|| 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐬,
𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 ||
027
♧︎︎︎
|| 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐧? ||
028
ꨄ︎
third person pov
upon the disappearance of the sun pillar, her younger cousin tanjiro had panicked while imagining the worse case scenario that might have happened to y/n. but he knew that he'd have to believe in y/n's strength, she's a woman who's capable of protecting a train with 200 passengers, surely she'd be able to protect herself. yet he still couldn't help but express his worry for the said woman.
while y/n's missing. both rengoku and akaza started fighting to death, a few conversation here and there as akaza expresses his personal opinion about wanting rengoku to become a demon.
"don't move! if your wound opens, it'll be fatal!"
"standby, soldier."
shouted rengoku, glancing towards tanjiro and inosuke. they both froze on their spot, witnessing rengoku's blade coming in contact with the demons arms but it wasn't slashed.
"don't mind the weaklings, kyojuro!!"
"give it all you got, focus on me!"
yelled akaza as he gave rengoku a smile, his face screams murder intent and amusement. he wanted this fight to last long, he wanted to be able to fight like this with rengoku for centuries. he wanted rengoku to become a demon, and seize the fun he's enjoying right now.
"flame breathing, fifth form, flame tiger!"
"destructive kill: war style!"
the flame breathing of rengoku's that takes form of a somewhat flaming tiger, had collided with the demon art released by akaza causing a large explosion occurring from the two.
smoke filled the area, tanjiro and inosuke couldn't see what's happening until the smoke completely vanished.
tanjiro's eyes widened when he saw rengoku. the flame pillar was filled with bruises and blood flowing down his chin, he had an injured forehead. rengoku panted, catching his breathe as he proceeded to stand his ground against the upper three.
"don't die on me, kyojuro."
tanjiro couldn't believe his eyes. he's frustrated, he wanted to come and help but his injury prevented him to, if only y/n was here. if only she was here then she might have the chance to stand by the flame pillar, and they together would be able to defeat upper moon three.
on the other hand inosuke remained glued on his feet, he thought that if he jump into the match, he'd feel nothing but death on his skin. he can't move because he knew that once he had step within the battle field, he'll only be a hindrance to rengoku.
"even if you fight with the intention to sacrifice your body, it's all pointless kyojuro."
"the wonderful slashes which you attacked me with have already completely healed."
"but how about you? your left eye is smashed, your ribs are broken, and your organs are wounded. you can't recover from this anymore."
"if you were a demon, you would be cured in the blink of an eye. if you were a demon, this would be just a scratch."
"no matter how much you struggle, humans can't beat demons."
in an instant he had muttered his small speech, he immediately sensed someone falling from the sky. looking up, he noticed a familiar figure. upon closing their gap, the woman intended to slash her blade but is unfortunate because akaza was able to react quickly, jumping from the other side of the area.
the burgundy female landed on the ground gracefully. upper moon three gazed upon the said woman, his eyes widening as he noticed something unusual about her. he looked at her features, her hair untied and flowing to where the wind goes, her eyes were bloodshot and filled with nothing but malice, and a mysterious mark on her left forehead.
"y/n!" shouted tanjiro as he noticed his older cousin, he wanted to tell her about what had happened during her disappearance but he was too stunned to speak when he noticed the unusuality occurring from the said woman.
"i will fulfill my duties!"
"i won't let anybody here die!"
said rengoku calmly, upon y/n's arrival he had felt contented. he knew that everyone would be safe even if he didn't make it out alive, he trusts y/n that she would be able to protect the people if ever he had committed a mistake.
y/n saw rengoku, his body messed up and his forehead bleeding from the punch given by akaza. she immediately run towards him, stopping by his side as they stared at each other. silently communicating about the possibilities of success if ever they mixed their breathings together.
"are you in with me y/n?"
"yes, kyojuro."
kyojuro felt his stomach churned in excitement, it's the first time y/n had addressed him by his name. he had grew fond about y/n, and he does not mind dying for her, he wanted to protect her at all cost. he knew what he needed to do to end this fight, even if sacrificing his life for the betterment of the outcome, and to have a bittersweet taste of their long awaited victory.
"what a wonderful fighting spirit, you have so many wounds yet your drive, your fortitude, and your stance has no openings."
"you should really become a demon, kyojuro!"
shouted the upper three as he wailed in excitement. he wanted kyojuro to live as a demon, and fight him for centuries and together they'd conquer the human world.
"i think the fuck not."
y/n blurted out bluntly, getting into her stance as she released a large amount of fighting spirit, overwhelming the once excited akaza. he gazed at her in bewilderment, not believing that in such a short time she grew even stronger.
he wanted to curse upper moon zero for letting her escape the domain. he knew that upper moon zero was the cause of her disappearance, and he didn't mind since fighting women is not his forte. but now that two pillars are standing in front of him with such massive fighting spirit, he might just not be able to stand a chance against the two.
"technique deployment, destructive kill: obliteration style."
"flame breathing, ninth form, rengoku!"
"hinokami kagura, dragon sun halo head dance!"
rengoku unleased a breathing that seemingly looks like a fiery japanese dragon. y/n came after, unleashing a somewhat japanese dragon made out of solar flames. both their breathings honing as they made their way towards upper moon three, the visuality of the unleased dragons honed by the sun and flame had turned into such massive energy that inosuke and tanjiro were blew off.
the three has collided causing a large explosion occuring around the area, smoke filled the place as no one was able to figure out what had happened between the fight of the demon and the pillars.
inside the smoked area were the three who continued fighting. the two were in the either side of akaza as they held their blades before slashing through akaza's body. upper moon three was not quick to react, and so he had struggled to avoid the attacks as there was no opening for him.
away from the fighting scene is a somewhat disappointed upper moon zero. her eyes were filled with anger and shame as she recalled the scenarios of how y/n was able to break free from her domain.
she wanted to kill the woman, she wanted her dead on the floor, she wanted her head on a silver platter presented to her, and she wanted to display it as a sign of her dominace. she played the all too familiar tune to y/n as she had thought that it would weaken the said woman, but unbeknownst to her is quite the opposite of what she was expecting.
the tune that she played, had not weaken the burgundy female, but had awaken a monster that had almost decapitated her head.
she growled as it echoes in her now empty domain. she watched as akaza saw an opening, akaza prepared his hand that is now about to pierced through rengoku's stomach.
but since her anger with the said burgundy female had not calmed down, she decided to involve herself in the fight before switching the places of rengoku and y/n.
the smoke around the area cleared, inosuke and tanjiro were able to see the result of the fight. but there they stared at such an awful sight, tanjiro's eyes remained wide opened as it threatened to pop out.
"Y-Y/N!"
screamed tanjiro in agony as he witnessed the scene in front of him where akaza's arm were pierced through y/n's stomach.
"huh?" muttered the confused burgundy female, knowing that she wasn't in this position until a sudden strum of mandolin occurred and she suddenly switched places with rengoku.
"WHAT?!" shouted akaza, his brows furrowing as he had noticed that it was y/n that he had pierced and not kyojuro.
he's angry, beyond mad at some point. when they met the first time, he had avoided her because he does not fight women. akaza never feast on women, he never intended to even fight a demon hunter who's a woman, that's why he had great hatred towards a certain upper moon demon who enjoyed feasting on women.
"WHY DID YOU INVOLVE YOURSELF!" shouted the angry akaza, he expresses his anger towards upper moon zero despite her being on a higher rank.
he didn't care, earlier he thanked upper zero for dealing with the burgundy female because he does not lay a hand on women. but now that he realized his mistake, piercing a woman with his arm, if he took it out then she'll bleed to death.
upper moon three, akaza, have not laid a hand on a single women ever since he'd become a demon. this is the first time encountering a situation where he had accidentally laid on one.
kyojuro stood on the ground, his feet frozen on spot as he stared at the burgundy female who's eyes were wide opened and blood oozing from her mouth.
kyojuro had never felt this angry in his entire life, he wanted to kill akaza for even laying a hand on y/n. this should have been him, it was supposed to be him but some sort of demon got involved causing a turn of events.
y/n stared at the ground, her vision going blury as she coughed out blood. the sounds coming from everyone around her were muffled as she felt the time slowed down.
is it the end for her?
she gritted her teeth, not satisfied with the outcome of this battle. she grab hold of her blade before attaching it on upper moon three's neck.
"if i'm gonna die today, then so are you!" shouted y/n as she struggled to decapitate his head, her energy slowly seeping away from her body.
kyojuro soon joined in, he too had placed his blade on akaza's neck before moving behind y/n to support her trembling body that is soon to give out any moment now.
tanjiro's cries were echoing through the empty area, his tears streaming down his face he stared at the two struggling pillars. he kneeled down before slowly grabbing his blade and running towards the two.
"inosuke move! move for y/n and rengoku-san!"
he screamed in agony, him running as fast as he could to help out. inosuke looked at tanjiro before following his orders, jumping on the sky, readying himself to slash the demon's neck.
"w-what the, why can't i get away." akaza muttered to himself as he tried pulling his arms out but were stopped by y/n.
"i won't let you get away." she calmly stated as the blade cuts through the thickened skin.
y/n wanted this to end now, she felt her body giving out but because of the adrenaline flowing through her body she's able to stand much longer.
rengoku gritted his teeth, releasing flame breathings that could possible cut the neck but is in no luck. all the pillar's energy were drained, the both had tried their hardest to escape such scenario that they're here midway from cutting the demon's neck.
y/n gazed upon the rising sun before using every strength she had on her body to not let akaza go. she wanted this to end now, she needed to cut the demon's neck to be able to feel the victory they needed. it wouldn't be a victory if they let the demon go away.
"y/n hang on for a little longer." she felt kyojuro's hot breathe behind her, she nodded her head as the blade cut the neck little by little.
upper moon three noticed that the two lower ranked demon hunters were making their way towards the scene. he knew that once they were able to land a hit on him then he'd be done for, just before he could get striked by inosuke he immediately teared his arms - running away from the scene.
tanjiro reacted as quickly as possible, before akaza could get any further in the forest. he unconsciously released the sun breathing before throwing his blade towards the running upper moon three.
"that was troubling, i gotta get away from the sun no-
before he could finish what he was about to say, he sensed something approaching him. once he turned his head, a sudden blade pierced through his chest as he let out a loud yell.
"DON'T RUN AWAY, YOU COWARD!!"
"DON'T RUN AWAY!!"
shouted tanjiro, he felt his body burning up as he yelled those words to akaza. his rage was beyond the limit, he had just witnessed his cousin on the verge of death and there is no telling if she'll survive.
going back to akaza, his face frowned as he look at tanjiro who continued yelling. his face churns into an offended one when he heard tanjiro scream about him being a coward.
"what is this brat talking about? doesn't he have some brains? i'm not running from you demon hunters. i'm running from the sun, besides the match is probably already done. that girl's gonna lose all her strength and die soon."
he thought to himself as he continued running away. a guilty feeling bubbling in his stomach as he remembered the scene where he noticed that it was the woman who he had pierced. he's beyond angry, and he would want to have a talk with the upper moon zero once he've returned.
"THE DEMON HUNTERS WILL ALWAYS FIGHT YOU IN THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT WHEN IT'S ADVANTAGEOUS FOR YOU!"
"WE'RE HUMANS IN FLESH AND BLOOD! WOUNDS DON'T JUST CLOSE UP, AND THE LIMBS WE LOSE WON'T EVER COME BACK!"
"DON'T RUN YOU DUMB DOLT, DON'T RUN YOU COWARD!"
"Y/N AND RENGOKU-SAN WON THIS BATTLE, THEY NEVER LET ANYONE DIE. THEY FOUGHT UNTIL THE END!"
"YOU'RE THE LOSER AND WE'RE THE WINNERS!"
shouted tanjiro in anger. he wanted to chase after the demon, decapitate him to revenge his cousin. he wanted to yell and throw a tantrum, he wanted to destroy everything he sees. he feels frustrated, he wasn't able to protect his cousin.
"there is no point in shouting a lot now." tanjiro heard the soft voice of rengoku, he turned around and noticed his cousin kneeling with the arm stuck in her stomach.
"come over here, let's have a chat." he heard his cousin spoke as she ushered his younger cousin to approach her.
tanjiro obeyed, walking towards his cousin and sitting in front of her. he had tears on his eyes, he wanted to tell her to shut up and save her breathe, he wanted to save her.
"y/n save your breathe, please." rengoku said as he patted y/n's shoulder.
he thought of ways on how to save the burgundy female, but he knew that he couldn't leave the scene without any pillars watching. who knows, maybe another upper moon come by and everyone would get massacred.
"rengoku-san please, help her!" cried tanjiro, his hand digging on the sand as he face downwards, his tears dropping and staining the sand.
"we'll take care of the people here, please hurry back to the butterfly estate!" suggested inosuke, his voice cracking from the tears he's holding in.
rengoku didn't waste anymore time, he knew that if he wanted y/n to be saved then he'd have to leave the passengers on the hands of tanjiro, inosuke, zenitsu, and nezuko.
"kamado boy i leave everything in your hands. i already sent a crow for reinforcements, they'll arrive soon."
"i will bring back your cousin, and make sure she gets healed. don't worry too much!"
said rengoku with a smile, he couldn't feel solemn right now. he needed to reassure the boys that she'd be alright even though he's reluctant about her being saved. he knew that it would be a miracle if she did come back, but this is a chance that he'll risk.
without any more words being blurted out, rengoku carefully carried y/n on his arms before bolting towards the butterfly estate as fast as he could.
✰★✰
in the butterfly estate, everyone were busy doing chores. sumi, kiyo, and naho would sometimes visit the boy's room as they longed for them to return safe and unharmed.
they were also worried about y/n as they grew a friendship bond with her. they enjoyed her company, and she's approachable unlike the other pillars who're stone cold.
the peaceful day in the butterfly estate had soon ended when the door was slammed open by a panting shinobu.
"prepare the operating room, now." she said sternly as she ushered someone to come in the estate.
the person hurriedly came in, and there they saw a beat up rengoku and on his arms laid the unconscious sun pillar that they are close to.
"y-y/n-sama?" stuttered sumi as she caught a small glimpsed of the woman before she was put in the operating room.
"what happened? where's tanjiro and the others?" cried out naho as she paced around the room, fumbling with her skirt.
the three girls were startled when they heard the door slammed open, there stood aoi with some operating tools carried by her as she rushed towards the room where y/n's getting treated.
rengoku's crow had made back a few minutes before he arrived. the crow had informed shinobu before going around the estates and informing the other pillars about the result in the mugen train battle.
back when the crow was roaming around the estates, it stopped by the serpent pillar's estate where it spotted obanai and kanroji walking side by side as they were about to exit his estate.
"CAW!"
it yelled caughting the attention of both the pillars, the crow flew towards the both before stopping mid-air, and informing them about the situation and the result of the battle.
"caw, the battle in the mugen train is a success, caw!"
"but both the pillars are in critical condition, caw!"
said the crow, shocking kanroji as she covered her mouth before dashing towards the butterfly estate, leaving the serpent pillar who's lost in his thoughts.
he gritted his teeth as he heard the news, is y/n alright? what kind of critical condition is she in? is it treatable, would she survive? questions of questions echoed through the back of obanai's head as he remained glued on the floor as he thought of disturbing scenarios that could happen to y/n.
snapping from his thoughts and not wasting a minute, he started running towards the butterfly estate where he noticed that most of the pillars were waiting outside.
"how could this be, even both of them couldn't stand an upper moon." muttered gyomei as tears streamed down his face, both his hands placed together as he prayed for the recovery of his fellow pillars.
"tch i should have went there as well." growled sanemi, his mind flashing him a smiling image of y/n when they were training together.
he gritted his teeth before looking away, slighly covering the blush occuring on his cheeks. he didn't want to admit it but those months of spending his time with y/n and getting to know her, he discovered that she's a kind soul with strong will power. he couldn't help but find amusement whenever he's with her.
on the other hand muichiro thought to himself, he had a small frown on his face. he didn't like the idea of y/n dying when she just turned a pillar, he knew that she's strong and wouldn't give up easily. she stood as an older sister to him, and even though he does not admit it he sees him as an older sister who he can go to for consultant.
suddenly the front door swunged open causing everyone to turn their heads. there they found rengoku coming out from the estate with a cast on his forehead, he made eye contact with everyone else before closing the door.
"i'm sorry."
"if only i was strong enough then none of this would have happened."
rengoku apologized as he bowed at everyone outside. the pillars had a mixture of expressions, some had a stoic face, some had a shock facial expression, while some only frowned.
"it's not your fault rengoku-san, the demon must have been stronger that's why!" said kanroji, tears threatening to fall on her eyes as she went to obanai before snuggling her head on his neck as he clutch her waist, slowly rubbing it to give comfort.
"y/n barely survived, the hole in her stomach made her lose a lot of blood. i didn't know what happened, shinobu wouldn't tell me. but she left the operating room informing me that y/n survived and needed a few months to heal fully."
upon hearing the great news, all the pillars sighed in relief. they didn't want to lose a newly titled pillar, specially since she started forming bonds with each and everyone of them. with their first encounterment, all were a little over the edge because she's related to a demon. but after months of getting to know her, they were able to discover a brilliant and kind lady who's only goal is to protect her family and the loved ones she considered.
"thank goodness." giyuu murmured to himself. none of the pillars heard him, although he was seen as an emotionless person he still have feelings.
of course he was worried about the burgundy female, ever since she became a pillar, most of the pillars were reluctant to approach her and only the love, insect, and flame were brave enough to have a conversation with her and seemingly grow fond of the said woman. he soon approached her, and slowly formed a strong bond that not anyone could break in.
every pillar cares for y/n.
"and here i thought i was about to lose my fourth wife." said the most flamboyant person, tengen.
everyone froze from his statement, they thought that their ears were deceiving them but proven wrong when they heard him laugh.
"what's with the shock faces? i was only kidding!" said tengen as he clutch his stomach from laughing way too much, and easily easing the tension created when they were worried about the burgundy female.
"you better be." growled obanai with a deep tone, his arms still wrapped around kanroji's waist as he digged his nails from anger causing the woman to yelp in pain.
"sorry." he whispered near her ears, causing goosebumps to flow through her body, kanroji blushed before nodding her head. snuggling closer to the shorter man.
everyone watched the scene unfold in front of them, most have disgusted looks while some were cheekily smiling. obanai and kanroji had been bolder, showing lots of affections in public which rubs off the pillars the wrong way.
obanai continued staring at the closed front door, wanting to enter the butterfly estate to see y/n's condition but shinobu strictly warned them about going near her. he wanted to see her, feel her touch, and insult her for being so weak to the point that she'd ended up getting a hole in her stomach.
obanai let go of kanroji, pushing her aside before walking towards the front door. his hand went towards the handle, wanting to turn it, and to glimpse at y/n even for such a short time. he needed reassurance that she's indeed breathing and alive.
just before he could open the door, a large hand was placed on his shoulder. tilting his head to face the owner, he caught the eyes of kyojuro before glaring at him in the process.
"i'll only glimpse." muttered obanai, but kyojuro didn't let him.
"shinobu said that no one could go near y/n but her. y/n's condition might worsen if you entered the room she's in, if we entered the room." explained kyojuro, emphasizing we as his way of talking about the other pillars who's longing to see y/n as well.
"you're not the only one worried obanai. we are too, and so let's just accept shinobu's request and not go near her."
the other pillars nodded their heads in agreement making obanai groan in annoyance. one against eight, he would surely lose. due to irritation forming, he slapped kyojuro's hand before turning and making his way back to his estate.
the pillars watch the tantrum of the serpent pillar, they were quite shock about the sudden walk out he did. they were all confused, some were suspecting he had a tiny affection towards the burgundy female, but some thought that they were really just close friends.
obanai made his way back to his estate with deep thoughts. his mind were a mess, he's so worried about y/n that he couldn't even think straight. he wanted to see her, he wanted to visit her, he wanted to but he couldn't because stupid shinobu ordered them not to get near her.
once obanai entered his estate, he removed his haori before slamming it on the ground and making his way towards his room where he aggressively sat down. upon his neck is his friend snake, kaburamaru, who comforted him by hissing and twirling around his neck.
back at the butterfly estate, after the operation shinobu immediately ordered everyone not to stop by y/n's room unless she asked them to. shinobu made her way towards her room, she grab a handful of books before trying to search for something unusual that she saw earlier when she treated y/n.
"what was that."
ఌ︎
To be Continued...
chapters twenty-seven and twenty-eight are now up, what do you think?
the story is slowly building up, and more secrets would be uncovered.
hope you're prepared for that!
updates every:
- sunday
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