MORIKO's SOLOS

Any of those solos are created from my mind & people I rp with, everything is purely fictional.

TRAINING WITH MUICHIRO TOKITO: solo.

5.5K words.

Inspired by a roleplay I had.

She had a goal in mind: training with each pillar at least once, despite Giyuu being her main teacher. She knew deep down that each pillar had something new to bring her, to teach her. It sure could not be useless.The mist pillar agreed on training her. She was very happy and excited about it."Do you just want to join me in my training or do you want a training fight?" Muichiro asked."How about both? I love fights but, I'm down for any other types of training." Moriko was determined."What do we start with then?" The mist pillar questions as Moriko shrugged. She had no say in that. She wanted to be trained, not choose whatever floated her boat. It was his choice.
"Whatever you see fit. I simply follow instructions. That's what training is all about, the student doesn't necessarily choose."The mist pillar nodded, motioning Moriko to follow her."So... What do we do then? What's your training?" She asked, clueless as to what to come."It's a mix of everything, really." Muichiro said, almost nonchalantly.
"I'm training my awareness of my surroundings, my speed, my strength and also my mental." He simply stated without gazing at her with a calm voice.Her eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "That's exactly what I need." That was indeed, exactly what she needed. She was getting better at her awareness but still needed work about that, she lacked speed and strength and she was for sure, in need of some more training to gather her emotions."Alright, let's start with awareness then?" Muichiro said as he kept on walking. She was following him, unsure of what to do or even where they were going.Soon after, they arrived in a place that was surrounded by a thick mist. She walked closer to Muichiro naturally, not wanting to lose sight of him before he stopped walking. "Here we are. This is my estate." He simply said as she was wondering why it was so foggy, not putting two and two together about him being the mist pillar and being at his estate."Why is it so foggy here?""Because I'm the mist pillar and my combat style focuses on disorienting my enemy and striking swiftly out of the mist." Muichiro immediatly answered back at Moriko, staring straight ahead into the mist. He was so calm, his aura made her comfortable for some reasons.She was intrigued about the exercise he wanted to do. She had never tried her ability in the mist before, and it was a challenge she was excited for and ready to take.
She stared at the mist for a small moment before looking at the kid in front of her, waiting for instructions. He seemed gathered and deeply calm. He clearly knew what he was doing. The way he was standing showed that he was skilled and had the whole training probably already planned."Now, we go into the mist and you will need to block or dodge the incoming objects." Muichiro spoke in a calm tone, turning his head slightly to look at her.She looked at the boy and nodded. He was only fourteen yet, he was so much more skilled than her, so much stronger. She felt protected around him.She took a deep breath and took a second to fully focus before entering the mist. She did not want to disappoint Giyuu, nor Muichiro. She also wanted to come back from the training and tell Rengoku about it, hoping he would be proud of her, as well as Akaza and Muzan. She didn't want to disappoint anyone she cared about. She also hoped to come out of this training, proud of herself.She was now fully surrounded by the thick mist, alone. She could not see Muichiro anymore. It was silent. Only the sounds of her slow footsteps were echoing around her.
Suddenly a small rock hit the back her head.
She stopped walking and turned her head slightly, on high alert, trying to focus on every sound, waiting for something else to come."Listen to every sound and pay attention to the movement of the mist, Moriko." The pillar's voice was heard somewhere in the mist as he threw another stone at her.She paid close attention to his words.
She focused harder, solely focusing on the mist this time. It was extremely difficult. She had to think hard.She had to be ingenious. 'How do I connect to the mist?', she thought. The mist was not in contact with the ground, which meant she could not connect to it through it.^{Think. Fast.}She then decided to connect to the ground nonetheless, it couldn't put her at disadvantage. As she concentrated and felt the connection with the ground, she suddenly was able to feel the mist as well, through the trees. The trees being connected to the ground, and the mist engulfing the trees making the connection possible.There it was, the link she was seeking.
She quickly felt the direction of the stone threw at her and immediatly blocked it with her sword. It was so much easier now."Good." Muichiro's voice was heard again quietly from the mist. She could actually tell where he was standing since he was on the ground, and she could feel the mist move around him.She felt two more objects thrown at her. She got the hang of it and easily blocked the two stones with her sword again."Let's up the difficulty a bit." He spoke calmly.
Suddenly, she felt more stones thrown at her. Some of them were aiming straight at her, others were spinning, meaning their directions were unsure.
She blocked most of those who had a straight direction while moving in order to dodge the other ones as best she could. However, she did not block them all, being scratched here and there by them."Very impressive."
She kept her focus despite being happy at his words. Muichiro then shot two arrows at her.She didn't know what was coming at her but the speed increased considerably. She managed to dodge the first arrow. However, the second directly went into her shoulder, making her ache in pain but, she kept her focus nonetheless, despite the pain. She didn't take the time to even pull it out, she had no time.A whole barrage of arrows then was shot at her.
"Dodging won't help much since you will jump right into a different one, you have to block." She mist boy's voice was calm.She suddenly felt many things coming right at her. She widened her eyes a bit but remained calm, keeping her breathing under control before suddenly realising that, he had not told her that her ability was forbidden for the training. She was unconsciously stopping herself from using it."Earth Breathing, Third Form, Magnetic Vines."A thick wall of vines quickly emerged from the ground in the direction of the incoming arrows, along with an invisible magnetic wall between the vine wall and herself."Finally... I was wondering when you would start using them." Muichiro chuckled as more arrows got sent to her at the same time as he threw a stone at her from the side.She couldn't help but to smile a little at his comment, shaking her head a bit. She used her ability again, without any breathing forms and bound all of the arrows in one go with vines. She brought them all to the ground and blocked the rock with her sword rather easily."Well, let's up it again. Try blocking my attacks, ok?"She nodded at Muichiro's words, turning toward him despite the lack of vision. She was doing her best. She was very immersed into the training.
He moved extremely fast in the mist, almost without making the mist move. It was his element. He was like a fish in the sea.He aimed for her back with his sword handle.
He was moving on the ground. She could feel where he was. She gave her full attention to the ground, not the mist so much anymore. She quickly turned and placed her sword diagonally in front of her to block his attack. Muichiro jumped a little and stepped on her sword before flicking her forehead."Not bad, but no enemy will only attack once and retreat." Muichiro's words were right. She only nodded before immediatly removing the arrow still in her shoulder and sighing in relief as she rubbed her shoulder, frowning in pain. Her shoulder was healing slowly."Good point." She replied after a moment, looking at the mist pillar."Shall we move onto the next step?" She then asked the boy with a smile.He nodded and walked away again. Moriko was quick to follow him out of the mist, into the forest. "Let's move on to strength, I need to find something first."Moriko nodded and expressed her struggle to immerse herself into a training battle like a real one, mostly thinking of training as a way to experiment new things freely, being creative without actually worrying.
Muichiro then explained how training was supposed to train for real battle, to which Moriko agreed. She knew that. But she always had trouble using her ability in training. She always wanted to train without it. She wanted to know how to be better without it. She felt like she depended too much on it, hence feeling extremely panicked in close combats.
"There is no reason you shouldn't use your ability or breathing. Breathing techniques is what gives us, humans, a chance to even be able to deal with the demons. Without them, we wouldn't stand a chance. I know you don't want to become a slayer but your breathing technique is the thing that makes your way of fighting unique and gives you the upper hand over the opponent, so don't think you need to do just as good without them as with them... got that?" Muichiro spoke calmly again. She admired him for being so calm and gathered in any situation.
She nodded. He was giving great feedbacks and advices. She was enjoying the training and talking to him. It was really helpful."You're right." She said with a small nod, looking around as they got deeper into the forest, looking for... She had no idea what they were looking for."However, don't get me wrong, I never forget my ability nor do I hesitate to use it in a real battle. It's only a training thing." She reassured before tilting her head. "So, what do we do?"Muichiro pointed at a big boulder that was now in front of them and looked at Moriko. "I'm sure you know what to do. It's a very common training method."
Moriko was clueless, blinking and staring at the boulder. To push it, maybe?She turned her attention to Muichiro and tilted her head. "Uh... No idea..."

"Cut it in half!"

The mist pillar simply declared, looking at Moriko. He seemed serious. She blinked and tilted her head. "Eh?" She was puzzled. "How?" She began walking around the boulder to examine it.
"Are you playing with me? Is that a joke?" She couldn't believe it. It was impossible to do."Nope. This is how I, and most others, trained our strength. If you can cut a boulder in half, you can cut a demon's neck."
She stared at Muichiro in disbelief. "Did it take you long to do it?""Maybe two weeks? I'm just a kid born with talent." He stated as if it was normal, leaving Moriko shook. "It was hard at first but now, I can cut it like it's nothing."
Moriko was truly confused to say the least. "Can you show me, please?" She asked as she was sure it was impossible.The mist pillar nodded and pulled out his sword. His sword was wonderful, she thought. It had a nice rectangular shaped hand-guard design.
He stood in front of the boulder, taking a deep breath before hitting the boulder in an extremely long strike.

Silence.

The mist pillar was smiling at the boulder. Nothing happened for the next few seconds. Moriko looked at him in disbelief, an eyebrow raised. He was definitely playing... he did not hit the boulder, did he? Yet, she remained quiet, not feeling like talking was the right thing to do. She simply stared at the pillar and waited.After a small moment, Muichiro turned to Moriko.
"One second." He said, raising his index in the air lightly, as if to emphasise before walking to the boulder and tapping on it.The boulder split in two equal parts.Muichiro's move was intentional. He cut it in a way that would take a bit of time for the impact to show. He then turned to Moriko with a 'taa-daa' type of look.Moriko was shook, eyes wide and jaw dropped as she walked around the boulder to examine it.
"What if my sword breaks? I really don't want it to break... again..." She mumbled, remember the time Muzan broke it in half. She was still upset about this. "Did you use a breathing form?" She had so many questions."I didn't use any breathing forms, I just put all my strength into it... and if your sword breaks, we can get you a new one, the swords-makers do nothing but make swords anyway."
She vigorously shook her head. "I will not break my sword."She looked at the boulder, already defeated before turning to Muichiro.
"Do you think I can do it?"
Muichiro smiled. "You know, it isn't something you need a good sword or a lot of strength for, really. It's a thing of the mind. If you believe you can do it, then you will." He said calmly, a kind smile on his face the whole time. "I believe you can do it."She listened to his words and nodded, looking at the boulder again.
"I don't wanna be a bother... Who knows how long it will take? You can go do other stuff... that is unless you wanna stay." She took a deep breath and started focusing.
"Moriko, I think you can do it in less time than me, honestly. I think you have a lot of potential. I will stay and watch you."She turned her head to him lightly and smiled a bit, appreciating the encouragement before taking another deep breath.She focused her whole attention on the boulder. She stayed like that for long minutes, just managing her breathing and getting in the right mindset before attempting to slice it.
When her blade came in contact with the boulder, it sent a shockwave through her whole body, making her lose balance. She fell down and felt dizzy for a minute. She failed."This is... a hard boulder..." She mumbled after a minute, slowly getting back up on her feet."Mhm." Muichiro nodded lightly, as he was watching her from behind, a bit further away. "As hard as a demon's neck."As hard as a demon's neck? She tilted her head, thinking. Maybe she needed to imagine the boulder was not an actual boulder. Maybe she needed to imagine a demon. Maybe she needed to create a scenario in her mind.
She focused again and held her sword tighter.
"Is that okay if I use my ability here as well?" She asked, really having a hard time with the fact she did not have to ask."I already told you. There is no training where you shouldn't give your all. There is no training where you should hold back so, of course you can use your ability." Muichiro's voice was calm as always, gathered and kind. He was really doing his best to help her, for sure.
She simply nodded and stared at the boulder seriously for a moment, getting in the same mindset as before.She then sighed and shook her head, turning to Muichiro with low shoulders and her head down.
"I feel ridiculous in front of this boulder..." She said sighing.Muichiro hummed and tilted his head ever so slightly. "Tell me something that you hate."She raised an eyebrow. Why was he asking?
She thought for a long moment, unable to really find something that she hated. "What do I hate..." She asked herself, staring at the ground."I hate being called weak."She looked back at up at Muichiro and nodded. Her eyes became a little more serious at the thought. "Yeah, that's something I hate.""Well, imagine this forest is an arena. That boulder is your opponent and he is underestimating you and calling you weak."She stared at him for a moment and turned back toward the boulder as anger started building inside her. A deadly stare landing on the hard boulder in front of her. She had a good capacity of imagination, which immediatly put her into the mood she needed to be in.She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She saw Muzan and Akaza calling her weak. She frowned, feeling an anger building inside of her.
"I. AM. NOT. WEAK!" She shouted loudly as her eyes opened. They were glowing brighter than ever, a deep emerald green.

She suddenly saw a stranger in front of her. Was it a man? A woman? She had no idea but that stranger stared back at her with the same intensity. A deadly stare. She tightened her grip on her sword as her breathing was deep and slow, full of anger.She noticed the stranger was holding a golden fan in front of their face, meaning their face was mostly hidden behind it. They waved it lightly, as if to provoke Moriko.
She frowned. There was a tension in the air, as if the slightest movement would break an invisible thread and create a fight. It seemed they were almost playing with one another. Who would break first?Suddenly a voice resonated around her."Weak. Weak. Weak. Weakling. You are weak. So weak. You're so weak."It was all around her. Maybe solely in her mind. Maybe all of this was into her own mind. Maybe nothing was real but she, obviously, was not aware of that in the slightest.The flame inside her was burning, growing at every word, her gaze stayed the same. A deadly, cold and angry stare.
Maybe the voice was hers. Maybe she was currently facing her own insecurities. She would have the tendency to call herself weak. Maybe that stranger was herself within a different form.Suddenly, within a blink of an eye, the ground under her feet cracked and she jumped in the air at a faster speed than she ever did before.She sliced the golden fan with an immeasurable anger and incredible speed. It happened so fast. That was the most powerful, the angriest, the fastest she's ever been.She then landed on one of her knee, past the stranger and stayed like that, her eyes closed as she felt a certain peace settling within her mind. It was the calm after the storm. She has completely forgotten about Muichiro, about the boulder. She was still with this stranger she just sliced the golden fan of. She then turned her head back to glance at the stranger. She saw the golden fan, cut in half on the ground. She felt peaceful about it. Just as she was about to look up at the stranger's face, a hand landed on her shoulder ever so gently.

"Moriko, you can calm down now."She blinked a few times, trying to come back to her sense before turning to see Muichiro with a kind look on his face.
Right... She was training with Muichiro... She remembered now...
She didn't say anything and simply looked at him, as if waiting for him to say something.
He simply shifted his attention from her to the boulder.She slowly turned her head to look ahead at the boulder and widened her eyes. She froze for a minute. She didn't believe it. She gasped and dropped her sword on the ground, sitting on the ground, clearly shocked.It was cut in half.She felt her eyes become teary and out of a sudden, she started sobbing.For the first time ever, she felt strong.
For the first time ever, she thought of herself as strong.
For the first time ever, she felt like she won something, without the help of anyone.
For the first time ever, she felt worthy of holding a sword.Muichiro gently patted her back. "Good job, Moriko. I'm proud of you." He said in a kind calm voice as he smiled and handed her her sword back from the ground.She took her sword back and slowly calmed herself, sniffling and wiping her tears. "I'm sorry..." She whispered in a mumble."Did I really do it?" She asked in disbelief, slowly standing up to touch the cut-in-half boulder.
"Yup, you did it. No need to say sorry." Muichiro answered with a smile as Moriko was feeling odd. Her instinct made her look at the ground, looking for that fan. But that fan vanished, just like the faceless stranger.After a little break to eat something and drink, calming herself down from her emotions, they would next head to the wind estate, for the speed training.
It was extremely windy. She stumbled back, having trouble standing. Her purple puffy sleeves floating into the air aggressively, as well as her short hair that she decided to tie in a tiny ponytail."First, you will run as fast as you can against the wind, and then run with the wind, adapting to the speed it will give you."This training exercise ended up being extremely difficult for Moriko. She could not run against the wind. She did this for about an hour with Muichiro's encouragements.
He did this for about three years, for five hours a day at the beginning. Moriko was mind-blown at Muichiro's strength and talent. He was really a hard-worker.Muichiro then motioned for her to follow him, moving onto the next and last training exercise."Do you know what the last step of our training is?" Muichiro asked Moriko as she shook her head.Her eyes brightened and an excited smile made its way onto her face. "OH! A FIGHT! YES!" She was thrilled."Should I get a wooden sword?" She asked, not wanting to accidentally hurt him. She hated the idea of hurting the person that was training her for some reasons. She didn't think she actually could hurt him, but she was always cautious."Oh?" The mist pillar chuckled a bit in a creepy way. "You seem to have misunderstood... Even a training fight... will be taken as a real fight."
He puts his hand on the handle of his sword.She widened her eyes a little.
"But- Uh... Is... Is that because I'm kind of a demon? Because you can't fight between slayers, right? So..." She scratched her head nervously. "Uh... Muichiro... I'm not sure about... you using your... Nichirin blade against me..." She was nervous."Well... the fact you are partially demon... just makes it more fun..."He had a creepy and kind of sadistic smile on his face as he spoke. She widened her eyes and gripped her sword tighter. She wasn't sure it was a training or not. He seemed suddenly so different, and serious."Did you plan on trying to kill me from the beginning?"Her gaze darkened a bit."Who knows? Maybe I did, maybe I didn't... Let's start..."The mist pillar stared into Moriko's eyes with determination. He had no intentions of slaying her whatsoever but his aura changed a little for some reasons."Mist Breathing... Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash..."He quickly unsheathed his blade and dashed toward Moriko with an incredible speed, swinging his blade at her.
Moriko widened her eyes a bit and tried her best to stay calm, telling herself it was just training even if it didn't look like it.
She connected to the ground again, to get a deeper focus as her eyes started glowing green again, immediatly pulling a wall of hard dirt in front of her for protection.He easily slashed through the wall of hard dirt as his sword stopped inches from her head, right in front of her, making her gasp as fear started taking over her."You saw me slash a boulder earlier. Do you really think some dirt will stop me?" He asked, in a creepy chuckle again.Panic. Panic started creeping inside of her. He definitely got a point and this was the exact reason why she panicked.
As she had stepped back a little, she then charged at him, using the ground to boost herself, hence running faster."Earth Breathing... Second Form, Violent Vines..."It was an aggressive attack where an extremely sharp vine, split in ten would shoot out from the tip of her blade, aiming to slash at different parts of the opponent's body.
The mist pillar grinned."We had this before...""Mist Breathing... Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash."

He parried her sword so that it got stuck into the ground."Remember?"She blinked and nodded, calming herself down immediatly as her blade was now stuck into the ground. They had a quick training fight once a few weeks ago.
Technically, he had no intention of slaying her but, who knew? Maybe he could slay her without wanting to."Yes..." She whispered quietly, her throat was dry from the nervousness.The mist boy pulled her blade out from the ground and let go of it. "Block!" He shouted as a warning, before swinging his blade at her throat.
She immediatly blocked his blade by placing hers right in front of his, making the metal of their swords meet in a sharp sound. She stared into his eyes and swallowed thickly. Her grip on her sword was shaky, not as tight as it should be. Fear was clearly her weak point."Tight grip!" Muichiro warned her again as he tried kicking her blade out of her hands.She slowly calmed down and tightened her grip before trying to push his blade away while she was quietly growing vines behind him. She then shot them at his blade, her goal being to grab it with them, to move it away from her throat. However, the vines didn't even get close to him as he already cut them in a blink of an eye and kicked her in the guts."My awareness is, at least, ten times as good as yours, so that won't work."She was now on the ground, rubbing her head and looking up at him. "You're too good..." She said scratching her head. "I get scared too easily... Gosh... I don't know how to control my damn fear..." She felt defeated and still unsure if she should trust him or not, despite confiding in him right now."That's what I'm trying to improve you on. Getting your emotions under control is the key to victory." He said in a kind voice but the same look on his face, and same scary aura. That's something Giyuu would tell her. He actually already did.
She nodded slowly and looked at him seriously, jumping back up on her feet. "Let's try again.""Alright then... This time, i'll get serious." He chuckled in a creepy way, his eyes piercing into hers.She took a deep breath and connected to the ground again. "Me too, then." She said as her eyes glowed a little bit more vividly again, immediatly propelling herself into the air and landing on a tree branch, looking down at him. He grinned."You know... You can be as flashy as you like, but it's all useless if you can't touch me..." He said as his gaze darkened a little bit, a grin still placed on his face. He was kind of scary.

"Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds."

A mist suddenly enveloped the area. Muichiro's speed would be extremely slow whenever he'd show himself, but extremely fast whenever he'd hide.
She widened her eyes and focused again, using the same mean as before to connect to the mist, hence feeling his movements before deciding to attack, even if she couldn't see anything. She had no need to see much when she could feel.She jumped off the tree and aimed at him, swinging her sword in the air.

"Earth Breathing, Fourth Form... Rain of Thorns..."

Extremely thick thorny vines formed a dome-like shape above both of their heads and, as she aimed for his blade with hers, all the thorns fell onto him and around them, all while avoiding her.

*"Mist Breathing... Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist..." *

Muichiro unleashed eight slashes, one on top of the other in quick succession, cutting all the thorns and vines that were getting too close to him."Pretty good..."
He jumped directly right in front of her face.
"But, not good enough."
His voice was extremely scary as he kicked in her knee, making her stumble back."Maybe i'll take your kneecaps and send them to Tomioka-san."She raised an eyebrow.
"What's with my kneecaps?!" She asked before staring at him and crumbling the ground under his feet. She then charged at him and aimed at his blade.

"Earth Breathing... First Form: Gentle Cut."

This attack was a fast, yet painless slash, if aimed at a body part. "Oh well, let's end this here..." He said before naming one more breathing form.

*"Mist Breathing... Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist..." *

Muichiro leapt high in the air, upside down and sent a series of countless ranged slashes downwards, capable of decimating a wide area, with the intent of making her unable to move.She instantly disappeared underground, all while pulling a breathing form on the surface.

"Earth Breathing... Third Form: Magnetic Vines."

Bringing the defensive attack back, she formed a thick wall of vines as well as the magnetic invisible wall on the surface to protect her, even if she was underground."Alright then, I'll just wait until you have to come out and take a breather." He said as he waited, still moving around in the thick later of mist. Meanwhile, she moved underground.
She knew exactly where he was.She suddenly appeared out of nowhere right behind him, her fist aiming to punch the side of his neck at an extremely fast speed. Muichiro noticed and grabbed her arm, pulling her completely out of the ground, having a very tight grip on it as he brought his blade very close to her throat.
"Got any more ace up your sleeve?"She used his grip on her arm to also grip onto his with her hand tightly. She then did a back flip, even if it meant twisting her own arm in order to kick her foot into his blade. She was hoping it would surprise him and make him loose grip of his sword.
However, he did not let go of the sword, nor did he let go of her arm. Even if it did take him by surprise, as a pillar, he was not allowed to ever let go of his sword.
"You want me to fully break your arm? So be it."
He pulled her arm towards him and pulled it down, hitting it with his knee up, which ended up breaking it.She widened her eyes and gasped in pain. "Game over..." She mumbled as she was holding her arm in pain. Even if she could heal as a demon more or less, she was still 60% human, meaning she was absolutely not immune to pain and heavy injuries were slow to heal."Gosh... you're skilled..." She said sighing. She admired him a lot.
"Thank you. I am a pillar after all... and you had your fear under control which is a huge improvement."
She frowned in pain still holding her arm tightly and shrugged a bit. "It depends... Sometimes I can control it, sometimes not. I can't tell if it's luck or improvement..." She stood back up slowly and they started walking."Is the training over for today?"
"I doubt training with a broken arm would work that well, would it?" He replied, glancing at her. She shook her head and chuckled a little."What are your overall thoughts on my training with you?" She asked, tilting her head, wanting to have a feedback.
"You were better than most of the future slayers at my estate... and we have high standards."She placed her hand on her heart and smiled lightly. "Thank you... What would you say are my strengths? If I do have any... I do know what I lack. I know my weaknesses... However, I am clueless about my strong points..."He hummed, thinking. "Versatility is a big strength of yours... and I would also say you are very smart when it comes to finding options to attack or counter."She smiled at the pillar before waving. "Thank you for today's training. Until next time!"The mist pillar waved back at her and, just like that, this long, exhausting training ended.

BATTLEFIELD: solo

3.4K words.
Solo based off a roleplay with @SNOWDXMON.

PS: I'm sorry for writing k-ill or k-illing like that because otherwise carrd doesn't let me post the solo. Just ignore.

TW: DEATH & BLOOD.

"Are you gonna be safe?" She asked Akaza.His response was only a slight shrug of his shoulders.Akaza and Kokushibo had a mission to attend that was quite far away, involving some slayers in a forest.
However, Moriko didn't like their attitudes before departures. Both Akaza, Upper Moon Three, and Kokushibo, Upper Moon One, seemed unsure of their fate. As if they were heading to their deaths.They mentioned briefly that they'd be fine but, it seemed... uncertain. Their tones were doubtful. Even Kokushibo said Akaza may die, as well as maybe himself.

Akaza. Akaza is Moriko's best friend. The only person she cares about and would be willing to take a bullet for. He means the world for her, words wouldn't be able to describe how much she cares about him.
As for Kokushibo... He is a cool opponent to fight.

She took the decision to follow them, quietly, hiding behind trees in the forest toward their mission.She managed to stay hidden for about a day before being caught, due to accidentally walking on a stick and making it crack. Akaza and Kokushibo weren't that happy about it, however, she didn't know how to go back to where she came from. She was bound to follow.

DAY THREE OF TRAVEL.

Akaza and Moriko were walking behind Kokushibo. Moriko was onto Akaza's back, shouting at him to fight her.
Kokushibo had no time for childish games. It was an important mission and playing around could only put them in danger.A strong, yet strange gust of wind blew in their direction. Kokushibo stopped in his tracks. His eyes wandering around the trees. He had gotten a strange feeling out of a sudden. Akaza didn't even notice Kokushibo had stopped due to Moriko bugging him. He repeatedly was telling her that he must focus.
However, he also felt the gust of wind and also stopped in his tracks. His eyes scanned the area. His expression became serious."Moriko, shhhh!" Akaza said in a serious whisper."They're here." Kokushibo's words came out a low whisper, only for the three of them to hear.Moriko stopped everything as she felt Akaza's and Kokushibo's aura change. She got off Akaza's back slowly and stayed right next to him, her hands on the handle of her sword, also looking around.Kokushibo also grabbed the handle of his sword and slowly pulled it out, stopping mid-way only stopping to show part of his blade.
They had no idea where the slayers were. It was strange.Akaza settled down in a more defensive stance, moving closer to Moriko to protect her in case of attack.
He felt their auras, getting closer and closer by the second.Just then, his eyes went over a certain area. "THERE!" He shouted.The slayers popped out from the trees and instantly attempted to attack Akaza. He quickly grabbed a hold of Moriko and quickly jumped back, taking her with him. Moriko widened her eyes."Where are you going?? Put me down!! I can fight along with you, guys!! I'll help you!!" She was dead serious. She was here to protect them after all."The hell are you talking about? I was helping you dodge that attack, moron. It's not like they're gonna let you leave."He quickly set her down, taking his attention back on the slayer in front of them.
"You better be able to hold your own in this fight. I can't protect you all the time, but I'll do my best." Akaza spoke meanwhile Kokushibo was also attacked.His sword was quickly pulled out, easily stopping the slayer's attack."AKAZA! WE HAVE TO PROTECT MORIKO NO MATTER WHAT!" Kokushibo's shouts reached his two partners as the sound of Kokushibo's and the slayer's swords, banging against one another, was resonating in the air. Whoever made the first mistake was going to lose.Moriko pulled out her sword quickly and stayed on alert. She connected to the ground, feeling the area through her feet and her eyes started glowing green, ready to fight.
Kokushibo's words shook her a little bit as she turned her gaze to him. Why did they have to protect her no matter what? She was worthless, after all. She was the one trying to protect them."I-I don't need to be protected! Seriously! I'll be just fine!" She said in a strong confident voice, yet not moving. She was heavily conflicted. Both sides were here to k-ill. Moriko was solely here to protect her best friend and Kokushibo with no intentions to k-ill either side.
She simply stayed on guard, keeping an 'eye' on both fights happening thanks to her connection to the ground.Both of those slayers heard the instructions that Upper Moon One yelled out.While Akaza and the slayer were trading hits, he saw the slayers' eyes look over to Moriko. Akaza attempted to throw a punch, hoping to connect directly with his face but, just then, the slayer dashed over to Moriko, now yelling out.
"I FOUND YOUR WEAKNESS!"Akaza's eyes widened at the slayer's word, dashing over to get in the way of the blow.Kokushibo could hear every word they were saying. He kicked his opponent away, turning his attention to Moriko.'Damn it, he's going after Moriko because he heard what I said...' Kokushibo thought.This small distraction caused the slayer to take advantage. He appeared in front of Kokushibo, slashing down at his shoulder all the way down to his lower stomach.He quickly jumped back, breathing slightly heavy.
'Damn, he got me. I can't keep my eyes off him or he'll take advantage. I just gotta trust Akaza or Moriko.'Meanwhile, Moriko was being targeted by the other slayer.
'Shit... Akaza got in the way! I need to do something...' She thought.Right as she was about to do so, her attention shifted to Kokushibo as she felt that he was getting in trouble. She widened her eyes before seeing he got slashed. 'Upper Moon One... getting slashed? What kind of slayers are those? Pillars? No... No way.. Who are they?'She then used her vines and made them randomly shoot out at the slayer who dashed at her. She was also getting in the way of Akaza. She was panicking.She had the best intentions ever. She wanted to help herself and help them but, those were terrible choices. She knew it. Fear was her weak point. She clearly wasn't strong enough.Akaza was quickly in pursuit of the slayer, closing the distance between them. Just then, a bunch of vines came directly at the slayer, getting in Akaza's way now.
Quickly, he had to dodge these vines while still in pursuit of the slayer. They definitely slowed him down. He could tell she wasn't thinking straight and panicking."MORIKO! CALM DOWN! THE VINES ARE GETTING IN MY WAY!"She immediatly made the vines disappear and stood there, on high alert. She didn't want to bother them even more, so instead of making bad decisions on how to attack, she decided not to do anything anymore. She felt frightened. Her grip on her sword was shaky. She was truly scared.Meanwhile, Kokushibo gave the slayer a slight smirk, regenerating the wound quickly as if it was nothing. It was an impressive cut but, Kokushibo was no mere ordinary demon."I must commend you for laying a hit on me. But our mission will be fulfilled."
Kokushibo's voice was serious as he glared at the slayer in front of him.At the same time, Akaza stood directly in front of Moriko, glaring at the slayer in front of them.Time passed and neither could catch the other off guard. Especially being the fact that Akaza made sure Moriko was protected.After a long moment of fighting over and over, the slayer's expression changed.The slayer stepped back, forcing Akaza to distance himself to reach him, meaning, Moriko was standing by herself.Suddenly, he saw a spike in the slayer's aura. It seemed he was about to launch his last and most powerful attack.
The slayer was standing his ground before then charging at Akaza that was ready to defend himself.
The slayer's eyes then shifted from Akaza to Moriko before suddenly charging at her, aiming to land his final attack on her.Akaza's eyes widened. He knew he couldn't make it in time but, he wouldn't take that for an answer. He promised to protect her and that's what he was going to do.All of his last strengths went into dashing to Moriko. The slayer's attack already started and he was going for his strike.Suddenly, at the last second, Akaza was there, pushing Moriko out of the way. There was no time to dodge or even duck.Before he knew it,

Akaza's head was cleanly cut off his body.

Kokushibo was still busy in his own battle. He grew tired of fighting these slayers.
He was hearing a lot of commotion coming from Akaza's side, but he had to wait before he could look over.
The slayer he was currently fighting with looked over in Akaza's direction. Kokushibo then decided to take a look over as well only to be met with sight of Akaza's head flying out in the air as Moriko was pushed out the way. His eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he saw."AKAZAAAAA!!" Kokushibo's shout resonated in the forest as veins popped out on his forehead.

Everything happened so fast in Moriko's head. The slayer dashed at her out of nowhere, clearly aiming at her throat as she was trying to remember what to do from Muichiro's training but, her mind was blank. She was paralysed with fear.Suddenly, she was pushed away last second before the slayer's blade slashed her throat.Akaza.She felt Akaza helping her despite the rapidity of the action, too fast to properly see who it actually was.As she turned to look at Akaza to check if he was okay, she froze.
Her eyes widened and she immediatly started shaking.
She opened her mouth as if to say something but, nothing came out as her throat started getting tighter and tighter, her vision also getting blurry as she fell on her knees.Kokushibo's shout brought her back to reality a little but, she was crushed. Within a second, everything fell apart. Her heart got destroyed."No, no, no, no, no, Akaza... No, no, no, no..." She mumbled, immediatly moving to hold his head on her lap, holding it as if to hug him and she started crying like she had never cried in her existence."Why... Why did you..."She had completely forgotten the battle. Completely forgotten there was probably a slayer coming at her but, she couldn't care less.
Her best friend died protecting her."You're so stupid... You should have let me die. You're so, so fucking dumb... I don't deserve you dying for me. Fucking hell, Akaza... Fuck, fuck, fuck... I'm so sorry..."
She was sobbing like crazy, her face was already red from crying so hard in the span of a few seconds.

Nothing was on Akaza's mind. His eyes looked up to see if Moriko was safe. He paid no attention to her yelling and insults, as long as she was safe."Good, you're safe... That's all that matters."His body soon began to turn into dust particles, floating away. Disappearing into the chill air of the night. Half of his body was already gone."Moriko... You are a strong and special person, and one of my best friends. You have a lot of potential to be strong, even stronger than me...I'm glad you were my best friend and I'm glad we got to spend a lot of time together...I'm sorry...I'm sorry... I couldn't protect you...Please... take care... my friend...I love you Moriko...
Thank you for making me a better demon..."Eventually, the rest of his body and head turned into ashes.
His soft, yet faint voice echoed throughout the sky, mainly aiming for Moriko.

"I'm sorry... Moriko..."

She listened to Akaza's final words, watching him disappear. It felt like he took a part of her heart with him that she would never get back. He was the person she cared about the most.She held his head tightly as she was sobbing, bawling her eyes out in pure pain, guilt, sadness. Her whole outfit was now tinted in her best friend's blood. He vision was completely blurred. She kept shaking her head from side to side at all of the nonsense he said.She was not strong. If she was, he wouldn't be dying in her arms."NO! You protected me!! Don't..." He then suddenly vanished into nothingness as she was left with her lap empty in the cold air of the night.

"I love you too... Akaza..."

She mumbled before screaming loudly, in anger and pain.

Kokushibo quickly dashed over to Moriko, having to watch the remains of Akaza disappearing into the air. He stood in front of Moriko, taking his Haori off and dropping it on the floor."Even if I die, I will protect Moriko. You two, slayers, come at me!"She was on her knees, sobbing, devastated, shaking her head in panic until Kokushibo's words brought her back to reality.She stood up, not without difficulties, still shaking and crying. She was crushed.
Her vision was a pure blur but she grabbed her sword with shaky hands."I-I won't let... more people... die because of me..." She mumbled as her eyes glowed green through the tears.
"I will avenge Akaza..." She said through sobs in a serious tone nonetheless. She closed her eyes to focus on the ground."If anyone dares... to come near Kokushibo or myself... I shall pierce through your hearts... Don't make me do that, stupid slayers... Run away while you still can..."Kokushibo looked down at Moriko, hearing every word she was shouting out at the slayers.
Of course they weren't gonna listen to Moriko but, something shifted in her aura. Kokushibo smirked and looked back at the slayers in front of them."You know that, this is pointless, right? They aren't gonna listen to ya. But don't worry, I'll k-ill them and protect you. I trust you. For now, you get the one on the left, and I get the right one. Hold him off until I can come to help. Got that?I already know you can do it. If you k-ill him, that'll be even better."They were now back to back. His words sank into Moriko's mind, but her brain was melted. She didn't really care about being able to do it or not. It wasn't an option anymore.She will avenge Akaza.Her face felt sticky due to all the tears she shed, mixed with Akaza's blood that somehow reached her face a bit as well.Kokushibo took off towards the one slayer on the right, continuing their battle from last time. This time, he would k-ill him.She took a deep breath, tears still falling down her face here and there and she charged at the slayer, starting to fight him.Her eyes glowed a bright emerald green. Something shifted inside her. However, she was solely fighting. She may have been feeling a tad bit of k-illing intent toward the very slayer that k-illed Akaza, but she was solely fighting.
She was simply gaining time for Kokushibo to take care of the other slayer. He would then come to k-ill the one she was fighting.

"I'm sorry... Moriko..."

Akaza's words resonated in her mind. She felt dizzy from the emotional pain.
She tried her best to keep her focus but she was having a hard time. It was like she was stabbed all over her body at once every now and then.She blinked, and suddenly, she got slashed by the slayer in front of her. Her throat was cut, just a little, and a deep cut was now on her side. She had no idea how it happened. It was impossible to focus.Her throat healed in a blink of an eye but the deep cut remained, making her ache in pain, letting out a scream. She wasn't the type to scream from a wound, but she was clearly disturbed. She wasn't her normal self.While she was dealing with the slayer who k-illed Akaza, Kokushibo was dealing with the same other slayer. Something about Kokushibo was different than the last time he fought. He seemed more powerful. His aura was much greater than before. He was done messing around. In all aspects, he had the slayer beat. Kokushibo overpowered the slayer, landing the majority of his attacks successfully.There was blood dripping down from Kokushibo's sword. The slayer, all wounded, fell to his knees, paralysed in pain and unable to move anymore.He was about to finish him when he hear Moriko's scream. He turned to see Moriko injured and the slayer going for the k-ill.Just as he was about to strike, Kokushibo gripped down onto his sword tighter, moving quicker than the eye could see.Out of a sudden, he was behind the slayer, Kokushibo's sword had gone right through the slayer's chest, blood dripping down on the ground in front of Moriko.The slayer dropped his sword.
He was dead.Kokushibo came to help her. Again. She froze. She didn't want him to die to protect her like Akaza did.
She was shaking. Scared for his life, not hers.But soon enough, he k-illed the demon slayer that k-illed Akaza in front of her eyes and a certain peace of mind settled down within her.'He avenged Akaza for me.' She thought.The wound on her side was healing very slowly. It hurt but, it was going to be okay.
"I'm okay, Kokushibo... Thank you..." She said before uncontrollably breaking down again, falling onto her knees. She didn't feel it coming but, tears started pouring down again. A never-ending river. A never-ending rain. A pain that she felt would never heal. She didn't see the end of this pain anytime in a near or far future."I'm- I'm so, so sorry..." She said frowning, feeling guilty. She felt so incredibly bad for being here. She regretted everything.A few long and hard breaths left Kokushibo's mouth. He looked over to see if Moriko was okay. He saw tears flowing her face like a river. He still had a tight grip on his sword, hearing the words of Moriko.She was right, she shouldn't have come, but he couldn't help but to feel bad. Her best friend died to protect her, and he acknowledged that about Akaza."Moriko, there's no need to worry. He died to protect yo—"Just as he said this, Kokushibo's eyes widened.

His head was quickly cut off.

While his head was flying in the air, all of his eyes looked down to see the slayer he thought was finished behind his body."Damn it, I thought you were done for... I'm not done just yet!"Just before his body began to disappear, he quickly pulled out the sword from the other slayers' body, stabbing him in the shoulder, trying to aim for the heart.His hands soon dissolved away, letting go of his sword, ashes now going for the rest of his body.Moriko was speechless. Upper Moon One and Upper Moon Three both got defeated in front of her. Because of her.She grabbed her sword tightly and pointed it to the sky, making a magnetic wall, in a dome-like form appear all around the two of them.
Her hand was shaking. She had never pulled anything like that, ability-wise, but she needed protection since one of the slayer was not defeated yet.

She looked down at Kokushibo and started sobbing again."I'm so... so sorry... You're a cool dude... Thank you..." She didn't know what to say to him before he vanished into the air.Kokushibo had no last words. His head just laid there, slowly disappearing. He just closed his eyes and gave a soft smile before it all went away.

As he did, the dome fell apart. The demon slayer that k-illed Kokushibo was on the ground, agonising in pain but not dead.Her eyes glowed more green than ever and grew spikes from the ground, impaling his arms and legs."I hope you will suffer for eternity." She said in a cold, icy, angry tone before running away.She did not k-ill the slayer, simply made him suffer. She knew he wouldn't die. He would survive.Which left one on each side remaining.

FINAL SELECTION: solo

7.2K words.Second part written with the help of @SNOWDXMON & Rui-mun.

PS: I'm sorry for writing k-ill or k-illing like that because otherwise carrd doesn't let me post the solo. Just ignore.

TW: DEATH, BLOOD, VIOLENCE.

Moriko was heading to Final Selection. She finally made up her mind about it.Though, she was full of doubts and worry, she felt deep in her guts that it was the right thing to do. She kept on telling everyone she trained under that she wanted to be a fighter, and not a slayer, but act as one if needed. She needed a push in that direction.The idea of k-illing anyone made her sick and tremble. She couldn't handle having her hands dirty yet after what happened to Akaza and Kokushibo in front of her, her instincts told her to never let that happen again, ever. She would never k-ill a human, but, she wanted to k-ill a demon, if necessary, to protect. She also needed to be able to fight in a situation of fear and feeling of defeat. She didn't want to be paralysed or panicked to the point of making bad choices ever again.

Arriving to the platform that was surrounded by wisteria flowers, she took a deep breath and walked where everyone was gathered. There were about forty people hoping to come back alive and become slayers.She, however, has had the chance to meet Oyakata-sama who allowed her to participate to Final Selection if she wanted to, despite being forty percent demon, as well as getting the luxury to choose her path at the end. Oyakata-sama was one of the kindest people she has ever met. He told her that she did not have to become a slayer. There were plenty of people out there willing to be slayers, with strong motives and to help them achieve their purpose, and for that matter, she needed to follow her own path without trying to please anyone else but herself.
For his words, she was grateful. They meant a lot.She was lost in her thoughts when two voices brought her out of it.
They were the voices of the two children of the Demon Slayer Corps' headmaster, the Ubuyashiki family.

"Everyone,
we thank you for coming here tonight to the Demon Slayers Corps Final Selection.
There are demons imprisoned here, on Mount Fujikasane captured alive by the Demon Slayer swordsmen, and unable to leave. This is because wisteria flowers, which demons hate so much, blooms year-round from the bottom to halfway up the mountain.
However, there is no wisteria flowers from this point on and so demons abound.
*You'll need to survive here for seven days to pass Final Selection. *With that being said,
now, be on your way."

She took a big, long, deep breath and everyone started walking towards the wisteria flowers to access the forest behind.She took a step forward and her gaze naturally moved to the two Ubuyashiki siblings who gave her a gentle encouraging nod. She smiled a little and looked at the night sky before closing her eyes. She held onto the handle of her sword which had the little decoration that Yotohime gave her."You told me you'd be here with me spiritually, Akaza. I shall get some of your strength right now." She spoke to him, Demon Akaza, in her head before taking a deep breath again and staring ahead of her, walking forward.She gathered her mind as she walked the last few steps that kept her safe.Giyuu and Rengoku told her to always be aware of her surroundings and to never let her guard down, as well as to never let anything her opponent said waver her focus.
The Shadow Pillar told her to never give up, no matter what.
Her training with Iguro also taught her that, your enemy's weaknesses are your own strengths. His lack of vision at times did allow her some lucky hits, and she realised, in a real battle, a weakness should be exploited.
Lady Muzan told her to bathe in ice... but that was not something she was able to do as of now...
Demon Douma taught her how to anticipate kicks and punches and block them.
Muichiro taught her that she had the mental strength necessary to do things she never thought she could, such as cutting a boulder. She remembered, he said that if she could cut a boulder, she could cut a demon's neck. She would have to remember that.
Rui also taught her how to have a better balance, even if she just practiced on her own most of the time, he still helped a lot.She knew a total of six breathing forms as of now. She didn't realise it but her level was maybe a little greater than most of the kids here who wanted to become slayers.

She then entered the dark forest. It was ever so lightly foggy. She walked around for a long while, without encountering anything or anyone. She was slow in her steps. If she could survive without k-illing a single demon, she would.
She never let her guard down. Always hyper aware of her surroundings as her eyes glowed green slightly.Suddenly, a noise came from behind her. She gasped a little and looked all around, her sword pulled out of her sheath in a blink of an eye, staying silent, on high alert. Her eyes glowed bright green now and her breathing deepened out of nervousness.Suddenly, her eyes widened. As she was focusing and connecting on the ground, she felt a presence a bit further behind her but it disappeared immediatly. Did the person jump the second she felt their presence? That's what she assumed.She rolled on the floor, moving away of her current spot before a huge crash happened where she was standing a few seconds ago. She started sweating and breathing heavily but got back up immediatly a bit further away.As she had expected, a demon was behind her earlier. The reason they disappeared so fast was because they jumped. It was only a deduction and she moved out of her spot, she did well.She glared at the demon who seemed to be a regular low-rank one, just as the Final Selection terms described. She kept a tight grip on her sword.The demon then dashed at her as she sliced him diagonally from his shoulder to his lower stomach, immediatly jumping away. The demon backed away as well, grunting in pain but healing rather fast.She needed to be calm. She was agitated and nervous, her hands were shaky. She took a deep breath again. She should have used a form just now but she forgot.Right then, she heard some commotion in the distance, her gaze turned to look at where it was coming from before seeing a kid fight another demon. Or two? It looked like it was two demons.She didn't have time to pay much attention that the demon she was currently fighting with was dashing at her again. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air.

"Earth Breathing, Third Form, Magnetic Vines."

That form was a defensive one.
With that, a wall of thick vines appeared, blocking the demon, as well as an invisible magnetic wall for extra protection.Right as she did so, she heard a sound that froze her on the spot. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her gaze to where it came from. She saw the kid in the distance, on the ground, in a puddle of blood with an arm missing. The body looked motionless. Moriko froze, swallowing thickly before suddenly, a large spike of what looked like snake scales impaled the kid's body.Moriko gasped loudly as her eyes became teary and a loud desperate scream came out of her mouth.As she screamed, the demon she was fighting with growled and dashed at her again. She immediatly blocked his punch with her sword as she stared into his eyes, trying to keep a tight grip on her sword. No one would protect her. She was on her own. She had to be her own protection, or else she would end up like this kid."I don't want to have to k-ill you . . . please, run if you don't wanna die." She whispered to the demon as her sword was against his arm, holding and pushing him away.The demon simply growled and pushed her sword away.He was about to jump onto her since he was very close but, it suddenly felt like time had slowed down as she took a deep breath.

"Earth Breathing. . . First Form. . . Gentle Cut."

She whispered before swiftly cutting the demon's neck, with her eyes closed. She used her first form that was purposely a single painless precise slash.The demon vanished into ashes, reminding her of Akaza as she fell to her knees, crying. Crying for the kid, crying to have k-illed this demon. She couldn't help but to feel like she just k-illed Akaza again. But, she knew it was necessary."I hope you feel happier where you are. . ."
She whispered to the demon who just vanished by her own slash. The fact that he didn't suffer brought her some comfort.
She stayed on her knees for a minute, tears falling down her eyes uncontrollably.So, she was indeed capable of cutting a demon's neck and survive. He may have been in the lowest demon rank ever but, she did it nonetheless. That action only, meant that she wasn't weak anymore.
She then got up and slowly walked to the kid's body. It was looking awful. She wasn't sensing any demon around, which means it was safe. She placed her hand onto the kid's forehead. He looked like he was about sixteen or seventeen years old."Rest in peace." She whispered before suddenly the spike turned into ashes as the first ray of sunlight appeared.Already?The spike disappearing left a hole in the kid's stomach as she decided to walk away. She had seen enough.

That was her first night at Final Selection.

Night 2: She didn't wake up before the sun had settled and got woken up by being jumped onto by a ferocious demon that she k-illed on the spot, mostly out of panic and fear.
She stopped counting the numbers of demons she k-illed after ten. Roughly, she k-illed about sixty demons that night. This was harsh on her. She had a very hard time accepting that she got her hands dirtied so much.Day 3: She was getting exhausted. She was scared to not wake up in time like the past day and only got small naps for the whole day between eating and making sure she wasn't in the shadow. Additionally, the guilt of k-illing so much was keeping her awake most of the day.
Food-wise, she made a lot of sandwiches before going. She didn't want to have to k-ill any animals.
Night 3: That night, she encountered roughly about thirty demons. Less than the previous day, but still a whole lot.Day 4: She passed out from exhaustion the second the sun rose. She slept a few hours, before deciding to keep walking to get closer to the end of the forest during the day.
Night 4: She was growing a little numb to k-ill so many demons. She was now k-illing them without fear, without hesitation, without expression on her face, but she kept using her first form solely. About thirty demons got slayed again by her sword.Day 5: Sleep. Eat. Walk.
Night 5: That night was one of the most exhausting ones. She ended up running into demons over and over, not giving her a moment of peace. Roughly about seventy demons got slayed by her this night.Day 6: She was exhausted and ended up sleeping most of the day but her sleep was disturbed with nightmares.

Night 6.

The last night had already begun. She had k-illed over thirty demons so far.She then took a breather, grabbing her water bottle and drank. She took a few deep breaths. Truth is, she had no idea what night it was. She lost count of how many days had passed. Meaning, she wasn't aware it was the last night.She sat down against a tree, closing her eyes. She let her guard down for a second. She was mentally drained from using her ability to check the area for the whole night. She was hoping everyone would be proud of her whenever she'd be back. Her whole outfit was tainted in dry demon's blood, and her own. She has been pretty badly injured from falling, running, and getting into all sorts of fights.
She opened her eyes and looked around, resting. It was about three in the morning.
She sighed before seeing a snake making its way towards her.
She rolled her eyes and went to push it away with her feet but the snake wrapped around her ankle tightly, like a chain.She widened her eyes and gasped as it was getting tighter. Her eyes glowed green again and she felt the presence of two people. Probably two demons.She gasped and put two and two together, immediatly slashing the snake with her sword. She was now able to control her movements enough to use her blade without hurting herself.
The snake then turned into ashes, as expected from her and she got back up on her feet.Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her ankle, making her knee bend and dropping one knee to the ground. She ached in pain before hearing loud hisses coming from further away on her left.She turned away to glance toward it, holding her ankle in her hand, breathing deeply and slowly to ease the pain. She then made a vine grow tightly around her ankle to stop the poison from going further into her body.
The hisses became louder and closer by the second before they suddenly came to a halt.

A silent jump into the air, the demon was hoping that Moriko wouldn't notice him. He charged down in front of her, landing roughly into the ground creating a small crater under their feet. Her gaze was intense, a slight frown of pain on her face as she pushed all of the worries away from her mind. She guessed she has been poisoned.
Poison was the least of her worries currently.This demon had long white hair with golden eyes. His hair was floating in an odd-way. As if each strand of hair had a mind of their own. He was wearing a long brown-ish cloak that made him look quite intimidating and very elegant.

Snake demon: Toru.
From Japanese 徹 (tōru) meaning "pierce."

His gaze directly piercing through Moriko's glowing green eyes before wandering down to see the vine around her knee. He knew right then that his snake attacked her and bit her.
A few chuckles left his mouth.
"I see . . . so you're the one my snake attacked? This will be over sooner than I thought."As he spoke, another man followed behind him, almost imitating the first demon but, his landing was not as impactful as the other one. As slight wind was going through the trees. The second demon was standing a little behind the other, not saying anything, seemingly waiting for an order or allowance to attack.His hair was also white, but his eyes were a deep yet vibrant red. A calm yet wicked look in his eyes.
An ankle-length white cloak onto his shoulder, he was even more elegant than the first demon.

Air demon: Masaru.
From Japanese 勝 (Masaru) meaning "victory".

She saw two men appear in front of her. She kept her breathing under control. It was so, so important due to the fact that it seemed like they were strong, hence not losing her composure but also to make sure the poison would stay around her ankle. That way her movements wouldn't be too altered.Her gaze darkened at his words, ignoring the pain and going in a proper fighting stance."Who the hell are you?" She mumbled quietly, taking a step back. If she could get away without fighting, she would. But she had no hope for that. "What the fuck did you do to me? What kind of poison is that?" She asked, feeling like knowing what was into her body could actually help her deal with it.

The first demon stood there in silence.
His hand slowly began to rise, pointing directly into her direction. She already saw his snake technique, so it was time to give her something she hasn't seen.He then sent a few snake scales of his directly at her, little did she know these were special scales. He could turn them into spikes at any moments before or after landing.The other demon then made some wind to blow up some dust and dirt from the ground at her, to impair her vision. He mostly did that so the snake scales would be harder to see. He still kept rather silent and watched the other demon's attack in awe.She widened her eyes, he threw something at her before her vision got blurred, getting dust in her eyes.
She coughed a bit and closed her eyes tightly before immediatly controlling the dust and sending it back to them, like a slap of dust hitting them.
The second demon immediatly made an invisible wall of air to block the slap of dust that has been sent back at them.At the same time as she did so, she vanished from her spot and appeared a bit further from them on their left, keeping her breathing under control. She rubbed her eyes to remove the dust before then glancing back at them."WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU BOTH?" She shouted, staying on the defensive. She knew that they weren't even giving it their all. She was keeping her energy for later, since she was already exhausted, and likely poisoned. She was slightly panicked at the fact such strong demons were at Final Selection, but again, she kept her breathing slow, deep and steady to focus.“Who are we?" The snake demon answered in a scoff. "We are the last faces you are ever gonna see. You’re gonna die here and now."His hair then began to sway as if the wind was blowing, strangely enough, there was no wind. Each strand of his hair turned into small snakes, all hissing loudly, ready to attack her."We will be the ones to k-ill and devour every single human in this year's Final Selection so, get ready to die." The second demon spoke, seemingly following whatever the snake demon was doing.More wind was sent at her. This time, in the form of fast moving balls.Moriko's gaze darkened at their words.

Keep calm.

She told herself. She couldn't afford to be scared by anything. His hair turned into snakes, so be it. The sound of the hissing was loud though, making her flinch a little but quickly directing her attention toward the other demon.She was going to need to remember her training with Muichiro. She filled her lungs with air and sliced the air.

"Earth Breathing, Fifth Form, Layered Magnetic Disks, ten."

She whispered as she sent ten vertical and horizontal slashes made of this magnetic wall material, very sharp and also invisible.Her acute connection to the ground allowed her to connect to the fog, just like she learnt with Muichiro, but also to the air. She was working on this by herself. To feel the air like she'd feel the fog to distinguish invisible movements. Though, it wasn't very precise yet and required quite a lot of energy. She managed to slice a bunch of his air balls as she blocked and dodged most of them.However, she did get hit by a few and they were very powerful.
One of them hit her shoulder, making it crack at the impact. Good thing she was a demon and could manipulate bones to heal herself fast.“It seems Masaru’s attacks connected. I think it’s my time now." The snake demon mumbled, revealing the other demon's name.
His hand quickly shot up in the direction of Moriko again.So, the other demon was named Masaru. Moriko made a mental note.The snakes that were in his hair quickly extended over to her, attempting to hold her down into place. She widened her eyes as his hair extended quickly toward her but kept her breathing under control. She sliced through a few of them but they seemed to keep coming, as if her slashes weren't efficient.The snakes then wrapped around her legs so she couldn’t move, and some wrapped around her arms so she couldn’t swing the sword either.
She was about to unleash a form when snakes wrapped around her arms, making her unable to swing her sword anymore.

Masaru just silently watched the snakes' attack in awe. He was always really impressed by his attacks whenever he saw them."Wow....so fast...." He mumbled quietly.He then tried to snap back to reality and focused on the fight again. He made a whip out of air trying to help him hold Moriko down.She didn't have time to think that, what seemed to be an invisible rope, wrapped around her waist to hold her down. Where was it coming from? She could feel it but she couldn't see it.She felt overwhelmed. Fighting two strong demons at once wasn't something she truly was prepared for but, she didn't intend on dying on everyone who was training her, as well as Rui who she knew she would fight after Final Selection.Her eyes glowed bright green again, staring at the two of them before drawing in her resources and veins popped out on her forehead."You wanna play? We'll play." She said before letting go of her sword. She remembered her training with the Shadow Pillar. She truly was so thankful for everyone who she trained with because, in moments like these, it showed how efficient it really was.A vine that grew out of the ground grabbed her sword immediatly and, used it like her own arm. She then slashed through all the snakes and the invisible bound around her waist and immediatly got back up and breathed heavily.She didn't feel like she had been bitten again by the snakes, which she was thankful for. She grabbed her sword back in her hand, tightly and securely.A look that never appeared in Moriko's eyes shined through. An almost wicked look. She wasn't going to die. She was going to fight no matter how badly injured or poisoned she may be."This... is your death sentence. You should know better than to piss off someone like me." Her voice was low and an intense look pierced through both of the demons' eyes.She filled her lungs with air.

"Earth Breathing, Fourth Form, Rain of Thorns."

She mumbled as she got propelled into the air. Thick, hard giant thorny vines shot out of the ground all around, slowly closing around them both to create a dome.She then spun in the air and moved a bit on her side in order to aim her blade at both their neck. The way she was aiming at would make her blade go through the snake demon's neck and then, right after, Masaru's neck.
As she did all this, the thorns that were as big and wide as a hand fell onto them both all at once. She was going all out. She wouldn't leave before they'd be both k-illed.Small veins began to appear from the snake demon's head. He wouldn’t allow himself to die here. Neither him or Masaru.“How could this be... I won’t let it end here! You will die by our hands !"Immediately his hand shot up again, sending a bunch more of his scales at her while she was in the air. Once they got close enough, his hand clenched into a fist, making them all turn into spikes, hoping to wound her or even k-ill her.Masaru wouldn't forgive himself if he'd be the one to make them lose, so he was going to give it his all."Toru! Here!"Toru. Another name. The snake demon's name.Masaru made two platforms out of air to cover both Toru and himself from the thorns. It was extremely hard to keep them up but if he could help Toru and give him more time to attack, it was worth a shot. Toru surely wasn't out of energy yet.She was about to slash when Toru sent some of his scales again. She raised an eyebrow. What could snake scales do?
She didn't really see the threat until they suddenly all turned into spikes.She got grazed by most of them, tearing apart her uniform here and there. But one of them shot through her arm.She saw that the thorns got stopped by an invisible wall. Could this be Masaru's blood demon art? What the hell was his power? She could see that Toru's power was related to snakes but, Masaru's? She had no idea.She screamed in pain as she fell to the floor in front of them. "The heck?" She removed the spike out of her arm and healed. "Jeez..." She whispered before vanishing underground and reappearing a little further away on her feet.It was tough. Extremely tough. But her gaze didn't waver. She kept on staring at the two of them intensely, coldly. She would k-ill them."We mustn't let her heal, Masaru ! Let's end this here and now !""Understood Toru!"Toru’s plan was to just distract her for a moment, so he sent his hair snakes directly at her to hold her down once more. While he did this, he snuck two snakes behind him to poison her, hoping she didn’t see them.Masaru started to send a lot of invisible air disks at Moriko trying to cut her.
He was a little worried that he might be holding Toru back but he just ignored that feeling and kept on fighting.

"Earth Breathing, Second Form, Violent Vines..."

She mumbled as she sliced through Toru's hair rather easily before being hit by invisible things again.
It was getting on her nerves. What the heck were those things?She stumbled back and mentally cursed at herself. She was starting to get overwhelmed and panicked.
She vanished underground right away.What the heck was happening?
She took a few deep breaths, staying underground for a few seconds,

'Focus. Goddamn it. You got this. You got this. If his attacks are invisible, i can distinguish them in the fog. Remember the training with Muichiro...'
She thought to herself.She focused deeply again and went back up, charging at Masaru all while sending vines at Toru.
She decided to distract Toru while she'd deal with Masaru. They were extremely thick and big vines, aiming to trap him inside.Masaru seemed to be following Toru, so maybe not being teamed up with Toru would make him feel disoriented and then, she'd get her chance to k-ill him.'So this was her plan, to split us up. Well, no worries. Masaru can hold his own while I take care of these vines.' Toru thought.

'Earth Breathing, Fifth Form, Layered Magnetic Disks, ten.'

If he wanted to play invisible, then so could she.She sent ten sharp magnetic disks, vertical and horizontal to Masaru as she dashed forward, her blade aiming at his neck.

"Earth Breathing, First Form, Gentle Cut."

She whispered as she did a series of forms one after the other. She had never done so many forms in so little time. It was challenging.Masaru was a little lost. He looked over at Toru who was busy with the thick vines and was panicking a little. He didn't want to ask Toru for help since it could distract him and lead to his death so he just shook his head and focused.He jumped up high onto a platform out of solid air and stared down at her with anger."I will not be reason we lose this, you worm. We will keep on living."The invisible disks Moriko sent at him made some wind that he could sense. As a response, he sent his own air disks at her's, just blocking them. He was down for an invisible duel and sent multiple air balls around, even destroying some vines that Toru was dealing with to help him. They were bouncing everywhere."You will make for a good meal, weakling." Masaru spoke, his red eyes glowing as he looked down at Moriko.Toru, stuck both of his hands up towards the vines. His scales were launched towards the thick layered vines. He made sure to send more than he usually would.
As they grew closer, his fists clenched turning into spikes and cutting through the vines, freeing himself finally.

'Focus.'
Moriko thought to herself.Masaru was now on an invisible platform.
What the fuck was his blood demon art.... Air? Invisibility? She had no idea and it was pissing her off and disorienting her.She frowned as her disks got destroyed by his.Suddenly, she felt a lot of movements in the air before being hit by something harshly in the head. It made her stumble and loose balance, falling on her butt.
At the same moment, Toru broke free.She remembered every single training she ever had, but mostly the Shadow Pillar's and Muichiro's trainings.

'Do not give up and don't let fear get in your way.'

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was not even a second but it felt like time had stopped. She gathered her senses and emotions as she was trying to feel every single movements in the air and the fog.And she did. With an acute concentration, she felt exactly where Toru was, and everything in the air. She also felt what Masaru was standing on. She could feel everything.Balls were bouncing everywhere. She didn't let it waver her focus and instantly jumped up high in the air, quickly jumping onto the air balls, using them as some sort of stairs to reach Masaru.The balls were fast but her extreme focus allowed her to feel it as if time had slowed down, hence stepping on them.She then used some tree branches for extra steps and propelled herself onto the air.

"Earth Breathing, First Form, Gentle Cut."

he whispered as she was aiming at Masaru's neck all while tree branches, vines and leaves started to grow around Masaru's ankles to stop him from moving, slowly going up his body.She would k-ill him.Toru was now free from the vines. He had no idea what was going on. When he looked up, he saw Moriko using Masaru’s attacks as momentum. How was she doing this? It made no sense to him.The snake demon's eyes widened, seeing that she was going for the k-ill on Masaru.
Without even thinking, Toru sent a huge amount of scales where he thought Moriko would be next, instantly turning them into spikes.Masaru tried to keep calm despite having Moriko rush at him. He took a deep breath and, the only thing he could think of was to set up a wall of solid air, so that Moriko couldn't hit him. He then pushed it against her to make her back up."I wont go down so easily."As she was about to slice his neck, a solid invisible wall seemed to have stopped her sword as she was pushed back by it.She immediatly saw some snakes scales that turned into spikes really close to her.

She froze at the sight.

Now that she had a good look at them, she remembered that kid from the first night of the selection, who died by one of those spikes, in the distance as she was fighting another demon.Was Toru the one who k-illed that kid back then? The spike looked very similar. Actually, they looked the exact same.She felt her eyes getting teary from the emotion and anger building into her before she propelled herself up higher than Masaru. Her speed was faster than ever, going over his invisible wall that he built.Her eyes were glowing as bright of a green as they could. The strong emotions she felt just now made something snap in her heart and soul. She was seriously going in for the k-ill with her whole being this time.

"Earth Breathing, First Form, Gentle Cut."

She looked into Masaru's eyes as her blade then started to smoothly cut through his neck."I'm sorry, Masaru."
She whispered, looking at him with a sad look as her blade was cutting through. She felt empathy, somehow.
"Your power's freaking awesome. You were worth my time, I guess."
A soft smile appeared on her face as her first form was mean to be a painless and fast slash. She has only ever k-illed demons with this form. She knew they wouldn't feel any pain, and it brought her comfort.It took Masaru a second to realize what was happening before his head was cleanly cut off.
Instead of comfort and calmness, all he could feel was pure anger. He was just pissed.

"SHUT UP WORM! SHUT UP, YOU WEAKLING! SHUT UP! TORU, K-ILL HER!"He was angry, but deeply sad. Angry at himself for not being able to block her attack, and sad because he was going to leave Toru behind, having to deal with Moriko on his own.All his solidified air attacks and platforms disappeared as his body fell to the ground and his head slowly disappeared. A small tear falling down his cheek.

" . . . I'm sorry . . . Toru . . . for being so weak . . ."

The second Masaru's head got cut off, he saw his whole demon life pass by his eyes, until then, he saw himself and Toru as humans. He saw their love life and how beautiful it was, how happy himself and Toru were.
He got a vague remembrance of their human names. But, it was too blurry to make it out clearly.A smile appeared on his face as a feeling of warmth and relief settled in his soon-to-dissapear soul.He wanted to stay there, as his human-self with his human lover. That was where he wanted to go after he died."Masaru."He froze. The voice sent chills down her spine."You failed at your duty."
Muzan's voice in his mind was terribly cold and threatening. He wasn't even here but Masaru could feel Muzan's imposing aura only through his tone."I am disappointed in you. . . Guess you were weak and were meant to die, after all. You will die knowing Toru will live thinking of you as a disappointment for failing him. He will be better off without you. You were holding him back, Masaru."

And with that, Masaru's body turned into ashes, with a tear falling down his cheek." . . . Toru . . . forgive me . . . "His words were barely audible in a whisper before he vanished into the air, leaving nothing but his clothes behind.

Toru’s eyes widened once he saw what events just unfolded. He was in shock. In the blink of an eye, Masaru’s head was cut off cleanly. He couldn’t believe what just happened. He froze.He could hear Masaru’s yelling but he didn’t react to it. He watched his body hit the floor, mouth slightly open in disbelief, a small tear fell down his cheek.“Masaru . . . no . . . you were never weak . . . "
Toru spoke in a sad tone.

Toru and Masaru got turned into demons about six years ago, the circumstances of how they became demons have always been unknown to them. They never really cared to know either.
Muzan's words and orders were often resonating in their heads, despite having never met Muzan in person.***"K-ill every single person that comes at Final Selection. Do not allow a single one to come back alive. I'll give you ten years to become strong enough to reach that goal. Until then, if more than ten slayers make it out alive at the end of each Selection, I will k-ill you on the spot." ***Those were Muzan's orders often resonating as a reminder in their mind.Toru and Masaru always stayed by each other's sides. They were actually lovers, as humans. But they didn't remember. Their memories being wiped as they turned demons, they learnt to get to know each other all over again as demons. Masaru has always been on the quiet side compared to Toru. Despite Toru having no experience as a demon, like Masaru, he showed him the ways. Toru has been Masaru's mentor as a demon. They perfected their blood demon art together, helped each other until slowly but surely, after four years as demons, they started to feel things for each other.Then, they entered a sort of relationship, in their own way. Kisses were stolen here and there, but they still focused on their main goal to be good demons to obey Muzan.Muzan wasn't thrilled about them having feelings for one another but since it wasn't making them more or less efficient, he didn't mind it.Toru and Masaru saw each other as lovers, partners, best friends, colleagues. They were a team and they were working remarkably well together... until Moriko came in.

Toru's golden bright eyes laid upon Moriko with an unbelievable anger shining through them. A deep pain, a deep scar could be seen through them as well.Moriko felt heartbroken from seeing them both shed a tear. She knew all too well what it felt like to be separated from someone you care about in front of your eyes."I'm sorry..."
She mumbled with teary eyes.Truly, she hated to have done that. She hated to be the reason of someone's pain regardless of how awful their actions were. It was in her nature. She was empathetic and kind, and nothing could change that.But— she pushed this voice in her head away, her eyes glowing green again and she landed on the floor, since she was on a tree branch, in a fighting stance."HOW DARE YOU HURT MASARU?!" Toru's anger was vivid. Like a wild fire that had been ignited."If that makes you feel better, the form I used was painless. He didn't feel a thing." She spoke softly.Damnit. Why would she try to make such a horrible demon feel better?
She needed to keep herself together."But— that being said, you'll join him soon." She said as her gaze focused again, pushing her guilt away as she noticed the moon was getting low. Indicating that sunrise was about half an hour away.Toru’s head was down, gaze on the ground. Thinking about how him and Masaru always worked together no matter what, remembering every moment together.

*Suddenly, he snapped. *
He was now a different person.

A bunch of scales came flying from the ground, but instead of attacking Moriko, they flew towards Masaru's clothes, surrounding them like a small dome to protect them.And then, more scales began sticking together to Toru's back to form giant wings on his back, allowing him to, now fly high above Moriko."You will pay for k-illing Masaru."She saw how his scales connected to his back, now flying high above her as her eyes widened and her breath got taken away by such a move.'Holy shit... this couldn't be good.'She was getting really tired and, going underground to hide would require too much energy. It would likely fail. She decided to run away, using the ground as a boost to go as fast as she could, her poisoned ankle starting to hurt a lot.She felt like a coward for running but, she really didn't wanna die.Toru was flying after her, controlling every single scales on his wings and sending some of them at her with an acute precision and faster speed than before.She got a few of them planted in her back as a result, but managed to also dodge a bunch mostly by luck.She looked at the sky. Not long until sunrise. She could make it. She just needed to run faster.But her ankle was getting more and more painful. Making her speed decrease. She tried to heal it constantly but it didn't work. It was poison.She was panting heavily, sweating, in pain, dirty, her uniform half torn apart. She was a literal mess.

Akaza.

She remembered her best friend and began crying a little as she kept on running, digging into her last resources, her last strengths to run until at least, sunrise."STOP BEING A COWARD, COME AND FACE ME. YOU K-ILLED MASARU, WHY DON'T YOU WANNA K-ILL ME, HUH? SCARED TO MESS UP? SCARED OF BEING TOO WEAK ?" The anger in his tone was clear. He sounded desperate. He sounded so awfully saddened as well.His words made her blood boil with anger but, she figured it was safer to not respond anything.Toru then created snakes out of thin air in front of her, the same that poisoned her.
She stopped in her tracks.

Damn it. She was trapped. . .
No, no, no. There had to be a way out.

Suddenly, her ankle made her scream in pain, her knee giving up, she fell to the ground.

Akaza.

Her driven force was Akaza. Every time things were tough, she always remembered Akaza. She never wanted to forget that she wanted to make him proud in the end.She got back on her feet despite the pain and jumped over the snakes, avoiding them while slicing a few of them.She kept on running and trying to avoid Toru's scales for what seemed like a long while. He wasn't giving up. It seemed his energy was unlimited.

After a while, she suddenly didn't hear anything behind her anymore as she kept on running as fast as she could, crying in pain before tripping on the floor and ended up laying down on her back, only to see the purple flowers above her head.
Her eyes went wide as she caught her breath.Were those wisteria flowers?
Was she hallucinating because of the poison?

Toru got stopped a few minutes ago due to only being able to fly to a certain height, hence being blocked by the wisteria.He looked numb. As if his humanity was gone. But, he was still alive, living within the final selection forest and Moriko would never forgive herself to let him live.

She then laid on her belly and began crawling to get to the platform.After about ten minutes of painful crawling on the floor, she reached the platform where seemingly three other kids made it out as well.The three kids immediatly ran to her, seeing her state and helped her stand up.
The Ubuyashiki siblings, here to end the Final Selection took measures immediatly and brought in someone to bring her to the butterfly estate, in order to be cured.

Final Selection, lasting a week, has been completed by Moriko. However, those who knew where she went must have been worried due to the fact no news about her were given for a total of twelve days.She stayed five days at the butterfly estate, being carefully treated and healed fully from the poison. She had asked multiple times to get visit from her friends but, no one agreed, by suspicion of the poison being contagious or easily transferable.

She has been visited by Oyakata-sama himself on her last day at the butterfly estate, asking what path she'd choose.Would she be a slayer? Or a simple fight who now knew she could k-ill demons?"Oyakata-sama." She bowed her head in respect."I choose to not be a slayer and remain a fighter. I choose to use this as a proof to myself and everyone that I can be trusted. But I still do not wish my life to be almost every day like what I've just been through."She spoke calmly as Oyakata-sama smiled a little and nodded, agreeing with her decision and giving her a word of encouragement before leaving.She then ran out the estate, heading to meet everyone again that she was missing, oh- so much.

RUI'S FIGHT: solo

4.1K words.Solo written from a roleplay.

PS: I'm sorry for writing k-ill or k-illing like that because otherwise carrd doesn't let me post the solo. Just ignore.

TW: FIGHT, VIOLENCE, BLOOD (heavy in one part.), DEATH?

A few months ago, Moriko had this conversation with Muzan, Akaza, Rui, and a bunch of other people about what could determine if she was weak or not.A bunch of possibilities have been discussed.
Defeating Enmu, lower moon six.
Defeating Kokushibo, upper moon one.
Defeating a random demon not part of the Kizuki.
Final Selection.Her choice settled on Final Selection even if it took a while for her to be really set on going.She had also one more goal.To fight Rui, to beat him, or at least to not lose right off the bat. She wanted to genuinely make him struggle.At the time, he was lower five.By the time she was ready to fight him and came back from Final Selection, he became upper five.She felt like she had to climb even more steps to reach a decent level. She wanted to give Rui a good fight. She didn't want to make him lose his time. On her side, she wanted to make him struggle and challenge herself. So, she had to train hard for a few months for Final Selection first, and a few days after being back, she felt genuinely ready.

Moriko walked towards Rui. A serious gaze landing upon the spider demon with slight green orbs."Hi, Rui."He was sitting up high on his threads, just doing some cat cradles constructions with them. They were a little bit brighter than usual."Hello, Moriko."
"What are you up to?" She asked, looking up at him from the ground, tilting her head, intrigued."I'm just stargazing. It's a calm night." He answered as he looked up at the night sky.Moriko unsheathed her blade."Well, enjoy. It may be your last."
Her gaze was challenging onto the Upper Moon Five. She obviously didn't plan on k-illing him but, a good fight like she wanted with him wasn't gonna happen if they didn't challenge each other, leaving doubts on whether or not their threats were true.Rui's gaze moved down to look at her before jumping onto the ground, landing right in front of her."I see you have finally decided to fight me, huh?"She tilted her head."I had decided a long time ago. But, it's not about deciding, it's about whether or not I was able to, and I feel like I'm finally able to right now. I've worked hard and, went to Final Selection. I feel it in my bones that I'm ready now."He just looked at her for a few seconds."Good to hear. Shall we fight, then?"She tilted her head, giving him a nervous look."Uh- Yeah ... But uh, how far should I go?" She asked quietly, clearly expressing she did not want to k-ill him. She didn't care what were his intentions towards her but, she didn't wanna k-ill him.Rui just shrugged his shoulders a bit. It was clear he didn't care either.
He simply looked at her for a bit."That's up to you, I don't care." His tone was unbothered.She nodded and blinked, unsure what to do now. She was nervous. Why was she nervous?*"So, do you wanna fight here? Or somewhere more open." *They were in the middle of the forest and, even though Rui was a demon, he still wanted this battle to be good.Moriko simply shrugged, not really caring. Anywhere outside was good.Rui nodded. "Then, let's stay in here."

Suddenly, Moriko had second thoughts. Maybe he'd k-ill her. Ah... Was it a good idea to risk her life to prove her strength? Even though, Rui was a friend to her.Rui backed away a little."I shall give you the honour to go for the opening strike."A slight smile grew on the spider demon's face. Was he just excited about the fight? Did he prepare a trap?Moriko looked at him and nodded.She took a deep breath and focused, closing her eyes, feeling everything around her. Her grip was tight on her sword before her eyes shot open, glowing bright green.Suddenly, within a blink of an eye, all of the wooden roots from all the trees surrounding them shot all around Rui, aiming to wrap all around his body.

"Earth Breathing, First Form, Gentle Cut..."

She whispered as she dashed at him, going for the throat.Rui's threads formed all around him, blocking all the roots of the trees without cutting them. He refused to hurt trees.
Moriko's ability never hurt nature. She has had confirmation from a goddess who could listen to nature once and she got told Moriko's ability do not hurt nature in any way.Rui jumped away from the spot and watched her dash at him. He simply and easily dodged the attack and followed it up with a kick.Moriko dodged by jumping and landing further away. Her eyes glowed bright green, vines wrapping around Rui's legs as she went back to charge at him immediatly.Vines. Finally something Rui was okay with cutting without caring.
His threads cut himself free.A slight chuckle escaped his mouth. He definitely had something planned and waited for her to come closer, which Moriko was doing. She didn't stop and kept on dashing closer and aimed to stab his stomach.Before she got close enough with her sword, she got stuck in a web that suddenly appeared. He wrapped threads around her sword, keeping her sword to her hand and the web."Right into my trap." He spoke with a slight smirk on his face.She widened her eyes a little and gasped."Trap?" She mumbled, looking up at him with big eyes before trying to get her hand and sword away from the sticky threads."Ah- That's okay. Who needs a sword anyway?"She shrugged and multiple sharp blade-like vines shot out of the ground and cut the threads, freeing her, as well as aiming to cut him.He jumped back, having to release some of the threads on the web, letting it fall down but keeping the ones on Moriko's sword and hand, making them tighten."Not bad, not bad." He spoke before making the threads ever so slowly cut through Moriko's hand.She frowned at the sharp pain in her hand. She lost control over the vines and her eyes started getting teary.
Two minutes in the fight and she was already in a huge amount of pain.
The way his threads were cutting agonisingly slow in her hand made it extremely painful. If it was fast, it'd be over in a second. But, it was like he was doing it on purpose.She clenched her jaw and frowned, grabbing onto one of the thread with her other free hand to get rid of it but, mistake was made.
Her other hand got stuck to it.Argh, the pain didn't allow her to think straight."Having trouble there, Moriko?"
His tone was teasing. As if he knew that she couldn't think straight because of the slow cutting.
She looked up at him with teary eyes, shaking a little."I would love to keep you in that pain but... I need those threads back for something."And with that, Rui's threads went loose and back to him. Moriko gasped in relief and it allowed her skin to heal immediatly."You're so mean..." She mumbled as she frowned. Those words were simple compared to the anger that he had settled within her with this single cruel move."How so? I relieved you from the pain, didn't I?"His words made an immeasurable anger boil in her belly.The spider demon then started shooting multiple regular threads at Moriko.
She vanished underground immediatly and reappearing a little further away, in another direction."You want to play? I'll play nasty too." She mumbled in a dark tone, her eyes glowing green. Her blade swinging at him and a vine sneakily and swiftly made its way under his bare sole.

"Earth Breathing, Ninth Form, Devil's Helmet."

She mumbled as thick vines wrapped all around him, much more tightly than the previous ones.
The vine under his sole poked through his skin and quickly injected the poison of a flower called Aconitum, also known as Devil's Helmet.
This was obviously not a lethal poison for a demon. She hadn't tested this before, so Rui was her first experiment of this form idea she has had in mind. On humans, the poison of this flower was said to be very toxic. It was one of the most poisonous flower to exist but of course, she would never use this form on humans.
She hoped that the poison would either paralyse for a few seconds, or maybe simply send a sharp pain through a demon's body to destabilise them.She then dashed at him, her blade aimed at his neck without using a form.As Rui has been injected the poison, he arched in pain. It was hurting him. A lot less than it would hurt a human but it was still a huge amount of pain.She felt bad for injecting poison to him, even if it wasn't lethal.
As he arched in pain, she frowned, almost feeling the pain he was going through but he seemed to be fine overall which was a relief.

"Blood Demon Art... A Spiders Nest..."

He mumbled as his hair started to move a little because of the wind caused by a big movement.
All the threads that were laid out all over the forest started to move up into the sky above the two of them, forming a storage spider nest of a great size. One part of it crashed down, unleashing all of the threads it was made of in all directions, cutting everything in its way.Moriko's eyes widened and she gasped. It was humongous."Shit, shit, shit, shit..." She mumbled as it fell and immediatly swung her sword upwards.

"Earth Breathing, Third Form, Magnetic Vines."

And with that, her defensive move was up before any threads could reach her. She was protected by the invisible magnetic wall she put up.Rui was still in pain from the poison but had to ignore it for now."That was ... only one!" He mumbled through some coughs.The other two nests drop down at the same time with an impact twice as strong as the previous one.

"Earth Breathing, Third Form, Magnetic Vines, Improved."

She reproduced her defensive form but improved. Instead of a single invisible magnetic wall in front of her, she was now in a magnetic bubble. She could only hold it up for about thirty-seconds though.After the impact, everything was full of dust, blocking Rui's vision, resulting in him sending out threads in all direction to help him keep track of all the movements around him.Her magnetic bubble was still up for a few more seconds and she was completely immune to all his threads. She then dashed at him. All the dust particles in the air made her aware that he sent threads in all direction due to her connection to dirt and everything natural.A sly smirk on her face.
"I wonder what would happen if -"
She mumbled as her eyes glowed bright green and a thrilled look passed by her eyes. She was absolutely thrilled.

"Earth Breathing, Sixth Form, Dusty Blizzard..."

She whispered and as soon as her own bubble protection ended. This improved form was great but, it had one downside, she couldn't use any other form as long as the bubble was still up.A giant tornado made of all the dust started forming around Rui. She had no idea how his threads would react to the wind. Were they strong enough to withstand the wind power or would they just fly and wrap around him by following the circling motion of the tornado? She wondered how much control he had over them.She dashed closer to the tornado.

"Earth Breathing, First Form, Gentle Cut..."