"Oi........"
".....oi....."
"Wake up, kid........"
"I said wake up......Oi.....oi, get up!"
"Are you just going to sleep all day?!"
Tanjiro's eyes slowly fluttered open to the sound of the barking Kakushi, though he was unaware of his surroundings, his injuries clouding his mind.
W-......w-where am, I.......
The redhead teen glanced all around him, his eyes widening at the scenery around him.
A beautiful pond with white stones lining pathways all around him, with astonishingly intricate trees twirling their way around him with bright green leaves all lining the branches.
Before him was an elegant-looking mansion as well, with wooden pillars all in a row keeping the roof up.
It all looked too fancy for him, but one thing was on his mind more than anything else.
"N-....Nezuko....."
"Tch, how boring," A deep, eclectic voice groaned from Tanjiro's right, "When I heard that someone had been travelling with a demon, I was expecting someone with more flamboyance, not some basic passersby like this kid."
"Right! Let's give this boy the conviction he deserves!" A loud booming call of a man's voice shouted from beside the other man.
W-Wow, this young boy has been protecting his little sister the entire time, even though she's a demon, A young, beautiful woman with pink braids exclaimed in her thoughts, What sibling love!
Tanjiro turned his head to his right and his eyes shot open when the silhouettes of a half-dozen men and women came into view, each more unique than the last.
A small, slender woman wearing a beautiful patterned haori with a butterfly hairclip in her hair stood on the furthest left with a small smile on her lips, standing right next to a towering giant of a man with his hands pressed together over a beaded necklace with tears beginning to form in his eyes. To the massive man's left stood a younger, brighter young man with flaming hair and a white haori with flaming accents on the bottom and a small child with black hair that faded into a deep turquoise, similar to how his attention faded up into the clouds. Lastly, another young woman with an ample bosom and pink and green braids gazed down on Tanjiro with a pitiful glimmer in her emerald eyes, standing next to a tall man with various jewelry coating his body and makeup over one of his fuscia-coloured orbs.
"W-Who.....who are you people?" Tanjiro sputtered, completely unsure of what to make of the people before him.
He winced in pain, however, when the Kakushi slammed his head against the gravel and began barking more orders and slurs at him.
"Oi, don't open your mouth yet, you idiot!" The Kakushi spat in annoyance, "Do you have any idea of who stands before you? You're in the presence of six of the ten Hashira, and all you can do is spit out 'wHo aRE yOu pEoPLe'?!"
Tanjiro's vision faded out and in as it returned back to him, his gaze fixated on the various people standing before him.
H-Hashira.....what are they talking about?.....W-What's a Hashira, and who exactly are these people.......?
"W-Where am I?" Tanjiro muttered to no one in particular.
"You're at the Demon Slayer's Headquarters," The young woman with the butterfly haori explained with a gentle tone, "And you're about to be put on trial, Tanjiro Kamado."
T-Trial...? What is this woman talking about-
"Now, before we begin the trial, Tanjiro Kamado," The woman said with a smile, "Why don't we go over the crimes you've been accused of-
"There's no need for a trial at all!" The flame-haired man exclaimed with a bright, deceiving smile, "This man has clearly violated the Corps rules! We are well within our right to handle him ourselves, and we shall behead him along with the demon!"
Behead him?! ,Tanjiro screamed in his thoughts.
"Well, if you're looking for a decapitation, I'll show you the most flamboyant one you've ever had the pleasure of seeing." The shiny man with the silver hair exclaimed as he reached for the bandaged weapons strapped to his back, "I'm talking the absolute maximum flamboyance."
What? They would kill such a sweet, loving boy like him??, the pink-haired beauty whined in her head, That pains my heart, it fills me with anguish!
The giant man with faded white eyes clasped his hands together and murmured a simple prayer before speaking with tears in his eyes,
"Ah, what a pitiful sight this boy is. I truly pity him for having been born at all, putting him out of his misery is the right and proper choice we must make. Namu Amida Butsu...."
The child below them did not seem to concern himself with the issue, instead looking off into the distance at the clouds above, wondering which shape had which name as a passtime.
Tanjiro stared with wide eyes at the figures standing above him, still lost and in a daze as to where he was, who these different men and women were, and where his beloved sister could be.
"N-.....N-Nezuko, where are-
"Oi," The Kakushi holding him down spat, "The Hashira are speaking, and you just decide to ignore them?"
The Kakushi dragged Tanjiro's darting head up by his hair to face the six people standing before him, his growing anger apparent even behind his mask.
"The Hashira are the highest-ranking Demon Slayers in the corps, all of which are leagues above you in strength, speed, stamina and technique! Show some respect to the elite of the corps, you lowlife!"
Tanjiro paid no attention to the boy, however, his vision darting back and forth, trying to find his friends.
"Nezuko! Zenitsu, Inosuke! W-Where are you guys?!"
"Tch, forget the boy for a second."
Tanjiro flinched when he heard the voice of another figure, and turned to face the direction from which it came.
Sitting up in a tree was another young man with long black locks draped over his bandaged visage, with heterochromatic eyes and a snake slithering across his shoulders, a loose zebra-stripe haori hanging across his body, pointing in another direction.
"What exactly will we do with Tomioka?" The snakelike man said with a harsh tone, "Just seeing him walking free like that, when according to watch Miss Kocho said, he is just as guilty of breaking the Corps rules, it's giving me a headache. How should he take responsibility for his actions, how should he be rightfully punished?"
The man leaned forward from his spot on the tree, just to spit at the man standing alone from the Hashira again with venom laced in his words.
"Do you not have anything to say, Tomioka? Speak up for once, you pathetic introvert."
T-Tomioka.....? Tanjiro thought to himself, Wait, is he-
The redhead teen jerked his head towards the direction the man was pointing, and his heart sank when his worries were proven true.
Standing alone in the courtyard stood Giyuu Tomioka, the man who protected him and Nezuko from the short woman with the butterfly haori.
N-No, because of me, Tomioka's now in trouble too......
"Now, now, there's no need to tie him up or anything, Iguro, he did come without resistance after all," The short woman chimed in, "What I'm more curious about is this boy's story here as to why he's travelling with a demon in the first place."
The woman stepped away from the rest of the Hashira, and lowered herself to Tanjiro's level with a bright smile on her face, and pulled out a bottle from her haori, and handed it over.
"Here," She said with a cheerful tone, "Drink this before you speak, it has a painkiller blended in, it will make your injuries feel a little better, alright?"
"T-Thank you, miss-
"Kocho. Shinobu Kocho." The woman replied.
"Thank you so much, Kocho." Tanjiro said as he took the bottle in his teeth and downed it all, relishing the cool water trickling down his parched throat. After handing the bottle back with his teeth, the redhead teen tried his very best to explain to the Hashira his story with Nezuko.
"Everyone, I promise you, Nezuko is not a threat to any human at all! She's my little sister, and she's been a demon for over two years now, and hasn't killed or eaten anyone at all! She never will, she protects humans, not eats them! She'll never hurt a human, ever!"
"Pfft, spare us your pitiful ramblings, boy," The man called Iguro by Shinobu spat, "She's your family, so it's only natural you'd try and defend her. I, for one, don't believe you whatsoever."
"I agree," The man with all the jewelry and fuscia-coloured eyes said, "If you want to make up a story on the spot, at least make it less drab and more flamboyant, dumbass. The fact she hasn't eaten anyone, the fact that she won't, it's all worthless talk and empty words to me. Prove it, with maximum flamboyance, or I have no reason at all to believe you."
"P-Please, I'm telling the truth!" Tanjiro pleaded, "Nezuko hasn't touched a soul, I promise! She's been able to survive for over two years without even so much as a single drop of blood, she would never hurt a human!"
"Oh, you poor thing." The giant man said with fresh tears running down his eyes, "You fight so hard for someone you have already lost.....I pity you, boy, I truly do. We must liberate this boy's sister from the possession of the demons, so that they may reunite in the afterlife in the state of heavenly joy that is the world after death!"
Shinobu stood by, listening to all of this occur with her smile constantly intact, maintaining her composure despite attempting to process the boy's story at the same time.
"Hey....." The boy with black hair chimed in, muttering to himself, "What kind of bird is that again? Is that.....a hawk? Or a falcon? Or maybe an eagle?"
Tanjiro jolted in fright when he noticed Shinobu squeal out of the blue and suddenly grow a blush on her cheeks at the boy's mutterings, clamping her hands over her cheeks.
"T-Tokito," Shinobu squeaked, "D-Did you just say eagle?"
"W-What? Uhm, yes." The boy known as Tokito muttered in reply.
"A-Ah....I see." Shinobu sputtered, moving herself away from Tanjiro and back into her line with the other Hashira.
What was that all about... Tanjiro thought to himself as he looked back at Shinobu's expression from seconds ago, Kocho almost seemed embarrassed about something when Tokito mentioned a bird.....I wonder what that could mean....
"Well! If Tokito saw an eagle hanging by, that must be Hisao!" The man with flaming hair exclaimed, looking up at the sky to confirm his suspicions, "Ah, yes! Hisao has come!"
"H-Hisao?" Tanjiro muttered, glancing up at the sky like everyone else, only to receive the shock of his life when he looked to the sky.
Soaring above the Hashira was a massive black eagle, with streaks of red feathers sprinkled across the bird's body like flickers of a candle, giving it a terrifying appearance. It had to have been at least the giant man's height in wingspan, maybe even more so. Needless to say, it was a giant bird that was almost as tall as Shinobu herself when it swooped down from the skies and landed beside her, permitting the butterfly lady to stroke its feathers with a bright smile on her lips.
"My, my, good morning, Hisao!" Shinobu exclaimed, patting the eagle on the head, "You're here well ahead of him, aren't you?"
The bird surprisingly shook its head in response to the woman's claim, instead lifting up its wing and pointing to Tomioka's direction and flapping a couple feathers in a vertical fashion.
"W-What?" Shinobu gasped in shock, her cheeks burning up again, "H-He's almost here?!"
The bird nodded its head in reply, spreading its massive wings and taking to the skies once again in a single flap, bringing up the dust with its movement as it flew behind the building.
Who is Kocho and the flaming-haired man talking about...? Tanjiro thought to himself, Is he another one of these Hashira?
"U-Uhm, excuse me, everyone?"
The men and women in attendance all turned their heads to face the short, pink-haired woman who hid her mouth behind her fist, her voice small and fragile as she spoke.
"I do have my doubts about beheading this boy, y'know. I mean, would Oyakata-sama really be in the dark about this situation?"
The other Hashira hummed for a second in agreement, and the woman continued once she knew they would all remain silent.
"I-I really don't know, do you think it's okay to proceed with this when he's not present? Not only that, but only eight of the ten Hashira are present at the moment, so shouldn't we wait for them as well?"
"Tch, there is no way I'm waiting for the god-forsaken Corps Demon to arrive." Iguro spat harshly.
"Count me out as well," The bejeweled man spat as well, flicking a strand of hair out of his face, "The only reason I'm allowing myself to be in the same presence as the Demon is because of Oyakata-sama's orders."
"Right! I dislike the man, and do not want to be around him when he does arrive!" The flaming-haired man shouted with a smile on his face.
Tanjiro was in utter disbelief at it all, gazing up at the Hashira with a dumbfounded look on his face. Three men, all drastically different in personality, appearance and apparent views, were all banding together to call one person a Demon of the Corps, actively declaring their displeasure when it came to this mystery person.
C-Corps demon........just who could that be-
"Rengoku.....Uzui....Iguro....."
Tanjiro flinched and crinkled his nose in disgust when he caught the overpowering scent of anger and rage come off from his left, and he instinctively jerked his head towards the cause of the scent, wondering what it was, before freezing up in shock when his eyes met the source of the scent.
Standing only metres away was Shinobu Kocho with fists so clenched the knuckles were white, an obvious scowl on her lip as her teeth grinded against each other, and veins popping out of her forehead as she raised her eyes to glare ice-cold daggers at the trio of men.
"You three..." Shinobu spat in a deceptively calm tone, "I would prefer if not a single one of you ever use that name again, do you understand me?"
The trio of men all flinched subtly at the threat, but decided it would be best to shrug it off and forget about it.
"Fine, fine," Uzui replied dismissively, "The nickname isn't flamboyant enough for me anyways."
"Right!" Rengoku exclaimed, "I will respect your wishes, Kocho!"
"Tch, whatever...." Iguro grumbled, leaning onto his back on the branch.
As Shinobu visibly reverted back to her calmed state, Tanjiro was still unable to forget the look on her face when she heard the insults from the other Hashira.
Kocho almost seemed fuming when she heard the Hashirsa speak badly about this guy......who exactly is he?
"E-Everyone!" Tanjiro exclaimed through the Hashira's mumblings, "M-My sister, she can fight by my side, if you would just listen to me! I promise you all, she can fight as a Demon Slayer as well-
"Oi, Oi, Oi, looks like you lot have managed to find some fun, huh~?"
Tanjiro felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard the paralyzing, frightening tone come from his left, a reaction shared by some of the Hashira as they turned to face the source of the voice, each of the master swordsmen on their guard.
The redhead teen, however, flinched in fright when he saw the silhouette appear before him.
A tall young man in his early twenties, with spiky silver hair and a massive scar across his face stood tall with Nezuko's box balanced on his hand, wearing a white shirt with the Kanji for Kill imprinted on the back. He was an intimidating character to say the least, with a massive frame and a crazed look in his big grey eyes, directed right at the redhead teen.
"Ah, Shinazugawa, you've finally come, hm?" Uzui said with a smile, "I wondered when you would arrive-
"So is this the stupid brat who decided to drag a fucking demon along with him for his little adventures~?" Shinazugawa spat with a hollow chuckle, "Just what do you think you're trying to pull here, fuckface~?"
Just as Tanjiro was about to speak, a female Kakushi sprinted out from behind the massive figure, panting and hunching over as she tried to catch her breath.
"M-Master Shinazugawa, w-would you kindly put that box down, please?"
"Pfft, fuck off, servant, you've got no reason to boss me around!" Shinazugawa spat, lunging towards the woman to successfully scare her off.
Tanjiro already hated this man from the very moment he met him. His hostile attitude, his sadistic smile, everything about him was enraging. However, it didn't seem like the feeling wasn't shared as Shinobu jerked her head to face the taller man with veins popping out of her forehead and her fists almost turning white once again.
"Shinazugawa," She said with her calm tone, "Please don't act out of line and make a fool out of yourself."
"Haha, or what, Shinobu~?" The man in question barked back with another empty laugh, taking another step forward towards the woman, "You'll let your little Demon off his leash and have him fight your battles for you again~?"
Shinobu stayed silent this time, turning her head away from the silver-haired Hashira with a short huff.
"Haha, that's exactly what I thought!"
"You, boy!" Shinazugawa barked, pointing at Tanjiro, "You wanna know what we call your little dream about fighting with your sister against demons together? That stupid dream about making your demon sister a slayer herself~?"
"Shinazugawa, I suggest you stop while you still can...." Shinobu spat under her breath, glaring at the man out of the corner of her eye.
Her words fell on deaf ears, however, as the silver-haired Hashira yanked his sword out of his sheath and jammed it right into the box with a manical grin on his face, right in front of Tanjiro.
"We call that a complete fucking delusion, you dumbass!"
Tanjiro was seething with rage, he was completely furious at this man before him with his blade within her sister's chest.
"YOU!" He barked, shaking himself out of the Kakushi's grip, "NOBODY, AND I MEAN NOBODY, EVER HURTS MY SISTER!"
His anger unleashed a shot of adrenaline into his veins as he sprinted headfirst towards Shinazugawa, screaming his lungs out as he darted towards him. The Hashira only chuckled in response, pulling his katana out of the box and flicking the blood off the blade.
"Come, boy, let's see what you're willing to do for your pathetic little demon sister~!"
"Tanjiro.....Sanemi...." Shinobu spat with veins forming back on her forehead, "Both of you stop, or I swear....."
"Both of you, stop!" Giyuu barked to the two, "Oyakata-sama will be here soon!"
Neither boy heard either one of them, with Tanjiro too blinded by rage to begin to listen to either Hashira. Sprinting right at Shinazugawa, who flinched slightly at the name of his master, Tanjiro dodged the first swing by the Hashira and soared high into the air, shocking each and every other Pillar present.
Well, save for one.
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" Shinobu screeched as she watched Tanjiro rushed forward towards Sanemi. She jerked her head towards the roof of the building and screamed,
"SAKU-SAN!"
A loud explosion followed by a flash of dark crimson appeared out from behind the headquarters' rooftops, and in the blink of an eye, the conflict was over.
Both Sanemi and Tanjiro were being held above the ground by their necks, with each boy having a large, unshakeable hand wrapped tight around their throats, each struggling to breathe, move, or even sputter out a sentence.
W-What just happened!? Tanjiro screamed in his thoughts, his vision fading in and out over and over again, unable to get a good view of the figure holding him up off the ground.
"Both of you disgraceful fuckers need to calm down, or I swear, I will snap your necks like twigs and leave you bleeding on the floor, do I make myself clear?"
"F-FUCK YOU, CORPS DEMON!" Sanemi spat, struggling to escape the figure's grip on his throat.
"Call me that again, Shinazugawa, and I will throw your head into the ground so fucking hard you fly up into the air like my goddamn bird, you understand me?
Tanjiro's eyes shot open at that exact moment, darting right towards the face of the man who was choking him out.
Is this him!? This Corps Demon everyone speaks of!?
Tanjiro, however, was completely unprepared for who he came face-to-face with, and gasped in shock when his vision cleared and the Hashira's face came into clear view.
The giant of a man, not resembling a day over 20, had long flowing black hair with a couple strands lining his face and cheeks. His wavy locks were tinted a deep crimson at the tips, all of it being tied up in a loose tail at the back of his head. His features were slim and defined, with a strong jaw, dainty nose, and sharp eyebrows that lined up a blood red eye, the other being covered by a pitch black eyepatch. The man wore a loose black haori over his bare chest, which faded out into a deep crimson red at the base of the cloth.
The man took a condescending glance down at the redhead boy, his crimson eye filled to the rim with hostility and anger directed right in Tanjiro's direction.
The scent of power, strength, and overwhelming force was almost unendurable for the redhead teen, not to mention the rage practically boiling off of his skin almost clouding his vision with its potency.
All he needed was a quick sniff, and Tanjiro could already tell this man possessed a strength far beyond anything he could imagine attaining at his level.
"And you, brat," the man spat with a scowl plastered across his face,
"Don't go chasing after a Hashira when you're such a pathetic excuse for a Demon Slayer, do you fucking understand?"
The man's cold words practically shattered Tanjiro's heart, and Sanemi's small smirk creeping up onto his lips didn't make the Kamado boy feel any better about himself.
"Saku-san, I think they'll calm down now," Shinobu chimed in with a calmer tone now that her anger had worn off, "Would you please put them down?"
The man simply shrugged and tossed the two boys back down to the ground, ignoring Sanemi's slurs and insults fired at him as he took his spot by the small woman in line. It was only then that Tanjiro got a good full-boy view of the man who had just choked him out so easily.
The man had to have been well over six feet tall, standing heads above both Rengoku and Tokito, around the same height as Uzui, with lean muscles in a body shape similar to Shinazugawa making up his frame. he wore a pair of basic black uniform pants and strapped sandals around his ankles, but the weirdest thing about the man who had his arms crossed over his chest was not his attire, nor his appearance, but the two blades hanging from his waist.
Sitting on either side of his waist were two nichirin blades attached by a leather strap rather than a sheath, exposing the blade of the weapon to the boy's view, captivating him in the design. The handles were a deep black with a crimson ribbon crossing over in a spiral across the handles, while the hilt of the blades bore the face of a lion baring its fangs with an intimidating snarl across its mouth. The blades themselves were mystifying and gorgeous to look at, being a shimmering metallic black with a crimson lightning design highly resemblant of Zenitsu's sword tracing itself from the base of the blade towards the tip.
Those blades.....they're so beautiful.....
Tanjiro's eyes followed up from the tip of the blade right to the hilt, when something struck his mind and his eyes shot open.
W-Wait.....are those what I think they are?
His guess was proven correct as he focused in on the hilt of the blade, and noticed a metallic ring poking out from within the mouth of the lion on the hilt, and connected to the ring was a black chain. Tanjiro's eyes followed the length of the chain as it hung loosely on another leather strap on the man's waist, and gasped in surprise when he mentally measured the length of the chains.
Those hoops on his waist....is that all chain....? That must have to be at least 10 metres of solid metal, and he just carries that on both legs all the time?
W-Who.....who is this man? Tanjiro exclaimed to himself in disbelief,
Who is this guy, and why do they call him the Corps Demon?