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Chapter 41

"Hey, you. It's not over. Do something. She's your sister too, is she not? Are you just gonna stand around with your sword pointed at nothing?"
He turns to me, cold.

"I don't need a snarling brat to worry about mid-battle. Sing her some quaint, airbender nun lullaby or something."

With a powerful growl, Nezuko forced her body upright, knocking her and Tanjiro into the wall.
I rush to help, singing with whatever breath I had left.

"Hushabye, husha-!"
She thrashed against me, clawing at my shoulder.
"-bye. My good baby, sleep-"

It did nothing, and her kicks and scratches grew even more violent, Tanjiro's hand bleeding from the way he held his sword. He suddenly perks up, beginning to sing a lullaby as well, Nezuko more easily subduable.
"Hush, hush-"
She tried kicking at me.

"Baby rabbit... on the hillside, why are your ears so long?"
She bumped his chin with her head, growling louder.

"When I was small, mother ate the leaves of a tall tree-"

She seems to recall something, settling down, not as aggressive now, her hand merely grabbing at me instead.

"And that's why my ears are so long."

She halted entirely in her movements.
Her slit pupils slowly shifted back to small dots, and her body shivered as she broke into a sob.
Tanjiro removed his sword, and she collapsed into my arms, crying out loud and growing smaller till she was limp.

I breathe in relief, wrapping an arm around her, gently patting her head.
"She's asleep..."

Tanjiro sighed, tired as well, mumbling to himself.
"She fell asleep, mom... She fell asleep."

We turn around when the demon began screaming again.

"Where do you think you're going?! I can't believe you cut off my head!"
I turn to her, seeing her just sitting there, head upside down in her lap.

"You will not get away with this!"

"What are you whining about? You bore me. Just die already."

She scoffed.
"Get over yourself! Why'd you say I'm not an Upper Rank?"

Tengen maintained his composure.
"Because you're not an Upper Rank."

"I'm Upper Rank Six!"

"Yeah? Then why's your head in your hands? You clearly aren't strong enough. Did your brain seep out when I cut your head?"

"I've never lost a battle! Not one! I earned my rank!"

"You clearly lost today."
He commented.

"I'm Upper Rank Six! I'm really strong! And I'll keep-"

I speak up.
"I'm sorry-"

Everyone paused, even Tengen looking at me in confusion.

"You're an Upper Rank?"

She scoffed.
"Ha! Of course I am!"

"Can you tell me about Lower Moon Four?"
It's a horrible time for this, but I need to know. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to find him again, so I need to ask...

She scoffed.
"Tch. The Lower Moons? His Lordship grew tired of their weakness."
She quickly gasped and grew loud again.
"Why am I telling you this?!"

"Yeah, you're no Upper Moon."

Is he...? No... No, there's no way.
I'm stuck thinking, all in silence until a loud, pathetic sob rang out.

"Waaaaaaaaaah! It's really true! I am Upper Rank Six! I even have a number on my eye and everything because I'm so amazing!"

What...?
She's... crying? Also, how long has it been since her head was cut? Why isn't she fading away?

"Die! Die! All of you, die!"
She sobbed, slamming her fists into the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.
"He cut off my head! Gyutaro! Gyutaro, save me!"

As soon as she finished calling out, another person began forming out of her body, grumbling low. In an instant, Tengen's large swords struck, but the demon had left to another corner already, re-attatching her head.

His reflexes are incredible, but so are the demon's!
I grab my sword, not even knowing if I can do something to help.

"Tsk tsk. Crying won't help. Look at you, you've gone and lost your head. Pin it to your shoulders next time."
He held her face, wiping away her tears.
He was contorted, with messy hair and black dots all over grayed out skin.

"Oh no, you burned your face. And you were so cute..."
He sighed.
"When you have an asset like that, you gotta protect it better."

Tengen charged quickly, but the demon was so, so much faster!
It's scythes severed the string of gems that hung from his headband, causing him a head-wound as well, all the while, the demon seemed unharmed.

"Huh... You're pretty good, you actually blocked my attack."
He sighed.
"Awh, and I was really trying to kill you. You're good. Yeah... Really good."

Tanjiro and I watch nervously.
I've this terrible feeling in my gut I just can't ignore...

"Wow, look at you!"
He chuckled, his bulging and misaligned eyes glaring at him.

"You have such a nice face... Good skin, too. No stains, or scars or marks. Broad shoulders... Just don't let yourself get all fat."
He raised a hand to scratch his head.