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Giyuu was out training when he got the news.
A 7 foot fox was roaming about the mainland, so they hired some people to exterminate it.
Sounds all well and good, right?
Well...
"Apparently, the team of 18 never came back." Iguro says, being flung over Sanemi's shoulder.
"18 people. Sounds like a demon if I've ever seen one." Giyuu says, dropping the training sword.
"Too bad it's a nice sunny day out here. The twins should be safe on Kagenobu, huh?" Iguro says, before Sanemi lightly pats his ass.
"7 feet. To put that in some sort of perspective, it's as tall as Himejima, as well as taller than us." Sanemi says, and Iguro just sighs.
"Should we go do something about it?" Giyuu asks, looking towards the house.
"Yeah, we should. Although death is a unpleasant thought, we've got to." Sanemi says, gripping onto Iguro's uniform through his haori.
It was to make sure Iguro didn't fall.
"Ok, so. The fox was spotted in Cowtown. The specifics was that it stole multiple henhouses worth of chickens from the neighboring town of Base." Obanai says, pulling a crinkled map out of a pocket.
"Isn't Base on the base of-" Sanemi asks, before he's interrupted by Giyuu.
"Kagenobu, yeah. It is."
"So, Mui and Yui are in danger, huh?" Sanemi breathes out and Obanai pats his back reassuringly.
"Well, not really. If I'm right, this might be Sabito. So all we have to do is subdue him." Giyuu says.
"Isn't it weird to have a fox hunting a fox?" Obanai asks, raising his hand.
"Isn't it weird for a snake to have a snake around it's neck?" Giyuu retorts, making Obanai gasp.
The two start arguing.
After a moment, Sanemi butts in.
"You two, just shut the fuck up!" Sanemi yells, grabbing both of them by their collars.
The two instantly fall silent and their heads start to droop.
"Look, let's just get the job done, alright? Not too hard?" Sanemi says, setting them back on the floor.
Ironically, he underestimated how hard fox hunting would be.
"Okay, this mission should be done in around a day. It takes 2 hours to get to Cowtown and let's give 5 hours of continuous fox searching." Giyuu says, emphasizing the word continuous.
"5? Thats too much!" Sanemi whines, slamming his paws on the table.
"If we go ahead and set out, maybe we'll get there earlier." Obanai says, coiling his lower half.
Giyuu sighs. "Look, time doesn't work like that. We will get there in around 2 hours, no matter when we leave." He says, making Obanai lower himself and rest his head on the table.
"Did you forget I once-" Sanemi says, making Giyuu shush him.
"Yes, yes. You professionally sniff out foxes. We know." Giyuu growls, scratching at the table.
"So then what's the problem with this one?" Sanemi asked, maw raising to show some teeth.
"He's hard to sniff out. He could walk by you a dozen times, and you still wouldn't notice that he's a fox." Giyuu says, attempting to calm himself down.
"There's got to be something we can identify him by." Obanai says, thinking hard.
"He's not the brightest turnip in the barrel." Giyuu states, starting the mess with the fur on his chest.
"So he's stupid. Good." Sanemi says, and Obanai nods.
"Not in battle. He's the greatest fighter I've ever known. Well, other than Himejima." Giyuu says, taking the hand away from his chest.
A huge paw shaped indent is now present on Giyuu's chest.
Sanemi and Obanai stare at Giyuu's chest for a moment.
"You might want to... you know what? Forget I said anything." Sanemi says, forgetting that he was mad.
Obanai covers Kaburamaru's eyes.
"Put those things away, there are children around!" Obanai snickers to himself.
That caused Sanemi to start laughing too.
Giyuu just rolls his eyes.
"But all jokes aside, are we ready to go?" Obanai asks, moving towards the door.
"That only depends on if we've got everything." Giyuu asks looking towards Sanemi.
"Yeah. I've got everything." Sanemi says, moving towards the door.
"Alright guys, let's go!" Giyuu says, as the trio move in some sort of line.
Beating a demon with your bare hands isn't easy, no matter how anyone makes it look to be.
Muichiro found this out the hard way.
Being half transformed, he wandered into town, breathing hard.
"Lord Tokito? Are you okay?" A young woman asks, slowly approaching him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Muichiro says, placing a paw on his face.
It comes back all bloody.
"Would you like for me to call your brother and tell him where you are?" She asked, taking him by the hand.
With the free hand, she fishes out a handkerchief and starts to wipe the blood from his face.
"He'll scold me for even coming down the mountain at sundown, imagine what he'd do if he learnt I came down with no sword!" Muichiro says, sighing.
"You should at least get some rest." She continues, and for a second, Muichiro hears his mother.
"Muichi, Kaguya-hime wants you to get some dried plums for her. Take Yuichi with you too." Tsukumo says, calling Yuichiro over.
"You two, don't forget your coats!" She yells afyer the boys, making them groan.
"Lord Tokito?" The woman says, ushering him into her mother's inn.
She snaps him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm? Sorry, I spaced out a little." Muichiro stutters out before almost tripping on some steps.
A familiar hand catches him.
"Thanks." Muichiro says, looking up at the person.
"You're welcome, Tokito. Now tell me, what happened to you?" Kanae asks, lifting him to his feet.
"Who are you again? I know you're one of the Kocho sisters, but which one?" Muichiro asks, gripping Kanae's uniform to try and keep himself steady.
"I'm Kocho Kanae, the former Flower Pillar." Kanae explains, but Muichiro just tilts his head.
She sighs, "Shinobu's big sister."
"Oh! Okay, I remember you now! You're the Hashira that managed to fight Upper Moon 3 until daybreak!" Muichiro exclaims, making everyone confused.
"...Is that the only thing you remember of me?" Kanae asks, and Muichiro nods.
"Not even turning a stone into gold?" Kanae wonders, and yet again, Muichiro nods.
"Alright, that's good." Kanae says, and she turns her attention from Muichiro to the inn's clerk.
"Ma'am, can I get two rooms? Both with one bed please." Kanae asks, pulling out her wallet.
"Uhm, yes ma'am. That'll be 3200 yen, please." The clerk says, grabbing at two keys on the left side of the giant corkboard.
The two she grabbed were 18 and 29.
After the price had been paid, the keys were given to Kanae.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry to bother, but which of the two rooms is closest?" Kanae asks, with Muichiro holding onto her uniform.
"It's #18, Ms."
"Thank you yet again." And with that, Kanae walks off with Muichiro hanging onto her.
Kanae walks Muichiro to his room and gives him the key.
"Try to remember, Muichiro, I'm in room 29. It's upstairs, okay?" Kanae repeats to Muichiro.
As Muichiro unlocks the door, Kanae turns to walk off.
Muichiro couldn't even be bothered to take his clothes off before he climbed into bed.
Even though he was able to sleep through the night, he had this strange premonition-like dream.
Muichiro's feet are on a flat misty surface and he can't see ahead of him.
A fox like figure is seemingly calling out to him with its arms outstretched.
"Mister Rabbit, I need your help." The figure whines as it gets closer, and Muichiro can now see that only two of it four arms are outstretched.
The other two are protecting its stomach.
As it gets even closer, Muichiro notices more things.
It's really tall and most of the fur off of it has been burnt away.
Most of its teeth are also exposed as well, thanks to the wide gash over its mouth.
Suddenly, Muichiro feels rooted in place and looking down barely helps.
All he sees is some sort of tail wrapped around his hind legs.
"Could I use your body as a vessel? These damn monster hunters keep trying to seal me away." The figure says, removing the claws clutching his stomach to reveal a mouth.
It's huge maw opens and threatens to swallow him whole.
The out of control spirit says a few words that stuck with Muichiro.
"Everyone has their purpose and mine is to give the unwanted a reason to live."
Muichiro awoke with a start.
As soon as he jumps out of bed, he starts looking for Kanae.
"Ms. Kanae? I think we have something on that fox problem." Muichiro says when he finds Kanae.
"What'd you find?" Kanae says, waving goodbye to the inn and everyone inside.
"That we'd better hurry. It said that it'll 'give the unwanted a reason to live'. I don't know what it means by that, but it might not be good." Muichiro says, pointing towards Mt. Kagenobu.
The path up the mountain was long and slightly spooky.
Since the whole mountain was nearly always covered in mist, Kanae had a tough time following Muichiro up the stairs.
At the top, however, the mist cleared and she could see the Mist Estate and it was absolutely stunning.
The sunlight cutting through the mist and the house being bathed in the warm rays made Kanae realize something.
That there was one more Tokito that she didn't know about.
Muichiro didn't let on about him either.
Kanae's concentration was broken by Yuichiro's yelling.
"Where the fuck were you last night, Muichiro! You left your sword here, too! Are you just asking for a demon to eat you?" Yuichiro yells, pulling his brother by his shirt.
"And another thing..." Yuichiro quiets down when Kanae comes into view.
He takes one look at Muichiro and then he looks back at Kanae.
"If you look like this, then you must have gotten hurt." Yuichiro says calmly, but both can still hear the anger in his voice.
Yuichiro leads the two to the house and he sits down next to Muichiro.
As he's tending to his brothers wounds, Kanae speaks up.
"What did you mean by the comment that you made earlier?" Kanae asks, and Yuichiro rolls his eyes.
"None of your business. Erase it from your mind." Yuichiro spits, glaring at Kanae.
"Does this have anything to do with the fact that he's a big ass bunny?" Kanae inquires, and Yuichiro stops what he's doing to face her.
"As a matter of fact, it does. But I'm not telling you because you'll try to harvest our organs for the weird shit you humans do." Yuichiro says, pushing Muichiro away from Kanae.
Soon, the twins are at the edge of the long couch.
"Look, me and Shinobu don't grind up bones and stew liver in a large cauldron for the sniffles. Yes, I do work in alchemy, but-" Kanae says, and Yuichiro cuts her off.
The mention of alchemy sends Yuichiro on a hate filled tangent.
"Alchemy. You wanna become rich by making the elixir of life, huh? Well, me and Mui are never gonna give you the recipe. Choke on that, you power hungry ska-" Yuichiro growls and Muichiro grabs his lips.
"Yui, when did she mention anything about the damn elixir? Immortality is more of a curse than anything." Muichiro says, letting go of Yuichiro's lips.
"I'm fine with my mortality. In fact, life's interesting because of that." Kanae states, shocking Yuichiro.
The whole room goes silent for a while, so Kanae took that time to look around the room.
The living room wasn't that spacious, but it met the requirements for housing a rabbit.
Two, if you got rid of all the furniture.
The kitchen seemed to blend with the living and dining room.
The only thing that kept the two separate were little gates.
The couch was the gate for the living room and the kitchen, the presence of the table was the gate for the dining room and the kitchen, and a baby gate was the thing separating the kitchen from everywhere else.
After noticing all this, Yuichiro speaks up.
"Did any of you dream about a fox?" Yuichiro asks the two.
"No. I've been told there's one roaming the countryside." Kanae says.
"Yeah, I did. We might have some sort of rogue spirit to deal with." Muichiro says, and Yuichiro starts listening more intently.
"So, kitsune gone wild. How do we stop it?" Kanae asks, and Muichiro shakes his head.
"Beyond me. It might have something to do with how it was raised, though." Muichiro speculates.
"Hey, pretty lady! Got any ideas?" Yuichiro asks Kanae, making her blush.
"N-no. No I don't." She stammers out.
Then it hits him.
"What's the most powerful talisman, and who's got them?" Yuichiro asks, making both shrug their shoulders.
"I guess the more hope you have that it'll work, the stronger it is." Kanae says, putting a hand over her mouth to cover the blush.
"We can ask Tengen. He's got loads." Muichiro says, jumping up.
"Alright. Mui, do you think you can call your Hashira buddies?" Yuichiro asked Muichiro, and Muichiro starts pulling his phone out.
"Which ones?" Muichiro asks.
"The big scary one." Yuichiro says, and Muichiro starts punching Sanemi's number in.
"Hello? Muichiro, what do you want?" Sanemi asked, and Giyuu and Obanai can be heard behind him.
"We're here! Finally!" Obanai yells, relieved.
"How close are you to Uzui's house?" Muichiro asks.
"Couple kilometers off, why?" Sanemi asks, confused.
"Well, you might need to seal that spirit away. Beating the shit out of it won't do anything." Muichiro says, which causes Sanemi to scoff.
"Really? Well, Giyuu's already got some. He made us bring them. And beating the shit outta stuff is only reserved for the really bad shit. Like biblical demons." Sanemi said and in the background, you can hear Giyuu lifting Obanai.
"Well, what inn are you staying at? Me and Yui will send Tengen there." Muichiro asks, and Sanemi responds, although he's pissed.
"Sakamoto inn. One room for the three of us." Sanemi says, and the sound of a door creaking open can be heard.
The lady at the front shrieks and calls for her boss.
"The fuck was that?" Muichiro yells through the phone and something falls to the ground.
"Let go of me, damn it!" Giyuu snarls and Sanemi tries to pry the lady's boss and Giyuu apart.
"The chick's boss just jumped on Giyuu. I'll call you back." With this, Sanemi hangs up the phone.
Muichiro tosses his phone on the couch.
"Well shit. If I know Sanemi, we're not going to hear from him for a couple hours." Muichiro groans, putting his head in his paws.
"So do we-" Kanae asks, shifting on the couch.
"Yep, we sit and wait around." The twins say at the same time, creeping Kanae out.
Giyuu twisted and turned, but the people on him kept trying to restrain him.
The ambush got his arms, and he accidentally bit his tongue.
The lady got hit with a mean kick to the head. Too bad she recovered from it quickly.
Eventually, a muzzle was put on Giyuu.
"Woah, what are you guys doing? Let him go!" The voice commanded and the people stepped back.
"We're so sorry, Lord Tengen. It's just the escapee was..." The lady says before trailing off when she meets Tengen's gaze.
"I know, but that's one of my friends. I don't go tackling my friends, and I know for a fact you don't either." Tengen scolds and the woman looks down in shame.
Sanemi pulls out his sword to try and cut the woman down.
"Shinazugawa, put the sword down." Tengen asks, and the sword drops to Sanemi's feet.
Obanai just now has realized that Kaburamaru is not on his neck.
"Kaburamaru, get down from there!" Obanai yells and the snake leaps down from a bookshelf.
He lands in Iguro's outstretched arms.
"Muichiro told me to meet you here." Tengen states, and Sanemi as well as Iguro start to groan.
However, the sound of something breaking catches the trio's attention.
The muzzle in Giyuu's mouth starts to bend and break from all the stress it's under.
Soon, it breaks and Giyuu gets up from his spot.
He was drooling around the muzzle, and after a while it turned frothy.
"Tomioka, you've got something around your mouth.' Tengen pauses. 'You know what, I'll just-" Tengen takes a napkin and wipes away the spit.
Under all this confusion, the lady and her boss slip away, not unnoticed, but they still got away.
"So, what was all that about? The whole 'escapee' thing?" Obanai asks and Giyuu quickly turns away.
"How should I know?" Sanemi says, pissed.
"There's no easy way to explain it, but Giyuu went to a mental hospital once. According to Sabito, he's never been the same." Tengen says, placing a hand on Sanemi.
He doesn't shrug it off.
"Now, come on. We gotta get you to your rooms."
"Damn, 177 has a nice ass." Giyuu's attendant says to herself.
She's been looking quite a lot lately.
Same as the others.
Giyuu would be flattered if they used his name instead of 177.
He knows the nickname has something to do with the penal code.
He knows the way this place works.
You will never have a moment to yourself.
"Huh? Hey wait-" Giyuu sputters out, feeling someone grab his ass and squeeze it.
"Shh~ if you're a good boy, I'll-" The woman says, before getting slammed into a wall.
He didn't intend to hurt her much, he just needed to get her off of him.
Her hand seems to move from his ass to his hospital gown and she starts trying to tear it off.
"Look, I'm in no mood for anything. Leave me alone." Giyuu says, trying to back away.
"Looks like 177 grew some fangs." She says, and Giyuu squints at her name tag.
It says -----.
Odd name, but fitting for this woman.
She looked to be in her forties.
She lunges at Giyuu and Giyuu manages to knock her down, and he grabs her hair.
Soon the scent of blood mixes into the air, making it unsavory.
From repeatedly smashing her head into the ground, and hearing a crack somewhere in there, Giyuu lets her go.
She didn't rise.
Shakily, he lifts himself up and laps the blood off of his hands.
She still didn't stir.
"She must be dead." Giyuu reasoned, and he stalks off.
Soon he comes to the common room, where the patients are packed like sardines.
There's not much to see in this room.
Some shitty paintings, a old broken down TV and a few children's drawings.
"Alright you crazies, you get back! Or we'll have to give you the juice." A big man yells, and they push their way through the crowd to get to Giyuu.
"You must be 177.' A medium sized person says, and they sniff him. 'Ugh, you stink! Can't take being watched, huh?" They say, looking him up and down.
"They stare. They stare too long." He responds, and they slap him.
"You speak when spoken to." They snarl and something snapped in him and it quickly took hold.
In an instant, Giyuu was at the woman's throat, rippong and tearing at it.
He ended up hearing gurgling screams from her and the audiences screams starting to mix in.
He saw an opening in the crowd and decided to make a run for it.
No one stopped him, and he left with the delightful taste of blood on his tongue.
Giyuu was slow to rise.
He knew a dream like this would play in his mind, so he attempted to run from it.
After sitting in bed for a couple minutes, Sanemi knocks on the door.
"Giyuu. Can I come in?" He asks, sitting at the foot of the door.
"Yeah- I mean yes!" Giyuu says, quickly jumping out of bed.
The door creaks open and Sanemi steps in.
"Is everything OK? We heard some stuff last night." Sanemi asks.
Giyuu's eyes wander to the floor.
"Just had a bad dream is all. I'm fine." Giyuu mutters under his breath.
"Well, you might wanna talk about it, because Tengen's worried." Sanemi says, getting close enough to Giyuu to take his hand in his.
Sanemi, with Giyuu still attached, walks out the door.
Giyuu's dreams were vivid, so as he licked his lips, he could still taste the blood.
As they come into the lobby, Tengen and Obanai are seen talking.
"...if we take this shortcut, we could either end up on the Tsugikuni mountain or the Old Tomioka field." Obanai says, pointing at a place on the map and Kyojuro jumps in.
"The field would be a good place for a confrontation. But if you land on the mountain, you'll be able to get Yoriichi's help." Kyojuro says, scaring everyone.
"Whoa, Kyojuro! Where'd you come from?" Obanai says, pouncing on Kyojuro.
"Actually, I've been here since last night! Just came back from a mission!" He says, catching Obanai.
"You're gonna need some briefing. Come here so I can tell you all of it." Tengen says, beckoning Kyojuro over.
After Kyojuro was briefed, the trio pack up and decide to leave.
"When you find him, give me a call!" Kyojuro yells after them, and Sanemi offers a small wave goodbye.
"Mr. Urokodaki. Are you feeling well?" Nakime asks, shaking Sabito awake.
"Huh? Ye-yeah. I am." Sabito stutters, just having woke up.
"You look like shit, dude." Zohakuten says, grabbing a water bottle and putting it in Sabito's hand.
"I'm just tired. No matter how much I rest, I still wake up tired." Sabito laments, opening the water bottle to take a drink out of it.
"Maybe somethings wrong with you." Zohakuten bluntly says, making Nakime wince.
"Geez, Zoha! Word it softer!" Nakime scolds, and Zohakuten starts to giggle.
"Anyways, something devilish is building up inside of you. You might need to do something about that." He says, stopping his giggling abruptly.
"I'll be fine. Where are we heading in the first place?" Sabito asks, looking out of the train's window.
"We're supposed to be going to the Red Light District. We have to pick up Daki." Nakime says, and Sabito shifts in his seat.
It's a more comfortable position, so soon he's sleepy again.
"Sabito's nodding off again. I really hope he doesn't let it consume him." Zohakuten mutters, putting his head in his hands.
Nakime pushes her hair back so she can get a good look at Sabito.
"Wasn't his hair a muted peach color?" Nakime asks, concern a prominent expression on her face.
Zohakuten lifts his head to look at Sabito once more.
"Yeah, it was. There's not supposed to be a cavity where his chest should be, either."
The two stare into the cavity.
It stares right back.
"Oh. That's what it was. Hatred." Zohakuten remarks, making Nakime look at him.
"Aren't you the world's embodiment of said hatred?" Nakime asks, and Zohakuten shushes her.
"This is a special type of hatred. It can only be found in those who truly were not wanted." Zohakuten says, putting a blanket on Sabito.
"He'll have to work it out himself, for there's nothing we can do."
A small black fox waddled up to him.
"Hey, it's you again!' Sabito lifts it up, and places it over his shoulder, like you would a baby or even your pet. 'How've you been?"
It squeaks.
"Yeah, me too."
For a second, it's face makes contact with his, and a painful memory comes flooding back.
"Psalm 149! Go!" A woman screams, tugging his hair.
His grip on the small fox falters and it drops to the ground.
The fox increases in size.
"Don't push it away, Sabito. Don't push me away." It says, advancing towards him.
Sabito somehow loses his footing and clatters to the floor, breaking into a million pieces.
"D-don't come any closer. 'm warning you." Sabito snarls, bristling as much as he can.
It still comes closer, and it brushes its face along Sabito's.
"2 Kings, 3:9-13! Go!" The woman screams again, scratching his face.
"...I don't remember." Sabito says shyly, tucking his tails between his legs.
She yanks at his hands and pulls out a paddle with little holes cut into it.
She brings it down, and Sabito yanks his hands away in the nick of time.
It makes its way to his face, however.
The power behind the hit knocks him down and it's brought down again.
Again and again until she figured he learnt his lesson.
He never did.
Back to now, Sabito takes a deep breath.
The little black fox is now towering over him and at the top of its head, it has long blonde fur.
Just like the woman.
Putting his paws out in front of him, he starts to beg.
"Please... please don't hurt me anymore, Ms. Josei." Sabito whispers, starting to curl up.
"You brought this on yourself. You know what you have to do." It says, opening its all encompassing maw.
"No... no, I don't want to. It's not right." Sabito says, everything shaking.
"They deserve it. Imagine this: Sabito, the two faced fox. Wouldn't that be awesome?" The little mouth on it's stomach calls out.
Sabito can feel the warmth of its mouth, and he simply gives up.
The jaws clamp shut, and for the first time, Sabito slept.
Yoriichi woke from his sleep thanks to a knock on the door.
"Hello?" Yoriichi asks, turning his hearing aids up.
"Hi, Mr. Tsugikuni. Listen, we need your help." Giyuu says, and Yoriichi considers slamming the door in his face.
"With what. I have a house to clean." Yoriichi asks, trying to back out of the conversation.
"So there might be some crazy thing that's about to happen and we need your help to subdue it." Sanemi blurts out, and Yoriichi actually slams the door in their faces.
But it opens again.
"I'm so sorry you guys had to deal with that. So tell me more about this incoming event." Sumiyoshi asks, holding Yoriichi by a horn.
"Ow! Sumi, let me go!" Yoriichi whines, grabbing at Sumiyoshi's hand.
A awkward silence ends up filling the air.
"May we come in?" Obanai asks, and Sumiyoshi shows them in.
...
"So kitsune gone rogue, huh? Tough." Sumiyoshi says, placing a hand on his head.
"Tell you what-' Suyako comes up to Sumiyoshi and whispers something in his ear. 'Good idea, honey! I want you to find me chestnuts from the chestnut tree somewhere on this mountain." Sumiyoshi asks, and Uta hands Obanai a bag.
He takes it, but he treats it like it's burning him.
Mostly because it is.
"God damn! Ouch!" Obanai yells, and he passes it off to Sanemi.
It doesn't burn him somehow.
"It doesn't hurt me, but what if..." Sanemi wonders, and he passes it off to Giyuu.
"...' and then it hits him. 'Holy shit, ouch!"
"That is a bag that only humans can carry. Humans turned into spirits can still carry it, however." Uta informs Sanemi, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Great. Okay, um... so if we complete this task, we?" Sanemi asks, confused.
"I'll willingly go with you guys." Yoriichi says from his spot on the floor.
"Okay. Anything else?" Sanemi asks, and Sumiyoshi holds up a hand.
"Just be back by sundown. Yoriichi will send Michikatsu to retrieve you if you don't return." Sumiyoshi says, and he wave them goodbye.
The tree wasn't that hard to find.
It was getting the chestnuts that were the problem.
They were so high up in the tree, that even with throwing Giyuu, they couldn't reach them.
Giyuu lands with a thud.
"Dude, I think I broke something." Giyuu whines, and looking over him, Sanemi and Obanai see that he's a crumpled mess.
"I think you broke something too." Obanai says, pulling Giyuu out of the position that he's in.
None of the Hashira noticed the Upper Moon hiding up high.
"No one's figured out the chestnut puzzle. They're going to fail spectacularly." Kokushibo thinks to himself, and Kyokokukamusari seems to sigh.
It noticed the change within Sabito as well as Kokushibo did.
"You imbeciles have to work together! Why can't you see that?" Kokushibo seethes as he watches the demon slayers toss Giyuu into the tree one more time.
This time, he manages to grab and hold onto a branch.
"Good, good! Now, use the one with the lower half of a snake!" Kokushibo yells in his mind, and Kyokokukamusari bounces.
Sure enough, Obanai starts to slither up the tree.
"Now hold on to the kitsune!" Kokushibo thinks.
Iguro grabs onto Giyuu's back paws, and Sanemi seems to get it.
He starts to climb them like a ladder and he starts throwing down chestnuts.
Giyuu pulls himself up onto the branch and Sanemi climbs higher into the tree.
Obanai lets go and starts picking up chestnuts off of the ground.
"Yes, yes! That's it!" Kokushibo thought excitedly, and Kyokokukamusari blinks erratically.
"Did something get in your eyes?" Kokushibo asks, and Kyokokukamusari responds no.
Sanemi climbs down, and starts filling up the bag.
Soon, Giyuu drops down and they head back.
Kokushibo follows them.
"We've got the nuts!" Sanemi yells, holding up the bag.
Sumiyoshi opens the bag, and sure enough, it's filled to the brim with the chestnuts.
"...Huh. You did it." Suyako says, making it clear that they didn't expect them to pass.
"Well, hello thee of little faith. Where's your shepherd?" Sanemi jokingly says, and Yoriichi gets up from his spot under the couch.
"Here.' Yoriichi gives them a slip of paper. 'It's the residential number. Give us a call when you need it."
"Thank you, Mr. Tsugikuni. We'll use it wisely." Obanai says, taking his friends hands in his and leading them out the door.
Sanemi, with his free hand, slips the paper in his pocket.
"So how do we exorcize the evil out spirits again, Genya?" Gyomei asks, stepping a few feet away from Genya.
Genya had a tendency to be rough with this type of stuff.
"We use the talismans on the blue section of the purification rod. And after casting, we hit them with it." Genya recites.
Gyomei sighs. "Would you like to give a demonstration?"
Genya perks up. "Oh, hell yeah."
A blue talisman is yanked off and a incantation is recited.
"We pray for this poor soul, who has lost their way, their purpose and their path. May the god of the sun purify thine sins, and may they wash away in the river. Namu Amida Butsu." Genya says, and then he violently slashes at the air.
Gyomei is too stunned to speak.
"At least he remembered it all." Gyomei thinks to himself, the familiar feeling of tears forming in his eyes.
"Hey, I remembered it this time!" Genya celebrates, and he starts running around and cheering for himself.
The sound of it makes him remember something.
"Mr. Himejima? You good?" Genya asks, looking up at the man.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just remembered something from my youth, that's all."
The two just stand there for a moment, not knowing what to do next.
Suddenly, Gyomei gets an idea.
"Genya, grab on." Gyomei says, and Genya nods and holds on to his haori.
And Gyomei starts walking.
After a while, he comes to a field. And a large cat-like creature comes up to greet them.
The only sound it makes is a distorted growl and a sound nearly identical to a yowl.
"Mr. Himejima, this thing's creeping me out. What are we doing here anyways?" Genya asks, shrinking into Gyomei's side.
"Genya, I've decided to test you. Show me what you know. But just know, I've got your back." Gyomei says, pushing Genya out there.
Gathering his courage, Genya steps out there and pulls off a blue talisman.
The being born of hatred seems to understand what he's about to do and it lunges.
The attacks are straightforward but they are powerful.
It seems to fight with everything it's got and a little more.
It grabs Genya by his yukata and chucks him away from it.
Genya quickly flips himself over and when he lands, he's lunging at it again.
"Is Genya's plan to tire it out? I should jump in." Gyomei thinks to himself, hearing this whole thing unfold.
A loud scream snaps Gyomei out of his thoughts.
The spirit lets out this primordial scream that catches both Gyomei and Genya off guard and it crumples to the floor.
"Genya! Give me the purification rod, now!" Gyomei yells and Genya rushes to give him the rod.
After the rod was given to Gyomei, a talisman from the yellow slot was torn off.
Rushing at the spirit, the needed incantation was said and the talisman started glowing.
Like Genya, Gyomei took a violent swing and the spirit burst into flames.
"It burns! Mom..." It cried, before melting away.
"What... what was that?" Genya asked after a long pause.
"That was a being born of hatred. This one just progressed too far." Gyomei explains, starting back to the Rock Estate.
"Are there signs?" Genya asks, grabbing onto Gyomei's sleeve.
"There are, but you'd really need to look if you want to see them." Gyomei says, tears forming again.
"My guess is that only the people that truly care would notice, huh?" Genya asks, and Gyomei nods.
Gyutaro wakes up to the sound of talking.
"Another client, huh? Man this sucks." Gyutaro whines in his head.
He feels Daki lay down and he braces himself.
"So, Naki-chan, what do you and fox boy need from us? Money, a place to hide? Our bodies?~" Daki asks, and Sabito yawns.
"No, we don't need any of those. We're getting ready for a confrontation." Zohakuten says, and Gyutaro prepares to come out.
"A confrontation for who?" Gyutaro yells from inside Daki.
"Mr. Urokodaki right here." Nakime says, catching Sabito from falling.
He offers his thanks and stands up on a wall, leaning on it for support.
Gyutaro rises up from her back and steps out.
"Aw man, it's cold." Gyutaro whines, sitting down next to his sister.
"Is the kitsune okay over there? He's struggling to stay awake." Gyutaro points out and this time, Zohakuten catches Sabito.
"Guys, I don't know how much longer I can hold out." Sabito says, and Nakime noticed...
"Your fur. It's black at the base of your hind legs." Gyutaro says, picking him up and laying him on his back.
Sabito's face happens to brush near Gyutaro's.
"Why, dear God! I don't have anything to give you for this made up debt! Don't take Ume from me, please! I'll fucking kill you if I have to, just don't take her away!"
"... What the fuck just happened." Gyutaro sputters, having relived a bad memory.
"Huh? What was the little bundle you had in your hands, Upper 6?" Sabito asks, and Gyutaro waves him away.
"N-never mind that. How did you do that." Gyutaro asks, and when Sabito doesn't respond, it takes everything in Gyutaro to stop himself from killing Sabito.
"It happened to me. The bad memories reliving thing." Is all Sabito has to offer.
"Hey, Sabito, was it? Half of your face turned white." Daki says, pointing at his head.
"Was your left eye always clouded over?" Zohakuten asked, carrying a thick blanket.
Nakime puts a hand over Sabito's right eye.
"Can you see?" Nakime asks, and Sabito grabs her hand lightly.
"...no. No, I can't." Sabito says, scared.
The hand that was on top of Nakime's was fearfully shaking, and some of Sabito's tears were threatening to spill.
"I don't wanna do this anymore!" Sabito suddenly screams, tears free falling.
Gyutaro and Daki don't know what to do, while Zohakuten and Nakime tell him the truth.
"You're in too deep, Sabito. You have to." Zohakuten says, putting a claw on Sabito's head, and the tears that Sabito's trying to wipe away only get stronger.
He's full on sobbing right now.
"When's the confrontation." Gyutaro asks, staring down at Nakime.
"Tomorrow, at the Old Tomioka field." Nakime says, staring up at him.
Rui was just sitting and minding his business when he heard a loud explosion in the distance.
"Damn. Right in front of my lunch too?" Rui whines, but he ventures inside his house.
Inside, his cat is in the kitchen.
"Senjuro, we have to go! I know you just-" Rui stops abruptly when he noticed the expression on Senjuro's face.
"Put on your shoes. Rui, something really bad and really powerful has just been created." Senjuro says, half transforming into his human form.
Rui practically leaps off the steps, and starts running.
Senjuro follows behind, carrying Rui's scepter.
The Old Tomioka field wasn't too far, just a half hour walk away.
Two people were already there, however.
"It's not working, Tengen! If sealing this thing away won't work then what would hacking at it do?" Kyojuro yells from his spot on the creature's back.
"Look, we're at a stalemate here, Kyojuro! What'd you do in this situation, then?" Tengen yells, cleavers stuck into the things neck.
Rui and Senjuro could see that this thing was massive.
It could be more than 20 feet tall.
"Kyojuro, use your-" Tengen didn't even need to say it.
Like clockwork, Kyojuro starts igniting and the beast screams.
But someone else screams with it.
"Ah, fuck! It burns!" Sabito screams, and the two look up in shock and in fear.
"Shit, Kyo! Douse, douse!" Tengen yells and Kyojuro puts out his flames.
"Sabito's still in there! If we kill him, Giyuu will come after us, but-" Kyojuro says, and the creature starts to speak.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A goody two shoes ghost and a cat." The mask side of Sabito says mockingly.
"His hatred's got a mind of its own! It's gonna... Wait, what is it going to do?" Tengen yells, and Rui and Sen get close enough to attache a spiderweb to its arm.
"Burn this name into your memory. Nikushimi, the being born of hatred!" Nikushimi yells, growing two extra whiplike limbs on its body, and pulling Tengen and Kyojuro off.
Rui and Senjuro launch themselves upwards and Rui starts chanting a purification spell.
It's backed up by Senjuro's purification flame.
The two attacks land on the mask, and it scorches like its a hard surface.
A small crack forms in it, and Nikushimi goes wild.
It starts trying to head towards the floor rather than a more populated area.
"The mask is the weak link!" Rui yells, pushing Senjuro away before the two of them hit the ground.
Senjuro, knowing his friend was a demon, trusts that he'll be back.
"Tengen, Kyo! It's mask is its weak point. Focus all purification spells and talismans onto the mask." Senjuro says, running up to them.
"So we do have a shot! All we need to do is call everyone we know who can cast purification spells or use purification talismans." Kyojuro says, stuffing a rice ball into his mouth.
Senjuro picked up on too.
Tengen starts to call everyone.
Giyuu, Gyomei, Obanai, Zenitsu and Tanjiro, too.
Muichiro hopped all the way here with his brother on his back.
"I told you it'd be one of these!" Yuichiro says, jumping off his brothers back.
"Yeah, and the inside of my mouth isn't pink." Muichiro retorts.
"Which one of you can use purification spells? Adds more to the manpower." Tengen asks and both point to each other.
"Something tells me that thing is obsessed with death or ruling the world." Muichiro says, and Yuichiro says, 'I can see that.'
"Actually, it's bent on the eradication of the human race. Mass genocide." Tengen explains, and the twins just say it makes sense.
"Got any good ideas on how to take this thing down?" Yuichiro asks, and Tengen looks down.
"No, huh? Have you tried at the root of your big problem?" The twins ask, and yet again, Tengen looks down.
"God, you adults are helpless. Gotta make the kids do everything, now don't you?" Yuichiro spits, and he gets a running start towards Nikushimi.
Muichiro chases after him.
"Muichiro, use the strongest talisman you've got. Hit him where his eye should be." Yuichiro orders, and Muichiro veers to the mask side and starts using Nikushimi's limbs as platforms.
"Mister Sabito, don't fall asleep! I repeat, do not fall asleep!" Yuichiro yells, coming up to meet Sabito's face.
The talisman goes off and a huge crack forms in the mask.
Nikushimi screams and tears at it.
"Im... so tired. Can't keep my eyes open." Sabito says slowly, eyes drooping.
There are huge bags under his eyes and he looks like he's about to drop dead.
"I'm so sorry, but your hatred is about to destroy everything. You need to stay awake." Yuichiro says, and the tears start up again.
"I can't, I'm sorry." Sabito offers as his eyes slip shut.
A bed.
It's nice and cozy.
"Those meanies just wanted to keep you awake. You can go back to sleep now." A woman says, and Sabito turns to look at her.
She's got four tails behind her, swinging lazily.
Reluctantly, Sabito climbs in the bed and a small rabbit climbs in with him.
"She looks like you." Yuichiro starts, and suddenly Sabito doesn't feel so sleepy anymore.
"That's my mom. She left when I was 4. They all did." Sabito says, hiding under a pitch black blanket.
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Yuichiro says, rubbing his face where Sabito was.
Looking around, Yuichiro sees one more person.
A gray fox sleeping under a blanket similar to Sabito's, but with the word malicious on it.
Yuichiro pulls the blanket back and points to the sleeping fox.
Sabito grabs the rabbit and starts to walk over to the makeshift bed.
When they're close enough, they inspect the sleeping mass.
The fox isn't sleeping. It's dead.
Shot through the neck with a hunter's arrow.
Yanking the cover back, it's revealed to have a Demon Slayer uniform.
The Hashira version of it.
Picking up some of its items, a tacky haori is seen next to it.
Red on one side, a complex pattern on the other.
"Giyuu?" Sabito chokes out, trying to hold back from crying.
"Hold your horses. I just saw him." Yuichiro says, hopping towards the fox.
Sabito lies beside the body, and Yuichiro rolls him over.
"He's fine. I don't have a explanation for this, but he's fine." Yuichiro whispers, and Sabito struggles to get to his feet.
Yuichiro quickly sees the reason why.
A young lady with blonde curls had snuck up behind Sabito and draped the blanket over him.
This time the blanket wasn't pitch black, it had a complex pattern on it, the same as Giyuu's haori.
"...What do you think you're doing?" She says, and Sabito shrinks.
"Ms. Josei. I was..." Sabito stutters, backing into Yuichiro.
Yuichiro puts a arm around Sabito.
"I don't care! Ephesians 1:3, go!" Josei yells, and she takes a swipe at him.
At once, Yuichiro's axe materializes beside him and he takes it.
He uses the axe to block the incoming blow.
Hacking at her side, he manages to grab a lock of her hair and he starts climbing.
Before long, she's snatching at her hair.
In a swift motion, Yuichiro leaves her head swinging with every step she takes.
Sabito snaps out of his stupor and suspends the blanket and holds the other one, so she trips.
Unfortunately, that isn't what Yuichiro needed to finish her off.
He flies off, and Josei is a couple hairs length from catching him.
A dragon wraps around her head and clamps its jaw around the thin peice of flesh that connects her head to her neck.
After her head is severed, she fades away.
"Little fox. You're safe now." Yoriichi says, floating down to speak face to face with Sabito, but still keeping his distance.
"Are you still sleepy?" Yoriichi asks, lifting Sabito's head.
"No. Not really." Sabito admits.
"Are you ready to return to the surface?" Yuichiro asks, and Sabito nods.
Yoriichi points them to a spot that isn't dark like the rest of the hellish dreamscape.
"Head toward the light." Yoriichi instructs them, and he disappears to the battlefield.
The two start walking, Sabito using Yuichiro for support.
"Giyuu..." Tengen says, carrying him off the field.
Giyuu had spent his last moment attempting to communicate with Sabito.
"Sabi! You have to wake up! This thing will consume you and not think twice." Giyuu yells, and Nikushimi roars.
"My plan to eradicate the human race will be brilliant, and you alongside all the other spirits will thank me!" It yells, picking up a large boulder.
It's hurled towards Giyuu and another large crack forms in the mask.
The creature stumbles and trips, landing onto Giyuu.
The good news is that Tengen didn't have to grab his soul and shove it back in.
The bad news is, that it could happen.
"Nijimaru! Tell Yuuan and Sorai that Tomioka's down!" Tengen yells to his crow, and he responds.
"Lord Tengen! Genya Shinazugawa is currently trying to chip that mask!" Nijimaru squawks, landing on Tengen's headband.
"It's going to need one big effort to bring this one down. What's Ayaki doing, where is he?" Tengen asks, and Nijimaru flies off to retrieve Rui.
Rui comes running and Senjuro follows.
"You're a specter right? Temporarily possess his body." Rui says, assuming Giyuu was dead.
"Rui, Mr. Tomioka's not dead. He's in purgatory." Senjuro states.
"He'll come back." Kanzaburo reassures the three.
"Hey, flashy bastard. Genya made a hole in the mask." Sorai says, and in his talons he has some blue talismans.
Tengen takes the talismans from Sorai and he stuffs them in his headband.
Chuntaro and Ginko arrive to tell everyone that they must work together.
"If you guys don't, some say that kitsune in there will die." Ginko says, and Chuntaro starts chirping wildly.
"Tell everyone to focus their attacks onto the hole Genya made." Tengen says to the crow and the sparrow, and they fly off.
Eventually, everyone's together.
Well almost everyone.
Tengen was taking care of Giyuu and Yuichiro was guiding Sabito out of the dream.
Almost immediately, Sanemi lunges first, driving a deep blue talisman into the creature eye cavity.
Nikushimi shrinks and attempts to catch Sanemi in his mouth.
Iguro tears off a scale and scores the mask, making it chip more.
Muichiro clouds his mind with memories that never existed and tears chunks of Nikushimi off with his teeth.
"I'll fucking kill you, you man eating rabbit!" Nikushimi yells, and Muichiro tears off a bigger piece.
The pieces torn off immediately start to disintegrate.
The next person to act was Yoriichi, as he starts hacking off larger pieces and simultaneously purifying him.
Nikushimi got smaller and smaller, until he was just a lingering cloud around Sabito.
Sabito collapses to the ground, and in a pitiful attempt he tries to jump to Muichiro.
In a coordinated effort, a spell was chanted and talismans were stuck on him.
Now all Nikushimi was is a faceless mask.
"Don't you dare think of returning, you goddamn mistake." Genya warns and Nikushimi screams as he evaporates.
Rui wraps Sabito up in a web, and gives him to Yoriichi.
"We'll make sure he recovers." Yoriichi says, floating away.
"Now I need to ensure Giyuu wakes up." Rui says, and starts towards Giyuu.
He starts poking Giyuu with his scepter, and after a few minutes of poking, Giyuu stirs.
"Kocho, stop. I'm trying to sleep here." Giyuu says, pushing the scepter away.
"Wake up. Your friends are worried about you." Rui says, and Giyuu opens an eye.
"Oh. It's you." Giyuu says, sitting up.
"He's up." Rui yells, and the first people there are Sanemi and Obanai.
"I thought you died!" Sanemi yells, and Obanai lightly punches Giyuu.
"Don't scare us like that. I'm not fond of jokes." Obanai says, coiling around Giyuu.
"Hey look, I didn't mean to." Giyuu says, and he remembers something.
"Yuichiro, where is he?" He asks, and no one has a logical response.
"Mr. Tomioka, my guess is that he's with Sabito. He willingly jumped into Nikushimi's depths to retrieve him." Genya says, and as it's the only explanation on what happened to Yuichiro, everyone accepts it.
Giyuu sighs, relived that Yuichiro was okay.
"Um...' Gyutaro says, appearing behind Tengen. 'Me, Nakime and Zohakuten are really sorry." He says, fiddling with his hands.
"Yeah, we only intended him to kill Nakime's ex. And his family. And everyone in the town he lived in." Zohakuten admits, leaning on Rui.
"Why'd you choose to use a spirit to do that? You guys are demons." Sanemi asks, looking like he's about to start foaming at the mouth.
"I told Zohakuten to transform into his chimera form, but no, he didn't want to!" Nakime seethes, Zohakuten just scoffs.
"Well, let a bitch have standards. And what if a motherfucker was freaky enough to get their rocks off to a half dragon half bird monstrosity stepping on them?" Zohakuten asks, and no one answers.
"See?" Zohakuten says, driving his point home.
Sabito ended up recovering nicely.
After he was led out of the dream, Yoriichi ended up having a new individual to take care of.
"Ow... oh, hey Mr. Yoriichi!" Yuichiro says, waving to Yoriichi.
"Hello Yuichiro. Good work back there." Yoriichi says, congratulating the small rabbit.
"It wasn't a problem. I'll be leaving now." Yuichiro says, and Yoriichi sees him out.
...
Tengen came home to his wives pouncing on him.
"Lord Tengen! I'm so glad you're back!" Suma cries, clinging onto Tengen.
"Suma's right, we all missed you." Hinatsuru says, putting her arm around Tengen.
"I missed you too, girls." Tengen says, wrapping them all in a big hug.
The reunion lasted for hours as Makio decided that Tengen needed to be taught a lesson.
In the morning, Tengen wouldn't even try to get out of bed.
...
"Hey, Giyuu! Can we come in?" Sanemi asks, and Giyuu's door slowly creaks open.
Sanemi or Obanai can't hear anything, no TV playing, no water running and no paws padding across the floor.
So naturally, they're a bit worried.
Stepping in the house, two people greet them.
A woman with a mask that has flowers painted on it, and Sabito.
"Sabi, these are Giyuu's little buddies, right?" Makomo asks, and Sabito nods.
"You're here to see Giyuu, right?" She asks, and the two struggle to speak for some reason.
"Uh... yes ma'am. We are." Obanai says, fiddling with his fingers.
"Well, he's asleep right now. The fight with this idiot tired him out." She scolds and Sabito whines.
"I shouldn't have to take this from a 40 year old woman!" Sabito laments, and he's lightly smacked behind his head.
"Yeah, but you're pushing 30 and you still act like a kid." Makomo says, taking a sip of her coffee.
"But Makomo, it wasn't my fault!" Sabito whines, and Makomo sighs.
"I bet it wasn't." Makomo says, sarcastically, and Sabito decides to shut up.
"Bad time?" Sanemi asks, and Makomo replies yes.
The two turn to leave.
Even as they walk out of the door, the sound of Makomo's yelling can be heard.
"Giyuu must sleep like a stone if those idiots haven't woken him up, huh?" Obanai comments, and that make Sanemi remember something.
"Shit, Giyuu might have nightmares. I heard him snarling and growling in the inn we visited." Sanemi states, and Obanai starts to think.
"Should we confront him about it later?" Obanai asks, and Sanemi shakes his head no.
"He'll come to us when he's ready. Prying into people's lives is bad, ya know."