What do You want?
(Oh hey there, this one definitely has some pieces that didn't happen in the actual KnY story. Enjoy)
She ran along the mountain trails as fast as her legs would take her. 'I messed up!' Her internal thoughts were in just as much of a panic as she was. 'I messed up badly!' She kept moving and started remembering exactly how she came to be in this- 'Pretend Family.'
Even more running, except this time it was actually from a threat. She was dressed in her brown kimono but her choice in outfit led to her stumbling onto the ground. "Finally." She turned around and saw them. "We've cornered her." A group of Demon Slayers. At least five of them.
One of them looked up. "What's that?" The test followed and saw a young demon with white skin and hair. "A demon!"
"It's just a runt. But a demon nonetheless, if we let it go then it'll just devour more humans."
The demon looked down at them, the girl on the ground more specifically. "You there." She looked up at him. "Tell me, do you want me to save you?"
This was unheard of. Another demon offering her help in her time of need? That wasn't how they worked at all. "W-What?"
He continued with his questioning. "In return will you do whatever I ask?"
She didn't even hesitate to answer that since her survival instinct was looking for any opportunity it could find. "Yes please! I'll do whatever you ask, just save me!"
"Then… you'll become a part of my family?"
That was an odd request but she really didn't have any other choices that ended with her surviving tonight. "I will! I'll do it! I swear, please help!"
"What are they talking about?" The head of the team started advancing on the girl with his sword ready to end her life. "All right, this is over for you." He was half right to say that it was over… just not for her.
The demon on the roof pulled his hands together and revealed that threads were all around the area. In one action a sword was split into shards, and bodies were torn into slush. She stood up in awe of how quickly the problem was dealt with and she turned her head when she heard footsteps behind her. From left to right she saw a young demon boy, a demon with a spider body and human head, a girl demon around her size, a demon woman with long hair, a hulking demon with a spider's head, and two boys at the end, one older and the other very young. "…"
Beside her appeared her savior and he softly took her hand in his own. "Welcome home. Starting today you'll be a part of my family as well."
They were seated inside of their cabin where Rui was holding a thread against his thumb. He drew blood from his thumb and let it drop into a bowl of fluid, and the other sister in the room handed the bowl off. "Here, drink this. The strength that lives in our family only exists thanks to Rui. We were all weak but he shared his power with us."
She held the bowl in her hands and contemplated exactly what could've happened when she drank the mixture. 'Should I?'
Her soon to be sister continued her explanation. "He is a favorite of a certain someone and because of that he has permission to do this."
She looked at her reflection in the bowl and quickly downed the concoction. "Grk!" She dropped the bowl and gagged while her body started shaking in pain.
"Do you feel that?" Rui said with his ever so calm tone. "You don't need to fear those Demon Slayers any longer." She was too busy foaming at the mouth in agony to hear what he was saying. "Now then, time for the finishing touches." He grabbed her face and started peeling it off. It was an agonizing process that probably only took a few minutes but it felt like years. Her heavy breathing was the most prevalent sound in the room. "All right, you can look now." She raised her head and revealed that she looked like the rest of- like most of the family now. White hair and grey eyes with dots connected by a single line as her pupils. "You're truly part of the family now."
The family was seated around their table, each of them having their role to play. Parents, elder siblings, and younger siblings.
"We're only playing house."
"What?" That was out of nowhere but it felt like there was more to it.
"None of us have a blood relation. We're a group of strangers." She spoke with venom in her voice. The "family" that she was in meant nothing to her apart from being secure because of Rui and his power. Outside of the window they could see a punishment taking place, one where Rui was standing over the figure of a demon smaller than him.
"I didn't mean to revert to this form! It just- It happens by accident sometimes!" He pulled a thread and started choking her for a few moments, he only let go when he decided to speak.
"I don't want to hear your excuses, Mother." She coughed and fixed her crushed airway. "You will play your assigned role."
She morphed back into the mature member of his clan. "I understand… Rui."
"We were so scared of the Demon Slayers and sought companionship. But this charade wasn't what any of us had in mind when we agreed." She looked out the window and felt pity for her 'Mother' while explaining. "But the ones who disappoint him are cut up, have their intellect taken, or are strung up and forced to burn in the sunlight. I can't take it any longer."
She closed her eyes in thought of that last part and chose to ignore it. "I'll pretend you never said that."
"I can tell you're not like the others." That made her pay attention again. "I can tell you're much more enlightened. Let's run away together." She turned back from the window with a smile on her face. "I wouldn't say this to anyone but you, you're the one person I truly think of as a younger sister." A hand extended in front of her and she took it without hesitation.
She didn't even let go as they ran down the mountain.
Tomorrow Rui will be summoned by the Master and descend the mountain. That will be our chance to escape.
There was the minor problem of them running right into Rui. And there was the not so minor problem of this being a clear betrayal. The one she actually thought of as a younger sister walked forward and took her place by Rui… even while she was cut into pieces her look of shock and disbelief didn't fade. Even as she hung against their home like a macabre art piece in the dawn of the morning she felt nothing but betrayed. And even as she cried one tear and burned in the sunlight… she felt nothing.
"They were all fools! But I'm not like them! Even so I still messed up!" She didn't stop running to find anyone that she could use to fulfill her simple mission. She remembered telling Rui the news of Mother disappearing and how one of their elder brothers died, and the mistake she made of losing her image and turning back into her original appearance. Then that boy with the Hanafuda earrings showed up. 'I only got my face slashed. I got off easy!'
Murata turned his head when he heard something coming his way. "A demon?!" She held her hand up and bands of silk shot out then wrapped him up in a large cocoon. "What the?!" He started stabbing it but nothing happened.
"It's no use. You'll never cut through that yarn. My balls of yarn may feel soft but they're quite hardy."
He felt something dripping against him and when he looked at his arm there was some weird sludge coming from the yarn. "Eeaah?!"
"First, the solvent will melt your clothes to nothing. Then they'll melt right through you, after you're a pulp I'll feed on your remains."
"Wow! That's incredible! Do you spin those threads from the palms of your hands?" A cheery voice spoke from right beside her own head… a voice from a human… that somehow snuck up on her. "Good evening! The moon's quite lovely tonight isn't it?" A woman in an insect wing themed haori with purple eyes and hair that ended in the same color.
She jumped back in surprise and sent all the yarn she could spin at this woman but all of her attacks missed their mark. She jumped back again to keep distance but this woman just made up for it without even trying. One more try at catching her but it missed and the woman jumped again and landed a series of kicks to her chest then landed on her body.
"I can see you have no intentions of being my friend do you?"
"W- Wait! Let me explain! I'm being forced to do all this!"
"Oh?" She actually seemed to be listening so maybe there was a chance for survival here.
"If I don't listen to his orders I'll be torn to pieces!"
That made her smile fade for a moment. "Is that really true? That sounds tragic. I'll save you then! And after that we can be friends!"
"Y-You'll help me?"
"Of course! But in order for us to be friends, I have to ask you a few questions first." There was always a catch to these types of things weren't there? "Tell me my sweet child, how many are you responsible for killing?"
"Fi-"
"And whatever you do-!" Her smile faded and her look was deadly serious. "Don't lie to me."
She bit her tongue because she was about to lie. If she knew the actual number she probably would take back helping her so what choice did she have?! But… that red haired one from earlier was still a Slayer after being turned into a demon. So maybe she had a chance if she actually ended up telling the truth… There were so many variables here that could make this situation go any way-
"Somebody help me!" That struggling from inside her newest cocoon definitely wasn't a big help either.
"I- I don't know the actual number… b-but it's at least… ninety…"
Shinobu pulled back for a moment in surprise. She didn't actually expect to get an honest answer out of her. That actually threw her off her course since she planned to confront this girl about the evils she'd committed before offering the means to redeem herself. The best laid plans they say. "Well then, maybe we actually can be friends after all! I didn't expect you to actually tell me the truth." The demon under her actually looked away while hearing Shinobu explain. "But I suppose we can just say eighty and go from there!"
"What good does it do to confirm it?"
Shinobu sat up and held her hand with a finger extended. "So I can ensure that you receive your proper penalty and be reborn!"
"Penalty?" Her eyes widened because this was seeming all too familiar.
"Well we can't become friends at this exact moment. If you were to go unpunished after taking all the lives you have, that wouldn't be fair to your victims now would it?" She peeled an eyelid to reveal more of a grayish-silver eye. "I could gouge out your eyes. Or slit your belly and watch your guts spill out." She dragged an index finger along her abdomen. "For every person you've killed I have to exact the same amount of pain on you." She angled her left hand towards her sword since this is always where things went awry. "After you've gone through the proper punishment for your sins and atoned, I'll gladly be your friend and ensure that nobody in the Demon Slayer Corps will harm you!" She smiled as if she didn't just finish describing something incredibly violent. "Don't worry! Since you're a demon you'll be just fine when it's all said and done!"
She was about to speak her mind to refute this crazy bitch and her sadistic behavior… then she had a quick moment to think about it. The gruesomeness and obvious sadism behind it aside, this really could be a way for her to escape her current situation. Whoever this woman was not only managed to pin her down without even using her sword, the greatest weapon of any Demon Slayer, but also could make propositions that include demons being her friend… meaning she was high ranked. It might be terrible while it's happening but once her 'rebirth' was done that was it, it was done and she'd have this woman as a friend and protector… it might not be much different than her current predicament but on one hand she had Demon Slayers to worry about with Rui, and on the other hand she had less of them to worry about if one can verify that she'd atoned for her actions. Eating animal meat gave a similar effect to feeding on humans just without letting her grow stronger so she'd be able to reign that in and- Wow this actually had a lot of ups now that she thought about it.
"Are you alright? You've been sitting there for some time now." Shinobu called the hypnotized demon back into focus and prepared to strike when she lashed out at her.
"Alright."
"I see. I suppose we- Chotto matte. Come again?"
She closed her eyes and took a breath. "I'll go through your punishment. If it means that I'll be your friend." Survival is a must at the end of the day and if allying herself with the people who want to kill her is a necessity then maybe that's her best course.
Shinobu on the other hand was absolutely speechless at how she actually managed to find a demon that decided to bite the bullet and be her friend… every other demon that she tried this on turned violent and tried to kill her only to end up- "TRAITOR!" That made the girls look over and see a male spider demon that wasn't a head on a spider body but an actual boy with pale skin and white hair like her. He started forming an attack with his own threads and that was when Shinobu removed herself from the girl she was using as a seat.
"Would you give me a moment?" She practically turned into a blur and evaded the webbing that came for her without even trying. "It's safe to assume that you don't want to be friends?"
"As if I'd ever befriend my food!" That settled it and she weaved between his attacks with low effort on her part and when he sent another spray of webbing he was surprised to find that she disappeared entirely. "How the- Where'd she go?" He looked around until he heard the sound of something swinging and he looked behind him into the air. She was falling towards him with her sword drawn and suddenly she became a cloud of beautiful butterflies that flew behind him, save for one that landed on his forehead. "Oh…?" The insect started rotting and turning blood red… his forehead and one of his hands followed suit. "Oh."
Shinobu landed behind him right when four different wounds appeared across his body and ended on his forehead. "Mushi no kokyu Chō no mai: Tawamure." (Insect Breathing Butterfly Dance: Caprice). His hands flew to his neck and he realized that his body was still attached.
'Wait, my head's still attached?' He turned around and eyed her sword. 'That's the sword she has? Wait a second… I get it now. She's too small and doesn't have the strength to cut my head off!' He raised his hands and got ready for his next assault. "You're all mine! Hg!" Everything flashed purple for some reason and his hands started to- the veins started swelling up for some reason. His entire body felt like it was burning up and everything just kept flashing purple! He felt sick to his stomach and blood started to pool across his skin until he dropped to the ground… dead.
'How- How did she do that? You have to cut off our heads to kill us?' She watched the display but Shinobu decided to explain herself.
"Just because you haven't been beheaded doesn't mean you're safe. Because there are those like me who use poison with their swordsmanship." She spun her sword both elegantly and masterfully over her head and positioned it beside her body. "Demon Slayer Corps Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho. I'm the only one among the Hashira unable to decapitate demons, but I've made a poison lethal to them. That's impressive right?" She quickly realized that a third of her audience was already dead. "Ah! My mistake! You can't hear if you're dead!" And another third of her audience was still trapped in a ball of yarn. "Would you mind fixing that?"
She quickly realized that the question was directed at her and undid her blood demon Art and set Murata free. 'Wait she said Hashira… as in the highest ranked Demon Slayers?!' Now she was very glad that she took up the offer and chose to just go through with paying for her actions instead of suffering the same agony her faux brother just did.
Murata coughed and looked around to see both a demon on the ground with his eyes wide in agony and the demon that put him in that ball in the first place. "Shouldn't you kill her? She put me in that thing! And doesn't he need to be finished off?"
"Well I poisoned that one so there's no need to worry! And as for her, she agreed to be my friend under the circumstance that she goes through equal amounts of pain for the lives she's taken!" She eyed Murata and saw that he was naked as the day he'd been born. "I'm an expert in pharmaceutics so I can at least tell that other than your clothes, you're unscathed physically!" He covered himself and started scooting away into the night. "Now then, would you happen to know the whereabouts of the demon that forced you to do your bidding? Also what should I call you from now on?"
She stood up and only had an answer for one of those questions. "I- I don't have a name. I've always just been 'Sister' to him. And he's fighting two other Demon Slayers, don't you know that some of your other friends are here?"
'Other friends? You're the only one who's ever taken this offer…' Shinobu thought about both that and a name since she'd just taken the role of- Of- Now wasn't the time to think about Kanae, she had a name to give. "Oh! How about Yuka?! 'Yu' meaning to tie and 'ka' meaning addition. It's perfect for you!"
She folded her hands together and bowed her head slightly, as she did she felt it slip and her face went from resembling Rui back to her original grayish skin, orange cat-like eyes with black sclera, and black hair. "I- That name works. I'll be Yuka then." She felt a prick against her arm and saw Shinobu there with a needle in her hand. "What did you do to me?"
"That was just incentive for you not to run off, a simple poison that would kill you in a day unless I give you the antidote!" Again, the fact that she admitted to doing something so malicious with a smile ate away at Yuma's resolve but she could understand the idea behind it.
'I hope I made the right choice.' Of course that didn't mean she agreed with it.
"Now please, show me where the demon that forced your hand is." She said with a soft smile. 'Although I wonder if Tomioka beat me to-' A giant burning tiger shot into the air a distance away and quickly fell back down to the earth again. It was a marvelous flash of light that lasted as quick as it came. "I wasn't aware that Rengoku was here?"
Tanjiro crawled along the ground to see what happened in the fight between the two demons, he barely drag himself along the ground, yet was also managing to bring Nezuko to see the result of that clash. 'Did he win? Please tell me he won!' He finally managed to clear a high point and see exactly what happened.
"Why are you only Lower Moon Five?" A voice said from the dust, he didn't have to be a genius to tell that it was Koujo. "You're way stronger than that."
The smell of those threads and the smell of demon's blood. "I never cared for ranks!" And now his calm demeanor was gone. That voice was clearly an angered Rui. The dust settled and Tanjiro could clearly see that nobody came out of that attack uninjured.
'He's okay!' Koujo was still alive and that relieved the young Kamado more than you could imagine. He still had a sword capable of killing demons so all it would've taken is Rui immobilizing him then using his own weapon against him… luckily that didn't happen. However he did have slices through his pants and deep gashes all over his body that were healing slowly, worse was that his shin blades were cut to all types of hell and were scattered all over the ground. On the upside Rui was in equally bad shape with a missing arm and pieces of his torso missing. 'What is he doing with that?' The most important thing that he saw was Koujo holding an eye over his mouth, the one that had Rui's rank on it nonetheless. He dropped the organ into his mouth and with a few motions ate the entire thing.
"Tanjiro!" He couldn't turn his head or really move his body to see him but he knew that voice well enough by now to know exactly who was here now. "Wow, what happened here?"
There was the smell of someone else with Jikon and it was vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite put his nose on who it was. "Looks like a fight between demons." A voice with little to no emotion behind it spoke. "I'll intervene."
"Tanjiro, are you okay?" Jikon started helping his friend to his feet despite the grunts of pain and discomfort coming from him. 'I'm glad that Giyū slowed down for me, I'm barely better off than you right now.'
In the depression of the ground there were now two demons and a human. "Now I'm even more annoyed, whoever you are just do me a favor… die. Kokushi Rinten." (Cutting Thread Rotation). Another spiraling web of those dark threads and he shot it off with full intent to make this newcomer human slush. Koujo quickly moved behind the newcomer with a smile on his face and watched the action about to occur.
"Mizu no kokyu…" (Water breathing). An entire ocean of rampaging waves appeared around Giyu. "Juichi no kata…"(Eleventh Form). The rotating threads came even closer to him and suddenly the waves stopped.
'Wait I thought I made the eleventh form? Giyū… how strong are you?'
The water was completely still around him. "Nagi." (Dead Calm). The threads that got close to him suddenly split apart and ripped as if they weren't even an obstacle in the first place. Each one being split like it didn't have the ability to rip right through flesh and was just normal yarn. He was moving so fast that the others couldn't even pick up his movements, and yet none of the threads left even a scrape on his seemingly still silhouette.
"You cut those threads- That doesn't matter!" Rui lifted his hands up when Giyū started walking closer to him. "I'll make more and more! Until you can't-" He didn't even notice that someone slipped around behind him until a set of teeth locked into his neck. Even Giyū was speechless at what he just witnessed and stopped his advance.
Koujo had his teeth locked in tight and just like the last time he did this, he had a mission to complete. 'What do you want, Rui?!' Those words… they… were familiar.
"What is it that you want, Rui? What do you mean by family?"
"I'm not sure. I don't have memories of when I was a human."
"Is that why… you had us pretend to be your family?"
"I thought that if I could feel a family bond, maybe my memories would come back. The bond of a real family…"
"That's right… I remember." Simpler times. Better times. "I was born with a weak body. I couldn't run, even just walking around was a challenge… That is- Until Master Muzan-"
"Until that coward appeared."
"Hm. He said that he'd help me in my plight, and my parents weren't happy about it. But when I had a strong body, I couldn't be in sunlight. And of course I had to devour humans."
He opened their door and saw the horror of his own son eating a human corpse. "What have you done? What on earth have you done, Rui?!" A woman cried by his side while the perso- The monster in question just stared blankly.
"Long ago I heard a wonderful story. There was once a father who died trying to save his drowning child. I was deeply moved. Such a display of parental love and a true bond. This father who gave his own life for his child fulfilled his role perfectly… yet I wasn't given the same devotion."
A knife rose above his head, the holder shaking with guilt.
"When it came to my own parents, they tried to kill me. All my mother did was cry, never lifting a finger to protect me."
A splatter of blood and he was safe.
"They must've been imposters… our bond wasn't genuine at all."
That didn't sound right at all. There weren't any imposters among them and he was seeing firsthand what exactly happened that night. With a press of his thumb to his sword's guard, he exposed some of his nichirin blade. He turned around and saw a black thread between the boy and his bleeding mother with white spiders crawling along its length.
"This one's the toughest of all…"
There was only one thing he could do for this one and that was to build up his force. With an intake of breath he focused on that last form of water breathing and formed a water dragon by his side. "Ju no kata: Seisei Ruten!" (Tenth form: Constant Flux). He twisted and spun, gaining more and more force with every rotation. He jumped into the air and kept his right hand on the hilt of his sword. "Seitōna Tensei: Hono Tori!"(Rightful Reincarnation: Flaming Bird). The dragon behind him transformed into a blazing bird with piercing yellow eyes and with a slash of his sword he severed the black thread.
"I- I'm s- so-"
He noticed that she had something to say to him, probably her admitting that she wasn't really a mother to him. "She's trying to speak? I thought she was dead."
"I'm sorry… I couldn't give you a healthy body. I'm so sorry."
He gasped. That wasn't what he expected to hear. "Those were my mother's last words before her death. She was dead."
The area shifted and they were back indoors, watching a distraught father raise a knife above his sleeping son. "Rui, listen… we're going to die with you!" Tears were streaming down his face and it was then that he understood.
"I was so enraged that he tried to kill me that the meaning of his words escaped me. I came to realize that he intended to atone on my behalf. He was going to take his own life." A white thread stretched out and eventually snapped in half. "It was a genuine bond. And that night I severed it with my own two hands. But even after all that, Master Muzan-"
"The pale skinned coward."
He ignored the interruption. "He tried to cheer me up. He said it was their fault for not accepting me as I was, and I had no choice but to agree. I couldn't take the weight of what I did. Every day I missed my parents so much and even crafting a fake family of my own, I couldn't get rid of that emptiness. I was the strongest. I couldn't depend on them to protect me. The more powerful I grew, the more hazy my memories became until I didn't even remember what I wanted in the first place."
"So what did you want then? What were you after that made you do all of this? That made you go so far to make another family?"
He didn't even have to think about it because the answer was right in front of him. "I sought out a bond that I couldn't claim for myself. Not in my old life, or this new one that I created." The scent of sadness, the scent of grief, and the scent of- ashes? A flood of different smells and they were all coming from him in his sorrow. "I Remember… I wanted to apologize to them. I'm sorry. It was my fault… all of it. I want them to forgive me, but- but I've killed so many people. I'm going to hell for it aren't I? Father, Mother, I can't go to the same place as them, can I?" He started crying his own tears upon realizing that he'd never have his chance, he wouldn't be able to let them know that he wanted to make things right.
"That's not true."
Through his tears he could see black fingers against a pale hand. "Wh- What do you mean?"
"There's always a chance to redeem yourself. As long as you want to make a change, you can. It might be a long journey but that wouldn't matter to anyone who wants to be better than they were yesterday!"
That hand stayed in front of him even as he cried his tears and believed that redemption was beyond him. How could a monster like him ever make up for what he did just to have that feeling again? There was no way… there just wasn't.
"All you have to do is reach out and take that chance, if you really want to make it up to them then you have to try."
It- There can't- How would- "I want- I want to!" He reached out and decided that maybe there was a chance for him, and if there was even a chance then he'd take it. "I want their forgiveness!"
Against Corps Rules
"That smell, it's like when they die." Jikon pointed out and Tanjiro quickly noticed that the smell of demon ash was in the air for a few moments, but it dissipated as soon as it came and there was nothing left but the smell of sadness and overwhelming guilt. "We need to talk to Miss Tamayo about how he does that, maybe she came up with something."
The sight of Koujo biting down into the neck of a demon that looked as young as Nezuko was definitely frightening in its own right, but seeing him pull his bloody teeth out and catch Rui's body added to that factor. "He smells so sad, what happened?" Tanjiro said from Jikon's shoulder. The two wondering how a demon who was so malicious minutes ago managed to turn around and feel the direct opposite.
"So you became a demon as well? Just like his sister." Giyū spoke directly and very directly. "Unfortunately that one isn't like you both, it's killed many humans and lived for decades terrorizing them. It's a disgusting monster that you should take your sword and behead now."
For a moment, Koujo humored that thought but with a lick of his canines quickly refreshed his memory. "Maybe he was a monster among humans. Maybe a lot of demons are, and those ones that enjoy killing people can feel all my two feet of sword against their necks! But, the demons who live in misery, the ones who are unlucky people that ended up that way against their will or because of Kibutsuji's evil… I'll do everything to help them that I can because they're not monsters, they're people who were wronged by that bastard!" He walked right up to him with Rui still in his arms and his own eyes finally opened to reveal black sclera against yellow and red irises with a white pupil. "Tanjiro!" He went to check on his friend and Giyū turned with a question about a resemblance he just noticed.
'Isn't that like-" The sound of rushing footsteps made the Hashira grab his sword while Jikon and Tanjiro ducked towards Nezuko's figure while Koujo dropped with Rui. Giyū drew his sword and deflected a thrust from a woman in an insect themed Haori.
"Oh my!" She landed and spun gracefully across the ground and stopped a short distance away. Giyū lowered himself and defended the three most injured while Koujo raised a brow at this new woman. "Why would you get in my way, Tomioka? After saying that we could never be friends with demons, here you are protecting not one, not two, but three? I have to say that this kind of thing…" She turned around and sheathed part of her sword again. "Is exactly why nobody likes you."
"I don't…" They were ready for a comeback unlike any other. "I don't think I'm disliked by people." And the ball was dropped hard.
Tanjiro widened his eyes in surprise. Jikon squinted with a certain level of doubt in his mind. Koujo just stared blankly like Tomioka… maybe because he felt the same. "Oh dear. It seems like you hadn't even realized it. I shouldn't have said anything, my apologies."
"Ehh?!" Was the articulate statement of Jikon and Tanjiro.
"Young boys! The ones laying on the ground!"
"Yes ma'am!" Tanjiro respectfully said from his position.
Jikon had a different reason to respond with such energy and it was all due to the beauty of the woman who was calling out to them. "Th- That's us!" He was smitten by her gentle demeanor and her politeness more than anything.
"That girl you're protecting is a demon. So are those two slightly behind you. I don't want either of you getting hurt so please move away."
Tanjiro finally used his own strength to grab hold of Nezuko and sat up while Jikon backed up beside his brother. "No you're mistaken! Well you aren't mistaken but… she's my little sister!"
"And I'm his older brother!" He decided to answer for himself since he was the demon in question. "The one in my arms is a member of the Twelve Kizuki."
Shinobu raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh my, is that true? You poor things. In that case I'll be sure to use a more gentle poison so your siblings won't suffer." That… her face was creeping Koujo out, her smile didn't reach her eyes and it was disturbing. "The Kizuki can feel all the pain and more!" Yep... her smile definitely freaked him out more than anything else could.
'At least she's polite about it!' Jikon thought as he started pulling his body into action to make some type of getaway from this situation.
Tanjiro felt his brotherly instincts kick in harder than ever and that's when his savior spoke up.
"Can you move? Even if it's hard on you, you need to go. Take your sister and run. Your brother can move just fine so you don't need to worry about him as much, just follow behind them if you can."
He was actually telling them to get out of dodge? Despite apparently disapproving of demons and humans being allies? "Tomioka…" Tanjiro said.
"Mister Giyū…" Jikon carefully started pulling Tanjiro up.
And that left one of them. "I think you should have friends." Not the right time. "Let's go!" They got up and ran away, leaving the two Hashira behind.
Shinobu just stood there without a smile on her face, which Koujo would've seen as more fitting with her empty eyes. "Did you just break the Corps rules?"
He actually had a good response to that. "You say that but what about the demon you brought with you?" Yuka jumped and stepped from behind the tree she'd used for cover. "Isn't that against the rules?"
Shinobu hummed in thought while Giyū kept his same stoic face. "You know that the Master gave me express permission to befriend any demon that agreed to my terms… and I finally found one that said yes!" That might've been more shocking than the fact that he just helped three demons get away. Mainly since he'd heard descriptions of her 'Justice" for their victims.
They ran as quickly as they could, one of them keeping an obvious lead ahead of the others. 'There it is!' He grabbed Nezuko's box and stopped to figure out how this would work. 'If she can shrink then so can he!' He started putting Rui into the box but it clearly wasn't working out for him since he was still too big. "What did I do to deserve this?!" He was about to force the boy into the box when his body suddenly started shrinking and he managed to fit. Convenience aside, the others caught up and they all resumed their running.
'My entire body is aching! This pain is unlike anything else I've ever felt! I want to scream from the pain but I have to keep going!' For his sister he would push through this pain no matter how much it wanted him to just give up.
'That 'Father' really didn't hold back! Even though I killed him… I feel like the loser! My bones are sore and my muscles are burning! Keep pushing! Have to keep pushing!'
Nezuko stirred and woke up in her brother's arms. "Does this mean we need to leave the Corps?! Even though we won't attack anyone there's no way they'd let this happen! Two demons among their ranks like this?" Koujo flinched once he felt another presence behind them.
A stinger-like sword connected with a normal blade, the sparks illuminating the darkness of the forest. "I can see that you're deadly serious. Who'd have thought you would defend a demon?" Giyū didn't even respond to her. "Whatever your intentions are, I have no reason to play this game of stalling for time with you. So I bid you good day." She leapt into the trees and started using branches to traverse. He grit his teeth and chased behind her while she leapt from branch to branch ever so gracefully. "Is this your attempt at catching up with me?" Again he didn't bother responding to her. "I don't mind you trying to stop me, but don't forget that there's someone else for you to watch out for!" He jumped into the air and Shinobu watched as he got closer with that single leap.
"Just keep running." The box was on his back and he was slowly getting to the rear of the group. "We just have to keep going!"
Something fell from above and landed directly onto Tanjiro's back, pushing him to the ground and knocking Nezuko from his arms. 'Damn it! What happened? Nezuko!' He saw his sister and then he saw a person land in front of her with a white cloak and custom Demon Slayer uniform that had a skirt and knee high boots. 'A Demon Slayer?'
"Tanjiro!" Jikon stopped and saw the girl raise her sword above her head with an almost serene smile.
She swung her sword but instead of taking off the innocent girl's head it just got stuck against the wrist of a shirtless Demon. 'She's actually really strong!' He felt the power behind that basic swing and knew to keep his guard up. Luckily Tanjiro acted and pulled her cloak which made her fall onto him, giving Koujo the space to jump back.
"Run Nezuko! As fast as you can! Don't get caught no matter what!" She got up and took off while a white boot raised above Tanjiro's head. "Hurry-" She slammed her boot down and knocked him right out.
"And I'll go with her." Koujo turned and ran after Nezuko while Jikon immediately moved and blocked a strike from this girl with his own sword.
"So are you with that insect lady?" He moved back to avoid a swing and ducked below a thrust then clashed their weapons. "Do you know what things she likes?" That actually made the girl pause for just a moment but she regained her focus and feinted a strike that left the Hakuga wide open, and she took her opportunity to hit his temple with the hilt of her sword. He fell to the ground unconscious and she followed behind the two demons.
Koujo was right beside Nezuko and felt that girl right behind them. "Shrink!" Nezuko reverted back to her miniature size and he just… ran a little faster to avoid the swipe.
'She shrunk and turned into a child.' It was definitely… new. Nezuko kept running even as an adorable kid and Koujo just turned back with a smile on his face.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't have seen it coming either." She started making swings for him but missed her mark, which was his neck, but that's not to say that she missed. The durability of his hands was coming into great use for keeping him alive. 'This girl's relentless! But neither of us are going for blood as hard as we can, just keep moving. Protect Nezuko and Rui.'
Now these two were in a full fight of their own while Nezuko sat on the ground in her child form with a "•-•" expression on her face. The Slayer's breathing pattern grew more focused and her strikes had more force behind them, she was actually trying to kill him now. He used his fists to repel each of her slashes and pushed her away only to deal with her starting another flurry of slashes again. Then there was a mistake. The sword dropped towards his neck at a slant and he capitalized… by spinning and dropping his heel onto the side of the blade, splitting it in half.
She lost her calm smile and looked somewhat surprised that her sword was just split in half like that, the implications of her weapon breaking sunk in quicker when she saw him draw the sword on his hip. "Yours is broken…" She tensed and prepared herself to fight with reduced range… against a demon that was able to counter her attacks… she saw that her odds were debatable at best. "Here." He- Did he just toss her his own sword?
"Excuse me, did you just disarm yourself?" She caught the red blade and took a moment to observe its craftsmanship. It was obviously made by a novice but it still had time taken to create it. She was even more surprised when she heard something unfasten and then saw him holding the scabbard out to her.
She begrudgingly accepted the item from him and he filled her in on his reasoning. "It's not fair to fight someone who can't fight back." He jumped back and stood up with a slight tilt to his body with one foot in front of the other. "Ready to start again?"
A question from him and she didn't know how to answer it, she couldn't use her normal means to respond in situations like this. 'My order was to slay demons.' She fixed his scabbard to her hip and let her broken weapon, and the sheathe for it, fall to the ground. "I'm ready." They charged at each other again with their own small smiles on their faces, this song and dance of theirs was a good distraction from things at the moment.
"So please, Tomioka, tell me why you stopped me from slaying demons?" Shinobu asked from the reverse headlock that Giyū trapped her in, locking her wrists by her neck as well so she couldn't do anything defensively. All the dignity she had slowly faded from the embarrassment of being stuck this way.
"As I recall, it was a little more than two years ago-"
A tick mark bulged on her forehead. "Don't tell me you're going to break into a long winded story just to spite me! Is it because I pointed out how nobody likes you earlier?"
Giyū's face looked as if he'd just been stabbed and with the reminder of that matter, he might as well have been. A blade came from Shinobu's heel and she drove it towards his shocked face- "The secret is out! The secret is out!" The piercing cry of a hawk drew their attention to the bird of prey circling above them. "Jikon Hakuga and the demon Koujo Itadake are to be brought in alive! I repeat, Jikon Hakuga and Koujo Itadake are to be brought in alive!"
The noisy cawing of crows followed that majestic cry. "Don't forget my associate, Tanjiro Kamado and his sister, the demon Nezuko, are to be brought in as well! Tanjiro Kamado, dressed in a checkered haori with a scar on his forehead! Nezuko Kamado, a demon with a bamboo muzzle! They're both to be brought to headquarters alive!"
"Jikon Hakuga, dressed in a blue haori with white clouds! Koujo Itadake, last seen shirtless with a wooden box upon his back! They're also to be brought in!" Jikon's crow joined the call, their combined commands echoing in the forest.
Giyū let Shinobu go and the two sheathed their weapons as if they weren't just having a moderately violent dispute with each other and started walking back they way they came.
They both looked overhead and heard the warnings all the same. "Would you happen to be Koujo Itadake?"
"Hmn! I am. And that's Nezuko. You knocked out Tanjiro and Jikon." He turned his back on her since their little match was done and he set the box down beside the young demon who was still idly sitting down. "Do you think you can fit in here with Rui? If you can't, I can take my brother's basket."
"Lady Kanao!" A man wearing a headpiece that covered most of his face approached with others like him following. "We're here to help-" Koujo and Nezuko both looked at the newcomers and sent shivers down their collective spines. "We're here- To help collect the ones the crows said had to be brought in!"
Kanao nodded her head and pointed back to where she left the two unconscious Demon Slayers behind. "They're in that direction. I can keep watch over the demons." The members of the clean up crew just kept their eyes locked on Koujo who was patting Nezuko's head.
'I forgot all about them, the Kakushi. They're the members of the Corps who don't actually fight demons.' He watched the, for lack of a better word, assistants head towards his downed friend and brother while Kanao kept her eyes on him. He watched her take a coin out and flip it into the air, then when she caught it she looked at what it landed on.
"Why did you give me your sword?"
That was a very good question that he had… some of an answer to. "I broke yours so it's fair. And since we have to get taken in I think they were gonna take it already."
She looked at the sword in her hand and watched it go from a shade of bright red that turned darker the further away from the cutting edge, to a vibrant shade of pink that grew lighter the further it went from the edge. "I suppose."
"What are they? They don't look like demons." They poked a stick at the boar headed person hanging from the tree and quickly found that he had hair beneath the mask. "Oh it's a mask! Get him down."
Another one of them slowly lifted up the pelt of a monstrous looking bear and saw the face of a woman, an oddly tall woman but a woman nonetheless. "Same here, let's- Uh let's try a team of two for this one."
Inosuke felt himself shaking around and his limited perception let him see that he was hanging over someone's shoulder and he could see Ami being carried in the arms of two people in weird head wraps. 'A-Ami... I haven't gotten any stronger after all. I couldn't even dent that guy after he shed... Jikon had to finish it for me. Am I so weak that I can't beat one demon with help?'
If only he knew that someone else stirred to a level of barely conscious. 'Inosuke... You almost died and I couldn't do a damn thing. And I thought bears were the toughest things in the forest... I- I'll never be able to keep anyone safe if I'm this weak... But that Jikon guy killed it. What makes him so strong?'
The kakushi stopped in front of two boys laying flat against the ground. "This one has a scar on his forehead. Look, his jawbone seems to be broken too."
"And this one's got a cloud themed haori, and his head's bleeding. I feel bad having to tie them up." He might've said that but he didn't hesitate to break out the rope and start restraining them.
That beautiful woman was all he could think about in his dreams. She was so charming even though she was pretending to smile, he couldn't read faces but he could smell good enough to pick up emotions. She wasn't as happy as she made herself look, the opposite really, and it got worse when they told her that Nezuko and Koujo were siblings turned Demon. He could almost imagine ask-
"Hey! Get up you two!"
Who was trying to ruin his dreams? His dad always said that dreams were the one place where other people couldn't take things from you.
"I don't know why you're smiling but you need to get up!" Jikon reluctantly opened his eyes and first saw Tanjiro across from him, stripped of his haori just like him and stirring awake as well. And more importantly they were both tied up with their hands behind their backs. The next important thing was the presence of the people behind the kakushi waking them up. "You're in the presence of the Hashira!"
Pillars
Six people stood over them. Each one of them with a presence that would've made a weaker person choke just from being close to them. "I heard he was a Demon Slayer with not just one, but two demons in tow. I expected someone with more flair, but that one's pretty ordinary looking. Too bad for him." A haughty voice from a man who matched it perfectly. "His friend isn't too bad, but he doesn't have the flamboyancy I'd like to see."
The sound of rolling beads, no words, just moving prayer beads in his hands.
"Hmn! That doesn't matter! We're here to see these boys on trial!" An aggressive but passionate voice was speaking now. "So it shall be!"
One of them was paying very little mind to the situation and was more focused on the clouds.
'To think they've been protecting their siblings who were turned into demons. That's beautiful sibling love! Brave of them both!' This time it was a woman thinking about the matter at hand.
"What the-" Tanjiro finally cleared his throat and spoke up. "Who are the-" A hand forced his face back into the gravel. The kakushi pushed him down and admonished him for speaking so quickly in the presence of the Hashira. 'Hashira? What is he talking about?'
Jikon took offense on Tanjiro's behalf. "You mind letting go of my friend? I don't know what a 'Hashira' is either!" For a second some of those six people looked surprised at that declaration but then the kakushi pushed Jikon's face down into the rocks.
"They're the highest ranking in the Demon Slayer Corps! Show some res- OW! He bit me!" He pulled his hand back since Jikon did resort to biting like an angry child.
Shinobu decided to cut in before they got too far off topic. "This is the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters. You are here because you, Tanjiro Kamado, and Jikon Hakuga… are being put on trial."
The passionate man with flame colored hair and eyes smiled brightly. "Protecting a demon is a clear violation of our code! We're well within our rights to deal with him on our own! Execute all of them I say!" That was the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku.
"In that case I'll decapitate them with my style. I'll let you see the most dramatic blood spray of your lives. It'll be a spectacle" So said the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui.
Next was the pink haired woman who was reluctant about this entire thing. 'No way. You'd really kill such adorable boys? Just the idea makes me so sad!' The Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji.
"What pitiful sights these boys are. I grieve for them both. Perhaps it'd have been better if they were never born." An oddly spoken input from the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
'What was the shape of that cloud again? What was it called?' The unrelated thoughts of the youngest one there, the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito.
Two restrained boys took their attention from the Hashira and started looking for something else that mattered so much more to them. 'Where's Koujo and Nezuko?' Tanjiro's train of thought was matched by Jikon at that moment and the two started looking for either of their siblings.
"Hey you two, the Hashira are speaking. Where are you looking?" The assistant beside them tried to get their attention back on the people in front of them but it didn't work very well. "Your eyes should be over there. These are the nine highest ranking swordsmen in the Corps."
"Nine?" Jikon did a quick headcount. "Beautiful woman, Gentle man, Distracted kid, Kouka with yellow in her hair, Pretty girl, Fabulous man… that's six."
Shinobu quickly realized where she placed in that list and wasn't actually sure how she should feel about the compliment.
Gyomei rubbed his hands together but to the trained eye there was a slight upward turn of his mouth.
Kyojuro's smile faded for a moment and he thought about what that boy just said.
Muichiro didn't even hear his colloquial since he was still staring at that cloud.
Mitsuri's blush somehow grew even more while she thought about how this boy she just met found her pretty.
"Oh, at least someone recognizes my flair." And Tengen had a slightly different tone since he finally had someone admit he was amazing without even needing a demonstration. "Please, allow me to execute him. It's only fitting."
"Then please put the other one out of his misery as well." Gyomei cut in about how that still left Tanjiro out for a second.
Kyojuro regained his ever present smile. "Right!"
Tanjiro looked away from them and started focusing on his priority. "Nezuko! Where did you take her?!"
"And Koujo. Where is my brother?" He might've sounded calm but anyone could tell that there was an underlying threat in his tone.
"Never mind the boy. What will we do about Tomioka?" The boys looked up and saw a boy with bandages covering his mouth and a white snake coiled around his shoulders. "Seeing him standing there without restraints is giving me a headache. Based on what Kocho said, he's just as guilty of breaking the Corps rules." The Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro, brought the count to seven. "How will we deal with him?" He pointed his finger accusingly. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Tomioka?"
And standing there alone was Giyū, the Water Hashira. 'He's here because of us…'
'We just had to get caught caring about our family. Damn it! We have to prove that they won't hurt anyone!'
All the Hashira looked at Giyū expectantly but he just stood there with nothing to say. "I think it's fine, after all he did come here without resisting." Shinobu pointed out his willingness to go with them. "Let's make that penalty later. I'm more curious about their stories, they've been traveling with demons despite being Demon Slayers. I'd like to hear an explanation from their mouths."
"Miss Shinobu…" Jikon managed to say from the ground.
"Young Hakuga. Young Kamado. Why are you both traveling with Demons when you're Demon Slayers?"
Tengen grabbed the swords on his back in preparation. "Does it really matter why?"
"You can take your time, just give us your reasoning."
Actually being given a chance to plead their case… they couldn't waste it. "Nezuko is my- She's my-" Hours without talking left Tanjiro's throat dry and when Jikon tried to pick up where he left off, he ended up in the same coughing fit. Luckily Shinobu was kind enough to offer them both some water.
"There's anesthetic in that water so it'll dull your pain. You're both injured so you shouldn't push yourselves too far."
Once they both managed to clear their throats they spoke in tandem.
"They're our siblings!"
Tanjiro decided to tell his story first. "When I was away from home one day, my family was attacked by a demon. I lost almost everyone, she was the only one who survived and she was turned into a demon… but she's never hurt anyone and she never will!"
"My brother was a human just a few months ago, but he got turned into a demon one night. The first thing he did when he found us was help us beat two demons that were sent to kill us! He's never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it and he'd never eat another human!"
Obanai started waving his finger in doubt. "Save your rambling for something else. If they're family no wonder you'd try and defend them. I can't trust anything you're spouting, I don't believe any of it."
Gyomei started crying tears from his useless eyes. "So sad… they've been possessed by demons. Let us kill these poor children to set them free from this cursed life."
"Please listen to us! We became swordsmen to try and find a cure for her! She was turned two years ago, and she's never devoured anyone in that time."
Tengen stated his own beliefs on that matter. "There's not much substance to that story. She hasn't devoured anyone and she's never going to? Those are just words, if you want to be flamboyant then you'd have to plead your case with some evidence."
"Excuse me." Mitsuri had a concern. "Something about this concerns me, how would the master have been unaware of this situation? Should we really deal with this without his say?" Both Tengen and Kyojuro hummed in agreement. "We should at least wait for him before we continue."
"My sister… Let my sister fight by my side!" Tanjiro all but yelled… proving his bravery since each of these people could definitely beat him in his state without trying. "She can fight as a Demon Slayer to protect humans!"
Jikon had something that was rather damning as evidence for them. "Koujo's been helping us slay demons even after he was turned!" That actually got some eyebrows raised and Tengen nodded, muttering something about that adding spice to their story. "All he's done is help us since then! Please!"
"Well well, what fun do we have brewing here?" A new man appeared on the scene. Scars were littered across his body and a manic grin was on his face, right below his bloodshot eyes. "Are they the morons who brought demons with them?" He was holding both Nezuko's box, and Jikon's basket in his hands. "The hell do you think you're trying to pull here anyway?" The Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa had no sympathy for whatever was going on since he knew one thing about demons; Kill them.
'Those new scars make Shinazugawa look even more handsome!' Mitsuri fawned over his appearance even as a kakushi ran out after him.
"Master Shinazugawa, I must ask you to put down those containers!"
Shinobu stood up wordlessly and Mitsuri even took her time to adore how cool she was, even when angered. "Shinazugawa, please don't act out of line."
He set the bamboo basket down to his right and kept Nezuko's box in his hand. "Wanna say that again kid? That they'd fight as Demon Slayers to protect humans? You know what we call that?" He drew his sword and revealed its green and black coloration to them all. "Completely fucking impossible, you idiot!" He stabbed his sword straight through her box and into her shoulder.
"Mmngh!" The blade went all the way through and both Tanjiro and Jikon heard Nezuko cry out in pain.
"Getting angry in there aren't ya?!" He took his sword out and stabbed it into the basket at an angle with his crazed grin ever so present on his face. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you!" There wasn't any sound of pain but there was blood coming from the basket so clearly teeth were being grit.
Two brothers got up and stood in defiance of the blatant sadism. "Anyone who hurts my sister answers to me! I don't give a damn if you are a Hashira!"
"Anyone who hurts someone I care about, I'll turn it back on them times ten!" Their minds were concluded.
The sadistic Wind Hashira just laughed like a madman then removed his sword and spun it to clear off most of the blood. "How nice that you're sticking up for family… if only they weren't unfeeling monsters that didn't care!"
He went too far. Tanjiro growled and charged ahead, even with his hands bound he wouldn't say no to a challenge. Jikon ran even faster than the young Kamado and was ahead of him in a second. "Stop this!" Giyū, uncharacteristically, raised his voice. "The Master will be arriving soon!"
Shinazugawa realized that these two were serious about taking him on. He backstepped right when Jikon jumped up and he swung his sword to catch him, the boy kicked against the weapon and matched it with his force. "Now what? You can't do much like this."
He actually smirked when the Hashira said that. "I'm just buying time." He kicked back and left the scarred man wide open for Tanjiro, who was falling from above with his entire upper body cocked back. He was going to headbutt him with his entire soul if he could!
"Tsk!" There was the minor problem that this was still a Hashira, and he was a Hashira for a reason. Even with one of his hands holding a box he could still manage against two boys… and he did. He stepped back and kicked Tanjiro away since their little attempt was good, but against experienced people like the ones here? It was lacking. He landed softly since Jikon was his landing spot and the two ended up in a heap against the gravel. "And now you've done it… assaulting a Hashira? That's enough for me to kill you!" He didn't even get to take a step before the design of a flaming rose with four petals appeared beside him, then the lid to the basket blew off and a figure landed in front of it.
"Here we go again…" The figure burst into bright flames with agonized screams polluting the garden they were in but that was a temporary distraction for the main event.
"Looks like that one just chose to die, guess I won't get to cut his head off!" He appeared in front of the two boys with his sword ready to make a kebab out of them. "No room for rulebreaking traitors in the Corps!" He stabbed the sword down and a spurt of blood sprayed into the air… from a different target than he aimed for. "What the- How did-"
He was still on fire but it was dying down and quickly was gone to show his shirtless body, that had a sword through it, dark markings on his arms, and a pissed off scowl with rage evident in the amount of veins pulsing across his visible body. "No breaking rules? Aren't we not supposed to raise a sword to each other?!"
The other Hashira were in shock. A demon was… standing in direct sunlight… and acting like this was normal? Even Muichiro was paying attention. 'He just jumped into the sunlight to save them? Namu Amida Butsu…' Gyomei let some tears free at the act he just witnessed.
Rengoku had his own thoughts on the show. 'Self sacrifice for others? Demon or not, that's noble nonetheless!'
'He's got the same mix of youthfulness and maturity that his brother does! They're both so handsome!' Mitsuri might've been missing the bigger point but who could blame the Love Hashira for having these thoughts?
'Why'd he get in the way of a nichirin sword? Why'd he jump into the sun? Doesn't make any sense.' Muichiro thought about the futility of the situation.
Tengen looked like he approved of the display and his thoughts were the same. 'Now that's the flare I like to see.'
Obanai was speechless as was Giyū. For very different reasons of course. 'You're still the same as then, willing to protect people who need it.'
'The hell? He's a demon! He should be ash right now.'
Back in the moment is where Koujo had his right hand gripping the front of the sword through him and his left gripping near the tip. Sanemi pulled but didn't make any progress getting his weapon back. "Let go of my damn sword you demon! You shouldn't even be alive!"
Blood dropped from Koujo's hands but he didn't let go. "How about I show you my weapon?!" That didn't make sense right then but it made more sense when he slid his right foot back, then crashed his shin into the side of Sanemi's head! The man fell to the ground with blood coming from his nose and his whole world tasting like purple.
The other Hashira couldn't believe what they just saw, and Mitsuri snickered loudly for a moment. "Please- Excuse me!"
Obanai stood up in the tree he'd been perched in with wide eyes. 'We were all shocked when we saw him not burn up, but he actually still managed to land a good hit. I doubt that'd happen again though.'
"What kind of Hashira can't tell a good Demon from a bad one, or do those ugly scars make you think everyone is like you?!" That lit a fire in his stomach and he stood up while grabbing his sword.
"It's not breaking a rule if I cut you down right here!"
Koujo just entered his stance and the Ember Rose burned brighter underfoot. "How can a marechi with such a sweet smell be so sour on the inside?!" That one not only got close to sending Mitsuri over the edge, but it also made Rengoku chuckle to himself and Tengen smirk.
"I'll kill you!" They were about to charge at each other and lead to a definite death but they didn't have the chance.
"The Master has arrived."
Recap 5
So that Shinobu lady is super amazing. I didn't even get to see her fight a demon but I can tell she's as graceful as a butterfly.
Shouldn't we be more worried about your brother kicking a Hashira in the face?
You were going to headbutt him so we're all in trouble here. Either way that was an amazing kick that I pulled off.
Are you just letting that hole stay in your chest? It looks uncomfortable.
I guess I don't heal as fast in daylight. Maybe I should've waited before I wanted to fight a Hashira then.
?
The train slowly came to a stop at its destination. "Last stop for Tokyo! Last stop for the Tokyo trip!" An attendant of the train called out to any and all remaining passengers aboard the giant steel creation. Some people started to trickle out, most of them having gotten off the train at their stops before now, but two stepped off and looked very different than the others around them.
"And here I thought we'd be stuck on that train forever." A woman stepped off the train, she was dressed in a black dress that stopped below her knees and held her perfect curves perfectly, red flats, and golden bands in her lustrous brown hair that matched her eyes.
A man stepped off the train right behind her. "It's too beautiful of a morning to hear you complain, alright Carmen?" He had a smooth voice that was as smooth as his outfit. A crisp white button up under a burgundy vest, black dress pants held up by a grey belt with a golden buckle, and the outfit was finished by a smart pair of dark brown dress shoes. "So quit complaining about the ride when we can finally relax."
The people passing by them could easily make out that they were foreign but didn't have any clue as to why they were here from… the west it seemed. "Cabrón, I don't want to relax. I had the entire train ride to relax and it was boring!" She huffed like a child but she calmed down when she saw a fit young man walk by her, and she licked her luscious lips with a smirk. "I never had a Japanese man before… I know you want to taste a woman from here, am I right Andrea?"
Andrea rubbed his salt and pepper hair, which he had despite not looking over twenty-five years old, and looked at a few women glancing at him in return. A slight smile crossed his lips and the women who were just glancing nearly started ogling outright, that simple action making them nervous from his attention. "Maybe you're right. We have some time before we need to find- What was his name again?"
The both of them felt something snake around their bodies and their eyes glossed over. They weren't on a street in Tokyo anymore, now they were in an outright malevolent cavern, decorated with dark brown curtains… with upside down five pointed stars. That feeling of something wrapped around them grew and the air in their lungs left their bodies by force. Six figures dressed in dark red robes stood around a giant hole with long slithering tendrils coming from the depths. A distant rumbling shook them and it only got stronger.
"What'd we do now?" Carmen complained and only got squeezed even harder by the boneless limbs.
The rumbling reached an apex and an enormous serpentine creature emerged from the deep below.
"You both have forgotten what I said in this shelter, listen to me closely so you may skelter."
A booming voice from a faceless entity. Flesh split open and revealed a giant mouth laced with bones acting as teeth. Carmen tried to object with their defense. "We didn't forget what we had to do! We just forgot the name of-" The coils around them gripped harder and made them expose their true selves for an instant.
"You are to search for Muzan Kibutsuji, only then may you go do as you please."
The image of a pale skinned man with reddish pink eyes was burned into their heads. Andrea nodded and gave his level headed answer. "We apologize for our mistake, it won't happen again."
The fleshy tendrils holding them let go and they were right in Tokyo where they'd been. They didn't move and nobody saw anything other than two foreigners standing still for a moment, but there was one more message from their superior.
"Help sway him to our side, and at the gates we'll arrive!"
Well now they knew exactly what they needed to do so now they had to go about finding it. "Now we just have to find him, Muzan Kibutsuji." Andrea started walking while Carmen focused more on the appearance of the man they were after… and she looked confused.
"That's who we need to find? He's so… sick looking… like he's a dead man walking. He probably has an army of undead or something."
"Carmen…" He tried to stop her from talking but she was too far in.
"Better not be a Thriller when we find him."
"Carmen." They were starting to draw some attention with her mumbling so loud.
"Then what? Will he just try and get us to Beat It? Or will he be alright and-"
He had enough. "Carmen!" She looked up and saw that he was holding his forehead with a great amount of stress in his mind. "Cállate por favor. Making a scene." He turned and walked into the beautifully lit town and his partner just shrugged and strutted behind him with all the confidence she had… which was too damn much to him. "How about we find some people to... drain for anything about Kibutsuji?"
She saw a young boy with a blue fan walk by and an utterly devilish look crossed her face, the drag of her tongue across her lips also betrayed any subtlety for her preferences as well. "I was just thinking the same thing. But who knows? Maybe that boy would know something?"
Andrea raised a hand with a charming smile towards a group of older women. "And maybe those lionesses have an idea? Only one way for us to find out." They parted their ways and with their intents clear they knew that they'd be in trouble for putting pleasure first... but the job would get done so who cared?
A/N: Two things: First thing is that unfortunately I have to say that Koyuki will not be Upper Moon 3 with Akaza... HOWEVER, I'll spoil it now and say that Moons can have things that orbit them as well. I'll also say that this story is gonna be diverging from canon even more starting now, and when we hit Mugen Train... just be ready for some twists and turns on the tracks. See ya next time.