Half-Demon! Tanjiro AU

Chapter Ten: The Battle of The Jaguar Demon

Warnings: Blood, some gore, child abuse, and angst
Word Count: 7919

  After the unfortunate events at the noodle shop, Douma had carried a sleeping Enmu home in his arms. He was confused by the aching feeling inside his belly. It felt like something was gnawing him on the inside. Despite how much this feeling hurt, Douma wanted to know more. He wanted to understand it. He wanted to feel it.
  Thus after he laid Enmu down into his futon-that was in his room of the Infinity Castle-Douma instantly went looking for Tanjiro. Luckily, it didn't take too long to find him. Tanjiro was surprisingly still in the Infinity Castle and was in the new kitchen, cooking some strange stew.
  "Hey, young king." Douma tried putting on a cheerful smile. "How have you been? I hope that the others haven't given ya a hard time." Tanjiro turned to look at him with a sweet smile. "Oh, hey Douma. I've been fine. A bit tired, but fine. The others seem to be pretty awkward around me though.."
  Douma put a hand to his hip. "Oh, don't worry! They'll warm up to you eventually!" Tanjiro then made a soft, relieved rumble. "I hope so..By the way, is Enmu okay? He seems to be more aggressive and quiet than usual." Douma sighed heavily, resting his head in his hand. "He..just found out something rather..devastating."
  A small yelp came from Tanjiro as he completely turned around. "What happened?" Douma scratched his neck. "Well..turns out..Muzan used to drug him. I don't really know the reason why, but he used Opium Poppies to do so." Tanjiro gritted his teeth and growled. "I've never met someone so evil. Maybe he drugged him to manipulate him?" Douma nervously shrugged. "I have no clue. He did seem to be very loyal, so drugging him just doesn't seem to make any sense."
  Tanjiro turned back to the stew with an angry huff. "Maybe he's going through withdrawal. That would explain his aggression." Douma nodded, agreeing, "That and blind loyalty." Tanjiro nodded. "He really did mistreat you all, didn't he?" Douma shrugged. "I guess you could say that.." He knew he was no better. Douma knew that he had committed similar evil sins.
  "Hey..young king, mind if I ask you something?"  Tanjiro looks at him. "Of course. Whatever you need." Douma stretched his arm out and sighed. "I need to talk to someone, but I would like you to go with me. I just don't want things to get too ugly between us." Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, taking the stew pot off the heated portion of the gas stove. This kitchen was a newly installed "System Kitchen", which made everything able to be made while standing up. "Who might that person be? If you don't mind me asking."
  Douma ran his claws through his long, platinum blonde hair. "It's Inosuke.." Tanjiro stopped in his tracks and looked at him cautiously. "Are you sure he's going to listen to you?" He seemed to be genuinely sympathetic. Tanjiro knew that if Douma was really trying to reach out, something was clearly happening within him
  "Probably not, but I want to try to apologize. I don't know why, but there's a gnawing feeling inside of me. It's strange and it hurts, but I really do want to understand it." Tanjiro looked at him and gave him a small smile. "He may not forgive you, but he may want to start something new with you if you're really trying to change." Douma nodded eagerly. "I am! I really am..I want to understand the things you feel.."
  Tanjiro picked up a wooden serving spoon and started scooping the soup into a plethora of bowls. "That's good. We'll leave once I'm done giving this out to everyone." Douma sniffed the air and made a happy yap, not caring about masking. "That smells great! What is it exactly?" Tanjiro purred with appreciation. "It's Nikujaga. Aoi actually showed me the recipe."
  Douma tilted his head with a warm smile. "I haven't had that in a long time.." He could remember when he was really young, back when his parents were still alive. Douma remembered that his mother used to make that exact same stew for him. It was his favorite..back when he truly could feel joy. Come to think of it, there was a section of his life that he couldn't remember.
  "Hey, Douma. Do you know when or how you lost your emotions? You do seem to have some knowledge of them, so it seems like you lost them rather then not having them at all." Tanjiro seemed to be on the same page as Douma. "Well, you're right. I used to have emotions when I was really young. However, there's a strange gap in my memory. Then, I never felt emotion again, not until you revived me anyway. Yet even then, there are exceptions." Douma made a dissatisfied rumble.
   Tanjiro turned to look at him as he finished putting the soup in the bowls. "Don't worry. We'll help you understand them." Douma smiled at him. "Heh, thank you, Lord Tanjiro." Tanjiro returned the smile as he caught the scent of someone else entering the kitchen. "Oh hey, Mister Kokushibo!" He turned to see the six-eyed demon with a wicker basket in his arms. There seemed to be many different snacks in it as well as colorful paper and a small watermelon.
  "Good evening..Kamado..I'm about to leave..to go visit someone." Tanjiro beamed with excitement. "Douma and I are also leaving to visit someone. Would you like to come with us? I could show you how to get to wherever you need to go." Kokushibo put a hand to his chin and shrugged, knowing that he didn't know how to get to his desired destination. "I don't see..why not."
  Tanjiro smiled and purred as he put all the bowls onto a tray. "Don't worry about each one of us individually." Kokushibo said, putting a hand on Tanjiro's shoulder. "Muzan was able to communicate..with us telepathically. You might be able..to do the same." Tanjiro raised an eyebrow. "How would I do that?" He asked with a curious tone.
  "Oh! Oh! Just think of talking to the others and come up with what you would say to them!" Douma said excitedly. Kokushibo nodded. "That's basically all there is to it." Tanjiro closed his eyes and imagined a scenario where he was standing in front of all the half-demons. "Hello everyone! I actually made some stew for all of you. I have to leave with Kokushibo and Douma, so the stew is in the kitchen." He originally didn't expect to hear anything back..
  "Guess you must've figured out how to communicate with us telepathically, huh?" Akaza's voice rang through his head. "Woah.." Tanjiro almost felt dizzy from sudden overstimulation. "It's alright, young king. You'll get used to it." He heard Aizetsu say, reassuringly. "Yeah! Thanks for letting us know though!" Urogi chirped happily as always. "You're..welcome.." Tanjiro shook his head, hoping to get the telepathy to stop.
  "Sorry..I didn't mean..to cause you..any distress.." Kokushibo said, slight guilt in his voice. "It's fine, Mister Kokushibo. You were just trying to help." Tanjiro gave him a soft, weak smile. He could already smell the other half-demons heading into their direction. "We should probably go. Some fresh air might help you!" Douma said with a grin.
  Tanjiro put a hand on his head and nodded. "Yeah..that's probably for the best." Kokushibo and Douma joined Tanjiro's side as all three of them made their way out of the Infinity Castle.
  Once outside, Tanjiro took a deep breath to clear his mind. "Feeling..any better?" Kokushibo asked. Tanjiro nodded his head. Then, a strange scent caught his attention. He swerved his head over to where the scent was coming from.
  Hidden in the darkness, tossed into the bushes, was a metal jar. It reeked of a foul odor that Tanjiro recognized from the many battles he had fought with other demons. He picked up the jar and gagged like a cat. "Hm? What is that?" Douma asked, tilting his head. "It's..blood. Muzan's blood.." Both Kokushibo and Douma widened their eyes in surprise. "Some of it..survived?" Tanjiro nodded before gagging again.
  "Why would he keep this? It reeks!" Tanjiro asked, wincing in discomfort. "He used to..experiment on his blood..Muzan wanted to..find out its limitations..." Douma put a hand to his mouth, holding himself back from laughing. "You must have a really strong nose, huh?" Tanjiro weakly nodded. "Do you want me to take it inside?" A strange voice said from above.
  All three of them looked upwards to see Gyokko in the trees. His vase was lodged into a tangle of branches. "Oh, hey Gyokko!" Douma waved with a friendly smile. "What are you doing here?" Gyokko chuckled. "Just getting back to have some dinner. I received your message, so I came in a hurry."
  Kokushibo made a soft growl, seemingly untrusting of Gyokko. "Why..do you suppose..we keep it?"  Gyokko tilted his head. "Well if we just throw it out, someone might be able to find it and use it." Tanjiro nodded. "He has a good point." Kokushibo squinted his eyes. "Fine..Give it to the biwa lady..She will know the best place..to hide it.." Gyokko made a dissatisfied rumble. "Alright. Will do."
  Tanjiro quickly gave Gyokko the jar of blood, seemingly happy to get rid of it. Gyokko took it, dove into his pot, and rolled off the branch and into the Infinity Castle. "Let's not waste..anymore time." Kokushibo looked up to the sky. It was slowly turning a fiery orange. "It's getting..late." Both Tanjiro and Douma nodded. "Alright!" Tanjiro said. "Let's go!"