On that one fateful night under the stars, a constellation of love aligned perfectly above Kaze and Xia, they were made for each other, both of their souls burned bright like the stars when they were together. For the next eight months, Kaze stuck around Xia on her missions. Xia had thoroughly explained the process of Final Selection and how Kaze had to sign up for the Demon Slayer Corps, but to Kaze, it was all a lengthy waste of time. He didn't have time to spend on Final Selection let alone waiting for a sword to be for him, instead, he decided to aid Xia on her missions as a sort of support, Xia was more than happy splitting the money she got with Kaze. Sometime into the first month, Xia had gotten a nichirin sword crafted by a blacksmith, it wasn't that sturdy as he wasn't trained to handle nichirin, but it would do. Kaze finally got a sword.
"Alright, now I can actually kill demons." Kaze grasped the sword with immense hope and optimism.
"Yeah, so do you use Shadow Breathing?" Xia laughed as she bumped into Kaze playfully and bounced off him, she assumed Kaze knew a breathing style on top of his martial art. They walked side by side like they had done just as when they first met.
"What?" Kaze laughed a little as he expressed that innocent confusion anytime something new was introduced. Xia had to explain the way Demon Slayers used different types of breathing styles to regulate their power into forms that effectively provided offence and defence. Xia was a user of flame breathing, as anyone would expect from her haori and the bold colour of her sword. Kaze's mind was stumped for a while, however, when Kaze was backed into a corner, he could always find a way out. His mind's gear and cogs creaked as innovation ran wild in his mind. A light bulb burned brightly as his eyes grew wide. He would apply Motion of the Shadow, after all, martial arts had no limits in its application.
The next seven months were full of practice, prosperity and pride. Kaze struggled to use a sword for a few months, he would often throw it to the ground and handle demons with his fists, but with proper guidance from Xia and discipline, he was able to achieve competency in the art of swordsmanship.
As his strength grew, his fifteenth birthday passed, he and Xia celebrated quietly but with great joy. These moments were the happiest of his life, his kindness ever-growing as his happiness built itself up to reach new peaks.
Xia and Kaze walked side by side, Xia looked at the ground, her feet stepped on dry leaves, the crunch filled the silence of the night. Her hand loosely laid on her sword as her eyes constantly glanced at Kaze. Her heart beat loudly and she gulped, Kaze wore that same composure he always had. She was going to do it, after eight months, she needed to.
Flame Breathing! First Imaginary Technique: Confession.
"I lo…" Xia abruptly turned to Kaze and then she almost immediately turned back forward as Kaze's eyes met hers. Her body grew in heat comparable to a fire as she burned up in embarrassment.
"Huh?" Kaze's voice was enough for her entire body to tense. Xia hoped that the darkness of night was enough to disguise the blush on her face.
"I said I think we're here." Xia cleverly changed the topic, but she still resisted the urge to turn towards him due to her own internal shame. Kaze's head turned at the surroundings, the description matched the mission Xia's crow had described perfectly, a dense and dim forest where a demon hid, the moon shone through the wide but irregular gaps in the treeline. The trees were spaced apart, enough to form little circles of barren ground through the forest sparse of life.
Xia's eyes were drawn to the moon, her heart slammed at her chest.
Flame Breathing! Second Imaginary Technique: Just do it!
"Kaze," Xia spoke in a brazen tone, she faced him with her arms crossed and a strong stance. Kaze's body turned towards her as he looked slightly confused. His lips formed a slight smile as he looked at Xia, the person he had spent the last eight months with.
"Yes?" Kaze smiled at her. Xia's hands trembled but she gripped her own arms to hide the nervousness she had. She could feel her back shiver with anxiety but her eyes remained fixated on Kaze.
"For the past eight months, you've made me… really happy." Xia's stomach filled with butterflies and her chest moved up as her lungs expanded with air, "I love you."
Kaze's stomach shared the same feeling of butterflies as Xia, silence filled the air as his eyes slowly widened, heat grew over his face as he felt the grip on his sword slowly loosen.
"The way you stay calm, the way you care about your family so much, the way you laugh… I love everything about you." Xia's nervousness started to show as her arms slowly moved infront of her and she looked down nervously.
The stars witnessed the two lovers in this moment of romance.
"I feel the same way. I love you, Xia." Kaze's smile lit up the area, Xia's mouth slowly crept into a smile as well.
A whistling sound intruded the situation and the peace was broken. In a single second, without any time for reaction, an arrow stabbed through Xia's back, the arrowhead penetrated right through her body and displayed itself on the front of her body.
"Huh?" Kaze's expression almost changed to horror as blood splattered on the ground, Xia's hands trembled not out of nervousness but shock and agony. A devilish snicker erupted, it echoed both through the forest and his mind.
Xia turned around quickly and she grasped at her sword, another arrow stabbed right through her chest, the tough material of the corps uniform punctured by the arrow, Xia's chest contracted in pain she felt her heart writhe in agony, the arrowhead was stuck directly in the tricuspid valve of her heart. Xia's vision blurred and she took a step back, she felt a familiar hand supporting her on her back.
"Xia!" Kaze's voice saturated with worry and concern, his throat was tight and he held her tightly, a girl he had just confessed his love to, now on her last breaths. The cruel nature of life stabbed knives into Kaze's back, every knife felt more painful than the last, Double-Eye's departure, his father's death, his mother's sickness and Xia's death. The knives impaled his back, stuck, the harsh aches filled Kaze's mind. His mind was blank without thought as he stared at Xia's pale face.
"Kaz…" She didn't have the privilege to finish her last word. Her body went limp in Kaze's arms. The blood that leaked out her chest and back pooled in his trembling palms.
A snicker alerted Kaze once again, of the cruel preparator behind his lover's death. Kaze's ears buzzed loudly as the snicker isolated itself as the sole sound. Kaze's head slowly lifted upwards and stared right in front of him. Twenty metres away, a tree with a hole, a wide hole where a face peeked out, a disgusting pale grey colour that attempted to blend in with the tree. Ugliness couldn't blend in with beauty.
Kaze's eyes scanned the tree, the face, grey and smiling, above the face was a small hole, carved into the tree.
"What a shame," The demon's snicker was aimed at Kaze's face of despair. The grey skin wrinkled as the smile spread further across its face. Through the small hole, another arrow shot out, directly aimed at Kaze's forehead, the arrow accelerated at a quick pace. The whistle grew closer and closer. Kaze's body didn't want to move. He wanted to join Xia. He wanted to join his father.
"Please. Let me die." Kaze's eyes closed for half a second, instead of darkness he saw light. His heart pounded, unlike those who were dead. He was alive. A tear dropped from his eye.
"Wha…" The demon's eyes narrowed as it watched Kaze and the arrow seemingly just… stopped. Kaze's palm burned with splinters, he had a tight grip on the arrow he had just caught. Once again, he had to fight. He had to fight in place of those who couldn't.
An indescribable feeling of anger filled Kaze as he slowly let go of Xia's body and let her lifeless corpse rest on the ground. Kaze's hand immediately grabbed at his sword, the eerie whistle echoed once again as another arrow shot, the blade in Kaze's hand thirsted for battle. Sparks flew as Kaze's blade deflected the arrow. Kaze's arm swung violently once again as he threw the sword as if it were a spear right at the demon, aimed at its face. He missed his mark and the sword instead impaled the small hole above the face, the sword handicapped the demon from firing. The demon was still in fear, Kaze slowly walked toward the demon, his eyes cloaked in darkness as the stars and moon both failed to illuminate his face.
"Haha… as soon as you remove that sword, I'll shoot you with an arrow… if you want to live, get out of here." The demon's pride was unbroken as it spoke to Kaze.
Kaze stood silent. The face of the demon, grey wrinkled skin, and old evil eyes, stared back at him.
Kaze's fist slowly lifted itself.
The silence of night filled with a loud crack sound followed by a scream of agony that rattled the very atmosphere. The demon's face met Kaze's knuckles, the knives of pain in Kaze's back ached so much, he unleashed the pain onto this demon. Punch after punch, Kaze's punches slammed into the face of this demon, relentless, ferocious and never-ending.
"Please! S-" The demon's begs for mercy drowned in the vicious assault it endured, death awaited the demon as it felt the terrifying presence of Kaze. The punches never ended.
Its cheeks stung and its bones were all out of place, it could feel its teeth at the back of its throat, its eye socket in its mouth, and its skull was shattered into pieces scattered like a jumbled puzzle that now stabbed into its skin from inside. Every punch caused more damage to the demon, the agony grew more and more unbearable. Kaze's eyes flooded with tears as he thought of Xia. The shrieks never stopped. The knives that agonised Kaze finally seemed to slip out as he continued to pummel the demon's face into an unrecognisable mess. A final punch not only broke the demon's remaining bones into smaller pieces, but the base of the tree, it strained with pain and whined as it cracked. The tree slowly leaned backwards and the large tree fell onto its back and split into two, the demon's body now fully exposed. Its body was wrinkled and soggy, it was tiny, not bigger than Kaze's arm. The demon pathetically tried to escape the sloth-like movements as it continued to scream in pain, even after Kaze had halted his attacks. Kaze watched as the demon's small body fell to the ground, metres away from Kaze, its arms flailing as it attempted to move. Kaze took a few steps to stand right above it. Kaze lifted his foot and violently stomped on the demon.
Twenty minutes, he had spent twenty minutes mutilating this demon beyond recognition, all that remained was a gruesome sight of blood splatter on the ground, what looked like minced meat lay on the floor, the slow healing as if it was a reverse slow-mo. Kaze tugged his sword out of the tree log and sliced the demon several times. He didn't know where the neck was but he was relieved when he saw the demon turn to dust. Kaze's rage had composed itself, he finally felt… free. His eyes filled with sorrow once again as he saw Xia's body.
The sun rose as Kaze walked, he was a long way from the forest, his hands still stained with blood. He had buried Xia in that same forest, the soil soaked with blood and tears. Kaze carried the bold orange sword with him, he didn't want to let such a good sword go to waste.
"Hopefully… she doesn't mind," Kaze stared at the orange blade he carried in his hand. He cried.
A few months later, Kaze came upon a sword. A sword stuck in the ground blade-first into the ground, a beautiful emerald hue to the blade. It was right in the middle of the path. Kaze stared at it. His hand tightly gripped the hilt of the sword and he pulled with immense strength, he knew one thing as he exerted extreme force, whoever had impaled this sword so deep must've been extremely strong. Not that Kaze wasn't strong enough.
The green blade was freed from the ground, free once again. Kaze's fingers could feel the power in the sharp and sturdy sword. His lungs filled with air as his eyes moved to the empty hole left in the ground. Kaze put Xia's orange sword in its place, a symbol of hope and a way he could move on.
"Rest well."
Kaze headed towards Mount Natagumo.