The Drunk, The Gourmet, The Musician

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter for Breath of the Rifleman! We got Subaru once again tangling with Shuten Doji this week, so what will his plan be? Also, a quick apology on the lateness of this chapter as my weekend wound up being a little more busy than usual. But here it is now and as always I'd like to give a big shout out to LoneTaker, groche9655 and Noble Eight for their Contributions to this story so far. And to DCDGojira, this will be the first of a few flashbacks. Now then, onto the story!

Within the Infinite Fortress

The sounds of gunfire, thunder and battle cries filled the air as the smaller room they'd been in was completely trashed, prompting Subaru, Jinora, Ozaki, and Mukago to leap out and down to a much larger open section below. "Izayoi," the Matagi yelled up to the shinobi while firing his rifle at Shuten Doji, "get the other slayers moving towards Muzan, he's our top priority!"

"But what about all of you?" Questioned Izayoi as he and the others were looking for a way down to the current battle.

"We don't have room to fight down here with everyone else," said Jinora, "this is an order from a Kinoe, GET TO MUZAN NOW!" The shinobi reluctantly agreed with her logic before heading off with the rest of the slayers towards the location of the demon lord. This left the three slayers and former Upper Moon to deal with two calamities.

"Of all the demons why did I have to run into you again," exclaimed Ozaki as she dodged out of the way of one flying hand before swatting the other aside with her sectioned sword.

"Now don't be like that," said Ibaraki as her head also separated from her body and grew a few sizes, "in all this time apart I realized I quite like the idea of having you as a new toy. Though I'm still deciding between that and a gourmet meal-BANG!" Ibaraki's head shook slightly from the bullet impact as she turned her attention to Mukago.

"Hey, I'm the only one who solicits slayers for sex around here," said Mukago, "so piss off Grandma."

"Oh you think so," said Ibaraki as she moved her head out of the way of a couple of swipes from Ozaki, "a greenhorn like you probably doesn't even know the finer points of foreplay. Allow me to instruct you!" Her hands also enlarged then as they, along with her head, began diving bombing the two. Meanwhile, Jinora and Subaru had their hands full dealing with Shuten Doji.

"I see you have a new rifle," noted the Drunk Demon as he deflected some of the bullets with his club, "and it's semiauto, how intriguing." As he said this, Jinora moved in behind him with her blade ready to strike his neck. But the demon merely grinned as he turned around with his club poised to swing at her.

"Breath of Thunder Second Form: Rice Spirit!" Exclaimed Jinora as she hit the demon with five electrified slashes in a single moment. Shuten was hardly staggered by the attack, though, his grin only growing wider as he brought his club down towards Jinora. The female slayer just barely dodged to the side, avoiding the blow before leaping back to dodge a swipe form his left hand.

He turned back around then just as Subaru attacked with a technique of his own. "Breath of the Rifleman First Form: Soaring Thrusts!" The demon held up his club to parry the many jabs aimed at his heart, head and stomach. "Barrage!" Added the Matagi as the attacks suddenly intensified.

Shuten was actually mildly surprised by the sudden increase in speed as one attack managed to get by and impale him in the heart. "You've gotten even better since Hokkaido," complimented the Drunk Demon as he reached for the rifle, only for Subaru to yank it out and retreat. "Now there's no need to run off, I'm certain you can take me in a more up-close confrontation now."

"Wasn't moving away from you," commented Subaru as Jinora swooped in with another technique.

"Breath of Thunder Third Form: Thunder Swarm!" Exclaimed Jinora as she bombarded Shuten with powerful waves of both sword slashes and electricity, hitting him from every possible direction that she could.

"Oh right," grunted the demon as he quickly backhanded Jinora in the stomach, sending her flying several feet away, "I'd forgotten you were here for a moment, little Jinny."

"Shut up!" Exclaimed Jinora as she regained her footing and shot forward.

"Again with the first form," groaned Shuten Doji, "it hasn't worked yet so why-BAM!" He looked back to see Subaru had shot him in the back a couple of times, though strangely some of the rounds had gone by him. "Now how did you miss at that range-guh!" The answer to his question came in the form of three electrified bullets hitting him in the chest as he held up his club in time to stop Jinora's foot from impacting with his face.

'Now that is creative,' thought the Drunk Demon, 'Genjirou used his Second Form while Jinny girl here used her first form to hit all three bullets back with a single slash, electrifying them. No wonder those bullets almost hurt.' And the attacks weren't over yet as Jinora leapt back towards Subaru who wasted no time in tossing more explosives at him. "Breath of Thunder Fifth Form: Heat Lightning Overcharge!" She unleashed a powerful, and focused, electrified slash which quickly cleared the distance between her and her opponent while also igniting the explosives, resulting in a poweful blow that shook the floor while also setting it on fire.

The two waited for the smoke to clear, hoping that attack had done something. "Hahahaha!" Laughed Shuten Doji as he stepped out of the smoke with a couple of recovering wounds. "Now you've got my attention. Overcharge, was it? An interesting choice, realizing your legs aren't quite as strong for certain techniques so you trained your arms a bit to put more force and precision into your strikes. That certainly explains why the electrical aspect of your techniques seems more focused."

'Shit, he figured that out from a single attack,' thought Jinora as she shifted her stance for another Breath Form while Subaru reloaded his rifle. "I suppose you've proven yourself skilled enough to not be totally ignored," said Shuten Doji, "so let's battle with a bit more vigor!" The Drunk Demon shot forward then and reengaged with the two slayers.

At the same time, Ozaki was using her sectioned blade in an attempt to cut off the fingers of one of Ibaraki's hands. "You'll have to do a bit better than that," commented the female demon before feeling her other hand being kicked away by Mukago before she pulled out a trench shotgun and began firing at it. "Ah, so you can flatten and unflatten objects, though it only appears to extend to the inorganic sort."

"Oh wow, you want a cookie for figuring that out," mocked Mukago as she chucked a grenade at the hand which partially damaged it. Though the damage didn't last long as the hand regenerated.

"Nah," said Ibaraki, "I'll dine on a little bit of Ozaki over there after I do some 'kneading' on her. I like my meals nice and tender before I tear into them."

"I don't want you anywhere near me," said the Tsuguko as she leapt over and slashed the hand grabbing for her, "go feel up a whore or something of a similar nature."

"Now that hurts me a little," said Ibaraki with a playful pout, "a slayer girl like you would offer up a much more unique flavor than a run of the mill courtesan. I should know, I've tried more than a couple."

"Ozaki," said Mukago as she ditched her now empty shotgun and pulled out a Mauser pistol, "follow my lead." Said slayer wasn't too thrilled at the idea of working with an Upper Moon, regardless of whatever assurance her comrade gave her, but the situation demanded a little bit of flexibility in this case. So she followed after Mukago as the two raced towards the floating head of Ibaraki.

"Oh, you're coming right to my mouth now," said the demon woman with a smile as her detached head flew forward while the two hands continued to chase their prey, "I do so love it when my food thinks they're making things harder for me."

"Then you're gonna love this!" Exclaimed Mukago as she pulled something else out of her sleeve, "Ozaki, leap!" The slayer did as instructed with the two of them jumping up and away in different directions. "Now catch!" Mukago tossed a quickly enlarging iron net to Ozaki who grabbed ahold of it and used her momentum to pull it over Ibaraki's three floating pieces.

The slayer and demon duo then landed and pulled the net taut as Mukago activated her newest blood demon art. "Hey, this feels weird," said Ibaraki as the large net began shrinking smaller and smaller, squeezing her head and hands together, "What kind of net is this?"

"It's not the net," said Mukago, "it's a new trick I've picked up with my Upper Moon status. With concentration, I can shrink inanimate objects. Though I still don't quite have the hang of getting them back to regular size after making them small, so you'll have to shrink or be crushed by an iron net!"

"Heh," said Ibaraki as she indeed began shrinking her floating limbs down to normal size, "guess I'll just have to stick with another approach." She smirked before suddenly flying away, yanking both Mukago and Ozaki off their feet. "And don't think that me being smaller makes me less dangerous, kiddos!" 'Yeah, we can see that,' thought Ozaki as she and Mukago were pulled along behind her, bumping over the occasional sliding door along the way.

"Okay, I'm open to an idea or two," said Mukago as she lost some skin on her face which quickly regenerated.

"Working on it," said Ozaki as she struggled to right herself. Clearly they couldn't hold her the entire time, but maybe something else could. With that thought in mind, the moment she hit one of the more violent bumps, she shifted in midair and kicked off the ground towards Ibaraki's head. "Try this!" She impaled her sword into Ibaraki's head and pinned the living bundle to the floor. "Mukago, if you got a sword or pointy object in that bag, get it now!"

"On it," said Mukago as she quickly rummaged through her stock of weapons and pulled out a nichirin blade. She didn't know how to fight with a sword but she figured it would do if she ever needed a sharp object, such as now.

"I see what you're tryin' to do, not bad," said Ibaraki with an evil smile before her head slid the rest of the way up Ozaki's blade, stopping at the hilt before launching back towards her body. The Tsuguko was able yank her weapon out before Ibaraki's limbs broke out of the net and reconnected with her body. "You know I think I've figured out what I want to do with you now," said the demon as she produced a large tuna knife and fork-like weapon from her sleeves, "I'll make Ikizukuri out of you."

"What in the world does that even mean?" Questioned Ozaki as she tried to hide the shaking in her hands. She'd been rather confident about her last plan, but now that it had failed she was at something of a loss on what to do next.

"It's bad news," said Mukago, "I heard Doma mention it once. Ikizukuri basically means eating you bit by bit while you're still alive. They tend to do it to marine life more than anything."

"But don't worry too much," said Ibaraki, "that's only after I'm done playing with your body for a bit. I promise if you're a good girl, you might even enjo-huh?" The Wife of the Drunk demon looked down to note a few black orbs had rolled under her feet. "Oh you motherfu-BOOOOOOMMMM!" A large explosion engulfed her and much of the area in front of Ozaki and Mukago as their allies landed right next to them, both breathing rather heavily.

"You two alright?" Questioned Subaru while in a half-kneeling position, currently using his rifle for support. Jinora was in a similar state with both of her sleeves torn and her hakama missing. It had been shredded not too long ago by one of Shuten Doji's attacks.

"I should be asking you that," said Mukago, noting their conditions, "I'm a demon so I can regenerate but you two look pretty roughed up."

"I've been in worse shape than this," said Jinora as she pushed herself up to her feet, "it's just taking a lot of extra effort to bring this guy down."

"Oh if you only knew," said Shuten Doji as the smoke cleared to reveal him and Ibaraki only partially injured, "We come from a period in Japan's history that was wrought with war and devastation. If one did not become powerful, or get good at hiding, they simply died. Obviously, Me, Ibaraki and a couple of other calamities were the strongest of our time."

"Yeah, but you seem to be some of the only ones left from your time," Subaru pointed out as he got to his feet and aimed his rifle, "so if all the other pukes from your era can die, then so can you."

"And that is most assuredly what I'm working towards," said Shuten Doji, an image of a fox-tailed woman and a few other demons flashing through his mind as he raised his club over his head, "so while this little distraction has been fun, you lot all have a more pressing matter to attend too." He slammed his club on the ground then with an incredible amount of force, causing the floor to crack in all directions before practically exlopding. The collapse came too quickly for any of them to get away in time as the three slayers and former Upper Moon fell through the floor to another section of the fortress down below.

"Honey," said Ibaraki with a pout as they both landed on another platform, "that was my special play toy and meal you just let go."

"Worry not, my little dango," said Shuten Doji, "tonight is bound to yield plenty of delectable morsels for us to toy with and consume." Ibaraki merely sighed at this.

"I suppose I can make do for now," said Ibaraki as a slayer leapt at her from the shadows. As he swung, he saw an extremely brief flash of light, something that could be easily passed off as one's eyes playing a trick. All the slayer knew was that he never even saw Ibaraki turn around before he landed on the floor with his body now sliced up all along the skin in neat sections as well as his tendons being cut. "Now, let's make Ikizukuri out of you, little slayer."

In the meantime, Subaru and the others were righting themselves in the air while falling. "I'd hoped we'd only have to do this falling thing once," commented Ozaki, "now here we are, falling again!"

"At least it means we can use the same solution," said Jinora as she shifted in the air before pushing off a nearby wall. The other slayers quickly followed suite as they hit and pushed off one wall, then another and another, slowing their momentum as they bounced around for several moments before finally landing on some solid structures.

"Okay," said Mukago, "looks like we're good for now. Who in the world were those two anyway? I've never encountered any demons like that."

"Shuten and Ibaraki Doji," said Subaru, "I'm not quite sure how, but they appear to have come into being around the same or a similar time to Muzan Kibutsuji. If nothing else, they're strength is unlike anything the Demon Slayer Corps has encountered before."

"It would have to be," said Jinora, "I'm probably being biased when I say this, but it would've taken at least an Upper Moon to take my grandfather's leg. So Mukago, any way we can get back up there?"

"There is," said Mukago, "but you might be more interested in where we've wound up."

"And that would be?" Questioned Subaru before a pair of sliding doors suddenly appeared in the air before opening and throwing out its screaming occupant: Mitsuri Kanroji. Subaru only had a moment to react as he moved to catch the Love Pillar. He succeeded in doing so, but not in keeping his footing as he was knocked down by the pink-haired girl's momentum.

"Darn it, I missed again," groaned Mitsuri as she got up to a kneeling position. She then took note that she wasn't alone. "Oh, hello my fellow slayers! It's good to see more of us have made it!"

"It's good to see you to Mitsuri," groaned Subaru from beneath the Hashira, "would you mind helping me up when you got a minute?"

"Oh like you're not enjoying this," quipped Momiji smugly in the Matagi's mind. Naturally, she was referring to the fact that said busty Hashira was currently straddling him.

"Subaru, you made it too!" Cheered Kanroji as she hugged the slayer to her chest. He could only mumble incoherently as the others watched the odd scene unfold in front of them.

"Um, yeah," said Ozaki, "you really shouldn't be hugging that perv. Your clothes will be gone before you know it."

"I didn't know he was a lady killer," commented Mukago, "but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"He's not," said Ozaki with a frown, "he's an annoying perv who's perfected the technique of being around at just the right time for a girl to lose her clothes."

"M-I'm, m-ot," mumbled Subaru before Kanroji finally released him, allowing the slayer some much needed air.

"Subaru," said Mitsuri, having noted that Mukago was a little different from everyone else, "why is there a demon here? And an Upper Moon one at that?"

"That's what I want to know," said the voice of Obanai as the Serpent Hashira appeared behind Mukago with his blade to her throat, "is this the part where you reveal to me that, human or demon, it doesn't matter so long as it's a woman, Subaru Genjirou? AND STEP AWAY FROM KANROJI BEFORE I GUT YOU!"

"Obanai," whined Mitsuri, "now's not the time to be yelling at our allies. Subaru and his friends have been good slayers up to this point so we should at least listen to what he has to say."

"Thank you Mitsuri," said Subaru as he was finally able to get up from the floor, "and as I've said multiple times, Obanai, I'm spoken for. As for Mukago here, she's with us now."

"You learned this thing's name," scoffed Iguro as his snake hissed at Mukago, making her flinch slightly.

"I'm not with Muzan anymore, okay," said the former Upper Moon as she tried to keep her body from trembling, "I don't know how but Subaru freed me from his influence. Personally, I hate Muzan Kibutsuji and this whole work environment so if you all manage to kill his pale ass then I can go live in peace somewhere."

"As if," said Iguro, "even without Muzan around you're still a demon, a devourer of people. You expect us to bring you bits and pieces of human flesh just to keep you from going ballistic with hunger?"

"We might could turn her back into a human," said Subaru, "an expert on demon physiology and medicine named Tamayo was recently able to develop an experimental compound that should be able to do so. It's the reason Muzan's at the center of this fortress in a weakened state right now and also the reason Nezuko could be human again by the morning. So instead of wasting time here we should be movin towards Muzan while he's vulnerable."

"While I hate to admit it, Genjirou is right," said a voice from seemingly out of nowhere. In another second, a boy wearing a slayer uniform materialized with a tag in his hand that had an eye symbol.

"Yushiro," said Jinora and Subaru at the same time before turning to each other, "you know him?" Obanai and Mitsuri were also confused by his appearance as they glanced at the demon boy with looks of mistrust and wonder.

"Yes, I've met both of you," said Yushiro as he glanced at the Hashira, "I'm also the one responsible for the tags allowing your leader to get an inside view of the fortress. But getting back on topic, the drug Lady Tamayo sacrificed herself to inject into Muzan will work to weaken him, but he's attempting to break it down this very instant. Though despite that issue, I notice you two seem to have another problem here."

"Oh yeah, that annoying one-eyed biwa lady," said Kanroji with a pout, "she keeps putting up doors so that we can't hit her and has even tried smooshing us with these weird wall pillar things."

"Yeah, that's what Nakime does," grunted Mukago, "if you can prevent her from playing that biwa then she's practically powerless. But the problem is, cutting off her head might cause this whole place to collapse with us in it. If Subaru could break Muzan's control over her like he did me, we might could manipulate the fortress to our advantage."

"And just how in the world do you propose we do that, demon?" Said Obanai with slight venom in his voice, "we're having enough trouble getting close as is."

"I can actually handle both of those," said Yushiro as he placed his tag back on his head, causing him to turn invisible to the naked eye. Though Subaru was still able to see him to a degree thanks to his unique eyes. "I'll just need a distraction that'll last long enough for me to get close, and one that won't involve her changing the orientation of her station too much. Of course, we'll also need the cooperation of 'all' Hashira present."

"You hear that, it's your call Obanai," said Jinora, "I ain't crazy about the idea of working with demons either, but Mukago's proven reliable so far. And Subaru seems to know this guy too so we can probably trust him to at least not stab us in the back." The Serpent Hashira said nothing in response as he seemed to be contemplating the situation. The day had already been draining with the loss of Kagaya Ubuyashiki and their fight through the fortress up to this point.

Not to mention, trusting any demons after fighting them for so many years just felt, wrong. "Iguro," said Kanroji with her hands together, "think about what we still have to do."

A Couple Minutes Later

The area where Nakime, the biwa demon and new Upper Moon 4, sat was nothing special. It was a straw mat in front of a wall that her long, dark hair was currently fused too like a network of veins. Despite being attacked by two Hashira earlier, there wasn't hardly a blemish on her black kimono as her single eye roamed around the immediate area. She didn't really need it as her being fused with the fortress gave her the ability to see and hear just about everything that was happening in it. One example would be the fact that she knew the two Hashira from earlier had backup now, though it made little difference.

She would continue to hold them off while simultaneously buying time for Master Muzan to heal himself. She did not know exactly how much longer it would take him, but she knew it would be soon. So for the time being, she would deal with the pests who were leaping back up towards her this very moment. "Hey, I fell really far with that last one," exclaimed Kanroji as she climbed and jumped up from one wall to the next, "why can't you just drop the biwa and fight like every other demon?!"

Nakime didn't answer, or even show the slightest change in her expression as she waited for her opponent to advance on her. She didn't have to wait long as the Love Pillar landed on the rectangular platform she used as her main station in the fortress, taking a stance for one of her techniques. "Breath of love," said Mitsuri as she twirled her whipsword dramatically, before suddenly spitting out her tongue in a playful manner, "raspberry." If Nakime had had an eyebrow, it might be raised right now.

Though the answer as to whether or not what she'd just done was an actual technique quickly came in the form of Obanai coming up from behind her with his blade ready to take Nakime's head. Or at least he would have if Nakime didn't strum her biwa and cause her platform to rotate 180 degrees, throwing off his aim before she strummed again and opened three doors in front of her, forcing the Serpent Hashira back even more as he jumped off the middle points of said doors to avoid falling. Kanroji attempted to take advantage of the opening created by Iguro's attack but was stopped as Nakime strummed her biwa again, causing a pair of doors to open beneath the Love Pillar. She managed to save herself by grabbing onto the edge and flipping out and away.

The two Hashira regrouped then, staring down the demon as she looked back at them expressionlessly. Both parties were waiting for the slightest twitch from the other to see who would move first. It would turn out to be the Hashira as they split off for a pincer style attack. Nakime continued to sit, unconcerned as she went to strum her biwa again, before feeling a strange impact.

Looking down briefly, Nakime noted that her large pick had been shattered by a bullet as her eye widened almost imperceptibly. 'Got ya,' thought Subaru as he laid prone on a platform several yards away, his rifle smoking from the long shot he'd just fired. The hunter watched as the Biwa demon attempted to create another pick with her regenerative powers but was stopped as an eyetag was suddenly pulled over her single eye.

"Now let's see how you like this," said Yushiro as he dug his fingers into the sides of Upper Moon 4's head, "because you are Muzan's no longer. From this point on, you'll be playing a tune for us!" Naturally, he was letting his anger and frustration out on her that he'd been keeping in check. Thanks to Muzan Kibutsuji, the woman he loved most in the world was gone. But he would ensure her sacrifice was not in vain by turning his entire fortress against-wait a minute? Something wasn't right.

Nakime's eye had turned bloodshot as she raised her head and let out an inhuman howl. "Yushiro, tell me that's the sound of you succeeding in breaking Muzan's control," said Subaru as he, Jinora, Ozaki and Mukago clambered up onto the platform.

"I have," grunted Yushiro as he could feel his hands actually being pushed out, "but something's wrong. There's this mass of surpressed rage, that I think Muzan had been keeping in check."

"Meaning," said Jinora with a raised eyebrow as her hand hovered over her blade. She got her answer as Nakime looked forward at them with gritted teeth, snarling like an animal.

"You wretched creatures," sneered the biwa player, all traces of the sophisticated aire she'd been casting before gone, "I'LL RIP YOU ALL TO SHREDS!" Everyone realized in that instant, that they may have just fucked up. Unfortunately, they were right.

Whoops, it looks like some demons had more than one reason for Muzan putting a curse on them. But what is Nakime's deal, I wonder? Guess we'll find out next week, in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as Nakime plays her most horrific tunes yet against our heroes. 'Til then.