I'm not Muzan Kibutsuji!

Chapter three: Final Selection

Final selection. A week in hell if you aren't prepared. It had been drilled into Masaru's brain, and he knew that as he runned aimlessly through the forest. Yurei, or Sensei, as Masaru would call him, had given Masaru some pretty simply directions: Run until you see a village, ask someone there where the selection is, go to the selection.

For some, Final selection was rather close, but Yurei's house was far away from the forested area where the selection took place. It was about a days travel for an experienced slayer, but Masaru wasn't one of those. Masaru had to run all the way to the village, despite the long distance, because he wouldn't make it. Admittedly, he could have gone earlier, but Masaru hadn't yet mastered an important wind breathing form, and his Sensei wanted him to be fully ready.

He ran for hours, just barely getting to the village by nightfall. He only had the clothes on his back, the sword at his side, and some yen to buy anything he felt necessary from the village. He entered into the small village, looking around. There were a few others about his age who looked similarly confused. He suspected these people were likely other slayers, but it didn't matter to him.

Masaru might have needed sleep, but first he needed a hat. Fortunately for him, Masaru was in a village that happened to be selling straw hats. He used the yen he had to buy it, before stopping at a small inn to stay the night. He decided to wear the hat during the selection in the morning so no one decided that he couldn't because.. yknow, looking like the king of demons.

Masaru really wanted to punch that guy in the face for causing him so much trouble. Like this guy is the only reason demons exist, and this guy is hated by everyone, and Masaru would not like to be stabbed by people thinking they're getting Muzan. So, Big hat, it covers his eyes, no more nichiren through his neck! Masaru counts not getting decapitated as a win, because everything else about his situation kinda sucked.

Masaru had a nice dream about getting stabbed by his fellow slayers, before getting up and having some breakfast. He ate quickly, before heading towards the selection. You see, selection wasn't in this village, it was about a day's walk from it. Yurei had just told him to go there because For as much as Masaru trained, he was yet to be one with the wind—he couldn't travel there in one day, and even if he could, Masaru would need to get something to cover his face.

Yurei had told him many times before he left to cover his eyes in a way that didn't make him suspicious, so his hat was perfect for this.

He ran through the forests for hours, taking the occasional break for air, stopping for lunch, and eventually, getting there. As he reached the top of the mountain where selection was held, he noticed the wisteria trees all around. Masaru thought they were beautiful as he slowed and finally reached the area with other slayers.

There were several he made note of, mostly because of their interesting styles. Masaru was never good with faces, probably because he wasn't often looked in the eyes, but he could remember quirks in outfits and hair colors.. There was a boy with a strange mask, a girl with a butterfly pin, a man with painfully bright yellow hair, and a few other strange individuals.

The strange twins told all the slayers to go, so Masaru ran like the wind, into the wisteria forest, and towards the demons that Masaru had spent the last few months preparing to kill.

Masaru eventually came to a clearing within the trees. He stopped running, and looked around as he walked through the clearing. He let his thoughts wander as he watched the sky darken. Does becoming a demon make you lose your humanity, or is it the lack of empathy that does? Masaru knew, more than anyone, how cruel human beings could be. He wasn't kicked out of his village for stealing or crimes, he was kicked out for his appearance.

If a demon didn't kill any humans, or regretted their actions and wanted to change, would Masaru have to kill them despite that? Then again, most Demons became beasts—they no longer knew who they were, or at least, that's what Yurei said. Night fell, and Masaru found his first demon. The demon was inhuman, a terrifying creature that only slightly resembled a human being. Masaru breathed, calming himself, before charging at the demon.

He used the sixth form to quickly slash up at the demon, swiftly Cutting it in half. The demon cried out in pain, and Masaru couldn't help but feel a quick flash of remorse as he cut the demon's head off. Wind breathing was erratic and violent, quick and unmerciful. Masaru watched as the demon decayed, sighing, and tipping his hat to the vanishing remains.

————-

Masaru cut through a few other demons, all weak. Throughout the last three nights, he had killed 7-8 demons, and saved 2 other slayers, a young man slightly older then himself, and a younger girl who had run into trouble.

He kindly told the man a year or two older then him to go down the mountain after he admitted to being unable to kill demons with his breath, and wished the young girl a bid goodbye and to use the trees to her advantage. She was talented, but small and inexperienced. Masaru hoped she lived through the nights.

He eventually stopped to rest in a large wisteria tree trunk as the sun set, marking the fourth night. He was tired and a little hungry, but he still had some rations he bought in the town with his hat, so he couldn't be too mad. He sat on the tree, again lost in thought, when he heard a demonic screech in the nearby patch of forest, and... water, maybe?

Masaru didn't know nor care as he bolted towards the noise. He came upon a clear lint in the woods where a boy(the one with the strange mask from before) was fighting a demon. This demon, Masaru noted, was speaking to him, bragging about the 4 humans she killed and ate, as the mask boy seemed to grow more and more upset. The demon disappeared from his sight, and Masaru realized she was planning a sneak attack from behind, quickly spotting her hiding in a nearby tree.

Masaru saw no hurt in helping out, so he muttered one of his forms as he slashed through the demon with violent slashed of wind. He hadn't killed her, but she was injured badly, which gave the mask boy enough time to recover from his shock and kill the demon with a water form. Masaru watched the but quickly pray over the body, wondering if he was religious, before turning to leave.

The Mask-Boy called out to him "Wait, Sir!" Masaru stopped, not looking back for fear his hat might not be enough. "Thank you for helping me out, I'm Tanjiro Kamado!" The Mask Boy—Tanjiro seemed happy, despite Masaru leaving his sights after that.

Masaru did feel a little bad for ghosting the kid, who looked about his age, but he really didn't want to get murdered by some spiteful guy who thought he was Muzan, so... he decided to just go. Selection passed quickly after that, the next three days whirling by. Masaru cut through demons, saved another few slayers, and made sure to keep moving.

Eventually, the morning of the eighth day arrived and Masaru found his way back to the clearing where they had come into the selection from. He was shocked at the lack of people, only the ones surviving being the mask boy, yellow boy, butterfly girl, and an angry looking fellow, along with himself. There were roughly a hundred people, weaned down to five. Masaru just hoped that the few he told to leave actually did before they got themselves killed.

The creepy twins congratulated all of them, welcoming them to the corps. Masaru felt slightly unnerved as he walked towards the table with ores, picking out one he thought looked reliable. The angry boy had grabbed one of the twins, and the mask- no, Tanjiro stopped him. Masaru watched with a hint of curiosity as the scene played out in front of him. Eventually Tanjiro got the angry boy to stop, with a display of surprising strength.

Tanjiro called out to him again as he was leaving. "Uhm, hat person, thanks again for helping me!" Since Masaru was leaving anyways, he turned around,seeing Tanjiro wave, and waved back, and making eye contact with the boy.

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he noticed the red eyes boring into him. Masaru tipped his hat, leaving Tanjiro in the middle of the selection, confused as hell. Masaru smelled human.. but those eyes were a tell-tale sign of a demon. Plus the hat? To hide from the sun? Tanjiro was snapped out of his inquiries with a tap from one of the twins.

Just who was that boy, with long hair and the straw hat..?