Chapter 2:Star lights of the past.

Some centuries ago,an old man and a demon met by chance of fate on the outskirts of an abandoned man would have been able to finish with his opponent but the years never forgive and death claimed his soul before the fight could end.

Probably that would have been the end of the story of that place,destined to be forgotten among an immense common forest,nevertheless,a young redhead walked in the middle of the night calmly while inspecting the place, looking for something very important to him.

It tooks him almost one week to find this place again,but to be fair,Tanjirou was also occupied with other equally important matters. The use of the thunder breathing left him exhausted and he could barely move his legs for a day,fortunately he could recover very fast due to the total concentration first thing Tanjirou made in his trip was looking for the old Ubuyashiki Estate to find the actual Oyakata-sama and get more information about the time in which he lives now,unfortunately the location he remembered was completely destroyed. There were just charred remains of what was once a beautiful mansion along with various remains and odors, barely perceptible, of human blood and demonic remains.

On one hand,that allowed him to identify the demon's smell and detect them in the surroundings,but he hasn't seen anyone,demon or slayer,and that made him question whether the war was ended a long time ago,or ever worse,that the demon slayer corps has been hoped that this wouldn't be the case or his mission would be greatly complicated.

His alternative plan brought him to this place,where he died in his past life. If he can't find the corps,at least,he will find a way to protect him and his took some hours but with the transparent world and his super smell sense could take a trail that took Tanjirou near the ruins of what was once a beautiful ,between some woods and shrubbery,was a small irregular area of ground, which indicated that something, or perhaps someone,was buried there.

Tanjirou didn't lose his time and started to dig with with the help of some large branches that he used as shovels to go as fast as 15 minutes he saw some cloth from the floor,carefully and slowly used his hands to remove the ground,trying to assimilate what he will have to do a couple of minutes he could see a large blanket wrapping something large for him.

"This is completely weird and disturbing,in all senses"thought Tanjirou while he started to take off the blanket and was preparing to see the rest of his old body.

Definitely this will be the strangest memory in all his previous and future there was an skeleton,barely preserved because of the time,the clothes was very deteriorated and Tanjirou could see with a grimace of discomfort on their faces a cut in the spinal area,probably Michikatsu was the responsible but at least there weren't any marks of teeth in the bones and his old body had a decent burial so he was happy that her elder brother respected his memory and not been thrown away somewhere or worse,eaten by him. He would have felt disgusted if that would have been the case.

At any rate,the goal of this visit isn't to watch if his corpse was buried or not,his goal was the old Nichirin that was in the he had achieved that, he put the earth back in its place and arranged the grave as best he could while saying some prayers, although he didn't know why he did it if in the end, it was the same, probably due to tradition.

"Sometimes this situation is so confusing to me"signed slightly tired and trying to avoid questioning how wrong it was to desecrate his own grave.

Once everything was finished,Tajirou decided to inspect the condition of the weapon. He was very happy to see his old sword,but when he took it out of its case, his happiness diminished considerably when he saw the deterioration. The blade was cracked and there were several rust crimson color of his Nichirin has weakened a lot and now it has a simple red tone

"Definitely it has passed a lot of time,perhaps several centuries, between my death and my reincarnation for even a nichirin to be in such poor good side is that I have a defend against demons but I must use it carefully until find a way to restore it or maybe find a new one"

After trying to clean it as best he could,decided to put it away and return home,there wasn't anything more to do without information about Muzan or Ubuyashiki,only training,improve himself to unlock his mark,dominate again his sun breathing and with a little bit of luck,find the demon slayer corpse and fulfill the destiny of your new life.

Tanjirou started to walk away and focus the total concentration breathing in his lungs and legs to run faster but he stopped pulse started to accelerate, while his pupils contracted slightly due to a stimulus captured by his sense of smell,one that he wished not to catch again stopped him.

"That smell…is quite weak but there is no doubt about the causant"said while he followed it,making stronger as he approached the origin and began to notice that the cold invaded the area.

Finally he found a village or better said their rest. The place was destroyed but there were no fires around,just ice and snow in the surrounding,that would explain why the weather feels like winter,despite now being almost the end of spring,but that wasn't what caught his attention the most,no,it was the 2 figures fighting each other.

One was a beautiful girl with 2 pink and green butterfly clips on the sides of her long black hair,and a haori with a butterfly-like drawing pattern on top of a black uniform with gold and white details. She looks 16 or 17 years old and uses a whitish pink Nichirin as a weapon . The other one was a man with long blonde hair and blase wears a simple red and black outfit and 2 golden tessen as weapons, but the most notable thing about him is his rainbow-colored eyes,which have something written on them that made the redhead quite worried.

"Upper moon 2…"whispered"fighting against average demons would be easy to me even a lower moon wouldn't be a big problem…but an upper moon?and not a weak one the number 2…without the sun breathing,a complete training or a good sword,it is difficult to make other breathing stiles and with the strength of my opponent,how could I beat him?.

Tanjirou sometimes doesn't understand the plans of the fate.

"But that is not necessary"thought while he observed the sky"I just have to entertain him until the sun arrives and he will probably escape".

With a plan already in his mind, he decided to use the transparent world to analyze the woman's physical has several cuts and hemorrhages on her body,there were many fractures on her bones and her ribs were broken and with her agitated pulse's pressure ,there was the risk to cut the lugs or the hearth,the total concentration breathing was near to be broken,if that happened,she would die by bleeding. He must give her time to stabilize her injuries and between the 2 maybe they could stop the demon.

While in the fight,the slayer noticed that her energy was no longer enough to keep up with the demon, her wounds were beginning to wear her down more and more and if she did not do something she would end up being opponent on the other hand, didn't have any injuries, in fact, he seemed to be having the time of his life.

"I admit this was one of the most interesting battle in my life,you!are!awesome!"exclaime the demon with a big false smile in his face"You are still standing despite your injuries but I thin-

"Shut up!"interrupted the swordswoman,trying to hit him back but she didn't expect a diagonal cut directly to her chest, which she could with difficulty avoid but ended with a slight but painful superficial cut.

"Do you know it's rude to interrupt the other when they talk?I'll let it go because I have to kill you,it's a pity!…but rules are it's any consolation,your beauty will be eternal when I eat you."said the demon,ready to finish off the woman.

Lucky for her a yellow flash appeared in front of the demon and quickly moved away from the demon noticed that her neck was almost cut except for a few centimeters that still kept his head joined to his body so he left the area to regenerate his injures.

The girl observed his savior and was surprised when she saw a 12 or 13 year old redhead with a worn Nichirin on his cursed himself for not being enough fast to cut the neck with his surprise attack,he knew it was very difficult but that doesn't avoided feeling frustrated by failing a unique opportunity.

"Are you ok?"asked Tanjirou while turning his face slightly towards the girl, without stopping looking at his opponent out of the corner of his eye.

The girl nodded with a small smile of gratitude"yes,thank you for saving my life but you have to go now,staying here is too dangerous."

"I can say the same about you."replied Tanjirou

"I know what I'm doing,you don't have to worry about me."

"You are injure,you have many broken bones and don't have a lot of energy."

Her eyes opened to know her condition "How do you know that?"

"Well let's say you are a good if you continue fighting you are going to die,either eaten by the demon or by your injuress"

"But-".

"No!"interrupted Tanjirou in a soft but authoritarian voice" go back and take a break to recover yourself,your health is my priority now,you saw I'm able to use a breathing style so I can defend myself for a while until you recover yourself."

"you face aga-"

"The second upper moon,I know what I'm facing, miss…ehm what is your name?"asked doubtful.

"Kochou Kanae,the flower hashira".

"Nice to meet you, kochou-sama"said while bowing as a sign of respect"I'm Kamado Tanjirou"said with a smile as he walked away from her .

When Tanjirou got closer to the demon,his neck was already healed,he looked irritated but his mood returned to his typical childish attitude after seeing his new opponent.

"A kid?oh!That's new,I never thought that demon slayers were so desperate that they would even resort to training children to die on the battlefield,uhm…but I think they did a bad job,didn't they teach you to respect your elders?especially when they want to eat"added upset".

"Well you talk about manners but you haven't introduced yourself."responded in a cold but soft tone.

"Oh!you're right!it would be very impolite if you don't meet your executioner,my name is Douma,I'm the second upper moon"declared with a huge smile.

Tanjirou raised an eyebrow at the confidence of the should underrate your opponent,even if is a kid"Douma…interesting…".

"You don't look very astonished,do you even have any idea about demons' hierarchy?"added amusingly.

"You are the third strongest demon,only Muzan Kybutsuyi and the first upper moon are above you."

"Do you know the name of my master?How is that possible?"questioned surprised.

"It's a long story but tell me Douma…why did you become a demon?"

"Hahaha,I never thought I would have an admirer,"said interested"you could turn into a demon,what do you think?My 2 children would love to have a friend their age!"suggested happily,imagining his 2 pupils happy to have a new friend.

Tanjirou questioned if it would be possible that demons could start a family,but quickly put the doubt aside, it was not the time for trivial matters.

"A demon is just an existence full of sadness and live only to cause death and pain wherever they go.I would never become one.I impossible for me to believe that somebody could reject the beauty of life and the world of their own free will".

Douma's head tilted slightly in disappointment at Tanjirou's words"I see that you believe in the existence of gods,divine punishment to wicked people or heaven and 's a joke,there is nothing after death,just void,you become nothing,but weak spirits of humans can't accept something so simple it,they need to believe in 's why i was 's why I become into a demon,I just want to make the pitiful people happy and help them,I did it since I was a kid and now I'm immortal,I've given my worshipers a reason to believe in something real after death…when I eat up one of them,I absorb all of hopes,her beauty,she will live forever with me.I make sure to accept,rescue and guide her spirit to eternal enlightenment".

"Her?"asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Yes,most of my followers are beautiful women,they are delicious and very nutritious!"affirmed with a smile of joy.

Tanjirou analyzed all what his enemy said for some were some contradictions between his feelings and his mood,it was confusing to him,especially his motivation,but with the few information,he got,Tanjirou deduced that Douma was even worse than Muzan.

"…I think I understand now…"whispered.

"Oh?what do you mean"asked in a funny tone.

"Your reasons"said while giving him a sad smile "You talk like you want to save people but you make them suffer and express how pathetic their beliefs talk with joy and fun but I'm not able to sense none of your word you say,every expression of emotion is just a lie,there is no happiness,confusion or anger in your heart,you can't feel 's why you are no able to understand the wonder of life and is your course,your wish,you want to be able to feel something deep in your soul,in order to free yourself from the empty and depressing existence that you have experienced since the day you were a way, I can't help but feel a little bit of compassion for you,despite all the damage you've caused to so many people…".

Douma observed Tanjirou with an expression of shock but quickly changed to one of absolute was the first time that someone came to see beyond all the illusions of the Upper moon,which made him for the first time felt an emotion in his heart,but it wasn't like he imagined.

Anger,confusion,doubt…it was too much to assimilate,he just wanted to kill that bastard and the Hashira,and finish with his business as soon as possible but Tanjirou continued talking before he could even think of any attack to do.

"…but there is something that I can't understand,Douma.What do you take life for,exactly?"asked,his face turned back to his cold expression.

"What?"

"Even with your lack of feeling,why do you choose pain as a way to feel something?Why do you find suffering so entertaining?What's so amusing about this?"

In Douma's eyes, Tanjirou's appearance changed to that of a young swordsman with long hair, as red as the longed-for blood that the demons enjoyed so much and with crimson eyes that shone with intensity. His deep and imposing voice resonated time and time again. again in Douma's head, which was torn from his neck,staying .in their hands,in a desperate attempt to stop those horrible visions, his heart beat violently from pure terror and anguish at the vision he suffered. His body trembled from panic with such intensity that at times He could barely stand or even control his blood technique.

"What represents the value of life for you?"asked Yoriichi a few centimeters from Douma.

The last question was the breaking point for couldn't find the reason for these horrible memories that didn't know he had, however, he just wanted it to stop as soon as quickly reattached his head to his body and lunged at Tanjirou while drawing his tessen to deliver a surprising but lethal blow.

Tanjirou deduced that this would happen due to the change in the moon's attitude, so he quickly dodged the cut while taking a safe distance to be able to respond to any would have liked to extend the conversation with Douma longer to entertain him until he was as close to the moon as possible to the sunrise.

"In any case, there was an hour left until dawn,I don't have to win this battle, just survive to fight one more day"reflected as he began to activate his protomark for the first time, the old scar on his forehead was replaced by a small crimson flame that spread across the front of his head "Honou no Kokyui!Ichi no Kata:Shiranui!"With his breathing style ready,Tanjirou launched himself against the second upper moon,thus initiating the first real combat of the young solar swordsman.

A/N:Greetings! This chapter was originally the one I was going to publish in September but I haven't been able to upload it before because this month has been very exhausting for me, and because the chapter was being too long so I decided to divide it into 2 parts. I have also been reviewing and modifying slight details of the previous chapters, but they do not affect the main story so don't worry. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, obviously this does not count as an October update, that is for the next chapter and now that I have more free time I will try to complete it as soon as we see us! :)