"Mom, I thought you should be the one holding my hand? Why mom? Dad, where are you? Don't put away your purple eyes from me." I said to my family that I saw a really dark place.
My throat was tightened so hard like I choked with a really big hand. The darkness kept swallowing me, but I saw my family was running away and letting me die in the darkness.
My sight started to disappear, and the light slowly appeared in my eyes, the sign that I was going to the land of the dead. I feel my hand start getting cold like freezing in winter.
Then, I woke up seeing a hanging lamp in front of my face. The lamp is shining soft orange, with aesthetic rings around it. When I turned my face, I saw a deep blue light going through from the right side of the windows.
All of that vision was just a dream. I remembered I was saved by the demon slayer that came to my house and carried me to some place. I think this is the place, but I still don't know where it is.
Alone, lying down on a white bed in a very comfortable position. I could feel my throat still hurt from the choke of the demons, but it's not as hard when I try to talk to the man who saved me.
I moved my legs and tried to sit down. Flowing wind and cold mist hit my body, and I feel really weak when I try to stand up. Also, I feel a little numb in my knees.
I walked to the windows in order to close it, because the mist started freezing my skin. I realized my clothes had changed when I saw my own hand while closing the window. The cloth I wore was in bright white cloth.
"Oh my, you have woken up? Your metabolism is faster than I thought" said a lady with a deep soft voice behind my back standing at the door bringing medicine and some kind of warm drink in her hand as I saw steam coming out of the glass.
The lady has a tall appearance, her face is clear as sunrise, she has eyes that glinted in the light with a pink color that made my mood when I saw that, on her body, white haori with a pattern looks like butterfly's veins and pink color on the edge that's make it more like a butterfly.
She told me her name was Kanae Kochou. I feel hypnotized by her angelic voice. She asked about my condition and what I felt, I said I'm doing better now.
"Wow, you are mentally strong. Most of the people I've cured have PTSD and are able to talk one day after. And you are able to respond to me normally" she replied with an amazed face and, warm smile at me.
I didn't reply much, because I also didn't know why I didn't have PTSD. I continued asking her about these demon slayer things while I'm still here.
She told me all about the demon slayer and Hashira. She mentioned there are eight Hashira. The one I met was Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyuu.
She also gave me Rengoku's Haori that was taken by the Kakushi from my home. I am really grateful that the haori isn't broken so hard. Kanae suggested me wait in her mansion until my parents pick me up.
***
Two days had past, my parents hadn't come yet. I started wondering that they might not come back anymore. I was the one who brought demons after all.
I decided to have a stroll to the mansion. I see the mansion is really aesthetic. I've never seen a mansion as this beautiful, and this mansion is also really big.
The mansion has more than seven rooms to live in, and four big wards that could keep eight people. In the east, I found an indoor training room, with a lot of properties.
In the corner, I saw a person with short blue-dyed hair. She wore a butterfly hair tie all the way back. She caught me looking at her. I moved to the side door as my response to hiding after getting caught.
"It's okay, you can come in!"
Her voice is similar to Kanae but deeper and firmer. I hesitantly walked inside, walked toward her and said "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."
"That's fine, I'm Shinobu by the way, Shinobu kochou." Answer Shinobu.
"Thank you, I'm Sena, Sena Hizuki"
"You haven't done anything, haven't you for the last two days? Want to do some stretching with me? I have no partner anyways" continued Shinobu with an optimistic voice.
"I can't swing a katana"
"That's okay, I'm just asking you if you want to do stretching, besides doing nothing for days doesn't really feel good, isn't it?"
She is right, my back and shoulders don't feel so good for the last two days. Maybe some stretching could make it better.
We spent our time stretching for ten minutes, then I stopped because Shinobu needed to continue her training. I took a seat on the corner and took a book I borrowed yesterday from Kanae.
Twenty minutes past, I saw Shinobu still swinging her bokken (Wooden Katana) repeatedly. Her stamina was so stable, I think she already swung her sword more than three hundred times.
One big swing flowed from her hand, signed as her final swing before taking a rest. She approached me and sat down beside me.
"Is it heavy?"
"Ah, the bokken? Do you want to give it a try?" asked Shinobu while swiping her sweat from her neck with a towel.
"Sure!" I took her bokken with my hand and started in a stance like a swordswoman. "Try to swing it from up to down" continued Shinobu, while looking at me curiously.
I can only swing the bokken ten times, and I end up dropping it on my eleventh swing. Shinobu giggled at me, because I dropped it.
I couldn't resist. The bokken was really heavy, it felt like I was swinging a full metal katana in my hand, all of my fingers were trembling because I was holding it so strong.
"The bokken is designed with a real weight katana, it's not a surprise that you cannot swing it repeatedly. But since you can swing it right, I think you have potential", mentioned Shinobu while she looked at me proudly.
"I see you're reading about Breathing Style. Are you interested in that one?" added Shinobu.
"Actually, I have nothing to do here, and want to read something, but after I read that, I'm interested in breathing technique could work on the human body"
"Sena, the human body is actually reckless, they cannot endure such repeated movement with high pressure on their muscles. Breathing technique keeps your body staying in a prime position to endure the movement and pressure-
-So, basically, it maximizes your full body potential in that state. However, you can increase your body endurance, by train your muscle to get stronger" explained Shinobu while pointing at the books I read.
As the interest grows in my chest, I wonder if I could be that strong, how will I become?
***