After getting shot in the heart and pulled head deep into the world of Demon Slayer by my love of none other than Uzui Tengen, I immediately came over here as I normally do to see if there were any fics. There weren't many so I took my chances in creating this fic.

Thanks in advance for choosing to read this and I hope that despite the tags attached, you end up enjoying it.

Before we begin, most importantly Demon Slayer and its characters belong to Koyoharu Gotouge.

Fuyume, Taeru, and Masumi belong to me.


'There's no doubt that this is the place, but I don't hear or sense any demons…' Tengen thought as he ran swiftly through a bamboo thicket, trying to locate the target for his latest mission.

Well…target wasn't really the correct term, as his crow Nijimaru had only given him the order to just come to this location as swiftly as he could. The hashira was just assuming that there had to be a demon present.

'Perhaps it's an extremely silent and stealthy one,' He couldn't help but crack an excited grin at his thought. 'If so this could turn out to be quite an interesting and flashy battle!'

He then stopped for a moment and stilled himself to listen for something, anything that could help him pinpoint it. There was nothing for a minute, and then there it was - the sound of faint panting and blood dripping.

'That panting sounds human…' Tengen concluded in thought, turning to face the source. He found it odd that he didn't hear it before but decided to go check it out anyway.

Swiftly he arrived at a small clearing and found a most curious scene. His fuchsia colored eyes scanned the area and located the demon quickly, discovering that it had already been slain…by the young female standing next to it.

One look at her and he immediately thought, 'She looks incredibly plain and unflashy, but her demeanor…there's something odd about it…'

Indeed, she did seem quite plain with her straight dark ashy brown hair and almost empty looking brownish-plum colored eyes. She wasn't wearing a slayer corps uniform either. Just a normal purple knee length kimono with the rest of her exposed limbs covered in bandages and a simple dark bluish purple ribbon choker around her neck.

Considering those points he doubted that she had even slain the demon, but she was the only one present and she wielded the only thing that could effectively slay one - a nichirin formed in the shape of a kusarigama*, colored as black as night with a dark purple tint to it.

Thinking on it now, Tengen felt like he had seen something like that nichirin weapon before…

"Oh! A demon slayer," the young woman spoke softly after she noticed him. "Was this demon supposed to be yours to kill? Sorry, I…needed information from him but all he wanted was to eat me, so I had no choice…"

He didn't hear a thing she said as he was more focused on where he'd seen that weapon before. Finally it came to him…although it wasn't exactly as he remembered. Still he decided to bring it up.

"That nichirin…" he suddenly commented and she instinctively tensed up in response. "Are you who they call 'The Reaper'?"

The brunette relaxed when hearing that was all he wanted to know. "No, that's my mother's title," she replied honestly. She then opened her mouth to excuse herself and make a swift exit but right at that moment a crow's cawing echoed in the area, interrupting her.

Quickly it descended and alighted on Tengen's shoulder, sporting a gold band and beads that matched his. "New orders from the Master!" He cawed. "The girl is to be escorted to Headquarters!"

The white haired male stared blankly at the crow for a moment, not noticing at all how the female tensed at the order. "So, there was no demon to slay? You led me here just so I could get this plain boring girl to Headquarters?" He asked and the crow nodded in response.

"Hey, I'm right here you know." She chimed in hurtfully but it fell on deaf ears.

"What is her significance? Why does the Master want to see her?" Tengen questioned further but the crow just repeated the order before flying away. He watched it do so and then sighed with slight irritation, but seemed to accept the order as he started to approach her.

The female immediately started to back away from him slowly in response. "Well, I think I've overstayed my welcome so I'll be going now…" she stated politely before quickly turning around, only to nearly run into him because he was standing in her way now.

She quickly glanced to where he was a second ago and then back to him while asking, "How did you…?" - she shook it off and tried to assert himself in front of his looming figure - "I'm sorry but if you could move out of my way, I've got somewhere I have to b-!"

Before she could finish her sentence Tengen had picked her up suddenly and hefted her over his shoulder in one swift motion, catching her by surprise. Once the brunette had regained her composure she started to struggle and wrestle herself free, but her captor's grip was far too strong.

She groaned loudly as she gave up for the moment, then crossed her arms saying, "Apparently you weren't raised all that properly, considering how rude and boorish you're being. You should know this isn't the right way to treat a young lady."

Unfortunately her light digs fell on deaf ears, as the white haired male kept silently walking at a steady pace. She sighed and considered resigning to her fate, but if she gave in and allowed this man to take her to see this 'Master', she might not have another chance at what she set out to do!

'This might be a bit reckless,' she thought, becoming determined as she continued. 'But I'm desperate, so I hope this works!'

The brunette then took in a large breath…and started to scream as loud as she could.

"HELP! KIDNAPPER!" She yelled out with all her being. "I'M BEING TAKEN AGAINST MY WILL! HELP!"

Luckily her last resort worked for her, as her captor came to a sudden stop. He dropped her down to the ground a little roughly but before she could run away he had her head in his firm grip.

"Are you stupid or something?" Tengen hissed angrily, looking utterly enraged. "Can't you see it's still clearly nighttime? Your screaming and flailing will attract any demons in the area! Do you really want them on our tails?!"

The brunette became angry in response, rebutting immediately with, "I don't care! If it stops you from kidnapping me then I'm all for it!"

"This is no kidnapping. I'm following orders, and if the Master wants you at Headquarters then I'm gonna get you there whether you want to go or not!"

"That's just it! I don't want to, which is why this quite frankly is a kidnapping!" The female argued.

The white haired male ground his teeth with aggravation, annoyed at how this argument was going in circles.

"Look, I don't have time for this. There's somewhere I have to go so if you'll let me-." the female started after a moment of silence.

"And where exactly do you have to go?" He interrupted with a skeptical tone.

The brunette was taken aback by the sudden question so she had to pause for a moment before answering. She started to but didn't get a chance, as he suddenly held his palm up to her face.

"Quiet. I hear a demon's approach," Tengen stated, seriously calm. "Stand still for a moment."

She surprisingly did as he ordered and he perked his ears to listen for any movement. Sure enough he could hear a bit of shifting dirt in the distance, a sign that something was slowly inching closer towards them.

"I guess there really were more demons in the area," the brunette commented softly when noticing the sound too. "I thought there was only the one. I shouldn't have come here in the first place…"

"You shouldn't have had that screaming fit earlier either…" the man added under his breath.

She instantly turned to him to make an angry rebuttal due to his comment, but the demon's appearance stopped it from happening. It shuffled into view, sniffed the air and then started to salivate.

Giggling, it wiped the liquid dripping from its chin and then said, "I've stumbled onto quite a feast. I can tell from that sweet ever so tempting smell coming from you, girl…"

Tengen started to wonder about why the demon would make such a comment but he had no time to, as it then suddenly made a mad dash straight for the female with no warning. The hashira reciprocated quickly as he reached for the weapons on his back but the brunette was faster to the draw.

It all happened in a second yet his trained eye saw it all. She used no known breathing techniques and made no sounds while attacking. With one swift stroke she beheaded the demon, leaving an odd chill in the air when the deed had been done. It was almost as if he had witnessed the grim reaper himself at work.

Tengen instinctively tried to figure out the inner workings of her attack, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by her urgent statement.

"It's not wise to stay here for very much longer," she said half to herself while trying to catch her breath. "I need to leave, fast."

She then began to stagger away as quickly as she could without waiting for a response. She wasn't going to be caught dead facing another demon that night.

He watched her for a moment but wasn't going to let her get away and fail his mission so he caught up to her in moments and scooped her up without another word. The brunette tried to argue against being carried again, but was instantly rendered speechless when he suddenly increased his speed so they could make a successful escape…


*A kusarigama is a sickle and chain.