Chapter 10 : In the Depths of the Swamps
"how many words was this"
LMAOO PROBABLY A LOT !!! X,DDD
I'm also writing this on Wattpad, so I can tell you numbers, but they will surely not be exact as I'm using special characters, emojis etc...
Number of words (with the author's notes) :
- 1st chapter : 13 279
- 2nd chapter : 7 556
- 3rd chapter : 6 870
- 4th chapter : 7 970
- 5th chapter : 4 742
- 6th chapter : 9 152
- 7th chapter : 4 869
- 8th chapter : 11 661
- 9th chapter : 14 706
- 10th chapter : 11 045
Total : 91 850 words for the ten first chapters x'DD
This is the equivalent of approximatively 9 185 words per chapter if I remember how to calculate an average in Maths...
well, if I'm wrong, I'm screwed up for the exams at the end of the month
[...]
April 11th 1914
06:28 PM
Alley
SLASH !
As soon as she made her attack, several severed limbs of the demons hovered in the air; like arms or torsos.
But that was far from delighting the young girl who looked at the scene with a surprised look.
'Dang it...' She said in her thoughts, before gradually frowning.'I missed all of their vital points...!!'
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'Since I changed of forms in a hurry and had no support to lean on, I lacked precision...'
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As her feet regained contact with the ground, the three demons disappeared into it again, leaving the young slayer all alone with her companions.
Faced with this, Nezuko stared with spite at the blade under her eyes for a moment, but pulled herself together quickly by lifting it up and once again placing herself in front of Kazumi and her older brother.
'Anyway, it doesn't matter...' She said to herself, tightening the hilt of her sword slightly. 'What is done is done, I'll have other chances to defeat them, I mustn't be discouraged...'
'Besides, it's not that bad. I have to keep one alive a little longer than the other two in order to ask him if he knows anything about a cure for Big Brother... And also...'
The young girl began to frown her eyebrows a little more, continuing the thread of her thoughts.
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'If he knows anything about this demon, Muzan Kibutsuji...'
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Just thinking of the demon's name was enough to bring her into a deep anger.
She would never forgive him. She would never forgive him for murdering her entire family, for turning her brother into a creature of his kind.
But now wasn't the time for it.
For now, she needed to focus on the demons she needed to kill.
'Focus...' She thought. 'Look for the slightest sign, the slightest clue about his position...'
She looked around carefully, but without moving away from the two boys this time; not wanting to lose sight of them either.
Nevertheless, she always remained on her guard. If the demon came back to attack her from behind; since it seemed to her that he only attacked this way, she was now prepared.
'And this time, don't mess up !!'
But while she was still standing defensively in front of the two young men, the one with the red eyes suddenly detected the scent of the grinding-toothed demon on Kazumi's back.
He then hastened to pull him protectively towards him, to which the dark-haired man questioned himself as he let out a slight "W-what-", but which; more importantly, warned the girl of the situation.
'There he is again !!' She told herself, as she watched the ground behind her back out of the corner of her eye. 'This time...'
Quickly, the brunette turned completely and darted towards the black circle now fully visible.
'I got you !!'
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As the demon barely had time to emerge from the ground, Nezuko leaped into the air once again, sword held upward as she repeated these words in her head :
'Total Concentration, Water Breathing : Second form–' She thought to herself, before leaning forward to perform a somersault in place and thus produce a circular motion with her sword. 'Water Wheel !'
In an instant, the blade sliced off a few pieces of skin from the demon who was alone this time. But unfortunately, no impact was caused by her attack except for a few scratches since the creature had taken care to move away in time.
'Dang it...!!' Nezuko clenched her teeth in frustration. 'I missed him again...'
Just like a little earlier, her opponent took refuge in the ground again in time to regenerate as she finally landed on her feet.
Immediately, the young girl half turned to the two men to check their conditions.
《Mister Kazumi ! Are you okay ?? Are you hurt ?》She asked.
With that, the young man gently shook his head in disapproval.
《...No... I'm okay...》He said before turning his head to the smaller boy next to him, as the brunette's worry slowly faded.《Thanks to your brother, I was able to narrowly avoid it...》
With that, Nezuko felt her shoulders relax a little more in the relief the boy in the blue kimono had announced to her.
A small smile formed on her lips as she turned completely to her older brother :
《Thank you so much, Big Brother !》
Tanjiro just smiled back at her, waving his hands gently in the air as if to tell her that he hadn't done much and that it was normal.
But their little moment of tranquility didn't last longer as one of the three demons emerged again from the ground in front of them; at a greater distance this time.
The young slayer therefore immediately went on the defensive, although the demon's position left her a little puzzled as to his intentions, but only found herself even more surprised when she saw that he didn't want to attack them.
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Indeed, the creature had simply risen to the surface for the sole purpose of complaining.
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《FUCK !!》He screamed, as he now pointed to the young teenager in Kazumi's arms.《GET OUTTA HERE !!! THIS GIRL WILL ROT IF I DON'T EAT HER NOW, YOU LITTLE BITCH !》
The demon seemed to take a moment to calm down, but almost instantly resumed his monologue.
《This girl is already sixteen, okay ?! If I don't eat her now; SHE WILL LOSE ALL OF HER FLAVOR VERY SOON !!》
The pink-eyed brunette stared at him for a moment, a little disoriented, until she heard another voice behind her back.
《Calm down, other me... It's not a big deal you know, there are nights like that, sometimes when it doesn't necessarily go as planned... But me, I've already eaten many sixteen-year-old girls in this town, and they all tasted delicious~ I'm fully satisfied...》The second demon continued, placed the same distance as his double behind the three buddies.《Also, if you're really hungry, you've got the slayer left, you know... she doesn't look so bad to eat, after all.》
《WELL NOT ME, OTHER ME !!》The other demon got angry more and more.《IF I EAT THE KID, THE OTHER WILL ROT, DIDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ?! I MUSTN'T WASTE MY TIME !! AND I'M FUCKING STARVING RIGHT NOW ! I WANT MORE !!!》
As the two Kamados stood there staring at the demon wincing, Kazumi suddenly spoke up.
《Y-you monster...》He began in a slightly shaky voice, before taking a little more confidence.《... Give me back Satoko...!! The girl you kidnapped last night... W-where is she ?! What did you do to her ?!!》
At the end of his sentence, Nezuko glanced at the dark-haired man behind her back :
As he spoke, anger mixed with worry and sadness were more and more audible in his voice and visible on his face.
He must really love Satoko... without a doubt.
Little by little, her pink eyes filled with empathy for the boy. She had never fallen in love with anyone until now, but she could understand the pain he was feeling.
The pain of losing someone dear to us.
A lover.
A friend.
A member of our family.
This pain, she knew it all too well.
Suddenly, the demon in front of them began to gnash, as did the third one who had discreetly appeared on a roof of a house not far from the alley where they were standing.
But even though the noise was horrible, it wasn't enough to hide the voice of the second demon who had spoken recently.
《Hm ? "Satoko"...?》He began, as Nezuko and Kazumi turned completely towards him, while Tanjiro preferred to stay behind to protect them from the demon in their backs.《You know, I don't know the name of my meals... Who are you talking about ?》He said, moving his fingers up to his jacket.
He then slowly opened the fabric, to which the young man reacted with a horrified look.
The first thing he could notice was a red ribbon, taking up most of the space inside his jacket.
But this accessory had captured his attention all the more since it was identical to the ribbon his beloved usually wore in her hair.
《You know...》
《If an accessory that belonged to her is here;》
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Kazumi's face slowly decomposed.
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《Then I already devoured her.》
As the demon chuckled alone, tears rolled slowly down the young man's cheeks, in silence.
While the three demons plunged back into the ground, Nezuko remembered the scene that had just occurred in her head.
"I already devoured her" ?...
He said it as simply as that...?
Do this demon had no soul ? No heart ?!
Even if he had indeed devoured her, couldn't he find a way to announce it more appropriately ?! At least only by not scampering away like a coward afterwards ? Or by not sneering like he did ??
He had to treat not only Satoko, but also Kazumi as less than nothing, insignificant beings with feelings that weren't even worth taking into account !? Didn't he know what it was like to lose someone ?
Nezuko understood the demons who regretted their actions, and had pity for them. On the other hand, she couldn't stand those who had no remorse in hurting or killing people.
If these demons didn't show a single ounce of humanity to their victims, then she would do the same to them.
'You little...'
As she firmly squeezed the white hilt of her sword and clenched her teeth in anger, the black, circle-shaped portal appeared to her left in the middle of nowhere. (This demon could therefore even appear in the air...)
The demon's arm then came to attack her, but as soon as the creature thought it had hit the girl, the latter began to dodge his attack with a backward jump, while rotating to turn her back on the demon.
As the monster's arm was now stretched out into the void, Nezuko; still in the air, turned to her opponent with her sword outstretched in her hands, then quickly sliced off the demon's limb.
'Failed again..!!!' The girl grimaced. She would have preferred to cut off his neck, that's a fact.
The creature let out a painful growl. Although he could regenerate afterwards, his demon nature didn't prevent him from feeling the pain; even if it was a little less important than it would have been on a human.
He then took refuge again in the ground, which left the pink-eyed brunette once again alone.
But as she was about to land on her feet, another demon appeared next to her on the wall to her right.
'Dang it--!!' She told herself, as she observed the demon out of the corner of her eye. 'I got too close to the wall...'
She still found a way to narrowly avoid it by using the support she had on the ground with one foot to pivot in order to place herself to the left of the demon.
He then plunged head first into the ground through his portal while Nezuko landed a little awkwardly on the ground.
But no sooner had she put her feet back on earth than another demon was about to attack her behind her back.
The rapid flow of events made that she didn't notice the third demon for a while; a long moment. Two or three seconds no more, and it was more than enough so that she had no way of dodging it. Especially since her current position gave her no means of defense or evasion since she had not prepared for a demon to attack her so quickly.
Having no way out, she watched for a long time the claws of the demon move straight into her eye, helpless.
It was the end.
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BOOM !
At the last moment, something smashed the demon's head to the ground; therefore training his body and his arm in his fall so that it doesn't hurt the young girl.
As soon as she turned around, she saw a green, black-checked haori floating in the air, as well as the accompanying figure standing right in front of her.
Seeing this, the young girl could only exclaim.
《--Big Brother !!》She said, surprised at the sight of the teenager right in front of her eyes.
Indeed, as soon as he noticed that the young girl was in a dead end, the redhead hastened to protect her by leaping up behind her back and then crushing the demon's head when he landed.
Of course, the crushed demon wasted no more time before retreating through its portal circle which also threatened to suck the red-eyed boy's feet.
Tanjiro therefore jumped backwards, while keeping a protective arm in front of his sister.
But as soon as the two Kamados saw that the demon had finally run away, the younger one started showing signs of concern towards her eldest.
《...Are you okay, Big Brother...? Did you hurt yourself ??》She asked placing a hand on her brother's arm.
With that, the young boy flinched a little at the touch before slowly turning back to her, a little more relaxed than before now that he couldn't smell the demon on the surface.
But luckily he didn't look hurt.
Faced with this, Nezuko relaxed in turn, a soft smile drawing on her face before she spoke again, more serene.
《Thank you for protecting me...》She said, before continuing.《I don't know what I could have done without you...!!》
After these words, the redhead smiled weakly behind his bamboo. Even though he had decided to trust her a little more than before with her fighting skills, he had actually done well to protect his sister at this point in the end.
But a few yards away stood one of the three demons, who had silently resurfaced as one of his clones was still recovering from the injury Tanjiro had inflicted on him.
《Huh ? So like that, you were a demon from the start, kid ?》He began, as the two siblings turned to him.《What is a demon doing with a human...? A demon slayer, for that matter !》
As if to confirm the demon's claims, Tanjiro immediately went into defensive mode in front of his younger sister, ready to protect her from any attacks from the opposite demon.
Quickly, Nezuko did the same in the other direction, calling Kazumi to stand between them so that he was protected from all sides.
As always, the demon disappeared again for a few moments, leaving the three friends alone to wait patiently for his next attack.
And when it finally arrived, it was from behind Nezuko that the creature emerged from the ground, surely wanting to get it over with her as quickly as possible so that he could concentrate on his meal.
Immediately, the young girl narrowly dodged him by shifting a few steps back while turning around in the action, as Tanjiro pulled the young man towards him so that he didn't get hurt.
But as the demon fled into the ground again, the brunette paid a little more attention to the circle at her feet :
It wasn't disappearing. On the contrary, it grew a little bigger with each passing second, as if urging her to rush inside.
'The demons must be inside right now…' She thought, frowning. 'If I want to beat them, I must probably go in too to defeat them...'
'But...'
Nezuko stared at the circle for a few more seconds, thinking about what to do until a moving shadow in front of her made her lift her head.
Indeed, with the help of another portal, one of the three demons had resurfaced by throwing himself on her brother to assail him.
But as she was about to panic, the young teenager dodged the attack again, eventually putting himself in front of Kazumi so that he could defend him more easily.
However, once the blue-haired creature had landed on the ground, he preferred to stay on the surface, facing the redhead, no longer using his circle-shaped portals that helped him to disappear.
This time he was going to fight seriously, and his opponent had to be Tanjiro.
The young girl lowered her eyes a little, hesitating as to which choice to make.
'By going inside, I should leave Big Brother to fend for himself once again...'
It's not that she didn't trust her brother, on the contrary... but she worried about him.
He who had managed everything on his own for years, he who was used to put everything on his shoulders, she didn't want him to suffer like that anymore.
She made the decision to protect him now that she was able to fight, so that he not only didn't have to worry about her or his security too much, but also because she just wanted her brother to be safe and sound. He was certainly older than her and a demon above all, but he couldn't fight as well as she did, and she didn't want him to suffer in any way.
So... now, asking him to fight the demon on his own while ensuring the safety of Kazumi as well as the unconscious teenager in the young man's arms while she made the promise to him that very day that she was going to protect him at all costs...
'No... I can't...'
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《Hm-hmph !》
A muffled growl from her older brother suddenly brought her back to reality.
When she saw him again, his face looked confident; quite the opposite of what she was right now.
Indeed, the boy caught the scent of hesitation emanating from his little sister. If he could think that she was reluctant to enter the portal out of fear, he obviously wouldn't have encouraged her to enter; as he already didn't like the idea to start. They might very well find another way to take these demons down after all.
But it wasn't. He could smell fear, but not the fear like when she was afraid. More like fear mixed with guilt, just like she didn't dare to ask for something.
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Ah yes. Since he became a demon, his sense of smell also enhanced so that he could also recognize different emotions in people.
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But even by not relying to the scents only, he could tell by the teenager's face that she wasn't scared to death, but rather hesitant. Besides, he knew Nezuko, he was her big brother after all. It wasn't difficult for him to understand her.
So, even if he was scared for her, even if he didn't want deep down for her to enter this portal, he told himself that he had to give her a chance and that if he felt that something was wrong, he could always come to help her.
As soon as the brunette looked at him completely, Tanjiro softened his gaze before gently nodding his head.
Nezuko stared at him for a moment, surprised at his reaction.
Did he understand ? Did he really understand her intentions ?
'Are you sure...?' These words crossed the mind of the slayer, still a little hesitant.
But the question never came out of her lips. The so confident face of her brother had the gift of reassuring her in her choices, so she only nodded in return, seeming more sure of herself.
Following this, the young girl walked towards the circle before first of all inserting only one foot in it in order to observe what was happening :
It was a bit like quicksand, but more fluid and sucking up the bodies that infiltrated inside a little faster.
Quickly, she placed her other foot and her whole body there to penetrate the ground.
'I'll be quick...' She thought to herself, glancing at her older brother in front of her, who was now focused on his upcoming fight with the demon. 'I promise you, Big Brother...!'
'In the meantime, hold on...'
[...]
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Water.
That was what surrounded her right now.
Well, she assumed it was.
The rather slow speed with which she was starting to enter it didn't quite match when she was finally there :
It was as if all of a sudden, after being slowly sucked into the black hole, she was suddenly released into a large, deep basin filled with water.
Yet if she looked above her, the surface of that water seemed to match the surface of the ground. So there weren't three layers like the ground, an empty space, then water; but only the soil and the water just below.
As she slowly opened her eyes, the brunette took a moment to observe her new surroundings a little more carefully :
The water was greenish. Quite strange, since it didn't look that dirty. The expanse of this fluid also seemed endless, having no ends.
But the detail that intrigued her the most were the various bits of fabric here and there floating in the liquid.
'Those clothes…' She thought, as she stared sadly at one above her head. 'Could it be that they belonged to the girls who were abducted...?'
While looking at them, she could imagine what the victims of these three demons experienced. She could imagine the lives they could have, so that suddenly everything came to a halt overnight.
She could imagine the shock, the incomprehension and the fear they might have felt when the demons took them with them. All this while being young, so young... Some of them could have even be of her age, even younger, who knows.
'All... they all have been...'
Slowly, the sadness on her face turned to anger as she lowered her gaze to the actually nonexistent bottom of the swamp.
But as she clenched her fists on the hilt of her saber and bit her lip in frustration, the two remaining demons watched her from afar behind her back, smiling mischievously.
《So kid, having trouble breathing already ?》The first asked, making her lift her head slightly.《There is hardly any air in this swamp. Besides, the darkness of the place must weigh a lot on your body, right ?》
The latter let out a sadistic laugh while the other spoke in turn.
《You can't move as easily as you could on the surface anymore !!》He said grinding his teeth.《It serves you right ! You better watch before you ventured into the swamp without thinking, you dumbass !》
Suddenly, the two creatures rushed towards the teenager, then starting to turn around her, crossing each other like sharks would with their prey.
But watching them move around her, Nezuko simply frowned as she stood ready to defend herself.
'No... you're wrong...' She told them indirectly.
'The air was much rarer in Mount Sagiri. I'm used to these kinds of obstacles, so a situation like this doesn't hamper me at all. And...'
She tightened the hilt of her saber a little more.
'The breath that I master is the water one after all..! If I find myself in an environment where this element is present, I can only be to my advantage !' She thought, as she raised her sword. 'Especially since some forms of this breath are more effective in this kind of situation than they would be in normal circumstances...'
The young girl then prepared to defend herself from one of the demons which was rushing straight at her.
But barely had she time to begin her total concentration that he dodged before she even had time to do anything. He then began to move at high speed in a zigzag with his double.
'H-he--' She told herself, stunned as she watched the demons move away from her. '... I-incredible... they are so fast...'
Nezuko then turned completely in front of the demons : They were still far in front of her, and only moved away always a little more with each passing moment.
However, this didn't deter the slayer.
'But it will be fine...' She said to herself. 'They'll end up attacking me after a while... This is when I'll have to crack down; when they will be close enough to me.'
Without wasting a second, the young girl raised her sword above her right shoulder, while turning her torso to the same side as her legs remained still, only content to bend slightly as if they had a support :
'I have to stretch my body as much as possible, so that when I release it, my attack will be all the more powerful…' She thought. 'The sudden untwisting of my torso as well as that of my legs will be able to infuse enough power into the movement of my blade to defeat them...'
'And now...'
She narrowed her eyes, trying to concentrate as much as possible.
'I have to wait for the right moment...'
Moving on earth can be very discreet if you want to. You just have to walk on tiptoe, control your breathing and stand at a good enough distance from the one you don't want to attract attention to be completely unnoticed.
On the other hand, in water or any liquid, it was another matter...
The movements made cause vibrations; small waves, more or less visible according to the speed or the force implanted in the movements. It's therefore easier to know the position of an individual in such a situation if one is particularly attentive.
Here, the demons moved quickly, and thus created kinds of water trails clearly visible behind their passages; especially since their movement caused strong vibrations that the slayer could easily feel. Plus, she could still hear the sounds their movements made.
If she concentrated enough, she could easily deduce from where and when they will attack her by simply analyzing the different vibrations of the water around her.
'Focus... focus...' She repeated to herself, in her mind. 'Analyze your environment well...'
'Wait for the right moment...'
Suddenly, she felt that her opponents had stopped in their tracks high above her head.
'..Get ready...!' She mentally said, frowning.
The two creatures then began to throw themselves on her, side by side following the same direction as the other.
.'Total Concentration : Water breathing; Sixth form...'
As the two demons were about to attack her, the girl in the pink haori turned quickly towards them, thus unfolding her arm, her chest and her legs which she then forced to turn to the left.
The movement of her body was so fast and powerful that it generated such strength to her sword that a vortex of water was created, at the same time engulfing the two demons when her blade had already sliced their necks.
'Whirlpool !'
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The remains of the blue haired demons' heads creaked in pain before evaporating to ashes, like all demons when they die.
With that, Nezuko let out a small sigh of relief, slowly relaxing her body as she realized she was finally done with those two.
'This is it...' She told herself, looking down slightly to her feet. 'I once again... killed demons...'
The brunette gently lifted her slightly shaking hand towards her, staring at it for a moment before closing it a bit.
'I hope that from up there, they got aware of their actions and are sorry, now... At least they won't hurt anyone anymore...'
Suddenly, a piece of cloth floated under her eyes; probably a piece of clothing from one of the demons torn from her attack earlier.
Curious, the young girl looked at it for a moment with round eyes, then finally reached out her hand to catch it.
But her face was only startled before twisting into a sadder expression at the sight of what it was.
Indeed, the dark fabric hid a few accessories belonging to several different girls who had already been kidnapped, one of which in particular caught her attention : A big red ribbon tied in a bow tie, appearing to be a hair accessory and taking the majority of the place on the end of the garment.
'This ribboon...' She thought, staring at the object for a long time. '..It's the one that belonged to...'
But as she was still lost in thought, a painful sensation in her lungs made her suddenly widen her eyes in surprise.
The teen instinctively put a hand to her chest, stifling a small moan as she immediately closed her eyes : She was lacking air.
'O-ouch... I've been here for too long...' She said to herself, as she slowly curled up on herself. 'I-I need some air...'
As she reopened her eyes, the brunette stared again at the surface of the water above her head, appearing to be thousands of miles away.
But she swam the best she could to that point anyway, never letting her piece of cloth in her hand and her sword in the other.
'I need to get to the surface quickly...' She told herself, as she moved her legs to swim forward. 'Big Brother...'
'I hope you're doing fine...'
[...]
Meanwhile, Kazumi stared sadly at the black circle still drawn on the floor.
'It's been a while...' He said to himself, worried. 'I hope it's going well for her...'
The young man then looked away from the portal to focus instead on the fight that was taking place in front of him.
Two demons... Two demons were fighting against each other in front of his eyes. One for the purpose of attacking him later in order to capture the girl in his arms, the other to defend and protect him.
Gosh...
If he'd been told earlier today that a supposedly evil creature would come to his defense that night, he wouldn't have believed it.
The grinding-toothed demon therefore fought against Tanjiro, assaulting him from all sides with, mainly, punches or scratches.
But luckily, the youngest managed to dodge everything, without exception.
As the creature tried to attack him again, the boy dodged it a new time; with now, the intention to counterattack :
When the demon wanted to give him another claw, Tanjiro began to leap into the air in order to be at the same height as his opponent.
The demon didn't even have time to question himself when he felt a sharp pain go through his head.
BOOM !
Indeed, the redhead had given him a harsh head butt; which was no small feat given the hardness of his forehead almost as tough as a rock.
The demon let out a groan as blood now flowed from his nose from the shock.
'This kid...' He said in his thoughts.
But the teenager wasn't done with him :
He then turned his body in the air to kick it; which the demon avoided very narrowly, but continued with another in the other direction which touched it this time successfully, and followed with another in the stomach which made it recoil.
Luckily for him, the supernatural being landed without too much difficulty far from the redhead, giving him time to resonate on the capacities of the muzzled demon.
'His attacks are pretty basic... He must have been transformed not long ago, since he hasn't learned any fighting skills yet...' He thought, as he half lifted the head towards the concerned one who was glaring at him. 'But damn, he's so fucking strong...!!'
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'He must have received a lot of blood and eaten so many humans... a lot more than me...!!'
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'Crap..!! He pisses me off !!!'
He grumbled, as he prepared to create a portal in which to escape at least temporarily.
But Tanjiro quickly understood his intentions, and in no way wanted to give him time to flee or let him go after his sister who already had two to deal with.
Without further ado, he rushed straight ahead before attacking him with a kick from the left; that the monster ended up dodging all the same, unlike the second from the right.
'And he's fast too...' He noticed, his teeth clenched in frustration. 'He doesn't give me a single second to run away...'
But as the burgundy haired demon punched him again this time around, the blue haired one now dodged most of his attacks without too much trouble.
'But hey...' He told himself as he dodged another attack from the young man in the stomach and was about to give him a scratch. 'I'm starting to get used to his mundane, repetitive little attacks...'
The teen successfully dodged his attack, which allowed him to attack him again with a powerful punch in his throat.
But even though he groaned again in pain, his mind still didn't hold the young Kamado in very high regard.
'You can always try, kid...' He scoffed. 'You can always try to hurt me, scratch me, kick me, break my bones or even make my organs explode...'
'But remember that I'm a demon too...'
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As he thought about those words, he was about to attack the boy in the checkered haori.
'Us, we regenerate in a flash !'
Immediately, Tanjiro tried to counter-attack his opponent by punching the demon in the neck, but the demon protected himself by placing his hand right where he had hit him.
He then continued down this path, rushing at the boy, sharp claws and a sadistic smile on his lips as he aimed at his forehead with his free hand :
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SCRATCH !
Finally, after a long fight spent dodging his attacks, taking his blows or counterattacking in vain, the blue-haired creature finally had managed to injure the redhead for the first time.
The claw given by the demon left him three thin bleeding gashes on the right side of his forehead.
The boy's face tightened in pain as his voice let out a slight moan under Kazumi's panicked gaze and his opponent's triumphant smile.
'Perfect...' The second demon told himself, chuckling at the teenager's defeat. 'Now, it's my turn to let off steam...!!'
As Tanjiro instinctively brought one of his hands back to his wound, the other demon prepared to attack him once again, arm outstretched to the face of the younger as he threw himself on him, ready to attack him with more strength this time.
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'I'M GONNA DRILL A HOLE RIGHT THROUGH YOUR FACE !'
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SLASH !
But as his claws were about to go right into the boy's eye, a sharp pain ran through his arm.
Just as if something had cut him off...
Indeed, a black blade had severed his member at the elbow, preventing him from further attacking the young Kamado.
As he narrowed his eyes in pain, the demon could still glimpse out of the corner of his eye the silhouette of a person wearing a pink haori with long dark hair tied in a ponytail.
'Y-you...' He thought, not really finishing the sentence even in his mind because of the pain caused by the slayer's sword.
Nezuko, who had finally managed to climb to the surface of the portal, immediately threw herself at him as soon as she saw her brother injured and in bad shape.
As the creature continued to groan, the girl didn't take her eyes filled with rage off him, as she spoke these words in an ironically calm tone :
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《Don't touch to my brother.》
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With that, the demon slayer severed his second arm so that he was unable to attempt anything else against them.
The demon stumbled to the ground, using the wall behind him as a support for his back, helpless.
'Shit...' He complained, as he glared at the teenager. 'She managed to kill my clones... I underestimated that little bitch !!'
Nezuko then aimed her sword at him, still keeping some distance because she was still wary of him. She was also careful to maintain her place in front of her older brother in order to defend him in case of danger and to make sure that he didn't step forward more than that.
Meanwhile, on his side, Tanjiro was just looking at his younger sister in silence, amazed that she was standing there in front of him, protecting him.
《Tell me... Those props in the swamp... they belonged to your victims, right...?》Nezuko began softly, before her anger became a little more audible in her voice as her face fell scowled.《How many... how many people have you killed...?!》
Faced with this, the demon got angry too, clenching his teeth in anger before yelling at her.
《Damn it-- I ALREADY TOLD YOU !!!》He yelled.《YOU WOMEN, BECOME UGLY, WRINKLED, ROT ONCE YOU GET AT A CERTAIN AGE ! WE MUST THEREFORE KILL YOU BEFORE YOU EXPIRE YOURSELVES ! THAT'S RATHER LOGICAL, NO ?》
Tanjiro's face darkened at the words of the demonic being, anger slowly rising in his mind as his younger sister simply stood still, without a word.
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《THANKS TO US, YOU'RE NO LONGER CONDEMNED TO LIVE A PITIFUL EXISTENCE PLUGGED IN LONELINESS BECAUSE OF YOUR UGLINESS ! THAT'S A GOOD THING NO ?? YOU SHOULD RATHER THANK-》
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SLASH
Before he could even finish his sentence, the dark haired girl sliced off his mouth with her sword, preventing him from continuing his words.
《...That's enough...》She began, irritably.《... Tell me instead what you know about this demon...》
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《Muzan Kibutsuji...》
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Faced with this, the demon stiffened immediately.
The mere fact of having heard the name of the individual had made him step back little by little from the two Kamados, seeming frightened, even terrified.
《... N-no...》He whispered in a barely audible voice, before repeating the same thing louder and louder.《N-no... no... no, no ! No !!》
Nezuko looked at him, puzzled.
《C-calm... calm down...》She told him, still suspicious but still with a little more softness in her voice than before.《What's wrong...? What's happening ??》
But the demon continued to grit his teeth, repeating the same words over and over again.
《N-no !! No ! No ! No ! No !!! I-I can't !! I-I CAN'T !!!》
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"Never tell anyone about me."
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Memories came back to his mind.
A man, dressed rather elegantly with curly black hair, held him by the neck as he threatened him.
He then placed a finger in front of his mouth before resuming.
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"If you disobey, I will know it.
I will see it."
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"Remember. I see and hear everything.
I am aware of all your every move, at each moment of your life."
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《N-no...!! N-no !!!》
As the demon stirred more and more, the girl decided to clarify her request.
《Listen... I just need some information. S-so-- just tell me what you know, or at least, a part of it...》She said.《... if you really don't want to tell me anything about him, could you at least tell me if you know something about an antidote... allowing a demon to become human again...?》
But the creature didn't even seem to listen to her anymore and kept wriggling over and over again.
《I-I can't !! I can't !! I CAN'T !!!》
Suddenly, his severed arms pushed back, allowing him to pounce on the slayer and her brother in order to attack them once more.
But before he could hurt her, the girl with the pink haori pulled herself out of the way while pushing her brother behind her so he wasn't going to get hurt either.
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SLASH !
Immediately after this, the neck as well as the arms of the demonic being were cut off with the young girl's sword, subsequently reducing to ashes flying in the air.
Nezuko stared at the demon's remains at first in slight confusion after the swiftness of the scene, until her expression grew sadder.
This demon...
Of course, she resented him for killing innocent people. Of course she found it horrible, unforgivable. Especially since this demon didn't seem to have any remorse, no sad past that could perhaps justify even a small part of his actions, nothing...
And yet...
When she said the name of the demon she was looking for, when he heard those syllables coming out of her mouth...
He seemed so... terrified...
As if he had experienced something horrible related to this demon. As if he had traumatized him, in a way...
And just for that...
That single reason was enough for the young girl to have at least even a minimum of empathy for him.
Just for that...
Her anger towards this demon "Muzan Kibutsuji" had increased immeasurably.
Nezuko lowered her gaze to the floor for a moment, trying to sort through her emotions until worry hit her.
《--Big Brother !!》She exclaimed, before turning hastily towards her elder one behind her back.
《Is everything alri-》
But the redhead's hand, which had recently been placed in her hair, stopped her.
As she looked at him in surprise, Tanjiro gently stroked her head, his gaze filled with emotion as he smiled tenderly at her.
'I see...' He thought, continuing to stroke her dark hair. 'You've really changed since then, haven't you...?'
Little by little, Nezuko calmed down.
'... you're no longer the fragile little girl that you were a few years ago... well, maybe not totally... After all, you're still only human... But when I see how much you've improved...'
He knew it... he knew it, that his sister had grown stronger. She had trained for two years after all, and survived dozens of demons for seven days without his help.
Yet... yet he couldn't help but fear for her. Maybe a little too much, sometimes...
And it sure wasn't going to end anytime soon. He would continue to worry about her over and over again and to help her when he felt she was in danger.
But... after seeing her fight, now that he saw her with his own eyes...
He had really been able to see all the progress she had made.
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'You worked so hard to get there...'
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'I'm so proud of you, Nezuko...'
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Even though she couldn't hear what he was thinking, his gaze spoke volumes.
Nezuko smiled tenderly back at him, waiting for the redhead to remove his hand so that she could start talking to him again.
《I'm glad you're okay, Big Brother...》She said, smiling.《By the way... How's your wound...? Does it still hurt you ?》
Tanjiro shook his head slightly in response, mimicking a small "no" to her last question.
Besides, it seems that his scratch has already closed, although the blood having already come out of the wound was still flowing.
With that, the young girl let out a slight sigh of relief before smiling more greatly at him.
《So much the better then...!》She said to him, before flinching.《Ah !! I almost forgot...》
The brunette suddenly began to rummage inside her haori, to get out a small onigiri.
《Here !》She said, all smiles as she handed the snack to her brother.《You must be hungry right now, right..?》
The redhead nodded sheepishly, then took the rice ball in his hands, thanking her with a small nod.
But as the two siblings spent a little quiet moment between them, Nezuko heard a small voice coming from behind her.
《W-what was... that...?》He asked, his voice faltering.
The girl turned to Kazumi, who had already put the teenager he was holding moments earlier in his arms on the ground, sitting against the fence.
《H-hey... those "demons"... o-or whatever it was...》He continued.《 T-they were lying... right...? S-satoko... She's not...》
The demon slayer looked at him sadly, feeling both guilty and in sorrow about the situation the young man was going through.
Not only had she had a similar experience, but she also promised him that she would bring his lover back to him.
She promised him...
She felt so ashamed. She had given him false hopes without even being sure herself if she was going to achieve it.
The girl slowly lowered her eyes to the ground, speaking in a hushed voice.
《I am sorry, mister Kazumi...》
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With this, Kazumi looked at her in dread, his gaze gradually becoming empty of any glimmer of hope.
While the three of them stood there in silence, Nezuko suddenly noticed that the ground had cleared.
She then raised her head, and saw a certain light in the sky :
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The sun was about to rise.
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《Ah- Q-quick, Big Brother...!》She said, taking his hand to lead him towards a corner of the street that the light had not yet reached.
She then removed the box from her back to place it in front of Tanjiro, who had already returned to his child form by then.
《That's it, you can go in...》She continued.
But the redhead didn't enter right away. Instead, he moaned again, looking at her both in a hesitant and concerned air, seeming worried about something.
The younger looked at him confusedly at first, but eventually understood what was bothering her older brother.
《Hm-hm.》She mimed a "no", shaking her head, before smiling gently at him.《Don't worry, I'll take care of Mister Kazumi. You can enter with peace of mind, I'll take care of everything.》
The little demon looked down for a moment, thinking a little before sighing lightly in abandonment.
He had to trust her more. She had proven to him that she could handle most of her problems on her own now.
Defeated, the boy slowly returned to his box under the benevolent gaze of his sister who then closed the door behind him.
After getting up, she turned to Kazumi, but noticed that he was no longer on his feet.
Indeed, the young man no longer had the strength to stand up after everything that had happened, and had fallen to his knees on the ground, looking downcast.
'Mister Kazumi...'
Slowly, she walked over to the brown-eyed man before crouching down in front of him.
《Mister...》She began in a hushed voice, while putting one of her hands on his shoulder.《Will it be okay...?》
But without her even being able to continue, the older man's face turned into an enraged expression.
Suddenly, he firmly took one edge of her hemp leaf patterned haori and pulled it towards him; which wasn't enough to move the teenager forward or to hurt her, but just some sort of way to vent his frustration.
Kazumi then looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears that he let flow freely this time before beginning his tirade.
《"Will it be okay"...?! "Will it be okay" ?!! You're asking me if it will be okay after losing the one I loved ?!!》He got angry, his voice cracking as he spoke.《You told me you would find her !!! You promised me !!!!》
Nezuko looked at him painfully, before speaking again.
《I-I... I'm so sorry, mister Kazumi... if I hadn't promised you this, you might have been less affected by--》
《"Less affected" ?!! YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS AFFECTED BY SATOKO'S DEATH IF YOU HADN'T PROMISED ME ANYTHING ?!! ARE YOU EVEN AWARE OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ?!!》
《A-ah !! F-forgive me !!! I-I-- I didn't mean it like that...》She apologized, while he was still glaring at her.《... it was totally inappropriate of me... I am sincerely sorry...》
《You're sorry... You've been repeating this for a long time, but what does that change...?! It won't bring Satoko back, anyway !!》
Nezuko lowered her gaze for a moment.
《Yes... I know... you are right, mister Kazumi...》She said, softly.《But, before I leave, I wanted to give you some advice...》
《It's hard to lose someone you love... I understand you... But you mustn't let yourself down...》
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With that, the young man tightened his grip on her haori.
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《Of course, I'm not asking you to forget Satoko... but--》
《WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE EXACTLY ?!》
Kazumi screamed, a scream filled with so much despair, sadness and rage that she felt compelled to hold her tongue.
.《YOU'RE JUST A CHILD !!! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE YOU CARED ABOUT ! AND YOU'RE ALLOWING YOURSELF TO GIVE ME ADVICE ??? YOU ??!!》
The girl widened her eyes, before lowering them.
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《ARE YOU AWARE OF--》
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However, he stopped at the sight of the teenage girl.
This time, she didn't apologize for making him angry. But just put a hand on his, looking at him sadly despite the sweet smile on her lips.
《Mister Kazumi...》She started, on a soft tone.
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《I know it's hard to lose someone dear to us. I know it's extremely painful, I understand you.
But even if it hurts, even if you think that everything is over, you must continue to live and move forward...
And for this, you will meet wonderful persons who will support you, help you to overcome this step of your life and will know how to revive the happiness that is in you...
Maybe you even know them already...?》
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《... The important thing is that you must stay optimistic, as much as possible. Open your eyes instead of closing them because of this incident...
...because I think Satoko is all the more delighted when she sees you happy.》
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Agape, Kazumi just looked at her. Still crying, but yet much calmer; his anger having subsided.
She was speaking to him with such sincerity in her voice... it wasn't just a speech she was reciting just to cheer him up, it wasn't simple words she was throwing to his face with no real emotions behind...
Following this, Nezuko rummaged through her haori again with her free hand, to pull out a piece of dark clothing folded in half.
《Here, take it.》She said, smiling as she handed him the fabric.
The young man stared at the piece of cloth under his eyes for a moment, hesitating.
But as he went to take it in his hands, he realized he was still holding the teenager's jacket.
《A-ah !! I-I...》He started, stammering as he quickly released his hold on the pink haori. But he didn't finish his sentence, too busy coming back to his senses.
He looked again at the piece after a few seconds, then slowly brought his hands up to take it.
Once in his hands, the brunette spoke again.
《I found it while I was in the portal...》She continued, as he listened to her.《And I thought that, maybe it contained an item that belonged to Satoko... So, I wanted to bring it back to you, hoping that you can find a memory of her there.》
Lowering his eyes to his hands again, the brown-eyed man shakily opened the piece of cloth, somewhat apprehending its contents.
But at the sight of it, he just widened his eyes.
Among all the objects present on the garment, only one catches his attention : The ribbon.
This red ribbon that his girlfriend wore almost all the time...
He had it again, there, in his hands.
Kazumi couldn't help but burst into tears again, his body sagging on the piece of cloth he clutched in his hands like the most precious thing he had.
Nezuko smiled even more tenderly at the young man; although he couldn't see her anymore, then gently put a hand on his shoulder in support before getting up.
《I have to go now, mister Kazumi.》She told him, kindly.《Take good care of yourself, and above all, don't forget what I told you.》
The young girl then began to walk straight forward, passing by Kazumi who was still crying.
But during his tears, Kazumi thought about the slayer again.
Of course, he had been deeply touched by the words she had told him earlier, and he felt that those were sincere...
But there weren't just that... and he realized it only now.
When she put her hand on his when he held her by her jacket... he could have felt the roughness of her damaged palms again... He had the same sensation when she took his hands for the first time, the same evening when she had dragged him into her race behind her brother.
The memory of this scene brought to his mind another memory of the young girl :
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"This is my big brother, Tanjiro. He's also a demon... But he does no harm to humans... You can believe me."
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When she told him these sentences...
He had noticed her smile... her sweet smile that he had seen a few moments earlier, both filled with affection but also...
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An incredibly sad smile.
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Suddenly, his eyes widened.
Immediately, Kazumi turned back as quickly as he could.
《O-oh-- I-I'M SORRY !!! I-I'M... I'M SO SORRY !!》He shouted, as the teenager turned to him, already far from the young man as she bathed in the light of the rising sun.《I TOLD YOU SUCH HORRIBLE THINGS !!! YOU ALREADY EXPERIENCED THIS SORT OF THINGS, DIDN'T YOU ? OH I-I... I BLAME MYSELF- I BLAME MYSELF TERRIBLY !!》
As he continued to apologize, Nezuko turned completely to the man in the blue kimono, a smile on her lips again, but no longer a sad smile...
A real smile. All the more authentic and radiant.
She then raised one of her hands in the air to wave it, as a sign of greeting, then raised the other to her face to carry her voice.
《It's alright, mister !!》She told him.《I assure you that everything is forgiven !》
The man still looked at her in tears, surprised that she forgave him so easily and quickly after all the horrors he had told her.
But before he could say anything, the girl spoke again.
《By the way ! Could you take care of this girl ?》She continued, pointing to the girl in the green kimono, still sitting against the wall.《She still seems unconscious, so if you could watch over her until she wakes up before bringing her back to her home ?》
《Yes !!》The young man nodded quickly.《I-I will !! I promise !!!》
With that, the young girl smiled even more at him.
《Thank you so much, mister Kazumi !》
And so, the two individuals parted after a final wave of the hand.
It was a great meeting that Nezuko had that day. Kazumi would surely remember her and her brother for quite a while... Maybe they could see each other again when she'll have cured Tanjiro ?
Well, for now, she had other things to do.
As she was on her way out of town, already far from the alley where she was with the young man she had just met, the young slayer had resumed a conversation with her older brother, who had started it from calling her again with a little "Hm-hm".
《What is it, Big Brother ?》She asked him, although at the sound of his voice, the boy didn't seem to have any problems and just wanted to strike up a conversation.
But after a few seconds, she tried to guess what he was trying to tell her.
《Ah ! You want to talk about mister Kazumi ?》
《Mh-hm.》He nodded.
Nezuko slightly laughed.
《That's right... you were worried for him, weren't you ?》She told him softly, before continuing.《Well, I think he's feeling better ! I'm glad I was able to help him... Oh, but, when I think about it... you must have smelled he was fine and overheard our conversation, right ?》
With that, Tanjiro nodded again, sheepishly.
Yes, he had indeed smelled that Kazumi was fine and he had heard their conversation, but he wanted to know how his sister felt after that, and especially to congratulate her as best he could for taking care of him alone...
《Ah !!! You're not mad at him after what he told me, are you ?!》Nezuko suddenly panicked.《Oh no... don't blame him, Big Brother !! He didn't mean what he said and acted out of anger, it's not his fault...》
But contrary to what she expected, the redhead simply laughed in response.
Of course, he resented the young man for attacking her; both verbally and physically (so to speak) when he took a piece of her haori and pulled it.
But even though he had been pissed off at first, he also understood the predicament Kazumi was in, and found it a bit difficult to be fully angry with him.
Especially since after the man's apologies which were really sincere, he had no reason to blame him anymore.
Faced with this, the teenage-girl relaxed, starting to smile again.
《You're not angry, then...?》She asked him, without really waiting for an answer from him before continuing with a sigh of relief.《Phew... so much the better, then...!》
A few seconds had passed since a little silence had settled between the two siblings, before the younger one broke it.
《Hey, Big Brother...》She began.《Has mister Urokodaki ever told you about the demon that transformed you...?》
The little demon nodded, allowing Nezuko to continue.
《Today, I realized something...》She continued.《Not only does he hurt humans like he did with you and our family... but I have the impression that he's doing the same with demons...》
Tanjiro frowned as his sister tightened the straps of the box.
《Despicable...》She whispered, as if she wanted to keep her words to herself before raising her voice.《What a despicable being...!! He must have made so many people suffer, not only our family... All these people... all these people from whom he stole their humanity or their life...》
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《This is unforgivable...! I will never forgive him, I could never forgive this man !》
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《CAW CAW !》
A crow's croak interrupted them.
Indeed, now that her first mission was completed, the crow of the young slayer had joined them.
《NEXT MISSION ! NEXT MISSION !》He exclaimed, circling in the air.
《Eh-- already ?!》She stammered, as the crow came to perch on her shoulder.
《Yes, already ! Caw caw !》He continued, as the girl listened.《Next mission ! Direction Asakusa district, in Tokyo ! There are rumors that a demon is hiding there ! Find him and kill him, Nezuko Kamado !》
《W-wait a second... I haven't slept for a whole day...》
《CAW ! I don't care ! I don't care !! CAW !》
《E-eh ?!!》She exclaimed.
'T-that wasn't very kind...'
However, she kept her comment to herself and simply spoke again with a slight sigh.
《W-well... I have no other choice after all...!》She said, smiling sadly.
《Indeed ! You have no choice ! You have NO CHOICE !!》The bird said, as he fluttered on her shoulder, flapping his wings.
《U-uaah !! C-calm... calm down !!》
《CAW CAW ! Get started young girl, faster than that !!》
《B-but--》
《No "buts" ! No "buts" !!》
《A-alright !! That's it-- I'm going !!》She cried, starting to walk again.
On his side, Tanjiro who had remained silent since the animal had arrived, still did not express himself even when the brunette had resumed her walk.
Instead, he was just silently pitying his little sister, hoping she could at least get some rest after the crow was gone or when night fell.
Tokyo...
It wasn't really two minutes away from where they were. They certainly weren't going to reach the city that very evening, or even the next morning.
'Well... this is going to be a long journey...'
Author's Notes
- Yeah... at the beginning of the chapter, one of the demon clones had the idea to eat Nezuko =u=
It seemed logical to me, given that the victims of these three demons were only young girls, sixteen years old or less. And since Nezuko is 14, according to them she would soon be "out of date", two years goes by quickly...
- "Then I already devoured her."
Nezuko thinks after this that it was really rude to say it that way. But you're maybe confused about how is it so rude to use the word "devour" x'DD
Well, in all the cases, it's kind of rude to say "I ate your girlfriend but meh, I don't care buddy", but I actually went a bit further than this in my original language x")
For those who didn't know, I first write this fanfiction in French, and then translate it into English. And in French, I didn't use the term "Je l'ai déjà dévorée" (= I already devoured her) nor "Je l'ai déjà mangée" (= I already ate her), but "Je l'ai déjà bouffée" :")
And "bouffer" ("bouffée" at the infinitive form) is a more impolite and/or familiar way to say "manger" (= eat). You can say that while you're with friends or family if they aren't strict about your language, but you will for exemple never say that to your teacher or your boss.
Kazumi isn't the boss or the teacher of the demon, but he's a stranger to which he ate the girlfriend. It therefore makes it quite rude... ('v')"
- Tanjiro's attack is different than Nezuko's in the cannon !
(And I'm so proud to have managed to find a good attack ! QAQ)
Since the young man wasn't in his box (we needed his super-nose in the last chapter and in this one too, sooooo...), he couldn't put his foot in the face of the demon like his little sister...
So instead, he just smashed it to the ground just like if it was a little bug ŌvŌ
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- Shinobu doesn't approve
this sentence. -
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- Ah yes, the demons with the grinding teeth hadn't noticed that the redhead was a demon...
Wait I'll explain-
In the cannon, when they first encountered a demon on Mount Sagiri, although Nezuko was accompanying Tanjiro, the demon didn't notice that Nezuko was a demon and instead mistook her for a human.
More related to this chapter, when Tanjiro fights against the three demons, none of them had felt the presence of another demon or the presence of Nezuko in the box at all.
This is one of the points that I find it hard to understand in KNY's story... demons are supposed to be "stronger" than humans in everything, as much in strength, in speed, in agility, but also in the senses. Imagine a demon who's blind, deaf or even with a bad sense of smell... it would be a little silly when you think about it x'D
So they should normally recognize the scent of a demon, or else see from the claws of Nezuko (cannon) / Tanjiro (fanfic) that it's a demon :0
Nezuko however manages to recognize Yushiro as a demon when she sees him for the first time...
Or maybe it's because Tanjiro / Nezuko never ate any humans ? It's quite possible, after all :0
- "Since he became a demon, his sense of smell also enhanced so that he could recognize different emotions in people."
When Tanjiro was 13 (before the tragedy), I don't think he could recognize people's emotions by their scent. His sense of smell just allowed him to smell material things, things that you can touch like a cat, a house, a person... And he could smell it even if it was very far from him or smell a cat's scent left in its path on a broken vase for example.
After his training, Tanjiro's sense of smell has improved : He can smell a little further away, allows him to fight, but he can also and above all recognize the emotions of the people around him.
In this fanfic, Tanjiro obviously didn't train to be a demon slayer, but simply turned into a demon. As I said earlier, his strength, speed, senses etc are more developed, and therefore, his already superhuman sense of smell at the time is even more powerful, about the same level of when he's a demon slayer.
- When Nezuko fights with demons in the species of swamp, she didn't get used to their scent to detect their positions but rather to the vibrations of the water.
I found that more logical, if you don't count the fact that Nezuko doesn't have any superhuman sense. I hope I was clear enough in this passage- for me, the scenes are clear all the time but I don't know if this is the case for you X"D
(Hence the author's notes !)
- I had to place a head butt somewhere in the demon VS Tanjiro, forgive me...
Anyway, you might have noticed that Tanjiro doesn't just use kicks, but also punches !
(Unbelievable...)
I'm not going to start listing all the slightest differences in actions and dialogues between Nezuko and Tanjiro since it's kind of one of the goals of my fanfic to differentiate Nezuko from Tanjiro and vice versa in an AU like this one, but i still want to lift some stuff uvu
Also, when the demon manages to plant its claws in Tanjiro's forehead, I changed the side of his wound ! :")
From an aesthetic point of view, if I were to draw this scene, I find it wiser for him to injure him on the side opposite to the scar already present on his forehead.
Otherwise it will be injury on injury... yeah :")
- OOF ! I was FINALLY able to write some Muzan's dialogue !
(Yes I'm happy. I found it so exciting to write something the "bad guy" said)
I can't wait to write the next chapter, I already have an idea of what will happen when they meet him !! X,w,X
(Oops- "they"... spoiler ;D)
(Edit : I wrote the next chapter btw-- I'm actually currently writing the 12th hehe)
- I changed a bit the dialogue between Kazumi and Nezuko.
Not by much, it's still the same idea as the cannon, but as I've been saying for 10 chapters, I try to make things in my way so that it corresponds more to the character of Nezuko
While writing this chapter, I myself had just lost someone dear to me- the words Nezuko is saying at that moment really came from the bottom of my heart and is a message I send to all the people in this situation, but also some kind of message I was trying to tell myself too x'D
- Well... I don't really have much to say on this chapter ;-;
Not that I don't like it, on the contrary... it's just that I'm already quite explicit in my words during the narration and even the dialogues of the characters...
I don't have much to explain down here !! x"DD
So I'll take this opportunity to thank again all of you, who are reading my story ! It makes me really happy to see that my ideas are read by people and that they are interested about them ! -
With that, we will part, dear slayers !
See you in the next chapter :D