In the mountains several miles away from the Kamado House…
.
As night began to set in, a young woman, looking no more than 20 years of age, black thin hair, and a figure that showed she came from a hunter's background, had begun to set a fire. As she did, she began to remember what happened 2 years prior to her situation.
.
2 years before…
.
As she looked at the two people standing before her, their clothes being made of a pure black cloth that seemed to reflect little to no light, with the kanjis of the word "DESTROY" imprinted on their back, the woman looked in horror as the man who was once her father, now a demon, had his head removed by a man with black hair and a mishmashed haori, with one side being red and the other geometrically patterned with green, orange, and yellow. Then as the other person on her left, wearing the same uniform as the man, with a butterfly hairpin, and a butterfly haori, just stood there as the demon was killed. Then after several minutes, the boy left the woman a message.
.
"Your father said… 'Live'." After hearing the demon hunter say those words, the woman began to cry as the two left.
.
As the sun rose, the woman realized that her father's body was no where to be seen, not even his bones were left. But even so, she placed a pile of snow over where her father was slayed and placed a slab of wood as a tombstone and prayed before leaving the grave site.
That interaction had left an impression on the woman, and because of that, she decided to never let any family, or person to suffer the way she did. She vowed to help as many as she possibly could.
.
Present Time…
.
Preparing to turn in for the night, the woman had just about fallen asleep, when her instincts kicked in telling her that there was danger nearby. Then in an instant, she grabbed her gun and pointed it in the direction of the supposed danger.
.
"Your quick on your feet." A feminine voice spoke.
"Who are you?" The woman spoke.
"My name is Lily. I just happened to notice your fire, so I followed it, thinking I may find someone to spend the night with before continuing on my journey." Lily answered.
"Come closer, slowly." The woman answered.
.
As Lily walked closer, the woman began to get a closer look at this new person's face. Lily's face was fair skinned, which to any normal person it would see like she hadn't seen sunlight her entire life. Dark mahogany red eyes, and light black hair. Seeing nothing that yelled danger from this new person the woman met, she began to ease up. But she eased up a bit too much that she ended up collapsing. Seeing this, Lily rushed up and grabbed the woman and laid her down on the ground.
As the woman woke up, she woke up to the smell of burnt out smoke. As she began to look around, she noticed the woman she had met, looking off into the distance. And almost like knowing she had awoken, Lily turned to face her.
.
"Good morning. Did you rest well?" Lily answered with a sweet smile.
"Good morning." The woman answered.
.
Walking up to the woman, Lily placed her index finger on the woman's forehead and closed her eyes. Then sighing, Lily spoke.
.
"You appear to have a low-grade fever. I suggest we go to a nearby town to see if we can find a doctor." Lily replied as she began to pack the woman's stuff.
"It's fine. I can…" But as the woman tried to get up, she realized her strength had left her body.
"Don't push yourself too much. It'll cause repercussions later on." Lily answered as she pushed the woman back down.
"Miss Lily, correct?" The woman answered.
"Just call me Lily. And what may I call you?" Lily asked.
"Yuki is fine." Yuki answered.
"Then, Miss Yuki. Let's get going." Lily replied as she placed all of Yuki's stuff in her bag and piggy-backed her on before trekking off to the nearest town.
.
An Hour Later…
.
Arriving at a town, Lily managed to find an open inn, and grabbed a room. As she placed Yuki down on the bed, Lily then placed all of Yue's stuff on the ground before leaving the room.
.
"Listen, stay in bed. If you don't, it'll be bad for you." Lily answered as she closed the door and left.
"It's not like I can move." Yuki answered to herself as she closed her eyes again.
.
Then for what seemed like a minute or so, Yuki felt the warmth of a hand touch her forehead. Opening her groggy eyes, she noticed a doctor checking her temperature with Lily right behind him.
.
"So, how is she?" Lily spoke.
"Just a low-grade fever." The doctor said as he stood up. "I suggest having her rest for a few day, then after that she should be fine." Then the doctor handed a back of crushed medicine. "That should help her calm down enough to rest better. Well then, excuse me." Then the doctor left the room.
"You should consider yourself lucky." Lily then turned her attention towards Yuki. "I'm glad I found you when I did."
"You went through the trouble of finding a doctor." Yuki paused for a few seconds to catch her breath. "You don't know the meaning of 'staying out of other people's business' do you."
"When there is someone who need assistance, help them, even if they don't ask." Lily replied. "That is how my parents raised me."
"Is that so?" Yuki replied before succumbing to drowsiness.
.
After a few days, Yuki made a full recovery and had begun to pack, but not before Lily stopped her.
.
"I'm better now. There is no need for me to stay here any longer." Yuki answered as she placed her hand on Lily's shoulders to try and move her, only to feel resistance.
"Before you leave, I'd like to ask you a question." Lily replied.
"Well, seeing as your not moving from that position, I really don't have a choice do I?" Yuki answered. "So, what is it?" Yuki asked as she sat on the bed.
"Why are you hunting demons?" Lily asked, which caught Yuki by surprised. "I guess I can still surprise people."
"How do you know I've been demons?" Yuki asked as she continuously looked around the room for her gun.
"I've had a couple of my subordinates keep tabs on you. Your skills with a gun are impressive, but they won't do you good if you don't use the right materials." Lily answered.
"What do you mean?" Yuki replied as she looked at Lily in her eyes.
"In order to kill a demon, you must have one of three things: One, a nichirin blade; Two, the purest of metals; or Three, wisteria poisoning. And by the looks of it you have neither of them." Lily answered.
"And how do you know this?" Yuki answered.
"Because I've been with the demon slayers before. And you've met them." As Lily said that, the memory of the man with the blue colored blade came to mind as he sliced off her father's head.
"Who are you?" Yuki answered.
"I'm a demon trying to do the same thing you're doing, but on a much larger scale. If you'd like, I can assist you in grabbing the materials you need." Lily responded.
"And, what the catch?" Yuki spoke knowing that this deal is too good to be true.
"Become one of my Shining Stars. Of course, you'd only have the mark. Most of the time, I'd turn my stars into demons, but you look like the type who wants to keep her humanity." Lily said as she began to turn to the door.
"Is that it?" Yuki asked once more.
"That's it." Lily answered.
"Then I'll do it." Yuki answered with confidence.
.
After several hours, Lily and Yuki went their separate ways. As they did, Yuki placed her finger on top of her right eye, feeling a slight scratch mark.
.
"I didn't think receiving the mark would hurt so much." Yuki said to herself, after looking at her hand. "I don't feel any different, but she said that I'll be able to sense a demons' presence quicker than I'd usually do. I believe she also said something about a 'Breathing Technique,' but she didn't teach me anything."
.
As Yuki continued to talk to herself, she continued to walk into the darkness of the night.
.
At Urokodaki's House…
.
As Nezuko and Tanjiro struggled to walk the last few feet, while on each other's shoulders, they were just atop of a small hill that gave a clear view of Urokodaki's house.
.
"We're…back." Tanjiro said as he looked at Nezuko.
"Yeah…we…are." Nezuko answered. "Let's get going."
.
As the two got closer, they heard the sound of wood being knocked down. And to their surprise, they noticed Kaguya, who looked to be 8 years of age, walk out like nothing was wrong. Seeing this, both Tanjiro and Nezuko began to rush forward.
.
"Kaguya!" Tanjiro yelled, causing Kaguya to turn her attention towards the two siblings.
"Kaguya, your awake." Nezuko followed only to collapse from exhaustion.
.
Seeing Nezuko collapse, then Tanjiro following his sister, Kaguya rushed forward. As the two Kamado siblings pushed themselves off the ground, they were surprised at the sudden embrace given by Kaguya. As her short, little arms tried their best to wrap around the Kamado's necks, Kaguya rested her head in between Tanjiro's and Nezuko's. As Kaguya's hair fluttered down, Nezuko and Tanjiro noticed a peculiar smell emanating from the young Kaguya, But overcome with emotion, the two didn't even bother to ask, and just embraced Kaguya.
.
"You…you never once woke up! You had me so worried!" Tanjiro exclaimed as he began rubbing his head on Kaguya's shoulder.
"I'm just glad your alright, Kaguya." Nezuko stated as she placed her chin on Kaguya's shoulder.
.
But even when the Kamado siblings poured their heart out, Kaguya remained silent. But even when she remained silent, her embrace tightened, showing the siblings that she was actually worried for them, even when she was in a coma-like state. Then arriving back from chopping wood, Urokodaki noticed the three children embracing each other. Out of shock, Urokodaki dropped the pieces of wood and began walking toward the Kamado siblings. The entire time they were away, Urokodaki believed that they had perished, only for his doubts to be proven wrong. Oh, were they proven wrong indeed. Wrapping his arms around the three, tears began to stream from behind the red tengu mask.
.
"I'm relieved to see the two of you back. Truly, I am." Urokodaki spoke, his voice getting choked up from holding back the stream of tears.
.
As he brought Tanjiro and Nezuko in, Tanjiro explained that he was the one who eliminated the Hand Demon. Hearing that come from his students' mouth, Urokodaki nodded with relief knowing that the demon he had captured 47 years ago, had finally fallen.
After wiping the dry blood from a sleeping, exhausted Nezuko's forehead, Urokodaki noticed a peculiar scar on the right side of her forehead. Not thinking much of it, Urokodaki covered it in bandages, and placed her in the futon before shutting the door, allowing the young girl to rest. As Urokodaki walking back into the room, he noticed Kaguya stirring a bowl of vegetable over the fire and handing it over to Tanjiro. Seeing the sight, caused Urokodaki to remember the time he had begun to train under the tutelage of Lily.
Seeing him out of the corner of her eye, Kaguya picked out another bowl and handed it over to Urokodaki, with a gentle smile. Seeing that smile, Urokodaki grabbed the bowl from Kaguya's hand and sat down next to the young demon girl.
.
"Urokodaki, just when did Kaguya wake up?" Tanjiro asked after he finished his bowl.
"Today." Urokodaki answered.
"That hand demon was tough." Tanjiro replied.
"Hmm." Urokodaki answered.
"Do you feel better now that the demon is dead?" Tanjiro asked.
"I do." Urokodaki answered, before continuing. "There are certain demons who can use what people call 'magic,' but there is a term for it. It's known as 'Blood Demon Art'."
"Blood Demon Art?" Tanjiro repeated as he looked over at Kaguya, who at this point was sitting in the corner of the room, sleeping while holding onto her legs. "Is Kaguya using that… 'Something Art'?"
"No. I've known Lily long enough to know that no matter what, she will always resist to the smell of blood. I've not once seen her eat or lick the blood of humans." Urokodaki answered. "Most likely, Kaguya is the same, maybe different."
.
Then for the remainder of the night, both Tanjiro and Urokodaki sat in silence as they continued to eat the food Kaguya had made.