......K-Kanao??
* * *
---Rewritten as of September 2023!!
I kinda screwed up the plot so I've revised some parts! ...Nezuko was nerfed.... I guess?
Recap of last chapter:
Fierce battle concluded inside the warehouse building that stood by the Sumida River of Asakusa — Nezuko managed to slay the Temari-throwing demon, Susamaru, after a desperate battle......yet, a surprise attack from the Arrow Demon Yahaba left her thrown out of the warehouse onto a wide platform by the river.
Now she stands alone to face the demon who uses a powerful Blood Demon Art, without a weapon and injured all over.... as a drop of tear rolls down her cheek.
***
PAST MIDNIGHT: PLATFORM BY THE SUMIDA RIVER, ASAKUSA.
* * *
Weakly, Nezuko lifted her heavy arm and wiped away at her cheek with her damaged uniform sleeve.
"———————"
The girl's small build, standing unstably with her back against the pitch-black water body of the Sumida River, battered all over with scars and abrasions... the appearance of hers was so fragile that it looked like the soft evening breeze might knock her unconscious to the floor any second.
The talisman given by Yushiro was so soiled that it almost seemed to fall off from her forehead... but whether it was by chance or by the will of its spellcaster stuck under the rubble... the paper was miraculously, still intact.
The girl's pink-purple pupils that quivered in their sockets glowed up in a reddish light, indicating that Yushiro's spell was still in effect....
......allowing the girl to see the multiple Crimson Arrows conjured into the air all around the short-haired demon, who was approaching her amidst all the scattered rubble and destroyed boxes on the riverside platform outside the warehouse.
The Arrow Demon, Yahaba, warped his mediocre facial features in rage.
".....I finally cornered you... You will pay, filthy brat...!!"
Veins popping across his face, the demon bared his fangs as he exclaimed.
"Never have I been this enraged.... I will tear you apart alive by your limbs, I swear it...!!"
The countless arrows faced Nezuko at once, quivering with their murderous intent.
——The scale at which the demon deployed his Arrow spells was much smaller compared to earlier, when he went on a rampage with the massive Crimson Arrows, obliterating the interior of the warehouse and easily overpowering both Nezuko and Yushiro.
——After such an outburst of power, it appeared that Yahaba was depleted of his full strength... despite being a demon, a creature with a supposedly infinite life-force.
Even yet, the twenty-or-so Crimson Arrows he had conjured around him seemed more than enough to overpower a human girl, who was both heavily injured and unarmed.
Nezuko glanced down at herself with her shaking vision and saw her battered state; her survival instincts were sending danger signals to her brain as she forcefully continued the Total Concentration breathing technique.
Despite the heavy suffocation, despite being able to feel the last of her strength being sapped away from maintaining the breathing technique, she didn't stop....
...because she knew that if she did, the thin thread holding together her consciousness would snap, just like that.
———Nezuko slowly clasped her jaws, grinding her teeth together.
"...............why...?"
Tasting blood in her mouth even as she spoke, Nezuko glared up towards the demon—— her eyes that were half-hidden behind her medium-length hair messily thrown over her face fixated onto the oncoming threat in front of her.
"———just why... are you demons..."
"———so selfish?"
"..............?"
—Even in his fuming rage, Yahaba still appeared to hold a degree of pride as an intelligent demon.
The demon furrowed his brows slightly as he faltered in his steps, having been directed with an unanticipated question.
Nezuko saw the demon's confused expression... and felt her deep irritation grow even more.
She turned her gaze towards Yahaba's short black hair, pale skin, and neat kimono attire, which were roughened and dirtied all over... even then, his body itself was totally unscathed as a result of his demonic healing factor.
That fact weighed down in her heart with a powerful squeezing sensation.
"....that's right——"
Nezuko's body swayed as she grasped a fist down on her chest, bearing the squeezing emotion in her body.... feeling her limbs slowly becoming revitalised from the strong emotions.
"You don't have any right.... to feel angry......"
"...What are you rambling on about, trash!?"
Yahaba shouted, his confusion shifting into disdain.
"You really thought... a filthy brat like you would be forgiven after defiling me all this much!?
Even as he spoke, the Arrows floating around him all pointed towards Nezuko ... but it didn't seem like the demon was going to make the first move.
—Just like how Nezuko had studied Yahaba's technique and had adjusted to them earlier when they fought inside the warehouse, Yahaba has also learned from their previous combat with the Demon Slayer girl.
That is, her overwhelming visual acuity and natural reflexes that allowed her to dodge his Arrow attacks no matter how fast they were... and thus it was undesirable for him to make the first move without thinking.
Even yet, a smug expression had formed on the demon's face.
——But this girl.... she's barely standing on her right leg now.
——Hmph, it seems Susamaru was useful in her last moments for once. The girl has clearly lost her fearsome speed and agility she showed earlier.
Yahaba thought as he maintained the vectors of the Crimson Arrows around him.
——Plus, she doesn't even have her Demon Slayer katana... but who knows what weapon she might still be hiding.
——I'll weaken her enough until she can't retaliate, then I'll land the finishing blow.
Despite his Blood Demon Art's overwhelming prowess.... the man was truly, a coward.
"————ive you."
"......!?"
Yahaba was truly, a coward at his heart.
His body suddenly tensed as he was hit with the powerful aura of rage emitted by the wounded girl...
....an aura of animosity and resentment so strong that Yahaba's earlier rage seemed like nothing in comparison.
A huge shudder went through Yahaba's body as he felt his body being pierced by the fierce eyes of the human girl standing in front of him——
——he saw her pink-purple pupils, and saw an abyss that seemed like it would swallow him in her endless emotions————
"——————aagh!!?!"
Before he'd realised what he'd done, Yahaba had already released his Blood Demon Art towards the girl.
The vector forces shot at Nezuko, at a speed set to reach the girl in less than a second....
But the battered girl who moved faster than that leapt out of the trajectory with her left leg.
"——tch!!"
Immediately, the arrows drawn on the eyeballs on Yahaba's hand changed directions; the Crimson Arrows mirrored the shift and immediately shot after the girl, who fixed her position without even eyeing the oncoming attacks....
"————remember that feeling."
It was back when Nezuko was battling the Temari Demon Susamaru earlier in the warehouse, when she had to close a far distance against the enemy's long-ranged attacks... and she had used Water Breathing's seventh form: "Piercing Raindrop" while focusing her power into her leg muscles.....
......it had felt as if a small zap had passed through from her feet to the top of her head.... and in that moment, her dash forward had travelled faster than never before.
"......replicate it."
Nezuko's right leg, after being twisted up by Susamaru's last retaliation before her death, was in no state to muster strength into. However, the distance between Nezuko and Yahaba were not that far..... so she didn't need both legs.
She planted her left foot onto the concrete, putting her entire weight onto the sole limb.........
........a zap of electricity passed through her entire body, making the hair on her skin stand all over.
And her acceleration exploded.
"————nngh!!"
"————gaah!!??"
Nezuko's small body tackled into Yahaba, her shoulder ramming into his unprotected side. Completely caught off-guard with the girl's speed, Yahaba let out a cry... and unable to maintain balance, fell down onto his back on the hard concrete.
If only did the Demon Slayer have her sword... their battle would've closed the curtains right at that second.
- - -
"———!!"
As Nezuko rammed into the demon, she felt a massive burst of pressure behind her in her left leg, with which she had kicked the ground... and felt sprays of fresh blood burst out from all the numerous cuts and open wounds that were already on her leg.
Nezuko couldn't prevent her muscles stiffening on instinct from the outburst of pain; without a moment to break her fall, she crashed onto the concrete along with Yahaba.
"Hngh.......!!"
Gritting her teeth together, warping her expression in pain.... she pushed herself up before Yahaba could regain himself from the shock. Recognising that both of her legs were no longer useable, she forced her body up onto the demon with just her arms.
...she didn't dare look down to see the state of her legs.
——I remember, demon....
——Back when we fought in that narrow corridor of the warehouse, when I reflected back that temari ball down at your face from above the shelves.....
——Right when that temari hit you, right when you'd lost your focus.... all of your Crimson Arrows... dispersed away!!!
In the corner of her vision, she saw that the numerous Crimson Arrows that Yahaba was readying for his personal defence, had all disappeared into red mist the moment Nezuko had tackled into the demon.
Understanding that her guess about Yahaba's weakness was indeed correct.... she immediately turned her eyes back towards the enemy, who was recovering from his dumbfounded expression.
At this point, Yahaba had realised that he'd been tackled into the concrete... his face immediately turned red as he screamed.
"——!! You filthy, get off my——"
He grabbed Nezuko's face with one palm, prying her away from him with his demonic grip strength. With his other palm, he channelled power through the grotesque eyeball and summoned half a dozen Crimson Arrows around him, aiming to blast away the girl——
Before he could do so, something hard collided into Yahaba's face, cutting his words off mid-sentence.
——Nezuko's right fist had swung square into the demon's face, even while her face was being pushed back by his hand.
The fist swung with a murderous intent shook the demon's skull—— in that moment, his grip on Nezuko's face slipped away, and at the same time, the Crimson Arrows he'd conjured dispersed once again as his thoughts were interrupted.
And the Demon Slayer, regaining her posture, swung down both fists in a hammer swing down onto Yahaba's nose, crushing it with a grotesque splash of blood.
"——g-ghah!!?"
With his physical fortitude of a demon, the initial punch from Nezuko had been nothing near a fatal injury for Yahaba.
The reason his grip had slipped off of Nezuko's face... was because of his utter shock.
——W-What is this human... doing!?
Yahaba questioned himself in confusion, even as Nezuko grabbed Yahaba's short hair with one hand, and swung the other fist into his face from the side of his eye as to transfer the impact up his brain. Blood covered Yahaba's vision over his thin eyes—— but disappeared just as his injuries, including his demolished nose, healed instantly with grotesque sounds.
Still in his bewilderment, Yahaba looked up at the human girl — her well-proportioned face was twisted in a mixture of animosity, hatred, and pain as she swung around her medium-length hair, connecting crude punches after another on his face. Every time her hits landed, the demon's entire body spasmed beyond his control.
——B-Because she's lost her sword, she intends to take me down with melee punches!?
——I-Is she, insane!!?
"D-Don't undherrestimate meee!!"
Even with a broken jaw and demolished face, Yahaba mustered strength into his demonic body and pushed back the girl with just the swing of his shoulders. As the girl fell backwards, he immediately shoved both his palms towards the girl's direction, summoning two Crimson Arrows at a point-blank range.
"Dhhiiee!!"
"———nnraaahh!!"
In that split second, Nezuko grabbed Yahaba's wrists.... and with an animal-like cry, pushed up the demon's arms with her head, putting her entire weight behind her strain.
——ffwwiisssh!!!
Nezuko heard something cut across the air above her —— the Arrows were released off-trajectory out from Yahaba's eyeballs.
Even then, Yahaba willed the released Arrows to make a circle around the air in order to strike back into human girl from above...
"...ggah!!?"
...but before it could happen, another swing of a fist blew his face to the side, stopping his thoughts and dispersing his control over the Crimson Arrows.
"———hngh!?"
Due to her unbalanced posture, her fist went off her intended trajectory and made a painful connection onto the demon's skull. She cried out from pain as her left wrist twisted with a dull sound....
"————you trash!!"
Yahaba grabbed down at the girl's hair with his hands, yanking her head violently over his body. Even as the girl suppressed a scream of pain, her entire body was flung over the demon.... but stopped as she made a quick spin, stopping her momentum with her knees.
——and without a single pause, a ragged object cut through Nezuko's hair to release her out of Yahaba's grip.
In Nezuko's hand that she'd swung through her medium hair was a piece of broken ceramic she'd picked up from the floor.... her swing was so fast that even the ragged object had cleanly slashed through layers of her hair.
And before Yahaba could react, she stabbed the ceramic down onto the eyeball growing out from one of Yahaba's hands.
"———gaah!!?"
Before Yahaba could pull his hand away and retaliate, he was once again rolled over by Nezuko, who used the melee grappling techniques she'd stolen from her teachers, Urokodaki and Sabito. The girl once again pinned down the demon.... and continued her attacks.
"....Just..... die.....!!!"
"Hgah... ghbhh.... y....you...!?!"
Desperate.
Frantic.
Barbaric.
....Deranged.
—Yahaba couldn't find the right word to describe the girl who was desperately attacking him from above... and was somehow, despite being a mere human, actually keeping him from getting up and using his Blood Demon Art.
The girl's stamina won't last forever. She would die soon anyway.
But.....
....the attacks that were increasing in ferocity and intensity began to overwhelm the demon's threshold———
And a small flicker of fear birthed in Yahaba's heart.
——W-Wait....!!
——This is going to stop... i-it's going to stop, right!?
——Stop... grgh.... p-please!!
It's been years since Yahaba had become a demon.
For ages, he had lived as the prime of the world, feasting on the weak humans whom he could murder with a flick of his fingers using his Blood Demon Art.
But here, at this moment.
For the first time in his demonic life, his strength was being depleted after using his Blood Demon Art again and again to their limits.
....and here, he was being overwhelmed, treated like a rag-doll —— sensing a natural instinct of fear from a mere human.
——Please........
"————S-Sthohpphh!!!"
By a miracle, or something of the kind.
——His amateurish kick managed to collide into the girl's stomach.... and she was finally sent rolling a few meters away.
Nezuko coughed out in suffocation as she writhed in pain, holding her stomach.
She tried to muster strength into her limbs in order to get up again... but to no avail, and her body slid back powerlessly.
"——khah.... hahh........"
A tickle of blood rolled out from the side from her mouth, even as she strained her body to get up—— she was still, trying to get up.
————There was only one thing that drove this human girl so far beyond her limits.
Yahaba's eyes that had always been closed shut on his sockets were now opened wide in fear.... and their pupils focused on the girl's ghost-like expression, then more closely, onto her pink-purple eyes.....
————a pure, killing intent.
Yahaba met the eyes of a hunter who'd chase his soul to the pits of hell, even if her own life were to burn out into nothingness.....
....and hallucinated being pierced by the eyes of his Honoured One, his master, Kibutsuji Muzan.......
"———aaaagggghhh!!!!!???"
With a single arrow, Nezuko's body was sent into the air like a rag-doll, thrown into the evening sky without any means to resist the powerful vector force.
Then— there was a silence.
- - -
"——————.....ah?"
Yahaba stared down at his trembling palm, absolutely dumbfounded for a few seconds... even after a small splashing sound far away indicated that the girl had fell into the pitch-black Sumida river.
His demonic healing factor began to wipe off the mess that had been caused on his face... it was only then did the demon finally managed to move his body.
With his limbs still shaking weakly, the demon stood up... by the time he fully got up, all of his injuries were completely healed.
".....ill you."
Yahaba's low voice, trembling ever-so-slightly, spoke out into the evening air.
His expression twisted in fury as he screamed —— raising his voice as to wash over his residual emotion of fear etched into his heart.
"——I'll kill you, human!!"
Yahaba raised his two arms, both of which were soiled with dust and gravel.... and further warped his expression. His rage fuelled up to the point he could hear his own blood rushing into his head, as he continued to bellow.
"I've decided, little girl...!! I won't be satisfied until I've ripped your body apart with my own two hands...!!"
Conjuring rows of Crimson Arrows around him, he channelled his utmost power into his two eyeballs growing out of his palms, readying to launch the arrows after the human girl, who'd disappeared under the dark water body, intending to bring her back to his reach even if she were already a corpse–—
——when an amateurish swing completely reliant on strength sliced off both of his wrists.
Yahaba's two eyes widened at the sight of his two palms, along with his other pair of eyeballs, rolled onto the concrete.
Before he could take any action, a heavy shock knocked back the demon's skull from below...
....and an invisible weight pinned him down onto the concrete, just like what the Demon Slayer girl had done to him earlier.....
......and felt a sharp sensation digging into his throat, piercing his skin with a burst of his blood.
"What...... y—youu... traitoor!!"
Yahaba's expression fell into absolute shock as he screamed, just as a familiar figure literally appeared out of thin air right above the demon.
A vicious sneer was painted on the boy's face as he materialised above Yahaba, looking down with disdain in his cat-like violet eyes.
"You were awfully frightened of that girl, were you not!!?"
The green-haired boy wearing tattered remains of his white medical uniform bared his demonic fangs as he strengthened his power behind his arms, which was holding a crystalline white Nichirin Sword.
"——Die, scum!!!"
Yahaba realised at this moment that the white katana had already sank through a third of his neck.
"——aa, aaaaaggghhhhh!!!!"
He pushed back with his hand-less arms against the green-haired boy with all his might, screaming for his life.
——But unlike earlier, this was a demon holding Yahaba down this time.
The green-haired boy's expression only twitched.... his strength didn't falter in the slightest as he continued to push the Demon Slayer blade deeper into Yahaba's throat.
"You unsightly bastard———"
"AAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
"———you've survived..... far too long!!"
And with a dull sound, Yahaba's head fell onto the floor.
- - -
The green-haired demon who'd successfully dropped the enemy's neck —— Yushiro —— immediately let go of the awfully heavy katana he'd been holding, and spun around towards the pitch-black water body behind him, completely ignoring the disintegrating demon beneath him.
Even while he was struggling under the massive rubble that had fallen on top of him and the katana earleir, he had watched as the Demon Slayer girl, Nezuko, battled the Arrow Demon, buying time for Yushiro to recover....
"...tch.....!!"
....and had seen, even as he was about to launch a surprise attack on Yahaba, the girl being thrown into the river while all of her four limbs were injured to the point they were almost unmovable.
——She's.... gonna drown!!
"———Nezuko————!!"
Just as he was about to leap out towards the river while calling the name of the human girl....
"——————!!??"
A heavy chill went down his entire spine as Yushiro paused all his movements— he had suddenly felt a cold, sharp sensation behind his nape, his senses detecting a danger signal from the back.
At the same time, a sweet aroma floated into his sense of smell from behind him.
It was an occurrence of only a second: Yushiro rotated his head minimally, just enough to be able to capture what was behind him with one of his violet eyes.
——It was a human girl.
Yushiro, with his demonic eyesight, clearly caught her appearance despite the dark exterior.
A short girl, a similar height to Nezuko, with straight black haired tied into a ponytail on the side of her head with an ornament representing a butterfly. Her pure-white cape attached by a red ribbon and long black skirts of her black military uniform fluttered powerfully in the wind as she was leaping down from atop the warehouse towards where Yushiro was.
——A Demon Slayer...!!??
Yushiro widened his eyes in alarm —— the girl was faster than he was in escaping.
The naked light-pink blade of the Nichirin Sword in the girl's hand glowed up brightly, spreading out silky white-purple particles into the air as it swung down...
——Flower Breathing.... first form.
——————"Fallen Camellia"——!!
- - -
* * *
A WHILE AGO. RIGHT AROUND WHEN NEZUKO AND YUSHIRO BEGAN COMBAT.
TAMAYO'S MANSION, ASAKUSA.
* * *
"........I wonder if Yushiro..... and Nezuko-san, is safe...."
A small murmur left the soft-looking lips of a woman sitting by the window as she continued to gaze at the moonlit sky.
The woman — Tamayo — closed her eyes and lightly shook her head.
Besides where she was sitting was a hospital bed, on which a small lump of blanket heaved in a level breathing.... the reddish-black hair that showed slightly under the blanket suggested the identity of this figure: none other than Kamado Tanjiro, the miracle child who had somehow survived without eating a single human since his demonification two years ago.
——he was also the older brother of Kamado Nezuko, the Colourless-Blade-wielding Demon Slayer who had left with Yushiro a while back in order to slay an imminent danger within Asakusa city.
"............................."
——Nezuko-san.... is not aware that Kibutsuji Muzan is in this very city.
Tamayo closed her eyes painfully.
——She doesn't know... because Tanjiro-san protected her by escaping from that Theatre District where they almost ran into him.
——However, because of that encounter, Tanjiro-san's demon cells went out of control... leading to that outburst of his mysterious flame-like Blood Demon Art that seemed to burn with an immaterial heat.
Tamayo recalled how she had released her own Blood Demon Art, the illusionary 'Blood Bewitchment' technique, in order to knock the siblings unconscious... stopping Tanjiro's rampage and allowing her and Yushiro to bring them to their hidden mansion in the suburbs.
——Seeing from our conversation earlier... although skeptical, Nezuko-san does not know about Tanjiro-san encountering Kibutsuji.
——.......However.
".....ever since that day when Ubuyashiki first sent his letter of request for cooperation...."
Tamayo spoke, directing her gaze out of the window and hardening her tone.
"————We've always been under observation."
There was a brief silence.
Then.
"———Hm. You've noticed, after all."
With soft sounds of feathers flapping threw the air, a single crow flew in and perched onto the window frame. The bird, displaying its slick black feathers with pride, wore around its neck a purple shimenawa rope tied into a simple accessory.
The personal Kasugai Crow of the Demon Slayer Corps' Master — it was Ubuyashiki's personal messenger, the smartest, most competent Kasugai Crow in existence.
Tamayo narrowed her eyes, almost making a frown with her beautiful facial features.
"And... you are no fool, are you?"
"Of course not, Tamayo-san."
The crow said in a deep voice, its beady eyes intelligently staring back at Tamayo's eyes.
"———Kibutsuji Muzan is in this city..... and you've been hiding that fact from us, haven't you?"
".........."
Tamayo pursed her lips, and closed her eyes solemnly.
"...It's no use trying to deny the fact, Tamayo-san. I've already relayed my observation to my subordinate crows when it all occurred."
The crow blinked and continued in its low voice.
"So, Ubuyashiki received news of what happened long ago."
The crow shifted its neck and cawed, shivering its wings delicately.
"Ubuyashiki is no fool, too: he immediately reached the same conclusion as I did. There will be no use in silencing me here, kaah."
Tamayo looked at a crow for a few seconds, before she closed her eyes with a sigh.
"....you really are competent, dear crow."
The woman averted her eyes away from the bird, turning towards where Tanjiro was sleeping.
"Don't worry... I won't do such a thing as silencing you."
The crow laughed, shaking its small body.
"Kuku. I'm glad to hear that."
"......and?"
Tamayo turned a sharp gaze back at the bird, lowering her tone.
"What is Ubuyashiki's call?"
It was the truth that Tamayo had been hiding from Ubuyashiki about Kibutsuji's whereabouts, despite the progenitor of demons being the sole and most important target of the Demon Slayer Corps during centuries of its existence.
This was nothing but a betrayal from Tamayo's end... who had already formed an agreement with the said organisation since a few months ago.
Whatever reason Tamayo had in hiding the fact... it wouldn't be strange if the Corps decided to send multiple Hashira into this mansion at this very moment to decapitate her traitorous neck.
The reason why she had Yushiro accompany Nezuko out on her mission... was mainly, because of this.
The crow met the sharp, serious gaze of Tamayo for a while.... before it continued with a light shake of its wings.
"————It is too early to jump to conclusions. I personally would like to continue trusting you, Tamayo-san."
The Kasugai crow recited — its tone had shifted completely, turning into a recreation of a soothing voice of a young man.
"I wish to discuss this matter with the utmost gravity with you in a short time. However, for the immediate action...."
Tamayo widened her eyes as she heard Ubuyashiki's next words.
"..........I have sent in a reinforcement who has enough skills to handle the situation for the time being."
* * *
* * *
PRESENT TIME... PLATFORM BY THE SUMIDA RIVER, ASAKUSA.
* * *
* * *
——Flower Breathing, first form.
——————"Fallen Camellia"!!
——the light-pink Nichirin blade of the black-haired Demon Slayer was swung down at a speed that even Yushiro, being a demon that he was, couldn't even react to.
"—————gah——"
Along with a short cry——— Yahaba's half-disintegrated face was sliced up into four pierces, right in front of Yushiro's eyes.
In that moment, multiple Crimson Arrows that was about to ambush the green-haired demon from his blind spot completely vanished into red mist.
With his head completely destroyed, the Arrow Demon no longer retained its ability to sustain its life force—— its body too, quickly fell apart into ash.
"................."
Silently, the Demon Slayer straightened her body in front of Yushiro.... who continued to stand there while sweat formed on his face, unable to move.
A pair of beady purple eyes that was brighter in colour than Tamayo's lavender eyes captured Yushiro in their sights....
....along with a superficial smile painted across her well-proportioned face.
Yushiro narrowed his eyes at the girl's gentle, yet empty smile.
"———Demon... Slayer...!"
Yushiro gritted his teeth and muttered as he eyed the light-pink Nichirin sword that was held in the girl's hand.
He didn't move... couldn't, after seeing what she was capable of.
This girl was just as strong.... or perhaps even more refined in skills alone, than Kamado Nezuko was.
"....................."
Silently, the female Demon Slayer reached over her shoulder with her left hand.
Yushiro readied his posture with his strained expression, preparing to turn invisible with his Blood Demon Art———
———when the girl took off her white cape and shoved it into Yushiro's hands.
".......huh!?"
"Hold it, please."
The girl spoke in a small volume as she slid past the green-haired demon. With quick movements of her hands, she even sheathed her katana, and unbuckled her belt that held the sheathe along with the blade.
"H-Hey—"
"Get ready... to pull us up."
Before Yushiro could stop her, the girl effortlessly leaped up far into the air... before disappearing into the pitch-black water of the Sumida River.
- - -
Kamado Nezuko———— was sinking.
Her dull senses were even blocking out the coldness of the evening river... there was only a sense of suffocation in her lungs as bubbles continuously left her open mouth and disappeared above her.
Nezuko was no longer able to muster strength into her limbs... she had even lost the senses of the tip of her fingers.
———.....ah.... this is it.... for me.
Nezuko's blank eyes stared above at the water surface that slowly drifted farther and farther away as she sank. There was nothing she could do to stop her from falling deeper into the water.
Her powerless body slowly changed orientation even as she sank; when she realised, she was staring towards the bottom of the river.... that was strangely bright, despite being at the deepest area of the pitch-black evening river.
There, a wooden kitsune mask was lying on the riverbed, lit under the faint moonlight reaching from the water surface.
"–———————ghbbbhh!!!???"
A large quantity of air left Nezuko's mouth as her eyes widened—— it was in that moment that the unbearable suffocation of being submerged underwater without oxygen truly hit her.
Her eyes rolled back —— in her panicked and oppressed thoughts, she could only think of moving her body so that she wouldn't sink farther.
Her senses, her natural instincts honed multifold from a normal human body due to her vicious training in Mt. Sagiri, was commanding her to reach for air.
"————!!! —————!!?? ————!!!"
Nezuko desperately moved her body.... she was quickly feeling the wave of unconsciousness approaching her senses from deep below.
She couldn't die here.
She didn't want to die here.
She wanted.... to live.
Oh, but how unmerciful natural order was: with her weak limbs, with her body almost devoid of air, she couldn't defy the force of gravity pulling her to the depth......
—————A hand grabbed Nezuko's flailing arm, and pulled her up violently.
- - -
When Kamado Nezuko came to her senses, the first sensation she could feel was pain.
There was pain everywhere.
Her head, her brain, hurt for having been cut off from a supply of oxygen for so long.
Her nose, her throat, her windpipes, hurt from being filled with water up to her lungs.
Her arms, her legs, her torso, hurt from all her serious injuries inflicted by the two demons, which had then been exposed to the cold water seeping into her open wounds.
Her chest.... her heart, hurt from beating so fast, so violently, inside her chest.
Every heartbeat that reverberated in her body, and all the pain that accompanied those beats, allowed her to feel the energy of life within herself.
Following her instincts, she coughed and gagged until her windpipes were free of water, until her lungs could sufficiently secure a stable supply of oxygen....
...only then did she manage, to open her eyes.
"————I'm..... alive."
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"——————————AAaaaaaahhh!!!??"
A pair of dark red eyes opened to their limits as the boy sprung up on the hospital bed.
Feeling his heart beating at an unbelievable rate, he looked down at his hands.... the small pair of hands that looked like they belonged to a seven year old's, immediately began to enlarge: his fingers elongating, becoming bulkier, his palms hardening and increasing in wrinkles.
Along with the change, his entire body grew up drastically in size; he could feel the layers of baggy clothes he had been wearing slowly stretching and unravelling to fit his new size.
His unruly, messy red-black hair partially his vision as his rolled back heaved up and down, mirroring his heavy breaths.
"....................."
With his eyes still wide in confusion and shock...... he looked up towards the interior of the room he was in.
There, he met the violet eyes of a beautiful black-haired woman sitting elegantly on a chair by the window..... as well as a pair of beady intelligent eyes belonging to a crow perched on the window frame next to the lady.
Silence continued for a few seconds, as the woman slowly recovered from her surprised expression...
.....then with a gentle smile, the woman spoke.
"———I'm glad you're awake, Tanjiro-san."
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END OF CHAPTER
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Author's Notes:
- Tsuyuri Kanao makes an appearance!! I'd always wanted to include her more in earlier stages of the story than in the original timeline, I'm glad I found a way to.
- Kanao is chosen by Ubuyashiki due to a few reasons: 1) she was close to Asakusa on a mission at that moment, 2) despite being a rookie she is extremely skilled as a Tsuguko, 3) due to her connections with Shinobu, she already knows about Tanjiro's existence from the Butterfly Mansion, and finally 4) due to her reserved and closed personality, she is unlikely to be controlled by personal rage to harm Tamayo, Yushiro, and Tanjiro.
- Please bare with me as I speed & skip through important details concerning Tamayo and Ubuyashiki's conversation: with my writing skills, it's difficult for me to include it nicely with the flow of the story.
- Perhaps I will write about it sometime like an Interlude like last time... but no plans to do it anytime soon.