As he approached the fallen hunters, his long, sharp canines glistened in the moonlight as he began to feast upon the lifeless bodies.
From behind a tree, he spotted a young girl cowering out of sight. Despite seeing her, the creature made no move to harm her. The girl had curly pink hair and bright lime eyes.
The girl vanished and faded away from his sight.
"Wait! She looks familiar."
"Why didn't you kill her?" A voice echoed behind him.
He turned around and found a girl standing 5'5 feet tall. She had very long hair and was wearing a long white dress.
"L... Lady Eliza!!!"
"I asked you... Why didn't you kill her?"
He took a long breath and calmed himself down. "I didn't have any reason to kill her. I remembered something when I saw her."
She came closer to him and said, "And what could it be?"
He turned around and said, "Around 35 years ago, there was a girl who looked similar to her. She was also a former love hashira. She was also my master's crush."
"Ara Ara, it must be nostalgic for you, isn't it? You should check where you're standing," she taunted.
Naraka looked down and was shocked to see that the entire land had been turned into her palm. "What is this?"
"I had occupied this land and luckily you came here. I never thought I'd be able to see any kizuki; its chances are 1 out of ten thousand."
In no time, her face covered the entire sky and Naraka found himself on her palm. She was glowing even more than the moon itself. "I could've killed the girl, but I didn't. I won't tell you the reason." Her eyes glowed red with a creepy smile.
———————————————————————
2 years later.
13 April, 1957.
At the training ground, the demon slayers engaged in rigorous training sessions. They practiced their swordsmanship, engaging in one-on-one clashes to hone their skills. Among them, Chikafusa and Ai stood out, effortlessly prevailing over most of their fellow demon slayers.
It's time for the boy with different eye colors to fight. Under the guidance of Ren, he has mastered nearly every sword technique and has matured to a height of 5'10 feet.
"Who will be my opponent?" the boy wondered as he held his wooden sword and looked around.
A girl around the same age, 15 years, in a formal demon slayer corps cloth approaches him while shivering. She has pink and green hair with bright lime eyes. She has a voluptuous figure that her clothes barely hide.
"Huh? What's with this girl?" thinks everyone.
She confronts him and holds her wooden sword.
"Is she my opponent? She looks so weak. I need to take care to not hit so hard." thinks the boy.
With a sudden lunge, she attacked him, but he easily deflected her blow with his wooden sword. She then sent him flying into the air with her immense strength.
"What?" screams everyone.
The boy instantly appears beneath her and throws her sword away. He points his sword at her neck and declares, "It's over!"
The girl is frightened by the sight and falls on her knees. "NO NO NO! DON'T KILL ME!!"
He leaves her and prepares for the next round. But out of a sudden, Tsunenari arrives at the training ground.
"I choose you as my opponent," he points his finger at the boy.
Chikafusa stops Tsunenari from fighting but he ignores him. "Yoshimitsu-san, but I am your opponent. You can't fight anyone, you're now a wind hashira—"
Tsunenari interrupts him and says, "Don't get in my way, you scumbag."
"Lord Wind, it's none of your business. You're just ruining the entire training session. I am too inferior to fight you yet," says the boy.
Tsunenari laughs and says, "Are you scared?!! Hahahahaha!!! Don't get me wrong, you moron. I am just helping this corps to find a worthy person to fight."
He lunges at him and throws him away with his sword. "You're too slow. You should leave the corps and go back."
The boy picks up his wooden sword and instantly appears in front of him, but Tsunenari punches him so hard in his stomach that he starts vomiting.
He then punches at his face so many times simultaneously that his face starts bleeding badly. "Why do you have bandages on your lower face? It looks disgusting."
*Coughs blood*
The girl holds his arm and stops him, "Are you alright? You shouldn't fight anymore, or else you'll die."
"Don't worry, I am fine."
Ai comes towards the boy and says, "Idiot, you'll die. I appreciate your courage but you should stop fighting. This isn't training, this is pure torture."
"Don't care about me, I'll be fine," says the boy and lounges at Tsunenari.
"My next move will definitely kill you. Goodbye, you scum," says Tsunenari.
The boy throws his sword at him but he easily dodges it. "Is this what you can do?" taunts Tsunenari.
The boy disappears from his sight. Everyone is just praying for the boy and Tsunenari is looking around for him.
The boy appears behind him and punches his nose with all his power. "WHAT TH—" He starts bleeding horribly from his punch.
"What?!!" shocked everyone.
They both fell to the ground.
A few moments later, Tsunenari gets up. Chikafusa and the girl tried to stop him but he didn't. With blood covering his face, he slowly approaches him.
He is now standing in front of the boy who has been lying down on the ground and says, "I liked your courage, you moron. We can be good friends."
...
"WHAT?!!!!!" everyone is surprised to listen to his words. They couldn't imagine him responding like this.
"Umm... Sure!" said the boy in astonishment.
"Hold up a second!"
Chikafusa noticed that Ren wasn't around.
Chikafusa asks Ai about Ren but she doesn't know where he is. "I'll be looking for him. He must be on a mission," says Chikafusa and leaves for Ren.
He tries to find him everywhere but he's nowhere to be found. Nobody knows where he's been. Oyakata-Sama confirmed that he doesn't have any mission.
In the evening.
Ai asks Chikafusa about Ren but he nods, "I looked everywhere but he's nowhere to be found."
"What?!! Are ya kiddin' me? Where can he go? I haven't seen him either since the last night," said Ai in surprise.
"I hope he is alright," says Chikafusa.
Ai didn't like what he said, "Baka, I thought you knew about him the most. No one can do anything to him. He is invincible. But I am not here to glorify him, we need to find him as soon as possible."
The Current Oyakata-Sama, the 99th leader of the corps arrives and approaches them. He is in an extremely severe condition, he can't even walk correctly.
"Oyakata-Sama, are you alright? You need to take some rest," says Chikafusa and Ai.
"My children, I am looking for Hajime Ren. I will die very soon. I want to see him for the last time," he coughs blood and falls to the ground.
"OYAKATA-SAMA!!!" they screamed and ran towards him. They comforted him.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a deep twilight over the surroundings, there was no one else present except for them. The sky darkened, marking the beginning of the night.
"Oyakata-Sama, we don't know where Hajime-San is. Nobody has seen him since the last night. Why do you wanna see him right now? Your health is more important than anything," says Chikafusa with concern.
"M-My children, I wanna tell you something very important. I don't know if I'll be able to see you or not. *Cough Cough* Around 20 years ago, me and my father had a dream about the first breathing user, Tsugikuni Yoriichi. He was happy and told us that he would come very soon. My father passed away due to our family curse. Some years later, I met Hajime Ren. He looked almost the same as the first breathing-style user. He was as warm as the Sun, as strong as the storm, as innocent as the newborn. I believe him to be the man who appeared in my dream, Tsugikuni Yoriichi. After all, he is the strongest man who almost killed Kibutsuji Muzan. Do not tell anyone about this, my beloved children," said Oyakata-Sama with his mouth filled with blood.
"Is this why Hajime-Kun never told us about himself? He has been omniscient since our first meeting," thinks Ai.
The next morning.
Oyakata-Sama was found dead in his mansion...
Everyone mourned his death, even Tsunenari felt sad about his death. Every demon slayer and kakushi was present, except Ren.
Ren Hajime was nowhere to be found…