A Hashira's Demon

Enter the Mugen Train pt. 1

As Rengoku made it to the train station later that night, he couldn't help but detect any demon in sight. All he heard was a woman and child nearby, waiting for customers to walk near their shop, hearing about possible demons lurking around at night.

"Grandma," the child spoke up. "You know there's no such thing as demons."
"You don't know that." the grandmother spoke, "I've seen them happen once in my youth."
"Now, you're only making it up. They don't exist."
"And why do you say that??" Rengoku asked curiously, looking at the girl directly.

The daughter looked at him, wondering what this man was talking about. Rengoku continued.

"I'm sure that the demon would find that offensive if they heard that you say that."

He then looked at the grandmother, still unfazed by his bluntness.

"Have you seen any demon incidents this evening, ma'am?"

Without her saying a word, the daughter stood between her and Rengoku, unable to let him hear what she had to say.

"How... how dare you speak such lies to my grandmother like that?! We haven't seen anything out here tonight!"
"I'm glad. If you did, you wouldn't be holding still from tonight."

Enraged, the daughter tried to shoo him away, but the grandmother, gentle, yet kind, placed her hand on the daughter.

"My apologies on my dear, grandchild." she apologized to Rengoku, "She seems too young to understand about demons."
"I understand that. Just note. Not all demons are deadly as you may have seen before, ma'am."
"They aren't?"
"Of course not. I have encountered two demons who haven't harmed a fly, much less than a human before. However, this particular demon is known to harm people, but rest assured, no harm will ever come to you and your grandmother. I will ensure that."
"How?"
"For starters, I'm sure you have some box lunches you have on sale, yes?"
"Yes? Why?"
"I would like to buy all of them! That way, you two can return safely to your homes for the night."
"Wait. All of them??"

In seconds, everything was wrapped and placed in purses to prepare to go for his journey.

"Are you sure you want to take them all??"
"Of course. You must be needing some money in order to survive, yes? Then, we will help you by buying all of them. Akatsuki..."
"Sir!"
"Take these to the remaining members. They must be hungry after what they've been through."
"Right... but what about you?"
"I'll be going now in the train to find out about this mysterious demon."
"But... won't you need back up, sir?"
"Nonsense! There's no demon I cannot handle here."
"Right... I'll uh... get these ready to the corps."
"Farewell, my friend. And get home safe, merchant people!"

At that moment, he entered the train and went to meet this mysterious slasher demon. Meanwhile, as the grandmother and daughter were on their way to go home, the grandmother felt something off.

"We should go now, my child. Something feels off."
"Right..."

Before she left with her grandmother, she looked back at the man again.

"Not all demons are deadly as you may have seen..."
"What did he mean by that?" she thought to herself, recalculating the thoughts of this mysterious man.

As the two walked towards their home a few feet apart, something did feel off: as if a presence was different than before. Was it a good feeling or a bad feeling? No one could tell. As they reached a corner, a demon was about to pounce at the daughter when a strange being blocked the child with its sword, keeping her safe. It was me, who noticed them nearby

"Just who are you?"
"Just get home safe." I ordered. "I'll deal with this."

Without asking another question, she ran towards her grandmother, unable to tell her what she saw. I used my sword and prepared to strike the demon.

"Blood Demon Art: Lunar Strike!!"

It sliced the demon in half, making him unable to heal instantly, thanks to that demon slayer's sword bits covered on my sword. Placing the sword away, I looked at the daughter, who had barely left my sight, unsure what I am. With a smile, I walked towards her.

"Are... are you a-"
"No." I answered, ruffling her hair a bit, "Just... think of me as an angel. Who will come to your rescue when you least expect it."
"An... angel?"

She was about to ask another question when she heard her grandmother calling her from a distance. The daughter then turned back to thank the stranger, but I was already gone. Out of her sight, at least. Meanwhile, I sat on the rooftops, glancing at her from a distance beyond. Knowing well that this Mugen train business will come in time, I had to change his fate no matter what happens.

"He will die... whether your hands or another..."

Shaking my head in disbelief, I knew this cannot be true. However, I could not allow this fate to happen at all. I had to save him. No matter what.

*****

Meanwhile, at another location, Rengoku made it to the train shed, spotting the Mugen Train itself.

"So this must be the Mugen Train. How majestic." He praised, but looked to the side as a train conductor was nearby.
"You aren't allowed over here, you know? This area is off limits."
"Pardon me, but I come from the Train Company, providing you lunch for you and your workers."
"Is that right?" He thought out loud as he called out to his workers, "Hey guys, lunch!"

 Minutes later, as the food is being distributed, Rengoku had to ask questions about the condition of the train and why it was seated in the shed and not out in the tracks.

"From what you may have heard, there's been some kind of mysterious murders happening in the train that many people were afraid things would happen. Because of this, we have been ordered to check its conditions to see if we can help out, but so far, we've found no such detail. And since there's no problem, the higher ups decided to have it back on track tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night?"
"Yes, if only we knew why, we would've found it already..."

Rengoku, glared at the train in question as he observed its majestic frontal area.

"I see."

Just then, a scream was heard from the back of the shed, making the workers and Rengoku look at the direction of the cries.

"A DEMON!" his crow cried out, "THERE'S A DEMON HERE!!"

Without a minute to spare, he ran towards the back to see a demon, holding a human hostage. He was about to end his life by giving him demon blood.

"Let go of him, demon. I'm giving you one warning."