Chapter twenty-nine:

"Demon slayer"

In the seventh day of the Final Selection, you ran all the way towards the place in which you were supposed to return to. Your heart was beating so fast because of how excited you were to finally be able to see your master, and, above all, having passed those days swiftly.

You stopped next to Kanao, examining the place. It was almost empty, probably because most of the people had died or were being taken care of after receiving severe injuries. After another boy arrived, the two Ubuyashiki children decided to speak up.

"Welcome back and congratulations. Being back safe is better than anything else"

They said that, but you couldn't help but furrow your brows in lament. There were barely 5 people alive and well, out of the almost 20 that had arrived at first.

You looked to the side, Kanao was just smiling at a butterfly. She was almost completely unscathed just like you, the only exception being a small cut on her finger that you had bandaged for her roughly two days ago, because you two kept meeting no matter what and occasionally took that as a sign to rest up together. That is, if Kanao's coin allowed her to.

A bit further away was a blonde boy who seemed so have some kind of brain damage, because he kept repeating the same words about dying. You raised an eyebrow, questioning why he would act that way when he just passed a week in hell and survived.

There was also a boy with a large scar across his face, and he didn't seem nice. Before he could make eye contact with you, your eyes drifted on to the last person.

It was a boy with black to crimson hair and kind eyes, it appeared to you that he felt bad for seeing so few people in there.

"Now what do I do? What about the blade?" the angered boy asked, you were curious too so you returned to pay attention to Ubuyashiki's kids.

"You must first pay the cost for the uniform, then you must get your body measured and have your rank engraved." responded the white-haired girl, her hollow eyes glued over all of you.

But what if I'm broke? Do I need to go around naked?

Well, Tokito-sama will pay for everything, at least.

The black-haired continued explaining the ranks and the fact that you were the lowest, clearly.

"What about the blade?" the angered boy insisted, scowling.

"Today you will each choose a chunk of Tamahagane alloy. Your blade will be completed in 10 to 15 days. Also, from now on, kasugaigarasu will be following you all"

A set of crows glided on the sky above, each continued to do so until they finally landed on their respective owners. Kanao's sat on her forearm and yours rested on top of your head. With a wondering smile, your pupils tried to look at the creature without moving your head to not scare it away, although you knew that he was trained and wouldn't just fly away for no reason.

Muichiro's crow, Ginko, was a very jealous female that you used to not get along with. She would scream in your ear sometimes, but you never shouted back because you didn't want her to feel sad. It took time and some death glares from your master, but in the end, she started to tolerate you.

You hoped to get along with your crow better than you got along with her.

"Caw, caw!"

The disturbing sound woke you up from your daydreaming. You quickly directed your attention towards the ruckus, noticing how the angry scarred person attempted to make his crow go away aggressively. "I don't care about some dumb crow!"

He stomped towards the white-haired girl with a fist high up and didn't even think twice before punching her right in her head.

You jolted up, clenching your heart and instantly feeling uneasy. As shy as you were, the brutality of that person struck you as abuse, and that was the one and only thing that you despised with your whole being; it was the reason why you killed demons in the first place.

He aggressively grabbed her by a chunk of her hair, rocking her back and forth. "What I want is the blade! Give me the blade right now! The blade of the Demon Slayer Corps, the blade that changes color!"

Before he could do worse, you grabbed his wrist, and almost immediately noticed that another person had done the same. Your face showed an angered expression of severity as you peered over the aggressor.

"Please let go of her" you ordered, your eyebrows lowered and the veins in your neck throbbed.

The kind boy, who was the other person that interfered, continued speaking with the same firm tone you had, "If you don't let go I'll break your arm!"

"Huh? You can try if you dare!"

You narrowed your eyes with an empty stare as the crimson boy furrowed his eyebrows, both of you tightened the grip of your hands over his wrist, to the point in which the other had to shake it off and take a couple steps back holding it when you two had released him.

The kind boy stood defensively in front of Oyakata-sama's daughter, and you turned to her with a kinder expression and collected all your courage to wipe the trail of blood that came out of her mouth, also fixing her hair in the process.

"Are you done?" the other Ubuyashiki kid spoke, making the trouble kid hiss, and you rush to (sort of) hide behind Kanao out of shame for having the attention over you. Kanao simply glanced at you with a gentle closed-eyes smile.

"If so, please go over there and choose the alloy that will be used to create your blade"

You looked over at the mentioned table, a bit confused seeing that they looked fairly similar.

"The alloy for the blade that you will use to destroy demons and protect yourself will be personally chosen by you"

You gulped, a bit nervous. You had no idea which one to choose, it was an important decision so you wanted to make sure you got a good one. Your nerves only increased when you saw the kind boy take one without hesitation, the angry one just took one without thinking and Kanao followed, she blinked over all of them and took a second to flip a coin before deciding on one. As you didn't want to be the last one, you hurried to take one.

Before choosing, you took a deep breath. "Okay. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe..."

Kanao stood next to you while you tried your best to select one, and when you were done with the nursery rhyme, you pointed at the selected ore to the Ubuyashiki children. They simply nodded and took it.

Kanao and you went to get your measurements taken afterwards, because for both of you, the kakushi knew that your respective pillars would pay, so no use wasting time.

When they were all done, the both of you went down the mountain together. It was a silent agreement, because since your masters' estates weren't terribly far apart, you could go a long way in her company. Although neither of you spoke, it was a serene and comfortable walk.

You really wanted to get back to your house, take a long bath and have a big meal, sleep in your fluffy futon and see Muichiro's angel face.

As you two parted ways with a quick wave, realization hit you.

Right, I passed the selection... I'm a demon slayer now!

I can't wait to see Tokito-sama and make him proud! I just hope he hasn't forgotten about me, hehe!