|| 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨' 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 ||

♧︎︎︎

|| 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 ||
007

ꨄ︎

tanjiro kamado pov

the reason i was able to start winning, was after i started to be able to smell the "line of interval". when i am fighting if i am able to detect that smell, then i can see the lines.

the lines connect my blade to the opponent's slight pause in their movements and the moment i see it, the lines become taut. my blade will then be guided by the line and slice into that interval.

i let out a small pant as i stared widely at the boulder i had manage to slice. i knew that it was sabito's mask that i had cut and not the boulder, what happened?

"tanjiro!!" i heard a squeal from the side, i look up and noticed y/n running towards my direction and on her arms laid rokuta who had been waving his arms for me to notice him.

"y/n, rokuta." i said as i stood straight and my body faced them.

y/n then congratulated me, she then talked about how awesome it was for me to struck first which leaves rokuta mesmerized by it, and that she was a bit startled by the sudden disappearance of sabito and makomo. i didn't even got the chance to thank sabito who had been by my side for a year, he had manage to encourage me to work harder which brings me into slicing the boulder.

just then. i saw urokodaki-san approaching the three of us, it had been two years since we started living with him but none of us had seen what's behind the mask, nor do we have the nerve to even ask what's hidden behind it.

"the reason i didn't want you to go join the final selection, was because i didn't want to see children die of this anymore. but i didn't count in you being able to slice that boulder."

"i knew from the moment that y/n would be a great asset count to the demon slayer corps, but i didn't want anymore children dying on me so i had given you both a large boulder that i knew you couldn't slice."

"i guess i was wrong when y/n had manage to cut it 6 months after showing you the boulder, that then i had concluded that i'll be sending her and not you, tanjiro."

"but still you had manage to slice it, you did well."

said him as he stopped in front of me and y/n before patting our heads.

"tanjiro, you are an impressive kid."

"y/n, you are born a natural. use it for a the better good, an impressive young lass."

he had complimented, earning a few of my tears to shed. it feels nice to be acknowledged, the hard work of me training for 2 years had paid off.

"you both must come back alive from the final selection. this old man, along with your siblings will wait for you right here." said urokodaki-san before embracing the two of us, i clutch his haori as i buried my head on his shoulder letting out small sobs.

✰★✰

y/n kamado pov

"tanjiro!"

"i can't believe your cutting your long hair!"

"bring it back you moron!"

the room had been filled with my complaint as i watch tanjiro cut his beautiful shoulder length hair.

just then, urokodaki-san came and handed us a hand-carved fox mask crafted by him. tanjiro's mask had a red, sun-shaped symbol over his scar. the color and shape of this symbol resemble the design on tanjiro's hanafuda earrings. he then gave me mine, the left side of the mask is filled with red curly stripes with varying lengths and on the top left corner laid the same sun-shaped symbol as tanjiro's.

"these masks are called 'the mask of disaster prevention', it would protect the both of you from being plagued by bad luck." stated urokodaki-san as he watch us stare at the warding mask he had created with mesmerization.

"thank you for this." i stated as i gestured the warding mask he had created.

✰★✰

"urokodaki-san we're leaving!" i stated as i ran ahead of tanjiro, slowly turning to wave at urokodaki-san who stood in front of his house.

"please take care of sabito and makomo too!" stated tanjiro, waving at urokodaki-san before catching up to me.

we then run towards fujikasaneyama, the place of the final selection. it was a long way i admit, but it is worth the while as we'll be demon slayers after passing the test.

"how do you think the test will go?" questioned tanjiro as we neared the location.

"probably fight off demons, what else are we suppose to do other than that?" i answered, tanjiro then shrugged nodding his head in agreement.

we had left nezuko and rokuta to urokodaki-san's care, he had earned our trust when we first started training with him that's why we knew he wouldn't let anything happen to the both of them.

to be honest, i think it will be best to leave nezuko and rokuta to urokodaki-san as we know he'll be taking care of them. a demon slayer's job is risky and dangerous, i wouldn't want to put both nezuko and rokuta into danger and i do admit that they'll only get in the way considering rokuta is still a young child and he shouldn't be experiencing nor seeing tanjiro and i kill off demons.

just then tanjiro came into a halt causing me to do the same, we then stared at the view in front of us. the whole place is surrounded by wisteria flowers.

"wow, it's wisteria." mumbled tanjiro as he touched one, staring at it with such mesmerization.

"wasn't wisteria supposed to not bloom this season?" questioned tanjiro, i then shook my head clearly not sure.

after analyzing the location, we then entered and found many people probably around twenty or so, they must be around our age. i look around and found at least three that stood out to me, the one with a scar, the yellow-hair, and the girl who had her hair tied on the side.

just then two unusual looking dolls came forward, i stared at them dumbfounded. are they dolls? are those dolls? what even is a doll? fuck am i turning stupid?

the one on the left, he had a pale skin and large eyes. his hair is black, a blunt bob with a fringe covering his eyebrows. he had worn a purple kimono with patterned flowers and a green obi and his head is adorned with a wisteria headpiece.

the other one, she also had a pale skin and large eyes. her hair is white, a blunt bob with a fringe covering her eyebrows, the same as the black-haired kid. she then wore a purple, flower-patterned kimono and a green obi. she also adorn a wisteria headpiece.

are they siblings?

"greetings everyone."

"thank you all for joining the final selection tonight. there are a lot of demons held captive on this mountain brought back by demon killing swordsmen."

"they are unable to leave because from the mountain foot to half way up, there are a lot of demon repelling wisteria that bloom all year round."

i see, this is why there are a lot of wisteria plants surrounding the location. the demons must have hated wisteria and tends to avoid them, this way they couldn't leave the mountain.

"however, from here on out, there are no more wisteria. only demons."

"if you can survive here for 7 days, then you pass the final selection. now let the final selection begin."

then the test had began, me and tanjiro accidentally separated ways. i thought he was following me when i rushed inside but guess i was wrong, he must have lost me when i rushed in. i'll find him later morning, for now i need to survive this night.

"hey hey hey."

"look what we have here, a fresh young lass ready to be eaten by me."

stated the demon, not giving me a time to react, he pounced into me but i immediately grab hold of my blade before slashing his arms.

"quite the move, i'll regenerate though." stated him as he showed his slowly regenerating body, i let out a small sigh not wanting to deal with him anymore.

seeing the distance between the two of us, i'd say we're at least three to four meters away which is not that far.

"total concentration."

"water breathing, first form: water surface slash."

i mumbled out before disappearing on my place, leaving the demon confused. within a matter of second, i had slashed his neck causing the head to fly out and let out a thud on the ground.

"h-how?"

i didn't really disappear, i was just fast enough to not be seen by him before slashing his neck. there are too many openings, if he had work that out then just maybe i'll have a hard time battling him.

"water breathing, first form: water surface slash." i let out before slashing the demon who's a few inches away from my behind.

"work out your presence, i can sense you from the beginning." i said watching as they turn into ashes.

i let out a small sigh before continued my way, trying to survive the night. not until i heard screaming, then i spotted a young lad running away with a fearful look on his face.

"why is there such a large type of mutant here?"

"i didn't hear about this!"

just then came a large demon, the demon had a green skin and had mutiple arms. one of his hand holds a dead boy, he then bring him towards its mouth before swallowing the boy whole.

"must be delicious." i mumbled out horrified, they expect us to survive here when they keep a large mutant in?

rushing towards the scene, the demon shoot one of his arms towards the young lad, grabbing hold of his legs before dragging him.

i was about to free the young lad, then came tanjiro with his water wheel.

"tanjiro!" i shouted before rushing towards his side, i then covered the young lad to protect him.

"oh?"

"here comes another cute little fox."

said the demon as he stared at us, what the--- is this demon deranged? he must be insane.

cute little fox?

what does he mean by that?

maybe our warding mask? but then he stated about another cute little fox, did he encountered someone like us before?

wait no.

don't tell me.

✰★✰

third person

"sabito, will tanjiro and y/n be able to win against it?" questioned makomo, a worried look plastered on her face as she stared at sabito who sat on top of the sliced boulder.

"i don't know."

"he, no matter how large of an effort he makes, it will still not be enough."

"then y/n, she had what it takes. let's just hope she does not tire out."

"but still no matter how hard they try, it wouldn't be enough. you know that as well, right?"

makomo then looked down, she could never shake the bothered feeling. she's quite scared for tanjiro and y/n's life and had prayed for them to fight and take down that large mutant to avoid any more of urokodaki-san's descendant dead.

y/n kamado

"tanjiro, are you alright?" i questioned nearing towards him, yet still protecting the young lad who stayed frozen behind me.

"hey little fox, what year of the meiji era is it?" question the demon.

meiji era?

"what do you mean? it's the taisho era right now." i answered.

"ahHhhHh."

"the era name!"

"even the era name changed too!"

shouted the large mutant as he made the ground shake, scratching his face with his fingers and just making noises all over the place.

"damn you urokodaki!"

"damn you urokodaki!"

"damn you urokodaki!"

"alright we get it, shut up for now!" i shouted back, what the hell is he doing? is he trying to break my eardrums?

"why do you hate urokodaki sensei so much?" questioned tanjiro as he stared at the demon who had stopped making noise because of my outburst earlier.

"you know why! i was captured by urokodaki, i won't forget that moment 47 years ago. he was still hunting demons back then. it was during the edo period, during the keio era." said the large mutant.

edo period?

that's so long ago, quite surprising he had manage to survive here by eating the children who take part of the test.

"you're lying!"

"there aren't supposed to be any demons here that have lived long that because the demons here should only have eaten two or three people only and demons are killed during the selection. also demons kill each other which makes this impossible---

"alright we get it big brain, the noises you all cause is making my head hurt." i said covering the mouth of the young lad with my hand.

"but i still remain alive."

"in this prison of wisteria, i've eaten a total of fifty small kids."

"well that's not something to be proud of." i mumbled, rolling my eyes as he started counting the children he had eaten.

"twelve."

"thirteen."

"and then, you're fourteenth." said the large mutant pointing at tanjiro, before swinging to his left and his eyes meeting mine.

"you're fifteenth." he continued, pointing at me with one of his hands.

"what are you talking about?" said tanjiro as he his face screams 'petrified'.

"i'm counting the number of urokodaki's apprentices i've swallowed."

"i've decided to kill all of his apprentices."

he chuckled, covering his mouth with two of his hands.

i see. i've had a feeling since then, when sabito and makomo disappeared after tanjiro had sliced the boulder.

i wasn't sure at first but seeing how this large mutant had been explaining how he had swallowed urokodaki-san's apprentices before, then i'm guessing sabito and makomo is one of them.

filthy bastard.

i stared at the ground, a shadow covering my eyes as i clenched my fists. all this time, i had grew closer to makomo who had entertained me and help take care of rokuta. then sabito who had taught me some fighting techniques that i could possibly do when fighting off a demon.

"the kid with that rare hair color was the strongest. he had a head covered with peach hair and a scar on one of the corners of his mouth."

"the other was a little girl wearing a flower patterned clothing. even though she was small and not very powerful, she was quick and light with her movements."

i heard tanjiro's breathing uneven. he must have been realizing that sabito and makomo had died long ago, they weren't real in the first place.

"fufufu."

"when i said these words, that little girl was so angry, she had tears running at the corners of her eyes."

"fufufu."

i don't know why, but the feeling of hatred and rage had been filling me. must be because he had killed sabito and makomo.

"after that, her movements became rigid."

"fufufu."

"so i plucked off her arms and legs."

i felt paralyzed.

my body didn't move at all, i noticed tanjiro's presence had moved. i then heard slashing, he must have been fighting off the large mutant.

just then, i heard tanjiro scream before flying towards the other side. his body hitting the ground then towards the tree and becoming unconscious.

then the young lad that tanjiro had saved earlier ran out, leaving me and tanjiro behind. just like that?

i then stared at the large mutant who had sent his arms towards tanjiro's unconscious form. then, something just snaps inside of me.

"hinokami kagura."

"raging sun."

i mumbled before fleeing towards the arms in an instant, then unleashing two horizontal slashes, slicing the arms that are approaching tanjiro's form.

"hey."

"if you tried touching my cousin, i'll behead you myself."

i mumbled, my voice deepening. i tilt my head on the side staring at the large mutant psychopathically.

just then, tanjiro had woken up and his body immediately on guard as he stared at the large mutant in front of us.

the large mutant then didn't reply to what i had said earlier and instead send off his arms towards us. slicing it off easily, not caring whether it would be endless.

noticing tanjiro, he had jump as many arms came flying up the ground. just then a hand came towards his direction but he had blocked it using his forehead.

just how strong is that forehead of his?

"y/n, i'm aiming for the neck!" shouted tanjiro, i then stared at him dumbfounded wondering why he had blurted it out.

i then noticed the hidden meaning, he had blurted it out to let me know where he is aiming for. if he didn't succeed, i would be the one finishing the large mutant off.

realizing his tactics, i immediately jump towards one of the arms, running towards the head and aiming my blade towards its neck.

realizing tanjiro's form and determination. he will surely succeed. there is nothing for me to do, but to make sure nothing is about to happen to tanjiro before he could slice the head.

"total concentration."

"water breathing, third form: flowing dance."

i mumbled before slashing the remaining arms.

"water surface slice."

i heard tanjiro said, i then turned around seeing how he had slice the head flawlessly.

tch, i could have slice the head myself.

guess it's tanjiro's time to shine.

ఌ︎

To be Continued...

chapters six and seven is now out, what do you think?

i can also smell the slow burn lingering through the air, can you? (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

Updates every:
sunday

see yaaaa! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ