As the sun rose, the wind slowly weaved through trees, and a soft whistle echoed through the peaceful hands of nature. The warmth of the sun and the coolness of the air made many wish they could sleep in forever.
Perched on a branch, Eira's crow glistened, out of place. A white speck in a sea of brown and green. For the entire night, the crow had been observing Ali and Kaze as they fought and then became friends. The white bird had been sitting on a high branch, still and silent for over an hour.
In the many years of service, the white crow only had one close friend. Unfortunately, that friend had passed away. The sole pillar of joy and happiness, the one break from work in the albino crow's life died. Now the white crow's days seemed to blend into one long continuous timeline, work, sleep, eat, all of the events blended into one.
But when the crow gazed upon Kaze and Ali laughing together, memories of that one friend resurfaced. The smiles, laughs and joy they shared.
The crow flapped his wings and soared into the sky, the air rushed past his ageing feathers. As he glided through the sky gently, a single tear formed in his eye and dropped down towards the ground below. The crow continued flying towards Eira.
The sunrise greeted millions. It brought vibrancy to the boundless lands, the colours that had been dimmed by night's darkness now glew once again. One particular field of flowers lit up with a scheme of different colours, their joint dancing now visible to all those passing by. The wind softly reached down and touched the petals as it brushed past.
Asumi stood, holding a basket in her hands, she stared at the beautiful flowers that now defined her life in retirement. She wore gardening attire, thick gloves and a straw hat to protect her fair skin from the sun, she didn't want a sunburn. She had returned to her family business. Even with the most rest she had in her life, her eyebags had grown more prominent and her eyes seemed to lower with a certain sadness.
She had to get to work, she inhaled deeply and began to walk out to the field of flowers, her eyes searching for perfectly blossomed flowers to pick for their shop today.
"Hello," A voice startled Asumi. Asumi looked up. There stood a young girl with beautiful dark eyes. She had a worn-down school uniform with notable scratches and sewn-together tears. Her hair was tied into two pigtails, and her big eyes stared at Asumi.
"Hi," Asumi smiled at the little girl and bent to meet her eyes, "What are you doing here?"
The little girl's cheeks filled with a blush at Asumi's direct question. Almost as if the conversation didn't go as she had wanted it to. She began to fiddle with her fingers and avoided eye contact with Asumi.
"Looking at flowers…" The little girl spoke softer than previously, "You have really pretty eyes…"
Asumi couldn't fight back a giggle at the abrupt compliment. The way kids complimented awkwardly was so cute. With a deep inhale, she looked to her left to be met by a perfect light purple Dwarf Iris. Begging to be picked, its youthful glow and vibrant colour seemed like a perfect match for the little girl in front of it. Asumi's hands gripped the flower stem and she carefully snipped it with her scissors. She held the flower out to the little girl.
"You know… These usually cost but I think this flower likes you too much to be paid for," Asumi held out the flower to the timid girl, "See the way it's leaning towards you? Like it wants to kiss you,"
"Really? Thank you so much," The girl smiled, her dimples showing. She reached out to the flower and smiled even brighter. With that, the girl skipped away. Asumi was left with a smile on her face, she took a deep breath and adjusted the straw hat on her head. She began to collect flowers again.
The scent of the flowers wafted across the entire town, the heavy flora scent induced calmness in the entire town. Lilies, roses, daffodils and tulips. Some of the many flowers that grew their roots in the soil of the Earth. Yet, there was a certain flower that only bloomed in certain places.
The purple hue of Wisteria almost gleamed off an aura as Kaze limped towards the large building that had "WISTERIA HOUSE" flying on large banners. It was hidden well, deep in a forest, yet it seemed painfully obvious. Wisteria flowers sprouted around the house and were hung on the walls. A potent deterrent to most demons.
Kaze knocked on the large door and grunted as he felt remnants of pain reignite as the shock travelled through his arm. The door creaked open, an old man with long grey eyebrows stared at Kaze and sighed. Kaze smiled awkwardly and bowed as a sign of respect. The old man shook his head and moved aside to let Kaze enter into the house of rest and recovery.
After twenty or so minutes of relentless patching up by the old man, who spared no sympathy for Kaze's throbbing joints, Kaze was completely patched up. He entered the main room, where the sunlight bounced off the light wooden textures to illuminate the entire room, only one other person resided in the room. He sat upright, reading a small novel in his hands. He was covered head to toe in plaster, and bandage, covering their bruises and wounds.
"Wow, they got you in a mummy costume," Kaze joked as he sat on a futon near the fellow guest. He exhaled in relief as his legs finally found rest from all the fighting and walking he had done in the past twenty four hours.
"You're a couple of wrappings away from one yourself," He smiled and nodded as Kaze greeted him, "You're… Kaze The Shadow,"
"Am I… that well-known?" Kaze cringed a bit and put his hand on the back of his head as he awkwardly laughed. He looked at the dark red eyes of the boy, a certain firm yet innocent gaze in them.
"So what got you so roughed up?.. Could I get your name?" Kaze tried to divert the topic. He still didn't feel as if the title 'The Shadow' was being properly used, especially after the encounter with Ali. Maybe he shouldn't have adopted it into his career in the first place.
"I'm Ayumu, I'm like this because I fought Upper Moon Three alongside the Ice Hashira," The boy spoke softly as he shifted a bit closer. From the drop of his smile, it would seem that he didn't have very fond memories of the mission. Kaze's mouth opened as his eyes widened.
"Wow… How is she? Eira, I mean," Kaze asked Ayumu curiously. He hadn't heard from her apart from the letter she had sent asking him to fight Akaza alongside her. Emotions flooded in, she hadn't been in a good state the last time they had talked, not that she had been in a good state at all since he met her anyway. But recently, more than before, she seemed disorientated.
Ayumu cleared his throat, and an air of unsureness radiated off him. He hesitated to answer Kaze's question truthfully. But the curious gaze in Kaze's eyes was too… kind for Ayumu to lie to his face.
"I don't mean any disrespect to her…" Ayumu's hesitance came through in his slow speech, "I understand that being a Demon Slayer comes with a high risk of death, but I just never thought someone could disregard human life in order for victory like she does,"
Kaze's eyebrows lowered in confusion as Ayumu avoided eye contact. His dark hair covered his eyes as he slowly turned his head away.
"It was horrifying enough to be face to face with Upper Moon Three, our forces being ruthlessly pummelled… Like ants. Our hope was Eira. I really don't mean any disrespect, but the way her slashes reduced the people I saw as friends into nothing but… paste," Ayumu's eyes went wide staring at a random corner as his mind vividly replayed the massacre he witnessed that day, "They ran in deliberately to inject Akaza with the syringes, I don't know if they knew that they would die there,"
"Then I was expected to just... accept the preventable deaths, like how she did," Ayumu clenched his fists tightly, "I can still hear the disgusting sounds of blood sloshing around as the slashes rain down on the already mutilated bodies…"
Kaze puts a hand on Ayumu's shoulder, offering him comfort. The third person he had offered comfort to in less than 24 hours, it was as if he was completing side quests.
"It's not your fault," Kaze simply yet powerfully stated, "What's important now is to save the people you can, in homage to those you couldn't,"
It was as if the universe's celestial beings collectively decided that today would be a day where all the strings were tied around each other. But that was every day. Every day strings overlapped, tied together or snapped, for better or worse. But there is a reason everyone in your life is in your life, whether to motivate you, teach you a lesson or simply make your life that one notch more enjoyable.
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Author's Note:
It makes me sad to think that this story is so close to its end. This whole thing played out so much differently than I thought. I don't know why I thought this would be a massive hit success when it's a story with very niche themes, at least for a story of its kind. But I'm glad I went through with publishing this, it's taught me a lot.
I'll definitely miss it though, the late nights where sometimes I'd push through and complete the chapter, or when I'd give up and end up posting it the week after.
I'm not sure if I'm ready to let it come to an end, like really come to an end, and to say goodbye to the characters I've written for these past years. I'll just have to get used to not have the lingering thought "Damn I need to write a chapter"
And as always, if you enjoyed the story, go ahead and add it to your library, vote for it or whatever the system is on the website you're reading on!
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