^ Chapter 15 - A Test of Will ^
Muzan Kibutsuji, the infamous progenitor of all the demons that run rampant throughout Japan, terrorizing the human population and feasting on them at their own convenience. The demon nobody could ever hope to see because of how secretive and protective of his identity and location. Not even a single Hashira assembled there knew what he looked like, yet somehow, Tanjirō had managed to meet him face to face.
It was simply baffling, to think that a nobody had been the one to encounter and find the most powerful demon in the world, and to live to tell the tale afterwards as well. But that could imply something else as well, something that could lead to Tanjirō being called further into question and doubt.
"No, impossible!" exclaimed Tengen in disbelief. "Even when no Hashira has ever crossed paths with him?!"
Mitsuri let out a little squeal when she was accidentally knocked over by the larger man's bent arm as he turned to stare at Tanjirō in shock, followed by Kyōjurō, Shinobu, and the others. Even Giyū glanced at the pinned slayer out of the corner of his eye, their gazes making Tanjirō feel even more uncomfortable than he already was.
"If you met him...that could explain why you're a demon…" hissed Obanai as his eyes narrowed, his finger pointing at Tanjirō again before the Master shook his head.
"I can confirm that it was not Kibutsuji who turned Tanjirō into a demon." he said, the Serpent Hashira lowering his finger and looking up at the Master. He was expecting an answer, a proper one to how his damning accusation wasn't true. "I'm sure all of you would like to hear the reason why, but I can't tell you who because I would break a promise in doing so. I can be sure of this to you all, however...Kibutsuji was not the source of Tanjirō's transformation. There is another...one that is not a threat to us."
"Another source…" Shinobu thought as her gaze came to rest on Tanjirō again, the slayers meeting eyes for a brief moment. She gave him another one of her soft smiles, to try and reassure him of the positive side of things, and Tanjirō blinked once before he gave one back to her.
"Fine then! Regardless, what did he look like? What were his powers? Where did this take place?" Tengen demanded, leaning forward and placing a hand on the other side of Mitsuri, which ended up blocking her from lifting herself up by his large body. "Did you even battle him at all? Come on!"
Tanjirō would have been able to answer their flurry of questions, if not for Sanemi gripping his hair and shaking his head back and forth to try to get him to answer without realizing that was what was causing him to not answer in the first place. His vision was getting jostled around and he was wanting to tell him to stop too, but he was sure that wouldn't work either.
Sanemi started asking him questions just like Tengen was, like where his fortress was if he had managed to find it, what Kibutsuji was doing when they met. The more he shook Tanjirō's head by his hair, the more disorientated he became, to the point he was starting to get frustrated and bare his fangs. Tengen started to argue with Sanemi, causing more oil to be spread onto the fire that was beginning to get out of control before Shinobu clapped her hands loudly with a firm gaze and a stern expression on her face, causing both men to jump a little.
"Quiet, the both of you! You're acting like children, and this is coming from the second youngest Hashira!" she barked, Tanjirō gasping a tiny bit while Tengen quickly shut his mouth and Sanemi growled at her a little.
She gave him daggers back, bolts of lightning practically flashing between the two Hashira, before Sanemi finally relented and lessened his grip only slightly on Tanjirō's head. Once he had calmed down, Shinobu did too and huffed a tiny bit before returning her gaze to the Master. Tengen got up from over Mitsuri and returned to his normal kneeling position, the Love Hashira pushing up off the ground with a slight blush.
"Shinobu-chan when angry is so super cool...!" she thought, glancing at her for a moment before all the Hashira returned their attention to the Master.
When peace and tranquility returned to the garden, the Master nodded his head now that the little tirade had ended and they had calmed down. He thanked Shinobu with a nod in the direction from which he heard her voice, Shinobu smiling again at the recognition before she returned to a more serious expression.
Tanjirō managed to shift his gaze up after all the head-thrashing from Sanemi and saw that despite the ruckus that Tengen and Sanemi had made, the Master still had that same warm and caring smile. It was the smile of a father who just by looking at one of his children could tell them that everything was going to be okay, or that nothing they said or did could ever bother him enough to stop loving them.
"Kibutsuji has sent pursuers after Tanjirō. Though his purpose may simply be to silence him, it is my belief that he does not have knowledge of Tanjirō's demon heritage. Now that Kibutsuji has given himself away for the first time, I don't want to let go." stated the Master while maintaining his smile even when the topics he was discussing required the utmost consideration and care. "Shown here in Tanjirō in front of us, it's also not hard to believe that something's happening to Nezuko as well, something that Kibutsuji could have never seen coming. Can you try to understand, my children?"
His words once again sparked internal debate among the Hashira within themselves, and it seemed as though Tengen and Kyōjurō were beginning to lose some of their hostility towards Tanjirō. Giyū remained silent, as usual, and Muichirō was still as indifferent about the older slayer's fate as ever. Mitsuri and Shinobu shared a look with one another, the former smiling at the Insect Hashira as she reaffirmed her belief in the Master's wishes.
Shinobu returned the smile, and after much thinking and consideration, she made a promise to herself to hear and learn more from Tanjirō once there was time for a one on one conversation. Remembering the Kakushi, and who she had at her home that functioned as the hospital for the Demon Slayer Corps, she made a plan that hinged on Tanjirō making it through their little impromptu trial.
"No, I can't understand, Oyakata-sama. If they were human, I'd be okay with letting them live, but not demons!" said Sanemi, visibly shaking somewhat with frustration. Despite his brutish nature, everyone knew why he was there among them, he did care about humans, and he did care about keeping them safe from the threat of demons. "Not after all that we the Demon Slayers have gone through in battle! Not after so many people have lost their lives! It's unacceptable!"
Some of the Hashira glanced back at Sanemi after this, looking at the man as he kept visibly shaking somewhat from his emotions getting the better of him for a brief moment. Even the Master barely lowered his chin in a half-nod in agreement with the Wind Hashira's sentiments
Tanjirō could agree with part of what Sanemi had said too about those that had already lost their lives to demons, either by being a citizen who became their food, or as Demon Slayers that were killed or gave up their lives in the protection of innocents. There was no power over life and death, they can't ever be brought back.
He remembered the woman who he couldn't save in the village the swamp demon triplets preyed on, with the only piece of her remaining the little ornament that he had been able to recover. It gripped his heart as he remembered the sorrow that her would-be husband felt at the news of her death, and plagued him still to this day.
"I'm tired of talking about this...there's only one way to prove this, once and for all!" Sanemi thought as he grit his teeth, his hand dropping to his sword grip.
With a smooth gliding motion he freed his Nichirin sword from the scabbard, the morning sun glistening off its green-colored blade and tsuba. Tanjirō's heart skipped a beat when he heard the man's sword get drawn again, his head turning to the side when Sanemi had lifted up his left arm and leveled the sharpened edge against his forearm. One cut was all he needed to draw a thick glob of his blood out, the man's eyes shooting right to Tanjirō when a couple drops of his blood fell right onto the younger slayer's cheek, as well as onto the pebbles near his head.
As soon as the scent of the blood struck Tanjirō's nostrils, his eyes shot wide open and a sharp gasp escaped his lips when his body started to spasm and writhe, his heart beating at three times the normal speed. He knew exactly what this was when he felt a ravenous hunger erupt from deep inside of his gut, Sanemi's blood had to be the same as the boy's from the Drum House!
"D-Dammit...he has...Marechi blood…! It's even more intoxicating than the last time…!" he thought as he kept squirming and writhing, his eyes turning bloodshot slightly as he fought back against the hunger with everything he had.
Sanemi's lips curled up into a wicked smile as he and the rest of the Hashira watched Tanjirō, seeing for themselves the effect his special blood had on the younger slayer. After the initial shock had hit him, and he was starting to get used to the stench somewhat, Tanjirō looked straight into Sanemi's eyes and growled before gritting his teeth and forcing himself to stop moving so much, to the point he was only slightly twitching.
"He's holding himself back, even from Shinazugawa's special blood…" Shinobu thought in awe of Tanjirō's self-control.
Sanemi's smile wavered a little before he growled and pulled his arm away momentarily and stood up, turning his head to look at the Master for a brief moment as he clenched his fist and caused more of his blood to seep out of the cut, the droplets splattering onto the ground near Tanjirō. He grunted as the increased concentration of Sanemi's Marechi blood started getting to him again, his self-control again wavering as he started to knash his teeth with some veins bulging around his hands.
"What are you doing, Shinazugawa-san? What are you doing!?" thought Mitsuri with wide eyes as she looked from the Hashira to the struggling Tanjirō. "You're going to soil the garden!"
"Look, Oyakata-sama, I will prove it to you myself!" declared Sanemi as he swung his arm forward, flinging more blood from his wrist onto Tanjirō's face. "The sheer, true ugliness of a demon!"
"G-Gyaaagh…!" groaned Tanjirō as he closed his eyes shut and started to struggle and trash harder, his breathing turning ragged and forced as saliva started dripping down the sides of his mouth. "This is torture..! I'm going...to die from this…!"
"Sanemi…" murmured the Master, his warm smile fading as a result of Sanemi's brazen and rather disrespectful conduct.
Sanemi glared down at Tanjirō and smiled maliciously like a torturer would during his humiliation of a prisoner as he grabbed Nezuko's box and dropped it recklessly onto the ground in front of Tanjirō. While he continued to struggle against his urges and desire for human flesh, Sanemi stomped his foot on top of the box's wooden door and held his bleeding arm above it.
With another tight clench of his fist and forearm muscles, blood droplets fell onto the door and seeped into the box through the cracks and entry hole his sword had created earlier when he had impaled Nezuko through the shoulder.
"Oi...Demon...it's time to eat! Come on out with your brother…! Come sink your teeth into this!" he exclaimed with a wicked laugh as he sheathed his sword and used his now free right arm and wipe some blood away from the cut and hurled it at Tanjirō again.
"G-Gyyahg…" he respond with a painful grunt, his body shaking harder as he kept fighting back the effects that the blood was having on him. "N...Ne...zuko...d-don't…"
"Shinazugawa, that is enough!" said Shinobu, only to be given an evil stare by Sanemi as he kept dripping blood onto Nezuko's box.
"Shut up, Kochō! I'm tired of talking!"
Shinobu ground her teeth together and forced herself to calm down and keep herself from doing anything rash. Her eyes went back to the bound Tanjirō and she could see how much suffering he was going through while trying to maintain his sanity, from the way his facial muscles bulged and contracted from how hard he was clenching his jaw muscles. To the saliva that was running free from his lips like a waterfall, to the way his arms kept pulling and tugging on their restraints.
It was like Tanjirō was being made into a pig fit for slaughter, and it was utterly deplorable to watch one of their own act in such a way to another person. Tanjirō was a demon, but until any decision had been made, he was still a Demon Slayer too. Shinobu glanced at Nezuko's box too and she could imagine inside, Nezuko herself was under the same intense pressure as her brother was under to hold herself back.
Then sounds of loud scratching and moaning came from inside the box, loud enough for Tanjirō to hear, which made him try to lift his sweaty cheek off the ground and look up at the box. He could hear it, his sister's anguish from being met by the intoxicating stench and aura of Sanemi's blood. It enraged him, seeing how the Hashira was doing this, but with his hunger he kept fighting and beating it back with everything he had.
"Oi, oi, no need to force yourselves to hold back." Sanemi remarked with a cackle, looking from the box to Tanjirō. "Just show us your true colors, and I'll obliterate you both right here!"
"Nnnghh...nnkkknmkk...!" snarled Tanjirō, his jaw beginning to quiver as his knees kept moving and digging into the pebble walkway. He was salivating so much that a puddle of saliva and sweat had accumulated below his mouth, and his hands were repeatedly opening and closing with his veins on their backs bulging out like crazy.
It was getting to him, the stench of the blood was wearing him down, pushing him to a more feral state with each passing second. His mind was starting to become hazy and he could feel his hunger only continue to rise, and the drying blood splattered onto his face didn't help at all. He wanted to give in, to feast on the flesh of a human. To feel the blood gush into his mouth as he bit down and tore into a person.
"N...N-Nezuko!" he cried out again, his voice practically hoarse already.
"Shinazugawa, it's no good doing it in the sunlight." murmured Obanai from behind Sanemi, the Wind Hashira glancing back to see Obani cock his head lightly to the right with a sadistic flare in his eyes. "We have to go into the shadows, or the other demon won't show its face...you know?"
Sanemi's smile dropped briefly and he looked at the Master still standing upon the back porch of his home, bowed his head out of respect, and lowered his bloody arm to his side. "Oyakata-sama, please forgive this discourtesy."
Sanemi then grabbed Nezuki's box by the carrying straps and leaned forward, before jumping past the Master and the two girls standing beside him onto the shaded patio of his home. After landing he roughly tossed Nezuko's box a few feet in front of him, causing Nezuko inside to get jostled around and grunt when her head hit one of the wooden walls.
He then approached the box and kicked it once to bring the face with the door up and pulled his sword out again, before turning its blade downward and running it clean through the box and Nezuko again completely out of spite. Tanjirō's heart practically exploded in his chest when he heard Nezuko yelp out in torment from inside, his pupils dilating somewhat as his rage further added fuel into the inferno building inside of him.
"S-Stop it!" Tanjirō roared as he tried to get up, before Obanai was over him in a heart beat to slam his elbow deep into his back right between his shoulder blades. His chest hit the ground hard and he even felt his spine crack loudly when it broke, enough that it made Shinobu and Mitsuri flinch. "Gyaahgkkh!"
"Iguro!" exclaimed Giyū, taking a more active role. Again though, like Sanemi had done to Shinobu, Obanai glared viciously at the Water Hashira while keeping his elbow firmly planted in Tanjirō's back.
"What, Tomioka? The brat's a demon...this should be nothing for him...a broken spine never hurt anyone…especially not a demon."
"Come on out, demon!" exclaimed Sanemi, before stabbing Nezuko through the box again. "Come on out and have yourself a feast!"
By this time, he was doing this to not only provoke Nezuko, but Tanjirō as well, his aggression towards her as well as his blood still oozing out of his self-inflicted wound a dangerous concoction. And even after Obanai had broken his back, Tanjirō continued to knash his teeth and attempt to get himself out from under the Serpent Hashira's elbow. He was thrashing so much, from his own rage and his own hunger, that Obanai had to practically force his entire body weight through his arm down onto Tanjirō's back to keep him still.
He looked like a starved and ravenous animal ready to pounce on his prey, but with all of their eyes on him, Tanjirō had to once again remind himself of who was the top priority. He growled heavily and bit his tongue before closing his mouth, forcing himself again to swallow his anger and stop moving around so much.
"I-I can't...breathe…! All I can smell...is his blood! I can hardly even focus!" Tanjirō thought, his breaths ragged and beast-like. But he had to hold on for Nezuko, he had to ensure that he didn't freak out or lose control. "Stay...put...Tanjirō! You're the...eldest son…! Nothing is impossible for you…!"
"Amazing...he's using nothing but sheer willpower to keep himself in check, even when his sister is being mistreated like that…! He doesn't want to put her at any more risk!" Mitsuri thought while covering her mouth with her hands, her cheeks even turning a light shade of pink. "He's truly thinking about his sister more so over himself...incredible!"
After a third brutal stab, Sanemi's vicious grin was replaced with a cold scowl as he pulled his sword away and stopped his foot against the edge of the box again, this time using the tip of the blade to open the door by means of the ringed handle. He then flipped the door wide open and held his sword over his shoulder, his wide grin appearing yet again as he stood back and waited with everybody's eyes on him and the box.
Slowly, with heavy, labored breaths, Nezuko picked herself up off the floor of the box, faint growls coming out from behind her bamboo mouthpiece. The Hashira watched intensely without looking away as Tanjirō's little sister fully emerged and turned towards Sanemi, the Wind Hashira grinning ear to ear at the girl's pink slit eyes staring into his with a mixture of rage and hunger befitting a demon.
He then held his arm out again and allowed for more blood to drip from the cut, falling onto the floor between him and Nezuko. She watched every single drop fall from his arm, her body twitching with the soft sound it made when it reached its destination, her saliva running freely from her covered mouth down her jawline. Seeing her like this pained and enraged Tanjirō, since she was the most important thing in the world to him, which made it even harder for him to contain himself from both his hunger and his fury. Never before had he ever wanted to rip the head off someone, he never even felt such an intense kind of anger before, not even with Rui. But still, he must persevere. He had to!
"N...Nezu...ko…! growled Tanjirō as thick steam-like air blew out between his teeth. His sister's pained, ragged breaths were like sirens in his ears.
Both siblings were intoxicated by Sanemi's special blood, their eyes wide with an animalistic, ravenous appearance. Veins were bulging around their face as it took all of their willpower and beyond to hold themselves at bay from giving in, and even still, it was appearing as if it wasn't enough.
"What's the matter, demon? Come on." asked Sanemi. "I know you want it."
Obanai felt Tanjirō shift himself below his elbow, so he pressed even harder against his back, feeling his spine start to heal beneath it. This caused Tanjirō to breathe even harder and cough, making Shinobu feel even worse about him and frown again. Seeing him in such anguish made her feel as if she was partly responsible for the entire ordeal, and that she had to try and at least do something. So without fear or worry, she reached over and gripped Obanai's wrist tightly while maintaining her frown.
He gasped a little and brought his eyes up to meet Shinobu's, the two staring silently at one another as her grip tightened even more, to the point his hand was starting to quiver a little bit.
"Iguro-san, you're digging into him too hard." she stated, her voice soft-sounding yet easily a threat to her ally. "Ease up a bit, please."
"I don't know what you're referring to, Kochō, I'm only holding him down because he's trying to move. And besides, he's a demon...you want me to let go of a demon that's practically foaming at the mouth?"
Obanai's tone was as vile as snake poison, causing Shinobu to clench her jaw muscles and tighten her hand's grip around his wrist, even though she knew it wasn't going to do much because she was the weakest physically among the Hashira. Hearing Tanjirō groan again though was enough for her to not let up.
"Poor soul...such weak, pathetic children…Namu Amida Butsu." said Gyōmei with fresh tears as he and the other Hashira continued to watch Nezuko fight against the lure of Sanemi's blood.
Her entire upper body moved up and down with her breathing, and both of her hands were twitching violently from gripping them so hard that her nails had punctured her own skin, causing her own blood to drip onto the floor on either side of her feet. Tanjirō was doing the same, the back of his Demon Slayer outfit quickly turning red from the blood coming from his hands, while his body continued to spasm.
Tanjirō started to open his mouth, as if he were imagining taking a bite out of a human, his tongue sticking out and quivering as saliva dripped off it. Mitsuri and Tengen looked at the tongue for a few moments before suddenly, Tanjirō let out a grunt as he brought his jaw clamping back down shut again, just barely missing his tongue by a hair.
Then his eyes turned bloodshot, his mouth opened up again as he started to cry out painfully, his body shaking even further. The ropes binding his wrists grew taut and started to stretch as he pulled against them, his strained yell continuing to grow in volume. It seemed as if he was about to explode, like he was about to go on a rampage.
"Tanjirō-kun?" questioned Shinobu, her hand pulling away from Obanai's wrist while the Serpent Hashira raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly the ropes were shredded to pieces as he ripped his arms free from them, causing Obanai's eyes to widen in surprise and his body to get thrown off balance for a brief second. His arm was pulled up from his back momentarily as well, and before he could pin Tanjirō down again, his wrist was grabbed by someone else with a far stronger grip than Shinobu. Obanai glanced back and saw Giyū standing behind him, staring coldly down at the Serpent Hashira while keeping his arm restricted.
Now that he was free from both his restraints and Obanai, Tanjirō scrambled to his feet and charged right for the patio's ledge, seemingly going to attack the Master or Sanemi in the background.
"Oyakata-sama!" shouted Kyōjurō as he rose to his feet in a flash, Tengen by his side, the both of them drawing their weapons. "Look out!"
The Master looked down at the sound of footsteps approaching him, Sanemi glancing out of the corner of his eyes and watching Tanjirō, prepared to pounce and protect the Master as soon as he was lunged at by the young slayer. But the attack never came. Tanjirō willed his feet to stop, digging into the pebbles, and his hands shot forward to grab onto the wooden deck of the patio in order to stop himself.
His fingers dug into the wood so much that it squealed briefly before cracking and splintering in his hands, cutting them apart with wood fragments that made him flinch in pain before he sucked in a breath of air, his eyes focused solely on his sister.
"Don't give in! Nezuko!" he exclaimed, causing Sanemi to growl and fling his arm his direction again, causing some of his blood to land on his face.
Tanjirō grunted and growled as he used his arm to try and wipe it away, but its toxic stench has already done its job by reigniting his hunger even more to the point that he started opening his mouth with a quivering jaw again. Groans of pain and hunger came out from his throat as his tongue rolled out slightly like before, dripping with saliva. Was this going to be it? What finally broke him?
His fingers dug in deeper into the splintered wood, the fragments pushing deeper into his bloody palms and fingers causing his arms to shake, crying out again. His entire body was screaming at him to give in, the darkness in his mind almost taking over his mind, but his love for his sister and the promise he made to himself was enough to push back the desire, the want, the need, all of it. With fire and determination in his eyes he then snapped his jaw shut with such force he bit clean through his tongue, severing it in half and shocking his body's entire nervous system with pain in order to clear his head of any and all thoughts of letting go.
Practically every single Hashira reacted with a gasp or some kind of shocked expression to Tanjirō biting off his own tongue, with Shinobu and Mitsuri audibly gasping and covering their mouths, Tengen's mouth physically dropping open, Kyōjurō making a sort of nasal grunt while flinching, and Giyū and Obanai just staring with eyes as wide as the full moon.
"The boy bit off his own tongue…" Kyōjurō uttered in disbelief, his blade wavering a tiny bit in his hand. "Just to stop himself…"
"That's...pretty flamboyant...not gonna lie…" added Tengen as he closed his mouth again.
Both swordsmen eventually lowered their blades entirely at a hand motion from the Master, who's gaze had fallen to the nearby Tanjirō. They remained standing as a precaution to satisfy their own worries and lifted their gazes to Sanemi and Nezuko, the two still at odds with one another.
On the inside however, after hearing the voice of her brother call out to her, she was immediately taken back in time to the snowy forest where their home had been built, and where they had lived out their childhood. She saw visions of her family when her father was still alive, and of all of her siblings back when they were still alive. The smiles and the joy they exhibited, the laughs they had with one another as they played and chased one another.
The scene changed to the demon Nezuko, turning into the snowy scene of her younger self cradled in the arms of her brother, with the armed Giyū standing a meter or two across from them.
"She's my sister! Nezuko is different!" Tanjirō cried out to the Water Hashira. Nezuko's eyebrows twitched and her eyes widened, her grunts softening slightly as she watched the scene play out from what she had of her memories. "Though I don't know how it happened!"
Like snow flurries blowing away in the wind, that memory drifted away into darkness, before she was consumed with the light of the sun as she saw her siblings once again dancing around her in the middle of a blooming cherry blossom tree forest, the sakura petals fluttering in the wind all around them.
"All humans are your family." echoed the stern and gruff, yet overwhelmingly caring voice of Urokodaki as the younger Tanjirō walked in front of Nezuko again, a warm smile on his face. She felt her body relax and she felt a growing tranquility flow through her mind at her brother, and the care that she knew he gave her every passing moment of every day. Their family appeared around him, and soon enough dozens of unknown faces followed as well, until she was looking at the manifestation of the human race itself, all existing within the confines of her family.
"Humans...are to be protected...and saved. Never hurt them. I...will never...hurt them!"
The present came rushing back all at once, where her hands were still clenched tightly and saliva dripped freely from her mouth behind her bamboo mouthpiece. She was quivering lightly, and there was sweat still rolling down her forehead. Tanjirō was rooted to the ground where he was, fingers and hands still grabbing the splintered and cracked wooden planks, while blood seeped freely out from between his teeth and lips because he kept his tongue from healing. His eyes went from Sanemi to Nezuko, Sanemi to Nezuko, over and over again.
He was hoping, praying that Nezuko was able to beat her urges, to conquer them and prove to everyone that she was different. Biting off his tongue was enough to give a jolt to his body and enable him to overcome his hunger and anger towards Sanemi with his own will and self-inflicted pain. If she was able to resist, he will be too.
"Mmnngh...nnnghhh…" groaned Nezuko, her hands twitching a little bit more, before she clamped her eyes shut and grunted loudly through her nose and covered mouth.
With a sharp turn of her head, she looked away from Sanemi and his bleeding arm, shunning the opportunity he was giving her with disgust and denial. She wasn't going to let herself give in to her demonic urges, not now, not ever.
Sanemi gasped at her refusal, and he whipped his head to the side to stare at Tanjirō, wanting to see if he would react the same. With a body numb from shaking and from his hunger, Tanjirō's fingers dug deeper into the wooden deck before slowly he lowered his head, removing his gaze from the Hashira's blood, until his head was completely bowed as a symbol of defiance.
Both siblings breathed heavily, having endured through a trial no ordinary human could ever hope to match on their own. Even against Sanemi's special blood, they had beaten the odds. They had resisted. They had proven themselves, in that moment. They had won.
The Master, throughout all of this, had only been able to listen to what unfolded. He smiled a bit and turned his gaze back somewhat towards the Hashira. "What just happened?"
"The demon girl and her brother turned their heads in disgust. Although the girl had been stabbed three times and the boy had blood flung onto his face by Shinuzugawa-san, and despite Shinazugawa-san's flaunting of his bloody arm in their faces, both of them restrained themselves and did not bite."
Sanemi grit his teeth out of frustration at his failure to prove he was right, the only success he got being the success of making himself look like a disrespectful fool in front of the Master with the soiling of the garden and his home by his glove. On the other hand, the Master himself smiled a little bit at the explanation by one of the girls and turned his body back somewhat towards the remaining Hashira, letting them see his expression and the clear results right in front of them.
"So now, it's been proven that Nezuko and Tanjirō won't attack humans, right?" he asked out loud, to no one in particular.
Obanai and Giyū continued to stare one another down, before the former began pulling more on his wrist until the latter finally let go of it and freed him, now that Sanemi's little test had ended in failure. "What do you think you're doing, Tomioka?"
Giyū didn't reply, holding his stare for another few moments before lifting his gaze and kneeling in the spot that Sanemi left vacant among the row of Hashira. Tengen and Kyōjurō, realizing that there was no need for them to be standing or having their weapons at the ready, took their spots with the rest of their comrades as well.
"They did it! They won!" thought Mitsuri, feeling pretty happy actually as she lowered her hands from her face, revealing a little smile. "Amazing~!"
"Going so far as to bite off your own tongue...Tanjirō-kun, you're far exceeding my initial expectations…" Shinobu thought, making her own warm smile as she relaxed where she kneeled as well, feeling glad that the siblings were able to make it through Sanemi's rude test. Especially after watching him repeatedly stab Nezuko to aggravate her, she could only imagine how mad that made Tanjirō. "Amazing job, Tanjirō-kun..."
"Tanjirō."
Tanjirō's eyes opened and he slowly lifted his head up towards the Master when he had been addressed by him. He had finally allowed his tongue to start healing and he took his hands away from the wood, wincing from the wooden splinters stuck in them as he shook them out, before resting them on his thighs.
"I'm sure that even after this, there are some who can't accept either you or Nezuko." the Master stated, the reality not quite hitting Tanjirō as hard as it could because he was still under the intoxicating effects of Sanemi's blood. "You must prove it to them starting now. That you and Nezuko can fight as Demon Slayers...that you can be useful."
Still somewhat in a hunger-induced haze, once Sanemi begrudgingly covered up his arm after cleaning the wound, which had already begun to heal, Tanjirō snapped back into reality and he quickly stepped back and prostrated himself before the Master as a show of respect. His eyes were wide as he stared at the ground without moving an inch, and even after all of the pain he had gone through, he felt like his body could take off from the ground at any moment.
"This feeling...after all of that...it's like I'm floating." he thought, his body suddenly feeling as light as a feather. "Is it because of this man's voice that I'm feeling light in the head?"
"I was told of how you were able to kill a Twelve Kizuki...that alone, for someone in your position, is a testament to your training and your skills, your demon strength added in." stated the Master with a caring, yet firm tone of voice. "But that means it won't be any easier for you. You must continue to prove your worth with your newfound strength, once you leave from this meeting. That could include killing another Kizuki, as further proof."
The Hashira still kneeling in the sun, aside from Giyū, glanced at Tanjirō with shock yet again when the Master spoke of defeating another Kizuki. A Kizuki, specifically one of the Lower Moons, was no issue to a Hashira because their skill could equal or even exceed that of a Lower Moon. To hear about a Demon Slayer of the lowest rank that killed a Lower Moon was yet another surprise added to the long list of things they had been told and seen during this Hashira Meeting.
Giyū of course had been a witness to the aftermath of it, so it wasn't hard for him to believe it was the truth, and he had told that to the Master during a one-on-one talk they had before the meeting. For Shinobu, it was another question that she could ask of him once he was alone.
Tanjirō lifted himself up from his prostated position, his befuddled expression morphing to sheer determination as he fixed his gaze on the Master and felt his tongue reform inside of his mouth.
"Nezuko and I will defeat Kibutsuji Muzan! Nezuko and I will do it for sure!" exclaimed Tanjirō confidently while under the watched gazes of the Hashira. "Strike with the sword that will stop the chain of grief!"
The Master titled his head slightly and smiled happily at Tanjirō's determination and spirit, that alone enough to make Tanjirō feel even more lighter than air. That feeling was quickly turned to embarrassment when the Master laughed a tiny bit and held his hands behind his back.
"Even though you're a demon, which puts you at another level compared to other peers at your position, I'd still say you're rather ill-equipped to do so at this moment. So for now...why not stick with killing another Twelve Kizuki, all right?"
Tanjirō's eyes widened and he couldn't stop himself from blushing slightly out of embarrassment, a soft confirmation echoing from his mouth. Mitsuri meanwhile snorted again and covered her mouth, telling herself not to laugh over and over again inside of her thoughts while failing miserably to keep her snorts from being heard. Shinobu found herself giggling to herself at Tanjirō's embarrassment as well, feeling actually quite relieved inside by the lighter tone the once serious and potentially fatal mock trial had begun.
It didn't take long for Tengen and Kyōjurō to laugh a little as well, the latter's more modest than the Sound Hashira's, with Obanai rolling his eyes and Giyū and Muichirō remaining silent. Even the gentle giant Gyōmei cracked the tiniest of smiles and chuckled to himself.
"It goes without saying that the Hashiras of the Demon Slayer Corps have phenomenal skills. After training themselves to death, they have defied death, and they've also defeated Twelve Kizuki members."
"Mmn! A good attitude to have!" exclaimed Kyōjurō passionately while smiling.
"That is why Hashiras receive respect and preferential treatment. So Tanjirō, mind your manners when you speak, please."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"One more thing. Sanemi, Obanai...don't torment the young ones too much."
Obanai begrudgingly lowered his head with a less than satisfied expression, keeping his eyes off the Master while doing so. Behind the Master and the girls Sanemi sheathed his sword and held it firmly in his hand while taking a knee, lowering his head respectfully as well, while next to him Nezuko fumed at him in a rather cute manner inside of her box because of what he did to her.
Sanemi still had a somewhat bewildered expression on his face from how his plan had failed so spectacularly, but he knew better than to defy the Master's wishes and further desecrate his home with another scheme. So he bit the bullet and swallowed his own pride, choosing to listen and obey.
"As you wish." they both said at the same time, the Master nodding his head once upon hearing their replies.
The Master sighed in relief and maintained his smile as he turned to face the kneeling Hashira in the sun once more, his gaze returning to Tanjirō specifically for one final time.
"Tanjirō, we have concluded our business with you. You may step back."
Seeing her chance, Shinobu smiled happily and raised her hand from among her comrades even though she knew that the Master wouldn't know it was her until she spoke.
"In that case, allow me to take him into my house."
"...Eh?"
Tanjirō glanced over his shoulder back at Shinobu when she had spoken up and saw her smile at him, her smile just as warmth-inducing as the Master's, but in a more deep-rooted way that seemed to make it feel like he was back home with his mother. That nurturing, motherly feeling, contained within the body of a woman around his age, who also happened to be one of the strongest slayers in the whole Corps.
It was the aura of somebody that upon first meeting her would know that she could be trusted with taking care of them when they needed it, and that when in trouble she could be there in a moment's notice to provide her assistance. Because of that, he ended up returning Shinobu's smile to her as she raised her other hand up and clapped her hands loudly.
"All right then! Take them away please~!"
Hurried footsteps soon came after her claps, the female Kakushi member who had originally followed Sanemi into the garden to try and retrieve Nezuko's box back from him appearing with her boots in hand from seemingly out of nowhere. She approached the box and Nezuko looked towards her, causing her to freeze and back up one step momentarily.
She was unsure how to deal with Nezuko for a brief moment, but once she saw the girl meant her no arm, and looked actually pretty adorable all shrunken down inside of her box, she was able to overcome her initial fear and quickly retrieve her.
"Excuse me for cutting in front of you!"
Gotō came barreling back into the garden from around the side pathway like the female Kakushi had and slid to a halt in front of the Hashiras, first dropping to his knees and bowing towards the Master before quickly flipping himself around to bow to the Hashiras. Once that was done, he then stood up and snagged Tanjirō by the color and proceeded to hoist him up onto his back, to the young man's surprise, and take off running towards the opposite exit of the garden with him in tow. The female Kakushi, once she had gotten Nezuko secured inside of her box and onto her shoulders, then quickly followed behind her compatriot, almost stumbling over as she did.
The Master listened to their footsteps fade away, and once he heard them totally disappear, he turned his attention to his loyal Hashira, eager to begin their main topics for the day outside of Tanjirō and his sister.
"Tanjirō-kun will be happy to see his friends are safe and sound back in my home...and I hope this meeting won't take too long, because I want to find some things out for myself…" Shinobu thought once they were gone, her smile staying firmly planted on her face as she looked to the Master for their next topic of discussion.
"Now then, let us begin the Hashira Meet-"
"Hold on a second!"
Tanjirō then came sprinting back around the corner, pursued by the two obviously pissed off Kakushi that Shinobu had summoned to take him and Nezuko away for the meeting to start. The Master was actually caught off guard by the sudden interruption and turned towards the voices again, the Hashira watching as well to see Tanjirō skid back in front of them. He bared his teeth and growled a little while pointing at the kneeling Sanemi in the exact same spot where he was when he tortured Nezuko with his blood, the white haired Hashira glaring right back at him.
"Please allow me to head-butt that man covered in scars again! I gotta-"
"Shut up! Keep your mouth shut!" yelled the angry Kakushi members, beating away at him in their anger, despite it not affecting him much at all.
"I gotta head-butt him as many times as he stabbed Nezuko! Head-butting isn't a violation of the Corps rules, right?!"
As Tanjirō pleaded for him to get the chance to pay back Sanemi for the harm he did to Nezuko, the aloof Muichirō picked up a couple pebbles from the ground next to him, holding them calmly in his fingers.
All it took was one mere glance at the slayer to identify where to throw the small rocks in order to get him to settle down instantly. When he picked his targets, he readied the pebbles in his hand and waited for the right opening.
"Calm down! Stop struggling!"
"Let go of me!"
"Cut it out!"
Muichirō then flicked the pebbles at Tanjirō in quick succession, one striking him on the back of his head and the other to the side, his eyes turning blank white as he collapsed flat on his face with a grunt. The long haired boy tossed a third pebble up and down in his hand, staring at the knocked out Tanjirō still with that distant expression on his face.
"You're not allowed to interrupt Oyakata-sama." he remarked blankly while tossing the pebble a few more times, before he set it back down on the ground.
Mitsuri stifled another laugh with a blush as the two Kakushi began to apologize profusely to the Hashira and to the Master, each of them bowing at least ten times each, before Gotō grabbed Tanjirō and hoisted him up onto his shoulders yet again, this time with a far firmer grip so that he wouldn't try to escape, hopefully.
As he was carried away by Gotō and his partner, his eyes went to the Master when he heard the man say his name out loud while keeping his eyes facing forward.
"Give Tamayo-san my regards."
Tanjirō gasped silently at the Master's knowledge of Tamayo and her existence, but after a moment of thinking back to what he had said earlier about confirming that his demon transformation didn't come from Muzan, did that mean the Master knows Tamayo? Did he find out that she was the one to have administered him her demon transformation serum? Were they old friends?
He wished he could stay and ask the Master all of these questions, but he had already interrupted him once, doing so again could spell bad news for him and his sister. So he allowed himself to be carried away by Gotō, until they left the Master's home entirely.
Once he was certain they were gone, the Master closed his eyes while still smiling as a moment of silence overtook them, before some of the Hashira began to laugh or giggle with one another. Obanai, Sanemi, Muichirō and Giyū remained silent of course, although Giyū did crack a tiny little smile, while the other Hashira including Shinobu shared that tender moment of hilarity with one another before they had to focus again.
"The youth among us never cease to amaze me…" the Master said with a sigh, Gyōmei clutching his beads and nodding his head.
"Perhaps I was too quick to judge him, the poor boy is not as bad as it first seemed…it remains to be seen though if he can keep his promise."
"Mmn! He has spirit, and I could feel his determination!" said Kyōjurō with a nod. "In fact, I think it would have been rather enjoyable to watch the young man head-butt Shinazugawa!"
"Piss off!"
Shinobu giggled again at Sanemi's obvious irritation, but she didn't speak any further. Instead, she kept her thoughts to herself as she listened to the Master begin to talk with them about the purpose of their meeting this time around, her warm smile ever-present on her face. She was looking forward to when they would be able to speak together again, in order to make up for what happened on Natagumo Mountain.
A/N Wew, made it through! Had fun making Sanemi an asshole that's for sure! XD Also we starting to move along with you know what, and with the Rehabilitation (for Inosuke and Zenitsu at least) Arc up next, we're gonna have some good stuff coming up hue.
Not much else to say except THANK YOU guys for continuing to come back to this story, really means a lot to me! Hope to see you in the next chapter! Leave a fav, follow, and a review telling me what you think!
:D