Running through muddy waters and creeky forest, Shoto could only hope the reward for this comission was a hefty amount. Busting his stupid ass for some stupid demon bitch that reminded him of that other demon bitch. Long story short, he hates demons.
Treading near water, he finally caught eye of the girl. She looked exactly like her flyer did but in a more.. unreal way? It was nerving to say the least for Shoto. Even if it wasn't the demon, it still fueled a burning hate and passion within the look alike.
Her hair in a pony tail as the breeze of winter turning to spring was pastered on their skin. A sigh was heard.
"So stupid. Humans are so stupid- stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!! Uagh!" She groaned more and more, repeating insulting words to the same species that Shoto was. She probably didn't know Shoto was here.
The demon picked at grass with her fist as she screamed to her heart's content. "GODDAMN IDIOTS!" Shaking her head more and more, Shoto swore he saw some tears forming. And he wasn't wrong. The demon broke down to full sobs, clasping their face with the palms of their hands.
"It's not fair!" She yelled over and over.
Not fair?
All Shoto could think was.. Not fair? It wasn't fair when he was picked to be bleesed by the gods. It wasn't fair when Bakumori burned down to literal fucking ashes. It wasn't fair that Ether died instead of him!
Nothing was fair and he knew that in every sick way possible.
He scoffed. "Not fair? Please, fuck off." The slayer said, finally emerging after hiding so long behind the bushes and trees. His walk was menacing. Dark indigo eyes that shined under the moon's light as a hood was draped ontop of his purple locks of hair.
"H-huh? W-who are you!?" She yelled back, quickly stumbling to stand up to face the slayer. Eyes still filled with wallowing tears, she hissed at him with anger.
As much as a one liner would be such a badass moment right now, Shoto refrained from doing it. "Shoto, and you?"
The long haired demon comtemplated to genuinely tell her name. But she was gonna kill this boy in the end so what's the point? He should atleast know who's his beautiful killer.
"Hana. I'm Hana." She stated, sniffing back her tears to appear more threatening and puffing up her chest.
Shoto smiled, eyes closing in the process as he gave the most soft yet sadistic smile a man could ever conjure. Lifting up his blade towards his face, he spoke. "Ah, I see." Those words and those actions already sent a shiver down Hana's fucking spine.
"H-hey- why do you have that dagger.." She asked, her voice becoming smaller and smaller each word she let out. Fiddling with her hands and fingers, picking off dead skin while she's at it. Is she really a powerful demon?? She's so meek and fragile. Shoto probably got the wrong one-
"Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna kill you." Shoto just said bluntly, the sadistic smile turning to a frown of confusion.
"Wait wait! No, don't kill me! I haven't done anything wrong!!" She yelped, hands waving left and right as if they helped her with justifying herself.
"But, you killed people..? How is that doing nothing wrong?"
The demon shivered. "B-because.. I was never the one.. killing them,.." She said in a voice so hoarse that it seemed like she was gonna break down. Stroking the ends of her hair, Shoto just got even more confused.
"Huh- but people have seen you in the acts of these murders- are you delusional!?" He yelled, half of him wanted to kill her so the confusion ends but the other half of him feels like there's more to this than what he originally thought.
"My brother.. I-It's a long story, okay! C-can we sit down and discuss it..?" She asked, pointing at the rock near the shore of the lake. Shoto just sighed, he can always restrain her if she tried to do anything sneaky. "Sure, fine." A small thank you was brought from the demon but more in a whisper tone.
-Ã-
She started. "Soo.. I was born in this rich popular demon clan- I don't know if you've heard of it, it's the Akuma Clan." Akuma clan? Shoto never remembered anyone named Akuma that was a demon but he let her continue. "Well, it's a famous clan.. And I'm in it because Voice Demons are really rare. Like really rare. So, I was picked."
"But I never liked killing anyone and I haven't killed anyone yet!"
Shoto fought back, verbally. "How can I believe you!?"
"Let me finish!" She begged. Her pleading eyes almost made the slayer feel bad for her.
"Go on." He urged her.
"But yeah- never liked killing nor the sight of blood.. But I was forced to- Now I'm on some dumb mission to try and kill atleast someone. All the other instances were someone stepping in and doing it for me because I- I was too scared." She breath out.
Knowing atleast the surface of the situation, Shoto can understand why she kept cursing at herself near the same river. Before he could respond back, she opened her mouth once more. "And I don't.. care if you kill me, I encourage it if I'm honest.. I don't know how I can live more with these lies I've created for myself."
Was Shoto dreaming? A demon genuinely wanting to die? He pinched himself only to realize this wasn't a dream and it was indeed very real.
"Are you sure..?" He asked.
Fuck, why did he ask? He should be happy right now! An easy kill with a good reward. It's every slayers dream to have such an easy way to killing a demon. But Shoto wasn't satisfied.. he didn't know why but he felt.. bad for this demon?
He never really realized that demons also had lives of sorrow and maybe might have someone they treasure. He just killed them with the intent of making their species extinct and getting rid of every single one of them.
Was Shoto the bad guy? Yeah, demons kill people but Shoto is also technically killing more than them- So, was he the bad one? Was he the devil in disguise that was hidden by denial of the image of false heroism?
Before spiraling more, he felt a hand to his dagger which caused him to flinch. "Huh- HANA-" He watched as the demon touched the blade that was surrounded with flames, getting burned and a small cut. If the cut was bigger than she would've dissolved to dust by now.
"Ow-. I know this dagger.." She said, inspecting the blade closer. "Wait- you do..?" Shoto could feel his heart sink when Hana said that. Panic start flooding his nerves and body, he just remembered that Hana looks exactly like her-
Flashbacks are coming back, racing in his mind. "Hana.." He gripped his dagger. The demon hummed in question as she saw Shoto's face of determination to kill which caused her to quiver. "S-shoto..?"
"Hana, do you still wanna die.?" He asked, the slayer looked like he was at the edge of insanity. Half of him didn't wanna kill her but his panic overtook him.
She looked so much like her- She- she is her- He needs to avenge Ether- He needs to-
He was snapped back to reality, arms wrapping around his body. Tears forming in his eyes as he saw the familiar black hair that was pony tailed up and flowing in the wind once more.
He looked down to see the demon hugging him with passion as he realized that his dagger stabbed her directly on the center of her stomach. He panicked immediately, clasping her shoulders to remove the blade.
"Hana! Hana- you're so stupid, what are you-" He was cut off shortly after his protest.
She coughed. "Hey, you remind me of my brother." She smiled. "He always liked my hugs when he was stressed.. I hope it helped as much as you helped me." She smiled softly, coughing more blood and tears streaming down her face more and more.
The sight almost made Shoto cry- He was an only child but Mysta felt like a brother to him, he can't fathom the pain of Hana- The pain of leaving her brother.
Leaving the world with a smile.
He hugged her tightly into his chest and arms. She hugged back weakly, losing blood and the will to live in each passing second.
Shoto whispered. "I wish this hug feels like your brother's, atleast you can die thinking about him being here." He cried out as the demon just sobbed more at that thought.
And both of them just peacefully held each other till dawn came.
The demon was all turned to dust as her clothes were the only thing that remained in her memory and a hairclip.
A cherry blossom petal hairclip that was painted in gold. Shoto sighed before picking it up. It really makes him think that all the demons he has killed had lives, had a life outside of their murders- Friends, family, pets and more. They were just as human as Shoto was.
Guilt dripped all over his body and especially in his dagger, the blade that killed so many demons. Feeling proud of how many he's killed is now replaced with a gut-wrecking feeling that..
he's a killer.