July 19, 1913
James was laid up at the Butterfly Estate ever since he and Susamaru had killed the 24th Knight. He would have to stay in the hospital for a full day until the poison from the bullet he took was flushed out of his system. Unbeknownst to Shinobu, Aoi, and Kanao, Susamaru and him had secretly had some fun in the middle of the night on his bed before she retired back to a guest room, and they had done so in the nick of time, as TanInoZen returned right after they finished.
"So," Tanjiro asked James in the morning. "How are you feeling?"
"Still not the best," James replied. "I felt nauseous for most of last night, but I don't anymore, at least."
"I'm glad to hear that," he smiled back. "It must have been scary to get shot."
"Not really," James shrugged in his bed. "I've been shot before. After 50 years of fightin' other people, ya tend to be desensitized to people pointin' a gun at you and pullin' the trigger. Still hurts like a bitch, though."
"I can imagine." As Inosuke walked in, Tanjiro turned to him and asked, "Inosuke, did you hear about what happened to James-san?"
"No," he replied, interested in why he was laid up. "What happened to you, Jima?"
"James," he replied. "And I got shot last night while huntin' a demon. It was a poisoned bullet, too, so I got real sick. I felt like shit for most of last night."
"Hmmm," Inosuke then thought to himself as he scratched his boar's head mask. Then, he came up with an idea on the spot and snapped his fingers. "Hey, I got an idea, Jeitaro! Why don't you build up a resistance to guns by shooting yourself with smaller bullets and then building up to larger ones?"
Tanjiro was flabbergasted and horrified by Inosuke's advice. "That's now how that works!"
James could not help but try and fail to hold in laughter at his advice. "Thanks, Inosuke, but I don't think that'll be necessary."
"Hello, everyone," Shinobu then greeted them all with a warm smile. "Colby-san, how are you doing today?"
"A lot better," he replied to her. "But I'm not yet out of the woods. That means I'm not yet finished with recovery, by the way."
"I was just going to ask," Shinobu replied, easily understanding the slang term once it was explained to her."
…
Later that night, Tanjiro and James were both walking around the grounds of the estate, as neither could sleep. "So," James asked the younger slayer. "Are you worried about your sister becomin' a slayer?"
"Of course," Tanjiro admitted. "I know she can fight, but… You never stop worrying about your siblings, especially when your parents are no longer around. My fear is that Nezuko will be targeted by Muzan heavily, since her powers will give her an edge in combat."
"Are ya afraid she'll be attacked by humans, too?"
"Maybe," Tanjiro shrugged. "But I don't know if people will think she is a demon right off the bat, given she'll have a uniform eventually and walk in the sunlight."
"I'm confident in her," Shinobu then interrupted both of them, startling them as they turned around to face her. "Sorry to intrude, but I heard what was being discussed and wanted to offer my opinion."
"I see," Tanjiro replied. "I'm glad you feel confident." He then sniffed the air for an unknown reason, confusing James and Shinobu. "Hey… Uh, Shinobu-san, you seem to be really angry. Is everything alright?"
Shinobu's smile faded away as Tanjiro finished his sentence. "I… So you think that… Well, Colby-san already knows about this, but I don't think I've ever told you, Tanjiro."
"Tanjiro," James explained to him. "Pillar Kocho's sister was killed by a demon four years ago, and she's tried to find that demon ever since."
"Correct," Shinobu confirmed. "Kamado-san, me and my sister, Kocho Kanae, were the only survivors after a demon murdered our parents. Himejima-san saved us, and after some convincing, he allowed us to become demon slayers." She then rested against the wall of one of the buildings. "For the next three years, we fought together. She became the Flower Pillar, while I created the Breath of the Insect. During that time, we also took in Kanao and Aoi, the former of whom was a slave and the latter of whom was also an orphan like me. The plan was that Kanao would be my sister's Tsuguko, and that Aoi would be mine when I became a Pillar. But…"
Tanjiro was curious. "What happened?"
"Kanae was murdered by a demon," Shinobu explained. "My sister was sent out to investigate a cult that was suspected of working with demons. It had been six months since she had been married to Shinazugawa-san. Soon after that happened, Aoi was taken offline right after passing her final selection. She was too traumatized by what she saw. As an interesting fact, Tokito-san took the same Final Selection as her."
"Shinazugawa-san was married?!" Tanjiro was shocked by the news. "No way!"
"Yeah," Shinobu replied with a faint smile. "The two were an unlikely match, but it was a good one. Shinazugawa-san was truly happy for the first time in a long time. But… When my sister went out on that mission, she never expected to run into one of the Twelve Demon Moons. She lost, and was killed."
"Do you know who did it?"
"We didn't have a name," Shinobu replied. "Not for a long time. However, before she died in my arms, she told me that the demon bore silver hair and rainbow eyes. We theorize that she put up enough of a fight that the demon was unable to eat her before the sun came up." As her voice wavered from emotion, she recalled more of what happened when her sister died. "I tried telling her to live, but she knew it was the end. She began to cry, and the last words she told me… They… They were 'Forgive me, Shinobu. I tried.'" She was barely holding in her emotions at this point, but took a deep breath to regain control. "Ever since that day, I've been angry, Tanjiro. It's only grown with the deaths of my three previous Tsuguko before Kanao became a slayer, all at the hands of Muzan and his allies."
Tanjiro was shaken by her story. "So that explains your anger."
"You may hear from Tomioka-san that I was different before my sister died," Shinobu continued. "And he's right. I've essentially tried to mimic my own sister and just keep smiling to cover up my grief, but every now and then, I let my old ways slip through. I've also learned as much as I can about swordplay and poisoning, so that one day, I can fight the son of a bitch who took my sister away from me. When I do, I will not fail, and the first words out of my mouth when I confront him will be…" She then took a deep breath and told Tanjiro of her saying. "Hello. My name is Kocho Shinobu. You killed my sister. Prepare to die." To conclude, she told him, "So there's your answer. Yeah, I'm angry, alright. I'm pretty fucking angry."
The teenaged young man was at a loss for words, saddened and horrified by what had happened to Kanae. "I… That's…"
"And another thing," Shinobu told both him and James. "My sister believed in a world where one day, demons and humans would no longer have to fight each other. Ever since her death, I lost faith in that belief, but seeing you and Nezuko has renewed it. Colby-san, Tanjiro, I want you two to make that world a reality. I want this war to end once Muzan is dead and gone, and I have a feeling many demons would share the same belief if freed from his control. Perhaps one day we can oust him from within. Anything to stop more of our own from dying."
"I was thinkin' the same,'' James agreed. "There is a way to break the curse Muzan holds on all demons he controls, but… It is not guaranteed to work, but it is guaranteed to kill the person who casts the spell, assumin' they don't die of blood loss before they can do it."
"So that's the dilemma, huh," she replied. "Well, when the time comes, one of us may have to make that sacrifice."
Tanjiro was worried about the potential implications. "I feel bad for whoever has to do it when that day comes. I just hope they know that when it happens, their death won't be in vain."
…
July 20, 1913
Nezuko began another day of training by concentrating under a waterfall in private early in the morning, bringing her inner thoughts together and honing her concentration in silence. For about 10 minutes, she ignored the cold temperature of the water hitting her skin and focused on the movement of it from above and to her body before passing into the stream below her.
Then, a female voice interrupted her. "Are you concentrating well enough?"
Nezuko opened her eyes and was met with a short girl bearing a fox's mask, blue eyes, and black hair in a red yukata standing on a rock in front of her. "Ah!" She immediately recoiled, covering up her body. "What the Hell?! You scared the shit out of me! Who are you?!"
"You're Tanjiro's brother, aren't you?" The girl then knelt down to stare at her directly in the eye. "I'm Kakuma Makomo. I helped your brother out for a long time while he trained here."
"So you did," Nezuko replied to her as she got out of the water to put her clothes back on. "I remember him talking about you and a boy my age as well… Sabito was his name I think."
"It is," Makomo replied. "We haven't changed a bit since Tanjiro left to go to the Final Selection."
"Haven't changed a bit?" Nezuko stopped partway through getting dressed as she pondered as to what the phrase meant. "Wait… How old are you, Kakuma-san?"
"I'm fifteen," Makomo replied. "I'm pretty small for my age."
"No," Nezuko shook her head as she finished getting dressed. "You're not fifteen. You're far older than that."
"Huh," Makomo replied in surprise. "That's the first time someone has said I look older than I am. It's usually the other way around."
"Not in that way," Nezuko corrected her. "You're not alive. You're a ghost, and I can tell based on that comment you made." She seemed apprehensive towards Makomo, having realized her secret. "What do you want from me?"
"No need to be rude," Makomo assured her as she stood up. "Calm down. I'll admit that I'm a ghost, okay? I'm not here to hurt you, Nezuko. I'm here to train you, and so is Sabito."
"Wait," Nezuko then asked her. "My brother killed the demon who killed you, Sabito, and all the other students Urokodaki-san trained. Why are you still here? You could have moved on."
"You're right. We could have." Makomo then looked out to the forest around them. "But Urokodaki-san is all alone. He has nobody here but him. We couldn't just leave him by himself."
"I can respect that," Nezuko replied with a nod. "So, if you're here to train me, what shall we do?"
"I'm glad you asked," Makomo smiled. "Follow me."
"Something tells me I'm gonna get the shit worked out of me," Nezuko said to herself dejectedly.
…
About half an hour later, Nezuko was recovering on the ground after being beaten in a sword duel by Sabito, who stood over her with a wooden sword. "That was just a pretest. I wasn't even operating at my full capacity, Nezuko. You need a lot of work, and you need to do it fast!"
"Yeah, no shit," Nezuko replied as she got up slowly. Her injuries would not heal until nightfall. "I'm gonna be fighting during the night time, though, so I'll have my powers to use as well when that comes."
Sabito raised a good point by asking her, "What if you run into another demon who also has the same limited sunlight resistance as you? What if you have to fight a human and you don't have a gun with you?" After some silence from Nezuko, he followed up with, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, do what Urokodaki-san did for me and Giyu and swing your sword a thousand ti-"
"Wait a minute," Nezuko then interrupted him. "You knew Giyu-san?! The Water Pillar?!"
"He's a pillar now?" Sabito was surprised to hear the news as he took his fox mask off. "No shit… How do you know him? How's he doing?"
"He rescued me and my brother after Muzan attacked," Nezuko explained. "He's… Very strange. Super quiet. Doesn't really get along with others. I think he wears half of your haori."
"And the other half is red for his sister?"
"Yeah," Nezuko nodded. "Though I didn't know he had a sister."
"She died years ago," Sabito nodded. "Before I met him. She was killed protecting him from a demon, and that's the reason he came here. When I died, Makomo and everyone else that was a ghost with us was waiting for me. I was the last of Urokodaki-san's students to die."
"I wish we were born in the same timeframe," Makomo commented to him. "But alas, we weren't. Maybe next time, we will be."
"Anyway," Sabito told Nezuko. "Start swinging that sword. Tell Giyu he deserves that Water Pillar spot. Knowing him, he probably thinks he's unworthy of it or some self-loathing shit like that."
"That's exactly what he thinks," Nezuko confirmed, saddening Sabito as she began to count her sword swings out loud.
Sabito turned to Makomo and told her, "If only I could pay a visit to him. It sucks that he keeps beating himself up. First it was his sister, and now it's me, like… What the fuck, man…"
"Nezuko, are you back there?!" Sabito and Makomo recognized Sakonji's voice and disappeared quickly without Nezuko noticing as he walked up to her. "Nezuko, are you practicing?"
"Yes," Nezuko shouted back, interrupting her sword swinging. "I'm doing a thousand swings! I already meditated under the waterfall for a while, too!"
"Good, good! When you're done with that, let me know and I'll give you another task!" Sakonji smiled under his mask. He thought to himself, "She's getting right into it, just like Makomo did. She was always proactive with training back then."
…
That same night, as Mitsuri calmly walked to a village near Obanai's house to patrol for demon activity, she noticed a police officer talking to a man riding a horse up ahead "Oh no," she thought to herself. "If he sees me with a sword and a gun, I'll get arrested… Unless…" She then reached into the inner part of her uniform top and pulled a small wad of cash out. "Forgive me for what I'm about to do…"
"You can't just ride recklessly like that," the officer explained to the man, who was standing by his horse. "You almost ran me over."
"I don't see how that's my problem," replied the man, who seemed to be somewhat intoxicated. "You just need to move out of the way."
"Officer," Mitsuri asked the cop. "Is everything alright?"
"Huh?" The cop then turned to see Mitsuri. "Who are you? Why do you have a swo-"
"This is why," she replied, handing the wad of cash with a smile on her face and a wink. "It's for self-defense."
The officer pondered to himself for several seconds before taking the money. "I see. Anyway, I should be good."
"This fucker stopped me for no fucking reason," the guy who had ridden the horse told her. "I wasn't doing anything wrong!"
"Don't be so rude to the officer," Mitsuri tried to correct him. "He's just doing his job like me. I'm a demon slayer."
The officer asked, "Demon slayer? My partner back in the village mentioned them. They're a rural thing, right? Vigilantes who fight the so-called 'demons?'"
"They're real," Mitsuri confirmed to him. "And yes, we fight them."
"Enough of this bullshit," the man with the horse replied as he turned around. "I'm getting the fuck outta here, and I'll run your ass over if you try to stop me."
"No," the cop ordered him as he tried to pull him off of his horse. "I'm not letting you go just yet. You have no form of ID, you almost hit me on your horse, I can smell alcohol on your breath, and you threatened me! Get off!"
"Let go of me," the man shouted. "I didn't do no robbery, man!"
"You look almost exactly like the guy we couldn't catch yesterday!" The cop then began to wrestle with him as he stepped back onto the ground. "Hey, demon slayer, help me!"
"Right," Mitsuri replied as she got involved. "Stop moving!" She began to pin him, using her strength to get him to stop moving for a few seconds before the man broke free again. "Come on!" Suddenly, both of them heard a loud popping sound. "What the fuck?!" A second and third popping sound was quickly followed by Mitsuri screaming in fear as the cop fell to the ground, having been shot twice.
"Die!" The man with the horse then fired a fourth shot, grazing Mitsuri in the face as she pulled her own gun out just before a fifth bullet grazed her left ear. Right as it grazed her, she screamed in pain before pulling the trigger and firing off a shot before quickly cocking back her revolver with her thumb and firing a second shot. Both shots struck the man with the horse, killing him as she hyperventilated and the horse ran off into the woods in a frenzy, scared off by the exchange of gunfire.
"Fuck… Fucking Hell…" As the adrenaline rush subsided, the weight of what had happened began to hit her. "I just saw him die… I just killed him…"
"Kanroji-sama! Kanroji-sama!" Her crow, named Akio, then flew down from the trees to attend to her. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah," she told him as she wiped blood from her face from the cut caused by the bullet grazing her. "Just barely. We need to get help out here, Akio. Go to the village to get a doctor and this officer's partner." She then ran to the side of the injured officer, holstering her revolver as Akio flew at breakneck speed to the village. As she did, she thought to herself, "That was way too close! Way too fucking close!" However, as soon as she checked the officer, she realized he was gone. "Fuck… No… No, no way!"
The officer had been shot in the head and in the chest, and by now, he was no longer breathing. As the blood from his wounds poured on the ground, Mitsuri checked his pulse and his chest for movement, but found nothing. As the realization he was dead set in, she took a deep breath and cursed herself for not being able to save him.
"Fuck me… Why this, of all things?!"
…
An hour and a half later, Obanai arrived at the local village police station. Out in these rural areas, the police were more likely to believe in demons and know of the demon slayers, especially if they were locals, and thus, Mitsuri faced no charges. Besides, they had more pressing matters to deal with due to the death of one of their own.
An officer comforted Mitsuri as she sat in a chair in the back room of the station, telling her, "It's not your fault, Kanroji-san. You did everything you could."
"But he still died," Mitsuri replied, saddened by the officer's death. "And that hurts."
"I know," the officer replied as another came into the room with Obanai. "Is that her husband?"
"Fiancé," Obanai corrected him. "Soon to be her husband."
"I see," the officer replied as he walked out with his partner. "Congratulations, you two. Kanroji-san, you're free to go when you and your fiancé are ready."
Obanai then sat down next to her. "Mitsuri-chan, are you oka-"
Suddenly, Mitsuri hugged him, beginning to cry as she did. "I had to watch him die, Obanai… I had to watch him die…"
As she sobbed into his shoulder, Obanai comforted her with a pat on her head. "I know… I know… MitsurI, you didn't do anything wrong." He felt terrible for her. "Let's go home. We can hunt for demons another time."
"Yeah," Mitsuri replied as she got up and grabbed her sword and revolver from the ground before putting both away in her sheath and her holster. "Thank you for picking me up, darling."
"It's what a husband-to-be does," Obanai replied. "It's my job to be there for you." The two then walked out of the room together holding hands, an unusually strong public physical display of affection in Japanese culture, as Mitsuri wiped her face of tears. "I'll fill out most of the report on this when we get back. Just go to bed when we get home."
"Yeah," Mitsuri replied with a nod as the two waved bye to the two cops at the station before walking out into the street, where several village residents were already gathered after hearing of the tragedy. As they all whispered to each other about what happened and about the two of them, Mitsuri could feel them staring at her, and it bothered her immensely. "Damn it," she thought to herself. "Do these people have any sense of decency? Leave these guys alone! They just lost a friend! Hell, leave us alone, too!"
"Stop staring at my fiancée," Obanai told the crowd, also annoyed by their stares. "It's rude, you know! God damn, can people mind their own business around here?" The two then walked off into the night, returning home half an hour later. It had been a wild night, and the two looked forward to going to bed together.
…
Meanwhile, Enmu, Akaza, and Patrick were reading train schedules from various railroad companies in Japan, including both nationalized and private railroads, inside the Dimensional Infinity Fortress. As Enmu circled some dates, he told Patrick, "I have the date we can start right here."
Akaza then asked, "Have you considered doing a test run?"
Enmu pondered to himself for a few seconds, internally debating his suggestion. "You know what," he then told him. "That isn't a bad idea, actually." He then circled an earlier date. "This will be our test run. If this runs into some issues, we can rework our plan before the main series of attacks begin. If you want, I can initiate my part on one train, and Cleburne-san can test run his on another right behind it by a few minutes. If either of us need backup, Akaza-san won't be far behind."
"Excellent," Patrick eagerly replied. "My friends, all of Japan shall soon know the power of us demons."
