"He's a demon now."
Eira stared into the eyes of Asumi. Eira stood still, turning to the sword that was impaled into the ground. The sunlight shining into her eyes, usually it'd feel good, but it felt as if it was burning her skin. Eira's finger twitched as the world around her became irrelevant, she became lost in memories and thoughts.
The words that had just slipped out of Asumi's mouth had killed her hope. Ali was a demon. Eira's mind was going wild, it was all so fast to her. Eira's heart sank, had she failed her goal? Already? In the first month of being a demon slayer? Her goal of protecting those close to her? Her thoughts stopped when she saw Asumi, it wasn't any time to remember her goals, whether she had fulfilled them or failed them. She knew Asumi was much more hurt than she was. After all, they were childhood friends. She could feel Asumi's heartache, which throbbed that a burning flame. Eira sighed and forced herself to remain calm.
"Let's go find a safe place. Then we can talk about it. How does that sound?" Eira looked at Asumi. Asumi wiped her tears once more. Eira didn't know much about comforting people in loss, Eira glanced at Ali's sword that was deeply lodged into the ground. She put a hand on its grip, it felt nice and quite new. Eira put all her force in trying to pull the sword out of the ground. It was useless, only someone of great strength could pull the sword out. Eira felt a pain in her soul as if it was burning with guilt. She felt great guilt for leaving it in the ground. Free for anyone to see. She hoped it wouldn't be stolen, or taken by anyone.
All of a sudden, memories of her hometown flooded back. The small temple her family ran, the white snow slowly hovering at the entrance, the warmth of the candles as you walked in, statues of the gods in front of a miniature replica of their very own mountain.
The memory of her mother's funeral. It was only honourable that Ali had a funeral as well. Eira reached for her pockets, a small flint. Asumi watched Eira search for something in the ground. After gathering a few flowers, she put it on the sword. After a while of closing her eyes and paying respects. She lit flames to the flowers, it was a weird mix, a disgusting burning smell of flowers, it was nice, but bad.
With the lighting of the flowers, both Asumi and Eira stood in front of the sword, thinking about different topics. Eira was in a dilemma. She had a certain thought, a question.
Was Ali their enemy now?
She had sworn to defeat any demons. Ali was a demon. But Eira felt a burning agony in her chest, like her heart was affected by this choice she had to make. Eira stared at the flowers, the last petals burning.
"Asumi. If you see Ali. Will you kill him?" Eira asked bluntly, there was a loud silence. Asumi's eyes seemed to stare at the flowers. As they glowed with the small heat the flames had left. A pile of ashe blown onto the base of the sword. Asumi looked at Eira. She knew the right answer.
"Yes." Asumi lied. Asumi knew if she saw Ali, she would not have the heart to even harm him. Would she even see Ali? Eira seemed pleased with the response. Although, the great blue of her soul didn't falter. Eira felt that this decision was the first step to getting over it. Eira's mind tricked into a denying state of lying. She was so obsessed with her goal she made desperate excuses in her mind.
She hadn't become a failure. She hadn't failed her goal. Ali was still alive. And if she wasn't close with Ali anyways, even if he died. The goal would still remain intact. It was a rather crude way to think about the situation. But Eira hadn't known Ali for long regardless. She could only offer sympathy now, now that Ali was a demon, she had to do what had to be done. Although it would hurt her at the time. Eira looked at the sky, which was a light blue.
She took a deep breath, she had realised the silence that came with Ali being gone. She shook her head. Why did she care? A small voice shouted in her head.
"He was your friend. And you couldn't protect him. Stop pretending to not care." It was her own voice. Eira was desperate to shut out the voice. She hated it. She hated how desperate she had gotten. Eira blinked, she felt her eyes watering as she stared at the sword. She missed Ali, his loud voice, his annoying questions, his big screams.
"Please... rest in peace." Eira put her two hands together and pressed them to her face, Asumi did the same, closing her eyes. In the small period that they both paid their respects, Eira cried.
Ali was her friend.
Tears run down her hands and dropped onto the floor. As soon as Asumi opened her eyes. Eira started to walk forward. She didn't want to hurt Asumi anymore, letting Asumi see Eira cry would make her heart burn with pain even more.
"Let's go, there's a place called the Butterfly Mansion a couple of kilometres from here. Let's inform them of what's happened there. There should be a Hashira." Eira said without looking back. Asumi sighed and slowly nodded. She stared at the sword, the emerald green shone with a sad reminder of Ali. Asumi lightly touched the hilt of the sword one last time and walked forward, letting her hand slowly brush off the metal at the end of the sword as she walked. It was her way of letting go of Ali's death. They both knew. Joining the Demon Slayer Corps would mean they would have to get used to death.
Hours passed, as they walked in silence. Complete silence. There was no small talk. No conversations. All until they reached the pretty entrance of the Butterfly Mansion. Asumi looked behind her.
The path behind them was full of their thoughts. She touched the flower in her hair. She knew Ali was alive, the flower was still standing strong. She sighed and entered. Eira did most of the talking. Ali's story raised concern, that he would infiltrate Demon Slayer sanctions since he knew all the important areas. Eira and Asumi knew this wouldn't be the case, first of all Ali can't remember directions to save his life. And second... They were stubborn that Ali wouldn't be evil. Eira had a sick feeling, that if she met Ali, that thought of him never being evil would put her at a disadvantage in terms of fighting him.
Crows were sent out to those who knew Ali.
"Your student. Ali has died. He was turned into a demon." The crow spoke to the Hashira, who was sitting under a tree. The wind raged in the area. Sanemi couldn't help but grip his sword tightly. His eyes stared at the leaves of the tree as he took in the information.
"Pity." He said. The crow launched off the ground and began to fly away. Sanemi looked at the crow fly away. His hands shook. He was never fond of Ali. But it didn't mean he didn't care for him.
"Fuck... I'll kill all those... demons." Sanemi covered his eyes with a hand. He took a deep breath. His hand shook, and he hit the ground with his hand.
"He didn't even reach 18... the idiot. He didn't even drink with me... Or get to marry." Sanemi hit the tree he leaned on. The sun highlighted the tear that fell onto Sanemi's sword.
Ali's body stumbled forward with whatever strength he had left, he wanted to smash the door open, let the sun over his entire body and die in peace. Ali's body was smashed into the ground by Akaza. Akaza's knee stabbed into Ali's back, Ali couldn't move at all. His body in pain and his heart thumping out his chest, blood flowing to every part of his body making him feel swollen and tingly. Akaza was screaming. Ali couldn't hear what Akaza was saying. But he caught a single line.
"You still have so much to live for!" Akaza shouted.
Ali realised. It was selfish for him to want to die. What about the people who wanted to see him live? Asumi. Sanemi. Eira. Images of them flashed across his mind
"From now on! You stay by my side! I'll train you! Until you can take on all the hashira all at once! You got that?! Huh?!" Akaza shook Ali by the shoulder. Ali felt a bit tearful. He didn't know why. He still had a burning hate for Akaza. But he knew better than to go against Akaza. He wouldn't stand a chance. Ali gripped Akaza's wrist.
"Fine." Ali stood up, and Akaza immediately stood in front of the door. Ali's eyes met Akaza's. Ali had several thoughts in his mind. The room felt different as he walked through it, going to face the training dummy that stood idly, its atmosphere tense. Ali stared at his fist. His hand caressed his roughed-up demon slayer uniform. He felt as if all emotions had been drained out of his tired body. As his hand got lower on his body. He felt a box in his pocket. His eyes watered up.
"It's... It's safe..." Ali grabbed it in his pocket as he sat on the floor of Akaza's so-called dojo. Taking the box out, he stared at the flower. He wondered if Asumi still had hers. Asumi.
"I'll come back. I promise." Ali looked at the flower. The flower glowed with hope. Glowed with ambition.