(As it has been lately, I'm very sleep deprived and blitzed through this to deliver the content. Any spelling or grammar errors will be aggressively corrected when I'm able to keep my eyes open. Enjoy.)

They all stood in front of the ever flamboyant Hashira, ready and waiting to receive their next set of orders. The sun was shining on the group of seven, well six of those seven since Haia was under an umbrella, and Jikon was standing a bit back giving his crow a message.

"Tell Shinobu that I decided to help Uzui with his problem and that I should be back on the estate in a couple days." His crow nodded in response and took to the air without a word. Some people would think his crow lost its voice but the reality was that it just didn't waste breath… he had to get the prima donna of kasugai crows.

Tanjiro had a very simple question to ask: "The what district? Red lights? I don't understand."

"Y'know! Uh- Th-That one place!" Zenitsu was struggling to help his friend understand exactly where they were about to go. "The place where um-! Huh?" The Kamado was still lost. "You really don't get it?"

Zenitsu had a blush on his face while Tanjiro and Inosuke stared at him blankly. Ami was leaning in to hear about this bloody light place and Haia was pondering.

"Well what happens there? Is it like a really big fighting club?" Broken rules notwithstanding, everyone was waiting on Zenitsu's explanation.

Haia decided to help him out just a little bit. Only because she noticed that the Sound Hashira was getting impatient. "It's where people go for, uh… a really specific kinda fun."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Tanjiro's curiosity would make her explain some things she didn't want to explain.

"Okay! Listen up!" Uzui cut all that off before it could go on another tangent. Flamboyant motions and showy poses enunciated his next point. "I am a god!" He pointed at all of them, somewhat including the now approaching Jikon. "Most of you… are trash!" They crumbled to dust and blew away in the wind of his sheer divinity! "That's the first thing you should pound into your heads!"

"If I order you all to turn into dogs-" The gang was envisioned as different breeds of pups sailing through the air. "You'll do it!"

"You'll turn into monkeys if I order you to!" Now they were all seen as little primates jumping into the unknown.

"Hunch over and rub your hands together, constantly pander to my every whim… and suck up to me at every opportunity!" Now they were all hunched and shown agreeing with every little thing he said, as he expected them to!

"And I'll repeat this once more! There may be two Hashira here- but I am a god!" He finished that with a flashy pose, complete with sparkles.

Zenitsu was doing his best not to object aloud… but this guy was testing it. 'He's crazy…'

A hand shot up and Tanjiro had a question. "What are you the god of, specifically?"

Now Zenitsu's disturbed gaze was on Tanjiro. 'I don't believe you…'

Uzui nodded with a proud smile. "A good question, I can tell you'll go far!"

'It's a stupid question! What potential?!'

Uzui struck another flashy pose and glittered with unmatched flamboyance. "I am the God of Flashiness. I'm the God of Festivals."

Zenitsu couldn't believe this but his already irritated mind was about to be pushed even further. The other Hashira in their group spoke up without even raising his hand.

"Uzui, if you're the God of Festivals, then have I been worshipping you the right way? I left out offerings and donated to a temple whenever I could."

Oh no he didn't just say that. He did not actually say that! 'JIKON! I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE SMART ONE OUT OF THE GROUP! DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THIS GUY?!' Seeing the smart friend say something so crazy stupid really would shatter a mind like it was doing to Zenitsu. But the flamboyant man had more to say.

"Ah, I'm glad you praise my name properly. But that's not important, what matters is how you understand my status here and from now on."

Haia was staring like an owl at this entire display. Shocked at someone with such an inflated ego. 'He's crazy. No question in my mind. Might even be stupid… really really stupid.'

"I'm the King of the Mountains! It's nice to finally meet you, God of Festivals!"

"And I'm the Bear Queen! We're glad to meet someone else as amazing as us!" Inosuke and Ami were in a half hug, despite the height difference, and proudly standing before their fellow member of high status.

All of the flashiness left and now Uzui was staring at them like they were wriggling caterpillars. "What are you talking about? You're both just gross. Man you both sure are creeping me out."

Lightning struck and Zenitsu's mind was a haven of thought again, all relating to what he just witnessed. 'HUH?! NO! YOU THREE ARE A GREAT MATCH! CRINGEWORTHY!'

"Huh?! The hell did you say to me?!" Inosuke was trying to move closer but Tanjiro was holding him back from doing anything he'd regret.

"We aren't gross, painted face! Let me go Pikkon! I'll-" Jikon was holding Ami back from doing anything that Inosuke somehow wouldn't do to the Sound Hashira.

Haia was standing next to Zenitsu now and shaking her head. "So he only doesn't like people who think the same."

"It's so weird. All three of them." Great minds did think alike.

Uzui turned around, ignoring the shirtless slayers and their provocations. "So there's no time to waste. Let's go. Follow me." He slid into a very familiar stance and with a push-

"Woah!" Zenitsu was the first to notice. "So fast! He's already a dot in the distance!"

Inosuke raised a shaky finger, understanding the ability of the man they were under. "This is the power of the God of Festivals…"

"Standing here won't let us catch up!" Jikon burst after Uzui and left the others for Zenitsu to get some control over.

"Stop messing around! We have to go after them!"

This all happened while Kanao, Aoi, Rui, Yuka, and the Butterfly Trio watched but they at least wanted to give them a good send off. "Be careful out there!"

"Please be careful! And travel safely!"

They had to hurry if they wanted to catch up. Haia shrunk into a smaller form and ran as fast as her shortened legs would take her… which was alarming since she caught up to Jikon in a flash. Ami and her long strides had her next to the junior Hashira in just a few moments. Tanjiro and Zenitsu were behind but not out, and last but not least was Inosuke behind by inches at best.

This would be a hard trial for them. The dangers of the Red Light District weren't a joke and they'd learn that firsthand.

Infiltrating the Red Light District

Evening sky and lanterns all over. The entire city was bright as day even though the sun was out of view. Men and women walked the streets beside them while they rode on four separate rickshaws. The Kamaboko trio in one, Haia and Ami in another, Jikon in his own, and Uzui also in his own.

Beautiful women looked down at them from balconies and passers by looked up at them. "Now remember all of you, don't do anything to attract attention to us. We're only here to case the joint."

Inosuke and Ami were already primed to jump out of their transport.

"Uzui-"

"Don't interrupt Hakuga. As I was saying, don't get out of your carriages." Somehow, in some way. Zenitsu jumped out of the carriage first.

Tanjiro tried to call him back but he was already gone. "Inosuke, not you too!" The boar head leapt away without a trace. "Ami please!" The bear girl went in her own direction too. "I have to find them!" Now he was gone to look for his wayward friends.

That left a demon and two Hashira to get out of the rickshaws and see that the group was down to less than half their numbers. "Those damn brats! If our cover gets blown this is all on you Hakuga!"

"This is your mission, not everyone is a former shinobi like you! Demon Slayers aren't sneaky when we have to save lives!" Jikon immediately ran off to figure out where his friends went but he wouldn't have to go very far.

Inosuke was overwhelmed by all the sights around him, it was so bright even though the sun wasn't out! "Settle down, Inosuke!"

"What are you guys doing? We're supposed to help Uzui! Not make things harder!"

The Flashy Hashira pointed at a certain blonde with a vicious scowl on his face. "Hey! Yellow hair! Don't move a muscle you hear me?!"

"It's really so bright…"

"This is the Yoshiwara Red Light District. Awash in vanity and swirling with desire, from men and women." On cue, Jikon noticed a very tall girl standing with a group of men.

"You're awfully tall for a girl, it'll be like conquering the mountain."

"Muscular but definitely soft where it counts."

"You could definitely come have some fun with us. We won't bite… much."

The girl was proudly flexing her muscles and her movements let her bust sway with each motion. "If it's a challenge you want then I'll-" A hand grabbed the scruff of her pelt and pulled her down, dragging her along behind him. "Hey! Dokkan! They wanted to challenge me!"

He didn't bother answering her and just brought her back to the group while the men grumbled about, 'some guys getting all the luck'.

"Coming through!" And Inosuke just charged headfirst into a crowd.

"What the… you moron!" Uzui ran and caught the feral boy with a hard hit to his head, and then carried him back to Tanjiro. "Hey! Where's the yellow hair kid?"

Both Tanjiro and Jikon looked around but saw no trace of the thunder breather. "Huh? Where's Zenitsu?"

"I left for two seconds to get Ami!"

Uzui looked around and scowled even more. "Where's the demon brat?" Of course Haia took the chance to run off too.

…

Zenitsu was still overwhelmed by all the sights, the smells, but most importantly, the sounds. His precise hearing kept giving him a constant overload of different noises… some more embarrassing than the others. 'It's all so disorienting…'

"You there, yellow boy!" He turned to see an upper walkway with several women waving him down. "Why don't you stop by?"

"We have candy." They were all giggling and- and it-

"No… Focus Zenitsu!" His willpower made him block his view and keep walking.

"Come on! This way!" Running. He started running to avoid the temptation.

"I'm better than that… just because the place is full of beautiful ladies doesn't mean I should lose my focus!" He ran into a wall and fell back. The wall turned out to be a six foot six man with white hair and- "Lord Uzui?"

"Quit running off!" He grabbed the boy by his collar and started pulling him along. "You're too young for a place like this, but it's somewhat flashy to be able to resist their charm."

…

She wasn't that out of place in large groups but this was too much. "People are everywhere. It's so suffocating."

"Hey." Haia turned and saw a man waving her down from a dark passageway. "You look too young to be here, come with me and I'll help you find your parents."

She deadpanned at this obvious attempt to kidnap her and contemplated humoring this idiot. 'Wait we're on a mission, no time to deal with-" The creep fell to the ground and got dragged back into the alleyway, and in the dark Haia could make out a figure twirling something in their hand… then they were gone.

"Haia!" Oh right, the mission! She hurried to Jikon's voice and paid no mind to whatever could've knocked the creep out back in the alley. Not like it would really matter anyway.

…

"Take a good look around. The nighttime is when this place sparkles and dazzles. During the day it's asleep, out cold." They were all finally back in a group and Uzui was explaining how this was a perfect zone… "A perfect place for demons to lurk, am I right?"

Jikon hummed in thought but kept anything he might've thought to himself. There wasn't much he could add to the elaboration really, so the best thing to do was listen to his more experienced superior.

"Women who become courtesans here are typically sold due to poverty and great debt. In exchange they're offered food, clothing, and lodging. If they're really lucky they can climb up in ranks and a rich man could buy out their contracts. Much like our Corps the courtesans have ranks. The highest ranked being the 'Oiran' who's on a different level. Beauty is a given, but she's also intelligent and has mastered her traditional arts."

"So an Oiran is the leader?" As usual, asking the right questions. "She's the head of everything going on here?"

Tengen shook his head. "No. Only of a specific house. A breadwinner on whom the house has invested the most time and money, but she makes up for it through bringing in the most revenue. A distinguished woman among the different types here."

"Doesn't sound like she's any strong. I bet Ami could take her on."

"Not the point Inosuke…" Zenitsu was so mentally worn out already that his friend was barely even a bother now.

"That's enough scouting. Let's go."

A building with a "Wisteria" symbol on the front, one of their many safehouses. Uzui walked in and everyone else followed behind. Now was the time to talk business.

"All right. Listen up. When you've infiltrated the District, first look for my bride. I'll be digging for information on any and every possible demon lead as well."

Inosuke was greedily eating rice balls while Tanjiro and Jikon sipped some tea. Haia was on her back and waving her legs back and forth in the air, with Ami spreading out beside her relaxing… then there was Zenitsu.

"What did you just say?!"

The Hashira gave the eloquent response of, "Huh?"

"Don't you mess with us!" Zenitsu started slamming his palm onto the floor angrily as his rant went on. "How dare you use your subordinates to personally find a bride?!"

"Huh? Where'd you get that idea from?!"

"Shut up! I wasn't done!" Tanjiro immediately moved in for damage control but his friend shook him off without trying. "I'd bet a screwed up weirdo like you has no luck with the ladies!"

"That's the pot calling the kettle black, Zenitsu." The other Hashira in the room was very well aware of how his friend could be, and couldn't sit quietly while he said something that applied to him just the same.

"Even so! Just because he wants a wife doesn't mean he should rope us into something like this! We're Demon Slayers damn it!"

Uzui started raising his voice right back at, don't forget what he said before, the trash who was speaking so out of turn. "Are you an idiot?! I'm talking about a wife that infiltrated the Red Light District! And is hard at work gathering information!" The veins of anger on his face only got more pronounced. "I've stopped receiving regular check ins, so I'm going too! You understand?!"

Zenitsu stood there with Tanjiro hanging off his arm and everyone staring at him in silence. "I suppose that's what you fantasize…"

Before Uzui could unleash any more rage on him, Jikon spoke up. "He's telling the truth." Now eyes were on the younger Hashira. "I remember being with Shinobu and meeting his wife, she's really nice."

"Whoever he paid you to see doesn't matter, Jikon."

An entire flood of envelopes and letters hit the blonde in the face. "These are the letters sent via the kasugai crow."

"There's so many." Tanjiro was surprised by the sheer number of letters.

"How long has your wife been hiding?" Haia finally stopped swinging her legs and paid some mind to the conversation.

"Well it's not just one, I do have three wives."

Zenitsu shot up and Ami nearly broke her neck to look at the flashy man. "Three of them… three wives? Three! Why?! Why would you have three of them?!" A fist slammed right into his stomach and sent him to the dream world.

"You've got a problem with that?"

Tanjiro sorted the letters after perusing them and found some interesting points. "They all remind you not to stand out when you show up, why is that?"

"That's what I told you. If we attract attention then demons would be onto us."

Inosuke actually piped in… after stuffing another ball of rice into his mouth. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Disguise ourselves. As much as I hate it, in a drab way. All three of my wives are brilliant ninjas, kunoichi. I was sure this district would be perfect for demons to lurk, but when I went in as a customer I couldn't find anything."

Jikon saw exactly where this was going. "So you sent them in as courtesans so they could find out more than you could."

"Exactly. I've narrowed it down to the three most likely houses, so you'll divide into those houses and search for my wives there while gathering information. Suma of the Tokito house. Makio of the Ogimoto house. And Hinatsuru of the Kyogoku house."

Inosuke decided to ask a valid question. "You sure that your wives aren't dead?" And he got the same punch Zenitsu did as penance.

The door to the room opened and a plain man was there. "Pardon me, I've brought the items you asked for."

The sight of an angry Hashira, a concerned demon, a barely clad girl staring at two unconscious boys, and two cautious boys staring at the angry Hashira didn't even faze him.

"Thanks…"

Their disguises would make them fit right in. This could only go well.

"WAAAA?!" Haia was not thinking this was a good plan. At all. "These are the disguises?!" She was looking in a mirror since she decided to go first, a dainty girl at heart, the idea of putting on makeup and fancy clothes as a disguise thrilled her… but this was unacceptable! "I look like Ryuji!"

"I told you it was gonna be drab. Quit complaining already." Somehow he was so calm about making her look like this!

Haia didn't hesitate to take a cloth and wipe all of the mess off her face. "That's not makeup at all! That was a joke!" She threw the cloth down and approached the Hashira. "How can you have three wives but not know how to do makeup?!"

"A flamboyant man like me doesn't do makeup! I'm naturally a ladies man so there's no need!"

"That explains it!"

Ami was watching this with her arms crossed and her pelt resting on the floor. "I don't get the big deal. It's just some weird face paint." Inosuke stood next to her and started eyeing her up and down, his mask also on the floor. "Huh?" He extended a finger and-

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro didn't waste a second yelling.

"What are you doing?! You can't just poke a girl in the breast!" Jikon- Wait he did what?!

Casual as a morning greeting, Inosuke was poking Ami's right boob with his finger. "Did these things get bigger? Someone hit you and they swell up or something?" There wasn't anything other than genuine curiosity in his tone. He could've sworn that they were smaller than this.

Ami was confused and her awkward smile showed it well, but her eyes turned to simple dots once she realized… 'He's right.' A quick squeeze of the one that Inosuke wasn't poking told her that she definitely wasn't the same size as before. "Actually… my gut looks a little bigger too."

It was then that Zenitsu woke up to be greeted with the sight of Ami holding one of her boobs and rubbing her stomach. Goes without saying that he flopped right back onto the floor with a nosebleed.

"So you think you can do better?! Don't make me laugh you demon brat!" Tengen looked at Tanjiro and decided on a little challenge. "Whoever makes the flashier look of a courtesan does all the makeup!" He went right to the Kamado and started giving him a flamboyant appearance.

"My makeup skills would throw yours down a street!" Haia looked at Ami and saw opportunity instead of a person. "I'll prove it!" She ran to the girl and grabbed brushes, foundation, even lipstick. "First let's get you some nicer clothes."

Haia pulled out a very nice kimono from… somewhere, and started putting it onto the tall girl. But with every inch of her skin growing more and more covered, she looked frustrated. "I feel really hot."

"I haven't even started your makeup yet, you'll look amazing when I do." She couldn't even get one of her brushes close before Ami almost ripped the kimono off and exposed herself to everyone.

"THESE CLOTHES ARE TOO HOT!" She didn't go shirtless all the time for nothing! She never really felt cold, but it looks like it was because of her always being warm. Putting a heavy kimono on her skin just made her body even warmer.

"Ami calm down!" Tanjiro was blushing but still trying to maintain peace as Tengen heavily put makeup on his face.

"So they did get bigger! Who hit you there? Me and weird hair guy will rip em apart!"

Haia was holding the kimono on the girl constantly trying to tear it off, if she weren't a demon then it wouldn't even be a fight due to the sheer size difference. "Ami! You have to wear it, I promise I'll get you whatever your favorite food is when this is all done!" It was like she'd never fought in the first place, Ami was entirely calm.

"Oh okay."

Haia applied makeup and everything she needed onto Ami to really make her ruggedness soften up, each brush stroke, dash of color, eyelash accentuated, all of it made the girl go from a rough on the edges tomboy-

"My divinity went right to making these three look flashy!" Uzui revealed that he hadn't just finished Tanjiro's makeup, but he took the chance to do the disguises of Zenitsu and Inosuke as well. "I figured I might as well do them since you won't compare."

Everyone looked as Haia put on the finishing touches and- 'P- Pretty!'

Ami looked like an honest to god woman. Softer, more… attractive. "Why's everyone staring?"

Uzui didn't falter in smiling. "Flashy! Alright fine, I guess you can do the makeup."

Jikon realized something semi-important in the middle of Haia wiping the clown like makeup off his friends. "Uzui, I'm not going in a disguise like them. What am I going to do?"

"It's not obvious? You'll be gathering information like me, and getting reports from them." He pointed at the more and more feminine appearing boys. "As a Hashira, there's no reason for you to stoop down and dress like that."

"Mister Tengan!" A fist dropped onto her head.

"IT'S LORD UZUI TO YOU! AND GET MY NAME RIGHT!"

Despite being an ever so durable demon… that hurt a lot and she rubbed her head right where he struck her. "I was saying that we're all ready!"

"Perfect! Now let's get dressed, Hakuga." So now things could get done properly. The team was assembled and ready to execute their mission. "Hopefully you can all be just the right level of flashy to get this all done, otherwise we might not get into any of the houses."

"Well these girls are all lovely. But I'm not sure we have much room for anymore at this time." An old woman was eyeing the five young ladies in front of her while a man beside her was keeping a keen eye for anything unique.

A tall man in a well decorated kimono was trying to sway their opinions. "Please don't you think you could reconsider? I'm sure that they'll bring you even more business." His white hair was down and looking oh so elegant.

"Well… that's good but…" The man looked to his right and saw the woman blushing. "Hm?"

"I'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem having one more right?" A boy with his brown hair pulled into a neat ponytail offered his input. Her blush increased.

"You're right! One more shouldn't be an issue!"

The handsome faces of those two young men were too good to be denied. "Our apologies for imposing ma'am, please take any of them." Those magenta eyes with such a solid gaze… even another girl of the house couldn't help but stare.

"Then I suppose we'll take the one in the middle… perhaps- Oh, why not the petite one as well? They both look rather hard working!"

Tanjir- Er. Sumiko brightened up and so did Haia. "Of course, Sumiko, Haia?" The young man with the ponytail stepped aside to let the girls properly introduce themselves.

"I promise to work as hard as I can!"

"I'll do my best as well!" With that, two of their infiltrators were in.

Now the smaller group walked down the bright streets with a quick evaluation. "That was easier than I thought, the demon girl really can do makeup." He eyed Zenits- Or… Zenko, with a judgemental gaze. "She definitely helped but you're still going to be trouble. At least I'll be able to give you away."

A crackling exhale and… Zenko… looked furious despite her soft appearance. "I'm not talking to you, all right?"

"He doesn't mean it like that Zenitsu. You just don't look as good as Ami or Inosuke really do."

Another crackling exhale and a quick pullback of his anger or else his makeup would start to run. "You don't have the right to say that… the both of you being dressed like that. Looking like studs while getting pretty girls to stare at you." He quietly shouted that last half.

"What was that?" Jikon barely heard it but he was sure it was something about a hunk of something?

"Don't be mad that I had you dress as a girl yellow boy. You said you'd do anything you were asked."

Ami was somehow silent until both she and Inos- Inoko noticed something and pointed it out. "Hey! Look! A bunch of people are swarming around!" Inoko wasn't supposed to talk out loud because of that deep voice but since they weren't really around too many people it was fine.

"Yeah look!" Ami went after him and joined the crowd to easily see a woman as the center of attention.

Jikon and Uzui followed right behind Zenko and saw the elegant woman in a crowd of other women, girls, and a man bearing an umbrella.

"Ah, a procession of courtesans. That's Tokito house's Koinatsu Oiran. The highest ranking Courtesan is going off to meet her client."

Jikon put his hands together and hid his arms in the sleeves of his blue kimono. "That's a big show for something like that."

"Flashy right?"

Zenko immediately flared up in anger again. "WIFE! IS THAT KNOCKOUT YOUR WIFE?! AND YOU HAVE THREE OF THEM?! ARE THEY ALL THAT GORGEOUS?!" Uzui's fist found a comfortable place in the face of the yellow boy.

"She's not my wife!"

Ami and Inoko were nearly committed to their roles but had a slip up of scratching unnecessarily or digging in their ear. "She's walking so slow. She'd get killed in a second if she lived in the mountains."

"Or even the forests. You can't beat anything going that slow." Ami added on. Their guard was so low that they didn't notice the ominous presence behind them. "Huh?"

"Excuse me young sirs…" Jikon and Uzui looked over to see a woman pointing at both the rough members in the group. "I'll be taking these girls back to my house. Is that all right?"

"And you would be who, Ma'am?" Jikon addressed her first.

"The Ogimoto House chaperone." Perfect!

Uzui clapped his hands together. "If they've caught the eyes of the Ogimoto house then we couldn't be more thankful. But this is an odd stroke of luck, what drew you to either of them?"

"Oh please, I've got an eye for things like this." She eyed Inoko up and down, immediately seeing the upsides to bringing her in. Next was Ami, and she could tell that once things were smoothed out… "I just know they'd do well."

"Well alright, take care of yourselves. Inoko, Ami!"

Then there was one. Uzui and Jikon looked at Zenko… then Zenko looked at them and came to a realization. 'NO! I'M THE ONLY ONE LEFTOVER!' Well. At least this wasn't some warped universe where he'd be unlucky to be picked for anything by looking like a clown.

"Look at this! What a steal!"

"It's so good!"

Inoko and Ami were seated in front of their chaperone and another courtesan. The two of them being admired for their beauty. "To think that I got a pair of beauties like these! For so cheap! What a twist of fate itself!" The older woman struck a pose of victory, happy about this exciting development. "I'll train them up to be even better than Kyogoku's Warabihime, or Tokito's Koinatsu!"

They started carrying the pair down the hallways to conduct all the lessons they'd need. "But even if you say that, this girl is rather tall and this one is quite sturdy!"

"That's good! Girls with plump meat on them are all in demand!" She was really excited to turn things around.

"I think they're more muscular than plump."

At Kyogoku house, the careful strumming of shamisen could be heard. Intricate motions, slowly playing a calming tune. Zenko was showing off a perfect pitch imitation, playing this song after only hearing it once. The melody started to get quicker and a sparking exhale gave off the intent to go all out.

Fast strums and rapid pickings at the strings. The time increased. Not a single note was off and it was a flawless display, even with lightning crackling in the air and the other players watching in shock.

"Oh, that girl can really play the shamisen!"

"She's so dynamic. Did she join us recently?"

"She has a very good ear, I was told she could play the shamisen or the koto after just one listen… but she isn't anything special in looks. I'm surprised she got taken in here."

The third woman watching had some gossip, and she was going to share it. "I hear that the men who brought her in were drop dead gorgeous!"

"Oh my! Were they really? I wish I could've seen them!"

The surprise on the female attendant's face when those two showed up was well deserved. The male attendant was annoyed at them, outshining him by so much. The rapid notes on the shamisen were still playing, growing more intense with each passing second.

"I can tell that she'll rise to the top. The grittiness to get back at the men who abandoned her… I can sense it."

Zenko's mind was focused on one singular thing as the quick strumming was heard.

"Here you can take this one, make her clean up or whatever mundane tasks you have."

"Don't be mean, what my friend means is that this girl may not be too special with her looks but I know she can make up for it somehow."

The rage was boiling up and the strumming reached an apex. 'I'LL MAKE THAT GUY PAY! I SWEAR THAT I'M GOING TO BE THE BEST OIRAN IN YOSHIWARA! AND I'LL MAKE SURE JIKON GETS TO BE A BETTER LEADER THAN THAT GUY CAUSE OF IT!'

The best thing about living in a place like Yoshiwara. There was always someone who got too drunk or took opium and is too far gone to defend themselves. "It's perfect for a lesser demon like me…" He walked through the darker alleys and kept a sharp eye out for anyone who might've had too much… or just looked like an easy target.

Wasn't the bravest thing to do but sometimes you have to take the easy route to get farther and farther. Wasn't his fault that a blood demon art didn't kick in yet, he was definitely eating people enough to get stronger. It must've been something that would take a while to unlock.

"Wait wait… what's that?" He saw someone slumped against a wall. A man was out cold and completely helpless against any attackers. "Just what I needed." A casual strut to the soon to be meal and he had himself a night. Now was the hard choice of eating here or-

"It works every time." Something was spinning with that voice. The demon turned and saw a figure with explosively spiky maroon red hair and yellow eyes. "Somehow you demons keep falling for this trick." He was spinning a nambu pistol in his left hand as he approached. "It makes me sick how you all want to go after the weak and defenseless."

"Oh, an idiot demon slayer? Not what I planned on but another meal won't hurt."

The young man spinning his weapon didn't falter in his motion and instead pulled another nambu pistol out of a holster on his right hip. "I'm not too good with a sword. Really, I suck. But I'm Hotaru Sangyo, rank Kanoe of the Demon Slayer Corps, and killing maggots like you makes me feel a little better about things."

"You- You can't even swing a sword?! What kinda demon killer could you be without a sword?!" A typical statement followed by a lunge to try and kill him. If only this demon knew that there weren't only swords to kill demons with. "Huh?" Hotaru stopped spinning his left nambu and aimed it right at the demon's leg, firing a shot into his kneecap. "Agh damn it!"

"Nichirin bullets. Eight shots of nichirin coated bullets in each pistol. That way they really hurt like a bitch." He tossed his right pistol into the air and caught it in a smooth motion before resuming the spinning.

"That hurts like hell, but it's just a scratch." The wound closed around the round and the demon resumed his charge. "Something like that would never put a demon down!" Then something felt off, he slowed down and the world started spinning. 'Wait, I can't control my body!' He was losing all proper sensation. What the hell was the deal with that bullet?!

Hotaru inhaled and held his pistols properly. "Bakuha no kokyu…" (Blast Breathing). Suddenly a set of fast movements and trigger pulls revealed his assault. "Dandan mai!" (Bullet Dance). Three pulls of two triggers fired three bullets with bright colors of red, green, yellow, and blue trails following them. Three shots landed in the abdomen, chest, and forehead of the demon as Hotaru danced towards him with those erratic movements.

'The wounds are closing around his bullets… are they laced with something?!' The next thing he knew there was a young man with a barrel aiming a nambu at his neck with an angry smile.

"I dip my bullets in wisteria. I can't cut off a head very well, but I can damn sure shoot." He pulled the trigger and fired a round straight into the demon's neck! "Doesn't help that these caliber rounds don't go all the way through a demon's body, that way you heal around them and the poison can flow into you."

Dark purple started flowing through very tense veins from every point that the four bullets entered and the demon started to convulse violently. 'Killed by some guy who can't even cut my head off? This sucks!' He fell to the ground as the lethal poison spread through his body. Shutting him down for good.

Hotaru blew the steam away from the barrel and spun his pistols again. "Sixteen shots and I only needed four for him. Maybe there really aren't any strong demons around here." A quick holster and he grabbed the demon's leg to drag him out of sight. "Whatever, as long as I keep killing these freaks."

Sewing up any torn fabrics was a pleasure to do. Even with Haia watching. "Sumiko! Haia!" They were being called a lot to help out when it was needed.

"Yes?"

"We're so short staffed now, could you carry these up?" Boxes and baggage ere beside her and they looked heavy.

"Of course!" Haia's chipper voice answered.

"Thank you. You're both very hard workers. The madam was surprisingly accepting of the scar on your forehead, but it may have been because she got Haia as well."

"Yes! I'm so glad they're letting the both of us work here!" Sumiko answred and started taking the items down the hall with Haia trailing behind, carrying some despite her very small size.

"They're both rather strong. It's strange."

"Strong indeed."

They came upstairs and went to a doorway with two younger girls talking about something. "What's ashinuke? Sumiko asked, leading the pair into the room and setting down the baggage.

"That's so much!"

"They're all gifts for Koinatsu Oiran, I hear." Haia sat on one of them despite that to listen to whatever ashinuke was.

"Sumiko, Haia. You don't know? Ashinuke means to run away from here without paying off your debts. It's really bad if you get caught."

Oh. That didn't sound good at all. "Is that so?"

"So it's like running away without paying for your food?"

The girls shook their heads. "Worse. Some people do manage to run off with the man they love."

"Right. Like the other day, Suma Oiran."

Realization. 'Suma? Uzui's wife. Finally a name!'

"Stop spreading those rumors. After all, nobody knows if she really did make it out of here." Koinatsu entered and gave some order to the room.

Haia was surprised at how beautiful she was up close. But her work with Ami was much better.

"You both brought these up for me? Thank you."

Sumiko stood up and bowed her head. "Of course. It was nothing."

"Come here." She held up that coarse and callused hand and put a cloth into it. "Have some candy." She held out Haia's hand and put a similar cloth into it. "You as well."

Haia's eyes were like stars. She loved candy! "Thank you miss Koinatsu!"

The beautiful woman smiled in gratitude. "Be sure to eat it in secret, okay?"

"Um… did Suma Oiran commit ashinuke?"

She looked at Sumiko with concern, she was being guarded. "Why would you… ask a question like that?"

'She's being careful. I have to find a way to ask about Miss Suma.' Now how would he do this? Haia was too distracted by eating candy so there was no help there. He had to improvise. "Suma Oiran… she's my…" Sumiko's face contorted into something that looked very weird. "She's my… older sister!"

Note that honest Tanjiro is used to such an honest lifestyle that he can't maintain a normal expression when telling a lie.

"What?!" The young girls and Koinatsu couldn't believe what they just heard, but the distress on Sumiko's face was too obvious to make it untrue.

"So you were sold into the Entertainment District after your sister?"

Still with that disturbing face, Sumiko explained further. "Y-Yes. I've been exchanging letters with my sister all of this time. I know she wouldn't commit ashinuke."

"Is that so?"

Sumiko exhaled and Haia started paying attention again.

"True, I couldn't believe that Suma would commit ashinuke myself. She was such a grounded girl. There weren't any signs of her being infatuated with any man. But they found her diary, and I hear that she'd written about it."

A good tactic. For a demon at least. 'In a place like this it's perfect. Convenient even. No matter what, the first idea is that they would've ran away.' Haia saw the cunning behind it and barely masked her anger.

'Someone can vanish and it's assumed they ran away, that diary was probably forged. Miss Suma, I pray that you're safe wherever you are. We'll rescue you no matter what it takes!'

Elsewhere in the district, two Hashira were seated on a rooftop overlooking the hustle and bustle. Both dealing with their own problems.

"All quiet today too. I don't know why but I'm getting a bad feeling, an instinct telling me that something's wrong."

Jikon looked over with a raised brow. "What do you mean by that, Uzui? Is the stress getting to you too?"

"Hm. If you mean about my wives then yes that's also a problem, but I really mean this feeling like we're enveloped in smoke. Whatever demons are lurking are adept at vanishing into the shadows, like they've been doing this for some time. The Master said it himself, you and your group eliminated all of the Lower Moons?"

"That's right. Other than Rui, every Lower Moon of the Twelve Kizuki is dead and we haven't seen any replacements in the last four months." He wasn't sure why that question was being asked but the apprehension would be relieved soon enough.

"Could it be… that the demon- or even a demon residing here, is one of the Upper Ranks? If that's the case then we could wind up in an ultra flashy fight to the death."

Jikon clenched his fist in memory of what happened the last, and only, time he encountered an Upper Rank and their Eclipse… "The sheer power gap was massive, Uzui… but… that was Upper Three. Rui said the Kizuki were like us and patrolled specific areas, Akaza was near the Mugen train when it derailed so he won't be here… but that means it could either be someone weaker-"

"Or much stronger. Even Rengoku was put into critical condition with all of you there, meaning if a higher rank than three is here then we might have to give everything to take them with us." There was no doubt in his mind. If there were a demon even stronger than Upper Three then this was going to be a suicide mission. Plain and simple. "Now, what was that about you being stressed?"

Silence. Not for a lack of wanting to speak, but for lack of knowing what to say. Jikon sat there and looked into the calm night sky. The light blocking the view of any stars above them. "I don't know. With everything that's going on… it's just like trying to keep everything up but- but it's hard." He looked at his fellow Pillar and asked a very simple question. It wasn't anything over analyzing or even anything convoluted, but it had a lot of weight in its words.

"How can I be a pillar, when I'm barely holding myself up?"

Inoko was walking down a hallway with a violent scowl in plain sight. 'So hot! I get what Ami keeps complaining about! I'm dying to take these things off!' Heavy footsteps filled with anger over being in this stupid outfit! 'Wearing this thing blunts my senses like crazy!'

Conveniently the bear girl came down the same hallway and greeted her friend. "Inoko. You don't look happy, I'm not either!" She held her arms out to try and let some of the hot air out of this torture device they had her in! "I'm boiling alive!"

"Oh, Yae. Do you have a minute?" The two of them went around a corner as they heard someone talking. "Do you think Makio's alright?"

The two grunted and hurried after the voice. Clinging to the wall and listening closely. "Well she's shut herself in her room and won't come out. She also mentioned that she wasn't feeling very well, but she won't go to the hospital." Now the two gossiping women looked concerned about their associate. "Sooner or later the madam's going to drag her out."

"I just brought a meal to her, but I only left it outside her door."

Inoko and Ami backed away from the conversation just a bit to have their own fast whispers. "Makio, that's Uzui's wife."

"Finally, we heard someone talk about her. But not feeling good? That wouldn't stop her from checking in."

Inosuke looked down the hall and nodded. "That woman came from that way huh? I guess we should take a look." He tried to hurry down the hall but his timing was slightly off.

"Oh, Inoko!" Damn it. "You'll hurt yourself if you rush like that!" A silent turn and bow in silent appreciation, then Inoko walked down the hallway calmly. "Such a quiet girl." They turned away and now Ami could go after her fuming friend.

"You have a husky voice so don't talk out loud. And you suck at falsetto so don't try and sound feminine, just be quiet!"

'What am I supposed to do then?!'

"Hello Inoko, let's walk and talk on this nice day!" Ami's acting at least helped his anger a little bit, plus it was kinda nice and the sunlight coming inside was good.

…

…

Elsewhere there was a secure area, a room concealed in darkness where a very threatening dealing was going on.

Sashes. Darkness. A room where there was no freedom. "Now then, answer me." A reverberating voice echoed through the walls. Piercing the air with its authority. "Now then, come on and answer me." Envelopes fell onto the floor with that repetition. "Who were you writing these letters to?" A mouth emerged from the dark, with disgusting bulbous lips. "What was your name again? Oh, that's right, it's Makio."

A young woman with yellow hair that faded into black was bound and gagged by this talking sash. Angrily glaring at it but unable to speak all the profanities in her mind.

"Answer me, Makio."

Inosuke and Ami arrived at some stairs and felt something… off. With looks of determination, they climbed and prepared for whatever could be waiting at the top. "Let's ind Uzui's wife, come on Ami."

"I'm right behind you, ready for anything."

Clashing swords and massive crashing columns. The training room was a battlefield of good size. Once again there was a lesson being taught and the teacher was still so many worlds ahead that it wasn't even comparable. "Your movements are much more refined." Barely any effort went into dodging the attack aimed for him. "But not good enough. Ichi no kata." He unleashed his own attack and let the rampant destruction take over. His student saw each and every threat in that singular motion but failed to dodge a majority of the actual attack soaring for him.

His practice sword was pulsing with the desire to respond to this attack. Water started rushing beneath his currently assailed body and the tide surged. "Ni no kata." Two crescent shaped slashes and he started defensively keeping the attacks from ripping his body apart… again… His own attack was deflecting his mentor's long deceptively wide range assault with a much lower level of power, but it was still destructive enough to repel most of the attacks that ripped into his body. Columns were torn apart and destroyed in the wake of his counter.

"Oh? You've mimicked that one perfectly." Numerous attacks coming at him in a completely random array, there were very few means to avoid the attack for someone… but his mentor wasn't any random person who would have any trouble in the face of such a basic attack. He was mentoring this demon for a good reason. A blinding rush of speed and blitzing slashes decimated the oncoming assault of numerous attacks without even trying.

Next thing his student knew, he was regenerating one of his arms and his sword was broken in half. "My sword…"

Carmen was casually standing on a column, horizontally at that. "Muy interesante. You've ruined his practice sword, you really are a dominating man mucho ojos. What will you do in return, Koujo?"

He looked at his practice sword and used what little mental freedom he had to rationalize what his next plan of offense could possibly- "Shi no kata." He performed a powerful rising attack that manifested as two powerful slashes with a series of following attacks in a powerful swarm. "A broken sword doesn't mean I have to stop." Carmen squinted in thought once he said that, remembering his original personality.

That same woman, regarded as 'Jōgen Rei' entered the training room with a new outfit on. Instead of wearing an all black kimono, now she had a black hakama kimono with detached sleeves. It was decorated with monochrome flowers of different designs and sizes. "Training again?" Now there was a set of light blue beads on the crown of her head, matching the ends of her floor length hair.

She looked beside herself and there was the mentor, completely avoiding the attack his student launched towards him. "Hello, Katachi. How have you been?"

Her normally downcast expression lightened up some at that question. "Oh… well I was just coming to use the room with Namika, her and-"

"Kokushibou~!" A very cheerful voice rang out as Koujo let his practice sword return to its complete state. A platinum blonde man in a red long sleeve with black accents that- "Oh wow~! Those marks on your arms look like mine!" He pointed to the black drop-like decorations on his sleeves and neckline, but ignored the same design on the crown of his head and marking his near white hair. "Kokushibou~ Who's this you're with? Ooh! Is he going to be your Eclipse?"

A flash of pink was next to the bright red hair and running her sharpened nails through the locks. "My Lord, does this mean I'll have someone to properly challenge?" Her voice was soft like a silk pillow. Her entire outfit was based on a shrine maiden's attire, but it was in an off white color with cherry blossom designs as decoration. "Yuki doesn't want to fight as much now, so this will be great."

Carmen dropped down and started to propose a fun idea for them. "How about we have some fun?"

The one called Kokushibou narrowed his sets of eyes on her. "Quiet, harlot."

"Not that type of fun… but I'm not opposed. I mean you and you can train with one another…" She pointed to Kokushibou and the platinum blonde then turned her attention to Katachi and the pinkette girl. "And Koujo can join you two in training… like a graduation. Muzan did say this was his last day of training before he got his assignment."

The blonde man looked at Kokushibou with a smile on his very handsome face. "Oh I'm always up to train, but I'd rather you go easy on me~" He approached his superior and passed him to go to the rest of the training area, the annihilated columns and ripped walls were miraculously fixed. "Do you accept a little spar Kokushibou?" For whatever odd reason he decided to accentuate his point by taking his shirt off and revealing his lightly toned upper body.

Kokushibou responded by removing his kimono top and the shirt beneath it to reveal a far more sculpted body, created through hard work and very intense training. "Fine. I'll accept." He turned to his student and decided on a simple prerequisite to being considered a successful student. "I don't expect you to win against either of them, but I expect you to land each form that you know now in any fight you have. Perform and land each form and I will consider you trained." The two of them vanished and the training room expanded massively, the distant sounds of a fight and rampant destruction were barely audible in the distance.

That left Katachi, the sakura shrine maiden, and a shirtless Koujo to stand there and eye one another slowly. Carmen returned to her position on the column she'd been on and watched the three slowly prep themselves for what was about to come. Koujo held the hilt of his sword and exposed some of his blade. "Jutsūshiki Tenkai." (Technique Deployment).

Katachi registered the very familiar blood demon art and figured that his attacks would be very precise, painful even. She raised her arms and they elongated into long tendrils of flesh that ended in sharpened bone blades, sharp enough to slice through almost anything that got in their way. "Kekkijutsu: Taikei Sōsa." (Blood Demon Art: Physical Manipulation). Those muscular tendrils were a pink fleshy color and they wriggled with every small motion her arms made. "Namika, are you ready yourself?"

The girl in pink smiled brightly. "Of course I am, I'm always glad to train with you. Now I get to add, what was your name again?" She looked at the red haired demon and waited for him to give his name. No response. He was just standing there with rushing water under his feet and a calm stance waiting for everyone to be ready. Namika had a perplexed look in her green eyes and it stayed and she put a hand onto the floor. "I guess you aren't much of a talker, oh well. Kekkijutsu: Shinsei Shizen Saku." (Blood Demon Art: Sacred Natural Bloom). Thick green vines laced with sharp brown thorns burst out of the floor and surrounded her defensively.

Now there was a standoff. Three demons were watching everything with different expressions on their faces, no two at all feeling the same. Koujo was blank, void of any feelings of his own. Waiting to prove his ability to learn from his mentor and display his abilities.

Katachi was downtrodden even though nothing about the mood was upsetting. Somehow her face had a resting state of sadness that bled through everything she did. Not to mention that everything about her fleshy tendrils was threatening, especially in contrast with her dark outfit, and they would do massive damage to anything in their way.

Then there was the last demon in this face off. Namika was standing among writhing vines with a smile on her face. Nothing about this training was at all making her consider being serious, especially since one of the demons she was against was her friend, and the other was a demon that didn't give her a name. She was the most calm and ready for whatever was about to happen.

Then… Katachi blasted at Koujo with those arms winding into a wide arced strike, but the vines lashed towards Katachi with full intent to try and land the first hit of their training. Koujo evaded the slamming tendrils and prepared his attack. "Ichi no kata…"

Hours later the training room was, for lack of a better word, wrecked. Holes were blasted in every single wall and even the ceiling, rubble all over the floor, and not a single column was still standing. Katachi's arms returned to normal and she observed the damage around them, she was easily the best off in terms of her clothing being nearly unharmed.

Next was Namika with vines still holding her above the floor of the room, large tears in her sleeves and along her pants. "That was certainly fun!" She looked at the still unnamed demon with a grin. "Don't you think so too?"

He didn't respond. His pants were ruined and his upper body just closed the last of his wounds. He looked to the left and saw the biwa woman on a ledge, then her hand strummed her instrument and now they were in a different room with three female demons holding sewing materials. Each one resembling the biwa woman. "We were told to be ready to repair your clothing once you were done training. Katachi, Namika, you will both be dismissed after your clothes are repaired."

Another of the demons stepped towards Koujo and a suddenly appeared Carmen. "Master Muzan will speak to you once you are newly dressed Koujo."

Namika's eyes widened with a bright grin on her face. "So that's your name? It's so lovely." She sat still as her measurements were taken and the demon attending her started preparing her new clothes.

Back in the training area there were two demons being watched by the biwa woman. A slight blush on her face.

A shirtless Kokushibou was sipping something from a container of liquid, and his sparring partner was resting with a light sweat on his skin. "This was good."

"You went hard on me Kokushibou~ but it was fun!"

A door slammed open and a woman entered the massive room. "Did I miss training?!" It was Muzan in his noblewoman disguise… and he/she was looking very distressed. "Do it again… slower." Shifting bodies also has the drawbacks of said body. This form gave some… hormonal changes and it was only made worse by the specimens in front of him/her.

"My Lord. Koujo and the Woman are waiting in the seamstress room. Would you like me to bring them here?"

Muzan turned and looked at his most useful non-lethal demon. "Yes Nakime, bring them both here now." A strum of her biwa and two new figures were present. Carmen was still clad in her black dress and still presenting herself like an easy woman. "Now, has his training been completed?"

Kokushibou nodded and put his clothing back on. "He's completed all of the tasks he was meant to, Master Muzan. I've taught him what he needed to learn." He approached and saw his student wearing proper covering for his upper body now. A sleeveless red kimono top with a light blue undershirt, and a white obi around his waist.

"Good. Carmen… You and Koujo are to fulfill a very simple goal, but first I have to make a minor change to him." The Demon King put his hand on Koujo's face and marked him as he meant to. "I've no doubt that you'll both succeed but this is his mission, you aren't to help him."

"Well I won't help him but I will stop anything from getting in his way. Comprendes?"

He didn't bother giving that strange language a response. "Nakime, send them to a shaded space near the area." A strum of the biwa sent both the foreign woman and the Demon off.

"Haha! Oh Lord Muzan~" Now the blonde man came up to his Master and tried to act very friendly. "Do you think that-" Another strum of the biwa and that annoyance was gone somewhere to bother literally anyone else.

Katachi looked to Kokushibou as another strum sent Lord Muzan who knows where. "Hm. That demon actually made a great deal of progress with my teachings. It's surprising really."

She looked at her superior and the constant saddened appearance gave way to curiosity. "How do you mean? You were the one teaching him, it's no surprise that he would progress."

Kokushibou once again contemplated everything he currently knew. Everything was making more sense to him but he knew that thinking about it was going to risk ruining it all horrifically. Like a bridge collapsing under its own weight, he has to clear his mind of those thoughts immediately. "There's more to it than just that. I wouldn't expect you to understand." He didn't deliberate on that. He just turned and walked away, not using overwhelming speed to just blur out of the area, willingly taking the energy to walk.

"I don't quite understand it myself… but if you trust your judgement then so do I." She followed him and orbited his presence with a stoic calm. Silently enjoying his powerful presence.

…

…

Carmen arrived in a shaded woodland space with Koujo right beside her. "Well well, now we have to get prepared. Here." A large and leathery wing extended from her dress and dropped a sheathe with a sword hilted into his hand. "You'll need this, hurry and do your burning thing. We have time to travel slowly, but no need to waste too much time. Come along now." She led the way towards sunlight and with a playful shake of her round rear she willed him to follow her. "You've got to prove your worth."

A/N: No Taisho Era recap this time, but I think developments will make up for that.