The Demon Slayers Sidekick

With Quinta now in their ranks, the group made their way toward the next Creator Knight.

And despite Quinta’s sudden addition, things didn’t really change between the group members.

Risa continued to train with Rorio as Domino went off to do his own thing while Quinta would take care of her weapons and even joined in on Risa’s training from time to time by giving her pointers and other methods of attack Rorio wasn’t too familiar with.

However, despite these moments of bonding, Risa couldn’t help but notice how much attention Quinta was giving Rorio.

Whenever she had a spare moment, Quinta would try chatting things up with Rorio and try to get in his personal space.

While Rorio didn’t seem to care about it that much, it irked Risa for some reason.

After a bit more traveling, the group heard about a cave that supposedly proved people's worth and decided to check it out.

Thus, they found themselves in front of an oddly shaped cave that was reminiscent of a bowling ball.

As he gazed at it, Domino grinned.

“Just like old times, ey Rorio?”

He was referring to how they had journeyed through many different caves and structures that had rather unique designs that you normally wouldn’t see such as this.

Rorio simply shrugged.

“I dunno. This just looks like a normal cave.”

“What!” Domino jumped back as if being shocked by Rorio's response.

As stated before, the two of them had seen plenty of caves with strange shapes like this one. So Rorio found himself rather unimpressed.

“This is a new challenge! A place to test our skills and prove we have what it takes to be heroes! How can that NOT excite you!?”

Rorio looked at him confused.

"Didn't you already prove you’re a hero by slaying the Demon Lord?”

“Ah...Well...”

With this realization hitting him, Domino struggled to come up with a counterargument.

“Well yeah. But I still wanna see if the traps in this place could be as hard as slaying the Demon Lord!”

Domino was clearly desperate to try this place out and Rorio decided to give in.

“If you say so,” he replied, shrugging.

Risa walked over to the two boys with a concerned look on her face.

“Are you sure you guys don't want us to tag along with you?”

Risa was talking about what Domino had asked her and Quinta beforehand.

Apparently, he wanted to test this place with only his sidekick at his side, so he requested for Risa and Quinta to wait for them until they got back.

Seeing the concern in Risa’s eyes, Rorio began to open his mouth.

“We’ll-”

“We’ll be fine! We’re the best of the best! Nothing can beat our amazing teamwork!” Domino shouted proudly. Interrupting Rorio mid-sentence.

Risa could practically feel Domino's confidence. Turning her head to Rorio, he just shrugged.

“Sure. What he said.”

Still feeling a bit unsure, Risa just nodded.

“Okay. Well, get back as soon as possible.”

Domino’s smile widened as he gave her a thumbs up.

“You bet!” he shouted before grabbing Rorio's arm and dragging him into the cave.

After that, Domino raised his fist up into the air with a cheer.

“Let the adventure begin!”

The two walked inside and found the cave was much bigger inside than it was outside.

The tunnel was long but expansive as grey stones covered the walls, accompanied by bluish-green vines that looked like they'd been growing in there for years.

“I'll admit. It's much bigger than at first glance.” Rorio said as he looked around.

Domino’s smile never faded as they continued journeying deeper inside.

They walked for about another half an hour or so but failed to really find anything of value.

“Weird. Where are all the traps?” Rorio murmured to himself.

As if on cue, Domino stepped on a pressure plate and the sound of clinking could be heard through the cave.

Upon instinct, Domino dodged out of the way of arrows shooting from the walls

The arrows pierced the opposite wall and Domino wiped his brow with a sigh of relief.

“Talk about a close one!”

Rorio walked up to him.

“It's been a while since I've seen you fall for a trap,”

Domino scratched the back of his head with an awkward chuckle.

“You're right. Guess I'm just a bit rusty when it comes to traveling through caves!”

That’s what he said. However, Rorio noticed someone seemed to be off about Domino today. Like his head was off in another world.

Deciding to leave it be for the time being, Rorio began moving ahead as Domino followed close behind.

The two ran into multiple more traps as they continued.

Thankfully, they managed to push past them without much issue. And eventually, the two of them ran into their first monster when a creature with green skin and pointy ears jumped out at them with a clobbering stick.

It didn’t last longer than a second as Domino slashed through it in an instant.

“Wow, a goblin! Haven't seen one of those in a while!” Domino shouted excitedly.

Rorio kicked the corpse away before turning to Domino.

“I gotta say, for what's meant to be a challenge, the things we've run into so far have been pretty bland.”

Domino let out a pout.

“Oh come on Rorio! Where's your sense of adventure?” he asked.

Instead of responding, Rorio just shrugged and continued making his way down the tunnel.

“I lost it the moment my sister hit the floor. Simple as that.”

As those words left Rorio’s mouth, Rorio continued walking away,

As he did so, Domino stopped walking and a frown formed on his face before immediately returning to his normal smile.

“In that case, we need to help you find your sense of adventure again! So let’s get moving!” Domino shouted before running over to Rorio.

“I don’t see why we would need to-GAH!”

Then, without warning, Domino grabbed Rorio and tucked him under his arm.

“Come, my friend! Adventure awaits!”

With that, Domino charged forward with Rorio trying to escape his grasp.

Risa and Quinta sat outside the cave, relaxing.

At least, that was what Quinta was doing. Risa, however, couldn’t stop fidgeting as she looked at the cave over and over again.

Quinta, who was just chilling out in some grass, got up and walked over to Risa.

“Worried about them?”

Risa turned to her and nodded.

“Yeah. I just wish I knew how things were going in there.”

Looking at Risa’s face, Quinta gently patted her on the head.

“Don't worry about it. I can't speak for that Domino guy, but the blue-haired swordsman seems to know how to handle himself in there.”

For some strange reason, Quinta had avoided saying Rorio's name too often. Replacing it with the title of blue-haired swordsman.

No one knew why, but they just accepted her alternative name.

Even though she got those words of reassurance, there was still a part of Risa that kept her from relaxing.

“Even so. I hope they're all right.”

Quinta felt like chuckling a little as she patted Risa on the head again.

“I'm sure they’re fine.”

Risa sighed.

“I hope so.”

All Risa could do was hope for the best. Even if she couldn’t stop worrying about how the two were faring in there.

Domino sliced through another monster that jumped out at them and laughed heartily.

“I feel so alive!” he shouted out, filled with energy.

He ignored the huge amount of arrows and tunnels he'd opened as his laughter echoed in the halls.

Seeing his friend like this, Rorio shook his head.

“If you’re finished setting off every single trap in here, can we please move forward?” he groaned. Domino looked back at him.

“Of course! Just give me a second!” Domino then stepped forward and one last trap activated as rocks shot out and hit his face.

He'd only been able to dodge some traps, and his face was covered in bruises. And the rocks added to that as Rorio just sighed and walked past Domino.

“Let's get moving,” Rorio said before walking ahead with Domino following close behind.

The two continued to march forward at a normal pace before coming upon a dimly lit tunnel. Figuring this was the path they needed to go down, Rorio kept moving.

However, Domino seemed to be a little fidgety.

“Hey...Rorio?”

“Hm?” Rorio looked back at him to see Domino had stopped walking and was looking at Rorio with a serious expression on his face.

“There's a reason I wanted just the two of us to come here. And it wasn't because of nostalgia. Er...Well that was part of it. But it wasn't the only reason."

Rorio gave his friend a confused look.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Domino seemed to fidget with his fingers for a moment before shaking his head to focus himself.

“T-The reason I brought you in here was because I wanted to...apologize.”

“Apologize?” Rorio stopped walking and turned around to face Domino.

“I wanted...to apologize for not being able to save Yuna.”

Rorio's body stiffened at the mention of his sister. But Domino continued.

“I'm the Demon Slayer...the world’s hero... And yet I couldn't save one singular person. The one person you cared about the most. And for that...I'm truly sorry.”

“...”

Silence seemed to linger over the two of them as Domino looked down, frustrated he never apologized to Rorio before.

Originally, Domino hadn’t planned to bring it up.

But after everything that happened with Angelica and Rorio having to relive those terrible memories, Domino had been struggling with his own feelings on the matter.

And as he looked at Rorio, it was clear just how serious he was about this apology.

Waiting to hear his friend's words, Domino closed his eyes.

However, all he heard was footsteps as Rorio continued silently walking forward.

Figuring his friend didn’t want to speak of the matter right now, Domino followed him without uttering a word.

After a bit more walking, the two came upon an open cavern with a giant pit in the middle. The only other thing there was a bridge that led to the other side of the pit with a medium-sized chest lying on the other end.

Domino noticed the chest and attempted to walk across the bridge leading to it when Rorio raised up a hand to block him.

Domino looked at Rorio confused.

Even if the bridge wasn't that sturdy, Domino should've been able to run over it before anything fell.

Rorio shook his head and walked over to the bridge. He picked up a nearby rock and plopped it on the bridge.

In an instant, the whole bridge collapsed at once as the rock fell into the pit below.

“Just as I thought. This whole bridge was a trap.” Rorio sighed in frustration.

Domino scowled at the horrible trap he almost walked into before looking at Rorio.

“So how are we supposed to get to the other side?”

Rorio got back up on his feet.

“Damn it, I hate using magic,” he murmured to himself.

Domino seemed confused by the sudden statement, but Rorio ignored him.

Walking up towards the edge of the pit, Rorio's hands started glowing a light brown as he muttered words under his breath.

Domino watched him at work when Rorio lifted his hands in the air and then slammed them down on the ground.

The earth below Rorio immediately started to shift as the ground began to form a bridge where the rigged one used to be.

Domino stared in amazement before turning to Rorio.

“Wait a second! When did you learn earth magic!?” he shouted in surprise.

Rorio ignored the question and started walking across the bridge.

“Stupid earth magic. Always makes my hands feel stiff.” Rorio murmured as he made his way across the bridge will shaking his hands around in the air.

After that, Rorio reached the end of the bridge and opened the chest. Inside was a strange black sword that had an odd orange glow to it.

“Hm.” was all Rorio decided to say before putting the sword in his inventory bag.

Closing the chest, Rorio was about to make his way back when the ground under him started to rumble.

“Rorio!” Domino shouted as the earth bridge Rorio created started to crumble.

Rorio ran past the falling debris above him and rushed to the other end. It looked like the whole place was starting to come down.

As he neared the end of the bridge, Rorio jumped in an attempt to reach the other side...only to miss completely and fall into the pit.

However, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his own.

Looking up, Rorio saw Domino had grabbed hold of him.

“Got you!” Domino shouted as he kept his grip on Rorio.

Once Rorio had been pulled up, Domino looked around the cave and saw the whole thing was on the verge of collapse.

“Let's get out of here!” Domino shouted as he tucked Rorio under his shoulder and dashed out as fast as he could.

The two ran past multiple pieces of debris before the outside of the cave started to come into view.

Meanwhile, Risa and Quinta were relaxing outside the cave when a shout could be heard from inside.

They both walked up to the entrance.

“Out of the way!” Domino shouted causing the two girls to shout in surprise as he ran past them at full speed and dust filled the air behind him.

“What the heck just happened?!” Risa asked as she coughed through the dust trying to keep her eyes covered.

Risa and Quinta both turned to look at a sweating Domino who was holding Rorio in his arms as he gave a thumbs up.

“We! Are! Okay!” he shouted happily and followed it with a hearty laugh.

However, Rorio looked quite annoyed at how he was still in quite an awkward position.

“Greaaat. Can you put me down now?”

“Oh! Right!” Domino shouted before plopping Rorio onto the ground.

After that, the group ended up settling a little farther away from the cave for the time being and Domino tried explaining the entire story to the others.

But due to his terrible story-telling abilities and need to make things over-dramatic, Rorio had to retell the story from scratch.

He then showed the strange blade he found in the chest to the others and they gazed at its surprising beauty.

The blade was a cold black and had this beautiful orange shine to it that made it glisten in the moonlight.

In the end, the journey was completed and the reward was obtained.

A few hours later, Domino took on night watch while the others rested and he moved off into the trees.

After spending some time looking around, Domino stopped on a cliff coated in a light trim of grass.

He sat down and stared off into the sky, lost in thought.

Just then, he heard a rustling sound from behind him but didn't turn around.

As he heard the footsteps grow closer, he felt a presence standing next to him.

“I never blamed you for the death of my sister,” Rorio said next to him.

Domino's head lowered.

“I know. I just felt so helpless that day. You cared for your sister more than anyone else in the world, and I couldn't save her. I felt like a complete idiot.”

This was something Domino had felt ever since that day. Domino knew he could never help Rorio regain what he lost. But, he still wanted to try with helping his friend cope. That's why he let Rorio leave that day all those years ago despite his own personal wants and needs.

Rorio's face seemed covered by darkness for a moment before he looked up at the moon.

“While I agree that you are an idiot, I just wanted to let you know something. Even if you were the cause of my sister’s death, I wouldn't have hated you for it.”

Domino looked at Rorio confused. Rorio continued.

“We may not be friends like the way we used to be, but the fact that we still know what it's like to be who we wanna be and won't listen to the reasoning of others helps me know that you and I are still the same where it matters most.”

Domino chuckled sadly before looking back down at the ground.

He wanted to point out Rorio had actually changed quite a bit, but decided against it and instead decided to share his true feelings.

“I'm sorry for dragging you into this,” Domino said.

It took all the strength he had to keep himself from crying.

Rorio sighed.

“It's fine. Besides, if you didn't bring me along, I probably wouldn't have done anything with my life. Or met Risa and learned that there are people who deal with worse than me. It really helps me feel like I've grown a bit from this experience.”

Rorio's words caused Domino to go wide-eyed in surprise.

It was then that he noticed Rorio's expression.

It was a smile of excitement and curiosity. The exact same expression Rorio used to give back during their early days as adventurers.

“Man. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like that.”

Upon hearing this, Rorio quickly changed his expression and cleared his throat. Blushing a bit out of embarrassment.

“This doesn't change the fact I still hate how things are. But at this point, I guess things are the way they are because I chose to let it go that way. So I guess, we’re gonna be a team for a while longer.”

Rorio attempted to avoid looking at Domino while he said this due to how embarrassing it was which caused Domino to let out a chuckle.

“Hey! What're you laughing at!” Rorio shouted as his face grew redder than before.

Domino couldn’t hold it in anymore and he burst out laughing.

“Hey! Stop it!” Rorio kept trying to get Domino to stop but failed to do so. The way Rorio looked right now was the most emotional Domino had seen him in forever.

It brought an overwhelming feeling of happiness and relief to Domino as he wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled at Rorio.

“Let's keep doing our best Rorio! And let's free the Outbursts!”

Rorio turned away, still embarrassed.

“Whatever. I was planning to do that anyway.” Rorio murmured as he walked away.

For the first time in a long while, Domino felt like he’d had a nice conversation with his best friend.

The next day, while the group was walking, Risa looked at Quinta and thought back to what she told her back in Con-die.

She then looked at Rorio and Domino who seemed to be talking more frequently than before.

Right then, she suddenly felt a strange feeling in her chest she’d never felt before.

Trying to ignore it, she shook her head and kept walking.

“No! I'm just gonna focus on what's ahead and try to help stop these Creator Knights and their control over the Outbursts. Even if I have to ignore these strange new feelings.” she thought to herself as her mind began to clear.

And so the journey continued onward. Little did they all know, things were about to get a whole lot weirder in their group.