In the safe house Kagaya had organised, Kiriya and his four Sisters sat in a room. The black-haired boy wore his Father's Haori and all five of them had Yushiro's 'Eyes' tied to their heads. The children looked shocked. "Master, what is this? What are we seeing?" Kuina, one of the younger girls of the Quintuplets asked in shock and confusion. "I don't know," Kirya replied, as the crows flew around the massive and constantly shifting area. The boy shook himself out of it, "first, we need to find the Hashira and Lord Tanjuro. Kuina, Kanata, I want you to do that. Hinaki, Nichika, start mapping the area with the help of the Kasugai crows. I will try to locate Kibutsuji and the remaining Upper Ranks" the 7-year-old ordered.
"Yes Master" his four Sisters said in unison. Kiriya kept searching with his own crow, 'we must locate everyone quickly, so that we can reco-ordinate' he thought determinedly. In the next room sat all of Tanjuro's children, all waiting anxiously for the battle to end. The Shinazugawa children and Haruka looked over at their Kamado Siblings. All of them were kneeling around Kie's Futon, where she groaned and panted as the Demon cure slowly changed her back into a human again. Tanjiro, Nezuko and Sanemi had been all but forcefully brought here, despite all of the training they had done. "Why are we still here, when both Dad and Mom are out there fighting those monsters?!" the Shinazugawa boy seethed. "Calm down Sanemi. Father knew we weren't strong enough to contribute to a battle like this, that's why he sent us here, to protect the rest of our families. "We're Demon Slayers too! We have every right to be out there fighting to end this! Otherwise what was all that training for?!" Sanemi demanded, punching the wall. "I became a Demon Slayer to protect my Siblings when Dad couldn't be there. Didn't you become one for the same reason Brother?" Nezuko asked calmly.
The 12-year-old growled, clenching his eyes shut, "I just hate being so helpless! Genya and I made a promise that we would protect our family! How can we do that if we're not allowed to fight?!" Sanemi cried in frustration. Genya walked over and gently took his Older Brother's hand, carefully unclenching his fingers, "By doing what we've always done. Keep them safe 'Nemi. No matter what, that's what matters most, isn't it? That our family is safe?" the mohawked boy asked. Sanemi took a deep, shaky breath, before relaxing, "yes, you're right. I apologise everyone. I'm just so worried" he replied, struggling to hold back tears despite the burning in his eyes.
"Are you okay big Brother?" Hanako asked, as Sanemi smiled at her, "yeah, I'm okay. I just needed to let off some steam" he replied. Rokuta, who had been clinging to Kie's Kimono began to cry, "Mama!" he sobbed. "Hey, it's okay Rokuta, we're all here. Mommy will be fine, okay?" Hanako asked, rubbing the Toddler's back. Shigeru clenched his fists, "hey, do you guys really think this will work? I mean, no one has ever returned to being human again after being turned into a Demon, right? What if the cure doesn't work and Mom doesn't go back to being human again?" he asked nervously. "It will work. Miss Tamayo is Dad's friend, and she promised this cure would make Mom human again. I trust Dad" Takeo replied.
Genya looked up at the ceiling, "I really hope Mom and Dad will win. What if they don't come back?" he asked worriedly. "Dad will win. He will beat that monster. He will because he has to. For everyone"
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Tanjuro, Shizu and Yukito ran and leapt through the strange endless building they now found themselves in. One moment they had been fighting Muzan, and the next they were falling through the air into this place. The three of them had landed easily enough, even with suffering a few broken bones during the fall. Now they were trying to find the others to regroup. 'This place is crawling with low-level Demons. I can feel them seething all over the place, like waves. The Hashira can take care of the easily, but what about Muzan and the remaining Upper Rank Demons? It would be better to regroup and work on finding the enemy Demons from there' Tanjuro thought to himself.
Suddenly a massive black object smashed through a wall, barely missing them. Shizu yelped, but Tanjuro held out his arm to calm her, "don't worry, they're friendly" he said. "Hey Tanjuro! Been a while! Good ta' see ya' Demon King!" Tengan Uzui called with a wave from the now open corridor where there had been a wall. The two Hashira jumped down to meet them. "I thought I heard all of ya! Good to see you're with us!" the former Sound Hashira proclaimed with a grin. "Good to see you two. Glad you survived the fall into this place alive" Tanjuro replied with a serious look on his face, as he looked at the constantly moving building.
He turned to Hakuji, "is there any pattern to this place Hakuji? Anything we can take advantage of while navigating?" Tanjuro asked. The black-haired Demon shook his head, "unfortunately not. The Infinity Castle is always changing and moving, there are no static landmarks to track. The only static thing about this place is the Biwa Demon who controls it, Nakime. She is stuck in the centre of the Castle, and can't move from that spot. Nakime controls everything here, and can even spit us out if she wants to. If that happens, we could never get back in, since this place is in another dimension" Hakuji explained.
Tanjuro blew out a breath, trying to think, "you said Nakime can't move, right? What happens if we kill her first?" he asked. "Then this whole place would collapse, and take us with it. Unless she spits everyone out before it collapses, but she wouldn't want to do that, as there is a greater chance of the humans surviving if she did. Nakime is 100% loyal to Muzan, has been ever since he found out about her Blood Demon Art, and took her to use it as a base. You can't convince her to join you either Lord Tanjuro" Hakuji explained.
Tanjuro nodded in understanding, before looking around them, "well, the first thing we need to do is find the others, then we can take care of the remaining Upper Rank Demons and head for Muzan" he decided. His Demons nodded. "Should I scout ahead Lord Tanjuro?" Yukito asked. "No. This place is too unpredictable. We could get separated, and we do not want that, no matter what. We need to stick together. Hakuji, can you track the others?" the Demon King asked. The former Upper Rank 3 activated his compass, which switched between Tanjuro and pointing off into the Castle.
"Doesn't look like it. My Compass Needle hones in on the strongest opponents. I can make it point towards other strong people if I want, but this place is so saturated by Demonic signatures, that the only distinct fighting spirits I can pick up are you and Muzan" Hakuji explained, his Blood Demon Art fading away. "Well, searching the old-fashioned way it is then" Tanjuro said, about to leap away. "Lord Tanjuro, look!" Ume called, pointing at something in the distance. Tanjuro looked to see what the Demon girl had noticed. A single Crow, flying through the Infinity Castle, with a very familiar paper and symbol around it's neck.
"That's one of Yushiro's Eyes. Is he searching for everyone?" Tanjuro wondered. As the bird flew closer, Tanjuro held out his arm for it to land on. "Master Kiriya has been searching for everyone, alongside his Sister's! Follow me! Follow me to find the others!" the Crow cried. "Well, that's good news!" Shizu said happily. The group started moving, before the floor and walls began to move again, walls springing up between him and his Demons, and the floor moving him around. "Damn it! Nakime is trying to separate us!" Hakuji snarled, punching through a few walls.
Suddenly another wall slammed into Tanjuro's side, who protected the Kasugai Crow with his body. "Lord Tanjuro!" Sayuri cried. "Find the others! I'll be okay!" The Kamado Demon called as he was pushed into a hole in the wall, only to fall down into darkness once the wall had stopped pushing him. Turning onto his back, Tanjuro protected the bird from being crushed to death. Finally he fell out into a room. As he hit the ground, the Demon released the Crow, who, while ruffled, was still alive. "Are you okay?" Tanjuro asked it.
"Tanjuro, is that you?!" a familiar voice called, as he saw Gyomei and Tengan run up to him. "Yes, it's me. Unfortunately I got separated from my Demons. Are either of you hurt?" Tanjuro asked. Both men shook their heads, "thankfully not. That wouldn't be very flashy after all!" the former Sound Hashira replied. "We should try to find the others. That's what we were doing before the floor opened up and dropped us here. Unfortunately the constantly shifting nature of this place is confusing my senses" Gyomei explained. "I can hear lot's of things in here, too many. It's giving me a headache. It's like this place never ends" Tengan added with a huff of annoyance.
"Judging by the name, it might not" Tanjuro replied off-handedly, beginning to look around, before he froze as a powerful Demonic energy washed over his senses. "Fuck that's strong. Stronger than Gyutaro" Tengan said, looking around, "it's like it's coming from everywhere at once" he said. Tanjuro began to growl. This had to be either Upper 2 or 1. But it wasn't getting colder, like Hakuji had described Douma doing whenever he appeared. So it had to be-
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Nichika shuddered as she saw who had just walked up to Tanjuro and his group. "Master. Lord Tanjuro, Hakuji and Sayuri have been separated, and Tengan and Gyomei have met up with him. However, the three of them have just encountered, Upper Rank 1: Kokushibo" the white-haired girl reported. Kiriya clenched his fists around the fabric of his Father's Haori. This was bad. For them to have already run into the second strongest Demon was historically bad luck. "Are there any other Hashira nearby to give them back-up? Or any of Tanjuro's other Demons?" Kiriya asked.
"No Sir. They are alone in this" Nichika replied solemnly and warily. The Ubuyashiki children could only watch with roiling nerves as the two groups prepared to face each other.