First mission
Welcome to another chapter!
First of all, guest review answer corner.
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The Joining: I understand what you mean, however, I disagree. Allow me to explain my reasoning:
It is stated that during their training days Sabito was stronger than Giyu and, had he survived the Final Selection, he would have likely become the Water Pillar instead. But, if he were to create a new form for the Water Breathing Style I don't think it would be 'Lull' because Sabito is not Giyu. 'Lull' is Giyu's form, a form that he created because it suits his style so in the event that Sabito creates a new form it would be something that he created for himself that fits his style and not what Giyu did, simply because they are two different people.
And I don't remember ever saying that he didn't create another form.
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Since most reviews were more or less saying the same I will answer this here:
About Tanjiro's temporary partner, only one person got it right; I'll give you your virtual pancakes at the end notes!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.
I hope you enjoy!
Fortunately for Tanjiro, Haganezuka calmed down and stopped taking his 'revenge' against him for not showing him a red colored sword and with his business concluded, he left Mt. Sagiri.
The Kamado meanwhile began to change into his uniform; putting on the baggy pants, buttoning up the jacket with the character for 'destroy' written on its back and putting his checkered dark turquoise and black patterned haori on top of it.
"Tanjiro." Urokodaki called out.
"Yes?"
"Here." The old man said as he extended his right arm.
"This is…"
"It's your own warding mask." He said as the red haired teen took the offered item. "I hope it can protect you if you're ever in a dangerous situation."
"Thank you very much." The Kamado smiled as he looked at the mask.
It was a lot like Sabito's and Makomo's, completely white and resembling a fox the only differences was that it had what looked like a sun on the left side of the forehead, the same place that Tanjiro has his scar, and two red dots at the corners of the mouth.
Without any more words he adjusted it to the left side of his head and moved around a bit to make sure that it wouldn't fall off.
"I would have modified it so the scar looks more like how it looks now had I known, my apologies."
"Please don't worry about it, I didn't even realize until you pointed it out." Tanjiro assured him.
The scar on his forehead that resembled a graze had changed to look like a large dark red scar; Urokodaki hadn't noticed it until today when Tanjiro had taken off the gauze over it and it was too late to make modifications at the mask in time for his mission.
"Come sit, I'd like to explain a few more things before you depart."
Nodding, both males sat in seiza in front of each other.
"First; the Demon Slayer Corps outfit you're wearing, it is made of a special kind of fiber." Sakonji began. "The fabric is quite breathable, yet it repels moisture and won't burn easily. A low-level demon's talons or fangs couldn't even manage to tear that uniform."
Widening his eyes slightly, Tanjiro looked at his uniform.
"It's that strong?" He asked, more in surprise than as an actual question.
"Also, that Nichirin Sword of yours, the color varies from owner to owner and each hue has unique properties but since not many people end up with black blades, little is known about them." Urokodaki seemed to hesitate for a second before continuing. "Since so little is known about them, black blades are said to be wielded by swordsmen who'll never go far."
In response to this, Tanjiro smiled.
"I don't know how I'll do in the Demon Slayer Corps but I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human no matter what." He looked at his sister, who was looking at him from her room while underneath the covers of her futon.
"Yes, you're right." The Kamado's master nodded. "I have faith that you're going to make that happen."
"I will."
"Two more things; first…" Urokodaki took the box he had showed him a week ago, now completed. "Here."
The box is a dark brown color with three black colored metal braces around it and a handle on one side to open it with two white straps on the opposite side.
"I managed to complete it in time, it's built of an extremely light wood called 'Cloud Mist Pine' and I coated it with rock lacquer to reinforce its exterior and to make it even more durable."
"Thank you very much." Tanjiro said as he grabbed the box with his two hands. "It's so light!" He exclaimed in surprise, it probably didn't weight more than that basket he made two years ago. "It's really light, Urokodaki-san."
Smiling, he placed the box in front of Nezuko and kneeled besides it.
"Nezuko! Get inside this, will you?" He asked her with a smile. "Can you do it?"
Without a word, she changed her body to her child-like size and moved from under the covers to inside the box.
"Nezuko." The older Kamado said, moving in front of the box while smiling. "From now on, we're always gonna be together, okay?"
The demon smiled under her muzzle and nodded happily as Tanjiro closed the box.
"Now for the second thing." The masked man said as Tanjiro sat down in front of him again. "It's about the one responsible for turning your sister into a demon."
Tanjiro's eyes widened at this but he remained silent and waited for him to continue.
"While any demon could be responsible for killing your family, we only know of one that is capable of turning other people into demons." Even behind the mask, the red haired teen could tell that Urokodaki was glaring. "The first demon to be born, if anyone knows of a way to turn a demon back into a human then it would be him." The trainer took a deep breath before continuing. "His name, is Kibutsuji Muzan."
"Kibutsuji Muzan." Tanjiro repeated to engrave that name in his mind. 'He was the one responsible.' Images of his family laying dead on the floor of his home flashed through his mind.
It took him a full minute to calm down again.
"Thank you for everything, Urokodaki-san."
"It was my pleasure."
Placing the box on his back, Tanjiro walked out of the house with Urokodaki in tow.
"All right, I'll be going now." He said after turning around to look at his master.
"Hold on." Sakonji said. "Do you mind?" He asked as he fixed the teen's collar and made sure the straps of the box were fine.
Giving him a nod that the Kamado reciprocated the masked man watched him go until he was out of sight.
'Now then… I should write a letter to Oyakata-sama.' Sakonji thought. 'Good luck, Tanjiro.'
It took Tanjiro a few hours to get to the town his crow had told him about; he simply followed the bird as it continued to tell him to go to the town non-stop while flying ahead of him.
The Kasugai Crow also told him that there would be another Demon Slayer waiting for him there to assess his capabilities; he already knew, since Sabito and Makomo told him, but the crow must not have known that.
The place reminded Tanjiro of his hometown, it wasn't the same of course; there was a river below the bridge he crossed to get into the town proper that his didn't have but the similar looking wooden buildings, the roads and even the people to some extent reminded him of home.
Shaking his head to stop his musings, Tanjiro looked around for the person that would be his examiner and partner.
He didn't have to look far.
Standing at the side of the road and wearing the same uniform as him was a woman, probably around three of four years older than him with black hair tied into a short ponytail with some bangs hanging over her face, black eyes and, of course, a sword sheathed at her waist.
The Kamado couldn't help to feel a bit uneasy, the box he carried suddenly seeming to weight more than before.
'It's okay, it will be okay.' He thought to himself as he took a deep breath before walking towards her.
"Excuse me." He called out to the woman, making her turn towards him.
"You must be the mizunoto I'm here to assess." She said calmly.
"Yes, I'm Kamado Tanjiro." The red haired teen bowed.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Ozaki, my rank is tsuchinoto." She said, returning his bow. "Walk with me; I'll explain the situation and how to hunt a demon while we search the town."
Nodding, the Kamado fell into step besides her.
"Have you ever fought a demon? Not counting the ones you encountered during the Final Selection."
"One time, I was going towards my master's home for the first time and I happened to encounter one."
"How would you say that demon compares to the ones you faced during the Final Selection?"
"Hmm… looking back on it, he was pretty weak; I'd say he was more or less the same as the ones during the Final Selection… well, save for one particular demon I happened to come across in Mt. Fujikasane."
"Oh?" Ozuki raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to explain.
"He was a mutated demon, he had a lot of arms coverings his body; I happened to run into him during the first night and managed to cut off his head." He summarized.
"I see, there are a good number of demons like that." The woman hummed. "In any case, I asked around before you got here; apparently, whenever a girl disappears it's always during the night, the people that were with them, if there were any, all claim that she just vanished into thin air."
"Could it be a Blood Demon Art?"
"That's what I was thinking." She said with an approving nod. "I can't say exactly what it does but the chances of being a demon without a Blood Art are next to none."
"Is there any way to figure out what this demon's ability does?"
"Not without fighting it directly, I'm afraid; that tends to be the rule for most encounters with a demon." Ozaki answered with a shrug, as if saying 'that's just how it is'. "Don't get me wrong; it's possible to make educated guesses but, in my experience, it's better to go into a fight with the least amount of preconceptions about a demon's ability as possible. If you prepared for a fight thinking 'this demon can do this' and it turns out that you were completely wrong, then any preparations you made before are useless and you could panic because of the surprise, that is the last thing you want to do."
"You make it sound as if it had happened to you before." Tanjiro noted.
"We were all new to this once, I almost died during my second mission because I made the wrong assumptions." The black haired woman said. "Like I said, theorizing and educated guesses are fine but always keep in mind that you could be completely wrong."
"I understand, thank you for the advice." He said with a nod.
"Don't mention it; if it raises your chances of survival even a little I will hammer this knowledge into your head, whether you want me to or not." She answered with a grin. "Let's get back on topic; when you're tracking a demon… I hate to say it but we don't have much choice but to follow the bodies or hope that they appear during the night and we manage to catch them in the act."
"I see…" The younger of the two muttered with a thoughtful expression. "Actually, I may be able to help with that."
"I'm listening."
"I have a good nose, I could be able to sniff the demon out."
Ozaki stopped walking and gave the teen a skeptic look.
"You can smell demons." She said, her tone giving away her disbelief.
"Yes." Tanjiro answered with a nod, having also stopped moving.
'…It doesn't seem like he is lying.' The woman thought, looking at the expression that seemed to say 'I haven't told a lie in my life' on her junior's face. "Prove it."
Without a word, the Kamado closed his eyes and began to sniff out the air; not three seconds later he extended his arm and pointed to the way they came from.
"Five kids are about to walk around the corner, three girls and two boys, all between the ages of eight and ten, they're playing with a mari and two of the girls are sisters."
Almost the moment he finished talking, five kids appeared from the corner he pointed at, all of them with the features he mentioned as well as a mari they were passing among each other.
"…well." She said, blinking a few times in surprise. "Sorry for doubting you."
"No, no, I get that I have an unusual sense of smell." He assured her waving one hand in front of his face. "It took a while for the people at my home to accept it when I first showed it."
"I can imagine." Ozaki said with a chuckle before they began walking again. "So, are you picking up any scents?"
"Not so far, I could get something if I go to a place the demon has been around recently."
"I got the name and the address of the latest victim's fiancée; apparently, he was with her when she disappeared." The woman said. "He could point us in the right direction."
"Yes."
With that, the two picked up their pace.
"By the way, what is your Breath Style?"
"The Breath of Water." Tanjiro answered. "And yours?"
"The Breath of Wind." Ozaki said. "I'm not sure how well we'll merge during a fight, it might be better to fight individually if it comes down to it."
"We don't know that yet." The Kamado argued. "Let's try first, if we see that we're getting in each other's way then one of us will fall back."
"Sounds good."
They spent the time it took them to reach the last victim's fiancée's home discussing how they should approach the fight that will inevitably take place.
"It's here." Ozaki said.
She and Tanjiro were standing in front of one of the many houses in the town.
"Fair warning, we don't know how he will react to our presence; he may not let us talk at all."
"If that happens, I will walk around town until I can pick up a scent." The Kamado answered, completely intending to go through with it if necessary.
"Hehe, let's call that the plan B." The woman said with a giggle before her expression turned serious. "I'm supposed to be assessing you so, unless it looks like you need a hand, I will leave the talking to you."
"Yes."
Ozaki walked forward and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer.
"…"
"…"
When no one answered, she knocked again and waited but like before, there was no response.
"Maybe there is no one inside." The black haired woman thought out loud.
"No, someone's in there." Tanjiro said, sniffing the air. "I can smell a person inside, definitely a man." He took a few steps forward and knocked. "Excuse me! We know you're in there, we wish to talk about your fiancée's disappearance."
They heard a rustle and some steps that stopped just on the other side of the door.
"Who are you?" The voice was definitely male and it sounded… defeated, for lack of a better word.
"We believe that your fiancée's disappearance is linked to our line of work, we would like to ask your help in discovering what happened." He explained calmly.
There was a moment of hesitation from the male inside the house, before the door opened revealing its occupant.
"You're Kazumi-san, correct?"
"That's correct." Kazumi answered with a nod.
He is a young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes; one would call him a 'normal' person, the type that you would see walking around town among many. The only thing that would make him stand out is the bruises on his face and how haggard he looked.
"You say that Satoko's disappearance is linked to your work?" He asked with a vacant look.
"Yes, we would like to ask for your help in finding out what happened." Tanjiro answered. "Could you tell us how she disappeared?"
A pained expression flashed across his face and he looked down.
"I don't know what happened, we were walking together and suddenly she was just… gone." Kazumi answered with a trembling voice.
"…can you take us to the place where she disappeared?" The Kamado asked.
"Eh?" The brown haired man looked up at him. "Then… you believe me?"
"Yes." The red haired teen nodded. "I believe you."
"…alright." With that, he exited the house and closed the door. "Follow me."
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Twenty minutes later the three were at a crossroad.
"This is the place." Kazumi said. "We were taking a walk, I think I told a joke, I remember we were laughing and…" He trailed off there, gritting his teeth. "You may not believe me, though."
"We believe you!" Tanjiro answered immediately. "We believe you, alright!" He repeated to assure him before kneeling on the ground and bringing his face close to the ground. 'There's still a faint trace of demon scent.' The red haired teen thought as the smell entered his nostrils. 'But its uneven so to speak… something's strange.'
'Who are these two, anyway?' Kazumi thought, looking from the teen to the woman standing beside him. He brought a hand to one of his bruises, all of them from Satoko's father, and winced. 'At least they're willing to believe me.'
Without a word, Tanjiro stood up and began to walk, making the other two follow him.
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The rest of the day was spent with Tanjiro walking around the town trying to find the demon; he would kneel on the ground to sniff it, get up, move to another spot and repeat.
During all of this, Ozaki kept her eyes on her junior.
'There are no problems with his attitude and if his nose lets him find a demon, that alone makes him valuable.' She thought; she is here to asses him after all. 'One mission won't be enough to have a definitive answer but I can't say I have complaints so far…' The black haired woman trailed off there while staring. 'Well, I wouldn't call it a complaint but…' She glanced around at all the people watching them. 'He brings way too much attention to himself.'
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By the time the sun was beginning to set, the three had walked around most of the town. Sadly, there weren't any new leads so far.
"I want you to believe me." Kazumi suddenly spoke up, earning the swordsmen's attention. "She really did vanish."
"We believe you." Tanjiro answered immediately. "After all, that's why we're here."
After that exchange, the three went back to walking silently while following the Kamado's lead. It wasn't until after midnight that Kazumi broke the silence again.
"You're gonna keep going?"
"Yes." The red haired teen answered without stopping.
"Look how late it's gotten." The older male said. "I'm flattered that you're so concerned for me, but shouldn't you pick up again tomorrow and get some rest?"
Tanjiro suddenly kneeled again.
"Those things are active during the night so we can't afford to rest." Sniffing the air, he turned his head to the side. "I've detected a new scent in this area it's gotta be somewhere nearby."
"Those things…" Kazumi trailed off, looking between the two sword users. "Don't tell me you two are…"
'…I'm not exactly keen on letting people know about demons but it's not like we can hide it from him; there is no way he will go back home even if we tell him.' Ozaki thought, keeping her face neutral under the human's stare.
Suddenly, Tanjiro gasped and began running.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Kazumi asked, looking at the teen that was already a good distance away. 'So fast!'
A moment later, he saw Ozaki run to catch up with him.
"Did you find it?"
"The scent just got stronger, the demon's at large!" He answered before jumping on top of a roof to cut the distance between him and where the demon is.
The tsuchinoto was quick to follow him while Kazumi could only try and keep up.
He did notice something, though; their talk about demons, how they believed him without question, fighting on the night. It all led to one conclusion.
'They're from the Demon Slayer corps! They're real!'
.
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Tanjiro landed just outside a large house with stone walls surrounding it, with Ozaki landing beside him a few moments later.
'This is it!' He thought, unsheathing his sword and preparing his guard. 'They're here right now!'
"Can you tell where they are?" The woman asked, also unsheathing her sword revealing a light green colored blade.
The Kamado didn't answer and simply prepared his stance.
'Two different scents, a demon and a female human!' He thought while looking around. 'They're nowhere to be seen, but…' He took a few steps to his right while maintaining his stance before turning his sword around and point it to the ground. 'The spot where the scent is strongest… is right here!' The red haired teen stabbed the ground.
A moment later, a black smoke emerged and an unnatural mud like dark spot appeared from thin air.
That wasn't what caught his attention, though; what caught his attention was the purple kimono floating on the spot.
He immediately grabbed the cloth and pulled, pulling a girl around his age from the spot while the demon's hand reached out, a torn piece of her kimono on its hand.
"I am never doubting your sense of smell, Kamado." The woman said, preparing to charge the demon.
Said demon got its upper half outside of the black spot to reveal its appearance.
He is a man with pale skin and long blue hair with two long strands of violet on both sides of his face, supported by two golden hair separators; his eyes were completely red with no pupils, he has three horns protruding from his forehead and the veins around that area were bulging prominently.
He wore what looked like a shinobi garment sewn with meshes on both sides of the arms, shoulders and thorax and a bottleneck shirt underneath it.
"Where are the girls you kidnapped?" Tanjiro asked.
Instead of answering, the demon began to grind its teeth, making an inhuman screeching sound.
It continued for a few seconds before diving back inside the black spot.
"Who was that?" Kazumi asked with a gulp, having caught up just in time to see the demon disappear.
"Kazumi-san, please hold this person and stand near Ozaki-san." Tanjiro said, giving him the girl before looking at his superior. "I will face the demon while you keep them safe."
"That's fine with me." She answered, moving closer to the two. "I'll make sure the demon doesn't touch them, I'll jump in if I think that you need help, don't get too far away from me."
The swordsman nodded and prepared his stance before taking a few steps away from them.
'From the ground and this wall.' He thought while looking around. 'It can probably emerge from anywhere… there's also the chance that it could show up out of thin air.' The red eyed teen tried to catch sight of that black spot but it had disappeared the moment the demon had dived inside. 'I can't see it but…' He trailed off and closed his eyes. 'Even when it's submerged, it can't erase its scent!' Tanjiro focused on his nose and waited for the scent to grow stronger. '…here it comes!'
Opening his eyes, he turned around and ran in the opposite direction, his sword pointing backwards and poised to strike.
'Water Breathing, Fifth form!' He was ready to attack the place where the demon was about to emerge when, instead of one black spot, three appeared and a demon emerged from each one. 'There's three of them!'
Tanjiro quickly jumped back to avoid the demons that tried to grab him, the lower halves of their bodies still hidden inside the mud like spot.
'Calm down!' The demons were quick to follow and tried to grab him again. 'You can do it!'
Moving his sword to another stance, he changed forms in mid-air.
'Eight Form…' Water began to engulf his weapon. 'Waterfall Jar!' And he swung downwards, slashing the three demons simultaneously.
Three arms flew up, all of them from the demons.
'Too shallow!' The Kamado thought with a scowl. 'I missed all the vulnerable spots because I switched forms midway through!'
Another mud puddle appeared underneath the arms and they all fell inside it; their owners quickly doing the same.
Tanjiro jumped back to gain some distance and prepared his stance once more.
"You okay?" Ozaki asked, looking everywhere but towards him in case those demons tried anything.
"I'm fine." He assured her before his mind went back to the battle. 'All three of them have the exact same scent.' The Kamado began to sniff the air again, the demon's smell was still near him but it was a bit weak, which means they are currently inside that puddle. 'I was told that demons don't band together as a rule… so, one demon has dispersed into three.' He took a quick peek behind him, towards Kazumi and the unconscious girl. 'I'm glad Ozaki-san is with me, if she can protect them I can focus on the fight... and try to get one to tell me about that demon, about Kibutsuji Muzan.' Just as he thought that, the scent got stronger. "Ozaki-san, behind you!"
'Total Concentration.' The tsuchinoto was already moving before her junior could finish talking. 'Wind Breathing, Second Form.' She poised her sword upwards above her head and to her right. 'Claws-Purifying Wind.' She brought down her sword vertically, making two blades of wind slash at her opponent, the first aimed at the arm that was attempting to skewer Kazumi and the girl in his arms while the second aimed for the demon's neck.
The first blade met its mark, almost completely cutting off the appendage and making the demon stop its attack; the second was approaching the head but just when it was about to connect, the demon seemed to be yanked back down barely avoiding the attack.
The puddle quickly moved away from her.
'Almost got it, it looked like one of the others pulled him down to save him.' Ozaki thought, moving back to her normal stance.
"You bastards!" The demon that just tried to attack them yelled. "Back off for crying out loud!" He pointed at the girl. "That girl's gonna go stale on me, dammit!"
This one was different from the first demon they encountered, although not by much, the only differences were that his attire doesn't have sleeves and that he has two horns on each side of its forehead instead of three.
"That girl's already 16, okay? If I don't devour her soon, she' gonna lose flavor by the second."
Tanjiro and Ozaki simply glared in his direction while Kazumi had an expression as if he was going to be sick at any moment.
On the opposite side, another puddle formed and from it emerged the third demon.
This one only has one horn in the center of his forehead and wears a long-sleeved shinobi uniform with meshes on its wrists and neck.
"Calm down, my other self." The one-horned demon spoke, his calm manner a stark contrast to the one with two horns.
The Kamado immediately moved to face him, letting Ozaki watch the other one.
"Hey, so what? There are gonna be nights like this." One-horn said with a smile as he moved his right hand to his chin and his left one under his right elbow. "I've already fed on plenty of 16-year-old girls in this town; they were all quite meaty and delicious. I'm satisfied."
Tanjiro could feel his blood boil with every word but resisted the urge to attack him, knowing that he will simply dive back into that mud puddle before he can reach him.
"Well, I'm not satisfied, my other self!" The two-horned demon screamed at his counterpart. "I wanna consume more!"
"Y-you monster…" Kazumi muttered, looking at the one the demon that just spoke. "Return Satoko to me. The one you abducted the night before last!"
An inhuman screeching sound caught the three humans' attention and they turned to see the demon with three horns on top of the stone wall, like his counter-parts, his body was half submerged on the mud.
Suddenly, the one with two horns began to make the same sound.
"Satoko?" The calm one asked, earning the brown haired man's attention. "Who are you talking about?" He asked, opening his jacket.
The sight inside made Kazumi stare in shock.
"If her hairpin is among these collectibles, then I've devoured her." He said, seeming to take some sadistic glee in watching the tears fall from the man's eyes; he clearly recognized one of the hairpins there if the despair in his expression was any indication.
Without more words, the three demons disappeared once again.
'This demon…' Tanjiro thought, the faces of his family coming to mind after what he just heard. 'Unforgivable!'
He didn't have time to lose himself in his rage, as the demon with three horns lunged from under the puddle, his right hand ready to pierce through him.
The Kamado jumped to the side, making sure to stay in range of attack, and spun in mid-air cutting off the demon's arm.
'He can escape underground so fast!'
Another puddle formed on the wall.
'Oh no! I got too close to the wall!'
He managed to spin in mid-air, the demon's hand barely missing his face, and land in a crouch; quickly dodging the follow-up from underneath the ground, only for one of the bodies to spawn behind him with his arm ready to strike.
SHING
The arm was swiftly cut off by Ozaki, forcing the demon to dive back down.
"Thanks!" Tanjiro said, dodging another strike and slashing at the demon, cutting its shoulder.
Another one of the bodies jumped out before he could follow up on the attack, making him jump away, getting some distance between himself and her senior.
The body with two horns jumped then, trying to grab the girl from Kazumi's arms but Ozaki moved between them and did a downwards slash forcing him to stop.
Meanwhile, a puddle formed between the Kamado and the other humans, cutting him off from them.
The Kamado stared the black mud for a moment before looking at her senior.
"Ozaki-san, I'm going underground." He declared.
"What?"
"I'll fight the other two inside their Blood Demon Art, I'll be back soon."
"Wai-tch" She couldn't finish her sentence since the body with two horns attacked.
'Just in case.' Tanjiro put down the box with Nezuko in it. "I'll be back Nezuko, should you be in danger then defend yourself and then run. I will find you." He whispered before stepping onto the puddle and quickly submerging.
'That kid…' Ozaki trailed off, looking back at her opponent.
.
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As Tanjiro submerged, he opened his eyes to look around and saw that the area the demons were using was a lot more spacious than what its entrance would let you to believe.
Almost no light shined there, with only the moon from the puddle Tanjiro entered from as the only way to illuminate it; although, even if there was a light down there, the murky water that seemed to be the entire space would have made it difficult for it to truly illuminate anything.
'It looks like the inside of a swamp…' The red haired swordsman thought, looking at his surroundings. 'And these are…' Floating around there were several kimonos, all of different colors and patterns. 'Are these the clothes and belongings of the people who were kidnapped? Just look at all the innocents they've murdered!' He felt his blood boil at the sight. 'Unforgivable! This is unforgivable!'
Before he could think more on it, though, the body with one horn spoke up, his voice clear despite the place they were in.
"Getting hard to breathe, brat?" He asked with a chuckle. "There's hardly any air inside this swamp. On top of that, the darkness around your body must feel pretty heavy." He let out a laugh, clearly thinking that he and the body with three horns will be able to kill him quickly. "You can't move the way you would aboveground! Serves you right! You should've looked before you leaped in, you damn fool!"
With those words as the signal, the two demons began to swim around the swordsman, the one with three horns gritting his teeth to make that inhuman noise as if trying to intimidate him.
'Don't underestimate me!' The Kamado thought, following their movements even with the poor visibility. It's true that it was harder to breathe than aboveground but considering the place where got his training, this was no issue
'The air was thinner on top of Mt. Sagiri!' Gripping his sword confidently, he prepared to unleash his technique. 'Not to mention, there are moves that only unleash their full potential underwater!'
The two demons circled him once more, before lunging at the swordsman from opposite directions.
Tanjiro prepared his sword, moving it to his right and the blade behind his head, ready to slash.
Instead of finishing their attack, the demons suddenly moved upwards in a burst of speed, making an 'X' on top of the teen and with that same speed, began to move around the swamp, turning in angles that they weren't able to on the surface.
Tanjiro noticed this and his answer to his enemies' new found speed was.
'It doesn't matter!' Unless it was a speed he couldn't react to or they had a way to completely mask their movements from him, nothing changed. 'All I have to do is slash when they get near enough to attack!' Moving his lower body to the left, while moving his upper body to the right, he waited for them to close in on him. 'The form that can be utilized even when there's no sure footing, generating a powerful vortex with a violent twist of my upper and lower body!' Having prepared his form, Tanjiro closed his eyes and focused on his sense of smell.
The two demons quickly rushed in his direction, poising their arms as if to stab him with it.
'Here comes the scent!' The Kamado opened his eyes and began his technique. 'The opening thread!' He twisted his body, using the momentum to add strength to his swing. 'Total Concentration! Water Breathing! Sixth form!' The water that the demons thought was on their side twisted along the Demon Slayer's technique. 'Twisting whirlpool!' And began to move violently, the flow of the water being strong enough to not only stop them on their tracks but also cut them into pieces, including their necks.
A few seconds later, the whirlpool stopped, revealing Tanjiro in the middle of it and allowing him to see the cut up bodies of the demons floating around.
'I did it.' He thought with a nod as he made sure the bodies were beginning to disappear. 'Hmm? That's…' A piece of cloth from the one-horned demon caught his attention and he grabbed it.
He stared at it for a moment with a sad look before he felt his lungs demanding air and began to swim for the surface.
'It will be okay, Ozaki-san shouldn't have any problems fighting against only one of them… wait, this scent is- I have to hurry!'
.
.
While Tanjiro was fighting underground.
A clawed hand attempted to skewer the swordswoman, she side-stepped to the right to avoid it and slashed with her sword aiming for her enemy's neck.
The demon jumped backwards to avoid it and tried to dive back inside his Blood Demon Art.
Ozaki realized this and quickly closed the distance, performing a downwards slash that once again forced the demon to dodge and kept him aboveground.
'His Blood Demon Art was troublesome but if you take that and his extra bodies away, he's no different from a demon without a technique.' The black haired woman thought as she continued to slash at the demon.
A downward slash was dodged to the side and a punch was thrown in retaliation; the swordswoman ducked under it and tried to go for the legs, making the demon jump, he then spun forwards, bringing his right leg down and forcing the demon slayer to move to the side.
She immediately lunged forwards again, knowing that if she let up on her attacks it would only give her opponent the chance to dive underground.
A horizontal slash met its mark, making a cut across the demon's torso but before she could aim for the neck, the demon kicked at her, forcing her to raise an arm to block.
It didn't do much damage but the force behind the attack made her skid on the ground and sent her near the wall.
This time the demon lunged forward, its left arm once again poised to pierce through her and end her life.
'Now, Wind Breathing, Sixth Form.' She moved her sword to the side and prepared to attack the moment he entered her range. 'Bla-'
SPLASH
From the wall behind her, the sound of water was heard and a black puddle appeared, a clawed hand already moving to pierce her from the back.
'Crap! I can't block the two from this position!' Ozaki realized as the hand moved closer and-
SHING
The sound of flesh being cut was heard and the arm from the wall was suddenly sent flying.
Although she couldn't finish her technique, Ozaki recovered from the initial shock and moved her body out of the way and then cut off the two-horned demon's arm with an upwards slash.
"Damn it! Why are you here?!" The demon yelled as he jumped back, his left hand holding his new wound. 'Did the other two get taken out?'
"Thanks for that Kamado." The woman said, her eyes never leaving the demon.
"Don't mention it; I'm glad I made it in time." He answered, already on guard. "I took down the other two bodies while underground."
"Hm? Then that thing that just attacked me-"
Almost as if summoned, a puddle formed on the floor and tried to strike at them; the red haired teen simply grabbed the arm with one hand and pulled, taking the body attacked to it from inside the swamp and smashing it against the wall.
"I picked up the same scent from two different placed while underground." He said, pining the demon to the wall as it trashed around, trying to get free. "I had already defeated the other two so I thought there must have been a fourth demon and hurried back."
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! That fourth body is still too impulsive and doesn't listen to orders! It can't even form sentences, you should have stayed hidden so that at least one of us would survive, idiot!' The only other demon remaining yelled in his mind as he glared at his last counterpart.
Like the others, the fourth demon looked exactly the same as its counterparts, with pale skin, red eyes without pupils and veins bulging; the only differences were that this one didn't have any horns and its clothes were a simple vest and shorts instead of the shinobi-like outfits the others wore.
Making the same screeching sound as the others, the fourth body summoned the puddle on the surface of the wall he was pinned against, immediately getting inside thanks to Tanjiro pushing him against it.
'I won't let you.' The red haired teen immediately tried to pull back but the puddle closed, severing the arm he was holding and allowing the demon to escape. 'Tch.' He quickly threw the arm away and took some distance from the wall, along with Ozaki before once again holding his sword with both arms.
'Now!' The two horned demon summoned the puddle again from underneath him-
"Don't let him get away!" The tsuchinoto yelled, already dashing forwards to stop him, Tanjiro quickly following behind her.
'Damn it! Damn it! I won't make it in time!' The demon panicked, giving up on using his Blood Demon Art and preparing to dodge.
'…this scent!' Tanjiro's eyes widened and he stopped his dash, crouching on the ground while Ozaki continued forward.
When she was one jump from the two-horned demon, a puddle opened.
Right above her, in the air, and the hornless counterpart emerged from it, dashing downwards with his arm poised for a horizontal strike that would take off the swordswoman's head.
'We weren't able to make puddles in mid-air! Something good came out of you, after all!' The demon thought, smiling wickedly as he saw his counterpart's attack get closer. 'The moment he takes her head off I'll dive underground and we'll double-team the brat!' He was already preparing his Blood Demon Art once again while thinking this.
'Second Form! Water Wheel!' But that hope was vanished when he saw Tanjiro in the air, spinning with his sword and cutting his counterpart's arm and head with one swing.
'You're open!' Not wasting the chance, Ozaki dashed forwards while the two-horned demon was in shock, he tried to recover and moved his arm to hit but she was able to easily side-step the desperate move, land to his right and then jump to the opposite side cutting off his head.
'I'm used to fighting alone so I wasn't sure if having a partner would be a good thing but…' She trailed off as she landed and turned around. 'Having someone watch your back is really comforting.'
"Ozaki-san." Tanjiro called out.
"Yes?"
"I'm not picking up anymore scents, that fourth demon was the last." He explained while sheathing his sword.
"Then I guess that's mission accomplished." The black haired woman said, also sheathing her weapon.
"Yes." The red haired teen nodded, before looking at Kazumi, who was currently on his knees after placing the other girl against the wall. "Just give me a moment, please." He walked towards him and kneeled. "Kazumi-san, are you alright?"
"…I've lost my fiancée." He answered, tears falling from his eyes despite the hollow tone he spoke in. "How can I be alright?"
"Kazumi-san." Tanjiro began softly. "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living. No matter how devastating the blows may be."
Gritting his teeth, the older male grabbed Tanjiro from his haori.
In the future, Kazumi would look at this interaction and feel nothing but shame but now...
"What do you know about it?!" Now, he can only think about venting, about letting out all the pain and frustrations he has bottled up and the only target he has is the red haired kid in front of him. "A kid like you?!"
Despite the screams, Tanjiro calmly placed both hands around the one that had grabbed his haori and offered a sympathetic smile.
'Ah, I want to cry.' He thought. 'I can relate too much.' But he reeled it in, this was not about him; he had time to mourn, he still misses them and he is not sure if he will ever stop feeling that way but he won't make this situation about himself.
In front of that look that seemed to say 'I know exactly what you're feeling' all the wind left Kazumi's sails as Tanjiro gently moved the hand around his haori away and let it fall.
"We'll be on our way now." He said, moving his left hand to a pocket inside his jacket and presenting the man a piece of cloth. "Take this."
Kazumi let out a gasp, recognizing the cloth from one of the demons.
"I hope you'll find something of Satoko-san in there."
Taking the offered cloth with trembling hands, Kazumi opened it to reveal the 'collection' of hairpins the demon had bragged about earlier. His eyes went straight to a red ribbon, not even truly registering the rest of the hairpins. He brought the hairpin closer to his face as the tears began to fall even harder than before.
Tanjiro bowed before turning around.
"Hey, Tanjiro." Ozaki called out, just loud enough for him to hear. "Catch." She said as she threw his box at him.
"Ah!" He quickly moved to grab it and to soften the landing as much as possible. "Please don't throw this box around like that." The swordsman said as he inspected the box before putting it on his back.
"Erm, sorry… is it really that important?"
"Yes, this box is more important to me than my life." Tanjiro answered immediately, his expression completely serious.
"…I apologize, I'll be more careful in the future." The black haired woman said.
The Kamado nodded with a smile.
"I'm sorry!" Kazumi suddenly yelled. "That was an awful thing to say! Please forgive me! I'm so sorry!"
"…thank you, I accept your apology." He assured him.
"We ended up staying up all night." Ozaki thought out loud, looking at the sun rising in the distance. 'So, the usual for Demon Slayers.' She shrugged before turning to Tanjiro. "Alright, it's time to go."
"Yes." He nodded and waved at Kazumi. "We're leaving that young woman in your hands!"
The words barely registered on the brown haired man's brain, his mind looking at the hand of the teen.
'Your hand is heartbreaking. How much would you have to train to get it like that? …that's not the hand a kid should have.'
Not waiting for an answer, the two swordsmen turned around and began to walk away.
"A-All right!" He yelled, assuring them that he will take care of the unconscious girl.
"Are you out of your freaking mind?!" Ozaki yelled once they were outside of the town.
"Eh?"
"Listen, I'm happy that things worked out but you don't just jump inside the enemy's technique without knowing what could happen; what if you couldn't move inside that place or something?!"
"I-I'm sorry but since they kept diving back while above ground I thought that fighting them there would be the best option." The Kamado defended. "And if that place didn't allow me to move then they shouldn't have been able to appear so fast."
"That's all well and good if you think logically; we were fighting a creature that can only be killed by being exposed to the sun or by beheading it with a special sword, normal logic means nothing!"
"I-I'm sorry…" He repeated, hanging his head.
"That being said… you did a good job." She said, making the teen look up. "I don't like that you were that reckless but I'm not about to deny that you handled yourself very well; if you told me that you've been on a hunt before I would have believed you."
"Thank you very much." Tanjiro said with a bow.
"Caw, caw." A crow was heard flying above the two and it flew down, landing on Tanjiro's shoulder. "Next, go to the west, another demon has been sighted. Meet with the other pair that went there and exterminate it together."
"Eh! We're already going in another mission?"
"Oh, yes, you are!" The crow answered.
"Hold on a minute."
"No waiting! Go now!"
"Do we always get missions one after the other like this?"
"Hehe." Ozaki let out a chuckle. "Welcome to the Demon Slayer Corps."
And here is another one.
I wanted to get this earlier and hope to ask for some reviews (it was my birthday recently) but well, life got on the way; don't let that stop you from leaving a review as a birthday gift! Haha.
Ok, jokes aside.
First of all, congratulations to 'Guest' for guessing correctly, here are your virtual pancakes! I won't answer your question because I don't give spoilers for my own stories, I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see.
Quick note: it is never said what Breath Style Ozaki practices so I chose one of the main ones for her; I thought about which one to use for a while and, as you read, I went with Wind Breathing.
Well, now Tanjiro and Ozaki are going to meet with other Demon Slayers and, as you may or may not have noticed, I didn't say they're going to Asakusa.
From now on, I'm starting to really diverge from the main story; there will still be some things that remain the same because there is no way for me to let them out (both because they are integral to the story and because I don't want to leave them out) but I hope from now on, this will be a new experience and not just a copy and paste of the main story.
I think that's everything I wanted to say.
As always I hope you enjoyed!
Until next time.
