When Darkness Come
When Tanjiro finally made it to the designated place. The sun had already woke up and is now peeking trough the clouds. The redhead decided to investigate the town first in the morning and in the night he'll hunt for the demon.
When he steps foot in the town. Some people would weirdly stared at him, 'Was there something on my face.' He asked himself, as he brought up a finger to scratch his right cheek when he felt something hard. His mouth dropped a little bit when he realized why some of the people are staring at him like that, 'Oh it's because of my mask.'
Sighing, he moved his warding mask besides his forehead and brushed the lock of hair that was covering his right eye. 'Maybe, I should get a haircut.' He thought to himself, as he examined the strands of hair that was reaching past the end of his neck a little bit.
He arched up his neck to stare at the now blue sky. Taking a deep breath, he marched up to an old lady who was opening her shop. "Excuse me," He called out to her, "I'm here to investigate the disappearance of young girls here in your town. Can you tell me when did these disappearance started and how many girls have already went missing?"
The old lady at first, stared sternly at him. But she soon relaxed, "Well the disappearance started three weeks ago. About 10-12 girls around the age of 16 and below have been missing since then." The old woman answered, her face darkening a bit before turning back to normal.
Tanjiro nodded, memorising any information that was given to him. He then asked, "Do you know who's the latest victim in these disappearance, ma'am?"
The old lady thought for a moment before answering, "Satoko had disappeared two days ago. If you want to ask more question, you can ask Kazumi." She told him, "He's Satoko's fiance. Poor guy, he was really devastated when she disappeared."
Tanjiro decided to ask the missing girl's fiance about Satoko's disappearance. He bowed his head, as a sign of gratitude. "Thank you, ma'am." He said to her, "I have one final question, though..."
He straightened up and asked, "Where does Kazumi live. I also want to ask him some questions."
The old lady begun telling Tanjiro the direction to Kazumi's house and once she was finished. Tanjiro bowed his head again to the lady, as he thanked her again. He then walked away from her, as he followed the old lady's direction that will lead him to Kazumi's home.
While walking down the path to the victim's home. In his line of sight, he saw a man walking towards him. The man looks lifeless plus the scent of sadness and tears are overwhelming on him.
On the same path as the two males were chatting neighbors, "Poor Kazumi." and "It's sad that his fiance disappeared." Were the words they would whisper with each other and Tanjiro's eyes brightened when he learned who the man is.
He quickly run towards him, "Kazumi-san, right?" He called out to him and the man lifted up his face to stare at Tanjiro.
"Yeah that is me." He answered, his voice drained of life and full of sorrow. "What do you want?"
Tanjiro smiled kindly at him, "I was sent here to investigate the missing girls in this town and I wanted to question you. Since you can help me solve their disappearances." He knew that it was the work of a demon, but he doesn't need to alert anyone since the demon might be near, listening in the shadows.
The man in front of the redhead looked surprised and hopeful, "You say that Satoko's disappearance is linked to your work?" He asked with a vacant look.
"Yes, I would like to ask for your help in finding out what happened." Tanjiro answered. "But not here. I can't discuss it here, so follow me."
Tanjiro turned around and started to walk away. His a stranger, so it won't be a shock if the man was doubtful at him. He then heard the sound of footsteps behind him and Tanjiro let out a small smile.
Both of them walked for three minutes before stopping at a secluded place. Tanjiro sat down on a bench that was in the place and he offered the spot next to him to Kazumi-san.
The older male complied and a silent enveloped them, as Tanjiro let the man clear his mind.
"Could you tell me how she disappeared, your fiance I mean ?" The Kamado asked and a pained expression flashed across Kazumi-san's face, as he looked down.
"I don't know what happened, we were walking together and suddenly she was just... gone." Kazumi-san answered with a trembling voice.
Tanjiro stared at the sky, as he thought of what the demon's blood demon art is. By the information alone on how the girl disappeared. The demon might be fast or have some kind of teleportation blood art.
"...can you take us to the place where she disappeared?" He asked, keeping his deduction of the demon back in his mind. 'I can't just assume.' He thought while glancing up to see the older male standing up and agreeing with his request.
However, Kazumi-san still has a doubtful look. "Eh?" The brown haired man looked up at him. "Then... you believe me?"
Tanjiro smiled at him, "Yes, I do. Why don't you think that I believed you?"
His crimson eyes watched as the man flinched. "People say I'm crazy when I tell them how my fiance had disappeared." He answered with a grimace look on his face.
The redhead sighed. This is the problem when people aren't aware of demons, "I believe you." He said one more time to him, "So can you lead me to the place."
"...alright." With that, Kazumi-san begun to move. "Follow me."
"..."
Twenty minutes later the two were at a crossroad.
"This is the place." Kazumi said. "We were taking a walk, I think I told a joke, I remember we were laughing and..." He trailed off there, gritting his teeth. "You may not believe me, though."
The Kamado hold down his sigh, he already told the man that he had believed him.
"I believe you!" Tanjiro answered immediately. "I believe you, alright!" He repeated to assure him before kneeling on the ground and bringing his face close to the ground. 'There's still a faint trace of demon scent.' The red haired teen thought as the smell entered his nostrils. 'But its uneven so to speak... something's strange.'
His eyes glanced at Kazumi-san who stared weirdly at him. The older male brought up his hand to touched a bruise on his left arm. Tanjiro's eyes narrowed, 'I better kill that demon quickly, so he could live in peace.'
Without a word, Tanjiro stood up and began to walk, making the other male follow him.
The rest of the day was spent with Tanjiro walking around the town trying to find the demon; he would kneel on the ground to sniff it, get up, move to another spot and repeat.
He knew people were staring at him, but his finding a lead. Also while sniffing for the demon's trail like a hound, he would sometimes chat and reassure the man who was following him.
By the time the sun was beginning to set, the two had walked around most of the town. Sadly, there weren't any new leads so far.
"I want you to believe me." Kazumi suddenly spoke up, earning the swordsman's attention. "She really did vanish."
"I believe you." Tanjiro answered immediately, wanting to reassure him again and to bring peace with the man's mind. "After all, that's why I'm here."
After that exchange, the two went back to walking silently while following the Kamado's lead. It wasn't until after midnight that Kazumi broke the silence again.
"You're gonna keep going?" He asked which Tanjiro responded with a nod.
"Yes." The red haired teen answered without stopping. 'It's already dark, the demon will be coming out now.'
"Look how late it's gotten." The older male said, as concern masked his features. "I'm flattered that you're so concerned for me, but shouldn't you pick up again tomorrow and get some rest?"
Tanjiro suddenly kneeled again.
"Those things are active during the night so I can't afford to rest." Sniffing the air, he turned his head to the side to stare at an empty street. His eyes sparked a flame of determination, as he spoke. "I've detected a new scent in this area it's gotta be somewhere nearby."
"Those things..." Kazumi trailed off, looking down at the sword user with jaw dropping a little bit. It was clear what he was referring to, "Don't tell me you are..."
Tanjiro's face stayed neutral, but his eyes widened when he picked up a strong scent of the demon. He gasped and was about to run when he remembered the older male behind him, "Kazumi-san please follow me. I think I found the thing that took your fiance." With that said, he sprinted off.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden!?" The Kamado heard the older male's yell who was behind him. But he paid him no mind, as he quickly run towards the location where the demon's scent is stronger.
Tanjiro stopped running, he was outside a large house with stone walls surrounding it. He smelled Kazumi-san who was a few distance away from him, but his nose picked up two different scent.
His eyes narrowed, as he unsheathed his sword. 'This is it.' His eyes widened and he prepared his guard up, 'They are here right now.'
The Kamado silently walked towards a secluded dark place that was near the house, 'Two different scents, a demon and a female human!' He thought while looking around. 'They're nowhere to be seen, but...' He took a few steps to his right while maintaining his stance before turning his sword around and pointing it to the ground. 'The spot where the scent is strongest... is right here!' The red haired teen quickly stabbed the ground.
A moment later, a black smoke emerged and an unnatural mud like dark spot appeared from thin air. It was the demon, but that wasn't what caught Tanjiro's attention, though; what caught his attention was the purple kimono floating on the spot.
He immediately grabbed the cloth and pulled it out. When the rest of the cloth was visible, he saw a head of a person. He was pulling out a girl around his age from the black spot.
Suddenly the demon's hand reached out, but Tanjiro had quickly pulled the girl out. Although, the demon had a torn piece of the girl's kimono on its hand.
Tanjiro heard a growl and the demon emerge, its upper half only visible to the eyes while the rest of its body was in its black spot.
The demon was a man with pale skin and long blue hair with two long strands of violet on both sides of his face, supported by two golden hair separators; his eyes were completely red with no pupils, he has three horns protruding from his forehead and the veins around that area were bulging prominently.
He wore what looked like a shinobi garment sewn with meshes on both sides of the arms, shoulders and thorax and a bottleneck shirt underneath it.
"Where are the girls that you kidnapped?" Tanjiro asked.
Instead of answering, the demon began to grind its teeth, making an inhuman screeching sound.
It continued for a few seconds before diving back inside the black spot.
"Who was that?" Kazumi asked with a gulp, having caught up just in time to see the demon disappear.
"Kazumi-san, please hold this person and stand behind me." Tanjiro said, giving him the girl before scenning his surroundings. "I will face the demon while you two stay a little close to me."
Tanjiro knew that he couldn't protect and fight at the same time. So, the only choice for now is to place them somewhere safe. Taking a deep breath, Tanjiro brushed up the hair on his forehead before placing his mask. He quickly turned towards the two and lifted them up.
He ignored Kazumi-san's yelp, as he leap off towards the roof of a nearby house. His nose twitched and his instinct activated. Tanjiro quickly dropped them off before quickly turning around to swing his sword.
He watched as the demon's head fell on rooftop, but his eyes widened a bit when he saw the same demon below him.
'His one of those demons who can multiply.' He thought, as he looked behind to the two people behind him. "Kazumi-san's watched her." He told the older male before pulling out one of his hatchet, "Use this to defend yourself and call for me if you're in trouble."
When he was finished, Tanjiro leaped of the roof, as he took the stance of the eight form in the Water Breath style. "Water breathing," He whispered and his blade formed water around it, "Eight form: Waterfall Basin."
He dived towards the demon who looked shock at first. The demon quickly dived back in to the black spot, but Tanjiro had inflicted a cut on him before the demon could fully disappear. He heard the demon screaming in pain and blood splattered the side walk.
Tanjiro cursed that he had missed te head, he had only embedded his blade on the demon's face. In a few meters away from him two demons emerged from their own black spot, 'This might be troublesome.'
One of the demon leaped out off its black spot to attacked him, but Tanjiro dodge him and was about to slice him off when he disappeared again trough the walls that was on the redhead's right.
The demon emerged again on its previous spot. Taking a huge breath, Tanjiro let out a loud exhale, but his breathing exercise to ready himself was cut off when the demon suddenly spoke.
"You bastards!" The demon that just tried to attack him yelled. "Back off for crying out loud!" He pointed at the girl who was with Kazumi-san on the rooftop. "That girl's gonna go stale on me, dammit!"
This one was different from the first demon he first encountered near the house and on the rooftop, although not by much, the only differences were that his attire doesn't have sleeves and that he has two horns on each side of its forehead instead of three.
"That girl's already 16, okay? If I don't devour her soon, she' gonna lose flavor by the second." At that statement, Tanjiro's eyes narrowed in disgust and anger while at the corner of his eyes he saw Kazumi-san had an expression as if he was going to be sick at any moment.
Suddenly the other demon who was besides the two horned demon spoke. This other demon only has one horn in the center of its forehead and wears a long-sleeved shinobi uniform with meshes on its wrists and neck.
"Calm down, my other self." The one-horned demon spoke, his calm manner a stark contrast to the one with two horns.
The Kamado narrowed his eyes, as he tries to keep his breathing in check.
"Hey, so what? There are gonna be nights like this." One-horn said with a smile as he moved his right hand to his chin and his left one under his right elbow. "I've already fed on plenty of 16-year-old girls in this town; they were all quite meaty and delicious. I'm satisfied."
Tanjiro could feel his blood boil with every word but resisted the urge to attack him, knowing that he will simply dive back into that mud puddle before he can reach him.
So, in his mind he begins to count backwards from twenty to calm himself.
"Well, I'm not satisfied, my other self!" The two-horned demon screamed at his counterpart. "I wanna consume more!"
"Y-you monster..." Tanjiro heard Kazumi mutter while looking at the one the demon that just spoke. "Return Satoko to me. The one you abducted the night before last!"
An inhuman screeching sound caught the two humans' attention and they turned to see the demon with two horns making the sound.
Suddenly, the one with two horns began to make the same sound.
"Satoko?" The calm one asked, earning the brown haired man's attention. "Who are you talking about?" He asked, opening his jacket.
The sight inside made Kazumi stare in shock.
"If her hairpin is among these collectibles, then I've devoured her." He said, seeming to take some sadistic glee in watching the tears fall from the man's eyes; Tanjiro realized that the older male clearly recognized one of the hairpins there if the despair in his expression was any indication.
The two demons started laughing and on the rooftop the cries of Kazumi-san was heard.
'This demon...' The Kamado thought, as the faces of his family coms to his mind after what he just heard. 'Unforgivable!'
Tanjiro watched as the two demons disappeared inside the black spot again. He spread his legs apart and held his blade tightly, as he concentrated on the demon's scent. His nose suddenly twitched and he performed an aerial cartwheel to the front, so he could avoid the demon's hand that emerge from the wall besides him.
His nose twitched again and Tanjiro twisted his body to perform a back flip when an another demon's hand emerged from the ground to grabbed him.
Tanjiro landed on his feet and quickly spring off when both the demon's upper body fully emerged from the black spot.
His body held up his sword, as he readies a stance. "Third form: Flowing Dance!" He yelled out his attack and his blade was enveloped with blue water again. He swings and bends his blade in a winding motion along with his body, as he sliced off the demons.
His blade had cut of the demon's head who had tried to grab him from the ground, but he missed the demon's head who tried to grabbed him from behind. Tanjiro had only managed to cut off its arm.
Not giving up and not wanting the demon to escape. He quickly dived in to the black spot before it disappeared.
As Tanjiro submerged in the black spot, he opened his eyes to look around and saw that the area the demons were using was a lot more spacious than what its entrance would want you to believe.
Almost no light shined here, with only the moon from oustide the puddle Tanjiro entered from was the only way to illuminate this dark place; although, even if there was a light down there, the murky water that seemed to be the entire space would have made it difficult for it to truly illuminate anything.
'It looks like the inside of a swamp...' The red haired swordsman thought, looking at his surroundings. 'And these are...' Floating around there were several kimonos, all of different colors and patterns. 'Are these the clothes and belongings of the people who were kidnapped? Just look at all the innocents they've murdered!' He felt his blood boil at the sight. 'Unforgivable! This is unforgivable!'
Before Tanjiro could think more on it. The demon with one horn spoke up, his voice clear despite the place they were in.
"Getting hard to breathe, brat?" The demon asked with a chuckle. "There's hardly any air inside this swamp. On top of that, the darkness around your body must feel pretty heavy." The monster let out a laugh, clearly thinking that he could easily kill the redhead teen since he was in the demon's territory. "You can't move the way you would aboveground! Serves you right! You should've looked before you leaped in, you damn fool!"
With that said, the demon quickly swam towards him. Tanjiro narrowed his eyes, 'Your confidence will get you killed.' He clicked his tongue, 'I already killed the other two, so-'
'Don't underestimate me!' The Kamado thought, following the demon's movements even with the poor visibility.
It's true that it was harder to breathe than aboveground but considering the place where got his training and his strong lungs, this was no issue.
'The air was thinner on top of Mt. Sagiri!' Gripping his sword confidently, he prepared to unleash his technique. 'Not to mention, there are moves that only unleash their full potential underwater!'
He fiercely twisted his upper and lower body, as he unleashed one of the forms in his breath style. "Sixth form: Whirlpool." He said with a neutral tone in his voice. He saw the opening red thread that will lead him to his target.
With his stance already in position, he used the momentum to add more strength to his swing. He watched as the water around him moved along with his technique. It begins to move violently, the flow of the water was strong enough to not only stop the demon on its tracks, but also to cut it into pieces, including its neck.
A few seconds later, the whirlpool stopped, revealing Tanjiro in the middle of it and allowing him to see the cut up body of the demon floating around the murky water.
'I did it.' He thought with a nod, as he made sure the body was beginning to disappear. 'Hmm? That's...' A piece of cloth from the one-horned demon caught his attention and he grabbed it.
He stared at it for a moment with a sad look, suddenly his eyes widnened when he smelled another demon with the same scent with the ones he killed.
He gritted his teeth and quickly swam up. Tanjiro emerged from the black spot and his eyes widened when another demon was seen attacking Kazumi-san on the rooftop. The older male was gripping the redhead's hatchet very hard while protecting the girl behind him.
Taking a huge breath, Tanjiro's legs bend strongly on the ground causing it to crack a little bit before leaping off to the fourth demon. Before it could scratched Kazumi-san, Tanjiro had quickly decapitated it. The redhead landed on the rooftop and he released his breath, as his shoulders went soft.
He returned his blade back to its scabbard; then, turned his body to the other two people on the rooftop, "I'm gonna bring you guys down now." Without waiting a reply, he carried the girl in his arms while he ordered Kazumi to wrapped his arms above Tanjiro's shoulders.
The three of them got off the rooftop and landed on the ground. Tanjiro let the girl down while Kazumi-san unwrapped his arms from Tanjiro's shoulders. The redhead could clearly see the distraught look on the older male's face.
He dropped down on his knees and the hatchet in his hands that belongs to Tanjiro was dropped carelessly on the ground.
The redhead teen walked towards him to place a hand on his shoulder and to pick up his hatchet, "Kazumi-san, it's okay."
"...I've lost my fiancée." He answered, tears falling from his eyes despite the hollow tone he spoke in. "How can it be okay?"
"Kazumi-san." Tanjiro began softly. "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living. No matter how devastating the blows may be."
Gritting his teeth, the older male grabbed Tanjiro from his green checkered haori.
The redhead could smell the anger from the older male, but he didn't spoke of it and decided to let the man's anger, sadness and frustration out. "What do you know about it?!" Now, Kazumi-san can only think about venting, about letting out all the pain and frustrations he has bottled up and the only target he has was Tanjiro who was in front of him. "A kid like you?!"
Despite the screams, Tanjiro calmly placed both hands around the one that had grabbed his haori and offered a sympathetic smile.
'Ah, I want to cry.' The Kamado thought, as the faces of his dead love ones appeared in his mind. 'I can relate too much.' But he reeled it in, this was not about him; he had time to mourn, he still misses them and he is not sure if he will ever stop feeling that way but he won't make this situation about himself.
In front of the older male. The redhead teen smiled sadly and the look he had made seemed to say, 'I know exactly what you're feeling. '
All the wind left Kazumi-san's sails, as Tanjiro gently moved the older male's hand that was around his haori away and let it fall gently.
"I'll be on my way now." He said while moving his left hand to a pocket inside his jacket and presenting the man a piece of cloth. "Take this."
Kazumi-san let out a gasp, as he recognized the cloth that one of the demons had.
"I hope you'll find something of Satoko-san in there."
Taking the offered cloth with trembling hands, Kazumi opened it to reveal the 'collection' of hairpins that the demon had bragged about earlier. His eyes went straight to a red ribbon straight away, not even truly registering the rest of the hairpins in the set. He then brought the hairpin closer to his face as the tears began to fall even harder than before.
Tanjiro bowed to him and placed back his hatchet to its sheath before turning around towards them, "Well, I'll take my leave now." He bid them goodbye, "Good luck and stay safe!"
With those final words, Tanjiro quickly walked away towards his next destination and his mind recalled his younger sister's face.
His eyes narrowed, 'I'll find you, Nezuko. No matter what. This time I won't leave you anymore.' He thought with determination in his eyes, as he clenched his fist.
He arched his neck up to the sky, as he muttered out his thoughts. "I promise that this time, for sure—" He gritted his teeth, as he finished his statement, "I'll save my family."
"..."
T. B. C