Shinobu held her breath as Kamado and Shinazugawa clashed, the latter using his sword to slash down… and then Kamado disappeared. She caught his movement, but only barely – how the boy stepped so quickly, grabbing the Wind Pillar's arms and tossing him over his shoulder onto the ground, simultaneously disarming him.
That quickly, it was over. Shinazugawa lay on the ground just staring up at the sky in shock.
Shinobu felt her mouth drop open. He'd defeated a Pillar… and he hadn't even drawn his sword. (She had noted that he did still have a sword after meeting with Ubuyashiki-sama… which really said a lot.)
Shinobu felt her mouth drop open and didn't even care because what?! Shinazugawa was one of the strongest pillars!
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Himejima put a hand on Uzui's shoulder. "Together?" he asked.
Uzui smiled. "Only if we do it flamboyantly!"
"I, too, shall support you!" Rengoku said with a grin.
"Then we must attack!" Uzui said. "Go!"
And all three of them launched at the boy. On her arm, Tomioka's hand tightened.
It occurred to Shinobu that he cared for the kid… or for his fellow Hashira… or both. He looked just as aloof as before… but little things like that seemed so obvious now. How had she honestly missed this?
She would be mentally kicking herself over this for a very long time to come.
"Eleventh form: Solar Halo Dragon Dance," Kamado said, although they only heard the end of it as he came to a stop, the other three Hashira falling to the ground as Kamado put his sword back into his sheath. He… didn't fight like a young warrior…. No, he fought like an old warrior. His movements and confidence belied his age.
"This is what Oyakata-sama told me," Tomioka whispered as Shinobu looked on, eyes wide. "If Muzan was after us through him, he would already be here. If that boy was a spy… we would already be dead. Between him and Muzan, we couldn't stop them."
Shinobu's breath caught in her throat again as Kamado turned to face the group of four Hashira as they rose and readied themselves to fight again.
"What do we do?" Kanroji asked worriedly, running up to them. "We can't just let this happen!"
The Insect Pillar ignored her, only able to focus on so many things at once. "What if he doesn't know he's a spy?" she asked Tomioka worriedly. "He's slowly turning into a demon! What if he has no control over whether he is a spy or not?!"
The five other Pillars clashed again, although this time the kid used a "Flash Dance" to speed behind them, easily matching Shinobu's top speeds – and she knew she was currently the fastest pillar. He then proceeded to chop at them… and was he using the back of his sword? This had long-since gone far beyond ridiculous…
Tomioka glanced at Shinobu. "He's still willing to give us more information on demons and Muzan than we've gotten in decades." He took a steadying breath. "And I think he'd do anything to negate the demons' advantage."
Including killing himself if he deemed it necessary. Tomioka didn't say it, but Shinobu could read it as clearly as day in his unusually expressive eyes.
She didn't know what to say to that.
Kanroji, watching the whole exchange with growing horror, turned to the Corps Head. "Ubuyashiki-sama!"
Shinobu watched the four Pillars try and gang up on Kamado again, this time using tactics to try and maneuver him where they wanted, with some success even… and then he managed to duck away. She did see a scratch on his cheek as he flew by them to the other side of the yard.
"This is something they have to realize on their own," Ubuyashiki said sadly, although his smile had once again vanished and he looked on in concern.
"B-but they'll kill him!"
"Mitsuri," Tomioka said, cutting through her panic. She turned to him, eyes round and pleading. "Look," he said as he nodded towards the fight. "As a pillar, I'm sure you know it is harder to fight someone without the intent to kill. Even when they are trying to kill him and he isn't reciprocating, he is holding his own. Against four Hashira. Imagine if he uses his Blood Art that can likely burn what he wants and only what he wants… they won't stand a chance."
"But he shouldn't use his Blood Art! He doesn't want to use his Blood Art!"
She had a point.
Just then, Rengoku, who had chased Kamado with one of his own breathing forms meant to close distance quickly, went flying back towards the house. Towards Ubuyashiki-sama… who had trouble following fast movement with his poor eyesight!
Shinobu didn't think, she simply launched herself forward, putting all of her strength into speed.
"Flash Dance," she heard from off to the side, and then Kamado was right there with her. He let her grab Ubuyashiki-sama and move him out of the way while he turned and blocked Rengoku from smashing into the house and causing damage.
The Insect Pillar made sure to look over Ubuyashiki-sama, as she set him down. "Please forgive me, Oyakata-sama," she said softly.
He merely smiled at her. "I am truly blessed to have children such as you supporting me."
She blushed a little and had to hide a smile.
"Ooo, that's it!" Shinobu heard Kanroji yell as she stomped forward. Apparently, the unexpected turn had caused everyone to stop – or at least momentarily pause – the battle. The Insect Pillar turned around just as Kanroji walked up to a shocked Rengoku, who couldn't seem to fully focus on the boy behind him or the girl in front of him, switching his attention between the two uneasily.
"Stop it!" Kanroji yelled. "You're better than this, Kyojiro!"
The fact that she'd called him by his personal name must have startled him because he took a step back from her slight frame.
"You taught me everything I know! You… just… Please! Think through this and just… stop!"
"But he's turning into a demon," the yellow-haired man said, at a loss.
"We kill demons, flamboyantly!" Uzui yelled from the yard where he still had his sword out, although, thankfully, he looked unsure too.
"So what?" the new Hashira asked. "He's trying not to, and you all fighting him like this will just make it worse!"
"And what happens when he does?" Shinazugawa asked. "What if he's here? What if no one else is around Oyakata-sama when it happens? Or in a town? Or a city? Will all the children he could completely tear through be on your head?"
"No," Ubuyashiki-sama said as he stepped forward, "it will be on mine."
And yet another silence fell, this one stunned.
"Kamado-san and I have discussed his condition and circumstances. We are taking steps to ensure that doesn't happen."
That didn't seem to be good enough for Shinazugawa. "So you're really listening to that… that thing? I thought you brought him here so the Hashira could stop him!"
"No, Shinazugawa-san," Ubuyashiki-sama said quietly, still no smile on his face. "I brought him here because he may be instrumental in the fight against Muzan."
"He was obviously sent here by that son of a—"
"Shinazugawa-san," Kamado broke in holding up a roll of gauze. "You really should bandage that arm."
He was right. Shinobu hadn't noticed, but Shinazugawa had, indeed, cut his arm.
"Why?" the man sneered at the boy. "So you don't have to show your true colors?" he asked, stomping forward and thrusting his bleeding arm at Kamado.
The boy merely blinked at him, sighed and took his arm. Shinazugawa's grin widened and he slid into a stance that would let him swing his sword more easily. Shinobu tensed despite herself, but then the boy simply started wrapping the arm in the gauze. For several seconds, Shinazugawa blinked rapidly, as if he couldn't comprehend what was happening.
In the courtyard, Shinobu could hear Uzui describing everything going on to Himejima in a sort of disbelieving shock.
Then Shinazugawa yanked his arm away, dragging the gauze with him. Kamado protested.
"You'll get the gauze dirty and we'll have to find more to wrap it!"
"What are you playing at, demon?" Shinazugawa practically hissed.
Kamado sighed. "First, I'm not a demon right now. Despite these," he poked at his mouth, "I eat human food just fine. You can ask Shin… Kocho-san, Tomioka-san and Mitsuri-san."
Had he just been about to call her by her personal name?
She wasn't entirely sure what to think of that. He'd done so before… not in front of a large group of people, though, so…?
Shinazugawa looked over at Shinobu who simply moved her eyes to meet his and nodded. Then he looked to Tomioka and Kanroji, the former of which nodded calmly and the later enthusiastically and angrily.
"Second of all," the boy went on as calmly as if he were explaining the weather, "demon or not, I can guarantee you I despise that man just as much if not more than any one of you, and I will do whatever I have to to take him down, with or without your help."
Then he smiled. "I'd much rather do it with your help as we have a much bigger chance of success."
Then Shinazugawa snorted derisively. "Why should we trust you? There is no such thing as a good demon!"
The boy's smile faded back to a stony cool.
"You really don't know, do you?" he asked quietly.
"Huh?" the Wind Pillar jerred. "Know what?"
"You don't understand. The reason there aren't more demons despite Kibutsuji turning multiple people a week sometimes, is because they remember. It isn't uncommon for a demon to realize what happened when they come back to themselves after the initial phase of hunger overtook them. They realize what they've done. Most demons have one of two reactions to that: either they double down and throw everything they have into simply surviving in a new situation they cannot begin to truly comprehend, or they walk into the sun."
Everyone was staring at him now as he took a step forward, towards the Wind Pillar.
"You – all of you – treat demons like they choose exactly what they become as demons, or like they even chose to be a demon at all in the first place! But it isn't like that at all. Muzan tends to approach those who are sick, or people at their lowest point and offer them what they see as a way out. He doesn't explain the consequences or the price they'll have to pay. And those are the people he doesn't simply turn because he just wants to.
"And once they do turn, they aren't the same, but not for the reason you think." He took another step forward. "A demon has to fight for every. Single. Memory they have, even those they gain after they become a demon, because Muzan likes taking that away from them."
Shinazugawa scoffed. "You think that means anything?" he asked, taking his own step forward and getting into the kid's face. "You think that gives them all a free pass to just kill whoever they want? Whenever they want?"
"Don't put words in my mouth," Kamado returned.
"Of course you would take their side, monster! There is no good demon! It doesn't exist! You're just here to tear us apart and we all know it, so you may as well stop playing at making nice!"
"Stop taking every demons' actions so personally!" Kamado didn't yell, but he may as well have. "They're sick. Humans who have come down with something they cannot help. And it isn't a random sickness that kills the body, it makes the body think it's fine – better, even – while taking away what makes that person them! It's like someone came in and scooped out parts of their hearts – sometimes their entire being – leaving a hollowed husk behind in their place.
"And that someone is Muzan.
"The worst part, is that he enjoys it. He likes seeing what he can do to break people, so of course they'd be different people for a while after they turned! Because that's what he wants."
"How do you even know?" the Wind Pillar shrieked, picking the kid up by the front of his haori. "I thought you weren't a demon yet! Your story doesn't match up!"
The kid was quiet for a couple of seconds before he looked over at Ubuyashiki-sama. "How much can I tell them?"
"You dare speak to—" Shinazugawa started, but the older man cut him off.
"Whatever you are comfortable sharing," he said with a warm smile. The Wind Pillar looked over at him, betrayed.
"Thank you," Kamado said, then, without warning, head-butted Shinazugawa.
What.
The Wind Pillar dropped to the floor, hands releasing Kamado as they shot to his head. On the tatami mats, the white-haired man groaned and held his head. Kamado sighed and then turned back to Shinobu. "Would you please take care of his arm before he bleeds out?"
The Insect Pillar blinked, then nodded, hurrying forward. Fortunately, she always carried a couple of sterilized rolls of gauze around herself. While she got to work, Kamado stood, looking on and rubbing the back of his head in either frustration or annoyance. Shinobu couldn't really tell which.
"I know about this all because I'm a time-traveler."
Blank stares met his gaze. Shinobu doubted many people understood that concept. She'd only recently heard of it herself, from some western philosophy books. That this boy was the result of something like that boggled her mind.
"Basically, I remember events from the future," the boy continued, noticing their lack of understanding. "If I die, I wake up on a certain day… the day before Kibutsuji Muzan attacks and kills my family. The first time he turned my sister into a demon, and I became a demon slayer. But the problem is, after many, many hardships, problems and…" he glanced at the pillars (at Rengoku? Why would he do that?), "losses, my sister actually was able to conquer the sun – as a demon."
Gasps all around. Beneath her hands, even Shinazugawa tensed. Well, at least he was listening.
"Muzan came after her, we were able to find a cure for demons to turn them back into humans—"
"What?"
"A cure?!"
"Impossible!"
Many of the Hashira cut in, but Kamado continued as if he hadn't even heard them.
"But while Nezuko was recovering, Muzan attacked, forcing us to fight him and his Kizuki. Many more Demon Slayers died, and he managed to turn me into a demon."
He did not look happy at that. Not that Shinobu blamed him.
Not that she was even sure she believed him at this point.
"Eventually I remembered everything and my deepest wish was to change that. I suppose that wish influenced my Demon Blood Art because when I activated its final form, I woke up back in time, as a human, before Muzan killed my family.
"I watched them die again and again until I finally realized if I sent them away and managed to distract Muzan, he'd turn me into a demon… but everyone would live. I spent loops upon loops trying to figure out how to kill that man," he spit the word as if it were poison – something she had not seen from this boy previously (it was terrifying, considering his power and normally agreeable personality). "The one time I succeeded, I had to kamikaze myself to drag him into the sunlight.
"This time, I woke up the morning before my family died and finally found a way to keep them alive while remaining human… but… having turned into a demon so many times and my own Blood Demon Art (as well as some things in recent loops I won't go into right now), I still have access to those demonic powers, but at the cost of becoming more like a demon every time I use it."
He took a deep breath. "That is how I know what Muzan is like and what demons go through… I've experienced it."
Again, he seemed to have shocked everyone into silence because no one spoke as he took another deep breath and looked around, his burgundy eyes meeting everyone else's for just a moment before moving on.
"I've seen demons walk purposefully into the sun after they remember their human lives. When Muzan observed, he found it amusing. The demons that usually last the longest are the ones who have regained their memories and don't care, the ones who haven't regained their memories at all, or the ones who were terrible people to begin with. Anyone else… well, why would you have records of them? People are less likely to seek help from the people trying to murder them."
Shinobu had stopped dressing Shinazugawa's wound, now staring up at the boy who still seemed frustrated and flustered. His face, still red from being in the sun earlier (and he'd been fighting in the sun just now too, she realized), darkened even further in a blush of … what, embarrassment? Shame? Nervousness? Fear? Some combination thereof?
"You… really believe that, Oyakata-sama?" Shinazugawa asked, getting to his hands and knees.
Ubuyashiki-sama nodded. "I've had it verified by a trustworthy source and Kamado-san has given me the details – far too many details for it to be falsified – about his previous lives. Kamado-san is telling the truth.
"Which is why I ask you, as Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps to accept Kamado Tanjiro as one of you."
More stunned silence.
Shinobu was getting tired of those.
Of course it was Shinazugawa who spoke first, shooting to his feet and almost falling over because he must have still been dizzy from that head-butt.
"Oyakata-sama, I respect you, but you are being taken in here! He's a demon!"
"No, he's not!" Kanroji said, then burst into tears and ran towards Kamado, throwing her arms around him. "I'm so sorry for everything you've been through!" Shinobu was close enough to see the boy flinch at her approach, but also see him purposefully hold back.
Rengoku spoke next, folding his arms across his chest and smiling widely (she vaguely wondered if he could make a different face). "Please forgive my presumption, Oyakata-sama, but I must see this evidence myself before I concede and accept this boy as a comrade!"
But he was open to it.
"He's not lying," Tomioka stated quietly. Shinazugawa looked about ready to turn on him, but then he paused, likely remembering what they'd learned about him earlier and that gave enough room for someone else to speak up.
"Forgive me," their perpetually crying stone pillar said, holding his beads up before him, "but people – even children – can lie convincingly. Until I can confirm it myself, I cannot believe or accept this boy." There was a story behind that… but then, didn't all of them have some sort of hard story? This was not a place someone ended up in lightly.
Shinobu couldn't help but be surprised, though. She'd expected Himejima to be one of those who would be on the side of peace and thus, Tanjiro. She regretted not looking into his background now.
"I will flamboyantly accept the boy once I, too, have heard proof to support his claim of loyalties!" Uzui said… and he posed again. Why? Shinobu came to the conclusion that she would never understand the Sound Pillar, and did not see a problem with this.
"There isn't proof because it isn't happening!" Shinazugawa practically yelled.
"Oyakata-sama wouldn't have made such a decision without reason," Rengoku pointed out happily. Seriously, and people called her grins creepy.
"Shinobu-san," Ubuyashiki-sama said suddenly, somehow cutting through the noise despite his quiet voice. She'd really like to know how he did that.
"Yes, Oyakata-sama?" she asked, smiling at him.
"Everyone else seems to have an opinion. What about you?"
And everyone turned their gaze on her, as if to pressure her into a decision. She wanted to roll her eyes, but instead put a hand to her chin as if in thought.
Honestly, she found herself torn on the decision. Part of her had already seen quite a lot of proof, but it was mostly circumstantial – how he sometimes tripped up on their first names as if he'd gotten used to calling those out long ago (despite him being a demon in previous lives? She'd have to ask him about that), how he interacted with Kanroji and Tomioka, and to an extent, even herself, and how he'd looked so happy and content eating those bentos earlier. Those were small things that anyone under cover could easily overlook.
How he'd bandaged Shinazugawa's arm even when he obviously didn't care for the man. Demons weren't kind like that.
However, the strongest case she'd found either way had been the cells she'd found in his blood.
"First, I have a question, Kamado-san," she said as she stood with a smile and yanked Shinazugawa's arm back over to finish bandaging it. She'd almost been finished too, and now she had to unwind it quite a ways. He wasn't stupid enough to try and fight her. Good.
"Did you know you have some… strange cells in your body?"
Huh. It was rather satisfying to be the one to actually create those awkward silences.
The boy blinked at her then deflated a little and nodded. "I do."
"Oi, what cells?!"
"What is this?"
"Cells? Are they harmful?"
"What?"
Shinobu waited until all the din had died down before she raised an eyebrow at him, silently questioning if he should explain or if she should.
He rubbed the back of his head. "Um, you're welcome to explain, Shinobu-san," he said meekly.
So he wanted to play it like that, did he? Well, fine.
"You certainly do have demon cells in your blood." Cries of dismay, anger and vindication called out, but she held up a hand. "However, they are the strangest demon cells I have ever seen."
She turned to the rest of the group. "I don't know if you know this, but demon cells are aggressive little things that invade other cells and then either turn them into factories for making their own cells, or break them down for fuel, much like viruses – sicknesses. So when Kamado-san compared someone turning into a demon to a sickness, he spoke aptly."
Kamado sent a grateful smile in her direction. One she wasn't entirely sure she deserved because she wasn't a hundred percent sure where this would all go and needed to talk it out anyway. She showed no favor towards him, only the facts.
With that in mind, she continued on. "Kamado-san's demon cells are inert. They don't attack his other cells – human or otherwise. Thus from a scientific point of view, I have to agree. He is not a demon." She sighed and glanced at him, allowing her worry and confusion to show through her mask for once. "I don't know what he is, right now."
More silence as everyone digested that, although Kamado himself didn't look shocked in the slightest. So he did already know? She wondered how, if this was a new situation to this particular 'loop'. And if he knew that, what else did he know…
Perhaps...
"Kamado-san," she said slowly, almost hesitantly, "if you have spent many of these… 'loops' fighting demons as a demon yourself, would you happen to know any information regarding Muzan and his Kizuki?"
The boy blinked, eyes going wide and he looked almost betrayed at Ubuyashiki-sama for just a moment before looking back. "Yes, I do. I sent a letter to Ubuyashiki-sama regarding as many of the Kizuki as I know.
"Wait, that was from you?" Uzui asked, sounding surprised.
Kamado's forehead furrowed in puzzlement. "What was from me?"
"A couple of months ago, we received information about the Waxing Moons, basic run-downs and descriptions."
Shinobu almost gasped as she took a closer look at the boy. "You gave us that information?"
He just tipped his head innocently at her. "Yes."
She felt a sort of fiery bubble begin to rise in her chest, whether from anger or from anticipation (or both?) she didn't know. "Can you give me more information about Waxing Moon Two?" she asked. It was a struggle to keep her voice calm. "We got information that he is a cult leader, uses sharp fans and ice or frost as his main powers, tends to be softly spoken and often smiling… but I'd like to know more please."
His face scrunched for just a moment, but then settled on troubled as he studied her. In that moment, she didn't doubt he knew exactly why she'd asked. That, more than anything else, washed her doubts away.
He must have found what he was looking for, though, because he nodded. "Douma. He… had problems even before he became a demon. Because he was born with strangely colored eyes – rainbow-colored – his parents started a cult worshiping him… but it turned out his father kept… er…" he shrank in a little and his cheeks colored very adorably, "sleeping with the believers." Normally Shinobu would have thought his reaction to that revelation was too pure for this world, but at the moment, she was too focused on finally getting the information she really wanted about the demon who killed her sister.
"When his mother was finally pushed too far, she killed her husband who dealt her a fatal blow in return if I recall correctly. They both died and Douma… didn't feel anything. That hasn't changed. He kept up with the cult and believes the people he eats live on through him. He's…" Kamado shook his head. "He's terrible… in a completely different way than Waxing One and Muzan. He honestly sees nothing wrong with what he does while simultaneously knowing exactly what is wrong with eating people."
He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, frustrated. "It's… hard to explain."
Before Shinobu could prod further, Rengoku spoke up.
"Waxing Moon One… the former demon slayer?"
Shinobu did remember that being in the information they were given and she did want to know about it, but she still shot the yellow-haired man a poisonous look for hijacking her question.
Kamado nodded at him. "Yes. He… will be very difficult to fight. His style – the Moon Breathing style – deals swift, powerful blows that hit multiple targets at once if he so desires… and he has had more than four hundred years to perfect it. He also has a Demon Blood Art that compliments it, using spinning blades in the shapes of moons.
"He feels inadequate next to his brother – the first breath user – and everything he does is to surpass his brother's memory, but…" he looked away, gaze distant, "he doesn't realize that because of his own choices, he never can. He's one of those who chose to become a demon knowing full well what it meant. Simply by doing that, he's already admitted that he can never live up to his brother, who was born with such immense strength… but his brother was strong not because of that but because he never gave up. He worked for his and other's happiness every single day of his life, even after he lost absolutely everything."
He seemed to realize that he'd gotten lost in a reverie because he looked around suddenly, and then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess you could say Waxing One's brother is someone I look up to, greatly."
"Hmm," Rengoku said suddenly. "I have decided I will tentatively accept you, Kamado Tanjiro, for now."
The boy practically lit up.
"Really, Rengoku-san?!"
The man in question simply nodded.
"What?" Shinazugawa practically screeched. "He just comes in and says exactly what you want him to say and you just accept him, like that?!"
Rengoku smiled at the white-haired man, eyes closed it was so wide. "Oh, he will still have to prove himself to me."
That seemed to calm the Wind Pillar some, but he (unsurprisingly) still didn't look happy.
"And you, Shinobu-san?" Ubuyashiki-sama asked.
She sighed, having hoped she would get away without giving a verdict. "He is not a demon as of right now," she said. "And he is willing to give us information on the Waxing Moons. I can accept him for now, but only if he is accompanied by another Pillar or Kinoe.
"However," she paused and smiled the smile she knew would get her point across, "I do intend to keep looking into this situation and reserve the right to change my opinion at any time."
The boy smiled at her again, this time smaller and a bit warmer for its gratitude. "That's honestly better than I thought I would get."
Shinobu raised an eyebrow, still smiling. "Do you have such little faith in us?"
He glanced, just for the barest moment at Shinazugawa, who looked like he was about to explode.
"Some of you." At that, Shinobu frowned disapprovingly. "Well, to be fair, in previous lives, I have had to fight a couple of you." He shuddered. "It was terrible. Especially because in my first life, I considered you all either allies or friends."
"So you say!" Shinazugawa snapped. "Why should we listen to anything you say?"
Kamado just looked over at him, eyes wide and innocent. "Because… it's true?"
"Yeah, right!" the Wind Pillar growled. "You've given no actual proof that you're on our side!"
Shinobu disagreed with that. Just his general attitude and small things that he did were enough to convince her. Not that she'd actually tell anyone she was convinced…
The red-haired boy's smile just slipped away as he stared sadly (not angrily, not in contempt, not in any sort of superiority – just sadness) at his accuser. "That stubbornness will cost you the war, Shinazugawa-san."
"And what is that supposed to mean, you little," he started, then proceeded to insult Kamado in multiple colorful ways. Shinobu couldn't help but be a little impressed.
Instead of responding, though, Kamado just turned to Ubuyashiki-sama and bowed a little. "Is there anything else you wanted to speak of today, Oyakata-sama?"
"A couple of things, if you wouldn't mind lining up again," he responded serenely.
After a moment, they all turned to do so, albeit some more reluctantly than others. Kanroji practically dragged Kamado with her to their previous place in line, defiantly glaring at Shinazugawa the entire way.
The rest of the meeting went about as usual, with patrol routes being adjusted here and there. When Kamado received his assignment, he stiffened for a moment until Ubuyashiki-sama informed him that the former Water Pillar, Urokudaki Sakonji, would be accompanying him whenever he left for his patrols. He'd just written to Urokudaki assuring him that they would work out whatever they needed to. Shinobu supposed that a former Hashira accompanying him would be an acceptable accommodation instead of a current one. She'd been alright with a Kinoe accompanying him after all.
Then the meeting ended and she let Kanroji, Tomioka and (surprisingly) Rengoku drag Kamado away, thinking she'd be able to discuss options with him later.
When she found out he'd left the estate almost immediately after the meeting, she was not happy and let Ubuyashiki-sama know that in no uncertain terms. He apologized to her and let her know that as soon as Kamado was available, he would send the boy back to her for more study.
After some thought, she decided to accept that… for now.
xXx
AN: No, Shinobu isn't completely swayed, and absence makes the Pillar grow warier... Okay, yeah, that was bad. I'll show myself out.
But I totally loved writing the scene from this pov. I figure that the Pillars all grew stronger during the series, especially when they get their breath/demon slayer marks. So they aren't as strong here as they get later on. Tanjiro would have had a MUCH harder time with four of the Pillars from the end of the series. If you have any other comments, grievances or questions, please feel free to ask. :)
Hope you enjoyed this! Thank you so much for reading! Thank you to all those who comment. I really appreciate it.
Also, thank you to TimeLordTim and Quathis for their help with this! :)
Discord: discord. gg/q4pkrymvvr (no spaces)
