Sister of the snake - Tanjiro X Reader

CHAPTER 35

A/N: Sorry that I kind of sped past this part, I've been lacking in motivation and I want to get to the fighting soon-ish.

I quickly covered my mouth in case I had said it out loud. Nobody looked at me, but that didn't mean that they didn't hear. 'Hopefully they didn't hear me call him nii, because otherwise I've got a lot of explaining to do.'

"It's arms... why are there six?"

Tanjiro asked.

"It's arms? Well, according to dad, this doll is modeled after an actual swordsman."

The kid answered. I didn't even know the kid's name, but I didn't care though. 'Yoriichi-nii, that much is evident.'

"They had to give it six arms, or they couldn't replicate his movements."

"So why is it so weak...?"

I asked, before slapping myself. 'How could I say that out loud?'

"Huh? Did you say weak??"

The kid asked, whirling towards me at seemingly the speed of light.

"N-no, I just meant that Muichiro is completely dominating him, and Tokito-kun is not the strongest hashira!! Not nearly! A-and..."

'And the demon slayer it's based off of is much stronger than that doll. But, of course, I can't say that! Because they don't know that I'm the reincarnation of Y/N Tsugikuni.'

"So who is this person? What exactly did he do?"

Tanjiro asked. 'Nothing much, he only nearly killed Muzan, then nearly killed upper moon 1, who just so happened to be his brother, literally stomped a swordsman master without ever having touched a sword before. Yeah, nothing much.'

"Sorry, I don't know the details either... but it dates back to the Sengoku era."

'The Sengoku era, he says. Yup, it is one million percent Yoriichi-nii.'

"S-Sengoku??? You mean it's more than three hundred years old??? How has it not broken after all this time???"

"It's construction is so superb that we can't hope to achieve that level even now. So if it breaks, we can't fix it anymore..."

I gave him a sympathetic look. At this rate, Muichiro would snap off at least one arm, maybe more. The Muichiro's crow started bragging about Muichiro being 'the descendant of users of Sun Breathing'. 'Yeah, tell me something I don't know.' I thought, but kept it to myself. I heard the kid introduce himself as Kotetsu.

And yeah, as I kept watching, Muichiro did indeed chip off some of the face of the doll. Seeing that, Kotetsu ran away to cry in a tree, probably, and Tanjiro followed him, but I kept watching the Mist Hashira.

Then Muichiro actually ripped off one of the doll's arms and walked past Kotetsu and Tanjiro before telling the 10-year-old that he was taking one of the doll's swords since his broke. 'Sounds like a skill issue.' I thought, watching him brag. 'That's doll's such a poor imitation of Yoriichi, even Zenitsu or Inosuke could rip off an arm.'

Then Muichiro threw his broken sword at Tanjiro and demanded that he dispose of it. While I could see on his expression that there was no malice behind his actions, it did anger me that he was abusing Tanjiro's kindness. Although, the crow, who had huffing and probably laughing at Tanjiro, was one million percent malicious.

Kotetsu ran towards me, where the doll was lying on the ground. He seemed heartbroken to see the doll in such a battered state, and my heart almost shattered for the poor kid. Right on cue, rain started pouring down on the doll and the kid alike. The rain soaked my clothes, leaving them baggy.

"Kotetsu-kun. Let's just make sure. It might still be able to move."

Tanjiro said. Kotetsu's head snapped up in hope, and I helped the two lift the Yoriichi doll to a standing position. For a second the doll didn't move.

"Not moving... so I guess it's..."

Before Tanjiro could finish his sentence, the doll got in a fighting position. The position was similar to what Yoriichi's fighting stance was, except it had been slightly modified due to the doll having, you know, six fucking arms.

"Yes!!"

Tanjiro called out.

"It's moving, Kotetsu-kun!! Good for-"

"It is, Tanjiro-san. Now train. Please. Become stronger than that shitty indifferent jerk...!!! I'll help you with all I've got...!!"

Kotetsu's face was scary when he said that to Tanjiro.

Minor Timeskip:

After Kotetsu had set Tanjiro up to train with the Yoriichi doll (who was holding wooden sticks so that Tanjiro wouldn't die), and after he told me and Tanjiro about that weird moving-the-fingers-like-a-wooden-puzzle-box-to-make-the-doll-stronger thing, the swordsmith kid started dragging me somewhere. When I asked him where we were going, he shushed me.

"Come on, kid, stop dragging me like this. Just tell me where we're going."

"It's a surprise!!"

Kotetsu seemed to be happy to be showing me something. I was glad to see that he had gotten over Muichiro ripping off one of the doll's arms. Of course, I'd never tell him. With a bitter smile, I could imagine Kotetsu's face if I took my mask off. He'd be horrified.  Tanjiro had told me that it didn't matter, but he didn't understand. He didn't know the pain of people considering you a freak. And I was happy that way. I didn't want him to understand, because for him to understand, he'd have to go through the same thing as me.

When we finally got where Kotetsu was leading me, my jaw literally dropped. Another doll. Based off of me. Like yes, I was pretty strong in my past life, maybe a bit stronger than Yoriichi, but I didn't expect a doll based off of me!

When Kotetsu said that I reminded him of the doll and he didn't know why because it was built at the same era as the one based off of Yoriichi, I had to play dumb. I then found out how absolutely terrible I was at playing dumb. He was suspicious of me, but didn't say anything.

The doll had eight arms. Two more than the Yoriichi doll. And the fingers were like wooden puzzle boxes, just like the Yoriichi one. So he put it to the highest setting and let me fight it with the sword Haganezuka forged for me.

It was not an overstatement to say that the doll beat me up within less than a second. I, although begrudgingly, had to admit that this doll was as strong as the me from the Sengoku Era.

Not even the 4th form (wheel of ice) could make a dent in the doll (who I figured out was called Y/N 1.0). And I got the same treatment as Tanjiro, meaning that he didn't give me food or water until I impressed him. Since I ate even less often than my brother, food wasn't a problem. But water was. I only survived the four days because of rain.

"Come on, Y/N-dono!!!! Are you the Ice Hashira or are you not??!!! Beat this doll already!!!!"

Kotetsu was great at analysing, but he was foul-mouthed and a terrible teacher. But of course, I took his words to heart. 'Right. I'm the Ice Hashira, Y/N. I'm not sure if I should call myself Iguro or Tsugikuni, but it doesn't matter. If I can't surpass my past self, I'll never be able to kill Muzan!'

I activated my Transparent World, hoping to be able to spot any weaknesses in the doll. Instead, I saw something interesting inside the doll. 'My katana...'

I needed to get it. So, I jumped in the air, then activated a breathing style as I fell on top of the doll.

"Total Concentration, Ice Breathing, 2nd Form: Frozen Flash Flood!!"

2nd Form: Frozen Flash Flood. This is a form to minimize the impact from falling down, it's also good for striking the ground with intense force. The user brings the sword down diagonally, stabbing the ground. This technique uses inhuman speed.