" 揺れ出すグラグラと
You can't take control
Getting so hot, 今気付いたんでしょ？"
0:34────I─────2:40
↺͏͏◁◁ll▷▷⋮≡
VOLTAGE - ITZY
Your body is shaking shaking
You can't take control
Getting so hot, you just now noticed right?
♤
The new scenery was a vast change from the previous one. The shining sun was cut out almost completely by thick canopies, the ground was covered with dense grass and lone sticks, and the air was a lot cooler allowing you to breathe a lot more evenly.
You pushed a bush branch out of your way and held it there, allowing Tanjirou and Zenitsu to slip past hassle-free.
Behind you Zenitsu spoke up.
"Hey Tanjirou, [Last-Name] on second thought I'm not gonna make it..." Zenitsu stressed. You would have thought he was just making up excuses, but when you looked back the boy seemed to be walking with his eyes shut.
"Even if I go along I'll be completely useless.."
You sighed at the boy's weak attempts of persuasion, while Tanjirou payed no attention to them.
"The scent of a demon is getting stronger little by little. There's something up ahead." Tanjirou thought hyperfocused on evaluating and getting rid of the threat.
You felt the beginning of a heavy weight build in your stomach.
You stopped in your tracks causing Tanjirou to almost crash into you. Fortunately for you he was paying attention, unfortunately for him Zenitsu was not.
Zenitsu bumped into him harder than you anticipated and caused a domino effect, you frowned at the collision as it interrupted your early thought process.
"Zenitsu..." you grumbled and you did not need to look at the boy to know he deflated.
"Sorry." He mumbled back when the three of you started back walking towards the undesired destination.
You let out a heavy breath through your nose as the feeling in your gut grew larger. Though this time, you weren't scared, rather determined to do your job.
Protect the Kamados, Kill the Demon King if he's there for some reason. Maybe some other demons as collateral damage.
You found if you broke it down like this the job seemed a lot less grueling than it actually was. You knew you were just tricking yourself to make your situation seem better. But you've decided at this point, does it really even matter?
Your eyes caught a patch of sunlight, it was a clearing.
You heard a pair of footsteps behind you falter, then speed up. You felt the weight in your stomach grow heavier.
There was definitely something up ahead.
Upon getting closer you finally what was up ahead, a lone mansion.
This sigh was exasperated.
"The hell??"
¤
The three of you stood in a uniform horizontal line, taking in the eerie sight before you.
You were sure a demon was in there. You knew Tanjirou and Zenitsu were too.
You furrowed you brows though sense a singular demon couldn't fuck up your gut health this bad, there had to be more.
You zeroed in your focus when you heard Tanjirou speak up.
"I smell blood."
I don't, you commented in your head
"Blood? I dunno about blood, but do you hear that noise?" replied Zenitsu
Nope don't hear that either
You scoped out the land, until your gaze landed on two cowering figures in the distance. You figured your observant gaze and entire appearance would scare them, who you figured out to be children, away.
So instead you tapped both Tanjirou and Zenitsu on the shoulder, pointing to the children in the distance. You didn't bother to approach them fearing you'd make the situation even worse.
Zenitsu stepped back, which surprised you.
"Oh kids." He said with equally as surprising apprehension, you gave him a dirty look.
"You're scared of children too??"
He stared back at you in response. You almost rolled your eyes at his verbal lack of response, because seriously this isn't the first time you pulled out your A-1 Japanese skills to try and talk to him only to end up being ignored.
Though you tried to make up another excuse for his odd behavior. You ended up with two.
1. What you said that time was kind of rude
2. You were still basically stranger.
You mentally shrugged.
Nothing a good shared near death experience won't fix.
Well partially shared. Whatever. You kept on forgetting dying wasn't an option.
You noticed Tanjirou had self-elected to go and calm the kids down. You figured that was the best decision anyways. You didn't mind kids, and you also felt extremely bad for them sense they were in this predicament.
But then again, you would have no clue how to help them calm down, and Zenitsu seemed to also be at a loss.
You turned a thoughtful gaze towards Zenitsu which was quickly stopped when you saw his expression.
His eyes were unblinking and wide open. His mouth clamped shut. He looked like he'd just witnessed Armageddon.
Zenitsu spoke up before you could ask him what was wrong.
"Hey.. Tanjirou, [Last-Name]. What is that sound...? That creepy sound never stops. Is it a tsuzumi?"
Sound?? Again??
You were about 10 seconds away from calling Zenitsu paranoid until you heard it.
Zenitsu was a hundred percent right, the sound was uncannily creepy. It sounded like a bow being dry fired, the semi-flexible string plucked repeatedly.
A tsuzumi? You knew that was a drum, shaped like an hourglass with cords to adjust the sound. You knew a lot about it but you've never heard anything like this one.
You thought tsuzumis to be beautiful base lines to traditional music. The sound to this drum, however, was sinister.
It repeated until it stopped suddenly.
You felt it before you saw it. It was the window, it was certainly the window. You wanted to, you really did but you couldn't move.
I thought I was done being a scaredy-cat. You thought and thought wrong.
You looked away from the horrific sight, as the bloodied body flew out the window. Tanjirou, however, rushed towards the scene without moments hesitation. You hated the fact that he must've been used to this in order to react like that.
You flinched when you heard the limbs hit was basically rock, no more dense grass to even try and break their fall.
If they weren't dead already, they'll be dead now.
"Don't look!!" You heard Tanjirou call out, more than likely talking to the kids.
You saw the familiar checkard haori flutter past you with haste.
"Are you alright!?" Tanjirou said, and you made a face.
That wasn't one of Tanjirou's brightest moments, though he could have just been asking as he had nothing else to say.
You couldn't help but to look over when you heard a weak croak.
"I made it.. I made it out...but am I still going to die? Am I.. still going to die??"
You felt your heart cry for the man. He sounded so hopeful at the start, then it faded into painful defeat, then finally fear. He was, in his full human nature, afraid to die.
You didn't know who to blame.
Was it the god for allowing this to continue, or was it the demon king for starting this carnage in the first place.
You didn't care, because you were going to make sure at least one of them payed their dues.
I'm so sorry
You thought, it was all you could have done.
You must have suffered a lot...
You and Tanjirou thought in unison.
You didn't even notice Zenitsu walking up to stand a bit behind Tanjirou.
"Hey Tanjirou.. is by any chance that guy the kids-"
Your eyes widened.
"Holy shi-"
You cut off by the most vulgar noise you've ever heard.
This was noise louder, heavier. It vibrated your bones, and you wouldn't have been surprised if you felt your brain start to ricochet around in your head.
You covered your ears with shakey hands until the sound wore away. Everyone was stunned into silence.
Tanjirou was the first to fully speak up.
"Hey.. is this your-"
What seemed to be the older brother of the two spoke up.
"N-no, that's not our brother.. Our brother was wearing an orange kimono."
You scowled, so there's multiple people in there? And their brother is one of them..
Before you could complain about how difficult this was going to be, Tanjirou spoke up in that determined voice of his.
"[Name], Zenitsu. Let's go!"
You nodded and reached into your backpack to take out your gifted dagger, all while Zenitsu shook his head rapidly.
Tanjirou looked disappointed.
"But no one can help them besides us."
Zenitsu still stood there shaking like a leaf. Tanjirou's demeanor darkened, he made an equally as dark face. He was pissed, you didn't know he could do that with non-humans.
"I see," he said simply before walking away, you moved to follow him the sheathed blade in hand. Zenitsu screamed about the face Tanjirou made towards him while you decided whether or not to take your backpack with you.
It might slow me down... but it might be useful..
You watched Tanjirou walk over to the kids and sit Nezuko's carrier down.
"In the case of an emergency; I am leaving this box behind. It will protect you if anything happens." He spoke calmly, low tides resting just before the shoreline. "Okay, we're going now."
You smiled, in your world you think he'd be an amazing daycare teacher. Maybe not to your world's modern children though, they'd probably scare him away.
In the end you went over to the kids as well. You decided the backpack would hinder you, so you left it with them saying something along the lines of a heavily accented 'you can throw it if anything happens.'
And so, in you went with a determined but injured Tanjirou, a crying Zenitsu, and a shakily gripped dagger.
¤
Tanjirou opened the opaque door, politely in his nature. You felt nauseous as soon as you walked in. The feeling in your gut was thick and soupy, you hoped it wasn't bile.
You noted the winding hall, the stone floor, and the flickering lamps. Each item added to the dread you were feeling. You knew your heart would have been pounding.
The only thing stopping you from going crazy was Zenitsu's, rightful, whining.
"Tanjirou... Hey Tanjirou.. You'll protect me right." He asked his hands shaking way worse than yours were.
You would have been offended sense he didn't ask for you to protect him, but you remembered you weren't very successful in your first attempt to protect Tanjirou. So you kept your mouth shut and tightened your grip on your weapon.
You'd redeem yourself here, you were sure of it.
"Zenitsu," Tanjirou said lightly, like a doctor delivering the news a loved one had passed away "I'm sorry but I have a broken leg and ribs from my last fight. And neither of them are fully healed."
"[Name]-san..." Tanjirou looked towards you, "I'm not sure if [Name]-san's...fully healed either..."
He looked like he was looking for your confirmation on his words. You shrugged saying Probably.
Zenitsu shouted so loud every occupant in a 19 mile radius heard.
"EHH!? BROKEN BONES??? DON'T YOU TWO DO BREAKING BONES ON ME! HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO PROTECT BE IF YOU'RE INJURED!???"
Zenitsu broke into another, very loud, frenzy of fear. Which caused you to groan, and Tanjirou to try his best to calm the boy down.
You heard tiny footsteps in the distance.
"Uh-oh" You said looking towards the original way you all had come, neither Tanjirou nor Zenitsu paid attention to your statement.
Tanjirou noticed them shortly before the little ones turned the corner.
"No, don't!" He said sternly yet still kept his calming voice, the low tide slowly lapping against the shores. "You aren't supposed to be here!"
The both childrens eyes were blanketed with fear. The eldest boy tried weakly to defend their reasoning, "M-mister, we heard scratching noises from the box..."
Tanjirou objected with, "Even so, it can't just be left behind. It's more important than my life."
A crash like thunder hit, your knees gave out shortly. You quickly regained your balance though, and slowly made your way over to the wall on the otherside of a characteristicly frightened Zenitsu.
You were unexpectedly pushed on the back into another room by, what you assumed to be, one of Zenitsu's bodily reflexes.
"Oww your elbows..." you said turning back around to Zenitsu, noticing now that Tanjirou and the younger sister were also pushed into a separate room.
"Oh sorry.." Zenitsu said after realizing his mistake, "My butt, my elbows..."
Before you could even accept his apology the tsuzumi was struck.
And the room around you changed.
It was struck again.
The room changed accordingly.
You counted three more times the tsuzumi was hit, before it was silent again.
You sat down in the middle of a dim room that coordinated the look to the hallway you started in.
A thought hit you that Zenitsu was a lot stronger than you notioned, as this was the second time he's knocked you off your balance.
Another hit you that you were now separated from Tanjirou, unable to do your job.
You covered your hands with your face and screamed into them angrily.
"Just my fucking luck!"
You heard a thump in what you suspected to be the hallway.
"Th..ere.. something....th...ere...?" The voice stuttered and slid as it spoke. The voice was airy yet thundered, withered from use yet healthy from maintenance.
You winced, the whole ordeal was ludicrous and you couldn't imagine what the creature beyond the thin screen looked like.
You didn't want to face. . .it You knew it was a selfish thought, but you genuinely couldn't help it.
However, the sensible part of you realized one more demon you deal with, is one less the others will have to deal with. And honestly it was better for you to get in the battles opposed to literally anyone else.
Your hands were still covering your face when you uttered a hesitant response causing your voice to muffle.
"Yeah,"
A slim webbed hand pulled at the screen door, revealing you in all of your confusing yet intimidating patheticness.
You looked up toward the demon, your fingers pads resting on the bags of your eyes, the rest of your hands still covering your face.
"You speak English?"
The demon grinned like a cheshire cat.
"A lit..tle bit."
♤
Zenitsu wasn't having the time of his life to say the least.
"I'M GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" He shouted tearfully multiple times. "I'VE BEEN SEPARATED FROM TANJIROU AND [LAST-NAME], WE'RE GONNA DIE, I'M TELLING YOU."
"Teruko!" The older boy shouted looking for his younger sibling,"Teru-"
"Hey, hey, hey, don't don't don't!" Zenitsu rushed over the boy. "Don't be so loud you might bring s-something here." Zenitsu pleaded.
"Come on! Let's step back outside." Zenitsu tugged lightly on the boy's kimono.
The child, however, was not having it. "Why outside?. . . So you can escape all by yourself?"
Zenitsu froze. The boy was relentless.
"All this talk about dying, are you not ashamed? Clinging onto a younger person, do you have no respect for yourself? What's that sword around your waist for anyways?"
Each word jabbed at Zenitsu's pride.
"Those words cut deep." Zenitsu whimpered dramatically laying on the ground. He quickly bounced back though.
"That's not it!" He said quite literally dragging the boy back towards the entrance. "I'm not gonna of use anyways, this is something we kids cannot handle on our own!"
Zenitsu reached for the " entrance " door as the boy tried to get rid of Zenitsu's grip on his sleeve.
Zenitsu yanked the door open only to find a room that coordinated the houses theme. He screeched.
¤
(Tw!! Most of the gore and Y/n makes the corniest joke known to man)
You stared down the smiling demon.
In the dim light you could see it had a lean and tall stature, gills on its neck, huge multi colored frills on the back of its ears, and webbed hands and feet.
It's blood art had to be something to do with water creatures, you noted.
"I missed... ou..t on a gooood meal but you..will do."
You stood up on unsteady legs, and desheathed your dagger.
"Rotting meat is your definition of fine dining?" You asked while fiddling with a good way to hold the weapon.
"You...will do." It stepped forward, you held your ground.
"There's no blood in my body." You countered not knowing that for sure.
"I'll.. see that for my . . . self."
You soughed and moved to attack first.
You moved in to strike the demon with your left, but that was caught in its webbed hand, a slimy substance now covering your fist.
You gasped and kicked the demon in the stomach, sending it flying into the hallway. You inspected your hand.
"Eww, if this is poison, you're cheating!"
The demon got up from its seated position, momentarily stunned.
"You're...stronger..than I thought."
You nodded in agreement because you keep on forgetting that too,"So are you gonna say whether or not it's poison??"
Its grin grew bigger before it unhinged its jaw. You shuttered as it darted up to charge at you, its mouth open enough to swallow your head.
You dodged its attack with practiced ease, thanks Susumaru, and went in to attack it from behind.
This time you hit it with a better, more controlled verison of your spinned kick. The demon was sent flying to the right knocking through the wall of several rooms on its way.
You followed right behind it, the dagger clutched in your right hand ready behead it whenever you got close enough.
The demon finally stopped in the third room you counted, its body limp and its head directed downwards.
You knew this was too easy, way too easy, but you couldn't be bothered by that because you were about to catch the easiest win of your entire competitive career.
As soon as you got close enough you moved to slash at the open neck of the demon.
Unfortunately for you, mid strike your muscles tensed and you toppled over right on top of it. You tried to roll off but your sudden lack of strength made it challenging. And so did the arms of the suddenly conscious demon.
You weakly jabbed at the demons neck with the dagger that was poorly secured in your hand. The arms around your waist constricted.
"You're cheating." You said still poking at the demons neck, your stare trying to burn holes into it.
"Creatures..of the water... have toxins. I'm...a puffer fish."
You screamed when you felt the intrusions through your back. You looked back and saw about ten spines from the demon's arms impaling you.
You turned back and tried to spit a smart remark at the demon, but your words were cut off with a weak gurgle of blood. You felt heat build in the areas of the spines, that were still in your back by the ways.
"Its tetrodotoxin. You'll ..die.. momentarily. Then... I'll eat you. There.. are no ru..les in battle. human." The demon finished bitterly.
The spines finally retracted, to which you let out a weak whimper. You felt the heat beginning to spread throughout your body, it was burning hot and you were starting to lose control of your breathing.
The demon roughly pushed you off and stood up.
"Fe..ver... but you can't fi..ght it off... you will die.."
You spat out the rest of the blood you had in your mouth. It was your attempt to get air into your undead system.
You felt the wounds begin to close themselves up. At this point you were sweating profusely from how hot you were.
The demon still smiling, now standing over you tauntingly said something along the lines of you lied, before reaching a finger down to pick up some of the thick liquid.
It moved the finger to its mouth as it tasted your blood. Its face scrunched up.
"This sh..it is disgusting."
You heaved and grabbed its ankle. The scent of burning skin instantly hit you and a scream followed up not long after like clockwork.
The demon tried to shake you off like a bug clinging onto his shoe. You, however, held on and used the momentum to pull you up to its right leg.
You wrapped your arms around the semi-scaled leg tightly, the room smelled like a seafood fry.
"Did the.. rotten meat comment fly... over your head?" You asked with heavy breaths, greedily taking up the oxygen in the room.
As you continued wheezing for air, and the demon continued its vain feat of trying to shake you off. You reinforced your grip on the dagger, then you quickly gathered what strength you had left to slice off the demons right leg. The cut was surprisingly clean.
The demon howled as it fell backwards, gripping onto the place of of its lost limb.
You bear crawled up beside it, using nothing but your arms sense your legs were still out of commission.
"First ... time a human's been...able to re...cover from that to..xin," the demon said clearly giving up the fight as it's one and only advantage was overturned "what. .. . are you?"
You pulled yourself to sit up on your numb knees, and steadied the hot dagger above the demon's neck.
"I'm batman." You wheezed hacking off the demon's head.
You watched the head roll to the far corner of room before disintegrating along with the rest of its body.
You dry heaved and toppled over, your cheek was pressed onto the cool stone floor.
You let go of the dagger and raised an uneasy hand to your line of vision.
You whistled, "I didn't know I could do that."
END.
WORD COUNT
3690
Unorganized Authors Notes and stuff
1. I like this chapter more than the other one, I think I found an alright medium between seriousness and comedy.
2. Beta read(by me) while I was half asleep.
3. Constructive Criticism
(Spelling Errors,Unclear parts of writing, etc)
4. Still trying to find out how I want to format the story, thats why the writing style and layout changes, sorry if it annoys you. But don't worry, I think I'm figuring it out.
5. Also guys I write on my phone if you couldn't already tell. Sorry to the laptop users if the layout is fucked up.
Have a nice day! Drink tons of water!
Till the next chapter,
Berry <3