"No... nothing, nothing at all. No breathing. No heartbeat." Noe was sobbing, completely lost.
"Start CPR right now. Rescue breaths and compressions."
"Someone... giving him mouth-to-mouth?"
"Now. Every second you waste is a second closer to losing him."
"I'm okay."
Noe didn't hesitate again. She worked through the first aid steps she'd learned, pried his mouth open, cleared his airway, gave two rescue breaths, and moved straight into compressions.
She prayed, over and over in her head, that he wouldn't die.
More than a dozen rounds in, he still hadn't responded at all. Just as Akino and Yuka started to lose hope, Noe, bent close to his mouth to check again, felt the faintest breath against her cheek.
She held still, made sure, then snapped her head up, eyes wet. "There! He's breathing! He's breathing!"
Akino and Yuka traded a look, relief flooding through both of them.
Akino leaned in and pressed two fingers to his chest, a faint heartbeat there. Between the two of them, they worked the rigid muscle loose again.
He'd survived, for now, but he wasn't out of danger. He'd lost too much blood, and they had nothing to treat him with. No one could say how much longer he had.
"It's just past six," Akino said, worried. "We've got maybe two hours until the assessment ends at eight. His condition's bad. If he doesn't get real treatment soon, I'm afraid"
Whatever hope had crept back into Noe's chest went out at that.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get him off this mountain, now!"
Akino shook his head. "That's not our call to make. Remember what he told us? He said there were only two paths for him: die here, or pass. He kept fighting until he blacked out rather than back off. That tells you how serious he was. If we pull him off the mountain now, even if he lives, do you really think he'd thank us for it?"
"Who cares about that? Being alive beats being dead. And even if he can't join the Corps after this, he could still fight demons somewhere else."
"If that were really all it was to him, why push himself this hard? I think there's a reason he needs the Corps specifically, and that reason is what's kept him going this whole time."
That struck something in Noe; she remembered the first night in the woods, asking him why he'd joined the Corps in the first place, and how sharply he'd reacted.
Looking back, he probably did have his reasons. Real ones.
"So what can we actually do? Just sit here and watch him die?"
Akino thought for a moment, head down. "Before I came up here, I remember some of the other Contestants had bandages and medicine in their packs. If we can find those..."
Bandages. Medicine.
"I know exactly where some is. I'll go get it now."
Noe remembered the three packs she and Cold Cry had gathered together in the woods, medicine included. She was already on her feet, moving toward the trees.
Akino caught her arm before she got far.
"Are you going to the campsite?"
She nodded.
"No, it's too dangerous. In your state, if you run into a demon out there, you won't just fail to bring anything back; you'll die trying. Stay here, both of you. I remember a few Contestants dropped out earlier. I don't know if they've left yet. I'll go check if they have anything."
Before Noe could argue, he was already gone, off the edge of the slope.
"Akino, you"
She and Yuka stared after him, stunned.
Nobody had expected him to jump without a second thought. If he held out two more hours up here, he'd pass; he'd be a real member of the Corps. And he was giving that up, just like that, to help Cold Cry.
He'd paused just long enough to give Yuka's shoulder a pat and a small smile. "That's enough. I've already proven what I needed to. You're hurt; let me go." Then he was running, fast, down the mountain.
Watching him disappear, something warm settled in Yuka's chest.
In a world gone this lonely, he was the one constant. He'd been it during the exam. He'd been it when he chose to stay. And he was it now, throwing away everything he'd earned to go get medicine.
Every so often, Noe bent down to check his breath again, and only relaxed a fraction each time she confirmed it was still there.
Not long after, Akino came back up the mountain with four other Contestants and a bag full of supplies.
The four were Kimura and the others who'd dropped out at the last moment. Grateful to Cold Cry for saving their lives, they'd come back to help once they heard how bad things were.
Noe thanked every one of them, more than once.
Akino's family had a background in medicine, and it showed as he moved through first aid like he'd done it a hundred times.
He unbuttoned Cold Cry's shirt and worked the gauze over his skin, wiping away blood bit by bit. As the wounds came into view, everyone went quiet, stunned all over again by how many cuts covered him.
"Who is this guy? How is he even alive after this many hits?"
A fair question. Who was he, really, and what had he been through to end up like this?
Every eye turned to Noe.
She threw her hands up. "Don't look at me. I only just met him myself."
Whatever curiosity had flared up died just as fast.
With everyone pitching in, Akino finished the bandaging quickly, and Cold Cry's condition steadied. His breathing came easier.
With time left before the assessment ended, the group settled in and talked about their families, why they'd taken the exam, where they'd come from. The easy conversation chipped away at the dread that had been hanging over everyone all night.
At eight in the morning, the four of them built a rough stretcher out of branches and carried Cold Cry carefully down the mountain, all the way to the square at its base.
Waiting there were the same two young girls Noe remembered from the first day.
Four figures rushed out from the corner of the square: black uniforms, white masks, hoods pulled up, the word "Kakushi" stitched across their backs. They took Cold Cry from Kimura's group and vanished back into the square just as fast.
Noe tried to follow, but Akino held her back and explained these were Kakushi, the Corps' support staff. Cold Cry would get real treatment now, in time.
A moment later, a girl's voice carried across the square.
"The Demon Slayer Corps assessment has concluded. Contestants who did not pass, please leave Fujikasane Mountain immediately."
Akino and Yuka had to say their goodbyes to Noe there. Yuka needed treatment of her own without delay.
Noe bowed to each of them in turn, to Akino, to Yuka, to Kimura and the rest, grateful beyond words.
Before long, only three figures remained standing alone in the wide, empty square at the foot of Fujikasane Mountain.