ʟᴇꜰᴛ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ//ᴋɴʏ (ᴀᴜ)

T w e n t y - f o u r

Kota's POV

"Akaza!" I yelled for the last time. "I can walk you know!"

He ignores me, and keeps dragging me deeper into the forest. "We're almost there. Keep quiet."

I pout and cross my arms. A nice looking house comes into view. Akaza proceeds to carry me, and jumps onto the second floor. "We're here."

He kneels down, and I eye his movements. I slowly copy what he is doing. 

"Muzan-sama," he says, and the door to the second floor opens. I glance up and see a child standing there holding a book. He looks normal.

"I met the Kamado boy, but couldn't kill him. I also came across the flame hashira, but the sun was coming up. I am truly sorry." Akaza mutters, keeping his head low. I stare at the boy standing ahead. The kid's eyes suddenly turn plum-red. I gasp and shoot my head down.

"You couldn't eliminate some weak hashira?" The boy rips the book in half, pointing at Akaza with a furious look. 

I breathe in deeply. "Mu-Muzan-sama.." I say quietly. He turns his head to me. "It's- It's my fault sir... I couldn't control myself. My instincts took over and-"

I'm cut off by his hand gripping on my hair. He is not pulling on it though, but the fact he can kill me in one blow is making my brain scream.

"How brave of you to take this upon yourself." He whispers, pulling my hair upward, forcing my face to look at him. I shut my eyes. He glances over at Akaza. "You're lucky. This little human might've just saved your life."

Akaza bows, sitting still. Muzan-sama groans and shoos us away. The door shuts behind him.

I let out a breath I was holding. My knees shake in fear. 

Akaza turns to me. "Let's go to the infinity fortress now." He gently picks me up like a baby. I manage to rest my face on his shoulders.

"Be thankful I saved your life," I pout. He sighs.

"Thanks." he mutters. I grin. "I'm picking up my pace now."

I enjoy the fast wind blowing against my face, playing with my hair. When we are deep in the woods, the sound 'bwing' teleports us into the infinity fortress.

"I forgot to say," I mention, getting off of Akaza. "This place is quite a view."

"No time for chi-chat. I'll bring you to your father now." He ignores me, and pushes me inside a room. I'm guessing this is my father's room.

I stumble forward, catching myself before I fall. 

"Hee~! Kota, dear~!!" I hear the familiar voice of my father. I whip my head around and spot him. I grin widely and run towards him, hugging him tight. 

"Father!!" I cry, not letting go. He chuckles and pats my head. I missed him so much!

"Now, now. We must talk about your behavior! What happened there?" He asks, pulling me away.

I look down at the floor. "Sorry father. My instincts took over..." I mutter. 

"You must learn how to control them, Dear! I'd hate to see you try and kill me with that instinct of yours."

I nod slowly. "Perhaps Tomioka-san can help me."

"Tomioka-san?" Dad questions, tilting his head. Oh, right. 

"He's the water pillar I trained with."

He nods, smiling. "I'm so proud to have a strong daughter like you, Kota~!"

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Tanjiro's POV

"Kota!!!" I shout as the uppermoon three drag her away. I panic. What did he want with her?

"We must inform the hashiras about this situation.." Rengoku-san grunts, using total concentration breathing to ease his pain.

"I'll call my Kasugai crow to go on and inform them!" I shout, and look up in the sky. I didn't need to tell them because the crow was hovering over my head, listening to everything.

"Go on, what are you waiting for?" I shout at the crow, and he takes off.

A few minutes later, Kochou-san arrives with her medicine box with some of the helpers. 

"Rengoku-san, can you show me your wound?" Kochou-san asked. Rengoku-san shows her the wounds. She immediately gets to work.

"Tanjiro," Rengoku-san calls, and I turn to look at him. "Take Zenitsu and Inosuke to the meeting place. I can't go right now."

I nod firmly. "I will! Zenitsu! Inosuke!" I get up and call my friends. They run towards me. 

"Is Rengoku-san okay?" Zenitsu asks, tearing streaming down his face. "Kota-chan is gone! She got taken by that demon!"

"I know Zenitsu. But we must go to the meeting place and tell the hashiras every detail we possibly can. You were close to Kota when she got kidnapped, Zenitsu. You probably know the most information."

He nods, shaking. I turn to Inosuke, who is frozen in place. He looks... stunned. 

I ignore it for now. I take off running and they follow behind me. I can hear Zentisu crying again.

--------------------

We arrive at the meeting place, and all the hashiras except Kochou-san and Rengoku-san are there. 

"Oh my goodness!" Kanroji-san gasps, running towards us. "You guys, tell us everything!"

We take a moment to catch our breaths. Then we take a seat beside the hashiras. 

"All I know is that we were fighting with uppermoon 3, and Kota stepped in. They were saying something to eachother, but I couldn't hear what they were saying." I confirmed. That is all I know so far.

I glance over to Zenitsu. He is paler than usual, his hand gripping onto his pants. I give him a quizzed look. "Zenitsu, do you know something?"

He perks up, and glances over at us. "Well..." He starts, but stops there.

"You have to tell us, or else we won't know what's going on." Iguro-san declares, shooting him a look. I spot Yasu hovering in the corner of my eye. I wave her in. She quietly sits next to me, and I catch her up on what happened. 

"The thing is... it was weird. The uppermoon was asking something like; 'What do you think you're doing, Kota?', and Kota answered 'I don't know.'" Zenitsu scratches his neck, slowly telling us what he heard.

I feel Yasu's aura becoming serious. I feel like she has an idea of what is happening.

Before I could speak, Shinazugawa-san grunts angrily. 

"I think this brat might be up to something!"