Warning:
Intense scene (blood and injury description)


"Ozaki-san," I softly called out her name, gently tapping her cheeks to keep her awake, "Ozaki-san, I need you to stay awake, dear. I know it's difficult to keep your eyes open, but if you fall sleep now, you may never be able to wake up again."

Ozaki slowly blinked, trying her best to stay awake.

"Murata-san, can you hand me another splint please?"

"Yes, just a minute."

Seven survivors; there were total of seven survivors from the whole cluster of bodies. And even then these survivors weren't in much better condition either.

'If only I had better equipment and some proper help—'

Not that I wasn't grateful for Murata helping me, but most of these slayers had severely broken bones— some of them were even facing severe internal bleeding, which I wasn't able to treat properly due to lack of equipment.

As a matter of fact, the only thing I could do right now was to disinfect their open wounds and wrap them; I had also wrapped their broken limbs in splints and parts of my haori as I didn't had enough bandages with me for it.

'I should have prepared more...' I frowned, shaking my head as I avoided that line of thought.
No use thinking about what I can't do anything about anymore.

"Is there anything more I can do?" Murata kindly asked, watching me as I gently (but tightly) wrapped Ozaki's arm with the splint and cloth.

"Not for now. Fortunately we have already provided the rest of the survivors some basic treatment before their injuries became worse."

Murata nodded, before staring at the sleeping or unconscious survivors, "Are they..." he cleared his throat, "I mean, are you sure they're not..."

"...dead?" I completed his sentence for him, "No. Not yet. Most of them are either unconscious or sleeping because of the pain-killing medicine I had injected them with."

"Why aren't you allowing Ozaki to sleep then...?" Murata asked curiously, as I was done with tending to her injuries.

I slightly tapped her cheeks again, making her open her eyes.

"She has suffered some severe head trauma." I declared as I slowly started packing the medicine boxes back into my satchel, "And even though sleeping is not exactly harmful after receiving a concussion, it is better to stay awake for a few hours if you cannot properly walk or talk after receiving one. Not only can she not perform such tasks, she also received a much severe head trauma than just a mild concussion. That's why I don't want to take chances with her and let her sleep."

"O-Oh... I didn't know you were a proper... doctor."

I smiled at him gently, replying with a softer tone, "I kind of am, you can say. Have been practicing for about four years."

"What's up with your blood, though...?"

"To be honest? I don't know either!" I lightly replied, taking out my bamboo bottle and taking a sip of water from it.

"Eh? What?"

"I'll admit, I don't know much about my blood either. The only thing I can tell you about it is that my blood turns corrosive in nature when it comes in contact with demon blood."

"C-Corrosive?"

"Yes, corrosive." I slowly got up, dusting all the soil my milky-white kimono had collected, "It melts the demon skin or blood whenever it comes in contact with them. That is why I sprayed it all over you people before I started treating you— as long as you have that liquid over you, no spider demon can climb over you or touch you."

'If only I had remembered to sprinkle it over Tanjiro and Inosuke...'

"You..." he looked at me skeptically, "You're not kidding, are you?"

"I'm not that mean, Murata-san." I off-handedly commented, before moving away from the 'cleansed area'. I had sprayed the blood solution on the ground, covering a large portion near a tree so that no spiders could crawl up on these survivors and also to provide them a basic protection from other demons on the mountain.

'This is their Lakshmanrekha.' I smiled wryly at my thought, before turning to Murata.

"Murata-san, I'm going to leave you now with the rest of the demon slayers."

His eyes widened at my statement, "Eh—?! Wait, why—" he almost desperately asked.

"Hey, hey, don't worry!" I tried to comfort him, "No demon can harm you here, I assure you. And I really need to leave now— I cannot just leave those two to fight alone with a lower Demon Moon, can I now?"

"But you'll die!" He exclaimed, "You're not even a demon slayer— you can't survive all this!"

I smiled wryly at him, slowly moving away and towards the forest as I said, "As if that ever stopped me before."

'And as if I couldn't have been one if I wanted to.'

Irony.
My life as Miyasha was nothing but irony.

"Oh, and don't forget to keep waking Ozaki-san up! I left my satchel with you, so use the bandages and water from it, if you need any!"


I sprinted through the forest with as much speed as I could; the lack of haori on my body made it easier to catch speed, due to the lower resistance against the wind.

However...

'Fuck, it's damn fucking cold!' I cursed internally as I passed through several trees.

My haori served more than just the traditional form of clothing— not only was it made of a thick, durable cloth which kept my abnormally cold body warm, but was also baggy enough to let me hide my fans and their metal holsters attached on my biceps.

Now without it, I felt somewhat... naked.

'Or at least, feeling as cold as I would've been if I was actually naked.' I wryly thought as the moonlight shown down on me.

'They are quite far away.' I mused as I kept moving towards Inosuke and Tanjiro's aura, 'Even feeling their aura from here is quite a bit of a—' A sudden sound of thunderclap and the sharp inflation of energy following it made me stop in my path.

'Wait, wait, wait— what the hell was that?' I frowned, closing my eyes to concentrate on feeling the auras near me, 'Was that... was that Zenitsu?' I wondered as I looked up at the sky for any sign of clouds.
There were none, of course.

'Should I really...?' I frowned, feeling indecisive all of a sudden, 'Zenitsu is quite far away though... almost in the opposite direction from where I am heading. While Tanjiro and Inosuke...'

The thing was, even though Zenitsu may seem he needs my help more, it actually wasn't the case— he survived even without my presence, and he will still do so regardless of me going there. Yes, my medications just after the attack might make him recover quickly, but since Shinobu arrives there herself as well, I'm not taking the chance to be seen by her.

'Not to mention that the father demon is a bigger threat at this point.'

With that thought in mind, I started moving towards the general direction of Inosuke and Tanjiro again. I've wasted enough time already by standing here like an indecisive idiot.

.
...

I was almost at my destination when I felt the demon's aura— it was even denser than what I felt a few minutes before.

'Where is Tanjiro...?' The fleeting thought crossed my mind before I noticed Inosuke's position.

"Inosuke!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I noticed the several eyed father demon approaching him, "Move out of the way!"

I immediately jumped up on a tree, using it as my base as I used my full strength to spring up my legs against it.

Inosuke looked back at me before yelling, "I won't lose!" He prepared his stance as the demon approached, "I'm Hashibira Inosuke of the Demon Slayer Corps! Just bring it on, you dirt-bag!"

Just before I reached the demon, it slammed Inosuke with so much force that he went flying and crashing through several trees.

With even greater speed, it slammed me in the same direction as Inosuke; knocking out all the air inside my chest as I breathlessly slammed against several trees in the forest.

'Fuck me.' I cursed internally as I took a painful breath. I could easily taste the blood in my mouth as it had already started dripping from the corner of my mouth and the bloody battle hadn't even started.

Without wasting time, I stood up and sprinted towards Inosuke; I could clearly see him and the demon in my line of vision when Inosuke tried to attack the demon and—

'I-It snapped?!' My breath hitched painfully, as a sudden realization hit me as I saw Inosuke's swords snapping into pieces, 'I-I can't... I can't attack him with my fans—' My eyes widened as I noticed the demon approach Inosuke again.

'Do something, Miyasha! Do fucking something— or else Inosuke will be killed!'

I increased my speed; pushing my legs to their extreme as I approached the demon, 'Even if his skin is indestructible, his mouth still shouldn't be. And I'll let that be my best bet.'

"Don't come near my family..." the father demon grumbled in his coarse voice, "Stay aw—"

I jumped on the demon's hand, gliding my fans against his open mouth in a flash before dismounting simultaneously due to my speed.

The demon immediately dropped Inosuke from his crushing hold and turned to me. I moved away without a moment's hesitation, as it followed to attack me.

'I do not have the strength to even try to cut his neck.' I speculated, suddenly stopping in my path due to which the demon almost came crashing onto me, 'But I do have the speed to match and the agility to keep him busy.' In a flash I stepped sideways, disabling it from catching me as I quickly moved away again.

'He is a higher level demon.' I deduced as I could hear it following me, 'That means the amount of blood I was able to inject through his mouth may not be enough. If only I had brought a flask—'

Suddenly Inosuke joined the fight; with his iconic war cry, he pierced his broken swords into the demon's back— making his attention shift back to him. Seeing this golden opportunity, I rushed back towards them, intending to make a final blow and move Inosuke away as the demon perished.

But before I could do that, instead of attacking Inosuke, the demon simply splat him away and turned towards my approaching self.

Due to my high speed, I was unfortunately not able to change directions before the demon caught me into his huge hands, trying to crush my skull as soon as it got a good grip on me. I tried slashing him with my fans but any strength left in me drained rapidly as the pain from his crushing grip set in.

My vision blurred due to the immense pain and lack of oxygen, making me drop my fans a...nd...

The demon's harsh grip suddenly loosened on me, making me gulp in the much needed air before I fell on the ground. As my vision gradually cleared, I noticed the hand previously gripping my body lying beside me.

'Wh-What happened...?' I thought absent-mindedly as I turned to the side to notice someone standing there with their sword.

'They... feel familiar.' I thought fleetingly as I concentrated back on my breathing. This warm, wavy aura- I've felt this before. I know this person. 'But... where...?'

The demon above me groaned painfully, before regenerating his hand back as he moved to attack the figure who severed his hands.

"Move ou—" I tried to yell out before coughing, my throat extremely soar after the whole ordeal.

The warm aura suddenly shifted, making me look up at their general direction. By now, my vision was clear enough to see again properly and what I saw took my breath away.

'Tomioka...'

His blue eyes met with mine, making a strange warm feeling spread throughout my whole body. Strangely enough, he didn't break the eye contact away— staring at me straight as he sheathed his sword after his quick attack on the demon.

'He... he is the one who...?'

He slowly approached me; I was only a few meters away from him since he had landed right in front of me after attacking the demon, making me fall directly under his line of sight.

"Fight me, Mismatched Haori!" Inosuke suddenly yelled, resulting in Tomioka to stop in his path as he looked back at the young slayer, "You beat that lower Demon Moon! And I'm gonna beat you; that's how I've drawn it up!"

I took that chance to drag my body up into a sitting position, despite all the pain it caused.

'Jesus fucking Christ.' I swore in my mind as concentrated on my breath and not on the pain— but Got fucking dammit, it bloody hurt.

But the more important issue than the bloody pain was that I rapidly was losing blood— making my body temperature drop even further and mind dizzier.

After somehow making myself sit up, I quietly turned to the duo— noticing how Inosuke was fuming and yelling at Tomioka, while the said Hashira approached him calmly with a thick rope in his hands.

'Where the hell did he get that...?' I absent-mindedly wondered as I watched him quickly wrap Inosuke with the rope and hang him off of a tree branch with a strange precise and lightning fast speed that even made me jealous.

He then turned towards me, his eyes locking into my own once again as I was unable to look away from his ocean blue eyes.

'Why... why was he following me? How much did he...'

Tomioka kneeled down to my level once he reached me, finally moving his eyes away from me as he looked over my face and neck.

'Is he... checking me for injuries?'

"Can you talk?" He bluntly asked, his face just inches away from mine. My heart skipped a beat at his deep voice, making me feel even warmer than before.

'What the hell is happening with me...'

"...yes." I shortly answered, noticing his eyes widening as I did.

"Good." He stood up, instantly going back towards the forest as he continued, "Don't talk too much and stay where you are."

'He's too... blunt.' I fleetingly thought as I noticed him move away, before Inosuke started screaming again.

"Wait! Come back here?!" He yelled loudly, "I can't hear you— you're speaking too softly!"

I huffed out in amusement, taking in a deep breath, "Stop screaming... Inosuke." I gruffly called out, trying to be as loud as I could, "It's... giving me a headache."

"Your voice turned weird." Inosuke commented, making me huff again.

"I... I know." I finally replied, closing my eyes in hopes to decrease my headache, "I know..."

'Tomioka... Ironic how I never even wanted to meet a Hashira in all my life and yet I met one so many times during my so called 'missions' without even realizing.' I huffed again, slowly descending down into the path of unconsciousness, 'My life... is too ironic.'


Giyuu sprinted towards the demon, immediately severing its hand off from its body as he freed the woman it held in its grip.

'That woman...' He discreetly stared at her, noticing her breathing heavily.

The demon in front of him groaned painfully, before regenerating its hand back as it moved to attack Giyuu.

He slowly turned towards the approaching creature, "Water Breathing, Fourth form..." he jumped towards its figure, gliding his sword all across its body in a few graceful moves, "Striking Tide!"

He gracefully landed on his knee; almost directly in front of the violet-eyed female he had just saved. He felt her eyes on him; and sure enough, when he looked up, their eyes locked.

This was not the first time he saw her, and yet...

He sheathed his sword as he heard the demon fall behind him, 'I need to get back to the Demon Moon.' He reminded himself absent-mindedly as he quickly moved towards the female.

Before he could approach her, the other male slayer started yelling for Giyuu to fight with him, making Giyuu annoyed at his interruption.

'I don't have time for this...' He scowled, before dismissing the strange boar-masked slayer.

Unfortunately, the slayer still kept yelling, giving him the feeling that he didn't realize the extent of his own injuries yet.

'He'll jeopardize his own life if I didn't tie him up.' He mused, as he took out the rope he had been carrying with himself in his haori.

As the boar-masked male fumed out an explanation for his misconception about the creature he just slayed, Giyuu moved to quickly tie him up against a tree branch. For extra measures, he tied him a few inches off the ground.

After leaving the male speechless with his speed, he proceeded towards the known yet unknown female.

She still stared at him intently— her violet eyes full of confusion and... familiarity?

He kneeled down to her level, finally breaking the eye contact to look at the injuries she received. Her face had a few scratches and blood dripped from the corner of her lips— but it was from her neck down that looked the worse. It was bruised to the extreme and was already turning an ugly shade of blackish-violet.

"Can you talk?" He asked bluntly.

"...yes." she gruffly answered, her voice somehow still sounding sweet even after being so strained.

'Her injuries are not too severe then...' He almost sighed in relief at that fact, before resorting to stand up instead. After all, he still needed to terminate the Demon Moon.

"Good." He stood up, instantly going back towards the forest as he softly advised, "Don't talk too much and stay where you are." He really hoped she followed his advice— she most likely sustained several severe injuries, making her in no condition even move around, let alone fight.

'I have to quickly kill the Demon Moon.' He thought as he left her behind, 'I will come back for her once all this is over.'


So here's the next chapter~
I know no one is gonna notice this but I'm uploading this a bit early since I'm gonna focus on the next two chapters of this arc, which are gonna be one of the most important chapters of this whole fanfic.

And since it is so important, I may or may not upload it a bit later than usual— no more than a week though, trust me.

Other than that, I'll be very honest; I know this chapter may seem a bit boring but trust me when I say it's only going to get better from here! And it's not only because Giyuu is finally here xD

AlsoLakshmanrekha is an Indian metaphor which is derived from the mythology of 'Ramayan'; it depicts the line (limit) which one should not cross or else they'll cause harm to themselves.

Now, here comes the review replies!

natonatonii: I absolutely understand your pain with the school work, after all, I once had to do all that too xD And thank you for replying! Your reviews means a lot to me! :D And yes, their time at the Butterfly estate will be chaotic, to say the least xD I hope I write them well to your satisfaction! ^^

Blue: I'll be very honest— your review actually got me a bit confused in the beginning xD But, I'm sorry to inform you this, that you are half wrong! Nowhere in the manga or the official fandom wiki is it mentioned that his "daughter" is not his biological child. So, in the end, her being his actual blood is canon until stated otherwise by the mangaka. He being a child on the other hand, was not on the "same time" as him playing as a father— it was about a good month or two (at least) after he left his "family". Though, I do agree with the part that he did all this to gain power and money so that he could access knowledge for the Blue Spider Lily he was so desperately trying to find. Anyway, thank you so much for your review! I really hope I didn't offended you by correcting you like this ^^;; I just wanted to clear your concepts.

Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!

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!