"If you two won't become Demon's, then I'll have to kill you for Lord Muzan," Akaza said with a smile. "I will not allow that!" Kyojuro replied. The Upper 3 stomped his foot, and something appeared on the ground around him, glowing red, then blue. He shot forwards faster than Tanjiro could fully see. Takeo tackled his Older Brother out of the way. "Thanks Takeo!" Tanjiro said gratefully. 'I may be a Hashira, but I think he's still out of my league right now!' he thought angrily at himself.
Nezuko jumped in and kicked one of Akaza's arms off. Kyojuro raced towards the enemy Demon and attempted to decapitate him. "You're strong!" Akaza said, impressed at Nezuko's strength. He was knocked backwards into the nearby forest. "I have to rejoin the fight!" Tanjiro ground out, running towards where the other Hashira and his Siblings were fighting. Rokuta suddenly jumped onto his Oldest Brother's back. "Thanks for the help Rokuta!" Tanjiro called.
His Baby Brother gripped onto his Haori. "What can the little one do?!" Akaza asked in excitement as jumped towards them from the trees. "Destructive Death: Air-Type!" he called, sending punches of energy towards the Brother's. Rokuta blocked the attacks and formed, what Tanjiro had decided to call his 'Reflection Ball'. Rokuta shot it back at the Upper Rank 3. Akaza kicked it away, sending the attack into the distance and losing the leg he'd deflected it with at the same time.
He flipped backwards, "woah! That's one strong Blood Demon Art! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Akaza laughed, elated. Nezuko sent a flaming kick at him while he was distracted. "Ow!" he yelped, as her flames spread over his body from where she'd kicked him. Kyojuro raced forwards, "Flame-Breathing, Third Form: Blazing Universe!" he cried, attempting to cut off Akaza's head with a diagonal slash. The 12 Kizuki tried to punch the blade away, but Takeo moved to attack at the same time. Takeo kicked the arm away, and Tanjiro moved to decapitate the enemy Demon. But Akaza blocked the blade with his other arm and punched a hole through Takeo's chest.
Tanjiro flinched, but his little Brother started landing sure fast punches and kicks on the pink-haired Demon as he healed. Akaza tried to decapitate Tako to slow him down, but Nezuko appeared behind him and smashed his head with a kick. Tanjiro grabbed their Brother and jumped back. As the Upper 3 regrew his head, Nezuko jumped over to Kyojuro and set his Sword on fire.
"Flame-Breathing: First Form: Unknowing Fire!" the Flame Hashira cried, slicing through the Demon's neck, just as his head was half regrown. There was a moment of silence, before the flames went out, and the body just stood there. "Um, why isn't he disintegrating?" Tanjiro asked uneasily, sniffing the air. Something was happening inside that Demon's body. The flesh of Akaza's neck suddenly pulsed like a heart. Tanjiro and Kyojuro gaped, and the Demon Kamado's tensed.
Then the head started regrowing. "That's not possible!" the Flame Hashira gasped. They watched the head finish reforming, and Rokuta formed his attack again. But Shoji doors suddenly opened up underneath the Upper Rank Demon, and he dropped out of sight. "Wait!" Tanjiro yelled after him, but the door slid shut and faded away just Tanjiro reached him. There was a moment of tense silence, before Takeo snarled angrily. "Yeah, that's how I feel" Tanjiro replied, easily deciphering his younger Brother's emotions, even without being able to smell them.
"Well! Upper 3 may have gotten away, but we did nearly defeat him! And we're both alive! I'd say that counts for a lot against the fourth strongest Demon!" Kyojuro said with a relieved sigh. Tanjiro moved to check on his Siblings for injuries, but all three of them stiffened, the scent of petrified terror emanating from them. Then the three Demon Kamado's scrambled madly for their box, Nezuko and Takeo shrinking as they did. They leapt inside and slammed the door just as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon.
Tanjiro let out a breath and shuddered. He hadn't even realised the time. It was so lucky his family had good senses for the sunlight, otherwise he might have lost all three of them. "Now that that's over with, shall we proceed to the Wisteria House? We need to send reports to the Master about this Mission! And we need to rest!" Kyojuro decided. Tanjiro nodded, and touched his box, "thank you all for your help you three. Get some good sleep, okay? You all deserve it" he said, before they began walking again.
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They travelled until midday, finally reaching the Wisteria House. Nezuko, Takeo and Rokuta were sound asleep in matching Futon's in Tanjiro's bedroom. He made sure the windows and curtains were shut and lit a candle. 'I should get this done and then I can collapse in bed too' he thought to himself. He wrote about how they defeated Lower Rank 1, and were on their way to the Wisteria House, when Upper Rank 3 attacked them. He detailed the battle, as well as his Brother's and Sister's contributions, before describing how Akaza regrew his head after it was cut off.
'I don't have a good feeling about this Sir. Regards, Tanjiro Kamado.' He signed off and called his Crow to take the letter. Tanjiro watched it go, and hoped the rest of his family wouldn't worry about them too much. He moved to get some rest. It had been a long night.
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Soon after that, Tanjiro went to sleep with Nezuko, Takeo and Rokuta. He groaned in his sleep. Tanjiro was having nightmares about what he experienced while fighting Lower 1. He'd already had enough nightmares about that night where his family hadn't woken up. But these nightmares felt more real than any others he'd ever had. The scent of death was burned into his nose. Waking up, the young Hashira left the Wisteria Houe, sitting in the cold night air.
Tanjiro let out a breath, trying to ground himself. But the images were burned into his mind. He wrapped his arms around himself, 'it didn't happen. It didn't happen. They're all okay. It wasn't real!' Tanjiro tried to shake the thoughts out. The sound of the door behind him sliding open caused him to snap his gaze behind him. Nezuko stepped out of the house. "Nezuko. Why are you awake?" Tanjiro asked. His little Sister ignored his question, and knelt down in front of him. She gently brushed her hand against his face, and it cam away wet.
Tanjiro startled, not having realised he'd been crying. He wiped his eyes, "sorry Nezuko, sorry. I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you" Tanjiro said quickly. His younger Sister grabbed his hand, making Tanjiro pause in confusion. She gently wrapped her arms around her Older Brother, holding him close to her. Tanjiro sniffed, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably now. He clutched onto Nezuko and sobbed in relief. The fact that his family was alive and with him was something he would never stop being grateful for.
He didn't know what he'd have done if any of them had died, much less all of them. Tanjiro spent hours just hugging Nezuko and crying. Nezuko silently played with his long hair. Finally, he calmed down enough to stop crying. "Thank you Nezuko. Thank you so much for being alive" he said. The two Kamado Siblings stayed there until Nezuko began to fall asleep. Tanjiro took her back inside. This time he was able to sleep, with his Brother's and Sister around him.
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A couple of days later, the Kamado's and Kyojuro arrived back at the Butterfly Mansion. From there, Kakushi took them to their separate destinations. Tanjiro sighed once he was inside the Love Estate. He thanked the man who had guided him, then headed inside to see the rest of their family. Rokuta ran down the hallway excitedly. Tanjiro chuckled, as he, Takeo and Nezuko followed the little Demon at a slower pace. Kie came to meet them, scooped up Rokuta, kissed Nezuko on the head, patted Takeo's head and hugged Tanjiro.
"W-w-welcome" Kie stammered with a warm smile. Tanjiro hugged his Mother back, "it's good to be back Mom" he replied. As they walked into their room, Hanako and Shigeru barrelled into him with twin excited cries of: "Tan!" Tanjiro finally relaxed, knowing that all of his family were safe. He smiled at them, "I'm back Hanako, Shigeru" he said. Kie checked over Nezuko, Takeo and Rokuta for wounds, and was satisfied to find none. She brought her children into their bedroom.
As her other children went to sleep, Kie looked at Tanjiro. "What, hap-pend?" she stuttered. "A lot. I don't know if I can talk about it now" Tanjiro replied. Kie set up her Oldest Son's Futon. As Tanjiro got into bed next to his Siblings, his Mother started to hum. His eyes widened, and tears started to form in them. She was humming her lullaby. With Kie's initial inability to speak, Tanjiro hadn't known if he would ever hear that song again.
Even just hearing it hummed wordlessly, brought back so many memories for him. Tanjiro snuggled into his Mother's hand, finally relaxing at being with his family and knowing they were safe.
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That day, Tanjiro had a break from Missions, and he played with his Siblings inside the Love Estate. They worked on their hand-eye coordination by drawing pictures. Even Takeo joined in, seeing the benefit. Rokuta , being so young, physically and mentally, just drew scribbles. Hanako was concentrating hard, as she slowly and carefully drew flowers. Takeo, Shigeru and Nezuko were drawing their own pictures.
"You're all doing amazing! You'll get you hand-eye coordination back in no time!" Tanjiro praised. Shigeru grinned in pride at that. He patted Hanako and Nezuko on the head, causing his little Sister's to make happy noises at the affection. After that was done, the younger Demon Kamados and Nezuko wanted to play tag. So they carefully ran up and down the long inner hallways laughing happily, while their Older Brother tried to catch them.
All of them had shrunk, to make it harder to knock things over, but it also made them harder to catch. Shrieking laughter rang up and down the halls the halls that day. All of them went to bed happily that night.
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Tanjiro had a few simple Missions, since no big Demon activity had been reported in a while. He alternated who he took with him. This time it was Hanako and Shigeru. Most of the time, Tanjiro could defeat the Demons without his Siblings help, but they still liked to help him anyway. As he was returning to the Love Estate after his most recent Mission, Tanjiro found Mitsuri hurrying to leave. "Oh, Tanjiro! Good, you're back! We have an emergency Hashira meeting! Come on!" the pink and green-haired young woman said excitedly, grabbing his arm gently.
"Did something happen? And why didn't my Crow tell me there was a meeting?" Tanjiro asked. "What? you're Crow didn't tell you?!" Mitsuri exclaimed in surprise. "What happened? Is it something bad?" Tanjiro asked, preparing himself for the worst. The Love Hashira faced him, her expression excited, "Tanjiro, your Mother conquered the sun" she said. "Huh?" Tanjiro asked in confusion.