Hey! Here's the next chapter, enjoy! And don't forget to review if you find something wrong or have any questions.

*I do not own RWBY or Demon Slayer. Both shows/manga and all their characters belong to their respective owners.

"Tanjiro" = Talking

"Tanjiro" = Thinking

Tanjiro - Middle Alignment = POV

"Tanjiro" = Flashback

Crash! - Left Alignment = Sound effect


Chapter 3 - When Happiness is Destroyed

Ruby Rose

As Ruby and Yang were eating pancakes, Yang made an offer to her little sister. "Hey sis. How about we have a little training session between you and me down at our usual spot?" She asked.

This excited Ruby, this would be the perfect chance to test her new baby. Uncle Qrow gave her a brief training session with the scythe before school ended for the New Year.

"Sure!" Ruby said before stuffing the last of her pancakes into her mouth and running to her room to grab Crescent Rose.

"See you there!" Ruby called out as she ran out of her room. She was about to reach the door before her blonde big sister grabbed her hood, halting the young flower's momentum and nearly choking her.

As Ruby fell on her bottom from the sudden stop, Yang took Crescent Rose from her hands. Ruby got up and desperately tried to grab her weapon to no avail as Yang simply turned it sideways and raised it above her head.

"Hold your horses, my adorable little sister," Yang teased while gently pinching Ruby's cheek, "When did I say we would be using weapons?"

"Huh!?" Yelled a very confused Ruby.

"That's right! I'll be training you in the art of "Mano y Mano!" Yang announced while striking a crane pose.

"What!?" Ruby whined. "What's the point of weapons if you don't use them!?" She argued.

"Stop complaining, and let's go!" Yang said as she grabbed her sister's wrist and dragged her outside. The two passed by their dad who was watering the plants.

"See ya dad, me and Rubes are gonna go train!" Yang said as she dragged a struggling Ruby behind her.

"Okay girls, just be careful! And watch out for Grimm, and this time I'm serious!" Tai called out as Ruby and Yang went to the field they always used to train.

"Yang! Can't we at least talk about this!?" Ruby yelled, still being dragged by the blonde.

"Sorry 'grandma'," Yang joked, making fun of Ruby's attachment to her sweetheart, "you're just gonna have to learn how to walk without your cane."

"YANG ! ! !" Ruby whined again.


Tanjiro Kamado

Tanjiro was halfway up the mountain path after thanking Mr. Saburo for his hospitality.

"I hope everyone will like the gifts I got." Tanjiro thought to himself, smiling at the thought of the happy faces of his family.

His smile soon faded, though, when he got three quarters up the path. He smelled a strange, yet familiar scent. He took a second to sniff the air, that's when he realized what the smell was.

When happiness is destroyed, it is always followed by…

"The smell of blood!" Thought the now alarmed Tanjiro. He immediately began to sprint home, praying to the Brothers (The God of Light and the God of Darkness) that the blood was from a wounded animal and not from his family.

Tanjiro's prayers went unanswered. When he finally reached his house, he was not greeted by hugs and grins from his family. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a bloody, unmoving Nezuko on top of the limp body of Rokuta whom she seemed to be protecting.

Tanjiro couldn't help but let out a scream filled with sorrow, as he dropped his basket and ran to the bodies of his two siblings in front of their house

"Nezuko! Rokuta!" Tanjiro shouted. "What happened!? What's going on!?"

"What's going on her-" Before he could finish, Tanjiro looked to his left and saw something that would haunt him until the day he died.

"Mom?" He said breathlessly as he walked to the front door with his hand gripping the door frame, legs buckling beneath him. His heart froze, his skin paled, his words were caught in his throat, his mind going into overdrive trying to figure out what he was looking at.

There was blood everywhere, the decorations and furniture were wrecked. The dead bodies of his family could be seen all across the room.

Tanjiro's legs finally gave out as knelt on the floor. "Mom…Hanako…" He whimpered. Hanako was dead against the wall behind their mom, who like Nezuko, was trying to protect her child.

"Takeo…Shigeru…" His brothers were laying on the ground next to each other. Shigeru was face down while Takeo was face up, revealing the lack of light in his eyes.

"Nezuko…Rokuta…" Tanjiro whimpered, referring back to his sister's last attempt to protect their baby brother. Tanjiro simply looked to the sky and screamed out of rage and grief.

"WHYYYYY!?"


Yang Xiao Long

Ruby was knocked to the hard ground after Yang landed an easy-to-dodge punch. Ruby groaned as Yang put her hands on her hips.

The two sisters were training in a large open field surrounded by a snowy forest. They had to shovel the snow out about a week ago.

"Come on," She said with a look of pity, "You totally coulda dodged that."

"Yang! I already told you," Ruby complained as Yang helped her up, "I'm just not cut out for hand-to-hand."

"Why can't I just use my beautiful Crescent Rose?" She said all dreamily.

"That's exactly why I wouldn't let you bring it." Yang said, earning a pout from her little sister.

"Look, I'm not always gonna be here. In two years, there's a good chance I'll be leaving for Beacon," Yang explained as she put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "So before that happens, I'm going to make sure my sis can hold her own when I'm gone.

Yang then backed up as Ruby crossed her arms, still holding a slight pout. Yang got into her fighting stance. Ruby rolled her eyes like she'd given up.

"Fine." She said before Yang decided to teach her what happens when you take your eyes off the enemy. Ruby barely noticed her big sis coming at her.

Ruby just managed to block Yang's left jab, ducked under her right cross, and jumped around Yang to the left to avoid her left hook.

Yang then jumped and threw a spinning roundhouse kick to her sister's head, which she ducked under and turned to face Yang once again.

Ruby blocked two punches before Yang lunged forward with a right punch, Ruby dodged to her left and placed herself behind the blonde.

Seeing her opportunity, Ruby decided to go on the offensive and threw a sloppy right cross to her sister's head. But Yang saw this coming a mile away.

She tilted her head to her right, causing Ruby to miss. Yang then tripped her with her left foot and Ruby began to fall forward.

She turned in midair to see Yang throw a strong right punch at her. Just before the punch made contact with the caped girl, Ruby used her speed Semblance to escape into the nearby woods.

Yang was pretty impressed with how well her sister handled herself at only thirteen years old, even if her technique could definitely use some work.

"Not bad, sis. You did better than I thought," Yang said, "But you're not always gonna be able to run from your problems. Sometimes, you just gotta stand your ground and fight no matter what."

After a moment of silence, Yang decided that her little sister had gotten enough rest.

"Alright, lazy bones. Break's over, get out here." Yang called out, but there was no answer. "Ruby?" Yang tried calling out again, but there was still no response.

Yang was about to head into the woods, worried that The young Rose had knocked herself out. Then she heard her scream in the distance.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted before sprinting to her sister's rescue, readying Ember Celica for battle.


Tanjiro

Tanjiro was going as fast as he could down the mountain with an unconscious Nezuko on his back, who was covered with a blue blanket over her kimono. After finding out that she was still alive, Tanjiro knew he had to get her to a doctor as soon as possible.

"Nezuko's the only one who's still warm," Tanjiro reminded himself, "If I can get her to a doctor, she might survive."

Tanjiro became deep in thought as he continued to run. "How did this happen?" He wondered.

"Was it a bear? A bear who couldn't hibernate? Or maybe a Nevermore that got past the border." Tanjiro continued to ponder the possibilities. His thoughts became interrupted by his difficulty to breathe.

"I can't breathe," He pointed out, sucking in too much cold air as he continued to run, "The air is so icy, my lungs hurt!"

His body begged him to stop, but the last male Kamado refused its request. He knew that with every second, Nezuko became closer to death.

"Keep moving forward," Tanjiro told himself with determination, "Move your legs faster! We still have a long way to go before we reach town, Hurry!"

Tanjiro fought through the pain, completely focused on the task ahead. However, Tanjiro didn't notice that his sister was starting to move again.

"I won't let you die," Tanjiro mentally assured his little sister, "I will save you, you hear me!? Your big brother will save you no matter what!"

But Tanjiro then started to feel something moving on his back as he was running near the edge of a small cliff. He then realized that Nezuko was awake, but something was wrong.

Tanjiro couldn't see her face, but Nezuko was making these weird growling noises and was thrashing around violently. Her actions were messing up Tanjiro's balance.

Before he could calm Nezuko down, Tanjiro slipped on the snow and the two siblings fell down the cliff. Tanjiro could only scream as he fell, helplessly.

Thud!

Tanjiro was certain that he was dead, but his heavy breath and access to all of his five senses proved otherwise.

"The snow," Tanjiro realized as he lay on the ground, "The snow saved me. Although the snow is why I slipped in the first place."

"Nezuko?" Tanjiro called out as he sat up and started looking around to find his sister.

He found her standing a few feet away, her head down and her face covered in shadow. The blanket that was covering her fell off of her shoulder.

"Nezuko, are you alright!?" Tanjiro yelled as he ran to his sister. "You don't have to walk! I'll carry you to town, okay?" Tanjiro stopped in front of his sister.

Nezuko did not look up. "Nezuko!" Tanjiro called again, trying to gain the girl's attention. He got it, alright.

Nezuko looked up at her brother, but Tanjiro could not have predicted what came next. Nezuki's face, which was one of joy and beauty, was replaced by a face of rage and hunger.

Nezuko's pink eyes now had slits for pupils, there were veins popping out on her forehead and cheeks, and she had four razor sharp fangs. She also had sharper nails.

Nezuko lunged onto her brother and attempted to bite him, barely giving the boy enough time to grab the hatchet he grabbed from home and putting the handle in her mouth.

But to Tanjiro's surprise, Nezuko managed to overpower him. He lost his footing and the two fell onto the soft, freezing snow. The young Kamado was still able to hold Nezuko off with the hatchet in her mouth.

"Man-eating humanoid creatures who have lurked around Japan at night for centuries." Tanjiro recalls Mr. Saburo's words about demons.

"Dear gods, she's…A demon." Tanjiro confirmed as he connected the dots. But Tanjiro refused to believe that.

"Wait, but that can't be right," Tanjiro thought as he recalled holding his new baby sister in his arms next to their parents, "Nezuko, a man-eating demon…No! She's a human, she has been since the day she was born!"

"However, she doesn't have Nezuko's scent anymore." Tanjiro then recalled how Nezuko was shielding Rokuta with her body. Tanjiro knew it wasn't his sister who killed their family.

"That wasn't her doing! She was lying as if she was protecting Rokuta, and there was no blood on her hands or mouth. And…There was…There was another scent." Before he could analyze further, Tanjiro was snapped out of his thoughts when Nezuko actually became bigger.

"Sh-She just grew in size!" He noted as it became even harder to hold back his demonic sister. "And she's getting stronger and stronger!"

Guilt slowly built up in the boy. "While I was sleeping peacefully at Mr. Saburo's, they were all brutally murdered." Tanjiro reflected on the bloodbath he witnessed in his home.

"I know it must've hurt. You suffered, didn't you?" Tears began to form in Tanjiro's eyes, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you! If I could only help Nezuko at least.But she's too strong for me to push her back!"

"Nezuko! Hang in there, Nezuko!" Tanjiro tried to use his voice to reach his sister. She had to be in there, somewhere.

"Don't give in! You've got to hang on!" He shouted

? ? ?

"That boy is being attacked," He said to himself while running rapidly to the struggling pair in the middle of the woods, "I have to hurry and kill that demon, or he'll be eaten."

Tanjiro

"Don't turn into a demon! You gotta stay strong!" Tanjiro yelled out, becoming more desperate to reach his sister.

"Hang in there!" He closed his eyes tightly as he made one final plea. "PLEASE ! ! !"

Drip.

Tanjiro opened his eyes, wondering what the liquid that fell on him was. He looked at his demonized sister, and saw tears falling from her eyes.

The rage and hunger was replaced with sadness and regret. For just a split second, Tanjiro did not see a demon. Tanjiro saw his precious little sister, Nezuko Kamado.

The moment was interrupted when Tanjiro saw a shadowy figure in the sky, flying straight at the two Kamados with what appeared to be a sword raised above its head.

It didn't take an Atlesian Supercomputer to figure out the person's intentions, which is why Tanjiro immediately grabbed her sister and rolled away from the sword.

Instead of a demon's neck, the sword sliced off Tanjiro's ponytail. The sword kicked up a large amount of snow around the area after striking the ground.

Tanjiro rolled into a tree, holding Nezuko in his arms. He looked up to see a tall, pale young man. He had unruly, black hair of uneven lengths that stuck up in tufts.

His bangs fell over his eyes unevenly. He also had dark blue, sharp, cold eyes that were devoid of any emotion. If looks could kill, this man could probably take over the world with his icy, dead glare.

He wore some sort of dark cyan-tinted uniform with buttoned white leg-wrapped kyahan, white zõri with dark blue straps and tabi socks the same color as his uniform.

Over the uniform, the man wore a haori that seemed to have two different patterns on each side. The right side was red while the left had a geometrical pattern of multiple orange, green, and yellow squares.

In the man's hand was a dark colored sword inscribed with the kanji for "DESTROY DEMONS."

"What the…" Tanjiro wondered, "Who's that?" A Huntsman? Or…Could it be…"

"The Demon Slayers. They have protected humanity from the demons for centuries." Once again, Mr. Saburo's words about Demon Slayers replay themselves in Tanjiro's head.

"Are…Are you a Demo-" Tanjiro began to ask before the swordsman in front of him asked a question of his own.

"Why are you protecting it?" He asked in a cold manner.


I'll end this chapter here. In case you're wondering. Yes, the part with Ruby and Yang was inspired by a character short that was released before volume 5.

Yang is about to leave for Beacon Academy and wants to make sure that Ruby will be okay without her.

They have a sparring match to train Ruby's hand to hand skills, but are suddenly attacked by an Ursa Grimm. You can check out the short on the Rooster Teeth website or app.

Alrighty then, see ya in the chapter!

Next time: Chapter 4 - No Matter What