Demon Slayer: The Ice Hashira

"I hope the earth explodes" I said, my head spinning from a long night at the bar.

"Don't we all" My colleague stammered out, nearly collapsing under my weight.

"Get your fat ass going, I'm not carrying you all the way up" He said in anguish

"I'm not fat, its all muscle dipshit" I said, flexing my arm

"Same difference, get your ass moving or I'm leaving you here"

I couldn't even stand up straight so the moment he let go of me I fell face first into the pavement.

"Shit are you ok? I'm sorry"

"All good man. Just leave me here I'll get moving once I can stand"

"You sure? I could call for help. Its really cold out, I can't just leave you here" He said, staring at my bleeding nose.

"All good, I have a jacket on, besides I don't feel cold at all"

"Still though"

"It's fine!" I half yelled with whatever strength I could muster

"Nah come on man, let's get you inside" He said with a sigh before his phone started to ring

He fumbled around in his pockets until he finally fished it out and removed his gloves to unlock it.

"Shit. I'm so sorry I gotta go. Family emergency, the kids are acting up again. I'll actually be dead if I don't go this time."

"Don't worry about it man. I'm scared of your wife too even though I've never met her." I said begrudgingly

"I'll call someone to check up on you ok? I won't leave you out for dead"

"Yea, no problem. I've survived worse" I blurted out with a scoff

"Yea sure, these days a hangover is the most pain we'll ever go through" He said with a smile while picking up his phone and dialing some number.

"An easy life huh"

"Its better this way"

Those were the last words I heard before I blacked out on the side of the street my back propped up against a bush outside my building.

The person my colleague called never came. Some friend huh? Leaving me alone in the middle of the night to freeze my ass off.

Well I guess its my fault, I told him to go, but still. I can't blame him if the person he called never arrived. Or maybe they did, I don't know how long I stayed like that before my untimely demise.

My death shouldn't be of bad news to many people. That was one good thing I had going.

My life was easy. Ordinary family who cared for me since birth, ordinary house in the suburbs and a secure financial situation. I never faced any major hardships in my life, I had friends, an education and most importantly, a family.

Though nowadays, I lived on my own with a cat. I guess my only regret is leaving her behind, but I'm sure someone else will take care of her for me. My friend always said how his wife and kids always wanted a cat so I'm sure it'll be fine.

Even while unconscious, the freezing winter wind was unbearable. It's bone piercing chill reached even the realms of my subconscious, making me dream up weird thing.

The first thing I recognized upon opening my eyes was that the same freezing air from last night was still present. That was as far as things I recognized went.

Everything in front of me was blurry. As soon as I noticed that I also couldn't move any of my limbs, I broke into panic and threw a fit.

I could finally feel my limbs again but I was also met with warm tears flowing down my cheeks. The tears paired with the screaming made me sound like a baby.

'Wait what'

I moved my arms in front of my face to look at them but only saw a pair of two short and stubby things. I tried wiggling my fingers, and sure enough, the hands belonged to me.

I started screaming.

When my ears finally stopped ringing I could finally hear what sounded like panicked voices coming from people all around me but I couldn't understand a word.

Then my eyes cleared up. I could see an old woman who wore a brown piece of clothing with a white apron hanging from her waist. Though it was mostly covered in blood.

There was another woman standing over me. Unlike the first woman, she was looked much more youthful. She sported brilliant white hair with locks beautifully braided and a set of deep red, ruby like eyes. She was the most dazzlingly beautiful woman I had seen. Ever.

Her complexion was ghastly pale, but not sickly. It was as if she had never seen the sun in her life.

She held my horrifyingly small body in her arms while caressing my cheeks and wiping the tears from my eyes. Her smile was enough to make me stop panicking and simply take in her beauty.

Standing over her was a man that looked to be around his mid 40s with dark red hair and a set of green eyes. The man was trying to keep a stern look on his face but his facade temporarily crumbled when I looked at him in the eyes, covering his mouth with his hand and then his eyes, wiping away tears.

I couldn't understand anything they were saying but the older woman started speaking then the woman holding me made a relieved expression so things seemed to be going well. The man kept throwing glares at the older woman then looking back at me.

'Have I just been born. What a dream, my god.'

The older woman then picked me up and wrapped me in a soft white cloth then handed me to the stern looking man who then promptly softly slapped my cheeks. My cries were followed by two very angry sounding voices but I didn't cry. The soothing veil of sleep had already been cast over me as I felt my eyelids becoming heavier until my eyes closed.