55 Divergence

Kaze's eyes slowly opened as the bright sunlight infiltrated the room from the tilted blinds that unsuccessfully covered the window. He had fallen asleep as he reminisced on memories, the melancholic room was the first to greet his eyes. Kaze slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, which felt oddly moist, maybe he had cried in his sleep. Kaze yawned and slowly stood up and stretched. The sun had just begun its rise on the horizon, but unlike the vast majority of the world, some businesses began their movement before sunrise. Kaze jolted as the entire house reverberated with a loud banging sound, it originated from the flimsy door, definitely not made for the aggressive knocking that just filled the house with noise. Kaze swiftly made his way to the front door and quickly opened the door without caution. His heart jumped a little as he was met with a slightly terrifying sight. A man standing right in front of him with a strange mask, he recognised it from somewhere but it was creepy nonetheless. The man was dressed in a suit and he carried a large box with him. 

"Kaze Kuyi?" The man spoke through his strange mask, Kaze gulped, how did this person know his full name? 

"I'm grateful you have given me the opportunity to craft a sword for the very first time. I have never heard of such a breathing style, but based on the details you gave me on the form, I've made it as sturdy as possible, a sword that can withstand the powerful strikes you'll be using." The man had now made his identity clear, he was a nichirin swordsmith, which explained the unusual mask. Kaze was overjoyed at the word 'sword'. His eyes immediately shot now at the large box. 

"No really, I should be thanking you. You have no idea how much this means." Kaze smiled and stepped to the side as he invited the swordsmith in. Now Kaze wouldn't have overbearing guilt over his head of how to use his sword, first, he had a fragile sword which he could barely put force on, and then he had the sword of his dead lover, obviously, he wouldn't want to break it, and then he wielded the emerald green sword of an honourable figure that he didn't want to disrespect. Now he could finally use his sword how he wanted. 

"I apologise, it's a long trip to my village, I cannot stay." The swordsmith put a hand on his chest and bowed. After a few more minutes of back-and-forth thank yous and gratitude, the swordsmith departed and Kaze slowly unboxed the sword in his living room. His hands were hesitant at first to grab the sword but he wrapped his fingers around it with confidence. The sword's blade erupted from the bottom in a dark purple, so dark it could be mistaken for black. Kaze admired the beauty and simplicity of the colour, a breeze of fresh air after the confident and bold green of Ali's sword. Kaze's eyes diverted to the green sword that still stood alone. Kaze felt a little guilty, what would he do with the sword now? 

Kaze held his new blade on his right and Ali's on his left, his lungs slowly expanded as the sunlight shone on both the blades. He gripped them both tightly. He wasn't ready to let go of Ali's sword, he felt as if it hadn't served its purpose yet. As if it was still itching to fulfil an unspoken destiny. With Xia's sword, Kaze felt as if it had fulfilled its destiny, but the same wasn't with Ali's. Kaze sighed and sat on a chair, he slowly leaned back as he looked up at the bland ceiling. 

"Well, it wouldn't kill me to keep both," Kaze looked down at the two and smiled. 

Asumi took a deep breath. Her ears were greeted by a comforting yet unfamiliar silence as she slowly walked. She had been doing solo missions, which gave her a lot of time to think as well as to improve her skills. She hadn't faced any trouble yet, although a good thing, she felt a little empty. Her heart was plagued by comparison, constant reminders of how Eira's fights had gotten so much recognition that she had been offered to become a Hashira. She wanted to be drowned in recognition as well, her mind constantly thinking back to Ali's sacrifice, the sheer courage he showed by dying for both her and Eira, what did she do? Asumi regretted that she had just stood there. She was still as Ali moved. Healthy while Ali died. Fearful while Ali was brave. In these past missions, Asumi was able to celebrate the small successes, the fact she was flying through these missions meant she was strong right? 

The thought put a smile on Asumi's face as the sun greeted her back and seemed to encourage her to keep moving. Asumi's hands slowly lifted and reached the back of her hair. The blue flower. The petals slowly moved alongside the wind. Asumi carefully handled it and stared at it as she stopped moving. 

Ali. 

The flower slowly glowed in her hands. A smile slowly spread across her face. The smile slowly lost itself when she asked herself a crucial question. 

"What will I do if I see Ali?" Asumi's head repeated the question, as she searched for an answer. Eira had met Ali, and their encounter resulted in a fight. Asumi's heart was fearful for both circumstances, she would hate it if she didn't kill Ali, but she had an equal resentment to the scenario where she did. She could imagine the scene, as Ali's head dropped to the floor, so would the beautiful blue flowers kept alive by their love. As Ali turned to dust so would the flowers. Asumi clutched at the flower and took a deep breath. She didn't want to think about it. She kept walking. She wondered how Ali was doing, then her mind drifted into thoughts of the future. 

The dojo rang with a quiet hum, the sunshine that was the call for most of the world to wake up was a call for Ali to sleep. While the rest of the world was bright and active with life, the inside of the dojo was dim, dull and with barely any activity. Akaza had left at night and left a vigorous training regime for Ali, yet Ali couldn't find any motivation or energy to do anything. He lay on the cold floor with his eyes closed, his mind ran crazy with thoughts. A multitude of memories, thoughts and imagination collapsed into itself and all meshed into an uncomfortable dream. 

In the dream, Ali floated in space, he was extremely close to the sun. His eyes stared at the sun, unlike usual, his eyes didn't hurt or flinch in the slightest as he took in the bright beauty of the star. He averted his eyes to his arms, instead of the pale blue that he was so used to, his arms glowed with his humane brown complexion. His eyes were glued onto his body, was he finally human again? 

A smile spread on his face and he put his arms up in celebration, he swam around in the weightless ocean of space. He finally felt like himself again, he finally felt like Ali again. His smile remained on his face as he turned back to the bright star, his eyes glowed with joy as he felt the warmth of the sunshine once more. 

His eyes slowly closed as he immersed himself in the moment of bliss. 

"You aren't Ali."

Ali's eyes opened slowly and in the middle of the sun was a figure, their appearance shadowed by the bright star behind them. Ali knew who it was. 

The stars in the background stayed silent and dull, Ali's hand lifted and his heart dropped when he saw his brown skin slowly turn into the pale blue he had grown to love but never ceased to hate. 

His breathing grew heavy, he realised, in space, there was no air, his lungs filled with nothing and he grasped at his throat and he choked, his eyes grew blurry but were fixated on the figure. 

Ali felt his body drift away from the sun as he struggled to breathe. He put his hand out, even though he knew Eira wouldn't help him and she was too far, he still held a candle of hope. An undying hope that his friend would regain her sense and diminish her hostility. 

Ali's body seemed to pause and then be pulled backwards harshly. He felt his body ache in pain as the violent force continued to tug at his body. Ali's back slammed into a hard and cold surface, grey dust billowed as he felt the impact throb at his body. He was still, he was on the moon. He stared at the hot sun from the surface of the cold moon.

Ali awoke from his dream and his face slowly peeled off the cold dojo floor. He took a deep breath in as he leaned backwards and seemed to dissociate from reality for a while. The words that Eira had said that one night still echoed and clawed at his mind every day. The words had reminded him of the harsh reality and awoke the self-hatred he had forgotten of. 

His internal turmoil spiralled out of control in recent days, a human soul in a demon's body. 

Ali's eyes hung low as he stared at his skin, the sight of the pale blue made his mind flash back to the dream. Ali shook his head and stood back up as he had done many times. The darkness of the dojo was complete with a ghostly silence, Ali stood there with a straight face. He sighed deeply as he slowly stretched his arms. 

"Eira, Asumi, if I ever see you two again. I'll show you how human I am." Ali's body eased the stress through his exercises. He was getting ready to complete the regime Akaza left for him. 

On different paths, with different motives, and in different perspectives. The complexity of situations and the difficulty of bringing people onto a similar path, joined with a similar motive and to see in a similar perspective. The two aspects clash but when they are in unison they're an unstoppable force. In a world where all living things have an option, an idea of free will and an infinite number of possibilities, there will never be balance unintentionally. Balance is only brought when all parties agree to keep it. Ironically, the greater good is often neglected for selfish gain, countries would rather have great profit alone than share a smaller profit with everyone else. There is an inherent nature to life to be the most powerful, a desire to be at the top. 

There are those who wish to bring balance and those who do not want to bring balance. However, there is a more damaging group, those who don't know balance. An individual who doesn't know balance will always think that life is in balance, their decisions will be reckless and they will be unaware of the destruction they bring to themselves and others. 

Eira slowly took a breath in as she sat with her back being supported by the trunk of the tree, the sunlight shone upon her.

"I miss my friends," She thought, she sighed as she closed her eyes and embraced the warmth.

Her expression soured a little. 

"Ali. Lower Moon One. I can't believe Kaze got hurt for him. What was Kaze even thinking? Protecting a demon?" Eira seemed to push the blame of Kaze's injury onto Ali, deflecting the fact that it had been her blade and foolishness that caused the whole ordeal.

Eira felt a strong desire to remain in the 'right', she knew the enemy and who was in the wrong, and she had convinced herself that she could never be in the wrong, she was a Demon Slayer. The demons were evil. 

"Next time. Kaze won't be there to save him." Eira smiled a little as she opened her eyes and stretched, the rustle of the leaves was music to her ears but a reminder of something else.

"Maybe I should visit the mountain soon."