After several weeks had passed, during which Tanjuro went on several more Missions and visited his other children, Tanjiro and Nezuko's wounds had finally healed enough to resume active duty. "Thank goodness. Everyone was so worried about you two you know" Tanjuro said as he sat on a chair between Tanjiro and Nezuko's Beds. "I'm sorry. I didn't men to worry everyone" Tanjiro said as he lowered his head in shame. "You know our younger Siblings big brother. They'd probably worry about us no matter what, since we're away from them so much" Nezuko replied, before looking over at her Father with slight nervousness.
"They're all fine Nezuko. Sanemi and Mr Tokito are both training to become Demon Slayers too." Tanjuro said calmly. Nezuko sighed in relief, while Tanjiro smiled at her, "you see? Nothing to worry about, right?" he asked, placing his hand on his little Sister's shoulder. The black-haired girl smiled back, "yeah. Everyone's fine" she agreed. Suddenly the box at Tanjiro's bedside opened. "Oh! Hold on Kie, don't come out yet!" Tanjuro called to his Wife, as he hurried to drew the curtains across the window in the room. The three Kamado's sighed, as the Kamado Patriarch looked over at his Wife's box, "okay, it's safe now, you can come out" he said.
Kie pushed open the door of her box, peeking out at them with light purple eyes, humming behind her muzzle. As the female Demon left the box and grew to her full size, she made muffled sounds of delight as she ran over to her Husband and threw herself into his arms with a joyful hum. Tanjuro chuckled, "I missed you too love" he said happily as he stroked his Wife's hair lovingly. "Mmmm!" she hummed with her eyes closed in happiness. "Hey Mom, sorry for not being able to see you for a while" Nezuko said apologetically from her bed.
Kie squealed excitedly at the sight of her oldest Daughter, moving to hug her gently. Tanjuro watched the two happily, before sighing. He hoped that this wouldn't go on for too long. He wanted his Wife to become human again. He wanted to be human again too, but once he was, he probably wouldn't live too much longer. At the very least, if Kie and the other children's Mother's were all turned back into human's again, they would have someone to look after them after he died. Or maybe he would be cured, but he wasn't going to give himself false hope until he knew for sure.
Kie soon moved back to hug him again and Tanjuro sat with his Wife in his arms, as she hummed at him happily. Tanjiro entered the room with some food for himself and his Sister, beaming at the sweet scene between his Parents. "You two are so adorable right now" he said with a soft look on his face. Tanjuro smiled over at him, once again so relieved that they'd all survived Muzan's attack. Things would have been so different if just one thing had changed that night. Tanjuro wouldn't have anything to live for without his family, it was thanks to them that he was still himself.
"I have so many things to be thankful for. My family is my reason for living, and I would do anything to protect them. We're all alive, and we're all safe. And I will not fail again" he said seriously. Tanjiro nodded, "I won't either. I'll protect our younger Siblings" he swore. Nezuko nodded in agreement, her hand going to her side where her wound would scar, "I won't let this wound stop me! I will protect them all no matter what!" she swore. "I know. Take some time to rest thought. Once you get your next Mission, you won't be able to rest for a while" Tanjuro said seriously, stroking his Daughter's hair, feeling proud of how strong his children were.
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The next day, everyone was feeling well enough to leave the Wisteria House. Tanjuro bowed gratefully to the Owner, "thank you very much for taking care of my children and Tanjiro's friends" he said. Tanjiro and Zenitsu also bowed in gratitude. Tanjiro was once again carrying Kie in her box, while Nezuko smiled at the old woman, "I wish I could have done something to help around the place to show my gratitude to all of you for saving me" she said. "Oh, no, please don't worry about it dear. We're more than happy to help Demon Slayers like you" the old woman replied.
"Now" she began, and the three Kamado's and Zenitsu all turned around, to Inosuke's confusion. The lady began striking sparks with her ceremonial flint, before the boar-headed teen began yelling: "what do you think you're doing?!" he cried, as Tanjuro blocked his path to the old woman, while Zenitsu tried to hold back Inosuke. "Calm down! It's a ceremony for luck!" Tanjuro said, hoping that the other Demon Slayer would calm down. Eventually he did and the group stood before her again, "Always live your lives in a manner where you are able to hold your heads up high. I wish you luck in battle" the old woman said with a bow.
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After Tanjuro answered Inosuke's questions about what the old woman had said, the group ran down the road towards where their next Mission was. "Why did I have to come! I don't wanna fight Demons! I'm so scared!" Zenitsu whined, even as he ran. "We'll be okay. As long as Dad is with us, we can beat any Demon quickly. His Blood Demon Art is like sunlight, and can kill them easily" Nezuko explained. Zenitsu glanced at the Demon, who was currently in his human disguise and running at the front of the group. He still couldn't believe that there were Demons like him and his Wife.
The sound that he could hear from both Demons was unlike anything he'd heard before. Compared to all the other's he'd been forced to fight, they had the most unique sounds. So kind and gentle, where as most Demons were cruel and ravenous. It seemed that both Kamado parents were so kind that not even becoming Demons could change them. And Tanjiro sounded the same. For the first time, he wasn't afraid of Demons. But he was afraid of this next mission. He hoped that he would survive.
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As they ran, Tanjuro turned to look back at Nezuko. "Hey Nezuko, can I make a suggestion?" he asked. "Sure Dad, what is it?" she asked. "Since I end up with Tanjiro most of the time, he doesn't really need your Mother with him as much. But with how hurt you were this last time, I'm worried that you'll get too badly hurt someday, and there won't be anyone around to help you in time love. So I was thinking that maybe I should stay with you from now on, go on your Missions and help you fight Demons, while Kie stays with Tanjiro. What do you think?" Tanjuro asked.
Nezuko controlled her breathing as they ran down the road, looking up at her Father, "but you have your own Missions to do, and most of the time, you're able to save more people than we can. Besides, we have different Missions too most of the time, so we can't stay together" Nezuko replied, brutally honest. Tanjuro wilted slightly, but kept trying, "but if you get hurt like that again, I won't be able to forgive myself Nezuko" he replied.
"Dad, I'm a Demon Slayer, it's an occupational hazard. We're going to get hurt sometimes. You and Mom can't be everywhere at once, but for this Mission, we can work together, okay?" his oldest daughter replied. "Actually, I agree with Mr Kamado," Zenitsu pipes up from the back of the group. "I heard his distress when you were brought into the Wisteria House with that injury. He was so upset and worried about you. I know it's not my place, but I know that I would love to have loving and caring Parents like him to protect me if I could" the blond said. He looked down, "I think it would be a good idea if he went with you on your Missions from now on Nezuko" the older teen said.
Nezuko looked down as she ran, "I'll think about it, okay Dad? Right now we should focus on our Mission" she decided. No one spoke up again after that.
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Eventually, after the sun had set, the group finally reached their destination. "So, that's Mount Natagumo" Tanjuro said, scanning the area with his senses. He picked up several strong Demonic aura's, including one that felt similar to Akaza, though much weaker. He clenched his fists. There was a 12 Kizuki on this mountain, and the Corps was sending in children!? Tanjuro glanced back at the group behind him, two of his own children and Wife were among the group, but as much as he wanted to tell them all to wait here, while he dealt with things they had all been given this Mission.
So, could he do that? Just ignore orders and take care of everything himself? Well, he'd done it at Kyogai's house. But that had been a situation where no other Demon Slayers were present. With such powerful Demons on the mountain, more Corps members were sure to have been sent. Not to mention the possibility of Hashira. What should he do? Suddenly, Tanjiro froze beside him, "what is this smell?" he asked, before running towards the mountain before anything could be said or done. "Wait big Brother!" Nezuko cried, running after him, while Inosuke cheered and ran after them excitedly.
"Wait you guys! Wait for me!" Zenitsu called, crying as he ran after them, "don't leave me here on this creepy road!" he cried. Tanjuro felt annoyance build inside of him, but he supposed that the situation had called for these actions. After all, if Tanjiro knew a person needed saving, he would always rush in, regardless of any danger posed to himself. Of course, he and Kie took some of the blame in that, but most of that was just who Tanjiro was. He braced himself and ran after the rest of the group, keeping his senses alert.
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Tanjuro passed the rest of the group and reached the entrance to the mountain first. He gasped as he saw a young man, possibly even a teenager lying on the ground, tears in his eyes, "help me. Please, help me!" he sobbed. Tanjuro had to fight to hold back his Demonic instinct to growl at the Demon that was threatening the teen, and he instead drew his Sword, "don't worry, I'll save you. Close your eyes!" he ordered. Threads attached to the Demon Slayer suddenly pulled him away and into the air, and he closed his eyes in fear.
"Aaaaahhhhh! They were attached to me too!" he shrieked, but Tanjuro had already leapt into the air and severed the threads with a flaming blade. The threads burnt away and there was small *popping* sounds as tiny spiders burnt away as well. Tanjuro caught the Demon Slayer and landed gently on the ground with him, "are you hurt at all?" he asked gently. The boy opened teary eyes to stare up at him. "A-am I, alive? Did you really save me?" he asked shakily. Tanjuro smiled gently, "yes, you're safe now" he said kindly. "Father!" "Dad!" his children called as both they and Inosuke came running up towards them.
"I just saved this young man. Can I ask you what your name is?" Tanjuro asked. "I'm I-Itsuki Furuya. I was sent here with 9 other people, but then-" Itsuki sobbed, "the Demon Slayers- they started killing each other! I tried to run, but my leg was injured. I collapsed at the edge of the forest, just as you turned up. I don't know if anyone else survived, but I couldn't stay there!" the teen cried, burying his face in his hands. "I didn't know what to do, so I just ran away! I don't want to die! Not like that!" he wailed, practically hysterical by now. "Hey, it's okay. We can treat your injuries. Then you can go down the mountain, I don't expect you to come back up with us Itsuki" Tanjuro said soothingly, placing his hand on the teenager's shoulder.
He sniffed, "r-really? I won't, g-get in trouble for not killing any Demons here?" Itsuki asked. "Of course not! Everyone should be glad that you're still alive. Can you show me your Injury young man?" Tanjuro asked gently. The other Demon Slayer slowly managed to calm down, and Tanjuro gently cleaned and bandaged his wound. "You did a great job getting out of there alive. Now you can save more people on other Missions that are better suited for you" the Demon said, patting his head as he finished and stood up, "head back down the mountain when your leg feels well enough. But don't push yourself, and be careful. There might be other Demons on the edge of this one's territory" Tanjuro told him.
He turned towards his children and the other two boys. Zenitsu looked like he'd seen a ghost as he stared up at the mountain, "it's faint, but this sound, it's so ominous. Deadly. Please tell me that we don't have to go up there Mr Kamado?" he asked, trembling. "He's right. I've got a bad feeling Dad. Maybe we should write to the Corps and let them know to send in someone stronger?" Nezuko suggested, as she rubbed her arms, with Tanjuro could see were covered in goosebumps. It wasn't even a cold night. Tanjuro looked down in thought. His Instincts were telling him that the kids would be no match for whatever was up there, but that he would have no problem.
Honestly, he didn't want to put his children or Wife in danger, but they had been given orders. What should he do?