You ever feel the sense of déja vú from the sight of a person you most seemingly forget? Even if it may seem like it's only a week ago? Everyone probably had one of those moments when they seem like they haven't. Earth thought of it the same.
The boy with a boar's hide for a mask, named Inosuke Hashibira. Anyone could have mistaken him as a demon if it weren't for him holding the Nichirin Blades, most notably wielded among other Demon Slayer swordsmen, unless he stole the swords from somebody else. With his reckless nature, his swords crossed, he stanced at the demon.
"Here goes... Comin'... through!" He lunged at the demon with no plan whatsoever. To ever lunge at the demon is a straightforward tactic for someone as blunt as him.
"Infuriating! Infuriating!" The demon muttered and tapped his tsuzumi. The room flipped again in another rotation, making the place feel like it's upside down. Earth unintentionally let go of Teruko because he lost his balance when the room flipped.
"Teruko! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Earth expressed his great concern to the younger sibling.
"Hold onto the furniture!" Tanjiro recommended before the boar masked boy launched himself off by using Tanjiro as a springboard.
"That one's a demon with supernatural powers! Stop launching those reckless attacks!" Tanjiro attempted to reason with the stubborn boy, yet he didn't listen and continued to laugh.
"You damn insects running amok in my house!" The demon said as he tapped his tsuzumi twice. The room flipped back to its original position. Tanjiro lost his balance and fell roughly on the floor while Earth used his sword to stab on the ceiling and used it to hold onto it after the room rotated. Teruko fell down and was being stepped on by the boy in the boar mask.
Inosuke laughed maniacally. "The room freakin' spun around! This is fun! This is fun!"
"Teruko!" Earth gasped and released his sword off the ceiling and descended down to meet Inosuke and removed his foot off of her harshly and threw his foot in the air. "Don't stomp all over her!"
"Teruko, are you alright?" Earth gently patted her on the back as she sniffed and cried softly.
"Earth, how's Teruko?!" Tanjiro asked Earth, not leaving his position.
"She's fine." Earth responded before glaring at the boy.
"Who the hell are you?" Inosuke asked with uncertainty.
"What do you think you're doing, stepping on a little kid like that?!" Earth almost exclaimed at this guy. He thought he was all just brawns, but he's actually way worse than that.
"I like it! I like it!" He just laughed it off. "No human's ever sent me flying like that before!"
'What's his deal?!' Earth detected a dangerous sound from him and jumped backwards as the boy almost slashed him along with Teruko.
"Earth!" Tanjiro left his post and stood in front of Earth and Teruko and pointed his sword on the boy instead.
"Why is he coming after us now? Isn't he a Demon Slayer as well?" Earth said as his eyes never left the boar masked boy.
"My swords will hurt you. Because they're not the kind of swords you little gentlemen use!" Inosuke adjusted his swords. "The way they shred through flesh... That's what I pride myself on!"
Tanjiro put up a strong front. "Knock it off! There's a demon right there, you know!"
"He's right! Point your swords at the demon! Not us!" Earth wanted Inosuke to redirect his hostility towards the demon.
"Like I care!" Inosuke didn't heed their pleas and lunged at them. Tanjiro blocked both of his swords using his sword and both of them struggles to see who will overpower them.
"Damn insects! Out of my sight! Die!" The demon tappes his tsuzumi on his stomach area. It unleashes a three-clawed attack at them and they all gotten out of the way.
"The floor ripped apart all of a sudden! At the same speed as the sound of the tsuzumi! In the shape of a beast's claws!" Earth described what happened. Soon, the demon tapped the tsuzumi again in the stomach and let's out another claw attack on Inosuke, who dodged out of the way, then tapped the tsuzumi on his right shoulder.
"That spins right!" Earth positioned himself before the room flipped to the right while holding Teruko very carefully. The room rotated to the left after being rotated to the right by tapping on his tsuzumi located on the demon's left shoulder.
"Now left!" Earth pinpoints on how it was rotated based on the tsuzumi's sound pattern.
"Damn insects!" The demon tapped the left tsuzumi. "You damn miserable insects!" Then he tapped on the stomach region. Inosuke fell down into an empty hallway when the room spun around again. Tanjiro, Earth, and Teruko made it safely to a surface.
"Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Earth said to Tanjiro. "I know the demon's pattern now! It should be fairly easy to determine what sound the tsuzumi he will tap into!"
Tanjiro nodded his head after he heard it. "That's great! I've gotten the hang of it too! Together, we'll beat that demon using this advantage!"
The demon murmured something before they were transported to another room. However, it wasn't the demon that tappee the tsuzumi this time.
"We're in another room?" Earth had his mouth wide agape.
"But I didn't hear the sound of the tsuzumi being hit by the demon." Tanjiro stated.
"No. This is something. There's another tsuzumi being struck, and this doesn't belong to the demon." Earth picked up another sound with his enhanced hearing.
"Then does this that there is another demon with a tsuzumi, then?" Tanjiro asked. Earth shook his head.
"I don't think so. It wouldn't be right. If there was another demon with a tsuzumi, then this house will be disoriented and unbalanced with its constant changes."
'I'm picking up different noises coming from the inside of this house. More demons are lurking here. This isn't good. I just Lightning and the others are okay, wherever they are.' Earth thought. He almost forgotten about Teruko as he is still holding on to her protectively.
"Hey Teruko, how are you holding up? Are you all right?" Earth gently asked the poor girl. Teruko is still spooked earlier from the huge demon and being stomped on by Inosuke. A nod is what he received from Teruko.
"That's good. Now, stick with us and Tanjiro. We'll be finding the others soon. So don't worry." He flashed a comforting smile at the girl. She ceased her worries a bit from that smile and closely sided up with Earth.
"There. Follow me." Tanjiro pointed at the sliding door that leads to the hallway. He looked both ways until he spotted a dead carcass on the middle of the hallway. Tanjiro couldn't bear to look at the human remains and looked elsewhere.
"What's wrong, Tanjiro?" Earth noticed Tanjiro's head swerve. Tanjiro turned around and reassured them.
"No, it's nothing." He got closer to Earth and whispered something in his ear. "You musn't let Teruko see the dead body at the end of the hallway."
Earth gasped slightly before he nods his head. "C'mon Teruko. Let's go. It's all right. There are no demons around."
Tanjiro followed up. "Yeah. Now come on. Let's head over there."
Earth guided Teruko to the left route of the hallway. Curious enough, he slowly looked behind him and noticed what Tanjiro saw; a devoured human. This almost turned in his stomach if he hadn't turned around again.
"Without a backward glance. Look straight ahead, okay?" Tanjiro leads the way. As he is leading the way, Tanjiro sniffed and caught another scent which stands out than the rest of the scents he smelled.
"What did you find?" Earth asked after he heard Tanjiro sniffing.
"A unique scent of blood." He answered. "Looks like there wasn't that much bleeding."
Earth used his hearing sense to make sure it wasn't a demon or some kind. Thankfully, it wasn't a demon's sound and he felt relieved to know that. Earth halted Teruko with his hand and made a whispering gesture at her. Earth had his hand on the grip of his sword with Tanjiro opening the door. They spotted a boy holding what looks like a tsuzumi and is startled of the sudden entry. His hand was ready to hit the tsuzumi and it's nearing closer to being struck.
Ragged breathes and whimpers of fear escape from Zenitsu with Shoichi holding Lightning's hand for escort. They've been going around the house for quite a while in search of Tanjiro and the other two after they were being separated by the house's constant room changing.
'This guy... I swear... even Gopal can handle something like this if he's just a little bit brave enough, that is.' Lightning thought, sweat dripping down his forehead from the pain he's enduring. The broken bones are starting to get to him. Even with enough rest, he would still feel the surge of pain.
"Mister, is that guy, okay...?" He heard Shoichi from behind. "I mean, the sounds he's making are also making me feel nervous..."
"Hmm... I'll handle it, Shoichi. Stick close to me." Lightning patted him on the hand.
"Excuse me, Zenitsu, but you—"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He let out a high-pitched scream because of him being startled. Lightning backed off almost an inch away from him before he looked behind and attempted to roar what's behind Zenitsu.
"OOOOAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!" He failed to make a scary face, which came out as a creepy one.
"What the hell...?" Lightning is questioning what is going in Zenitsu's head. The latter sprang and latched on Lightning out of fear.
"Signal... Signal... Signal... Signal me first!" Zenitsu shakily said with shaky teeth as well. "If you want to talk, don't come at me all of a sudden! My heart nearly flew out of my mouth just now!"
"S-Sorry..." He didn't sound apologetic. Just a bit weirded out and annoyed by him. Veins are almost appearing out of Lightning's face.
"If that had come to pass, that would've made you a murderer for sure! Do you get that?!" Zenitsu pinned the blame of him getting scared on Lightning.
"Zenitsu... listen." Lightning's patience is truly being tested by Zenitsu. "You've been sweating, gasping and shivering so horribly. It's really getting on my nerves..."
"WHAT ABOUT IT?! AREN'T I DOING THE BEST I CAN HERE?!"
This had now made him blew a fuse.
"YOUR BEST, HUH?! LOOK WHERE YOUR BEST GOT US INTO IT! WE'VE BEEN WALKING AROUND IN CIRCLES AND MAKING SHOICHI NERVOUS HERE!" Lightning, enraged, exclaimed with blank white eyes.
"OH NO! SORRY ABOUT THAT!" Zenitsu apologized loudly. "Even still... Even still... If we talk too much, those demons and all will... They might find us, right?!"
Lightning smacked his head. "Of course they will, you dunce idiot! Just stay quiet and let's get a move on!"
"R-Right! I think it would be best to be as quiet as possible! Right?!" Zenitsu still shouted.
"You're such a moron..." Lightning wanted to smack his own head against the wall, but he will hold off on that with the broken bones he still had on his body.
Due to the commotion the two caused, a demon emerged from under the house's sill. Shoichi made a scared face when he looked at the demon and Lightning and Zenitsu followed up.
"A couple of kids. Probably most agreeable to the tongue." The demon said in a perverted tone with his tongue out and glanced up to them.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?! A DEMON SHOWED UP! A DEMON SHOWED UP, UNDERSTAND?!" Zenitsu screamed and earns him another smack from Lightning.
"Stay back! I'll take care of the— ACKK!" Lightning winced from the pain he received from the broken rib. He got down on one knee and struggled to get up.
'Dammit! Not now, not now! Of the times when my broken bones takes effect!' He felt himself getting up by Zenitsu grabbing a firm hold of his haori and ran away as fast as possible from the demon.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM US! STOP THAAAAAAATTTT!" Zenitsu screamed at the top of his lungs while running away from the demon. Shoichi ran beside him and Lightning gathered enough strength in his legs and ran too.
"W-W-WE DON'T TASTE GOOD! I'M SURE I TASTE AWFUL! I'M SERIOUS, OKAY?! THIS KID'S ALL SKIN AND BONES, SO HE'S ALL DRY AND TASTES GHASTLY! ALSO, THIS GUY, HIS BONES ARE BROKEN! SO IT DOESN'T APPEAL TO YOUR TASTES EITHER!"
Lightning glared at Zenitsu. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING THAT FOR?!"
"TO TRY AND SAVE ALL OF US, OBVIOUSLY!"
The demon chuckled while catching up to them quickly by simply crawling. "How will I know until I have a taste?" He extended his tongue at them to ensnare one of them.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Zenitsu almost got caught by the tongue if it weren't for Lightning pulling him to the right. The tongue hit the vase and split it in half.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! QUICK-TONGUED! SPLITTING A VASE IN TWO!" Zenitsu exclaimed. The demon proceeded to do another tongue attack.
"Look out!" Lightning pushed them out of the way and they crashed into another room, breaking down the doors whilst doing so. Lightning let out a painful yell as he felt one of his ribs break.
"Zenitsu! BoBoiBoy! Get up!" Shoichi shook them both. Lightning breathed heavily from how much pain he suffered from the broken rib and leg and made no attempt to get up.
"It's in my knees now! 80 percent of my fear is in my knees!" Zenitsu whined.
"This is no time to whine, all right?!" Shoichi tries to convince Zenitsu to stop and get a grip.
"Listen to the kid, Zenitsu! Use your sword already!" Lightning yelled and slowly stood up.
"Just leave me behind, okay?! Make a run for it!" Zenitsu shakily told them to leave him behind for them to escape.
"We can't do something like that!" Shoichi denied.
"He's right! We're not leaving you behind!" Lightning clenched his fists.
Zenitsu had tears in his eyes for how much they don't want him to be left behind for the demon. 'What great people they are! Even though I'm making terrified sounds like this! I gotta find a way somehow! If BoBoiBoy can't protect Shoichi due to his condition or if I can't protect both of them, what will become of them? Dying before Shoichi reaches double digits would be way too tragic!'
'But I'm so horribly weak! I don't have the ability to protect them! But if I don't protect them…"
"Get up!" Shoichi still shook Zenitsu on his shoulders. Zenitsu is still feeling hesitant. Feeling like Zenitsu isn't the option for Shoichi right now; he turned towards Lightning that had gotten up but with a look of grimace on his face.
"BoBoiBoy! Please! Do something about Zenitsu!" He begged for the lightning Demon Slayer.
Lightning gritted his teeth. "I'm trying! My bones are the problem for me here!" He wobbly went over to Zenitsu and crouched down to meet his height.
"Zenitsu… you gotta… draw out your sword… and prepare to attack the demon…" With Lightning's condition currently fractured from his additional broken ribs, their only hope and chance they've got left is Zenitsu Agatsuma. The blonde is still shaking; his eyes met Lightning's yellow orbs staring back at him.
"Do you still remember… what I said back at the fields?" Lightning reminded him. "Don't let your fear control you. Resist it and try to make a stand! C'mon Zenitsu! You're the only one here we can depend on!"
Those reinstate Zenitsu as he tried to get up and put on a confident face, with little bits of fear in between them.
"Y-You're right! I… I gotta do something…! I don't want to let you down…!" Zenitsu finally has his hand on the grip of the sword. Lightning almost smirked but faltered when he spotted the demon crawling up to them slowly.
"I'm gonna guzzle your brain matter through your ears!" The demon formed a creepy posture by having his head bent and letting his ridiculously long tongue swaying outside.
The confident Zenitsu, having his fear meter exceeded up to the max, lost consciousness and fainted at the sounds of that. He slowly fell down and falls asleep in front of Lightning and Shoichi.
"Zzz… Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…" Were his snores that emanate the room.
'I can't believe this… He's… sleeping… at a time like this…!' Lightning stared at the sleeping boy in disbelief.
"Zenitsu! Zenit—" Shoichi thought Zenitsu had collapsed in fright but he saw his sleeping face and is snoring lightly.
"What's up with him?" The demon got closer. Shoichi and Lightning dragged Zenitsu backwards until they were back against the wall, with no way out of here except the way they busted through. Lightning made his way in front of them and unsheathed his sword.
'I can't fight the demon like this… But I'll have to try or otherwise, the demon will devour them both!' Lightning shakily gripped his sword. He doesn't have enough strength to swing and his vision became blurry. He wobbled a bit and his grip on the blade's handle loosened.
'I… feel… dizzy…' Lightning felt himself getting bound by the tongue's grip. His eyes snapped right open and tried to wiggle himself out of the tongue.
"Nnngghhh! Let me go!" Lightning felt his entire body getting crushed in mere seconds. The strangulation is unbearable for him.
"First, I'll pop open your eyeballs then I'll feast on your insides as my main course!" The demon cackled and continued to strangle Lightning.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ZENITSU! PLEASE WAKE UP! HE'S GONNA BE KILLED!" Shoichi screamed for Zenitsu to wake up. Zenitsu's face foreshadowed by his bangs and his hand that didn't move for a bit twitched. Lightning yelled in extreme pain until he felt himself plopping down and he fell backwards.
'I'm… free…? But how…?' His curiosity went over to Zenitsu that seemingly stood up. His eyes scanned at Zenitsu, his face not showing by his bangs and not uttering a single word and is most noticeably sleeping. Shoichi went over to Lightning and hastily dragged him back to a wall.
"Shoichi… *cough*… what happened…?" Lightning coughed up blood and asked the crying boy.
"He… He sliced… the tongue…" Shoichi described and that cause Lightning to widen his eyes. When he looked back at Zenitsu, he bent his body forward and stanced; his left foot sliding to the back and had his hand on the sword's handle. Zenitsu also breathed out smoke that went out of his teeth.
'This sound… Zenitsu… you are about to unleash a Breathing Technique, aren't you?!' Lightning thought after hearing this particular breathing pattern. It is almost identical as Lightning's own breathing.
"Zenitsu…" Shoichi muttered, watching him closely with stray tears left in his eyes.
All of them watched Zenitsu as he clicks the hilt of his sword, partially revealing a golden colour.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form, Thunderclap and Flash." Zenitsu said in a very serious tone. He then unleashed his ability by charging at the demon in a flash of thunder, making a loud thunderous roar and leaving smoke trails that spread everywhere now. Zenitsu made quick work to the demon by precisely slicing off the demon's head with a perfect slash, without seeing him drawing out his sword. The demon spurted out so much blood and fell backwards and the head fell down near Zenitsu.
"What… what power…!" Lightning's breath escaped his mouth. He had witnessed the true power hiding behind Zenitsu's persona. An amazing display.
"Who knew you are hiding such power, Zenitsu." He needed to rethink on what to say to Zenitsu after seeing his power in play.
'I don't want to lie but I think his breathing technique is actually stronger than mine. The sound of that lightning strike packs quite a punch and never struck twice.'
Zenitsu suddenly jolts awake from his slumber and slowly looked at the ground behind him to see the head of the demon rolling to him until it hit his feet.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! IT'S DEAD! ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT'S DEAD! WHAT THE HELL?! I CAN'T TAKE THIS!"
'He's not aware that he did that?' Lightning thought and he and Shoichi stared at Zenitsu in a dumbfounded expression.
"What is this?! What is this?! Yuck!" His whining came to a halt when he saw Lightning, still had his hand on his blade's hilt.
"BoBoiBoy… Don't tell me…" He slowly extended a hand.
"Huh? Zenitsu, it's not—" He received a tight hug from Zenitsu.
"THANK YOU! YOU SAVED MY LIFE! I SHALL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR THIS! I KNEW YOU WOULD PROTECT ME! I JUST KNEW IT!" Zenitsu deluded himself into thinking that it was Lightning that rescued him. When unbeknownst to him, it was Zenitsu that done it.
"Zenitsu, I—"
"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAVE THIS POWERFUL ABILITY YOU DID A WHILE BACK! YOU CLEARLY MADE ME FEEL SAFE WITH YOU AROUND! WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Zenitsu's cries are heard as he continues hugging him. Shoichi watched the whole thing unfold in front of him.
"Uhmm Zenitsu…?!" Lightning called him out, this time even louder.
Zenitsu stopped crying and looked up to him. "Did you say something?
"N-Nothing…" Lightning stole a glance from Shoichi, who looked just as clueless as he is right now. "It's nothing. Never mind. Just forget about it. Let's get a move on, all right?"
They got up from their position. "Okay."
Lightning clearly has something to tell about Zenitsu. From the sounds of it, it seems that he wasn't aware of what just happened. He figured that it was his subconscious that took over and delivered the decisive blow. This isn't the time to stop and chat. They still need to find Tanjiro and the others.
Before they can move out of the room, Lightning clutched on his chest, feeling the pain before and resurfaced. He yelped and almost fell down before getting caught by Shoichi and Zenitsu's arms.
"BoBoiBoy!" Shoichi supported him up.
"What's happening to you?!" Zenitsu asks with deep concern.
"My ribs… it's... painful…" Was the last thing Lightning blurted out before he passes out from his internal injuries.
The demon inside this house, the master occupant inside here, named Kyogai, stomps forward in search of the boys he had encountered, all the while muttering Marechi like a chant.
"Marechi... Marechi... If I can just devour some... Fifty. No, a hundred humans' worth..." Kyogai halted his walk and his right eye twitched.
"I gotta search for more humans with Marechi and consume them. That way..." His eyelid revealed to show a label displayed in kanji but crossed out in an X manner.
"...I can reclaim my place among the Twelve Kizuki!" He said as he thought back of what usually happened to his position being removed.
A Lower Moon Six Demon, Kyogai, can be seen devouring the carcass of a human in his own home, not because out of hunger, but for a different cause. Kyogai felt disgusted, eating the dead human being before him. It's not that he's forced to that he has to eat in order to gain strength. This is him trying to prove his worth to Muzan Kibutsuji that he's a demon worth being in the Twelve Kizuki.
"Kyogai." Muzan emerged from nowhere and stood in front of the tsuzumi demon. Kyogai had paused his feasting to glance a look at the supreme demon himself.
"You can't eat any more?" His words came out more of a taunt. "Is that all you've got?"
"No. No, I'm not done!" Kyogai had an encompassing fear dreading on him. But as soon as those words left him, he felt an immense sharp pain on his right eye, where the mark of his position as Lower Moon Six was located before it was crossed out by Muzan.
"P-Please give me more time! J-Just a little!" Kyogai pleaded.
"I've had enough." Veins of anger appeared on Muzan's face. "I'm stripping you of your number. That's your limit, and you've reached it."
"The more demons you devoured, the stronger you can become. And once he saw my potential, Master Kibutsuji was willing to share his blood with me." Kyogai narrated as an image of Muzan giving a sample of his dripping blood onto Kyogai's hands.
"The power of that man's blood was mind-boggling. I was sure that I'd grow infinitely stronger than ever before, be welcomed into the ranks of the Twelve Kizuki, continue to gorge myself on humans and become ever more powerful! Or so I believed! Or so I believed..."
His thoughts ended with a grim event that happened to Kyogai.
"Brother Kiyoshi!" Teruko couldn't hold back when she saw her big brother in front of her and ran her way towards her.
"Brother! Brother!" Her arms eventually reached Kiyoshi's and they caught themselves in an embrace.
"Teruko!" He's relieved to see her again. From behind Teruko, the two Demon Slayers approached them with positive expressions.
"Wh-Who are they?" Kiyoshi said when he spotted them. Earth only waved them kindly.
"I'm Tanjiro Kamado and this is Ear— err... BoBoiBoy." Tanjiro introduced and made sure to reference Earth as BoBoiBoy, lest it would cause both of them confusion. "We've come to defeat evil demons."
Earth crouched down in front of them, mostly to Kiyoshi. "Now then, show us your wounds. Good for you for hanging in there on your own. Great job." He gave him a toothy grin.
Kiyoshi bawled for how much trouble he'd gotten himself into. Teruko looked at him with concern and murmured his name. Earth gave them an empathic look. He feels really sorry for these siblings. And it's only a day this had happened to them.
Tanjiro reached in his haori and pulled out a brown cloth wrapped on a thread. "Noe this ointment here is amazing! My master gave it to me!"
"You had that and didn't tell me about it?" Earth sounded baffled that Tanjiro had that all along and did not bother telling him.
"I thought you had one as well? But I guess this is the only thing he has right now." Tanjiro unwraps the cloth's contents and removes what's inside. Earth volunteered to treat Kiyoshi and put his two fingers on the container filled with ointment and applied it on the wounded part of his leg.
"Our master always wears a goblin mask." Earth described Urokodaki.
"Goblin? Really?" Kiyoshi said.
"Yes, it's true. This ointment BoBoiBoy is applying to you right now is so amazing, it works in a split second." Tanjiro clarified and Earth finished applying and don a clean white cloth to fortify and cover up Kiyoshi's injured leg. He made the finishing touches on it.
"Okay, you should be all set now. Don't apply weight on your leg while you're walking." Earth said and wiped the remaining sweat on his head. "How was it? Do you feel any pain or no?"
"Yes! Thank you so much!" Kiyoshi thanked him for the medication treatment. The feeling of gratitude is soon replaced with a serious vibe.
"Do you think you can tell us what happened here?" Tanjiro asked softly.
Kiyoshi looked spooked for a moment before telling them his side of the story. "A monster dragged me away a-and I nearly got devoured. But just then, another monster showed up out of nowhere, a-and they started fighting to the death over who was gonna get to e-eat me. A-And then, the one with the tsuzumi growing out of him... When the other monster defeated him, he dropped a tsuzumi! And when I picked it up and struck it, this room suddenly changed. And I somehow held on until now!"
He finished it up by crying slightly after almost being near to death's door.
"A demon with a tsuzumi growing out of him..." Tanjiro put a finger on his chin and recalled about a demon with those tsuzumis on his body.
"Sounds like the demon we're fighting earlier. Those tsuzumis growing out of him made it obvious." Earth crossed his arms. "Also, he mentioned the words Marechi several times."
Kiyoshi gasped. "That's right! He kept calling me Marechi!"
"Strange..." Earth looked thoughtful. "What is a Marechi?"
Out of nowhere, Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow cawed and explained. "What is Marechi? It refers to the owner of rare blood!"
All of them were surprised to hear the crow talking, mostly from Teruko and Kiyoshi. Suzume flew and landed on Earth's hands.
"Suzume? You followed me here?"
"Chuu! Chuu chuu chuu!" Suzume chirped while bouncing up and down on his hands. Earth tilted his head.
"O-Okay... if you say so. It's dangerous here, y'know?"
"Chuu chuu chuu!" Suzume protests, like he doesn't want to leave Earth behind.
Tanjiro's crow cawed at the siblings. "You little brats! I'm going to peck you now."
"Cut it out!" Tanjiro picked up his crow and brought him closer. "What do you mean by rare blood?"
"The blood of all living species can be categorized into types, idiot!" The crow explained
"Of course. There are several blood types: Type A, Type B, Type AB, and Type O. The most common blood type is Type O and the rarest blood type is Type AB." Earth added his own explanation of blood types. Tanjiro nodded, taking those in his head.
"Oohh! How do you know all of those?"
"Read a book, dummy." Earth laughed as an attempt to joke what he said. He gained this knowledge from reading Tamayo's books as well as from back in 5th Grade in Rintis Island Primary School. Science is his favorite subject.
"He's right about those. And the ultimate Marechi... The more scarce the blood, the more uncommon... For a demon! A single Marechi human has the same nutritional value as eating fifty! One hundred humans! For demons, Marechi is a feast! Marechi is their favorite food!"
The explanation caused the siblings to curl up and hug from the frightful facts the crow spat out.
"Okay, that's enough. You're scaring them." Earth narrows his eyes on the crow. His ears suddenly perked up to hear more heavy sounding footsteps approaching this way to the room the have gone in.
"Tanjiro, it's him again." Earth said. Tanjiro faced to the way they came and clenched his teeth.
"Okay, you and I are leaving this room now." Tanjiro declared, which makes Kiyoshi gasped in fear for the thought of them leaving them defenseless.
"Kiyoshi." Earth noticed his expression and grabbed his shoulders firmly. "Don't worry. It's gonna be all right. Tanjiro and I are gonna take down that demon."
"Listen to me, Teruko." Tanjiro called her calmly. Teruko switched her gaze to his. "Right now, your brother is terribly exhausted. So, you gotta look after him, okay?" He patted her on the head.
"Kiyoshi, as soon as Tanjiro and I leave the room, strike that tsuzumi on your hands and get ready to move out. If there's someone trying to open the door or you hear something weird, strike that tsuzumi right away and make a run for it. It's all right. We'll come and find you two when we are done dealing with the demon. I promise."
"And also, we'll call out your names if we're done. Just be ready to strike it when we move out."
They both felt the weight being weighed down on them with the tasks they have to do for them. They nervously sweat.
"You just have to hold out a little longer." Tanjiro and Earth pat their shoulders. "Think you guys can do it?"
Despite the nerve-wracking sensation they had, they put on a determined look and nodded their heads.
"Wonderful! You guys are really brave!" Earth praised them. Tanjiro and Earth stood up and head towards the door. "We're heading out."
They waited until Kyogai gets near and his head slowly reveals and spots them immediately. Both Demon Slayers lunged forward, leaving behind a dusty trail.
"Strike it now!" Earth yelled. Kiyoshi did as instructed and struck the tsuzumi, changing the room's layout again. They are now sprinting to the demon even with their broken legs hindering them but that didn't stop them from going after the demon that started all of this.
"Damn insects! So infuriating!" Kyogai said with anger placed in his voice and tapped his right tsuzumi twice, making the room flip upside-down. They recognized the pattern immediately and maneuvered in midair and landed on the ceiling without any external injuries.
Kyogai walked inside the room. Gravity totally defied his body as he is now standing on the room's floor even if it's flipped upside-down. Kyogai tapped the middle tsuzumi twice and sents out his claw attack at them. Earth ducked under the claw attack and moved to the left and Tanjiro swiftly dodged the claw and moved to the right, giving themselves some space to move around.
'From what I can gather around, the tsuzumi on his right shoulder brings this room to flip on the right. The tsuzumi on his left shoulder turns to the left!' Earth thought as he landed on the mentioned parts of the flipped sides without ragdolling himself down all willy-nilly.
'His right leg, forward spin! His left leg, backward! The tsuzumi on his belly launches that claw attack!' Earth almost had his head torn off by the claw. He jumped away for more distance but it was still pointless. The claw is still finding its way to him no matter the distance.
'But thanks to my hearing, I can deduct where and when the claw attack is going to be at!' Earth's mind and body is now on autopilot with him managing to stay on the tsuzumi's sound patterns and landing on some spots that can be landed. It's another side story with Tanjiro as he had some trouble maneuvering around the flipping room. Meanwhile after the whole charade is still going, Tanjiro found a spot where he can get close to demon and brought his blade near to Kyogai.
"Crap!" Earth jumped towards Tanjiro and pushed himself out of harm's way after almost being sliced into bits by the claw attack.
"Grrr! The sound of the tsuzumi is so fast! The rotations, the attacks, they're unbelievably collateral!' Earth and Tanjiro crashed harshly on the wall and slumped down on the tatami floors with a loud thud. The impact had jagged his already broken ribs and nearly cracked his right arm. Earth winced in pain.
"Gaah!" He forcibly exhaled an unneeded blood out of him.
'This hurts so much...! Even if Miss Tamayo treated my wounds, they're still not fully healed yet!' Earth did a mistake by trying to get up and heard the sounds of his ribs cracking.
'Can I beat him? Can Tanjiro beat him? My injuries hurt so bad that I can hardly stand it!'
He thought about the time when he, Tanjiro, and Zenitsu were walking on the fields leading to their next mission. To their obliviousness, but most probably from Zenitsu, BoBoiBoy clutched on his chest, where his ribs were located. The damage is still there even if it's treated fairly. But he still wouldn't tolerate that much pain inside him, even if he has high pain tolerance.
When he got up, Kyogai tapped his middle tsuzumi twice at Earth. Tanjiro gave him a helping hand and removed him from his spot. They jumped away from the claw attacks.
'This is honestly scaring me to death! If I try to move in closer to the demon, he would always send out his claw to try and slash me or flip the room around to unbalance me. Even so, if I try to attack him in a striking distance, I would always stumble because of the pain!'
When they made it to the back, Earth almost reached his limits. Heavy breathing and leaking blood out of his mouth is taking much toll on his body.
'Am I... leaking blood...?' His eyes widen when he feels his blood leaving him. He brought his hand close to his mouth and felt the liquid sensation on the palm of his hand.
'I'm bleeding... I'm bleeding...'
He stared down at his own blood. There was something about it that made him remind Earth of something. Never had he once thought he would actually bleed from his own internal injuries. That much he doesn't know about it considering that he's supposed to be the leader. A leader that needs to put a strong front. A leader that is suppose to be an endurance of all fragile individuals.
'I have to be strong...! I have to... But... It's... It's so...'
He felt his throat tighten around. What was this dreadful feeling he is feeling right now? Why, of all times, does it have to be in this situation he is in right now? The mere sensation rendered him immobile for a while. Soon after, a voice yanked him out of his thoughts.
"Seriously BoBoiBoy? What in the world had happened to you?"
Earth thought he knew that voice. It was deep. He couldn't recall with his memories feeling fuzzy.
'Is... Is th-that...?'
'Hmph! I thought your time here would help you cope up but it appeared that you need more time."
Black boots stood in front of Earth, who had both knees on the ground.
"BoBoiBoy, if you can't defeat that demon, would you still call yourself a leader? Even after getting separated from Tanjiro, would you still rely on him or yourself?"
Earth saw a hand, a purple fingerless gloved hand.
"They're going to die if you don't step up, BoBoiBoy. Broken bones or not, prove to them that you are strong!"
He had no idea who he was hearing or listening to. As expected he tried to look up to see who this person, but all he sees is a black mist covering up the person's face. Vision hasty and blurry, he kind of make out a slight purple strand of hair before sending himself back into reality.
*GASP*
Earth dodged the incoming claw attack in a flash and with instinct. He landed right beside Tanjiro, who seems to deep in thought.
'Whoever that was in my head, I'll prove it to them! I'll prove it to them once and for all that I'm worthy to be a good leader!'
He affixed his eyes on the demon, with a look of courage and strife. He held on his sword, applying his stance like he did to Sabito. Earth's eyes glowed an unnatural brown color.
"Tanjiro." Earth addressed the dark redhead, without exchanging a glance. "I'll lead and you mirror my movements. You have ten Water Breathing techniques and I have ten Earth Breathing techniques. We won't take down the demon unless we work together!"
"I get that already! Do you have any plans about this?"
He thought about the situation wherein Tanjiro explained to Lightning of defeating Yahaba using the improvised method he explained and it worked in the end. And since this is one of those situations, Earth had an idea of what to utilize to eliminate the demon once and for all.
"Let's use another combo move!"
Tanjiro gets up and applied his stance similarly to Earth's. "A combo move? Are you absolutely sure it would work?" He sounded skeptical.
"It worked last time and we'll do it again! Besides, we've done a good job until now! We'll give it all we've got, Tanjiro! We have what it takes! And not today..."
He faced Tanjiro. "...or any time in the future." Then at Kyogai. "Even if we're broken...!"
Kyogai growled at them.
"We'll never give up no matter what!" Earth shouted.
'I'll show you what a good leader is for!'
Sounded a bit cheesy there, I know. Just thought I'll end it here with Earth questioning his morality if being a leader. I admire Earth/Quake so much because he's such an awesome element among the other BoBoiBoys I've seen.
Excluding Ice. He still a 'cool' element in my book. (Ba dum tss) :D
And also, Lightning, our loner boi, finally witnessed the power of our lovable French fry boi. Thunderclap and Flash will remain one of my favorite breathing technique for now. We'll just have to wait for Season 2 or the movie to see the rest of the breathing techniques!
~ Ciao for now, people!
