The Busy Water Hashira (Part Two)

The old temple was even more dilapidated than the rumors said.

It crouched at the foot of a cliff halfway up the mountain, on the shady side where the sun never reached it all day.

The writing on the rotten wooden plaque above the door had blurred, leaving only the character for "orchid."

Giyu entered the only main hall still standing.

The gold paint on the Buddha statue had long since flaked away, exposing the dull gray clay beneath, mottled with spots.

The Buddha's gaze was lowered, but the corners of its mouth turned up as if it were smiling.

Under the pallid moonlight, that hollow smile looked eerie no matter how he saw it, as though it were mocking someone.

Resting a hand on the hilt of his sword, he swept his ice-blue eyes across the hall.

Dust and cobwebs covered the overturned offering table, the torn prayer mats, and the ragged cloth banners hanging down.

Then there was the patch of shadow behind the Buddha statue.

The moonlight made it look even darker and deeper.

That thing was in there.

And it was quiet. Too quiet.

It wasn't the sort of demon that was desperate to eat people.

It was waiting, like a spider crouched at the center of its web, waiting for prey to come to it.

"Come out."

Giyu spoke, his voice utterly flat in the empty temple.

No response.

Even the moaning wind outside seemed to pause for a moment.

He knew it had heard him.

The thing was huddled in the shadow behind the Buddha statue, a shapeless mass of sticky darkness.

Its breathing was so slow it might as well not have been breathing, and its heartbeat was too faint to catch.

This was its hunting ground, and it had used this trick to kill more than one lost passerby.

But the prey that had just come in had a peculiar presence.

It was faint, so faint it was almost blending into its surroundings.

That made it all the more excited, but also more wary.

It licked the sharp, barbed fangs in its mouth, calculating the distance and angle.

The prey wasn't standing in a good spot. It was still a few steps from the edge of the shadow.

It waited for the prey to grow curious and take a few more steps forward, into the place the moonlight couldn't reach.

Just three more steps...

Just as it was concentrating, that calm voice rang out again, carrying the faintest hint of coldness.

"Then shall I come find you?"

Its heart skipped a beat.

I've been found?!

How is that possible?!

I've hidden here for so long, and no prey has ever found me before I made my move!

A flicker of panic flashed through its muddled mind.

Was it imagining things?

Was this prey bluffing?

But that tone...

Before it could make sense of it, the white figure in the hall moved.

His movement was unbelievably light. His figure flickered in the moonlight, covering a great distance before stopping at the edge of another beam of moonlight shining through a broken wall.

Now!

Its ambush instincts sent it into motion in an instant.

Whether it had been found or not, wasn't this moment, with its prey moving away from his old position and not yet settled into the new one, the perfect chance to strike?!

The dark power it had gathered erupted.

It was no longer a mass of shadow. It became a black arrow, blasting out from behind the Buddha statue with a piercing shriek and a fetid gust that chilled to the bone.

It held nothing back in this strike. It meant to tear this strange prey to pieces!

It could almost smell the wonderful scent of a warm heart being crushed in its grasp.

Then it saw light.

A ghostly blue light, so cold it seemed no color of this world.

How... could he be so fast?!

The thought was like a bucket of ice water, dousing all its cruelty and greed.

That was not a speed any human could possess!

"Swish."

A soft sound, quieter than wind blowing across thin ice.

The world before its eyes spun.

In the last of the light, it glimpsed the white figure still standing where he had been, his posture seemingly unchanged.

His sword was already back in its sheath, as though it had never been drawn.

Only those slightly lowered, ice-blue eyes were watching its body rapidly break apart and fade away.

There was no emotion in those eyes.

No pride in victory, no thrill of killing, not even disgust or pity.

Only absolute, bottomless calm, like ice that reflected nothing.

So... before a being like this, am I not even worthy... of his hatred...?

Darkness swallowed the last of its consciousness.

Giyu watched the stain on the ground quickly grow faint and finally disappear entirely.

He turned and walked out of the ruined temple that had devoured people.

By the stream, the sun had already begun to sink in the west.

The sunlight was less scorching now, coating the whole mountain forest in a soft amber glow.

Giyu walked over to a large rock beside the stream and crouched down.

He cupped a handful of water and splashed it over his face.

The icy sensation washed away the heat and dust, and his head cleared a little.

He scooped up several more handfuls and washed his face and neck. Droplets rolled down his chin and into his collar, bringing a lingering coolness.

Giyu shook his head, his wet black hair clinging to his forehead.

He was about to wipe his face with his sleeve when he stopped.

His ears twitched.

There was a sound.

"Caw~, Giyu!"

Almost at the same time, Kanzaburo, who had been preening, jerked his head up too, his little beadlike black eyes staring sharply upstream.

Neither said anything to the other.

The trace of relaxation vanished from Giyu's face, leaving him cold as ever.

He rose without making a sound and hurried upstream along the bank, stepping over wet stones and grass.

He hadn't gone far when he rounded a large rock covered in dark green moss, and the scene before him changed.

A stag lay on the rocky bank of the stream.

It was a sizable animal, but its body was twisted into a grotesque shape.

There was a deep gash in its neck, torn open.

Giyu crouched down and examined the wound.

"A demon."

"Judging by how thoroughly it drained it, this one isn't in a hurry, and it's confident."

"Swish—"

The bushes beside him, their branches hanging nearly down to the water, burst open without warning!

A short, hunched figure with ashen skin shot out at a speed no human could match!

Its outstretched claws gleamed black, their nails curved like hooks, aimed at his exposed neck, where his pulse was beating.

The timing, angle, and speed of that attack made it a textbook ambush.

An ordinary Demon Slayer probably wouldn't even have had time to draw his sword.

But Giyu didn't even turn around.

He simply swept his right hand, resting on the hilt, out to his side.

His wrist turned.

Less than three inches of intensely concentrated blue blade light slid out of the dark blue scabbard.

"Sshk—!"

A soft sound, quieter than stream water splashing against a stone.

Head and body parted ways, and the head fell into the stream with a plop, sending up a splash.

Only then did Giyu straighten up.

He looked down, and his face was reflected in the water.

Wet hair clung to his temples, droplets slid down the bridge of his nose, and there was nothing in his ice-blue eyes.

The hem of his white haori fluttered.

His reflection wavered with the current, a little blurred.

He watched it for a few seconds, then turned around.

Kanzaburo flew up, landed back on his shoulder, and gently pecked his ear.

"Let's go."

Giyu spoke quietly, his voice nearly lost in the rushing water.

There was still a long road ahead.

Traveling, getting lost, killing demons...

That was daily life for the Water Hashira.