Chapter 12: Lower Demon Moon Five, Rui

Notes: Part 2 of the Natagumo Mountain Arc.

He soon started falling back to the forest, gravity claiming him once more.

'Sun Breathing; Second Form: Azure Heaven.' he used a form to help his landing, 'Alright! I managed to land safely.'

A scream, a couple meters away from him, caught his attention and he turned to find the boy and girl from earlier. The girl was on the ground holding her face and the boy had its hands raised and open with spider web connecting his fingers. Blood was dripping from them.

"What are you looking at?" the boy asked, indifferent, "This isn't a stage show."

Tanjirou stared. Her scent was telling him she was terrified.

And that angered Tanjirou.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded, "Aren't you allies?!"

"Allies? Our connection is nothing as superficial as that. We are a family. We are tied by strong bonds." the boy said, "Besides, this is between me and my big sister, if you interrupt me, I'll carve you up."

"Whether you're family or allies, those bonds are always precious and strong! Not being related to someome by blood doesn't make a connection superficial! Moreover…I can always smell the scent of trust between people with such strong ties! But between you guys…I only smell fear…hatred and loathing! There's nothing to call this a 'family bond'! It's all fake!"

He felt the change in the mood, but also saw the Demon Slayer coming out of the bushes.

"Oh! It seems I found me the right type of demon." he said arrogantly, "Even I can slay a kid demon like this!"

"Wh-Who are you?" Tanjirou asked, surprised and a little worried.

"You stay back! This one is mine! I wanna get safely promoted. If my rank goes up, I'll start making more money! My squad's pretty much wiped out, but I'm gonna slay one demon and head back down the mountain."

"No! Don't! You can't…" he called only to watch him getting torn to little pieces, in a spider web pattern.

'He fell into pieces in an instant with a single strike!'

"What did you say?" the boy demanded, "You! What did you just say?!"

'What a menacing aura! The air got heavy and thick! Sorry, Inosuke. You'll have to hang on a little longer. I'll come help you as soon as I defeat this demon.' he tightened his grip on his katana.

"I'll say it again and again!" he replied determined, "Your so called 'family bonds' are fake!"

"Rui…" the girl demon said fearfully.

"Shut up! If you want me to forgive all your shortcomings and failures, go kill those that are still wandering around the mountain."

"I…I understand. I'll go and do it, Rui." she said softly and left.

"I don't plan to kill you all at once. First…I'll shred your skin, then I'll chop you up. But if you take back what you said, I'll kill you in a single strike."

"I won't take it back! I meant every word. And…I am absolutely right! The one who is wrong…is you!"

The boy launched his threads at him and Tanjirou dodged them.

'I can smell them! The other scent has faded so I can focus on the threads. Sun Breathing; First Form: Waltz.'

He brought his katana down on the threads, opening a path.

A stray thread cut his cheek.

Tanjirou ignored it and tried to push forward, cutting and deflecting Rui's threads, keeping them at a sort of a stalemate.

'These threads move around as if they were alive! And he makes new ones in the blink of an eye. He's clearly holding back, but I need to get closer!'

He manages to dodge the next wave of threads aimed at him.

"I'm feeling merciful and I'll extend my offer of a quick death, again, if you take what you said back." Rui said.

Tanjirou stood his ground.

"I can not, in good conscience, take back what I know is true! Binding others to you by fear won't give you the 'family bonds' you desire!" he replied, "And to protect both humans and demons from your false way of thinking, I will cut your head."

"Ah, I see. You are stubborn and you got spirit. Come get me if you can. You think you have what it takes to defeat me…one of the Twelve Demon Moons?" Rui smirked, pulling the hair back from over his left eye.

'Lower Five' it said and Tanjirou knew.

"Say…Did you think that was the strongest thread I could create?" Rui asked, as his hands and threads turned red, "I've had enough of you. Farewell."

'This smells completely different from the other threads. They are stronger. I definitely can't lose this! If I lose, I'll die! I can do this!' he nodded to himself, 'Sun Breathing; Eleventh Form: Solar Halo Dragon Dance.'

He brought his katana down, hoping this would be enough, but it breaks. Tanjirou's eyes grew wide in shock.

'My katana broke! I can't believe it! The webs this kid wields…are even stronger than the body of that demon I couldn't cut! Forgive me Haganezuka-san…my sword broke due to my inexperience.' he mourned, 'No! Now's not the time for that! Think, think! I can't cut the threads, but if I get within reach…Impossible! I can't get through like this. I have to do something!'

He somehow manages to avoid the next attack, not willing to sacrifice his wakizashi as well just yet.

'I couldn't cut his threads. What can I do with a broken sword? Is his neck stronger than his silk…?' he stared ahead, with a frown, trying to think of what do to.

"I don't like that burning glare in your eyes. How foolish. Could it be…that you think you can win!?" Rui sent more threads at him.

Tanjirou backflipped to dodge the attack.

'Stay calm. Focus. Control your breathing.' he calmed himself, 'While Sun Breathing is the strongest Breath Style, my inexperience led to my katana breaking. But if I…? I did something similar before, when I combined two Water Breathing forms. Would it work if I combined two different Breaths?' he wondered, as he kept avoiding Rui's threads, 'Water Breath's Tenth Form: Constant Flux is a continuous attack, where I rotate my body around…making a series of strikes…with each blow stronger than the previous one. Each time I spin…the slash gets stronger. It also builds momentum, to carry over to the next technique. Can I use it like that?' he thought, 'One way to find out. Sun Breathing; Combined Eleventh Form: Solar Halo Dragon Dance – Flux!'

Tanjirou moved, winding like a dragon, each strike stronger than the previous one, with each spin, the slash getting stronger, cutting through the red threads easily, clearing up the way, to Rui's shock .

'I cut it! If I keep going…I can win!'

Rui sent another flurry of threads at him.

'Sun Breathing; Combined Sixth Form: Bone Burning Sun – Shadow.'

He cut through the red threads and got up close to Rui, pulling out his wakizashi to defend himself from the threads.

'I can't pull back, not even for a moment. I am going to pay for those combinations later. In a moment, I won't be able to move!' he caught the scent of the opening thread, 'I saw it – the opening thread! I couldn't see it up until now! I have to time this right. My right arm will reach his neck and I'll use my wakizashi to protect myself from being torn apart.'

Tanjirou's broken katana reached the neck, his wakizashi cutting the threads and with the last bit of strength he had left, he used it to push his katana forward, cutting Rui's neck.

He fell down, exhausted.

'I did it…I won…But now…My vision is blurring. It's getting hard to see. Was I too reckless with my breathing? My ears are ringing. My body is throbbing in pain. I have to shake it off. There's still fighting left to do. I have to hurry up and go help Inosuke…and fast! He is waiting for me. And we have to find Zenitsu, too!' he thought, trying to crawl away, 'Ah, the blood.' he remembered.

Slowly he reached towards Rui's body and stuck the needle in his leg.

Seconds later Chachamaru appeared beside him, took the blood and left.

'Inosuke…Zenitsu…I'm coming.'

He had managed to turn away from Rui's body, trying to crawl towards his friends, wherever they might had been in this forest, when his nose caught the scent.

'The scent of blood is getting thicker. He's not dead? Even though I cut his head off?! I don't smell that ash-like scent…that lingers after a demon disappears.' he glanced over his shoulder to see Rui's body standing above him.

"Did you think that you'd defeated me?" he asked, as he raised his head with his webs, "Too bad, you sad fool. Were you happy in that pityful fantasy? I used my own threads to cut my head off…before you could do it!" he said, "And now…I am going to kill you. I haven't been this angry in a really long time!"

'Stand up! Hurry! Catch your breath…and get on your feet, Tanjirou! Now!' Tanjirou gritted his teeth.

"What an unpleasant feeling! I've been this angry once before, but it was so long ago I barely remember it. I'm so irritated, I could cut you to pieces without any regrets!"

'If I breathe correctly…it won't matter how exhausted I am. Breathe…Breathe!' he willed himself, 'Hurry…!'

A cage made by Rui's red threads caught him, closing in on him.

'I can't panic. It'll throw off my breathing. Stay calm! Stay calm!' he thought, watching the threads get closer, 'I can't raise my arm.'

Then, suddenly, the threads were cut.

'Somebody's here…Who is it? Zenitsu?' he wondered, trying to focus.

"You did well to hold on until I got here." a calm voice said, "Leave the rest to me."

'Tomioka-san…' he realised.

He was suddenly too tired and barely understood what happened, only that at one moment Rui attacked for his threads to be cut and the next, Rui's head had fallen off and his body was slowly disintegrating, falling forward, beside Tanjirou.

'Such a great scent of sadness from such a small body…' Tanjirou thought, reaching out to him, laying his hand on Rui's back, trying and failing to pull him closer with tears in his eyes, as the boy demon disappeared.

The Water Pillar walked over to Tanjirou, stepping on Rui's robe, the only thing of him left.

"Do not waste your pity on a demon who ate dozens of people." he said, "Even if it looks likes a child. It was a horrible, unsightly monster, that lived for hundred of years."

Tanjirou became angry.

"To soothe the spirits of those they ate, and to prevent them from claiming more victims…I will relentlessly swing my blade and take the heads of any demon with no hesitation! And that is a fact. But I will not belittle those who regret their actions and suffer over what they did…nor trample on the pain of being a demon. Because demons were once humans. Because they were humans like me." he said passionately, "Move your foot." he ordered, "They aren't unsightly, worthless monsters. They are pitiful creatures, empty husks of who they were used to be, lifeless and sorrowful beings."

Tomioka-san's eyes grew wider.

"You're…" he started.

Just then, Tanjirou's nose twitched.

'That scent…!' he thought.

"Are you done here, Tomioka-san?" a chipper, female voice asked, only for her approach to falter once she saw Tanjirou, "Tanjirou-kun? What's going on here?"

"Good evening, Shinobu-san." he said, tiredly, "We're having an ethical disagreement on whether I should or not feel sorry for demons." he gave her a weak smile.

He saw her look at his hand and Tomioka-san's feet before looking at them with that same smile.

"Your exceptional lack of people skills is one of the reasons why people don't like you, Tomioka-san."

A stunned silence followed.

"…People…don't dislike me." Tomioka-san replied, in a monotone voice.

"Oh dear…you hadn't realised people didn't like you. I am sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have blurted the truth out like that." Shinobu said, in a mock-apologetic tone.

Suddenly, Tanjirou coughed, one hand fisting on the kimono, the other going to his chest.

"Tanjirou!" he heard a voice from far away, as everything turned black.