Nezuko didn't run through the trees, she danced, using the hinokami kagura forms to traverse as much distance as she could while simultaneously stretching out her senses. She concentrated and searched for the demon… and searched and… was coming up with nothing. She heard the sounds of battle behind her, prayed for Giyuu-san and searched some more…
Where are you?! She thought angrily and continued to search.
xXx
Giyuu missed having Nezuko there with him. He hadn't realized how much she'd been able to help until she was no longer there and he had to avoid all of the trees and the shock waves and the random attacks while making sure the demon didn't go after the girl. One of them needed to find and kill the small version of this demon, so he knew it had been a good decision – a necessary decision – but he was slowing down and he knew it.
He didn't know how long he'd been fighting at one point, but it felt like hours. He'd never been pushed in a fight like this before… but he would not falter. So he kept fighting, ignoring his aching ankle and the pain in his wrists, and the throbbing of his ribs that had all taken hits. They didn't matter. Distracting the demon did.
Then he made his fatal mistake, landing just wrong enough that his ankle gave out on him and he fell. The next thing he knew, wood had grown around him and he found himself trapped, his arms at his side. He fought down the panic threatening to overtake him. This couldn't end here! He had to keep distracting the demon for Nezuko and—
"Should I let you sit here in your failure," the demon asked, suddenly standing right before Giyuu, "or should I kill you before I go after the girl?"
Giyuu grit his teeth and looked around, searching desperately for some way to get out of the situation. Nothing came to mind and… wait, what was that movement behind the demon?
Said demon didn't seem to notice. Maybe because the figure gave off no killing intent?
"Fourth form: Striking Tide," a steady voice said, and an instant later, the wood holding Giyuu in place shattered. The demon had to move out of the way, looking utterly surprised.
The person came to a stop next to Giyuu as he landed and he could only stare in shock as he realized who had come to his rescue.
"Kie-san?"
She didn't respond, not taking her eyes off of the demon… smart woman.
"Where is my daughter?"
Giyuu went to answer, but the demon cut him off.
"Why couldn't I sense you? You have no killing intent!"
The woman chuckled, though the sound had little mirth. "I never had any intention of killing you," she said. "But if you happen to be in the way of my blade…"
Giyuu stared. This woman, who had never picked up a sword before she'd come to the mountain three years ago, had already mastered her style to that extent? To his knowledge, she hadn't even gone through the Final Selection.
"What are you doing here?" he found himself asking.
"Sakonji-san was fighting a demon, and I went to hide the children. Then I came back for Nezuko, knowing she'd been training around here."
Then she let out a shaky breath before going back into a Concentration Breathing pattern. Wait… did she have Constant Concentration down? What had Urokodaki-sensei been teaching her?!
"I hope Hanako's okay," she said softly.
"No," the demon finally said. "You are not necessary. That man wants the children, not you."
"Over my dead body," the woman returned firmly.
"You are not even a demon slayer."
"No," the woman acknowledged. "But I am a mother. A mother who happens to know a sword style that can kill demons."
This woman was terrifying, Giyuu decided.
"Hmm. Die," the Waxing Fourth said.
"Dodge!" Giyuu yelled, already jumping away from the attack of growing wood followed by concussive blasts from the demon. Kie was obviously not as agile as her daughter, but she seemed more thoughtful about her moves and could obviously think several steps in advance. Which was good because Giyuu doubted the woman would have been able to dodge as much as she could otherwise.
He hated having to keep an eye on her, feeling a little handicapped despite his gratefulness towards her rescue, but she held her own for the most part…
Until she didn't.
He just took his eyes off of her for a minute to deal with the actual demon; to try attacking him, and then heard a cry of pain. He finished his attack, disengaged and glanced over to see the Kamado matriarch caught in a wooden branch, much like he'd been, arms at her side and sword unusable. He grit his teeth and went to try and rescue her, but the demon attacked him again and he had to jump, flip and cartwheel away just to avoid it.
He glanced up just in time to see the demon appear in front of the trapped woman, leaning away from said demon… who seemed to like to gloat. Giyuu didn't hear what the demon said, instead focusing on trying to get there before he had to report to the Kamado children that they were now orphans when something happened that made him stop in his tracks.
The woman thrust her head forward and it connected with the demon's forehead in a battle of… thick skulls, he supposed.
The demon lost.
Despite the horns growing out of his head. She'd missed them somehow.
What.
Giyuu shook that thought (and the shock) from his head, berating himself for getting side tracked and pushed himself forward, pulling his own Striking Tide out and dragging the woman away from her shattered prison. She was breathing hard but otherwise looked unharmed beyond the scrapes, bruises and limp she'd had before getting caught. After striking her head against a demon's…
Nope, he'd examine that later.
(This family was utterly insane.)
The demon recovered and glanced up at them, now obviously angry. Without another word, he lunged towards them, sloppy but with an amazing amount of speed nonetheless – an animal attacking with no thought, but strong enough to still be dangerous. Giyuu and Kie braced themselves.
Then the demon froze in mid air, eyes wide in surprise… and he choked… and collapsed to the ground, skidding over the undergrowth to their feet. Giyuu stared for only a moment before he rushed forward and cut the demon's head off.
It didn't get back up.
"What…?" Kie asked, breathlessly.
Giyuu glanced around at the forest, throwing his senses out. There… he sensed her over in the distance.
He glanced back at Kie and simply said, "Nezuko."
The woman's eyes widened. "Where?" she asked.
Giyuu nodded in the direction he sensed the girl's presence… weakening? His heart skipped a beat and he began running, Kie following in his tracks as best she could.
xXx
She'd caught the presence of the demon what could have been minutes or hours before, and now she chased him through the woods.
Nezuko's bones creaked and ached but she couldn't stop. She'd switched back to her original style with a touch of Zenitsu's lightning so she could keep up with the demon, who was running… without a head. It had grown in size as it ran after she'd initially caught sight of him, and she'd cut off his head, but that hadn't stopped him, which meant she'd be dealing with the little demon inside the body as Tanjiro had said she would.
Her lungs burned and she wasn't entirely sure her knees would ever recover… or her wrists, but Giyuu-san was counting on her and she would kill this demon, even if it killed her.
It took her a minute to accept that – for her heart to settle down and for her to really understand her resolve – but when she did, everything seemed to fall into place and she could finally, finally see the transparent world. Oh. So that was how she achieved it. Well.
And with that, she could see the creature hiding within the larger body – within the heart.
"Hinokami Kagura, First Form alternate," she whispered, preparing her stance, not noticing the vine shape on her skin seeming to burst into flame, "Flash Dance."
Her brother had told her about that move before, but she'd never guessed she'd have to figure it out on her own and use it on the fly.
But it worked.
Her sword went right through the small demon's neck. The demon's larger body shrieked (somehow, even without a head) and collapsed, twitching to the ground. Nezuko landed, turning to face the Waxing Fourth and keeping her sword between them, but it didn't get up to attack her again. Eventually, the body twitched one final time and then went still before it began to dissolve.
Nezuko still didn't move for several seconds, not daring to believe it was over. But when nothing else attacked her and she couldn't sense a demonic presence anymore, she finally let her sword drop. All of the pain and warning signs her body had been giving that she'd been ignoring or pushing aside suddenly seemed to collapse in on her at once. She fell to her knees and then to her side, gasping. Her body groaned and ached so badly tears came to her eyes… but she'd done it.
It may very well have killed her, but she'd done it. She'd killed the demon; Waxing Four.
Despite the tears dripping from her eyes, she smiled. The world began to go dark and a little blurry just as two forms appeared within her vision, hurrying towards her. One she most definitely recognized as the figure wore the half-and-half haori her senpai was known for.
"Giyuu-san," she said, her voice sounding a little slurred but happy and content. "I did it."
She felt a hand on her head. "You did. Good job."
The last thing Nezuko remembered after shooting him the biggest grin she could, was the feeling of other, familiar hands coming to hold her and prop her up, but then she knew no more.
xXx
Senahei didn't bite his lip in frustration, but it was a near thing. He'd been so close to getting both his son (he had a son – not just one, but two – he'd have to search for his other one) and the target but then he'd felt killing intent and had had to jump back and another person had landed between him and his targets. Waxing Zero the eyes read. He'd recognized the person from his description almost immediately.
So this was Kamado Tanjiro.
Muzan-sama had warned him about the demon he hadn't turned. They didn't know where he came from or why he had the kind of power he did, but he had Waxing Moon level strength and markings. He'd been described as competent and fierce by Kokushibo-sama but hesitant in his fighting – like he didn't want to hurt his opponents. The Waxing First had called it his most glaring weakness.
Senahei didn't see it.
The demon who stood before him almost looked at him with hatred, baring his fangs and eyes narrowed. His stance looked firm and steady and the aura he gave off promised little mercy… if any.
He… hadn't been expecting this. He'd honestly hoped to not meet the Kamado who now stood before him at all.
"Stay away from my family," the boy said, his voice controlled but Senahei didn't doubt that anyone there wouldn't sense the chaotic energy behind it – the anger he held back, likely through sheer will.
If this was him holding back…
"N-nii-san?" the girl, Hanako, whispered, no small amount of fear in her own voice.
"Hanako," the boy replied without taking his eyes off of Senahei, "Senjuro… run."
And he attacked.
When Kokushibo-sama said 'fierce', he hadn't done the boy justice at all. This went beyond ferocious, and it was all Senahei could do to keep up. The boy even accounted for his tail and the strikes he could sometimes get on some of the other Waxing Moons with it. He lost himself to the rhythm of the battle, forced to concentrate on staying alive and barely keeping up.
"T-Tanjiro-san!" he heard the boy – his son – yell, "Please… don't kill him!"
Kamado didn't acknowledge that through anything except gritted teeth and an even angrier glare… so Senahei didn't think the boy would acquiesce to the request. He redoubled his efforts, putting his all into the sword fight, desperately trying to consciously remember the forms his body already seemed to know.
The boy still got past his guard – the one Kokushibo-sama had a hard time with sometimes – and sent him flying back. He hit and broke many trees and more traps before he finally came to a stop, ribs obviously broken. He had to concentrate on healing them. It would only take a couple of seconds and he'd be right as rain and ready to fight again.
Except he didn't have those seconds.
Before a single rib had gone back into place, Kamado was there, picking him up and slamming him against a nearby boulder by his neck.
It was… terrifying.
Kokushibo-sama had been so sure he could win against Kamado, but Shin… no, Senahei (why had he thought the other name?) was positive that Kamado would give Muzan-sama a run for his money. He tried to take in air, but could only get the barest trickle.
So he resorted to his blood art, scratching his fingers and letting the blood drop to the ground.
"Field… Of… Flaming… Flow—"
"Demon Blood Art: Palm Fire Explosion!" the boy cut him off, and suddenly the world around Senahei blazed to life with fire that certainly wasn't his own, and he screamed in pain. It was torture. Pure torture. After a few moments (an eternity), the fire cut out, leaving Senahei gasping even more.
"How dare you!" the boy shouted into his face. "How dare you attack your own family?! Your son?! Answer me, RENGOKU SHINJURO!"
He briefly considered correcting the name the boy used, but then decided against it. Discretion was the better part of valor here. Instead, he tapped the kid's hand around his throat, pointing out that he could barely talk. Kamado narrowed his eyes, but thankfully relaxed the hand grasping Senahei's neck a little. He gasped in gulps of air.
"Well?"
Senahei looked up, trying not to look scared at just how badly this kid had destroyed him. He'd grown bigger, which was how he'd been able to pin Senahei against the boulder…
"I… didn't know," the newer demon answered the question given to him.
"He looks just like you!"
Senahei tried to sneak his tail up to sweep the boy's feet but Kamado just moved his other hand in a swipe and the tail vanished, severed and flopping to the ground below them.
The Waxing Moon swallowed.
"I… wanted to… take him back… with me." The boy's hand had tightened again.
Kamado's eyes narrowed and Senahei felt his heart jump in his chest, now positive he would die here.
"And Hanako?" Kamado asked, dangerously.
Senahei didn't even think about lying to him, not with that look in his eye. "For Muzan-sama… he… wants her!" he said through gasps.
"Why?!"
"Muzan-sama… wants to turn her into… his demon so she can… conquer the sun… for him!"
He almost expected the Demon King to destroy him right then and there with that confession, but Muzan-sama must not have been paying attention.
"No other reason?" Kamado pressed.
"If there is I don't know it!" Senahei replied.
The boy studied him with those glowing red eyes for several seconds before he must have finally found what he was looking for. He huffed in obvious frustration, which did little for the boy's anger, but he did let Senahei go.
"He attacked my family," Kamado said. "For the last time. You hear that Muzan? I will make you regret it!"
If anything, Senahei felt nothing but amusement from the Demon King. He didn't dare say so aloud though.
The boy still looked livid, but less so than before… albeit marginally. So when he bit his finger, eyeing Senahei dangerously, the demon froze.
"Sorry about this, Shinjuro-san." With that, he plunged his hand straight into Senahei's chest. Then the new demon knew nothing but burning and screaming.
xXx
Tanjiro stepped back from the Waxing Moon writhing on the forest floor. He was breathing hard himself as he watched the demon formerly known as Rengoku Shinjuro pass out from pain, but still shudder every now and then. He wondered how many days it would take to turn this Waxing Moon. He was positive the only reason he'd been able to turn Sanemi so quickly was because the man had been dying and he'd known it, focusing all his concentration on staying alive for a couple more seconds instead of the demon blood infecting his veins. Now, though…
He glanced down at his hand – at his finger. He'd bitten it, but that wouldn't have been enough, not if he wanted Shinjuro out for days as Akaza had been. (Did it take longer to turn a demon than it did to turn a human? Why?)
The hole he'd created in the top of his finger closed up until it looked normal again. He swallowed back bile at the unnatural sight and glanced back at the form on the forest floor, writhing and screaming despite his unconsciousness.
"Tou-san!" Senjuro's voice had him turning around, seeing the boy running up with Hanako right behind him. She looked terrified when her eyes fell on him. Terrified of him?
That felt like a punch to the gut.
He swallowed and looked away, focusing on Senjuro who stopped when he reached Tanjiro, eyes fixed on his father. Then he looked up, both obviously angry and worried. "What did you do to him?!"
"Injected my blood into him," Tanjiro said quietly. "He's turning into one of my demons."
Senjuro blinked. "What?"
"It's not a pleasant process but… I couldn't leave him under Muzan's command." Then Tanjiro felt his face soften. "I never wanted to kill him, Senjuro-san."
The boy relaxed a lot at that declaration, but still looked on worriedly at his father.
"When he wakes up, he'll likely need to feed… but I can't stay here to look after him." The demon progenitor bit his lip, uncaring when his fang pierced his flesh. It would heal almost immediately anyway. "I need to go find Giyuu-san."
"But what about Tou-san?" Senjuro asked worriedly.
Tanjiro didn't like it, but he looked between Senjuro and his writhing father before sighing. "I'll take him back to the hut for now. Meet me there."
With that, he picked up the demon, ignoring the man's squirming and just holding him tightly.
"Hai," Hanako and Senjuro said at the same time.
"If you run into any other demons, shout for me," Tanjiro told them with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Then he took off down the mountainside. He was positive there were no more demons on the mountain, but one could never be too careful.
He was both relieved and disgusted that he could sense a bond already forming with the demon in his arms. The demon who let out another shriek of pain. Tanjiro winced. He remembered back to the look of fear on his sister's face.
He'd just been… so angry. He'd almost gotten through a loop where he'd been able to save everyone! He was so close to defeating Muzan and then the demon king had pulled this?!
Tanjiro grit his teeth at the unfairness of it all. Was he just not good enough? Would he never be good enough, no matter what he gave up?
(He'd given up so much…)
He swallowed the bitter thought and kept running. He could do one thing right tonight at least.
In his arms, Shinjuro screamed.
xXx
AN: Thank you to Kaylessa, TimeLordTim, Found and Quathis for their help on editing this! Luv you guys!
So yeah, a bit of a break this week. Hunker down. We go back to the mansion next week. *ahem* Also, thank you to my lovely new readers who have left such kind comments. I read them all, so thank you. Lastly, thank you to my older readers for all of your continued support! You're a lot of the reason why this is still going. :D
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)
