Warning:
Intense scenes (blood and creepy spiders)


A laugh finally escaped from my lips, making the three demon slayers look at me in surprise— but I couldn't care less at this point.
Or maybe I could?

'Fuck it. I ain't changing the decision I took a whole month to make.'

"Don't be so bloody stupid, Kamado." I spat out, my voice still light with laughter, "You think you're the only one who's getting bad vibes from that mountain? I can literally feel those demons' auras— and I know exactly how ugly it's gonna be. So, stop overthinking and leave that work to the professionals."

Tanjiro blinked twice in disbelief, "Miyasha-san, I... I am not joking..."

"Neither am I, kid." I remarked, shaking my head as I tried my best to disperse the ever-growing dread in my chest, "Look, I know exactly what I'm getting into— I knew it when we were attacked at Tamayo's residence as well as when I agreed to go with you on your previous mission. Just 'cause my wrist has a permanent pain doesn't means I can't use it at all. So, stop worrying."

"I didn't mean to offend—"

"You didn't." I firmly replied, giving him a half smile as I started walking past them, "You actually freed me, if I were to be honest." I vaguely stated, not bothering to explain further.

"And Zenitsu," I continued, giving the blond demon slayer a wink, "Even if you guys don't mind, I sure as hell will."

Zenitsu blinked twice, blushing slightly as he stuttered, "B-But... that mountain—"

"That mountain what...? Has people who need our help? Demons who we need to kill?" I fired back, frowning as we stood stagnant at one spot. We were almost near the mountain and if anything, I wanted to get all this over with before the Hashiras joined the party.

"Zenitsu, what's wrong?" Tanjiro asked as well, when he noticed the blond slayer curl down on the ground gradually.

"I'm scared, all right?" Zenitsu admitted, tears slowly starting to leak from the corner of his eyes, "Now that we're finally nearing our destination, I... I'm so scared!"

We all stared blankly at him for few a seconds before Inosuke spoke up,
"Why the hell is he sitting? How creepy is that?"

I bit down a smile at that comment as Zenitsu insulted Inosuke back, screaming as he pointed at the mountain and repeated the fact how we all were getting bad vibes from it.

"Still, what good will it do to just sit there...?" Tanjiro asked innocently.

"I told you, he's creepy."

"Don't patronize him, Inosuke..." I glowered at Inosuke as Zenitsu screamed again about how we were the abnormal ones, not him.

'Pot calling the kettle black—'

A sudden shiver went down my spine, making me immediately turn towards the mountain.

'That's...' I tried to place what I was feeling, 'That's... a very strange way of aura inflation.'

"What? What's wrong?" Zenitsu asked, panic evident in his voice, "Hey... what happened?"

"Something... doesn't feels right." I commented absentmindedly before Tanjiro took off after claiming he was smelling something strange as well.

"Hey! Wait!" Zenitsu yelped, "Come on! Don't leave me here by myself!"

Inosuke followed Tanjiro without hesitation which I did as well when I noticed Zenitsu finally stood up to follow us.

We were almost at the foot of the mountain when we noticed the fallen body of a young demon slayer.

'He's still alive.' I deduced, rushing past the boys to approach him as I kneeled down to check the slayer's injuries, 'I still feel... a demonic aura surrounding him—'

The boy looked up at me, "H-Help me..." he begged as tears leaked from his eyes, "P-Please help me..."

"Are you alright?" Tanjiro asked as he approached us; Inosuke and Zenitsu following just behind him, "What happened?"

Suddenly the hair at the base of my neck stood up, making me immediately retrieve my fans out from the holster deep within the sleeves of my haori.

The very next moment, the slayer's whole body was jerked up— my hold on him made me stumble as well, but Tanjiro instantly caught my waist from behind.

Without any hesitation, I immediately cut off the now visible strings at the back of the slayer's uniform, making us fall on the ground simultaneously.

"Inosuke!" I yelled, feeling the demon trying to drag him by the strings still attached to the slayer's lower half, "Cut the strings near his legs, now!" I ordered desperately, which he fortunately followed without any question.

"T-They were attached to me, too..." The slayer trembled, almost fainting from the shock of it all.

"Calm down, there are no longer any strings on you..." I tried reassuring him, "At least, I feel no strings on you."

"W-What happened there?" Tanjiro asked, trying his best to control the quiver in his voice.

"Huh?" Suddenly Inosuke started, making us look at his palms, "What the hell is this?"

"It... has a strange sweet scent on—"

"Sp-Spider webs..." the slayer relayed, his whole body still trembling in fear, "Th-There are s-spider demons there who a-ar-are—"

"Shh..." I immediately stopped the young male, noticing him almost having a panic attack, "Calm down, you're safe. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, okay?"

"Hey! Why the hell are y—"

"Because if I don't stop him now," I firmly started, cutting off Inosuke as I focused on the young male in front of me, "He'll go into a panic attack. He is in no condition to retell what happened to him, at least not right now." I slowly stood up, looking down at the slayer in front me. He wouldn't be older than sixteen and yet...

"I'm going." Tanjiro declared, looking determined despite his still trembling hands.

"I will, as well." I replied back, just as Inosuke replied, "I'll go on ahead." as he pushed Tanjiro back and started on forward.

"You can follow me, shivering." Inosuke proudly declared, making a half smile form on my lips, "This is making me hungry..."

'Brave fool.'

"Inosuke..." Tanjiro stared at him for a couple of seconds, before turning to me, "Miyasha-san... are you..."

"I am." I firmly stated, looking down at the passed out teen, "I can feel many on the mountain like him, alive. They need my help, Tanjiro-kun— they need us."

Tanjiro nodded, while Inosuke suddenly gave a somewhat happy laughter and yelled for us to go.

"Zenitsu-kun," I looked back at him; my heart cracking at his shivering form, "Be safe, okay?" I finally said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Also..." I glanced at the fainted slayer again, "Please take him a good few meters away from this mountain, if you can."

Just as I started walking, Zenitsu called me, "Miyasha-san!" I looked back at the blond demon slayer, who had his hand stretched towards me like a child, "I... please don't go..."

I instantly closed my eyes, trying to stop the tears forming in them from flowing down. How could I even think about leaving these lovable idiots...

'Because I don't belong here...'

"Zenitsu," I started, taking a deep breath as I slowly moved away from him, "This... is my job. I'm sorry, dear." I gave him one last smile before sprinting towards the mountain.

'Whoever brought me here, please listen to my one and only request— please help me, tonight. Just for tonight.'


"Che! This place is full of spider webs!" Inosuke complained as he shook his hands vigorously, "What a pain!"

"Please be careful— these can easily be one of the spider demon's strings... or webs, whichever you prefer to call it." I reminded them.

"You're right..." Tanjiro off-handedly replied, making me look at him strangely.

"What happened? Is something on your mind?" I frowned, asking him without any hesitation.

'If he replies about me going back again, then I'm gonna smack him straight.'

"Inosuke? Miyasha?" I blinked in surprise at him suddenly dropping the honorific, "Thank you."

"Hah?"

"You said you'd come with me, so I felt encouraged." He continued, "That twisted, ominous scent I was picking up from the mountain... It made me freeze a little. So... thank you for giving me the courage!" He gave us both a close-eyed smile.

"Idiot..." I muttered, making Tanjiro look at me in surprise, "It's alright to feel scared, you know? And we'll always be here to help you." I commented, slowly reaching out to pat him instinctively.

Tanjiro froze slightly under my touch, discouraging me from patting him— so, to not make it awkward any further, I patted him once and moved my hand away.

Before any of us could say anything, Tanjiro suddenly frowned and looked towards a figure walking in the distance.

"There's someone there." He said, slowly moving forward, "Let's go."

'So, here it starts, eh?'

We three climbed the mountain as swiftly as we could, and approached the demon slayer hiding behind the trees.

'How scared is he to not be aware of his surroundings at all?'

Tanjiro extended a hand towards his shoulder, to which the male reacted immediately and turned back towards us in fear.

"We've come for backup." Tanjiro bluntly stated, "I'm Kamado Tanjiro, rank Mizunoto."

"Mizunoto..." the male repeated, before frowning in despair, "Mizunoto? Why didn't they send a Hashira!?"

Tanjiro's eyes widened as the male continued, "No matter how many Mizunoto they send, it won't help! It's pointless...!"

Suddenly Inosuke stepped up and punched him, making me jump at the unexpected act.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro yelled, while Inosuke ignored him and proceeded to thoroughly reprimand the slayer in front of us, "Shut up! As far as pointlessness goes, your existence itself has no point at all!" He grabbed the slayer's hair, whispering in a threatening voice, "Now, tell me what's going on, you spineless fool!"

"Who the hell are you?!" The unknown male replied in panic, "Don't forget I'm your senior!"

"Inosuke!" I whispered loudly, tugging his away from the slayer's head, "Don't attack him! Let him speak."

"Thank you..." He said, while frowning as he took a look at my clothes, "Wait, are you not a—"

"Please tell us what is happening so we can actually take the measures needed to prevent any further deaths." I politely requested, to which he immediately followed as Inosuke huffed loudly behind me.

"Th-The crow gave us the order!" He started, scooting away from Inosuke as he continued, "And ten of us demon slayers arrived here. Not long after we entered the mountain, the slayers... the slayers started killing each other! I... I had to..." he trembled as tears fell from his eyes in guilt.

"It's okay..." I squeezed his shoulder, making the slayer look at me, "You did what you had to do in order to survive. The slayers were most likely control by that string demon, making them unable to control their own bodies..."

"S-String demon—?" the slayer froze, hearing the strange sounds at the same moment as we did.

"What is this sound...?" Tanjiro wondered out loud, as we all looked around to find the source of the said sound.

"There it is again!" The unnamed slayer started again, "It's this sound again! The last time I heard this sound, everyone started killing each other!"

"Strings..." I muttered, grabbing everyone's attention around me, "This is the sound of strings being strained against objects..."

Tanjiro's eyes widened, "Where's it coming from?"

"I don't kno—" I stopped mid-sentence, looking at the side where a figure seemed to be approaching us from the shadows of the dark forest around us.

'They are humans but...' My breath quickened, 'They are surrounded by a strong demon aura...!'

Tanjiro and the unnamed slayer stood up as they noticed the 'puppets' approaching.

"Boys," I started, opening my fans as one of the slayers broke through the crowd and approached us, "Do not harm them! They are only—" I blocked the slayer's attack on us, immediately moving to cut all the strings on his back, "—controlled by the demon! Cut the strings of web from their backs instead!"

"All right." Inosuke huffed, immediately throwing a puppet slayer on the ground, "Cut the strings? I'll show you how to do them!"

Inosuke jumped over some of the slayers, slashing his swords wildly which resulted in all the strings on them being severed.

"Well done, Inosuke!" I praised him enthusiastically, my body pumping adrenaline at full speed. Inosuke huffed loudly at the praise, but before he could say anything, Tanjiro spoke up.

"There are small spiders," Tanjiro yelled, making us look at him in surprise, "Which are attaching the threads!"

I noticed some spiders moving around my feet as well, making me stomp on the ones approaching me.

'Thank fucking God, I don't have arachnophobia.'

"It's not good enough to just cut the threads!" Tanjiro continued, "The spiders are just gonna stick more puppet strings onto them! So—" Suddenly Tanjiro stopped mid-sentence, clutching his nose as he physically flinched.

"So, all we gotta do is kill those damn spiders, huh?" Inosuke asked, preparing his sword to attack.

"That would be impossible! Those spiders are tiny and I'm sure there are tons of them! We gotta find the demon who's controlling them!"

"Let me help you with the spiders part, then!" I exclaimed, retrieving a flask of red liquid from my satchel. I immediately sprinkled some on the ground nearby, producing white flames simultaneously as the small spiders burned under the effects of the solution made from my blood.

"Tanjiro, can you smell the demon—?" I asked absent-mindedly as the puppets started attacking us again.

"I can't! In this weird smell flowing in, my nose isn't working great!" Tanjiro confessed while blocking a slash from one of the puppets, "Can't you pinpoint it either, Miyasha-san?"

"I can only give you a very vague direction of the demon," I admitted, cutting off the strings on the puppets near me by gliding my fans over their heads, "Inosuke! Can you pinpoint the demon's direction?" I asked urgently, already knowing the answer.

"Hah? Of course I can—!"

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro called him as well, cutting the strings on the puppet he was fighting with, "Go and find that demon! Me and..."

"Murata! It's Murata!" The unnamed slayer finally introduced himself, making Tanjiro nod at him once.

My body suddenly stiffened— the strong concentrated aura of a demon was so close to us... too close.

"Me, Murata-san and Miyasha-san will deal with the puppets!" Tanjiro declared, "Inosuke, you—"

My breath hitched as the demon finally showed his face, which was as pale as moonlight.

'Rui...'

Even Tanjiro had stopped mid-sentence to stare at the intruder.

"Don't disturb my family's peaceful life..." he monotonously declared, his pale white figure shading over us as he walked barefoot on the thin webs suspended overhead, "Mother will kill you all right away."

'His aura... is so dense. Much denser, but still familiar to the other demons' inhabiting this mountain.'

"Mother...?" Tanjiro wondered out loud, meanwhile Inosuke gave out a war cry and jumped over the back of a still standing puppet to attack the lower Demon Moon. Unfortunately, he still couldn't achieve that height as he slashed his swords just a few inches under him.

"Damn you!" Inosuke cursed as he fell down, the demon slowly walking away as he didn't even bother to pay any attention to the attacking demon slayer, "Where the hell do you think you're going? Fight—"

"I-Inosuke," I yelled, "Look out!" At the last moment, the masked-boy flipped over and landed on his feet; making me sigh in relief.

"Why did he showed up anyway..." Inosuke huffed, looking towards the direction the Demon Moon had disappeared.

'Should I...' I gulped, looking at Tanjiro asking Inosuke to track the string-manipulating demon down, 'Should I tell them that Rui was a lower Demon Moon...?'

"Shut up already, forehead!" Inosuke yelled, half-burying his swords over the ground he was standing before he stretched both of his hands out as he kneeled on one knee.

"Beast Breathing Seventh Form, Spatial Awareness!"

I could literally feel his aura expanding— flowing through in waves as it almost covered the whole mountain.

'Th-That's fucking amazing!' I stared at the young male in front of me, 'He just expanded his aura over a radius of more than ten kilometres!'

A proud smile made its way over my face. I honestly forgot how insanely talented these kids were...

'So much so that this forest-boy made a breath style completely on his own...'

"Found it!" Inosuke proudly declared, "There you are!" I could still feel his aura burn around his body as he got on his feet.

"It's that way!" He pointed to my left direction, "I'm picking up a powerful vibe from over there, about three kilometres away!"

"That's fucking brilliant, Inosuke!" I praised, no longer able to keep it inside me, "Your aura flared and covered so much distance! Even better than my own! Amazing!"

Suddenly a sword came down on my left side, making me jump away from the attacker.

"We gotta take care of these guys first or we'll never get anywhere!" Inosuke declared as I jumped again and landed beside him.

"Shit," Tanjiro cursed, "Isn't there... Isn't there any way at all?"

"There is!" I yelled as I jumped over the puppets, cutting their strings again, "My blood can keep those bloody spiders away! If I sprinkle it over their body, those spiders won't be able to even touch them—" I immediately took out the flask again and sprinkled a generous amount over the puppets' bodies.

"B-Blood?" Murata looked at us confused, "How can that—"

"I'll explain that to you lat—" I was cut off by another incoming attack from the puppets, but before I could defend myself, Murata blocked the attack.

"Leave these guys to me and go on ahead!" He exclaimed bravely, to which Inosuke off-handedly replied, "What kind of talk is that, -My-Pants?"

'Please just, kill me now.' I shook my head disappointingly as Murata defended himself and Inosuke insulted him again.

"Enough!" I yelled, blocking another puppet's attack with one fan as the flask was in my other one, "This is not the time for your squabbles!"

"I know! I can handle them!" Murata started again, "I know what you saw before wasn't my finest moment, but I'm a Demon Slayer, too!" He proceeded to cut the strings behind the puppets I was blocking, giving me the chance to sprinkle it with my blood solution as well. "Now, when I know I just need to slash the threads, I can easily handle them! They can only make the most elementary movements as well, so you three go on!"

"I'm not going." I declared adamantly as I swiftly freed another puppet from their strings, simultaneously sprinkling the liquid over their body, "I can stop these people from becoming puppets! So, let me stay and fight here with you, Murata-san!"

I turned to Tanjiro and Inosuke, "You two go on ahead! Find the demon causing this and terminate them, now!"

"Understood! We appreciate this!" Tanjiro thanked briefly, dragging Inosuke with him as we continued to fight the puppets.

Inosuke's angry yells could still be heard from here, making me bite back a laugh.

"Would you shut up? Just drop it and get out of here!"

"I'm so gonna punch you when I get back!" Inosuke yelled in the end, making me snicker at his childish behaviour.

"Such a child." I commented, before flipping my fans over another puppet, "Murata-san, let's finish here fast and move towards the other puppets, agreed?"

"What?" He blinked at me, confusion evident in his eyes, "But, how do you know there are more of—"

"I can feel them!" I replied as I sprinkled some blood over the body of another fallen puppet that Murata freed, "I may not be a Demon Slayer, but I assure you when I say I'm not any less experienced than one either, Murata-san."


"Okay. I'm gonna do it one more time, so make—"

"Inosuke! Tanjiro!" I rushed my way through the forest, finally finding them, "Are those demon slayers still alive?"

"Yes...?" Tanjiro replied, confusion evident in his tone, "What happ—"

"CUT THE STRINGS CONNECTED TO THEM, NOW!" I screamed while jumping against the tree near me to reach two slayers tangled just in front of me.

Just as I cut through the strings, their bodies were freed and thus, fell down towards the ground at full speed before Tanjiro and Murata (who was following me) caught them. Inosuke freed the man in front of him— leaving only one tangled up on a tree.

I immediately jumped down and rushed towards the only one left without wasting any time— but before I could reach him, we stood there watching as his head turned to an unnatural degree, breaking his neck with a sick crack.

I stood there, frozen as I stared at the boy I couldn't save...

'No...' My body trembled from grief, eyes watering as the harsh truth hit me in my face again...

'I... I couldn't save him.'

"Hah!" Inosuke moaned in anger, "Dammit! He is dead!"

'If only... if only I had arrived a little earlier—'

"Miyasha-san..." Tanjiro's gently squeezed my shoulder, "It's... I'm sorry I couldn't reach him before all this..."

I blinked back the tears, finally looking up at Tanjiro— I had somehow fell onto my knees and yet, I didn't even notice it.

"...We need..." I cleared my throat again, forcing myself to stand up, "We need to relocate them... I and Murata will do that... you and Inosuke continue towards the demon." I stated, my voice devoid of any emotions.

This was not the time to remorse.
I have to protect them and treat them or else they'll die anyway.

"Miyasha-san..." I didn't dare to look back at Tanjiro; instead, I just stopped in my path as I looked down at the female demon slayer lying against the tree.

"Go." I softly said, "Stop that demon before it enslaves you too." I slowly picked up the female, mindful of her broken bones and injuries.

"There are several demons on this mountain." I informed them as I slowly moved back with the alive but silent demon slayer in my arms, "One of them is a lower Demon Moon... and I can feel his aura. Be careful... and please, try not to die, do you understand?"

"Hai... Miyasha-san."

"I'll be back where you found the other puppets." I commented, finally turning back to look at them, "When the Hashiras arrive, inform them of that place so that they can find the injured slayers. Till then, I'll be there— giving them a basic treatment."

With that, I and Murata carried the injured demon slayers back to where I had cleansed and marked an area for the survivors.

'To whoever listening above, please give me the strength to protect these poor souls.'


There, that's the next chapter! I'm sorry if it's confusing or rather plain— I'm not yet used to fighting scenes and I'm extremely sorry for that!

Anyhoo,Miyasha here is busy being the medic force again— but don't think is it! This arc isn't over yet and she has a lot to dish out!

Now, here comes the review replies!

Guest: First of all— thank you so much for your review! It gave me a good reader's perspective and I really can't thank you enough for that! And secondly, I actually agree with half the things you said in your review. It indeed is true that in many fanfics or stories females are made to go through extreme means to be "powerful", but it happens with males too! So yeah, I kinda disagree with that trend too but trust me when I say this is not like that! Her injury has a great significance here; even if it may seem unnecessary, it is not! She was extremely weakened when she received it and she only sustained that injury because she had to fight. Her injury signified her willingness go protect and that is why Tanjiro apologized for it. Anyway, the main reason I gave her this injury because this is gonna be her physical reminder for many of the things— which I'll slowly paint as the story goes! And thirdly, wait for this arc to end and then we'll talk about her badassary together ;) And about your questions— maybe the demons can procreate? I don't know since the Mangaka didn't exactly specify anything about that; but I'll take it as a yes and will assume that the only reason they normally don't is since Muzan's cells in them avoid them from doing so. Other than that, since the manga is based around the 1900s, I'll assume she's Muzan's child since the tradition of remarriages (especially when you already have a child) was uncommon in Asia. I do have some theories of my own about his daughter, that I most likely will be stating in the future chapters, so I hope you don't mind waiting for those! {And I really loved your long review!}

MysticKai: Heya! Glad to find ya here too! ^^ Love ya too!

Einklley: Oh my Gawd, I'm so sorry xD I was talking about the characters' injuries when I stated that xD I'm so sorry! But yeah, I really hope to shock you through my story at least once. That'll be my new motto :')

That's it for the review replies! Thank you so much for reviewing and giving me your point of views— trust me, these help me a lot as a writer!

And that's it for the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D

Stay safe and stay healthy!