°ᴅɪᴄʟᴏɴɪᴜꜱ°

17: Vanish

"This is where Satoko vanished."

Blankly staring at the pavement, Tanjiro wandered about glancing around the area.

"You may not believe me..." Kazumi muttered, awaiting your responses.

Tanjiro with his eyebrows furrowed, swiftly turned his body around to look at the man before him.

"I believe you!" Tanjiro sternly said, turning back around and quickly placing both hands down on the ground, nearing his face.

Kazumi hesitantly reached out, both confused and worried for the boy you're accompanying. Raisig an eyebrow, you questioned him.

"Don't go licking the floor now...-" you quietly muttered to yourself.

Tanjiro sniffed the floor, using his most heightened sense.

There's certainly a demonic scent lingering around here, but it's uneven so to speak...

"This is strange, (Y/n)-chan." He said.

"Hm? How come?" You asked, inching closer to him.

"There's a demonic scent here, yet it fades in and out..." you slowly nodded your head, pretending to care-

Unknowingly to the two of you, Kazumi at the back slowly lifted a hand up to reach his face, caressing the bruise on his left cheek. Tears were about to come out again, as he had flashbacks of what happened to him.

°•°•°

After hours of Tanjiro sniffing the ground like a dog and demon-hunting and exchanging words like "i want you to believe me" then "i believe you" the three of you came to a point that it's already gotten late.

"I think the demon's gonna come out now, after all, it's dark already." You spoke up, yawning and stretching your arms.

"That's right. Those things are only active at night. I've picked up a new scent somewhere around here. It must be nearby." Tanjiro said, glancing to his right.

Kazumi crouched down, flabbergasted.

"Those things... don't tell me... you're really...-" he cut himself off.

°•°•°

"How terrifying..."

"I want you to stay indoors for the time being."

"Yes, mother. Now then, good night."

The doors slid open, revealing a young girl. Walking back to her own room, unsuspectingly, a black puddle had already formed on the wooden floor behind her, closely following her.

Changing her clothes and getting ready for bed, she let herself slip into her bed. Staring up to the ceiling, she blinked.

"I wonder what kinds of girls that were taken... I hope they're alright." She spoke before fully closing her eyes, not opening them once to see the already huge hole forming around her, and two hands readying themselves to bring her down.

°•°•°

Tanjiro gasped, shooting himself up from the ground in panic. He quickly hurried off in some direction, surprising both you and Kazumi.

"T-tanjiro!"

"What's gotten into you?!" Kazumi tried to ask.

You furrowed your eyebrows, placing a hand down on Kazumi's shoulder.

"Y'know, it's not really safe for you to stay out here, even though you're definitely not a little girl..." you grinned, causing him to stare at you, confused.

"But I know you want to save your beloved, so I'll take you in on a little trip." You leaned in closer, "it'll be our little secret... okay?" You whispered.

You caught the uncomfortable look on his face, causing you to sweatdrop.

Aight, I don't care anymore. I'll show these peasants how powerful I am!!

"Readyy!" You shouted, shooting a vector out to grab Kazumi by the waist and quickly hoistering the two of you up in the air.

"H-help-!!" He shouted, panicking. You laughed at his miserable state.

"It's okay pal! It's just me, we're gonna get there safe n' sound!" Grinning, you sped towards the area where Tanjiro suddenly ran off to, with an almost passing out Kazumi trailing behind by the air.

Reaching the destination, you dropped Kazumi off.

"Stay here." You ordered him. Kazumi nodded, watching you run up to Tanjiro who had his sword ready.

"Ey, what's up?" You casually asked, Tanjiro not being bothered by the fact that you were very calm in this situation. You'd always been like that since the very beginning, after all.

"A demon and a little girl, they're here somewhere!" He said. You hummed, eyes searching around the area.

"Yeah, my hairs are rising up, there's definitely some stupid entity in here." You snickered, raising a foot up.

"The spot where the scent is strongest..." you slammed your foot down, of course not dealing any damage, looking at Tanjiro.

"Here, right?" His eyes met yours, before nodding and preparing his sword. Raising it up, he prepared to let his sword plunge directly into the ground. Quickly pushing the blade down, it embedded itself into the pavement, something black suddenly engulfing you two.

Your eyes widened, head snapping to a fabric vibrantly presenting itself in the muddy water- thing.

Your vectors shot out, a hand ripping the fabric away and jumping back outside. You glanced to your right, seeing Tanjiro already holding the unconscious female in his arms.

Panting, you snapped your head back towards the black puddle, a hand present above the ground holding the piece of fabric from the girl's clothes.

Slowly, the hand pressed itself on the ground, pushing itself up as a female figure emerged from the ground.

"Tanjiro--!"

Both your eyes widened, knowing well what this demon was.

"A morphed demon!"