Awaken Your Marking, Leonidus!

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Inosuke Hashibira No 1." from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

I grabbed the hilt of my sword and held it tightly. As nervous as I was, I needed to put it aside in order to deal with this head on. I watched and waited for the right opportunity to dart in, everyone was doing their fair share, so why should I be sitting here with Aunt Nezuko? I tried to come up with some form of plan, but Neji was able to handle the rest of them without problem, what good would some sort of strategic attack be if he can tell what'll happen next it seems? The wound on my leg was slowly healing thanks to Aunt Nezuko and my Overdrive.

This was my first time dealing with a demon, from what this sounded like, I needed to aim directly for its head. That would be no problem if it wasn't hard enough as it is to get close to his head! Unless I darted in at the right moment... Right when he's open for the kill!

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Water Breathing ~ Bundle" from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

That's when I saw something, my eyes were being directed by some sort of white line, straight to his neck! I charged forward with my sword reeled backwards. I zoomed past Giyu and Shinobu, I lifted my sword up, but right as I was about to strike, the thread broke! Neji looked directly up at me and his claws came right towards my neck. I flipped over him in mid-air and landed behind him. He looked like a true demon, bones were spiked out on his body, not to mention the number of legs and arms he had now!

"Come to play, have you?" Neji asked.

I didn't respond, my only focus was stopping Neji before this gets out of hand. I charged forward and so did Rengoku. I ducked and weaved through flying bone spikes before reaching him.

"𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘪𝘥𝘦 - 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵!" I shouted.

I twisted my body fiercely, cutting off 3 of his arms as I embedded my sword into him. Rengoku followed up with a strong attack of his own, the third form of his Breathing Style! We managed to cut him down to size, now everyone jumped in, adding onto what we started! Neji blasted us all backwards with a high-pitched scream, I dug my sword into the ground to prevent myself from being blown away. The winds howled and rampaged, I felt a couple cuts open up on my face due to the sharp winds.

"You fuckin' idiot! This is my specialty! Fifth Form, Cold Mountain Wind!" Sanemi cackled.

He turned the raging winds into attacks of his own, they got larger and slammed down into Neji! The wound on my leg started to hurt, I'm pretty sure that Neji's attack slashed me there, but I'll be fine. I took a deep breath in and jumped into the air.

"𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘑𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘳!" I announced.

I spun around, masking myself in a shield of water, and rammed right into Neji. I spun even faster, going straight through him, but I slammed into a tree after stopping the form. One of his hands slammed right through the tree, he nearly decapitated me! I rolled out of the way as his hands slammed down onto the ground, I kept rolling until Uncle Zenitsu sliced through one of his arms, distracting him in the process. Mitsuri charged from the left of Zenitsu, hitting Neji with the second form of her Breathing Style! I took the opportunity, that white line was visible yet again! I braced myself before jumping up towards Neji's neck.

"THIS IS IT! 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘚𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙𝘔, 𝘞𝘈𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘚𝘜𝘙𝘍𝘈𝘊𝘌 𝘚𝘓𝘈𝘚𝘏!!" I roared.

I swung my sword as hard and as fast as I could at his neck! This was it, we had this in the bag now!

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Hatsuki" from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

My sword hit his neck, but... I-It broke! My eyes widened as I realized that the white line I saw broke right before I hit him, he shielded his neck before I even got to him! I narrowly dodged a swipe from his claws, it grazed my right side and tore my shirt. I hit the ground hard, still holding my broken sword, how did this happen?

"Alyx! Hang on!" Tengen shouted.

Neji slammed Mitsuri into the ground and chucked her a couple feet away. It seems like he was slowly regenerating his wounds! I stumbled up to my feet, Neji was somehow getting the upper hand on us, this wasn't good! What do I even do now? If he can guard against and break our swords... We're doomed! For the first time in forever, I felt scared. I heard someone cry out for help, I turned my head and saw a Neji approaching Mitsuri. I wanted to move but I just couldn't.

[Flashback]

"Just do it Alyx, being scared is what a hero has to go through! Remember, if you can smile through a scary situation, then you've already won. You're stronger than whatever foe you're fighting if you can keep smiling, no matter what happens, got it?" Ms. America told me.

I took a shaky breath in, "O-Okay... I-I'll try it!"

"That's the spirit! Now, go on, be a hero! I'll be right behind you, kid." She beamed.

[Present Day]

"Be... A hero..." I muttered.

I watched as Tengen held Neji back from an injured Mitsuri. Neji eventually managed to toss him away, throwing him into Great Grandpa and Giyu. Neji slowly turned his head to look down at Mitsuri. His hand raised up to the sky and started to come down.

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Water Breathing ~ Delivery" from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

My body moved on its own, I appeared in front of Mitsuri, practically out of thin air. My broken sword clashed against Neji's fist, staggering him, which caused everyone to look at me.

"I'm not letting you hurt anyone anymore... Got that?" I fumed.

I looked up at him and smiled. Everyone's eyes widened, for what, I wasn't sure.

*THIRD PERSON*

"T-That... He's awoken his Demon Slayer Marking!" Tanjiro exclaimed.

The scar on Alyx's left eye had changed into his Demon Slayer Marking. It resembled that of a rose with several thorns. He phased out of view, then back in front of Neji, only one swipe from his broken sword dismembered all of Neji's arms. A pulsating rose colored aura surrounded Neji's gaping wounds.

"W-What... You... Why aren't my arms growing back?!" Neji wondered.

"Because I don't want them to, that's why. Like I said, you aren't hurting anyone, not as long as I'm still breathing." Alyx grinned.

His smile brightened up the intense mood of the landscape. His sword's color changed from a bright blue to a rose color. In a flash, he sliced through Neji over and over again. He stopped after hitting him 15 times consecutively.

"Alright! This kid's fuckin' awesome!" Sanemi laughed.

Alyx hopped onto a tree and looked down below at the completely dismembered Neji Kitbutsuji. He jumped into the air, the moon outlining his silhouette, as he geared up for one last attack.

"𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵." He muttered.

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Family ~ Memories" from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

A soft, light rain fell over Neji. Alyx glided his sword straight through Neji's neck without him feeling a single thing. He landed on the ground without making a noise.

"W-Why... Why would you... Grant me a painless death?" Neji questioned.

"It's because I wouldn't feel right with sending you into the afterlife painfully. I have no personal grudge against you, neither have you truly brought harm into my life, the least I can do is let you rest peacefully before your sent to whatever fate decides for you. Whatever you have waiting for you on the other side, I hope that you experience a kind ending instead of a harsh one, Neji Kitbutsuji." Alyx explained.

Tears began to roll down Neji's desolate eyes, for the first time, he experienced a genuine kindness. Something that he's never felt neither received in his years of living. Alyx placed his sword back into its scabbard, Neji's head finally rolled off his neck and onto the ground.

"Thank you... Alyx Leonidus..." He croaked.

His head faded away and blew into the wind. Alyx looked behind him and closed his eyes.

"You never deserved this, Neji. I bet you were a kind soul before you became a demon. If I knew this would've happened to you, I would've helped you in a heartbeat, rest easy my friend. May you be guided to a peaceful sleep." Alyx thought to himself.

*LEONIDUS P.O.V.*

"Alyx...! Alyx!" I faintly heard Mr. Aizawa's voice call out.

I slowly opened my eyes, he was right next to me, and so was Aunt Nezuko. I blinked a few times as my eyes got readjusted to the light.

"M-Mr... Aizawa? Aunt Nezuko? Where is everyone?" I asked.

"They returned back to the Seventh Plane after alerting me and the others about what happened. From what it sounded like, you all had one hell of a time." Mr. Aizawa responded.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. I'm surprised that it lasted that long, I thought we were dead!" I told him.

I healed myself and then reconstructed my sword. If there were more demons out there like Neji, I just hope that they weren't anything like him. Aunt Nezuko returned to the Seventh Plane, Mr. Aizawa and I walked back to the dorms. I looked down at my now rose-colored sword, that feeling I had, Great Grandfather said it was a "Demon Slayer Marking" or something? If my sword changed colors from blue to a rose color, maybe it had something to do with my Demon Slayer Marking?

[The Next Day...]

At least that attack happened on a Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about school, which is a plus? My entire body was the sorest it's been in a while; I think I could even feel pain in my right arm! Momo came into my room and flopped down next to me.

"Rough night?" I asked.

"You had me worried sick plus I only got 4 hours of sleep last night because of it." She replied.

"Tell me about it, literally every single nanometer of my body is hurting, having to fight a demon without using your Quirk fucking sucks." I sighed.

Momo sat up to look at me, "That man was a demon? How could you tell? Despite the obvious facts of course."

"I could smell it from a mile away, literally and figuratively. Then he attacked me first which is why I had to reconstruct my balcony door and my balcony all together. Trust me, it was a loooong night." I explained.

"I can tell. Also, your shirt's torn, why didn't you fix that?" Momo wondered.

"I honestly completely forgot about it. I guess I didn't really pay too much attention to it. I can fix it later." I responded.

I threw my shirt over by my closet door and laid back down.

"So, what are you planning to get me for Christmas? That is coming up here in a couple weeks, you know." Momo questioned.

I wrapped my right arm around her, "I've got something planned, I think you'll like it, I'm not gonna say a single word to anyone about it."

"You're taking me shopping? Oh, perhaps maybe you're going to buy me an entire library for myself! That'd be lovely!" Momo guessed.

"If I could buy an entire library for you, I'd be like, pretty rich. Actually... Can I do that?" I wondered.

"Well, I know I can. I don't mean to brag but I'm fairly certain I could do that myself. That's just the perks of being born in a wealthy family!" She giggled.

I looked over at her, "My family used to own a private resort island back when I lived in America, they ended up lending it to a friend, after some rather difficult convincing."

"Oh? Who owns the property now?" Momo asked.

"Do you remember when we went to Las Vegas a couple years or so back? That Ikari guy I introduced to all of you? He lives there now, trust me, meeting him was rather interesting." I replied.

"That I do, speaking of that, you've never really told me about him. How did you two meet anyway?" Momo continued.

Now that she mentioned it, I never did tell her how Ikari and I met. It definitely was under some rather peculiar circumstances. In all honesty, it was probably one of the toughest fights I've had in my entire life!