Shinobu looked at Eira. She sighed. Eira felt as if something was about to happen. She gulped in anticipation.
"How... did you realise?" Shinobu asked, laughing a bit. Eira explained to her about her weird sixth sense. Shinobu only laughed at this, it was something new to her. There was no excitement, no surprise, just as if it was a pleasant message. Eira fiddled with her feelings as Shinobu explained her intense hate for demons, due to losing many family members to the horrid creatures.
"If I come across... Your friend. I have to apologise for saying this. But I won't be holding back." Shinobu sighed and hit Eira with a blunt feeling. Eira had realised, so any other demon slayer wouldn't know Ali's story. They wouldn't have memories of Ali. They would just see him as another demon. Trying to kill humans. It depressed Eira a bit. Shinobu saw the rather gloomy facial expression that Eira had and decided to introduce a new topic to Eira.
"Say... Have you ever heard of the different types of breathing?" Shinobu asked as she sat down, inviting Eira to sit down as well. Eira was quite confused about what she meant.
"Like... Fire breathing, water breath-" Eira was about to continue when she was cut off by Shinobu. Shinobu giggled a bit and explained it to Eira.
"There are certain types of breathing. They increase a certain aspect such as recovery breathing, it boosts your ability to recover from fatal blows." Shinobu explained while looking at Eira.
Eira was fascinated. Different types of breathing, it was like a breakthrough. Eira asked many questions before Shinobu proposed an offer to her.
"How about you spend a couple of months at the Butterfly Mansion? I have trainees here who will help you learn breathing styles in weeks. Both you and your friend." Shinobu offered.
Eira thought about it and decided to consult Asumi about it. Saying goodbye to Shinobu, she went to bed.
Morning rose quickly and Eira popped the question to Asumi, without much thought Asumi accepted. It meant time for rest and recovery. Asumi was still a bit injured from the attack with Akaza, and she had no idea how long it would take for her new sword to arrive again. Eira informed Shinobu about her and Asumi's acceptance of the proposal.
On the very first day of their training, they were trained to the brink of their energy from sunrise to sunset, they learned a lot of different and new breathing styles. The most prominent thing they wanted to learn was the glorious, Total Concentration Constant. But it would take a while to master. Eira stared at the outside world, outside the gates of the Butterfly Mansion it seemed a bit scary. Was Ali still out there? Watching the sunset at the same time as them?
Sounds of clashing sounded throughout the forest on the top of the mountain. The dark forest was illuminated by the moonlight. Ali punched trees with his bare hands. He embraced the newfound strength, he had discovered many things by just experimenting with different things. He was faster and stronger, he felt great. Physically at least. Every time he found himself by surprise at his strength or speed, he had to remind himself how the power had come. He was a demon. He punched at the tree again. The branches fell like flies. His hands barely had pain, every twinge of pain was lost immediately.
He looked up at the moon. Which illuminated his pale blue skin. He didn't want to admit it, but his inner child found his own body quite cool. His body had remained mainly the same, it was still lean and fit. His eyes had turned a light brown. A lot of things had changed, he wore a similar costume to Akaza. He had the flower in his pocket like always. There was a mirror in Akaza's house. Ali would often admire his body in the mirror, in a bit of an egotistical way, he looked good. It was just the patterns all over his body that constantly reminded him of his demon self. The spiky wind stripes painted all across his arms. Akaza had left for a stroll, he often did that, he would scare rookie demon slayers for fun. How cruel. Ali wanted to leave but he knew better.
Ali sighed and thought of Akaza. In the past 3 days, he had learnt a lot about Akaza, the endless hate Ali once had disappeared sometime during the days. Akaza was quite admirable, the incredible willpower, and an honourable set of morals. Ali had found a bit of a liking for Akaza. Past all the feelings, Ali's heart still beat, it still beat for the life of a human. He often wondered what Eira and Asumi were up to. Ali had two paths he wanted to go down.
Either he would turn back into a human. Or he would let Eira or Asumi kill him. He wanted someone he knew to kill him. It would feel more... noble. Ali's face fell neutral, how long had it been since he smiled? He missed everyone. He missed them all. Ali felt the unbearable urge to eat again. It came every once and so often. He knew what the hunger was for. Human flesh. Ali ignored the urge every time, he wanted to keep his humanity. He vowed he would never eat human flesh. In turn, he found himself often tired, and restless. Akaza advised Ali, that not eating human flesh would mean a cause of energy draining. Ali had to find a different source of energy, other than sleep. It was too time-consuming. Ali had an epiphany.
It came from thinking about his old goal. If as a human, he wanted to become Wind Hashira. As a demon, the alternative would be to become one of the 12 Moons. Ali sighed at the thought.
Ali either spent his time outside in the chilly forest, or inside in Akaza's glum dojo. A tall bookshelf was the only thing that stood out at first glance. Ali would often read whatever books came into his hand.
He pulled out a book, 'Demons Volume 3. By Muzan' Ali started to flick through pages. Til he stopped at a particular page. Different types of Consumption: Human. Ali cringing and kept flicking. Different types of Consumption: Demons. Ali found this interesting, especially a particular paragraph.
"Only few demons have proved to be power-hungry enough to devour fellow demons, there are many different ways to do this, some demons simply eat them just as they would eat humans. However, in the case of Upper Moon 1, he absorbs the very life force of other demons."
Ali's eyes raced from line to line, ideas popping in his head.
"Maybe... I could... absorb the demons." Ali thought. He was desperate, he wanted to continue defeating demons as a demon, absorbing them to get more powerful. He knew Akaza wouldn't go against it. Akaza despised weak demons anyways. Ali felt a grin creep up his face, he covered his mouth. His light brown eyes told a different story from the evil grin on his face. It showed despair. Ali looked back at the sound of a stick.
A loud crack sounded at the top of the mountain. Outside the dojo, a weak demon had made its way to the top of the mountain.
It screamed. Screamed and screamed constantly and loud.
"Let me at you Akaza! I'll kill you! You aren't strong! You're a coward!" The demon cried its heart out. For some reason, Ali felt an annoyance in his chest. Ali's grin fell. Ali stood up and walked to the wooden door, slowly creaking it open, to find the demon, who had its eyes closed.
"Oy. He isn't here." Ali said, ruffling his hair. He took slow steps out of the dojo and walked towards the demon. He felt bad for the demon. It was rather broken, it had an ugly face, it just looked like a fat and ugly human. Ali was blasted back as the demon punched Ali in the chest. His back slammed into a tree.
"Shut up! You weak rip-off!" The demon screamed at Ali. "Don't speak you low-grade coward!"