As the three walked, there was a rustle of leaves, making the group tense up, before Ume walked out of the bushes in her small form. "Ume! You found us. How are the injured Demon Slayers?" Gyutaro asked. "S-s-safe. W-with K-k-k-" she frowned at being unable to get the word out. "It's okay, we get it. Thanks for that big Sister" Tanjiro said gratefully. Inosuke tilted his head as he stared at the small Demon. Gyutaro noticed the weird look, "what's wrong Inosuke?" he asked. "Who the hell is this?" he asked.
Everyone seemingly froze after the boar-masked teen's question, stunned at the stupidity. It was Gyutaro who came out of it first, "she's my little Sister Ume, remember?" he asked, as the small Demon slowly grew into her normal size, filling out the clothes that had been dragging on the floor. "Okay?" Ume asked worriedly. Gyutaro nodded with a smile, "everyone's okay" he replied. Suddenly there was suddenly a sound of thunder. "What? That sounded like thunder, but I can't smell any thunder clouds" Tanjiro said in confusion.
Inosuke must have sensed Tanjiro's worry, because he turned to where the noise had come from, "as the Boss, it's my job to go check out anything that makes my Underling's worry!" he proclaimed, before running off into the trees. "Wait! Inosuke! Don't just run off!" Tanjiro cried, trying to follow after the other teen, before Gyutaro stopped him, "don't worry Tanjiro. If he wants to scout the area for us, he can. Besides, he's got superhuman instincts. I'm sure he'll know when something is too dangerous and run" he explained.
Tanjiro kept looking that way, "I hope Miss Tamayo accepts Sayuri, and she can get there safely" he said. "She'll be fine. Miss Tamayo helped Ume, after all" Gyutaro said. They continued through the forest. The four (including the still sleeping Nezuko) walked for about half an hour, before Ume's attention snapped to the front. She began growling. "That's not good," Gyutaro said worriedly, looking around for any Demons. After another 30 minutes of walking, the Siblings heard a girl scream. They looked worriedly at each other, before hurrying towards where the scream had come from.
Before they could leave the trees, Gyutaro grabbed Tanjiro, who looked back at his Older Brother, "someone needs help" he whispered urgently. But Gyutaro shook his head, "look at Ume" he replied. The Demon woman was growling lowly, veins popping all over her body. "She had the same reaction when we found Lower 6. We shouldn't rush in" he said firmly. Tanjiro relaxed, but kept his hand on the handle of his Sword, "alright, I get it. We'll observe from the trees then. But if someone needs help, I will save them" Tanjiro agreed. The Oldest Kamado nodded, before they walked closer and peeked through the trees. A young Demon girl was kneeling on the ground sobbing while another Demon boy stood over her with a web between his hands.
"What are you looking at? This isn't a play you know" the boy said coldly without turning around. The two Kamado's froze as the young-looking Demon addressed them. Tanjiro grit his teeth and stepped out of the tree's, Gyutaro ready to jump out to defend his younger Brother at any moment. "What are you doing?! Aren't you allies?" Tanjiro asked, completely confused. "Allies? Don't describe it so casually. We're family. We are connected by a powerful bond. This is between me and my Sister. If you try to interfere, I'll carve you up" the boy said. "What are you talking about?! If you care about each other, it doesn't matter if you're related or not. Saying it's not real if you're not related by blood isn't right.
Furthermore, people who care about each other give off the scent of love, trust and care. But all I can smell from you two is the scent of fear, hatred and repulsion. That's not the bond of a family! It's fake! It's a forgery!" Tanjiro cried. The Demon boy's visible eye widened with anger, "what did you say?" he asked. Gyutaro clenched his hands around the handles of his weapons, 'damn it Tanjiro, don't piss him off!' he reprimanded in his mind. "Hey. Tell me what you said just now. Came now. Explain it to me. I demand to hear from you!" the Demon said. "No problem! I'll say it as many times as you want! What you have isn't a real bond at all!" Tanjiro cried firmly.
Gyutaro grabbed his younger Brother's arm. He fully agreed with him, but this was not the kind of person you could convince. And he was proved correct, when the Demon sent two threads at them. Tanjiro blocked the threads, while both Gyutaro and Ume dodged out of the way. "If you take back what you said, I'll kill you all quickly. But if you still refuse, I'll cut you up slowly and painfully" the Demon said. "No way! You're wrong! I won't take it back! What you have is not the bond of a family!" Tanjiro replied. "Fine. I'll just kill all three of you" he said, sending two huge webs at the Kamado's. Ume leapt in front of Gyutaro and threw up her shield, which caused the threads to vanish.
But Tanjiro wasn't so lucky. "Tanjiro!" Ume and Gyutaro cried in fear. But before he could get torn apart, Nezuko burst out of her box and leapt in front of their Brother. The threads tore her body apart slightly, blood splattering everywhere. Nezuko collapsed back into Tanjiro's arms. "Nezuko!" Tanjiro cried, as he carried his little Sister behind some trees. Gyutaro and Ume followed. "Oh God. She's bleeding all over the place. And her left hand is about to fall off!" Gyutaro cried, as Tanjiro tried desperately to hold Nezuko's arm together, "come on heal already! It has to heal!" Tanjiro cried desperately.
Nezuko groaned in pain, starting to fall asleep. Suddenly Rui spoke up, "that girl, is she- is she your Sister?" he asked shakily. "And so what if she is?!" Tanjiro demanded furiously. They couldn't hear if the young-looking Demon said anything for a moment, then the Older Sister Demon cried out: "Hold on! Rui! I'm your Older Sister! Don't abandon me!" she said. "Shut up!" Rui screamed, lashing out with his threads and slicing the other Demon girl into three pieces, her head was cut off, and her body cut in half. The trees behind her were also cut down. "Fuck!" Gyutaro hissed, glancing at Nezuko, who was too injured to defend herself. Then he turned to Ume, "Ume, take Nezuko and get out of here. Find a safe place to hide until she heals." He ordered.
"B-but I-" the white and green-haired Demon woman tried to protest. "Go now!" he snapped under his breath. Then he and Tanjiro heard Rui's voice, "hey. You boy's. Come out. Let's talk," he began, voice scarily calm. Tanjiro looked at Ume with a desperate, pleading look on his face. Ume looked down at her injured little Sister, before nodding firmly. She gently picked up Nezuko into her arms, holding her close to her chest as she ran off through the trees. Gyutaro and Tanjiro stepped out of the trees, both glaring at the Demon boy, "we'll never hand Nezuko over to you" Tanjiro said furiously.
"Fine. I'll just kill you and take her" Rui said. "Not if we cut your head off first!" Gyutaro growled. "That's the spirit!" the Demon boy said in mocking encouragement, lifting his hand and pushing his hair out of his face, "I'd love to see you try it. Let's see if you can kill a being like me. One of the 12 Kizuki!" Rui said with a demented grin. Gyutaro clenched his fists, 'it's just like Sayuri said. He is the 12 Kizuki' he thought.
U*G.K
"Hey. That look in your eyes, I don't like it" Rui said with a glare. "Don't tell me, that you actually think you're going to defeat me!" he cried, pulling his arm back forcefully.
U*G.K
Ume was running through the forest with Nezuko in her arms, who had just fallen asleep. 'I have to protect my little Sister, no matter what!' she thought. Suddenly Nezuko was ripped from her arms and pulled up into the trees. "No!" Ume cried, skidding to a stop immediately, and, kicking powerfully off from one leg, shot back the way she'd come, terrified of what that Bastard would do to her Little Sister.
U*G.K
Tanjiro had rushed towards Rui, intent to attack while he was seemingly distracted. Suddenly, with a muffled shriek and a rushing of leaves, Nezuko fell into Rui's arms. The Kamado's eyes widened in horror as he skidded to a stop before he accidentally hit his little Sister. "Nezuko!" he cried, as Rui held the 12-year-old Demon with one arm, as she tore at the sleeve of his Kimono in an attempt to free herself, but his grip was iron tight. "Let her go!" Tanjiro roared furiously. "Tanjiro!" Gyutaro cried, when suddenly Ume burst back into the clearing, "Nezuko!" she cried, reaching out to her little Sister.
With a wave of his arms, Rui's threads cut Ume into several pieces, including cutting her head and both her forearms off, and her body in half from the waist. Tanjiro growled furiously at how both his Sister's had been hurt. "Ume!" Gyutaro called. "Put Ume's body back together quickly Gyutaro. We have to save Nezuko" Tanjiro said, forcing himself to calm down. "Of course!" the green-haired young man called, as he hurried over to Ume, who seemed to have better healing abilities than their younger Sister. The Oldest Kamado began pushing Ume's body back together.
"Big Brother. I-I'm sorry for n-not being a-a-able to p-protect Nez-Nezuko" she said. "Don't worry, just heal up" Gyutaro said firmly, but as soon as one of her arms healed, Ume gripped his arm to get his attention. He looked over at his Sister's head, where she had a furious look on her face, "if he hurts my little Sister, I will kill him" Ume swore, utterly serious. Gyutaro let out a breath, unable to react to the fact that his Sister had just said a whole sentence without stuttering once.
Instead, he focused back on his task, "I'm furious too, but this Demon is stronger than the last Lower Rank Demon we fought, and he nearly killed me. We have to be careful." After a few minutes, Gyutaro finally, reattached Ume's head. Suddenly, Tanjiro screamed out in horror: "Nezuko!" both Older Kamado Siblings looked out at where Tanjiro was fighting Rui. But he wasn't holding Nezuko anymore, and there were three scratches across the Lower 5's face. They followed Tanjiro's gaze and looked up. Nezuko was hung up in Rui's threads, above the clearing. The threads were cutting into her body, causing her to bleed heavily.
They stared in utter horror, just as Tanjiro yelled, "let her go!" and rushed Rui. He tried to attack, but Rui backhanded him. "Hey, you- I'm sure I'm mistaken, but you think if you can get close enough to me, you can chop my head off, don't you?" Rui asked. Tanjiro gasped, blood leaking from his wounds. The young-looking Demon boy held out his arms in invitation, "well, go ahead, give it a shot" he said. Tanjiro swiped with his sword, but the 12 Kizuki boy punched him three times, but the Kamado used the momentum and spun around, slamming his sword at Rui's neck.
But it clanked against the skin, as though it were metal. Gyutaro watched furiously, as his little Brother struggled to behead the Demon. "Didn't I say. You have no chance against me" Rui said, kicking the 15-year-old back into a rock in near the Older Kamado Siblings hiding place. Just then Ume finished healing, "Tanjiro!" she cried, as the two ran out to check on him. Nezuko screamed in fury through her gag, thrashing as much as she could in the threads. "Quiet down a bit" Rui said, clenching his hand a bit, as the threads around Nezuko's right leg tightened, cutting through the skin and causing blood to gush out of the wound.
Nezuko screamed in agony. "STOP IT!" Tanjiro screamed furiously. "You have to calm down Tanjiro! I'm as furious as you, but if we just charge in, we'll die!" Gyutaro cried, as he clenched his fists tightly, shaking in fury, "fuck" he swore under his breath, as they watched Nezuko fall asleep. The fact that she was hurt enough to have to go to sleep was infuriating. He glanced at Tanjiro, who was focusing his breathing. He placed a hand on his Brother's shoulder, "go Tanjiro. We've got your back" he promised. Tanjiro shot towards Rui. As Gyutaro and Ume ran in on either side of their Younger Brother, flames seemingly engulfed Tanjiro's sword.
Rui threw up more threads to try and kill him, but Gyutaro ran in and cut them away with his Sickle. 'Stone-Breathing, Third Form: Stone Skin!' he thought, as he used the Third Form to cut away all the threads. Ume ran through, her Blood Demon Art canceling the threads. Tanjiro ran ahead of them, slashing the threads apart with difficulty. "Hey, you don't think these threads are at full strength do you?" Rui asked, as his hands and threads turned red. He pulled on them, and they tightened into a shrinking cage around the burgundy-haired teen. "Tanjiro!" Gyutaro cried in horror. Before either of them could do anything, Tanjiro cried out: "Hinokami Kagura, Dance!" and his flames burned even brighter, heat wavering off of them.
They engulfed his sword and he began slicing through the threads easily. Rui threw up more red threads, but Tanjiro yelled out furiously, continuing to cut through them, not letting anything get in his way of defeating Rui, and saving Nezuko. "Go!" Gyutaro cried in encouragement. Suddenly hot pink flames gushed down the threads, slamming into Rui. Gyutaro and Ume looked up to see Nezuko awake, her hand clenched. "LOOK OUT!" Ume cried. He noticed the threads heading their way, and cutting them apart with his Sickle. Then he noticed Tanjiro moving through Nezuko's flames, which then dissipated. He slammed his broken sword against Rui's neck.
"The bond between a true family, OUR family, is not something ANYONE can sever! NOT EVER!" He cried furiously, before his sword sliced through the Demon's neck with hot pink flames trailing his blade. Just as the sword was cutting through his neck, Rui unleashed more red threads everywhere, trying to take them with him, or maybe it was just the attack he had been going to do. Gyutaro sliced apart any that got near him, while Ume's shield did the rest. Rui's now headless body collapsed to the ground, as did Tanjiro, having used up all his strength. Gyutaro watched them, before Ume cried out, "Nezuko!" he looked up, as the pink flames burned though the rest of the threads holding her up in the air.
Ume suddenly jumped up and caught her in her arms. She landed a small distance away, noticing that her Sister was already asleep in her arms. It was at that moment that someone arrived in the clearing. Gyutaro glanced at them, praying that it wasn't another member of Rui's "family" come to help him. It wasn't. It was the Demon Slayer that had spared Ume and Nezuko two years ago. His eyes widened at the scene. There was a disintegrating Lower Rank Kizuki, two bloodied Demon Slayers, and two bloody Demon girls. The younger Slayer was trying to crawl over to the Demons.
Gyutaro tried to move to help his younger Brother, but he was unable to do anything but gasp desperately for breath. The man shook himself out of his shock, and moved to help the two Slayers.
To Be Continued