Chapter 8: The Master of the Mansion
Notes: Part 2 of the Tsuzumi Mansion Arc.
They looked around them.
'Did we move? No, the room changed around us…in time with the drum!'
The girl started crying.
"I'm sorry for getting you separated from your brother. But don't worry, I'll definitely protect you. And Zenitsu will also protect your brother. It'll be alright. What's your name?" he wiped her tears.
"Teruko."
"Oh! Is that so? What a nice name!" he smiled, kindly, "And what about your other brother's name?"
"Shouichi."
"I'm Tanjirou." he introduced himself, "Now, let's go look for your brothers, alright?"
They heard footsteps and an awful scent reached Tanjirou.
Then one of the demons in the house appeared.
He was tall, with five tsuzumi sticking out of his body.
'Of all the scents that cling to this house, his is the strongest! This demon has eaten a lot of people! Without a doubt, he is this house's…master!' he realised.
He quickly placed his hand over Teruko-chan's mouth.
"Teruko-chan…try not to scream. The room might move, so don't go into the hall. Slide back…and hide behind those shelves." he whispered to the little girl.
He took his stance and faced the demon.
"Why…? Why does everyone keeps barging in my house? Does everyone not know any manners? It's so aggravating. It pisses me off. It's my prey! It's my prey! I found it in my territory! Those bastards!" the demon was ranting.
"My name is Kamado Tanjirou, rank Mizunoto of the Demon Slayer Corps! I am here to cut your head!" Tanjirou called out.
He then charged towards the demon.
"I finally found a child with marechi – with rare blood – but…"
He struck the drum on his right shoulder, just as Tanjirou was closing in and the room flipped.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Teruko-chan!" he glanced back to the girl, as he landed on the wall.
'The tatami mats went to the wall…? No. The entire room rotated! That must be this demon's Blood Demon Art. The whole mansion is this demon's territory!' he realised quickly.
His nose caught a scent.
'What's going on? Another scent…and it's getting closer!'
Suddenly the wall across from him, or above him?, burst through and a person with a boar head fell in.
"Pig Assault! Comin' through!" he was calling.
'Who is that? Is he wearing a boar head…' Tanjirou looked on shocked, '…and carrying Nichirin blades?!'
"All right, monster! Come die in battle! I wanna get stronger and go even higher…so you are my stepping stone!" the boarman shouted before charging.
"Aggravating…So aggravating!"
The demon struck his right tsuzumi once more, rotating the room once more.
Teruko-chan screamed.
"Teruko-chan! Hold on to the furniture!" Tanjirou called out, barely managing to raise his left arm to avoid getting the boarman's foot in his face, as he used him to vault himself at the demon, "This demon has a supernatural ability! Don't swing your swords so wildly at it!" he called after him.
"Aggravating! These little insects infecting and making a mess in my house!" the demon struck his lef shoulder twice.
Teruko-chan screamed in pain, as boarman stepped on her.
"The room spun around!" he laughed, "This is interesting! This is fun!"
Tanjirou saw and grabbed his leg, flipping him off Teruko-chan.
"Don't go around stepping on people like that!"
"What did you do, you brat? Who are you…?" he asked, surprised.
"How could you step on top of a small girl like that?!"
"Not bad! Not bad! That was a nice throw there! No human has ever thrown me before!" he laughed, rushing at Tanjirou.
'Why is he rushing at me? Isn't he a member of the demon slayer corps?!'
Tanjirou jumped back.
"My swords bring pain! This isn't a blade that can be used by little children. I'm so proud of their edges that rip and tear!"
"Stop messing around! The demon's right there!" Tanjirou called jumping away from boarman.
"What do I care?!"
"Damn insects! Begone! Die!" the demon struck the tsuzumi on his chest.
Tanjirou jumped away and boarman stopped his attack, as three slashes appeared on the tatami.
"Good! Not bad!" boarman laughed.
'The tatami was suddenly shredded…in the shape of a demon's claws…in time with the drum.'
He watched as boarman avoided another claw attack and what tsuzumi the demon struck.
'Right turn…' the demon hit the one on his right shoulder, 'Left turn…' he struck the left one.
"Insects! Damned insects!"
Boarman fell out of the room through an open door.
'I'm starting to understan! The drums on his shoulders rotate the room left and right, depending on which one he strikes.' he thought, 'While the one on his chest creates the scratches.'
Just then a drum was struck and the room changed once more.
'The room changed again! But what's going on? The demon didn't strike the drum just now! This room has different demon scents. Does that mean that there is another demon with a drum, too? If so…Wait…I smell blood!'
Tanjirou got up and went to the door.
"Stay behind me." he told Teruko-chan.
"Okay…"
Tanjirou looked out, but quickly turned away.
'Another body…!'
"Wha…What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. There are no demons. Let's go somewhere else. Don't look back. Just face straight ahead." he said, placing himself behind Teruko-chan, blocking the view of the body behind them as much as possible.
'There is that blood scent again…I know I've smelt it somewhere before, too…And it seems the amount lost is small.'
They stood outside the room where the oddly familiar scent was.
"Shhh." he whispered at Teruko-chan.
The little girl nodded.
He opened the door suddenly, only to see a young boy with a drum ready to strike it.
"Kiyoshi-nii-san!" Teruko-chan shouted, running inside.
The boy stopped just in time.
"Big brother! Big brother!"
"Teruko!"
The two hugged each other.
"Who…who is that?" he asked tearfully.
"I'm Kamado Tanjirou! I came to defeat those demons." Tanjirou introduced himself, kneeling beside him, "Now, show me your wounds. You did well surviving all on your own." he said, patting the boy's shoulder.
Kiyoshi-kun cried.
"Oh, Kiyoshi…" Teruko-chan hugged her brother.
"Ta-dah! This salve is wonderful! My friend made it!" he produced a small pack.
"Friend?"
"Yes. She is amazing with medicines!" Tanjirou said with a soft smile, as he applied the salve on the wound and then tied it, "There. All done. The pain is fading, right?"
"Yes…"
Tanjirou then got serious.
"Can you tell me what happened here?"
"I was kidnapped by that…m-monster…and it…it wanted to eat me." Kiyoshi-kun started after a moment, "Then more monsters came from somewhere and…th…they started fighting…over who would…get to eat me. One…of them…had a tsuzumi drum growing on his body. When one of them hit him, the tsuzumi fell down. So I grabbed it. If I hit the drum the rooms change…which is how…I survived."
"The demon said…something about 'marechi'…"
"Yes, that's right! He calls me 'marechi'!" Kiyoshi-kun exclaimed.
"Caaawwww! Marechi means someone who has rare blood!" Tennouji explained to the children, jumping out of Tanjirou's haori.
"Whoa!"
"Gaah!"
"Caaww! I'm gonna peck your eyes out!" Tennouji mock-threatened the kids.
"Ah, Tennouji, stop that. Don't scare them." he softly admonished his crow.
"But what does that mean?" Kiyoshi-kun asked.
"Humans have different types of blood." Tanjirou started.
"One type of particular rare blood is something of a demonic…delicacy! Eating one person with marechi is equal to fifty or a hundred ordinary people!" Tennouji continued, "Marechi is a feast for demons! A great feast!"
Tanjirou was still trying to remember why the smell of Kiyoshi-kun's blood was familiar. And then it clicked.
"Ah! Like Shinazugawa-san!" he exclaimed.
Tennouji nodded at him.
Then he caught the scent of the drum demon.
"I am going to step outside of this room."
"What?"
"Stay calm…It's okay. I'm going to go fight the demons." he told Kiyoshi-kun, holding the boy's shoulder. Then he turned to Teruko-chan, patting her head, "Listen, Teruko-chan…Your brother is really tired now, so you have to care for him. The moment I leave the room, hit the tsuzumi to move the room, like Kiyoshi was doing. If you hear someone trying to open the door…hit the drum and flee immediately." Tanjirou gave her instructions, "I promise to come back for you. I'll follow your scents. I will call out your names before I open the door." he placed his hands on their shoulders, "…Hang in there for just a little longer. Can you do that?"
They nodded.
"Very well. You're both very strong!" he smiled at them, "I'll be back."
Just as the demon appeared, Tanjirou dashed outside of the room.
"Beat the drum now!" he called.
Teruko-chan did as she was told and the room vanished from behind him, leaving him alone with the demon.
"Bugs! Hateful insects!" the demon was mad.
He struck his drums and the room spun.
Then he hit another drum and Tanjirou ducked to avoid the claw attack.
'Ah, I see. The right hip spins the room forward, while the left backwards.' he barely managed to avoid the attacks, as his eye-body coordination was getting used to the speed of the demon's strikes, 'Wow! That's fast! The speed of the rotations and attacks is incredible!' he thought, impressed, 'Tamayo-san treated my wounds but…I'm not fully healed. Can I win…in this condition? Those wounds hurt so bad that I can barely stand it. I was in mild pain even as I was walking down the road. But when I had to pull Zenitsu from that girl…it caused me immense pain. As the eldest son, as the head of the Kamado family, I've learnt to put up with a lot, so I can endure it. When I brace myself, my bones grind together and I can't generate any strength. The demon's claw attack is scary, so I can't get too close. I'm so wobbly, I'm afraid that just getting within range will cause enough pain to make my legs weak…and then I'll get sliced!' he thought, 'I'm injured, so I keep imagining bad things. Which breath…?'
"Water can take any form. It's square in a box and round in a bottle. But it still is strong enough to break rocks and it can flow everywhere." he remembered Urokodaki-san saying.
'That's right. Water can fight any opponent. If you're injured, flow to compensate for that…You can become any shape. The flow never ends! But it's not just my body that's injured. My spirit is, too.'
"Waaahh! An injured Tanjirou won't do!" Zenitsu whined in his memories, "Won't do at all! Really can't have you like thaaat~!"
"OKAY! I GOT IT! PIPE DOWN ALREADY, WOULD YA?!" Tanjirou screamed at Zenitsu's vision.
'Look straight ahead and move forward! Cheer yourself and get a grip.'
"You can do it, Tanjirou! From this point on, even injured or broken…I'll keep on going forward! No matter what! I'll never yield to demons!"
'I can do this! I know I can! I can get this done! I may have broken bones or whatever but I can do this! I can fight!' he thought as he dodged another claw attack, 'I'll show that even a broken Tanjirou is still a formidable opponent!' he fell back, hitting against the wall, 'But the situation hasn't changed! Motivation alone won't work. My head! I gotta use my head…But there is no time to think things through! Wow! That was close!' Tanjirou barely managed to avoid losing his head.
"Begone insects!" the demon screamed, increasing his drumming speed.
'He can drum…even faster?!' Tanjirou thought shocked, 'My eyes are spinning! The speed of this rotation…! Incredible technique!' he dodged another claw attack, 'He went from three claw attacks to five!'
The attack grazed his chin, as it destroyed a desk and paper started fluttering out, due to the room's rotations.
'Paper…? There's something written on it…I wonder who wrote it…?'
As he was about to land on it, Tanjirou managed on the last second to avoid stepping on the text, coming to a stop, crouching low, using his left hand to stabilize himself.
'Ah…I got it.' he realised as he avoided another claw attack, 'Now I know. Avoiding the paper showed me…how to move and breathe without increasing my pain. I must take short, shallow and rapid breaths. That type of breathing will increase the muscles around my fractured leg. And before each claw attack…there's a moldy scent!' he thought, 'Here it comes…the claw attack…above me!' he ducked under it. 'Total concentration. Water breathing; Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow – Turbulent.'
Using the Water Breath's Ninth Form, Tanjirou moved around the rotating room, avoiding the demon's attacks, using the minimum time and surface to land to move freely.
'Go! Inside! Almost there! Forward!' he jumped between the claw attack, 'Get in toward the torso! Of all the movements, the Water Breathing's ninth form minimized landing time and area…making it perfect for this rotating room. It allows me to move in any direction, and is well suited for a fight with such uncertain footing.'
He saw the thread. He drew a deep breath.
'Sun Breathing; Ninth Form: The Setting Sun.' he jumped towards the demon, flipped in the air ready to deliver the finishing slash.
"Your Blood Demon Art was incredible." he said with seriousness, giving the recognition due to a strong opponent.
The demon looked surprised and relieved by that.
And then Tanjirou cut off his head.
He landed on his feet, but kneeled holding on his ribs.
'Ow, ow, ow, I breathed deeply for that last attack. Bear it! You're the Kamado Head! Endure it!'
"Boy…tell me…" the demon called out, "…was my…Blood Demon Art…truly that good?" he asked.
"It truly was. But…I cannot forgive the death…of innocent humans." he said seriously, walking closer to the demon.
"…I thought so…"
"What's your name?" he asked as he stuck Yushirou's syringe in the demon's arm.
"Kyogai."
"I'll remember you." Tanjirou nodded, picking the tool.
'It automatically gathered the blood once I stuck it in the body. Yushirou is really talented building this. The blood gathers in the handle.'
"Chachamaru?" he called.
"Meow."
"Hey, there." he rubbed the cat under its chin, "Take this to Tamayo-san for me." he said, placing the syringe in the leather pouch on its back, "Thank you. Take care, now."
Tanjirou watched the cat hop away, before hearing it meowing around the corner.
Sighing, he got up and picked up the scattered pieces of paper. He read through a few pages as he tidied up, deciding to keep and read the manuscript on the road.
'May you rest in peace.' he prayed for Kyogai after he had disintegrated.
Then, he ran towards the room Kiyoshi-kun and Teruko-chan were.