^ Chapter 42 - Sacrifice ^
Shinobu was silent after Tanjirō had finished recounting his discussion with Giyū the night before, in which he was left alone after its sudden forced end by the Water Hashira. She had woken up to her boyfriend feeling down in the dumps after the night patrol during which that talk happened, and she was compelled to comfort him, but how much would it really help?
If she was being honest with herself, she was comforting herself as well as Tanjirō by hugging him because she felt guilty about her treatment of her comrade. Always teasing Giyū about his attitude and the way he separated himself from the other Hashira, that was the majority of her interactions with him. But to learn that it wasn't because he thought he was above them, it made her reevaluate herself and her decisions. What if she had tried to get to know him a little better, and figure out why he was so distant? Would she have known the truth sooner?
While hugging her Tanjirō could smell the doubt wafting off her skin and he squeezed her a little tighter, bringing Shinobu out from her own head and back to reality.
"Don't blame yourself, Shinobu...I didn't know either. But I can't spend too much time thinking about it...I have to fulfil my promise to Oyakata-sama." Tanjirō said as he removed himself from Shinobu enough to look her in the eyes and smiled confidently.
"A promise to Oyakata-sama? Was he the one that wanted you to talk to Tomioka-san?" she asked, surprised that such a thing would come from Kagaya.
"Yeah. So I know it's only just morning, but I've got to go. I'll come back and eat lunch with you later though, okay?"
Tanjirō hopped up from their bed and grabbed his haori that hung right next to Shinobu's, slipping it on in one fluid motion and grabbing the door handle. Waving goodbye he then departed their room and started walking, his body going on autopilot as he delved back into his mind to go over last night's events.
The biting nature of Giyū's statements were still so fresh that he had to stop himself from crying again. He didn't want anyone else other than Shinobu to know what he was doing, so he had to keep up his usually optimistic appearance.
"I'm sure Tomioka-san thinks his death would be a good thing. To feel like you don't belong or that you aren't worthy...I know how that feels so much that it hurts. How you want someone precious to you to survive longer than you do." Tanjirō thought as he reached up to clutch his chest somewhat, pulling on his pale red uniform right over his heart. The flame-like tips of his haori flapped behind him as he walked, his eyes looking forward but only really seeing enough to make sure he doesn't run into anyone or anything. "And if that person dies earlier, or dies protecting you, then it feels like your flesh is being gouged out. I know from my family, and from Rengoku-san nearly losing his life trying to protect me…"
Tanjirō turned left once he left the Butterfly Mansion and he continued on his way, absentmindedly waving at anyone who he happened to walk by.
Sabito had been the masked boy who had appeared to him on the misty mountains where he trained, along with his female companion Makomo. Both had been students of Urokodaki who were killed by a singular demon atop during Final Selection, and when he had returned to Sagiri Mountain, they entrusted him with their memory before finally being allowed to rest.
Even when they were already dead, the duo had felt so alive to him during those times, and he owed them his life even to this day. Mulling again over how Sabito and Giyū had known one another and were present in the same selection, he understood that if Sabito had survived, he'd be the same age as Giyū was. Furthermore, knowing how Sabito had saved everyone in his selection group made him feel humble to have learned under him, and down on himself too.
"I couldn't come close to doing that. I was too busy trying to protect myself. If Sabito was alive, he probably would've been an amazing swordsman...he may have even become the Water Hashira. And that's probably why Tomioka-san thinks his death would be a good thing."
When Tanjirō turned a corner up ahead while walking through headquarters he noticed the target of his thoughts up ahead and was about to say something out loud before stopping. Just what was he going to say to Giyū? He had made it clear that he wanted to be left alone, but Tanjirō couldn't let that happen.
He thought of himself back at the Mugen Train incident, where he was forced to watch Kyōjurō nearly lose his life while fighting the Upper Moon Three demon. He exhibited such strength and unwavering determination, it was no contest as to why he was where he was. Even after losing an eye Tanjirō could say that without a doubt, his hero was still arguably one of the strongest Hashira. Tanjirō could hardly think of what he would have done if he had died that day.
The fact that Tanjirō was struggling so hard to deal with, was that he just couldn't figure out what he could say. He believed that now matter how ashamed or embarrassed or downtrodden you are, you have to stay alive.
Tomioka-san, he thought, may not accept it, but he's a Hashira now. The Water Hashira, no less. No matter how much you badmouth yourself, and no matter how much you remind yourself of painful days, you just have to push forward and stay alive for those who care about you.
"But I know nothing about Tomioka-san, so I can't blame him for anything. Even still...I…"
Tanjirō brought his gaze up and gripped his sword firmly, holding it in place as he jogged to catch up with Giyū. He knew what he had to ask, but when he called out Giyū's name, he was greeted with silence.
He tried again but the Water Hashira still didn't respond, clearly ignoring him as they approached the entrance to his home. Running out of time and not wanting a door to be slammed in his face, Tanjirō clenched his jaw and hurried the rest of the way to Giyū so he could put a hand on his shoulder right before he entered.
"Giyū-san, isn't whatever Sabito entrusted to you keeping you two together?" Tanjirō finally asked, his words practically going right into Giyū's ear because of how close they were.
Instantly Giyū's entire body stiffened up and his eyes widened when in a flash, he was taken back to his younger years upon Sagiri Mountain, where he and Sabito would once train together along with the giant boulder Urokodaki liked to use to test his students. A stinging sensation arose on his left cheek when he recalled how hard Sabito had slapped him, the young Giyū in his memories questioning his friend with blood dripping from the side of his mouth.
"Don't say that you'd be better off dying ever again. If you do, you and I are done. We'll stop being friends." Sabito had told him without even batting an eyelash. "Your sister was supposed to get married the next day, and despite knowing that, she hid you from the demons and protected you. You have nobody else…? That's an insult to your sister!"
Giyū's eyebrows quivered lightly and he tucked his lower lip in somewhat as his head dropped, bringing his gaze down to his sword and past that, his feet. His hand ended up coming up to touch the cheek he was struck upon by Sabito's hand, and even though the pain had long since faded, he could still feel the sharp sting of his friend's palm hitting him.
"You can't die. Ever. That life she lost to protect you? That future she left for you? They're still with you, Giyū."
"The impact and pain of getting slapped...what he told me...why did I forget about that?" he asked himself, confused and shaken by what he had seen play in his mind like a motion picture. "...I didn't want to remember. Every time I did, my tears just wouldn't stop, and I got so sad I couldn't ever do anything...Tsutako nee-san, Sabito...I'm sorry for being so immature…"
Tanjirō kept his hand on his friend's shoulder for a few moments after asking him his question, before removing it and standing there silently to see if there was any reaction. He smelled that the anger and frustration that he had felt coming from Giyū were gone, replaced with something else, so it was only a matter of time.
His assumption proved to be true when Giyū finally did turn around and stared him right in the eyes, a renewed sense of determination now in his once empty eyes. It was enough to make Tanjirō smile a little as this meant he had kept his promise to Kagaya.
"Tanjirō, sorry for the delay. I'll go train as well, but...before I join the others, I want to ask you something first." Giyū requested, the younger slayer raising an eyebrow.
"Sure thing, Giyū-san! What is it?"
"Would you like to spar with me? I haven't seen you fight since that day when your sister turned...I want to see for myself why Oyakata-sama thought to give you the rank of Hashira."
A tiny little twinkle of competition appeared in Giyū's eyes and Tanjirō recognized it immediately, a wide smile spreading across his face before he happily agreed. He just hoped that their friendly spar wouldn't turn into the house becoming an absolute wreck.
At the Butterfly Mansion, while Tanjirō was off dealing with their fellow Hashira, Shinobu had come to one of the most important rooms of her home alone. Kneeling down before a shrine she closed her eyes and prayed to her dead sister, smiling softly to herself as she did while remembering her smile.
On any other day before she had come to meet, know, and eventually fall in love with him, she would have come to Kanae in order to vent and try and control her own emotions. She still held a lot of anger and resentment inside of her soul because of the demon who killed her, but thanks to Tanjirō, she had learned to better manage it. She was happy, and smiling genuinely now, more than ever before. And every day since they had made their promise together, she always expressed this happened to Kanae.
"Nee-san, I've been training these past few days, remembering the lessons you taught me when you were still here...it still pains me to not have you here with us though. Thanks to Tanjirō, and everyone else's efforts, we're closer than we've ever been before to finally killing Kibutsuji." Shinobu thought with overwhelming joy, her smile's reflection looking back at her from the two vases set up into the shrine table sitting before her.
In the middle of her singing her praises to her sister, Kanao appeared in the doorway on the outside walkway and kneeled down on both knees, resting her hands before them while smiling brightly inside at her master.
"Sensei, I'll be going to train with the Wind Hashira now." she said, eyes full of life while her pink lips were curled up in a smile.
"Okay, Kanao! Have a good time, don't let Shinazugawa-san beat you up too much~!" replied Shinobu with a giggle.
"Before I go though, Sensei, can I receive training from you after I'm done with the Stone Hashira?"
"Mm, I'm not sure about today, Kanao. I was asked a few minutes ago by Oyakata-sama's messenger crow to do something important…"
"Eh? Oh...I see…I was just wondering, since...I just want to train with my Sensei..."
Shinobu turned her body and looked at her Tsuguko in time to see her lower her head a little dejectedly. She was apparently looking forward to training with Shinobu, which was something they hadn't been able to do just yet once the Hashira Training had begun.
That wasn't what struck her though. Seeing Kanao, the usually quiet and almost expressionless girl, start to really show more of herself and become livelier with each passing day had been a pleasure. She was certain that her sister Kanae would have been overjoyed to see these developments. The coin had become a thing of the past, and Kanao was making rational decisions for herself.
"Kanao...you've really come around, haven't you? Being honest with your feelings is something that I've had to learn too...so maybe not would be a good time." Shinobu said softly before she beckoned for her Tsuguko to come into the room and sit across from her. Once they were settled, sitting a couple feet away from one another, Shinobu's smile disappeared as she became serious with Kanao for a moment. "I'm going to tell you something that I've only ever confided in one other person...the demon who killed my sister, our sister, Kanae. I will tell you how to kill it, if it comes to this."
Tamayo was silently writing in her journal by herself in her bedroom of the home she had holed up in, a new one that she had purchased as a precaution so that she wouldn't be discovered. Amai and Yushirō were busy closing up the clinic downstairs for the night, which left her plenty of time to think.
The window to her left was open so that she could feel the night's cool breeze as it entered her abode, touching her skin like the soft hands of a spirit. She had come to love the night, not because she was forced to live in it because she was a demon, but because when separated from the hustle and bustle of modernizing Japan, it was peaceful. It reminded her of an age long gone now, when the only things one could do was sit outside and admire the night sky that was getting harder and harder to see because of light pollution from the bigger cities.
She wished that this peace that she felt was an experience the whole of Japan could once again find. The threat that Muzan posed was far too great, and it infuriated her knowing that he was still alive every waking minute. Her memories were stained of the past, and wished more than anything that he would die.
Suddenly a light flapping of wings and the clacking of claws landing on wood came from the window, followed by a greeting of, "Good evening, Tamayo-san. It's dangerous to leave the window open at night."
Tamayo froze for a moment when trying to discern who the voice belonged to, but as she turned her head and noticed a crow with the elegant scarf wrapped around its neck, she immediately recognized what it was, and softened up a bit.
"But the moon looks quite beautiful tonight, don't you think?" asked the crow in a respectful tone, its talons tapping the window sill a few times.
"It certainly is...what brings you here?" Tamayo asked of the crow after it finished settling down after its flight.
"I apologize for the intrusion, it took me a rather long time to find this place after you had moved. So long in fact that Ubuyashiki stopped moving. You've gotten quite good at hiding, Tamayo-san."
"I suppose that's true, and I pray that your master manages to recover and hold strong. But why are you here?"
"Straight to business, I see. Understandable. There's someone among the Demon Slayers who is well-versed in demon physiology and pharmaceuticals. We would like you to join our research efforts, and that includes looking into the changes within Nezuko." explained the crow, its beady, black eyes focusing directly on Tamayo without a single hint of wavering in its tone. It was completely and utterly serious in its request, and Tamayo's eyes widened when he put the puzzle pieces together before the crow finished its question. "Can you work with us to defeat Kibutsuji Muzan? Please come to the Ubuyashiki Estate.
Tamayo didn't know what to think. She had provided information here and there to that man over the years because of the relationship in the past they had held, but to be directly invited to his home? The most heavily fortified stronghold of the Demon Slayer Corps and the most dangerous place for demons?
She actually sweated a tiny bit as she stared at the crow, a creeping sensation crawling up her spin. Something didn't feel right about this. To ask a demon like herself for help meant that the Demon Slayers were preparing for war. Was it finally on the horizon? The final confrontation?
"Haha! Splendid timing, you three! We appreciate it!" Kyōjurō exclaimed with a hearty laugh as he and Tanjirō were both handed bowls of food from one of Tengen's three wives.
"Just make sure you eat it all, and ask for more if you need it! We're working around the clock!" replied Makio with a grin and a salute.
"Thank you very much, Makio-san!" Tanjirō called out to the woman as she walked away, leaving the two Hashira with their food to return to the other two wives.
Since Tengen's passing, his three wives Makio, Suma, and Hinasturu had pushed beyond their grieving phase and pledged their assistance to the Corps, vying to help in any way they could. It's what their husband would have wanted, they claimed, and so they were readily given the task of cooking and providing nourishment to the slayers and Hashira hard at work training one another.
It was incredibly inspiring to see them devoted to their jobs, even after going through the grief of losing their loved one. Tanjirō had sympathized with them when they had met for the first real time, and he thanked them gratuitously for their service. Even when he hadn't known them, he found out that Tengen had actually spoken of him quite a bit with the three women. From his spunky and determined nature to his work ethic and refusal to be trodden upon for being a demon, and his willingness to protect his sister, Tanjirō discovered that Tengen actually did have faith in him.
"Hey, Rengoku-san, once I'm done eating, do you think I could go take my rounds with the other Hashira?" Tanjirō asked while mid-chew, the Flame Hashira swallowing his own bite of food and laughing.
"Of course, that's what the purpose of all this training is for! I can handle things here, and once you come back, I'll go myself! Hmn!"
"Alright then! Be back later, Rengoku-san!"
Tanjirō scarfed down his meal and grabbed his sword, sprinting away as fast as he could after dropping off his empty bowl to the Makio and the girls towards the Tokitō residence. Upon his arrival through the open doors, he witnessed Muichirō in the midst of taking on ten swordsmen of various ranks at once, only to blow all of them away with his superior speed and reflexes.
With the grunts of those beaten by the Mist Hashira signaling the end of that spar, he and Tanjirō met gazes and smiled happily to see one another again. Others in the room were awed at the latter's appearance, likening him to Kyōjurō because of the similarity in their uniforms.
"I'm guessing you're here for a quick spar, Tanjirō? You caught me at a good time between rounds." Muichirō said brightly, with Tanjirō nodding his head and taking up a stance.
"Yeah, and thanks in advance Muichirō!" he replied as he caught a wooden sword tossed to him by the youngest Hashira.
In the blink of an eye, those who had been stuck with Muichirō for two weeks already were given a show as they watched two Hashira go at one another with everything that they had. Appearing and disappearing just as quickly, the clashes of their wooden swords echoed throughout the training room and shook the floorboards beneath their feet. After ten or so minutes of some of the fiercest sparring they had ever seen, the two combatants came to a standstill, glaring at one another with their sword tips nearly touching. A couple moments later they both smiled and laughed, dropping their serious acts and becoming the best of friends again.
"As expected of you, Tanjirō. Your body coordination is perfect, so you can go ahead and move on to the next Hashira if you want." Muichirō said cheerfully.
"Sure thing, Muichirō! Thanks for this I haven't been able to join as much as I could have been because of something else I had to take care of." Tanjirō said back while handing over the wooden sword Muichirō had given him for their training. It was a pleasure to see the formerly cold and apathetic Mist Hashira smiling and laughing like a regular fourteen year old boy, and it made Tanjirō do the same.
Hearing their teacher tell him that he could move on made some of the lower-ranked slayers approach him and ask if they could move on because they hadn't gone anywhere in a while. Like flipping a switch Muichirō was back to his cold and serious personality, reprimanding them for even thinking of trying to move on without actually passing his tests.
In the face of that sharp denial, Tanjirō took it upon himself to cheer up every single slayer still under Muichirō's tutelage with the same fiery optimism that he had inherited from Kyōjurō. Leaving them in better spirits, he waved goodbye to Muichirō and jogged his way to the next stop in the Hashira Training regimen, that being a place he had never been to before as well.
Approaching the Kanroji residence, he was almost immediately greeted by the pink and green-haired beauty herself when she appeared out of the front door.
"Tanjirō-kun, it's been so long~! Hello~!" she said with a vigorous wave, her blush and smile causing a warmth to spread through Tanjirō's body. He smiled back happily and bowed respectfully as she approached him. "Come on, come on! Please, come into my home!"
"Thank you very much, Kanroji-san! I'm glad to see you still being yourself and in high spirits!" Tanjirō replied in a similar ecstatic manner.
"And same for you! But please, just call me Mitsuri~ I think we're close enough friends for that, right?"
"Well, if you say so!"
Mitsuri then held Tanjirō by the hand, an action he was actually a little shocked by, but didn't pay too much attention to it aside from blushing slightly, as she walked him past the front gate entrance to the front door.
As they walked he could see beautiful flowers and shrubbery decorating the front lawn of her residence in the headquarters, specifically noticing a rather fair abundance of bees. When he asked Mitsuri about them, she gleefully exclaimed that the bees came from her desire to make honey from them. He was bombarded with an onslaught of cuteness from the Love Hashira as she talked about using it with things he couldn't quite understand, like butter and black tea, with them all being used to make honey butter pancakes.
Trusting her regardless, when he was led to a dining room inside of her home, he was astonished when presented with the meal she had talked about after she finished cooking it.
"Whoa...it looks good...and smells really good too? And you're sure I can have this?" Tanjirō asked, Mitsuri nodding her head enthusiastically across from him.
"Yes, of course! I made it for you, after all~!"
Mitsuri watched with a lovely smile as she rested her elbows on her table, watching him take his first bite of the honey-drenched butter pancakes and almost fall out of his chair from the taste. Tanjirō scarfed down half of the three pancakes stacked up high on one another before he took a sip of the tea, finding it to be delicious as well, his expression and mannerisms telling Mitsuri all she needed to know.
Another minute passed before he completely cleaned his plate and he pushed it away slightly, leaning back in his chair and sighing content now that his belly was again full from food.
"Wow Kanroji-san, that was incredible! What were those called again? They were so fluffy and warm, like pillows!" said Tanjirō, his praise receiving a giggle from the Love Hashira.
"They're called pancakes, and again, you can just call me Mitsuri, Tanjirō~" Mitsuri said before she leaned forward and playfully poked him on the nose and smiled. Tanjirō's cheeks turned a little red from the action, but they turned even darker soon after when Mitsuri sat back down in her chair and rested her chest between her elbows on the table.
He was reminded of the short time they spent with one another at the Onsen in the Swordsmith Village just from their size. While sitting there with her in that steaming spring water, he had tried to be respectful, but her insistence on being close and friendly led to him seeing her bare breasts. From that moment on he knew for a fact that Mitsuri had the biggest chest of any Demon Slayer he had seen, even surpassing Shinobu by just sheer volume. Seeing the way they flattened a bit on the table top with what weight they had, as well as how her open uniform seemed to have trouble containing him, he could feel the blood rushing quickly to both his nose and his loins to the point that even Mitsuri noticed.
"Tanjirō, you're staring at something rather intensely, aren't you?" she asked innocently with a giggle, her voice knocking him out of the trance instantly.
"U-Um, I'm ready to train whenever you are Mitsuri! Please, show me the way!" he exclaimed loudly while standing up with a start from his chair. He bowed so deeply out of embarrassment that he almost banged his head on the table, narrowly avoiding the wooden furniture piece by a few inches.
"Just head down that hallway behind you and take a left, everyone else is already there. Tell them I'll be there shortly~!" Mitsuri said back to him with a hand wave.
Exiting rather quickly from the kitchen Tanjirō followed her directions until she heard a door close, signaling he had left her alone. As soon as she heard that sound Mitsuri's entire face went bright red, she covered it with her hands, and she then silently squealed to herself and hyperventilated a little.
"Ahhhhh! He was staring at my chest! He looked so cute it was unbearable~! It was as cute as Shinobu-san!" Mitsuri thought frantically to herself when the world started spinning around her. Swaying left and right from her own emotional overload at what happened, she started taking deep breaths and uncovered her blushing red cheeks. "Get a hold of yourself, Mitsuri! It's only natural for cutes boys to do that! And besides...he and Shinobu-san are already dating…! There's no way that...aaahhh! Stop it, stop it!"
Mitsuri slapped herself lightly with both hands on the cheeks a couple of times to get herself focused again, before standing up and taking the plate Tanjirō had eaten from over to be washed in the sink.
Once that was taken care of, she took another deep breath and put on a confident smile as she left to go and meet Tanjirō and the other slayers currently in her care for flexibility training. For them, it was hell in a completely different sense compared to the previous two trials. Using her monstrous demonic strength, Mitsuri stretched each and every single person out to their limits.
Tanjirō was the only person there who didn't grunt or cry out in pain as their muscles were extended to their breaking points, the Hashira instead having an almost constant smile and laugh. When all was said and done, he sparred with Mitsuri like he had done with Muichirō before, and ended up leaving after that to move on to the next Hashira.
By the end of the day Tanjirō had finished going through each Hashira for his training, his last session being with the Stone Hashira, Gyōmei, who he was utterly blown away by with just how ferociously strong he was. Watching those under him was also a learning moment for him as well, because he was able to witness what awaited those who made it past every other Hashira before him.
Obanai and Sanemi had both been difficult in their own rights, mostly because they still despised him despite everything he and his sister had accomplished to prove themselves. Sanemi had been the worst of the bunch because he got involved in an altercation between him and his brother Genya, which almost devolved into a slugfest if not for the timely arrival of Kyōjurō who quickly pulled them apart. He was there to see how his former pupil was doing, but instead he had to reprimand him for interfering with something he had no business in.
That hadn't done much to discourage Tanjirō, however, which brought back the Flame Hashira's contagious smile as he sent him off to an area outside the Headquarters for the last round of training. That was where he had truly seen for himself why Inosuke referred to Gyōmei as the strongest Hashira among them all.
Standing at the foot of a torrential waterfall, carrying giant heavy logs, and then pushing a huge boulder were all that he required as training. It looked tough, and it was, based off Zenitsu's cries of mercy, but the meaning behind them was sound. From Gyōmei he learned of a process the giant of a man called "repetitive actions", a set of predetermined movements that could maximize one's concentration to the fullest. Of course it took Genya, who had met him there, explaining it to him for him to fully grasp it. But that didn't take away the importance of repetitive actions, and how it could transform a demon slayer into something else entirely.
For Genya and Gyōmei, when they used it, it involved them remembering their anger and painful memories, which in turn made their heart rate and temperature go up. During his training, he was actually able to learn more about Gyōmei, and came to understand why he had so much doubt for him and his sister in the beginning.
"To think that Himejima-san was treated so roughly, all because he wanted to protect the kids he was taking care of...only for them to disobey him in the end." Tanjirō thought to himself as he entered the Butterfly Mansion premises, hanging his head a little bit as he recalled his talk with the Stone Hashira.
"You never ran, you never turned away. You stayed honest and never lied. It's something so simple, but only a few people are able to do that in every situation they face. You truly are a special child."
Tanjirō smiled softly at the last few sentences Gyōmei had told him before he left. To hear such kindness and trust after learning of the man's terrible past, he was happy to have him as an ally now, and to consider himself an equal to him as a fellow Hashira.
Before he could open the doors and walk in though, they were instead pushed open from inside, with a rather solemn looking Zenitsu stepping out in full training garb. Tanjirō immediately moved out of his way to avoid being run over, and he expected something from his friend about earlier when he had moved a boulder easily, but nothing came. As he walked away, he thought he saw some sort of crumpled up piece of paper in his hand, but he couldn't figure out what it was. The only thing he could figure out was that the scent of anger and determination was wafting off his friend's body in huge amounts.
"Zenitsu, are you okay? I thought you said you were done today? Did something happen?" Tanjirō asked, his friend stopping for a moment but not turning around.
"I'm going back up to train again, at the waterfall. I've already eaten, so don't worry." he replied without his usual fervor behind his voice. Something was definitely up with his friend, but Tanjirō just couldn't put his finger on it.
"Are you sure you're okay, Zenitsu? I can smell a lot of-"
"I'm fine. I...have just come to terms with what I should do. No, what I have to do." he then turned his head slightly and gave him a tiny little glance over his shoulder. "This is something I really have to do. So please, don't worry."
Then, without saying anything else, Zenitsu departed the Butterfly Mansion with his hands balled up into fists. Tanjirō smiled a tiny bit at his friend's determination before walking inside, expecting to be greeted by Nezuko, only for an entirely different sight instead.
Heads turned and a gasp resonated through the three people assembled around Shinobu and Nezuko.
"Tanjirō! It's been too long!" Amai shouted happily as she ran to him and hugged him.
"A-Amai?! What're you...Tamayo-san and Yushiro-san?! Why are all of you here?! In the Demon Slayer Headquarters?!"
"Tanjirō-kun...your eyes…" Tamayo said softly, her gentle voice contrasting Amai's more childish one as she walked up to the young man she had saved all those many months ago.
Amai left Tanjirō's side so she could get a closer look at him, and her heart tightened up slightly at seeing the tattoos engraved over his eyes. Tanjirō smiled sadly at her as she gently cupped one of his cheeks, the warmth of her hand similar to that of his mother.
Yushiro of course was giving him a death glare because of how close Tamayo was to him, but he hardly paid him any attention. Tamayo kept looking into his eyes for a few moments before hugging him, with Tanjirō returning the gesture.
"You've had to go through a lot, haven't you...being with that man for however long you were gone…"
"I can honestly say I don't really remember what happened, but...not everything has been so bad, Tamayo-san...but more importantly, why're you here with everyone?"
"She's going to help us, Tanjirō." Shinobu said, finally stepping forward with a soft smile on her face that belied a fierce determination. "She's going to help us kill Kibutsuji Muzan."
As Shinobu divulged to her boyfriend about the nature of their plot, the other side were neck-deep in their preparations as well. Within the depths of his fortress, Muzan was hard at work plotting out the positions of every single member of the Demon Slayer Corps throughout Japan, in order to judge where and when would be the best place to strike. His ultimate goal of course was to discover the whereabouts of the Kamado Siblings and the head of the snake that was the Ubuyashiki household.
And to do that he had transformed one of his most staunch followers into an Upper Moon, to not only fill a spot but to utilize her skills to the fullest. That demon was none other that the Biwa demon who had looked over his home tirelessly without fail. She was sitting before him as he lounged in a chair, map in hand, with her hair spread out along the wall behind her like the veins of an organism.
With her hair parted, a giant, singular eye was revealed, with the pupil containing the kanji for "Upper Moon Four". With her ability to spread out tiny little spies throughout the land in the form of little copies of her all-seeing eye, she had become Muzan's personal eyes and ears throughout the whole continent. By that time alone she had accounted for sixty percent of the Demon Slayers' whereabouts, putting him at a great advantage over his enemies.
"Nezuko, Tanjirō, Ubuyashiki...it's only a matter of time now. I will find you, very, very soon...hahahaha!"
^ Unknown Location ^
The darkened figure who had succeeded in getting the Demon Lord to finally follow along with his plans sat alone in his pitch black office, the singular candle on his desk continuing to be the only light offered. As he sat there with his elbows propped up on the desk, he was busy going through every single resource in his mind that he had set into place.
Japan was ready to go, and all that was needed was the pawns to finally be set in place. He was aware of everything going on halfway around the world, thanks to the "seeds" he had planted. In fact, he was quite well aware of everything happening around his seeds across the globe. His seeds allowed him to hear everything and anything that occurred around them, which gave him unparalleled reach by the likes never seen before.
Hundreds of years of planning and moving things around, turning into others, pushing his agenda forward through his followers, all of it was going to come into fruition soon. And he grinned to himself knowing that Muzan was playing right into his hands, even when he so firmly believed they were equals.
"Those two siblings are truly the key to all of this...through years of mutation and genetic changes, from Muzan to now...they are the fruits of my efforts. They will be the last stepping stone to God's Salvation...my catalysts..." thought the man before there was a knock on the door.
Asking who it was, he was delivered a message by one of his followers through it that he had been requested for an audience at the holiest place in all of Europe. Standing up, his appearance then morphed to his human disguise as his priestly robes and aged face formed from the black sludge that composed his body.
Taking the letter in his hand from the woman who had come to him, he thanked her and read over its contents with a pair of reading glasses that he procured seemingly from nowhere.
"So I am to go to the Vatican...it would seem that the Pope wishes to appoint me to a seat among the Cardinals for my work for the Church...this is splendid news!" he said with a cheery smile.
"It's all thanks to your unwavering support to God, your eminence! Truly this is an amazing day!"
"Indeed it is. Please, prepare a carriage. I wish to make haste. It would be best not to keep the Pope waiting, after all."
"Yes, your Eminence!"
The woman quickly took off, smiling ear to ear, while the man merely waved as she left. Once she was gone and he confirmed he was alone by sensing his surroundings, his smile faded and the joy he had in his eyes faded into emptiness.
He truly despised being among such worthless sacks of flesh and bones. If only humans could come to understand what it was like to become one of God's chosen few, a servant who had no need for mortal wants and desires. He did not need to eat or drink to sustain himself, and the body he had received was incapable of feeling pain nor succumbing to sickness.
The man knew he was God's perfect being, what Adam and Eve were supposed to be. And for that, he was eternally grateful.
"What should we do now, Father? America is ready...the seeds are all in place, and ready for the time."
"Australia is ready as well, your Eminence."
"Africa has been thoroughly planted with seeds…"
"Good. Good...Salvation is steadily coming closer and closer to becoming a reality. My children, you've all done so well for me, and I greatly appreciate it. If only Michael were still here to see this day come…" he said to himself as he began walking away from his office, his robes sweeping along beside him with his briskness.
"What shall you have me do here in Europe, Father? The war is taking a turn for the worse...I've been hearing talks of trench warfare, and that casualties are rising by the day…"
"That is of no concern to me. If some humans kill one another, let them do so. They're all worthless as they are now anyways, so the more of them that perish, the better."
He turned around the corner at the end of the hallway and put on a smile to greet a couple of members of his church congregation staff, bowing his head and wishing them good fortune as they walked by. Once again once they were gone the smile faded and he was back to his devilish, empty looking self with his hidden vile personality.
"What you can do is secure yourself one of those contraptions...what do they call it again? A dreadnought...yes...one of those will do nicely, just in case." thought the man, ordering the person who had asked him and smirking slightly to himself. "Just like the vessel you used to command…"
"It will be done, Father..." spoke that person, before their presence in his mind vanished.
As for the rest of his children who had spoken up, the man gave them their one and final order. To return to him, an order which they had been waiting for ever since they had left his church. One by one he ordered his children, followers who he had personally converted into servants for his cause like Michael, to return to him, and one by one, he felt their lives become extinguished. To become part of Salvation was to let go of any and all of your physical ties to the world, which included the body itself.
So when he had converted them, he had eaten them, devoured them from the inside out, and given them new life with the power given to him by God. He had turned them into his children, Angels that followed in the path of Christ and their voice of God on the road to salvation. They were separate, but one.
When his child Michael had perished, he had felt him die and had mourned the day when his essence had returned to his body. He had so much left to accomplish, but thanks to the seeds he planted while he was there, coupled with the seed that was at the very top of Japan's government, his death did nothing to hinder his plans. The Demon Slayer Corps, the only organization that had the chance of stopping him, even if they succeeded in stopping Muzan, would be able to do nothing. He already knew who his target was, and he awaited the day when his plan finally came to fruition.
"The day of salvation is nigh, my children. Once the last few remaining blemishes have been removed...nothing shall stand in the way of Humanity finally achieving what the Tower of Babel could not. Salvation shall bring about unification...and unification shall pave the way to ascension to the realm of God, our chosen destiny."
^ One Week Later ^
"I wonder how Nezuko is holding up. She's been under someone else's care this whole time, ever since Tamayo-san showed up...maybe she's feeling lonely…" Tanjirō thought to himself as he walked to the Tomioka residence at night, his surroundings that of an expansive bamboo forest. He knew the route here by heart since he had taken so many trips to the Water Hashira's abode when Hashira training first started.
Upon arriving he heard the clashing of wooden swords, as well as the resounding snap of them breaking in two, and went around the side fencing to see Giyū and Sanemi in the midst of a fierce sparring match. The two of them had just unleashed one of their own breathing techniques and shattered their wooden practice swords to pieces.
"Khehe, time to pummel each other to death with fists then." Sanemi said with a hiss while cracking his knuckles, his wide, bloodshot eyes filled to the brim with animosity.
Not wanting either of them to get hurt, Tanjirō made the decision to vault himself up and over the wall and immediately get between the two of them, surprising Sanemi.
"Please don't go killing one another. We're supposed to be working together, not trying to beat one another to a pulp!" yelled Tanjirō while staring down his most arduous enemy in the Hashira.
"Shut up, brat. After a week ago you shouldn't be even anywhere near me. What the hell are you even doing here anyways?" Sanemi asked him with a snarl, his eyes narrowing while veins bulged out from his temple.
"Who cares why I'm here. As a Hashira, I don't want any of us to be fighting with one another!"
"Hashira?! You think you're really one of us? Ha, that's rich! So what, who cares about all that you did ! You're still the same brat back then as you are now!"
Tanjirō grinded his teeth together in mild irritation at Sanemi's bull doggish nature, and he wished he could knock some sense into him so that he wasn't so angry all the time. When he chewed out his brother and nearly injured him a week earlier at the Shinazugawa residence, he wanted nothing more than to beat Sanemi upside the head.
To so brutally reprimand your brother and go so far as to tell them they weren't even their sibling, it infuriated Tanjirō so much that they had gotten into a short-term fist fight. That was when Kyōjurō had to pull them apart from one another and threaten to beat them both senseless if they continued their actions. As a result, Tanjirō was told to stay away from Sanemi throughout the duration of the Hashira Training, until now at least.
"Can't we all just share some Ohagi or something? I can make some for all of us!" said Tanjirō in an attempt to pacify the angry Sanemi, only to make him stare even more menacingly at him.
"Making fun of me now, huh…" Sanemi said in a low tone, an evil aura oozing off his body like a mist.
"No, no, I'm serious! You like Ohagi right, Shinazugawa-san? When I was at your place, I smelled the slight fragrance of Mochi flour, so I figured…"
"Shinazugawa...you like Ohagi…?" Giyū asked, showing genuine surprise on his face at the revelation.
With slightly trembling fists Sanemi entered a tiny little rant about why Ohagi is delicious and even briefly asked the two of them, despite his anger, what kind they liked. He was in the middle of explaining that he loved the Ohagi his grandma would make before he stopped himself short and snarled at being sidetracked.
Taking a fist right to Tanjirō's jaw he sent the young man flying and then stormed off without another word, leaving a flabbergasted Giyū with a dazed Tanjirō once he finally landed. As he walked off, eventually finding himself on the path leading away from the home and back towards the main complex of the Demon Slayer Headquarters, he growled to himself and thought about why Tanjirō was so insistent on being nice. Wasn't he smart enough to see that he hated his guts?
While brooding he heard the grass off the side of the pathway rustle and with reflexes faster than the wind, he snatched whatever it was that was hiding and picked it up. With a trembling hand he brought it up to his face, seeing blood dripping out between his fingers, before opening up his hand.
"The fuck is this…?" he growled as the bloody, squished body of some kind of eyeball creature plopped down onto the ground from his palm.
Amane sat dutifully by the side of her sick husband, watching him breath slowly from his disease-laden mouth. His entire body from head to toe had been bandaged up, save for his mouth so he could breath, just as a way to try and prevent any outside infections from quickening the process.
It always hurt her to see the man she had married be in such pain from his disease, but right then she was certain he was the worst he had ever felt. She wondered what it must have been like to live such a life, doomed to suffer such a horrific end before even reaching the halfway point of life. She looked to the moon and stars above out through the open doors of Kagaya's room, wondering what the next day would bring, before she heard footsteps.
It seemed Kagaya heard them as well, because his head shifted ever so slightly towards the sound right as Amane made eye contact with who they belonged to. Wearing an expensive-looking suit with dress pants, shoes, tie and overcoat to match, the man who had appeared before them was someone they did not expect to see at any point so soon.
"So you're finally here...nice to meet you." Kagaya said weakly, his mind imagining the visage of the person standing just a few feet away. "Kibuitsuji...Muzan…"
"Well, well, well...you sure look horrible, Ubuyashiki." Muzan said with a slight smirk. He placed a hand into one of his pockets as the wind billowed a little, making his wavy black hair wisp around somewhat and his overcoat to flap behind him. He felt entirely in control, and it couldn't have been any more sweeter.
"You finally came...the my home, right in front of me...the demon my family has been chasing...for a thousand years…" Kagaya uttered, a short coughing fit following soon after. It hurt for him to even speak, but with the opportunity to speak to his dreaded enemy right before him, he wasn't going to let this go. "Amane...what form, no...what shape...does this man have?"
Calmly, his wife said, "He looks like a man in his late twenties. But his eyes are plum red, and his pupils are vertical like a cat's."
"Oh, okay...I thought you'd come for sure...I'm sure you're extremely mad at me, at the Ubuyashiki family...I was the only one...who thought you'd come to kill me yourself…"
"I'm truly disappointed, Ubuyashiki. I've lived for a thousand years without showing signs of aging, and the old family who's gotten in my way all this time is now reduced to this."
Muzan belittled and berated the dying Kagaya with little to no care for Amane's presence right there next to him, his cold and unfeeling nature showing its true nature. He truly hated humans and everything about them, and seeing his enemy before him in such a sorry state reinforced that notion.
It was utterly repulsive, and he almost had to pinch his nose from the sheer stench coming from the room. Kagaya's rotting flesh had reduced him to the closest point possible before being considered a living corpse. But despite all of his harsh words, Amane remained completely calm and Kagaya even laughed a little bit.
"I figured as much...I was told by my doctors half a year ago, that I was going to die in a few days...yet here I am...still alive." Kagaya said as he slowly turned himself over to the right towards Muzan and propped himself up on one arm, coughing and hacking out blood as he did. The violent motions caused the bandages around his face to loosen up, uncovering one of his eyes that was in the process of crying tears of blood. "I dedicated my soul to defeating you, Muzan...I willed myself to stay alive long enough to see it through…
"And your fleeting dream will go to waste tonight. I will kill you right now." Muzan replied coldly without so much as a single flinch. He had neither the time nor the patience to listen to his enemy ramble, yet for some reason, he found himself doing exactly that.
"You might not know this, but you and I...we are of the same blood. You were born a thousand years ago, so maybe your blood is different from mine." revealed Kagaya once his wife helped to support him in a sitting up position.
"I feel no emotion here," said Muzan, unfazed. "What are you trying to say?"
"A monster like you...came out of this family, and that led to my family to be cursed…"
In a pained voice with raspy breaths, Kagaya revealed to Muzan the reason why every male of his family was born weak and would pass away almost instantaneously after being born. It took the advice of a priest to finally save the children of the Ubuyashiki Family, and since then every male born had received a wife from the priests. This cycle had occurred for generations, and because of it, the Ubuyashiki offspring had become more resilient than ever before.
"Even still, though, nobody in our family...has lived beyond thirty...that's still a far cry from the past, however…" stated Kagaya as he lowered his gaze somewhat from Muzan's general direction.
"But now you're reduced to ramblings. It's utterly disgusting. Did that sickness get into your brain? That is of no consequence to me, because…" stated Muzan while smiling evilly, a finger coming up to the side of his head as he stared Kagaya down as if he were a god. "The heavens are not punishing me. Despite the hundreds, thousands of humans I've killed, I've been let off the hook. What god or buddha is there to stop me? The answer is there is none."
"So that's what you think...but I have my own ideas about that…"
Kagaya held a hand up to his mouth and he violently coughed again, splattering his tainted, disease-ridden blood all over his palm while shivering in pain. As Muzan stared at him in complete disgust, he heard the sound of children giggling and laughing, his head turning slightly to the right to see Kagaya's two other daughters playing with one another a few meters away.
They had not a single care in the world as they bounced and tossed a ball between one another underneath one of the trees of the garden, as if there wasn't the most powerful demon in Japan standing within practically an arm's reach.
For whatever reason a strange feeling began to well up in the pit of the demon lord's stomach, a disgusting vile emotion that he hadn't felt in quite some time. Was it nostalgia? A sense of relief? Whatever it was, he hated it and wished it could go away. He wasn't there to feel at home, he was there to kill his archival. Once he did that and discovered the whereabouts of the Kamado siblings, he could consume one of them and finally conquer the sun to gain immortality.
"I can tell just by looking at you...I know what your heart desires most, Muzan…" uttered Kagaya with the slightest hint of a grin once the blood dripping from his eyes and mouth started to dry. "You dream of eternity...you dream of being indestructible."
Mildly surprised that the sick man was able to make that assumption based on looks alone, Muzan said, "Exactly. And it will come true very soon, once I get my hands on the Kamado siblings."
"Your dream won't come true, Muzan. That I can be sure of." Kagaya responded, while maintaining that tiny little grin.
"You seem pretty confident in your words, Kagaya. While they do amuse me slightly, unlike you, I have a lot of time on my hands." snapped by Muzan.
"You...are misunderstanding something…"
Muzan's expression darkened by narrowing his eyes, their plum red color a shining beacon of evil in the night. Even still, Kagaya maintained his calm disposition along with his wife and didn't turn away.
What could a human on his deathbed know about eternity? His family was cursed, whether it be by him or something else entirely. None of them ever live to their middle years, while he has lived for over a thousand years. Preposterous as it may have sounded to someone like him, he was actually interested in what Kagaya had to say.
"Eternity is not living forever...it is nothing by human thoughts. Thoughts, unlike the body, last for eternity. They are truly indestructible."
"Typical...I should have known." Muzan thought to himself while rolling his eyes. "That's rubbish. You're talking utter nonsense."
"The Demon Slayers have never died out for a thousand years. True, a lot of unfortunate children have died, but they haven't disappeared at all. You just said...the truth is rubbish. Let me prove to you that human thoughts are indestructible." Kagaya said as a challenge to the Demon Lord, the slight head tilt and that competitive gaze in his near-glossy eye confirming this notion. "The thought of 'never forgiving those who have taken the lives of people's loved ones away senselessly' is eternal. And you have never been forgiven. Not once over the last thousand years."
Muzan's look turned even angrier as his pride began to flare up from being singled out in such a manner by Kagaya, a man who could die just from him being sneezed on. He's already had to deal with one person doing that, he shall not tolerate another, especially if it's a human.
"And you, Muzan, have stepped on the tiger's tail countless times, " Kagaya continued. "So you are incurring the wrath of the dragon. In essence, you have awoken a sleeping giant that's been slumbering for a long time. And they absolutely despise you. They will never let you get away."
"Silence, vermin. That's enough talking out of you." Muzan threatened with wide eyes, his razor sharp fingernails being flashed as a warning to tread no further. Despite this, Kagaya continued without an ounce of fear.
"If you kill me, the Demon Slayers won't feel pain or even an itch. They honestly don't really need me that much. This...connection to human thought is something you probably can't understand, Muzan. Because you...and your kind...will cease to exist once you die, right?"
Muzan's eyes widened to their limits as a vein bulged out from his forehead. Now he really was angry, not only because of what Kagaya had said, but because he had nailed it right on the head. As the progenitor of all demons in Japan, outside of a few exceptions, if he were to lose his life, they would die as well because of the relation they share through his blood.
It was like cutting the head off the snake. Once the head was severed from the body, it would cease movement all together and truly die. He was trying to do everything in his power to make sure that never happened, not again.
"I sense a change in the air...I'm right, aren't I?"
"Zip it." hissed Muzan as the man was now inside of Kagaya's room, moving so quickly that Amane's hair was actually blown back a bit. Still, she remained steadfast.
"Don't worry, I'm done. I've said what I wanted to say to you. But can I...say one last thing?" Kagaya asked with a light chuckle. "I said they honestly didn't need me that much...but that doesn't mean my death won't be inconsequential. I am fortunately, yet undeservedly, loved by my Demon Slayers...my Hashira in particular. So if I die, the morale of the Demon Slayers will be higher than ever…"
"You don't talking? Your voice is like sandpaper to me...I need to shut you up, permanently." snarled Muzan as he reached his hand towards Kagaya with malicious intent. First he would kill his enemy, then devour his wife and children after they witnessed his brutal demise.
"Yes...though I didn't expect you to actually listen to me...thank you, Muzan."
With one final smile, he was ready to accept his fate, something that Muzan himself was exceptionally looking forward to. Then everything turned white, and with a overwhelming surge of heat, his skin felt like it was being melted off straight to the bone.
A/N HAHA CLIFFHANGER AGAI e. (Sorry please excuse me) Hey guys, it's me again! Needed a little breather aaaand had some computer issues, but we're back now! Thankfully it didn't take me long to finish this banger of a chapter, where the cogs are starting to move now. As Dr. Strange so eloquently put it, "We're in the endgame now". And it couldn't be any more true.
Just an FYI and a clarification. The poll I put up it seems can only be seen on PC! It's still there in the same place, at the very top of my user profile here on Fanfiction, but if you use the mobile app, you can't see it. If you can spare just a few minutes out of your day to go vote there, I'd really appreciate it! Thank you!
As always, if you liked the chapter, drop a fav and a follow, as well as a review! Thank you guys so much, and you all better strap in! Shit's about to get INTENSE. We're shifting into MAXMIMUM OVERDRIVE.
Bye! :D