The next day, while Gyutaro was eating some soup that Tamayo had made for him, an annoyed Yushiro brought him a letter that had been slipped under their door. Gyutaro took the letter, "thanks for getting that for me" he said gratefully. The Demon teenager scoffed, "you're lucky it was cloudy, otherwise I would've left the letter outside" he replied. Gyutaro looked at the letter and grinned as he saw it was from Takeo. "Ume! Ume, wake up!" he said excitedly. "Huh?" The 21-year-old Demon asked as she woke up, a small bit of her fangs visible poking out of her mouth as she no longer had her muzzle. Yes, the procedure had been a success, and Ume now only needed a small amount of human blood to survive, and only if she had been badly injured and had no time or opportunity to sleep.
She was still practicing talking, since it had been 2 years, and her vocabulary had been reduced to stuttered words even before she had the muzzle in her mouth. The white and green-haired Demon woman looked at her Brother questioningly, "wh-wh-what is i-i-it?" she asked curiously. "Takeo wrote us a letter" Gyutaro replied. Ume blinked for a moment, visibly thinking. Then she lit up, "B-Brother, scarf?" she asked. The green-haired man nodded, "that's right Ume, he's our little Brother who wore the green and black scarf" he confirmed. Ume smiled at that. Gyutaro opened the letter, "let's see what he said" he decided. After reading for a moment, the Eldest Kamado Sibling smiled, "another set of Siblings, came to visit everyone. The Shinazugawa's," he said. He read some more, "they seem to be a very big family too. There were 6 of them their, and they have an Older Brother too.
But their Oldest Brother hates Demon's." Gyutaro explained. He smiled slightly, "well, at least the rest of our younger Siblings have some friends aside from Rokuta. I'm glad. It seems since we've moved to the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, our younger Siblings have made a lot of new friends. I wonder if they'll make friends with the Master's other kids too" Gyutaro wondered. Ume smiled at that. Her Older Brother stroked her hair, "I'm glad that the procedure worked Ume. The thought of having to starve you, even if sleeping helped, and you didn't have to eat humans never sat well with me. I'm glad that you can just have blood now without eating anyone" he said happily. He looked at the letter in thought, "now that I'm not busy with Missions, I guess I should let Tanjiro and Nezuko know how we are, right?" Gyutaro asked.
Ume nodded, "uh huh!" she said happily. He took out some paper and the pen Ume used to write and started writing up a letter to his younger Brother and Sister. Dear Tanjiro and Nezuko. How are you? Ume and I just fought Lower Moon 6 of the 12 Kizuki. Thankfully we survived, but my leg was broken during the fight, and Ume found that Demon Doctor you told me about, Tamayo. She helped us and I'm at her new Clinic, letting my leg heal. Miss Tamayo also altered Ume's body to only need human blood, so she doesn't need the muzzle anymore. Ume is now practicing talking again. I wish you could see her. Anyway, we'll be leaving as soon as my leg heals. How are you both doing?
Regards, Guytaro and Ume.
He signed the letter off and put it aside to dry. Gyutaro sighed and leaned back on the bed. Then he looked at Ume, "you should practice talking more. Have you had any good dreams while you've slept Ume?" he asked her. The Demon woman began to talk, stuttering a lot, but still talking. Gyutaro smiled at hearing his little Sister's voice for the first time in two years. Relaxing on the bed, the Demon Slayer began to fall asleep again. After a few minutes, he felt his Sister climb into the bed beside him and cuddle against his side. "can't wait, t-to see every-one again" she said softly. Gyutaro sighed, "me neither" he agreed, before falling asleep again.
U*G.K
When he woke up again, Tamayo was there holding a tray of food with a bowl of white rice along with a plate of cooked fish, "it's been a long time since I was human, but I'm sure fried fish and steamed rice is still something humans eat" she said, offering him the tray. He took it gratefully, as his stomach roared at him, "thanks a lot, I'm starving" he said, breaking the chopsticks and eating the rice. "Th-th-than-k you" Ume said, still stuttering, before she frowned. Tamayo smiled sympathetically at the younger Demon, "don't worry. It's my understanding that you haven't spoken since you were turned into a Demon 2 years ago. You'll get the hang of it again, it'll just take practice" she promised.
Ume nodded, looking down in thought, before she looked up at the Demon Doctor again, "thhhaank you fffor your heeeelp" she said, the words carefully sounded out. Tamayo beamed, "you'll get it, don't worry dear" she said. "And don't worry about it. As a Doctor, it's my job to help anyone who needs it." Gyutaro looked over the older Demon. She seemed very polite and kind. Thoughtful too. He wondered if she treated all her human patients this way. As Gyutaro ate his rice he wondered how their family was going. He hoped Tanjiro and Nezuko wouldn't be too worried about them after reading his letter. Well, they wouldn't even get it for a while, so it's not like he could know sooner. He thought about the rest of their Siblings. He should tell them how they were doing too.
And also congratulate them on making some new friends. If what Takeo had written was true, he had made a new friend of his own, with the second oldest Shinazugawa Brother, Genya. Takeo had never been interested in making friends before, seeming to take after him far too much, despite the small amount of time they'd spent together. If their most stubborn little Brother was making friends, then that was a good thing. The rest of their Brothers and Sister had made friends with the rest of the Shinazugawa Siblings too. It sounded like everyone had had fun. He looked over at Ume, who was muttering to herself, likely as a way to practice her words without disturbing him. Gyutaro smiled, "hey Ume?" he called. The Demon woman looked up at him curiously. "Want to write a letter to our family too?" he asked. She nodded, "ah, o-okay" she stuttered.
So the two Oldest members of the Kamado Siblings wrote their letters together.
U*G.K
Finally, they were done. It was almost night by now, so Yushiro took the letters to send out when the sun was completely gone. Gyutaro sighed, "I hope they'll get them" he said to himself, wiggling his foot slightly in his splint. A sharp stabbing pain shot up his leg, making him shudder, "urgh, I guess I deserve that" he muttered, before looking at Ume, who seemed tired tonight. "let's get some more rest Ume. I can't really do much else right now" Gyutaro muttered, relaxing back on the bed and trying to get comfortable. His little Sister snuggled up next to him, making him relax, 'no matter what happens Ume, you and I will never be apart' he thought, closing his eyes and succumbing to sleep.
U*G.K
Over the next few weeks, Gyutaro's leg healed and he did rehabilitation. Soon, he was fully healed. Tanjiro had sent him a panicky letter in the first few days of his time at Tamayo's Clinic, a response to his first letter about fighting a 12 Kizuki. It had started normal enough, asking about his health and how Ume was doing. Then it had spiralled into repeated questions about his health, where he was, if he was safe, ect. It got to the point where Gyutaro had to have Lady Tamayo send their Brother a note herself, to calm Tanjiro down. The teen eventually sent a letter with: glad you're doing well on it, and left it at that. Apparently, he was also on bed rest. Due to his last two Demon encounters, he had multiple broken bones.
Gyutaro had written a panicky and furious letter back, basically saying that he'd better not get anymore serious injuries like that in the future. He was an adult, he was allowed to get broken bones, while Tanjiro was still only 15, just a teenager, and was definitely not allowed to have broken bones. If their Mother could see him, she'd have a heart attack, as none of them had ever gotten such serious injuries before. Even when Tanjiro got burnt by the falling stove, only the skin had gotten injured, and his skull was too hard to be damaged by what little of the stove had hit him. (Not that that had stopped Gyutaro and Ume from freaking out of course) And so, the two sets of Siblings recovered in their own places.
U*G.K
Finally, after weeks, Gyutaro's leg was healed. "Now please be careful. The bone may be healed, but it is more susceptible to breakage now. I don't want you at another Doctor with a broken leg again" Tamayo said. The 27-year-old bowed, "thank you very much for your help. If it weren't for both of you, I don't know what we would have done" Gyutaro said gratefully. Tamayo smiled, "we were glad we could help" she said, as the Siblings left the Clinic, Ume holding her Older Brother's hand. Gyutaro and Ume walked for a while, "I really hope there aren't any enemy Demon's around. I am not in the mood for a Mission right now" the green-haired young man sighed.
"M-me n-n-neeeee-either" Ume agreed. Gyutaro nodded in agreement. His little Sister was still practicing how to speak, and she was having more trouble with some words more than others. The older Kamado squeezed her hand reassuringly. It was great to be able to hear Ume talk for real, rather than just make hums and grunts. So he would support her for however long it took her to learn to talk properly again. Gyutaro looked up at the clear, sparkling sky and took a deep breath, "at least it's a nice night" he said. Ume smiled, "y-you're ha-ha-happy" she stuttered. The green-haired young man tilted his head, "I guess I am. Ume, if we don't get another Mission, let's go home and see our family, okay?" he asked. "Sure!" the Demon woman agreed.
The two walked silently together, no Demon's disturbing the night. As the sun lightened the sky, Ume climbed into her box and fell asleep quickly. Gyutaro smiled softly, 'I guess it has been a long few weeks, huh Ume? You get some rest' he thought. "Let's go home and see everyone" he decided. The Kamado walked along the road, thinking of the letter his little Brother had written him. "I can't wait to meet their new friends" Gyutaro said.
U*G.K
The 27-year-old followed the path to the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, the sunlight warming his body. Gyutaro walked silently, before he came upon two Kakushi. "Demon Slayer Corps?" one asked. "That's right. My family lives at the Headquarters, so I'm going to see them while I don't have any Mission's" Gyutaro replied. Suddenly a Crow cawed overhead. He looked up to see Kie circling above him, before she dove down to perch on his shoulder. "Gyutaro Kamado, you have a new Mission!" she cried. "Now? But I was going to see my family" he asked. "Now! New Mission! Now! New Mission!" the Crow repeated. "Alright, alright, I'm going on the Mission!" Gyutaro sighed. He turned to the Kakushi, "Sorry, can you let my family, the Kamado's know that I'm fine, and I'll see them later?" he asked. The Kakushi bowed, "yes Master Gyutaro" they said at the same time. Gyutaro turned to Kie, "alright. What's the Mission?" he asked. "You are to head to Mount Natagumo at once! Once there, you will join the other Mizunoto on Site!" the Crow informed him.
Thee green-haired Kamado nodded, and left to head to his new Mission. Once they were far enough away from the two humans, he started to speak: "Sorry Ume. I guess we'll have to wait to see our Siblings again" he muttered. There was no reply, so he could only assume that his Sister was sleeping. They travelled for three days, Ume coming out at night when no one else was around. Finally, on the third night, they came upon a huge mountain with a forest. Ume shivered inside her box. There was something bad here. "B-big Bro-Brother," she stuttered. Gyutaro stopped walking, "Ume? What's wrong?" he asked. "Str-strong he-here. Be, c-careful" Ume warned. The Demon woman then fell silent. Gyutaro looked up at the mountain, clenching his fists. The last time Ume had warned him of something similar, they had fought a Lower Moon Demon. 'Don't tell me-' he thought, before catching sight of three figures standing further ahead. "Those must be thee other Demon Slayers that were assigned here" he said, beginning to walk towards them, only to stop and squint through the darkness.
He stopped in his tracks, eyes wide, "no fucking way" he muttered, beginning to run towards one of the three younger Demon Slayers. The one with long red hair and wearing a green and black checkered Haori. "Tanjiro! Tanjiro, hey!" Gyutaro called, as he ran up. His younger Brother turned to him with wide eyes, "big Brother?! I didn't know that you had been assigned this Mission too" he said. One of the other teens with their Brother, a blond boy wearing a yellow Haori with white triangles all over it looked up at him in shock. Then he turned to Tanjiro, "hey, uh, Tanjiro, is this really your Older Brother?" he asked in a whisper that Gyutaro could totally hear. Tanjiro cocked his head to the side in confusion, "yeah, why wouldn't he be?" he asked. The blond shook his head, "no, no reason. And why does he have a Demon with him too?" he asked, and his voice now shook with fear.
"Oh! That's our Older Sister. She was also turned into a Demon. But she's like Nezuko, and doesn't hurt humans. In fact, she only needs a little bit of blood from them. Right Gyutaro?" Tanjiro asked. "Yep! Lady Tamayo altered Ume's body, so she doesn't need to eat humans anymore. She doesn't even need her muzzle anymore" the green-haired adult replied with a grin at his Brother, but a look at the other teen. Tanjiro turned to the blond, "you see Zenitsu? Ume is a good Demon too. she won't even try to eat a human now" he said firmly. Zenitsu bit his lip, "okay, I'll trust you. If you say you're Sister's are good, then I won't worry about them" he replied. They all looked up at the forest, "now we just have whatever Demons are in this forest o deal with" Gyutaro said.
But the blond began to panic more: "No! No! No! I'm not going in there! Can't you feel that?! The aura emanating from that forest?! And the sounds coming from it! I've never felt anything so terrifying!" Zenitsu shrieked, crouching down on the ground and hugging himself, "there's no way I'm going in there! No way! I'm sure the Demons will be way too strong for kids like us!" he cried. Gyutaro winced at the volume and pitch of Zenitsu's voice. What was wrong with this guy? Suddenly Tanjiro put his arm out, "quiet down!" he hissed urgently. A sound caught their attention, making everyone turn their attention to the tree's behind them. Most of them (except Zenitsu) got ready to fight, and turned to the forest. However, instead of a Demon, they saw a teenage boy laying on the ground, tears in his eyes and he gripped his sword. He looked up, "help me. Please help me!" he cried.
"That Uniform! He's one of us!" Tanjiro cried, running towards the teen. Ume suddenly started scratching frantically at her box. "No! Hold on Tanjiro! Don't run off!" Gyutaro cried, following his younger Brother. Suddenly something pulled the un-named Demon Slayer back into the trees. "Ahh! They were attached to me too! Please don't let me die here!" the teen screamed, before he disappeared into the forest. Zenitsu looked horrified, but both Gyutaro and Tanjiro were determined. The younger Kamado moved to enter the forest, but his eyes widened suddenly, and he paused, trembling faintly. Gyutaro stopped and turned to look at his younger Brother, "Tanjiro?" he asked, worried. The Boar-masked teen pushed past the frozen form of the other Kamado, taking hold of the handles of both of his swords, "you can stay behind me, trembling like a scared little animal. But I'm going in. this is making me hungry" he growled. "Inosuke," Tanjiro said, and Gyutaro heard him, 'so, his name is Inosuke' he thought.
"Right! let's go!" his Brother said determinedly. Then the two Kamado's and one Boar-masked teen ran into the forest.
U*G.K
Gyutaro looked around as he crept through the forest with Tanjiro and his Brother's friend. He may not have Tanjiro's sense of smell. But he had a very bad feeling about this forest. Just like last time, only this feeling was even stronger. He shook himself out of those thoughts. Even though he was worried about his family, panicking would do nothing. He'd realised that last time. Gyutaro took a few calming breathes, and turned to Tanjiro as he clenched his nose, like he was in pain, "are you alright?" he asked in a whisper. "This smell in so strong. It's horrible, and blocking out any other scents in this forest!" he muttered. The green-haired young man placed his hand on Tanjiro's shoulder, "I can ask Ume to track the Demon, if you can't?" he asked. The burgundy-haired teen nodded, "yeah, maybe that's a better idea," he agreed, "at least until we kill the Demon who's causing this smell". Gyutaro then let Ume out of her box. Tanjiro smiled down at her, "Ume! It's great to see you without that muzzle! You look beautiful" he said.
The three Demon Slayers watched as the second Oldest Kamado grew to full size. She smiled down at Tanjiro now, "th-thank, y-y-you. G-glad you-you're safe" Ume said. Suddenly, they noticed another person ahead of them, looking through the trees. "Let's check it out." Gyutaro said. The group headed towards the other young man, who gasped in terror when he heard them. He turned to see them, "we're Demon Slayer Corps. My Older Brother and I are Rank Mizunoto." Tanjiro explained. "Mizunoto? They should have sent us a Hashira! It doesn't matter how many Mizunoto they send, we'll all just die!" the young man cried. "Are you here alone? Did you get separated from your Comrades?" Gyutaro asked softly. The other Demon Slayer tightened his grip on his sword, "we were ordered by a Crow to come here. So ten of us Demon Slayers arrived for the Mission. But once we'd entered the forest, everything went wrong," the man sobbed.
The group listened carefully, "the Slayer's started killing each other! I couldn't do anything! I just- I was so-" he trembled, tears in his eyes. Inosuke suddenly punched the man in the face. "Inosuke!" Tanjiro cried, trying to keep the Boar-masked teen away from the other Demon Slayer, "what's crying about it gonna do! Stop blubbering and start fighting already! Do your job!" Inosuke cried. "What's wrong with you?! I have Seniority!" the black-haired young man cried. Suddenly a sound was heard all around them. It sounded like a creaking, or a crawling sound. "That sound! That's the same sound I heard before everyone started killing each other!" the unnamed Demon Slayer cried.