Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Within ten minutes of Eira waking up, she urged Kaze to let her walk independently. There was a strange sense of abnormality when her feet touched the ground. The shift from dependence to independence reminds her of the dormant buzz all throughout her body. The mental and physical shock she had gone through last night had not fully left her yet. Her head pounded, ironically saturated with pure emptiness rather than with thought. 

It felt scarily peaceful, but nothing would last forever, a memory popped up in her head. That moment last night she had turned around to come face to face with Ali.

Her heart began to beat faster at the thought of the rage-filled gaze that struck her eyes so intensely, the memory of how her vision began to blur and her body meeting the ground in a final thud as she fainted.

Eira took a deep breath.

"You know, I might take a break too," Kaze nudged Eira on the shoulder, which effectively pushed her out of her realm of terrible memories. 

"Oh? Really?" Eira spoke softly, she found it extremely difficult to face this avalanche of issues all at once. Ali's appearance, her own confusion, and Asumi's retirement, they were all phases of a terrible blizzard that ravaged Eira's well-being. Almost immediately, Eira's mind passively searched for a scapegoat. The redundant process would always come to a single individual that she could put all the blame of her problems on. Before she could get to this conclusion however, Kaze once again intercepted Eira's thoughts.

"Yeah, I want to go visit my mother. She sounds like she's doing well in her letters," Kaze smiled and laughed a bit. 

Eira wanted to cry. Kaze's very soul was just so kind that it could bring tears to Eira's eyes in the right mood. 

Kaze exhaled and gripped at his sword, a lot had changed in the past year. Sure he had achieved a somewhat celebrity status as 'The Shadow', but he was most proud of the fact that he was able to send a stable income back home to his mother now. He could see the slow progression back into health, his mother had gone from transcribing the messages to her caretaker to writing the letters herself, the very thought made Kaze proud. Proud of himself and his mother. 

"That's nice, I'm sure she'd love to see you," Eira encouraged Kaze with a soft smile.

"We've been walking forever, let's find a Wisteria House," Asumi sighed and looked back at the two. There was a seemingly frustrated and tired look in her eyes, it softened as it met Eira's gaze. 

"Maybe we could… get food in celebration of my retirement?" Asumi suggested with a soft smile. Getting food served as a testament to their friendship. Eira wanted to cry again. 

Eira cried. Again.

"Oh no again?" Kaze laughed jokingly as he patted Eira on the back, providing comfort. "Don't use my sleeve as tissues this time ok? Laundry is hard to find out here," 

Eira laughed through the tears and rubbed her eyes, she was an emotional mess. In between sniffles, she felt the warm embrace of her two friends. 

"I really… will miss you Asumi… I love you guys," Eira sniffed and continued to sob uncontrollably. 

When she was in the comfort of her two friends, life didn't really seem to be that complex and worrying. 

The trio ultimately found a Wisteria House and as they planned, went to get food in a nearby market. They returned to the Wisteria House by sunset. For once, they were all going to sleep on time. 

As the sun began to disappear under the horizon, drowsiness consumed humans. The energy shifted to the nocturnal realm of life. 

The dojo's door swung open. Within a minute of the sun dipping under the horizon, there was a loud crash in the forest. It was followed by subsequent repetitive cracks, the squirrels put acorns in their ears and the birds chirped in frustration. 

Akaza let out slight grunts as he felt the aftershock of the punches. He held a ripped-out tree trunk in his arms, Ali was on the other end using it as a punching bag.

"This has really got you worked up," Akaza spoke concisely. As much as he would love an anger-motivated brawl, he didn't want to strike a nerve of his students. Akaza stared at Ali, his internal conflict of confusion and anger apparent, the memory of this morning entered Akaza's mind once again. Ali had crashed into the dojo, covered in dirt, blood and completely dishevelled. Akaza at the time was extremely confused, but as Ali looked up, the emotions were clear from his eyes alone. A rage had consumed Ali, and although it had naturally lessened in intensity as the day progressed, Ali continued to release the remnants of his emotions onto the tree trunk.

"I've been nothing but a good friend! Human or demon. And what do I get in return? An attempt on my life. If I didn't stop myself I would've…" Ali slammed his fist into the trunk, the entire tree seemed to groan as a large crack travelled up the body, leaves and branches showered down and Ali's chest heaved up and down in anger. 

"I would've killed her," Ali turned around and stared at his splinter-filled knuckles. Anger began to mix and swirl with guilt, was he really going to kill Eira? His friend? He began to pluck the splinters out, as a form of distraction. 

"You should've," Akaza remarked bluntly, "At the same time, that level of self-control is impressive." 

"I have my morals, the same way as you do. You don't kill women, I don't kill any humans," Ali turned around and exhaled. His anger had declined slightly, but he was not done with the topic.

"I don't kill women, but I'd defend myself if I was at risk of death. You were a fool to stand there and let your head get chopped off, even if you were able to overcome decapitation." Akaza dropped the tree trunk, Ali felt the vibration of the ground as the trunk collided with the earth. 

"You don't understand, she was… on another level. She came from so far away yet… she was so fast," Ali expressed his surprise at Eira's abilities. 

Akaza remained silent, he clapped his hands together to rid the dirt and dust off them. 

"Don't let it affect you too much, compared to a human's growth, a demon's is exponential. You'll surpass her in no time," Akaza reassured Ali, "I have to report to Lord Muzan, I'll be sure to tell him of your story," 

"Make sure you make me sound like a real hero, like…" Ali cleared his throat and began to enter one of his over-dramatic acting sequences.

"Lord… Ali conquered decapitation… My treasured student! He… He's so powerful! I, Upper Moon Three Akaza, am completely and utterly astounded!" Ali pretended to wipe tears as he imitated what Akaza should do, he burst out into laughter.

Akaza stared at Ali with an uncomfortable cringe but couldn't help but laugh along with him.

"At least you're feeling better, you got over it quickly," Akaza stretched slightly with a smile on his face.

"Over it? Nah. I'm going to try to talk to her again," Ali remarked bluntly.

"You going to kill her this time?" Akaza questioned, his eyes locked onto Ali, anticipating a similar sentiment to his statement.

"Hey, that's my best friend you're talking about," Ali fist-bumped Akaza's shoulder. Even through the events of last night, the rage and anger that embedded itself into Ali's mind, he forgave Eira. 

"You're insane. Don't end up dead." Akaza sighed, with a small nod he leapt into the dense woodland of the mountain. 

Ali yawned intensely, his arms stretched upwards and he went on his toes to fully immerse himself in the soul-enlightening stretch. Every muscle in his body elongated and felt the overwhelming relaxation, it was as if the universe itself entered Ali's body and gave it a deep massage. It was so enlightening that he began to wonder why the author was describing it with so much focus.

Ali's eyes wandered, he found himself staring at the foggy abyss, most trees completely enveloped by the thick cloak. The tall trees that peeked above the fog slowly swayed left to right in contrast to Ali's stillness. 

His mind was stuck on how to communicate with Eira, in both incidents where they had met she hadn't listened to him at all. He would need something that would restrict her from attacking. His thoughts ventured into potential possibilities, everything he thought of had a flaw. He definitely wasn't strong enough to restrain her in any way, he would've end up being chopped in slices. He had overcome decapitation once but he wasn't sure if he could do it again, and he didn't want to test it out.

Ali's eyes widened, and a smile formed in his mind. A plan had come into fruition.

"Which mountain did she live on again?" Ali searched his memory.

Eira's brother would serve as a perfect 'hostage' to pacify Eira.