Yushiro wasn't panicking. He wasn't. Anyone who said otherwise deserved death for their lies! It had to be the demon in front of him panicking. He was caught in some kind of feedback loop and getting all of this from her. Yes, that had to be it! Tamayo-sama had taught him to be level-headed and he would never sully her memory! Despite watching Kamado go completely nuts.
He was playing with Muzan now. Yushiro could tell. And he'd even left his brother behind! That… that wasn't like the Kamado he knew. To be fair, he may have thought the kid would be safe if both progenitors left the area so maybe he wasn't entirely gone…?
One way or another, the healer's apprentice had to get the kid out of there. The kid who seemed so tired as he forced himself to where he could look around him, likely taking in the damage. Then he weakly but determinedly stood up and half-stumbled, half-crawled his way over to where the dregs of Kamado's fire still burned. Yushiro glanced at what Nakime could see of the progenitors again… the fight, exactly as it was going on (hence why she seemed so agitated) except she could not hear Muzan's voice – Yushiro wouldn't let her. Not again.
Judging from what he found, he had a couple of seconds to spare to try and figure out how to get Waxing Three to take the younger Kamado out…
Wait… why was he sticking his hand in his brother's fire? And wincing. He must still be converting – still have Muzan's cells inside him. He wasn't a Hashira, or any of the other higher ranks, so his conversion into both a demon and then a Kamado demon seemed to be going far more quickly than them, but if he had enough of Muzan's cells in him to wince from that fire, he shouldn't be standing, let alone crawling or…
Or grabbing a sword that had been left behind.
Oh.
That's what he was doing.
"Have to… get this… to Nii-san," he said to himself, voice raspy. Yushiro wasn't entirely sure getting Kamado the sword would help, but sure, why not? He'd have to send everyone else still in the mansion to the demon area anyway.
So he showed the Biwa Demon yet another demon slayer outside. She seemed hesitant though… had she noticed how empty the rest of her mansion was? He was trying to keep up the illusion of more fights happening.
Finally, she opened a shoji door portal and he nudged it to open in front of the kid. The boy stood there for several seconds, looking back and forth between the portal and where the older Kamado had disappeared.
"Come on," Yushiro growled.
Thankfully, the kid eventually stumbled out the door. Yushiro let out a breath of relief and—
He gasped as he felt something take over from the demon he was controlling. Wait, he knew this presence! It… It was Muzan!
Yushiro cursed and grit his teeth. He may be Tamayo-sama's demon, but Tamayo-sama had been Muzan's demon. Yushiro could feel the man absorbing his cells.
"Who are you?!" the disgusting being snarled – or the mental equivalent.
"Someone who will enjoy watching you die," Yushiro snapped back, pouring all of his will into his blood art, trying to keep the woman's vision under control. "You deserve it after killing Tamayo-sama!"
He felt tears drip down his cheeks. Admitting it aloud… it just hurt, so much more.
Yushiro.
Would not.
Lose.
Here.
"Stop interfering!" Muzan practically screamed, panic behind every breath. It was music to Yushiro's metaphorical ears. Or it would have been had he not been doing everything in his power to keep himself from being absorbed. The Biwa Demon just seemed confused, feeling like Muzan was attacking her. Good.
But the healer's apprentice knew this couldn't last.
Kamado's hand brushed Muzan's chest again, leaving holes in his wake. Yushiro was regaining control! He could…
Then Muzan raised his hand, it closed into a fist and the woman's head imploded. He'd prefer to destroy her than let Yushiro continue to control her. It was a valid, if heartless, decision. Typical Muzan.
Yushiro could feel his control slipping… No! He had to get everyone out of here!
Fortunately, there were only three people left.
And he knew just where to send everyone. Growling, he forced the house to do as told, even as it collapsed in on itself, and the necessary rooms exploded upwards.
xXx
Takeo didn't quite know what he was doing. He still hurt, but in a vague, distant kind of way. Nothing felt real and he had a hard time making his way through the rubble in a body he could barely feel (and what he could feel, ached).
"Nii-san," he muttered to himself. He had to find Nii-san. Had to get Nii-san's sword to him. He didn't know why, but he did. But he also didn't think he could catch up with the two demons fighting… he wasn't even sure he could survive if he did manage to.
Barring that, he had to find a way out. Had to…
Had to what? Where could he go now? He was a demon… He shuddered and pushed away the memory of eating raw meat and how good it had tasted. He felt sick.
Would the Demon Slayer Corps take him back now that he'd eaten someone… one of their own? He couldn't blame them if they didn't. But then, where would he go? Certainly not with Muzan. (He put a hand over his mouth at the memory of how loyal he'd been to that thing.) With Nii-san, he supposed. But Nii-san was with the Slayer Corps.
Ugh. His brain was not working with him. It felt like thinking through fog. A painful fog. A distant painful fog.
And then a door opened to the left of him. It just appeared and slid aside to reveal… a forest. For several moments he stared at it. Should he go? He glanced after Nii-san. He needed to get the sword to Nii-san. But he may not find another door to the outside…
Go, Takeo.
He knew that voice… he did. He trusted it.
"Tou… san?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
You must leave.
Definitely Tou-san. Although… wasn't he dead? How could he…? And what about Nii-san?
He will find you. Go. Hurry.
It still wasn't an easy choice. He wanted to go after his brother. Desperately. But…
Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and stumbled towards the door and outside.
He exited into the nighttime forest. The door closed behind him and he turned to see a battle. Demons fighting demons in utter chaos. What?
"Oi! You!" someone said from above him. "Demon!"
He flinched and looked up to see three pairs of eyes staring down at him in the moonlight. Human eyes. They smelled good…
He shook that thought from his head very quickly.
"Why do you have a slayer's sword?" the boar-headed guy asked aggressively, pointing at him. Takeo took a step back.
"I… I have to get this to my brother," he said.
"Your brother?" the girl asked suspiciously.
"WHY ARE YOU WEARING THAT HAORI?!" the third person, a yellow-haired teen, suddenly shriek-whispered. Takeo wasn't entirely sure how he pulled it off. "THAT WAS WHAT NEZUKO-CHAN WORE TO THE FINAL SELECTION! WHERE IS SHE?!"
Takeo blinked. "Nezuko…" he said slowly. It was hard to remember, but he forced himself to think through it. "She's… my sister." Yes! Yes, Nezuko was his older sister. "I… just passed my final selection." Right! He'd been heading home with Giyuu-san. No, Giyuu-sensei! "Got attacked just before I got home." He shuddered, not happy about remembering the water-pot and the terrifying monster of a demon. "Th-this guy with so many arms and eyes for his mouth and mouths for his eyes—"
"He's dead," the girl said, matter-of-factly.
Takeo blinked again, taken aback. "He… he is?" he asked, not expecting his voice to come out sounding quite so desperate.
"We killed him," she said, pointing to the yellow-haired kid.
"Yeah, well I helped kill Waxing Two!" the boar-headed kid said suddenly, pointing a thumb to his chest, which he puffed out proudly.
Takeo couldn't help it. He was impressed.
"Amazing," he whispered.
"Yeah, right!" the yellow-haired guy said, disbelieving. That confused Takeo. Why would the boar-kid lie? And… didn't he know these people? They seemed familiar. A flash of them working hard as Rengoku-sensei instructed them flew across his mind. He was about to say something, but didn't get a chance.
"I did!" boar guy replied, getting in the other boy's face.
"You're just saying that!"
"Where do you think I got this snake, huh?"
"I—"
"Um!" Takeo said loudly, noting the girl didn't look like she'd step between the other two. "Do you know how I can get this to my brother, Kamado Tanjiro?"
That, thankfully, did the job. They all stopped and stared at him. He shifted a little uncomfortably.
"Wait, you're Tanjiro's brother?" Yellow asked, his voice surprisingly quiet and somehow more intense for it.
Takeo nodded.
"And you're a demon?"
The younger boy flinched and nodded again, hands tightening around the grip in his hands. "He… it… it happened after they kidnapped me." He didn't like thinking about it. It surprised him when he realized everything had happened earlier that night – at least he thought so – but it felt so much longer. Like a lifetime ago. "Then Nii-san fought M-muzan," he had to force himself to say the name because part of him still feared doing so. Thankfully, nothing happened. "He injected his blood into me, and then they fought, but he was so angry and he left his sword behind. That's why I have to get it to him."
"How was he fighting?" the girl asked, voice even quieter but just as intense (if confused) as the yellow-haired guy. (Why couldn't Takeo remember their names?! Stupid demon transformation.)
"Um… with his claws… and fire… and…" giant arms that he suddenly grew and weird hands just sprouting from random parts of his body… but Takeo really didn't want to describe that. "Yeah," he finished lamely.
The three teens traded glances. Then the boar-headed kid started laughing.
"Oh, he's gonna destroy him!"
Who's gonna destroy who? Takeo hoped he thought Tanjiro would destroy Muzan, but… he also didn't like that tone.
"I still need to get this to him," he said, deciding to bring everything back to his original point.
"We don't know where—" Yellow started, but then the clearing behind them exploded as the ground shot into the air, literally sending demons flying.
On top of the pile that remained, both Muzan and Tanjiro picked themselves up and looked around, confused.
Well, that answered that, Takeo supposed. He went to step forward, eyes fixed on his brother, but the yellow-haired kid appeared at his side, a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"DON'T," he said, his own gaze on the two opponents that had seen each other once again. Tanjiro launched himself at Muzan and the fight started anew. They met and energy exploded outwards, knocking Takeo to the ground.
He forced himself to sit up, still clutching the sword in his hand. He was going to get this sword to his brother, if it killed him.
Another explosion of energy knocked him back again. The yellow-haired kid beside him flew backwards and had to grab onto a tree.
Takeo looked down at the sword and then up at his brother again, realizing that his goal just might actually kill him…
Well, no one could say Kamado's didn't go in all the way.
He began to crawl forward.
xXx
Once Sanemi had separated from the other Pillars, things got… fuzzy. He could really only hold onto one thought: don't eat humans. Nothing else seemed to pierce the haze that had fallen over his perception.
At some point, he recognized that he'd exited the dark mansion, exchanging that for the darker forest. Fortunately, he hadn't had a problem seeing since he'd become a demon. And, much to his excitement, he found many, many other demons – demons he could eat – there. Beside him, the two kin demons also looked on, drooling. Then, as one, they moved.
He didn't know how long they just ransacked the demons in the clearing, but the hole that had begun to gnaw at him again – even after he'd eaten Waxing One's hand – demanded he fill it. That hunger overpowered his perceptions and since they weren't human, he saw no reason not to give in. The best part? The demons grew back. As long as he didn't use his sword, they had an unlimited source of food in front of them. It was glorious.
Most of the demons he attacked weren't nearly strong enough to fill him like Waxing One had, but he figured if he just kept eating, he'd eventually feel satisfied. Or at least, not hungry. He'd take not hungry.
Then the ground below them literally thrust upwards, disrupting everything. That was the first time since he'd come outside that the haze lifted. He blinked, glancing around as he landed on a fairly stable new rock formation. All around, demons lay in groaning heaps, many of them regrowing limbs. He also held a half-devoured leg in his hand. Wincing, he dropped what was left (hating how part of him cried out at the waste) and his eyes focused on the two figures closer to the center of the new, rocky hill – the highest part. He could swear one of those was Kamado, though he had two horns growing out of his forehead… and the other?
Then the two of them clashed and Sanemi flew backwards at the resulting shockwave. He landed in the forest, still trying to recover when he realized what he'd seen. That… that had been Muzan!
He reached down and found, much to his relief, that he still had his Nichirin blade. Grabbing the hilt, he made to rush forward, but something caught his eye – a new demon. A kin demon (and he didn't like the term, but that's what it felt like, so he'd go with it for now) he'd never seen before. But the demon looked so familiar with that hair (fur?) color and… wait…
"Genya?!" he shouted, turning towards the figure. No, no, no, NO! This couldn't be happening! Genya wasn't supposed to become a demon! Please don't be Genya… Please don't be Genya!
The demon turned to him, some horrific animal-like snout curling up in threat until their gazes met. Then its muzzel relaxed and those (all too familiar) eyes went wide.
"Aniki?" the demon said, the voice harsh and guttural, but obviously Genya. Sanemi's heart sank at the sight.
"What are you doing here?!" he yelled, trying not to panic. "And why… what is this?! What happened?!"
The large being sighed. "Had to… to save… others." His brow furrowed and he seemed frustrated. Was he having difficulty talking? With a new mouth shaped like that, probably. It didn't help that the snout had quite the set of sharp teeth on the top and bottom jaws. He was likely stabbing himself every time he closed his mouth.
Sanemi scowled. "This is why I didn't want you in the corps!" he yelled, hating how he felt on the verge of tears – not that he'd ever let a weakness like that show, but still.
His brother frowned. "My choice… Aniki. Not yours."
The Wind Pillar felt his frustration build, but words wouldn't come. He could barely wrap his head around the fact that his brother was a demon now. Why had this happened? Why?!
Before he could open his mouth again, though, Genya spoke.
"Sorry."
Sanemi blinked. "For what?" he asked.
Genya turned away, ashamed. "What I said. You're… not worse… than monsters. You're not… killer."
The Hashira sat there for several seconds, his mind refusing to process the words he'd heard. After a moment, though, he opened his mouth to say something, but a silent call cut him off.
Come. Destroy. Eat.
Almost without his permission, his body had already turned and begun to stalk towards the sounds of the battle. Next to him, Genya had done the same thing. It took several confused moments for Sanemi to realize that had been Kamado. He knew it… but that hadn't sounded like the kid…
"Genya," he said, forcing himself to stop and putting a hand out to his brother.
"Must… go," Genya said, not stopping.
"Genya, something's wrong!" he said, grabbing his brother's arm. "Can't you feel it?"
"Master… called," the younger Shinazugawa said, continuing to walk forward, as if in a trance. And just about then, Sanemi realized that his brother was now much larger than him and was dragging him along. That was… weird. He was used to being the older, larger brother. He could still stop Genya if he wanted to, use his breathing style to brace himself against a tree or a rock, but…
That call was getting stronger. A large part of Sanemi wanted to resist it, just because it was his choice and his body and his life and no one else should get a say in that. But part of him also wanted – needed – to see what was wrong, in and above that part that also felt compelled to follow.
He grit his teeth and forced himself to think through the repercussions of his potential actions. What if he just stayed here, and forced Genya to stay too? Sure, he'd reassert his own willpower, but then he might miss out on the fight with Muzan. Ugh. He hated it, but he'd have to put his pride aside for now because that was more important.
But he'd take it up with Kamado later.
(After they had figured out whatever this was.)
Sighing in frustration, he gave in, let Genya go and followed him back into what used to be a clearing but was now a mound of rocks and debris sticking out everywhere. He noticed that he and Genya weren't the only ones coming back either. Akatsugi was already there, standing at the bottom of the mound, looking up at the two figures fighting on top. Two other demons stood beside him, one with pastel wings folded like a moth behind them and the hand-girl, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
Sanemi pulled Genya towards the group and that seemed to get through to him. The pull lessened significantly once they reached the base of the rocky mound.
"He's using it," Sanemi heard the former Kizuki mutter.
"What?" the Wind Pillar barked.
The pink-haired man turned around and blinked at the approaching pair of demons (he still hated putting Genya in that category). "My force-fields. Tanjiro's using them."
Wait… "Your what?"
Akatsugi opened his mouth to explain, but the winged demon cut him off.
"I think we have more to worry about right now." She turned to them and Sanemi stepped back in surprise.
"Kocho?"
She sighed, looking frustrated – and kind of terrifying with the remnants of blood dripping down her chin, but smeared as if she'd tried to wipe it away. The whites of her eyes had turned dark – blue, he thought, but couldn't quite tell – and her blue/purple irises now had smatterings of pink and yellow in them, as did her hair, which had fallen around her shoulders messily. Two… antennae, he thought they were called, had sprouted from her forehead, and what looked like tiny scales sprinkled the sides of her face, iridescent even in the moonlight.
Sanemi could only blink. "What happened to you?" he finally asked.
She sighed. "Waxing Two."
The Wind Pillar frowned. "You don't smell like one of his demons." She smelled like kin. He decided not to voice that. Ever.
"Kanroji had a vial of Kamado's blood on her," Akatsugi said, still staring up at the fight thoughtfully and ignoring the backlash of wind and power washing over them from it. "Poured it down her throat to spite Douma. We're lucky she's back with us," he went on, looking directly at her as the Insect Hashira's expression grew flatter and flatter. "She wasn't for a while there. Was expecting the transformation to take longer. Must have been those demons you ate." Her eyebrow twitched at that, but she otherwise kept staring the other demon down.
Meanwhile, Sanemi thought about that information. Huh. Kanroji didn't normally act out of spite… so there was probably some of her wanting to help Shinobu in there. Either way, the Wind Hashira approved.
Before he could say much of anything else, the little hand-girl spoke up. "What's wrong with Tanjiro-san?"
Everyone froze at that because it seemed no one had an answer.
"We don't… know," Kocho said quietly. Making sure to smile – without showing her teeth – she squatted in front of the girl a little. "Sorry, honey, but what's your name?"
The girl blinked and glanced around. "Um… Kimiko," she said shyly.
"I'm Kocho Shinobu," Kocho said far too brightly. "You can call me Shinobu-san, if you'd like, okay, Kimiko-chan?"
The girl still looked a little shy, but she nodded in acceptance.
Sanemi let out a snort and rolled his eyes. He didn't see a point in coddling a demon if— some movement caught his eye and he glanced over to see the two demons from the hallway – the Kaigaku kid and the one Sanemi had turned – scrambling up the side of the rock formation.
"Those idiots!" he hissed and started forward. With everything Kamado and Muzan were doing, they'd only get themselves killed. Or worse, they'd get in Kamado's way. What were they thinking? Well, they probably weren't, but why? Once he'd gotten to the base of the new hill, the call had nearly stopped for him, and likely every demon with him. So, why was it different for them? Or was it different. Did that have something to do with him being more coherent?
"Che," he growled and rushed forward, reaching out to grab the brats.
Just as he did, another streak came rushing through the trees on the other side of what used to be the clearing. Sanemi looked up. Wait, was that Iguro? As a snake?! As a cobra?
Just how many people had been turned into demons that night?!
At least the Hashira that came chasing after him didn't look demonic. That and Iguro didn't smell like one of Muzan's demons… at least not completely.
But the whole group was still heading right into the middle of the fight…
"Kocho! Akatsugi!" he yelled over his shoulder, more than ready to send them off to stop everyone. He didn't have to. Another shockwave from the clashing demons did. It also knocked Sanemi to the ground.
He sat there with the dazed demons for several seconds (and through even more clashes), bu finallyt a shout from Muzan had him looking up. Kamado had… won. It almost didn't register for several seconds, but the younger progenitor had the supposed 'Demon King' wrapped in… weird fleshy arms that were way too big for his body.
"Any last words?" Kamado hissed loudly, "before I eat you?"
Sanemi blinked. Kamado was… gloating? His chest tightened. That… that wasn't Kamado. He knew something was very, very wrong. But this…
And then Muzan exploded.
xXx
AN: Um... Merry Early Christmas? *ahem* Or whatever you celebrate. I'll run away now.
Thanks to Quathis and Found for their help on this! :D I'll go hide now. You can come find me on Discord though!
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy
(Hmm, people don't seem to understand what exactly happened in this chapter, so I'll refer you to chapter 187 of the manga...)
demonslayer-mangaonline (dot com forward-slash) manga/ demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-chapter-187/ (no spaces)