ABLAZE | demon slayer

vii.

it was a restful two weeks after tsuzumi mansion. [name] sighed to herself as she braided nezuko's hair. the young demoness was humming happily, likely smiling beneath her bamboo muzzle. yoriichi was sat in front of the two, sharpening his blade. a loud "kraw" startled the three of them, causing them to turn as tanjirō held an arm out for his crow.

as he talked to the crow, a feeling of dread settled in [name]'s stomach. she shared a glance with her father figure. this was going to be the first lower moon encounter of the series. she swallowed thickly before tuning back in to what tanjirō was saying.

"mount natagumo?" he asked, eyes dotted.

"yes, there have been many slayers going missing! it is up to you, cawwwmado tanjirō, agatsuma zenitsu, hashibira inosuke, and tsugikuni [name] to find out why. caw!" the crow, well, crowed.

as zenitsu panicked, [name] rolled her eyes. she quickly finished braiding nezuko's hair before letting the younger girl crawl into her box. pushing herself to her feet, the tsugikuni grabbed her uniform and took off to the restroom to change. she easily slid into the clothes, relaxing slightly at the familiar weight of her sun-patterned haori.

"are we ready?" she asked as she walked back into the room where they had been staying. the boys were all dressed and zenitsu was still crying. she deadpanned at the blond's snot-covered face.

"yes, we are, [name]," tanjirō answered. "let's go."

with that, the four slayers (five, if yoriichi counted) headed outside, where the old lady who had taken care of them was standing. she had a kind smile on her wrinkled face, her gray-white hair pulled into a neat bun.

"we'll be going now! thank you for your care." the burgundy-haired boy smiled as the old woman copied his bow.

"i shall light some sparks for you..." she trailed off, beginning to hit the rock with the ELEPHANT.

"thank you very much!"

"what are you doing you old hag!!" inosuke suddenly shouted as tanjirō held him back. [name] watched with dotted eyes as zenitsu explained the process. the boys fell silent as the old woman began to speak again.

"no matter what may happen, please live your lives with your head held high. i wish you luck on your coming battles." the four began walking off after bowing (tanjirō, [name], and zenitsu, that is) once more.

"heads held high? luck for our coming battles? what does that mean?" inosuke asked cluelessly.

tanjirō hummed in thought before answering, "actually, now that i think about it, this seems like a pretty difficult thing to achieve...living with our heads held high...it means that we should truly try to understand our current standing, and upon this standing, we must devise and follow the correct course of action, without any fear or shame or embarrassment...i think. this is the old lady's way of praying for our safety."

"what's a standing? what do you mean "without shame"? why is the old hag praying for us anyway?" inosuke fired off questions, not giving them time to answer.

[name] sighed. "just—don't think about it, inosuke."

•••

upon reaching the foot of the mountain, zenitsu began freaking out. as he screamed about how scary the mountain looked, the girl watched the forest carefully. it wouldn't be long before they met rui, lower moon five. perhaps twenty or so minutes? as cute as rui was, he had slaughtered countless innocents. still...he was a child. this would also be where tanjirō began using sun breathing.

sighing, she shook her head and tuned out the conversation. the sight of a demon slayer stumbling out of the woods before collapsing hard her freezing. it was starting, then...