"What are you doing?! You could have hurt Kyoshi!" Tanjuro cried furiously. "So what?! You're a Demon, and I'm gonna rip ya apart!" the boar-masked teen cried, swinging his chipped swords at him again. Kyoshi started crying. "Stop it! You're going to hurt the boy!" Tanjuro demanded, his human transformation slipping in his anger. His teeth sharpened to points and his claws grew out. Tanjuro kicked one of the teen's swords away, but he backflipped towards it, and grabbed it off the ground again. "You're fast Demon, but you can't escape me!" the teen cackled.
Suddenly, as he lunged towards them again, there was the sound of a drum being hit, and the room spun around. Tanjuro flipped in the air and landed on the wall. "The room flipped around? It this the Demon's Blood Demon Art too?" he wondered. "HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! The freaking room just spun around!" the boar-masked Demon Slayer cried excitedly. "Kyoshi, hit that drum!" Tanjuro called. The boy hit the drum tied to his arm, and they were transported to another room. "It's okay Kyoshi, the other boy is gone" Tanjuro soothed the young boy. Kyoshi let out a shaky breath, "why was he attacking us?" he asked.
"I don't know. But we should hurry" the Demon replied, jumping over the broken door and out of the door. He fell down the hallway and landed on the wall. "I don't know how long that ointment will block the smell of your blood. We need to be careful of other Demons, so try to keep quiet for me, okay? Can you be brave?" Tanjuro asked, making his way along the wall. "Yes" Kyoshi whispered. "Good job" Tanjuro replied. They made their way along the wall, before another hit of the Drum sounded.
The hallway flipped again, this time right-side up. Tanjuro jumped lightly from the wall to the floor, continuing to run, before he was forced to dodge a large hand swiping at his head from around the corner. "Well, it looks like I've found a good meal" the fat Demon spoke as he slowly walked around from the corner. Tanjuro drew his Sword, "too bad for you that you've gorged yourself. You might have been faster if you hadn't" he said, leaping forwards and cutting the fat Demon's head off in a flash. "Wow, you're so fast Mr Kamado!" Kyoshi said in slight awe, but he was still trembling.
"Don't worry. I promised I'd get you out of here, and I meant it. I will protect you Kyoshi" Tanjuro said gently. As the other Demon's body crumbled away, Tanjuro ran through the corridor's again. He opened all the doors he came across, but none of them led outside. 'I might have to kill that drum Demon before we can get out of here' he thought. "M-Mr Tanjuro? C-can we use this drum to get out of the house?" Kyoshi asked. "I don't know. It might not be able to teleport the Demon, or whoever is using it outside" Tanjuro replied in thought. "Either way, we have to defeat the Demon with the drums before we can leave" Tanjuro said.
"Does that mean, we have to find him again?" Kyoshi asked, sounding scared. "It's okay. I promise I won't let him hurt you" Tanjuro promised. The Demon ran down the corridor, keeping his senses open to tell if the Drum Demon turned up. He peeked into a room, not seeing anyone. "Okay, the room is clear." He said. As he ran into the room, loud thumps could be heard through the door on the other side of the room. Tanjuro tensed and drew his sword, as the door opened and a Demon with long, black hair and red eyes peeked into the room. His eyes widened at catching sight of Kyoshi, "Marechi. I've finally found you!" the Demon said, entering the room.
Kyoshi whimpered, and Tanjuro realised that that was why the smell of Kyoshi's blood was so hard for him to resist. "You won't get this child!" Tanjuro said firmly, preparing to fight. The Drum Demon snarled, "damn insects running amuck in my home! Just die already!" he cried, hitting the drum in his stomach. Tanjuro got a bad feeling, and dodged just in time to avoid having both him and Kyoshi get sliced apart, as huge and deep claw marks appeared on the floor where they had just been standing. The boy on his back screamed in terror. "That prey is mine! Give it back!" the other Demon demanded. Tanjuro took a deep breath. "Hey! What's your name?!" he called to the Demon. The Drum Demon paused in confusion.
"Huh? It's Kyogai" the other Demon replied. "I'm not letting you eat Kyoshi Kyogai! This boy has a whole life ahead of him, and he has two younger Siblings to protect! This fight is futile!" Tanjuro replied firmly. Kyogai's eyes widened in something akin to anger, but it was hard to tell. Suddenly the Demon snarled angrily, and started hitting his drum even faster. Kyoshi screamed again as they began tumbling through the air, the rotations not even letting Tanjuro land on the ground. "Hold on tight!" the Demon Kamado called to the boy. Suddenly one of the claw attacks hit him without warning, severing his left arm as he barely managed to dodge in time.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the young boy screamed, horrified as the arm was flung away. Tanjuro landed on the ground, clenching his teeth in annoyance. 'Damn it, this is bad.' He thought. "Kyoshi, I'm okay. Don't worry about me" the Demon Kamado said calmly, not showing an ounce of pain. "B-b-b-b-b-but, y-your arm!" Kyoshi sobbed, terrified. "You're not human, are you?" Kyogai asked suddenly. Tanjuro let his human transformation revert, and drew his arm back to himself with his blood. His arm reattached itself, "I'm not a human, no" Tanjuro replied to Kyogai's question.
"You're a Demon too! Then why aren't you eating the Marechi?! Are you trying to steal him from me?! I won't let you! I will consume that boy, and reclaim my place among the 12 Kizuki!" Kyogai cried, his pupils coming back into view from having his eyes rolled back into his head. Tanjuro frowned when he saw the slashed through Kanji for Lower Six in it. 'A former member of the 12 Kizuki. Even if he's not anymore, he should have more of Kibustuji's blood in him. If I can take a sample and send it to Lady Tamayo, the cure could be created faster!' He thought.
"I have no interest in eating Kyoshi. And I won't let you eat him either. I will protect this boy, as a Demon Slayer" Tanjuro replied firmly. "I won't let you take him! He's my prey!" Kyogai called, hitting his drums even faster. Kyoshi screamed again, clutching onto Tanjuro as hard as he could. 'I have to get closer to him, if I want to kill this Demon! But with that attack of his-' the Demon thought, dodging another claw attack. 'If it was just me, it would be fine, but Kyoshi will die if that attack hits us! I have to protect him, no matter what!' Tanjuro held out his hand, "Blood Demon Art: Solar Flames!" he cried.
Sunlit flames burst to life, engulfing Kyogai and causing him to scream in pain. He raised his arms to try and bat away the flames, instead of hitting any of his drums. 'Now!'Tanjuro thought, leaping forwards. Suddenly he saw papers that had landed on the floor from all of Kyogai's attacks, and he jumped over them. Even through the haze of searing pain, Kyogai saw this action and gasped. "Farewell" Tanjuro said, "Hinokami Kagura: Setting Sun Transformation!" he cried, as he performed a horizontal slash and finally decapitated him.
Tanjuro landed on the ground as Kyogai's body fell as well. The house was now back to normal. He sighed in relief, "it's over Kyoshi. You're safe now" he said gently. The boy looked down, and saw the drum he'd been using turning to ashes. The Demon walked over to Kyogai's body and took out one of the needles Yushiro had given them. He tossed it as the crumbling body, which sucked up some blood as it stuck. "What's that for?" the boy asked. "Some people are helping us create a cure for Demons, to turn us back into humans again. But they need lots of different kinds of Demon blood." Tanjuro explained.
Suddenly a meow was heard, making Kyoshi jump. They looked over to see a cat. "Are you the one who's going to deliver this to Miss Tamayo and Mr Yushiro?" Tanjuro asked, as he placed the syringe into the bag on the cats back, before closing the strap. "Good luck" he said, before the cat walked away. It meowed, and disappeared into red mist. "Oh! It vanished!" Kyoshi said in amazement. Tanjuro stood up, "alright, let's get you out of here Kyoshi" he said. Before turning to the still fading Demon. He put his hands together and prayed, "rest in peace". Then he ran out of the room.
าข
Tanjuro headed to the front door, "I bet your Siblings are going to be so happy to see that you're safe Kyoshi. You've been really brave this whole time" he said with a warm smile at the boy. Suddenly he picked up on the smell of blood. 'What happened now?' he wondered, concerned. He sped up and exited the house. When he did, he was met with the bizarre sight of the boar-masked boy who'd attacked him and Kyoshi before lying unconscious on the ground, and his Son fuming. Shoichi and Teruko were both hiding behind a bruised Zenitsu.
"What happened here?" Tanjuro asked. Shoichi and Teruko noticed them, and ran over with tears in their eyes, "Kyoshi! Big Brother!" Teruko cried, sobbing. "Shoichi! Teruko! You're both alright!" Kyoshi sobbed, reaching for them. Tanjuro gently put him down, and his two Siblings wrapped their arms around him immediately. "We were so scared Kyoshi! We thought the monster had killed you!" Teruko wailed, while Shoichi grabbed his Older Brother's hand for comfort. Tanjiro walked over to his Father, "that boy over there fell out of the house about 30 minutes ago. He twisted in midair and landed on the ground without a scratch. The problem started when he tried to attack Mom's box and Mr Yukito.
Zenitsu and I tried to get him to calm down so we could explain the situation, but he just kept attacking. I tried to keep from fighting him, but when he tried to stab Zenitsu when he wouldn't stop protecting Mom, I got angry and knocked him out with a headbutt" Tanjiro explained. "I see" Tanjuro explained, looking over at Kie's box, "and aside from this boy, is anyone injured?" he asked. "No Father! I kept everyone out here safe!" His Son proclaimed proudly. Tanjuro smiled warmly, "great job Son" he said, patting Tanjiro on the head. "Well," he looked around at everyone. Three Demon Slayers, one of which was potentially dangerous to his Wife, and four children, one of which was a Marechi, and would draw Demons to them after night fell.
Not to mention how he would have to control himself once the ointment was absorbed into his skin, and the smell of his blood would start affecting him again. So, what would they do now?