Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Eira's eyes opened abruptly. The sun was only beginning to rise, fatigue quickly altered into anxiety, and Eira sat up swiftly. Today was the fateful day she'd meet the team appointed under her. As the morning light graced the environment with warmth, Eira's heart filled with a cold impending sense of doom in contrast. Every part of her body seemed to recoil against the very thought of having to talk to a whole group of people. Why did she think that every team member would immediately know her plan?

With a tough and hard gulp, Eira stood up and brushed herself off. She immediately sat down and put her hands to her head, a deep feeling of regret slowly pooled within her brain. Even though it wasn't cold, her bones shivered and she held herself. No. With a deep gasp of breath, She quickly shook her head and huffed as she stood up once again in a sudden surge of liveliness. 

In the dim corner of the room, the faint white feathers of Eira's Kasugai crow glistened, the crow's eyes tracked Eira as she began to unsteadily pace around the room. 

A loud squawk redirected Eira's attention. 

"We will depart in an hour," The crow's voice was still eerily uncanny, unlike the other Kasugai crows, the squawky sound of the voice was not as present. The hour deadline was beneficial in forcing Eira to get ready, effectively distracting herself from her thoughts.

As the time of departure slowly approached, Eira's stomach began to twist and turn with nervousness. The feeling continued throughout the entire scenic route towards the Ubuyashiki Mansion. Usually, a Demon Slayer would be blindfolded and carried to the Ubuyashiki Mansion, however, Hashiras were exempted from this process and were allowed to know the location. The shallowness of her breaths correlated with the distance from the mansion, as she etched closer to the large residence, her breaths became more and more shallow. 

The large mansion was surrounded by tall white walls, with small circular windows every few metres. The entire area had a very particular odour, the smell of the Wisteria bloom. Eira gulped hard as she walked close to the tall white walls, she was only metres away from the entrance archway. She felt as if she was about to faint. 

Inside the walls, a small congregation of about fifteen or so people all stood in small clusters, chatting amongst themselves. Within the group, there was a range of experience, ranks and breathing styles. The 'invite' for Eira's team had been sent out to approximately forty Corps Members, and from the forty, twenty-five had rejected the offer. 

"This is so exciting!" A Mizunoto, the lowest rank in the Corps, spoke with a bubbly mood. She was the youngest and the only one of that rank, yet she was extremely powerful with endless potential. 

Chatter seemed to die down as everyone redirected their attention to the entrance, the long-awaited Ice Hashira had finally arrived. Luscious blonde hair, paired with blue eyes, it was many people's first time seeing these features on someone. As Eira's eyes darted from person to person, she expelled an unspoken intensity from simply walking. Anyone who fell under Eira's gaze was subjected to a momentary sense of fear. Several members felt chills down their spine as if the temperature had suddenly dropped. Her presence was enough to make most of the team nervous. At least that's how it was from the team's perspective.

Internally, Eira's heart was pounding at an insane tempo, she had to physically restrict her teeth from chattering from anxiety. She took a deep breath and gripped her sword tightly as she studied the faces. There were so many people, so many different and distinct auras that danced independently. 

"I can't do this… Why did I do this? I should've stayed home," Eira's thoughts of regret spiralled as she studied all the different faces staring at her. All fifteen pairs of eyes stared at her, creating an uneasiness in her stomach.

"Hi! It's nice to meet you, I'm Yukina!" The Mizunoto girl was the first to step towards Eira and share a warm, wide smile. Yukina was slightly taller than Eira but for once, she didn't feel towered over. Yukina's brown hair shone in the soft sunlight. Eira was struck in the heart by this girl's aura colour. It was a mind-soothingly light yellow, if it was made into a candy it would likely be addicting. 

Everyone eagerly waited for Ice Hashira's response. 

"Nice to meet you, and everyone else," Eira returned the smile, she removed her hand from the hilt of her sword and extended it to Yukina. Something about Yukina's bubbliness made Eira's anxiety subside. Similarly, everyone else's tense nerves were calmed as Eira offered a friendly smile. 

The next ten or so minutes were interactions between the entire team and Eira. Organically, some sort of line had formed. Each person came up to Eira and introduced themselves as if it was a fan meet. 

After a quite calm ten minutes, Eira finally reached the last person. Just as she waved to the second-last, a sudden statement shocked her. 

"Remember me?" A deep voice broke Eira's concentration. It was the last person in the line. Eira's eyes widened as she looked at his towering figure, something definitely felt familiar. Jagged features and a certain crazed look in his eyes. If one word was used to describe him, it would be… red. His haori was deep red, with an intricate pattern. His hair was dark, perhaps it was the haori's influence, but Eira swore she could see a red tint, and even his eyes seemed to be a brown-red hue. 

It clicked. 

"Oh! We were in the same Final Selection!" Eira smiled brightly as her mind successfully remembered for once. He was one of the few people who she had actually noticed when she entered the Final Selection mountain. His appearance itself made it seem like he was a main character of some sort of fantasy story. 

"Nice to reunite, my name is Ayumu" His gentle tone heavily contrasted his fearsome appearance and rough aura. Eira returned the smile upon his face and shook his hand. 

"Yes, it's very nice to see you alive and well," Eira spoke with grace, hoping she could mirror the elegance of Ayumu. 

Eira cleared her throat as she gathered everyone's attention once more, her eyes searched for any area she could step on to elevate herself. She headed over to a lone bench next to a beautiful pond, as Eira stood on top of the bench to elevate herself, even the koi fish in the nearby pond seemed to turn towards her.

"I'm sure you all have been informed of the plan, and… realised the intensity of it. I want us to be on our feet as soon as possible, which means we must start the Wisteria Poison extraction as soon as possible," Eira spoke with an outstandingly firm and loud voice. She couldn't deny the weakness in her knees and the swirl in her stomach in response to the public speaking. 

"We already have the poison injections," Yukina raised her hand, speaking for everyone. "Lord Ubuyashiki gave them to us as we arrived over the last few days, he said they were the most potent as of recent technology. Made by none other than the Butterfly Hashira." 

Eira was taken aback as she studied everyone, how could she have missed the iron syringes on each of their waists? The syringes were filled with a light purple liquid, it couldn't have been more than 5 millimetres in each sygrine. A small amount, but lethal to demons, hopefully the effect was the same for Upper Moons. Eira was stumped for words, she had already mentally prepared for the arduous and delicate process, yet it had already been done for her.

She sensed it. 

Ubuyashiki's calm and gentle aura, her head turned to the building's highest point, where the wind seemed to perfectly sway and the sunlight became soft. Ubuyashiki's face, his nearly blind eyes filled with satisfaction and lips stretched with a smile. He had been hearing everything all along. 

Eira smiled as she stared at the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. She turned again to the formation of demon slayers.

"Well… We'll leave now then," Eira stepped off the bench and smiled at her team. The feeling of regret had subsided now, she was instead filled with hope and triumph. She continued to update the team on the tracking process, although splitting up into different factions would be more efficient, it would leave the team without Eira more vulnerable, therefore, the whole formation would move as one throughout areas picking up any intel. Eira had little idea of how she was going to find Upper Moon Three, but she had a handful of locations that the Corps had flagged for appearances. 

Once the sunlight fled the lands, and darkness began its violent rampage upon the land, Eira's newly formed team trekked through a dense forest. Their steps were silent as they observed all directions, this area was the latest flagged for sightings of a demon that matched Akaza's appearance. 

"Just to make sure, if we come across Upper Moon Three, we all scatter and you engage in combat?" Yukina's whisper shattered the silence that plagued the team. Eira gazed back at Yukina, who innocently awaited a response.

"Yes, I'm going to be the main distraction, I'll keep him occupied and you all attempt to inject the syringes. The more the better," Eira consolidated the plan for the hundredth time, "I just hope the Wisteria poison works like I want," 

A nervous atmosphere engulfed the forest as the sudden appearance of Akaza began to feel imminent. Every creak of bark, every rustle of leaves and sway of tree tops felt as if it was a dark warning. It was almost comedic the way everyone darted their eyes to any slight noise. 

Eira, however, knew better. It was the first night, she knew there would be a long process of collecting intel and pinpointing a location where they could find Akaza. She felt calmer than usual, nevertheless, the relentless ambition stayed stagnant in the back of her mind. Her ulterior goal was not out of her mind. 

If Akaza and Ali were as close as they seemed, there was no way Akaza wasn't informed of her. Eira studied the team's careful movements, there was no way they'd go along with her real plan. She needed a way to frame Kaze without the team knowing. Her mind was desolate of thought. 

"Do you hear that?" Yukina's voice rang out from several metres behind the forefront of the squad. All noise and movement stopped. Silence.

"Hear what?" A voice replied, everyone instinctively gripped their swords, yet let go once they remembered the plan. The idea of everyone unleashing their breathing style in an elemental typhoon was exciting, but the plan had to be followed. Instead, their fingers wrapped around the small syringes at their waists. 

Rustling became louder and louder, as well as loud panting. Something was approaching fast.