Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

The difference between friends and enemies seems subtle, like neighbors separated only by a wall, or like brothers—not just close, but very similar. Closer than most relationships.

Rinko realized it too late.

Sometimes, the latter relationship may even surpass the former.

Just like you know your enemy, are familiar with his every move, understand his style of doing things, know his personality traits, and remember his voice, appearance, smell, and actions, you always talk, or rather, argue. Your thoughts come into contact and collide, but you can't reach a consensus, so in the end you can only start a battle.

The relationship between you is so simple and pure, it would only take one of you to die, yet it is subtly unbreakable, like the most unfamiliar yet most familiar people.

But friends are different. You may meet once, get to know each other, and after many more meetings, you may spend a long time getting to know each other, experiencing all the stories together, leaving behind beautiful memories, and making vows that seem like they will never be forgotten.

It's as if, through the passage of time, you've become an indispensable part of each other's lives.

But this does not mean that your relationship has become stronger.

On the contrary, it is terribly fragile.

Building a beautiful bond requires a lot of effort, just like weaving a beautiful web, which requires the spider to spend time, effort, and hard work, but destroying it only takes a rain or a fire.

Time can neither prove anything nor leave anything behind. Rinko understands this better than any human being. As you travel along the long road of life, time will always give you something and take something away. You may not realize it, but you will always pay some price.

You might think you've got everything ready. But in reality, you might not even truly understand each other, what's the essence beneath the facade of friendship, what lies hidden beneath the human body, or what's behind the smile they show you. These are things you can't know until they drop their pretense and reveal their true colors.

Just like this moment.

There are too many things about Tanjiro that Rinko doesn't know—too many stories, too many secrets. He never knew them before, and he probably never will. In the end, there's probably no future for them.

What was going on in that head? What was he thinking? Why did Tanjiro, who used to be his friend, now turn against him with a blade? Why did Tanjiro suddenly become so powerful and strong in such a short time?

But he thought.

Ultimately, ghosts and humans may never be able to understand each other.

Even if he was unwilling to admit it, and didn't want to accept it, Doma might be right: no demon would be friends with food. Just like Muzan told him, demons and humans cannot be friends, but he didn't understand why before, and later he didn't believe it was impossible, so he tried again and again, until now, he has lost completely.

He finally understood what those words meant. They weren't a contempt for his naivety, nor a reprimand for his recklessness; they were more like a sense of helplessness.

His childlike tolerance.

Demons cannot be friends with humans because they cannot understand each other. Even if Rinko tries to be friendly to his human friends, he will never truly gain their trust. He is a demon, and they are human. So even if Rinko doesn't consider his friends as food, to humans who are constantly hunted by demons, demons are demons. Humans will always be on their menu. Just because they don't eat them now doesn't mean they won't eat them in the future. Just because they never eat in front of them doesn't mean they won't eat them in the future. Trust cannot withstand the test.

A ghost is always a ghost; it is not human, cannot become human, and cannot truly gain a person's trust.

But what is the difference between humans and ghosts?

Is it big? Yes, it is. But is it really that big? Compared to other species and humans, it doesn't seem that big. Humans are perhaps like sick ghosts, unable to eat meat and needing to eat too many other things to survive, but even so, their lifespan is not very long.

It's as if humans traded a long lifespan for the ability to live under the sun, and then gave up everything else.

Tanjiro is not actually a person who is not good at speaking. He is always very enthusiastic, at least in Rinko's memories.

Just not including now.

Rinko could understand Tanjiro's subtle silence, because many, many years ago, when he was not strong and when he was just a guy who could run away, he often faced such a situation: an opponent he could not defeat, a pursuit he could not escape, counterattacks were ineffective, and running away was useless.

Despair? Probably not. Distress? Of course, there is some.

The swung blades were constantly dodged. Tanjiro's stamina hadn't fully recovered. He must have faced other enemies before him. Who could it be? Rinko wondered, but it wasn't hard to guess. His clothes were torn, but there was no sign of wetness. There was blood, but no water—it wasn't Doma. The cuts in the torn clothes weren't clean, meaning his limbs were still intact. So it wasn't Kokushibo. There weren't many candidates left. Rinko recognized the scrapes as she dodged the blades and tilted her head.

It is Akaza.

"Have you already fought Akaza?"

It wasn't a question, but a statement of affirmation. Rinko had already reached a conclusion when she said it, so she wasn't bothered. Tanjiro swung his sword after taking a step, and the twisting of his waist and arm made the sword carry even more power. Each strike seemed to be faster and more ferocious than the last, which was incredible.

"Yes!"

So what's become of Akaza now? Is he alive or...?

A question that seemed unnecessary to ask was that both Tanjiro and Giyu were injured, mainly from falls, mostly abrasions, evidence of a battle, and the significant depletion of their stamina also proved that they had fought, and Akaza would not have let them leave after the fight.

and so.

Is he dead?

The idea popped into my head in an instant, a brief moment of distraction, but it was keenly caught.

"Yang Hua Su!"

The blade caught up suddenly, but what was even more sudden was the other blade that flashed in Rinko's peripheral vision as she tried to grab it with her hand.

"Water Breathing, Seventh Form, Shizuku Ripple Strike!"

Rinko is no stranger to the fastest form of Water Breathing. He knows Giyu is approaching, but he only looks at Tanjiro, who is trying to control him this time.

He gave a low, muffled laugh.

"Ah, you don't think that you failed because you couldn't control me just now, do you?"

The knife gradually approached from the edge of her vision until it came into direct view. Rinko raised her hand and precisely grabbed the knife. She used so much force that the blade sliced ​​through flesh, but it was caught by the hard bone and deflected towards the wall, losing its original accuracy.

It grazed my neck, leaving only a shallow bloodstain, but the wound healed as the blood splattered.

It's easy for a knife to be thrust in, but difficult to pull it out. Rinko gripped the knife tightly in his hand, and even with Giyu's strength, he couldn't break free immediately. The intention of that hand was obvious: to exert force on the side of the knife, trying to break it.

"It's unbelievable that you two actually think you can cut off my head? While I find your progress incredible, I'm even more surprised that you could even have such thoughts."

Tanjiro realized this and immediately pulled his hand back to draw his sword outwards, but the blade that had pierced his body was tightly gripped by his other hand, preventing him from pulling it out immediately.

"I will cut off your head, not just yours, but Muzan's too. Tonight, we will be the ones who win!"

Tanjiro gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his voice barely audible, as if he were gritting his teeth.

"Delusion."

A brief restraint was enough; the sword, already cracked in its battle with Akaza, shattered completely in this exertion.

The broken blade was almost immediately flung towards Giyu, who quickly dodged it, the blade piercing through the wall and disappearing into the distance.

The broken sword was still gripped tightly, and while dodging, he used the posture to turn around and launch another attack.

"The breath of water, the second form, the waterwheel."

This time, the target wasn't the head, but the hand gripping Tanjiro's sword. The sword was slashed precisely along the joint, the hand slipping out of control, and Tanjiro finally had a chance to pull the sword out completely.

"Round dance!"

What an idiot.

Rinko watched expressionlessly as the two swords left his body, giving him another chance to attack. But just as quickly, he was no longer restricted. The two swords chased after him, and Rinko slid down along the wall, crouching down to dodge the first combined attack. He then used the opportunity to jump and dodge the second attack.

"You're wrong. Tonight, you'll be the ones who die."

The boy's voice said this as he raised his hand to unleash the Blood Demon Spell.