The Asura's Greatest Treasure

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest, and possibly shortest, chapter of the Swordsman and the Asura! For those wondering the reason why this chapter is so short it's because we've got a big moment happening here. Obviously you'll need to read to find out what it is. And for those wondering, no, this is not the final chapter of the story. My requestor has a couple more ideas they'd like to implement, all of which shall be revealed in due time. So, check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited and enjoy the chapter! Whoops, nearly forgot, we have no guest review questions this week. Now where were we, oh yes, enjoy the chapter!

Daytime: Asakusa

"Susamaru," Tanjiro said as the name sprang to his mind. With it came many other images, not all of them pleasant. He saw flashes of his family, his friends, the woman he loved and their joyous times together. Then he saw pain and anguish, his battle against Akaza and then their collective struggle against Muzan.

Lastly, and most agonizing, were the images of him on a rampage. The demon king had tried to take over him and nearly succeeded. The result, was more people hurt, including his friends. But that pain left him and was replaced instantly with relief when he heard his name. "Tanjiro," came the soft voice of the woman he loved.

With a groan and a bit of effort, the boy swordsman opened his eyes and took in the sight of the Temari demon. "Hey, welcome back," she said with a radiant smile. Tanjiro smiled back in happiness until he noticed that blood was running down the sides of his beloved's mouth.

"Susamaru, you," he moved his right hand instinctively, noticing for the first time that it was embedded in something: his wife's heart. "Oh no, Susamaru I-!"

"Shh," she replied, trying to calm his panic before coughing up a bit more blood, "you need to save your energy. You're gonna," she grabbed his hand then, "need it." With a sickening splurch the Temari demon removed his hand from her heart before falling backwards as there was no longer anything supporting her weight. Despite his weakened state, Tanjiro was still able to move and catch her in time before lowering the both of them to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the slayer apologized profusely as tears flowed freely from his eyes, "I should've fought harder, I should've-." He was stopped by a sudden punch to the face from the Temari demon. It wasn't hard, due to her lack of strength, but it was surprising enough to make him quit speaking for a minute.

"It's alright, Tanjiro," she assured, "none of this was your fault. I'm just relieved that you're back because now…..I can tell you…I'm pregnant." She placed her hands on her stomach, feeling the life inside as her husband's eyes widened in surprise.

"You…..we're…..going to have a child," he said in a mixture of disbelief and happiness, "that's…..that's wonderful. But how, when?" The boy slayer was honestly finding it hard to form words at the moment as the other slayers began to gather around them.

"It happened a few months ago," Susamaru explained, "when we shared that night together…in the swordsmith's village. I've wanted to tell you…for so long."

"When did you know," Tanjiro asked, "are you having a boy or a girl?"

"I've known for a couple months now, back when you were doing hashira training," the Temari demon revealed, "I didn't tell you then because….you had more than enough to worry about. I didn't know if it would affect the way you fought. I was going to tell you when this was all over and now….it is. Now I can tell you, that you're going to have a daughter, Tanjiro."

"It's really…..a miracle," he said as he covered her hand with his over her stomach, "once you heal we can…..Susamaru, why aren't you healing?"

"Because I don't have any strength left to heal," she replied with a sad smile, "I fought Muzan with every resource in my body I could spare. And while we were fighting some of the cure to demonification…crept into my system. It's wreaking havoc with my cells, they've been put through too much stress to survive the transformation back. Everything I have left…is going to our daughter."

"Then take my blood," Tanjiro insisted as he held out his arm,"my blood gave you strength before, maybe it can-."

"My fangs are already gone," Susamaru revealed while opening her mouth slightly, "my anatomy is changing. And Yushiro won't be able to help even if you drag me into the shade. He'd need…time…..to create a counter agent and making contact with me to try and slow things down could risk him too."

"But there has to be something," Tanjiro choked out as tears fell from his eyes once more, "I don't want….I can't lose you."

"We can't lose our daughter either," the Temari demon replied, "she really is a gift. Thanks to her I know…you won't be alone. But we have to separate her from me or…..she'll die too." Her husband closed his eyes as he tried to process all of this.

He knew she was right, she'd been learning all about human and demon physiology. Even now she knew how messed up her inner workings were. Still, it hurt more than some of the worst injuries he'd sustained during his time as a slayer to say these next words. "Tell me what to do," Tanjiro asked while keeping his voice as even as possible.

"A few weeks ago," the demon girl began, "our daughter somehow sensed the danger she might be in. Without prompting she transformed….into an egg. It was probably just in case she needed to be…separated from me. Before I could've done it by manipulating my body but now we only have….one real option."

She reached down and picked up the end of a severed nichirin blade. "We need to…..cut her out…..before it's too late."

"Susamaru I can't," he started to protest before his wife cupped his cheek.

"Please," she begged, "if only one of us makes it today, let it be our daughter. I don't regret dying to save you, but I will regret it if my actions cost you both of us." The boy swordsman choked back another sob before nodding in grim understanding. She grasped his hand with hers then and guided it to her stomach where he needed to cut.

Then, with a nod from her, he plunged the blade into her body where the gaping wound already was. Susamaru had been stabbed before, in fact she'd had a blade taken to her many times. It was another sign of the state her body was in that actual pain erupted as Tanjiro pulled the blade downward, cutting a large incision. She held it in for as long as she could, but eventually a cry of agony rang out from her as the intentional wound was almost finished.

Tanjiro nearly dropped the blade then and there if not for her hand on his. "No, finish it, you have to get her out," she urged, finding it painful to speak now. The slayer nodded grimly before reaching his hands into the cut he'd created. Discomfort was clear on his wife's face but this time she held in her screams of pain.

When his fingers closed around something that seemed slightly out of place, Susamaru nodded in affirmation that he'd found the egg. He closed his hand around it then and pulled it out slowly, not wanting to smash it on accident. When it was all the way out, he gazed upon it, noting how it was clouded yet still visible enough for him to see the little life inside of it. "I got her," Tanjiro informed with relief in his voice as he lowered his hands so that Susamaru could touch the egg, "she seems to be alright."

"She has all the strength she needs," the Temari demon said with a tired but beautiful smile, "she's going to grow into a strong girl, I just know it."

"We should name her," Tanjiro suggested, "did you have something in mind?"

"There was one I liked," Susamaru revealed, "Hinode. Hinode Kamado."

"Sunrise," Tanjiro translated with a smile, "that's a perfect name."

"I know I don't have to say it," Susamaru breathed out, "I know you'll take care of her and protect her. She….Hinode…..is the greatest treasure we have." She moved up and kissed Tanjiro then with as much passion as she could. It would be one that the boy swordsman would never forget.

"My only regret now," she revealed, "is that I can't give her four more siblings. We'd have been such a big, and very happy, family." Susamaru felt herself slipping then as the world began to melt in her vision. It was soon replaced by a sight that warmed her heart, a vision of her waiting at the door as Tanjiro, now a grown man, came walking down the path to their home.

He wouldn't quite make it to the door, though, because of five little figures that suddenly rushed out the door and tackled him to the ground, laughing all the while. 'Five daughters,' she thought, 'I really have spent too much time at the butterfly mansion if I think that's a reasonable number. But it's alright. In the end I was still able to leave him with something.'

Even Nezuko showed up for the last bit, though Susamaru didn't realize she actually had. The now human girl gasped in shock before rushing over to her and her brother. She didn't know what to say, instead placing a hand on Tanjiro's shoulder and resting one on her sister in law's arm. "I love you, Susamaru," Tanjiro choked out.

"I love you, my swordsman," she replied weakly, "these last few months…I've felt more alive then all of the centuries I've lived up to this point. And now…..I'm not afraid. I know I'm leaving this world….better than it was. Live your lives….be happy….for me." Her eyes closed for the final time then as her body began to degenerate.

It was like watching her age in fast forward as she became wrinkled and her hair turned white, yet the result was still the same. Susamaru, the Temari demon, a traitor to her own kind, an ally to the Corps, and the love of Tanjiro Kamado's life passed away that day, with a smile on her face. Her body slowly became ash as the rest of the Corps gathered around them. Her loved one stared blankly at the ground for what felt like several minutes as no one spoke.

The one who finally spoke, from a short distance away, was a very confused Sanemi who'd woken up recently after falling unconscious from his wounds. "What the fuck happened," he asked as he approached, clearly still out of sorts, "was that….Susamaru just now?"

"It was," Giyuu answered, intercepting his comrade after noticing his approach, "she just gave her life for Tanjiro." The wind pillar thought back, realizing he'd caught glimpses of a nightmare. A nightmare that looked like Kamado the demon king.

"So then, Muzan's really," he wasn't sure if he should finish the sentence. He wasn't superstitious, but it was hard to believe it really could be so after such a long time.

"He is," Giyuu confirmed, "Muzan Kibutsuji will plague this world no longer."

"Alright, if that's true," Sanemi said before pointing at Tanjiro, "what in the world has he got there then? Are you absolutely certain Muzan isn't in that thing? And what about the other-?" He stopped as Giyuu suddenly thrust the remainder of his sword to Sanemi's throat.

"If you mean Yushiro, his abilities proved invaluable in our battle against Muzan," the water hashira reminded with narrowed eyes, "and that egg Tanjiro has now, is his daughter."

"Daughter?" Sanemi repeated in obvious confusion, "You mean…he and Susamaru?"

"Yes," Giyuu confirmed, "the two of them were in love. Susamaru gave her life to cure Tanjiro of Muzan's influence so that at least he and her child could survive. Whether you like it or not, we owe a couple of demons our lives and I will be damned if you raise even a single hand to Tanjiro and his family again."

"But our mission," Sanemi wanted to protest, grasping at straws at this point.

"It's over, Shinazugawa," came the voice of Misturi as she staggered over. The Kakushi had managed to bandage her wounds, but she was still in fairly bad shape with blood covering her body and the signature braids she wore were loose, letting her hair hang messily around her form. Though what was most telling was her expression and the presence of Obanai's snake, Kaburamaru, in her hands. "He's lost enough friends, lost enough loved ones today. We all have so….…..please…..don't cause any more loss today."

She was clearly out of sorts and in no shape to be standing, yet here she was, placing herself in between any and all danger to the daughter of her late friend. It was this realization that no one would allow him near Tanjiro and his family that finally made Sanemi lower his sword. "Alright," he conceded, "I get it, I lost my brother today so it's not like I don't understand. I'll leave them alone but, what should we do if she turns out to be a monster?"

"I will keep an eye on her," Giyuu informed as the trio looked over towards the grieving Tanjiro, "and I'll do my job as a demon slayer should such a situation occur. But otherwise, the Corps will likely be disbanding today. We'll let her live her life with her family and the rest of us shall live ours." The water pillar's words would ring true. Only one true slayer would remain as the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps was disbanded that very day, but in time even he would no longer prove necessary in the future they'd all created.

A Couple of Weeks Later: On a Trail Home

Tanjiro paused for a moment, adjusting the bundle he had tied around his chest. The egg pulsed with life still and in time it would hatch. The elder Kamado sibling had vowed already that he'd care for Hinode as best he could, giving her everything he could offer her as a father. That's why, even though his sight in his right eye was worse and his left arm was weaker than before, he still carried his sword.

What few belongings his wife had had were given to him after he'd returned to the butterfly mansion to have his injuries tended to and to deliver the news of the battle's outcome. Understandably, Aoi and the triplets were heartbroken upon hearing of Shinobu's and Susamaru's sacrifices to end the demon threat. Everyone cried for a long time after that, well into the night and even into the next day. When they found they couldn't cry anymore, they held a service for their dearly departed loved ones.

A place was erected at the estate for Shinobu and an honorary gravestone was made for Susamaru at the site of fallen slayers at the main demon slayer compound. But the place where her ashes, what few they could gather, would be buried was to be at the Kamado home. So once they were all fully healed and done paying their respects to the other fallen slayers, the group set out for home. Tanjiro was accompanied, of course, by his sister, Nezuko, along with Zenitsu and Inosuke.

Giyuu, Kanroji and many other friends promised to visit them at some point in the future, something he and the others would look forward too. He'd welcome their assistance if they wanted to help with raising Hinode, though the main responsibility still fell to him. After all, she was going to be growing up in a brand new world. A world with practically no demons.

And thus the mission of the Demon Slayer Corps has been achieved. Muzan is no more and the world is now free of the more vile creatures that have haunted it for a thousand years! But what does the future hold for Tanjiro's daughter? As mentioned this is not the last chapter of the story as my requestor has a couple more ideas they'd like to implement. So in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Be sure to stop in next time as we catch up with the life of Hinode Kamado! 'Til then.