The first wave came fast, too fast for most humans to see.
But Kanae was no ordinary girl. She's ready, and most importantly, she's not alone.
Her feet slid across the soil with a dancer's grace as the blade of her katana shimmered beneath the moonlight, tracing soft arcs through the air.
Each swing carried the faint fragrance of flowers, leaving behind drifting trails of pink petals that glowed against the dark forest.
A demon lunged for her throat, claws like daggers, but-
*Clang!*
Kanae's katana caught the strike. The impact drove her a step back, scattering dirt beneath her sandals, but her stance never broke.
"…Slow," she whispered.
*Swish!*
A single, fluid motion... Flower Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo. And the demon's head slipped from its neck, while petals swirling through the air like gentle snow.
Behind her, smoke coiled and churned, dense, alive, and moving.
Kagerou stepped forth from the haze like a phantom. The faint glow of his kiseru dimmed as he exhaled one last puff, letting the smoke roll outward, thick and suffocating.
The demons coughed and staggered as their vision clouded.
"Can't… see?!" one hissed, thrashing in panic. "What-what is this-"
Kagerou's voice drifted through the mist, calm and detached. "Don't bother looking. You'll only see your own death"
And then-
*Slice!*
A whisper of steel through fog.
One demon fell. Then another.
Kanae caught only glimpses, shadows cutting through the veil, movements sharp yet silent. Each strike ended before it began, each kill swallowed by the stillness he carried like a cloak.
'So fast…' she thought, pivoting to deflect another claw. 'No… not fast, silent'
Kagerou's ninjatō flashed once in the smoke, then vanished.
"... Seventh Form: Silent Killer"
The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
The smoke folded around him, concealing all sound, all presence.
The demons lashed out wildly, their shrieks tearing through the fog, but each strike met only emptiness.
And every time they thought they'd found him, death answered from a place they could not see.
For a moment, all that could be heard were their dying roars.
And by the time Kanae cut down her third demon, the forest had fallen silent once more.
Only drifting smoke remained, curling lazily beneath the moonlight, mingling with the faint scent of fallen petals.
Kagerou emerged from the haze a moment later, walking with slow, steady steps.
He wiped his blade clean and slid it back into its sheath with a soft click.
"…You're efficient," Kanae said, catching her breath, lowering her katana slightly.
"And you're graceful," he replied, voice calm as ever. "Your movements... remind me of flowers swaying in the wind, it's beautiful"
Kanae blinked, surprised by the unexpected compliment. Then, smiling faintly, she replied, "…And you remind me of smoke, unpredictable and impossible to hold"
Kagerou gave a small, lopsided grin. "I'll take that as a compliment"
But before Kanae could respond, a distant roar rolled through the forest, deep, guttural, and far stronger than the ones before.
Kanae's expression hardened. "That one… feels different"
"Yeah," Kagerou muttered, hand resting on his hilt again. "Bigger… hungrier"
And then, from the depths of the trees, something stirred.
Glowing eyes, crimson with veins of molten gold, cut through the darkness. The creature that stepped into the moonlight was twice the size of any they'd faced so far. Its muscles bulged beneath stone-gray skin, veins pulsing with faint luminescence.
It bared its teeth, voice rumbling low and resonant. "So… you're the ones who've been killing my kin"
Kagerou exhaled slowly, smoke trailing from his lips. "Care about your kin? That's new"
Kanae stepped beside him, stance firm and graceful. "Be careful, Rengoku-san. That one's no ordinary demon. Its presence… It's different"
Kagerou smirked faintly. "Good. I was getting bored"
Kanae sighed softly, shaking her head. "You really are unbelievable"
"Didn't you say that before?"
"Mm. And I meant it"
The demon roared again, the sound splitting the night as it lunged, claws tearing through the air, shaking the trees.
But Kagerou didn't move.
Instead, he inhaled.
Deeply. Slowly. Until the world seemed to still around him.
Then-
"... First Form: Soul Mist"
A wave of smoke burst outward, swallowing him whole again.
For a heartbeat, his body blurred, then faded.
His outline shimmered within the fog like a mirage, impossible to grasp, impossible to hit.
The demon's claws tore through the haze, but struck nothing.
Its attack passed clean through the smoke-shadow, slicing empty air.
The moment the claws retracted, Kagerou's form rippled again, dissolving completely into mist.
"Wh+what trick is this!?" the demon snarled, spinning wildly. "Show yourself!"
Kanae's feet barely touched the ground as she danced between the monster's legs, her blade tracing luminous arcs of pink.
"Flower Breathing - Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility!"
Her movements were pure grace, each step flowing, each strike like a petal falling upon still water.
The demon staggered back, roaring in frustration, only to find its own footing swallowed by smoke.
"Your eyes can't save you here," Kagerou's voice whispered, echoing from every direction.
Then, the mist stirred.
"Third Form: Shrouded Shadow"
The smoke split.
One became two, two became five.
Figures emerged within the fog, each a perfect copy of Kagerou, moving erratically, unpredictably.
They darted, slashed, and vanished before any hit could land.
The demon howled, swinging blindly at illusions. Every strike tore through nothing but vapor.
Kanae's eyes widened slightly, awe flickering in their depths. 'He's creating afterimages… with smoke itself…'
Her grip tightened around her katana. If she could match his rhythm-
She leapt forward.
Petals burst from her blade, weaving between Kagerou's smoke like colors upon a blank canvas.
The battlefield became a painting, gray and pink, smoke and bloom, illusion and beauty.
The demon's sight failed it; it could no longer tell what was real.
Everywhere it turned...
Smoke struck.
Petals cut.
Shadows bled.
"Stop... stop hiding!" it screamed, flailing madly.
Kanae landed beside one of Kagerou's illusions, their movements perfectly mirrored for a split second, two styles, two souls, smoke and flower, as if the wind itself carried them.
Kagerou's real form slipped behind the demon as the last illusion faded.
The smoke tightened like a closing hand.
"... You should've stayed quiet," he murmured.
*Slash!*
His blade drew a single silver line through the air.
Kanae followed instantly, her katana blooming with petals as she struck in harmony.
Smoke and petals crossed paths, the perfect union of concealment and beauty.
The demon froze.
For a second, it tried to speak, Butt its body began to crumble, turning to ash that drifted into Kagerou's mist.
Silence.
Only the whisper of the wind remained.
Kagerou exhaled, dispersing the smoke with a slow wave of his hand.
The forest breathed again.
Kanae landed lightly beside him, lowering her sword.
"…That was incredible," she said, her tone soft, genuine. "I didn't even see when you struck"
Kagerou's gaze stayed forward, calm as ever. "That's the point of smoke, Kocho-san"
She smiled faintly, brushing stray petals from her hair. "Then I'll have to learn to see what others can't, won't I?"
Kagerou glanced at her, then, just barely, smiled back.
The smoke faded.
The petals fell.
And in the silent forest, two breaths lingered side by side.
Smoke met flower.
Ash met Petal.
Death met beauty.
The night of the Final Selection was far from over.
But for now... Smoke and Flower had bloomed together under the same moon.