Tanjuro made his way up the mountain, concentrating on the next Demonic signature. It was stronger than Sayuri's, but still weaker than his. Considering that he fought Upper 3, all of the Demons on this mountain were weaker than him. That was good. It meant that he would be done sooner. As he ran he tried to find the rest of the Demons. He sensed one of them and headed towards it. Suddenly he gasped before Kie jumped from the trees, "Hmm!" she called. "Kie? Did the Kakushi get those Demon Slayers?" he asked. "Mhm" his Wife smiled through her muzzle.
"Good, thank you Dear" Tanjuro said, stroking his Wife's head. "Alright, let's go" he said. The two ran off.
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As they searched for the next Demon on the mountain, Tanjuro felt another Demonic Signature brush against his senses. "This way Kie!" he called, as they went in another direction. 'It's definitely in this direction' the Kamado Patriarch thought. After a few minutes, the two Demons arrived in another clearing in the forest. "A house?" Tanjuro asked, seeing the house suspended on threads in the air. "Well well, what do we have here? A traitor to the Master?" a voice called as a Spider Demon lowered itself from a hole on the bottom of the house.
Tanjuro couldn't help but sneer in disgust at the sight of it. It was literally a human head on a spider's body. "So, what should I do with you?" the Demon asked himself. "I can't turn you into a spider minion since you're already a Demon. But I should take care of you for my family" the Spider cackled. "Hey, Sister! We have an intruder to deal with!" he called. A Demon girl walked out of the trees on the edge of the clearing. "We have to kill him quickly" she said. Tanjuro and Kie growled at the other two Demons. He drew his Sword and got ready to fight. "Kie, you can take the spider one, while I take the girl, is that okay?" Tanjuro asked.
"Hm!" his Wife agreed, as she jumped towards the Demon who spat out purple poison at her. Tanjuro sent out a wave of flame, that burned up the poison. "Hm hm!" Kie hummed gratefully. "Heh, so, flames huh? That's going to make this more difficult, but more rewarding to kill you!" the Older Brother Spider Demon cried, leaping up into the trees to hide. The Kamado Matriarch growled, and scaled the tree with her claws and brute strength. "Be careful!" Tanjuro called, turning back to the female Demon. "He told us about you. He wanted us to kill you if we ever saw you. So I'll kill you, you traitor scum!" the Older Sister cried, shooting out a thick stream of webbing at Tanjuro.
He easily sliced through it with his flaming sword, and managed to catch the second attack a second early. The webs tried to wrap him up, but Tanjuro ignited himself, burning it away easily. "Persistent aren't you?" the Older Sister Spider Demon sneered. Tanjuro didn't reply, only attacked again, his sword aiming for her neck. The girl Demon jumped out of the way, only to have flames engulf her from behind. The Demon screamed in agony, shooting out her threads defensively, but they only burned away. "Sister!" the Demon with the Spider body cried, and Tanjuro though he might be worried about her.
Before he could think that the other Demon would help his Sister, he snarled, "you weakling! You can't even beat a no-name Demon!" he cried, before he was suddenly grabbed by Kie. His Wife slammed him into the ground, before slashing him open with her claws. The Spider Demon wailed, as she slashed him apart, and Tanjuro found that he didn't feel any sympathy for him. The Sister Demon aimed another thick amount of webbing at Kie, probably to knock her away, but Tanjuro once again burned it. "Damn it, you traitors! I can tell that you haven't eaten any humans by your scent! So how are you both so strong?!" the Sister Demon snarled furiously.
Noticing her distraction, Tanjuro head back down to her, his sword aiming for the girl's head. "Sorry about this. But you're not the kind of Demons that I can allow to live!" Tanjuro said softly, as he took a Total-Concentration breath. "Hinokami Kagura: Setting Sun Transformation!" he cried, decapitating her and disintegrating the Demon girl instantly with his flames. The Older Sister Demon didn't even have time to scream. "Damn you!" the Older Brother cried, barely managing to dodge the swipe Kie made for him. But he'd dodged to the side, allowing her to sever the thread attached to the house. "Shit!" he swore as he began to fall.
"Hinokami Kagura-" Tanjuro began, but the Spider Demon shot out another web and was pulled backwards through the trees. Tanjuro growled, "hurry Kie! We can't let him escape!" he called. His Wife hummed aggressively through her gag in agreement as they gave chase.
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The Older Brother Spider Demon cursed as he swung through the trees on his thread, 'damn those traitors! And those two incompetents!' he thought furiously to himself, as he remembered their "Mother" and "Sister". 'They were both so useless. But my poison won't work on other Demons, so I need to either get Rui or Father now.' He decided. "Younger Brother is not going to be happy about this, but I'm not suited for this kind of battle!" he groaned.
Suddenly Kie leapt down from the trees and landed on his back. The sheer weight caused his thread to snap, and both fell to the forest floor. "Ow! Damn it! You damn traitor Bitch!" the Older Brother Demon yelled, as he struggled to get up. The Demon woman snarled in anger, and shoved him further into the dirt. The Spider Demon thrashed under the larger Demon, but she was too strong for him to be able to move. 'What the hell do I do now?!' the Older Brother thought furiously.
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After dealing with the Sister Spider Demon, Tanjuro was now looking for his Wife, who'd followed the Brother as he'd fled. He had to find them quickly. He was the only one who could kill him after all. Suddenly he slowed to a stop. He could smell a familiar scent. Tanjuro sniffed the air carefully. The Smell of metal, sunlight and water floated on the breeze. His eyes widened, before he drew his sword and blocked a strike for his neck. Tanjuro turned around slowly, realising that, ever since he'd found those controlled Demon Slayers, he hadn't been bothering to conceal his Demonic presence.
Just as he'd thought, Giyu Tomioka stood behind him, sword in hand. The other Demon Slayer's eyes widened, "Wait. Are you- Tanjuro Kamado?" he asked in shock. "Yes, I am. Mr Tomioka. It's good to see you again" Tanjuro replied calmly. Giyu withdrew his Sword, and Tanjuro did the same. "What are you- no, you're probably on a Mission, aren't you? My Master informed me that you and your Oldest children all became Demon Slayers" he said. Tanjuro nodded, "we did. But I sent them back because the Demon I could sense on this mountain would have been too strong for them right now" he explained.
Giyu nodded, and began running through the trees again, Tanjuro following, "there's a 12 Kizuki on this mountain, according to the amount of deaths we've had here" the black-haired man agreed. "Yes, I know. A lot has happened since we last met" Tanjuro said conversationally, but he kept his senses alert for any other Demons.
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Kie wrestled with the Spider Demon, ripping off his legs several times when she noticed him trying to dig a hole to escape from under her. "Damn it! You Bitch! Even if my poison doesn't work on you, I'm still going to make you regret messing with me!" the Older Brother snarled furiously. Kie snarled back, before the smell of Wisteria caused her to cringe. "My, my! What do we have here? Two Demons fighting each other?" a girl's voice called through the trees. Kie looked around for the source of the voice and smell.
A girl walked out of the trees. She wore a Demon Slayer Uniform, like Tanjiro and Nezuko did. She had a Haori on that looked like a Butterfly, and her short black and purple hair was pinned up at the back of her had with a butterfly clip. Kie could immediately sense the poisonous nature of this girl, and she growled threateningly. "Tell me Ma'am. Would you like to be my friend?" the girl asked.
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As Tanjuro and Giyu raced through the trees, Giyu glanced over at the Demon Kamado, a look of confusion on his face, "so you sent your children away. What about your Wife? Is she with them?" he asked awkwardly. "Oh, no, I brought her with me. Right now she's fighting another Demon that I have to get back and deal with. After all, only my Sword or Blood Demon Art can kill a Demon at night. Kie's a surprisingly good fighter, but she's as effective as any other Demon at killing them" Tanjuro explained. Suddenly his eyes widened, "why do I smell Wisteria" he said in concern.
Giyu's eyes widened a fraction before he sped up, "we need to hurry!" he said urgently. "Mr Tomioka, what's wrong?!" Tanjuro asked in concern. Even without his Son's ability to smell emotions, he could tell from the other Demon Slayer's increased pace that something bad was happening. He easily kept up with the increased pace, but was still confused, "what's wrong Mr Tomioka?" Tanjuro asked. "I didn't come to this mountain alone. Another Hashira came with me. One that specializes is using Wisteria Poison to kill Demons" Giyu explained. Tanjuro's eyes widened, "Kie! My Wife could be in danger!" he cried.
"That's why we need to hurry" Giyu expressed. The Demon Kamado clenched his fists, 'no. I will not lose any of my family! I won't let anyone take them away from me!' he thought furiously, speed increasing even more. Giyu grunted from behind him, as the Demon outran him, "Tanjuro! Wait!" he cried, but Tanjuro couldn't hear him over his wild heartbeat and the blood rushing in his ears, 'I have to protect my Wife!' he thought.
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Kie growled through her muzzle at the girl, her sword dripping with something foul. The Spider Demon struggled underneath her still, and Kie found it hard to focus her attention on both. In fact, she was getting sleepy now, since she'd been awake now for a long time, and used a lot of energy. But the Kamado shook herself out of her daze. She could tell that, if she didn't focus on the Butterfly girl, she could die. And that was not an option for her. Not when her children needed her. "So," the girl said, "what do you say? Would you be my friend?" she asked again. In truth, this girl, Shinobu Kocho was Kanae's younger Sister. She hated Demons. But the shock of nearly losing her Older Sister 5 years ago had caused her mind to become very fragile. And the only way she could protect herself was to take on her Sister's personality. And that included Kanae's dream of befriending Demons.
Kie flexed her clawed fingers, getting ready to attack. This girl was a threat to her. She wouldn't actually hurt the girl. Just get rid of that sword, so that she could run. The Demon Slayer would then probably be distracted by the Spider Demon, so she could escape. Kie prepared to attack, but the Demon under her suddenly shot out a thread and pulled himself backwards, and, most importantly, out from under her. She stumbled, and the Demon Slayer girl took this as her chance to attack. She lunged straight towards Kie, strange Sword outstretched and ready to pierce her through.
In a flash, there was a spray of blood, as her Huband appeared in front of her and took the blow to the shoulder. Kie's eyes widened, and she let out a shriek of horror through the muzzle. The Swordswoman's charge was halted, as she stared in fascination at Tanjuro. The Kamado Demon lifted his head, veins nearly bursting on his face and his eyes glowing with rage. His fangs were long and sharp as he let out a deep growl: "no one. Harms. My. Wife." He snarled furiously. Everyone just stared at Tanjuro as he glowered at Shinobu.