Giyuu Tomioka and Tanjiro Kamado were rushing through the halls of the Infinity Castle, when a kasugai crow came swooping down on them, announcing:
'CAW! CAW! Shinobu Kocho and Kanao Tsuyuri have slain Upper Rank 2!'
Relieved, Giyuu sighed and resumed running, Tanjiro at his heels. Giyuu suddenly heard the sound of crumbling walls, making him stop in his tracks, for a hyperventilating Tanjiro to come to a halt next to him. Both stared at the ceiling in anticipation as the sound was heard again, a body protruding from the ceiling, the impact spreading thick dust across the scene. As the dust cleared, they identified the familiar face of an injured Sanemi Shinazugawa holding his brother's arm with one hand. Scowling, he led Genya towards the pair, violently thrusting him at Tanjiro.
'Keep him here and make sure he doesn't escape,' he ordered. Nodding, he left, making his way back towards his fellow Hashira, who he had left to fight Upper Rank 1 on their own.
As Sanemi entered the room, he immediately crashed into the fight, aiming for Kokushibo's head, only to be knocked backwards. With him, was Ayaka Sasaki, who had a semi-deep wound across her abdominal area and a few scratches, but otherwise fine, not counting her unusually pale face. Muichiro Tokito had been led out by the girl, due to his heavy injuries, which included the loss of an arm. However, none of the boy's injuries were fatal. As he continued his chase after the demon, Sanemi couldn't help but notice how much he had underestimated his fellow Pillar. After all, she had not only fought Muzan Kibutsuji's strongest pawn on her own for at least half an hour, but also barely sustained the amount of injuries that the average Pillar would have, in her situation. The demon had slowed down considerably, indicating that it was losing energy. Ayaka landed another blow on its head, cutting it off yet again, only for the demon to regenerate it. Sanemi noticed that it had lost speed in regenerative abilities, which meant that they would have to wait for a little while. Realizing how wrong he had been, Sanemi successfully cut off Kokushibo's right arm, proceeding to seperate its upper-body from his lower parts in a diagonal slash. Having noticed that the demon had finished its regeneration process, Ayaka lauched herself towards the demon to cut off its head once again, only to be distracted by the sudden arrival of another ally: Gyomei Himejima. Kokushibo raised its blade behind her, when Sanemi cut off its arm. Ayaka immediately turned around and decapitated the demon once again. As the trio repeatedly cut off the Upper Rank's head, it continuously lost energy, eventually lying on the ground, almost immobile.
Is it dead? Sanemi stared at the bloody figure on the ground.
'I think it's over,' Ayaka commented. Sanemi nodded.
Gyomei proceeded to pray for the demon's spirit, as the once Michikatsu Tsugikuni lay on the ground, now having no connection to his previous human self. The demon lay decaying, as the Pillars stood confident that they would, indeed destroy Muzan Kibutsuji once and for all.
...
Shinobu raced through the Castle, Kanao in tow.
'Kocho!' a voice yelled from the distance. Turning around, Shinobu spotted Sanemi and Gyomei standing beside an injured Muichiro Tokito.
'What happened?' she asked, pulling out her medical tools.
'Upper Rank 1,' Sanemi explained simply.
'Did you finish it off?' she asked as she pulled out the appropriate bandaging.
'We did,' he responded in his usual tone.
I wonder where Tomioka is...
'Are there any Upper Ranks left?'
'Not that I know of,' Sanemi spoke.
Once she had finished dealing with Muichiro's wounds, Shinobu looked up.
'Are either of you injured?' she asked.
'No, we weren't in the fight long enough to sustain any injuries, but Sasaki is wounded. Where is she?' he explained, looking around.
'Here!' Ayaka shouted, out of breath, running towards them.
'Sit down,' Shinobu said.
'Oh, there really is no need. I-'
'Sit down,' Shinobu repeated sternly.
Ayaka did as she was told.
'Kocho!' another, deeper voice called out.
'I think I see her!' a softer voice spoke.
Shinobu turned her head to the left, to see Giyuu Tomioka and Tanjiro Kamado approaching them.
Done with her patient, Shinobu stood up, facing them.
Giyuu wrapped his arms around her small figure, breathing heavily. Shinobu hugged him back, closing her eyes, letting her mask fall off for the second time that night, to reveal a solemn expression. The gesture had turned some heads, wielding confused expressions.
After about 30 seconds, Giyuu let go of her, apologizing almost silently. Refocusing on the current events, Shinobu led the group to Yushiro, who was taking care of a seemingly-unconscious Zenitsu Agatsuma.
'Right, I need you to stay here while I go and take care of some urgent business,' Yushiro informed Shinobu. Once he had left the room, Shinobu looked down at Zenitsu.
'What happened?'
Smiling, Zenitsu recounted the events involving Kaigaku, the new Upper Rank 6.
PS: Sorry about the extremely late update.

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When the stars align for us
FanfictionThis is another GiyuxShinobu story from the 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba' universe. However, this is going to be an AU where all the slayers survive. To do this, I am going to make some major changes to the canon storyline, including adding a ten...