Chapter 5: Asakusa
Notes: Part 1 of the Asakusa Arc.
Tennouji landed on his shoulder the moment he left town.
"Hello, Tennouji." he greeted his crow, giving it some seeds.
"The next location is Asakusa in Tokyo prefecture! There are rumors of a demon hiding there! Caaww!"
"Eh? Is it time to go to the next location already?"
"Go now!"
"Wait a moment…"
"Not waiting!"
"But Tennouji, I need to rest! And eat!"
"I said go! Caaawww!" the crow ordered, pecking Tanjirou.
"Alright, alright, I'm going. Ow." he replied, rubbing the side of his head.
Two days later, Tanjirou reached Asakusa.
He looked around him in mild shock by the amount of people and buildings.
'The buildings are so tall and the streets have been developed so much. It's night, but all these lights allow me to see clearly. Are all cities like this now? Wow.'
He walked towards a side road, near a park, where he found a noodle stand.
"One bowl of yamakane udon, please."
"Comin' right up!"
Tanjirou had a cup of tea as he waited.
Suddenly, the strong scent of a demon reached him.
As he focused on it, it was almost like it blanketed the scents of the whole city.
'How didn't I notice this scent before?' he wondered, standing up, body shaking and looking frantically around him, before bolting into the crowds, following it to a tall man dressed in western style, 'It's so strong that my body wants to turn around and run away.'
Tanjirou grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around, revealing wine-red eyes with slits, identifying him as a demon.
There was a second in which time stopped and Tanjirou realised who was before him, just as the man's eyes widened with some sort of recognition mixed with worry as he watched his face.
"Daddy? Who is this person?" a young, female voice asked, revealing a young girl in, who Tanjirou was now sure was, Kibutsuji Muzan's arms.
A look of dread passed from him face.
'This man…This man…He's living as a human!' he thought in shock.
"Do you have something you want from me? You seem to be in quite a panic…" he said with a gentle voice.
"Ahh, what's this?"
"Mama."
'These are humans.' he thought, his hand coming up, covering his mouth in dread, 'The girl and the woman both smell like humans. Do they not understand? Do they not know? This guy is a demon. A demon that eats humans.'
"Is it somebody familiar?" the woman asked.
"No…this is just a child we don't know. Seems that he's in some sort of trouble. Might it be…that he mistook us for somebody else?" he said, as his hand, faster than any other human could see, reached out and scratched the back of a man's neck.
"Well, is that what's going on?"
"Uwoh…"
"Husband? What happened to you?"
"Aaahh!" the man screamed in pain.
"Kyah!" the wife screamed, as he attacked her.
"Stop…!" Tanjirou pushed in between Muzan and his 'wife', crashing into the newly turned demon and keeping him down, away from eating his wife or anyone else.
"What's going on?"
"Somebody's bleeding!"
Tanjirou quickly pulled out and bunched up his scarf, shoving it in the man's mouth.
"Husband!"
"Madam! Please, mind your own safety first compared to caring about your husband!" Tanjirou called over his shoulder, "Please, use some fabric to cover your wound and apply pressure to it!" he gave first aid directions, before turning back to the man struggling in his hands, 'It'll be fine. There will definitely be a way. The madam wasn't dealt a mortal wound, so she will be fine. And this person hasn't harmed anybody yet as well!'
"Rei-san, it's too dangerous. Let's go to the other side." he heard Muzan say.
Tanjirou looked up.
'Damn it! I can't just leave this person and not care about him…! And I can't let him go! If he really is Muzan…!'
"Kibutsuji Muzan! No matter where you run to…I won't let you get away!" he shouted, stopping him and the woman from leaving.
"What's the matter with that boy, Tsukihiko-san?" the woman asked truly worried.
"I will follow you to the ends of hell itself if I have to and remove your head with my blade!" he shouted looking at Muzan, "I will absolutely never forgive you!"
"You! What are you doing?" the police had arrived.
"Step aside."
"Are you drunk? Break it up!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Back off! Back off! Move!"
The police created an open space around Tanjirou and the man.
"No! I can't let go of this man! Please, provide me some restraining equipment, some handcuffs! Please! Please don't pull me away!" Tanjirou struggled against the officers, "I am the only one who can subdue him!"
"Aahh! Look at this man's face! Has he lost his mind?"
"Pull the young one off of him."
"Understood!"
"Don't do that! Stop! I don't want this person to kill anyone! Don't interfere, I beg of you!" Tanjirou was trying to cling to the man.
Suddenly everything stopped.
'What is that fragrant scent?'
"Uwaaahh! What are all these patterns?"
"I can't see my surroundings!"
Tanjirou noticed that everyone around him was panicking, unable to see.
'Is this some sort of attack? Not good…I can't let this man hurt anyone, but I can't protect the people like this.' Tanjirou was looking around him, trying to pinpoint where the attack was coming from.
"You…" a gentle female voice caught his attention, "Even though he was turned into a demon…still used the word 'person' for him. And you are trying to save him. So I shall lend you a hand as well and help you."
Tanjirou blinked at the woman and the young man that approached him.
"…Why?" he asked, "You…your scent is…"
"Indeed. I…am a demon…and also a doctor. And I also want to see Kibutsuji eradicated."
"I see." Tanjirou looked at the female demon and nodded, "I trust you."
"Just like that?"
"You have an honest scent." Tanjirou smiled kindly.
"I will take this man and his wife to my house to be treated. Please follow me."
"Ah, wait. I need to do something first." he said embarrassed.
"What could be more important?" the boy scoffed.
"I ordered some udon at a street vendor. It's bad manners to order food and not eat it." he smiled sheepishly.
The female demon looked surprised, before smiling kindly.
"Then, go on ahead." she said, "You can come by a little later."
"Thank you very much." he bowed at the woman.
He ran towards the road the vendor was. The man was waiting for him, furious.
"Listen here! You can't order and leave! It's not about the money! If you don't eat the udon I made, I'll never forgive you!" the store owner said, passionately.
"I am terribly sorry!" Tanjirou bowed, "Thank you for the meal!" he practically inhaled it, "It was delicious!"
"As long as you get, it's fine! Come again!"
Tanjirou walked towards the scent of the two demons, only to stop as he noticed the young boy was waiting for him.
"Ah! Were you waiting for me? I am sorry I kept you waiting. I could've followed the scent…"
"We're under a concealment spell to mask it from others, so there's no way you would've been able to find us." he said, "Follow me." he turned and led the way, not caring if Tanjirou really followed.
'He's a very curt person.' Tanjirou thought to himself.
"I'm back. And I brought the Slayer." the boy said.
"Welcome back." the doctor demon turned to look at them.
"Ah! Are they alright?" Tanjirou asked once he noticed the wife from earlier, sleeping on a patient's bed, "I'm sorry to have left them to you."
"The woman will be fine. But her husband…it's a different case. It's unfortunate, but he's held in the dungeon right now."
"Is it uncomfortable for you to treat people's wounds?" Tanjirou asked her, worried for her.
The boy chopped his neck.
"Are you suggesting that because we're demons the flesh and blood of the humans we treat…makes us drool?" he frowned, offended.
"Enough. Why must you resort to violence?" the woman asked, "I haven't introduced us yet. My name is Tamayo and this boy is Yushirou. Please, try to get along."
'He's hard to get along with, that it might be a little bit difficult…or maybe impossible.' Tanjirou noticed Yushirou's hostility, 'But I can't really do anything about it.'
"Ah, pleased to meet you, Tamayo-san, Yushirou. My name is Kamado Tanjirou." he bowed.
"To answer your question, I don't think it's that uncomfortable. I have an easier time with it compared to other demons. I…I have altered my body and removed Kibutsuji's curse."
'Curse?'
"Altered your body?" he wondered, following Tamayo-san to a room they could talk, "Pardon me for disturbing." he said softly.
"It means that I no longer need to feed on humans to survive." Tamayo-san explained, removing the doctor's robe, "All I need is to drink a small amount of blood, that's all."
"Blood?" he blinked, as he sat down, "That's…"
"Maybe you might think it's disgusting…but we buy blood saying it's for blood transfusions from people in need of money." she explained, "Of course, we never take that much to hurt them."
'Oh, I see…So that's why they don't have the distinctly heavy scent of demons on them.' he thought, 'But they still do need human blood to survive.'
"Yushirou needs even less blood than I do. I was the one who turned him." Tamayo-san continued.
"Huh? You did? But…eh?" Tanjirou was surprised, "I thought…"
"Indeed. No one other than Kibutsuji can increase the number of demons…and that is factually correct. In more than 200 years…Yushirou is the only one I was able to transform into a demon." Tamayo-san confirmed.
"In more than 200 years, Yushirou was the only one?!" Tanjirou exclaimed, shocked, "Ah, exactly how old are you, Tamayo-san?"
Yushirou chopped his neck again.
"Don't just ask for a lady's age like that, you lout!"
Tanjirou coughed.
"Yushirou! I'm not going to forgive you if you hit him again!" Tamayo-san said angrily.
"As you wish!" Yushirou exclaimed.
"One thing I want you to not misunderstand…I'm not trying to increase the number of demons. I only offer it to people who are gravely injured or plagued by an incurable disease…so they can live a little longer." she said, "And I always ask those patients…if they want to continue living…even if it means they'll be turned into a demon."
Tanjirou drew in a deep breath.
'Her scent tells me she is without deceit. I can trust her.'
He nodded once.
"I believe you, Tamayo-san." he said, "I came here on rumors of a demon hiding. As far as I am concerned you two are human, so there is no need for me to be here, beyond to report that the demon in hiding was Kibutsuji Muzan." he said with a kind smile.
"Thank you." Tamayo-san replied.
"You said you wanted Muzan dead. I could tell by his scent that he is insanely strong. Do you know if there is a way to defeat him? To either weaken him or strengthen the Demon Slayers?"
"…There is a way."
"There is?!" Tanjirou leaned closer.
"Don't get too close to Tamayo-sama!" Yushirou pushed him back.
"…Yushirou…"
"I didn't hit him, Tamayo-sama! I only pushed him back!"
"Don't do either of those things!" she admonished her aide, "I have been trying to find a way to create a poison or a drug that could work on him. However, at the moment, I haven't had any luck in creating it. To do so, I'd need to investigate a large amount of demon blood." Tamayo-san said, "I have a favor to ask of you, Tanjirou-san. I need your help to gather samples of blood from demons with a high concentration of Kibutsuji's blood. It will be a difficult and cruel task. Demons like that are close to Kibutsuji in strength. It won't be easy to get their blood. But, even so, will you still accept this request?"
"Creating a drug to defeat Muzan…if there is no other way to gather the blood, I will do it." Tanjirou said softly, "Tamayo-san might even find a way to turn demons back to humans like that. That could help many people, right?" he smiled.
Tamayo-san had a surprised look on her face, before it melted to a soft smile.
"…Yes."
Tanjirou blushed a little, before he noticed Yushirou's glare.
Suddenly, Yushirou looked alarmed.
"Not good. Get down!" he called, throwing himself over Tamayo-san, as Tanjirou avoided the projectile that opened holes to the wall and wrecked the room.