What the Common People See
Hello everyone, at last the chapter is out! First off, sorry if I got this out a bit late, the holiday lost me a day on writing. Also, a bit of an announcement to make. I've run into something of a dilemma on the fate of the remaining lower moon, Mukago. Some want her to live while others think she should die. So once more I'd like to call on you, my fellow readers, and ask for a vote. Should I spare Mukago, or end her? Obviously read this chapter first before making a decision. And I'd like to give the usual shout outs to LoneTaker, groche9655 and Noble Eight for their contributions to this fic. And to DCDGojira's guest review question: At the moment I have no immediate plans for resuming the Team WA side stories as I'm currently tackling two big stories at the same time. And I'd also like to hear what the audience might like to see next before I write it out. Now then, y'all have waited long enough, onto the chapter!
Late Night/Early Morning: Wreckage of the Mugen Train
Subaru had had a number of reasons to be scared over the last two to almost three years. Be it nearly dying in training, fighting off vicious demons, dealing with otherworldly blood arts, or being confronted with the possibility that he might lose Nezuko or Tanjiro. One could say that the Matagi had experienced fear in a number of forms. But very rarely could he say that he'd experienced fear intense enough to seemingly root him to his spot on the passenger car just above his friend, Tanjiro. And not hardly fifty yards away was the source of their fear, a demon with a seemingly overpowering aura.
He wasn't near as physically imposing as some of the other demons they'd fought, in fact despite the somewhat veiny, bulging muscles on his arms and torso, the newcomer was kind of slim. But his brown vest, Gi pants, red ankle beads and green belt made it fairly clear that this demon was likely skilled in hand to hand fighting. His hair was also pink and decorative blue lines ran over his skin like tattoos. But it was his eyes that quite literally spelled out what he was with the words 'Upper Rank Three'.
'How badly does Muzan want us dead?' Thought Subaru, 'he sent the remaining lower moons, with four admittedly weakened while one was made even more powerful, a small army of low class demons and now even an Upper Moon is here?' It was a bad situation all around, and with Tanjiro still a bit sluggish from the use of his 'Clear Blue Sky' sword technique, the only one currently capable of putting up a fight against the Upper Moon was Subaru. 'I doubt he'll let us rest, so there's not much choice.'
"Well this is a fine mess," said Subaru in mock exasperation, doing everything he could to hide the shaking in his voice, "our first ride on a train and it turns out like this. Do you think they'll refund our tickets for the inconvenience when we make it to the station, Tanjiro?" The swordsman wasn't given time to answer as the rifleman made a slight show of dropping his weapon, before drawing his revolver and firing. It would turn out to be a mistake as the moment he got his Webley leveled, the Upper Moon was already face to face with Tanjiro and about to deliver a doubtlessly skull-shattering punch to his face.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Subaru attempted to swing his handgun towards the demon's head, noting with mounting horror that his fist would easily collide with Tanjiro's face before he would be able to fire. That is until Upper 3's fist suddenly ran into a blade with a flame pattern. "Breath of Flame Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!" Exclaimed a very welcome voice as Rengoku pulled his sword upwards in a flaming slash that cut the demon's arm down the middle.
Clearly caught by surprise, the Upper Moon retreated a safe distance with a few backflips before landing. Even despite what should've been a painful attack, the demon smiled as his arm pulled itself back together into a full limb once more. "You have a nice blade there," he complimented.
"I honestly cannot understand why you'd target a pair of wounded individuals," said Rengoku, his normal smile only faltering slightly.
"I just thought those two would be in our way," said the Demon.
"It seems you and I have a few things to talk about then," said Rengoku as his expression became far more neutral, "given that we just met and I already hate you."
"So you say," replied the Demon, "I myself really hate weak humans. I feel disgusted just looking at weaklings."
"It looks like one of the things we need to talk about, is the fact that you and I clearly have different moral values," said Rengoku.
"If that's the case, I have a wonderful proposal for you," said the Upper Moon as he flexed his hand, "why not become a demon like me?"
"Not a chance," answered Rengoku without a moment's hesitation.
"Are you sure," asked Upper Moon Three as he gazed at the flames of the man's spirit, "I can see your strength just by looking at you. With such a polished battle spirit, you're no doubt a Hashira. And on top of that, you're getting close to supreme territory."
"I am a Hashira," he said, "Rengoku Kyoujurou, the Flame Pillar."
"And I am Akaza," said the Upper Moon, "tell me, do you know why you haven't crossed into supreme territory yet? Because you're still human and being human means that one day you'll grow old and then eventually die. But if you become a demon, Kyoujurou, you'll be able to train for a hundred, even two hundred years to become stronger." This statement only succeeded in making Rengoku sigh, making it clear that he thought of it as nothing more than nonsense.
"To grow old and eventually die," said Rengoku, "is the beauty of the fleeting creature called a human being. It is because they grow old, because they die that they are tremendous, lovable and precious. To them, 'strength' is not a word used in regards to the body. You deigned to insult these two boys for being weak, but they are far from it. So I'll say it as many times as I need too, you and I have different moral values. No matter the motivation, I will not become a demon."
"So that is your answer," said Akaza as he took a fighting stance, causing a glowing snowflake symbol to form on the ground under his feet, "very well, if you won't become a demon. Then I'll just have to kill you."
"Tanjiro, Subaru," said Rengoku as he took a fighting stance, "as you've likely noticed, there's a gathering of demons close by. Currently, they seem to be waiting in anticipation for one of us to make the next move. So while I fight him, you two gather the others and defend the passengers."
"But we-," Tanjiro started to protest before the sound of Akaza launching into the air interrupted him.
"Breath of Flame First Form: Sea of Fire!" Said Rengoku as he too shot off at speeds so incredible that even Subaru could barely keep up with both eyes. 'And he claims to still be human,' thought the rifleman as the Hashira and Upper Moon's clash resounded with such intensity that it seemed to tear up the very ground beneath their feet. The Matagi would be unable to tear his eyes away for a few moments before rationality returned to him and he remembered they still had a job to do.
"Tanjiro, we're moving," said Subaru as he pulled his friend up and started hurrying along to where most of the passengers seemed to be congregating. They hadn't yet noticed the oncoming swarm of demons, but luck was on their side in one aspect. Genya had already taken charge of making sure everyone was huddled together in the most defensible part of the wreck.
"That's right everyone, stay close!" Roared Genya as he waved his shotgun in the air, "if you're not tending to the wounded then sit down and make yourself as small a target as possible. Any questions you might have will have to wait 'til later because right now we got an emergency!"
"No kidding," said Subaru as he set Tanjiro against another car, "you recover for a bit longer then jump in when you're able to move. We'll handle things until then."
"I'll be fine in a sec," said Tanjiro between labored breaths. Anything else he might've had to say went unheard as the Matagi leapt up on the passenger car next to Genya.
"Is this all the passengers?" Questioned Subaru as his eyes swept over the people gathered there, most of whom were sporting various minor injuries.
"Everyone that I could gather on short notice," said Genya, "pig boy and I ran over here as soon as we noticed the demons circling. I don't know what set them off, but they're slowly closing in now. I sent pig boy to bring back that blonde baby, the ninja and the demon girl too."
"Guess that means we'll have to figure out where all these demons came from later," said Subaru as he checked his ammo, "for now, let's discourage the curious bastards."
A Few Minutes Earlier: Near the middle of the train
'Absolutely unbelievable!' Thought Mukago with a good bit of frustration as she yanked her arm out from between two of the cars, mangling it a bit in the process. It was hardly the worst injury she'd ever suffered as a demon, but the regeneration was still going too slowly for her liking. "Damn that Rifleman and his wisteria toys. If I hadn't taken some shrapnel to my forehead and leg then I would've still been out there fighting instead of having to bleed out poison. Now Rokuro and Kamanue are dead and I have to deal with this alo-well maybe not so alone."
An evil smirk played across her face as she pulled a flat cylinder out of her other sleeve, undoing her blood demon art on it so that it reverted back to its original shape and held it up. With a quick pull of the string on the back, a small flare went up into the air. The smell of demons suddenly intensified greatly as she felt herself relax a bit. 'Good thing I had my fellow servants follow me all this way, just in case. Now I can have them drag that Matagi before me and deal with him accordingly!'
The thought of being able to return to her way of living was like a sweet remedy to all of her current anger. And after having been so close to dying today, she couldn't help but slip back into a memory or two. Like how her old life ended and new one began.
Centuries Ago:
She remembered it surprisingly well, that time when she lived in her parent's mansion. The two had built a fortune on creating comfortable textile products and would often bring gifts to her when they arrived home. The rest of the time, however, her parents would be away on business, often personally seeing to the matters of their little company. This left little Mukago with hardly anything to do throughout much of the week save for playing around, studying and giving orders to the servants.
She never would've suspected anything bad could happen then and was more than a little shocked when everyone panicked slightly to see her walk in with a dead bird she'd found in the yard one day. "Why is this birdy not flapping its wings?" She'd questioned, "and it's eyes are all funny. Is it sleeping?" She never got the answer to that question as the head maid had said that the bird was too dirty to be in the house and promptly took it back outside. She would've thought a little harder about what that meant, but her parents had come home that night bearing yet another gift, and she forgot all about the bird she found that day.
Strange things started happening after that little incident. She remembered the first very clearly. "What do you mean the head maid is sick?!" She'd asked at the time, "she does the best job with combing my hair, so now what am I supposed to do?!" The servants, of course, did everything they could to consul her such as offering to make extra special treats, taking her shopping and the like. Eventually she'd decided to be merciful and accepted the situation under the pretense that the head maid would be back eventually.
But that time never came and instead, more and more maids were calling in sick. Stranger still, every time she went out shopping in the little town where she lived, fewer and fewer people seemed to be around. "Where is everyone?" She'd asked her parents one night as they were out strolling.
"The doctor says there's some sort of bug going around," explained her Mother, "a lot of people have been calling in sick or running a fever suddenly. There have even been a few that are rumored to have passed away."
"I'm sure it's not as bad as all that," her Father had said, "now why don't we go find something to eat. I believe our favorite place is doing a special tonight." Had she not been so young and self-centered at the time, she might've noticed that most of the sicknesses were occurring at the places they visited frequently. But looking back on it, even if she had known it still might not have prevented the eventual outcome.
The so-called bug kept going around, forcing more people to call in sick and only the most devoted or hard off maids would show up to work, several of them coughing and a bit feverish themselves. It honestly irked her at the time that they were all moving so much slower and seemed way more unsteady when it came to performing their duties. She knew she could be demanding on occasion, but none of them should've been collapsing from fulfilling her requests. And then one day, for the first time ever, she woke up before all of the maids.
It had started off as an annoying day with her having to run around looking for the maids that had their own rooms at the mansion. But when she found them, or rather the few that she was able to find, they wouldn't wake up. She poked and prodded and yelled at them over and over again to no avail, they didn't even seem to be breathing! So for the first time ever, she had to feed herself and decided to gorge on snacks. She would then proceed and only partially succeed in making herself presentable before patrolling the mansion in search of any living soul that might still be around.
Despite an exhaustive search, Mukago found no one and was forced to try walking into town on her own. That's when she found something that clearly wasn't right. The main gate, as well as all the other side gates had been barricaded. No matter how hard she tried, her feeble strength wasn't near enough to push or pry open the gates and climbing over the wall was practically impossible with her delicate hands.
So she'd decided to just wait and see when her parents would show up again while finding anything to keep herself entertained until that time. Day turned to night, and night into day as she waited. She kept herself fed on the food from the store houses and drank water from the well during that time, telling herself it was only temporary and that she could tough it out like a big girl. That mindset only lasted another couple of days, however, as the house began to smell due to the still unwaking maids.
The silence also made the sounds of the night that much more clear, and frightening. Slowly, the idea that no one was coming began to pop up in her mind, a thought that persisted no matter how many times she swatted it down. Mukago did everything she could to distract herself from that fact by playing around, attempting to make food for herself, trying to do her own makeup, anything that kept that nagging feeling from returning to her. Before long, she couldn't take it anymore.
She'd run to the front gate and beat on it until her hands bled, yelling and screaming at the top of her lungs for somebody, anybody, to come and let her out of the mansion. She begged, pleaded, apologized and made promises until her throat was hoarse from all the yelling and she collapsed to the ground as a sobbing mess, her hands throbbing and bleeding as a single train of thought kept running through her mind: 'why is this happening, what did I do?' "What seems to have you so troubled, little one?" Said a voice as Mukago whirled around and laid eyes on a man she'd never seen before with red eyes and a white hat. But the fact that he was a stranger didn't make a difference to her, only that someone had heard her pleas.
She'd run to him and bawled her eyes out while blurting out her story, asking why no one seemed to be looking for her. "It is because you are infected with a sickness, child," he'd explained, "in order to prevent it from spreading, I was told that the remaining people of the town barricaded you here." That had been the answer she'd been looking for, but not the one she'd hoped for. Everyone knew where she was but weren't coming because they'd trapped her there in the first place. But it didn't make sense, if she was sick then why didn't she feel bad? How could she make others sick if she wasn't sick herself?
It made her angrier than she'd ever been, fueling a murderous rage she never knew she was capable of possessing. And that's when the man made his offer. "If you want, I can help you break that barricade, though it might hurt for a little bit."
"I don't care if it hurts a little," Mukago had said, "I'm going to make all of them hurt a lot more for leaving me here to suffer!" Clearly liking her answer, the man had given her some of his blood before she blacked out. When she woke up, she felt stronger than ever, and indeed she was much stronger than she'd ever been before. The once impassable barricade was now child's play to tear through and it took her no time at all to make it into town.
There was hardly anyone left, but she didn't care as she viciously tore apart anyone who was still around, doing her best to make them feel even a small bit of the despair she had felt. And the more she ate, the stronger she felt herself become. When her rampage came to an end, the man appeared again and asked her a simple question: "If I provide you with servants once more, will you serve me, even kill for me?"
She answered yes with almost no hesitation, jumping at the chance to have some semblance of the life that had been ripped from her. The story of Mukago's rise to Lower Moon Four began that night. She worked eagerly at first, making full use of the servant demons Muzan Kibutsuji would occasionally provide for her to corner and kill the so-called demon slayers and devour the people with 'marechi' in their blood. Slowly but surely, she worked her way up and acquired some skill with weapons and her blood demon art to kill even higher-ranked demon slayers along with whatever people she felt like slaughtering at the time.
After a decade or so, she was granted the rank of Lower Moon Four and received the engraving upon her left eye. It was one of the happiest moments of her life, and she'd celebrated by inhabiting a new mansion and playing around with her servants in whatever twisted, perverted way that crossed her mind. She'd decided then that she'd worked hard enough and that now was the time to relax and enjoy her new rank for as long as possible. And for a few years to even a few decades, she did.
But then they came, the Hashiras. Absolute, unstoppable monsters who cut through her servants like a farmer cuts their wheat. She'd been forced to abandon her mansion, realizing very quickly that she would die trying to face one. It would be one of the first times she'd see Lord Muzan angry. And it wouldn't be the last as every time she got cozy at a new large house or mansion, another Hashira would eventually find her. And eventually, Muzan himself would grow tired of her cowardice.
The Present
But there was still a chance for her now, especially with all the other lower moons being dead. At least that would've been the plan if she didn't notice that some of the demon scents didn't belong to her servants. 'What, who in the world are-oh don't tell me!' Whipping her head around in all directions, she grit her teeth upon realizing the situation. "You miserable bastards," she said, "you brought your own demon servants too?! Now I have to put in even more work!"
And she would've pondered a lot more on her sudden dilemma if another problem didn't suddenly present itself, a chain wrapping around her neck. "You'll find one must put in quite a bit of work if they are to succeed in life," said Izayoi as he held the chain in one hand and the sickle in the other, "but that's advise better served to one who isn't about to die!" The Shinobi leapt down and attempted to decapitate the demon with one of his signature techniques. But at the last second, Mukago's body flattened, allowing her to slip out of the chain and avoid the strike before regaining her normal shape.
"A fucking ninja's on this train too!" exclaimed Mukago as she pulled a backup revolver out of her sleeve and returned it to its normal shape before firing. To her frustration, the Shinobi managed to dodge and leap down into the other side of the wreckage. "It's official, I fucking hate today!"
Present: Middle of Mugen Wreckage
"I am fucking hating this night!" Said Subaru as he fired and nailed another demon in the head, "I thought Muzan was all about preventing other demons from gathering!" He then managed to shoot another two demons who were clambering over the wreckage. The hunter had thought their behavior a bit strange at first until he felt the impact of another clash between Rengoku and Akaza. 'They're approaching so cautiously and from angles offering a bit of concealment because they don't want to attract their attention,' he'd realized.
"I guess he makes exceptions for Hashiras and people he hates," quipped Genya as he blew the heads off another two demons who'd popped up from the wreckage, "but at least this'll get me a lot more credit towards becoming one myself."
"If you're still going on about that," said Subaru as he shifted his position, drew his Webley and shot a demon in the head who'd been trying to sneak up on Genya, "you'd best take extra care to watch your back." The Shotgun wielder simply grumbled at that as the Matagi returned his sidearm to its holster and continued to fire from his half-kneeling position at any demon that came clambering over or out of the wreckage. The inhuman things had been popping up only a couple to a few at a time, some wearing maid's outfits while others wore martial arts Gi's. Apparently the lack of a clear leader and the massive clash happening nearby had sapped a good bit of their courage for the moment. But it was clear they were getting bolder as Subaru shot down three more demons in quick succession.
The blast of Genya's trench shotgun was also starting to sound more often, meaning their enemies were popping up in greater and greater numbers. It was after Subaru downed five in a row that the side of the car he was kneeling on suddenly burst open with a demon in a Karate Gi lunging at him. The Rifleman was able to jump away and land on his back before shooting the demon in the head then rolling onto his stomach and shooting a demon who'd taken advantage of the sudden opening to try and rush him. He was just getting back up to his knees and working the lever on his rifle when a third demon leapt up into the air, its claws and teeth bared as it fell towards him.
Subaru was certain things were about to turn nasty when a female figure came leaping into the fray and kicked the demon several yards away into some of the train wreckage. "Nezuko!" The Matagi almost cheered as his demon love spun and kicked the heads off two more demons before slashing the throat of a third. Subaru followed up her attacks by firing his wisteria bullets into their damaged bodies.
"COMIN' THROUGH!" Yelled Inosuke as he leapt in and carved a path through several demons using a few of his Fang techniques. Subaru might've commented on the fact that he was loud as ever while leveling his rifle at another group of approaching demons, only to blink as an electrified streak of yellow entered his vision and managed to decapitate several of the demons in quick succession.
"What in the shit," said Subaru as the blur stopped and revealed himself to be, Zenitsu?
"I will protect Nezuko," he said with his eyes still closed and his sword in its sheath, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
"And just how long have you been able to fight you lying prick?!" Exclaimed Subaru, "All that time you spent whining about being scared when you could've…..are you sleeping?!" The reason for his second question occurred when he realized Zenitsu was snoring while still maintaining his stance. The Matagi was about to wake him up when Nezuko stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Wait, he's been fighting while asleep this whole time? How the fuck is he doing that?!"
The demon girl merely shrugged while the Rifleman just sighed before the two of them stood back to back and decapitated another couple of demons. It was strange seeing someone fight while asleep, but it was just another question to answer later on as the gathered slayers continued to wear away at the small horde of demons continually coming at them. The passengers themselves could only watch in shock and awe at the scene unfolding before them as Tanjiro was finally able to enter the fray himself, his body now able to move just well enough to fight. It formed a circle of deadly performances around all of the surviving passengers as the slayers battled with all of their remaining strength.
If they looked to the left, they'd see a boy wearing a boar's head with two swords carving up several of the strange grey monsters. If they looked right, they'd see a deadly ballet as a demon beauty and a rifle-twirling hunter slashed, tore and shot their way through anything daring to trample onto their stage. The sight was just as gory if one looked ahead and saw a scarred boy with one to sometimes two shotguns blasting apart beast after beast, and even tearing out the throat of an especially unlucky monster who got too close for comfort. And finally, if one looked behind themselves, they'd see two blurs, one green and the other yellow.
The green blur moved in a fluid motion, sometimes like a flowing river, other times like a waterfall, and sometimes even like a swirling wave. Meanwhile, the yellow blur moved even quicker in straight but very precise lines, striking like lightning and even creating a sound similar to thunder. For many, it was like witnessing a fairy tale come to life, with heroes battling monsters while wielding incredible strength, speed and skill that felt practically mystical in nature. The only thing which dwarfed this, was the apparent battle of titans in the distance whose blows seemed to make the very air tremble with their ferocity.
The passengers felt fear, excitement, exhilaration, confusion and a whole host of other emotions as the battle raged on. Hardly anyone took their eyes from the sight and some hardly dared to breathe, fearing that any sudden movement could draw the attention of the seeming other worlders and bring their battle closer to the circle of wounded passengers. There was but one brave camera man who dared to snap a few photos of the spectacle in front of him, hardly believing his own eyes or memories would even be able to fully comprehend what was happening if he did happen to survive. How long it all lasted, no one knew, but eventually the last demon was decapitated and fell to the ground before slowly dissolving away into ash.
The exhausted fighters all gathered around, looking over the sight of the frightened but thankfully still alive passengers of the Mugen Train. "Is…everyone….alright?" Asked Tanjiro after a moment as he tried desperately to catch hi breath.
"Now that things are calmed down a bit," said Subaru, "those wounds I got from that lower moon and the crash are starting to hurt. But other than that, I'm good." Not that he personally had a lot to complain about as Nezuko rubbed her nose against his before proceeding to tend to his wounds with some of his bandages.
"Yeah, that was great!" exclaimed Inosuke, still managing to have some energy despite the night they'd had up to that point.
"I'm out of ammo and got bit and cut all over," said Genya as he took a bite of some dissolving demon flesh, "but that's not gonna stop me."
"What about you Zenit-," Tanjiro started to ask before realizing his fellow slayer was still somehow asleep, "I, uh, guess we'll leave you there for another few moments. Wait, how's Rengoku doing?!" Subaru took a look over in the direction of his battle to answer that very question, and his eyes widened.
"Guys," said Subaru as he loaded his last clip, "we might still have a problem." The battle of the Hashira and Upper Moon had managed to kick up a fair-sized dust cloud for a moment. But as it cleared, a winner seemed to have been decided. Rengoku was still standing, with Akaza's arm straight through his stomach.
Our slayers have managed to protect the passengers from the demon horde, but will it be all for naught against an Upper Moon? And once again, sorry for getting this out a little late but Labor Day ironically gave me less time than usual to write it up. Hopefully it was still entertaining and please feel free to leave your vote on Mukago's fate with a comment or review. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes make one final push against Akaza! 'Til then.