Tamaki's eyes opened to the feeling of somebody poking him gently in the shoulder. Mitsuri was sitting down next to him on a hospital bed. Where…what happened? Where am I?

"Hey Tamaki," she greeted him. They were both dressed in hospital garments. Sunlight streamed in through an open window.

Tamaki's memory suddenly came back to him and he sat up and grabbed Mitsuri by the shoulders. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop the demon from…"

Mitsuri cut him off by placing a finger over his lips and shushing him. "Your legs were a little burned. What happened?"

"Fast travel. I didn't want you to die," said Tamaki. "I promised to protect you, even if it took my own life."

She said nothing, only turning away and sitting back down on the bed.

"I assume we're in the Butterfly Mansion," said Tamaki, breaking the silence. My memory's a little foggy. He pressed his palm to his forehead. The pent up stress clutching Tamaki's heart like a hand finally released. She's okay!

"Stop," said Mitsuri.

Huh? "Stop what?"

Mitsuri turned back towards him, her eyes brimming with tears. "Don't keep that promise. I don't want you to die in my place."

Tamaki sat up. "Mitsuri, you're not going to die."

"I'm too weak! Sometimes I'm too slow to notice an attack coming towards me, and you always help me by blocking it! What happens if one day you can't block it? I know you're not just gonna let me get hit, I…" she trailed off, her teardrops falling onto the bed sheets.

"Hey, it's okay," said Tamaki, attempting to reassure her, "your reaction time just needs to improve. You need to start believing in yourself more. You're a Hashira, one of the strongest demon slayers."

Mitsuri suddenly moved forwards and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "I never thanked you for saving me. Thanks."

"U-uh…you're welcome," stammered Tamaki, a little shocked by her sudden affectionate gesture. She smells like roses, he noticed.

"Also thank you for believing in me." She gazed up at him, her bright green eyes a little wet but still beautiful. For a second, Tamaki found himself lost in them.

"Mitsuri, you have a visitor!"

Shinobu's voice called from behind the door.

Mitsuri pulled away, breaking their eye contact. "Come on, let's head down."

Tamaki and Mitsuri walked down the hall into the main entry room to see Obanai standing there, holding a bag.

"Hello Mitsuri," he said, "remember me? We met at Ubayashiki's mansion a while ago."

"Iguro-san!" Mitsuri smiled at him. "Of course I remember you!"

"I brought you your favorite food," he said, holding out the bag. "I heard that you got injured in battle."

"Thank you, Iguro-san!" Mitsuri beamed at him.

"I gotta get going," he said, turning away, "I received permission to stop here. I'm actually on a mission right now."

"Bye!" Mitsuri waved to him as he left Butterfly Mansion.

Reaching into the bag, Mitsuri pulled out a sakura mochi and began eating it.

Tamaki turned to Shinobu. "So, can I start training again?"

"No! Absolutely not! Look at the state you're in!" She gestured to his body. "Your legs are covered in bandages from the light burns you got! What did you do to get those!?"

"Saving her," answered Tamaki bluntly.

"You're a Hashira, how do you have those injuries? Aren't you one of the strongest ones?"

"Yes, but I had to make sure she was safe!" said Tamaki, gesturing at Mitsuri. "I had to get her medical attention, or she was gonna die!"

Shinobu frowned. "Okay."

"See, my argument is valid. And, I heal faster than a normal person. Now can I start training at least? It's not like I'm asking to go back to missions."

"No." Shinobu turned and left, muttering something about recklessness.

Secretly, Tamaki was really looking forward to trying out that strange technique that he had somehow developed during the fight with Funata. That was the most powerful technique I've ever used, I can tell, he remembered wistfully.

For the remainder of the day, Tamaki rested in bed. That evening, his bandages were removed and a shocked Shinobu cleared him for physical activity.

"I told you I heal fast," smirked Tamaki.

As if on cue, Tamaki's kagusai crow flew in through the open window. "Caw! Caw! Mission for Utaka Tamaki and Kanroji Mitsuri! Head to Mt. Kurama! Remains of Demon Slayers have been found dead on the pathway up the mountain! A demon is suspected for the murders!"

Tamaki got out of bed, and started getting dressed. As he pulled his shirt off, the door opened. He turned around quickly, and caught a glimpse of pink hair. The door was hurriedly shut.

"Ahh! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Mitsuri's voice sounded from behind the closed door. "I didn't mean to intrude, I just…"

"It's okay," said Tamaki, "you can come in. We have a mission."

The door reopened slowly, and Mitsuri poked her head through the doorway timidly. She glanced at him quickly and then closed her eyes, her face flushing bright red. "Put on a shirt or something!" she squealed.

What's she embarrassed for? wondered Tamaki, but he did as she said, pulling on his uniform top. "Okay, I have a shirt on."

Mitsuri opened her eyes for a quick second, but closed them again, her face going crimson again. "It's not buttoned!"

Tamaki sighed, buttoning the shirt up all the way. "What's the big deal anyway?"

Mitsuri finally walked into the room. "It's just…you're very…I…" she stammered, her blush still obvious and visible.

Huh? "You still didn't answer my question," said Tamaki, pushing further.

"I don't want to!" pouted Mitsuri, stamping her foot on the ground like a small child and looking away.

"Okay," said Tamaki, giving up. "Well, we have a mission. We're going to Mt. Kurama. I need to put on my pants, so go away."

"Don't tell me to go away!" said Mitsuri suddenly, and fiercely, so that it shocked Tamaki. "I-I mean…" she spoke timidly again. "Don't…don't say it so mean like that."

A little stunned by her sudden outburst, Tamaki said, "I didn't mean it that way. Sorry about that. Could you please leave?"

She nodded and closed the door. Okay…that was awkward.

Tamaki finished dressing and walked out of the room. Mitsuri was waiting outside for him, already changed.

"Woah, how did you dress so fast?"

"Bleh." Mitsuri stuck her tongue out at him. "You're slow."

Tamaki crossed his arms grumpily. "Who's being mean now?"

Mitsuri laughed. "Not me," she said, gazing up at him innocently. Again, Tamaki found himself staring at her vibrant green eyes. Looking away as to not be weird, Tamaki cleared his throat.

"Okay, let's go."

The mountain itself was not very steep, and covered in trees. Tamaki and Mitsuri trudged through the thick woods, the setting sun barely visible in the sky through the trees.

Mitsuri tugged on his sleeve every once in a while, but Tamaki was not in the mood for conversation. His sense of unease increased when he saw something that looked suspiciously like a blood splatter on the ground.

After a while of hiking, Tamaki heard Mitsuri gasp softly. Turning around to see what had caused her to get surprised, he saw a rotting corpse lying on the ground. It wore the demon slayer corps uniform. A shattered nichirin sword lay on the ground next to the corpse.

"Be careful," he warned Mitsuri, his senses on full alert. "Keep your guard up."

She nodded in assent, swallowing hard.

Another body lay on the ground about two-hundred meters from the first one. This one was much more decayed than the other, and also wore the demon slayer corps uniform.

Looks like they've sent others in before us. This demon might be tougher than we thought, Tamaki contemplated. Keeping his eyes in front of him wearily, his hand found itself on his sword.

A trio of demon slayers lay dead on the ground in front of Tamaki, the smell of their decaying bodies taking his attention off of his thoughts.

"Mitsuri…" He turned around to realize she wasn't behind him. Panic and dread rose up into his chest. His thoughts spun wildly on what could have happened to her. No! Nothing happened to her! She probably got lost, that's all! He retraced his steps back down the mountain, calling her name.

"Mitsuri! Hello?" Dead silence.

Tamaki focused his hearing, trying to pinpoint Mitsuri, but something was blocking it out. It's probably something to do with the demon.

Tamaki cursed under his breath for not being attentive enough. His hand gripped his sword tightly.

A snarling noise from behind him made him spin around, sword ready. A weak demon was stumbling at him.

"Thunder breathing, Fifth form: Heat lightning!" He easily slashed the demon's head off. He was about to sheathe his sword, but he heard more growls. It took him a moment to take everything in, but he soon realized he was surrounded by a large number of demons.

Damn! He cursed in his head, readying his sword. As they all shuffled towards him, he noticed they were all wearing demon slayer corps uniforms. Just like the corpses we saw, he thought, connecting back.

"Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" A strange sound that almost sounded like laughter sounded from above him. He looked up and saw a very strange looking demon clinging to a very high tree branch.

His limbs were stick-thin and long. His skin was a pale, light gray and his eyes were empty, black sockets. His mouth stretched across his entire bald head, teeth flashing from the back of his head.

Oh my. This has to be the creepiest demon I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of demons.

"Welcome to my domain!" The demon's voice was also terrifying, one moment it was a screechy, loud shriek, the other it was a deep, foreboding growl. A bright light flashed from his left eye socket, and the characters 'Lower Four' were written on it.

"Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" There was his laugh again. "Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" Tamaki was starting to find it annoying.

"Shut up," he said angrily. "Where's Mitsuri?"

"Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" The demon obviously ignored his request to shut up. "Why, she's experiencing the same thing you are right now!"

Whew, she's alright at the moment. Tamaki relaxed a little. Hang in there Mitsuri! "What is this place," he asked the demon.

"I'm glad you asked!" the demon chuckled. "I am the Mountain King. This is my domain, where I run my mountain game."

Mountain game? "What is that?" asked Tamaki.

"I'm glad you asked!" repeated the Mountain King. "The objective is to last as long as you can against the hordes of demons I throw at you! It gets harder as you beat more waves. But don't get too confident, because the last stage is fighting me. You won't make it out alive." The mountain king waved his arms around, motioning to all the demons dressed in demon slayer uniforms. "The ones that fail, which is everyone by the way, get turned into demons by yours truly. If I really don't like them though, I simply leave them to rot! Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" He laughed again with his strange, annoying laugh. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to introduce myself to the other player on this mountain right now. Hee heee!" With a leap, he flew into the sky and was illuminated by the moon for a moment. Then he was gone.

Tamaki turned his attention back to the demons surrounding him, who were beginning their advance again.

Oh well. I wanted to try out some new techniques anyway.

He crouched down, his hands gripping his sword, head bowed. A dust cloud was forming around him. Nice. Love the effect.

The demons were three meters away, and his electric-blue eyes flew open.

"Thunder breathing, First form: Thunderclap and flash," he whispered softly, his face angled at the ground. "Trifold."

One, two, three Thunderclap and flashes. To Tamaki, it felt like slow motion as he sliced off all the demon's heads.

A triangle made of lightning formed in the air from Tamaki's attack. As he found him back where he was standing when he began the attack, he noticed the fading blue shape. Interesting.

Every one of the demons fell to the ground and began disintegrating, their heads rolling on the ground. Damn it, I wanted to try that move with the dragon again!

Tamaki ran through the forest swiftly, cutting down demons that crossed his path. "Mitsuri!" he called, but there was no answer.

She'll be fine, he reassured himself, she's a Hashira. Still, his heart pumped with fear and adrenaline shot through his veins.

Something large slammed into his path, blocking it. A hulking mass of flesh, three meters tall, stood in the way. Like the other demons, this one wore a demon slayer outfit, but around its shoulders it wore a red and white-striped haori. A nichirin sword was held in its thick, muscular hand.

"Huh, you're a big boy," remarked Tamaki.

The demon swung its sword and flames shot out of it. Tamaki jumped backwards to dodge the slash.

"So you're a Fire breathing user. I know one personally, he's much nicer," Tamaki joked. "Thunder breathing, Second form: Rice spirit!" Tamaki didn't even need to use all five slashes of the attack, but he did anyway. The demon's body split into five pieces, one of them being his head. Tamaki didn't even bother to stay there, as soon as the demon was sliced, he ran right past it.

Wait, what was that? Tamaki thought he heard the sound of Mitsuri's sword nearby. "Mitsuri!" He ran towards the direction of the noise, but something once again appeared in his path.

From the toes to the neck, it looked like a normal humanoid. The one strange part was its head. It was large and vertically long, with a giant unibrow and a huge, protruding nose.

Seven more of these demons emerged from the darkness of the woods. They surrounded Tamaki, closing in on him.

"I don't have time for this," he muttered. "Thunder breathing, Sixth form: Rumble and flash!"

Within seconds, the strange demons were sliced to pieces, and Tamaki continued charging forwards.

A thin, skeletal limb shot out of the woods and Tamaki barely dodged it.

"Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" The Mountain King spider-crawled out of the woods, but with its back facing the ground. Its limbs bent at an unnatural angle backwards and its head was upside-down. This guy creeps me out.

"Blood demon art: Limb elongation!" His limbs, which were already long, grew even longer. The demon towered over Tamaki, its mouth grinning from around its entire head.

"Blood demon art: Finger gun!" Its fingers, which were long and skinny like each of its other limbs, had a sharp, pointy end to them. With its Blood demon art, the Mountain King's arm shot forwards, its sharp finger about to impale Tamaki.

"Thunder breathing, Third form: Thunder swarm!" Tamaki dashed forwards and slashed at the Mountain King from all around him. He was quick enough to jump up into the air.

"Blood demon art: Crushing jaws!"

The maws of the Mountain King split open, and its small, sharp teeth pointed directly at Tamaki.

Child's play. Tamaki easily dodged it. Why am I having such difficulty with this demon? The pressure in his chest told him otherwise, and Mitsuri still lingered in the back of his mind.

Relax, Tamaki. She's a strong girl. She's definitely alive. Taking a deep breath, he tried to shut out all the negative thoughts about Mitsuri's whereabouts, but they kept coming like flies.

Stop thinking! You always tell her to believe in herself and be confident about herself, but here you are, doubting that she's not doing well on her own! Tamaki, you hypocrite!

"Blood demon art: Finger cage!" Tamaki was caught off guard, and he wasn't ready for it when the demon's bony fingers grew to enormous sizes and engaged him.

The space inside the cage began to shrink, and soon Tamaki was being squeezed between the demon's hands.

"Gooosh goosh goosh goosh goosh!" cackled the Mountain King madly. "Squirm all you want, now you're trapped!"

The grip of the hands began to tighten, and Tamaki grunted with pain as his body was squashed by the demon.

How long…can I take this? Tamaki had to act fast, or his bones would snap and his body would be crushed. First of all, how do I get out of here? Can I push against it? Let's try it.

Pushing as hard as he could with his arms outwards from him, Tamaki began to feel the hands separating. Veins popped in his biceps, triceps, shoulders, and forearms as he pushed with all his strength. His muscles bulged, and with a final push, he separated the hands, shocking the demon.

"Wh-what!?" The Mountain King's eyes widened in shock as he realized that Tamaki had broken its grip.

"Thunder breathing, First form: Thunderclap and flash." Tamaki wasted no time, and in less than a second, his blade had cleanly gone through the Mountain King's neck.

Breathing out slowly, Tamaki sheathed his sword. He stood up, then realized that he needed to find Mitsuri. He ran frantically through the woods.

"Hey! Mitsuri! Where are you!" Tamaki turned a corner, and saw Mitsuri sitting on a rock, eating a sakura mochi. Disintegrating demon corpses littered the floor around her, too many to count.

Phew! Tamaki exhaled in relief. She's okay.

"Oh, hey Tamaki!" she said calmly like nothing ever happened. She ate the rest of her food and swallowed. "What happened to you?"

"I killed the demon," he said. "Our mission is complete. But where did you go?"

"Well first, I blinked and I wasn't behind you anymore. I got a little scared, but then a bunch of random demons came up to me and I killed them all. A lot of them were pretty tough-looking. Strange how they were all wearing Demon Slayer corps outfits."

"Oh. I'm just glad you're safe," he said, still feeling extremely relieved.

"Don't worry about me," said Mitsuri.

"Come on, let's head back down. It's almost daytime."

Mitsuri's kagusai crow appeared to them when they were about halfway down. It reported kakushi on the way for cleanup of the mountain and disposal of the corpses.

"Hey, wanna go eat something?" asked Mitsuri. "I'm hungry."

"Okay."

Tamaki and Mitsuri grabbed some quick breakfast at a restaurant. After that, they left the restaurant.

"The rest of the day is free," said Tamaki. "We didn't get any sleep last night though, so I want you to go home and rest."

Mitsuri stuck her tongue out at him. "You can't make me."

"I want you to be well rested for our next mission," said Tamaki. "Please, go get some sleep."

"Hmmmm…Could it be that you're worried about me?" Mitsuri asked innocently, fluttering her eyelashes.

"I…W-what if I am?" replied Tamaki, feeling his face heat up.

"Thank you for your concern," said Mitsuri. "Can I ask why?"

"N-no!" Tamaki looked away hurriedly. Stop blushing!

"Okay…" said Mitsuri. "Pretty strange reaction from you. Normally you're so calm and collected. What happened?" Mitsuri smirked at him.

"Hey, who's talking? You cry and hug me every time I compliment you!" shot back Tamaki.

This time it was Mitsuri's turn to blush. "That's because I don't get a lot of compliments! You're the only person that really says nice things about me!"

"That's because you mean a lot to me."

Mitsuri's eyes widened. "Huh?" She made a small squeaking noise of confusion. Her face began to flush beet red. Her eyes began to wet, and a tear dripped down her face. Her facial expression was a goofy looking smile that made Tamaki worry.

What? Is she upset? Did I say something? "Mitsuri? What's wrong?"

Mitsuri suddenly flung her arms around him and hugged him extremely tightly, knocking the wind out of him. She burried her face into his chest like she did a lot when she hugged him.

Tamaki's heart sank. What did I do? "Mitsuri, what's wrong?" he repeated.

"I…I gotta go." She pulled away and hurried away from him without looking back.

Tamaki was still confused about what had made her act strangely. Was it something I said? The weird reaction she had given him had made his heart twist into a pretzel.

I'll ask next time I see her, thought Tamaki.

He began heading towards his house, which was close by. It had belonged to his parents, but they had passed. He and his younger brother had grown up there.

A cute brown cat with chubby cheeks padded up to Tamaki and rubbed against his legs.

"Hello, Takoyaki," he greeted the cat, bending down to pet him. "Sorry I haven't been home a lot lately, there's this girl…anyway, did you miss me?"

Tamaki looked at the cat's face expectantly, but it just stared back at him and eventually walked away.

Typical. Tamaki walked to his bedroom and slid the door aside. I'm kinda tired, he thought as he yawned. He pulled his haori, and uniform top off, the former still stained with Mitsuri's blood.

Collapsing onto his bed, he fell asleep almost immediately.

When he woke up, the sun was already mostly set. The sky was a mix of pink, orange, and deep blue.

Tamaki pulled his uniform back on, feeling refreshed and fully rested. The blood on his haori was long dried by now, but he still stared at it unnervingly.

A sudden knock on his door startled him. He heard a muffled voice from outside. "Tamaki! Open up!"

It was undoubtedly Mitsuri's voice. Tamaki hurried over and opened the door. "How do you know where I live?"

Mitsuri blushed embarrassingly, glancing away. "I-I…asked my kagusai crow to…f-follow you?" she said it like a question, looking back at him innocently.

"Why?" asked Tamaki suspiciously.

"Umm, we have a mission."

"Oh. Can I get this washed first?"

"I-I can w-wash it for y-you," stuttered Mitsuri, studying the ground and blushing ardently.

"Really? Thanks." Tamaki handed the haori to her. Just as he was about to turn away, Mitsuri tapped him on the shoulder.

"I-I have something for you." It was then that Tamaki noticed that she was holding a small bag.

"Huh?"

Mitsuri rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a long, red, knitted scarf. "Here. I made it for you."

Tamaki took it, at a loss for words. Placing the scarf around his shoulders, he wrapped it around his neck. The ends of it dangled down to his lower back.

"Thank you so much!" said Tamaki. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her happily. She squealed with surprise, her face becoming the same color as the scarf. "Y-you're welcome," she said, returning the hug.

After Mitsuri finished washing Tamaki's haori, she hung it on a clothesline to dry. She then joined him outside to start heading out.

"So, where are we going?" Tamaki stretched his arms, eagerly anticipating a good fight.

"Just outside Yokohama," answered Mitsuri. Her stomach growled with hunger. "I'm hungry," she complained.

"We'll get some food," said Tamaki, crouching down to stretch his legs.

"Yay!" Mitsuri jumped up and down happily.

To be continued…

Next chapter releasing 4/17/23