September 7, 1913

Nezuko had stopped to eat a small animal she had hunted for herself during the daytime by a creek. She had first drank much of the blood before eating the meat largely raw. With American blood now in her, she was able to satiate her taste for human blood and flesh, which was already reduced, with animal blood and flesh. After she swallowed a small chunk of meat, she sneezed and said, "Damn, there isn't even any wisteria around here. What gives?" As she put down the half-eaten animal carcass, she spat out a few hairs and licked her sharp teeth clean before looking around for any threats.

"Hey, demon girl," then said a female voice nearby as the same girl from before that had asked Kyojuro about Nezuko approached her from the forest. "Face me!"

"Huh?" Nezuko turned around as she cleaned her hands in the creek water. "What is it?" She then noticed she had her sword out. "Aaaaand your sword is out… What the fuck do you want?"

"What the fuck makes you think you can just walk into here?" She was clearly angry with her. "I wanted to get into the corps to kill all demons, not spare some!"

Nezuko sighed, realizing what she was after as she pulled her sword out. "I really don't want to fight someone I'm gonna have to work with later."

"I refuse to work with you!" The girl was visibly upset. "Your kind took everything fro-"

"From you? Yeah, I figured. Welcome to the club, pal." She then walked past her, warning her, "Don't pretend you're the only one who lost their family to demons. You're not the first, and you won't be the last. There's more to the world than you, so get that through your head."

The girl, angered by her further, then slapped Nezuko across the face as tears welled up in her eyes. Nezuko herself barely reacted to the rather hard and audible slap. "They murdered my parents and all of my younger siblings! For fuck's sake, I had to just stand there and watch as they begged for their big sister to save them, and I failed to do so! I fucked up! I really fucked up! I wish I had died, but I lived!"

Nezuko initially did not say anything in response. She then mumbled, "Me too."

"Huh?"

"I said," she then told her as they locked eyes. "Me too. Some days, I wish I was among the dead, too." She then restrained and lowered her arm before she could deliver a second slap. "I only became a demon because Muzan threatened to kill my younger siblings if I didn't. He murdered them anyway, and I tried to kill him for it even as a demon. He let me live, but ever since then, I've had a target painted on my back, and the same goes for my brother. Now I've found a way to use the abilities Muzan gave me against him, and you're just going to stand here and turn away perhaps one of our greatest assets in this war?!" She then sighed. "How troublesome."

The girl was at a loss for words as Nezuko walked away. Once she was gone, the girl said to herself, "I… She… What?!"

Meanwhile, Nezuko thought to herself, "This is what Urokodaki-san meant when he said that the corps had become blinded with rage as the war went on. I can see why Shinazugawa-san was so angry at my presence now, even if he was in the wrong."

…

September 10, 1913

Nezuko now had only 3 more days to go before the Final Selection ended. By now, she had racked up a kill count of five demons, just above the average reported kill count of 3.7 among slayers who passed the Final Selection. She had clearly proven her abilities and skills in combat, and looked forward to the 13th. As she walked down a footpath in the forest as night fell onto it, she felt an uneasy presence in front of her and readied her sword to attack. "Who goes there?!"

Then, she heard the loud footsteps of a particularly large demon, about 8 feet tall with three legs, emerge from the forest. In his hands were the mangled body of a half-eaten boy and a frightened but still alive girl. "A third snack?"

"Not quite," she yelled at him as she drew her sword. "I may be your kind, but I'm not on your side!"

The girl called out to her, "Please, save me! This demon murdered my boyfriend!"

"I caught these two having a little fun," the demon told her. "The taste of two humans in heat is incredibly delectable. They had just wrapped things up, too. Imagine if I had caught them in the middle of the act…"

"You're sick!" Nezuko then charged at the demon, barely avoiding a kick from his right leg. "Second Form: Water Wheel!" She then spun vertically in the air before coming down on the demon, missing his neck but making a deep gouge in his arm and freeing the girl, who was still alive. As the two landed, she asked the girl, "Can you fight?!"

"He broke my sword," she replied.

"Run away while you still can!"

Then, the boy's sword fell to the ground. The girl grabbed it and told Nezuko, "No, I'm gonna kill this son of a bitch!" She then charged at the demon, yelling, "I'm gonna fucking kill you! Fuck you and your three legs, asshole!"

"What the fuck?!" Nezuko sighed, annoyed that she was going back into the fray. "Oh well… Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"

She then charged forward as the other girl yelled out, "Second Form: Claw-Purifying Wind!" The girl, who bore brown hair and violet eyes, then unleashed four vertical slashes against the demon's center and left legs from the right, cutting them off and causing him to fall before his legs could regrow.

Meanwhile, Nezuko's attack managed to strike his neck, and in one blow, the demon was instantly decapitated, screaming in agony as he died, "No! This can't be! I can't die! I won't die!"

"A bit late for that," she told him as she sheathed her sword. "Now, fade into the night sky!" She then turned around and gave a short prayer to the demon she had killed before turning her attention to the girl she had saved. "Hey, are you alright?"

The girl was crying, cradling the body of her boyfriend, who had been cut in half and had been dead for several minutes. "Kengo… Kengo, no… I love you…"

Nezuko felt bad for the girl. "I'm sorry I could not save him."

"We promised to make it through the Final Selection together," the girl told the body before picking up his sword and aiming it at her stomach and smiling through her tears. "Maybe this will help. I'll be with you soon, my love."

Nezuko immediately noticed what she was about to do and yelled, "Wait, no!" Just before the girl could push the blade through her body, Nezuko tackled her to the ground and kicked the sword away. As she pinned her to the ground, she yelled at her, "What the fuck are you doing?!"

The girl burst into tears again, crying while still pinned to the ground. "I need to see him again! I can't imagine my life without him! Please, let me join him!"

"No!" Nezuko was adamant. "You are not killing yourself! Don't you fucking dare do it! Would he want you to give up, huh?! Would he?!"

The girl stopped crying for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and standing up, with Nezuko joining her. "I… We… We had lived together since we were young. My parents died in a plague, and his parents were murdered by demons. We found each other while wandering the streets."

"How old were you?"

"I was seven," she replied. "He was nine. We found a place of our own, far away from everyone, and he spoke of one day hunting the demons who took his family from him."

Nezuko paused before asking her, "Who are you and how old are you now?"

"I'm Kawanishi Hoko," she replied. "Or… I would have loved to be Miyata Hoko. Kengo's family name was Miyata. I'm only sixteen now. He wanted to marry me once we graduated. We had ideas for a family and everything. Hell, we had been trying to make one."

"So what that demon said was true?"

Hoko blushed. "Yeah. We almost succeeded in the recent past, but I miscarried a year and a half ago. It almost killed me."

Nezuko was shocked to hear she had gotten pregnant and miscarried so young. "Holy shit… I'm fourteen, and I can't picture myself bearing a child now or even at sixteen. Maybe seventeen like my mother, but…"

"Aren't you the demon girl?"

"Yeah," Nezuko nodded.

"Why did you save me?"

Nezuko explained, "Because it's my duty to fight Muzan, not serve his interests."

Hoko nodded. "I… I see…"

"With all that said," Nezuko then told her. "I'm gonna accompany you until we finish this Final Selection together. I am not letting you kill yourself as long as I can stop it."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, yes I do." Nezuko was incredibly adamant. "Considering I just watched you nearly fucking skewer yourself, I'd say my worries are highly warranted."

…

September 13, 1913

Finally, the day of triumph came.

In the early morning, Nezuko and Hoko both walked together to the same clearing they had first used to enter the forest. The two were tired and bruised, but alive, having survived the Final Selection. As the two walked into the clearing, they realized they were among the first to arrive, with only one other person arriving before them. "Well," she said to Hoko. "Looks like we're a bit early."

"I guess so," she tiredly replied to her, a makeshift bandage covering one of her hands. "Man, those last three days were fucking tough."

"You aren't kidding," Nezuko replied. "Well, I hope more people join us."

As a few more trickled in, Hoko noted to Nezuko, "I think we lost a few more aside from Kengo."

"Unfortunately so," she replied.

After a few more minutes, a total of 9 trainees had come back alive out of a total of 14 people who entered. Among the survivors included the girl who tried to attack and berate Nezuko for being a demon. Greeting them were Shinobu and Giyu, both of whom kept a few feet apart and did not interact with each other. Giyu told the trainees, "Thank you all for coming. You have all passed the Final Selection, and are now officially slayers of the Demon Slayer Corps."

Shinobu then added with a smile that Nezuko felt was forced, "In any minute now, you will be assigned a Kasugai crow. Following that, you will then pick one of several ores we have laid out here to have a sword forged for you. Until the sword is delivered, you are free to use any of the weapons you used here. Additionally, you will be examined and measured for a uniform by one of our wonderful Kakushi, the support personnel of our organization." Indeed, lying on a table before Giyu and Shinobu were several metal ores for them to choose from.

Nezuko smiled and thought to herself, "Now I've proven myself. Mom, Dad, Oniichan, Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru, Rokuta, I did it. I'm a demon slayer now. I'll be able to protect mankind and avenge the fallen on an official basis from now on."

Shinobu thought to herself alongside Giyu, trying to get her mind off of what had happened a month prior, "Nezuko-chan, I wish you well. Welcome to the Demon Slayer Corps."

…

On the same day, Vèro was training by herself at the Shinazugawa Estate as Sanemi watched her cut off tree trunks in a rapid fashion using the Breath of Wind. As she cut the last one, Sanemi told her, "Alright, that's enough. You're good."

"You know," she then told Sanemi. "I haven't gone on any missions since I came back from my Final Selection. When am I going to get one?"

Sanemi sighed, annoyed by her question. "Be patient, Renaud-san. Missions don't just come flying out of the sky after a-"

Then, suddenly, Vèro's crow came flying in and landed in front of both of them. "Vèronique Renaud! Vèronique Renaud! We need you to go to a mission! Head to Yokohama! Head to Yokohama!"

As Vèro smiled, Sanemi facepalmed and said to himself, "You gotta be fucking kidding me."

"Alright," she excitedly said to herself. "I got a mission finally!" She then took a small piece of paper from the crow that contained more info about the mission. "Okay then, off to Yokohama I go. Do you want to come with me, sir?"

"I'll be fine," Sanemi assured her. "I got reports to write anyway." He then walked back inside and thought to himself, "I still can't bring myself to trust her, even though she's my own Tsuguko. I mean, eating demons? Who the fuck does that?! I'll have to stop making excuses one day as to why she can't go with me, though. The Oyakata-sama is starting to ask questions about why she hasn't gone with me on missions, which is the last thing I need right now. Maybe she does need some guidance…"

"Ah, alright the-"

"No, wait!" Sanemi then ran back out, feeling bad for his initial decision. "You know what, fuck those reports. They can wait a bit longer."

Vèro beamed with a smile of happiness. "Alright! Let's go, Shinazugawa-sama!" She was ecstatic to finally go on a mission with her mentor. "I can't wait to finally fight a demon in the wild!"

…

Later that day, Nezuko returned to Sakonji's residence, where both he and Tanjiro were waiting outside for her. The latter was now back in service and back online after healing from his injuries. As she became visible to the two of them, Tanjiro immediately ran up to her and gave her a bear hug, a reversal of what Nezuko had done for him when he passed the Final Selection. "Nezuko! Nezuko!"

"Oniichan!" Nezuko quickly returned the bear hug. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Thank God you're okay," he said to her as a few tears streamed down his cheeks. "I'm so proud of you, Nezuko!"

Nezuko giggled as she saw her brother cry. "Come on now, you don't have to cry."

"I'm just so happy, Nezuko." He chuckled as he wiped away his tears. "I can't help it."

Sakonji then hugged both of them, taking off his mask in front of them and wishing them both, "Good luck to you both. I'm so proud of both of you. You'll both make fine demon slayers. Tanjiro, of course, already has." The Kamado siblings were shocked to see him take his mask off for such an occasion, but were happy to hear his words of encouragement.

"Now," Tanjiro then told Nezuko as they all split off. "Let's head back to the Butterfly Estate. We have to group up there and sign a few last things. You'll also receive your sword and uniform there, Nezuko."

"Sounds like a plan," she replied with a nod.