Unexpected Circumstances

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of The Heart of the Asura! No doubt you've already guessed a few of the things about to happen in this chapter, but this is also where the first major divergence occurs. From this point on you're going to see more than a couple differences. One thing that hasn't change, however, is you can still find news, scene samples, and commissions on my Pat reon! So see about checking that out. Now then I think I've rambled enough, and with no guest review questions this week, let's get into this long-awaited chapter!

The Home of Lady Tamayo

Susamaru's eyes opened slowly to look at an unfamiliar ceiling. "What happened," the Temari Demon asked groggily while attempting to sit up. The effort caused her to wince in pain as her entire body felt like one giant sore spot.

"Easy," a hand rested on her shoulder, "you nearly died not long ago." Susamaru looked over to see….the slayer with the Hanafuda earrings!

"Gah," the demon girl jumped slightly, backing into a nearby wall, "what in the world are you doing here?! Did you die too?!"

"No, I didn't die," the boy put his hands up, trying to show he meant no harm, "and amazingly, you didn't die either."

"What in the world are you even," that's when she remembered. She'd broken the taboo, said Lord Muzan's name aloud! "Oh no, what have I done?!" She gripped her head with her hands, "I disobeyed a direct order and activated his curse! He'll surely kill me now the moment he senses I'm not dead!"

"You needn't worry about Muzan killing you from a distance," Tamayo entered the room, "I no longer detect his influence within you."

"You're the fugitive," Susamaru recognized the demon woman, "but wait, how are you not dead from saying his name?"

"I'm not really sure," the lady doctor admitted, "long ago, Muzan encountered an opponent who nearly succeeded in killing him. I know because I was there to witness it. When Muzan fled the scene and left me behind, I cursed his name out loud, yet I didn't die. The girl you fought earlier, Nezuko, is the second demon I've met to not fall under his control, and now you have become the third."

"I don't get it," Susamaru shook her head, "I…..I was dying, I was in agony!" The memory was coming back to her now, the pain she'd endured as her body tried to slowly destroy itself. It was a memory she immediately wanted to forget again with the last thing she recalled being unyielding rage and a desire to keep living. "How in the world am I alive?"

"Again, I'm not sure how you severed Muzan's control," Tamayo reminded, "but once you did, your body ceased destroying itself and began to regenerate. Due to the extensive damage you'd already sustained it took a bit of time, but you should be fully recovered now, save for some soreness and exhaustion."

"So what happened to me, can't happen again?" The Temari Demon asked hesitantly.

"You can say Muzan's name freely now and nothing will happen," the lady doctor confirmed with a nod, "but I should warn you, this makes you a fugitive now, the same as me and Yushiro."

"Why would I be a fugitive," Susamaru huffed while crossing her arms, "how do I know Muzan wasn't just testing me to see if I could live through his curse?"

"What in the world would he have to gain from that," Yushiro scoffed, "you know Muzan better than I do. I'm certain you've seen what he does to those who are disobedient to him so why would he test to see if someone was capable of resisting his control?"

"Because Muzan, well," the Temari Demon tried to think of an actual argument, "he doesn't want weaklings within his ranks, so of course he'd need to test our strength from time to time. I'll bet I just proved to him and everyone else why I'm a Kizuki."

"Then why do you smell nervous," the demon slayer asked, "I don't think you believe that line of reasoning."

"What should I believe then," she raised an eyebrow in response, "and who even are you that Muzan would want you dead so badly?" 'Twice now and I'm not dead,' Susamaru exhaled mentally, 'I really can say his name freely now.'

"My name is Tanjiro Kamado," he introduced with a bow before indicating the girl with the bamboo muzzle who was sitting near the far wall, "and that's my sister, Nezuko."

"I can see why he might want the bamboo girl dead," Susamaru mused, "she seems to have slipped out of his control somehow. But I've never heard the name 'Kamado' before. Are you a family of demon slayers?"

"No, I'm the first demon slayer in my family, as far as I know," Tanjiro tried to think of anything even remotely slayer related in his family line but kept coming up empty, "before that I and the rest of the family were charcoal sellers."

"Muzan sent a Kizuki to kill a charcoal seller," the Temari Demon sweat dropped.

"You're not a Kizuki," Tamayo suddenly revealed.

"What do you mean I'm not a Kizuki?" Susamaru growled, "Muzan himself called me a Kizuki!"

"He lied to you," the doctor countered, "the twelve Kizuki are much stronger than you are and all of them are denoted by the number carved into their eyes. You possess no such number in your eyes and if you were actually a Kizuki, none of us would've stood a chance against you."

"But that can't be r-AAAAAAAAAGH!" Everyone jumped as a tall woman fell through the door to the room. She was dressed in a police officer's uniform save for the cap due to having an oddly tied ponytail in front of her face.

"A-Alright!" She quickly got to her feet with a hand on her sidearm and her gaze flitting back and forth, "what in the world happened here? An entire section of this place has been demolished!"

"W-Wait mam, everything's okay," Tanjiro held his hands up in a 'calm down' gesture, "we're all just talking right now."

"Hey, I know you," the police officer moved to take a closer look at him, "you're the boy who nearly ran into me."

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry about that!" The Demon Slayer bowed his head, "I had someone I really needed to catch up too!"

"And what about this," the tall woman picked up Tanjiro's sword, which he'd set aside, and unsheathed it slightly, "don't tell me this is real!" Yushiro moved behind her with a hand poised to knock her out but missed when she turned back to the slayer. "You know it's illegal to carry real swords right?" She throws her hands up in exasperation then, hitting Yushiro in the chin on accident with the sword's handle when he tried to attack her again.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the police officer was oblivious to all this. "Officer," Tamayo spoke up calmly, "if you would allow me a moment to explain everything, I think you'll see that Tanjiro here has done nothing wrong."

"Fine, I'll give you a minute," she put her hands on her hips, "and it's Officer Honoka Juzako you're speaking too."

"Then allow me to start at the beginning, Officer Juzako," the demon doctor smiled warmly and began to explain everything to the police officer. While this was going on, Yushiro, still rubbing his chin, moved over to the others.

"You three, now's the time to get out of here," he gestured towards the other door.

"But shouldn't we wait until Lady Tamayo is done explaining everything?" Tanjiro tilted his head in slight confusion.

"Idiot, look what Lady Tamayo is doing," Yushiro discreetly pointed at her wrist where she'd intentionally scratched herself to draw blood, activating her blood demon art, "she's keeping the officer occupied for now. You three should get going while you have the chance."

"But it's daytime outside," the slayer reminded, "I can carry Nezuko in the box but what about Susamaru?"

"She should be able to fit in the box too," the doctor's assistant pointed out, "now get going. You know what you have to do, Kamado, and you'll get it done faster if you're not wasting time here."

"Hey, what makes you think I want to tag along with him," Susamaru pointed a thumb towards Tanjiro.

"Because there's no way I'm letting you stay with us after you hurt Lady Tamayo," Yushiro growled, "and Muzan won't be offering you asylum, either. Tanjiro here is the only person kind enough to tolerate your presence and what's more, you'll find the proof you need."

"What proof," the Temari Demon raised an eyebrow.

"The proof that Muzan is not the benevolent person you think he is, and that he's been lying to you this whole time," the demon boy clarified with narrowed eyes. Susamaru almost retorted on instinct that Kibutsuji was a great man until she remembered what she'd felt while dying: hatred. That's right, the man she idolized was willing to kill her off for the crime of saying his name at the wrong time. If that was true, then the other things she'd been told could also be true.

"Fine," Susamaru crossed her arms, "show me how you've been traveling around with a demon during the daytime, Kamado." They quickly demonstrated how Nezuko got in the box before politely offering to hold onto Tanjiro's sword for the officer. Since she was still basically in a trance, Juzako barely noticed that she handed it off or that the other three headed out the door. In fact, when her trance was finally broken, the poor police officer was dismayed to find that they'd all gotten away somehow.

Daytime: Along A Country Road

"SOUTHEAST! SOUTHEAST!" Tanjiro's Kasugai crow called from above, "your next destination is to the Southeast!"

"I heard you the first few times," the demon slayer rubbed his ear, "so could you quiet down a bit now, please, I'm begging you!"

"Who in the world managed to breed and train those things," Susamaru's voice sounded from inside the red box on Tanjiro's back, "couldn't they have picked a less annoying bird?"

"Only us Kasugai crows can learn how to speak like this!" Said crow landed on Tanjiro's box and started to peck at it, "dumb ordinary birds can't do this!"

"Fuckin' A, what even is my life right now," the Temari Demon groaned, "I basically get fired from my old job and now I'm stuck riding around in a box on the back of my sworn enemy while listening to an egotistical crow. Maybe I died after all and this is damnation I'm experiencing."

"No, you're definitely alive," Tanjiro assured, "and it's not as bad as it seems. Lady Tamayo says it's possible for her to create a cure for demonification. If it works, Nezuko and you can be returned to normal."

"What makes you think I want to be normal," Susamaru huffed, "did I look like I was having a bad time when we were fighting? I've got super strength, I can shapeshift, I can spawn all the Temari I want, and I can live for basically ever."

"But you have to eat people," the demon slayer pointed out, "if you don't, you turn into a feral beast. Is it really fair that you have to kill other people just so you can keep on living?"

"People suck," the Temari Girl shrugged, "as far as I know I might be doing the world a favor when it comes to some of the people I'm eating."

"But you don't know that for sure," Tanjiro reasoned, "you didn't stop to ask if Nezuko was a good person, or Lady Tamayo and Yushiro. I understand if you felt forced into doing what you were doing, but I get the impression you never really thought to question if what you were doing was right or wrong."

"Would it have mattered," Susamaru sighed, "you saw what happened to me when I broke an order given to me by Muzan. Whether I liked it or not, I was his to command."

"But you're free now," the red-eyed boy reminded, "you can make your own choices. And if you're human again then you can walk in the sun, make new friends, and have a brand new life."

"And what would happen if I choose to keep being a demon?" She already knew the answer but asked anyway.

"I'd respect your decision, but," Tanjiro let out a sigh, "I'd also have to fulfill my duty as a demon slayer and protect the people from you. I honestly don't want to fight you."

"Why all the concern," Susamaru raised an eyebrow, though the boy couldn't see it, "afraid I'll mop the floor with you this time?"

"I don't want you to die," the slayer clarified, "not when you've been given a second chance."

"You are without doubt one of the strangest humans I've ever met," the Temari Demon shook her head. Whether or not it was in amusement even she wasn't completely sure. Tanjiro might've given her a response but was cut off by a distant yelling that drew his attention further up the road.

"PLEASE!" The voice of a very frightened boy yelled, "please help me! Please marry me!" Tanjiro saw the source of the commotion then as a blond-haired youth in a yellow haori was kneeling on the ground clutching onto a frightened girl in a blue kimono like she was some kind of lifeline. Even without seeing what exactly was happening Susamaru already had a pretty good idea what the girl's take on this predicament was. Fortunately for her, Tanjiro was a gentleman and quickly walked over to pull the noisy blond off of the girl. After a sparrow tweeted at him?

"What do you think you're doing right in the middle of the road?!" He demanded while holding the screaming boy by the back of his haori, "it's obvious she wants nothing to do with you and don't go making trouble for your sparrow either!"

"Wait, that uniform, you're that guy from Final Selection," the blond realized. 'Oh no,' Susamaru groaned from within the box, 'don't tell me this guy is a slayer?!'

"Don't pretend like we know each other just because we were both at Final Selection!" Tanjiro barked.

"But I saw you there," the crying boy argued, "don't get mad at me when you're the one with a terrible memory!" Instead of answering, the boy slayer simply let go of the blond, dropping him on the ground before going to stand in front of the girl.

"Alright," he said cordially, "that should take care of that, you're all set to head home now. Do you need help with anything else?"

"No, but thank you very much for your help," the girl bowed in gratitude.

"HOLD ON!" The blond went back to yelling again, "don't you interfere! Can't you see that girl is madly in love with me?! We're both gonna get mar-AAAAACK!" He was quickly silenced by the girl slapping him in the face, then again, and again, and again. "Aah! Hey! Ouch! That hurts!" 'Maybe she didn't need help after all,' Susamaru stifled a laugh at the current situation.

"Whoa, calm down please," Tanjiro pulled the girl away to halt her assault on his fellow slayer.

"I say let 'er at 'em," the Temari Demon whispered, "He's got to learn somehow."

"When did I say anything even resembling love or marriage?!" The girl pointed at the object of her ire, "all I did was come check on you because you were crumpled up on the side of the road!"

"Wait, you're telling me the reason you did that wasn't because you were falling in love with me?!" The Blond Boy yelled, finally seeming to hear what was being said all along.

"I already have a fiancé!" The girl revealed, "I thought you might've been hurt or something but since I see you're fine now I'm leaving! Goodbye!" She turned around in a huff and marched off, clearly ready to be anywhere else but there.

"No, wait, come back," the blond slayer begged, "please don't go."

"Just give it a rest already," both Tanjiro and Susamaru said at the same time.

"Ah, why did you have to get in my way," he whined, "this had nothing to do with you." The boy slayer merely looked at him with an expression that was a mixture between pity and mild disgust. "Why are you looking at me like I'm some kind of creature?! Stop it! The reason I missed out on getting married is because of you!"

"Let's leave this loser here," Susamaru whispered, "he's only going to slow us down."

"Who are you calling a loser?!" The blond questioned noisily before suddenly deflating, "oh who am I kidding, you're right. I'm a weakling who'll probably die during this job, so please mister, you got to protect me until I get married!"

"You and I are practically the same age," Tanjiro put his hand on his chest, "so instead of mister, call me by my name, Tanjiro Kamado."

"That's good to know, I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma," he introduced before grabbing onto his fellow slayer, "please, you've gotta do what you can to save me!"

"Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic," the eldest Kamado asked while getting his hands off of him, "why did you even become a swordsman if you're going to act so utterly pathetic?"

"Because I got conned by a woman and racked up a lot of debt!" Zenitsu explained in, yet again, a noisy manner, "the old geezer who took it on happened to be a cultivator for slayers! He made me train to the bone every day, it was so horrible I wanted to die! I thought I was going to during Final Selection but I survived and this nightmare continues to haunt me!" At this point he took the phrase 'bent out of shape' a little too literally and did a bridge with his with his pelvis sticking straight up in the air, "I'm so scared, terrified, frightened!"

"Don't forget fearful," Susamaru jokingly added.

"That too!" The blond slayer continued to exclaim, "I just know I'm going to be eaten by a demon soon! My brains are going to get sucked through my ears while I'm still alive!" He devolved into incoherent screaming for a bit after that. When he finally, finally calmed down they were able to be on their way.

Susamaru might've made a few more snide comments but after he somehow managed to hear her the first couple of times she decided it was best to wait until sundown or a shady spot before she made a scene. Because of that, the Temari Demon had to content herself with a nap while the two walked along. Though she was surprised to learn that Tanjiro could understand Zenitsu's sparrow, who for some reason acted as his Kasugai crow as opposed to an actual crow.

Naturally the sparrow didn't have a lot of flattering things to say about his master, namely that he was always whining about having to work, constantly hitting on girls, and snored really loud. Susamaru had to stop herself from snickering upon hearing that list of traits. Though the calm mood was spoiled by Tanjiro's crow demanding that the duo start running. Zenitsu somehow didn't know this was normal for slayers and flipped out yet again before they started hurrying to their destination.

A Short Time Later: The Tsuzumi Mansion

"A house," Tanjiro noted as they spied the large, two story residence. Whoever used to live there must've been well off as evidenced by its opulent slanted roofs and even the presence of a balcony. Of course, Tanjiro's next statement made it obvious whoever lived here before was long gone. "I can smell blood."

"Wait, you can smell something here," Zenitsu looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah, but it's a completely new smell," he clarified.

"I can't really smell anything," the blond slayer cupped his ear, "but what about that sound? You can hear it too, right?"

"Sound, what sound?" Tanjiro shot him an inquisitive glance before noticing they weren't the only ones there. Hiding in the bushes not far off, was a pair of frightened children.

"There are kids here," Zenitsu was surprised to see a young boy with a possibly even younger girl. The pair were trembling while clinging to each other.

"Hey there," the red-eyed slayer greeted while approaching at a casual pace, "is there a reason you're out here by yourselves?" The kids merely continued to shudder, apparently too afraid to answer. 'They're definitely terrified,' Tanjiro noted before taking a knee in front of the two. "Guess what, I've got something really cool here, want to see?"

Again he received no answer but proceeded anyway. "Ta-da! It's a friendly sparrow," Tanjiro presented Zenitsu's sparrow in his right hand. The little bird hopped up and down happily as if to say 'see, I'm very friendly'. Thankfully, this seemed to have the desired effect as the children calmed down, though they collapsed to their knees. "Talk to me," he adopted a more business-like look now, "did something happen here?"

"T-The house," the boy, who was in a blue kimono, began shakily, "there's, there's a monster inside of it. We were walking down the road at night and this….this thing appeared in front of us and went straight for our brother. I don't know why it didn't spare us a glance, but it took our big brother into that house."

"You two followed them here," Tanjiro noted with an understanding smile, "that was very brave of you, great job."

"That thing really hurt him," the boy continued as tears streamed down his and his sister's faces, "we followed the traces of his blood here."

"Well don't worry," the Eldest Kamado assured, "we're gonna defeat that monster and bring your brother back safely."

"Really," the girl, who was in a pink kimono, asked hopefully.

"I promise," Tanjiro stood up, a confident look forming on his face.

"Hey Tanjiro," Zenitsu had his hand to his ear again, "do you know what that strange sound is? It won't stop and it's unnerving. It sounds like a drum."

"A drum," the slayer repeated while looking in slight confusion at the mansion, "I don't hear anything." Had he been able to hear just a little better, the distinct sound of a Tsuzumi drum letting off a single beat from time to time is what he would've heard. That is until it started increasing in tempo, faster and faster until suddenly, someone was flung through the open door of the balcony. It happened too fast and neither of the slayers was close enough, thus the body hit the ground with a wet splat, spewing a circle of blood around him on the zone of impact.

"Cover your eyes," Tanjiro put a hand in front of the siblings who closed their own eyes in fright. Zenitsu himself was frozen in place by fear while his fellow slayer rushed over to examine the body. "Can you hear me?! Just hang on!" Despite his pleas, he could already tell that the boy in his arms was grievously wounded. It was honestly amazing he was still breathing.

"Even though," the bloodied victim whispered hoarsely, "I…..was able to…e-escape from that….horrible place….was it not…enough? Am I still…..gonna die?" Tanjiro didn't know what to say so instead, he embraced the boy who escaped the mansion, doing his best to comfort him in his final moments. As he passed, Zenitsu approached.

"Tanjiro," he called somewhat nervously, "would that happen to these kids-ROOOOOAAAAAR!" He was halted mid-speech as an inhuman roar rumbled from the mansion.

"Oh yeah, that's a demon," Susamaru did her best to cross her arms in the box. Even despite having no view of the outside world, she could feel that Tanjiro wasn't shaking in the slightest, as opposed to everyone else. More than likely, his rage over this unknown person's death was greater than his fear.

"Hey," Tanjiro called once the noise had ceased, "is this your brother?"

"No," the once again frightened boy answered, "our brother had an orange kimono on." 'So this demon has captured more than one person,' Tanjiro realized before standing up and saying a quick prayer for the deceased victim. He would bury him once he returned. For now, he had to worry about the living.

"Alright, Zenitsu, let's go," the slayer turned to his friend who was frantically shaking his head. "Look, I know you're scared but you and I are the only ones who can help them now." But the blond slayer simply continued to shake his head fearfully. "Fine then, have it your way."

"WAIT!" Zenitsu grabbed ahold of the box on Tanjiro's back as he turned to leave, sliding on the ground as his fellow slayer drug him along. "Fine, I give in, you don't have to be so scary!"

"Don't let me force you," Tanjiro growled without looking back.

"I said I'll gooooooo!" The panicking blond yelled once again.

The Eldest Kamado stopped for a second and gave a reassuring look to the two children. "We'll be back," he promised, "so just wait for us and if anything scary comes out of there, hide." The siblings nodded in understanding as the duo proceeded inside the mansion. Amazingly, some of the overhanging lights appeared to be working as they cautiously walked down the hallway. Stranger still, the mansion appeared to be much bigger on the inside.

"So, Tanjiro," Zenitsu squeaked from behind him, "this thing that's in here with us, you'll be sure to protect me from it, right?"

"Zenitsu," he stopped, deciding now was the best time to mention his condition, "I hate to tell you this, but I was in another fight just yesterday. I broke a leg and a rib, neither of which have fully healed up yet, so-."

"WAIT! WHAAAATTT?! You have broken bones?!" The blond slayer yelled, "just what do you think you're trying to do to me?! If you're in that condition then my fate has been-GAAAAAAACK!" He was silenced by a sudden punch to his face, knocking him into the wall.

"Will you just shut up already!" Susamaru ordered in annoyance, "fucking A, I've met regular people who didn't complain this much when they were about to die."

"Ow," Zenitsu rubbed his throbbing head, "why did you…you're a….demon?"

"That's right," she grinned with a thumb pointed to herself, "and as of right now, your only hope of survival."

Does anyone else think it's ironic that a slayer with enhanced hearing is always so loud? Personally surprised he hasn't deafened himself by now. But let me know what you think in your comments and reviews along with what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And for news and other little tidbits, see about becoming a patron on my Pat reon! Last thing, be sure to stop in next time as the Tsuzumi Mansion is invaded by even more unexpected guests! 'Til then.