warning: manga spoilers
|| 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 ||
047
♧︎︎︎
|| 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 ||
048
ꨄ︎
third person pov
the battle in the red light district had come into an end, most of the people residing in the area had fully evacuated. tanjiro had ended passing out because of his injuries, the same goes for his two friends: zenitsu and inosuke. The sound pillar remained conscious and got treated when they arrived in the butterfly estate, most of the pillars are present to see those who have returned and they are on their edges when they haven't spotted the burgundy-haired female.
in the butterfly estate, tanjiro opened his eyes weakly as tears formed within his eyes while remembering the dream he had just witnessed. he was not sure as to whose dream it was, nor who are those people in his dream, but something about it hit his nerves.
suddenly the sound of a bowl breaking could be heard, and by the door stood kanao with widened eyes as she saw that tanjiro had finally woken up.
"are you okay?"
"after the fight ended, you didn't regain consciousness for the two whole months." muttered kanao before walking towards the bed of where tanjiro laid.
"i see." mumbled tanjiro to himself, still lost with his thoughts.
he had been sleeping for the two whole months, and his older cousin is out there exposed to the demon who had taken her. is she still alive? where is she now if she's alive? what if they turned her into a demon as well?
"i'm so glad that you're awake." said kanao while smiling down at tanjiro
away from the room where tanjiro is staying, a person is seen walking down the halls, holding a tray that contains high quality castella, wanting to offer the cakes because of how he thinks highly of them and respected those younger kids, that they fought bravely till the end.
"they're not only younger than me, but they also became swordsmen and fought with their lives. I honestly respect them."
"and that's why i'm bringing some high quality castella. i'm doing my utmost best not to gobble it up right here and now. it's a present since he's still unconscious, and i heard he has a good sense of smell, so maybe he'll wake up if i put it close to him."
thought that kakushi to himself, the man who had an utmost respect towards the three young demon hunters is known as gotou. he's a member of the kakushi, the cleanup brigade of the demon hunters.
gotou's eyes widened when he saw the door of tanjiro's room is open, he quickly went towards the entrance and noticed the broken dishes on the ground, and the soup scattered all over the place.
"what the-
"clean this shit up."
"oh kanao-chan, you just do whatever you want, don't you."
"she's an oddball since she doesn't speak at all. and she's been slaying demons since childhood. well, i can't say anything since she's higher-ranked than me. despite me being twenty-three."
thought gotou to himself as he place the tray that contains the castella on the floor, before cleaning up the broken dishes that laid on the ground, and even wiping the soup from the floor, reminding himself that he'll come back to wet the floor so it wouldn't become sticky.
"uhh, i brought some castella over. so please clear the way so i can put it down. if it looks spoiled, just go ahead and eat it." said gotou, he saw kanao turn and step aside with a cheeky smile plastered on her face, before he glance towards tanjiro who is now awake after two months.
"th-thank you... so much." muttered tanjiro weakly, his eyes slowly closing as he glance at gotou who had his eyes widened to the point that it'll fall out of the socket.
"HE WOKE UP!? WHY AREN'T YOU SCREAMING!?!?"
"YOU'RE AN UTTER AIRHEAD! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CALL SOMEONE! HE MANAGED TO REGAIN CONSCIOUSNESS, YOU DUMBASS!!"
"EVERYONE'S WORRIED SICK ABOUT HIM. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE MY SUPERIOR, RIGHT NOW AT LEAST!"
shouted gotou as he made a huge mess in front of kanao and tanjiro. kanao stared blankly at gotou, a confused look plastered on her face as she tilted her head.
"KIYO-CHAN, SUMI-CHAN, NAHO-CHAN, AOI-CHAN!! TANJIRO'S AWAKE NOW!" shouted gotou as he run towards the door, and waved his hands up and down as he awaited the arrival of the four girls who's been worried sick.
kiyo, sumi, and naho started running towards tanjiro's room after hearing gotou, they had tears plastered on their faces as they raced towards tanjiro. upon arriving in the room, the three of them wailed even more before running towards the bed, and hugging tanjiro in the process.
"i'm so happy."
"i'll give you some red bean bread!"
"the castella's falling off-
suddenly someone came in with a cloth covering them, the girls shouted and expected it to be a ghost until the cloth was uncovered, revealing aoi.
"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE AWAKEEE!"
"YOU GUYS WENT IN MY PLACE, SO WAHHHHH!"
whined aoi as she leaned on tanjiro's bed before bursting out, a sigh of relief came through her mouth as tanjiro is finally awake.
"thank you. are the others doing okay?" questioned tanjiro who still couldn't move that much, he even struggles to form sentences without restraining his muscles or simple his body aching from the pressure.
"the blonde dude who left this place the day before yesterday? he's back in service. he's already out on a job. he was screaming and crying." explained gotou, with a poker face.
"yes, zenitsu-san woke up the day after the incident." butted sumi in, a smile on her face as her eyes sparkled.
"and the sound pillar walked off on his own, with his wives supporting him. all the kakushi backed away from him because he was just way too tough. they were really scared." continued gotou, remembering how uzui acted so tough and well when he's clearly out of shape to even walk, but he did manage to do so.
"oh, okay... and inosuke?" questioned tanjiro, staring at the ceiling.
"inosuke-san was on the verge of death at one point." mumbled sumi sadly.
"inosuke-san was in terrible condition. the poison had circulated through his body, so we were too late to stop the bleeding." cried aoi, her tears falling down her chin as she grab a cloth to wipe it.
"oh okay, then i must be hallucinating inosuke clinging to the ceiling there." muttered tanjiro weakly, as everyone gasped with a shock expression on their faces before glancing towards the ceiling where inosuke could be seen clinging.
"WAAAGHHHH!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"KYAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"GUAHAHAHA!! I'M IMPRESSED YOU NOTICED ME TANPACHIRO!" laughed inosuke, still clinging on the ceiling.
"well, i'm lying face up." said tanjiro with a small smile.
inosuke immediately jumped down from the ceiling, landing perfectly on the edge of tanjiro's bed.
"I AM THE MAN WHO WOKE UP SEVEN DAYS BEFORE YOU." shouted inosuke while pointing at tanjiro who held a small smile on his face.
"oh... good for you inosuke." complimented tanjiro.
"HEHE, PRAISE ME SOME MORE!! AND YOU'RE A FEEBLE BOY, YOU MADE ME WORRY!!" shouted inosuke while leaning towards tanjiro, before pulling his cheeks making him whine and wince.
"you're not normal, shinobu-sama said that herself."
"oh yeah, look at this tanjiro-san. it's a weasel from overseas called a 'honey badger'. its thick hide is like armor, it'll be completely fine even if it fights a lion. and poison doesn't work on it, so it can also eat poisonous snakes."
"shinobu-sama said inosuke-san is just like this thing." explained kiyo while pointing at inosuke who had random thoughts circulating in his brain as he processed what kiyo just said.
"kocho-sama's pretty random." said gotou.
"thinking about this guy is a pain in the butt though." explained aoi as he tried pulling inosuke off the bed.
"so basically i'm immortal." said inosuke as he crosses his arms, a pride building up from his chest.
"no, you're just a moron." muttered sumi, and at that moment inosuke's head immediately stared daggers at sumi before launching himself into her like a wild animal.
"KYAAAHHH, STOP!" sumi squealed loudly while gotou grab hold of her waist, defending her from inosuke who's being held by aoi.
"WHO'S THE MORON HERE, YOU ASS!" shouted inosuke as he tried freeing himself from aoi's hold.
"YEAH, YOU MAY HAVE POISON RESISTANCE, BUT YOU ALSO RESIST THE MEDICINE WE GIVE. SO BE CAREFUL. SHINOBU-SAMA SAID THIS TOO, YOU KEEP FORGETTING EVERYTHING." shouted aoi, grabbing hold of inosuke's waist as he struggled against her hold.
"OH SHUT UP, PIPSQUAEK! DON'T PULL ON ME!"
"WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU'RE ALMOST THE SAME HEIGHT AS ME!"
the bickering between aoi and inosuke continued causing tanjiro to sigh loudly, which successfully catches the attention of everyone in the room. almost immediately, the fight stopped and everyone dive in towards tanjiro and asked if he needed something.
"no i just, since i've been unconscious for two months. i'm assuming you guy have found y/n right?" tanjiro spoke with so much expectance lacing in his tone, as the others froze in their spots.
"right?" this time, tanjiro's voice broke, hesitance filling his tone of voice as he noticed how everyone became so gloomy.
"i-
"we tried." mumbled aoi in shame, while tanjiro could only do is stare on the ceiling with a huge disappointment as he thought that the pillars would have rushed towards the upper moon demon that captured his older cousin.
and it has been two months, she must have-
without another word tanjiro only closed his eyes as he awaited the further explanation the demon hunters could offer him, it's been two months and it's either she's been devoured, or kept captive as a prisoner, or worse muzan would have turned her into a demon.
"it's a bit of a long story, so." aoi mumbled to herself, looking around at everyone's gloomy expressions and the sudden heavy atmosphere lingering in the room as tanjiro awaited the explanation.
F L A S H B A C K
the kakushi's had arrived shortly after the battle in the red light district ended, everyone was in shocked of how the once bright and colorful houses are now turned into ashes and cut into pieces that laid on the ground.
that whole night and until the next day, the kakushi's had volunteered to help clean the trashed area, silently mourning over the lives that were taken from the night the demon hunters fought. everyone was too stunned to speak after hearing the news from yesterday, four of the demon hunters were heavily injured, while one is missing and possibly been devoured.
everyone wasn't able to eat, and drink happily that night when they witnessed the wrath of the pillars that heard the news about what happened to their fellow pillar. everyone was speechless, some of the pillars were calm about it but still expresses their worries and suggested a rescue mission, while some of the pillars bursted out in anger, demanding that they go rescue her now because it's been hours since y/n's been taken.
that night.
"what do you mean i can't go and find the demon who got y/n?!" shouted sanemi angrily as he stomp his way towards giyuu before grabbing hold of his collar and pulling him near sanemi.
"y/n's been captured for hours now, if we don't act now who knows what might happen to her." shouted sanemi in giyuu's face while the water pillar remained stoic and unbothered by sanemi's temper.
"shinazugawa-san, maybe we should wait for oyakata-sama." mumbled mitsuri, her mind going into places as she tried not thinking about y/n getting devoured by the demon that took her.
"acting reckless wouldn't do you any good, shinazugawa." giyuu said after staring at sanemi for a couple of minutes.
"what was that, tomioka." gritted sanemi, his teeth grinding against each other as he tried not punching giyuu's face.
"nothing will do any of us good if you start fighting now, i say we wait for oyakata-sama's orders. he knows what is best after all." mumbled muichiro, even with his voice low, he knew the others heard him as sanemi let out a huff before violently removing his hand from giyuu's collar.
after hearing the news, all the pillars didn't take it too well, even if some looked unbothered by the situation, they are in fact worried for the said lady. sanemi on the other hand, had became violent after hearing the news and demanded that they should all go and rescue her from the upper moon, but giyuu thought it was a risky move.
"i know everyone is worried for y/n but we have to think of the situation carefully. shinazugawa-san if we tried rescuing her now without a distinct plan in mind, then we'll be doomed." explained shinobu as she tried her hardest to communicate and ease the hard-headed man who's in the verge of exploding once again.
"didn't iguro went and patrol the whole area? he found nothing, not even a piece of cloth from y/n. and upon arriving, he hasn't said anything." gyomei said with both of hands clasp against each other, tears flowing down his eyes as he mourned for y/n.
"so are you just suggesting she's dead? bastard she's still alive and i know it." sanemi shouted, pointing at gyomei who's silently mourning.
"shinazugawa, i agree with kocho here. let's not rush things." said rengoku, his usual smile couldn't be seen plastered on his face, he had on a stoic facial expression as he thought of the burgundy-haired female.
"she's always getting herself into trouble." thought rengoku to himself, a frown occurring on his face as he doesn't know how to inform rokuta about his cousin. would rokuta even understand him? what would rokuta's reaction be if his cousin isn't here to take care of him?
the past few days of y/n in the red light district, although rokuta isn't one to talk about his feelings because he couldn't. he expresses it by always looking at the front door where y/n would always enter everyday, at a certain time. he would longingly wait in front of the door to open, and expect it to be y/n but would only sigh and express his disappointment if it was another person.
him and rengoku had gotten closer after rengoku invited y/n to eat with him, and offered to even bring her cousin. ever since that day, rengoku could be seen with rokuta in his clutch, watching over him as y/n focused on being trained by the pillars.
sometimes if y/n is free from training, the three of them would roam around the headquarters and the pillar's estate while catching up with each other. and even entertaining rokuta in the process, the three of them would be laughing and having fun that it catches that attention of everyone who works in the headquarters and they all have the same thoughts.
that they look like a small happy family.
of course a certain pillar wasn't too happy witnessing all those moments the three have. although he wouldn't admit it, he wanted to be rengoku, he wanted to be the person who makes y/n and even her youngest cousin smile and laugh. but because of his love and affection for another woman, it became a hindrance for him and even confuse him to the point that he doesn't know who to choose between the two.
"i know everyone of you are worried, but don't you think rengoku-san is having the hardest time of his life because he's inlov-
before the love pillar could continue on, rengoku immediately went towards her, covering her mouth as he let out a loud fake laugh. rengoku felt a sweat dripping from his forehead as everyone stared at the scene in front of them, and he even prepared himself mentally, obanai could jump on him any moment now because he held kanroji, and no one holds kanroji except for obanai.
but to his shock obanai did nothing but stare at him with such intense, the tension between the two is radiating and filling the atmosphere, making such a huge tension occurring in the area as the pillars watched the two of them have an eye contact.
"because he's what? continue on, kanroji." said obanai with a deep voice, his tone of voice becoming more dangerous than ever.
"o-oh it was nothing really." mitsuri chuckled while waving her hands in front of her face, glancing at rengoku worriedly because of the dangerous aura radiating from obanai.
besides, this is the first time obanai had spoke after he arrived from patrolling the area. he went all quiet and emo, and the pillars even tried questioning him, or asking if he was alright but he didn't say anything and instead leaned himself against the tree while keeping his eyes close.
"that i love y/n." admitted rengoku with confidence and all the pillars wasn't shock enough to let out a loud gasp, because they are aware of the flame pillar's feelings for the said burgundy-haired female.
they witness how rengoku would always look at y/n, and even obanai noticed the unknown tension between the two. he felt jealous, but not like he could say anything because he's always seen with kanroji, and he's fully aware that the pillars know his past affection for the said love pillar.
"it's quite obvious, dumbass." insulted uzui as he sat on the grass, with his arms crossed.
"i see, then that's good. at least those who also like y/n would know that i am in no doubt would be fighting for her, i will not let her go unless she sees another man and is attracted to him." confessed rengoku, his usual smile now plastered on his face as the pillars stared at him with admiration for bluntly speaking the truth about how he feels about y/n, and being confident about it.
"i won't let you have her." said rengoku with enthusiasm.
with his statement, most of the pillars thought that he's talking about everyone who's attracted to y/n but obanai on the other hand knew that it was him that rengoku's talking about. obanai tilted his head, a confident look on his face as his face is painted with a taunt look, and his whole composure and expression screams 'i'd like to see you try'.
"oyakata-sama has arrived."
upon hearing that sentence, everyone hurriedly went towards the front before bowing in the process. a sign of respect for their leader, the person who they owe their lives to, and the person that understood them and took them in with such loving and comforting demeanor.
"i see. my children this time is incomplete because the sun pillar got captured. it'll be a huge risk if i sent out a rescue mission with every pillar included, but that doesn't mean that i wouldn't send a rescue team."
"shinazugawa sanemi, tomioka giyuu, kanroji mitsuri, and iguro obanai. would you four be willing to rescue y/n from the upper moon demon that took her?" questioned oyakata while glancing at the four who maintained eye contact with the ground, not daring to look up.
"i will gladly do so oyakata-sama." said sanemi before tilting his head upwards, and meeting the eyes of the leader who couldn't see them.
"i do not mind at all, in fact i am quite excited that it's me who'll rescue y/n. i could be her knight in shining armor." giggled mitsuri to herself as she imagined y/n running towards her and thanking mitsuri for saving her.
"as you wish." said obanai with a small frown on his face as he processed what mitsuri just said.
"hn." hummed giyuu to himself, without expressing much, deep down he's glad that he's included in the mission to rescue y/n. for the time that they spent together, unlike the flame, and the serpent pillar. he have this sibling bond that formed with y/n.
and he didn't want her to end up like his old friends.
sabito and makomo.
"that said, the operation would begin when the night falls. achieve victory my children, and bring home the sun pillar." said oyakata, a small smile on his face, and a deep uneasiness occurring in his stomach.
E N D O F F L A S H B A C K
"with that being said, the pillars went home after a few days with nothing. they patrolled almost all the area near the red light district and couldn't find where the upper moon demon that captured y/n is at."
"now it's been two months, there are still a few search parties that search for y/n during the night but almost everyone who works here have lost hope expect for the pillars who believed that she's still alive and well somewhere out there." explained aoi with a solemn look on her face, pursing her lips as tanjiro didn't bother muttering a word this whole time and instead closed his eyes as he listened.
"after you explained, i think tanjiro fell asleep." kanao muttered, a frown on her face as she thought of the burgundy-haired female who's been so kind to her whenever they meet, and even offered her some food.
"let's just leave him be for now, i'm sure he's tired and drained from all the fighting, and even more now that he has learned about y/n." mumbled aoi as she ushered everyone in the room to leave, before closing the door not without glancing at him worriedly, silently praying that losing y/n wouldn't affect him that much.
because even after y/n had disappeared for two months, everyone has hope, they believed that she's still alive somewhere in the demon's lair. and all they have to do is wait for the moment to strike, and get y/n back, even if it cost everyone's lives.
✰★✰
away from the demon slayer headquarters.
in the infinity castle where the demon's lair is, every upper moons were kneeling side by side as they got called for a sudden meeting from the first demon, kibutsuji muzan.
it's been two months ever since their last meeting, and they thought that another upper moon was slain after the sudden meeting, but upon their arrival they noticed that all of them were present in the room and none had died.
"you're finally here." muttered muzan, staring lazily at everyone who kneels in front of him, beside him is the lavender-haired woman with the upper moon zero marked on her eyes.
"i think it's time for you to know who's the replacement for upper moon six." said muzan while looking at everyone's expression, and almost all the upper moon were shock from this announcement.
"kaigaku, why don't you come in." muzan muttered, and by that time a man with black hair came out.
everyone stared at him, he had on a black kimono with a blue obi over his demon slayer uniform that has yellow-flame like markings near the chest area. he had multiple necklaces on his neck and wrist. he have this four black flame-like markings on both sides of his cheeks, his fangs, his pale skin, his black sharp nails, and his pointed ears.
"before i forget, why don't i also welcome a new demon that is by far, stronger than any of you. even the upper moon zero herself." said muzan causing the demons to gasp.
how could some random demon become much stronger than all of them, including the upper moon zero herself. if the demon is stronger than the rest of the upper moons, then does that mean she's an equal to muzan?
"y/n darling, why don't you come out of hiding and introduce yourself to them? although i'm sure akaza has met you quite a lot of times. i believe this is your third meeting?" said muzan with a smirk on his face as he noticed how akaza tense and froze on his spot as he heard the name of the woman who he thought had died when he pierced her in the stomach during the mugen train battle.
just in the moment, a woman appeared in front of them. she stood beside muzan with a blank expression, no emotion could be seen from her face as she stared upon everyone who kneeled in front of her.
y/n who's always been a carefree lady, who smiled at everyone, and is very concerning and caring to other people had now drowned into pure hatred and is against her will to even fight back. for the past two months, she's been experimented on by muzan and the upper moon zero, mitsuki.
with such excitement muzan even gave her his blood, wanting to see what would happen to her body if he filled her with his blood. but disappointed in the results because she manage to withstand the flow of his blood, and she became even stronger than before.
"darling, introduce yourself. i believe one of the demons here is your relative, no actually, two of them are."
ఌ︎
To be Continued...
chapters forty-seven and forty-eight are now up, what do you think?
this is actually the last chapter for the entertainment district arc, and we're finally done with this arc.
i've been busy the whole week that i couldn't make the new chapters, and i wasn't able to upload this earlier like the usual.
anyway, thanks for the support as usual and all your comments are very much appreciated.
thank you for taking your time reading this book, and i hope you're ready for the last arc in this book. a huge timeskip would occur, and i hope you wouldn't mind that at all ʕ •́؈•̀ ₎
updates every:
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see ya on wednesday ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ