Shinobu led the group of Demons out into the courtyard. Tanjuro had been given Kie's box so he could put his Wife away. He had her on his back and carried Sayuri in his arms. Yukito walked by his side like a guard. As they got closer to the door leading outside, the group of Demons heard raised voices. Sayuri whimpered and clung tighter to him. Tanjuro held her more securely in his arms, soothing her gently. Shinobu stepped through the door. For a few moments there was more yelling, before the door was slid open. Tanjuro and his Demons stepped out into the open room.
He looked around at everyone present. The first person that caught his eye was a huge man, with his hands together and with blank white eyes. The next person was a young woman with bright pink and green hair done up in braids. The woman stared at him with interest as he adjusted Sayuri in his arms. The next person that he noticed was a young man with hair that looked like flames. His bright smile and red and gold eyes seemed to glinting with determination, but also intrigue, "so, these are the Demons that you spoke of Kocho!" he exclaimed. The next people he noticed were Giyu and Kanae. They were standing away from the others. "Why are we bothering with this farce? Just kill the Demons and be done with it" a man called.
Tanjuro looked over at a tree in the courtyard and saw a young man with short black hair and bandages covering his mouth. He had one dark green eye and one yellow eye. A white snake around his shoulders hissed at him. "I think he's flashy if what Giyu told us is true! Immune to sunlight, doesn't eat humans. I've never heard of a Demon like that!" a man with a bejewelled headband proclaimed. "But he's apparently a Demon King! That makes him just as bad Kibutsuji!" the man with the snake hissed.
Tanjuro growled slightly, but tried to stay calm. "How can we know for sure that this isn't just a trick? He could be a spy for Kibutsuji" he said. "I agree!" the man with the headband cried, "how can we know they weren't sent here to wipe us all out?" he asked. Tanjuro narrowed his eyes, "you could just ask me you know?" he asked, catching everyone's attention. "I have never and will never work for or with Muzan Kibutsuji. He attacked my Wife and I a year ago, and the only reason my children survived was because they weren't home with us that night. I hate that monster, and will kill him, so all of my children will be safe" he said firmly.
"Well, that's proven that he isn't on Muzan's side, or controlled by him. But still, how can we be sure that none of you are a threat to humanity? We have no proof that none of you eat humans?" The man with the snake asked. "I don't believe we should do anything without the Master's decision" the huge man said in a deep voice. Tanjuro watched as the group nodded in agreement. He sighed in relief. At least they wouldn't have the Hashira trying to kill them just yet. Not that they could, but still, he didn't want any of his Demons to be hurt.
A few minutes later twin white-haired girls walked out of the same doors they'd come through, "the Master of the mansion, has returned" they said at the same time. All of the Hashira immediately knelt down on the rocks. Tanjuro turned to the doors as they were slid open by the twins. The Master slowly walked out of the darkness, stopping to let the girls take his hands after they closed the doors behind him. They slowly walked him out to the edge of the Engawa. Tanjuro knew that this was the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to kneel.
Maybe he was a Demon King. "Hey! Show some respect would you, you damn Demon!" the Hashira with the headband yelled. "Tengan. It's fine." The Master said gently, making the other man look down respectfully. Tanjuro saw the man's milky eyes turn back to him, "Tanjuro Kamado. You've told the Hashira that you and your Demons don't eat humans, is that right?" the Master asked. The group of Demons found themselves relaxing as the man's voice washed over them. "Yes, that's right. None of us do. We don't even get hungry. And when I do, it's easy to ignore." Tanjuro replied.
"I call bullshit! There are no Demons who don't eat humans, it's impossible!" the Hashira with the snake cried. "I agree! If that were the case, we wouldn't need to exist!" the flame-haired young man exclaimed. Sayuri clung to him while trembling, and Tanjuro wrapped his arms protectively around his Demons. "Perhaps it's true that you all need some proof about Tanjuro and his Demons before you could accept them. Who would like to test them?" the Master asked serenely. Yukito clenched his fists. What did testing them mean? A fight? "I will!" the man with the fire hair exclaimed boisterously.
He drew his sword and Tanjuro tensed. Maybe they couldn't be killed by a Nicherin Sword, but they could still be hurt. And Kie could be killed. He had to protect everyone. The flame-haired man drew his blade against his arm, drawing blood. Sayuri tensed and hid her face against Tanjuro's Uniform. It must be because she was so new to not needing human flesh and blood. The other Demons under him stared at the man, attention firmly fixed on his face. Tanjuro didn't flinch. Yukito clenched his fists and let out a slow breath. And from within her box, his Wife groaned, scratching the wood with her claws. "We're okay" he said softly. A moment passed, before the younger man lowered his arm with a look of interest on his face, "impressive! You really don't eat humans, do you?" he asked. "What happened?" the Master asked his daughters. "The Demons all restrained themselves. None of them even seemed bothered by Rengoku's blood except for Mrs Kamado, who is still in her box." One of the white-haired girls replied.
"You see my children, they are no threat to humans, unlike Muzan's Demons. Does anyone still have any doubts about Mr and Mrs Kamado and Tanjuro's Demons?" the Master asked. "How do we know that they'll be able to restrain themselves all the time! And moreover, that none of the Demons that Kamado has supposedly 'created' won't eventually start eating humans?" the man with the snake asked. "A good question Obanai. And I have an answer to that for you all" the young man replied calmly. One of the children by his side walked over to the door and slid it open. Suddenly all of his children ran out towards them.
His and Kie's children, including Tanjiro and Nezuko, the Shinazugawa children, and Haruka. Then the Siblings who'd gone to work at the Butterfly Mansion also walked out into the room. "Dad!" "Papa!" all of them cried out at once, as they all ran over to him. "Are you okay?! Is Mom okay?!" Takeo demanded, while both Rokuta and Koto tried to climb into his arms with Sayuri. "Papa, is this our new Sister?" Rokuta asked curiously, as he looked at the slightly older girl. The black-haired Demon opened her mouth in surprise, and the two boys saw her fangs. "Oh! Is she a good Demon like you and our Mama?" Koto asked curiously, trying to look further into the young Demon girl's mouth.
Sayuri hid herself against him again, feeling nervous with so many other humans around. "Dad. Did you create these Demons? Urokodaki said that you did" Takeo asked, peeking into Kie's box. His Mother knelt on her knees to see him, the Hashira tensing at the sight of the shrunken Demon woman. She smiled through her muzzle as she saw Takeo, reaching out to hug him. "Mom! I'm not a baby anymore!" the spiky-haired 10-year-old groaned, but accepted the hug with a pout. "You're blushing Take'!" Shigeru teased, pointing at his Older Brother. Hanako, Teiko, Sumi and Haruka walked up to him, "are you and Mommy okay Daddy?" Hanako asked worriedly. "Mr Urokodaki said that you might be in trouble" Sumi added. Tanjuro hugged all of his daughters, as Sayuri looked around at everyone in awe.
She'd probably never seen so many kids before. "We're all okay guys, but why are all of you here?" Tanjuro asked. "Because Mr Urokodaki said that a lot of the Hashira were mean, and wouldn't listen to you without proof that you all weren't bad Demons!" Shigeru replied. "So he brought us all here to Testify for you D-Dad" Genya continued. Tanjuro pat the mohawk-haired boy on the head, "don't force yourself. I already see all of you as my children, but if you're not comfortable seeing me the way your younger Siblings do, don't stress. Like I've said before, after what you all went through with your birth Father, I won't blame you if some of you don't want to see me as a Father, okay Genya?" Tanjuro asked softly.
"Right. O-okay" Genya replied with a sigh. Then Kyoshi stepped forwards with his two younger Siblings by his side, "I don't exactly know what's going on, but I do know that you want to kill Mr and Mrs Kamado and Mr Tanjuro's Demons for no reason," he began. "What do 'ya mean: 'for no reason?!' They're Demons! That's the only reason we need!" Tengan cried. Kyoshi gave the man a glare, and continued talking like there hadn't been an interruption, "Tanjuro Kamado saved my life. He protected me from the Demon who was trying to capture and eat me, even at the cost of his own arm. And despite the fact that I'm a Marechi, and was bleeding at the time, he never once tried to eat me. He kept me safe that whole time and reunited me with my younger Siblings, just like he promised he would. He is not like the Demon's who tried to kill me! So please, accept him!" Kyoshi begged, Shoichi and Teruko clinging to their Older Brother.
"As you can see, the Kamado parents both love all of their children, adopted or otherwise. And they are not hurting them. So, is this enough proof for all of you?" the Master asked. "It is for me! I accept the Kamado's as Demon Slayers!" the pink and green-haired girl said cheerfully. The Master nodded, "thank you Mitsuri. And the rest of you?" he asked. the other Hashira stayed silent. "Proof of what?" Haruka asked curiously. "Ah yes, thank you for reminding me Miss Haruka." He said with a gentle smile in the little girl's direction, "There is one more thing that I would like to relay to you my children. Tanjuro and his Son Tanjiro have met Kibutsuji face to face" he said.
Haruka looked down as the Hashira all gasped in shock, "what?! not even a Hashira has crossed paths with him!" Tengen cried. "It's true. I met that monster in Asakusa. He was pretending to be a normal human with a Wife and daughter. Haruka here was his daughter," Tanjuro explained, rubbing the little girl's back as she shuddered. "When we found him, he panicked, tossed Haruka away, literally, and transformed his fake Wife into a Demon. Tanjiro and I were busy doing damage control and couldn't go after him" Tanjuro explained. There was silence after that. "I think Muzan came after me personally as well. I'm sure it was him on that night," Tanjuro said thoughtfully.
"I'd never forget those eyes. And Tanjiro said that the smell from our house was the same as his too" he said as he clenched his fists. "With all of this in mind, I believe that it would be negilant of us to not take advantage of this opportunity. Not to mention, with Tanjuro presenting such a big risk to him, I believe that Kibutsuji will come after him again, or at least send more Upper Ranks to kill Tanjuro, like he has already done with Upper Three" the Master explained. There was a moment of silence, before the flame-haired man laughed, "well, I suppose that's it then! We shall let them all live to aid us in take down Kibutsuji! That's what you want, isn't it Master?" he asked.
"Kyojuro," the Master replied. "Isn't that too dangerous?! Are we forgetting that this guy is a Demon King as well?! What if he turns on us?!" the man with the snake cried. "Obanai, I believe that it would be beneficial to the Corps to allow the Kamado parents as well as Tanjuro's Demons to live. Do you trust me?" he asked. The bandaged man sighed after a moment and looked down, "I do Master" he replied, his snake flickering his tongue out and tasting the air. "We're in agreement then," the Corps Master said, and turned to Tanjuro and his Demons, "Tanjuro Kamado. We will allow you to keep doing what you have been doing. However, I would like you to report to me whenever you create a new Demon. Is that alright?" he asked.
Tanjuro nodded, "that's fine. And, uh, could you tell me your name Sir?" he asked. Some of the Hashira made to grab their weapons in offense, but the man simply held up his hand, and they knelt down again. He turned back to Tanjuro, "certainly. My name is Kagaya Ubuyashiki. I hope we can all work together to take down Muzan and end this era of suffering" Kagaya said with a gentle smile. "Tanjuro, I have had a house made in the Corps Headquarters for you and all of your children, if you would like to stay there" he suggested.
"Thank you very much Mr Kagaya" the Kamado Demon replied. He stood up with all of his Demon's and children, made sure Kie was secure in her box, then took everyone with him as he followed the Kakushi to their new house.
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As they walked Sanemi sagged with relief, "I thought we wouldn't make it for a minute there" he sighed as he carried Koto on his back. "Yeah, that was too close!" Takeo agreed. "Do you think they would have killed my Mommy too?" Haruka asked nervously. "I wouldn't have let them. In fact, how about, once we're all settled down here, I go to Urokodaki's and turn Miss Shizu into one of my Demons, like I did for Sayuri?" Tanjuro suggested. "Really?! You'd do that?!" Hiroshi asked with a hopeful grin. "Sure. Thanks to Sayuri, we know that I can take Demons from Muzan now. And if I change Miss Shizu into one of my Demons, she won't have to worry about eating, or the sun, or being killed by a Demon Slayer" Tanjuro explained.
"Cool!" Shuya cheered excitedly. "Does that mean that you're going to take Mom with you when you start going on Missions 'Nemi?!" Genya asked. Sanemi frowned, "I'll think about it. But Mom always tried to protect us, no matter how badly hurt she got when she was human. I don't think it's fair of us to ask her to do the same just because she can heal now" he replied. The Shinazugawa children fell silent after that. The Kamado children looked at them worriedly. Tanjuro spoke up, "I think it's only fair to ask your Mother what she wants to do once you become a Demon Slayer Sanemi. I don't think that Miss Shizu is the type of person that would be alright with her child getting hurt just for her sake. How about I take you to Urokodaki's with me when I go to change your Mother into one of my Demons, then she can tell you her thoughts herself once she can talk again. Sound good?" He asked.
"Okay. That makes sense" the white-haired boy agreed. The large family were silent after that as they travelled to their new home.