Info on the story:
Makomo is 13 here, I wanted to make Makomo a little of a rebel, so she escaped to the final selection as soon as she had cut the rock, even tough Urokodaki san told her not to.
Also for this, both Makomo and Giyuu faked their age.
For Giyuu it was a little harder since she didn't look like she was 14, but a small show in her skill helped.
Now onto the story.
Giyuu is 12 now, right the day she started the final selection.
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Nighmares, for 2 entire months after the dream. Giyuu had seen her fair share of nighmares from Sabito being decapitated before waking up.
Not even mencioning how many more nightmares brought the death of the others. It was clear that she not only needed more than 3 years to train but two more years to recover mentally from all the memories.
Everyone was important for her, they truly where, but that gruesome memory appeared every week, almost every day, as if it was a warning of sorts.
So when she saw Makomo almost getting killed by the hand demon, something was triggered.
Everything that came after this felt like a blurry vision as her body began to move on her own. Dodging every arm as if it was second nature, but only for a moment as she went on a full panic at the sight of Makomo starting to loose her stance against the enemy. One of the arms getting ready to grab her leg. She sprinted as fast as she could leaving her guard down.
Somehow Makomo was faster and was able to dodge just fine, but now ever step was filled with raw emotion.
"Makomo! Control your-- aghk--"
Giyuu looked over her right arm to find a large cut that extended from the shoulder to the elbow. Luckily it wasn't as deep as it looked, yet it still hurt just enough for her to slow down.
"I can't loose her ....something, anything..." her eyes wondered to the trees around her.
The sound of a sword breaking made her look back at the fight as four arms reached for every limb of the surprised Makomo.
She ran to her using the total concentration technique, grabbing the broken part of the Katana from the sky and gripping it until blood dripped from her hand, it was enough for the next move.
"Eleventh form, dead calm."
All of the incoming arms had suddently ceased or been cut off as they banished. It wasn't as quick as she imagined it, neither did stop all of the attacks beforehand so she had to run now.
"What the-- YOU!!"
Giyuu had grabbed Makomo once she ran past the hand demon, who was still surprised at the new technique, soon both of them where hidding in the trees.
That was too dangerous.
I know how you feel, it is horrible to think of how many children he has eaten.
I hate him just as much as you do, maybe even more.
I'm sorry I should have brought at least an axe.
Please calm down Makomo....please..
You can't win this with emotion alone, none of us can.
She wants to say it...to say the past of how many kids were bound to be killed later. She had hoped that maybe once she meets Sabito and helps him train, maybe then will he be able to kill the hand demon.
Life doesn't get planned out that way.
"Makomo, we can't attack him now... Are you okay?"
The older girl hadn't said anything for a while, trying to control her emotions and fears after almost dying over there.
"...Alright... " Her voice was so low she almost couldn't hear it.
"Let's treat the wounds, the sun is com..ing." Just the one thing Giyuu had never been good at, comforting .No matter how many lives, she couldn't even comfort her own sadness.
The tears in Makomo's face began to fall on the ground with quiet sobs and hiccups being held as quietly as possible.
Giyuu knew she wasn't the best, so she began to think of what Tanjuro would do in this situation.
She streched out her arms waiting for Makomo to understand, in which she almost launched herself towards Giyuu, the smallest on the other hand, was trying her best to hide the pain from her arm.
"I'm sorry it's...I just..."
"It's okay... It must be hard." it's hard for me too.
Giyuu let go of the handle from the broken sword to pat Makomo in the back. An awkward pat but it helped as the oldest one began to flow with tears once more, hiding her wails. She had been angered by the many that had been lost, but the sadness towards the news was far greater than that.
They had not moved for what seemed two hours now.
"Ne, Makomo-Chan....are you okay now?" the crying had stopped for a while but she still wasn't letting go. The wounds would get infected if they weren't being treated.
At least Shinobu won't kill me, yet.
A small nod from the elder answered her question.
"How about we go to sleep, the sun is already out, later we can plan on killing the hand demon."
Makomo raised her head to meet Giyuu's, giving a soft smile as she wiped her tears with her hand, sniffing in the process.
"Yeah... But before that..." Makomo said as she ripped a chunk of her master's haori.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" that's Urokodaki's!!
"You have to bandage up that big wound you have."
"Ah, right."
They slept all the way until afternoon after bandaging up, and at night they began to find Makomo's shattered sword and fox mask.
"Where do you think he could have headed down to?" Giyuu asked once she picked up a part of the mask.
"...I don't think it would be far... He must have eaten one kid at least before going back in the shade."
Just as predicted, they found two dead bodies on the floor.
"Both are from water breath users" Giyuu brought her hands on her mouth as to stop a gasp coming out.
Everything she saw was her past life, or a dream as she imagined it, being so close to seeing the gruesome scene of her fellow demon slayer members was a first in this timeline.
The smell of rotten flesh, the sightbof the decaying skin, the sounds of larva and mosquitos piling up, the uncomfortable twist in both of their stomachs.
Her mind went back to Tsutako. No, at least her head and arms were still intact, unlike...
Without a need of words, both Giyuu and Makomo took the katanas that seemed a little chipped, but it was better than having nothing.
Then, they began to carry the bodies to a nearby river, letting them be washed away, getting far away from demons that might come to eat the rest. If they had buried them then the demons might bury them alive, but if the river took them to another place then the villagers will find them and bury them instead.
With that done they headed back to find the trail of pushed trees and broken tree braches which the hand demon left.
"We should try to attack it when it's not looking, then go for the neck while the other goes to distract it. Giyuu, you might be able to do the latter with that breathing technique of yours."
The youngest noded back.
"Say, where did you learn that?" As far as she could remember, Urokodaki-San never showed her that kind of technique.
"I tought it myself..."
"Eh?! Thats so cool! You should totally teach me how to do it sometime~" Her smile was back again, a little tired but she still went on to talk about whatever her mind desired.
Makomo sure knows how to lighten the mood.
Giyuu is thankful for that.
I don't think I could live in solitude again.
As much as the calm and quiet atmosphere filled filled her with ease, sometimes the silence was too much and his mind would wonder to another place, another sad time.
It would be nice if she could fill that silence up before her mind traveled to the past.
The fifth night had come and nothing was found about the demon, at the very least they could teach each other new things while searching for him.
"So you have to go really really fast while doing the most minuscule of movements."
"...that...you trained for how long?"
"Around 4 years" As far as she remembered really, while she only started to train with her sword a few two years ago, the rest was concentrated on her breathing techniques.
And also...
"Never forget about it." That snowy night in the mountains.
"Don't focus, just breathe, don't think." The dance she couldn't do every year, but she could still imitate it nonetheless.
"This is going to be hard." Makomo laughed out the pain as she got closer to learning the 11th form. She was quick and precise, even faster than her to be honest, but something was lacking.
This was the first time the eleventh form had been used by someone other than her, so maybe it had to do with the user.
The sixth night passed and the wounds were getting better, and by better is that they didn't hurt as much, tough the infections... they don't know, they might have to check with a doctor later on.
No news about the hand demon also, but they got better at finding his paths from the sight of the broken trees that parted his way.
It was finally the seventh night. The last night.
The only time they will get to kill him.
After three days of searching and recovering, they finally got him.
Just a second late and he would have eaten another kid but Makomo's sword was faster as she waterwheeled towards him, catching the boy in sight.
"Get out." those two words were enough for the boy to start running.
"Aww so the two weak little foxes finally appeared uhuehehe."
"Shut your mouth, you are the pathetic one here, hidding away." this time it was Giyuu who was commenting on him, trying to buy some time so that Makomo could control herself in the mean time.
It must reached his ego because without a second warning four hands rushed to grab them.
Once again Giyuu sliced them like it was second nature while Makomo was able to ready her stance, clean cuts came from both their blades as they ran to the demon.
"Giyuu!"
"Yes!"
Makomo headed foward as Giyuu concentrated on her technique behind her.
Makomo began to vertically spin forward in the air, gaining momentum from the several hands that had she stepped on.
"Water breathing, second form. Modified."
"Third form: flowing dance." with that Giyuu swung her blade, slashing every hand in a constant dance that tried to attack Makomo from the rear or back.
Meanwhile Makomo released her flowing attack in two circular motions, one that cut down the protection of the hand demon. She used the other to jump back at the direction in which she came from while also slashing down the other side of his body.
Instead of a waterwheel, Makomo had made a cross that worked in surprising the hand demon.
She stepped back with Giyuu to the ground as the temptation they did was enough.
Already mocked, both of his defenses were cut, but it was not enough to bring him down, almost as if he was being played by the two, his pride was hurt and made no hesitation with his next attack from underground.
Both of them feeling the ground below rumble, jumped as fast as the could away from the ground.
The hands had come from the opposite sides of the field, making both girls run to the same place at opposite sides of the field. With nowhere to climb as the demon had blocked away the path to the forests.
Once the hands where surrounding them from all places, Makomo began to think of her next move.
On the other side, a few hands had joined toguether to make an even bigger hand.
"Second form," Giyuu, with her back against Makomo's, ran towards the bigger hand.
She jumped before the hand could reach her, and moved all of her body to make the next technique.
"Waterwheel."
The wrist was cut cleanly. The hand disintegrating a second after she stepped on the floor.
"Eight form: Waterfall Basin." Like the crashes of a waterfall, Makomo swung her sword vertically to finish off two hands at the same time.
In matter of seconds, the rest of the hands where handled by Giyuu as Makomo headed down to cut the demon's body.
The two girls used the moment that the hand demon had been unguarded to bring out their last attack.
"First form: Water surface slash."
Giyuu made momentum to create a powerful slash which could cut down the hands behind Makomo, giving an opening for her to land a strike.
"Second form modified." in less than a second, before the neck could be regenerated from the last attack, Makomo swinged one last time her sword cutting the neck with a horizontal spin.
The head finally fell to the ground. Decaying in the process.
"We did it!" Makomo rushed down from the other side of the demon's body to hug Giyuu who was trying to catch her breath and her worries.
"Haha yeah!" she let a small tear fall off her cheek.
She got change the story once again, this time on purpose, maybe there was still hope for them after all.
Best of all, she didn't need to break her lungs in doing the concentration breathing.
As far as she could tell, her body was still small to do such things. But after a year she might be able to get there.
Something caught her eye while she was zooming out. The demon had begun to cry.
Slowly breaking the hug, she walked down to the demon which surprised Makomo, curiously eyeing her.
"There was a boy... He defeated you in another time."
She grabbed one of the demons hands which were reached out to them.
"To dispell the regrets of those killed. To stop any more victims from suffering. I will relentlessly wield my blade, and that is a fact. But I will not trample on the pains of being a demon, nor on those who regret their own actions."
It was the first time I saw him that angry.
"He told me to remember that you were once just like us... Well not you exactly...that every demon was just a human before who wanted to live..."
She closed the hand of the demon.
"You made the worst things, you killed those who just wanted to survived... But now I can't blame you."
Another memory of the dream, this time it was Tanjiro who had just been turned into a demon.
A smiled crossed her face "I know you never wished for this too." and with that she let go.
"I'm...sorry."
Makomo widen her eyes at the sight, and the last words from the demon.
Giyuu would have still kept her cold towards them if she hadn't seen the miracle that was Nezuko. And if she hadn't seen the curse that was Tanjiro after the battle with Muzan.
The Kamado siblings really changed her to view the demons as a pitiful creature. A new reason to spare them from this cruel upbringing.
But It also fueled her hatred even more towards Muzan.
A lot more.
"Makomo-chan, I'm sure Urokodaki-Sama will be happy to know his pupils won't die anymore "
Sabito won't die anymore.
Tanjiro will have safer upbringing.
And Urokodaki-San won't grieve again.
Makomo gave a weak smile in response.
"Lets go, we finally cleared the final selection"
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Author: *doesn't know how to write fighting scenes*
Also author: lets make a fanfic about a show that involves 80% fighting.