Tanjiro stared in horror at his younger Siblings as they lay bisected on the floor, blood pooling around their bodies. He'd seen his family sliced to pieces so many times by now, but it always horrified him to see it, despite knowing that they would be fine and heal quickly. As he thought, Hanako and Shigeru pulled themselves back together and stood up. "Are you both okay?" Tanjiro asked worriedly. "Both, okay" Shigeru replied. Tanjiro drew his Sword, "I won't let you hurt my family! I will defeat you!" he cried. The Demon hit the drum on his left shoulder, and the room suddenly tilted to the left, until the wall was the new floor.
"Woah!" he yelped, falling towards the wall. Hanako and Shigeru landed with a lot more grace than Tanjiro did, but he picked himself up just in time to dodge the three claw marks that almost sliced him apart. "Big Brother!" Shigeru called, knowing that he couldn't risk using his Blood Demon Art with Tanjiro in the line of fire and the Demon's own ability. It would be too dangerous. Hanako might be able to hit him with her seeds, but since the Drum Demon wasn't fighting physically, her flowers were unlikely to do much to him. So were they useless here? Did they come with their Older Brother for nothing?!
"Comin' through!" a voice suddenly yelled, as a shirtless teen wearing the head of a boar on his head smashed through the door to the room. "Demon's here!" the teen said, and Tanjiro suddenly had to block his double, serrated Swords with his own. The apparent Demon Slayer had locked onto Hanako and Shigeru, who were almost fully healed. Then he had lunged at the younger Kamado's. Tanjiro glared at him furiously, "hands off my family!" he yelled, seething, and head-butted the other Demon Slayer.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
The boar-headed Demon Slayer staggered back, before collapsing to the ground. "Die!" the Drum Demon cried, hitting his belly drum again. Hanako grabbed the unconscious teen and dodged the attack. "Keep him safe Hanako!" Tanjiro called, moving forwards, "Water-Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!" he called, moving to decapitate the Drum Demon. He hit another of his drums before Tanjiro could reach him and the room flipped forwards. Tanjiro, Hanako and Shigeru managed to land safely on the wall, but the other Demon Slayer slipped out of Hanako's grasp from the surprise and crashed through a door into the hall.
Before anymore attacks could come, the room suddenly changed three times, before settling. Tanjiro moved to check on his younger Brother and Sister, "are you both okay?" he asked gently. Shigeru covered his mouth again, shuddering, and Hanako buried her face into his Uniform, "the smell is back Big Brother" she whimpered. Tanjiro sniffed the air, "yeah, and from what I can tell the person is close. Hold onto me you two, I'll take a look" he replied reassuringly. The younger Kamado's gripped their Older Brother to keep ahold of themselves as they moved forwards. Finally they reached a door where the scent of blood was coming from.
Tanjiro slid it open. They found a boy wearing an orange Haori kneeling on the floor. The smell was coming from him. The boy saw them and his eyes widened in fear, before he moved to strike a drum in his hand.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
"Wait! It's okay. You don't have to be scared. We're not going to hurt you" Tanjiro said gently, as his Siblings clutched onto the door frame to keep themselves from going after the human boy.
He sheathed his Sword, "My name is Tanjiro Kamado. Your younger Brother and Sister asked me to save you" Tanjiro explained, walking over and kneeling down in front of the boy, "can I see your wounds?" he asked. The boy looked up at him with wide eyes, before he started crying. Tanjiro pulled out the ointment Urokodaki had given him for any wounds he got. "Ta da! A special medicine made by my Master!" he proclaimed.
As Tanjiro rubbed the cream into the wound on the boy's leg, the smell of his blood faded. He heard Hanako and Shigeru sigh in relief from the door, before walking over to them. Upon seeing their Demonic features, the boy flinched in fear. 'It's okay. These are some of my younger Siblings. They won't hurt you. By the way, my name is Tanjiro Kamado. My Brother and Sister here are Shigeru and Hanako. What's your name?" Tanjiro asked, introducing himself and his Siblings to the human boy. "I'm Kyoshi. Are Shoichi and Teruko safe?" the boy, now known as Kyoshi asked, trying to distract himself.
Tanjiro pat him gently on the head with his other hand, "they're both fine Kyoshi. They're waiting for us outside this house" he explained. Kyoshi relaxed considerably, letting out a breath of relief as Tanjiro wrapped a bandage around his leg. "There we go! All done!" he said brightly. Kyoshi moved his leg a bit, "wow. It really does feel better" he said softly. "Are you able to tell me what happened to you Kyoshi?" the Oldest Kamado asked gently. The yellow-eyed boy looked down in fear, "after the monster brought me here, two more of them showed up. They started fighting to the death over who was gonna get to, e-eat me". Kyoshi sobbed
"W-when the one with drums growing out of him was defeated and ran off, he left a drum behind. I picked it up and hit it, and the room changed. That's how I've held out until now!" the boy explained.
Tanjiro nodded, "you did a great job!" he praised. Suddenly Tanjiro smelled another Demon nearby. He turned towards the door, "Hanako, Shigeru, please protect Kyoshi" he ordered seriously. His two younger Siblings stepped up in front of the Older boy. Tanjiro drew his Sword, 'the scent is different. It's not the Drum Demon' he thought to himself. A Demon crawled through the door. "A bunch of kids? I wonder how you'll taste?" he asked.
Kyoshi whimpered, and the two Kamado Demon children growled at the other Demon. The enemy lashed out with his- was that his tongue?! Shigeru reacted first, turning his arm into a bone-whip, and blocking the tongue. "You kids are pretty strong Demons for being so young" the Tongue Demon said, lashing out at them again. But Hanako caught it this time. "H-huh-!" it cried in shock, cut off as the little Demon girl yanked him forwards by his tongue, and Shigeru kicked him into the ground, cracking the wood slightly and causing dust to rain from the ceiling. "Woah!" Kyoshi yelped in surprise at seeing kids younger than him so effortlessly beating the monster.
The Tanjiro raced forwards, 'Water-Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!' he thought, slicing it's head off in a flash. "So fast!' the younger boy said in awe. As the Demon disintegrated, Tanjiro walked back over to Kiyoshi and his Siblings. "Are you okay Kiyoshi?" he asked. "Ah! Y-yes! I'm fine!" the boy replied. "Alright, climb onto my back, I'll carry you" Tanjiro said.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
Tanjiro sniffed the air, "I can smell another Demon, alongside the Drum one. Honestly I wish I could get you out of this house Kiyoshi, but it might take ages to find the exit with the house like this. We'd need to kill the Drum Demon first before we could do that" Tanjiro explained.
"So, what should we do Tanjiro?" Kiyoshi asked worriedly. "I want you to stay with my younger Siblings. That way if any other Demons turn up, they can protect you." Tanjiro turned to his younger Brother and Sister, "Hanako, Shigeru, can you do that for me?" he asked.
Both of the Demon children nodded. Tanjiro smiled gratefully, "great. Thank you both" he said, patting them on their heads. The two made happy noises, glad to have made their Older Brother happy. "Alright, let's keep going" Tanjiro decided.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
Kiyoshi watched the Siblings as he rode on Tanjiro's back. Honestly, he was still a little scared of the two Demon kids, but they hadn't tried to hurt him once, unlike the three that were fighting over him earlier. So he tried to relax a bit. Suddenly Tanjiro gasped, "the other Demon's scent just disappeared. That Boar-headed Demon Slayer must have killed it" he explained. "Only Drum Demon left?" Shigeru asked. "Yes, I can't find any other Demon scents beside his. Remember, I need you two to protect Kiyoshi, Hanako, Shigeru. Also, I know that you can heal yourselves, but please try not to get too badly hurt, okay?" Tanjiro asked worriedly.
"W-we'll be, o-okay" his youngest Sister assured him. Tanjiro nodded gratefully. He stepped up to a door, "he's in here. Ready?" the teen asked everyone. Hanako took the older boy from her Brother, holding him bridal style. Kiyoshi blushed slightly. He knew the pink and black-haired girl was a Demon, but he was still surprised by her strength. Tanjiro slid open the door slowly, looking into the room. The Drum Demon wasn't inside. "Okay, it's clear, let's go" he said, leading the way into the room with his hand on his Sword's handle. Suddenly loud footsteps were heard outside the room, before the other door slid open to reveal the enemy Demon.
Tanjiro drew his Sword while Hanako stayed back and Shigeru stood beside Tanjiro. Kiyoshi clutched onto the Demon girl's Haori in fear. "There you are. Marechi" the Drum Demon said. "Marechi?" Tanjiro muttered. Hadn't Urokodaki told him about that before? Then he remembered:
(Flashback)
"Tanjiro, before you leave, there is something I must warn you about in regards to your family" the older man began. "Alright" Tanjiro replied, listening closely. "Human blood is split into several types, some more rare than others. The rarest kind is called Marechi, and eating a human with this blood type can increase a Demon's strength a hundred-fold" Urokodaki explained. Tanjiro's eyes widened, "really? It gives them that much power?" he asked in surprise.
The adult nodded, "it is also extremely delicious to Demon's, so if you encounter someone with this type of blood, you may have a harder time keeping your Siblings from losing control of themselves. Your Mother I'm not sure about either way though" Urokodaki explained. Tanjiro gained a serious look on his face, "I understand. I trust my Siblings to control themselves, but I'll keep an eye on them if we ever run into a Marechi anyway" he replied.
(End flashback)
'Kyoshi's a Marechi. So that's why Hanako and Shigeru were having a harder time than normal with the smell of his blood' he realised. Tanjiro clenched his hands around his Sword handle, 'weather Kyoshi's a Marechi or not, that doesn't change the fact that he's a child with Siblings of his own to take care of. I won't allow this Demon to kill him!' he thought firmly. "What's your name?!" Tanjiro asked the Drum Demon. "Huh? It's Kyogai" the Drum Demon, now named Kyogai replied in confusion.
"Kyogai. I am not letting you kill this boy! No matter what, I will defeat you and protect him!" Tanjiro swore. Kyogai growled in anger. Then the attacks started up again, the drums sounding out as Kyogai beat the relentlessly. Hanako held tight to Kyoshi, who cried out in fright. Shigeru solved the problem for himself by latching his bone whip around a bookshelf and bracing himself to repeatedly slam into the wall and ceiling. Tanjiro meanwhile was memorising what each drum did. 'I've got the drums memorised. I just have to find an opportunity to strike!' he thought determinedly.
As he fell towards Kyogai after the drum spun the room forwards, Tanjiro tried to strike, but was forced to throw himself to the side as another claw attack struck the wall. "Big Brother!" Shigeru called in worry, still hanging from the bookshelf by his bone whip. Hanako had been forced to leap around the room with the Older boy in her arms. "I'm okay! Just protect Kiyoshi and yourselves!" Tanjiro called. "Watch out!" the young Demon boy cried, managing to snatch his Older Brother out of the way of another attack by turning his other arm into a whip as well. "Thanks Shigeru! You saved me!" the Oldest Kamado replied.
Tanjiro went through all the moves Kyogai had made with his drums, and the corresponding movements of the room. 'Okay, I've got it!' he thought. Tanjiro looked up at his little Brother, "okay Shigeru! You can let me go now!" Tanjiro called. "Alright Tanjiro! Ready?!" The younger Demon boy replied, before releasing his Older Brother from his grasp. What followed was a high-speed battle of dodges, before Tanjiro used the third form of Water-Breathing to finally decapitate Kyogai. As the house stopped moving around, the two young Demons dropped to the floor with Kiyoshi.
"Wow! That was so cool Tanjiro!" Hanako said with a smile. "Thank you Hanako, but before we leave I have to collect some of Kyogai's blood" Tanjiro replied. As he walked over to the decapitated Demon, Tanjiro noticed papers scattered on the floor from a set of draws that had been destroyed by Kyogai's claw attack. He stepped around the instinctively, and Kyogai's head gasped. Tanjiro smelled the Demon's shock and gratitude as he walked up to his body. He used the needle Yushiro had given him to extract blood from Kyogai's disintegrating body.
Soon the needle was full, and Tanjiro pulled it out. There was a meow, and the four of them turned to see a cat emerge from thin air. "Did that cat appear out of nowhere?" Kiyoshi asked in confusion. "Kitty!" Hanako squealed, moving to stroke the cat happily. "Remember to be gentle Hanako, you don't want to hurt the cat" Tanjiro reminded her.
"I will!" his youngest Sister replied. After a few minutes of Hanako stroking the cat, Tanjiro put the blood into the bag on it's back, "okay, be safe now" he said. The cat walked away, before disappearing. "Ooh! It disappeared!" Shigeru said excitedly. Tanjiro stood back up and turned to his Siblings and Kyoshi, "alright. Let's get going everyone" he said with a smile.
ĐŚ·ĂÙ
Soon they'd returned to the front door, which was easier to find now without Kyogai changing all the rooms. Before Tanjiro could speak up, he suddenly paled, 'I can smell blood. What's happening?' he wondered. Tanjiro also heard yelling on the other side of the door, and quickly opened it. He saw Zenitsu shielding his family's boxes from the boar-masked Demon Slayer who'd turned up before.
His blood was splattered on the dirt, and he could hear his family growling from inside their boxes. "If you're not gonna fight, then get the hell outta my way! All those boxes have Demons in them you idiot!" the boar-masked teen demanded. As Hanako and Shigeru snarled beside him, their veins bulging, Tanjiro quickly rushed out of the shade and threw the other Demon Slayer away from Zenitsu and his family.
"What are you doing?! Don't you know we aren't supposed to fight each other?!" Tanjiro yelled angrily. "Who the hell are you?" the other boy growled. "My name is Tanjiro Kamado, and I won't let you hurt Zenitsu or my family again!" the burgundy-haired teen cried.