Tatsuki hysterically awoke in a cold sweat, his body jumping up from his mat.
"Why do I keep having that damn dream!" Tatsuki said to himself, while clenching his heart.
But as the boy was getting his bearings together, the soft glow of dawn peeked through the shoji.
I need to calm down. What's done is done. And that creature—no, that demon—is dead, Tatsuki reaffirmed to himself, as he thought of the beast that had left a permanent mark on the boy.
His left shoulder, viciously ripped into by the demon's barbaric claws, the wound still bleeding through the multiple layers of thin bandages.
Tatsuki let the pain of the wound overtake him for a minute, as the sudden jolt he made caused an intense, stabbing pain to overtake him.
If that demon wasn't already dead, I would kill him myself!
Rat-tat-tat.
The sound of soft knocking echoed through the wooden room as someone announced their presence.
"Come, co-me in…" Tatsuki murmured, while fighting through his injury.
"Are, are you ok?" a quaint feminine voice asked through the door.
"Yes, I'm fine," Tatsuki responded, gritting his teeth.
With this approval, the young girl opened the shoji, a small bowl of soup steaming within her hands.
"I brought you breakfast," the girl said politely while bowing, her big light blue eyes contrasting her pristine white yukata.
"Thank you, Mono," Tatsuki said, smiling softly and giving her a slight nod.
Mono had been taking care of Tatsuki since he had come to the estate, and to Tatsuki, she was already one of the nicest people he had ever encountered.
She had always brought him his food with a smile and changed his bandages daily.
It was a strange thing to Tatsuki, as he had never experienced someone regularly checking in and assisting him—even if that assistance was something she was told to do.
"How's the shoulder? Do I need to rewrap it?"
"Yeah, it's starting to bleed through again," Tatsuki replied, his earlier incident causing the wound to reopen.
"You really need to stop moving so much or the wound won't heal," Mono said, trying to sound stern, though it came off rather quaint.
"I know, I know," Tatsuki replied, a humored smirk on his face.
"Anyway, I came to ask… are you going to accept the master's offer? I know it's none of my business, but I was just curious."
"No, it's fine. I'm pretty certain on my answer."
"Oh, well that's good at least," Mono responded as she began to unwrap his wound, not trying to push the topic any further.
Tatsuki simply began to eat as the petite girl continued to wrap his bandage, their conversation ending rather awkwardly and abruptly.
But after about twenty minutes of awkward silence, Mono took his bowl and old bandages and left the solitary wooden box Tatsuki found himself living in—for the time being.
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The day passed as it usually did for Tatsuki—rather tedious and boring—as he sat, longingly looking up at the wooden ceiling, trying to analyze anything mildly interesting around him.
Though after a week of sitting in the room, it had become rather hard for him to find anything new to stimulate his mind with.
So today's the day that Mr. Sachio asks me the big question, huh? So much thought and buildup for such a simple one-word answer, Tatsuki thought to himself.
Though one-word answers are usually either the most mundane or extreme questions one might face in life—such as answering if they wanted breakfast, or being asked if they wanted to run away and start over again.
An interesting thought with no real substance behind it, Tatsuki pondered to himself, trying to keep his mind busy from all the anticipation.
But only a few minutes after this thought, a rather abrupt knock came from the shōji, a small man's silhouette reflecting off the door as the sun hit it directly.
And without even waiting for a response, Master Sachio walked in, his footsteps eerily quiet on the hardwood flooring.
This was the first time in the week since Tatsuki had been given the offer that he had seen the master of the estate.
He would usually send Mono in his place when it came to duties involving Tatsuki.
And as if they had never stopped their conversation from before, Mr. Sachio asked the only question on Tatsuki's mind.
"Have you taken up my offer, child?" the old man said abruptly. His lack of an opener made Tatsuki feel rather uncomfortable.
"Yes, sir, and I accept your offer gratefully," he responded, using the same falsely professional and sincere tone as with the merchant from Hinokiko.
Master Sachio simply stared at the boy in response, his old fading amber eyes staring him down like an owl.
He looked as if he was trying to examine him in some way, though Tatsuki couldn't understand what he was looking for—just that it was happening.
He really is strange, was all Tatsuki could think in that moment. The old man was unlike anyone he had ever met before.
From his nonexistent use of mannerisms to his lack of tact when it came to conversations, the man was like a statue in human form, whose only purpose was to be as efficient as possible.
"Very well," Master Sachio responded after a long pause of deliberation.
"Though first, you must agree to my conditions, and I must tell you what it means to take up arms against a demon—by my oath as a cultivator and a former Kinoe," the Master said with the intensity of a great storm.
"I understand," Tatsuki said while bowing respectfully—or at least as much as he could with his injury.
"First, you will train under me, Takeshi Sachio. You will represent the Sachio family and will take up its name. Your past self is no more!"
"I understand, Master."
"Second, you will be broken and destroyed until you are rebuilt into a man whose only purpose is to kill demons. This is your life's duty!"
"I understand, Master."
"Third, when it is time and you have been rebuilt, you will become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, whom the Sachio serve to slay demons!"
"I understand, Master."
"Fourth, you will train with your new brothers and sisters and will live and die for them. This is the way of our family!"
"I understand, Master."
"Fifth, your life is forfeit to me at any time, and you may likely die in battle or training. Am I understood?"
"I understand, Master."
The weight of Master Sachio's words hung on Tatsuki, as his newly acquired master and family head had just shown more emotion in that brief conversation than he would ever see from him again.
"Then with great honor, I grant you the name Tatsuki Sachio."
With that grand oath, the Master left as abruptly as he had come.
But as he did so, Tatsuki could only imagine the oath he had taken up, and only now did he realize how serious a commitment he had just made.
He had just had his entire identity changed—which was one of the parts he didn't mind. In fact, he was thrilled by that.
Between the multiple crimes he had committed and the different names he had gone by, to be part of a larger family—one that clearly had riches—was probably the best outcome he could've gotten.
Though begrudgingly, it was at the cost of his freedom, and he had now signed away his life to this "Demon Slayer Corps," which was apparently an organization that slaughtered demonic beasts that were superhuman.
What a hellish nightmare of a job—one not to be taken lightly.
Though maybe—just maybe—if I learn how these people combat these creatures, I can become well-known and wealthy and have my name immortalized.
It was a decision that had taken him multiple days of contemplation and deliberation, but he had accepted his conditions and he didn't plan on leaving .
In a few months' time, after he was done healing, Tatsuki would start his official training to become a demon slayer.
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"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16
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