The girl awoke the next morning to a bath of blazing sunshine and sweet zephyrs of spring caressing her no longer chapped skin — conditions that her a week ago could've only dreamed of experiencing.

She rose from her bed in the quietest manner possible, scanning her surroundings. E/C eyes locked onto on a hot cup of green tea that had been placed next to her bed, and for a few minutes, she absentmindedly watched the wisps of steam rise into the air and dissipate.

She inhaled softly. It smelled of home.

Yet, this wasn't home.

Nothing would ever be home.

She continued staring vacantly at the plumes. It was a habit she had developed in her time in the forests — focusing on one thing with her eyes, yet allowing her thoughts to linger somewhere else. It was quite an effective way to make hours and days fly by.

A few minutes ticked by in quietude before she finally grabbed the cup out of impulse and took a small sip. The searing hot tea nearly burned her throat but she still continued to clutch it in her hands gratefully, allowing herself to indulge in the beauty of an ephemeral moment.

Her hazy vision had cleared now, for the heat had shocked her senses back into working condition. The world, every color in pure vibrancy, came into focus.

No longer were her surroundings a dull haze of monochromatic blur. Now, as she lifted her gaze from the cup and averted it to the open windows, she saw nothing but picturesque scenery — works of art crafted by the gentle hands of Mother Nature.

Gorgeous, she thought, a smile making its way onto her lips.

But as if there wasn't enough color already, the door suddenly flung open (it was nearly ripped off its hinges) and in the doorframe stood a man with flaming hair, and flaming hair in a quite literal sense. His hair, separated into spiky locks, all in shades of brilliant red in orange, gave off the illusion that it was lit on fire.

"So you must be Y/N? The girl the Love and Insect Pillars found in the forest?" he asked loudly.

More Hashira, she thought with a pang of reluctance.

And so the doubt and worry from yesterday came flooding back — the feelings she had tried her best to keep secret — while the vitality faded away. Life was short-lived, and even more so were moments like these.

She knew, despite being the Hashira, humanity's most valued protectors, a demise or two happened. All the time. And her brother had been unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfires of fate and war.

Would this organization truly take her in as one of theirs... and if they did, would they leave her to die before her trust could waver like it was doing now?

Was it worth it to lay her life, her future, and her revenge in their hands?

"Uh, Miss Y/N?" the man asked again, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh." Y/N replied. "Yes, I'm me. I mean, her. Uh, I'm Y/N. Yeah."

She stared.

He stared.

"Shinobu and Mitsuri have told me about you. I'm Kyojuro Rengoku, by the way." the stranger said, awkwardly shoving his outstretched hand in her face. A grin spread across his face.

Y/N tried to smile and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you. Are you a Hashira?"

"Indeed I am!" Rengoku replied cheerfully. "I'm the Flame Hashira, and because Shinobu and Mitsuri are on missions, I'll be explaining to you how our agency works."

The girl hesitated. "Right."

Rengoku looked at her intently. Pity quickly flashed in his eyes before they returned to its former self, and a sigh escaped his lips. "Ah, Y/N. I understand." he said slowly. "Shinobu warned me of this. You don't have faith in us, do you?"

Y/N shrugged, trying to mask her shock. "I don't know."

Rengoku laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, and time seemed to slow down. "Y/N. It'll be okay. You are a girl with abilities like no other civilian; at least that's what Kocho's experiments tell us. Our organization, our lives — they've all been devoted to fighting those horrid demons. We'll keep you safe, but you must place the smallest ounce of hope in our foundation as a start."

"Shinobu experimented on me?"

"That's not the point." Rengoku muttered, massaging his forehead. This girl wasn't too easy to faze. "Well, yes, but it was only to get blood samples and see how we can heal you and your cells quicker. Now, we don't ask much. Just for you to trust us."

Y/N didn't have the heart to say that it was easier said than done. She was caught between threads of destiny, woven through each other and knitted so tightly that they would never be undone. She was going to be a Demon Slayer, no matter what; yet, the price she had to pay would be a gamble, for success and failure lay on a very thin line. One wrong move would send her tumbling down a chasm, where her very own life would be robbed from her.

"It's not that.. simple," she said quietly, lowering her head.

The Hashira were meant to prevent those tumbles and falls into Death's cemetery — but what happened when one of their own were hanging from that line? They had failed to protect her brother, so there were possibilities that they would fail to protect her, too. And if they did, her family wouldn't have anyone to avenge them: a reality that she couldn't bring herself to imagine.

Rengoku seemed to be unnervingly good at voicing thoughts, because he then spoke up. "Kocho and Kanroji talked with the head of the 'Corps, and he advised you to stay at this place, the Butterfly Mansion, for a week while all the Hashira return from their missions. In seven days, both you and the Pillars will decide whether you stay or leave. Does that sound okay?"

Y/N nodded subtly.

"Also, I too find it odd. How do you have such strength? Any other civilian wouldn't be able to stay alive for more than a week while sustaining injures of that degree. Do you perhaps have any siblings?"

Memories of her parents, blood and bone oozing out of their icy, still bodies resurfaced, along with the terrifying sensation of not being able to find her brother's body.

"No. I'm an only child." she lied.

"Interesting." Rengoku mused, curiously running a hand through his way-too-vivid hair (she was wishing for sunglasses during the whole conversation). "Oh well. Do you want to get breakfast, then? The Water Hashira, Giyuu Tomioka, will be returning from his mission near Cohome Lake in about an hour. He'll stay for lunch, but then I believe he has to depart once again to meet Kocho — they're going to a mission in a forest where an apparent Lower Moon was spotted."

He maintained a fairly healthy stream of conversation as he helped Y/N off her cot and walked together towards the area where the Kakushi made food.

It would be the lying if one said that Y/N had listened to every word the Hashira had rambled. But it would be the truth if one said that her mind was on something else.

If she gave this organization a chance, it would fulfill her dreams, or it would end in her ruination. Yet, she had cheated near-death once.

If she were to fall into that chasm, she would hang onto that line and drag everyone down with her.