Kimetsu no Yaiba: Sibling Bonds Chapter 17, a kimetsu no yaiba/鬼滅の刃 fanfic

Infiltrating the Red Light District Pt 2

(More sleep deprived than usual, but it's warranted since I put in eleven thousand words for this. It's a bit rushed storyline wise but let's be honest here, you aren't here for canon. Enjoy)

Another day changing bandages. "Oh. This might be the last day." His wounds were finally healed and there wasn't any blood on these newer ones she'd just stripped off. "I'm very surprised at how quickly you recovered without having as many nutrients. Feeding you has been very difficult for all these months but I'm glad you're showing some signs of getting better." Odd to see how he was relatively stable after all this time, but there was no way of knowing how his eye was since… he couldn't exactly open it. She could really only imagine how bad the actual fight must've been that night. "You really are an admirable swordsman, Rengoku. I admire that about you."

Footsteps and a door opening in a haste. "This the room?!" Pink hair. Damn it Taiki. "Senjuro this can't be the place! There's just the Bug woman and some loser in-" A fist struck the back of Taiki's head and knocked him to the floor. "The hell was that for?! Woah…" Senjuro was standing behind him with an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. This was entirely new to the pinkette, Senjuro never looked like this before even over the last few months when he looked all sad for nothing… Well, maybe it was something after all.

"Don't talk bad about my brother. I let you do and say a lot… but if you do that again then we'll settle it outside, with our training swords." Those words… They were heavy with barely restrained fury. Shinobu looked mildly concerned about the idle threat, and a kakushi walking by hurried his pace to avoid the confrontation. "Okay?"

"Rengoku, Busujima." Shinobu's smile was betrayed by the pulsing veins on her face, clearly showing that whatever they were thinking about doing… they really shouldn't do! "I'd appreciate it if the both of you were more civil, especially in the medical ward!"

Shit. Right there's a Hashira here. That's the reason a cold sweat was on the back of his neck. Couldn't be any other reason that he was feeling trepidation right now, it had to be the Hashira warning him not to get his ass kick- To kick Senjuro's ass. "Yeah yeah, fine. We'll calm down." He scoffed and turned away with a huff while Senjuro quietly bowed to the Insect Hashira.

"We're sorry Miss Kocho. It won't happen again." He entered the room and stood beside his comatose brother with a saddened expression on his face. Remembering his failure four months ago only filled him with more and more regret, regret over his own weakness, regret over failing to help kill Akaza or Yuki, regret over being a failure in general. "Big brother… I don't know how, but I'll get stronger."

Speaking of getting stronger, right now there were three people outside who were doing everything to make themselves even stronger. One of them was using a- "Hekireki Issen."(Thunderclap and Flash). Niji closed the distance across the yard and drew her sword in a flash of speed to attack her sparring partners. 'Not even close to my full speed but it'll keep them on their toes!'

One of them was nimble and completely dodged the attack while the other one lifted both her swords and blocked the attack just fine. "That's super fast! How are you so fast?!" Nonoka pushed and her partner quickly realized that there was a problem.

'Wait a second!' Since she wasn't touching the ground there was the issue of her not being able to fully resist Nonoka's strength. 'Too strong!" It felt like a small explosion just sent her flying away, but she landed solid and watched the petite girl moving towards her with that strange weapon of hers. It wasn't a blade at all, in fact the only part that could really do damage was-

Yoshino leapt up and with some agile whipping motions and flipped through the air gracefully, and it completely caught Niji off guard. A gentle landing and with all her bodily strength, she yanked the line and tightened it around the thunder breather's body… All done with closed eyes and her very accurate hearing. "That's one for us! We're getting better!" She walked up to her friend and started undoing the binds of her weapon, finishing with the heavy weight at the end that ended with a sharp tip.

Nonoka rushed over with a smile and two swords in her hands. "We're really starting to get good. Jikon-sensei's gonna be so proud!" She was so excited to show off the real and sudden improvement they were showing. "This- uh… this mussel dentistry is great!" Still not the brightest person around but it was her spirit that mattered.

Yoshino undid the last of the bonds and started rolling the weapon back up. "Muscle density. It's muscle density, you have… dense muscles." There was an attitude there, entirely built off envy for her friend being so strong despite looking so normal… It completely explained why she was so clumsy back in the school. She was trying to accomplish tasks for a delicate young lady when she had all the power of a professional sumo wrestler. "Unfair." She was almost the same size as Lady Kocho and had the same physical problem of lacking the physical strength to outright chop off a demon's head, but by no means was she entirely out. "Just like Lady Kocho, but I don't wanna use poison. Some demons might be too strong… The head is the best way."

Loud caws and flapping wings made them look at Jikon's crow flying into the estate. "Sensei's crow. He must be coming back soon." Nonoka's mind landed on that being the reason his crow decided to fly back and enter a window.

Hakuga's second best supporter turned adorable and gushed over her mentor giving a progress report through his messenger crow. "Jikon is the best sensei! I'm glad he decided to help the other Hashira with his mission, it shows how good he is. We should get back to training, that way he'll be even more proud when he gets back!" Nonoka immediately started whipping her practice weapons around with her deceptive strength.

"Alright!"

Upstairs in the room that Jikon's crow entered was the Insect Hashira with a vial in her hand. "Oh, a report?" She quickly looked at the vial of purple fluid in her hand and bit back a scowl before opening it and drinking the entire bottle. "What's going on now, where did they go?"

"Lord Uzui, Lord Hakuga, Tanjiro Kamado, Inosuke Hashibira, Ami Kumagai, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Haia Isobe have entered the Entertainment District!"

…

"Repeat that." Shinobu pulled a syringe of purple liquid, lighter colored and less viscous than what was in the bottle. She was making direct eye contact with Jikon's crow and had a smile on her face… the strain in her neck clearly showed her real feelings.

The crow was more nervous than a deer in a cave of hungry bears. "Uh! Lord Hakuga is assisting Lord Uzui on a mission in Yoshiwara's Red Light District. Lord Hakuga believes that a powerful demon is in the locale, possibly one of the Twelve Kizuki!" She was fighting for her life since this woman decided to whip out a syringe big enough to go through most of her body if she stabbed her… please whatever gods may exist don't give Kocho a reason to stab her.

"…I see…" She started rolling her sleeve up as soft footsteps came towards her door, and there was Rui standing at the doorway with a curious expression on his face. "Ah, Rui! Great timing. Would you mind sparing some thread?"

The ex-Lower moon created some thread and offered it to Kocho. "Is there a reason you need this?" His uncovered eye saw the syringe in her hand and pointed to it. "What's that for?"

"Nothing at all, thank you for the thread." She turned around in her seat and looked back at the crow. Rui thought it was strange but had no real reason to inquire about anything else… so he left. "Entering that type of place for a mission… Uzui, you'd better not end up corrupting my boy-" That slip of the tongue was cut off once she remembered the crow standing on her desk, and she knew how much these things gossiped between each other… Would've been a serious mistake letting that slip. "If that's all for this report then you're free to leave."

"Yes Lady Kocho. I'll be sure to hurry back to deliver any new information from Lord Hakuga!" With that she took her leave out the window and left Shinobu to wrap the thread around her bicep and wait for a minute or two.

'In Yoshiwara's- Of all places…' A nice looking vein became more pronounced and she proceeded to stick the needle of the syringe into it, and slowly push the plunger down to let its contents enter her bloodstream. Anyone watching this would wonder what the hell she was doing, and that's exactly why she made sure to do it alone. Because no matter what that's what she was… "Alone against him…"

It was daytime in Yoshiwara, the streets were so much more clear like this. A man with a dopey face was walking around with a book in his hands until he came to a stop. "So this is it. Ogimoto house." Some small chuckles and he went right inside. Entering the first floor, and entirely unaware of what was happening on the second floor.

Pink obi with sharp four petaled flowers here and there were all over the room. It was dark but not enough to completely take away Makio's sight. This freaky sash wasn't going to get the best of her!

"Now then, I'd like you to tell me. Who were you writing these letters to… Makio?" She raised her head to look that bulbous mouth in the- actually she didn't see eyes but she envisioned them there all the same. "Answer me… Makio."

Inosuke and Ami were slowly ascending the stairs and ready to find out what was going on with Uzui's wife. What were they gonna find in this room? Inosuke's theory of her being dead was still taking a small part of his mind but hearing those other girls talk about her made it shrink a lot.

Ami wasn't sure what to think but she knew that getting some type of trail would be better than sitting around and hoping for the best. 'Where are you… Makio?'

In Kyogoku house, Zenko was calmly walking through the hallways with a faraway look. 'I guess I lost sight of who I really am. I'm supposed to be looking for Uzui's wife, Hinatsuru right?' It was hard to resist slapping himself in the face all things considered. 'What good is it to hone my shamisen and koto skills? Still…" A girl ran by while fixing her hair but it didn't even faze him. 'What am I gonna do? I've been all ears since I got here but I haven't heard anything about Hinatsuru.' His ears didn't lie. 'Two days ago the owner of this house passed away… took her own life apparently. Everyone's gloomy and keeping their mouths shut about it.'

He stopped and listened closely to filter out all the conversations going on. Someone lost a sash. A hairdresser should be arriving. Makeup needed and- Crying?!

"We have a crisis. A young girl is crying." His priorities were… somewhere? Better than not finding anything at all.

Those gross lips looked irritated now, instead of slightly sadistic. "What's this? Someone else is coming. Two people actually." She sucked her teeth in frustration. "Ogimoto house certainly has its share of busybodies doesn't it."

Makio fought and lifted her head. 'I have to find a way to let him know! Lord Tengen!' The sashes all around her started tightening and pulled her into the air, wrapping around her body and squeezing like a boa does a rat.

"Make a commotion and I'll destroy all the organs in your body."

Outside in the hall, two people stood and saw a tray of food in front of a room. "That must be the food the woman left. So that's Makio's room, huh?"

Ami saw the steam still coming from it. "And it's still fresh. She couldn't have left it there more than a couple minutes ago. It's weird…"

Inosuke didn't hear a thing and he didn't feel anything. It was way too calm. "Is she in some kind of trouble now? I can't even tell. There's some creepy, slimy vibe, but still…"

"Sitting here and thinking about it isn't our way is it?!" Ami was a lot of things but she wasn't some person to really sit and think things through, and she knew Inosuke was exactly the same!

"You're right. Irojiro's really getting to me if this is what I'm doing!" He jumped up and ran down the hall, stopped at the door and opened it without hesitation. There wasn't anyone there but there were signs of Makio. Ami appeared next to him and saw it too.

"A planning board thing! Envelopes! She was here!"

Inosuke noticed something more important. A draft. "The wind, the windows are closed but that wind!" He looked up and saw a crack on some of the ceiling. "The attic!" He grabbed a bowl of ramen and flung it straight up. "I'm onto you!"

Ami took the wooden tray and flung it with her impressive strength. "Quit hiding and get out here demon!"

The room shook. Not just once or twice, but a constant shaking. The ceiling! Whatever was in here was clattering around above them!

"Something's up there! It's wriggling around!" The wood started to distort and it showed a trail of where the culprit was going. "Damn!" Inosuke took off and Ami went right behind him, she might not have his senses but even she could tell this was a guaranteed demon. "Just like I thought! But where's it going? Where's it trying to run off to?"

The two ran down a hallway and nearly knocked a man and a courtesan over in their rush. "We're not letting you get away!" Ami almost ripped a door open and the two charged over girls of the house before knocking a door down and continuing their chase.

'It's daytime so it had to escape up there.' Inosuke took the lead again and followed his senses. 'But it has to climb down the walls at some point!' Right there! It started moving lower! "I got you now!" All his strength would go into this punch!

That dopey guy stumbled around the corner and laid his eyes on the two coming towards him. "Hey, now there's some sweet-" Inosuke's fist hit the first thing in its way… some idiot at the wrong place at the worst time. He was punched into the wall behind him hard enough to nearly break it, but Inosuke was more focused on his sense of touch revealing where the demon was going. 'Damn it! I messed up!' Something wriggled and writhed its way down the wall and was gone. 'It's fleeing downstairs!'

He ran away and Ami followed him. "This way? Downstairs?"

"I felt it! It went…" He stopped and looked around, feeling out for the wriggly thing. "This- Damn! I can't get a feel in this! I lost sight!" He started pulling at the uncomfortable clothes with anger on his face. Stupid clothes that had to cover his chest! "So many people had to get in the way! Damn it! Damn! Damn! Damn!"

The door slowly opened and there was quite a sight behind it. A trashed room with a little girl crying on the floor. "It's like a disaster struck here! What happened in this room?!" The girl turned around and Zenitsu was shocked, she was the only one here. "Huh?! What happened?! Are- Are you alright?!"

She turned and cried more at his yelling. Then he had to remember that whatever made her cry… the best thing to help probably wasn't yelling at her. "Oh! I'm sorry." He went to her side and gently patted her back. "Come on, settle down okay? It's alright." Just comfort her and figure out what happened. "I wasn't angry with you, all right? I'm sorry. If you're in any kind of trouble-"

FEAR

There was a presence behind him and it caused-

FEAR

"Hey you… what are you doing in my room?"

His gulp was loud and the sweat on his hands made his skin clammy. 'That's a demon right behind me… That's not what a human sounds like.' It sounded like a woman who was fairly tall, wearing a long yukata. 'I didn't even notice her until right before she spoke to me. Is that even possible?' His heart was in his throat with how terrified he was. 'This sound is alarming, but it's so quiet that I'm horrified!' This level of fear wasn't normal for any run of the mill demon… 'This is… an U-Upper Rank demon, isn't it?'

"Oi! Are you deaf or something? I asked what you were doing in my room."

Two girls were cowering outside the room. "Warabihime Oiran- That girl just started here… the day before yesterday, so she…"

The Oiran turned her head to look at them, disapprovingly. "Hah! So what if she did?" The girls shrunk to the floor and Zenitsu immediately had to get her attention away from them.

"Please forgive me for entering without permission! The room was in disarray and this girl was crying, so I-"

The woman didn't even let this drag on before she interrupted. "Could you be any more plain? Now that I actually see you, you're plain ugly. You make me sick just to look at. Wouldn't you be better off just dead? That hair color of yours, what's with that? Do you actually want to stand out?"

It was stuck this way! There wasn't anything he could do about that! How's it his fault that he got hit by lightning?! Okay maybe he shouldn't have climbed a tree to get away from gramps during a storm but-

"This room is still in shambles." She stopped at the little girl and looked down on her. "I thought I told you to clean it up." She reached down and yanked her ear like an angry grandmother, eliciting tears from the already distraught child. "Shut up! Stop that screaming! I told you to clean the room!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll do it now! Please forgive me!" Blood was coming from her ear because of the force against it and that was when the unthinkable happened. Something dared to lay a hand on Warabihime's forearm in a firm grip.

"What?" The ugly blonde was grabbing her arm?

"Take your hands off her." It wasn't a request. It wasn't a favor. It definitely wasn't a plea. It was a demand that she let this girl go…

It was evening and the Tokito house was the same. Sumiko and Haia were cleaning up the hallways and rooms. Happily of course! No task was too small and nothing was menial in their eyes.

Mizukiri and Muzuage for the flowers? Done. Scrubbing the hallways? Done. Changing the water for those aforementioned flowers? They were done that too.

"Madam, we've done everything you asked us to do!" The woman was surprised now.

"Already? I knew it wouldn't take long between the two of you but still…"

Haia's excitable voice piped in now. "What shall we do next?"

She was genuinely confused on what they could do now. "Next you can…" A fresh cup of tea was on her desk in no time.

"A fresh cup of tea!"

"I'm sorry to trouble you." Sumiko and Haia were very… energetic.

"It's no problem at all! Madam, what next?"

"Madam, what's next?"

"Madam, what next?!"

"Madam!"

"Would you be quiet?! Just hold on a second!" Now they were sanding the wood beneath her sliding door so it would run smoothly to close. "You're very diligent workers aren't you? Such energy over doing even chores."

The madam of Ogimoto house was staring at the damage Inoko caused… surprised but not really at the fractured wall. "Looks like she went and broke some of the house. It looks like I need to teach that one a harsh lesson!" She was a woman on a mission and opened the door in a huff. "Hey, Inoko! What-?!" Inoko was balanced on forearms and dangling 'her' feet over her head in a move of ridiculous flexibility. "What on earth are you doing?!"

'Even when I focus. I'm not sensing it. Where the hell did that thing go?' Some acrobatic spins and rolls brought Inoko back to a standing position. 'Damn. Looks like me and Ami'll have to tell Jikon about this.' At least they were supposed to check in with their superiors later today.

That hand was still touching her with a very firm grip. The fact that someone so ugly even had the nerve to enter her personal space made her skin crawl. "What did you say? I want to hear you say it again."

"Take… your hand… off her."

Her eyes narrowed once she realized it. "This close, you're even uglier than I thought."

"Take-"

"And how dare you, lay your dirty hand on me." She pulled her arm away and brought it back in a closed fist backhand.

Two days before that incident. When Tanjiro and the others infiltrated their respective houses.

"I want you to stop this now!" The dim red light of this room would be comforting… would be.

"Stop what?"

The old woman was telling her what to do. For some reason, thinking she had any right to do so. "Stop causing people here to get hurt, commit ashinuke and suicide! That's what! As for the ones who killed themselves… you might as well have bullied them to death, Warabihime!"

"That's very harsh of you madam. Does that mean you aren't going to take my side?" It was a bother to speak to this hag. "You don't think it was their fault for irritating me?"

"Up to now I've looked the other way more times than I can count! But something isn't right about you! I can't protect you anymore, this is all so wrong!" Old lady had some backbone.

Warabihime tilted her head in curiosity, and maybe some irritation. "Exactly whose earrings was it that allowed this house to prosper so long, you old hag?"

"So many years ago… when I was a child. The old woman from the tea house told me a story. She'd become very forgetful but told me all about a particular Oiran, one that was incredibly beautiful but so twisted by nature." Something wasn't adding up right. "She'd mentioned seeing Oiran like that as a child, and again when she was middle aged. These Oiran were fond of names ending with 'hime' and if anything were to irritate them, they'd cock their heads and glare at you from below…" Exactly as she was doing now. "A unique habit they shared. Who- Who are you?!" She had a knife behind her back and was ready to use it. "Could it be… you're not even human?"

The candle went out and the room was not only cleared of any light, but also any occupants. Pink sashes were coiled around the old woman, and her flailing legs were suddenly wrapped tight. Clawed hands held her mortified face still in the night as she gazed at this horrific woman. Floating in the air with her hand still holding that knife firmly.

"That's the kind of thing… that you should keep your mouth shut about once you realize it. It's the smart way to live." They were high above the ground, out of sight of anyone who could- Not help but at least see what was going on. "That's how everyone's survived up to now. But it looks like you're more stupid than I ever thought." Black hair swayed freely in the breeze and her barely clad body was in the wind. Leggings, underwear, and a thin top being all that covered her modesty. "It's a pity, Omitsu." The old woman cowered as she looked into Wara- No. as she looked into this demon's eyes and read the kanji. "There's no need to be so scared you know! The dried out flesh of hags like you tastes so horrible… I'd never eat it. If it's ugly or dirty, there's no way I'd ever put it in my mouth!" Phrasing.

"No- Stop!" The sashes around her started loosening and she felt gravity taking hold.

"Sayonara. Omitsu." They were gone and she plummeted to the ground. Dead on impact.

A dainty foot landed on the rooftop and she walked ever so calmly despite growing panic on the street. Ignoring all of it. Didn't matter to her what trouble that old woman caused now. She slipped down and landed at an open window, then gasped once she saw the figure inside.

"How are you doing?"

He was here? "Master Muzan!"

"I can see that you've devoured scores of humans. You've gained more power than before. That's a good thing." He was praising her, and she knew to bow right that second. "But you mustn't let your guard down. The more things go your way, the more likely you are to have things be pulled right from under you."

"I understand." That sounded very cryptic. Almost prophetic.

"A Hashira could recognize us as demons right away. On the contrary, other than those capable as Hashira, we cannot see difference between normal humans with just a glance. Though there are other means for us to distinguish them, don't let your guard down." He stood up. "Your position as Sixth has remained this way for over a century, but never forget that it could be lost in an instant."

What was that supposed to mean? She was this high for a reason. She'd eaten seven Hashira up to now so how could they ever-

"Daki…"

"Yes! Yes, Master Muzan?" She sat up and watched him approach her calmly.

"I have high hopes for Upper Six." He put a hand against her cheek with utmost care. "Such a position requires great strength and ability. Hundreds of demons have tried their best to get to your level alone, and yet none have succeeded. You have eaten many humans and even Hashira, all to be such a Pretty Young Thing." He was cupping her face with both hands and a caring expression on his face. "I have no reason to doubt that the position of Upper Six will remain strong for some time."

Back in current time we see Zenitsu getting flung through a doorway, wall, and finally stopping in an adjacent room. "Don't you touch me in such a familiar way! Don't flatter yourself you rotten punk! It looks like you're in need of some severe discipline!"

"Warahibe Oiran…" A man bowed down to the floor in a deep show of respect. "I beg of you. Please forgive her. It's almost time for us to open, our customers will arrive soon. I'll be sure to reprimand her harshly. Please, for now. Please forgive her only for now."

She didn't say anything in response. But she slowly turned her head and had a disarming smile on her face. "I suppose I may have lashed out at the newcomer too mercilessly. Tend to her wounds please. Master, please raise your head. I should be apologizing. Lately things have been causing me great stress." She turned and walked away. "Clean this up while I head off to work." She said that to the young girl and she responded by starting to pick things up.

"Call for attendants please. Get this room cleaned up. Don't do anything that would get on Warabihime Oiran's nerves!"

She stopped and glanced back. 'The brat… even though he's blacked out, I can tell his wounds are minor. He went on the defensive so fast, he's no civilian. He's probably with the demon slayers!' Such an annoyance.

Tanjiro was carrying blankets in the night but stopped once his nose detected something awry. 'There's a murky scent in the air… Even on a night this calm.' He looked up to the crescent moon.

Haia came out and greeted him. "Sumiko! Hm? What's the matter?" She popped a piece of candy into her mouth and rolled it around, enjoying the sweet flavor.

"There's a murky scent in the air… Something's wrong. I don't know why… but I have a bad feeling."

Haia's bright smile started fading as she looked at the crescent moon in the night sky. "Whatever's wrong, there's all of us. Even if there's an Upper Rank demon here, we'll be fine." Her optimism brought Tanjiro out of his funk easily. He was starting to understand exactly why this girl had everyone around her cheer up so fast.

Elsewhere in Yoshiwara there were three girls crowded around a figure in a yellow haori with equally yellow hair.

"Zenko! Please wake up!"

"Zenko!"

"Zenko!" Zenko shot up and looked at the three girls in shock, a slow recollection of things coming back.

"What happened to me?"

"You got punched, and you blacked out!"

Oh right. Disguise. "Oh right, my name is Zenko. I had a dream that I'd become a man."

"We brought you some food, please be sure to eat it."

One of them held out a cold cloth. "Use this to reduce the swelling." He pressed the cloth to his swollen face with some cries of pain.

"Zenko, thank you. This is what happened for you defending me."

For a second the injury didn't even matter. "Any man would defend a damsel in distress. Not that I'm a man! It's basic decency I mean! For example I'm the eldest daughter and my father raised me to act when a girl weeps! I can't just stand by!"

"That's not true. Everyone here has their hands full taking care of themselves. We've never met someone kindhearted before." That was… alarming. The girls got up and started leaving the room with a swish of their magenta kimono. "Please get better, Zenko!"

Hm. 'Those three were so kind. I hope things really do turn out better for them.' His thought were so pure that he didn't notice the wicked presence until it swallowed him.

It was the middle of the day and now Inosuke, Ami, Haia, and Tanjiro were casually sitting on the roof of a building. Jikon was there as well but he wasn't dressed up like anything he didn't want to be… 'Lucky bastard.' Inosuke shook that out of his head and resumed what he showed up for. "I told you! The demon's at our house!"

"He's right! I felt it too! But I couldn't see it anywhere." Ami was still barely resisting the urge to rip her kimono off right then and there but she held it in.

Tanjiro and Jikon were staring at the two blankly. Unsurprised at their exclamations about having a demon but their animation of it was weird. "Uh… right. I believe you Inosuke, but-"

"It moved like this!" He started wriggling his arms around like… a worm?

"Wait a second. You're not making sense."

Inosuke changed his motions and clawed his hands together with wriggling fingers. "How about this?! Do you get this then?" That was like a… a centipede?

"Mister Uzui and Zenitsu should be coming to check in soon, maybe we should wait for them before we jump to-"

Inosuke raised his hands with another strange movement. "It was like this then! I'm telling you about it now!"

Jikon was wide eyed and just staring at this. "Inosuke, I believe you about the demon, but… that doesn't help us. Wriggly doesn't really say anything." He looked over and saw-

"Zenitsu won't be coming." Uzui was squatting on the roof a distance from them and his being noticed surprised them all.

Inosuke was possibly the most surprised. 'I didn't even know he was there. He's got crazy skills!'

Ami and Haia had a similar thought process. 'That's a Hashira all right, no sound, no wind, not even a footstep.'

'He's so sneaky, no wonder he was a shinobi!'

"Zenitsu won't be coming… what do you mean by that Mister Uzui?"

The Sound Hashira exhaled a heavy breath. "I made bad choices here. I feel bad about putting you through this. I wanted to rescue my wives so badly that I did all of this… And as it stands, Zenitsu is missing. There's been no contact since last night. Everyone but Hakuga and Haia should leave, you're all ranked too low to do this. I've already endangered you enough with my stupid decisions as is."

This man… he was really remorseful over this. And they didn't even have a way to confirm that anything bad actually happened to Zenitsu yet. Just that he was missing.

"If the demon turns out to be an Upper Rank then you couldn't handle it, numbers would help but I'm not going to sacrifice your lives over one demon. If you all vanish then they'll assume you're either dead or ran away." This place really was grim when you thought about it. Uzui stood up with a serious expression on his face. "I'll continue this mission on my own now."

A hand on his massive oblique muscles stopped him. "Not happening." He looked down at the junior Hashira with a raised brow. "Me and my friends are going to help you. I'm not backing down on that, no matter what we're gonna find Zenitsu and your wives."

"Don't push yourself. The ones who survive are the winners at the end of the day. Count yourselves lucky you have an out, and take it."

Determination lit up behind those blue eyes. "I refuse to back down, no matter what demon it is. Upper Rank Six or even Upper Rank One, you've got our help Tengen." The Sound Hashira was speechless. Even after being told the danger and given a chance, neither Jikon nor the others looked like they were backing down from this…

"I guess you're all even more flashy than I thought." He vanished in a blur of movement and that left the others there to collect themselves.

"Tanjiro. Tonight is the night, with Zenitsu missing we have to find the demon now."

Haia sprung up, carefully making sure her umbrella still covered up her body. "Okay! Tonight me and Tanjiro'll head over to Inosuke and Ami's house."

"Huh?! Why should you do that?" The boar was not pleased. "You think we need help or something?"

"That's not it Inosuke! We'll be done investigating our house today! We haven't had any demon activity." Inosuke grabbed Tanjiro's cheeks and started to pull them angrily. "AAH!"

"I already said that the demon's at Ogimoto house! You should come with us right now! How stupid are you?!" Jikon rushed to pull him away from Tanjiro's poor face while Haia tried pulling Tanjiro away.

"Inosuke calm down!"

"He didn't mean it like that at all!"

A poor courtesan was hoping they'd shut up and get off the roof above where she lived. But her hopes weren't that high.

Jikon was pulling Inosuke off but now he was resorting to slapping Tanjiro whenever he could reach. "Me and Uzui were patrolling at night but Zenitsu still went missing! And the demon you're talking about is gone!"

Ami was just sitting there trying to keep cool in her clothes so she didn't have the energy to waste getting heated and trying to help anyone here. "There's gotta be a passage somewhere. If the demon's all wriggly then it needs to slip through to move around."

"Please stop hitting me! Ami's right!" Inosuke actually stopped.

"Wait, a passageway?"

Tanjiro finally sat up but that's when Inosuke got a fist to the head. "Quit beating up Tanjiro when we're trying to come up with a plan!"

"Shut up Pikkon! Don't think that being a Hashira makes you better than me!"

The usual shenanigans. "Look." Tanjiro brought them back on course. "The demon isn't coming in or out, so there's a good chance it's working inside. If the demon is disguised as a human, then it would be way more careful about killing people. Otherwise it would get caught."

Haia pondered. "This is a nighttime district. It's convenient for a demon but also inconvenient. Working at night… it's weird if you disappear for a while."

"So that means Jikon's right. We can find Zenitsu and Uzui's wives. We should all keep that in mind for tonight. We have to rescue them, and no matter what… We won't die!"

Inosuke slapped his knee with a smile. "Psh. I could've figured all that out myself. But… you're right. We'll all keep this up, and tonight we'll find that wriggly demon and cut its head off!"

Tonight We Go

The only ones who bothered with a genuine goodbye were Haia and Tanjiro. They found out that Koinatsu Oiran was intending to leave after tonight, apparently a man found love in her and wanted to whisk her away from this lifestyle. Well. That was good for her at least.

They promised to rescue everyone who'd gone missing thus far. Suma included. And they took their leave just like that. Then there was the rustling. "Did you two forget something?"

"Right… before I forget…" That wasn't Haia or Sumiko… "I need to devour you. Since tonight's your last night here and all, Koinatsu." A pink obi ran by her and she was gone. Without a trace.

Tanjiro and Haia were none the wiser as they ran across the rooftops. "The sun's almost completely set! We need to get to Ami and Inosuke fast!" Tanjiro stopped right there once he picked it up. "That smell… it's sweet."

Haia pulled out two fans and opened them wide. "Another demon!"

Inosuke and Ami were really antsy. "It's pretty much nightfall and Souichiro isn't here! Damn moron making us wait for nothing!" Inosuke jumped up and crashed his head through the ceiling. "Hey mice! Give me my swords."

Gentle pitter patters and there they were. "Muscle!" Powerful.

"Muscle!" Strong.

"Muscle!"

"The muscular mice subordinates! Hey! Where's the ones with Ami's thing?!" Three more mice came from the darkness with Ami's finished weapon. It was still wrapped up since she never had a chance to use it.

Then a head of pinkish hair crashed through the ceiling right next to him. "There's the muscle mice!"

"I wanna boss around some ninju too!"

"Muscle!" They stopped with Inosuke's swords.

"Muscle!" Turned them and pointed them at him.

"Muscle!" Stopped with Ami's weapon.

"Muscle!" And they held it out for her to take.

"Muscle!" It was go time!

They flung those suffocating clothes off and slammed their animal accessories on. Inosuke stood proud with his boar mask on and his swords in hand. "Time to go slay some demons!"

"Don't worry! Cause we're coming through!"

The two of them slammed through a wall and sprinted down a hallway, ready or not… They were coming!

Jikon and Tengen just opened a window and watched as- "Nothing. She's probably on the prowl for humans…"

"We'll have to look somewhere else, maybe there's something for us… Tengen, do you have anything of Hinatsuru's?"

The Flashy man quickly brought out a cloth and Jikon immediately sniffed it. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"It's my sense of smell! I might be- Wait." He looked back out the window and stared in a direction towards a large intersection. "That way!" He leapt out the window and started running across the rooftops with Tengen right beside him.

"You'd better be right about this Hakuga, Hinatsuru would probably have some information for us… if she's still alive."

"The nose knows. And when we find your wife, she'll know something helpful!" They leapt from roof to roof and kept up their pattern in heading towards the area.

A powerful strike from those pink obi blew them out the window. "Damn it! She's so fast!"

Haia was up instantly and preparing her fans for battle. "Calm down Tanjiro! You're alive, and you can move! We can't be scared of her!"

"You're right…" He stood up and took his stance. "The reason I couldn't move… is cause of my fear. My back hit the building hard so no wonder I couldn't move, but we have to brace ourselves!"

She appeared in the window, unintentionally flashing her underwear, and some of what was under it, at the two of them. "You're both alive? Wait… oh! That one's a demon. A demon working with a human? Hm. Your eyes are pretty." She pointed at Tanjiro, and then to Haia. "And you're small but quite beautiful… but eating a demon is disgusting, so I'll just gouge his eyes out and eat them! And I'll hold you under the sun to burn!"

A strap on Nezuko's box ripped and it nearly fell off. 'The box! It's not broken but another hit like that and it will be.' He set her down gently while Haia kept her eyes on this woman. "I can't fight with you on my back, stay in that box. Don't come out unless your life is in danger."

"Mizu no kokyu. Shi no kata!" He leapt at her and the demon leapt at him. Haia fixed her way in there with both her fans ready to slam into the Sixth ranked demon, a three way assault! "Uchishio Ran!" (Striking Tide Turbulent). Water surrounded his sword and he sliced through different sections of the obi that came for his body.

Haia used her fans to chop and deflect attacks away from Tanjiro. As long as she was here she could draw away her attacks! More strikes and more deflections to cut the sash, until they all finally touched the ground again.

"Not bad moves. You survived that attack, and you managed to cut the obi right where I trapped Koinatsu."

Tanjiro was catching his breath after that sudden assault, luckily Haia was here to take some of the pressure off. If he was alone he'd be pushed much further and much harder.

"How cute is that? Ugly as you are. I'm getting fond of you, human. You're like a rat on the brink of death really." Her obi splayed out behind her and that was the sign that she was going to attack again soon.

'Just Haia and I against a demon like this. No- No it won't be like last time. She's much weaker, and there's everyone else too. All we have to do is hold out! We can hold out!'

Tengen and Jikon just landed on a street and lurked around carefully. Until they looked in a window and Tengen saw something that interested him. "Hinatsuru!"

"I told you the nose knows!" He loved proving that he was right. Not out of cockiness but out of helping people from doing it. Jikon drew his sword and sliced the weird sashes holding her up and Tengen carefully caught her to drop something into her mouth.

"Forgive me, Lord Tengen. I realized that Warabihime was a demon, and she became suspicious of me as well… I drank a weak poison to slip out of the house, but this strange sash she gave me was meant for spying on me. I couldn't contact you."

Jikon turned and started slicing the sash up with anger, not general anger like a child throwing a tantrum, but the anger of finding out that this couldn't have been the first time it happened and that this demon probably ate hundreds of humans doing this! "Hn!" Once last slash and it was reduced to less than ribbons.

"Lord Tengen, I'm sure you heard that sound just now. The demon is on a rampage."

He was so concerned that he didn't even bother looking away from his wife. "Are you sure that you'll be alright?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any use." He held her so much closer to his chest and comforted her.

"Once the antidote starts taking effect, leave Yoshiwara. You hear me?"

A soft. "Yes." And they were off.

"Damn it! The fight's already started!" Tengen was furious.

"We've gotta get involved, but where's the fight at? Everything's too calm." He looked over and saw Tengen hopping towards a lone street and then he put his ear on the ground. "What?" Jikon joined him.

"Underground! I can hear the sounds of a battle! There's something here. Jikon, stand back." He got up and drew his swords as his junior got out of the blast radius. "Oto no kokyu, ichi no kata…" (Sound Breathing, First Form).

'Sound breathing… what could the first form of something like that be?' Ask and you shall receive.

"Todoroki!" (Roar). An explosion rang out into the night. Shaking the area so hard that even the demoness felt it hundreds of yards away.

"What an internal racket! You piece of trash! What is that? What are you doing?" She looked towards the dust cloud. "How many of you are there? Five? Maybe six?"

"As if I'd ever tell you!"

Now she wanted to act friendly. "If you tell the truth I'd be willing to spare your life, at least yours. The demon girl is a traitor and I'd have to kill her. It was an instant but we clashed and look at your sword." She pointed at the weapon and made Tanjiro look at it to see the problem. "It's already nicked up. Some hack of a swordsmith must've made that, am I right?"

"Wrong! The man who made this is a great swordsmith! He's amazing at what he does!"

Now she looked almost confused. "Then how's it already damaged moron?"

Another explosion off in the distance and another cloud of debris. Whatever that was, it was really starting to annoy her.

"It's getting noisy all over the place now. That noise is annoying me, so I'll have to kill you both."

Tanjiro thought and realized it was his own fault about his blade getting chipped. 'Damn. I can't be like Urokodaki or Tomioka by using Water Breathing. In my case… I have to use the Sun Breath!' They'd been training for a reason, and the sheer force that limited him to only a couple strikes wasn't as big an issue. 'It's different now! I can actually fight, I will fight! Don't go down, burn bright. Burn! Set it on fire! Set my heart ablaze!'

The demon sent her sashes towards the two of them and Haia's first instinct was to move and defend Tanjiro with her own strikes. 'I'll be fine but he's just human, I have to be able to-'

'Hi no kokyu!' Tanjiro unleahsed two powerful slashes that ripped the sashes apart like wet paper. 'Retsujitsu Kōkyō!'(Scorching Crimson Mirror). Fire burned the sashes where he sliced and he charged ahead, leaving a shocked Haia behind.

'His swordsmanship just changed. It's sharper than before!' Her obi weaved in the air as the boy charged and his breathing got even louder. "That unpleasant sound! The sounds of breathing?" She leaned back to avoid a blazing downwards strike.

'Enbu!' (Waltz). An arc of fire trailed behind but he wasn't done with the attack. 'Flame Waltz is a two hit attack, even if she dodges there's still one more!' Behind the demoness was another, in a colorful kimono with two silver fans opened in a pincer slice. 'Syncing our movements will make this more effective!'

Daki didn't see that as a worthwhile attack and her sashes darted out to chop the brat's head off. 'Amounting to nothing useful at all!' Then- Then he disappeared! "What the-?"

"Surprise!" Haia's fans sliced into a sash and left an opening for-

'Hi no kokyu: Gen'nichi Kō.'(Parhelion Rainbow). Tanjiro was in the air behind her and the opening thread gave him a straight shot to her neck! 'I can do this! Right here and now! Hi no kokyu: Kasha!'(Flame Chariot). Fire coated the tip of his sword as it rushed towards her neck… but she was unimpressed.

"Is this really it between the two of you? You're making me yawn." The thread snapped and the sashes assailed them both. Haia deflecting the weaponized accessories with her own but still being sent flying, and Tanjiro only took one before sailing through the air.

'Defensive! Go on the defensive!' He skidded through the ground and finally came to a stop, only to start panting heavily to get his breath back under control. This was the drawback of the pinnacle breathing. 'All that built up fatigue makes my body lock up!'

"You're still alive? That's a surprise." She leapt at him and Haia jumped towards her to intercept. A clashing of tessen against pink sashes that were hard like metal. The two were locked in a fight of keeping this lady away from Tanjiro and breaking a brat to get to the other brat. "For someone so tiny you aren't that bad! But it's nothing compared to my rank!"

"For someone dressed like a whore, you're better at using your mouth to talk!" Haia ducked below two sashes and sliced them away but that was enough opening to get slammed with a third one and crash into a building.

'Get up Tanjiro! Use recovery breathing! Don't let Haia fight alone!' He sucked in a deep breath and launched himself upward, sticking the landing and dashing at the woman again. 'More sashes!' He started slashing throug- Against. He was slashing against them now. It's almost like they got even tougher than they already were! He stopped his charge and focused on defense. 'Don't let her through, give Haia a chance to get up so you can work together!' Every time he got even a sight of the opening thread it vanished. She was closing any opportunities to kill her as quickly as they came.

He was too slow. Even as fast as this fight was going, it wasn't enough on his own. 'Raise your temperature! Burn even more!' Back at the Estate he had to beg Kiyo to not say anything about his high temperature but it was the only way to be at his best. With a high temperature, Sun Breathing was his to command!

He pushed hard against a sash and was sent back, breathing heavily against this woman. "You're more annoying than I thought. This is entertaining after all."

'So it's working! Sun Breathing is effective! No- No that isn't enough! I need to win!' Haia burst out of the rubble and rushed back into the fight, and Tanjiro took that chance to exhale fire and do the same. "Haagh!"

"Ugly people are still ugly no matter how hard you try!" Her sashes moved through the air with a vengeance, ready to splatter these two all over the street.

Haia swerved and avoided the sashes with an increasing grace. 'If I just cut them they'll grow back ready to attack me again, the best thing is dodge so she has to draw them back!' One of her fans was about to slice part of her back away but that's when another obi grew out and nearly cut her right in half. 'Shit!' Luckily being a demon meant that you could dodge in a way that would immediately snap a human spine. Haia curled backwards like Ryuji would and rolled into a stance to push back in. 'Make an opening for Tanjiro, we can beat her!'

Earlier in the Ogimoto house. Inosuke and Ami were standing over a hole that the boar slice open in the floorboard. "It's just like Monjiro and Dokkan said! The demon was using a tunnel! This leads to its lair!" He jumped in headfirst and got stuck. "Oh so I can only fit my head?"

"I don't even think I could fit my head. Damn!" Ami wouldn't fit in that even if she could dislocate her whole body… luckily.

"I'm Lord Inosuke! A man who can dislocate all his joints! If my head fits, nowhere is off limits!" With hard pops and loud cracks, Inosuke slinked into the hole and started slithering through the dark tunnels of earth.

All Ami could do was try her best to follow along with her friend using her good old sense of feminine intuition. "I'll be right behind you, Inosuke!" She ran down the hallway and everything told her to use her brute strength for this next part. 'Through here!' She slammed through the walls of Ogimoto house and into a back street, then started running in a random direction. "There's gotta be some way to figure out where Inosuke went!"

While Ami had that issue to deal with, Inosuke just burst into a giant chamber with pink sashes all over the place. "What the hell is this?" There were people sewn into the sashes. A woman with yellowish hair that faded to black. A woman with black hair. Some other women dressed like he and Ami were. He landed and popped his joints back into place. "Some sort of cloth with human patterns? What is this place?" A quick look around showed human bones on the ground. "No, this isn't just design, those are real humans. This thing takes them out to eat when it wants. Brutal."

And there was the blonde idiot trapped in some of this cloth. "What's he doing here?"

"No, what are you doing here? Barging into someone else's food locker!" The cloth started wriggling around and it formed a creepy face with fat lips. "So dirty. How dirty you are! Smelly too, damn stink bug!"

"What did you say you worm?! You're the gross one!" It rushed him and he danced around while delivering his serrated slashes. "Wriggle, wriggle!" He jumped up and slashed the worm belt up like nothing. "Wriggle, wriggle!" A leap into a split slash. He was showing this gross thing who the boss was! "You're really grossing me out worm cloth! Look at how slow you are! Got greedy and swallowed too many humans!"

Each of his slashes was freeing more and more humans. He was dancing in his own feral way to deliver attack after attack. Crazy alive after crazy slice. And the worm thing wasn't even coming close. "Sluggish attacks like this would never land on lord Inosuke!"

'Damn it. He managed to slice me without touching any humans! After all that trouble to store fresh food!' She watched him perform a weird angled downwards slash with his swords, cutting more people free. 'His intuition is razor sharp. Especially his ability to detect murderous intent!' More of her crept towards him and struck at high speeds but he dodged and countered with more crazy cuts that diced her up more. 'He can perceive attacks from any direction and dodge them! I never expected a Demon Slayer to get into the food locker. What should I do?'

'Capture him alive.' Hm? Her progenitor was speaking. 'That's the one who got in my way when I was capturing Makio. He was beautiful. Other than the ten most beautiful, kill the humans you've stored. Although it might prove harder to capture them alive than to merely kill them. Devour some of the ones there to strengthen your body.'

"Hraagh!" Inosuke's feral yell was the only warning for the obi to… get hit? 'It softened? I can't cut it cause it's bending?' She went for his neck but he back flipped and kicked his swords after him. Perfect landing of course. "Kedamono no kokyu, roku no kiba… Ranguigami!" (Palisade Bite). He leapt up with his swords in a pincer, ready to do something.

"It won't do you any good to slash me, I'm not the main body." His swords stopped against its… neck? And he listened to what she had to say. "Even ignoring that. You're leaving the humans you saved in the lurch. Is that what you want?" He looked and reminded himself of the people he cut free. "Whatever you do to me, I can get it back quickly." More of the cloth extended towards those people.

'Crap! I have to fight it and protect those humans!' He took off as fast as he could. "Damn it! I can't keep up! You damn worm belt!" Weird knives pinned the cloth down and Inosuke turned around.

"That's a great name! 'Worm belt' I like it!" That yellow haired woman was there and the dark haired one too.

"It really is gross. You're absolutely right! I'm so going to tell Lord Tengen on you!" The two started dancing through the sashes and slashing with those knives.

"We're gonna give you a hand, so keep it up and fight the good fight, boar head!" One of them was way more aggressive and keeping her word… one of them.

"Who are you two?!"

The cowardly one answered while giving weak slashes and pitiful dodges. "We're Uzui's wives. I'm not much of a fighter! Aah!" She ducked under the worm belt as emphasis. "So please don't get your hopes up!" The other woman punched her in the side.

"Suma! Quit being a wimp!"

"But! But! Makio! You know I'm a good for nothing! I got captured right away! It's too much to ask of me! I'm the most liable to die first here!"

The sash was smiling with its gross face. "How astute you really are, now then. Which of you should I eat first?"

Inosuke shook the familiarity of those bickering women off and kept up his attacks. Defending everyone he could from the wriggly cloth while figuring things out. "Damn it. That thing isn't even the main body! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Thunder Breathing…" Someone zipped by Inosuke and made him gasp from the speed. "First form… Thunderclap and Flash. Sixfold!" A pulse of lightning and Zenitsu blasted across the chamber fast as sound. He fell to the ground with such grace that you wouldn't know he was the usually cowardly one.

"Maybe you should always be asleep. I guess Jikon was right, you really can do more than you think."

The muscle mice were flexing and chanting their only word of, 'Muscle' to themselves. The mission of delivering Zenitsu's sword was complete.

Makio was slashing through the worm belt and watching the newcomer. "Is that kid a demon slayer too? Why's he dressed like an idiot?"

Suma popped in. "I have no idea!"

The obi watched Zenitsu the closest. 'Who is that? Such blistering speed! But that's not all. I swear I just heard two sounds. A noise like overlapping thunder, creating two sounds at once. One was that boy, but the other…' She turned around and saw earth falling from above. "Came from the surface?!"

The ceiling caved in and everyone turned their attention to the sudden wind flowing in. 'That wind! What could you have done from the surface to bring wind down here?!'

Someone- No. Two someo- No… THREE! Golden edged swords that faded to a dark grey back. A blue sword with darker blue away from the edge. A spinning flail connecting to a chain that was slowly morphing into a greyish pink.

'This presence!' Her creepy eyes immediately saw two men with golden buttons! 'Hashira!' Her thoughts were put to a sudden stop when all three of them moved. So many slashes at speeds she couldn't even begin to follow, water coursing with one of them but that was the only one that stuck out immediately. The fastest one was the massive man and next was the younger one with the water attacks. Tengen and Jikon were behind their combined handiwork without too much work being thrown in, and then the finisher was landed.

"Finally got to do this to ya! Creepy worm belt!" A pinkish gray flail crashed into the face of the sash and blew it off from sheer force. The impact caused all the myriad slices to make the obi fall apart like dust in the wind.

"Lord Tengen…" Makio said while Suma made some noise of excitement.

"Makio. Suma. Sorry we took so long." He turned and flashed that great smile at the both of them. "It's great to see you both looking good."

'He wasn't like this before. The thought of death never bothered me, since I was trained for it. Especially as a kunoichi since I could never hope to match a male shinobi in strength. Fighting and dying was something I could think to do with minimal effort.'

Such a vicious lifestyle but it was the first one she knew. Tengen especially was a part of this lifestyle and valued a mission above all. At least that's what he was supposed to value first. Even thinking back to when they were first married, he wanted them to value their own lives first. Top priority being to come back alive, instead of focusing solely on the mission. Even as Demon Slayers, he wanted them to focus on living first. Then came the normal people, and lastly him. He wasn't their top importance and neither were the people they had to protect. Maybe that's why he was such a great husband.

"I see you've all been doing flashy work. You're my wives all right." He gave them both a pat on the head. And started walking off to assess the situation.

"Tengen. This is the same sash that-" Suma started crying and it made both her husband and the young Hashira stare at her wide eyed. Oh no, Makio was doing it too. But that's what Tengen loved about her, she was passionate in her own way.

"Yeah! I see! That's the same sash that had Hinatsuru! Okay!" He started doing some very flashy moves with his blades and finished with them both by his head. "Starting now is when things are going to get really flashy!"

(I think Tengen Uzui means right freaking now!)

It All Comes Crashing Down

The obi was clashing against Tanjiro's sword and Haia's fans. The material was tricky to understand! 'Sometimes it's really hard, but sometimes it turns soft and then hard against us!' Tanjiro's assessment was helping him rationalize what was going on. Slowly but surely.

Haia wasn't taking the time to think about this. Her bladed fans were used solely to work on defending Tanjiro as best as she could! 'My tessenjutsu isn't half bad but this isn't something I've ever fought against!' Pushing her already limited strength against this woman was making her head spin! Part of her forehead was itchy and burning hot but she couldn't focus on that.

"You ugly pieces of trash!" The obi destroyed parts of buildings in its pathway to them but they attacked hard and true to deflect its strikes. Tanjiro was open but he jumped up and avoided a smashing attack that would've put him in really bad shape. An obi went into Daki's back while she was in the air and it absorbed into her skin.

'Huh?' Not even much time to think about that since more of them crashed for the optimistic pair like angry boars. The street was being torn apart and they were deflecting the hard yet soft fabrics as they came. More and more were slamming into the demon and absorbing into her body. 'What is that? The belts are entering her body? No. They must've split off and they're going back inside her!' Tanjiro jumped back and Haia took his place immediately.

The girl gave him an opening to catch his breath and she was about to use her fan to bash this girl's face in! In the time it took her to swing- "She's gone!"

Not exactly. A nearby rooftop had the female demon changing. Her hair turning from black to white with green tips… Like an evil leek.

"Hashira! Two Hashira here! That will certainly please my Master!" Haia and Tanjiro could sense the change in power, if the show in increased speed wasn't enough that is.

"She's transformed. She's even stronger now. But she just said two Hashira are here."

Haia picked up what he was putting down. "That means The others are all together, and they must've found where Tengen's wives were."

"But her scent. It's so ominous it's making my throat burn…"

Some background character came outside yelling. "You need to shut up! What's up with that sword? You have a lot of nerve brawling in front of my house!"

His sword! Oh great. 'Not good. We were fighting too loudly! Now people are getting drawn to us!'

"I'll have you know that this Hanamachi is visible because we follow the rules. People like you aren't welcome here. Now get the hell out of my sight."

Daki took the most offense to that. She was the one having a little fun against these two, and this ugly idiot wanted to interrupt… "Why don't you shut your trap?"

Tanjiro smelled the increase in killer intent. "Don't do it! Don't come this way! Please get back!" Haia pushed the man back but it was too late. The obi struck even harder than ever before. Buildings were demolished and people were cut down like blades of grass. Even Tanjiro had a slice down his chest and Haia was missing a hand.

"She…" The hand grew back and she snarled in a mix of anger and hunger from the blood around her. "She did that without even caring…" A horn started poking through her forehead, a small horn the same color as her skin.

People were crying out in pain, or anguish. Some were heavily injured, in horrific pain from the sudden and deep slashes they endured. Others were mourning those who were either lucky or unlucky enough to die from the attack itself or the aftermath of falling buildings. Either way, Tanjiro was pissed.

"You… come back here! I won't let you get away with this… not after that." She stopped walking away but now she wanted to taunt.

"What? You're still talking? That's enough ugly one. The repulsive have no reason to live. You can all just die together." That made him… livid. People were crying over the ones they cared about. So many just died from that attack alone. Not even mentioning the injured… This was unforgivable… inexcusable.

Blood vessels started bursting in Tanjiro's eyes and Haia… she was somehow just as tall as he was? That horn came with some benefits it seemed. The two of them were beyond furious, and now they were going to make her pay.

Daki just decided to walk away and let them all rot in their new hell… then she was about to dash off- Until something grabbed her obi and another something grabbed her hair!

"I won't allow you… to have this kind of control over other people's lives!" Tanjiro swung his sword and nearly took her head off there, but her obi stopped his attack and cut her hair out of Haia's grip. So she only lost a leg from Haia in the exchange. "Those lives you take away, they can never come back! Those of just flesh and blood can't do what you demons do. So why would you trample over them?"

Daki held her head and swore that those words meant something… 'I've heard them before but…' Realization flashed into her mind.

"What do you find so entertaining? What's so amusing about this?"

There was a figure standing behind that ugly brat now but… he was menacing beyond comprehension.

"What do you take life for, exactly?"

'Who… Is that? I don't know.'

Haia was crying tears of blue fluid from her furious green eyes, just as furious as Tanjiro. "You just don't get it do you?"

"How can you forget?"

'This isn't me. I didn't live through this. They aren't my memories… The cells! They're Master Muzan's!' Now there was a vision of a man running at her with a bright red blade drawn. 'The memories of the cells…' Now things were back in the present and she watched the girl make new fans, but now they looked harder, better, stronger. What were these two planning?

Tengen was looking around the chamber and at the large hole he blasted through the ceiling.

"Hey you! That worm belt thing escaped through that hole!"

"Shut your mouth! It's only because of my interference that everyone who was trapped got saved so easily!" His already giant form turned even more giant to Inosuke. "You should be bowing down and praising me! We can discuss that other thing later! Right now is my glory!"

Makio cut him off before he could go any further in whatever that was. "Lord Tengen! You have to go after it, or there's going to be more carnage!"

"Don't worry about us! Just go!"

Inosuke and Ami were flung through the ceiling hole and Zenitsu was tossed right after them. Tengen jumped up with a wild smile on his face and Jikon jumped up with a serious expression. "We're giving chase everyone! Follow me! To victory!" A mad dash across the rooftops, Tengen was crazy fast when it came to a sprint. It was like he had six legs! "Stand aside! Lord Tengen is coming through!"

"What is it?"

Tanjiro was much more calm now. "You were a human once. You must've shed tears, or gone through your own suffering."

Daki slammed a fist into the roof. "You really really are annoying. Rambling on about nothing! I don't care about any of that! We beautiful demons get to do what we do please!"

Haia growled at her and unfurled her new fans. "Okay, you won't be so pretty when we're done with you!" She and Tanjiro exploded towards her.

"Kekkijutsu: Yae Obigiri!" (Eight Layered Obi Slash). Later on layer of her obi stacked on top of one another, forming into a web of pink fabrics that surrounded Haia and Tanjiro in their sprint. 'How will you block this? You can't because you're idiots! This interweaving attack leaves you with nowhere to run! The parts of my body that were split off to control this Hanamachi… now that I'm whole my speed is in a class of its own!' The interweaving sashes we're getting closer and closer to them. 'You were both barely holding up against my non blood demon art attacks. Now you've got no chance in hell! It's all over. Goodbye! I'll cut you both up, dull sword, stupid fans, and all!' Tanjiro raised his sword against the obi. 'Then I'll make my way to the Hashira-' His sword cut right through.

'Hi no kokyu: Shakkotsu En'yō.' (Bone Burning Sun). A spiraling whirlwind of fire and slashes cut through her obi and hurt her so badly. Then Haia struck with her tear laced fans.

Rapid and powerful slashes from her sharp tessen deflected the few obi that tried to take advantage of Tanjiro's limited injuries. "Kekkijutsu: Yūgana Namida, Itami." (Graceful Tears, Pain). That was new. She never used whatever that was before, only one way to find out what it did. She stopped deflecting and started slashing, ripping and tearing into each obi that came her way with violent enthusiasm.

Daki felt the effects of both that fire and the water and it was a new level of pain! 'That fire! It's burning my wounds, I can't heal as fast where he sliced, but those tears of hers! It's forcing me to heal and expend energy!' She was over-regenerating because of Haia's influence, and she had to willfully stop it before her obi went out of control and grew too long for this fight. 'Damn it! These two are annoying!'

One of her belts was just sliced in half by Tanjiro's sword, and now she could only wonder how he was able to slice them at all. 'I increased their durability! He was barely able to cut them without nicking his sword before, but now he's going right through them!' A flurry of pink belts and fire coated slashes with tear laced assaults mixed in. The two had some decent synergy to pull off a rush like this. Tanjiro was faster than before. Haia was faster than before. Together they'd overwhelm her!

She leapt away and they went right after her. It wasn't anything at all to dodge her attacks and land a blow against her neck! 'Soft… She turned her neck into soft fabric, blunting my attack.'

"You ugly brat!" Haia was there and almost gave his sword a backup hit to rip through her neck but she jumped away like a coward and sent thirteen more sashes to them.

'So many, if I dodge they'll wreak more havoc. But for some reason they're so slow.' He and Haia kept up their attack rushes, parrying and slicing the belts as they came. Their speed was matching, maybe surpassing that of the belts as they approached.

"It was a fluke! Making contact with my neck was just a fluke!" They didn't rise to her provocations, they were going to let actions speak louder than words. Haia knocked the last of a series of sashes to the side and slammed her fans into them, pinning them against the roof.

"Go, Tanjiro."

"I see your plan!" The sashes tightened and only got more and more tension with each second. "You think you can keep them tight so he can slash them? But I can let them loose when I want!" Haia lost her grip and the sashes started to bend. "He can't clear this distance in-" She should honestly shut her mouth.

Tanjiro was gone in a blazing dash and with so many consecutive sword slashes he ripped through the sashes faster than Daki could process. "Huh?"

'Simple. I just have to swing faster than they can bend. If I do that, I can slash her.' His body froze before he could land the attack and he collapsed in a coughing fit. He was pushed way too far way too fast!

"So pathetic you humans. No matter how hard you try that's the best you can-" A fan slammed into her temple and sent her flying off the roofto- No. It sent her flying into a kick that blew her head away!

"Shut the hell up."

Daki went flying across the roof and through power lines until she finally came to a stop. "You! It's you! The one he was talking about! Master Muzan talked about a demon who slipped out of his control, I thought it was you at first green eyes! But the description fits that girl more!"

Nezuko was there and she was growing like a mad dog. Her body was changing and shifting into something more. Her left eye gained black fissures around it. She was enraged over this girl bothering her brother!

"I'll enjoy torturing you both to death!" Haia and Nezuko jumped towards her but Nezuko lost her leg and started getting chopped in half by a sash before Haia sliced it in half. "Kicking is all she knows but those stupid fans are so irritating!" One of those stupid fans landed in Daki's eye and searing pain made all her senses go haywire.

"Cry more." Haia sent the whore flying away with a solid slam of her other tessen and even grabbed the other one as she went! A real taunt. Wait, where did Nezuko go? A glance showed her down in some rubble, barely recovering from her injuries. "She can't keep up in a fight like this, she doesn't have the strength." Haia jumped down and pulled some of the rubble away so the girl could at least get out. Then she stood up and had an entire leg… actually… she had an entire body. Her arm came back in a blast, then she bit through her bamboo muzzle? "I don't know what this is…" Vine markings started appearing on Nezuko's skin and a horn grew out of her forehead, the opposite side of where Haia's grew. Now the girl looked like she was an adult by all means. "But I like it."

Daki landed on the ground and marveled at how these two low class demons were actually overwhelming her like this! 'I'm the Sixth ranked here! They shouldn't be able to do this!' The air was different. Intimidating even. 'She changed too. This isn't right!'

Nezuko surged forwards with a powerful kick at the ready but Daki read the movement like an open book.

"A one trick pony aren't you?" Another fan slammed into her chest and this time she felt a different pain going into her body.

"Kekkijutsu: Yūgana Namida, Kekkai." (Graceful Tears, Clot). Her body froze up, even her sashes stopped moving. It was like a giant lock just got placed on her and the key was this fan… but despite it being right there… she couldn't even touch it!

Nezuko's other foot slammed into Daki's back and put her on the ground where she belonged. 'I don't get it! The leg I cut off… is in my back?' Nezuko raised her bloody foot up and looked down at Daki before slamming her foot into- Correct that. Through her arm. 'That makes your regeneration even greater than mine!'

Nezuko slammed her foot into another part of Daki's arm. Giving a beautiful scream. Then she decided to start kicking and stomping her with glee! The belts surged up and sliced the girl into pieces. Then Daki leapt back and sent even more belts to rip through her. "I'll slice you up and put you in my belt!" But Nezuko's severed hands grabbed onto those belts. "Wait… she grabbed them with severed hands? No… Her blood congealed!" Then things went from bad to worse. Nezuko's blood ignited on her skin and burned in bright pink flames. 'Fire! It's fire!' Daki screamed in terror and pain as Nezuko's body reconnected and she jumped up with a smile on her face, then slammed back down and kicked Daki's head in! Stomp after stomp of ferocious energy, she was out for blood now!

Haia was watching this with mixed feelings until she finally decided where she stood. Her own horned transformation giving the obvious choice. When Nezuko kicked Daki up and chased her, Haia sprung up and used her fans to beat her through a building! "Bitch…"

Nezuko was at the crash zone quicker and there she smelled something. A woman had a cut with blood leaking onto the floor… Nezuko was salivating and her jaw was biting the air over and over. Growls coming from her throat. Haia showed up and smelled it but she was getting more used to it. This smell was nothing to her. "Wait…" Nezuko lunged for the woman and Haia's quick instincts got her to use her fan to gag her. "Nezuko stop! She's a human!" The girl was fighting back hard. Haia's body was smaller, and compared to Nezuko… she was weaker right now. Tanjiro showed up and helped pin the girl down but it was only helping so much.

"Nezuko please! You have to tough it out! I'm sorry! I made you and Haia fight while I was unconscious. It's all my fault!" He was keeping her arms down while Haia focused on pulling her to the floor. This was a team effort! "I know it hurt! I know you suffered! But you have to go to sleep! Sleep and heal yourself!" Nezuko managed to flip herself onto all fours- Uh oh.

Next thing they knew they were a floor up and Tanjiro was lucky to be under his sister instead of on her back like Haia. Then things got even worse when belts ripped through the walls and showed a badly burnt Daki standing there. "So you have a blood demon art too? One that burns demons? It's taking me forever to heal too… this is so annoying to deal with!" Her sashes were lined and ready to strike.

'Damn it! I have to do something! We can't let go of Nezuko, but the attack is coming! If we were to let go right now then- We can't protect the people and deal with Nezuko!' The sashes blitzed ahead but they had a savior… they had two saviors.

In a flurry of swings with water trailing behind them, and the light rattling of chains. Uzui and Jikon were there. Uzui had his back to Daki and Jikon was facing her with his sword drawn.

"Hey, isn't this Nezuko Kamado?" His eyes went over her very new form. "I see she's become a very flashy demon."

"Mister Uzui!" His expression went dark.

"After all that boasting in front of the Master! What's this sorry state of hers?! The whole point was for her to not be a flashy demon!"

They still had another demon who was sort of flashy. "Hashira? Two of you. You both came right to me, that makes things even more- Wait a minute… I know you…"

Jikon was staring at the burn victim and he almost felt bad for her… then he saw her eyes and it went out the window. "I'm sorry but I don't know who you are, other than that rank I mean."

Her teeth started grinding together in anger. "Don't get so cocky just because you're the one I let get away… I'll never be able to forget your face, Hakuga!"

Tanjiro and Haia actually looked more interested in that than a thrashing Nezuko, and Uzui even raised a brow. Jikon himself was asking the right questions as he was known to do. "How do you know my name?!" He calmed himself down. Because he was in the way, Uzui didn't get to land a decisive hit like he wanted to off the bat. He had to keep calm and show exactly how much he's progressed in these four months as a Hashira.

"I could never forget you… we spent an entire night together all those years ago… You haven't even aged a day, and I don't regret not eating you. You might be one of the most beautiful men the world has known…"

And now even Nezuko calmed down in her struggle. Only slightly, maybe cause of the entire tone changing or because Haia put some of those clot tears into her. Who can really say?

"What?" Jikon's eyes were beady and black, while his face was stupefied.

"Don't act like you don't remember me! I can never forget that face of yours Jokan!"

…

"That's my dad's name… I'm Jikon."

It was hard to read her face but he swore she looked either angry or in disbelief. "Huh?" And that's when her head fell off her shoulders and into her hands.

Uzui was- Wow he's fast! He was behind her and coming back to squat in front of Tanjiro. "Hey! The battle's not over yet."

'He cut her head off! That was so fast!' Tanjiro's effort to hold his sister down wasn't as focused as it should be and-

"Tanjiro! Help! She's getting loose!' Oh right! Haia's words snapped him back into it and now he was actually working harder to restrict his sister's movements.

"Get your sister under control. Unflashy brats who get out of control don't belong on the battlefield. Sing to her or something." Nezuko decided to kick hard and send the three of them out the window. The closed window.

'My voice isn't getting through to her! Nothing's working!' Wait. What Uzui said! Tanjiro took the chance and started singing a lullaby that their mother sang. About a baby bunny. With red eyes. But not red from crying, but from red berries that turned those eyes red. Her brother had red eyes too… from her mother eating red fruit.

Nezuko broke out of their hold and started weeping hard. Her body shaking with each cry and tears streaming from her face. Then her body started shrinking until she was just a toddler.

"She's asleep… You did it." Haia's eyes were still leaking but not out of sadness. Whatever this form was it kept her eyes in a perpetual state of crying her, apparently varied tears.

"Mother… she's finally asleep! Wait, Mister Uzui! Jikon!"

Back in the building, Tengen was holding his swords over his shoulder. And Jikon was not sheathing his. "Where do you think you're going? You had the gall to behead me! I won't let you get away with this!"

"Are you still whining? I don't have any use for you, die an unflashy death already so I can find the real threat."

"I am a real threat! I'm the Sixth!"

Jikon cut her off. "The Sixth Eclipse. Nisshoku Roku, not Jōgen Roku. Also, how do you know my dad again?"

"Because he came here years ago and paid for a whole night! At first I was going to eat him but his technique was- Why am I telling you this?! You're just his brat! No way you have even a quarter of his skills in satisfying a beautiful woman like me!"

Jikon was petrified and Tengen was smiling. "Looks like your lineage is even more flashy than I thought! But seriously, you're beyond weak. And if the Eclipse is here then that means the real threat has to be around."

"I haven't lost yet!"

Tengen was really not humoring her. "You have lost, your head is cut off. It's totally obvious to even a baby. Did your brains fall out or something?"

All these insults and Jikon was too busy being in shock to notice the very important detail… other than the one he already noticed about her not turning to ash. The other detail that would've kept their guard up.

"I'm powerful too y'know! I might only be at Sixth now, but once I eat more humans even I-!"

"Don't care. Didn't ask." Tengen was merciless.

Then Daki did the unthinkable… she started crying. The noise brought Jikon back to reality and he noticed it with his sense of smell, and his mind out his senses at over a hundred percent once he realized it. "She's actually crying. Throwing a whole tantrum over this… That's pathetic."

"Tengen! It's not done! She isn't alone! We have to be ready!" Water started trailing the young Hashira's sword as his muscles tensed for the inevitable.

"He cut my head off! He cut my head off!" She was bashing her fists into the floor and Tengen took the warning half serious enough to bring his swords back down. "Big Brotheeeeerrrr!" Movement! Tengen and Jikon didn't hesitate once they saw something moving from her back!

Their swords were both aimed at the neck of whatever freak was trying to rear its ugly head!

An explosion of both sound and water and the two Hashira tore through an entire room just to hear more crying. "Tengen… That's him…"

The sound Hashira couldn't say he'd ever heard it in all his short interactions with the Hakuga… but now his finely tuned ears could attribute that tone with something primal. Jikon was afraid.

"Come on, there's no use in crying you know…" That voice sounded wrong. Like the person was riddled with illness and poor health. "Can't you even reattach your own head by yourself? You really aren't the sharpest tool in the shed are you?"

Tengen was staring at that guy who emerged from her back with nothing short of utmost caution. 'She didn't die after I cut her head off. And that one who came out of her back… Hakuga'a right. That's him… his reflexes are beyond belief!'

"Someone burned your face? You need to take better care of yourself." He ran a thumb along his crying sister's face and her burns healed. "You were born with such a pretty face after all." Tengen prepared his swords and leapt back into this with Jikon right by his side, and in that they saw this guy turn around and there it was in his eyes.

A slash across Tengen's forehead protector and into Jikon's hair. "Well well… you actually managed to stop my attacks. Even though I went right for the kill. Good for you, my man. Good for the both of you. Lucky you guys, lucky." Tengen and Jikon turned around, ignoring their damage to see a minor slash on this guy's left arm heal in a blink. "Those faces of yours… nice. Great skin too." Each time he talked he revealed sharp teeth to the Hashira duo.

He had black hair that faded into a disgusting green. He was so thin that it was almost funny, if it wasn't so disgusting. His ribs were showing and his body was just wrong.

"Not a blemish, birthmark, or scar on either of you. And you both have some supple flesh. I can't gain any weight myself. You're a tall guy yourself, easily over six feet tall. You aren't too far off, I'd say what, five-seven at least huh?"

"Five-seven and a half last I checked, but I'm only sixteen."

That wasn't supposed to be answered like that. He started scratching his eyebrow and chest with an unmatched anger. "Oh I envy the both of you, how I envy you both. Don't you both think you could just drop dead?" He started smiling with those razor teeth and scratching himself even more. "In the most painful, agonizing ways at that? Like being flailed until you don't have any more skin? Or having your bellies slit open until you just bleed out! And one more thing-"

"Big brother! There's more of them, and- And I want you to kill the one who burned me too! Promise me that! I've been doing my best! But they all ganged up on me and bullied me so bad!" God she just couldn't help but cry about things could she? Haia was right. Took cry more too literally.

This guy started scratching his chest with more fervor than he did when he was on that little rant about them dying. "So that's how it is my guys? My sweet little sister was doing her best with the little brains she had. And you all had the nerve to bully her?" The disgusting sickles in his hands looked like they were oozing with something that they didn't need touching them, especially if life was what they wanted. "Time to exact it then, that's my way after all. Eye for an eye, and payment for payment. I'll make sure you both spin round and round when you die. Because my name's Gyutaro!" He flung those sickles and with a powerful deflection, Uzui sent them flying away.

The sickles crashed through the roof and flew through the air in Tanjiro's sight. "What are those? They're… sickles! What's going on in there? I smell blood, and those sickles are a demon's!"

Haia stood up with her fans in hand, and her feet completely bare. Her footwear was lost when Nezuko threw them out a window! "Coming through! Coming through!" Inosuke, Ami, and Zenitsu! They had backup now!

"Inosuke! Zenitsu! Ami! You have to help Jikon and mister Uzui!"

They came to a skidding stop and Inosuke was doing his best to be flashy too. "You can count on me for that, Lord Inosuke's gonna take it from here!"

"The Bear Queen will stop any demon who thinks it's tough in its tracks! Make way for us!"

Haia took a slow but meaningful step towards the building. "No… No that can't be right…"

Tanjiro carried his sister away. "I have to get Nezuko back into her box, please help the others!"

Back in the building, Jikon and Tengen were standing in front of some civilians as the smoke cleared. Gyutaro was surprised at the both of them. "How envious I am… You're both such good looking guys. Protecting those humans… Looking good and showing off… I bet you're a real set of heroes to them, aren't you? Their affection and gratitude probably doesn't have a limit, huh?"

"Well yeah. I'm a flamboyant ladies man with three wives, after all. Even Hakuga here has a girlfriend that I'd say is quite a catch."

Jikon's eyes went bloodshot. That was a need to know! "How do you know about that?! That's private information!"

"I was a shinobi. Gathering information is a skill I honed. Much less something that base. Hm?" He heard something that didn't quite sound right. But it was getting overshadowed by the scratching of Gyutaro's skin.

"Did you just say you have three wives? And even that kid has a girlfriend?! Are you freaking kidding me?! AAGH! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!" Blood leaked from his hands to those sickles and he launched his attack! 'Kekkijutsu: Tobi Chigama!" (Flying Blood Sickles). Multiple curved projectiles made of dripping blood flew into the air, towards the Hashira.

'Slashes of blood like thin blades!' Tengen reached into a pocket and pulled out a number of small objects. 'With so many, I can't handle them all while protecting these people!' He threw the balls onto the floor and watched as the explosion knocked back the real Upper Rank Six.

Down on the first floor, Jikon and Tengen managed to get those people out of the way and told them to run to safety as fast as possible. "You're not getting away that easy… Bend. Flying Blood Sickles." The blades converged and flew through the air to assail the Hashira.

Their swords clashed with each blood blade and they continued the defensive motions to keep safe against what was going on. Tengen already formed a plan of action for this and Jikon inadvertently gave him a bigger opportunity.

Countless slashes that moved so fast that it took a moment for the attacks to even manifest damage against the walls, and even the floor of the building. Jikon deflected the blood blades with the pinnacle defensive technique he knew. "Juichi no kata: Nagi..." (Eleventh Form: Lull).

Tengen took the chance and flung even more of those explosives into the air, then with some very flashy moves he sent them flying up to the second floor. Right in front of Gyutaro's face. The explosion was massive and it knocked part of the building away entirely.

"Tengen… you did know that nobody was in the building right?"

"Of course I did. But our problem is these sibling demons. It's not going to be any walk in the park dealing with them, we already got tapped once by that malformed one's kama." Even with that less than hopeful deduction, Uzui was still smiling that handsome smile.

Jikon watched as the barrier of obi came down and revealed the two siblings, unharmed from the explosion. Then he turned around for a second and saw Inosuke and Zenitsu being held to the ground by Ami, the rubble of the explosion was actually dangerous after all. But Haia… she was standing there with this weird look on her face. It was like she saw a ghost.

"See… the thing about us… is that we're really two people in one." Gyutaro's sister was comfortably on his back in the building wreckage, well… more bombs wouldn't hurt.

"Me encanta un grande fuego. But I'm not here to enjoy fireworks."

That voice! Jikon could never forget it! He looked around but he didn't see her anywhere! Fuck! Fuck, where is she?! "Huh? Who the hell is that?" The weird and distorted voice of the Upper Rank called out a dark figure standing in the wreckage of the building with him and his sister, just off to their right. "You couldn't have been in that attack just now my man… You'd have been blown right away…"

Haia's shock grew. "It can't be…"

Tengen darted his eyes to the hooded figure in the dark and saw them slowly drawing a sword. "Another Demon Slayer? No… I didn't hear anyone else in the building."

"Tsuki no kokyu."

Jikon's eyes widened once he heard that voice. There wasn't any mistake. He'd heard it most of his fucking life! "The Moon-!"

"Something about moons? Big brother, kill whoever that is so we can make these ugly weaklings pay for what they did!"

"Ichi no kata."

Gyutaro was starting to sense some danger here, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. "I don't know who you are my man… but since you're putting a hand on that sword, it means you're after a-" And that's when things went from worse, to absolute bedlam.

"Yamidzuki. Yoi no Miya."

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER