'Demon Slayer' Slayer

Chapter 27: Nensho

After getting the information from Kahane, I was immediately called to the Infinity Castle. When I arrived, I found that Upper Moons Four and Five were there as well. Hantengu sat in a corner, trying to hide behind a cabinet, and Gyokko tried to show me some of his 'art'.

It was a pot filled with the bones of dead demon slayers. The bones of many different people were compiled into one rickety skeleton that was held together by cords of seaweed. I blasted it with fire, not interested in the gruesome thing.

"Hey! Don't disrespect my art! Is this any way to treat a great artist such as myself?!" Gyokko shouted indignantly. I created a knife in my hand and threw it at him, managing to hit him in the face.

Just then, Muzan appeared. "No insubordination, Nensho. Gyokko, shut the fuck up. Hantengu, get out of that corner. I have an important mission for all of you."

I raised my hand. "Master? I thought demons weren't allowed to work together, because it would lead to infighting."

"It would. But that doesn't mean I can't send demons to the same place at the same time. I am sending all three of you to the Swordsmith Village."

"Swordsmith Village? Where's that?"

"That's what I'll need you to find out. We don't know where it is, but you have an informant in the Demon Slayer Corps, don't you? Ask her where the Swordsmith Village is. Then come back here and tell me. We'll attack it as soon as you have the location. Without their swords, the demon slayers will be useless."

"Understood, Master. I'll leave now, unless you have something else to tell me."

"I do not. Leave now."

Nakime teleported me away, and I found myself outside the Butterfly Mansion. It was nighttime again, but there was a different set of guards. I didn't know a single one of them. Oh, fuck it. Where's Kahane? I guess humans need to sleep... she's probably doing that. But I need to find her!

Maybe she's not even here. Maybe she's at her own home- or her supervisor's, anyway. I should check there. She said it was north-north-west of here. I ran off, using the angle of the moon to tell me which way was north-north-west. To my surprise, it only took me half an hour to get there.

I found myself in a large clearing, with a large, low house in the middle of it. All the windows were dark, but a hunched figure sat atop the gate, keeping watch. The outline of her bow, silhouetted against the starry sky, told me that it was Kahane.

As I got closer, she noticed me and jumped lightly down from the gate. "Hey Nensho. Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see me? Why? I'm a demon. When I'm near you, I smell food, and I want to kill you and tear your flesh from your bones. But I also don't, at the same time." For some reason...

"Huh. Well, I could kill you anytime I wanted, too. And I like talking to you because I feel like you understand me. We have a common goal, and I can tell you how I really feel about everything. You're one of the few people on Earth who I could kill, but don't want to."

"Huh," I replied. "Okay." She likes talking to me. She likes talking to me! That's a nice change from watching my tongue and being constantly told to shut the fuck up and go cook rice. I guess... I guess I feel the same way. Even though I shouldn't. I shook my head, trying to brush away the unwanted thoughts. "I need information."

"That's what I thought. Come over here, where Tomioka won't hear us." Kahane led me into the forest, then climbed into a tall evergreen tree. Lost in the branches, I couldn't see her, so I lit a fire in my hand to light my way. Kahane shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK!? YOU'LL BURN THE FUCKING TREE! THINK, DAMN YOU!"