CHAPTER 34: Speed against strength

                                    

                                          
Word count: 1192
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Strength against strength.
Speed against speed.
Strength against speed.
Who wins?
The one who can kick you till death?
Or the one who can take you by surprise and kill you by a single slash?
~
Kirumi may have polished her five senses when training to become a demon slayer...
She may have trained, just for the sake of it, even when she was sick or tired
When she was younger, it was only out of fun. What she learnt was just like learning to walk...
It wasn't something she thought would be for the greater good. It wasn't something she thought would make her stronger. It wasn't something she thought would make her special
It all just started when she saw water flowing from the sword of a swordsman...
And it could all end... with the light of the moon flashing in front of her eyes...
~
She was tired of it... She was tired of bad things happening to her
There wouldn't be a day when she could just stay calm... And not feel like she would die the night after...
There wouldn't be a night when she would trust herself... or anyone else to keep her safe...
That didn't exist anymore...
In fact... It never existed.
When she had people to keep her safe... She never thought danger existed...
And when she slowly drifted away from the people who could keep her safe...
Danger filled all of her thoughts...
~
Light Breathing...
A breathing derived from water breathing, and partly derived from insect breathing.
A breathing that Kirumi created... After she lost hope that she would ever get to polish the water breathing forms...
Because she had no one to teach her...
It started with damping her sword in poison...
Then, it all just made her realize... Water breathing was not for her. It was a breathing that she could not keep learning anymore.
And at some point... Kirumi grew tired of it...
She wasn't conscious about it… But when she created light breathing... she just wanted to surpass someone.
She just wanted to be able to win against someone... And not get taken by surprise.


Speed against strength


From her point of view... 
Speed wins.
Speed gives you strength... and it's easier to take people by surprise.
If you were fast enough... you could dodge hundreds of attacks... And attack, when someone least expects it...




But it wasn't only a matter of that...
If you were smart enough... You would be able to win...
You would be able to survive...
Light Breathing was created for that purpose... To be able to surprise the opponent... and confuse them