Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
---
The wooden door slowly closed with a weary, grinding sound.
"Alright, the box has been safely placed on Kocho-san's desk."
Tanjiro stepped out of the office in the Insect Hashira. He moved quietly as he raised his fist in a little celebration of a job well done.
"Success!"
After all, with Shinobu and the other Hashira away, he had successfully managed the situation at the Butterfly Mansion and organized the personnel in an orderly fashion.
He had taken another step closer to becoming the "adult" capable of looking after his younger siblings!
Thinking of Nezuko, Takeo, and the others, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Tanjiro's mouth.
He felt a degree of self-satisfaction was necessary.
As Tanjiro turned to leave the hallway, he suddenly paused.
"Come to think of it..."
He glanced back at the door to Shinobu's office, a hint of confusion in his eyes, and muttered to himself.
"Today is really strange."
Tanjiro took a couple of steps, then stopped, unable to resist looking back. His gaze instinctively drifted out the window towards the pitch-black sky.
"It's not just that Father isn't here."
"Kocho-san, Kanzaki-san, and those Hashira who were here during the day haven't come back either."
He looked up, his hand, marked by training, resting on the windowsill. Unconsciously, his fingers slowly tightened.
"Is everyone alright?"
The moonlight reflected in his dark crimson eyes.
Though the cool night was calming, a deep sense of unease began to well up inside him.
Bang!
A door at the other end of the second floor was suddenly shoved open with force.
Zenitsu's yellow-haired head peeked out from behind it. He glanced left and right, seemingly spotting Tanjiro's figure in the hallway.
Immediately after came a long, tearful sigh, as if he had just breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, Tanjiro!"
Tanjiro turned his head just as Zenitsu pointed towards the main gate of the Butterfly Mansion, located on the first floor.
"Listen to me! It was so scary! I was the only one assigned to that hospital room!"
"It was terrifying! And my body is so stiff I can barely move!"
"Also! There was this strange noise just now, something I've never heard before—"
Tears clung to the corners of Zenitsu's eyes. He sobbed, wiping his eyes with his singed hand, his expression fearful as he stumbled closer.
His ears twitched as he stood beside Tanjiro. Extending his other hand, he pointed through the window towards the main gate, babbling incessantly.
"This sound that was really unpleasant to the ears, it kept ringing. Ah!!"
"It's here!!" Zenitsu was so scared he even forgot to cry. He jumped straight up on the spot, latching onto Tanjiro's head and screaming like a startled cat.
"Something is right at the front gate!"
He shook Tanjiro's head violently, pointing towards the gate.
"Zenitsu! Get off!" Tanjiro exclaimed, his head held captive. He struggled to keep his balance and fixed his gaze on the slowly shifting main gate.
Creak…
The tightly locked door has been gently pushed from the outside.
Sniff.
Tanjiro's nose twitched slightly.
!!
Then his pupils contracted sharply. His hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and a cold sweat broke out along his spine.
He instinctively took a step back.
An overwhelmingly familiar scent of blood.
A scent so thick it made his throat ache with just one breath, a scent he hadn't encountered since that night!
Now, it feels much more potent!
His breathing grew rapid, and a goosebump spread across his skin.
In an instant, Tanjiro understood the identity of the demon outside the gate.
The Demon King who had tried to ambush his family that snowy night.
—Kibutsuji Muzan!
---
Meanwhile.
At the Ubuyashiki Estate.
"Cough… haa…"
Kagaya's face was pale, his eyes tightly shut. Fine beads of sweat plastered strands of hair against his forehead.
His trembling hand clutched the bedding beneath him.
"Dear!"
Amane sat beside Kagaya, her brows furrowed. She wrung out the towel in her hands and, with a slight tremble, wiped his sweat away.
Slowly, Kagaya's expression relaxed considerably.
"…I'm fine," he said, shaking his head slightly. He reached out and placed his hand over Amane's, his voice low as he let out a sigh.
"It's all just as predicted in my dream…"
Kagaya spoke, then slowly opened his clouded eyes. "It's tonight."
Amane breathed a sigh of relief and sat back at hearing those words.
Moonlight slanted into the room from the garden. In the shadows, only their silhouettes, leaning against each other, were visible.
"With only two Hashira here… will they really be able to manage…?"
Amane's hesitant voice sounded in the darkness.
She trusted the decision Kagaya had made, but worry still lingered in her heart.
"Trust them."
Kagaya's gentle, reassuring voice followed immediately, as one could see his smile even in the dark.
Amane was momentarily taken aback, then smiled and nodded, saying no more.
The Ubuyashiki clan, though cursed with short lifespans, had also gained a blessing from their misfortune.
They had acquired the ability to foresee the future in their dreams.
Although the visions were extremely brief, often just fragments, they were always of crucial events in history.
The vast wealth required to run the Demon Slayer Corps had also come from this ability.
And Kagaya, several days prior, had already learned in a dream that Muzan would arrive at the Butterfly Mansion tonight.
He had conveyed this information to the only two Hashira who were not participating in the battle against Upper Moon One.
---
On the rooftop of the Butterfly Mansion.
Two figures, one tall and one short, stood here, as they had been waiting for some time.
Click.
"He's finally here."
The swordsman with flame-colored hair tilted his head slightly. His crimson eyes shifted, fixing their gaze intently on the main gate below. His foot rested on a raised roof tile.
Whoosh—!
His haori, patterned with flames, fluttered, revealing the hilt of his sword beneath.
The Flame Hashira, Rengoku Shinjuro, is back in action!
"Amitabha."
Beside him, the towering Gyomei gave a nod, murmuring a Buddhist prayer. His hands tightened around the steel chains.
Pale white tears flowed down his sightless eyes.
"Do not be hasty."
"Our task is merely to buy time."
Swish! Swish!
The massive flail connected to the steel chains spun in circles with the swing of his arm.
Stone Hashira—Himejima Gyomei, ready for battle!
...
"Hey! Tanjiro! Wait for me!"
Zenitsu reached out a hand, his face full of fear as he watched Tanjiro run towards the stairs. "Why did you suddenly start running?!"
He watched in utter terror as Tanjiro ran further and further away.
"…What do I do? The situation now is…"
Tanjiro ran quickly down the hallway, his breath rapid. His gaze swept past the windows lining the corridor, fixing anxiously on the courtyard gate outside.
Why had Muzan come here?!
There was no time to ponder such questions now!
What to do?!
As thoughts raced through his mind at lightning speed, the flow of time itself seemed to slow.
'Think fast, Tanjiro!'
He gritted his teeth, his body tensing up instinctively from the stress.
'What can I do right now!'
Slap!
He grabbed a wounded swordsman's Nichirin blade propped up against the warehouse wall.
"Zenitsu!" He shouted.
"Eh?" Zenitsu froze for a moment.
Tanjiro turned his head, shouting urgently.
"Go warn everyone! Evacuate the injured! I'll buy us some time!"
"Hurry!"
He took a deep breath.
He stomped down hard!
Creak—!
A piercing screech of the sole of his foot against the floorboards rang out.
Tanjiro gripped the Nichirin sword tightly, shielded his head with his arm, and leaped out the window!
Crash!
Shattered glass from the impact scattered in midair, reflecting the dazzling moonlight.
Tanjiro's plan was simple.
The Butterfly Mansion was currently filled with injured patients and some Kakushi members that handled logistics.
All the Hashira were out, and his father hadn't returned yet.
Even his cousins, the Tokito brothers, were out on missions.
There was virtually no combat power available to defend the mansion.
Especially not against Muzan!
In this critical situation, this was the best solution he could think of.
Tanjiro landed heavily on the courtyard ground. He bent his knees slightly, shaking off the glass shards from his body before slowly straightening up.
He gripped the hilt of the Nichirin sword with both hands, raising the gleaming blade that traced the moonlight, pointing it at the gate from which the scent emanated.
His lips parted, and white vapor escaped.
'I cannot be afraid!' His gaze was resolute.
Through relentless practice and hands-on instruction from Tanjuro, Tanjiro's Hinokami Kagura, though untested in actual combat, had reached a satisfactory level.
The wooden door slowly swung open.
"Is this the place?"
Muzan slowly emerged, revealing half of his head, only his two crimson eyes visible. His gaze swept across the mansion before him with extreme caution.
"Where the Blue Spider Lily is..."
At the corner of his mouth, there seemed to be traces of residual mud.