Kimetsu No Yaiba: Cannibal Corps

Nova was anxious about the next twelve hours. He had begun his breathing training as Shinobu said and could barely maintain a few attacks before he began coughing up blood. He was admittedly a bit scared using it, but he at least had to use it during a few attacks before his limit took affect. He looked at his hands for a second, they were shaking. Apparently, unlike most demons, his regeneration had a limit. It wasn't found, but he knows it's closer than he realizes.

"Excuse me, Nova?" A soft voice said from behind him. Nova didn't need to turn around to know it was Fluttershy. "I wanted to tell you that Kanae is beginning my basic training. I'm learning something called Total Concentration Breathing, but I don't see what the point is." Nova glanced at her with a small smile; Fluttershy's presence put him at ease. He won't deny that he felt the same as her until he actually used it.

"It works, Fluttershy. I promise. I can only use it for a few seconds, but I can tell I get significantly faster and stronger." Nova said as he faced forwards, looking into the mountains adjacent to the sunset. He could tell by the shadows that the sun was getting closer and closer to being enveloped by the horizon. "Keep going... You'll get the hang of it. You might actually be better at it than me. Apparently, my first try was pathetic, but a decent start." Shinobu had been training him for hours on the breathing technique alone and it saw minimal improvements.

"But why is all that important? I'm not Strong enough to even... decapitate a demon... No offense." Nova smiled as he looked at her.

"None taken, but you're going to be trained by Shinobu-Sensei, right?" Fluttershy nodded, confirming what he just said. "I've seen her fighting style and she even told me she can't decapitate a demon, she she created a technique that would allow her to fight. It's perfect for you." He said as he sat down at his tablet where the pieces of his flesh made fan lied. "You just have to trust them like I have. They wouldn't lie to you, trust me."

Fluttershy thought about it for a moment. Nova has proven that he could be trusted in the month she had known him. Yes, he had a secret life, but not even he knew what he did, yet he's trying to atone for the apparent awful thinks he did. She could tell that Nova had no interest in joining them, only defeating a common enemy to protect her and Rainbow Dash, who was still oblivious to what has happened.

She thought back to the body found on campus. No one but her, Nova, Shinobu, the school staff, and Kanae knew about it. The only reason Fluttershy knew about it was because she stumbled across it by accident. Now she was inadvertent pushed into a war that has been raging on for millennia. She was scared, but she knew what she wanted to do. The death was kept under wraps to prevent a panic while the Demon Slayer works.

Fluttershy looked up to see Nova putting together the pieces of his newly made fan. He had been making more pieces while in the infirmary. He took the chance to ask one of the nurses to run a scanning spell on the pieces that passed Kanae's test. While a majority was made out of bone, it was infused with a rare type of metal only found near the Tartarus Gates.

He memorized the molecular make up of the pieces and followed it to a 'T'. Kanae was surprised that he had managed to make such improvement after hearing what it was made of. Kanae deduced that he must've not been able to make it easily because he couldn't imagine such an abstract concept, but, with facts and a base, he passed her test.

Fluttershy smiled as she watched him diligently make another without much effort before his head shot up. She looked at him in confusion before he stood up and began to smell the air as if he was a dog picking up a sent. He lowered his head before grabbing the clothes Fluttershy made him for walking during the day. Fluttershy looked at his body, his haori was bland and boring yet he still wore it without complaints.

She then got an idea, she began to walk out the room while Nova struggled to pull the cloak over his kimono."I'll see you later, Nova. Don't die please." Fluttershy pleated just as Nova pulled his arms through the sleeve of the cloak. He looked at her with a surprised expression before smiling cockily.

"You don't have to worry, Fluttershy; we'll win and make sure they never come back... Probably." He responded, sounding both realistic and optimistic at the same time. She didn't understand how he did it, but he did. "How the hell did this ever get on my body to begin with?" Nova didn't realize that Cloudsdale was already covered in a shadow, making it incredibly easy for him to walk around.

Fluttershy could only guess that he might have been self conscious about his extremely different appearance. She would be lying if she said that there weren't bullies that did that often; however, she knew that Nova was strong enough to bare their insults and shoot back if necessary. She liked that about him, but then a though crossed her mind:

What if he died tonight?

It felt wrong to think about it. How could she not believe if one of her friends, but considering what the night before held, she wasn't sure he can take them on. Fluttershy glanced back it him, his body was shaking uncontrollably for what's to come. She could tell that he was doubting he could win against them, yet he was willing to try. She knew he had grown in the few hours, even if it was miniscule.

Without hesitation, Fluttershy hugged him with a few years in his eyes. "Stay alive until I start training with a sword, okay... Brother?" Fluttershy said, finally acknowledging him as a part of her family other than just a friend who is taken care of by her family.

Nova was taken aback. He smiled though despite his hesitation and self doubt. "I promise, just let me go okay. I'd like to go somewhere before anything happens." Fluttershy let go of him before he prepared to jump out the window. He paused for a second before looking at Fluttershy, her eyes threatening to drop tears from the fear of loosing him. "I promise... sister." Fluttershy looked up at him in shock, not expecting him to call her sister, but when she did look where he was, he was already outside; however, Fluttershy felt a little better knowing that he promised to come back... Alive.

Nova hopped from building to building as he followed a sent he caught during Fluttershy's visit. The sent was familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it without it sounds dumb. The sent was enticing to say the least, so it had to be a demon.

Nova wasn't one for doing things out of the blue, or at least not recently, but the sudden smell caught his attention. The blood of a demon could make him stop everything if it was potent enough. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little tempted to sink his teeth into the flesh of a demon.

Nova's inner thoughts were stopped when something grabbed him by the arm. In an instant, he was on the ground... Clouds... Same thing. His hearing caught the sound of a particular breathing pattern; Total Concentration Breathing. It wasn't a Demon Slayer to his knowledge, but he saw a bit of royal purple on the arm that held him. He instinctively struggled since he knew demons were trying to capture him for some unknown reason.

"We meet again, Young Demon." Nova paused before looking up. He wasn't expecting to see the six eyed demon from all that time ago. He stopped struggling knowing that he could feel somewhat safe. "Have you been practicing?" He asked, a soft smile adorning the demon's features.

"Unfortunately, not as of late." Nova responded as he created a flame in his hand. It only grew a bit without much changing.

"I see... You're running out of energy. The more energy a demon has, the easier they're able to manipulate their Blood Demon Art." Nova noted that it did make sense because it would give him some more wiggle room.

"Well... I recently found out that my ability essentially allows me to take demon's Blood Demon Art." The six eyed demon nodded.

"I was aware, but I was hesitant to tell you. I feared that you'd think yourself as a meer parasite if I said anything." No a nodded before he watched the sun set just a little more over the horizon.

"You were using Total Concentration Breathing... Right?" Nova wanted to know more about his demon Sensei and how he knew about that technique.

"... Are you going to become a Demon Slayer?" The demon was a little hesitant to say anything now that Nova blatantly admitted to starting Demon Slayer training.

"No, I was attacked by a few demons a couple days ago. I want to learn so I can protect my friends." Nova looked at the six eyed demon for a second. "I forgot to mention, I have a name now..." Nova held out his hand to his demon Sensei. "My new name is Nova." The six eyed demon smiled a bit.

"Kokushibo... And if you wish to learn a powerful breathing technique, deal with those demons before approaching me. I will slay you if you attempt to come learn before you defeat them." Nova huffed at another goal that Kokushibo set for him, even if it was much easier than the last one he made. "None will have to die, just get them to retreat and I'll begin to teach you my breathing style; Moon Breathing. Until then, I will teach you other, non combative techniques that will greatly aid you in the years to come."

Nova was eager to learn, after all, Kokushibo did say that he would only kill him if he approached him with the intention of learning. The key word was approach, he can't do anything if Nova's already there. Kokushibo glared at the young demon.

"I can hear your thoughts. No lessons until you get them to retreat." Nova sighed before slowly walking away, then he stopped. "What is it, Young Demon?"

"Why are you so... Nice to me?" Nova said, the question made Kokushibo recoil a bit, but it wasn't noticable to the young demon.

"... It is a cruel world out there, and I'd appreciate it if an old friend survived." Kokushibo then disappeared much to the shock of Nova. It didn't take him long to figure out that Kokushibo's speed was due to his demon biology and Total Concentration.

Nova looked at his hands and clinched them knowing he could someday said beside the demon with an equal amount of power. He needed to know who he once was before he decided what he was going to do.

Nova ran back to the school as fast as he could. Once again, he chose not to tell his teachers about Kokushibo. Nova knew that they had a ton on their plants and didn't want to over complicate it.