Many hours after clearing the Tsuzumi Mansion from demons, Natsu and his friends were led by a black crow towards a residence with the wisteria crest of the Fuji Family on the front door. The four teenage Demon Slayers had stood side-by-side as they stared at the family crest. The sky was darkened after the sun had set, making it nighttime.
"It's a wisteria family crest." Tanjirou muttered.
"Caw! You all must rest! Rest! Rest!" The black crow had burst as it had landed in Tanjirou's hands.
Natsu and Inosuke stared at the yelling black Kusagi crow, as it had ordered them to rest.
"Are you sure about that? Because I was forced to fight a demon, while I was still hurt, you know." Tanjirou replied, confusingly.
"Keh, keh, keh." The crow chuckled.
"Was that a laugh or a caw?" Tanjirou asked.
"Let's see it laugh when we eat this thing." Inosuke chuckled as he grabbed the black crow's tailed feathers.
"W-what?" The black crow felt scared responded as it had felt Inosuke's grasp on its tail feathers.
Natsu looked over at Zenitsu, who looked glum. "Feeling any better, Zenitsu?" Natsu asked, checking on Zenitsu's condition as he stood next to him.
"Yeah." Zenitsu nodded. "I feel a little bit better now. Thanks for asking." Zenitsu wasn't a hundred percent confident, but his pride was still bruised from Inosuke's beating.
Suddenly, the Fuji Residence front door had slowly opened from the inside. An Elderly Woman name Hisa had stuck half her body out the door, confronting the four Demon Slayers. "Why, hello." Hisa, the elderly woman had greeted.
"Oh, hi. We didn't mean to bother you, this late." Tanjirou waved.
"I-it's a ghost-I tell you! A ghost!" Zenitsu shrieked as he stared at the elderly woman.
Natsu quickly covered Zenitsu's mouth from behind, making the blonde Demon Slayer muffle.
"Quiet!" Tanjirou yelled in a quiet voice.
"Who are you?" Inosuke marched towards the Elderly Woman.
"Eh!" Natsu and Tanjirou gasped towards Inosuke.
"May I presume that you all are Demon Slayers?" Hisa asked while bowing her head.
"Yeah, we are. What's it to you?" Inosuke poked her large silver bun. 'She looks weak.'
"I-Inosuke! That's rude!" Tanjirou snapped.
"Please, come in." The Elderly Woman had opened her door wide, letting all four of them in. "Please, follow me."
Natsu and his friends had formed a line and followed the Elderly Woman through the Fuji Residence, as they had spotted a beautiful garden around them at night.
"Look at this garden." Natsu noted as he looked around.
"I know. Isn't it great?" Tanjirou asked as he followed behind Natsu.
"That old lady sure walks fast." Zenitsu noted the Elderly Woman move a bit faster than the average elderly ladies, as he followed behind Natsu and Tanjirou. Inosuke was behind him, looking around as he walked.
"This is where you will be staying." The Elderly Woman had led them to a house within the residence. As soon as the four Demon Slayers had arrived to meet the Elderly Woman, she was already bowing towards them. There were four sleeping kimonos already folded for them. "Change of clothes to cleanse your bodies." Five minutes later, the Elderly woman had appeared in another room with bento boxes on short tables ready for them. "And warm meals to cleanse your souls."
"She's a monster! There's no way an old lady would do all of this so fast! Natsu, Tanjirou! We have to get out here, before she eats us!" Zenitsu screamed.
Tanjirou quickly bopped Zenitsu on the center of his head, irritated of Zenitsu's screams and rudeness towards the elderly lady.
A Few Minutes Later...
The four Demon Slayers had gotten dressed in the blue robes the Elderly Woman had picked out. They moved their tables in front of each other, like squares.
"Itadakimasu!" Natsu, Tanjirou and Zenitsu chanted as they prayed to the gods.
Inosuke grunted. "Ita-whatever." Inosuke dropped the act and munched down on his meal. He rejected the chopsticks he was given and used his hands to eat out of his bento box.
"Please, use your chopsticks." Zenitsu begged as he watched Inosuke eat with his hands.
"Hm?" Inosuke noticed that his bento box was empty. He then looked at Tanjirou's bento box, who was right next to him. He took the rice ball from Tanjrou's bento box and devoured it in front of him. "Heh." Zenitsu chuckled, before eating Tanjirou's shrimp tempura in front of him.
Natsu stares at Tanjirou, a little confused while eating from his own bento box with chopsticks. He's wondering why Tanjirou is just letting Inosuke take food from his bento box.
"Well, if you're that hungry... have this." Tanjirou offered his bowl of meat and potatoes to Inosuke.
"Argh! I can't do that! I can't take anymore food from you!" Inosuke screamed as he was mind struck. "Hm?" He then spotted Natsu who sat in front of him with his eyes closed, eating his rice ball. Inosuke silently grinned as he spotted Natsu's shrimp tempura left in his bento box. 'Heh. Maybe Natsu won't mind, if I take one of his...' Inosuke tried to reach for Natsu's shrimp tempura, but was too slow. Natsu quickly removed his bento box away from the table and flicked Inosuke's forehead, within two seconds.
"Oww! That hurts! A lot!" Inosuke grasped his hurting forehead and fell on his back. "I'll get you for this, redhead!" He yelled as his body rolled left and right on the floor in pain. His forehead was hurt earlier that day, since Tanjirou had headbutted him, and Natsu jabbing his boar hide's snout.
"Don't get me wrong, Inosuke. I am a nice guy and all. But I really don't like it when people tries to take my food like that without asking." Natsu's body burned with orange flaming aura, his skin darkened by silhouette as he said with a red gleam in his eyes.
"Natsu?" Tanjirou wondered.
'Geeh. I can't tell who's scarier... Natsu, when someone tries to take his food, or the demons that wanna eat me?' Zenitsu shivered as he watched Natsu eat his shrimp tempura.
"Ow, I'm bleeding!" Inosuke yelled as he could feel the goose egg popping and blood running down his forehead.
Ten Minutes Later
The Elderly Woman, Hisa had appeared in the room with a doctor with a white coat by her side.
"I have brought in a doctor to check your injuries." The Elderly Woman said.
Natsu stood on the sidelines and watched the doctor check Tanjirou, Zenitsu and Inosuke's injuries. They opened their robes so the doctor could tell how many ribs they broke.
"Yes. I see. This is interesting..." The Doctor said as he checked their ribs. He then stood up. "Yes. They are serious. It is bad."
Zenitsu sighed.
Five Minutes Later
Natsu and his friends had slept in individual Japanese beds, side-by-side. Natsu whom was on the far left had lied right next to Zenitsu, whom had lied next to Tanjirou, whom had lied next to Inosuke on the right. They all stared at the ceiling.
"I can't believe Natsu was the only one with no broken bones... while the three of us had broken ribs." Zenitsu complained as he stared at the ceiling. Zenitsu had two broken ribs. Tanjirou had three broken ribs and Inosuke had four. Zenitsu had counted in his head.
Inosuke had moved part of his bangs and revealed a big bandage on his forehead. "I feel a bit dizzy from the blood loss, caused by Natsu flicking me on the forehead."
"Sorry. I guess I went overboard. I'm protective of my food." Natsu apologized.
'I wish I was protective of my food.' Zenitsu thought. "Hey, Inosuke. I'm still in pain from the beating you gave me, earlier."
Inosuke had gotten quiet.
"Um... hello? Where's my apology?" Zenitsu asked.
"I don't owe you one." Inosuke said bluntly.
"Yes, you do! Apologize!" Zenitsu yelled.
"No!" Inosuke replied.
"Stop it, you two!" Tanjirou sat up.
Hisa heard voices from the halls. "Do any of you need assistance?" She asked, thinking that her customers needed assistance.
"Eek! The ghost!"
"Zenitsu!" Natsu quickly shushed Zenitsu by covering his mouth and nose.
"Keep it down!" Tanjirou whispered.
Two Minutes Later
"According to the crow... the wisteria flower crest belonged to a family that were saved by Demon Slayers. Ever since then, Demon Slayers had been free of charge."
"It really feels good to be with the Demon Slayer Corps." Inosuke said with a laid back personality.
"Speaking of which, Inosuke, what made you want to become a Demon Slayer?" Tanjirou asked.
"Well..." Inosuke paused, then explained why he wanted to become a Demon Slayer. He then put on his boar hide and started sleeping.
"So, that's why you joined the Demon Slayer Corps. you want to get stronger and fight strong demons." Natsu smiled.
Tanjirou turned his head to Natsu. "Hey, Natsu. Why did you want to become a Demon Slayer?"
"Me? Because my older brother inspired me to be one." Natsu answered.
"You have an older brother?" Tanjirou asked.
"Yeah. And a younger brother, too. My older brother is a Hashira of the Flame Pillar. His name is Kyojuro Rengoku. And he's one of the strongest people I know. Right now, he's a lot stronger than me." Natsu said as he visualized of Kyojuro Rengoku.
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Whenever we spar together within our residence, I could barely land a direct hit on him. He's that powerful. I'm still training to get stronger than him. Right now, I'm his Tsuguko."
"His Tsuguko? What's that?" Tanjirou wondered.
"It's basically, a Hashira's successor. For if a Hashira dies or decides to retire, the Tsuguko will take the former Hashira's place and become the new one. I'm next in line to become the next Hashira of the Flame Pillar after my brother. My dad used to be a Hashira, but he retired." Natsu said.
"What's a Hashira?" Tanjirou asked.
"The Hashira are the most powerful swordsmen within the Demon Slayer Corps. Each of them is masters of their own breathing elements and are very skilled in their own right. Right now, there are nine Hashira. Each of them represents an elemental pillar. I have only met two of them and heard stories about the rest."
"Wow. They must be really strong." Tanjirou smiled.
"They are. And one day, I'm going to be strong just like them." Natsu smiled towards the ceiling.
"That's great, Natsu!"
As Natsu and Tanjirou continue to talk, Zenitsu couldn't get one thing off his mind. It's been bothering him, since he met up with Tanjirou, earlier. He thought about Tanjirou's box and sat up. "Hey, Tanjirou." He interrupted their conversation.
"What's the matter, Zenitsu?" Tanjirou responded.
"No one has ever asked you this, so I will..."
"What is it?"
"Why are you traveling with a demon, Tanjirou?"
Tanjirou grunted as Zenitsu asked.
Natsu suddenly grunted and sat up. "What? Traveling with a demon? Are we in some kind of trouble?"
"I-it's not what you think, Natsu! I swear! She's a good demon, and-"
Tanjirou was interrupted by a noise.
"Huh? What was that?" Natsu looked around the room for a moment, before spotting Tanjirou's box in a corner. He stared at the box closely with his eyes. Then saw it move and make noises. 'What is that?'
Zenitsu jumped up on his feet, feeling scared. He stared at Tanjirou's box. "It's trying to come out!" He screamed twice.
"Shh... keep it down. It's going to be alright!" Tanjirou said in a quiet voice.
"What do you mean, "It's going to be alright!" Are you possessed or something!?" Zenitsu scaringly replied.
"It's the middle of the night, Zenitsu!" Tanjirou whispered.
Natsu grunted as he watched the little door to Tanjirou's little box open.
"Aiiee! It's unlocked! Zenitsu screamed while freaking out.
Tanjirou kept trying to shush Zenitsu, but it's not working.
Zenitsu then ran towards the safety closet where extra covers were. "Someone, help me! Natsu! Natsu!"
Natsu's eyes narrowed as he stared at the open hole of Tanjirou's box. He then saw a hand with sharp nails reach out of the box. 'It's a demon!' Natsu grunted then ran out of the sheets and head towards the closet door, where he grabbed his Nichirin Sword, removed the blade from its sheath and was prepared to fight the unknown demon.
Tanjirou gasped as he saw Natsu's position and the serious look on his face. He was worried and afraid of what Natsu might accidentally do. He got out of his sheets and stood in front of Natsu with his arms stretched out. "No! Don't do it, Natsu!"
"But there's a demon in that box." Natsu protested.
"That demon in the box is my sister! She's more important to me than my own life!" Tanjirou replied as he pointed towards the box.
Natsu grunted in confusion. "S-sister?" He then looked over Tanjirou's shoulder at the box again to see a small girl crawling out of Tanjirou's box. She had pale white skin, pink eyes, long black hair with red at the tip of it. She wore a light pink ribbon in her hair, a black haori over a light pink kimono with white and red checker obi on her lower chest, black material that goes to her ankles, white socks and pink zori. She also has a green bamboo gag in her mouth. Her name is Nezuko Kamado.
"Hey, Nezuko." Tanjirou said as he turned and spotted his sister.
"Nezuko?" Natsu placed the Nichirin blade back into its sheath.
"Huh?" Zenitsu paused as he spotted Nezuko before climbing in the safety closet.
Inosuke snoozed.
Both Natsu and Zenitsu watched Tanjirou's sister grow up in her regular size, a hundred and seventy-three centimeters tall.
Nezuko grunts.
"It's a girl!" Zenitsu yelled as he stared at Nezuko.
'She's cute.' Natsu thought in his mind, as he stared at Nezuko and lowered his Nichirin sword. 'But, wait... she's actually a demon?' Natsu turned his head towards Tanjirou.
Tanjirou begun to introduce his sister. "Natsu. Zenitsu. This is Nezuko. She's my-"
"Tanjirou..." Zenitsu muttered.
"Eh?" Tanjirou looked at Zenitsu, who seemed angry. His fists were gripped, his face was darkened by shadow. "Zenitsu?"
"Why... why didn't you tell me..." Zenitsu seemed angry for a moment. "That you had an adorable sister. Huh, Tanjirou?" Zenitsu's mood changed when he glanced at Nezuko again. He was all happy and his mind was field with positive vibes.
"Uh..." Tanjirou paused.
"Hi, Nezuko!"
Nezuko turned to look at Zenitsu, who seemed happy and wiggly. She was alerted as when he giggled, and he moved closer towards her. This caused Nezuko to run away from Zenitsu.
"Where are you going, Nezuko? Let's be friends..." Zenitsu said in a cute voice, as he chased her. He was cut off by Tanjirou.
"Stop following Nezuko!" Tanjirou demanded.
"Hm?" Zenitsu felt relaxed and soothened. "Let's be best friends, Tanjirou..."
"Eh..." Tanjirou and Nezuko starts running around the room from Zenitsu. Natsu watched them run and chuckled, as he thought they were having fun.
Suddenly, Inosuke had woken up and headbutted Tanjirou in the back.
"Ouch! What was that for!?" Tanjirou groaned and rubbed his back.
Inosuke shouted, feeling energetic. This caught everyone's attention as Inosuke started chasing both Tanjirou and Zenitsu all around the room in circles, over and over.
"What are you doing, Inosuke?"Tanjirou asked while being chased.
"Save me, Tanjirou!" Zenitsu cried as he ran in front of Tanjirou.
Natsu watched from the side and chuckled as his friends had run around the room. 'They all seemed to be having fun. Maybe I should join them...' Natsu thought of joining in the circle, being chased by Inosuke. But heard a grunt right next to him. He turned towards his left to see Nezuko, who was looking right at him. They were three feet apart from each other. 'Okay, Natsu. Remember. Nezuko is a good demon. She wouldn't hurt a fly. Think. Think. I know that she's Tanjirou's sister. Zenitsu welcomed her by simply chasing her. Inosuke's-Inosuke. But what about me? What can I do to make Nezuko feel welcome? What can I bring to the table?' Natsu thought and paused as he stared into Nezuko's light pink eyes. He lowered his hands. "Well... there's only one thing for me to do." Natsu muttered.
Nezuko grunted in a little bit of confusion as she heard Natsu muttered.
Two seconds later, Natsu used his two index fingers to pushing up his cheekboness, making himself grin in front of her. "Ta-dah!"
Nezuko blinked twice.
Natsu grinned in front of Nezuko for the next thirty seconds but received no response from her at all. 'She doesn't like it.' He soon sighed and dropped the grin in front of Nezuko. 'Sorry, Nezuko. I really tried to make a good first impression on you.' His eyes were closed. Five seconds later, Natsu felt a pair of index fingers poking his cheeks. 'Huh? Who's poking me?' Natsu quickly opened his eyes to see Nezuko a foot in a half towards him, poking his cheeks with her index fingers, repeatedly. She had shrunken her nails small enough, so she won't cut him. "N-Nezuko!" Natsu's cheeks turned pink as Nezuko was poking his cheeks.
Nezuko kindly smiles at Natsu under her bamboo gag.
Inosuke begun to tire a bit from chasing after Tanjirou and Zenitsu. He lied down and got back in his bed. "That's enough activity for one day..."
Tanjirou and Zenitsu suddenly stopped running and spotted Nezuko fiddling with Natsu.
"AAAACCKK!" Zenitsu's eyes grew big, his pupils were small as marbles and jaw comically dropped to the floor, as he had witnessed his crush, Nezuko playing with his good friend, Natsu.
"Um, how do I make her stop, Tanjirou?" Natsu asked, while Nezuko continued to poke his cheeks. He didn't want to be rude to her, so he asked Tanjirou for advise.
"N-Nezuko! Please stop poking him. That's very rude." Tanjirou demanded.
Nezuko stopped poking Natsu's cheeks.
"Thanks, Tanjirou. I don't know how long she was going to-"
"Natsu..." Zenitsu muttered in under an edgy voice. Sparks of electricity appeared around his body every other two seconds. He caught the attention of Natsu and Tanjirou, who looked at him a bit confused. His face was covered with black shadow. "Who do you really think you are, huh?" His teeth gritted as his eyes had grown big. "Having a girl play with your face, like that..."
"Zenitsu? Are you alright?" Natsu asked.
"Alright? No. I am far from alright... you just pissed me off..." Zenitsu gripped his fist.
"What's the matter? This isn't like you, Zenitsu." Natsu asked.
"You're what's the matter, you traitor! I traveled and survived the depths of hell alongside you for a week..." Zenitsu means the Final Selection Exams. "And this is how you repay me, by stealing my wife!?" Zenitsu accused Natsu.
"W-wife!?" Both Tanjirou and Natsu stuttered at the last word Zenitsu had said. Their eyes turned into black dots.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOOKED UP TO YOU!" Zenitsu comically screamed with tears coming down his face. "I did not spent five minutes of my life getting the crap kicked out of me by some idiot with a boar hide-just so you could have cute girls flirt with you!"
Natsu paused.
"W-what's gotten into you, Zenitsu?" Tanjirou questioned.
Nezuko took a few steps back away from the boy.
"Did you really think that I joined the Demon Slayer Corps. because I wanted the likes of you to protect me!?" Zenitsu screamed as he had gotten into Natsu's face.
"Wait, Zenitsu! It's not like that! Nezuko was just-"
Zenitsu quickly pulled out his Nichirin sword. "People like you should just perish from this world!" He pointed his Nichirin sword at Natsu, ready to slay him.
"Zenitsu! Stop it!" Tanjirou tried to reason.
Zenitsu started wrecking the room, attempting to slay Natsu, the so called, "Woman Stealer". Inosuke was sound asleep, as Nezuko had ran back into her box for coverage. Zenitsu and Natsu tried their best to stop Zenitsu's rampaging for most of the night.
Nezuko found a new hobby. Playfully poking Natsu's cheeks.