared next to her, teasing him and waiting for his reaction.
Honestly it did made her laugh at some points, and at least someone was with her past self, and to her that was all she cared about.
"You don't talk to a lot of people and never try to correct anyone from misunderstanding you. This is why everyone hates you you know-"
Wait...will I be hated by everyone again?
Giyuu's face turned to watch Makomo as she once again killed another demon with ease.
Should I make friends then?
"This might be more easy than I had expected, don't you think the same Giyuu?"
Giyuu snapped back to reality as the girl shined a smile on her.
I guess it would hurt to have a friend.
Such words caused for the hand demon to finally appear behind the trees, making Giyuu remind herself as to what happened that night. Also just to jinx it because at this point the heavens said why not, crush her hopes at this point.
"Uehehehe, oh my, just what delicious food do we have here? And is that a..." His eyes widened at the sight of the girl's fox mask.
"Oh such a lucky day for me indeed! It seems as though that old man never stops to bring in more of those kids I see, just what I would expect from Urokodaki."
"All of the demons had died from the final selection, except one."
Tanjiro's letter came to mind.
"I killed the demon that had been terrorizing the Urokodaki kids, though I don't know Tomioka-san ever found him, but he is gone now.
All of Urokodaki's students can now rest in peace, you don't have to worry anymore too Tomioka-san."
So it was him.
If the sings of that monster eating more children than any other demon here wasn't enough, he also had the audacity of insulting Urokodaki's name infront of the girl who she looked up to him more than anyone.
"Shut up..."
Giyuu began to curse as she tried grabbing her sword out from habit, only to remember she had come unarmed.
"Oh why are you looking at me as if I'm the bad guy here, well I certainly am, but I'm not the man who keeps on training new students only for them to die so tragically once they come here. Ueheheh Uheehuhhahah."
"...shut it" at this point Makomo had already begun to shake, not from fear, but from the anger that she was trying to contain in order to kill the demon.
"One of them was killed because they lost their temper."
"Makomo. We have to calm down." Giyuu began to call out to her, taking the time the hand demon had given them with his speech, to look at their surroundings.
Only the greatest swordsmen could show their fears and their anger, could pour all of their emotions behind the sword, because at that point they had mastered their techniques as if it was an extension of themselves.
Makomo and Giyuu where not on that level.
"Uhuhu, and why aren't you running away, you don't even have a sword?, are you planing to die along with her and the other fox children?" Giyuu's eyes twitched, though after all the years of taunting, even Shinobu knew how to do better than this.
But on the other side, Makomo had lost her temper at that, and began her attacks.