Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

Chapter 111: Chapter : 111

Note : This is Chapter 111, right after Kanae woke up. I missed this post and skippee it. My fault. This is not the extra Chapter by the way, I will adjust the sequence later

///////

[Seiji's POV]

"How long have you been awake?"

It took me a while to get over the shock of seeing her awake and smiling so brightly, but after a few minutes of pause during which the two sisters constantly laughed at me, I was finally functioning like a normal human being again.

Whatever that was.

But I still couldn't get the red off my ears though. I did not see them but they were like burning coal at the side of my head. It was the lingering effect of her confession.

I mean, who wakes up after months of being in a coma and says they love you?

"Not long. Actually, it has not even been a day since I was first able to move my body," she said, "We haven't even informed Lord Ubuyashiki yet, nor most of the residents of the Flower Mansion,"

She was half-sitting on the bed in the room while I sat on the side of the bed and directly faced her. The sun had fully set on the horizon, so the room was lit up by yellowish electrical lights.

She did not have a bandage around her eyes anymore, instead, her eyes were closed. She also had her signature small smile on her face, which was lit up by the golden light. It was permanent and it looked more like a facial feature than an expression.

You couldn't imagine Kanae without smiling.

"Why is that?" I asked, speaking very well in my deaf opinion.

"Me waking up is kind of a big thing for everyone, I'm lucky so many people cared about me. But Shinobu wanted to make sure I was fully rested and healthy again before revealing it to others," she said.

She was a little thinner and paler than the I remembered. It was proof that although she had woken up, she had not fully recovered.

I could understand that a big fuzz and endless visitors were the last thing she needed right now.

"Shibi probably still wanted to nurse you peacefully too," I said.

Speaking of which, Shinobu had immediately excused herself after the laughter was over. She was sensible enough to know that we would like privacy since we both went through the battle together.

But maybe such privacy was not a good idea. A beat of silence descended between us. I seemed to be the only one who felt awkward with that because Kanae tilted her head and showed an expression of amusement.

Like she knew a joke that I didn't know.

"You know, I've never noticed it before but you have a really nice voice," she said suddenly. The impact of her words was enhanced by the preluding silence.

My ears which felt like burning coal changed and became the sun on both sides of my face. It was fortunate for me that Kanae couldn't see because I was blushing hard.

Yes, all the hard work paid off.

I coughed a few times after that, both to collect myself and to stop myself from laughing out loud like a creepy villain who just succeeded in his plan.

"It has a nice depth, like dark chocolate," she said, her smile turning wider. You would think that she could see my reaction from her smile. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Thank you for the compliment," I said.

She finally giggled out loud after my graceful acceptance of praise. Her hand snaked on top of the blanket, searching for mine. I put my hand in front of hers and allowed her to find me.

Her fingers wrapped around my hand immediately after that.

"Seiji, do tell me how things have been while I was asleep," she said.

The moments that followed were no longer awkward even from my point of view. We started talking about all the things that happened while she was asleep.

She got clues about all the things that happened so far as she and her Shinobu already had a talk. But she wanted to hear them from my perspective.

Especially when it came to things like when Shinobu became a Hashira.

Kanae deeply regrets missing her sister's moment. It was like missing a graduation. But I told her everything in vivid detail so it was like she was there.

From what Shinobu said to me in the beginning, what her reactions were when Ubuyashiki crowned her with the title and so on. I told her everything.

I even told her about the announcement that followed—how I awakened the Demon Slayer mark during my fight with Douma.

It was nice to have a conversation with her again, see her smile, feel her touch and bask in her presence. It was reassuring to finally see that she was alive and that I succeeded in saving her.

"Demon activities have been rising ever since that day. The Demon Lord was angered by the fact that we killed his second strongest servant," I said to her, causing her to tense up and her grip became tighter.

"Yes, Shinobu has told me how the patients tripled and she has been busy to no ends," she said, her expression dropping.

Yeah, this was how our world is. We couldn't even celebrate the joy of her waking up for an hour before some bad news had to be heard. For every life saved, two perished.

And we were responsible for stopping this once and for all.

I have to stop it all.

"But don't worry, I've gotten even stronger than before," I said to ease her, "Like I said, my fight with Douma taught me a lot of things and allowed me to awaken the demon slayer make,"

"Seiji..." she said, maybe she was not convinced.

"And not only that, recently I found a way. I've mastered it, the art of slaying demons. They won't stand a chance next time," I said, referring to the Sun Breathing which finally finished reinventing.

From the breathing concept don't he the smallest form, I knew them now.

"Seiji..."

"It's okay. I'll protect everyone next time, " I said, looking at her closed eyes.

"And I'll do it perfectly,"

"Seiji" she said, more strongly this time. Her hand reached out to my face, likely to close my mouth but her hand landed on my cheek instead.

She froze after she touched my face. There was silence.

She ever so slowly moved her fingers around my face, tracing the scars that now ran across my forehand and down the middle of my eyes. They were flaws, a mark of imperfection in my ability to save others and myself.

She looked sadder and sadder the more she felt my face. But it did not stop there, her hands moved down, feeling my neck and my chest. She was searching for scars on me and she did not have to put an effort because I still had scars everywhere.

Most of them were healing and would disappear soon enough with the constant use of Sun Breathing, but for now, they still remained and could be felt.

"You've done plenty, Seiji," she told me, her hand stopped feeling my body and returned to the top of mine.

"But not enough obviously," I argued.

"You saved me," she replied.

"But not perfectly, you lost your eyes," I said, causing her to perk at my words.

She couldn't argue with that, because it was true. She was living it. And I still feel guilty to this day for failing like that.

"You still think that I will hate you for losing my eyes," she said, "But no," she shook her head.

"I love you more for saving me,"

"....."

I felt my breath hitched at her words. The insecurity and self-hate I have had ever since my failure slowly melted away under her warm touch and warmer words.

You wouldn't truly understand it until you were in the situation, but if you were anything close to a decent human, power naturally comes with responsibility.

And I was lucky enough to have that power since birth. I did not mean my talent with the sword or my special eyes alone with this but most importantly, my knowledge of the demon slayer world.

So I was responsible. I was the only one who knew and who could save everyone. Others can't, no matter how willing they may be. It was not even about being a good person, rather being accountable for the power I had obtained.

It was like a curse really, one I would never share with anyone in this world.

I was not like this when I first decided to kill the demons. I did it out of spite and hatred alone. But the longer I bore the title of the Hashira, the more achievements I obtained and the more friends I made, the more slowly I changed.

What started out personal and selfish slowly became a responsibility and selflessness.

My hate too. At the start, I only hated the demons for what they did to me. But now, I also hated them for the things that could do and because of the people I love.

I set off my journey with a fleeting hope and now that had bloomed and become a solid determination.

"You can be strong, but you don't have to be the only one who is strong. Remember, we are all in this together,"

I smiled. She couldn't see it so I grabbed her hand and put it on my lips so that she could feel the arch.

She smiled back.

"I'm glad you woke up," I said.

"Me too," she said.

Even if she woke up in darkness, she was glad.

That eased me.

..

..

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------