"Kya ha ha! Just like you said Yahaba! A building appeared where there was nothing before"
"Seems like they've learned to use the blood demon art well. And is the demon slayer with them? What does this mean? But still, Susamaru, the way you do things is childish and impetuous, but most of all, messy. My kimono got all dusty."
"Hush. Thanks to my temari ball, we found them right away. Great! More time to play. And your kimono isn't dirty. You're too fussy."
I lift my head slightly, coughing as quietly as possible, doing my best to assess the situation.
'Tanjiro and his sister below and to the left, Yushiro on top of Tamayo and I, who is to the right... Two demons, a female and a male... The female, Susamaru, has two temari balls, and the male, Yahaba, has eyes on his hands...'
"Kya hah hah! Found you!" Susamaru shouts, preparing to throw the ball again.
She bounces the ball, making it bounce all around the room, narrowly missing Tanjiro, but shaving Yushiro's head clean off.
"Yushiro!!" Tanjiro shouts. Tamayo quickly catches his body as I jump from the ground, dashing to where Tanjiro is. "Nezuko!! Get the woman asleep back there somewhere safe outside!!" Tanjiro commands, Nezuko obliging silently.
"Ha ha ha! I killed one. Hm?" The female grins.
"Wrong demon, your idiocy is incomprehensible. What a shame." I say, unsheathing my sword as Tanjiro does the same.
The demon had a pink, flowery kimono, as well as black, shoulder-length hair.
"So, the demon slayer with the earrings is you." The female demon stated.
I hum before glancing back at Tanjiro, "Tanjiro, do you have any idea as to why they may be targeting you?"
He shakes his head, still in a battle stance.
"Hmm... Tamayo, I ask that you get out of the way. I trust that you can take care of yourself though, correct?" I ask, readying my sword.
Tamayo nods, so I dash forward, slicing one of Susamaru's arms off as she throws the ball. Tanjiro stabs the ball forcefully, causing it to impale itself on his sword before vibrating violently.
Just then, Yushiro's mouth reforms.
"Lady Tamayo!! I... told you, didn't I?!... From the start... I said not to get involved with the demon slayer!" Yushiro says, struggling a bit as his head continues to regenerate. "My concealment spell isn't perfect! I can hide buildings or the signs and smells of people, but there's no way to hide their existence entirely! And the more there are, the more traces remain, raising the chance of Kibutsuji finding us!"
"Do not fret Yushiro, this is not because of the traces left by us. I believe it has something to do with that foul demon's Blood Art." I say, causing Yushiro to look over to me when his head is completely reformed.
Yushiro growls, "But I hate it when anyone interferes with the time I spend with you and Lady Tamayo! I hate it! This will never be forgiven! Never!"
"Yushiro..." I start. He really does care, and despite the fact we had just met, we already have a good bond. He may just care for me as much as he does Lady Tamayo.
Maybe.
"What are you on about?" Susamaru laughs, "This is all so much fun! Consider it an honor that I, one of the Twelve Kizuki, will take your life."
'That's a bluff, I cut her arm and didn't see any engravings, since i haven't talked to them in a while, I thought maybe he changed some but...'
"She reports directly to Kibutsuji!" Tamayo shouts.
Suddenly, she regenerates the one arm I cut, four others sprouting along with it as she removes the top part of her kimono.
"Let's keep playing until dawn! Until your life ends!" She shouts, sending more balls toward the people inside.
I turned away from that demon, readying my sword towards the other demon, Yahaba, who was in a tree.
'The other demon uses his arrows to maneuver the ball, killing him would allow Tanjiro to kill her, saving himself and everyone in there...'
I sigh to myself. Normally, I wouldn't care if they lived or died, but I've found myself liking the four.
What can I say? He's just so adorable.
I jump into the trees, grab the demon, and throw him to the ground, standing atop him.
"W-what are you?! You act like a human... but smell like a demon! You freak! Die!" He says, shoving me off of him with an arrow.
"Night Breathing: First Form, Midnight Cloak," I say, dodging another arrow seamlessly.
"The hell?! You got my kimono all dirty! You dammed wretch! I'll kill you!" The demon shouted, making more arrows come at me. I dodge effortlessly, closing the gap between me and the demon.
"Night Breathing, Third Form: Shadow Leap," I mutter, evading the arrows. It was like I was merging in and out of the shadows, jumping and walking along the dark as if it were solid ground.
As I was about to cut off the demon's head, I stopped. My eyes widened as I looked down, seeing arrows pointing in all directions out of my body.
"Ha ha! You damn brat! Now I've got it!" The demon laughed, manic evident in his now open eyes.
As soon as he said that, I was yanked backward. I was slammed onto trees, walls, boulders, the ground...
'How infuriating...' I mentally sighed, regaining control of my breathing,
"Night Breathing: Fourth Form: Twilight Mirage," I say, flowing with the arrows. Once the arrows ran out, I did one final attack, slamming down upon the demon's head, decapitating him without difficulty.
"Such a shame... I thought you'd be more difficult, considering you're apparently one of the Twelve Kizuki." I say, bending down to face the burning demon.
"Y-you brat! That man will surely kill you now! How dare you! Curse you! Curse you! I'm all dirty now! All dirty! Damn you to hell!" Yahaba screamed with all his might, that was until his mouth was a handful of ash.
"Disgusting. Do you truly think that I care about your curses? You truly are idiotic." I say, taking one of his arms and biting into it, swallowing it.
The demon looked truly terrified.
"You have no sensibility."
I turn around to see the other demon, Susamaru, explode, an eye shooting at me as I catch it, popping it into my mouth as well.
I walk over to where the others are, bending down next to Tanjiro.
"So, it's over now and I must say, you and your sister work well together, Tanjiro." I put my hand on his head and pat it softly. "You have my approval."
Yushiro growls as Tanjiro looks up at me, about to say something when–
"Don't fall prey to Lady Tamayo's power or you'll be killed too, you dimwit!" He shouts, shoving a handkerchief in his face.
"Yushiro..." I say softly, patting his head as well, "I'm proud of you too,"
"By the way, those two were not of the Twelve Kizuki. Neither had the engavement." I say as Tanjiro gives me a confused, shocked look. I bend down, grabbing another one of Susamaru's eyes and putting it near his face, pointing to the lack of kanji.
"The members of the group have kanji engraved on their eye, showing their rank. She had none, neither did her companion, Yahaba, they were too weak." I say before turning around and shoving it into my mouth.
'I'm not quite ready to tell Tanjiro about everything yet, but all in good time."
"I've got the blood," Tamayo states, standing back up and facing Tanjiro, "I will tend to Nezuko. Unfortunately, on top of treating her wounds, I let her inhale some of my spell. I'm sorry."
With that, she turns and leaves, as I follow behind her.
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"Tamayo?" I hear Tanjiro call from upstairs.
"Downstairs," Tamayo calls.
After a moment, Tanjiro appears, and Nezuko runs up to him and hugs him. Nezuko then turns back around, hugging Tamayo, then me, then Yushiro a head pat, then returns to Tamayo.
"Nezuko has been this way for a while... is it normal?" Tamayo asks while Yushiro has a look of pure anger, disgust, and shock.
"It's all right," Tanjiro starts, "she probably thinks of the three of you as part of our family."
Tamayo gives Tanjiro a questioning look, "But, doesn't hypnosis only make her think of humans as her family? We, well me and Yushiro, are demons."
Nezuko comes back to me, then attempts to give Yushiro a head pat, to which he slaps her hand away, making me give him a pointed look, so he puts his hand down again.
"But Nezuko sees you as humans." Tanjiro states, "That's why she tried to protect you."
Nezuko gives Tamayo another hug, staying like that for a moment.
"I didn't like putting her under hypnosis, so I'm glad to see she seems to still have–"
Tamayo started crying.
"N-Nezuko stop! That's extremely rude! I'm sorry!"
Tamayo buries her head into her shoulder.
"Thank you Nezuko. Thank you..." Tamayo says.
Yushiro gives Tamayo a sad look, his mouth slightly agape.
I hug him and he buries his face into my shoulder as well, and I can feel his tears through my clothes.
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"We are leaving this city. We have come too close to Kibutsuji. If we do not hide, it will become dangerous for us. Besides, although we dealt with the sick and injured as human doctors, someone was bound to notice eventually. Children and elderly are especially sharp." Tamayo says.
"Though, I have one last question..."
We all stay silent, prompting Tamayo to continue.
"Yami, we would like you to join us, and we want to bring Nezuko along."
'Stay with them...? Nobody's ever asked for me to stay... But...'
"No thank you. We will continue to travel with each other." Tanjiro responds, then looks at me waiting for my response.
I shake my head.
"Though I would love to join you both and continue in my teasing of Yushiro, I have my own goal in mind as of now. I hope that you understand."
Although they both looked a bit disappointed, they nodded.
"We will now erase our presence, you should go as well."
"Right... but it's daytime and I need Nezuko's box..." Tanjiro starts, making his way up the stairs with Tamayo.
"Tanjiro?"
"Yes?"
"Your sister..." Yushiro begins, "She is beautiful."
A smile is then plastered on Tanjiro, Tamayo, and my face, as everyone begins up the stairs, leaving me and Yushiro alone.
It was silent for a moment before I spoke.
"Yushiro?"
"... yes?"
"Are you... upset?"
'Why am I asking that? Why do I care? I'm just using him anyway. He's my connection to Tamayo and a bit of fun to tease...
So why do I feel so bad?'
He turns to look at me, his bottom lip quivering slightly.
"N-no..."
"Yushiro..." I say, bringing him in close and giving him a tight hug. " I'm not leaving forever. I can always visit, or you can visit me. And once my goal is complete... I'll come back to you."
"...Promise?"
"Promise."
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ᴛᴀɪꜱʜŌ ᴇʀᴀ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛꜱ
•Tanjiro was confused as to why Yushiro didn't cover Yami's mouth also
•Yushiro does love Yami as much as Tamayo
•Nezuko is glad Yami is coming with them
•Tamayo wishes they would've taken her up on her offer
•Yami doesn't understand why she got so close to Yushiro
•Yami knows what happens next
because the scriptors told her