The Demon Slayers Sidekick

Rorio rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

But it was impossible to deny what he was staring at, he knew the one he was looking at was his sister.

“Sis?”

The one he called “Sis” had ignored his confused tone and put his arm over her shoulder.

“Come on. That's enough tree climbing for one day.”

Rorio wasn't sure how to react but nodded and held onto his sister.

Returning from the woods, the two walked back to the balcony of the mansion Rorio’s sister lived in.

Unknown to most, the two had been separated as kids.

Rorio went off to live in a few different locations over the years, whereas his sister was brought in by a rich couple that felt bad for the little girl who was being sold off by her parents for drinking money.

The two had reunited about four years ago. Little did people know how close they’d gotten during these last few years.

The two now sat on a balcony drinking some water as Rorio's sister tried to talk about how dangerous being out in the wilderness all the time was.

“Seriously Rorio. I told you hanging out in the trees for training was dangerous. Why didn't you listen to me?”

The only response she got from her brother was a happy smile.

“I can't help it! I want to be as useful to Domino as I possibly can! And if falling from some trees can help improve me even a little bit, I’ll do it without a second thought!”

Domino, the young boy who was chosen to be the one to slay Darterest the demon lord, had asked for Rorio to become his sidekick.

Rorio was ecstatic about the offer and had been training day in and day out to make himself skilled enough to be Domino's sidekick.

Even though he already had plenty of experience under his belt from training ever since he was three, Rorio still wanted to be the kind of person to be able to protect those he cared for. Making it hard for people to convince him to stop his training for a lengthy period of time.

“While I like the enthusiasm, I don’t see what kind of training you could get from falling out of trees,” said Rorio's sister as she shook her head.

“Don’t worry so much Yuna. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine!” Rorio said trying to reassure her.

Yuna, someone who liked adventure but was unable to travel, looked at Rorio with concern.

“Say Rorio, do you really have to face these dangers?” she asked.

As much as Yuna wanted to go on adventures too, she cared about her brother even more. And the idea of him facing danger without her being there to support him made her feel uneasy.

Rorio tilted his head in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you only started your adventure a year ago and have already come back to get my help with patching up Domino after your last battle. I don't want you to keep trying to be adventurers if you could end up dead.”

Domino and Rorio had just finished another quest with a curse involved and it led to them having to stop at Yuna’s house to talk with their healer to cure the curse cast on Domino.

Now these two were just waiting to hear if they cured Domino or not.

Rorio just smirked proudly at his sister.

“Don't worry so much Yuna. While Domino is pretty incompetent, when it comes to his skills in battle, I'm fully protected against pretty much anything.”

Yuna looked at him dumbfounded at how he somehow managed to contradict himself in the same sentence.

“Yeah...But still.”

Even Rorio could tell that he wasn't getting through to his sister. So he walked up to her and held out his hand.

“Then how about this, I promise every year, on this day, I’ll come back and prove to you that there’s nothing to worry about.”

Yuna didn't entirely see what that was going to prove, however, it did mean she'd get to at least see him once a year which was enough for her.

“You promise?”

Rorio nodded.

“I promise on my life!” he shouted proudly as the two shook hands and Rorio gave her a childish smile.

“Hey, Rorio! You ready to go?” came a voice from behind them.

Rorio and Yuna looked over to find a young Domino who seemed to be in his early teens waving at them, clarifying that the curse had been lifted and he was ready to roll again. Realizing their family reunion was up, Rorio shouted a response back to Domino.

“In a minute!”

Rorio started to run off before turning around and shouting back to his sister.

“See ya, Sis!”

With that, he ran off to join Domino while Yuna simply waved him goodbye

With that, many years went by.

Rorio had kept his promise and visited Yuna every year on the same day without fail. He went even if Domino couldn’t and it made Yuna happy to see her brother. Everything seemed to move by too fast and Rorio felt like his life was flashing before his eyes as he continued on with his life day after day.

Before long, six years had passed since the day of that promise and Domino and Rorio were on their way to visit Yuna again.

It had been a few weeks since the defeat of Darterest, so the two were feeling more cheerful than ever.

The two were messing with one another in an innocent enough manner, but when the two got close to the mansion, Rorio froze.

Domino looked at him confused.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

Rorio didn't respond. Instead, he dashed straight toward the mansion.

Rorio didn’t know why, but he felt like something was wrong.

Domino tried running after Rorio, only to find himself struggling to do so.

Arriving at the mansion, Rorio burst through the front door. Inside, there was blood everywhere.

Lying on the ground near the front of the stairs was the head maid, along with the headless bodies of both of Yuna's parents.

Rorio rushed over to their corpses and looked them over before noticing a letter near the stairs.

Picking it up, he skimmed through it as fast as possible.

As he finished reading the letter, his eyes grew a fiery red as he ran for the door.

He dashed past Domino who had just arrived and vanished from sight as he sped off as fast as he could possibly run.

Trying to figure out what got his companion so worked up, Domino walked inside and saw both the corpses and the note. He read it as fast as he could.

“Hello, Demon Slayer. We have taken your sidekick’s sister to help create the new world. If you somehow think you can stop us, then, by all means, meet us at the abandoned Rosetta Tower.”

Like his companion, the minute Domino finished reading the letter, he too dashed out the door at high speed toward Rosetta Tower.

While he didn't have as strong of a connection as Rorio, he knew Yuna and cared for her like a younger sister. All he could do was hope he could make it there before it was too late.

Rorio burst into Rosetta Tower and looked around infuriated.

“Rorio!” came a terrified voice.

Rorio turned his head to find his sister tied up by her hands to a rope on one of the planks of the tower.

Rosetta Tower was a place that existed as a final resting place for the Goddess Rosetta which was a shallow hardwood tower that only had four planks on the inside that was tying the room to the rest of the building.

The four planks were extremely high up and there was no doubt that anyone who hit the ground from that high would die on impact.

“Rorio? Where's your dumb master, you little runt!?”

Rorio turned his attention to a taunting voice he was all too familiar with.

Behind Yuna was a man in all black with bulging eyes that looked like they could pop out at any second. This man's name was BloodBlade. A psycho assassin who killed for sport and used to be Rorio's teacher in the art of the sword, as well as one of his closest friends.

But that was a long time ago.

After an incident that caused BloodBlades village to burn and he had to watch his mother and sister get raped, BloodBlade blamed everything on Domino and Rorio for not being there. Rorio never knew why BloodBlade was so focused on Domino since the two barely knew one another, but it became a rivalry between them and Rorio was simply just someone on the sidelines.

Rorio kept his glare focused on BloodBlade as he pointed his sword at him.

“Let my sister go, you bastard!”

BloodBlade just gave him a creepy smile.

“And why should I? She wouldn't be a captive if I let her go!”

BloodBlade and Rorio looked at each other for a few more moments before BloodBlade let out a sigh.

“Well, I suppose you could entertain me until your master gets here!” stated BloodBlade as he jumped down from the wooden beams.

In an attempt to slow his descent, BloodBlade pulled two swords from his back and dug them into the wall. Bringing his fall to a halt and he landed safely in front of Rorio.

Let’s do this,” says BloodBlade with a chuckle as he charged at Rorio.

Sadly, the battle that ensued was so one-sided that it hurt.

Rorio tried over and over to block BloodBlade's attacks as well as strike at him again and again only to miss without BloodBlade struggling at all.

No matter how much Rorio tried to slash BloodBlade, he never managed to hit him once. And after many fierce attacks, BloodBlade slammed his foot into Rorio's left arm which broke upon impact.

“GAAAH!”

Taking this opportunity, BloodBlade kicked Rorio into the wall of the tower which caused Rorio to puke up blood before he fell to the floor. However, before his body made an impact with the floor, Bloodblade appeared above him and brought his foot up, and smashed it into Rorio's legs causing Rorio to scream out in pain once more.

With a grin, BloodBlade moved away from Rorio as he stared at the man's beaten and battered body.

“How sad. The mighty Demon Slayer can't even make his Sidekick a worthy opponent. Oh well.”

BloodBlade sounded quite disappointed.

Having grown bored, BloodBlade jumped back up to Yuna and gave her a smile.

“Now my dear, maybe it's time I help myself before the Demon Slayer gets here,” he said as he licked his lips.

Yuna shouted in terror.

She thought she wanted to go on adventures and protect her brother, but if this was all that would ever happen to her, she would rather have locked herself in a room with Rorio and never let either of them leave.

Her screams of terror started to fill the tower as the battered and bloodied Rorio looked up terrified.

“YUNA!”

He tried standing on his feet, but he just couldn’t move his broken bones.

Grinning, BloodBlade started to reach his right hand out toward Yuna as her eyes grew wide with terror.

SLICE!

Suddenly, he heard the sound of flesh being cut and stepped back, confused.

Then, he heard a plop from below and looked down to see an arm that looked similar to his lying on the ground of the tower.

Curious, BloodBlade turned towards his own arm to find that half of it had been cut off and was bleeding like crazy.

Once it started to dawn on him what had happened, BloodBlade immediately shouted in pain as blood splurged from his arm.

BloodBlade growled angrily as he grabbed what was left of his arm and forced the wound shut before looking around and spotting a sword lodged in the wall of the tower.

Turning to see where it was thrown, his smile returned.

“I see your skills are sharper than ever.....Demon Slayer.”

Domino stood and looked at the monster in front of him.

“You disgusting pig! You're gonna pay!” he shouted.

All Domino got in response was a simple snort.

“She must really mean a lot to the both of you to go this far! I wonder how serious you’d get if I snuffed her out!”

Domino continued glaring at BloodBlade as he prepared to launch another sword when four bandits cloaked in black appeared before Domino and one snatched his sword.

Domino looked around him to find himself surrounded.

BloodBlade chuckled.

“Looks like it's time, ey?” he asked happily.

One of the bandits nodded in response. BloodBlade smiled as he grabbed Yuna and tucked her under his arm and she squealed terrified.

“You bastard!” Domino shouted as he tried to dash after BloodBlade who was climbing even higher into the tower.

But every time he moved, he was stopped by the four bandits which held him in place no matter how much he struggled.

Rorio just watched in terror as he heard his sister's squeals.

He kept trying to make his broken legs move, but they refused to let him do anything. He could feel tears stream down his eyes as he watched BloodBlade climb higher and higher before reaching the top of the empty tower.

He held Yuna over his head and shouted out for the heavens to hear.

“Oh, gods above! We offer this sacrifice to help create a new world! Please grace us with your power and blessing!” he shouted.

With that, BloodBlade let Yuna go and she started to fall.

Yuna's screams of terror filled the room. But to Rorio, all he could hear was the whooshing of air. He watched in horror as his sister fell. Domino felt tears stream down his face as he tried to stop it. But the bandits kept him back.

It all felt like it was all moving in slow motion as Rorio watched his sister fall. His eyes grew wider and wider before finally...

SMASH!

Time seemed to freeze...

Rorio just looked in front of him to see what happened...

However, as the dust cleared...

All he could see...

Were his sister's body parts spread across the floor.

Everything was silent. Domino faced the terror and felt himself start to go over the edge.

What was once a beautiful girl that wanted to have a happy life with those she cared about, had her life snuffed out for something she wasn't even involved in.

All that remained was the splattered skin, bright blue hair, and blood that covered the floor.

BloodBlade's laughs could be heard echoing throughout the entire tower as he looked at the bloodstain of a person who used to be there. Rorio just stared at the scene before letting his voice ring out.

“YUUNNAAAA!!!!!!!”

Tears streamed down his eyes as snot fell through his nose and sounds of emotional pain echoed throughout the entire tower.

BloodBlade continued to laugh at the demise of Yuna as Domino went into a rage.

He tried to charge right at BloodBlade to kill him, but the bandits blocked his path.

He tried to punch through them but struggled to see through the tears.

BloodBlade's laughter was finally starting to calm down as he looked down at Domino and shouted out to the heavens once more.

“Now the Gods can finally accept us into the new world and we will forever be happ-Hpf!”

BloodBlade stopped mid-sentence.

Suddenly, BloodBlade's head slid off his body and fell down to the floor below.

Standing behind BloodBlade's headless corpse was Rorio who was bleeding from all sides as his eyes glowed a red so bright it was almost blinding. This was a trait all Demi-Humans had. If their emotions were pushed to the brink, they obtain superhuman-like abilities even more powerful than their raw power. In other words, it was an enraged adrenaline rush.

While Rorio's legs were still broken and bleeding, he stood up and turned down to Domino and the bandits before charging at them at full speed.

All the bandits shouted in terror as Rorio sliced through each of them one by one with ease.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!” shouted Rorio over and over again.

In a few minutes, all the bandit’s sliced flesh was lying on the ground as Domino looked at Rorio nervously.

“R-Rorio?”

Rorio turned his head to Domino and charged straight at him with an angry shout.

“I’LL KILL YOU!!”

Domino barely dodged attack after attack as Rorio continued swinging over and over without any plans of stopping until Domino was dead.

Knowing his friend's mental state wasn’t stable, Domino used an opening he spotted and grabbed hold of Rorio. Hugging him tightly.

“I'll kill everyone! I don't care! You will all die! I won't stop till you're all dead!” Rorio continued screaming with his eyes glowing red.

Domino's expression softened to try and calm Rorio down but to no avail

Figuring there wasn’t anything else he could do right now, Domino struck Rorio in the stomach, knocking him out.

“I'm sorry my friend. You must calm down for now,” states Domino as he carried the unconscious Rorio out of the tower and never looked back.

To this day, Rorio blames his own weakness for not being able to save his sister.

And it’s because of this blame that even now, he trains himself as much as he can to be stronger than anyone else. All to make sure he never loses anyone important to him ever again.

A few months passed after that, and now both Domino and Rorio found themselves standing in front of Yuna's grave as tears flowed down Domino's eyes.

However, Rorio just looked at the grave and thought back to a past conversation with his sister.

“Hey, Rorio?”

“What's up?”

“Do you think...when I'm older...I can join you guys on your adventures?”

“What!? Why?”

“Because I want to protect you silly!”

“Hm..well it's not my call to make, but tell you what, if Domino agrees to let you join when you turn eighteen in demi-human years, then you can come aboard!”

“Really! Yay!”

Rorio looked down at the grave.

“Yuna Rintov, Demi-Human Age 17, Year 234-268”

While she had long since passed that age in human years, in Demi-human years, she was just a few months from being allowed to join them.

And when Rorio thought about that, he could feel emotions well up inside him as he let out a shout followed by tears that would scar him for years to come.