Nezuko gave a hmph of affirmation as she completed her job; removing her hands off Inosuke as the final remains of the needles burnt away along with the growing infection.

The latter was then bandaged quickly by Zenitsu who bandaged the Hashira and himself prior to this as well. Although Nezuko can burn away infections and the needles; leaving an open, bleeding injury was definitely not good if they wanted to deal with other demons.

Although…the blonde did feel a huge rage building within him for the demon who hurt Nezuko-chan so badly. And the situation wasn't getting any better since his friend was missing as well and in the face of grave danger. He really needed to take it out on something.

Giyuu looked at Inosuke intently as Zenitsu completed his job of bandaging him.

Inosuke picked this up instinctively and looked back at the Hashira; understanding the indication wordlessly.

"Beast Breathing. Seventh Form: Spatial Aware-"

"Everyone! I am here!" A very familiar voice yelled out. The figure becoming more and more visible, soon standing in front of them.

It was Tanjirou with his iconic smile, unique hanafuda earrings and distinct haori, bearing the black nichirin blade covered in blood.

"So glad I found you! I killed the demons who were pursuing us. Some of them ran to that direction" 'Tanjirou' pointed his index finger to the right.

"Let us go this way!" he said with a bright smile on his face which changed into a serious one in an instant as he took in other's gaze on him.

The others seemed shocked at first but didn't utter a word, their faces slowly started to blossom into a relieved expression. However within mere seconds, their faces scrunched up in disgust as they took out their blades.

Nezuko growls, her forehead's vein bulging in anger as she draws her claws out.

"What happe-"

"Shut up you shitty fucking insult of a copy" Inosuke spat, venom laced at every word he said.

Zenitsu said in a dangerously low voice, "What did you do with Tanjirou?"

"What do you mean guys? I am your friend!" He said with his ever present smile.

"Stop wearing that skin." Giyuu narrowed his eyes.

"Where. Is. He." He asked, his face turning into one showing disgust and anger even if his tone stayed neutral.

"What are you talking about?! IT'S ME!!! TANJIROU!" 'Tanjirou' said as desperation started to creak up in his voice.

"QUIT YOUR LIES ALREADY" Zenitsu yelled, face contorted in anger, tears appearing at the corner of his eyes.

"TANJIROU EMITS A SOFT SOUND WHENEVER HE IS AROUND UNLIKE WHATEVER YOU ARE" Zenitsu yelled in rage, pointing an accusing finger towards the figure who held his hands defensively infront of him with the sword still at hand, it's eyes widened.

"Y- you! You believe me right?" 'Tanjirou' turned to the demoness as fake tears appeared around his eyes.

Nezuko hissed at this dangerously. Her eyes darted towards the bloodied sword and immediately concern and worry took over at the realization. The others noticing it along with her, gasped as their anger grew even further. Only one person they knew owned such a black blade.

"You! YOU! How do you have Tontaro's sword?!"

'Tanjirou' lowered his head and then let out a chuckle, slowly showing off the demonic eyes, claws and fangs.

"I had an idea the slayers are really proficient at their work but I had no idea, you would so good." The demon stated in a dark tone still using Tanjirou's voice. A wide grin decorated his face which was so uncharacteristic of the person it disguised as.

"As for your question, I don't think I will tell you! And why bother he might as well be dea-" he never got complete his sentence.

The demon barely missed an attack from a certain boar head who almost decapitated him.

"Blood Demon Art: Illusion and Teleportation"

With that the demon created a fog like dust cloud.

The demon slayers tried to huddled close. They still have one more obstacle to go through…and they didn't know how much time they have left.


Is that it's demon art?!

Tanjirou felt completely paralyzed as he couldn't remove his gaze from the crystal ball which held the demon's yellow but only visible eye.

He could feel the rope tightening around his neck and now blocking his air passage just enough for him to gasp for air.

The voices around him further numbing just as his body.

The demon's crystal ball shines in a pale yellow light which eventually turns into a pale shade of off white. A laser like ray of light soon emerges from it, connecting directly with Tanjirou's head.

A severe pain shot through Tanjirou's whole head. The pain was greater than a brazier containing lit coals fall over you-

Wait- Is that what this demon can do? ….look at my memories while making me remember and relive them?!

Another pain shot through his head as he remembered another memory, this one, of him playing with his baby brother while a much younger Nezuko made funny faces to make the baby laugh.

The next memory took him further back to the time when he was the only child and was sitting on his grandmother's lap cheerfully.

He remembers how after a while, his mother and father approach him with the news that he could have a younger brother or sister in the near future. He also remembers how happy he felt at the thought of having someone else to play with at the house and how he squeaked in joy.

"...you had a happy childhood, I see" the demon stated with a frown as he continued.

"Now….Let's see through your other memories…Find out the truths about your whole life to this point … and where are the headquarters of the demon slayers"

This somewhat snapped him back to his senses. However everything seemed very slow in motion.

The moon is quite beautiful today.


The fog kept getting thicker and thicker, making the slayers solely depend on their senses.

And what made it worse was that the demon can imitate their voices and appearances perfectly so it made communication even harder. The demon has attempted to stab others only to escape just as fast which led to everyone keeping their guards high. If that was not all, that bastard could change their locations as well making them go about a loop and separating them further.

"Everyone! Huddle close! Don't get far!!" Inosuke yelled out as he gripped his blades tighter.

The damn demon had a nichirin blade that too of his friend's . A blade is a blade and if it stabs someone with it for letting their guard down, the results could be from dire to fatal and they didn't have the luxury of time.

He bumped into someone's back and immediately pointed his swords at the poor individual who happened to be his friend, Zenitsu who screeched in absolute terror.

"DON'T KILL ME YOU MORON! WE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE" The Blonde shouted in panic.

The boar head considered it for a second only to resume back his swords at the boy's neck.

"Hah! How do I know if you are the real Konitsu!?"

"I CAN SAY THE SAME FOR YOU!!" Zenitsu yells as he tears streamed down his eyes.

"Hmm. Fair Point" Inosuke agreed as he nodded thoughtfully but snapped back to his previous position just as quick. He angrily yelled, "THEN HOW DO I MAKE SURE IF YOU ARE THE REAL MONITSU?!"

Zenitsu at this cried even more. Inosuke was starting to believe it really was their cry-baby friend but needed to make sure.

"Tell me something only Kenitsu would know" Inosuke asked dead seriously.

The blonde finally stopped his whining, taking his time to look at the boar if he was really serious and then thought deeply.

"The morning we were sent on this mission…Tanjirou gave us rice balls"

Inosuke continued to stare at him. The answer was… pretty vague. He definitely doesn't feel like a demon but he needed to be absolutely sure.

The latter seemed to understand that and added, "You got your food ration cut off by Aoi for hurting me!"

"Yep. You are the real deal of the wimp alright." Inosuke announced relieved.

"HEY! how dare you call me a-" Zenitsu tried to refute but got interrupted as a large silhouette got closer to them.

The blonde wailed once more as he crouched and grabbed the left leg of Inosuke and shivered in sheer fear, much to the annoyance of the latter who was trying to get in a stance to battle.

The silhouette turned out to be Nezuko who looked at them curiously and smiled.

"Ahhhhh NEZUKO-CHAN! It's you!~" Zenitsu's demeanor took a full 360 as sparks and flowers appeared near his eyes as he somehow literally floated in heavenly joy of seeing his crush but he stopped immediately.

"Wa- wait- is this even the real Nezuko…?" He took a few steps back as he trembled in fear. Inosuke sweated as he hesitated as well. He could feel that it's a demon and feel no harm radiating from it but still hesitated. Just what if…

Nezuko seemed to understand what was going on and took out her arm and scratched it as drops of blood poured off and then clenched it and immediately pink flames emerged out of it.

Something hit Inosuke.

"Can you be just a bit less useless and use that damn hearing of yours?! Don't you hear unique sounds or something!" Inosuke growled.

Zenitsu blushed as he remembered that himself now. He then focused on his hearing and soon sighed in relief.

"That is the sweet sound of Nezuko-chan!" He confirmed pleasantly.

"I can't BELIEVE I had doubts about sweet Nezuko-chan!" Almost instantly, Zenitsu cursed himself mentally for his inadequacy.

At that, the boar head lowered his swords, allowing the demoness to come closer to them.

Zenitsu yet again slipped in his state of bliss as he saw her from up close but suddenly something snapped at him.

"Wait…WHY COULDN'T YOU CONFIRM?! CAN'T YOU SENSE THINGS??!!" He accused angrily as he poked his finger at Inosuke.

Inosuke yelled back with the same energy. "I NEEDED CONFIRMATION JACKASS"

At this, Zenitsu cowered behind Nezuko who looked at him in confusion.

Suddenly a blade targeted her neck much to the shock of everyone present. Zenitsu acted immediately as he used a technique from thunder breathing to immediately deflect back the blade coming towards her neck.

"SHOW YOURSELF YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! I WON'T HESITATE TO STRIP YOU TO PIECES SHOULD YOU ATTEMPT MORE OF YOUR PITIFUL ATTEMPTS TO HARM NEZUKO-CHAN!" Zenitsu exploded in anger as he continued to openly threaten whatever laid out there.

Suddenly a familiar figure appeared from behind them. Giyuu Tomioka.

The others breathed a sigh of relief for a second only to go on high alert.

"He…He isn't a human!" Inosuke declared as he raised his swords. "That's the demon!"

Zenitsu confirmed as he could only hear the sound of a demonic pulse from the figure in front of them.

And as soon as he said that, the said-demon rushed towards them or specifically… Nezuko who had her claws stretched out and barely caught onto the black nichirin blade which attempted to slice her. The demon who took the form of the Water Hashira, in it's struggle against her, accidentally morphed back into it's real appearance, only to then revert back in the form of her brother as he grinned at her with a sick pleasure.

Zenitsu and Inosuke both dived in to cut it off but the demon cleverly maneuvered itself to twirl and put Nezuko on the vulnerable.

As the other two realized this, they immediately changed their course of attacks, narrowly deflecting them. However to their shock, they suddenly got teleported to the opposite side instantly as well. As they attempted to strike again, they got sent off to the same place again. Over and over again, they were thrown out all the while hearing Nezuko's muffled screams as she struggled against the blade attempting to cut through her.

As they got up for the umpteenth time, they took in at what sheer disadvantage they were at. This demon could simply move them away as much as it liked.

While one wrong move from their part can land the demoness dead and Tanjirou would never forgive them.

Heck, they won't be able to forgive themselves.

They watched helplessly as the blade, their friend once took up to defend his sister was now slowly and agonizingly slicing through her. That too, from a demon who wore the form of that same brother.

The sheer irony of the situation was just laughably painful.

Zenitsu and Inosuke kept striking back forth to no avail as they were over and over again thrown to the other side.

They couldn't do anything as no matter how many times they tried to take the demon out, it somehow maneuvered Nezuko in it's spot, letting them retaliate back. It was definitely the blood demon art which was teleporting their places. Nezuko's painful muffled screams broke their heart. They begged the Lord to have some mercy on them if he even existed.

If Tanjirou was here…he would've known what to do-

And right then as if God listened to their prayers, the real water Hashira appears from their back as he elegantly lands a strike to the offending demon's neck before it even processed what happened as it was too busy trying to take Nezuko's life and shift places of the other two slayers. It's head rolls off on the ground lifelessly as it starts to turn into ashes.

The fog cleared out immediately, making the gentle light of the moon fall over the forest floor again.

"Sorry for being this late." Giyuu curtly apologized.

Zenitsu quickly rushes to Nezuko who fell on her knees, panting as she tried to regenerate the huge injury, Inosuke rushing to do the same.

However just as Giyuu glances at Inosuke, the boar head hesitates as he looks at the pair and the hashira, he gave off a short nod as he assumes back to a suitable position to perform his technique.

"Beast Breathing. Seventh Form. Spatial Awareness"


"Muzan is searching for the…Headquarters?" Tanjirou thought as he gasps to take in as much air as he could by his breathing technique to increase his mental barrier.

"Kamado Tanjirou ….so that's your full name…what an interesting name- oh?" The demon flinches.

The rope demon who had been quiet all this time other than the occasional smug face, looked back and asked, "What happened?"

"This boy…he is repressing his memories…not letting me see them…he pulled up a mental barrier-" he looks up at him who was in a bloody state as his body has been constricted completely and tied up so tightly that it cut through his skin, making it bleed.

He can't even breath properly due to the noose around his neck.

One thing is for sure…conscious or semi conscious, he is aware of his surroundings even in such a pathetic state.

The demon thought to itself. "Tighten the grip-" he announces as it observes the boy.

"-especially around his neck."

His command was immediately followed as Tanjirou screamed out in pain as more blood drips down openly.

He felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. The want to sleep becoming more stronger than ever.

"Is this how I am going to die?" He thought to himself as spots begin to appear in his blurring vision.

"Nezuko-…sorry… for being-… such a… bad brother-" was his last thought as his world swept into darkness.

"….humans have the most fragile state in their sleep or sleep like state. I can now see through his memories like it were an open book…Muzan-sama will be proud"


The sound was as if someone strung a cord of Biwa as Kioku along with his 'siblings' landed in a place where all rooms were disassembled everywhere. They, however sat in a room which seemed almost normal save for the jumbled up rooms spread everywhere they looked. The room they sat in, had a raised platform attached to it, where a woman holding a biwa sat quietly.

Quite recently, they have swept off an entire village near the seaside in their hunger.

All his siblings were talking among themselves about how the most worthy end up in this place so called 'Infinity Castle'.

"Are we to be rewarded?!" His sister, Rin finally asked, her voice showing enthusiasm.

"Perhaps. Maybe our lord is to praise us-" Kioku said, cleaning his crystal ball for the umpteenth time.

"Muzan-Sama has arrived"

This silenced everyone but unfortunately, their previous conversation was heard by the owner of the place as evidenced by what he said next.

"Very much so." Muzan's voice rang across the room.

He wore a different outfit this time. He looked much like…a woman in contrast to when he turned him and his siblings into demons; back then appeared as an aristrocat man in Western clothes.

It's a shame Kioku can't seem to remember anything from his human life. Everything seems like a blur. This is only the third time ever he is meeting with the demon king himself, the first being the time he was transformed. The second time being on an accident where he said he could remember flashes from something he doesn't remember doing.

He doesn't even remember what he saw back then and what happened after he reported that to Muzan except the reply he received and got thrown to where his underlings where.

Even now he wonders what happened back then.

"I believe my appearance is of the least importance so are your reminiscing of the past actions as of now" Muzan's eyes narrowing, showing his anger as if he read through kioku's thoughts.

Kioku's eyes widen at realization who immediately bows along with his siblings and apologizes deeply.

"Regardless, I was quite impressed by how fast you are progressing through the ranks. At this rate, you might be part of the twelve kizuki, who knows?"

The others still bowing down and keeping their mind blank.

He continued, "As for why you are today, I believe you and your….group have peculiar demon arts, yes?"

"Yes Muzan-sama" they say in unison.

"However yours-" pointing at Kioku.

"-allows you to peek into others memories and drag things out of it into real life from the records I received. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, I have the power to do so thanks to the blessing given by you" said Kioku still bowing.

" Hmm, I have an assignment for you. Search for a boy wearing a green-black checkered haori and hanafuda earrings. Bring him alive right back here. You can make him suffer as much as you want but make sure to not kill him. He must be alive. He is a skilled swordsmen however. Don't hold back."

"As you please, your majesty." Kioku said.

"I am not done yet." Muzan stated, he continued.

"I could have chosen any of my Upper Moons to do just that. However what brings me to you ….I want you to search for namely two things. One for every slayer you come across, search through their minds…every bit of sanity for The Headquarters of Demon Slayers. Those pesty humans who kill our kind, all originate from that cursed place. Should we know the location. We will win this war and secondly…"

Muzan narrowed his eyes further as he stated the following,

"Every human you come across, search for the memory of a flower known as Blue Spider Lilies. I suspect those grow only during the day and humans should be able to gain access to them. These flowers could turn the tide of the war. These flowers are capable of granting demons immortality. Kill every human you look the memories through or incapacitate them to the best of your ability when you see they know nothing on the matter. The slayers must not know about this plan."

"I will not fail you, your majesty"

Muzan narrowed his eyes and soon they were pretty much tossed into a nearby forest as the whole palace vanished into thin air.


Concentrating his powers, his crystal ball eventually glowed up once more, opening a small screen in front of him. Showing glimpses of forgotten or fresh memories alike.

But to his frustration, no matter what the headquarters image stayed a blur even the voice and scenes apparently related to it, completely distorted and blurring beyond recognition as he carried on.

Tanjirou's face warped into one showing pain and discomfort, struggling against the bonds again uselessly.

"I can't believe this boy…Tanjirou … is putting up such a fight…his mental strength is higher than most people. He somehow managed to guard his prominent memories from me" he murmured to himself.

"Fine by me. If he doesn't let his guard down, I will forcefully do so." He said as his hands turn bloodied and then hovers his hands into the screen in front of him.

Only the bad memories.

Surprisingly, he didn't have to dig much like he has to for some people, the memories slowly started to turn back to the ones which were sad, heart wrenching, paining,…. terrifying even for a demon.

He watched the death of some guy named "Rengoku" who saved every passenger's life in the Mugen train except himself.

He watched how the demon marked as "Upper Moon 6" nearly killed a human under his watch, slowly progressing to other missions where people were killed mercilessly by demons during the final selection.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

He watched how Tanjirou found the horrific sight of his family massacred, blood splattered everywhere. The silent scream that filled his core, making him collapse on his knees.

"Oni-san…the boy has stopped moving" the female demon said, breaking the other demon from its Concentration.

He looks up the boy completely still, the face still having the expression of pain on it as tears streamed downed his face. His eyes were now open and the pupil looked cloudy as it stared at nothing in the vast sky above. The colours of his eyes seemed faded as well.

"I see…I may not have much time then. Very well…"

"Oni-san…I think we all should leave- call the others back- now that we have him captured"

"Blood Demon Art: Window of Memories"

Despite listening to what his sister had to say, he couldn't help but find this 'Tanjirou' very interesting.

In his twenty-five years worth of lifetime as a demon, he has never encountered a single human…slayers or hashiras alike with such a terrible fate and such a strong mental barrier.

He hated to admit it to himself right now but should the boy have been uninjured, it could have been hard for Kioku to break in. He would have eventually but still, it would have been a struggle.

Regardless, he progresses into older or rather dormant and a few fresh memories interlinked with the old ones.

The demon sees the boy witness death of his father and grandmother in front of his very own eyes.

The demon notices how the young boy was able to sniff nearing death , considering it as a curse in tearful eyes as he watches his loved ones pass away.

He then sees an old man whom the boy addresses as "Saburoji-san" and sees how he seemed visibly sad at finding the abandoned home of the said-man.

Oh?…is this the same person Rin killed off in the mountains a few weeks ago? He seemed oddly accepting of the fact he was going to get consumed by a demon. How bizarre.

Getting a little curious, he searches for more related memories of the same person and there were a lot of it.

As he scans through them, Kioku notices the memories were slowly fading away.

It doesn't take him much time to understand that he really doesn't have much time left to look for mundane things like this.

He quickly diverts his attention into searching memories relating to The Headquarters, only to find mere glimpses here and there but nothing major or significant enough to pin point the location. He found no information about it's whereabouts either.

He is dying….and his subconscious mind is trying it's best to not recall anything and his mental barrier is getting stronger making the memories fade out of my reach… Don't think I can look anything further…Muzan-sama might forgive me for that but I must look for one more memory incase he knows anything about the flowers…

Kioku thought to himself quickly as he scanned through every last memory he was able to get his hands on which were just starting to fade.

…Though highly unlikely since so many ordinary people don't even know about it and this guy is demon slayer….He might not even admire nature's beauty.

He eventually found a memory which was still intact but a very dormant one. He decided to see through it considering this will be the final piece where he can find something.

"Tanjirou, hold the basket like this" a female motherly voice said sweetly.

"Yes!" The child wearing a green-black checkered kimono said as he adjusted the basket. He seemed like a nine to twelve year old at max.

"With how many berries we collected, Nezuko, Takeo and Hanako would definitely be happy! They love this berry a lot" the child said cheerfully.

"Indeed. I have collected a few for your father too. These are beneficial for him" She smiled with warmth.

She seemed to notice something behind the child as her eyes slightly widen and then points at it as she bends down to match her son's height "Tanjirou, look!"

"Eh 'kaa-san, what flower is that?" The child asks as he notices a bunch of very beautiful blue flowers growing under the direct sunlight.

The demon watching the scene visibly intrigued. Could it be…?

"Those are a bunch of very rare flowers, Tanjirou. I believe they are known as Blue Spider Lilies"

Kioku's eyes widen.

"Can we take these ones home with us? 'tou-san, Nezuko, Hanako and Takeo would be delighted to see them!" Tanjirou asks innocently.

"No, dear... Some things are better off left in their natural surroundings." She smiled sadly as she takes her son's hands who happily walks alongside her.

The demon wasting no more time, thrust his hand into the screen in front of him, only to realize the memory has faded out of his reach, leaving his demonic hands grab a bunch of black ashes instead. His hand was slightly burned in the sunlight present in the memories.

He started to panic. For all this time, he had a person with such a valuable asset for a memory and he wasted it so much time looking for a memory forcefully suppressed and he had no chance of unlocking anyway.

This kid….is that the reason Muzan-sama wanted him alive?...

I don't have much time…there must be one more coincidence where he saw it….

He starts to frantically search from the remaining of the memories. All of them turning into ash as soon as he tries to get hold of them.

Damn it! He is dying…I have to leave him soon for he wants this boy alive…

He finally finds a short glimpse of a memory and maniacally tries to get hold of it.

He successfully does and what he sees just runs more salt to his wounds.

The child now looking to be 13 years of age, carried a huge basket of charcoal strapped to his back. He still wore the same colour checkered kimono even after so many years which was now adjusted to fit his taller figure.

The weather was sunny and harsh sunlight fell on the ground.

As he slowly descends the mountain, he finds the same Blue Spider Lilies under the shade of a huge tree. However the soil beneath has visibly cracked near it, possibly due to the lack of water and the harsh weather. The flower petals were sagging down, slowly turning brown.

The boy moves towards it and takes out a gourd vessel containing water and pours out some under the flowers. The water was meant for his intake to withstand the heat but he was more than happy to share some with a flower which desperately needed it.

Within a few moments, the flowers fluttered in it's serene blue colour as if thanking the boy for the water.The boy smiled warmly at it.

The demon immediately tried to snatch the flowers only for the memory disappear in the last second. Anger fuelling his whole being.

Muzan-sama won't let me live…

"MMMMMPHHHH!!!!!!" A demoness suddenly attacks out of nowhere, aiming for Kioku, whose eyes widen in shock.

"TANJIROUUUU!!!!" A Yellow haired boy and a person wearing a boar mask yell collectively as they drew out their swords and charged. Another person's silhouette following them close.


Nezuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Giyuu dashed forward as soon as Inosuke figured out his friend's location using his breathing technique and what condition he was at.

Nezuko didn't even waste a second as she tapped into her dormant hidden strength to gain extra speed to reach the place earlier.

The only one even coming near her was Zenitsu who was partially using thunder breathing to keep in pace with her while concentrating on his hearing to know how close they were to reaching their friend in distress. The rest following closely behind.

It didn't take long for them to find the horrid place. However the scene they saw in front of them was much much worse than what they imagined and froze them at their spot as they saw the whole view in front of them.

Their friend and brother for Nezuko's case was tied by some rope like appendage, held up in mid air as his own blood dripped on the ground, which had created a small puddle of it's own.

Nezuko's eyes went to the part of the rope which was still continuing to tighten around his neck, effectively cutting off his oxygen supply which was all the more evident as his skin was slowly turning pale.

Zenitsu at the same time noticed at how weak Tanjirou's heart was beating while Inosuke could feel the boy's body slowly losing the warmth of life.

It was Nezuko who broke the silence with her own battle cry and pulled her claws out to attack the two demons and get her brother out from their grasp.

"What the-" the demon thinks as he barely dodges the demoness's attack and rolls back, his crystal ball emitting a dim yellow light. His eyes widen as it then clicks in his head that the attack was a mere distraction and the female demon was mainly lunging towards the human boy. He instantly recognizes the unique individual thanks to his assessment of Tanjirou's memories. It was this boy's sister who turned into a demon.

"Hey! Who are you to suppose to be?!" Rin shouts as she tugs on the rope holding Tanjirou captive, pulling him close to her immediately much to the anger and annoyance of Nezuko who missed her brother by a couple seconds. Her eyes soften at the sight of her brother whose head was lolled forward as Rin gripped him more tightly.

"He is OUR prey! Go find yourself someone else!" She pointed her fingers towards Nezuko. Almost immediately the free part of her rope shoots towards Nezuko and ties her entire right hand's wrist and squeezes itself tightly while pulling her back, causing the demon much distress.

"Beast Breathing. First Form. Pierce!" Inosuke chants as he charges and slashes the rope holding Nezuko's wrist and then straight away sprints towards the rope demon.

"You think you can get rid of me that easy?! I can control my ropes even when they are torn apart!" She smirks as she fists her free hand. As if the rope had received life of it's own, it instantly rose from where it's pieces fell and rejoined it's own parts. It then flew in blinding speed towards the boar head and immobilized Inosuke completely by tieing him from his shoulders to toe in it.

"NOW!" Inosuke shouted.

"Thunder Breathing. First Form. Thunder Clap and Flash!"

Zenitsu whispered as he rushed towards the demon duo at lightning speed.

"Blood Demon Art: Window of Memo-" but before Kioku could complete his words, a person behind him appeared with blue, emotionless dead eyes.

"Water Breathing. Second Form. Water Wheel" Giyuu said silently as he aimed for the Demon's neck.

"ONI-SAN!" Rin yelled as she watched.

However, Kioku acted quickly than anyone imagined, he quickly flipped in a second and threw his crystal ball in the place where his neck was a second ago, letting it have a huge crack.

"I never thought it would come down to this" Kioku thought silently as he stretched his claws out.

Meanwhile Giyuu realized the trickery of the demon a second too late as his sword shattered a huge part of the crystal ball into pieces.

Rebalancing himself, Giyuu bolted towards Rioku, ready to take his life.

I will not fail to protect someone this time.

However, the demon smirked as the hashira had fell right into his trap.

" Blood Demon Art: Window of Memories!" yells Kioku as a ray of light exploded from the already damaged crystal ball as it shattered further into innumerable pieces. The light hit the hashira at point blank, paralyzing him instantly as his eyes widen while gaining Kioku access to his memories.


Zenitsu kept attacking Rin only for her to dodge him at the last seconds.

He panted, exhaustion hitting him after so many fruitless attempts at slicing off her head.

Rin didn't fail to notice this. "My, tired already? Humans are so weak and fragile. " She laughed and continued, "But playtime's over, kiddo . Let us go from here without any resistance~ You and your friend's life-"

Eyeing towards inosuke who had been uncharacteristically quiet all this time, "-will be spared or should you choose otherwise, your little friend here will face the consequences " She said as she looked at the unconscious boy held by her, the rope visibly tightening further earning a weak whimper from the captive.

Zenitsu sweated. He cursed himself mentally for being such a failure and not being able to free Tanjirou whose condition was starting to get even worse judging by his heart beat alone where it has lost it's soothing, kind sound only to be replaced with that of a sorrowful and painful one. It ached Zenitsu to his core.

But immediately, he caught the glimpse of a very familiar demoness who appeared behind Rin. Her arms and claws smeared in her own blood.

Turns out Nezuko took advantage of her momentary distraction and decided to do a surprise attack from the back, all the while indicating Inosuke of her plan who understood and played into it by staying quiet to not provoke her and to stall the time further.

Nezuko grabbed Rin by her neck and then pulled her backwards, making her lose balance and while Rin tried to regain her position, the other demoness used one of her arms to paint Rin's face with her blood and using her other hand to tug Tanjirou away from her, in the process smearing a lot of her blood on the restrains which kept him binded.

Before Rin could do anything else, Nezuko launched her own blood demon art, making the ropes holding Tanjirou and Rin's face to burn, causing excruciating pain to the latter who started screaming.

This caused distraction over her control of ropes and as Inosuke's restraints loosened for a second, the boar-head didn't waste time to dislocate his joints and get out of it completely within mere moments.

"OI MONITSU!" He yelled immediately, getting the attention of the yellow haired boy and snapping him out from his surprise.

Nodding to Inosuke who readied his swords, he whispered,

"Thunder Breathing. First Form….Thunder Clap and Flash!"


Kioku found himself in a beautiful landscape, surrounded with flora and the sky in its purest blue colour. He saw a small cottage in front of which a small boy and a slightly older girl were playing and laughing.

He moves forward in an attempt to hear what was being said.

"I cannot believe you are going to get married tomorrow, Onee-chan!" The small boy exclaimed, earning a light blush and giggle from the girl.

"Well, you can say you will get a new brother!" Tsutako mused.

The little boy chuckled.

"How are weddings like, though?" Giyuu asked curiously.

"Hmm" the girl thought. "They are the most important day of your life! They must be very fun"

"Do they have Simmered Salmon with Daikon?" The boy asked enthusiastically.

The girl chuckled. "Yea, yeah they must do!"

Kioku felt vexed at the happy scene as a weird feeling he was unfamiliar with crept up to his heart.

Why are happy memories like this always present in everyone's life I see?

He tried to slide away the memory only to stop as he soon finds a drastic change in climate within the same recollection.

The scene was now thickly fogged and gloomy.

The beautiful place which was once filled with trees and flowers now weren't there. They seemed trampled over, cut down. They emitted smoke as if burnt. The sky was cloudy and getting dark.

The small cottage was no longer lovely. It's wall beared the stains of a huge splash of blood sprayed across.

Upon closer look, a small child is seen shaking to what seemed like remains of a human body. It would have been impossible to tell who it was as the body was just a bloody mess with no clue as to if it were a male or a female. Blood pooled around it.

" Onee-chan…please….wake up…." A soft voice of a child is heard.

Kioku advances further and watches the child closely. The child's face had tears flowing down his face, clothes bloodied from the blood of the corpse in front of him. His eyes eventually losing their innocent childish glow and getting replaced by soul-less, emotionless eyes, staring into nothingness and then directly into him. His expression turning into one of disgust and immense anger before he turned back to what remained of his sister.

"Why…? ...Just…why did you sacrifice yourself for me…?" He asked tearfully.

Kioku then saw fast, fleeting glimpses of the events that followed. The boy telling the village elders of the demon attack who laugh it off as a prank. When the boy persisted and begged them to do something , they showed some concern and declared him to be mentally ill in grief of losing his relative.

He then sees the boy being sent off to somewhere where apparently his some distant kindred lived. They were said to be a doctor who claimed they can cure him.

He sees the boy run away on his way there into the mountains where he almost dies from falling over a cliff only to be saved by an old man who tightly grips his hand just before he plummeted to his death.

Him taking the child in as his student. The boy developing a close friendship with another guy with peach coloured hair.

And then later learning of the death of the boy who died as he sacrificed himself to save Giyuu from the cold grasp of death.

He could feel the desperation, heartbreak, pain, sadness, depression, anger, loathing and self doubt which went through the Hashira. He almost felt pity for him.

Within mere seconds of him musing over the experiences faced by Giyuu, a water torrent consumed him, only to part and show up the grown hashira; now seconds away from slicing Kioku's neck, his face contorted in anger and tears.

However as much as he felt sorry for the water pillar, he was experienced in situations where his victims would lash back for intruding in their memories.

He knew one strike from a demon slayer, even in the memory lane can kill him so he brought both his hands in front of him, causing the fog to increase and moving away swiftly from the hashira. He was the master of this realm. He can bend and break the rules as much as he liked.

He knew leaving a person's consciousness vulnerable in their own memory world's clouded labyrinth could effect them in real life as well to the point of incapacitating their real life body completely, permanently.

"Just a bit more till I paralyze him comple-"

"ONI-SAN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kioku snapped out from the memory land and managed to save himself at the last second from getting beheaded.

He flicked his eyes to where Rin stood (her face burnt) who barely held on against the other two slayers, however his attention immediately went to Tanjirou who rested at Nezuko's arms who gently laid the boy on the ground. Her eyes filled with worry and sadness.

It was then that he felt his anger flare.

"I cannot afford to lose such a valuable asset" He thought furiously.

"ONI-SAN! PLEASE! HELP ME HERE!!!" Rin yelled desperately. Her ropes being teared apart by Inosuke while the blade of Zenitsu's sword dangerously approaching her neck.

However, Kioku gazed silently upon the unmoving Hashira, no wonder still under the influence of his powers.

"I can threaten his life in exchange of Tanjirou's life…Saving Rin would no longer benefit me and with the way Muzan-sama asked for the boy and the flowers…I might get a huge gift of strength as a prize…" his expression darkened.

"ONI-SA-"

"You are on your own, Rin. I no longer need you" Kioku said with a blank expression, walking towards Giyuu.

Rin's eyes widen as she hears that while her neck get detached from her body by three blades slicing it off simultaneously, her entire being withering away into ash.

However despite noticing it all, Kioku quickly made his way over to Giyuu, his claws stretched out to slash the Hashira's head off his body once and for all.

He heard cries from the other slayers and demon, begging the older boy to wake up as they themselves made way to stop the demon.

But that's when Kioku felt a pang at the backside of his head, suddenly remembering a memory of his own.

"Hey Oni-san, think you feel any better today?" A girl with kind crimson eyes, wearing a faint yellow kimono with a blue dotted design over it asked softly.

He heard a heart beat which was his own, his claws freezing at the spot, now mere seconds away from slashing.

He felt the presence of three blades advancing towards his neck but he didn't move. He couldn't move. However, just to save his life, out of instinct, he somehow dodged them and cartwheeled away with a good distance among the slayers and himself.

His primary goal was to just make the slayers somehow step onto his remaining pieces of intact glass shards somehow which were scattered on the ground so he can activate his powers and immobilize them all at one snap and then get hold of the boy his lord wants and be done with these shenanigans.

He could think about whatever hit him moments ago, after he could get rid of the many thorns in his way.

He heard Nezuko spread her arms wide in front of her brother and letting out a low growl, fully intending to protect him and warning him to not step any closer.

This expression alone made him have another stinging headache. When did he last have a headache anyway? During his human life-

He shook his head violently.

"Why am I remembering things right now of all times?!"

"You are worse than just a demon." Kioku heard as he saw 'Inosuke' remove his mask and look at him directly. His expression showing disgust and anger.

"For fuck's sake, You let your own peer who called you big brother die. I don't understand all the relation things but THAT IS CERTAINLY NOT HOW YOU TREAT SOMEONE WHO LOOKS UP TO YOU " Inosuke accused.

That's when Kioku was brought into his senses and attention completely on the field.

He didn't take much time to notice that the yellow haired boy took out the gourd vessel and poured it's contents in the mouth of the inexpressive Hashira.

But before he could do anything, his neck met with two swords striking his neck on both of it's sides, starting to slice through his neck at an annoyingly slow pace.

"Why is his neck so thick?!" Inosuke thought to himself, increasing his pressure in frustration to make them cut through faster.

"You don't understand!!!! YOUR FRIEND HAS SEEN THE BLUE SPIDER LILIES!!! IT CAN HELP US CONQUER THE SUN!!! HE SAW IT NOT ONCE BUT TWICE IN HIS LIFE!!! HE IS A GREAT ASSE-"

However, Inosuke didn't have to wait much longer as the water hashira eventually joined in the venture, much to his shock and sliced off the demon's head in one strike.

The demon's body started crumble away as tears came out of his eyes and eventually turning into dust.


A/N:…this was one long chapter...welp

Hello there everyone, it's me Sylvie here! I hope this chapter was good and enjoyable

I won't disappear for another 6 months this time haha (I am really sorry for disappearing for so long, I will try to post the next update as soon as I possibly can)

Anw, I wanna mention a few points which I wanna bring in attention (if you noticed then congrats!! You are one heck of attention payer and genius and I mean it)

I named the demons "Rin" and "Kioku" for a reason.

"Rin" in Japanese means "Companion" which would be perfect for she was the most loyal and best companion, Kioku could ever ask for.

"Kioku" in Japanese means "Memory". Now, as to why I named them would get cleared when I post their backstories.

Now, more important thing, Kioku's main blood demon art came from his crystal ball just like Rin's did from her ropes therefore once they were destroyed/burnt, it nerfed their abilities to a great extent. However, as shown in Season 2, things/objects/part of the demon's body which influence the demon arts are recoverable by the demons to a great extent (for example: Daki's belt kept getting recovered no matter how late it took)

Now of course, she was an Upper Moon while these 2 are aspiring ones but have killed many many humans and so they must have lesser extent of the same type of powers. Leaving that behind, now the question rises why couldn't Kioku recover his crystal ball yet was able to use his abilities? I think it might get explained better in the next part where I explore their backstories but for now, let's say it wasn't a part of his demon body part (constructed out of their own flesh) at all but rather an external piece which activated his powers to be greater extent.

Like... to explain it, when Daki's belts were slashed off along her 'clothing' (which really was a part of her own flesh), she recovered it along with her 'clothing' and she was able manipulate her belts once again, however when Nezuko's leg got cut off her body, she was able to recover her leg back but not the shoe she was wearing because it was an external piece.

Just like that, Rin's ropes were part of her own demon flesh while Kioku's crystal was an external piece.

Another question you may have is, "How did the imitating demon know of Tanjirou's name?"

Well...he didn't at first until the gang specifically and repeatedly mentioned his name and that's where he learnt it and claimed it inorder to sound more convincing if yk what I mean lol

I hope that clears most of the questions!

The reason I left writing has mainly to do with motivation…the last few chapters were I put in a lot of effort in writing got zero to no reviews lol and I felt like I was writing to well….nobody

I recently saw a reply from "Guest" but that was the reply which actually made me go "Yk what Imma complete what I started when someone finds it interesting" so thank you man, you really helped me out of my sulking!

Please please please leave a heart if you liked the story and follow if you want to see more of it!

Please give me your thoughts on what you felt about this chapter in the comments below!

I intend on writing the next chapter as an epilogue or final chapter of sort and conclude things. I might add a bonus chapter if the response is good :)

Thank you for the ppl who supported me, see you all in the next update soon!

P.S: So, Fanfic. Net deleted all my italics, bolds and underlines and misplaced paragraphs so haha, very fun. I hope all these correction don't take much time and I can post this update soon