Exploding Through Dimensions

Chapter 13: Mount Natagumo

Clenching his fists Bakugo had to fight every urge to turn around and find them himself even if he didn't know where they were, he had to consider their words carefully. He had to trust that his friends would make it out alive. They just had to.

"No..." they heard a small whimper a couple of feet in front of them which made them all stop.

"Wait." He said stepping forward and recognizing the same girl from before except this time she was surrounded by dead bodies.

"Please...don't come any closer...." The tears continued to stream down her pained face as she held her katana in one hand and the head of another demon slayer in the other. "Please...summon someone of higher rank! Otherwise everyone will get killed!" she pleaded before she cried out in pain and her body was forced to move and attack. As she did so more and more bodies began to get to their feet, bending in unnatural ways that made Bakugo flinch whenever he heard their painful cries and breaking bones.

"This is sick." His eyes widened whenever one of them got back up.

"I wonder if you can defeat them..." The white-haired woman continued to giggle as she continued to move her fingers in tune with the corpses. "The closer you get to me the thicker and stronger these threads are and the more powerful my dolls become."

"Mother."

Gasping in fear the demon mother saw Rui slowly emerge from the trees next to her.

"You can win right?" Tilting his head sideways he stared at her as if she was nothing more than an insect under his feet. "Don't you think this is taking too much time?

"Rui..."

"Well you better get to it or I'm going to have to tell father."

"No! I can do it! I can do it!" she whimpered, the tears beginning to gather in her eyes. "I promise to protect you! So please! Whatever you do don't tell your father! Not him! Please!"

"Then hurry it up." He regarded her for a moment before leaving her sobbing and panting.

Trying to control her trembling hands she began pulling on the threads harshly letting all her anger and sadness flow out of her. "Die! Just all of you die already! Or else they'll be hell for me to pay!"

"Watch out!" Tanjiro said blocking another attack. They had been trying to fend them off for some time knowing that the longer they took the more people were going to die. The final blow came when instead of continuing to burn and slice through the threads like they had, they figured out a way to disarm them by throwing them up the trees. But instead of finding a moment of relief the demon who was controlling them frustratingly pulled on the strings instantly killing the demon slayers.

The air became thick with grief and both boys fell silent as Tanjiro kneeled down in desperation near one of the now lifeless bodies before they decided to move forward to find the one responsible.

They continued running through the forest in hopes of getting close to the demon mother as the boy called her. But things took another grim turn when blocking their path was a massive demon with blades instead of arms also controlled by her threads.

"Now...let's see how well you do with my precious doll."

X

"Ochaco? Ochaco!"

Groggily lifting her head, the girl tiredly opened her eyes to see her friend running from her with pleading watery eyes. "M-Mina?"

"Thank All Might your awake!" Mina continued to pant and run like her life depended on it until Uraraka realized that that in fact was what she was doing.

"Mina!" Now fully awake she let her terrified eyes roam her arms and legs who seemed to be clutching a bloodied Katana aimed directly at the pink girl.

"You're being controlled!" Mina ducked down under a tree branch right as the Katana came down on her before taking off running again. "Any chance you could snap out of it?"

Screaming the moment she even attempted to move her body felt like pure torture as agonizing pain shot up and down her body. "Mina!"

"Just hang on!" Mina shouted over her shoulder hoping she'd think of something and fast before something happened to either of them. "Please hang on!"

X

"Die!" Bakugo shouted as he landed an explosion right in the demons' face giving Tanjiro time to strike next.

"Total concentration water breathing fourth form, Striking Tide!" Tanjiro swung his sword upside down successfully slicing off the demon's legs before Inosuke came down and killing it off.

"All right! We defeated it!" Tanjiro tiredly smiled but it was short lived when Inoskue grabbed him around the waist and hastily tossed him into the sky before Bakugo blasted himself forward grabbing him by the collar.

"Hang on!" Bakugo shouted as they shot towards where Tanjiro could smell the demons scent closing in.

"Over there!"

"Don't fuckin tell me what to do!"

"Sorry." Tanjiro momentarily cringed before grabbing his sword tightly. "Let's go!"

Shaking, the demon mother stared at her hands that wouldn't stop quavering for what was to come. "They got me! They got me! Even though that doll was my fastest and strongest and they still won! It's Ruis fault for coming to me with his threats that's why I panicked! I panicked!" she snapped her head up when she heard explosions in the night sky. "From above?" she gasped.

"Gotcha!" Bakugo send off a good-sized explosion which made her lose her balance on the giant boulder she was sitting on before burning what remained of her threads and hearing the demon mother cry in desperation.

Shaking in fear she noticed that her threads had begun to burn away. "W-what? That's not possible..."

That's when she saw the one wearing hanafuda earings aim his sword towards her as he jumped down. "He's going to cut my head off! What do I do? What do I do?! He's going to kill me!" The closer he became the more she came to realize something. "But if I die...I'll be freed." Slowly she raised her arms in the air with what remained of her threads letting them go and waiting for the inedible end to finally release her of this life. "And then...I'll find peace."

Tanjiros eyes widened before quickly readjusting his grip on his sword in the last minute. "Fifth form, blessed rain after the drought..."

She stared at the night sky in shock when she felt no pain at all, only feeling the warmth and tranquility it brought her. It wasn't until her head dropped to the ground that she could see Tanjiro turn to give her a sad look. 'Those eyes...such kind eyes. Back when I was human, I think someone used to look at me with kind eyes. I wonder who that was...' tears began to flow freely out of her eyes, but it wasn't of pain but of gratitude. "There's a member of the twelve Kizukis here..."

"Wait!" Shocked Tanjiro watched as her eyes slowly closed.

"Be careful." She whispered before turning to ash.

"Twelve Kizuki?" Bakugo walked up to him as the boy slowly kneeled down where her head once laid.

"This person gave off the scent of terror and suffering. Even yearning for death..." Tanjiro slowly got to his feet with the same somber expression as before. "What she did was unforgivably, but no person nor demon ever deserves to die such a horrible death, especially when we don't know what caused them to become this way. Maybe she was lonely with no way to escape...that's the sense I picked up when she looked at me."

"Then why'd you do it?" Bakugo curiously asked when Tanjiro walked past him.

"To help set her free." He slowed his pace to a stop while halfway turning remembering the strong emotions in her eyes as she faded away. "So she can once again be with the people I'm sure cared about her. After all...isn't that what any of us want...?"

Slowly nodding Bakugo Watch as Tanjiro readjusted the straps on the box he was still carrying on his back. "Been meaning to ask why the hell you're still carrying that box around."

Fondly smiling Tanjiro placed a gentle hand on the wooden box. "Because it's something I care about more than anything in the world."