OMAKE (Canon) - Alternate - last scene from Ch 30. Sanemi's POV:
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Sanemi and the demon brat sat in some tree tops on the Fukujikasane Mountain, watching a demon shuffle around a clearing below as he bemoaned a lack of food. The weakling had no idea they were even there. It hadn't taken Sanemi long after they'd approached the gates to the area that he'd realized he needed to wrap his wounds. He could attract every demon on the mountain if he wasn't careful, and these were specifically weak demons that new brats could actually survive against if they were trained well enough. He remembered how difficult it had been for him as compared to now and allowed himself a moment to be proud of how far he'd come.
Then he'd remembered who he was here with and why they'd come and any positivity he'd accumulated vanished.
He hadn't let the kid touch him, but had wrapped his own wounds, even going so far as to wrap some wisteria petals in some layers to help hide the scent of his merechi blood. The kid had just stood there and waited, half an eye on him, half an eye on the forest. He'd still seemed stiff when they'd moved, but Sanemi would bet on that being the westeria trees. Although, the fact that he could stand the scent at all worried him.
The kid was too strong… too uncontrollable and far too demonic.
Still, once he'd seen Sanemi had finished, he simply took to the tree tops and they'd found a demon and now he couldn't help but wonder what exactly Oyakata-sama had expected them to do. Did the brat know?
"Well," the Wind Pillar growled lowly at Kamado, "what are you waiting for?"
The boy shot his unwilling companion a glare. "Muzan has a mental link to any demon who hasn't shaken off his curse. He's looking for me specifically. If that demon sees me, we will have to deal with Waxing Moons."
Sanemi could only blink at that as he tried to process it. Then he couldn't help if he sounded a little accusing as he spoke his next sentence. "And why is he looking for you?"
The brat looked like he wanted to sigh but didn't. Instead, he spoke. "Because he knows I have demon abilities but has never had contact with me before in this life. He's curious and my presence is threatening to him."
A likely story. It wrapped everything up a little too neatly.
"Or he's just waiting to come and take you back into the fold," Sanemi muttered to himself.
The kid must have heard him because he grit his (very sharp) teeth. "Never," he hissed. "I'll die before joining him." He said it with such conviction – such vitriol – that for the first time, Sanemi found himself believing the kid. He frowned, but the kid didn't seem to notice. Good. He may have seen it as a moment of weakness…
"In any case, this is going to take time," Kamado eventually continued. "I need you to distract him while I sneak up on him from behind. Or find a way to bind him somehow."
Sanemi didn't roll his eyes, but it was a near thing. "Like I'm gonna fall for that. You'll just run off."
The boy turned his gaze on Sanemi, and was it just him or did they have a faint glow to them? "Do you aspire to be difficult or does it just come naturally to you?" the boy snarled, then almost immediately closed his eyes and tapped his forehead with his front knuckle. Sanemi had to let the kid know he wasn't buying it and just let his face fall into an unimpressed expression. Then Kamado took a deep breath (Sanemi kept an eye on those canines…) and seemed to center himself before speaking again, far more calmly.
Well, at least his mask was breaking.
"Look," the kid finally said, "the sooner I can figure this out, the sooner we can leave. And if I can save these people – turn them back into humans – isn't that worth trying for?"
Did he really expect Sanemi to suddenly just buy that? Yeah… no.
The kid must have realized it because he went on, a little happier than before. "Besides, it's not like a demon like that will stand in the way if you do decide, for whatever reason, to come after me."
Flattery would get him nowhere. Even if he was right and that demon would be a walk in the park compared to the rest of the crap he'd come across recently. So, again, he said nothing.
The boy went on, obviously looking frustrated now. "This won't be a success unless we work together."
And, unfortunately, the brat was right about that at least. It took every ounce of will he had to just stand, teeth bared, and then point a finger in Kamado's face.
"Two minutes," he said, magnanimously generous. "If you're not there, I head straight back to Oyakata-sama." He was already mentally composing his report…
The brat just blinked and nodded his head. Cooperating? Well… they'd see.
Sanemi breathed deeply and jumped. The demon didn't stand a chance. In moments, he'd twisted the things hands behind its back and held it away from him. It screamed and struggled and began to shout about how it would kill him and how dare he and what was he and… two seconds in and he was sick of it already.
"He's restrained. Now what?" Sanemi asked dryly, glancing back at where he knew the brat had hidden. Said brat flashed into the space, easily as fast as the Wind Pillar… which just reminded him of how much the kid both worried him and ticked him off.
Kamado kept a wary eye on the demon as he approached. Then he looked Sanemi in the eye.
"Now, hold still," he said quietly. "I won't burn you."
Warnings went off inside Sanemi's head as he saw the fire approaching. Out of instinct, he jumped away, but not fast enough. The flames licked at him and he braced for pain… but felt nothing. He blinked. So… the kid had been telling the truth… this time.
He shook his head. Of course he had. The kid had to keep up his front. Or Sanemi had managed to move in time. Yeah, that had to be it.
The Wind Pillar watched the boy, whose eyes had begun to glow. He couldn't really see much about them from this profile, but he could tell that at least. The kid looked… upset, like it hurt him to put the demon through pain. And the demon was in pain. Sanemi hated demons, and even he had to hold back a wince at the thing's screeches. They'd be attracting company soon…
Eventually, the kid had to close his eyes, either to concentrate or to keep from seeing the writhing figure on the ground surrounded by distinctly red fire.
"Come on…" the kid whispered. "Please… let me help him…"
Sanemi didn't think he was supposed to hear that… and wasn't entirely sure what to think about it.
After what seemed like an eternity that had the Wind Pillar fingering his blade, just to end the thing's torture, the being went still.
The following silence almost roared in the absence of the noise. It took the kid a couple more seconds to either cut the technique off or realize the shrieks had stopped. The fire died down, leaving the space in a deep darkness. For a second no one moved.
Then the kid ran forward. The body on the forest floor twitched. The demon's eyes had rolled up into the back of its head… but it was breathing, albeit shallowly.
The boy's sudden movement had Sanemi angrily grabbing his sword and pointing it at the kid's throat. He'd almost burned him! Good thing Sanemi had moved in time.
"What was that?" he said heatedly. To his annoyance, the boy didn't so much as acknowledge him, focusing on the demon instead.
"He's not breathing well," the Sun Pillar said "We have to—"
Before he could finish, the man shuddered and then went utterly limp. Kamado seemed taken aback and then he panicked, thrusting his hand out to feel around the guy's neck for some reason. The boy's panic increased.
"No, no, no!" he muttered, flipping the man over and slapping at his face. "Come on… come back! Breathe! Breathe!"
He didn't.
While Kamado kept shouting at the limp figure for several seconds, bordering on minutes, Sanemi's eyes ran over the body. Instead of the gray skin of before, he found pale skin – the kind that hadn't seen sunlight in a while. No claws or other distinguishing marks…
Had… had the kid actually meant to cleanse the demon? Had he succeeded?!
Then the boy leaned down and put his mouth on the figure's. Sanemi's eyes widened what was he…?!
But then he heard breaths. The kid was trying to breathe for the guy… huh. Weird… and a little disgusting.
It didn't work, though and the demon (former?) remained utterly still. Eventually the kid must have realized it too because he stopped, took his shaking hands from the still form and then looked up at the sky.
"AAAARRRGH!" the brat screamed, letting out an utterly inhuman noise that had Sanemi jumping back and holding his sword in front of him again. Instead of attacking him, though, the boy slumped in defeat and leaned forward, forehead resting on the dead man's chest.
For several seconds, Sanemi didn't know what to think, so he just stood there cautiously. When Kamado didn't move, he relaxed the slightest bit and his mind took in other details. One in particular stood out to him.
"He's not disintegrating…"
The boy turned his head to look up at Sanemi. His eyes had gone back to normal and there were… tears? The kid had been crying…
Again, Sanemi didn't really know what to think…
"What?" the boy snapped.
Sanemi shook his head and gestured to the still form. "The body… it's not disintegrating." It was… incredible. The Wind Pillar couldn't help but think of the guy as a demon still, but… at least now they could give him a decent burial and—
"Is that all you can think of?!" Kamado suddenly yelled angrily, standing and pointing at the body. "I just burned him to death. He's dead!"
Sanemi didn't get why the kid was so upset. They were demon slayers. They killed demons all the time. He narrowed his eyes defensively. "But he's human." Well, human enough to not disintegrate… Shouldn't they be counting that as a win?
The boy's eyes widened and he snapped his mouth closed before looking back at the body. He seemed conflicted… Sanemi studied the brat for several seconds. Then he shook his head, mind coming back to their current circumstances. He'd begun to understand why Ubuyashiki-sama had been so excited about this.
He straightened his shoulders and looked around. They had to get out of there before another demon showed itself.
"Let's go find another one," he suggested.
The demon brat looked horrified at the suggestion. Then he glared, anger rising a notch or two… so much so that his eyes changed and Sanemi finally, finally had the proof he'd been looking for. Because there in those now glowing red eyes, kanji appeared.
"Waxing Zero?!" he hissed, jumping back and brandishing his sword.
The boy looked taken aback by that, and… maybe a little confused? Did he not know his eyes had changed?
Then the kid rubbed the back of his head as the eyes faded back to his original dark red/brown that matched his hair. "Yeah," he muttered through his teeth. "From when I infiltrated the Waxing Moons. It marked my soul – yet another reason for me to absolutely despise Muzan."
Sanemi couldn't help a grin come over his face. He was going to take this right back to Ubuyashiki-sama and expose the brat for what he was.
"Or you're—" he started, wondering if he could push him a bit further.
"Stop it!" Kamado yelled loudly. Well, if the shrieks of the demon didn't bring more this way then that certainly would. Just more proof… right? "Just because you cannot fathom anyone better than your mother, who couldn't come back from being a demon, doesn't mean it can't happen!"
And suddenly, everything else stopped mattering. This… this brat had dared to go there?! (And how did he even know?!) No one brought in Sanemi's dead family and got away with it.
No one.
Not even Genya could get away with that.
"What was that?" he heard himself ask, surprisingly calm.
But something in his voice must have tipped the boy off, because he seemed to realize he'd gone too far. He immediately dropped his aggressive stance and took a deep breath. Sanemi got ready to pounce, but the boy spoke first.
"I hate Muzan," he finally said. And what did that have to do with— "He's killed my family so many times I can't even count them all. He's turned my family into demons and he's turned me so many times I remember being demon more than being a human. I hate it! I would do anything, even work with a short-sighted, bigoted person like you to take him down!"
That… took Sanemi by surprise because the way the kid had said it, he had little doubt it was true. He didn't want to believe it (ridiculous insults aside, he wasn't short-sighted or bigoted, he just knew demons)… and… no. No, he wouldn't give in! He crouched a little lower, but the kid spoke up again.
"You don't have to like me," he said, exasperation clear in his tone. "Heck, you don't have to trust me! I don't care! What you need to do is realize that the enemy of the enemy is my friend, and right now, our enemy is Muzan and all of his demons!"
Heh, funny...
"You were pretty upset about that demon," Sanemi said, gesturing to the still body.
The boy's expression dried out. "I hope it's not surprising that I don't like torturing people."
"That wasn't a person!" Sanemi shouted.
"He used to be! And at the very least deserves a decent burial! Not to be dismissed and left here to rot simply because he ran into Muzan!"
Wait… what? That was the kid's problem? Sanemi had no issue burying the body… had all this just been a misunderstanding?
Even if it was, the kid shouldn't have brought his family into it and would pay for that at least.
He opened his mouth to say so when Sanemi's senses screamed at him. He saw the other Pillar's eyes widen at the same moment and they both ducked, rolling away and coming to their feet. What looked like an arc of moon-like blades had sliced through the air where they'd just been.
"Oh, no…" Kamado whispered as his face went white. Then those blades spun at them and Sanemi found himself having to put all of his skill into dodging. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kamado doing the same. Then the blades finally vanished leaving the two pillars breathing harder as his eyes sought the approaching figure.
A man with long, dark brown/red hair and six eyes stood in the clearing right over the former demon's dead body.
"Kokushibo," the Sun Pillar breathed. Sanemi knew they were pretty well screwed right then and there. He'd read the information Ubuyashiki-sama had sent about the Waxing Moons. About the traitor to the Demon Slaying Corps…
Waxing One.
The demon raised his eyes (six of them!) and Sanemi saw the kanji written inside them, looking just like the Sun Pillar's had a second ago.
"I see I've finally caught up with you," Kokushibo said as his gaze sought out his target. (Not Sanemi – he wasn't sure if he should be grateful or offended.) "Kamado Tanjiro."
xXx
AN: So yeah, I wrote this scene twice from different points of view. The next couple of chpaters will overlap a lot, but won't cover the exact same as the chapter before it. I just feel like it's kind of important to get everything from different character's povs. This is a major turning point in the story, so yeah...
Next ACTUAL chapter should be up within a couple of days.
Discord: discord. gg/EVUrHMd4za (without spaces)
