I suppose this is chapter one of Butterfly

Butterfly 

 

Chapter 1 

Falling

 

Kakari slowly walked down the street. The lights in the windows were beginning to turn dark. Her second day in the small forsaken town, and still, she couldn’t find a demon. 

Her Kasugai crow had told her that this is where she needed to be. Annoyed, she turned into an alleyway. If there was a demon here, they would’ve shown themselves, right? Nothing better than preying on the weak... right?  

Not that she was weak. 

Kakari sighed and looked at her feet as she walked. Ever since Final Selection, she hadn’t been able to find a demon, let alone kill one. Every time she’d arrived at her destination, she was either in the wrong place, or another Demon Slayer had taken care of it. 

She didn’t quite understand why the Demon Slayer Corps would send her places if they already sent other Slayers. Sure, Kakari has killed demons before, she did, after all, survive Final Selection. 

Maybe it was because she was only nine years old. Even so, she was stronger than she looked. However, when people see her, all they see is a small child in need of protection. 

She didn’t know why people acted that way, it made no sense to her. 

Kakari wished that she could just prove to everyone that she was just as strong as everyone else. But how could she possibly do that when she couldn’t even find a demon? 

Kakari put her back against the wall. ‘Maybe they’re right.’ She thought with a yawn. ‘I haven't even built up my stamina enough to stay awake for more than a day.’ Kakari slid down the wall, onto her .  

‘No!’ she thought forcefully, ‘I have to stay awake.’ but as she thought that she drifted into a dreamless sleep. 

Nozomu gritted her teeth. She’s been in this town for three nights now. Where was that demon? Why couldn’t she find them? It was a small town! Usually, she was great at tracking down demons, but lately, she'd been off her game. 

Because of her, had people been dying because she couldn’t find the demon? Families destroyed, forever? All because she's been feeling a little off? It was an uncomfortable thought. But it could as hell be true. 

Nozomu drew her sword. It was blue with a slight hint of purple. She took a breath. She needed to find this demon and quickly. She jumped onto the fence and speedily climbed over it to the other side, which put her in an alleyway. 

Aki closed his eyes and lowered the severed arm from his mouth, opening his eyes to see the human. Covered in blood. Limps torn. Missing a leg which Aki had just finished. Did he just waste a life, all because he was hungry?  

Why did he care? It was human. He’d end up doing something terrible eventually. Maybe even more terrible than what Aki did.  

No, human sins and demon sins were different. Humans can change. They can be forgiven. While demons couldn’t. No matter how hard one could try, all those deaths could never be forgiven. Those lives could never be returned.  

But... humans can kill too. He’s seen it happen before, the look of glee in the eye of that man, the murderous smile. Aki had mistaken him for a demon. He shuddered. Is that what he looked like when he was hungry? Aki wiped his mouth, which only left more blood on his cheek. When had he become such a slob? Aki had now officially lost his appetite. 

But what would he do with the carcass? But before he could think more about the subject, he felt a familiar presence. 

Kakari opened her eyes. Her vision was a little blurry. Had she fallen asleep? She heard a loud crack. And instinctively she jumped up and quickly unhooked her sword from her belt. She tensed. Then she heard another CRACK.  

She looked around. Then she felt something under her foot. She jerked her head down to find that the crack had been made by a twig.  

She realized that she had stopped breathing. She breathed in, then winced. ‘That’s no good if I stop breathing like that!’ she thought, hooking her sword back onto her belt.  

The snake-like sword curled softly around her leg. She touched it lightly, then the sword started curling the other way. She liked her sword. It felt alive. It gave her a sense of company, even though she knew it wasn’t living. 

She looked up. Then she screamed and jumped back. As she again, unlatched her sword. But this time she remembered to breathe.  

In front of her stood a man, a man with messy orange hair, grey skin decorated with green triangles, and red eyes with swirls and a smile that barred four pointy teeth. Two on the bottom, and two on the top. He wore dark blue hakama pants, with a dusty purple haori. 

She recognized this man. How could she ever forget the face of the person who saved her life?  

“Aki?” she asked.  

His smile grew, “Nice to see you again, Kakari.” 

Kakari let go of her sword, which on its own, wrapped around her leg on its own. 

“Hello Kakari,” he said kneeling to look at her. Then put his hands on her shoulders. 

“My, my, Kakari,” he said shaking his head, but still smiling, “how you’ve grown! You're starting to make me feel old.” 

Kakari knew that Aki was a demon. But she thought that he was different. He had to be. He saved her life after all. A human life when he could’ve killed her instead. 

Kakari grabbed her sword to latch it back onto her belt. “No matter how old I get old, it won’t change the fact that your age won't change.” 

“Not necessarily, my age will change, but my youth won’t. You see, I'm probably somewhere… in my… eighties... nineties?” Aki guessed. 

Kakari raised an eyebrow. 

“Last time I saw you, you were, what... five? Now, how old are you... fifteen?” Aki said. 

“Very funny, Aki,” She said sarcastically, “but I'm nine.” 

“No way, really?” Aki said jokingly, “Are you sure?” 

“Quite sure,” Kakari said. 

Then suddenly, a woman jumped over the fence and landed right behind Kakari. 

She wore a Demon Slayer uniform. She was tall, but shorter than Aki. She had bright blue eyes, with deep brown hair fading into light brown at the ends. She had two strands of hair coming out into the front of her face, and then two tucked under those coming out to the back of her head, which brought it into a butterfly hairpin. The butterfly was colored with a blue outline, and a yellow inside, splattered with pink.  

She held a blueish-purplish sword. She took Kakari by the shoulder and moved her behind herself, without taking her eyes off Aki. 

Aki slowly stood up. He thought this may happen. Would this woman try and kill him in front of a nine-year-old? Would he kill her in front of a nine-year-old? Aki tightened his jaw. But put on the best smile he could muster up.  

“Move back to the fence,” Nozomu said to the small blonde-haired girl. 

But she put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot. ‘What was she doing?’ 

“And what do you think you're doing?” the little girl asked sassily.  

Nozomu blinked. “What am I doing?” Nozomu asked bewildered, “Protecting you from this demon.” 

The girl shook her head, “I can take care of myself.” 

And then Nozomu realized that this little girl was wearing a Demon Slayer uniform. With a bright pink kimono. But what was that thing strapped to her side? Surely it wasn’t a sword, it was too... curly… too bendy.  

Nozomu ignored the young girl. And turned her attention to the demon. Which made the young girl quite angry. 

Aki frowned. He sighed. Then he smiled again, “What’s your name, Butterfly?” 

“That doesn’t matter.” 

“Well, if that’s the case, then let’s get this done, and over with,” and to his surprise, the Butterfly didn’t hesitate. She charged right at him. 

He dodged her swing with a laugh. She swung at his neck. Aki dropped kicking out his leg to trip her, all before the sword cut him. The Butterfly dropped, and Aki moved out of the way before she fell on him. 

He scrambled to his feet. And swung his fist into her side forcing her to slam into the fence. The Butterfly took a deep breath and got to her feet. She charged at him, then jumped and kicked Aki right in the face.  

Aki stumbled. Then he found his balance. ‘Did she just kick me?’ He moved his hands to his cheek. Feeling his long nails against his skin. He had started bleeding, but it must’ve not been bad since it was no longer bleeding.  

He ran at the Butterfly, fist raised. And punched her again. She winced but stood her ground. She swung her sword again, but this time at his wrist. Instinctively he pulled his hand away. He tried to trip her again, but she jumped.  

And while she was in the air, he punched her again, but she dodged it! With the of her sword, she rammed it onto the top of his head. 

And for a terrifying moment, everything went black. But another instinct took over, forcing him to roll to the left. When he opened his eyes, he saw that right where he had been lying, is where the Butterfly’s sword had stabbed the ground. 

He kicked her shin as hard as he could, causing her to fall, which made her fall on his legs. He smacked the sword out of her hands, then he pushed her off and got to his feet. He kicked her side so forcefully that she rammed right into the wall.  

She fell to the ground and lay there breathing heavily. Aki walked over to her. Then she started propping herself up.  

Aki forced her back down. “I’m fairly sure I broke your ribs.” he smiled. She stared back at him with pure shock.  

But she ignored him and started to get up. Aki pushed her down again. “If your ribs aren’t broken, then they will be.” 

‘What is he doing?’ Nozomu thought. ‘isn’t he going to kill me?’ But he looked serious. She knew her ribs weren’t broken.  

Using his move against him, she swung her legs at his, making him fall on his side. She got up and ran towards her sword. But a hand grabbed her ankle. Making her fall on her face. Getting a mouthful of dirt. 

She propped herself up on her arms and turned to look back at the grey demon. He gave her a mocking smirk. Nozomu stuck her tongue out at him, then kicked him in the face. She grabbed her sword and got to her feet. 

The grey demon was on his feet and laughing. He ran over to her for another attack. Nozomu blocked his attack with the side of her sword.  

“It almost seems like we’re falling instead of fighting,” the demon said laughing. Then he kicked her knee. Nozomu jumped back.  

“Stop kicking me then!” she said.  

The demon shrugged. “Eh, I don’t know if I can do that,” then he gave her a cordial smile. 

Nozomu raised her sword and ran to him at full speed.  

Kakari was quite angry that that woman treated her like that. Sure, she was young, but that was still rude.  

Kakari held her sword behind her neck. Resting her hand on her shoulder. Letting her sword curl uncontrollably behind her head. Well, the sword wouldn’t touch her. Although she wasn’t quite sure why. 

‘Are they fighting, or tripping over one another?’ Kakari thought. She sighed. Aki and that woman had been fighting not long. But she had no intention of intervening, she knew better than to do that. 

‘Even though Aki seems like a good person, he’s still a demon.’ She thought. Then she closed her eyes.