The Days That Must Happen

ARC IV - ACT VI

a/n; got my heart broken so back to this 🤯

"BREAKING NEWS;"

"look baby, daddy is gonna be on TV!"

"just in, the suspects for the kidnapping and murder of various gang members have been identified and taken into custody today."

father was never a fighter, that's what mother said, which is why i always wondered why he was on TV all the time following violent attacks. and mother was never a screamer, which is why i wondered why her voice was always loud. my parents always told me i'd be stuck in this town and never be an artist, which is why i became a world known artist and author.

my family is merely a bloodline of hypocrites.

"(name), an author known for their popular manga book Kimetsu No Yaiba, is being charged with public order offenses after having thrown a sofa over the railing of their apartment complex in Shibamata during the late hours of the night just yesterday!" an older man read out the news today, not the typical younger lady with a cute crooked smile. "reporter Isoko on site to tell us more about the incident."

seated on different spots of the wooden floor, the group of colorful characters conversed civilly.

"i'm hungry." uzui sighed, draping an arm over his face. "when did the author say they would return?"

taking a look over her shoulder towards the door, shinobu shrugged. "they said they'd be right back, it must be well over an hour since they walked out."

"who even were those people?" tanjiro asked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. his back hurt almost as much as his head did, he wasn't one to get in a bad mood often, but he was growing incredibly hungry and he was certain nezuko wasn't any better.

"police?" rengoku tilted his head. "i mean, they had uniform on that seemed more complex than our police, but similar nonetheless. i also cant think of anyone else who would have that type of authority."

"whoever they are, they need to let the author come back and give us some food." tengen sighed, throwing his head back with a groan.

from his spot on the floor, himejima hummed, thumbing a large bead mindlessly. "their name." he said simply and softly.

though it was enough to catch the attention of Rengoku, who turned to him with curious eyes. "sorry, what was that himejima-san?" he addressed his college respectfully.

the older man turned his head upwards, blank eyes staring nowhere. "their name. we never learnt the author's name."

sanemi scoffed. "who cares."

"i care." mitsuri frowned at him. "and you're completely right! we've never even stopped to learn their name!"

"i mean it's not like we've had much of an opportunity to stop and get to know them that way." shinobu sighed, closing her eyes as she tried to ignore the grumble in her stomach. "we've arrived here, fought a demon without our weapons, ran around a new world and had the author arrested in the span of two days."

inosuke grumbled, jumping up to his feet, smoke emitting from the nostrils of his mask. "i'm hungry!" he shouted.

the group watched as the younger four ran around to try and calm the wild boy, none of the pillars bothering to stand and aid in the chase. after only a moment, tanjiro and zenitsu on his back trying to weigh him down, inosuke stopped and pointed at shinobu. "if there's no food in here, let's go out and hunt!"

"are you insane?! what if we get lost?!" zenitsu screeched. "it's best to wait for the author to return!"

as the little wrestling match continued, shinobu turned to rengoku. "and what if we did go look for food?" she hummed in thought.

he stared right back, arms crossed over his chest. "perhaps there's a stall somewhere nearby that sells something. how far could we possibly be?"

"it was a pretty long trip up here in that transportation chamber..." obanai grunted, his thumb mindlessly pulling and stroking on the rough fabric of his uniform.

rengoku hummed in thought, spacing out for a moment before getting snapped back into reality by the screeching of tanjiro - a victim that had gotten pulled further into the wrestling match that had, for the most part, been between inosuke and zenitsu.

"as long as we remember our way back we should be fine." he concluded with a nod, quickly having a look out one of the many bare windows. bright sunlight reflected on healthy green grass. "we can split the group in two. one will go out and look and the other will stay in."

shinobu sighed. the grumbling of her stomach would never allow her to deny even the off chance that they find a meal. "i'll stay behind i think. it's too early for me to go on a hike on an empty stomach."

"i'll stay back with nezuko, inosuke and zenitsu!" tanjiro shot his hand up when able to escape the two bodies sandwiching him. "nezuko is too hungry to be traveling around and the change of scenery will stress these two out..."

"eh?!" inosuke screeched. jumping away from his friends as if they were bugs. "no! i want to go hunt too!"

"we're not going hunting, idiot" tengen rolled his eyes as he brushed past the boy towards the door. "we're buying food. and it probably is best you stay in, who knows what kind of scene you'll cause." he finished, looking back at the boy with a bored frown.

before the young teen could have a chance at exploding a reply, mitsuri jumped into the conversation. "i'll probably stay behind, see what we can do with the furniture and garden here, what about you, himejima-san?"

"i'll stay. the change in scenery is too drastic, i'll only get in the way."

nodding, rengoku turned to giyuu and muichiro.

"i'll go with you." giyuu announced, turning to his younger colleague he hummed. "not to offend you, but i do believe you should stay here with the others, muichiro-san."

the younger hashira tilted his head but did not question the male. opting to turn and take a seat beside the ever quiet nezuko.

"that leaves you two." rengoku turned to obanai and sanemi, both of whom had been surprisingly quiet.

the white haired male sighed, arms crossed over his chest. "i'll go with you two. god knows if i don't you'll pick something awful to eat."

"nonsense!" mitsuri laughed. "rengoku eats like a king!"

"rengoku would eat a bowl of bugs if he were hungry enough." the male chuckled, knowing his comment was nothing but good fun.

the target of the joke chuckled and turned to the last male. he, who too sighed when attention turned to him.

"yeah i'll go with you guys."

"perfect!" rengoku cheered. "so tengen, giyuu, sanemi, obanai and i will go find some food while the rest of you stay here!"

"we'll let the author know where you guys went off to if they arrive before you're back." shinobu nodded. "please take care and be cautious of your surroundings."

tengen snorted. "yeah, yeah, mom." throwing his arms over his head in a stretch, he walked to the front door and swung it open enthusiastically. having to bend just the slightest to get over the frame. "we'll be back soon!"

the girl rolled her eyes in response.