.

.

.

"Krrrrkkkrrrkkkk—"

"Good. A new woman."

"Young! Untainted!"

"Kkkkrrrkk—"

"What a disgustingly pretty butterfly!"

"We're running out of prey."

"Krrrrkkkkrrrrkkk—"

"But, that blade…"

"Who cares! I'm hungry. I want a woman!"

"Kkkrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkrrrrkkkk—"

"Oh well. Time to rid the world of another sinner."

.

.

.


The red sky darkened. Shadows claimed the town once more. People scurried for shelter from the dangerous night, dreading the time when predators prowled the streets. They hugged their loved ones, wishing for their tight grip to be enough against the demon's pull.

In an empty street flanked by courtyard walls, Kanao looked up towards the setting sun. Down, towards the swirling violet mist on the ground.

It was time.

A black spot appeared under her feet, widening rapidly. Pale arms shot out, clawed hands ready to capture—

Breath of the Flower, Third Form:

Sharp exhale—

Frostflake.

Ice bloomed. Torn the arms into half, as a single strike from her Nichirin blade pierced through the air like a falling icicle—

"KkkkkrrraaaaaAAAAHH!"

The ice blade slowed, its speed halved by the unexpectedly viscous black hole. Like a swamp thickened with mud, it redirected her blade, stopping her from severing the demon's head.

Eyes narrowing, Kanao jumped backwards—

Violet mist swirled. Split up. Condensed at a new spot, as if forming a new entity—

A new black hole appeared on the courtyard wall.

"Mine—!" Another demon emerged from the new hole, screaming.

Kanao spun in the air.

Breath of the Flower, Sixth Form:

Sharp inhale. Muscles tensed—

Whirling Peach

"Fool! Move away!"

Almost. Her blade barely nicked the second demon's head before it sunk back into the hole. All because of the third voice.

Kanao skidded on the ground. She eyed the three swirling demonic mists in front of her. Interesting; a single demon had split up into three entities. With a Blood Demon Art to boot.

"What's with this woman?!" One of them emerged from its own hole and shrieked, red beady eyes gleaming.

"KKkrrrkkkrrkkrkkkkk—," another one gritted its teeth, the sound piercing her ears.

"You," the third one surfaced slowly, with only its one-horned head out of the hole. The smart one, it seemed, as it was the only one wary of her. "You aren't an ordinary woman."

Kanao readied her blade and smiled.

.

.

.


Tanjirou looked up sharply.

The sun was down. Voices died down into whispers. The scent became stronger, dominating and foul—

And at its centre was her scent.

Tanjirou slammed open the closet door. Jumped out of their room's window, before landing on another rooftop. He tore open his bamboo muzzle and sniffed the air, before sprinting towards the source of the conflict, terror gripping his heart.

No. Not her. Not again—

The scents intensified. Her fragrance, cool as mints and sweet as peaches, was now surrounded by the disgusting odour of the monster. He was close. So close. Two more jumps, and he was finally there

Just in time to see her disappear into the abyss.

.

.

.


Ever since he first saw the strange woman, the one-horned Numa-oni couldn't shake off the feeling of impending doom.

She was quite young and petite. Pretty and delicate. A maiden, a budding sinner—an ideal prey, really. The butterfly clip that adorned her hair was what attracted him the most; it would make a gorgeous trophy for his collection of headpieces. Oh, she would taste exquisite, for sure.

But she had appeared out of nowhere. At a strange timing too, purposely coming here when women had fled the town in fear. His two other personas were delighted when she arrived, but the one-horned Numa-oni was suspicious.

There was something… deadly about her. She was like a flower with poisonous thorns: pretty but lethal. An instant death, should they mindlessly devour her.

Sure enough, his suspicion was immediately confirmed when she effortlessly shredded his three-horned twin's arms with the sun-kissed blade. The Numa-oni would've lost his two-horned persona had he not pulled the fool back into the safety of the swamp.

Then, the woman smiled. This witch actually smiled when she was surrounded by the three Numa-onis. As if she was no longer the prey but the hunter.

Angered, the three Numa-onis expanded the swamp under her feet. The solid ground instantly turned into thick liquid, pulling her down into their home ground with ease.

Trap her. Drown her. Devour her!

The one-horned Numa-oni paused —hesitated— because the woman was strong enough to overwhelm the Numa-onis with her cursed sword. Yet she sank into the swamp way too easily. That simple?

He shrugged. No human could survive drowning in the sludge. Her sun-kissed sword would be rendered useless underwater, as no blade was capable of slicing through liquid. A little anticlimactic, but at least they had done the world good by removing another sinner.

As he was about to dive into the swamp together with his twins, the one-horned Numa-oni sensed a new presence in the area.

"What the," he blurted out at the sight of an unfamiliar demon. "A trespasser?"

The newcomer said nothing, merely staring at the swamp into which the woman had just disappeared. The Numa-oni had encountered wandering demons before; weaklings who failed to secure their own territory often roamed over the country to scavenge for leftovers. Seemed like this one was a newborn, too.

Usually the Numa-oni would chase them away or trap them in the swamp until the sun rose before abandoning them to the mercy of the sunlight. But the one-horned Numa-oni was feeling rather vindictive tonight; the witch's smile just now had irked him to no end. Sure, there were nights like this, but perhaps he should play around with this rude newborn instead. Let him experience bliss before drowning him in the swamp and exposing him to deadly sunlight.

"Want some?" The one-horned Numa-oni offered, grinning maliciously. "I like women, but the head is my least favourite. Their long hair often gets stuck in my throat so I usually just tear them off. You look hungry; I'm feeling rather good today so I'll give you her whole head—"

A beastly howl interrupted him, wrathful and deranged. The one-horned Numa-oni choked. Shivered at the unseen pressure, heavy and hateful and dangerdangerdaNgER

A clawed hand appeared. Strangled his neck, sharp nails piercing through his throat, before hauling him out of his swamp. It slammed him against the wall with a thunderous boom, smashing his neck. The one-horned Numa-oni cried out in agony, but before he could do anything, the mad demon clenched his other hand into a fist and punched the Numa-oni's face again and again and again, each painful strike crushing his head further—

Black swamp emerged from the Numa-oni's back. He quickly sank into the swamp, pulling the mad demon's hands along with him. Before the mad demon could retaliate, he closed the hole forcefully, severing the offending arms.

The one-horned Numa-oni gasped, tearing the clawed hand off his mangled neck.

'What the fuck was that?!' Gritting his teeth in anger, he glared at the mad demon on the other side. 'All of a sudden this newborn just went berserk! I had to expend a lot of energy to regenerate my head. That fucker!'

Shooting across the swamp, the one-horned Numa-oni planned an ambush. A way to punish this piece of shit who dared to challenge him. Grinning savagely, the Numa-oni opened a hole from behind the mad demon and grabbed his feet—

Missed. The mad demon jumped out of the way before the Numa-oni could grab him. Another ear-piercing roar. A clawed hand, still regenerating, grabbed the Numa-oni's hand instead and threw him out of the swamp hole before he could escape.

The one-horned Numa-oni howled and kicked the mad demon's head hard, freeing his hand. Both demons tumbled down to the ground. The Numa-oni wasted no time lunging forward to grab the mad demon by the throat, before punching his face just like he had done to the Numa-oni moments ago.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you hundreds of times!" The one-horned Numa-oni shrieked gleefully, ignoring the mad demon's futile attempt at releasing his hold. He was the Numa-oni, the swamp demon of Naie who had eaten a dozen women! A newborn mad demon was nothing to him! "Tear your limbs apart, burn you under the sun! Drown you repeatedly, just like what they had done to me! Die, die DiE dIe DIE—!"

A hand grabbed his arm. The Numa-oni's eyes widened—because despite the deformed state of his face, he could see raging hellfire in the mad demon's eye. Could feel the blistering heat in his arm as if the mad demon's palm was the sun itself, incinerating him from the inside

Before a searing hot blade severed his neck, and he could feel no more.

.

.

.


Kanao sheathed her Nichirin sword, watching the last swamp demon disintegrate, before turning to frown at Tanjirou in concern.

He was, once more, a bloody mess. Tanjirou was drenched in the swamp demon's dispersing blood as well as his own. His disfigured face was slowly healing, broken bones mending and torn skin stitching back up as the horn that had grown from the scar on his forehead gradually shrunk. He stared at her blankly, the pupil of his left eye a vertical slit while the other eye was still regenerating. His fanged mouth hung open.

"Tanjirou-san," Kanao called his name. "Are you okay?"

He didn't respond, still staring at her dazedly as if she were a ghost.

Worried, she crouched down to look at him at the same eye level. She was surprised when she could not find the last persona of the Numa-oni inside the swamp, only to find him outside, beating Tanjirou up. Judging by the state he was in, it seemed like Tanjirou was once more running out of energy. Kanao unrolled the bandages on her palm before pressing on the healing scab with her fingernails. Ignoring the slight sting, Kanao brought her wounded palm to his lips once more.

Immediately, Tanjirou jolted at her touch. He blinked a few times. Licked the blood on her palm. Gasped—before pulling her into a tight hug.

"T-Tanjirou-san?" Kanao asked in confusion, voice muffled by his shoulder.

She didn't move away, however, as she could feel him tremble in sheer relief. Tanjirou stroked her hair with his clawed hand and nuzzled her head, breathing in her scent, as if to reassure himself that she was real.

Kanao patted his back in return and mumbled an apology. She had decided to let the Numa-oni lure her into their home turf to get rid of them in one-go, but she recalled seeing a glimpse of Tanjirou before she sank into the abyss. Perhaps, he'd thought she had disappeared for good.

Tanjirou squeezed her one last time, before leaning back to scan her for injuries.

"I'm not injured," Kanao said. She bit her lip when he lifted her wounded hand to inspect it. "That wasn't caused by the demon. That— I mean— I thought you needed it..."

Tanjirou licked the remaining blood on her palm before rebandaging it. And kissed her bandaged palm once he was done. The spot on her palm where his lips had been tingled.

"Tanjirou-san," Kanao tapped his hands, which were still holding hers. She waited until he looked up at her. His eyes were still a little glassy. "Why are you here?"

"... I thought you were gone," he mumbled. "I thought he took you from me."

"You didn't have to worry," Kanao reassured him. "I am a Demon Slayer. I have slain this kind of demon before. You've checked just now, haven't you? That I am uninjured."

"But he took my family from me."

Kanao frowned. "That was a different demon, Tanjirou-san."

Tanjirou pulled her into another hug. His hair tickled her neck when he shook his head.

"... Don't go."

Kanao looked up at the starry night and sighed.

"I won't."

.

.

.


Yellow eyes blinked at the scene in front of him.

The night was young. The street was deserted, save for a Slayer and a demon. Butterfly hair clip, violet eyes, cherry blossom blade. Hanafuda earrings, crimson eyes, green checkered haori. And the Swamp oni was slain, disintegrating into thin air. No life-threatening injuries. No further casualties.

Mission success.

The black cat yawned before returning to his master.

.

.

.