Final Selection
(Welcome back, let's get right into it. Enjoy.)
There was a reason we won. It was because we learned how to smell the 'opening thread'.
When we fight we can pick up that scent and be guided by it, any openings present are highlighted and when we see them the thread tightens.
My fists, legs, or my sword, the thread connects me to that opening and draws me in to strike… Even though with all our training, Tanjiro's nose is the best one out of us three the thread is the one thing that connects our senses of smell.
Koujo did say something about hearing a sound when he notices his thread, maybe his hearing lets him know that there's an opening in the first place? He's my brother but sometimes he confuses me.
Three boys were shocked at how they managed to split such massive rocks to the point where they didn't even notice the additional presence behind them. "Mister Urokodaki." Tanjiro was first to notice him and the other two quickly turned their eyes to their mentor.
"I had no intention of sending you three into the Final Selection." Tanjiro and Jikon gasped while Koujo sheathed his weapon. "I didn't want to be responsible for another child's death." They all approached him to listen more attentively. "I was sure that none of you would cut through your boulder, but…" He rubbed Tanjiro's hair affectionately. "Well done!" He did the same to Koujo who shrunk at the affection, his upbringing not having anything like this. "Truly you are all remarkable boys. I'm proud." Jikon got the same treatment before he brought the old man into a hug that Tanjiro quickly joined.
'Damn right we're remarkable.' The one boy not in the hug thought to himself, he learned his lesson about speaking up around Urokodaki when he was already talking.
"Make sure you all return from Final Selection alive and well. Nezuko and I will be waiting."
Some time later the group of men was back in their mentor's home. They were seated around a fire with searing fish and a pot of vegetables. "There's so much food, what's the deal?" Tanjiro questioned while the old man put a spoonful of vegetables into a bowl for each of them.
"You've finished your training, this is our celebration. Eat up, don't be shy."
Jikon accepted his bowl with a smile. "Then thank you for the food."
"I'm starving." Koujo let his desires be bared and focused on filling his stomach right then. It was a good time for the three of them, all their hard work so far was rewarded with a delicious meal that seemed to keep coming.
'Boys, I'm sorry that there's nothing else I can do for you. From now on you'll each face unimaginable hardship and strife. The training I put you through won't compare. But at least for tonight you can rest and sleep soundly.'
Tanjiro was seated while Jikon snipped at his long hair with scissors. "Hey, what did you three think of the hotpot?"
"It was great old man." Koujo said while he unwrapped the cloth that framed the long hair on his face.
"I agree, I haven't had a feast like that since…" Tanjiro locked up but it was clear what he meant.
Sakonji nodded and prepared a bit of advice for them. "Growing boys like you get bigger and stronger the more they eat. But that applies to demons as well, remember that the more humans a demon eats the stronger they will be."
Jikon stopped cutting his friend's hair to ask a question. "You're saying that a demon is tougher the more people they eat?"
"That's right. They grow stronger, transform even, and some learn strange abilities." He stood up and opened a cabinet to reveal three objects. "As your senses of smell grow you'll even be able to tell how many poor souls a demon has claimed." He handed Tanjiro a fox mask with the decoration of a red rising sun above the left eye.
"What's this?"
"A warding mask. I've boosted it with a spell that will protect you from harm." He reached for the next one and handed it to Koujo, it was a fox mask with the same white color as Tanjiro's but instead of a rising sun it was decorated with sharp brownish lines around the edge of the face.
'Kinda weird that he chose brown for this design, it almost looks like fire.'
Lastly was Jikon and his mask was also white but it had a black storm cloud on the forehead with small drops of rain falling towards the eyes. "Hey wait a minute, I thought Koujo was using the rain design?" Right then the aforementioned teenager handed the cloth wrappings over to him.
"I've already noticed each of you and what you specialize in. Jikon, I can safely say that you have the greatest affinity with Water Breathing out of the three of you. The rain cloud is yours."
He was hesitant but his fellow students smiled and urged him to accept the accessories. His hair was already cut back to its usual length and so he decided to wrap the cloth around his wrists. "I'll make sure to make you proud, Lord Urokodaki."
It was morning and Tanjiro had just slipped on a blue haori with white clouds just like their master's. He knelt by his sister and held her hand gently. "Nezuko… I promise that I'll come back for you."
Jikon entered from right outside with Kai's sword on his hip, clad in the same haori that Tanjiro just put on. His mask was on the right side of his face. "Ready to step off?"
"Yeah." Tanjiro slid his mask onto the left side of his face.
They walked outside where Koujo was dramatically sliding on the same haori but with a more dramatic flair against the early morning sun. His mask was already concealing his face, he was the only one out of them that didn't cut his hair last night and somehow the long hair look fit him. "Don't worry about Nezuko, I'll make sure to keep an eye on her."
Tanjiro nodded and the three of them headed off along the trail. "We're off! See you later!" They started off but Tanjiro decided to stop again and yell out another message. "Give Sabito and Makomo our regards!"
Sakonji froze. 'That's impossible… How do you know the names of the dead?!'
Some hours later they came upon trees with beautiful purple flowers along their pathway. "This is wisteria. It's beautiful." Jikon commented as they walked along to a large stairway.
"I thought it was out of season." Tanjiro added as they climbed the stairway and saw at least two dozen other candidates for Final Selection. 'There's so many.' He noted a boy with yellow hair, one with a Mohawk and a scarred face, and a girl with half her hair tied to the right side of her head with a butterfly hairpin.
Two children with matching kimonos were standing beside each other with lamps in their hands, one of them had stark white hair and the other had jet black hair. "Good evening. Tonight you've come to enter the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection." They spoke in unison.
"Here on Mt. Fujikasane, there are several demons that were captured alive by demon slayer swordsmen for this event." The white haired one started.
"The wisteria blossoms prevent them from leaving. They bloom on this mountain year round, and cover everything from the base to halfway up the mountain." The raven haired one continued.
White hair spoke again. "However there is no wisteria from this point on. So demons roam freely and they're very hungry."
"You'll need to survive for one week beyond the wisteria's protection to pass Final Selection." Black hair finished.
They spoke in unison once more. "Now, your trial begins."
Three boys who learned under the same master nodded at one another and took their steps forward. This was their actual first step into their individual goals, their common goal being to figure out how to cure Nezuko of her demonic body.
They were running through the darkness together with a common goal. "Survive! Once the sun is up they won't be able to do anything!" Tanjiro said as they decided to break apart and go about this individually.
"I'll see you both at the bottom!" Koujo leapt away while Jikon ran alongside Tanjiro for a few more moments.
"Head towards the East. The sun will rise faster there so we can make it!" The two of them split up and went about this their own way.
Jikon was running through the woods with a careful precision that betrayed his inner feelings. 'There might be some really strong demons on this mountain, last thing I need is to run into one of them first day.' He was being cautious in his approach and rightfully so, after finding out that demons would be even stronger the more humans they ate he figured that all the people who didn't survive this test had to have gone somewhere… And it wasn't hard to figure out where since the mountain was teeming with things that ate humans. "That smell!" He stopped and grabbed the hilt of Kai's sword in preparation of whatever type of demon was coming his way.
Not one, not two, but three male demons came from the dark of the night with saliva dripping from their mouths. "Would you look at that? Nice young meat."
"I'll take the liver, you can have the eyes." The middle one said with a slight growl, while the only one that remained silent just sighed.
"That leaves me the lungs, I hate the lungs!" He leapt at Jikon with reckless abandon but he hit the ground and dispersed a cloud of dirt. "He moved, maybe your lungs won't be so bad!" They all rushed at once and that left Jikon to test out his moves.
'Remember your training. Total Concentration…' A steady intake of air and a quick smell was all it took. 'The thread!' The line connected to their necks and he started swinging his sword, rushing water with white foaming waves following his blade. 'San no kata: Ryūrū Mai.' (Third form: Flowing Dance). Each of his steps was graceful and three demons were decapitated in his dance.
'I put all my effort into refining my style with the sword, I owe it to Kai to try and master Water Breathing.' He looked behind himself and saw that their bodies were quickly turning to the same black ash that would quickly dissipate into nothing. "They really don't leave anything behind." He remembered Urokodaki's words while he sheathed his weapon.
"A demon's weakest at the neck, but a normal sword is useless even there."
Tanjiro asked the obvious question. "So how do we kill them?"
"The sword wielded by the demon slayers is forged with a special type of steel. It's called a 'Nichirin Sword'."
Koujo was taking that very personally with the demon he was dealing with. "You can't kill me with your bare hands!" She was trying her best to rip his throat open but he was deflecting her nails like she was an angry toddler.
"I can beat you until the sun comes up if I want." He was cocky but it was rightfully so. This female demon was not a proficient fighter and it showed with how she only did her best with brute force and trying to kill him with a classic strike to the throat, but he was different. He practiced. "Shichi no kata-" She rushed him with her fangs bared and claws at the ready. "Shizuku Hamon Tsuki!" (Drop Ripple Thrust). His bare left hand ripped through her chest and covered his haori with her blood, but as a demon that wasn't enough to stop her from going for his neck again.
"You're wide open you little shit!" Her hand was right in front of his vulnerable neck and she even started to smile from how screwed he was. He couldn't dodge with his hand in her, and even if he could she wasn't letting him go. "You're all-" She just saw a stump with blood dripping off it. "Huh?!"
Koujo's right arm was held high with his borrowed sword in hand. "I'm right handed."
"Wait-!" Her head was severed without a second thought and he kicked her body off his left arm.
"Learning how to mix my hand to hand fighting into my training was what I really focused hardest on. A sword isn't bad but it's not what I'm best with. And- And- What is that stink?!" He covered his nose once he detected a rotten smell but he quickly sheathed his sword and slowly moved towards it once he picked up a familiar scent near it. 'Tanjiro!'
That monstrous stack of hands and arms shot an elongated limb right towards a helpless Demon Slayer candidate. 'Stay strong. Save him, you aren't powerless anymore!' Tanjiro leapt into action with a hand on the hilt of his borrowed weapon. 'Mizu no kokyū, Ni no kata: Mizu Guruma!' (Water breathing second form: Water wheel). A perfect circle of blue water and he chopped the arm right off. The Demon Slayer candidate fell to the ground and Tanjiro took up a stance in front of him.
The demon looked at Tanjiro and quickly focused on the mask hanging off his face. "Would you look at that, another sweet little fox."
"Another?"
The arm he cut off grew back as he spoke. "Say fox cub, are we still in the Meiji period?"
"It's the Taisho period now!"
The demon rolled his eyes around in thought. "Taisho?" He started to scream in a rage unlike most others. "Already a new period! Again and I'm still stuck in this wisteria prison! Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Damn you Urokodaki! Damn you! Damn you!"
Tanjiro picked out the interesting part of that rage. "You know Urokodaki?"
"Of course I know him! He's the one who captured me and trapped me here! But that was forty seven years ago! Back when he still hunted demons like me, the Edo period of the Keio era!"
"You're lying!" The unnamed hunter called out. "No demon can live that long on this mountain, the demons here can only eat two or three humans. None of you live long since you die during Final Selection!"
"Yet I've remained here all this time, I've managed to eat fifty of you brats while trapped in this flowery cage."
Tanjiro was disturbed by that number. "Fifty people?" The Hand Demon raised a few arms with digits up to count.
"Eleven, twelve… Thirteen, that makes you number fourteen."
"What are you talking about?"
The Hand Demon laughed giddily before explaining. "That's how many of Urokodaki's students I've managed to eat." He laughed again. "I've promised to kill every single one of them that comes here!" Tanjiro was in shock but the Demon wasn't done. "Of them all two stood out to me. One of them, a boy with an odd shade of pink and a scar by his mouth… he was the strongest of the lot. And a girl with a flowery kimono, not much power but agile like a cat."
'They were dead?! Killed by this demon?! But we trained with them!' Many hands pointed at the mask on his face.
"Your mask, that's what gives you away as one of Urokodaki's brats, they always match the style of the Tengu mask he wears. He calls them warding masks right? To protect you from danger? Ironic how they lead you to die by me! I told the girl and she started crying then went into a fit of rage, but she lost control of herself! I ripped her apart!"
Tanjiro couldn't take it anymore and sprinted towards this many armed freak. "HAAH!" Arms shot out but he sliced each of them off.
'Calm down Tanjiro, your breathing is uneven. Stay focused and forget about us.'
One of the arms made it past his guard and slammed into his side, sending him into a tree. He hit the ground and his mask shattered. 'You're on your own, I'm getting out of here!'
The Hand Demon approached with a laugh and smiled behind the arm covering his face. "There goes another one of Urokodaki's brats. I wonder, how will he feel when another one of his children doesn't make it back home?" An arm elongated and reached for Tanjiro. "The look on his face would be-"
"Mizu guruma!" (Water Wheel). The arm was chopped off in a spin of rushing water, and Koujo was there in front of Tanjiro who snapped awake as if someone was calling his name over and over. "Get away from him you fake Aegaeon!"
The Hand Demon just stopped to laugh again. "That makes you number fifteen! Even better!" The arms started coming again and the two dodged each one that tried to kill them. Wherever they went there were arms chasing them with prejudice.
"Damn, we can't just keep cutting off arms, they grow back!" Koujo realized the issue of cutting off more arms when they'd just grow back, but he also made the mistake of getting punched by another arm and dropping his sword to embed itself in the ground tip first.
"That pink haired brat couldn't even cut off my head, once his blade broke against me… I smashed his head!" More arms flooded towards Tanjiro but he resolved himself.
'I can't let him go, we aren't letting another one of Mister Urokodaki's students die!' Tanjiro ran ahead and started cutting off every arm that tried to stop him. A sniff of the air and he realized that something was coming from below him. He leapt into the air and Hand Demon was nothing short of surprised.
'He jumped? Damnit how did he know?! It doesn't matter, he can't dodge midair!' Another arm stretched out and was about to grab the young Kamado. Luckily he didn't have to dodge.
"Hachi no kata: Takitsubo!" (Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin). A fall of roaring water matched the fall of Jikon's sword and cut the offending hand from its arm, and that gave Tanjiro a straight path to this Demon's neck.
"Another one?! Now this is annoying, it's a bargain sale of his brats!"
"Can they really win? His neck is so thick, can it even be cut?" Makomo questioned.
"I can't say whether or not they'll win or lose, but there is one thing for certain." Sabito paused. "They cut through their boulders, the largest and toughest boulders of all."
Koujo spun and kicked his weapon into the air then grabbed it and took up a stance. Jikon leapt into the air at the same time as his brother and they all noticed the strings at different parts of this Demon's neck.
'Total Concentration. Water breathing!'
'They're planning an attack? Not to worry. My neck is tough. Even with all three of them focusing they won't cut through!'
'First form!"
'The second they break their swords, I'll grab their skulls and crush them! Just like the pink haired one!' More arms came towards each of the boys as they gave their battle cries. They swung their weapons at three different points-
"Water surface slash!"
The Hand Demon's neck didn't stand a chance.
He remembered that same form, it was Urokodaki who attacked him in a similar way. The same outfit even, and it overlapped with the three boys slicing his head off. 'No! No! No! My body's falling apart and disappearing, and I can't stop it!' The three sheathed their weapons and watched as the lumbering body disintegrated to nothing. 'The face of those two and that one's mask are the last thing I see?! Damn it all!'
A boy was alone, he was crying. He was looking for his brother. But he couldn't find him, he'd already been eaten by a demon… By him. Tanjiro walked up to the demon's head and a few arms then held one of his hands. "What a sad scent." He bowed his head as the demon wept. "Please God, when this man is reborn-" His prayer was interrupted by Koujo stomping what was already disappearing. "Why did you do that?!" He couldn't see his face behind his fox mask but he was certain that it held no sympathy.
"Praying for a demon doesn't help you or them Tanjiro. Whatever happens to him in the next life is already decided, give him his respects and move on with your life." It was brutal but at least he wasn't outright saying that praying for a demon wasn't as important as for a human. "After all, we can't waste time praying for everyone when we need to find out how to cure Nezuko."
Tanjiro didn't feel the same and he continued his prayer even when the demon's body was gone… Although the second half of his statement was true.
He used the Drop Ripple Thrust and tore through a hungry demon's chest with his bare hand… for the seventh time so far. "Do you really have to do that with your fist?" Jikon was asking the real questions but his brother shrugged it off.
"How do you turn a person who became a demon into a human again?" The demon was too busy trying to rip his throat out to answer, but with one arm being held by Koujo's other hand and the other one growing back his luck was limited. "Fine, keep your secrets." A swing of his sword and this one was dead, no information gained.
Tanjiro was frustrated at how this was the third demon who had nothing on how to help his sister, and while he was still upset at Koujo for what happened the other night he couldn't help but be thankful for running into them again. "They're too starved to try and tell us, even if they knew. I'm sorry Tanjiro, we haven't been able to help much." Jikon was helping as well, after all who else was able to remove limbs with careful slices that allowed them to question these demons so far?
"It's fine. You've both been really helpful. I just wish-" Bushes rustled and more demons showed their faces to them. "I wish we could get a lead!" They each struck and the demons were no more.
They ran down the pathway and started to receive the blessed purple illumination of wisteria leaves. They all looked up and sighed. "We made it!" Jikon exclaimed. They weren't too bad for wear, the hardest fight was done together and they met back up for this.
The rising sun was at their back and they saw three other Demon Slayers. The boy with yellow hair, butterfly pin girl, and mohawk guy. "I'm gonna die. I'm a goner. Even if I survive now, soon enough I'll die." That blonde was giving Jikon a bad mood just from hearing his negativity.
"Welcome back everyone." The guides spoke together again.
"Congratulations." White hair seemed to always speak first.
"We're pleased to see that you're safe."
Mohawk boy was just as irritated as he looked. "I made it back alive, where's my sword?"
"First we must issue you all your uniforms. We will take your measurements, after which we will engrave your ranks onto the back of your hands."
Black hair was next. "There are ten ranks in total."
"Kinoe." White.
"Kinoto." Black.
"Hinoe." White.
"Hinoto." Black.
"Tsuchinoe." White.
"Tsuchinoto." Any author writing this would be very annoyed at having to constantly log who was speaking so assume that they believe any reader is smart enough to figure it out onward.
"Kanoe."
"Kanoto."
"Mizunoe."
"Mizunoto."
White began the next explanation. "Currently you are all at the rank, Mizunoto. This is the lowest rank in the Demon Slayer Corps."
"And our swords?" Mohawk boy was really starting to irritate Koujo with his lack of patience.
"You will be given a chance to select the ore that will be used to forge your swords, however it will take up to two weeks for your weapons to be complete."
"Ugh, really?"
"But first-" White hair clapped her hands and a group of birds landed on the new Slayers.
"We must assign you each a Kasugai Crow." Koujo finally managed to piece it together and he realized that black hair was slightly different than white hair right as his bird landed on his shoulder and he raised a brow.
"We get crows now?" Tanjiro said as his crow landed on him. "What for?"
"The Kasugai Crows are used to facilitate communication."
The yellow haired boy was just as surprised as Koujo was. "Wait crows? This is a sparrow."
"Mine's a hawk…" Koujo wasn't exactly complaining but he clearly didn't have a crow.
"I don't need this crap." Mohawk scared his crow away and approached the twins angrily. "I don't care for a stupid crow!" He grabbed white hair roughly and brought her to his face. "I want my sword right now! Give it to me before I get mad, the color changing katana. I want it now!" Someone grabbed his forearm.
Jikon wasn't easy to piss off but this guy just struck a chord with him, Tanjiro was by his side and supporting this fully. "Let her go now, or I'll break your arm." Koujo might be the brawler but he definitely wasn't a slouch at using his hands.
"Who the hell are you?" The yellow haired boy was panicking while Koujo stared at the interaction with his mask still covering his face. "Give that your best shot, I dar-" Jikon squeezed and bones crunched. "Gaah!" They both stood in front of the girl and her twin interrupted.
"Are you done with your chat?" Koujo felt the need to drop a bomb.
"Yes young man, they're done." Everyone but the yellow haired boy looked at him in surprise, even the distant looking girl with a butterfly hairpin was surprised. The young boy pulled a purple drape off the table behind him and revealed fifteen lumps of ore, which Jikon quickly did the math on.
'There were more than twenty of us when this started. They didn't even think we'd all make it… depressing.'
"Now then, please choose an ore. The steel that you will use to slay countless demons and protect yourself will be that of your own choosing."
Yellow hair decided to voice his own thoughts. "I'm gonna be dead soon anyway… probably."
Tanjiro was looking over every lump of ore and was confused. "We have to pick our own, but I've never even seen ore. I don't know what to choose."
"Me neither." Koujo replied.
"I have no idea what to pick." Mohawk was surprisingly calm despite his broken ulna and radius.
Tanjiro sniffed the air and took the first step to choose his ore. Jikon did the same and grabbed one from the far right. Koujo decided to really be unique. "Hey, Noka." He looked directly at his hawk. "I trust you to pick." The hawk looked confused for a second but it quickly nodded and flew to the table to land on one of the lumps of ore.
"Oh is that so? As many as seven of them survived this time?" He softly pet his own crow as he sat on the deck of his home. "Excellent. The number of my children continues to grow, I wonder what kinds of swordsmen they'll be?"
The water breathing trio was walking towards Mt. Sagiri as a group with bags over their shoulders, they didn't have too much trouble on their trip. "My body hurts, but I don't even want to think about if I had to do this alone." Jikon said as he slightly limped on his right foot. Koujo had his mask off and connected to his hip.
Tanjiro smiled despite the pain in his side. "Yeah, this would be awful if I had to do all of that by myself." Their trip continued into the night where they finally came upon the cozy home of their master. "We made it. Nezuko… Urokodaki." The door was kicked open- Down… it was kicked down and the boys were shocked by whom. "Nezuko… it's you! You're awake!" Tanjiro hurried towards her and she ran to him. He tripped and picked himself up to be hugged closely by his remaining family member. "Why'd you do that?" Tears were running down his face and even the brothers behind him joined the hug.
"We thought you'd never wake up…" Koujo said.
"We were scared that you'd die!" Jikon said with a tone of happiness. Sakonji dropped the wood he was carrying and walked towards them and joined the hug.
"You all- You all came back alive." Tears were behind his mask, but they were of joy. Some time later they were all seated inside with fresh clothes on their backs. "You did it, you all killed that mutated demon."
"Damn right." He knew it wasn't something he should say but the Old Man let it slide this time.
"Then it's finally over. I'm truly impressed that you all made it back."
"Thanks." Tanjiro said.
"You should know that there are many kinds of demons. Some demons have a 'blood demon art', a spell which gives them special abilities. You'll end up facing them in the future and that will be harder than anything you three have done. But I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be fine."
Tanjiro smiled from the praise and the other brothers nodded. "So I think my sister is different than other demons. Do you think it's because of this bloody art thingy?"
"No I think it's something else. I wouldn't call that an example of the blood demon art. It's a guess but I believe Nezuko can recover her strength by sleeping as opposed to eating flesh like other demons."
They sat in front of her with varied expressions on their faces. "Don't worry, I'll protect you Nezuko."
Jikon had a small smile on his face. "I forgot how adorable she is when she's awake." The other two eyed him like he just grew a second head.
Fifteen days later a man was walking down the path towards Sakonji's home with bells chiming from his hat. The boys watched him approach. "My name is Haganezuka, I forged the swords of Jikon Hakuga, Koujo Itadake, and Tanjiro Kamado." The three bowed to him.
"Oh that's us." Tanjiro said as the man unwrapped their weapons.
"These are Nichirin swords. The materials for these come only from the mountain closest to the sun. Made of Scarlet Iron sand and Scarlet ore. They produce steel that can absorb sunlight, you see."
"That's so interesting." Koujo said with faux interest.
"Mt. Yoko is bathed in sunlight all day, never even a cloud in the sky."
Urokodaki was seated inside and shaking his head. "The man still doesn't listen to a word other people say."
Haganezuka got really close to Tanjiro and Koujo as well. "Hey, you're a kid of brightness aren't you?" The comedic mask he wore betrayed his serious voice.
The boys were very confused. "Uh, my parent's names were Tanjuro and Kie."
"Not what I mean." He tapped Tanjiro's forehead. "You know how your hair and eyes have that reddish hue to them? When a family that works with fire has a child like you, it's considered lucky and cause for celebration." He was poking the boy in the face now.
"Really? I had no idea." He said with his cheek being touched uncomfortably.
He poked his finger towards Koujo but the boy slapped it away, his personal space being personal. "Sort of like you with those red eyes." Koujo was surprised at that one. Since his eyes were brown just like his mother's.
"Uh, my eyes are brown, good sir." Jikon and Tanjiro raised their eyebrows at that statement.
"Uh, your eyes are bright red." Jikon said but Koujo didn't believe that for a second.
"What are you talking about? I've seen brown and my eyes are just that." He pulled a handheld mirror out of… somewhere and looked at his face. "There, brown!"
Tanjiro was equally confused and clearly saw otherwise. "You do have red eyes, they almost look fire red actually."
"You're all crazy!" Urokodaki decided to come outside right then and prove who was right.
"Koujo, your eyes are indeed red." He couldn't say that the old man was wrong, well he could but it wouldn't go well for him. "Better yet, what does my mask look like to you?"
The teenager looked at the stern faced mask and said his answer with full confidence. "It's just a normal brown-gray color, I don't see the problem." Everyone was nothing short of speechless. "Why are you all staring at me?" The old man ruffled his hair while his younger brother was just speechless.
"It seems that you're a tad… colorblind." Sakonji said from behind his red mask. Koujo reeled back then deflated, realizing that he couldn't properly make out some colors.
"That aside-" He looked at Tanjiro again. "Your reddish hair and eyes mean that your sword could turn red! Right Urokodaki?"
"Yes."
They were all inside now with their swords on their lap, while Koujo had one katana on his lap and two smaller weapon sheathes. "Come on draw them already! Nichirin blades are also called color changing katana's, they change color depending on the bearer."
Jikon went first and drew his sword. It had a hilt with white as the main color and green accents. He raised it and the edge turned as blue as the water from a fresh spring. "That makes sense to me." It was expected with his affinity for water breathing.
Tanjiro went next and drew his sword, he held the edge up and watched as it turned dark as night. "Black?!" Haganezuka said angrily.
"That's unusual."
Tanjiro was concerned about their varied responses. "Is that bad? Does the sword being black mean something bad, is it unlucky?" Haganezuka was struggling to contain his anger while Sakonji answered.
"No no, it's just odd. You don't see it often." That left Koujo to unwrap two metal pieces that were definitely not swords. "Those are rather strange weapons, I'm assuming you asked for them to be specially made?"
"Yep! These are perfect!" He put them against his shins and tied them around his legs with the, red not brown, cords that were attached to them. "I got disarmed against the Hand Demon, then against some other demon during Final Selection." He grabbed the black hilt of his sword and noticed the white accents. "I can fight hand to hand but that's no good against a demon. Now it makes a difference!" He drew his sword and altogether the Nichirin touching him turned-
"BRIGHT RED!" Haganezuka was happier than he'd been in a while, he nearly gave up hope but this was exactly what he needed to see right about now! The edges of Koujo's weaponry all turned to a shade of red and despite his color blindness, he could see the crimson shade just fine. Maybe being aware of it helped him?
Cawing and a piercing cry brought their attention to the window where two crows and a hawk landed. "Tanjiro Kamado!"
"Jikon Hakuga!"
"Koujo Itadake!"
"They talk?!" Again Jikon was asking the right questions.
"Make your way to a town northwest of here, and hurry. Young girls are disappearing!" Tanjiro's crow spoke with a raspy voice.
"Night after night a young girl vanishes, hunt down the demon lurking there and kill it." Noka the hawk had a calm voice that flowed like warm honey.
"Prepare yourselves well, this is your first assignment as members of the Demon Slayer Corps." Jikon's crow was obviously female and had a voice that was relaxing to hear.
"Our first assignment?" Tanjiro said, clenching his sword.
"Let's go!" Koujo said with excitement.
"They can talk?!" Jikon was the only one acting normal at the news of talking animals but the other two ignored him in place of being ready for their first mission.
The Demon King appears
"Now that you three have officially become Demon Slayer Swordsmen, I have to explain some things." The boys were seated in front of Sakonji and a box was to the right of the old man.
"Right!" Tanjiro exclaimed
"The uniform you three have on is made of a special fiber. It's breathable, water resistant, and non flammable. The fangs and claws of a low level demon can't penetrate it."
Koujo's uniform had a slight red tint, he didn't have a haori covering over it. Tanjiro's had a red tint as well but of a darker shade, his green and black checkered haori was over the uniform. Jikon's uniform was a very dark shade of blue, he had a fresh haori to match his master's. Oddly enough none of them asked for these slight color details but it somehow went through. "These are impressive outfits." Jikon rubbed the fabric of his clothing in contemplation.
"Now about your swords. The colors vary from owner to owner, and each hue has unique characteristics. However there aren't many owners with black blades so little is known about them. Some even believe that it's a bad omen."
Tanjiro was rightfully curious. "Bad omen? What's that mean? How so?"
"Black blades are said to be wielded by swordsmen who won't go very far."
The young Kamado smiled despite the news. "Well I don't really care for being famous, because we're going to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human."
Sakonji smiled. "Yes you will, I have no doubt that you'll make that happen as a group." He grabbed the box at his side and moved it in front of him. "And here is one last thing, a box to carry Nezuko in during the day. It's built from a very light wood that I coated in rock lacquer to enhance its durability."
"Thank you very much." Tanjiro picked it up and marveled at its weight or lack thereof. "Here Nezuko, hop in for a ride." The girl crawled from beneath the futon she was under and into the box. "From now on, we'll always be together."
"Well we're off, Lord Urokodaki." Jikon said as they stood outside. He looked at the grave he built and placed Kai's sword over with one last glance.
"Before you all go, do you mind?" He started fixing up their uniforms. Buttoning up their top buttons, fixing their sleeves, and for the brother duo he made sure their masks were comfortably affixed around their waists. With that they stepped off.
Some time later they were on a bridge overlooking a river and a town with plenty of buildings. "Town to the northwest, this should be it." Koujo said as they continued in. The trip walked down the street and saw a tired man in a blue kimono with a brown haori, people making comments about his condition all the while. Tanjiro turned and got his attention.
"We'd like to hear what happened last night!"
He brought them to an alleyway. "This is where Satoko vanished, not like you believe me."
"We believe you, and we're going to help." Jikon checked the walls while Tanjiro dropped and sniffed the ground. "You getting it too Tanjiro?"
"Yeah, it's faint but it's there."
Koujo held a finger to his chin in thought, he also noticed that the smell was weak but put the pieces of how Satoko would just disappear. "If it made her vanish then it might either be really fast or have one of those Blood Arts the old man talked about." The other two looked at him in realization, the implications of what they'd fight against being obvious.
All day they traced the scent through the town, weird stares following them the entire time. Alleys, main streets, backyards. Nothing was out of reach to investigate. "I'm flattered that you all care so much but it's late, shouldn't we pick this up in the morning?"
Tanjiro dropped and checked the street they were on. "They're only active at night, we don't have time to rest." Kazumi was starting to do the math. "There's a new scent in the area, it's nearby."
"Wait a second. Are you three-?"
"How terrifying. I want you to stay indoors at night for the time being."
She nodded. "I will mother. Goodnight, I'm going to bed." She opened the door and walked to her room, unaware of the slowly moving mass of black water behind her. It slid right beneath her door while she changed and went into her futon. "I wonder what happened to the girls who disappeared, I hope they're okay." Ironic. The black puddle grew under her sleeping form and two arms slipped out from oblivion over her face…
"You picked that up?" Koujo exclaimed.
"That's a smell I can't mistake!" Jikon said.
"The demon's active!" They sprung into action and leapt across rooftops to find where the action was going down. Kazumi couldn't keep up with their speed. They landed in an alleyway right behind someone's house. The smell was strongest here. "They're right here, two scents. A demon and a human girl." Tanjiro drew his sword and took a stance while Jikon did the same.
"I don't see anything, but the smell is strong." Jikon looked around to catch any markings showing where they went.
Koujo drew his sword and looked at the ground. "I hear water, right… Here!" He stabbed his blade into the dirt and a black puddle appeared with a green kimono floating in it. He grabbed the girl and yanked her out of whatever was holding her. A demon with three horns and dark blue hair rose from the murky water and stared at the three of them as its arm healed from the cut Koujo left.
"Where are the girls you kidnapped?" It started grinding its teeth in response to Tanjiro's question, but it was more intimidating than painful.
"AAH MY EARS!" Oh right, one of them had good ears. Koujo dropped the girl but Kazumi caught her.
Tanjiro asked him to hold her and keep close to at least one of them. "The ground or the wall, it could come from anywhere." Jikon said as he and Tanjiro surveyed the area with their swords drawn. "But you know what they can't hide?"
Tanjiro nodded and locked onto it. "Their scent!" They both turned and four black masses came from nowhere. "There's four of them!" They jumped into the air and readied their techniques.
"Hachi no kata: Takitsubo!" (Eighth form: Waterfall basin).
They used the same technique but neither of them landed a decisive strike. 'Damn it! Not a single good hit!' The demon's retreated and they did the same while Koujo fully recovered from the assault on his ears. "Remember Tanjiro, don't lose your nerve. They have the same scent so one demon split into four. We need to get him to talk about Muzan Kibutsuji."
Koujo heard something and focused his own technique to stop it dead in its tracks. "Ni no kata kai: Keisha Mizu Guruma!"(Second form improved: Slanted water wheel). A violent rush of water in a diagonal wheel made a devastating blow that almost separated the upper and lower body of its target. "Shit I missed!" He attacked again but didn't give chase when the black puddle pulled back. "I'll stay with these two, you two can chase them." There were four demons and three of them, the odds were as even as they'd get.
"You bastards!" Two horn regenerated and called out in a rage. "She'll go stale! Get out of our way! She's already sixteen and losing flavor every second, if I don't eat her soon there won't be any left at all!"
Black water bubbled behind them and another demon with one horn rose with a calm expression. "Calm down other me and take a breath. It's not a big deal, nights like this happen. We've already feasted on plenty of sixteen year old girls, I'm satisfied with that as is."
"I'm not! I wanna eat them all!" Three horn rose on the roof to their left and four horn came from the wall on the right.
Kazumi had enough. "Monsters! Bring Satoko back, the girl you took the other night!" They started grinding their teeth again but this time Koujo wasn't in horrific pain from the sound, just mild pain.
"Satoko? Which one was that again?" He opened his jacket to show an array of hairpins. "If her hairpin is in this collection then I'm afraid I've already eaten her. Sorry." They all retreated into the dark.
Veins were bulging on Tanjiro's face as he remembered the slaughter of his own family. Three horn charged him from the deep below but he was faster and cleaved their arm off. 'I missed again! They move so fast!' Another puddle appeared on the wall. 'I'm too close!' Jikon came to the rescue and blocked four horn's assault, but two horn came from the ground while Tanjiro recovered. The box opened and Nezuko's foot slammed into his face, his head spinning around countlessly.
One horn came out of his puddle. 'Why would a demon be working with a mere human? This doesn't make any sense. Who are these three?' He slid back into the depths while two horn spun his head around to its normal place.
"Oh no you don't!" Koujo dropped right on him and wrapped his hand around his throat but it was for nothing, he slipped back into the depths of that black water.
"I'm not sure if it'll help but while Nezuko slept I used a hypnotic suggestion on her."
"For what?"
"I convinced her that all humans were her family, and that demons were her enemy!"
Nezuko ran at the exposed three horn demon and slammed her foot down but she only cracked the ground instead of a skull. One horn laughed and sunk away with her giving chase. "Nezuko! Don't chase him! Come back to us." She started running back and a black puddle opened ahead of her with four horn reaching his arms up.
"Hah!" Nezuko flipped over him and landed safely to get back to her brother. "Next time I'll-" The sound of something sliding against the ground made him turn and see Koujo sliding towards him.
"Big mistake…" He spun like a wheel and a rush of water followed his right leg into a sideways water wheel. "Martial style!" His shin blade connected with the demon's neck and took his head right off!
"That's one." Tanjiro looked at their numbers and formed a plan. "Nezuko and Koujo can protect those two, we can go into their territory and take them down." Jikon nodded at the idea right when a black puddle opened at their feet. They jumped back but two horn emerged and went for Nezuko but missed entirely. "Nezuko! Work with Koujo and keep them safe. Can you do that for me?" The girl nodded with a muffled affirmation.
"Then let's go." Jikon stepped in first and Tanjiro followed him.
Two horn laughed for some reason but Koujo shot him a 'really?' Look.
"What is all this?" There were torn clothes and accessories all over the place. "Wait it's… it's clothing."
Tanjiro found it unforgivable how many innocent girls this monster ate. "We won't let you get away with this!"
"I'm sure you noticed it's a bit hard to breathe. There's not much air in this bog, and the darkness closing in on you must add to that suffocation. Maybe you should've looked before you leapt!" They both swam for the pair with murderous intent.
'You're underestimating us. The air on Mt. Sagiri was even thinner! And there's some techniques we can only use at their best in the water!' Tanjiro thought.
Jikon watched as the demons swam around them like sharks to their prey. 'I guess this really is their element after all, but it doesn't matter.' He clenched his sword closely. "Tanjiro, synchronize with me!"
The demons approached and the thread appeared. 'Total Concentration…' Tanjiro focused his breathing and matched Jikon.
'Water breathing…' Jikon held his sword firmly and turned his lower half away from his upper body while Tanjiro did the same.
'Roku no kata…' They both twisted their entire bodies in sync and shredded the approaching demons like paper.
"Whirlpool!"
Jikon started swimming out without hesitation but Tanjiro stayed to grab something. 'Can't breathe! Need to get out of here!'
Back on the surface there were two demons and a human in a brawl. Nezuko was going toe to toe with the last bog demon and she landed a hit right to his stomach. 'This girl's powerful! She hasn't picked up any skills yet but she's so strong!' He started forming the black puddle below him but a sense of impending danger made him turn and be introduced into Koujo's foot. 'The human isn't weak either! I thought he was suicidal when he took his sword off but he's been hurting me as bad as the girl!' He recovered and Nezuko kicked him away again, the two were a shockingly good team.
"Dance with us! Dance the dance of life, swamp bastard!" Koujo was taunting him while using sweeping kicks and solid punches.
'Damn it! I can't get back to the bog!' He started blocking Nezuko's hits but Koujo was there to double the attacking force. 'I can see through her one trick style but he won't let me take the openings!'
"The others are back, be ready to talk…"
Bog demon opened his mouth but with a decisive kick he found his legs separated from his body, and one of his arms followed suit. "Hah-" Koujo pinned the last arm to the wall right when Jikon and Tanjiro came from the bog. 'They took out the other two of me? Those stupid kids?!'
Tanjiro approached with his sword in hand. "You smell awful, like rotten oil. How many people have you killed?"
"Oh shut up! If women live too long they turn ugly and don't taste good anymore! I did you a favor by killing them!" That was a twisted way to justify eating teenage girls. "You should be thanking-" Watching a bare fist cave a jaw in was not something Tanjiro had on his mind for that evening but he couldn't cut out the demon's tongue with Koujo so close.
"That aside… What do you know about Muzan Kibutsuji? Tell us now!"
The bog demon froze and struggled to speak. He saw visions of a stylish man holding a finger up to signify silence. "I- I-"
"Talk damn it!" Koujo broke the arm in his hand as the demon struggled to even make a sentence.
Tanjiro inhaled the smell the demon was giving off and it was drastically different than before. 'There's just fear now.'
"I can't say! I can't tell you! I can't tell you! I can't! I can't!" He broke down into tears and regenerated his lost limbs. "I can't tell you anything!" The blue edged sword in his throat stopped any of his motion and Koujo moved out of the way. Jikon spun and elegantly cut off the last bog demon's head.
"Damn. Nothing learned from him." He sheathed his sword while Tanjiro ran to his sister and examined her sleeping form.
"She's okay, I didn't let that swamp swimmer get a good hit on her."
Tanjiro was relieved and quickly got his sister back into her box. "Mister Kazumi, are you okay?"
"I lost my fiancé… How can I be okay?" He was crying as he should be.
"Those tears don't bring her back. Be sad she's gone but don't stop living because of it." Koujo reattached his sword to his hip while he gave his rough advice.
"What my brother means… Is that you need to keep going for Satoko's sake."
Tanjiro handed over a piece of fabric and Kazumi opened it then started crying even more. "I hope that gives you some closure." They started walking off towards the rising sun while Kazumi took his time to grieve over what he lost.
"Th-Thank you! All of you! I'll never forget this!" He yelled as they walked away.
Jikon turned and gave one last piece of advice. "That girl's in your care now, make sure she gets home safely."
On the road again they heard the sound of cawing and a hawk's screech. Noka landed on Koujo's shoulder. "Another mission for the brotherly trio, head to Asakusa Tokyo. Rumor has it that a demon is on the prowl."
"Another mission already? No rest for us I guess." Koujo's traveling partners sighed and with hung shoulders started walking towards this new location.
Hustle and bustle. People all over, the dead of night yet it was bright as can be. Three boys were wide eyed and Nezuko was struggling to stay awake on her feet. "Big cities have come a long way haven't they?" Tanjiro said as his fellow rural boys tried to take in everything around them.
"It's overwhelming…" Jikon said as they stepped onto a trolley track and quickly stepped back to avoid the metal transport. Tanjiro pulled a hood over his head while Jikon and Koujo slipped their masks onto their faces. They hurried through the crowds and quickly made their way to a more secluded spot with an udon cart.
"Excuse me sir, can I get a bowl of udon with grated yam?" Tanjiro looked like an old man in a teenage boy's body right then.
"Can I get a bowl of udon with pork cutlets?" Jikon looked at his elder brother and figured to go in on that order. "Make that two."
"Coming right up." The bald man made their food and quickly served each of them. "Here you go boys, tell me how you like it."
They each sipped the broth when Tanjiro noticed something disturbing. He dropped his bowl and stood up with an expression of- Pure distress. "That scent…"
Jikon picked up on the smell as well. "A demon? They're… I can almost taste their strength…"
Tanjiro grabbed his sword and ran off, leaving the two brothers with Nezuko and their food. "A demon wouldn't try something with that many people around would it?"
Jikon stared at his food in thought while his brother set his down and grabbed his own sword. "Should we go after him? Something dangerous could happen." He reached for his own sword but his brother stopped him.
"We can't leave Nezuko alone, but I don't want to send you after Tanjiro with a demon that strong around." Protective instincts were obviously shown in that case and Jikon quickly decided to continue eating his udon.
"You stayed with her for the last demon we were against, I guess I'll take my turn now." Koujo nodded and ran after Tanjiro with his sword on his hip, he removed his mask and put it back on his waist as he sprinted back into the city.
Koujo appeared on the scene and watched as a strange woman and young man led Tanjiro away with a restrained demon and an injured woman in their company. He noticed how everyone around them seemed to be unable to see them even as they were right in front of the crowd, clear as glass but it was like they were gone from the world. 'Hm. They're demons but they aren't the source of the smell.' He inhaled and caught the scent that- That put a cold sweat on his skin. 'Yep that's it! I'm not letting you get away!' He ran down an alleyway and ran up a wall then jumped off to the adjacent one and climbed up to the rooftops.
A sharply dressed man just stood up from a flood of liquefied flesh and snapped his fingers. Two figures appeared in the alley behind him, kneeling in respect. "There is a Demon Slayer wearing Hanafuda earrings. Bring me his-" He stepped back to avoid the rushing torrent of water in a spiraling wheel.
Koujo was before three demons, the one he just tried to assassinate being the strongest by a worldly margin. "You- You'd have to be him!" It was unsaid but obvious what he meant by 'him'.
The demons behind the man stood up with a growing anger towards the young Slayer. "How dare you interrupt-" The male stopped when He raised his hand.
"Another one?" He eyed the unique weapons on the boy's shins and the mask on his hip. "I'm sorry but you're far too early to survive what you just attempted. Please explain what would allow you to do something so… Suicidal."
His options were very limited here. He knew he didn't stand a chance against the Demon in front of him and the two behind him didn't look or smell weak either. "My name is Koujo Itadake!" Yelling hid the feeling of dread in his stomach. "If I'm being honest I figured that killing you would be best if I tried to sneak up on you, there's no way I can fight you right now. Your lackeys over there are a different story."
"What did you say?!" The girl demon was pissed at that side comment while her companion stood up as well. She created a mari ball and bounced it with the chime of a bell.
'Perfect! Get them mad and wanting to prove a point!' Basic psychology entailed tricking people into feeling that you were challenging them and they would decide to take up the offer, that made them angry and anger made a person sloppy… Even a demon.
Muzan's slitted eyes glinted in realization. "I see, provoking them with such a base manner of challenge." He saw right through it. "Even if they rose to your petty challenge, what would you gain?"
"The knowledge of beating two demons that are as strong as three each." His name wasn't 'Deduction' for nothing.
The male demon prevented any less than savory looks from crossing his face in the presence of his lord. "We're as strong as five each with our blood demon arts."
"Right, five each." Baiting someone by making them correct misinformation, someone wouldn't stand by and let their abilities be undermined. "Either way, I could take you both down bare handed if I-"
"Kill him. His manipulation won't work while I'm here." Well there went that plan. The female demon rushed him while Muzan nonchalantly stepped away.
Koujo's basic instincts flared to life and he remembered something as he watched her movements and the ball rocket towards him. He took a deep inhale through his clenched teeth in preparation for his defense.
"I didn't just name you 'Kōjō' to be funny, you're named after a move." Kouka was drilling her son with some techniques that he definitely wasn't ready for. "Deduction is part of the sixth one, watch my moves and follow my footwork." She held a sword in her only hand and took up a sturdy stance, but the stance was broken immediately when she spun like a whirlwind. "You have to predict your enemy's movements before you try this technique, otherwise you're wide open when you miss!"
She spun into the air then suddenly planted her feet firmly into the ground and sliced a crescent shape into the tree ahead of her with beautiful red and yellow flames tracing her movements. The move was finished with a powerful swing through the tree, that move split the tree in a U-shaped cut and a downward slice through that. "What's the technique called?" Koujo asked as the tree fell down in four separate pieces.
"It's called-"
A perfectly timed evasive spin to dodge the oncoming Mari ball that slammed into the wall behind him. He landed and planted his feet firmly into the ground then sliced her lower body off with powerful flames illuminating the alleyway.
'He evaded my ball!' She watched him shift his feet and exhale his breath, she was feeling impending pain- If not death. His eyes weren't just red anymore, now they had yellow surrounding his red irises. 'He's… that's going to kill me!'
"Nenshō Kōjō!" (Burning Deduction). His sword was trailed with bright flames and he swung it right for her neck with a surprising level of power for a boy who was only sixteen, his fear at being before the Demon King was gone and he was riding the high of killing the girl in front of him.
The male demon raised his hands and on them were eyes with red arrows in them. 'I will not kill the Hanafuda hunter by myself, I'll stop this brat for my Lord right here an-" Koujo slammed right into the wall and his sword fell to the ground beside him. Muzan lowered his hand and walked to the downed Demon Slayer. Blood was coming down his head and trickling from his mouth, he wasn't wrong when he said that he couldn't win directly.
"As I said, far too soon for you to do this. I assume that you're friends with that boy with the Hanafuda earrings, you have a similar presence about you. Tell me…" He lifted the boy's chin up with a single hand. "You're only a boy but I saw you use two different-" It was unexpected really, but there was no mistaking the splash of crimson fluid onto Koujo's face. Muzan looked at his hand with nothing less than rage in his bloodshot eyes. As the Demon King he regenerated even faster than any other demon so he just saw a normal hand at the end of his arm, but the object that was turning to dust in Koujo's lap while veins bulged all over his face had also been his hand.
"Even- The strongest- Get caught off- Guard! You pale skinned bastard!" His teeth were sharpening and his eyes were going bloodshot, he was occasionally pulsing every few seconds from whatever was going on with his body. He didn't have the intent to kill so the attack went unnoticed, and even Kibutsuji was caught off guard from that simple rising swing.
"Pale… I was going to at least allow you to die in this alley peacefully, but now I'll give you a bit more of a dose." He dragged a nail across his palm and let more blood drop onto the boy's wounds. "Too much of my blood is dangerous for a human, they can't handle such a drastic change and it causes your cells to die."
The temari demon stood up on her new legs in a stupor, the closeness of her death was a real shock for her. 'If it wasn't for Lord Kibutsuji…' Her robe was ruined from his assault and she watched her lord stand up while Koujo convulsed even harder, and wailed in pain.
'It all BURNS!' Bloody tears ran down his face and he fell to his side, his mask falling free from his hip.
"Bring me the head of the boy with Hanafuda earrings." The demon pair knelt again and vanished from the scene while Muzan himself walked away without a care for the scene behind him.
He was alone. He was dying. He was experiencing pain like no other. His sharp fanged mouth opened but he couldn't even scream in pain anymore, it didn't matter if he did anyway. The celebration going on was louder than he could be. "D-Damn it all… I cut the son of a bitch's hand off! A sixteen year old kid!" He grabbed his mask and let the tears fall freely. "I was hit by-" More convulsions and silent screaming. "I was struck by-" He felt his entire body burn with unimaginable pain. "A Smooth Criminal."
'I'm sorry Old Man- I couldn't make it after all, you were right… I was too impatient and headstrong.' Everything started going dark and he knew that he was going right then. "Jikon… I'm sorry that I won't be there- Tanjiro… You were too nice but- I'd do it all over again with you!' A spray of blood and his vision was gone, funny how he could actually make out the color of his sword and the flames on his mask before it all went away.
"Nezuko- I hope… I hope they find a cure for you." Those were his last words. He was gone. Koujo Itadake died in that alley while a hawk circled overhead.
"That udon was delicious!" Tanjiro said as they walked away from the cart. "Hey where is Koujo anyway?"
Jikon was lost on that one. "He ran into the city looking for you, didn't you see him?" Jikon looked down the road and saw a young man with pale skin and two toned hair waiting by a pole.
"We didn't cross paths, but I might've smelled him." Nezuko stopped walking and Tanjiro noticed the boy himself. "Were you here to find us?"
"I'm here on Her orders, to bring you back with me." His voice would've made Koujo angry if he were here and Jikon could say that with full confidence. "Before we go anywhere, do you know that girl is a demon? And an eyesore at that."
'An eyesore?' Tanjiro thought.
'Doesn't that mean ugly? What girl could he be talking about?' Jikon looked around but he and Tanjiro only saw-
"Wait a second… YOU MEAN NEZUKO?!" Tanjiro was angry at how he disrespected his sister like that and Jikon followed that train.
"YOU'RE INSANE, CALLING NEZUKO UGLY!"
Tanjiro splayed his hands and displayed his sister like a show on the roadside. "SHE WAS THE DARLING OF OUR HOMETOWN!"
The boy was silent at the antics these two were pulling and just turned to walk off. "Let's go."
"We're coming! But take back what you said!"
"You just need a better look at my sister somewhere with better lighting!" Tanjiro pointed beneath a lamppost and tried to direct the group that way. "Over there! Come on, this way!
"He's right! That way, you can see that Nezuko-Chan isn't ugly!"
Recap 1
Nothing like a good stretch before a recap, hey it's me, Jikon Hakuga. So a lot happened in this chapter but it wasn't much complicated stuff. Also Aegaeon was a Hecatoncheires in Greek legend, meaning "hundred handed ones" so the insult my brother went for is obvious.
We got through Final Selection as a group and killed that weird Hand Demon. I'm sort of glad Koujo helped me when I blacked out. Even though the guy I saved didn't make it.
It's fine Tanjiro, we all made it through and we avenged all of Urokodaki's other students. Then we went against that bog demon and we used a combined whirlpool to slice them apart.
Then I caught that monster Muzan Kibutsuji… I swore that I'd hunt him down and cut his head off myself!
Technically that happened when neither me or Koujo was there but it was probably pretty cool of you, not everyone swears to kill the Demon Master themselves... I think.
I wonder where Koujo went, I hope he's okay. He might be a bit rough but he means well.
You really are too nice sometimes Tanjiro…