"Character Dialogue"

Character Thoughts

_= Scene Breaks

Chapter 4 - Catalyst


Illuminated under the glistening night sky, a young man of six foot two inches, his hanafuda earrings gliding in the icy breeze with each fluid, calm movement. The boy wore a long-sleeved dark brown dress with golden and crimson red frames, a large blindfold covering his entire face with the kanji for "flames" written on it. This hid the Kamado's almost emotionless, peaceful dark red eyes and the large flame-like scar on the left side of his forehead.

Throughout the long, hypnotic dance, the clearing echoed the boy's breathing, a pattern of almost robotic consistency. The boy's strength to continue the dance seemed to never end until he stopped himself suddenly. Frozen, he stood still, the only thing emanating from him was the sounds of breathing he exhaled. Quickly spinning around, he sniffed, sniffed and sniffed again, the boy's eyes gradually becoming more worried and pained, his unmoving lips now quivering.

Carefully placing his wooden blade down, in the centre of the clearing, he had disappeared from the clearing altogether, with no footprint left to be seen.


Arriving on the walkway of the freshly polished wood, he quickly slid open the door and entered, immediately closing it behind him as entered. Turning his head toward the floor, he smelt So much pain. So much suffering. He thought to himself as the scent of blood in the air was intoxicating, but for him now was manageable.

Kneeling beside a cyan-haired boy, he grasped the aged, weak, shaking hand of the man lying beneath them. With fear and trepidation, the boy peered over to meet the struggling but strong brown eyes of a man whom he'd consider a father. "Saburo-san, please save your strength," the boy pleaded as he placed his free hand atop Saburo's.

With cold sweat drowning from his body, a small smile graced his lips amid his quiet, laboured breathing. "We both know that won't do anything now, Tanjirou." He muttered, his voice hoarse and gritty as he began to briefly cough. As the coughing subsided he returned his gaze to the boy sitting next to him, watching the boy's fearful eyes threaten to release the tears he held back. Looking so lost…

"Live life to the fullest, Tanjirou…" He muttered as his head gently placed itself onto the wooden floor, his gaze now aimlessly looking toward the nicely polished wooden roof. "Always…" speaking quietly in an exhale, the strength of his body leaving him and the world around him becoming darkened, with a bright light in the centre of it all.

Watching and feeling the grip on his hand wane and disappear, Tanjirou frantically shook the limp hand in his grasp. Desperately he shook the man's unresponsive torso until he froze at the man's head, a peaceful, happy smile on his face with his eyes now closed. With a hitched breath, he sat there. Until a single tear fell from his dam-like eyes.

Not noticing the two other people in the room leave, his body jittered as he hugged the body, his eyes breaking into a tsunami of tears, wailing in grief and sorrow. This agony persisted. The pain persisted. It never stopped. Even after a long while of venting his emotions, it all lingered as if it had just happened. His tears ran out, as did his voice to wail but the feelings of loss and indecision remained.

Getting up and sitting up straight, he looked at the man's face with a hitched breath and closed his eyes, placing his hand together in front of him. Frowning as he did in concentration, he reopened them and gently lifted his body into his arms. With a miserable expression, he opened the door and exited the house and slowly went around to the back.

Upon arriving there, he quickly glanced at the patches of dirt, untouched by the snow and sighed. "I hope you don't mind, Tanjurou, Kie. He deserves comfort beyond this life so please take care of him." Tanjirou uttered, placing the body into a pre-made hole, to which he questioned but just accepted. Placing him onto a stack of wood and exiting the hole, he grabbed a torch and lit it with dead eyes, the long lines of tear marks tauntingly clear on his face.

Setting the stack on fire, he watched as he fell to his knees. Watched with grief and sorrow. Watched with pain and misery. Watched with an ever-growing feeling of purpose. Suddenly, feeling a comforting, warm hand on his shoulder he glanced next to him, his thoughts broken at the movement. Kind, sympathetic purple eyes met his dead cat-like pupils as silence prevailed for a few moments, the sound of crunching snow echoing toward them.

"I'm sorry, Tanjirou. This was all I could do." She spoke with slight shame and she retracted her hand, Tanjirou now fully turned around as the fire began to wilt. The look in eyes, albeit heavily subdued, was appreciative but more prevalently miserable. "I-I, he's in a better place." She tried to mutter out glancing at the ash below, slightly wary at the inaction from the boy.

"I guess so, Tamayo-sama. I guess so." He drew out, his voice distant and lacking the same warmth it held not too long ago. His gaze onto the ash below. Standing up, he began to fill the hole with the dirt nearby until it was full, much like the ones next to it. After placing the shovel away, he returned to the newly formed grave and looked to the sky in loathing. "Demons are a blight on this world, aren't they?" He asked rhetorically as Tamayo and Yushiro were both startled by the question.

A pregnant silence gripped the atmosphere as the demon pair looked on with anxious anticipation as Tanjirou turned his gaze toward them, his eyes now determined and driven. "Let's create this cure, and help those lost find their way." He proclaimed in a cold passion, the mark on his head growing slightly to what it had been before. With a sad smile, Tamayo stared at the determination in the boy's eyes and sighed.

"I have a contact within the demon slayer corps who's adamant that there's a demon moon on Mt. Natagumo. If we are starting anywhere, that is it." She relinquished, as Tanjirou looked at her with confusion laced throughout his face, acknowledging it but unsure.

"There's a demon slayer corps? How come I've never heard of it?" He asked with a somewhat annoyed curiosity as Tamayo and Yushiro looked at him dumbfounded at the question. Quickly mentally berating themselves for this very clear and important error they both sighed.

"It's a secret organisation that operates outside of the government's jurisdiction, just know that if you see 'Metsu' on the back of a uniform just stay clear, particularly if they wear any identifying haori as it is typically a sign of a Hashira." She explained, with her expression becoming serious and stern. "There are nine Hashira, as far as I am aware and they are the strongest demon slayers within the corp. Avoid them at all costs, because they will kill you." She warned with a severe glare as Tanjirou nodded in agreement, turning away and walking back toward his home. Tamayo and Yushiro, in turn, walked toward the entrance of the home and waited for his return.

After a few short moments, Tanjirou remerged in a white robe and black trousers tapped around his ankle in a pair of sandals. In his hand, he held a green and black chequered haori and put it on as he walked out, a katana strapped firmly at his side within his robe. After noticing that the demonic pair was still there, he walked over to them with a confused look.

"Don't look at Tamayo-sama like that. Your judgements are unfounded and offensive." Yushiro spat with disdain, looking away from the towering demon now before them, receiving a verbal slap from Tamayo herself for rude disrespect.

"Tanjirou, I need to remind you that you no longer have a source of blood. I strongly advise you to come with us so that it can be provided to you." Tamayo expressed with the deepest level of concern, with her fear only elevated from the man's blank face. Sighing in defeat, she glanced to her side, crouched down and held something gently. Revealing itself within her arms, a cat whose amber eyes stared at the boy's blood-red eyes with indifference.

"This is Chachamaru, she'll be our mode of communication as well as our way of receiving any blood you collect and transporting blood to you," Tamayo said with a smile, ruffling the cat's ears, much to its delight. All the while, Tanjirou stared blankly at the scene before with an eyebrow raised in confusion but shrugged his arms as he reached over and petted it, much to its delight.

"I see, I look forward to working with you Chachamaru-san," Tanjirou spoke with feigned warmth with an equally convincing smile, seeming genuine but truly blank. Tamayo, noticing this with a frown, sighed. "If encountering any demon slayer, stay away. Would assisting them be an option?" Tanjirou asked, glancing into the purple eyes of the demon before him, witnessing the ignited relief in her eyes.

"Of course, it is, Tanjirou. But you need to be careful, many among them have suffered deeply because of demons and will not hesitate to kill you." She uttered with a sigh, her eyes glancing away toward the circle of torches in the distant clearing. Tanjirou, all the while nodded and bowed before her, much to the demonic trio's confusion.

"I'd like to thank you for all you've done for me and Saburo-san, Tamayo-sama. I will make your efforts worth your time." Tanjirou declared in stern certainty, as then stood up straight and began to walk away.

"Nonsense, Tanjirou. I don't need any compensation for what I've done, you would've done the same for me would you not?" She commented slightly insulted but grateful at the Kamado's appreciation, walking him to stop in his tracks immediately only a few metres away from them with his back turned.

Turning his head to gaze at the group, his hanafuda earrings gliding as his head turned, smiled at them. "I suppose I would. But what you've done for us still deserves compensation, regardless of your feelings towards it. I will pay you back through this and more." Tanjirou spoke with sincerity, gazing at the group in genuine happiness which resulted in a few smiles being returned and a hidden but appreciative smirk. "Stay safe, Tamayo-sama, Yushiro-san, Chachamaru-san," turning his head and walking away.

"You too, Kamado Tanjirou. You too." Tamayo muttered with a deep-rooted concern laced on her face, a frown on her face as Tanjirou's form disappeared from sight. Feeling the worried gaze of her companions, she sighed. "I fear Tanjirou is blaming himself for what has happened these past couple of years." She elaborated, her voice soft and yet stern as Yushiro raised an eyebrow at the assessment.

"I am afraid of what will happen to him with no one looking out for him. What he'll do in pursuit of our common goal and what he'll neglect in working too hard." Tamayo concluded, her worry almost physically exuding from her in an aura. Thought-filled gazes stared at the direction the last Kamado set off from.

"All we can do now, Tamayo-sama, is support our colleague in whatever way we can and I'm sure you'll do more than enough to keep him from hurting himself." Yushiro confidently reassured the demon doctor, much to his slight annoyance at Tanjirou for this situation, noticing that his words did little to abate his master's fears.

"I suppose so, Yushiro. We should get moving, we've spent too long here that we should've." She conceded, Chachamaru still in her arms as Yushiro walked over and stood right next to Tamayo. Once he'd arrived by her side, she scratched her arm and soon the trio disappeared from sight, with the sound of a cat echoing throughout the clearing, with it now clear of life and empty.


Inside a dark, candle-lit room, a man surrounded by beautifully designed tatami doors sat with a mournful stare at the letter he sat in front of. His black shoulder-length hair sat idly as his blank, discoloured amethyst eyes glanced aimlessly around him revealing the purple rot that lay situated over his forehead, eyes and nose.

"A heart-breaking fate to befall one so young." He said to himself with grief laced in his lips. As his hands clenched in his lap, a rage-filled frown appeared on his now disgruntled face. "I'd like to meet this boy, Haruto-kun. As selfish as my curiosity is, I'd love to be able to know him and help him," speaking in genuine sincerity and passion, glancing to his left.

"As would I Kagaya-sama. Would you like me to relay the request to Tamayo-san?" A crow asked with equal enthusiasm, with Kagaya shaking his head with a croaky sigh.

"I do not wish to impede his life if we meet… Then it will be fate, I guess. Additionally, his friend is deeply ill, so I will not force him out here to satisfy my own desires." He commented in deep thought and concern, as there then lasted a long, peaceful reprieve.

"From what she wrote, he seems to be a lot like you," Haruto commented, the crow's claw now latched calmly on Kagaya's left knee, as he then went back to stroke the crow's feathers.

"He does indeed," he replied laughing, a warm smile gracing his face as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "And that is what worries me, Haruto-kun. From what she's described, he is selfless, more so than people lead me to believe." He pondered with a slight chuckle as did the crow but was painstakingly worried. "I worry what he'll do for us," Kagaya commented with honest concern, much to his companion's utter confusion.

"What will he do for us? You think the corps would accept him as one of their own?" Haruto utters in disbelief, watching the unchanged look in his master's eyes. "Not everyone is as clear-minded as you, Kagaya-sama. Many slay first and ask questions later." He continued his master's gaze still unchanged, albeit having flinched at the thought. "For Kami's sake Kagaya, it's against our own rules to even communicate with demons. Think of what would happen internally if we allowed him to become a demon slayer." He pleaded with a stern panic as he quickly saw the commanding frown on his face and quickly stopped.

The face of the 97th leader of the demon slayer corps quickly turned wishful and tranquil. "Once Muzan is defeated and demons are no longer a threat, this corps will not need to exist anymore," Kagaya uttered in brutal honesty, his gaze hopeful whilst also anxious as he felt the jitter from the crow on his knee. "I plan on Muzan being eliminated within this generation, Haruto-kun, and Tanjirou will be instrumental in making that happen. As much as it pains me to admit it," elaborating with slight shame as he placed his head on his right hand, leaning on his right knee.

After a few moments, he straightened back up and put his left arm out, allowing Haruto to perch himself. He then stood up and began to walk toward a set of doors directly in front of him with his right hand extended in front of him as he walked. Once his hand carefully felt the door ahead, he opened it and stood outside, on a large open patio. Breathing in peacefully, admiring the natural, fresh air he quickly scratched the back of the crow's head. "I never said he'd become a demon slayer, that's for him to decide." He said with a kind-hearted smile.

After walking a few more steps he felt the flooring change and quickly stopped, taking a step back and sitting down, placing his left arm on the floor for Haruto to land onto. "Can you go check on Amane and the children for me, Haruto?" He asked, ruffling the crow's feather, feeling the nod of his head. Retracting his hand, he heard Haruto leave and sighed.

Shortly after, two haori appeared before him, the gravel of the ground below him rustling at their new arrivals. "We have arrived as requested, Oyakata-sama." a feminine voice called out as a smile returned to the face of the Ubuyashiki.

"It's good to hear from you once again, my children. Shinobu. Giyuu." He addresses calmly and with paternal respect. "Though I wish my request was not of duty." commenting with sorrowful sincerity.

"We are at your disposal, Oyakata-sama." A withdrawn, masculine voice declared in response, a bitterly sad smile plastering itself on Kagaya's face as a small hum in agreement permeated through the air in succession.

"Many of our young have perished on Mt. Natagumo. It is my understanding that it's now occupied by a demon moon. Please, put a stop to their killing." He pleaded with his Hashira, as he looked slightly distraught at the need for his request.

"At once, Oyakata-sama" They exclaimed in unison as soon the gravel shifted again. Now sitting alone, under the night sky he sighed. One day I'll be able to rest in peace… One day.


Standing at the base of a huge, forest mountain, a lone traveller stood. His chequered haori and earrings flapped murderously in the air as he glared ahead. Taking another sniff of the air, his face scrunched up in disgust as his eyes seemed to glow with rage. "What a band of monsters." He muttered to himself as he began to walk into the mountain, hand clenched at his sides and drawing a small trickle of blood.


Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

Finally, the story begins in earnest and I hope to give the characters to be introduced a more coherent and genuine personality and development as well as write some interesting and gripping fights.

I hope the direction and writing of the story are a dramatic improvement to what I've put out before, as always any sort of recommendations or guidance on what to improve or add would be much appreciated.

Discord Link (Rcf7q3xd5N)

Thanks again for reading this chapter and I hope to see you in the next chapter and beyond.