Opening: Paper Moon by Tommy Heavenly6 (ROMIX Cover)

"Where's Nezuko?!" Zenitsu shouted, gathering the attention of everyone inside the Butterfly Mansion as they all rushed to the infirmary room where the girl was supposed to be. The commotion woke Tanjiro up from his slumber as he sat up, wide-eyed with panic as he looked around. He tried looking underneath his bed by using his right arm as a support to keep him from falling off and found nothing underneath. As everyone continued to look around, Tanjiro heard a familiar voice he hasn't heard in a long time call out from outside:

"I'm out here!" Everyone stopped and looked towards the windows but didn't see anything. Tanjiro was filled with adrenaline due to the panic he was feeling. There was no time for questions as the boy threw himself off the bed and started crawling towards the door with his one arm. He didn't care for the pain, he had to find his younger sister. Inosuke rushed over to the boy and picked him up as he scolded:

"You could've just asked."

Tanjiro didn't say anything as everyone rushed outside towards the back of the building where the garden was. Their jaws dropped once they saw Nezuko bathing in the light of the sun without burning up, bamboo gag removed as she knelt down and caressed the warm soil.

Tanjiro couldn't believe what he was seeing, his heart nearly stopped once he saw Nezuko in the light and stayed that way when he realized she wasn't burning up. He was in a short-lived trance until he snapped back to the current situation and pushed himself away from Inosuke as he cried out to his younger sister, "Nezuko!" He crawled towards her, tears welling up in his eyes as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Despite her always being with him even though she became a demon, it was like she finally came back after a long time for Tanjiro. Nezuko rushed over to her older brother as the two siblings embraced each other. Tanjiro bawled his eyes out as he squeezed her as tightly as possible. He had never felt so much relief wash over him in his entire life, he cried as hard as he did when he returned home to see his dead family.

Zenitsu was having a different reaction, the boy's face turned red once he got to see Nezuko without her gag and coated in the bright rays of the sun. It was like seeing an angel for the first time for Zenitsu as he rushed over and exclaimed, "HOLY SHIT, NEZUKO IS SO BEAUTIFUL IN THE SUN!" He, too, wanted to embrace Nezuko at that moment but stopped himself when he saw how much Tanjiro was crying and decided to respect his comrade's space.

Nezuko caressed her older brother's hair as she tried to soothe him, "There, there, you don't have to cry now, big brother." She had difficulty speaking but it was mostly clear what she was saying. It had been at least two years since she last spoke so moving her jaw around so frequently and forming words was more challenging than she realized. Still, this was enough for Tanjiro as he started to calm down and the two siblings backed apart. The boy inquired while still drying his tears:

"How is this possible? How are you not burning up right now?"

"I don't know to be honest. I only found out because I got bored waiting for you to wake up and sunlight was getting into the room. So I decided to try sticking my hand out just to see what it felt like. I missed the warm feeling of the sun and when I put my hand out, nothing happened. I was as shocked as you were when I found this out."

Zenitsu spun around before striking a flashy pose in front of Nezuko as he confessed, "That's it! I thought you were beautiful but you also have the voice of a goddess as well! Nezuko Kamado, please be my girlfriend!" Zenitsu practically bowed towards the girl and contemplated going even further and pressing his forehead against the ground to show how serious he was about his proposal. Everyone was shocked by Zenitsu's outburst but Kanao paid attention carefully as she was very interested in what was going on, this counted as a learning experience for her.

Nezuko blinked, partially blushing before looking away in shame as she remembered something crucial and gently pushed her brother away to create some distance as she apologized, "I'm sorry Zenitsu, but it's too dangerous. I might be able to be in the sun now but I'm still a demon. I can't be careless, I got so happy that I forgot about my natural demonic instinct to consume flesh. I can't take that risk, even now, I have to stop myself from trying to lash out at you guys. I'm sorry, Zenitsu, I need to put my gag back on to make sure I don't hurt any of you." Nezuko got up and reached inside one of her pockets as she began to put it on.

Zenitsu was devastated and tried reasoning with the girl, "T-that doesn't matter to me! I still think you're beautiful no matter what you do, Nezuko! Don't do this to yourself!" By then, it was too late as the girl had already put the bamboo gag back on and gave Zenitsu a somber expression before picking up her brother and walking back inside. Zenitsu stood still, unsure of what to say after that rejection. Everyone else wasn't sure what to say either as they were still processing all of that information. Shinobu cleared her throat before announcing to everyone else:

"Uh, I'll be in town for a little bit. There's something I have to check on."

The Hashira departed along with the other members of the household except for Kanao who could only feel sympathy for Zenitsu. She stepped closer to him as she tried to comfort him:

"I'm sorry for what just happened. I understand how you feel."

Zenitsu was able to let out a slight chuckle as he mumbled to himself, "There's no way that Tanjiro rejected you..." Kanao didn't catch what he said as she asked him to repeat what he said. Zenitsu turned towards her and put up a cheery expression while scratching the back of his head, "Oh, it's alright. If she says no, then she says no. I can only respect her decision. I can't help but feel sad because even though she feels insecure about being a demon, I still like her but I can't force her to change her feelings, can I?" Kanao could partly agree, giving a slight nod as the two of them went back inside.

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Shinobu walked around the village where she normally sent Aoi to grab the groceries. There was nothing unusual about it but she did see people passing by with strange flyers in-hand. She decided to stop one of the pedestrians as she asked, "Excuse me, could you tell me where you received that flyer?" The guy blushed upon seeing Shinobu and taking in her beauty but quickly got control of himself as he pointed down the street and explained:

"There's these guys over there by the church passing out the flyers, you can't miss them." Shinobu thanked the man before strolling towards the church where she saw a group of men standing around a booth trying to advertise their flyers to the people passing by in the village. They stopped once they noticed the butterfly hashira approach them and they quickly stood at attention, trying to appear as professional as possible as they asked the woman:

"Hello, ma'am! Would you be interested in joining our cult? Our master would be pleased to meet a beautiful young woman such as yourself." They handed out a flyer towards Shinobu which she hesitantly took and began skimming its texts. As she did so, the other men were checking her out and taking a fancy to her appearance.

Shinobu asked after briefly skimming the flyer, "Your master, huh? Tell me, what's he like?"

"The master is a man of many miracles. He is the man who frees us of our pain and grants us salvation."

Shinobu grew suspicious as she subtly squinted her eyes as she inquired, "What does your master look like?"

The men looked at each other before explaining to the Hashira, "Why don't you see for yourself, ma'am? He is our god, what more can we say about him?"

The woman felt she had gathered enough information as she thanked the men for their generosity and began walking away. As she walked back, she was called out to by an older woman who gestured for the Hashira to come closer. Shinobu was intrigued as she carefully approached and waited for what the elder had to say, "I would be careful, young lady. I've heard that once you join the cult, you won't come back." Shinobu gave the woman a strange expression as she requested elaboration. "I can't really tell you much else. That's all I've heard from some of my friends." Shinobu thanked the older woman for the warning and walked back. She felt she was getting closer to uncovering this mystery, tucking away the flyer in one of her pockets and returning to her mansion where she would further investigate this matter.

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Tanjiro was lying in his bed with Zenitsu sitting next to him. The yellow-haired boy looked at his friend before asking, "So.. what did you want to talk about?" Tanjiro tilted his head to look at Zenitsu before answering:

"I wanted to talk about you, actually."

"About me? Let me guess, you're angry cuz I asked out Nezuko because you're a protective older brother?"

Tanjiro shook his head in denial, his expression not changing, "No, not that. Though, that did get me thinking about you. What exactly are your plans for the future, Zenitsu? What are you going to do once you avenge your master?"

Zenitsu was shocked by the question and answered, "I.. don't know… I've never really thought about it. My entire life, I've never felt as though I had a purpose, something to keep me going. I always figured that finding the perfect woman would satisfy me and that would be enough but I'm not sure that will do the trick anymore."

"So is that what Nezuko is to you? Someone to satisfy you?" There was a tinge of irritation in Tanjiro's voice now as he started to get defensive about his sister.

"No! Of course not, fuck no! I genuinely like her, more than anyone else I've ever met. Yeah, I'll admit that, at first, I liked her for her looks because I was shameless like that. However, spending time with you and her, I've really gotten to see the type of person she is. Despite the odds stacked against her and compelling her to do the wrong thing, she still finds a way to resist. She has more willpower than I can possibly imagine. That's why I'm not sure finding a girl is going to cut it for me. It's not that I don't want Nezuko, but she's shown me how flawed I really am."

Tanjiro was in awe of what the boy had to say as he commented, "Wow, Zenitsu, I never really knew you felt that way."

"What about you? Muzan pretty much ruined your whole life, what are you going to do after you defeat him and cure Nezuko?"

"Me? Huh, I guess I never really thought about it either. I had been so consumed with revenge for two years I lost sight of everything. But… I do know that I have to help people no matter what, it's the right thing to do. Both Mister Rengoku and Xernex preached about protecting and nurturing the next generation so we can surpass them. Those two put their faith in children like us because that was their philosophy, that's what kept them going and I don't want to start disappointing them now. So I guess, for right now, my goal is to live up to their expectations. I want to be as strong as Mister Flint but as kind and passionate as Mister Flint and Rengoku."

"So, for you, it's all about legacy?"

"Not just legacy, but the future, everyone's future. People like Mister Rengoku fight for selfless reasons beyond revenge. They fight for us, they protect us to the best of their ability so it's up to us, the people they put their faith in, to do the same. Living a life of revenge is an empty life because you're left with nothing once you're done with it. That's something I realized recently, especially after hearing Mister Flint's story. It's not a path anyone should go, all it leads to is more pain and frustration."

Zenitsu smiled before looking away as he said, "You really are a bigger man than I am, Tanjiro. I could never see the world the way you do. All I could ever think was that the world revolved around me and I hated myself for the fact that no one loved me or anything else like that."

"Everyone has the potential, Zenitsu, even you. You might not believe in yourself now but I do. Don't get consumed in your revenge, find your own purpose in life to keep yourself going. I'm not saying you have to be like me and fight for other people, but find something that keeps you going and makes you happy."

Zenitsu gave Tanjiro a genuine smile this time as he thanked his younger friend for the counseling. Zenitsu decided to shift topics as he gave his friend a playful look and teased, "So, how're things with you and Kanao?"

Tanjiro's face turned red as he explained, "We're.. Doing fine. Why do you always get on my case about Kanao?" Zenitsu leaned in as he explained:

"Dude, don't bullshit me, I know you like her. As a passionate believer in love, I know what it looks like when I see it."

Tanjiro couldn't really deny his feelings and the two of them had already opened up to each other this much so he decided to confess, "Yes, I do love her but-" Tanjiro was cut off by Zenitsu who barked at the boy:

"Dude! She's so into you! Just ask her out already, fuck! It's infuriating watching you two be around each other and NOT make a move!" Tanjiro got even more flustered as he begged Zenitsu to quiet down.

"You think? I don't know, I'm not sure if it's really appropriate right now considering all that's going on."

"What's there to consider?! Dude, just say something to her, I guarantee you that she won't say no!"

Tanjiro was in an internal war betweens his ideology and his emotions as he argued, "I'm just not sure that this is the right time. I can't let myself get distracted with this stuff!"

Zenitsu looked as if he was losing his mind by the second as he dug his fingers through his hair and scolded, "Dude, you cannot be serious ALL the time. It's okay to relax and besides, you can't do any fighting as you are, you're just a teenager with one arm! what do you expect to do?"

Tanjiro was hurt by the comment and as he looked away and told Zenitsu, "I'll figure something out…" Zenitsu could see that he offended his friend and decided to get up from his seat as he apologized to the boy and took his leave. Tanjiro didn't say anything in return, remaining silent as his friend left the room and he was left by himself. He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to do anything with one arm but he had to try to be useful. He refused to be nothing more than a liability at this point. He was still determined to accomplish his goals no matter the cost.

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In Immora, a team of scientists were getting to work on their next creation as instructed by the Dark Lord. One of the scientists in the research facility walked into one of their numerous labs, avoiding his peers as he was concentrating on reading his datapad. As he stepped inside the empty room, he looked up to see something quickly vanish. It was brief but it was like a strange, black essence that faded away. That wasn't the part that shocked him though, it was the disappearance of the Marauder's Night Sentinel Armor which had been hung up by the scientists for further research and modification. The man dropped his datapad but was quickly able to catch it after bouncing it back up a few times. He rushed out of the lab as he began shouting for all of his peers to hear, "Something just took the Marauder's armor!" They all looked and rushed towards the lab the man just got out of to see no trace of the Night Sentinel's suit. They panicked, running to their stations to give an alert of a potential intruder. During the chaos with the alarms blaring, the Dark Lord stepped through a portal into the facility and began walking around as his subordinates bowed towards him before rushing to their positions.

He stopped one of them as he asked, "What is the situation?"

"The Marauder's Night Sentinel Armor was stolen, my liege. We're trying to figure out what happened!" The Dark Lord was disappointed but not for the reason the scientist expected as the god dismissively explained to his underling:

"Surprising, no one should be able to enter Immora at this time unless they were a deity or entered through the Gate of Divum. No matter. We have no use for Sentinel Technology in Immora. The Night Sentinels have been a thorn in my side for quite some time now, I could care less if their flimsy armor disappears or not. Besides, Xernex's new skin will prove to be much more durable than his armor ever was. However, if you find the intruder, bring them to me. I am curious about their motive."

The scientist was surprised by the Dark Lord's lack of care for the current situation but he quickly ignored that detail and informed his god, "We'll search for the intruder right away, my lord!" The god paid no attention to the man as he continued forward, leaving the scientists to their own antics as they began searching for the intruder.