After Tamaki finished his mission, he decided to head back to Kyoto and see what Mitsuri was up to. He found her sitting on a rooftop, staring at the sky.

Huh? What's she doing?

"Hey Tamaki."

"Huh?"

"Look at the sky."

It was now nighttime. The sky was a deep violet, one of the most beautiful night skies he had ever seen. Lights of the city below them shined deep into the sky, enhancing the effect.

She laid down on her back, staring into the heavens. Tamaki sat down next to her and laid down.

Wow! It's amazing. Is this a dream? Tamaki wondered, his brain still trying to wrap around a simple night sky. The stars were bright and easily visible, glimmering in the already attractive midnight-blue sky.

"Wow," breathed Tamaki, "they're beautiful."

"See, look at all the stars in the sky. Aren't they so cool?" She pointed up to the heavens.

"Yeah," agreed Tamaki.

Mitsuri didn't say anything else, and so Tamaki turned his attention back to the vast, blue expanse of light and darkness.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Tamaki after a few minutes of silence. There was no answer. "Mitsuri?"

Turning his head, Tamaki saw that Mitsuri was fast asleep. He chuckled. She can fall asleep so easily.

The wind was a little chilly, so Tamaki pulled his haori off and placed it over Mitsuri. He then lay back down next to her.

Tamaki closed his eyes, but then he felt something press against his left side. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Mitsuri snuggled up next to him. For a split second, Tamaki was confused. Then, surprise set in. "Ahh!" Tamaki was shocked by her sudden gesture, sitting up quickly.

Mitsuri recoiled, drawing away fearfully. "I'm sorry! I thought you were cold, because you gave your haori to me!"

"No, it's okay," said Tamaki, lying back down. "Sorry for scaring you." Secretly, a small part of him wished for Mitsuri to press against him again, and that part was disappointed when she turned away and faced the opposite direction. Realizing his perverted feelings, he pinched his arm. Stop it!

Closing his eyes again, he drifted to sleep. This time, his sleep was dreamless.

Tamaki woke up to a pecking on his face. The kagusai crow hopped away as Tamaki sat up, attempting to swat it.

"West! West! Report to the western section of the city! Demon spotted spotted there!" The crow then flew away.

Tamaki glanced over at Mitsuri. She was still asleep.

"Hey, get up." He shook her awake. "We're fighting another demon. Are you ready?"

Mitsuri nodded. "Uh-huh."

Tamaki decided not to use his fast travel technique after Mitsuri urged him not to, threatening to knock him out and drag him if he didn't listen to her. So, they decided to walk there, as they had a full day anyway.

"Tamaki, look!" said Mitsuri suddenly as they passed a restaurant in the city around noon. "They serve sakura mochi there!"

Tamaki frowned. "You eat way to much of that! Eat something else for a change!"

"Nope!" Mitsuri pushed Tamaki into the restaurant. With no other choice, Tamaki let Mitsuri lead him over to a small table for two by the window.

"Six sakura mochi for us, please!" she said to the waiter. He nodded and scribbled down their order on a small notepad. He then walked back towards the kitchen to relay the message to the chef.

"Hey Tamaki," said Mitsuri, twiddling her thumbs. "W-we're friends, right?"

"Yeah," said Tamaki.

"So can I ask you a question that you absolutely cannot tell anyone I asked?"

"Depends on the question," replied Tamaki. What is she gonna ask me? he thought curiously.

"Okay," she said, setting her hands down on the table. "I'm still going to ask you."

"Go ahead."

Mitsuri blushed. "I-I feel a little uncomfortable asking this now, will you please not tell anyone that I asked you this?" She looked at him pleadingly.

"Alright," he said. "I promise."

"Ummm…." she started nervously, "d-do you think I'm pretty?"

Huh? Tamaki flushed bright red as she asked her question, knowing his answer would be a little embarrassing. "Y-Yeah," he said. "I mean not in a creepy way, but in general."

Mitsuri looked away slightly. "Thanks," she said softly.

"Don't worry, I won't mention this to anyone else," said Tamaki.

"You're a great friend!" Mitsuri beamed at him.

"Am I allowed to ask why you asked me this question?" said Tamaki.

"Well, I wanted to see if a man would find me attractive, since I joined the Demon Slayer Corps to find a man to marry. You're the only man that I'm comfortable asking that question to." Mitsuri explained simply.

"Oh." Tamaki nodded. "I see." She's comfortable asking me? Wow.

The waiter approached their table with two plates of sakura mochi. "Enjoy," he said.

"Thanks," said Tamaki. He turned to Mitsuri again. "How many do you want?"

"All of them," teased Mitsuri.

"Okay." Tamaki took his chopsticks and piled all the sakura mochi onto her plate.

She frowned. "But then what are you gonna eat?"

"Nothing." Tamaki set his chopsticks back down. "It's all yours."

Mitsuri grabbed one of the sakura mochi with her chopsticks after unwrapping it from its leaf. She held it up to Tamaki's face. "Eat," she ordered. "You need energy for when we fight the demon."

Tamaki blushed when he realized what she was implying. "Y-you're feeding m-me?" He felt his body heat up with embarrassment.

"Just eat it."

Tamaki obeyed her, eating the pink mochi from her chopsticks. As he chewed, Mitsuri unwrapped two more sakura mochi from her plate and crammed them into her mouth. Weren't those in my mouth a few seconds ago?

When Tamaki swallowed, Mitsuri held up another mochi. "One more."

Tamaki ate the second one, blushing again as she fed him. "Thanks."

Mitsuri emptied her plate, eating the remaining two sakura mochi. They then left the restaurant and kept walking to their destination.

After collecting information for the remainder of the afternoon, Tamaki and Mitsuri stopped at another restaurant to eat dinner.

When they were finished with their meal, they headed to the spot where the demon was last seen, a wide open field. There were dried blood splatters all over the ground. A human arm lay rotting in the dirt.

Tamaki could feel Mitsuri's hands gripping the back of his haori tightly. She was clearly disgusted, peeking out from behind him timidly.

What happened here? thought Tamaki. Suddenly, he sensed movement from above him. He grabbed Mitsuri and jumped backwards as a nichirin sword hit the ground right where they were standing. As the dust cleared, Tamaki saw a beautiful young female demon with long, dark blue hair wearing the demon slayer uniform with the front open, like Mitsuri's. She wore a light blue wave-patterned haori over it. Her eyes read 'Lower One'.

"Hello," she greeted them. Her voice was soft and silky, and it sounded seductive, but full of malice.

Tamaki drew his sword, and Mitsuri did the same. An unexpected surprise. A Twelve Kizuki. "Well, this was surprising," murmured Tamaki to Mitsuri. "Be careful. Even Lower Moons can be dangerous if you don't take them seriously enough."

Turning back to the demon, he said, "You're an ex-demon slayer."

She laughed, another beautiful sound that was also filled with venom. "I am indeed," she said. "You're a Hashira, I presume?"

She suddenly disappeared. She moved so fast that if Tamaki had blinked, he wouldn't have been able to see where she had gone. But he was quick too, and easily parried the attack.

"I'm the Rumble Pillar," he replied coolly.

"Perfect!" Her face split into a wide grin. "Oh, how delighted I am! A Hashira for me to kill! Once I dispose of you, Master Muzan might even promote me to an Upper Moon!"

Funata suddenly appeared in front of Mitsuri, studying her. "And what rank are you? You don't seem very strong, probably a Mizunoto. And you're ugly. What's with that hair color?"

Mitsuri's face flushed red with anger and embarrassment. She backed away slowly as the former demon slayer advanced on her.

"She's also a Hashira. And she's not ugly, she's beautiful," Tamaki said, defending her. Realizing he had slipped out that she was beautiful again, Tamaki blushed and hoped Mitsuri would again be oblivious to it. Damn it, Tamaki! Just shut up already!

"Two Hashira!? Oh boy, this is my lucky day!" The demon glanced back over at Mitsuri. "He seems very protective of you."

"Thunder breathing," Tamaki muttered. "Fifth form: Heat lightning!" Tamaki concentrated all his energy into his sword and it flew forwards with a wide arc of bright electricity. Funata flipped backwards and dodged it.

"My, my, what a powerful attack! You should become a demon! You know, I was once a Hashira, just like you, a long time ago. Toki Funata, the Water Pillar." She tilted her head to the side as if recalling. She suddenly darted forwards, swinging her sword at Tamaki's neck. He blocked it easily.

"I'd rather not become a demon," he said.

Mitsuri leaped into the air. "Breath of love, First form: Shivers of first love!" She launched herself towards the demon, her sword swinging through the air, but Funata jumped out of the way. The sword caught and wrapped around her sword arm, slicing it cleanly into pieces.

"Thunder breathing, First form: Thunderclap and flash!" Tamaki flew forwards and aimed for Funata's neck, but she raised her arm to block it and the blade uselessly sliced her other arm off.

"Getting serious already?" Funata frowned as she regenerated her arms and picked her sword up. "Well, I guess I better get serious too." She flew forwards. "Water breathing, Second form: Water wheel!"

"Thunder breathing, Second form: Rice spirit!" Tamaki parried her attack with the first slash, and caught her across the chest with the second one. The third, fourth, and fifth hit nothing as she dodged them easily.

"Don't you know it's disgraceful to touch a woman's bosom without her consent?" said Funata, the slash across her chest healing in an instant.

"Water breathing, first form: Water surface slash!" She flew forwards and swung her sword, water flowing out from it. Mitsuri parried it and steadied herself for her own attack.

"Breath of love, Second form: Love pangs!" Mitsuri swung her whip-like sword around herself, forcing Funata to leap backwards out of her range, right into Tamaki's attack.

"Thunder breathing, Third form: Thunder swarm!" Arcs of lightning appeared all around Funata as Tamaki attacked her from all directions.

"Water breathing, Sixth form: Whirlpool!" Funata spun around and deflected every one of Tamaki's attacks. She dashed forwards towards Mitsuri.

"Breath of love, Third form: Catlove shower!" Mitsuri leaped into the air and furiously swung her sword downwards, sending a shower of attacks at Funata.

"Water breathing, Second form: Water wheel!" Funata leaped upwards and slashed her sword upwards with a spray of water. There was a spurt of blood from Mitsuri's chest, and the expression on her face was pure shock.

"MITSURI!"

Blood pounding in his ears. Panic swelling up in his chest. Mitsuri fell to the ground in a crumpled heap as Funata stood over her, laughing. The demon's attack had left a deep vertical cut over Mitsuri's sternum, right between her breasts. The wound stretched from her stomach all the way to right under her collarbone. Blood was pouring out from the wound, and fast. Tamaki knew he had to end the fight and get Mitsuri medical attention.

He didn't really know what he was doing, but Tamaki felt a strange hum of electricity in his ears. A weird feeling in his chest was powering him.

Tamaki positioned himself in the Thunderclap and flash stance, and began to perform the attack, but felt something was different. There was much more power in his attack. A dragon made of lightning suddenly sprung from his sword, but he didn't have time to marvel over it. He darted forwards, traveling faster than sound itself, and his sword made contact with Funata's neck. With a sharp slicing noise, it passed cleanly through. Her eyes were glazed with shock as she was decapitated by the Rumble Hashira. The sound of thunder followed, echoing his attack.

Tamaki's heart pounded furiously as he sheathed his sword and ran over to Mitsuri. I have no idea how serious this wound is! "Hang in there!" he called out to her as he picked her up in his arms.

Blood poured out from the wound extremely fast. I need to stop the bleeding. Tamaki pulled his haori off and pressed it against Mitsuri's chest like a bandage. The cloth soaked up her blood, and within seconds it was stained red.

Should I request for a kakushi? No, that would take too long. Butterfly mansion is somewhat nearby, thought Tamaki, racking his brain as fast as he could, I can bring her there for medical attention. I'll use fast travel, but it's further than I've ever tried to travel with it. I don't know what will happen.

Pulling Mitsuri up into a carry, Tamaki began running. Soon, he picked up enough speed for the fast travel effect. The blinding white light surrounded them.

Normally, when he used the fast travel technique, the light only lasted a few seconds before they arrived, but this time it was much longer. Tamaki's legs burned up, but he kept going, keeping Mitsuri in his mind.

Twenty seconds in, Tamaki's legs began to smoke. Damn it! That's not a good sign! He began to worry that his legs would set on fire from the heat. Ow ow ow!

Tamaki collapsed at the door of the butterfly mansion, exhaling with relief and pain. I'm losing consciousness… As his eyes began to close, he could see a purple butterfly floating towards them. She's safe, he thought happily as his eyes closed, We're safe.

To be continued…

Next chapter releasing 4/15/23