A strange town

Guest answer review corner!

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Guest: I'll do just that, thanks for the review!

Guest: Sorry, it's against my policy to give spoilers for my stories so you'll have to wait to get your answers.

I'll do my best to ensure the wait is worth it, though.

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Disclaimer: The usual.


On a certain town.

While not exactly common, it wasn't strange for some of the Pillars to get together every once in a while.

It was rarely done at anyone's home and they usually went to a tea house, restaurant or other such establishment when they happened to have free time.

Today was such an occasion.

"Sorry I'm late." Rengoku Kyojuro said as he walked inside the restaurant and spotted some of his fellow Pillars.

Sharing a table were Sabito along with Makomo sitting at his right and Giyu sitting at his left while Uzui, Mitsuri, Iguro and Shinobu were sitting on the opposite side.

The Flame Pillar took the empty seat besides Giyu as he greeted everyone with his signature smile.

"How have you all been? I hope I didn't make you wait!"

"It's fine Rengoku-san, we just got here a few minutes ago." Makomo assured him.

"Now that we're all here, though, we can order." Iguro chimed in as he signaled the waiter.

"Are you ready to order?"

Everyone told the employee what they would have in turns.

"Thank you very much, I'll bring your food shortly." With a bow, the waiter walked away from the table.

Soon, the table was filled with conversation… mostly from Rengoku, Makomo, Uzui and Mitsuri with Iguro, Sabito, and Shinobu chiming in every now and then while Giyu stayed silent unless directly addressed.

"By the way, what do you think of the new recruits?" Iguro asked. "Is it just me or are they getting weaker with every Final Selection? If they're not going to contribute then they shouldn't join to begin with."

"It's not like you can judge them by our standards; comparing a rookie to a pillar is unfair, don't you think?" Sabito argued.

"There is some truth to that but I also feel like Iguro, if they can't pull their weight then the rest of us are in trouble." Uzui added.

"Now, now, you haven't even met the new recruits." Shinobu chimed in. "At the very least, I can guarantee that Kanao is close to our level; why, she has already mastered Total Concentration Breathing, constant."

"Still, only one good recruit doesn't compensate for all the others." Rengoku said.

"How about two, then?" Sabito said, earning the others' attention.

"Eh, what do you mean?" Kanroji asked, tilting her head to the side.

"He's not quite at our level, or Kanao's for that matter, but Urokodaki-san trained a new student." The Water Pillar explained, taking a sip of his tea. "I've met him; I can assure you that he is promising."

"Seconded." Makomo chimed in with a smile.

"Oh, how did you meet him?" The Sound Pillar asked.

"Giyu met him on a mission and sent him to Urokodaki-san for training."

"Is that so, Tomioka-san?" Shinobu asked next.

"Yeah." He answered with a nod.

"So, what made you send him to your master?" Rengoku inquired.

"It's not an interesting story." The tsuguko answered with a flat tone. "Not an unusual one for Demon Slayers."

There was silence at the table as the others realized what he meant.

"If that's the case, then what makes you think he shows promise?" Iguro asked his fellow Pillar.

"Heh, you'll know if you meet him." Sabito left his answer that that.

"He has drive, that alone can get him far." Makomo added.

"Ara, ara, for you two to speak so highly of him, maybe Sabito-san is looking for a new tsuguko?" Shinobu said with a teasing smile.

"Of course not." The aforementioned answered. "Why would I do that?"

"I just thought you may like to have someone that isn't as… unexpressive… as Tomioka-san." She explained. "Not to mention someone that may be able to tell when he is being a third wheel."

"I'm not a third wheel." Giyu said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "If they ever want to be alone, all they have to do is ask."

"It's true; Giyu's presence has never bothered us." Makomo added. Sabito nodded in agreement.

"Hehe, don't worry, I was just joking."

"Haah…"

"Hmm? What's wrong Kanroji?" Iguro asked after she let out a sigh.

"I'm just jealous, I wish I could meet someone like Sabito-san." She answered with a blush.

"Thank you." The Water Pillar said with a nod in her direction.

"You're so lucky Makomo-chan!" The Love Pillar said in a squeal.

The black haired girl simply giggled in response.

And everyone made it a point to ignore Iguro's glare directed at the Water Pillar.

"So, do you know who is supervising Tsuyuri on her first few missions?" Rengoku asked.

"Oh, she won't be participating on that." Shinobu answered. "Kanao has been slaying demons since before the Final Selection, I can personally vouch for her skills; I talked to Oyakata-sama and explained that there is no need for her to go with that… I believe calling it a 'trial period' would be a good way of putting it."

"You do remember that there is another objective to pairing up with other Demon Slayers, it's so she can gain experience in fighting with other people." Giyu mentioned.

"Yes, but if Pillars don't need to do that and she is the closest to Pillar level, except for maybe you and Makomo-san, I believe she would perform better if fighting alone."

Several eyes were narrowed at her for that statement, sensing that there was something hidden behind the Insect Pillar's words but she took all the stares in stride, her smile never wavering.


Elsewhere.

"Wait." Ozaki exclaimed. "So you're telling me that we should be trying to maintain Total Concentration Breathing at all times?"

"Yes, apparently there is a great difference between being able to do it and not." Tanjiro answered.

The two had been walking to their next destination when the Kamado suddenly fell to the ground; her senior was obviously worried that he might have gotten injured during their previous fight but he assured her that he was just training to maintain Total Concentration Breathing.

She gave a deadpan look at this so he explained how, apparently, being able to use Total Concentration Breathing at all times will make you several times stronger.

"I still can't do it, though; I barely managed to maintain it for around six hours one day, and it was because I just meditated without moving around. The most I've managed while moving is two hours, after that I need a rest or I will collapse."

"Huh…" The black haired woman trailed off. "Well, I guess it can't hurt to try." She said before beginning to use Total Concentration Breathing.

"Just try not to use it once we get into town, the last thing we want is to collapse while searching for the demon or while fighting."

She nodded her agreement and the two continued to walk while maintaining Total Concentration Breathing.

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"Gah!" Around twenty minutes later, Ozaki collapsed on the floor. 'What the hell?! Is it really this hard?!' She questioned as she felt her hearth beating rapidly and her ears buzzing.

"Are you alright?" Tanjiro asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah." She answered, taking a few moments to calm down before standing up again. "This is a lot more difficult than I first thought."

"Yes, the first time I tried I felt as if my hearth was about to burst out of my ears." The red haired teen said. "Still, if being able to do this will make us stronger then we should keep trying."

"Agreed." Ozaki said. "Well, we still have some time until we reach the town; let's see how long we can manage to maintain it."

"Yes!"


Unsurprisingly, Tanjiro managed to maintain Total Concentration Breathing for longer since he has been training for it, he still had to take a break about half-way to the town, though. Ozaki kept collapsing every few minutes, in the end she managed to maintain it for half an hour before deciding to give it a rest for now or they will not reach the town today.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and they soon reached their destination.

The town was more or less the same as the previous one, the only difference being that there was a forest almost surrounding the town and no bridge at the entrance.

"Well, first off, we need to find the other Demon Slayers." Ozaki said. "If they're not at the entrance, then maybe they're collecting intel by asking around."

"Should we split up to cover more ground?"

"No, we shouldn't delay our meeting; for now, let's walk around town, if we ask people around some questions they may mention other people that have been asking the same."

"Yes!"

With that, the two began to walk around the place.

"By the way, Ozaki-san, isn't the place too quiet for this time of day?" Tanjiro asked as he sniffed the air. "There is the scent of fear in the air, too."

"That's-wait." She did a double take. "You can smell fear?"

"Yes, it's a rather easy scent to pick up on." He answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"…are you sure your nose isn't supernatural or something?"

"I just have a really good nose." Tanjiro said, completely serious. "I can smell a tinge of fear coming from you as well, is something wrong?" He added with a frown.

"No, it's not fear per se just… the feeling you get when seeing something incomprehensible." The Tsuchinoto answered before shaking her head. "In any case, let's start asking around."

The Kamado nodded.

Their first destination was a hotel near the entrance of town.

"W-welcome." A woman in her thirties with black hair and a plain brown kimono said, her tone clearly nervous. "Do you need a room?"

"No, thank you, we would like to ask you a few questions if that's alright." Tanjiro answered her.

"Wh-what kind of questions?" She asked.

"Have there been any strange disappearances lately?" The red haired teen asked directly.

The woman visibly flinched at this.

"S-strange disappearances, you say? I-I don't know anything about that."

"Is something wrong?" Tanjiro asked worriedly. "You seem afraid of something."

"The-there is nothing wrong!" The woman practically yelled before turning around. "If you're not going to rent a room then leave, this is a business!"

"…very well." The Kamado conceded. "Could you answer this before we leave, please, have you seen other people wearing uniforms like ours around?" He moved his haori to give her a better look of his clothes.

The woman glanced at them from the corner of her eye, looking at the uniforms and then turned her back to them again.

"…two men, they came here a few hours ago, asked some questions and left; I don't know where they are now."

"Thank you." Tanjiro and Ozaki bowed and the two left, closing the door on their way out. "Something is strange."

"I don't need your sense of smell to tell that." The black haired woman nodded. "Let's ask around a bit more while looking for the other two, chances are we will bump into each other."

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The two Demon Slayers spent around an hour walking around town while asking the people they encountered.

Said people consisted entirely of the ones running business or a few that were inside said business, if it wasn't for those the town would look completely deserted.

But no matter where they asked, everyone gave similar responses to the lady from the hotel, saying they don't know anything about the disappearances and telling them to leave if they're not going to buy something.

"What is wrong with this town?" Ozaki thought out loud as they left a ramen restaurant.

"All of them seem afraid of something and refuse to give us any answers." Tanjiro added with a frown.

"Have you picked up any demon scents?"

"No, but…" The Kamado trailed off with a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?"

"There is a strange smell I pick up every once in a while… but I'm not sure if it's related to the demon."

"What's the smell?"

"I... am not sure."

"Ah, you two!" The two turned around. "You're the other team that was sent here, right?"

Having just walked around the corner there was a man with black eyes, straight jet-black hair parted down the middle and wearing the Demon Slayers uniform with a katana at his hip.

"That's right." The two answered in unison.

"My name is Kamado Tanjiro, rank Mizunoto, nice to meet you." Tanjiro said, giving a respectful bow.

"I'm Ozaki, my rank is Tsuchinoto." Ozaki said next with a nod.

"Ah, I'm Murata, my rank is Kanoe." He said, reciprocating the gesture. "Sorry for not meeting at the entrance we… let's just say that we decided it would be better to begin investigating as soon as possible."

The other two exchanged a glance at his choice of words but nodded nonetheless.

"Where is your partner?" Ozaki asked, looking around.

"We split up to cover more ground after agreeing on a meeting place, I was just going there when I saw you two."

"Well, lead the way."

Murata nodded and the three began to walk.

"Have you found out anything?" Tanjiro asked.

"Not really, the townsfolk are… they're not cooperating, every time I ask about the disappearances they just get nervous and tell me they don't know anything and to leave."

"That's been the case for us as well." Ozaki chimed in.

"It's strange, I'm used to some people not wanting to answer questions to a stranger but I think this is the first time everyone shuts me out like this." Murata added.

"They seem to be afraid of something, have you seen anything strange Murata-san?"

The black haired man blinked a few times at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, just… I forgot what it was like to be respected by your juniors." Murata answered earning a confused look from the other Demon Slayers. "A-anyway, aside from the people's behavior, the strangest thing is that… well, just look around." He gestured at the streets. "At this time of the day, a lot of people should be walking around but we're the only ones on the streets."

"We noticed that too." The Kamado nodded. "Do you think it's related to how everyone seems afraid?"

"I'd say there is a good chance that it is." Murata answered. "The meeting place is just around the corner; let's see if he had a better time asking around."

Tanjiro and Ozaki nodded.

As they walked around the corner they arrived at what looked like the town square, 'looked like' because, with the lack of people around, it seemed to be just a larger road with a few benches around.

In one of the benches there was a man, wearing the Demon Slayer uniform in a dark olive-green color with a purple yukata on top; his hair was black and worn in a Mohawk style with some strands around his neck and a scar going from the bridge of his nose, under his eye, to his right cheek.

'Oh, he was in the Final Selection with me.' Tanjiro thought before frowning. 'He is the one that hurt that girl.' Mentally shaking his head, he decided to let that go, there was no point in holding a grudge over it, even less so considering they will be working together.

"Ah, you!" The teen with the purple yukata didn't seem to share the sentiment as he got up immediately after seeing him and practically jumped in front of his face.

'Wow, he got taller.' Tanjiro noted, remembering how they were more or less the same height back in the Final Selection and now he had to look up a bit to look him in the eye. 'Growth spurts are amazing!' He added in his mind, not the least bit deterred by the glare he was receiving.

"It's nice to see you again, I hope we can work together." Tanjiro said with a smile. "I didn't get to introduce myself during the Final Selection, I'm Kamado Tanjiro, let's do our best."

"…are you kidding me?!" The teen asked, still glaring. "You broke my freaking arm!" He yelled, pointing at the arm Tanjiro had broken back then.

"You were hurting that girl and I warned you beforehand, it was your fault." The red haired teen said with a tone that sounded as if he was lecturing a kid about what's right and what's wrong. "And it's healed now so can we both agree that it's water under the bridge?"

"As if!" The teen with the Mohawk raised a fist-

"Enough!" Only to stop when Ozaki raised her voice. "I don't know what your problem is, and I won't ask you to resolve it right now, but until the mission is over you two will behave yourselves, is that clear?"

"Yes!" Tanjiro answered immediately.

"…I said, is that clear?" The woman repeated with narrowed eyes towards the other Mizunoto.

"…tch, fine." He finally answered.

"Good, now, I believe you haven't introduced yourself yet."

"Shinazugawa Genya." Genya said simply before turning around and sitting down on the bench again.

"I-In any case, let's all share what we learned." Murata offered to try and dissipate the tension and the four walked near Genya to exchange information.

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"So, long story short, we don't know anything." Ozaki surmised.

"Everyone I asked just kept saying they don't know anything and if I tried to push they would either force me to leave or run away." Genya said, his glare still present.

"That was more or less the same for us." Tanjiro chimed in with a frown.

"So we don't have any clues?" Murata asked dejectedly. "At this rate we can only wait for the night and hope to catch the demon in the act."

"True, it helps that this is a small town; with the four of us, there shouldn't be any problems patrolling it." Ozaki nodded, before looking at her red haired junior and grinning. "So I guess we'll do that if you can't pick up anything."

"Hmm?" Murata and Genya raised an eyebrow at that statement.

"Yes!" While Tanjiro nodded, turned around and kneeled on the ground with his face near it.

"Hmm… what is he doing?" Murata asked, pointing at him and looking at the only woman among them.

"He is sniffing out the demon." She answered as if it was obvious.

"…come again?" Genya asked, looking between the red haired teen and his senior.

"I know, it sounds ridiculous, but his sense of smell is good enough to pick the scents of demons; I saw it first-hand during our previous mission." The black haired woman explained.

The other two blinked a few times.

"…I guess I'll believe it when I see it." Murata said with a shrug while Genya looked away, dismissing the conversation.

'No sign of the demon but…' Tanjiro closed his eyes to focus on his nose. '…what is this scent?' He frowned as he picked up the remnants of that strange smell he mentioned before. 'It's not the scent of a demon but it's also not the scent of a human, an animal maybe? No, it's not an animal.' He continued trying to identify it for a few minutes but there was no luck.

"I'm going to walk around to try and pick up any scents." The Kamado informed, getting back on his feet.

"Alright, I'll go with you; you two try again to find out anything, even if the townsfolk aren't talking there might be some clues around." Ozaki said.

"Sounds like a plan." Murata nodded.

Genya scowled but didn't object.

"We'll meet here again before nightfall, good luck."

With their plan set, the two teams separated to continue their investigation.

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'What did I do to deserve this?' Murata whined to himself as he and Genya walked around town.

When he was first told about this new squad system that would be implemented and that he will be assessing one of his juniors he was, reasonably, nervous but decided that he will give it his best shot at teaching the ropes to his junior.

That plan went out the window almost the second he met with one Shinazugawa Genya.

It wasn't the seemingly permanent scowl or his, admittedly, scary appearance; he could deal with those.

The real issue was the Mizunoto's complete and utter dismissal of anything he said; outside of introducing himself, Genya barely talked with him simply doing things at his own pace despite the words from his senior.

He won't argue with the results, their previous mission proved that he was capable of fighting and seemed to have a high tolerance to pain, considering the wounds he saw him get that Murata thought would be enough to cripple most people, but his method of gathering info was… too forceful, in his opinion.

Even now, he is demanding answers, not asking, while the townsfolk keep refusing to give him the time of day.

'That tells us something, though.' Murata thought. 'Whatever has them so scared is even scarier than Shinazugawa-kun.' He frowned and put a hand in his chin. 'But if it was a demon, then why wouldn't they say something, unless…'

"Damn it!" His train of thought was halted when his junior stormed out of a restaurant, closing the door with a lot more force than necessary. "What the hell is wrong with these people?!"

"N-now, now, something has them scared-"

"If a demon is scaring them then why not say so?! We're here to hunt it, damn it!"

The Kanoe flinched at his tone but couldn't find a way to argue.

"E-excuse me." A new voice called out, making the two turn to it. "D-did you say you're here to kill th-the demon?" A little girl, no older than ten with messy black hair and similarly colored eyes asked.

"Th-that's right! Do you know anything?" Murata answered, giving her his best reassuring smile.

The girl looked to both sides as if checking if someone was watching them before motioning the two to follow her and begin to walk away.

Genya and Murata soon did as told, not about to waste the first chance they got at getting some information.

"Excuse me, could you tell us about the-"

"Not here!" The girl interrupted Murata, turning around with a panicked expression that turned fearful a moment later as she once again checked her surroundings. "S-sorry for yelling b-but please wait, I'll a-answer your questions when we get there."

Murata glanced at his junior, worried that he may demand some answers regardless.

"Fine." But he agreed without a problem, even his permanent scowl seemed to lessen. "Can you at least tell us where we're going?"

"J-just follow me, please." The girl requested as she turned back and began to walk again.

The two Demon Slayers quickly followed her.

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In another part of town.

Ozaki was glad that the town was so deserted since it meant that having Tanjiro kneel on the ground to sniff around wouldn't attract any attention.

So far, though, the red haired teen's nose didn't come up with anything, just faint traces of that smell he categorized as 'strange' and nothing else noteworthy.

However, while they haven't gotten any closer to finding the demon, the two could feel several stares fixated on them coming from the surrounding buildings.

They didn't seem hostile, so far at least, but it's something to keep in mind.

"Anything?" Ozaki asked.

"No, not even the strange scent I pick up in certain areas." Tanjiro answered as he got back on his feet. "At this rate, we will have no choice but to wait until nightfall and hope that the demon shows up."

"Well, that's the usual for Demon Slayers, don't let it get to you."

"Yeah, I guess you're-" The Kamado stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening and turning his head to the left.

"Excuse me, you said something about a demon?" A man in his thirties with short black hair and a dark blue kimono asked as he walked out from the alley Tanjiro had suddenly turned to look at.

"That's right, do you-"

"Ozaki-san, on guard." Tanjiro said, moving one hand to his nichirin blade.

The senior frowned but did the same.

"I-Is something wrong? Why are you putting your hands in your swords? I mean you no harm." The man asked, raising his hands in a pleading gesture.

"Your scent is wrong."

"…I beg your pardon?"

"You smell mostly like a human but there is something else mixed in and although you act scared and say that you mean no harm, your scent says the exact opposite." The red haired teen explained. "Who are you?"

The man dropped his hands, his somewhat meek expression replaced by a completely neutral one.

From the alleyway, two more men walked up with the same expression, one with long black hair tied in a ponytail while the other had a buzz cut; the two had a knife on their hands.

"Oh well, guess we'll just have to kill you here then." The first man said in deadpan.

A moment later, the three rushed the Demon Slayers.

Ozaki side-stepped a stab from the man with the buzz cut while the first one tried to tackle her, she quickly spun around and moved behind him before jumping back to gain some distance.

'What the hell is going on?' She wondered as she continued to avoid her two attackers. 'They can't be demons, the sun is still up.' The black haired woman side-stepped another slash before hitting the man in his neck with the edge of her hand to knock him unconscious.

He let out a groan but continued his attacks.

'Was I too soft?' She wondered as she dodged a new flurry of attacks and try again but got the same result.

She wasn't particularly worried, though.

These guys may have knives and want to kill them for some reason but they weren't showing any sort of increased speed or strength, at least not to the level a demon reaches. Unless she gets careless they would never be able to lay a hand on her.

While she was doing this, Tanjiro was moving around the attacks from the ponytail guy that, much like his companion, tried to slash or stab at him with little success.

Having had enough, the next time he tried to stab him Tanjiro moved to the left using one hand to grab the man's wrist and another to lock his elbow in place, then spun around forcing the man to come with him, sweeping his legs from under him with his own and threw him to the ground, his arms still on the man's arm so that he wouldn't get up.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

There was no response, the man simply tried to get up and continue to attack.

Noticing that the other two were preoccupied with his partner, Tanjiro focused on his nose to try and identify the strange scent he has been picking up.

'They are definitely humans, the fact that they are under the sun proves that but… what's this? There is something else.' He closed his eyes and took another sniff. 'Go further, this scent is coming from his body, ignore all the others and focus on identifying it.' It took the red haired teen another ten seconds until he was able to grasp that scent, his eyes snapped open the moment he realized what it was. 'A demon's scent! It was mixed with something else so I couldn't pick it up at first but this is definitely a demon's scent!' He went further and tried to pinpoint the origin of it from the man's body. 'It's coming from… there!' His red eyes focused on a spot on the man's right shoulder.

Wordlessly, he took the knife from the man's hands and put his leg on top of the arm to continue pining him in place before taking the knife and make a cut on his shoulder; nothing that wouldn't heal or would cause anything but a sting but deep enough to reach the source of the scent.

A second later the inside of the wound seemed to catch on fire making the man let out a scream, as soon as it stopped he fell unconscious.

Tanjiro quickly checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive and then let go of the man, now that he once again smelled completely human, before he ran towards the buzz cut guy attacking Ozaki and pinned him to the ground.

"Please keep the other guy off of me!" He yelled as he repeated the process of trying to find the place where the strange scent came from, this time it was the left shoulder and he made a slash on the skin as the inside caught on fire and the man let out a scream before falling unconscious.

Once he was sure the man smelled completely like a human, he ran to the last man and tackled him to the ground.

"Let go of me, you brat!" He said as he struggled to get up.

The Kamado ignored him and began the process again, ready to cut at wherever the scent was coming from.

But stopped himself, unlike the other two the scent was the strongest on the man's neck, meaning that he couldn't cut him without risking killing him from blood loss.

Clicking his tongue, the red haired teen asked the other Demon Slayer to find some rope to tie him up. Asking the people around them would be useless so she settled for grabbing some from a nearby unfinished construction; after what just happened she didn't want to ask where the workers had gone to.

Once they made sure he was tied up, Tanjiro propped him against a wall and kneeled to be at eye level with him.

"You're wasting your time, I'm not saying anything." The man spoke with a snarl.

"I know, whatever is controlling you isn't letting you." The Kamado answered calmly before smiling. "Please don't worry, we will make sure to free you and any others that may be under the demon's influence."

With that, he got up and began to walk away with Ozaki following him.

"Hah! You're wasting your time! There is no way for you two to do anything!" The man yelled mockingly after them, even as tears fell from his eyes.

"Do you have anything?" Ozaki asked.

"I couldn't pick it up at first, I'm not sure how but that demon was masking its smell." He answered before sniffing the air. "But I have its scent now, it's not getting away."

For a moment, the Tsuchinoto couldn't help but compare her junior to a hunting dog but quickly dismissed the thought for later; they still have a job to do.

"Lead the way."

"Yes!"

Without more words, the two began to run towards their enemy.

They still had about half an hour of daylight left but Tanjiro and Ozaki were forced to stop on their tracks.

"This is definitely the right way." Tanjiro whispered after giving another sniff. "But we have a problem."

"Yeah, those guys are not going to let us pass." Ozaki whispered back.

The two were hidden behind some foliage to avoid being detected by the humans patrolling the forest.

"They must be being controlled like those guys in the town." The black haired woman added.

"This could be a problem." The Kamado thought out loud. "They weren't that strong, a demon definitely beats them, but there are a lot of them and we can't kill them. Should we regroup with Murata-san and Genya?"

Just as he finished that sentence his nose picked up two familiar scents and he turned in its direction.

Moving through the foliage were the other two Demon Slayers as well as a girl that seemed to be acting as their guide.

"It seems they managed to find their way, now we can-"

"Oh no, WATCH OUT!" The Kamado yelled, interrupting his senior's words as he rushed towards them, not caring that he was seen by the patrols.

Murata and Genya were startled at hearing his voice and turned to look at him.

Just to realize what he was warning them about a moment later and turn towards the sound of a knife cutting through air.


Cliffhanger!

Yeah, I like my cliffhangers.

Anyway, next chapter should see this mission finished and as you can see there was an early appearance from Genya!

Don't worry, though, the main trio will still appear and have their moments (I like them too much to not do that) but, like I said on the previous chapter, I'm beginning to really divert from canon and this is just the beginning of that.

As always, I hope you enjoyed.

Until next time!

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PS: SPOILER ALERT IF YOU'RE NOT UP TO DATE WITH THE MANGA, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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I'll repeat what I said when I saw the spoilers for chapter 184: WHAT IN THE EVER LOVING FUCK?!

If you want to talk about it please PM me and keep the spoilers to a minimum on the comments, or at least give a warning first.

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Spoiler ends.