!PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!


After a long while I had the urge to update this little FF.

That's me.

Writing, stopping for a few months and then going back to writing. XD

The song today Yua sings is I'm on My Way by Phil Collins from the fantastic movie Brother Bear.

Enjoy!


Chapter 6: Mt. Natagumo

Time flows fast and Yua and her three idiotic comrades and wonderful Nezuko have been staying at the Wisteria House for a good six weeks.

Today the doctor declared them finally being healed.

The day started well.

It even got better as Kaguya and Tanjiro's crow, Matsuemon, brought them new orders.

Their little group shall go North-northeast to Mt. Natagumo.

Finally, Yua could work on her goal of becoming a Hashira. She was starting to get crazy doing nothing but healing in the Wisteria House.

On one hand, she should really first go home and check on her family, yet the disapproving look and the lecture her grandfather would give her, how she managed for six weeks to do nothing and not at least raise a few ranks stopped her from doing so.

She would go back home when she at least levelled up a good three ranks.

Was she a coward?

Yes, she was.

The midnight blue-haired beauty was not ashamed to admit that.

She would rather fist-fight a demon than be criticized by her grandfather. That man could make you feel so bad about yourself, it should be a torture method.

Or better not.

Anyway, our group of four Demon Slayers stood ready before the door of the Wisteria House, Hisa was with them, seeing them off.

Today, Yua had decided to wear her long hair in two long pigtails. As she fixed one, Tanjiro, undoubtedly the one with the best manners, bowed before Hisa.

"We're heading out now. Thank you for everything."

The old kind lady smiled and had a stone and grinder in her hands.

Oh how nice of her!

"Now then, for good luck.", said Hisa.

"Thank you so much!"

Yua, Tanjiro and Zenitsu turn their back to Hisa, as she strikes the stone against the grinder a couple of times, little sparks flying in the air.

And again it shows that Inosuke really only ever lived on a mountain surrounded by animals since he freaks out seeing that.

Only Yua's fast reflexes stop the boar-headed boy from attacking the old lady. She has him in a headlock, while he shouts: "What do you think you're doing, old hag?!"

"What are you, a moron?!", shouts Zenitsu back.

"Is that a rhetoric question, Agatsuma.", deadpans Yua, gripping Inosuke tighter. "Stop struggling so much, Hashibira!"

The blond-haired boy explains: "She's striking sparks for good luck! It's a purification ceremony! Because we're gonna go on a dangerous mission!"

"So stand down and accept it.", adds Yua.

Still confused the boar-headed boy does as he was said and Hisa can complete the ritual.

All beside Inosuke bow before her in thanks.

"Always live your lives with great pride. I wish you luck in battle!"

The older girl thanks her in the name of the group and with that the Demon Slayers and one Demon Girl in a box set off.

It's exactly quiet for five minutes before the wild boy speaks up.

""Great pride"? "Luck in battle"? What does that mean?"

Zenitsu can't help himself and think what a moron Inosuke is, while Yua fights off the urge to facepalm.

Hard.

Like she said.

Idiots, besides Nezuko.

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it, it's kind of difficult to explain.", try however Tanjiro to explain to him. ""With great pride"… I guess it means that you know your place and that you behave properly so that you're never ashamed of yourself."

"Huh?"

"And the old lady is also praying for our safety."

"So what is this "place"? What do you mean, "never ashamed"?"

"Well, it's…"

"What exactly does it mean to "behave properly"? Why in the hell would that old hag pray for our safety, anyway? She has nothing to do with us, so why?"

"Ahh…"

"She has no clue what her own place is, does she?"

Before someone gets an aneurysm, most likely poor goodhearted Tanjiro, Yua step energetically forward and starts to sing.

"Tell everybody I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see

With blue skies ahead yes

I'm on my way

And there's nowhere else

that I'd rather be!"

This earned her a confused huh from Inosuke, Zenitsu fangirling and Tanjiro bilking at her surprised.

Neither one of them ever heard this type of song.

After six weeks they were used to the beautiful songs Yua sang, but they were more from their folklore, besides the one she called Gurenge and didn't tell them who had taught her that.

"Tell everybody I'm on my way

And I'm loving every step I take

With the sun beating down yes

I'm on my way

And I can't keep this smile off my face!"

Also, she only sang in the morning, while she combed Nezuko's hair.

Suddenly starting to sing was new.

But not unwelcome.

"'Cause there's nothing like seeing

each other again

No matter what the distance between

And the stories that we tell

will make you smile

Oh, it really lifts my heart!"

All the boys, even Inosuke, loved her singing.

Yua had an amazing voice.

"So tell 'em all I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see

And to sleep under the stars

Who could ask for more

With the moon keeping watch over me!"

As Yua finished singing, the group looked at her in confusion.

She shrugged and said, "It's a good song while you walk. Your squabbling didn't really help us."

"Well, THAT was useless.", snorted Inosuke "We still don't know what that old hag meant."

The midnight blue-haired girl just rolled her eyes.

She had hoped singing her wandering song would also stop this stupid discussion.

Inosuke was trough and trough boar-headed.

"Look, Hashibira, it means that we should be proud of who we are and what we do. We should behave properly and not bring shame to ourselves or our comrades. And Hisa prayed for us because she cares about us and wants us to come back safely."

Zenitsu nodded in agreement, "Exactly! And we should appreciate her kindness and good wishes."

Inosuke grumbled but seemed to understand a little better now. Or maybe they all hoped it.

Tanjiro smiled at his friends and said, "Let's go then! Mt. Natagumo is waiting for us!"

And with that, the group set off on their next mission with determination and pride in their hearts.

In the evening Yua, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke finally arrived at the base of Mt. Natagumo.

The Aura-sensing girl hissed as she felt the vibes of the places.

Yes, demons alright.

And pretty strong ones too.

"Hold up! Would you mind waiting a second?", screeched Zenitsu from the back of the group.

"Zenitsu? What's wrong?", ask Tanjiro worried.

"I'm scared, all right?! Now that we're nearing our destination, I'm so scared!"

"Here we go again...", mumbled Yua.

This was the Demon Mansion all over again.

"Why the hell is he sitting?", pointed Inosuke on the ground cowering Zenitsu. "How creepy is that?"

"Who are you to talk, Pig Face?! Don't tell me you're not getting any vibes from that mountain!"

Okay, that was surprising.

"You feel it also Agatsuma? The Aura of this place is full of malice and I bet we will find some strong Demons there."

Tanjiro and Inosuke turn to the mountain but it's clear that they sense nothing.

"Still, what good will it do to just sit there?", wondered Tanjiro.

Yua fixes one of her pigtails.

"That place may be full of malice aura, but I'm not afraid like Agatsuma. We should get going, guys."

"I told you, he's creepy.", reminds Inosuke them.

"I am not in any way creepy! I'm normal! I'm the normal one! You guys are abnormal! Erm...I mean Yua-Senpai is special, not creepy at all she is just erm..."

"Agatsuma nothing you ever will say will get you into my pants.", deadpans Yua with her hands on her hips.

Suddenly Tanjiro becomes all rigged and turns to the direction of the mountain. His companions look at him confused.

Zenitsu ask him what's wrong and Tanjiro's answer is that there is a smell.

This makes Yua reach out with her Aura Sensing, in the six weeks with the boys and Nezuko she learned, how good Tanjiro could smell and how fine Zenitsu's hearing was.

This means if Tanjiro smells something it must be important.

And she is right with her guess as she feels an Aura full of pain crashing against her senses.

It's human!

"Follow me, boys!", she commands and runs towards the direction of the painful Aura.

Tanjiro and Inosuke are right behind her and after a few seconds, Zenitsu joins them.

When they get closer to the mountain, they see a wounded Demon Slayer.

"Ngh… Ugh…Ah… H-Help me.", cries the wounded boy.

"He's got our uniform on. He's a Demon Slayer!", shouts Tanjiro. "Something must've happened!"

Yua can't help but sass back. "Really? What tipped you off, that he is a bloody mess?"

Nonetheless, Yua, Tanjiro and Inosuke run up to their Demon Slayer comrade, while Zenitsu begs them to wait for him.

Tanjiro is the first by the boy and asks him if he is okay. Again Yua wants to point out what a stupid question this is when suddenly the wounded Demon Slayer rises in the air by fine strings. He shouts for help, but sadly he gets pulled back into the direction of the dense forest of the mountain.

The Hinoto gets a determined look on her face.

"Guys, let's go!"

"Of course, Yua-Senpai.", agrees Tanjiro.

"I'll go on ahead. You can follow me, shivering.", tells Inosuke. "This is making me hungry."

Yua snorts.

"Strange time to get hungry, but let's get moving guys. You listen to my word, since I'm the highest rank here, alright."

Both boys agree, even if Inosuke grumbles.

The three run into the forest, leaving a scarred and crying Zenitsu behind.

They run up a trail when Inosuke suddenly stops.

"Huh? What the hell is this?"

Tanjiro and Yua stop to see what is with Inosuke.

That's really strange.

"A spider web?", wonders Tanjiro for them aloud.

"Jeez, this place is full of spiderwebs! What a pain!"

Again Yua lets her Aura Sensing sweep around to get what is going on, while Tanjiro thanks both her and Inosuke for being here with him since alone he would be afraid.

The girl waves it just away as she pit-points two auras before them.

Two familiar aura.

One is a welcome sight the other not.

"Murata-San, Katsumi.", she greeted the two scarred Demon Slayers. "What is the situation?"

Murata, the black-haired male, seemed happy to see her, while Katsumi Tomita, the brown-haired one, looked like someone had killed his cat.

"Yua-Senpai! I'm so glad to see you. At least a Minoto! Tell me do you have a Hashira with you?!", babbled Murata, tears streaming from his eyes.

She couldn't even answer, before Katsumi hissed: "You want to lay your hope on the Moonlight Beauty, Murata? She and her whole family are cursed! We are totally fucked!"

Lovely, still the nicknaming asshole Yua had the displeasure of ever meeting. She could have gone her whole life without seeing the brown-haired young man ever again.

She grounded her teeth together and tried to talk herself out of it to just kick Katsumi's ass.

"You know Yua-Senpai?", asked Tanjiro, joining them with Inosuke.

"I have met and killed with Murata-San a few Demons.", revealed Yua. "Katsumi and I just know each other from one occasion."

Katsumi scoffed.

"That one occasion was enough. You, Mochizuki's, only bring bad luck and death with you!"

The midnight blue-haired girl takes a deep breath and tries to remain calm despite Katsumi's insults. She knows that getting angry won't solve anything, and they need to focus on the situation at hand.

"Murata, tell us what happened," she says, turning her attention to the tearful Demon Slayer.

Murata sniffles and wipes his eyes before speaking. "Th-The crow gave us the order! And ten of us Demon Slayers came here. Not long after we entered the mountain, the Slayers…the Slayers started killing each other! Tomita-San and I barely escaped with our lives."

Yua nods, understanding the gravity of the situation. Behind the killing under the Demon Slayers was surely a Blood Demon Art responsible. What kind of Demon could take nearly over a full group of Slayers was the question?

They needed to go on with caution.

"Who is with you, Moonlight Beauty?", spat Katsumi, eyeing Tanjiro and Inosuke. "A boy barely weened from his mother and a boy hiding behind a mask?"

Tanjiro and Inosuke both didn't like how this Katsumi called their Yua-Senpai by the nickname she hated so much. She seemed ready to murder the brown-haired man. Normally she was calm and collected.

There was history between them, so much was clear.

"I'm Kamada Tanjiro and he is Hashibira Inosuke, rank Mizunoto.", answered Tanjiro for them.

He didn't like this hostile attitude towards Yua-Senpai. He hoped he could turn the attention like this to them and away from Yua.

It worked half since Murata yelled: "Mizunoto… Mizunoto?! Why didn't they send a Hashira with Yua-Senpai?"

"I told you Murata!", groaned Katsumi. "The Mochizuki bring only bad luck with them. It would have been too much for the Moonlight Beauty to have other Minoto with her or even a higher rank."

"No matter how many Mizunoto they send, it won't help! Even with a Minoto now. It's pointless!"

"It was pointless from the start with the Moonlight Beauty!"

Suddenly Inosuke let out a loud yell and punched Murata and Katsumi in the face.

Yua felt a sick satisfaction seeing Katsumi getting punched, she was only sorry for Murata.

"Inosuke!", scolded Tanjiro.

Violence against their brother-in-arms was surely not it, even if a tiny part of him thought Katsumi deserved a punch in the face for being so rude to Yua.

"Shut up!", hollerd Inosuke. "As far as pointless goes, your existence itself has no point at all!"

"Who the hell is this guy?! Did you forget that Tomita-San and I have seniority?!"

"Of course, the Moonlight Beauty would travel with freaks?!"

"What is your problem with Yua-Senpai!", now Tanjiro was nearly yelling. "You keep calling her by the nickname she hates and say her whole family is cursed. Why?!"

"Kamado, it's fine. I don't give a shit what Katsumi thinks of me or my family.", tries Yua to calm him down.

Tanjiro's disbelieving look says it all. Of course, he must smell how she is ready to commit murder.

A little evil chuckle leaves Katsumi's lips.

"So you don't know that the Mochizuki learned the Moon Breathing from a Demon? And not any Demon either. Michikatsu Tsugikuni was a Demon Slayer once and betrayed the whole corps. The first and only one who did this!"

Yua bit her lips and looked down at the ground. Sadly it was true.

"You can't trust a family who won't stop using the Breathing Style of a Demon. Their loyalty lies surely with the Demon who taught them!"

The Minoto takes a deep breath and looks up at Katsumi with a cold expression.

"My family's loyalty lies with the Demon Slayer Corps and protecting humanity from Demons," she says firmly. "We may have learned the Moon Breathing from someone who turned Demon, but we also learned how to kill them and protect innocent lives."

Tanjiro nods in agreement, understanding the weight of Yua's words. Inosuke just grunts, still angry at the insults towards his comrades.

"We need to focus on finding the Demon who uses the Blood Demon Art responsible for the killings," Yua continues, trying to steer the conversation back to the mission at hand. "We can't afford to let our personal feelings get in the way."

Murata wipes his tears and nods, grateful for Yua's leadership. Katsumi just rolls his eyes, not convinced by her words.

But he knows deep down that they need to work together if they want to survive this mission.

Suddenly they hear a strange sound. Murata tells the newcomers that it sounded also before the other Demon Slayers started to kill each other.

Immediate Yua sweeps with her Aura-Sensing the clearing they are in.

"They are coming!", she tells the four boys, reading her Katana. The white blade seems to shimmer under the moonlight. "Get ready!"

A group of Demon Slayers hobbles toward them, ready to attack.

Murata and Katsumi dodged the attacks. The Demon Slayers attack Inosuke and Tanjirou, but they also dodge.

"Haha! These guys are all morons!", laughs Inosuke. "They don't know that it's taboo for us Demon Slayers to fight each other!"

Swift and with grace Yua counters the sword strikes of the two Demon Slayers before her, upper-handing them, taking their Katana's from them and throwing them far away into the forest.

"They don't do it of their free will Hashibara.", yells Yua, locked in a sword fight with a new Demon Slayer. "They are like marionettes, someone forces them to fight!"

"Yua-Senpai is right. Something controls them!", agrees Tanjiro.

This only makes Inosuke take out his katana, ready to slice up the other Demon Slayers, only Tanjiro and Yua yelling at him that they can't hurt their follow comareds since some of them are still alive, stop him.

"Do it like me. Upperhand them and throw the Katana far away!", advised Yua, before she fully concretes on the opponent before her.

Tanjiro slices through the air above a Demon Slayer's back, severing spider strings. The Demon Slayer falls to the ground motionless.

"Good eye, Kamado!", praises Yua and cuts the strings on the Demon Slayer before her.

"They're threads! They're being manipulated by threads! Slash the threads!", spells out Tanjiro for the rest of the group.

They continue to fight, cutting threads, till Yua Aura-Sensing tickles her.

She looks down at her arm to find two small spiders crawling over it.

"Spiders?", she mumbles and then has enlightenment. "They are controlled by these spiders!"

As to prove her point her arms lift themselves from alone, thankful she can cut the threads again.

"Guys, we need to find the Demon fast. The spiders are so tiny and just put the threads we cut back on!"

"So, all we gotta do is kill those damn spiders, huh?", wonder Inosuke.

It's Tanjiro who answers him: "That would be impossible! Those spiders are tiny, and I'm sure there are tons of them! We gotta find the demon who's controlling them!"

"My Aura-Sensing is at its limit I can't find the Aura of the Demon.", admins Yua frustrated.

She really needs to train it more! When they get out here alive, she will do so.

"Inosuke, if you have some kind of power that can pinpoint the demon's location, then help me out!", turns Tanjiro to him. "This weird smell has been flowing in, and my nose isn't working great! Ngh… And also, um…"

"It's Murata!"

"I'm Tomita!"

"Murata! Tomita! Yua-Senpai. We will find a way to deal with the people being controlled! Inosuke, you…"

Exactly at the same moment, Yua feels a terrible Aura. Shivering she looks up.

There on fine spider treads stands a Demon in the form of a young boy with white hair, red markings on his face and a simple white kimono.

"Don't disturb my family's peaceful life.", tells the Demon boy in an eerie voice. "Mother will kill you all right away."

Inosuke doesn't seem to care and tries to reach him. It fails spectacularly.

"Damn you!", curses the masked boy on his back. "Where the hell do you think you're going?! Fight me! Fight…!"

The Demon boy just walks away.

"Inosuke!"

"Hashibira!"

"Why did he show up, anyway?", ask Inosuke Tanjiro and Yua.

"That kid probably isn't the demon pulling the puppet strings!", tells Tanjiro.

"But we should be careful of the kid, it's Aura is sicking!", warns them Yua.

Tanjiro nods.

"Right, so first, let's…"

"Okay, okay, okay! I hear you, all right?!", shouts Inosuke. "You want me to find where that demon is at, right? Shut up already, Forehead!"

Inosuke sticks his swords into the ground, kneeling down and putting his arms up and sideways. Yua and Tanjiro protected him from the incoming Demon Slayer puppets.

"Ngh… Beast Breathing, Seventh Form, Special Awareness! Grrr…"

He takes a deep breath, feeling his way through the forest, finding the location of the Spider Demon Mother

"Found it. There you are!"


!PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!