-Do you need any help? a beautiful young eighteen-year-old girl asked with a kind smile to the two surprised figures. The girl's eyes were full of kindness, as was her soft voice, and how elegant were her movements? A princess in a word. That's exactly what Tatsumi saw.
It simply made the boy's head spin, he even thought he was in some kind of fairy tale. He met a wounded warrior, albeit a very young one, helped him, perhaps even saved his life, met a wonderful girl, admired her beauty and didn't notice how he was deceived, left without a penny, and now a princess is helping him, what a wonderful fairy tale it would be.
But while Tatsumi's thoughts were swirling around the so-called "fairy tale", the girl continued to speak, taking the initiative.
-How about a place to stay? the girl asked in the same sweet voice, this time burning the small hope in his eyes. At that moment, if only a little sunlight, and she would indeed be a princess, if not more, for Tatsumi.
Tanjiro, on the other hand, did not understand his feelings. Her scent from head to toe was permeated with "rot" in the literal sense of the word, blood, burnt flesh and mold. But those eyes spoke only of a benevolent character.
What was he to do? What to believe? In a normal situation, if not for his good-natured character, he would have taken her for a demon, because everything was logical.
Night, lonely teenagers, "accidental" help, but he didn't smell a demon, maybe this one knows how to hide like some upper moons, but in any case, he will keep his blade ready.
Tanjiro didn't have to think further, his new friend had already answered the question, without even listening to him, but Tanjiro, honestly, didn't want to think further, his thoughts were approaching the point of beheading the demons on the spot, and he didn't want to do that and for the moment, just sat on the ship controlled by Tatsumi.
-O-Of course! Be so kind! Tatsumi replied with an excited and joyful voice and continued in the same tone. "It's so good that you appeared, otherwise we would have thought that we would spend the night on a cold stone, with the same cold and empty stomachs." Tatsumi said, chuckling.
-I see. Tell me your story some other time, when we get there. the girl winked. Making the boy once again spin around the feminine charm.
-We are very grateful to you! Isn't that right, Tanjiro? Luck smiled at us. The boy said with a wide smile.
-Y-Yeah. Yes, luck is on our side today, it's so good that we met her. Thinking about the image of a kind, bright-natured girl, Leone, imagining her image in his head, he forced himself to smile once again. To smile with a kind, soft and such a beautiful smile that the girl, thinking that they were addressing her, had ever seen. At the moment when she saw his face, her heart started beating fast, and she herself felt a slight tingling from the goosebumps on her body. Slightly blushing, with a stammering voice, the girl continued.
-O-Oh, it's nothing. I just can't watch people suffer... in any case, get into the carriage, you'll like it there. the girl continued.
Although Tanjiro considered it a great luck to meet such a girl as Leone, Tatsumi considered the opposite, and had every right to do so. Instead of the kind and bright blonde that Tanjiro saw, Tatsumi saw a greedy and terrible girl, with horns on her head.
The company reached their destination quite quickly, while Tatsumi gasped and with bright eyes was surprised by the beautiful mansion, with large and beautiful gardens and a small fountain, Tanjiro sat as if on pins and needles, constantly keeping his sword ready.
Tanjiro flinched at the moment when he just got out of the carriage, his legs refused to move, and his mind was shaking. His body was so contorted from the pressure that it opened some wounds, painting the white bandages under his clothes in a scarlet, bright red color.
Tanjiro felt the smell of blood, horror and fear only with his nose. The different aromas simply made his head spin, he felt this only when people died en masse under the onslaught of Muzan. "What is going on here?" the boy wondered.
-Hey! Tanjiro! Don't sleep, come inside. Waving his hands in front of his face, Tatsumi made the latter come out of his thoughts and strangely examine the mansion, occasionally glancing at Aria, sometimes their eyes met, from which the girl blushed sweetly and quickly turned away.
-What is this? the girl whispered to herself, grabbing her heart with both hands, feeling its acceleration and tingling. The girl could not help but look at the boy, such a pleasant and special appearance, the more she looked at him, the more beauty she saw in him.
In the next moment, they found themselves in the house, where they were kindly greeted by the girl's parents, and now they, or rather he, only Tatsumi kept the conversation going, laughing and telling stories, were sitting at a table completely filled with food. Tanjiro's warnings that the food was spoiled, Tatsumi only waved aside, saying that it was impolite and that he was delirious.
Tanjiro stared with dead eyes at his cup of tea, sitting as far as possible from Aria and her parents, but the former still sat down next to him with insistence.
-The food is poisoned. Tanjiro said to himself, trying to overcome his feelings of hunger and thirst. But he so wanted to try all this delicious food, but it was spoiled, just like these people.
-Ho.. Aria, so you brought a fiancé? the woman said, closing her mouth, through laughter, smirking at her daughter's negative squeals and worrying about the wounded boy next to her, who did not say a word, in addition to this, did not take a crumb of food into his mouth. "If this continues, then everything can turn out quite differently," the woman thought.
-You need more strength, just look at your wounds? Even if the food is so unappetizing, then please take at least a cup of tea." the man said, holding out a fragrant tea to Tanjiro's face with a worried tone.
-Yes, thank you, but I'm not hungry at all. Tanjiro said calmly, waving his hands, without taking his eyes off this cup, it was especially heavily poisoned, Tanjiro could not say for sure, he did not understand poison, but it seemed that it was one of those used by Lady Shinobu with the effect of immobilization.
-Well, what are you, I can see your hungry eyes, don't be shy, take it, take it. the man acted more insistently and almost poked this tea into Tanjiro's face, at the same time portraying a note of pity. The man almost begged Tanjiro to drink some tea.
-Well, o-okay. Tanjiro said in a quiet voice, took the tea and looked at it for a long time. Maybe he's just delirious? And indeed, this is a kind and good family, why the hell would they poison their guests? Besides, Tatsumi has already emptied half a table of "poison" and everything is fine with him. "Yes, there must be a mistake..." the boy's thoughts were interrupted by the man.
-Go ahead. the man said quite loudly and confidently, looking at the boy's eyes for a long time. He carefully watched as the boy hesitantly took the cup and, with slightly trembling hands, brought it to his lips, as if forcing his body to do it.
Unexpectedly for everyone, without a single word, Aria knocked the cup out of the boy's hands just at the moment when it touched his lips. Everyone just watched the cup shattering into pieces, slowly shifting their gaze to the girl.
-I... I think you are very tired, Tanjiro, you can go to rest. she said, convulsively stammering. The girl herself seemed not to understand what she was doing, why did she do it? She herself did not know, her heart simply ordered her to do it, but right now her heart was occupied with something else, for the first time in her life she was afraid of her parents.
-Aria, what is all this about? her mother said through a smile, at the same time drilling this sharp gaze at the girl.
-Mother, I think they need to get some sleep, just look at their faces, they...
-They are very hungry, Aria, young men need more energy to grow up strong and confident men. Interrupting his daughter, the head of the family made it clear with his eyes to the servants to remove the debris from the floor and, as if nothing had happened, quickly took another cup, preparing to repeat his manipulations more successfully.
-Sorry about that, please. the man said with the same voice and smile, slightly annoyed, and again brought the cup to the boy's face. It seemed that the man was not going to give up so easily.
-Actually, Aria is right, we really want to sleep, sorry about that! And thank you for everything! the boy shouted, bowing deeply, so that his head broke the table, grabbed Tatsumi's hand and instantly dragged him upstairs, ignoring the latter's resistance.
Around eight o'clock in the morning, in the Amino family's house
-What was that?! Tatsumi angrily asked the boy who was frantically checking the room, or rather sniffing it.
Without waiting for any answer or reaction from his new friend, he simply approached him, took him by the shoulder and turned him towards himself, making eye contact.
-Hey, I'm talking to you! shaking Tanjiro's shoulders, the boy said, disappointment visible in his eyes. "This family sheltered us! What's wrong with you? And why did Aria do that?" Tatsumi said in a puzzled and calm voice.
-Tatsumi, I smell, I smell the scent of blood, the house is completely saturated with it and beyond its borders. That tea, that food you ate, is completely soaked in poison. Tanjiro said with an anxious voice, already shaking the shoulders and body of his green-eyed friend. Watching the boy nervously holding his throat.
Tatsumi didn't believe it at first, but he was a little alarmed by Tanjiro's words, who was so badly treating the family of his savior, but then he looked into those eyes, they didn't even think to lie to him! Tatsumi sincerely wanted to believe his friend, so he decided to give him a chance, then he got rid of the poison, pushing it out with all his dinner.
They agreed that if Tanjiro proved his words, they would leave the mansion right now, and Tatsumi would start believing him in everything, and if it was a lie and slander, Tanjiro would apologize in the morning and admit everything himself, and he would start believing him less, of course, if those eyes didn't convince him again.
So they walk under the moonlight along a long corridor, so that Tanjiro proves his words, proves that there are corpses here and that the food is poisoned, where are they going? Tanjiro said something about a very strong and sharp smell behind the house, somewhere in the forest not far from here, where did he get such a sense of smell?
-So, once again, where are we going? Listen, a hidden warehouse is, of course, convincing, but I still think that the basement would be the best option. Tatsumi didn't manage to finish when his friend convulsively closed his mouth, the questions didn't take long to wait, but the answers to them were faster.
-Smells of blood. Tanjiro swallowed with a tremor in his words, no, he wasn't afraid, it's just that this whole atmosphere is too terrible, he was rather wary.
-Yes, you've already told me that, Tanjiro. scratching his head, Tatsumi said, but with a gesture his friend asked him to be quieter and carefully examined the emptiness in the shadow, Tatsumi didn't understand his friend's actions, since he had already realized that he was strange and terribly stubborn, he simply fulfilled his friend's request and also looked into the emptiness, feeling like an idiot.
Then Tanjiro slowly turned to his friend and said only three words.
-Smells of fresh blood. after, unexpectedly for Tatsumi, he pushed him on the shoulder with one hand, causing him to fall to the floor with a crash, while he himself pulled out his blade with the other hand and with one confident swing shattered the glass nearby.
For Tatsumi, it was both painful, since his friend pushed him hard, and a delightful sight. "What is this? Is it magic?" the boy only thought about this, watching the graceful movements of the sword generating water masses, which seemed to follow this sword and become its part, becoming smaller, then larger, like real water.
After a few minutes of silence, Tanjiro, greedily absorbing the air, as well as Tatsumi, still sitting on the floor, heard a sound, the sound of metal loudly hitting the ground.
-Damn, missed. a certain girl with pink hair tied in ponytails said through anger. She had been watching everything for a long time and didn't imagine any trouble when two armed figures came out of nowhere right towards her, so she and her armored partner decided to quickly remove the uninvited guests, the losses should not be great, right? "They will die anyway." that's what thoughts were spinning in the girl's head.
-Ooh, unexpected, usually you rarely miss, one in a hundred. Looks like we won't be able to settle quietly. We've been spotted. the man in armor said and bared his spear, assessing the whole situation with his eyes.
-I didn't miss. the girl hissed. "It was an accurate shot, both should have died, but this. This Teigu wielder foresaw me and cut my bullet." the girl seemed annoyed, now she has a different task, instead of attacking the opponents from behind, to protect the backs of her allies.
-Teigu? Are you sure, Mine? the man asked again more seriously. "If this is a Teigu wielder, then everything changes, there was no information about this." But the panic in the man was only in the fantasies of his enemies. If this is a Teigu wielder, then it doesn't prevent him or others from destroying the enemy as well.
-Well, I'm sure that ordinary weapons can't control water. So, yes, it's definitely Teigu, and judging by the reaction, the swordsman has experience and mastery of hard work. the girl said, playing with her rifle.
-Well, we'll find out now. Mine, execute plan B. the man said and in one jump disappeared from sight, leaving behind only the sounds of chirping birds.
-T-Tanjiro, what was that? the green-eyed boy asked fearfully. Just now, his life was on the verge of death, this bullet hitting the stone again and again will be played in his head.
-We were attacked and they will destroy us very quickly. the sharp smell of freshly squeezed blood rammed Tanjiro's nostrils. He felt... His eyes widened and he suddenly turned to Tatsumi.
-Tatsumi, do you believe me? grabbing the boy's hands, Tanjiro suddenly asked in a soft and kind voice. He apparently wasn't going to wait long for an answer.
-Believe the man who saved my life? Yes, I believe you, thank you so much. The boy replied with the same kindness with which he was asked.
-Then take the sword and go to the front door, get out of this place as far as possible. I'll find you myself. the boy said, all this time not taking his eyes off the shadow and tightly clenching his blade.
-W-WHAT? Don't talk nonsense! Do you even know what I'm capable of! the boy shouted with words obviously offended by Tanjiro. "What kind of defender did he imagine himself to be?" Tatsumi thought, then quickly remembered that he was indeed protected and now he is not the one who saves, but the one who needs to be protected, from this thought his face grimaced, but something happened that no one else expected.
Aria and her butler emerged from under the floor, accompanied by a guard, it seems they took advantage of a secret passage, they looked at each other for a long time, or rather he looked at them, since Tanjiro saw some kind of paradise in this darkness, Tatsumi joked to himself.
-Oh, it's so good that you are here, we urgently need hands! Please follow me to the shelter. the butler quickly said, grabbing the boy by the scruff of his neck, but he refused to go.
-Didn't you hear? the guard intervened defiantly and wanted to approach, but someone's voice interrupted everything.
-Please leave from here! Please! I already feel it, it's incredibly bloodthirsty, kills faster than blood manages to paint the floor crimson. Tanjiro said the last words in a whisper and with one hand showed the others to stay behind him.
-Tatsumi, please come with me. It seemed that the girl's innocent voice quickly convinced the boy and he was already about to leave. Yes, he was weak to women, but first Tatsumi glanced at the back of his comrade and stood in a self-confident pose.
-Don't you dare die here, Tanjiro, I owe you and I must somehow return it. Grinning, the boy bared his blade and pointed it at the back of his friend.
-We'll meet at the front entrance, with a smile, Tanjiro said, finally turning to him, but quickly returned to his stance, keeping watch.
-So, a Teigu we don't know anything about? scratching her chin, a certain blonde woman said, there was no such information and it excited her, and what's worse, is that Lubbock hears about the Teigu sword controlling water flows for the first time. "So, the Teigu is lost." the girl thought to herself.
-No, I'm just sure that there is some information, it's just that this. the pervert is distracted by something else instead of doing his job.
-These poisonous words quickly struck the heart of the green-haired guy and he began to defend himself.
-Firstly, I apologized, secondly, I accidentally and thirdly. Choke on it! There is nothing, I didn't find anything similar." the green-haired guy said, poking a certain book into the girl's face, until it turned into a small fight.
-Well, what shall we do? through a smirk, the blonde girl said, already creating a scenario of battles with this Teigu wielder.
-Plan B, in case of an unexpected turn, regroup. the armored figure said in a serious voice. And once again looked at his ally, waiting for some words.
-Aaah, Akame must be coming here already, Lubbock and Mine are here, in the background there was still a small battle going on. "You are here and I am here, all that remains is..." suddenly the girl's gaze became harsher, everyone became quiet and the armored figure along with her looked at each other for a long time, both understanding what was happening.
-Sheele. everyone said with excitement in their voices.
-It's coming. with one word Tanjiro clenched his blade tighter, and took in as much air as possible into his lungs, preparing to meet the demon. But what he saw shocked him, instead of the standard demon devouring people, there was no resemblance to a demon in her. She smelled like a human.
A female figure emerged from the shadow, long purple hair, glasses covering the killer's eyes and giant bloodied scissors. After her, dead dismembered body parts immediately showered down. She simply raised the scissors and looked into Tanjiro's face, finally showing her eyes.
Purple emotionless eyes, a terrifying weapon, a bloodied cute girl illuminated by the light of the Moon, in the darkness of the night. As if the Moon was created only for her, with interest she examined the boy's weapon.
Red, full of fortitude and courage, eyes, a gentle but sharp blade in the hands of a small boy whose innocence denies his warlike appearance, a body from recent bloody battles. His gaze was aimed only at the girl's neck.
Isn't it a wonderful meeting of a killer and a hunter?"