As Tanjiro did his chores, he thought about the Demon that was here. He hadn't gotten any details about it yet, and his Siblings hadn't sensed anything either. 'That means it's used to hiding, possibly having decades of experience. Is this Demon an Upper Rank? No, I can't jump to conclusions without more information' he thought. Finally, he was finished for the day. "I wonder how Takeo and Hanako are doing? I should go check on them." He headed to his room, noticing someone following him.
"I know you're there. Come out please" Tanjiro called. A little girl, one of the Oiran's assistants stepped out from behind the wall. "Oh, it's you. What was your name?" Tanjiro asked as he knelt down in front of her. "My name is Fumi" the child replied. "Fumi. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Oiran Koinatsu?" Tanjiro asked. She's sleeping until tonight when she has to work" Fumi explained. Tanjiro sniffed the little girl's scent. 'She smells pure. Maybe I can trust her' he thought.
"Hey Fumi. Can you keep a secret?" he asked. The little girl lit up, "yes!" she said firmly. Tanjiro let Fumi into his room. "Why is it so dark?" she asked. "It's because my Siblings can't go out in the sunlight." Tanjiro replied. Fumi made a confused noise. "Hey, are either of you awake?" he asked softly. Hanako opened the door and crawled out of her box. The 9-year-old Demon girl blinked her bright red eyes, smiling up at her Older Brother. She grew to her normal size and moved to hug Tanjiro.
"Hey Hanako. I want to introduce you to someone," he gestured to the human child, "this is Fumi. She is human, so be gentle with her, okay?" he asked. Fumi looked at the older girl, as Hanako smiled at her, showing off her sharp fangs. The younger girl flinched at the sight, but the black and pink-haired Demon simply looked at her, before sitting on the floor. Fumi calmed down at the non-aggressive action, "she's cute Tanjiro" she said with a small smile. "She is, isn't she? All of my younger Siblings are cute!" he replied happily. "Not cute!" Takeo huffed from where he still sat inside the box.
Fumi jumped at the voice. "Takeo, do you want to come out and meet Fumi?" Tanjiro asked. "No!" the younger Demon boy snapped. "Eh heh, sorry Fumi. He's not very sociable" Tanjiro replied. "Why are your Siblings like this?" the little girl asked. Tanjiro gained a sad look, "they were changed by an evil man, along with the rest of my family. I'm trying to turn them back into humans" he explained. "I know you will!" Fumi exclaimed. "Thank you, that means a lot" Tanjiro replied.
"I promise not to tell anyone that your Siblings are here." Fumi said seriously. She left the room after that, waving to Hanako as she went. Tanjiro smiled, "well, that was a nice surprise. So, how about I read to you now Hanako?" he asked. His baby Sister nodded excitedly. Tanjiro laughed and went to find a story she'd like, "okay, I'm looking for a book right now" he replied.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
Soon Tanjiro was reading a story to Hanako. The little Demon girl had her head in his lap, looking up at him with wide, excited red eyes. Tanjiro smiled down at his baby Sister, stroking her hair. Takeo was asleep. Once he finished, Tanjiro stood up, "okay, I have to meet up with Tengen to give him my report. Are you okay to wait here, and be really quiet Hanako?" he asked.
Hanako nodded and crawled under his Futon, making her Older Brother smile. Tanjiro looked up at the box Takeo was still in, glad that his little Bother was sleeping so well. He then quietly slipped out of the building to go meet Tengen.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
"So, you're finally here!" the Sound Hashira said, crouching on a rooftop. "Sorry, I was spending some time with my Siblings. I did find out that Miss Suma apparently left a letter about running away with a man, but we can easily brush that off as fabricated" Tanjiro reported. "Obviously. My Wives and I are happily married. Have you found anything else out?" the other Hashira asked. Tanjiro shook his head, "not yet, but I did ask" he replied.
Tengen crossed his arms in thought, "I see. I've been investigating the other two Houses as well, but I haven't found anything yet. I think this Demon is an Upper Rank" he said. Tanjiro nodded, "most likely. Also, since it's trying so hard to hide, I don't think it could be a very high Rank either. I mean, anything above Upper 6 wouldn't have to hide, right?" he asked.
"Heh, and here I wasn't expecting you to be that smart!" Tengen laughed. "Hey, I'm not dumb!" Tanjiro replied, offended. "No, but you didn't know Demon's existed until 2 years ago, right? you lived in the mountains or something!" the other Hashira replied. "I was a Charcoal Burner before I became a Demon Slayer" the Oldest Kamado Son said. "That is a pretty flashy job alright, but not as much as your job now, right?" Tengen replied.
"Honestly I wish I could go back to that life. That my family were still humans and Demon's really were just a myth," Tanjiro clenched his fists, "but I can't go back to that as long as Muzan is alive and my family are Demons. One day we will though. We'll go back to our calm, peaceful life together. And this time I'll be able to protect all of them!" Tanjiro swore. "Hah! An unflashy dream, but I respect it! I'll help make sure you can have it and do everything I can as the Sound Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps!" Tanjiro looked up at the white-haired man.
At first, it was easy to see all of the Hashira as unfeeling killers. But that wasn't the case. They genuinely wanted to protect humanity, and make sure everyone could live safe, peaceful lives without Demons. Just like he did. After that they relayed more information, before the Sound Hashira diverted the conversation, "how are your Siblings? Not causing any trouble, are they?" Tanjiro frowned slightly, "not at all. Takeo doesn't like being in the box, but he'll put up with it. And Hanako is fine" he replied.
The white-haired man didn't speak for a moment, just staring at him. Then he nodded, "make sure they stay that way. Anyway, you'd better get back. Nighttime is busy in this District" Tengen replied, standing up, "keep doing what you've been doing Kamado". Then the other Hashira vanished without a sound. Tanjiro nodded to himself and stood up, "right".
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
A month passed quietly, Tanjiro took Takeo and Hanako out at night as they searched for traces of the Demon. They didn't find anything for nearly the whole month, before one night, Tanjiro suddenly smelled something sweet. His younger Siblings started growling, and he tensed. He gripped his Sword tightly. "Let's go!" Tanjiro said softly, the three leaping away. The Siblings raced through the streets, taking back alley's to avoid people.
'I hope Tengen can get all those people out of here before they get hurt' Tanjiro thought. As they headed towards the Demon's scent, Tanjiro realised something "wait, the scent is back at-" that was when they burst onto the scene of a black-haired Demon woman absorbing Koinatstsu into her Obi. Tanjiro drew his Sword, preparing to fight. Takeo and Hanako got ready as well. "Well, I didn't expect a Demon Slayer to have Demon with him. Anyway, I heard there was a Hashira here" the Demin woman said nonchalantly.
"You're looking at him" Tanjiro replied. Takeo suddenly threw his seeds at the Obi, severing it, as Hanako leapt out and caught the human woman. The black-haired Demon snarled, whipping her Obi out at the younger Demon girl. It sliced through Hanako's chest like a blade, Hanako being forced to throw the slowly reforming Koinatsu to Tanjiro. Hanako slammed onto the ground, her blood splattering everywhere. Tanjiro clutched the Oiran in his arms, as his little Sister pulled herself back together.
"Takeo, take Miss Koinatsu somewhere safe! Now!" he ordered, his little Brother nodding after a moment and taking the unconscious woman from him. By that time, Hanako was back up, and beginning to use her Blood Demon Art. The pink and purple flower grew from her back, and she shot a seed at the female Demon. The Upper Rank scowled and tried to swat it away with her Obi, but the seed buried itself into the fabric-like flesh and began growing. "What the-! Is this plant thing sucking my blood?!" the Demon woman screeched.
More seeds hit her Obi, and flowers began to grow from it. The roots spread live veins on the fabric-like fleash, causing the Obi to flop uselessly to the ground. "Damn you- argh!" the Demon shrieked as Takeo appeared in a flash and punched her into the wall of the building. Tanjiro leapt towards her, and, sucking in a deep breath, used Hinokami Kagura: Setting Sun Transformation. The white and green-haired Demon's head fell to the ground as her body stumbled and collapsed against the wall.
Tanjiro stared down at her, 'that was too easy. Even if I am a Hashira, and she's only Upper 6, that still should have been harder. Something is wrong here' he thought. "THEY CUT MY HEAD OFF! THEY CUT MY HEAD OFF!" The Demon woman shrieked, thrashing and beating anything she could reach with her fists. Takeo and Hanako snarled furiously at her, stepping forwards. Tanjiro readied his Sword, as his Siblings leapt towards their enemy.
"Help me! Big Brother!" she screamed. Tanjiro's eyes widened as he smelled the new Demon before he saw it. "Wait! Stop!" Tanjiro ordered. But it was too late. A large form emerged from the female Demon's neck, and sliced Takeo and Hanako into pieces with two scythes. As they fell to the ground, Tanjiro saw his Siblings veins swelling with purple. 'Poison' Tanjiro grit his teeth angrily. "How dare you hurt my little Sister!" the new Demon said angrily. Tanjiro's eyes widened, 'Sister? These Demon's are Siblings?' he thought.
"Takeo! Hanako!" Tanjiro called worriedly. The new Demon was suddenly right in front of him, swinging one of his Sickles towards his head. Before he could straighten his thoughts enough to dodge, he felt himself get yanked backwards. "Get your head in the Game Kamado! You're a Hashira too!" Tengen snapped, beginning to fight with the new Demon. Tanjiro frowned grimly, moving to join the battle. Slowly, Takeo and Hanako broke down the poison in their bodies.
Their limbs regenerated as the severed ones disintegrated into ashes. They both began to use their Blood Demon Arts again, Hanako running to shoot Tanjiro and Tengen with her pink and black flowers. The Sound Hashira felt extra strength flow through him and grinned, "now that's flashy!" he exclaimed. "Thanks Hanako!" Tanjiro called as his youngest Sister ran by after giving him a flower too. Takeo shot in and dodged the green-haired Demon's attacks, landing blows on him.
"Hah! You think you're real strong, don't you brat?! Try this! Blood Demon Art: Flying Blood Sickles!" he threw his Sickles, which spun around, exuding poisonous blood until they turned into deadly saws. Takeo kicked him away, speeding out of the way of the sickles. Tengen shot in, slicing through the blood blades with explosions coming from his knives. "Kamado!" he called, "they can only be defeated if we behead them at the same time!" "Right!" Tanjiro replied, sucking in a Total-Concentration breath, 'Hinokami Kagura: Solar Heat Haze!' an Obi sliced through his neck, but Tanjiro disappeared.
"What?!" the White and green-haired Demon cried. Tanjiro appeared behind her and swung at her neck. It transformed into an Obi, and Tanjiro found he was unable to cut it. Takeo appeared and kicked her head in the opposite direction, tearing the fabric-like flesh and sending her head flying. "Gyutaro!" the enemy Demon wailed, and the green-haired Demon was suddenly there, aiming to stab Tanjiro through the chest. Takeo spun and kicked him away, growling angrily.
He skidded to a halt and grinned evilly at them. Just then a new voice called out: "hey! What the hell are you doing, fighting in the middle of the street?!" Tanjiro turned to see a man walking out of a building, other people looking out of their own homes and work places to see what was happening. 'Oh no! if people come outside right now, they'll be in more danger!' "You have to run! All of you, get out of the District now!" he ordered. Tengen was busy fighting Gyutaro, and couldn't do anything as the Sister raised her Obi.
"Run now!" Tanjiro yelled frantically. But it was too late. The Obi sliced through every building on the street in a flash, causing them to collapse into rubble. As the sound of screams rang out, and the scent of far too much human blood reached him, Tanjiro could only stare in horror.