The Wandering Kinoe

A few hours before the attack on Tsuri village..

Far from Tsuri village were two youths walking along an empty road. The boy donned in a silver haori had black hair and gold shining eyes while the girl hopping joyfully by his side wore a black haori though she had black-purplish hair with dull purple eyes. The two each had weapons on them; the girl carrying a katana and the boy, two metal poles with curved blades at each end of the poles, though the blades were covered in a black leather clothing.

The boy's name was Satoshi Mitsuo while the girl exuding joy by his side was known as Akane Himawari and they were a pair of travelling demon slayers. Though most of the corps tended to stay in a particular area of demon hunting, these two were known to travel around in many different places.

Mitsuo was known for his stone cold ever expressionless face while Akane had a joyous and ever excited persona. The two were very different but were never seen apart.

They were walking with no particular destination in mind when two crows from above circled around them and one spoke to them in a serious voice," Caw caw, two demons that were not slayed by the lower ranks have been spotted, Caw! head east and complete the mission before more people die."

"Tch! Weaklings that can't even complete their assigned mission." Cursed Mitsuo

"Maa maa don't get so angry Mitsu, maybe they were not strong enough to handle them alone."

"Haah!that's the same thing Akane,"

"Iyaaa, why won't you follow my wishes when I tell you to and call me A-chan, you are making me blush." She said covering her face with both hands

"You look even prettier when you blush Akane sama." A female crow intruded

The two ignored the crow and increasing their already rapid walking pace, they broke into a sprint. They headed east and engaged in a running competition through the forest till they approached a river though there was no clear winner in their competition. They were insanely fast, faster than any human could ever hope to be but they still fell short against time.

The sun had already set and the moon was already in motion, ready to make its appearance. They rushed uphill according to the crows' instructions though Mitsuo muttered while running," We might already be too late."

"Is that your sixth sense acting up or an assumption?" Asked akane

Mitsuo gaze hardened giving Akane the answer she needed causing her expression to shift to a serious one before running faster to save at least one more life.

Mitsuo knew what was going on in Akane's head, so he broke free from her determined to arrive at the humans' position as fast as possible.

He reached the entrance of a village or what used to be one and threw a single glance at the corpses lying on the ground and unsheathing one of his blades he saw a demon rushing at a kid and made short work of it,"Nature breathing; plant form, first arc, intertwine and strike." decapitating it in a cruel way that disintegrated the demon from the neck upwards.

He looked at where Akane was and saw that she was done with her part and employing his sixth sense, he ensured there was no other demon around. He returned the blade to its original sheathed form and went to where the boy had fainted. He picked him up, placed him on his right shoulder and took the breathing girl further behind the boy and placed her on his other shoulder.

He moved to where Akane was helping the man that was being toyed by the demon and motioned for them to follow him. He moved from house to house, gathering the safely hidden children and few remaining adults and ordered them to follow him to the biggest hut which belonged to the village chief. His figure was imposing, prompting the crying children and shaken adults to follow him. Though, the urging from Akane helped.

He laid the two children in the hut and told Akane to stay with the survivors as he rushed back outside. He took the injured who above else were still alive and rejoined them with their family and friends. When he was done, he rushed back to the forest in search of any medical herbs.

While he was away, Tsuri villagers were quiet no one daring or ready to inquire what the hell had transpired. Families huddled together in corners holding each other dearly, afraid that they might disappear. Akane observed in silence as she applied pressure to the wounded, slowing down blood loss. She knew what they were going through at the moment so she let them be.

It didn't take long before Mitsuo came back carrying various herbs in his hands as he started his duty, crushing them by hand and applying them where needed. It took a while but he ensured that none would die on him. He knew that his duty wasn't over yet as he asked," Who among you is the village chief?"

Kako, the man who had confronted the demon before Mitsuo appeared struggled to stand up, though his legs were still wobbly. He mustered his courage and replied," I am, what do you require sir."

Mitsuo ignored the formal way he was addressed and replied," Take Akane with you and show her the biggest pot you can find and let her bring it outside your hut."

Kako didn't know of any Akane but he joined the dots quickly and limped as Akane supported him in search of the biggest pot he knew of. Meanwhile, Mitsuo took wood from one of the demolished houses and prepared firewood. The pot was brought, followed by buckets of water carried by Akane as Mitsuo started a fire and after boiling the water, he added herbs that he knew had a soothing and calming effect in preparation of tea.

It was ready after a few minutes and Akane having read his mind was already ready with cups. He gave Akane the duty of administering the tea as her smile would have a much better effect than his face. Most hesitated but seeing the braver ones drinking the herbal tea, they also took it and the herb did its work for they were calm and breathing normally after five minutes.

The children in particular fell asleep while the parents who were more than scared stayed awake to ensure the children remained safe. After about two hours, the crows that had left returned and shouted,"Caw, Mitsuo sama and Akane sama are ordered to stay in the village till the Kakushi arrive and offer their assistance,caw!"

The people awake were surprised to hear birds talking but they had seen man eating monsters already so they attributed them to their saviors who had killed the monsters and let the birds be.

The two groups had stayed silent for long with the men and women observing the two people before them that were weirdly dressed and carried weapons on them. Kako had enough of the silence so after regaining his strength he asked,"What were those...those things."

"They were demons." Came the short reply from Mitsuo which left an awkward silence afterwards.

Seeing that the villagers were paying conversation, Akane took charge of the answers and replied," Those were man eating monsters known as demons."

She came out as friendly so Kako continued with the questions.

"And who are you guys?"

"We are members of the demon slayer corps tasked with killing demons."

"I've never heard of you guys."

"That's cause we are a secret organization."

The conversation dived into the mechanics of how demons worked and duty of the demon slayers while Akane answered what she could and left somethings out. Mitsuo had closed his eyes, deep in meditation when a loud voice brought him back to reality.

"Can I become a demon slayer and hunt demons too?" Takeru shouted. At some point in time he'd woken up during the conversation and heard all he needed to hear. Akane was at a loss on how to reply but Mitsuo had her back as he questioned back," And why would you want to fight those things?"

Takeru wanted to reply but his words got stuck in his throat. Mitsuo continued, " Kid, I can feel the hatred emanating from you. Do you think it will be enough to kill demons? I can tell that they killed your family, but do you want to risk you life and leave your remaining family and friends behind for a difficult task such as hunting demons?"

Takeru was burning in hatred towards the demons for killing his father. He didn't know what he was really getting himself into but he mustered his courage and replied,"I do." Mitsuo sighed and said, " I don't think you do kid, not every slayer is as strong as the both of us, many dying every single day, so I am asking you once again. Do you want to take this difficult path and become a demon slayer?"

This time Takeru steeled his resolve and shouted,"Yes, I want to become a demon slayer." He woke up most of the sleeping children, but the sun was rising so it wasn't much of an inconvenience. Some of the villagers looked at Takeru as though he was crazy while others pitied him but none of that mattered to the boy.

The Kakushi finally appeared and started fulfilling their duties and helped out the villagers. One of them handed a letter to Mitsuo who after reading it sighed. Akane moved closer and inquired," What does the letter say?"

"Ubuyashiki sama wants us to stop delaying our promotion to hashira and go back to headquarters to take up our positions."

Akane sighed too knowing what was to come. The reason the two wanting to remain as kinoe despite their formidable strength equal to hashira were different. Mitsuo wanted to move from place to place killing demons; an advantage he would not get as a hashira being stationed to one particular area.

Akane on the other hand didn't want to stay away from Mitsuo as she knew she'd be stationed to a different place from him and that's why the two were called the wandering Kinoe.

They knew that this day was bound to come so they were ready to fulfill their duties as one of the highest ranking members of the demon slayer corps.

Before leaving, Mitsuo ordered the Kakushi to bring Takeru whose name he didn't know yet to him when they left.

Akane kissed Mitsuo's cheek in hope of conveying the unsaid where after Mitsuo stroked her head as a form of reassurance. The wondering kinoe then ran back to headquarters in order to get promoted and continue fulfilling their duties.