Chapter 6:repeating patterns

Silence... was the only thing that existed in a traditional Japanese-style room, lacking any type of decoration or lighting except for numerous columns distributed throughout the extensive room. In the middle of the darkness was a man of just over 20 years old, judging by his appearance, sitting serenely, meditating while enjoying the tranquility and peace that sweet isolation gave him. Of course this was something that rarely happened, to the discomfort of the Man.

"KOKUSHIBO!!" exclaimed, a deep voice, completely angry and…scared??

The shrill echo of a rope was heard throughout the room,as soon as Kokushibo, the first upper moon and second most powerful demon, opened his 3 pairs of eyes, the light from the countless rooms of the infinite castle momentarily flooded his vision. As he calmly got used to the change in lighting he could notice that something unusual had happened, considering the urgency with which Muzan had called him specifically and not the rest of the upper moons.In addition to the Demon King's trembling and rigid attitude, which he tried in vain to hide through his majestic and imposing figure and his cold and indifferent gaze, something that would make any demon present tremble... but not him.

"Muzan-sama" the swordsman greeted from the ground, still in the same position he was in a few seconds ago as he watched a man of a similar age to him in an elegant black and white suit.

Muzan, for his part, stared at his second in command while transmitting a series of memories to his companion's brain through the mental link he shared with all his subordinates. Kokushibo was not impressed by the new information received from his master, rather, he was somewhat annoyed because his meditation was interrupted by a simple massacre of a family of peasants,that did not show anything interesting, from his point of view.

The mother's scream of horror as she watched her youngest daughter brutally stabbed through the chest and then cut in half for daring to touch him, the baby's cry as the eldest daughter tried to push her mother away from the house and 2 older boys grabbing a pair of sickles and axes to try and defend the remaining family members. One's arm was cut off in an instant...

...and then he saw with his eyes wide open in disbelief a distinctive crimson flame coming out of the other boy's axe.

His body could not stop shaking, while a huge phantom pain accumulated in his neck, instinctively he covered with his hands the horrible scar that was in that area and inspected it with his fingers, in an attempt to stop the blood that came out of there, just like the Muzan of the memory, who fell to his knees trembling with fear and panic touching the cut he received in his abdomen and that was quickly regenerated, although the feeling of pain was indescribable.

Seeing that the boy with the axe was approaching again, his head was quickly cut off, killing him instantly in front of the other children who remained in front. Unable to move yet, he could only watch as the older girl quickly approached with the sickles and threw them at him, who only received them without receiving any damage, although he still remained in that attack of fear and panic, unaware of the outside world. Only the sensation of pain in his neck made him finally react when he realized that the girl was using her nails from his thin fingers and small teeth to try to tear his throat, causing little more than a small wound, but which bled profusely from the girl's mouth. Seeing the situation, Kokushivo could feel his master's anger and quickly dismembered the girl and the child who were nearby with an expression of pain and surprise and headed towards the mother, who remained motionless still in shock from the horrendous image while the baby, now in her arms, continued to cry in terror trying to beg his mother to flee.

They received the same fate as the rest of the family.

Kokushivo never thought he would see the flames of the Sun Breathing again, especially since that technique died with his brother more than 400 years ago, a technique that he had wished with all his being to be able to perform successfully, a technique that he practiced until his bones broke, his muscles burned and his body fell unconscious.

A technique that he failed to learn, a technique that died centuries ago, but that a child was able to bring back.

"That disgusting brat" he thought with an enormous anger growing inside him.

"How is this possible?!!" said the first upper moon after a long moment of silence, his eyes staring at Muzan demanding answers, something that greatly angered the demon king, summoning his demonic aura with which he used to oppress his subordinates, but Kokushibo's own anger made this nothing compared to the feeling of humiliation he felt for being surpassed by a mere child.

"mind your manners Kokushibo!! As for why a family of peasants I met by chance ended up having the power of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, I was hoping you could answer those questions for me." Muzan accused in an angry tone while hiding his demonic aura,which seemed to have no effect, to his great frustration.

Kokushibo was finally able to calm his anger and return to his usual stoic expression as he searched his memory for a possible explanation for this event. Much of his memory had been lost over time, but the memories he had with his brother remained engraved in his consciousness, as a constant and cruel reminder of his inferiority compared to the innate talent of his deceased younger brother.

"He never said anything about a wife or children, he had one before being a demon slayer but she was killed by a demon along with her unborn child."

"And what about his life after his expulsion?" He asked quite annoyed. Kokushibo just denied.

"I don't know, I didn't see him again until he was nothing more than an old man in his last moments of life" the memory of how he was easily defeated was something that caused him anger and shame as well as sadness and pain for the scar on his neck still present after so long.

"this is heartbreaking."

Those were his last words, even on his deathbed, he never saw him as a threat and was about to end his life. He hated him, he hated him deeply, he hated him for his ability to learn in seconds what cost him years, he hated that he never tried hard when he tried to surpass him, he hated him because he never took advantage of the gift that he himself would have wanted to become the strongest, he hated him because he was always by his side with his constant impassive and empty expressions, which made him seem like everyone was inferior beings in front of him, he hated him for the enormous sadness and confusion he felt when he saw his lifeless body, he hated him because he forced him to bury him and mourn his loss.

Kokushivo hated Yoriichi Tsugikuni with all his being and everything related to him.

"But yet you keep that flute that Michikatsu gave him Yoriichi and that he himself treasured so much"

The statement made Kokushivo's heart roar again with anger and confusion.

Muzan could only let his anger explode at the lack of relevant information while he grabbed Kokushibo's neck tightly with one of his tentacles "Then you have only been useless and incompetent in the mission to kill any demon slayer with black swords"

The demon could only angrily observe the humiliation of being attacked without being able to defend himself "You shouldn't fear someone who is already dead, surely it was just a coincidence, one that was already destroyed before becoming a serious threat"

"Are you calling me a coward???!!!" He asked with increasing anger, to which the swordsman only decided to remain silent to make clear and at the same time not his answer.

Muzan fed up with the lack of response threw Kokushibo with force Kokushibo, who elegantly landed on the ground without problem "At nightfall you will go back to that house, look for any trace of survivors and finish off the surrounding villages just in case there are more of those pests, understood??"The demon only nodded at the order, and then after hearing the sound of a rope, he was teleported to the place where he was before the private meeting with Kibutsuji.

In the middle of the darkness, he could only remember with anger and frustration the attempts at solar cuts that the two older child tried to perform to protect the younger ones and the mother of the family. He could not believe that somehow, Yoriichi was able to preserve his own techniques and now it seemed that they were about to re-emerge if it had not been for Muzan's intervention. But how? And why could those children invoke that power that he so desired with all his soul and that he could never achieve it.

"What do those brats have that I lack!!??" He thought helplessly at the humiliation of being surpassed by some children.

He was going to tear apart the remains of that family once he has killed all the villagers in the towns.

Pain, rage, frustration, anguish, guilt, despair… Tanjirou's mind was clouded by shock and the negative emotions he felt, unable to think or process anything of what was happening, preventing him from distinguishing nightmares from reality, old painful memories intertwined with the grotesque images that his eyes couldn't stop observing, engraving them deep within his soul.

The house was destroyed, there was a large dent next to the door… perhaps it was the door itself that was shattered with scratch and scrape marks? Small rivers of blood came out of the opening covering the fresh snow, or perhaps it was the huge pool of blood that was at the entrance of the house that stained the white ground outside.

In any case, Yoriichi could only move slowly, barely aware of the movement, hoping with deep fear that his beloved wife was not the origin of such a horrible scene, but why would he enter? Why hold on to a thread of hope when the great catastrophe is ahead of him? Why would Tanjirou come in when the corpses of his family were scattered all over the courtyard of the house? He didn't know how or when, but in a small flash of recognition, he was right in front of his mother….No, it was Uta's body, his mother died of an illness, not murdered in a grotesque way. Yoriichi saw her lying on the side of the room, her abdomen and chest completely open, noticeable bite marks and several limbs scattered around the place, although they could not be hers, since her arms and legs were together, no, those remains of different sizes were those of her younger brothers, the horrible wounds on the neck and chest of each of them indicated, to Tanjirou's even greater misfortune, that they had a slow and painful death.

The lifeless looks in each of them destroyed the soul of the surviving kamado, so young and with so much to live, but their lives were taken unfairly, although, at least they were able to live. Yorichii could see deep in Uta's abdomen the tiny body of his unborn son, completely intact but with eyes just as cold as those of his mother. He knew that fetuses in advanced formation could survive the death of the mother if they were treated quickly, perhaps if he had arrived earlier he could have achieved the miracle of saving him? The warmth of their blood indicated that his family had been killed very recently, considering the cold that was characteristic of winter, this only made the guilt in his heart.

He carefully brought the remains of his family to where his mother was. Yorichii cradled the remains of Uta and his son in his lap as he brought them close to his chest. Tanjirou hugged his mother and brothers in his arms, trying to encompass them all with his arms. He wanted to feel the warmth of his wife, he wanted to feel the warmth of his mother, he wanted to notice the soft heartbeat of his son, he wanted to hear the small breaths of his brothers.

But all they got was silence and cold.

He wanted to cry until his eyes were so dry that they would leave him completely blind, he wanted to scream until his throat bled and left him mute, he desperately wanted to release all this pain that he felt deep in his soul.Both the pain kept deep in the memories of Uta's death, and the pain of the present for the death of his mother and siblings.

Throughout his life he has been compared or even named as a spirit for his great wisdom and reassuring but at the same time prominent presence, which could bring peace and protection to any place he went. The truth is that he only brought disaster and destruction for not being able to protect his loved ones nor fulfill the destiny that was entrusted to him, despite knowing the power with which he was blessed and that no matter how hard he tried, he could never exploit it and use it properly as his brother would have done. He had no wisdom because he did not know how to express his emotions properly.

So many times he wished he could have expressed to his beloved the deep love he felt for her, so many gestures, gifts and details that he wished he could have done to be able to see Uta's bright smile, which warmed his chest, so many plans he had to be able to see his small but beautiful family prosper and grow old with a full and loving life. But with each gesture and detail, he could only thank with a small smile. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed that his body or his mind prevented him from fulfilling the wishes of his soul.

If he had at least expressed his love, perhaps Uta would have asked him to stay with her that day.

So many times he had wished he could have expressed his deep admiration, so many times he had wished he could ask him to train together, so many times he wished he could ask him to teach him his techniques. But in the end, he could not express such emotions with him either, like when they were children, so the only thing he could do was stay by his side as a way of expressing all the affection and resemblance he had for Michikatsu, just as he had told him in the past that he wanted.

"Then you will be the best Samurai in the world and I will be the second best Samurai."

If he had been able to express his great admiration and idolatry, perhaps he would never have become a demon.

When he was reincarnated, he discovered that that barrier was gone, Tanjirou could express his emotions freely, as Yoriichi had always longed for. He could laugh as easily as he cried, he could calm down as easily as he got angry. He could say every day at all hours how much he loved his family and the fact of expressing it, only made that love greater and that was what gave him the strength to face the upper moon 2, He loved them and they made him very happy, and that is why he swore to become strong to protect them.

But in the end, events repeat themselves and there he was, hugging the remains of his loved ones, unable to shed a single tear for them. He could be like this for several days, in fact, the last time this happened was for 3 days, not caring at all about the putrid smell that the body began to produce, but a demon slayer was the one who interrupted his mourning.

"Will even that be repeated??" the redhead asked with deep sadness.

A slight movement took him out of his thoughts, incredulously he saw one of the bodies begin to tremble slightly, as if it were breathing. He carefully moved aside the remains of his family and carried to the far side the body responsible for the strange stimulus. It was Nezuko, he had promised her that he would return at night, but he could never do it in time and now there was only her body left with only one arm, her abdomen was pierced, leaving her organs scattered on the ground, her throat was cut and her beautiful face now had several deep cuts, leaving the bone on her right side completely exposed and without one of her eyes. It hurt him enormously to see a girl so beautiful and with such a warm heart as his sister with a fate as tragic as the current one, especially when her only eye gave him a deep cold look and her disfigured nose made enormous efforts to breathe.

"Hold on..." Tanjirou thought very confused when he saw the movement of his nose.

Suddenly, Nezuko's body lunged at Tanjirou with great force, quickly trying to get closer to him, however, the swordsman was much faster and threw the body into the forest while he quickly got up, wondering what had happened. No more than a couple of seconds passed when a huge female figure lunged at him again, catching him by the enormous surprise of seeing who it was. Nezuko now had her entire body completely healthy, in addition to having the appearance of a large adult woman, causing her already worn kimono to tear even more due to the difference in size, leaving many holes everywhere.The legs of both were tangled preventing them from being used, the woman's chest pressed tightly against his redhead in an attempt to exert great pressure that would not let her breathe, while the redhead grabbed Nezuko's hands tightly to prevent any attack with her long nails, finally the head of the brunette tried to attack with her sharp teeth to the neck of her opponent to give her a big bite, but the arms of the Kamado exerted all the force they could to relieve the weight that was on top of his body and keep his sister's head away from him. Immediately Tanjirou could see her eyes, before pink and now crimson red identical to his own, in addition to seeing a peculiar shape in her pupils and perceiving a smell identical to the one that surrounded the place.

Nezuko Kamado is now a demon.

The statement made Tanjirou feel a knot in his stomach for the cruel fate of his sister, he could not believe that she had become a monster like Muzan. He quickly moved Nezuko to the right and pushed her lightly so he could get away far enough and take out his Nichirin.The demon was about to attack, but a smell made her gaze quickly turn to the bodies of the Kamados and she quickly launched herself against them. Tanjirou reacted quickly using total concentration breathing to propel himself and launch a strong headbutt against her, sending her far away from the place while he followed her.

When the black-haired girl recovered from the blow, she saw the Hanafuda earrings swordsman approaching and turned against him with great ferocity, but the kamado was much faster and dodged the attacks with ease while he lured her to a clearing away from anyone. Once there, Tanjirou prepared to get into a combat position to begin his attack, he knew that as much as he wanted it, there was no other option, he had to free his sister from the curse and he could only do it one way. His heart broke at the fact of having to cut off his own sister's head. He quickly launched into the attack, while the demon did the same, she quickly launched a series of scratches and bites that the boy easily dodged, throwing a headbutt that left her stunned, causing the swordsman to get behind her

"It's time..." he thought grimly "Mizu no Kokyu: Minamo Giri" the Nichirin began to generate a large current of water that enveloped the Katana, going quickly in the direction of the demon's neck.

She could only turn to see how the Katana approached directly to end her life, her crimson eyes full of fear connected with the crimson eyes of her brother who only looked with deep sadness into the eyes of his sister unable to see the sword. Nezuko could already feel the burning metal on her skin and the water currents wrapping around her neck ready to catch her, she closed her eyes, accepting her end at that moment.

"It doesn't matter about the money, just come back with us, come back with me,please."

The only thing that was heard at that moment was just the sound of something falling against the snow.

"I can't!! I can't do it!!" Tanjirou's arm was bleeding deeply from the cut he had blocked with his right arm, standing between the weapon and his sister, tears falling from his crimson eyes from the pain, sadness and shame of what he was about to do, his Nichirin lying to one side with the Kamado's blood adorning the blade.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for not coming that night, I'm so sorry for not keeping the promise, I'm so sorry for not being able to protect them, I'm so sorry for being so weak, I'm so sorry for trying to kill you, I can't, I can't cut your throat, I love you, I love you too much, I'd rather die than stain my hands with the blood of my family!!" The redhead's body began to tremble as he fell to his knees, his breathing was very accelerated and his eyes were clouded with tears.

Just like that time in his previous life, doubt flooded his mind again and he couldn't finish his fight either. Sister, just like what happened with his brother, it was too cruel to point a gun at your own family, especially when they hadn't done anything to even justify it. He could finally express all the sadness and pain with tears, heartbreaking screams and apologies that he had so longed for before. He could finally let go of a little of the weight of the loss of his entire current and former family, he could feel more relieved and lighter, he could express his feelings as he so desired. How ironic it would be when his demon sister has him at her mercy, defenseless and without any weapon,just as it happened on the last day of his life

"Although I can actually escape, I'm still faster, if I can't kill her, at least I won't let her kill anyone."

Pale arms that wrapped around his neck gave him a chill, taking him out of his thoughts. He could see a thin figure of the same size as him pressed against his body, he could feel her labored breathing and the wet tears on his neck, as well as her long, beautiful black hair covering most of his vision."I-I k-knew it…I k-knew that t-that y-you w-wo-uld com-come back…w-with us, w-with me-me…"

Nezuko said with great difficulty as she clung with all her might to her brother's warm body while large amounts of tears flowed down her pink eyes. Tanjirou could only respond by hugging her with all his strength while letting his tears flow freely down his cheeks

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry to be so late but now we will always be together my little Nezuko, I will not separate from you and I promise I will become stronger to protect you" said the swordsman as he happily comforted his sister, who now only stood calmly by his side, despite being a demon and having her clothes and body covered in blood.

He had never seen a demon that did not attack a human, but there she was, Nezuko Kamado, the demon with a human heart. Without a doubt she was special and that is why he had to do everything possible to take care of her and perhaps find a way to reverse Muzan's curse and turn her into a complete human, be it with an antidote or even using the Hinokami Kagura to purify her.

Whatever it was, everything was now much better with his little miracle with him.

But..

"Look out!!" Tanjirou quickly jumped back with Nezuko still attached to his body, dodging the movement of a sword that was headed towards them.

The impact caused a smoke screen that prevented him from seeing the attacker, so the redhead quickly took advantage to separate from his sister and stand in front of her. When the smoke cleared he could see the cause of everything. It was a boy of around 11 years old, with black hair with cyan tips, long to the lower back, and eyes of the same cyan color as his hair and a small figure that was hidden in the loose uniform he wore, which was a Demon slayer uniform.

Tanjirou did not expect that if everything was going to be the same, the swordsman who found him would arrive so quickly. He tried to speak but before, he launched himself directly at both brothers, Tanjirou pushed his sister and dodged the quick cut that was headed for Nezuko's neck.The swordsman quickly moved to kill her but the Kamado grabbed him by the uniform jacket and pulled hard to punch him in the stomach, causing the enemy to release the air from his body, followed by a strong headbutt on his head, causing a small bleeding in his nose and a state of dizziness.

The Kamado took the opportunity and grabbed Nezuko by the hand to approach his Nichirin and run away, however, his sense of smell perceived someone approaching and he got behind his sister to block the attack with fire breathing and cause distance between the 3.

"Nezuko, hold on to my sword and don't separate from me at any time" The demon nodded and began to get smaller until she was barely a 3-year-old girl, to the enormous surprise of the elder Kamado.

Tanjirou knelt down and let his sister settle down and cling to his back."The demon slayer is too fast to escape, and leaving Nezuko far away was not an option either, who knows if in a moment of carelessness, he can get close and kill her" He observed the deteriorated state from his Nichirin "a frontal attack is not an option either, so the only thing left to do is to dodge until he is incapacitated." He watched the snow fall from the cloudy winter sky "It must also be fast, if the sun comes out, there will be nothing I can do to save her." With a plan in mind, the redhead got into a combat stance while waiting for the swordsman's attack, who now seemed to be analyzing his opponent in search of any weakness.

Until finally both of them launched themselves into combat with their breathing techniques activated and the determination to win this duel for the life of the demon Kamado.

A/N:aaaaahhhhh!! finally sun and moon are reunited!! And instead of being embraced by the reunion, they dedicate themselves to fighting and cutting each other's throats!!!HA!! Typical of the Tsugikuni!! Anyway, this turned out longer than I thought, I mean, I wanted it to be longer, because I'm trying to make the chapters more detailed but it would be too much if I include the entire Muichiro and Tanjirou fight directly in this episode but I decided to better leave this little preview before the confrontation between these two, although given the conditions it won't be as long as Douma's. By the way, if you were confused about the part where Tanjirou goes with the remains of the family and suddenly Uta and Yoriichi are mentioned, it's because the Kamado is alternating between what he was seeing at that moment and the memories he had that day due to the same situation, temporarily forgetting reality because he is focused on the memory (Yoriichi), if it is not very understandable, sorry for that, I tried to do something to express that and it occurred to me that way.

Now, the good oblivion pillar is not our dear depressive pillar, he will not forgive the life of a demon just because it did not attack a human, no, red sun is in serious danger of becoming a black hole, so what will happen??I leave that to the reader's imagination and time, when the next chapter is ready!! Without further ado.

Thanks for reading :)