Opening: Inferno by 9mm Parabellum Bullet
Murata was inside of an abandoned building inside of a village he stumbled upon. Every opening in the building was sealed off by wooden boards nailed into the walls to prevent anyone from coming in. Murata snuck in through the back as quietly as he could so he didn't attract any unwanted attention. It was in the middle of the day as Murata watched the pedestrians go about their lives, completely oblivious to his existence. Little did these civilians know that they were walking past a demon hiding in the shadows. Murata had not eaten for several days after departing from Sato and his group and has refused to kill anyone else since as he was traumatized by taking the life of a fellow demon slayer. Everything had been a rush for him these last couple days, he had been on the run ever since news broke out that a member of the Demon Slayer Corps had defected to the demons. Everyone was to be on high alert with a rogue demon slayer loose in the wild. Murata didn't want to fight anyone so he had just been hiding, alone, for all of this time. His stomach growled like a madman and he felt tired, forcing himself to stay awake as he feared he would get killed in his sleep.
Then again, what else is there to live for now? His family has completely rejected him, all of his former comrades have turned against him, and there's no way in hell he'd ever willingly give into his desires like the murderous psychopaths that roam the streets at night. He wasn't sure if he could take it any more. Every minute, he can feel himself getting closer to snapping, that craving to eat human flesh grew stronger by the minute and it wouldn't stop. Nothing would quench his hunger besides the meat he deprives himself of. All of the pain in his heart and body made him drop his head back in defeat as he sat against a box. He simply let the tears out, this was too much for anyone to handle. Honestly, he can get why every other demon resorts to killing humans because it's so difficult to live without food. He didn't want to live like this anymore, he just wanted it all to stop. He looked to his Nichirin Blade next to him and instinctively reached for it. He wanted this pain to end. He unsheathed the blade to see his reflection in the blade. He shut his eyes as he slowly pressed the blade against his throat. One slice, one cut and it'll all be over. That's how it is for demons, right? A simple decapitation and they're gone. Then they get to watch themselves be reduced to nothing and suddenly, they're gone from this Earth, just like that, as if they were never there to begin with. What did death feel like? Was it warm and comforting? Was it cold and harsh? There was only one way to find out.
Yet, he couldn't do it. His hands trembled as the fear of death began to overtake his curiosity of it. Everything he had done and has accomplished in his life would've been for nothing. He couldn't just end it here when he has so much he could still do. He can't give up, he's not out of this yet! He began to brainstorm once more, who has he not considered reaching out to yet? Tanjiro! He remembered overhearing that Tanjiro had a trial regarding him teaming up with a demon or something along those lines (he never heard the full story). The fact remains that Tanjiro was willing to work with a demon to some extent. If there's ANYONE that's left for him to reach out to, Tanjiro is the person to go to! However, it won't be easy. He has no access to Kasugai Crows and everyone's on the hunt for him. He needs to be able to find Tanjiro and isolate him, he doesn't need/want to talk to anyone else. He heard the intense flapping of a bird approaching the village. Murata stumbled to his feet as he raced to the wooden boards and looked through the cracks to see a Kasugai Crow swooping down and alerting the village, "ALERT! ALERT! A demon slayer has defected to the demons! Be on high alert, he is considered highly lethal and must be dealt with on the spot! ALERT! ALERT!"
Murata smirked for the first time in several weeks, he's got a plan. Though, it'll require him to do something he's not morally okay with. Regardless, desperate times call for desperate measures. It was time for his plan to begin.
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"Hinokami Kagura: Flame Dance!" Tanjiro's sword burst into flames as the boy performed two slashes to counter Yoriichi's incoming attacks. The boy leapt back while keeping his breathing under control. He started to break a sweat but he can still go for an extended period of time. Yoriichi reassumed his fighting stance as he called out:
"How do you feel?"
"Not as tired as I used to be, I can still keep fighting." Tanjiro explained as he got into position.
"Good, you're adapting to the Sun Breathing technique. The key is to keep your breathing under control and allow the spiritual energy to flow through you. It may seem more intense than every other form of breathing due to the sheer amount of spiritual concentration it requires but it's the same as anything else I've developed. Once you can wrap your head around the power you wield, you can better control it. Now, en garde! We're going to put everything you've learned to the test. Use everything I have taught you to perform this last technique, are you ready?"
Tanjiro nodded after exhaling greatly and readjusting his grip on his refurbished blade. Tanjiro and Yoriichi moved so quickly that blinking would cause you to miss their movements. Yoriichi was teaching Tanjiro the ultimate technique he had prepared specifically for Muzan: The Thirteenth Form, an ability that has the user cycle through every other form in a continuous motion without stopping. It is an exhausting and relentless form meant to give Muzan no chance to strike back. As Yoriichi struck with his blade, Tanjiro countered with the same form. They went back and forth for a minute or two until they approached the final stretch of the thirteenth form and they were on the decisive blow. Whoever struck faster and more precisely would win the duel. They swung at the same time, slicing toward each other's necks until Tanjiro's blade reached its destination first and stopped before making impact.
Yoriichi commented, "Why'd you stop? You cannot afford to hesitate in battle."
Tanjiro gave a snarky remark, "I wouldn't if you were a demon but I refuse to cut down any humans. This technique is meant for demons, and thus, it'll only be used on demons."
"Don't get so hung up on the specifics of the technique's purpose. You need to be able to defend yourself no matter what in any situation. You'll need to be prepared to use it against any other person that tries to harm you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Yoriichi backed off as the two swordsmen bowed towards one another and sheathed their blades. That's when the man commented to Tanjiro, "With that, I can safely say your training is complete. You're as ready as I was to fight Muzan, don't get sappy like I did when you have a chance to finish him off. You know what you need to do to get the job done, don't ever hesitate."
Yoriichi began to slowly fade away as he became increasingly translucent by the second. Tanjiro pointed this out but the man assured him, "Do not worry. I seem to be linked with that sword. I'm not sure about the specifics of how being a spirit works, but I assume it's got something to do with an object having a strong connection with the spirit. In this case, I suppose I'm linked with this blade of mine because I created it for one purpose: to kill demons. It was the last remaining bit of my legacy until you came along. Though, I'm not sure if I'll be able to take a more physical form again like you see now. I was only able to manifest as I did once you began approaching and interacting with the blade. I am uncertain if I'll ever be able to interact with you beyond this point. However, if this is, indeed, our last chat, Tanjiro Kamado, I wish to pass on these last words to you: I apologize once more for what happened and I wish you luck in your future endeavors."
The spirit of Yoriichi faded away, leaving Tanjiro by himself in the open area. The boy sheathed his blade and stowed it away before his determined expression returned to him once more as he told himself, "Alright! It's time to get back to work!" He had been desperately itching to kill some demons and work off his pent up rage for quite some time. He could only imagine the amount of fun he'd have with all of his new techniques added to his arsenal. The boy popped his knuckles before taking his leave. As he walked through the main street, a Kasugai Crow came rushing down and perched itself on Tanjiro's arm as he raised it. It wasn't Tanjiro's which confused him and he also noticed the bird was sweating profusely. Tanjiro asked the bird what was wrong and the bird explained as quickly as it could:
"The demon slayer, I mean.. Demon, Murata is asking for you! He wants to talk to you, specifically! He said that if you didn't comply, he'd eat everyone in the village he's residing in. He wants to talk to you, alone!"
Tanjiro clenched his fist as tightly as possible. He had heard about Murata killing another member of the Demon Slayer Corps. How disgusting. Tanjiro respected his comrade only for him to do this? He felt like his trust was betrayed and now Murata has the audacity to threaten an entire village if he doesn't comply? Demons are truly the scum of the Earth and need to be wiped out. Don't worry, Murata, if it's death you want, it's death Tanjiro will bring. Tanjiro told the bird to lead the way and so it did with the boy following behind as closely as he could.
The boy followed the bird until dusk and the sun was beginning to set. Tanjiro was taken in front of an abandoned building that was boarded up but that wasn't going to get in his way. Tanjiro asked the bird to confirm if this was the correct location he was supposed to meet Murata at and it was. The boy was confident and told the bird to leave as he'll handle the rest from his point. The Kasugai Crow fled the scene as fast as possible once it was given permission to go.
Tanjiro couldn't help but find it funny to see Murata hiding away in some abandoned building that nobody would care about. Regardless, Tanjiro's here to kill demons and it doesn't matter where he does it. The boy sliced through the wooden boards and slowly entered the dark building with his blade drawn. He can indefinitely smell a demon's presence, Murata's most likely, lurking in the dark where he couldn't be seen. There was barely any sunlight leaking into the building, only enough for the boy to see a couple stacks of boxes blocking his view to the rest of the room. Tanjiro heard Murata's voice cry out, echoing in the room, "Tanjiro, is that you? Thank you, thank you so much for coming, Tanjiro!"
Tanjiro remarked, "You didn't leave me much of a choice. Threatening to eat an entire village? Look how low you've stooped Murata, I thought your loyalties were towards the Demon Slayer Corps."
"They are! I wasn't going to kill anybody! It was just something I made up so I can get that Kasugai Crow to grab you! I would never hurt anyone!"
"Is that really the excuse you're going to work with? You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to convince me, demonic scum. You killed a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, there's no denying that!"
"I had to do it in self-defense! He was threatening to kill me and my friends!"
"Your friends? So you found a couple demon buddies to go around killing people with? Of Course you did, you demons are all the same."
"No! I mean, yes, we killed people but we only went after criminals, I swear on my life! Tanjiro, please, listen to me, you don't know what I've been through the last couple weeks." Murata finally emerged into the dim light and Tanjiro immediately pointed his blade towards the demon. Murata raised his hands in the air to show he meant no harm despite his stomach growling and he was partially drooling upon being so close to a human.
"I bet your family would be really disappointed with what you've become." Murata's became teary eyed upon hearing that statement which caught Tanjiro's attention. Murata continued:
"They abandoned me, just like everybody else. I had no one left, not my family, nor any of my friends. I was alone. Tanjiro, I hate this, I hate my life right now. Do you understand how hard it is to restrict yourself from eating human flesh? It tastes so good you can't help but want more but you have to keep telling yourself that this is wrong! I've been starving myself for days now because I refuse to kill anyone else after carelessly striking down one of our own comrades. Normally, with people, we would die without food after a couple days but us demons can't die like that! The more I starve myself, the more I'm in pain and the more I wish I was dead. I don't want to kill anybody, not anymore! I don't care whether it's a demon or human, taking life is just wrong! We're all people! My friends:Sato, Renju, Koji, and Mako, we were abandoned by the ones we loved for the simple fact that we were demons! We weren't given a second chance at all! All of those demons we killed? They're the same as us, they're just people like you and I. They kill because they've been given no chance to redeem themselves. All we did was judge and discriminate against them because they were different but in reality, they were suffering! They wanted help but we refused to give it to them and after their hunger became too great, they snapped! We gave them no choice but to kill!"
Tanjiro lowered his blade as he processed the boy's words and quickly remembered Daki before raising his blade once more to make his point, "You're wrong, there are demons out there that enjoy killing and hurting others just for the sake of it.
"They might enjoy it now but how do you think they felt then? You don't know these people, you don't know the struggles any of them went through. They were just trying to get by and survive against a society that hates them and us demon slayers cut them down like it's none of our business! Look, I'm not justifying the slaughter of innocent civilians, but how do you think demons feel? Have you ever considered, for once, that demons are suffering as much as we are? Sure, us demons might be physically enhanced and can regenerate, but we're stripped of our humanity. I would give anything to go back to being a human, these last couple weeks have been the worst weeks in my entire life! So, please, that's why I'm asking.. No, begging you for help! I heard you had a trial with the Hashira because of something with a demon. Surely, you're able to partially grasp what I'm going through, can't you?"
Tanjiro dropped his blade in defeat, his anger was at its highest but despite this, he didn't have any smart comebacks to retort with. Instead, he began wondering about all of the demons he had killed up to that point. Did they suffer like Murata did? That's when his mother's words echoed to him once more: "Tanjiro, it's important to be kind and considerate for the people around you… Sympathy comes with consideration, you'll understand that as you grow up." Tanjiro's eyes lit up, he couldn't bring himself to be angry anymore. Yes, he felt bitter, but he couldn't bring himself to be upset at Murata. There was genuine pain inside the tears that Murata shed and the emotion of his voice.
Tanjiro exhaled, looking to the ground as he spoke up, "What exactly do you want me to do?"
"I don't know… but, I'm thankful that you're willing to hear me out and just listen. That's why I'm hoping-" Before the boy could finish his statement, the boards to the abandoned building shattered and a figure moved so quickly, it was as if a blur passed by them and decapitated Murata without a moment of hesitation. Tanjiro reached out for Murata's headless corpse as it fell, barely catching it before it hit the ground. Tanjiro's eyebrows were thrown up as high as possible as he repeatedly cursed to himself, begging for Murata to stay with him. Unfortunately, it was pointless and the boy was reduced to dust in mere seconds. Tanjiro looked to see who entered the building and was fueled with rage upon seeing the Hashira, Obanai Iguro, stepping out from the shadows while condescendingly looking down upon Tanjiro.
The boy's head was covered in strains from how much angry he was as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! HE WAS ONE OF US! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM?!" However, Tanjiro was also silenced before he could utter anything else as the Hashira quickly got the boy into a choke hold and quietly threatened:
"Tanjiro Kamado, I am placing you under arrest for complying with a demon. I was following you to see what the rush was about, I know he was an accomplice of yours and kept an eye on your behavior ever since word was released of his murder of one of our comrades. The master was wrong to trust you, expect your trial soon, Kamado. There's no weaseling your way out of this one like you did the last."
Tanjiro tried to resist and break free from the choke hold but it was like a snake was wrapped around him. Not surprising considering it was the serpent hashira he was dealing with. Tanjiro had dropped his guard too much and there was no way he'd be able to break this without hurting himself immensely. He tried to fight it but it was too late and the boy blacked out.
