Chapter two:

At your sides were no longer the futons of those strangers who were seriously ill. You had become used to seeing people enter the hospital and die slowly and painfully, too many times. Waking up in the morning and not feeling the other futons, or smelling the medicine that the nurses were preparing, was a completely new sensation for you. It was practically an incomplete, empty morning.

"Are you feeling better?" a calm, compassionate voice asked.

You felt inmediately safe, as if a wave of serenity had hit you with all its might. The person who owned that voice sat next to you, along with a white haired woman with gorgeous features.

"W-where am I?" You questioned, hugging yourself. You weren't used to speaking with people that weren't the nurses who took care of you. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ubuyashiki Kagaya, leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, those who saved you from harm."

Remembering what happened and noticing the sincerity of his words, your body -previously stiffened- relaxed. That person, along with the albino woman you discovered was his wife and whose name is Amane, explained everything about the demons and the mission of the organization created to destroy them.

At the mention of said organization's existence, your cold dead eyes glowed with a light of determination and yearn for a new life outside the restricting hospital.

You'd always been sick. You had never known sensations like freely walking or feeling the rain; but if you are able to move like you did that night, then you were no longer bound to stay on a futon all day.

"It is surprising that you had managed to move like that against the demons. Aren't you sick?"

"Ah, y-yeah" you nodded slowly, folding your hands over your lap "I am extremely fragile to the point where I did not move most of the time"

A small gasp escaped Amane's lips. You drifted your gaze towards her, confused. You spoke before she could, addresing the kind blind man that had saved your life.

"Ubuyashiki-sama, can I...?" your lips pressed against each other forming a thin line, afraid of what you were about to ask. "Can I join the Demon Slayer Corps?"

Ubuyashiki's eyebrows raised, taken aback by the sudden petition.

"I have lived my whole life in a hospital, believing that I was severely ill. I don't know how or why, but now I feel much better. It is as if... as if my body had been on fire, the vigor that ran through my muscles in that moments was my medicine. I don't know how to explain it, even so, I want to feel it again. I want to feel alive, and if I'm able to help the weak while doing so, then I'd have finally found my purpose in this life."

You squeezed your eyes shut and bowed, waiting for her answer with a heavy heart.

"You remind me of myself" Ubuyashiki's calming voice starled you, lifting your head as soon as it inflitrated your ears "Sick, and still, you want to fight"

"I was a new person, my rotten corpse came alive the moment I faced those creatures. I was dead and not now. So please..."

Amane placed a hand over one of your shoulders, patting it reassuringly.

"First focus on healing, then we can talk about everything again"

A person covered from head to toe came in after hearing Amane call him. It was a person who had to transfer you to a place called 'Butterfly Estate', because apparently, by Ubuyashiki's orders, you had been staying in his residence and taken cared of by him and his family. A smile bloomed on his face as a goodbye, filling your soul with a 'everything's gonna be fine' kind of feeling.

『 °*• ❈ •*°』

The soft breeze felt nice against your skin, your bare feet enjoying the clean wood as you ran through the Butterfly Estate.

"[Y/N]-san! Stop running!"

"You still need to rest!"

Kiyo, Naho and Sumi, three girls that worked as assistants in that place, ran after you, trying to catch you as you enjoyed the feeling of standing on your own feet. Before, the nurses helped you exercise your muscles so they don't atrophy, but they never allowed you to stand on your own for too long.

Now, you just couldn't stop walking, skipping and dancing around the huge mansion, finally being free. You completely forgot about shame and embarrassment, overjoyed by the situation.

You giggled, looking back to see them worriedly chasing you. This made you lose your balance -you had been years without properly walking, clearly your legs didn't have enough coordination-, making you trip with your own bare feet.

"A-Ah!"

With your eyes shut, you prepare for the fall. Yet, instead, your face collides with another person's body, and the both of you fall to the floor.

The girls stopped running when they saw the scene.

"Ouch!"

Slowly, you opened your eyes, noticing the guy whom you had stumbled with. Inmediately, as if he was on fire, you leaped away from him. It wasn't exactly because you were embarrassed of having caused him to fall and cushioned the impact on you, but because of his good looks.

Both of your hands covered your burning cheeks, you were still on the floor, staring at him with wide, astonished eyes.

He straightened himself, sitting up. His hair was extremely long compared to yours, colored black that faded into a very pretty mint; his clothes were oversized, to the point in which the sleeves were almost those of a kimono. You swore you'd seen that person before, but you couldn't remember where.

He stared at you too, with large, empty mint eyes. For a second, you couldn't tell if he was looking at you or if his mind was somewhere else.

"I-I, uhm, I'm sorry!" you exclaimed nervously, attempting to stand up and failing miserably "Damn legs..."

He didn't seem to care or listen to what you were saying. Simply stood up, and kept walking like nothing ever happened. He remained with his hollow expression, not even looking back.

"[Y/N]-san!"

The girls blinked, finally reacting and rushing to help you stand up. They began scolding you, saying that you shouldn't run around like that ever again, but over all their talk, you could only focus on the person you'd bumped into.

"Oh! I remember now! He's one of the guys who saved me, isn't he?"

Sumi nodded. "Yes, Tokito-sama was one of the Hashira who brought you here"

The other two nodded in agreement.

"Wah!" you excclaimed, sparkles shinning around your happy face.

You were set on admiring his back.

"He's amazing...!"