Slayer Demons

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at [Link]

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandoms: 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga), 鬼滅の刃 |
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime)
Relationships: Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu & Tsugikuni Yoriichi, Makomo &
Urokodaki Sakonji
Characters: Tsugikuni Yoriichi, Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu and Tsugikuni
Yoriichi's Father, Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu, Makomo
(Kimetsu no Yaiba), Urokodaki Sakonji, Original Male Character(s),
Original Female Character(s), Gyokko (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Susamaru
(Kimetsu no Yaiba), Yahaba (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Agatsuma Zenitsu,
Tamayo (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Enmu (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Additional Tags: Demon Slayer AU, kny au, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, swap
au, Brothers, yoriichi is Tanjiro, Human Kokushibou | Tsugikuni
Michikatsu, Mentioned Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu, Tsugikuni
Yoriichi-centric, Tsugikuni Yoriichi Needs a Hug, Possessive Tsugikuni
Yoriichi, Protective Siblings, Hashira are demons, Demons are hashira,
De-Aged, Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu is a Good Sibling,
Protective Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu, Mentioned Tsugikuni
Yoriichi, uses japanese honorfics, Japanese Culture, Improper use of a
flute, improper use of an axe, Spoilers for kny, Spoilers For Demon
Slayer, Toaster not mentioned, Hatsune miku not mentioned, Mithrun of
the house of Kerensil not mentioned, Taishou Era (1912-1926), Canon
Era, No Incest, Character Death, Major Character Injury, Author Has
Never Played Call Of Duty, Additional Warnings In Author's Note,
Author Is Sleep Deprived, Tags May Change, Rating May Change,
Warnings May Change, Morgan freeman not mentioned, May not receive
up dates, author is bad at spelling, Makomo Lives (Kimetsu no Yaiba),
Demon Slayer Makomo (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Makomo is an Urokodaki,
Mentioned Urokodaki Sakonji, Parental Urokodaki Sakonji, Aged Up,
OC/cannon - Freeform, Original Character(s), Mentioned Gyokko
(Kimetsu no Yaiba), Human Gyokko (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Found
Families, Mentioned Tamayo (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Human Enmu
(Kimetsu no Yaiba), Mentioned Shinazugawa Genya
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-07-29 Updated: 2024-10-04 Words: 30,898 Chapters:
14/?
 Slayer Demons
by orphan_account

Summary

This is a kny swap au where the twelve Kizuki and other demons are swapped with the
hashira and other demon slayers. The story is mostly a rewritten copy of the og series only
with Yoriichi in place of Tanjiro and Kokushibo|Michikatsu in place of Nezuko.

Notes

If someone has a Better name suggestion please tell me k couldn’t think of one tbh…

Here’s some art for it on my tumbler btw:

[Link]
source=share
 Cruelty
Chapter Notes

I read through it a couple times but they’re may still be spelling errors idk

In the mountains of northern Japan lived a small family of charcoal burners. A father, wife,
and two twin sons. The family wanted to have more children but the mother was ill. She was
the quiet type. Helpful but mind to herself, when she died she died characteristically. Passing
a few years after the boys were born, they lived most of their lives without her.

Yoriichi was the younger of the two. His father looked down on him. He believed him to be
weak and frail. Yoriichi was born with an ugly scar ridden across his face. While their mother
was alive he always clung by her side and didn’t speak for most of his early life. If it wasn’t
for their mother’s insistence on the boy staying, their father surely would’ve let him die.

His brother, Michikatsu, on the other hand, was the older of the two. Due to Yoriichi’s faults,
he was given far more work. Michikatsu didn’t mind it. He wanted to become a great samurai
someday, so if he couldn’t handle chopping and burning wood, how could he ever dream to
achieve that? He held little resentment towards his brother, and pity for how their father
treated him with their mother gone.

Their father was hard on them. He was bitter from life, from losing his wife, from losing
children, from things he’d never shared with anyone. And his anger was directed towards
them. He was rare to give praise or acknowledge on achievements. They’d be lucky for him
to give a nod or “mhm.”

And they lived like that for years. Three men alone in the mountains.

One day in late winter, when the boys were 13, their father tasked Yoriichi with going into
town to sell charcoal. It was out of the ordinary for him to go into town, let alone go alone.
Their father seemed suspicious of it. As if he was hoping Yoriichi couldn’t make it back. He
wasn’t strong or fast or helpful in his father’s eyes. Just another mouth to feed. The family
may be better off without him, and he wasn’t given much charcoal before he left.

Still, Yoriichi wasn’t in a position to complain. His father told him to make himself useful
and sell some charcoal. So he must. Whatever awaited him out there, was better than the
consequences of disobeying his father.

Snow fell softly from the cloudy gray sky. The path seemed long and winding, as the wind
blew past bitterly, biting his cheeks. Yoriichi kept his hands close huddled together, and his
eyes squinted to keep as much snow out as possible. It felt like they were freezing shut. He
let his hair down to cover his ears. It didn’t help much but it was better than nothing.
The trees spread for miles, creating a thick dense forest. Yoriichi never remembered the
woods seeming so deep before. He almost lost the path in the shift of dark uncertainty.
Clouds aided in the maze, shadows cast in shadows. Light reached the floor but in a way that
almost didn’t matter. He was lucky to have a good sense of direction and to be quick on his
feet.

His father assumed he was weak but never gave him the chance to prove himself. This was
the final sign. His father was tired of him and wanted him gone. The wind picked up as the
snow fell faster, thicker. He considered leaving. Taking whatever money he could get from
the charcoal and never come back, but, he didn’t want to leave his brother like that.

In town, the black-haired boy went door to door. With the weather so poor nobody was dumb
enough to go outside. Yoriichi was alone in the small village.

Walking through the streets, the sound of whistling wind and the crunch of his footsteps were
all that accompanied the cold char-covered boy. Knocks went unanswered as the day bled
into the night.

After what felt like an eternity of nobody answering, someone opened the door.

“Michi-chan! What are you doing out~?” An older woman opened the door and quickly
gushed at the site of Yoriichi. Mistaking him for Michikatsu she invited him inside to warm
up from the cold.

Setting down his bag Yoriichi thanked the kind woman, “Thank-thank you,” he muttered
through chattering teeth. She nodded and smiled warmly. He knew she had mistaken him for
his brother but figured it didn’t matter to correct her, “Would you like to buy some charcoal,
my father sent me into town to sell some.” His voice trailed as a set of young children ran
past the room.

They were both short, no older than six, with short brown pigtails and a single dark braid.
They stood close together with their hands on top of the others, as if to hide something. They
had glossy black eyes just like the old woman’s, only not wrinkled or aged.

“Grandma-! Grandma-!!” The girls tugged on the woman’s kimono while holding something
in their other hand. The old woman looked down in acknowledgment and patted the girl on
the left’s head. She giggled and raised her hand, revealing a small button-eyed doll to their
grandmother.

Curious Yoriichi leaned over and examined the handmade doll. It was crudely sown together,
no doubt had a little girl made it. Its skin was white and stained, hair was pink and green
from grass, with mismatched button eyes, an unskillfully sown smile, and a single pink string
pressed between the white skin and hair to resemble a loose strand. The body of the doll was
made of black fabric in a triangle shape. The head was placed lopsided on the body as its
hands dangled off it, barely holding on by a tread.

Noticing and also mistaking Yoriichi for his brother, the girls excitedly presented the doll,
“What do you think of it Michi-kun?” The other girl asked, handing him it. The comment
caused Yoriichi to wonder why so many people referred to his bother with a nickname.
Yoriichi softly smiled, keeping up his brotherly impersonation, “It’s very nice. Did you make
it yourself?” He asked, feeling the doll's face. It was softer than he expected. By its
appearance, it would be assumed it’d feel hard or firm from the dirt.

Looking back to the girls he watched them huddle around their grandmother, asking for her
opinions and advice for the next one. Seeing how happy the family was warmed his heart
more than the heat inside the house. He placed the doll on the table ahead of him and stared
at his reflection in the nightfilled mirror. The longer he stayed the more trouble he’d get in.
He needed to come up with an excuse to leave, and fast.

After a few minutes, their grandmother stopped the girls, insisting it was time for them to go
back to bed.

“If you don’t get in there and go fast to sleep, the sun won’t rise and demons will get you~!!”
She teased as she quickly grabbed her granddaughters and tickled them intently. The girls
started to laugh as they pleaded with her to stop.

“Ok, ok!!” They screamed in unison, scurrying into the bedroom. The old woman chased
after them with her hands in front of her body reminiscence of a beast. Once they reached the
door and hid inside the room, she backed away and gave up the chase. She looked to the left
and right confused, then up before screaming to curse the sun. The young girls laughed once
more as they quickly closed the door and ran into bed.

The old woman took a short breath and sat back at the table with Yoriichi, “I’m sorry, I didn’t
expect them to still be awake,” she laughed apologetically.

Yoriichi shook his head and insisted it wasn’t an issue, “Although I should probably be
getting home, my father won’t like it if I don’t get back soon.” He looked out at the window
again, the sun completely gone, and began to pack up.

“Are you sure? Before you go let me at least buy some charcoal,” He stopped in his tracks
and smiled.

“Oh yes, thank you that would be good. Although..” he paused and thought for a minute. The
idea of only selling to one person seemed worse than selling to nobody. After all, if he got
one person to buy something he should’ve been able to get everyone too. If nobody bought
anything he could claim no one was willing to even answer the door, but since one person
had, then clearly he hadn’t given it enough effort, “Sorry, I need to get home. I can’t.”

The old woman looked puzzled, “What do you mean?” She asked, “You want to sell it don’t
you?”

“Well it’s just..” Yoriichi sighed, “It’s nothing.”

“I’m not asking out of pity I promise. We really need the coal…” her face lowered as her
eyes filled with sorrow, “Please Michikatsu.”

Yoriichi’s conscience overtook him as he placed the bag back down and sifted through the
contents, “How much do you want?” He asked. He decided whatever punishment his father
deemed fit would be better than letting some poor family go without energy. These people
don’t deserve worse for his sake.

Along with buying the charcoal, the old woman managed to swindle him into staying the
night. She got him talking about his trip here and how long it would take him to get back. She
convinced him it was already so late and it was such a long walk, he might not reach home
till sunrise. With that in mind, he knew either situation was a lose-lose. After all, spending
one night away from home couldn’t make much of a difference.

The next morning Yoriichi woke up before dawn. He grabbed his bag and quickly made
haste. The path was dark, but the sun rose as he traveled home.

Clouds covered the sky in a dark gray fog. The snow had stopped but the wind was
unpleasant. It changed direction at any given chance. His hair blew around, and the smell of
wood burning gave him a familiar sense of home.

Approaching the house, a faint set of footprints littered the pristine white snow. As he grew
closer, the snow started to stain. His heart skipped a beat. Red. Bloody red snow. Without a
thought, Yoriichi let his backpack slip to the ground and raced swiftly towards the house.

His worst fear was realized. Torn limb from limb, Yoriichi’s father lay sprawled across the
yard. The image burned into his memory. Clothes ripped and scattered. Not a seamstress in
the world could fix it. His chest ripped open, organs mixed in with snow and blood, like a
twisted ice pack. The ground beneath him kicked around, dirt and dead grass peering through
the thin snowy blanket. Whatever had done this was merciless. A beast or bear with no regard
for neatness.

A trail of blood smeared from inside the house. Yoriichi looked into the darkness, staring
deadpan at the hell that awaited him inside. The front door ripped off, the furniture a mess,
the floor stained and scratched. Another dreadful thought filled his mind.

Michikatsu wasn’t outside.

Yoriichi’s imagination betrayed him as images of his dear twin brother dead across the
ground flooded his mind. Desperate, wanting to prove these awful thoughts wrong, Yoriichi
picked up the hatchet from a tree stump outside and walked into the decimated halls of his
family home.

In the back of a room, Michikatsu was lying curled up in a ball. Without hesitation, Yoriichi
ran over to his brother and examined for any sign of life. He dropped the ax to his side and
rolled Michikatsu over. His face was bloody, bruised, and badly beaten, but he was alive.
Yoriichi pulled his brother close and began to sob.

Yoriichi didn’t often express himself. He was quiet and reserved. Like a doll or their mother.
Between that, and not speaking they even thought he was deaf.

Yoriichi held Michikatsu’s head close to his chest. Blood smeared on his red hexagon
kimono, but he didn’t care. A sense of comfort washed over him as he watched Michikatsu’s
breath freeze in the cold air. Yoriichi paused, clinging carefully to his wounded brother
worried he’d lost him, before realizing his breathing slowing and struggling to continue.

Refusing to lose his bother, Yoriichi quickly lifted him onto his back, picked up the ax, and
ran for help.

Yoriichi could feel himself running out of breath. Carrying Michikatsu was harder than he
expected. They were about the same size. Michikatsu was a little stronger, and a little heavier,
but Yoriichi was slightly taller. Nevertheless, none of that mattered. In the moment all he
could focus on was keeping Michikatsu safe, for him to make it out alive.

His hands froze in the winter air. He could feel his breath leaving, freezing in front of him
creating a white smoky cloud. It stuck to face, and the wind took advantage. Sweat dripped
down his forehead frantically. He was cold and hot, and sweating and freezing. His arms
were heavy and his legs were tired, but he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t let his brother die.

“A doctor. I need to find a doctor,” he thought, mind still a mess, “A doctor can help, and
he’ll be ok. Just make it till I get in town for me bothe-“

A loud scream started Yoriichi causing him to lose his balance and fall on the side of the
mountain. The sharp sting of freezing snow covered his face. It was relieving from the heat,
lying down face-first on the snow.

As he rolled over Yoriichi considered how lucky he had been for the snow to break his fall. It
was just as likely he ran into a tree or smaller patch and injured himself. If that had happened
how would he even dream of dragging Michikatsu to town?

Standing up Yoriichi saw him standing in front of him, “Michi-“ he spoke calmly, rushing out
for his brother, “Are you ok? let me carry you. you’re hurt-“ Yoriichi planted his feet on the
ground and placed his hands on Michikatsu’s shoulder.

Michikatsu looked up at him, his eyes wide open, wild like a predatory animal, pupils cat-like
and ravenous. Yoriichi took a step back, almost falling over as his brother lunged at him,
pushing them both over. He quickly grabbed the ax from the ground and held it between
Michikatsu, who was attempting to bite him.

Tears filled his eyes as Yoriichi pleaded with his brother to let go, “Michikatsu-“ He cried
out. The monster hesitated at the site of Yoriichi weeping. He stopped clawing at the ground
staring stunned. In his confusion, Yoriichi swiftly pushed his brother over and quickly pinned
him down. He placed his arms over Michikatsu’s and held them to the side, “Please bother, I
don’t want to hurt you-!” He stopped mid-thought sensing the presence of another person.

Yoriichi ducked into his brother, scooping him up, and rolling in the opposite direction. Once
he reached a stop he realized he wasn’t holding onto anything, and someone snatched his
brother.

“Why are you protecting him,” the fox-masked figure asked. Yoriichi sat up and looked at the
perpetrator. It was a young woman of short stature. She had short black hair, an odd black
uniform, a pink flower-patterned haroi, and a white fox mask with two bright blue flowers.
She held Michikatsu with one hand across his chest and the other to a blade against his neck,
“You realize he was about to kill you don’t you?!” She asked with vigorous.

Yoriichi stumbled to his feet, shivering in the cold, “He’s my brother. He wasn’t going to hurt
me,” he said, approaching the short woman with his hand out as if to be handed something.

She pressed the blade close to Michikatsu’s neck and warned Yoriichi about his next step,
“You get any closer and that’s the end for him,” she said, nicking her sword into the first
layer Michikatsu’s skin, drawing blood and causing him to scream. She held him tight as he
whaled his arms, and a second and third set of eyes shot open.

Yoriichi placed his feet firmly on the ground. He looked dazed at his brother’s strange face.
The middle set of eyes was normal. They had been opened like that all day. The ones above
and below were red where the whites should’ve been and white where the iris was. They had
a strange string pattern that connected to a point from the outside of the Iris to the inside of
the pupil. Yoriichi noticed it earlier but thought he was going crazy. Seeing the inside of
others always was a come-and-go experience. He just thought the shock of the situation
caused him to see triple. But seeing them now opened, Yoriichi knew it wasn’t an illusion.

“I am a demon slayer. It is my job to kill demons such as your brother.” The woman coldly
announced. Michikatsu growled as she spoke, “I must kill your brother,” her voice waved as
if she didn’t believe the concept of a demon having a family.

“No he isn’t-“ Yoriichi struggled to contradict himself. He’d seen Michikatsu’s actions, he
was staring at Michikatsu’s face, nothing about it was normal. His well-put-together brother
was screaming bloody murder; as he mercilessly clawed and whaled. He was a demon, “He’d
never hurt anyone-” Yoriichi spat out, “He wants to become a samurai when he grows up, he-
he wants to protect people-“

“HE’S NOT YOUR BROTHER THEN!!” She cried out, “If your brother is so courageous
and pure of heart then, THIS is not your brother!!” Her composure faded from Yoriichi’s
obscure comments, “HE GOT DEMON BLOOD IN HIS SYSTEM!!! HE TURNED INTO A
DEMON!! A MAN-EATING MONSTER!! THIS ISN’T YOUR BROTHER!!!” Her reaction
bordered on speaking from personal experience. Frustrated, she moved her blade forward
then back to slash across Michikatsu’s neck.

Yoriichi saw her preparing to attack and quickly threw the axe, knocking the sword out of her
hand. He rushed forward to grab it or the blade and pushed Michikatsu out of the way.

The woman quickly adapted. In Yoriichi’s rush of decisions, she threw the hatchet far into the
forest and wrestled the sword out of his hand, causing him to fall over, then hit him with the
hilt of the sword hard, knocking him out.

Michikatsu struggled to push Yoriichi off him, before quickly sitting up, grabbing his brother
and booking it. Noticing this, the fox-masked woman chased after them. Michikatsu couldn’t
make it far before she was behind him. She prepared to finally strike down the demon this
time, but Michikatsu, mistaking the attack as one meant for Yoriichi, ducked, dropping him,
tackling the woman, and trying to choke her out.

The masked slayer easily tossed the weakened boy over and reached for her sword once
more. Michikatsu backed away and stood over his brother in a protective stance. He raised
his arms around him like a shield and growled at the woman in warning.

She paused, taking a moment to process what she’d just witnessed. A demon had been given
multiple chances to begin eating humans but chose not to. He was standing over the boy,
trying to protect him from her. Snow melted into her clothes as she sat baffled on the ground.

The woman sat up and slowly started to approach the group. Michikatsu lunched at her once
more. Expecting this she hit him similarly to Yoriichi, knocking him out.

When Yoriichi awoke he lay next to Michikatsu, passed out on the ground. A makeshift gag
had been made of the lute the boys shared and string. It covered Michikatsu’s mouth

The woman bent over the boys and instructed them on their next move, “You have great
potential,” she said directed at Yoriichi, “You’re brother doesn’t seem to mean much harm.
Don’t take this as the status quo from demons however,” she paused thinking her next move.
Muttering something under her breath she then spoke, “I believe you have what it takes to
become a demon slayer. Go to the foot of mouth Sagiri. A man named Sakonji Urokodaki
lives there. Tell him Makomo sent you. He is the first step in saving your brother.” A long
drawn-out silence took place as Yoriichi proceeded with the information, “I don’t know if it’s
even possible,” she sighed thinking deeply, “but, you’ll have a better chance of turning your
brother back to normal. Don’t let him in the sun, and if he kills anyone,” she grabbed his hair
forcing his head up and making sure he listened, “Do not hesitate to kill him,” her eyes stared
deeply as she uttered her last words, “I will find you and kill you both.” And just as quickly
as she arrived, she disappeared.

Back at the house Yoriichi and Michikatsu worked together to bury their father. They quickly
dug the hole and paid respects.

As they started their journey to Mount Sagiri, Michikatsu’s wounds started to heal. Before
long Michikatsu passed out from exhaustion forcing Yoriichi to carry him once more.
 Letter
Chapter Notes

allow that so it made itself 1 instead😭😭

Anyone who saw this as chapter 1 I apologize. I tried to make it a 1.5 but ig ao3 doesn’t
sorry

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Greetings Sakonji Urokodaki,

On my last mission, I ran into two boys. I believe they show promise to become demon
slayers. I have sent them your way in hopes you will choose to train them.

They are a set of twins. The younger of the two seemed to predict my every move. If it hadn’t
been for his lack of experience, I’m sure he would’ve bested me. I’m sure you’ve heard the
rumor of the great swordsman. I think this boy may have the same skill as him. He has a
knack for this.

The older one is an interesting case. This may be absurd to ask, however, I still believe you
should train him. He cannot officially become a demon slayer as he would not be able to take
part in final selection, as he is a demon.

I’m under the assumption he transformed right before I ran into them. However, he refused to
eat his younger brother or myself. He seemed hostile towards me, but I believed it was
because I had threatened both of their lives. When given the opportunity he stood over
defending his brother and tried to get him far away from me. The younger one claimed he’d
wished to become a samurai when he was human. I don’t know if demons really can keep
such desires after transforming but he seemed to have.

I don’t know if teaching a demon breathing techniques is the smart thing to do. If you think
this is too insane of a request please forget I ever asked. You do not have to teach them.
However, if you turn away or kill the older one the younger one may leave too. I get the
sense he doesn’t care much for fighting, if not to protect his brother.

The younger one truly has something remarkable. If trained properly there is no doubt in my
mind he could surpass Lord Gyokko and reclaim ourselves as the water Hashira.

My this letter to reach you safely, finding you in good health and spirits.

Sincerely,

Your daughter, Makomo

Chapter End Notes

I’m writing some of this out of order because I figured I could write this quicker
honestly it did help I was able to get this down and then finish the next chapter and start
on the next one. Maybe it’s just cause I’m camping and don’t have anything better to do.
 The stranger
Chapter Notes

I’ve just decided to go down the route of Michikatsu being much more active compared
to Nezuko. I feel that would fit Yoriichi and him better. I forgot to ad this to the last
chapter but I read through it but might not have picked up on all the errors. (I once had j
school project where I read through it multiple times and didn’t realize town was spelled
twuq)

The next day the weather had cleared up and the sun was brightly shining. Yoriichi felt it ill-
suited for the events that transpired merely hours ago. His father was brutally killed, and him
and his brother’s lives had just been threatened by a mask-wearing, sword-wielding woman.

Yoriichi didn’t quite understand what had happened. She was spiraling over demons and
needed to kill Michikatsu. And she might’ve been right about it. Something weird had
happened to his brother. He had six eyes and acted animalistic.

She told them to go to Mount Sagiri, that someone lived there and knew how to help. Yoriichi
worried about what this “help” would encompass. He wasn’t the violent type. Surely she
didn’t want him to become a trained assassin or whatever she had been. But he wanted to
keep his brother safe. She threatened to put both their lives on the line and had some special
powers to track them down. Yoriichi had no other option. He had to meet the stranger on the
mountain.

Michikatsu refused to leave the cave they slept in the night before. Even without the gag in
he seemed in capable of talking. Yoriichi had tried removing it the night before but
Michikatsu refused to talk, just more incomprehensible growling. However, understanding
the reason behind the gag Yoriichi put it back on in case Michikatsu tried to attack someone.

“We should get going, what if that woman comes back?” Yoriichi asked, trying to drag
Michikatsu from the dark corner of the gave, “Please brother, I want to help you.” He grunted
tugging harder and harder on Michikatsu’s arm. Michikatsu wouldn’t budge. He grew in size
to combat Yoriichi’s attempts.

As he failed to bring his bother to the light Yoriichi suddenly remembered what the woman
had said to him earlier. “Don’t let him in the sun,” Yoriichi wondered how she’d known all
this stuff and gotten so much right. Defeated he left the cave in search of something to hide
his brother from the sun.
A bamboo basket was not what Yoriichi had in mind. An umbrella or big hat seemed more
suitable, but on a time crunch whatever could work would work. Other than the absurdity of
it there were two major problems with it. One, it was tiny. Maybe a seven-year-old could fit
inside it but the boys were 13, and Michikatsu was much bigger than Yoriichi. The second
problem was there was a hole in the side of it.

Yoriichi knocked on the door of the house and asked the owners if he could take their basket.
The homeowner allowed it since the basket was broken and he had no use for it. Yoriichi then
asked if he could take some of their bamboo or straw, to which they also agreed, and to which
Yoriichi thanked them profusely.

Back in the cave, Yoriichi started working on fixing the whole. He’d understood the basics of
basket weaving but never practiced it. He fiddled with the sticks and straw putting them in
where seemed fit. Ultimately the basket didn’t look great and the hole was barely fixed.
Seeing Yoriichi struggle Michikatsu inched towards the light and started pointing towards
which hole to fit the straw in next.

After they finished Yoriichi explained his idea to Michikatsu, “I was thinking, if you can
make yourself bigger maybe you can get smaller and go in this basket. Then we could travel
during the day because the sun won’t reach you.” He tipped the basket over as if to let his
older brother crawl inside. Michikatsu’s six eyes all shared equal disdain at the concept, but
reluctantly he shrunk himself and hoped inside.

Yoriichi flipped the basket to the right side and looked down at his small older brother in the
bin. He smiled to himself thinking how cute they used to look when they were younger. Back
when they were kids and played in secret. He even had the flute they made. Although in this
instance he was holding it the wrong way across his mouth. Yoriichi placed the lid on and
waved his brother goodbye into the dark empty void of the basket.

Yoriichi spent the day asking around for directions to Mount Sagiri. He barely knew how to
get to the town near their home, let alone a mountain in the middle of nowhere.

“You’ll need to cross that mountain to get to Mount Sagiri,” a young girl said. Yoriichi
nodded in thanks as he passed by, “I will say it’s getting very late. The sun is going to set.
You might not want to travel all that way, with all that stuff, all alone.” She insisted clinging
to her younger brother and ruffling his hair, “I’m sure my parents won’t mind if you spent the
night.”

Yoriichi declined her offer. He was under the misconception that his and Michikatsu’s lives
would be threatened if he didn’t meet this mystery mountain man.

The girl gave him a worried look as he headed into the woods.

Michikatsu banged on the sides of the box as the moon began to rise. Yoriichi set the basket
down, opened the lid, and let his brother free.

Once out Michikatsu stretched and quickly pulled the basket onto his back. He grabbed
Yoriichi’s hand and started running in the wrong direction.
“No we need to go this way,” Yoriichi said tugging his brother the other way. Michikatsu
stopped and stared deep into the forest. He looked back at his brother with worry before
begrudgingly following his lead.

Further on the path, the two ran into a small building. Yoriichi was delighted at the sight of it.
The lights were on meaning someone was likely home and he could ask them for more
directions. He ran towards the building almost forgetting his exhaustion and stopped right
before the door.

Yoriichi shakily went to open it. Seeing blood smeared across the inside of the door he
hesitated. Michikatsu headed behind him and overtook his brother, standing in front of him.
He moved his hand towards the door and looked back at his brother, waiting for a signal.
Yoriichi shook his head, mouth wide in awe.

Michikatsu lowered his hand, then turned around to drag his brother out there. But before
they could get off the steps a large gust of wind forced the door open. Michikatsu stopped in
his tracks as if he’d been hypnotized. Yoriichi gagged as the smell of blood overtook his
senses.

“Is someone there!?!!” A raspy voice yelled out from the bloody building, “This is my
hunting grounds, you hear?!??! Get away from my territory!??!” It turned to the door and
looked at the backs of the brothers. He muttered something quietly then spoke again, “You
two humans?”

Yoriichi turned around and looked at the creature yelling at them. Its face was covered in
blood, and its eyes were crazed. Yoriichi could tell it was about to lunge at him and quickly
dashed to the side.

The monster hit the ground face first and laughed, “You’re a fast one ai n’tcha? Don’t worry I
like a little challenge.” Yoriichi could tell it was about to make another move and threw the
axe in its general direction before running past the path up ahead.

Michikatsu stared at the bodies dead on the ground. Their eyes rolled back as their blood
soaked one another’s clothes. He was drooling at the sight of it. Such an easy meal. His mind
raced in panic. He looked around to see if anyone would be watching before noticing the
monster get up and run after his brother.

As if he had been snapped out of a trance Michikatsu picked up the hatchet from the ground
and ran towards the creature chasing his brother. He swung the axe high up in the air and
sliced its head straight off.

Yoriichi looked behind him to see his older brother pinning the monster on the ground. Its
head rolled over to a tree, bouncing off of it and looking the boys in the eye. His face went
pale as he looked down at his brother. Yoriichi just watched Michikatsu kill a man. This was
what the woman was warning them about, wasn’t it? He felt frozen in fear unsure what to do.
He didn’t want to kill his brother bu-

“I KNEW IT!!” The twins both looked towards the source of the sound. The monster's head
sat alone by a tree but kept spitting nonsense at them, “ONE A YOU WAS A DEMON!!! I
COULD TELL SOM’THN AIN’T RIGHT!! WHYA’ DEMON AN’ HUMAN WORKING
TOGETHER ALL BUDDY-BUDDY LIKE HUH!!??? IMA GONNA KILL YOU BOTH!!!”
Suddenly the body pushed Michikatsu over and began dragging him away from Yoriichi, as a
set of arms grew out of its head and ran towards him.

Yoriichi kicked the head back right before it could reach him while Michikatsu struggled to
get the body away. The creature was insistent and ran towards Yoriichi again. This time
Yoriichi picked up the axe and pinned it into a nearby tree. The monster began screaming
bloody murder at the boys and Yoriichi ran to his brother’s aid.

“I guess Michikatsu didn’t kill him.?” Yoriichi thought, “but then… what’s going on… why
won’t this thing die??” He ran towards the edge of the cliff where his brother was fighting to
hold his ground. The headless body was trying to push Michikatsu over the edge to his likely
death.

“Leave him alone!!” Yoriichi cried out, reaching for the body and knocking it to the side.
Before it could stand back up Yoriichi rolled it off over the cliff and dragged his brother away
from the edge. Examining his face Yoriichi asked his brother if he was okay, “Are you hurt
anywhere, did he do anything to you?” One of his lower eyes was twitching and swollen shut
but the rest seemed fine.

Michikatsu shook his head away from his brother and stood up without answering. Yoriichi
looked up nervously but Michikatsu just walked back to the path.

Yoriichi watched the passed-out head carefully. He could tell it wasn’t dead but it wasn’t
awake either. He found a pocket knife in the monster’s victim’s luggage and went to finish it
off. He raised his hand towards it but couldn’t move it down.

Annoyed watching his brother struggling, Michikatsu took the knife out of his hand and went
to stab it himself. He pushed Yoriichi out of the way but before he could stab it through the
creature's skull, a hand pressed against his shoulder, instructing them to stop.
 Return by Dawn
Chapter Notes

I read through this once or twice so hopefully I caught most errors but if there are more
please tell me and I’ll go back to edit.

My camping trip is over but I can’t promise that it means I’ll be posting more often.

Also dude the amout of times I wrote sakonji as sankoji is crazyyy

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You can’t kill it with that,” A masked man with a short sliver suddenly appeared behind
Michikatsu. He appeared out of thin air like a ghost. His face was covered by a red tengu
mask and he wore a light blue cloud-covered kimono. Placing his hand on Michikatsu’s
shoulder, the young demon looked back at him, causing him to immediately retract, “Shit
wrong twin,” he took a step backward, and looked at his surroundings. Yoriichi stood idle,
looking doe-eyed and innocent, “I guess Makomo wasn’t kidding,” the man muttered to
himself.

Michikatsu turned around, knife in hand and prepared to defend his brother. Noticing the
offensive action the man began preparing to counter.

Realizing what was about to go down, Yoriichi grabbed his brother and quickly pulled them
apart, “Who are you, and what do you want with us,” he tucked Michikatsu behind him,
grabbing the knife out of his hand, and holding it towards the old man. For as stoic and aloof
as Yoriichi seemed, he was worried and could be quick to action.

This was the fourth encounter they came across in the past couple of days. The first three
wound up violent and life-threatening. Yoriichi didn’t come this far just to be stopped right
before their goal was reached. If that man wanted to harm Michikatsu Yoriichi was prepared
to put himself through first.

He filled with the knife in his hand, unsure of how to hold it properly, “Back off!! Or.. I’ll-
I’ll…” Yoriichi was overcome by fear. Something about the man was giving him a bad vibe.
He moved similarly to the woman, more precise yet less deliberate. His actions were thought
threw, yet were acted on as if it was second nature.

The man pointed towards the monster in the tree, “Deal with that.” He declared. Yoriichi
turned to look at it. He considered his options for a moment. Something about that man was
giving him a bad vibe. He could tell from his slight movements he wasn’t someone to be
messed with. But, he wasn’t sure if blindly following his order was appropriate either.
Shakily, Yoriichi lowered his weapon, “But when Mich-“ Yoriichi stopped himself mid-
sentence. He wasn’t sure saying their names was a smart move. He paused to clear his
cleared his throat, then spoke, “When he tried it with the knife you said it wouldn’t work.”
Yoriichi pushed Michikatsu back into the forest and walked over to the tree.

“Figure it out,” the man’s voice harbored resentment towards the boy as if he’d insulted his
mother, yet it had no lasting feelings. The uncomfortable juxtaposition left Yoriichi worried
and on edge.

he brushed past the silver-haired man, looking warily at his surroundings, and struggling to
find a different tool. The sun rose, glistening on the snowy white ground as Yoriichi
carelessly looked for a secondary weapon. He found heavy looking rock and picked it up. As
he headed back to the tree the sun reached the monster. It quickly burnt to a crisp leaving no
remains. Yoriichi dropped the rock right before his foot and stared in shock at the brutal
death.

“Dammit,” the old man thought, “I took too long to get here. We both wasted time. Now I
can’t get a good grasp of his abilities. Or maybe…”He looked at the frozen boy and frowned,
“he’s too slow… what a shame…” The man started to walk away before noticing the bloody
mess inside the building, “Right,” the other issue at hand clicked in his mind, “That boy
shouldn’t be my only concern, people died here.” Turning back the man walked beside the
building and began to dig a grave.

Yoriichi watched in horror as the head disappeared. He quickly turned and looked at his
surroundings for Michikatsu. Yoriichi thought of the worst. He couldn’t find Michikatsu, and
that creature might have been a demon. The woman from earlier warned him to not let
Michikatsu in the sun. If that thing was a demon, and burning like that is what happened
when they go into the sun, Yoriichi now understood why Michikatsu had been so hesitant.
But he knew he couldn’t.

“MICHIKATSU!!” Yoriichi cried out, frantically looking for his brother. He ran towards the
building and threw the door open. It was the only place he hadn’t checked yet. A wave of
relief overcame Yoriichi seeing Michikatsu sitting curled up with his knees in front of him
and the lid on top of his head. He sighed and tucked the lid shut, “Gimme a second then I’ll
get you and we’ll leave,” he patted the top of the lid as it shifted slightly from Michikatsu
nodding.

Outside the masked man was busy burying the victims and quietly mourned their deaths.
Standing up slowly he introduced himself to Yoriichi, “You must be the ones my apprentice
told me about. I am Sakonji Urokodaki.”

Yoriichi nodded, “Yes- my name is Yoriichi Tsugikuni.” He paused and thought for a
moment, debating if he wanted to reveal his brother’s identity too. Realizing the woman was
likely this man’s apprentice and likely told him everything she knew about them, Yoriichi
decided there was no point in hiding his brother, “And my older brother Michikatsu,”
Yoriichi pointed toward the building, “Is in there.”
Sakonji nodded slowly in approval, “Now, tell me Yoriichi,” although he wore a mask
Yoriichi felt his cold dead gaze wrap around himself, “What do you plan to do when your
brother eats someone?”

Yoriichi looked back at the building for a second, “He wo-“

Before he could finish his sentence Sakonji slapped him across the face, “Don’t think so
foolishly!!” His voice roared in the silence of the empty winter forest, “You rely on others for
the simplest of tasks. You couldn’t find a single thing to attack the demon with before
sunrise. You assumed the best of that monster you call a brother. How could you ever wish to
kill a demon?!??” His words were harsh yet seemed to lack full knowledge.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Yoriichi murmured, still misunderstanding the fundamental
difference between humans and demons. He meant to say it louder but the actions of the old
man freaked him out so much he couldn’t look away from his feet the ground.

“When your brother eats someone there are two things you must do.” Yoriichi blinked awake
and looked cautiously looked up at the man, “First,” he began to list, “You kill your brother,
then slit your own stomach and die.” Yoriichi remembered the same sentiment from the fox-
masked woman a few days ago, confirming his suspicions that the apprentice and her were
one and the same, “That is what it means to travel with a demon.” Sakonji took an audible
breath out, “But, it is your sacred duty for that to never happen. He must never take the life of
an innocent person. Do you understand?”

Yoriichi did not hesitate to answer, responding swiftly with a booming, “Yes.”

“Very well,” the man paused to think, “Shoulder your brother and follow me. It’s time to see
if you’re all she claims.”

Before long Yoriichi was tailing swiftly behind Sakonji. The man was fast for his seemingly
old age years. Yoriichi couldn’t help but watch in awe as his body moved during the run. He
found himself running out of breath much faster than the man. He seemed to have a technique
to it, on top of his clear experience.

As they marched forward Yoriichi slowly recognized a pattern in the Sakonji’s internal
movements, and quickly followed suit. He was nowhere near the same level as Sakonji, His
lack of experience shone, but he managed to get rid of some ground between them and calm
himself.

“He’s fast,” Yoriichi thought holding tightly on the straps of the basket, “How old is this
guy,” he wondered, “The girl looked to be in her twenties, and she was his apprentice right.?”
the run was taking a lot out of him. He was sweating like crazy, and found it hard to match
the man’s breathing peace, “He’s gotta be at least 40… right? I mean… even then he’s
probably older..”

Nearing the end Yoriichi managed to sync their breathing. It was creepy. Sakonji noticed his
changing strategies but gave it little mind, assuming running for hours was starting to help, or
Makomo wasn’t lying about his skills.
“I hope you’re doing okay Michi..” Yoriichi took a moment to look back at the basket behind
him. The poor quality of the dirt road led to a bumpy time. He was worried the wrong move
would cause the blanket lid to untuck itself, fall right off, and lead his brother to a horrific
burning death, “This road is rough, and the basket isn’t great. I’m sorry. Just, please, be
okay,” Thinking about it caused him to grab tighter, “I want to stay together, for as long as we
live, I want us to both have great big happy families, I want you to grow up strong and
protect everyone. We just need to tough this through together.”

He could barely hear Michikatsu groaning from inside the box. His breathing and the crunch
of the snow overpowered any noise Michikatsu could’ve made. It was only worrying Yoriichi
more, causing him to lose focus on Sakpnji’s actions, causing him to lose focus on how he
should be running, causing him to run more carelessly, causing him to be louder. The little
noise he could hear wasn’t reassuring either. He couldn’t tell if his brother was crying out or
snoring.

As he thought about it more, Yoriichi felt a little jealous. Michikatsu could be sleeping in
there, he hadn’t had a chance to rest since the whole ordeal started. But, even if given the
chance during the trip he wouldn’t have. What he wanted was for this all to be done and over
with.

After an endless eternity of running Sakonji finally came to a halt in front of a small house
hidden between trees.

Realizing the run was finally over Yoriichi paused to catch his breath, “Did I,” He stood back
up and faced the man, “Did I pass?” He asked eagerly. It was difficult to run carrying
Michikatsu and to stand still carrying Michikatsu. Honestly, it was hard to carry Michikatsu
in general. For as small as he could himself it still felt like he weighed a ton. Turns out
humans are heavy who would guessed?

“Leave your brother inside,” Sankoji instructed, pointing towards the now open door.
Yoriichi gladly let the weight off his back and set Michikatsu down inside, “The test begins
now. Climb the mountain.”

Yoriichi followed Sakonji up the steep snow mountain path. He was nervous leaving
Michikatsu alone like that but It was a physical relief to drop off.

He’d gotten the hang of how Sakonji managed his movements. His breathing was thoughtful
and his distribution even more so. Yoriichi spent the fleeting minutes up the mountain to
study as much of Sakonji as he could, believing the information may soon be vital.

Once at the top, Sakonji stopped and looked back at Yoriichi, “Now descend the mountain,
and return home before sunrise. I will not be waiting for you.” His words whisked away as
suddenly he disappeared into the fog.

“Huh,” Yoriichi looked around at his surroundings trying to figure out where Sakonji went,
“Climb back down..That can’t be hard right… or maybe.. there’s more to it?” Yoriichi
shrugged and turned to go back down his same path. Worry filled his mind as the fog flooded
his vision. He turned around frantically to recognize which path was correct before realizing
he was completely lost. Out of ideas he picked up a handful of snowy mud from the ground,
and marked the tree with it.

Further down the path a tripwire had been set. Continuing unassuming Yoriichi placed his
foot on the string and set off the trap. A horde of rocks shot out at him. Quickly he ducked
and covered his head. His heart was racing. Once they passed by him, Yoriichi stood back up
and continued walking.

Still in shock from the rocks, he carelessly marched forward and fell into another trap. This
time it was a covered hole. Leaves, mud, and snow fell on top of him. It had clearly been
designed to be hidden. Lying on his back Yoriichi took a moment to breathe. The mountain
was at a high elevation. He’d lived on a mountain and was used to thin air, but this was
considerably taller. The air was exceptionally thin. Mirroring Sakonji’s breathing could only
go so far.

“So this is the test…” Yoriichi stared up at the cloudy winter night. The moon shined bright
as clouds quickly passed it. He’d been trying to ignore it but the wind was sharp. Down in the
hole, it couldn’t reach him anymore, it was a nice break. Yoriichi’s face felt numb from the
bruises and the cold, “I can’t leave Michikatsu with that guy…but at this rate, I’m gonna die
before I get down the mountain.” Standing up he grappled a fallen branch of a nearby tree
and used it to pull himself up. Yoriichi’s foot slipped, causing him to lose his position and fall
back into the hole.

At the bottom of the hill, Sakonji was busy watching over Michikatsu. He wasn’t sure why
but he didn’t think a demon would need to sleep. He looked peaceful inside the bin. With his
eyes all closed it was hard to tell he wasn’t human. He didn’t sound or smell particularly
strange, the former being the typical giveaway for Sakonji. Michikatsu remained in a small
form. He’d fallen asleep during the trek out but hadn’t woken up or changed back yet.

Something about Michikatsu’s short stature warmed Sakonji’s heart. It’d been so long since
he’d been around children. He’d given up on training a long time ago and stopped being a
slayer for even longer. If it wasn’t for the fact he knew Michikatsu was a demon, he might
not have been able to tell. He’d always had a soft spot for children. Between that and his kind
face, he was very juxtaposed as a swordsman.

Sakonji picked the boy out of the basket and held him. A smile formed under his mask as the
peaceful sleeping demon reminded him of the children he used to take in and train. A staining
memory popped out of his mind, causing him to quickly and gently place Michikatsu on the
floor.

“I…am a fool…” Sakonji placed his hands on his lap and thought of the future. Shaking his
head and wondered why he’d even given Makomo’s request the light of day. After all, he
swore he was finished with it. The fact she succeeded broke a long streak with his
apprentices. And she wouldn’t even give herself the credit for it. He considered that may be
the reason he agreed. She was the only one. The kid after her failed, the one after him failed
too, and the ones before her had similar luck. He thought they were cursed, every last one of
them, himself included. Michikatsu twitched his leg in his sleep, startling the skilled ex-
demon slayer, “These two may be my last regardless…” he laughed to himself, “Who knows
 if that boy will even make it back…” he looked down at Michikatsu and frowned, “Oh my
dear Makomo… I hope your judgments were correct…”

Michikatsu and Sakonji’s night was peaceful and astonishingly uneventful. Sakonji managed
to tidy his home up a bit before Michikatsu woke up. Once he had it didn’t take long for the
demon to understand where its treasure had been put.

Sakonji found Michikatsu’s situation to be quite interesting. Regardless of the fact he was
able to comprehend what he said so quickly, it was clear his attention and main focus was not
to devour humans. He was not a typical demon. He’d either eaten the humans from earlier or
he regained his strength through other means. Sakonji didn’t want to rule anything out but
Michikatsu didn’t seem bloody in the slightest.

He wasn’t sure if Michikatsu truly recognized Yoriichi as his brother. He’d seemed protective
but he’d never found demons to be the sentimental type. Familial relations might not have
been the reason he was so devoted. More likely it was a different kind of obsession. Perhaps
the demon knew of Yoriichi’s true potential and wanted to do everything he could to surpass
him.

What Sakonji understood of demons is they followed their master's orders and valued gaining
power above all. If Michikatsu didn’t, or couldn’t consume human blood to gain strength,
then staying by the most powerful person it knows’s side would be the next best thing.
However, it was all speculation regardless. So much about demons was unknown to the
slayers.

Yoriichi had been put through the ropes. When he arrived at the bottom of the hill he was
bruised and beaten, mud soiled his clothes. The sun was starting to rise behind him,
remembering the warning Sakonji had given him hours ago, Yoriichi raced to the door. He
forcefully threw the door open and barged in without hesitation, both panting and out of
breath.

Sakonji looked towards the boy, seeing the sun pass above him, and congratulated him on the
arriving accomplishment, “Yoriichi Tsugikuni,” he paused and turned fully towards Yoriichi,
“I accept you as my student.”

Chapter End Notes

I realize it only after writing but some of the stuff almost borders on being weird and
could come of incest-y that is not my intention. I am not going to do that, please
understand. I will say this as many times as I feel necessary, i am not, nor will I ever
want, to write or make incest stuff.

The next to chapters may steer off the cannon corse a bit just so we can see more of the
other characters, and bc Michikatsu/Kokushibo will have a more prominent role then
nezuko did. (Ex, he is not going to be asleep the hole training arc or whatever you’d call
it/he is also training)
 Back By Dawn (1.5)
Chapter Notes

This chapter and the next one are going to be shorter. The next one is just going to be a
letter again (like chapter 2) but after those two it should be back to longer ones. Chapter
7 will be from a different characters pov instead of Yoriichi and Michikatsu. I’ll give
you one guess as to who it is (it’s Makomo she’d literally the only other character in it
so far)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Yoriichi walked into the house completely exhausted. He collapsed on the floor with the
pressure from the past day’s finally cracking. Sakonji was staring at him from behind and had
something to say. Yoriichi could tell something was wrong, quickly he rolled over,
embarrassed from his disrespect action, and opened his mouth slightly trying to form an
apology.

“Urok-“

“Yorii-“

“…”

“…”

They both paused and waited for the other to speak their mind.

“Urokodaki-kun please continue…” Yoriichi’s voice carried confusion. He had rarely been
outside their home. Anyone outside of the family was new territory to him. In top of that was
completely exhausted, and don’t know how to treat someone in high regard. Putting it bluntly
he only really knew of the honorific “kun” and “chan” and even then wasn’t sure of the
proper context for them.

“It’s no issue Yoriichi-kun. I will need to test your brother as well,” Sakonji gestured down
towards Michikatsu who had quickly made his way beside Yoriichi, “We’ll have to wait till
tonight, for obvious reasons…” Michikatsu wiped a piece of dirt off his brothers face and
rolled it in his hand until it disappeared.

Right as he finished his sentence, Yoriichi quickly responded in question, “Will he go alone?”
Yoriichi dreaded the idea of what happened to him or worse, happing to Michikatsu.
Although he didn’t say it, his implications were clear, he wanted to go with Michikatsu if
given the chance. Even if he wasn’t he might’ve tried to sneak out and follow them anyway.

Sakonji paused and considered Yoriichi’s proposal. He sighed, “That is the question isn’t it..”
 “Please let me go with him!” Yoriichi got straight to the point. Remembering what Makomo
wrote in the letters about the boys Sakonji considered what might happen if he didn’t.

“Yoriichi-kun clearly wants to be by his brother’s side… Makomo said he might be reluctant
if he can’t be around or protecting him…” Although he was embarrassed to admit it Sakonji
hadn’t actually given it much thought. If this what is meant to train a clearly gifted and
promising child perhaps he should agree to the one condition. He spent a few second thinking
through and rationalizing the exception to his rules, “There will be moments you will be
without your brother…” Sakonji started to explain, “However, ideally he will never be
alone,”he sighed. Letting a demon roam freely in the woods was an awful idea, “…We can’t
risk him running off and killing somebody.” Without another word Sakonji nodded, agreeing
to Yoriichi’s idea and trying to pass it off as his own.

“So tonight?” Yoriichi asked, leaning eagerly forward for clarification.

Sakonji nodded again, “Yes, and your training will begin after the matter.”

“Okay!!” Yoriichi’s eyes lit up as a wishful thought pressed him, “Is it ok then…” he put his
hand back to his side and placed it firmly on the ground, “…If I take a nap Urokodaki-
Chan?”

“Sure… and actually it’s s-“ before Sakonji could finish his sentence Yoriichi toppled over
and fell asleep on the hard floor.

Michikatsu looked down at his brother in shock then up at Sakonji who was equally
surprised. He tried to move away before realizing Yoriichi landed in such a way that he was
using his lap as a pillow.

Sakonji couldn’t help but chuckle to himself watching the demon’s gaze swift around the
room as he tried to escape without making a ruckus for the boy.

Chapter End Notes

I am also working on a zzz fic. If you like zzz you might want to check it out. Idk when
I’ll finish/post it. It should just be a one shot and it’s about Corin.

Side note, for the furture Muzan is Ubojashili’s swap and I think it would be funny if he
still cross dressed occasionally… chat what’s your thoughts
 Letter (pt2)
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Dear Makomo,

I have found the boys you sent to me. The younger one, Yoriichi, is just as you say. It’s clear
he has something special and can become a demon slayer. He managed to run along side me
from mount Sagiri with little issue, and then climbed down the mountain and return just
before sunrise.

The older one, Michikatsu, on the other hand, after watching his behaviors has left more
questions than answers. Disclosing this would make my letter unnecessary long, so I believe
you can respond with a detailed report without it. When this letter finds you please respond
with Heist. I need to know everything I can about this boy, and your encounter with them.

May this find you in good health,

Sakonji Urokodaki

Chapter End Notes

Fun fact I had this sense the 7th I was just waiting to finish the nesxt chapter and post
them both bc it’s so short.
 Meeting
Chapter Notes

Yesterday I worked on a dungeon meshi edit for over 11 hours. It’s not really important
to the chapter but like Jesus that took foreverrrrr. I’m not even fished with it.

Btw one of the characters in this chapter is supposed to be speaking Japanese with and
American accent but I’m writing in English so I ddint really know how to make it work.
Hopefully it’s fine

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Begrudgingly Makomo stood by the gates of the Sugikana estate. She was typically a calm
and patient woman, with an interesting way of words and wisdom that left lower ranks both
in awe and utterly confused. Sakonji trained her well. She was a capable, and strong, with
over 40 demons under her belt. Respected among the corps but not quite skilled enough to
become a Hashira.

However, the members of the Current Water Hashira, Managi Gyokko, household pissed her
off. He had a handful of disciples in descending ages. She was the only surviving apprentice
of Sakonji, yet Managi strut around having multiple. One of them in particular rubbed her the
wrong way.

When Makomo received the request, she had a sneaking suspicion he was the one that
requested her presence. They were the same corps rank, and the same age. Makomo was
older but she didn’t look the part. He was tall and had a big build whereas she was short and
well muscled. They had known each other from teenagdom, having participated in the same
final selection. He was head over heels at the site of her, but wouldn’t dare make a move. If it
hadn’t been for him she would’ve meet the same fate as Sakonji’s previous students. And she
hates it.

Sakonji was great hashira, but his legacy was being tainted by his students failures. Makomo,
as his only living apprentice, carried his reputation on her back. She refused to have anyone
speak poorly of him, but Managi’s successes only threw dirt in the wounds.

“Haelloo。。。(*´-`)”A young girl opened the gate and stood in front of Makomo. Her hair
was tied back with a purple ribbon, and looked like a big curly puff of smoke. She wore a
bright orange kimono with purple and white detailings, dark skin, and dark eyes, “Ins’de、
comme、please,” She spoke slowly and thoughtful, pausing often to think of her next word.
Her pronunciation was off, which would be expected of someone younger, however she was
clearly past that age, and it wasn’t in the typical manner a young child would pronounce
things.
Makomo wondered if she was a foreigner. Japan had lifted the travel ban 60 years back. It
wouldn’t be impossible for immigrants to come. Still one was a rare site. Makomo had never
seen someone so dark before, other than the current Water Hashira himself. She considered
she may be his own flesh and blood, but Even then his face and arms were pale and their eyes
were different colors. Someone completely like her felt mythical.

“Thank you,” Makomo bowed, and quickly headed inside, “He must’ve found another
one…”Walking towards the house she counted in her head how many of his students she’d
met. Makomo had known all of them but she’d never seen this girl before. It felt unreal, “But
she looks a little young to be a demon slayer, there’s no way he’s training her yet right.?”
Getting another good look Makomo figured she was around seven or eight years old, adding
to the mystery of her voice, “Then again, I was her age when Sakonji took me in…” The
brown-haired girl followed closely behind Makomo. Her attention shifted from nature around
the courtyard and the fox-masked slayer.

Trees were covered in silky white snow and the water sat calmly. The only sound
accompanying them being the sound of their own footsteps. Makomo thought of how strange
it was that she needed to listen closely to pick up on the other girls steps. Was she being
deliberate with it, was she just so light she didn’t break the snow, was it her unusual nature?

As they approached the manner the young girl quickly rushed ahead of Makomo and pulled
the door open. Suddenly Makomo recognized the girl running on the ground, “For yua、let
geett （＾ν＾）” She smiled and gestured for Makomo to walk inside.

Slipping off her shoes the fox-masked woman followed the girl down the hall. The inside of
the mansion was littered with decorative vases and paintings. She’d heard rumors that the
current Water Hashira was a skilled craftsman, but considered it was an inside joke amour
lower ranks. A professional killer having the patience for fine art seemed unlikely. On top of
that, when Sakonji told tales of his days Hashira he rarely had time off, and when he did it
was because he was injured. Training multiple children and being a Hashira, meant there was
no way the rumors were true. Yet, amount of art around the house was surmountable. If he
hadn’t made them himself he currently spent a fortune on it

“Biggeer Broeuther(^^)/ Hereee sh’ is,” The young girl barged into a bedroom on their left.

Her “Bigger brother” sat on the floor by a table, with a tea-set and two empty cups. Makomo
recognized him immediately. Her unwanted knight in shinning armor. Still tall as she
remembered, having the same balance of meat and fat on his bones. Like a sumo wrestler he
carried a lot of weight but was very muscular underneath. He wore the demon slayer uniform,
and a new purple haori. That was something she hadn’t seen before. In the past his was white
with a faded blue scale pattern. His hair was slicked back in a tight ponytail, the loose hair
exploding like fish’s fins.

He smiled at the women. Standing up the unprompted knight walked to the young girl and
pat her on the head, “Thank you Yamera-chan,” She smiled, giggling to herself before
quickly dashing out and giving them one last look. Makomo turned towards Yamera, who
mouthed something. Putting both hands over her chest she moved them up and down to
resemble a heart beating, before laughing and quickly shutting the door. Makomo couldn’t
tell what she said but her intentions were clear.

Irritated she turned back to Yamera’s Bigger Brother. Sitting down across from him, Makomo
placer her sword beside her, and sat her hands in her lap , “Why did you call me here Saitou-
Kun?” She asked uninterested.

“Urodokai-San please, we’ve known each other for years. Call me Naomi,” He looked at her
disheartened, like a puppy in a “free puppies” box that was left out in the rain and soaked. He
plopped down across from her, pushing one of the cups towards her and grabbing the kettle to
pour some for her.

Watching him pour, she sighed, “Why would I call you by your first name? You don’t call me
Makomo,” She retorted, calling out his hypocrisy.

“Do you really think of me that closely?” He asked, coving his face and looking away from
the fox-masked woman, “I mean if you want me to I could… I just didn’t what to be rude to
you…” he muttered, still hiding behind his giant fucking hand.

Makomo stared blankly at him. That wasn’t her intention nor was it her implication, but at
this point she despised everyone in the household so much him calling her Makomo was the
least of her concerns, “There’s little you could do to change my opinion of you...” a strand of
hair brushed past her face as she quickly tucked it back in. Naomi watched from the corner of
his eyes and couldn’t help but be in awe of her every move. His eyes lit up with excitement
as he quickly turned to her, hovering over the table and almost tipping it over. Makomo tilted
her up head, Naomi leaning over her barely an inch from her face. His excitement was
intoxicating, she hadn’t originally mean it that way but the idea started to not sound half bad.

“Really?!!?” He asked like a dog about to be handed a treat.

Looking up at him she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. Her face blushed red as she tried
to think of what to say, “Uawhhh-“ Suddenly Crow BANGED against the window making a
loud screeching sound.

The two adults both forgot about their preoccupation, running towards the window to quickly
get it opened. Makomo leaned outside and grabbed the injured bird from a nearby bush as
Naomi held her in place. She grabbed the crow, gently setting it on the table and waited for it
to react.

A couple second slayer the bird shot up “CAWWWWWWW!!!!!” It hoped between looked
between the swordsmen and announced its perpose, “I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM
KIBUTSUJI-SAMA!!!MAKOMO UROKODAKI, NAOMI SAITOU, YOUR PRESENTS
ARE REQUESTED. ALL KINOTOS ARE ISSUED FOR THE
MEEEEEEEETTTTINGGG!!!!” Makomo put her hands to her ears and muted the
obnoxiously loud crow. It seemed to have no sense of volume, only yelling. Once finished
she lowered them and looked towards Naomi.

His puppy-faced excitement disappeared as the crow explained the situation. He looked
furiously at the crow and nodded agreeably, “Understood,” his calm voiced carried a sense of
 firmness and power. Makomo couldn’t help but study at his ability to shift between
playfulness and composure. As much as she disliked him, he had some admirable qualities,
“Please inform Kibutsuji-sama we will make haste and arrive at the earliest opportunity..”

The crow hopped around the table and looked for its nearest exit. Hesitantly it flew out the
window, and thanked the lord it wasn’t closed.

Naomi slouched down and sighed. His attitude switching back just as easily. Looking down
sorrowfully at his feet, he hoped for more time with Makomo, “Time to head out then,” he
laughed, looking back and reaching for her hand.

It hovered by her waiting to be grabbed but not making a move. Noticing his not forward,
forward action Makomo held in her laugh. Bending down her to grab her sword she grabbed
his hand and pulled him with her. Tucking it into her belt she stood up, pulling him with her
again. Brushing off her skirt she noticed Naomi looking dazed at the see-saw of motion he
endured.

A piece of hair untucked from his ponytail. Standing on his tiptoes she leaned in forward and
place it behind his ear, “Leave the loose hair to the professionals. Something like that it’ll
make you lose your concentration,” she laughs.

Walking to the door and slowly opening it Makomo is near face to face with Yamera once
more. A series of thoughts rush through her head ranging from, was she here the whole time?
to, how couldn’t I tell she was here? Yamera’s face fills with embarrassment as she quickly
stands up and runs away. Holding onto her sword she tries to act as if nothing happened and
continues onward, “It’s best not to leave the Master waiting, Naomi-kun.”

Chapter End Notes

The next chapter will be back with Yoriichi and the gang I think. Anyway halfway
through writing I just decided, “why not add oc x cannon ships to it?”

🙏🙏🙏
I don’t wanna spoil to much but I do plan to reference/straihj up have Emily kocho in
the fic so
 Corps Reports
Chapter Notes

Sorry this took so long. I was just struggling with to find time to write.
really into dandy’s world and couldn’t stop playing it)
🙏🙏🙏 (I got
Trying to substitute the name for this chapter was a pain considering none of the reason
the og chapter was called “tanjiro’s journal” still exists in this chapter lmaooo

I’m not sure which chapter is gonna be next. It’ll probably still be from Yoriichi and the
gang but you never know. I hope the errors aren’t to atrocious I read through it a bit but
you never know what I mibjt miss

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Demons.

Unclear when where or why they first appeared. They date back centuries, killing humans
and cannibalizing the remains. Corpses have been left in various conditions, leading further
speculation as to which part is important. Different cases have involved various or no organs
missing. No reports of demons eating other foods or animals have been listed. This suggest
after turning into a demon other necessities become erelevant

The process of turning into a demon involves getting fluids from the demon within your
system. Blood is most common but other liquids have been stated as how the demon turned.
Further research on if the monster was lying or not is needed.

Demons have extreme advantages over the humans. Having abilities such as quickly healing
wounds, tremendous physical strength, reattaching severed limbs, and forming new ones.
One repot states they can change form. Others have listed victim’s bodies manipulation,
manipulation of select areas, distortion, functioning multiple severed limbs at once, and
specialized weapons. These specific specialties have been classified as “Blood Arts”, which
his is because the demons with them call it that. Demons of higher strength more commonly
have these characteristics.

The only effective ways to kill a demon is through exposure to sunlight, or cutting off their
heads. Other strategies have been proven inadequate as the demon either regenerates faster
than damage can be done, or the battle lasts till dawn or reaches sunlight. Weakness towards
certain flora has been demonstrated, but no effective way to involve in combat have been
found.

Yoriichi read aloud the passages while waiting for Sakonji to return. He went to get
something but refused to elaborate on what that “something” was. He seemed weird about it.
Like it was embarrassing to get or inappropriate. It felt very out of character for Sakonji and
weird to dwell on.

Michikatsu watched over Yoriichi’s shoulder as he flipped the pages of the journal, “You
don’t feel hungry anymore Michi?” Yoriichi asked, Closing the book and looking towards his
brother. Michikatsu didn’t respond. Ungaged he reached for the book on his brother’s lap and
continued reading on his own.

Yoriichi sighed. Alone they would take Michikastsu’s gag out. Yoriichi felt bad for forcing
him to wear it all the time. Around others there was a risk. He could be temped to bite or eat
someone. Encouraging a demon by leaving one of its weapons in its arsenal open was a
recipe for disaster. And if he hurt anyone they’d both be in a world of trouble. Yet he had no
interest in attacking his younger brother.

Sakonji took notice of the unusual behavior but had no one to confide in. Storing a demon
was highly taboo, and it was unlikely anyone had anything of worth to share. Based on what
the journal said, loss of speech wasn’t common for demons either. It was the weirdest case
he’d ever seen.

Some demons he’d encountered in the past couldn’t talk. But when they didn’t talk they show
many sighs of basic intelligence. Young children, old men, animals, they all acted crazed. No
talking, maybe a growl.

The past months Michikatsu easily understood the training exercises. He was mute, not
simple. In fact Michikatsu had a great understanding of the training exercises. He quickly
figured how to get down the mountain, how to avoid, and get out of the traps. As the traps got
trickier and the path got longer he could keep a progressing pace. During sword practice
Sakonji would demonstrate, then correct their form while the boys both worked. Yoriichi was
better at that sort of stuff. He made far less mistakes then Michikatsu. But all that was wrong
for him was the form. With enough redirection he got it right.

If one twin faltered the other learned and mimicked their brother’s mistakes. Sometimes
Sakonji felt like he was only training one person. They always seemed to know everything
the other knew. Which didn’t make sense because the things he distinctly remembers only
taught Michikatsu still reached Yoriichi. Michikatsu couldn’t talk after all. It was like he was
being gaslit. How on earth did a mute kid tell his brother stuff?? It’s not like there is a
language specifically designed to be spoken without sound, it’s 1910’s Japan after all.

It’s not like they were very hard to tell apart, from the back maybe, but from the front there
were obvious indicators. At first, Michikatsu was the only one wearing a ponytail, but once
practice got put in high gear Yoriiichi found his long undone hair to be a problem. Sakonji
considered braiding one of their hairs, or just forcing them to cut it off, but it turns out three
men don’t exactly know how to hair. However the front was easy. There were obvious
indicators who was who. For example, Yoriichi and a gaint scar, and Michikatsu had six eyes.

“Identical Twins” my ass.

Another form of practice they partook in was sparing. One on ones, fighting either each other
or Sakonji. At first their teacher went at them unarmed, easily overwhelming them. Both
struggled but in different situations. For example, Yoriichi could tell when Sakonji was about
to strike him down, but was slowed by the weapon in his hands. He was clearly
inexperienced. Often times standing still, letting the full action play out, like a deer in
headlights. His eyes darting around the opponent until their attack landed. The choice seemed
odd at the time. Yoriichi was constantly being injured and pushed to the edge. But after a
week or two of hardship he build the strength to quickly get back up on his feet, and became
nearly impossible to hit. Every move made against him left the attacker feeling vulnerable,
read like an open book. It was scary.

Yet for his impressive techniques, Yoriichi didn’t care for fighting. Most things Sakonji made
them do as long as Michikatsu did it first Yoriichi was quick to follow, but this was different.
It was clearly more than just a pacifistic mindset. Yoriichi understood through and through
what a demon was now. What they did. How many they killed. Killing one demon was saving
more lives, not to mention delivering justice for those who died. As his teacher, Sakonji
needed his student to overcome whatever fear struck him down. But, prying for answers lead
to Yoriichi describing deeply disturbing images of the human body. Organs and how slimy
they moved, blood carrying throughout the body, things going in, things going out. They
seem r to always yet never appear. When he was younger it freaked him out but he didnt
think much of it. He didn’t understand what it was, just a wild childish imagination. But after
their father died, two and two were put together. It’s was the inside of a body. Since then he
felt like throwing up. Memories of his father dead on the floor filling his mind. Slashing into
someone, causing that to someone else, he just couldn’t do it.

Until like his brother, Michikatsu wasn’t hesitant to attack. When sparing with he often got
himself hurt. Attacking recklessly to make sure he hit something. It was the only time he’d do
anything to harm his brother dearest. The sentiment was admirable but his performance was
lacking. What Michikatsu needed was for someone to smack him over the head and tell him
blindly attacking is worse than just being hit. But, as a demon he was able get back on his
feet fast. Simple attacks couldn’t keep him down and his endurance built fast. If Yoriichi was
like a piece of paper blowing in the wind, he was like a brick wall. You could hit it but that
wouldn’t do [Link], for a while Sakonji didn’t teach him that how he acted was reckless.
Since he was a demon he was fine. Minor injuries healed fairly quickly and maybe
handicapping him was necessary. After all if he got to used to it one bad day and Japan might
be down two people.

One day during a spar between the brothers, Michikatsu had nearly landed a hit on Yoriichi.
He quickly slashed the blade forward, Yoriichi dogging the side, and swiftly following.
Shifting his footing and turning he continued moving downwards. Coincidently however,
Sakonji was monitoring, and Yoriichi had moved in his direction. Michikatsu, thinking he
was able to do the undoable, and hit his brother, recklessly put full force into his strike,
hitting Sakonji instead. Their teacher was unarmed but caught off guard, narrowly missed the
determined blade.

Michikatsu had payed no attention to himsler or his surroundings. This was the final nail in
the coffinZ Sokonji realized the young demon had no sense of preservation in attack, a fact
that in the context of training may be fine, but once shit hits the fam he could get himself
killed, or kill someone else, by accident. Watching over the boys for half a year he knew the
only motive for Yoriichi to be doing this was to keep his brother safe. He was the strongest
candidate Sakonji had ever met.

He dreaded sending Yoriichi to final selection. It was a death wish with a bad winning streak.
Still new recruits popped up every year. With his talents there was a chance Yoriichi would
be one of the lucky few. But if Michikatsu died during a fight he wasn’t sure Yoriichi would
continue especially because Yoriichi didn’t want to fight in the first place. There was no way
in hell anything could happen to that boy.

Separating the boys for the first time since becoming his students, Sakonji had two opposite
troubles. Yoriichi wouldn’t attack, and Michikatsu couldn’t stop. They were his 13th and 14th
students. He knew many different ways to train. He knew how to handle both of their
problems. Just, he’d stopped making mental note of who knew what. Cursing himself for his
own poor behaviors Sakonji faced the fact he couldn’t take the easy way out anymore.

During training he left Yoriichi alone. Yoriichi knew understood the basics of it all and when
faced with a target dummy could attack it easily. He hoped getting him in the mindset of an
attack isn’t always going to draw blood might help. And what better to practice on than a
practice dummy or glorified tree!!! Michikatsu on the other hand seemed hopelessly. Sakonji
quickly realized that he could act carefully but his strikes weren’t strong. He had no middle
ground. It was one extreme or the other, neither being practically better.

Shifting gears, Sakonji knew it was time to let the other shoe drop. He’d been holding off for
as long as possible. It was something he dreaded and knew couldn’t possibly go well, but at
this point he’d broken far to many rules to go back. It was time to teach Michikatsu water
breathing techniques.

Yoriichi already knew it all and could do them very well. In fact Sakonji was astonished by
how quickly he took to them. He’d never met someone able to master it such little time.
Needless to say he was a little disappointed when Michikatsu didn’t share his brother’s
potential. It took a few weeks for Michikatsu to get the basics down, then another few to
speed up how quickly he could do them. With time Sakonji recognized a middle ground was
being formed within Michikatsu’s skill set. His strikes weren’t nearly as strong but they were
focused. It was step in the right direction. Even if only a baby step.
…
..
.
..
…
“I have nothing else to teach you,”Sakonji stood between the boys. He’d lead them down a
path in the middle of the mountain. Covered by a canopy of trees a comedically large bolder
filled the background, “For your last task, use what I have thought you and break this bolder.
Once you finish, I will approve you for final selection.”

The boys glanced at each other then back at their teacher. Holding a look that screamed
“which one of us do you mean??” Letting their teacher understand more context was a need.
Turning to the younger twin Sakonji addressed Yoriichi, “You have all the skills you need to
advance and become a demon slayer. However, you lack the ability to attack. I have
absolutely no idea what your true strength with a sword holds!! You practice on wood and
straw but those materials are weak!! They prove nothing!! You have no strength!!” His voice
held a long set of fury. He placed his hand on Yoriichi shoulder, “Prove me wrong. Cut the
bolder.” Slowly he nodded and scrambled to find his sword. Finding it first, Sakonji held the
hilt down as Yoriichi prepared to remove it, “Hold your horses. Michikatsu needs also to
prove held. Unlike you I actually know what he’s capable of. All he needs to do is slice it
throug….” Sakonji paused, the realization of only having one bolder suddenly hitting him.
He thought for a minute about how stupid it was he even made children do this. Finding huge
holders isn’t easy after all. Quietly cursing something under his breath he instructed the boys
to turn back, “I just remembered...” Removing his hand. He looked up to the sky for a bright
scene of whimsy, “Return home for tonight. You will practice on the bolder in the morning.
Keep reading the reports. I have other matters to attend to….”
…
..
.
..
…
Back at the bottum of the hill, Michikatsu and Yoriichi sat crisscrossed, back to back, with
their head pressed against each other. Setting the book in his lap, Michikatsu flipped through
the pages haphazardly. Not focused on the words or content, he placed it beside them. The
open page showed a blank piece of paper smuggled and with residue of ripped pages beside
it.

Suddenly standing up Michikatsu startled his younger brother, “Is something wrong.?”
Yoriichi turned and watched as his brother made a mess searching through the room.
Ransacking through a draw he stopped. He thought for a minute before turning done to the
floor and examining closely. Once spotting something he dropped on his knees and crawled
around the wood. A floorboard in the middle of the room was slightly discolored and
damaged. It bent upwards in a way the other hadn’t and was covered in misplaced scratch
marks. Setting his hands firmly on the ground, Michikatsu suck his nails through the cracks
of the floorboards and pulled the panel out. Underneath it was a small dug hole. The walls
were covered in dirt and a poorly crafted rock insulation. The Inside of the whole was littered
with random items, ripped papers, an old pen, hair, especially shiny rocks, a piece of a broken
katana tip.

Grabbing the pen he slid back to the book, ignoring the gaping hole in the ground. Yoriichi
turned to face his brother just as he finished noting down an idea on the notebook paper.

Dıd youuu seae them.??

Michikatsu’s handwriting was awful. Not because he was a demon but because nobody really
bothered to teach them proper calligraphy. Yoriichi’s was worse, looking constantly like
someone was writing with their non-dominant hand or their foot. Holding the page up to his
younger brother, Michikatsu eagerly presented the spoiler documents.

Yoriichi stared down at the notebook paper. Michikatsu’s handwriting spread across both
pages, “see them?” He thought, “See who???” Yoriichi had absolutely no idea what his
brother was referring to. Grabbing the paper and pen from Michikatsu’s hand he scrabbled on
the paper.

nO

From the outside it seemed rather stupid for them both to be writing. After all Yoriichi could
talk, there wasnt a need for substitution there, and his handwriting was ass. However, it was
more like when one person starts randomly whispering so everyone else whispers too.
There’s no reason for it yet people follow along blindly.

Michikatsu gave his brother a confused look. Waving his hands round he gestured as if to
return Yoriichi’s memories. His poor act of charades cut short by the sound of footsteps near
the house. Like lighting he ripped the pen out of Yoriichi’s hand, slamming it into the hole
and placing the floorboard back over. He scooted back over to his younger brother, sitting on
top the removable piece of wood and acted calm.

“I’m coming inside,” Sakonji yelled. The door wrestled from outside the house as he opened
it. The sun, now having risen, flowed the door, carrying light in like a river carrying water.
Michikatsu shifted to wall and hid behind a chair. It wasn’t exactly elegant, but as Sakonji
closed the door behind himself, he then quickly crawled back out.

“Urokodaki,” Yoriichi waved.

“Yoriichi-kun come with me.” Sakonji demanded. Getting up, Yoriichi didn’t bother to bring
along his brother. Michikatsu watched as the two boys headed back out into the world and
waited patiently, sun-locked within the house.

Along the path craved into the mountain, Sakonji stopped and abruptly turned left. He ran
through the trees ducking under branches and leaping over logs. Yoriichi held onto the hilt of
his sword as they ran through the unused forest “path”. Sakonji stopped once more and
moved out of the way as to let Yoriichi stand beside him.

“Do you think you have this path memorized?” He asked looking forward into the forest.
Yoriichi glanced behind him then back at himself.

“No,” He said bluntly. Sakonji sighed knowingly. He wasn’t frustrated by it, knowing the
alternative was entirely unrealistic.

“Do you think you can make it back to the house?” He asked.

“Yes,” Yoriichi faced forward staring at nothing in particular. He fiddled with the position of
his sword while Sakonji began slowly walking forward.

“Good, Good.” He said, mumbling the second one. The sound of forest litter crushed under
his feet. He took a few steps forward before stopping again and pausing to think, “You’ll
need to come back here everyday now. I don’t have anything else to teach you. Yoriichi-kun
you are a skilled boy. I believe you have what it takes to kill demons. You are far beyond any
other student I’ve taught. If anything you could’ve easily left mounts ago, however I am a
fool. I’m having you to this purely out of tradition. There is no doubt in my mind you’ll break
it with ease..” Sakonji monologue ran on as he peacefully cleaned up the area around them,
“This is your bolder,” within the small patch of cleared forest sat a large bolder to the side of
a tree. It was considerably larger than the one shown earlier this that night and it was placed
in much less of a desirable location, “Once you and Michikatsu-Kun cut through both I will
send you to the next final section..”Sakonji shunned his head down as if he’d been mourning.
Watching the bugs crawl across the rocky mountain floor he heard a loud piercing slash. It
echoed in his body leaving a lasting impactful feeling. As he looked up from his feet his body
felt heavy with dread. In front of him was Yoriichi sword in hand. Within a second he’d spilt
the bolder straight in two. His jaw dropped to the floor from witnessing the fastest bolder
breaking he’d ever seen. Suddenly a switch flipped in his mind and he quickly changed gears.
He’d felt bad about sending another child to there likely death but with that there was no way
in hell Yoriichi was going to die by the hands of a lesser demon stuck in the final selection
forest.

“Yoriichi,” Sakonji placed his hands on the back of the boy’s shoulders and gripped tightly,
“Forget your Brother. You’re going to this years.”
...
..
.
..
…
Later that night Sakonji instructed the boys to head back to the bold from the other day. Final
selection wouldn’t be for a while longer so they still had time for Michikatsu to break his
own bolder. Comparing the size, Michikatsu’s was about the size of a car whereas Yoriichi’s
was the size of a van.

Michikatsu borrowed Yoriichi’s sword for the endeavor. They couldn’t find his and didn’t
want to waste precious sunless hours. As the summer reached its peak the nights were barely
nights at all. The weather was warm and the breeze was faint. It was humid and awful in the
thick mountain fog.

Getting a feel for the placement Michikatsu started to swing at the air. Yoriichi dropped to the
floor defeated. He didn’t sleep last night and after breaking the bolder Sakonji told him to
continue practicing his skills. Watching his brother’s endless task, it wasn’t long before
Yoriichi fell asleep against a tree. His head tilted down placed his hair loosely like a curtain,
and his arms stayed crossed in the upright siting position he fell asleep in.

Michikatsu stopped. Taking off unnecessary layers, he walked over to his brother and placed
the rugged clothing over Yoriichi like a blanket. He adjusting it he moved Yoriichi down to
the ground and used another unwanted layer under his head like a pillow. Patting his nicely
done job, Michikatsu picked up the katana, reading to finally hit the bolder.

He swung at it a few times full force, in very different spots. Small pieces of chopped forgery
flew past him as he tried to brute force his way through it. Between breaths he tried switching
the hand he used. It didn’t far much better. They were a bit closer together but it was clear no
mental effort was being put in to truly hit it.
“You’ve never gonna break it with that attitude,” Michikatsu looked to the source of the
sound. A boy in red clothes sat atop the bolder chuckled at him. Jumping down, a chill ran
down the demon’s spine. The red wearing boy examined him closely, “Hm, something weird
about you. What’s with the eyes? Birth detects? Did god curse you? Was your mom a whor-
AHKK!!” Another figure smacked him across the back of his neck shutting him up
effectively.

As the figure came into view Michikatsu realized it was a woman. She wore a long red
Kimono, with deep magenta detailings, and a crossed fox mask. Her voiced sounded like a
whisper carried in the wind. Far away and breathy, yet clear and beautiful, “Where are your
manners? What’s wrong with you?” She demanded.

The boy laughed, “We don’t get new people around here very often, and besides isn’t he
something interesting. Just look at him.”

The girl sighed, “He’s clearly a demon.” She said bluntly pointed towards his ears and mouth,
“The fact you couldn’t tell speaks volumes. Actually, I’m not even sure why I thought you
could to begin with.” She said shaking her head. The two strange children bickered like
children.

While they were distracted Michikatsu looked back at Yoriichi. The others hadn’t noticed
him yet. Slowly Michikatsu started backing towards his younger brother. His clothes were
placed just right that in the darkness of the muggy summer night he was hard to place if you
didn’t know where to look.

The red boys eyes shifted to Michikatsu. He’d gotten halfway to Yoriichi before the boy ran
up to the him and grabbed him by the chin, “Now where are you going?” Pushing away his
head the boy in red looked beside Michikatsu and took notice of the strange pile by the tree,
“OOoOOoO~ Got something sweet over therreee? What is it?” He teased. Michikatsu felt his
blood boil. Pushing the boy off him, he two steps back and held Yoriichi’s Katana to the boys
neck. Impressed by such a forward action he applauded, “You’re a feisty one-!! Fineee~
wanna fight soo badly. This’ll be fun. Nobody wants to fight these days,” the boy in read
shifted his mask over his face and pulled a wooden sword out from his clothing.

Michikatsu striked forward at the boy. Dodged slowly the boy ducked and dashed away.
Having practiced with Yoriichi, Michikatsu was a master of dealing with those who run away.
Quickly he followed and forced the sword down swiftly. A smile formed across the boys face
as he kicked Michikatsu’s legs knocking them both into the ground. Before he could react the
boy pushed him off and stood up.

“Beginner’s luck.” His voice sounded bitter as his hand felt around the back of his head.
Michikatsu may have missed but he still managed to slice off a chunk of his hair, “That attack
was plain and misguided. Try ACTUALLY hitting me, come on?” He waved towards
Michikatsu and waited for him to stand up. The Masked-boy swung towards Michikatsu,
putting his sword between them the boys pushed against each other in a standstandmate,
“What’s wrong? Don’t having anything to say?“ The question was completely rhetorical.
Michikatsu clearly had a muzzle on. The boy and girl couldn’t have known about his
unexplained muteness but he clearly was preoccupied, “What’s the deal with it anyway? Lost
a bet?”
 Letting down his guard, the red wearing boy landed the first of many back and fourths. They
clashed with each other ferociously for a minute. Michikatsu barely managed to land blow
and when he did it was in pointless spots. Panicked and stubborn he’d forgotten the lessons
Sakonji tried hammering into him. The sounds of the blades felt like scratching on a
chalkboard. Each strike growing louder and louder and louder. Itwas incapacitating,
deafeningly loud and obnoxious. Before he knew it one final hit landed and Michikatsu was
sent rolling to the floor. He tried to get up but couldn’t and before he knew it the demon had
passed out.

“He only got less and less promising as we fought,” the boy complained pulling back his
mask, “why don’t you give it a shot?” He tucked away the sword and turned to the girl. She
stood by the bolder watching carefully. Walking past her, he pat her on the head and pushed
her in Michikatsu’s direction, “You were always better at this kinda stuff anyway.”

Chapter End Notes

I’d just like to thank everyone who is reading and enjoying this, it makes me very happy
to now people enjoy my writing.
 Final Selection
Chapter Notes

Sorry this took so long. I got distracted with other things. I probably will be updating
further apart now due to school but ty for reading

See the end of the chapter for more notes

There are a few hundred members of the demon slayer corps. The organization isn’t officially
recognized by the government, but it has existed for many generations. In the past it had been
a very secretive organization. Working in the shadows to rid of the world of demons.
However in recent years they have taken a more forceful approach.

“The only way to kill a demon is with a Nichirin sword.” Sakonji stated, “And with them you
must hit their weak point…” he raised his hand above his chest over his neck, “…their neck.”
Handing Yoriichi a sword Sakonji explained its significance, “This was mine when I was a
demon slayer. It is a Nichirin sword. You will use this during final selection..” Yoriichi held
the worn black blade in both hands and nodded, “This is also for you” He placed a mask on
top of Yoriichi’s head then spoke, “This is a warding mask. It protects those who wear it from
evil. I craft one for all of my students before they leave for final selection.”

Yoriichi looked upwards, “Thank you-“ he said softly.

“You can’t take Michikatsu-kun. The mountains are covered in wisteria. The flowers trap the
demons on the upper half. There will also be many others, and they may not take to kindly to
a demon. Do you understand?” He pulled the mask over Yoriichi face and set his arms to the
side. Yoriichi nodded. With a smile Sakonji bid his student adieu waving him off as he ran
past the horizon, “Make it back alive.” He muttered under his breath.

Finally arriving to the Mountain, the moon halfway before its peak. A group of 20 or so
children holding swords stood around the mountain. Beautiful purple flowers littered the
scenery. The smell was potent but tolerable. Brushing his hands over the low hanging plants
Yoriichi felt the soft and dewey flower petals. The blew like wind chimes in the breeze.
Hitting each other and bobbing around. He’d never seen such a thing before.

Two children dressed in matching clothing stood in the middle of the group. They bore no
weapons instead holding paper lanterns on a stick. One was a girl. She wore her hair back in
two ponytails, both tied by a white lacy ribbons. The other a boy. He had short messy black
hair. Both wore wisteria in their hair and a passive look as if to pity those who showed up.

“Greetings everyone,” The young girl spoke first. Her voice innocent and wary, “Thank you
for gathering for final selection.”
“Mount Fujikasane holds demons that our fellow swordsmen have captured,” the boy said,
“Demons are weak wisteria flowers. Which happens to bloom here, even out of season,” his
voice was calm but loud. Compared to the girl he’d clearly done this before. The two looked
vaguely like siblings and he was likely older, “They cover halfway to the slope. However
after that there is none, and the demon may roam free.”

“You must survive there for seven days,” She abruptly blurted out, “If- If you don’t- if you do
then you have passed final selection,” The boy side-eyed her as she slipped up. Shaking it off
he rolled his eyes and looked back at the group.

“Now go,” The boy demanded. As the worlds left his mouth the first few children ran past
with little hesitation. The remaining group was left to feel as if they’d missed it already.
Suprised by the sudden action another group of children ran into the woods, then another, and
another. Up the mountain was eerily quiet. As the sound of children huffing and pushing
slowly died a fear of unknown overcame those left alone.

“Hey-!!! Get lost- gonna-“ Yoriichi heard words coming out from the trees in the distance. It
was hard to make out. He tried to continue walking and ignoring it, but they were clearly
gettting louder. The intense sound of Rustling leaves alerted Yoriichi of his next move.
Reaching for his weapon, he drew the sword and prepared for impact.

Two grotesque human looking figures sprouted out of the trees and launched themselves at
the boy. Dodging, he dashed to the side. Moving the position of his sword Yoriichi watched
for the demons to tense and breathe. He came towards them catching them off guard. With a
swooshhh the head of one demon fell to the ground with a loud thud. His heart was racing
watching it decay. Its eyes, then nose then mouth then teeth. Just as it disappeared the other
demon reached for his leg. Kicking it away, he knocked the monster down. As it stood up the
demon left itself open to attack. Yoriichi took advantage of its thoughtless choice, swinging
his sword and slicing off his head.

His stomach churned witness its organs slowly stop moving. Turning to ash nothing but their
clothes remained. A twisted relief came over him. The body is now lost and gone. He
wouldn’t have to stare his victims in the face.

Taking a moment to breathe and put the sword away he sat on the ground and felt the fabric
of the demons clothes. It was rough and torn. Dirt and blood stained the different articles as
he looked through the patterns of the fabrics.

Just as Yoriichi reached a moment of peace, the secluded area he resided in turned out to be
quite the tourist destination. A boy holding a sword ran past him screaming like a madman.
Trailing behind the boy was a large thumping demon. One hand the monster held the body of
young boy. His neck twisted and arms flailing in the wind. Blood dripped from his mouth as
his face kept a frozen shocked expression. The demons body was covered in several layers of
flesh and mismatched skin, different sizes and textures and colors and decay. Its neck was
wrapped around a scarf of arms. Hands held onto each other like a freaky human latter.

A hand shot out of the gaping mass of flesh, reaching for the living boy desperately running
away. Not willing to let an innocent bystander die like that, Yoriichi ran to the demon and
severed its hand. It hit the ground like a rock. A loud thud echoed through the trees as the
hand dropped to the ground, letting go of the boys ankle, and letting him scurry off.

The sound of squishy shifting flesh ached as the demon turned to look at Yoriichi, “Oh~” it
squealed, “One of my dear foxes has arrived!!! Tell me?” The hulking beast dropped to eye
level and looked Yoriichi in the eye, “Witch Meiji emperor sits upon the throne?”Looking to
see where the other child went, Yoriichi turns back to the demon. Trying to remember who
the current emperor was, the demon grew impatiently and demanded the answer again.

Having not prepared for this, as he didn’t think politics would be relevant in the test, Yoriichi
haphazardly spoke the only thing he could remember, “The imperial family are the Taisho’s
now-“

Its eyes went crazed at the answer and began to wallow in a mixture of screams and laughter,
“AGGHH!!!!!! IVE BEEN HERE THAT LONG!?! DENSITIES HAVE BOTH RISEN AND
FALLEN??!!?DAM YOU!!! DAM YOUUUU!!!” It screamed, “UNFORGIVABLE!!! DAM
YOU UROKODAKIIII!!!!”

“You know Urokoda-“ Before Yoriichi could finsh the demon spat back out at him.

“Of course I know HIM!!! He’s the cursed man who captured me!!! It’s been 47 years!!!
FOURTY SEVEN that I have been TRAPPED in this WISTERIA PRISON!!! In the Edo
period, In the Keio era!!” Yoriichi envisioned a timeline of Sakonji’s life, mentally counting
how old he must be, “Back when HE was still a demon slayer!!” The demon grew angrier
and angrier. Once reaching its peak it slammed its fist to the ground. Its mood suddenly
changed, “But in that time I’ve eaten fifty of you brats,” it laughed.

Yoriichi could tell the demon was powerful. Looking at its insides he witnessed an
amalgamation of unnatural body structures. It was twisted and revolting, yet he found slight
comfort in its absence of normality, “10. 11. Hmm… 12!! Yes, 12!!! You’re the 12th!!” It
continued to laugh, “12 of them I’ve eaten. 12 of Urokodaki’s students~~!!! I tried to kill
them all. My streak was ruined a few years back but I can always get back on track. You’ll
help me start!!” Yoriichi looked daze at the strange ways the creature’s body moved. He’d
barely listen to the word it said, focused only of sizing up his opponent’s ability, “Are you
even listening to me!!!” It demanded an answer. Angered by his disregard the demon
whipped an arm towards the fox-masked boy.

Yoriichi could see it coming. It’d been moving its hands to match its laughter. Thanks to it,
Yoriichi quickly memorized and adjusted to the pattern of its movements. Monologging is
rarely a smart tactic. Using this to his advantage he moved away before the demon finish.
Yoriichi quickly pulled out the sword and dragged it toward the fleshy creature.

Retreating the arm, the demon swung another at him. He jumped over it like a jump rope
causing the demon only grew more and more agitated.

Taking a deep breath he preformed a move Sakonji had taught him. He twist his body
forward, unleashing a powerful strike of air. His blade hadn’t hit the demon yet it seemed
injured from the blow. Dark thick blood dripped from the side of arm down to its tips. A new
pair of arms grew from the scar like a hydra.
Yoriichi’s sword ran into the newborn hands as it screamed out in pain. It screamed bloody
murder, like it had been burned. Yoriichi pained no mind to the creatures whines. His eyes
focused on its body, navigating what it’s going to move next, planing his own next move. The
previous show of strength had exposed a great weakness. Each time it shot out a hand its
neck shield grew weaker, if only for a moment. Yoriichi waited for the demon to strike again,
chopping down each hand regardless of its regrowth.

The demon cried as if to breath and shot a barrage of arms into the ground then back above
where Yoriichi was. Yoriichi couldn’t tell where the arms went. That wasn’t what mattered.
Taking stance he prepared to do another one of Sakonji’s moves. Seventh Form: Drop Ripple
Thrust. He had little time to kill the demon. It was the fastest of the moves he knew. Hurdling
toward the creature he aimed for its neck.

The monster frozen in fear from the sound of Yoriichi’s blade. Memories of the night he was
captured flooded his mind. Sakonji. Sakonji’s ugly mask. Sakonji swinging towards him. The
cool cold feel of his blade. No. The warmth? The attack felt warm. Burning. Suffocating. The
image of a scarred man with dead-focused eyes hurdling towards him blocked his vision.
Around them sat an empty field in the middle of the night. The grass blew gently, unmatching
his raw miserable hatred and fear. He fell to the ground. Hands hitting the floor. He tried
crawling away. Scurrying like a coward. Pain over coming him. Panic flooding his mind.

Was this what UrokodakiMs students left? This. This fear. This overwhelming fear. Being
taunted of the difference ways others had died. Others. Others deaths. Others fear of death.
This wasn’t his fear. This wasn’t his memory. Whose’s memory was it? Before the strange
imagine could finsh playing out, the monster watched as its own body fell past its vision.
Looking up at the canopy of trees he’d known he lost.

This wasn’t the time to question death hallucinations, “Dam you!!! Dam it all!!” The demon
cursed, “How could I let this happen..!.!.!.!” It fumed, “how could I….” Another memory ran
through its head. One it knew was its own, “I was holding my brother’s hand… that night…
why did…” tears began to form on the demons deformed face as it slowly faded away, “Why
did I kill my brother??” Agonizing memories fully returning. Morning the loss he filled with
regret. It pleaded with empathy in its own head, cursing itself for every misdeed. With its last
bit of strength the demon held out it’s one remaining hand. It closed its eyes, wishing to be
held one last time, knowing it didn’t deserve it.

Yoriichi kneeled over and threw up in front of himself. His stomach finally caught up to his
actions as the demon completely disappeared. For as monstrous as it was it still bleed and
breathed like a human. He sat on the ground taking a moment to breathe. His lost lunch
beside him and the twisted feeling still stuck in his head. Whipping the remains off his face,
Yoriichi stood up, and left.

By the end of the seventh day he returned to the foot of the mountain. The same boy and girl
duo from the previous week stood waiting for them. The once large group of candidates had
reduced to nothing. Two were already waiting when Yoriichi arrived. A scared boy with
bright blond hair, and a dirty girl with black hair pinkish-orange tips. They stood opposite of
each other. The boy frantically mumbling about dying while the girl fell asleep standing up.
A few minutes later the two more children arrived. Another boy with short black hair wearing
an oddly clean set of clothes, and a girl with black hair done up in a braided bun, light purple
eyes, and a calm face. After another set of minutes passed a flock of crows flew by, landing
near the young boy and girl. He held out his hand to one as it perched on his arm. It leaned
toward the boy and whispered something in his ear, then flew off.

The boy turned to the small group and congratulated them, “Welcome back. We’re glad you
made it safely.”

The girl, noticing the boys call to action then spoke, “First we’ll need to take your
measurements and engrave your ranks,” She nervously looked over to the boy then back at
the group, “There are ten ranks… Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe,
Kanoto, Mizunoe, and Mizukoto,” She paused between each word, talking a moment to think
and double guess herself.

The boy stepped forward interrupting the little girl, “As of today you are all Mizukoto,” He
announced, “You will chose the ore for your katana and then will receive it in the following
weeks. Now you will be assigned a Kasugai crow.”The flock of crows flew past the group
again, dropping off a few of their kin to each child as they left.

Yoriichi looked at the bird on his shoulder then around at the rest of the group. The half-
asleep girl didn’t seem to notice the bird sitting on top her head, the clean boy looked uneasy
with the bird on his shoulder, the calm girl watched as her’s flew around her head like an
excited child, and the panicked boy stared at his-not a crow-bird within his hands.

“The Crows are usually used for communication, but they have other purposes too..” The
little girl said. Looking to her left she pointed towards a table in the distance, “But, please,
come over here and choose the ore for you’re Katana..” Various rocks and minerals sat on the
table. Each a different shape and size. They were all slight variations of the same dark shiny
color, and it wasn’t clear which piece was preferable.

As they walked over to the table one of the young children went to the sleeping girl and
tapped her shoulder. The girls eyes shot open as she looked around her surroundings. Seeing
the group engulfing the table she pushed the boy out of the way, running to it and sorting
through the stones.

Not expecting such sudden movements her crow went tumbling off her head and hit the
ground. The young boy picked it up and brushed off the dirt before walking over to the table
to supervise, and handing it back to the excited girl.

Yoriichi felt unprepared staring at the ore. Nobody at the table seemed quite clear on what
they were doing either. Worried one wrong choice here could mean death they each picked
theirs through different means. The clean boy hovered over them and examining from
different angles, the girl with done hair picked up the rock her crow landed on, the scared boy
simply grabbed one without thinking, muttering about how it wouldn’t matter which he
chose, and the orange haired girl sifted through quickly. She seemed the most aware of what
to do, a completely contrast to how she acted earlier.

After a few tense minutes each child finished their selection. The boy and girl in matching
kimono’s grabbed each of the ores the children chose. Tucking them away they thanked the
 group one last time and instructed them to return home.

Chapter End Notes

🙏🙏
Next chapter will be from a different character pov btw idk how much of that arc I wann
get through before switching back but yeha
 The Smell of Enchanting Blood
Chapter Notes

😛😛😛😛😛😛😛 heyyyyyy. New chapter. Yay. I read thought it a few times but it

it. Hopefully this is still pretty good bu🫡

still maybe be pretty wonky. Schools been weird so I haven’t had much time to work on

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Makomo and Naomi arrived to the meeting. A crowded section of Kyoto wasn’t exactly the
most discreet, but their meeting had always been in odd locations.

Waiting inside a brothel, the highly skilled swordsmen’s felt out of place, to say the least.
Whispers around them quickly came like moths to a flame. A large group of adults and one
child, all holding swords and looking roughed up, may alluded to rather taboo concepts.
None of which would happen, of course, but the actual patrons of the establishment had no
reason to know that, nor a right to judge, yet they did regardless.

Being brought to an empty room in the back of the building, the ambience seeped through the
buildings poorly made, paper thin walls. Sitting in three rows of five, they all patiently waited
for their assignment to become clear. Makomo vaguely recognized those in the first row.
She’d been on missions with a couple of them, or ran into one outside of work, but nothing
past casual relations, or pure coincidence. Naomi sat in the second row, one person to his
right and two to his left, including Makomo who was sat next to him. In the back were five
others. She couldn’t get a good look at them since they were behind her. The only standout in
the crowd being the shorter and much much younger swordsman of the group. They hadn’t
sat in any particular order, only making sure they weren’t in complete disarray, as to not
dissatisfy who they were waiting for.

A loud thud broke the silence of the room as a tall woman with dark flowing hair slid open
the faded door. She had dark, reddish-purple lipstick and a very pale complexion. The way
she moved was thoughtful and commanding, her hair adorned with beads and jewels, her
Kimono was covered in colorful flowers. Another woman, one Makomo recognize, followed
closely behind the mysterious lady. She had slick hair, a tried expression, and a singular pink
eye. She wasn’t dressed how one would’ve expected, instead of the type combat effective
outfit all corps members wore she had on an outfit adjacent to the other woman’s. The sound
Hashira was notorious around the crops for many reasons. Her most egregious being rumors
of her sadistic nature, that she only joined for the thrill of the hunt, that the master had found
her murdering a man in cold blood and used that to his advantage. Where as other rumors
claim absurd things like, never having mastered a breathing style, that instead she used her
Biwa to entice the demons into killing themselves. The validity of it was up for grabs. All
anyone knew for certain was she spent the most amount of time around the master compared
to anyone, and she was called the sound Hashira. However such a title only furthered the
“can’t use breathing techniques” rumors. Since, after all, how stupid would sound breathing
be?

“Lower your heads,” The woman’s voice was deep and demanding. In an instant the group
realized who stood before them. The current leader of the demon slayer corps. An odd man,
to say the least. Compared to those who were in charge before him, he was much more
hands-on. Making obscure choices in hopes of gaining information or insight. One of his
many quirks involved spontaneously cross-dressing. Made weirder by the fact his typical
place of business as a woman was a whore house. If it wasn’t for his wife and kids people
would’ve been suspicious of something. Some people even suspicious of him with a wife and
kids. It shouldn’t take long for someone to realize he, a man, was there. It was a horrible
place for him to “hide.”

“We’re very sorry, Kibutsuji-sama.” One of the women in the first row spoke out, “We didn’t
recognize you.” Her comment was pointless, only derailing the meeting. Like when you’re
late to a class and loudly announce you’re late, it’s not helping, just go to your seat and be
quiet.

“Did I permit you to speak?”Muzan looked toward the girl. Her face a coward in his
presence. He wasn’t a fighter. In fact he was a rather weak and frail man. Still, he had an
ominous aura that stroke fear in most. He could easily be bested by a child with a wooden
spoon, but nobody would dare to threaten him with even simple cutlery. The girl stayed quiet
regretting her decision, now realizing it was useless to point out, “Did you know demons still
roaming this earth?”He asked rhetorically looking away from the girl and now at the group,
“Just because you have exterminated some scum doesn’t mean there won’t be more,” He was
angry. Words spitting like acid, “Rising the ranks is not your purpose. Becoming Kinto
doesn’t mean the end. It is your solemn duty to rid the world of demons. Tell me?” He asked?
“Why are they still out there?” Anger fuming through his body, clearest on his face,

A member of the first row rolled his eyes. Muzan had never been in battle with a demon. He
didn’t know the ins and outs, the delicate thread between life and death. He didn’t know the
fears to overcome when face to face with one, face to face with your impending doom. The
felling of winning, living another day, a blessing from god itself.

Muzan faced the man. He grabbed his hair, pulling his head, Muzan looked him in the eyes
and asked again, “Or,” he continued, “How about you tell me. Tell me why demons ares still
out there?” His long batted eyelashes contrasting the anger within his eyes. Fear crossed the
swordsman mind, “Do you view your life as more valuable? Are those weaker than you
deserving of death?,” letting go of the man’s head, he tossed it down and accounted his next
questions to the crowd, “Is that why you are all so hesitant to kill demons? You know death is
awaiting, so let the weak die first?” He asked.

“We risk our lives every day for you Kibutsuji-Sama!!” Someone in the back row blurted out.
His gaze fixated on the person. He stood sickly still. His head tilted suddenly and swiftly. He
looked across at them. This was the third time he had been interrupted, and his irritation was
going clearer and clearer across his face.
“You’re contradicting me,”His words filled the room with tension. Those who hadn’t said
anything felt like they were in trouble, like when your mom yells at your siblings and you
can’t help but feel like she’s about to go down on you next. In silence, waiting for a response,
Muzan scoffed and returned to the topic at hand, “Reports of a power demon in Asakusa,
Tokyo have been confirmed. It may be upper rank, However that is not certain. One of you
will be assigned to deal with it,”the details of the mission where intensive. Mostly who and
heo many and how all these people in the area had died. To an outsider it seemed
unexplainable. To them, it was early the work of a demon. Basic information already known
was restated. Emphasis on how much stronger demon’s were, pounded into their heads, over,
and over, and over again, things that would be vital to the mission things that wouldn’t be.
Rants on new findings filled the aging minutes of the meeting. The air felt stale, boring and
filth-filled. Now it was just dragging on longer than it needed to be, as if he was punishing
them for their misdemeanor at the start, “We are regrouping in a few minutes,” he said. The
whole group took a breath of relief, “Reflect on what you value before showing your face
around here again. Dismissed.”

Waking out into the nightfillled city street, Makomo eyed for somewhere calm to sit. The sun
was set, and long past dinner time. She’d carried food on her person without a chance to eat
it. Now that she was free, she was pouncing at the chance to eat.

After a few minutes Makomo found herself in the outskirts of the city. She’d been walking
for so long, she feared it wouldn’t be much longer until she would have to travel back on an
empty stomach. Makomo sat down on a bench close to a small noodle stand, the aroma of the
fresh food filling her small side of the street. Pulling out her food she saw the mix-up mess of
her multiple day old meal. Temptation creeped into her mind, Inticing her to buy from the
stall beside them. It smelled good. Really good. She considered it, but decided against it. She
had food, even if it wasn’t great food, she had food, and she didn’t need to spend the money,
and it might take too long.

With a sigh she sucked it up and started eating her food, this was barely the hardest thing
she’d ever done. Taking in her surroundings, Makomo noticed a man sitting across the road.
He was busy messing with something in his hands. Something small, and it was making a lot
out noises. As she watched closer she realized who the man was. One of her fellow
coworkers. He was complete werido and a giant creep, always disappearing halfway through
conversations and obsessing over the strangest things. His hair was a black chin-length bob,
and he wore modern styles of clothing. Someone she knew, had told been told by someone
they knew, that he was a doctor. A more modern one they she had met before, but still a
doctor.

The man looked up from his gadget and waved at Makomo. She smiled and waved back,
enjoying the small gesture.

Looking down to her meal her attention was brought back up to a voice right next to her,
“Urokodaki-chann..!” The man said excitedly and sitting beside her, “It’s been so long, how
have you been.?” He asked dawning a drowsy smile.

Makomo set her food down and placed a hand over her mouth, “I’ve been good,” she said
quickly finishing to chew her food, “How have you been Enmu-kun?”
His smile shifted, “It’s been wonderful.!!” Abruptly placing his hands onto Makomo’s leg he
boasted about what a great time he’s had, “Missions have been amazing~ and to think we get
to see Kibutsuji-Sama in person.! Isn’t it lovely.! Isn’t it amazing.!” His voice sounded overly
whiney, bordering other feelings, “And he spoke directly to a few of us.. those lucky
swordsmen’s.!! Maybe when we regroup I should speak out too.. but I couldn’t dare to
interrupt him either…”Makomo nodded in agreement.

“Maybe you’ll be assigned to this mission,” she added on.

“Wouldn’t that be a dream~! Handed picked for a mission by the master himself…” Tamio
closed his eyes and daydreamed about the conceptl, “Well,”He said standing up, “It’s time to
regroup.”

“Really?” Makomo asked barely having gotten halfway through her meal. Tamio pointed
down at his wristwatch and nodded. She sighed, “This break seemed a little too short to be
needed..” She softly remarked, Tamio shrugged helping to pull her to the meeting.

Halfway to the brothel, Makomo felt a strange tingle run down her spine. Something was up.
She looked byside her to see if Tamio had noticed anything. His eyes were locked on
something in the crowd off in the distance. She tapped his shoulder, trying to get his
attention. He didn’t look back. He stopped moving, blocking the street. People in the crowd
started to stare at the two both blocking the road. Makomo waited and watched in
anticipation, focusing intently on him like a child at the zoo.

And suddenly he ran. Makomo quickly followed, heading deep into the city’s heart. Wading
through the coward like fish swimming through the stream, both alert looking for anything.
Crowd after crowd, person after person, man after woman, nothing unordinary, nothing yet.
Tamio jerked in the other direction, almost losing Makomo in the process. Then again, and
again, and agin and again, they could’ve left the city at this point. It felt like they should’ve
left the city at this point.

Tamio stopped. Pointing towards a man in the distance he looked back to Makomo and said
nothing, Makomo nodded agreeable. That was a demon. They’d both worked in the field for
years, and although they didn’t have any extra ordinary powers they could recognize small
differences in how demons acted. Tamio handed his sword to Makomo. Out of the two of
them he was more presentable. He had a doctorates degree in something.? And could have an
unprompted conversation on almost any subject. How much of what he’d say being true is
irrelevant, only that he had a charm to him that made him seem qualified.

Makomo stayed put. Blocking part of the street, Tamio talked to the man in front of them.
She couldn’t get a good look him. His had long and black and he wore some long fade
clothing. However, between Tamio and the hundred other people on the street, it was clear as
mud. Her accused shortness. Grrrrr. Tamio’s body language remained stable, having
approached the man acting nervous he switched to a calmer state before beginning to yell in
panic. His attention was drawn away from the tall man, as a husband suddenly lunged at his
wife, trying to attack her. The swordsmen made quick eye contact. Makomo dropped Tamio’s
sword and rushed to the couple. Pulling the man away from his wife and trapping his hands.
There wasn’t much time before the police would show up. If she wanted to get the demon out
of here she’d need to be quick about it, “I’M VERY SORRY ABOUT MY BROTHER!!”
She cried out. Tamio rushed over to the woman, examining her wounds. She squirmed
around, trying to reach for her husband. He forced his hand over her mouth and locked her in
a choke hold. Besides the fact she’d comprised Makomo, if he didn’t get her checked fast
enough she could be too far gone and starting to turn into a demon.

Makomo started to back into the crowd. Others taking steps around her, and whispering about
“her brother’s” rudeness. Nobody seemed to notice she’d lied, or that the man had been
traveling with the other woman. The man they’d initially searched for was gone. She could
tell something was wrong from half across the city, now barely a block of his previous
presence disappeared.

Making it out of the jungle of a city, she stepped into a small alleyway. The man had passed
out, adrenaline from the initial turning fading, and the demonic hangover setting in. She
placed him softly on the ground. Setting his hands neatly to the side and fixing his hair. It was
pointless to prepare a demon’s corpse, after all it would disintegrate, but be hadn’t done
anything yet, he didn’t ask for this fate. This was his final ounce of dignity. Of respect. He
was passed out and harmless, if he had still been awake or any more violent she would’ve
done it already. Reaching for her sword, the potent smell of blood flooded her senses.
Confused and disorganized, she felt like she could see the taste of licking a battery, or
whatever the 1910’s equivalent of licking a battery was.

When she came to her senses, the alleyway was gone. Sitting in the yard of a house, a tall
man with a strange hair stood a head of, “You hesitated.” He asked.

Makomo looked around her, “Excuse me?”

“You hesitated to kill that man. Why?” The man asked again, “That’s not typical,” His voice
sounded confused and prejudiced, as if he knew everything about her.

“Typical?” She stood questioning, “It’s the respectful thing to do..” she muttered to herself,
making sense of her situation.

“Do you do that with all your victims?” He asked. Makomo paused. She didn’t. That wasn’t
normal. Maybe if their corpses stayed around she’d give a proper burial, but that was out of
the question.

“He hadn’t killed anyone. He deserved a respectable final moment,” she said attempting to
justify herself.

“What if he had before becoming a demon?” The man asked

“He didn’t ask to become one,” she felt like she was being interrogated and needing to justify
each decision.

“Can you tell if they choose to or not? Do you ask them?” The man asked. Makomo
remained quiet, her reasoning falling apart in front of her. He frown, “Do you have sympathy
for any of them?”
Makomo nodded, “I pity what they do to themselves,” She looked down, speaking in the
same whispered tone she normally did, “I pity the situations they force themselves into.”

The stranger seemed to think, then nodded, “Tell me swordman..” he paused, “Have you ever
met a demon you didn’t kill?” Her face went pale, the question snapping her back into reality
and realizing what was going on. Calming herself, Makomo slowly, as to not let the man
notice, pulled out her sword.

In attempt to catch him off guard, she swung her sword in towards his neck. It was now
obvious he was a demon. No other explanation. And he was a different demon than the other
two she meet. Although she couldn’t get a good look of the man Tamio talked to she knew he
wasn’t him. The demon in front of her had long mohawk down the middle of his head. The
tips where a lighter color, which doesn’t mean much sense any color is lighter than black, but
it wasn’t another shade of black, in fact, it was yellow. His pupils were the same shade of
yellow as his hair and his irises seemed a little darker than they should’ve been. None of
which is normal for a human, obviously he is a demon. The side of his arm was covered in
blood from a scratch wound slightly higher up. Which was probably the smell of blood that
brought her here, again not something a normal person does, so he is obviously a demon. His
outfit consisted of a purple dirtied apron, black pants, and a smudged shirt with rolled up
sleeves.

Her blade cut through the first layer of skin then stopped, before the blade could dig deeper.
The demon sighed, his face now barely an inch away from Makomo’s. Weird goop dripped
down onto her, into her hair. She didn’t dare look up, she couldn’t. Paralyzed, she felt her
hands dragged off the Demon. He grabbed the sword it, prying it out of her frozen fingers,
and snapped the blade. Letting the hilt fall on the floor he swallowed the sharp end of the
knife.

Makomo was one of the fast. She was fast and agile. That being her winning edge. If she
wasn’t distracted by something it was quick and easy, a simple in-and-out. But he was faster.
She knew demons were stronger. She knew it. She knew that sometimes a demons neck was
strong or thick, but it wasn’t. He was fast. She was pulled off faster than she could push in.

“That’s impressive,” he remarked, “You must be one of their strongest? What were they
called aai…” The demon’s voice drowned out as Makomo stood there dumbfounded.
Thinking of all the times she’d almost lost, she’d let them win right? She’d gone easier?
That’s why she failed isn’t it? It was just a lapse of judgment? She wasn’t that weak? She was
Sakonji’s predecessor, he wasn’t that weak? She can’t be that weak. She has to be stronger.
She has to win. A sharp pain snapped her out of her downward spiral of self esteem loss.

“Are you stupid?” He asked. Makomo looked up at him, “did you hear a thing I said? You’ve
gotta be high ranking right? Accesses to info and all that? I’ll tell you everything I know if
you tell me everything you know. And I won’t kill you,” His offer seemed suspicious. Now
that Makomo thought about it she didn’t know who this man was. For all she knew, he was
one of the Demon King’s strongest informants. And for all he’d shown he was unbelievably
strong.

“I might know it…” she felt her words come out without thought, trying to spot it but finding
it impossible, “As a swordsman my dignity lies in my cause. I’d rather die than… than...”
 She finally found the strength to shut up, to not put herself in a worse position. She cursed
fate for being sent to this middle-of-nowhere house, alone.

“I’m not with them.” He said, “I would’ve killed you already.” His bluntness wasn’t
reassuring, and Makomo shook her head.

She was in no position to do anything noncompliant, but she was dead either way. If not
today, then tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then whenever that tickling time bomb of a
prepubescent nightmare she handed over to Sakonji was found out. The boys, “Screw it…”
She thought, “I helped them. I shouldve killed the older one. Maybe if I hear him out, I might
be able to find a way out… Someone will need to second their story after all…”

Grabbing her hand the demon left the hilt of her sword outside and dragged her into the
house. The hallway was a mess, walking through it felt like a mind fled. The kind of mess
only made thought a stupidly neglectful person, or centuries of waste. Walking toward the
stairs, the demon called out for someone in a language Makomo didn’t recognize. The upper
floor was like the floor beneath them. A bit less clutter but still a shit show.

Together they walked into an office-like room. It was more put together than the hallway, but
not by much. Sketches and blueprints covered a dark wooden desk in the middle of the room.
Dirty clothes, suspicious dishes, and ink stains littered the floor. Makomo was careful as to
not step on anything weird. The demon offered her a chair, that being the only chair in the
room, but seeing the state of it she politely declined. Sitting in it instead the demon groaned
and started to think of where to begin his stories.

Chapter End Notes

If you couldn’t tell this isn’t in chronological order. I realized while writing the first part
of the Makomo storyline then switching back to Yoriichi it wouldn’t work
chronologically, just know this does take place like at the start of Yoriichi + Michikatsu
meeting sankoji and not were their story currently stands. Next chapter will be back on
Yoriichi and gang.
 Welcome Back
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

The way back to Mount Saragi was longer than he expected. It felt longer than when he left,
at least. Whether it be from the energy he exhausted from a brutal week of work, or the
injuries he hadn’t even realized he’d suffered peering through, every step felt like twelve.

The sky was cloudy, unfit for the celebration about to come, but fit for the dreadful
anticipation within those at home. Sakonji waited at the door expecting the worse. He knew it
was around the time Yoriichi should come back, but wasn’t confident he’d hear the door
open. Sakonji waited, watching Michikatsu in the room. His back was turned away hidding
whatever he was doing, and he didn’t care, it wasn’t anything inappropriate. In reality he was
more upset over the fact it was cloudy enough to be an unpleasant day but not cloudy enough
that It was safe for Michikatsu.

The sound of another opening his door was not one Sakonji heard often. The creepiness of
Someone you don’t know, barging into your house is unsettling. Yet the relief fallen over the
old swordsman was not fit for those you don’t know. Instead, it was for those you’d be
wishing to see once more. Although ashamed to admit it Sakonji was a sentimental man. He
stood up to Yoriichi and restrained him in a hug. Realizing his brother had returned
Michikatsu put the object beside and walked towards them. Stoping before the light of the
open door Michikatsu watched from the shadows. The group stood silently together,
Michikatsu staring at Yoriichi, and Yoriichi hugging Sakonji.

“You came back alive,” Sakonji muttered, tears forming under his mask. Yoriichi placed his
hands beside the man reassuring him of the realness, their embrace a warm relief for both
parties. After a moment the two let go of each other. With a smile Sakonji explained his
newest revaluation to Yoriichi, “I think your bother can gain energy through sleep,” he said,
“He barely got any sleep while you were gone and he seemed very tired all the time!” He
proudly accounced. Yoriichi tiled his head, “I was wondering how he maintained himself, it
al makes sense now, don’t you think?” The old man asked.

Yoriichi narrowed his eyes, “Really?” He said cautiously, “I would’ve thought it’s from me,”
Sakonji gave Yoriichi an odd look as the boy rolled up his shelve. Healed bite marks covered
the tanner area of his lower right arm, “The records you gave us said something about
demons eating people.. sometimes at night I’d wake up to Michikatsu standing over he.
Eventually I put two and two together,” he said, shrugging it off as if it were nothing. Sakonji
stood stocked taking in the information.

“Yorii- I- Uh-“ The old man struggled to think of something to say. He’s just been told
something completely unreasonable and excessively dangerous, “Yoriichi,” He’d given up on
honorifics around the boy, “You can’t..” he grabbed his shoulder, “You can’t just… I
mean…” He struggled to make the words reach what he meant, “Michikatsu isn’t supposed
to… I mean.. You are alive… But…” he sighed, “Don’t let Michikatsu eat anyone. You
understand. Don’t let him do that with anyone else.” Yoriichi nodded and the two closed the
door behind.

Now seeing Michikatsu Yoriichi leaned in for a greater hug and captured his brother within
his arms. Michikatsu stood still before creeping his own arms around his younger twin
brother. Yoriichi looked his bother up and down, “Have your eyes gotten redder?” He asked
to the mute boy.

Sakonji looked from across the small room and remarked the slight difference, “huh… you’re
right I hadn’t noticed?”

“It’s cool,” he said letting his brother free and setting the bag he carried down. He sat on the
floor taking a rest for his wounds. Michikatsu grabbed something off the floor and brought it
to Yoriichi. About an inch off the tip of a katana sat in his hand. Presenting it to his brother
the boy gasped, “You broke anot-“ Michikatsu covered his twins mouth before he could
finish his sentence. Slowly he moved his hand away, “You broke another sword?” Yoriichi
whispered. Michikatsu shook his head, he pointed at the middle of the room with his head,
then down at the sword tip, then himself. Yoriichi continued to stay confused.

Michikatsu rolled his abnormal amour of eyes. Grabbing Yoriichi’s hand he placed the object
firmly in the center of his brother palm. Yoriichi cringed. The blade was warm, not in a way
you’d expect a sword to be. It felt pulsing as if it controlled its own heat at will.

“What is this..?” The younger twin asked, “why is it warm?” Michikatsu smiled. He placed
his hands over his chest and mimicked a heart beating, pointed at the blade, himself, then put
both hands together and gestured a growing motion, before pointing back at himself. Yoriichi
shrugged, “I don’t.. I don’t get it?” Growing impatient Michikatsu looked towards the center
of the room, then Sakonji. He pointed down at the panels and pretended to write in the air.

……

It was a warm fall morning When Yoriichi heard of the sound of wind chimes. A tall man
wearing a large hat and sunflower print clothing approached the house adorned in self-
produced shade. As the boy opened the door he stood faced with the man.

“I am called Haganezuka,” He accounted. Yoriichi watched as his chimes blew in the wind
and played their winding tones, “I am the one who forged Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s blade,” his
words spoke slow like a stubbornly moving bobber.

Yoriichi presented the door, “Yes, I’m Yoriichi please, come inside.”

He brushed past Yoriichi, letting himself inside. Placing a long thin box on the ground,
rustling it open, “This is a Nichirin Sword,” He said, placing the lid beside him, “I forged this
blade. The iron sand and ore used as materials for a Nichirin sword are gathered at the
mountain closest to the sun. Scarlet iron sand, scarlet ore, both absorb sunlight. The sun
always shines on Mount Yoko, never cloud, nor rain…” lifting his head he revealed a red
wooden mask. Surprised-wide eyes, and small black eyebrows sat beside large chubby
cheeks and an oblong mouth. The sunflower-patterned blacksmith made a loud surprised
sound, “Your a child of brightness! What luck!” He said, facing beaming excitement through
the red wooden mask.

Yoriichi gave him an odd look shook his head, “No my fathers name is-“

“That’s not what I mean,” he interrupted? “Your eyes and hair are reddish.! Houses that work
with fire may have such children!” He said pinching Yoriichi’s cheek. The boy pulled the
man’s hand off him as the blacksmith looked towards the old man, “Isn’t that right
Urokodaki?” He asked confidently.

Walking over with a set of tea, Sakonji nodded, “Yes.”

The four men sat together huddled around the sword box. Michikatsu had to make a
conscious effort to keep most of his eyes closed. Like when you try to squint to the point it
looks like your eyes are closed but they aren’t, but you also can’t really see anything out of
your eyes either because the lashes are in the way. Sakonji sat beside Haganezuka, who sat
across the twins.

“Go on! Draw your sword.!” The blacksmith insisted pushing it closer to the boy. Yoriichi
grabbed the Katana, unsheathing the sleek silver blade, “Nichirin swords are color changing,”
He explained, “Depending on the holder they can be various different hues.” The twins
looked closely at Yoriichi’s sword, excited for the color to come.

A loud explosion sound shook the house as the blade lit up in a flame. The fire burned
brightly Light reflected off the sword as it heat up and quickly putter out . Haganezuka let off
a high-pitched girlish squeal, almost knocking over the tea set in font of them.

Sakonji sat slightly amazed at the sight while muttering, “Red…”

“I CANT BELIEVE IT!!” He screamed, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~~~~!!!!!!”

“Is something wrong?” Yoriichi asked.

“WRONG? WROOONNGG???” He said in a oh-to-enthusiastic voice, “NOTHING IS

WRONG!!THIS IS!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!” The blacksmith turned to Sakonji and praised
him for his student, “And to think you’d had such a bad reputation! Just imagine him! What
he’ll do! With MY sword!!” he lunged at Yorrichi, careful to not damage the rare sword in his
hands, and excitedly rocked the boy back and forth. After only a few seconds he left overly
dizzy. Yoriichi didn’t expect someone like him to have such force.

Feeling like he was about to throw up Yoriichi begged the man to stop, “Please calm down..”
he whined.

The next day it was time to depart. Sakonji handed him a carefully crafted box, “I made this
to carry your brother in during the day. It’s made out of Kirikomu wood. It’s lightweight
which should make the process much easier,” his eyes followed Yoriichi around the room as
he scrambled to collect his things, “I coated it in rock lacquer in order to reinforce the
exterior. Hopefully it will be safe enough for him,” Yoriichi nodded along as he gathered his
last thing and fixed his uniform.
 The demon slayer corps had issued uniforms for their members. He remembered the fox-
masked woman wearing something vaguely like it, and the boy in green at final selection
asking a barrage of questions surrounding it. It was lightweight and durable, being resistant to
both flame and water. It consisted of two black pieces of clothing, and whatever
undergarments you chose to wear.

With that he was off. It had barely been a day since he was handed his sword that a crow
came to them, assigning the boy his first mission.

Chapter End Notes

It’s probably gonna be awhile until the next chapter just because I gotta lotta stuff going
on rn and need to prioritize what I need to. At most I won’t work on it for 2 weeks and
then get back to normal but who knows? No promises on anything.
 Zenitsu Agatsuma
Chapter Notes

Heyyyyyyyyy, fun fact I was supposed to be writing stuff for my ex gf bc she bought me
snow miku 24 right? Well the stuff is a little… so I’m not working on it in public so
luckily I did have more time then I expected for it yayaya

“SOUTH!!! SOUTH EAST!! SOUTH!! SOUTH EASSSSTT!!” The crow screamed at the
top of its lungs. He’d been repeating himself like that for hours. On the first mission Yoriichi
didn’t think much of it, on the second mission he was a bit more aggressive, now on the third
mission he was almost completely done with that bird’s shit.

Placing his hands over his ears Yoriichi tried to pretend he couldn’t hear it. Coving them
didn’t make the him much quieter, but it helped his sanity. Yoriichi wondered if Michikatsu
was sleeping through the noise, or if anyone sleep through this noise. Maybe if it was raining
he wouldn’t have to deal with this alone, maybe if it was cloudy he wouldn’t have to, maybe
if it was nighttime. But it wasn’t. He had to face the bird alone. The long roads alone. The
non-stop, high-pitched, endless bird screaming. Alone.

Walking past nine hundredth rice field that day, Yoriichi saw a boy with blond hair bothering
a girl. Upon closer examination he realized that the boy was one of the children at final
selection. He’d kept to himself the whole time, mumbling about this and that constantly. Even
though he never look up from his down dead-set gaze, everyone there was still able to find
themselves well acquainted with him. He whined to himself more than the rest of the group
combined.

The girl had also been at final selection. She was the one with orange tips that seemed overly
excited picking out the ore. She tried giving the other kids pointers but talked to quickly for
anyone to really gather what she was saying.

“PLEAASEEEE-!”He cried out, “PLEASEEE IM GONNA DIE OUT

THERE!!PLEASSEEEE!!!” He pleaded, clinging onto the side of her legs.

“Get off of me! For the last time.!!” She yelled back trying to kick him off and move forward,
“You’ve only gotten more and more desperate as we walked!! Why’d we get paired together
like this?!?”

“ITS DESTINY!! WERE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER- AUGHH-!” The orange-haired girl

slapped him across the face effectively shutting him up.

Noticing Yoriichi walking by, the girl reached for his shelve and pulled him over, “Hey you!!
You were at final selection a few months ago! I helped you pick out your metal remember!”
She said with a mix of panic and excitement, “We’re the same rank. Switch with me, I can’t
deal with this guy anymore .!”

“How-how could you say that..?” The blond whined.

Yoriichi brushed her hand off him and repeated what the other boy said, “Can we do that?”
He asked.

The girl shrugged, “I don’t know, but I do know if I’m around this kid any longer it’s not the
demons that are gonna be the end of him!!” She angrily pointed down at him, “He keeps
harassing me!!”

The blond’s face went pale as he scrambled to his feet, “WHAT! No- no I just don’t want to
die aloneeeee!!” He whined.

“Then stop a-“

Yoriichi ignored the pair and continued following his crows navigation. He’d considered,
only briefly, actually switching with her. However, he realized that he’d want to avoid being
around as many people as he could. Not everyone would be so open to a demon working
beside them, and Michikatsu could only hide in a box for so long. Besides he didn’t really
know them, and they might not still be the same rank. Whatever mission they were set on
was meant for them, not him.

Tucked away in the middle of a forest sat a large two story house. The crow stopped nagging
Yoriichi, now perching on a nearby tree and grooming its feathers. The younger twin paused
and looked up at the house. It was by far one of the most elegant places he’d ever seen.

Walking inside, Yoriichi set the box on the ground and slowly slid it open. Emerging from the
darkness, Michikatsu wiggled his way out of there. Out of the three men on Mount Sagiri
none of them could think of a smart way to carry a sword for Michikatsu. Having Yoriichi
openly welding two seemed suspicious. He didn’t know how to duel blade, and he’d never be
in battle with two swords anyway. Surely someone would start to wonder why he carried
around two only for one to magically disappear. In the end they had to angle the sword in a
werid position as to fit inside the box, and then Michikatsu had to contort himself around it. It
wasn’t comfortable but it got the job done. Besides demons aren’t exactly known for their
stiff joints, he could manage.

“We’re here,” Yoriichi said, “It’s still daylight so don’t leave the house unless you’re back in
the box and back on my back,” he instructed. Michikatsu nodded, picking the container up
and throwing it over his back.

They started to walk through the entrance when a large thud was heard outside. Both boys
turned back as an ear piercing scream followed. Yoriichi glanced back at his brother, who
seemed mostly indifferent to the action, before running outside. Michikatsu tried to stop him
but the door flung open before he could reach his brother. The sun shined down on the older
brother burning him in the process. Yoriichi didn’t notice as Michikatsu stuck to the side of
the hall, vaguely looking out the open slot.
Sitting on the tree line, two young children were huddled together, screaming at sight of a
dead body. Yoriichi looked beside him and saw the bloody body of a broken man. His eyes
felt stuck as his body froze from sight of the pitiful man.

“I… I am… out…” the man remarked, staring up into the bright blue sky, “I got out but..” his
head rolled over and looked to the three children nearby. With the last bit of energy he
reached out his hand as if holding onto something were to save his life, “Am I going to die?”
He asked, words drowning in his own gargling blood. His hand lay stif on the floor as his last
words mustered out of his mouth. Yoriichi wasn’t sure how long he was staring before a loud
thud of an angry drum broke him out of his panic-filled trance. Finally able to look away
from the dead body he approached the children in the woods warning them to leave.

“Our brother is in there.!” The older one cried, “A man took him while we were walking
home last night, we followed them here.”

“Mhm hm..” the younger one replied, clinging onto the side of his brother.

Yoriichi shook his head and grabbed them by the shoulders, “You should leav-“

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME??”

Coming out from the forest path was the orange-haired girl and blond boy from an hour or so
ago. The girl ran over to Yoriichi, looking between him and the yellow haired boy, “YOU
LEFT YOU ASSHOLE!!” She screamed. Yoriichi and the children shared the same shocked
expression. She rolled her eyes, mumbling to herself she placed her hand on her face, “The
demon is in there right…” she asked looking down at her hands.

“Yes,” Yoriichi said slightly caught off guard.

“Ok..” the girl sighed. Putting her hands down she held her sword and race into the building
without cation.

“Wait you shouldn’t just-!” Before he could finish his sentence she was gone. The door slid
shut as another thud of a drum echoed through the estate.

“Is… is that a dead body.?” The boy pointed at the ground. He pulled on his hair and turned
to the group, “I TOLD YOU I’M GONNA DIEEEEEEE!!!!” He cried out, “I’M NOT
GOING IN THERE!! I’M NOT GOING IN THEERREEEEE!!!”

“Take these kids back home then,” Yoriichi said bluntly, forcing them out of the shade and
over to the blond.

“Huh.” The boy looked down at the children that back up at Yoriichi, “Are- are you sure?”
He said excitement creeping into his smile. Yoriichi nodded. Tears stared to form in his eyes
as he hugged Yoriichi thanking him profusely, “aghawhhaahh~ you’re the only person who
cares about me~ thank you thank youu,” he sniffed remorsely, “Wha-what’s your name.?” He
asked.

“Yoriichi Tsugikuni,” Yoriichi replied.

“Okay. Tsugikuni. If you die in there I’ll tell everyone about you,” the boy placed his hands
firmly on Yoriichi’s shoulder, “And if you don’t happen to die, and then when I die on my
next mission you promise to tell people about me right?”

Yoriichi looked down at the now creeped out children, then back at unarmed boy, “Yeah…?”
He said warily, “I’m not sure how I will though… I don’t know your nam-”

“Zenitsu Agatsuma.” He replied quickly, putting more force onto Yoriichi’s shoulders.
Yoriichi nodded and push Zenitsu off him. Moving away from the death-panicked crowd he
ran back into the house in search of his brother whom he left behind.

Walking into the entrance Michikatsu was nowhere to be found. The empty silence of
creaking footsteps as the rooms soul occupant. At the end of the hallway stood a door to
another room. Sliding it open type same loud thudding drum echoed through the hallway as
he fell into another room.
 Tsuzumi Mansion

Yoriichi found himself in a nearly empty room. The one piece of furniture irrelevant, and the
walls covered in off centered stains. Walking towards the door, he looked out into the
hallway.

A mid-aged demon stood talking to itself. Its organs pierced by drum, its posture low and
uneven, its little pants worn, and its hair lazily brushed through. It was missing its right eye.
As if a bird had simply plucked it out and flew away. The socket was felt unattended
dragging along open for all to whiteness.

“These dam people… they keep finding their way into the house…” it muttered to itself. It
slowly moved out of Yoriichi’s sight.

Realizing he wouldn’t get another opportunity like this, Yoriichi took a breath in and lunched
for its head. A dreadful feeling overcame the boy as he reached for his sword. As if his hand
wasn’t his own yet he still needed to control it. His hands shuck. His feet felt unsteady. The
guilt of ambushing it growing louder and louder as he crept quickly into it. All his worrying
lead the slice to be imprecise. The demon’s body fell flat to the floor. A loud bang echoed
through the hallway accompanying.

Angered it began to yell haphazardly, “WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?? I-I-I thought
dealt with you already?.?.!” Yoriichi looked around the hallway, trying to make sense of
where he was and not focus on the monster lying in front of him. Its blood slowly dripped
onto his shoes, and its excessive yelling lead to an upset stomach. Ignoring the decaying
demon he stepped over its melting flesh and continued down the path. It wasn’t long till he
couldn’t hear it anymore, but it wasn’t long enough that he couldn’t smell his own vomit
either.

The building seemed bigger on the inside. He’d been walking down the same straight
hallway for what felt like an eternity. Rooms repeated itself, panels never ending, scratches
clawed into the walls. Unsure of what he was even searching for, Yoriichi found himself lost
within the maze of a house. All the walls looked the same and the rooms felt identical. A
creepy emptiness flooded the walls. As if something was meant to be there but disappeared.
When presented with a door he’d open it only to find a flipped over room. The ceiling on the
floor, or the floor on the wall. Nothing made sense.

The sound of a woman humming crept its way out from another identical room. Looking
inside Yoriichi recognized the silhouette of a demon brushing through its hair. Its face was
covered in mismatched scars and it was missing its right eye. Its hair was done into two short
ponytails and it wore a yellow floral print kimono with a mismatched checkered obi.

Suddenly the demon stopped humming. It looked towards the door and called out to Yoriichi,
“Kyogai is that you?” Its voice echoed into the hallway leaving a strange sinking feeling in
Yoriichi’s chest, “Have you dealt with the visitors yet?” The figure stood up and walked to
the door. Yoriichi reached for his sword, preparing for whatever may happen.
As the door slid open, Yoriichi found himself with a face full of blood. Before he could react
the demon had clawed its nails deep into Yoriichi’s skin and pushed him to the ground. It
place it foot over his chest and pressed down hard.

“You aren’t Kyogai. Who are you.” Although having miraculously missed both Yoriichi’s
eyes, blood from his wounds crept their way in, impairing his vision. Yoriichi choked on his
words, struggling to breathe. The demon repeat itself, “What makes you so confident as to
not adhere to basic decency?” The demons gaze was fierce. He’d been thrown completely off
guard and had not clear way of getting out. Even preparing for its every move it never
showed a moment of weakness where he could worm out.

Suddenly, the screaming girl from the road ran towards the demon and tried knocking it off
Yoriichi. Pushing the monster to the side, Yoriichi sat up, quickly wiping the blood gushing
from his wounds, and stumbled to his feet. His vision went blurry as he tried to focus on the
fight in front of him. He felt lightheaded, but grabbed his sword regardless and attempted to
help in the fight. Yoriichi managed two steps forward, then his vision went blank.

Returning to his senses Yoriichi didn’t recognize the place around him. Light filled the room
through a small window in the corner. The door was knocked slightly open peering into the
clean hallway outside. His face akced as the pressure of itchy bandages pressed against his
skin. His throat was horse.

Calling out for help Yorrichi mumbled confused, “Hello…” Waiting a couple minutes he
called out again the time to a response.

A tall young woman with pale white hair walked into the room. Her eyes were red and
transparent. She looked like a ghost. Holding a cup of water she approached the bed.

“You finally woke up,” she chimed in, “

Your friend brought you here after a mission. What was it he said again…” her voice trailed
off like a leaf in the wind, her words a background noises to the questions that cluttered his
mind, “…had a strange bag with them, I still don’t get what that was about… hmm…” She
set the cup on the side table, sitting down beside him, she lifted her arm and placed her wrist
into his forehead resting it there. Then, as if in a trance, she quickly blinked away and put her
hand back down, “Ahh… sorry… you aren’t sick m. I don’t know why I did that…”

Yoriichi lifted his lips and waited to speak. It took a moment to build the courage, and
another for the words to reach his throat, “Where am I?” He asked horse.

The girl glanced at the door then at Yoriichi, her hair moving lightly like a curtain next to the
open midnight breeze, “Yes. Right,” she said hyping herself up, “You’re in the medical
section of the spider mansion on Mount Natagumo.” She said pointing up at the small
window above him.

Yoriichi shifted his position, turning back to face the window. Outside he could just barely
make out the thick forest line and threes surrounding them.

“According to your friend you were badly injured and passed out. You were brought here this
morning, and have been asleep all day,” she explained, “You’re face should be healed soon
enough. We couldn’t find anything else wrong. You’ll be here for a little longer just to be
safe. Mo- The lady of the house examined you a few hours ago and decided it be wasteful not
to send you back out, even though it isn’t fully healed… She said something about it… why
was it…” her voice filtered out again as she was sucking deep in thought.

A sudden realization hit Yoriichi. His eyes widened and he looked to the girl concerned,
“Whoever brought me here… did they leave a wooden box- or had a wooden box- or- or…
uhh….”

She looked at him as if he’d just solve a puzzling mystery. Her face lit up excitedly, “That’s
what that was yes!” She said, putting her hands together for a clap, “Yeah that boy had a large
box on his back… how’d you know~!”

Yoriichi looked down petrified. She probably meant the blond boy from the road. Yorrichi
felt bad about forgetting his name, but that felt infinitely less important, “That’s my box…
where is he now. Do you know…” he asked.

The woman shook her head, “No, I don’t know much about corps missions I’m sorry…” she
paused, “Oh, Chihiro might, He’s currently still in the corps and he’s home! I’ll go get him.”
With that she stood up and quickly ran out, leaving Yorrichi alone.

….

“I have no clue,” a large muscular man stood between the woman and the bed. He looked
remarkably similar to the girl. They had a similar eye shape and his hair was on the lighter
side. His wasn’t quite as white as hers, as if the color was merely faded into it instead of
naturally being white. His arms were huge, the girl looked like an ant next to him.

The woman sighed, “I’m sorry…” she said as the man walked out, “He was our best bet.
Everyone else in the house either isn’t in the corps yet, is on a mission right now, or just isn’t
in it at all…”

“Hm..” Yoriichi grunted. There was little chance anyone would be insane enough to start
carrying a demon around if they didn’t have a personal connection to it at least. But it would
also be weird if the blond boy had the box and not Michikatsu. After all, Michikatsu had been
carrying it when they separated witch means to have gotten the box, it either need to be with
his brother, or they killed his brother and kept the box as a trophy. Yorrichi didn’t know much
about the blond, but he didn’t seem like the type to keep mementos of his murders. Still he
didn’t seem the type to keep a demon with him. It all felt very paradoxical.

“Did the box look heavy?” He asked worried, almost dreading the answer.

She gave Yorriichi an odd look, appropriately fitting such a strange question, “Oh I don’t
know.. that’d definitely an odd question…” she smiled trying to hide her confusion.
 Susa Maru

Maru packed up her clothes and tucked them away into a box. She wasn’t going to be at
home for much longer and didn’t want her sister getting into her stuff. Her father was just
about finished with his sword work and the whole family was excited to see him again.

Her younger brother sat at the door impatiently. He’d been born around when their father was
forced to move away. Everything he knew about him where though the letters he sent. Maru’s
mother waited beside him, cleaning up the shared apartment for her husband’s arrival.

The door opened a few minutes to sunset. Her sister’s face lit up with excitement recognizing
the man outside. Her brother looked confused but given his sisters’ expression he realized
who it must have been too. He came up to them and hugged her mother in a warm embrace.

After what felt like seconds of finally seeing him again Maru’s father opened the box and
handed her a sword. Her siblings looked excitedly over her shoulder and watched her closely
examine it.

“You picked a good one,” her father remarked patting her carefully on the head, “They don’t
tell us who the swords are for but when I saw the ore I knew it had to have been yours.” Maru
smiled and nodded agreeable.

Grabbing the sword, she gripped it tightly and held her breath. This was the moment, after
today she’d be off. It was bittersweet. She felt bad knowing she’d be leaving her siblings with
the same pain their father left them but this was what she wanted to do. This is what she
chose to do. This was her choice.

The katana burst into flame. A looming cold heat whipped through the house and then back
at her. Her eyes keep open watching excitedly for the impending switch of color. Her father
had described it many times in his letters and now she would see it in person.

As the light flickered down the sword had a faded green tint to it. She set it down in front of
her and took a moment to register the moment being real.

Her dazed expression worried her mother. Looking up to her husband she opened her mouth
and spoke, “Oh.. Is green bad?” She clenched the side of Maru’s shoulder.

“No it’s good,” He reassured her.

“I can’t believe it!” Maru smiled and turned back to her brother gleaming, “I did it! I’m
actually a demon slayer.!” She started laughing a disturbing amount and quickly ran upstairs.

Her bags were already fully packed. She swiftly picked up her new sword and immediately
ran out of the house. Her family watched dumbfounded through the doorframe as she ran off
following the path of a bird. Her mother tired calling back for her to as a goodbye, but she
was too locked in to react to her mother’s pleading.
…

It had been her fourth mission when she was paired with Zenitsu. She was about his height if
not a little taller. The fun she’d been having quickly came to a halt with his depressing
attitude. He wouldn’t stop whining about his appending doom, and even worst he kept
begging her to marry or protect him. Maybe if he had been cute she would’ve at the least
considered it, but he was below-average if not ugly. His hair was a weird color, it looked fried
and scuffed up. He used thunder breathing but only when he was asleep. To which he
repeatedly fell asleep during missions. She couldn’t believe her luck, and couldn’t believe
anyone could be weirder than him. She recognized him from final selection but he’d been so
meek and timid she didn’t expect him to be so vocal.

They’d been walking for an hour when the whinning finally started.

“I’m gonna die today,” he muttered under his breath. Maru rolled her eyes, “We’re both
gonna die…”

The crow kept yelling directions while Maru started to imagine a little man running beside
them, jumping around the trees and springing off the occasional building or rock. She wanted
to forget the whining child she’d be paired with. People always called Maru childish, now she
was starting to understand why people were so insistent she changed her behavior.

Twenty minutes in and he went from muttering to speaking.

“I mean you’re strong… you’ll survive but me-“ he remarked between sniffling. He looked
down at his feet as if they were actively betraying him. Each step forward bringing him closer
to death, “I’m gonna dieeee~”

Maru held onto a small rock and fiddled with it in her hands. Right now all she could wish
for was to be back at home. Playing a game with her brother or sister. Something casual to
pass the time, guilt and regret of not spreading her time more evenly getting to her. She was
started to wish she hadn’t been so laser focused on training all those years. Maybe she
should’ve been around her siblings more when she had the chance, maybe she should’ve
wasted more time, maybe then she wouldn’t be stuck with him.

After an hour he was clinging to her leg, and begging her to carry on his “legacy.”

“PLEASEE!!” He whined, “IM GONNA DIE OUT THEREEE!! WE WERE MEANT FOR
EACH OTHER!” Zenitsu grabbed the shelve of her shirt and tried to get her to stop moving.
Maru brushed him off and continued walking forward.

“I’m not getting married to some man. Not when I have my whole life ahead of me,” she
remarked, almost as if she’d rehearsed it.

“I DONT-!” The boy complained. His constant yelling was giving her a headache. She really
wanted to punch him right now.

Maru tried walking faster in hopes that maybe that would lose him. To her horror he only
ended up walking even faster. In that moment she felt like falling onto the ground and
playing dead.

Two hours later a third person finally showed up on the road. Desperate she pulled on the
passerby’s shirt and felt relief wash over her when she realized he too was a demon slayer.
Not only that but she remembered him from final selection to. Her heart skipped a beat as she
desperately realized she could be rid of Zenitsu.

“Hey you!” She put her finger up to his face and pointed at him, “You were at final selection
a few months ago!” She looked down at his sword, “I helped you pick out that metal
remember!”Maru was desperate to ditch Zenitsu and you could hear it in her voice, “Switch
with me! I can’t deal with this guy anymore!”

Zenitsu was sitting down in the dirt. His eyes were puffy from all the on and off crying he’d
been doing, “How… how could you say thaaaat~”

The boy slid his arm back down and looked around the road, “Can we do that…” He
remarked, looking a little dazed.

Maru shrugged. She hadn’t given it much thought until this moment, “I don’t know, but if I
stay around HIM any longer it’s not gonna be the demons that are the end of him!” She
looked back and gave him a nasty expression, “He keeps harassing me!”

She watched as a different face of horror emerged from the blonds face. Instead of the dread
of death, it was as if he wished for death in that very moment, “WHAT! No- no I-“ he
stumbled to stand trying to justify his actions, “I just don’t want to die alone.!”

“No girl would want to be with a man like you!” Maru felt the need to express her pent up
frustration from the past couple of hours, “You’re whinny and-! AGH!!!” words didn’t fit the
way she felt, instead she resorted to screaming.

“But-but..” Zenitsu wasn’t sure how to react in this situation. He didn’t particularly care for
Maru’s looks or personally either, but if he admitted to it his wish would be thrown out the
window.

“And you just! MHHH!! If I’d known becoming a demon slayer would lead me to you I
never would’ve become one! You’ve ruined this for me!!” Maru stopped her foot like a child.
For being teenagers neither of them were very mature. She grabbed onto her hair and started
to pull it.

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable Zenitsu looked for where the boy had gone. Both felt like
they desperately needed a middle man in this situation. He noticed the boy already against the
horizon line, and felt offended by his disregard for them. Zenitsu turned back to Maru and
frowned.

Pointing off into the distance he opened his mouth, “The uh… the guy left…” he mumbled,
evading eye contact.

Maru paused. Her eyes shifted to the road as she whined like a toddler, “Come onnnn-!”
Rolling her eyes she looked around and started to run down the road. She was unreasonably
mad at everyone around her and wanted them to pay for it.

If it weren’t for the fact the crow flew in the same direction Maru stormed off in, she
wouldn’t have arrived to the mission. Sitting in the middle of a clearing was a large two story
home. Living in the city she’d seen building that big before, only not as single households. It
had a unkept garden and hardy lining of trees.

By the right side of the house, in the middle of the forest line, was a group of two children
and the boy from earlier. Filled with rage she stormed over to him.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME! YOU LEFT YOU ASSHOLE!” She shifted her gaze back to
Zenitsu who thought he’d finally been rid of it. As if forgetting every and all manners Maru
found herself unable to speak. She wanted to yell out every curse word or profanity in her
arsenal. Within her rage she locked eyes with the younger of the two children. Suddenly, she
felt really bad and couldn’t tell why. She looked away in shame. Her head moved down into
her hands, “I’m sorry I got really focused in…” her tone shifted, “It’s not your fault and we
have a job to do. The demon is in the house isn’t it?” She asked. Lifting up her head she
witnessed no reaction from the boy, “The demon is in there? Right.?”

The aloof black haired boy looked up at her seeming slightly out of it, “Yes…” he said
slowly, holding on one of the kids shoulders.

Maru clapped, “Great!” She hadn’t realized how breathy her voice sounded. Almost as if
she’d been about to cry. Grabbing onto her sword she ran straight for the door.

Sliding it open she finally realized she could ignore both boys and focus on what really
mattered, beating the shit out of people. She didn’t think much of her surroundings as she
traveled through a short entrance corridor. She found the real estate and swiftly jumped
inside. Mud tracked into the house as she step foot on the old patterned floor. The lights lite
up as if to welcome her specifically.

Then the floor fell.

Maru landed with her back to the floor. Quickly catching a glimpse of the whole she fell
through it was completely pitch black. A ringing sound flooded her ears. She could her the
sound of a song playing thirty miles away, at the volume of one being whispered into her. A
sinking feeling drove into her core as she slowly stood up.

She patted around her body and brushed off any dirt. Checking head to toe her body was fine.
Nothing was broken or more than a casual bruise. Fixing up her hair, Maru realized her
earring chipped. The bottom half of it was missing. They’d been a generational gift and she’d
just broken them. Although no where near her mom, and unlikely to see her mom for a very
long time she could feel the beating from a mile away.

Frantically she looked around the floor and tried to figure out if it had fallen with her. The
insane idea of fixing it her only thought. She couldn’t bear the idea that if she ever returned
home her sister would be given them instead. Maru could just hear her mom.

“Yuki was always more relaxed. I could tell giving it to you would be the wrong choice.”
She was determined. Desperate even. Spiteful and bitter. Why would her younger sister be so
deserving and holy. Always Yuki. Yuki always gets the nice things. Maru grumped on the
floor, crawling and looking carefully for the small blue beads that once complemented her
hair.

Before she could find anything, a loud thud rang in her ear. She quickly tried to cover them to
no avail, as if the sound was coming from inside herself rather than outside. Quickly she
stood up. Cursing the earring she march onward and tired to find whatever demon lay await.

The building was large enough to be a city itself. Maru could hardly tell which way she was
going. None of the rooms had windows and none of the walls had doors. She paced herself,
careful not to make any noise. She stepped on a lose board a minute ago and her ear started
killing her. She wanted to crawl it off the side of her head and crush it. Not to mention the
agonizing thudding noise that seemed to only be getting more and more frequent. Actually it
was getting more frequent. A demon had been following her the whole time.

She turned her head slowly, “SERIOUSLY!” She whined, leading to another splitting
headache. It went down to crush her head as she quickly ducted down. This was one of few
situations where your opponent being bigger than you was an advantage. It’d been so much
bigger she could just duck under it and it couldn’t do much. She took a large step back and
grabbed her sword.

The demon lunged at her again, hands first. Maru quickly blocked it, then stab her sword
straight into its palms. She twisted her katana and forced it out through the side. Blood
spattered on her, even catching a little in her mouth. She reactively spat it out. The demon,
clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed, went to attack with his other hand. She saw his fist
approaching in the corner of her eye and twisted, swiftly cutting off its other hand. The
demon moaned, its strange expression going sour. Maru delivered her final blow and cut the
demon’s head clean off. Its body fell to the floor, a loud thunderous sound following.

Her ears felt like they were about to explode, when the sound suddenly came to a thrashing
halt. Maru looked up, feeling as if she heard another sound come from the ceiling. The blood
on her cheek slowly drifted away. She watched the demon disintegrate for a moment, then
continued walking inward.

Whatever had been causing the amplified noise ceased. She could be as loud as we wanted
and it didn’t hurt anymore. The feeling felt odd. It had shown up so suddenly and went away
just a soon. The house now felt empty. The lights weren’t lit as bright and the floor looked
more decrepit.

It wasn’t easy to tell how long she’d been searching, but almost as if it were fate she noticed
to people further down the endless hallways. A woman with short hair was standing on top of
a boy. She had her foot placed on top of him and was yelling at him for something. Maru
clenched her fist and eagerly ran into action. One of them had to be a demon, she could just
feel it, and if they weren’t, it wouldn’t matter, a fight is a fight.

Maru ran towards the woman. She tackled her, dragging her into the ground. Maru pulled the
girls hair and quickly realized, she was a demon. It screamed out in pain, clawing the front of
her chest. Maru punched it in the face, and quickly stood up. To her left she noticed the
unnamed boy from the path. His face was ripped open and bloody. She wasn’t the squeamish
type but the sight of it almost made her want to throw up. She watched him stubbed to his
feet, then immediately fall over.

At the same time the demon stood up to face Maru. It when to strike her down, fuming
ferociously. Its nails were sharp. Swiftly cutting through the special made fabric. Maru could
tell she needed to get as much distance from the demon as possible. It only seemed to be able
to do close range. Maru kicked the woman off her and started running as fast as she could.
She looked around the floor, for something, anything to hit it with, other than her sword.
Rubbled and rocks wouldn’t do much, but it would be better than nothing.

With haste and agile she quickly grabbed a small stone of the floor, paying no mind to the
oddity of a stone being on the floor, and threw it back at the demon. Maru was good at hitting
a target. Her brother always wanted to play catch and she was never one to pass up a game.

The demon turned to face her. Half its face dripping, “YOU!” Its voice boomed down the
hallway like a megaphone. Maru looked back at it, “ALL OF YOU GET OUT!” Its hand
slammed into a wall causing a puff of dust and crumbling house to fall.

At the end of hallway she noticed a strange figure quickly approaching. Maru vaguely
recognized it but she wasn’t sure from where. It didn’t look like a demon nor did it look like
her lovesick partner. As it got closer she thought she recognized the person only, he was also
standing right in front of her.

A boy nearly identical to the weirdo passed out on the floor came rushing towards them. He
was wearing the same box on his back that the other boy had been wearing on the road. He
had long shinny black hair and multiple sets of eyes.

Maru wondered if there was a third demon in the house with shapeshiftimg abilities. She
thought it would be so cool if it suddenly turned into her and they started duking it out. She’d
always wanted to get into a fist fight with herself.

Alas it didn’t seem to be so. Instead of going anywhere remotely close to the girls, the demon
stopped and pausing at the boy. It loomed over him like an animal by its prey. Maru couldn’t
quite tell what it was doing, only that it looked angry. Between her own fighting she saw it
slowly standing. Its eyes locked in with hers and running into the fight haphazardly.

The female demon fell down. Whoever that boy was grabbed onto her ponytails and dragged
her to the ground. He pulled a sword from out of nowhere and stabbed it repeatedly into the
woman’s face. The demon screamed out in agony while Maru was left watching in awe.
She’d never seen something so impressive. Someone acting so intensely.

“YEAH!” She cheered on, “KILL HER KILL HER!!” Nobody should’ve been as excited
about anything as Maru was in this moment. There might have been other reasons for her
family being so eager to send her away.
The strange demon repeatedly stabbed its sword into the other woman’s chest. The wound
healed before it could be pulled out each time, leading only to more harm. The woman spat
out similar profanities between the blood up her throat.

After a few minutes Maru out board of watching them. She picked her sword up, the demon
watching as she walked over to it, kneeled down, placed her sword gently against its neck,
and started sawing like a tree.

Maru had been told in the past explicitly not to do that, but she wanted to try it at least once.
She watched the panic in its eye. Although it could’ve tried to stand up and force the boy and
Maru off, dude to the placement of the sword that would only lead to its own death. She
knew it knew it couldn’t do anything.

After a long loud drawn out minute of screaming, its head rolled over. It kept yelling like
child as Maru kicked it away. It followed down the hallway, stopping at the bloody boys
body.

The demon’s eyes shifted on him. Its anger turned to a sickening laugh, “I-I still got one of
them… I that’s what you get! For-for… for-” Maru walked over and started playing with its
head like a ball. The other demon was finished stabbing the woman’s body and watched
Maru in grim silence. She kicked the head down to one side of the hall, then run after it and
kick it down the other. As its head started to rot and turn to dust she struggled more and more
to get it to roll. After about a minute there was nothing left to kick. She looked down at her
feet and frowned.

Maru turned to whiteness the six-eyed demon carrying the boy from the road on its shoulders.
The boy’s face was rapped in a piece of cloth noticeably ripped off of the demon’s outfit. It
covered the upper half of his face, only leaving his mouth in the open.

“Hey!” Maru quickly headed towards the pair, “What are you doing get away from him!” She
pounded on the demon’s back and tried to wrestle the boy off of it. The demon looked back at
her. It pointed at its own face then at the boy’s, as if trying to communicate something. Maru
squinted her eyes and shook her head, “Who are you..? What?..?” The demon, now more
aggressive this time, pointed at itself than the boy. It waved its hands around and mimicked a
holding a baby, “You’re his sibling.!” She said excitedly. The demon nodded. Maru crossed
her arms and sighed, “this is hard-“

“Susaaa—!!!!” Both looked towards the source of the sound. Zenitsu was down the wallway
with three other children following behind him. Maru felt like she was about to suffocate. As
he got closer a familiar look of horror washed over him. Zenitsu pointed towards the pair of
siblings and took a step back, “What.. what’s going on..??.?”

Maru side eyed Zenitsu and acted like it was nothing, “Oh! This is.. just my good pal…
yeah,” Maru didn’t trust the six-eyed demon but she realized she could use him to freak out
Zenitsu. She placed her arm across his shoulder before he slide it off and started walking
away.

“And… is that,” Zenitsu pointed up at the boy on his shoulders, “Is that Tsugikuni-kun..?”
Maru shrugged. The demon stopped in its tracks.
“I mean I don’t know his name but he was the kid from the path and final selection
remember,” Zenitsu nodded, laser focused on Yoriichi, “He’s got this nasty scar across his
face,” Maru pointed backwards at nothing in particular, “We have to get him to a hospital or
something. It’s really bad.”

“And uhm… the other guy…”

“Don’t worry he’s fine. He beat the shit out of the other demon a minute ago and he rapped
up Tsuki-kun’s face. I think their brothers is something. Isn’t that crazy? Could you image?”

Zenitsu shook his head, “Aren’t we supposed to… isn’t it against the rules to keep a demon.
This is….” His voice faded into a whisper as he muttered something to himself.

The six-eyed demon, un interested in the others nonsense, kept walking away. Noticing this
Maru started chasing after him some more, and noticing Maru Zenitsu starting chasing after
Maru.

By the time the group made it to the door the demon hadn’t answered a single question. Maru
grew impatient with the juxtaposition between Zenitsu’s obsessive whining and the boys stoic
nature. Yoriichi hadn’t woken up yet, not that anyone expected him to. The demon, who had
been leading the group, suddenly stoped at the door. His feet were placed firm as he shakily
bounced his hand around the handle. Maru and the other children looked at him confused,
and an expression of pity cover Zenitsu’s face.

“Listen I get you don’t want to talk but you at least had a plan for this,” Zenitsu walked to the
front of the line and placed his hand on the demons shoulder. The demon looked back at him
with a stone cold expression. Zenitsu quickly removed his hand and hid into himself, “We’ll
get your brother to safety just…”

The demon looked away ashamed, then shook its head. He crouched down, setting Yorrichi
and the backpack on the floor. He pointed at the pack back, then Zenitsu, then crawled inside
it.

One of the children let out a snort as Zenitsu lifted the absurdly heavy bag onto his back.
Readjusting the straps he felt as sense of weightlessness cling onto him, as if it suddenly lost
a large amount of weight.

“Susa-chan should grab Tsugikuni-kun,” he mumbled quietly, opening the door.

Maru looked down at her feet and picked up the other boy. She slouched him over her
shoulders and started following Zenitsu, “Isn’t this against the rules. They’re totally gonna
kill us if they find out we’re harboring a demon,” she said teasingly.

Zenitsu frowned, “I know but… I can’t image what I would do if I had a sibling and they
turned into a demon…”

“Yeah…”
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