This chapter will be true to the anime, for the most part. I've decided to tone down the woman's death a bit. I thought it was kind of ridiculous personally. Though maybe you'll find her new death to be ridiculous.
Chapter 6: The Face of Pure Evil
Tanjiro was just about to draw his sword, when suddenly...
"Daddy, who is that boy?" asked Yuko.
The demon slayer's eyes widened in surprise.
Muzan had a wife…along with a child.
"Honey, that boy seems angry at you. Was it something you said?" questioned Rei.
Tanjiro could not believe it. Muzan had disguised himself as a human. And not even his wife and kid knew what he truly was.
Then again, it made sense. What better way to be a Lycanroc than by pretending to be a Mareep? In this city he would have no shortage of humans to feast upon, and the demon slayers would be none the wiser.
Though considering that he had been sent on this mission, it seemed the demon slayer corps had gotten suspicious. Disappearances in a populated area set off red flags for them.
Considering he was a married man and had a child, he was doing pretty well at keeping his cover. Who would suspect a demon of being married to a human wife and having a human kid?
"I have no idea." lied Muzan. It looked as if a survivor of one of his attacks had come looking for him…and had found him.
The demon in disguise decided to take his leave.
But before he left, he decided to give Tanjiro someone to keep him company.
That someone was a nearby man who was his wife.
Squirtle attempted to open fire on Muzan…disregarding the fact that he could get in trouble with the law for it.
However, recognizing that his master was under attack, the demon pounced on Squirtle.
"Honey! What are you doing with that Pokemon?!" exclaimed his wife, unaware as to what had happened to him.
It was unfortunate, but it looked as if Muzan was going to get away for the time being. Tanjiro couldn't stand by while his oartner was being attacked.
However, the demon slayer decided to give him some parting words.
"You can't run or hide, Muzan! I will hunt you down, and I will slice your head off with my ninchirin blade! You will pay for what you have done!" exclaimed Tanjiro.
"He took the words right out of my mouth." thought Nezuko. Though instead of a ninchirin blade she imagined herself using her bare hands instead.
Their anger could very well rival a Primeape.
Quickly, Tanjiro pushed the man off of Squirtle.
The turtle Pokemon then squirted the man and he turned back to normal.
"I don't know what came over me." spoke the man.
A few minutes later, Muzan dropped off his family at his manor.
"He thinks he can slay me. How many people have told me that? To be honest, I'm getting tired of it." noted Muzan to himself.
Yet there was something that bothered him about this demon slayer.
For some reason, he was wearing hanafuda earrings.
Those matched the ones that belonged to the sun breathers.
To his knowledge, he had wiped out the sun breathers a long time ago. He couldn't risk history repeating itself after what had happened last time. He had survived his encounter, but it had been a very close call.
Suddenly, he noticed the man that he had demonified earlier…only he was no longer a demon.
"I'm so glad you're feeling okay…" remarked his wife.
"Yeah…I'll never attack a Pokemon again." assured the man. Unless it was self-defense.
"After 1000 years, someone has found a way to purify demons?!" exclaimed Muzan.
Perhaps his demonization wasn't irreversible after all.
It must have been that boy. He had sworn revenge on him…and it looked like he had found a way.
Well, there was nothing stopping him from demonifying someone again if they were cured.
But this was still of concern of him.
"This could be a problem." noted Muzan.
He did not know how Tanjiro had managed to cure the human, but he certainly wasn't going to let him purify any more of his demons.
Luckily, he knew someone who would do anything to get on his good side.
Two people, in fact.
He summoned Yahaba and Susamaru.
"What can I do for you, master?" asked Susamaru.
"I need you to take care of someone. He wears hanafuda earrings." explained Muzan.
He showed Yahaba and Susamaru a projection of him.
"You're sending us against a boy?" asked Yahaba. He was under the impression they would be sent against someone older.
Muzan glared at him.
"I mean…yes, we'll kill him!" exclaimed the arrow demon. He didn't want to face Muzan's wrath instead of Tanjiro, that was for sure.
"Can we bring back his head?" asked Susamaru.
"Yes. You may bring back his head." answered Muzan.
Susamaru smiled.
Together, the two of them went to hunt down Tanjiro.
A few moments later, he came across a drunk.
"Look at you and your outfit! How much did it cost you?" asked the man who had too much to drink.
With him were his brother and his girlfriend.
"Money isn't an obstacle for me." explained Muzan. Not when you could kill somebody and then alter people's memories to take their place. That was what he had done with his family, who has been left unaware as to what had happened to the man of the house when he had not come home one night.
"You look like you're about to fall over dead!" shouted the drunk...who had made his last mistake.
"Oh, there's an irony in that." remarked Muzan.
"Huh?" asked the man.
Muzan punched off the drunk's head.
Sure enough, his corpse fell to the floor.
In the demon's view, it was the price he paid for insulting him this way. He was a man who was well on his way to perfection.
"You killed my brother!" exclaimed a nearby man without a hair on his head.
"Oh my god!" screamed the drunk's girlfriend, pressing her hands against her face.
The man attempted to avenge him, but Muzan put his leg through his torso for his troubles.
At this point, the woman was shocked into silence. It was a living nightmare. Who would have thought her boyfriend and potential brother-in-law would perish on the same night?
"It appears that I have a witness. I don't think it would be a good idea to let people discover that I'm a monster, wouldn't you agree?" questioned Muzan.
Suddenly, his jaws unhinged like an Ekans.
He then proceeded to swallow the woman whole. There was muffled screaming…and then silence.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro wrote a letter to the Demon Slayer Corps.
"I'm sorry, but I let the demon away. I know what his name though. His name is Muzan." explained the demon slayer.
"You encountered Muzan?! Tanjiro, forget about the mission! You need to get out of there now! Muzan is the most powerful demon in existence!" warned the letter.
It was unfortunate about the citizens, but there was nothing Tanjiro could do to protect them.
"He is?!" shouted Tanjiro.
It looked like his revenge was going to have to wait…as much as he hated to admit it.
It was going to have to wait another day…or more likely another night since that was when Muzan was active.
Suddenly, Tanjiro got the feeling he was hunted.
He decided he would trust his instinct.
Besides, he felt like he shouldn't take the letter lightly.
"I think it would be best if we take our leave." noted Tanjiro.
"It's just as well. I can't eat the food here anyway." admitted Nezuko.
"You can't eat human food anymore? I'm sorry to hear that." sympathized the demon slayer.
"Wait, what about Muzan? Aren't you going to look for him?" asked the demon girl.
"I asked the demon slayer corps. They said that Muzan is out of our league. We'll die if we try to fight him." explained Tanjiro.
"I hope we can someday." spoke Nezuko.
Squirtle nodded.
Quickly, he ran out of the city…
…but bumped into a woman.
"Sorry!" apologized Tanjiro.
"It's quite alright." answered the woman.
"Wait, I know you! You're the woman who gave me that vaccine!" exclaimed the boy.
Her name was Tamayo.
"Oh, did I? it's good to see you again!" remarked the doctor. Judging from how healthy Tanjiro was, the vaccine had worked like a charm.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut our reunion short. I suspect that there are people after me..." explained the black-haired demon slayer. He hoped that she assumed it wasn't the police.
"You said you wanted to fight Muzan, do you not?" asked the woman.
"How'd you know?" questioned Tanjiro.
"I overheard you." explained the doctor.
"Oh...well, l I don't think I can fight him right now." acknowledged the demon slayer.
He received a message from the Demon Slayer Corps explaining why that would be a very bad idea.
He felt like he should listen to them. If Muzan was the most powerful demon around, then it seemed doubtful that he could take him on without help from the Hashira.
"I understand. But would you be interested in a hiding spot?" questioned Tamayo. She suspected Muzan was sending demons to hint him down.
"Yes, I would." nodded Tanjiro.
A hiding place from the demons would be very helpful.
Tamayo nodded and took Tanjiro with her to her hideout.
"By the way, I want Muzan dead as well." explained the doctor.
"Really?" asked Tanjiro.
"Yes. He's caused me an endless amount of grief." noted Tamayo.
"I know how that feels..." spoke the boy.
"I think we're kindred spirits then." spoke the black-haired woman.
Tamayo decided to introduce her friend to him. She took him to her place, which was oddly hidden with illusions.
"This is my friend, Yushiro." said the doctor.
Yushiro noticed the demon slayer.
"You're bringing a demon slayer here?!" questioned the white-haired boy. That was a lapse in judgment in his book.
"What's wrong with being one? I protect the innocent." explained Tanjiro.
"About that…Yushiro and myself are demons." admitted Tamayo.
"Wait, you're demons?!" exclaimed Tanjiro.
"Yes. Are you going to try to slay us? If so, I'm going to kick your ass!" shouted Yushiro.
"I only slay demons that pose a threat to humans. My sister can attest to that." explained Tanjiro.
"Heyo!" exclaimed Nezuko.
"Your sister's a demon? Why does she not eat human flesh?" questioned the white-haired boy.
Up until now, the only demons who he knew of did not eat humans were Tamayo and himself.
But it looked like Nezuko had successfully fought off the urge.
"I tried to eat him...but he managed to persuade me not to. He found a cure for demonification!" exclaimed Nezuko.
"He did?!" shouted Tamayo.
She had been trying to do that for quite some time.
Nezuko nodded.
"If that's the case, why are you still a demon?" asked Yushiro.
"I'm not sure. It worked on the demon that we encountered at a temple." noted Nezuko.
"Hmm...I expect Muzan gave you an ultra high dose of his blood." suggested Tamayo.
That would explan why the cure did not work completely.
"Does that explain why the rest of my family didn't survive?" asked the teenage girl.
"Most likely. In small doses, the blood transforms the victim into a demon. But if he injects too much, the victim will not survive." explained Tamayo.
"So he was trying to turn us into demons." spoke Tanjiro. Now that he thought of it, his families' bodies had red skin.
Somehow, he found what Muzan had done even worse than just killing them. Taking away someone's humanity was just plain horrible.
"You're very lucky, Nezuko. You have a high enough constitution to survive such an injection." noted Tamayo.
"Considering that I didn't eat my brother, I feel pretty lucky indeed." admitted Nezuko. For a girl that lost her parents and siblings, that is.
"I can only wish I were that fortunate." spoke Tamayo sadly.
"Huh?" questioned the black-haired girl.
"Muzan came to me one night when I was afflicted with a deathly illness. My husband and children were deeply concerned about me. He claimed that he could cure my illness. That got my hopes up. Little did I know that it was all a trick..." explained Tamayo.
"Then what happened?" asked Tanjiro.
"It was horrific. The first thing that I did as a demon was eat my own husband...then I killed several villagers...and if my children hadn't reminded me who I was, I would have eaten them as well." spoke Tamayo.
"That's horrible!" exclaimed the boy.
"Luckily, a man came and freed me from Muzan's control. His name was Yoriichi. He invented sun breathing...a breathing style that demons greatly fear." explained Tamayo.
"Thank goodness..." spoke Tanjiro. He imagined that Tamayo wouldn't be able to live with herself if she hurt anyone else.
"When I discovered how to make demons myself, I vowed never to do what Muzan did. I made sure that Yushiro knew exactly what I was going to turn him into before I transformed him." continued the demon.
"So that's why Yushiro is a demon..." comprehended Nezuko.
Tamayo nodded.
"If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be alive anymore. I owe Lady Tamayo everything." noted Yushiro. He too had been inflicted with a terminal illness.
"If you want I can try curing you..." suggested Tanjiro. He seemed to be doing just fine as a demon though. Even if he did have some aggressive tendencies.
"Now that I think of it...I think my vaccine might be the reason why you can cure demons." suggested Tamayo.
"Really?" asked Tanjiro.
She nodded.
"I did my research to determine where Muzan got his superhuman powers, and why he desperately craves the blue spider lily that the demons are searching for." explained Tamayo.
"Why is he looking for that flower?" asked Tanjiro.
"As with all demons, sunlight is fatal to Muzan. But he believes that if he consumes it, he will gain sunlight immunity." noted the woman.
It was one of the goals of his demon followers.
"If he achieved that, humans will never be safe from him. He could attack at any time!" exclaimed Tanjiro.
Tamayo nodded.
"I suspect that he'll then give his blood to his followers and make them immune to sunlight as well." noted the woman.
"That means our ninchirin blades will have no effect on them!" exclaimed Tanjiro.
It could very well be the beginning of the end for the demon slayers.
"Wait, how does he know about it?" asked Nezuko. She heard that flower was exceptionally rare.
"In the Heian era, he had a doctor that remedied his illness and gave him superhuman strength. But it also gave him the urge to eat human flesh." explained Tamayo.
"Why would the doctor do that?!" exclaimed Nezuko.
"That wasn't his intention. Muzan killed him before the cure was completed. He wasn't happy that progress was going slow." continued the woman.
"I guess there are people who are evil before becoming demons." noted Tanjiro.
"He found out that since the cure was completed, he wasn't able to walk during the day anymore. So he hunts the flower to complete the cure, as that was the key ingredient for it." explained Tamayo.
"Where does me being able to cure demons?" asked the boy.
"I used a flower of my own to go with your vaccine. It's known as the orange scorpion daisy." continued the woman.
"That sounds an awful lot like blue spider lily." noted Tanjiro.
"I'm glad that I did. It seems in order to counter the blue spider lily, you need another flower." explained Tamayo.
"That makes sense." remarked the demon slayer.
Suddenly, they heard a crash outside.
"What was that?" asked Nezuko.
"Thought you could hide from us, didn't you, demon slayer? Well, you didn't hide well enough!" exclaimed a demon named Susamaeu.
"Oh no." spoke Tanjiro.
Uh-oh! It looks like Tanjiro has not one but two demons that are hunting him!
How will he get out of this one?
Luckily, he doesn't have to face them alone.
He does have his Pokemon, after all.