I Spy

Chapter 23: The Grand Cart Race

Date: October 4, 2024
Time: 3:43 PM
Location: ???
Weather: Partly Cloudy

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Host: Thank you Kokoro for that speech, that was certainly a very gruesome and merciless massacre, but since the victims were apar-


The TV says a certain man with a white fedora, semi-long black hair, and a suit throws the remote through the TV and sticks to the wall behind it.

"DAM IT!" He screams, "HOW COULD HAVE THIS HAPPENED?!" He says as he clenches his fist so hard that he starts bleeding. He does not feel pain so he didn't mind it, either way, it would've healed back in a matter of no time. "That man..." He utters in complete anger as he kicks over a table with his foot.

He then turns to the woman who was sitting on a cushion in the same room as him. "Where are the lower moons..." He says in anger, the woman then plays her biwa and stays still for a few seconds. "They are currently in hiding my lord due to the sun being out." She bluntly states, the man then grits his teeth as he puts two fingers to his forehead and stays completely silent, "Lower moons, after the sun sets, I want you to go find that man." He thinks as a sudden influx of thoughts appears in his head. "Yes, my lord!" Is what he hears as he places his fingers down and turns to the biwa woman again, "Nakime." He says, the woman then plays her biwa once as a door opens from beneath the man's feet and he falls through.

He then lands in a completely empty room with nothing but a chemistry table and an average-sized box on the side. He walks up to the table and takes the box, he then opens it and takes out a flower (not the one you think), a few chemicals with hazard signs on it, a syringe, and a couple of other things. "If those bastards delivered that ingredient, I could've made my serum." He thinks as a tick mark appears on his head, "Just that one f*cking ingredient, and I could've made the entire demon race stronger than it was ever before!" He thought, "But no! That dammed man had to come and ruin it all! And worst of all, that was the most important and the rarest ingredient!" He thinks as he puts the ingredients that he got from the box on another table and grabs a flask with a green liquid in it. He then begins mixing the green liquid with another blue liquid that was in a beaker, while doing this, he still thinks about what happened. "That man needs to be gone! I don't care if he was vital intelligence, he angers me too much! He first killed some of my demons, then he took away the most important thing I need for my new serum!" He thought as he clenches the fist with the flask in it and breaks it without struggle. The man then looks down at his bloodied hand with glass shards in it, he chops his hand off as it instantly regrows and takes a cloth from a nearby table and begins to clean the mess.

He then takes the glass shards and the broken flash and disposes of them in a hazardous waste bin with tons of other broken flasks and glassware. He sighs as he begins to work again, he then puts the beaker with the now turquoise liquid on a Bunsen burner and turns it on. 

As he waits for the mixture to be completely heated he thinks of one thing, "This man is a real pain in the a*s, just like the other."

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Date: October 5, 2024
Time: 2:30 PM
Location: "Kamaboko Hill"
Weather: Clear

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 "Welcome back everyone to the "once-in-a-month" Kamaboko Games!" Nezuko says into an improvised microphone that was made out of a rusted can and a wire that looked like it came from a clothes hanger. Nezuko sits beside Aoi and Kanao with the same crudely-made microphone on an old and worn table while sitting on dirty and old chairs. 

Meanwhile, Emiko, Ismau, and Akira were sitting on an old couch right next to the three girls as both Emiko and Akira were looking excited and had their phones out as they were recording this, and Isamu was...

Distracted per se.

The group was located at the bottom of a gigantic hill with a ramp that looked like it had been kept together with string, bolts, screws, and wood; Which it was. In front of the ramp were several old mattresses laid out with some of them having their springs protruding out, and some of them were even rusted.

"Hello Kamado and Tsuyuri! It seems that today will be the finals of this month's Kamaboko Games, and who will our contestants be for today young Tsuyuri?" Aoi asked as she spoke into the "microphone". "It seems that today our contestants will be the high and mighty Hashibara Inosuke! And the one and only, Zenitsu Agatsuma!" Kanao said in her mic as two people appeared on the top of the hill with the sun beaming behind them.

As Zenitsu and Inosuke stood on top of the hill, they were wearing several layers of cushions and pillows along with a tin bucket on their head packed with old clothes. Behind the two were Genya and Tanjiro who were laughing their a*ses off as soon as they saw the two pose like that. "Quick take a f*cking picture!" Genya said as he hysterically laughed, "Already did!" Tanjiro replied as he had his phone out and took several pictures he also laughed like a clown. "Stop laughing you two! Don't you realize that I and this boar head are about to die here in a few minutes!" Zenitsu exclaimed with his usual scaredy-cat face. As Tanjiro and Genya got up, they were wiping their tears from laughing so much, "Ahahah aha, ok we'll stop." Tanjiro said as he snickered a bit and Genya chuckled. "I'm so f*cking embarrassed, and in front of Nezuko-chan?!" Zenitsu thought as looked at the redhead and tall teen and looked at Insouke who was suspiciously quiet. 

"Inosuke!" Zenitsu said as Inosuke turned around with a snarl, "What you do want Monitsu?!" Inosuke exclaimed, "Why are you so quiet?!" Zenitsu exclaimed, "Why do you care?!" Inosuke replied back. "Because you're never quiet!" Zenitsu said. "What do you mean by that?! The lord of the mountains will be quiet or loud whenever he so pleases!" Insouke stated. "Ok ok fine! Whatever!" Zenitsu shouted and Inosuke huffed and turned back.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the hill, the judges for the games were still commentating about today's game. "Today's game is the finals for the 2-week-long tournament that we have been having!" Nezuko said joyfully, "Yep! And whoever wins this will get a special prize at the end!" Aoi said as she pointed to a rusty trophy that was sitting on another table next to the couch that Isamu, Emiko, and Akira were sitting on. "Don't we usually do this for fun?" Kanao says to Aoi, "Yeah, but considering how dangerous this game really is, we decided to do the least we can do and rummage through a junkyard to find a trophy to give to our lucky winner." Aoi replied, "We are also joined by special guests everyone!" Nezuko said as she completely ignored to two girls' conversation, "Everybody! Give a round of applause for our guests: Isamu, Akira, and Emiko!" Nezuko added as the two girls who were sitting on the couch yelled hello.

"And now, as we begin our first round, let me tell you what we will be today's game be about." Aoi said as she started to explain how the game works, "Two contestants are to take turns going down a hill in a shopping cart, at soon as they reach the ramp and fly off of it they will try to do as many stunts as they can while trying to land safely on the ground." Aoi said, "The contestants will be judged on their air time, landing, and stunts as I will judge the contestant's air time, Nezuko will judge their landing, and Aoi will judge grade their stunts." Kanao says as she waves a stopwatch in her hand.

"The game will consist of 3 rounds, and whoever wins 2 of the 3 rounds will the deemed as "Kamaboko Champion" until the next Kamaboko games!" Nezuko said, "But if there is a tie, we have decided to have a tie-breaker round that would have a modification to the playing field, and whoever wins will win it all!" Nezuko added as she and the other girls look at the top of the hill.

"And first on our list is Insouke Hashibara!" Aoi said as Inosuke got in a cart while looking proud and confident while being pushed by Genya.

As they got to the beginning of the drop Genya whispered to Inosuke, "Are you ready?" He said, "Hell yeah I am!" Inosuke immediately shouted back, Genya nodded and smirked as he pushed Inosuke down the hill.

"WOOOO!" Inosuke screamed as the rusted cart that was carrying the man squeaked like crazy since the rusty wheels kept twisting and turning as it struggled to maintain a straight path. 

As soon as the cart got to the ramp, it launched off and Kanao started the stopwatch as Inosuke performed various poses and stunts such as standing on top of the handlebars of the cart and letting go of the cart for a quick second, and climbing back on. 

As soon as he hit the ground, Kanao stopped the stopwatch and looked at the time, "5.67 seconds." She thought as Inosuke landed on the pile of mattresses and the cart flew away. Inosuke then immediately got up and went to the judge's table, "What was my score?!" He impatiently asked only to receive a flick to the forehead from Aoi, "Can you calm down?! We're still deciding!" She exclaimed as Inosuke winced in pain, "Ow! I'll get you one-day Panoi!" Inosuke yelled as he ran back up the hill while rubbing his forehead.

"You guys done?!" Tanjiro yelled from the bottom of the hill, he then received a thumbs-up from all of the judges signaling that it was Zenitsu's turn to go next. "And next up, we have Zenitsu Agatsuma!" Nezuko yelled into her mic. Zenitsu was still whimpering out of fear as he slowly got into the cart, "I don't know if I can do this!" Zenitsu said as he and the cart rolled up toward the end of the hill from where he can see the large drop and ramp. "You can do this!" Tanjiro whispered into his ear, which didn't help Zenitsu at all but made him more nervous. "On your mark!" Nezuko yelled from the bottom of the hill, "Get set!" Aoi yelled after her.

As the anxiety built up in Zenitsu he could see his entire life flash before his eyes as he heard Kanao say "Go!", and he and the cart were immediately rolled off the hill and barreling towards the ramp at high speeds.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" He screamed out of pure fear and terror as he curled up into a ball and covered his eyes as he and the cart sped towards the ramp at high speeds. 

As the cart launched off the ramp, it hit a bump as it flew off, therefore launching  Zenitsu forward over the cart rails. But before he fell completely out of the cart, he managed to save himself by grabbing onto the rails and thus performing a handstand on the rails as the cart came flying down.

As the cart crashed down, both Zenitsu and the cart bounced off the mattress and onto the solid ground as Zenitsu was still traumatized about what happened. 

He then got up and touched his face as he screamed, "I'M F*CKING ALIVE!", He then breathed a huge sigh of relief and walked back up the hill as both Genya and Tanjiro went downhill to reclaim their somehow not broken carts.

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After a few minutes of chatter amongst the judges, the boys at the top of the hill and the two girls sitting on the couch anxiously waited for the scores to be said by the judges. 

"Alright! We have the scores set!" Nezuko said as everybody waited for what they had to say, "For this round, our winner is..." Nezuko said as she paused for a brief moment as Aoi spoke, "Inosuke! With a score of 8.72/10!" Aoi said. "HAHA yes!" Inosuke said as he celebrated and gave Genya a high five, Zenitsu sighed as Tanjiro massaged his shoulders, "We have another two rounds to go, you can do this." Tanjiro said as he managed to calm down Zenitsu.

"I guess..." Zenitsu uttered as the judges called up for the next round.

"Next round everybody!" Kanao yelled as Inosuke got into his cart and Genya got into position. "Is everybody ready?!" Yelled Aoi from the table, both Inosuke and Genya nodded as the countdown began.

"3!" Aoi yelled.

"2!" Nezuko yelled.

"1!" Kanao yelled.

"GO!" The girls all shouted in unison as Inosuke was then sent rolling down the hill at high speeds.

He laughed the entire way down the hill as he soon reached the ramp and flew off.

He then made his way toward the front of the cart and locked his feet on the bottom bar of the cart as he hit his chest like a gorilla. He then jumped back in as the cart soon came crashing down and he was launched into the pile of mattresses.

"Haha!" Inosuke said as he got up and ran towards the judge's table, "Did I win?!" He yelled. Aoi again flicked him on the head in anger, "Could you be patient for a second?! Zenitsu didn't even go yet!" Aoi said as she huffed and Inosuke rubbed his forehead and stammered back uphill, meanwhile, Nezuko and Kanao were tallying up the points that he earned, "Air time is about 4.78 seconds." Kanao whispered to Nezuko, "He made at least 15 feet from the landing, and he landed pretty smoothly." Nezuko replied back.

As Inosuke walked back up the hill, Genya met him with a sigh, "If you don't want to get hit by Aoi, then don't just go to the judge's table and ask if you won or not..." Genya said, "You don't get to tell me what to do Penya!" Inosuke replied back at him, Genya sighed at the hopelessness for his friend and looked back at Zenitsu and Tanjiro.

"We have gathered the scores for the first contestant! May the next contestant please step forward!" Nezuko yelled. Zenitsu sighed as started to build up with fear again and his heart started to race. 

As Zenitsu got into the cart, he was still shaking out of pure fear due to him having to go risk his life again for a stupid cart race. Tanjiro noticed that his friend was still panicking and he sighed, he then looked at Nezuko who was smiling brightly, and looked back at his friend. 

An idea popped up in his head as he whispered into Zenitsu's ear, "Hey Zenitsu, I wonder how Nezuko would feel if you lost to Inosuke over there. Surely she won't love someone like you." Tanjiro said, Zenitsu's eyes widen as he raised his head, "I'M NOT LOSING THIS THAT BOAR HEAD OVER THERE! I'LL DO THIS FOR MY NEZUKO-CHAN!" Zenitsu exclaimed as he gained a sudden boost of confidence and Tanjiro chuckled at his friend's sudden burst in confidence.

"Ok, if that's what you want to do," Tanjiro said as he smirked and shrugged, and guided a completely confident Zenitsu over to the end of the hill.

As Zenitsu looked at the drop again, he started to get second thoughts, but he soon dismissed those thoughts and only thought about one thing: "For Nezuko-chan!" 

"Are you ready?!" Nezuko said from the table. Both Tanjiro and Zenitsu nodded as the judges started their countdown.

"3!" Nezuko yelled.

"2!" Kanao yelled.

"1!" Aoi yelled

"GO-" Both Kanao and Nezuko said in unison, but were interrupted by Aoi blowing a whistle.

Tanjiro then pushed Zenitsu off the hill as he and the cart started to speed up, "Where did you get that?" Nezuko asked Aoi, "I'll never tell." Aoi said with an innocent face. "Ok..." Nezuko said as she turned around to see the blonde hair launch off the ramp.

As soon as Zenitsu launched off the ramp, Kanao started the stopwatch as Zenitsu gulped a bit before standing up in the cart.

He then took a breath and performed a backflip as the sun shone behind him. His vibrant yellow eyes glimmered in the light and his bright yellow hair flailed around as his entire body was now encased by a thick shadow due to the sunlight. 

Everybody noticed the glimmer in Zenitsu's eyes, but nobody knew who it was targeted to. Except for Nezuko, who had a light pink tint on her cheeks as Zenitsu caught the handle of the cart and hurdled towards the ground.

Zenitsu then crashed on the mattresses as his cart went flying forward as bounced off the mattresses. 

Zenitsu then got up and felt his body as he did a fist pump celebrating that he was still alive. He then went back up the hill as he and Tanjiro did a high five as Tanjiro and Genya went back down the hill to reclaim their carts.

But unbeknownst to Zenitsu, Nezuko was staring at him as she looked at a proud Zenitsu who was walking back up the hill.

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"That was some stunt you did there Zenitsu!" Genya complimented Zenitsu, "Thanks Genya..." Zenitsu said, "Yeah, that was amazing Zenitsu!" Tanjiro said as he softly punched Zenitsu in the shoulder. "I could've done better!" Inosuke stammered as he showed a slight hint of jealousy according to Tanjiro. "I guess someone's jealous," Tanjiro thought as his thought process was soon interrupted by Nezuko screaming from below.

"Ok, everyone! We have decided our winner for this round!" She yelled. Everybody paid close attention to what Nezuko had to say except for Isamu...

"The winner for this round is Zenitsu Agatsuma!" Nezuko said, "With a score of 9.12/10!" Aoi stated after her friend announced the winner.

"Yes!" Tanjiro said as he gave a fist bump to Zenitsu who also celebrated. 

"Dam it!" Inosuke exclaimed as he started to stop around in anger and frustration, "It's ok Inosuke, you have to expect some competition. After all, you are in the finals..." Genya said as he patted Inosuke's shoulders.

"But I still can't believe that crybaby beat me!" Inosuke exclaimed as he looked at Zenitsu who was still celebrating his victory. "It's ok Inosuke these things happen, but..." Genya said as he looked at Aoi who was talking with Kanao. "Hey, if you win, I heard that Aoi will make you all the tempura and food you want," Genya said as he whispered into Inosuke's ear. Inosuke then immediately brightened up and gained a massive boost in his morale and ego.

"Hey Monitsu, I will beat you, and I will be crowned king of you as I rightfully deserve!"  Inosuke exclaimed as he pointed to Zenitsu, "As if!" Zenitsu replied back as he walked up to Inosuke and looked him straight in the face.

"Hah! Like you can beat me! The all-mighty Inosuke!" Inosuke said as he smashed his face against Zenitsu, "Try me!" Zenitsu said as his face was being smooshed by Inosuke's, they both smirked and walked the other way.

"Time for the next round, contestants!" Nezuko yelled as Inosuke got into the cart a smirked at Zenitsu who also smirked back.

"Contestants are you ready!?" Aoi yelled as she held her whistle. She then received a thumbs-up from Inosuke and Genya. "Good!" Aoi said.

"Ready!" Nezuko yelled.

"Set!" Kanao yelled.

"FWWRRRTT!" A whistle rang out as Inosuke was launched off the hill.

"YEEEEEE!" Inosuke yelled as he leaned forward on the cart which made the cart a bit more faster.

As the cart flung off the ramp, Inosuke grabbed the side rails and performed and handstand. He then jumped off and twirled himself in the air as he landed back in the cart. 

The cart crashed down and Inosuke stayed in it as best as he can as the cart flung off the mattresses and onto the ground. 

"Inosuke!" Aoi yelled, Inosuke flung the cart off of him as he stood up while looking proud. "Haha! That will sure get me the win!" Inosuke said as he approached the table, but just before he was about to do so, he was met with a glare from Aoi. 

Inosuke froze as he then quickly squirmed away and backed up the hill. 

As Inosuke walked up the hill he went to Zenitsu, "Try to beat that!" Inosuke said as Zenitsu huffed at him, "Oh I can! Just wait and see!" Zenitsu said as he got into his cart as the judges finished their scoring.

"May the next contestant please step forward!?" Aoi said as Zenitsu and Tanjiro rolled up to the edge of the hill.

"Are you ready?!" She screamed as she received a thumbs-up from the two.

"Good!" Aoi stated.

"Ready!" Nezuko stated.

"Set!" Kanao said.

"FWWWRRRTT!" Aoi's whistle rang out as Tanjiro pushed Zenitsu off the hill.

"Maybe you should stop using that whistle...I am pretty sure that they can hear you from up there..." Kanao said as she rubbed her ears after listening to the whistle being blown from a few feet away from her ears.

Zenitsu was screaming the entire way down the hill, but not out of fear. He for some reason found this fun as it looked like a spirit possessed him which caused him to have this sudden boost in confidence and competitiveness. 

As the cart got to the ramp and launched Zenitsu, he stood up in the cart and put one hand on the rails as he thrust himself into the air and performed a multitude of flips and turns.

As the cart came down, Zenitsu tried to grab ahold of the handlebar, but his grip slipped as he was sent crashing down into the mattresses and the cart went flying into the ground.

The crash was pretty hard but thanks to the mattress Zenitsu was able to leave unscathed.

As Zenitsu got up and walked towards the hill, he looked and glared at Inosuke who glared back at him. 

"I may regret this..." Both Tanjiro and Genya thought after looking at their friends who were now in a complete state of competitiveness.

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"Really? Wow." Nezuko said to Aoi who gave her the results, Aoi nodded, "I'm pretty surprised about it too." She replied.