Hikaru's POV
Tanjiro and I had been attacking and blocking attacks that came towards us but we were still at a standstill. We were both standing in front of Daki, Tanjiro's breathing was heavier than mine from using his Hinokami kagura while I was holding back and just using my swords and water breathing for now.
"You ugly pieces of trash!" Daki yelled as her belt lashed out destroy the buildings on either side before going towards us. Quickly I dodged out the way before using my sword sword to deflect one belt and used my long sword to stop another one. While we were blocking used this chance to attack Tanjiro but he jumped back and dodged it. So that I didn't have to worry about the dust and also so that I was still by Tanjiro's side I jumped back as well. Daki jumped into the air this time going towards me, at least she was until she got hit in the back by her own belts. What was going on? From a hole in the ground that had been freshly dug more belts came flying threw the air towards Daki who had just landed on the ground. She instantly went to attack me while her belts targeted Tanjiro making us. At the moment we were only focusing on stopping the blows, waiting for an opportunity so that we could attack. More and more belts kept on hitting and sinking into her body. They must have been the ones that had been split off from her, this wasn't good.
"Tanjiro, this is going to get harder so make sure to stand your ground and get your breathing under control" I whispered. Tanjiro nodded before going to attack Daki head on while I headed for her side.
"I knew it," Daki said with a grin. Before we could swing our swords and attack, she was gone.
"Rooftop" I said, spinning around following her aura.
"A Hashira, so a Hashira did come after all! That's great, that will certainly please my master!" Daki said. Her hair had turned white with green tips and vein-like marks appeared over her face, arms and legs. That wasn't the only thing that changed either, her aura had changed as well, it had become more dangerous than before. My eyes were starting to hurt just by looking at her, I had a feeling that she wasn't at her full power but I didn't expect it to be this strong. There is no more time for me to dilly dally. While Daki seemed to still be in her happy bliss because a Hashira was here and Tanjiro was watching her I quickly grabbed my longer blade and cut my arm spreading the blood onto the blade before, I also grabbed a vial that I had hidden in my jacket and emptied it onto my short blade. The vial contained the essence of wisteria, I wasn't going to let this demon hurt anyone if I could stop her.
"Hikaru, she has gained more power" Tanjiro said as he turned to me, luckily I had already bandaged my arm so he wouldn't worry.
"Yeah, from what I can see Uzui has met up with Inosuke, also Zenitsu and the others that had been captured have been freed" I said and Tanjiro took a breath of relief.
"You guys need to shut the hell up! What's the deal with those swords?" A man demanded as he walked out of his house.
"You have a lot of nerve, brawling in front of my House! What kind of harassment is this?" He said as he began to walk towards us. There were also other people coming out from the buildings and my eyes widened. This wasn't good, there is no way that Tanjiro and I could save these people, save ourselves and fight Daki.
"I'll have you know that this Hanamachi is viable because we and our clients all follow the rules! People like you aren't welcome here! Now get the hell out of my sight!" The man yelled.
"Why don't you shut your trap?" Daki said with a glare as she stood up, looking at the man. Both mine and Tanjiro's eyes widened because we knew what was going to happen.
"Don't do it! Don't come this way! Step back!" Tanjiro yelled in warning. Looking up I saw Daki's belts start to unravel and go into the air.
"Stay inside your buildings," I yelled out and we both backed up ready to stop Daki. It happened faster than I could have imagined. I couldn't see the attack, all I could see was the lingering aura after the attack. Pain blossomed on my body and I knew that I had at least three deep cuts, one on my left shoulder, one on my chest area and one on my right leg. I also knew that Tanjiro had been cut on his left shoulder and the man behind us was screaming so I guess he was hurt as well. Looking around I was almost sick when I realised that Daki's attack had destroyed nearly every building in this street and along with the buildings were hundreds of auras that I watched disappear or flare in pain before dulling down letting me know they weren't going to live long. It made my stomach churn, it made me want to throw up from seeing it but I had to hold fast even as I heard screams and cries.
"Stay calm, you'll survive. Get some string and tightly tie your arm to try and stop the blood flow" I ordered. Looking up I saw Daki on the rooftop with a smug smile on her face. Red began to appear in my vision and I could tell that I was going to lose control and probably be hurt. I didn't want to, I knew it was reckless but there were so many people that were just taken in the blink of an eye and she dared to laugh about it.
"Come back here! I won't let you get away with this! Not after what you just did!" Tanjiro growled.
"What? Do you still have something to say? That's enough ugly one, the repulsive have no reason to live anyway so you can all just die and rot together" Daki said. I could hear the screams of people that had lost someone precious, I could see people pulling their loved ones bodies from the wreckage in disbelief, hoping that they were alive. What I didn't see was steam starting to rise off my body as my temperature reached incredible heights and my sweat was evaporating from my body.
"All of you stay inside! It's too dangerous so stay hidden!" The man who had lost his hand yelled in warning. From Tanjiro's aura I could see that he was starting to lose control of his anger as well which added more to my anger. Once again I had let my friend get hurt, how many times, how many times, how many times! Suddenly a man with a blue body wearing a kimono with bright red hair and golden eyes appeared in front of me.
'You can stop them, only you have that power Hikaru because you are an Akatsuki so stand, let your rage soar and show them what happens when they mess with someone blessed by the Sun. But never forget your humanity because if you do then you will be lost. Use your ancestors, show them the power of all those that have been lost but most importantly keep living' The man said with a bitter smile before he disappeared. Tanjiro's eyes had turned bloodshot and he was past the point of anger at this time and we both had the same goal in mind. Killing Daki. My very blood was roaring in my ears but I wasn't sure if it was my blood or my soul, it made me remember the letter that Shinjuro had sent the both of us.
