Chapter 7- Final Selection 02

It has been 6 days since my first demon encounter in the final selection, after that, my days were filled with fighting and killing demons. I have had no sleep since then. Every time I dozed off, I was awoken by the shitty smell of Demons, it smelled like shit, Shitty Shit. This was getting to me. I mean I had hope, it was the last day, I just had to survive till dawn, which was only five or so hours away. 

I was walking along the forest, minding my business, when I saw a girl, she was very pretty, Black hair, big round eyes and butterfly haori. She was on the floor, brandishing a katana that was chipped. I smelt the air and was confronted by something surprising. The scent of Urokodaki Sensei was coming from the demon, which must mean that this was the demon that had killed his other- 

Rage boiled within me and I drew my scythes and charged as the demon began to bring its claw down on the girl, "Breath of the water, Seventh Form- Drop, Ripple, Thrust!" I thrust my sword forward and stabbed through the demon's arms, cutting it off completely, the demon wasn't too strong like a lower or upper moon, this sand was enough to stop it from regenerating, barely. 

I pulled the girl up from the floor, shielding her behind me, I handed her a knife from my pack and instructed her to stay back and just defend herself, she didn't speak and for some reason, she continued to smile. I was knocked out of my stupor by a slash that I barely dodged by stepping back, the demon's claws, drawing a not-too-deep line across my chest. Now I was pissed.

Time to step it up. 

"Breath Of The Water, Eighth Form- Waterfall Basin!" I moved my scythes downwards and the water cascaded downwards like a waterfall, enveloping the hand demon. I ran around it, trying to cut off the arms that were growing but it was too slow, so I had to increase the tempo. I didn't know if this would work. Apparently, this eleventh form was Giyu's creation.

"Breath Of The Water, Eleventh Form- Dead Calm!" The area around me was vibrating slightly as I moved at frightening speeds, yet the space around me moved ever so slowly. The whole point was to speed up, get the demon's arm into my scythe's range, and render its arms non-existent. I stopped at the end, there were no arms left on the demon, and its head was mine for the taking. The rage died. 

What if this demon had a life?

What if it once was a human like me? It still had to die, it had killed Sensei's former students, Sabito, Makoma, and so many others. I had a choice to make and I went for the humane way, "Breath Of The Water, Fifth Form, Blessed Rain After The Drought!" I decapitated it smoothly letting the demon fall to the ground, the most painless way I could think of was the fifth form, it supposedly made demons feel like a drizzle of rain came over them as they died. I sighed as I turned looking for the girl, she was gone, along with my knife, oh well. 

I walked around the designated area a few more times before I smelt properly cooked food, and the familiar scent of the two girls, I sprinted, vaulted over trees, and breathed in the real fresh air as I fell onto my knees. I ran over to the food and began to stuff, myself almost forgetting to give thanks. The rest of the survivors caught up and the crows made sure that there was everyone there. Only 6 people. A weird hairstyle guy, the butterfly girl, the yellow and groveling boy (I don't know how he made it), a boar-headed guy, some random dude, and of course, me. 

The Girls were back in their matching Kimonos and they looked around at the recruits and began to speak a practiced monologue in unison:

"Welcome to the demon slayer corps, Kamado Renjiro, Tsuyuri Kanao, Inosuke Hashibara, Shinezagua Genya, Agatsuma Zenitsu, and Billy Bob. The ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps are as follows: Mizunoto → Mizunoe → Kanoto → Kanoe → Tsuchinoto → Tsuchinoe → Hinoto → Hinoe → Kinoto →Hashira. You are all Mizunoe right now, when we call your name, come forward, choose your blade ore and we will assign you a crow. Kamado Renjiro, step forward!" 

I moved forward, presenting my scythes, "I would like my blades to be dual scythes that can attach to each other." The girls looked at each other before saying, "Write any requests in the letter and attach it to the ore of your choice!" So I did so. I chose something that all Nichirn blades are made of, Scarlet Ore that has absorbed sunlight. 

My heart felt lighter as I walked down the mountain and clambered into a wagon that the Demon Slayer Corps was nice enough to provide. The journey was long actually because of all the other drop-offs, for some reason, Kanao had not entered the wagon, maybe she lived around here. 

I was dropped off, down the road from Urokodaki-san's house, I couldn't wait to see Tanjiro, so I ran, despite how tired I was. The door was already open and Urokodaki-san was waiting in anticipation of my arrival, I ran in through the door and hugged him. "Renjiro, you're back, I am so proud of you my son!"

I rushed forward to Tanjiro's room after giving Urokodaki-san the blow-by-blow, I hugged my brother, who was in his cute baby form, with his legs stubby and short, walking with his arms swaying forwards and back. This was the new home I guess. Urokodaki san told me that in a couple of days, my blades would arrive, and he told me about the coloring system. 

<5 days later>

There was a sharp knocking on the door, Urokodaki-san woke from his meditation, Tanjiro played, blanky burrito and I rose to open the door, filled with excitement. A man appeared in the doorway and pushed past me, "Urokodaki! Who is the student?!" 

Sensei sighed and pointed toward the door and said, "The one you just pushed around!" The man walked up to me and began staring at me inquisitively. "Haganezuka, sit down and show us the scythes before I tell the world your first name." The man sweatdropped and plopped down on the Tatami mat opposite, Urokodaki-san, I sat down next to Urokodaki-san and waited patiently. 

Haganezuka had pulled the scythes out of the bag he carried and held them out to me, he was wearing thick gloves, and he showed me how they attached together into a long staff, which meant I could use both scythes with one hand if required, I knew the risks of demon slaying, I am prepared for that risk. I held out my hands to receive the blades but Haganezuka blew a raspberry and stared at me. 

"You have to get Red, do you understand me you brat RED!" 

I nodded, gulping, this man was nuts. I received the blades and a warmth spread from me to the scythe in my right hand and something cold to the scythe on the left. The one on the right turned bright red and the one on the left got a purple hue. 

*Gasp* "RED BLADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE TO TELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and with that short burst of nonsense Haganezuka was out the door and running back to wherever he came from. A few moments later a crow flew in through the window, "Kamado Renjiro-Kamado Renjiro, mission, head north-east-north-east! Demon in Tokyo, Asakusa!"

I stood and so did Urokodaki-san, "I knew this would come, Renjiro, I have some presents for you." He led me to the little hut behind the house and beckoned me in, I followed and I saw a box, wooden, but it was super light, "This is for carrying Tanjiro in the night!" He dove behind a pile of boxes and fished out what looked like a package, I opened it and revealed a brand new haori, Red like blood and black, silver and purple like the moon and the night. 

I stuffed Tanjiro into the box with care, and hugged Urokodaki-san, "Goodbye Sensei!" 

<Urokodaki Short POV>

I'm going to miss those two, at least now I can confidently teach new students, he broke my curse, Kamado Renjiro, become the strongest slayer, become the strongest Hashira, AVENGE YOUR FAMILY, KILL KIBUTSUJI MUZAN!