Demon-Slaying Demons

~-TRAINER SAKONJI UROKODAKI-~

  I'm in a rush, trying to put out this chapter before Sunday cause plans suddenly came up, so I apologize if this chapter is rushed or has flaws. Like with the last 2 chapters, I'll be splitting the episodes into 2 parts each. Also thank you for your continued support, and remember that if you enjoy this story, please let me know! Anyways most of you have already skipped this A/N so I'll just start the story.

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  As a crow cries out overhead, flying over an extensive farmland, Giyu walks past a man and woman working the fields, ignoring them entirely and grabbing a basket, straw, and bamboo, then heading back to the location he left the young oni siblings, ignoring the farmer's comments about the basket being full of holes. The woman looks up at the raven-haired male as he passes, confusion written across her face as he carries away the materials. "What an odd boy.. Couldn't possibly be any older than 17 or 18, could he?" Giyu ignores her, instead walking faster as he looks at the sky, deciding he would carry the siblings in the basket during the day.

  Once he has returned to the cave he dropped Nezuko and Tanjiro in, he looks inside, only to see a large gaping hole dug into the center, the siblings nowhere to be seen. Giyu steps in, dropping the basket materials by the entrance so he can inspect the pit. He takes a step towards the hole, then quickly leaps back as the siblings peek over the rim, almost in sinc. 'They dug a hole..? are they oni or moles?' Tanjiro recognizes the man and climbs out of the burrow, cautiously stepping over to him and looking at the items he has brought with him. "I decided that we can't travel only at night. It would be better if we could travel during the day as well. So to avoid the undesirable path, I'm going to patch up this basket and you two will remain in it during the daytime."

  Giyu kneels down so he can begin patching up the basket, then hesitates when he sees Tanjiro approaching. "I-I can help.. I don't want to be more of a burden, so if it would be useful, I-I can fix the basket for you.." The older male looks up at the younger's face, taking a moment to properly look at him. Burgundy hair that fades to a bright orange at the tips, skin tanned by constant exposure to sunlight, eyes that glow a reddish-pink similar to his sister's, and a mark on the right side of his forehead that resembles a scar. Upon closer inspection, a bump seems to be forming on the side opposite the mark on the boy's forehead. Giyu reaches up, motioning for the boy to step closer so he can see what the bump is.

  When Giyu presses on the bump, Tanjiro visibly winces, as though that hurt him. The older male brushes it off as a minor injury from the earlier events, then begins to fix the basket in silence, Nezuko watching as he and her brother work. Within a few minutes, the basket has been repaired and Tanjiro is pulling it towards his sister. He steps into it, feeling his body grow smaller to fit within the space, then he reaches towards his sister, "Come on, N-Nezuko. Join me in the basket, please. Can you fit..? B-Basket..." He gently grasps his sister's hand as she reaches up, pulling her so she steps into the basket and sits down on her brother's lap, shrinking down to the same size as him so her head barely breaches the top. 

  Tanjiro hugs his sister, then yawns as he realizes he's exhausted. "Sleep." He jerks his head up at the sound of Giyu's voice, waking himself momentarily, "S-sorry...?" The man stands up, "I said sleep. There's not much you can do during the day, seeing as you will burn away with the slightest brush of direct sunlight." The younger boy shudders unconsciously, then hugs his sister as he begins falling asleep again, forgetting to reply to the man as sleep weighs on his eyes, making him close them as a large cloth he hadn't seen covers the top opening. The oni siblings curl up, as though they're keeping each other warm as they fall asleep.

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  As Giyu passes a house, a little boy trails after him, curiosity written clear on his face. "Sir! Are you sure you want to travel through the mountains with such a large luggage at night? You might attract thieves.. Would you like to stay here for the night? There's enough room for all of us!" The black-haired man ignores the woman's offer, walking past as he mutters "We'll be fine.." Though the woman doesn't hear him and tries again, "Hello? Sir, please come inside, it's getting dark. It's dangerous at night, there have been disappearances in those mountains..." This makes Giyu pause, but he doesn't answer the women, since he knows why those people went missing. He continues past the property, feeling the oni siblings inside of the basket shifting.