Three days after the trio separated, they were assigned a new mission together. Their crows told them where to go and left without any more information. Nezuko was happy to start another task, one step closer to finding a way to heal his brother, Zenitsu had a fangirl moment by just the thought of spending more time with the demon slayer girl, but unlike the two of them, Inosuke was suffering.
'WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THEM? WHY DO I HAVE TO JOIN THEM IN THIS MISSION!? THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE HERE. ARE THEY EVEN AWARE OF THAT!?' Inosuke thought to himself, fidgeting restlessly.
After going over his thoughts, he pace palmed, knowing this was a good thing. His goal is to kill the demon Nezuko carries with her, and there is no better way to execute his plan than to be around her. Why did he feel so bothered to begin with? Why didn't he remember his plan? Was he perhaps losing interest in the demon's death?
'No way, I want to see him killed. It is my job as a demon slayer to exterminate every demon I cross paths with. The crops may not be aware of his existence for now, but I'll make it happen. And once I get their ok to kill, it will lights out.'
Once the three slayers were ready to head to Natagumo Mountain, they began jogging to their destination. It took half a day to get there, it was now night time, and demons were roaming every corner. Zenitsu has always been a scaredy-cat, and demons were not an exception. He also has a lot of pride and love for women, so he's got to play his cards correctly and not say anything that might give away his actual feelings.
'Th-this mountain... is terrifying!!!' Zenitsu looked at the ombre blue boy, searching for any sign of fear, but none was found.
"We're here!" Nezuko announced proudly.
"Hey, Nezuko-chan..." Zenitsu started.
"Hm?"
"Don't you think maybe that mountain, may, I don't know, freak you out a bit? You don't have to lie; I can stay here and protect you-!"
"Aw, shut up already, stop stalling!" Inosuke yelled, running towards the mountain. Nezuko followed along.
"WAIT, GUYS-"
When they entered the mountain, Nezuko and Inosuke found a demon slayer in evident fear. They went up to him and questioned him. The demon slayer explained how his troop began slaughtering each other without context. He said there is a high chance the duo would die since a Hashira is someone who is more fit for this job.
"That's the creaking noise I heard before everyone started killing each other!" The demon slayer exclaimed.
Soon, many bloody demon slayers entered the scene, swinging at the three of them with their swords. They eventually realized they were being controlled by threads and cut them off, but the spiders kept coming back to re-attack the victims.
"There is no point in killing the spiders either! There has to be at least a million of them; we have to find the demon who is controlling them!" Nezuko commanded.
"Gotcha!" Inosuke replied, cutting the threads of a demon slayer who lunged at him.
"If you have any power that can pinpoint the demon's location, the hat would help! I can feel my brother getting anxious in the box, and I don't want him to battle; we must find them quick!" Nezuko dodged as she spoke.
Inosuke wanted Tanjiro to come out. Since he is a demon, the demon slayers would try to attack him. It would give him a chance to take action as well, but the situation didn't allow him that privilege. Many slayers were dying, and things had to be done. Inosuke plunged his swords into the ground and kneeled, directing his hands open to each side.
'Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness!'
This breathing form allowed him to see the location of his enemies. Without effort, he saw a female demon with long white hair sitting on a rock.
"I found it! Follow me!" Inosuke confirmed.
"Just leave it up to me, you guys go on ahead, I can take care of my comrades!" The demon slayer insisted.
"Are you sure? You looked like peed your pants a few moments ago." Inosuke teased.
"I DIDN'T DO NOTHING OF THE SORT, LADY!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LADY, NEZUKO? PUT ME DOWN!"
"THERE IS NO TIME TO ARGUE, INOSUKE!"
"WHEN I COME BACK, I'M GONNA CUT YOUR HEAD OFF, YOU HEAR ME!?" Inosuke screamed at the demon slayer, fading away into the distance with a fast Nezuko.
Inosuke and Nezuko faced many challenges along the way, but there was a demon who had already been beheaded who was after them. Nezuko remembered what Urokodaki toughed her and told Inosuke how to defeat it before throwing her high in the air to find the demon controlling it. While Nezuko was in mid-air, she saw the demon managing the threads with both of her hands in frustration. Then, she felt a weight leave her back. When she looked behind, she saw her brother fall rapidly to where Inosuke was fighting.
She wanted to go after him but was moving closer and closer towards her target, and she had to make her move. She took out her sword and began her form. The demon looked into Nezuko's eyes and surrendered. Surprised at her actions, Nezuko decided to switch to a breathing form that would cause the demon little to no pain during her decapitation. She landed on her tippy toes, watching as the demon vanished.
"A member of the twelve Kizuki is here... be careful." She informed Nezuko before dying.
"Wait!-" Nezuko yelled, but there was no way to bring her back. She heard yelling coming from a distance and ran to check it out. The closer she got the more familiar it sounded. It was Zenitsu.
"LET ME WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE!!!!" Zenitsu cried in agony.
"Zenitsu, there you are!" Nezuko greeted the fearful boy in front of her.
"NEZUKO-CHAN!-" Zenitsu hugged Nezuko tightly.
"It's ok, Zenitsu, I'm here now, hehe" She patted his back awkwardly.
Nezuko looked up to witness five demon slayers hanging from spider webs. There was a small wooden house hanging in the middle of them, and one of the spider demons crawled out of it.
"THIS IS SO CREEPY!!!"
With Inosuke and Tanjiro
Tanjiro jumped off the box using his legs to push himself further. He was about to land on Inosuke but moved himself to the side. Inosuke looked at the demon land perfectly on the ground in slow motion. His hair moved in sync with the breeze, his expression was calm, and his skin began glowing under the moonlight. Inosuke felt his face get warm, and his mind go fussy, but was knocked out of these thoughts when his enemy made his move.
"UGH, JUST DIE ALREADY!" Inosuke spoke in frustration, cutting the enemy's chest almost in half. Tanjiro saw him struggling to cut it all the way and used his claws to finish him. The demon fell harshly into the ground, making some of the dirt dust the air.
"Why you..." Inosuke growled at the green haori boy.
'Why does he keep protecting me!? This is getting old...!'
"Weren't you supposed to stay with your sister!? Why are you here? You're only a bother!"
Tanjiro ignored his rude comments.
"Whatever..." Inosuke mumbled under his breath, looking away in embarrassment.
Tanjiro looked at Inosuke with soft eyes and hugged him. The slayer was perplexed by the other's actions and was somehow unable to move. It's was like his mind, and his body had arguments with each other. He tried his best to try to pull away, but instead, his body betrayed him by responding to the hug. Tanjiro smiled through his muzzle, giving off an innocent yet sweet vibe. This made Inosuke's face and ears turn red again.
The demon pulled away from the hug and began to walk away. Though he didn't say a word, Inosuke felt like he wanted him to follow along. His mind was full of thoughts, mainly about the hug he shared with the boy, but there was nothing that could be said about it. Maybe it was just an impulse. As they walked, the ombre boy saw two Hashiras from a distance and felt relieved.
'Finally, they're here. Maybe they can kill off the rest of the family while I stay with him.'
Tanjiro sat in front of the river, dipping his feet into the cold night water.
"H-hey, you're getting your feet wet," Inosuke warned, but Tanjiro remained the same. The boy sighed and sat next to the him, also dipping his feet into the water. He hissed slightly at the temperature but looked up at the sky to ignore it. The moon was large and bright, hovering over them like a giant light bulb. Inosuke personally enjoyed these type of nights, when the moon was big and bright, and the air was slightly chilled.
He suddenly felt at ease, almost totally forgetting about why he was at Natagumo Mountain and about the demons he fought. The comfort in his mind let him show a smile to the sky unconsciously. He usually didn't like to smile around people, especially when it came to demons; why would he have a reason to smile around anyone? He wasn't loved by people nor monsters; he was alone; that's the way it's been his entire life. But for a moment, he felt warmth in his heart and let it happen.
The young demon got a glimpse of this genuine smile from the side. He's only seen him smile a couple of times, and those times were when he healed his wounds and tonight. Seeing him happy sent a sensation of joy all over his body. He always felt like he could rely on Inosuke; even when he says awful things to him, the only reason why he's even around him is that he knows he doesn't mean it. He may be a demon, but when he was a human, he could tell the difference between what people want you to think and what they believe. And that knowledge was still around, even as a demon.
The slayer blinked for a moment before he realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten all day from how nervous he got when he heard he was going on a mission with the crazy duo. He told himself it wasn't anxiety of any sort by masking it with anger, but maybe he was nervous. Nervous about seeing the demon, he so 'hated' once again.
Tanjiro got up and walked into the shallow river, stopping in the middle of it. Inosuke looked up at him in confusion, but let him continue what he had in mind. After a few minutes, Tanjiro leaned down to grab a fish from the water. Inosuke's eyes sparkled at the sight of a possible food option, but went dull again when he thought the demon captured it for himself, but he was wrong. The demon walked up to the slayer and handed him the now-dead fish. Inosuke facepalmed when he remembered demons don't eat anything but humans.
He received the fish from Tanjiro and felt something touch his heart with softness. He had never felt that way before, which made him stop and catch his breath before continuing to walk into the forest. He had collected some rocks and sticks to fuel the fire. When he had created the flames, he pierced the fish through a stick and began cooking it. Tanjiro went back to dipping his feet on the river as Inosuke cooked. The boy looked to the side to stare at him with a questionable expression.
The hate he felt was overwhelming when people helped him, and most give up on him and never help him again after witnessing his reactions. But Tanjiro never ran away. Maybe because he was a demon and had no sense of awareness, but when he thought of that, he remembered how he hurt his feeling back when he was injured. Therefore his theory was wrong. Then if that's true, why does he keep coming back to help the guy? Inosuke was even starting to debate if what he was feeling was hate
'Maybe only annoyed and not hate? That's a softer way to word it.' Inosuke wondered, flipping the fish to roast its remaining side. Once he was done eating, a crow announced the fighting was over, and all demons were defeated successfully. He usually would feel anger for not participating in the final shot, but he wasn't feeling any of that at the moment. He felt happy to have spent his time with this demon. Hell, he even catched dinner for him. Inosuke walked up to the boy, crouching down next to him.
"Oi, you see, I don't remember your name. To be fair, I don't know anyone's name here, so don't take it personally. But I know I said some mean things to you, and I want to say... Maybe you're not so bad after all... I thought of this when you healed my wounds, and I just wanted to let you know I'm still grateful. But man, sometimes you're so kind to me and it is so confusing. It's not like I like you or anything! I'm just showing some gratitude." Inosuke huffed.
Before Tanjiro could respond to him, many slayers were exiting the mountain close to where they were. Inosuke couldn't let anyone see a demon was with him, so he grabbed Tanjiro's wrist and dragged him behind a tree, far enough to where the chances of someone sensing his presence was almost zero.
After everyone left, Tanjiro sniffed out his sister, who was luckily still in the mountain. When they found her, she greeted them with a big hug, which made Inosuke freeze again from the sudden contact. Inosuke glanced at the yellow dude who was unconscious.
"Why is he always unconscious after a fight?" Inosuke asked.
"It's a long story." Nezuko scratched the back of her neck.
Tanjiro got smaller and went inside the box for the four of them to leave the mountain safely. It was a long day, but it was finally day break, and safe to head back.