A/N: Wow it has been a while since I touched this story. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to disappear like that but 2020 really kicked my ass. I got a new job that ate up (and still does eat up) a lot of my time which is a good thing; however, I also lost my dog and my mother had a brain aneurysm so she was hospitalized for several weeks. She is okay now thankfully but the stress was so immense that I got gout and other illnesses. I have finally recovered from all of that and am trying to get back into writing so I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. I also want to thank everyone who left a review; your words are very kind!
Tanjiro was absolutely baffled by the scene before him. Here was a boy, with lightning blond hair, accosting a young woman. Said woman was visibly uncomfortable and actively trying to shove the boy off of herself. Despite this, the young man would not take the hint to leave her alone. Instead he kept screaming at her to marry him before he suffered some horrible death.
The fact that the boy would not leave the poor woman alone was perplexing enough to Tanjiro but even more confusing was that the boy had a sword hanging off his belt. Additionally the boy's pants appeared to match Tanjiro's own and so Tanjiro deduced that this boy was a demon slayer. In fact, he believed he recognized the blond from final selection. If that were the case, why was this kid such a sniffling mess? Before he could ponder this question any further, a small sparrow flew up to him and began chirping frantically. While most people in the vicinity could not understand the small bird, including Nezuko and Susamaru, Tanjiro got the bird's message clearly and he agreed to stop the boy from further embarrassing himself and the Demon Slayer Corp.
With the resolve to end the strange situation, Tanjiro marched over to the blond boy and quickly pulled him off of the young woman. He then proceeded to reprimand him for his shameful behavior. Inside the basket he was carrying, Susamaru was also processing the situation. She was surprised such a kind kid as Tanjiro had more than enough backbone to confront someone behaving as pathetically as the person she could hear crying. She then heard Tanjiro walk over to the woman so he could apologize on behalf of the crazy runt. That was the Tanjiro she was more familiar with. She was curious how he managed to be so nice while also being stern and strong enough to be a demon slayer. She anticipated that their journey together would prove insightful.
Unfortunately for Susamaru's ears, the young boy near them began to shriek again as he asked Tanjiro not to get in his way. He claimed the young woman was in love with him which did not go over well with her as she proceeded to mercilessly slap him. Tanjiro froze from shock as she began smacking the other slayer so hard that his face was left with red hand prints. Susamaru couldn't help but start giggling from hearing the slaps. She tried to cover her mouth since she assumed laughing luggage would have been rather strange to those around Tanjiro but a few giggles still escaped. Luckily everyone else who would have noticed her was rather preoccupied at the moment.
After letting the young woman wail on the blond slayer for a minute, Tanjiro finally shook himself from his shock and hoisted her off of the kid. After that she and the boy bickered for a short while and then she stormed off while the boy continued to weakly beg her to return.
"Would you give it a rest already…" Tanjiro said exasperatedly.
"W-why did you have to get in my way?" the other boy asked.
Tanjiro could only stare at the boy as if he were some pitiful creature. The boy noticed this and began crying and shrieking once more. Susamaru was already wishing she could tear this particular human apart… not a great start to her turning over a new leaf. As the other slayer began begging Tanjiro to protect him, Tanjiro took that moment to introduce himself and the other slayer did the same. His name was Zenitsu, a name Susamaru didn't want to commit to memory. She was hoping Tanjiro would just move on so her ears could get a rest from Zenitsu's constant screaming. Unfortunately for her, that would not be the case. Both her and Tanjiro were completely stumped as to how this coward could be a demon slayer and the latter decided to ask Zenitsu why he even became a demon slayer in the first place… which ignited a new wave of shrieking from the young man.
Tanjiro couldn't help but ask if Zentisu was okay on the mental side of things. His pity had shifted towards concern as this kid clearly had some sort of issue going on with him. Once the other slayer had calmed down, the two began traveling towards their next mission together. It turned out they were both assigned to a nearby mansion where children were disappearing. On the way there Tanjiro offered Zenitsu his last bit of food to help the young man calm himself further.
"Thank you so much," Zenitsu said after accepting a rice ball from Tanjiro. He then noticed Tanjiro wasn't eating and when he discovered it was Tanjiro's last morsel of food. He split it so that both of them could eat together. Even this spineless young man was capable of being very kind and Susamaru was glad that he had at least some redeeming qualities… otherwise as soon as night fell she would be tempted to rip his throat out. Maybe now traveling alongside him wouldn't be as bad… she hoped. Tanjiro also thought that maybe the young man wasn't so bad and he began to strike up a conversation with him so that he could address Zenitsu's issues. As the spoke, Tanjiro revealed he could understand Zenitsu's sparrow which surprised the blond boy. He had no idea he was stressing his sparrow out because he couldn't understand him. He felt kind of bad for that.
Their conversation was interrupted by Tanjiro's crow who screeched at them to run towards their next mission. This caused Zenitsu to begin freaking out once more. He had never heard a bird speak and Susamaru felt a little validated at her own confusion when she discovered the same thing last night. Once Zenitsu calmed down again, the group began heading towards the mansion. Along the way Zenitsu came to startling realization; Tanjiro was carrying two demons on his back. He could hear the strange noises that emanated from their joints every time they twitched. Their bodies weren't like humans and he could tell the difference. He wanted to ask Tanjiro what the deal was but decided against it. Tanjiro was such a kind person and he could hear it in his voice. Zenitsu knew that there wasn't a single shred of malice in the young man's bones so he assumed Tanjiro had a good reason for carrying a couple demons around. Even if it made the blond extremely uncomfortable.
After a few hours of walking, the pair of slayers and their demon companions stumbled upon the house they were to investigate. Both knew they were in the right place. Tanjiro could smell the demons inside as well as blood and Zenitsu could hear the demons as well as a haunting drumming. Before either could advance, the two noticed a pair of small children huddled by a tree. They were shivering in fear. Tanjiro went over to them to find out what they were doing there and how he could help them. He discovered the demon he was after had abducted their brother and he promised to help save him.
"Hey Tanjiro…" Zenitsu said trying to regain his new friend's attention. "What is that sound? It's unnerving and never stops. It almost sounds like a… drum."
Tanjiro couldn't hear anything at first but Susamaru could. All of her sense except for pain were much sharper than the average human and while her nose wasn't as good as Tanjiro's her hearing was much better. She could also hear the inside of the house shifting with every drum beat. She concluded this must be some blood demon art. Tanjiro would likely have a difficult time inside the mansion and she resolved to assist him in the coming battle.
The drumming began to grow louder as Susamaru and Zenitsu listen for it. Eventually even Tanjiro and the children could hear it… right before a bloodied human flew out of the second story of the mansion. He fell to the ground with a horrific thump and the children nearby began shrieking. Zenitsu was frozen in fear and Susamaru covered her nose so that she wouldn't smell so much tempting blood. She was still new to being a demon that didn't devour people so the temptation was incredibly strong.
Tanjiro ran over to the wounded young man and cradled him in his arms. The boy barely managed to say a few sentences before he passed away. It almost brought tears to Tanjiro's eyes. Zenitsu was the one to break the silence that settled over the group by asking if he was the children's brother. Before he could get an answer though, a horrifying demonic shriek resounded from the mansion. Tanjiro glared at the mansion as he resolved to avenge the death of the man in his arms while the other humans nearby could only cower in fear.
After a few moments, everyone managed to compose themselves enough so that it could be revealed that the deceased man was no the children's brother. With that Tanjiro resolved to get to work on saving someone who could actually be saved.
"Alright Zenitsu, let's go!" Tanjiro declared… only to be met with Zenitsu's cowardice yet again. "Fine have it your way…" Tanjiro said as he resolved to face the demon alone… well not exactly alone… but with no human help. Terrified of Tanjiro's expression, his tone of voice and the thought of being left alone, Zenitsu changed his tune and immediately stated that he would go along with Tanjiro.
Now that he knew Zenitsu was going with him, Tanjiro decided to leave Nezuko's box with the two children. He placed it in the shade next to them and said it would protect them if they needed it. He also said for them to protect it in kind as it was more precious to him than his own life. Susamaru was touched by Tanjiro's bond with his sister even though she was a demon. He really was very different from all the other people she had encountered. This was just another sign to her that she had made the right choice deciding to follow him over Kibutsuji. For his part, Tanjiro also thought about leaving Susamaru there to help protect the kids and Nezuko; however, he decided against it. He wasn't sure about leaving a newly converted demon in the company of children and thought it best to bring her with him instead.
With who he was taking with him and who he was leaving outside settled, Tanjiro entered the mansion. Once inside, Zenitsu asked for reassurance that Tanjiro would protect him from the demons… only for Tanjiro to reveal that he had a broken leg and rib. Zenitsu did not take this news well and began balling his eyes out. Susamaru was also upset by this revelation. Why would Tanjiro choose to go into battle injured? That was just asking for death! She wanted to slap him for his lack of forethought and for not telling her that he was hurt that badly but she refrained as she still didn't want to reveal herself in front of Zenitsu. Instead her thoughts turned her new frustration towards Yahaba. That neat freak couldn't just go out peacfully like a normal decapitated demon. No! He had to try to take Tanjiro with him! What an asshole! She decided to brew on these thoughts in her basket while Tanjiro and Zenitsu had their conversation. Tanjiro was trying to calm Zenitsu down… but before he could succeed in that endeavor, the children from earlier appeared before them. They had heard weird noises coming from the box Tanjiro had left with them and got scared. Tanjiro understood their concerns but was still rather upset that they just left his baby sister alone outside.
Before their conversation could go further the entire house began to shake and then the rooms began changing all around them; separating Tanjiro from Zenitsu and one of the children. Tanjiro realized how scared this would make the little girl, whose name he discovered was Teruko, and attempted to comfort her. While he did so, Susamaru had heard how the rooms had shifted and it confirmed her suspicion that it must have been their adversary's blood demon art. She assumed the drumming was related to it. Before either could finish their comforting or thinking though, a large demon with drums protruding from his body appeared outside of the open door frame of the room. Tanjiro could smell that the demon before them had eaten a very large amount of people. Likely more than Susamaru had. This was going to be a very tough fight. With that in mind, Tanjiro drew his sword and asked Teruko to hide.
The demon before him was muttering about "prey" and "them" and other things Tanjiro didn't really care about. Instead of trying to figure out what the demon was saying, Tanjiro announced his presence and attempted to strike him down. Unfortunately, the demon slapped one of the drums on his body and the room rotated so that Tanjiro's attack was redirected. This blood demon art was more advanced than Susamaru had predicted. She didn't think he'd be able to rotate the rooms; however, Tanjiro had thought of it as a possibility. Susamaru was about to leap out of her basket to assist Tanjiro with this new development; however, before she could, a new person leapt into the room. A strange smelling human who wore a boar's head and proclaimed that he was going to defeat the demon so that he could become stronger.
"I am coming through!" the strange man declared.
Tanjiro was perplexed by what was occurring; however, he wasn't going to turn down a new ally if this man did indeed plan on killing this demon. Although… then man kept charging the demon in the exact same way even after a failed attempt similar to Tanjiro's. The boar-headed person also decided to step on Tanjiro to launch himself towards the demon once more so the Kamado family head was rather miffed. Worse yet, after the room shifted yet again, the new human stepped on Teruko to regain his footing and the man was cackling like a mad man the whole time! This pissed Tanjiro off and the young slayer decide to grab the weirdo and throw him off of Teruko. He then proceeded to lecture the man but said person was not listening. Instead the man commented on the way he had been thrown and then proceed to attack Tanjiro even though he was still holding Teruko. Tanjiro tried to reason with the man but to no avail.
Perhaps it was fortunate that the demon in the room also grew tired of their argument and began attacking them with his blood demon art. The room shifted and pressure waves began tearing holes through the floor and walls. Tanjiro payed close attention to the demon's movements and was starting to understand the pattern of his attacks. While he did so, the weird slayer was forced out of the room by the demon's assault. Shortly afterwards the rooms shifted once more and both the strange man and the demon were gone. Tanjiro thought this was odd given that the demon didn't strike any of his drums.
He pondered what this could mean before turning to Teruko to say everything was okay. They then proceed to explore the mansion once more… where Tanjiro discovered the corpse of another human. He was fortunately able to shield Teruko from seeing it; however, it still troubled his heart greatly. Susamaru, on the other hand, was being driven mad. As soon as they were transported to this part of the mansion she caught a whiff of blood that caused her to salivate more than any other she had ever smelled. It was marechi blood! She covered her mouth and nose and tried her best not to think about it. Unfortunately, Tanjiro also smelled it and was moving towards the scent so that he could help the human at the end of the trail. Susamaru wanted to tell him that was a bad idea but she was too preoccupied with stopping herself from leaping from the basket and following the scent herself…
Eventually Tanjiro and Teruko stumbled upon a boy in an orange kimono who held a drum in his hands exactly like the one the demon was using to control the house. The child was so scared that he was about to strike the drum to force the rooms to shift again before Teruko called out to him. It turned out that the young boy was Kiyoshi, Teruko's older brother. Tanjiro was relieved to find the boy still alive and mostly unharmed while Susamaru was trying her best to not burst out of her basket and rip into him. She managed to calm down a little after Tanjiro treated Kiyoshi's wounds and stop his bleeding. Without the strong scent of a fresh wound she was able to recompose herself somewhat but she was still very much uncomfortable with the situation. Said situation was not helped by the fact that Tanjiro became curious as to the meaning of marechi and his crow began to explain it; drawing further attention to the potentially delicious meal before her.
While Susamaru was struggling with her own conflicting desires, Tanjiro noticed that the drum demon was approaching their position. He quickly told Kiyoshi that he would have to leave him and his sister alone to confront the demon. He also wanted to leave Susamaru's basket with them so they would have some protection so he slid it off his back and placed it near them. Susamaru began panicking again and had to force her hands into her mouth to stop herself from reaching out of the basket. Tanjiro was about to head out of the room when he heard Susamaru's groans and struggles. The kids were also quite scared of whatever was moving within the basket and Tanjiro was confused as to what was going on. Before any of them could question what was going on, Susamaru managed to turn the basket onto its side and proceeded to roll towards the door and out of the room. As she did so, the demon peeked his head out from behind a doorway a couple of rooms away. Tanjiro knew there was no time to ask Susamaru what she was doing now so instead he told the children to change the room as he leapt out to join Susamaru in the room with the drum demon.
Once Tanjiro landed in the next room he drew his sword and the rooms shifted once again. The children were safe for now and it was just him and Susamaru in the room with the drum demon. Susamaru quickly sprung from her basket and tore her hands out of her mouth. She was panting and sweating profusely and Tanjiro was very confused by her condition.
"Susamaru! What's wrong?" Tanjiro asked.
"'What's wrong?' What do you mean 'what's wrong?!'" Susamaru exclaimed. "You almost left me with the most delicious smelling human I've ever seen and you expected me to NOT be freaking out! I can't even tell you how close I was to ripping him apart!"
"Oh no! I hadn't even thought about that!" Tanjiro explained. "I didn't even realize you might be tempted by rare blood. I'll make sure to remember that in the future!"
Susamaru sighed, "at least he's far away now so we can focus on this bastard in front of us."
"Right! Let's do this!"
Kyogai was confused by this development. What was a demon having a conversation with an insect? Why wasn't she trying to eat the boy? She instead wanted to fight him. How strange… Kyogai thought before deciding he didn't care. Instead he began to focus on attacking the two intruders. This was his house and no one was going to get in between him and his prey! With that he began drumming so that the room rotated and spun while he unleashed a series of air slashes at the duo.
Both Tanjiro and Susamaru quickly deciphered the drum demon's attack patterns; however, both of them were still recovering from their own fight and as such, they were having a difficult time keeping pace with the demon's strikes. Susamaru even attempted to throw her temari at him to no avail. She didn't have enough arm strength at present to throw them faster than the other demon could spin the room so all of her ranged attacks were deflected. Tanjiro was facing a different but related issue. He couldn't get solid footing because the room kept spinning so he couldn't use his best techniques and every time he got close enough the room would spin so that he would be pushed back once more. On top of that his broken rip and leg were aching fiercely. He wasn't sure if they would be able to prevail against this monster. Especially since he had to be the one to strike the final blow since Susamaru didn't have any weapons that could permanently kill the demon anyway. They were in a real bind.
Susamaru was also noticing how much pain her friend was in. He couldn't keep running from the demon like she could. While she was feeling weaker than usual, she still wasn't in any pain and thus could keep running for an extended period of time. Conversely, Tanjiro was close to his limit due to his broken leg. They had to come up with a plan before the drum demon overwhelmed them. Susamaru pondered for a moment. When she had been fighting Tanjiro for the first time she had been working with Yahaba. Before they started fighting the two had discussed their powers and she quickly realized how they could combine them for maximum effectiveness. She had to do the same with Tanjiro now, only this time she had to compensate for both of their weaknesses instead of their strengths. Suddenly she was struck with inspiration!
"Hey Tanjiro! I have an idea!" she shouted.
"I'm all ears!" Tanjiro replied as he dodged yet another strike from the drum demon.
Susamaru quickly jumped towards Tanjiro as he was still in the air and grabbed him. She then proceed to swing him around so that he was sitting on her back as she carried him. Tanjiro was surprised but immediately understood her plan. Since his leg was broken, he would use her legs! Since her arms didn't have enough strength to throw her temari, she would use his to slash at the drum demon! Now he didn't have to worry about stumbling or freezing up from the pain. With Susamaru's help he could get in close without worrying about being shredded to pieces.
"Hey you! What's your name?!" Tanjiro shouted at the drum demon who was very confused but informed him anyway.
"Kyogai! We won't yield to you! We won't let you devour that child! Fighting us is futile!" Tanjiro shouted as Susamaru prepared to propel the two of them forward. Before she could make her jump; however, something about Tanjiro's words deeply upset Kyogai apparently. He began furiously beating his drums so that the room was constantly spinning chaotically. Additionally the air slashes became much more numerous. The duo was almost continuously falling at this point and it was making Tanjiro dizzy; however, he didn't have to worry about falling. Susamaru was on top of keeping track of her feet and she wasn't getting dizzy at all. When there was even the slightest break in the rotation of the room she was able to make a landing.
"Wait! Susamaru! Don't step on those papers!" Tanjiro stated as he saw Susamaru attempt to land.
"Huh?!" Susamaru said as she did her best to follow Tanjiro's wishes. "Why are you worried about that?"
"Kyogai isn't shredding the papers on the floor no matter how he attacks. They must be precious to him so I want to respect that. Additionally with them there it gives us a point of reference for where his attacks won't come from," Tanjiro explained.
"Wow… you continue to surprise me Tanjiro. Alright, I'll be careful with the papers," Susamaru said as she stepped between the pages. She wouldn't have believed a human would show this much respect for a demon had she not experienced it from the boy herself. Yet even with that motivation, he also found a practical reason to back up his point. She was continuously impressed by him but she couldn't dwell on that now. She had some solid footing and she needed it to launch them close to Kyogai! She mustered all the strength in her legs and pushed off with immense speed. Tanjiro was grateful that he didn't have to push his legs for their attack and thus he focused on what kind of move he could make to defeat Kyogai.
Unfortunately, Tanjiro realized that Susamaru and him were not in sync enough for him to use her footing for his standard techniques. While she could get him in closer, he didn't have a way to accurately strike at Kyogai and as a result, the duo were quickly forced back once more. He had to think! What form could he use in conjuncture with Susamaru's movements. Luckily, Susamaru was noticing his trouble and was buying him time as he came up with a plan of attack. She kept dodging and running so that Tanjiro didn't have to worry about any of that as he thought.
Suddenly, Tanjiro remembered a form that he could use even if he didn't fully know Susamaru's movement patterns. If he used the ninth form then it didn't matter what footing he or she had at the time. With this in mind he told Susamaru to attack. It took her a bit of extra time as she was also trying not to step on Kyogai's papers as Tanjiro asked but she was finally able to launch at Kyogai once again. This time Tanjiro was prepared and twisted his body within Susamaru's grasp so that he could make the strike. Susamaru felt what he was doing and adjusted her grip on him to allow him greater movement. With the two of them finally finding a strategy that worked for their situation, they raced towards the drum demon faster than he could react.
"Ninth Form! Splashing Water Flow!" Tanjiro shouted. "Kyogai! Your blood demon art was incredible!" he said as he sliced the demon's head clean off.
Susamaru landed and breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the room wasn't spinning it was much easier for her to not think about where her feet had to go and she could let Tanjiro off her back. The two of them could relax for a minute as Kyogai began to disintegrate. Before he passed; however, Kyogai had to ask if Tanjiro truly felt that his blood demon art was special.
"It was… but I couldn't let you keep killing. I'm sorry it had to end this way," Tanjiro said with compassion in his eyes.
Kyogai was touched by this and began to tear up as he was fading away. Susamaru also felt a great sadness. He was probably just like her and yet this was the fate that had to befall him. It was then that Tanjiro remembered he had to collect blood from Kyogai and threw a knife that Yushiro gave him at Kyogai's body. He hoped it would help Tamayo make progress towards the cure for his sister and his few demon friends. Shortly after he collected the blood a demonic cat arrived to take it from him and deliver it to Tamayo. After that, the two of them watched as Kyogai evaporated and there was a tense silence between them in the aftermath of their battle.
"Hey... Tanjiro," Susamaru said breaking the silence first.
"Yeah Susamaru?" Tanjiro asked.
"Why did we have to kill him?"
Tanjiro was shocked by her question at first. Then he realized why she would feel that way. She was still a demon too. She had killed humans and served Kibutsuji just as Kyogai had and worse yet, Kyogai was likely deceived into becoming a demon just as she had been. He understood why she would question their need to kill demons, especially after he let her live.
"We couldn't allow him to kill any more humans. Taking an innocent or even a sinful life is deplorable beyond measure. I know what you're thinking. I saved you so why wouldn't I save him, right?" Tanjiro asked.
"Exactly!" Susamaru said as she awaited an explanation.
"The situations were different. You were betrayed by someone you trusted. Discarded. Abandoned to a death that no one deserves. You were remorseful and crying for help in a sense. Kyogai wasn't. He was still loyal to Kibutsuji until the end. He was emotional but not out of remorse or guilt. He wanted to be acknowledged but even after he received that acknowledgment he would have tried to eat those children. He was also much more at peace while you were suffering. Make no mistake, if you behaved differently or if Kibustusji hadn't tried to kill you himself… I would have tried to cut your head off too. In other words, you as a person were different from Kyogai and that was what changed my decision."
Susamaru thought long and hard about his words. He was right. They couldn't save every demon, just as they couldn't save every human. Not all of them were like her. Most loved being demons; Hell, she did too for a long while. Most wouldn't desire to be saved and almost none would be repentant.
"Besides… I don't think we could have captured him to take to Tamayo in our condition. We also don't even know where she is right now. It would be impossible for us to reconfigure his body the way yours has been. Additionally he would have still been under Kibutsuji's curse. Apparently only you and Tamayo have broken it. Therefore we can assume such a thing is extremely rare. I hate to say it but I imagine we are going to have to bring down every other demon we face; however, I promise you that if there is another opportunity to save one then we will," Tanjiro said as he patted her on the back.
Susamaru stood up and looked at Tanjiro. "Sounds like we have a deal then," she said.
"Great! Now we have to go check on those kids. They are probably scared and we don't know if there are more dangers here or not."
"Hold on!" Susamaru said as she held up her arms to emphasize her statement. She then ran over to where her basket was and jumped inside.
"You really want me to carry you? You remember I have a broken leg right?" Tanjiro said. He was already exhausted and was hoping to not have to carry her again for at least a little while.
"Yes! I need to hide from those kids remember! It's for their own safety… plus they've been through enough. They don't need to be exposed to anymore monsters today… or ever for that matter," she said before slamming the lid back over her basket.
"Oh right, I had forgotten about that. Good thinking," Tanjiro replied as he slung her basket back over his shoulder. He then began looking for the children once again. He hoped that they were alright but he had a feeling they would be now that Kyogai was defeated and it seems like the other demons he smelled earlier had been too. With that in mind, he confidently strode further into the mansion so that he could wrap up this mission.