Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

He and Kocho moved as fast as they could, but the sun had set long ago and visibility had lowered drastically. While this wasn’t a disadvantage for Pillars, who had long since adjusted to fighting in poorly lit conditions, it was a struggle for the Kakushi units some distance behind them, who were having difficulty keeping up with two Hashira and a tsuguko in only the light of a full moon. 

Tsuyuri was behind them, staying closer to the Kakushi in case they needed assistance, while Giyuu and Kocho pushed ahead toward Mount Natagumo. Her footfalls were almost completely silent, position only given away by the quiet fluttering of her uniform. 

Only a few hours before, the Master had called Kocho and Giyuu to his Estate, issuing the order for their dispatch to the mountain. Kocho had requested permission for Tsuyuri to accompany them, seeing as the girl was her tsuguko and, if there was, in fact, a Lowermoon on the mountain as reports seemed to suggest, it would be a good measure of her abilities. Ideally, Tsuyuri would even be the one to slay the Kizuki, propelling her even further up the ranks and pushing her toward that inevitable promotion to the position of the other Pillars. She was a promising slayer, from what Giyuu had seen. 

As a result, she was the one charged with protecting the Kakushi while Kocho and Giyuu actually ventured onto the mountain, risking life and limb. Tsuyuri would undoubtedly follow them up at some point, but Kocho would almost certainly tell her to wait for an interval of twenty or thirty minutes to draw out any possible demon attacks on the Kakushi units first. 

In the Master’s briefing, he had stressed that almost none of the lower level slayers sent onto the mountain had returned alive, and the ones that did were either in serious shock or grievously injured. The less people that stepped onto the mountain while the demons were still alive, the better. 

From what they knew, there were multiple demons residing on the mountains, all resembling spiders. They formed some sort of stilted family dynamic, according to a young boy whose arm had been twisted viciously out of socket by the demon referred to as “Mother”. This same boy had recounted his complete loss of control over his limbs, and the ensuing massacre as several other slayers in his party turned on each other, blades raised. He was unsure of how this had happened, and he was also unsure of why exactly he had been freed, unlike his comrades. The tale itself was a horrifying one, if the boy’s repeated stress on the look in the eyes of the two compatriots he had stabbed before escaping was anything to go by. 

Kocho slowed slightly, falling even with Giyuu, “I need to relay some instructions to Tsuyuri. Would you mind waiting for me for a moment?”

Giyuu nodded wordlessly, and Kocho dropped back even further, her pace almost slowing to a stop as she waited for Tsuyuri to catch up. 

As she had said, the exchange only took a moment, and she was back at Giyuu’s side swiftly. “The Kakushi are taken care of. We can proceed.”

He offered no response, instead turning and continuing up the mountain. Kocho fell in beside him, eyes scanning the trees constantly. They were tall, and their branches were almost skeletal in appearance. The further they climbed the mountain, the more coverage the leaves of the trees provided, cutting off most of Kocho and Giyuu’s access to the moonlight. 

“There’s a fog setting in,” she observed. The fog would make it harder to locate the injured slayers on the mountain, not to mention the effects it could have in a fight. It seemed several natural factors were coming together to make this mission as unpleasant as humanly possible. 

Distantly, Giyuu noted that the wind had changed direction, now hitting him directly on instead of from the side. Almost instantly, the smell of blood slammed into them, and Kocho’s lip twitched downward slightly.

“Up ahead,” she said, and Giyuu nodded. 

They came upon a small, natural clearing around half a minute later, the moonlight streaming through clearly enough to reflect in the eyes of the dead. 

There were four of them, all seemingly long-deceased. The first two bodies were unremarkable, at least in comparison to the other two. The first had been stabbed, and the second seemed to have suffered a fatal wound to the neck, as if he had fallen and snapped it. 

The other two, however, were an entirely different story. The third slayer was on the ground, crumpled in a ball. What at first seemed to be someone trying to protect their vital organs in their final moments, upon closer inspection, was actually a girl whose bones had been shattered and pushed beyond any human limit. Kocho hurried over, placing a gentle hand on her body and turning her over, offering a silent apology as she did so. 

“Bodily manipulation. Just like the boy who testified to the Master,” she murmured, eyes empty. “There was no regard for her bones, tendons, or ligaments. Her shoulders and arms have the worst of it, possibly from swinging one of those blades around.”

Giyuu was focused on the fourth body as she talked, lips pressed into a thin line. This one was a boy with dark hair, who appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen. He was hanging from a tree branch, limbs splayed out like a marionette and neck broken; however, there was no visible rope or other cord tying him to the branches above. He appeared to be dangling there all on his own, broken body levitating. 

He stepped closer, eyes narrowed, and reached out, hand brushing through the seemingly empty air above the boy. 

Something caught his fingers, sticky and almost imperceptibly thin. Giyuu watched in some fascination as the string seemed to move as if it had a mind of its own. “Spider silk,” he said. 

Kocho looked up, taking in the scene before her with some intrigue. Her eyes narrowed on the boy in front of Giyuu, and then traveled up to the trees above him. SHe was surprised to find dozens upon dozens of interlaced white strings. If she hadn’t been looking for them, she never would have spotted them. 

“I suppose that’s that question answered. The spider silk is laid down by small spiders like that one,” she pointed to a little white dot dangling ten feet above them, directly above Giyuu’s head, “and then anyone who comes into contact with it is ensnared.” She shot a meaningful look at Giyuu’s fingers, still twisted in the sticky thread, and he stared back at her blankly for several moments before unsheathing his sword in a flash and slashing through the silk. In response, the corpse of the demon slayer dropped halfway to the ground, the support on the right side of his body gone. 

“How disgusting,” Giyuu murmured. 

Kocho laughed quietly, sickeningly fake, and turned her attention away from the boy and back to the girl at her feet. “This would suggest there is a demon that can control the silk, like a puppeteer. That’s likely how they tell where anyone on the mountain is and prevent them from getting too close, either through the use of the silk itself or the weaponization of corpses like these.” She paused, observing the twisted looks of panic and pain on the faces of the deceased. “The victims likely did not know they were even ensnared. Until it was too late, of course.”

Giyuu offered no reply, instead making the decision to cut the rest of the boy’s body free. He held the corpse in one hand as he sliced through the spider’s silk with the other, and then gently laid the boy down. 

Kocho watched with some intrigue. “Were you acquainted with any of them? There don’t seem to be any survivors around here…We were informed that several rookie Mizunoto had joined this battle but…they might be dead by now, don’t you think?”

He sheathed his blade, turning away from her and back toward the forest. “Let’s go.” Giyuu, in truth, had no idea who any of these recruits were, nor did he ever intend to. It was better to keep the lower ranks nameless and faceless. It was easier for everyone involved, really. 

Kocho followed after him quickly, taking the lead once again. “Isn’t the moon lovely?”

He didn’t reply, confused by the question. Did she want an actual answer, or was she asking a rhetorical question and waiting for him to answer in order to tease him? Truthfully, Giyuu didn’t think the moon was exceptionally lovely by any means, but he supposed it was nice by the normal moon standards. “Since we’ve been given this joint mission, let’s try to get along.”

He nearly snorted. Giyuu and Kocho’s paths didn’t often cross on official business. The Water Estate wasn’t particularly close to many of the others, with perhaps the Serpent Estate being the only exception. His Estate was sequestered away in the mountains, and it generally wasn't easily accessible if one didn’t know where they were going beforehand. Therefore, this was perhaps only the third or fourth time they had been on a mission together in an official capacity. In the past, however, getting along had never been a major roadblock for them when working together. Yes, Giyuu had the propensity to stick his foot in his mouth when socializing, but Kocho smoothed out that trait instead of worsening it or nagging him about it more often than not. Of all the other Pillars, Giyuu would say he actually worked best with her. 

With such thoughts in mind, he dismissed her comment entirely, “My only concern is slaying demons.”

“How cold-hearted of you.” He was unsure whether that was a quip or a genuine observation on Kocho’s part. He didn’t have long to think about it, because her mouth opened again. “Alright, then. I believe it would be best for us to separate and cover both sides of the mountain as quickly as possible. There may still be demon slayers in battle.”

He mulled it over for a moment before agreeing. It would be more efficient to split up. “Very well.”

Kocho offered him a fake smile, “I shall proceed from the West. Do be safe, Tomioka.”

He watched as she abruptly switched her momentum, shooting off into the trees to his right, and Giyuu slowed for a moment, trying to determine whether it would be best to head straight up the mountain as he was currently doing, on the path that was heavily trapped with sentinel spiders, or to try and circumvent the silk entirely and approach from the East. It would be quicker to head straight in, but to leave the East side of the mountain open meant any demon could simply flee as he was distracted. Approaching from the East meant disguising his incoming attack and forcing any attempts to flee down the central path, down which Tsuyuri was lying in wait with the Kakushi units. 

As he stepped off the path, the silk seemed to grow thicker for a moment, but he slashed through it relentlessly and soon emerged into a nearly silk-free part of the woods. Perhaps the large, daunting wall of silk was meant to encourage slayers to stay on the main path, bottlenecking them into the waiting maws of the demons. 

This new area of the forest, however, was not without its oddities. In the absence of string dangling from each branch and the feeling of being watched, Giyuu noticed several trees that seemed to be destroyed, down to the roots, which had been ripped out of the ground in some cases. It looked as though someone had set a bomb off. 

He tentatively began forward, eyes roaming the trees for any sign of what could have done this, although he heavily suspected he already knew. It took only a minute to come across the first body. It was a blonde boy, slumped against a half-gone tree. The back of his skull looked to have been crushed, if the blood splatter was anything to go by. His knee had been broken beyond repair, robbing him of any chance to flee. This demon preferred brute force over the manipulation of the one that controlled the silk threads. He sighed, offering a silent prayer for the boy, before moving on. He’d have to relay the body’s location to the Kakushi for recovery later on. 

The second and third bodies were within twenty feet of each other. One’s arm had been halfway ripped off, which made for a brutal sight, and the other’s chest cavity had suffered from extreme blunt force trauma. It looked like their ribs may have caved in, and their lungs were likely punctured. 

Only fifty or so paces from the scene, an odd noise caught his attention, and Giyuu instantly perked up, head whipping around to try and locate the source. It, very faintly, sounded like running water. 

Running water was almost certainly where demon slayers would congregate given the chance. Not only was it necessary for survival, but it could be used to clean wounds. And there was the added bonus of no tree coverage sometimes, meaning the sentinel spiders wouldn’t be a problem. 

Giyuu, attention now firmly focused on the sound, moved toward it quickly, leaving the two corpses behind with another silent prayer. He hoped to hear some sort of clamoring as he approached, whether it be chatter, or the clash of a fight, but no such noise came. When he finally reached the break in the trees, he was surprised to find quite a large body of water, moving along slowly. It was shallow but wide, so it would have been an ideal place to take a rest, if any of the slayers had managed to make it there. 

However, with some interest, Giyuu took note of the uprooted tree lying haphazardly across one of the gravel embankments. A large strip of bark had been ripped lengthwise down the trunk, and shards of it were also strewn across the gravel and in the water. 

Suddenly, he heard a loud roar, beast-like in nature, and without thinking, he took off down the bank, sword unsheathed. That had to be the demon that had done this. It had the potential to be the Kizuki member, but Giyuu doubted it. Normally, no one would put up too much of a fight against a Lowermoon, especially a slayer of Mizunoto rank. This was likely a weaker member of the family. 

As he approached, the sound of rocks crunching and animalistic noises became much more clear, and then, with a start, some of the growling ceased. Giyuu burst into the clearing in time to find a bulky demon with its hand wrapped around…something's face. Giyuu wasn’t quite sure what it was strangling, but he resolved to deal with that after taking down the demon. 

In a swift motion, he severed the creature’s arm, freeing its victim. The beginnings of an enraged howl built up in the beast’s throat, but Giyuu beheaded it before it could get any further, like slicing through butter. 

He turned back to inspect the demon’s head, roaming over its eyes. There were large, spider-like pincers on either side of its mouth, so it was undoubtedly part of the main family, but there was no kanji in its eyes. Not the Kizuki, as he suspected. 

As the last of the demon disintegrated, Giyuu noted with a bit of a shock that the smell of the dead wasn’t gone. Had the demon killed that person it was holding after all, and they were just decomposing at an alarmingly rapid rate? Was there another body around?

He turned to find the other person standing, chest heaving, and making…not quite direct eye contact with Giyuu. As direct as the eye contact could be when interrupted by the dead, unfocused eyes of a giant boar head. Right. So that was where the smell was coming from. 

Giyuu was, frankly, perplexed by this slayer’s entire get-up. He was wielding two swords, but they were both brutally indented and looked to be used more for shredding rather than slicing. Not to mention, he was entirely shirtless. Was this considered fashionable now?

His gaze flicked to the still-wet blood dripping from the nose of the boar head. As the boy in front of him coughed shakily, more fresh blood dripped out of the nose. This kid was undoubtedly heavily injured. 

However, instead of collapsing or requesting medical attention, the boy’s hands tightened around his katanas, and he spat, “Fight me!”

-

Giyuu did not fight him. He had used a rope he had on hand—leftover material from one of the worst missions of his life, in which he had ended up needing to tie up and transport an entire ring of bandits—to restrain the child and leave him dangling from a tree, ensuring there was no way he could get loose. Giyuu would send the Kakushi for him as soon as he could. It wouldn’t do to have the child running around, yelling nonsense, and generally getting in the way of any fights Giyuu may find himself in. 

He was nearing the peak of the mountain when he saw the flames. 

They were impossible to miss in the dark night, a flash of pinks and reds so bright it was blinding. Giyuu winced, blinked several times to get the spots out of his eyes, and then rushed in that direction. That was undoubtedly a breathing style, no matter if it was one he had never seen before. Even if it wasn’t the normal form of Flame Breathing, it held some resemblance to the styles he had seen both Rengokus use. 

As his attention sharpened, preparing to enter battle, Giyuu noticed he was back in the territory of the silk threads, but they were seemingly dormant now, meaning someone had killed the demon. 

There was a pained scream not far in front of him, and Giyuu picked up the pace, and he crashed through the last of the bushes in the way just in time to assess the situation. There was a small demon with skin as white as the moon standing some distance away, dressed in white as well. This demon was stronger than the others, Giyuu could tell. Undoubtedly, this one was the Kizuki. Its hands were outstretched, and crimson red silk was pulled taut between them. 

Closer to Giyu was a boy crumpled on the ground, seemingly quite winded.

The string pulsed, rearranging into a deadly spiral, and Giyuu rushed to cover the boy on the ground. There was no way he could protect himself on his own. 

Acting purely on instinct, he unleashed his Eleventh Form. It was the most effective way to counter the crimson strings of the demon’s Blood Art, given they had surrounded him and the boy on pretty much every side. 

Around him, red string drifted to the ground, rippling on the liquid around him. The illusion was shattered as the Lowermoon stumbled backward, terrified, and yelled. In response, Giyuu took a step forward, and then lunged swiftly, blade readied. As with the other demon, it took only a single strike to sever the head from the body. 

It thumped to the ground and rolled slightly, the body still twitching with movement. Giyuu checked its eyes and, just as he suspected, there were kanji in its eyes. Lowermoon 5 had been slain. 

Now that he had a moment to observe the demon, he took in the sight of a body that undoubtedly belonged to a young child, likely only eight or ten at most. There were tears welling up in its eyes and spilling over its cheeks as the disintegration crept up its neck. 

Giyuu turned back to face the demon slayer, and was surprised to find he had moved. No longer under immediate threat of death, he had turned his attention from deflection with, what Giyuu was surprised to observe, was a shortened blade. The strings must have completely torn through the steel. 

His attention had been turned to another body, which he was now hunched over in a show of protection. He thought it was a girl, seeing as there was long hair splayed out across the grass, but Giyuu’s attention quickly honed in on the blood dripping from several quite severe lacerations on the girl’s body. 

However, the young slayer’s attention wasn't fully focused on the injured girl. He had a hand outstretched in the grass, grasping at the fabric of the Lowermoon’s garments which were now empty. The garments of a creature who had undoubtedly killed hundreds of humans, if not more. The Kizuki tended to be quite long-lived, after all. 

“Don’t waste sympathy on a demon who has devoured humans. It doesn’t matter if it looks like a child. It’s still a hideous monster that has lived for decades.”

Before, Giyuu would have wavered in his condemnations of all demons, but with the knowledge that it was, in fact, possible for a demon to resist the call of blood, he had no sympathy whatsoever for the beings. 

Instead of removing his hand from the fabric, the boy frowned up at Giyuu, obviously displeased. “To avenge the people that were killed…to make sure there are no victims…of course I’ll bring my blade down on any demon’s neck! But as for those for whom being a demon meant despair, those who regretted their own actions…I will never trample over them! Because demons were once human too! They were humans, just like me!”

Giyuu supposed they would have to agree to disagree. Whether or not they regretted their actions mattered not to him. 

The boy was still prattling on, and he tugged insistently at the fabric Giyuu had unwittingly stepped over as he was approaching the injured pair. “Please move your foot!”

He stood in silence, contemplating whether or not it was worth it to continue the social engagement or if it would be acceptable to turn and leave, but something caught his attention. 

The boy’s checkered haori was distantly familiar, and he had moved to talk to Giyuu, letting the Hashira get a better look at the girl below him. 

She was dressed in a kimono that Giyuu remembered vividly, a day that had been frozen into his memory. It hit him like the harsh wind of a winter storm, and suddenly Giyuu could smell blood in the snow and hear the loud crack of an ax spinning into a frozen tree. 

The girl was a demon. His eyes narrowed, several thoughts running through his head, the loudest of which was: had she eaten anyone?

There was no heavy smell of bloodlust from her, nor did she seem particularly strong in terms of demons. 

He would ask the questions later. Before that, he needed to get the girl out of here. There were two highly skilled demon slayers besides himself on the mountain, after all. 

His point was proven almost instantly when he heard a near-silent click somewhere off to his left. He didn’t register the sound for what it was immediately, but his sword was readied in an instant, posture shifting to protect the siblings. 

Kocho darted out of the bushes, sword poised for a thrust, and Giyuu raised his blade to defend.

Steel clashed, and Kocho knew just as well as Giyuu that he had the strength advantage, so she vaulted over him, landing some distance away. There was a silent question in her eyes that faded as soon as she took in Giyuu’s expression. His decision had been made. 

The click had undoubtedly been the sound of her blade being unsheathed, a noise unique to her scabbard because of the nature of her poison mixtures and the manner in which it was designed. 

Her face was completely blank, lips wide in an empty smile. “Oh, my. Why would you get in my way, Tomioka?” 

The boy on the ground stiffened slightly, curling his arm protectively around his sister. Kocho’s intent was clear. 

Kocho had continued in the meantime, “After telling me that we could never get along with demons…How should I put this? That’s exactly why no one likes you.” She said it with cheer, but there was a bite to the words that stung slightly. 

Giyuu was under no illusions regarding the other Pillar’s opinions of him. He had accepted a long time ago that they hated him, and rightfully so, seeing as he was an impostor among their ranks, someone they never should have shared a title with.

Briefly, Giyuu was glad he was so distant from the other Hashira, because that meant Kocho was unaware of his feelings on the matter, and he could play the role of aloofness quite well. It would buy the demon girl time to heal more, and the boy more time to catch his breath before they would have to flee. 

“I’m not…I’m not disliked by people.” 

The boy on the ground was trying to shake his sister awake, gentle hands quickly becoming more urgent when she seemed unresponsive. 

For a moment, Kocho seemed taken aback by the response, and then her smile widened slightly. “Well, I’m sorry. It seems you hadn’t realized that people don’t like you. I shouldn’t have said anything. My apologies.” 

He was very much aware of both the fact that he was regarded with contempt and the fact that Kocho’s apology was more fake than her expression at any given moment. 

She turned her attention to the brother, “Young boy.”

His head snapped up, eyes wide, “Yes?”

She leaned forward as if relaying a secret, or perhaps mimicking concern at the boy’s proximity to the demon beneath him. “What you’re protecting there is a demon. I don’t want you to get hurt, so please move away.” It was a blatant warning. 

“You’re mistaken!” he argued, voice coming out more like a squeak. The confidence with which he had addressed Giyuu only moments before had vanished. “I mean, you’re not, but…she’s my little sister! She’s my little sister, so, you see…”

Kocho’s expression didn’t flinch in the slightest, and Giyuu cast a wary glance over her. 

“Is that so?” she finally asked, settling on faux empathy. “Poor soul…In that case, I shall use a gentle poison to kill her so she won’t suffer.” With a flick Kocho sheathed her sword and tampered with the handguard for just a moment, likely changing something in her poison’s formula. Reducing the wisteria content, maybe? Then, she unsheathed it again and, with a gentle smile, lifted it in front of her chest. 

“Can you move?” Giyuu asked, this time speaking down to the boy. He looked unsure, and Giyuu continued before he could make any response. “Make yourself move even if you can’t. Take your sister and run.”

His jaw dropped in surprise, and then his brain kicked into gear and he scrambled to his feet. With some effort, he lifted his sister off the ground and hurriedly shoved her into a wooden box that had been discarded a few feet away. 

Giyuu noted with some confusion that the girl looked much younger than she should have, appearing to be no more than twelve. 

His attention remained mainly focused on Kocho, whereas she was watching the boy sling the wooden box onto his back and book it toward the trees. 

“Tomioka…sorry for the trouble!” he called out. 

Giyuu made the mental note to reassure the boy all was well if they both made it out of this situation alive. He was not protecting the siblings out of the pure goodness of his heart. It had more to do with her nature as a demon being completely unlike anything the Demon Slayer Corps had ever seen, and because it seemed as though she still had no blood on her hands after more than two years. 

When he could no longer easily pick them out among the trees, his full attention fixed back on Kocho. 

She was gazing at him, something cold and unreadable in her eyes. “Isn’t that against Corps rules?”

He didn’t have the time to answer before Kocho was on him, blade cutting through the air faster than the average human could ever hope to follow. He raised his own sword, once again parrying her. 

“I see you’re dead serious, Tomioka. Who would’ve thought a Hashira would ever defend a demon?”

Giyuu refused to answer, teeth clenched together. There was no point in trying to argue his position if she was already unwilling to hear him out. 

“Whether you’re dead serious or not, I’m not going to join you in stalling for time.” She was gone in an instant, heading off into the trees. It was in the direction that the boy had sprinted off in, and Giyuu knew he would have to intercept if he planned on the girl making it out of tonight with her head. 

Her butterfly haori fluttered as she bounded through the trees, hopping on branches. It was an immensely impressive show of ability, all things considered, but his moment of observation was ruined as she turned to smile at him, “Is that your attempt at keeping up with me?”

He eyed her arc in the air, far above the treeline, and then shot forward, aiming to catch her just above the tips of said trees. As she seemed to float—an illusion created by her haori, he supposed—she called out cheerfully once again. 

“I don’t mind you trying to stop me, but don’t forget about the other one!”

Ah. Giyuu had forgotten about Tsuyuri entirely in his attempt to prevent Kocho from catching up. In pursuit of the crouching tiger, he had neglected to account for the hidden dragon. 

It seemed the boy was not going to make it off the mountain unscathed, at least not as long as Tsuyuri was in pursuit, but Kocho was the larger threat. There was nothing more Giyuu could do for them besides hold her off. 

Snatching Kocho out of the air was easy. She may have been hard to catch on the ground, but there was little maneuvering she could do in the air, even taking breathing forms into account. That being said, as soon as they touched the ground, she would be right back in the fight. 

As they broke through the tree cover, Kocho attempted to grab a larger branch, but Giyuu wrenched her arm away from it as they tumbled to the ground, coming to a shaky stop. He hurriedly forced her into a disadvantageous position, ensuring she couldn’t unsheath her blade and she was, for the most part, restrained. For the moment, she seemed subdued, but Giyuu knew better than to let his guard down. Kocho was the trickiest of the Pillars, and she was the most likely to pull something entirely unexpected. 

“Tomioka,” she sing-songed. “Tomioka, are you listening?”

He ignored her, glancing up at the moon instead to measure the time. There couldn’t have been more than three hours until dawn, but that was a long time to hold off a Pillar, and Tsuyuri would already be in pursuit of the siblings. 

“Since my attack was justified, I don't believe it could be construed as a violation. But what you’re doing is against Corps rules. You’re preventing me from slaying a demon. Just what are your intentions here?”

Giyuu turned down to inspect her face, searching for any sign of incoming foul play, but instead he was met with a sickly sweet smile. He internally cringed and lost any motivation to talk to her. 

“Don’t you have anything to say? This is your final warning. Give me a reason at least.”

He blinked, wondering if he should take the opening. Kocho was known to utterly despise demons, but she was also pragmatic and logical. If Giyuu told her something as fantastical as the tale of finding a demon who wouldn't consume people, was she likely to believe him? And would she recognize the scientific value this could serve in the fight against Kibutsuji?

He supposed it was worth a try. 

“As I recall, it was two years ago—”

“Please don’t start on some long, rambling story that far back in time. Are you being spiteful? Are you perhaps still angry that I pointed out that people didn’t like you?”

Giyuu hadn’t been irritated before, but with the clear dismissal and her blatant reminder of his social status, he felt the quiet buzz of annoyance building in the back of his head. He was attempting to school the emotion when there was a quiet shing . It sounded like a blade being removed, and—

With a jolt, Giyuu realized Kocho’s hands weren’t at her side. It wasn’t her sword. 

Out of nowhere, she overbalanced in his arms and threw her weight into him as her leg swung up in an arc, a blade gleaming. 

There was a fucking knife in the sole. He flinched backwards, only able to watch in stunned silence as the silver flew towards his eye. There was no way to extricate himself from Kocho when she was gripping him so tightly, and he wouldn’t be able to unsheath and lift the sword in the time it would take. 

A piercing caw interrupted them just as the blade was going to make contact with his left eye. He released a shaky exhale, leaning back slightly. 

“Message! Message! I have a message from headquarters! Tanjiro and Nezuko are to be taken into custody and brought back to headquarters!”

He slowly released Kocho from his grip, making sure her balance was stable as her leg lowered, blade still protruding from the sole. With the Master’s order, she was safe to release. Tsuyuri would halt in her attempts to kill the siblings as well, assuming she hadn’t already. 

“Bring them back! Bring them back! Tanjiro, dressed in a checkered haori, with a scar on his forehead! Nezuko, a demon girl with a bamboo muzzle! Bring them back! Bring them back!”

Giyuu’s eyes flitted over to Kocho, and then he turned. There was nothing she could ask that he would want to answer at the moment, so it would be best if he got a head start. 

“Tomioka,” Kocho said. There was a serious undertone in her voice that made him pause and toss a glance over his shoulder. “I need to manage the Kakushi and tend to the wounded, but I have some questions.”

Giyuu turned his head away so she couldn’t see his face and allowed himself a long, quiet sigh. If he could garner some of Kocho’s favor, it might make the ensuing Hashira meeting a little easier on the siblings and himself. Perhaps it was wise to fill her in. 

“Very well,” Giyuu replied, waiting until she caught up to him so they could fall in step together. 

“Why did you knowingly protect a demon?” she asked, starting off with the hard-hitter. 

He stayed silent for a long moment, mulling it over. “I doubt you would believe me even if I told you.”

“Humor me,” she replied, face stone cold. 

He glanced up at the sky. “Well, as I recall, it started two years ago…”

For the briefest moment, he thought he saw a flash of surprise on her face, and then it was smoother over again. “You were telling the truth, then? It wasn’t a tale to spite me?”

Giyuu shook his head, “Were you genuinely intending to hear me out in the first place? As I recall you tried to take a blade to my eye not long after.”

Kocho seemed to take a moment to think about, “Perhaps if you actually answered the question straight away.”

He blinked at her and then continued. “I met the Kamados two years ago, while scouting a demon that had been terrorizing mountain passes. I chanced upon the Kamado residence, and found the entire family dead, save for some footprints in the snow. At the time, I was certain Kibutsuji Muzan had been in the area.”

Her eyebrows shot up, “Not an Uppermoon?”

Giyuu shook his head, “There is no way to tell, and I never actually saw any demons besides the girl—er, Nezuko. The brother had carried her on his back through a violent snowstorm in an attempt to get her medical attention. When I arrived, she was on top of him, trying to bite him.”

Kocho frowned, but Giyuu barreled onward. 

“She reacted violently to me, leaving the boy alone. A small fight ensued, and I knocked the boy unconscious, at which point she attacked me and turned her claws on Tanjiro. However, just when I thought she would tear into him…she stopped.”

“Stopped?”

“Nezuko turned away from her brother and faced me instead, growling at me viciously. It was like a dog guarding a bone, I suppose. Regardless, she, a newly-turned demon, resisted the call of blood and instead chose to protect her brother instead of devouring him. I let them go.”

Kocho’s eyes were distant, as if she was deep in thought. “To a trainer, I presume?”

Giyuu nodded. “I don’t know the specifics of the training, and my contact with their teacher is quite sparse, but I do know Nezuko slept for more than a year and a half.”

“Without waking up a single time?”

“Without waking up a single time.”

“How interesting,” she murmured. “And did you know she hadn’t consumed anyone when you protected her today?”

“No,” he answered without hesitation, “but there was no residual scent of blood lust on her at all. Even weak demons normally carry some sort of scent or aura.”

She didn’t speak again until the first of the Kakushi came into view, clearly analyzing the situation from every angle she could with what little information she had. “Tomioka, I’ll be frank. I don’t believe you made the correct decision, and I believe the choice you made pointlessly endangered several lives…But, I do understand the reasoning behind it, and I acknowledge that Kamado Nezuko is an extremely unique case that could aid in the fight against Kibutsuji. That being said, I will not implicate you in the trial we both know is coming.”

Giyuu breathed out slightly, “And the girl?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I will do as the Master commands. If he believes the demon is capable of working in cooperation with the Demon Slayer Corps, then I will accept his decision.”

It was more than he could have asked for. Kocho may have said she was going to stay out of the matter in any major sense, but Giyuu counted it as a huge win that she wouldn’t be actively condemning his actions and demanding a death sentence be issued for the Kamado girl.

“Thank you, Kocho.”

She started forward, eyes scanning across the moving groups of Kakushi and identifying where her help was needed most. “Don’t thank me until the trial is over and the demon’s fate has been decided. And I’m not doing this for you.”

He headed further down the mountain, letting Kocho manage the medical teams as she wished. He knew she wasn’t doing this out of any sense of compassion or respect for him. Kocho just hated demons, and Nezuko could be a major component in Kibutsuji’s defeat, even if she was a demon. 

He waved down a Kakushi and relayed the locations of both the boar child and the corpses he had chanced upon. The man nodded solemnly. Before he went, Giyuu asked if he knew where Tsuyuri was, and he pointed Giyuu to a fallen tree about sixty paces down the path, to a log on which she was sitting. 

Her face was completely blank, just like Kocho’s, although hers was genuine. Giyuu was unaware of the nature of Tsuyuri’s upbringing but she seemed truly incapable of expressing any of her desires or emotions, unlike Kocho and himself. Her feet were crossed, and next to them was the telltale wooden box that the Kamado boy had been carrying, propped upright. On the other side of the box was Tanjiro, looking significantly worse for wear, propped against the log. 

She nodded at him as soon as it became apparent he was approaching her but otherwise didn’t acknowledge his presence. 

Giyuu was faintly aware of her inability to take the initiative so, for once, he took it upon himself to speak first. “Are you alright?”

She bobbed her head, smiling serenely. It was a completely empty gesture. 

“How are they?” He gestured to the siblings. 

Tsuyuri looked down at the box, and then moved on without comment. When her eyes settled on Tanjiro, she looked up and smiled again, “I broke his jaw.”

He felt amusement course through him for a moment before it was stifled by concern. “I see. Kocho will want a mission report, as well as a notification of his injury, since it could be quite troublesome. I can handle them from here.”

Her eyes fixed on his for a moment, unblinking. Finally, she rose and stepped past him without a word. Giyuu listened to her pad away, boots almost silent on the dirt, and then returned his attention to the siblings. 

With a brief glance up at the sky to confirm there was still time left before dawn, he crouched down beside the box and knocked on it gently. “Hello?”

There was no noise from inside the container, suggesting the girl was either unconscious or asleep. The boy, he noted, was in quite bad shape. He would likely be unconscious for quite a while, considering he had likely gotten a concussion if he was hit hard enough to break his jaw. His face didn’t look too bad at surface level, but Giyuu was also much less accomplished in the medicinal field than Kocho, so he would have to wait for her verdict. 

There was a rustling in the trees behind him, and Giyuu turned to find Kanzaburo perched on the lowest branch, peering down at him with beady eyes. 

“Ah,” he said. The Master would need to be notified of the situation. Giyuu was undoubtedly going to receive an urgent summons, as well as the siblings and the rest of the Hashira, if he were correct in his theory that this would cause quite an uproar among the Corps. With the Kakushi already fully aware of the situation via the loud calls of the crows, word would make its way around regardless. And that wasn’t even taking Kocho into account. 

With a sigh, he beckoned the bird down. With no immediate access to paper or ink, he reluctantly decided to relay the message verbally, hoping his crow could remember the words he needed to say. 

“I have a message for Ubuyashiki Kagaya, residing at the UBuyashiki Estate,” he instructed. “The message is as follows: ‘The Kamado siblings have been safely retrieved and Lowermoon 5, who was residing on Mount Natagumo, has been killed.’” He gave the crow a moment to process it before saying, “Repeat.”

“Message for Ubuyashiki Kagaya of the Ubuyashiki Estate! The Kamado siblings have been safely retrieved and Lowermoon 5, who was residing on Mount Natagumo, has been killed! Lowermoon 5!”

“Very good. Go on.”

Kanzaburo took a moment to stretch his wings and then took off with a hop, vanishing into the darkness in only a moment. 

After that, he took Tsuyuri’s place on the log and watched over the Kamado siblings as the moon headed toward the horizon. 

-

Kocho found him around two hours later, after a Kakushi had come along to tend to Kamado’s jaw by wrapping a bandage under his chin to keep it in place. It also meant Kamado couldn’t talk, which was probably a blessing based on the short interaction Giyuu had had with him. He seemed the tiring type. 

She didn’t acknowledge him when she approached, instead gliding toward Kamado and gently pressing her finger along the underside of his jaw and up the side of his face. She hummed. 

“It’s not bad at all. He’ll be just fine with some painkillers.”

Her gaze turned to the box. “What about the demon?”

Giyuu shook his head, “Asleep. No noise at all from inside the box since I got here.”

She clicked her tongue. “May I open it? I’d like to know what we are dealing with before we get on the move.”

“We?”

Kocho tilted her head and smiled, “I need to escort you the the Master’s Estate. Despite having reasons, as you claim, you still violated Corps rules. And the Master will most certainly want to know your opinion on them, seeing as you’ve known them the longest.”

“I’ve only seen them twice.”

“Known of them the longest,” she amended quickly. “I suppose their teacher may become involved as well, seeing as there is no way they didn’t know of the demon’s existence.”

Giyuu held back a wince. He would have liked to keep Urokodaki, who had retired with great honors, out of this business. It would only cause trouble for the man. 

In the meantime, he gestured to the box. “From what I glimpsed earlier, she had sustained several deep cuts to her body, presumably from Lowermoon 5.”

“You believe that she actively engaged the other demon?”

He paused to think about it before nodding. “Lowermoon 5 used a spider-silk blood demon art that was strong enough to cut through the Kamado boy’s sword. I don’t know how else she would have received razor-thin cuts on her entire body.”

“I see your point.” Kocho unsheathed her blade, but the movement didn’t worry him. She had already heard the Master’s order, and she would follow him even if she disagreed with his decisions. Her respect ran deep.

With the tip of her sword, she nudged the latch open and then tugged the handle up, movements ever precise. 

Inside, illuminated by the moonlight, was a young girl. Too young. 

“She’s smaller.”

Kocho’s eyes narrowed, “The ability to manipulate body size is usually only seen in demons that have killed and eaten five or more people.”

“She is already a special case. This could just be another manifestation of her own power separate from that of Kibutsuji.”

“It’s unlikely,” Kocho murmured. “But I said I would listen to the Master, and he wants her returned safely.”

“I assume you’ll be escorting me?”

She sighed, the only hint of emotion or exhaustion she had displayed throughout the conversation. “Seeing as you broke the Corps rules, I must.”

He didn’t answer, letting his eyes fall back to the demon girl. Giyuu hoped he was right about this, for her sake and his. 

-

“Truth be told, Tomioka, I have been aware of the situation regarding Kamado Nezuko for quite some time.”

Giyuu was only slightly taken aback by the news. He had suspected that the Master was in the loop, but wasn’t expecting him to blatantly admit it to Giyuu almost immediately. 

“However, as I am sure you are aware, convincing the other Demon Slayers of her innocence would be an extremely difficult feat. I was hoping to let her develop further before it came to this, but it was unavoidable, it seems.”

He bowed his head before speaking, “Will the other Hashira not follow your command?”

Ubuyashiki laughed gently, and there was no mocking whatsoever in his voice. “Even if some of my children claim they will follow me to the ends of the Earth in repayment for a life debt, there is a limit. I cannot ask them to abandon their values for my sake, especially in regards to demons.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, it leaves us at a bit of an impasse, I would say.”

They lapsed into silence, both silently considering the problem. Ubuyashiki’s expression was far more reserved than Giyuu’s though, as if he was hiding something. Was he waiting for Giyuu to arrive at the same conclusion? 

“Kocho has advocated for her scientific value. Sparing a single demon now may prevent innumerable deaths in the future, or help unlock the secret to Kibutsuji’s powers.”

The Master’s eyes sharpened slightly, “I am aware of her value, although I had hoped to give her more agency. If that is the only way to save her life, then I will put it forward as a proposal. Ultimately, I must ask what you plan to do?”

Giyuu glanced up, confused, “What I plan to do?”

“You are an integral part of Kamado Nezuko’s survival. If you do not want to participate in the trial, I will accept your decision, but your testimony may drastically increase her chances.”

The idea was sickening. To stand before the Pillars and become the sole object of their resentment as he defended a creature they surely hated…he felt bile rise in his throat and panic creep at the edges of his consciousness. 

“...Have you spoken to Urokodaki, Master?”

“My correspondence to him is en route, yes.”

“I have a proposal.” Giyuu’s voice was barely louder than a whisper. “It would be impossible to argue verbally. Only Kamado Nezuko could decide the outcome.”

The Master smiled gently at him, “I see.”

-

Giyuu may have been the first at the meeting place, courtesy of the Master allowing him to take up brief residence in his estate, but he ensured he was the last to arrive. The less time there was between his arrival and the prospective meeting time, the better. He didn’t want to be dragged into any speculative conversations or become the target of more derision from the other Pillars. 

He didn’t want them to call him crazy. 

Shinazugawa, who he was sure he had heard earlier, was nowhere to be seen, which warranted some caution. Giyuu was well aware of Shinazugawa’s complete lack of sympathy for demons, no matter the circumstances. It was an understandable position, and one Giyuu often found himself sharing, but this meeting was the one time Giyuu wished the man’s beliefs were different. 

Regardless of Giyuu’s inner musings, Shinazugawa’s mysterious absence was worrying. His attention, however, was shifted as soon as he heard the scuffle of incoming feet. 

Two Kakushi stumbled around the corner and into the back garden, carrying Kamado haphazardly between them. He was still unconscious, but he seemed in better condition, seeing as there was no longer dirt all over his uniform and face. Giyuu noted with some distaste that they did nothing to accommodate the child’s jaw. 

With a huff, they set Kamado down on the ground, still unsupported. 

“That’s him?” Uzui snorted, clearly let down. 

“Did you expect a Mizunoto to show up covered in diamonds and jewels?”

Uzui sent Iguro an appraising look, “There’s that snark I love so much.”

Iguro’s face crinkled in disgust. 

The Kakushi, who had been gently trying to shake Kamado awake with no success, began to more violently yank the boy around. 

“Wake the hell up, will you?!”

The child stirred slightly, body finally reacting to the aching the shaking must have caused, and then his eyes fluttered open. He shrunk away slightly, likely blinded by the sun, seeing as it was almost noon. 

After a moment, his glazed eyes settled on the Pillars, still disoriented and lost. 

It took less than a second for his attitude to switch entirely. The dazed expression vanished, and a wary look of alarm flashed across his face as he attempted to scramble away from the Hashira, looking around in fright. He was almost certainly concussed as well, because the motion threw him off, and he flinched further away from the glaring sun overhead. 

“Bummer. That’s one drab-looking kid, huh? I heard he was a demon slayer with a demon in tow, so I was looking forward to seeing someone flamboyant.”

Rengoku’s booming voice split the air and Kamado’s gaze swiveled to him, still lost. “And we’re here for this boy’s trial! I see!”

“Wh—Who are these peop—”

The Kakushi slammed Kamado’s head down into the gravel, once again disregarding his injuries. If Giyuu were a more expressive person, he would drag the man aside after the meeting and scold him. Then again, Giyuu didn’t want to invite more disdain from anyone within the Demon Slayer Corps. 

“Don’t speak just yet, moron! Just who do you think is standing before you? You’re in the presence of the Hashira!”

Giyuu noted that no look of recognition crossed Kamado’s face at the term. Perhaps the boy was entirely unaware of who or what the Hashira were. Generally, younger slayers were only aware of the 8-rank system. 

Kocho took matters into her own hands. She was calm and collected. Giyuu would trust her to handle the proceedings over the more excitable Pillars. “Before we start the trial, why don’t you explain the crime you’ve comm—”

“There’s no need for a trial! Protecting a demon is a clear violation of the code! We’re within our rights to deal with him on our own!” We’re going to behead him along with the demon!”

Kocho gracefully ignored the interruption, eyes still locked on Kamado. 

Uzui jumped on board with Rengoku, which was not surprising in the least. “In that case, I’ll be glad to decapitate him with style. I’ll show you the most flamboyant blood spray you’ll ever see. I’m talking max flamboyance.”

Kamado’s face had cleared somewhat as Uzui was talking, and fear settled over his features. Giyuu’s attention flicked to the other Pillars. If they attempted to do anything to Kamado, he would step in. He could summon the speed to beat all but two or three of them, by his estimates.

The clicking of prayer beads accompanied Himejima’s downtrodden tone. “Ah, what a pitiful sight this boy is. The poor soul… I pity him for having been born at all.” There were tears streaming down the man’s face, which wasn’t surprising at all. 

Kanroji glanced at each of the Pillars, Giyuu included, and he noted with some appreciation that her expression was one of indecision rather than explicit condemnation. 

Tokito and Iguro remained silent as well, although Iguro at least seemed to be paying attention. Tokito was staring distractedly at the sky. 

One of the Kakushi began muttering to Kamado again, gesturing expressively at Giyuu and the Hashira. 

“Let’s put him out of his misery.” It seemed Himejima had come to his conclusion. Giyuu felt a creeping sense of dread begin to rise in the pit of his stomach. If any of the Pillars were to advocate for Kamado, or, at least, to advocate for Kamado’s sentencing to be pushed to a time when the Master was present, it would have been Himejima. He was the oldest and most responsible of them. 

“Right!” Rengoku agreed. 

“Let’s do it! Flamboyantly!”

Kamado began thrashing on the ground again, head whipping back and forth, and one of the Kakushi yelped in surprise. 

“Nezuko… Nezuko, where are you?” 

It was a pointless question, seeing as his sister was sequestered away somewhere in the Master’s Estate, but he could understand the boy’s concern. 

The reason for Nezuko’s absence was obvious, given the meeting was at noon and placing a demon directly in front of the Hashira was ill-advised, but that didn’t help Kamado’s panic. 

“Nezuko! Zenitsu! Inosuke! Murata!”

Iguro dismissed the boy’s raving and turned to the other Pillars, “Forget that. What will we do with Tomioka? Seeing him there without any restraints is giving me a headache. Based on what Kocho told us, Tomioka’s just as guilty of breaking Corps rules. How will we deal with him? How shall we make him take responsibility? What kind of lesson shall we teach him? Don’t you have anything to say, Tomioka?”

Giyuu momentarily entertained the thought of snapping back, but he decided it would only make the situation worse. Given their current lack of trust, he supposed riling the other Pillars up would only serve to make Tanjiro’s position more dangerous. 

“Oh, I think it’s fine.” Kocho’s voice was a breath of fresh air. She had refused to openly support his choice, which he understood, but the knowledge that she wasn’t actively trying to condemn him before the other Hashira was a comfort. “He did come along without resisting. Let’s come up with a penalty later. What I’m more interested in hearing is this boy’s story. The reason he’s going on missions with a demon in tow despite being a Demon Slayer…I’d like to hear the explanation from the boy himself. Needless to say, what he’s done is against the Demon Slayer Corps rules. You are aware of that, aren’t you?”

Kocho waited patiently until Tanjiro’s gaze turned to her, a serene smile still in place. Giyuu could’t tell if it was an attempt at comfort or intimidation. “Kamado Tanjiro. Why are you traveling with a demon when you are a Demon Slayer?”

Uzui placed a hand on one of his cleavers, “No need to ask.”

She ignored Uzui and kept her attention locked on Kamado. “You can take your time, just tell us why.”

“She’s me…She’s my young—”

He broke off in a dry, rattling cough. Out of the corner of his eye, Giyuu could see Kanroji wince. 

Kocho stepped forward and extended a jug to Kamado. “It looks like you need some water. Your jaw is injured, so please drink slowly. It contains a painkiller so you’ll feel better.” 

Kamado took it, albeit with some struggle. 

“Your wounds have yet to heal, so please don’t overdo it.”

She waited until he had drunk his fill and her eyes raked across his jaw, presumably checking for anything amiss. With a nod, she began again. “Now then, Kamado Tanjiro…”

His gaze was no longer clouded with fear, and Giyuu noted with some satisfaction that a determination similar to the one Giyuu himself had witnessed more than two years ago had settled firmly on his face. 

“That demon is my sister! While I was away my family was attacked by a demon, and when I got home, they were all dead! My sister was turned into a demon, but she’s never eaten anyone. She never has, and never will! She’ll never hurt humans no matter what!’

At best, it was a far-fetched lie told in desperation. At worst, it was so far within the realm of impossibility that the Pillars would sooner laugh openly in Kamado’s face than entertain the thought. 

Iguro, the embodiment of the latter, cut in. “Spare us your absurd ravings. If she’s family, of course you’re defending her. I can’t trust a single word you’re saying. I, for one, don’t believe you.”

“He’s been possessed by a demon. Let us kill this poor child immediately to set him free.”

Kamado rushed on, “Listen to me, please! I became a swordsman in hopes of finding a cure for Nezuko! It’s been more than two years since Nezuko became a demon! And in all that time, she’s never devoured anyone!” 

“Your story is just spinning in circles, idiot! She hasn’t devoured anyone and she isn’t going to? Those are just words, so prove it to us and impress us.”

Tokito, who had been mercifully silent, finally put his two cents in. “What was that bird again…?” A few of the Pillars glanced over at him, but quickly dismissed the boy. 

“Excuse me?” Kanroji’s voice was timid and somewhat unsure. It was her first time speaking in the meeting, so she had likely been collecting her thoughts unlike some of the others. “I’m not sure about this… but I don’t think that the Master isn’t aware of this. Should we really deal with him on our own?”

Her words completely stalled Rengoku and Uzui’s momentum, and they both backed off minutely. Uzui’s hand fell from his cleaver, which was a good sign. 

At any given time, Master Ubuyashiki was several times more knowledgeable regarding the affairs of the Demon Slayer Corps than any of the Hashira could ever hope to be. Giyuu himself was well aware of the Master’s thoughts on the situation, but Kanroji’s decision to voice her suspicions was enough to give the rest of them pause despite being out of the loop. He would have to pay for the food if they found each other in the same town any time in the next few months. 

“Shouldn’t we at least wait until he arrives?” she asked again, eyes nervously flicking around as no one deigned her with a response. 

Giyuu had just begun to celebrate the stall in Kamado’s active persecution when the sound of gravel crunching caught his attention. 

He saw Kocho’s face before he saw the cause of the disturbance, and took in the grim set of her lips with cautious dread. 

Standing just under twenty feet  away was Shinazugawa Sanemi. With a horribly familiar wooden box in hand.