Temari demon and Arrow Demon

Guest review answer corner.

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The Joining: Can't really comment on it without giving spoilers sadly; suffice to say, I already have plans about what's going to happen with him.

Thanks for the review, until next time.

Guest: I don't remember giving any names… ok I can't keep that BS going, haha. Like I told The Joining, I have plans but I can't say much else without giving spoilers.

Thanks for the review!

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Alright, first of all, Happy New Year everyone! (Although it's already two weeks into the year, haha)

I hope you had a good time, I know I did, with that said let's start this year right with a new chapter.

Before that, though, I want to thank everyone who reviewed since last chapter is currently the chapter with the most reviews for this story!

Technically, it is tied with chapter 6 but there is one review there that I don't count because… I don't want to bring it up again; suffice to say, I have my reasons and let's just leave it at that.

So, once again, thanks for all the reviews; I hope I can break that record in the following chapters.

With all that said, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Same as last year.


"Now listen to me! Here's the deal! My point is this, okay?"

Tanjiro could do nothing but be silent as the owner of the udon cart continued on his tirade, he did run away without paying him and even breaking one of his bowls after all, not that he had the intention of doing that but when he smelled Muzan everything else simply faded from his mind.

"It's not about the money!" The bald man yelled. "What I can't forgive is your lack of intent to eat my udon, all right?"

"I'm so sorry! Please serve me another bowl!" The Kamado answered, standing completely straight and making a mental note to also pay for the one he didn't eat.

"So, you're gonna eat it?"

"Yes!"

"You're definitely gonna eat it?" The udon cook pressured, moving closer to him.

"Yes, I shall!"

"Okay!" He said with a nod before turning towards the other person there. "You, too! If you're gonna have udon, take off that bamboo thingie first! What is that thing anyway?"

Nezuko could only stare, looking a bit lost, as the udon seller told her to grab the chopsticks in his hand.

Knowing that his sister can't really answer, Tanjiro quickly moved to his side and grabbed the hand that had the chopsticks.

"I'd like a bowl of udon!" He then raised two fingers. "I'd like two bowls of udon!" The red haired swordsman declared.

"R-right." The cook answered, a bit taken aback by the younger male's sudden pressure.

A few minutes later, the two bowls were ready and Tanjiro quickly devoured them, surprising the bald man.

"Thank you very much for the meal! It was delicious!" He said before walking away, having already paid for the food.

"As long as you get it, it's all good!" The cook said with a smile. "Thanks for your business!"

.

"Sorry about that, Nezuko; leaving you behind like that…" The older Kamado said once they were out of the udon seller's earshot.

The younger one suddenly stopped and glared forward.

"What's wrong, Nezuko?"

Tanjiro followed her sight and saw the boy that was with that 'demon but also doctor', in her own words, and approached him with Nezuko in tow.

"So, you've been waiting for us?" Tanjiro asked.

"Because I was told to bring you to her." The boy answered, his expression set in a scowl.

"I could've tracked you by scent." The demon slayer answered.

"She's in a place that's under a cloaking spell. No way you could find it."

"Cloaking?" Tanjiro repeated. 'Is it maybe a demon art?'

"Anyway…" The boy spoke, interrupting his train of thought, and pointed at Nezuko. "Isn't that woman a demon? And an eyesore to boot."

'Eyesore?' The Kamado repeated in his head. 'Eyesore? Does he mean 'ugly'? Who?' He wondered who he could be talking about and, a few second later, it finally clicked. 'Nezuko?!' The Kamado turned to his sister and then back to the boy, getting up on his face and with his index finger raised as if he was about to give an important lesson to a child.

"Who in their right mind would call her an eyesore?" Tanjiro yelled while scowling and a tick mark appeared on his forehead. "Just take a good look at her features!" The swordsman moved back and used his hands to 'frame' his sister as if showing a piece of art. "She was the beauty of our hometown! Our Nezuko!"

"…"

"…"

"Let's go." The boy said simply, turning around to give them his back.

"Sure, we'll go, but still…" Tanjiro continued while moving a confused Nezuko along with him. "No way is she an eyesore! Not on your life!"

'He'll tire himself out eventually.' The demon thought as he continued walking, muting the swordsman's protests.

"Take a look at her where there's a bit more light!" He continued. "Come on, let's go over there!"

.

.

Turns out that Tanjiro can be truly persistent, even when the other party just ignores him; during the entire trip to wherever he was been taken to, the red haired teen continued to talk about how his sister could never be an eyesore and that he just has to see her better.

'If Tamayo-sama hadn't asked me to take you to her I would have ditched you a while ago! No, I'll correct that; I wouldn't even have bothered to find you!' He thought as they finally reached their destination.

To anyone else, it looked like a dead end where you would have to turn either left or right, but not to him.

"Oh, I know what it is!" Tanjiro continued. "It's this muzzle, right?" He pointed to said object. "It might be because of this muzzle!" He grabbed his sister's face with both hands and stared at the bamboo piece. "I'd like you to behold Nezuko without the muzzle!" The swordsman was considering taking it off for a moment just to prove his point but suddenly the demon disappeared, Tanjiro actually moved Nezuko's head at the same time he turned to that direction out of reflex.

"Hurry it up! While no one's around." The boy said, his head appearing from the wall.

Tanjiro touched the wall with one hand as an experiment and it simply passed through as if nothing was there, so he took a few steps forward and reached the 'other side'.

Inside the place was a house, it looked to be western in design, at least looking at it from the outside, with a paper with a strange symbol that resembled an eye apparently glued to the roof above the entrance and in the middle of the 'square' that is the area inside the wall with trees surrounding the outer walls.

"There's a house behind the dead end!" Tanjiro yelled in shock.

"Get over here!" The demon ordered. "Listen, make sure you don't offend that person in any way." He suddenly dashed and got up on the Demon Slayer's face. "Personally, I couldn't care less what happens to you but I brought you here because she insisted!"

"R-right." Tanjiro answered.

The boy then turned around and guided the Kamado siblings through the house, eventually stopping in front of a door that Tanjiro could tell had the woman that helped him on the other side thanks to his nose; as well as one other person, a human.

Knocking twice, his nose was proved right when the woman's voice was heard.

"Come in."

The boy opened the door.

"I have returned." He announced.

"Welcome back." The woman responded, still wearing the same kimono and hairstyle but with a white medical gown over it.

On a bed behind her was the woman that was injured when Muzan had turned her husband into a demon.

Aside from the bed and the two occupants, there was a single closed window, a desk with some medical supplies and books on top and two extra chairs.

"I'm sorry that I left you to take care of things just now." Tanjiro apologized after the three entered the room. "How is the lady?"

"She'll be just fine." The black haired woman assured him. "Unfortunately, I have to keep her husband restrained in the basement." She added, looking sadly at the sleeping woman.

"Isn't treating human wounds unbearable for you?" The older Kamado said. "Gh-" And immediately got hit by the other male in the room on his chest.

"You think demons treat humans while choking back their own drool at the smell of blood?" He asked with a scowl.

Looking down in shame, the red haired teen apologized.

"Stop it, why would you resort to violence?" The woman asked in a disapproving tone.

The boy looked down but didn't apologize or make any comments.

"I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Tamayo." The woman said, looking at Tanjiro. "That boy is Yushiro, I hope that you'll be his friend."

The swordsman made an uneasy expression at the last part and turned to look at Yushiro.

He still was looking to the ground but seemed to be restraining himself from saying something like 'I would never be friends with him'.

'I don't think that's gonna happen.' Tanjiro thought.

"It's not unbearable, you know." Tamayo spoke again, answering the demon slayer's, admittedly, insensitive question. "I believe it's much easier for me than normal demons because I've tweaked my body considerably." She finished, moving a hand to her chest. "I've also removed Kibutsuji's curse."

"Curse? T-tweaked your body?" The Kamado repeated, confused at her words.

Instead of answering, Tamayo took off her medical gown and moved towards another door.

"Come this way." She said.

.

The four moved to another room; this one was more 'refined' in a sense and looked more comfortable to stay at than the one before, with a picture of a mountain hanging in the wall, several lit candles, including the ones on a chandelier, some flower vases as well as a desk, a library full of books and some other furniture such as a chest of drawers.

Tanjiro and Tamayo sat in seiza opposite to each other while Yushiro sat to the side and between them, closer to Tamayo than the Demon Slayer.

"Hey, Nezuko, that's bad manners!" While the younger Kamado laid down face up on the tatami without a care in the world.

Tamayo smiled gently at the scene.

"It's quite alright, please make yourselves at home."

"Sorry." Tanjiro said nonetheless.

"Now then, allow me to continue." The woman with the purple kimono began. "I adjusted our bodies so that we can live without devouring humans, a small amount of blood is all we need."

"Blood? You mean…" Tanjiro trailed off, wanting to wait for an explanation instead of risking making another insensitive comment.

"You may find it distasteful, but what I do is buy blood under the guise of transfusions from those unable to make ends meet; of course, no more than would impair them."

'I see; so, that's why I'm not picking up that strange scent unique to demons from these two. But they do need human blood after all.' The red haired teen thought with a frown. 'If blood is all they need, then Nezuko…'

"Yushiro can get by with even less blood." Tamayo continued, having paused to let Tanjiro process her words. "I'm the one who turned him into a demon."

"Eh? You did that?" Tanjiro blurted out without realizing, looking at Yushiro and then back to Tamayo. "But… eh?"

While this was happening, Nezuko continued to lie down on the floor, moving as if scratching her back.

"You're right." The demon continued. "It's generally held that no one but Kibutsuji can reproduce demons. That's more or less accurate." She explained while Tanjiro tried to process the fact that Muzan, apparently, isn't the only one that can make demons. "After more than 200 years, I was only able to transform Yushiro into a demon after all."

"Two… Two hundred years…" Tanjiro muttered. "You were only able to transform Yushiro after more than 200 years?" He almost yelled in astonishment. "Exactly how old are you, Tamayo-san?"

That comment got him several hits to his thorax, courtesy of Yushiro who kept his fingers extended while aiming always at the same spot.

"Don't ask a lady her age, you ill-mannered scoundrel!"

While some might be surprised that, of everything he heard, that was the part that Tanjiro decided to ask about, he simply believes that there will be an explanation for everything else.

He wants to believe that these two, even though they are demons, are different from most other demons. They helped him and seem to bear no ill will towards him or other humans; the benefit of the doubt is the least that they deserve and, in his mind, denying them that would be the same as denying Nezuko.

"Yushiro. The next time you hit that boy, I'll make you regret it!" Tamayo warned him.

"Yes, ma'am." Almost as if he had teleported, Yushiro was suddenly sitting in seiza again. 'She's beautiful even when she's angry!'

Tanjiro coughed a bit to recover while Nezuko moved to lie on her side while frowning towards the male demon.

"There's one thing I'd like to clear up with you." The black haired woman continued once it looked like Tanjiro had recovered. "I'm not trying to create more demons. I only perform the procedure on the terminally-ill or those so gravely injured that they don't have long to live." She explained. "And in those cases, I always ask them beforehand if they wish to live on even as demons."

The Demon Slayer closed his eyes, the other two thinking that he must be considering Tamayo's words while, in reality, he was focusing on his sense of smell.

'The scent she's giving off is pure and devoid of deception.' Tanjiro thought with relief. 'She's someone I can trust.'

Having ascertained that she is trustworthy Tanjiro asked the question that has been going through his mind since hearing her talk about not needing to eat humans.

"Tamayo-san, is there a way to return a transformed demon back to human form?"

'…what is she doing?' Yushiro couldn't help but think as he saw Nezuko, still lying down on the floor, now waving her legs in the air. 'Does she not realize that this is about her? How limited is her thought process?'

"There is a way to turn a demon back into a human." Tamayo answered.

"Please tell me how!" Tanjiro approached her-

"Don't you dare…" Yushiro grabbed his arm, passed below it and spun him backwards to make him fall on his back. "…get so close to Tamayo-sama!"

"Yushiro…" The owner of the house trailed off, clearly unhappy with what her companion just did.

Once again, Yushiro seemed to teleport back to his spot, sitting in seiza.

"Yes, ma'am! I only threw him. Tamayo-sama. I did not hit him." He quickly defended.

"You mustn't do either." She answered, still upset.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch." Tanjiro muttered, it didn't hurt much, thanks in no small part to his training with Urokodaki to learn to break his fall, but he was still caught somewhat off-guard. "Please tell me how." Tanjiro repeated after recovering, more calmly than the first time.

"For any kind of wound, there's always some kind of medicine or treatment. At this time I'm unable to turn a demon back into a human, but surely, that, too…"

"Tamayo-san… how long have you been trying to turn demons back into humans?"

"…far more than what a human life-span would have allowed me to." She answered, Tanjiro catching a whiff of sadness after that sentence. "I will confess this to you, although it's been a long time, I also ate humans once."

'This scent…'

"Tamayo-san… no, never mind."

"What is it? Please, feel free to speak your mind." She assured him.

"When you turned into a demon…you ate someone close to you, didn't you?"

That sentence caught the seemingly imperturbable Tamayo off-guard, her eyes widening and her neutral expression replaced with a shocked one.

"You-!"

"Stop." She cut off Yushiro, giving him a sharp look that made him straighten his back. "How could you tell?" Tamayo asked, schooling her expression back to a neutral one.

"Your scent when you said that… it was one of the saddest I have smelled." The Kamado answered.

"…her scent?" Yushiro asked, for once looking at the red haired teen with a curious frown instead of an angry one.

"I have a really good sense of smell; one of the reasons I decided to trust you is because I smelled no lies in your words." He explained, pointing at his nose.

"…you are correct." The woman said; considering what she was, learning of his unusual sense of smell, while surprising, is not something to be shocked about. "I… would prefer not to talk about it but you are correct."

"No, I apologize for bringing it up."

"…do you despise me for having eaten humans?"

"No." Tanjiro answered immediately, surprising her slightly. "What happened to that couple a few hours ago is proof that demons aren't inherently evil… the one to blame is Kibutsuji Muzan." His sight went towards his sister, becoming softer. "And you stopped eating humans; hating you just because you are a demon would be like hating my sister and I will never do that."

"Speaking of your sister." Tamayo began, making the teen look back at her. "Has she ever eaten any humans?" She asked, very softly.

"No." He answered in the same tone. "This is just a theory that my master came up with but it seems she's able to recover her energy by sleeping instead of eating humans. After… after she was turned she attacked me but then came back to her senses, she didn't attack me or anyone else since and when I began my training she slept for two years without waking up." A flash of pain crossed the swordsman's features, remembering how worried he was at that time.

"Two years?" Yushiro repeated, half in surprise and half for confirmation.

"Yes."

"Then, I would like to ask for your help."

This time, the two Kamado siblings seemed to direct their attention at Tamayo, although the only indication of that from Nezuko was that she stopped swinging her legs and went perfectly still.

"Both Yushiro and I are dedicated to finding a treatment to turn demons back into humans." She began. "But to produce such an elixir, it is necessary to study the blood of numerous demons. So I have two favors to ask of you." She fixed her sight on the Kamado's red irises. "One, permission to study your sister's blood. Two, to retrieve blood samples from demons as closely related to Kibutsuji as possible." Her eyes went towards Nezuko. "Nezuko-san's current condition is extremely rare and unique. I understand that she was asleep for two years and I believe that her body underwent changes during that time. Normally, any demon that went that long without consuming the flesh or blood of a human or beast would unquestionably go berserk."

'Now that I think about it… the demons at the Final Selection probably went through that.' Tanjiro thought, remembering how most demons there barely talked.

"And yet, surprisingly, Nezuko-san shows none of those signs. This miracle will be the key to finding a solution."

The red haired Demon Slayer broke eye contact and looked at his sister, extending a hand towards her that she quickly grasped with both of hers, been careful not to hurt him with her claws, and pulled it closer to her.

"The other request I have for you is a harsh one." Tamayo continued. "By 'demons closely related to Kibutsuji', I meant demons whose powers are more on par with that of Kibutsuji himself." She explained, her tone giving away how difficult what she is saying will be. "It won't be easy to extract blood from such demons. Are you still willing to go along with my requests?"

Tanjiro didn't have to think about it, one look at Nezuko was enough for him to resolve himself.

"If there's no other way, then I'll do it." He began, moving his hand towards Nezuko and her immediately grabbing it with both of hers. "If it means you're going to research all these demons' blood and create this medicine… if that happens, that means it won't just be Nezuko." He looked back at Tamayo with a wide smile. "Lots of other people will be saved, too, right?"

For the second time, Tamayo's imperturbable aura disappeared, seemingly taken aback by the young swordsman' words, before her lips curved upward in the biggest smile Tanjiro has seen from her so far.

"That's right." She answered quietly.

'She has a beautiful smile.' Tanjiro thought with a light blush, but quickly looked away when Yushiro got in his personal space, glaring.

'I know that Tamayo-sama is beautiful, she looks beautiful today and she will surely look beautiful tomorrow as well but her beauty is not for you to enjoy!' The young demon thought while growling but held his tongue. 'That's-'

"Get down!" Yushiro suddenly yelled, moving towards Tamayo.

A moment later, two temari balls pierced through the walls of the house, making Tanjiro quickly move to cover Nezuko while the balls continued to bounce around the room the four were in.


A few minutes earlier, outside of the area where Tamayo's house was hidden.

Two figures were seen walking the otherwise empty street, the sound of their footsteps accompanied by the sound of a bell coming from the temari ball one of them kept bouncing off the ground.

The one with the temari is a pale, almost grey, skinned woman with bright hazel eyes with cat-like pupils and black hair with orange-colored ends, the bangs cover her forehead and the ends looks like paintbrushes. She is wearing a pair of long silver earrings with an orange kimono that matches the color of the ends of her hair with a large black kimono jacket on top of that one.

The other figure is a man, also grey-skinned but with short, completely, black hair and, despite his eyes being completely shut, he doesn't seem to have a problem walking. His outfit consists of a black and yellow kimono with a brown sash and a blue pearl necklace.

Without saying anything, the man raised his hands, revealing that on the palms of them were a set of eyes, the sclera of them was green while the eye was orange and instead of a pupil there was a small black arrow.

He brought his hands down to the floor as if scanning it.

"See anything?" The woman asked.

"I can see." He answered, the eyes on his palms moving around and the arrows changing directions. "This is it. This is it." He raised his left hand, with the palm pointing forward. "Making a huge turn over there. There are three of them and one's carrying some kind of big box." He informed with a wide grin.

"How should we kill them, I wonder." The woman said, still bouncing her temari ball, before letting out a chuckle. "I can feel the flow of power. Because of all the blood he shared with me."

Moving his right hand so the palm was pointing at his companion, the other figure said.

"Of course we're going to slay them vindictively."


Back to the present.

"Did you decide how to kill them?" The man with eyes on his palms asked with a laugh as his companion caught her two temari balls that she had thrown towards the house with a flourish.

"Vindictively, of course!" The woman answered with a sadistic grin before throwing the balls once more.

They continued to rampage through the house, breaking several rooms as well as the walls outside and the paper that Tanjiro noticed when they first arrived.

Having finished their sweep, the temari balls came back to their owner and she caught them with a laugh, as if she was playing a game.

"You were right, Yahaba! A building just appeared out of nowhere!" She said.

"Hmm, the handiwork of a Blood Demon Arts wielder adept at hiding objects." Yahaba answered as if analyzing the situation. "And is the demon hunter accompanied by a demon?" He asked with a frown, more to himself than his partner. "What's going on here?"

"Kahahaha, isn't this fun?" The temari demon asked with a hearty laugh while she bounced her balls off the ground, ignoring Yahaba's words.

"Still, I have to say, Susamaru…" The male demon began, one of his palms pointed in her direction to 'look' at her. "Your way of doing things is so immature. So careless. You splattered me! You splattered my kimono with dust!" He clicked his tongue in annoyance but his expression remained mostly neutral.

"Oh, stop whining!" Susamaru answered good-naturedly. "We found them right away thanks to my temari, so who cares?" She stopped bouncing her balls and swung her right arm backwards. "And now we can have tons of fun!" The demon declared, throwing the temari in her right hand first and quickly following with the one in her left.

Unlike the first two times, the temari just hit one of the walls before coming back to their owner.

"Tch, you've gone and splattered me again!"

"You're so uptight, your kimono isn't the least bit soiled." Susamaru said without looking at him. "And besides…" Her hazel eyes focused on the opening she had just made on the house, where Tanjiro was holding Nezuko close to his body to protect her. "Found 'em! Found 'em!" She declared happily.

'A temari.' Tanjiro's mind had shifted to combat mode the moment Yushiro yelled his warning but, while he could follow the object that was destroying the house, he was unable to tell what it was other than it was rather small and round shaped. 'So she caused all this damage by throwing those temari.' Now that he could see them clearly on the demon's hands, he could identify the 'weapons' easily, not surprised that there was a demon that could use a literal toy as a weapon after everything else he has seen.

'That woman… is she one of Kibutsuji's minions?' Yushiro wondered while shielding Tamayo from harm.

Letting out another laugh, Susamaru threw the temari once again, the balls moving at strange and impossible angles as they continued to cause havoc in Tamayo's home.

"Tamayo-sama!" Yushiro yelled, moving to stand between her and one of the Temari balls, his left arm raised to block. 'Wha-' But, instead of clashing with his arm, the temari swerved at an impossible angle, stopped just before touching the ground and then launched itself towards Yushiro's head; literally making it explode on impact.

"Yushiro-san!" Tanjiro yelled in horror, as Tamayo grabbed Yushiro's body before it could hit the ground. "Dammit!" But sadly, he didn't have the luxury to worry about them. "Nezuko! Take the lady sleeping in the back room somewhere safe outside!"

The younger Kamado nodded, her mind focused now that they were under attack, and was about to dash towards the woman.

"It's too dangerous outside!" Tamayo yelled before Nezuko could move. "We have a basement, so take her there!"

"Understood! Nezuko!" Tanjiro said, his sister nodded once again before moving to do as told.

Having taken care of that, Tanjiro shifted his guard towards the two demons outside the house, keeping an eye out for the temari that continued to rampage around him.

"Hahahaha, that's one down!" Susamaru cheered.

'She's giving off a totally different scent than any other demons!' The red haired swordsman realized now that he focused. 'Is it stronger? It's a really thick scent! It feels so heavy once it enters my lungs!'

Having caught her weapons once again, Susamaru bounced them while looking at the teen.

"The demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings… it's you, isn't it?"

The question caught the Kamado off-guard but quickly thought of a way to use that information.

'If I'm the one they're after...'

"Tamayo-san, please find a place to hide! They seem to be targeting me!"

"Tanjiro-san." Tamayo began, looking at Yushiro's body. "I want you to fight without worrying about us. We'll be fine without your protection." She raised her eyes to meet his. "Since we're demons."

Although he understood, Tanjiro will admit that he doesn't like the way she said that 'they're demons', as if that made them unworthy of protection.

Either way, he doesn't have the time to discuss with her, as the temari demon threw one of her temari against him.

It was a completely straight throw, albeit one moving at a speed unthinkable for the object in question.

'That temari will only swerve if I dodge it.' The Kamado thought calmly, taking a deep breath to prepare his technique. 'Of the ten forms… the fastest thrusting technique…' Holding his sword with just his right hand, he moved the arm backwards with the tip of the blade pointing at the incoming projectile. 'Total Concentration! Water Breathing!' Seventh Form, Piercing Rain Drop, curve!' Tanjiro's sword made contact with the ball, first stopping it and then piercing through it.

'Oh, so you thrust at the curve diagonally to soften the temari's blow.' Susamaru thought, seeing how her weapon was stopped. 'But…' She grinned.

The temari that had been completely stopped began to shake and moved towards Tanjiro, hitting him on the head.

It did little more than bump him since he had completely killed its momentum before but it was still a strange move.

'How can that temari move like that? It swerved unnaturally when it struck Yushiro-san as well!' Tanjiro thought back to the weapon's movements, taking aside the fact that they were able to cause all of that damage to the house, the way they moved was the most strange thing. It would make sense if the demon was throwing it in a certain way to make it spin but back when it hit Yushiro and now when he had stabbed through it, the ball had completely stopped moving and then began again.

"Yushiro!" While the demon slayer was trying to understand what was happening, Tamayo called out to her companion.

A moment later, the demon's head began to regrow, shocking the red haired swordsman.

"Ta… Tamayo-sama!" Yushiro began, his head regenerated enough for him to talk but still missing everything from his nose up. "Didn't I tell you? That we shouldn't get involved with that demon hunter! From the start!" He yelled in an almost recriminatory tone. "My Blindfold technique is still a work in progress! I know you're well aware of that yourself! I may be able to conceal the presence of buildings and people, their scent, but it's not like I can mask their very existence!"

Tanjiro absently thought that Yushiro's technique must have been the reason he couldn't smell these two demons, something that he should have been able to given how strong their scent was, before they attacked.

"The greater our numbers, the more traces we'll leave, and the greater the odds that Kibutsuji will discover us!"

"Anyone who ruins the time I spend alone with you…" Yushiro continued, his head almost completely regenerated. "I despise such people!" The demon declared with the veins in his head bulging and an expression that could only be described as murderous. "I despise them with passion! IT'S UNFORGIVABLE!"

Despite the scream that the two enemy demons certainly heard, Susamaru simply laughed.

"Hey, he's babbling!" She said, throwing away her black kimono jacket and undoing the upper part of her orange one so it fell down, revealing most of her upper body saved for her chest that was covered with a sash. "What fun is this! What fun is this! To be killed by me, one of the Twelve Demon Moons… you should be honored!"

"Twelve Demon Moons?" Tanjiro repeated, glancing at Tamayo to see if she knows what that means.

"They serve directly under Kibutsuji!" She informed him.

The swordsman quickly looked back towards his opponent when he heard her laughing and-

'She grew more arms!' He thought in shock when Susamaru grew two extra pair of arms. 'Not only that, she now has 6 temaris.' He prepared his guard as the demon bounced her weapons off the floor a few times before catching them all with its many arms.

"Now then, let's keep playing! Until morning comes! Until you die!" She threw all 6 of her temari with the last part of her sentence, forcing Tanjiro to dodge.

He side-stepped two of the temari balls, ducked beneath a third one, jumped slightly off the ground and spun in mid-air to avoid a fourth one, the fifth one he was forced to block with his sword, managing to deflect the attack and he quickly moved his head to the side to avoid the sixth one.

'Even if I dodge, I can't do anything unless I get closer to her.' He deflected another one of the balls only for it to swerve in that unnatural way they tend to, stopping before hitting the ceiling and doing a quick turn to its left, so they were moving back towards Tanjiro. 'Again! Even without hitting anything they changed trajectory.' Not having time to dodge or deflect, the red haired teen quickly slashed at it, cutting the temari in two. 'From behind.' Not stopping the momentum from his first slash, he quickly cut another temari in two pieces.

But, instead of stopping, the four halves stood still in mid-air for a moment before continuing their path and hitting the demon hunter.

'If I go ahead and slash them, it blunts the blow, but then they hit me anyway!' He thought with a grunt, as the two destroyed temari disappeared.

Not allowing the hits to stop him, Tanjiro quickly spun to the side, avoiding two more temari, then jumped backwards to avoid the path of another one; yet one more was moving towards the spot he was going to, so he spun his body backwards to avoid it, landing with his left hand and immediately using it to propel himself further to avoid the next. 'Don't panic, analyze the situation and think of a solution.' The swordsman thought to himself as he continued to weave his way through the onslaught. 'There are two different scents of blood. That meant there are two demons. Where are they?' Still moving around to avoid Susamaru's weapons, Tanjiro began to sniff them out. 'There is the demon that throws the temari outside, I can see her, where is the other one?' Blocking out the scent of the temari demon, Tanjiro focused on the other scent. 'It's above ground, behind that demon… there, the trees!' He realized as he deflected another hit. 'But even if I know where they are…'

Three of the temari moved towards Yushiro and Tamayo, the former trying to cover the latter as a human shield with little success as the three weapons hit them.

Yushiro was hit once again on the head, although it was more of a glancing blow this time, which only took part of his right side almost taking the eye as well, still a mortal injury for a human but nothing that won't heal for a demon.

Despite Yushiro's intentions, the temari also hit Tamayo, taking a chunk of the left side of her head and her left side, the momentum sending her crashing to the ground.

"Tamayo-san! Yushiro-san!" Tanjiro called out, trying to rush towards them only for the temari to force him to stop in his tracks. 'It's no use! I don't have time to protect them!'

"We'll be healed soon enough! So don't worry!" The black haired woman assured him, even as blood kept pouring from her wounds.

"Hey! Moron demon hunter!" Yushiro called out, holding the place where the temari took a chunk of his head. "If you look at the arrows, you can tell which direction they're going! Dodge the arrows!"

"Arrows?" Tanjiro asked. 'Those temari don't have arrows on them.'

"Seriously, you can't even see them?" The demon thought out loud, clearly annoyed, as he took a piece of paper from a pocket in his kimono. "I'm going to lend you my sense of sight! That should at least enable you to behead that temari woman!" Both the paper and Yushiro's left eye were lighted up in a light-green hue, the green haired demon then threw the paper towards Tanjiro, it landed neatly on his forehead and shone once more before the same eye-like symbol that was on the paper on top of the entrance of the house appeared on it.

Tanjiro didn't feel any different after Yushiro 'lend him his sight' but the effects were immediate.

'I can see them!' He thought.

Before the temari moved in any direction, there was a red arrow that guided them by moving through it before them.

'She was using these arrows to control the trajectory of the temari!' Now that he could see the attacks coming before they even hit, Tanjiro was able to dodge them with more ease, not even needing to deflect or cut the incoming projectiles.

"Thanks, Yushiro-san! I can see the arrows now, too!" The Kamado thanked him.

"Then, hurry up and defeat her!" He answered, his head beginning to regenerate.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro said, seeing his sister walk into the room after moving the injured woman to safety. "Let's go outside! Take care of the demon up in the tree!"

The younger Kamado nodded once and quickly jumped through the hole Susamaru had made before jumping over her and towards the trees.

The demon's temari also exited the house and returned to their owner followed by Tanjiro.

"I'm the one you want to take on!" The swordsman declared, preparing his sword to guard against his enemy.

"The demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings…" The hazel eyed demon trailed off, not paying attention to his declaration, before grinning. "No question, I'm going to bring that head of yours to him."

'This demon is without a doubt the strongest I have faced so far.' Tanjiro thought, tightening the grip on his sword.

"Khehehehe, what fun this is!" Susamaru yelled happily as she threw all six of her weapons back at him.


Alright, another one down.

I'll be honest, the original idea was to have the entire fight against Susamaru and Yahaba over in this chapter but it was getting WAY too long; plus, I have a certain twist that… I feel it would ruin the flow if I write it in the middle of the fight.

What does that mean, you ask? Well my dear reader, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out.

Once again, thank you for all the reviews from last chapter; let's see if I manage to break that record on this one.

To that end, please don't forget to review!

Until next time.