Nezuko had found that she had many new missions she had to accomplish;
- Collecting blood from the twelve demon moons for Lady Tamayo.
- Saving her brother.
- Turning her brother back into a human.
- Killing Muzan.
And of course, the mission that the crow was now screaming at her.
"COME ON, COME ON! WEST! WEST!" the crow cawed. Nezuko smiled up at the bird.
"I heard you, I heard you" she smiled. She fished into her pocket and pull out a piece of old bread, "Are you hungry after all of that yelling?"
The crow suddenly grew silent and landed lightly on Nezuko's shoulder.
"Alright, but no more yelling," Nezuko giggled, breaking a piece of the bread off and holding it up so that the crow could peck away at it.
"There's no need for you to be so rude or loud, I will get there," Nezuko assured the bird who was pecking away at the crumbs in her hand. Nezuko was walking through rice fields and she found herself very much at peace, especially with the lack of cawing.
"Though, I suppose you must be worried about what could happen to innocent people if I don't get to the demon in time," Nezuko murmured breaking off another piece of bread and holding it up for the crow. "I guess you must've seen a whole lot of terrible things, huh?" she asked.
The crow didn't answer but kept on eating.
"I won't judge you too harshly then," Nezuko smiled softly, quite used to one-sided conversations. It was nice to talk to someone, she hadn't been able to connect with Tanjiro in days, and that concerned her. She hoped he was alright.
"PLEASE!" a strange voice screamed from nearby jerking Nezuko out of her train of thought and making the crow alight nervously. A blonde boy was clinging to a less than happy young woman.
"PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, I'M GOING TO DIE AT ANY MOMENT! PLEASE MARRY ME!!" the boy begged.
There was frantic chirping as a sparrow landed before Nezuko and began chirping wildly. Mr. Urokodaki had taught her a bit of the bird language but she was still rather poor at it.
"Mr. Crow, could you help?" Nezuko asked her bird.
"The boy is an idiot," the crow cried. "Caw!"
The sparrows indignant chirping told Nezuko that the crow may have not been a hundred percent accurate with his translation. Nezuko caught the word 'whine' and 'panic' along with 'won't listen' and she was able to piece together the rest.
"Oh, my," Nezuko murmured running up. She immediately noted that the boy was wearing a demon slayer uniform beneath his yellow haori. She grabbed the boy by his yellow haori, just as she used to with Tanjiro when he worked too hard, and yanked the blonde boy off of the girl.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," Nezuko scolded the boy lightly. "Stressing out your poor sparrow and clinging to this girl."
"Wha - " the boy began.
Perhaps things spiraled out of control momentarily, there was a bit of arguing, and when the girl began slapping the blonde boy mercilessly, Nezuko found herself having to intervene again. Eventually, it all was settled and the girl stomped back to her town leaving Nezuko and the boy alone.
"Come on then, get up," Nezuko told the boy who was on his knees, "We have a long way to go."
"Go?" the boy questioned.
"Your sparrow says that you're on the same mission I'm on," Nezuko smiled pointing to the sparrow on her shoulder. The sparrow chirped in agreement,
"He doesn't listen! Caw! Makes trouble! CAW!" the crow on her other shoulder cried. "Leave him to die alone!"
"Hush you, no need to be so mean," Nezuko scowled at the large bird.
"I remember you," the boy on his knees realized, "You're the girl from final selection, the scary one!"
"Scary?" Nezuko repeated, puzzled.
"The one who tackled that other guy! The angry one!" the boy explained frantically.
"Yes, I remember that," Nezuko nodded. "But... I don't remember you."
That seemed to be taken the wrong way because the boy descended into despair once again raving about how Nezuko was forgetful and then how to the world was cruel and somehow ending on a paranoid note on how someday his brains were going to be sucked out of his ears by a demon. It all was rather ridiculous to Nezuko, but she was used to tantrums, she had plenty of younger siblings who used to throw such ridiculous shenanigans.
"There, there, if you survived final selection, I'm sure there's more to you than meets the eye," Nezuko assured the boy, patting his back as the boy huddled down in terror, "Now get up! We've got quite a ways to go!"
She offered the boy her hand, "My name's Nezuko, Kamado Nezuko."
The boy took her hand gingerly, "Zenitsu," the boy answered getting to his feet.
"It's nice to meet you Zentisu," Nezuko smiled. A smile that seemed brighter than the sun to Zentisu.
Zentisu swore to himself at that moment that he would propose to this girl as soon as possible.
The two traveled quickly, Nezuko urging Zentisu on and handing him snacks whenever he slowed.
Eventually, the two reached their destination and found quite a scene. They discovered two children whose brother had been snatched by a demon and quickly went about finding a way to try and save him. They located the demon's house and prepared to go inside. There, they tried and failed to save a man who had been thrown out of the house, he died in Nezuko's arms and Nezuko looked up at the house, determination and anger in her veins. Zenitsu heard the change immediately; the sound radiating from Nezuko was no longer gentle or sweet, it was vengeful and dangerous.
Nezuko turned and walked back to the children before putting on a smile "You two stay out here, alright?"
The children nodded slowly.
"I will find your brother," Nezuko swore firmly, "I will bring him back."
She strode towards the house, past Zentisu.
"Come on Zentisu," she commanded walking for the door.
"B-But the sounds coming from that place are scary! You're kidding right?" Zentisu cried.
Nezuko kicked open the door and strode inside, "Very well, then stay out."
"Don't say it like that!" Zentisu cried. She clearly didn't care if he came or not but he ran after her anyway. "I'm sorry! I'll come! Please don't be mad at me!!"
The house proved itself to be challenging. Nezuko thanked the heavens that the kids hadn't come along, she wasn't quite sure how she could've dealt with the changing, rotating rooms, and a kid.
She had been separated from Zentitsu but she was certain that he would be able to handle himself. Something told her that there was much more to Zentisu then it seemed.
She had been facing down the drum demon when a man in a boar mask burst through the wall. He had the pants of a demon slayer uniform and... no shirt. The boy lunged for the demon and was nearly torn apart by the slash attacks that the demon threw.
"You have to be careful!" Nezuko scolded the boy.
The boy turned to her and laughed, "You're a demon too! I can sense it! Be my springboard!"
"What?" Nezuko asked. She then immediately dodged another attack from the demon. She also ducked under the sword attack of the boar-masked man. "ARE YOU INSANE!?"
"Die demon and be my springboard to more power!" the man laughed.
Yes. Yes, he was insane.
Nezuko kicked him away and glared at him, "I am a human demon slayer and the demon over there is the enemy!"
"I can sense it! I know what you are!" the boy laughed.
The room flipped over and the boar-masked man flew out of the room leaving Nezuko to fight the demon alone once again. Well... good riddance to that lunatic.
She looked at the demon and readied her sword. She could do this.
Zentisu had passed out after a "tongue demon" had emerged, scaring the lonesome boy out of his wits. The demon didn't last another minute.
Inosuke, the boar-headed boy, had found the large "horn demon" and very quickly that demon too died.
Perhaps it was the fear of slipping on the loose paper, perhaps it was Nezuko's relentless attacks, perhaps it was fate, but either way, Nezuko was able to kill her opponent as well.
As Kyogai disintegrated, he looked over at the girl as she extracted blood from his body.
"Girl," he called. She looked back at him, her eyes full of pity.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Did you really think my blood demon art was incredible?" Kyogai asked timidly.
Nezuko smiled softly, "I've always loved drums, especially Tsuzumi drums, my little brother, Takeo liked them too. I've never heard someone play the Tsuzumi so well, it reminded me of my brother... so yes, I think it was," Nezuko murmured.
Kyogai looked up at the girl, tears slipping from his eyes.
"There's a boy in this house, his siblings are waiting for him outside... please... please tell me where he is," Nezuko pleaded kneeling down beside Kyogai's head.
"The boy is alive. He stole one of my drums and soon enough that drum will disappear with the rest of me, that should make it easy to find him... I... thank you, girl..." Kyogai murmured.
"For what?" Nezuko asked.
"For recognizing... for recognizing me," Kyogai breathed, and with that, he was gone.
Nezuko felt something heavy weigh in her heart. Were all demons like this one, full of pain? Yes, they had committed unspeakable atrocities and couldn't be forgiven... but were they all suffering?
Was Tanjiro suffering?
Nezuko did find the missing brother, she did find the exit, and she did get out of the house. Of course, life dictated that it was never that simple. She found herself staring at a showdown.
"IF YOU LAY ONE HAND ON NEZUKO-CHAN, I WILL - " Zentisu threatened.
"SHE'S A DEMON, YOU WEAKLING!" the boar-headed man roared.
"What is going on?" Nezuko demanded.
"THERE SHE IS!" Boar Mask roared charging for Nezuko.
"Nezuko-chan!" Zentisu cried, lunging for the boar-masked boy, catching his feet and pulling the man down.
"Get off of me!" the boy in the mask ordered kicking Zentisu in his face. Zenitsu didn't release the boy even as the foot hit his face again and again. Blood poured out of his nose and busted lip.
Suddenly a shadow came over the boar-masked man and he looked up to see Nezuko's heel coming down on his head.
The boy was out cold and Nezuko immediately ran to Zentisu.
"Are you alright?" she asked looking over the boy's face which was now bloodied and bruised.
"He wanted to kill you, I couldn't let him do that!" Zentisu cried.
Nezuko shook her head, "Thank you for worrying... you didn't have to get yourself hurt for me," she smiled.
Perhaps fate decided that Nezuko needed distractions in her life, and those came in the form of Inosuke and Zentisu. From that day forward, Nezuko never truly felt alone; but the next few nights were trying on the girl.
Between Inosuke constantly challenging her and Zentisu's marriage proposal, she was rather thin on patience. It took a few more knockouts for Inosuke to stop fighting her and only one for Zentisu to learn that 'no' meant 'NO'!
The trio rested at an estate made to house wounded demon slayers. Nezuko was fine as always, Zentisu, however, needed medical attention for his face and Inosuke had a head injury from Nezuko's kick, which she was very apologetic for.
A few nights after they arrived, Nezuko was sitting on the porch of the house with Zentisu, Inosuke was sleeping in the room behind them. She was staring up at the moon, thinking about Tanjiro when Zentisu spoke.
"Nezuko... how... how are you part demon?" Zentisu asked.
Nezuko looked at him startled, and then smiled, "You've known since the beginning, haven't you?"
"A bit," Zentisu agreed, "You... you sound like a demon. Slightly, it's like your sound has been muffled by..." he didn't finish but he meant to say that the sounds that came off a demon had been somehow been muffled by Nezuko's sorrow and kindness that seemed to drown out all else.
Nezuko smiled and looked back up at the moon, "I'm not really a demon. I can heal fast but that's about it... it happened by accident honestly."
She looked to Zentisu and Zentisu saw the pain in her gentle eyes, "My family was killed by demons and my brother was turned into one... he was still... he was still my brother even as a demon. He tried to save me from the monster who had killed our family and while he did that, I accidentally came into contact with some of his blood, gaining a bit of his power... and connecting with him."
"Is that who the other voice in your head is?" Zentisu asked.
Nezuko laughed, "You really can hear very well."
"I suppose so," Zenitsu murmured, "It's just... sometimes it sounds like you're two people, both of you are kind but one of you is clearly more demon then the other. I first heard it a Final Selection."
Nezuko smiled, "My Nii-chan is a good person... he's never eaten a human, even though it's hard for a demon. I've only talked to him a few times these past days...I think he's trying to block me off because something's wrong..."
Suddenly Nezuko began to cry, tears slipping soundlessly out of her eyes.
Zenitsu panicked.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry!" Zenitsu cried desperately.
"No..." Nezuko smiled through her silent tears, "I should tell someone... I'm scared Zentisu."
Zenitsu stared at the girl to his side, he listened to the sounds of pain that were radiating from the girl.
"I'm scared that my brother is in pain and that he's trying to hide it from me. I'm scared that I'll never see him again, or worse yet that when I finally find him that Muzan has turned him into a monster," Nezuko shook as she spoke, releasing the pent up thoughts that had been ramming around in her skull for days.
"I want to find him and tell him it's alright, but how can I? He's scared and I can't do anything. I'm useless and he's helpless," Nezuko murmured.
Zentisu put a hand on her shoulder, "You're not useless Nezuko-Chan. You're brave and kind and determined, you won't let your brother go. I have faith in your Nezuko-Chan. You'll find your brother."
Nezuko smiled and looked up at the moon again. Silent minutes passed until Nezuko spoke again; "Thank you, Zentisu."
"For what?" Zentisu asked.
Nezuko looked at him and smiled, "For listening."
Tanjiro stood beside his master and looked to the Demon Moon in front of him who bowed to Muzan.
"Master," Rui greeted.
"Rui," Muzan murmured, "I'd like you to meet Tanjiro."
Rui's light blue eyes glanced at the boy and then immediately went back to Muzan.
"Tanjiro is very precious to me, but I must go somewhere that he cannot follow. So, I'm leaving him in your care," Muzan said simply. "He can be your big brother until I return."
Tanjiro showed no emotion as he stared at the floor. Rui's face also displayed nothing as he looked the boy over.
"He needs to learn to be docile," Muzan instructed simply, he brushed his hand against Tanjiro's hair and held a strand of it in his pale fingers, studying its color and texture, "I'm sure you can handle that."
"Of course," Rui murmured.
"Good," Muzan smiled, "He should learn his place soon enough, but if he becomes to rambunxious, bring him back to me. I cannot lose him."
"He will not leave my side," Rui stated simply, "He will not run."
"Good," Muzan nodded, he smiled again as he grabbed Tanjiro's chin and forced the boy to look at him, "And... don't be afraid to punish him. He needs to learn to be obedient."
Tanjiro looked into Muzan's fearsome eyes and then quickly looked away. Satisfied, Muzan released the boy's chin and looked back to Rui.
"It will be done," Rui bowed.
Muzan nodded and looked to Tanjiro, "Kneel down, boy."
Tanjiro obeyed. Rui ordered one of his sisters to fetch him a bowl and a few minutes later Tanjiro found himself holding a bowl of red blood. Some of it was Muzan's... some of it Rui's.
"Drink," Muzan ordered.
There was a moment of hesitation before Tanjiro brought the bowl to his lips, but as soon as it came, it left, and Tanjiro drank the bowl's contents.
Rui watched the boy, intrigued by his transformation. The boy's mouth foamed and his veins bulged but the boy did not scream. There was enough powerful blood in the bowl to kill a weak demon, and yet Tanjiro didn't utter a sound of pain. It wasn't until Muzan himself walked over and ripped the boy's face off that the boy whimpered and cried out.
When it was said and done, Muzan stepped away, studying his handiwork. The boy was now deathly pale, with three horizontal red dots under his right eye and three above his left in a vertical line. His eyes were inverted now, with dark sclera and light blue irises.
Tanjiro whimpered, holding his face that was still stained with red blood.
"I leave him your care," Muzan dismissed walking out of the room. He stopped at the doorframe and glanced back at Rui, "He is not allowed to speak, if he tries, you may discipline him."
"Yes, Master," Rui bowed.
In another moment Muzan was gone and Rui was left looking at his new older brother.
"Come now, let's get you changed and introduce you to the rest of the family," Rui instructed offering his hand. The boy looked up at him and Rui saw many things in the boy's eyes, not all things he could explain.
Tanjiro reached up and took Rui's hand and allowed himself to be led through the house. As Muzan said... he had to be obedient.
(Muzan is a bastard who can die in hell for all I care for all he's done but OH MY GOSH it is so fun writing him! Writing Tanjiro on the other hand hurts my soul because the Sunshin child doesn't deserve what I put him through and I'm sorryyyyyyy...
Anyway, I hope you like it, nothing super exciting happened this chapter but it's building up my dudes. Stuff's about to go down. Hope you have a great day/night! Thanks for reading!!)