The Life and Times of an Average Coward

Chapter 16: This is Gospel (For the fallen ones)

To my dear friend Senritsu,

It is nice to hear that your training is going well my young friend and I hope to hear more of your progress in developing your own breathing style. It is simply fascinating to read about the form that you are creating, the theories, and the work that you put on to combine two entirely different breathing styles and incorporating them as your own is a riveting study. For all the records that our family have kept over the decades that the Demon Slayer Corps. stood, there are no text provided about combining two different breath styles, only offshoots from an already existing breath technique.

You, my young friend, are a genius. And I am glad that you are "ranting" and "rambling" your thoughts to the letters that you've sent to me about your progress, and I assure you, that it is no burden or an inconvenience at all to read all about it. Though I have some trouble identifying what an 'oxygen respirator' is, but from what I've gathered from your writing, is it some sort of advance medical device for providing oxygen? If so, that sounds absolutely fascinating and fantastic, I could just think of many ways that the machinery could help in providing advancement to the scientific and medicinal world. Though from the way you had described it, it is far too technology far too advance to what we currently have. A shame really.

You, young friend have, such a unique perspective and an enviable amount of creativity when it comes to the making of your sword forms. Mayhap, not only to your sword forms, but your way of thinking from general subjects. You have such a wide array of fresh ideas about different concepts that I haven't come to think about.

You are amazing my young friend. I simply love to hear all about it, and if I could be of any help in your pursuit of more knowledge from other subjects and of different sword forms that is outside of breath styles, let me know, the Ubuyashiki family library has accumulated many such books across the country by different scholars and swordmasters. I've already included some here alongside this letter and I hope that it would be of help.

Best regards from your friend,

Ubuyashiki Kagaya

P.S. You do not need to worry about myself with my health, and I thank you for the medicinal tea and the scarf that you gifted me, it's lovely and I will make sure to wear it this coming winter. How could an embroidery feel so alive? You also really have great talent to different arts. Don't deny it and accept the compliment.

P.P.S. Amane is healthy and little Kiriya has recovered from his fever. I thank you once again for the beautiful blanket that you've gifted him, he is quite taken with it and would not sleep without it. Seeing it wrapped around him is one of the loveliest things I've ever seen in my life.

P.P.P.S. I hope you are taking great care of yourself dear friend, your overall health, whether it is mental, emotional and physical, it is of utmost important. I worry about your frequent fainting spells that I have been hearing about from Kurotsuchi, please worry about yourself more.

Tanjirou is hurt and yet he won't speak of it to me as we journey together towards our mission. If I wasn't observing so closely, I might not have been able to pick up that he was injured at all.

This guy really…

Aside from the cracked rib that I've already noted from the start, he also appears to have a fracture in his left leg, and that's excluding the possible bruises that he has all over his body. The infinitesimal flinches every now and then whenever he made a too wild gesture during his recount of his previous missions was very telling. I didn't mention anything, just asked him if he had already applied Tengu-jiji's salve – his healing cream is like no other – or if he needed help reapplying it.

Tanjirou thanked me for my concern and admitted to having help with a demon lady doctor for that.

And oh, would you look at that, Tanjirou met two demons – not one, but two – who are non-hostile towards humans and can conduct themselves like civilized normal people. Wow, just wow.

It seems like Nezuko-chan is not a singularity anymore, like, who knew? Who fucking knew that there's a demon out there, running around hosting a clinic, trying to find a cure for the demon insurgence. It's amazing, that's what, and if Tanjirou says that they are friendly, then they most probably are. Tanjirou's nose is nothing to scoff at, it's as much as a lie detector as my ears, plus if it's coupled by Tanjirou's ability to judge a person at a glance then it must be true.

But of course, I would have to see that for myself. You can never be too careful and cautious. Life is short, as I've already established when I died, vigilance is key to survival.

Oh. And also.

Like the prime suspect of being the Shounen protagonist that he is, Tanjirou has met Kibutsuji Muzan by chance.

He met a literal demon overlord just by fucking chance.

If that isn't Shounen protagonist material, then I don't know shit at all and was just living a lie. Or a joke.

Goddamnit. Fuck. Just fuck. Why can't we have a normal first few excursions to demon hunting?

I said it just as much to Tanjirou with a hollow laugh and a face full of resignation to the fate that ROA has bestowed us lowly mortals.

Fuck.

We've been through too much of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion for the first two weeks of demon hunting.

Because of course, of course, we would meet the demons who have slain and hurt our families face to face.

Fantastic. Brilliant. Life sucks and so should we.

I'm just very grateful that we all survived the encounter, but in my case, made peace to what happened to my family, while Tanjirou has yet to get the closure that he deserves and needs. Just for that, I shed a few tears and hugged Tanjirou because he obviously needs it.

What a kind and strong soul, that's what Tanjirou is. The sound of his soul is beautiful beyond words that if I let myself listen to it, like really listen to it, I would start ugly crying and sobbing. It's what happened during that disastrous return from the demon slayer exams.

(It was pure, raw with the touch of gentle kindness and just so, so, so heart-throbbingly warm. It's like the warm flames at the hearth of a home, so tender and achingly comforting.)

That's why I tend to not listen too closely to Tanjirou's heart but,

"Are you okay?" I glared at him before his mouth could form the words 'I'm fine', because clearly, he isn't. What a kind idiot.

"Uh…" Ha! Lost for words, thank the Sound God he caught my drift this time, I don't really feel like getting my words right through his literal hard forehead.

"I… don't really know." Tanjirou started, his nose twitching, brows furrowed.

He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, his earrings fluttering from the small breeze. It was a nice sunny day with barely a cloud in the blue sky, the heat was a little harsh but bearable enough. Nezuko started scratching at the door of her box, making worried huffing noises.

"I guess, I could say that I-I'm not really okay, but is also kinda okay? Maybe?" This guy seriously needs a lot of hugs. Maybe when the mission is over, I could convince to get some rest and maybe enjoy a cuddle session with his dear sister. "S-Sorry if I'm being very confusing, I haven't really thought of it… But ah," He admitted, burgundy eyes looking up at the clear sky, watching his avian partner circle up ahead.

I didn't bother saying anything just yet, it feels inappropriate if I do, and Tanjirou looks like he needs to get it off his chest if anything. Interrupting his flow right now might be counterproductive when I'm the one asking about his well-being, it defeats the point entirely.

"It all feels heavy, and, and I don't know if I'm even strong enough for the weight of it all, I feel…" He shuddered and stopped walking altogether, head still directed heavenwards. "Suffocated and it's painful Senritsu, it's so painful and I don't know if I could take it much longer."

Then he looked at me, eyes shiny from tears that he refuses to shed, because doing so means he's admitting defeat. Because doing so made him feel like he had given up. Nezuko's gone quiet now, but no less worried for her brother.

(Knowing him for only a few days, I know that giving up is never an option that he has given himself. Tanjirou does not want to fail Nezuko, does not want to fail his responsibility as the eldest brother, does not want to fail the lives of people that has been touched by demons, that would be touched by demons.)

Inhaling deeply, I more or less felt my eyes well up with tears, tears that I let to freely drag down my cheeks to my chin and onto the ground. If Tanjirou have such inhibition about crying then I have enough tears to cry for the both of us.

Like the sweetheart that he is, Tanjirou flailed around, hands going this way and that until finally settling on fishing out a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and handing them to me.

"Here," He said, hand spasming from an aborted reflex brought by wiping away a sibling's tears. His eyes were impossibly kind and grateful all the same.

"You don't have to cry for me Senritsu, it's my duty after all. I shouldn't even be thinking of things like giving up. This is for Nezuko, my precious little sister, giving up is the last choice that I would never make."

Classic too-good-to-be-true shounen protagonist, but Tanjirou is here and real and breathing and honest to God alive. And he is also a person who needs a hug.

A hug which I didn't hesitate to give.

"Y-You know," I warbled with a thick voice through his haori, still crying and most likely looking a little disgusting. "I wouldn't mind sharing some of that w-weight." I could feel his taut shoulders relax under my cheek as arms encircled my back with Nezuko making cooing noses from inside her box. His head falling to my left shoulder as he inhaled a grounding breath.

"And haven't I told you that I would help you? That I promised on that day when we got back from the Final Selection alive? How forgetful can you be Tanjirou? First our first meeting and now my promise." Giving one last tight squeeze, I separated myself from the younger teen and gave a tiny smile that I hope is reassuring.

"But that's no matter, I would remember it all for the both of us."

Because really, my retention skills are nothing to scoff at, being a genius pianist in my past life does not only involve my ears, it also involved memorizing all those notes, the sequence of said notes, the tempo of said notes and the dynamics in accordance to the notes. I had to be especially skilled with making up for my crippled hand, lacking a few fingers while playing at a fast tempo should be a skill on its own.

(I'll own being a music genius thank you, y'all don't have to worry about my self-confidence on that one, because I'm not that oblivious.)

In other words, memorization is no skin off my back.

Tanjirou doesn't cry but it was a near thing, he held the tears back as best as he could with a deep inhale and clenched eyelids. He looks constipated, and the smile he has on kept wavering but I know that it was real and not just for show.

It took a while for him to calm down and gather himself, with his personal kasugaigarasu deeming my left shoulder the best bird perch as Ukogi atop my head communicated with him.

With one last exhale, Tanjirou has finally calmed down enough that he's not viable to burst into tears, and gave me one of his patented "sunshine boi" smile. The expression was so beautiful and so heartwarming that I can't help but let a few more tears slip off.

"Thank you, Senritsu."

"N-No need for t-that."

Rubbing off the tears from my face, I gave him my very best smile in return and patted his shoulder lightly before starting on our path with one more nip from the impatient bird on my shoulder.

Really, what an inconsiderate one, can't he see that his own partner is injured! Maybe I should say something to Kurotsuki so he could educate his kohai here about looking out for his human and his health.

When I didn't hear any following footsteps nor any Tanjirou beside me, I turned back and saw him standing stuck still, frozen in place while his face was incredibly red. It was so red that I could've sworn that there was smoke coming out of his ears.

What the—Does he have fever?! And why so sudden? I'm sure that his temperature wasn't that hot when I hugged him earlier.

"T-Tanjirou! Tanjirou are you okay?" I run back towards the boy and immediately had my forehead onto his, making sure to not ram mine while doing so, I don't want to give myself a concussion. "Ah! You're really hot! I think you're running a fever right no—"

"I'M FINE!"

My shoulders were suddenly pushed away and I was greeted to the sight of an even redder Tanjirou, the scar on his forehead almost blending in with how flushed he was.

"T-There's no need to worry Zen-Senritsu!" Then his eyes rolled back, his cheeks puffed up like a squirrel while his face was still red all over. Ha, Tanjirou's lying face is super weird. I wonder why he even tries when between the two of us I'm a greater lie detector, I told him that much. "I'm fine, the heat just got to me a-and—"

"SQUACK!" The inconsiderate avian squacked right next to my ear, which is ow, fucking volume birdie, you really need your senpai to educate you out of being inconsiderate. "THE MISSION! THE MISSION IS RIGHT UP AHEAD! SQUACK!"

"Y-YEAH! The miSSION!" Tanjirou flailed. "We should go Senritsu, we don't want to be late and all."

I watched Tanjirou hightail it out of my sight and onto the woods up ahead where there is a clear path that used for travel. The boy didn't even look back that he left his mission partner behind, he's really diligent, isn't he? Working even with injuries and a fever. Hmm… maybe he isn't that injured after all if he could run like that.

"SQUACK! SENRITSU THE MISSION! SQUACK! THE MISSION!"

Irritated at the flying pair of drumsticks, I whacked him off my shoulder.

"THAT'S IT YOU INCONSIDERATE AVIAN! I'M REPORTING YOUR BEHAVIOR TO YOUR KUROTSUK—KUROTSUCHI-SENPAI! LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING YELLED AT!"

If it's possible for a bird to look panicked, he is doing that right now. Seems like Kurotsuki really sits atop the hierarchy of messenger crows, the bird is so frazzled at the mention of my friend's name that he didn't even bother to question how I even knew of his 'Kurotsuchi-senpai'.

"SQUACK! SCREECH! DON'T REPORT ME HUMAN! SQUACK! DON'T―"

"SHUT UP!"

Thank the Sound God that my partner is Ukogi. Cute, tiny, considerate and definitely not a loud squacking bitch on wings.

I sighed, now running full tilt to catch up to Tanjirou. The mission hasn't started yet I'm already this tired. Here's to hoping that the mission itself is not as tiring, but knowing how hard ROA wants to fuck with me from time to time, this mission is bound to be a nightmare.

Called it.

I heard them before we even entered the clearing, I didn't give much thought of it earlier with my mind being occupied by Tanjirou's odd behavior. Maybe if I was more alert, I could've planned on how to approach it. But now that we're here, there's no time for that. Plus, there's a deadass demonic mansion right before us, housing several demons within its doors. And that sound… was that a tsuzumi drum? The distinct drumbeats couldn't be anything else, and the minute it resounds there's a large shift that would go around the house.

(I don't have a good feeling about this tsuzumi demon's abilities, none at all.)

But that info is for a later examination, preferably when we're done dealing with the obvious issue.

Gesturing to Tanjirou, I gave him a vague hand sign that meant "leave it to me", with jazz hands and an array of facial expressions. Thankfully, Tanjirou gets it and marches on ahead with a purpose.

I let out a sigh, cursing my own inattentiveness. Inattentiveness that during missions could get us killed, yet I let myself get distracted.

Well, there's no use lamenting it now, right? It's not like we're being eaten by a demon right now, best to move along that thought and do better next time.

Between the two of us, Tanjirou has more experience with children being the eldest of six and all. But then recalling his stories about his five siblings, made me think that all five of them got nothing on Kai in any of his good days. Not to mention the others when they visited, those three – Mui-chan, Yuu and Sachi – might look like mild sweet-faced angels, but they are all a menace of their own right.

(Kai is his own warning sign, a big red blinking neon sign that screams in capital letters the words 'I HATE EVERYTHING AND YOU MIGHT BE ONE OF THEM', oh, and make that neon sign have something like an alert warning and rainbow colored. And Sachi, my super mega extra manly older brother, behind those peach-like hair, pretty pearl-like eyes and angel-like smile, is a stubborn, bullheaded muscle-brain that his only way of life is being a 'MAN' in bold and in capital. Let's not forget Mui-chan, sweet, sweet Mui-chan who has a dirty mouth when left alone with any of the other boys, sassiness for days, and the greatest deadpanned 'what the fuck'-er of life. I don't know if I should laugh or cry when he gives epic comebacks to shade thrown at him, and I once saw him list down insults for other people in his journals in an orderly manner, under different 'names' – who the hell is 'adulthood gone wrong' and 'walking aneurism'?! – all color coded and segmented by neat columns and rows. Apparently, it's a past time hobby of his and the writing down is for him to not forget. And lastly Yuu, the very definition of 'emo protagonist with a tragic backstory', with his dark hair and intriguing deep blue eyes. He has the social-moron thing going on which is a massive check for his archetype. With a best friend who isn't as much of a social-moron as him with equally tragic backstory – a story I don't want to recall 'cause I don't want to cry, try again and request an omake or interlude with Sachi as the star – a genius in his own right with self-esteem issues and many more other issues that you'd see on Yuu's character archetype. The four of them have a common personality though. A common personality to drive me up a fucking tower and then some.)

(And when all those four boys are all together in a room, expect that you'll be a homeless gnome afterwards. Or you could be the idiot that let it all happen.)

I slowly walked towards the two frightened children behind the overgrown bushes, making sure to make noise as I approached them to not startle them even further. The poor kids are shaking, clutching at each other tightly, with the older cocooning the little girl with his own little body. Once they noticed me, I gave them my best non-assuming face with both hands visible and giving a small wave towards them.

"Hello." They flinched. I mellowed my voice even more, talking slowly. "I'm Agatsuma Senritsu and my friend over there is Kamado Tanjirou. We're both here to help." I gestured to Tanjirou who was giving full attention to the house.

"A-Are you humans?" The boy asked after a while, giving a brave front and hiding his sister behind him. What a good older brother.

If I were them at that age, I would've run the other way at the sign of a demon lest the sight of it. These children are built different, or maybe I'm the one who just have a great built in common sense and survival instincts. People of this era are just too curious or stubborn for their own good, that's why there's a whole ass world war happening somewhere in the globe.

"Yes, we are humans," I told them sincerely. "And to prove that we are both humans, we both are currently under the sun. As the adults say, demons can't step outside at daytime without turning themselves to ash, that's the reason why they always strike at night."

Do I sound convincing enough? Or did I manage to mess it up? I should've left Tanjirou to do his thing! Ack, I don't want to knockout any of them. What if they needed to runaway from here? They need to be conscious to get away just in case if we lost to the demons.

The younger tugged at her brother's haori to get his attention.

"I-It's like what Miwa-baachan t-told us and she knows a lot about demons and other monsters. And didn't the m-monster panicked when the s-sun was about to rise?" What an observant girl despite being so scared, I wish I even have the half of this girl's courage when I was her age.

"You're right Teruko, he was scared, wasn't he? And if it's from the old miko, Miwa-baaachan then..."

Eerily as one, the children's identical eyes were suddenly on me. There was no shine in them, just coffee brown pupils with dark irises, I've never seen such an eye pattern before, it's straight up terrifying.

Why the hell were their eyes naturally dead looking?!

"Please save our big brother!" The Teruko and her unnamed older brother shouted at the same time, doing a synchronous ninety-degree bow.

"H-Hey! There's no need for that," I shook my hands before me. "And besides, didn't I say that we would help."

I smiled at their dumbfounded expression. Aaahh kids, I'll never get tired of their amazed faces. There's nothing more honest and as pure as a child's emotion.

Tanjirou who had been quiet for a while, approached us, smiling and waving at the children with his good ol' 'onii-chan' aura. How come he gets an aura buff? Where do I get one? I want the invisible aura one so that I could go on with life not getting noticed by demons.

Moving on, this is not the time lamenting on useful life hacks, this is the time for reassuring children that are scared shitless.

"Isn't that right, Tanjirou-kun? Aren't we here to help?" I continued to smile – dearly hoping that it is not a grimace – in my best 'onee-chan is here for you' smile that I've tweaked a bit from Sachi's 'onii-chan is here for you' smile.

"Un, we're both here to help!" And Tanjirou smiled, pulling out his own version of 'onii-chan is here for you' smile.

Damn I need to train more later.

And would you look at that, it worked, the children's tense and coiled bodies relaxed and sagged, their erratic heartbeats calming down to a pitter patter of a rain shower and inner selves now quieting down to a bearable manner.

The siblings also started thanking us profusely at the same time, talking over each other and over all giving me more nerves than what I already have from the first place.

"T-Thank you! Thank you Senritsu-san, Tanjirou-san can you—"

"—Kiyoshi-nii is in there! We need to hurry or—"

"—ary! It was so scary! He came out of nowhere and took Ki—"

"—od all over him, he dragged him here and we follo—"

"Ano," That's 'what' in Filipino, but in this context, we can also use the Japanese filler word. "Can we, ah, both know your names first then maybe tell us what happened?" I cut them off before it could get out of hand.

In my peripheral, I saw Tanjirou nod, still having the 'onii-chan' smile on his lips, his eyes attentive and looking at the siblings with encouragement. He must've done that face many times with his own siblings with how at home the expression is to his face.

Red bloomed on the children's cheeks, embarrassed and flustered at their combine act of 'impoliteness'. This are one of the things I love about Asian culture, the ingrain want to be polite even towards strangers as strange as those strangers are, maybe it's in our gene pool.

"We're sorry." Again, they bowed as one.

"It's fine, it's fine." Tanjirou placated. "Your names?"

"I'm Shouichi."

"And I'm Teruko."

"Both are good names, it suits you both well. Now," Tanjirou crouched to see them eye to eye, meaning every word he said. I'll just stand here and let him do his magic. "Can you tell us what happened?"

With those words out of his mouth, Shouchi and Teruko gave a stiff and halting recount of the events, with trembling voices and running heartbeats.

Their fear is warranted, given that a huge ass demon came at them from out of nowhere in the dark, taking their big brother and dragging him into a mansion that could star in an old woman's tale as a haunted one.

But still, these kids are brave for sticking here to find a way to get their brother back. Regrettably, with the hours that have passed since their brother's capture, it isn't looking pretty positive for them. Their brother could've been eaten already for all we know.

There is still hope though, there are three humans currently inside the mansion and one of them might be—

A window upstairs suddenly opens and flying out of it like a bat is a human, a bloodied human whose head is rapidly about to make contact to the ground.

Body moving without my mind catching up, I had already jumped to catch them from the nasty fall. I let out a light 'oomp' when the man – definitely a man – was finally nestled in my arms at the last second.

"Senritsu!" Tanjirou yelled out of surprise before running towards us in panic.

By the time Tanjirou made it to my side, I had already let the bloodied man down gently to the ground.

"Sir, can you hear me?" I asked absently but no less urgently, applying pressure at the large gash in his belly.

The man didn't reply, his heartbeat weak and dying, his mind only droning about how pretty the cloudless sky looked in his eyes.

"Tanjirou, replace my hands for a sec and apply pressure to it!"

Tanjirou wordlessly took my position and knelt on the ground pooling with blood. I heard him ask the siblings if the injured man is their brother, but both answered with a 'no' and a description of their brother. Gosh, I'm totally out of my depth right now, it's like my first mission all over again!

Diyos ginoo, this is way out of my league! And is that his intestines?! Oh God! He needs a doctor to stitch that up! I know how to stitch, but I don't know how to do that on humans! Oh fuck—putangina talaga!

Hands now covered in red and shaking, I tore a large portion on the man's bloodless hakama to bandage the large wound to make it possible to (maybe) keep him alive while one of us gets a doctor. Not that it's looking pretty positive, the man had lost too much blood and his injuries are vital, and a normal village doctor would not make the cut for healing a wound like this.

God-fucking-damnit! His heartbeat it's—

"He's fading!" I exclaimed, hands halting from the middle of bandaging.

Tanjirou looked even more panicked and torn than before.

"Sir! Please hold on!"

My eyes blurred without my permission and I can't believe that I'm already crying when I'm supposed to be doing something for this man. The smell of iron is strong in the air and I had to swallow the bile that's trying to reach my mouth.

"P-Please, please hold on for a bit longer Sir, we're, we're—"

The man took a gulping breath, like he is having a hard time taking in enough oxygen to his lungs. It came out as a gurgle as he was drowning in his own blood.

His heartbeat! His heartbeat! It's fa—

Ba…. dum…. ba….

"It has been d-days… m-managed to get out… but I…"

du…..

"He's…gone." I found myself murmuring quietly.

And I could only stare as the life in his eyes dulled into nothing, chest not moving and, and heartbeat gone.

I took a shuddering breath, my blood crusted hands moving away from the sloppy bandages.

We were too late. Even if we try to resuscitate him, we would still not be able to do anything. The injuries he had are far too severe and reviving him would be far too off in the realm of possibility.

(We were too late. What if we didn't dally earlier? Could we have saved him? Could we have rescued him? I fucked up. I shou—)

We were too late to save this man but— I exhaled. There's no need for these emotions right now, I can let this out later when it's all over. Compartmentalize, compartmentalize, you've done this before Sen, you've done this all before. This is not the time to breakdown and cry, now is the time to move and reassure Shouichi-kun and Teruko-chan.

I bowed my head and put my hands together, Tanjirou repeating my movements with a prayer and a promise in his lips.

"We will bury you later, please wait for us to get back."

With that, he placed a hand on the man's eyes and slid it close, now, the man looked like he was sleeping, if not for the pool of blood underneath him.

"We will come back Sir, please wait for us." I spoke quietly, standing up from my crouching position.

In a mechanical movement, I wiped my hands clean on a towel that was handed to me by Ukogi-kun. Then I handed it to Tanjirou who absentmindedly wiped his hands clean before storing it on his haori's inside packet much to my alarm.

"Tanjirou-san, Senritsu-san…" Shouchi-kun started. "Is he…"

Tanjirou sighed through his nose and closed his eyes, composing himself from the difficult ordeal of relaying the news of having a person, though not personally known, died in front of them.

Geez, to add to the difficulty, they might panic and go into shock if their minds spiraled to the worst-case scenario of their older brother ending the same.

Diyos ginoo, I seriously hate this job.

"Yes." Tanjirou spoke carefully. Then he spoke with determination, "But don't worry, we will find your older brother and rescue him. So please," He walked towards them, taking off Nezuko's box and placing it in front of the children. "Whatever you do, please stay here. This box is more important than my life, and I'm going to leave it here for now. Whatever happens, it will protect you."

Tanjirou gave a smile and patted the children's hair. Nezuko-chan in the box is unsettled, must be the thought of being left behind by Tanjirou in another dangerous battle.

"We will come back with your brother."

"That's right." I chimed in. "So, whatever happens, please stay here. It would be extremely dangerous if you follow us both inside. So please, please, please" I gave Shouichi-kun and Teruko-chan an imploring look. "stay here. Hide or runaway if necessary."

"But Senritsu, Ne—"

"Tanjirou-kun, you do realize it's daytime and she won't be able to come out, right? It would actually be better if the children are far, far away from here if anything." I gave him a raised eyebrow.

Once again, Tanjirou sighed through his nose and winced, must be the broken ribs. "You're right, maybe the stress and my injuries are getting to me. I'm not thinking too clearly. Shouichi-kun, Teruko-chan do as this smart nee-chan says. Whatever you do, don't come inside the mansion with us, alright?"

"We will." The siblings nodded their head.

As we are walking towards the mansion, the tsuzumi drum kept ringing in my ears one bop at a time that is accompanied by shifting wood and closing doors. I can hear the two humans inside somewhere, along with three demons prowling at the rooms and corridors. One sounds like a wild rampaging beast, and the other, a soft pattering rain quivering in fear. That must be Shouichi-kun and Teruko-chan's brother.

"I can hear two humans and three demons inside along with a strange tsuzumi drum… it sounds really ominous."

Tanjirou stopped sniffing the air. "A tsuzumi drum?"

"Un." I nodded. "But whenever it beats, the house… it uh, shifts?" Look I'm not totally sure okay, it's just whenever the drum beats, the positions of the humans and demons changes.

This mission is going to be hard.

Then the sound of turbulent spring water jolted me to a flinch, beside me, Tanjirou look worried.

"What is it Senritsu?"

"Nezuko-chan…" I trailed off.

"What? Is there something wrong with her?" Tanjirou panicked and I placed reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezing.

"I just forgot to tell her something."

I ran towards the box alarming the children, crouching down to its level, putting my forehead against the polish wood.

Beneath my breath I whispered, "Don't worry Nezuko-chan, I'll make sure to bring back Tanjirou-kun with me. So don't worry, because I have his back. I'll make sure that he comes out alive in this mission." I promised.

The spring water settled, calming down along with the anxiousness and fear that it brought. Thankfully, my sincerity had reached Nezuko-chan and I wouldn't have it another way. She must be unsettled of the thought of Tanjirou fighting alone when they have both been facing demons together. Come to think of it, this must be the first time that she won't be accompanying him in battle if I'm going by Tanjirou's recount of the missions he has taken.

I'm just glad Nezuko-chan trusted my words, and with that in mind, this promise is something I will not break. It might be hard but I will try, no, I will bring Tanjirou back to Nezuko-chan no matter what.

Because I might be a coward, but a promise breaker I am not.

And I would never intend to be one.

Determination sparked throughout my body, overcoming the lingering fears, doubts and anxieties now that I had with three things in mind. Three clear mission objectives. One, eliminate the demon. Two, keep Tanjirou safe, and three, bring back Teruko-chan's and Shouichi-kun's big brother.

I gave the polished wood one last tap before I stood back up again, gave the cowering children one last smile and directing myself to stand with Tanjirou.

"We should get going now," I directed the phrase to everyone. "We still have a mission to finish."

Tanjirou gave a nod of agreement, resolve burning in his burgundy eyes as he looked at the building before us.

"Let's go."

As one, we walked to the demons' lair and once we stepped inside the entrance, another beat on the tsuzumi drum sounded.

Omake: Natural

There are many reasons that Sabito and the others are wary about Sen and for Sen.

Many things, such as growing up to be too beautiful for her own good. God knows that his little sister is purity and beauty personified, and if anyone disagrees on that, then Sabito – and so many others – would fight them on that. Figuratively and literally.

Sen has such a low view of herself – that the lot of them had tried and failed to elevate – that she never once thought that anyone would like her in that way. Which is a very, very, very wrong assumption on her part, with Kaigaku being another part of that narrative. Despite posing as a man for years and being thought of as one, many men had doubled back from her face alone and questioned their sense of self. Women on the other hand, adore her alone for her sweet and warm personality.

So in conclusion, Sabito's little sister is dumb and doesn't know her own charm. Which is extremely worrying for it can attract the wrong attention.

But thankfully, the Gods really must be smiling down on Sen with three gifts presented to her. For she is gifted with ears that can detect truth and deceit, intention and persona. It is a great boon to someone so oblivious.

(How she stays that way is a great question with all the unmentionable things she's heard over the years, but it is a question that they don't need answering. All they ever ask is for her to stay pure forever.)

And if her ears fail to capture ill-intentioned bastards, then she has her two other gifts to fall back to for safety. One, is her ability to fight despite being sound asleep or fainted. It's a baffling ability, but nonetheless they are thankful for its existence, especially if things would go awry. And lastly, one that has as much as an explanation for the first two innate talent.

(Meaning, none at all.)

Sen is unnaturally strong. Well, maybe not groundbreakingly strong like the woman Giyuu, Himejima and Tokito has as a colleague, but still unnaturally strong. Apparently, according to Giyuu, Sen has inherited it from her mother. His best friend had fun – deadpanned, but Sabito knows better – recollecting about Sen's mother, knocking out a man twice her size and thrice as wide with one punch. It is of course after the man had taught her daughter a swear word.

So, Sen is stronger than the average person, notwithstanding when she uses a breath style along with it.

And so, if it wasn't already obvious, none of them likes upsetting Sen.

(Who in their right mind would even want that? Sabito doesn't, Giyuu doesn't, the old men extremely dotes on her, Himejima would cry an ocean if he does, and Tokito would never. That kid is like Sen's own trained pet, she is the only person other than Oyakata-sama who could make that boy listen and do what she says. And there's Kaigaku. The guy who likes to pull on Sen's metaphorical pigtails to get noticed. Sabito doesn't have any concrete evidence, but Kaigaku is a masochist. Definitely a masochist.)

Upsetting Sen is something that is not just done, it's the natural order.

Because upsetting her would also mean upsetting all of them.

It makes him think about what happened long ago, an event that showed some unknowing bastards not to judge somebody's capabilities to fight by their age, build and appearance. All it took is one punch and a few choice words.

Thunder rumbled in the distance where dark clouds gather in a cluster with strong wind accompanying the mix, the bamboo trees noisily clacked together when a stronger gust of air flew by. Sabito held his cup of tea closer, catching a whiff of the fresh grassy scent of matcha. All this reminiscing had left his tea colder and most likely left it tasting grassier than it already was. He was not a fan, and personally like the jasmine, peach blossom and oolong tea that Sen would brew, sweet but not too sweet.

Smells more pleasant too.

"Smells like storm." Urokodaki said before pouring himself tea.

Urokodaki likes his tea green, fresh, grassy or minty. But he can also enjoy a nice lovely peach blossom tea. He particularly likes the scent of it.

(They all do, even Giyuu who isn't very opinionated outside of his simmered salmon with daikon.)

Sabito misses Sen.

He grimaces when he took a sip of his cold, bitter tea. "I miss Zen. I wonder how he's doing."

A light drizzle started together with the sky flashing white, a streak of white lightning drawing across the sky that was soon followed by a deep roar that reaped through the air. Must be a strong storm from the looks of it, Sabito hopes that the patch job they did on the roof earlier that week would hold, otherwise they would be dealing with soaked floorboards and water damage once again.

"I'm sure he's doing fine wherever he is. That child is a natural-born survivor, so we don't need much worrying for him. Surviving comes natural to his senses." The gave a satisfied sigh with one more sip from his tea. "Unlike Giyuu and you."

Sabito couldn't help but chuckle at that. Remembering the times the girl had pulled them away from one dangerous stunt to the next.

"You're right Urokodaki-san." The earlier memory of a young Sen coming to two young women's rescue came to mind. "But if it involves other people, Zen is…" Sabito trailed off and this time, the sigh that the old man let out is full of exasperation.

"Let us hope that it would not come to that."

They could only ever worry at this point.

The wind howled, and thunder roared right after the sky lit up twice, the light drizzle turning into a heavy downpour with the sea of bamboos clack -clack clacking noisily from the distance.

It's the storm, and it's here to darken more of his day.

Sabito could only hope that it's not as strong as Urokodaki predicted.

Omake: What if they were penpals? (One of that Reborn AU indulgence)

Tsuna stared on the blackboard with an apprehensive expression on his face, resolutely not looking at his teacher explaining to the class about a new exchange student from Tokyo that will now be joining their class.

Oh God, I hope Reborn has nothing to do with this!

He could feel the worried stares that he is getting from both Gokudera and Yamamoto, trying to ask him what was wrong by aura and stares alone.

But along with the worried glances from his friends – oh wow Dame-Tsuna has friends now! – Reborn was also drilling his blackhole for eyes at the side of Tsuna's head. Tsuna is acutely aware of his spartan tortu―tutor hanging out on the tree branch that is directly across his window seat. Very much aware of the chaos that he is – to borrow Sasagawa-senpais's favorite word – EXTREMELY going to be the butt end of.

"Alright class, welcome your new classmate. Agatsuma-san, you can come in now."

For a brief moment, the whole class was quiet, everyone holding their breath for what type of person was about to walk into the doorway. Tsuna was sure that their teacher didn't say whether the new student is a boy or a girl and that made everyone all the more eager to see who it is.

The moment the person walked into the room there were audible gasps all around, with some boys quietly celebrating about the person stepping next to the teacher's desk.

Tsuna absolutely understands their reaction, and in his opinion, completely valid.

A probing stare coming from the tree outside gets him out of the daze, and Tsuna picks up his jaw that he left on the table.

(If he wasn't at the middle of class, Tsuna is sure that the sadistic baby would have blasted him for gaping. Saying something about manners as a boss or another.)

Long bright blonde hair tied in a braid with unusual orange tips, that if he is basing on her thick, cutely split ombre eyebrows and thick, equally long blonde lashes, it was all completely natural. Large soulful amber-orange eyes stared at them all with nervousness, but the determined glint in them shows that the person is not all timid. A tiny smile adorned her pink lips, uplifting the rosy hue of her cheeks in contrast to fair skin.

She's quite tall, and Tsuna laments the fact that another girl is taller than him, maybe even slightly taller than Gokudera. Tsuna vaguely remembers his father, but from his sparse memories, the man was tall and muscular. How utterly unfair! Not that he dislikes looking a lot like his mother, it's just, why can't he be tall too like his half-life father!

And to match her statuesque height, she has more curves than a girl their age should have, much to the envy of the other girls in the class.

Tsuna lit up even redder, even Gokudera and Yamamoto are blushing!

Kyoko-chan just looks curious and excited to have a new classmate, but not in the same level of enthusiasm that the boys in class showed.

"U-Uh hi," Oh God, her voice is equally as beautiful as her. It might've been spoken in slightly above a whisper, but it rang clear in the quiet room. Tsuna thinks she has the type of voice that you'd associate to a heroine in an anime, sweet and pure, and here he thought Kyoko-chan fit the bill.

Blushing at the undivided attention that she was getting, the girl bowed deeply to the class.

"M-My name is Agatsuma Senritsu, it's nice to meet you and please take care of me." After stating her introduction, Agatsuma stood straight once again, trying hard not to fidget under the scrutiny of 37 curious teenagers.

At the mention of her name, Tsuna stilled and just stared at her, not believing his ears.

And before he could stop himself, his mouth run off without consent.

"O-Osen-hime?!"

All heads turned to him in incredelous surprised, but there's only one happily surprised.

"Robo-kun? Is that you?"

~Taisho Secret~

The Ubuyashiki children's baby blankets are all made by Senritsu, and most winter wear that the Ubuyashiki uses are also made by her. When asked why they favor them, they'd say that it is warmer than the high quality clothes from well-known makers.

A/N: Eyyyyyy~ It has been long, right? I'm not going to apologize this time. Blame that one person who always demand an update everytime I post a Goddamn chapter. There are no encouraging words ever, no critic, no nothing, just a 'pleasepleasepleaseupdateagainpleaseupdateagain' Oh my God! You don't say stuff like that when I just gave you a 6k-9k words worth of chapter. It's not helping, it just makes me want to not update more just entirely out of spite. And I'm not even getting paid for this, you have no right to demand me anything every Goddamn chapter that I post. I know that I sound petty, but frankly, I don't give a shit. You know, I had this chapter half way written the time I posted the last chapter, but when I saw that review, my motivation just left me and writing felt like a chore. You know who you are, but I'm not dropping any usernames.

But luckily enough, I got back my motivation and so the product is this chapter. I've written most of this in a flu-induced haze. I was sick and bed and nothing better to do, so I thought, why not watch the new season and so I did, then this chapter came into fruition.

I hope you enjoyed this one, it's mostly buildup for the action part which I'm dreading to write. Hopefully, I'll managed to overcome that.

Let me know what you all think about this chapter, hopefully something useful. I welcome criticism, just lay it on me.

Take care everyone and don't get yourselves sick like me!