Third person POV
As a group of Kakushi came running towards Rengoku, Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu and Hikaru all of them except for Rengoku and Hikaru were still crying. They weren't sure if it was relief or maybe they were terrified, they just couldn't stop their tears. Elsewhere a crow landed in front of a boy with blonde and red hair that was sweeping a path. Hearing what the crow had to say the boy sank to his knees, his shoulders shaking as he cried. He was Senjuro, Rengoku's younger brother and his tears were from relief and grief as well after all his brother had nearly lost his life. The kakushi quickly grabbed the members onto their backs, being careful of their wounds before rushing towards the Butterfly mansion so that they could get healed.
Meanwhile a young boy was seen standing in a room with a book about flowers in his hands until the windows blew open from what appeared to be the wind but Akaza was there in a bow.
"I am here to report to you Master Muzan" Akaza said and the boy turned to him and his eyes turned red.
"Have you found what I asked for?" Muzan enquired.
"I looked into it but came up empty. Having no way to even confirm its existence, I was unable to locate the Blue Spider Lily" Akaza reported.
"And?" Muzan prompted.
"I will continue to do my utmost to live up to your expectations Master Muzan. As ordered, I did eliminate one Hashira, so you must rest assured" Akaza said.
"You seem to have the wrong idea about this Akaza" Muzan said before sending an unseen attack at Akaza that impacted his body and shattered the windows around him.
"So what if you disposed of one Hashira? As if that were such a feat. A demon beating a human is a forgone conclusion. What I want is for the Demon Slayer Corps to be annihilated. Pummel the life out of every last one of them and never let another one enter my line of sight again" Muzan said.
"It is hardly a complicated task and yet I'm still waiting for it to happen. What do you have to say about that? You boast about having killed a single Hashira but there were four other Demon Slayers there. Why did you fail to kill them off after I made a point of sending you there because you happened to be nearby? Not only that but you boast about killing a Hashira who survived" Muzan glared and even though there was blood running out of his mouth and he was shaking he looked up at Muzan in shock and disbelief.
"Master Muzan, I put my fist through him, there is no way that Hashira could have survived" Akaza protested even when he knew it would just bring him more pain.
"Oh then how do you explain how he is still alive?" Muzan demanded. Akaza thought back to his battle with Rengoku, his internal organs had to have been damaged and there was no medicine that could fix that damage unless he became a demon but Rengoku had rejected that. Then he remembered something else, a certain red haired boy who had started to glow as if he was becoming the sun itself.
"Akatsuki" Akaza whispered.
"What was that? Speak up" Muzan snapped.
"The Akatsuki was there, he is growing more powerful Master Muzan. He started to glow and then the sun started to dawn but I still had another ten minutes. I don't know what happened but it must have been the Akatsuki" Akaza said.
"Silence! I will speak no more about the Akatsuki! You have disappointed me Akaza, to think that you suffered a blow by a swordsman who isn't even a Hashira. How far you've fallen Upper Three. Dismissed" Muzan said and Akaza stood before he left.
"I just heard a loud noise, are you okay?" Muzan's current 'Father' questioned. There was only one thing going through Muzan's mind, he had to kill and destroy that Akatsuki that he had made the foolish mistake of leaving alive. Akaza left Muzan's place with a glare and a frown on his face that got worse every step he took as he remembered Tanjiro calling out that he was a coward. Throwing Tanjiro's katana so it was in a tree he clenched his fists before attacking the sword until it was in nothing but pieces taking his frustrations out on the blade.
"I know what you look like, boy! The next time we meet I'm going to spray your brain matter everywhere! Not to mention Akatsuki, I will kill him but not before I destroy everything he loves in front of him!" Akaza vowed.
Hikaru's POV, a few days later
We had been taken back to the Butterfly Mansion where Shinobu rushed to look after our injuries. Even with my medicine we were still pretty damaged but we were still all alive. There was also the problem of me apparently running a really high fever that nothing we did would get my temperature down and Shinobu tried everything including putting me in ice cold water for two hours. Since I was nearly out of medicine I would have to restock before I left on my next mission and see if that helped my fever but at the moment I couldn't bring myself to do anything. All I was doing was laying on the bed that I had been assigned staring at the ceiling of the room. I had done everything right, I had saved Rengoku's life and yet I had still failed.
"Hikaru" Tanjiro said and I turned to look at him and he flinched a little. I could tell why, there were probably dark bags under my eyes and my eyes that normally shone with happiness were now dull and devoid of life.
"Come on, let's go see Rengoku. I am sure that he would like some visitors not only that but I'm sure he would really like to see you as well" Tanjiro smiled and I just blinked at him before nodding and getting to my feet. I didn't even bother to grab my swords, my haori or my mask. Tanjiro frowned before he gently put my haori on me since I was still recovering and gently slid my swords into their normal places before grabbing my mask in one hand and my hand in the other. With that we were off, running through the streets as we followed Rengoku's messenger crow to where Rengoku's house was. My arm, stomach and other various wounds were still healing so it should have hurt a lot but to be honest I didn't even feel it. When we stopped I looked up and saw a boy that looked like a mini-Rengoku, this must be Senjuro, his little brother.
"Are you Senjuro-kun?" Tanjiro questioned as we walked closer and bowed.
"We are friends of your brothers, we were wondering if we might be able to see Rengoku," Tanjiro explained.
"For my brother? He is resting at the moment. Um, are you alright? Your face is deadly pale!" Senjuro exclaimed looking at me. I couldn't say anything back as I just continued to look at him.
"Knock it off! Why are you bothering to come and see him now that he is worthless? Look what he got for becoming a swordsman when he had no real talent. No wonder he got hurt, worthless!" A man that looked like an older and scruffer version of Rengoku scoffed, he was also holding a sake bottle. This must be Rengoku Shinjuro, Kyojuro and Senjuro's father.
"What a fool of a son Kyojuro is! A person's talent level is determined the day he's born, only a mere handful have any talent the rest are just members of the masses! Completely useless trash, they are!" He said before taking a large gulp of sake.
"Kyojuro is in that group, he has no real talent so why wouldn't he end up injured? Senjuro, he isn't even dead, it's high time you wiped that gloomy look off your face" Shinjuro said.
"Hold on, that's going way too far! Please stop talking about him like that" Tanjiro protested.
"Who are you? Get out! Don't you dare set foot on our property!" Shinjuro glared.
"I'm with the Demon Slayer Corps and so is he," Tanjiro said while gestured to me. Suddenly he dropped his bottle of sake, making it smash on the path stone while looking at Tanjiro.
"You, I get it now! You, you're the wielder of the Sun breathing technique, right? Am I right?" Shinjuro demanded pointing at Tanjiro.
"Sun breathing? What are you talking about?" Tanjiro questioned. Without answering Shinjuro raced at Tanjiro grabbing his arm with one hand and putting the other hand behind Tanjiro's neck before slamming him into the ground. I felt like I should do something but even as I screamed at myself in my mind I couldn't get my body to work for me so I stood next to Senjuro pleading with myself to move.
"Chichue! Please stop it, they are Kyojuro's friends" Senjuro protested as he tried to stop his father.
"You keep your mouth shut!" Shinjuro yelled. In an instant my body moved on its own and I grabbed Senjuro making his head duck down so that I was hit instead and then I wrapped my arms around Senjuro and backed away.
"That's enough, you monster!" Tanjiro yelled, getting out of the hold and kicking up to fully break away.
"Why are you acting like this anyway? Insulting your own child who nearly lost his life, striking him, what is it that you want to do?" Tanjiro demanded.
"You, you're mocking us, aren't you?" Shinjuro growled.
"What makes you say that? I have no idea what you mean! Now you're just slandering me!" Tanjiro said.
"That's because you're a wielder of the Sun Breathing technique! I know all about those earrings, i-it was in the book" He said. So Rengoku was right, there was something about Tanjiro's family in those books that his father read. That means that either he was focused on Tanjiro or there was nothing in those books about the Akatsuki but if that was the case, what was the breathing technique that I used. What was the Akatsuki no Hikaru?
"One of two first breaths. One of the two first breathing techniques ever created. The second most powerful of them all and all the other techniques are derived from Sun Breathing! All the others just mimic Sun Breathing, they're just cheap imitations, retrograde versions of the Sun Breathing! Fire, Water, Wind, all of them!" Shinjuro yelled. In that case if all the other techniques came from Sun Breathing what about the other one he mentioned in passing. He mentioned one that was also made at the same time but never mentioned that the other breathing styles came from it. He also said that Sun Breathing was the second most powerful. Does this mean that the breathing technique that I used, the Akatsuki no Hikaru, was one of the first and most powerful breathing forms? Also if that was the case, given the name of it, did my family create this breathing style?
"Don't get cocky just because you're a wielder of the Sun Breathing technique, boy!" Shinjuro yelled.
"As if I could! Can't you see how devastated I am by my own weakness? Why, you miserable old fart!" Tanjiro yelled.
"Tanjiro" I whispered out, my voice cracking from disuse.
"Look out! My Chichue is," Senjuro started.
"Don't you dare badmouth Rengoku! Don't you dare!" Tanjiro screamed out as he charged at Shinjuro, his fist held high.
"A former Hashira!" Senjuro finished. It was too late as Shinjuro twirled his arm with Tanjiro's before pulling back and punching Tanjiro again and again. My eyes widened as I got to my feet, my hands clenched.
"Please stop, Chichue!" Senjuro yelled.
"If you touch him again....I'll kill you" I whispered as I placed a hand on my short sword ready to draw it and kill that man. I didn't care that his son was watching, I didn't care if he was Kyojuro's father at the moment, all he was, was a person that was hurting Tanjiro. Before I could do anything though Tanjiro turned before throwing himself backwards and headbutting Shinjuro. The noise of the hit alone made me wonder if they had broken something but turns out they were fine other than Shinjuro being knocked out. With that Senjuro invited us inside to wait for Kyojuro to wake up.
