Author's Note:
I'm skipping time to four years in the future because there would be more filler content in the story if I wrote chapters about Tori's struggles. It would just be the same thing over and over again. I honestly think it would get very boring. I know that there are people that hate filler content, so in their respect I will time skip over it. I'm not going to avoid mentioning what Tori has gone through, but I'm not going to write chapters on it. Each chapter would be the same story repeated. One other thing that I should mention, is that Daki is the final demon who is siding with the demon slayers. She has an honest relationship with her brother and has told him that she didn't have the stomach to kill humans. Her brother was okay with it and knows she's joined up with Akaza to rebel against Muzan. He was okay with her decision and told none of the other about it. He doesn't care about what Muzan wants, he just does what he pleases. Having said that, enjoy the story.
Chapter 9
Four years…. Four years! Tori thought to herself. It had been four years since she had been abducted by Muzan. She could hardly believe that she had survived four years of unending torture and abuse. She knew the time was nearing for her inevitable escape. She just didn't know when. Tori was sitting in the chamber that she had been locked up in and was trying to wrap her head around the fact that four years had already passed. She couldn't even remember much of what happened during the past four years. Everything that happened seemed to pass by in just one full day. As she was reflecting, she remembered every despicable thing that Muzan had done since her abduction. The first thing he did was give her a fate worse than death. She became a demon. After becoming a demon, the demon king tried a number of things to get her to do what he wanted. He physically abused her by lashing her with a whip, cutting her with knives, and beating her to a pulp with his fists and legs. Even after this much torture she still denied him and refused to serve him. He then tried to attempt psychological abuse. He would play all sorts of mind games with her. He brought in Enmu, otherwise known as lower moon one, to use his blood demon art on her and show her dreams of things that her heart desired. Muzan favored this method because of her reactions to each dream. Muzan did attempt other methods by threatening to destroy personal items that her loved ones had given her. It almost worked, but she once more defied him. Enmu's blood demon art failed because she recognized that they were showing her lies and she always was able to wake herself up.
No matter how much he tried to mess with her mind, she still defied Muzan at every turn. The last thing he tried was to abuse her sexually, but he never got to try it because Tori would vomit every time he would attempt it. Muzan couldn't understand why she would vomit every time he would attempt sexual abuse, but he soon gave up. The last thing he wanted was to be covered in vomit after every session with her. He was running out of options and if he didn't break her soon, he wouldn't be able to use her against the Demon Slayers. It finally came down to the fact that she didn't care about what happened to herself. It was her loved ones that she was concerned for the most. Muzan admired her selflessness, but it would have to come to an end at some point. He then decided to plot to kill her family and purposefully let her escape, so she could attempt to protect her family. With this plan in mind, he began making his way to her. Meanwhile, Akaza was caring for and training Tori. Akaza, Kokushibo, and Daki each helped her to try and maintain her sanity throughout the four years she had been held captive by Muzan. Tori grew very strong as a demon and found ways to incorporate her breathing style into her fighting technique. Tori had grown very strong during her imprisonment. She felt ready to attempt an escape. Suddenly, they all heard footsteps approaching. They covered up every evidence of their training sessions and pretended that they had been watching Tori the entire time. It was then that Muzan came into the chamber. He turned and approached Tori with a very angry look on his face. Tori braced herself thinking that she was going to have another around of being beaten to a pulp. Then, he suddenly slammed her into the wall behind her and she could only gasp from the sudden pain. Muzan held her by her neck and he looked at her in the eyes.
"Listen here, Tori Kamado!" Muzan said with anger, "I'm getting fed up with your repeated defiance
against me. So, here are your options: You either to everything I tell you to do, or watch your whole
family die!"
Muzan watched as her will was now starting to waver as he was now putting her family's lives on the line. She started to tremble at the hands of Muzan, but she did not dare speak. Tears flooded from her eyes as she cried at the image of her family dead. Tori, however, continued refusing to speak her choice. Muzan then let her go making the choice for her. He started to walk away, but Tori started to scream out and pull against her chains. Muzan, on the other hand, just continued walking listening to her scream. He smiled as he was finally getting to her. Then the Demon King secretly snapped his finger which unlocked the chains. He then left the fortress. Tori, in a frenzy of emotions, ran after Muzan once she realized that she was free. She escaped the infinity fortress and somehow she ended up at the foot of her mountain. She then understood what Muzan was trying to do, but she wouldn't allow it. She ran up the mountain faster than a speeding bullet. She arrived at her house just in time to watch Muzan knock the door down. She then ran and she rammed Muzan into the trees and knocked him out. Her mother and siblings had awakened when the door was knocked down and they saw the man. They had also seen a woman ram into him. Kie walked out into the light and she saw that the woman was a demon, but she was very beautiful. Then the demon looked at Kie and she was in shock to see who this demon actually was. She looked at the demon and she trembled.
"Tori, is that really you?" Kie said with a shaky voice.
"Yes, mom. It's me." Tori replied, "I'd love to catch up with you, but we've got bigger problems to
worry about."
"What do you want us to do?" Kie asked.
"You and Nezuko take the little ones and run away from here. Just run!" Tori urged, "I'll hold him off
for as long as I can. Whatever you do, don't look back. Get as far away from this place as possible!"
"But, Tori, what about you?" Kie questioned, "We can't leave you behind."
"Don't worry about me! Just get everyone out of here!" Tori exclaimed.
Kie rounded up most of her children and they started to get a safe distance away. Then Muzan woke up and saw Tori in a battle ready stance. Then the two demons clashed. Kie and her kids watched the battle for a moment then Kie began urging the kids to keep moving. She counted them and found that one of them was missing. Nezuko knew who it was and she ran quickly back to get the missing sibling. Shigeru was trying to get personal items. Nezuko ran in and scooped him up and began running back to the rest of her family. Muzan, however, took the opportunity to create another demon just in case Tori failed to conquer the sun as he hoped she would. He struck Nezuko, who shielded Shigeru from the attack. Kie screamed out for Nezuko and Tori immediately grabbed Shigeru and brought him to the others and told them to get out of there. Kie nodded and she and the kids began running away. She then sped towards Muzan and attacked him. Kie and her children met up with Akaza, who helped to get them to a safe place while Tori kept Muzan focused on her. Daki followed behind Akaza and she covered the tracks of Tori's family and she masked their scent with her own. Once they all arrived at Kokushibo's location, he pointed them to a cave where they could hide and rest until it was safe. Akaza went back to watch Tori fight. Tori and Muzan's fight lasted for a long time. She knew she couldn't beat Muzan, but she was going to force him to abort his mission to kill her family. The fight continued for hours until their was only a few minutes left until the sun rose. Muzan could see that the sun was going to rise soon. That was when he caught on to Tori's plan. She was trying to force him to abort his mission. Seeing as the sun was going to rise any minute, he really didn't have much choice. He ended their fight by pinning her to a tree where the sun would hit her.
"Well, Tori, you're way more clever than I accounted for." Muzan said, "You've made yourself pretty
clear that you won't serve me, so you'll die by the sunlight. I can't spend all of my time trying to get
you to obey me. I think it's better that I just kill you. Goodbye, Tori Kamado."
Tori knew that this was an experiment so she used her blood demon art to alter Muzan's reality. Just then the sun came up and she started to burn. Akaza had gone to get Tori's family. When they were halfway there, they heard Tori screaming in agony as the sun burned her. In Muzan's reality, she burned up completely and died. Tori, however, survived the sunlight. She conquered the sun and now she could get away from Muzan by traveling during the day. All of a sudden, Akaza arrived with Tori's family and his two colleagues. They saw Tori on the ground panting heavily. Akaza ran up to her to make sure that she was okay. She revealed to him that she was okay and that she successfully managed to conquer the sun. All three demons cheered and praised her for the accomplishment. Akaza gave back Tori's uniform, haori, and all of her weapons. She quickly ran into the house and changed into her demon slayer uniform. After changing, she wrote a note stating that she was alive and roaming the country, but she would not be returning to the demon slayer headquarters quite yet. There was something she needed to do first before she could return to the demon slayer headquarters. She signed the note and then she went outside to meet with her family. Kie hugged her eldest daughter tightly.
"I'm so glad that you're okay!" She cried, "I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see you again!"
"I'm alright mother." Tori replied, "And of course you would. I never stopped fighting to get back to
you."
"What did that monster do to you?!" Kie asked.
"He did many things, mother, most of which I can't even describe. But Muzan, however, is the reason
that I'm like this." Tori explained, "Muzan creates demons by infecting the wounds humans receive
with his own blood and that's how they multiply. I, unfortunately, was unable to resist the urge to crave
blood. Although, I was able to resist human blood. My own body rejected it. So I'll be feeding off of
demons instead of humans."
"Well, at least I know that you won't hurt humans." Kie responded, "But I have to admit, your demon
form is very stunning. I understand that you don't like it much, but I'm sure that even you can't deny
it."
"Thank you, mother." Tori smiled, "Yes, I can't deny that I look really good as a demon, but I would
rather go back to my human beauty."
"Agreed." Kie nodded, "I honestly would prefer you as a human, than a demon."
They talked for many hours, but the sun was getting higher and it was getting closer as the hours passed. Akaza expressed that they needed to start heading down the mountain. Tori nodded in agreement and she asked them to escort her family to the town at the bottom of the mountain. If Muzan tried to attack them again he would have a hard time doing it in a large, populated area. The demons agreed and they picked up the youngest kids and started walking. Kie, however, wondered about Nezuko's condition. Tori explained to her that there was a good chance that Nezuko would survive, but that would mean that she would have become a demon by then. She further explained that Nezuko's close bond with Tanjiro might be the key to stopping her from craving human blood. Kie then agreed to leave Nezuko behind, so that Tanjiro could help Nezuko. Tori then nodded and handed her mother two things: The note that she wrote and a trinket that was given to her by her fellow hashiras. She told her mother that if they met up with a hashira she had to give him or her those things. Kie nodded in understanding. Then they left and Tori went her own way. Her next goal was to rid herself of her demon form. She was determined to become a human again. She could not maintain her position as a hashira until she was a human again. Even if there wasn't a cure, she would still work to make one. Tori was now on her way back to her fellow demon slayers who walked the path of justice.
Author's Note:
From here and onward for the rest of the chapter, everything will be focusing on Tanjiro. It will be the story we're mostly familiar with. Tanjiro becomes a demon slayer to turn Nezuko back into a human. It's slightly different because Tanjiro's family survived and he has an alternative motive for becoming a demon slayer. He wants to find and save Tori. However, future chapters will be alternating from both Tanjiro's and Tori's side of the story. Having said that, enjoy the rest of the story.
Chapter 9
The sun shone brightly that day. The white snow glistened as they reflected the rays of the sun. Then a shadow passed over the glistening snow. The shadow was accompanied by loud stomping sounds of someone walking through the snow. Tanjiro Kamado was the eldest son of the Kamado family. He had made his way down the mountain to the town in which he sold charcoal for his family. Now he was on his way back to meet back up with family… Or, so he thought. As he neared his home, he stopped suddenly and gave the air a sniff. It was then that he smelled… Blood. He picked up his pace and ran thinking that one of his siblings had gotten hurt. But when he arrived, he was in shock. He screamed out and dropped his basket as he ran over to his sister. Panicking he tried to get her to respond and ask what had happened. He then went into the house and saw that the rest of his family wasn't there. He wondered why they would leave Nezuko behind. It didn't matter because he needed to get her to a doctor. After putting her robe on and hoisting her onto his back, he began carrying her down the mountain. Tanjiro ran as fast as his untrained legs could carry him. He was determined to save his sister. A blizzard struck the mountain and caused all sorts of problems. The air was so icy that he could hardly breathe. Then he ran across a pathway formed from a ledge on a cliff-side. It was then that Nezuko started to wake up and she started growling as fangs appeared in her mouth. She suddenly started to thrash around Tanjiro was panicking and not paying attention to the pathway. Soon, he lost his footing and both he and Nezuko fell off the cliff. The snow cushioned his fall and he lied on the ground trying to process what had just happened. Then he regained composure and immediately looked around for Nezuko. He found her standing in the shadows of the forest. Completely ignoring the signs of danger, Tanjiro ran to his sister and was unaware that there was something different about her.
As soon as he got close to her, she lifted her head and revealed her demonic eyes and fangs. She charged at him with every intention of biting Tanjiro. The burgundy-haired boy immediately placed the handle of his hatchet in her mouth while Nezuko pinned him to the ground. Meanwhile, two hashiras arrived on the scene. Shinobu and Sanemi arrived just in time to see Tanjiro and Nezuko in a struggle. Giyu Tomioka was then closing in on the two. He was tasked with testing Tanjiro and seeing if he had what it took to be a demon slayer. They knew that he wouldn't be like his sister, but he could be close enough that he would be effective to have around. Shinobu and Sanemi watched as Nezuko grew in size. Sanemi almost ran out to try and pull Nezuko off of him, but Shinobu stopped him. It was then that they listened to the struggle between Tanjiro and, his now demon sister, Nezuko.
"Nezuko, hang in there, Nezuko! Don't give in! You can do it!" Tanjiro cried, "Don't turn into a
demon! Fight back against it! Hang in there! Hang in there!"
Shinobu and Sanemi were heartbroken to hear Tanjiro beg to his sister to not become a demon. But then, they heard him gasp and all three saw Nezuko crying. Giyu was almost to them and he leaped up ready to strike. Both Nezuko and Tanjiro saw Giyu and Tanjiro rolled over his sister to protect her. Giyu sliced through the ponytail that he had. Tanjiro rolled into a tree and Nezuko shrank down. From there the test began. Giyu pretended to not know who Tanjiro was and began saying everything that every demon slayer would say. Tanjiro was determined to save his sister, but he couldn't anything except beg Giyu to not kill his sister. Giyu almost broke his character just hearing the pain in Tanjiro's voice. It was then that Giyu genuinely showed some of the emotions that he locked away. In anger, he shouted at Tanjiro and critiqued him for every weakness he was showing. Then Giyu stabbed Nezuko and Tanjiro then threw a rock at Giyu. When the wind picked up and blew the snow in front of Giyu, Tanjiro picked up his hatchet and began running through the trees. He hurled another rock at Giyu then he charged in for an attack. All three hashira thought he was crazy, however, Tanjiro knew exactly what he was doing. Unannounced to any of them, Tori was also watching this test. She knew that her brother had a strategy. Once Giyu struck him down, they saw he was unarmed. When Giyu looked up to see the hatchet, he moved his head a little and he was shocked by Tanjiro's strategy. Shinobu and Sanemi were also impressed. Tori smiled as she knew that she and her brother possessed the same level of intellect and were both able to form strategies on their feet. Shinobu made this connection as well. It was then that the test went wrong. They had every intention of letting Nezuko live, but she got away from Giyu.
Giyu was forced to improvise the test to see if Nezuko would be a trust worthy demon. They didn't know what she would do. Tori, however, knew exactly what was going to happen. She watched hoping that Nezuko was going to do exactly what she knew Nezuko was going to do. Sure enough, Nezuko surprised the hashira by protecting her brother instead of devouring him. Tori smiled. She knew that Tanjiro's close bond with Nezuko would allow her to retain some of her humanity. Nezuko then charged at Giyu. Giyu dodged her attacks and he knocked her back, but she continued to try and defend her brother. Giyu continued to block her attacks. Then Nezuko launched herself from a tree and attempted to attack. Giyu then karate chopped her in the neck and knocked her out. Giyu placed her next to Tanjiro and put a muzzle around her. The purpose for it was to prevent her from biting other humans. Shinobu and Sanemi met up with him and the wind pillar praised him for improvising the test a little. It was then that Tanjiro woke up a few moments later. Giyu turned around and he saw that Tanjiro was finally awake. He walked over and knelt down in front of Tanjiro. The boy looked up confused.
"I'm sorry if I scared you, Tanjiro, but the Master specifically asked us to test you." Giyu suddenly
said, "I had to be very harsh with you and I'm very sorry. I do have some good news about your family.
They're all safe and on their way to your sister's house at our headquarters. They'll be safe there as it
seems that Muzan actively targeted your family for a reason unknown to us at the moment, but I
promise we will find-."
It was then that the wind picked up and it interrupted Giyu's statement. The wind blew Tori's scent, as she allowed it to, across the clearing. Tanjiro picked up the scent and found it to be very familiar. He couldn't put his finger on who's scent it was. Once the wind stopped, Tanjiro began trying to pinpoint the location in which the scent came from. Giyu was about to finish when he noticed that Tanjiro was distracted by something.
"Tanjiro, what's wrong?" Giyu asked.
"A scent from my house is here in the clearing." Tanjiro explained, "There were two scents. One that I
recognized and another that I didn't. It looked like there was some kind of fight. I could see huge
gashes in the trees."
Giyu and the hashiras had their swords drawn just in case that there was another demon. Tanjiro managed to pinpoint the location from which the scent was coming from and he saw that there was someone in a tree. Tanjiro revealed the figure's location and Giyu stepped forward.
"Come down and face us, Coward!" Giyu shouted.
"Now, now…" Said a mysterious, but albeit too familiar, voice, "That's no way to greet an old friend."
The cloaked figure then stood up on the branch she had been sitting on and she leaped off spreading what appeared to be wings. She glided down to meet them face to face. Everyone was in shock to see that the wings she had were actually feathers sewn to the sleeve of a haori. Tanjiro and the hashiras all knew who possessed such a haori. It was then that the figure took off the hood and revealed herself to be none other than, Tori. Giyu was the first of the three hashiras to drop his sword. Shinobu and Sanemi followed afterwards. Tanjiro ran up to his sister and he hugged her with tears streaming down his face. Tori embraced her brother and she too cried because even she started to believe that she would never escape Muzan. Now she was standing in front of those she loved and cared about and she could hardly believe it. Tori was now free, but she still had to be cautious. Her blood demon art had worn off, but Muzan still believed that she was dead. So, she had to make sure that she kept her distance from him to avoid detection. Coming back to reality, Tori looked at her brother. Tanjiro began saying how he thought he'd never see her again. Tori then just stroked her brother's head and hushed him.
"There, there, my brother. I'm here now. I'm here. There's no need for you to worry anymore." Tori
said softly, "I'll be honest with you, I felt the same way. I didn't think I'd ever get out of there, but here
I am free at last."
"I'm glad to have you back, Nee-san." Tanjiro cried, "I missed you so much."
"Me too, dear brother. Me too." Tori responded.
The two embraced each other once more and then turned to see the other hashiras approaching. Shinobu was the first to hug Tori. Sanemi then hugged her after Shinobu and expressed how glad he was to see her. Then they all looked over to see that Giyu was still stunned that Tori was standing in front of him. Sanemi explained to Tori that, out of all of their fellow hashiras, Giyu was one who was effected the most by her kidnapping. They hadn't seen him in the first few months since she had been gone. Tori was saddened that her absence effected Giyu this badly. She then walked up to Giyu and she stood in front of him. Giyu started to visibly tremble and then he pulled her into a tight hug as tears streamed down his face. Tori was very surprised by Giyu's reaction, but she returned the embrace and whispered to him that everything was going to be alright now. Once the tearful reunion passed, Giyu became serious. He looked at Tori with a serious expression. Tori started to grow nervous at Giyu's expression.
"Tori, we've heard from Akaza that Muzan has turned you into a demon." Giyu said, "Is this true?"
"The master said that even if you are a demon, it will not change anything." Shinobu added, "You'll
remain the Raven Pillar. You get to keep your position as a hashira."
"We know you well enough that even if you are a demon, you won't hurt humans." Sanemi
commented, "It's not the form that defines us, it's the actions that we take that define us."
"All we need from you, Tori, is the truth." Giyu continued, "Tori, are you a demon?"
Tori fell silent. She didn't want to reveal that she was a demon, but she heard honesty in their voices. They were also sincere. She felt that she really could trust in their words. They were right, she would never hurt humans because she was one of them once. She then began to tremble and tears began to stream down her face. She finally looked up at her comrades.
"I wish I could say no, but…" She said finally, "… I can't."
Tori fell to her knees and she cried. Giyu and Tanjiro embraced her trying to comfort her. Sanemi and Shinobu were in shock to see her like this. They knelt down in hopes of comforting her. It was then that Tori started to suddenly grip her stomach as pain surged through her. She then realized that she hadn't eaten in a long while. It was the only way that she could maintain control of herself as a demon. One of the things Muzan did to try and control her was make her crave blood more than most demons. If she ate flesh, she would be able to maintain her control, however, if she failed to get the blood she needed in a certain amount of time, she would become feral and attack anything in sight. Stomach pains were the first sign that she needed to eat. Giyu noticed that Tori was in pain and asked her if she had eaten. Tori shook her head. Sanemi decided to lend her some of his blood, so her cravings would be satisfied. Suddenly, Tori ran behind a tree and started to vomit at the fact that she was being offered human blood. Nezuko, who had awakened, understood that her sister's demon body could not handle the blood of humans. She walked up to Tori and held her hand out while scratching herself. When Tori saw that Nezuko was offering her blood, she revealed her demon form and she bit into Nezuko's arm, but she was gentle enough to not hurt her sister too badly. Once she had her fill, she reverted back to her human disguise.
Even though Nezuko offered the blood to her, Tori was still guilty that she bit her own sister. Tanjiro consoled his sister reassuring her that it was okay. She prevented herself from going feral and that's all that should matter. Tori smiled at her brother and she then turned to her fellow Hashiras and explained everything about her demon form and somethings that Muzan did to her that was the cause of her lack of control over herself. Muzan had control over her demon body and could potentially force her to attack humans. He also made her crave blood more than most demons. She also explained the attack on the Kamado family. When they learned that she conquered the sun, they were in shock. They expressed how excited they were, but they asked how it was possible since it went against everything they knew about demons. She explained that it was her bloodline that was the cause for her immunity to the sun. Since the sun breathing style was secretly passed down in her family, they had the power of the sun flowing through their veins. This, if they were demons, provided natural immunity to the sun. Therefore, anyone in her family, if they were demons, would be able to conquer the sun when they reached a certain point where they were at the peak of their strength. She further explained that Nezuko would be able to conquer the sun in the near future, however, she was too weak to do it right now. So, it was best not to encourage it. Everyone agreed to push Nezuko until the time was right. Shinobu after processing everything walked up to Tori.
"Ara, ara~ This is a lot of information. You should tell it to the master and the rest of our comrades
when we get back!" Shinobu said, "We've all been waiting for you, Tori."
Tori slightly gasped and then lowered her head. It seemed as they didn't get her note explaining the fact that she wasn't coming back. Tori was now hesitant, but she still was determined to rid herself of her demon form. Giyu and the other hashiras noticed the quick change in Tori's expression. She fell silent and this told them that something was wrong. Giyu then remembered that Tori's mother gave him a note. He looked at it and found that she had no intentions of returning even though she promised that she would. It was then that he understood that she wanted to get rid of her demon form. Giyu, putting the note away, walked up to her and he put his arms around her. Giyu then flashed back to a conversation that he had with the master.
"You wanted to see me, Oyakata-sama?" Giyu had said.
"Yes, Tomioka-kun. I know I don't normally reach out to just you only, but I honestly believe that you'd
be the perfect person to help me with this." Kagaya had replied, "With the news that we received from
our spy, I have a feeling Tori will not want to return to us now that she's a demon. We all agreed that
Tori will remain a hashira and a demon slayer, but I feel that Tori will hate herself so much that she
won't return until she rids herself of her demon form."
"Why are you telling me this? Why not tell one of the other hashiras about this?" Giyu had questioned.
"Because, Giyu-kun. You, out of all the other hashiras, understand the concept of self loathing the
most." the Master had continued, "You distance yourself and hide all of your emotions from most of
the other hashiras. The only people that you show emotions for are Shinobu and Tori. Theoretically, it
is likely that Tori will respond to you since your probably the closest person to her. I want to give you a
top secret mission. If you cross paths with Tori, find out where she's going to go and what she plans on
doing to rid herself of her demon form. I know it sounds impossible, but that's not really going to stop
her from trying. So, we might as well support her. I'm certain that you can handle this?"
"Yes, of course. I understand now, Oyakata-sama." Giyu had responded, "I'll take care of it, but I do
have a question. What if there are other hashiras with me when I cross paths with Tori? Do I still have
to keep this mission a secret?"
The master had shaken his head and told him that he wouldn't have to keep it a secret. Giyu was relieved and with confidence he accepted the mission. From the day he first got the mission, Giyu had gone out and met with Rui and helped to relay messages to Master Ubuyashiki. All the while, he searched for any signs of Tori. It proved to be easy to keep his mission a secret from the rest of the pillars because he didn't really like to talk to anyone anyway, so keeping any kind of secret was pretty much a given for him.
Once he was back into reality, he down at Tori, who was now clinging to his mismatched haori and crying. Giyu could already tell that Tori had been through a lot and that she hated being a demon. He hugged her tightly and gently stroked her. He quietly whispered to her that it was all over now and that she had nothing to worry about. Everything was going to be okay. He was there and wasn't ever going to leave her. Tori looked up at Giyu and was surprised to find his romantic side. Just hearing his calming voice, allowed any fears she had to dissipate. And looking into his deep blue eyes, which were previously dark and expressionless, she saw them sparkle as they burst with life. Tori was completely in awe and her face flushed red as her feelings for Giyu were starting to be realized. The Raven Pillar then smiled and she thanked Giyu because she really needed to here those words. After they broke their embrace, Giyu became dead serious and looked at Tori in the eyes once more. She was now nervous to what he had to say.
"Tori, you're not coming back with us… Are you?" Giyu finally said.
"… No…." Tori responded, "I'm not…. At least, not yet."
Sanemi and Shinobu were now in shock. Tori wasn't returning to headquarters like she promised she would. It was then that the two of them looked at Giyu shocked on how he figured that out. It was then that Shinobu realized that Tori might be wanting to get rid of her demon form first. She anxiously waited for what the two were going to say next.
"Do you know where you're going form here?" Giyu asked.
"Akaza told me about a demon who managed to escape Muzan's control." Tori explained, "She goes by
the name Tamayo. Akaza thinks that she might know a way to turn demons back into humans."
"How did she escape Muzan? How can any demon escape Muzan?!" Sanemi questioned, "He's the
demon king for crying out loud! There's no way for them to escape him!"
"It's not impossible, Shinazugawa-san. I mean, I just escaped him. I'm sure she escaped him in a
similar way." Tori responded, "Anyway, from what I've heard about Tamayo, she was the only one to
witness Yoriichi Tsugikuni nearly take down Muzan Kibutsuji."
"Sounds like she's the perfect person to go to." Giyu replied, "Just know that if you need anyone to talk
to, we're always nearby and we're willing to listen to anything you have to say."
"Thanks that means a lot to me." Tori said with a smile, "I better get going. I want to get to her location
before dark. I'll meet up with her when night falls, but I still want to be cautious. Muzan may believe
I'm dead now, but I still want to avoid making any kind of contact with him. I'm not going back to that
fortress."
"But, Tori, you don't have a sword." Shinobu reminded, "How will you fight off demons? With you
being a demon yourself, you can't kill other demons with just your legs and fists."
"Doesn't she?" Tanjiro surprisingly spoke, "It's in your haori right, Nee-san?"
"Huh? Did you nose tell you that one, little brother?" Tori smirked, "Or have you know about it for
awhile?"
"We've known for quite awhile," Giyu commented.
Tori smirked and she took off her haori and revealed where she hid her real sword. She then placed it between her belt on the side in which her dominate hand would draw it from. She put her haori back on and she looked back at her siblings and her comrades. They all knew Tori was going to be fine. Shinobu hugged Tori telling her to stay safe. Tori responded that she would. Sanemi gave his best wishes and reminded her that she still owed him a race. Tori laughed, but she warned him that if she found out that he stabbed her younger sister, Nezuko, she would hunt him down faster than a cheetah. Sanemi got extremely nervous when she said that and he just nodded. She then said her goodbyes to her brother and sister. She walked up to Giyu and they hugged each other for a bit. She said goodbye and then she leaped up and used the fourth form of her unique breathing style to head off to her next destination. The master sent her crow to her and she welcomed it and she kept moving.
Tanjiro and his sister began making their journey to Sakonji Urokudaki, so Tanjiro could train to be a demon slayer. Now that Tanjiro had confirmation that his sister was alive and on the road to becoming human again. Tanjiro vowed to be the best demon slayer he could possibly be and to turn Nezuko into a human as well. Tanjiro also vowed to help protect his family until his older sister could lift some of that burden from him. Tanjiro swore that he would be the one to take down Muzan for attacking his family, kidnapping his older sister, and turning Nezuko into a demon. Tanjiro and Tori were on the road to getting revenge on Muzan for everything he did to them.