Chapter Text
Hanako Zilina breathed.
She gasped, and her body wracked with pain. Each inhale was a struggle, and she wasn't sure if her lungs would cooperate for another one. Medical devices beeped loudly beside her, signaling the urgency of her situation to the medical team who rushed to her room.
"BP 55/40, heart rate 56."
"We're losing her, doc!"
As the voices around her grew louder, Hanako's mind became fuzzy and disoriented. Black dots began to dot the edges of her vision, and with a soft sigh drowned out by the flurry of medical instructions, her eyes fluttered closed.
A sharp beep echoed in the Intensive Care Unit.
"Cardiac arrest!"
"Get me the–"
The sounds cut off, and so did the rest of her senses. Hanako felt weightless as she floated in the dark. There was no pain, no sensation, just her thoughts. An emotion overwhelmed her, indescribable with words but familiar. It had always been there, deep in her mind, buried under thoughts of winning, getting stronger, winning the Olympic gold medal. But now those ambitions seemed pointless, and the black emptiness stared back at her.
No one came for her. There were no soothing words, no assurances, and no forgiveness. No gentle hands to hold her and guide her to the other side.
A bitter smile crept onto her lips.
I chose this. I regret nothing. Tears threatened to fall, but she held them back, as she had so many times in her short life.
It was just a fleeting thought, and a greedy one. A thought that reincarnation would be nice. If she could hold on to her memories, the lessons she had learned, she could do better.
She wanted to do better. That was what she had been doing all her life—aiming to be stronger, faster, and better. She could be so much better if illness did not hold her back.
One more chance.
As if sensing her thoughts, the darkness swallowed her whole without warning, and she knew no more.
In the Intensive Care Unit of Toronto General Hospital, Hanako Zilina stopped breathing.
**********
Wake up.
Hanako stirred.
What was that? She was so tired. There were no medical scans scheduled in the morning and -
Wake up, Makomo!
Irritation bubbled in her chest. Not only were the nurses trying to wake her up, they got the wrong patient. This kid …
Why did the nurse sound like a kid?
"WAKE UP, MAKOMO! RUN!"
Hanako jolted awake and snapped her head toward the source of the voice.
A sharp pain throbbed on her forehead, and she winced. There was something wet on her face. It was dark around her, and she couldn't see well. She heard a soft gurgle, a thud, and some shuffling.
Then, crack.
Hanako knew that sickening sound. It was a sound that she was unfortunately familiar with from training on hard ice every day. Skaters who do not land their jumps well sometimes break some parts of themselves, and Hanako had supported her training mates to the benches more than once.
Crack. As her eyes adjusted to the light and her vision sharpened, she could make out a silhouette of something humanoid, hunched over a -
Hanako's blood chilled.
That Thing had a human leg in its jaws, cracking apart bones while it chomped away, blood spurting in rivulets. It looked like a poor imitation of a human, with feral eyes, fangs, claws, and a disproportionately huge torso. On the ground, a young teenage boy lay dead, his blue, lifeless eyes glazed over.
Crack. There was blood and bone and marrow everywhere, and Hanako felt something sticky land on her face. A thick, coppery smell assaulted her nose, and the goop felt warm, as if the boy was still alive minutes ago.
Hanako wanted to bowl over and throw up, but her whole body was frozen on the spot. She could do nothing but stare as the Thing slowly tore its victim apart and ate. Then, as if remembering something, it lifted its head and turned to her, its neck making a creaking sound as it turned at an unnatural angle.
"Don't worry… dear daughter," It spoke with a rough, grating voice, too many teeth and fangs showing in a lopsided smile. "Live within me, and I will keep you safe."
Hanako’s mind screeched to a halt.
Hell no.
Some part of her brain snapped into action. Mental faculties began kicking in again, and Hanako felt her body responding to her will, so she moved. She wasn't turning into dinner for this monster.
She did a visual sweep of the room, taking in the small hut she was in and the monster blocking the front door. That, however, was not the only entrance. She leapt to the side and stepped on a low table that was close enough to an open window, then turned on her heels and angled herself towards it. She jumped again, her small hands grabbing the window frame, and swung her body and her legs through it.
She tried to land with a crouch, but miscalculated the distance and sprawled over. At the back of her mind, something nudged at her that her body felt wrong and that a simple landing as such should not have troubled her, but she ignored it in favour of picking herself up and scanning her surroundings. The cold air hit her; the weather was colder than usual. She could see some snow falling. She took in the steep mountainous terrain, surrounded by forestation. A small, winding road was there, but she figured if she took the easy way, it would also make the monster’s work of capturing her easier.
Taking a breath, she dived into the bushes and slid downhill. When she reached a gentler slope, she ran. Her movements were clumsy, and she could hardly see in the dark. Relying only on the moonlight, she kept going, shaking the monster off was the only goal in her mind. She began noticing that her reach was shorter than she was used to and that her hands and feet seemed smaller.
Wasn't she dying in a hospital? How could she move like this?
She had no time to mull over it, though. She wove herself between dense vegetation, adjusting her footing every now and then to avoid sliding off a slope that was too steep.
Back in the hut, the monster put down the arm that it was devouring. He would come back for his son, but he wanted his daughter back. He crawled out of the hut and sniffed the air. The smell of blood was easy to track for a demon, and this one was no different. Widening his footing, he readied himself and shot forward, diving into the route she had taken.
Hanako heard the monster barreling through before she saw him, and she made a sharp turn as it slammed into where she would have been had she not changed course. Her eyes widened as she saw the tree trunk break like toothpicks.
With that kind of strength, she would be smashed to bits from impact alone. Hanako narrowly dodged a swipe and winced as the monster bore a hole through the tree beside her. That move got him stuck in said tree, and she scrambled away while he pulled himself free, putting some distance between them.
Think, think! She urged herself. The monster is obviously strong and fast, but it relies too much on both. Perhaps some movements that require physical coordination will slow it down?
Hanako began to sprint in zig-zag lines and sharp angles, searching for narrower spaces and weaving herself between them. Keeping it up for a few minutes, she dared herself to turn briefly to check and saw that she was right—the monster was indeed getting stuck between trees and thick vines, and she was gaining some distance. She'll keep this up and pull the distance, and then -
Hanako skidded to a halt as she ran out into a clearing, the forest opening up to gushing rapids.
"Oh God…" she murmured, frantic. The rapids look violent and dangerous, with drops and waves ahead. Going in might mean death-
A crash reverberated through the clearing, the sound far too loud and too close for comfort.
-but staying put would be death.
There was no time for hesitation. By the time the monster crashed through the clearing, all he saw were streaks of blood that ended at the bank of the rapids.
********
The freezing cold water shocked her and it took all her energy to stay conscious and afloat. Hanako considered herself a half-decent swimmer, having done some cross training, but getting dragged by waves and avoiding getting hit by rocks was more flailing than swimming. There were quick drops and sharp turns in the current and she was pulled underwater several times, but she somehow managed to keep her head above water long enough to take another breath. A particularly strong current smashed her into a large rock, and she managed to cushion the blow to her head and torso with her arms, but her right arm burned, and as she moved to escape more boulders, it responded with agonising waves of pain.
Hanako did not know how long she struggled in the water, but the rapids gradually mellowed down as it ran downstream, and she eventually stopped fighting the currents and could manage to float. She did not want to stay too long in the water for fear that hypothermia would set in, so she swam to the bank and climbed out once it was possible for her to do so.
Shivering and clutching her right arm gingerly, she took a look at her surroundings. The forest here looked sparser, and if she looked hard enough, she could make out a small path that led down. It was barely there, but the grass and vegetation gave way enough to indicate that someone had been stepping on this trail regularly. And where there are people, there is help.
The banks of the river were way too open for her liking, and she wouldn't stay there. It offered a clear view of the sky, the entire terrain of the mountainous area, and a waterfall ahead. The sight was beautiful, with snow quietly falling and blanketing the surroundings in white. She could see the sky slowly turning blue. She knew streaks of red would follow soon, signaling the break of dawn. If she weren't half-frozen and trying to run away from a literal monster who wanted to devour her, she would have appreciated the sight more.
As it was now, she turned towards the forest and followed the almost invisible path.
The path led her inward into the forest, and then it widened and took a straightforward line downwards. The incline was steep, and with the snow, it became more slippery, so Hanako watched her steps. It looked like the stretch of the river she had stopped at was a stopping point where travellers deliberately veered off course, perhaps to get some water and rest, for the rest of the trail led deep into the heart of the forest.
Hanako felt that she should be moving faster, but honestly, she couldn't. She was starting to feel dizzy. Though she hadn't checked her wounds much, she knew she had one on her head. It had been throbbing from the beginning, and she was getting a headache from it. She also knew it was bleeding. She felt hot and cold at the same time, shivering from being drenched in cold water and walking in sub-zero temperatures, but she could also feel a fever burning up. Her whole body was sore from a night of running; she knew it was purely adrenaline and survival instincts that had powered her through. Her right arm hung limply, bent at an odd angle. The searing pain had dulled to numbness, but her arm was swelling. Hanako was certain that she had broken a bone.
She needed to get help urgently. Hanako staggered down the path, now blanketed in white, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.
It was a good thing her focus was on the ground because hidden in the snow was a rope that lay across the path. If she hadn't been going slow and watching her steps, she would have tripped over it.
She didn't give it much thought and crossed over the rope. The fact that someone bothered to tie something there showed that there was human activity, and god, she needed to meet someone soon who could hopefully help her call an ambulance and take her to the hospital. She would figure out how she ended up in this terrifying situation later.
The large hole camouflaged in straw mats and snow would have been really hard to spot if she were going fast. Hanako briefly wondered what a trap like this was doing here and whether she had stepped into some sort of hunting zone. Her musings were cut short when she tripped over a thin wire completely covered by the snow, and a freaking log swung at her. It hit her squarely on her right arm. Pain exploded, and she screamed, dropping to the ground.
Holding her arm and begging it to stop hurting, she curled into herself and sobbed. The pain was quickly replaced with anger.
Who did that? Who in the right frame of mind would booby trap a mountain? What kind of place had she stepped into, and what the hell -
“There you are, my daughter.”
Hanako froze.
Drip. Something landed on the top of her head.
“You should not wander at night; it's not safe.”
Drip. She could make out the shadows towering over her.
“For your bad behaviour…”
Drip. Shaking from fear and exhaustion, she turned and looked up. The monster’s face stared back at her. Up close, she could see its green skin, balding head, and sunken cheeks. Its breath breathed down on Hanako, hot and steamy in the cold. It wore a smile that looked absolutely delighted to see Hanako, but there was no kindness in its eyes. Saliva dripped from its long tongue, like a wild dog moments before a meal. The monster grinned, its eyes shining with maniacal glee.
“I will eat you alive! I will rip out your limbs one by one, so you feel the punishment of disobeying your parents!”
Hanako screamed and squeezed her eyes shut, covering her head with her good arm. This is it. She couldn’t dodge the monster, not when it was so close to her. She waited for the pain to hit her, for her blood to spill.
She heard a soft thud, and then nothing.
Taking a small peek between her fingers, she was befuddled to see a man in a light blue kimono crouching over her. He gripped a katana tightly in his right hand. He was facing the monster, and the monster -
- The monster was headless.
She saw the head a short distance away, slowly disintegrating into ash. The bottom half of its face was gone, so Hanako only saw its eyes.
Its eyes had turned a beautiful gradient shade of pale blue, looking more human than she had seen the entire night. Its eyes spoke of sorrow and regret as tears flowed down its cheeks.
“Makomo… father… is sorry…”
With those last words, the head disintegrated completely. Its body followed suit. There was silence in the forest as Hanako stared at the spot where the head once was.
Sadness clung in the air after it was gone, stifling and heavy. Had this monster mistaken her for its daughter?
She jumped when the man in front of her moved to sheathe his katana. Sensing her tension, he slowed down his movements, making a slow, deliberate turn to face her.
Hanako took a sharp intake of breath.
Red tengu mask. Katana. Elderly man wearing a light blue kimono decorated with clouds.
Hanako stared at Sakonji Urokodaki. While her unfortunate encounter began to make sense, she was also starting to doubt her sanity.
Why was she in the world of Demon Slayers?