Mount Natagumo
(Oh hey there, glad you could make it back. I truly think pineapple on pizza is a sin, ask anyone born in Italy and they'll disapprove.)
The box opened and slowly but surely, Nezuko crawled out for the night. She stood up and took her adolescent form again only to hear something else in the room. "Nezuko~"
"Hm?" She turned her head and saw Zenitsu poking his fingers together with a giddy smile on his face.
"How are you Nezuko?" He was shaking back and forth like a snake for whatever odd reason.
"Mmh?" He just got even closer to her with that same expression and she started hopping away from him, he just followed her with that same giddy expression.
"Where are you going Nezuko~ Wait for meee~" She stopped but Jikon and Tanjiro shielded the girl with their bodies.
"Zenitsu, stop following her already." Tanjiro said while directly in front of his sister.
"It's getting annoying." Jikon was right beside him and was either being a good Samaritan… or was just trying to hog Nezuko's attention to himself!
Zenitsu looked normal for a second before he got that same giddy face. "Tan… ji… ro…" If Jikon was going to get in the way then he'd have to get to Nezuko a different way.
"Ah!" Tanjiro recoiled and soon both he and his sister were running away from Zenitsu with Jikon behind him.
"Let's be best friends Tanjiro!" Being Tanjiro's best friend would mean that he'd always be closest to Nezuko!
"Zenitsu quit chasing us!"
"Don't be a stranger Tanjiro!"
"Maybe you could leave them alone, Zenitsu?"
Outside of the room sat two individuals who were having a decent conversation at the time. Both of them were in their usual clothes with all the wear and tear that they had. "I live to fight and prove myself that way. The fun of battle and using things as my springboard to go even higher is what I enjoy the most." Inosuke was actually happy to explain what made him happiest even while the other four inside made all of their noise.
"I like fighting just as much. Now that I'm like this I can prove myself the best that there is." Koujo said with a smile on his face, his sharp teeth not threatening the wild boy in the slightest.
Inosuke snorted below his mask. "Yeah yeah, but you won't be better than me for long. I'll find your weak point and beat you Dojo!"
"How are you gonna beat me when you don't know my name?"
Again Inosuke just snorted. "I know your name, Gojo Edamame."
"Not it."
"Todo Kanake?" That was a question and somehow it was wrong… even though that wasn't even possible.
"Not even close."
"Korone Josuke!"* The confidence behind his voice would make you think he was right, when he was-
"Totally wrong. I'm scared of what you think my brother's name is."
Inosuke hummed for a second and voiced his recollection. "He's Tonton Hyuga right?" No response… not a sound of anything but the gentle rustle of wisteria that still gave Koujo a bad feeling throughout his body, until they both started with light snickering that grew into full laughter under the beautiful moon.
"Well isn't there anything else you like doing other than fighting? I always helped this girl Korine pick flowers, her smile always made my day… I hope she's okay from what happened two years ago." He looked up towards the moon and Inosuke got curious.
"Huh? What happened?"
"A demon tried to eat her and a Demon Slayer tried to stop it, me and Jikon got there but that's when the demon almost killed him. We fought and almost beat him but… long story short the Slayer died and a guy named Giyū got us to start our training with the same master as Tanjiro."
"I just beat up a Slayer on my mountain and took his swords. Then I went to the Selection. I was the first one up the mountain and the first one down! Haha!"
Koujo absorbed that for all it was worth. "Being first isn't everything."
"Huh?"
"Sometimes the fun is in the experience. No way I'm the first Demon Slayer to fight hand to hand, but I know that I'll be the best… the real fun is in the challenge sometimes, not getting to it."
"Fun in… not going first?" Inosuke mostly said to himself. The Demon was about to try and elaborate it better but the sound of footsteps made him close his big mouth and await the arrival of the old woman. "All that talking made me hungry."
"Pardon me, young sirs." She slowly approached them and sat between them both. "I couldn't help but notice that you're both in rather soiled clothes." Koujo looked at his outfit and remembered that the dark red coloration was the only thing not letting his blood stick out on it.
'I really haven't cleaned this thing since Kibutsuji? Good thing I'm not a human or else I'd be sick.'
She held out the same kimonos that they got to wear when they slept. "I'll tend to your clothes for you so please wear these for now. They're quite comfortable and pleasant to the skin."
He might've been wearing a boar mask but one could nearly feel the emotions radiating from him. "Ohh…"
"Thank you." Koujo said while keeping his mouth from view.
"How does tempura for dinner sound? You know, something covered with batter and fried to a beautiful golden brown."
"Ohh…" Compared to his usual boisterous self, this soft exclamation was out of place from Inosuke.
After changing they were sitting in front of their room once again, leaving their clothes with the old woman so they could be cleaned right up. "What's her deal? Why's she being like that?" Koujo raised a brow to his friend with an exposed chest, shirtless seeming to be Inosuke's natural state of being. He himself had his shoulders and some of his torso exposed in a V shape with how he was wearing his outfit.
"She's being polite to us, these wisteria manors do help Demon Slayers after all."
That wasn't quite the answer he was looking for. "Okay yeah but why's she being so nice to us? I didn't do anything for her."
"Maybe she knows that we go through a lot? Or she just wants us to feel cozy here." Koujo looked back at their room and still heard the others frolicking around at this hour. "They're still being that loud?"
Inosuke stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Not anymore they're not…"
Inside the room Zenitsu was still chasing the Kamado siblings. "Hey wait up you two! Come back Nezuko~ Tanjiro!"
"Zenitsu, leave them alone!"
The door slid open and Inosuke revealed himself. "HRRRAAAAAGGHH!" Both Zenitsu and Tanjiro froze while Inosuke locked on, Jikon just tried to stay out of the way of… whatever chaos was about to ensue. "Gnaah!" He headbutt Tanjiro's back and sent him to the floor.
Nezuko was watching with her innocent expression, Zenitsu was concerned over why that just happened, Jikon was wide eyed at the sudden action, and Tanjiro just knelt on the floor, holding his back while Koujo walked into the room. "Wh- What was that for?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Now Zenitsu understood what it was like to be chased so fervently. Inosuke was running behind Tanjiro and Jikon while Zenitsu ran so fast that he was right behind the mad boar. "Don't you start chasing us too Inosuke!"
"This wasn't fun before and it's less fun now!"
"Save me Tanjiro!"
Two demons watched the event with blank faces and comically small eyes. They weren't gonna get in the way now... Well one of them would but he's wait a bit for the lesson to be learned. What was the lesson? He'd make it up when he felt like stopping the mad boar.
In the morning four boys sat in front of the doctor again and he finally declared that they were fully healed. They all sighed in relief and moved back towards their room. Flapping wings alerted one of them that another mission was coming. Zenitsu was holding a flower beside Nezuko's box and through the open door came Hitoki, Jikon's crow. She flew onto his shoulder to the attention of… all the boys since Zenitsu started paying attention too. "North- Northeast. It's North- Northeast. You five must journey to Mount Natagumo, and hurry!" All they had to know.
Barely ten minutes later they were outside in their outfits and Tanjiro was thanking the elderly woman for everything she did. "I'll bestow good luck to you."
"Thank you!" Tanjiro said while everyone but Inosuke turned around.
She struck sparks from a rock and wooden instrument and that made Inosuke furious. "What do you think you're doing you old hag?!" Tanjiro and Koujo held him back so he didn't do anything that would get them in big trouble. Jikon just watched with his lips tightly together.
"Are you stupid?!" Zenitsu was using himself as a human shield but his question only made Inosuke even angrier. "It's ceremonial! It's good luck to strike the sparks!"
After one of them finally calmed down they were properly seen off. The old woman instructed them to live with great pride, holding their heads high. She wished them luck and they were off.
It wasn't that long into their trip that Inosuke had questions. "Heads up high? Luck in battle? What's that stuff mean?" Zenitsu thought about how clueless this guy really was.
Tanjiro thought for a second and gave his answer. "It's hard to explain. To hold your head high, I guess it means that whatever hand you're given in life you can conduct yourself in an honorable way so you're never ashamed."
"Huh?"
"And wishing us luck in battle means she's wishing for our safety. She doesn't want our brains getting slurped out through our ears." Jikon interjected.
"STOP THAT! I DON'T WANNA THINK ABOUT THAT AGAIN!" Zenitsu almost cried over the reminder of his greatest fear and that just left the others confused.
"Well what about that hand you're given? We have two already. And why should I be ashamed?"
Jikon decided to answer that one. "The hand you're given just means that whatever life gave to you, even if it's nothing, you use it."
"What does it mean to be honorable anyway? And why's the old hag praying for our safety? She has nothing to do with us. So why?!" Tanjiro was stale faced but Inosuke wasn't done yet. "She has no idea where we stand, she should worry about her own hand thing." Tanjiro frowned and sped up, Jikon matched him since he was also done hearing Inosuke bad mouth that old woman.
"Being honorable means that you're doing the right thing, Inosuke." His fox mask slightly warped his voice but he was still understandable. "She wants us to live our lives and be happy with what we do. Old people are crazy but they're also wise, what they say doesn't always make sense at the time."
That actually made him think for a moment and wonder about the matter. He still didn't understand it but it was a little more clear. "Eh. Whatever." He sped up right behind the other two and Koujo matched that pace, leaving Zenitsu behind to complain.
"Hey! Wait for me you guys!"
The sun was setting and they finally approached do Natagumo mountain. "Everyone! We need to pause for a second!" Zenitsu said with confidence.
"Something the matter Zenitsu?" Jikon questioned while his brother pulled his arms out of his uniform and put his haori into their basket.
He was sitting on the path clutching his legs. "I'm scared! Now that we're right by the mountain I'm afraid!"
"Why the hell's he sitting like that? It's pretty weird if you ask me." Inosuke judged harshly but he wasn't wrong.
"Who are you calling weird pig head? I know you're sensing something from that mountain!" Zenitsu pointed at the mountain in question and- Well now that it was mentioned it definitely was a creepy looking mountain.
"I'll admit that it's creepy… Even for me. But we can't just sit and wait here." Koujo said as he put his mask on his waist.
"Told you he's an odd duck."
Zenitsu took offense. "I'm not an odd duck!"
The wind picked up for a moment and three of them caught a smell in the air. "What is this smell?" Tanjiro took a step towards the mountain then started running with everyone else following him. They ran into another Slayer on the ground asking for help. "Are you alright? What happened here?"
He didn't even get to speak before he was pulled back to the forest by- "Threads?" The Demon among them saw exactly what pulled that guy back into the trees of the mountain.
"They were attached to me too! Please don't let me die here!" That was the last thing they heard out of him, then a gust of wind brought another smell to their noses.
"I'm going in." Tanjiro was ready and raring but he was pushed aside by the more headstrong Slayer out of them.
"I'm going in first, you three can stay behind me shaking like a scared animal." Inosuke held the hilts of his weapons, almost salivating. "This is making me hungry…" Zenitsu just mumbled something about it being battle hunger. "Here I come!" Three of them ran ahead and Jikon looked back at the cowering Zenitsu one more time.
"Zenitsu, you don't wanna be left alone do you? Come on!" The yellow haired boy just sat there shaking like a leaf. "Fine but if anything happens just run after us!" With that Zenitsu was alone. In the dark. On the roadside.
"They… they just left me…"
It was actually a little calm to be honest. A soothing night running through a mountain trail. Some people would do this for fun but they were doing it for work… dangerous work. And it was more annoying when Inosuke lifted his hands and saw what was lining his arms. "What is this?"
Jikon saw it and looked around. Webs with white spiders were all over the place. "A web? They're everywhere."
"They're annoying me!" Inosuke was shaking his arms violently to get the threads off.
Tanjiro wanted to say something. "Inosuke." The boar headed youth struck a pose at the mention of his name. "I appreciate this, you were the first to want to come with me. The ominous smell I picked up scared me and having you guys here… it really helps."
Inosuke was making that same soft exclamation of joy and Jikon was giving a charming smile that his father would be proud of. "No problem Tanjiro. I'd be scared of being here alone too."
"Guys!" Koujo drew their attention and pointed to another Slayer who was running past them. "Let's check him out." They snuck up on him and Koujo tapped his shoulder.
"Ah!" He gripped his sword but saw that they were Corps members like him. "Wait a second…" At least most of them were. "That guy's a demon!"
Tanjiro slapped a hand to his own chest before this guy could fully draw his sword. "Don't worry about that! I'm Tanjiro, rank Mizunoto, and we're all here to help!"
"Mizunoto? They sent Mizunoto?! That's not enough! We need Hashira here!" A fist in this guy's face stopped his cowardly rambling.
Tanjiro and Jikon held Inosuke back from hurting him again. "The only thing that's not enough is you! Sputtering in sweat and piss!"
"Inosuke calm down!" Tanjiro tried to reason.
Koujo just took a quick look around the area and put his attention back on the slayer in front of them. "I agree with him. Peeing in your pants doesn't help anyone. What happened?"
"I didn't pee my pants!" Koujo was closest and as a demon his sense of smell was nearly matching Tanjiro's, meaning he could pick out the smell of urine without even trying so he could smell the truth immediately. "Either way I have seniority here and-" The burst of steam from Inosuke's mask made him change his tune, Koujo being a demon didn't help either. "T-There were ten of us. Not long after we got on the mountain is when it started, for some reason they all just started killing each other!" Just recollecting the incident made him fear for his very life and they all understood the situation clearly.
"It would appear many of my children have been killed. We may very well find the Twelve Kizuki there, I suppose I'll have to send in some Hashira." Behind the young looking man were two figures. "Giyū." A familiar man with a stoic expression and black hair. "Shinobu." A woman with short hair that had a purple tint and a butterfly hairpin.
"Understood!" They said in unison.
The woman, Shinobu, voiced a controversial opinion of hers. "If only demons and humans could get along with each other, wouldn't you agree Tomioka?" Her smile was a bright feature on her face and her eyes were were the next, their lavender color sticking out so well.
"A pipe dream… as long as demons need to eat humans."
Zenitsu was still alone on the roadside. 'Do the others hate me? Would someone normally leave a friend behind like this? You'd talk them through being scared right?' He looked at the mountain and pondered how he'd have gone if they just tried to convince him better. 'When Jikon tried to get me to go I almost got up, if the others helped I'd have gone with them… but instead they all went on their way up the mountain.'
"Chi! Chi! Chu! Chi!" Chuntaro was trying to express that Zenitsu shouldn't spend his time sulking, he should get up and go help them now.
"You're lucky. You don't have to deal with the same problems, not a care in the world." That made Chuntaro angry and he started pecking Zenitsu's hand with all his fury. "AAH! OW OW OW OW OW! YOU THINK YOU'RE BEING CUTE RIGHT NOW?! LET ME TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE NOT! I DON'T LIKE THIS SIDE OF YOU AT ALL!" He scooped the bird into his hands with tears at the corners of his eyes. "Why can't you take advice from Nezuko?! She's adorable and she's a demon!" That made something click in his head. "AAAH! I JUST REALIZED HE TOOK NEZUKO WITH THEM!" He bolted up with Chuntaro chirping behind him.
"WHY DID HE GO AND HAVE TO TAKE MY PRECIOUS NEZUKO WITH HIM LIKE THAT?! DAMN YOU TANJIROO! TAKING A YOUNG GIRL INTO DANGER?! STUPID STUPID IDIOT!" Chuntaro fell too far behind to keep chase and Zenitsu was leaving a trail of dust behind him. "I'LL SAVE YOU NEZUKOOOO!"
Koujo was looking around and listening to the rattling sound, the others caught on just a little after him. "What's that noise?"
"It's like a rattling." Tanjiro pointed out.
The slayer with them was anxious. "Not again. This is the same sound I heard before everyone started killing each other!" They all looked around and in the dark saw figures approaching them. Demon Slayers were walking towards them but they looked- empty. They were injured too. They ran towards them and started slashing but the attacks were predictable.
Inosuke backflipped and laughed at how they were attacking. "These guys morons or something? They don't know that we aren't supposed to fight each other!"
Tanjiro looked over his shoulder at Inosuke unwrapping his swords. "No that's not it!"
Jikon was fluidly evading every attack that came his way. "It's like they aren't themselves, they're making really sloppy movements!"
"I'm gonna cut em to pieces!" Inosuke raised his swords high. Koujo kicked one of the dead slayers away and heard the sounds of something getting caught.
Tanjiro dodged another mad swing and stopped Inosuke before he could hurt anyone. "You can't do that! Some of them are alive! And we can't hurt the bodies of our fellow Slayers!" Inosuke weaved through another attack and had to put his foot down.
"Listen you…" Tanjiro looked back and saw an angry boar. "Quit denying me at every turn!" Tanjiro didn't expect to be rammed by Inosuke's head but he took that headbutt right to his torso.
The slayer with them was fighting his own fight, crossing swords with a slayer puppet that may or may not have been alive. He didn't notice the puppet sneaking up on him but Inosuke did and so did Jikon. They coordinated with each other and knocked the slayer to the ground. "Wait a second…" Jikon slashed the air above the downed person and saw him fall to the ground limp. "They're being controlled by threads!"
Koujo tripped the guy he was dealing with then slashed the air above him. "Knew it! Cut the threads!"
Inosuke leapt into the air with a feral scream and started slicing madly. "I already knew that!" All the slayers fell to the ground and Tanjiro picked up a smell in the air.
'What is that? It was for a second but it's revolting!' He looked at his arm and saw another one of the white spiders. His arm got pulled to the far left and he quickly severed the thread. "The spiders! They're connecting the threads!" The group of controlled people started picking themselves back up.
"So we can't just cut all the threads?!" Koujo sliced another person's threads and watched the spiders reconnect them.
Inosuke raised his swords and started stabbing the ground. "All we gotta do is annihilate these stupid bugs?"
"It's not possible! There's millions of them!" Tanjiro started dodging more attacks from the freshly recovered swordsmen. "We need to find the demon who's controlling them! Does anyone have a technique for that?!" Inosuke kept stabbing the spiders and everyone else focused on their own matters. "You! What's your name?!"
The slayer with them blocked a strike and answered. "Murata! I'm Murata!"
Jikon severed more threads and gave a plan. "Then you can hold off these guys so we can figure out-" A presence. A powerful presence. They looked up and saw a demon with ghostly white skin in an equally white kimono. The strange thing was that he looked as if he were floating in the air, but they quickly saw that he was standing on a thread.
"I will not let you disturb my family's peaceful life." Koujo immediately could sense this demon's power and watched as Inosuke used another one of the controlled slayers as a vault to try and land a hit on the young looking demon, but he didn't even get close.
"Where the hell do you think you're going? Fight me! Fight me you-" He landed flat on his back and Tanjiro immediately checked to see if he was alright. "Why'd he even show up?!"
"What's it matter? He couldn't be the one controlling them!" Koujo was disarming the swordsmen so they'd be way less effective in trying to kill them.
Tanjiro started blocking the attempts on his life again. "So we need to focus and-"
"You want me to find where the demon is! Shut up about it already!" Inosuke stabbed his swords into the ground and held his hands out. "Beast breathing seventh form: Spatial awareness!" He took in the environment around them and sensed everything nearby. Then he started sending everything far away, inch by inch, meter by meter until he saw it, a demon sitting on a rock with her hands outstretched. "I found you! You demon!"
Not always being first?
Inosuke shot up and grabbed his swords to evade more attacks from clumsy puppets. "To hell with this crap! I'll beat em all at once!"
"No! You can't do that!" Tanjiro was dead set on not hurting any of them. "There has to be another way!" Right when he was about to block another attack is when Murata did it for him.
"Leave these guys to me and go ahead!"
"That's a lot from a guy with wet pants." Koujo said while leaping away from the fight.
Inosuke had to join in on that. "A bed wetter like you making talk like that?!"
"I never did anything like that you stupid boar!" Inosuke was riled up from that one. "And I don't need sass from a damn demon!" Koujo's eye twitched and a tick mark grew on his forehead. "I know I wasn't too brave before-" Murata dodged a slash and held the person back. "But I'm still a Demon Slayer! I'll find a way to hold them off!" Two of the puppets started getting up. "Their movements are very basic and I just have to cut the threads to slow them down! There must be more people closer to the demon that are under greater control! You have to help them!"
"You got it! Good luck!" Tanjiro said and clotheslined Inosuke while running away. "Let's go guys!"
"Hey! Let go! I'll pound his face in! Who's he calling a stupid boar!"
Murata turned his head to yell at him again. "Would you shut up and get outta here?!"
"We can make him see stars when we get back Inosuke!" Koujo said while sheathing his sword.
Tanjiro let go and now they were all following Inosuke. "I can't wait to get back and pummel him!"
"It's not that big of a deal Inosuke…" Jikon tried to reason.
"You heard him call me a stupid boar didn't you Dokkan?!"
"It's Jikon!"
Tanjiro interrupted the both of them with a simple question. "Are we going the right way?!"
Inosuke bragged about how his senses have never misled him then he started swinging his arms around to clear the threads that were being pulled onto his body. "What are all these stupid threads?!"
"The demon's this way!" Koujo said from the rear of the group. They all stopped and Inosuke pointed out that there were more of the unwilling puppets.
A girl with her sword in someone's neck and holding a person by the hair. "Stop! Don't come any closer! You have to bring someone of a higher rank! It's the only way to stop the rest of us from being killed! Please… help us!"
"I wonder if you can beat them… The closer you get to me, the stronger my threads become. As do my dolls." She pulled and manipulated the threads well, her puppets having to kill anyone intruding on their home.
"Mother…" She looked to her side and saw him standing there. "You can win right?"
"R-Rui…" She went from being cold and serious with her puppets to a whimpering mess in front of that small boy.
"Don't you think this is taking too long?" She didn't respond to him. "You'd better hurry up… or I'll have to tell father."
That made her react. "No please! I can do it! You don't have to worry! I promise to protect you! So please- Whatever you do don't tell your father!"
Rui stood there in silent contemplation before giving his input. "Then hurry it up." With that he walked away and left her a whimpering, hyperventilating mess.
"Die! Die! Just die already!" She started controlling her marionettes more fervently. "Or there'll be hell for me to pay!"
"Run away!" She swiped at Tanjiro and he dodged the attack. But it wasn't like the sloppy ones from before.
'She's so fast!' The girl kept making swings, they weren't well coordinated but they were still quick and harder hits.
"I'm being controlled, my movements aren't my own! I wasn't this strong before!" She pulled her arms back until Koujo heard a painful sounding pop come from between her shoulderblades.
Tanjiro parried and deflected her attacks as they came. Realizing that whoever was controlling her didn't care for the pain she was causing her puppets. 'So cruel!'
A rattling behind them turned out to be two seriously injured guys. "Please… kill me!"
The smell of blood made Koujo lock up for just a moment but he dispelled that feeling by making a dark joke. "Bones don't bend that way do they?" Not the time but it helped him feel a little bit better about the scene in front of them.
"My arms and… legs… the bones are broken. Piercing my insides. Every time I'm forced to move… I can't take the pain! Please end my life!" Jikon and Tanjiro were speechless. They'd never seen someone pushed so far that they actually wanted to die before. He looked at Koujo and saw the difference relatively fast. "Y-You! You're a demon! Please! If you kill me then there's nothing wrong! Demons kill humans all the time! Slayer or not, it's a favor! Please!"
He might be a Demon but he still couldn't imagine actually killing a person, wanting to die or not. He remembered the face of the Slayer who died because of him and Jikon interfering two years ago and just couldn't help but feel that same level of sorrow. He didn't even know who Kai was as a person but he knew that it was his fault that he died, because of that it was set in stone, he wouldn't kill anyone that wasn't rotten to the core! "Sorry, but that's not happening."
Inosuke rushed forward without a second thought. "I'll take the job then."
Tanjiro was about to object but he had the pressing matter of the woman who was still being forced to fight him. Jikon however was free to interrupt. "Inosuke wait! We have to find a way to save him!"
"Shut up!" He started dodging the attacks and complaining about losing his free will to fight at the same time. "You need-" Dodged. "To quit all-" Missed. "The bellyaching!"
"But they're still-" Tanjiro finally could speak.
"He's asking to be put out of his misery!" He jumped back to dodge the flurry of swipes. "And these guys are quick. If we drag our feet then we'll be next!"
Koujo formed a plan in his head and went right for the guy asking to be put down. "We can't attack them like they're trying to attack us. The solution is simple!" He grabbed the sword and got it out of his way. 'I don't even need total concentration for something like this anymore!' Koujo pushed and flung the man into the air and over a tree branch. "Tangle the spider threads!" His comrades were surprised by the sudden idea but their controlled comrades were still attacking so it wasn't a surprise that the girl slashed right into his back when he wasn't paying attention. He fell to the ground and the Slayer responsible realized something.
"However the demon can see us- They can't hear us! They didn't try to cut his head off!" That was certainly welcome news but that didn't mean they could just start using him as a human shield since that trick would only work once or twice.
Tanjiro took the initiative and flung her into the tree. 'Total concentration!' He needed the boost of strength since he was still human but it got the job done, there were now two slayers stuck in trees.
Meanwhile one of them just stood there with his swords in hand, staring at the hanging slayer. "What the hell was that just now?! My turn! Hey you! Come and get me!" He started running like a madman while laughing like a crazy person. Then he turned and threw the man straight over a branch. "See that? I can do whatever you guys do!"
Jikon was too busy throwing someone into the air himself and Tanjiro was clashing with another marionette. "Sorry I missed it!"
"What the hell?!" Not seeing the great Inosuke do the amazing task? Unacceptable!
Koujo stood up with his back wound fully closed. "He's a little busy!"
Meanwhile the spider mother was fuming at how so many of her puppets were just put out of commission through tangling the threads. "Damn it! They're all so useless! I have no choice but to unleash that one!"
"NEZUKO!" He was still on his journey. "Nezuko where are you?!" He sat down and started crying. "Nezuko… Tanjiro… Jikon… Chuntaro… even Koujo and the crazy boar… Where'd you all go? I'm sorry for everything! I should've gotten up and went with you! I shouldn't have been so scared!" His crying slowed down to mere sniffles every few seconds. "If I'd just had a little more bravery I wouldn't be alone, I'd be right next to you guys and you'd make sure I was safe!"
"Chu!"
Zenitsu looked up and saw Chuntaro in his hair. "Chuntaro! You came looking for me?! You're so wonderful and adorable! Not as adorable as Nezuko but easily a close second! I'm so sorry for everything I said before! How about we start fresh and look for the others together?!"
Inosuke was cackling like a madman again. "Check it out! I've tossed up more than anyone now!" Jikon stood next to Tanjiro, both with their swords drawn. Koujo was standing right underneath someone he just put into the air.
"So there's just one more!" Jikon sheathed his sword and popped his shoulder. Tanjiro kept his weapon out while Koujo just looked at the man dangling above him with a smile.
"Wasn't a bad idea if I do say so myself. Nothing could go wrong with them out of the way." Murphy's Law.
Inosuke strutted his stuff up to the last person they needed to safely incapacitate. "Okay! I'm gonna do it one more time! So watch closely!"
"Alright I'll watch." Tanjiro was relaxed a little bit since they could finally catch their breath, and if they found anyone else like this they had a way to stop them safely.
Meanwhile a puppeteer was angry over her toys being ineffective. "These puppets are weak. They're useless!" She pulled her hands apart.
"Alright!" Inosuke got ready to grab and throw. "I hope you're ready for-"
Crack
Inosuke watched a head spin all the way around, blood pouring from the guy's mouth. "Huh?!"
Crack
Crack
Crack
Crack
Koujo heard the others meet their end then looked up at the man he 'safely' got out of the way and watched as his head spun all the way around.
Crack
Blood came from his mouth and fell right onto the unsuspecting Demon under him. Right into his gaping mouth…
Inosuke growled. "Damn it to hell! That thing went and killed all of them!" Tanjiro walked up to the person who didn't even get out of danger before his neck was broken and knelt down. Inosuke felt a powerful presence emanate from the young Kamado. The sight of seeing innocent people forced to do such terrible things only to be killed by their tormentor? It couldn't go unpunished.
Jikon was solemn and offered a quick prayer to the fallen. "Tanjiro."
"Let's go…"
Inosuke snapped out of it. "No arguments here." They all heard a sound and turned to see Koujo with a bloody mouth, wordlessly staring up at the man bleeding from his partly ripped neck. "The hell?! You finally decide to snap on us?!" That got him knocked against the head by Jikon.
Koujo clenched his fists hard enough to make his palms bleed. "I- I didn't want to kill anybody to eat them. But now I'm right under a dead man… and I'm tasting his blood…" More of the coppery fluid dripped down to his, still moving, mouth and went in. He flinched. "And I feel like this is all my fault… again, it's my fault that an innocent man died..." He put them out of the way like this and made the puppet master feel like they were of no further use, the same way his distracting Kai got him mortally injured. More blood dropped to his mouth, now it went in because he couldn't find it within himself to shut his mouth. "I don't know how- I don't know when- I don't even know if I can, but I know that this 'family' that the kid mentioned is to blame for everything here." He willingly held his mouth open for another stream of blood this time. "They made me taste this and I'll make sure whoever is in charge pays for it!"
They were running towards the demon behind the puppets with even more enthusiasm than before. "This is the way! We'll be there before you know it!"
Tanjiro was thinking about a less important event that occurred. 'The wind changed direction, I can smell things again!' He used his sense to notice two more scents in their way. "Inosuke!"
"I detected it way before you! I'll hack it's head right off!" He jumped into the air with his swords ready to rip and rend but he was confused once he saw what they were up against. His swords clashed with some weird blade arm and he leapt back. "This thing… doesn't have a head?" A hulking, headless demon was in their way. So how were they gonna kill it?
"Nezuko! Where are you?!"
"Chi! Chu! Chi!"
Zenitsu stopped to catch his breath. "Where the heck are you guys? Don't leave me alone in this creepy forest." The leaves rustled and he screamed but it was just a group of bats. "You know what? This is starting to make me really mad! I'll find Nezuko then it's goodbye creepy forest. Nezuko!" He called out. And something behind him took a few tentative steps forward.
They all dodged backwards right when the headless demon cracked the ground in front of them with a downward swipe. "This thing's got no weak spots! Where am I supposed to cut it?!"
"Inosuke calm down!" Tanjiro said with his sword in hand.
"What do we do? What do we do?"
"The kesagiri maneuver!" Jikon interrupted. "Slash from the right part of its neck to the left part of the waist. It's a lot of distance and-"
Koujo and Inosuke rushed forward without a second thought. "Wait! I meant as a group!" Tanjiro tried to recall them but it was for naught.
The headless puppet prepared a strike for Inosuke. 'It's fast!' He dodged and only lost a few hairs on his boar mask. Some scrapes appeared along his body from the attacks but they weren't anything major luckily. "But I can still dodge it!"
Koujo was testing his mettle, blade versus blade. Every time this puppet tried to slice him up, he just countered and reflected the attacks. He ducked under a swing and cool blue water started trailing his sword. "The bastard's being kept away from his head so they can make him a puppet." With even more strength than he had minutes ago he managed to slice right into the demon's bicep but his sword stopped halfway, spider threads were slowing it down and reducing its force. 'Shit!' He had to abandon the weapon and jump back to dodge the other arm.
Inosuke started flanking but a feeling on his arm drew his attention. "That's right! Those spiders!" He got pulled into a wide open pose. "I can't move!" The puppet reeled it's impaired arm back and stabbed it forwards. "I'm a dead man!" Three things happened right before he could die. One was Koujo leaping in the way of the arm and being stabbed through the stomach. The second was Tanjiro slicing through the threads holding Inosuke. And lastly was Jikon appearing out of nowhere with water following his own sword.
"Mizu guruma!" (Water wheel). He sliced through the rest of the arm and avoided breaking his brother's sword so it fell to the ground unharmed.
"Ohh…" Life saved by three people. Inosuke was without words.
Tanjiro took the chance to speak up. "This is a tough one, but we can do it. We can't lose if we work together!"
"Don't make me feel more giddy damn it!" Inosuke was ready to go from that near death experience.
Tanjiro dropped down and used himself as a foothold. "Launch yourself!" Inosuke stepped up and sliced the other arm right off. "Jump!" He leapt off the box and Tanjiro readied himself. 'Mizu no kokyu Shichi no kata: Uchishio!' (Water breathing fourth form: striking tide). Water coursed with his black sword and he chopped this poor puppet's legs off.
Koujo tore the mantis-like arm from his abdomen and flipped it around. 'Total Concentration!' With some anger behind his actions, he stabbed the demon through the stomach in return for what happened to him. The hole in him already closed up but his uniform was not recovering from that.
Inosuke slowly fell back to the ground while watching the rest of the team cooperate. 'It's like they just have everything figured out! It's pretty irritating to have it all go your way! Like they predicted this all… For them it's like water flowing down a river, maybe… maybe it's like he said. Doesn't matter if you're first or not, the battle happens when it happens! Like watching a raging current!" With a mighty growl, Inosuke fell and used both his serrated swords to slice the upper body of this demon in half. Koujo grabbed his sword and checked it for any wear or tear.
Tanjiro smiled at how he just pulled that off. "a perfect cut! You did it Inosuke!" Inosuke didn't move from his post slicing position. "Hm? What's wrong?"
He stood straight up and flung his swords away only to run at Tanjiro. 'I'll prove that whatever they can do, I can do too!' He grabbed Tanjiro around the waist and flexed every muscle in his body to chuck him high into the air.
Immediately Tanjiro's nose caught a smell. 'So that's why he did it!' Without a doubt in his mind he could smell and see the demon that was controlling the people and that demon puppet.
'No… that was my fastest and strongest! They still won… It's Rui's fault… he came to me with his threats and I panicked!' She gasped and looked up to see Tanjiro falling towards her. 'From above?!'
'Water breathing… First form!'
She started panicking. 'He's going to cut my head off! What do I do?! What do I do?!' Then she realized something. A voice in the back of her head spoke loud and clear. 'If I die… then I'll finally be free…' The threads fell from her hands and she raised her arms up. 'I'll find peace…' She closed her eyes and reached out, seeking her end.
Tanjiro watched this in slow motion. She wasn't going to fight back, and she wasn't resisting. She was acceptant that he was going to cut her head off. She didn't deserve the first form. He switched his grip and changed his technique. 'Fifth form: blessed-" His sword got caught mere centimeters into a wrist before he could give this demon some mercy, in the air no less.
"The hell you will!" Koujo was there with a fire in his eyes. Almost literally since his red irises had a thin outer edge of yellow around them. He and Tanjiro both fell to the ground and quickly got back to their feet.
Tanjiro was confused as to why his friend willingly stopped him from ending her life as gently as possible. "What the heck? She's the one who was controlling all those people? I thought you wanted to kill her for that?"
Koujo crossed his arms and thought about that for a second. "I said I wanted to kill whoever's responsible, who knows if they put unwilling demons into this family. I felt that something was wrong and I ran the way you fell as fast as I could. I saw that look on her face, whatever they're up to here made her wanna die."
Meanwhile the mother spider demon was speechless at how she was at death's door just seconds ago and got a saving grace… from another demon… in the Demon Slayer Corps uniform! 'He's a- but he's- and they're?' Her mind had no real semblance of what was going on here but she was torn on how to feel about being alive. She felt her neck and it really wasn't a post mortem illusion, she was still alive.
"You." Her fellow demon started talking right to her. "Yes you. Why did you want to die?"
He might've been speaking harshly but there was no malice, no underlying threat, and no bad intent. She'd never experienced such mannerisms from another demon. With all her time on this mountain it was like an extra sense to know when someone had the intention of hurting her. Somehow he got right past that just by not wanting to hurt her. "I… I don't want… to be hurt… again…"
Tanjiro gasped at that point, who'd be hurting a demon so much that she'd want to die? "Hurt? By who?"
"O- Other demons… our… family…" That was when they both remembered the little one that said something about disturbing his family. He must've been apart of this- This twisted dynamic.
They could both smell the fear coming off her in waves, whatever she was scared of was definitely involved with this "family" she was in. "This family, they hurt you. A lot?" Koujo was to the point. He'd never want anyone who was a victim to stay that way. Plus, Kouka would kill him if he didn't help a woman in need.
"Yes… we were- we were forced to be apart of… the family…"
Tanjiro focused on a certain word in that sentence. 'Forced.' He took his hand away from his sword and held them both at his sides. He decided to ask exactly what happened in this twisted family and that led to the explanation of how there was so much abuse and fear inspired through this false unit. How any mistakes were corrected through pain or being left in the sunlight to die. "Did you kill our allies out of hate… or were you afraid?"
Koujo added with his same serious tone. "Be honest."
Again it was serious but not an outright threat and she still wasn't used to that. "I- I just… I didn't want to be hurt… he made us eat together… a family when we captured humans- I hated it… I just wanted out! I wanted to be free…" Her sobs and hiccups for air definitely added some more compassion from Tanjiro, and Koujo was definitely hearing no lies from her breathing pattern.
Now she was freely crying. Months and maybe even years of this abuse, psychological and physical, being worn right in the open. These two Demon Slayers having more compassion to worry about her than any other demon- Right the one with red hair was a demon.
"We- We know someone who can help you." Tanjiro managed to say and that caused the spider mother to pause for a moment.
"Wh- What?"
Tanjiro explained further. "I can't forgive you for killing people, and I don't think I ever will. But I think it's possible for demons and humans to live together, my friend here is an example!" He slung an arm around Koujo's shoulder and pulled him closer. "If he can break Kibutsuji's curse and go on without killing anyone, then maybe other demons can."
"If you really want to live freely then you just have to accept it." Koujo stuck his hand out and Tanjiro did the same. All she had to do was want peace for herself. They both swallowed the anger over the people she'd likely killed before they even met her, and focused on giving her this true chance to redeem herself. As long as someone wanted to change then they could. 'Except the bastard that turns people into demons in the first place!' That could stay tucked in Koujo's head where it belongs.
After what felt like an hour of tense silence she finally put both her hands out and took theirs. They gently wrapped their fingers around hers and pulled her off the rock. She was slightly shorter than the both of them and once she got that close she could look into their eyes and see the emotion behind them. 'I think… I think there was someone who looked at me with these eyes before.'
"Are you alright?" Tanjiro asked as the two boys separated from each other.
She didn't even notice that without the both of them supporting her she'd lost her footing. "If you really can set me free, I promise to never hurt another human."
Koujo looked around the tree line and put his hands around his mouth. "Hey! Tamayo's cat! You around here?!" He didn't hear a response at first, but the sound of a cat meowing broke the silence and they all watched the same cat that collected Kyogai's blood appear and walk up to them. "This cat will get you to the woman who'll help you."
She noticed a problem with having to follow this cat off the mountain instantly. "But what if someone sees me?"
Tanjiro knelt down and removed the talisman that was around the neck of the feline and handed it to the spider mother. "That charm will turn you invisible when the cat meows. Keep it on you." She put it around her neck gingerly. "Just remember to tell them that we sent you." They started walking away and forgot something really important.
"W- What are your names?"
"Oh… that could've been bad. I'm Koujo Itadake."
"I'm Tanjiro Kamado!" Tanjiro was rubbing the back of his head out of embarrassment, forgetting to tell her who they were when she needed to give their names was a big slip. "What's your name?"
She lowered her head towards the ground. "I don't have one. I've always been called 'mother' by them."
Koujo motioned for the cat to come closer and it did, then when it meowed the spider mother was surprised at how she was invisible in the blink of an eye. "Just follow that cat."
She couldn't even think of a way to return this kindness. But she did have a way to warn them before they went any further. "There's a member of the Twelve Kizuki here! He's one of the family members!" That was the last they heard before she ran away, Koujo barely hearing her concealed footsteps.
"Maybe I was wrong then… it has to be whoever the father is." Koujo was taking back his want to kill the kid who they'd seen before.
Tanjiro looked around for a second and saw where they both came from… the knocked down trees being a great visual indicator. "We should probably go back to the others now. We'll find the Kizuki when we find him."
"Hmn! Yeah." They started running back towards the other two in their group. Koujo trailing right behind Tanjiro. "So if they ask, we just killed her. Deal?"
Tanjiro made a sour face once he heard that, it was almost like lying about what happened. "If they ask, I think we should be honest. I don't wanna start lying about things."
"It's not really lying, and do you think Inosuke will like that we-"
"Kedamono no kokyu Ni no tsume: Ōkina Namida!" (Beast breathing second claw: Great tearing). They didn't even notice that something else was on the hunt until it was right on them, and Koujo paid the price of nearly losing his head to whoever did that. Tanjiro spun and saw a tall, muscular woman swinging a sword into Koujo's body. She had a pelt on her head as a cloak and white wrapping covering her bust, and she had black hakama pants leading to her bare feet. "Got you now, demon!"
Koujo fell to the ground and quickly vaulted back up, the shirt of his uniform was completely ruined at this point and he ripped it off to expose the remains of his undershirt and torso. "What the hell?!" He saw the woman who inflicted damage to his uniform and body then drew his sword. "Who are you?"
That giantess of a woman was smiling at the both of them. "Ami Kumagai's the name, and killing monsters like you is my game!" She was holding her sword on her shoulder and both Tanjiro and Koujo could see that it was longer than a normal sword they'd use, the grayish pink color was another unique trait of the weapon. "Gotta say, never seen another Slayer turned into a demon."
"Wait! He's not a demon like you think!" Tanjiro tried to reason but Ami wasn't having any of it.
"He's got you under a demon spell, snap out of it. San no tsume: ashi bōkō!" (Third claw: Paw assault). She charged Koujo like an angry animal and used her sheer size to land a downward strike with enough force to crack the ground below them.
He pushed back and felt that this girl was definitely not frail by any means… which means that his mom wouldn't kill him for fighting back just as hard. "I don't have any spells!" He slipped their swords to his side and jumped to kick her square in the stomach. "I'm not a normal Demon! I'm Koujo Itadake! Mizunoto Demon Slayer!"
Ami held her stomach that had a slowly forming bruise and laughed. "I'm a Mizunoe, so that means I'm a little stronger than you!" She held her sword in both hands and charged again, the pelt on her head giving her the image of a raging bear.
Tanjiro gripped his own sword and prepared to draw it. "Stay out of this Tanjiro!" Koujo blocked her strike, her strength pushing him back but his stance didn't waver. "I can't have you fight for me when there's people like her who don't listen!"
That left Tanjiro to watch the fight and he saw similarities between this girl and someone else. She was attacking with an animalistic anger, her swings were each holding the intent to kill Koujo. The sheer ferocity of her attacks- "It's just like Inosuke!" She even had a breathing style with the same base name.
She cut off one of Koujo's hands and he nearly lost his sword for the second time that night, but the limb regrew almost instantly and he gripped his sword. Flames danced behind his swings now and illuminated the forest around them. He was much faster than her and she was struggling to keep up with his attacks, each time she managed to move to block one swing there was another already in the works. "Come on! Keep up!"
She took a deep inhale through her clenched teeth and her muscles grew slightly. "I'll kill you!" She had even more strength behind her attacks now and it was pushing Koujo back even more than before, but it wasn't landing many hits. Her best injury was taking off that hand and so far none of her attempts to take his head off were working. 'He's just dodging me! Why's he cheating and predicting me?!' For some reason Koujo could just sense when Ami's attacks were about to land a serious blow, and his body responded to prevent her attacks from taking his head off or severely wounding him so she could finish him. "First demon I ever fought that used a sword! You're not bad but I've got my Bear style on my side!"
The Demon dodged her flurry of swings and they clashed blades once again. "You fight a lot like Inosuke!" He used his strength to raise both their weapons up but he stopped his next attack once he saw Ami's face.
"Wait a sec'… you know Inosuke?" The way she lost all of her aggression and stared blankly at Koujo then looked over at Tanjiro who nodded.
"We met him about two weeks ago and it was… a little rough, but now he's warmed up to us a little."
Koujo pulled back and lowered his sword. "Right now he's with my younger brother. Do you know Inosuke?"
Ami lowered her sword and pulled the upper half of the bear pelt from her head, revealing the remainder of her face. She had lovely amber eyes and a few small scars on her cheeks. "I met him a couple months ago, I told him about Final Selection and wished him luck… wait… he's on this mountain?"
Both she and Koujo sheathed their swords. "Yeah. Is that a problem mommy- sorry- Ami?" A Freudian slip that she didn't even notice… or didn't care to respond to.
"I've been tracking some demon group that lives here. I was about to kill that one you two let go, so I thought you were both working with 'em. I guess you're not a normal demon."
Tanjiro exhaled at how this managed to get resolved without any major harm to anyone. "Well we can take you to Inosuke, follow us!" Tanjiro started running and Koujo followed right behind him. Ami hesitated for a second but could tell that they weren't hiding anything important.
'Except for the demon in that box… Eh, not my problem.'
They ran together and managed to come to a clearing and saw the odd sight of Jikon sitting cross legged on Inosuke's back while bandaging him up. "For the last time! Get offa me!"
"I wouldn't have to sit on you if you'd stay still! You were bleeding too much!" Even while tending wounds he managed to sense the additional presences that just appeared. "You guys are- Who's she?"
Inosuke stopped thrashing around to look and see what he was talking about. "Huh?!" Behind that boar head there was a look of familiarity, he recognized the person and that gave him the strength he needed to leap up and blow Jikon clear off of him. "AMI!" Three boys silently watched Inosuke run right up to the tall woman and tackle her in a hug.
Seeing the rambunctious Inosuke happily rolling around and grappling with this newcomer was not something you could have paid Jikon to imagine, yet here it was actually happening right before his eyes. "Uh… did I miss something?"
Thunderclap and Flash
Sometimes life really just sucked. You could be plagued by sickness, born into poverty, or just have really bad luck. Zenitsu was a boy with bad luck it seemed. He sat in the tree holding onto it for dear life, the news of what was going to happen to him because of the spider venom running through his veins. He remembered everything that happened to him during his training with Jigoro, even when he was hit by lightning and his hair turned yellow. It was unfair, he tried his best to be a capable person. "This is all too much!" He pulled his hair and felt that locks of it came free from his head. 'He didn't say that would happen!' He looked at the giant spider with a human head and it looked back with a sickening grin. A grin that put too much stress on his poor heart and made him pass out.
"Huh? I don't get this guy." He watched Zenitsu slowly slip off the branch. "Isn't he a demon slayer sent to kill our family? Now he's just gonna fall on his head and die."
Zenitsu fell from the branch and took a deep breath in the air. "Thunder breathing… first form…" He landed on his feet and grabbed the hilt of his sword, then he leapt at the spider.
'What the hell?!' He spat a flood of poison that dissolved the tree it landed against when Zenitsu dodged midair. 'Did he dodge that in the air? Those reflexes… I didn't even think he was the same person!'
Zenitsu landed and took up his stance again. "Thunder breathing… First form…"
"Hey! You guys, pounce on him!" The spider yelled to the enthralled spiders under his control. They all tried to land on the yellow haired swordsman but he jumped away from them effortlessly.
"Thunder breathing… first form…" Another flood of the acidic spit but it was evaded once again.
'He's been going into that same stance again and again… He must only be capable of that one attack!'
That's good enough Zenitsu. Mastering even one thing is cause for celebration! Even if you can only do one thing, you can hone it to perfection! Bring it to the best that it can be!
'You were mad just a bit ago, gramps. Thunder breathing has six forms but I can only do one…' He remembered his master's words about how to perfectly forge a sword, how you need to hammer out impurities to have a better weapon. 'I'm not a sword though… I'm flesh and blood…' Lightning crackled around his body and he dodged to the side to avoid another spray of poison. 'You never gave up on me, did you gramps? No matter how many times I ran away, no matter how much I cried and complained. You ran me through all the training no matter how much I wanted to give up… You dragged me back and never abandoned me!'
"Inject more poison into his body!" The spider screamed. The human headed thralls all launched their dart like tongues at Zenitsu but he dodged again, mostly. He stopped and spat up blood to the head spider's delight.
"That should do it!" The spiders all swarmed Zenitsu and covered all of his body.
'Tanjiro didn't give up on me either… Even when I was crying on the side of the road, he still shared his food with me and helped me. Koujo got Inosuke to stop chasing us around the other night, and he carried me back when Tanjiro was too tired. But above it all…' Lightning sparked around the flood of spiders and forced them all way in a bright burst of light.
"What's this?! The air is vibrating!" There was heavy pressure now and the smell of ozone.
Zenitsu opened his eyes and they were bright white with power surging around him. 'Jikon believes in me, he said I was stronger than I think… He protected me from Inosuke when I defended Nezuko. And he tried to get me to go with them when I was afraid of this stupid mountain! It's not just you who believes in me anymore, gramps!' Another flash of light and crackling electricity, Zenitsu took his stance. "Thunder breathing first form: Thunderclap and Flash… Sixfold!"
The spider launched another glob of poison but his target disappeared. 'He vanished?!' There were streaks of lightning blitzing all around the forest, so fast that he couldn't even see where they were coming from. He pulled himself upwards towards his tree cabin but his death was on his tail. "Hngg!" It wasn't something he could follow, five leaps and one spring off a web brought Zenitsu into the air and right through the cabin! He fell from the air with the headless spider demon way underneath him. 'He… cut off my head?! No!' His head fell to the ground like the trash it was. "I got beat by someone who could barely move?!" He turned to ash and Zenitsu landed on the cabin to stare up at the moon.
'I won… Maybe now I can just dream.' He coughed up some more blood. 'A happy dream where I'm strong, and where I can help people. A dream where gramps didn't waste his time on me, where I could help a lot of people.'
"Chu! Chu!"
"Ch-Chuntaro?" He looked to see his sparrow crying the same way he would. "I'm so sorry." Chuntaro flew off and Zenitsu closed his eyes.
Don't ever give up!
He opened his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. 'Don't ever give up… use your breathing to slow down the poison. No matter how painful- Agonizing… don't take the easy way out. Gramps will let you have it.' He started closing his eyes. 'And the others will yell at you…'
Jikon looked over towards the explosion. "Heh. Sounds like there was Thunder."
Tanjiro sniffed the air and raised a brow. "I don't smell any thunder clouds?"
Jikon shook his head and waved it off. "You wouldn't get it."
Inosuke started crossing the rocks on the river in front of them but Koujo called out to him. "Inosuke, maybe you should slow it down." That made him freeze and Ami just looked around for a moment.
"Huh?! I don't need to slow down!" Tanjiro pointed out the obvious injuries on his body, only some were bandaged with ointment from Urokodaki. "I'm not hurt at all!"
"So the blood is just a choice?" Jikon joked.
Ami laughed and decided to give her input. "You can't stop people like Inosuke 'n me with some scratches!" She stood proud for a second but then they all heard footsteps across the river and looked to see a female demon, like the spider mother but younger looking.
"We didn't even notice her." Koujo analyzed how whatever smell was on this mountain was stopping them from using their senses of smell to pick up demons before they had the drop on them.
Inosuke growled and charged right across the river with Koujo by his side. "I'll tear you to shreds!" She, understandably, turned and ran away. "Get back here!"
She stopped running and yelled out. "Now father!"
Koujo looked up and saw the hulking demon that was falling towards them both. He pulled Inosuke back and avoided the massive demon's attack. He roared and made all the Slayers shake in fear, the humans at least. "Don't you come near my family!" He annihilated the rock Inosuke and Koujo landed on. "Stay away from them!" Inosuke was in the air and watched as the father demon was about to blow him away.
For the second time that night he got saved by the efforts of multiple people. "Water wheel!" Tanjiro started cutting into the forearm of the muscular demon.
Ami had her pelt covering the top half of her face again and she was putting all her force into chopping this demon's arm right off from the other side of Tanjiro's attack. "Go no tsume: Kawa Hekikai!" (Fifth claw: Hide Cleaver).
Jikon was behind the giant and had water trailing behind his sword. "Striking Tide!" He started cutting into the right leg of the overly massive demon and all his force started stopping once he realized how thick his skin really was. 'How can we fight him if he's this tough?!' Luckily someone had just a little more physical strength to deal with that issue.
Koujo remembered something that was perfect for dropping right onto an enemy from above. He had leapt upwards to counter the assault on the poor rock he and Inosuke were standing on so now he was falling down with flames trailing behind his sword.
"This one is even better than the Fourth Form, it's specifically made to drop right onto something and chop it off." Kouka jumped into the air and fell onto a large rock in the field, flames trailing behind her attack. "Shichi no kata-" (Seventh form)
"Nagareboshi!" (Falling Star). He fell onto the left shoulder of the giant spider-faced demon and sliced right through his flesh!
The image of four Demon Slayers saving his skin both made Inosuke giddy at the idea and it also infuriated him. 'Do they think I just need to be saved all the time?! First her and now them?!' He landed and drew both his serrated weapons. 'Anything they can do… I can do too!'
Recap 4
We really just left Zenitsu behind like that?
Don't look at me Tanjiro, I was making sure Inosuke didn't get himself killed. Either way I don't know how to feel about Ami, she's not as wild as him but she's still really... something.
I'm glad we met mommy- I mean- Ami! Koujo now you've got me doing it!
Just get Jikon to do it, then we'll all have made the slip.
I wanted to ask, why didn't you try to break the curse on the mother?
Hm, I'm not sure but I know that it's not something I can mess up. I feel like it'll kill the demon I mess up on, or worse.
You're a demon who can be in the sun! No way you could mess up breaking the curse.
For a while I can be in the sun yeah, but it still hurts like hell. And I can tell that if I tried to stay in the sun all day, I'd eventually burn away.
Oh... maybe everything isn't perfect for you then.
*(The "suke" in "Josuke"can be read as "jo" which is how Josuke is still a JoJo)