—START—
-3rd Person POV-
The night sky is a beautiful thing to witness for some people, the lighting of the stars, a spectacle only enjoyable then.
For others is simply an indicator that it's time to sleep, regain forces for another day.
For a reserved number of individuals however, it was the sign that it was time for their duties begin.
Tomioka Giyuu, the currently ranked Water Hashira had been assigned a mission on a remote town near the end of the Japanese Islands, a place where there were rumors of a strange figure who kidnapped men.
Up until today there were 23 recorded disappearances by the Corp of which 20 were labeled as dead already.
Slayers had been sent to the location before, yet had returned from their mission, bringing even worse ideas of the village to outsiders.
Now however, there was finally hope for the people of the village as The Demon slayer Corp had sent one of their best to put an end to the creature.
The town wasn't anything special, their housing was even considered to be delayed compared to most other places in the country and it was a place that mostly sustained itself from trading fish.
It was the coast where the demon was rumored to appear, the hideout of the creature being an old port no longer in use.
It took Tomioka a couple of hours to get that information out of the people, as none wanted to acknowledge to a stranger what was occurring and ruin their reputation as they were only aware of the weird creature, not of their endeavor that took lives, remaining in denial of the demon's existence and handiwork as they believed this could bring misfortune to the people.
For a town that lived of trading fish, being well known, and not having a tarnished name something like reputation is important, a reasoning that made it even more difficult for Tomioka.
Leaving the kidnapping to be blamed on other reasons.
Nevertheless, the Hashira eventually succeeded in learning of the place where the demon ran their hunts.
The man's breaths leaving little clouds of mist behind. "it's cold" the directions had led Giyuu towards solitaire beach where a port with a single ship that was haft crashed into the sand.
It looked really old too.
The breeze was strong in the beach, but for Tomioka it was a pretty pleasant feeling to have the wind from the sea. The surroundings too were beautiful.
Tomioka shook his head, now was not the time to admire the scenery, he could enjoy a peaceful moment after the demon is slain.
He didn't feel anything odd around him as he investigated the surrounding caves, the sense a demon slayer develops for danger wasn't giving him any kind of warning, so he continued making his way to the ship, hand in his katana and with his guard always up.
It was there he actually felt something threatening him, making him jump to his right to dodge what appeared to be a chain.
A glowing cyan chain.
(A blood demon art) his eyes followed the trajectory of the attack, leading him to where the deck of the ship was.
The demon wasn't on sight.
"Another one of you? How dull" the voice was incredibly sweet and harmonious despite the distain of the tone. "At least this time they had the decency to send someone attractive"
More chains shot down at the slayer and none hit as Tomika skillfully slashed or dodged any of the incoming attacks.
From the deck of the ship emerged the demon at last, from her forearm and down sprouted the chains which she had been using to attack.
The upper half of the demons body was that of a woman, she wore nothing completely embracing the feral nature of a demon, her attire was irrelevant anyways.
where her hears should have been there were fins, with other two growing out of each side of her torso.
Her hair was floating ominously behind her, the color matching with her blood demon art as the end of it was also turning into chains, yet these ones weren't being used currently.
If he paid attention he could also note of what seemed to be a metal collar around her neck and in her right eye, a cross as if trying to conceal something.
(A discarded member of the demon moons) Demons with this characteristic were pretty rare, but something like this was something the others had also encountered before. (metal on her neck too…annoying)
Cutting it would be difficult, but demon's neck were tough enough to be comparable, so it wasn't a complication, although it could dull his blade.
"so handsome slayer, are you going to curse my name and call me a monster as I end you, I love it when yours do that " Giyuu didn't show any kind of acknowledgement, only reading his stance and jumping on deck as he parried an attack.
The boards were ill kept and were some had molded to the point of not even looking like wood anymore. He'd need to be careful with his step.
"really, nothing to say? Well aren't you boring" now that he had a full view of her the most prominent thing he noted was her half fish body. "Oh I see, your just stunned by my beauty, fu fu fu, don't worry you'll look just as pretty as I do when I get my hands of you"
The second he took to look at her was enough to tell him one thing. This demon was most likely very slow on land, that body was not made for moving out of the water.
Maybe that's why she took this place as it's nest.
"Blood demon art: ever changing tides" At an incredible seed the chains moved again, seemingly independent of the movement of the demon's arm.
Like waves, the glowing metal flowed and crashed in Tomioka's direction, trying to hit him.
Giyuu too sprang into action immediately, the presence of the demon was more prominent than regular ones, but nothing extraordinaire.
That made things simple.
The demon began to laugh, watching Giyuu duck and slash to his right, avoiding more of her attack. "Don't resist dear, be honored as your death will be at the hands of Hironami!"
She moved forward slightly at a normal human pace, too slow for a demon, confirming the Hashira's suspicions about her speed, yet she still had enough time to reach closer to an entrance down the chip. "You'll be perfect once I'm done with you" and now the hair had entered a trap door.
(attacking from underneath?) Giyuu needed to finish this before the battle became a pain.
Nevertheless It wasn't worth worrying about the chains, at the end of the day, this was still nothing more than a regular demon.
"Water breathing, ninth form: Splashing water flow" Giyuu quickly readies himself before leaping forward, where the demon was. "flash" the speed at which he moved was too much for the demon.
The distance was cut short, and the blade tore through the metal garment the demon had, and then the neck.
It was a split second, the time it took for the neck piece to break, yet a second was all the demon needed.
"DIVERGENT SEA OF CHANGE" all chains had moved to destroy the aggressor, breaking the floor of the deck, their cyan glow replaced with a much brighter light blue that covered the entire beach.
Tomioka was no fool, desperate last attacks were common as such, he was already moving as the Demon began shouting.
But the chains were fast.
And one grazed him.
From there, everything went black.
-Tomioka POV-
I felt on fire.
The blood demon art had hit me and for minimal as it was it had downed me in a single strike. Something of that caliber is too dangerous for anyone.
I should have been able to dodge that…Sabito certainly would have.
Getting up from the floor made my body ache, the heat was really getting to me, not only that, but my heartrate was also too accelerated.
Calm yourself Giyuu, calm as a peaceful lake.
My breathing was as steady as always, but even then my heart wouldn't stop.
Maybe I should consult Kocho about this.
My surroundings were those of the interior of the ship. I must have fallen inside when she hit me.
I could see five bodies from here, all splattered on the ground with high degree of injuries from bites. So it was a demon who took their time eating the victims.
Something was strange about all of them. Wasn't the demon only one who went after men?
Why are all of them female?
-3rd Person POV-
After burying the remaining victims that hadn't been completely consumed, Tomioka was informed of his next mission.
Kanzaburo descended until he was perched on Tomioka's shoulder, looking at him oddly but saying nothing.
(maybe he confused me with someone) it wouldn't be the first time it happened, he loved his crow, truly, but his age really made things difficult.
He had to confirm it to the animal "it's me"
That seemed to make him react. "CAW Giyuu, Giyuu…you have to go to Mount Natagumo CAW it's joint mission with the short Hashira"
He watched his crow take flight again, moving in what was probably the direction of mount Natagumo.
It was somewhat far away too, this would be a long travel.
Three days passed ever since Giyuu began running towards his next destination, and to say these days had been strange would be an understatement.
His temperature hadn't decreased at all, if it had been detrimental to his movements in any manner he would have thought he was having a fever, the same with his heart rate, he was sure it would have exploded at this point.
yet it was the complete opposite.
He felt faster than he ever had been, and it wasn't a small increase either, it was incredibly noticeable.
When he looked at his own legs in confusion all he could see was his always baggy uniform, with pants he always liked being a bit bigger than they should, almost fitting correctly.
(I gained weight?) Was the only thing he could think, but even then that would only have made him slower.
His belt also felt somewhat loose, he had to tighten it before going.
Another strange occurrence was his blade.
It changed colors in a strange manner. Sometimes it was it's usual blue while other times the vibrant red expected of children of the sun.
It only happened when he actually gripped the blade with intention, the rest of the time it still held its blue color.
Giyuu stopped running after spotting a town in the distance. He's been here before, there's a Wisteria in there, a perfect place to wait for Kocho and receive proper intel for the mission.
He loves Kanzaburo, but En is definitely more reliable with information.
Speaking of En, Giyuu was sure he could see her from here, Kanzaburo was also flying around of her so Kocho must be waiting.
Tomioka enters the outskirts of the small town, reaching a pebble road that leads to a large building, the Wisteria inn.
"Ara, Kanzaburo you arrived, then Tomioka-san be here soon" in the entrance was there Insect Hashira Shinobu Kocho.
Her hair looked slightly out of place and was a bit agitated, she too probably came from another mission and has just reached here.
"Kocho" He made his presence known to his colleague.
She turned around, her attention now turned to the new arrival. "someone's looking for mee… … … Tomioka…san? "
"?" Giyuu couldn't comprehend what was with her surprise, it was him yes, who else? "What Kocho?" he asked trying to understand.
"it's really you" those dry responses wouldn't come from anyone else, adding the haori, hair and eyes were simply a extra for her to actually believe who walked up to her. "say, don't you feel strange Tomioka-san?"
Shinobu tried to keep herself composed, if demons could exist, this incredibly absurd situation was a possibility true, no matter how…strange it resulted to be.
"…" He of course wasn't answering, as typical of Giyuu. "I'm hot"
…
"Excuse me?" Kocho really didn't want to believe what she had just heard.
Tomioka too another two seconds to reply. "my temperature" was what he deemed appropriate to respond.
(one of these day's he'll get himself into trouble for his horrible choice of words) The man was infuriating to the Hashira, but at the end of the day he was still a treasured comrade for her.
On a good day she might actually consider him a friend.
So seeing his current state was concerning. "truly? Does the mark on your cheek not bother you…or what about the more obvious problem?" she tried to clue him in, maybe Tomioka would actually bother to explain.
The man took a moment to process her words, taking his left hand to his cheek as if he was trying to feel the mark. "I didn't know" clearly It was new to him too.
Afterward his gaze moved to his hand, blinking repeatedly, then he gazed downwards. "Kocho, what happened to me?" it was impressive how he was still serene after this revelation.
"I don't know Tomioka-san, I thought you might have known why you are a woman now"
(huh?!)
They had stayed in the wisteria inn for the rest of the night and some of the next day.
Tomioka's sudden realization of what happened to himself was an abysmal silence, if he was usually reserved, now his thoughts were a complete mystery…well, now it should be her thoughts, but that would just make it settle in faster and if he was honest.
He wasn't ready to accept this, Giyuu believed there surely is a way to fix this.
Kocho had taken into her hand the checkup that came after, the inns were places for slayers to recover and rest, so she had access to minimal medica equipment, but not for much.
"you are a complete woman Tomioka-san, few things about you have changed but your muscle mass has decreased" she had weighted him, measured his height, chest, and hips, taken his temperature, blood pressure, everything.
Most things seemed to be normal, he was still as tall, he had a rather big build for a Japanese woman, but not strange for a Hashira, her proportions were…surprisingly big.
All was between normal human parameters save for two things. The two thing which worried Kocho the most.
"Tomioka…I need to know what happened, these conditions you have are fatal for any person, yet here you are" this escaped her medical knowledge, this escaped any logic at all.
"your heart rate by itself shouldn't be a problem if you were doing any physically demanding activity, but it's been an hour and it still hasn't changed" This whole situation was stressing her out, if it was just the woman transformation maybe he could do something and she wouldn't worry much, but. "your body temperature is incredibly more concerning, for all manner of speaking and if you truly have been like this for three days, that alone should have killed you already"
Tomioka still didn't respond, he was looking to the floor as if that would give him an answer.
"how did you not notice your body change Tomioka-san?" His new attributes couldn't be ignored and she doubts the man doesn't bother checking on himself after a mission.
"it felt natural"
(natural? Did he not notice because he still recognizes it as 'his' body?) Giyuu was being confusing again, she wouldn't be able to get anywhere like this.
What a frustrating man to Kocho to deal with. "I would recommend you try and get at least your hearth under control with your breathing, lessen the risks" she knew that he listened even if it didn't look like it.
"I am stronger" he suddenly decides to blurt out, as if that would be an important piece of information.
And for someone who had been around him for quite some time and understood his minimalistic conversation style, she got what he tried to convey.
"That shouldn't be possible…by all means you should be weaker, not stronger" from muscle to lung capacity to grip strength, everything should be slightly weaker with his smaller hands and less muscular mass. "Do you think it has to do with the strange mark?"
She put her hand on his cheek, trying to feel anything with touch, but nothing changed from the last time she tried, it felt like skin.
"we have a mission" they had already been here for more than they should, and even if Giyuu had arrived a day earlier getting to the demon sooner was always for the best. "I will go to the butterfly mansion afterwards"
(Oh my, Tomioka-san must be taking this hard if he is offering to come and I don't have to drag him to the mansion) he definitively felt more responsive than usual, maybe there was more than just a physical change with him.
"very well, If you can still fight we might as well do our duties before you are properly examined" they both moved to grab their things.
After saying goodbye to the innkeeper both Hashira began the trip towards mount Natagumo.
"Tomioka-san if you keep going that fast you'll tire yourself out" the distance between the two had grown as they ran, normally the man was pressed to keep up with her speed, but now she was falling behind.
"I am faster too" Kocho was pleasantly surprised that he answered, normally he would not have and just adjusted to whatever it is she said to him. "sorry"
Even apologizing?! maybe she ought to keep him like this.
It definitely wasn't the image of Tomioka's now tight uniform bouncing as he was clearly inexperienced in running with…those what was trying to convince her to keep him like this.
They had arrived in time to save those who still held on.
"Water breathing eleventh form: dead calm" all of the strings threatening him were cut down in an instant. (…dead calm is harder to use…)
His rapid heart made the unwavering and necessary slow heartbeat for the technique more complicated, but in exchange it was magnitudes more efficient and strong in the strikes.
"eleventh form?!" the kid with a demon sister asked in fascination.
The demon was trying to attack again, and Tomioka wasn't about to let the same mistake he did three days prior "Who cares about your eleventh- " Rui didn't have more than second before a blade severed his head as if it sliced the air.
(it's red again?) If there was one thing Tomioka could say he likes about this…experience, it would be the red blade, it feels much heavier than usual, as if it's significance weighted on his grip, but it also tore through as if they were nothing.
Giyuu turned around, making his way towards Tanjiro, seeing the boy ease the dying demon into his fate.
Normally Tomioka would have just stepped on him, as he did to the lives of others here, and remind the kid of that fact.
But he might not recognize him like this, so he'd let him regain his senses.
Nezuko had gotten down from where she was left hanging and ran to her brother, it was then where the kamados turned to look at the Hashira. "Thank you ma'am, you saved us…have we met before?" it was clear he recognized the haori, and the eyes probably so Giyuu threw him a bone before he panicked about his sister being a demon and him a demon slayer.
"It's me, Tomioka Giyuu" recognition was instant, but he didn't pry as to what had happened to him. "you should run, no matter if you think you can't, just do"
He had felt Kocho approach and knew she would strike without reserve.
He watched the boy run with his sister in his arms, without turning around he shifted his posture, and spun, blocking the incoming strike.
"Ara? What are you doing Tomioka-san" He knew this was a breach in code, but those two kids were different and could bring change to this century long stalemate the corps had with the demons.
(What a hit…my sword could have been damaged had he done more than deflect…I can feel it vibrate really hard) Shinobu sighed, there was another matter more important. "You do know that's a demon you're protecting"
"I do" Oyakata-sama was already aware of her existence, so he really didn't need to explain to anyone why Tomioka let Nezuko live. "But it's not wrong"
"whatever could you mean Tomioka-san" she was getting irritated.
However, for once explaining himself might help the situation, not only that, he still needed Kocho to look after him later, he better not make her mad. "Nezuko doesn't hurt humans"
That manages to get her attention, any second he buys for Tanjiro is valuable. "doesn't hurt humans? That's a nice dream Tomioka-san, but-"
"She hasn't done so for two years" he speaks before Kocho has time to finish his sentence, clearing all doubts before she had them might make for a better case.
"You've let this go on for two years…my, my Tomioka I certainly hope you have at least bothered to inform master of this, making decisions like this on your own may still be considered treason"
It was then that the crows began to announce that Tanjiro and Nezuko are to be taken to the Ubuyashiki state.
The woman looked up at the crows before returning her eyes to her companion. "Hmm, I guess that answers that"
"yes"
"Tomioka-san you do know we'll be having a meeting about this"
"mhm"
"That means seeing the other Hashira"
"!" Giyuu could already see how that would turn out. "let's go" this was about to be a pain.
Kyojuro Rengoku liked to believe he knew his comrades rather well, be during or outside of work, so imagine his surprise at the news that one of the Hashira had defended a demon.
"Good morning everyone!" he had just arrived at the back of Oyakata-sama's manor, so he approached the others with a smile.
"Rengoku" Obanai was the first to acknowledge him from the tree, with his ex tsuguko following suit.
"Rengoku-san hello!" Mitsuri Kanroji was such a nice soul, he felt honored that he formed a part in the Hashira's sword instruction. "Do you know anything about the trial?"
"All I know is that a Hashira was found defending a demon, Unacceptable!" it was their duty to exterminate all, not defend those man eating creatures.
From behind footsteps were heard, revealing Tengen had arrived. "From what I heard it was Tomioka, tch what an unflashy man"
"Tomioka-san? This isn't like him at all?!" the love Hashira exclaimed worriedly.
Obanai on the other side just scoffed. "we know nothing of that man Kanroji" he tried to be as soft as he could with her " for all we know he may be a traitor" his animosity towards the water Hashira only made his belief stronger.
"We'll see what the master has to say about this" Rengoku answered, he didn't want to believe Tomioka to be a traitor, but the act he's committed…
He better have a good reason.
Time passed by and almost everyone came around eventually, only the two Hashiras on the mission and Shinazugawa were left to arrive.
"Apologies for the delay" Kocho's voice got the attention of all present demon slayers. "Tomioka and I had a pressing matter to discuss before coming" signaling behind herself as to emphasize that Tomioka was behind. (it's a good thing we managed to understand how to get rid of that mark)
There, standing back, a closer distance than usual to them, was Tomioka…but it wasn't Tomioka at the same time.
"EHHH?!" Mitsuri was the most vocal with her disbelief on the image in front. "Tomioka-san is a girl?!"
"That can't be Tomioka?" in an instant Iguro had put himself between Mitsuri and the two new arrivals. "Don't take me for a fool Kocho, that isn't him, is he trying to escape punishment for what he did?"
"It is Tomioka" Gyomei intervened. "It is the same presence he always has" the snake Hashira relaxed slightly at the confirmation from the stone pilar. "However if Kanroji's words are to be believed then I shall pray for your recovery from this matter Tomioka"
"What happened to you? You look hot don't get me wrong, but seeing you like this is…weird" Tengen and Himejima were the Hashira who had known the man the longest, almost six years, so seeing his situation rubbed him strangely.
"don't" Being called hot while looking like this was incredibly uncomfortable, and the sound Hashira noticed.
In an attempt to distract him Uzui asks instead. "How long have you been like this?" it somewhat works as Giyuu clearly seems calmer.
"Six days"
He didn't say much else, but for him to have answered this much was already
They obviously had more questions, yet all of them were intercepted by Shinobu, the change was something they'd never seen before from a blood demon art. (It was a good idea to tell Kocho)
Soon enough the Kakushis brought Tanjiro in front of them, forcing him to wake up.
The Hashiras were introduced to him one by one as they argued over what was going to happen.
Their words were harsh towards the poor kid, the offense of traveling with a demon as a slayer being what drove them to talk like this.
Tanjiro however was much more worried about his sister rather than whatever punishment he'd receive.
Tomioka was even brought back as a theme to discuss but instead of the difference in him it was the punishment he'd face what they now talked.
"Now, now, we should wait for the master to indicate what should happen" Kocho was aware the master knew after she got the whole story from the water Hashira.
It was nice for him to properly explain things to her instead of running from that conversation as she expected him too.
Maybe this was another thing that changed alongside his body?
An angry tch marked the arrival of someone else. "Shouldn't it be obvious" Shinazugawa was finally here, holding Nezuko's box…and he wasn't happy at all. "We should kill this filthy demon!"
"Wait no!" The mizunoto panicked, seeing Sanemi unsheathe his blade and drive it in his sister making her grunt in pain. "STOP IT!" Tanjiro got up angry, this was something that wouldn't be left like this.
So Tanjiro ran at him.
The others didn't expect that but stayed in place, the worst that could happen is that Shinazugawa killled the kid.
Tomioka felt as if he should do something, so he stepped forward. "it's master's orders not to hurt them" for the wind Hashira this was a voice he hadn't heard before which made him lower his guard.
And it happened at a perfect time.
A loud thud echoed, both Tanjiro and Sanemi on the ground.
"you brat!" the man didn't take long recovering from the headbutt, yet the desired effect was already achieved as Kocho stole the box back to their side.
After seeing that the target of his anger was taken Sanemi addressed the reason he was hit in the first place. "who the fuck distracted me?"
After looking around for a while his eyes finally ended up in the person he was looking for.
"WHAT THE FUC-"
"the master has arrived"
As Sanemi screamed two of the daughters of Ubuyashiki announced the arrival of the patron of the demon slayer corp.
Sanemi was the first to act, even disregarding what he just saw, to bow to the leader. Smashing Tanjiro's head to the ground in the process.
"It is a pleasure to be in your presence Oyakata-sama, I pray for your good health" And with a one eighty in his mood, the Hashira greeted him with proper education.
The rest bowed too in his presence,
(what, that's totally different from before!) Tanjiro didn't believe what he was seeing.
The master began by asserting that Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado were both permitted to act as they had according to an arrangement made with both the former and current water Hashira, who decidedly offered their lives if Nezuko were to ever eat anyone.
Tanjiro was moved to tears by the trust both Giyuu and Urokodaki had placed on him while the other Hashira were surprised with their comrade.
At the end of Ubuyashiki's resume of the situation the problem of them accepting it hadn't exactly been solved.
"I apologize Oyakata-sama but I can't accept this!" Sanemi exclaimed. "A demon is and will always be a demon, even if it hasn't done shit it is still our duty to end it before it does" his notion was seconded by Iguro, Rengoku, Tengen and Gyomei, saying that killing Nezuko was their duty.
Mitsuri found herself at an impasse, she wanted to believe her master and do what he asked, but seeing the others reject this so aggressively made her question if she was being too soft.
Tokito simply didn't care to what would occur with Nezuko.
And finally there were Shinobu and Giyuu.
"I'm aware this might go against what we believe up until this point, but as me and Tomioka have been caring for the girl we can confirm that Nezuko is perfectly docile with humans" the small woman explained, she had intended to just let her be taken care off, but Giyuu's explanation made her curious.
"Why didn't you let the Kakushi handle her?" curious, Rengoku had to ask, maybe there was a reason for her to side with the demon girl. "and I don't believe Tomioka has a say in the matter, his stance on this is clear"
"I didn't believe it either, however it was precisely that why I took the opportunity to meet Nezuko myself" she answered cheerfully. "I have to say, it was quite endearing to see her playing with Tomioka's hair"
Silence reigned again as the slayers were deep in thought.
"I only ask you give them an opportunity my children" Ubuyashiki intervened, knowing they would simply continue putting objections. "sometimes things have to change so we can"
"Very well! I shall take you word Oyakata-sama, Kocho-san" Rengoku was the first to accept the patron's petition and Shinobu's reasons, innocents were to be protected in his eyes.
And with Master, Tomioka and Kocho defending her then maybe she was, so he decided to trust.
"If you guys will trust this then so will I!" Mitsuri didn't stay behind and decidedly accepted too.
Tengen sighed before throwing his arms up in surrender. "Fine, fine, it's not like Tomioka's judgement has failed us before, I'll let this be" the two of them had worked together a lot, even if the water Hashira was as silent as a plant when they did. "I do want the story of that and what happened to you Tomioka, so expect my flashy presence in the water state soon"
All he received was a nod from the man/woman.
This wouldn't be the first time he'd be having the Sound Hashira over.
"I don't like it, but if Mitsuri is willing to put up with this then I shall too" Obanai was next, as long as the girl wasn't a pain to him them she was Tomioka's responsibility and not his problem.
His hatred for demons was patient, and Kocho was reliable, so he won't do anything.
"I will follow the will of the master, and pray that Tomioka's forgiveness were to anything happen"
Tokito looked at the leader, then shrugged. "I'll forget this happened at some point, do what you want"
With that, only Shinazugawa remained to say anything.
"How can you decide to do nothing, demons should all be exterminated!" His expression was one of pure rage, he refused to believe in any way this was possible. "give me the demon, I'll show you"
In an attempt to convince the master to kill Nezuko he took the box into the shade of the manor, and stabbed the girl again, causing another reaction out of Tanjiro, who Shinobu stopped before he did anything.
Kocho knew Shinazugawa wouldn't be convinced with words, that's why she allowed him to take Nezuko, getting stabbed probably wasn't a big issue for her either, so there was no worries as long as he didn't behead her.
All the while, the rest of the Hashira watched as the man cut his arm, utilizing his blood to drive the demon to attack.
And after 10 long seconds of standstill, Nezuko refused.
"What happened?" His daughters informed him of the events that transpired, only reinforcing that he had taken the right decision when trusting the Kamados. "Very well, Tanjiro shall be allowed to recover and will be pardoned and Nezuko will be sanctioned for as long as she remains on our side"
"Tomioka, my child if you could please accompany me" And with that the Leader of the Corp began to leave. "meeting dismissed"
Giyuu began to make his way towards the manor, not before stopping in front of Tanjiro. "good job, keep protecting her" and without saying anything else, he turned around, nodded to Shinobu, and left after Ubuyashiki.
"Will someone explain what the hell is up with him?!" The wind Hashira was about to blow a fuse out of anger, this day had been horrid for him.
The purple haired woman brough a hand to her temples, Sanemi could be really difficult when he was angry. "I can give you the explanation, however I have something to do first" she clapped her hands and the Kakushi acted instantly. "Please take both Kamados to the butterfly state, Aoi has been given instructions in how to handle them"
The two Kakushis bowed to the Hashira, taking The kids as ordered.
"As for your question Shinazugawa" now Kocho addressed not only the Wind Hashira, but all of them. "He came back from a mission like that as a result of fighting a demon, he asked me to look into it and determined there is no trace of blood demon art left in Tomioka-san, as such, his current condition is in fact permanent"
"So he got hit by a regular demons Blood demon art? rather pathetic for a Hashira" the snake spoke as he descended the tree he was on.
"you said it as if it hasn't happened to some of us at some point no matter how strong we are" Shinobu was the head on medical care in the corps, she knew most of the times her comrades had been affected for some sort of demon art.
Rengoku jumped to the questioning too. "So he's permanently a woman? What about his skill? were they affected?" a new body, with a different structure, must mean that his center of balance changed, the foot shapes, his hands changed too, so did his muscles and the extra 'weights' he now had.
"surprisingly no, he says that it still feels like his body, that it's natural even with how different it is"
Tengen hummed when she said that. "that sounds like too many words coming from Tomioka, and you were clearly helping him in the trial, did you get the story out of him?"
"He was more talkative than usual yes!" Rengoku added, with everyone else paying attention. "He even spared some words for young Kamado"
That seemed to brighten Kocho's expression. "If there's one good thing from this is that Tomioka-san is actually bothered to speak things with me"
"Really?! Maybe he'll talk to us now!…actually, should we call him she now?" Mitsuri was also exited at the prospect of getting to know the man.
"I believe I've heard him more these past three days than all of last year combined" confirmed the insect Hashira. "regarding his gender, I do believe he doesn't feel comfortable if you refer to him as a she"
"well he better start accepting that, there's no going back" That was the last thing Obanai said before leaving.
"Ah, Iguro-san wait!" After that Mitsuri gave chase as they had promised to eat together. "Bye everyone !"
"Tch, this was stupid, the demon will kill someone and then we'll lose a Hashira for it, what a joke" Sanemi was the next one to go.
Soon the others began to leave too, leaving only two of them there.
"Why was Tomioka called alone?" Shinobu would have expected everyone to have left at this point, yet Uzui had stayed behind too, surprisingly.
"There was another consequence to the blood demon art that we recently found out he can control, and we believe Oyakata-sama might know something about it"
"eh? Why would Oyakata-sama know? I thought this was the effect of a demon art"
"Say Uzui-san, have you ever seen a red Nichirin blade?"
Eventually, all the things that made the life of Tomioka busy had to stop.
Resting was an essential part in the life of any person, and the demon slayers were no exception.
So when it was Giyuu's turn to finally have some free time from missions the reality of his situation had caught up to him.
Now he was in the water state, sitting outside at night.
He didn't have anything to do at this point in time and chasing demons he didn't know where they were was pointless.
So he waited, enjoying the calm of the moment.
The conversation he had with Oyakata-sama had been quite a revealing moment. The patron himself didn't have any extra knowledge other than the red blade being able to cut demons ad their regeneration better.
What did have new information were the previous records that dated back to the Sengoku Era.
"A mark that greatly increased the strength of those who have them" Amane read to the two of them. "It is said that only few can actually develop these, but the method to achieve it has been lost"
"All records indicate that marked ones die at reaching the age of 25, only one man has survived the curse of the demon slayer mark and it was said to be the originator of both the breathing styles and the mark itself"
"when the marked ones appear, there will be spread of them towards the rest of slayer who might be able to handle them" She finished one of the two records that they were able to gather and promptly picked up the other one.
"This one…was tampered with, someone must have" the pages were scratched and broken, words could be made up but nothing useful other than one phrase. "the mark is a gateway for two things, the red blades and… It stops there, the other secret of the mark was destroyed with the rest of the record"
"…" Giyuu remained silent, the fact that his newfound strength was product of this mark was not only surprising, but also a new advantage for the corps.
"Tomioka, my child, you have received the mark due to that blood demon art that turned you, I have to ask you to keep this information to yourself a day or two, we will be initiating an official meeting to adapt to these developments"
"if that's your will"
"Giyuu, has something changed…you feel lighter than the previous meeting"
The Hashira talking of his feelings was not an occurrence that
"I…cannot describe this master, but I simply find myself in ease more easily ever since I've been like this…even now I try to control my words as usual, yet it feels so…calm and nice to do so"
He didn't know why, he simply understood that it was happening.
"maybe that's the secondary effect" Amane interjected. "the first record remarks the mark affects the body and spirit, maybe the lost information is the spirit we lack and the ease Tomioka-sama feels"
"I see, if that's the case then maybe we should try and understand more" Ubuyashiki then asked his wife to give both records to the water Hashira. "I want to see if you can discover more as the one who currently has a fully developed mark"
"very well Oyakata-sama" seeing as though the leader had not continued then it meant that this extra meeting was over. "I wish you well" he left shortly after that.
Those records he was given now sit in his room, where he will be trying to piece together what he can.
…
But why was him who received such a thing, why did he awaken the mark, he was simply a placeholder.
From what the records spoke, two generations tried aimlessly to replicate the marks of the Sengoku era just to fail miserably and from then on it was believed not to be worth the struggle as it yielded no result.
Then why now, what had happened to him to end up awakening it…no, saying he had awakened it was wrong, this body already had it, it was there from the moment he was changed.
He wasn't deserving of a responsibility like this, of a power this important. If this were normal circumstances he surely wouldn't have been able to achieve a mark.
Sabito undoubtedly would have gotten one through proper means.
Yet, the guilt, usually so crushing that he couldn't be bothered to speak to anyone, was bearable, the reason he decidedly isolated himself due to seeing himself as only his substitute.
He could carry it now.
In truth, he had felt better, just as the days before the final selection.
The reasons for his guilt hadn't disappeared, he, by all means was the same individual, the same fake Hashira he had always been.
Yet he felt released, as if he was breathing for the first time.
As if he had remembered something he's forgotten…yet he still cant recall what.
"Don't forget, there still isn't a water hashira" he told himself, and he hoped Tanjiro would change that…maybe he ought to pay him a visit.
Giyuu stared at the sky for another half an hour, before finally getting up and bathing for the fist time in the week.
Being a Hashira took a lot of his time so bathing daily wasn't reasonable in any way.
And here laid another problem with his new constitution.
"problematic" he said to the air before gathering the courage to try.
Two days passed ever since the Hashira meeting and all Giyuu had done those days was decipher the two records given to him.
The first was an easy task considering it was in perfect condition, only leaving him to analyze and understand what the contents were.
They were more insightful than expected yet vague at the same time, so they required experimentation.
NO matter how much he believed himself not to be worthy of having this much of an important duty Giyuu just couldn't let this be due to him being the only marked one currently, and this being a petition from the master directly.
The second one however, was far more complicated.
It had been torn to shreds, someone had intentionally tried to erase the information kept here for whatever reason.
Luckily for Giyuu, whoever had tried did an awful job. The pieces were still withing the book and with enough time he could probably put it back together.
And now after two days he really needed to find something else to do, this was taking more time that he expected.
That's why he now was training in the back of the Water state.
His uniform was drying in this very moment after being washed for a week of constant use so he had to resort to using another piece of clothing he had lying around.
Of course, even that had it's own inconveniences. As he never bothered to use anything other than his uniform or his sleeping clothes, Tomioka hadn't changes the stuff he had in a few years.
Which is why he now only had one pair of pants that fit and no shirt could do so anymore, specially not now.
He ended up making a solution with some bandages that he wrapped around his entire chest.
At the very least he now had more mobility in his arms so that was good.
"Water breathing Fourth form: Striking Tide" a dummy was torn in half and then in half again from the two consecutive hits.
Normally they wouldn't have broken so cleanly from a wooden sword yet following some of the instructions left behind by other mark bearers had yielded surprisingly good results.
"The grip is an important aspect then" this was the tenth fourth form he had used in this exercise, as per the records, the drive and strength behind the wielding of a blade by the marked ones were one of the main power gap originators back then.
The blade turns red according to the users grip and how it carry their wills into the battle, were more or less the word they used.
This might not be a Nichirin blade Tomioka is holding, but the principle applied to a lesser extent, the grip and will drew strength.
For this body the way to hold it was instinctual.
He thought as to why he could do so. The reason was soon revealed to be that he hadn't been using his sword the way he usually did, but something far more comfortable that he hadn't done in a long time.
Ever since the final selection Giyuu has used Sabito's way of the water breathing rather than his own. Yet it's only with Giyuu's own way of the water that he could use the red blade.
Water breathing is all about being like water and taking the shape of those who use it. Everyone made their own adjustment to the flow of the water…yet he had been imitating someone else's.
Someone who he believed to be better…and that had only held him back. After all this tries, he supposed that continuing Sabito's sword was a damage to his own.
As he was changing the dummy once more Kanzaburo came flying down to his shoulder. "CAW Giyuu, Hashira meeting Tomorrow CAW" at hearing the news, he stopped what he was doing.
"…" he waited for his crow to give him new information, but Kanzaburo looked at him without speaking. "What time Kanzaburo"
His crow closed his eyes and answered with a confident. "Tomorrow"
Giyuu loved his crow he really did…but god didn't he make things hard for him sometimes.
The Hashira sighed, now he needed to get everything he's learnt together for tomorrow.
For the first time in this generations history two Hashira meetings were held in an almost consecutive manner.
All of the higher ranked slayers were already here, waiting for the meeting to begin once again.
This time however, it took place inside rather than on the garden it had last time.
"This is a strange situation" When they had all been alerted of a new meeting it had caught most of them already making their way towards their territory or states.
"I agree my friend, it's unexpected to be required again after only two days" Rengoku agreed with Tengen, this must be a special situation.
"Maybe the demon killed someone already" Iguro offered as a possibility. "We really should have seen it coming"
"You're wrong there Iguro-san, I can confirm that Nezuko has been sleeping ever since her arrival at the butterfly mansion" And just like that one of the possible theories as to what was going on was debunked.
"sleeping? Demons don't need to sleep?"
"From what Kamado-kun and the former water Hashira have seen they believe that this might be how she gains energy Uzui-san"
"The Master has arrived" as if mirroring the precious meeting, the two daughters of the patron introduced the arrival of Ubuyashiki.
And once more all Hashira bowed to the man, saluting him and wishing good health for him.
What they did not expect was to see Tomioka walking from behind him and standing to his left and back.
"My children, as you've seen our Water Hashira has been subject to a forceful transformation into what best could be described as another him" they went directly to the matter at hand, not bothering with pleasantries when they had done this already. "Before our meeting three days ago both Shinobu and Giyuu came to me with information that has guided us toward what might be a great advance for the corps"
He then signaled for the water Hashira to continue. Giyuu didn't like speaking this openly, but there was no escaping it this time, and duty was more important than how comfortable he was.
"From the Sengoku era records we were able to determine why they were known as the best slayers in history" He stopped for a second, concentrated and in a pretty display, the demon slayer mark appeared upon him once more.
He was heating up too, and his heart accelerated "This is the demon slayer mark, a phenomenon that increases the marked one's strength, stamina, speed"
"Oi Tomioka" Uzui interrupted, he was somewhat alarmed by the sounds coming from the guy. "your heart just spiked and it's beating like crazy"
"That is expected" Ubuyashiki intervened too. "from Giyuu's experiences and from the records he told me that both his heartbeat and current temperature are necessary for the mark to appear"
"The heartbeat is at minimum 200 beats per minute, and the temperature is 39 degrees Celsius" Clarified the Water hashira. "I measured them"
"The checkup wasn't wrong then" Kocho murmured to herself. "How can that be, those conditions are fatal"
"Maybe that's the point" It was Tokito who spoke this time "if you survive or not deems you worthy of the mark" for him this was the obvious conclusion.
"So it's that simple then…do we just have to do that to get it?" Sanemi asked, a new way to have strength is always welcomed to fight demons.
"There is more" Giyuu answered. "Marked one can turn their blade's red depending on one's grip on the Nichirin and their strength of will…there is something else it allows, but I'm still piecing the records together"
"Why was the mark never explained before?" what Gyomei pointed out was a good question for everyone, so they focused back onto the two. "Such a thing would have saved our comrades from dying if they had it"
"We had no real knowledge of its existence outside of records and all generations before us and after the first one failed to achieve it" The leader answered, a tone of regret in his voice. "there is also the curse of the mark"
There, Tomioka saw fit to finish the explanation he had been given so he could be excused. "All demon slayers who are marked will die at the age of twenty five" the revelation silenced any word they could have said.
"Tomioka-san you" Kocho was looking at him with pity, they all knew the risk of being a slayer and that they might never return from a mission, but this was a certified death sentence.
"it was believed to not have any exceptions, yet there was one man who overcame it as per what I could restore" Before more concerns were raised Tomioka said something else. "It doesn't say who or why he was different"
"It is in your hands now to work towards the marks now"
-END pt1-
