Episode 4: Wisteria Mountain, Final Selection
Tanjiro takes a large sniff as he walks up the steps that seem to go forever. 'Hmm, it smells like wisteria, altough I feel like there's something else...' Tanjiro thinks to hinself.
After what felt like hours, Tanjiro reached the top of the stairs. He looked around and saw many wisteria trees. Tanjiro reached out and gently touched one, it was rather soft with a purple color.
Tanjiro then noticed the people around as well, his fellow trainees who were also taking this test.
'I wonder how strong they are. What if I'm the weak one here?' Tanjiro ponders as he looks at the strange people. He would take a sniff and try and guess their strength by his sense of smell but with so many people there's no way he'd get a true guess. All he can go off of is the way people look.
One boy, with yellow hair and a scared expression catches his eye. He looks very scared, even more the he really should be if he was trained. Like just the thought of being here was enough to send him into a panic attack.
Another boy who caught his eye had medium length blueish black hair. The boy had a rather pretty face and was wearing a haori with all the colors of the rainbow.
A very beautiful girl with long white hair and blue eyes also his got his attention. She was wearing a pink kimono that was shortened so she could fight in it.
Tanjiro eventully moves on from looking at the other test takers as Tanjiro started looking for some sort of information he could get. Tanjiro doesn't find anything of importance and so he just finds a place to stand as the last few trainees come in.
As the last trainees walk into the clearing two little girls, around 10 years old, come walking to the front.
One of the girls has black hair and the other has white hair but that's the only difference Tanjiro could make. In every other way the two girls were identical.
"Hello demon slayers." Says the girl with white hair on the right.
"We welcome you to final selection." The girl with black hair on the left continues.
"In final selection you will survive the next week on this mountain." The girl on the right says.
"But be warned, this mountain has been filled with captured demons and they will be very hungey." The girl on the left says.
"To pass final selection you must survive the entire week with no outside help against the man eating demons." The girl on the right says.
"We hope to see many of you pass." The girl on the left says.
Both girls take a bow. "Goodluck young slayers."
And with that everyone starts moving towards the demons. Some people look nervous about fighting the man eating monsters. Others look excited to kill. Tanjiro feels a little uneasy about the fact that he has to survive without outside help but he's ready to give it his best.
'I will pass this, and become a demon slayer!' Tanjiro thinks to himself determined as he runs forward.
night 1
The sounds of small animals moving into their homes and the breeze filling the night sky makes gentle noise as Tanjiro continues down the path he'd chosen.
Tanjiro hadn't necessarily had an idea of where to go, he'd just started walking.
The other trainees quickly dispensed and so Tanjiro was all alone.
Tanjiro had been walking for another hour or was it two when something caught his attention.
Tanjiro grips his sword as he smells something, or rather someone.
Tanjiro peers into the clearing where he sees a demon looking around.
'It must be looking for a person to eat, I won't let you!' Tanjiro thinks to himself with a glare as he prepares to dispatch the demon.
FLAME BREATHING, 6TH FORM. FLAME WHEEL!
Tanjiro quickly dispatches the demon with ease with a powerful jump and 360 slash down.
Tanjiro blinks twice as he looks down at the demon as he turns to ash.
"I...I did it...I killed a demon!" Tanjiro exclaims with a smile. Tanjiro knew that he was much stronger then he was when he first started his journey but at the back of his mind there was still doubt that had lingered. That maybe he wasn't ready or he was going to fail. No, he was ready, Tanjiro was never going to fail ever again.
Tanjiro continued down his path with new excitement filling him.
night 2
Tanjiro looks around before entering the little space of the woods. Tanjiro's stomach had been grumbling for a meal for hours now and Tanjiro was sure that he had spotted a small boar around this area.
Tanjiro takes a sniff and walks further into the clearing when the scent spikes and fills Tanjiro's nose.
Tanjiro turns and yes, sees the small boar, but Tanjiro also sees a much bigger boar that he can only assume is its mother.
The mother boar seems to be around 4 feet (or roughly 1 meter), tall with a shaggy brown coat of fur. The mothers beady black eyes seem to glare into Tanjiro's soul with pure anger. Her tusks are way too sharp and long for Tanjiro's liking and it doesn't help that their aimed right at him.
"Oh fu-" Tanjiro is interrupted by the mother boars squeal of rage as she charges at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro quickly side steeps the mother as he tries to look for an opening.
'I could use my sword, but I don't want to risk the chance of my sword chipping. Bare fists it is!' Tanjiro thinks to hinself as he rushes at the mother boar.
The mother boar goes to meet his challenge with her tusks facing forward, ready to skewer him.
Tanjiro takes a breath, and brings his head down in a powerful headbutt.
The pure force knocks the mother boar to the ground where Tanjiro jumps onto her back and grabs her neck.
With a simple squeeze, Tanjiro snaps the mother boars neck.
Tanjiro sighs in relief. "That could have been bad." He looks over and sees the little boar preparing its own charge. Tanjiro just takes a breath as he prepares to get the rest of his dinner.
a little later
Tanjiro takes a bite of the cooked boar meat with a happy smile. Kyojonro had thankfully taught Tanjiro how to properly prepare food for his final selection. The warm fire next to Tanjiro burns brightly as it cooks the last of the meat.
"Mmmmm, so good! I better eat all I can while I still have the chance." Tanjiro says to himself happily as he continues to dig into his meal.
Tanjiro takes another bite when he smells something. Tanjiro looks around just in time to see the demon as it emerges from the bushes.
"Oh your looking pretty tasty, what nice food you got there. I forgot what normal food tastes like, I just know how delicious human flesh is." The demon says in their raspy and slimy voice.
The demon looks like a 20 year old man with long stringy hair and a very skinny body. Their very tall with sharp claws. Certainly stronger then the previous demon Tanjiro had to kill.
Tanjiro quickly goes to grab his sword but realizes his rookie mistake. He took off his sword hilt to eat and it was now several feet away. A death sentence with this demon.
The demon lunges forward and manages to cut Tanjiro's cheek but before he could do further damage Tanjiro had leaned back to avoid the most of the attack.
Tanjiro takes a breath as he brings his forehead down on the demon and unleashes his second headbutt for the night.
The demon makes a vocal sound of pain feeling the headbutt. 'How hard is this damn humans head?' The demon thinks to himself with anger.
Tanjiro uses the demons pain to his advantage and rushes forward. Tanjiro reaches and grabs his sword hilt where he brings out his Nichrin Katana.
"Prepare to die!" Tanjiro yells with anger. The coppery taste of his own blood has filled his mouth but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is sending this demon straight to hell.
The demon just snickers. "Let's see what you got human, I've already devoured seven humans on this mountain, let's make you number eight." The demon licks his lips as he brandishes his claws.
FLAME BREATHING, FIRST FORM. UNKNOWNING FIRE
Tanjiro rushes forward and brings a downward slash at the demon. Sadly the demons speed was too fast and Tanjiro's blade misses his neck but it still manages to lop off the demons arm.
The demon growls in pain and annoyance. He lunges at Tanjiro and tries to kill him with a slash to his throat but Tanjiro counters with his own slash, slicing off the demons other arm.
Tanjiro smirks a little feeling confidence, sadly Tanjiro had underestimated how fast this demons regeneration speed was as the demons right arm that was previously nothing but a stub, had regrown and brought a painful cut to Tanjiro's arm.
Tanjiro grits his teeth, the pain is awful but the demon made a mistake in his move. Firstly, he did the attack in anger and didn't take advantage of the opportunity to kill Tanjiro right there. Secondly, he left his neck open.
FLAME BREATHING, THIRD FORM. RISING SCORCHING SUN!
Tanjiro brings his Katana up in a powerful slash as he cuts right through the demons head.
The demons body falls to the ground in a slump as the demons head falls a few feet away.
"N-no way! Your too fast! Yo-" the demon was cut off by the fact that his mouth had just disintegrated. The demon just glares at Tanjiro before he fully turns to ash.
Tanjiro looks over where the demons head was and he makes a small prayer. "Please make sure he doesn't become a demon again in his next life." He says softly.
Tanjiro takes a look at his injuries. There not that bad and should heal fine but Tanjiro will make sure to keep the cuts clean with water.
Tanjiro makes his way to a safer place to spend the night.
night 3
During the day Tanjiro got a long rest and as the sun began to set Tanjiro started making his way to the river he'd found. It had been almost half a day since Tanjiro had gotten clean water to drink and with all the sweat and exhaustion he's gotten from running, hunting, and fighting the occasional demon, he definitely needs a drink.
Tanjiro sniffs the air and he sighs in annoyance. There seems to be several demons at the river. Tanjiro can't even bring himself to be fully angry as it was his mistake for not coming while the sun was still up high.
Tanjiro searches for a moment before he finds some cover, a nice bush to hide behind as he takes a look at his opponents.
There is 3 demons. The first demon looks like an older, fat man with pudgy arms and little hair. The fat demon has dried blood around his arms that Tanjiro doesn't need to smell to know why it was there. The next demon seemed to look like an extremely tall woman with black hair that came down to her waist. She had a devilish smirk as she sharpened her claws. The final demon seemed to be the leader, he was more muscular then the other two and had the most blood around him.
Tanjiro scowls as he peers at the demons. They must have had enough intelligence to know the trainees would try to get a drink here and then would ambush them.
"Your killings end now." Tanjiro mutters as he pulls his Katana out of his scabbard. Tanjiro then takes a deep breath before, he charges.
FLAME BREATHING, FIFTH FORM. FLAME TIGER!
Tanjiro first strikes the fat demon seeing as he was an easy target. The demon narrowly dodges as Tanjiro's blade slashed through the demons gut.
"Oh look! Another human who thinks they can take us!" The tall female demon says with her shrill voice as she rushes at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro sees her attack coming and decides to use her tall height to his advantage. Tanjiro charges at her to meet her attack but at the last moment Tanjiro slides, dodging her attack and slicing off her leg with a powerful slash.
The tall female demon shrieked in pain as she fell to the ground. Tanjiro raises his blade to dispatch her but stops when he smells the leader demon and the fat demon's scents coming at him. Tanjiro manages to leap back and causes both demons to crash into each other instead but it was way too close for Tanjiro's liking.
"Ugh! Idiots!" The leader demons snarls. "Let's just all attack him at the same time! One of you go left! The other right!"
"Right!" The fat demon says.
"No I wanna go right!" The tall female demon says annoyed as she gets off the ground with a still healing leg.
"No I meant the boss has the right idea!" The fat demon says with a growl.
"Whatev-" the tall female demon would never get an opportunity to finish that sentence. Tanjiro wouldn't just let his opponents plan. Tanjiro while the two demons argued had taken a second to recover before he had jumped up and brought his blade down on the tall female demons neck.
FLAME BREATHING, 6TH FORM. FLAME WHEEL!
The tall female demon let's out a pained hiss before she turns to ash.
"Attack!" The leader roars at least wanting his underling to fight the boy.
The fat demon let's out an animalistic growl as he runs at Tanjiro. 'They don't learn, do they?' Tanjiro ponders as he meets the demon with his attack.
Tanjiro slashes through the demons arm before bringing his blade up and slicing off his head as well.
The leader demon growls as he considers his options. He could run now and get away, but on the other hand this puny demon slayer has pissed him off and he must be weakened now after killing both his underlings.
"What's your name boy?" The demon demands. He has to buy himself a little time to observe the boy and figure out his attacks.
Tanjiro wanted to stay silent and get to killing the demon but his inner polite boy came first. "My name is Tanjiro Kamado!" He proclaims loudly.
"Kamado eh, good...Once I get out of here I know exactly which family I'm gonna eat first." The demon says with a smirk.
Tanjiro scowls at that. Sure, all of his family besides Nezuko is dead, but he would not let such a demon say those words without consequences.
Tanjiro, with a growl rushes at the demon and jumps as he brings his blade down.
FLAME BREATHING, 6TH FORM. FLAME WHEEL!
The demon simply smirks seeing Tanjiro had fallen for his ploy. At the last second the demon uses his palms to stop Tanjiro's blade.
'Crap! He has my blade! If I let go I'm without a weapon, if I don't then I'll be right where he wants me!' Tanjiro's mind goes a million miles an hour as he thinks of a plan.
The demon uses his advantage to pull Tanjiro closer as he opens his mouth wide. Inside his mouth reveals dozens of horribly sharp teeth and saliva.
Tanjiro's eyes widen as he panics, and he does the thing that always came to him when he's panicked...
He headbutted the problem.
Tanjiro's head crashes onto the demons and the leader let's out a cry of pain. He let's go of Tanjiro's blade and reaches for his forehead to try and resolve the pain. 'How hard is that kids head?!' The demon thinks in agony.
Tanjiro doesn't let his chance go to waste. Tanjiro brings up his blade in a deadly arc of destruction as his blade slashes into the demons.
'His neck...it's tougher then the other demons I've beheaded!' Tanjiro thinks to himself as a bead of sweat rolls down his head. 'No, I can't give up! I will behead you!'
Tanjiro roars as he brings his blade down harder then before, using all the strength in his arms. The demon roars himself as he tries to stop his beheading but it's far too late.
In a powerful slash the demons head goes flying off and the demons body falls to the ground, very dead.
Tanjiro pants as he sees the demon disintegrate to ash. "It's over, I won." Tanjiro catches his breath before he walks over to the river.
Tanjiro sees that it looks clean. He reaches his hands into the water and cups some water into his hands. Tanjiro finally gets a drink of the water he had to fight so hard for.
night 4
Tanjiro was silently walking through the night with his sword strapped to his side. The crickets were singing loud and the night was lighten up by the fireflies. Tanjiro had been mainly just trying to get a rest after the last two days being so stressful. His cuts from the skinny demon were stinging but otherwise he still felt strong.
Tanjiro was about to look for a good place to stay and sleep during the day when he smelt something...something he wished he would never have to smell again.
Tanjiro runs with wide eyes to the smell. 'I have to get there! I won't let another person die by a demon!' The horrible smell of blood has filled Tanjiro's nose once more.
Tanjiro ran harder and harder as the smell only got stronger. As he ran the images of his dead family played in his head. Their snapped limbs, their scared faces etched onto their expressions forever, and the worse of all, the horrible blood.
Tanjiro enters a small clearing where he sees the brutal sight. His eyes widen further as small tears appear. He starts to hyperventilate as he sees it...
The dead and brutalized bodies of dead trainees. About half a dozen of them, they must have been traveling in a group. It didn't matter...All of them are dead, their limbs bitten off, organs spilled out, the blood...there's so much blood.
Tanjiro shakily walks forward and gets a closer look at the dead bodies. He doesn't recognize them but it doesn't matter. He had failed them all. If he was here maybe he could have been the difference? Maybe they would still be alive.
Tanjiro bows and makes a prayer. "Please, let these people rest in peace and without suffering. I promise to avenge you all."
Tanjiro feels his sadness be overtaken by the same rage he felt when he found his dead family. These monsters had killed these humans, these children. None of them looked older then 15.
"I promise, I will avenge them, I will exterminate these monsters and bring them justice with my blade." Tanjiro says with gritted teeth.
Speak of the devil, or rather devils, Tanjiro smelt the scent of demons. Multiple of them coming this way. They had scents of blood all over them. They are the monsters he must destroy.
Tanjiro stands up, wipes his tears, and unsheathes his blade. He waits, for just half a minute before the demons enter the clearing.
"Look!" "Food!" "Eat!" Three demons screeched out with their horrible voices as they charged at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro just took a breath.
FLAME BREATHING, 7TH FORM. BRIGHT TORCH IN A DARK NIGHT...
Tanjiro unleashes a multitude of slashes from all angles and all three demons heads came off.
The last two demons looked hesitant but either were too hungry or too stupid to think about a logical plan as they made the same mistake and charged at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro barely offered them a glance as he slashed off their heads.
Both demon bodies fell to the ground and started dissolving as Tanjiro began his walk away. But before Tanjiro left the area he heard something...crying.
Tanjiro looked back and saw it, one of the demons, silently sobbing to himself. 'What right do you have to cry?' Tanjiro thinks to himself bitterly.
"Why...why did I eat them? My own family...I'm sorry...I'M SO SORRY!" The demons cries out as his human memory's came back. His kind sister, his sweet mother, his protective father, why in the world would he have eaten them? Why did he hurt them? Why did they not curse him as he murdered them with an awful smile?!
Tanjiro looks at the demon and he feels his rage, slip away, the storm in his gut clears up, and he feels sympathy for his demon.
Tanjiro walks over and places his hand on the demons head. "It's okay, you won't hurt another person ever again now, you can rest now." Tanjiro says gently.
The demon looks at Tanjiro with his tear filled eyes. "T...Thank you..." he just utters between his sobs. He doesn't deserve this comfort. This boy...he's so kind.
Tanjiro watches with pitying eyes as the demon turns to ash. He still felt so angry, and yet he felt sympathy for this demon. He had never asked to be a monster.
Tanjiro takes a breath, these demons, they must all be exterminated...but it doesn't mean he has to hate the person they once were...
"Let his soul now rest, and may he never become a demon in another life." Tanjiro silently prays as he stands up.
Tanjiro spent the rest of the night until morning burying the dead trainees and praying for their peaceful afterlife.
night 5
Tanjiro was running in the night as he smelt for demons. His injuries had healed over to a decent amount and so Tanjiro felt strong enough to hunt for demons instead of just running into them.
Tanjiro was about to call it a night as he saw the sun would be rising in roughly an hour but a scream stopped him in his tracks.
'Crap! I have to get there before someone dies!' Tanjiro thinks to himself determined to get there in time.
Tanjiro finally enters a small barren area of the woods where he looks around the demon. After seeing nothing Tanjiro sniffs the air but only smells human. Before Tanjiro could do anything else though...
"AHHH! WHERE DID IT GO!? HOW AM I ALIVE!?" A voice screeched out in a panic.
Tanjiro rushes over to the sound where he sees another human. A boy maybe a little older then himself. With yellowish hair and an interesting orange Haori. Tanjiro catches the boys gaze. For a second their both silent before-
"YOU! YOU MUST HAVE KILLED IT!" The boy leaps forward and grabs onto Tanjiro's leg. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
"Umm, who are you exactly?" Tanjiro asks a little nervous and confused around the loud boy.
"M-my name is Zenitsu Agatsuma!" Zenitsu yells out as he continues to cling onto Tanjiro's leg.
"Can you let go, please?" Tanjiro asks.
"N-No way! I'm gonna die if you don't protect me! I'm useless in a fight! Don't abandon me!" Zenitsu cries out as he grips harder.
"Well I can't exactly fight anything if your slowing me down." Tanjiro points out as he tries to pry Zenitsu off of him.
Zenitsu blinks twice before he realizes his mistake and he let's go. "There! Now please protect me! I don't wanna die!" He yells out.
"Okay okay! How about you just come with me and we'll see where things go from there?" Tanjiro asks with a sigh.
"Yes! Thank you...what's your name?" Zenitsu asks.
"Oh! Sorry for being rude, my name is Tanjiro Kamado." Tanjiro bows a little. "It's very (loud), nice to meet you."
Zenitsu takes a breath and calms down. "Y-yeah, it's nice to meet you too. So...I haven't eaten in 2 days, do you have any food?"
"Oh not on me but I do know where we can some food." Tanjiro brightens up a bit seeing Zenitsu finally stop screaming.
"Oh where?" Zenitsu asks.
"We'll hunt some wild boars." Tanjiro says with a smile.
"...ARE YOU CRAZY!? WHY WOULD ANYONE BE STUPUD ENOUGH TO MESS WITH BOARS!?" Zenitsu screams out.
meanwhile in the cannon universe
"Achoo!" Inosuke sneezes out.
"You okay Inosuke?" Tanjiro asks.
"Of course I'm fine Monjiro! Now let's fight!"
Okay and back to our universe
"Oh boars aren't that hard to hunt, I'm sure you'll be fine." Tanjiro assures him as he starts walking away.
"W-where are you going?!" Zenitsu asks scared.
"To my cave, we can both rest for a bit before while the sun's still up." Tanjiro says. Zenitsu decides to follow him knowing he'll definitely get killed otherwise.
"F-fine! But you better defend me from the demons!" Zenitsu stutters out as the sun's first light hits the trees.
night 6
Tonight is a full moon, perfect for killing demons with the extra light. Currently Tanjiro is walking through one of the more tree heavy areas. Good for combat, less so for movement. Tanjiro is walking forward with a confident smile on his face. Tonight is the last night after all, in the morning he'll have officially completed final selection. Of course his companion is a lot less enthused.
"W-why are we looking for demons? Shouldn't we be trying to hide from them?!" Zenitsu cries out as he stays as close as he can to Tanjiro without limiting his ability to fight.
"Well..." 'how do I put this in a way that won't get Zenitsu screaming for the hills?' "If we find the demons first then they won't be able to sneak up on us. I'll be able to kill them before they even get a chance of getting close to us." Tanjiro says with hope that it won't trigger another panicked screaming.
"...I g-guess that makes sense...JUST MAKE SURE TO KEEP ME SAFE!" Zenitsu yells out.
'Why are you even here if your too scared to kill a demon?' Tanjiro thinks to himself grumbling. From the first time he met Zenitsu Tanjiro was able to tell he was strong. Tanjiro's powerful sense of smell was telling him that the terrified boy was incredibly powerful but Tanjiro, for the first time in his life, was starting to doubt his nose.
As the two boys continue to walk they both stop at the same time.
"Do you hear that?" Zenitsu asks nervously.
"No...but I can smell something...BLOOD!" Tanjiro exclaims and starts sprinting at his top speed.
"W-wait! Don't just abandon me like that!" Zenitsu cries as he runs after Tanjiro.
Tanjiro, sensing Zenitsu is still following him doesn't slow down as he rushes forward into a large clearing. Tanjiro's eyes widen in horror with the scene. Blood is everywhere. A few unlucky demon slayers are on the ground dead. Tanjiro grits his teeth as he sees the demons crowded around the few still alive trainees. If he was to guess Tanjiro would say the remaining demons had all grouped together in this clearing to try and stay alive in numbers. About nine of them in a quick count, maybe a few more.
"Don't you dare!" Tanjiro yells out as he rushes towards the demons. The group of demons look at him and grumble and snort. A couple of them rush forward to meet Tanjiro while the rest stay to eat the remaining trainees.
FLAME BREATHING, 7TH FORM. CURSED FLAME!
Tanjiro lunges at the first demon and slashes of his head with ease. He then uses the momentum of the previous slash to carry him into a parry of a demons attack and then cuts their arm, leaving a long gash that will distract them while he takes on the last demon of the mini group.
The other trainees seeing Tanjiro fighting so hard pick up their blades and try their best to kill the other six demons. The first guy picks up his sword and lunges at a demon. With some luck he manages to decapitate it. The other trainees seeing they got a chance rush at the demons with vigor.
~With Zenitsu~
'...why? Why am I so damn useless?' Zenitsu thinks to himself with tears as he looks at the fighting. Tanjiro is fighting several demons at once, the other trainees are giving their all even though they've been practically massacred, so why is he so useless that he can't even bring himself to unsheathe his sword...
Zenitsu stands perfectly still until something catches his hearing. He turns around just in time to see another demon that had missed Tanjiro's count.
"AHHHHHH!" Zenitsu screams seeing the demon. 'No! No! No! I can't die now! I have so much I want to do! I never even kissed a pretty girl! No!' Zenitsu gives one last gasp of terror before...he falls to the ground passed out.
"...what? ...ehh, whatever free meal." The demon mutters as he walks forward. He reaches out his hand but, faster then a blur his hand just falls off. 'What the...?' The demon peers at his hand, it's a clean slice. But the demon slayers are nowhere near here. Where did it come from?
A deep breath is heard. The demon barely had a chance to see Zenitsu standing up, and getting into a position.
THUNDER BREATHING, 1ST FORM. THUNDER CLAP AND FLASH!
In a blur the demon's head goes flying off as Zenitsu stops a few meters away. He quietly sheaths his sword before he dashes into the battle with the other trainees.
~back over with Tanjiro~
Tanjiro yelps in pain as he feels a new cut appear on his face. But the demon doesn't get to laugh long before Tanjiro slashes off his head.
"T...There." Tanjiro mutters between gasps. He looks up to see that the trainees and...Zenitsu? Have killed the rest of the demons. Tanjiro takes another breath before he walks over. "Hey are you guys okay?" Tanjiro asks as he looks for injuries.
"Y-yeah we're fine." The first guy says.
"I thought we were goners!" The girl cries out.
"Are you two alright?" The second guy asks.
"Oh yeah I'm alright, just a few scratches." Tanjiro assures before he looks over at Zenitsu. "Um, Zenitsu are you good?"
Zenitsu stands there silently, almost like a statue. He's breathing slowly and is rather still when Tanjiro notices something.
'Wait...IS HE FREAKING ASLEEP!?' Tanjiro thinks to himself in confusion. Tanjiro moves a hand in front of Zenitsu's face and sees that his eyes are completely closed.
The other three trainees walk away as Tanjiro tries to figure out how this is happening.
Tanjiro thinks back to a time when he was younger and still innocent. His brother Takeo had a weird thing that when he as asleep he would sometimes get up and act like he was doing his chores or chopping wood. So is Zenitsu doing something similar?
'How can he fight while asleep? How would he tell where his opponents are?' Tanjiro ponders when a small pinecone falls down and hits Zenitsu on the head. Instantly his eyes open.
"W...What? Tanjiro...wait where are the demons? OH MY GOD TANJIRO DID YOU KILL THEM ALL?! THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Zenitsu praises with tears down his face in happiness of survival.
"Well not entirely, I had a little help and actually Zenitsu you-" Tanjiro begins before he's interrupted
"Look out!" Zenitsu cries out as a large demon that hid themselves the entire time emerges from the shadows.
Tanjiro turns around and tries to unsheathe his Katana but isn't fast enough as the demon brings his fist down on Tanjiro's face knocking him out in a single blow.
"Tanjiro!" Zenitsu yells out but he's already way too late. 'What do I do!? I'm not nearly strong to help! I'm practically useless! I can't just abandon him though!'
Before Zenitsu has to make a decision and before the demon got to try and eat his dinner. A slash went through the demons head and it came falling off.
Zenitsu's eyes widened as he got a glimpse of the figure who had decapitated the demon. First of all, it's a girl, with long white that goes down to her waist. She's wearing a pink kimono with the longer parts cut off so she could actually move in it. She has striking blue eyes and has a strange, very long Katana that almost looks like a whip.
"W-who are you?!" Zenitsu asks nervously.
"...My name is Ume. Who is this?" Ume points at Tanjiro's unconscious body.
Zenitsu with teeth chattering unsheathes his blade. "Don't y-you dare hurt him! He saved me a-and I won't abandon him!"
Ume blinks three times with mild annoyance and confusion. "Who said I'm here to hurt him? I thought he could use some help, he looks hurt and exhausted."
Zenitsu takes a second to consider her words. Based on her sound he would guess she's human and why would a human, a fellow trainee, hurt Tanjiro?
"Fine!" Zenitsu concedes. "But if you try anything! I'll...I'll do something!"
Ume rolls her eyes. "Whatever, let's just get him somewhere safer until morning comes around."
Day 7
Tanjiro opens his eyes and instantly regrets his decision to wake up. His limbs are screaming at him and his eyes feel like they weigh 50 pounds each. Eventually after a slight struggle Tanjiro fully opens his eyes and sits up.
Tanjiro appears to be sitting on a flat stone with trees around him. Daylight shines through the trees and illuminates the forest around him. On another flat rock is Zenitsu, fast asleep.
Tanjiro smiles softly before he remembers what happened last night. 'How am I alive?'
"Oh your awake." A voice says startling Tanjiro as he falls off the rock.
Tanjiro reaches for his sword In a panic before he realizes its not there. Tanjiro looks up and sees the owner of the strange voice. A pretty girl with waist long white hair.
"How was your rest? Are your wounds better now? I took the liberty of treating your previous cuts before as well, they could have gotten infected if you left them." The girl says with a lecturing yet soft voice.
Tanjiro looks down and sees that yes, his previous injuries have also been treated along with his current ones. To be honest, besides the exhaustion Tanjiro feels okay, if not good.
"Y...you healed me?" Tanjiro asks with a little skepticism.
"Yes, my name is Ume. If your loud friend is right your name is Tanjiro?" Ume says questioning.
"Oh yes my name is Tanjiro Kamado, it's very nice to meet you Ume!" Tanjiro smiles warmly.
"Yes it's nice to meet you as well. You should probably wake up your loud friend now." Ume encourages.
"His name is Zenitsu." Tanjiro says as he walks over to Zenitsu's sleeping body.
"I know, I call him by that to his face." Ume says with a slight smirk.
"Wait why did you help me- and she's gone." Tanjiro mutters seeing she's already left, probably to the top of the mountain since they've passed the final selection.
Tanjiro sighs before he shakes Zenitsu as he attempts to wake him up. Zenitsu's eyes widen as he jumps up. "No! Please don't eat me!" He covers his face with his hands.
"Woah Zenitsu it's me! Tanjiro! It's daytime anyway, there's no demons." Tanjiro assures his with a smile.
Zenitsu lowers his heads and seems to lean in different directions with his ears facing them. "Huh your right...wait...TANJIRO YOUR AWAKE!?" Zenitsu screeches as he grabs onto him.
"DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH YOU SCARED ME! YOU COULD'VE DIED! I HAD TO WATCH YOU ALL NIGHT WITH A PRETTY GIRL THAT I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO HAVE A CHANCE WITH BECAUSE YOU HAD TO GET YOURSELF HURT!" Zenitsu yells out as he shakes Tanjiro back and forth.
"You watched me all night?" Tanjiro asks as he's being shaked like it's totally normal.
"OF COURSE I DID! I WASN'T JUST GONNA ABANDON AN IDIOT LIKE YOU!" Zenitsu screams.
"Wow Zenitsu, your such a good friend!" Tanjiro exclaims happily as Zenitsu finally stops shaking him.
"Whatever, let's just go get our stupid swords." Zenitsu mutters as he starts walking.
Tanjiro stands there for a moment before it hits him...he did it, he survived final selection and is an official demon slayer. He's now crossed a major stepping stone in saving Nezuko and killing Muzan.
Tanjiro smiles and follows after Zenitsu.
Taisho Era Secret!
Tanjiro: Hello everyone! It's time for our Taisho Era secret!
Zenitsu: T-Tanjiro are you sure there's no more demons?
Tanjiro: Of course Zenitsu! Now let's tell the Taisho era secret. Did you know that Zenitsu has to drink three times as much water as other people do? This is because of two reasons. One is that Thunder breathing is so taxing on someone's body that it causes Zenitsu to need much more liquids.
Zenitsu: Thunder breathing is so difficult! I can't even do a single one!
Tanjiro: No Zenitsu you did use the first fo-
Zenitsu: Just tell them the other reason already!
Tanjiro: Okay! Because of how much Zenitsu screams his voice hurts a lot and so he needs a lot of water to help his throat.
Zenitsu: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! I DON'T SCREAM!
Tanjiro: Sure, and my family isn't dead.
Zenitsu: Wait your family's dead?
Tanjiro: Nevermind! Next episode! "You passed, now go slay some demons!"
(Author's notes)
Hello again. Sorry it's been a while. I kinda git myself psyched out with how I wanted to make this a longer chapter and I ended up procrastinating. I'll make sure the next one is much sooner. Now for details, 1. I always felt like the final selection was kinda glossed over besides the fight with the hand demon. So I gave you guys this entire chapter to have fun with. 2. The reason I introduced Zenitsu earlier was because I want to develop him more, so if I introduce him with all his usual traits in the beginning, I can give him more depth with time. Yes I hate his whining and yelling as much as you probably do but it's a part of his character, so I just gotta explain it better then the manga did, wish me luck. 3. Now for those of you who payed attention you probably recognized Ume's name but for those who you didn't, Ume was Daki's name as a human. Why is she only a brand new demon slayer and not a hashria? Because I thought this would be more interesting and more fun to work with. Besides Muzan himself did say she was weak although I myself will break that rule later...anyway! The next chapter is probably gonna be shorter as it's just Tanjiro getting his personal sword, seeing Nezuko awake, etc. Alright I'll try to upload soon. Laters!)
