Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 46

That does remind him, he should probably make sure he's the only one staying up at this time of the night, he wants to leave without a trace and wants no reason to go back to this forsaken dimension. The man went inside the Butterfly Mansion and quietly checked each of the rooms. Everyone was sound asleep and accounted for. Soon, it was time to check on Tanjiro as he opened the door to Kanao's room quietly to see Kanao, Tanjiro, and Nezuko cuddled together underneath a blanket as they quietly snored while holding each other. Good, he doesn't have to worry about any of them now. The kid will be fine, he's able to move at least and he has people to take care of him. The Slayer's done all he needs to do here, it's time to get back. As the Slayer closed the door to Kanao's room and began heading back outside, Tanjiro opened his eyes to look at the door that just closed.

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"Portal opening on 3.. 2.. 1.. Opening!" The Intern announced as all of the faculty members stared at the center of the deck which had a built-in portal system and a pathway to lead up to it at the bottom of a staircase. A portal ignited from the center of the portal frame of the deck as the black portal with a blue ring spiralled to life and expanded to fill the empty space of the portal frame. The ARC employees stood in awe, anxiously waiting to see what would step through that portal.

There was a moment of dread, excitement, and anxiety as the crew stared into the blank void of the portal. They were relieved once they saw the Doom Slayer step through while carrying the Super Shotgun in both hands with the Marauder's argent axe swinging from his hip. All of the ARC crew within the deck of the carrier cheered and clapped upon seeing the return of the Doom Slayer to their world. Humanity's hope has been returned to them at last! The warrior said nothing as he began taking several steps forward, away from the portal. With the Slayer away from the portal, the Intern went to shut down the machine which caused the ring to shrink out of existence.

Just before the portal closed, the Slayer stopped once he heard a loud "THUD" sound as if something had just fallen to the floor behind him. The members of the ARC all leaned in, making a "Huh?" sound upon seeing what was behind the Slayer. The warrior turned around to see Tanjiro on the floor behind him, lifting his head up as the boy sheepishly said:

"Bet you weren't expecting to see me here." The boy felt flustered and embarrassed, fully expecting the older man to be furious with him once more. Instead, the Slayer knelt down and extended one hand towards Tanjiro while holding the Super Shotgun in the other. Tanjiro gladly took the warrior's hand as he was lifted onto his feet. Tanjiro quickly explained, knowing the man would want an explanation, "I'm sorry, Mister Flint, I acted on impulse. I didn't want you to leave and.. without thinking, I kind of got my stuff ready and went through the portal with you…"

The Slayer didn't realize that Tanjiro was wearing his demon slayer uniform underneath his checkerboard haori and his nichirin blade hanging around his hip. The boy looked the same as he did before the Super Doom Hunter except for his mechanical feet and hand which were connected to a larger prosthetic obscured by his clothes. The warrior already knew better than to scold the boy for his reckless actions, he expected no less from the brat which is why he finds Tanjiro annoying. That's why he intentionally tried to leave without saying goodbye to the boy because he didn't want to put up with this. The Slayer put his hand on Tanjiro's head and ruffled his hair in response.

The Intern then called out to the Slayer, "Do you want me to reopen the portal for the kid?"

The Slayer turned around and shook his head as he explained, "No, the kid's with me for the time being." Tanjiro's face lit up with a mix of pride and joy knowing the man wasn't furious with him. He attempted to compose himself as much as possible in the presence of so many strangers and a new environment.