I DO NOT OWN ANY DEMON SLAYER, OR SWORD ART ONLINE CHARACTERS, ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR COPYRIGHT OWNERS,THIS IS PURELY FOR FAN SERVICE AND I ONLY OWN THE OC'S I CREATE AND THERE IS NO PROFIT INVOLVED WHATSOEVER THIS IS A HOBBY AND THE ONLY THING I GAIN IS A BAD SLEEP SCHEDULE FOR FREE, THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING!
Bold = Important Text/Breathing Styles and Techniques
Italic Thoughts
Underline Whisper
Quick Author's Note: I plan on doing Tanjiro X Kanao as the pairing for Tanjiro as I think it's a beautiful pairing and I've always liked it and I love fleshing in more Demon Slayer characters as I go, I have no plans to change Kirisuna, I'm sure I just upset someone, but hey the events I want to do for this story doesn't allow me to split up Kirisuna and now that I think about it, Neither do I want to, because I see nth wrong with that cannon ship.
Chapter 2: Hinokami Kagura.
"It's only 1 month in, and 2,000 people have already died in this nightmare….….may their souls rest in peace." Thought Tanjiro who was equipped with a new white Kimono that has black lines connected in a V at the top of it as well as a green vintage undershirt, Tanjiro has also been equipped with black baggy pants and white ankle wrappings on top of black socks that are attached to white sandals with red straps, Tanjro looks up at the sky with a frown as he walks through the town square before coming upon a gathering around a fountain. "I've tried to save as many people as possible, but even with all my efforts to minimize them there have still been so many lives lost….I just hope that today's meeting goes well…." Thought Tanjiro as he gets a flashback.
Flashback - 1 Day ago
We see Tanjiro walking around town hand resting on his katana's Saya, ready to get to the next town and farm monsters before stopping from hearing something from some other players around him chatting that piques his interest.
"Hey, you hear the news, those players that hit the dungeon are making a raid group so they can rush the floor boss.
I hear they're gonna hold a meeting soon." said a random player Tanjiro passed earlier, causing him to widen his eyes and turn to look in the direction the voice came from as he quickly runs up to the man.
"Hey what did you just say!?" Tanjiro yells as the man sweat drops and looks at Tanjiro with a confused face, not expecting some random player to outburst out of nowhere.
"Uh..some players are getting together so they can rush and kill the floor boss in the dungeon…?" Said the man, still confused on why some random person cares.
"No, before that! You said that the players are holding a meeting on how to defeat the boss!?" Said Tanjiro with determination in his eyes, further confusing the player.
"Y-Yeah..they're holding a meeting to come up with a plan on how to defeat the floor boss, why do you ask?" Said the player with a questioning tone.
"And when and where is this meeting being held exactly? Said Tanjiro, eager to join in and help fight the floor boss as soon as possible.
"Uh, it's being held tomorrow, in Tolbana, they're forming a raid group because they think they can actually defeat the boss. Wait a second, you're not actually thinking of joining them are you!?" Said the man in surprise as Tanjiro gives him a smile.
"Of course I do, every bit of help will be needed if we're going to clear this floor let alone the game, so I'm not gonna just sit by and watch as others sacrifice themselves when I could be helping. Well bye now, take care and thanks for the info!" Tanjiro says as he begins to run off toward the Town exit, hearing the man's voice in the distance.
"Wait, you're out of your mind! That's crazy! There's no way we can beat this game, we're all just gonna die!" The man yelled at the retreating Tanjiro.
"I'll never know unless I try!" Tanjiro yelled back, getting quieter and quieter by each second from how fast he was running.
"That kid is out of his damn mind…..what the hell is he thinking…..oh well, it's not my fault if he gets himself killed I tried to warn him." Said the man as Tanjiro completely vanishes off into the distance with great speed.
Flashback End
"That's right, I'll do whatever it takes to get out of this Death Game and get back to Mr. Urokodaki and Nezuko!" Thought Tanjiro as he takes a seat on some bleachers with the rest of the players in the meeting before picking up on two familiar scents. "These scents…it's Asuna and Mito!" Tanjiro thought as he looks around and spots Mito alone? "Why is Mito alone? I smell Asuna's scent too so she should be here…" Tanjiro thought aloud as he closes his eyes and turns, following the scent as he spots Asuna wearing a maroon cloak over her clothes, sitting a decent distance away from Mito. "Her scent, it smells sad….but….why?" Tanjiro thought as he continues to stare at Asuna before getting a surprised on his look on his face picking up another familiar scent near her as he follows the scent and sees a short haired black eyed boy wearing blue starter armor as well as having a sword on his back, seeing this boy and smelling his scent makes Tanjiro smile remembering that that scent helped him find his way to the next town when the game started. "So he's still alive….that's good, I'm happy that he's made this far safe and sound." Tanjiro smiles at this thought before hearing clapping and turning his attention toward the center of the plaza where a blue eyed guy with long blue hair wearing bronze looking armor over a blue cloak, the man is also equipped with a shield on his back and a sword at his side.
"Okay people, now that everyones here, let's get this meeting started, so anyway first I'd like to thank you all for taking time out of your day to come, good to see you all, my name is Diabell and the job I rolled in this game is a knight!" Said the newly named Diabell who proudly puts his right arm over his chest with this proclamation, making Tanjiro gain an innocent smile on his face with anime sparkles shining around him.
"Wow, he's a knight? How honorable!" Thought Tanjiro before snapping out of his innocence at the sound of everyone there starting to laugh at Diabell. "Wha-Why is everybody laughing at the knight!?" Tanjiro aloud as someone yells out. "Dude there's no job system in this game!" said the player as everyone continues to laugh with Tanjiro comedically sweating at actually believing Diabells lie. "Was I really the only one who believed him..!?"
"Please, you need to hear me out, you guys wanna hear this or not!?" Diabell pleads, regaining the attention of the crows as they stop laughing at him with Tanjiro sighing in relief at the embarrassment being over. "Right, anyway today my party discovered the boss room at the top of the tower." Hearing this grabs the attention of everyone and surprises Tanjiro, widening his eyes a bit as a smile begins to form on his face. "If we can defeat the boss together and advance to floor 2, it means there's hope. We'll be proving to everyone in the town of beginnings that it is possible to beat this death game! It's our duty, as the strongest to lead everyone home, do you agree or not!? Hearing this from Diabell the crowd looks around at each other and nods before beginning to clap with some of them whistling in praise whilst Tanjiro begins to clap himself and give a sad smile.
"That's right…..the weak don't get to make choices on how they die…..so I'll use my strength to help protect them." thought Tanjiro with a sad smile as the clapping dies down.
"Okay, I'm glad to hear you're all with me on this and now I'll talk about how we're going to beat the boss. For starters, we have to team up into parties of six." Diabell says to the crowd as everyone begins to party up while Tanjiro looks at him confused.
"Parties of six? But I've never needed them before when defeating mini bosses on this floor, and I know almost nobody here anyway so does that mean I'm alone?" Tanjiro thought as he looks around to see everyone talking with one another and accepting party invites while Diabell continues to explain.
"Alright, now that we have that out of the way, we should-" Diabell says before getting interrupted by a yell "Hold up a sec!" The interrupter says as he stands up from his seat, showing a short red haired man with spikes around his hair like a mace, this man begins to point at himself as he walks towards Diabell.
"My name's Kibaou, got that!? And before we keep going and take on the boss, I wanna get something off my chest! Some of us here, need to step up and apologize! To the 2000 that died already!" Kibaou yells at the crowd, with Tanjiro getting a confused face.
"Apologize? Apologize for what?" Tanjiro thought, not liking where this is going as he continues to listen in.
"Hang on Kibaou, just so everyones clear, you're talking about those who were ex beta testers is that right uh-" "You're damn right I mean them!" Kibaou yells, interrupting Diabell once more in the process and widening the eyes of Tanjiro who tenses and clenches his fists while continuing to listen to Kibaou's rant. "The day this stupid ass game started, the beta guys just up and vanished! They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots and easy quests too! While they leveled up they ignored us and let us suffer! I know there's some here, some come on out ya cowards! We should make em apologize and give up all the money AND the items they got! Till they do that they can't expect us to trust them, why the hell should we!? Kibaou ranted to the audience, tipping Tanjiro over the edge as he stands up and yells.
"Stop it!" Tanjiro yells, getting the attention of everyone as they look at his angry expression confused at this whilst Asuna and Mito look at him in surprise, recognizing Tanjiro as they widen their eyes seeing him here.
"What'd you say!?" Kibaou said in confusion as Tanjiro walks down the stairs, looking at him with a furious face.
"I said to stop! Don't bad mouth the beta testers! Aren't you afraid of this game!? You must understand why the beta testers went on and left on the first day! Because just like you and I, and everyone else here! They're afraid of dying in this game, but here you are giving them a completely one sided bashing, without out any second thought on how they felt about being in this death game! Is that fun for you!?" Tanjiro yells with anger clenching his fist as the crowd widens their eyes at this argument with Diabell being left speechless alongside the Beta Tester with Asuna as well as leaving Mito wide eyed staring at Tanjiro's back.
"Tanjiro…." Mito thought in awe as Tanjiro continues to yell at the stunned Kibaou.
"You are the lowest of the low! We shouldn't be fighting each other…..we should be working together if we ever want a chance to get out of this death game!" Tanjiro yells at Kibaou as said man gets a scowl on his face.
"So that's how you feel huh!? In that case let's fight bare handed to see who's right!" Kibaou yells as he charges Tanjiro with Diabell trying to stop him.
"Kibaou wait!" Diabell said, whilst trying to stop Kibaou's attack, widening the crowd's eyes as Kibaou charges Tanjiro.
"No! Did you even hear a word I just said!? Listen! We're not supposed to fight each other in any way!" Tanjiro says as he narrowly dodges to the right, avoiding a punch from Kibaou as the man continues to charge Tanjiro with a barrage of attacks "Using your hands doesn't change things! Are you even listening to me!?" Tanjiro says as he narrowly blocks an attack from Kibaou before breathing in, catching the attention of two ladies in the crowd.
"Sister, is that…?" Asked the younger of the two woman, the younger of two woman is a beautiful petite girl with long black hair tied into a ponytail on the right side of her head by a butterfly clip with a pink outline and a green interior as well as bangs framing her forehead, the girl has purple pupiless eyes and an unreadable smile on her face, she wears a dark purple long sleeve white button up jacket with the back of it having the Kanji for the word "Destroy" on it, she has a knee length dark purple skirt being held up by a white belt that holsters a katana with a white grip that has pink diamonds on it and a golden end as well as a white circular guard with a pink interior on it, the sheath that goes with it also contains a dark purple color. She also wears white boots tied up around her ankles by a yellow sting, the girl wears a white cloak fastened on her left side by a triple knotted pink string.
"It is dear sister, what we see from this boy is a demonstration of Total Concentration Breathing. The master will be pleased that we have found a new member to join the Demon Slayer Core!" Said the older of the two ladies with a pleasant smile. The older woman is a beautiful petite young woman with black hair tied back in a yakai-makai style by a butterfly clip with a purple outline and light blueish interior, her hair also frames the sides of her face with curtain like bangs with a purple fade, she also has purple pupiless eyes like her younger sister, she also wears the same dark purple uniform as her sister but with gold buttons instead of white as well as baggy Hakuma pants instead of a skirt that is tucked into white butterfly patterned Kyahan that fade into a turquoise then pink around her lower legs fasted by white ribbons on the back, she also wears matching dark purple tabi socks with purple strapped zori sandals, over her uniform she wears a white haori with a butterfly pattern that has the same turquoise to pink fade as her Kyahan around both the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the Haori, around her waist is a Katana with a green grip with orange diamonds and a orange end as well as a flower shaped guard with a orange outline and green interior with the sheath being a white color.
Tanjiro takes a breath in as he counter strikes Kibaou in the chest, making a cracking sound as a red Icon appears around Kibaou's health, showing broken ribs on it that makes the crowd flinch. "Ouch, he broke his ribs, that's gotta hurt." Says a tall dark skinned man in the crowd who flinched and sweat dropped at this as Tanjiro goes in and sweeps Kibaou's legs out from under him, making him hit the ground with a thud as the purple immortal object icon appears.
"Damn that hurt, tch you bastard!" Kibaou yells as he gets up and charges Tanjiro before stumbling in slight pain thanks to his broken ribs but with the pain quickly dulls from the pain Nullifier as Kibou goes to continue moving forward.
"Stop it! What are you doing, you're just getting yourself hurt by doing this!" Tanjiro pleads.
"So!? What do I care! It's nothing that won't heal up in time, what won't heal is the lives lost because of this game, nothing will stop me from getting justice for their deaths!" Kibaou yells while running towards Tanjiro.
"Then you have to think about the future as well! All you're doing is leaving yourself vulnerable for an enemy to kill you, then their sacrifices will be in vain! Is that what you want!?" Tanjiro argues back while dodging punches from Kibaou as the man widens his eyes and pauses to think about these words before realizing too late as Tanjiro grabs his shoulders and reels his head back. "Now calm down! Do you hear!" Tanjiro yells before headbutting Kibaou, making a sound of impact, making the crowd flinch again as Kibaou steps back stumbling with a red glowy mark appearing where Tanjiro headbutted him.
"Damn, that one's gotta hurt." Said the same dark skinned man in the crowd from before."
"Say kid…what is your name?" Kibaou asks as Tanjiro takes in a breath of relief.
"It's Tanjiro, Tanjiro Kamado!" Tanjiro says as he gives a proud smile.
"You're using your real name in this game, heh you're even dumber than I thought, well then Kamado, YOUR HEAD IS HARD AS FU-!" Kibaou says before passing out on the ground spazzing out with foam coming out of his mouth.
"Is he dead!?" Someone from the crowd asks, causing Tanjiro to shake his head.
"No he's not, he would have shattered by now if he was, besides this is a safe zone here in town so he can't take any damage that would lower his health, I think it's just a concussion, I did headbutt him really hard though." Tanjiro says with a smile as Diabell walks up to him.
"But are you alright Tanjiro? Kibaou went a little crazy there." Diabell says with a sweat drop as Tanjiro nods.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Tanjiro says with a smile, making everyone in the meeting sweat drops. "Well anyway, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused I just couldn't stand him bad mouthing the beta testers like that, they're no different from any of us, they are just as scared as well all are." Tanjiro says before giving a wave and returning to his seat up the stairs with everyone looking at him with the same thought.
"How hard could his head really be!?" Everyone thought before Diabell gains their attention once more.
"Ok, now that that little incident happened let's try and stay on track from now on. Everything we need to know about the boss is in this guide book that you can get from the item store for free, the Ex Beta testers are handing them out to all the new players, so if you don't have it, get it!" Diabell says as the crowd looks down at the unconscious Kibaou with a little confusion before turning to a smiling Tanjiro before back to Diabell who continues. "To start with, the book says the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord, when were in his chamber we'll be surrounded by minions, which are called Ruin Kobold Sentinels, Illfang carries an ax and a buckler, he has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a Heavy Sword called a Talwar, he can also change his attack patterns." Diabell says, stunning the crowd as they gain serious faces as Diabell puts the Guide Book away. "That's all the information we have, now, regarding on how loot is to be distributed, money will be divided equally among everyone, the party that defeats the boss gets the XP, and whoever gets an item keeps it, does that sound good!? Alright, we head out tomorrow at 10 in the morning, meeting adjourned people!" Diabell yells as everyone starts cheering as Tanjiro smiles and stands up, beginning to walk off before being stopped by the same tall dark skinned man in the crowd from before, the man has a black goatee and two earrings on his left ear, he wears black and white starter armor as well as having a big battle ax strapped to his back.
"Oh, can I help you with anything Mr.?" Asked Tanjiro, with the man just smiling at him before shaking his head.
"Hey there, I'm Agil, nice to meetcha, your name's Tanjiro right?" The newly named Agil says as Tanjiro smiles at him and nods.
"That's right, my name is Tanjiro Kamado, it's nice to meet you too!" Tanjiro says back with a bright smile.
"Gotta hand it to you kid, you're one hell of a fighter, you took down Kibaou without even a scratch on ya. That was one hell of a show and a damn impressive one at that." Agil says with a grin, making Tanjiro wave his hands back and forth in dismissal.
"Oh no it's nothing really, I just couldn't stand there and let him bad mouth the Ex Beta Testers like that, one thing just led to another and that ended up happening, I really didn't want to fight him at all, heh heh." Tanjiro says with a chuckle while smiling before Agil returns it with one of his own.
"Seriously though, thank you for looking out for em, I would have said something but you beat me to the punch." Agil says as he puts a hand on Tanjiro's shoulder.
"Oh it's no problem at all, I was just saying what any good person would have, well anyway I guess I'll see you around." Tanjiro says as Agil nods at him.
"Yeah, cya around!" Agil says as he waves Tanjiro goodbye for now as he watches Tanjiro walk off before turning around and waving.
"Take care of yourself Mr. Agil!" Tanjiro yells, causing Agil to smile as he watches Tanjiro's retreating back.
"Heh, what a good kid." Said Agil with a bright grin until seeing Mito run up to him in a hurry.
"Hey, did you see Tanjiro come by here by any chance!?" Said Mito with a questioning face as Agil looks at her confused.
"Uh, yeah I just saw him a second ago, he went that way." Said Agil as he points in the direction Tanjiro went in, causing Mito to smile brightly.
"Thank you so much!" Mito said as she rushes in the direction Tanjiro went.
"Hey, my name's Agil by the way!" Agil yells at Mito with her waving while running.
"Mito, nice to meetcha!" Mito says with her voice getting quieter by the second.
"Uh yeah, nice to meetcha, I guess?" Agil says normally in a question tone as he watches Mito run off in the direction of Tanjiro.
Tanjiro continues to walk in the city before being approached by the two women watching his one sided fight with Kibaou earlier.
"Hello there, Tanjiro, right? I saw your fight earlier and I must say I was very impressed with your performance." Said the older woman, making Tanjiro blush slightly at the woman being so close.
"Oh uh, yeah my name is Tanjiro, what's your's?" Tanjiro said with a bit of surprise, not expecting this sudden encounter as the woman smiles at him.
"My name is Shinobu Kocho, and this is my dear little sister Kanao Tsuyuri! It's a pleasure to meet you." The newly name Shinobu says with a sincere sounding tone as she gestures to Kanao.
"Hello there, like my sister said, my name is Kanao Tsuyuri, it is nice to meet you." The girl says as she gives a slight bow with the same unreadable smile on her face.
"Well I'm Tanjiro Kamado, It's nice to meet you Kanao! As for that fight earlier It wasn't all that impressive, It was really all just a miscommunication, heh." Tanjiro says with a chuckle as Shinobu smiles.
"Well it's less about how the fight happened that's impressive, it's more like what you did that caught my eye." Shinobu said, confusing Tanjiro as he tilts his head in confusion.
"What I did?" Tanjiro askes in a questioning tone, causing Shinobu to look at him with a smile.
"You were using Total Concentration Breathing to enhance your body during that fight weren't you?" Asked a questioning Shinobu, widening Tanjiro's eyes in the process.
"Y-You know Total Concentration Breathing!?" Asked Tanjiro with a surprised face.
"Yes, in fact both I and Kanao here have complete mastery over our breathing." Said Shinobu, causing Tanjiro to smile in excitement.
"Really!? That's amazing! It took me a while to even figure it out, yet both of you have mastered it!?" Tanjiro asked, excited at the thought of meeting other masters of Total Concentration Breathing.
"Oh? Well I have been training breathing for over 4 years now, what's more impressive is that it only took Kanao here 1 year to completely master it, so what about you Tanjiro, how long did it take you to gain full control over your breathing?" Shinobu asks as Tanjiro looks at her confused.
"1 year? But it only took me 1 month to figure it out." Said Tanjiro with surprise, causing Shinobu to widen her eyes a bit in shock whilst Kanao does the same.
"1…month?" Kanao asks hesitantly with a slightly surprised face instead of her usual unreadable smile.
"Wow that's quite impressive, you have immense potential, if I may, who exactly trained you on how to do Total Concentration Breathing?" Asked Shinobu with a smile.
"Well last year my family was murdered….and my sister was left in a coma" Tanjiro said with a sad smile as Shinobu covered her mouth in concern.
"Oh my, is that really true, you poor thing, I didn't mean to bring up the past." Said Shinobu with a sad smile.
"No it's fine, really, anyway after that I was saved by a man named Giyu Tomioka, he taught me a grave lesson that I'll never forget…" Said Tanjiro, surprising Shinobu a bit as she looks at Tanjiro with a curious smile.
"Oh? You know Tomioka? Wow what a small world we live in, or at least used to live in…" Said Shinobu as Tanjiro gains a confused face.
"Wait, you know Mr. Tomioka, how do you know him?" Asked Tanjiro with a questioning gaze.
"Tomioka is actually a part of our guild, like you and I he is trapped in this death game." Shinobu said with a bit of sadness at being stuck in SAO.
"O-oh…so he's trapped in here too huh…." Tanjiro said before looking down in sadness, causing Shinobu to look at him concerned for a bit before smiling and getting an Idea.
"So is Tomioka the one who trained you in Total Concentration Breathing?" Asked Shinobu with a devious smile.
Snapping out of his sad stupor Tanjiro smiles at her innocently unaware of what's gonna come next "Oh no, I was trained by his master Sakonji Urokodaki! He has been kind enough to not only take me in and give me a living, but to teach me about how to breathe properly with Total Concentration Breathing as well." Tanjiro exclaimed with a thankful smile and tone in his voice.
"Oh I see, that's a relief, I was afraid his attitude would have rubbed off on you because nobody in the Demon Slayer core likes Tomioka because of it!" Shinobu said with a deviously happy tone and with a smile plastered on her face, making Tanjiro reel back in shock before sweat dropping in full awkwardness.
"Y-You don't really mean that right!? I mean I don't think Mr. Tomioka is that bad!" Tanjiro said with a nervous tone as Shinobu just giggles, making the boy sigh in defeat.
"Anyway since you learned under Urdokodaki I can only assume you specialize in Water Breathing right?" Shinobu askes with a regular smile as Tanjiro shakes his head with a frown.
"Sadly no, Mr. Urokodaki only taught me how to use Total Concentration Breathing, he said he wasn't going to teach me any Water Breathing techniques the day I showed him my families kagura dance The Hinokami Kagura, he said that since I already knew a breathing technique it would be a waste of time to teach me Water Breathing I still have no idea what he means by that though…" Tanjiro says while looking down with a frown, causing Shinobu to gain an idea in her head as she smiles.
"Tanjiro, how long do you use Total Concentration Breathing for when you use it?" Shinobu askes causing Tanjiro to look at her confused.
"Well I only use Total Concentration Breathing in mere moments, so about a few minutes at most, why do you ask?" Tanjiro asks curiously as Shinobu gains a smile.
"Have you ever tried doing Total Concentration Breathing nonstop,day and night?" Said Shinobu curiously as Tanjiro sweat drops slightly before looking up deep in thought.
"I can't say I have, I've personally ever thought about, but it does sound interesting now that you mention it, it would probably improve a lot of one's physical capabilities a lot more if they were to do it." Tanjiro said before smiling at Shinobu, who gains a look of surprise before smiling at him.
"My my, you catch on fast, by doing Total Concentration Breathing all day and all night, your stamina level will skyrocket alongside the strength of your Total Concentration Breathing itself, it's a technique called Total Concentration Constant." Sad Shinobu with a smile on her face.
"Total Concentration Constant…." Tanjiro says while looking up, causing Shinobu to get an idea.
"Hey, Tanjiro, are you partied up with anyone for the upcoming boss raid?" Shinobu says with a smile, causing Tanjiro to shake his head at her.
"Sadly no, everyone else had already partied up and I didn't want to intrude on that" Tanjiro says with a sweatdropped smile and a slight giggle.
"Then that makes this a perfect opportunity for you to learn it, both me and Kanao here both have mastered Total Concentration Constant, so since you don't have a party come on and join us, we'll teach you the skill and with your potential you just might have it mastered by the time we take on the boss." Shinobu says with Tanjiro smiling and nodding profusely.
"R-really!? Of course I'll join you! I promise to do my best!" Tanjiro says excitedly with a bright smile, causing Shinobu to give a smile of her own along with Kanao having the same unreadable smile.
Shinobu invites Tanjiro to her party with a smile with the boy inturn accepting the invite gladly with one of his own as two names with green health bars pop up under his own as Kocho and Tsuyuri before Tanjiro suddenly turns hearing his name.
"Hey, Tanjiro!" Mito called out causing Tanjiro to look behind him and smile seeing Mito running towards him before stopping in front of him panting in slight exhaustion.
"Hey Mito, long time no see, how have you been?" Tanjiro asked the exhausted girl, causing her to smile whilst Shinobu glances at the girl curiously.
"I've been great, I saw you at the meeting and honestly I'm surprised, you defended the beta testers even though you aren't one of them….I wish I could have done the same" Mito says gaining a frown on her face before looking down at the ground causing Tanjiro to smile.
"Hey that's ok, the beta testers don't deserve such hate, they're the whole reason for that guide book Diabell showed us after all and they're no different from any of us!" Tanjiro said, smiling at the girl, causing the girl to look up at him with surprise.
"T-Tanjiro, I-if you want you can join me and my party, f-for the raid I mean." Mito says, looking away with a blush, causing Shinobu to step in with her smile still intact as always.
"I don't mean to disappoint you but Tanjiro has already agreed to be a part of our party" Shinobu said with a smile, causing Mito to look down with a depressed demeanor.
"Oh….really? I'm sorry for bothering you then…." Mito says as she begins to walk off, getting a bit of distance away in the process before looking back at Tanjiro with a surprised face.
"I'll see you tomorrow at the boss raid, stay safe Mito!" Tanjiro yells before smiling at her, causing her to smile excitedly as she nods at him, causing him to do the same before turning and walking off until Tanjiro gets a realization.
"I didn't get to ask her why Asuna wasn't with her, oh well, I guess It'll just have to wait till tomorrow." Tanjiro thought before smiling as he walks off, following behind Shinobu and Kanao towards their destination.
Timeskip - Many Hours later
"Mrs. Shinobu had me face Kanao in what I thought was a strange game but in reality it just shows how much stronger I need to get, she had me face Kanao in a reaction game where the first person to get there cup wins, which sounds easy but the other player could block your cup, and I lost to Kanao every time…..so I need to get stronger by mastering Total Concentration Constant! That's the plan anyway." Tanjiro thought while doing Total Concentration Breathing while sitting on the roof of the rental home Shinobu brought him to with Kanao at her side.
"Yoohoo, Hello?...Yoohoo, Hello?" Shinobu's voice calls out to Tanjiro, sounding distant in his concentration as he snaps his eyes open with sweat running down his face.
"Yes!?" Tanjiro yells looking straight with a shocked face.
"Working hard I see, you might actually manage to master this skill in less than a day." Shinobu says while looking at Tanjiro very very closely, causing the boy to turn and flinch with a blush as she leans in a bit, deepening her smile.
"Even though you couldn't even beat my little sister at least once you're out here training her all alone." Shinobu says as she backs up and sits next to Tanjiro with her hands in her lap. "Aren't you lonely by yourself?" Shinobu askes with a bright smile as Tanjiro smiles with determination.
"No way! Once I've mastered it, I'll use it to clear this death game and get back to the real world to my little sister!" Tanjiro says with a smile, causing Shinobu to look at him with a smile still on her face.
"You have a beautiful soul don't you, you're training hard and all for your sister." Shinbou says softly, causing Tanjiro to look ahead at stars flinching in nervousness before Shinobu looks ahead with him.
"So uh….why did you decide to bring me here and teach me?" Tanjiro asks curiously.
"Well I was more convinced to bring you here after hearing what happened to your family, but before I even knew that I saw you use Total Concentration Breathing, a rare skill these days, additionally, I'd like to entrust a dream of mine to you." Shinobu says, peaking Tanjiro's curiosity.
"A dream?" Tanjiro asks questioningly.
"Yes, that not only can we make it out of this game alive, but to go a step further and keep everyone safe from murderous Demons, I'm sure you can accomplish that just based on what I have seen from you today." Shinobu says, causing Tanjiro to gain a look of surprise when sniffing a scent of anger in the air as the two look at each other.
"Are you angry?" Tanjiro says, catching Shinobu off guard and widening her eyes with a slight gasp. "For some reason I've been picking up a scent of anger when I'm around you, even though you're always smiling." Tanjiro says, looking at the young woman curiously as she turns away.
"Yes…...you are correct, it may be that I'm constantly angry, my beloved Older Sister was slaughtered by a murderous Demon, I see the mournful tears of others who've lost their loved ones in the same way, I hear their loud cries of despair, and each time I do the anguish inside me, grows larger, in the innermost depths of my soul, there's a hatred that I can't fight….I'm sure the other Hashira of the Demon Slayer Core feel the same, but now with my own eyes I've seen someone who has experienced those tears, yet refuses to give up on hope in others despite what they have done, I can't deny your existence Tanjiro, even if you didn't have that little scuffle, I don't believe anyone in that crowd would have laid a hand on you for thinking that. My sister was a kind hearted person like you, she had sympathy for others, even murders. She went as far to have sympathy for the murderous Demon that killed her, even when she was on the brink of death that didn't change…I couldn't bring myself to feel that way, to do so for something that's killed us…!? I'd never heard of such nonsense, but if that is how my sister truly felt, then I must carry it on, if there is a way to protect everyone and bring them to the light, I have to keep trying to find it. While keeping the smile my sister truly loved….." Shinobu said with sorrow in her voice as she gets a flash back to holding her dying Older sister while crying as she passes in Shinobu's arms with tears falling down her face and blood coming down her mouth.
"I have to admit, I'm rather tired, evil murderers do nothing but lie, they only fight for themselves, murdering us, and do so without any shred of Humanity, they're nothing but filthy Demons, in my eyes or any other Demon Slayer's eyes, regardless if there a Hashira or not." Shinobu says with hate in her sorrowed voice as she stands up. "Tanjiro, please do all you can, clear this game and protect your little sister till the end, knowing that you're working hard to carry out what I could not, it warms my heart, I can rest easy now….." Shinobu says with a relief in her voice causing Tanjiro to look at her with concern as she smiles slightly. "You've stopped your Total Concentration Breathing." Shinobu warns Tanjiro, causing the boy to look at her surprised as she giggles and smiles.
"Oh, right! I'm so sorry, it's just I can't help but notice a few things you said that stood out to me." Tanjiro says, causing Shinobu to look at him curiously. You said you were in a guild earlier called the Demon Slayer Core, so what is a Demon Slayer exactly?" Tanjiro asks as he begins to resume his Total Concentration Breathing.
"Oh well to put it simply the Demon Slayer Core is a guild that protects those in need whether it'd be saving them from monsters or even players." Shinobu says with nonchalance, causing Tanjiro to widen his eyes a bit.
"Players!? What do you mean to protect them from players?" Tanjiro says with the same widened eyes as Shinobu looks at him sadly.
"Tanjiro, not everyone in the world are nice like you and I, some of them are Murderous Demons, the same goes for in here, like out in the real world there are people who will kill others for there own selfish and sick desires, so that's why the Demon Slayer Core hunts and kills these Demons, to make sure everyone gets out of this game safely." Shinobu says while looking at Tanjiro with a smile.
"Oh…I see." Tanjiro says before looking down at the ground with a sad smile. "So there really are people like that in this world…..how sad…." Tanjiro thought before looking back at Shinobu.
"Tanjiro, would you consider joining the Demon Slayer Core? I ask because I believe there are people there who could help you get stronger, stronger than I ever could help you get, but I also believe that you can do more good like you did today defending the beta testers by joining the Core." Shinobu asks with a hint of curiosity as Tanjiro smiles.
"I-If it will help me get stronger….if it will help me get back to Nezuko faster…..than-than I'll do it!" Tanjiro says with a confident smile, making Shinobu smile at him with satisfaction.
"Then I look forward to working with you, I'll take you to the Core's main headquarters to meet the master, I've already informed him of your presence along with the other Hashira so we'll head there once we finish the boss off and advance to floor 2, until then, rest up, it's going to be a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Shinobu says with a smile before giggling a bit and vanishing in an instant among the night, only leaving an afterimage of lines behind at the sound of a bell in the process.
Timeskip - The Next Day
We see the raid party walking through a forest on a path toward the dungeon with Tanjiro, Shinobu, and Kanao falling in between the raid group back and a duo part behind them.
"Wow Tanjiro, you really are talented, you managed to beat Kanao in training and master Total Concentration Constant in less than a day, that's a record that'll go down in history." Shinobu says while looking at Tanjiro with a smile as Tanjiro does the same and humbly waves his arms back and forth.
"Please it's not that impressive really, it's just I've always been unnaturally stronger than everyone else since the day I was born, it's weird when I think about it out loud but I feel like this scar on my forehead has some kind of connection to this unnatural strength, I was born with it just like my strength….." Tanjiro says trailing off and slipping into a deep thought.
"Perhaps, but there's no use thinking about it now, what matters is that you keep moving forward with the same determination and strength." Shinobu says, snapping Tanjiro out of his thoughts as he smiles and nods with Kanao deepening her smile as the raid group continues on the path before coming upon the dungeon and entering it.
The players gather around the first floor boss room and begin to prepare to take it on by checking their gear and all their items first before turning to Diabell who walks forward at the door before facing the crowd.
"All right, listen up! Whatever happens, focus on the objective!" Diabell says before unsheathing his sword and Shield. "Victory!" Diabell shouts quietly before turning toward the door and opening it. "Let's go!" Diabell says as he leads the raid group into the dark boss room where nothing happens until suddenly Illfang in the shadows slams his ax on the floor, causing the door to slam shut and the room to begin to shroud itself in a rainbow color, illuminating the room as the players look at the newly lit up boss in shock.
Illfang The Kobold Lord is a giant red wolf like creature with demon crimson eyes and a blonde mullet like hair popping out of his blue helmet, he also wears a greenish black neck brace. Illfang grins and leaps at the raid group and lands just in front of them enough to leave a decent gap before giving out a battle roar that makes the raid group sweat until blue orbs fall around him and start spawning in Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
"Commence, attack!" Diabell orders Diabell with a yell before pointing his sword at Illfang, causing the raid party to let out battle cries as they charge Illfang who knocks a few back with a swing before doing it again with another swing of his ax, whilst his minions fight off parties as Tanjiro steels his gaze and charges two minions before breathing in strengthening his body as he slices one in half before parrying the other, leaving open to an attack from Shinobu who slices it, not cleaving it straight in half but leaving a deep wound with her unorthodox looking blade.
Shinobu's sword is a purple katana missing most of its blade except for its tipped edge. Shinobu smiles at Tanjiro who widens his eyes at watching the minion she sliced fall on the ground spazzing out before exploding.
"Woah, what did you just do Mrs. Shinobu!?" Tanjiro askes while fending off and killing minions left and right with Kanao whilst Shinobu continues to slice and let minions die on the floor.
"Oh that's right, I forgot to mention this but I've never been physically strong enough to slice through tough objects let alone mobs like this, so instead I specialize in poison and let them die slowly with one slice, watch and observe." Shinobu says before taking a breath in a leaping in the air with a blue glow following her before it gets replaced with a pink glow, Shinobu begins to hold her sword out in a piercing position as she soars toward her target with pink butterflies following behind her as a slicing sound can be heard with red slash mark appearing on the minions neck with Shinobu landing behind it.
"Insect Breathing, Butterfly Dance, and Caprice." Shinobu says before standing up with a smile as the minion goes to attack Shinobu before it begins to spaz out and turn purple with veins popping up, threatening to burst as bumps also begin appearing on it, causing it to fall over and lose the last of its HP and shatter into blue glass particles.
"Just because an enemy can't be cut, doesn't mean they're safe from harm, there are those like me, who use poison with their swordsmanship!" Shinobu says, causing Tanjiro to widen his eyes in awe from watching the impressive attack before smiling at watching Shinobu spin her blade elegantly before catching it and posing with its blade tip facing the ground, showing off the kanji on her beautiful blade. "Demon Slayer Core, Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho, I may be the only one among the Hashira, who is unable to cut through the necks of mobs and people alike, but creating a poison that's lethal to them, that's quite impressive don't ya think?" Shinobu says with a smile as Tanjiro gives his own smile and nods before blocking a strike from a minion and finishing it with a decapitation.
"You're talent is amazing Mrs. Shinobu, but could you please give us a hand here!" Tanjiro says while fighting off more minions with Kanao who fends the minions off with relative ease alongside Tanjiro.
"Oh, pardon me, I forgot we were still in a boss raid, Silly Me!" Shinobu says while smiling with a small giggle before joining in on the fighting, making it easier for the party to clear the minions with relative ease, causing Diabell to look back and notice how easy it looks for them to take on the minions, causing him to get a questioning gaze and an idea.
"So Mrs. Shinobu, what are the Hashira? Are they an important role in the Demon Slayer Core?" Tanjiro asks after finishing off a Minion before looking at her with a smile.
"Indeed, the Hashira are the pillars that hold up the Demon Slayer Core's strength and morale, they are what is considered the strongest among the swordsmen and swordswomen." Shinobu says while piercing and slicing minions with a smile of delight on her face.
"Really!? Then why didn't they only send you to take on the boss Mrs. Shinobu!?" Tanjiro askes, causing Shinobu to look at him and smile.
"Tanjiro, while it is important that we ascend to the next floor, it is also important that we don't use all of our manpower on one fight, but it is also important that we help the other players so they sent me and my dear sister Kanao here as backup to help make sure the raid doesn't go horribly." Shinobu says before dodging an attack from a minion, causing Tanjiro to look at her and nod as he cuts down the same distracted minion attacking Shinobu.
"Squads A and C switch in! Squad B blocks those attacks! Squad C and G switch positions, Squad G gets ready to switch in and fight the boss!" Diabell yells, confusing everyone in the room including Squad G that consists of Tanjiro's party, Diabell smiles and looks at them. "Squad G I've seen your skill from afar and we need all the manpower we can get so get up here and let squad C take your place, as soon as you switch, regroup and get into flanking position! Squad E, D, F, and C keep those minions off us!" Diabell yells, causing Shinobu to get a sly smile with Kanao keeping her unreadable one with Tanjiro looking at Diabell confused before steeling his face and nodding at the blue haired man.
"My my, what an interesting turn of events, it looks like our little show impressed the leader of this little operation!" Shinobu says as Tanjiro nods and dashes in and narrowly evades the bosses attack, shocking everyone except his squad at such skill as he breathes in, causing his sword to glow red, allowing him to slice the boss with such ease that it takes half of his third bar, widening the eyes of many as Illfang goes in to slash Kanao who smiles and grips her blade while breathing in.
"Flower Breathing, Second Form, Honorable Shadow Plum" Kanao says as Illfang's attack gets closer before it gets blocked and knocked back by a pink colored slash from Kanao with flower petals coming off of her blade and onto the supernatural looking slash until Illfang suddenly gets hit with several rotating sword slashes with the same pink flower like aura around Kanao's pink blade, in turn taking the rest of Illfang's third health bar and leaving everyone around them in aw.
"Yes One bar to go!" Diabell yelled to the raid group with a grin on his face. "O-one attack! It took one attack from just one of them to take half of his third health bar!? This is it! This is the hope for the future, but wait, there's still one more thing I have to do before this raid ends!" Diabell thought as he starts to run toward Illfang. "Squad B, switch in and surround the boss! I'm going in!" Diabell yells as he continues his sprint, causing Illfang to grin as he glazes his hand over his wrapped weapon, unsheathing it and shedding its cloth wrappings, revealing a completely different weapon instead of a Talwar, causing Tanjiro to widen his eyes.
"Th-that sword! That isn't a Talwar! That's an Odachi! This is bad, Diabell's heading right for it! Think Tanjiro think!" Tanjiro thought as Asuna's partner yells out.
"No, get back! Get away! He's starting a range attack!" Asuna's partner yells with extreme caution and worry for Diabells life as Illfang jumps up, avoiding Diabell's swing and igniting his blade with a flaming red skill glow, knocking everyone who was caught off guard back and stunning them.
Tanjiro looks up having blocked the rage attacks effects with his eyes widened watching in horror as Illfang goes to cut down Diabell as Tanjiro unconsciously begins to look deep into his subconscious to find the answer to this dire situation.
Flashback - 12 years ago.
"Father…" Present Tanjiro thought while remembering his father Tanjuro Kamado, a frail looking man with a unique pink burn like scar on the side of his forehead, he has the same black to red hair color as Tanjiro but with it being way longer with it being kept into a ponytail, he also has the same dark red eyes with white pupils like Tanjiro and wears the same exact pair of Hanafuda earrings that Tanjiro wears due to them being a family heirloom that is passed down from generation to generation, the man bears a gray Kimono with a white undershirt beneath it as well as a orange checkered cape like Haori.
"Tanjiro, your breathing, master your command over it and then become more like Hinokami." Tanjuro said with a soft smile on his frail face.
Flashback End
Tanjiro's heart beats amp up as he holds his blade high and gets ready to sprint.
Flashback - 12 years ago
We see a young Tanjiro with his mother Kie and sleeping sister Nezuko in the snow at night time, watching his father dance around in circle shape around the snow in a red yellow and black Kagura outfit with Torches all around him, he also carries a wooden blade like bat with spikes on it's blade and golden bells at the end of it's golden handle.
"Look Tanjiro, that is your fathers Kagura dance, our family works with fire, so to ward off injuries and disasters, we offer this dance to Hinokami along with our prayers at the start of each year." Kie, Tanjiro's mother says with a smile while Tanjiro watches his father Tanjuro in aw as he dances with each strike of the Kagura dance being as elegant as the sun.
"Um, mommy? Father's always been pretty sick right? So how can he still be out in the snow and keep dancing and dancing?" Young 5 year old Tanjiro asks with a curious look on his face before turning back at his father dancing. "If that were me, I bet my lungs would freeze." Young Tanjiro says as reality shifts to day with the young Tanjiro now laying down on his fathers lap with his father smiling and patting his head.
"There exists a breathing technique, one that will prevent you from ever exhausting yourself." Tanjuro says to his son with a smile while continuing to pat his head.
"Really?" The curious Tanjiro asks while looking up at his father.
"Yes, if you can master the correct way to breathe, you'll be able to dance forever too, even the cold won't bother you. Tanjiro, this ceremonial dance and pair of earrings, I wish for them to be passed down to you, this is not only my gift to you, but the gift of those who have come before us and the gift of our ancestor who started our family tree." Tanjuro says as reality shifts back to the floor boss fight.
Flashback End
Tanjiro steels his face as he breathes in, the air around his mouth starting to burn and burst into flames as Tanjiro sprints at Illfang, gripping his sword as flames of the sun start to form around its blade.
"Hinokami Kagura!" Tanjiro yells out, allowing everyone to hear it and widen their eyes as Tanjiro spins and slashes his flaming blade downward at Illfangs, blocking it pushing back with great force, protecting Diabell who widens his eyes in shock alongside everyone else. "Dance!" Tanjiro yells after slicing Illfang who jumps back with Tanjiro giving great speed in his chase for the boss.
"Don't stop, keep running! This is our chance to finally defeat this boss! That's why, I need to keep pressing on, for everyone here, for Urokodaki, and for Nezuko! " Tanjiro thought with determination on his face as he gives out a battle cry as he leaps at Illfang, swinging his blade at Illfang's blade, knocking it back in the process as Tanjiro swings his flaming sword downward, slicing it across Illfang's chest lowering his health down a little. "His health barely went down! That must mean his last bar is stronger than the others! I have to keep slashing him with Hinokami Kagura!" Tanjiro thought as he leaps forward toward Illfang as the floor boss continues back up.
Tanjiro blocks an attack from illfang and lands on the ground, planting his feet before getting in a twisting stance before leaping at Illfang in a spiral motion that knocks Illfang's Odachi back before landing while gripping his sword with both hands before turning and leaping at Illfang, slicing the Kobold Lord with a heavy burning slice.
Shinobu watches Tanjiro's onslaught against the boss before remembering what Tanjiro said about Urokodaki not teaching the boy Water Breathing because of this "Hinokami Kagura, Huh, it's truly incredible, just remarkable, I've never seen anything like it, it almost looks like flame breathing but it's not….." Shinobu says out loud with a warm smile on her face as the paralysis effect on her wears off, causing her to smirk as she and Kanao rush over to Tanjiro whilst the other members of the raid group hold off the respawning Kobold minions.
Illfang stumbles back stunned from Tanjiro's last attack that lowered his health down to a quarter from all the damage taken right as Tanjiro pants heavily and stumbles to his knees right before widening his eyes and gaining a smile seeing Shinobu rush in front of him with a side glanced smile at him.
"Insect Breathing, Dragonfly Dance" Shinobu says as she holds her purple edged blade up to Illfang's stomach before stabbing it in a speeded flurry six times. "Compound Eye Hexagon" Shinobu says before jumping back, dodging a strike from Illfang as his health goes down to half right before he gets ambushed by Asuna, Mito, and Asuna's Party member, Mito having Knocked Illfang off his feet and overtop of Asuna's head, with the girl in turn stabbing him and knocking him upward, widening Tanjiro's eyes as the health bar goes down to a quarter with a green light enshrouding Asuna's party members sword with the boy ready to leap at Illfang, causing Tanjiro to widen his eyes.
"That skill won't be enough to beat him….what are we going to do now!?" Tanjiro says worriedly as he looks around to see Kanao appear at his side, surprising him.
"I'll give you a boost, here." Kanao says Nonchalantly before throwing Tanjiro up and kicking him really hard up into the air toward Illfang, taking the air out of the boy comically before he regains his barings.
"Nice thinking Kanao!" Tanjiro yells before looking down, seeing Illfangs neck as he descends toward it while breathing in, gaining the sun ignited flames around his mouth.
"Hinokami Kagura!" Tanjiro yells before slicing horizontally through Illfang's neck, leaving a red mark behind on it. "Clear Blue Sky!" Tanjiro yells as the circle of fire expands around the boss, lowering Illfang's health lowers down to just a tiny bit left before Asuna's partner leaps in the air and carves through Illfang's stomach with a battle cry before landing on the opposite side, lowering Illfang's health to 0 before a bright light consumes him before exploding into a gigantic explosion of blue glass particles, causing every minion in the room to also explode into blue glass particles, causing the players to cheer out in victory with a "Congratulations!" message popping up.
"I-it's over" Tanjiro says while breathing heavily before smiling with the room dimming back down.
"Gotta hand it to you kid, you are one hell of a unit, I mean I've never seen anything like that, first your teammate used a flowery lookin skill, then there's the other one with the insect lookin flurry, all of that and they still weren't half as impressive as you, I mean took on the boss alone with a flaming blade, what kind of skill was that anyway, was it some kind of fire magic or somethin?" Agil asks with a smile as Tanjiro sweats a bit while looking at him.
"N-No it was nothing really, I didn't do all that much, and no it isn't magic it's a-" Tanjiro says before being interrupted.
"Bastard!" Kibaou screams out, gaining the attention of everyone in the crowd. "You bastard. Diabell almost died because of you!" Kibaou yells, causing Diabell to step in.
"Kibaou, don't I'm ok, nothing happened, now let it go." Diabell says, trying to calm down the pissed Kibaou.
"No I won't let it go, not this time! He and his teammates hid skills we could have been using all this time to fight this damn boss, if they didn't hide it from us then you wouldn't have almost lost your life!" Kibaou yells at Tanjiro, causing Diabell to look back at Tanjiro with a sorry expression on his face whilst the crowd murmurs amongst themself. "Not only that, but that guy over there knew about the boss's extra sword and special attack and he didn't say a damn thing about it!" Kibaou yells.
"Hey come on guys!" Agil says, also trying to calm down everyone before a player wearing green armor with blue hair points at Tanjiro.
"Ain't it obvious, Tanjiro was one of the beta testers! That's how he was able to fight the boss on his own one on one, those girls with him are beta testers too! That's why they have special skills too, that's why they could damage the boss so much without breaking a sweat! The player yells while walking toward Tanjiro.
"That guide book we got from that Argo chick is a bunch of BS, she used to be a beta tester too, you think she'd give up prime leads for nothing! They're all in it for themselves! Do you know how many friends I've lost in this damn game you bastard! Huh!?" The player yells at Tanjiro having confronted him face to face.
"I'm sorry for the lives lost, I wish I could have helped in any way I could've, but you have to go on, despite losing people, even though it's devastating…." Tanjiro says softly but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Hearing this angers the player as he grips Tanjiro's Haori collar with a scowl on his face. "How am I supposed to do that in this damn game! You're just a kid, what do you know about losing people!" The player yells with tears appearing in his eyes.
Tanjiro responds to this gently as he puts his left hand over the man's wrist while putting his right over the back of his hand, giving the man a soft and sad understanding smile, causing him to flinch back with everyone around Tanjiro looking at him with surprise as Tanjiro gently takes the players hands off of his Haori. "I'll be on my way now, oh and by the way the technique I was using is called Total Concentration Breathing, it's a skill anyone can learn for both in here and in the real world, as unbelievable as that seems, hopefully you make it out of this game and find some closure in all of this….." Tanjiro says before bowing at him and turning while beginning to walk off toward the stairs where Shinobu and Kanao stand, waiting for Tanjiro with smiles on their faces, leaving everyone to watch Tanjiro's back.
"That kid…..just from looking in his eyes I could see sadness and understanding, you've lost a lot of loved ones in your life haven't you Tanjiro…." Agil thought before frowning as Tanjiro turns and waves everyone there goodbye, widening Agil's eyes looking at Tanjiro's hands as he gains a newfound respect for the boy.
"His hands are heartbreaking, hardened and thick from training, there not the hands of a kid, nobody should ever have to go through what he has, yet here he is being as kind as can be….damn, even in a world like this there is still hope." Agil thought before giving a sad smile while watching Tanjiro walk off toward his party.
"Are you ready to go Tanjiro?" Askes Shinobu with a smile as Tanjiro gives one of his own.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go, take me to the base of the Demon Slayer Core" Tanjiro says with determination on his face.
"Ok then, we'll teleport there once we get to the second floor and activate the teleport gate, I can't wait for you to meet the other Hashira, I know one of them will be excited once he hears about this new breathing technique you have discovered, the Hinokami Kagura, it's really impressive I must say." Says Shinobu with happiness and excitement in her voice.
"Th-thank you, I can't wait to meet them-..." Tanjiro says before slumping unconscious, having used up all his energy using said breathing technique, before he could fall Shinobu catches him and hands him over to Kanao.
"Be easy with him sister, he's been through a lot today…." Shinobu says with a sad smile remembering what the player said to Tanjiro.
"Yes of course, he is a pure soul isn't he…." Kanao says with sorrow in her voice as Shinobu nods before walking up the stairs with Kanao carrying Tanjiro on her back.
To be continued….
This is a really long chapter I procrastinated a bit and also delayed it because well Christmas, happy holidays btw, hope yall had a good Christmas, I really enjoyed putting this chapter together especially the Sun Breathing part I love that breathing technique and can't wait to make the next one because that one will feature my favorite Hashira Kyojoro Rengoku and yes Rengoku will actually take Tanjiro on as his Tsuguko this time so stay tuned, leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter!