...
Somehow, I feel like nighttime is longer than daytime in this world. I can swear that it has already been at least six hours since night fell. And yet, the sunrise still hasn't arrived. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's winter.
My lungs are totally obliterated now. It's so numb that I can't even feel myself breathing. I'm honestly quite amazed at how long I stayed awake even with this body.
At this rate, I can probably still survive for another day. If my body hadn't already got a grasp on how to 'breathe' more naturally, I'm probably long dead on top of this cursed place where no one in their right mind would go.
*Crunch
'Huh?'
*Crunch*
The sound of the methodical crunching of the snow reached my ears. The sound got slightly lighter and lighter as I got more and more anxious. I didn't even think about how I could hear something that was probably at least 80 meters away from me
'No! At this rate, whoever is walking is going to walk right past me! I have to get their attention!'
And so... I had to do what I felt was a shame to the entire human existence as a grown-up adult mind. But I had to do it, okay?! Can't let my chance to live escape now can I?
I used all my strength to cry, and what came out of my mouth was a cry that would break the hearts of all women if they had heard it. Even I felt a little flustered when I heard it. But still, It is probably the most humiliating thing I have done in my entire 27 years of existence.
But at last, the noise of whoever was walking on the snow stopped. And I felt happy that the man or woman had stopped.
Seconds passed, and seconds became minutes, and I soon grew tired of crying. Anxiousness enveloped me as I feared that the person had not heard my cry and had walked down the mountain.
4 minutes passed, and finally, I heard the sound of the crunching snow. It was getting louder and louder, at an increasingly fast pace.
It grew louder and louder until suddenly, it stopped.
I felt confused. I looked around for even just a glimpse of any living being. And I soon felt overwhelming fear. My emotions changed as If I was on the world's scariest roller coaster as I heard the sound of heavy breathing.
It was like a wild and savage animal. An aura of evilness diffused in the air as I continued looking around for any potential trace of movement.
"Well... well... well... what do we have here?" The coarse and low voice resounded throughout the woods.
Then, I saw it. The grayish-red hands with sharp human nails slowly grasping on a nearby tree. His face still resembles a human's, but his body was something that came straight up from the abyss.
What was originally a perfectly normal upper body, periodically had protrusions of human faces and body parts. It squirmed as if it were still alive.
'Well... the existence of this guy confirms one thing, I'm definitely in the world of Demon Slayer all right... and~I'm dead. I'm soo freaking dead.'
The demon started walking towards me, and his hands stretched towards me. I closed my eyes in dismay.
But I didn't feel pain, he had lifted me from the ice-cold ground. Though I don't doubt that there are good demons in this world, for example, Nesuko. This guy is definitely not one of them.
Even though the force I felt that was lifting me was not overly strong, his wickedly sharp nails still slightly scratched my fragile body. As the smell of my blood reached the both of us, his face changed into an intoxicated look.
He smirked and growled, "Marechi huh? The rarer kinds too...".
I can now clearly see the sharp fangs on his teeth and the countless veins that protruded on his hideous face.
Letting out an inner sigh, I stared at the demon. Hoping that If I stared hard enough, that the demon would just suddenly go 'Poof!' and disappear.
Disappointingly, that didn't happen. And as it sensing something terrifying, the demon's sneer changed as quickly as it had come, his face changed to an expression of extreme fear.
He then started running desperately down the mountain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flash of the sunlight, and the shadows were receding extremely fast compared to normal sunrises.
'Probably a world rule or something, the novels I've read usually talked about these. Something as powerful as an immortal being that only fears sun-related things in a world of no technological advancements would be way too overpowered.'
Though this rule is only minor compared with the power gained when you become a demon, only if there weren't any demon slayers.
Anyways, as the demon ran down the mountain, I felt the oxygen in the air getting slightly warmer and richer. My lungs were starting to absorb oxygen with a craze, the lack of oxygen on top of the mountain had damaged my body.
For most people, it's safe to hold your breath for a minute or two. Doing so for too much longer can decrease oxygen flow to the brain, causing fainting, seizures, and brain damage. In the heart, a lack of oxygen can cause abnormalities of rhythm and affect the pumping action of the heart.
In my case, the lack of oxygen for a few hours had not caused major brain damage nor any abnormalities of the rhythm of the pumping action of my heart. This is entirely due to the total concentration breathing described in the anime.
Somehow, I subconsciously gained a small insight into constant total concentration breathing while trying to breathe in an oxygen-deprived area.
'That's good too, seems like I have the same amount of talent I had in my previous life.'
Crowned as the brightest star of both the sport and music industry. I remembered the countless awards I had received for competing in sports, music, and literature. But mainly sports and music.
I wondered, 'Where is this guy going anyways?'
The demon has been running for 10 minutes now, and he's probably going to die if he can't find any place to hide from the sun. Not that I want him to live, but I hoped that he would bring me closer to the foot of the mountain, where chances of meeting people would be high.
Though I'm doubting the fact that he hadn't eaten me yet because he's full or because of some other reason, but it probably won't be long until he's going to eat me.
Another ten minutes passed as he reached a dark cave, the demon heaved a sigh of relief, but instantly, he turned his attention towards the inside of the cave.
"Tut, pest." He dumped me down on the rocky ground and faced the darkness.
'Ow! My back! You a**hole! Couldn't you have let me down gentler?'
Emerging from the darkness was a huge brown bear. The huge size of the bear oversized the demon by a large margin.
And with a growl, the demon flashed with an afterimage, instantly gutting the bear on the right.
The poor guy didn't even react before its heart was violently ripped away from its humongous body.
Wiping away the blood on his body, the demon turned his attention back to me.
"Hmm... It'd probably be fine If I only have an arm or a leg since humans are as tenacious as a cockroach. Right?"
The demon looked like he was thinking about what he was thinking hard on this question.
'Hey! Don't describe me as a cockroach! Those things are disgusting! The freaky little critters won't die even if they are stomped into a mush! And anyway, aren't you demons the ones who are as tenacious as cockroaches?!'
"Oh, whatever! Why think so much when you can just eat it in a bite?" With that said, he picked me up with one hand and opened his mouth.
I tried my best to stay calm. But no matter what I did, I just felt more and more panicked. I clenched my eyes shut. Who can say that they are not afraid of being mawed on by some wolves alive? Without being able to do anything except to watch your body slowly getting ripped to pieces nonetheless? Definitely not me.
*Swoosh*
"Arghh!"
With just a few inches away from the demon's mouth, I felt myself being pulled away by someone. His hands most likely had calluses from the way his hands felt.
I opened my eyes. What greeted me was a somewhat familiar face. He was a middle-aged man, his skin looked unhealthy, but he still looked somewhat energetic. He had dark red eyes, black hair with red tips that reached, and a scar on his left forehead. He also had a pair of hanafuda earrings on his ears.
This was Kamado Tanjuro, the father of Kamado Tanjiro. Different from the animation, he still was an energetic middle-aged man, nothing like the sickly father that was introduced in the anime.
He had in his right hand, a worn-out, but still sharp axe that was dripping with blood.
"Bastard! Who are you?! Why is my goddamn arm not regenerating?! What did you do to me!?"
The demon clenched what's left of his left arm that was still spewing out blood erratically.
Tanjuro didn't reply, but his hand that was clenching the wood-cutting axe tightened. With a loud "Bang" I heard the rocks on the ground burst into pieces, and I felt myself being propelled forward with extreme force.
I wasn't thrown at the demon, fortunately. Glancing forward, I see the head of the demon flipping in the air, separated from his body that was slowly turning into greyish-crimson ash.
Weirdly enough, the blood that was on the axe disappeared as well. With the death of the ugly demon, I finally exhausted the last drop of willpower that had kept me conscious during my time on the mountain summit, and with the demon.
My chest felt crushed with the amount of time that I spent doing total concentration breathing. My eardrums had almost ruptured with the amount of blood that rushed to my head. And my body suffered minor internal injuries with my newly developed baby veins bursting from the accelerated blood pressure.
It is already a miracle to survive, not to mention only suffering a backlash for overdrafting huge mental and physical consumption of energy.
Tanjuro looked at the place where the demon had just been with doubt, but he quickly turned his attention back to me.
I was doing my best not to fall asleep, but the warmth I felt being held in his arm persuaded me like a devil whispering in my ears.
Walking out of the cave, he started to walk in a certain direction through the woods. Soon, a wooden house came into view.
"I'm back honey!" Tanjuro exclaimed as he entered the door.
A voice with a noticeable kindness in it drifted out from another room, "Oh! Welcome back, dear! Did you forget to bring anything? You had just left the house ten minutes ago!"
Walking from around a corner, a woman with a noticeably light complexion, kind, dark purple eyes with black hair, worn tied back in a messy bun with a few loose strands left to dangle over her face appeared.
She wore a purple and cream checkered kimono with a white and long-sleeved smock over the top, also sporting a length of white cloth that she wears around her head, covering most of her hair.
Her belly bulged as if she were pregnant.
'Which she probably is, because I don't hear the sound of any children around the house. If I remember correctly, she had six children, including Tanjiro. What was her name again? Hm...'
As I thought about her name, she wiped the excess water off of her hands with a handkerchief and her gaze turned towards me.
"Aw... Who is this cute little girl? Look! She even has the same eye color as me!" The woman broke my line of thoughts as she gently took me from Tanjuro's arms.
"I don't know dear, I found her in a cave with a lunatic cannibal that was about to eat her."
Tanjuro's face screamed with sympathy. He placed the axe in a corner and he took off his black and orange checkered haori.
"A cannibal?" The woman seemed shocked.
'What? But it was clearly a demon? Does Tanjuro not know that the thing he killed was not a person, but a demon?'
"Then you must be more careful when you go out to cut wood next time, dear."
"I will, but Kie... what should we do with the baby?" Tanjuro asked.
...
A moment of silence spread between the two.
"Let's adopt her." The woman had a serious expression.
"What?" Tanjuro said in disbelief.
"I said. Let's adopt her." Her kind yet firm eyes looked at me.
Tanjuro scratched his head and chuckled, "Alright. Let's adopt her. How about you be the one to give her a name?"
Kie, no, my mother thought about it for a minute and smiled at me.
"Kamado Kiyomi. In hopes that she will grow up to be a beautiful woman in the future, and that she will always be a part of our family."
"That will be your name from now on, Kiyomi."
'This is fate, isn't it? Kiyomi in my last life, Kiyomi in this life.' I let out a small giggle, declaring my happiness with the name I had received.
Tanjuro and Kie looked at each other and smiled.