The only intervals in the excruciating journey towards Mount Kurohoshi were the 'meal breaks', in which Eira allowed her group to eat and rest, but only for an hour before they began to move again. The fear of what would happen if another day passed enveloped her, forcing her to commit to reaching Ali today. Even the most enduring members struggled to keep up with her hate-fuelled pace. The Hashira didn't even give the slightest glance back when members collapsed out of fatigue, face-first into the dirt. Their friends worriedly came to their assistance, with the rest giving sympathetic looks.
The only one who could possibly match Eira's steady charge was Kaze, yet he was hindered by the recurring severe throb in his head. He was pushing too hard, too fast and too much all at the same time. He didn't allow proper time for himself to recover, anxious of the growing gap between him and Eira. Ayumu watched the pitiful sight of Kaze's sloppy movements as they jogged, but he didn't dare set their minds off the goal. It was now or never.
Simultaneously, around midday, Kaimi reached Asumi and told her of the updated location. Although Asumi was at a roughly equal distance to Mount Kurohoshi, she knew she could never keep up with the freakish stamina and speed of Eira.
Each of the individuals clawed their way to Mount Kurohoshi, with different motivations embedded in their minds, desperation evident in the outlines of their souls.
Night was quick to arrive. The ever-moving current of time flowed endlessly and steadily, the sun stretched across the sky, down the horizon and spread light to other parts of Earth. The day was lost to travel, and much of the night was to be as well.
Arata, Chiyo, and Kaito had all woken up at sunset, expecting a Kasugai Crow to come any time with a mission. They were oblivious to the fact that they had been labelled as traitors. Ali still remained fast asleep, the culmination of not sleeping since Akaza's death, heavy stress and intense fatigue all contributed to his long, deep sleep. The trio had unanimously agreed to let Ali wake up by himself, partially due to the fear that Ali would jerk awake and blow up the shrine. While waiting, they chattered, played games and trained together.
Unbeknownst to any of the four, Eira and her remaining group had arrived in Mount Kurohoshi a few hours after sunset. Above the shrine, in the clear dark blue sky, Eira's crow glided in a circle. Pinging the shrine's location.
Although thirty-nine had embarked from Aokigahara Forest alongside the Ice Hashira, only nine of them had completed the journey. On everyone's waist, what used to be a singular silver syringe had quintupled. Syringes of the fallen and those who were left to take care of them were given to the ones who were still going. Everyone had at least five of the potent poison-filled vials.
After hours upon hours of running through different terrains, paths, and navigating through the dense forest, a glimpse of the red shrine finally entered Eira's eyes. She halted abruptly, hiding behind the cover of the tree trunks. The shrine was in the centre of an open area.
Yukina's body slammed against the tree next to Eira, her entire body trembling as she held the large plant for much-needed support. She couldn't see straight; every muscle in her body was in overdrive, saturated with fatigue. Several members limped towards trees and vomited out whatever they had eaten in the last meal break. Yet, as they looked back at their lead Hashira, she was completely calm and unaffected by the monstrous journey they had just gone on. Her face is monotone with no sign of struggle. Just what type of superhuman abilities had she achieved?
Every thread of her body trembled from being overdriven with activity. Her gasps were never-ending, her lungs dissatisfied even with the amount of oxygen her large gasps pulled in. Her body was overheating, her vision extremely unfocused, and her feet felt as if they had been split apart.
Eira's face expressed no fatigue or struggle. Instead, her wide eyes stared at the red-painted shrine. The building glowed with importance. Her heart pounded as her mind grasped the auras within the holy building. The grey aura lingered, dancing full of motion. The confusion had never left Eira's mind. Why was it that only Ali was unique? The thought only enraged her further. She could sense three more irrelevant auras, full of life.
Eira stared at the sky. The stars twinkled in amusement as they glared directly at the forest, eagerly waiting for the battle to unravel at full force. The true fight would be between the Upper Moon and Hashira. Eira's pawns would only serve any use if they were able to inject Ali. If not, then they could only dream of keeping up between the two monstrous fighters.
"I can sense him in there," Eira's fingers caressing the smooth sheath of her blade. The cold steel was confined to the sheath, but desperate for a wash of warm blood over it. It whispered to Eira, supporting her malicious thoughts. Her head snapped back, her gaze darting between her remaining group. She couldn't execute the grand plan she had all informed them of, but she still had enough to set up parameters of some sort.
"Hide behind trees and encircle the shrine. Rest and eat, but stay alert." Eira's soft voice had a commanding tone as she bent the original plan, the slightest shred of sympathy came out of her voice, "I will alert everyone when he's awake, and don't attack til I make the first move."
Yukina held her chest with one hand, her heart rate finally starting to steady as her body received the much-needed time to rest. As she slowly looked upwards, Eira's glare was directed at her. Her heart rate increased again.
"Yukina… I need to ask a favour from you," Eira approached Yukina. Yukina's eyes widened a little as the Ice Hashira leaned forward and whispered into her ear. Not even the stars could hear what Eira had said. After her secret message, she took a step back and tilted her head slightly downwards.
"Maybe in an hour or so, rest yourself first," Eira's eyes were full of compassion and understanding as she placed a hand on Yukina's arm. Behind her eyes was a cruel motive, but she needed to do what she had to.
The night continued. Mount Kurohoshi howled with eerie winds. The trees were uneasy in the presence of the immense power that emanated from Eira and Ali. The soft pulse of power throbbed through the forest, the ground awaited in anticipation, the air was tense with anxiety and the moon was silent in despair of the pivotal scene. The late night gradually transformed into the early morning as the sunrise grew closer than the previous sunset. The easy victory would be if Ali remained asleep throughout the night and then awoke at sunrise. Eira dreamt of slicing the shrine in half, watching Ali burn into shreds after being hit by the sunlight. She could already hear the agony-charged screeches that would come out of his mouth.
"Rock… paper… scissors," The trio of demon slayers were oblivious to the danger that had been lurking outside for hours now. They thought nothing odd of the mission-less night, instead taking the opportunity to relax and have as much fun as possible.
Amid their chatter and laughter, an unfamiliar sound shot at Ali's ears. A slight squeak of shoes rubbing against the rooftop. His eyes jolted open, goosebumps crawling at the back of his neck. The trio hadn't picked it up, but Ali did.
His head slowly tilted upwards, and his eyes stared at the dark roof. His entire body felt rejuvenated from his rest, instantly diverting into an alert state as a creepy feeling whispered at the back of his head. Something was wrong.
At the exact moment Ali woke up, Eira's eyes shot open. Her back pressed against a tree trunk, completely hiding her small body. She was unsure of when sleep had gotten the better of her, but feeling the spike in Ali's grey aura was like an alarm for her brain. Her gaze darted to her nearest teammate, who was also asleep. Her fingers dug through the dirt, grasping a round pebble. Without a second to waste, she launched the pebble at the poor man. He jerked awake once the pebble hit the centre of his temple. He inhaled sharply as he felt the icy cold gaze stuck onto him. He rolled around the tree to wake the next person in the circular formation. By the next minute, everyone was awake and alert.
The only deviation from the circular formation was Yukina, who was appointed to be on the roof. She hadn't slept at all, her eyes bloodshot, her breath shaky, her hands sweaty around the syringes she held. She watched the bushes rustle as the rest of the squadron prepared themselves. Yukina's jaw clenched, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
"Ali's awake!" She heard a voice shout from inside the shrine.
"It's almost morning," Kaito chuckled softly as he jumped up and walked over to Ali. He leaned down and extended a hand for Ali, the warm gesture of friendship tugged Ali's focus away from the suspicious sound.
"Huh? Almost morning?" Ali's expression filled with worry, his eyebrows furrowing as he slapped his hand onto Kaito's. Ali stood up mostly by himself, with Kaito's pulling contributing nothing, but Ali still thanked him regardless.
"I mean, I can still make some distance in an hour or two," Ali put his arms in the air, his tight muscles releasing all the tension as he stretched. A pleasant feeling after the endless exhaustion in the past week. It was the first time he felt energised. He faced the three friends he had made last night, smiles on their faces as they all stood up.
"We should move now, then," Chiyo turned on her heels and walked straight out the door without a second statement. Arata followed closely behind her, a timid look on his face. He gave a small glance back at Ali.
Ali didn't question the spontaneous decision by Chiyo, he agreed that the best time to move would be now. He felt in his pocket for his wooden box. Once he confirmed its presence, left through the door. The cold wind met his skin as he hopped down from the slightly elevated shrine platform, and gusts from all directions brushed against his skin, almost as if they were returning to their leader. Something was wrong. Ali's eyes darted around the dense cover the trees provided, only small windows between the range of bushes, shrubs and trees. It felt colder than usual. He exhaled deeply as he stretched his legs.
"Thank you…! For saving us!" Arata spoke abruptly and loudly. He bowed deeply a few metres in front of Ali. His tone was erratic, yet charming in a sense, as the shy boy gave Ali a sincere statement of gratitude. Ali couldn't help but smile. No wonder he was so quick to follow Chiyo, he was nervous about his goodbye.
"You know I'm going to miss you guys," Ali laughed as he bowed promptly to Arata, meeting the boy's eyes as he leaned back, "Make sure you visit the flower farm I told you about, okay? My girlfriend's family has the best flowers. Tell them you know me,"
Chiyo stood a metre behind Arata, her stance confident and a small smile plastered on her face as usual. Her hand tightly clutched at her sword as she looked at Ali, offering him a small nod, displaying gratitude in her own way.
Ali felt a slap on his back as Kaito came to his side.
"We'll miss you too, Ali," Kaito grinned, the soft moonlight illuminating his deep purple pupils. The warmth of found love filled the atmosphere. Ali felt indescribably grateful for their presence in the past day, they were a streak of yellow on a canvas of dark red. He would never forget them, their goofy yet hilarious dynamic. More than anything, he was ecstatic to see a bond as close as the trio's, he wished nothing but happiness and continued friendship in their future.
Kaito took a few steps towards his friends, lifting his hand from Ali's back, he looked back at Ali one final time. Ali couldn't wipe the smile from his face in the midst of the bittersweet situation.
"Are you going to be okay without our protection, Ali?" Chiyo giggled; her joke made the situation a little less saddening.
Just as Ali felt a laugh travel out of his mouth, his eyes caught a glimpse of something that froze his heart. A rustle in the bushes, an anomalous splotch of icy blue, and the glint of a blade. Eyes that held intensity capable of only one person. Within a millisecond of Ali meeting the figure's eyes, the shadow dashed out of the bushes at a speed imperceptible to everyone except Ali.
Eira's blade was drawn, her feet slammed against the ground, the wind roughly rushed against her body. She swung her blade at the closest, and her first target. Chiyo. Almost as if the world was moving in slow motion, her father's sword rang with a metallic swish, the sound taunting Ali as he braced his knees and put his hand forward. Chiyo still had a smile on her face, her reflexes not honed enough to even sense Eira's presence behind her.