The Human That Remains

Chapter Twenty-Four

"UWOOOH!! We're in it's belly!!" Inosuke said. "We're in it's belly!! Whoaaa!! It's the beginning of the fight!!" Inosuke said laughing. "Shut up!!" Zenitsu yelled to the male. Mono quickly covered their mouths, looking around at the people on the train. Mono's face flushed red from embarassment. She could feel their stares on her uniform as well, which made the situation worse than it was. She led the three down the train cart, not botherimg to look back. "So, Rengoku-san's a Hashira? Do you know what he looks like?" Zenitsu asked. Tanjiro nodded. "He's a guy with flashy hair, and I remember his smell. He's close by." Tanjiro said.

"Tasty!" Their heads looked around the room. "What was that?" Mono asked.

"Tasty!" The three looked towards the corner of the train cart. "Tasty!" It was the man from The Hashira Meeting. "Tasty!" The three grew closer. The three stood next to his seat, staring at him.

"Tasty! Tasty! Tasty!" He repeated. "That guy's The Flame Hashira." Tanjiro said. "Isn't he just a glutton?" Zenitsu asked. Tanjiro paused for a moment. "Yup. Yup." The boy said. Mono placed her hand on the male's shoulder. "Excuse me..." The male faced the girl. "Tasty!"

Mono gave the male a dot eyed expression. "Understandable..." The white haired girl said. "You're Rengoku-san, right?" "Yes!" The male replied in a loud tone. Mono gave the older male a small smile. "This is Kamado Tanjiro-san, his sister Kamado Nezuko-san, who is in the box. The blonde is Agatsuma Zenitsu-san, and the one in the pig mask is Hashibira Inosuke-san... Tanjiro-san, where's Inosuke?" Mono asked. The three looked the train cart. Tanjiro and Zenitsu ran over to Inosuke who had just opened a window. He attempted to jump out of the train and race it. Tanjiro and Zenitsu pulled the male away from the train. The two pulled Inosuke back to Mono and Rengoku. Mono calmly walked over to Inosuke who was struggling to get out of the two boys grasp. Mono hit him in the side of the neck and knocked the male out. Mono let out a sigh.
"If a demon doesn't kill him, his own stupidity will." Mono muttered to herself as the two teens place him in a booth. "Anyways, I'm Mono and in my bag is Rui-san."

"I remember you, you were the girl that knocked me down!" Rengoku said with a smile on his face. "I guess I didn't properly apologize to you for that, did I?" Mono said. The white haired girl down. But before she could apologize to the male, he stopped her. "You're really strong!" He said giving the girl a compliment. Her face flushed red, not use to compliments from a lot of people. It was still odd to hear people compliment her.

"I wouldn't say I'm strong." Mono muttered. "Nonscense!" Rengoku yelled.

******
Mono sat on one side of Rengoku while Tanjiro sat on the other. Rui sat on Mono's lap, in his smaller form. He had a bamboo muzzle to reassure others that he couldn't hurt others. Tanjiro had been talking to Rengoku while Mono kept an eye on Rui. He just played with her fingers, tugging and pulling on them.

"Hmm! So that's it!" Rengoku said. "But I dunno! This is the first time I heard of the 'Dance of the Fire God'! I'm actually delighted to see that you were able to apply the dance your father preformed in a fight, but enough of this story! You guys should becomd my Tsugukos!" Rengoku said. Rengoku went on explaining swordsmen. "Young Mizoguchis, what color are your blades?" Rengoku asked. "I'm Kamado. And it's black!" Tanjiro said.

"Black? That's tough." Rengoku laughed. "I've never seen a swordsmen with a black blade become a Hashira! What's more, I understand that you don't even know what kinda swordsmenship to master! I'll train you at my place. So be at ease now! What's your's?" Rengoku asked. Mono looked at the male. "It's kind of hard to explain, but it's kind of blue to white with a crystal shard pattern. Let me show you." Mono said pulling out her chained sword. The two males stared at the oddly colored blade. "I've never seen that before. Hmm."

"UWOOOOOHH!! It's so fast!!!" Mono turned her head to Zenitsu and Inosuke. "That idiot, he woke up already?" Mono sat Rui on the seat. "Watch him." Mono said pointing to the two males. Rengoku watched her go over to the other two males. His face flushed a little when he noticed her uniform. She grabbed a hold of Inosuke who was halfway out the window. The white haired girl knocked the male out once again.

"It's dangerous! I don't know when the demon will appear!" Rengoku said. "Huh?" Zenitsu looked at the male confused. Mono looked at the blonde haired male. "You're kidding. A demon's gonna appear on this train?" Zenitsu screeched. "It will!" Rengoku said confidently. "It will! Noooooooo!! So we're not going to a place with demons, but one's going to show up here? Noooo!!" Zenitsu cried out. "I'm getting off!" Zenitsu said. "In a short period of time, more than fourty people have disappeared on this train! We sent a number of swordsmen here, but none of them ever reported back! So that why they sent me!" Rengoku said.

"Haaaah, I see!! I'm getting off!!" Zenitsu cried with tears streaming down his face. "Zenitsu-san, have some faith in yourself." Mono said, grabbing Zenitsu's hands. Zenitsu looked into her spinel pink orbs. Zenitsu's face flushed red. Before the white haired girl could say anything, the male passed out. 'Mono-chan touched my hands.' Mono just stared at the male. The white haired girl walked back to Rengoku and Tanjiro. Rui sat on Mono's lap once again.

"I hope Zenitsu's okay. You think he passed out from panicking?" Mono asked. The conductor had come by and punched the slayers tickets. Mono handed the conductor two extra tickets that belonged to Inosuke and  Zenitsu.

Something had caught both Tanjiro's and Mono's attention

Something was wrong, very wrong.

************************ Taisho Secret *************************

Mono: "Time for a Taisho Secret. When Rui met Five, Eight, and Eleven, he was pretty scared at first. But don't tell him I said that."