Giyu Tomioka walked through the corridors of Ubuyashiki Mansion, making his way to meet with the leader of the Demon Slayers. According to Kagaya, his help in specific was required for an important task, the nature of which had been kept vague. Regardless, he was a Demon Slayer, and his superior was calling for him. It was thus his duty to present himself.

As he turned a corner nearing his destination, he'd overhear Kagaya's voice faintly speaking out as he approached the fusuma leading out to the mansion's inner garden, "Ah…that must be him." A moment later, he would pull open the door, and be met with three figures sat staring over at him despite having their backs turned to him, all three knelt facing Kagaya Ubuyashiki, their leader.

"Lord Ubuyashiki," He said immediately, "I am here at your request."

"Ah, Giyu…I am glad to see you joining us today." Kagaya said as Giyu then took note of the two figures sitting before the man, the ones at the sides perfectly recognizable as his fellow Pillars, Shinobu and Obanai. The middle one though was a younger teenager with burgundy hair down to his neck and a pair of hanafuda-looking earrings, wearing a red haori over a kimono and with a sword sheathed at his waist. Most importantly though, the boy was just staring incredulously at Giyu for reasons the Pillar himself could not for his life figure out.

"…do I know him…?" He wondered, feeling faint recognition towards the boy, but unable to exactly place where from. Shaking off the thought, he'd step in properly into the room and walk up to the other Pillars, kneeling down before Kagaya in between Shinobu and the still staring boy he was trying to ignore. "How can I best serve you?"

"Well, I called you here in order to spar with young Tanjiro here in order to test his steel, but unfortunately due to his injuries, it seems we won't be getting such a chance today." Kagaya told him, to which Giyu only pursed his lips before opening his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted.

"Lord Ubuyashiki." The boy beside him, Tanjiro apparently, called out with his head lowered, causing their leader to turn towards him curiously.

"Yes, Tanjiro?"

"I have reconsidered." Tanjiro declared assertively, his eyes staring fixedly into the ground, "I wish to go through with the spar after all."

Giyu saw then that the boy beside him was no longer staring at him, but rather had his gaze lowered, but with an intensity on them that once again scratched at his memory, however unsuccessfully. At his other side though, Shinobu frowned and would turn over to the young Demon Slayer, "Tanjiro, are you sure you want to do this? Your arm, it's-"

"I'm certain." Tanjiro said unfalteringly while still staring down, leaving Giyu to only wonder what was going through the boy's head.

"Don't interrupt when a Pillar's talking, have some respect!" Obanai hissed out from the other side.

Kagaya meanwhile paused, his calm smile turning into a slight scowl as he seemed to ponder something for a moment before speaking out, "…alright, we will go on with the spar as planned. Try not to overdo it though. You should always be aware of your own limits, understood?" He asked, to which Tanjiro only silently nodded, and despite not even seeing as much, that seemed to be good enough for Kagaya, "As for you, Giyu…I expect you to know how to control your own strength. You're a seasoned Pillar against a fairly fresh Demon Slayer after all. Try your best to draw out his best without overdoing it."

"Of course, Lord Ubuyashiki." Giyu said, even as he glanced at the boy's fixated stare at the ground. Whatever was going on with this boy, he'd at least have a chance to draw it out and test his skill as a Demon Slayer.

Moments later, both combatants stood in the garden across from one another, each holding a bokken given to them by Kagaya. Tanjiro held his blade raised before him with a two-handed grip while Giyu stood across from him holding his own bokken down with a similar grip, staring down the younger Demon Slayer silently, "…yep. I'm certain of it." Tanjiro silently thought to himself, "He doesn't recognize me at all."

That thought alone bothered him even more than the situation as a whole already did. The very man who'd slain his sister years ago without a hint of remorse, who'd easily put him on the ground during their first meeting, now standing there before him, completely unaware of what he'd done. Try as he might, Tanjiro just couldn't hold down the anger building up in him the longer he stared at those empty blue eyes. "He's the one…the bastard who killed my sister. And he's a Pillar, of all things. He beat me down then, and there's nothing I can do about Nezuko…but if I can beat him now, that's definite proof that I've really changed from the useless kid who left his family die…I can prove all of Master Yoriichi's training didn't go to waste…"

"Lord Ubuyashiki, they are both in position." Obanai declared, now standing at one side of the Demon Slayer Leader's, looking somewhat bitter that he wasn't in Giyu's position. Something told Tanjiro he'd have some fun having a go at him. Shinobu, who stood at the other side of Kagaya, looked bothered by the turn things had taken, but was remaining silent about it.

Kagaya, meanwhile, nodded, "In that case, you can both move at my signal." He declared, raising a hand up high and causing both swordsmen to suddenly stiffen in their stance and breathe in before he brought it down, "Begin!"

The moment he said so, Tanjiro moved in a blur, and he was upon Giyu in the blink of an eye, his bokken descending for a blow right at his neck, except the Pillar's blade would rise at the last moment to intercept his own. The boy bit his lower lip and tightened his grip before throwing another quick series of blows, forcing the constantly defending Giyu to back up while keeping his guard up to protect himself from Tanjiro's heated assault. The short exchange that followed lasted a total of seven seconds, and contained a total of eighteen blows, all thrown by the younger Demon Slayer yet nonetheless all blocked by the Pillar's own steady sword. Finally, at the eighteenth blow, Giyu would deflect his bokken and go in for his first attack, a rising diagonal swing that Tanjiro only barely tilted his head to the side to dodge before quickly backing up in order to evade the vertical slash that followed.

He landed with a slight stumble, panting lightly while ignoring the pain of his broken arm. Giyu on the other hand only raised his blade calmly without the barest hint of tiring in his face, "Damn…the kid is pretty fast." Obanai admitted, watching the fight off to the side, "But he's still not as fast as a Pillar."

Tanjiro also ignored that assessment, breathing in deeply before moving in at Giyu with his bokken gripped tightly. He approached the Pillar from the side and swung in. Sure enough, Giyu raised his own blade to block the blow, only for Tanjiro to feint at the last moment and switch it to strike at his other side. Even this though failed to get a blow in as the Pillar moved his blade to only barely deflect the blow with the very tip of his bokken. He tried to press for an advantage, however, Tanjiro quickly realized the opportunity wasn't there as Giyu continued blocking his blows with an impeccable defense. They went in a quick back and forth, switching between offensive and defensive, one of them testing the waters with his younger foe while the other frantically pressed his opponent to the best of his abilities.

Following that, the two would disengage slightly before rushing right back at each other and starting their exchange of blows again, except unlike last time where either of them would block the other's blows, Tanjiro's attacks this time were more careful, and it switched the pace of the fight into a dodging contest as either opponent swung and had their blow evaded only to be forced into dodging their opponent's counterattack a moment later themselves, rinse and repeat. Never did either of their blades make contact, up until both threw a blow at each other simultaneously and had both their bokken block one another. Tanjiro tried once again following up with a powerful and precise series of strikes, but they were all intercepted alike by the slowly retreating pillar. That is until Giyu deflected one of his strikes and managed to hold down his bokken, trying for a disarming maneuver, only for Tanjiro to counter and throw an upended horizontal swing that caused the two to lock blades momentarily when the Pillar blocked it before pushing back the younger Demon Slayer, sending him skidding back.

Giyu didn't wait for him to recover this time around though and dashed straight in moving for the offensive. His blows were fluid and swift, but sensing the smell of their intent, Tanjiro was only barely able to block them while he himself fell back defensively. He was barely able to keep up the defensive against Giyu's offense, many of the Pillar's attacks being very narrowly evaded or blocked. And yet, he held strong and bided his time, until he saw the right chance to seize his chance and turn the tables on his foe. Said chance came when he was able to telegraph one of Giyu's strikes and swung in his own bokken hard to meet it. Both blows struck one another and knocked back both Demon Slayer's blades, Tanjiro's being sent over his shoulder while Giyu's was knocked back over his head.

Keeping the grip on his bokken tight though, Tanjiro used his momentum on a rotatory motion to build momentum and try to land a meaningful strike on Giyu. Of course, if he were to do that though, he couldn't really hold back… "Breath of the Sun, Fourth Dance…"

Realizing what the boy was about to do, The Pillar's eyes widened as he then gripped his bokken tighter, aiming to counter in kind, "Breath of Water, Eighth Style,"

"…Burning Sunrise!" Tanjiro's bokken seemed to ignite in flames as it was swung in an upwards strike aimed at Giyu.

"Waterfall Basin." Giyu answered in kind as his blade was brought down at Tanjiro, a wide stream of water seeming to form around it brought down with crushing force.

The flames seemed to cut through the waterfall for a moment before both blades made contact and there was a loud snapping sound that canceled both flame and water alike, the sudden clash sending both swordsmen stumbling back, Tanjiro somewhat more so than Giyu, both left with a hilt and about half of a wooden blade each as both their swords simultaneously snapped in their clash.

Kagaya raised an eyebrow as he took note of the sound, "…I presume that sound means someone's bokken snapped?"

"Both did, at the same time." Obanai clarified, staring at the two combatants annoyedly, "And neither of them even managed to hit one another…"

"That makes it a technical tie." Shinobu declared, seeming likewise discontent, but for very different reasons.

Most upset of all was Tanjiro though, who was staring down at the ground wide-eyed, still panting in the aftermath of the duel. "That was no tie." He noted silently, "If we were wielding real blades, he would've overwhelmed me in that last clash…and I'd be dead."

"I suppose that should be enough for today." Kagaya told them, "Thank you two for the demonstration."

Tanjiro silently bowed with his head still lowered and began walking off rather quickly, straight past Ubuyashiki and the other two Pillars. He didn't look back despite Shinobu's and Obanai's gazes following him, but would be forced to stop when a hand was placed on his shoulder, "Wait," He'd then hear Giyu, the hand's owner, call out to him, and he furrowed his eyebrows, "...we've met before, haven't we?"

"Don't touch me." Tanjiro slapped the hand off his shoulder much to the man's surprise, "I don't care for your status. Doesn't redeem what you did."

Giyu could only stare at his back in confusion, "I'm...not sure I know what you mean..." He admitted, evidently unsure of what to do.

Tanjiro took a deep breath, having to resist the strong urge to just turn around and punch the Pillar right in the face, "...alright. Then answer me something." He said, causing the man to raise an eyebrow, "Your sword, it has 'slay all evil demons' written in it? Is that your motto? The thing you live by?"

"...it's more than that." Giyu said then, unsure of what to make of the question, but answering it regardless, "It is the Pillar's way, as well as part of the oath we all take when we are granted the burden of such a position."

"Ah. I see." He then turned and glared over his shoulder at Giyu, the animosity in his eyes barely different from the one he'd show a demon, "Then why'd you kill my sister?"

Giyu suddenly froze at the accusation, not sure of what to respond for a moment as he opened his mouth and nothing came out. And then, a moment later, recognition finally seemed to strike him as those words brought back the memories of their encounter, "...you're..."

"Yeah. Thought so." Tanjiro said coldly before the Pillar could even recover from the shock, he'd walked through the fusuma and was gone.

Giyu was left standing still, shocked at the realization of who the boy he'd just sparred against really was.

"...so did you really kill his sister?" Shinobu asked after a moment, shaking him out of it.

"...I believe I understand what's happened now." Kagaya said with a small sigh, "Tanjiro did mention his sister was turned into a demon and cut down by a Demon Slayer...but I would've never thought that Demon Slayer would be you, Giyu. If I'd known, I wouldn't have picked you as his sparring partner..."

"...yeah," Giyu muttered, staring down with a look of frustration. Maybe it was understandable for him to take so long to remember. After all, what must've been the worst day of Tanjiro's life was for Giyu little more than a particularly depressing Thursday. He did, however, remember if only for a faint moment, feeling sympathy towards a slain demon as it died off. The boy's sister, as it tragically turned out. "perhaps he wasn't unjustified in being so hostile towards me."

"Are you kidding?" Obanai scoffed, "The kid is mad over you killing a demon. We're Demon Slayers, what did he expect?"

"It was his sister, Obanai." Shinobu said scoldingly at him, "It must be hard to divorce a demon from someone you knew after they turned, especially if he'd never seen a demon before that..."

"Well, either way, the brat will understand with time." The Snake Pillar grunted, "There is no such thing as good demons in this world, let alone innocent ones. At least if a mindset like that doesn't get him killed first."

"...I don't think so." Giyu admitted, "He was strong. Not Pillar level, but not too far behind it either."

"Indeed," Shinobu agreed, "Even though it was a foolish decision for him to still spar with that broken arm of his, I didn't expect him to actually pull a stalemate out of you, Giyu..."

"I didn't expect his breathing style to be so powerful." He admitted, "Even though had gravity on my side he still managed to generate enough force to overwhelm my blade in the clash. And it looked like Kyojuro's Breath of Flames, but he called it..."

"Yes...I suppose since you just arrived, you're a bit out of loop compared to the rest." Kagaya sighed, before motioning for the Water Pillar to sit down, "Take a seat, Giyu. We've still got much to discuss. "

Sometime later, elsewhere in the Ubuyashiki Mansion, Tanjiro found himself sat with his back against a wall by the gate in which they'd come in. He was staring at his injured arm silently, lips pursed at the throbbing pain resulted from pushing himself in his spar against Giyu. The last clash in between their Breath Techniques, in particular, had really pushed him quite a bit.

Worse than his pain though was the frustration of failing to rise above his sister's killer. The bastard was strong, stronger than he could've ever imagined someone could be the first time he'd seen the man, which was why he hadn't been able to grade his overwhelming skill until today. He was still way below the level of Pillar, and if he wanted to keep this promise and rid this world of the threat of Muzan Kibutsuji and demonkind as a whole, he needed to get stronger still. A lot stronger. "I could barely beat the lowest of the Lower Moons despite all my training..." Tanjiro thought to himself, "I need to take the time I'll be out of commission to train further, get stronger before I go out there again!"

His line of thought was then interrupted when he sensed a familiar smell, followed by a chill down his spine before he looked up and realized Shinobi had knelt right beside him, her face inches away from his own, her smile way too wide, not that it hid the particularly strong scent of anger he felt coming from her, "Now, what you pulled back there was quite irresponsible, don't you agree, Tanjiro?" She said, the calmness in her voice being only surface-level, and hinting at something far more sinister below it, "Not only did you act disrespectful in front of Lord Ubuyashiki by leaving as you did, but you also put your own recovery at risk because of stupid pride. That is no way to treat someone who worked so hard nursing you, was it?"

Tanjiro, however, was still startled as she said all that, both by how Shinobu snuck up on him and how threatening she seemed at that moment. Of course, ever since he met her, there was this certain smell of animosity coming from her, but never did it seem directed at him. Right now, it definitely was. "I'm...sorry." He said, lowering his head, "I didn't expect that guy to appear there, and my emotions got the better of me."

Shinobu stared at him for another moment before sighing and getting back up, the feeling of her anger directed at him fading as she did, "You're lucky Lord Ubuyashiki's taken a liking to you. Can't say the same about Obanai though...and Giyu...well, Giyu's just Giyu."

Tanjiro paused then for a moment before asking, "Well...what about you?"

She raised an eyebrow at his question, "Me...?" She paused for a second, before opening a small but genuine smile, "Well...I do like you, Tanjiro. But you can say that I am a bit biased in that matter."

"Uh...what do you 'biased'?" Tanjiro inquired in slight confusion.

"...you know, both Obanai and I heard your whole talk with Lord Ubuyashiki from outside the room. Including the whole part about...in your own words, innocent demons." She admitted.

"You don't agree with me in that, do you?" Tanjiro asked her, before looking down slightly, "That's fine. I don't expect any of you to believe what I say. It's part of my quest, not yours."

"No...no, I don't," The Insect Pillar affirmed, "I cannot even imagine how one could feel pity for such a horrible creature that devours humans. It is absurd." She took a deep breath then, "...that said, I did use to know another Demon Slayer who shared values very similar to your own, Tanjiro."

Tanjiro turned to her then, somewhat surprised that there was another Demon Slayer who felt as he did, "Uh...who was it?"

Shinobu paused for a moment, eyes narrowing sadly before saying, "...my big sister, Kanae Kocho. She was the Flower Pillar before she died against an Upper Moon demon. She always pitied demons, down to her very last breath. 'They are just humans like us, locked in an eternal existence with nothing but hunger and despair,' is what she used to say..." The Insect Pillar recalled, "...' it's a fate much worse than death'."

"...your big sister seems like she was a very kind person," Tanjiro noted sympathetically.

"She was..." Shinobu agreed, before turning to him, "...and so are you, Tanjiro. I tried very hard to keep Kanae's ideals alive, to give a chance for every demon I meet, just like you do...but it is so exhausting. They do nothing but lie and kill...so to see someone doing something similar with so much conviction, it's admirable really. And it's what I like about you, Tanjiro."

"...thanks, Shinobu." He earnestly told her, "This whole thing with the Water Pillar brought back some memories...but I guess I feel a little better now."

"That's good to know," She said, "Now, get up. Until you're all well and healed, you and your friends will be taking residence in the Butterfly Mansion. There at least we can all make sure you're not careless with that arm of yours again."

"Right...sorry again." He apologized sheepishly as he rose back to his feet, him and Shinobu soon walking through the gate and making their way out of the Ubuyashiki Mansion.

After a lot more walking, the two of them would eventually cross the gates into yet another mansion, this one not as sizeable as the last, but still very impressive nonetheless. As they entered, the two would be suddenly accosted by a girl around Tanjiro's age with deep blue eyes and straight black hair with a parted fringe, as well as two blue butterfly clips similar to the ones Shinobu and Kanao had in order to keep her twintails in place. Alongside all that, she wore a blue-tinged version of the Demon Slayer uniform, "Lady Shinobu!" She exclaimed with an immediate bow, "We've tended to and accommodated the two Demon Slayers as you've requested!"

"Good work, Aoi." Shinobu commended the girl, "But there is one more Demon Slayer we'll be giving shelter here until he heals. This here is Tanjiro Kamado. Tanjiro, this is Aoi, the second-best medic you can find in the Demon Slayer Corps. I should know...after all, I trained her myself."

"Nice to meet you." The boy nodded towards her.

"Likewise," Aoi replied shortly.

"Now, why don't you show him where his friends are staying." Shinobu told her, "I have some Pillar business to handle now."

"Of course! Come along now!" Aoi exclaimed, grabbing Tanjiro by his sleeve and dragging him off. As he looked back, the boy would see Shinobu with a wide smile and closed eyes, waving goodbye to him.

Tanjiro and Aoi would go around the grounds of the large mansion until the former began hearing the sounds of a string instrument being played nearby, and would turn the corner to see Zenitsu sitting at the edge of a balcony leading into the garden with a shamisen, playing away at the instrument with unexpected skill. Tanjiro just stood there, watching surprised at the talent he didn't know his friend had. He was about to comment something about it with Aoi, but when he turned to look at her, the girl was walking away in a hurry, already halfway across the courtyard. Shrugging, he began approaching Zenitsu, at which point the blond-haired boy would take note of him, opening his eyes and stopping his playing.

"Hey, you're back!" The boy noted, "How was the meeting with the Demon Slayer Leader?"

"It was...interesting." Tanjiro admitted, sitting beside Zenitsu as he turned his gaze to the instrument his fellow Demon Slayer was holding, "I didn't know you could play that."

"Oh? Ah, right. Neither did I, to be honest." Zenitsu admitted, "But because of my good hearing, I always had an affinity for pretty much any instrument I touch. I saw this lying around and decided to give it a try. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"...actually, yeah." He agreed with a small smile, "That is pretty sweet..."

"Yeah...to be honest, I was trying to write a romantic serenade I can sing while playing this." Zenitsu confessed somewhat sheepishly then.

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Oh? You still trying to conquer Kanao?"

"...oh, the girl with the blank stare? Yeah, that's a no," Zenitsu admitted, "I tried all my best moves on her, but all I could get was that same blank smile of her's, not even a 'you're so cool, Zenitsu'...I really don't know how YOU managed to get her attention, but I guess it's best if I leave her to you." That garnered a small sweatdrop from Tanjiro, but he said nothing still, "Now, that Aoi girl...with her, I might actually get somewhere! I think she's already starting to fall for me, even!"

"I saw as much..." The red-clad boy replied, recalling just how quickly Aoi had walked off without another word once they'd started approaching Zenitsu

"Anyway...let's stop beating around the bush then!" Zenitsu suddenly exclaimed as he put the shamisen to the side, wearing a wide grin, "Am I looking at the newest Pillar in the Demon Slayer Corps or what?"

"...yeah...about that..." Tanjiro hesitated for a minute, but the pressure got to him and he soon enough did confess what had happened regarding the Pillar situation.

"...YOU DID WHAT?!" Zenitsu suddenly cried out in indignation, "You denied being a Pillar?! What the hell, man?! You earned it fair and square! Besides, you'd get a massive raise from the shitty 20k they pay us Mizunoto!"

"Uh...actually, I'm not a Mizunoto anymore either." He admitted, "Lord Ubuyashiki said I was well beyond that at this point, and he ended up making me a Kinoe."

"...A KINOE?! That's awesome!" Zenitsu exclaimed again in an immediate mood shift, "They earn like ten times more than a shitty Mizunoto! I'm so jealous, Tanjiro!"

"Well, you're not really a Mizunoto anymore either." Tanjiro informed him, to which the boy froze, "Lord Ubuyashiki said that because of how you helped out back in Kaigara, you'd be promoted to Tsuchinoto."

"...am I?" He asked for a moment before the realization actually seemed to dawn on him, "...holy crap, I am! That's crazy! And awesome! But...I mean...I didn't really do anything back there, to be honest...am I really deserving of it?"

"I'm sure you are. It's not luck that got you this far, Zenitsu." Tanjiro reassured Zenitsu, which seemed to ease him enough, as well as make him somewhat bashful, "By the way, where's Genya? He got the same promotion as you..."

"Uh? Oh, right. He's gone to the bathroom or something." The blond boy said, "He's been gone for a while now...probably has a bad stomach or something. Not surprising, if you eat demon meat..."

"You shouldn't make fun of him, Zenitsu," Tanjiro told him seriously, "You know how hard it is to be a Demon Slayer already, imagine being one that can't use breaths. The guy's trying really hard to do the same we do without half our advantages…"

"...well, I was just saying..." Zenitsu muttered, "Not like it ain't true."

At that very moment though, the door behind them slid open and the two would turn to see Genya staring down at the two of them. There was a moment of awkward silence before he turned over to Tanjiro and spoke, "…I guess maybe you're not as bad as I thought." He admitted, before turning at Zenitsu, "You're still an idiot though."

"And you're a frickin' jerk, did someone ever tell you that?!" The blond boy lashed out in return, to which Genya only rolled his eyes.

"So, did you really refuse an offer to become a Pillar?" He asked, to which Tanjiro raised an eyebrow as he realized Genya had been hearing them talk for longer than they thought.

"Yeah...there are things about their code that I just can't bring myself to agree with..." He confessed, thinking for a second that the scarred boy would lash out and call him an idiot over it as he'd previously done. Rather, he instead just took a deep breath before speaking.

"I guess I can respect that," Genya admitted with arms crossed.

"...huh. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I'm actually starting to grow on him..." Tanjiro amusedly noted to himself.

"Anyway, what are you two gonna do now?" The scarred boy asked then. "Once we're good to go here, I mean."

"...I don't know. I think I might stay here a while." Tanjiro told them, "My broken arm is gonna take a couple of weeks to heal fully. Until then, I wanna get in as much training as I can. I only barely managed to beat Lower Moon Six, and that's something I don't ever want to leave to chance again."

"Well...in that case, I guess I might stay here some time too." Zenitsu said then, "It's gonna be hard to go out demon-slaying any time soon with my broken ribs too...so I might as well keep Tanjiro company and train with him for a while..." Tanjiro opened a small smile hearing that, thankful for the company, "...besides, you guys saw the cute girls in this place! I wouldn't mind getting to know them one single bit!"

Tanjiro's smile soured slightly at that and he sighed quietly at Zenitsu's antics before turning to Genya, "What about you, Genya?"

"Well, according to the girl with the pigtails, my burns should be healed in just about a week from now." He replied, "I plan on going out for a mission or two, but nothing too far. I plan on coming back here regardless."

"Aw, does that mean you'd actually miss us, big guy?" Zenitsu asked teasingly with a smirk.

"It's not like that, you dumbass!" Genya huffed, " It's just that...well, I didn't really tell you this before, but my brother is a Pillar himself."

"...ah, so that explains how Obanai knew your brother back then," Tanjiro recalled.

"Yeah, Sanemi's the Wind Pillar. I haven't seen him in over a year now. I tried going to his denoted territory in hopes of meeting him after I passed the Final Selection, but another Slayer told me he was away at the Demon Slayer's Headquarters. Since I couldn't find him, I ended up moving on, which is how I ended up in Kaigara and met you guys." Genya explained, "But I learned Pillars come back to the headquarters to meet amongst themselves every two months from what I heard, and the last meeting happened soon after the Final Selection. If I stick nearby long enough, I should be able to meet my brother again."

"I see...well, I hope you manage to meet him, Genya." Tanjiro told him earnestly.

"Yeah...so do I." He said, drifting off for a moment with a look of uncertainty in him before shaking his head, "Well, anyway, I gotta go practice my mantras now. I'll see you around." Genya would then just walk off, quickly turning a corner out of their view.

"...mantras, huh?" Zenitsu commented once Genya had left, "I wouldn't pick that guy for a devout Buddhist..."

"Neither would I, to be honest..." Tanjiro agreed, "But I guess people can surprise you like that."

"Well, anyway, he did have the right idea! I best get back to my shamisen practice as well if I wanna get that serenade ready." Zenitsu picked up the instrument beside him once again and began strumming experimentally on it.

Tanjiro meanwhile only watched that for a moment before turning away from the practicing Zenitsu, drawing from the scabbard in his waist what little remained of the white Nichirin sword gifted to him by Satoshi back in the Final Selection Trials. It had been a worthy companion for the little time it lasted, allowing him to slay various dangerous demons, and even a Lower Moon despite already being broken then. However, it was time to put it to rest and get a new sword. He recalled picking a mineral in a sword of his own back at the end of the Final Selection. He wondered whatever happened to that...

Somewhere else in the vastness of the world, in an otherwise emptied dust road, a man in a straw hat and an exaggerated festival mask was angrily screaming at a crow, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'HE'S IN THE DEMON SLAYER HEADQUARTERS'?! I'VE BEEN RUNNING AROUND AFTER THIS BASTARD TO GIVE HIM HIS SWORD FOR OVER A MONTH!"

Whatever the case was, Tanjiro figured he'd find out eventually.

That very night, in the Spider Mansion hidden in the depths of Natagumo mountain, a family was having a meal. Rui sat in between his mother and father, a hulking beast of dark brown skin and facial features more akin to a spider and a short pale woman with a dotted face and white hair respectively. Only natural, with him being the favorite child. Across from him sat his brother and sister, a demon with the body of a giant spider and a human-like head and a young woman with white hair and a dotted face like her mother's and little brother's. Demons normally didn't share meals in a table like that, they just killed and ate it by themselves like animals. But they were different, they were a family.

Except this was not the perfect family dinner as it usually was...something had been deeply bothering Rui for the last few days. That being the Spider Family's guest, who currently stood outside on the balcony staring up at the sky as she so often did in plain view from the dining room. Lower Moon Five, Chihime, handed to him by Lord Muzan himself for Rui to babysit. She didn't have much of a notable presence, in fact, she hadn't spoken a word nor eaten anything since she'd arrived. Most nights, she'd just silently stare up at the sky or wander around the mountain, returning just before sunrise.

Still, her being there alone was enough to leave Rui on edge. She was an uninvited and unwanted presence, not part of their family at all. He'd been sending out his family members down the mountain to get enough human meat for a banquet for days now, but now that they were all sat there and eating it, the whole feel of it was ruined because of her presence. Even as Rui sat there, chomping down on a human's organs, the only thing he could do was try his best to ignore her.

Fortunately, it seemed as if some of his family shared his feelings, as his sister too was distracted by the presence of Chihime in the balcony behind her, constantly glancing over her shoulder, not able to fully pay attention to the human arm in her place. Finally, she glanced over at Rui hesitantly before asking "...don't you think we should maybe offer her some meat...?"

Every family member suddenly froze upon hearing the question, and the tension in the room seemed to increase tenfold. None of them, not even the massive Father Spider seemed to move due to Rui's look of boiling rage as he stared down at his plate. Even Chihime turned over to glance over her shoulder, interrupting her skygazing. "What...did you just say...?" Rui inquired dangerously, and the Spider Sister knew she had done something very bad at this point.

"I'm sorry, brother, I just-" She was caught off guard mid-sentence when Rui moved across the trouble and struck her across the face, with enough force to send the demon flying through the wall behind her, past Chihime and off the balcony, hitting the ground below roughly.

The irate Rui walked past the hole still trying to ignore Chihime, before leaping off down the balcony as well after his sister. "I told you...don't speak to her, don't look at her, don't even TALK about her." Rui hissed as he walked up to his downed frightened sister as she tried crawling away, "You've disobeyed my rules, big sister...you know what happens now." The Lower Moon demon raised his hand strings seeming to appear in thin air connecting to his fingertips, "Hopefully, this time you'll learn your lesson..."

Rui brought down his hand, fully intending to have his strings shred his sister apart with no difficulty whatsoever. And they would, hadn't a hand been grabbed him by the wrist just as he swung his arm to do so. The Lower Moon Four Demon turned to look to the side, only to see Chihime standing right beside him, gripping him and preventing his rightful retribution. "You shouldn't hurt your family." She told him simply while staring blankly at the Spider Sister, finally breaking her several-day-long silence.

It required Rui a moment to process what had just happened, but as the situation dawned on him, it became clear how completely infuriated he was at this transgression, "You dare..." He said, slowly and quietly, as the veins in his forehead began contorting in his fury. Without wasting another moment, he backhanded Chihime with his free hand and sent her flying well away from him, with her hitting the ground roughly. "I welcome you to my house as a guest...and that's how you repay me. By intruding on our personal matters as if you're part of this family." He snarled, raising his hand again to resummon his strings as his sister behind him quickly scurried away to avoid the situation, "If you're so intent on protecting her though, guess I'll have to punish you instead!" The demon declared then, bringing his arm down and sending his strings at Chihime, their sheer sharpness tearing through the earth on their way towards her.

Chihime however only rose and sighed quietly, taking a deep breath and placing one hand on her scabbard as the other wrapped around the red hilt of her katana. A moment after her fellow Lower Moon swung his strings at her, she'd disappeared, and there was a loud cutting sound that echoed throughout the forest as all five strings were snapped simultaneously. Not only that, but Rui would feel a sudden pain on the side of his neck before he realized Chihime was standing right in front of him, holding a violet-red tinted nichirin blade up to his neck with the kanji for 'Kill All Evil Demons' engraved near its guard, its edge sinking into his neck just deep enough to prove a point.

Rui stood paralyzed, not even fully sure of what had just happened. How could this be? He'd sent his strings at her, he fully intended to cut her into pieces, yet there she was, his factual and numerical inferior standing before him with his life at her hands, "I thought that as my senior you would be smarter than that. Picking a fight with someone you cannot kill but that can, in turn, kill you...that is most unwise." She noted, pressing her blade ever so slightly further into his neck, "All it would take is a slight push, and if I wanted, I'd have your head."

Rui could say nothing in return, still too shocked at this turn of events to even voice it out, "However...that won't be happening today." She pulled back the katana from his neck, twirling it in her hand before returning seamlessly it to its scabbard, "It is not my intent to kill you. After all, that would greatly displease Lord Muzan."

Despite thinking he couldn't be any more surprised, Rui was wrong. He was left there, dumbfounded as Chihime wordlessly turned her back on him and walked off, leaving her senior Lower Moon behind to fully process what had just happened, "This cannot be...it makes no sense..." He thought, sweating slightly, "Every demon knows it...we're forbidden to even mention His name without our curse activating and immediately claiming our lives...but her..." The spider demon watched silently as Nezuko walked off, soon disappearing into the darkness of the forest, "...how is she immune to it...?"

A/N: Admittedly this was a bit of a short chapter. Within the 6k to 10k word range I usually aim for, but still on the lower side. I guess this is again a case of me mismanaging the chapter, but for the first time the numbers fell low rather than going too high. It's okay though, I think it ends at a good enough point with a cool cliffhanger. Before anyone points out that it's a plothole for Nezuko to break the curse like she did in canon...well, give me a chance, I'll explain that in due time.

First off, getting into the chapter itself I gotta point out something that I changed after I posted last chapter. Initially, Giyu recognizes Tanjiro at the end of the chapter, but as Cieszesi Niezmiernie again pointed out, that should not be the case. Giyu didn't even recognize Tanjiro at first sight in Canon, and there Tanjiro had far more of an impact on him. So I had him not recognize Tanjiro until after their spar this chapter instead. Honestly, it works far better for the story itself that way since I could balance out Giyu and Tanjiro's POV's without losing either of their shock when they recognized the other one.

Another interesting thing to point out in this chapter, at least in my opinion, has to do with money. According to the Demon Slayer Wiki, Mizunoto get paid around 20.000 yen as salary, while Pillars get however much they want. According to the limited knowledge I found, and someone tell me if I'm wrong, but that at the time Demon Slayer took place is worth about 500 dollars today. While we never get the salary for the other ranks, the way I decided to work it in this story is that with each promotion gains a raise of 20k, meaning the tenth rank, the Kinoe like Tanjiro now is, earn 200k yen, or five thousand dolllars. The Tsuchinoe, the sixth rank that Genya and Zenitsu now belong to, would in turn earn 120k Yen, or three thousand dollars. Pretty good money, though Demon Slaying is not an easy job.

What else...besides the spar with Giyu, which though short, felt meaningful enough that way...well, this chapter was fun in exploring some sides of characters I couldn't yet. Shinobu talking to Tanjiro about her sister like in Canon, Genya with the Buddhist chants he learned from Gyomei (which I totally didn't forget when I had his fight) and Zenitsu's uncanny ability with instruments. That shamisen might actually have a bit of importance later on too, it didn't come out of nowhere...also, speaking of Zenitsu, one thing that seriously crossed my mind while writting this chapter was to set up a pairing between himself and Aoi. From my experience people usually ship him with Nezuko and her with Inosuke, but the former is kind of hard given Nezuko's place right now and the former never really made sense for me besides their hair colors matching. But yeah, just throwing out a thought, in any case I do believe blondie deserves to be with someone considering all the shit I'll put him through. Ah, well.

Next chapter, I hope to get to cover the entirety of Tanjiro's training in the Butterfly Mansion, assuming I don't overestimate the word length of that. All that said, my usual thanks to DownwardDive...who advised me to put in a minor reference to something in this chapter and see if someone could guess it. More specifically though, it's a reference to a videogame. Consider it an easter egg for whoever finds it. I'm half-doubting someone will find it though. Its definitely not obscure, but its also not the most famous quote.

So, I know a longer Author's note in a shorter chapter is not much of a compensation...but I did have quite a bit to say here. So onto the reviews.

sebku ssj3: Esta historia es bellísima

Yes, gracias.

L chapter: Keep working bro, your story is amazing

Thanks, will do.

LasterBitz: Wow, I didn't anticipate many of the things that happened in this chapter and I'm surprised, it gets more and more interesting.

Hope there were some you didn't anticipate in this one either.

Mukuro1796L Well a little bonding time always is good, I expect the sparring match between Tanjiro and Giyu to get a little intense, poor Tanjiro I suppose no matter what universe, he doesn't have to much time to relax right? I read you in the next chapter.

He might actually have some time to relax now, but I'm gonna have him spend it mostly training. It also kind of counts as bonding time with the other members of the Five Senses lurking around though, so yeah.

Somnolent Sushi Roll:Yes don't join them. Let them feel ashamed of themselves. *insert evil laugh*

But seriously, I like this chapter. I like how he rejected the offer. It's like despite being very forgiving, he can also hold grudges. I mean, it's not like he's gonna go against them or anything, just that he prefers not to be included in the ranks of the one being responsible for murdering his remaining family member. (Be ashamed of yourself Giyu, you 'killed' best girl)

Thanks for updating.

Well, it wasn't even about that since he didn't know Giyu was a Pillar at the time, but that fact does make things a bit more difficult as you yourself pointed out. Anyway, yeah, Tanjiro is still quite kind in his own way. Even though he is not the same person as his canon self anymore, they had the same starting point, so some things are bound to remain regardless.

Guest chapter 13 . Feb 5

AAAAAAAAAAAA GIYUUUUUUU

Indeed, Tomioka. He's in this chapter.

Cieszesi Niezmiernie: I don't really mind it was a simple mistake :).

Well chapter was cool though I am a little sad that Tanjiro won't become pillar after all. But well if that's your decision as an author then I will accept it. Thought I still hold some hope about pillar thing :).

Thought if I have an issue with something then it would be the fact that Giyuu remembers Tanjiro. After all in canon he didn't recognize him immediately. And canon was deffinetly the bigger issue than in your story. After all canon Giyuu did something unthinkable for demon slayer and let demon life and there is even a issue with his seppuku if Nezuko will kill anyone. Here he just simply did a job that made him feel slightly bad, but it isn't a reason that would made his memory better. Well maybe you want to resolve those issues earlier and Giyuu bad memory would make it a little hard for that to happen I guess. Kind of imagined that Tenjiro would really hate Giyuu and pretend he doesn't exist and Giyuu would be like 'Have I met this kid before?'
Well but that's just my imagination.

And yeah about those blood battles. Well we know nothing about those but if you want some ideas then you can take this. I thought that maybe the battle last as long as a demon loses a head. It's their lifeline after all but if demons will cut, crush etc. other demon neck they still can't kill each other.

It was a great chapter yet again, good luck with the next one!

Yeah...thanks again for pointing out the thing with Giyu, you were 100% right in your criticism.

Anyway, Blood Battles are an interesting aspect to elaborate on this story, especially when you add to it the idea that you don't need to have demons kill each other in it. After all, I only have a limited number of Moons to match up against the Pillars or the Five Senses. In the former's case, that itself is limited by Upper Moons if I want a meaningful fight. Honestly, having Demon Moons killing each other would be a waste...but if they don't, then that changes things a lot.

DriftingPhoenix: Oof, Shinobu is remembering that her sister, Kanae felt the same way as Tanjiro. Deep inside, he is still very kind.

I'm glad someone caught onto that, even if I went to the trouble of reclarifying it this chapter.

bp136714: Of course you leave it on a cliffhanger! Sometimes, I think many writers are demons & their arts either make them better writers. Or force them to cliff hang at the most aggravating yet satisfying spots.

Cliffhangers are good. They make sure you guys come in for another fill, after all.

Ztassassin555:Great chapter
Man the last chapter was fire but I noticed something, tanjirou father must be op because he even learned the thirteenth form and see through world .
Also just an opinion, it will be nice if tanjirou can surpass yorochii because the student can surpass the master the master . Also it will be awesome if see through world can be combined with the hand of god technique from sasaki kojiro fight against poseidon in records of ragnarock if you have not read it yet I recommend it very much .
Also nice cause of why tanjirou can't become a pillar , it showa us even after everything he is still kind .

Records of Ragnarok is an amazing manga, I've been keeping up with it as well. Sasaki Kojiro is honestly real life Yoriichi, except he loses more. Still, I did get very pumped up reading through his fight with Poseidon, I am sure I'll take a thing or two from that character in specific to add to this story.

Arkham Knight:So Giyu finally reappears. Much tension for next chapter. Wonder how Giyu will react when he realizes what Tanjiro and Nezuko became. Great chapter.

Well, you got Tanjiro, with Nezuko though we'll all have to wait.

Anyway, that's it for Reviews today. I've recently reached two hundred followers in this story, and we're still growing. I hope to reach the same number with Favorites some time soon, so if you haven't clicked those buttons, please do. If you have though, then the only way I can know you enjoyed this is through a review, which I'll reply in the next chapter in the same fashion as I always do.

As per usual, Sky signing out.