An unexpected start////

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"Excuse me. Could I please get one of those bamboo baskets and straws you have over there?" asked Tanjirou as he pointed towards the bamboo straws behind him.

"That won't be a problem, there is a hole in the basket however..." said the man holding a slasher.

"That's okay, I'll pay you."

"There's no need to pay for that, there's a hole in the basket afterall."

"No way, I'm still paying!"

The old man shook his head, "C'mon now, there's really no need. In fact, you can have the bamboo and straws too."

"But I am still going to pay you!"

"I said there's no need already!! Geez, you're a really stubborn child!"

Tanjirou then slapped some of his yen on the old man's hand, "Even though I only have a few yen, please take them!"

He then ran taking the bamboo straws and the basket with the hole, "Thank you very much!!"

"O-owwww!!" groaned the old man.

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Tanjirou returned back to the little cave he had left Nezuko, only to see that she had disappeared.

"E-eh? Nezuko? Nezuko!" called out Tanjirou, "She's gone!"

Nezuko then popped her head out of a hole in the cave that she had previously dug out. "T-there you are!" sighed Tanjirou

The little demon looked at him a bit wary, 'She dug a hole... has my sister turned into a mole..?'

His expression then turned to one of sadness, 'she seems to have a deep frown on her face and really wants to stay away from sunlight..'

He then looks back at the bamboo and basket, "Wait here for a moment."

He starts to repair the basket with the bamboo straws he got earlier, which then turns into a fully functional basket.

"Nezuko... can you fit inside here? I want to be able to travel day by day as well, so I can carry you around..." Nezuko however, doesn't seem willing to get into the basket.

"Cmon Nezuko. Hop in here, in the basket" Nezuko get's out of the hole and attempts to go inside but given that she is too big to fit inside, she plots on the ground with the upper part of her body in the basket.

'Nezuko has grown a lot. She was so tiny until recently..' Then an idea came to Tanjirou's mind.

"Hey Nezuko, you know how you made yourself turn into the size of a grown woman? Do you think you can do the opposite?"

When Nezuko stayed still with no response, Tanjirou started patting her back.

"Cmon Nezuko, get smaller for me.." she then lifts up the basket and dives into it, surprising Tanjirou. Nezuko however, managed to fit inside the basket by shrinking.

"Ohhh, good job, good job, you're such a good girl Nezuko! That was incredible!"

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As night comes, Tanjirou prepares to leave with Nezuko and is currently talking to a woman with her son. "If you want to go to Narrow Mist Mountain, you must cross over the mountain ahead... but it's almost nightfall and you're going there with such a large luggage? It's far too dangerous..."

"Dont worry about me, I'll be extra careful!" he said as he bowed to her. "Thank you very much!"

"There are people that are going missing around here. So don't get lost!" the woman waved at him as she carried her child and Tanjirou waves back, leaving for the mountain.

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"....hello there... have you...?'

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During the night, Nezuko was out of the box so she could walk with Tanjirou.

"Ah, there is a small cabin up ahead. There's a little bit of light emitting from inside so there might be people there." he said as he pointed at the cabin.

"Lets go-" he then smelled blood coming from the cabin and runs up towards it, holding Nezuko's hand. He opens the door to the cabin, thinking someone was injured.

"Is everyone okay-" he stopped as he saw a green haired demon eating the arm of a woman, he slowly shifted his attention over to Tanjirou.

"..What...? This is my territory... I won't forgive you if you destroy my feeding grounds..."

Tanjirou becomes completely still, shocked and terrified while Nezuko looks at the pile of dead humans, staring at it as if she were hungry. The demon that was now licking his fingers, stares at the two.

"Hm? You seem strange... Are you.. Human?" asked the green haired demon. Not even seconds later, the demon jumps at Tanjirou to attack him while leaving Nezuko for her to stare at the dead corpses.

Fortunately, Tanjirou was quick to fight back and used his hatchet to slice the demon's throat while also managing to get the demon off him.

"A hatchet.. Not bad.." the demon smiled. "But trifling little wounds such as these, heal almost immediately, you know?"

"The blood has already stopped." Tanjirou's expression became more terrified while the demon kept his sadistic smile. The demon suddenly tackles Tanjirou to the ground and has his hands on his throat, attempting to choke the boy.

'So fast... and this enormous strength,'

"I'm not going to get chopped at by you for a second time and now, I'm going to break your head off from your neck..."

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Before the demon could do anything else, Nezuko suddenly snaps and runs up to the demon and soon kicks it's head off, which hits against a tree.

'S-she..she killed the man-eating demon! Even though I didn't want to kill him, he was a demon...!' Nezuko then kicked off the body as it tried to crush Tanjirou's head.

'Unbelievable! His head is off his body but it's still moving around?!'

"You B######! I knew the other was a demon, no wonder I felt that strange feeling earlier! Why is a demon traveling with a mere human?!" shouted the green haired demon.

'His head is talking!!' The demon's body then runs up to Nezuko and starts attacking her. Tanjirou tries to get them off but stops when it's head suddenly jumps at him. The head had grown a pair of arms on both sides of his face right where the ears would be. The demon's body then starts kicking Nezuko away from Tanjirou and it's head grabs onto him while it's teeth bite the hatchet's blade.

'How did he grow arms out of his head?!!'

"Out of my way!!!" screamed Tanjirou as he bashed his head against the demon's, which stuns the demon. Seeing that the demon wasn't letting go of the hatchet, he head butts the demon once more.

'T-this guy is tough! And his head... is really hard too!'

Tanjirou then throws the hatchet, with the demon latched onto it, to a nearby tree and runs off to help Nezuko.

"Nezuko!" he shouts out, heading in the direction where the demon kicked his sister.

'Damn it! I was going to grab the axe for myself but my hair got tangled in it instead. The arms that took so much effort to grow, can't bend inwards!!'

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Tanjirou hurry's over to Nezuko, who is getting kicked down by the demon's body. Enraged, Tanjirou charges towards the demon, attempting to tackle him off when he is suddenly pushed away by a shadowed figure dashing past him. It kicks the demon off Nezuko and knocks it off a cliff that Tanjirou didn't realize was there before. The body hits the bottom as the head gasped from pain

Surprised, Tanjirou stops in his tracks before his eyes widened when he recognized the person in front of him.

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"Nice to see you again, Tanjirou Kun..." Shouku says while smiling.

Tanjirou stood there while Nezuko looked at Shouku with a glare, still pretty hostile. There were then footprints coming behind them, which came from Yumeharu who was carrying a basket on his back that seemed similar to Tanjirou's.

"Is everyone Okay?! You're not hurt, are you?" asks Yumeharu as he inspected the two.

"I'm okay, Yumeharu san..." Tanjirou smiled nervously.

They walk back to the place where the cabin was to see that the demon from earlier had passed out. Tanjirou then takes out a knife he was carrying all along and seems hesitant. Yumeharu, Nezuko and Shouku are all standing behind him, observing the demon while Nezuko doesn't pay attention to it.

'There seems to be a lot more demons out here... his scent is different from the one at our old house, so it must have been some other demon... but if I don't kill him now, then he'll continue to attack others, so I have to..'

'The poor boy... he's struggling to kill a creature who doesn't even give sympathy to those he has killed...'

A hand suddenly grabs Tanjirou's shoulder from behind, and there stood a man wearing a blue haori with clouds on it and a tengu mask, which surprises Tanjirou but completely unfazed Yumeharu and Shouku.

"That won't do..." said the man.

"...Then how do I kill a demon?"

"Don't ask other people. You have a brain, right? Use it."

'If I can't stab him... then I'll have to crush his head..' he thinks to himself as he looks at a nearby rock.

'I'll have to keep bashing his head with the rock in order to pulverize his skull. He's going to suffer... Aren't there other ways to kill him in one blow...?' Tanjirou was quietly hesitating while the man stared at him.

'This child is no good... He's overflowing with empathy that is making him hesitate...I can still smell the scent of kindness coming off him even while we are in front of a man-eating demon...and he is still sympathetic towards them... '

'This other child harbors the same kindness as the boy, yet he knows how to make the right decisions despite his doubts in his abilities...'

'Giyuu... this child will not make it..'

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The demon then slowly wakes up, 'Huh...? I can't feel anything over on THAT side... Is my body dead?'

The green haired demon then spots Tanjirou, who is looking east towards the rising of the sun.

"Ah, we've wasted so much of our time that the sun is rising..." As the sun slowly shines its light, the demon screams out in pain as he slowly begins to burn in the sun. This surprises Yumeharu and Tanjirou, who didn't realize how much sun it would've taken to actually kill them.

'It takes that much sunlight to kill him.. No wonder Nezuko hates the sun.'

As he thought that, Tanjirou goes inside the cabin to search for Nezuko, only to see her covering herself with the cloth that was previously wrapped around the jacket. Near the entrance, yet far away where the sun couldn't reach them, was Shouku sitting next to the basket, staring away from where the bodies had previously been with his eyes closed.

While Tanjirou was busy with the beheaded demon, the masked man had gone ahead by setting up a burial for the victims and was praying alongside Yumeharu.

"Um.. excuse me?" asked Tanjirou as the masked man got up after praying.

"I am Sakonji Urokodaki. You are the one that Giyuu wanted to introduce to me?" asked Urokodaki.

"Y-yes. My name is Tanjiro Kamado, that one was my sister Nezuko... and he's Yumeharu Yutaki"

"Tanjirou. What will you do if your sister eats a human?", shocked by this, Tanjirou doesn't answer and Urokodaki slaps him in the face.

"You are too hesitant on everything, you didn't manage to kill the demon before morning."

"You also could not answer my question immediately, do you know why? This is the result of your resolve that is too shallow."

"If your sister eats a human, there are two things that must be done. You will kill your sister and then slit your own stomach. This is the kind of resolve needed in bringing your sister along with you."

"But remember this well, this situation is something that can never be allowed to happen. Letting your sister take an innocent life person's life is something that can never be allowed to happen. Do you understand what my words mean?"

"I-I understand!"

"And how about you? You surely aren't going to let your demon harm anyone, are you?" Urokodaki turns to Yumeharu, who was sweating a little and looked like he was still praying, hoping he wouldn't be noticed by the man.

"N-no no, I understand what you mean sir..." said Yumeharu.

"Alright then... it's time to test you both to see if you're worthy of becoming a demon slayer."

"Hoist your sister and friend on your backs and follow me," as he says, Shouku jumps into his basket and closes the cover.

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Tanjirou and Yumeharu follow behind Urokodaki to the mountain, with Tanjirou struggling to keep up with the old man running at the speed of light while Yumeharu is trying to act like he's almost out of breath, as to not make the old man suspicious of his identity.

'S-so fast, how old is this guy? I can't even hear his footsteps at all!!'

'Nezuko is probably being jostled around back there. Hold on for just a few more minutes, we'll be there soon!!'

'But... you've always endured a lot, haven't you Nezuko?'

~~~FLASHBACK TO WHEN NEZUKO WAS A HUMAN~~~

"You're patching up your clothes again? We seriously need to get you new clothes." said Tanjiro as he watched his sister sew her kimono back together.

"It's fine, it's fine. I don't need to buy a new one, I really like this one."

"Instead of worrying about that, we should worry about our siblings and make sure they get well fed."

~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~

'Nezuko... I'll turn you back into a human, no matter what! And one day... I'll buy you good looking clothes too!!'

'Everything I couldn't do for the others, I'll do it all for you....'

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They finally arrive at Urokodaki's cabin and Tanjiro was having trouble breathing as he became really exhausted before arriving, Yumeharu however, was only slightly winded and sweating a bit. He may have a lot of stamina but being in this world for so long, without having to use much energy for something big, kind of affected his physical being.

"S-so.. did we..*cough* pass the test...? *cough*" asked Tanjirou as he struggled to control his breathing.

"The test has just begun," Urokodaki said, as he opened the door to the cabin. Which makes the two widen at his words. Both were practically sweating bullets since their arrival to the cabin and Yumeharu starts to get a bit worried.

"Put the baskets in here and follow me up the mountain..."

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As they walk up the mountain, Tanjiro is panting a lot and his legs are incredibly tired after running towards the cabin, he then begins to feel dizzy for some unknown reason and so does Yumeharu. Urokodaki then stops and turns to the boys,

"From here, you will descend the mountain to where my house is at the bottom. But this time, I won't wait for you two until Dawn."

And with that, he disappeared before they could ask any questions.

"All we have to do is descend the mountain before sunrise..?"

"It'll be easy, in fact, I managed to memorize his scent. So we won't lose our way that easily!" says Tanjirou as he grabbed Yumeharu and descended the mountain. Yumeharu was having some doubts about it being easy but he hoped that was just because he was tired-

Just then Tanjirou activates a level, which starts launching rocks at Tanjirou's face. Surprised, Yumeharu now understands the situation and realizes that Tanjirou was going to fall into a pit trap. He pulls him up to help regain his balance, and at that moment is when Tanjirou begins to understand as well. Yumeharu's foot then activates another trap which sends out a log on a rope that swings towards them. The boys nearly avoid the trap as Yumeharu pulls Tanjirou out of the way.

'This isn't good... if we keep running into the traps, we won't make it back before dawn'

'The air is so thin on this mountain! Far thinner than the one on the mountain, I think I might faint...' Tanjirou thinks, the feeling of the dizziness getting to him.

"H-hey Tanjirou, pull yourself together! You can't quit right now!" Yumeharu grabbed his shoulders, which brings Tanjirou back to his senses.

'...He's right... I just need to adjust my breathing and sniff out the traps!' Tanjirou closes his eyes, the multiple smells coming from the traps were being sniffed out. Soon enough, Tanjirou starts running down the mountain as Yumeharu follows after him while smiling.

'Tanjirou is going to do just fine...hopefully...' Tanjirou then walks into multiple bamboo traps, which makes Yumeharu go after him, making him grab his hand so he wouldn't get left behind.

'...yeah, he'll be fine...' he smiled.

As Urokodaki brings Nezuko out of the box with Shouku just watching him, the door opens to reveal a tired Tanjirou and out of breath Yumeharu.

"W-we're... back!" exclaimed Tanjirou as he hung onto Yumeharu, with the door frame to his left.

Urokodaki stares at the two, impressed that they were actually able to make it down the mountain on time.

"Good job, Tanjirou Kamado and Yumeharu Yutaki... I've recognized your abilities..."

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(Author's Note: In case you were wondering, in between the scenes where Tanjirou was deciding on how to kill the demon and the demon being burned alive, Yumeharu went ahead to bury the body along with Urokodaki. As they were burying them, Urokodaki asked for Yumeharu's name because he was informed by Giyuu of Tanjirou's arrival only.)