I continued to run down the hallway towards Genya who seemed to be heading in the direction of a demon that at the moment wasn't fighting anyone. That's when I saw it. An aura turning gray and going dim and I felt tears gather in my eyes but I didn't let them fall.
"Caw! Dead! Kochou Shinobu is dead! She died after a confrontation with Upper Moon two!" Kuro said as he flew along the hallway before continuing on to spread the message.
"Fuck!" I roared in anger but I didn't falter with my steps. I wasn't able to help Shinobu but I already knew about her plans, that's why I was constantly giving her my blood so that she could use it with the poison within her body. It was still sad, upsetting and infuriating that I had to lose another friend but I knew that Kanao who was already at Upper Moon two would get vengeance for her master and sister. Inosuke was also pretty close to them as well so I didn't have to worry about them, they would have to take care of themselves. It wasn't logical to think that I could save everyone but I had done everything that I could. I had spread my blood and wisteria throughout this hallway and it was sure to affect the demons. I had given every demon slayer, even the lower ranked ones medical kits so that they would be able to survive a little bit longer so that they could be saved. I had done everything I could have, so why, why do I still blame myself for not helping her?
Elsewhere
"Shinobu is dead but the other pillars are still alive" Oyakata's son said as he sat in a room with his two remaining sisters, maps drawn out on the paper in front of them and papers from Yushiro's blood demon art on their foreheads.
"Okay" One of his sisters said.
"Was she the only one who confronted an Upper Moon?" He asked.
"No," The same sister replied.
"Did the crows deliver the 'eyes' they borrowed from Yushiro-san to half of the slayers?" He questioned.
"Not yet" His other sister replied. Eldest son of the Ubuyashiki house, Ubuyashiki Kiriya became head of the Ubuyashiki family at the age of eight. Even though his Father, Mother and two sisters died, he won't allow himself to be sad. He couldn't give time to shed tears in this situation and behind him, his two younger sisters are holding back their emotions as well. Their names are Kuina and Kanata. His two older sisters are Hinaki and Nichika, the two of them didn't leave their father's side, just like their mother. Their father was strict. He couldn't live for long so he had to raise his children into adults as quickly as he could and their similarly kind but strict Mum was gone as well and Kiriya took his father's place. He had to become the Father of his young demon slayer children.
"There's not a lot of information. Tell the crows to spread as many eyes as they can, even if it's just one" Kiriya said.
"Okay" Kanata said.
"Muzan hasn't moved from his spot at all, at this point in time everyone is far from him. Guide them north" Kiriya instructed.
"So the ones facing the Upper moons are..." Kiriya said as he continued to look at the maps.
"Kanao and Slayer Agatsuma. He's bumped into Upper moon six" Kuina answered.
Back with Hikaru
More demons appeared in my way so I had to stop running to destroy them before I could continue. While I was stopped I noticed two more aura's starting to build. Zenitsu and the demon that he had encountered had started to fight. Once more I knew that I couldn't go to his side and help but I trusted Zenitsu, he would come back alive.
"Look what we have here, a little demon slayer all by-" A larger demon started but before he even finished his head was on the ground.
"Normally I would have respected you enough to let you finish your words along with paying my respect to your spirit but right now....I'm too pissed to even think about being nice" I sneered down at the demon who shuttered as he disappeared. His last thought was that he should have picked on someone else. Turning I noticed a blazing aura that was familiar, it was Akaza, the demon who had nearly killed Rengoku and right near him, in front of him even, was Tanjiro and Giyu. The two of them could handle Akaza together, I was sure of that and I was glad that Yushiro now had Zenitsu since he seemed to have won his fight.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit! Why are you only going after them and sending these weaklings after me huh?! Is this your plan Muzan?" I yelled out as I sliced apart another demon. At the moment I felt like I was doing nothing, no matter how fast I had been running I still hadn't managed to meet up with Genya or even an Upper Moon demon.
'Calm yourself down, the emotions of the spirits are starting to get to you. Don't let them win,' Tsuki said as he appeared next to me again and I took a deep breath. He was right, the spirits were starting to get to me. Now that I knew that what I was seeing was people's spirits I hadn't been able to stop seeing the ghostly spirits of people unless they left my sight. And inside this fortress there were hundreds if not thousands of spirits that I could see. I needed to keep my cool and continue to press on, no matter the news that I got and no matter who else we lost.
