丨Soar丨 Kimetsu no Yaiba x OC｜

Chapter 41

"ZENITSU-SAN!!! INOSUKE-SAN!!!" Chizuko grabbed the two boys by their shoulders, shaking them back and forth aggressively, "PLEASE WAKE UP!!!!"

"Mmpphhh!" Nezuko copied Chizuko, tugging the sleeve of Kyojuro's flaming cape.

"I-Iguro-sama!" Chizuko scrambled up, drenched in icy cold water as if she stood in the rain for an hour. Obanai stood by her futon with an empty wooden bucket and a menacing aura, "You are late. Start training this instant. No breakfast for you."

Chizuko glanced around, looking for water. Her eyes squinted shut as she gripped on the bench for support, the searing pain and dizziness in her head made black dots eat at her vision again. Must not faint now! Chizuko gritted her teeth, "Zenitsu-san! Inosuke-san!"

Unsheathing her sword, Chizuko sliced at the skin and flesh that emerged out of nowhere all of a sudden. What is going on!!? Beads of sweat dribbled from Chizuko's forehead, they are everywhere! What are those things!?

"THE WHOLE TRAIN IS A DEMON!" Tanjiro's roar came from somewhere above, "WE NEED TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE!"

"Fox Breathing, Third Form, Genko, Hokuto Shichisei!"

Chizuko dashed through three compartments, slashing away as many multiplying tissue as possible. Anxiousness knotted in her stomach, she, Nezuko and Tanjiro couldn't possibly protect everyone.

"Woohoo!" an energetic cheer brought hope to the situation, "Follow me! The great Inosuke-sama knows the way! Pig assault!!!"

It's Inosuke! Chizuko's lips tilted upwards, they're awake!

"Thunder Breathing, First Form, Thunderclap and Slash, Six Fold!" The rumbling and flash of thunder came from one of the compartments, Zenitsu landed in front of Nezuko, "I will protect you, Nezuko."

It's Zenitsu! Chizuko grinned, right! They can defend the people together!

Boom! The train shook and Chizuko lost her balance. Wha- She quickly got up, slicing away the flesh that were about to consume the innocent masses. Chizuko! Hold on to your blade! Chizuko forced herself to grip onto the hilt of her sword as her limbs spasmed, there's no room to care for yourself!

"Young Suzuki!" Kyojuro appeared in front of her.

"Rengoku-sama!" Chizuko exclaimed, reassurance flooded into her heart, "You're awake!"

Kyojuro nodded, "This train has eight compartments! Kamado and Inogashira will be investigating the cab! The yellow boy and Kamado's sister are protecting the first two carts! You will defend the third and fourth! And the rest will be left to me!"

"Rengoku-sama! I-I can help you with one more compartment!" Chizuko knitted her eyebrows, "I can handle three!" Kyojuro was a strong hashira, but protecting four compartments was too much work for one person alone. If only she wasn't 'sick' because of her condition, if only she were more careful that day, if only-

"You don't have to worry for me!" Kyojuro petted Chizuko's shoulder and smiled, understanding her underlying concerns, "I will not let anyone on this train die! Don't blame yourself for seemingly contributing less than you should! Kocho said your condition probably won't last forever, so you will have many chances to contribute more in the future! Just do what you can now! Let's all protect everyone here with our flaming passion and spirits!"

"H-Hai!" Chizuko nodded, springing into action again, "Thank you! Rengoku-sama!"

"Fox Breathing, Fourth Form, Ginko to Kinko, Omnyō!"

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"AHHHHHHH!!!!"

Chizuko covered her ears, who is that!!? Are Rengoku, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke alright?

She almost fell face first to the wooden tiles as everything shook.

Her eyes widened in realisation.

They are going to flip.

Chizuko took a deep breath. She was honestly at her limits, she didn't know why but her discomforts peaked. However, Chizuko knew there was no time to hesitate,

"Fox Breathing, Combined, Kuko to Genko, Clairvoyance and Hokuto Shichisei!"

She had to prevent the passengers from being injured.

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Coughing, Chizuko crawled out from a gap between the floor and debris once they crashed onto the field beside the tracks.

The dizziness, nauseousness and headache in Chizuko receded, she quickly got up, it was a miracle that she escaped with only minor bruises and scratches. Her relief soon turned into panic upon inspecting the fallen train, the compartments had collapsed but there were still hundreds of people trapped inside.

Chizuko hurried over to the broken remains of the steam locomotive, throwing the rubbles aside. Move it! Quickly! Before anyone dies!

"Chizuko-chan!!! Help!!!" Zenitsu cried from the back, "Someone is bleeding here!!!!"

"Coming!" Chizuko raced to where Zenitsu and Nezuko were, "Leave the first aid to me! Go help Rengoku-sama and the others!"

"A-Alright!" Zenitsu nodded, bringing Nezuko with him, "We'll meet up later!"

Chizuko immediately directed her focus onto tending to the injured, recalling all her medical lessons with Shinobu. She wasn't as good as Shinobu, her hands were shaky when securing broken bones, her movements were clumsy when stitching long gashes, and she kept mumbling apologies when her patients whimpered as she disinfected their wounds.

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Ridiculous! Enmu's head laid on the floor, shedding tears of anger, regret and blame.

It is all their faults! He thought. I took hostages! But the male hashira was still able to corner and eliminate me! The other boy was too fast even under my spell! And the demon girl! Helping humans instead of her own kind! I could have killed the scarred kid as well, if it wasn't for that boar with abnormal intuition!

And the red haired girl! Enmu became even more irritated, he had lost a chance to proof himself capable of being an Upper Moon to Muzan. She escaped even with her supposed sickness! She was the target Muzan had been after for a while but never had the chance to capture. How did she continue fighting!?

He watched his body parts dust away. After all his efforts, he isn't worthy of becoming an upper ranking demon, he is just an ordinary Lower Moon, constantly replaced.

Sensing a presence in the forests nearby, Enmu's eyes widened. He guess he could do that colleague a last favour.

By sending him an image of the red haired hashira and the boy with the hanafuda earnings.

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Chizuko was waiting for the kakushi to come with more medical equipments.

Thud, thud thud... thud. Chizuko's gaze became unfocused and her pulse turned from steady to messy. She rubbed her temple, no, it wasn't because she was tired. Her pupils dilated and her left eye started cramping and twitching.

Chizuko gulped, why is she feeling like this again? It was worse than how she felt on the train, Chizuko had to put down the bandages. Trembling, she stood and glanced around, but no demon was near.

Blam!

She narrowly escaped what seemed to be an explosion.

Who... Chizuko had to stab her sword on the ground for support, her bones seemed to have lost its rigidity.

A pink haired boy with tattoos around his body got up from the floor.

Chizuko's body shivered, every cell in her body was begging her to resist fighting and flee instead.

Upper Moon Three, Chizuko read the words carved in its eyes.

Let the battle begin )Д⊙')