ANNOUNCEMENT 23/12/23: I am going to revamp the Kindness parts because honestly, I don't feel good about them, thank you to justrynalive for their very kind and eye-opening comment which triggered this revamp. Just like the last revamp, if you've already read the kindness chapters and liked them, don't worry about these revamps, I'm only going to change the way I say things and won't change any plot or anything like that. That's all, enjoy Kindness part 5.
The moon's pale face glowed silently as the Earth it looked upon erupted with noise. Some countries are loud with activity, others quiet as they rest. A specific town alive with noise even though the country was quiet at the late, dormant hour. The town rumbled as two figures fought, a human and a demon, their shadows bolded by the bright moonlight.
Kaze's instincts set off as the loud grumble alerted him of danger behind him, Kaze was too slow, the large and powerful fist of the demon slammed right into Kaze's back and it was as if gravity had suddenly turned off. His footing had not been as stable this time, Kaze's body flew away from the demon at a quick rate and crashed into a wall. Kaze's whole body vibrated at the collision with the wall, a surge of aches and throbs of agony sparked across him. The inexperienced and self-proclaimed Demon Slayer was confused, he was sure that the punches he delivered would've been more than enough to at least knock the demon out. He had even witnessed the demon fall onto its back.
The large demon flaunted a psychotic smile as its feet made the ground rumble just by walking towards Kaze. The walk was slow yet intense enough to paralyse one with an unbearable amount of fear, the twisted smile in combination with the protruding horn out of its forehead, the large stature that made its strength so immense. Kaze attempted to move but his body erupted with aches, he groaned loudly and fell to the ground, his face met the dirt as he held his body. He had undermined the strength of a demon. For two years now, Kaze had no real challenge in strength, the boys wouldn't gang up on him, his dad wasn't there to humble him, and Kaze's ego had grown too high for him to remember the times when he was weak.
He was reminded as the footsteps drew closer, he was not the strongest yet. His body failed to serve his brain, face first in the cold dirt in unison with the cold reminder, Kaze lay there.
Kaze's whole body seemed to have restarted as the cold air filled his lungs, his arms filled with energy once again. He pushed up with his arms and lifted his head up, only to meet the sheer horror that stood above him, the demon towered over Kaze, the creepy smile still plastered over its face.
It was over. Kaze knew it was. At the moment the demon lifted its bulbous fist in the air, Kaze wanted to apologise to both his mother and the caretaker, for placing false hope in their minds that he would thrive as a Demon Slayer, he couldn't even get past his first mission.
Kaze's eyes were close to accepting his fate when a chilling sentence pierced his eyes.
"Get. Up." The sentence came in the form of his father's voice, Kaze's whole body twisted and he rolled to the left violently as the fist came crashing down onto the ground, he had narrowly dodged the life-ending attack.
That sentence kept ringing in his head, Kaze was so conditioned to falling after a sparring session with his father and then getting told those two simple words, so short yet so powerful. Kazuya The Shadow may have died, but his memory in Kaze's mind would never cease to exist. The demon's smile twisted downwards at the disappointing outcome, its eyes shot towards Kaze and narrowed. Its body turned towards Kaze once more and this time took a swift step towards Kaze and lifted its fist again, it definitely solidified itself as the classic "strong, big but dumb" cliche demon. Kaze's arms tensed and pushed himself back up, once again he evaded the attack of the demon, he had finally found his way back onto his feet, Kaze had to find a new plan, he had tried knocking it out but that failed. Kaze decided to plan later, his body rotated away and he dashed away from the demon. Obviously, Kaze's speed outranked that of the demon. Kaze's head turned back as he heard the demon's loud groan of frustration, the wind blew fiercely as he continued to sprint away.
As if the day had not been of enough surprise, Kaze's body collided with something else, a person. He immediately lost his balance and fell to the ground in unison with whoever he crashed into.
"Hey watch it, idiot!" A feminine voice blasted as Kaze's face met the dirt for a second time. Kaze felt a shove at his shoulder as he quickly stood. Kaze looked to his side, it was a short girl with shoulder-length hair, her face had a sour expression on it, but the most noteworthy part was her clothing, she wore a similar outfit to the swordsman Kaze had witnessed only two weeks before, likewise she also wielded a sword at her waist.
Kaze's mouth opened to ask for assistance, but before he could even speak, the girl's eyes locked with the large demon that heaved as it ran towards Kaze, her feet acted faster than her mind and she dashed towards the behemoth of a demon. Her palm pressed onto the hilt of her sword.
The demon redirected its attention towards the new threat, its fist raised once again although the girl was quite far away to attack, it prepared to strike nevertheless. Kaze stayed still and watched the girl advance, her hair flailing violently as she made wild turns in her sprint, she utilised the buildings around her to her advantage, using them as a way to increase her speed. She wore an orange haori over her dark uniform that had the word "FIRE" on the back.
The demon's fist came rocketing down as the girl sprinted forward, the demon was too slow. The girl's arm tugged aggressively at the sword's hilt, as her blade unsheathed the beautiful orange hue of the sword's blade came into the moonlight, a glint of light alerted the demon of danger. It was too late for it. She swiftly slashed at both of the ankles of the demon and slid between its legs, immediately turning back. The demon's fist met the ground a long time after the girl had passed him. The demon felt its legs grow weak with the gushing wounds and it was brought to its knees, the girl sprung off the ground to meet the tall demon's nape and her sword swung elegantly right through the neck of the demon. The head now painted with a concoction of fear and anger on its face, dropped onto the floor and roared for a final time.
Kaze was in awe as he watched this girl somewhat effortlessly take on this large foe, his pride felt a little hurt as his attempt in comparison seemed useless and weak but either way, he wanted to learn from this girl. His wounds throbbed in remembrance of how badly he had been beaten.
Kaze started to walk towards the now deteriorating body of the demon. The girl locked eyes with Kaze and walked towards him.
"Good thing I saved this civilian before he ended up as demon food." She thought in her head. Her conclusion was reasonable, Kaze did not have a sword or a uniform, the two most crucial things that differentiated regular people from Demon Slayers.
"Hey, don't worry you're safe now." She gave a small thumbs up towards Kaze. An expression of confusion sparked onto Kaze's face, they both stood facing each other, the moon watched as the roots of this new relationship grew.
"I was just going to thank you for helping me defeat the demon… What's your name?" Kaze laughed awkwardly. The girl's eyes moved up and down Kaze as if they were dissecting him, her thoughts conflicted.
"My name is Xia." She replied and then followed with a question, "So… you're a Demon Slayer?"
Kaze nodded and further dug himself a hole with his ignorant yet innocent replies. Xia was about to say something further when the eerie sound of a door creaking filled the silent town. A small house directly perpendicular to them, an old lady slowly excited from the house and smiled at the two of them, her face had a slight smile, in her hands, she held a small brown bag. As she walked towards them, the bag jingled with the sound of coins. Money. She held the bag out.
"Thank… Thank you two, I witnessed the entire fight. I could not believe my eyes, I had seen that beast once before but I thought it had been a nightmare. From the depths of my heart, I show my gratitude for freeing the town from such a nightmare. I could not imagine if my children had been hurt by that demon." Her words were sincere and kind, she expressed her immense gratitude as she bowed her head. Xia smiled slightly but she knew it was best to reject this lady's gif-
"Thank you very much. I appreciate your gratitude very much." Kaze received the gift with open hands and smiled brightly, he was extremely happy he had finally received his first payment. Xia was in too much of a shock to say anything, it was only when the old lady slammed the door behind her that she fully came to her senses again. Her arm swung right at Kaze, she punched his shoulder out of anger.
"Are you serious?! Don't take money from them!" Xia's words were exasperated as she spoke to Kaze, she was in disbelief. Kaze shot her a confused look.
"How else am I supposed to get money?" Kaze's lack of knowledge and innocent delivery was the fuel that made Xia's heart burn brighter, her fury increased.
"The Corps pay us?!" Xia blasted into his ear. There was a painful misunderstanding between the both of them, Xia thought Kaze was a Demon Slayer who simply dressed differently and therefore knew all the procedures. Kaze didn't know anything about the job and thought people just killed demons and collected money, he was unaware of the large Demon Slayer Corps.
"Corps?" Kaze's lack of knowledge was completely expressed in this one statement, Xia now realised Kaze wasn't stupid and ill-mannered, but just literally had no idea what the Corps were.
"You don't know the Corps?" Xia's voice immediately toned down, she was surprised that someone who didn't know of the Demon Slayer Corps would still fight demons.
Xia lifted her head and stared at the stars in the night sky. The stars were bright and shone down, all unique in their light, under these same stars, Kaze and Xia met. Xia slowly smiled at the stupidity of this situation.
"Ok… Just, come with me. I'll explain everything alright?" Xia looked at Kaze with a smile on her face as she spun on the heel of her shoe and walked away. Kaze quickly joined her side and walked beside her.
"Oh, and sorry for calling you an idiot two times." Xia laughed and pinched Kaze's arm playfully.
Kaze laughed as well.
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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL CROW'S DAILY(credit to Writer 2 for this idea and special thank you to Krinz from ao3 for being a major factor in the innovation of this additional segment)
Hello to the crows of the world, and welcome to our special segment presented by Santa Crow!
Many of you are wondering what you will get this Christmas and I have decided to give you a quick sneak peak on the most popular items that will be given to those on the Nice Crow List.
5: 4-in-One Comb, Nail-Cutter- Nail-Filer AND Toothbrush! - Perfect for a crow who just doesn't have the space for all four!
4: Scarfs and Sweaters - As winter falls, feathers just don't cut it, scarfs and sweaters will keep you warm!
3: Wing-Ban Sunglasses - With the amount of flight an average crow has, protect your eyes and look stylish!
2: Crowbury Favourite Box - Everything from Blueberries, Walnuts, Cherries and Fish, the favourite snacks for a Crow!
1: Toys - All types of toys! Cars! Action Figures and more! The kids of the world deserve them!
Hopefully, you have a better idea of what you might be getting from Santa Crow, Merry Christmas! Cro Cro Cro! (Santa Crow version of Ho Ho Ho)