Festival 3

I clenched the hilt of my sword tightly, looking at my opponent slowly regenerating the arms I sliced off mere seconds ago.

"The demon slayers must be really desperate to employ kids like you." The man spat out

"Stop blabbering you shitskull" I said, taking advantage of the man's lack of limbs to deliver a decisive blow.

I brought the hilt of my sword close to my chest, dashed forward towards the unarmed enemy and thrust it through what should've been his heart. The man made no attempt to dodge or defend his exposed chest as my blade pierced through his flesh.

"Not even close" He said, his right hand already fully formed.

'Fuck, not even stabbing his heart out is enough' I thought in a panick 

I rushed to pull my sword out of his chest but a backfist delivered straight to my temple sent me crashing against one of the surrounding buildings.

My enhanced durability kept me from passing out on the spot but my ears started ringing and my eyes became foggy.

"You're no slayer." A voice rang out in front of me. "That's good, I can take my time then. No reinforcements will come save you"

The man walked in front of me, staring at me dead in the eye, with my sword still stuck in his chest. I sat with my back propped against the wall, unable to muster up any strength to fight back.

"You're pathetic. Maybe if you knew our weakness you would've won. Though I doubt you could cut my head off." He said with a laugh

'I'm probably gonna die. Again. Well maybe next time I can take it a little easier. Wait. Will there be a next time? What if this is it, after I die now, there's nothing left. No no no no no. I can't die here, not now.'

'Breathe in' I activated total concentration, my headache get worse but my vision cleared up and. In a flash, I stood up and grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of the man's chest. I spun around him, ending up behind and to his side.

I gripped the sword with both my hands, brought it up to my side and executed the finishing move.

"Water breathing, first form, Water surface slash" 

I twisted my back foot, followed by my hips to generate enough momentum for the attack. A large water current followed the direction of my blade as it neared the man's neck.

The man snapped his neck in my direction, his eyes going wide. He brought both his hands up to his head to defend against the slash, but the blade cut through them like butter. 

However, they absorbed enough momentum for the blade to stop just a few centimeters short of completely decapitating him.

He jumped backwards, neck dangling seemingly by a thread. But still attached to the rest of his body.

The rebound from using water breathing wasn't as bad anymore after a year of training, but still enough combined with the strike I recieved earlier to make me lose balance.

I kept myself from falling, even though both my legs and arms were shaking from the pain. I could barely keep my eyes open as I saw the man's neck slowly regenerate, reattaching his head.

'Now this really is it. I have no more cards to play. I have no strength to try another technique, even then he can still block them. I'm fucked'

The man stood there and watched as I struggled to even stand up. Yet he didn't move, his eyes fixated on my blood drenched sword. 

"I underestimated you" He simply said. "No matter though."

He didn't even wait for his arms to regenerate as he propelled himself off the ground, cracking the pavement in the process, with his animal-like fangs aiming for my jugular.

"You're dead!!!" He yelled in excitement 

'Fuck I'm dead'

At that moment, while my eyes closed waiting for death, I only heard the grinding noise of a sword being pulled from its sheath followed by complete silence.

After a few seconds passed and blood still flowed through the artery in my neck, I fell on my knees. Opening my eyes I could see the man's detached head, staring at me in complete disbelief as it started turning to ash. 

"You… How?" The dismemberment head said before completely withering out of existence.

Looking up, I saw the figure of a tall man wearing a kimono, with a sword hanging from his waist. The man was facing away and had long, snow white hair that reached all the way down to his lower back.

He turned around and I recognized a familiar face. 

"You stupid fucking brat. I followed you around so I could make sure that you won't stab someone's eye out, but you get into a fight with a demon?

"I was going to scold you once you came back but now a beating with a large stick sounds more appropriate" The man angrily shouted while facing me

I remained in a daze, unclear as to what was happening.

"Grandpa?" I asked 

"Yes it's me. Did that hit muddle your already non-existent brain?" 

"What are you doing here" 

"Your attempt at sneaking out wasn't exactly graceful. Wise choice climbing the highest tree in the garden. You can't even do one thing properly." Gramps said as he whipped his sword to the side to get rid of the blood staining it. 

He came up to me and slapped me across the face.

"Why do you think we don't let you go outside hm? Think about it for a second Yukiko. We do it to protect your asses. Too many people have died at the hands of demons. The last thing we want is for you to die because you got unlucky enough to meet one.  Though I bet everything we say to you just goes in one ear and out the other anyway.

"This was the first and last time I will come and save you, from now on once you step outside the house, you're on your own. 

"And if you can't even win against a lowlife like this, you should give up on becoming a swordsman"

"What" I asked, still dazed

"You stupid fucker" He picked me up along with my sword and jumped on a nearby rooftop. 

"Stay here and don't move" 

He jumped back down to check on the condition of the sword thieves. The one that stole the sword was dead, with a gaping hole through his chest. The pot bellied man was ripped to shreds and the other assailant was alive with only cracked ribs.

A crow landed on my grandpa's shoulder and he attached a small message to its legs before it flew away. Minutes later, some people in uniforms came to collect the corpses and administer first aid to the injured man.

"This demon has been causing trouble around this area lately. He was likely waiting to attack the festival but because you killed it, the crisis has been averted. Thank you lord hashira '' A woman in a uniform gave grandpa a bow

"Don't call me that. You know I'm retired" He shot back with a snort. "Now hurry up, I have to take my grandson back home"

"Is your grandson a corps candidate too? In the report you gave, it sounded like he put up quite the fight against that demon" The woman asked

"That weakling? Like hell he is."  He answered

"Right, weakling" She said as she shot a glance in my direction

"How can that kid fight against a talking demon? I guess he really is the grandson of a former hashira" The woman said to another uniformed individual

"Yea, skill with the sword just flows in their blood I guess. The former hashi-" He was interrupted by the woman blocking his mouth with her hands

"You know we can't talk about her. Especially not in front of him" She threw a look toward gramps. "He'll kill us"

"Right, sorry. I forget sometimes."

When I next opened my eyes, I found myself in my room, the snow white sword laying next to the futon I was sleeping on and my arms wrapped in thin bandages.

"Damm it. I lost"