! Quick Disclaimer !
I'm updating because this has been in progress for a while and I couldn't leave you guys hanging especially with the - ehem, - awful initial chapter 1 before this rewrite. I wanted to address this and just make it clear that no, I'm not gone and if you still want to see the rest of the story you can leave a vote and a comment to let me know. Thank you so much for almost 1k reads everyone! I never thought I would have made it this far and I'm glad to see this ridiculous little idea wasn't so ridiculous after all lol.
P.S: I really hope you don't mind all the redactions. I'm doing that for the mystery but if you don't like it just lemme know ^^ and also I think I might be leaving wattpad and moving the story to ao3 but we'll see, just so you know tho I'm more active there now these days :)
Redact-on. G-itcḧ̸̡̥̜̦́̏̀͌̒̌es. Me-ô̸̯͇̙ri-s. U-cert-int̸̺͙͈̟̻̰͔͚̞͉̆̎̂y.
₳lmost li-e a cry for heļ̷̛̯͎̪͍̝̲̻͌̿̈̾̎̎͜͜p.
Som-thi-g haù̷̧͚̘̻̦̮̌͊̔̆̆͛̈́́͝nti-g.
A d-eam̸̡̹̰̹̱̪͔̱̙͛͌͗.
No, a nightma̶̼̬͉̼̪̞͒̿͂͆͐̃̾͛͊̌re.
"He n-ver ha- much stren̷̮͇̝̜͎̮̜͉̣͑͛͋̈͆ͅgth to b-gin w1th."
~
A little boy sat up. The moonlight illuminates his dark bedroom, and even with that, he could still barely see anything. It was the dead of night, what in the world is he doing awake?
He sat there, in the wonder of why everything felt so weird, why he can't remember the day before, and why he felt queasy... until his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a loud slamming of a shoji door. Then, as if in instinct, he shot up and yelled, "MOTHER!"
He went on a full sprint out and grabbed a sword where they usually kept it, and it was as if his body was controlling him. It was moving by itself. It was a demon. Wait, how was he sure? He had so many questions that forget paying attention to the heavy feeling of déjà vu, his focus was already split.
He had to get his mother to safety.
Running to where the noises originated, he stopped dead in his tracks when a tall man dressed in full black turned around and loomed over him, blocking his way. The boy immediately raised his sword, took a deep breath - well, tried to because he was kind of terrified - and yelled, "Flame breathing, first form: Unknowing fire!"
The demon jumped back and chuckled, "my my, what an adorable little one."
~
In a stance, trembling, he heard a distant thud. And a hiss, coming from a different direction. A slam, some yelling, and... was that crying?
There was never a moment that he wished his dear father was here more than ever.
"Let my mother go!" He demanded.
"Let me à̶̢̛̙̬̺͚̜̗̘͚͌͗̈́̉̑̆͝ͅs̴̰̤͍̟̾̽͝ķ̶̪͇̭̝͓̦̈́̄̓̔ ̴͎̟͑̕yy̶̨̙͖̠̙͐͑̈́̐̋͛ͅo̶̝͓̼̝̊͆͒͘- ̴̧̙͉͔̱͍͝ș̶̟̜͖̜͕͎̺̹̊̀́̃͂͝--ȇ̴̞͒̇̍͋̅̇̾ͅţ̷̛̩̗̙̥̍͛̾̉̈̈́̈́̋̈h̵͖̬̠̄͋͑̄̓̂́̅̕̚ͅin̶̢̢̗̩͐͌̐͆̈́̈́͌̍ͅg̷̯̭̬̥͖͑͛ͅ, de̵̢̮̥͒à̸̢̢͉̣͔͖̫͈̥̣͂r boy. A̸̡̛̜͔̖̺̅̅͌̈́̓̉̀-e h--r̵̰̥̜̼̙̀̂͆͝-̸̛̦̝̽̽ͅ-̸̟̥̭̱͊͌̋̉͝?"
throb.
"What did you say?"
Off guard, the demon "scowled. "I never said anything. Will you shut up for-" but before the deman in front of him could turn his head back, he lunged forward, accompanied by his third form. The fact that he was only capable of three so far wasn't helping much.
Apparently, this demon was weak. It wasn't like he knew how to tell strong or weak, but since he decapitated it in a couple of hits then it was probably safe to assume. His head fell to the ground with a small thump and...
and...?
.̸͓͍̲̱̫̙̬̏̐́̉̕̚͝͝ͅ.̸̧͇̦͎͚̘̞̩͠͠.̸̨͉̝͚͚̼͋̍̿̇̽͒̆̃͝͝.̴̰͔͎̻̳͂̿̔͂̌̃̌̐ͅ.̶̪̠̲͕̑̏̂
~
Why did he feel unconscious?
More of all, why did it seem like he was in a hospital?
What happened?
The sound of shuffling took his attention. He turned around to see a child, lying on a bed. He wasn't sure if the child was conscious, but it looked like he was in pain, almost like he was about to collapse. Apparently, his whole upper head was wrapped with bandages, and he was injured. He felt sorry for him.
But, wait a second...
Why did the child resemble him?
Did that even go unnoticed by him? With that hair and those eyebrows, there's no way. But he was himself, he was right there. Not to mention the injury looked familiar.
Was he dead?
Is that his dead body, and is he staring at him as a ghost?! - That's such a terrifying thought! He didn't feel like a spirit, but then again, no one could see him. If only there was a mirror. Without it, he wasn't even sure he could see himself using it.
The door suddenly opened and two nurses walked in. It confirmed his thought. That was him, being treated in the hospital. He watched as the nurses changed his bandages, and saw the injury. His injury. He turned quickly to see that one of the nurses had left, perhaps to grab something. He scanned the room, the area around his bed. Everything looked normal. Beside his bed, on the right side, there was a small table with a chair next to it.
The curtains on the window were open, letting sunlight shine through. Only then did he realize an empty syringe on the table. He squinted, getting a better look at it. He felt queasy as if something was telling him that it wasn't a good sign. But it was just a syringe, and if anything, it was probably helping him.
Just then, the nurse returned, holding a small tray in her hands, with what looked like medicine and a glass of water. "He will very likely wake up soon. Once he does, he's going to be very confused.." A second of silence. "Poor kid.." She set the tray down right on the syringe...
and it quite literally vanished. As if it was never there. There was horror etched on the young boy's face as he tried to process what happened. He stood there, frozen for a couple of seconds. Footsteps could be heard, as well as the sound of the door opening and closing. They had left, and it was only him, his unconscious self, and his thoughts. Whatever that meant, however confusing it was. "Kyojuro.." He started. Uttering his own name to wake himself up felt horribly weird. "Kyojuro, wake up. Can you hear me? Kyoju-"
Just then his head throbbed. He fell to the ground, clutching his head in his hands. He forced himself to look up. Was he feeling this? Could he feel the injury on him?
Why did he feel like he was going to die?
There were still questions to be answered.
.̸̧͇̦͎͚̘̞̩͠͠.̸̨͉̝͚͚̼͋̍̿̇̽͒̆̃͝͝.̴̰͔͎̻̳͂̿̔͂̌̃̌̐ͅ.̶̪̠̲͕̑̏̂
The empty hallways were almost loud.
It was honestly haunting. His estate had never been this... tense. quiet.
"MOTHER! ARE YOU OKAY?!"
Is she okay?
No, she's not. Isn't she d̸̥̳͈͎̍̋̐ẹ̶̡͎̗̻̒a̸̡̟͙̱̻̠̥̹̿̾͒́̈́̉̿͘̕d̷̋̉́͛̄͜͠?
Wait, that was a harsh way to say it...
The boy slammed the door open to find his mother laying on the ground, barely conscious, with a blood stain on her kimono. "Kyojuro..." he felt his eyes watering already. He hurriedly knelt down next to her.
She was injured, but she would be alright. Thank God. He had then come to the realization that his head was still throbbing, and his gut was telling him that something wasn't right. No, no, focus on the task at hand. The door behind him slid open and he looked back to see an out-of-breath Obanai and Senjuro being carried on his back. "Obanai! Senjuro! Are you okay?"
"We're alright. Look after Senjuro, I'll try to get something to Shinjurou-san."
Obanai had sometimes forgotten that he was supposed to call him 'dad'. No matter, though, it probably would take him much longer to get used to it. He then scurried out to find a paper and a pen.
throb.
"Senjuro, hey buddy, are you okay?" The young child didn't say a word, his small hands gripping his aniue's clothing, and Kyojuro held him close.
throb.
"Mother?" He flicked his gaze towards her. Right. He should do something to treat the wound, but he didn't know how. The simplest thing that came to mind was... gauze. Some kind of cloth or bandage to cover the wound temporarily.
"Um.. mother, should- should I get you some kind of cloth? Or.. a gauze? ...Do you need anything?"
throb.
"Y-yes..." She croaked out.
After taking a moment to softly pry Senjuro off of him, he managed to find a small cloth and wrap it around her wound.
It was alright. She was alright.
Then what would explain that gut feeling that was still there?
throb.
It was weird and the feeling was indescribable. It was something he had never felt before, in his 1̷̼̭̮̖̰̯͕̎ͅ2̵̞̬̜̭̱̱̈̈͂͋̽̎͂́̌̃ years of living. It was like he was physically there, but not physically or mentally there. It was a constant aching in his head. Like words, people screaming "Get up!" in a voice that he had never heard before. It sounded like a man with a deep voice and an almost desperate tone.
A moment passed. Another. His aching was getting worse, followed by dizziness and black spots in his vision. He felt rather half-asleep, in a drunken-like trance.
That's right, where was the Kamado boy?
Wait, Kamado?
Who is that?
throb.
He looked to the side to find Senjuro sound asleep. Speaking of sound and sleep, that quietness was back. It felt like it was going to swallow him up. Even now, he can't seem to convince himself that everything was okay. At this point, there was no way he was even going to attempt to go back to sleep.
He was still dizzy. It felt horrible.
There was that voice again, now accompanied by about two other voices and a couple of footsteps. They sounded like kids, almost his age.
"He said that we have to tie the ropes without touching the person."
"Right, I'll take this one and you guys take the other three." What were they talking about?
At this point, he felt as if he was going to collapse right then and there. He was taken out of his trance as he felt a rope tied to his wrist, and he was baffled. Sure enough, he looked down and there was no rope on his wrist. Yeah, he was probably going insane. But then, all the noises in his head abruptly stopped, and it was suddenly quiet. Again. Just when he thought...
Anyways, he pushed those feelings down, even if just for a moment and-
He felt as if something snapped.
~
Kyojuro woke up in a cold sweat, heaving and panting.
Dream. Dream.
It was all just a dream.
"Rengoku-san! You're awake!" He turned to see Kamado, looking at him worriedly. The next thing he noticed in his slight daze was that they'd stopped moving. "What... happened?"
"We were in a blood demon art. It.. it was in the ticket. The demon tricked us with it and- Nezuko tried to break the curse- the uh train stopped moving and all the curses suddenly broke suddenly and-" "Kamado, Kamado. Compose yourself."
Ironic.
He slowly looked around, observing his surroundings and occupying his mind with whatever the situation would provide him. It was almost a daily routine at this point, having spent his entire life slaying demons.
"Where are the other juniors?" Was the first thing that came to his mind, naturally. It was his duty to protect them, and a quick glance was enough to tell him they had gone out of the carriage; likely after the demon.
There was no more thought to it, for him.
This was a kizuki.
"I think Inosuke woke up first. He probably went straight for the demon..." and by then, the plan was formed in his head. These tentacles were fast in speed and had moderate regeneration. It would work better if he were the one to defend the civilians, and better yet, he was sure this Kamado boy and his friends were capable of decapitating the demon.
Ah, yes. The demon girl. Perfect.
"Listen, my boy. There are eight cars on this train. I will take 5, while the yellow head boy and the demon girl take the other 3. You and the boar-headed boy will find the head and decapitate it."
"But- the demon doesn't have a head-"
"Every demon has a head my boy, it will always be there, no matter what form they're in!" He exclaimed. That's right.
Be confident, Kyojurou.
As the younger slayer left, Kyojuro took a deep breath; Total Concentration Breathing...
It was time to get to work.
_________
As Tanjiro rushed to the scene, he hoisted himself up onto the roof, and soon after, felt the train shake.
Once. Rengoku's technique..
Twice.
He was barely given a warning when a piece of the train went flying in his direction. He ducked just in time before the train stopped moving entirely.
What was going on?
He rushed to the front of the train and was left with a perplexing scene. Inosuke was trapped under some rubble, and he was completely unable to get out. The demon had fled, and in it's place was...
Uppermoon three.