Tanjirou struggled to stay awake in the silence of the car. It was late, and he and his friends hadn't gotten any rest, so it was natural that he needed sleep. His eyes wandered over the rest of his friends whose eyes were all shut. "Wait, they're asleep?"
He could feel his heart pump a little faster, something was wrong. "There's no way that everyone would be this tired."
The boy's eyes wandered eventually to the standing Hashira in the aisle. Looking at him, something was wrong. His body was completely still and he was blankly staring across to the conductor, who also wasn't moving.
Tanjirou's eyes immediately shot open as he stood up from his seat. "Rengoku-san? Rengoku-san!"
The Hashira's eyes were glossed over and his notable smile was gone for a look of distraught. By instinct, Tanjirou's hand immediately went to grasp the Hashira arm, but he stopped halfway through. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned back to see the blank eyes of the conductor.
Fear.
As soon as he heard the words leave the conductor's mouth, he felt his entire body be pulled backward with an unbelievable amount of force, sending him tumbling backward.
"Ack!" As he fell back, he expected to hit seats or the back of the train car, but not snow. His eyes adjusted to the now sky above, not a ceiling. It was grey as clouds overcasted every single inch and snow lightly fell from them. He shot up, taking in his surroundings. It was a forest, but not any forest, he knew this one. "N-No, it can't be. How am I back here?"
He looked around for it and soon, he saw it. His old house. He inhaled and caught the same stench of blood coming from the house, the same scent from long ago.
"It can't be!"
The boy ran. His feet dipped into the snow as he broke over to the familiar form of his sister and brother on the ground in front, except this time, she wasn't covering him, she was dead. Both of them.
A part of him dropped as he slowly moved his gaze over into the house, expecting to see the rest of his family, which he did. Although now, there was more than just his family painted in a sea of crimson. The bodies of all of his friends were thrown, mangled across the floor. Inosuke, Zenitsu, and more. Kanao, the butterfly servants, and Shinobu were strung up on the walls along with Giyuu and Urokodaki.
Tanjirou felt his breath quake as he shut his eyes. This couldn't be real; he was just on a train ready to fight. He spoke to himself quietly as he calmed himself. "This has to be an illusion. This isn't real."
"Is it now?"
The voice was piercingly familiar, toxic. The scent coming from behind him sent a chill down Tanjirou's spine. It was the most vile, rancid, and dense smell of a demon he ever inhaled. It was Muzan Kibutsuji's. He spun to face him.
Standing a small distance from the house in front of him was the progenitor of demons, clad in his signature black jacket, white hat, and pale skin. Tanjirou tensed and drew his sword as he stared down the figure. He knew he wasn't real, but if there had to be a way out, it had to be with him.
"You're going to pay… for everything you've done!" he shouted.
Kibutsuji grinned. "Oh, really?"
Tanjirou blinked and he was gone, and before he could react, he felt pain in his abdomen as a fist was implanted violently into it, causing him to eject some blood as he folded in half. Before he knew it, he was thrown again, tumbling across the ground.
"Did that feel real? Huh?"
He was mocking him. That's all Tanjirou could think of as he stood to his feet staring back at the demon of demons, recovering from the blow. He raised his sword again and prepared to strike him. Tanjirou inhaled and ran.
Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!
Tanjirou raised his sword and delivered a volley of swings as he closed in. The anger in his mind spiked as Kibutsuji dodged every single swing that came. The demon backflipped away at the final swing, grinning once more.
"Is that all you got? You're weaker than I thought!" The boy once again raised his sword and in response, Kibutsuji, this time, raised his open palm. He watched as black mist began to form and condense in the palm of his hand, forming a black sphere the size of his head. His eyes widened when Kibutsuji reeled back, and threw it.
"Try this one on for size!"
…
"Tanjirou, wake up!" Susamaru violently shook her boyfriend back and forth panicking. His eyes glassed over, and he didn't respond. "Damn it!"
The demoness eyed over the rest of her party in the same state of idleness, trying to find the source of what was causing it. She grit her fangs, unable to. "Fuck!"
Her focus shifted to the Hashira standing still in the middle of the aisle, his eyes also blank. She got up from the seat and grabbed onto him, shaking him back and forth too, "Come on damn it! I thought you were a Hashira! And you got caught under some asshole demon's spell!"
She kept shaking him back and forth, hoping that he would wake up. When he didn't respond either, she pulled her fist back. "AAAH!"
When she let it fly, she was surprised when something caught it midair. She opened and lifted her eyes in excitement, expecting Rengoku to be awake with her fist in his hand, but it wasn't. She slowly turned her head to the side as the hand stopping hers was connected not to the Hashira, but the conductor. When her head fully faced him, panic struck through her as he stared with deep red eyes into hers.
Fear.
"AGH!" Susamaru felt her arm be dragged, almost like it was being ripped off, causing her to fly across the train. When she expected to feel the crash of hard leather and metal of the train, all she felt was the ground, dirt. "W-What… w-what the hell?..."
She pushed herself up from the ground and took in her surroundings. Below her was dirt and sparse grass, a brick wall surrounding the entire perimeter, and the entrance to a wooden, two-story house a couple yards away. By instinct, she spun behind her and found the form of the demon she hated the most, the one that betrayed her and fed her lies, Muzan Kibutsuji. "N-No… t-this-"
"This has to be an illusion? This isn't real?"
She bared her fangs hearing the scathing, piercing tone of his voice and the apathy in his eyes. So what if it was an illusion, there was no way she was going to let any version of him live. In the seconds staring down the demon, she felt her anger turn into smugness.
"Is it now?"
Unconsciously, she could feel her lungs expand and her blood begin to heat with the feel of total concentration breathing takeover for a familiar time. The fire within her only began to build. She found herself locked in his gaze.
"You're going to pay for everything you've done."
Kibutsuji's head slightly tilted as he stared her down, before grinning. Susamaru charged, step by step charging as fast as she could with her breathing enhanced demonic speed sending a punch straight into his stomach.
"Did that feel real? Huh!" Kibutsuji bent in half as he went flying, tumbling through the snow. She saw him stop, slowly standing up from the ground to look at her even angrier. She braced when he ran straight for her, seemingly pulling a red and orange and katana out of nowhere and coming at her with a volley of swings.
Effortlessly, she ducked and weaved, dodging every single swing that came her way and backflipping to gain some distance. She laughed at slow his attacks seemed, she thought he'd be faster than that. "Is that all you got? You're weaker than I thought!"
Kibutsuji raised his finger and prepared. Susamaru held her palm outward and the familiar sight of black and red smoke began to condense and form a temari in her hand. She grinned this time. "Try this one on for size!"
()()()()()()()()()()()
"Nezuko, where are we going?"
Zenitsu asked as he his hand was being pulled along by a silent, pink-eyed demon slayer. She didn't respond, she only continued to drag him along until they were in the middle of the next car over. He looked around and no one was present, it started to freak him out.
She stopped, letting his hand go in the process, back turned. He raised his hand lightly, "Nezuko?
"Do you know that I hate you?"
He froze at her words. He heard her speak and the emphasis placed on that single word. As the final words reached his ears, the boy retracted his hand and he felt a hitch in his chest begin to grow and his heart begin to beat faster. What had he done to make her so angry? "W-W-what?... are you serious?… You don't mean that right?"
He witnessed her hand drop down to her side as her fingernails extended, the sound of her breathing picking up. Her hand tensed and veins protruded from it. Zenitsu flinched when her fist tightened, and grin appeared on her demonic face.
"You're so pathetic! Why do we even travel with you!"
"Wa- Nezuko!" Before he knew it, her claws came for his head. His instinct saved him as he ducked underneath and let them hit the side of the seat beside him. He stumbled backward and brought his sword out to contest as more slashes came after him. He screamed out to her, "Neuzko! You're acting crazy!"
Zenitsu fell back onto the ground with nothing but terror in his eyes as he stared up into the cold, green eyes of his friend. Her expression was completely empty and all he could see was detest as she spoke and pointed her finger at him.
"I'm tired of pretending! No one likes you! You're just a burden to me, Susamaru, and my brother! I MAY AS WELL JUST EAT YOU!"
She brought her claws in straight for his head. "AHHH! I'M SOOORRRY!"
He swung back and blocked them, pushing against her. "PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!"
…
Nezuko kept her back turned as she took a deep breath and exhaled. "Listen Zenitsu, Rengoku told us to go the back of the train to look for demons. Can you keep an eye out?"
"Nezuko?" His voice came from behind her. She spun herself around to face the boy. What she didn't expect to see was Zenitsu looking completely frozen, like he had seen a ghost.
"D-D-Demons?..."
The tone in his words carried the same feeling of cowardness. It sounded like he was about to pee his pants. She only could watch as he heard a distant thump which instinctively caused her claws to come out.
She looked past Zenitsu to the previous car where everyone else was and pointed past him to it. "Zenitsu! Did you hear that?
A flash of worry ran through her mind causing her to tense slightly before she saw the boy in front of him draw his sword still with his face completely pale. He raised his katana in front of her face as he looked into her eyes. "Y-Y-You're one of them… AREN'T YOU! YOU'RE NOT NEZUKO!"
"Z-Zenitsu!" There was nothing that she could say in response as she battered the sword away from her as it came down on her, gritting her teeth with visible veins on her forehead.
She pushed him off. She didn't want to hit him, so she tried to reach for his sword to take it out of his hands, but he kept retreating wildly swinging his sword as he did. Nezuko put all of her strength into parrying and pushing Zenitsu to the floor which knocked him back onto the ground.
When he fell back, she pointed raised her claws at him and his discombobulated state. She yelled at him in frustration. "Zenitsu, what's wrong?!"
()()()()()()()()()()()
Black sphere after black sphere came after him with no break. "Crap! If even one of those hits me, I'm a goner!"
T anjirou evaded another sphere that flew towards him, crashing into the wall of his once home. He looked up tiringly to see the pitcher, in his black attire, his unbearable stench, and his terrifying grin.
"Come on you little bitch… stop running!"
"Come on you little bitch… stop running!"
Susamaru summoned two more of her temaries and launched them towards the demon that lied and manipulated her. In all her fury, in all her rage, she let loose another volley only for him to roll and dodge out of the way.
"Goddamn it! FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" She dissipated the temari she had in her hand and charged straight at the target of her hatred. Total concentration breathing was second nature in the instant she dashed at him, closing the distance. She registered the look of shock that appeared on his face as she tackled him to the ground, his sword flying out of his hand as she did.
"Crap! My katana!"
"Crap! My katana!"
The desperation in mind grew ten-fold as he found himself pinned to the snow-covered ground with a body crouched over him. Instinctively, he raised his arms to cover his face as two fists of the form of Kibutsuji rained down upon him.
"Take this you fucking bastard!" A first punch came in and made contact. He could feel the force of the punch rattle the bones in his arms. His heart started to speed, his lungs inhaling as much as they could for his body to use, but it didn't matter. A second punch came in, and a third, and fourth. Then he felt a crack in his forearm, causing him double over in pain beneath. It wasn't long before his hands dropped to his sides. Tanjirou braced in fear and in agony.
He couldn't tell what happened. He closed his eyes as the sharp pains started to flood in from the punches. All he knew was that they stopped suddenly. Tanjirou's eyes slowly crept open, and he remembered what he said.
"…susamaru…"
"…susamaru…"
"…What?..." The demon stopped with her fist wound behind her. "What did you say?..."
She couldn't believe the demon beneath her that she was pummeling. How pathetic and bloodied he looked. The face of a trembling and fearful demon felt cathartic to her, but it also felt wrong… somehow. Her breath began to hitch. "Why… w-why am I…"
She looked down at her hands, inspecting the blood, the red stains upon them contrasting with the white ever present around. Her eyes focused and she found herself looking down below again.
It was not the demon that made her, that took her humanity. It was the one person she loved, barely breathing.
She stopped breathing in that instant as her hands fell to the sides of him as she leaned down.
"TANJIROU!"
"TANJIROU!"
Tanjirou could barely feel his face over the pain that washed over him. He could barely hear the sounds of the person above him as they screamed at him. His eyes slowly opened and focused. The shadow of the figure outlined and was no longer his sworn enemy, but someone he knew. His eyes shot open and her words became clear, as weak and as trembling as they were.
"T-Tanjirou… Tanjirou… I'm so s-sorry… h-how could I- "
She sniffled in pure shock and pain. Heat filled rose to her eyes as tears began to fall. The choked-back attempts were audible to him, and the sight of her gripping her own hair woke him from his stupor.
"Susamaru…" She perked up from the mention of her name and looked down in regret. Tanjirou looked her in the eye, and smiled, blood running down his face.
"It's okay… I'm fine. I'm okay."
She looked as if she was going to burst out into more tears before she was engulfed in a hug by the boy, which froze her. All that ran through her mind was how could he say that her after what she had done.
"I still love you."
He seemingly answered her one doubt and she felt the world wash away from her. Both of them, the snow and the forest departed for a familiar aisle of a train.
"Now come on *cough*… We have a demon to stop."
()()()()()()()()()()()
"Nezuko! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"
He raised his sword to shield himself from another incoming slash coming from the demon violently swinging at him. All he could think about was the mindless terror in his mind as he kept his eyes locked on the demonic, veined, animalistic visage of the girl. "Why! Tell me please! Was it something I said?"
The words didn't appear to reach her as he raised his sword sideways in order to stop an incoming strike above him. The sound of colliding nails and blades rang out through the car while he desperately tried to hold her back.
"THIS ISN'T YOU!
"GET AWAY FROM ME DEMON! GET AWAY!"
Nezuko stared down worriedly at the fearful demeanor the boy in front of her was putting out. She had never seen him act like this, nor be this frantic. "What do I do! He must be under a demon's spell!"
She felt the demon blood within her fire up to boil as she had to launch another set of attacks at him, trying to subdue him. He parried and dodged each of them with ease, which only made her more annoyed. She grit her teeth and channel strength to her legs.
"ZENITSU! Stop!"
Without warning, she lowered her body and tackled Zenitsu to the ground. The two fell back into the aisle as Nezuko planted herself on top of the boy with her claws. Her eyes lifted and the heat in her veins became hotter over as she sent more strikes his way, all hitting his katana.
Strike after strike, the sound of ringing filled the car as Nezuko tried to knock the blade out of his hand. She struck again and again and again, yelling down at the terrified visage of the boy.
"Zenitsu, WAKE UP WILL YOU!"
Her voice started to waiver as her strikes began to lose power. She reached down and gripped the blade. Her face tensed as she forcefully pulled the blade from his grasp and throwing across the aisle.
Her eyes were shut from how tired she was. She wasn't paying attention to the boy beneath her at this point, but she was slowly regaining her stamina. She was relieved however that she got the sword away from him.
Nezuko's eyes slowly started to open. On her knees, placed above the one demon slayer she was trying to help, the first thing she noticed was her hand. It was covered in something, red, a crimson shade. Something within her started to cause her body to shake which only intensified as her eyes fell upon him.
His katana was still in his hand and unmoving. The yellow of his haori was stained the same color as her claws, as more of color seeped into it. His expression was pained, his eyes were barely alive, staring back at her, breath barely audible. The pulsing crevices across his chest was last thing she noticed.
Her hands began to shake.
"Z-Ze… Zenitsu!"
Her voice too. She got off of him immediately, looking around frantically for anything she could use, to no avail. Her breathing sped up and her shaking hands fell upon his chest to check his heartbeat, weak, but it was still there.
"N-Nonononono! ZENITSU!" She supported his head under her hand as she tried to cover the still bleeding slash across his chest. "…S-STAY! STAY WITH ME!"
She couldn't stop the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. The heat under her eyes bled and burned like fire as she clutched his body. She screamed out, her mind running through every option she had. When her mind came upon one idea, she steeled herself.
Picking his blade off the floor, Nezuko made a horizontal slash across her hand so that blood leaked from it. Without hesitation, she moved her bleeding palm onto his chest. She looked upon his form, waiting, inhaling, and then igniting it. Seconds passed as the red fire bloomed. And second passed, but nothing changed, then she realized that it wasn't working.
"Nonono!" Her blood demon art didn't hurt humans, only demons. Her breathing sped. She needed this to work! He was bleeding too much and the only way was to close the wounds! She screamed and larger blossom of fire engulfed the two before dying. She stared into the dying boy.
"I-I-I… I have to!"
She shut her eyes and concentrated. In the back of her mind, she could hear the remnants of the echoes of the voices she heard once before. Her family, the ones that woke this power within her before. She felt the blood and the fire in her hands. She needed to change it. Just this once.
In a flash, the fire wasn't a vibrant red and pink, but now shifted slightly to a subtle orange. The fire, now smaller, burned partially into the cut wounds across his chest and body. The edges of them turned from red to black and bleeding slowed before stopping. Her hand went back to his neck, and his pulse was slowing and stabilizing.
"Nezuko…"
Her head shot up at the mention of her name. The girl found herself staring into his eyes as he stared back at her.
He was smiling. Why was he smiling? He was in pain, dying because of her and he was happy? She shook her head. "Zenitsu! A-Are you okay?!"
He continued to stare upwards at her, and without warning she felt him flinch. She didn't expect it when the boy shot up from the ground, panting heavily and coughing.
"Agh! *cough*…" Zenitsu checked himself, his hands whirling all across the cauterized wounds, causing him to wince. "W-What… what happened to me!"
Before he managed to start however, he found hands wrapped around his shoulders that spun him around. His eyes went wide at the worried face of Nezuko "You're okay!"
Zenitsu didn't move as Nezuko started checking his body up and down. He thought to himself for a moment about what happened, the memories of the last few minutes bearing back into his mind, overriding his emotions. It was a blur. The way Nezuko was acting, everything she was saying, the words still echoing. It didn't feel real. Was it real?
It didn't matter. By instinct, he stared the girl poking and prodding to ensure he was okay before he gripped her in a huge hug.
"Thank you Nezuko!" She slightly froze, but she let it happened. When he pushed off of her, his tone became serious, more melancholy. She didn't move and continued listen. "I remember-… you were chastising me, for being a big idiot and a coward and…"
He instintevly rubbed the back of his head and looked away. "The things you said, you didn't mean it right?"
Nezuko tilted her head. "No… I don't know what you're talking about Zenitsu."
She looked back to the cart they came from. "There was a sound, and then you were acting crazy! I don't think that any of that was real."
"Oh!" He looked down at his injuries, and contemplating it more, they must've been tricked. He shrunk a bit at the returning thought of demons. "Then it m-must be the demons the Hashira was talking about."
"Demon art?" Nezuko wiped the blood from her hands. Seeing the injuries she caused, if there was a demon that could make her attack her friends, they needed to be stopped. "Then we have to tell everyone about it!"
The pink-eyed girl stared down the boy in front of her. He didn't look like he was in pain, only in shock, and that she was glad for. She smiled, standing up from the aisle. As she did, she looked around to see the blank expressions of the rest of the passengers. She immediately lowered her hand and helped Zenitsu to his feet as well.
"This has to be the work of the demon. All of it." She said. "We need to save them!"
Zenitsu, finishing his glance around the room. Turned back to the ready-to-fight demon beside him. Her expression was stoic, and there was still some of his dried blood left on her face, hands, and uniform, and the pain was there, but he could deal with it.
The words he heard in whatever that was before still rang throughout his mind. Coward, idiot, slacker. He heard it all before, but coming from her, it really hit hard. He looked down at the blade in his hand he picked up. His demon slayer sword. He was a demon slayer, and there was only one thing to say.
"Yea!"
The two rushed back into the original car.
()()()()()()()()()()()
"You can't win Kyojuro."
The flame Hashira exhaled, sword in hand facing the demon he once knew. They were still on the cliffside with him backed against the edge of the cliff and Mukago facing him, unscathed. None of his breathing techniques worked, she was somehow fast enough to dodge every attack. He was running out of options.
"And why is that?"
"You're in my dominion." She gestured to her surroundings. "Everything you see is something I created out of your own senses. I could be anywhere."
In that moment, she disappeared from sight. In a flash of realization, he spun to see her behind him, raising his sword. He blinked and she was gone again. Images of her began to flash in and out around him forcing him to turn every which way just to face her before she stopped, right where she was before.
"It's no use fighting. You're trapped Kyojuro. You can't leave." Lower four expressed with no emotion. She began to take steps forward towards Rengoku. The heavy breathing body of the Hashira saw her approach and looked down at the ground, and smiled.
"You're right." He replied, lowering he sword.
"What…" She stopped in her tracks a few feet away. She witnessed as the Hashira reversed his grip on his katana. "Kyojuro, what are… NO, STOP!"
Mukago could only watch as he began to pull his blade inward into his own stomach. Her legs moved and her hand reached out, but it was too late. Blood spilled on to the rock beneath him as Rengoku grunted in pain.
"RENGOKU! That's not going to- agh!" She stumbled back as she felt a violent tear rake across her face. The pain and the sudden introduction of it caused her to lose focus, making her drop her illusions. Lower Four stumbled back, covering the now new wound, and regaining her surroundings as they were now back in the train car. What she found was the other two demon slayers, swords drawn and ready to fight. The red haired one was the closest and the rest were behind him.
Zenitsu kneeled down to the coughing Hashira on the floor. "Mister Rengoku, are you alright?!" he asked.
"I'm alright…" The Hashira got to one knee and focused forward through the pain. With everyone's attention trained on her, Lower Four took a step back and readied herself.
Tanjirou then felt a hand on his shoulder, turning slightly to the standing flame breather. He was surprised when he gestured him back and took a step in front so that now he was facing the demon.
"Mukago." Rengoku lowered his gaze slightly, a minute scowl appearing on his face as memories of their childhood came back to him. "We can't go back to the past, nor can I let a demon who has killed as much as you have go."
The Hashira placed a hand on his sheathed blade, wincing slightly.
"…I'm still injured?..." he thought to himself. "It feels like my katana is still in my stomach." He continued on despite the pain seeping in.
Lower Four lowered her arms and tightened her hands into fists. Rengoku could see her expression harden. "So, you really don't care? Fine, have it your way!"
There was a pained look as she swiped her arm in the air in front of her. Suddenly, the group turned to see the once dormant passengers begin awaken. In seconds, their screams and yells filled the car as many of them started to attack one another. More passengers started attacking from behind, forcing the group to defend.
"Shit! What did she do?!" Susamaru yelled as she dodged an incoming punch and in a split-second, subdued them.
"All the people are fighting one another!" Tanjirou sheathed his sword and grabbed at two incoming arms to hold them back.
"It's her blood demon art! The demon has the power to alter people's senses!" Rengoku took a step to the side, stepping out of the way of a shove and using a free hand to knock the man in front of him unconscious. He looked back down the aisle to see two other passengers in front of him, a man in and a woman.
"YOU BASTARD! THAT WAS MY CHILD!"
"GET OFF OF MY MOTHER!"
The aisle was empty except for them, she was gone. Rengoku quickly inhaled and boosted past the two of them using the hilt of his blade to send them to the ground. He turned to the others, attempting to restrain the other passengers in the car. It was in that moment he felt another surge of pain in his abdomen. He recoiled, trying to steady himself.
"Damn, I can't fight her in this condition. She's probably affected everyone else on the train too." "Tanjirou! Demon girl!" They boy and Susamaru responded by turning their heads.
"You're going to need to go after the Kizuki! I'll work with the yellow-haired one and the other demon to ensure the safety of the other passengers." He ordered.
Tanjirou stood to his feet after tying a makeshift knot around the man's hands who tried to attack him. Susamaru turned to attention as well. Tanjirou pulled out his sword and looked off to his side for approval. "You ready Susamaru?"
"Born ready!" The two darted past the Hashira with the sound of the car door opening and closing behind him. Rengoku, meanwhile, ran up to the struggling Zenitsu on the floor with two people on top of him, Nezuko trying to pull them off. Both of them were surprised when two bodies went flying into the walls of the car, knocking both of the men unconscious on impact.
"Woah..." Zenitsu sat up from his position to see the Hashira standing next to him and Nezuko. "Mister Rengoku sir!"
"Both of you will go up to the front two cars to restrain the people there. I will go and protect the people in the back five. Understood?" the pillar proposed.
"Yes sir!" They both said in unison.
()()()()()()()()()()()
Lower Four ran across the top of the train leaping from one car to the next. "I have to get- shit…"
The demon glanced back to see two figures climbing up from a car behind. The winds picked up. Tanjirou peeked his head over the top of the car, spotting her immediately. His eyes flared as he jumped up onto the car, Susamaru following close behind.
"There she is! Don't let her ass get away!" Susamaru yelled, synthesizing her trademarked temari in her hand. She watched as Tanjirou chased started to sprint his way after her. Closing one eye, she grinned and reeled back her right arm.
"…on your RIGHT!" With force powerful enough to launch a boulder, Tanjirou glanced over his shoulder to find a three-foot in diameter temari whizz past his head. He followed its trajectory, and seeing it barrel straight towards the Kizuki, he picked up his pace.
"SHIT!" Lower Four extended her arms and braced for impact. The handball collided with her palms. She grit her teeth as the force that the ball was thrown with pushed back, sliding her feet across the roof, scraping as it did. Her feet slid right to the edge of the car where it connected with another and before she could regain her composure, all she could see was the formation of water flowing from behind the ball.
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!
Tanjirou grunted. He leaped, feeling the metal beneath his feet leave as he fell with a downward strike toward the Kizuki.
"AHH!" By instinct, Mukago instantly raised the temari in her hand to defend herself before the strike hit. The blade cut the top of the ball, causing the swing to deflect upward, barely missing. "AGH!"
She stumbled back and flipped over the gap between the cars, landing on her feet a small ways away from the two pursuers. She steadied her feet and looked. She was on the last car before the engine, and the red-haired demon slayer was closing in with the other one close behind. "Crap, is she a damn demon?"
"Doesn't matter if she is!" Mukago reached out, and feeling the connection with her dominion still embedded within the train. Only the floor in this instance was hers to control, so she didn't have the full power she had before. She closed her fists and launched an assault of her own anyway.
Blood Demon Art: Illusory Dominion!
Tanjirou leaped over the gap onto the final train car and readied his sword. His eyes met with hers. "What is she?... Below me!"
Tanjirou's feet pulled him to the side right before a giant spike of metal rose from the ground beneath him, intending to impale him. He glanced upward to find the Kizuki wildly swinging her hands, causing more spikes to raise.
With an inhale, he rolled out of the way of another spike and continued to approach as fast as he could, jumping and diving over spike after spike. Before his knew it, he was right on top of her. "I've got her now!"
He raised his sword to strike, and strike he did. But as soon as his blade made contact with her neck, it stopped. He looked to the right and saw the reason. It was an exact replica of her, the demon in front of him now gripping his hand. Before he could react, he doubled over from a punch to the gut. There were two.
Mukago took a couple steps back to create some distance. She was about to take another step back before she found the edge of the car. Only the small roof the engine remained. "Shit, I'm cornered."
"Tanjirou!" Susamaru leaped over to the final car to see her crimson haired lover assaulted by two copies of the demon that they were fighting.
"I've got it!" He managed to free his sword from the one replica and retreated slightly. They weren't as fast as the real one, as they were illusions, but they felt real enough. "Go on ahead!" he ordered.
"Kay!" she responded, confident in his ability. Without hesitation and using the enhanced demonic strength in her legs, she leaped over the group, putting herself in between them and the Lower Moon. Susamaru eyed the demon in front of her and cracked her neck. "I've got you now you bitch!"
Lower Four gripped her fist even tighter as she prepared to fight. Her heart was racing, but so was her mind. "Why the hell is a demon working with demon slayers anyway?!" She put extra emphasis on the word to announce her disbelief and anger.
Susamaru did a trademark over-confident laugh. "Ha! Why? And why would a damn Kizuki like you even give a shit?" She spouted, pointing a finger at her target and forming another temari in her other hand.
Mukago grit her teeth and glared. Why the hell were these demon slayers letting her live, and even fight by their side? Rengoku even didn't even try to hide the fact that demons were still enemies, so why let this one live and not her? It infuriated her even more. "Like you would even understand, slut!"
"Slut? Oh that's it, you asked for it bitch!" The temari demon charged without hesitation. Mukago didn't anticipate how fast her opponent was when she closed the distance instantly. She barely could outmaneuver the swing coming down on her face by the subtly muscular demonic entity. More of them came in rapid succession, along with two kicks to the side. Her arms could feel the force behind as she tried blocking, but she couldn't take much more. This one was strong.
Mukago summoned two more copies of herself like before behind the unsuspecting Susamaru. As another fist tried flying its way into her skull, it was stopped again mid-flight. She turned to see the two restraining both of her arms respectively, locking her firmly in place. Mukago grinned and slowly approached, until she saw the smirk creep across the demon's face.
"WHAT?!"
A large boom sounded and two more pairs of arms jutted from beneath the ornately designed orange, black, and gold kimono she had on. The two copies stumbled and Susamaru used that chance to reverse the situation, using her four new arms to pull and throw the copies towards the original.
"AGHHH!" One of the copies bodies missed and fell off the side of the car, the other impacted her in the upper torso. Mukago dissipated the copy into black smoke, but in the minute period of time in between when Susamaru threw the copy and it made impact, it was already too late. Lower Four could not stop the fist finding itself in her abdomen.
Before she knew it, the temari demon was already behind her. She felt a kick plant itself in the back of her knee, forcing her to one leg. Four arms suddenly wrapped themselves around her hands, making them unable to move, and two more wrapped around her neck in a choke hold. She was stuck. "NO!"
Susamaru smiled in this position. She glanced back to find Tanjirou slicing through the final remnants of the earlier copies and approaching. Her main two arms forced the demon in her hold to face towards the demon slayer walking towards them.
"You want to know why I fight with demon slayers?" Susamaru beam intensified as she witnessed Tanjirou approach with katana in hand. "It's because demons like you are assholes! And I'd rather spend my life living their shitty lives than yours."
Lower Four's eyes fell upon Tanjirou who stepped up to the two. Their gazes met, Tanjirou's steeled eyes met the burning, and yet, somewhat sorrowful expression of the Kizuki's. He gripped his katana with both hands.
"My name is Tanjirou Kamado." He announced monotonal in the passing midnight air. "Do you have any last words?"
"Why! Why the hell would you save a demon!"
He paused. "Because. I love her."
"Love?! That's your fucking answer?!"
Tanjirou hesitated.
"THAT'S BULLSHIT! You don't fucking love her!"
"What the hell did you just say!?" Susamaru tightened her grip around her neck, causing her to choke slightly.
"Wait Susamaru, stop." Tanjirou held up a hand and she loosened her grip slightly so that she could speak. Tanjirou could see it now. That look he saw before in many demons before they died and even before.
Regret. Pain. Torment.
He could see it in her. And that little voice in the back of his mind spoke again. His heart sunk ever so slightly, his hands quivered an unmeasurable amount, and there he could feel the agony in the demon's heart.
He watched the demon struggle in her restrained form, to the point where she knew she wouldn't escape. She just didn't want to die. Her screams escaped into the air.
"AGGHHHNNGNH!"
They lasted for several seconds. And the tears came out then. The mark of someone suffering in their own mind. Something that Tanjirou knew all too well. Her voice waivered.
"H-HOW! H-How could y-you l-l-love her?! S-She's a demon!"
No one spoke. There was a struggle in her as she fought back the anguish. It appeared on her face, like she was dying of laughter. A haphazard amalgamation of twisted gratification called from the overt irony in her situation and the visceral melancholy of a broken soul.
"TELL M-ME WHY THEN!" she sobbed. "Why did Kyojuro leave me?"
Tanjirou's head tilted slightly at her words. "Kyojuro, you mean Rengoko-san? Do you know him?"
"Of course I know him!"
Tanjirou was completely roped in now. The Kizuki, she was telling the truth, from the very bottom of her soul it seemed like.
"H-He… H-He was my only f-friend…"
Susamaru felt the demon relax in her arms as she continued to listen.
"…y-you k-know what he s-said to me? He s-said I was a… a m-monster… so how… how can demons like me e-ever be loved?"
Tanjirou stayed silent. He didn't know who she was to the Hashira, but he did know that this. What she was saying right now was real, and everything she was feeling and saying needed to be acknowledged.
The boy exhaled a sigh of exhaustion and turned his back. He didn't want to kill her, so if there was another way, he needed to find it. He paused before speaking.
"Come on Susamaru, let's take her back to Rengoku." He said. They had to at least try to make him understand.
"Wait what!" the both of them said in unison.
"A-Are you fucking kidding me?" Mukago's mind started to feel from the emotions running through it. The hatred she once bore now rose back to the surface.
"You c-can't! It won't change anything!"
"Yes it will!" he retorted.
"And how do you know that?! He's a Hashira! What do you think they'll do to him if they let a demon go free huh? He's not you!"
Tanjirou was about to speak before his tongue caught. "She's right."
He wasn't him. It was a miracle that the Demon Slayer Corp let them walk free at all, a fluke even. If he barely made a case, how could he expect Rengoku to do the same, even if they did manage to convince him. He felt his jaw tighten.
"We have to try!"
Susamaru saw the serious look in his eye, coupled with the annoyance and the belief that he didn't want to accept it. It made her conscious mind worried.
"Tanjirou! We can't save every damn demon okay?!" she yelled in the direction of the boy. He turned around to face her, still restraining the struggling Kizuki. "There are just some that you have to kill!"
The words made him shake his head in denial. "Yea, maybe you're right, but she different. She's like you!" He took several steps forward. "Can't you see? She doesn't want to fight us or hurt any of these people! All she cares about is Rengoku!"
Maybe she was still mad at the fact that she almost had them kill each other, but all Susamaru could do was retort against him with the first thing that came to mind. "And you think caring about someone is enough to stop them from being heartless fucking murderers?!"
"YES!" Tanjirou's arms shot into the air in exclamation. His frustration started to peak. Demons, they had no one to care for them and they were left to the solitude of their own bodies. They became demons because they had nothing else to be. Their only choice was to be a monster. The Demon Slayer Corp didn't understand, the Hashira didn't understand, and now, even she couldn't. He screamed.
"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!"
Susamaru paused, the fury in his eyes. "Tanjirou! I-"
"I THOUGHT THAT'S WHY YOU STOPPED FUCKING KILLING PEOPLE!"
.
.
.
The silence was empty. Only the sounds of the train and the winds could be heard as the boy panted audibly. Her eyes were wide, and she felt nothing but disbelief. A few moments passed before someone moved.
Mukago watched the whole thing transpire right in front of her eyes. Something about the frustration that the boy was feeling resonated with her. She heard him scream and, in the silence, she thought maybe he did understand her at least a little.
But now was not the time for idleness. The grip around her neck and arms were loosened in that moment. In the opportunity, she immediately freed both of her hands with one quick motion.
"HEY!" Susamaru felt the Kizuki slip from her grasp. She tried reaching out again, but fell short and she could only watch as her feet sunk into the metal like it was quicksand. "AH SHIT!"
When she looked up, a kick caught her in the face. With nothing to brace herself, her world tumbled around her. Tanjirou's eyes widened and he reached out. He swiped nothing but air, her body falling off the side of the train into the passing darkness. His body and mind were already high off of adrenaline, and that was what set him over the edge.
"…GAAAAH!" Mukago immediately had to duck under a flurry of rapid katana strikes aimed right for her neck. Every step she took, she could see the fury in his eyes.
He felt as if his blood was on fire. Water condensed in waves, slash after slash. He had only felt an anger like this once before. It's what gave him the power to slay a Kizuki. He flared his eyes and raged the words bubbling beneath him. He could some of the vessels bursting in his eyes.
"She didn't deserve that!"
*splash*
*tear*
His strike induced a deep cut on Lower Fours arm.
"Even with all of the people she's killed, she's a good person!"
*splash*
*cut*
Another strike tore at her clothes. Mukago stared into the eyes of the demon slayer to find pure pain being unleashed.
"She's given everything she has to change!"
Another strike, another connected blow. She shrieked feeling the blade cut in. Her focus remained on the boy, trying with all of her might to block or dodge the barrage.
"And the Corp accepted her for it!"
Those were the words that cut deep. "They accepted her?" Mukago questioned inside. It was impossible for them to do such a thing, but with everything she's seen, how the demon was fighting with demon slayers. It had to be true. That split-second of distraction caused her to falter, and Tanjirou saw his opening.
"AND THAT'S WHY THEY CAN ACCEPT YOU TOO!"
The fire within him raged and the power he felt rushing through his blood while fighting Rui came back. He harnessed it, channeled it into the metal in his blade and fired.
Hinokami Kagura: CLEAR BLUE SKY!
The swing passed through her body. They both stopped. Tanjirou panted heavily, sword in contact with the roof of the train. Mukago slowly lowered her gaze. She waited, waiting to feel her neck no longer in one piece and her body lost, but no. Seconds passed and there was nothing, nothing but the sound of a crack.
*KKZKCK*
One her black horns fell to the ground, leaving her stunned. She slowly turned to the boy beside her. Tanjirou stood facing the Kizuki, locking eyes with her stunned demeanor. He sheathed his sword and held out his hand, calmly and now composed, albeit out of breath.
"So, can we go see him now?"
She was speechless. He purposefully missed. He spared her life and was graciously letting her live. Mukago noticed it then, the compassion in his eyes. It was tempting to take his hand. She wanted to so bad, and she even found herself reaching before she stopped herself.
"I-I-I…"
She didn't have words, but she had a reason why she stopped herself. She couldn't do it. It could be a trap, it had to be. Her mind raced. The pain was all she could recollect, so she stopped.
In her hesitation, the boy took a step forward. She was conflicted. He could see it in her eyes, so needed to convince her that what he was saying was true.
He took the demon's arm, the one where induced a large gash, which made her tense up. He looked at it; a long cut that was barely healing.
"What can I… oh I know!"
Tanjirou took gathered some of his own pooling blood from his injuries from earlier into his hand and held it against the wound. Slowly, the cut began to reconnect before most of it was sealed. He smiled. "Demons need humans to survive, so my own blood should work."
The demoness, watching it all, was aghast. She couldn't formulate words at what she was seeing.
"N-No… he… why did he?"
He was a demon slayer and yet, he showed her a kindness that she hadn't seen. The heart inside her started to speed at the thought, the intensity of whatever she was feeling in this moment. Maybe, just maybe…
She was lost in thought, so she barely noticed the black sparks erupting from her broken horn. They were coupled by black sparks breaking out in number from the car below them. The metal turned pure black and the bolts grew in size, filling the air with crackling thunder.
"What's going…" Tanjirou's eyes darted along the entire length of the train, causing him to let go of her.
"MY HORN!"
The boy severed her horn. It was the source of her power, the way she channeled her power. Without one of them, she couldn't control her dominion, and her dominion was the entire train. She managed to scream towards the boy.
"GET AWAY!- "
There was a shockwave and Tanjirou's vision went immediately black.
()
AYOOOOO! Yo. Bruh.