They had decapitated Gyutaro and Daki's head from their bodies... but at what cost?
A blast of blood blades erupted by the headless of body of the demon Gyutaro so powerfully it leveled the entire city and didn't give the Demon Slayers a chance to stand up and run. If they even had the strength left to, anyway. The contract binding Kagami and Tanjiro's souls together kept her from moving. Her heart and head writhed and pounded with pain as her best friend started to quickly, and agonizingly, die from the poison circulating through his body. He had been hyperventilation, forcing her to do the same, and she attempted to help him, but she was disrupted by the horrified screams of Mr. Uzui and the explosion of blood blades.
Kagami was sure she was dead. That they were all. They were so close to Gyutaro's body they were in the immediate blast zone of his last-ditched effort attack. She was sure she died instantly from the moment she had seen a blood blade fly straight for her head... but, instead, her vision was filled with a powerful hot pink color.
She had seen it only for a second but witnessed enough of the beauty and power behind the attack. A swirl of hot pink flames shot out from the sky and engulfed the blood blades, burning them away before another nick could be made upon their skin. Afterwards, all she remembered was a small breath of air escaping her lips and letting exhaustion and pain overwhelm her completely into unconsciousness. Black darker than night entered her vision and she unwillingly fell into what felt like a deep slumber never to be awaken again.
That was until she felt a weak yet insistent nudge against her shoulder.
Kagami's eyes slowly flitted opening, her heavy eyelids peeling back what felt like a thick layer of blood crusting around her orbs, and she couldn't recognize the darkness that surrounded her. She found herself laying on her back with her eyes staring directly in the night sky. It was a strange sight seeing the stars peeking out from beneath a sheet of dark smoke. She had almost forgotten they existed until then. Slowly turning her head to the side, they tiredly ran over the area surrounding her. For a moment, she thought she had died and went to hell. That she was in a special corner the devil specially made for her. But she remembered where she was and why she had been there, and what she endured.
The entire Entertainment District of Yoshiwara was completely gone.
No building was left standing in sight. The fires that had previously rampaged through the streets, burning everything it touched, had been nothing more than small, dying embers. A cloud of dirt and smoke covered every single inch of what remained of the once lavish, vibrant, and intoxicating district. Everything was destroyed. It was a... sad and awful sight.
"Kagami..."
Her eyes flickered to the other side of her and found Tanjiro and Nezuko kneeling beside her looking over her body. He immediately broke out in a relieved yet exhausted smile seeing her eyes meet his.
As quick as she could under her painful circumstances, she sat up and lifted up her hand, ignoring the ghastly purple sight of her two broken fingers, laying it softly on his chest. He wasn't hyperventilating. He wasn't gasping for breath. The blood dripping from his mouth had almost dried and so was the cut in his shoulder. She found no sign of any poison in his body. Not even a speck of purple skin. That's when she realized her heart was no longer beating faster than a speeding train and her head was filled with no screams of his name.
"Tanjiro-" She tried to speak but found her voice airy and coarse. It was barely above that of a whisper. Kagami, in the passionate and determined heat of decapitating Gyutaro, screamed so much and so hard she lost her voice.
Tanjiro lifted his own battered hand and placed it gently over hers. "It's all right. You don't have to speak. I'm just as confused as you are," He began to softly speak, his voice just as airy and coarse but not enough to keep him from speaking further, "I don't know how I am able to move at all. Or how I am alive. The poison... it's gone."
Her hand, trembling violently, wrapped itself tightly around his uniform, crinkling it under her grip. Her vision blurred and her eyes started to sting harshly. Large droplets of tears brimmed her eyelids and quickly fell down her cheeks. A sob almost started to work its way up her throat from her chest but she refused to let it slip. No words needed to be spoken she was beyond relief he is safe and, more importantly, alive. That her best friend didn't die from the powerful infliction of poison. That everything... is finally over.
Nezuko, with a large smile hidden behind her new rope muzzle, pushes her head into Tanjiro's side and cooed adoringly.
Tanjiro smiled and patted her head affectionately, speaking, "You saved us, didn't you, Nezuko? We owe you one."
At Kagami's grateful nod of her head, Nezuko cooed again and pushed her head further into his hand.
At the two's brotherly and sisterly affection for one another, Kagami tried to stand. She sat up on her rear and pushed herself on her legs only for her to immediately collapse on her knees. That small movement knocked the wind out of her. Her legs wobbled tremendously, her muscles were excruciatingly sore, and she felt she would black out once again if she tried to move any farther. Tanjiro looked like he was in the same predicament as her, especially when they heard a familiar voice calling out for them in the background.
"Tanjirooooo! Kagamiiiiii!"
Both Kagami and Tanjiro gasped and turned in the direction the voice was coming from. "I hear Zenitsu!" Tanjiro weakly exclaimed. He tried to move again but winced at the pain skyrocketing in his legs.
Determinedly, Nezuko went under his legs and propped them on her shoulders and in her arms. Kagami shakily climbed on Tanjiro's back and and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life, as Nezuko started to escort them to Zenitsu's persistent screaming. Looking above Tanjiro's shoulder, they approached the bloody, sobbing, snorting, and frightened Zenitsu writhing and rolling on the ground. It looked like he is finally awake.
"Tanjiro! Kagami! I woke up, and my body hurts all over! Are both of my legs broken?! What's going on?! Who did this to me, Tanjiro?! Kagami?!" He screamed into the air staring up at them riding Nezuko's shoulders, and continued to do so with no shame, "I'm in so much pain! It hurts so bad, I can't look!"
Even though Zenitsu was back to his crying and annoying self, to see him alive and relatively well... did bring joy and tearful relief to Kagami's eyes.
"Oh good. You're okay, then!" Tanjiro gasped out for her.
"I'm anything but okay!"
Kagami and Tanjiro almost smiled at that but their expressions turned to one of horror at his next words, "I deserve pity too, but Inosuke's in even worse shape!"
"Inosuke?!" Kagami wanted to scream but found nothing coming out of her throat once again.
"The sound of his heartbeat is getting fainter and fainter!" He cried and pointed a finger towards his right. "He's right over there, but you better get to him fast!"
They turned their heads and, laying above a collapsed and remains of a rooftop, was Inosuke's unconscious body.
The sob she refused to let spill from her lips earlier had done so, and more and more followed after that one. Kagami cradled Inosuke's body on her lap and hunched over him, crying large droplets of tears that felt wouldn't let up any time soon. Her heart twisted and turned over and over in her chest watching and feeling his weak body in her arms. Tanjiro had shoved his hand into his chest wound screaming his name over and over again. Large purple discoloration had spread almost all over his chest and started to make its way down his arms. The poison was affecting him worse than she thought it would!
"Inosuke! Inosuke, just hang in there, all right?! Stay with me!" Tanjiro tearfully begged but wouldn't get an answer in return. His voice got caught at the back of his throat for a moment. He couldn't swallow the lump. It took everything he had to speak aloud, "I can feel his heart growing weaker by the second! I've gotta neutralize the poison!"
Kagami brightened slightly and insistently pointed a finger to the sky. "Sunlight! Sunlight!" She tried to scream through her whispers.
Tanjiro immediately got the message and desperately turned to the sky... but sunlight won't come. The moon was still positioned too high; it was barely 2am.
"Daybreak's too far... What do I do? What do I do? Send a crow to Ms. Shinobu? No, there's not enough time! If I don't do something right now, Inosuke's going to die," Tanjiro mumbled frantically to himself trying to find some hope, but there was none. Tears slipping down his cheeks, he quietly cried, grasping Inosuke's hand, "Why was my life the one that was spared? Why me?!"
Suddenly, Nezuko joined their side and casually placed a hand on his chest.
In less than a split of a second, Inosuke's entire body was engulfed in bright, hot pink flames.
Kagami and Tanjiro had gasped at the act but no terror coursed through their veins. They knew Nezuko's flames wouldn't hurt them, but... was it possible her flames could... heal someone? And what they witnessed was something no less than a miracle. His skin, the blistering purple that nearly covered his entire chest, was disappearing and starting to heal!
After a few seconds, the flames died down and they all waited with bated breaths.
"I'm starving! Give me something to eat!" Inosuke suddenly shouted from her lap with the small lift of his head.
Their horror and terror immediately turned into ugly cries of joy and relief. Kagami and Tanjiro threw themselves over him and started to sob into his chest, much to his struggle and protest.
"Knock it off!"
"Thank goodness!"
"You're creeping me out!"
In the passionate moment of his well-being, afraid she'll somehow lose him in the next few minutes, Kagami lifted his mask from his head. She didn't care about the blood smearing his face or his confused and annoyed facial expression. She dropped her head low and placed a short yet sweet kiss on the corner of his lips. The act immediately ceased his struggling and he went limp in her grasp. He stared up at her for a moment in wonder, stars sparkling in his eyes, and quickly brought his mask back down on his face.
Kagami giggled slightly at that and hugged him tighter to her chest.
Tanjiro grinned and looked all around them surveying the area. "I smell Mr. Uzui around here somewhere. We should neutralize his poison as well. Kagami, will you be coming too?" He had asked when Nezuko propped him on her shoulders.
Kagami turned her head to him with an exhausted yet contented smile on her face. Her hold on Inosuke didn't slacken nor shift in the slightest. Tanjiro grinned wider and nodded his head in understanding before turning and moving on without her. No words needed to be spoken that she is exactly where she wants to be and who she wants to be with.
"NOOOO! Please don't die on us! You can't just leave us all alone like this, Lord Tengen! Not after we managed to survive! Not after we won the fight! Not here! Not here!" Suma cried into the air with overwhelming grief. Large droplets of tears and snot started to run down her face as she turned to the sky and away from Uzui's body.
He laid limp against a collapsed rooftop and felt all of his energy and strength leaving him rapidly. His wounds had been tended to by his wives but the stub where his hand used to be didn't seem to want to stop bleeding. Purple discoloration of his skin covered his entire chest, half his face, and was already making its way down his arms. He couldn't breathe properly anymore. He couldn't even move a single inch without a painful spike running through his body. He was going to die very soon. It was all right though. He did what he sought out to do; protect his wives, the young Demon Slayers, and defeat a Twelve Kizuki. Well, two in his case.
"The antidote still isn't working! How are we supposed to deal with demon poison?! Why is God so cruel?! Why?! WAAAH! WAAAH!" Suma continued to wail almost hiding the small whimpers and tiny cries coming from Makio and Hinatsuru.
Relaxing against the rooftop, letting out a small painful breath and accepting his fate, Uzui started to lowly mumble, "Listen closely, for these are my last words. My life, up until this very moment-"
"If you let Lord Tengen die, then I'm never gonna pray to you ever again! There's no way I'll ever forgive you! Do you hear me?! WAAAH!" Suma screamed into the air inadvertently yet emotionally interrupting him.
Makio, who had been silently whimpering and starting to give in to her sadness watching him slowly die in front of her, turned to Suma burning and shaking with rage. Eyes white in fury, she screamed in the wailing woman's face, "Would you just shut up, already?! Lord Tengen is giving us his final words! I'm gonna stuff your mouth with rocks, you moron!" and harshly grabbed a fistful of her hair as well as some rocks.
"You both need to quiet down!" Hinatsuru angrily chastised them.
Suma stopped Makio's hand full of rocks from reaching her face but continued to scream, "WAAAH! I can't do that if Makio keeps bullying me like this! WAAAH!"
"Shut up, idiot!"
"WAAA-Uck! Ack! Did you just stuff rocks in my mouth?!"
"That's enough, you two!"
"Don't spit it out!"
"Why are you putting rocks in my mouth?!"
Uzui listened to their back and forth bickering, feeling the rocks Makio shoved in Suma's mouth bounce across his body, and hearing Hinatsuru trying to shout over their argument, with sheer and utter annoyance. They weren't even paying attention to him anymore, and he is the one dying. His only remaining eye stared up at the starry sky with an insistent twitch. You're kidding... Seriously? Am I gonna die without saying my last words? The poison's starting to make my tongue stiff. What am I supposed to do? I could've left those last words, but... Seriously?
The bickering immediately ceased at the arrival of a small figure beside him.
Uzui's eyes laid confusedly down at the tiny Nezuko peering up at him with bright pink eyes. She was no longer the flashy demonized girl but that of a small child. She gave him a small friendly grunt and placed a hand on his arm.
In that split second, he found himself on fire and all three of his wives screaming in sheer horror.
"Hey!" Suma screamed snatching Nezuko from him and shaking her in her grasp. "Just what do you think you are doing?! And who are you, anyway?! Isn't this a little early to be cremating him?! Look at him! He's not even dead yet! Who does something like that?! You deserve a spanking, young lady!"
Uzui stared at himself strangely and realized he didn't even feel a lick of heat or pain coming from the hot pink flames engulfing him. His skin wasn't burning to a crisp like he thought it would. Instead, he watched the purple blistering of its color fade and burn away to reveal its original creamy peach color. Not to mention his strength coming back and flooding his senses moments later. He felt... rejuvenated! Better than ever! He could feel the tips of his fingers and the ends of his toes!
"Hold on a second," He quickly spoke up before Suma could hurt the blank-face girl. A large smile spread across his face as he sat up with no trouble. He placed a small hand on his face and gasped out, "She removed the poison!"
All three wives gasped in shock and suddenly threw themselves over him, screaming, "Lord Tengen!"
Uzui, surprised, watched Hinatsuru and Makio's control over their tears break completely. They sobbed into his chest with large tears streaming down their face with Suma collapsed on his legs crying harder than ever. Their tears of sadness turned into ones of gold. It made him realize just how much he means to them and how much they mean to him. A small affectionate grin spread over his lips. Wrapping his arms gently around his wives, he chuckled lowly but lightly, "Sorry, you three, for making you worry."
Tanjiro watched from the sideline with a wide grin on his lips. "Nezuko's Blood Demon Art, it must've burned away all of the poison. Not that I'm really sure how any of it works," He said with a soft chuckle and patted her head earning a small yet confident snort from her. "Please take it easy, though. It didn't heal your wounds. I'm so glad you're safe."
"But how can this even be possible? I'm totally lost," Uzui huffed out but his eyes widened staring at Tanjiro's battered figure. "Hey, you need to rest, too! Look at you."
Tanjiro knew of his injuries and how the bleeding had momentarily stopped. Yet, he felt like he had unfinished business. He determinedly stared into Mr. Uzui's eyes and stated, "I'm gonna go search for the demons' heads. I have to find them, or I can't rest easy."
For what was minutes but felt like hours, he and Nezuko ran around searching for the demon's head. He could smell their blood from miles away and noticed a pool of demon blood. He threw a small rock towards it from behind cover. It harmlessly bounced across the large puddle of red liquid and no blood blades appeared from within. He took it as a cue it was safe. He swiftly collected a blood sample from the vial contraption Yushiro had invented and placed it in the bag strapped atop of Miss Tamayo's cat. He felt accomplished for gathering an Upper Rank demon's blood and knew they were one step closer to turning Nezuko back into a human.
Tanjiro and Nezuko continued on their way to find the demon heads. It took many more minutes with Tanjiro guiding Nezuko on the demon's scents before they heard loud angry voices coming from afar. They approached slowly and watched Gyutaro and his younger sister's bodiless and dissipating heads screaming and arguing with each other, not caring they had gathered an audience.
"I can't believe you got beheaded by a couple of amateurs!" He growled angrily at her.
"So you were watching after all! Why didn't you save me, then, huh?!" She shrieked back.
"I was too busy battling a Hashira!"
"I don't care if you were! You should have finished him off when you had the chance! You could have just split his head wide open!"
"And I was about to!"
"Yeah, right!"
At her retort, Gyutaro seemed to have gotten angrier. "But that kid with the earrings and the girl with the dragon was somehow still alive, so I figured I should kill him off first! Since you weren't doing a damn thing to help out, you should have been the one to finish off the Hashira!"
"Well, maybe you should have just controlled me so I could do that!" She screamed and added, "But instead you went and let your guard down as usual!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Tanjiro watched it all unfold with a sad look. They were still alive and slowly dying. They were brother and sister and yet they were arguing and fighting in their last moments with each other. They kept screaming until they ran out of breath.
That was, until, tears brimmed the sister's eyelids and she seethed under her breath, "A hideous person like you... couldn't possibly be my brother."
Gyutaro's eyes widened and his frown slackened at her words.
"I mean, just look at you," She hissed running her eyes over his face and scoffed, "I bet we're not even related by blood, not with how ugly you are! And now you're useless! Your one saving grace is your strength! And that's all you ever had! You're completely useless if you end up losing, so you're just a worthless, ugly freak now!"
Gyutaro listened to her words and felt every single sting pierce his heart. She was acting ungrateful and spoiled after everything he has done for her?! After everything he has sacrificed for her?! Becoming and turning into a demon for and with her?!
"Don't give me that crap! If you were on your own, you'd be dead now! How many times have I saved you?!" He screamed with tears full of rage brimming his own eyelids. Anger, frustration, and annoyance filled his core, and staring into her face that looked so innocent and so pure made him full of hate. "You're the worthless one... and you know it. You're too weak to stand on your own two feet. I can't believe I wasted my entire life protecting someone as useless as you. If it hadn't been for you, maybe I would have DONE SOMETHING WITH MY LIFE! MAYBE I WOULDN'T BE DYING RIGHT NOW! If only I didn't waste all of my time cleaning up after your messes... YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN IN THE FIRST PLA-!"
Tanjiro gently cupped his hand over Gyutaro's mouth interrupting what would have been the greatest mistake of his life. "That's not true. I know you don't really feel like that... You don't mean it," He softly mumbled to the demon. "Think it over. You two have no one but each other. There's no one who will forgive you for what you've done. You'll be resented, despised, and denounced by everyone you've killed. Nobody will ever be on your side. So quit cursing each other out like this, because all you have is each other in this world."
All Tanjiro has of this world, of his family, is Nezuko... and he can't imagine ever being without his younger sister.
After a few quiet moments, the sister began to wail out loud in sheer grief and terror. She then cried harshly, "Why don't you mind your own damn business?! What gives you the right to sit there and lecture us?! As if a brat like you knows anything! Do us all a favor and get lost!" She cried harder and harder, and tearfully reached out to her brother, begging, "I'm not ready to die yet! Please do something! Do something, Brother! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Help me, Brother! Help me, Broth-!"
In just a few short seconds, her entire head dissipated cutting off her words for her older brother to help and rescue her. To save her from the fear and terror of dying. For her longtime and lifelong protector to come be at her side.
"Ume!" Gyutaro subconsciously screamed out when Tanjiro removed his hand and gasped at the name.
Memories of his human life hit like a bullet.
That's right... Your real name was Ume. It was never that filthy demon name, Daki, bestowed upon you. Though, to be fair, "Ume" was pretty bad too. It's hard not to hate it since you were named after the very disease that killed our mother. The Rashomon Riverbank, the lowest class of the Entertainment District where we were born. Children here were seen as extra mouths to feed, so we were cursed for being born. My mother nearly killed me more than once while I was in her womb. She also tried to kill me after I was born, since I was nothing but a burden. And yet, I survived. My body was weak, like a withered leaf, but I clung to life with the strength I had left.
Worm, moron, cretin, coward, good-for-nothing, dead weight. I was mocked for my ugly voice and appearance. Sometimes, they'd even throw rocks at me for it. It felt like every insult in the world was created to leave an emotional scar on me. Not only was I hideous, I was filthy, too, covered in grime from head to toe and giving off the stench of death. It didn't help that I lived in the Entertainment District, where beauty was the measure of your value. I was treated like a monster! Whenever I would get hungry, I would eat mice and insects. My only toy was a sickle a customer left behind.
Soon though, things started to change for me... after Ume was born. Blessed with long gorgeous white hair and brilliant sapphire blue eyes, was the most gorgeous girl in the riverbank. You were my pride and joy, you know. Even at a young age, people couldn't help but marvel at the sight of your beautiful face.
I quickly discovered I was good at fighting and started working as a debt collector. I might have revolted everyone, but they feared me too, and that brought me pure joy! My ugliness became my source of pride, and because I had such a gorgeous sister, my sense of inferiority was washed away as well. Call it wishful thinking, but I really had the feeling that we were on the fast track to a better life.
Until you turned... 13.
She stabbed a customer in the eye with a hairpin in self-defense. When news got out that it was a samurai, her hands and feet were bound and then she was burned alive.
I wasn't there...
By the time I got home from work, you were... burnt to a crisp.
I found your body dug in a hole to rot and be forgotten from the world. I found you on the verge of death barely grasping any air you could get from the smoldered fires and smoke rising from your flesh. I found my only sense of joy, real happiness, dying at my feet. I grabbed your tiny, frail body and cried angrily into the skies. The word angry doesn't even cut it. I was furious, rageful, wondering what the hell I did to deserve to have my pride and joy, my beautiful little sister, to be snatched away from me in this godawful forsaken world. I cursed God. I cursed the entire world. I vowed to kill everyone and everything for taking her away. For a long time, I had nothing and I would be damned if I was going to live again with nothing.
Then, I was attacked by the same samurai you stabbed in the eye along with a woman who didn't care you were attacked by a customer.
Without hesitation or mercy, I killed the woman in cold blood and sliced his head in half. I hated him for what he's done and for what he had. He had nice skin, a nice kimono, and must've had a nice home. He must've never known what it felt like to live without a roof over his head, to go days or weeks without food, or to be seen as a disgusting nuisance! Him complaining about the loss of his eye when Ume and I worry about whether we're going to eat or not was the shit on the cake! He, and every single one of them, deserve what they got.
I carried her burnt body through the empty, dark, and quiet streets. No one ever offered to help us. No surprises there. That was just the story of our daily lives. No one batted an eye to our suffering, even at its worst. After a while, I collapsed from the wound on my back. Then I watched it start to snow.
Day in and day out, we were neglected and denied any bit of mercy from bystanders.
Why was that?...
So much for "fortune and misfortune are intertwined." Our entire lives were filled with tragedy, pain, and suffering!
"You two don't look so good. Aw, you poor things. You're lucky someone as kindhearted as me stumbled upon you. I hate to say it, but that girl is nearly dead," A stranger's voice full of lighthearted and playfulness had spoken from in front of him.
Standing on the large bank of snow that had since covered their bodies, holding the bloody severed head and limbs of a woman in his arms and back, was a man grinning widely down at them. He was just as beautiful as Ume; clear, supple skin, long white hair, but had strange fangs poking out from beneath his teeth. Yet, the most beautiful thing about him were his eyes. Spiraling and covering the whites of his eyes was a rainbow, an array of multiple colors. They glistened against the snowy background. Inscribed in each eye was Upper Rank Six.
With brightened smile stained with blood, he chuckled, "How 'bout I give you some blood? What do you think of that? That way, you can become demons, if he chooses you."
Casually dropping the woman's head as if it was nothing more than a speck of dust, he continued in a low voice, "Life is far too sacred to let it go to waste, and you should treasure it while you can." Making a slit across the palm of his hand, letting a trail of blood spill from the wound, a devilish smile spread across his lips as he held it out to them and he chuckled again, "Now, then, can you become worthy demons? Maybe you'll become a Twelve Kizuki like me... and rise to the Upper Ranks. I wonder."
To be honest, I don't regret becoming a demon. No matter how many times I'm reborn, I'll become a demon every time if that's what it takes to enact vengeance. I'll never show mercy to anyone who has a better life than me!
However... there is one thing I regret that continues to haunt me.
Ume, had I never taught you my way of life, you might have turned out differently. Had you only worked at a better House, you might have become a respectable Oiran. And if you'd been born to normal parents, maybe then you could have lived a normal life. Who knows? If you'd been born into a good family, maybe you would have become a well-bred young lady. You do have a very impressionable personality, you know. Maybe you only turned out this way because I was the one who raised you. "Take before someone takes from you," that's what I taught you, which led to you stabbing that samurai in the eye. But if you'd done as he said, maybe you could have actually made a better life for yourself.
My only regret as a human... it was you, Ume.
Gyutaro found himself in a dark, lonely place with no light to light his way.
Was it Hell? He imagined it to be nothing but fires and flames for him to burn and rot for eternity. Figured he would be by himself. Ume doesn't deserve to follow him into that lonely place.
"Is that you, Brother?"
Gyutaro turned at the familiar voice and found Ume standing behind him. She was staring up at him with those deep sapphire blue eyes that had no trace of the Twelve Kizuki inscription and her white hair, with no stain of the demon green, flowed down below her waist. No fangs peered from beneath her lips and no claws graced her fingernails. She was the beautiful human being he had forgotten she used to be... while he was still a horrifying, disgusting demon.
She took a step toward him and pleaded, "Wherever we are, I wanna leave! It's awful here. Please take me home. I'm begging you!"
He couldn't speak for a few moments. Then, he choked out, "Look at you. Why are you in a place like this?"
Gyutaro then realized she had a chance to go to Heaven. They were inbetween worlds at the moment. If she had been transformed back into a human, she was given a second chance and must've been granted access to the pearly gates. He knew he would be denied and didn't find it surprising. Now all he wants is for her to take that better chance at life.
He turned around and started to walk away from her.
"Is the exit that way?" She curiously asked.
He stopped walking and felt his heart drop into his stomach. Hands clenching at his side, he whispered, "Please, Ume. You don't have to follow me anymore."
"What do you mean, Brother? Of course I do! I've always-!" She started to protest.
"Don't follow me!" He immediately snapped at her.
Her eyes widened, not in fear but sadness, and he continued moving.
"Are you mad about what I said? I'm sorry for saying that stuff! I promise you I don't think you're ugly at all, Brother! I was just bitter! I was bitter because we lost! I said it because I didn't want to admit that it was my fault it happened!" She started to sob genuine tears behind him. "I'm sorry for not putting up more of a fight against them! I'm sorry I wasn't useful enough! I'm sorry I caused us to end up here, that I'm always dragging you down! Forgive me! Please!"
He could see his shadow casted against the ground in front of him. The bright, white light shining behind her was beckoning her to move on. Then, his eyes landed on the raging hot fires dead ahead of him. What awaited him was not a place she should be. Ume was stubborn as an ox. She would follow him to the ends of the earth, to the fiery flames of hell, if he doesn't do something.
"From here on out, you're not my sister anymore. You're nothing to me," He growled harshly with as much hatred as he could put in his voice. "Do what you want, but don't follow me. It's time we go our separate ways. You walk towards the light."
He couldn't still the shakiness in his voice, the lump growing in his throat, but hoped it would be enough to convince her to leave him.
That was until he heard her running footsteps.
He gasped feeling her jump on his back and wrap her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. "Stop!" He growled trying to shove her off but she dug her face tightly into his shoulder.
"Brother, please!" She sobbed loudly in his ear. "Please don't leave! You can't! I won't let go! We're always going to be together! No matter how many times I'm reborn, I'll always be your sister, no matter what! P-Please don't hate me or scold me. Please don't leave me here all by myself! I'll never forgive you if you leave me behind! Waah! Waaah! You said we would always be together! Don't you remember the promise we made? Have you forgotten?"
Gyutaro, heart twisting and turning in his chest, dropped his hands from her arms. He does... remember. How could he forget? Ume remembered... after all that time?
It was a cold, snowy day. They were out on the streets with no shelter to shield them and no roof over their head. They were poor and left to be forgotten. Ume was crying at their misfortune, sobbing over what little they had or what they didn't have, but Gyutaro, as her big brother, became her sword, shield, and home. Covering her body with his and using a makeshift blanket made of thick hay, he smiled down at her and did the best he could to keep her warm during the cold winter nights.
Rubbing her arms, he placed his chin over her head and hugged her close to his body. "If we're together, nothing can shake us... cold or hunger doesn't bother us at all. I promise you we'll always be together. I will never leave your side. See? You're not afraid of anything now, are you?"
She'd rather suffer and burn in hell with him than leave his side and live a better life in Heaven.
Now, remembering the promise he made all those years ago, he plans to filfull them and keep fulfilling them. Gyutaro grabbed her legs and lifted them higher on his waist. Holding onto them with a firm grip, the two of them walked into the fires of Hell together without looking back.
Tanjiro and Nezuko, sitting on his lap, held the last of Gyutaro's head and watched it sadly dissipate into nothing. The ashes he had grown used to seeing magically flew through the air as sparkles of red and green, staining the stars with its shiny hue, before ultimately disappearing itself.
"Did they make up? I hope so?" He mumbled to himself.
Nezuko turned her head and gave him a determined nod.
Tanjiro smiled and held her tightly in his arms. Their heads laid affectionately against one another and they stared up into the starry night sky. "It's finally over. I've been so tired," He sighed out.
"Hmm? I see. Really now? Upper Six, eh? Unfortunately that would be the lowest of the Upper Ranks. Well, Six or not, you still defeated an Upper Rank, so I believe congratulations are in order. Though it was Six... I guess you've earned some praise."
Both Uzui and his wives stared annoyed and exhausted at Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira, who finally showed up after the battle was long over. Not to mention the sarcastic tone in his voice started to grind on Uzui's nerves. He merely sighed, not wanting to start another argument, "I don't know if that was a compliment or not, but thanks."
"What he said!" Suma shrieked.
"You took your sweet time getting here," Makio growled.
Suma, like an angry dog, confronted Iguro with the point of her finger, growling, "Y-Y-Yeah, you showed up after all the fighting! How convenient!"
At the threatening hiss of Iguro's snake, Suma screamed and quickly backed away, climbing on Uzui and forcing him to wince in agonizing pain.
With the point of his own finger, Iguro scoffed, "What exactly do you plan on doing now that you've lost your left hand and left eye, and how long will it take you to return to duty after this? You'll need a replacement in the meantime. Any ideas of who can fill in for you until then?"
"I'm actually retiring," Uzui didn't hesitate to answer. "There's just no way that I can still fight. I'm sure the Master will understand that much."
"Don't be ridiculous. I don't allow it," Iguro hissed threateningly at his choice. "Too many swordsmen have fallen for you to consider retiring. We still haven't filled the Hashira spot that Rengoku left behind. Even being in your present condition is better than nothing at all. You'll fight until you perish."
Uzui just shrugged and waved him away. "Nah, I know just the young swordsman to replace me," He chuckled teasingly ignoring Hinatsuru shoving Suma off of him. With a large flamboyant smile with the twinkle in his eye, he added, "Do you remember that new kid that you love to hate?"
Iguro's eyes narrowed at his teased and he hissed, "What? You're joking. You mean he survived? A battle like this? Tanjiro Kamado survived?"
Uzui winked and added, "And I'm sure that Kagami Yamato will be the perfect replacement for Rengoku's spot as Hashira. Those two, the Sun and the Dragon, will become the best Hashira the Demon Slayers Corps will ever see."
At the sudden news from the arrival of a Kasugai crow, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, extremely ill and bedridden, coughed out in shock, "You're positive? They defeated them, two Upper Rank demons?" With a large smile, smearing the blood from his lips with arms and hands nearly completely purple, laughed out loud in glee, "You have my thanks, Tengen! Tanjiro, Nezuko, Kagami, Zenitsu, Inosuke!"
At the racing of his heart, and at the thrill thrumming through his veins, he hunched over in his wife's arms and proceeded to cough up an enormous amount of blood, but it didn't bother him. His illness, his curse, didn't matter. Not anymore.
"One hundred years. It took 100 years for something to finally change, and it actually happened!" He gasped and turned to his wife. "Amane..." He tried to speak but more coughs kept him from doing so.
"Yes?" She gasped out in horror.
He softly grasped her arms and smiled, chuckling, "Don't you see? This must be an omen. Fate is about to take a dramatic turn for us. The effects will be widespread. Everything will be shaken to its core. And eventually he will feel it as well."
Looking up at what was no doubt a night sky full of shining stars, he huffed, "Muzan Kibutsuji... We will defeat you. Our generation will put an end to you without fail, and then you, the sole blemish of my family, will be gone!"
Miryoku found himself twirling his duduk casually on the staircase, running his eyes back over the warped dimension he was previously in months ago where he was granted Upper Rank Seven title. He was back in the alternate dimension... the Infinity Castle.
Flicking his fangs with the tip of his tongue, his eyes scoured Akaza, the first of the Upper Ranks to be summoned, and noted the frightened expression on his face. Miryoku prided himself on being cold, steadfast, and casual but cursed himself, for the first time, for feeling the slight shake of his hands. To be summoned unannounced by the Biwa Demon in the Infinity Castle could only mean one thing.
The Demon Slayers managed to kill an Upper Rank demon.
Uzui was propped on his feet and was slowly being guided home with his wives Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma right beside him. They smiled at one another and couldn't wait to start living that civilian life they all had been secretly looking forward to for the longest time. On the other side of the decimated Yoshiwara Entertainment District, Kagami, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke gathered themselves in a large group hug, smiling and crying into each other's shoulders.
"We survived! We all survived!" Zenitsu cried.
Tanjiro wrapped his arms around them all tightly and added his own chorus of sobs, "Yeah... we did it!"
Kagami smiled and giggled through her tears and cries. She hugged all of her friends close to her, not caring about their blood smearing all over each other or their wounds sending painful spikes throughout their bodies. They were alive, they were all alive, and it was going to stay that way. Whatever may come their way, they will stay together and fight their battles as one just like they always have since the very beginning. She could only hope she made her father, mother, and Mr. Rengoku proud of what they've done and what they did.
They were only getting started. Muzan Kibutsuji will pay for everything he's done.
To Be Continued
Thank you everyone who has read Demon Slayer: The Dragon Breather up to this point! Your support and love means everything to me and the reason I kept writing up til this point. I will not continue this story until season 3 hits Crunchyroll. I do not want to write from the manga and spoil for my anime-watcher fans.
I will, however, do more Kimetsu Academy specials and 'What If' chapters leading up to the release of the Swordsmith Village Arc. If you would like to see a 'What If' chapter, message me or put a comment down below.
Once again, thank you very much! Goodbye for now!