Tanjuro travelled for three days and nights, until he reached a town at the foot of a mountain. Feeling a wave of nostalgia, the Demon entered the Village to speak to the townspeople. As he did, the wind blew through the area. 'A storm is coming' he thought, feeling the humidity and smelling the scent of rain on the wind. "Excuse me?" he asked one old man. The man turned to look at him. Seeing his friendly smile, he immediately warmed up to Tanjuro, "yes young man? Do you need something?" he asked. "Oh, I've heard that there were disappearances around here recently. Would you happen to know anything about that Sir?" Tanjuro asked.
"I'm not sure. I think there have been people vanishing lately. But I'm not sure" the man replied. Tanjuro frowned, 'I wanted to gather intel, but I'm not sure how much I can get from these people' he thought. He continued to walk through the Village, but all he found out was that a family who sold firewood lived on the mountain. Tanjuro looked up at it, as the wind started to blow harder. He made up his mind, and headed up towards the house. As he climbed the mountain, rain started to pound down, quickly becoming torrential. The Demon squinted, the rain only slightly blocking his sight.
Tanjuro climbed up the path, using his claws to help him hold onto the side of the mountain when the path became thinner. Suddenly he noticed a person ahead of him on the ledge. He was wearing rain gear and reaching up for some flowers. "Hey! That's dangerous!" Tanjuro cried out. The man turned to look at him, and he saw red eyes that were like the ones he had when he was human, like Tanjiro's- before the ground under the man broke. He cried out as he began to fall, yellow herbs clutched tight in his hand. The Demon leapt forwards, catching the man with one arm around his waist, and drawing his Sword.
He stabbed it into the side of the cliff, slowing their fall, until he noticed another ledge just a little bit below them. "I'm going to let go of you! There's a ledge below us, climb down the cliff as carefully as you can, alright?!" Tanjuro called over the rain. The man nodded, and shoved the herbs into his shirt. Then he began to slowly climb down the cliff wall. Tanjuro watched him, noticing that he was having trouble finding hand and footholds in the rain and darkness. Making a decision, the Demon used his Blood Demon Art to light up the cliff, making the man gasp. But his shock only lasted for a moment, and he managed to get down the cliff far more easily after that.
Tanjuro, after making sure that the man had safely reached the bottom, simply dropped from the cliffside, landing in a crouch on the ground. "Thank you for saving me! If you hadn't, I probably would have died!" the man called. He turned to leave, "I have to get these herbs back to my Wife! She's sick!" he called. Tanjuro followed him, "I'll come with you! It's dangerous at night! Especially in a storm like this!" he replied, keeping his senses alert for Demons.
าข
The two hurried back to the man's house, and he introduced himself as Yuto Tokito. "My twin Sons are at home with my Wife. She had gotten so sick, that we didn't know what to do! I told the boys I'd go get medicinal herbs for her, but- woah!" Yuto cried, the softened rock at his feet crumbling.
Tanjuro caught him and pulled him back onto the path. "Ah! Thank you! That's the second time you've saved me!" Yuto replied gratefully. They continued down the path towards the house. Suddenly Tanjuro smelled blood. His eyes widened, and he took off running. "Hey! What's wrong?" Yuto demanded in shock, as he began to run after him. The house came into view, and a scream resounded, audible even over the storm. "Sora!" the human cried, trying to run faster, but Tanjuro stopped him, "no, don't!" he ordered, holding an arm across the man's chest.
The Demon drew his Sword, Sunlit flames burning to life on the metal, the rain hissing as it was evaporated on contact. Tanjuro shot into the house, finding two twin boys screaming, as a woman- their Mother- lay bleeding in her bed. The Demon who had attacked turned to look back at him, and that was the last thing he ever did. Tanjuro sliced off his head in one strike, the Demon screaming as it burned to death in his Solar Flames. "Sora! Oh my God!" Yuto cried, rushing into the house, dripping water all over the place, but not caring. "Father!" one of the boys sobbed. Tanjuro sheathed his Sword and knelt down in front of the woman, checking her over.
There was a bite wound in her arm, nearly severing the limb, and the woman, Sora, gasped in agony as she bled out. "Father!" the boy wearing the lighter Kimono cried, as he finally found the strength to move, nearly tripping over his own feet as he ran over to Yuto. "Muichiro! Yuichiro! Oh thank God you're both safe!" he cried, as the other boy stumbled over to his Father as well.
"M-Mother, sh-she- she protected us! Even though, she could, ha-hardly breathe! The m-monster- attacked us, and *gulp* Mother, jumped in th-the way!" he stuttered, tears welling up in his eyes, as he clutched his Father's Kimono tightly. Tanjuro focused on the woman's condition. It didn't look good. Not only was she badly injured now, but she was also sick, which made things even worse. Miss Tokito definitely wouldn't survive in this condition.
Either the disease would kill her, the bleeding would, or the wound would get infected, but it was clear, even without the knowledge of someone like Miss Shinobu, that this woman wouldn't last the night. "Excuse me?" a young voice called, as Tanjuro felt a tug on his Kimono. He looked down, to see the twin with the light Kimono staring up at him with tears in his eyes, "is our Mother going to die?" he asked, voice trembling. Tanjuro let out a sigh and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry, but at this stage, yes." The boy started to quietly sob, throwing himself over his Mother in his grief.
The other boy tried to hold in his tears, but Yuta brought him into a hug, making his Son wail and clutch onto him desperately. The Father seemed to be trying to hold back his own tears, in order to comfort his Son. The Demon clenched his fists. 'Damn it, I can't just let this woman die!' he thought furiously, 'there has to be something I can do!' suddenly Tanjuro remembered Yukito. Maybe he could do the same thing to Miss Sora? But what if it didn't work this time? He'd only successfully turned one person into a Demon so far.
What if this ended up killing Miss Sora? Or worse, turned her into a man-eating Demon, like most others? Then he would have to kill this woman in front of her family. Glancing back at the Father and his Son's, he clenched his fists, 'I have to at least try it! for their sake!' he thought in determination. "I might be able to save her," Tanjuro said, drawing the crying family's attention, "but it might not work, and kill her faster. Or it will work, but she'll attack you, just like the person who did this in the first place," Tanjuro turned to look at Yuta, his expression completely serious, "if that happens, then, for your own protection, I'm afraid I'd have to kill her" the Demon replied, sorrow creeping into his voice and expression.
Yuto looked over his family, before steeling himself, "do it" he replied. Tanjuro nodded, "you might want to go into a separate room, in case things go wrong" he suggested. The Father nodded, and encouraged his Son's to come with him into the kitchen. Tanjuro took a deep breath and turned towards the dying woman. "Please let this work, for your family's sake" he prayed. He reached out with one hand and cut open his palm. Then he held it over Sora's wounded arm. His blood dripped thickly, and fell into the woman's wound. Tanjuro withdrew his hand and held his breath.
There was a moment of stillness. Then the woman began to twitch. Sora gasped for air, her veins bulging. Tanjuro began to panic, that hadn't happened with Yukito! Sora writhed, gasping out a cry, "Miss Tokito!" Tanjuro cried, as blood began to drip from her nose and mouth. Mixed with the blood was some dark liquid, that he thought might be his own blood. "Miss Tokito!" Tanjuro cried, not knowing what to do, before the woman stilled, blood pooling on the ground. The Demon gasped at the woman, before he shakily tested her vital signs. No breathing. No pulse. She was already starting to go cold.
Tanjuro stared down at Miss Sora, eyes wide, as he felt his heart shattering. It hadn't worked this time. Worse, he'd killed this woman with his own hands. Tanjuro felt his heart-rate pick up, as his usually controlled breaths came out in gasps. The Demon didn't realise it, but he was having a panic attack. Tanjuro felt a pain in his chest, and he suddenly realised that he couldn't breathe. He gasped, but no air entered his lungs. Despite knowing that he was a Demon, and didn't need to breathe, Tanjuro's panic increased, and dark spots danced in his vision. 'Why? Why couldn't I save her?! Why!?' he thought frantically, as he dimly heard pounding and voices.
"Mr Tanjuro!" a boy's voice cried. "Tanjuro!" that was a man's voice, he thought, but they were blending together in his mind, and Tanjuro couldn't focus. A pair of red eyes, so much like his old ones- so much like Tanjiro's appeared in his line of sight. "T-Tan-" he began, only to lose consciousness before he could finish speaking.