Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Preposterous! Forget about it! There’s no way I’m doing it!”

 The further Nezuko walked along the dusty road, the closer she got to the source of the incessive mumbling and complaining, which permeated the otherwise tranquil midday countryside.

“Go away you pest! Don’t touch me, you hear?” The sound continued.

 She wouldn’t have thought much of it, were it not for the nagging familiarity the voice had. Yet, no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t pinpoint where she had heard it. It was a masculine, yet still fairly young voice, sounding very uptight and couth, despite the irritated tone…

 Her thoughts were dispersed by the sudden fluttering of feathered wings and frantic cooing.

“Kuu! Kuu! Kuu!”

 Suddenly, a pigeon flew towards her and seemingly begged for her attention. Seeing the poor bird in distress, Nezuko lent a hand for the bird to perch on as she tried to calm it down.

“Yes? Are you okay?”

 In response, the pigeon resumed its calls, moving its wings up and down frantically and motioning its head towards the nagging figure, which now was in full view.

 Further along the path was a boy with the same Demon Slayer uniform as her, with a green haori with arrow-like patterns adorned over it. His hair was very short, and his eyes were squinted, almost seeming closed, hiding his irises behind sharp lashes. Yet, despite this, she knew his eyes were a striking combination of emerald green and marigold orange, as Nezuko finally remembered who the boy was.

 It was one of the graduates from her Final Selection. More specifically, it was the boy who received a pigeon rather than a crow as his Kasugai.

 Before she could analyze the boy further, the pigeon in her hand, most certainly the slayer’s aforementioned Kasugai bird, frantically pleaded with Nezuko, clearly needing help with his assigned owner.

 So, after carefully listening to the dove, Nezuko understood the situation.

“Alright! Let me try and help!”

 The bird let out a relieved coo as Nezuko approached the slayer.

“Heya! What seems to be the problem? You are making your pigeon sad!” She announced to her fellow swordsmen.

“Huh??” The boy turned to her, at first confused, before examining her with a quick look. “Hey! It’s that crazy girl from the Final Selection!”

“Crazy?” Now it was her turn to be confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“You get away from me! I was there when you kicked that guy in the crotch! I don’t want anything to do with you!” He proclaimed, pointing at her with a preemptive look.

“You’re leaving out some important context!!” She retorted.

 When he said it like that, she could see where he was coming from, but Nezuko only kicked rude bullies.

“I don't want to hear it! Just leave me alone, and take that flying rat with you.”

“Hey! That’s no way to treat a cute bird!”

“What are you on about??” He responded completely dumbfounded. “It’s a stupid pigeon! A filthy flying pest who keeps bothering me!”

“Well, this “flying pest” is your Kasugai! He’s just trying to get you to your next mission! You’re the one who keeps swatting him away, refusing to go to your jobs and berates the poor thing despite him being a clean little bird!”

“And how would you know all of that??”

“He told me!” Nezuko pointed to the pigeon in question, now perched at her shoulder.

“AND YOU UNDERSTAND IT?!?”

“Look, I think we got on the wrong foot here…” Nezuko sighed before collecting herself. “I am Nezuko Kamado!”

“Fine, I am Yahaba Hitomi.” He introduced himself. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m getting out of here and away from this feathered thing.”

“But… Aren’t you a demon slayer?” She pointed out the obvious. “Why are you ignoring your call?”

 At that, the boy, Yahaba, creased his brow in irritation as a vein popped in his forehead.

“LISTEN!” He exclaimed. “I didn’t WANT to be a demon slayer, putting my neck out to fight filthy monsters, but my FATHER insisted on training me, because I was being too “neurotic” and he saw “potential” in me or whatever!”

“So, day after day, he forced me into this STUPID training! It was dreadfully AWFUL!” He continued his rant. “Then, he sent me to the Final Selection, probably wanting me to DIE, but I survived to SPITE him! Now he KICKED me OUT to have me pursue this stupid profession!!”

“I HATE it! Hate it! Hate it! Now I could die at any time by the hands of some filthy, disgusting, repulsive demon with their dirty paws and nasty teeth!! GRRRAAHHHH I can’t stand it!!”

 He began stomping his foot in anger.

“Are… Are you okay?” Was all Nezuko could ask, putting a hand on his shoulder in hopes of calming his tantrum.

 He took a deep breath before pinching the bridge of his nose. “…I guess.”

 Despite his claims, Nezuko could still see Yahaba tapping his foot in agitation. So, after pondering for a bit, she turned to him once more.

“Want to talk about it?”

…

 The two began walking down the empty rural fields as Yahaba went over his situation. Thankfully, as he shared his frustrations, the fastidious boy calmed considerably. It helped that the day was very pleasant, with the clear blue sky being relatively unobstructed, with the air now being quiet without the previous heated yelling.

 Nezuko came to learn that Yahaba had always been a nervous guy, so he liked to prepare thoroughly for things before doing them (perhaps a bit too much at times). So, in hopes of helping his son find something to clear his mind and let out his tense energy, Yahaba’s father, a former demon slayer, began teaching him Wind Breathing, one of the five fundamental breathing styles.

 Despite his protests, the boy began the regime, and, surprisingly, showed potential, so his dad coerced him to keep training until he was ready for the Final Selection, in hopes of having a “worthy pupil”.

 By what Nezuko understood, it wasn’t that Yahaba was afraid of Demon Slaying, but more that he detested the spontaneous and impulsive nature of it. He kept emphasizing how “every battle should be won before it was ever fought”, so he liked to plan everything beforehand. Yet, the world pushed him to act before he felt fully prepared, making him just more stressed.

 He blamed his father for pushing this hasty lifestyle on him, to make his son looser and less uptight.

 In fact, Yahaba kept complaining about his father quite a lot, but no matter how much he went over how he despised his carelessness, Nezuko always caught a hint of warmness in his voice whenever he mentioned the man.

“…So yeah, it’s all his fault! When I come back with a pile of money, I’ll be the one calling the shots comfortably at home!” Yahaba finished his latest rant with a huff.

 Nezuko smiled, but just before she went to comment on his remark, her stomach gave a short but audible growl. Her face turned red in embarrassment as Yahaba eyed her from the side.

“You hungry? Well, I guess we have been walking and talking for quite a while…”

 She gave a small faint laugh as she went over her pockets for any rations before feeling a bit of dread, as, no matter where she checked, she couldn’t feel any portion of food... Had she eaten everything on the way here already?

 It was past noon, but she swore she had a few snacks packed in! How could she have forgotten about it? She almost felt tempted to open Tanjiro’s box to check if she had left it there, but there’s no way that would be the case…

“… You don’t have any food?” Yahaba asked inquisitively.

“I- I swear I had it… I must have misremembered how much I packed…”

 Gods, she was making a total fool of herself. What sort of traveling swordsmen forgets to pack enough food!

“Here, you can have it.”

 Before she could further berate herself, Yahaba handed to her an Onigiri of his own.

“Really?” She looked at him.

“Yeah, I always make sure to stock up as much as I can.” He added. “Just don’t be so careless next time!”

 She took the snack, giving a smile of earnest gratitude. “Thank you!”

 Looks like being overly cautious had its perks.

 The two kept walking, with Nezuko finishing the treat before continuing their conversation.

“I know what you mean by wanting to always be best prepared for the future, but you should be more respectful to your bird.”

“About that... Can you really understand that thing?”

“Well, yeah! I don’t know how to explain it, but I can pick up on what their chirps mean based on the intonations made…”

“What? That makes no sense.” Yahaba scuffed. “Even if you could understand birds, there’s no way they would have anything meaningful to say-”

“Caw! Caw! Start Running! Nezuko, Yahaba, start running! Join together for this next task!” The signature squawking of her Kasugai crow interrupted their conversation from above, as the black bird flew in circles. “Come on! Nezuko, Yahaba! Start Running!”

“WAIT WHAT!? THEY REALLY CAN TALK?!?!?!?” Yahaba yelled as they began tracking forward.

…

  As they followed her crow, Nezuko and Yahaba found themselves entering a nearby forest. While making their trail, the young girl noticed how her torso still would often sting from the injuries from her time at Lady Amane’s place. Despite the demoness' best medical care, it had only been a couple of days since her intense fight with those two peculiar demons, so the wounds would still strain at times. She tried to not dwell on it as she marched forward.

 Yahaba, on the other hand…

“Ugh, this is why I hate forests, everything is so muddy and moldy!” He meticulously watched his every step, avoiding any particularly dirty terrain, all while complaining the whole way.

 However, he stopped for a moment before directing himself at Nezuko. “Hey… Is that a house over there?”

 Nezuko looked at him, then she tried to look at his general field of view, yet no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t see anything pass the trees. “What do you mean?”

“Over there, do you see it?” He pointed forwards, but once more the pink haori girl failed to identify anything.

 What she did notice, however, was a subtle sound coming from the same direction.

“No… But I can hear something…”

 It was a faint, and not very consistent, sound echoing through the forest. A percussive stinger sound that was nothing like the rest of the forest noises…

“…Something like… Drums?”

“Huh? I don’t hear anything…” Now Yahaba voiced his puzzlement.

 Lo and behold, as the duo walked closer to where they sensed something amiss, they found a large building in the middle of the forest. It didn’t seem as tall or modern as the ones Nezuko found in the Asakusa district, but it was far larger than anything from her old village.

 Despite the surrounding vegetation being clearly overgrown, the property itself seemed in pretty good condition to have been abandoned.

“A mansion in the middle of the woods, with no clear path leading to it…?” Yahaba commented skeptically.

“I hadn’t even noticed that! He really has an eye for detail. ” Nezuko made a mental note. No pavement or crossroad led here; it was all surrounded by the woods.

 Yet, as she analyzed the surroundings, Nezuko spotted something.

 Just shy from where she and Yahaba stood, two kids hid behind some vegetation. When she locked eyes with them, they flinched.

“Great, children…” Yahaba commented with what appeared to be sarcasm.

“Hey, are you two alright?” Nezuko slowly approached them.

 They backed away slowly, the older of the two, a boy, shielding the younger girl. They looked mortified.

 The two looked to be about the same ages as Shigeru and Hanako had been, and it pained her heart. So, as a big sister, Nezuko would do her best to comfort the two.

“It’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you.” She lowered herself to one knee, still maintaining a safe distance from them. “Look, I have a cute little friend with me!”

 Slowly extending her hand, Nezuko let Yahaba’s pigeon, who had been perching on Tanjiro’s box, into the palm of her hand, and, as if on cue, the bird began softly cooing.

“See? He’s pretty cute!” She said with the same smooth warm tone she gave to her younger siblings when they awoke from a nightmare.

 Slowly but surely, the two let their guards down, panicked looks making way for silent tears as they both fell to their knees.

“I’m here to help, alright? So, if you can, could you tell me what’s wrong? Is this your house?”

“N-No… No, it’s not.” The boy spoke up, as the girl clutched him tighter. “T-There’s… There’s a monster! There’s a monster in that house!”

“Our older brother got taken away… When we were walking at night, a monster we’d never seen before appeared and took him.” He elaborated. “He didn’t even look at us, he just wanted our brother!”

“And so, they are inside this house right now?”

 The boy nodded.

“And you two followed them both here?” Nezuko continued.

“W-We followed the traces of his blood...” The boy began retelling through tears, as his sister followed suit. “H-he’s wounded!”

 Nezuko felt her hand twitch. An older brother injured by a demon…

“Don’t worry.” She said with a serious and definitive tone. “We will defeat this monster and rescue your brother!”

“R-Really? You promise?” The girl finally spoke up.

“Yes! We’ll do our best!” Nezuko stood up, letting the pigeon on her hand fly into a nearby branch.

“We? I never agreed to anything.” Yahaba intervened, to which Nezuko shot him a glare. “Uh, I mean, yeah, sure.” He corrected.

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*

 There it was again, that ominous percussive noise. This time much louder and clearer.

*Bam* Bam* *Bam*

“Wait, are those the drums you were talking about earlier?” Yahaba noted.

 The sounds began echoing louder and more frantic, until, from one of the windows atop the mansion, something came flying out.

 A person.

 The world seemed to slow down as the body fell from the second floor and plunged to the ground below, making a sudden gut-wrenching sound of broken bones and splattered blood.

“Don’t look!” Nezuko shouted as she shielded the kids, who shrieked in response.

“GRAH!” Yahaba yelped, though he seemed more concerned about the mess made then with the potential corpse.

 Without further ado, Nezuko rushed to the fallen body. “Are you alright?!”

 “Speak to me!” She leaned closer and picked up the bloodied young man. “Stay with me!”

 However, there was no denying, whatever injuries he had suffered were fatal.

“…I… I got out.” He whispered. “…It hurts… I… It hurts… Am… Am I dying?”

 Nezuko's face contorted into a disheartened panicked look. This would be her first time witnessing someone dying right before her eyes. Even after everything, this world still showed new haunting experiences. his whole body was sullied in red, his voice had been hoarse and strained, and his fractures were undoubtedly piercing his insides… It was painful…

 Without knowing what to say, she hugged the dying man, hopefully giving him some warmth as his eyes went cold. At least it was over.

 Had she gotten here sooner… Perhaps things could have been different…

“Nezuko… Is that these kids’…”

  She turned to Yahaba, who had a disgusted look on his face, then to the two children, both trembling and holding each other tightly.

“N-No! That- That’s not him!” The boy announced through clattering teeth. “O-our brother’s wearing an orange kimono…”

 Getting back up, Nezuko gave a prayer to the fallen man, promising to bury and asking for forgiveness.

“Yahaba, Let’s go!”

 The green haori slayer looked her up and down, taking note of her now bloodied hands and uniform.

“Umm… Maybe we should formulate a plan before rushing in?” He offered.

“I know where you are coming from, but there’s a child in danger! We need to act now!” Nezuko insisted.

“Are you out of your mind? There’s no way I’m heading inside this place only to get covered in blood!!”

“Yahaba…” 

 It was time for one of her patented big sister techniques: The “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” face.

She understood Yahaba’s precaution, but they had nothing to work with here in the open, while the demon held a child in their clutches. They could plan something inside, but now was the time to act.

“Hey! What’s with the somber look all of a sudden?”

“If you want to stay, then fine. I’ll head in alone, alright?” She spoke in a mellow voice.

“You are making me sound like the bad guy in this situation!”

“Really, I don’t want to force you to.”

“I just… I don’t… Ugh, okay fine, we can discuss it inside, but no more preemptive moves, alright??”

Beaming him a supportive smile, Nezuko unstrapped the box she was carrying and put it next to the kids.

“In case of an emergency, I’m leaving this box with you two, okay?” She looked at them seriously before continuing. “It will protect you both if something is to happen.”

 Tanjiro could not go out in the sun, but she judged the forest canopy should provide enough protection, at least in an emergency situation. Besides, if anyone knew how to take care of younger siblings, it was Tanjiro…

“We’ll be going now.”

 She turned once more to Yahaba, who looked at her curiously, no doubt due to the emphasis she put on the odd box she carried. She knew other slayers would not be welcoming of Tanjiro, so she would refrain from bringing him up for now. Thankfully, Yahaba just gazed at the box for a bit before moving on.

 And so, the demon slayer duo made their way inside the mysterious manor.

…

 Entering through the main door, Nezuko and Yahaba carefully walked through the empty narrow hallway leading further in.

 The manor was faintly illuminated by a ceiling lantern, which would periodically flicker, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the enigmatic mansion.

 From behind her, Nezuko heard Yahaba mumbling about how dusty the place appeared.

“So, we are inside now, let’s think this through.” He went on. “I think the best course of action is to lay down our abilities to form a strategy moving forward.”

“Alright, sounds good to me.” Nezuko responded. “But I should warn you, I sprained my leg and fractured a few ribs in a previous battle, I’m not fully healed yet so I think we should keep that in mind…”

 As she shared her condition, Yahaba’s face began twitching, a clear whirlwind building up inside him.

“WHAT?! You have broken bones and you are marching on to battle?! How reckless are you?! There’s no way we are going to win now!!” He slashed out at the girl with the pink ribbon. “Are you stupid or something?! You need to be in top condition before a battle! I can’t believe I let you drag me into this!”

 He began stomping the ground with his foot in frustration once more.

“Yahaba, It’s okay!” Nezuko tried to reassure him. “Just calm down, will you? It’s not that bad…”

“Not that bad?? Don’t you sugarcoat it! Now we need to plan extra carefully!”

“It’s fine Yahaba, you’re-”

 But before she could finish her sentence, Nezuko heard the front door open and the pitter-patter of tiny feet make their way towards them.

“Hey! You shouldn’t be here!” She warned the two approaching figures

 It was the children.

“We-we’re sorry! But there was weird scratching coming from the box!”

“Ah.” Nezuko understood. “B-but still, you can’t leave it behind! What’s inside that box is more important than my own life!”

 As she spoke, Yahaba attentively stopped his tantrum, he looked like he was about to say something until the ground beneath them started to shake and the walls began rumbling. With the sudden unstable footing, the group began losing balance, with Nezuko and the older kid tripping to one room, while Yahaba and the little girl fell in the corridor they had been in.

“What the-”

 However, just before Nezuko could register Yahaba’s sound of concern, the same drum sound reverberated through the mansion and, in an instant, the room Nezuko and the boy stood had been completely changed.

…

Chapter Text

 With a drum beat the room changed once more. And again. And again, and again and again. It kept going until the rhythm stopped and their surroundings were completely different.

 No longer could they see the hallway which had led them here. Instead, the female slayer and the young boy were in a spacious room lit by orange paper lanterns hanging in the ceiling. The lodgings were mostly empty, say for a few wooden cabinets and dressers.

“The room changed… No… Have we been moved by the beat of the drum?”

 The boy began frantically looking around, his face filled with panic. “S-Sis? Sis!!”

 Nezuko reached for him and gently held his shoulders.

 “Hey, it’s okay! It’s okay.” She assured the boy. “I’m sorry for separating you from your sister. But I’ll protect you no matter what!” She smiled as she locked her tender eyes with his. “And you can bet Yahaba will take care of your sister too, alright?”

 He looked at her with uncertainty, but eventually gave in to her soft tone, trying to hold back his tears.

“You are very brave!” She complimented him. “What’s your name?”

“Shoichi.”

“Is that so, Shoichi? What a fine name-”

 Nezuko halted as her ears picked up on something making their way into the room. It was heavy steps which grew more thunderous the closer they approached.

 It wasn’t long until a tall figure appeared in the doorway.

 They were mostly enveloped in the shadows of the dimly lit mansion, but their tall and lanky build was clear. They were so tall that they wouldn’t have fit the door frame were it not for their slouched posture. Still, the hints of defined musculature she could gleam foretold their physical prowess as odd instruments protruded from his shoulders, hips and abdomen. However, despite this, it was their eyes that gave away their inhuman nature, with their blank amber-orange hue.

 No doubt, it was a demon.

…

“Great! Just what I needed!”

 Back at the entrance hallway, Yahaba screamed his frustrations. “Nezuko, you idiot! I told you we should have stayed back and prepared!!”

 As he pitched his brow in frustration, he turned to the little girl beside him, who flinched under his glare. She was shaking, looking at the now empty room where her brother had been, before sobbing uncontrollably.

“Hey! Don’t you cry now! Last thing I need is for you to attract more trouble than we already have!”

 His harsh tone just made her cry harder, only managing to make out the words “Sorry!” and “Shoichi!” (Which Yahaba presumed to be her brother’s name) between tears.

“Oh, I mean, please don’t cry, alright? It’s okay, it’s okay…” The slayer tried to comfort the girl, but he had no idea how to deal with children. “Look, let’s go outside! We’ll wait there while Nezuko protects your brother and I figure some way to find them both, got it?”

 It seemed to be of no use, as the little girl only kept sobbing, now clutching Yahaba’s leg. Children really were inflexible.

“I-I don’t want to lose my brothers! I don’t want to lose them!” Was all she answered with.

“Very touching of you, but staying here won’t do us any good! I’m taking you outside and I’m formulating a better strategy!”

 Without further debate, Yahaba just moved with the girl still firmly grasping at his leg to the door they had entered through.

“This is a grown-up issue, so you stay out while I think of something!”

 He opened the front door, but rather than the blue sky and forested backdrop, all Yahaba was met with was another dusty room.

“Eh?”

 Yahaba had very keen eyesight, to the point he could use it to memorize objects and locations with just one good glance. And if there was something he always made sure to take note of was where exits were.

 Could he have been mistaken? Had he been careless?

“No! No way! It must have been all that ruckus you all caused earlier, the exit must be somewhere around here…”

 So, he opened another door, then another and another. All of them led to more rooms further in the mansion!

“You have got to be kidding me!!” Yahaba complained.

 He made to open one final door in this ridiculous maze, but, just as he began doing so, he swore he heard… Laughter?

 The door fully slid open, revealing another room, but, this time, someone was on the other side, with their back towards the now opened door.

 Yahaba tried to analyze whatever he was looking at, but for once he almost didn’t believe his eyes.

 Before him, in the dim quarters, was a person. They were almost entirely shirtless, say for a single piece of fabric enveloping their chest, showing off an impressive physique, with well-toned arms and torso. Their lower side, on the contrary, was fully covered by a myriad of layers, yet, on closer inspection, they all seemed to be from a single draping orange kimono which covered their hips and legs.

 Slowly, the person turned to look at the new company, allowing Yahaba to inspect their face. They had dark, spiky hair, which went down to their neck and ended in orange tips, as a pair of long silver earrings peered from it. Their eyes were a merry golden yellow, framed by wild yet still delicate lashes, while their mouth formed a huge grin, showing some prominent canines.

 He looked at the figure for what felt like minutes, completely flabbergasted at what he was looking at, until they began giggling and laughing. It began subtle and soft, clearly feminine, until escalating to what could only be described as hysterical cackling.

“hehehe… HAHAHA! YOU FOUND ME!” The girl announced, continuing to laugh maniacally.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!!” Yahaba shrieked.

 Before he could get his bearings, the newcomer pounced towards him, slapping his chest, before bouncing to the walls like a rubber ball. “TAG! You're it!! Hahahaha!!”

 The maniac then ran further in the mansion, practically stomping over any doors or walls in her way, all while saying something along the lines of “oh what fun this is!!” over and over again.

 Yahaba took a moment to try to process what had happened, before finally getting up and looking at the little girl beside him, who looked just as baffled as he.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!”

…

 Nezuko and Shoichi silently faced the tall slender demon, until the monster finally spoke up.

“What’s up with everyone barging into my house? Can’t a guy eat in peace?” The demon nonchalantly commented, his voice weirdly calm and laxed.

“Shoichi, try not to make any noise.” Nezuko whispered to the boy. “Don’t go into the corridor, since we could get transported again. Back away and hide behind the shelves.”

 Without hesitation, Shoichi did as he was told.

 At that, the demon gave a long sigh.

“Can we not do this right now? I already have to deal with some other bothersome intruders trying to call dibs on my prey!” He complained. “I just don’t get it; this is my place! Talk about frustrating! I caught it, so I get to eat it…”

“…They’ll pay. You’ll all pay.”

 Nezuko unsheathed her blade, fully adorning a battle stance.

“I’m a Mizunoto ranked demon slayer, Nezuko Kamado!” She announced. “I am here to slay you!”

“Listen, I got that marechi child fair and square, got it?” The tall demon once more dismissed it in his odd casual tone.

 With no more stalling, Nezuko leaped at her opponent and aimed her sword at his neck. She got in range and prepared to slash, but before she could begin her swing, the demon hit one of the drums in his body, one embedded on his right shoulder.

 The sound echoed and, astoundingly, the whole room rotated!

 The ground became a wall, as Nezuko stood at what had been the wall at her left! Shoichi grunted as he fell into the wall-turned-floor and Nezuko looked at the surroundings trying to assess what had happened.

“The entire room flipped! That must be his Blood Demon Art, the whole mansion is his domain!”

 It was a surreal power, similarly to that diving demon she met in her first official mission. But before she had time to get back up and fight, Nezuko heard hurried footsteps closing in on them. They were unrestrained and wild, not bothering to conceal their presence, which combined with the different pitch most demon’s strides gave off, told her this was something else entirely.

 But one more thing caught her attention. The running sounds were accompanied by another noise, one which began drowning out everything else… Laughter.

 The joyful chuckling continued to build up until something busted out of the shogi doors like a cannonball!

“hehehehe… hahahaHAHAHA! FOUND YOU! Hahahaha! Oh, what fun this is! What fun!”

 The seemingly unstoppable force finally bounced off the ground and struck a landing pose with two katanas in each hand.

“Wh-Who’s that!?” Is all Nezuko could think.

  Completely taking center stage in the room now was a shirtless girl, with only a black bandeau wrapping her chest, showing off her defined arms and abdomen. In her waist appeared to be an undone kimono, which flowed down and covered most of her legs; However, she did appear to be wearing the same black Hakama pants as Nezuko, which combined with her dual Nichirin Blades, told she was probably a slayer.

“All right, big guy! Let’s play! First one to die loses, how about it?! Hahaha!” The girl announced.

“The hell? you again? I don’t have time for whatever you are doing.” The demon responded.

“Hahaha! Come on, bring it in!!” She taunted.

 In the instant, the girl jumped towards the demon, who once more sighed and hit the drum at his shoulder, flipping the entire room.

 Shoichi fell on his back, giving a sharp grunt.

“Shoichi! Hold on to the furniture-!” Nezuko advised. Unlike the tree humans, the cabinets and drawers did not shift with the room rotations, not even the lamps seemed to be affected by gravity.

 At that, something jumped off Nezuko, knocking her down. It was the shirtless girl, who once more leapt at the demon without any hesitation.

“H-Hey! This demon has a special power! Stop attacking so recklessly!” Nezuko warned, to which the other slayer just giggled maniacally in response.

“Are you still going to keep doing that? Are you that stupid?” The demon commented, now hitting the drum at his left hip twice.

 Now the chamber rotated accordingly, having all of them fall to the hard floor once more.

 Nezuko tried her best to properly land, but Shoichi still was having trouble, falling on his stomach. The crazy dual-wielding girl bounced around and landed foot first on the boy, who now gasped for air.

“HAhahahaha!! How fun this is! Super fun! The room keeps spinning!! Hahaha! Do it again!”

 Enraged, Nezuko pushed the brash girl away from Shoichi. “Don’t stomp on him!”

“Hey! What gives?!”

 Nezuko picked the boy up. “What do you think you’re doing?? Stepping on a child like that!?”

“You’re funny! Hahaha! Very funny!” The girl continued to snicker. “That’s the first time another girl sent me flying like this!! Haha!”

 Without warning, she tried to attack Nezuko, who luckily avoided her advance, with Shoichi still in her arms. “Hey!!” She shouted back. “Isn’t this girl a demon slayer too? Why is she attacking me?”

“Aww, afraid? Come on, let’s play!!” The girl taunted. “Unlike you, I got two swords, that means I’m twice as good!!”

“What kind of logic is that?! Look, there’s a demon right there!!” Nezuko pointed out.

“And?” The hysterical girl responded, attacking once more.

“Can you two kill each other somewhere else? Preferably not my damn house?” The demon spoke, clearly annoyed. “Get out and die.”

 He hit the drum protruding from his stomach, causing a huge gust of wind to slice the room, cutting the space between Nezuko and the other slayer as they leapt away from it.

 Whatever that was, it had cut the wooden floor like paper at the same speed as the tambors playing, like the claws of a ferocious beast.

 The demon continued to strike his middle drum, sending his attacks towards the shirtless girl, before hitting his other instruments.

 The right shoulder caused the room to move to the right, the left shoulder made it spin to the left. When he hit the ones at his hips, the chamber moved forwards or backwards. It seemed each instrument was responsible for controlling a directional axis.

 During the many revolutions, the crazy girl was sent crashing down one of the shogi doors.

“You pestering brats-”

 But then, without the demon doing anything, the rooms changed once more as the echoing sound of a distant Tsuzumi drum played. But how? The demon had not done anything… Could there be another demon here?

 Shoichi shook as he hugged Nezuko, before also looking at their new surroundings…

“It’s going to be okay.” Nezuko, reassured “Let’s just move out of here…”

 Making her way at the front, Nezuko slid a door open only to be met with a corpse at the end of one of the corridors. “ Another one? ”

“Is everything alright?” The young boy worriedly asked.

“Umm… Yeah! There are no demons, just… uh, follow me over here.” She tried her best to not show nervousness as they walked down another hallway, until Nezuko heard something…

“Crying!”

 She looked back at Shoichi and motioned for him to stay quiet as she honed in her ears. Undoubtedly there was someone crying in the next room, so she prepared herself and moved in.

…

Chapter Text

 Yahaba slowly moved down the dim dusty hallways of the maze-like manor. He usually took careful steps whenever he was in a treacherous situation, but now there was something else causing his movements to be more sluggish than usual…

“Will you let go of me already? You are hindering my movements!!”

 Hugging his leg was Teruko, the little girl he was stuck with. Ever since they got separated from Nezuko and her brother, the girl in the pink kimono would not leave his side, which was understandable, but she would also cling to him like a leech!

“Yeek!!” She gave a small yelp at his sudden outburst, before more tears threatened to spill.

Yahaba sighed. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” He clarified. “I’m just saying that if you keep pulling my leg, I won’t be able to properly defend us, right? I won’t leave you behind or anything…”

“Y-You promise?” She looked up at him with big, wet, amber colored eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, now would you please-”

 But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes picked up on some movement at the opposite end of the hall, and it wasn’t long until Teruko noticed it too, as something crawled from the floor.

“Oh? More children?” A sickly slimy voice spoke up. “Oh, and they look so tasty too!”

 The nastiest demons Yahaba had ever laid eyes upon crawled out. It was a long, gray skin demon who looked more like a snake than a man, with bulging eyes and a long tongue dripping from its mouth. Even the way it moved around on the floor was reminiscent of a slithering serpent. It was repulsive.

“ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!!” Yahaba screamed at the top of his lungs. “I told you we needed to get out of here!!!”

 Every instinct in his body told him to just run away to a safer location. Given his aptitude in sprinting, it would be something he was confident in doing, but once more little hands grabbed his leg, dripping wet tears in his uniform … right, Teruko! She was undoubtedly slower than him, so he couldn’t just run away without her, but he had no plan of attack to deal with the monster at the moment!

 So, with one swoop, he picked her up and ran as fast as he could, away from that nasty demon, as he carried the girl in his arms.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!! Why does this always happen to me!!” Yahaba complained. “You get away from us you disgusting thing! go rot in hell!!”

“Come on, I just want a little lick!!” The squirming monster responded, shooting out his tongue at the slayer carrying the girl.

 Yahaba swiftly dodged it, making the extended organ slice a nearby vase in two

“Hell no! You nasty, horrid, decrepit thing!!” Just imagining having that drooling tongue touch him made Yahaba want to vomit, so he dodged the subsequent attacks with all he could, causing him to barge into an empty chamber.

 Looking around for a way out, he found the room had no more exits! The only door was the one they came in from, but the hideous tongue demon would soon block the doorway! They were cornered!

“Damn it all!”

“Listen!” He put Teruko down and directed instructions at her. “I’ll hold that monster here and you run away as fast as you can!”

 But she refused to listen, once more clutching him in complete fear. Why were children so inflexible!!

“Just go! Let go of me and save yourself!!”

“NO! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”

“Graaahhhh!!! I know you are afraid and alone, but you can’t let that overtake you! Sometimes you just need to act first and think later!!” Yahaba scolded the crying child in his head. “I don’t know if I can protect the both of us, especially without being fully prepared for this!!”

 But now it was too late. The demon made its way and blocked the doorway, giving a sick laugh as it slithered in all fours towards the slayer and the little girl, before threatening the two.

“I’ll guzzle your brains through your ears and scoop it with my tongue!”

 At that, Yahaba snapped.

 He was going to die by the hands of some filthy, disgusting, repulsive demon with their dirty paws and nasty teeth…

 If there was no way out, then he might as well fight dirty too.

“You might want to look away for a bit.” He warned Teruko with a deadly serious tone.

 He fully opened one of his eyes, analyzing the vile demon before him. He saw all the nasty imperfections in its face, the way its muscles moved, and even the malice behind its eyes.

 Yahaba took a deep breath, filling his lungs, clearing his mind, as he secured the wilt of his sword.

“Wind Breathing…”

The demon sprung its tongue at Yahaba, but before it could get any closer, the tip of the organ was cut, causing blood to splatter all over the floor.

“First form…”

 The demon recoiled, unsure of what had happened.

“Dust Whirlwind Cutter!”

 Like a hurricane, a strong gust of wind cut through the air and absolutely decimated everything in its path. Blood flew in all directions by the wild tornado, with the air itself seeming to slash out against the monster.

 The walls shook as limbs flew, smearing blood almost everywhere, until the head of the demon also was seen streaking across the air, with the body of the beast decapitated and dismembered.

 Teruko watched with a mixture of horror and awe as Yahaba, now breathing strongly, turned to the demonic body, then at her, with his face and uniform somehow untainted by the bloody mess…

“…Good riddance…”

…

 Things just kept getting more fun!

 It had been a day or so of this game of hide-and-seek, and Susamaru was thrilled. Never had any of her previous game sessions lasted this long, with others always losing or getting tired long before her eagerness completely dissipated. Demons really were fun!

 Susamaru continuously laughed as she sprinted through the never-ending corridors of this fun house, completely enthralled by her circumstance. Ever since joining this demon slaying gig, she’s been having way more fun than before, especially because she could now be as rough as she wanted!

 She came to learn that demons loved to cheat, but that was alright with her, since all it meant was that she wouldn’t play fair either. Back at the orphanage, she developed her super cool way of breathing, allowing her to be stronger, faster, and overall better than others in all physical sports. But then, after losing nonstop to her, everyone soon began complaining about her awesome ability, forcing her to stoop back down to their level. But demons were not people, so she could play however she wanted.

“Hahaha! Oh, how fun this is! Hahaha!”

 As she turned a corner, a huge hand attempted to grab her, but Susamaru simply jumped back with a flashy somersault.

“Hehe, nice try!” She taunted her new opponent.

“So, you dodged it. All that means is that you’re an awfully lively one! Your flesh will be worth gouging out!”

A huge obese demon walked out. Their skin was pale green, with areas around his big lipped mouth and exposed chest being covered in blood, probably from their messy eating. Despite their fat appearance, like a sumo wrestler, their arms showed clear signs of muscles, as a firm grip to the wall beside them being enough to cause the structure to cave and crack.

“You talk a lot, big guy, but the bigger they are, the higher they fall!”

  taking in a deep breath, she let the flowing air course through her muscles as she prepared her signature assault.

“Playful Style…”

 She dashed towards the demon.

“You’ve got guts to charge at me head on like that-” The demon mocked, readying to grab Susamaru. But just as he finished his sentence, the girl got in range and sliced his forearms clean off.

“Third Form! Got You! Hahahaha!”

 Like a pair of scissors, Susamaru cut through the demon’s thick neck with her blades, before kicking its headless overweight body down, finally jumping over her fallen opponent without a care.

“Oh, what fun! What fun this is!”

…

 The steady powerful stomps of his feet echoed through the mansion as he once more was forced to go look around for his damn food again. It was getting exponentially more annoying by the second, and Goto's patience had long since run thin.

“That Marechi, I just need a bit of that Marechi…” He mumbled to himself. “They are worth fifty, hell, maybe even a hundred human’s worth…”

 He repeated his objective, trying to keep in mind the reason he was even bothering with it in the first place.

“I just gotta eat a bit more. Just a bit more to get back where I was… Back to his graces...”

 Yes, this whole infuriating ordeal would all prove to be worth it. He felt the scar in his left eye, the same place where that man had given him his reward and his punishment. The rank he earned once and would gain again.

“I’ll return to my position as one of the Twelve Demon Moons!”

 Yes, Goto was once one of the Kizuki. One of the twelve strongest demons serving under the Demon Patriarch, Kagaya Ubuyashiki! After consuming dozens and dozens of humans, that man had come to reward him with more of his blood, with power, and the title of Lower Rank 6. He still remembered his sweet honeyed voice when he appeared and blessed him, making his eventual return to cast him down all the more bitter.

“ Goto… ” His Master spoke, with a genuine disappointed tone. “ Can’t you eat any more? Is something wrong? ” 

 His voice was warm and passive, but the clear pity it carried was undeniable. Why? Why couldn’t Goto grow stronger? Master had seen potential in him, so why couldn’t he achieve it?

“ No… No, I swear! ”

 But his pleads were of no use to the Progenitor, and his right eye, the one engraved with his title, was slashed.

“ P-Please! ” Goto begged through his pained cries. “ I just need more time, my lord! J-Just a bit! ”

“I understand, my child. But, until you surpass your current limit, I’ll strip you of your title.” The Demon Patriarch tone was calm but absolute.

 It became clear to Goto that his Master, in his boundless mercy, had allowed him to prove himself again. He knew he was not deserving of the rank, yet the Progenitor still would allow him to strive for it.

“I will not fail him again…” Goto reiterated. “He saw my potential, he shared with me his blessed blood. Just drops of it were enough to elevate my powers beyond what I had imagined, I was recognized as one of the Kizuki! I would’ve only grown stronger…”

 Or so he naively believed. He now saw the error in his mentality, he was relying on the master’s graces rather than continuously striving to better himself. He would not commit the same mistake again. He would be recognized…

 Goto would have his talents recognized.

…

“Koyoshi!”

 Shoichi exclaimed, running inside the room and towards the boy with the orange kimono.

 The other boy seemed startled and hesitant, until finally giving in and accepting the embrace of his brother. “Shoichi!”

 After allowing the two siblings to reunite, Nezuko then stepped closer as well with a relieved look.

“W-who’s she?” Koyoshi nervously asked.

“I’m Nezuko Kamado.” She answered. “I’ve come to defeat evil demons.”

 She knelt down to the boy, who was sitting down on the floor. “Are you hurt? You worked very hard by surviving all by yourself.”

 At that, Koyoshi finally allowed himself to burst into tears, with Shoichi at his side trying to comfort him.

 Nezuko allowed him to cry as stress built up before pulling out her ointment. “This should help ease the pain a bit.” She spoke in a tender voice.

 It was clear one of the boy’s legs was injured, with a bloody thorned opening on his pants, so while he calmed down, Nezuko spread the medicine on the injury.

“This ointment was given to me by my master.” Nezuko made idle chatter. “You know what’s funny? He’s always wearing an oni mask!”

“An oni? Really?”

“Yup.” She responded. “He uses it to confuse others on purpose!”

 While retelling some trivia, Nezuko wrapped a piece of cloth to the boy’s leg, tying it firmly, before confirming if he felt better.

“Y-yes…” He answered.

“Then…” She prepared herself. “You think you can tell me what happened here?”

 Koyoshi once more hesitated, before explaining.

“A... A monster kidnapped me. H-He nearly devoured me… But before that, two other d-demons appeared out of nowhere and they began fighting… Fighting to see who would get to e-eat me.”

 He sobbed a bit before continuing. “…And then, the one who took me here, with the drums coming out of him, had one of them be pulled out of his body during the fight. So, when I picked it up and struck it, the whole room changed…”

“A drum demon… So, it was him…” Nezuko thought back to her previous encounter. “Did he mention anything about “marechi” or something similar?”

“Y-Yes! Exactly that!” Koyoshi explained. “He kept calling me that!”

“I see!” Thankfully that was something Master Ryokuma taught her. “That means you have a rare blood, which makes you desirable to demons, since it means you are almost ten times as nutritious to them…”

 She looked back at the boys only to see their faces pale at her. It seemed she forgot how morbid this particular fact was…

 But before she could console the two, her ears picked on that same particular stomping.

 The drum demon was approaching.

“I need to leave this room for now” She notified the two brothers, who both were surprised by her shift in demeanor.

“Keep calm, It’s alright.” She held Shoichi's shoulders. “I need to take down that demon, but don’t worry.”

“Listen, Shoichi. Right now, your brother is very exhausted, so you need to take care of him.”

“As soon as I leave the room, strike that drum and move the room, just like how Kiyoshi was doing before.” Nezuko continued. “Whenever someone tries to open the door or makes a sound, just beat the drum and escape. I promise I’ll get back to you both. I’ll try to listen to find you, and will say your names before I open the door”

 The two seemed unsure.

“Just hang in there a little longer, you can do it, right?”

 Koyoshi and Shoichi gulped and nodded affirmably.

“Good. You’re both very brave!”

 She rose up. “I’ll be going then”

 Just then, peaking at the corner, the demon’s head came into view. Nezuko dashed forward and instructed them to beat the drum.

…

Chapter Text

“Man, you really are pissing me off now.” The drum demon spoke.

  Without delay, he began hitting his right shoulder drum, twisting the room in the corresponding direction, causing the roof to become the floor. Nezuko swiftly adjusted herself, but the drum demon merely walked into the upside-down room, as if completely unphased by gravity.

 Before she could get accustomed to the weird sight, the demon hit his middle drum, sending sharp slashes at her. Her ears registered the noise and her trained instincts made her duck beneath the attack.

 The barrage continued, with the room flipping and moving according to the instrument played.

“ The tsuzumi on his right shoulder flips the room to the right, and the left moves it to the left! Right leg is a forward spin, and the left leg is a backwards one!” She made sure to memorize it and she was tossed around.

“And the one on his stomach launches a claw attack!” She dodged the aforementioned demon art.

 She tried to move closer, to get in range for an attack, but no matter how she did it, the demon would always hit his drums faster, sending her back to the hard walls. The speed of the rotations and attacks was devastating!

 But worst of all was the pain of her previous injuries stinging at each burst of movement. Despite Lady Amane giving her proper treatment, Nezuko’s wounds were still not fully healed yet, which combined with the constant beating she was receiving only made the pain aggravate more and more.

“ These injuries hurt so bad! I can hardly stand it! ” Nezuko berated herself. “ All this time I've just endured it, even back to my meeting with Yahaba! But I just tanked it because that’s what Tanjiro would have done! ”

“ But Yahaba was right, I’m being too careless, too negligent… ”

 The demon sent another attack from his middle drum.

Her fractured bones ached as she jumped back to dodge the invisible claws just in the nick of time. The thought of how a single flinch could be enough to make the attack land, cutting Nezuko into slices, was dreadful.

“ My injuries are making me weaker… I’m losing my resolve… ” She screamed mentally. “ Think, what would Master Ryokuma say now?!”

“… Water can take any form. It can assimilate the shape of small fish to an entire bear without much disturbance… Water can engulf everything when given the chance… ” Her master’s words echoed in her head.

“ That’s it! Rather than bearing the pain, I’ll compensate for it! I’ll engulf it and drown it! ”

 Yahaba, although obnoxious about it, was right!  All she needed was a plan, a strategy to overcome her weakness.

 So, after the room getting on her feet once more, she looked straight ahead and got a grip of her situation. “I’ve endured things thus far, but it’s time I use my head!”

“…It won’t be now or never that I wield any demon!”

…

 “Nice little motivational motto there, but are you done?” Goto mocked.

 He was really, really, pissed off. These nothing slayers were like mosquitos: pathetically weak parasites, but they ridiculously were annoying!! No matter how much he tried to swat them away, they would fly just out of reach!

 This pink haori girl could not even get close to him, but she kept trying again and again. Yet, no matter how much he tossed her around his kitchen and fractured her bones, she just wouldn’t stop. At first, he just wanted her out of his way, but now? He wanted her dead.

 He rotated and gyrated the room over and over, sending her face first to the floor, hitting her back straight into the walls and her sides at the roof. It was honestly amusing seeing her so feeble despite her little announcement earlier, but every time he would send his claw strike to finish her off, the slayer would dodge it like the mosquito she was.

“Can you just die already? God you’re annoying! I don’t have time for you, I need to eat that marechi NOW!!”

 She got up once more, but he just sent her flying again, this time with a claw strike right after, but yet again she dodged it.

“Hey, you! What’s your name?!” The pink slayer then suddenly yelled.

“Huh?” The hell did she want to know that? Well, she was dead anyway. “Goto.”

“Goto… I’m not handing over Kiyoshi -the marechi- to you! You got that! I’m not giving up.”

 This bitch.

 Was that all? She just wanted to taunt him? Show how annoying she was? To say she would keep trying until he gave up? Until he failed? Like he did before with Lord Kagaya? Like he failed with his cooking…

 Wait, how did he fail at his cooking? He didn’t cook, he was a demon, he couldn’t even eat cooked food…

 So why did he remember someone saying his cooking sucked? Criticizing his passion… Saying he was worthless…

“N-no! You’re wrong! I’ll get that marechi! I’ll reclaim my place among the Twelve Kizuki again!”

He began frantically hitting his drums, not giving a single care about the damage to his kitchen. Sending plates and ingredients flying everywhere.

 Why? Why did he have ingredients he can’t eat?? Why couldn’t he do anything right?

 His food was plain, unappetizing. He knew it, he heard it before, all he cooked was utter garbage! No matter how much he poured his passion he would never impress anyone! He only wasted ingredients… Why did he even bother…

 He was useless, he just stayed inside and cooked, and even then, he failed. He failed at the one thing he did. He was worthless.

 No! No! He would KILL whoever said that! He couldn’t be worthless! Lord Kagaya saw potential in him! He was something!

“JUST SHUT UP! SHUT UP AND DIE!” Goto screamed. “JUST DIE!”

 He struck, hit, beat and drummed each of his tambors as fast as he could, sending the room spiraling uncontrollably as if it was rolling downhill and crashing down. Goto would kill this worthless slayer, he would get his marechi, he would get approval by his lord again!!

 The slayer was flying helplessly as the room wildly moved without rhyme or reason, barely dodging the assault of attacks and flying utensils, before the storm finally calmed and they were sent plummeting down.

 Except that’s not what happened.

 As they fell, the pink haori slayer carefully avoided the mess of tossed ingredients and broken plates, landing gracefully as they avoided the mess on the floor.

 Irritated, Goto began hitting his middle drum and sending cutting attacks, but the slayer avoided those too, except much more fluidly this time.

 It couldn’t be! She seemed much more attentive, more energetic, just overall livelier. Her feet jumped around with the fluidness of rushing water, and her head turned to where his swipes came from as if she could hear them coming! But how?

 He was about to send another assault, but the slayer inhaled a deep breath, as if filling herself to the brim with air, until surely moving along the room in galloping strides. minimizing the landing time and area of each step, like the pitter patter dew in a puddle, she moved like she floated rather than running, ignoring the room orientation changes!

“Water Breathing! Ninth Form!”

 And, in a hypnotic instance, the slayer closed the distance between them;

“Your Blood Demon Art was extraordinary, but this is it!” She remarked. “Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent!”

 And with that, his head was cut from his body.

…

 It was done, she saw the opening thread and sliced it. Decapitating Goto, the drum demon, once and for all. But gods, her insides were hurting like hell now!

 She clenched down and tried to focus her breathing…

“Girl…” But a somber voice broke her thoughts.

 She turned to see the disembodied head of the demon looking at her in shock and confusion

“Tell me…Did you really think my Blood Demon Art was… Extraordinary?”

 He sounded odd, like a pleading man rather than a determined demon…

“…It truly was…” She responded. “But… That is no reason to dismiss all the lives you took.”

“I see…”

 His head and body slowly began disintegrating, which reminded Nezuko of something.

“ A blood sample! ”

 From a small pocket she took a small razor-needle apparatus. She then approached the demon’s fallen body and inserted the instrument, which then began to extract a bit of blood automatically. This was something apparently created by Kiriya, Amane’s son, and it was quite ingenious, if Nezuko cared to admit it.

“Woof!”

 Nezuko turned startled at the source of the sudden noise, only to find a… Dog!

 It was a Shiba Inu dog, with golden brown fur on his dorsal and a snowy white underbelly, with his tail wagging happily at Nezuko. At his back was a leather bag tied to him and a talisman was glued to his collar, all which told of his origin and function. Indeed, it was Taro! Lady Amane’s loyal dog who, with Kiriya’s illusion spells, would follow Nezuko and to collect and deliver the samples she acquired.

“Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?!” Nezuko cooed and patted the dog, putting the sample into the bag Taro carried. “There, all done! Take care.”

 The dog huffed and walked away with a bark, seemingly disappearing into thin air.

“ I was told that under Kiriya’s spell, Taro would be invisible until he barked… I guess it works the other way too! ”

 Now, to find those two…

 But as she went, she heard the demon one last time.

“No… I’m not garbage… To her, I was not that…”

 His voice was subtle, no longer irritated. Rather, it sounded at peace, contempt and… Sad.

 So, she turned and gave off a quick prayer. “Pass safely into the afterlife.

 And with that, she ran to find the kids.

…

“Shoichi! Kiyoshi!”

 She voiced as she moved through the large mansion.

“We’re here!” A little voice shouted back.

 Following where the sound had come from, Nezuko opened the door to find the two brothers in the same room they had been previously.

“Are you both okay?” Nezuko asked, checking on the two.

‘Yes! But the drum, it disappeared! We were panicking until we heard you!”

“I see. Thank goodness you’re both safe.” Nezuko let out a breath she had been holding before caressing both teary eyed boys. “You both did great.”

 She turned her back and motioned for Kiyoshi to get on. “Let’s get out of here.”

…

 They passed through many empty hallways and rooms trying to find the exit. The place was still a labyrinth, but at least it no longer constantly changed, so eventually Nezuko found a door illuminated by the outside light.

 But as she and the two boys moved closer, Nezuko's ears picked up on peculiar sounds coming from the main door, it sounded like grunting and… Laughter!

 She hasted her pace and opened the door, only to find Yahaba on the ground, shielding Tanjiro’s box, as that same shirtless girl from before kicked and taunted him.

“Come on! Man up and fight me! Come on!” She repeated. “What? Afraid of hitting a girl? Ahahaha! Draw your sword and fight me!”

 She bruised Yahaba further, but he stayed put, hugging the box, until he finally noticed Nezuko.

“Nezuko…” His voice was raspy. “I’ve protected it…”

  He gulped before continuing. “Because you said… This was more important than your life.”

…

Chapter Text

 Ever since he was born, Yahaba had been given an extraordinary sense of sight. He could see things from further than anyone else, pick up on details no one else could, as well as memorize things from sight alone.

 But, from his point of view, this gift was both a blessing and a curse. Being aware of every minute detail just meant you could also see every flaw and imperfection, to the point where it became difficult to ignore the impurities things possessed if he kept staring at it long enough.

 As such, he became overly obsessed with tidiness, to an almost detrimental amount. It was particularly the case with things he had control over, so he became incredibly fastidious. They say an artist knew their work's flaws better than anyone, but for Yahaba, that was all he knew…

“Yahaba!”

 But then, a shrill voice broke his absent-minded thoughts. So, he opened his eyes slightly, and found the blue sky above him. When did he make it outside?

“Yahaba! Yahaba!” The young voice continued, so he cocked his head slightly to find a young girl clutching his uniform again. 

“…Teruko?”

“Ah!! You’re alive! Thank goodness!” She said with eyes brimming with tears.

“W-Where are we?”

“When the room changed, we got thrown outside!” She explained. “We fell from the second-floor window!”

“W-WHAT! Are you okay!?”

“Y-yes! You protected me! B-But…”

Yahaba let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good…” But then, he felt something warm and wet pooling in his hair. “Huh?”

 He put a hand there and drew it back, only for it to be stained with blood.

“Ah-”

Then, Teruko burst into tears. “You fell on your head and passed out! Are you going to be okay? I don’t want to lose you!!”

 She hugged him tight, to the point where it almost hurt.

“I’m fine, I’m Fine! Just, Let go of me, will you?!”

 But as he tried prying her away, that foreboding cackling began echoing again, before something busted through the main entrance of the manor.

“Oh, what fun! What fun that was!”

“It’s that crazy girl from before!!” Yahaba yelled.

“Hehehe… Ahahaha! I can feel it! I can sense another demon!”

Wait.

 Yahaba pointed at the girl. “IT’S YOU! I saw you at the Final Selection running around in the distance like a mad man! You’re the fifth survivor!!”

 The girl didn’t seem to mind anything Yahaba was saying, instead honing in on Nezuko’s box left outside.

“Found you! Ahahaha!” She sprinted towards it.

“Stop it!!!” Yahaba managed to get between the wild girl and the box.

“Hey, hey! What do you think you’re doing, squint-eyes? Can’t you see you’re in my way?”

“My name’s Yahaba Hitomi! I’m with the Demon Slayer Corps, just like you!”

“Is that so? Then I don’t need to explain it, we gotta get rid of that thing.” She pointed at the wooden box with one of her swords. “So, buzz off, will you?”

“Not a chance!” Yahaba retorted. “This box is Nezuko’s-”

“You talk too much, squint-eyes!” She interjected. “In that case, I’ll just beat you up, then what’s on that box! Ahahahaha!”

 She threatened a sword blow, but Yahaba remained in place.

“I won’t let you touch this! It’s something important to Nezuko!”

“Oh, hey, come on! What are you on about? Inside that thing there’s a demon, you hear?”

“So what? That is not my problem, and it isn’t yours either!!”

 It could be a dead person’s corpse for all Yahaba cared for, that didn’t mean he would let Nezuko’s stuff be ravished.

 Every being gives off slight movements that reveal what they are feeling, be it from their eye movements to the shifting of their muscles. Even as he noticed her slightly flinching from pain, Nezuko never once stopped smiling and comforting him as he ranted to her. Yahaba was a stubborn man, but he believed that good deeds should be repaid, and right now he would repay his debt to Nezuko for listening to his stupid complaints.

 Every time Yahaba went on his rants, he would always drive people away. He knew he was unreasonable at times, but it still felt awful to never be able to say his frustrations to anyone. Yet Nezuko stayed and listened to everything, even weighing in her opinion at times. If she was traveling with a demon, then he would overlook that, just this once, because her body language clearly told she cared for it more than anything else, so she must have a good reason to keep it.

“I’ll… I’ll ask her about it myself later, alright? So, you better back off-”

 But before he could continue, the shirtless girl began kicking him while chuckling, knocking him out of the way. Yet Yahaba managed to tackle her before she moved closer to the box.

“So now you want to play, huh? Hehehe.” She elbowed him on the back and yanked him away, But Yahaba grabbed her leg.

“This box is… Precious to Nezuko!” He managed to throw her off as he ran to the box and hugged it. “You’re not touching it until she gets back!”

“Hehehe… Ahahaha! You’re funny! I like it! Very fun!”

 So, she resumed kicking him once more.

“Come on! Man up and fight me! Come on!” She taunted. “What? Afraid of hitting a girl? Ahahaha! Draw your sword and fight me!”

 She bruised Yahaba further, but he stayed put, shielding the box, until he finally noticed Nezuko appear at the Manor’s entrance.

“Nezuko…” His voice was raspy. “I’ve protected it…”

  He gulped before continuing. “Because you said… This was more important than your life.”

…

“You talk a lot but won’t even draw your sword! You dummy! Ahahaha!” The girl continued to mock. “If you are a demon slayer, then fight me, you coward!!”

 Nezuko watched as the other girl kicked Yahaba down as he continued to clutch the box in his arms, much like how Tanjiro had done so with Rukata back on that horrible winter morning, when she found them covered in blood. But the girl just kicked down further, without remorse.

 Nezuko would not stand it. She could not stand it!

“Enough.” The girl threaded with a smile. “If you won’t get out of my way, I’ll just have to skewer you along with that box!”

 She moved her katana up in preparation, and it was then that Nezuko snapped.

“STOP!”

 She ran to the wild girl and kicked her as hard as she could in the ribs.

 The girl flew back, grunting in pain, as she laid on the floor.

“Aren’t you a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, you crazy girl?” Nezuko yelled. “Don’t you get why Yahaba won’t draw his sword? It’s because members can only draw them against demons!”

 Her face no doubt was in an angry scowl, but she couldn’t care less. “Yet here you are, kicking someone while they’re down! Is that fun for you? What a coward you are!!”

 The girl began coughing, until her grunts gave way to her maniacal laughter.

“Hehehe… Ahahahahaha! Is that so? Are these the rules for this game then!? Ahahahaha! My bad!”

 She rose up, despite her new injuries. “In that case, let’s fight barehanded! Ahahaha!”

“What? NO! Didn’t you just hear what I said? We are not supposed to fight each other, period.”

 But the shirtless girl already came running in with her fists at an unprecedented speed, forcing Nezuko to dodge her assaults.

“Fighting barehanded doesn’t change anything!” Nezuko pleaded.

 But her opponent continued, throwing various jabs, punches and uppercuts progressively faster, becoming increasingly difficult for Nezuko to properly avoid them all.

 The wild girl managed to get a hold of Nezuko and hooked her nearest arm with both hands, falling backwards, with her momentum causing Nezuko to flip forwards over her head and into her back.

 How could she move like this despite having her ribs kicked in?

 Nezuko attempted to kick her once more, but the girl dodged it and punched her before grabbing her once more and sending her back to the ground with tremendous force with a suplex.

 “ All her moves are direct and unrelenting, with roughhouse grappling and throwing, as if we were… wrestling! ” Nezuko realized.

 She would need to play accordingly, getting close to her opponent and taking a firm hold to subdue her. Yet no matter how she grasped her, the other girl always seemed tougher, heavier and stronger.

“Pretty awesome, aren’t I?” She boasted with a laugh. “You cannot beat me! I’m tougher and stronger than anyone! Check it.”

 She grabbed a decently sized rock from the ground. Nezuko readied herself for it to be thrown at her, but instead the girl began clutching it with all her might until she actually broke it into pieces!

“Ahahahahaha! I’m super, duper strong! No one can beat me! Girls, boys, adults… All are weaker than me! Ahahaha!”

“You mustn’t think like that! You need to be cautious if you want to avoid hurting yourself more than you need.”

 The girl simply snorted. “Sounds like weakling talk to me! Ahaha!”

 She launched forward again, but this time, Nezuko held both of her shoulders, breathed deeply and prepared for her signature move.

“Just stop and…” She coiled her leg and readied it. “… Calm down!!”

 She kneed the wild girl with all the strength she could muster.

“YIKES! There it is! Her crazy kicks again!” Yahaba screamed from where he had been watching the fight.

 Her opponent was stunned and recoiled in pain for a couple of seconds.

“That’s enough, I’m done fighting.” Nezuko announced.

“Huh? No, no, no, we are not done! This doesn’t count!”

“Not happening! I’m not attacking you anymore!”

“Just try and kick me again! I’ll show you what’s good for!”

“No! I said I’m done! You’re too agitated.”

“Oh, I know, wide-forehead, let me tell you my name!” The wild girl proposed loudly. “I’m Susamaru! And you better remember it as the name of the one who defeated you!”

“I don’t care.” Responded Nezuko.

“Huh?? What gives!” The girl, Susamaru, began whining. “I’ll show you! I’m the best, you hear, the best-”

 But then, Susamaru stopped mid-sentence.

“Eh?” Yahaba voiced his confusion.

And then, as abruptly as this whole thing started, Susamaru passed out.

…

 Susamaru woke up laying on the forest floor. The sky was blue and white with all the clouds adorning it, and the woods were peacefully quiet with only the few chirpings of birds and rustling of leaves being occasionally heard.

 Why was she on the ground? Last thing she remembered was finding that box with clear demon vibes, beating some nerd, and fighting that odd wide-forehead girl…

 Wait! That’s it!

 She rose up in one fell swoop and ready herself to continue playing, completely neglecting the two haoris serving as a pillow and blanket she had been given.

“KYAAA! SHE’S AWAKE!” Said the guy with the squinting eyes, Yahaba.

 She ran after him. Good, it seemed he was down for a game of tag!

 But as she approached him further, she saw the rest of the others around a pile of dirt.

“Eh? We’re building dirt castles now?” Susamaru asked. She wasn’t as good at it as she was with more physical activities, but she was sure she could still beat anyone at making dirt castles if she tried hard enough.

“No, you idiot, we are burying the dead!” Said Yahaba with an incredulous tone.

“Hey! Who are you calling an idiot!”

“Calm down, Yahaba.” Said the girl that totally did not beat Susamaru. “We would love for you to help us. There are still dead bodies in the manor…”

“And? How is that my problem.” Susamaru retorted. “Ain’t no way I’m doing that! Just forget these losers and let’s play!!”

 Yahaba looked at her like she grew a new head, same with all the little twerps around him. The other slayer girl, however, looked like she was formulating something.

“Oh, I see…” She spoke. “You can’t do it because you don’t want to lose.”

“Eh?”

“No, that’s okay. If you can’t find the bodies, I get it. You must be too tired and can’t carry them here. Plus, digging graves must be really hard work for someone like you.” She said with a smirk.

“ She thinks she’s better than me?? ”

“Yahaba, the kids and I will do our best while you stand by, so don’t worry.” Her smugness was palpable. “You should rest, Susamaru. Sorry for asking too much of you!”

“DON’T YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME, DAMMIT!” Susamaru yelled at the smirking pink-ribbon girl. “I’ll get half- No! ALL of the bodies here without your help, you hear!! Just you watch! I’m going to bury more people than any of you!!”

 So, she ran inside to look for the stupid dead bodies to prove her strength.

…

 It took the rest of the afternoon, with the skies giving in to a golden yellow hue as the sun began making its way over the horizon, but eventually all bodies were found and given a proper burial.

 Nezuko, Yahaba and the three siblings quietly prayed for the fallen, with only the sounds of nature being heard in the stillness. Well, that as well as Susamaru randomly kicking trees.

“What is she doing?” Whispered Teruko.

“Better not look.” Was all Kiyoshi answered, with Shoichi agreeing.

“Caw! Caw! Descend the mountain! Descend the mountain! Caw! Caw!” From up above, Nezuko heard her crow give out instructions.

“Is that a talking crow?” Now it was Shoichi voicing his confusion

“Just don’t think about it anymore.” Kiyoshi said.

“Follow me! Caw!” The crow insisted.

 And so, they all began tracking down the main road, except for Susamaru, who directed herself to Nezuko.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”

“Well… Down the mountain.” Responded Nezuko.

“But we’re not done playing yet!”

“But aren’t you tired? Come on, let’s go together.”

“I’m not tired at all!” She kept insisting as they descended.

 Eventually it came time to bid farewell to the three siblings. But there was one little problem,

“No! Don’t leave! Please!”

“Get away from me! You need to go home!”

 Teruko seemed to have grown attached to her “hero”, Yahaba, who in turn didn’t want anything else to do with the girl clinging on his leg. Her two brothers tried to separate her, but she just wouldn’t let go.

“But, if you’re gone, who will protect us from demons!” She cried.

“Caw! That’s where I come in!”

 Nezuko’s Kasugai suddenly swooped down and flew towards Kiyoshi. “Extend your hand!”

 The boy did as he was told, and the bird regurgitated something in his palms.

 It was a small red pouch with an emblem on it.

“This will ward off demons! As a merechi, keep that on your person as much as possible!” The crow elucidated.

“W-what is this?” Kiyoshi said with clear disgust in his face after the bird essentially spat on his hand.

“It’s spider lily incense! A demon repellent! Demon repellent! Caw!”

 And with that, the siblings gave their goodbyes, saying they knew their way home from there. Nezuko waved and bid them farewell, while Yahaba muttered something along the lines of ‘you’re welcome’ and Susamaru continuously kicked trees.

 It was time for a well-earned rest.

…

Chapter Text

 The unlikely trio of Nezuko, Yahaba and Susamaru made their way down the mountain, following the Kasugai crow which guided them. The skies were nearing twilight, with the rich golden colors of sunset giving way to the colder tones of the early evening.

“I challenge you! I swear I’ll find your weakness and bring you down, loser!”

 The other girl sighed at Susamaru’s incisiveness. “I have a name, you know? It’s Nezuko Kamado.”

“Hehehe, fine then Nezu aho Kama baka !”

“Hey! That’s not my name!”

“Ahahaha, really? But that’s what you said, Kamabaka !” Susamaru taunted Nezuko with the mispronunciation.

“Cut that out!”

“Make me!”

“WILL YOU TWO QUIET DOWN!” Yahaba finally weighed in.

 The rest of the way consisted of the three of them bickering as the moon rose and the stars began shining, until they finally reached their destination.

 It was another huge mansion, this time on the outskirts of a large village, gated by large wooden doors with the same emblem that the pouch Nezuko’s crow had given to Kiyoshi had, just much bigger. It was the Kanjis for “Higanbana” (or “Red Spider Lily”) framed by what looked to be drawings of said flower’s petals.

“Caw! Time to rest! Rest!” Nezuko’s Kasugai announced. “Since you’ve sustained injuries, you’re to rest until you’re fully recovered.”

 Nezuko looked at her other two companions. It seemed Yahaba’s pigeon was trying to relay the same information to him, while Susamaru’s Kasugai bird was nowhere to be seen.

 But before she could confirm if it was really okay for them to intrude the place, the wooden gates opened, and an old man stepped out.

“May I help you?” he said in an old raspy voice. The man was clearly elderly, with very few strands of hair on his head and an aged, wrinkly face.

“Um… Sorry for bothering so late at night but…” Nezuko began.

“Who the hell are you, old coot?” Susamaru brashly intervened, shocking the other two slayers with her rudeness.

“Ah, you must be the Demon Slayers sent to recover.” He continued, seemingly ignoring Susamaru.

“Man, you’re old as hell…” Once more, Susamaru pointed out without a care, almost poking the man with her finger.

“HEY!” Nezuko made to stop the brash shirtless girl.

“Please come in.”

 Once again, the old man seemingly took no offense as he motioned for the tree to come inside.

 Yahaba was more than eager, and without a second thought entered the residence, followed by Susamaru, then Nezuko. They walked through a spacious garden until reaching the manor they would be staying for the next couple of days.

…

 Now this was more like it!

 Inside they were able to bathe, as well as be given a fresh change of clothes to sleep in. Yahaba found it a bit awkward to be hanging around two girls in loungewear, especially with Susamaru’s less than modest way of wearing her robes, but right now all he wanted was to lay back, relax and clear his mind.

 Soon they were also fed a freshly cooked meal. it was all so fast! The service of this Spider-Lily House was simply phenomenal, as they surely had just recently been informed of their visit, yet they had already prepared both a bath and dinner! It seemed being a demon slayer really had its quirks after all.

 The three sat down to eat the delicious looking meal before them, consisting of a huge bowl of rice, sliced vegetables, soup, and even tempura fried to perfection! It was all sublime.

…Or it would’ve been, were it not for a certain rude girl’s terrible table manners!

 Susamaru barely used her chopsticks properly to eat, preferring to stab the food and gulp it down, all while chewing with her mouth open. Even children eat better than her.

 But then, in her frenzy, Susamaru actually started to steal food from Nezuko’s plate while giving a huge grin. She was undoubtedly looking for a reaction from the other girl. The audacity.

“Susamaru…”

 Nezuko looked stumped at first, but what she did next was unprecedented.

“If you are that hungry, you can have this too!” She actually offered a bowl to the bottomless well of impoliteness.

 Susamaru’s grin turned into a frown as she began refusing the food… She really was susceptible to reverse psychology…

“ Wait a minute… This girl… She totally forgot about the box! ” Yahaba realized. “ Give me a break. Why the hell did I put myself on the line then?!! ”

 After their meal was finished, they were sent to another room with three futons laid on the floor.

“Your bedding is ready.” The old man announced.

“Hey, shouldn’t I sleep in a separate room-”

 But before Yahaba could finish the question, the old man closed the door, leaving the boy to share the room with the two girls. Honestly, he should complain more, but he was so exhausted that he just could not be bothered.

 Susamaru jumped ahead and picked the Futon on the right-most side of the room.

“First come, first served! Ahahaha!” She taunted, once more trying to rally Nezuko.

“That’s fine by me! Sleep where you want.” Nezuko beamed an honest smile. “Which do you want, Yahaba?”

 Either she was still doing this on purpose, or Nezuko was just really that kind, and at this point Yahaba could not tell which was more truthful.

 In the end, Yahaba chose the left futon, staying away from the wild girl, while also moving it a bit further from Nezuko, just to be safe.

…

 According to the Kasugai Crow, this house, as well as all others with that specific spider-lily emblem, belongs to a long family lineage that was once rescued by the Demon Slayer Corps. Now they housed and took care of demon slayers free of charge. Even then, they show considerable hospitality.

 Eventually, the old man returned with a doctor to check on their injuries, and the result was not good.

 The three of them had fractured ribs. Nezuko’s were from her previous battle, which had refractured, Yahaba’s were from his fall out of the second-store window, and Susamaru’s were from her fight with Nezuko.

“…Sorry for the kick…” was all the calm pink slayer could say in apology.

  As of right now, they were each lying down in order to properly rest.

“Hey, you better apologize to me too.” Yahaba directed himself to Susamaru. “You really hurt me, pummeling me down like that, you know?”

 But Susamaru stayed quiet.

“So?” He insisted.

“Nope.”

“WHAT DO MEAN ‘NOPE’?!?”

“Nuh uh”

“Susamaru…” Nezuko said, disappointed.

“Look, if you’re going to be like that, nobody will want to eat with you.” Yahaba threatened.

 At that, Susamaru halted for a moment, before turning to the wall.

“Who cares.” Was all she mumbled. “Nobody ever wants to eat with me anyway.”

“Now that you mention it… Susamaru, how did you join the Corps? You must have a reason to want to help others, right?” Nezuko asked.

“Nah. A member of the Demon Slayer Corps barged in my town one day, so we competed to see who was stronger.” She recounted. “I won and got his sword as a prize! Ahahaha!”

 Nezuko and Yahaba were left speechless… “ That poor slayer… ”

“Then, I heard from him about this “Final Selection” stuff where I could get to earn another sword! And then I discovered demons really did exist!”

“Is that so…” Nezuko added. “So, you didn’t lose a family member nor had one train you?”

“Nope. I don’t have a family! No parents, no siblings, no nothing. The closest to it was my orphanage, but they never really cared for me…” 

“Susamaru, I… I’m sorry…”

“Who cares.” She interrupted. “All I care about is to challenge my prowess against others to show them how great I truly am, got it? None of this mellow mushy family stuff…”

“I see…”

 The room turned quiet for a moment, until Yahaba slowly sat up from his bedding and spoke up.

“Nezuko, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you…” He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. “Are you really traveling with a demon?”

 Nezuko seemed taken slightly by surprise, while Susamaru seemed unbothered and already started drifting to sleep.

“I-I guess I should explain myself” The slayer with the forehead scar answered.

“You see, the reason why I embarked on this journey to become a demon slayer was because someone I really care about was…” She gulped. “…Turned into a demon…”

“It was over two years ago, I went to sell charcoal on my brother’s behalf, and when I returned the next day, all my family had been killed… except for my brother… Tanjiro…”

“Oh…” Yahaba voiced.

 At that, the wooden box, which had been sitting in the corner of the room the entire time, began rustling as whatever was inside tried to get out. Yahaba couldn’t help but feel a shiver run up his spine, as now knowing the nature of what really was inside the container made things definitely creepier.

“Oh, I think he heard me talking about him…”

 Slowly the box began to open.

“HEY! Is that thing not locked!?!” The fastidious boy fully got to his feet.

“Yahaba, quiet down, it’s late at night.”

 Then, the demon inside inched its way out of his container, but rather than something putrid or malicious, Yahaba saw a very different sight.

“Hey there, Tanjiro!”

 The figure was small, and looked almost like a child, but as they moved out of the box their body began to gradually grow in mass. They wore a checked haori over plain blueish robes. Their ears were adorned with peculiar hafuna earrings and their mouth had a weird bamboo muzzle of sorts. Their skin, unlike demons’ usual pale complexion, was tan, and their hair was a warm burgundy color that resembled a serene fire, but it was their eyes that gave away their demonic nature with their bright red coloration.

“Let me properly introduce you to him. Yahaba, Susamaru, this is Tanjiro, my elder brother.”

 Yahaba still seemed hesitant, while Susamaru had long since passed out in slumber.

 Tanjiro hummed in what seemed to be a greeting, making Yahaba carefully approach him. He then opened one of his eyes fully and analyzed Tanjiro from head to toe, all while maintaining a distance.

“Hmm… He seems surprisingly human.” Yahaba noted.

“Tanjiro has never killed or eaten anyone! It seems he gains his energy by sleeping instead.”

“Fascinating…” He continued inspecting Tanjiro like some sort of exotic animal, to which the demon boy just looked at him in return in amusement.

“He looks pretty clean, so I guess I’ll accept him…” Yahaba said with a scoff. But Nezuko could hear in his voice a lighthearted welcoming tone.

…

 Morning drew close and the three slayers were already up early… All thanks to one particularly rowdy, shirtless, girl. 

 The moment she had woken up, Susamaru made to challenge Nezuko, as well as her brother, Tanjiro, in all sorts of activities. From tag, to hide-and-seek, to arm wrestling, there was no shortage of games she wanted to play with the siblings.

 Since Tanjiro was a demon, he couldn’t go out in the sun, so Susamaru learned to challenge him in the evening and early morning. The demon seemed more than eager to partake in whatever shenanigans Susamaru had in store, and treated her weirdly friendly, almost like how he did with his sister. Nezuko too was very lenient, but she refrained from partaking in activities too strenuous during their recovery period.

  At first, Yahaba just stood by the sidelines and enjoyed his recovery in peace and quiet, doing what he liked doing best: Resting. Eventually, however, Susamaru caught on to him, or rather, seemingly remembered he could be added to her childish play sessions as well, so she began dragging Yahaba to them. He tried to argue against it, but Susamaru was stubborn, with even Nezuko turning to her side, with the calmer girl saying how her activities were actually great training.

 So, as the weeks progressed, Susamaru, Nezuko and Yahaba all began exercising as their injuries healed. Their doctor did routine checkups as well, allowing for steady healing and instructing on what activities they were allowed to perform.

 Susamaru herself seemed paradoxically frustrated and delighted at her new opponents. All of them seemed to be able to match her on some level, be it Nezuko’s talent at finding her in hide-and-seek, Yahaba’s astuteness at tag, or Tanjiro’s strength during arm wrestling. Overall, she seemed to be having a lot of fun.

 She also began taking further interest in the old man who hosted them, seemingly perplexed by his politeness. The only other person she met who was similar was the old lady at her orphanage… Were all old people like that?

 These past couple of weeks were fun, she must confess. Perhaps Yahaba had a point on enjoying being in this place so much. But eventually, after the doctor said they had made a full recovery, their crows came back with new orders.

 Susamaru’s crow was a coward, as she came to learn. When she finished the Final Selection, she noticed how a raven began following her around. Susamaru loved animals, so she began trying to catch it, but the bird always flew away screaming. Yet she continuously followed it, and the crow began leading her to places with demons to kill! She considered the corvid might be her spirit animal, which was pretty lame, as she wanted a cooler one (like a tiger) but eventually Nezuko taught her about what Kasugai crows were in actuality.

 Anyway, their crows (or pigeons, in the case of Yahaba) told them to move north-northeast for their next mission. Coincidentally, the three were to form a group once more and head to Mount Fumichou.

 So, despite Yahaba’s complaints, the trio prepared and went to move.

“We’re heading out now.” Nezuko announced to the hospitable old man. “Thank you for everything.

 They were now outside, beyond the wooden gates with the spider-lily insignia. It was noon, and the skies were a shimmering blue.

“I wish you all luck.” The elder spoke as he picked up a weird tool… it looked like, flint and steel?

“Thank you very much sir.” Nezuko and Yahaba turned their back, but Susamaru did not understand what was happening.

 Suddenly, the old man scraped the steel and flint together twice, making a couple of sparkles come flying.

“WOAH! Cool!” Susamaru commented. “Why did you do that?”

“Huh? You don’t know?” Said Yahaba. “He’s striking sparks for good luck. It’s a purification ritual.”

“Live your lives with your heads held high. I wish you luck in battle.”

 And so, the trio went on their way.

“Ahaha, what do you think of that old guy wishing us to stay with our heads held high? As if we have anything to feel ashamed of to begin with.” The shirtless girl mused as they marched forward.

“I feel like you, of all people, should have shame at times…” Yahaba jabbed.

“Hey! What do you mean by that!”

“I think what Yahaba means is that we shouldn’t let our comfort take away from other people’s.”

“Huh? And just let others trample on us first? No thank you.”

“Susamaru…”

“What’s with the disappointed voice!?”

 Nezuko sped up her pace, to which Susamaru took as a challenge to race to their destination, while Yahaba just sighed as he was forced to match the two girls as they moved onward.

...