Twist of Fate

Chapter 6

Zenitsu and the young boy walked along the dark halls of the house. Zenitsu's memory of the mansion was quite hazy, but he was sure he could tell which direction they were going. As long as he defeats the tongue demon, then everything would turn out fine.

Tanjiro had been able to defeat the drum demon before, so Zenitsu was sure his friend didn't need his help. Besides, he didn't want Tanjiro and Inosuke to start depending on him or something. What if helping them hindered their growth?

As they kept walking, they finally came across the room he had been looking for. The same, old, stained walls brought back memories. In just a few minutes, the tongue demon would come in and try to devour them.

The blond stood still with his hands cupped over his ears, keeping track of the noises the house produced. When he heard the creaking of the floors, he knew the demon was close. And as expected, the slimy sounds of its disgusting tongue were caught by Zenitsu's ears before it had even had the chance to enter the room.

Not giving the demon any chance to even say anything, Zenitsu got into position, "Thunder breathing, first form: Thunderclap and Flash!" Traveling faster than the speed of light, Zenitsu cut off the demon's head with quick precision.

The boy behind him gasped in shock and horror.

The demon's dumbfounded head smacked the floor and rolled away as it disintegrated into nothingness.

Releasing a sigh, Zenitsu faced the young boy, "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded slowly, still in shock.

Zenitsu gave a reassured smile, "Thank goodness then," he took the boy's hand in his, "Let's get outta here, Shoichi."

"Huh? How do you know my name?"

Oh shit he fucked up.

Zenitsu tried to come up with an explanation, "Uhh... your sister mentioned it earlier, yeah, heh..."

"Oh, okay!" Seeing that the boy had believed his lie, Zenitsu breathed a sigh of relief in the inside.

"Alright, hold on to my hand tightly. Don't let go." Zenitsu led them to through the house, trying to find a safe exit. Abruptly, the house started rotating with the beat of the tsuzumi. Just as the two were about to get flung out of the window, Zenitsu grabbed the young boy and covered him with his body to try and cushion the fall.

"Ah!" Zenitsu hit the ground roughly on his back.

"Mister! Are you okay?" the boy questioned.

In the past, Zenitsu probably would've started complaining at this point. Shouting and pouting about how his entire body was sore and hurting. But after experiencing the fights against upper moons—even though he was asleep most of those times—these wounds were barely even scratches compared to the injuries he got back then.

"Yeah, yeah, It's all good." The blond groaned as he lifted himself up from the ground.

Despite being saved, the boy didn't look happy at all.

Zenitsu grimaced, "Look. Tanjiro is going to find your siblings and bring them home, alright? We just have to wait out here until then." He looked around, trying to find Nezuko's box. The wooden box was set in the middle of the pathway, right under the scorching sun. Zenitsu picked up the box gently, making sure not to drop it by accident. He decided to hide the box under the shade, behind some bushes.

Now, he just had to deal with Inosuke.

Where is that wild boar anyway?

Distantly, he heard the repeating words, "Comin' through! Comin' through! Comin' through!" And there he was, the boar-head wearing boy.