Lower rank 4

A title that belongs to a group of powerful demons. It's said that there are two powerful groups of demons out there: The Upper Moons and the Lower Moons. These demons are specifically hand picked by the notorious Demon of them all that roams the world as we speak, expanding the demon army. That demon's name was...

"Muzan Kubutsuji"

For years, the Demon Slayer Corp had been dealing with certain individuals that have shown an incredible difference in strength, speed, and malice. Which led to the rise of Hashiras, Slayers who are capable to stand toe-to-toe with demons of greater power. It is unfortunate, however, that when it comes down to needing the support of a Hashira... only certain casualties will erupt.

The four demon slayers were standing in front of a demon unlike any other before, trembling in terror and shock. Aokime was trying to hold it together, but the malicious aura that erupted from the Demon's transformation was unlike anything he's ever seen.
"W-what the hell happened?!"
One of demon slayers spoke with their eyes widened in horror.
"I-it t-transformed!"
"Is there a way to fight him just us four?!"
Aokime knew that this was a losing battle and they needed to escape right away!
"We need to leave! Now!"
The demon lunged towards them with his claw shrouded in a blackish red fire ready to strike them. Aokime knew that they were outmatched and would need to buy time for help to arrive. Hopefully from a Hashira themselves. That was when Aokime readied his blade to strike at the demon.

Before he was able to react, Aokime was face to face with the Lower Rank 4 Demon that was about to strike him. Aokime wasn't prepared for the sudden boost in speed that he quickly reacted to blocking the attack. As the claw came into contact with the sword, Aokime was pushed flying back before crashing the doors of a destroyed home.
"Gah!"
Crashing into the building left Aokime dazed and stunned from that powerful strike as his body was surging with pain leaving him gasping for air. Staring at the ceiling of the building as he tried to muster up the strength to move but couldn't. This was getting more and more troubling knowing that the demon was left with the other slayers, as screams can be heard with the sound of ripping limbs and splattering blood echoing in the air.

"Move. Damn it move. I need to get out of here... and stop this demon."
Aokime was breathing heavily from the imagery that came to mind from all the noise that he was hearing. In the midst of the chaos, the sound whimpering and cries could heard. Aokime turned his head towards the sound and saw a mother cradling her baby that was crying. She was trying to calm the baby down as she was freaking out by the sight of an incapacitated Slayer in front of her as the screams were coming closer and closer. This jolted Aokime as he started using all the strength that was left in his body to inch his way up onto his feet using his sword to hold himself up.

"Come on dammit. I need to keep these civilians safe."
As he walked to the broken door he looked out and noticed the demon was eating the corpses of the Slayers. Aokime witnessed the slayers dead in front of his eyes, knowing he had failed to protect them. This feeling... it was a familiar feeling but something far worse than before. The feeling of dread that he was about to die right now. The demon was walking towards Aokime with a severed arm in its hand.
"Well I'll be damned... you're still breathing huh?"
Aokime was heavily breathing trying to collect himself to prepare for the worse.

"Well I thought I'd be able to eat you easily for last, but I like a good challenge."
Aokime readied his sword finally having better control of his breathing before rushing towards the demon. With a focused breath, Aokime began swinging at the demon. The demon effortlessly dodged his attacked before delivering a kick to the left side of his rib cage, letting out a cracking sound as Aokime was sent flying to the side. As he landing to the ground, he was gripping his side as he yelled out in pain.
"Desperately fighting for your life still? You're putting up a better fight at least, unlike your friends over there."
Pointing to a pile of flesh and bones with heads severed off their body still holding a face of pure panic before their death. Aokime, unable to breathe steadily, was frantically crawling towards his sword with tears running down his face from the pain he felt. No matter how bad the situation was, he wasn't going to turn over and die like that without fighting back with every bit of energy left in him.

The demon grabbed Aokime by the neck and lifted him up. The feeling of the broken ribs, bruises all over, and now being chocked out by the demon was overwhelming him to the point that he was hyperventilating.
"Welp I had my fun, but the sun will rise up soon. I'll be on my way now."
The demon charged up the black and red fire on it's claw ready to strike at Aokime to end his life here and there.
"Am I really going to die now?! It's not fair damn it... I didn't want it to end like this. I wanted to see my parents to thank them for their help. I still owe my sister a new toy when I get money from this job."
Aokime was tearing up more as this was the last thing he would see was a demon laughing and enjoying the pain Aokime was suffering by it's hands.

The demon was about to strike Aokime until the sounds of chains began rustling in the air. The demon dropped Aokime before leaping back, barely dodging a giant spiked ball that was connected to a long series of chains. Collapsing to the floor, Aokime was hit with a surge of pain from falling onto the side of his broken ribs, screaming out in pain. In that moment a large hand rested on his shoulder as he heard a voice speak up.
"I'm sorry for the delay, the medical teams will arrive soon. Hold on a bit longer... you're safe now."
The hand that rested on top of Aokime's shoulder was warm and comforting, letting him feel reassured that he was safe. Rolling on to his back, he was faced with a very large man that had a scar resting horizontally across his forehead. His eyes were white, lacking any pupils, with tears flowing down. It was as if the giant was sad while simultaneously holding a serious expression on his face.
Aokime was trying to calm down and breathe normally, but the pain was making it nearly impossible to do so.

The tearful giant stood up and readied his weapon as he marched towards the demon.
"Wicked demon... your time on this earth will come to an end now."
"Heh... and who the hell are you?"
The giant individual flicked around the chains that was around his hands, swinging around the large spike ball effortlessly. The long chains were attached to an axe that was nearly as large as the spiked steel ball. He was wearing the demon slayer uniform, just like Aokime, but he didn't used the traditional nichirin blades like many others. His Haori was dark green with markings all over it.
"My name is Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corp. and I'm here to exorcise vile demons that bring harm to the innocent."

Aokime was trying to stay awake, but his vision and hearing were fading away as he could feel himself slipping away. The two began to battle it out to the extreme. Unlike any other demon slayer or even himself, this giant was holding himself much better than all the slayers and Aokime combined. Just before his eyes closed shut, someone had landed in front of him. It was hard to make out what he was looking but he noticed they were saying something but his hearing had gone away. Suddenly all went black.

•••••••

Few days later...

Aokime was waking up from what felt like a really long sleep. His vision was met with a wooden ceiling which confused him for a moment. He shifted his head to the sides to see other beds next to his. Aokime decided to sit up, but an small pain to his left side started spiking up. Aokime let out a groan from the pain as he laid back into the bed.
"Where the hell am I? What is this place, and how the hell did I get here?"
In his moment curiosity the door to his room opened up, drawing his attention to a very familiar face.
"Oh you're finally awake. I was beginning to think you died already. It was tiresome to keep taking care of you."

Shinobu had walked in holding some bandages that seem to be for Aokime with a very serious look on her face.
"S-Shinobu? What are you doing here? Where am I?"
"Well you're at the Butterfly Mansion. This is a rest point for slayers as well as a medical facility to help with medicine and curing illnesses incase a slayer gets sick. We also tend to reckless slayers like yourself."

"The butterfly mansion? Wait! Where's the slayer that was at the village?! The one with chains!? Is he ok?!"
Shinobu blinked a few times a bit confused but suddenly remembered.
"Oh. You're talking about Himejima, one of the Hashiras in the Demon Slayer Corp. that is said to rival many strong demons. He is perfectly fine, unlike yourself."
Before Aokime could say anything else, another voice could be heard behind Shinobu.
"Shinobu. Is Aokime ok?"
It was her older sister Kanae that was walking behind her.
"Oh! Aokime! I'm so glad your ok!"
As she came up to Aokime and hugged him, which left Aokime extremely confused and flustered.
"O-oh! Kanae I am fine, just still feeling some pain."
Kanae released her hold on Aokime and patted his head.
"I was worried you wouldn't wake up soon. I didn't want to worry your father about your condition."
Kanae had a soft sweet smile that was so radiant it was leaving Aokime dazed. Before he could ponder more on it, his focus was cut off after getting a bunch of bandages tossed to his face.
"Wake up before you start drooling, Aokime. You look ridiculous."
"Shinobu. No need to be so rude to Aokime. He just came back from fighting a lower rank 4 demon. It's a miracle he survived at all to be honest."
"If it wasn't for Himejima, I wouldn't have survived at all."
That was when Aokime remembered the faces of the other slayers that were with him in the village.

Aokime's face went from relieved, to sadness. Lowering his head as his fist squeezed tightly on the blanket.
"Aokime are you alright?"
Kanae asked, concerned of his sudden change of mood.
"The other demon slayers. The ones that were at the village with me... I couldn't save them."
His memory flooded with the faces of the slayers as the screaming and blood that was tossed all around. The mess that was left behind by the demon that laughed at his face for being weak. Too weak to even save his comrades even after all the training that he did. Joining the Demon Slayer corp. wasn't enough to save anyone from a real threat it seems and it really made Aokime feel worthless.

Suddenly a hand rested on his shoulders with snapped him out of his train of thoughts.
"Aokime. I know you're sad about the other slayers that didn't make it, but this is what being part of the Demon Slayers is all about. We put our life on the line to ensure the safety of everyone, even it means sacrificing ourselves to save everyone else. You did the best you could and you shouldn't beat yourself up. You saved a lot of people in that village and if it wasn't for your efforts, the innocent people there would be dead before your arrival. So raise your head and do your best to get stronger."
Kanae said with a beautiful smile again, which gave reassurance to Aokime as he smiled back.
"You're right! I'll train harder and harder to save more and more people,m,"
Kanae was happy to hear Aokime say that while Shinobu just walked off. Kanae was looking back at her sister leaving before looking back at Aokime.
"Don't worry about her leaving. I know she really appreciates hearing you say that. Not many slayers are as confident and dedicated as you and it shows the quality of a Hashira you have in you. If you keep up the hard work, you can become a Hashira like me."
Aokime nodded feeling motivated.

"I'll be a Hashira soon! That's a promise!"

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