Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. All rights respectfully belong to Koyoharu Gotoge.
The artwork above belongs to its rightful owner. Discovered by anime2020._camp.anime via Instagram.
Previously: "Mother and father loved us, but they had to leave, just like me. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there longer; I hope you can forgive me. One day, we'll see each other and be reincarnated as a family again. Only this time, nothing will come between us."
'Seriously, you are really testing what little cool I have with you,' she thought.
Tatemu looked all over the place and every section he could think of. Finally, out of every demon on this idiotic mountain, his most hated partner showed up.
"If you're going to start talking shi* than I don't want to hear it Bekutā," he said without turning around.
"Awwww," started the demon behind him. "What makes you think that I wanted to talk about your little ugly as*. I only came here to deliver some news, but I guess it doesn't concern you at all."
"Would you all shut up," came a new voice that sent chills down everyone's back.
A strange figure reached the group of demons as she cleared her hair from her face.
Tatemu and Bekutā sharply turned to the entrance of the ravine they were hiding in. A lean women, tall in stature, walked in and gave a crooked smile.
"What's up loosers?" she laughed.
"What buisness do you have here?" asked Tatemu.
"You know that our master is quite mad with the slow progress on this mountain, so he has sent me to take care of what remains," she grinned.
"So? What is in it for us?" Bekutā questioned.
"Oh nothing," she sneered. "But tell me, what is your worst nightmare..."
"Spread, my historia's of terror, and feed on the fear of what you seek fit..."
"No! Wait!"
>Nezuko and Umiko<
"Umiko!" Nezuko cried out. She crouched down hurriedly and looked at the little girl, scooping the small figure into her arms.
Umiko suddenly collapsed without warning and was taking hollow breaths, as if struggling to breathe in any air.
'Shinobu might be able to help,' thought Nezuko as she picked the girl up from the ground and ran in the direction she remembered the insect pillar vanished to.
>Inosuke and Zenitsu<
"They're all gone!" shouted the lightning slayer.
"Where did they all disappear to?"
"Nezuko-chan! Umiko-chan! Kanroji and Iguro-sensei!" Zenitsu was calling out for everyone, but to his loss, no one responded. 'Where could they have gone.'
"Monitsu! Over here!"
Zenitsu ran over to Inosuke and looked in the direction he was pointing. Multiple footprints trailed the ground and the stain of a fallen body embedded the mud.
"They must have gone that way," confirmed Inosuke.
Zenitsu nodded and grabbed his sword from beside the boulder Nezuko was last sitting at. He was about to run in the direction the beast slayer had pointed to, but hesitated when he realized Inosuke had gone subtly still.
"What is it?" asked Zenitsu.
"That's impossible," whispered Inosuke.
Zenitsu was able to hear his words regardless and tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"
Inosuke didn't respond as he ran in the opposite direction he had originally pointed to.
"Wait, didn't you say they went this way?!" hollared Zenitsu in utter bewilderment.
Inosuke ignored him and continued to run in the direction where he felt that sudden shift in prescence. Zenitsu let out a longated sigh and turned to follow after him.
'What in the world is with this place?' he thought jumping into the trees in attempt of catching up with Inosuke.
>Shinobu and Tomioka<
Shinobu treaded through the trees, knocking branches out of the way and shuffling leaves beneath her feet. Tomioka had gone completely silent as he tagged behind her, kicking rocks here and there in the process.
"Why are we going this way again?" he asked.
Shinobu didn't turn around and just stated, "There was smoke and it worried me so we're checking it out. At least, I am. I told you to stay back but you being stubborn, as usual, didn't listen."
Tomioka stopped walking and quirked her an eyebrow.
"Don't give me that," she called back at his new change in attitude.
'Man, adults this day and age,' she thought as Tomioka started giving her moody behaviors.
Looking at her surroundings, the insect pillar sighed in confusion.
"You're lost, huh?" questioned Tomioka tapping his foot lightly.
"Shut up," she mumbled. 'It's not my fault that this stupid mountain is full of similar looking trees.
"Kpft," Giyuu held back his laugh and internally giggled at Shinobu's new resent in life.
"The sun!" suddenly came a familiar voice.
Shinobu and Tomioka ran over to the source and that is when they saw it.
Kanroji and Iguro were... arguing?
'How unlike them. I wonder what happened,' gazed Shinobu as Kanroji raised her voice slightly. She beckoned for Tomioka to crouch low so they could spy in on the conversation.
Obani looked irritated as he retorted, "Demons can use the trees as coverage during the day!"
"But they would never is what I'm trying to get at," remarked the pink haired pillar, making explicit hand gestures to emphasize her point.
Shinobu was about to reveal herself, but Giyuu grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back down behind the bush. Placing his finger to his lips, he signaled for her to be quiet and listen.
The snake pillar was losing it fast.
"I found Kanao-chan's sword! And they were all brutally cut by the stomach, throat, and chest! You tell me," he continued.
'Wait, Kanao's sword? Don't tell me,' Kocho started to draw her own diagram of possibilities.
"We see Tomioka and Shinobu-san, we kill them," flatly stated Iguro.
"I don't even think it was those two! Will you listen to me?!"
"I did but there is plain evidence they killed the innocent!" Obani hollared back just as loud.
If this had nothing concerning the water and insect pillar, they might of just found the two quarrelling hashiras a blast to watch. But Shinobu lost all color when she heard Obani's words.
Tomioka on the other hand was doubting everything. Tanjiro would never kill anyone, so what came upon the assumption that he did anything; same with Shinobu's Tsuguko. There was just no possible way.
And then it whacked the two over the head.
Kanroji was the only person who could knock some sense into Iguro, but if her attempts are failing, that means the snake pillar is more than willing to kill Tomioka and Shinobu.
Hearing enough, Tomioka reached for Shinobu, but with their new size difference, dragging her away was harder than ever.
"Come on," he silently urged. Shinobu simply shook him off, wanting to hear more about what was happening.
"Listen," Tomioka started, "We need to find Tanjiro and Kanao, and hide. Iguro is out to kill us and he won't hesitate for a second. If we don't try to prove Kanao and Tanjiro are not murderers, who knows the consequences that will subsequently follow."
Shinobu only nodded as she backed away and turned to the shrub of trees. The sun was about to set in less than an hour and demons will be prowling once more.
'I'm not going to let him kill my little sister,' thought Shinobu as she helped Tomioka off the ground.
The two ran into the forest of trees again and disappeared from sight, in a coverage of shadows and branches.
A little past sunset, Tanjiro and Kanao were able to finally freely walk around. They arrived at the village some time around 7 and started peering through every window to get a good glimpse of each little house.
Each and every area was covered in a thick coat of dust as tiny specks danced past the moonlight rooms.
"Whatever happened, seemed to have been a long time ago," reasoned Tanjiro as the abandoned village kept more past the eye.
"No," said Kanao. "Remember what Umiko told us. If what she said is true, than this village was deserted less than a couple of months ago."
"What do you think than?" asked the auburn haired demon.
"Judging by the furniture, this village has got to be pretty young," the flower user observed. Remarking all the details of the interior designs, she spectrumed many alternatives that might have occured over the years.
"Of course, small in size," she continued "the people must have been unaware of the demons along this mountain they were living on. At least, not until one of them started to strike."
"Well, demons have been covered up by the corpse so one could figure that the entire world has no document of them," stated Tanjiro as he looked in Kanao's direction for approval.
Kanao simply nodded and moved onto the next house, observing everything from the roof to the floor.
The swift movement of a hooded figure caught her attention as she gazed at the street. Someone dove into the back ally ways, moving skillfully between the buildings and littered trash all over the place.
"There!" Kanao shouted. She ran over to the isolated street and followed behind the strange person.
Tanjiro was stunned out of shock and ran after Kanao, keeping hot on her trail. That is when he realized that the scent of the person they were chasing belonged to a demon; and not just any demon, but one that contained great amounts of Muzan's blood.
"Kanao! It's a demon!" Tanjiro shouted, trying to alert her. Kanao heard him and jumped onto the building rooftops.
Surprised, the demon made a sharp left, but hit a dead end. Scoffing in frustration, the figure turned to look for an opening and caught sight of Tanjiro.
"Wait," came a voice. "Where did the girl go?"
As if on cue, Kanao skid right off the building roof and dropkicked the demon to the ground.
"I knew there was something off about you two. You guys are part of the demon slaying corpse," mused the voice. It belonged to a mature female.
"What are you doing here?" asked Tanjiro.
"Dispossing of the useless if you must know," she joked.
Kanao didn't like the sound of her tone. Suspicous of everything, the pink eyed slayer started throwing around a couple of questions.
"Why were you in the village? And do you have any relation to Tatemu and the other demons on this mountain?"
Instead of recieving an answer though, Kanao was surprised that the demon appeared to ignore every word she said.
"Tell me little ones, what do you fear most?"
Kanao jumped away and landed next to Tanjiro, narrowing her eyes at the question. The demon stood up as a sickening grin creased what little of her face the two could see.
"Spread, my historia's of terror, and feed on the fear of what you seek fit..." she started to whisper. As if in code language, she shouted, "Tonitrua454!"
A sudden flash stunned the two as they couldn't see or hear their surroundings, putting Kanao at a disadvantage. Tanjiro on the other hand still had his sense of smell and attacked. (So, btw, if you were curious, the phrase means: The sound of thunder and flash of lightning shall strike upon you. Tonitrua is a translate from the Latin term, 'tonitrus,' which means thunder pretty much. The actual definition itself came from a gallery I found so I don't know the complete breakdown, but the general picture is still there so👍🏻)
"Ugh!" the demon hiss. She dodged out of the way, but Tanjiro still had the ability to track her location. Attacking again, he landed a solid blow and knocked the wind out of the demon.
'Bingo,' he thought. Not all of his senses were messed up from her attack. He couldn't identify her precise movements through vision or make out any noise from their surroundings, but he still had the capability of picking up her scent and estimating her position.
Kanao was still stunned though as she couldn't see, despite her sharp vision. Blinking rapidly, she saw the blurry image of a shadow-like creature and Tanjiro fighting it out near the wall.
Kanao was about to get up and help, but a pain unlike any other shot through her whole body. Clamping her mouth shut, she looked around and tried to see where it came from. There were sudden bruises everytime she made a single movement and they started to created ill type sores.
'What happeded?!' she thought in shock.
Her hearing was full of dim ringing, but she made out the demon's words. "My historia's bring to life your worse nightmares! If you fear death, then that is what you shall recieve. If you are afraid of pain, then that is what will over come you!"
Kanao stared at the bruises and cried silently from the enourmous pain.
'I'm scared of pain,' she thought as the relization came to her. 'When I was small, that is all I felt. My parents would beat my siblings and I, drown us if we ever did anything they didn't approve. Until one day, I couldn't feel pain anymore; until I was sold to countless slave owners, brought about as an item up for sale.'
'When I lost all abilities to act on my own accord, I also lost the feeling of hurt. But Tanjiro helped me see past that and now I'm scared of pain and how it used to feel.'
"It's ashame that such measely people like you die so easily," said the demon in a screeching voice."You are quite interesting though."
She finally matched Tanjiro's speed and kicked him in the side. Kanao lifted her head and watched as Tanjiro flew into the wall, coughing up a little blood and making a fair sized dent in the bricks he slammed into.
Slouching at the impact, he tried to stand, but failed. The demon removed her hood and started walking twords him with a terrible smile and sharp nails hooked.
'Get up,' Kanao urged herself. 'Help him. He helped you so it's time to return the favor!'
Kanao gathered the strenth to finally stand and ignored the stinging sensation that started to burn her skin.
'Get up and fight now!' she thouhgt. Running between the demon and Tanjiro, Kanao stood firm and was ready to help him.
"I won't let anyone hurt my freinds! I'm not going to sit back and watch someone else die!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Clenching her hand into a fist, she started forward with a surprising speed. Her agility and strength was well beyond Tanjiro's, astonishing everyone.
With or without her sword made no differnece. Kanao threw punches and kicks at the demon, faster than Tanjiro could have ever.
But it didn't take long before the demon recovered and matched speed with Kanao. Finally gaining enough momentum, the demon found an opening and elbowed Kanao in the stomach, sending her flying back next to Tanjiro.
"Silly, right?" started the demon as she began advancing on the two. "How sad it is that you only live once, when becoming a demon will allow you to live for eternity. You guys interest me, so how about becoming actual demons, and not puppets of an idiotic blood art?" she started to offer.
"No," came Tanjiro.
"Huh?"
"You're wrong," he continued. "You live every single day; and not only for yourself, but for others who are there for you! You only die once so never take for granted that is not a decision you have control over or can make!"
Kanao heard his words and stated, "We would never give up our humanity, either, to such an inhuman orginization. There is more to life than becoming some immortal being that remains restless."
"Very well," the demon brooded. "As you wish."
Tanjiro watched as her nails became long, thin strands that trailed behind her as she walked.
Bringing her hand up to strike, Tanjiro and Kanao anticipated a lifting pain to hit them, but it never happened. They heard a faint whip as the demon struck metal. Opening her eyes, Kanao was overjoyed to see Tomioka and Shinobu sheilding them, like always.
"Master! Tomioka-sensei!" Kanao shouted.
Tanjiro lifted his head too and smiled. "Shinobu! Tomioka-san!"
"Leave the rest to us," murmered Shinobu.
"There's more of you?!" the demon shouted.
"Don't think were the only ones now," smiled Kanao. She scrunched her left eye shut in pain but continued to talk. "This mountain may have multiple demons but don't ever be mistaken about the strength of a hashira."
Grumbling in spite, the demon retreated away and disappeared into the dim lit street.
Once Tanjiro was confident she was gone, he turned to Shinobu and Tomioka.
"How did you know where to find us?"
"Well, we needed to find you before Obani, Kanao literally alerted the whole entire mountain of your location, and Tomioka was tagging along," she started to list.
"Wait," interrupted the water pillar. "In what way does finding them have to do with me?!"
"Let's just say you're hated by a lot of people..." trailed off the insect pillar.
Tomioka let out a low grumble. Finally drained from all the pain, Kanao fainted into Tanjiro's shoulder and snoozed of to a low slumber.
Shinobu suddenly realized all the bruises marking the girl and almost flipped.
"What happened?! How did thathappen?!"
"It was that other demon," Tanjiro hastily stated. "Her blood art brings fears to life."
Shinobu looked at him for a little but before muttering something under her breath and furrowing her eyes. "Man, you all are seriously trying to test how fast I can bandage y'all up."
Tanjiro finally noted something Shinobu had previously stated and asked, "Why did you need to find us before Iguro-sensei?"
"Pretty much he is out to kill you guys," blankly answered Shinobu, disregarding the tinge of reluctance Tanjiro gave her.
"That wasn't us! We killed no one! The demon we encountered yesterday set us up as a frame!" Tanjiro started to shout.
"We get that," reassured Tomioka. He bent down to pat Tanjiro on the head like a dog. "And we're not here to kill you because we have confidence that you two would never hurt anyone."
"Before Iguro-kun catches on, I think we should start heading west," stated Kocho. "It's most likely the last place he would think of searching for us."
Everyone agreed and Giyuu helped Tanjiro to his feet. The only problem in all that was...
"Itai!" yelled Kamado as he fell face flat.
"Ara-are, are you okay Tanjiro-kun?" questioned Shinobu trying to hold back a laugh.
"Not really," mumbled Tanjiro while lifting his head to look at her. "Her art brings fears to life. Well, at that moment, I was most afraid of screwing up so now I'm practically cursed with clumsiness..."
Shinobu couldn't help it anymore as she burst out in a fit of laughter.
"You have got to be shi*ing me!" she guffawed.
Even Tomioka smiled in a bubbly way, obviously not believing the poor child's luck. 'This is going to be a long night,' thought the water pillar, dropping his smile when he realized Tanjiro was serious.
"Ugh, I'll get Tanjiro and Shinobu will get Kanao," Tomioka declared.
Giyuu was about to help Tanjiro back up when Shinobu nodded her head and stopped him.
"Let me remind you again," she started. "You are smaller in size, strength, maturity, and you might be crushed by Tanjiro's weight, no offense."
"Huh?!" shouted Tanjiro.
Tomioka on the other hand scowled and narrowed his eyes at Shinobu.
"And what are you suggesting? Your strength increased overnight?!" Tomioka retorted.
The two seemed to bunt heads for the second time in a row; Shinobu criticizing Tomioka about acting like a little kid while having the body of practically one, and Tomioka hollaring similar insults back about Shinobu's new, enormous ego.
After almost an hour of shouting useless rants and retarded bickers at one another, they settled with Shinobu's plan. Tomioka took care of Kanao while Shinobu helped Tanjiro around.
》Meanwhile》
Zenitsu finally caught up with Inosuke and came to a cascading waterfall.
"What's the big deal?" questioned the lighting slayer trying to listen for any other sound apart from the pounding water.
"Monitsu, see if you can hear anything coming from behind that waterfall," Inosuke commanded while pointing at the water's base.
"Okay, but I don't have a single clue about what is happening," Zenitsu argued back.
'I can't believe I'm taking orders from that stupid boar,' he thought while focusing on the sounds that bounce off the surfaces behind the waterfall.
Zenitsu concentrated and finally picked up on a shallow sound of breathing.
"There must be a cave behind the waterfall or something," he stated. "And I believe a demon is in there."
"That's what I thought," Inosuke mumbled.
"Well, if you knew why did you have to go about scaring me in such ways and having me listen to the freaky noises the demon is making?!" hollared Zenitsu, having one of his casual flip outs.
Inosuke charged by the yellow haired slayer, ignoring everything he said.
"Wait you wort-dope! You don't have a sword or any means of weapon!"
Without a second thought, Inosuke busted past the waterfall and into the ravine that laid behind. Disappearing from sight, the beast slayer was no where to be seen.
"Ugh! My life is full of ignorant imbicoles, stupid dults, and idiotic pigs!" yelled Zenitsu, chasing after Inosuke for the second time that day.
Author's Note: That wraps that up, Hope you enjoyed and until next time. (Just heads up, I don't do lemons or smut so if you were perhaps interested, than this isn't the book, sorry.) (Word count: 3,654)