It was now night fall as you continue to follow your crow to your mission.
"Is this it?" you asked your crow when it stopped at the entrance of a mountain. Your crow nodded and flew away. You let out a deep breath and kept on walking.
'I don't see anything. It feels like there's no demon at all. Don't tell me that crow just wanted me to get lost in the middle of a mountain!' you thought when you saw someone on the ground. You immediately went towards the body and inspected it.
It was a young lady who was asleep. She has long black hair and she wore a green kimono. "Miss, are you okay?" you said as you gently shook the lady. The young lady opened her eyes and you saw her emerald green orbs. 'That's strange. She looks a lot like Inosuke-kun but with a softer feature.' you thought.
"Um, are you okay?" you asked again as the young lady looked around her surroundings then her gaze landed on you. "Pretty...." she blurted out then realized her mistake. Your cheeks turned red at what she has said causing her to move away from you. "I-I'm sorry! I just think your face is really pretty. I'm sorry!" The young lady exclaimed as she bowed towards you.
"N-no, it's fine! My name is (Y/N) (L/N) and you are?" you said as you waved your arms around. "My name is Kotoha Hashibira. It's nice to meet you (Y/N)-san." the young lady greeted.
"Hashibira..... are you a relative of Inosuke Hashibira?" you asked then you noticed Kotoha's eyes widened. "Yes! I'm Inosuke's mother! How do you know him? Is he okay?" Kotoha exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "Well, we met at a mission a few days ago. He is resting with my other friends at the Wisteria House." you informed.
'I can't tell her that I broke his ribs and Tanjiro headbutted him or she may get mad.' you nervously thought. "Ahh, I'm glad he is okay. He wanted to be a Demon Slayer to become more stronger, you see. I hope he is getting along with you." Kotoha said with a gentle smile on her face.
"Anyways, Kotoha-san, why are you in this mountain in the night? It's dangerous to go outside alone at night. There could be demons lurking around." you said. "Oh my! But I live here along with the kind old man that took us in." Kotoha exclaimed.
You noticed something heading towards you and Kotoha in the corner of your eye. "Get down!" you yelled as Kotoha crouched down while you quickly jumped back and avoided the demon's attack. "Woah! You're fast! You must be a high rank demon slayer." The demon exclaimed as your eyes widened when you saw his eyes.
'Lower Moon 3. Maybe I can get some information on him.' you thought. "Oi, oi, are you a hashira?" the demon asked. "No. I'm a Mizunoto ranked Demon Slayer, (Y/N) (L/N)." you answered. "Kotoha-san, please stay behind me." you whispered as Kotoha nodded in reply.
"A lower rank? Damn. I was hoping to fight a hashira, I would of get my ranked up if I defeated one." the demon said. "Demon-san, tell me what you know about Muzan Kibutsuji." you stated, making the demon flinch. "Don't say his name like that!" The demon yelled.
"Why? Would he pop up if I say his name three times?" you replied. "Tch. Damn you!" the demon exclaimed as he dashed towards you. "Move away a bit, Kotoha-san." you whispered as Kotoha did so.
'Ice Breathing. Ninth Form: Cold Mist.' you thought as mist came out from your blade as it began to surround the area. "Huh? Where'd she go?!" the demon yelled. "Right here." you said as you appeared behind the demon and swung towards his neck. "$hı+ !" the demon cursed as he moved away at the last second. "That was close!" The demon exclaimed as you saw his head hanging off his neck but it began to regenerate, slowly. You saw a trail of ice to where you attacked the demon.
Ninth form: Cold Mist- cold mist will come out of the blade and surround the area making the opponent unable to see the user. The user will be able to strike their opponents, each strike a trail of ice will be shown on the opponent on where they were hit. This move is able to slow down a demon's regeneration.
"Ice huh? Never encountered a breath user like that before." The demon exclaimed. 'Huh? My wound is regenerating but not fast like it was supposed to. Is it because of the breath style?' the demon thought as he dodged and avoided your attacks.
You have been battling the demon for a while now and you were somehow getting exhausted. 'Good thing I got Kotoha-san to a safe place while he was looking for me earlier.' you thought as you took a stance and saw the demon's wound has finally healed. 'So he kept avoiding just so he can heal.' you thought. "My turn!" The demon yelled as he began to multiply.
Your eyes widened when the demon multiplied and began circling around you. 'He can multiply? This must be his Blood Demon Arts.' you thought as you looked at each if the clones. One of them dashed towards from your left. You swiftly sliced it on the neck but it turned into air instead. 'So he can trick others into thinking that he can multiply but it's only an illusion. But which and where is the real one?' you thought as you looked around.
"Which of us is the real one?" One of them exclaimed as two clones went towards you. You blocked the one on your right but the left one managed to pierce you deep in the shoulder. You winced in pain when blood fell from your wound. 'So his clones can also attack?! If I can finish off the real one, then maybe the clones will disappear as well.' you thought as you held your shoulder in pain, not noticing the clone attacking you from behind.
The clone turned into air as you saw a familiar golden fan glinting under the moonlight. "D-Douma-kun!" you exclaimed as Douma turned to face you with a smile but paled instead when he saw you bleeding badly. You noticed him staring at your wound. "I'm all right! The clones can attack you physically as well so be careful. If we can kill the real one then all of them might disappear." you explained while tying a cloth to stop the bleeding as Douma nodded.
You and Douma heard the demon clones began to laugh.
"But you can't find the real one!"
"Is it me?"
"Or me?"
"Eenie."
"Meenie."
"Miney."
"Moe!"
The demons exclaimed as six of them went towards you and Douma. You managed to slice three of them while Douma finished off the remaining three. But what you both didn't notice is that another one was coming beside you. Douma immediately sensed the presence beside you. "(Y/N)-chan!" Douma exclaimed as he quickly pushed you aside and took the blow instead.
"Douma-kun!" you yelled in shock as your eyes widened when you saw his arm got cut off. 'Shoot! I let my guard down!' you panickedly thought. "I-it's all right! It's regenerating! Don't worry!" Douma reassured as his arm regenerated fully.
"An upper moon? What are you doing with a human?!" The lower moon yelled angrily when he saw Douma as all of the clones began to charge towards you two.
Douma then held his other fan in his regenerated hand. "Ara ara~ now I'm pissed off~ Blood Demon Arts: Lotus Vines!" Douma exclaimed with anger in his eyes. You saw several lotuses made of ice appear around you and Douma. Frost vines appeared from the lotuses as it pierced all the demon clones, making them unable to move.
"Gah!!" All the clones cried out as one by one, they began to turn into air. All except one. "This is impossible. Why would a demon be with a human?" the real lower moon 3 asked. He tried to remove himself from the vines but some of the vines wrapped themselves around him, making him unable to move further.
"I'll ask again. What do you know about Muzan Kibutsuji? Where is he?" you asked the demon as you pointed your sword at him. "I can't say! I can't!" Lower Moon 3 exclaimed as he looked and his eyes widened. "Snowflake designed haori and a white sword. Y-you're the person he told us to watch out and eliminate." The demon exclaimed as you and Douma looked at him.
"P-please! Kill me! If he finds out about this, he'll do something worse! So please, finish me! I beg of you!" The demon pleaded, making you and Douma surprised. Your gaze softened as you saw the demon cried. You ready your blade and took a stance.
'Ice Breathing. Fifth form: Thawing of a Frozen Heart.' you thought as you swiftly sliced off the demon's head.
Fifth form: Thawing of a Frozen Heart- the user will deliver a single blow to the enemy that gives them a painless death.
'Weird. It doesn't hurt. For the first time in my life as a demon, I feel warm inside.' the demon thought.
The demon's head fell off as he saw your gentle gaze. "I'm sorry. Rest in peace." you said. "T-thank you..." the demon croaked out as tears fell from his eyes as he began to turn into ashes.
"Ah, the blood." you remembered as you got out the equipment Tamayo gave you and extracted the demon's blood. "A cat?" Douma said as the both of you turned to see a cat carrying a bag. "Right! The cat will take our samples to Tamayo-san." you informed as you placed the sample inside the cat's bag and it began on its journey.
You winced in pain when you moved your injured shoulder. You felt Douma's hand lightly touching your shoulder as he looked at you in worry. "Don't worry, Douma-kun. It will heal soon, probably. What you did back there was amazing! Was that your blood demon art?" you exclaimed, trying to cheer him up.
'(Y/N)-chan is severely wounded. If this doesn't get treated soon, she might lose more blood. She somehow tied it up but she's still bleeding. Think Douma! Do something that can help (Y/N)-chan! Something that can help her heal.' Douma thought as his other hand caressed your cheek.
You saw a faint blue light coming from Douma's hand that was on your cheek. "Douma-kun." you called out as Douma saw what was going on. Both of your eyes widened as you saw the light went towards your shoulder and it began to glow. The light disappeared as you slowly took off the wrapped cloth.
"Wah! It healed! Douma-kun, did you see that? You have healing abilities! Amazing!" you happily exclaimed as you were suddenly pulled into a hug. "I was so scared to see you injured like that." Douma whispered as you returned his hug. "Hey, it's all right. You healed me, Douma-kun." you said as you felt him nod and kiss your cheek.
"Let's go find Kotoha-san. See if she's all right." you stated as you held Douma's hand and gently tugged him. You and Douma are heading to where Kotoha is only to feel another presence.
Douma's grip on your hand tightened as the two of you saw a figure with long black hair tied up in a ponytail, a purple and black hexagonal designed kimono and black hakama pants. He has the same mark from the person in your vision, on the forehead and on the right side of his cheek. You were surprised to see his six eyes staring straight at you. But what shocked you the most, was the kanji on his eyes.
'Upper Moon 1'