Lawl I'm late once again...
I was planning updating this yesterday...that worked out so well didn't it...
I am forever grateful for you guys, this story is STILL getting bookmarks, comments and active attention even months of being quiet. You guys really are the best, I really don't deserve you.
I do though, want to watch the Movie before writing the next chapter so do not expect the next chapter until the Movie is released either on DVD or Streaming services because I want to compare the manga to the 'anime' to what I have in mind for the chapter. So...I don't know when the next chapter will come out. Please bear with me.
Again, any misspellings, please point them out for me. And please, don't be afraid to leave a comment of any kind~ I'm not mean at all.
If there was one aspect of the Demon Slayer Corps that nobody really took any appreciation for, it was the administration work. At least that's what Shinobu thought to herself as she finished writing up the list of all Slayers who had died within the last month. Such as the Corps was a privately funded operation and in order to keep a lower profile, there were very little bookkeeping positions; you could count the number on one hand. Her sister – rest her soul – had not only dedicated her life to become a Pillar, but the official Demon Slayer Records Keeper, and that included keeping track of medical records. Including injuries, death dates, who died during Final Selection, number of fatalities and so on. It was not an easy task, as the records went back a thousand years; no record of any Demon Slayer was ever discarded for any reason, even if the slayer in question was discharged or turned into a demon themselves. The rooms that held the records was...daunting at first but a particular obsessive individual from generations past made the records fairly simple to navigate, but even now the rooms were getting full.
When her sister died, it would have been sensible to simply have another individual take care of the records full time, but it only seemed natural for her to step into her sisters place and take on the role as well. After all, it was all a matter of time management and her sister was...had been an expert at that. She sometimes wondered what it was like for the one who ran the budget for the Corps, now that was a job you couldn't pay her enough for. There was a gentle knocking on her door that pulled her from her musings.
"Come in," she said as she closed the book, and turned towards the door. She instantly stood up out of her chair then knelt down onto the floor when she saw who it was entering the room.
"Master Ubuyashiki," she said respectfully while keeping her gaze away, "it is wonderful to see you here again so soon. I hope your health is fairing well."
"Thank you Shinobu," he said as he 'looked' towards her, "it has been," he paused for a moment to take in a breath that came out as a tired sigh, "manageable for the moment. If I remember right, this is the records room, correct?"
"Indeed Master," Shinobu said looking up at him, "I just finished with last months death count." She couldn't help notice the slight frown that appeared on his face.
"How unfortunate, I understand last month was a particularly high number. You do so much around this estate, between your Pillar duties you have your research, the medical wards and the record keeping," he tilted his head slightly, "I'm sure you would like some help with the records?" He seemed to be hinting on wanting to hire a secretary for her, but Shinobu simply waved a hand with a smile.
"Oh no," she said with the same smile she always carried, "it's no trouble at all! I can handle the records just fine, it's all a matter of time management in the end." Ubuyashiki quietly hummed at her answer, but didn't see any need to push it any further for the moment.
"Shinobu," he said after a moment, "I came to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"I wanted to gather some roses for the Slayer Graveyard," he said as he reached for his children's hands, "and I know the Butterfly Estate's garden has lovely roses this time of year. Would you allow me to gather roses from your garden and accompany me in gathering them?"
"Of course Master," Shinobu said as she stood up, "I would be honored to have the estates roses adorn the graves of the fallen." He smiled at her approval.
"Please then," he said, "lead the way." As they walked towards the garden, she couldn't help but notice how slow and careful Ubuyashiki's steps were, it even sounded like his feet were slightly scraping across the ground. She even had to slow down her normal gait in order not to out walk him. It seemed his illness was progressing faster than what she or any doctor had anticipated and was starting to affect his legs or his nervous system; how unfortunate. When they reached the garden, the children guided him to a bench for him to sit on, it seemed as if it hadn't been a moment too soon as he almost collapsed onto it, but he seemed pleased to be in the garden as he was asking the children to describe the flowers and what colors they were.
"I just need a moment's rest," he said towards Shinobu, "then I will start gathering–"
"I will gather the roses for you Master," she quickly said as she picked up a garden pruner, "it will not be a bother at all. Please rest and enjoy the garden." She quickly went towards the rose bushes before he could protest. Ubuyashiki sighed and quietly listened to the sounds of the garden; the gentle wind rustling through the bushes and leaves. While he was 'blind', he was still able to see where light sources were if it was strong enough, (he was sure in time that would be gone as well) so he turned his head towards where he could 'see' where the sun was. If memory served right, he knew right were he was in the garden, right next to the blue butterfly bushes.
"Tell me," he asked his children, "are the butterfly bushes in bloom?"
"Yes," said Kanata, who looked towards the bush, "they are in full bloom with many butterflys surrounding them. They smell sweet like honey; would you like me to gather some of the blossoms for you master?"
"I see," he said, "but no," he said turning his head towards her, "I gain no benefit from them. Perhaps your mother would like some. They are one of her favorite flowers after all." He heard the two children leave his side to gather the flowers and he couldn't help but quietly hum and reflect to himself; he couldn't smell very well anymore. This was a new development. He was hoping to at least enjoy the smell of the garden, but such as life. Soon he could hear Shinobu walk up to him and set down a large bundle of roses next to him.
"I hope that these roses will be more than sufficient," she said as he gently picked one up from the bunch, "I only picked the most beautiful ones from the bushes." He quietly felt the roses, fingers fumbled around the petals because he also started to loose sensation in his hands. He did expect to prick his fingers on the rose because on how hard he had to grip onto the flower just to keep a hold of it, but as he felt the shaft, he noticed that the rose was thorn-less. He also noticed that there was a slightly sticky substance on his fingers; he rubbed his fingers together trying to figure out what it could be. Since he couldn't smell what it could be, he could only guess.
"Oh I'm so sorry," said Shinobu as she pulled out a handkerchief and wetting it from a waterspout near by, "I should have cleaned the roses before handing them to you first! I'm terribly sorry master," she took his hand and started to gently clean them off but as she did so, he took the opportunity to feel her own hands. Her hands were just as sticky, so based off of that with the thorn-less roses he could only come to one conclusion.
"Did you cut yourself from dethorning all the roses so that I wouldn't be hurt, Shinobu?" She paused for only a moment, but then continued to clean his hands.
"While I do appreciate your efforts," he said gently to her as she continued to clean his hands, "You can't prevent people from being hurt all the time," he said with a small smile, "that's not how life works. Besides, I probably wouldn't have even noticed until later," he said with a small chuckle, "I'm losing sensation in my hands anyway." She seemed to not have heard him, by choice was the most likely reason.
"I need to gather more roses, there are so many graves after all," she spoke out a bit too cheerfully, "please continue to enjoy the garden while I—"
"Before you do," Ubuyashiki said as he gently took her hand before she could leave, "could you sit with me? I would like to discuss some important things with you." Shinobu stood still for a moment, but then agreed to sit next to him as he continued to 'look' over the rose she gave him. He tried to smell the rose, but he couldn't smell anything from it.
"It seems," he said as he pulled it away from his face, "I've lost my sense of smell. What a shame. I was hoping to enjoy the Estates' roses one last time. Such is life," he turned towards where Shinobu sat from him, "we both know how hard and unfair life can be at times."
"True," she agreed.
"And," he said as he put the rose down into his lap, "one shouldn't make it harder for others or oneself, should they?"
"Is this about the records keeping," Shinobu softly scoffed with a slightly wavery chuckle, "I already said that—"
"I believe you know what this is about, my dear," he interrupted her while turning his milky gaze towards her. He waited for her to respond, but as he didn't hear anything from her and as he couldn't see anything other than faint shadow silhouettes of people, it was impossible to see what her expression was. He turned his face away, turning it up towards the sun to feel the warmth on the parts of his face that still had sensation.
"You didn't follow my orders," he said calmly.
"I made detailed reports on what I found," Shinobu started, her normal calm cheerful voice was sounding more forced than usual, "and submitted them in a timely manner."
"Again," Ubuyashiki said turning his dead gaze towards her, "I believe you know what I am referring too. I said that—"
"An unfortunate byproduct in gathering the data," Shinobu quickly snapped in a very forced cheerful voice, "however as demons can regenerate, there where no chances any of permanent damage done." There was a moment of silence between the two, then a sheepish cough.
"My apologies," mumbled Shinobu, "I did not mean to have such an outburst," she turned towards him and looked hard at his face, "I just don't see now of all times are we suddenly to treat demons with any regard, fully knowing that they will not do the same courtesy for us." Again, there was a moment of silence; Ubuyashiki blinked his eyes slowly as if carefully considering his words.
"While that is true in the majority of cases," he said slowly and carefully, "I do believe you would have understood why if you had not only followed my instructions," he turned his face away and a frown appeared on his face, "but the Late Flower Pillars' philosophies as well. I know that this is a very sensitive subject for you," he said quickly, knowing that he had approached a very touchy and hurtful topic, "but from comparing your old and new reports; they have simply become more vindictive than necessary. It has become very self destructive, and I'm not the only one who is concerned." He waited for her to say something, but she remained silent, so he continued:
"So, in order to combat this, I going to appoint a new records keeper to free up more of your time," he turned his face back towards her, "and for disobeying my orders; you're temporarily suspended from any Slaying duties until further notice, save for any catastrophic event. You may continue your research and medical duties here. I believe you need rest and reflection," he said looking what he believed to be her silhouette, it was hard to tell since it was so still, "and I believe the only way for you to do this is for some much needed time off. I hope," he said looking back up at the sun, "that you may take what I've talked about and think about it, especially about what your original goals were in the first place." There was a long stretch of silence between the two, but then he heard shuffling sounds by him so he looked over to see that the silhouette had moved to the ground and he could only assume that Shinobu was kneeling very respectfully in front of him.
"I understand and accept your punishment," she said in a more reserved, natural sounding tone, "I shall use this time to reflect on," she paused and looked away for a moment, "events, until you see fit to reinstate me." Ubuyashiki nodded and a small smile returned to his face.
"I know," he said closing his eyes, "that you don't fully agree with me in many aspects, but I'm glad that you will reflect. We will discuss what you will be reflecting on," he said turning back to her, "later in private, but for now let's just enjoy the day and the garden." He picked up the rose again and continued to feel the rose petals.
"The rose is dark pink," Shinobu said, noticing how he was feeling the flower, "we planted more bushes a few years ago, the bushes were finally ready this year."
"I see," Ubuyashiki said sadly as he held the flower, "you've always been one to be prepared for worst case scenarios, but thank you for them. I'm sure they're a lovely shade of color." Nothing was said between the two of them for the longest time, however Shinobu eventually got back up to finish gathering roses for the graves. Ubuyashiki sighed as he set the rose back down and decided to just enjoy the garden as best as he could; after all, it was probably going to be the last time he would ever come back to it.
The walls were swirling like a river. As much as that was disconcerting, it was also oddly entertaining. Tanjiro shallowly breathed as he watched the walls melt and swirl, slightly aware that this wasn't a good sign but was too out of it to really realize what was going on. All he knew was that he really wanted a glass of water, but whenever he tried to sit up, the world would tilt so badly he'd have no choice but lay back down. He couldn't get warm enough, but his blanket was oddly irritating as it was sticky and clung to his body. Something also stank in the room; his neck and head hurt but he was just too sick to do anything about it. He just...wanted a glass of water. He heard something to his side, a humming noise. It took everything he had to roll over to look over at whatever it was. He saw pink eyes peeking just over the bed at him and he frowned.
"I'm sorry mom," he said, his voice sounding gargled and horse, "I don't think I can do any work today. I shouldn't make Taeko do it but I don't think I can get up." Nezuko was confused why he was calling her that. She saw though that he kept reaching up towards his neck to pitifully attempt to scratch at a covered area. The bandages must be irritating him, why else would he try to take it off?
Looking at the bandages on his neck, she saw how pink a spot looked so she used a claw to cut the bandage open. The smell was...bad. It smelled like old sweaty almonds. If the smell was bad, the wound was worse. The skin around the stitches was bright red and swollen, making the stitches themselves look too tight. The wound was weeping pink and yellow...something...it didn't look exactly like pus, it was too...clear? It was odd and gross.
"Mom, could you get me a glass of water," Tanjiro asked, "I'm really thirsty." Nezuko looked at Tanjiro; he was incredibly pale, his skin looked sticky as if he had been sweating but couldn't anymore. She looked at the wound and decided that was what was hurting him, as that was where the demonic smell was coming from. The question now was, what to do? She quickly decided on what to do; she placed her hand directly on top of the wound, causing more of the pus-like substance to ooze out of it.
"What are you—" Tanjiro started, but then his whole world was literally set on fire. It felt like his neck was going to explode from the inside and it felt like all the blood in his body was expanding and boiling. Even his lungs felt like there was an bubbling inferno inside them, it was probably the worst pain he had personally experienced. However, just as soon as it started, it was suddenly over and...what? He sat up and looked around confused as to what happened. He didn't smell any fire, but it did smell like something burned. He felt his neck, while it did still feel slightly swollen, it no-longer had a fever or smell coming from it. He looked over at Nezuko who for the most part looked sleepy. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, embarrassed that he had not only mistook his sister for his mother, but did that knowing that his mom was long dead.
"Sorry Nezuko," he said, noticing that his voice sounded much better already, "but I really thought..." he chuckled and had a bitter smile on, "but you really do look like mom, you know." Her eyes sparkled for a moment but that was the extent of any response he got out of her. She seemed satisfied that she 'took care' of what was bothering him so she decided to go back into her box to go to sleep. As she hummed and turned away, Tanjiro rubbed his forehead and looked down at his lap trying to figure out what happened. One minute he was...in all respects probably dying, the next he's all but better. His neck still hurt and he didn't feel one-hundred percent better, but that was besides the point: What had happened? He heard someone else enter the room, it wasn't who he was expecting it to be, just a regular nurse. They took his temperature, checked his vitals and then his favorite part: got him a glass of water.
As he drank the water, he thought about what had happened. The only logical conclusion that Nezuko had used the same demon blood art on him that she used in the woods, but...how was that possible? Wouldn't that have killed him? There were so many questions to be asked, but for now, he was just happy to sip his water and rest.
Ubuyashiki was satisfied with the meeting with Shinobu. He felt that while she may not fully agree with him in several aspects, she had enough respect for him that she would make an honest attempt to fulfill his request. Just as she was trying to live her sisters' dream, even if she had polar opposite beliefs. His children stopped walking, signaling that there was someone in front of him that he wasn't aware of. He was a bit embarrassed, he should have been more aware. It wasn't like he was completely helpless yet.
"And who do I have the pleasure of meeting," he asked whoever was in front of him.
"Kanao Tsuyuri," she said bowing towards him and his children, "rank Tsuchinoto; Tsuguko of Shinobu Kocho."
"Ah yes," Ubuyashiki said as he nodded, "you were the one who wrote me the letter informing me of the situation here." There was a pause, he could feel a strange uncomfortable air between them. He felt that she wasn't going to say anything towards it though.
"You weren't overstepping your boundaries," he said to her, "you were doing not only what a good Tsuguko would do," he gently squoze his children's hands, "but any sibling would have as well."
"Yes, Oyakata-sama," Kanao said bowing again. Ubuyashiki smiled and chuckled.
"You needn't be so formal with me," he said, "I just barely convinced the other Corps members to not address me as such."
"Yes, Oyakata-sama," she repeated. He sighed with a small smile, she seemed that she wouldn't be convinced otherwise. He was aware of her history, so he wasn't going to push it any further.
"I believe," he said to her, "there was something more you wish to discuss with me?" Again there was a small pause.
"Yes," she said, "there is. I wanted to get," she paused to think of how to put it, "your advice and blessing on something."
"Is that so," he said, "then let us discuss this matter then."
Meanwhile Zenitsu was wallowing in self pity, not in his usual mellow-dramatic fashion but a kind he'd never felt before. He was use to the self pity that came from a false friendship that he knew from the start wasn't going to last long but was desperate enough to continue it anyway. This kind was...something new. Even after speaking with Mr. Ubuyashiki he still didn't feel reassured all that much. Tanjiro was probably dead...he probably shouldn't think like that but man did he look terrible when he last saw him. Well, at least he had something to keep his mind off of it.
He did break 'the rules' and had used the small amount of freedom he had gained and risked it all by sneaking out of his room. The first thing he did was sneak into the kitchen (his new room was closer to the kitchen now) because he smelled something he really, REALLY wanted. There were several freshly baked anpan rolls set aside to cool, one of his rare favorite treats that he adored to have. While true he really couldn't have them anymore, that really didn't stop him from taking several of them and slinking back into his room. He sat on the bed and smelled the bun. To be honest, he was getting really tired of meat. Perhaps if it was cooked or seasoned or if he could have...something else with it but the limited diet was getting really grating. Something, anything different was welcomed even if he wasn't able to hold it down. Knowing this, he simply just chewed the bun, enjoying the flavor of it then spat out the masticated mush into the wastebasket. It was incredibly wasteful yes, but dammit he really needed this! He was too engrossed in this act of self comfort that he didn't even hear the door open.
"I should have known it was you," Aoi barked out, making him nearly choke on his current mouthfull, "and just when I was starting to think you could be trustworthy!" She had her hands firmly planted on her hips in extreme disapproval, glaring hard at him.
"What are you even doing," she said as she got closer and he shrank back, "it's not like you can eve—" she noticed the discarded bits in the wastebasket and glared hard at it then pointed hard at it, "exactly! What's even the point if you're just going to spit it out?! It's a waste of MY anpans I made," she noticed the remaining ones and went for them, "just hand them over." However she was surprised when he grabbed them and childishly moved them away from her.
"Just let me have this one thing," he whined at her, making her roll her eyes, "just this one thing! I know it's a waste it really is! But damn it I'm tired of just meat!"
"Maybe," she said, "but it's gross and guess who gets to clean up the messes 'round here," she pointed to herself, then pointed towards him, "I don't want to clean up demon vomit, spit up or what-have-yous, so just hand them over." She tried to take back the rolls from him and he tried to keep them away from her; he was so distracted from the act that he didn't even realize that she no longer flinched or even sounded scared of him. If anything, she just sounded very annoyed of him.
"Just give them back!"
"NoooOOOooo~ I neeeeed thiiIIIiisss~"
"HOW could you NEED anpans?! You're a demon!" They were too busy wrestling over the rolls that they didn't notice the third person enter the room. Aoi eventually saw them out of the corner of her eye and Zenitsu yelped and jumped nearly a foot off the bed; letting go of the plate and forfeiting the rolls.
"What are you doing here Kanao," Aoi asked, taking the opportunity to snatch the plate away from Zenitsu to his dismay, "I thought you had training today?" However Kanao never answered her, she simply looked over at Zenitsu, walked over towards him and gently grabbed his wrist to make him stand up.
"Are," he asked slightly red faced (it wasn't like he was use to girls approaching him first after all) "are we going somewhere?" Again, no reply from her. He looked over at Aoi who only could give him a slight shrug of her shoulders, but was satisfied that she retrieved most of her missing anpans. As he and Kanao walked silently down the hall, he couldn't help but wonder what was exactly going on. He couldn't hear any ill-intent from her, but she was another person he had trouble hearing anything from. Most of the time, all he could hear was a constant...buzzing from her, like it was a barrier she had put up. It was hard but not impossible to hear her emotions. Suddenly she stopped walking and he bumped into her, making him blush again. She turned around and pulled out a strip of cloth.
"What's that," he asked as she started walking behind him. His question was quickly answered when suddenly his eyes were covered by the cloth. To say he was starting to get concerned again was an understatement.
"Do you trust me," Kanao asked him in her soft voice. He paused and thought about it for a moment.
"Well," he said shuffling his feet, "I'm...not sure."
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said grabbing his hand again and starting to lead him down the halls again, "it is a known fact that when an animal is blindfolded, they become more calm. The effect is also effective on humans—"
"If this is supposed to make me feel better," he said gripping her hand a little tighter, "it's really not working." It seemed that saying that made her become quiet for the rest of the walk. Soon they came to a colder room and she guided him to a chair. As soon as he sat down, he could hear her pick something up.
"I'm going to tie you to the chair now," she said, "just your torso and arms."
"Why," he asked, "the chair isn't even bolted down," he noticed that when he sat down, the chair had scooted a bit back. Again, no answer. It was just as if she was telling him so he wouldn't get spooked or something. It seemed pointless. The chair was wooden and the leather could be easily torn; perhaps this was a trust exercise?
"Please don't remove the blindfold," she asked him.
"My...arms are tied down," he said moving his head around, not really knowing what was going on. This must be a trust exercise. He thought about where they could possibly be. The room sounded echoy and metallic; it was also somewhat cold. Then he could hear her opening what sounded like... cans?
"What are you doing," he asked. No answer again. He wondered what was going on. Then he could smell something familiar from his past, that salty pungent smell that had probably saved him several times in the past.
"Is that canned meat your opening," he asked her.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I'm feeding you," she said. It sounded like she was preparing...something he wasn't sure. Now, this was a possibility he hadn't considered. Could he try this? Sure it was cooked, but it was also...weird tasting. Not everyone liked canned meat (it smelled really bad when you opened it) but once you cooked it it wasn't that bad...come to think of it...you had to cook it...was it raw? He had eaten it a few times right out of the can in desperation but that—
"Open," Kanao said, then he was aware something was close to his face and a smell was...very right under his nose. Well...he was curious about this, he did trust Kanao not to hurt him and...he was starving again. So he opened his mouth expecting a normal sized piece of food but was nearly choked on the size that was shoved into his mouth. There was no way he could chew this bit, and instinctively swallowed the mouthful. That would have choked a human, but being a demon had its perks every now and again; his throat shifted to accommodate the size. He coughed and sputtered and huffed at her.
"Could you NOT kill me?! Is this how YOU eat?! Is this how you think I—" another bit of was pushed into his mouth, the same size as the last one. This time though, it seemed that his body was adjusting to it, and his jaw was more loose and he was able to chew it this time. It had been a long time ago from the last time he ate canned meat, but he didn't remember it being this salty. He grimaced as he swallowed, not liking how it left a filmy aftertaste in his mouth. Perhaps it was better to just swallow it whole after all.
"This tastes weird," he said, "are yo—" another bit of food shoved in, this time he could tell that she was using chopsticks. This piece tasted the same, but the texture was...almost gelatin like it made him gag. Did she give him the nasty goop that came out of the can?! However despite how gross the texture was, he was oddly starting to crave whatever she was feeding him, so that was a good sign that he wasn't going to get sick over this. He was scraping his tongue over his teeth to get rid of the slimy texture on it. He suddenly felt something cold on his lips.
"Drink this," Kanao said, "I did research, and this shouldn't make you vomit if you sip it." He sniffed whatever was by his lips, but didn't smell anything, but something was tickling his nose. He opened his mouth and she tipped whatever it was into his mouth. There was a flavor explosion of...something that he really enjoyed, especially the sparkly sensation. He wasn't sure of the flavor, something he never tasted before but damn him he really liked it.
"I know you like sweet tasting things," Kanao said, "and this is mainly water, sugar and carbonation so it shouldn't be instantaneously unagreeable, too much of it though will be." He hummed in agreement, water probably wouldn't have cleared the goo down his throat but this stuff seemed to be doing just fine, probably the small bubbles that tickled his nose and throat. After several sips of whatever it was, it was starting to upset him so he sadly had to turn it away. Now that there was a pause from the rapid pace Kanao had been going at, he quietly listened. He noticed that she was opening not only cans, but some other container...sounded wooden or something like it.
"What kind of canned meat is this," he asked her, but she chose not to answer his question.
"Open again," she said, he wanted to question her further about other things (like why the blind fold) but he also wanted to continue to eat now...damn his stupid body...so he quietly obeyed. After several more mouthfuls of mystery meat, there was a strange pause from Kanao. He was about to ask what was wrong when she spoke.
"Swallow this quickly," she said, "don't chew please."
"Why," he asked, but again, no answer. He was starting to get suspicious of the silence, that was more telling than anything. It was if she knew he could tell when someone was lying to him...beter to not say anything at all than to be caught in a lie with him. However, he trusted her so he continued to comply. This particular piece was even larger than what was being fed to him previously so in order to comply with her, he had to wait till his throat—something was moving in his mouth. It was rolling in place. He panicked and tried to spit the whatever it was out but a hand was slapped over his mouth. Instinctively, his mouth clamped down and...whatever it was ruptured in his mouth and the fluids leaked down his throat and mouth. Based on the taste, he knew part of what was in his mouth; it was an eye. A living eye had been in his damn mouth moving around.
"Please swallow," Kanao said stiffly, the fluid dripping between her fingers as she tried to keep his mouth closed, "please just swallow." He didn't mean to, but he broke free of the arm restraints and gripped onto her arms and just barely stopped himself from prying them off of himself. He was sure that he could do it, but she could probably take care of herself as well. The whatever it was (although he had a pretty good idea what it was now) started to squirm inside his mouth so it was either pry her arms off and spit it out or just choke it down. Not wanting to hurt her, he decided to bite the bullet and just take the loss of dignity. After choking it down her arms let him go and he took off the blindfold to glare at her. Then he looked round the room, noticing it was a laboratory of sorts. There had been canned food stuffs opened on the counter, but just that; opened. A trick, a auditory trick. He felt so hurt right now.
"Why did you do that," he asked quietly, "why did you feel the need to trick me like this?"
"I never lied to you," Kanao said just as quietly.
"That," he said, "is the problem. I would have preferred the lies," he said gripping his head hard, forgetting about the claws and cutting deep into his scalp, "They're at least familiar. Everyone treats me like...I'm just, so tired of this place...of everything." There was a pause, he was expecting the excuses now, the reasons why 'this had to happen' and so on.
"I'm sorry," she eventually said, "I was only trying," she stopped talking for a moment, "no, there really isn't any good excuse. I was honest, but wasn't at the same time. It was deceitful. I'm sorry." He sighed, she meant it, he could hear it. He was still scratching his head, bad enough that blood was starting to drip from his face onto the ground.
"I, don't think it's okay," he said, "just why?"
"I had a discussion with Oyakata-sama," she said ( "Who," mumbled Zenitsu to himself. ) and we were discussing on what would be the best solutions to not only your hunger problems," she said glancing at the blood dripping down on the ground from his face, "but for the demon that Shinobu was keeping in this lab. We had decided—"
"I can guess what you decided," he said frustratingly pulling on his hair, "but why not just talk about it with me?"
"You wouldn't have agreed to it," she said flatly. He went to say something, but she was right. He would have said no, no matter what.
"I just...damn it I'm so tired," he said putting his face into his hands, hating how his voice was starting to crack, "I mean, what will the other's say?"
"Nothing," she said, "the plan was to give you two-thirds, then burn the rest for show. They, along with you weren't to find out and know about—"
"What do you mean I wouldn't know," he said looking hard at her, "I may hate my body now, but dammit if I don't know what is going..." he paused when she gave him a very flat look. Okay so she didn't fully believe him, all he could do was sigh and look away, "you know what...yeah sure, you're right, I don't know what is exactly going on one-hundred percent of the time in my body but I do know what it feels like to have something alive squirming inside you?!" he hit himself hard in the middle, clearly frustrated, " It's damn weird, let me tell you. And also...we're going to lie to the others?"
"Partially," she said, "in truth it would be more beneficial to you to have all of it; it probably will only survive thirty five hours best case scenario."
"Then why do any of it in the first place?"
"Something is better than nothing," she said, "a starved demon is more dangerous than not. I think that if you two hadn't done what you had done, then what had happened with Tanjiro wouldn't ha—" for the first time, she jumped when Zenitsu was suddenly clinging to her tightly. She hadn't even seen him move, it slightly disturbed her.
"It was an accident! I think?! I don't know, I didn't mean to kill him! I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to hurt my best friend! Please-don't-tell-Shinobu-she'll-fucking-murder-me-back-in-the-worst-way-possible!"
"Tanjiro is not dead," she said, "he's resting in the ward. I spoke with him right before I came for you; while not in perfect health, he seemed fine to me." She looked down at him, he was rubbing his blood and tear soaked face all over her stomach, soiling it in the process but that didn't bother her (she had honestly gotten much worse on her uniform in the past) what did was how easily those claws ripped through her uniform without him meaning too.
"R-Really," he looked up at her.
"Yes," she said, "will you please let go of me now." He sighed in relief and buried his face back into her belly, so relieved to hear that Tanjiro was alright.
"This is the opposite of what I asked," Kanao said as she felt him hug her tighter, those horns were starting to dig painfully into her ribs now...
It had been several weeks since the 'canned' thing Zenitsu called it, so it wouldn't raise Tanjiro's suspicions. He'd been so damn happy that the demon finally had been killed...maybe one day he'd tell him the truth, just not yet. He had been expecting Shinobu to come by to ask him questions about 'the canned thing' because from what Kanao said she was aware of it, but she never did. He hadn't seen her once, and that was just fine with him. Kanao sort of filled that position instead. It more or less became one sided personal visits, and while it took time, he did eventually forgave her for her deceptive behavior. Something else he did notice though was Nezuko seemed...cold towards him lately. Whenever he tried to be with her or the one time he managed to gather flowers for her, she didn't accept them. Rather, she would give him a hard look, like he had done something wrong. Why were girls so complicated? He even earned some limited freedom to freely travel between his room and Tanjiro and Inosuke's room, not much but it was a start. Eventually Tanjiro and Inosuke were cleared to go back on missions. That was nice, he was gonna miss them though.
"Wake up! Wake up," Tennoji crowed loudly one morning at the boys, waking them up from their sleep, "It's morning now! Morning now! Wake up!" Tanjiro was awake instantly, Inosuke took a moment longer, but Zenitsu was always a hard one to wake. He was still half asleep when he heard something about a train.
"More than forty are now missing, you three are now to join Rengoku Kyojuro on site. Head west at once! Head west at once!" Tennoji took flight, seemingly wanting them to follow him right then and there.
"Wait, 'you three'," Zenitsu mumbled still half asleep, "does that mean..."
"Of course," Tanjiro said happily, "you are a slayer after all!"
"Well...yeah but I thought,"
"I'm going back to bed," Inosuke said rolling back over, "wake me when it is time to eat minions! Stupid bird waking me up at..." he mumbled as he rolled back over.
"Let's just go back to," Tanjiro started.
"But wait," Zenitsu said, "what if they didn't keep my suit," he started to fret, "and my other equipment? I mean they were going to just kill me after all! I'll have to travel in a box! I don't wanna travel in a box Tanjiro! We don't have time...I...wait...does that mean I'd have to share the box with Nezuko," he said tapping his chin, Tanjiro was just about to tell him off for even thinking about that, "but wait she's mad at me for some reason! She'll kill me in there, and when you open it up, there'll be a waterfall of blood and guts! Why are you so mean to me Tanjiro...W-WHY are you looking at me like that?!"
The three of them were gathered out side The Butterfly Estate, it was strange to be back in their slayer uniforms. Zenitsu forgot how light the material felt, but since he was wearing double layers...it was kinda a moot point. They had just showed the three girls that they could perform the Total Concentration: Constant breathing (although it was a little awkward for Zenitsu having to breathe through a cloth mask) on the large gourd jugs. Zenitsu was grateful to Kanao for showing him how to do it, otherwise he'd probably wouldn't have learned it. Tanjiro tried teaching him...but he...wasn't the best teacher he'd ever come across. Kiyo presented a basket full of onigiri to them with a bright and proud smile.
"Here," she said.
"Thank you so much," Tanjiro said looking at the full basket. Inosuke started taking several out of it.
"Don't eat them right now," Zenitsu said grabbing his shoulder, "they're meant for later!"
"Shut up," Inosuke said shoving one in his mouth, "I do what I want when I want!"
"Idiot," Zenitsu said grabbing his neck, "I told you to save them for later! That's what they're meant for! I'd be so pissed at you if they were also meant for me!" He was about to say something else when he felt a tap on his elbow. Sumi had a bag and was holding it out for him.
"Mr. Demon, Aoi wanted to give this to you before you left," she said handing it over to him. He looked inside the bag and inside was three fresh anpans.
"She also said you need to," Naho said looking up at him with a smile, " 'learn to be quiet'." He wanted to say something about that comment, but he was just happy to have such a kind gesture directed towards him. He rarely got any, even when he was human.
"These are mine," he glared towards Inosuke, noticing he had already eaten nearly half of the onigiri, "you have your treats; these are mine so don't touch them." Inosuke seemed lost in his own happy little world so he didn't see the need to jump start his brain. He looked down at the girls. They seemed really upset to see the three of them go, they were barely holding back tears.
"You're all heartbroken to say goodbye to me, aren't you," Zenitsu said to them, feeling bad making small children cry at leaving them behind, "I can stay behind if you want!"
"Mr. Demon, please learn to be more considerate and respectful to girls, okay?"
"...Right," he replied quietly. He wasn't going to argue with small children on how totally respectful he was with girls...totally respectful and considerate... But he was still slightly going to miss...some aspects about this place...some.
"But, you do feel a little sad that I'm leaving...don't you?"
"We are not sad," they all said at the same time with the brightest smiles he'd ever seen.
Well...dammit...
They just entered town after walking literally the whole day. Now at first it wasn't so bad, he was grateful to finally move around on his own again; no chains, no collars, no wisteria oils. Absolute heaven. Even Inosuke noticed the extra bounce in his steps but within the second hour he was back to his usual whining antics.
"I'm glad to be back outside," Inosuke suddenly said out loud, "I was getting sick of being inside all day. Also those stupid shirts they made us wear were stupid and pointless!"
"I'm glad to be back and well again too," Tanjiro said, "hopefully we don't get too hurt again."
"Same here," Zenitsu mumbled, "I don't want to go back there ever again."
"Why not," Tanjiro asked. Zenitsu was about to say something when Inosuke beat him to the punch.
"You are so stupid Tambasko," he laughed looking at him, "I thought Menastu was the dumb one." They both looked offended over at Inosuke but he was suddenly distracted by something, even looked a bit frightened. For Inosuke to be instantly frightened it must have been something terrifying.
"This way," he mumbled to the others, leading the charge, The two of them ran behind him, wondering what it could be as it was still sunset. When Zenitsu saw that Inosuke ran into the train station, his heart sank...was the demon already attacking somehow?
"Wh-Wha..." Inosuke seemed absolutely frightened by what he was seeing, man he didn't want to see what ever he was looking at! It was probably the most terrifying, horrible...stupid, idiotic moron in all of creation...
"What the hell is this creature," Inosuke said shouting towards the Mugen Train. He was absolutely intimidated, literally shaking from the train.
"I-I bet this thing is the lord of the land," he said looking up and down the train's length, "the master of the whole land!" He was running down the platform, getting strange looks from other train passengers as he was sizing the train up.
"See how long it is?! It's so intimidating! Make no mistake, I wouldn't blame you Besedmsu for being scared this time; even I'm a little frightened! So thrilling! It looks asleep right now," he said looking up a the front, "but don't let your guard down!"
"No," Zenitsu said with a sigh, "it's a train. Don't you know about trains?" He suddenly felt his mask painfully shoved into his face.
"Shush! You'll wake it up with all your whimpy screaming Sematsu! Don't worry, I'll lead the charge," he said, his hands were slightly quivering as they hovered over his swords, "just stay behind me and..."
"Wait Inosuke," Tanjiro said sternly, ('Oh, thank God,' thought Zenitsu 'please talk some sense into this idiot please Tanjiro.') "this might be the guardian deity of this land, so you shouldn't suddenly attack it."
"Nooo..." Zenitsu moaned, "it's a traiiiin. A train," he said to Tanjiro, "don't you understand what the word 'train' is? It is a vehicle that transports people from one point," he said pointing to an imaginary spot, "to another," pointing to another spot. You two are true country bumpkins, I swear!" Tanjiro looked confused.
"So...this is what the crow was talking about when it said 'train'," he said looking at the passenger cars. Zenitsu was about to explain it a bit better when they both notice that Inosuke had backed away and was already loudly charging the train car. He rammed the car, cracking the wood siding.
"Stop it," screeched Zenitsu, "you're embarrassing us!" There was a loud whistle of the train station guards and Zenitsu's heart stopped.
'Nooooo look what you did you stupid dumb-stupid dumb, dumb idiotic dumb-dumb.'
"What are you doing," shouted one of them as they ran towards them, but they suddenly stopped when they realized something.
"Hey, they've got swords," the other said looking at his partner, not wanting to approach them without weapons themselves, "and two of them are wearing masks!"
"The Police," the other said, "call the police!"
"No good," Zenitsu said grabbing Tanjiro by the collar of his shirt and Inosuke by the scruff of his pants in a total panic, "no good, no good!" He sprinted away nearly bowling people over in his rush to get away...he was experiencing a bit of childhood trauma when he was little running from the police, he was a easy person to pin things on for some reason or another. Thankfully he was very quick and was able to run away enough to hide from them to loose them, then setting down Tanjiro and Inosuke (he forgot he was carrying them) and was going to give Inosuke a piece of his mind!
"You stupid dumbass," he screeched, "thanks to you we went through hell! Say you're sorry!"
"Why," he said sitting down on the ground, "why should we even have to run from the police in the first place?"
"The Demon Slayers aren't officially recognized by the government," Zenitsu said, "so we actually can't go around in public carrying our swords openly. They also wouldn't believe us," he straightened up and placed his hands on his hips, "not many people in the larger cities believe in demons anymore, because demons rarely attack in larger cities. The last time a 'public' attack was documented was over four hundred years ago, and when one happens to be in a large city," he shrugged sadly, "it's often mistaken for a human killing."
"But," Tanjiro said looking at him, "I've had my sword out in public the entire time I've been a Slayer—"
"Out in the country," Zenitsu corrected, "we're now going in the larger cities...they won't tolerate it Tanjiro...I don't even want to think about what they'd do if they saw me out of my clothing."
"They'd laugh," Inosuke quipped.
"YOU-KNOW-WHAT-I-MEAN-DUMBASS," he yelled down at him, "so it's probably best we hide our swords behind our backs for now."
"I suppose," Tanjiro said.
"Look," Zenitsu said over at the two of them as they started hiding their swords, "since you two don't know two things about trains, I'll go buy our tickets,"
"Tickets," asked Tanjiro.
"Exactly," replied Zenitsu, "I'll be back...just try not to set anything on fire till I get back, okay?" As he left, Inosuke looked up at Tanjiro.
"He's grumpy again."
"I know," Tanjiro said, "just don't point out why, you know he gets more irritated and really embarrassed about it."
"But it's fun," Inosuke said chuckling.
"Just don't," he said, "I don't think there's going to be any way to fix it on this mission."
As he waited in line for the tickets, he was getting nervous. Not only were people giving him odd looks for the mask he was wearing, but some people were looking very hard, like they were trying to look past the mask. Not only that, God the noises he was making was so fucking embarrassing. Finally it was his turn to get the tickets. Before he could even ask for the train he wanted and the number of tickets, the ticket seller instantly said:
"Could you please remove your mask sir," she said politely, "it's the station's policy."
'Oh-God-oh-fuck-oh-God-'
He nodded, thanked whatever God could possibly be listening to him right now that it was dark enough that he could remove his masks and not give people trauma by not instantly bursting into flames. He removed his hat and took off his wooden mask, then his baklava hood and waited for the inevitable screaming.
"Wow," she said looking at him, "that is some impressive makeup work! Are you with a Kabuki Theater Group?" He looked dumbfounded at her but took the opportunity to quickly get away from all the strange staring.
"YES," he loudly said, "It's MAKEUP! Very...VERY clever MAKEUP. Uh...Three tickets on the Mugen Train please."
"Here you go," she said handing him the tickets, "but you might want to hurry."
"Why?"
"Your train is leaving," she said, looking at the schedule, but he wasn't listening to her because he could hear Inosuke screaming about challenging 'the master of the land'. He turned to look and saw that the train was literally leaving the station.
"Ah-WAIT," he yelled out, "WAIT FOR ME! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!" He ran fast to catch back up with the train, he could see that Tanjiro and Inosuke were already on the train. He wasn't sure how he managed to catch up to it, but he somehow did. He was just worried that he'd be left behind again. That had happened too many times in his life to count.
"Tanjiro! Inosuke!" he called out after jumping onto the train, some part of him still worried that he'd be left behind.
"Zenitsu," Tanjiro called out grabbing his wrist, thankfully Inosuke grabbed the other one and both boys pulled him onto the train and he just sort of puddled onto the floor of the caboose.
"Took your time minion," Inosuke said, "I would have gotten those ticket—"
"I-had-to-wait-in-line-boar-face," he said curling up into a ball, "and-everyone-was-staring-at-me-andyoualmostleftmeeeee~"
"It's alright now," Tanjiro said pulling him up, "you made it and we're all together."
"We're going so fast," Inosuke said completely giddy, "look how fast we're going!" Tanjiro was also looking at the landscape with awe, he'd never seen the land go by so fast before. Zenitsu had been on trains before so this was nothing new for him and his heart was still beating fast from the fear of being left behind, but listening to the others songs as they watched the landscape wiz by, it started to relax him. He stood up and watched the landscape with them in silence, even though they were on their way to a scary mission it was the moments like this he realized he really liked the best.
This peace was...nice. He wished it could last forever.
Dark Pink Roses are used to express thankfulness to the deceased.
Some of the reason why this chapter took so long was I was working out a way to "discipline" Shinobu in a way that would satisfy not only you readers, but myself because in my original draft...no disciplinary actions would ever take place. To be honest...I was legit shocked how EVERYONE hates Shinobu in this story. I didn't mean to write her in such a dislikable way...I tried to write her as close to her original character and how she would most likely treat a 'main character' demon...she'd kill it. Plain and simple. It's gonna take time to write her "redemption arch" if there's ever gonna be one lol, she's a bitch what can I say~
Tanjiro's 'watching the walls swirl' was based off of when I had a near death flu virus, I was...extremely sick...damn near died and was hallucinating that the walls were melting...trippy stuff. The wood grain was just like a river flowing...it was so weird.
The anpan scene and the Kanao scene where the VERY first idea I had while coming up with this story, however the Kanao scene was more...dark originally. It was actual force feeding and it was super gross and torturous so thankfully as the story has evolved an as the characters have...that went away. :D *much to the delight of Zen he's had enough of this shit*
I finally wanted to address the Ubuyashiki - Oyakata-sama thing in this chapter. I know that everyone in the manga/show calls Ubuyashiki " Oyakata-sama" (it means a master or a boss basically) but when writing this, it genuinely confused me so I left it out, but I did want to eventually add it it since it is a very respectful term they use to address him...so why not have the most likely character call him that?
Tanjiro is a dumb pile of rocks and still has no idea what fully happened to Zenitsu...but Inosuke has a pretty good idea what went down. He's really good at reading body language, and knows something happened with 'his tummy' that night, and that was probably a main factor of 'him being stupid'. Inosuke is stupidly-smart. :) He's just waiting for Zenitsu to talk about it if he wants to.