Hashira

-Blake-

Jaune and I arrived at a Japanese mansion with two familiar children running around the backyard, at least for me, as they were the girls that were supposed to be the examiner in the final selection on the canon.

They were a lot younger than the canon and also cuter, honestly, it's heartwarming to see them having fun, as they may or may not know that they were cursed by a mark that is slowly killing them.

All of their family would eventually die at the tender age of 30 and more than that is impossible, unless they could kill Muzan and stop the mark curse.

Kanae guided us inside the Japanese mansion, and we saw two people, which were Kagaya Ubuyashiki and his wife Amane who was our examiner in the final selection.

"Oyakata-sama, I've brought them." Kanae respectfully kneeled.

She eyed us expecting us to do the same as her, without a hassle we got her message and we kneeled, for me, this man deserves respect in my opinion.

After all, who would bother remembering every single name of the demon slayers? He was an example of a good leader and a man that many would be willing to follow.

And I wasn't an exception, his sacrifice for the demon slayer corps is admirable, that's why I will kill Muzan to stop the curse from tormenting him.

As for now, his curse mark wasn't as serious as the original, as he didn't lose his sight yet, though most of his forehead was starting to rot, it looks disgusting, it's the difference between seeing it first hand rather than the anime.

The details in the anime were nothing compared to this…it looks absolutely hideous and not to mention it also smells rotten.

I couldn't help but wince mentally seeing this, it must've hurt so much.

Then a gentle voice was heard across the room, "Thank you Kanae, now as for you two welcome to my humble home, hopefully, it didn't bother you."

His voice held a certain warmth, it felt calming for a reason, most people would let their guard down hearing this.

"No, not at all Oyakata-sama," I replied as gently as I could, and Jaune beside me nodded.

Kanae nodded satisfied with my words because if I disrespect him, there is no doubt that I'd receive her fury, which is something to avoid.

"I see, that's a relief…" Kagaya smiled gently at us, how could someone smile as gently as that? Jaune thought the same as me.

Then he continued, "Now, you two must've been curious as to why I asked Kanae to bring you here,"

I cleared my throat and interrupted whatever he was going to say next, "Actually, I have an idea it's about our marks right?"

Kagaya didn't look surprised at my words, he just nodded slightly and said, "That and your blades, mind if you two show me your Nichirin blades?"

Jaune and I looked at each other for a moment, before shifting back to Kagaya and unsheathed our blades.

As he saw our respective blades, he couldn't contain his excitement, "So the report is indeed real…! You two have marks and red Nichirin blades! No one had ever achieved such for the last few centuries!"

I wasn't surprised why he was excited about us having marks and red Nichirin blades, after all those who have marks or red Nichirin blades had a chance of killing an upper moon demon, and no one has succeeded in killing them for centuries now.

But something is quite wrong about that information, centuries they say? The blacksmith and Kagaya said that no one achieved getting marks or a red Nichirin blade for centuries now.

But.. What about Akane? I'm pretty sure that she had a visible mark on her forehead and a red Nichirin blade…?

My eyes widened in realization, I thought, 'No way…is she the system user that we've been looking at the entire time?'

I wasn't a fool, but I was in denial, if she was really the system user that we've been looking for then, there's a chance that we'll eliminate her, and just by thinking that prospect scared me.

While she wasn't the best teacher, she was someone that I was close with, and the idea of me killing her is just wrong…she's the one who taught us, she's someone important to me and Jaune.

Killing her isn't someone we could bear to do, however, it wasn't set to stone yet, hopefully, she wasn't what I thought she was.

"Excuse me, Oyakata-sama, what exactly is a 'mark'? I do know about Nichirin blades, but not these marks," Kanae asked curiously.

"Ah, yes Kanae about the 'marks' like the two of them has, is something akin to a demon slayer achieving their full potential having a mark could mean turning your blade color into red like theirs, having it means you gain enhanced physical capabilities that are superhuman, you know what it means right?" Kagaya said seriously.

Kanae nodded, of course, she's aware that having an enhanced physical strength could mean increasing their chances of slaying upper moon demons!

Or even Muzan in fact.

"But having a mark has its drawbacks, gaining a mark means you could only live till 25, that's what our ancestor text says no one knew why, but having a mark is akin to a curse."

Hearing that information, Jaune's eyes widened and he started panicking! He didn't know this, dying at the age of 25? That's too young!

I noticed his uneasiness, and I pats his shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry about it, you won't die nothing is set to the stone yet,"

Comforting him worked, now I don't have to worry about him panicking, honestly, it's almost impossible for him to die at the age of 25, even if the two of us fail to break the limit, with the group chat assisting us the mark is hardly an issue.

Kanae's eyes widened at the information and looked at us in pity. I know what she's thinking right now and it's not going to happen to us, but I can't exactly say it to her face.

Then Kagaya shifted his attention toward us and said, "Just by having those 'marks' can attest your skills, with my authority I will both make you Pillars!"

My eyes widened, this was something I wasn't expecting, while I could pretty much achieve that rank after a month or so, still becoming a Hashira without doing any mission is quite something.

"Oyakata-sama! But that's!" Kanae was worried about this decision.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing Kanae, I'm sure the others will understand." Kagaya was serious about this decision, this wasn't simply made as a rash decision he thought about it.

Knowing that she couldn't change his mind, she decided to accept his decision and respect it, because Oyakata-sama is rarely wrong with his decisions.

Though others might think of this as favoritism, after all, two demon slayers that just passed the final selection, green horns became a Hashira without doing a single mission?

Many would complain about this for sure.

"Blake, Jaune, since you got to unlock your 'marks' will you tell me how you do it?" He asked.

It wasn't a problem so I explained how to unlock the mark, but it won't be easy that's for sure.

Mark can only appear in Demon Slayers that survived the life-threatening conditions of having a heart rate over 200 Bpm and a body temperature over 39° Celsius.

After telling that information, he remembered it by heart.

"Thank you for that information, it's vital to us Demon Slayers, with this knowledge we would have more chance of winning against Muzan," He bowed as he was grateful.

—

Outside the mansion,

"That was a thing," I said with a weary smile, never thinking that I'd be a Hashira after getting out of the place.

How odd, though there wasn't anything special about being a Hashira, while they are respected by the rest of the demon slayers, it wasn't appealing to me.

Though the good thing is I could go on a more dangerous mission killing moon demons rather than those common ones.

It would certainly be an experience for me, so far the only moon demon that I've met is Makugo, Jaune's self-proclaimed fangirl.

If the other lower moon demons are the same as her, then they won't pose a challenge to me. Hopefully, I could meet a high moon demon so I will try slaying it.

As they are the only ones in this world that could help me break my bottleneck.

"Certainly, I never would have guessed the person that I recommended months ago is now a Hashira like me," Kanae chuckles.

"Hey, we didn't expect it either."

"I know," Kanae nodded.

After that none of us spoke and we aimlessly walked around, then I decided to ask, "So, are you and Archer dating?"

Jaune suddenly got interested in the topic and was willing to listen.

Hearing that, Kanae's face noticeably turned red, "Well…"

Then she started talking about her and Archer's moments. It was amusing to know, this would be a perfect material to use to tease him.

(End-)

No, she and Archer aren't dating, like Jaune. Archer is dense, look it's Shirou unless you say it to his face he won't know you like him.

Archer is completely oblivious to anyone liking him, but if it's other he would immediately notice it.

How ironic.

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