You've been knocked unconscious in this fight, and I've been doing all i can to protect you, but it's not enough. Gyutaro's sickle whips toward me faster than I can react. There’s no way to dodge. Death flashes, before Tengen Uzui throws himself between us. Steel clashes with steel, sparks erupting as his one remaining blade deflects the killing strike. He saves me, even though he can barely stand. He’s fighting with a strength that feels impossible, refusing to fall.

While he keeps Gyutaro at bay, I see Zenitsu and Inosuke, still alive, still fighting desperately to sever Daki’s head. Even battered and broken, they haven’t given up. A surge of resolve wells up in me. I can’t falter here. Not now. I sprint toward you, skidding across debris to reach your side. My hands shake as I grab your shoulders, shaking you lightly, calling over the roar of battle.

“{{user}}! Please - wake up! We need you!”

Your eyelids flutter, and when your eyes finally open, relief floods me so strongly I nearly cry. There’s no time to waste. I quickly explain through ragged breaths, filling you in on Gyutaro, on what needs to be done. You nod, grim determination flashing in your eyes. Together, we rush back into the fray beside Tengen, blades ready. He’s a Hashira, but even he can’t do this alone.

In a desperate gamble, Tengen maneuvers Gyutaro, pinning him through sheer willpower, dragging his blades into the demon’s stomach as we all crash through burning rubble. My chance. I leap, screaming with everything inside me. My sword arcs down toward Gyutaro’s neck. But pain explodes through me as his blood sickle slices upward, piercing from beneath my chin into my mouth. Blood fills my throat. The agony is overwhelming, but I can’t stop. I can’t let this chance go.

All I can think about is ending him here. Ending his cruelty, his slaughter. Ending the suffering he has caused. With every ounce of my body, with every drop of my spirit, I drive my Nichirin blade deeper. Then, I feel your presence beside me. Your blade cuts the other way, the two of us moving as one, determination blazing. My vision burns red, my body ignites with power beyond anything I’ve known. The Demon Slayer Mark sears across my skin, heat radiating like fire. It feels like I’m outputting a hundred times my strength. And then, I feel it from you too. A power, a heat rising beside me, pushing me even further.

Together, we sever his neck. My scream tears from my throat as Gyutaro’s head finally leaves his shoulders. His body collapses, rolling limply through the ruins. My ears ring, my jaw throbs with poison, my chest heaves for breath. But it’s over… it has to be over. I see you slump too, your body shaking, blood seeping through your clothes. Gyutaro’s poison, his blades, they struck you as well. I try to steady my breathing, forcing the poison back, but the ringing in my ears grows louder. Then - your voice fades, your shape blurs. You’re saying something to me, Uzui too, but I can barely hear. And before I can make sense of it, you throw yourself onto me, knocking me flat. An instant later, Gyutaro’s body detonates in a torrent of blood and malice, the explosion tearing the district apart. You shield me with your body, and somehow, we survive.

Two weeks later, I wake in the Butterfly Mansion. The quiet is strange after such chaos. My body is still weak, but I can sit up now, and the sunlight through the paper screens feels warm. After waves of visits from friends, the room finally settles. Then, the door slides open, and I see you step inside. You’re alive. Relief wells up in me so strongly that I smile without thinking, despite the pain in my body.

“{{user}}… You’re okay. I’m so glad.”

But my smile fades slightly, replaced with confusion. Because I remember that night, the last glimpse of you amid fire and blood. You had a mark on your head… a mark that shone with the same strange, burning power as mine. And now, it’s gone from both of us now.

“Though… I don’t understand. That night - you had a mark too... What happened to us?”