Change of Heart

It was quiet. Too quiet, the calm in the middle of Final Selection didn't go well together. Eira didn't handle the unexpected peace of the forest well, with the knowledge of a possible demon attack at any time she was almost always paranoid of any movement. Eira had no idea how much time had passed by since the beginning, however, she was exhausted, the trip from her mountain to Final Selection in combination with all the walking she was doing across the forest had taken a toll on her, her legs barely stood upright, she just wanted to lay down. Eira's heavy eyes searched for somewhere she could just sit down for a while, she was adamant that she wouldn't fall asleep or let her guard down. Eira's eyes were drawn to a particular trunk of a tree, in which plants surrounded, a single ray of sunlight shone on the singular tree as if it was some holy area. The sheer beauty of the area was enough to put one at calm, Eira was captivated by the sight of an area where she could rest and mindlessly walked to the tree like a zombie.

Eira sighed and sat at the base of the tree, her whole body relaxed as she took a deep breath, the sunlight shone on her and provided a warm relief. Eira's blonde hair shone in comparison to the dull colours of the forest. The wind slightly massaged Eira's face as her tight grip on her sword loosened. Her muscles relaxed and her body was covered in a therapeutic warmth. Her tiredness had finally caught up with her, her eyes closed very slowly. Her arms fell to her side and her legs stretched out as her back leaned on the wide base of the tree, the soft grass made for a good platform, the forest rung with crickets crying, birds chirping and the sunlight dancing around on the floor as occasionally the leaves made way for it to peek through. Eira had forgotten the most important unspoken rule of Final Selection. Never let your guard down.

Eira took a deep breath, she hadn't felt this calm in... years. Her sword finally slipped out of her grip and plopped on the ground as her head tilted backwards and touched the coarse bark of the cold tree. Eira whole body was put into a great comfort, it sort of felt like if vines were wrapping around her entire body and slowly tightening. Wait.

In a hurry, Eira opened her rest-deprived eyes, her eyes met with a hideous sight. Her arms and legs were enveloped by thick and fleshy tentacles. She grunted as she desperately jolted to try reach her sword, which was just centimetres away from her fingers, suddenly the tentacles tightened and pushed her backwards. Her sword becoming even out of reach. Eira's eyes darted forward, a dark green coloured demon stood there, the tentacles sprouted out of its forward facing arms. The demon has no face, no eyes, no mouth. It was just a pale green figure with slight remains of arms and legs from its short and stubby body. It must've caught Eira when she was resting. The demon slightly tilted its small head, Eira was ashamed that she let her guard down and this demon sneak up on her so freely. Eira screamed, as loud as she could, she just prayed that someone was near enough to save her. A tentacle slapped across her face, it pressed against her mouth which disabled her from screaming. Eira still relentlessly struggled in the unyielding tentacles that only grew tighter and tighter around her whole body. At this rate she would be popped like a balloon.

She tried to force the vines open but she had no luck, she moved her limbs unpredictably just purely squirming like a worm in a bird's talons. She thought if she squirmed enough the vines would stretch enough they'd break. She grunted as she violently did everything she possibly could to escape the grasp of the demon. Her desperate struggle didn't contribute to anything, the tentacles weren't anywhere close to breaking. Eira's face had turned a bright red from all the strength she put into this. Her head turned towards her limbs, they were numb with pain, they showed signs of blood loss. Both her legs had turned an awful violet, the colour when you'd tightly tie a rope around your finger and wait for a while as it turned blue. Eira's eyes started to form tears as she squirmed more and more. The demon seemed to let out a sound of excitement, a slight giggle, so sudden and so paralysing. Eira felt a thinner tentacle wrap around her neck.

"N... No... I can.. not..." Eira felt an unbelievable amount of strength as the vine tightened around her neck.

Her eyes hurt, her lungs contracted, she couldn't breathe at all, Eira's body was slammed against the ground, the few rays of sunlight that managed to penetrate through the thick leaves hit her eyes, her vision was nothing but a blur of the leaves above her swaying. Eira had a sickening image awaken in her imagination of her corpse laying down on the floor free for any demon to devour. All of a sudden, her mind was filled with hope as she slightly heard a girl say.

"Flower breathing, Fourth Form, Crimson Hanagoromo!" The tentacles of the demon almost suddenly lost all strength and unwrapped from Eira's body. Eira felt her limbs rush with blood and her body release from the tight chokehold of the vines, her whole body felt relief as blood flowed to the violet areas.

Eira's eyes took a while to refocus, but in the blur, a pink haori stood out, a girl who wore a low skirt, and held a pretty sword stood there It was the same girl she had been drawn to at the meeting ground. Only this time, her pretty look didn't match her facial expression, she looked down on Eira, both figuratively and literally. Eira cleared her throat as she got up and immediately reached for her sword, she turned towards the girl who had just saved her life.

"T-Thank you for saving me!" Eira gratefully says as she bowed to the girl. Eira wondered what her face was like now. She had always been quite observant of people's looks, this girl was definitely pretty, her nice skin in addition to her pretty lips. Her eyes naturally had a pink hue and her eyes were kind, but they seemed to have some doubt laying deep in them. Brown hair reaching her shoulder was tied into a small ponytail, with a light blue flower hung between the hair tie. A beautiful blue flower.

"You're lucky." The girl sighed and panted as if she was exhausted, "Lucky I was bothered enough to dash 100 metres to save you... I would've let you die on a bad day."

Eira took this to heart. Her eyes widened and she gulped a bit, so if it was a bad day she would've just let someone die? After a couple of deep breaths, Eira looked up with eyes full of determination. She couldn't let her guard down like that anymore, if this girl hadn't came and saved her... Her years of training would've gone to waste. Eira glanced at the girl again, she was strong and she'd be a strong ally. However, that 'I would've let you die on a bad day' line had completely threw Eira off. She was a bit conflicted on what type of person she was. The girl's aura was a bold light pink, it was no lie that this girl was incredibly strong, Eira could sense it. Her aura was powerful, one of the most powerful she had encountered so far, although something was off about her. Her soul was lined with guilt and worry, around the sweet pink colour, was a bold red that imprisoned the sweet pink. An unbearable guilt weighed over the girl's shoulders. Maybe that's what led to her morals and leaving people for dead on bad days? Eira was a master at overthinking. Asumi had simply said that as a common phrase with little thought put behind it, however, Eira took it completely seriously. Eira's social knowledge wasn't the best, and common conversational occurrences such as sarcasm and colloquial language often flew over her head. Eira was a fast learner though, she had picked up on a lot of modern day slang just from over hearing farmers conversations as she travelled to Final Selection. Eira decided to spark a conversation with the girl, she thought it was a good idea to get a grasp on how her fellow Demon Slayer Corps members would be.

"But you still saved me, didn't you? You're a good person regardless, doesn't matter what you would've done. It's about what you did do." Eira smiled.

The girl let out a deep sigh as she breathed heavily, she looked down and her hair ran with the wind. "I guess so."

"My name's Eira. Yours?" Eira was talking out of pure nervousness, she hid her shaking hand behind her back, the other on her sword steady. She waited for the response of the girl.

"Asumi." The girl responded. Eira loved the name, it suited her. Asumi looked up with a small hint of a smile, the warm exchange was almost immediately lost when a scream ran through the forest. The calm being broken with a familiar voice to both of them.

"Somebody fucking help!" A familiar loud voice swore, his voice pierced their ears. Eira turned to the girl who's eyes had gone wide with fear, as if she had just seen a ghost. Eira was confused, but regardless she followed the girl as she quickly dashed to the area.