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It was like hell on earth on that mountain.
Demon slayers cried out for death as their limbs were manipulated with strings until their ultimate demise with a quick snap to their necks like they were nothing but pieces in a game. The demon responsible for the death accepted his sword with open arms like he was a merciful god striking upon her in the moonlight.
And then the Lower Moon Five toyed with him and his family, demanding an apology while he twisted up his siblings in his webs. Nezuko crying out with their mother practically howling out for everyone with their bodies twisted like bugs inside the webbing.
He still remembers Rokuta lying so still like how he was back in the snow when he had first come across his family after their encounter with Muzan.
He remembered the charging steps of Tomioka as he ran after his siblings with the promise of death in those cold eyes. He desperately tried to cover his young siblings from that cursed blade. His mother and Nezuko covered him and engaged in a fight with Tomioka to protect everyone while Takeo held onto him with Hanako and Shigeru blocking both of his legs. Rokuta, the smallest one, cried while using his tiny body as a shield like Tomaioka was aiming for him.
He still doesn’t know how to describe how thankful he is to the demon slayer who gave him a chance to prove that his family was more than monsters. The one who allowed him to find a cure.
The one who covered for him and told him to run when another slayer with a butterfly hairpin was so close to cutting off Takeo’s head.
“Get up! Hey, don’t you hear me? Get up!”
A voice penetrated through his mind, rousing him from the dream-like daze he was resting in. Weakly, he opened his eyes to see that he was lying down on the ground in front of seven people who had not said anything yet. He felt his arms tied behind his back with the familiar voice from his dreams harshly whispering in his ear.
“You’re in the presence of the Hashira for your trial! The formidable pillars of all of the demon slayers!” The man said, reprimanding him with a flick to the back of his head when he tried to move. Tanjiro winced when he felt their weight on his back. “Show some respect.”
Wait. If someone was pressed against his back, where were the boxes? His family! Tanjiro’s eyes searched the area in a hurry, trying to pinpoint where all of the wooden boxes were yet he could see nothing except the people in front of him.
A line of swordsmen stared down at him with varying levels of anger, pity, and anticipation.
The woman from before on the mountain had such a strong angry and impatient scent yet a soft smile across her face. Her purple eyes looked past him as she addressed him directly. “We will start the trial soon. But before we do, why don’t you explain your crime in your own words? I want to hear your reasoning.”
Tanjiro’s mouth opened to plead with her but then a man with spiky, fiery hair interjected with a yell. “There is no need to proceed with a trial! He has gone above and beyond by having not just one demon but six demons with him on his journey!”
“I agree!” A silver-haired man with a flashy, jeweled headband joined in with the orange and red-haired hashira. “And if I may, I want to be the one who decapitates them. It will be a flamboyant performance!”
“Pity his poor soul. Such a cruel existence,” A tall man said with a gentle voice as he rubbed on prayer beads in his hands. “We should put them all out of misery.”
“I don’t care,” a boy with mint green-tipped black hair said as he stared up at the clouds above. His scent was more like confusion and something else which was almost like fresh air amongst the disgust and hatred.
Is he even going to get a trial? Everyone seemed so intent on killing him and his family before he even got a chance to talk. Tanjiro froze. Was this already the end of his journey?
“Forget that,” a man with a snake wrapped around his shoulders said. His words were accompanied by the sound of a snake hiss and the unmistakable smell of seething hatred. It was so potent that he could almost taste it on his tongue. Tanjiro looked up to see the man in the tree look down at him with distaste. “What will we do about Tomioka? He is just as guilty of breaking the Corps rules.”
“Oh come on. Tomioka came along with us willingly and without resistance.” The butterfly woman said with her attention directly on him as she walked forward. The man holding him down stepped back but kept a hold on him. “What I want to know is why the boy has been going on missions with a group of demons in tow despite being a demon slayer.”
Tanjiro felt her gaze pun him down harder than the other person holding him. “You are aware of it, aren’t you? You are breaking the rules by hiding demons instead of ending their lives.”
“I want to know your explanation, so please provide it.” He tried to talk only to choke at the lingering pain combined with his dry mouth. The lady moved to him and reached into her uniform to reveal a corked gourd. She knelt to allow him to drink from the container. “There is a painkiller in the water to help with your wounds. Drink it slowly.”
Her words were meant to bring comfort but they did nothing to relieve some of his fear. Either way, he drank the water to have relief until the container was pulled away from his lips.
Tanjiro cleared his throat while she swiftly went back to the line of swordsmen standing. He looked up to the line of people that were waiting for his downfall. His eye trailed over to Tomioka who was looking away from both him and the others with blank expressions with the smell of that same sadness mixed with anticipation.
He gazed back at the pillars who were waiting to decide his family and his fate.
With a deep breath, he started from that early morning in winter where he returned to a bloodied house with his family’s bodies stern all over. He talked about how Tomioka spared him under the conditions that he became a demon slayer and his family could not eat or harm humans.
He made a promise to find a way to turn his family back to their human selves so everything could go back to normal. He stumbled through recaps of his last three missions, skipping past Akasuka in fear of revealing information about Tamayo and Yushiro, to provide information on how his family had acted with each one. Yet nothing he did reassured the others since the scents did not change.
“Spare us your tragic and absurd backstory. If they are family to you, of course, you would like to defend them.” The snake-like man glared at him, a white snake slithered over his shoulders from what little he could see up in that tall tree.
The butterfly woman sighed, “And it is crime enough that he ignored one demon, but six? That is six times the amount of punishment waiting for him. And for you as well.”
“Listen to me, please!” Tanjiro begged. He strained against the ropes holding him back as he pressed his forehead to the ground. “I became a demon slayer so I could find a cure!”
“Maybe next time provide us some evidence of maximum flamboyance instead of just lip service,” the tall, silver-haired man said with a grin.
A woman with pink and green hair shuffled her feet, “I have my doubts with this.” Her sweet hesitant smell radiated off of her as she nervously glanced around. “But does everyone think it’s alright to do this trial without the master’s permission?”
They are doing it without permission? Wait, does that mean the trial hasn’t even started yet or did they just start early? Ah! There’s no time to think about it since he needs to defend himself either way!
“She can fight as a demon slayer to protect humans! And so can the rest!” Tanjiro's thoughts trailed to his family who must be freaking out inside their boxes since they could not sense him nearby. Hopefully, they were at least being kept safe during this trial. “Just give them a chance to prove it. Give me a chance to prove their worth.”
“Sir, please don’t! I’m in charge of the boxes!”
That yell drew his attention over to the side where a man was dragging out his family’s boxes with a sadistic grin while a woman in a black and white uniform tried to stop him
“Hah!” The white-haired man grinned as he dragged three boxes out into the courtyard. Tanjiro’s heart stopped at the curious knocks against the wood and the little chuffs he could barely hear from so far away. “So this the demon slayer who has demons with him?”
Out of the corner of his eyes, Tanjiro could see the butterfly woman’s smile drop for a brief moment. “Shinazugawa, please don’t act out of line this way.”
Tanjiro’s eyes were glued to the wooden boxes that were so close yet so far away. Please don’t hurt them! His family does not deserve to be hurt without the chance to prove themselves. Their lives do not need to end. Their blood does not need to be shed!
Yet Shinazugawa sadistically smiled as he ran his sword through Nezuko’s box. Tanjiro’s heartbeat stuttered at the sound of his sister in pain. Their mother and siblings started to shake in their boxes, calling out with groans and chirps to check what was going on. Takeo, who was inside her box, started to cry out with such a shaky tone that he could feel tears starting to burn in his eyes.
When Tanjiro saw that man turn to stab into another box, the anger inside of him pushed him to move. He didn’t realize how quickly he jumped up, bucked the man off his back, and rushed to the swordsmen with his hands still tied to his sides. The pain in his body meant nothing to him when he needed to protect his family
Before Tanjiro knew it, he was face to face with the swordsman and throwing his head back to deliver the hardest slam to the other’s forehead he could muster. The man stumbled back away from the boxes which allowed him to quickly shuffle his family’s boxes away from the scarred man.
Tanjiro could hear his family calling out which he tried to shush while he laid his body above their boxes as best as he could. He felt the pillar’s eyes on him while he tried to reassure his family through the wood. “I’m sorry, but it is not safe yet to come out. I’ll protect you.”
Because that’s what the eldest son does. He will protect his family until his last breath.
Shinazugawa got up to his feet with a glare aimed directly at him. He matched the gaze with his own, daring the other to move closer. The man flicked out his sword and pointed the blade at him. “I’m going to kill you, dumbass.”
He narrowed his eyes at the other swordsman who was not even trying to act like the other pillars. The majority were talking about killing him and his family, but they weren’t stabbing into the boxes like he did.
Shinazugawa sauntered forward until he was looking down at him with his sword directly above him. The pillars seemed like they were hesitating from what Tanjiro could smell, especially the girl with sakura mochi-colored hair who looked very nervous. It looked like not a lot of them were happy with how the white-haired man was dealing with this.
Yet none of them were moving a muscle to stop him.
“That’s enough!” Tomioka shouted out in the silence of the courtyard. “The master will be here soon, so calm down and take your place, Shinazugawa!”
Tanjiro shifted to make sure all of his body was covering as much of the wooden surface as he could. He tilted his chin up in defiance. “Try.”
“The master has arrived.”
Tanjiro let out a yelp as he was mishandled off the boxes and onto the ground by one hand that maneuvered his body to bow before the open room. He peeked up from the ground, wincing at the very prevalent injuries that made itself known by the harsh movement. His eyes widened while he watched a gentleman with purple scars over his eyes being guided into the room by two white-haired girls in purple kimonos.
“I pray for your good fortune,” Shinazugawa, who stabbed his sister less than a minute ago, greeted with his hand tightening its grip on his hair. “Before we start the Hashira meeting, would you mind enlightening us about this situation?”
“Right. I apologize for not informing you all about this discourse of Tanjiro and his demonic family.” The master’s soft voice washed over the courtyard. “I received a letter from a former Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki. Please read it, my daughter.”
One of his daughters stepped forward and unrolled a scroll to read out the contents. “Please spare the Kamado family. Even in a starved state, they never devoured humans, and this has remained true more than two years later. They survived by the blood of animals and resting their bodies through slumber. If any of them eats human flesh, Kamado Tanjiro, Urokodaki Sakonji, and Tomioka Giyu will atone by commuted seppuku.”
“But Master—“
“This is—!”
“We can’t guarantee that they won’t attack humans. We can’t prove the fact if any of them refrain from devouring humans for this long means they won’t ever do so.“ The master commanded attention with his soft-spoken words. “And I have more news to share with all of you concerning the young slayer. Kamado Tanjiro has met Kibutsuji.”
“What?” Most of the pillars said at once. The shock swept over the area like a cold chill in the air.
“Hah?” The flashy man had a dubious look on his face as he could barely believe it. “What does he look like?”
His face got pushed into the ground harder by the scarred man. A move that made him wince which drew worried knocks and mumbles from the multiple boxes only a few feet away from him. “What is his stronghold?”
It’s not like he could or would answer him given the entire situation happening!
“Kitbutsuji has sent pursuers after Tanjiro. We don’t know the full reason as to why he is a target. But it might have something to do with the demon family he has. I believe something is happening with them that Kibutsuji never saw coming,” the master continued as his daughters remained at his side. “And from the letters, Nezuko seems to be the most different since she has mostly slept, yet she has shown to have such strength.”
“I can’t accept this!” Shinazugawa said. Tanjiro struggled to turn his head to watch his expression as the swordsman’s scent spiked into something that made his stomach turn. “Not after all that we the demon slayer have gone through in battle! Not after so many people lost their lives.”
Tanjiro tried to run as the white-haired hashira bowed even deeper than before while trying to make the rocks on the ground burrow into his skin.
“Let me provide the evidence myself. I want to prove that we have a right to distrust this.” Shinazugawa pleaded to the master before him.
“Hmm. Go on,” the master stepped back. “This will possibly provide the evidence many of you need to relax with their presence.”
With a grunt, Tanjiro was pushed to the ground by the snake-like hashira while the white-haired one stormed up to the boxes. Tanjiro could only watch as the three boxes containing his family got dragged into the open room shrouded in shadow compared to the bright, sunny day beaming down on his form. The master stood on the side with his daughters as Shinazugawa stabbed into the box with his sister.
He tried to call out for his sister only for his neck to be held in a vice grip. It smelled like the same fury that the snake-like man had. And the snake hiss over his shoulder only proved his suspicion.
Shinazugawa ignored his family’s panicked knocking while they tried to check on each other and him. But he was too far away to knock against anything and the grip around his throat did not allow him to speak out to them.
“Hey, demons. Come and get it,” Shinazugawa said. Then he sliced his arm open and let the drops of his blood hit against the wood grain of each box. The knocks and grumbles quieted. Rokuta’s growl was the only one to answer as the boxes slowly opened.
He tried to look up when he heard his youngest brother’s growl but he was forced even more close to the ground. Are they trying to bury him alive by forcing his face into the ground?
But that isn’t what he should be focusing on! He had to get eyes on Rokuta and the others to make sure they were alright. It was almost quiet now, but he could hear the rolling thunder of their chests. They wouldn’t eat a human. He knew that. But they might try to approach Shinazugawa or try to get to him and burn themselves in the sun.
He had to do something to distract them, to provide comfort to them, so they could get past this sudden test of their resilience.
Tanjiro moved his head slightly and was only able to see a sliver of his sister’s haori from his low viewpoint. Her arms were out at either side of her which could mean that she was protecting the others.
He needed to see! He needed to be there to give them an extra push!
Tanjiro shifted only to cut his movements off with a yelp when that snake-like man pushed on him so hard he could feel his injuries screaming under his skin.
“Iguro. Hey Iguro. You’re digging into him far too hard,” the butterfly woman reprimanded the man for pushing on Tanjiro too hard. “Ease up a bit please.”
He felt a puff of air behind his head as the man slightly moved off of him. The. With a breath, he used most of his energy to break through the ropes holding his arms still with a shout. He could hear his family’s grumbles like they were calling out to him while the hashira behind him were talking in rushed voices about something that Tomioka did.
But he had no time to focus on that!
Tanjiro jumped to his feet as quickly as he could and rushed to the edge of the room where he could now clearly see Nezuko and his mother standing together. His mother was holding Rokuta back who seemed to be struggling to hold onto his instincts the most compared to everyone in the small crowd. His heart momentarily broke for his youngest brother before steeling himself.
They just needed a little encouragement, that's all. A distraction away from the leaking blood flowing from the hashira’s arm. Hopefully, he can help with this at least until someone pushes him back into the ground!
Tanjiro could hear the snake-like man yelling at Tomioka while others were calling out to question why he was trying to hold them back.
He just has to breathe, not too hard, but just enough to focus on something other than the pain in his ribs. Tanjiro slowly started to move his hands and feet into the first position of their family Kagura dance. At the first sweep of his foot against the ground, Takeo’s eyes immediately jumped to him even with his head still turned toward the bloody sight before his family
That’s it. Come on! Tanjiro tensed as he continued through the dance moves he had learned from his father years ago.
Dancing Flash!
He slashed downwards with his arms with a pretend sword made out of the air. Takeo made a soft grumble towards him, moving his head towards him to watch the movements more.
Clear Blue Sky!
He spun around, twisting his upper body to make his arms slash around him in a perfect circle. The grumbles from Takeo made Nezuko slowly glance towards him even with an alarming amount of saliva dripping down her muzzle.
Raging Sun!
Tanjiro gritted his teeth and slashed his arms horizontally as sharp as he could get the movement to be. He couldn’t hear what the Hashira were talking about behind him. All he could focus on was his family especially with Takeo starting to turn his body towards him.
Burning Bones, Summer Sun!
His mother chirped out from behind her muzzle as he utilized a spiral motion with a sweep of his arm. Rokuta grumbled in her arms, his clawed fingers gripping onto their mother’s clothes.
Setting Sun Transformation—! Wait! He cannot do a backflip or any kind of flipping motion at this point. His rib bones already felt like they were stabbing into him even with his slow movements. He had to skip any flipping or any moves with big leaps and jumps.
Solar Heat Haze!
Shigeru and Hanako almost seemed to turn their eyes in unison to look at him. Their bodies did not move like Takeo but it looked like they were getting curious over what he was doing instead of fighting themselves against the blood.
Beneficent Radiance!
He wasn’t spiraling up into the air but hopefully, his little jump was enough to satisfy his audience. Takeo had turned his head so sharply away from the bloody sight of Shinazugawa that it reminded him of the time his brother tried to avoid his head pats. The keyword was ‘tried’ since he could never escape from his comfort.
Sunflower Thrust!
He thrust his hands in the air with a quiet groan that made Takeo and his mother warble out to him with worry in their tone. The sound pulled Rokuta away from his focus to gaze out at him with those big cat-like eyes that looked close to spilling tears to match the drip of saliva down his front.
Shigeru and Hanako looked towards him again with clenched fists only for their eyes to widen in wonder.
Tanjiro held his head up. He was close to running out of energy at this point. Just one more move. Please! Allow him to perform another dance move for his family like this was not a trial.
This was not a trial to decide their deaths or punishment. This was not some test to prove how his family were monsters. It was none of that.
This was a mere performance of his family’s Kagura dance he was severely late for.
He grits his teeth, internally begging Nezuko to look away and finally convince the rest to watch him instead of the red liquid leaking out before them.
Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance!
This was hell. He was moving way too unsteadily instead of the practiced performance he was supposed to give. The curious mumbles behind him grew into a crescendo as the faces of his family started to focus on him.
And there it was.
Nezuko‘s pink eyes were on him as he almost stumbled into the last position of the long dance move. Tanjiro was barely able to complete the last step before he slumped against the edge of the wood. He winced as he felt his injuries yelling at him from underneath his skin.
He was not able to complete or fully perform the dance in its entirety. But it was enough for him. It was enough for them.
He was so happy he could cry right now.
Gently, he raised himself a little more to rest his eyes on his family who at this point had fully turned away from the temptation of blood. A burning hope flared inside his chest as a grin spread across his face at the sight.
Tanjiro only continued to smile fondly at his siblings who looked like they desperately wanted to reach his exhausted form. However, with the large amount of sunlight where he stood, he could see the amount of hesitance they had. Each one of them reached out to him with their clawed hands only to draw back for a moment before clawing at the air. He wanted to laugh. It was rather adorable to watch.
“What happened?” The master asked his daughters with a gentle voice.
The daughter at his right side spoke up with that same soft smile. “The demons turned away in disgust from Sanemi’s blood.”
The master smiled brightly. “Ah, so now it’s been proven that the Kamado family won’t attack humans, right?”
“That isn’t fair.” Shinazugawa protested. He swung his bloodied arm which dirtied the wooden floor with splatters of red. He looked close to stomping his foot like a toddler having a tantrum. “The kid cheated by distracting them with his dancing!”
“Well, if the demons are distracted by a simple dance over a bleeding wound then I’m sure we don’t have to worry so much.” His two daughters came closer to his side as he turned to stare out at the hashira with a hand gesture to the family. “For now, let’s leave the family be.”
Tanjiro breathed heavily, trying to ignore the pain in his body for another minute but failing. He fell to the ground on his knees before the master since his body refused to move anymore.
The trial concluded soon after that with the master telling Tanjiro to defeat the Twelve Kizuki and informing every hashira to behave cordially towards the Kamado family.
Tanjiro almost blanked out as the uniformed man from before swept him off his feet with orders to rush to the Butterfly Mansion to start the healing process. But he stayed awake long enough to check to see if his family was coming and relaxed when he saw people in similar uniforms guiding them back to the open boxes.
As long as they were safe, he could rest.
He looked back over to the hashira with the fiery-haired man watching him leave with an indecipherable gaze with that bright smile stretched across their face.