Tanjiro, Gyutaro, Nezuko and Genya were still fighting the Upper 4 Demon. Tanjiro tried to stay calm, but it was hard. He knew where the fifth Demon was now, but he could disengage to go after it! He glanced at his Siblings, both fighting, and then at Genya, who was still in that strange pseudo Demon form. He was probably the best person to go after the main body. With his transformation, he couldn't be killed easily, and would be able to find the Demon easier, right? Tanjiro glanced over at Gyutaro, who nodded, as he swiped at the fan Demon with his Sickle. Gyutaro knew that someone would need to go after the main body while the rest of them kept these four busy.
And that person would be in the most danger. Because of that, the only options were Nezuko or Genya. "Genya! You need to go after the main body! It's hiding somewhere in the forest! Go straight Northeast!" Tanjiro called. The demonized teen followed the instructions, running into the forest. "Nezuko! Don't let the lighting Demon get in Genya's way!" Gyutaro called, as she snarled and kicked Sekido before he could use his Blood Demon Art to electrocute Genya. Tanjiro distracted the flying Demon. Tanjiro glanced over at his friend, "the fifth Demon's hiding itself close to the ground!" he called. The lightning Demon tried to electrocute everyone, but Nezuko splashed him with her blood and set him on fire.
"We'll cover you kid! Get going already!" Gyutaro cried. Genya nodded and ran towards the Northeast. The flying Demon tried to go after the younger teen, but Gyutaro hit him with the weight on his Sickle, "I won't let you get near him!" he growled. Then suddenly the Leaf Fan Demon almost blew both him and Tanjiro away. Gyutaro grabbed a tree trunk, while Tanjiro held onto the chain on his Older Brother's Sickle. "I won't let us get blown away! I've got you Tanjiro!" the green-haired young man called. Then Sekido tried to electrocute them again. "Shit! I can't stop a lightning attack!" Gyutaro hissed. However, before he could do anything, Nezuko kicked him away. The Brother's didn't have time to sigh in relief, however, because the spear Demon suddenly stabbed her through the stomach with his weapon.
"Nezuko!" both Kamado Brother's cried, furious and worried for their little Sister. Nezuko ended up pinned between a tree and the Sadness Demon. She gripped the pole, trying to keep Aizetsu from taking it back. "Don't fight back. You're making me sad," he said, "Sekido," he began. "I know! I'm going to crucify her!" the Anger Demon growled. Both Tanjiro and Gyutaro attacked him simultaneously, with Tanjiro cutting off his head with a swirl of hot pink flames, and Gyutaro slicing off Sekido's hands. "Don't touch our Sister!" Gyutaro snapped. Tanjiro was quickly pushed back by the flying Demon, but he managed to cut off his wings as well as cutting Urogi's tounge again.
Nezuko reached out at grabbed hold of Aizetsu's head while he was distracted and slid forwards on the spear pole. She wrapped herself around the Demon, and set him on fire with her blood that was all over him from impaling her. Aizetsu screamed again, as he once again burned. Gyutaro would have felt sorry for the poor bastard if he hadn't impaled their Sister in the first place. He glanced over at where Tanjiro was dealing with the fan Demon, to see him get slammed to the ground by the fan. "GENYA! TO YOUR RIGHT! IT'S MOVING SOUTH! TRY TO FIND IT!" Tanjiro cried.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Genya ran around frantically. 'Jeeze! I am trying! I've been looking for the damn thing this whole time! But I have no idea where it is!' he thought, looking around, his Demon form allowing him to see everything around him, but still unable to find the damn thing. 'Is it a Blood Demon Art? Some kind of concealing power? Crap! Crap! Crap! The longer this goes on, the closer I get to being depleted!' he thought.
(Gyutaro's POV)
Gyutaro helped Nezuko with Urogi, unable to do anything as Karaku kicked Tanjiro hard enough make him cough a bit of blood. "Damn it, leave my little Brother alone!" he growled, slashing at the flying Demon. "Turn West! More to the right! It's nearby! Down below!" Tanjiro called.
(Genya's POV)
'Where are you?! Where-' Genya thought, looking around. "Genya! Down below!" Tanjiro cried. The Shinazugawa looked down at his feet. And there, next to a bush, was a Demon that looked like the original one, except tiny. "Gah! It's tiny!" Genya cried. He tried to shoot it with his gun, but it was too small and the bullet missed. The tiny Demon began to run away. 'This is the main body? It's the size of my hand!' Genya thought, using his sword to cut away the bushes in front of him so he could keep the Demon in his line of sight. 'This is seriously the one that's controlling those other four? Damn it! Keeping an eye on something like this, while trying to deal with those other Demons?! Now I can see why so many Demon Slayers keep getting killed!' Genya thought. "Don't mess with me! You're so annoying!" he cried, trying to step on the Demon.
The Pseudo Demon swung his sword, 'alright! I can do this! I win!' Genya thought, as the sword connected with the tiny Demon's neck- only to snap in half on contact. Genya was in shock, 'I-I can't cut it! No way! No way!' he thought, before trying to shoot the Demon with his gun, but all the Nicherin bullet did was blast a hole around the Demon. 'What the hell?!' he thought. Suddenly Genya noticed the Shakujo Demon behind him. He moved the staff towards Genya's head, 'Crap! I was too slow! I can't get out of the way!' Genya's eyes widened as he realised that he was about to die, 'I- can't regenerate my head.'
The second oldest Shinazugawa thought about all of his younger Siblings, remembering how they waved him off happily: "Bye big Brother! Be careful!" Sumi called cheerfully. "Come home soon!" Shuya called as he left home. Genya felt his eyes fill with tears as he thought of them, as well as his Older Brother, 'I- I'm going to die' he thought. 'I wanted to become a Hashira, so I could protect my family this time. I didn't want to be as helpless as I was last time. If it hadn't been for our Mom's willpower, she might have killed us all. Because, back then, I couldn't do anything'.
(Flashback)
'Our Mom, was such a tiny person. I grew taller than her at an early age. Our Mother was always working, from morning until night. Not once did I ever see her sleeping'. Shizu Shinazugawa took sheets off of the washing line, and cleaned the floors right after. 'Our Father was not only a big guy, but he was also a piece of shit. He got stabbed to death by someone with a grudge, which served him right. That Bastard was always beating out Mom, and all of us. Everyone lived in fear that he would be in a bad mood.'
Kyogo Shinazugawa tried to step on Shuya, but their Mother covered the younger boy with her body, taking the kicks from her Husband. 'With her tiny and frail body, Mom would shield us from our Mostrous Father. Covering us however she could, and taking as many beatings as she could. She would never even flinch or cry out. I thought she was amazing, and the strongest person I'd ever known.' It was night time, and all the windows of the nearby houses were dark. All the Shinazugawa children seemed to be asleep in their Futon's. Little Koto was sleeping in Genya's Futon with him, and each of the other kids had a Futon of their own, each the same colour as their Kimono.
All but two were asleep, Genya lay wide awake and worried, Koto asleep next to him. "Mom's late, don't you think?" he asked. A young Sanemi, only 12-years-old also lay awake in his Futon. The older Brother pushed himself up, "Genya, you can't sleep?" he asked. "Well, neither can you 'Nemi" Genya replied worriedly. Sanemi sighed, before getting up, "I'm going to go look for Mom" he said. "Oh, I'll go with you" Genya replied, sitting up in his and Koto's shared Futon. "No," his Older Brother held out his hand, "I'll go, I want you to stay home," Sanemi said, "we promised, remember?" he asked.
Genya smiled, "alright" he replied. Sanemi walked over to the door and opened it, before looking back at his oldest younger Brother, "alright, I'm counting on you" he said with a smile. Genya nodded back. Then his Older Brother was gone. There was a moment of silence, before the sound of giggling caught his attention. He looked over to find almost all of his younger Siblings wide awake. "I didn't know you were all awake" the older one said with a smile.
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Hours passed, but there was still no sign of either their Mother or Older Brother. Genya held their youngest Brother in his arms, the still sleeping Koto as everyone waited up for them. "You think Mom's okay?" Shuya asked in concern. "She's alright. 'Nemi went to look for her" Genya replied calmly. Sumi knelt at the window, looking out for the two of them, "she's never been this late before," she said, looking back at her Siblings, "the sun will be coming up soon" she said, as the sky started to lighten. "It's alright. You must be tired, right? Go back to bed. I bet Mom and big Brother will be back when you wake up" Genya replied.
Suddenly, a figure banged into the door. "Mom!" Shuya called, but Genya felt something was very wrong, "no, get over here, right now! Don't go near the door!" he cried. His younger Siblings stopped in confusion, just in time to avoid being impaled by shattered glass, as something smashed through the doors and windows in them. "Everyone get down!" Genya screamed, as the younger kids screamed in terror, but did as they were told, dropping down onto their futons. The creature lunged at Genya, who wrapped his arms protectively around the now awake and screaming Koto. The boy felt a stinging pain in his nose, as something sharp slashed across it.
Through his haze of pain and terror, Genya saw the thing jump to the ceiling and smashed the lightbulb, plunging the inside of the house into darkness. His younger Brother Hiroshi, now crying in terror stood up and tried to run out the door, but suddenly he was knocked onto his back on the Futons, as the creature landed on top of him. "No! Hiroshi!" Genya screamed, his words almost drowned out by the renewed screams of his other Siblings. The little blue-eyed boy wailed, sobbing, as he tried to protect himself with his arms, "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! MOMMYYYY!" Hiroshi screamed, terrified. Genya felt tears well up in his eyes, sure that his little Brother was about to be killed by the monster in front of them.
But, to his shock, it had stopped at the sound of Hiroshi's words. Instead of killing the crying boy, the creature just stared down at him. Suddenly, before anything else could happen, before Genya could do more than realize this fact, a man raced through their broken door, and, with a glint of metal, cut the things head off. The children started trying to calm their panicked hearts, before the rising sunlight peeked through the window. Genya let out a strangled sound as the room became bright enough to see the thing that had attacked them. It was their Mother, with her head cut off. Her head and body was strangely fading into ashes, but all Genya could think, all he could say, was: "MOM!" he screamed. All of his Siblings noticed her, and began screaming and wailing once again.
"You murderer! You killed our Mother!" Genya screamed, running over to her, and grabbing her fading body. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice from the doorway: "what- what happened?" everyone looked over to see Sanemi staring at the scene before him with horror on his face. "'Nemi!" Genya cried, as the white-haired 12-year-old stumbled into the house. "M-Mom?" he asked in shock. Teiko pointed at the man with the sword, "that man killed her!" she sobbed. "I'm sorry, but that wasn't your Mother anymore" the man replied.
"What?" Sanemi asked. "She had been turned into a man-eating Demon. If I hadn't killed her when I did, she would have killed and eaten all of you. I'm a Demon Slayer, it's my job to kill Demons. I'm sorry that I couldn't get here in time to save your Mother from being turned into one" the Demon Slayer explained. Sanemi stared over his traumatized, but alive Siblings, and the now empty and bloody Kimono their Mother had been wearing, which Little Koto was now clinging to. Sanemi let out a shaky breath, realizing how close to death they had all been, and where was he? Reaching out and pulling all of his traumatized Siblings into his arms he turned to the man- no, the Demon Slayer, "thank you for saving my younger Siblings.
I don't understand everything that happened, but they're all safe and alive thanks to you. I'm, so grateful" the white-haired boy tried so hard to hold in his tears. Now wasn't the time for that. He had to be strong for his little Brother's and Sisters. So, he couldn't cry. Genya had no such determination. His younger Siblings were safe, their Mother was dead, his Big Brother was here, and his face hurt. He clung onto his big Brother, sobbing into his Kimono, "'Nemi!" he cried, unable to stop the tears if he tried. As he cried, he realised just how weak and helpless he had been. If their Mom hadn't stopped herself, they would all be dead right now, and he wouldn't have been able to do anything. As he cried out all of his fear, grief and pain, Genya made himself a promise.
He would become a Demon Slayer and become strong. Then, he could protect his younger Siblings, so they would never have to go through this again!
(Flashback end)
'I couldn't do it. I'm not strong enough to even protect myself, let alone all of my Siblings. I'm still just a weakling!' Genya thought as the Shakujo was about to stab into the back of his head, 'Forgive me everyone. It looks like, I won't be coming home-' "Genya!" Tanjiro suddenly called, as he cut Sekido's hand off with his flaming sword, "don't you dare give up! You're not going to die! You have younger Siblings to protect!" he yelled furiously. Genya gasped, as he looked back at his friend, before his gaze became determined, and he rubbed away his tears, "that's right! They all need me! And no matter what happens, I'm going to live for them!" he cried, growling at the Demon in front of him.