𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 | 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 6: 𝕬 𝖇𝖎𝖌 𝖉𝖊𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓

Was...was he defending her?

No one who was still alive had defended Mizuki. She was a little in shock and wondered what he had to gain by doing this.

"She's still a demon though. She could still eat someone." Obani grumbled.

When Mizuki saw snakes slithering around him she shivered and back away a little.

"The only person she has eaten was my sister. And that was an...accident committed by my treacherous brother." Lee swallowed the pain.

In that moment Mizuki had a realization! None of the pillars are bad, they've all been through what I have. They've lost families and homes and they used to be in a living hell! Mizuki thought. One of the servants walked in and stood there quietly while the pillars tried to discuss if Mizuki should be killed or not.

"*ahem*!" The servant coughed.

"Yes? What do you need?" Shinobu asked.

"He'd like to speak with Mizuki, Tanjiro, And Lee alone. Shall I get the box?" The servant asked and Tanjiro nodded.

Mizuki climbed in and the servant along with the two boys headed over to a different building. Mizuki got dumped onto the floor again but this time when she looked up she saw a man with white eyes and a very pink and swelled head.

"Who...are you?" She asked.

"Hello Mizuki, I've heard quite a lot about your chaotic journey through this country." was all he replied with.

"It is true we have dealt with demons like you in the past..." He explained, Tanjiro looked at her.

"...but you don't seem to need a muzzle or anything of the sort. Have you met Nezuko?"

"Yes. Well, not personally but she seems very calm for a demon." Mizuki said.

"I told Nezuko that she can prove herself if her and her brother defeat one of the 12 Kizuki." And Mizuki hung her head in confusion.

"There's an elite demon group?" She asked.

"Yes and they are the biggest threat to us. Do you think you could defeat one?" He said back.

Tanjiro made eye contact with her and he nodded.

"I think she can! I mean over the years she must have gotten stronger!" He said smiling, Mizuki blushed a little. (she's not good at taking compliments from people her age. never has been.)

"If that's the case then I'd like you to help defeat one of those demons. It won't be easy but it will prove you're on our side just like Nezuko will." He explained and Tanjiro walked over to Mizuki and held out a hand to help her up.

"I'll show you where we're staying!"

"We?" She asked.

"Well I'm staying here because I need training before I can defeat one of the Kizuki." He said gleefully while helping her up.

"Sounds scary." Mizuki shivered.

The two teenagers started walking together past the rooms.

"I know it's hard but I think you can do it!"

"Well I'm glad someone believes in me..."

Mizuki woke up with Lee and Shinobu standing over her.

"Good mooorning~ it's training time!" Shinobu said and she shoved Mizuki out of the bed.

"OW!" Mizuki yelled.

"You may train inside since the sun is out, don't worry I closed all the curtains!" Shinobu explained.

"You have no way to get out of training!"

After a short bath and a small, cold ,bowl of rice it was time for Mizuki to begin her own strength enhancing....or so she thought. Tanjiro walked over to the corner Shinobu was standing in during training.

"Why is she also doing the exercises? Shouldn't she be sleeping like Nezuko to gain strength?" He asked.

"This isn't for her benefit it's for ours~" She began to explain the truth behind Mizuki's training.

"If Nezuko wasn't interesting enough we now have this demon here who can be with others without a muzzle! She must have something special in her so we're just making her think she's training when really we...are watching."

"So you're researching her? Isn't that a little unfair? She's basically human..." Tanjiro argued back.

Shinobu brushed him off and kept her eyes on Mizuki. Tanjiro frowned but went back to training. Mizuki was allowed to take a break because she had been working longer than everyone else, so she decided to go to the garden. (At this point it's evening there was a time skip sorry) When she arrived there she ran into a girl who was a bit taller than her.

"Oh! S-sorry I didn't see y-" But Mizuki cut herself off.

The girl had a white cape and a black ponytail with a butterfly clip. Unfortunately the girl didn't have a sword on her but she immediately had Mizuki on the ground without a word. None of them knew what to do because Mizuki was confused and the girl didn't know what to do after she pinned the demon to the floor.

"Ah-! Kanao! She's a good demon! Like Nezuko!" Tanjiro shouted when he saw what was going on.

He walked over and helped Mizuki up.

"Kanao please apologize. She didn't do anything." He said.

"N-no it's fine, I would have reacted that way too..."

But Kanao still shied away a bit.

"But it really is cool that you did that in seconds! You're so impressive!" Tanjiro said and Kanao almost flipped a coin in her hand before stopping and thinking a little.

"Thank you." Was all she said and she walked away. Tanjiro laughed a bit.

"Your so nice...what do you want?" Mizuki asked without even glancing at him.

"Hm? What do I want? Well I want to turn my sister into a human-" But before Tanjiro could finish Mizuki stood up with tears in her eyes, she was looking down.

"WHY ARE YOU SO NICE TO ME?! I'M A DEMON REMEMBER! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME THAT MAKES YOU SO NICE?!?!?" She shouted in pain.

Tanjiro didn't talk, he just gave her a sad look while she yelled.

"I see..." he then whispered.

He didn't hug her, he didn't yell back, he just walked over to Mizuki and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You have suffered. It's clear to see, but you know what? You don't have to keep suffering anymore. I don't want anything from you, I just don't want to see people or even demons suffer from that terrible man's actions anymore." He explained.

Mizuki collapsed into him and passed out.

"Ack-!" and they both fell to the floor.

Tanjiro sighed.

"I will never forgive you Muzan..."