Ch 5: Night Talk

The night illuminated the mountains into total darkness. The Fujikasana Mountain was amongst the mountains in the Shei mountain ranges. When nighttime came, it was eerily quiet, aside from the occasional insects' noise. No demons had appeared around its vicinity, neither did in the past.

Shei mountain ranges were the haven for water element demon slayers, the water hashira dwells in it, after all. The range was extremely wide and broad, a person could not even explore it in a matter of a single year.

Later the duel, Sakonji led his disciples inside the house. They prepared supper and sat to eat together. After they ate, Sakonji had a chat before they adjourned.

At this moment, Nakashima went out of his designated room and decided to go for a stroll. He walked through the corridors while his gaze landed at the stars that shone above the heavens. The wind felt cold, sometimes it struck a nostalgic feeling.

Thoughts flashed like scenes in his head.

...Is this the right thing to do?

...Can I save them?

...What if I fail?

All these thoughts caused him to deeply think about his situation. His time was limited. Five years from now, Sabito would die. After that day, there are also events that he must prevent to happen. Shinobu's sister's death, and other hashiras' life tragedies.

Nakashima did not know what to do. Every step that he took, every time that went by, it felt as though a boulder was placed on his back. The more time that passed, the heavier the boulder was. And the heavier his breathing gets.

Nakashima shook his head. He should not worry too much about the uncertain future. Worrying was meaningless.

Nakashima's thoughts swirled back to what Sakonji had said during the supper.

"Tomorrow will be the day I will begin my real training. Hopefully, I don't fuck it." Nakashima thought, and suddenly, he halted. His gaze landed at the courtyard, where a young boy was swinging his sword amidst the darkness.

He recognized the boy even from afar.

"I never thought he is this hardworking."

Nakashima went a little closer. When he did, the razor, sharp noise of the blade being swung, the sweats that fell, and the frustration that was vented out sounded clearly in his ears.

"This is wrong."

"This is also wrong. Damn this. Argh!"

The blade was thrown into the ground. A crash sounded.

"Why am I so useless?"

Giyu sat on the ground and stared above the skies. He remembered the five-year-old kid earlier. He was so young but already that strong. Strong enough to fight and win against his genius friend.

He wondered and pondered. Then he came up with the thought that heaven was unfair. He could not understand why unfairness exist.

Giyu had a wish. He wanted to be strong enough to defeat demons effortlessly. However, his friend, Sabito, and the newcomer seemed the ones that could fulfill his wish instead. He did not resent that nor had the thought of jealousy. It just he felt inferior, and that suffocated him.

"Hello there. How are you?"

Giyu heard a voice beside him. He immediately guessed the person was.

"I'm alright."

'A man of few words.' Nakashima looked at him. His age had given him wide experience. This includes his emotional intelligence. Even if he did not have emotional intelligence, just the information of the demon slayer anime was enough for him to know Giyu's entire personality.

This kid felt inferior. This was not a good thing for a child. He had to let him realize.

"Do you know why the world seems unfair?"

Nakashima sat beside him.

Giyu did not say anything but for some reason, he was expecting an answer. He had been thinking this all the while.

"Because people give fuck about something unworthy for them to fuck with."

He was not sure if this was correct nor did he think it to be the accurate answer. He spoke with his experience and hopefully, it help this kid.

"...Like?"

"Like how a kid cares about the color of his dress," responded Nakashima. "The reason people think heaven isn't fair is that they give many fuck that they could not focus on one thing."

"People give a fuck about how people looked at their face. How he isn't talented than others. Or how this person achieves more than he does."

Nakashima knew that he was speaking the truth. The reason people had an inferiority complex was that they tend to pay more attention to others than themselves. They are not easily satisfied by their current achievements and compare themselves to others instead. What they did not consider was that the struggles such a person went through to attain that achievement.

"What do you know?" Giyu was a little hurt. The words struck his sore spot.

Nakashima shook his head.

"I know a lot. So Giyu-nim, instead of asking what do you want to enjoy, ask what pain do you want to sustain. Everyone had dreams and they wanted to be that person near future. Everyone loves the result, but not the process. And that process, you should seek that instead."

"Everyone loves the result, but not the process..." Giyu murmured. It was as if something had made him enlightened.

"Have you asked how much I went through to get at this level?" Nakashima looked at him. "No. So don't compare yourself to others because every person had suffered just to achieve what they have. And they have the right to enjoy that."

Giyu was silent. Nakashima decided to end the conversation with the last sentence,

"Don't expect a reward without a struggle. Your struggle defines who you are. And it will bring you to your dream."

Nakashima stood up and smiled.

"It's so late at night. I better go now."

Giyu listened silently and then his eyes flashed. It was not light nor it was not a transformation, more like enlightenment towards life. So God had created them to experience what he had experienced when he first created the world. The struggle that he went through could not be imagined by just asking why Heaven is unfair!

"Thank you..."

Giyu stood up and looked at him. He reached his hand out. "I am Giyu Tomioka."

Nakashima smiled. He reached his hand out and shook it with his'.

"I am Nakashima Tsuneo. Nice to meet you...Shall we reach for our dream together?"

Giyu took a deep breath. Something inside him had changed. He smiled. A genuine smile

"Okay!"