Neither Tanjiro or Akaza woke that night, but Nezuko went into the city to look for the two demons they'd apparently come to meet. To her dismay, she did find some demons – and more thugs than she would like to admit, although they were surprisingly easy to handle with the Breath of Water style and a couple of chops to the back of the neck. She didn't even have to kill them. She did kill the demons though. None of them were named Yushiro or Tamayo (those that would answer her) and eventually she returned to the room they'd rented for another night.

Cranky and sore, she notified the current hostess that she'd appreciate a bath drawn. The woman didn't look too pleased, but agreed politely. Nezuko made sure to thank her and then headed up to the second floor and their current room, where she found Mitsuri doing some acrobatics. The older girl didn't even thump loudly as she landed and leaped. Nezuko could only watch as the girl moved and jumped and twisted and turned and she barely only made any sound on the wooden floor.

Nezuko had already been impressed. Now she was floored.

"You're so amazing, Mitsuri-san!" she said.

The woman just smiled at her, continued to do her jumps (without stepping on the other two in the room even) and then landed directly in front of Nezuko. "Any luck?" she asked.

Nezuko shook her head and sighed. Mitsuri deflated and then sighed herself.

"Well," the older woman said, "we can try tomorrow, I suppose. Let me go take a fast bath and I'll be right back in. If Waxing Three wakes up, make sure to lead him out to the field," she said nodding at the window.

"Okay," Nezuko said, holding up some food she'd managed to bring back from closing stalls a couple of hours before. She'd even bought boxes and bowls to carry everything in. Mitsuri looked like she wanted to cry from gratitude.

"Or I could eat and you could take a bath…"

The younger girl snorted softly, then chuckled. "Okay. Save some for me though."

"Of course!" Mitsuri grinned.

Nezuko scrubbed herself clean, feeling slightly bad that some of the hotel hosts and hostesses had to stay up so late to get her water and fill the tubs. Then she went back to the room, ate what Mitsuri had left while the older girl took a bath herself, and then went out to the well to wash the dishes and finish her nightly routine. It was very late indeed when she finally went to sleep.

She woke at almost noon the next morning to her brother's sleeping face again and Mitsuri's happy greetings. She sent Nezuko out for breakfast (lunch really) and after they ate, the older girl slept the afternoon away while Nezuko went through her own exercises as best she could. It wasn't a large room… and her respect for Mitsuri went up even further.

She had to go and speak with the innkeeper about potentially staying one more night, but they seemed pleased to have their group there and the in wasn't full, so he happily let them stay.

She made it back to the room just in time to see Mitsuri waking up and explained everything to her. The Pillar definitely approved. She sent Nezuko out for their lunch (dinner) so she could prepare to head out and continue to look for Tamayo that night.

Fortunately, when she returned, she saw a very tired Tanjiro sitting up in his futon. He smiled up at her as she froze in the doorway.

"Nezuko! I'm so glad you're alright!"

The girl in question blinked, as if to make sure that she really was seeing what was in front of her, then very calmly went over to Mitsuri and handed the food to her. Once she was sure the food – several boxed bentos this time – would not spill, she turned and threw herself at her brother.

"You idiot!" she yelled as she clutched him tightly. "You used your power to save me! Why did you do that?!"

He calmly petted her hair as he snorted. "Because you're my little sister, Nezuko. It was worth it."

"But… your hands…"

He held them up and sighed, watching his claws extended and retracted as he flexed his fingers. "It's really not so bad. Besides, I've grown kind of used to it after so many lifetimes."

He wasn't lying, but she could hear the underlying heartbreak in his voice. He did not want this.

"You shouldn't have to," she said fiercely, drawing his gaze back to meet hers. He blinked blankly for several seconds, then sighed.

"I told you: It's worth it."

Nezuko felt frustrated tears gather in her eyes. "I wasn't strong enough to stand by you! You had to save me!" I can't help you… she couldn't say.

"Nezuko," Mitsuri cut in gently, "you saved me. Waxing Two would have killed me if you hadn't intervened. Besides, no one expects you to become Pillar level so soon. You have to be patient with yourself. Keep fighting and working and training and it will come faster than you think."

The younger girl just shook her head. "It isn't fast enough."

Tanjiro sighed. "We'll make it fast enough. But until then, please don't be angry with yourself. It's not your fault Muzan made a move when he did. It's mine for letting myself be seen at the Final Selection. I got too arrogant."

Nezuko opened her mouth to protest, but again, Mitsuri interrupted.

"I think the fault ALL lies with Muzan for being the instigator of the entire problem," she said pointedly. "He has no honor."

Both Nezuko and Tanjiro looked over at her, closing their mouths. Then they looked back at each other.

"Well," Nezuko said, pouting a little, "she's not wrong."

Tanjiro grinned and then began to chuckle. After a moment, Nezuko joined him.

"Are you two done blaming yourselves for something you can't control?" Mitsuri asked.

They both nodded.

"Good," she said, nodding firmly, and then her entire demeanor changed. "Because you guys are so cute and I can't hold it in any longer!" she practically yelled, letting out a high-pitched squee and holding her cheeks while shaking her head back and forth. That caused Tanjiro to laugh even harder which in turn made Nezuko laugh more which made Mitsuri squee more… it was a rather devastating spiral that took several minutes for them to calm down from.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Nezuko realized that it was beginning to grow dark outside and she pointed out that they should probably eat. She began to scoop out the dishes and handed the first bento to Tanjiro before turning to grab another one. Mitsuri had already begun on hers. That was when Nezuko noticed Tanjiro staring sadly at the box of food.

"Nii-chan?" she asked as he lowered it to his lap and sighed. Then he looked up at her, smiling sadly.

"I can't eat this," he said.

Both Mitsuri and Nezuko froze, staring at him.

"It smells like normal food does every time I…" he faded off. Then handed his bowl to Mitsuri, who took it mechanically, studying it as if it had betrayed her, then turned her attention back up to her fellow Pillar. "Looks like it's sleep for me from here on out," he said with a forced grin that looked all the more painful for it.

And Nezuko wanted to cry again. "Nii-chan."

He held up his hand. "We knew it would happen eventually." Well, no, they didn't… but he was trying hard enough to convince himself that she decided not to call him out on it.

The rest of the meal was a somber affair, all the levity from earlier having fled the room.

Once they finished, Nezuko offered to wash the dishes before she went out to search for Tamayo.

"Oh!" Mitsuri said before she could leave, "I forgot to tell you that Ubuyashiki-sama approves of us being here for now, but warned me that if Akaza wakes up and causes damage, we will be brought before the other Pillars for judgment."

Once again the room fell into silence for several seconds as the other two digested that.

"Well, it was my idea," Tanjiro finally said. "If I have to take full responsibility, I will… but," he added on before the others could say anything, looking over at the still sleeping demon. "I really don't think we'll have to worry about it. He'll be asleep for another day at least. And no, I still don't know how I know that."

This time, Mitsuri and Nezuko exchanged glances before turning their attention back on Tanjiro.

"Well," Mitsuri said slowly, "that may become a problem if we can't find your Tamayo-san." Nezuko nodded in agreement.

Tanjiro frowned. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Why hasn't she come already? I mean she…"

Then he stopped and his eyes flew open wide and he dropped his face into his hand. "Oh."

"What do you mean, 'Oh'?" Nezuko asked worriedly.

Tanjiro looked up at her, a little sheepishly. "Um… do you have the pack I normally wear?" he asked.

His younger sister frowned, as did the other Pillar, but Mitsuri leaned over to the corner of the room where they'd stashed their things and pulled out Tanjiro's pouch, which she tossed to him.

"And the… um… arms?" he asked, his smile a little wobbly.

Mitsuri almost scowled. Almost. She reached back over to the lump of cloth near the pile of belongings and carefully picked it up before handing it over to Tanjiro.

Nezuko cocked her head to one side. "Shouldn't they smell by now?" she asked, unsure.

The older sibling sighed and shook his head. "They're demon arms. They don't decompose like humans do."

"Oh," was all she could really say to that. Then she watched in morbid fascination as he pulled a small, glass vial out of the pouch, unwrapped what had to be Douma's arm, and stuck the needle-point at the end in, then pulled up with the plunger on top. Blood began to fill the vial, albeit slowly.

"What's that?" Nezuko asked.

"Tamayo-san's vials," Tanjiro explained, the sheepishness creeping back into his voice. "They'll activate and—"

The sound of a bell at the window had the two girls in the room jumping up in defense, but all they saw on the sill was a calico colored cat…

A cat with what looked like a harness carrying a box on its back…

What?

"Chachamaru!" Tanjiro said with a grin, hopping up and opening the window. He reached out and scratched the cat's head. The cat reacted well to that, purring as it turned its head so Tanjiro could reach with his claws.

"Animals… hate demons…" Mitsuri said, sounding a little lost. Nezuko had to admit, she hadn't quite expected this either.

"Not this one," Tanjiro said. "Besides, I'm still not fully demon."

He held the vial out to the cat, fixing it inside the box the cat carried. Then he leaned down and looked it straight in the eyes. "Can you please tell Tamayo-san that we have even more here and need to find her again as soon as possible? It's very important."

The cat cocked its head, then meowed as if in affirmation and then…

"It disappeared," Nezuko muttered.

"Yup. That's Tamayo-san's familiar. I think it's part of her demon art but don't know much beyond that.

"Anyway, we just need to wait for her now."

It was Nezuko's turn to drop her head into her hands. "Nii-chan… did you really forget to actually tell her you're coming?"

He looked sheepish again. "To be fair, it's been a little while, and we didn't exactly plan to come…"

Mitsuri giggled, a hand over her mouth.

Nezuko just groaned.

xXx

A knock on their door not even an hour later had Nezuko scrambling to pull it open. Outside stood one of the hostesses, who bowed.

"A young man named Yushiro has come and asked after the guests in this room."

Nezuko blinked at her, the looked back at the now open curtains. It had just gotten dark, she supposed. Still, that had been faster than she'd expected.

"Thank you," she said, returning a bow of her own.

The hostess nodded, then turned down the hall to attend to her duties and Nezuko shut the door.

"I'll take Akaza," Tanjiro said, standing up and stretching. "If Yushiro wants to fix one of his papers so no one will see me carrying a body down the streets, that would probably be the fastest. Although we don't know if Muzan's in the city right now, so that may not be the best idea…. We should probably all meet out back and talk."

He looked to the two of them for confirmation. Nezuko thought that was acceptable so she nodded. They folded their used blankets and futons in the corner, gathered their things and then Tanjiro left via the window once he was sure no one was there to see, the still unconscious Waxing Moon on his back.

Mitsuri and Nezuko made their way downstairs, meanwhile.

"You've never met this 'Yushiro' before, right?" Mitsuri asked, a little nervously.

Nezuko shook her head. "Or Tamayo-san."

"Hmm," the Love Pillar voiced, and they fell into silence.

To be honest, Nezuko had imagined a creepy-looking person that may or may not have resembled her idea of a ninja. What they got was a boy. A very angry boy with hair-color almost as unusual as Mitsuri's.

He took one look at them, frowned, and said, "Follow me."

"Will we return tonight?" Nezuko found herself speaking up. "We need to let the innkeepers know if not."

The boy's frown deepened. "I don't know. If I had my way, you wouldn't be coming to see Tamayo-sama at all." With that he walked outside.

"What a rude boy," Nezuko said, a little offended. She glanced at Mitsuri who frowned.

"I'll go and let them know we may not be returning." Although it was obvious she did not like the idea of staying wherever this boy would take them. Nezuko didn't blame her.

While Mitsuri spoke with the hostess, Nezuko took a deep breath and walked outside. The boy stood there with his arms folded, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Where is Kamado Tanjiro?" he asked. "He was supposed to be here."

"He's out back. He has one of the Waxing Moons and thought it might not be the best idea to stand in full view of the road," she said, nodding to the heavily traveled dirt path just a couple of meters away.

"What?!" Yushiro squawked angrily (she vaguely wondered if he could show anything besides annoyance and anger). "You brought a Waxing Moon here?!"

Nezuko rolled her eyes. "He isn't awake."

That caused him to blink in surprise. "What?"

She huffed. "He isn't awake. We don't know why, but Nii-chan thought we should bring him to Tamayo-san."

"Tanjiro's this way," Mitsuri said, coming up to them. "We can explain more there."

Yushiro didn't look happy about that (then again, Nezuko was still unsure if he could do happy), but he still followed them around the side of the house. They found Tanjiro standing there with his eyes closed and Akaza still over his shoulders.

"Nii-chan! We brought Yushiro!"

"Yushiro-san to you!" the boy said, then stomped right up to Tanjiro. "And you! You brought one of the Twelve Kizuki here?! You know Muzan can find any of his demons if he tries hard enough! Especially one of his—"

"He can't," Tanjiro said, sounding almost distracted. "Not with this one. I don't know why, but that's why I need Tamayo-san to look at him."

"That's far too dangerous!" Yushiro hissed.

"It is," Tanjiro agreed, much to Nezuko and Mitsuri's surprise. "But not for the reasons you think. I'll be right back."

With that, he dumped Waxing Three onto Yushiro (who spluttered indignantly and buckled a little under the unexpected weight) then leaped back up onto the roof, disappearing from sight. Mitsuri and Nezuko exchanged confused glances.

"I'll go after him," the older girl said.

"What about this guy?!" Yushiro practically screeched.

Mitsuri paused, biting her lip. Fortunately, she didn't have to make a decision as not seconds later, Tanjiro came back, sheathing his sword.

"Muzan knows we're here. Or…" he paused, "he must know that either Nezuko or Mitsuri is here. If he knew I was here, we'd likely have to fight Waxing One. But there was a demon watching the inn."

Nezuko felt her face pale. "I… did fight some demons last night."

"He must have wanted to make sure I was here too before he struck," Tanjiro muttered. Still distracted, he picked Akaza up off of Yushiro and slung him over his shoulders easily.

"Can you hide all of us?" Tanjiro asked Yushiro.

"Of course I can! But why should I?! You all are putting Tamayo-san in danger! Acting so rude—"

"That's rich, coming from you," Nezuko defended angrily. "The rudest boy I've ever met in my life!"

"Why you," the green-haired boy growled, eyes contracting into slits. Nezuko put a hand on her sword, but then Tanjiro stepped between them, his back to Yushiro and his hands on his sister's shoulders as he smiled at her kindly.

"Nezuko, he's protecting the one he loves most the best he can, just like I am. Just like you are."

She sucked in a breath, noting the sincerity in his eyes, before sighing. "That doesn't give him the right to be rude and expect other people to be nice."

"Maybe. But we can be better than that."

She wasn't happy about it, but eventually she huffed. "Fine."

Behind them, Mitsuri giggled. That made Nezuko blush in embarrassment.

"In any case," he said, turning to Yushiro, who now watched them with a blank expression. Nezuko supposed it was an improvement. "We'll need to hide our presence as much as possible. I was thinking we can skirt around, lay a couple of false trails, back-track and circle a couple of times and enter the city through another way. It'll take time, but it will probably throw any followers off of our trail. We want to keep Tamayo-san safe from Muzan too."

Yushiro eyed him skeptically for several moments before he rolled his eyes and shook his head in frustration.

"Fine." He looked over at Nezuko and Mitsuri. "You two, come with me while he," he pointed one clawed finger at Tanjiro with one hand, pulling out some papers from inside his robe with the other, "circles around with… that." He looked in disgust at the Waxing Moon.

Nezuko went to protest but Mitsuri beat her to it. "I'm afraid I have to accompany Tanjiro wherever he goes," she said, bowing politely, if shallowly.

Yushiro huffed and threw his hands in the air. "Okay, she comes with me and you two circle around. Make sure no one can follow you. Understand."

Tanjiro smiled. "Of course. Mitsuri?" He turned to leap out across the rice field.

"Wait, idiot!" Yushiro said, slapping a piece of paper on his chest. Tanjiro disappeared from view.

"Eh?" Mitsuri and Nezuko said at once, worriedly.

"I'm still here," Tanjiro said, although his voice sounded… muffled? The younger Kamado sibling relaxed a little.

"Here," Yushiro said, handing one of the papers to Mitsuri, keeping his eyes firmly on hers. "Put this on you somewhere. It will stick and no one will be able to see you. It will also be harder to hear and smell you."

"O-oh," Mitsuri said, eyeing the paper with red markings on it. She glanced at Nezuko. "Will you be alright alone?"

The younger girl nodded. "I'll be fine, Mitsuri," she said with a smile.

The other girl returned the smile and put the paper on her chest and also disappeared from sight.

"Yushiro," she heard Tanjiro say suddenly, "Nezuko means as much to me as Tamayo-san does to you. Please, protect her."

Nezuko huffed. "I don't need protection, Nii-chan," she said, irritated. Then she felt something on her head, ruffling her hair.

"I know. That doesn't mean I don't worry."

The youngest demon slayer huffed and turned to where she'd last seen Mitsuri standing. "Mitsuri-san, Tanjiro is my brother and means everything to me. Please protect him."

Tanjiro squawked. Nezuko smirked. Mitsuri squeed. Yushiro pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We'll be off now," Tanjiro said after a moment.

"Wait, can you see each other?" Nezuko asked curiously.

"See for yourself," Yushiro said, handing her a piece of paper. Nezuko stared down at it for several seconds before she put it to her chest, where it stuck.

And then she could see Mitsuri and Tanjiro as well as Akaza, looking ready to head off into the rice fields. She hoped they didn't get too wet.

"I'll meet you at the Roku-sha izakaya in two hours," Yushiro said. "Will that be enough time?"

Tanjiro nodded.

"Be safe, Nezuko," her older brother said, before launching himself into a run that then turned into several leaps, Mitsuri right beside him. Nezuko stared in shock wondering how they could just do that.

"As for you," Yushiro said. She turned back to face him, "I'm going to stomp out of here angrily, do a couple of errands and then head back. Follow me. If you get lost, call my name. Do not, under any circumstances, call for Tamayo-san. Understood?"

Nezuko nodded firmly.

"Good," Yushiro said. "Let's go. I have a lot I have to pick up."

With that, he turned and stomped angrily around the outside of the house. Nezuko hurried to catch up to him. Once in front, he threw his hands in the air, turned to the inn and called, "Good riddance!" and then continued to head onto the busy street.

Nezuko stared in shock for a couple of seconds before she realized he was putting on a show of having left them behind in case he'd been seen with them. Then he proceeded to stalk down the street. It wasn't easy for Nezuko to keep up while avoiding people, but she felt she managed pretty well for the most part, pausing near shops when he went into one and then resuming her pace behind him once he left.

Every now and then, he'd glance over at her, nod and then pretend he hadn't seen her.

It took them over an hour to finally reach a wall in an empty neighborhood. He paused, looked back at her, then all around.

"Follow me," he finally said once he was satisfied. Then he walked through the wall. Nezuko could only really blink at where he'd gone before she steeled herself and walked in after him. Instead of running head-first into said wall, she passed through it and came out on the other side into the yard of a large mansion. Yushiro stood there, still looking impatient as he held out his hand.

She blinked at it then looked up at him, questioningly.

"My paper. Those aren't extremely easy to make."

"Oh," she replied and quickly pulled the paper away from her clothes. It came off fairly easily, which made her wonder what had made it stick in the first place. He took the paper from her, eyed her up and down with distaste (that she returned with a blank, unimpressed expression) before shaking his head and going inside.

"Yushiro," a soft voice called out once the door closed, "did you bring our guests?"

The green-haired boy huffed a little as he stomped into a room and then bowed at almost a 90 degree angle.

"I only brought one for now, Tamayo-sama! They were being watched and we had to take measures."

Nezuko followed him into the room where he faced a very pretty woman dressed traditionally. Nezuko also bowed (albeit not as deeply as Yushiro did).

"Kamado Nezuko, Tamayo-san," she said politely. Beside her, she heard Yushiro grumble something, but he said nothing aloud. She wondered what she'd done wrong. Before she could ask, though, Tamayo-san spoke up.

"Kamado? Are you related to Tanjiro?"

"Yes," Nezuko said happily. "He's my older brother."

"I see," she said, then smiled warmly. "Then welcome. Tell me, what need do you have of me."

Nezuko shifted a little uneasily, but figured the faster she told, the faster they could figure something out. And Tanjiro trusted this woman so she decided she would too, for now, and told Tamayo-san everything starting with the Waxing Moons' attack. She explained how each of the Pillars had taken a Waxing Moon on in the fight, how Douma had tried to turn Nezuko herself into a demon (she even showed the remaining rusty colored tips of her hair), how Tanjiro had used his demon art to literally burn that out of her, and how something had happened to Waxing Three and they didn't know what and so they needed to come to her.

It didn't take her long to really explain everything, and when she stopped, Tamayo looked to be lost in thought.

"Yushiro," she said, "It's about time for you to go and meet the others."

The demon boy scowled, but nodded. "Hai, Tamayo-sama!" Then he turned and left.

Nezuko stared after him for a moment before turning back to the other woman in the room, who smiled again. "I'm assuming that he wants me to look you over and make sure there aren't lasting effects beside your hair."

"And my teeth," Nezuko said, opening her mouth. "They feel sharper. I also crave meat more."

"Hmm," Tamayo said before she stood and returned with what looked like a long, wooden tube*. "Let us start then. I need you to breathe in while I listen and then we'll start doing some tests, is that alright?"

Well... that didn't sound too bad.

So she nodded, albeit a little hesitantly.

"Very good. Let's get started," the woman said with a smile.

xXx

Omake – (crack)

Mitsuri bit her lip as she and Tanjiro rushed through the trees. They were being followed, and they both knew it. It would only be a matter of time before whoever would catch up with them… and what if it was another Waxing Moon?

"Mitsuri," Kamado said quietly. "I am going to stop and confront whoever is following us. We might need backup, though. So, here. It was the second method I had of summoning Yushiro." He tossed a scroll to her, then transferred the still sleeping Waxing Third to her back. Then he withdrew his sword and held it in front of him as he faced back the way they'd come. "If it looks like I need help, please say the phrase."

It took her several seconds to juggle opening the scroll and keeping the sleeping demon on her back from falling off. Once she did, though, she could only frown.

"Um… why would this—?"

"It's a Waxing Moon!" Tanjiro hissed suddenly. "We need Yushiro here to tweak his papers if we want to avoid a fight!"

Mitsuri gulped, frowned at the scroll, then sighed.

"Tamayo-san's age is…"

She faded off, and they waited for several terse seconds. Then, suddenly, the demon boy arrived.

"Someone defiled Tamayo-sama's name! Who has chosen death?!"

"Your Tamayo-senses are as strong as ever," Tanjiro said. "But we need you to tweak these. We said nothing terrible about Tamayo-san, promise."

The boy just frowned, but eventually walked over to Tanjiro and began to fiddle with the paper.

Meanwhile, Mitsuri face-palmed.

xXx

AN: *Old-fashioned stethoscope. They'd been around for about 50-60 years by that point, invented in Germany, but brought back to other places all over the world. I don't think Tamayo would NEED it, per se, as she does have demonic hearing, but I can also see it improving even demon hearing or focusing it.

Thank you to Quathis, TimeLordTim and Found for their input on this! It's immensely helpful. :D Wouldn't even have the name of the fic without Tim's help.

Discord: discord. gg/TQxEBuhVjK (No spaces)