I do not own Kimetsu no Yaiba or MHA.
Chapter 1
The lengthy streets of Chiba were packed with people walking to and from their destinations, with people leading their lives as normally as they always have been. Tall street lights shone bright over the streaming traffic, and tall buildings could be seen everywhere as far as the eye could see. Breaths were visible in the chilly night air, as a sense of peace was instilled within all of the civilians, because they knew if conflict ever arose, a nearby hero would easily come and save the day.
When living in a society full of quirks, heroes, and villains, 'peace' is a loose word. 'Peace" is something that can be broken pretty easily, as quick as a blink of an eye.
A resounding explosion went off near a bank entrance. Many people were blown off of their feet from the impact, and fell on the road. Cars swerved around, nearly crashing into each other with their sirens wailing in the thin air. Chaos ensued as all civilians in a half-mile radius around the explosion started panicking their heads off, running into the streets without a care of where they were going. At the bank entrance, a large figure stood up with a steel rod about 10 meters in length in one hand, and what looked to be a heavy gun of some sorts in the other. He wore a mask with the face of a lion painted on it. He climbed to his feet and started laughing maniacally.
"HAHAHAHAHAAA! NO ONE CAN STOP ME WITH THIS QUIRK THAT I HAVE! BRING IT ON HEROES!"
The yells of the civilians running away could be heard from a long ways away, and some of the words could even be heard over the chaos.
"What's happening?"
"RUN!"
"Where the hell are the heroes?"
"SOMEONE CALL A HERO!"
On the exterior, the man was simply crazy, and without a care of what his actions were causing. On the inside, it was a completely different story.
Good, I announced myself so all of the heroes' attention will be on me, no one will notice anything inside the bank. While the heroes 'take care' of me, all the money will be up and gone.
"Seriously, no one? Hahaha! Where the hell is all that 'bravery' now?"
While the villain was attempting his distraction from the bank onto him, a large dragon-like figure that was camouflaged by the clouds was flying towards the scene as fast as she could. While she was in her dragon form, her eyesight could be on par with that of a hawk's, however, that didn't change the fact that it would take a while to get to the scene.
It's going to take me about 10 minutes to get there, 7 if I really push it. I have no idea how much damage the villain might cause.
She scanned the area around the destruction zone. She didn't see anyone close by; they had all fled thankfully. There was no one around that would prevent her from using more of her strength. That was the one downside of the Dragon Hero Ryukyu's quirk. While it was extremely powerful, it was also easy to destroy large amounts of area, and cause millions of yen in property damage. She had to learn to limit her power so she wouldn't destroy everything in sight.
As she was monitoring the movements of the villain and everything around the area, she noticed something among the alleyways. It was running… towards the villain? A hero? No, it looked way too young to be one.
Why is a little boy trying to play the hero now, especially against someone of this caliber? He's just going to get himself killed!
Feeling out of breath, dizzy, and with arms feeling like lead, Tanjirou awoke with his face firmly planted on the floor. He opened his eyes to meet the night sky, which took whatever he had left of his breath away. The full moon was shining bright, which illuminated the stars around it. It was, to sum it up in a few words, a beautiful sight.
Where is this place?
He didn't recognize any of the area around him at all. Tall buildings blanketed the alleyway he was in with shadow, and they were of unusual design, ones completely different then he was used to.
Then, the memories hit him. His talk with Yoriichi, new worlds, and that agonizing swim. That had to have been at least 5 hours of swimming, so much more than he could handle. Even then, it was still crazy to know about the existence of a completely different world. For as big as his old one was, how was there even enough to fit a completely different one? Not to mention Yoriichi had said 'more'. How many more were there?
I'm panicking. I need to calm down. I'm here now, that's all that matters. Nezuko is safe.
New world, new beginnings. He had to leave all of his problems in his other world behind him, and focus on what was right in front of him. At least one thing is good in this world; there were no demons. No immortality, no absolute regeneration, and no Muzan. Definite plus.
He went to move around, but he realized he was still lying down on the floor. He picked himself off the floor, ignoring as much of the pain in his limbs as he could, and stood up. Right off the bat, he could tell something was amiss. Everything looked so… tall. He looked down, and he saw that the floor was frighteningly close to him.
"Did everything get so much taller, or did I get shorter?" He accidentally questioned out loud.
Something was off about this world, or something was off about him. Anyway, it was the dead of night, and he was alone in the middle of nowhere. Right now, his main priority was to find a mirror so he can check his current condition.
"Total Concentration Brea- gah!" He clutched his chest, his lungs started to burn and he started to feel light-headed. That wasn't a good idea. Wait, with all of the training that he had to endure at the Butterfly Estate, even if he was in a terrible condition, he should still be able to use Total Concentration Constant….
Something is horribly wrong. Even during the fight with Akaza, where he had been beaten within an inch of his life and beyond, he never felt his Total Concentration waver like this.
When the burn had started to subside, he got back up, and started to run. What was the closest thing he could find that was close to a mirror? Something was brutally different. He wasn't himself. Where was the closest thing to a reflection…
There! A puddle! That will do!
He ran towards the large puddle, and looked at his reflection from above it. And for the third time in the past 6 hours, he saw something that should have been by all means completely impossible.
What was staring back at him was not an 16 year old 'man', as Sabito had claimed him to be, but a young boy. Chubby cheeks, bright red eyes, and tiny, tiny arms. It looked like he was 8 or 9 years old at this time.
How the hell? Oh wait, I'm in another world. Why am I surprised?
It wasn't like Tanjirou to be sarcastic, but with everything that happened to him that day, it was probably to be expected that he was acting a little out-of-character. He was a little boy now, what could he do about it? That somewhat explained why he couldn't use Total Concentration well anymore. Since he was only a young boy, his lungs were way more fragile than they have ever been in his time as a Demon Slayer. His strength might also have been lacking quite a bit, because he had lost all of the training that he did with Urokodaki.
It would be a pain to re-do that year of hell he had gone through, but it had been fundamental for his many exploits. If he wanted to help people here and be a proper 'hero', he had no choice but to break his body again.
There was one main issue, however. Now that he had discovered the problem with his body, what can he do about it? What does he do now?
While he was continuing his inner monologue and thought organization, he heard a resounding explosion that shook everything around him. The trees started to shake, tilting to a dangerous angle. Windows shattered, its shards flying everywhere. The dirt rose up, and started to blow like sand in a sandstorm. Tanjirou was nearly blown off of his feet, but this was next to nothing compared to the shockwaves sent from the force of Akaza's punches. He firmly put his back foot down, and put his hands in front of his face to stop the wind and sand from streaming into his unprotected eyes, and feeling his footing being a lot more secure.
Then, the screaming started. Strained yells assaulted his ears. It was so loud, he thought his ears might burst.
Even at night, there are this many people out? More importantly, what caused that explosion?
He started to run. He ran towards all of the noise, which was just getting louder and louder, and ignored his lungs screaming at him to stop. Even at his fastest speed, he was nowhere the speed he once had. His stamina would drop without accomplishing anything.
If you master the correct way to breathe, you'll be able to dance forever, too.
His father's words rang in his mind as he ran. If he used Dance of the Fire God without his Nichirin sword, and without using any of the actual styles, then he could keep running longer. If his dad could dance in the blistering cold with fragile lungs for hours on end, then he could use it to run a bit longer.
"Dance of the Fire God!"
He took a sharp yet full breath through his mouth, and exhaled, and he increased his speed. It was still slow, but it was better than nothing. He was running through the maze of alleyways, guided only by the screaming of the civilians, which seemed to get even louder. That's when he heard a deep, crazed voice.
"HAHAHAHAHAAA! NO ONE CAN STOP ME WITH THIS QUIRK THAT I HAVE! BRING IT ON HEROES!"
The voice was quite loud, loud enough so that anyone in the vicinity could hear it loud and clear, and pinpoint its location. There was no logic behind why someone would do that, it would only make their plans a lot harder, but Tanjirou didn't have the luxury to worry about what he might have been thinking.
It's just ahead! I'm almost there!
The cold wind once again hit his face as he found the exit to the alleyway and ran outside. He stepped outside, and stopped to catch his breath. However, when he looked down, and put his hands on his knees, he saw the charred remains of concrete. Tanjirou looked up and took in all of his surroundings, and his eyes widened.
Buildings decimated. Cars flipped over and fire coated nearly every piece of material that was flammable. Everywhere he turned his head, there was destruction. All except one, tall building, with the words "Chiba City Bank" over it. A tall man with a lion's mask, carrying a pole on one hand and something on his other hand that resembled Genya's Nichirin Revolver.
He had heard the crunching of Tanjirou's feet as he came out of the alleyway, and turned his gaze towards him. "This isn't a place for children like you, boy. I suggest you run as far away from here as you can."
During his time as a Demon Slayer, he had seen many horrific things, things that someone of his age nor in any age wouldn't and shouldn't have had to have seen in their lifetimes. He had seen heavily maimed bodies, some of his own family members, and of other victims of a passing demon. Even with those bodies on his conscious, he still took a level head, and fought, with everything he had. Whenever he came across something like this, thoughts passed through his head, that if he were there sooner, maybe the person would have lived.
During the Hasira Trials, when he was practicing with Giyuu for a few months, he had told him one night of the time that he was chasing Muzan on the night that his parents had been killed. He had told him that maybe if he had been there sooner, his parents would have been alive. However, Tanjirou didn't blame him, even after hearing the entire story. He had been in that situation many times himself, and it was something you had to accept once you received your uniform and blade.
You can't save everyone every time.
It was his experiences, experiences like these that strengthened his mental fortitude and his ability to keep calm in dangerous situations, ones much like the one that he was in now. Standing in front of an armed and dangerous villain, empty handed, and with nowhere to run. Every decision that he made could put people in danger. He knew that the chances of coming out of this unhurt and with the villain defeated were impossible. Even with all of this, what kept him going was the fact that the one in front of him was no demon. He was human, like him, and everyone else.
It was this thought that let him stand tall, legs firm, and his voice high-pitched yet clear as he yelled over to the villain. "Why did you do this? Why did you destroy all of this? You could have hurt so many people!"
Tanjirou tried to reason with him. He was used to everyone telling him in his own world that 'demons cannot be reasoned with', and 'they are too far gone to understand what being a human means', but not every demon was like that. Nezuko, Tamayo, and Yushiro were prime examples of this. Nezuko had been turned from someone who was dangerous to him, and was about to eat him, however with a few words, she was calm again. The power of words can do a lot, and it never hurts to try.
However, it didn't seem like it would be worth it today. The villain just looked at him, and started to laugh. He stopped and stared at him, right in the eye. "Now is not the time for a little kid to play the hero. It's also none of your business why I do what I do, nor is it your role to understand it. Now, leave and don't bother me. As villainous as I am, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to pound up a kid."
Tanjirou's eyes perked up and hardened while he said that. "The people around you were innocent. They had nothing to do with you! So what was the point of doing all of this?" he yelled, his high-pitched voice straining.
"You're still going on? Just get out of here, you goddamn wannabe. I don't care about what I did, and I don't have time for this!"
His widened eyes narrowed, his body was burning with anger. Blatant disregard for the lives of innocents, and being proud of it. Aside from the looks, and regenerative abilities, what made him any different than a demon? The only difference was that he could be stopped. Right here, right now. It wasn't something that he could get out of with ease, even with his experience, but he couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
"Total Concentration Breathing!"
Tanjirou dashed towards the villain, leaping over debris and pushing off it to increase his momentum. He ran directly in front of him, jumped and threw a punch straight towards his jaw. The villain, easily reading the movement, blocked it with the palm of his left hand. However, he was surprised at the amount of force that punch had delivered. He was expecting it to not have affected him whatsoever, but that punch had the force of what would equal to a regular adult.
He's not a normal kid, but that's fine. It doesn't matter, nothing I can't beat.
He saw the kid's leg swing up to try and kick him on the side. The movement was slow, so before it could land, he dropped the rod he was holding, clenched his fist, and thrust it into his solar plexus. Tanjirou saw the incoming fist, but with his right hand encased and his foot coming off the ground, there was no room to dodge. He was sent flying back, tumbling on the charred debris.
He looked down on the downed and sputtering kid and told him, "Stay down. I said it already, I don't want to spill your guts if I don't have to. "
Strong, but not enough to beat me. I put up a distraction for long enough. They said 5 to 10 minutes to unload the money from the bank. It should be time.
The villain turned around and walked over to the bank, when a large gust of wind nearly blew him off of his feet. He staggered, and turned around, and in his peripheral vision, he saw a large, dark figure in the shape of a dragon gliding over to his location. He regained his footing, and started to take a mad dash in the cover of a building, but he wasn't fast enough.
Crap!
The dragon raised her paw, and knocked him off balance, and subsequently knocked him unconscious. She landed on the ground, and started to shrink in size, all the way until she was a regular woman who looked to be in her early 20's. She sported blonde hair, a dark red qipao with a pale, green trim, and a green headband with 4 claws that covered the right side of her face.
She landed next to the villain, and checked to see if he was unconscious. Confirming that he was out cold, she turned her right arm into a large claw, which subsequently allowed her to form a wing on her back, grabbed the villain's back collar and with a sharp flap from her wing, accelerated and stopped at the limp form of Tanjirou. She turned her arm back to normal, and turned him over to check for injuries. There was a large bruise that was on the left side of his head where it collided with the ground, and his left arm was bent in a slight angle where he tried to break his fall.
Seeing his condition, she turned back to a dragon, picked both of them up, and flew over to the police station to drop off the villain and get the kid some medical attention.
All Tanjirou felt when he regained consciousness was a searing pain in his head. It felt like his brain was pounding against his skull, trying to force its way out of his head. He was still unfamiliar with this type of pain, because he knew that his head was notoriously hard. He had slammed it into Inosuke, someone who prided himself on strength and his body, and it had made him nearly pass out, and have a long lasting knot on his head.
He had only felt this once before, when he had first used Dance of the Fire God against the Lower Moon 5, Rui. The one time where he was forced to to far beyond what he was able to handle, and still got utterly crushed. If Giyuu hadn't been there, he and Nezuko would have both died that night. It was the first time he had felt that fear of death that made his life flash before his eyes. And then forced him past his limits.
But he couldn't do that today. It took one hit. One hit that put him down, and he couldn't do anything about that.
He opened his eyes to, as usual, a blinding white light that forced his eyes shut again. How many times does this have to happen? He sat up, and put his hands over his eyes, and opened them again so they could get used to the light. He blinked for a few seconds and removed his hand.
He was in a strange room, one that was somewhat similar to the medics that were in his home world. Except that this one looked far too….. He couldn't even describe it. Perhaps strange?
Wires were strapped to his bare chest, and a constant beeping sound was heard, matching the cadence of his heartbeat. His tattered Demon Slayer uniform, shortened to fit his current body, was holding on to its bare threads, with only it's pants still there. Taking his eyes off of his clothing, he looked around the room. A desk was at the corner of the room,with an assortment of tools made of metal sitting atop it. It reminded him of Tamayo's box in some ways. They had things that looked like her medicine that allowed demons to recover without eating humans. She had used it on Nezuko and brought her back to full strength.
Other than that, there was nothing else notable that needed to be mentioned, as he heard footsteps outside of a door. It opened, and an old-looking man fitted in a white gown, and had another strange item hanging on his neck. He glanced towards Tanjirou, and he noticed that he was no longer unconscious.
"Oh, you're awake, young man?" The doctor asked him. His voice was deep yet kind.
He hesitated a bit before responding. "Y-Yes."
The doctor smiled. "Ah, that's good. I must say, not many children such as yourself would willingly stand in front of a villain who destroyed 3 buildings in an instant, much less charge at him. I certainly am impressed at your courage."
Tanjirou only sat there in silence. To the outside, it seemed, no, it was extremely reckless on his part to charge him with what he had. He knew he was going to get reprimanded for his actions, but on the inside, did he regret it?
No. He had learned many valuable things that night. One, that he was absolutely no match for the villains of society with the state that he was in. He had many long months of training over him. Two, he had greatly underestimated what quirks were capable of. Even if his enemies did have human faces on them, that didn't prevent them from using their power at their leisure to get what they want. He still didn't figure out what that villain was after, and why he did what he did.
But then again, Yoriichi did say that there were people here that were capable of acting much like the demons that he was used to. He had ignored that, and thought that just because they were incapable of accessing a Blood Demon Art, they would be easy to stop. He didn't stop to think about his actions carefully, which led to his defeat.
"However, it isn't my job to discuss your actions. That comes next after this. First, there are your injuries to discuss. Overall, the only serious injuries present were to your head and leg, but with my quirk, it should be mostly healed by now."
It was true. He felt no pain in his arm, which had been used to throw him away, and had also hit the ground incredibly hard. He raised said hand, and felt his head. Despite the headache, which was even now starting to fade away, he felt very little pain there.
"On another matter, there is something more technical to discuss. While you were unconscious, which, by the way, was for 4 hours, we extracted some blood to test it, and figure out your identity. However, the DNA or your fingerprint does not match any of the records in our online databases. It is akin to you appearing out of nowhere. Now, there have been cases like this in the past, where people have shown up without any form of identification, and have sustained amnesiac-like symptoms. This is what we need to confirm. What is your name?"
He didn't understand some of the words that he was using, such as 'database', and 'DNA', however, he would need to answer the questions to avoid any suspicion about his origins. He had no idea how others would react if they found out that other worlds exist, if they haven't already.
"I'm Tanjirou Kamado."
The man had something that looked like a metal slab, which was shining on one side, and tapping it with his fingers on various spots. "And how old are you currently?"
This was something that he wasn't all too sure about. He definitely was between the age of 8 and 10 years old, but didn't know exactly when based on his height. He had grown out of this height after 10. He had to come up with a number, so why not between?
With a little external hesitation, he replied "9 years old".
Continuing to tap on it, he continued to ask questions about who he was. "Do you remember the names of your parents?"
"Tanjurou Kamado and Kei Kamado."
The doctor heaved an inward sigh. Good. If he knew the names of his parents, maybe he knew some contact details, or a location in where he could find them.
"Do you know any contact details, or house location?"
He had prepared for this question. Yes, he knew the location. On another world on a snowy hill that Muzan had all but destroyed them in. But alas, he couldn't tell him that.
"I've been living without them and on my own for a long time now." That statement wasn't exactly false, it had been 3 years since he found his family dead, and met Urokodaki at the base of Mount Sagiri.
"And do you know what your quirk is?"
That question caused Tanjirou to hesitate. All he knew were that quirks were one special power that everyone had, and that they can control. He definitely couldn't tell them that he had "no quirk" in a society full of people with them. He wasn't even sure if those types of people existed. He had to come up with something that he could pass on as his power. Water Breathing, or maybe Dance of the Fire God? Those were two options. But that wouldn't explain how he could push the muscles in his body to reach human limits with Total Concentration Breathing…..
Or he could say that his quirk was Total Concentration Breathing, and pass off the Breath Styles as a byproduct of those. That was how Yoriichi had come up with the Breath of the Sun himself. He controlled his breathing in a certain way that accelerated the processes of certain body functions, therefore allowing him to perform specific moves. He knew what he was going to say now.
Remembering what Urokodaki had taught him all of those years ago on Mount Sagiri, he told the doctor, "If I breathe in a certain way, it accelerates my blood flow and strengthens my muscles."
The doctor raised an eyebrow at this. "What an interesting quirk. Do you have a name for it?"
Total Concentration breathing was a tad too long of a name, so he decided to shorten it out. "I'll call it Concentration Breathing."
With a final series of taps, he finished and then looked up at Tanjirou. "Thank you, Tanjirou. I have some business to attend to at the moment. In light of what has happened, there may be someone that will come in and discuss the details of your current situation, and things moving forward. I or one of the doctors will come to check on how well you are doing, and will clear you. Have a good day."
The doctor stood up and left the room. Once he heard the door close, Tanjirou laid back on the bed that he was in, and let his mind wander.
Being a doctor at a hospital meant that not everything would turn out to be normal. It wasn't like you would find the regular injuries, treat them, tell others to be safe, and bid them farewell. No, it was a lot more complicated than that. Mitsuaki Maki, one such doctor, had dealt with many eccentric situations before. Everyone had. In his profession, he wasn't supposed to judge. However, with the current case that he is dealing with, he kept wondering, was it even on his job description to deal with a child that happened to randomly appear out of nowhere?
A nine year old boy named Tanjirou Kamado, red hair and red eyes, who has no signs of any birth records, school records, even the names of his parents are a complete mystery, wasn't on any public database or identification feature. He didn't even know who to call in order to take him home.
A beginner hero known as Ryukyu had brought him here after a villain showdown that happened in the middle of the city, which destroyed some buildings and roadways, and injured many people. No one had died, but other heroes shortly after it went down had helped and rescued the ones that were involved. The hero had told him that he confronted the villain, ALONE, and even charged at him!
He knew that most kids dreamed of being heroes with the quirks that they have, that they can come in and magically save the day, but they aren't fully aware of how difficult that really was, and why the heroes are so well-regarded and respected. They didn't know about how the world truly worked.
But this boy, he didn't even know whether to call him incredibly naive and stupid, or insanely brave and knew what he was getting into. Given his background (of absolutely nothing), he would most likely guess the former. He would assume that he had very little idea of today's modern civilization, and grew up somewhere in the woods, off the radar. The clothes on him fit that description. Torn, ragged, some even have blood stains on them. There were no signs of external wounds or scars, which was a good thing.
Wait, this wasn't even his job! This was a detective's job! What was important right now was that he did his. He had checked up on the boy, and besides his arm and head, which he had healed using his quirk, which used the moisture in his body to help repair damaged body parts of other people or living organisms. It worked on animals, however, it was limited to anything besides nerve and brain damage, which was a shame, but a good quirk.
After reparations, he had to wait for the boy to fully regain consciousness, and while he did that, he ran the various tests, and found out that everything in his body was back to normal.
As of now, he was walking over to where the very same pro hero who brought the mystery boy here had just returned from depositing the villain, and all of the other legalities that came with a villain attack. She stood outside of the hospital, outside of her hero costume, and was waiting on the doctor.
"I must say, Ryukyu, the boy that you brought here is certainly the strange one. A nine year old boy by the name of Tanjirou Kamado, parents names are Tanjurou and Kei Kamado, all of which are nowhere in the citizen database, blood tests, DNA, passports, or any legal documents. Says that he has been living without his parents for a long time, and has a breathing quirk, which makes him stronger if he breathes a certain way."
Ryukyu's eyes widened at that. That really was an amazing quirk that you could have. By simply breathing, he could make himself stronger. It made sense, at the speed that she saw him run last night, it made sense that it would be a strength amplifier. He was much faster than a regular nine-year old should be. And it would even get better over time.
Powerful quirk aside, it didn't dismiss the fact that his actions could be considered vigilantism. However, the full consequence of that would only be applied to an adult. Since he was minor, and not yet over the age of 18 or eligible to enroll in a hero school, he wouldn't get put in the full punishments. He would most likely be placed under a 7-day watch by a pro hero, typically a new one.
This was mainly because the veteran pro heroes are expected to be out on the field a lot, because they had the experience to deal with the tougher situations that often arise.
Hopefully the one that she had just handled was considered one of those 'tougher situations'. After all, she had stopped someone who could make any non-living object they can touch turn into a literal bomb that had the potential to shatter buildings. That had to count for something.
Breaking out of her chain of thought, she hastily replied, "Y-yes, that is an impressive quirk, but that does not excuse his actions. Is he cleared to be released yet? A hero will need to escort the boy to the police station to discuss what is going to happen to the boy."
The doctor clicked his pen and twirled it around his fingers. "Yes. One final check-up will be run and he should be good to go. It will take about 10 minutes at the maximum."
Good. She didn't have to wait long. She watched as the doctor went back the way he came from, and once again, started to ponder about the mysterious boy named Tanjirou Kamado.
What type of life does one have to go through in order to rush at a clearly dangerous villain, and yet, it seemed like he had no hesitation whatsoever. Was it arrogance? She didn't know.
But she would find out once the detectives questioned him about the situation. Her job was to escort the boy to the police station.
She sat back on a chair, leaned back and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. It was indeed one hell of a day.
The doctor had checked over Tanjirou one last time for injuries, and had cleared him to go. He sat up and stretched his arms and legs. It had been a while since he had last moved them, and to hear the cracks as he bent them sounded very satisfying.
He had been notified that because of the whole situation with the villain attack, he was going to be escorted to the police station, where they would ask him questions, and decide the next course of actions that needed to be taken.
Which was fine for Tanjirou, because he only had one thing on his mind that really needed to be done. He needed to get stronger, as fast as he could. The world was far more advanced than he had expected it to be, so he would have to get used to all of the differences. That would take time. All he could do at this point was to go along with what they wanted. Thinking about all of the inter-dimensional aspects of what was going on was going to drive him crazy!
He was led out of his room to a place near the entrance. They stepped outside and approached a car, where a tall woman who had what looked like metal claws across the right side of her face stood next to.
Normally, he would expect features like those from a demon, but he didn't smell anything close to a demon. The woman smelled just like a regular human. Can humans look like that here? Was this normal? All of these questions were racing through his head while he took her appearance in.
A man who had a blue suit and a police badge, one that looked completely different from the police that he knew, then answered some of the questions that he had.
"Since you will need some form of transportation to the police station, she will be taking you there. She is also a Pro Hero who goes by the name of Ryukyu, so it will also count as an escort of some sorts. Don't worry, you aren't in any sort of trouble, this is just standard procedure for situations like this." He spoke in a diplomatic fashion that was sharp yet calming in a way. He was used to a lot worse, because many of the Hashiras and other Demon Slayers were a lot ruder, namely Shinazugawa the Wind Hashira, Iguro the Snake Hashira, and Genya, who passed Final Selection the same year he himself had.
Wordlessly, he nodded, and got in the vehicle. The city that his world had was very different to what he was seeing now. For example, automobiles were still in the making, with a lot smaller and slower models being owned by only the very wealthy individuals, while the regular populace tended to go around in standard carriages, though that still cost a pretty penny. Here, there were roads designated specifically for automobiles, and they went a lot faster and it seemed like everyone had them.
Ryukyu spoke up from the front of the car. "Your name is Tanjirou, right?"
"Yes. My name is Tanjirou Kamado." He kept his voice to as even as he could, but it was hard, given how high-pitched it was. This was completely different!
"You might want to put on your seat belt," she told him. "You and I both could get into a lot of trouble if you don't have one."
"Seat belt?" He had never heard of that term before. Was it that black strap that she had over her shoulder? He looked around, trying to find something like that.
"Have you really never been in a car before? How have you lived this whole time?" She said, her voice laced with surprise. Was it really uncommon here?
"I've lived away from the city for a long time, as long as I can remember. Oh, is it this thing?" He spotted a black strap with a hook along the right wall of the car over his right shoulder. He grabbed that with his small hands and pulled.
She laughed, seeing the scene play out. "Yeah. Pull that down and put it in that red thing on your other side, near the edge of the seat. It should click in place." She watched as the boy pulled the belt to the other side, and fumbled with the buckle, until he managed to press the belt down into it.
Once he had got that in, she started the car, and drove on the road for a while, turning direction occasionally. It was silent for a while, until Ryukyu broke it by asking a question that she had on her mind for a while now.
"Tanjirou? You said that you have been living on your own for a while, right?"
"Yes. Ryukyu-san." It wasn't hard to know where the question was going, and Tanjirou knew that it would come up sooner or later. He had thought up a cover story while waiting in the hospital that wasn't exactly the truth, but not too far from it, anyway.
"Where did you live all this time? If you don't mind me asking, did you have a family home, maybe a place where you stayed?" She asked him, decreasing in volume, going to a near whisper.
"No, I don't mind you asking. I've been living in a forest away from the cities for a long time. I haven't seen my parents and family for as long as I can remember. I know that they taught me how to read and write a little bit, and we were living on a mountain. But one night, they were attacked, and a hero didn't get there in time."
He didn't go on further after that. It was a heavy alteration to the actual truth, but he was counting on the fact that he was at a very young age, he wouldn't remember all of the details from that night. In a way, there was truth to it. Giyuu hadn't gotten there in time the night Muzan attacked his home. His parents had taught him and all his siblings to read and write, and life as a Demon Slayer wasn't exactly filled with large houses and comfortable futons.
It was clear to Ryukyu that the subject was something that he no longer wished to talk about. So she dropped the subject and let the silence take over once more. All they could hear was the sound of cars flashing by and wheels spinning on the concrete.
I'm surprised Tanjirou even wanted to talk about it in the first place. Kids his age barely talk about anything other than video games and their quirks. I know I certainly wouldn't be able to handle something like that when I was 9 years old.
That itself spoke volumes of his maturity. Maybe all that time living alone made him grow up much faster than a normal kid would. She had seen movies during her school days of people that were grown adults living in isolation, and after a while of doing so, they lost all of their humanity, and turned into borderline villains.
Neglect and abuse was a huge part of the reasons why kids and adults both turn to villainy, and she had seen what his quirk had been capable of. She was glad that the boy hadn't resorted to that.
"Well, we are almost there, it should be just ahead," Ryukyu informed him. "Just sit tight for a little longer."
The car pulled to a stop on the side of the road next to a building that he presumed to be the police office that Ryukyu spoke of. Shaped like a standard warehouse, about the same size as Tamayo and Yushiro's hidden house back in his world's Tokyo, it had blue walls running on the three sides that were visible from the front, with a blue symbol that looked like a small fire was plastered on the front above the massive door that was constantly flipping open.
He had thought it would be a lot more intimidating, towering over other buildings, and have villains going in and out on a constant stream. In reality, it seemed like a regular building, people hustling in and out with similar types of uniforms that the officer at the hospital had.
"It looks a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be." Tanjirou stated bluntly, staring at the building.
"I get why people get that. The police do sound scary, but the people inside are mostly detectives, and they're pretty nice people. Now come on, the sooner we get this done, the better." The hero tried to encourage him, thinking that he was scared, but he was not. The things that could scare him these days were far and few, seeing as he charged straight at one of the most powerful demons in existence and actually lopped his head off. What was a police interrogation going to be compared to that?
With a hand on his shoulder steering him towards the entrance, Tanjirou and Ryukyu skipped through the door, and walked straight past the front desk and towards the back of the room. The man attending at the front desk looked up, but seeing the hero, he looked back down. She turned to the left, and steered him towards two people, who were sitting on a chair and whispering harshly towards one another.
Ryukyu promptly interrupted their conversation, letting them know she was here. "Tsukauchi-san, I brought the kid. He's all yours now."
The detective now named Tsukauchi looked up from his conversation, saw the two, and nodded at the hero. "Good job, Ryukyu-san. I'll take it from here."
"Understood." She turned around and walked back the way she came.
"She'll probably be waiting outside to see what will happen after this is over. Now, your name is Tanjirou Kamado, correct?"
"Yes, Tsukauchi-san. My name is Tanjirou Kamado." He had said this an awful lot of times already, he was getting a little tired of it. But it was his first day in this world, what could he do about it? No one knew who he was!
"You probably already know this, but my name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I am the head detective for this branch. I'm sure you are already aware of the reason why we are having this conversation, it has to do with the events that transpired not too long ago." Tsukauchi had got right to the point, and hearing the words that came from him, all Tanjirou could do was inwardly sigh.
What was all of that talk about not being in trouble? What else could this be?
"While I would like to assume that you are aware of the fact that the actions you took were noble yet highly illegal, your history suggests otherwise." The detective took out a paper that was nearly blank and waved it around.
Seeing the boy's confused expression on his face, Tsukauchi mentally berated himself.
I'm talking to a 9 year old kid, of course he wouldn't know what this is. He's so unlike one that it seems like he's a whole lot older. He isn't normally bouncy or obnoxiously loud as one would normally be, and I only met him for less than a minute!
"You wouldn't know what this is, but someone's history contains all of their info and personal records, such as family, home address, past schools, previous criminal actions, and all of that. The problem is that you have none of that. This isn't like it was empty, I mean that it never existed in the first place. No records under your name."
"Now, I could think of a few things that would match up to this case, but this is where you come in. If you don't know the answers to these questions, that is completely fine too, it would just help out with this whole situation that we have going on here." Tsukauchi really didn't want to have to do this to the kid, but he activated his lie-detector quirk, because he still thought that something was off here, like a gut feeling.
Tanjirou nodded, ready to answer the questions that came forth. He wasn't all too comfortable with lying so much, so, like he did with Ryukyu, he decided on telling a version of the truth that left out some other world-discrepancies that might come up.
Tsukauchi sat back up straight, put his elbows on the table, and leaned forward. "Alright. So, based off of what you told Doctor Maki back at the hospital, your parents names are Tanjurou Kamado and Kei Kamado. Yet, when we look up the name 'Kamado' in our databases, no matches show. So this begs the question; where did you and your parents live, if you all lived off of the grid?"
That was a relatively easy question to answer. "We lived in a wood cabin near a mountain that snows a lot during the winter. I remember that we traded a lot of charcoal for food during the winter, and we farmed the rest of the time it wasn't snowing."
Tsukauchi nodded to himself slightly. It did make a lot of sense if they lived on a mountain by themselves cut off by the rest of civilization, there would be no need for any records and the such. Yet, some of those were still slightly dangerous. In his line of work, being able to identify villains and civilians alike were of vital importance, and if they had no records in the first place, it would make it tough to do their job.
Yet, if they lived in the mountains, which the only ones he knew of were a long way away, and it took 4, maybe 5 hours of someone his age to go in on foot, what was he doing so far away from home? His quirk didn't catch any lies in his statements, so something must have happened to warrant that.
"Last night, you were in the city, and by the account of Ryukyu, the Pro Hero you were with a few minutes earlier, you came out of an alleyway and confronted the villain head on. If you lived so far away from the city, what were you doing there last night?"
How to answer this question truthfully? He wasn't sure he could. He couldn't just say that the progenitor of all demons attacked his family and he ran away from home on a manhunt to avenge his family and save his sister. He had to switch up some of the details.
He could change out 'demon' with 'villain', it made sense in those terms. Yoriichi had told him Nezuko was alive and back as a human, but that wasn't something he could mention here. He would give everything he had to see his sister again, but if he told the detective that he had one family member alive, things would get complicated.
"It was a few years ago, and my family was attacked by a villain. I've been on my own the entire time, and I traveled a lot, until I ended up here."
No lies there, either. Tsukauchi was honestly surprised. The boy had lived so long on his own, as dangerous as the outside was. He couldn't imagine what that was like.
In his head, he started to organize the information that he knew. Tanjirou Kamado, 9 years old, had lived with his family until they were attacked by a villain, with none of them making it out alive. He lived on his own with an uncertain amount of time, until he came into the city. Now, he just needed to confirm one last thing.
"When you attacked the villain yesterday, did you use your quirk?" He knew that the kid probably didn't know anything about quirk regulation laws and vigilantism, so he wasn't going to get a huge sentence regardless if he did. It would most likely be the standard 7 day probation with a Pro Hero.
However, Tanjirou's thoughts were a different scene altogether. He had told him that his quirk was Total Concentration Breathing, but he couldn't activate that yet without more training. He had used Dance of the Fire God to increase his stamina, otherwise he didn't use a quirk at all. He did mention that quirk usage was illegal earlier, so if he said that he didn't use it, then he wouldn't get into any trouble, right?
Besides, it wasn't even a quirk by the definition of one.
"No, I didn't use my quirk. Using it too much takes a toll on my lungs, and I was in a very bad state then, so I couldn't have activated it."
Tsukauchi's eyes widened. His quirk didn't pick up a lie, yet in Ryukyu's report, she had mentioned the speed at which he had approached the villain, she said it was on par with some Pro Heroes! Was it that he could match their bare speed?
The kid was powerful, that was for sure. He definitely would make a great hero one day. But that wasn't the issue at the moment. He knew that the boy didn't mean to do anything wrong, he had no idea about the laws in the first place! But he couldn't just do nothing. He couldn't just let him go, and let him roam around on his own again, that would be too cruel. He was just a boy.
Well, there was the vigilantism part. He was still a minor, and he did the 'act' unintentionally, so maybe the 7 day probation rule could be a good time for Tanjirou to get used to regular city life, and it can also give Tsukauchi some time to figure out what to do.
But which hero would he be with? The dragon hero was the obvious choice. She seemed to get along well enough with the kid. He would have to ask her if she was okay with that though.
He was lost in his thoughts, and didn't realize that Tanjirou was still there, waiting for the next question to be asked.
"Um, excuse me, Tsukauchi-san, but is that all of the questions?"
Tsukauchi snapped back to reality, and registered Tanjirou in front of him. "Oh, yeah, that's all of the questions. I still have to figure out what to do now. In the meantime, could you wait with Ryukyu-san outside?"
Tanjirou nodded, and went outside the way he came. Tsukauchi ran a hand through his air and let out a sigh. Today really was a strange day.
Thanks for reading!
