Chapter Text
There was a moment after he chopped off Yahaba’s head that he noticed his mother having a shield around her. An overwhelming amount of happiness and relief filled his chest at the sight of his mother’s demon magic.
He smiled at the sight of his mother facing off against the other demon with such a powerful stance. Then the next moment Yahaba’s grating voice entered his ears before arrows shot him back up into the air above the house.
Tanjiro cursed as he continued to fight against the demon who had yet to perish. He looked down at the body surrounded by beads on the ground that was turning to ash at a snail’s pace. He used the Water Wheel move that quickly went to Waterfall Basin as he was dragged down to the grass.
He moved through several water breathing forms to break his fall until his arms felt like they were about to get ripped off.
Yahaba was disintegrating slowly as he yelled out to him, “You haven’t suffered enough! I’m not done. Not just yet. Your pain will be excruciating!”
Yahaba tried to shoot off another barrage of arrows yet his head had disappeared completely after he gave his last war cry that pierced the air. The racing arrows aimed at him dissipated into the air before it could touch his skin or clothes.
“Oh, thank you, Hinokami,” Tanjiro mumbled, stumbling on his feet and falling to the ground with a deep, shuddering breath. He finally had the chance to breathe and now he realized just how much of his body hurt. All the slamming against the tree, walls and roof really had his sides and back screaming out for mercy. Especially a sharp pain in his chest and an excruciating amount running down his leg.
Tanjiro cursed under his breath as he struggled to keep sitting up with his injuries. The grip of sleep threatened to pull him under at any second if only to escape the suffering. He shook his head to wake himself up and started to crawl towards the other side of the house where the others were fighting against the temari demon.
His sister had managed to kick the demon’s own temari ball back at them who unfortunately dodged the ball before it could hit their head. Yet the force caused the brick wall behind the demon to break from the strength, a cobweb crack in the foundation spread out from where the ball was embedded in the wall
Tanjiro crawled slowly despite his brain telling him to get up quickly despite the pain in his body. He needed to help out his family.
His sister and mother fought as hard as they could with his sister going all out. Until a well-aimed temari had knocked them both unbalanced. He tried to crawl faster while keeping his attention on the fight as well.
Then, he noticed Miss Tamayo step up, walking beside Nezuko then pulling his sister back by the collar of her cloak. Yushiro walked up to drag Nezuko further back away from Miss Tamayo as the older demon faced the temari ball wielding demon. His mother followed after Yushiro to fuss over Nezuko then pulled both Nezuko and Yushiro to her chest, one of them looked remarkably more surprised than the other.
“If you’re a Twelve Kizuki, then I have a question,” Tamayo said, her voice strong and loud within the courtyard. There was no ounce of hesitance in her voice or fear in her expression.
Susamaru sneered at Tamayo’s words like the letters were insects flying around a pile of trash. “Move out of the way, fugitive.”
Tamayo held up her hand, making Tanjiro’s eyes go toward the ripped sleeve on her other arm. Did she get sliced by one of the attacks earlier? Tamayo’s voice remained steady as she replied. “One question, that’s all I’m asking. Do you have any idea who Kibutsuji really is.”
To say that Susamaru was afraid was an understatement. He couldn’t see her face clearly from the crawling position he was in but everything about her screamed out terrified. Her scent was in turmoil between fear and desperation. “What the hell are you saying?”
“Simple. I’m saying your leader is a coward. Always has been and always will be.” Miss Tamayo said, her eyes narrowing. Tanjiro stared at her sleeve where he could just barely see red dripping down onto the ground. Why hasn’t she healed yet? The wound must be large then! “You would have realized it by now. Kibutsuji lives in a constant state of fear and send demons like you out to do his bidding”
“Shut up!” Susamaru shouted. “How dare you say such a thing!”
“The reason why demons never group together and cannibalize each other all traces back to Kibutsuji.” Miss Tamayo stared Susamaru some like she daring the demon to say anything in rebuttal. Yet Susamaru was clenching her teeth so hard in response instead of biting back. “He doesn’t want demons to group up because he fears they will take him down. That’s why he manipulates demons like you to behave a certain way.”
“Shut up, Shut up, Shut up! The lord has no reason to be so petty!” Summary screamed out. She threw her arms down like a child about to have a tantrum. Tanjiro watched as her voice grew louder and louder, two of her fists clenched into fists. “You simply can’t comprehend the power he wields, traitor! No one in the world is stronger than Lord Kibutusuji!”
As soon as the name exited her mouth, the demon froze. A sharp help escaped Susamaru’s lips as a horrifyingly strong smell of fear washed over her entire body. Her temari balls fell from her hands to the grass as she brought all her hands up to cover her mouth.
Why does she look so afraid? Tanjiro thought as Miss Tanayo stepped forward and moved her arm to show a thin stream of red dripping down her pale arm. “You forget you couldn’t say his name, didn’t you? You just triggered his curse.”
Susamaru squeaked in fear right as he heard a thump. Tanjiro looked over to see his sister and mother had fallen asleep where they stood. Yushiro knelt down between them, keeping his gaze between Miss Tamayo and Tanjiro’s family members.
Tanjiro crawled forward faster toward Tamayo while Susamaru tried to run away from her. She started begging out to the open air, her face tilted towards the moon. Her screaming pleads echoed through the air before she suddenly hunched over in pain.
Tanjiro felt his stomach drop as the demon’s skin grew darker like it was getting burnt in mere seconds. Three blood soaked arms ripped from her body with two spouting out from her torso and another silencing her screams by coming out of her mouth. A waterfall of blood fell to the ground, staring at the green grass and the white socks she wore.
Her whimpers and sobs were muffled by the monstrous hand before the fingers twisted and wrapped around her entire head with a sudden move. Then, he took in a sharp breath when the gigantic hand crushed Susamru’s head like a watermelon.
Tanjiro silently watched in terror as the deformed demon fell to the ground in a heap of flesh and blood. It was an utter mess spread out on the ground only a few feet away from him.
“Is it...” He could barely recognize his voice because of how shaky it sounded. “It’s it all over? Is she dead?”
“She will be momentarily.” She wasn’t dead yet?! Tanjiro turned to Tamayo who was staring at the demon’s body with a pitiful expression. The older lady cupped her face. “It’s all due to Kibutsuji’s curse. The cells he left in her body will destroy her and rip her apart from the inside. He is the only demon that can inflict fatal wounds on other demons except for the sunlight and the demon slayers with their swords.”
Tanjiro tried to crawl closer to where his sister and mother laid out; however Yushiro stormed up to him before he could move towards them. He pressed a piece of cloth over his nose with a mumbled curse. “Don’t inhale Lady Tamayo’s spell! The human’s body can’t take it.”
Tanjiro’s voice was muffled around the cloth as he looked up at Yushiro. He tried to keep his breathing to a minimum to keep himself from getting hurt by whatever spell Mids Tamayo cast. “What’s the spell? Oh, is that why Susamaru...?”
“Yes.” Yushiro rolled his eyes at his question, his clawed hand kept pushing against his face with the cloth. Tanjiro pressed his face down into his shoulder to keep the cloth over his mouth so Yushiro won’t have to hold it anymore. Yushiro straightened himself up and pressed another piece of cloth over his pointed nose. “It’s a spell that weakens the target’s brain functions which makes it impossible for them to lie or keep secrets.”
“Woah.” Tanjiro whispered then turned his head to the defeated demon laid out several feet away. “I can’t believe that they were so strong .”
Miss Tamayo immediately proved him wrong by saying, “Tanjiro, she was not one of the Twelve Kizuki like she was claiming.”
“Really?” Tanjiro mumbled, his eyes trailing over Susamaru’s body to Miss Tamayo’s. The fight was so intense though. To hear that the demon duo was not even close to the level of the twelve moons made him feel sick to his stomach.
“The Twelve Kizuki all have numbers engraved on their eyeballs. She didn’t have one which means the other one most likely didn’t have one either.” Miss Tamayo replied. Her soft purple eyes softened when she looked at him like she was trying to give the information as gently as she could. “These demons were too weak.”
“That is considered too weak?”
His body felt like it was on fire from how many injuries he had. He was thrown around like a rag doll belonging to an impatient child. He could barely stand on his own two feet. It could be worse, of course, he could be dead. But the fact that these demons were considered weak yet they could do all of this damage...
“Stop questioning Lady Tamayo! She is never wrong.” Yushiro ignored the fact that Tanjiro was injured and thumped him on the head, drawing a hiss from the demon slayer. Yushiro humored then clicked his tongue in distaste. “That demon was pathetic and stupid. She deserved what happened to her!”
Miss Tamayo had somehow wandered off when Tanjiro was too focused on the pulse of pain from his headache. When he looked up, he could see the doctor knelt down next to the demon and was extracting their blood into a syringe.
“With any luck, her blood can still be instrumental in making a cure.” Miss Tamayo stood up with the blood filled syringe in her hands. She looked directly at him. “Now I need to take care of Nezuko and Kie because they inhaled my spell for which I’m deeply sorry.” She paused while Tanjiro interrupted her by telling her it was alright. “And I will also need to tend to any wounds from the battle that have not healed yet.”
She was interrupted by a coo. One human and two demons turned their heads around to see four small children poking their heads out of the ruined wall and approaching their sleeping sister and mother. Shigeru and Hanako stumbled over their feet to drape themselves over their mother like a blanket. Takeo carried Rokuta who swung his little legs in their air towards Nezuko.
Takeo placed Rokuta next to Nezuko then looked to Tanjiro and called for him with a deep chuff in his throat.
Tanjiro felt a huge wave of relief crash over him after seeing them. It did look like they got hurt from the bloodstains he could spot on their clothes, but it looks like they healed mostly. Poor Takeo did have a bleeding wound that he was clutching at, one that made a wounded noise cone out from Miss Tamayo.
“Takeo...” Tanjiro mumbled, delighting in the way his brother perked up at hearing his voice. His little brother jerked his hand to him like he was trying to wave him over to them. He laughed despite the pain in his chest. “Shigeru, Hanako, Rokuta... Thank goodness all of you are all right.”
Miss Tamayo hurriedly walked over to them with urgency lining her steps. Yushiro lowered the cloth from his mouth as Miss Tamayo started to lift Kie into her arms with Shigeru and Hanako coming along as well. Her gaze looked somewhat fond as his two siblings adjusted to hold onto her robe. “I’ll be sure to look at their conditions as well after I take care of your mother and sister.”
Miss Tamayo retreated into the building which made Yushiro jump up to attention. Tanjiro lowered his cloth as he watched the inpatient demon gently lift his sister into their arms as Takeo took Rokuta back. Yushiro looked back over his shoulder to shout at him, “Don’t move a muscle, alright? You’re on your own now. I won’t leave Lady Tamayo for a single second!”
Tanjiro was going to protest but Yushiro had already run off yet Takeo still stayed, waiting for him with a humming Rokuta bouncing in his arms.
Another chuff came, this time seemed more pleading than the other.
“Hold on, Takeo. I’m coming,” Tanjiro breathed out, pushing himself up with his arms and slumping himself onto his sword. He pushed himself up while using his sheathed sword as a very sharp cane.
He smiled at his brother and was about to move towards him when another sound caught his attention.
“Ma…ri,” Susamaru whispered. It was like a helpless, hopeless plea to the night air. Her body had already started to disintegrate but it was taking a long time. It was to be expected since Yahaba had taken a while to finally disappear. “Mari… mari…”
Tanjiro mouthed ‘Mari?’ to himself before spotting the temari ball just out of the demon’s reach. She smelled so sad... Should he?
He glanced at his brother who was still waiting by the ruined wall with a curious Rokuta who was watching the moon. Tanjiro stumbled his way over to the demon, gritting his teeth against the pain as he bent down to retrieve the ball. Everything protested at the movement, so he quickly right himself decided to do things a different way.
Tanjiro gently kicked the temari towards the demon and again once more so that dark, wrinkled hand could clasp onto the multicolored ball.
“Here’s your temari,” Tanjiro said gently.
Her voice whispered in the air with a quiet plea. “Play with me. Please, play with me.”
Her voice broke on the final sentence before her body had finally turned to dust, retreating up into the night sky like she was nothing but ash from a fire.
She just wanted to play. She could have been a little kid before she was turned into a demon. A demon who probably murdered dozens, but a child who could have been Hanako’s age.
Kibutsuji... he was despicable. Deceiving demons and forcing them to fight in an endless war with no salvation waiting on the other side. Tanjiro clenched his fists as his thoughts started to spiral towards the growing hatred of the demon king. Kibutsuji, even if it’s the last thing I do, I will defeat you for what you have done to my family and so many others both human and demon.
Tanjiro turned his gaze towards the sky only for his gut to drop down to his feet at the sight of the sun starting to come out. Wait. He snapped his attention onto his brothers waiting for him. No. No!
“Takeo, run back inside!” Takeo perked up at the urgency of his voice. His brother looked to the approaching sunrise and froze. Tanjiro yelled out, “Quickly! Run to the basement!” Takeo shifted on his feet, looking between the sunrise and Tanjiro. “I’ll follow you just go before it starts to burn you!”
With that promise, Takeo nodded with a frightened gaze then immediately started to retreat back into the house where no light could reach him.
Tanjiro sighed in relief when he could no longer see his brothers. Thank goodness they weren’t hurt.
Now all he had to do was maneuver his way inside with the house with all his injuries.
Hah... hopefully there is some pain medicine inside.
*
“Ah. Ow,” Tanjiro mumbled, stumbling his way down the hallway with his sword taking most of the weight off his bad leg. “Miss Tamayo? Yushiro?”
“We’re over here!” Yushiro called back. Tanjiro followed the voice to a flight of stairs leading down to a lower level. Yushiro looked up at him from the bottom of the stairs. “You don’t have to come down, but if you want to you need to hurry it up,”
“Yushiro, be nice. Tanjiro can take his time,” Miss Tamayo reprimanded him, making Yushiro shrink back at the scolding tone with a pout. He could hear Yushiro mumble about it being a joke when he was already halfway down the stairs. Miss Tamayo called out, “It’s alright to come on down, Tanjiro. Everyone is looking good. I’m taking care of the three younger ones now.”
“I’m on my way,” Tanjiro said while descending the stairs. As soon as his feet touched the basement floor, Takeo was there with a bandaged shoulder waiting to attach himself to his uninjured side.
“Takeo, you're alright.” Tanjiro said, leaning into his brother with relief settling inside him. Hanako and Shigeru rushed to him with smiles underneath their muzzles. He laughed when the two younger children collided with his legs.
His mood only got better when he noticed his sister running towards him. “Nezuko!” He shouted as his sister embraced him, making their younger siblings coo at her. He smiled as Nezuko patted their heads in return. He looked up to see that Yushiro made his way over to Miss Tamayo who had Rokuta in her arms with Kie standing close by. “Oh, I’m so glad everyone looks alright.”
“There we are, Rokuta,” Miss Tamayo said, taking a moment to allow his youngest brother to chuff at her. “Hmm?” He watched as his brother patted her cheek with his clawed fingers. The doctor smiled at his touch. “Oh, thank you.”
Nezuko jumped and ran back to Miss Tamayo and Yushiro. Miss Tamayo gently handed over Rokuta to his mother right before Nezuko plastered herself to her. Miss Tamayo froze at the sudden embrace while Yushiro’s mouth dropped open in an exaggerated gasp.
“What are you doing? Step away from Lady Tamayo!” Yushiro instructed with what looked like a mix between a scowl and a pout on his face.
Miss Tamayo gently laughed, patting Nezuko’s back with a smile. “Calm down. I don’t mind at all.”
Nezuko kept hugging Miss Tamayo as she reached around to rub at Yushiro’s head, messing up his light green hair. Yushiro’s nose scrunched up like a cat at the sign of affection. “What...No...Stop.”
“Strange.” Miss Tamayo was frowning as she talked, gesturing to how Nezuko’s claws had stuck themselves into her flowery fabric. “She’s been acting more familiar with us ever since she woke up.” The doctor studied Nezuko’s face with a narrowed gaze. “Maybe she’s still feeling some kind of effect of the medicine or spell?”
“It’s nothing to worry about.” Tanjiro waved his hand to reassure them then ruffled his brother’s hair with the same hand. “I think it has something to do with the hypnosis spell that Urokodaki put her under.”
“I thought the spell Nezuko was under only made her see humans as her family, and Yushiro and I are demons? How is she not trying to attack us?” Tamayo said.
“Stop messing with my hair,” Yushiro complained softly as Nezuko kept scratching at his head.
“If I were to make a guess, I’d say she thinks of you both as family.” Tanjiro explained. His thoughts streaked back to how Nezuko had patted the head of the two people they rescued from that demon and its clones. “I didn’t like the idea of that spell at first. But she still seems to have a will of her own.”
“She sees us as family?” Mid Tamayo repeated back in awe.
“It looks like Nezuko sees you two are as human as anyone to her. She wanted to protect you,” Tanjiro smiled. The two of them felt more like humans to him as well despite their demon scent.
The way they cared for them and was on their side showed a caring side that he hasn’t seen in any demons besides his family. They were nothing like the demons that Nezuko and him had fought previously in town who cared nothing about the lives they took or what they did
Miss Tamayo gasped at his words while Nezuko drew her hand away from Yushiro to hug her again with both of her arms. Tears began to fall out of Tamayo’s faded purple eyes.
Both Tanjiro and Yushiro started freaking out at the sight of her tears. And they weren‘t the only ones. Kie and Rokuta looked very worried at the sight of her looking so sad. Shigeru and Hanako chuffed in her direction with a concerned tone to their murmured calls. Takeo tucked himself at his side yet was staring openly at Miss Tamayo in confusion.
“Ah, I’m so sorry!” Tanjiro apologized then raised his voice to address his sister. “Nezuko, stop it, you’re making Miss Tamayo uncomfortable.”
“No...” “Thank you, thank you so much Nezuko,” Tamayo cried into Nezuko’s shoulder.
It took some time for everyone to calm down. Most of his family had comforted Miss Tamayo in their form of care like curious coos and clinging onto her limbs. The method made Miss Tamayo smile while Yushiro kept halfheartedly struggling against their attempts. He did submit to his mother because who wouldn’t when they are in her presence. His mom was amazing.
Tanjiro waited in the basement with Rokuta being handed off to him at some point so his youngest brother could poke at his flame-like scar. It was strange since it developed that shape after his head hit a tree.
“Yushiro and I will be leaving this region,” Tamayo said, interrupting his attention on his baby brother’s cute, little claws that scratched at the brick basement.
“Huh?” Tanjiro whipped his head to Miss Tamayo in shock. And he wasn’t the only one since Yushiro was staring at her in confusion.
“We’re too close to Kibutsuji now.” Miss Tamayo tilted her head down. Her red lips fell downward into a frown as she explained. “It’s far too risky to stay here, we need a new place to hide. I thought I’ve hidden my identity well, but after treating so many humans, I’m sure some of them figured out I’m a demon.” Miss Tamayo paused then added, “Children and the elderly are especially perceptive.”
“On this topic, I want to ask you something, Tanjiro.”
“Yes?” Tanjiro replied, watching Miss Tamayo steady herself.
“To protect your family, would you like us to take them with us when we leave?” Miss Tamayo offered.
Once her suggestion was announced, Yushiro stumbled back like he had been hit by one of those temari balls again. “What...?”
“It might be difficult for you to travel with all of them without suspicion.” Miss Tamayo reasoned. Tanjiro glanced at all of her family members inside the basement. Takeo was right by his side with Rokuta in his arms. Nezuko was standing relatively close to him against the wall. His mother was watching over Hanako and Shigeru in the middle between him and Miss Tamayo. Would it... would it be better?
The doctor continued on, “Obviously, I won’t be able to absolutely promise them safety, but they will suffer less danger than the kind you might face in battle.”
Miss Tamayo does have a point. A demon slayer traveling with a cart would raise a few looks especially since Urokodaki told him that most travel lightly. The fact that he might be the only one with a cart would put a target on his back for suspicion.
But he can’t just leave them. He...
A clawed hand grabbed him which made his attention fall on Nezuko who was watching him with a steady gaze in her shiny, pink eyes. An arm linked with his on his other side where Takeo was clutching onto him, his stark, white bandage wrapped around his shoulder.
A chorus of chirps and chuffs filled the air as his family called out to him in small ways. Each of them must have been worried. His thoughts might have spilled across his face when he was thinking about the situation.
When his gaze met his mother‘s cat-like eyes, he smiled gently, grabbing his sister’s hand and chuckling when Rokuta’s palm patted at his cheek.
When Tanjiro looked back at Miss Tamayo, it looked like she already knew what his answer would be.
“Miss Tamayo, thank you for your concern. But my family will be staying with me on this journey. Nothing is going to break us apart,” Tanjiro said. He laughed again when Rokuta kept patting his face with repeated ‘ba’ noises spilling from his lips. He turned his head to playfully pretend to eat his youngest brother's hand which made Rokuta explode into muffled giggles.
“I understand. I wish you good fortune on the life ahead of you,” Miss Tamayo responded with a soft, knowing expression.
“Well, we will have to leave as soon as we can to cover our tracks.” Yushiro adapts quickly to the situation. He threw a meaningful glance to him with his light purple eyes. “You should get moving too.”
“Right.” Tanjiro nodded then bowed to the duo. Good luck to you both. And thank you for everything you have done for us.” He straightened up and gazed at his family with a grin. “Let’s go.”
All at once, his family ran to the stairs with Rokuta jumping out of his arms to follow after his mother. He watched in a combination of amusement and exasperation at their quick departure. “Don’t run! And don’t go into the damaged room!”
“Tanjiro,” Yushiro called out before Tanjiro‘s feet could land on a single step . The green haired demon hesitated then turned his head to the side with a blush on his cheeks. He commented, “Your little sister, I guess she is a beauty.”
Tanjiro smiled and laughed at Yushiro’s comment who immediately followed it up with demands for him to move faster up the stairs. Tanjiro kept the smile on his face when he heard Miss Tamayo scold Yushiro again for his harsh words.
*
Tanjiro was relieved to see the boxes were not damaged by the fight. The cart outside got the worst of it which was on a few chips to the wood and a few holes in the tarp. And he also had to clean up the amount of dust and debris that landed inside the cart from all of the roof tiles and bricks that fell from the fight.
He brought each box inside the house and carried it back to the cart in three separate trips. On his last trip, he said goodbye to Miss Tamayo and Yushiro with a promise to collect the blood and send them letters when he could.
Yushiro did say something about a cat that would come to collect the blood, so he can just deliver letters back that way too! Miss Tamayo gave him some medical supplies for the road as well as pain relief medicine for his current injuries and more for any future ones.
It did not take long for him to get back on the road especially with his crow yelling at him to travel southeast.
Whatever mission is waiting for him, he will take it on! And hopefully get some useful blood samples that Miss Tamayo could use!