"Hey Tanjiro? Are you sure you should bring your family? I mean, some of your Siblings are really young, right?" Zenitsu asked in concern. "Don't worry, all of them are crazy strong. I'll still protect them with everything I have, but I trust my family" Tanjiro reassured. "I don't know, the sounds coming from that mountain are freaking me out" Zenitsu whimpered. "Well I'm not scared! I'm the great Inosuke!" the boar-masked teen cried, before running up the road. Tanjiro pulled his cart behind him, determined to collect blood samples. 'If I get that blood, my family can be cured that much faster!' he thought.
He was stopped by knocks on the boxes. "Huh?" Tanjiro looked back to see his family members getting out. "Oh, you want to walk?" he asked. Kie nodded, carrying Rokuta in her arms. "Okay. But be careful, okay everyone?" the burgundy-haired teen asked.
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As they made their way up the mountain, the Kamado's looked around for any Demon's. "There are definitely Demons here, but the closest one is this way" Tanjiro said. His Mother nodded and they all followed him. 'There are multiple powerful Demons all over the mountain. The best thing to do would probably be to split up into groups, but a part of me still feels nervous about my family being somewhere I can't protect them. I know I should get over this. They're Demon's now, they can't be killed except by sunlight or having their heads cut off by a Nicherin Sword.
But I just can't stand the thought of losing any of them! Not my family. Not after I almost lost them once' Tanjiro thought, conflicted about the idea of his Mother or Siblings getting hurt. "What's this?" Inosuke suddenly asked from next to him. Tanjiro turned to look to see spiderwebs all over the other teen's hands. "Spiderwebs" he muttered. "This place is full of 'em! What a pain!" Inosuke groaned, shaking his hands to try and get the webs off. "Inosuke," Tanjiro began, making the other Demon Slayer turn to him is a defensive pose, "what do you want?!" he demanded. "There are multiple powerful Demons on this mountain. They might be too strong for you. I don't want to see you get badly hurt, so maybe you should head back down. Let us handle this mission" Tanjiro explained, as Nezuko took his hand.
"You think you can scare off the great Inosuke?! Well I'm not scared! No matter how strong the Demon's around here are, they'll be no match for me!" the other teen crowd. "Inosuke, I don't think you understand how strong these Demons are. Maybe they're not as powerful as the Demon King, but they'd all be really strong. I don't want you to get hurt" Tanjiro replied. There was a moment of silence, before the Demon Kamado's started growling, and Tanjiro grabbed the handle of his Sword, "they're here" he said seriously.
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In a clearing on the mountain sat three Demon's. Lower Rank 6, whose name was Kamune and had four tufts of brown hair done up in pig-tails with orange tips, and a green marking on his face, turned to the Demon above him in rank, a pale child-looking Demon named Rui, "weren't there other Demon's on this mountain? You called them your family, or whatever? Why are we the only ones here?" he asked. He wasn't really interested, but after killing all the other weak Demon Slayers who'd been sent to this mountain, he was getting board.
"I sent them away. All of them are far too weak. Since Master Muzn ordered us to work together, I didn't want them getting in the way" Rui said calmly. "Why did Lord Muzan send us here in the first place? Surely he didn't think any of us needed help to take out those weakling's" the scarred Demon that was Lower 3 asked. "Are you questioning our Master?" Rui replied darkly. "N-no! of course not! It just seems like a waste when we could be doing other things to serve him!" "Well, if he wants us here, we'll just have to do our best to live up to the Master's wishes" Kamune said calmly. Suddenly he froze. The other Demon's also shuddered, "what- is that?" Lower 3 asked, as the combined power of several extremely powerful Demons flowed over the mountain.
"Did the Master send an Upper Rank Demon here?" Lower 6 asked. "I doubt he would have done so without telling us" Rui said, as he stood on his webs. "It can't be the Demons we were sent after, right?! That aura- combined it almost feels stronger than-" Wakuruba began in fear, began in fear, before he was suddenly sliced in half. "Don't you dare finish that sentence" Rui hissed furiously, "there is no way these lowlifes are stronger than our Lord" he continued. The weaker Demon pulled himself back together, growling angrily. Wakuruba stepped between them, "right now we aren't supposed to be fighting among each other.
Kamune, if you're still upset at Rui after we've finished here, challenge him to a Blood Battle. But right now we have a job to do. Understood?" he asked. Lower 6, Kamune, growled again in anger, but looked away. "Good. Now, let's get going" Lower Rank 2 ordered.
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Inosuke stared at the Demon Kamado's as they walked through the forest. The children were surrounding them, Demon features fully on display. But there was something about them. Something different from all the other Demon's he'd fought and killed. They acted as a unit, in a way he'd never seen before. And there was something else too. Something about the way they acted around each other and Monjiro. But he couldn't figure out what it was.
These Demon's almost acted like a pack, but it was more than that. It was something that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It confused Inosuke to no end. "Inosuke, the Demons are this way! Let's go" Tanjiro called, snapping the other teen out of his thoughts. 'Wait, since when do I think so much? I just need to kill those other Demon's and show my superiority! Soon I'll be the King of this mountain too!' the Boar-masked teen pulled out his twin swords, running after the pack.
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Tanjiro smelled a Demon. "There!" he cried, as they all stopped in a clearing, where two Demons stood. The first one had pale blue eyes with the Kanji for Lower 6, with the other Demon having Lower 2. Tanjiro clenched the handle of his Sword, 'they really are members of the 12 Kizuki. Lower 6 and Lower 2. I have no doubt my family could take them easily, but I need their blood before they disintegrate' he thought. His family growled furiously at the two enemy Demons. "These are the traitors we were asked to kill? They're brats?!" Lower Rank 2 demanded in offence.
Nezuko leapt forwards and kicked the 12 Kizuki member through several trees. Tanjiro noticed that his little Sister had taken on her more powerful adult form. "Be careful Nezuko! There's not much room here for me to fight if all of you are too" Tanjiro called, running around the edge of the fight to try and find a chance to behead the enemy Demon. Before he could do anything else though, the other Demon, Lower 6, attacked him. Tanjiro managed to roll out of the way, while Shigeru and Hanako both stepped up to fight him. Both lunged at the other Demon, as Shigeru grew spiked bones from his leg and smashed him in the back, while his Older Sister hit Lower 6 with a seed.
Then Shigeru kicked his limp body away again. As Lower 6 tried to get back up, Takeo hit him with a punch that sent him crashing back into another tree. Tanjiro moved to decapitate him then, but then Lower 2 leapt back into the fight, "you damn shits!" he cried furiously. The incapacitated Lower Rank 6 grew the blue flower of Hanako's Blood Demon Art, rendering him unable to get back up. "A Blood Demon Art? But how?! According to the Master they were only created a couple of years ago!" Rokuro groaned. Tanjiro stepped up, 'Water-Breathing, Third Form: Water-' he began to attack, but Rokuta suddenly tackled him to the ground. "Rokuta, what-!" he gasped, before seeing his baby Brother in the dirt, sliced into pieces.
"Rokuta!" Tanjiro cried, moving quickly to push the Demon Toddler back together so he could heal. As he did, the human Kamado looked up at where he could smell the new Demon scent. A pale Demon who looked like a young boy was standing on threads above them. "What are you idiots doing? Stop fooling around" he said. Tanjiro grimaced, he was definitely one of the Lower Ranks as well. As if they weren't having enough trouble with the cramped space the two other Lower Rank Demons. Maybe his family could survive these thicker trees falling on them, but he sure couldn't and if they got trapped under a falling one during the fight, they would be vulnerable.
Rokuta, now fully healed, glared up at the other Demon angrily. Tanjiro and his family formed up, not allowing the enemy Demons out of there sight. 'At least we don't have to worry about finding each of them one by one, or splitting up to search, but this might be worse. Despite being weaker than Muzan, my family was able to gang up on that Bastard before. We can't afford to split up here, especially if the Demon Slayer Corps might send more Swordsmen here'. "How dare you hurt my baby Brother so badly! I don't care if he's a Demon, he's only 3-years-old you monster!" Tanjiro cried furiously. The pale Demon boy's eyes widened at his words, "those Demons- are they- you're family?" he asked shakily.
"So what if they are?!" Tanjiro yelled. The young-looking Demon was silent for a moment, before speaking up, "we have a change of plans you two" Rui said calmly. "What-" Lower 6 asked, before Rui sliced him into pieces himself. Then he used his threads to pull all of the Demon Kamado's into the trees. "Everyone!" Tanjiro yelled, furious and worried. "What the hell are you doing Rui?!" the weaker Demon snarled. "You can kill the human, but I'm taking these Demon's for myself. I'll replace my failure of a family with them. As long as I teach them to behave, I'm sure Master Muzan will agree" Rui replied, walking away. "WAIT!" Tanjiro yelled furiously, trying to follow him, but Lower 2 stepped in his way.
"That damn brat. Just because he's one of the Master's favourites, he thinks he can do whatever he wants" the other Lower Kizuki growled. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Tanjiro yelled in a rage. Without realizing what he was doing, Tanjiro tapped into something long forgotten to him. "Tanjiro. Your breathing. Master your control over it. Then you can become more like Hinokami" his father's voice said in his memory. He sucked in a deep breath, and his blade burst into sunlit flames. 'Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Dance!' he thought. "What-" Lower 2 managed to get out, before Tanjiro sliced his and Lower 6's heads off. Tanjiro quickly took blood samples as the Demon's disintegrated, before running after the final Demon and his family.
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Tanjiro arrived to find his Mother and Siblings tearing apart the pale Demon. And he soon saw why. Rokuta had been cut apart again, and was laying on the forest floor in three pieces. "Oh my God!" Tanjiro cried, moving over to his wailing baby Brother. As strong as he was, he was still just a Toddler, and must be too scared and hurt to heal himself. Tanjiro remembered that during his family's fight with Muzan, the only ones to not get badly hurt were his Mother and Rokuta. This was the first time the baby Demon had been hurt this badly, and twice in a short time at that.
"Oh, oh Rokuta, you're okay. Shh, shh, shh, shh. It's okay. You're okay. Look, you're already all better, see?" Tanjiro asked softly, stroking over the black and dark red-haired Demon's tummy where he'd been cut. Rokuta giggled at the ticklish feeling, slowly calming down. Tanjiro scooped him up into his arms and gently wiped his eyes of tears, before stepping up to where Rui was slowly disintegrating. His family had been furious at the injuries he had inflicted on their youngest member, resulting in Nezuko burning away all of Rui's threads and all of them setting upon him with fury.
His regeneration hadn't been able to keep up, and he was now laying on the forest floor, crying, "I just wanted a family too, was that too much to ask?" he sobbed. Tanjiro knelt down in front of Rui's disintegrating head. The Lower 5 flinched from an expected hit, but opened his eyes when he felt a hand gently patting his head. "I'm sorry. But what you've done is wrong, and I can't forgive you for that. You've taken countless lives. And yet I can tell you're filled with so much sadness and loneliness. I pray that you'll find the happiness you lost in your next life" Tanjiro said softly.
Rui's cries were silenced as his mouth slowly disintegrated, but the tears were still slowly trailing down his face. Tanjiro injected the syringe into the Demon's body, collecting his blood before he fully died. Tanjiro stood and turned as he smelled Chachamaru appear. He put the blood sample in his bag, and bid the cat safe travels. Then he stood up again. However, the smell of Wisteria caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see Takeo dodge out of the way of a stinger-like blade, "oh my, and what do we have here?" a girl wearing a butterfly-patterned Haori stood there with a smile on her face.