Your first cry was the beginning of my hell.
＊
Ah, that accursed full moon.
The night when the cursed red moon rose.
When I faced the aged Yoriichi, my heart was strangely calm.
I was surprised that my younger brother had escaped the fate of the mark's shortened lifespan and was still alive, but I didn't feel horrified. Even with the one I so hated before me, my chest was unbelievably tranquil.
Perhaps it was because I underestimated Yoriichi, over eighty, as just an old man. Or perhaps because, in his face deeply lined with wrinkles and faded hair, I felt a strange nostalgia for the figure of long ago.
But when he drew his sword and its tip tore halfway through my neck, my emotions vividly revived.
From the depths of my heart rose a bitter resentment, forgotten for sixty years. Jealousy burned to the bone at the swordsmanship that maintained its peak even in old age.
How could I not hate a younger brother loved by the gods, deviating from the world's providence?
Even after becoming an ugly demon, repeating the sin of devouring people, and gaining such strength, I could not reach Yoriichi. Even as a demon who escaped human providence, Yoriichi so easily transcended above it.
At that moment, I clearly foresaw that I would be defeated by the next strike.
But Yoriichi died before launching a second attack. For the hollow reason of natural lifespan, he stopped breathing unnaturally, too abruptly.
I have never felt the existence of the gods as much as I did then.
This sudden death could only be thought of as the gods taking him directly to spare Yoriichi the sin of fratricide.
The gods always pour their love only upon the other half of my flesh. They never gave me a glance, never comforted my hatred. Yoriichi was always special.
Even though Yoriichi is my other half, why must only Yoriichi be so beautiful, and only I be so ugly and suffering?
Yoriichi,
why did you fail in the first strike?
With swordsmanship unchanged from your youth, you revived the hatred I had forgotten, and why did you not release me from this bitter resentment?
How could a man like you fail to cut down and kill something like me? Did you hesitate to kill your only kin? Did you still consider me, a demon, your brother?
I── truly hated that about you.
Engulfed in passion, I cut down my brother's remains. The torso split open, spouting blood, the flute that spilled from his embrace.
Over the bisected junk, memories of that day overlapped.
What my feelings were then, Yoriichi. You will never know, will you.
With what feelings I felt that flowing down my cheek, you, who left unaware that your own brother hated you, will never understand, even in soul.
After losing Yoriichi, the strongest swordsman, death was no longer permitted for me. An honorable end will never come. Unable to go mad as an evil demon, I could only continue living, gripping my sword.
The other half of my flesh was a genius.
A genius who torments me even in death.
You──
Ah, you were the one and only
living hell of my own.
＊
That sorrowful night brushed my heart clearly because my disciple's eyes so resembled that moon.
"……Long time no see, Master."
Having fought Akaza, I know how strong an Upper Rank is, but my disciple wasn't particularly surprised upon seeing the number engraved in my eyes.
Though he opened his eyes slightly wider, his expression, accepting it as if it were nothing unusual, made me feel a bit itchy.
"Will you cross swords with me?"
Holding the Nichirin Blade just returned to him against his chest, the disciple looked up at me.
Eyes filled with determination. The old figure of Yoriichi from that night revived in my mind. The eyes of the younger brother who could not give me death.
What is an honorable death? For me, there was none but Yoriichi.
Only that swordsmanship, called a divine feat, had the qualification to sever my neck. I cannot forgive any other sword killing me.
No matter how strong a sword, would I hand over this life, which even Yoriichi could not cut down, to an ordinary human?
"I want your neck, Master."
But if it's my disciple's sword.
If it's the sword of the child who inherits me, it seems I could forgive it.
Surpassing me. Killing me.
Cutting off my dream of aiming for Yoriichi midway.
"……Come."
Nodding as a signal, the disciple drew his purple blade. A fleeting purple reminiscent of my days as a demon hunter. The polished blade flashed in the darkness of night.
Familiar sword aura. Even after hundreds of years, my disciple's sword remained faithful to my basics.
──Moon Breathing, First Form: Dark Moon, Palace of the Night
Unlike Yoriichi, who hesitated in the first strike, my disciple's sword held no hesitation. Rather, I felt relief at the blade that aimed deeply at my neck from the start.
Had he shown weakness like Yoriichi here, I would have cut him down while still in our master-disciple relationship.
But no matter how much resolve he had, in speed, power, and every aspect, he fell short of Yoriichi, even of me. Deflecting the blade was easy.
"This neck is not so cheap as to be handed over to such a sword……."
The disciple's face twitched and contorted. But not giving up at that, he immediately swung the next blade.
──Moon Breathing, Second Form: Pearl Flower Moon
This too was not difficult to block, but it was slightly sharper than the first.
Is his competitive nature still the same? Nostalgia welled up at my disciple's unchanged nature.
──Moon Breathing, Third Form: Loathsome Moon, Erasure
Two slashes appearing in the blink of an eye. Two crescent moons in different directions. Receiving my disciple's sword, I sank into emotion.
Ah, how long has it been since I objectively viewed a technique I created myself?
Even though Moon Breathing was trained while chasing the Sun Breathing Yoriichi used, its form is greatly different from that of the Sun.
Moon Breathing, which, while pursuing the absolute sword flashes Sun Breathing boasts, the more one trains, widens the gap rather than power.
In the past, that felt as humiliating as a twisted gut, and I laughed at myself, ashamed as the moon unable to catch up to the sun, but seen through this child, this breathing is quite──.
"Hmph……."
"Am I so weak that it makes you laugh?"
"……Do I seem like one who would rejoice in weakness?"
"You were more the type to get angry, now that I think about it."
"Enough of pointless talk…… Next. You struggled with the Fourth Form, but indeed……."
The disciple's sword drew the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Forms, but none were enough to kill me. However, it was somewhat surprising that my clothes were torn at the Sixth Form.
If he's this strong now, how much stronger will he become when the mark manifests?
"Do you know how to manifest the mark……."
"I don't. Please tell me."
"Be conscious of your lungs and heart……. Make your heartbeat and blood circulation endlessly faster, just……. Raise your body temperature……."
I thought even if I told him this, he might fail and end up in the nearby bamboo forest, but fortunately, upon teaching him the knack, the mark smoothly emerged.
When the mark manifests, various physical abilities leap dramatically. Strength, of course, and speed as well. With my disciple as he is now, he should be able to respond to my sword.
"Young Moon."
"Yes."
My heart became surprisingly calm at the voice that returned when called.
Even though the disciple aims for my neck, and I have my neck aimed at by the disciple, an excessively calm exchange continues, more like a life-or-death battle. Yet, what flows is a strange tension.
As if we were sparring── no.
"Let's go over there……. This place is a bit cramped."
"Yes!"
This is sparring.
Sparring to kill me.
"I'll show you the techniques from the Seventh Form onward."
At that moment, the disciple's eyes sparkled like meteors. A face filled with expectation and curiosity, unchanged from the past. I almost burst out laughing from nostalgia.
Yes, for you too, this is clearly sparring.
＊
The infinite moon filling the vast wasteland.
Ah, I know this. It's despair, right? A bullet hell game on Lunatic difficulty.
"Watch well, dodge well, and remember well."
The techniques Master unfolded with that declaration were, in a word, devastating.
Secret techniques utilizing Moon Breathing's characteristic wide range. Sword flashes impossible to dodge without going all out.
Moreover, what makes Master's sword terrifying is that even the countless crescent moons following its trajectory are part of the slashes. It seemed like a composite technique combined with demon art.
Those crescent moons were just simple effects in the Sengoku era, but to think they'd have hit detection. It's enough to surprise even a master swordsman.
Such absurd attacks─ I was busy dodging just the Seventh Form, but because Master relentlessly unleashed the Eighth to Sixteenth Forms in succession, I was overwhelmed dodging and blocking. Counterattack was impossible. I can't imagine what would have happened without the mark.
Master teaching me the mark manifestation method was clearly consideration to allow me to barely cope. I was grateful. Since demons' urge to eat strengthens when injured, that consideration was even more valuable.
Thanks to that, I barely avoided injury. Though my breath was short. Even though I'm a demon, my breath was short.
"How is it……. Can you aim for my neck……?"
"For now, it's impossible, but someday, definitely!"
"That spirit is good."
From Master, who smiled faintly like that, no anger or fear was shown about having his life aimed at. Rather, even a hint of joy was glimpsed.
I don't know what feeling that stems from, but seeing Master's smile, it can't be with bad intent.
"……Master."
"What is it?"
It felt vague. Master was expecting me to catch up to him, and someday surpass him.
Knowing that Master is not one to place expectations on just anyone, I also knew how proud, and how heavy in meaning, that expectation was.
"Show me the techniques again. Teach me new techniques. Let me spar with you."
I wanted to respond. I wanted to repay.
As this person's successor, this person's everything──
"Let me behead you, Master."
I just wanted to surpass.
・
・
・
For some time after that, my nights were filled with sparring with Master. Thanks to that, I learned new techniques, but Master's neck was still as distant as the moon.
By the way, my effects are still stuck at the effect stage. Well, I can't rival someone who's trained for hundreds of years as a demon overnight, so there's no answer but effort.
Ah, I've also become able to manifest the mark permanently. The location is the same as Master's, but the shape is quite different.
My mark resembles a bamboo leaf pattern, specifically like five-leaf bamboo. In short, it's bamboo. To have the blessing of the Takenoshin inspiration even in the mark, it can't help but be reassuring.
Unlike Master, who said "It suits you" with deep understanding, Rui had a sulky face.
"It would have been nice if my pattern was the same as Big Brother's."
"Um, this isn't a pattern but a mark, you see."
"Then if I train, will I get the same mark as Big Brother?"
"Yeah, then I'll train too! I want to become the same as everyone else too!"
With Rui followed by "Mom" saying that, it was troublesome.
The two, running around the house making a racket with "Training! Training!", were cute, but I was wondering how to calm them down.
"Leaving training aside…… It would be good to learn how to protect yourself……."
Master muttered like that.
Just as Akaza stayed here in the past under the pretext of guarding, Master also ended up staying with us for a while to teach me.
Though Master exudes an aura like 'Hi, I'm strong,' he surprisingly adapted quickly to the house. To the extent that even the kids who were so scared of Akaza followed Master with smiling faces, saying "Lord Kokushibo!"
"Rui, I heard you can handle demon art. To have become a demon not long ago…… It's amazing. First, show me that ability…… thoroughly……."
"But even if it's demon art, all I can do is make threads like this."
"Mastering everything makes it a weapon……. Protecting your own body…… eventually connects to protecting your brother too……."
"Big Brother?"
"Yes. So that when something happens, your brother can fight without worrying about you…… It's to train……. How about it, do you feel like trying……?"
"……Yes, I'll do my best!"
Master gently stroked Rui's head as he nodded with a face full of determination.
Who should I be jealous of, Master or Rui, to lose sleep over? Out of frustration, I meaninglessly stroked "Mom's" head too.
Still, it makes sense that Master handles children well. He has a nature of caring for others well, and I heard he had a family before becoming a demon hunter.
The story of 'Lord Michikatsu helping Lord Yoriichi, who froze up not knowing how to talk to the children he saved from a demon attack' was one I heard until I was sick of it from the Sengoku-era Lord Rengoku.
Though he seems hard to approach at first glance, Michikatsu is actually a person with excellent communication skills. A different grain of consideration and thoughtfulness from the noisy high-tension type communication. A master of human relations.
So back then in the Demon Slayer Corps, when disputes arose among members, Master often stepped in as mediator.
By the way, when fights broke out among the Hashira, the tactical deployment of the ultimate weapon, Lord Yoriichi, was standard. Since only Lord Yoriichi could suppress Hashira who had lost their heads without a single injury.
Peace is force. Force is peace. The way of the world. What a harsh world.
・
・
・
After having such conversations during the day, the night came.
"Come to think of it, demon patterns and marks look similar."
After sparring with Master, I suddenly brought up such a topic. Though it was just idle talk without special meaning, an unexpected answer came from Master.
"……My speculation is, they are probably the same thing……."
"Huh??"
What is this, it's a theory I'm hearing for the first time. Wanting to hear more, I bowed my head, and Master quietly continued the story.
Demons possess abnormally excellent physical abilities. And swordsmen who manifest the mark also gain power rivaling demons.
In other words, whether it's a swordsman's mark or a demon's pattern, it might be a kind of special mark that appears on bodies bearing excessive power, was Master's speculation.
As if supporting that hypothesis, Master told an anecdote. When he went out to hunt demons on Lord Muzan's orders, a demon cornered burst out with patterns all over its body that weren't there before, and immediately became noticeably stronger. Like a swordsman manifesting the mark.
"For a swordsman to manifest the mark…… Heart, blood vessels, muscles…… It places immense strain on the entire body……. Moreover, since it's power drawn by shortening lifespan, it's a state not easily reached……. But demons do not die……. Then they might manifest the mark much more easily than humans……."
I see. I nodded at Master's logic. Perhaps demons are beings that pull human vitality and physical abilities to their limits.
"And…… there are demons with sclera dyed red……."
"Ah, Rui is like that."
"It can't be said to apply to all, but such demons generally have excellent eyesight……. Though it's a burden that would blind a human……. As a demon, they can endure it……."
As expected of having lived as a demon for so long, Master knew much. Then, might he answer this question too.
"Master, what must a demon do to live without eating people?"
"……………Sorry. I have never heard of it."
A long silence flowed until the answer returned. Thinking that Master seriously searched for an answer for the length of that silence, rather than disappointment, a strange satisfaction came.
"I'm sorry for asking something strange."
"……Is the hunger troubling?"
"It's within bearable range. But what if someday I can't bear it, that's what I fear."
"……I see."
A light touch on my head. Master's hand stroked my head.
"That may be your virtue……. But."
The gentle voice took on a stern light, and Master's hand left me.
"Demons cannot live without eating people. Do not forget that resolve, Young Moon."
The weight of the voice filled with realism. At those words, my breath caught.
Could it be that Master once suffered the same conflict as me── wanting to shake off the thought that passed through my mind, I forced a light laugh.
"……I'm not really at an age to be called Young Moon anymore."
"Hmm, that is true……."
Master's consideration in accepting that small joke seeped into my heart.
Ah, even as a demon, Master is still Master. Nothing has changed from the past. Strict in training, but in this way, he was just as gentle as in those days.
"I have the name Rei now."
Upon revealing my name, Master silently repeated it in his mouth. But as if still unfamiliar, he made a somewhat awkward expression, making me burst out laughing unknowingly.
"Then just, call me as you wish, Master."
If Master called, even Young Moon was fine. Though it's embarrassing to be treated like a child, to someone who has lived hundreds of years, I must still be a child.
Master made a thoughtful expression for a while, then slightly opened his mouth. I prepared my heart to endure the embarrassment. However,
"Kōgetsu."
What flowed from Master's lips was a name I heard for the first time.
No, is it even a person's name? Perhaps he called tonight's moon. The full moon rising in the middle of the sky. Perhaps those words were the name of that dazzling white light.
But Master's gaze was not toward the distant moon, but toward me, right beside him.
"Kōgetsu (皓月)."
Once again, slowly, as if tracing each stroke of the characters.
"……Ah, at last. At last I can call you by this name."
With a smile lighter than moonlight, his eyes curved softly into crescent shapes. Master looked at me and called.
My name.
The name I never received, hundreds of years ago.
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