[Seiji's POV]
For a moment, everything around me faded away. The demons became a blur of colours, and the explosions and screams became background noises.
The world itself seemed to give us a few seconds of respite from all the chaos. For the greatest and shortest moment, there was only me, her and the kiss that connected us.
Then the kiss came to an end. I didn't even realise when. I could feel the shadow of her lips still pressing against mine.
"Too long," her lips barely mouthed, "It was one year too long,"
Meanwhile, I was lost in the soul of her eyes. Lavender orbs that saw the world in its full colour gazed back at me. I felt immense joy in my heart. I never thought I could be this happy for another person. It felt like I was the one cured of blindness.
"You can see me now," I said and took one step back. I threw a confident smile that turned shaky halfway into the journey.
"How do I look?"
She blinked and took a moment to look at me. And I mean truly look at me. Her eyes released a faint glow, which I recognized as the transparent world. It felt weird to be on the receiving end of such eyes but I felt an odd sense of peace, like we were finally equal.
"You look old," she said and her hands reached out to touch my face. She felt every line on my face, every wrinkle and every scar, like how she would often do when she was blind.
"You look older than I've ever seen you," she said.
I understood her statement. I didn't even remember the last time she saw me, perhaps it was around three years ago. It was enough time for me to make a drastic change.
"And your hair," she said and ruffled my unkept hair, "I see you've copied Rengoku's hairstyle,"
When did long, wild and unkept hair become Rengoku's signature? I laughed at her statement, feeling a tad bit embarrassed at my wild looks.
"And you look as beautiful as the last time I saw you," I said and wrapped my arm around her waist before pulling her back to me.
A healthy redness came on her cheeks but she did not shy away. She only gave a sweet smile that told me she was pleased with the compliment.
"So.....are you done with your journey, or did you return just to help us?" she asked with a tone that wanted only one answer.
"I'm done," I said, "I'm home,"
Her smile turned even sweeter, I did not know how. It was like watching the main character surpass his limits for the nth time.
But then our reunion came to a sudden end as I pushed her away from me. My hands blurred, just in time to pull out my sword, which I stabbed on the ground and blocked the incoming punch that came my way.
"Right, some of you cannot die even after cutting off your head," I said to Akaza as he pushed against my sword with all his might.
He was physically the strongest among the Twelve Kizuki. He was physically stronger than even Kokushibo himself in his current state. But I barely put an effort into stopping him as he slammed against my sword with all his strength.
"Tch," Akaza released a grunt as sweat fell from his face. He tried to hide it but he was surprised at how easily I was stopping him.
Well, to be fair, there was no way I could've stopped him with my own strength. Instead, it was my new technique that allowed me to become the immovable object that I am.
"How...?" Akza asked before his eyes became bloodshot in anger. His muscles moved and rearranged under his skin and then the pressure of his strength increased.
*BOOOOOOOOOM!!"
But then the increase in strength was too much for the Earth. The ground beneath my feet sank down abruptly, creating a clean crater without cracks. It was around five metres in radius, so it was a big crater.
Akaza's eyes widen in realisation. He pulled back his strength instantly and moved a safe distance away from me.
"So you realised it. I should've expected it considering you're also a martial artist," I said with a slight tilt of my head.
Akaza stayed silent and looked at me with new eyes filled with unnerving clarity. He seemed to be deep in thought as he lingered in the silence.
"That's impossible," he said at last.
"A demon using magical spells is dictating what's possible now?" I said with a dry chuckle.
I turned my head to look at Kanae. She had escaped from the crater in time so she was not affected. She gave me an okay sign with her hand when she saw my concerned eyes.
Akaza took that as an insult. As a warrior, you should never take your eyes off your opponent, especially if you are deaf like me. He ground his teeth in anger and immediately took his signature Soryu stance.
A compass came alive beneath his feet, taking the shape of a pale blue snowflake. My eyes observed everything carefully as the compass analysed my fighting spirit to determine my strengths and weaknesses.
The compass bloomed and then Akaza just froze.
I chuckled at that, "Tell me Akaza, which one of us is stronger? Me....."
I disappeared and reached him before my words even did. So even though I trailed off, my words came in a complete, uninterrupted sentence.
"...or Kokushibo?" I asked in his ear. I was already behind him.
The answer was obvious, it was why he froze in absolute shock in the first place.
I was one of the fastest being in the world before. And after putting effort into mastering footwork and minimising the action required for each step, I was a whole different beast when it came to speed.
I took inspiration from Bleach and although I could not create Flash Steps, I created something as close to it as possible.
Akaza leaned forward and his feet flew past my chin when I moved back. It was a backkick that was so fast it could cut.
And then he exploded into action, his compass came to life and it was solely focused on me. He was going to start a chain of attacks that would overwhelm me since I entered his range.
But that never happened. The chain was broken from the start.
It was because when he tried to pull back his leg, he pulled back nothing. His leg was already cut off before he could fully activate his compass. And then he tried to step on that leg, expecting it to heal quickly with his insane regeneration but that never happened either.
His regeneration was stopped and he fell on the ground. The compass disappeared as he fell. I saw his plan even before he thought of them and I stopped his plan even before they could start.
If he had tied with Kanae who newly awakened the transparent world, he stood no chance against someone like me who practiced his whole life.
I could easily predict whatever he was trying to do.
"How do I help you recover your memories again?" I asked myself as he tried to crawl away from me but I pinned him with my feet.
"I think it's like this," I said and sliced off his head once more. But I did not stop there, I leapt into the air and landed on the head, crushing it completely under my feet.
With that, he was forced to grow a new head. He writhed on the floor, his body was headless and legless. It took a while for a new head to emerge from the stump of his neck but when he did, he stooped moving completely.
....
He slowly pushed himself off the ground and kneeled in front of me. His eyes were void of any other emotions he had had previously. Now they looked human and endless tears were streaming down his face.
"Do you remember now?" I asked as his head fully formed under my eyes.
His previous head had been tampered with. It had mind control and suppressed memories. But I cut that off and the new head that grew in its place contained his human memories and was void of all the brainwashing Muzan had put him through.
Akaza was one of the rare demons that was a true victim. He never wanted to become a demon. When Muzan came to him with an offer, he answered with a big fat no.
But Muzan forcefully turned him into a demon and sealed away his memories to control him. He never had control over his fate in the first place.
"I-I..." he choked, the tears increased and his face creased to show the worst despair and regret I've ever seen.
"Koyuki,"
..
..
"No one forgives you but for what it's worth, we all understand you," I said and then my sword blurred and I sliced him into pieces.
This time, even though my sword was not nichirin, his body turned to ash. He had completely given up on his life after he regained his humanity.
It was a sad day to be mem but I had to do what I had to do. Akaza was a powerful demon, one that could actually go toe to toe with me if he went completely berserk. The only reason why I dominated him earlier was because I knew everything about him and he knew nothing about me.
If I'd given him a moment to adjust, or learn my techniques further, he would've been a greater threat.
Kanae slowly came up to me, she could feel at once my current sober mood. "What happened?"
"It's just...fate is really creative in her cruelty," I said. She didn't understand what I meant but she bumped her shoulder on mine.
We stayed like that for a short while before we sensed more demons coming towards us. We looked towards the direction but we didn't do anything.
We didn't have to because two other people beat us to it.
"Mist Breathing, Fifth from : Sea of Cloud and Haze,"
Muichiro blurred in a zig-zag motion and cut off the heads of every demon on his way. His move was subtle and quick, yet it was deadly in its nature. The demons fell even before they realized they were cut, their consciousness faded in a mist and they fell.
"Love Breathing!!"
My eyes locked on the pink hair swaying in the wind. Mitsuri moved like a ballerina, but each of her actions contained strength you wouldn't believe. She was like a butterfly with the strength of an elephant.
She didn't even have to use a form, she swung her whip-like blade and mowed down the demons like they were grass. The demons got stronger, sure, but the Hashira even more so.
Eventually, her eyes fell on me and then she stopped everything. She left many demons in pieces, not even bothering to deliver the final blow.
And then she dropped her sword and charged right at me.
"Husbanddddd!!!~"
That was new.
I saw her tears falling from her eyes as she ran at me. I opened my arms and she didn't hold back as she slammed right into my arm.
In that moment of joy, she did not hold back her strength so the momentum of her embrace sent us both flying away like ragdoll. We rolled on the ground and tumbled towards the thick bushes and trees.
We were only stopped by the wall.
I held her tightly against my chest, making sure she never hit anything as we tumbled together. The literal smell of love and joy hit my nose once again, I didn't know I missed her this much.
"Mitsuri, I'm back."
Mitsuri continued crying a fountain as she buried her face in my chest, "Wahhhh, I missed youuu!!!~"
Everything was a rollercoaster of emotion.
Maybe it was my imagination but I saw in the distance, the spirit of Akaza embracing a girl in the same manner as Mitsuri was embracing me.
That disappeared as soon as I saw it.
..
..
[IMAGE]
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