Giyū and Shinobu vs. Dōma

Chapter 1: The Final Battle Begins

Taishō 5, January 2

Butterfly Mansion

A few hours before sunrise on the second morning of Taishō 5, eighteen-year-old Kochō Shinobu was standing at the front gate of the Butterfly Mansion, dressed in her Kisatsu-tai uniform with her Nichirin-tō sheathed at her left hip. Ever since twelve-year-old Kamado Nezuko became the first oni to withstand sunlight back in November, all of the Kitsatu-taishi have been on high alert, knowing that their final showdown against Kibutsuji Muzan and the Jūnikizuki was coming. So, even though the Mushibashira was just out here waiting for someone, she had to be ready.

Eventually, Shinobu noticed twenty-one-year-old Tomioka Giyū walking up the road towards her as he came from the direction of the nearby village, and she smiled at the Mizubashira.

"Oh, Tomioka-san!" The Mushibashira exclaimed cheerfully. "You came!"

"You wanted to discuss something with me, Kochō?" Giyū asked, having received a message from her earlier that night via Kasugai Crow asking him to come to the Butterfly Mansion.

"Straight to the point, huh?" Shinobu sighed. "Tomioka-san, this is why nobody likes you."

"I'm not disliked," the Mizubashira replied flatly.

"Well, it's considered respectful to say hello when you see someone and ask them how they're doing," the Mushibashira informed him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Giyū said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, thank you, and you?"

"I'm fine," the Mizubashira replied. "Anyways, what did you want to talk about, Kochō?"

"Let's talk about it inside," Shinobu suggested, turning away from Giyū and gesturing towards the Butterfly Mansion. The Mizubashira nodded and they headed through the gate. Before they could get very far, however, a Kasugai Crow flew past them in a hurry.

"Emergency summons!!" The black-feathered bird cawed. Giyū and Shinobu froze and turned back to look at the talking corvid. "Emergency summons!! An attack on Ubuyashiki Mansion!! An attack on Ubuyashiki Mansion!!"

"I guess we'll have to talk later..." the Mushibashira said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Right," the Mizubashira agreed.

Not wasting a second, they took off after the Kasugai Crow, heading off to the house where the family that had led the Kisatsu-tai since the very beginning lived. The time for their final battle against Muzan had finally come, and it seemed that their leader had been caught at its epicenter.

滅

Taishō 5, January 2

Unspecified Location

Giyū and Shinobu raced through the forest as fast as they could to get to the Ubuyashiki Mansion to protect Oyakata-sama and his family. Ubuyashiki Kagaya's youngest three children were back at the Butterfly Mansion, but he was still at the Ubuyashiki Mansion along with his wife Amane and their eldest two children. For the last few centuries, the Kisatsu-tai had been careful to keep the location of the Ubuyashiki family a secret from the oni, but now they had been found out.

BOOM

The Mizubashira and Mushibashira stopped dead in their tracks as a massive explosion went off a few hundred meters ahead of them, eyes wide with horror. The Ubuyashiki Mansion was in that direction, that exact spot even, but now there was a blazing inferno where it was supposed to be.