Tanjirō's kindhearted spirit and cheerful face got the boys a single room at an inn. When both Zenitsu and Inosuke tried to book rooms earlier, the two of them got turned away from their haphazard ways of dealing with people.

Later that evening, when they all managed to secure a dish to eat together, Tanjirō announced that the Corps had notified him of a mission they were being sent on.

"But, Tanjiro, we just finished a mission," bemoaned Zenitsu as he served the other two bowls of rice. Dutifully, they both accepted the steaming bowls and the three tucked into their meal. Nezuko pranced around the room with excited humphs as the boys ate. It had taken a lot of restraint for Zenitsu to not follow in the younger Kamado's dancing steps. Still, he was getting sidetracked as he berated the elder sibling, Zenitsu exclaimed mushily, "Nezuko-channnnnnnn! Let me join you!"

"Oi, Zenitsu! Stop, we need to discuss our plan for tomorrow." Tanjirō said, trying to reign in the exuberant older teen with no success. He and Inosuke now were the only two seated on the floor as the blond and Nezuko chased each other around the room gleefully.

Inosuke, suddenly being annoyed by the extra commotion, whipped out his sheathed katanas and hit Zenitsu in both shins, knocking him to the ground. Nezuko skipped around Zenitsu's now prone form, ignoring the boy's plight.

"Thank you, Inosuke," Tanjirō complimented, "though I disagree with your methods." He pinched a slice of the pickled radish with his hashi and ate it before resuming his planning.

A clicking sort of sound broke the silence that the little group fell into. Three humans and one demon girl all looked for the direction at which the sound came.

"Where is it coming from?" Inosuke growled, angrily pulling at his dark hair in frustration. He crumped to the floor in anguish, lamenting about his inability to detect things in the cityscapes.

"Wait, shushhhhhh," Tanjirō attempted to hush the others. To his left, Zenitsu passed out from fear of the unknown, little bubble inflating and deflating as he snoozed on.

Inosuke, for no other reason than to be a troll, popped the bubble, triggering the slumbering Zenitsu to jump to his feet in a shock of light, hand lightly resting on the hilt of his katana.

Nezuko, unbeknownst to the rest, had found the source of the clicking and was gently stroking the top of the raven's soft head. She hmphed softly, waiting for the ruckus of the others to calm down. Which wouldn't happen for another ten minutes.

Once the two conscious teens finally calmed down, Inosuke was the first to notice that Tanjirō's demonic little sister was holding a weird bird.

"Oi, Kentaro! Your weird sister has a weird bird."

"It's Tanjirō!" He exclaimed in annoyance but still looked over at his sister. "Nezuko, where did you find that?"

"Apologies for interfering with your evening, but I was sent to inform you that your Kasugai crow sent a misinformed missive." The small, black raven began, its voice clicky and sharp on the ears. "I will inform the Demon Slayer Corps that the mission is cancelled. For the time being please take the extra time to recover and relax." The raven took flight from Nezuko's lap and flew out of the room and into the night.


AN: Originally posted to AO3 as a part of my inktober challenge. Possible chance of me expanding this down the road but at present that has yet to be realized.