'Sakonji Urokodaki' read the plaque on the house. It was compact, as houses in the city tended to be, with only a short driveway and path to the door. It was the day after Nezuko had disappeared, and Tanjiro had skipped school to come here. He knocked.

No response.

He knocked again. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Guess not," he told himself. "I'll come back later."

He was just turning around when he heard the door open. He looked back to see it only cracked. "Who are you?" asked an old, rough voice.

"I'm Tanjiro Kamado," said Tanjiro. "Are you Mr. Urokodaki?"

"I am," said the man. Tanjiro could only see one of his eyes peering through the door.

"I need your help, my sister's gone missing!" Tanjiro said.

"Why are you coming here? You should tell the police," said Urokodaki.

"We did," said Tanjiro, dismayed. "They only sent one detective, Giyu Tomioka. He told me to find you."

Urokodaki paused.

"Come in," he said. He opened the door.

The man had grey hair and a slightly wrinkled face, but one that carried an aura of competence. His brown eyes were kind, however. He was wearing fairly casual clothes, a plain white shirt and black pants.

The first room of the house had a large TV and a green sofa facing it. Behind the sofa was a desk with a computer and chairs on either side. Urokodaki sat down on the other side, where the computer's screen was facing, and motioned for Tanjiro to sit across from him.

"Alright," said Urokodaki. "Tell me everything you know."

Tanjiro basically repeated everything that his mother had told Tomioka, and Urokodaki asked most of the same questions. When he was finished, Urokodaki closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He then stood up. "Okay, let's go investigate."

"Me too?" Tanjiro asked.

"Yes," Urokodaki replied. "I need you with me to answer any questions that may crop up. I'll have Tomioka contact your school to see if you can be excused today, and from now until we're done, you come here every day, got that?"

"Y-yes sir!" said Tanjiro. He bowed. "Thank you so much."

The first thing Urokodaki did was meet with Tomioka, who had already talked to Nezuko's friends, and had a general idea of where she disappeared. They sat down with him at a coffee shop.

"I believe she was on her way home," he said. "In addition, I am now almost entirely confident that it was a kidnapping. I'm working on getting security footage from yesterday in the relevant areas."

"Wow, you figured all that out already?" Tanjiro asked.

"Unfortunately, that's the easy part," said Tomioka. "It only gets harder from here."

Urokodaki nodded.

"Oh," said Tanjiro.

"I don't have any other leads yet," Tomioka continued. "By myself, I'm pressed for time. I'm glad you decided to help, Urokodaki."

"I can't exactly let this be," Urokodaki said.

"Hm..." Tomioka thought. "I would see if I could officially get you involved in the investigation, but that would ruin the purpose of your help in the first place. Tomorrow, I'll look through the files at the station and see if I can find anything that strikes me as being particularly similar to this case. It might give us a clue as to where to look. That is, if the security footage doesn't turn anything up. I doubt it will, though. There aren't many businesses around there with cameras so most of the footage will be from traffic lights."

Tanjiro was discouraged, hearing that.

"That being said, I should get to work," said Tomioka, standing up. "Tell me if you need anything."

"Thank you," Urokodaki responded. He waited until Tomioka was gone, then stood up. "Let's go," he said.

Tanjiro got up too. "Where?" he asked.

"We're going to talk to everyone your sister knows, and everyone in the area they know. Unless Tomioka finds something in the footage or the records, this is our only option at the moment."

The two went outside, Tanjiro following Urokodaki along the street. "A kidnapping isn't always as dirty as crimes like murder," Urokodaki continued.

Tanjiro's head jerked up.

"Get used to it," said Urokodaki. "If we're going to find your sister, things are going to get unpleasant."

"A- Alright," said Tanjiro.

They spent that day looking into every name they could get. The following day, Tanjiro went straight to Urokodaki's house, just like he said he would. People at school weren't really suspicious of Nezuko being missing yet. The school knew, of course, but they weren't telling the students.

Tanjiro and Urokodaki continued to talk to any relevant person in the area.

On Wednesday, Tomioka met with them again.

They sat down together. "I was actually surprised," Tomioka said. "There are several unsolved disappearances, some from as many as four years ago. All of them were minors from middle to high school age at the time of the disappearance."

"That's terrible," said Tanjiro.

"However, I did find one similar case where the missing child was found."

"Really?" Tanjiro asked, leaning forward with his hands impacting the table slightly. He drew some eyes, and Urokodaki motioned for him to be quiet.

"The police arrested the person in possession of the victim, and he's still in prison. However, given the additional evidence, they may have only been a cohort of the kidnapper, or even a buyer."

"A buyer? You mean human trafficking?" Tanjiro asked, being careful to whisper.

Tomioka nodded. "His name is Sato Naburo. I was hoping you would come talk to him with me, Urokodaki."

"Very well," Urokodaki responded. "Shall we go right now?"

Tomioka stood up, and nodded. Urokodaki got up to follow, proceeded by Tanjiro.

On the way there, Tanjiro got a message from his mother.

'I won't ask where you are.

I'm worried about Nezuko too.

Just make sure you don't get in that detective's way.'

Tanjiro sent back an 'Ok.' He closed out to the home screen, where he noticed a strange icon among his other apps. It was red with distorted black lines, and a black eye in the center, heavily stylized. 'How'd that get there?' he thought.

It was strange indeed, but he didn't have the time to worry about it at the time, so he held his finger on the icon until the 'uninstall' prompt appeared, and deleted it.

When they got to the prison, Naburo agreed to speak with them. Tomioka hung back outside the visiting room, and when Tanjiro asked why, he replied "This is exactly why I needed Urokodaki's help." Tanjiro wasn't able to get any more out of him before Urokodaki called him to come inside.

"I wasn't expecting to get visits from strangers," the man said from across the dividing glass. He looked ragged. His nose looked like it had been broken at some point and his hair was uncut and unkempt. He had spotty facial hair, too. "Who are you guys?"

"My name is Sakonji Urokodaki. I'm a private investigator. I have reason to believe that you weren't the only perpetrator in your case."

"Y-Yeah?" said Naburo. "What makes you think that?"

"Multiple other cases of kidnappings similar to yours have happened after your arrest," said Urokodaki. "Were you working with anyone else?"

"No," said Naburo, defensively. "And if I was, why would I tell you, anyway?"

"Because if we catch someone else with your help, I may be able to get your sentence shortened," said Urokodaki.

'Will he really shorten a kidnapper's sentence?' Tanjiro thought. 'Oh! This must be what Tomioka meant when he said there are things the police can't do. Urokodaki is lying!'

Naburo seemed taken aback. He deliberated for a few seconds, before responding: "How much?"

"Anywhere from five to fifteen years," said Urokodaki, without skipping a beat. Tanjiro knew the man's sentence was 35 years, so 15 years would be almost half of that. It was sure to get Naburo's hopes up, hopefully without arousing suspicion.

It worked.

"Alright, fine," Naburo said. "You're right, I was barely involved, and only in that one kidnapping. I may have even been used as bait, so I'll tell you. The real man behind it is named Yoshihara Takiashi. I don't know where he lives, though. Now that I think about it, he didn't give me any information at all, really."

"That should be more than enough, thank you," Urokodaki said. "You've been a great help." He bowed, then stood up. "Come on, Tanjiro, let's go."

"R- right..." Tanjiro said. He followed Urokodaki out.

Tomioka greeted them outside. "I trust you found something."

Urokodaki nodded. "A name, actually. Yoshihara Takiashi."

Tomioka nodded. "I'll look into him," he said. He headed off to his car.

Tanjiro waved him off, but the gesture wasn't reciprocated.

"I think I know the answer, but do you actually plan on reducing that man's sentence?" Tanjiro asked.

"Of course not," Urokodaki replied.

"Here's what I found," said Tomioka. It was the day after their visit to the prison. "Yoshihara Takiashi does indeed exist. There's even a residence listed. It may not be where he lives, but it's a step in the right direction. Of course, once again, I can't go there myself."

"I understand, of course," said Urokodaki.

Tomioka gave him the address, then Tanjiro and Urokodaki were off.

'That weird app again...' Tanjiro thought, seeing the strange red and black icon back on his home screen. He was about to delete it, when the icon expanded to fill his whole screen. He tried tapping, and pressing the home screen, but it seemed to be ignoring any input. Around him, the cars on the street, the pedestrians, even Urokodaki in the driver's seat, stopped moving. It was as if time had halted.

'I am Thou. Thou art I,' spoke a voice in his mind. He felt a slight, dull ache in his forehead. 'The time is fast approaching.'

He heard a sound like a fire bursting to life, and time resumed. He looked back down at his phone, and the icon was back to looking like a normal app on the home screen. Silently, he deleted it.

Urokodaki parked his old, angular blue car, and the two got out. The neighborhood was not quite decrepit, but definitely bland. It was full of boring apartment complexes and not much else.

"Tanjiro, listen to me," Urokodaki began. "If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to come here with me."

"...huh?"

"There's a very real possibility that things could get dangerous. We're going to a criminal's supposed home, after all," Urokodaki explained. "I won't make you come."

Tanjiro thought for some time. "Thank you," he said, "but Nezuko is my sister. I have to do anything I can."

Urokodaki closed his eyes, then nodded. "I see. Let's go, then."

The address belonged to a first floor apartment in a back street. There were only a few people about.

Urokodaki knocked once. Twice. Three times.

No answer.

He walked over to the window and peered in. "Empty," he said. "Wait here."

He walked to the other side of where the building's stairs sat, opened the door to the apartments' office and went inside. A few minutes later, he emerged. "I told the owner about the situation, and he gave me the key to the apartment," he said.

"Is that legal?" Tanjiro asked.

"Not at all," Urokodaki answered. "That's why Tomioka isn't here."

"... I see..."

"Don't worry. There aren't any cameras nearby, and we won't take anything," Urokodaki said. He pulled two pairs of black gloves from his pocket. He put one pair on, and gave the other pair to Tanjiro. He inserted the key into the lock, twisted it, turned the handle, and pushed the door open. The pair stepped inside, and Urokodaki closed the door behind them. "We aren't turning the light on. Use your phone flashlight," Urokodaki commanded.

"Right..." said Tanjiro.

The apartment was sparse. The only furniture were a small two cushion sofa in front of a TV and a round wooden table with three chairs near the kitchen. The sofa had a blanket and a single pillow on it.

The apartment was a single-bedroom, and oddly enough, the bedroom door was locked. Urokodaki unlocked it with the key the owner had given him.

The room was completely barren. No furniture, no carpet, just stains on the floor, likely from food.

"This looks an awful lot like a kidnapper's home, alright," said Urokodaki.

"Nezuko isn't here..."

Urokodaki put his hand on Tanjiro's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said.

Tanjiro took a deep breath. "Let's keep looking around."

Urokodaki nodded.

They split up to look around, but it didn't take long for something to come up.

"Come look what I found," said Urokodaki. He brought Tanjiro to a cabinet in the kitchen, pointing out a number of bottles, small to large. "Not all of these are labelled, and the ones that are, are indeed legal, but it's possible to make at least one kind of sleep agent with these," he said.

They looked around for a few more minutes without finding anything, so they left everything as it was before, and returned the keys to the apartment owner. They got a ways away from the apartment, and Urokodaki called Tomioka.

"Tomioka, it's Urokodaki," he said. Tanjiro couldn't hear Tomioka's response.

"He wasn't home. We got inside though.

"His apartment was suspicious, but not quite any evidence of a kidnapping, nor any contraband.

"...

"I understand. Goodbye." He turned his phone off and put it in his pocket. His head lowered. "I'm sorry Tanjiro, there's no way we can arrest Takiashi with the evidence here. Tomioka and I will keep looking, but you don't need to come every day any more. You should focus on your studies."

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Tanjiro asked. He was starting to tear up.

"Not today," said Urokodaki. "I'm sorry."

"No... It's not your fault," said Tanjiro.

"Come on, I'll take you home," said Urokodaki.

Tanjiro flicked his wrist. "No thanks, I'll take the train," he said. "I'd like to clear my head."

Urokodaki nodded. "Of course. I understand," he said. "Just be careful."

"I will," said Tanjiro. He waved to Urokodaki as he headed off.

He watched the small car start up and turn away, then he headed back towards the apartment. He looked at it from a distance, behind a corner.

"Gah!" he screamed, hitting the wall next to him. Tears streamed from his eyes. "Nezuko... Dammit. Does this guy think he can just control other people's lives? Does he think people are animals, like he's running some kind of zoo!?" He leaned on the wall, and cried to himself for a few minutes.

When he looked up, the apartment was gone, as was the apartment building, as was the whole row of buildings on the other side of the street. Instead, there was a huge field, right on the side of the road. It was fenced in, and buildings and other structures could be seen sparsely dotting the interior. Where the apartment had been, there was now a large gate. It was, with almost no room for doubt, a zoo. The sky was red.

"Huh?" Tanjiro uttered. "But..."

He quickly reasoned that he wouldn't find anything out by just standing there, so he hesitantly walked through the gate. There was no reception. Four concrete paths diverged in different directions. He went forward toward a building with the words 'Chimpanzee Connection' on the wall. There was a fenced-in area connected to the building, with stairs leading up to a ledge on the outside of the fence, presumably for looking in.

He pushed the building's glass doors open. On the inside, there were two rooms divided by a glass wall. The one he came into was for observers, while on the other side of the wall was a jungle gym for the chimpanzees. Another window looked out into the fenced-in yard, where there was some more equipment and space for the animals. There was only one of the apes that Tanjiro could see outside, with its back turned. Inside, he could see four. They too, oddly enough, had their backs turned.

He put his face up to the glass to get a better look at the one closest to him. It noticed, and turned around, revealing that it had the face of a human boy.

"Whoah!" Tanjiro stumbled back, tripped over himself, and fell. "What... is that thing?" he wondered out loud.

Suddenly, he heard the door open behind him. He swiveled his head around, seeing what appeared to be a zookeeper. He was large and bulky, wearing a dark green button-up safari shirt, with a khaki brimmed hat and pants. A large, severed hand clutched his face, covering it from view.

"Wha- Who are you?" Tanjiro stammered.

Two more people stepped in after him. One looked exactly identical to the first, while the third was a normal sized man with shoulder-length black hair. His clothes were similar to the others', but his shirt was open, revealing a white undershirt and green tie. He wasn't wearing a hat, and there was no hand on his face.

"My, my, a new animal for my exhibits," said the man, in a high pitched, almost giggly voice.

"Huh?" said Tanjiro, quickly looking around the small room. "You mean me?!"

"But, of course," said the man. He turned to one of the men next to him, and gestured toward Tanjiro. "Go on. He'll go nicely with the rest of the little fishes."

The man walked forward. "What!? I'm not a fish!" Tanjiro yelled. He tried to get up and run, but the room had one exit, so he ended up backed against the wall. The man reached behind his head and picked him up by his shirt collar. "Hey! Put me down!"

The strange man giggled. "Ooh, a feisty one. Come, let's get you to your tank. I think I'll call you 'The Red-Haired Schoolfish.'"

Tanjiro tried to struggle as he was carried away down a short path to another concrete building. This one had the words 'Life in the Water' written on it. Inside, there was a room lined with water tanks, containing various fish, though Tanjiro couldn't make out if they had human faces or not. The biggest took up a whole wall, from floor to ceiling.

The group went through a staff door painted the same blue as the wall, and entered a back room where the tanks could be tended to. They climbed a set of black, metal stairs to the open top of the large tank from the other room. Large fish were idly swimming below.

"This is where you'll be from now on, little fishy," said the strange man.

Tanjiro gasped.

Abruptly, he found the strength to grab the man holding him's arm and break free from his grip. He fell to the ground, and before he could get up, he developed a splitting headache. He put his hands on his forehead, and began rolling on the floor, screaming from the pain. The men were surprised, and took some tentative steps back.

The voice from earlier rang out in Tanjiro's head, louder now. 'What are you doing? Will you die here? Will you allow yourself, your life, to be controlled by others? Have you given up on finding your sister simply because it isn't easy?'

"No... Never!" Tanjiro shouted through the agony.

'Good... Vow to me. Release your true fury upon those who've wronged you! I am Thou. Thou art I. Thou shalt carry the burning torch of rebellion. Let its flames consume your very soul!'

The headache faded. Tanjiro looked up at the strange man, whose face was painted with confusion. He brought his hands to his face. Around his eyes, he could feel something hard and rough. On the ends, it flared out with several softly pointed protrusions, pointing up to the top edge.

His mask, in the shape of a flame.

He knew what he had to do.

"Per...

"so...

"na."

He grabbed the edges, and tugged. With tremendous effort, the mask came off, ripping his skin off with it. Blood gushed down his face.

"Come to me, Jimmu!" he shouted.

The blood ignited into bright blue flame and burned away, cleansing his face as it spread to the rest of his body. When it reached the mask in his hands, it devoured it, and grew. The flames inflated to be larger than Tanjiro, and a figure emerged. It wore a long silk robe, colored silver. Under the hood, only two burning eyes were distinguishable. It brought up its arm, and the robe's sleeve fell, revealing that its hand and arm were made from twigs. Indeed, two thin sticks just barely poked out from the bottom of the robe. It opened its palm, where an orange flame sprang to life.

A wicked smile spread across Tanjiro's face, and though he didn't know it, his eyes were a terrible shade of yellow.

Alright, trivia time. Emperor Jimmu was the mythical first emperor of Japan, and the great-great grandson of Amaterasu, the sun goddess. Thought that was fitting for Tanjiro. Anyways, sorry about all the random named characters, but they needed to be there for the story, so, whatever. Anyway, here's a sketch I made of Jimmu in case you wanted to know what he looks like: /EgAN0j2 /EgAN0j2 /EgAN0j2 /EgAN0j2 /EgAN0j2