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Kyojuro knew he was on the right path when he came upon the quiet.
It wasn’t the kind of quiet that came from the demon’s rampage; in that case, there would be obvious signs—destroyed foliage, or creatures fleeing in the night. No, this was different.
It was simply quiet.
This is bad, he thought.
Quiet meant danger. No matter how well a demon could disguise itself so ubiquitously, nature knew its danger, and it echoed a careful silence. Kyojuro kept his hand on his sword hilt as he maneuvered the space, deepening his breathing.
He had been chasing this demon for a few days. It was adept at hiding, moving from location to location, but its hunger had finally struck in the town nearby, claiming victims faster than Kyojuro had anticipated. He was quite angry about it.
As he walked, he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of said danger. Other than the obvious marks of animal life, nothing showed itself.
Finally, he found footprints dragged through mud, and a crushed branch in a pile of leaves. He also noted damage done to the trunk of a tree nearby.
Kyojuro swept his hand along the slice. He splayed his fingers, matching the tips to where the nails would have dug into the wood.
“Mm! It’s a demon,” he said quietly, as though he hadn’t already known. As though three young, strong men hadn’t disappeared.
Kyojuro followed the tracks. He must have walked at least a mile when he found a very fresh muddy footprint. There were two in fact, near the base of a tree, side-by-side. There was no damage to the tree; the person must have braced their hands on it when they slipped in the mud.
There were more footprints nearby. Four sets, spread out in a scuffle. Kyojuro knelt and examined the initial footprint he’d found. It had rained several days ago, and under the thick foliage and the cool autumn air the moisture lingered. This footprint was just hours old.
“A woman, most likely! Interesting!” he said to himself. Standing, Kyojuro turned away from the footprints and marched in the direction he presumed they had gone. Four sets became two. One of them headed towards the main road, and the other disappeared. Kyojuro lifted his head up towards the trees. “This must be a demon.”
Kyojuro abandoned the element of surprise and took off in several directions. He ran east, following the tracks that went furthest, but when that took him too far he returned and headed west, and then back south. With his speed travel took mere minutes, and he concluded that there were no obvious signs leading in any direction aside from the main road, which a demon was unlikely to take.
To the footprint he returned. Kyojuro examined it again, and he had just begun rubbing the mud between his fingers when he heard a snap.
He jerked upright and immediately sprinted towards the sound.
There!
Strange that he hadn’t detected its presence, but he could clearly see now the hint of cloth hidden behind a grouping of thick bushes. Kyojuro pulled out his sword and swept the bushes aside with his foot.
“I have you now, demon! With my blade I will—!”
Kyojuro’s words died in his throat.
It was no demon at all, but a woman.
She was a slayer. Judging by the dirt on her shoes, she was the one who had fallen. And it looked like she had broken her leg as well.
The situation required immediate reassessment. Clearly, she had injured herself, and struggled along the forest path until she heard him. He’d never seen her before—not that he remembered his subordinates well—and based on her frightened gaze, she must have been brand-new.
“Are you all right, young lady?” Kyojuro called, reaching down with his hand. He smiled wide. “I thought you were a demon for a moment there! What happened here?”
Rather than answer him, the woman responded very oddly.
She screamed. And even more bizarrely, she scrambled away from his hand, but because her leg was quite obviously broken, she didn’t get very far. All she managed to do was hike herself partway up a tree trunk while her leg hung uselessly beneath her. The injured leg was supported by a splint she must have fashioned herself.
“That’s fine work,” Kyojuro said. “Mm! Fine work indeed! But you would do best to return to the Demon Slayer Corps! You’ll heal much faster there!”
He hoped that by speaking clearly and loudly, the girl would recognize he was not a threat. He parted his haori fully and gestured to his uniform with meaning, but the woman’s response was to glance around in several directions. She clutched her sword closer to her body, and did so even tighter when Kyojuro took several steps towards her.
His eyes widened imperceptibly. Her hands were bloody. No; they were covered in blood, and he didn’t see any immediate injuries that would have resulted in that amount of blood.
Kyojuro changed tactics and knelt on the ground, keeping both hands raised. “Were you with someone? Were they injured by the demon?”
Again, in a display of odd behavior, the young woman snapped, “Who are you?”
“I believe I’m asking you the same, young lady!” he bellowed. She jumped as though startled, and tried to get back on her feet. However, her leg proved as debilitating as it looked. The moment she pulled at the injured limb, her face paled, and her hands clutched at her hip.
Yet she continued to struggle to her feet. What admirable strength!
“Young lady, you have no reason to worry; I can help you, and then I can destroy the demon lurking in this forest. For me, it will be no problem at all, since I’m a Hashira. I’m Rengoku Kyojuro, the Flame Hashira!”
At that, she stilled, her ashen face jerking up towards his. “A… Hashira?”
Her eyes were a dark brown—nearly black in the darkness. Errant strands of hair flung themselves at her face as she heaved herself to her feet. She had managed to get there, but it looked like she had no strength left to move.
“Yes, a Hashira! I am one of the highest ranking—and strongest!—members. You’re safe with me! So please,” Kyojuro said, lowering his voice, “let me help you off your feet.”
At that, she looked even more frightened. Her face paled further; her hands trembled.
“You have nothing to worry about with me around!” he urged, raising his voice. The more she struggled, the more he tried to ease her worries. “I see your leg is broken!” She twitched, her hand brushing her hip. “Allow me to assist you!!”
“I’m fine,” she said, defying all logic. It was the second time she had spoken in the span of a few very confusing minutes. She glanced around again and bit her lip. “I… I don’t need any help. I was actually going to meet someone soon who’s going to help me. So—” She stole a breath, and then another, and her trembling slowly came to a stop. Kyojuro would have been impressed at her breathing technique if it hadn’t been so obvious. “—I’m all right. Thank you for worrying about me. It was nice meeting you, but I’ll be leaving now.”
Kyojuro wanted to laugh. He did laugh, long and loud, laughing until the smile slipped from her face.
“I would be a pathetic example of a Hashira if I allowed you to leave on your own! Particularly when it seems another has been injured. Come with me, young lady, and we will get you right as rain.”
He waited no longer. Striding forward, he made as if to scoop her up, but she stumbled away from his hands.
“I’m fine!” she snapped, swatting his hand away. How unbelievably rude!
“You are not fine! Your hands are covered in blood. Your leg is broken!”
“I just need to—” She kept glancing around, but Kyojuro could tell it wasn’t in fear. Something was off about the entire situation, beginning with this young woman. “My brother—”
“You have a brother? Is that who was injured? Where is he? I can help find him!”
A twig snapped somewhere not far off. The young girl grew even more frantic.
“Brother!” she yelled. “Leave!”
The hairs on the back of Kyojuro’s neck stood on end.
“Please leave!” she yelled, even louder. “Don’t come over here!”
“Why would you say that?” Kyojuro asked. He stared at her and slowly slid his sword out of its sheathe.
“Tanjiro!” the girl screeched. “Tanjiro, run!”
Kyojuro pivoted. He burst into a sprint and sliced clean through the trunk of a thick tree. He missed the demon’s head. The tree groaned as its weight carried it backwards, thunderously crashing to the ground.
“Not to worry, young lady,” Kyojuro said, “I’ve located the demon. You don’t need to fear anything anymore!”
The woman screamed again, what must have been her brother’s name spilling from her lips. Kyojuro leapt into the air and landed on the fallen tree. He followed it to where the demon was fleeing and held his sword out beside him.
There!
“Flame Breathing: Blazing Universe!”
He sliced through another trunk, but the demon evaded him in the dark. Kyojuro could see a patterned haori and a head of long, dark hair. It was fast, but not fast enough. Kyojuro sped past it and raised his sword.
“First Form—”
He jerked suddenly backwards to avoid the sword catapulting towards him. Stunned, Kyojuro spared a glance towards the woman that had tossed her sword blindly into battle. She had nearly injured him!
“Young lady, you should leave the fighting to me!” he called. “I will kill the demon momentarily!”
“Brother!” she screamed, all pain and desperation. “Run!”
It finally hit Kyojuro what was happening.
“I see! I see! Well, well, how unfortunate!”
Kyojuro turned to face what must have been the girl’s brother. The demon crouched down low, its red eyes glinting as they surveyed him. Over a surprisingly clean kimono it wore a tattered checkered haori. The haori was stained with blood. The same darkened color as the blood on the girl’s clothing.
The demon growled, and the claws it extended dug into the ground. Kyojuro pointed his sword directly at it.
Kyojuro’s smile did not waver. “I’m sorry young lady, but that is no longer your brother.”
If it weren’t for the clouds that shifted away from the moon, Kyojuro might not have noticed the muzzle affixed over its mouth. He blinked. How strange! Had she tried to fight him off and tame him, breaking her leg in the process? It would be a first for the corps, especially considering she was a member.
“I’m truly sorry about this, young lady, but I will be killing this demon. You are a member, so surely you understand.” Kyojuro cocked his head towards her. “What’s your name?”
Before she could answer, the demon’s growls got louder. It roared behind its muzzle and leapt at Kyojuro.
“Brother!” she yelled, “no!”
The girl’s scream distorted as the demon closed in. The path to victory, which had once been absolute, twisted. Kyojuro thrust his arm forward, expecting to fight back claws, but instead something painful and hard crashed into his forehead.
Kyojuro stumbling backwards and rubbed at his aching forehead. He blinked several times, fighting off the urge to blackout.
When he looked up, he found himself alone. Kyojuro whipped around and swore.
The demon had gone, and it had taken the girl with her.
You won’t get away!
It took nearly a minute to catch sight of him. The demon must have been very fast indeed! But Kyojuro was faster, and he caught up even quicker once he had it in his sights.
That was when the world distorted again. Kyojuro fought against it, focusing on his senses, yet he stumbled not once, but twice during the chase. By the time he’d righted himself, the demon had gained great strides and was headed towards a building in the distance. Kyojuro did not reach them until he saw the fluttering of its haori disappear through the doorway of a dilapidated mansion.
Kyojuro followed them in, of course!
Inside the building, all was seemingly silent. Though Kyojuro was adept at sensing a demon’s presence, it surrounded him in a way that was difficult to target. More of its strange blood demon art he had experienced earlier, surely.
“I will find you, demon!” he bellowed. “And when I do, you will face the might of my sword!”
The ground floor was empty. Kyojuro looked high and low, calling out to the woman every few minutes. When he stormed up the stairs and burst into the first room he saw, he was stunned to see her again, sitting on the bed.
Hot relief coursed through him. He must have reach them in time, scaring the demon away!
“Young lady!” he exclaimed, relieved and puzzled all at once. She appeared otherwise unharmed. “I’m happy to see you safe. Were you injured by that demon? How did you escape it?”
“It’s Nezuko,” she said. “My name… is Kamado Nezuko.”
She didn’t answer his questions. And lying there on the bed, it seemed as though all her energy had left her. Her leg must have been aching fiercely.
“Were you injured?” Kyojuro repeated, with more force. Nezuko’s unfocused eyes met his. She wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Just my leg and… just my leg.”
She slumped against the sheets, pale and drained. Her breathing was labored. Total Concentration, Constant would have been far beyond her skill level, and Kyojuro was under no impression he could teach it to her with a demon still lurking.
“You would be well enough to be temporarily left alone, but unfortunately you threw your sword. Impressive, though very stupid!”
Kyojuro knelt in front of her. She didn’t resist his hands when they explored the length of her broken leg. When he prodded at where the break must have been, she hissed, tears leaking from her eyes. Her fist remained clenched at her side, her lips pale as she grit her teeth.
“My apologies!” he said. He adjusted the splint and rewrapped it carefully. Then he inspected her hands and midsection where the blood was thickest. “This is not your blood, yes?”
Nezuko didn’t answer. Her hair cascaded across her eyes as she lowered her head. Her ponytail was nearly undone, holding onto a small portion of her hair.
“A broken leg is unfortunate, but you weren’t badly injured. That’s good!” he yelled. “Won’t you tell me what happened? Were you fighting with your brother when a demon attacked and he changed? You know very well there is no coming back from such a fate.”
For her sake, he lowered his voice. Nezuko’s throat bobbed visibly with her swallow. Her head tipped forward and she mumbled something he couldn’t hear.
“Hm? What was that?”
“They tried to hurt my brother.”
“Your brother is a demon!” Kyojuro said plainly.
Her fierce gaze met his. “I know.”
Kyojuro blinked.
The world twisted.
You are a fool, Rengoku Kyojuro, he thought, for lowering your guard like this.
Hands pried at the fingers gripping his sword. He fought against it instinctively, grappling for what felt like only a few seconds, but when he could focus properly, his sword was gone, and he was somewhere new with his hands and feet tied.
“Ah!” Kyojuro took in the scenery with a short nod. “It is no wonder I had trouble keeping up with you. Your demon art is to fool the senses. I’ve faced foes like you before. You’re clever, but easily overcome!”
Kyojuro wriggled in place. Both his hands and feet were bound, but his body remained untethered. An immediate test showed the knot was expertly tied. It would take some time to undo, and for him that would be no issue at all.
The real problem was the girl. The slayer.
How foolish he had been, to see the grief and rage in her gaze, and to have assumed she acted without consideration for her position.
If she had injured another protecting her brother, a demon, then there would be a high price to pay. Just thinking about it made his blood begin to boil.
“I will not fall for that trick again,” he said to the empty air. His response was met with silence.
Kyojuro took in his surroundings. He was in a similar room, still on the second floor, so whatever illusions the demon art granted them, it likely didn’t last long. He had only dealt with a demon that confused the senses once, and though it had cost him a portion of hearing in both ears, he had come from it stronger than ever.
“You should think this through, young Kamado!” he yelled, twisting the binds at his hands and feet. “Demons are not to be defended. They are not to be trifled with, or rescued! Demons kill without mercy!”
Kyojuro wiggled upright against the wall and tried to find leverage using a nearby chair. If he could find even a single splinter, he could remove the bindings quickly.
“I sympathize that you have lost your brother. I have my own brother, and I love him dearly! But how will you answer for the thousands they have killed, and the many more your brother would slaughter? You cannot tame a demon like a pet!”
Eventually, when Kyojuro had managed to heave his body over the broken chair, Nezuko appeared again before him. Her leg was still splinted—that was no illusion—and though she shouldn’t have been walking on it, other than the angry furrow of her brow she showed no indication it affected her.
She looked angry. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped, swaying. “You don’t know anything! None of you know anything! Hundreds of years, and for what?”
She braced her hand on the shoji’s wooden edge. It groaned under her weight.
“My brother is a demon, yes,” she said, moving to stand in front of him, “but he’s never eaten any humans. And he won’t, I promise you.”
“If that is meant to sway me, I assure you it doesn’t! Now untie me.”
Nezuko swallowed thickly. “No.”
“Your punishment will be less severe if you untie me now. I promise.”
Her fists clenched. “No.”
Then she walked over, grabbed the chair out from under him, and walked away. Hobbled, more accurately.
Kyojuro’s only choice was to wait. Well, he could have broken free, but knowing Nezuko’s relation to the demon, his likelihood of discovering its location increased exponentially if he waited for her. Though she was injured, for some reason the demon hadn’t killed her. Perhaps she was feeding it.
The thought was a morbid one indeed. Kyojuro grit his teeth.
Hours passed until her return. By then Kyojuro had devised ten different escape routes, all of which would be useless if he left the demon behind.
“You have food!” Kyojuro noted with surprise. He wasn’t hungry, and Nezuko was in a much sorrier state than him. “Why have you brought it to me?”
“You need to eat, don’t you?” Nezuko said, which was not the words he expected from someone working with a demon.
Kyojuro eyed the food and her curiously, and then said, “I must use the bathroom!”
Nezuko’s gaze sharpened. Then she sighed abruptly and left the room again.
Again, Kyojuro waited.
She returned only minutes later, now supporting a length of wood that she was using as a temporary crutch. Pain kept flaring across her face, which was coated in a layer of sweat.
“I’m not stupid,” she blurted upon arrival. “I know… I know you’ll escape as soon as I untie you. You’re much stronger than me, and I’ve got a broken leg.” She laughed, then winced. “I don’t even know… it wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I don’t understand how we even got here.”
Another desperate, pained laugh. She set down the crutch and hobbled over to him.
“I will tell you how!” Kyojuro yelled, readying himself as she grew close. “You are assisting a demon!”
Kyojuro fully expected he would need to quickly and swiftly make his escape, but as she knelt and reached for him, she began to untie him. He didn’t move, not until she had undone the ties around his hands completely. Then he leapt to stand, broke through the rope around his feet and made quick work of tying up Nezuko instead. To avoid injuring her leg any further, he simply tied her hands and laid her on the ground.
She did not resist, which rang alarm bells, but Kyojuro couldn’t afford to hesitate.
“Where is my sword?”
She pressed her lips together.
“I will return for you, and then kill the demon. Afterwards, together we will leave this place. Stay here.”
Kyojuro knew his sword would not have left the property. Finding it would take precious time, but without it he had no means to defeat the demon. He couldn’t believe he’d lost it so easily.
This is a very strong demon.
His sword was not on the ground floor, nor was it on the second. The demon remained elusive as well. Whatever means it had of hiding, even in a mansion of this size it shouldn’t have been so easy. The air was still, and slightly acrid.
“I will find you,” he promised into the empty air of one of the bedrooms. He stared at what must’ve been a child’s cradle.
If the demon would not reveal itself for him on its own, he would need to lure it out. Kyojuro returned to where Nezuko lay on the ground floor.
“We are leaving!” he announced.
“What about your sword?” she asked.
There was no hint of smugness in her voice. Regardless of whether her curiosity was genuine or an attempt to distract him, he picked her up and quickly began striding for the door.
Curiously, she still did not resist. Neither did he sense the presence of the demon, even as she reached the edge of the property. Neglect left the nearby foliage overgrown, creeping towards the estate. Kyojuro passed through the line of trees and kept on walking.
A moment later, he startled when his foot touched the edge of the stairstep leading towards the engawa, nearly tripping up the steps in his haste.
The very same steps that led back into the mansion.
Behind him, the forest line yawned, now as far away as when he had started.
“What!”
Kyojuro strode back to the treeline and closed his eyes, homing in on his senses.
When he opened them again, he was once more facing the doorway into the mansion.
“Explain what is happening, if you would!” he said to Nezuko.
“You can’t leave,” Nezuko said simply. “I’m not going to let you. Not until you promise that you won’t kill my brother.”
He yelled, “I will never make that promise!”
“Then I guess were both stuck here,” she replied. Her indignant anger was brief; afterwards, she just seemed tired.
Kyojuro inhaled deeply. Nothing so far had gone according to plan. He wasn’t certain he had ever encountered a situation so strange; a human, defending a demon?
“My brother is strong, but he hasn’t hurt anybody,” Nezuko said, like she could read his mind.
“You expect me to believe that!” Kyojuro said. His fingers tightened around Nezuko.
“I’m trying to turn him back,” she whispered. “You don’t understand. Tanjiro was—is the kindest, most generous person I know. I don’t care what you do to me or what punishments I have to face: you will not kill my brother if it’s the last thing I do!”
“I found you alone in the mud. That doesn’t seem particularly brotherly to me!”
“With all due respect,” Nezuko said, in a tone that seemed to indicate the opposite, “you don’t know anything about us. You don’t know what my brother and I went through.”
“That is true!” Kyojuro said. “I know nothing about your situation. But! Young lady.”
He set her down gently on the engawa and knelt so they were at eye level.
“Life is a series of decisions,” he said. “You never have unlimited options or unlimited time to think, but what you choose in that instant defines who you are.” Kyojuro pointed at his ears. “I lost part of my hearing, but I saved people in the process. Hesitation means people die. That is the reality we face! I do not have the luxury of deciding what demons I deem trustworthy—of which there are none! Demons are made to devour humans.”
Partway through his speech, Nezuko had looked away, and now she met his eyes.
“If you’re so confident, then let my brother go,” she said, after a long pause. “I’ll go with you if you let him go. Then, if you’re confident you can catch him? Be my guest.”
For a moment, Kyojuro considered the deal. In some ways, it would be the quickest way to resolve things. Yet he knew, in his heart of hearts, it was not a bargain he would ever take, no matter the circumstances. To allow a demon to escape and wreak havoc was not something Kyojuro could risk.
“That is not a deal worth striking. There are people out there that still need our assistance. My assistance. How about this: I promise that if you release me now, I will make his death quick and painless!”
Nezuko’s determined gaze said enough.
Kyojuro stood and looked around.
“Young Kamado, you will have to forgive me. Until the demon reveals itself, I will be stuck to your side like glue! But first—I need firewood!”
Kyojuro left Nezuko inside and walked to the property’s edge. Upon touching the trunk of one tree, he determined it would be safe to forage without his senses being confuddled and began the process of stripping the tree of large branches and shaving the bark of kindling. He kept a small knife for just such purposes, as using his sword would have been overkill.
It must have been nearly an hour before Kyojuro walked back inside with his spoils. He walked into the hearth and dumped his pile of branches into the center. It wouldn’t last long, and if he couldn’t convince Nezuko to return his sword to him, he would need to keep making trips back outside. The chill was setting in fast.
“Young Kamado, I’ll come and bring you to the hearth in a moment!” he yelled. “I’ll be starting the fire soon!”
No response. No matter, he’d find her later.
Kyojuro focused on his fire. As much as he would have loved for it to be that easy, their breathing forms were visual only; he could not summon real flames, and as such had to hunker down and do it the old-fashioned way.
It must have been only a few minutes before he looked up and realized Nezuko still hadn’t made a sound. He walked to where he’d left her and frowned when she wasn’t there.
“Young Kamado?”
With her wounds, she shouldn’t have gone far. Her hands had been bound; with that leg, she couldn’t have gone far.
Slowly, Kyojuro rose to a stand. He flicked his gaze left and right, and then closed his eyes.
There!
Kyojuro’s shoes pounded against the battered wooden slats as he raced across the house with record speed. When he burst into the room where he sensed the demonic presence, several things happened at once.
Nezuko was laid against the floor, her legs now as well as her hands. A rag had been shoved into her mouth, and at Kyojuro’s entrance she finally managed to eject it from between her lips.
“Rengoku!” she croaked through dry lips. “There’s a demon—”
Kyojuro whipped around and deflected the demon’s attempt at a surprise attack with the flat of his palm, fingers curled down. He shifted low and quickly punched its midsection several more times before delivering a hard kick to its leg, effectively breaking it. It would heal in minutes, but the demon would be forced to break and realign the bone to walk properly.
“Well well,” Kyojuro said. “I certainly did not expect to see two demons today! Are you the one I’ve been tracking all this time?”
“Tch.” The demon leapt back from Kyojuro out into the hall and made quick work of its leg. It was experienced, then. “And here I was hoping I could grab both of you.”
“Ha! And I suppose you’ve made my job much easier,” Kyojuro replied. That said, he didn’t have his sword. “You avoided my detection. In some twisted sense I must applaud you. However! It all ends here. Nezuko, my sword! Where is it?”
“It’s—”
“Like I’d let you get that far!” the demon shouted, drowning her out.
The demon threw itself at Kyojuro, claws bared. Kyojuro could dodge all day, but dodging would prove inevitably fruitless. If the demon decided to turn on Nezuko, he would have to protect her as well.
Where was the other one? Were they working together?
Kyojuro continued to deflect, coasting around the room until he reached a loose wooden plank. Using the heel of his foot, he slammed into one end, and then wielding it like a weapon, he smashed it into the demon’s face.
“Young Kamado!” he bellowed.
“I—” she choked, writhing in pain. Her face was caked in sweat. “I-It’s here! Here!”
Nezuko tried to move, kicking with her good foot. Pain flashed across her face, and as she struggled with the ties that bound her, her cheeks flushed with fresh rage.
“God—damnit—Tanjiro! Just—get out of here!” she shouted. Then she kicked her makeshift crutch towards him, and Kyojuro understood immediately.
It was his sword. Cleverly hidden with more of the demon’s illusions. He hadn’t seen through it; how had he not seen through it?
How powerful was this demon?
Kyojuro didn’t have time to think. Nezuko had awkwardly gripped the sword with her tied hands, but she couldn’t move it far. Kyojuro ran up to her, heaving her and his sword into his arms.
The demon’s hissing screech nearly drowned out whatever Nezuko was trying to tell Kyojuro next. He focused on her lips while he sprinted away from the demon and down the hall.
“What was that?” he said. “It will be only a moment until I have you out of harm’s way! Then I will take my sword and kill this demon!”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” she yelled. She held his sword out towards him when he sat her down and made quick work of the ropes. “Take it! Just—don’t hurt my brother, please!”
Even now she echoed concerns for her brother!
“Stay here!” he barked, smiling wide. “I’ll return momentarily.”
Kyojuro moved fast, but he hadn’t gone far, so it took him no time at all to find the demon again. He spotted it still looking for them near the main living room. Gripping his sword with intense relief, he shot forward, his path true.
It was when he was just a few steps away that the demon suddenly lurched backwards. Kyojuro falsely assumed this meant the demon had detected him—and that he had underestimated its strength— and adjusted his trajectory until he saw the appearance of another demon, this time one he recognized.
It was Nezuko’s brother, launching himself directly at the demon that had attacked them. His claws had extended fully; gone was his muzzle and his teeth were bared in anger.
“Nobody hurts my sister!” he roared, completely ignoring Kyojuro and grabbing the other demon by the shoulders. “Especially…”— the demon tried to fight him off, but the brother kneed him swiftly in the stomach and grabbed him again. Then he reared his head back, bringing it forward with a sharp jerk and viciously slamming into the demon’s skull—“not… you!”
The demon staggered back, blood spraying. The blow was hard enough to weaken it slightly for a few moments.
Moments were all Kyojuro needed.
Quick as lightning, Kyojuro shot forward and yelled, “First Form: Unknowing Fire!”
Nezuko’s brother was in the way, so Kyojuro quickly elbowed him to the side; then he swung his sword and cut off the other demon’s head with a swift, smooth strike.
When it was over, Kyojuro turned to Nezuko’s brother, his sword still held aloft. The demon stepped towards him, his eyes roaming his figure.
“Nezuko,” he burst, in a voice that Kyojuro did not expect. His gaze held not hunger, but concern. “Is Nezuko okay? Where is she?!”
“I did not know you could talk!” Kyojuro said. “Safe!”
Relief flooded his face. The demon’s shoulders slumped inward.
“Ahh, I’m so relieved. I’m so glad!”
Much like before, Kyojuro fully expected the boy would disappear again and leave him alone with Nezuko. He moved quickly to hopefully prevent this from happening, but he surprised him when held both hands up peaceably. His ruby red eyes met the point of Kyojuro’s sword without fear.
“Please,” he said. Those eyes, familiar in their inhumanity, flooded with tears. He lifted his hands. “Please, just leave. Leave and take my sister to a doctor. Please!”
Kyojuro found that for once, he was at a loss for what to say. The demon had defied all expectations, and despite everything, he had protected a human.
He’d been protecting her the whole time.
The demon suddenly moved closer, and Kyojuro quickly readied a defensive stance. He would tell himself later that he hesitated in killing him only because he hadn’t slept in weeks.
The girl’s brother—Tanjiro, he recalled out of nowhere—took his hand in his. Kyojuro jerked it out of his grasp on instinct.
His hand was warmer than he expected.
Tanjiro smiled a kind, disconcerting smile. “You’re hurt,” he said.
Kyojuro looked down. At some point the nameless demon must have nicked the back of it. Kyojuro wiped at a stray droplet of blood with his thumb.
At that point Kyojuro fully expected Tanjiro to act in a way that made sense. Surely, he would be eager to consume his blood and recover. But when he looked up, Tanjiro was staring at his face.
“I’m sorry you got hurt,” was all he said into the uncomfortable silence. “I’m really sorry.”
Kyojuro hesitated once more—because of his lack of sleep, no doubt. If what Nezuko said was true, Tanjiro must have been starved. Yet he did not even glance twice at the wound on his hand after the initial concern. He merely smiled a sad, knowing smile.
“I won’t leave Nezuko,” he said, as if reading his thoughts. “And I’m tired from using my blood demon art for so long. Will you tell Nezuko that? I’ll be waiting in my box.”
“You don’t seem concerned I will kill you!” Kyojuro said.
“You’re too strong. I can’t beat you, and I can’t keep playing this game with Nezuko in danger.” He smiled ruefully. “You could kill me if you wanted, but it would upset Nezuko. And I don’t think she’d forgive you.”
The words made no sense. The situation made no sense. Kyojuro touched his hand where Tanjiro had grasped it.
“If you insist!” Kyojuro said, finally recovering. He’d never been struck so speechless! “But only this once, since you have proven at least that you truly wish to protect your sibling! I will bring you back to the Master to decide both your fates!”
“Thank you,” Tanjiro said, shooting him another sad, kind smile.
Nezuko’s attack against him was impressive, all things considered.
“Where’s my brother?!” she screamed, upon seeing Kyojuro without Tanjiro near. She had struggled to her feet and lunged blindly at him, but her fever must have taken over; she all but collapsed to the ground mere moments later. “If you… if you killed him, I won’t ever forgive you. Ever!”
Despite the various scratches and scrapes on her, her concern for her brother remained number one.
“Your relationship is remarkably touching!” Kyojuro said to her. He knelt down and scooped her into his arms. As he suspected, he could no longer detect the demon’s presence as easily, so his powers must have been removed from the area. Kyojuro began to look around for this “box”.
“Let me go!” Nezuko yelled. Likely assuming she had nothing to lose, she reached for Kyojuro’s sword. She tried to shove the hilt into his stomach, but Kyojuro simply ripped it out of her hands and set it back in place.
“Your brother is alive,” he said. “He wished I would tell you he will be in his “box”. Please tell me where this box is! We will not leave without it.”
At his, Nezuko stared at him. She stared at him for quite a long time, and her eyes soon began to leak tears at an alarmingly rapid rate.
“He’s okay?” she asked with surprising poise. “Really?”
“Your brother is alive.”
Nezuko laughed and began to wipe at her eyes, but the exhaustion weighing her down must have taken its toll; it wasn’t long before heavy sobs echoed through the empty house, changing tone as he moved from room to room. Finally, he found the box near the top of the stairway to the second floor.
“Tanjiro?” Nezuko called. Kyojuro bent down and allowd her to rap her knuckles over its front. Then she opened it.
Kyojuro blinked.
The demon had become tiny. Tanjiro had transformed himself and shrunk down into an almost childlike appearance. His red eyes widened at the sight of Nezuko. He reached for her outstretched hand.
“Tanjiro! You’re okay! I’m so glad,” she said. She grinned as Tanjiro tugged her hand closer to him.
Kyojuro twitched. There were cuts all over her fingers, but Tanjiro ignored them and rubbed his cheek against her skin. His tears ran down his cheeks, collecting where the bamboo muzzle pressed into his skin.
Kyojuro had a thousand questions. For now, he would get them to the Master.
“If everything is as it should be, let us be off,” he said.
Nezuko swept away her tears and nodded.
“Okay, let’s go. Please be careful when handling Tanjiro—there’s no cushioning in there. I keep thinking I should add some straw or something.”
Bizarre built on bizarre! Making a demon comfortable!
He slung the box over his shoulders, taking note of the fine construction, and took off towards the entrance. Kyojuro didn’t run as fast as he could have—for Nezuko’s sake—but he did not dawdle. Nezuko clearly had a fever and her leg must have been a source of intense pain.
“You are very strange!” he noted aloud.
“Hm?”
Nezuko’s hair obscured parts of her face. She tried brushing it behind her ear, but with how fast he was going, it soon became moot. Eventually, she gave up and leaned her head on his shoulder. Kyojuro thought of Senjuro.
He thought of Tanjiro’s hand on his, and the kindness lurking in his gaze.
If his brother had turned into a demon, what would he have done?
Kyojuro had answered this question thousand times in the past, and he was certain of his answer each and every time.
I would do what must be done!
Thinking about the way Tanjiro and Nezuko protected each other unconditionally, the answer did not come to him so easily that time.
Kyojuro ended up being just a day early for their semiannual meeting of the Hashira, but so did the others.
Surprise and stunned silence met his declaration only for a moment that Kyojuro had spared the life of the demon—soon they were all yelling over each other on what should be done.
“We will wait for the Master, as is protocol!” Kyojuro said. “I understand how you all feel. Were I in your position, I would behead him immediately!”
“Hell yeah I would!” Shinazugawa growled. “I will! Give that thing to me.”
Their anger was expected. Surveying them all, Kyojuro could see it reflected clearly. They cared about the humans they protected so deeply!
It was Kocho and Tomioka who looked at him with the strangest eyes.
“I never thought you would be the type to sympathize with a demon,” Kocho told him later, not unkindly. Her smile was bright and pretty as ever, but Kyojuro felt off that day, and the way it hung on her face seemed off.
“I decided it would be prudent to wait for the Master’s opinion!” he yelled. “Does it displease you, Kocho? I’m certain you would have looked forward to a beheading!”
He laughed, and though she smiled, she did not laugh with him.
“I’d be curious to see what Nezuko has to say for herself,” she replied, folding her hands primly at her front. “It sounds like an interesting story. It’s rare for you to lose.”
“I did not lose!”
“Of course,” Kocho said. Her eyes twinkled.
Nezuko was taken into custody shortly after they arrived. Both her and her brother, until their meeting the next day. Kyojuro spent the hours before alternating between meditating and pacing uselessly. At one point he left to the nearby town to see if there was anyway he could help and ended up spending most of his afternoon heaving heavy boxes from one location to another.
Images of Tanjiro kept flashing in his mind. Images he didn’t quite yet understand. The curve of his smile sat at the back of his mind, much like the gentle, cool touch of his fingers.
Kyojuro heaved the next box so hard it went sailing and crashed past its destination onto the ground. He paid for the contents and excused himself shortly after.
The trial did not go in any way that Kyojuro expected. He told his version of the events, and Nezuko—now having had received medication and proper care—protested quite readily where she felt his story was lacking.
“Tanjiro didn’t hurt anyone! I did!”
The story became clear as Nezuko spoke. She had been hunting a demon when they stumbled upon another slayer. He attempted to kill Tanjiro, and when Nezuko defended him, the second demon descended on them both. The very demon that Kyojuro had later slain had gone after the slayer that escaped after being injured. Later, that same slayer found help and the demon retreated, returning to his territory.
Where Kyojuro and Nezuko had been trapped.
It was a strange series of events. And in the end, the Master decided to accept Tanjiro as a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. This was further supported by the rather convenient letter Tomioka’s former Master had written.
Most of the Hashira were against this. And once upon a time, Kyojuro would have rallied to the same flag. He was certainly by no means completely trusting of the demon he had only met a few days ago.
With that said.
“The demon Tanjiro showed no signs of wanting to take a bite out of me while I was injured, I must admit,” Kyojuro told them. “At the very least, he showed a true desire to protect his sister, a feeling I know well! That is all!”
“So what if he gives a crap about his family?” Shinazugawa snapped. “He still a demon! A demon! Did you hit your head too, Rengoku?”
“My head is in perfect shape!” he yelled.
“My children,” the Master said, sending them into silence. Kyojuro bowed his head. “I have made my decision. I only wish that you will respect it.”
There was more fanfare after that—Shinazugawa protested severely, and Nezuko snapped and said some incredibly unkind and amusing things about him, but eventually the matter was settled. Tanjiro was ushered into his box and Nezuko would be lifted by some Kakushi in order to undergo healing.
“In that case, allow me to take Kamado into my—”
Kyojuro wasn’t quite sure what overcame him in that moment. Without an ounce of hesitation he stepped forward and declared loudly,
“Allow me to take them in!”
“Eh?” Kocho, having been interrupted, blinked at him blankly. “Rengoku?”
“Both Kamado siblings showed incredible passion and might! I know for a fact Nezuko has what it takes to be one of my tsuguko!”
“You don’t have any tsuguko,” Obanai mumbled from his right.
“Young Kamado will serve me well! I just know it!” he yelled.
Nezuko looked over her shoulder at Kyojuro, her expression similarly blank with shock. He wondered what she suspected of his intentions.
He wasn’t sure himself. But his words were true—Nezuko had stoked the fire in him. At the very least, learning from him would give her a distinct advantage. He wouldn’t go easy on them!
With something now to do, the cleanup crew moved to grab Nezuko and her brother. They would head for Kocho’s estate. After they recovered there, they would follow him to his family home for training.
Before Tanjiro was ushered away, he hesitated at the door to his box and looked towards the standing Hashira. Specifically, Kyojuro.
His eyes glimmered with that same sweet warmth Kyojuro recognized from before. It was the same fire that he saw in Nezuko.
He nodded, then climbed into the box under the shade and was taken away.
Kyojuro placed his hands on his hips and repressed a laugh. He couldn’t wait!