ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ sʟᴀʏᴇʀ: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ғʟᴏᴡᴇʀs ʙʟᴏᴏᴍᴇᴅ "ᴋʏᴏᴊᴜʀᴏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴋᴀʀɪ"

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"Mugen Train: Part 2"

"Why didn't you wake me up?", she spoke softly, but with a hint of anger. She sat beside Nezuko – she was inside the box – and looked at the man in front of her. "Did you eat all those bento boxes earlier?", she asked and Kyojuro nodded. "Yes. It's delicious", he said and she just rolled her eyes with a smirk. Of course, he ate it all, after all this is Kyojuro Rengoku were talking about. "Did you at least share some?", she sounded like a mother, maybe it was the affect of the baby. "I did. I'm not selfish", he said and she looked at him with an 'oh really?' look on her face. He gulped, but he was confident, and he was also honest. Tanjiro just looked at the two hashiras while they were having a conversation. "What brings you here anyway?", he asked. She got nervous that she stood up immediately from her seat. Kyojuro looked at her confused. She was now stuttering. "What is it?", Kyojuro asked the sweating girl, but then she changed the subject and asked Tanjiro what he was doing here. "Why are you here, Tanjiro-kun? Are you here for the mission?", she asked, still standing, unable to look at Kyojuro straight in the face. "We received an order from the Kusagai Crow. The casualties of the Mugen Train are increasing, Join Rengoku-san on site, he said", he turned to Akari and then to Kyojuro. "I see now. Understood", Kyojuro looked straight ahead. "Also, there's one more thing. There's something I would like to ask you, Rengoku-san", Tanjiro added and caught Akari's attention. "What is it?", the flame hashira asked the boy beside him, but looking at the girl in his other side, who had her attention straight to the boy. "It's about my father", Tanjiro paused for a moment. "What about your father?", Kyojuro asked. Akari's attention was now focused on Zenitsu stopping Inosuke from being an idiot first timer on a prestigious train. Zenitsu was pulling Inosuke and Akari's expression looked like an annoyed passenger – oh she was annoyed. "He was really frail", another pause. Akari listened to the boy and looked at Kyojuro from time-to-time. "Would you stop looking at absolutely nothing and listen?", she said almost shouting. "I am listening, now go on", Kyojuro said. Akari was deep in thought and focused on Tanjiro's story that she had forgotten she was standing in the middle of the moving train. "Even so, he could still perform a Kagura dance in the snow, that's cold enough to freeze our lungs.", he said. "I'm glad to hear it", Kyojuro responded. By now, Akari's hand is on her forehead saying things on her mind. Poor Tanjiro, he doesn't know Kyojuro is already insulting him, by not really listening. Though, Kyojuro doesn't know who Tanjiro's father is. What he is saying anyway? She remained on her position as Tanjiro continued. "The thing is...", Tanjiro seemed sweating, more than her. "What is it?", Kyojuro said a little too loud and Akari covered her ears. "Hinokami Kagura Dance... Before I knew, I could perform the dance I knew and seen as a child. If you know anything about that, I was hoping you could tell me", he looked down. A long pause had occurred. "I see. But I know nothing", Tanjiro was quite disappointed. And Akari narrowed her eyes at Kyojuro's response, but laughed at Tanjiro's reaction – although, it was a slight laugh. "I have never heard of a Hinokami Kagura Dance before. But it's truly commendable that you were able to adapt your father's dance for combat. This is the end of the discussion", Kyojuro exclaimed. There was that reaction again. Akari could not hold her laugh. "But can you try to help me more?", Tanjiro requested. "You should become my tsuguko", Kyojuro announced and Akari looked at him shocked and a little worried for Tanjiro. Kyojuro's methods have drove a lot of 'supposed tsugukos' to run and quit, because it was too hard for them. She believed in Tanjiro, even his friends, but still, she was worried. "Wait a minute. Also, what are you looking at?", Akari laughed her eyes out. She had the same thought as Tanjiro. Kyojuro looked at Akari laughing and smiled, then continued talking. "Flame breathing has a long history. In any given era, there has always been a Flame and Water swordsman among the hashiras. Flame, water, stone, wind, and thunder, are the fundamental breathing techniques. The other techniques were created as offshoots of those five", Akari was fond on listening to Kyojuro's stories, but when he mentioned that the other techniques were created from those five fundamental techniques, she got the wrong impression of Kyojuro basically telling her, she's an added character to the mix. She was flaming hot now, but only Zenitsu had noticed, because Inosuke was busy looking outside, Tanjiro remained listening and Kyojuro remained on talking. "Young Mizoguchi, what's the color of your sword?", Kyojuro had asked. "Um, my name is Kamado and my sword color is black", Tanjiro said. Zenitsu could not contain his scared expression, he was basically seeing a woman on firing rage. "A black sword, huh? Well, that's unfortunate", Kyojuro laughed. Even the passengers of the train were staring at Akari and finally Tanjiro and Kyojuro had noticed Akari. "Mitsuma-san, what's wrong?", Tanjiro asked. "Akari, are you okay?", Kyojuro tried touching her, but then she shouted. "DID YOU BASICALLY SAY THAT MY BREATHING TECHNIQUE IS DERIVED FROM YOURS?!? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE WHEN I NEVER TRAINED WITH YOU?!? I BECAME A HASHIRA WAY BEFORE YOU, I'M THE FIRST ONE. AND WHY WOULD YOU CALL TANJIRO'S SWORD, UNFORTUNATE, HUH? WHY, YOU!", Tanjiro held both arms of Akari and stopped her from scratching Kyojuro on the face. Wow, this woman is scary and feisty, Tanjiro thought to himself as he smiled embarrassingly to the passengers. Kyojuro scratched his head and even was terrified of her. He apologized, but Akari wouldn't budge. She finally calmed down and sat in front of him, but she had her eyes closed and had a mad-looking face. "Akari Mitsuma, I'm sorry", Kyojuro said strongly – more like shouting, but who the hell cares, right? He put his hand on her lap and urged her to look at him. She opened one eye and took a deep breath. She forgave him that fast. Everything was now quiet and both Akari and Kyojuro had their arms crossed. Tanjiro admired the two. He could smell strong sense of justice from Kyojuro's scent and Akari's changed into a better version, instead of the hot-headed smell mixed with hatred, it was now a pleasing one, where you can smell forgiveness and love. "That's dangerous. You never know when a demon might show up", Kyojuro spoke to firmly to the youngsters. Zenitsu was just stopping Inosuke from racing the train like he announced he would do. Upon hearing what Kyojuro had said. Zenitsu became so anxious. "You're joking right? Do demons really show up on this train?", he stood up beside the Flame Hashira who had his arms crossed. "That's why he's here", Akari said to the yellow-haired boy, but with softness to calm him – Zenitsu would be the hardest person to calm down. "WHAT?! So, we're not headed to where the demons are, because we're already here", Zenitsu shouted, holding his head, his legs and arms are shaking in fear. "Tanjiro-kun, how did your friend here, survive the final selection. I would assume he hid during the time, but demons can smell humans", Akari looked at Tanjiro, her expression showing concern and confusion. "I- I don't really know", Tanjiro replied awkwardly. "In a short period of time, over 40 passengers have gone missing on this train. The Corps have sent a few swordsmen, but they all went silent. That's why they sent me instead", Kyojuro explained the situation to the trio. Even if he did so, Zenitsu started to shout, louder than before and Akari was trying to calm herself down or she might shout at the poor boy. But she could not keep her cool. "HEY! SHUT UP, SIT DOWN AND DON'T MOVE!", she shouted at him. Her eyes were flaming hot – well, she was flaming hot – looking at Zenitsu who was now trembling in fear of her. "Gomen nasai", she said plainly and sat back down as the conductor went to their seats to punch their tickets. "May I see your tickets, please", the conductor said, looking down and a little pale. "What is he doing?", asked Tanjiro. One could understand if he said this was his first time on the train, after all, Akari had heard before entering a train that they've seen kids carrying swords and one of them was boar, trashing the train and supposedly "Challenging the train". Each swordsman gave their tickets and the conductor has done its job of punching a hole in it. Zenitsu was now on the floor crying, mainly because Akari had shouted at him – much like a mother scolding her child. Suddenly, Kyojuro, who has his eyes closed, opens them up and stands up. Akari turns her eyes to the direction Kyojuro was looking at. The lights flickered once more, like it did before. Tanjiro looked at the two hashiras and both of them had the expression of suspicion. Akari mostly had it, she gripped on her two swords – she wielded two swords much like Inosuke and Tengen – and took a deep breath. Tanjiro immediately knew what it was. He could smell a horrible scent coming from somewhere. He was standing and looked at where it could be. "Thank you very much", the conductor said. "Mr. Conductor, please stand back or you'll could get hurt", Kyojuro said, a hand on his sword and a smile on his face. Akari had a smirk on her and closed her eyes, breathing deep. "This is an emergency, please overlook the fact that I have a sword.", Kyojuro added. The lights flickered again and Akari had stood up now. "You're so formal and full of words. Let me handle this, Kyojuro", she said as she went in front of her lover, her back facing his face. Her smile was of excitement. She held on her sword and grinned. The lights kept on flickering as the demon appeared, scaring the passengers. Zenitsu was now terrified. Inosuke and Tanjiro was getting ready to help. "Was it your blood demon art that hid that enormous body of yours? Or maybe you're too ugly to even get noticed", she questioned the demon. The four boys on her back stunned by her insult. "I might compliment you for being undetectable, but well, my boyfriend might get jealous", she said, her sword now visible to the people. It was shining purple color; the handle was black. She gripped on it so hard. She smirked again as she positioned herself to launch an attack. "Breath of the Phoenix: First Form -",she looked down, before facing the demon. The demon roared, but before it could even stop from roaring, it's head was lying down on the floor of the train. "That was easy", she muttered under her breath. She took a piece of cloth out of her pocket and wipe her two swords that had cut the demon's head. She puts both her swords back and walks up to Kyojuro. "You didn't have to mention me", he said embarrassingly. "Well, I was in the middle of my moment. You can handle the other one", she patted his face and went back on her seat. The trio was mesmerized, not just because of her skills, but also because of her beauty and calmness. "There's another?", Zenitsu exclaimed. When the other demon appeared, Kyojuro smiled. "Thank you, love", he looks at his smirking girlfriend and turns his head straight ahead. "You demons are good at hiding. If you bare your fangs at innocent people, my bright, red flame blade will burn you to ashes!", Kyojuro said, fire surrounding him. The demon growled and launch at him as Kyojuro did the same. "Hono no kokyu, Ichi no kata: Shiranui", he slashed the demon in one blow with only one sword. He reached the end of the cart and went into the other, startle the passengers. The demon he just slashed blew, but Akari was unbothered, though she looked proud upon seeing the trio admiring Kyojuro – for Akari, Kyojuro needs all the admiration, because he is indeed a great swordsman and even if Akari doesn't have the same admiration as for him, she's okay with it. Kyojuro sensed another demon coming from another cart and told the others to follow him. The trio proceeded to where Kyojuro was. "Hey, don't leave me behind", Zenitsu exclaimed as the others ran to Kyojuro. Akari followed them as well, but just walked slowly and proudly, knowing that it can be handled in a swift – but also, she was feeling a little bit dizzy from using her technique, because of the baby inside her. She was a bit pale, but can't be noticed. She had a fair skin, so maybe, her being pale is nothing. "Keep it together, Akari. You're here to help, not be some damsel in distress", she mumbled under her breath. She had a great skill in which she could hide what she's feeling. "It's a good thing, Tanjiro-kun is busy", she muttered.