The Dancing Star
Chapter 19
12Thirtypain03
WARNING: This story is rated M for mature-rated content. If some acts of violence, blood, or anything easily triggering make you uncomfortable, please leave and do not read. Any change to a character, when introduced, killed, changed into a demon/human, or more will be labeled in the chapter of occurrence. If a character has died in a chapter, that chapter will give a cause of death to that character.
Inosuke's POV
From a first look at an individual, Inosuke was a unique individual. The one to stand out from the crowd.
After all, he was an individual who wore a boar's head. That was enough to raise the eyebrows of many, for sometimes they have mistaken him for a demon.
Of course, he didn't care.
He was as hot-tempered as they claimed he was. He was as confrontational and abrasive as that of a wild animal.
Considering he was raised by boars, it made sense for his similarities to that of a wild animal. And despite Inosuke usually calling himself a boar, he had understood that he was different from them.
Of course, he had properties that were completely different from that of other boars. But then again, he was able to adapt relatively well.
Growing up on the mountains, that was his life.
He never questioned the legality or the process of this, but that was his life.
And he lived it.
Then, this all suddenly changed when he encountered a weird man with a sword.
Insouke liked the blade, and eventually, Inosuke wanted to fight the individual.
He revealed himself to be a demon slayer. What made Inosuke a bit intrigued was why he got such a cool-looking blade.
In the end, Inosuke challenged the individual to a fight, with the winner gaining the weapon.
Of course, the demon slayer was not willing to make the bet, considering he had nothing to win.
The result was that Inosuke didn't care. He began to beat down the demon slayer, and before the demon slayer knew it, Inosuke beat him down.
He then took the blade and liked it.
That was when he learned about the whole ordeal of demons and the demon slayer corps.
As a result, Inosuke was merely told about the ordeal of the Final Selection and everything else to do with them. Of course, because of his unique characteristics, the result of living in the wild, Inosuke was able to develop a unique breathing style.
Inosuke didn't even wait for the actual event to start, he just rushed inside and had a field day with the demons inside.
He had a lust for fighting, and demons were the perfect beings to fight against.
They could regenerate, and thus they could continue the fight.
Fighting regular boars or humans went by too quickly. It got boring too quickly. Demons could fight on for so long, it made everything so much more fun.
Inosuke truly didn't care for killing demons. He just wanted to fight them.
It was the only reason he was inside the demon slayer corps. Was because it facilitated his fighting habits.
As a result, Inosuke was having a great time.
When he learned that demons from the outside were coming in to kill them all, he was more excited.
Of course, hearing the news, many of the demon slayers were terrified out of their minds. Inosuke could in particular see a yellow-haired boy freaking out, trying to run away, but not before he was forced to huddle next to a group of other demon slayers.
Inosuke, by contrast, threatened to slash any demon slayer that tried to get him in a huddle, and thus he ran off on his own.
Inosuke spotted the demon in question that was near him.
The demon in question seemed to be hungry and starved, clearly rushing at Inosuke with a mere charge.
Inosuke chuckled, "Typical! Weak!"
Beast Breathing, Second Fang: Slice
Using both of his blades, Inosuke perfectly unleashed an X-shaped cut directly toward the demon's strike, causing the demon to gurgle in shock and pain as his body began to disintegrate.
All this time, Inosuke didn't even bother paying attention to the dying demon. He was looking for his next demon to fight.
It was all he was seriously here for. He didn't even care if the demon was dying or not, he could fight and kill however he wanted.
Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness
Inosuke crouched down, and touched a nearby tree, as he used his advanced sense of touch to be able to feel and sense any nearby individuals nearby.
Eventually, he felt two disturbances in the air.
He still was unable to sense anything from far distances, but he was still advancing his sense of touch.
All this time, he sensed two individuals.
However, he wasn't sure if they were demons or not. But for now, all he cared for was a good fight.
As he jumped up high onto a tree, he continued to touch the ground to better get a precise location of these two individuals.
"These two individuals feel strong!" Inosuke exclaimed in surprise and glee.
Eventually, he spotted the two. "Ha! Those masks are nothing compared to my boar head!" Inosuke grinned as he eyed the two.
He could see that those two were aware someone was near them.
The two of them unsheathed their blades as they looked around.
"Hehe, they're so dumb for not being able to find me so easily!" Inosuke exclaimed, as he jumped down, and tried to strike the two.
Beast Breathing, Third Fang: Devour
Inosuke jumped down, trying to use both of his blades to strike both individuals.
It seemed that both of them were able to block and counterattack back to Inosuke.
Insouke merely jumped back from the blade as he landed quite a bit away.
"Who the hell are you?" The boy asked, at least judging from the voice of the individual.
The other individual, for their part, remained quiet, but judging from the appearance, it seemed to be a girl.
"I'm Inosuke Hashibira!" Inosuke exclaimed in glee, "Fight me!"
"What the fu-" Tanjirou was about to curse, but Nezuko snapped her hand to block what he was about to say.
"Hahaha!" Inosuke grumbled, "Fight me!"
"Are you a demon slayer?" The boy, named Tanjirou, asked.
"No! I just slay demons for the fun of it!" Inosuke answered as he bared both of his blades, an expression of wanting a fight.
Beast Breathing, Eight Form: Explosive Rush
With an almost piercing-like speed, Inosuke charged toward the two siblings, who quickly dodged the strikes, splitting apart.
Tanjirou and Nezuko, meanwhile remained still, but Inosuke could see that they were planning about what to do next.
"Stop standing there and fight me!" Inosuke yelled out, as he charged towards the girl.
However, the boy quickly brought himself in between the girl and Inosuke himself.
"Ha! Impressive speed!" Inosuke commented before his blade was struck down towards the neck of the boy.
Beast Breathing, First Fang: Pierce
The boy's eyes, behind the mask, seemed to have widened, as he realized the two blades coming towards his neck on both sides.
However, the girl had managed to yank the boy out of the way, avoiding the strike of Inosuke's blade.
"Damnit! They're working well together!" Inosuke thought to himself.
He glared at the two behind his masks.
"If you are a demon slayer, why are you fighting us?" Tanjirou asked.
This shocked Inosuke somewhat, he could have sworn that both of them were demons. At least, the girl more than the boy, but that was still a large swath of confusion.
"Doesn't matter!" Inosuke yelled back, "You two are strong! Fight me!"
"No!" Tanjirou yelled out, "We're busy trying to rescue demon slayers! We don't have enough time to pick fights with them!"
Inosuke didn't care, not wanting to turn down a fight.
"You sound like a wimp!" Inosuke called out.
Tanjirou for his part sighed, "Call me everything you want, I don't have time to fight you."
With that, he and the girl began to head out further inside the forest.
Inosuke wasn't about to let go of some strong individuals.
"Come back here!" Inosuke called out, but he was just ignored. "If you keep ignoring me, I will stab you!"
Tanjirou sighed, "You are infuriating…"
Inosuke chuckled, "Well then fight me! It'll shut me up!"
Tanjirou remained quiet, before he responded, "No."
"Well, then I'll force you to!" Inosuke then called out, and launched a kick right in Tanjirou's head, causing his head to reflectively launch to the side of the kick.
Inosuke then jumped and kicked Tanjirou in the chest, causing him to get flung back onto the ground.
The girl, Nezuko for her part looked pissed off and grabbed her blade.
"Ha!" Inosuke called out, "Now we have someone willing to fight!" Insokuke grinned behind his mask. "Don't worry little girl, I won't hurt y-"
Before Inosuke could finish this, he felt himself being kicked back quite a bit.
"That kick… Was so strong!" Inosuke thought to himself in awe.
"Hey, girl! Kick me again!" Inosuke called out, clearly liking the agitation they were feeling.
Of course, Nezuko began to engage in a brief standoff with Inosuke.
"We don't have time for this…" Tanjirou mumbled from the ground, as he tried to get up, only for Inosuke to charge at him and axe kick him in the head.
The boy grunted in pain but still seemed to be up. No doubt he probably had a headache now.
This seemed to have only angered Nezuko more, as she gripped her blade and began to engage in fighting Inosuke.
As Nezuko continued to strike, while she was originally at a disadvantage due to fighting two blades with one because she was stronger than him, she was able to hold her ground.
Nezuko quickly punched out from her fist towards Inosuke, who dodged them relatively easily, whilst also managing to counterattack with a kick of his own. Nezuko jumped up, swinging her leg down towards Inosuke, but he merely tanked the hit, despite probably fracturing his ribs.
But he used this to grab Nezuko, and punched her in the face, before kicking her back to where Tanjirou stood. He used his body to stop Nezuko's momentum.
The boy, Tanjirou was finally getting up, calming and putting his sister down but Inosuke could feel the anger coming from him. Nezuko by contrast, was still up, not having been knocked out by the Inosuke.
"How dare you harm my sister…" Tanjirou grumbled to Inosuke, who now knew he was going to get into quite a fight.
And quite a fight he would get.
Before Inosuke knew it, Tanjirou charged toward Inosuke, reeling his fist back, whilst also using his free arm to block both of Inosuke's hands.
Reeling his fist back, he buried it deep into Inosuke's ribs, which now made a pop sound, clearly indicating his rib cage was now broken.
Inosuke's eyes widened at this, coughing a bit, before he kneed Tanjirou in the thigh, but Tanjirou remained firm. He used his other fist to grab Inosuke's neck.
However, Inosuke twisted his body in a way Tanjirou didn't even know he could do.
Inosuke twisted and bent his body outwards to get out of the neck-hold Tanjirou had. Using the shock he displayed, Inosuke used this time to kick Tanjirou in his pelvic side, causing him to grunt and hold it in pain.
This gave Inosuke the time to punch him in Tanjirou's head, but not before Tanjirou's free hand blocked and protected his head.
Inosuke tried his best to overpower Tanjirou, but even he knew that Tanjirou was slowly beating him.
"Damnit! This kid is stronger than me?!" Inosuke realized, clearly not liking this. But Inosuke was not the type to back down, even if it hurt him or cost him his life. Inosuke was in a sense fearless in his confrontation.
Inosuke broke the deadlock using his other hand to grab the arm holding him back, and using both to angle it uncomfortably, Tanjirou grunted in a bit of pain, as he felt his limbs being flexed in a way he couldn't.
"Haha! Even if he is stronger than me, he can't be as flexible as me!" Inosuke thought as once again he thought of himself as stronger than him.
He could beat him. But even then, he enjoyed the fight he was having.
Inosuke charged towards Tanjirou, and with his arms, he tried to hit Tanjirou with the blade of his sword, which he did on Tanjirou's side, causing him to flinch and hurl over, which gave Inosuke the time to knee him in the abdomen,
"You bastard…" Tanjirou grumbled, as he tried to uppercut Inosuke in the chin, which he missed. Inosuke dodged before he elbowed Tanjirou's neck.
At least, that would have hit if Tanjirou didn't lower his head to get hit in the chin rather than the neck.
Inosuke could see the plum-red eyes on Tanjirou, as he knew the boy was angry. But this only enthralled Inosuke, wanting to get more of this fight.
But he wouldn't get it.
With his hands being used, Tanjirou gripped the shoulders of Inosuke with both of his hands, before he yelled.
"You need to calm down!" Tanjirou yelled at Inosuke before he unexpectedly felt himself being kicked in the crotch.
Inosuke immediately felt a large throbbing pain on his crotch, before he looked down and saw Nezuko on the ground, her leg snapped in indicating she had been the one to kick him.
"Did this kid just make me bleed through my boar head?!" Inosuke commented in shock.
Once Tanjirou separated himself from Inosuke, the boar head was shocked to see that his arms and legs no longer felt like moving, and before he knew it, his vision faded away as the rest of his body fell asleep.
"My head…What the hell?" Inosuke mumbled before he went unconscious.
Tanjirou's POV
Tanjirou sighed in relief. That boar head was annoying but strong.
"Well, I guess we'll have to bring him back to the Kakushi…" Tanjirou explained after a bit.
"Wouldn't you get in trouble for hurting him?" Nezuko asked.
"We apprehended him, in any way we could." Tanjirou responded, "We can say we found him like this."
"You lying… What changed?" Nezuko asked, "You never lied to our family before…"
"Times have changed me, Nezuko." Was all Tanjirou responded, before he picked up Inosuke, not caring to see what was underneath the boar head, before they realized more people were in trouble.
"Nezuko, do you want to go that direction while I send this demon slayer to the Kakushi?" Tanjirou asked.
This made Nezuko a bit concerned before she sighed, "Alright, go ahead, I'm going this way, so make sure you go elsewhere…"
Tanjirou agreed, "Remember, if you see the Hand Demon, then make sure you call so we both can meet back up, okay?"
Nezuko nodded before she ran off in the direction of the Final Selection.
All the while Tanjirou sighed, he was going to have to make sure he was not seen as suspicious towards the Kakushi.
However, it seems that the Kakushi was immediately focused on the fallen body of the demon slayer he was carrying on his back.
"Don't worry about me, we're here to retrieve the remaining demon slayers." Tanjirou quickly explained.
The Kakushi just ignored him, which Tanjirou decided to find enough.
However, he did feel a glare being directed at him, meaning someone had their eyes directed upon Tanjirou.
As Tanjirou continued through the forest, making sure to go in the direction opposite Nezuko, Tanjirou was trying to get back into the forest.
As he passed by, he tried to call out Nezuko in his mind.
"Nezuko? You here?" Tanjirou asked in his mind.
"Yes, I'm here, I didn't run into anything yet," Nezuko responded to Tanjirou's call, which gave him a sense of calamity and ease.
"Nezuko is a strong girl, I'm confident she can handle herself," Tanjirou told himself, trying not to get himself overly worried.
"You went North, right?" Tanjirou asked.
"Yes, I went North, are you going South then?" Nezuko asked back.
Tanjirou nodded, as he knew which way to go immediately. As he continued, he began to smell the semblances of both dead demon slayers and demons themselves.
"So, these are the blades of dead demon slayers…" Tanjirou sighed, as he clasped his hands. "Rest in peace."
With that, he got up and understood that many of these demons were murderers. Many of the demons, judging from what both Tanjirou and Nezuko had already encountered, was no doubt feral beings, as a result of being starved for so long.
And so Tanjirou knew he had to kill them as swiftly as possible. There was no point talking to feral demons.
That made him so glad that he was able to replenish his stamina through a multitude of means.
Eventually, Tanjirou spotted what appeared to be four demons, all huddling over a dead demon slayer's body, clearly fighting over the body of a deceased demon slayer.
"He's my food! I landed the fatal blow!" One of the demons exclaimed.
"I don't think so, I was the one who allowed you to get the fatal blow."
"Well by that thinking I was the one to strike it first."
"Why don't we just share the body?"
"Hell no!" The four demons called out.
Tanjirou quietly unsheathed his place, as he quietly made his way towards the demons who were too busy arguing to notice him.
"How about you all become the meal?" Tanjirou suddenly asked, causing all four demons to raise their heads in confusion.
Not that they had the chance to see their attacker.
Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide
With a multitude of quick slashes, Tanjirou sliced the necks of all the demons within the area.
Their looks of shock and terror did nothing to make Tanjirou feel pity for them, as he knew they were merely rabid and not under conscious thinking.
Tanjirou looked at the dead body of another demon slayer, and sighed, clasping his hands together to wish the demon slayer a hopeful and peaceful next life.
He then turned to the demons, who were not moving.
Tanjirou stabbed his blade into the bodies of the demon, and he eventually noticed his blade had the remaining corps of the demons still on.
Tanjirou took the time to lick his blade, tasting the demon flesh and blood that was spattered out as a result of his quick and decapitating strike.
Once that was done, Tanjirou looked up and decided to head from tree to tree to further cover more ground. If Tanjirou recalled correctly, then this would be perfectly in line, for Nezuko and Tanjirou to eventually meet up once again.
Sure, they were going in opposite directions initially, but the way the battlefield was given, allowed them to properly decide to switch their positions accordingly.
All in all, Tanjirou focused on his smell, which thankfully was working again. It seemed that it would take a bit for his smell to adjust to the smoke. Although he wasn't able to sense stuff from as far as he used to, the smoke acting as a barrier, Tanjirou was able to at least sense some stuff still, closer to him.
Tanjirou felt a bit of replenishment thanks to the little demon snack he had.
However, it did make him wonder if he would be able to eventually get stronger, but that was something he would have to notice as time went on.
He spotted another demon that was roaming the area.
Tanjirou immediately could tell this was an external demon, because it had no semblance f being rabid.
Hinokami Kagura, First Form: Dance
With his blade erupting in flames, Tanjirou swung horizontally at the demon, who must have realized that a demon slayer was trying to take them down, so he dodged.
"Great, another one…" The demon mumbled, "How about you humans just do what you do best and fall after being hit!"
The demon called out, trying to strike Tanjirou down where he was, but Tanjirou prepared.
With his blade up, he blocked the strike, kicking the demon in the stomach.
It wasn't much, at least the demon so thought, but he did grunt.
"He probably realized he underestimated me." Tanjirou thought, "Got to end this now while he's shocked." With that, Tanjirou with his blade in his right hand, raised it back.
Hinokami Kagura, Third Form: Raging Sun
Tanjirou was not one to be easy on a demon, especially one that was hurting the lives of others,
With one hand, he launched his blade out in an arch, before shuffling it to his other hand and launching another one.
Both strikes hit the demon in the neck, and that demon too began to disintegrate.
"Fuck you!" The demon called out, but not before Tanjirou stabbed the demon right in the mouth.
Tanjirou sighed, as he didn't want to be seen as the demon disintegrated, but alas, he had to.
He couldn't care for the demons who had no sense of conscious thinking. As much as Tanjirou was considered, they were just wild animals, like the deer and boars they would occasionally hunt for food.
Hell, he still had the memory of his father slicing a bear's head off with a simple hatchet. To this day, even if Tanjirou had mixed feelings for his father, for how he treated Tanjirou in his later years, he couldn't deny that his father was a phenomenal fighter, even with the illness that made him weaker with time.
For Tanjirou himself, he still couldn't understand how his father had done such a move.
But that was no matter now. He had to focus on his mission.
The only demons he could pity were the ones who had conscious thinking and have a deep sense of guilt for their actions.
And that was what Tanjirou did. Every demon Tanjirou came across was sliced down. Even many of the external demons that came from outside were weaker than some demons Tanjirou and Nezuko both fought. It made him feel a bit more confident.
As Tanjirou struck down each demon, he also took a small bite out of every one of them, giving him more strength to continue with this mission. He could heal from his injuries, and although it was a bit slow, it was something only other demons could do.
But Tanjirou didn't consider himself a demon anymore.
He was still a human, albeit demon blood flowing through him.
Eventually, Tanjirou found someone, a demon slayer alive.
"Finally, most of the demon slayers still inside were dead…" Tanjirou sighed in relief.
He quickly jumped down and noticed the demon slayer didn't even have his sword with him.
Water Breathing, Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent
Tanjirou quickly rushed to block any strikes the demon in question was trying to fling at the unarmed demon slayer.
Tanjirou quickly looked around, spotting that he was the only one alive in the area. He didn't even have a sword. The demon slayer was vulnerable unless he had something Tanjirou didn't know.
As for Tanjirou's strike, it only managed to slice the demon's arm, as her head turned to face Tanjirou. Tanjirou flinched a bit at seeing the dead, green almost snake-like eyes of the demon. This made Tanjirou grit his teeth as he swung his blade toward the mouth of the demon.
But she chose to back away.
"Damnit, another slayer…" The demon girl mumbled, not liking a new individual coming to the prays of bodies that she was going to eat soon.
"This dude is lucky to be alive somehow…" Tanjirou thought.
"Who the hell are you?" The demon slayer asked.
Tanjirou sighed, he didn't look back, because he already saw what he looked like.
The demon slayer in question was slightly taller than Tanjirou.
"What happened?" Tanjirou asked.
"What does it look like!" The demon slayer exclaimed, "That demon killed them all!"
"You idiot, you came and found me here, don't try and act like a hero." The girl smirked.
Tanjirou sighed, "Is everyone in this organization this violent…?" Tanjirou asked no one in particular.
"Are you picking a fight with me?" The demon slayer asked.
"No, I'm just so tired. I already had another demon slayer kick me in the head for no reason." Tanjirou groaned.
"As I care, just give me my rightful food and I'll spare you two." The demon explained.
"You think you are in a position to give orders and treaties to me?" Tanjirou asked, turning his head to face the demon girl.
Besides the green, almost snake-like eyes the demon had, she had a rather bulky body. Just like that other temple demon, this demon had quite the muscles on her, meaning he may struggle with slicing her neck off.
In short, this was going to be a difficult battle.
Likewise, the snake-eyed demon (SED) charged towards Tanjirou, after hearing he would not take her condition, and was hoping to quickly decapitate Tanjirou.
However, Tanjirou brought his blade to block the strike, but also grunted, feeling the pressure of the fist burrowing itself closer to Tanjirou's figure.
"Damnit, she's strong… Got to keep resisting…" Tanjirou mumbled to himself, as he was trying to spot the opening he needed.
Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Tanjirou slashed and thrust his blade forward as fast as he could, stabbing the demon right in the eyes, temporarily blinding the SED. Using this chance, Tanjirou jumped and kicked the demon away quite a bit away before she could see again.
"You little piece of shit! You will pay with that for your life!" The SED exclaimed, and quicker than Tanjirou expected, she jumped high, reeling her fist back, before punching it on the ground.
Tanjirou and the other demon slayer dodged to the best of their abilities, but to his shock, the SED's fist on the ground caused a shockwave and indent, which chipped Tanjirou and the other demon slayer out of the area and onto a tree.
It wasn't just Tanjirou and the other demon slayer, but also the dead bodies of many demon slayers that were splattered out, causing them to watch in horror.
"Wha the hell was that?" Tanjirou exclaimed, "That was too strong to be normal, even for a demon…" Tanjirou thought to himself.
The SED for her part, smirked, "Perfect, one stone, multiple bodies!"
Tanjirou shrugged the attack off, getting back up.
"Is that a blood demon art, or is she actually that strong to be able to cause shockwaves like that...?" Tanjirou asked himself.
He quietly lifted his blade.
"Wow, you are standing huh? You have resilience, I'll give you that, but don't think that'll make me hesitate to strike you down here and now!" The SED exclaimed with a maniacal grin as she tried to get as close to Tanjirou as possible.
Of course, Tanjirou realized what the demon was trying to do, and acted accordingly.
"I have to keep this demon at the midrange, where her fists are just out of range, but for where my strikes can land!" Tanjirou told himself, as he tried to not get too close to the demon.
The other demon slayer by this time, was finally getting up but was only watching, cursing at himself and at everything that was happening.
"Grab the blade on the tree over there!" Tanjirou yelled at the other demon slayer, "If you want to be useful!"
The demon slayer made a noise of anger before he began to run to the blade.
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux
Tanjirou continued to connect his strikes consecutively as he made them stronger and more precise. If Tanjirou ever wanted a form to continuously strike over and over, this was the form, and he was glad.
Considering the SED was an aggressive, close-combat fighter, it made sense for Tanjirou to either be more aggressive than SED or to outmaneuver her.
Unfortunately, the SED seemed to have gotten a pattern down from Tanjirou, and counterattacked, punching the blade of Tanjirou's. While he managed to block, he flinched as he felt the strength of the SED course through his blade and onto his hands.
Tanjirou's hands threatened to let go of the blade, but he kept firm before he felt the demon jump swipe grab Tanjirou, launching him in the air, and kicking him right into a tree.
Tanjirou coughed up a bit of blood before he maneuvered his body to properly land on the tree, before safely landing down in front of the tree.
He panted, as he watched the other demon slayer grip his blade.
The SED for her part smirked, "I'm not done with you yet, as he charged towards Tanjirou, launching her legs out, slamming it on the tree, which Tanjirou had used. The very tree had been snapped in half by the SED's leg.
Tanjirou could only look on in shock at the sheer strength this demon had.
"Demons are that strong…?" Tanjirou asked himself, clearly shocked about that.
He then stared up at the SED, clearly not liking the circumstances he was in.
Thankfully, it seemed that the demon slayer had finally gotten his blade, and was tense. Tanjirou could smell a sense of panic from the demon slayer.
Tanjirou then rolled to the side, after the SED tried to kick his head off. Tanjirou took a breath of relief, clearly not liking this demon whatsoever. This was the strongest demon he had fought by pure strength so far.
But she continued to strike towards Tanjirou, who was only able to block until he couldn't. Tanjirou flinched as he felt the kick of the SED launch him so hard into a tree his figure broke through the tree, and he landed on the other, which was uprooted.
Tanjirou groaned in pain, as he picked up some of the splinters on his sides, but not being able to get the ones off his back.
He felt his haori a bit ripped up, and his back with numerous gashes and cuts. The back of his head and shoulders hurt, but he managed to get back up.
"How the hell are you still up, standing?" She quickly exclaimed as she looked confused.
The demon slayer took advantage.
Wind Breathing, Eighth form: Primary Gale Slash
The demon slayer in question leaped into the air, swinging his place in a circular motion, with the intent of blowing away and slicing the opponent in front of him.
The SED in question raised her arms, as the demon slayer's blade was stuck right in the left arm of the SED.
The demon slayer didn't like this, but what he did next shocked Tanjirou.
He bit into the demon.
The SED for her part growled in pain, using her free arm to grab the leg of the demon slayer, before tossing him into a tree.
Tanjirou quickly came by, and caught the demon slayer, even though he was pushed back a bit.
Tanjirou grunted, as he placed the demon slayer down, assuming he was unconscious, before he rushed to attack the SED.
Jumping over a strike from the demon, Tanjirou quickly maneuvered his body accordingly.
Hinokami Kagura, Ninth Form: Fire Wheel
Tanjirou, who was already in the air, arced his body and blade to try and strike the back of the demon's neck.
The demon seemed to realize quickly what Tanjirou was trying, and immediately, jumped away. Tanjirou landed safely as he immediately charged toward the demon, trying to keep the aggression going.
Hinokami Kagura, Sixth Form: Beneficent Radiance
Already near the SED in his range, Tanjirou was doing his best to not get the demon any breathing room. He couldn't allow that. Not when other demon slayers were at risk from this demon.
And so, as Tanjirou leaped into the air again, he manipulated his flames, to strike in a smooth, single, and curved motion that made it almost impossible to predict.
He had managed to slice the left side of her head off, but it wasn't enough.
"Damnit, I need to turn and twist more for the neck to be hit!" Tanjirou exclaimed in his head as he knew the next time he performed that form, he would have to fix it.
Tanjirou breathed in, clearly struggling to continue his offensive. He had only hoped the other demon slayer was safe, or planning something.
Hinokami Kagura, First Form: Dance
Trying to finish his swings with the most dangerous, Tanjirou struck down vertically as fast as he could to try and slice the demon down right there, but the SED managed to avoid it, albeit with a direct slice in front of her.
"Damn you!" The SED demon yelled out, but Tanjirou wasn't done.
Slice after slice, he continued, extending it within his form to damage the SED more and more, with every strike becoming stronger and faster as Tanjirou pushed himself to continue.
"Even with all this training, the Hinokami Kagura still shows some signs of stamina loss… I might have to stop and stabilize my breathing if I want to have an easier time afterward, especially if this fight turns into a long-term one." Tanjirou thought to himself, as he levied his options.
In the end, he knew he should be safe if he used one more, long-form that he could extend to hurt the SED more.
Hinokami Kagura, Fourth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun
Tanjirou quickly struck out, but in the process, whilst in the air, swung his body around in a form of a spiral as he pinpointed a specific point of singularity.
That was where his blade would set itself, once the spirals became small enough, and saw Tanjirou felt a bit of struggle once the SED tried to stop, Tanjirou continued and eventually struck the demon on the arm.
"At least she cannot use that arm well." Tanjirou thought before he was forced to back away, panting and somewhat exhausted.
"Damn… I forgot how much that strains me…" Tanjirou mumbled as the SED took her time to heal before smirking.
"Seems your little rescue team is too tired to continue." The SED responded as she walked closely to them.
Tanjirou for his part eyed the demon slayer who did minimal effort. "Are you trying to die?"
"What?!" The demon slayer did not seem happy about this, basically being called weak in another form.
"Hey! I didn't ask for your help!" The demon slayer exclaimed, getting very angry for no reason."
"Not my fault you can't use your sword properly. Show me you can handle them by contributing! I'm willing to work together if you share the same sentiments!" Tanjirou called back to him. "What is your name?"
The demon slayer didn't want to work together with someone like him, and Tanjirou didn't care if he didn't want to.
However, regarding the circumstances and everything with the demon in front of him, even he conceded.
"Fine, Genya Shinazugawa."
Tanjirou nodded, "We'll have to work together, make sure you use your blade to do a breathing style."
"I can't do proper breathing styles," Genya explained,
"Alright, which ones can you use a bit of?"
Genya scratched his head. "Wind Breathing and Mist Breathing, but not well," Genya admitted.
"Then why are you continuing to pursue this demon?" Tanjirou clapped back.
Genya grunted, "Fine! I can fight by eating demons!" Genya revealed, clearly not wanting to.
This caused Tanjirou's eyes to widen. "Wait, this guy eats demons to fight?! What kind of breathing style is that…? Wait… That's probably not a breathing style… It's like me!" Tanjirou exclaimed in shock. While he knew he was unique in being able to eat demons, he wasn't even aware that humans could have this ability as well.
Tanjirou sighed, "I noticed you bit a chunk of the demon."
"Yeah, but it's not enough. I need more." Genya explained.
Tanjirou held his breath. He wasn't sure if what he was about to do would be a good idea.
"Hey! Are the two of you having a conversation whilst I'm here?!" The girl asked angrily.
Tanjirou eyed the SED, "Yes, we are. Not our fault you are allowing us to have this conversation," Tanjirou responded.
"Damn you!" The demon girl lunged at Tanjirou, with the intent of choking the boy to death. Tanjirou for his part, grunted, and raised his hands, only for him to be punched, with his blade being yanked off of him before he felt himself being pushed onto a tree.
Tanjirou made a noise of pain, gritting his teeth, as he was now doing his best to stop the SED from overpowering him with her onslaught.
"Come on, Shinazugawa, do it now!" Tanjirou thought as he was hoping his stalling the demon like this would give him enough time for Genya to strike.
Thankfully, Tanjirou's prayers were answered, as Genya opened his mouth, showing very sharp teeth and canines, before biting down into the right shoulder blade of the SED.
Nezuko's POV
As Nezuko continued on her journey, after Tanjirou had agreed to take the unconscious boar head to the Kakushi, Nezuko made her way across the forest. She had to be very careful, since if any demon slayer found out she was a demon, then it could cause quite a stir and problem for her.
Many demons can tell whether one is a demon or not, especially the closer in proximity they are to the individual.
The only exception Nezuko noticed was that many demons were unaware that her brother was a demon. When it was quite the complicated individual.
She focused on her journey, not wanting to worry about her brother. He was a strong individual beyond his insecurities and struggles, and so Nezuko felt confident that her brother could take care of himself.
Sighing silently, she eyed the area around. The plume of smoke across the leaves was causing her to be a bit restricted in her vision.
But Tanjirou ironically had it worse, due to his smell being bombarded with the smell of burnt wisteria, which alone caused him to act up slightly.
Thankfully, it wasn't anything lethal or worrying. For Nezuko, she was focused now on finishing up any demons within her route, so that she could return sooner.
She had to make sure her brother was safe, and knowing Tanjirou, he was doing the same.
In actuality, both Tanjirou and Nezuko were the same mostly and thus understood each other accordingly. That made the two care for each other deeply because they couldn't hide anything from them.
Eventually, she spotted exactly what she was looking for.
A rabid demon consuming a demon slayer's dead body.
Nezuko grunted, as she carefully gripped her blade, aiming towards the demon's neck, as it devoured more into the demon slayer's corps.
Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought
As elegant and swift the death came for the demon, who didn't have much time to consider what happened before it began to not feel anything and disintegrate.
Once Nezuko got on her feet, she stared down at the remains of the demon slayer.
The left part of her chest was eaten out, and so was her left arm. It was so bad that Nezuko could see the exposed partially eaten lung of the individual.
Nezuko looked away. Both, because she didn't want to start craving human flesh, and because she had to focus on killing any other demons she ran into.
She found another demon that was trying to kill another demon, this one was roaming around with no clear purpose.
For a bit, Nezuko thought it was Tanjirou, but quickly went back after the demon raised its head, not looking anything like him.
"This demon is ugly." Nezuko thought to herself as she clenched the blade.
Water Breathing, Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent
The demon's last sense of vision and auditory memories was the sounds of Nezuko's soft footsteps, before a slicing sound.
That was when the demon realized his head was sliced.
"Damnit! You ugly girl! You outta go to hell for this!" The demon with its last breath cursed Nezuko, who remained silent since she couldn't say anything.
"Please, take a look at yourself before you call me ugly, old man." Nezuko thought as she left herself to continue.
As she continued onward, she suddenly ran into someone, a demon slayer.
Rather, the demon slayer ran right into her.
In literally her torso, his face tucked deep as he was covered in the chest of Nezuko's, with the boy's arm holding her tight.
Before Nezuko could even scorn the boy for what he was doing, he let go, before his eyes widened.
Nezuko tilted her head. "Damnit, this is frustrating when I can only talk to brother!" Nezuko sighed internally but gave the boy in front of him a scared expression.
"AH!" The boy yelled as he was about to run before another demon approached in front of him. This boy was now a monkey in the middle, stuck between Nezuko and another demon, this one with wings.
"So perhaps this demon slayer was just running from this demon, fair enough. But then why did he freak out after seeing me?" Nezuko thought.
Ignoring the fact that the boy probably knew she was a demon, she unsheathed her blade, pointing it at the demon.
"I can sense this demon is stronger than most of the other ones I've encountered on my missions beforehand." Nezuko thought as she glared at the demon through her mask.
The scared boy, for his part, did not seem like he wanted to be here.
However, to Nezuko's surprise, he stayed, and gripped his blade, eying the demon that had caused.
The demon in question tried to swipe at the boy, but Nezuko acted quicker,
Water Breathing, Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin
Nezuko quickly jumped in the air in an attempt on cutting the demon down right there with a strike down, in the form of a waterfall.
However, the demon was smarter and chose to dodge the strike.
It valued its life over its food.
The nervous boy finally said something. "T-Thank you…" The boy, clearly a demon slayer thanked Nezuko who merely nodded and went on her way, trying to focus on killing the demon.
"Wait!" The boy called out, causing Nezuko to stop, but to keep herself out and surveying the area for where the demon went.
"T-Thank you for the help… Your eyes look pretty…" The demon slayer mumbled.
This shocked Nezuko a bit before she nodded thanks.
"Please, if you saw what I was, you would call me worse and run to the nearest non-flat chest you see." Nezuko thought to herself, as she figured as would be the case for Zenitsu.
She didn't expect the demon slayer to talk to her at all, considering she couldn't even talk. Why would he talk to someone who he might think is ignoring them, or even going through the struggles?
Nezuko wondered where the demon went. She only put out a couple of moves, and suddenly the demon disappeared. It couldn't have dissipated, because she did not strike the neck of the demon.
Meanwhile, the demon slayer looked confused at why Nezuko wasn't speaking.
"Did I do something wrong?" The boy asked.
Nezuko shook her head, she pointed to her throat, trying to make the case it was damaged, and thus she couldn't speak.
Thankfully, the boy seemed to understand.
"Can you not speak?" The boy asked. Nezuko nodded, clearly glad the demon slayer understood.
"The boy looked a bit stupid, but I guess he has intuition," Nezuko commented.
"Oh! Right, my name is Zenitsu Agatsuma, what is yours?" Zenitsu asked, before his face contorted in cringe, realizing something.
"Right, you can't talk, sorry…" He apologized before the two continued their journey.
Nezuko did notice now that Zenitsu was keeping his distance away from her, which either was a good or bad thing.
The good thing was that he was not as much of a pervert as she thought, especially after that first encounter. By all means, it could've been an accident.
But the bad thing was that could have meant he discovered that she was a demon.
Therefore, telling Zenitsu her name was both impossible and not plausible. There was no reason for her to.
As Zenitsu looked over, his eyes widened. "Above us!"
This caused Nezuko to look up, and fair enough the demon was right next to her above her.
"Shit!" Nezuko thought to herself before she unleashed her quickest move.
Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Without quick thinking, Nezuko stabbed her blade right into the chest of the demon, catching him by surprise, and causing him to cough up blood.
"Why are there flying demons?! I thought demons were stuck on the ground!" Zenitsu cried out, clearly not liking the circumstances that were given to him.
"Can this kid shut up… How old is he?" Nezuko mumbled to herself.
Shaking her head, she then pushed her blade further into the demon, but she couldn't finish the job, for the demon clawed and Nezuko on her shoulder, which would have been her head if she didn't move out of the way quick enough. Plus, Zenitsu had helped her duck, as his blade clanged with the demon's claws.
Nezuko turned to see the demon slayer in question, Zenitsu, and to her surprise, he was asleep.
"What kind of demon slayer is this?! How is he still alive?!" Nezuko asked herself, clearly so confused.
However, Nezuko had spotted the demon flying quite a bit away. She could detect the demon was far from done.
She immediately ran towards the demon, not caring for the sleeping demon slayer. He was as good as dead.
As the demon launched himself back, he landed on the tree.
Nezuko groaned as she hated climbing.
With some difficulty, she managed to jump high onto a nearby tree. The demon seemed to have liked the sudden turn of events, as he merely played a game of tree-hopping tag with Nezuko.
Of course, this was perhaps the demon's way of hiding what he was responsible for.
Nezuko had seen the remains of another demonslayer'sr corpse, that was eaten, most definitely by this demon.
This only further strengthened Nezuko'sresolves on defeating the demon.
Eventually, Nezuko managed to chase down the demon, not wanting to keep up this game. She quickly rushed the demon down.
Water Breathing, Third Form: Striking Tide
Perfectly timing it all, Nezuko broke down the branches that she was standing on, giving the demon less room to work with, until he hesitated.
And that was all Nezuko needed. Slashing both his feet and the branch underneath him, Nezuko managed to cause the demon to fall.
But she wasn't done yet.
Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
With a quick precise thrust directly in the center of the demon's chest, Nezuko plunged her sword down.
The demon gasped in pain before it turned to anger, and he used his hands to grab Nezuko.
"Get your filthy hands off of me!" Nezuko yelled to herself as she kicked the demon right in the abdomen, causing him to groan in pain more.
Not too long after, the demon fell to the ground, causing a shockwave.
Nezuko panted, clearly finding the whole ordeal tiring.
The demon continued to sprout wings, which infuriated Nezuko.
"Is this a blood demon art Urokodaki was talking about?" Nezuko asked, clearly confused by everything, but she continued to keep the blade plunged into the demon's chest.
"Stay down, you demon." Nezuko panted as she was trying to keep him down.
But he was strong, using his strength, to lift himself. Nezuko couldn't allow that, for she worried it would cause quite a counterattack.
But she also knew it was futile, and the demon could eventually break free.
"Come on, keep your strength going, Nezuko!" Nezuko told herself, as her blade was moving ever so closely to the demon's neck.
Upon realizing this, the demon silently panicked, and before she knew it, Nezuko found herself being launched high into the air.
"What the…" Nezuko thought to herself in panic, realizing how fast she was going.
It was then when she looked up did she realize the demon was flying high into the air, trying to wiggle Nezuko off of the blade that was still plunged into the demon.
"Dumbass, didn't you forget demons get an increase in strength when their life is in danger, too?" The demon smirked, clearly playing with Nezuko now, as she was struggling to hold onto her blade, all the while she felt herself being kicked around by the demon.
"Damnit… How did it come to this so quickly…" Nezuko mumbled to herself, as she still couldn't speak.
She needed to find another way to safely get down, but she knew she couldn't let her blade get lost with the demon.
She had to get down, with the blade in hand.
And so, she eyed the leg of the demon and regretted what she would do.
She grabbed the demon's leg, confusing the flying demon.
However, Nezuko continued to move more, climbing up the demon's anatomy, as she eventually made it to his thighs.
Of course, this only made the demon more aggressive in trying to kick Nezuko off, but she held firm, ignoring the pain she was feeling from the kicks.
"I'm not done with you!" Nezuko called out in her mind, as she grabbed the other demon's thighs, no longer holding the sword, that was stuck inside the demon's chest.
She continued to use her arms, trying to reach the demon's wings, as she felt herself getting weaker.
"No, this is not it. Not now!" Nezuko told herself as she continued to twist herself to get on the back of the demon.
Eventually, she felt the wings on her hand, but just barely.
She grabbed the small chance she had.
With as much power as she could, she yanked the wings, causing the demon to howl in pain.
Before she knew it, the demon was lowering in altitude.
"That's it! That's the hint I need!" Nezuko told herself, as she continued to yank on the demon, and with each one, each time the demon howled in pain, and each time the altitude lowered slightly.
This went on, before Nezuko yanked as hard as she could, causing the demon to give up, and begin to freefall.
Nezuko was a bit worried at the speed of how fast they were falling, but at least had the demon to cushion her fall.
But they wouldn't fall as Nezuko had anticipated.
They would fall, crashing into a tree.
Nezuko quickly grabbed her blade, but not before tumbling and hitting some branches along the way.
At least she landed right in a bush.
"Ow… Not a good roller coaster…" Nezuko mumbled to herself as she got up.
Unfortunately, the demon was ready, and he charged at her with quick speed, slicing her abdomen. She gasped in pain before she quickly tried to strike out, her hand holding her injured abdomen, that was until it healed.
Before the demon could claw her more, Nezuko quickly got in the strike she wanted.
Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel
Crouching down, and before the demon could strike, Nezuko launched herself forward, and with a front flip, sliced the demon's claws apart.
The demon cawed in pain. That was weird.
Nezuko didn't know demons could take on the forms of some animals.
Nezuko couldn't let that interrupt her. She had a demon to fight.
The demon in question quickly regenerated his limb. Nezuko sighed as she knew this would be a battle of endurance and stamina.
The demon growled, as it this time approached, using its wings to cover its flanks.
Nezuko tried to cut through them, but to her surprise, it felt very hard to slice through.
And Nezuko realized too quickly that she had left herself open until she felt herself being kneed in the stomach before she was launched upwards onto a tree.
Thankfully, Nezuko had no trouble landing mostly properly, but her feet felt sprained to an extent.
Nezuko panted, knowing she would need a bit of time to recuperate if she wanted to keep fighting.
Unfortunately for her, she had more problems.
The demon in question had immediately gone back to eating the decaying corpse of the dead demon slayer Nezuko saw earlier.
At first,t she thought it was of the yellow-haired boy, but one look to the other side of the field made her take back that statement.
"How in the hell is this boy still alive? He has been sleeping, and hasn't even been noticed by the demon." Nezuko thought to herself in pure confusion and shock.
It truly was an enigma.
Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Raina After the Drought
With the high altitude she had for once, it was perfect to use this move. She leaped from the tree and launched forward toward the demon, who did not look impressed.
After all, the fifth form of water breathing was relatively slow, which was why it is used for demons that surrendered.
Still, Nezuko had a more dangerous trap she would use.
Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirlpool
Just before Nezuko would strike and within range of the demon, Nezuko started to swing and spin her body around, twirling and slicing across from her as she fell.
She had picked up a lot of dust and particles in the process to confuse the demon, who was shocked by the sudden situation.
This was a small move that Nezuko picked up, a nice combination of moves that usually confused demons the first time.
And with a clean swipe, Nezuko sliced the wings off of the demon's body.
She couldn't get the actual neck, but removing the demon's wings was a fantastic development, and crucial since that disabled the demon from flying for a bit.
And Nezuko was in no mood to be high in the air flying yet again.
Before she fell, the demon landed away, clearly not liking that his maneuverability was gone.
Nezuko sighed in a bit of relief. She was making progress with this demon, and with time she might be able to tire the demon out, and finally end him.
She knew the demon would not charge towards her, since his main method of slashing was no longer available.
Nezuko had to be the one to strike first, and she was planning on going out with as much work as she needed.
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux
Nezuko spent no time taking breaks, as she started maneuvering across the battlefield, trying to cover the distance between her and the demon. The demon saw this, and was dodging, each time her strikes got closer and closer to connecting to the demon, and Nezuko knowing she had to get that strike in, pushed herself.
But alas, the demon was still fast, and so Nezuko chose to focus her strength on his legs.
She hoped that a simple strike to the leg would slow him down enough for Nezuko to strike him down right there.
But even then, she couldn't hit them. She was grazing them to the point that the demon's leg was right there, the clothing ripped off by her blade as if teasing her to strike there.
It frustrated her, and she felt herself focusing on that area, not caring that her vision was turning red.
"Come on! Stop running you coward!" Nezuko exclaimed in anger, as she once again struck across with a swipe.
The demon dodged, but Nezuko accidentally struck her blade into a tree.
Exactly what the demon wanted.
But what the demon did not expect was for Nezuko to be able to slice the bark entirely. The tree fell, and Nezuko turned around and saw the demon, looking at her with fearful eyes, clearly impressed and scared that she had that much strength inside of her.
"What the hell are you? Are you a demo?! You have to be! I've never seen nor experienced someone with a blade as disgusting as you!" The demon finally spoke, his voice full of fear and angst as he was trying to stall, not only for his life but also to eventually regenerate his lost wings.
Alas, Nezuko only saw red and continued to swing, not caring that the demon was sprouting out to her.
She had to finish this demon off.
"Can't you just stay still and die! I've been cleaving you apart for the past couple of minutes!" Nezuko complained internally as she felt her knee being kicked by the demon.
It was a feeble attempt on the demon's behalf to try and strike Nezuko down, clearly trying to get more space out.
She tried to use this opportunity to slash toward the demon but to no avail.
Nezuko was socked in the face because she overextended in an attempt to end it there.
She groaned as she felt herself being pushed back by a kick. She tried to hold it still, but her feet were pressed on the ground.
Her blade protected the rest of her body from the demon's hands, as he was pushing Nezuko back.
At least initially, as Nezuko managed to create a stalemate.
"This isn't going well… If this continues, he'll regrow his wings, and that'll be another issue to deal with!" Nezuko panicked as she was trying to decide what to do next.
She gripped her blade, and with a large amount of pressure, needed to perform it.
Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirlpool
Nezuko, albeit with quite the struggle, felt her blade run through the skin of the demon, as she cut off the hands of the demon, and once again circled, trying to whip up a large amount of arching slashes to mimic a whirlpool.
It worked mostly, in getting the demon off of her, but she couldn't count on that for being the defining strike.
She had to continue.
And so as quickly as she finished, she charged down the demon who had made quite the distance from her.
With a mighty charge, she circled across the strikes the demon tried, as the demon himself continued to step back once trying to land a strike on Nezuko.
The demon landed behind a tree to give him enough time to climb, but Nezuko struck the tree with such force that the tree shook causing the demon to falter.
This gave Nezuko enough time to slash at the feet of the demon, who growled in pain, as he pushed himself down, stomping on Nezuko's head as he then jumped up with his one good leg.
"Damnit…" Nezuko grabbed her head in pain as she tried to stable herself.
"The demon has his lost limb! He can just reconnect it for less energy, crap…" Nezuko thought to herself, clearly knowing the demon had gotten the area he wanted.
She would have to once again chase this demon from the tree, which she knew was not a good time.
She needed something to end it now.
Almost instantaneous.
She needed something that would cause the demon to be in a difficult situation almost immediately.
But she didn't have the speed to immediately cause the demon to panic. She needed the speed to end it before the demon could even regenerate his wings.
As if something was coming to answer her, she could have sworn she heard the sound of lightning echoing across the battlefield.
Of course, for a second she thought it would rain, but not before she saw something blitz right on the tree that the demon had jumped towards.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash
With the blink of an eye that Nezuko herself couldn't even react to witness, she felt a disturbance in the air that whipped towards the tree of the demon.
Before she could even realize it, the tree fell, with the demon on it. The demon wailed in surprise, and Nezuko couldn't blame him. She couldn't even react to that.
But alas, the tree fell, and Nezuko looked in time to see the same yellowed hair boy, Zenitsu sleeping still.
But it was clear to her that the boy had been the one responsible for this, and the lightning speeds he just came at, weres impressive.
"I guess he's intriguing… In his way…" Nezuko smiled, patting Zenitsu on the head before she quickly went to the fallen demon.
Half expecting the demon to be stuck on the tree, what Nezuko saw horrified her as she thought the demon was done for.
After that fall, from Zenitsu, the demon should have been gone, ready to be killed with the final blow.
But the demon was crouched over, a bit away, eating the corpse of another demon slayer.
"How did he find another demon slayer, and quickly kill them so easily?" Nezuko asked herself, her face full of anger and disappointment.
But it was then she realized, from the position, what this was. "This was the original body!" Nezuko thought, "The one he said he would come back to!"
Nezuko growled, as she silently took a step. If the demon was distracted by the corpse, the least she could do was slice its neck down while its guard was down.
And that was what Nezuko did.
Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash
Nezuko silently approached the demon before she slashed horizontally, a single swipe that she thought would have been enough.
However, that would have been too easy it seems, for just before Nezuko could lay the final blow, the demon sprouted back its wings, which caused Nezuko's blade to once again be rendered useless with the slash she wanted to use.
Nezuko could only back up, curse, and prepare for another round.
But then again, Zenitsu decided that even that wasn't enough, and quickly struck out at the demon before it could even start to act.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash
And before he even knew it, the bird demon that Nezuko and Zenitsu were fighting, had died, by the hands of Zenitsu, who had quickly sliced his neck off.
Nezuko sighed, before realizing that Zenitsu had fallen asleep again.
She merely sighed, before she picked the yellow-haired boy up and found a nearby Kakushi on the outer perimeters, hence the barbed wires and walls of the Final Selection, and gave the Kakushi the unconscious, but alive demon slayer that was attending the Final Selection.
By this time, the seven-day period had passed, and now they were trying to rescue any semblance of remaining demon slayers that participated in the Final Selection.
A.N / Deciding to end it here. Quite a lot has happened in this chapter and I like it. We had Nezuko and Tanjirou encounter Inosuke and fight him briefly. Then we had the two split up to complete their mission, with each of them running into a respective demon slayer they would associate with in the manga. Tanjirou ran into Genya, and Nezuko ran into Zenitsu, so it was fun bringing in both characters right now since I think getting them to work together is at the forefront of this story. I like the dynamic already, with Genya being hostile and passive-aggressive, but also understanding they have the work together.
One more thing I would like to say is that Genya will be a bit different, in that he knows some breathing styles. I think he would be more appropriate to be someone who cannot master a breathing style, which is why his blade didn't change color like the others. I do have another ability planned out for him in the future, but he will still retain his ability to consume demons for their powers, just like Tanjirou, albeit with differing abilities that he is given as will be mentioned in the abilities category.
Another thing I want to mention is that I'll probably make it so that Aoi is a formidable demon slayer, but just that she is a caregiver and the like. I am debating on whether she can use a newly made-upp breathing style, or just continuously use water breathing. But I feel that making her use water breathing doesn't make her unique, especially since Nezuko can use it. So, if anyone has any ideas about a unique breathing style to give Aoi, I'd be glad to place it in the story and give credit to the individual.
But that is all, big chapter 20 will be finishing the fights the two have, and then the fight against the Hand Demon! Hope you are excited about that, because I am.
Character Profile:
Tanjirou Kamado: Male, 14 years old
Status: Alive, Demon
Height: 5'5" (165cm)
Weight: 144Ibs
Nezuko Kamado: Female, 13 years old
Status: Alive, Demon
Height: 5'2" (157cm)
Weight: 124Ibs
Inosuke Hashibira: Male, 14 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'4" (162cm)
Weight: 130Ibs
Genya Shinazugawa: Male, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'6" (167cm)
Weight: 152Ibs
Zenitsu Agatsuma: Male, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'4" (163cm)
Weight: 128Ibs
Aoi Kanzaki: Female, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'4" (162cm)
Weight: 132Ibs
Kanao Tsuyuri: Female, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'2" (157cm)
Weight: 108Ibs
Abilities:
Tanjirou Kamado:
Water Breathing (except 11th form)
Hinokami Kagura
Demon Consumption: Will refer to this once again, due to the similarities to that of Genya's demonic consumption.
Hard Head: When the SED tries to headbutt Tanjirou, her head hurts as a result of the hardness and rock-hard head Tanjirou has.
Nezuko Kamado:
Water Breathing: Already gone over this.
Demonic Characteristics: Already gone over this.
Communication with Tanjirou: Already gone over this.
Inosuke Hashibira:
Beast Breathing: A derivative of wind breathing, Inosuke's breathing style allows him to utilize unpredictable strikes that, whilst capable of pinpointing a single demon, are capable and aggressive enough to strike and chip many other demons. Ironically, it shares the trait with Sun Breathing for being unpredictable, yet is not generalized.
Enhanced Touch: Inosukecano uses his sense of touch to sense the vibrations of demons and other animals, allowing him an advantage in sensing the location of where demons are. He even incorporates it into his style, allowing him to detect the adverse of barriers such as smoke and fires, that hinder Tanjirou's smell, Zenitsu's hearing, and Nezuko and Kanao's vision.
Unusual Flexibility: Need I say more?
Genya Shinazugawa:
Wind Breathing and Mist Breathing: Whilst being able to perform some breathing styles most notably wind and mist breathing, Genya is unable to master them, without the assistance of consuming demons. The result is that Genya uses other means of fighting, at least in the future.
Demon Consumption: Genya, similar to Tanjiroucano consumes demons. However, unlike Tanjirou, Genya consumes demons to gain a stronger ability to perform breathing styles. With this, Genya will be able to perform more forms of Wind and Mist Breathing. This allows him to also gain the temporary characteristics of a demon. If Genya consumes a large amount of blood, he can utilize a blood demon art.
Zenitsu Agatsuma:
Thunder Breathing: Despite only being able to perform the First form of Thunder Breathing, Zenitsu uses a breathing style that emphasizes speed to take down demons within a singular strike. The style does not care for offense or defensive capabilities, all to emphasize speed and agility.
Enhanced Hearing: Zenitsu has a very strong sense of hearing, which goes to hearing the blood, heartbeat, and even limb movements of others. Zenitsu can use this to better understand where demons are, but this also causes Zenitsu to suffer from ear aches, as there are some things he doesn't want to hear.
