Requester: mama_kurogiri, Fandom: Demon Slayer, SRS, The Many Adventures of One Sarah Bellum, Prompt: Sarah accidentally teleports herself into the middle of Tanjiro's fight against Rui. In an attempt to save Rui from his eventual fate, Sarah tries to recruit Rui into joining her (totally legit) team of reformed antagonists. After a brief battle and chat, Rui breaks free of Muzan's control and joins Sarah. The two get chased down the mountain by Giyuu and the story ends with the duo back at the SRS agency being greeted by (anyone of your choosing), Note: Sarah is the OC of the requester.

Ben had warned her of the locks on dimensions. Some of them were to remain untouched, he said, because while the SRS did tend to interfere, it was mostly out of necessity or it happened on its own. "They're locked cause they're not meant to be tampered with," He had said.

Of course, since when did Sarah Bellum Cipher ever listen to her adoptive father outside of emergencies? She did whatever she wanted. Plus, the thought of breaking that seal was way too interesting. Her own knowledge gained from her (brief) time in various magic schools should help her out here! Fubuki and Sinae were even on board to help as long as they didn't interfere too much.

Again, though, Sarah Bellum was a member of the SRS, daughter to one of the formerly worst villains in the multiverse. The fact she was even part of the group proved something, according to Keita (She still had to get it around her head that he wasn't the leader anymore, that it had gone to Fic, then to the three new leaders.); she was a Trouble Magnet. After all, only TMs joined the group. Her life was ****ed up, she thought to herself. That or she had ****ing horrible luck.

Right now was starting to prove Ben right, because she had teleported herself into the middle of a battle, and all three combatants were staring at her in surprise.

Sarah's eloquent response?

"Well. ****, Dad is going to kill me."

Rui stared at the girl, questions filling his head. Who was she? Why did she smell like a demon even though his senses were screaming WRONG WRONG WRONG NOT OF THIS WORLD NOT FROM THE FLOWERS ONLY HALF HALF HALF? And what did **** mean? The final one needed answering right away!

Tanjiro scratched the back of her head. She definitely smelled like a demon. She was probably a demon, actually. But something about her scent didn't match what he had smelled from demons so far. That was weird. 

Sarah just dusted herself, wondering if she could get away without fighting anyone. 

Well, until she saw who exactly the combatants were. 

Her eyes widened. She had watched Demon Slayer with Shirou. (She was totally not watching stuff with her. Nope. The sheer notion was ridiculous.) She had heard of what Rui would go through after this battle; death. 

He was going to die without a chance to grow. 

That... that didn't sit right with her. She knew what it was like to **** up severely. Her entire first few arcs with the SRS had basically had her screwing up. There was a reason why some people still looked at her, scared. 

Sarah had to learn the hard way how much she had ****ed up. Yet despite everything, they still accepted her. They were still family even through everything she had done. 

Her dad, first and foremost. Who just wanted the best for her. Who, if she thought she had suffered for a long time, oh, he had centuries, milleniums to be twisted and made into the worst multiversal villain ever recorded in history. And yet he still managed to break free. Reached out to people who had hurt others, whose own souls had been twisted, hurt so much it had... 

She closed her eyes, and let out a quiet laugh. 

She had been building up a small team of her own. Reformed antagonists from the other worlds she had jumped to. Ben had helped her out some days, but she had begun following in her dad's footsteps. 

Of course. The team had this sort of way of encouraging the members to keep striving for the best they could be. And for Sarah... maybe that did come in the form of her dad, who had worked so hard, kept caring, kept pushing past his mistakes. 

Opening her eyes up again, she looked at Rui. "Let the girl go." 

Might as well save some lives AND kick *** while she was at it, right? 

Rui's eyes narrowed at her words. "I refuse. She is my sister." 

She scoffed. "Yeah, right. Family is a touchy subject around you, isn't it?"

"You don't know anything!" He snarled. "I want their bond! I want what they have! No one in my family, they would never do what she did for that human there! And she's a demo-" 

"Being a demon has NOTHING to do with this!" She snapped. "She's her own person, and you're treating her like she's some sort of doll! I won't stand for it! Family is NOT supposed to be that way!" 

"SHUT UP! Blood Demon Art: Uchiami (Web Toss)!" he created multiple sharp webs and threw them at her. 

She ducked and rolled, creating a plant glyph with a seal she had in her pouch before activating it.  Thank goodness Boruto had given her a surplus of the paper during his free time!

The vines wrapped around Rui, causing him to scowl while Tanjiro used this chance to check on Nezuko. He was still very much exhausted from using Hinokami Kagura, but his top priority was his sister! 

Roaring like a beast, Rui used Blood Demon Art: Kokushi Rinten (Cutting Threat Rotation) to cut the vines apart, only for Sarah to appear right in front of him, her fists glowing as she yelled, "SHAAANARO!!!" 

He got punched back, but she wasn't done yet as she continued to deliver kicks and punches at rapid speed, sending him into multiple trees in the process.

Rui stumbled to his feet, eyes burning at her. How dare she... HOW DARE SHE!!!

"Muzan lied to you! Your parents DO care for you! They just didn't want you to become a monster!" Sarah yelled while roundhouse kicking him to the ground. "You gotta open your eyes Rui! You can do so much more! You could die if you don't snap out of it!"

"What are you TALKING ABOUT?! SHUT THE **** UP!" He screamed. His scleras were filled with blood as his vision saw red. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!! THEY HATED ME! THEY NEVER LOVED ME! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A DEM-"

"OF COURSE I DO!!" Sarah countered, throwing an ice glyph his way. "I ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED AN ANCIENT DEMON AND CAUSED SO MUCH PAIN! I ****ED UP SO BAD IT COULD BE A GODDAMN UNIVERSITY DEGREE! WHAT I HAVE NOW... I DON'T DESERVE IT WHATSOEVER! AND YET..."

She remembered the team. Fubuki. Sinae. Taeyang, who she had only briefly met when she was younger. Keita. Shirou. Fuyuhiko. Duri. All the people she had met who worked hard to ensure the safety of the entire multiverse.

Ben... Who she used to openly disrespect, looked down on, didn't believe he was a multiversal threat until she got a reality check when he went loco during the cruise. (How long had it been since she joined? Had it really been this long? Her memories are vague, she has memories that are and aren't hers, but she owns and holds onto them all the same. A vow to never repeat the mistakes she had made.)

Ben, her dad. The only one who had believed in her when she first joined the SRS. For everything crazy she had put him through, he had been so patient, scared of messing up, scared of not being the right parent for Sarah.

"Dad, he... He tried his best. They all did. And somewhere along the way I just... Connected."

The team had become... Home, she found. She would never stop causing trouble, sure, but now she also knew that she could rely on people.

Nemuri Xavier could kiss her chances of being released goodbye. She refused to back down now. She WOULD be free of her curse one day. She WOULD take her down once and for all.

Her eyes met Rui's. His eyes widened at the sheer determination wafting off them as she declared, "I WILL HELP YOU! I WILL HELP YOU FIND FAMILY, AYAKI RUI! I SWEAR ON IT!!"

The rage he felt was almost unparalleled. How dare she... HOW DARE SHE INSINUATE HE DIDN'T HAVE FAMILY!

"YOU *******!!!" Threads suddenly grabbed Sarah's leg and yanked her off her feet, making her yelp before the threads stopped her from escape as Rui advanced on her, eyes cold yet filled with so much rage. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! I WILL END YOU WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!"

Looming over her now, his left eye glowed menacingly.

"Blood Demon Art: Ayame Kago (Murderous Eye Basket)!” he all but SCREECHED. The sphere cage formed around her, slowly shrinking as the lavender-haired girl struggled to breathe, much less get out. She was really in a tight position here!

She could only hope Fubuki and Sinae would come, yet a part of her, Nemuri, whispered, "Yeah no, it's Game Over."

She COULD use Nemuri's powers but...

No, she told herself she wouldn't unless absolutely necessary. The team had told her about using powers from someone sealed in her. (Naruto definitely had the experience of that. Oh, and the backlash.)

Wasn't this an emergency, though? She could actually die-

No, the other people here could die if Nemuri came out. No way was she allowing that!

Rui aimed a three-pronged thread at her as the cage grew smaller, a wicked smile growing while his left eye seemed to GLOW.

"Prepare for your death. BLOOD DEMON ART: ITO BASHIRI (THREAD DASH)!"

It soared. It headed towards Sarah.

Rui laughed, but then as he looked over to the Kamados-

A memory suddenly flashed. One that made him freeze.

Two loving faces. Black hair, purple eyes.

The... The Ayakis.

Smiles. Their smiles were... Warm. Just like how Tanjiro had somehow crawled over to Nezuko, like the little worm he was. But now he was... He was hugging Nezuko, a relieved smile on his face. Blissfully unaware of the battle.

Rui froze, and...

With that one trigger, he felt something... Snap.

(His constraints, they... Broke.)

Their smiles, his past.

He had the upper hand here, and yet... And yet...

He pulled his head off, almost a bit frantically to dispel the webs. As he reattached it, he felt... Something.

She was right. They HAD loved him. They had loved him even when he... He had murdered them. All he wanted was to not be a burden to them.

How ironic was it that in the end, HE saw THEM as the burden...

He fell to his knees. It was too much. Rui, he...

The feelings rushed through his veins. Everything that was in Rui before he... He turned into a monster... It was now unleashed. It was.... So painful but it was....

So, so... Freeing.

As Rui fell to his knees, the atmosphere changed. Tanjiro's nose perked up. The scent was different. So much different from before. Once, he smelled of malice, of anger, of self-righteous arrogance.

Now he just smelled of.... Fear, sorrow, guilt...

Sarah couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. That had been close. WAY too close. How did her dad do this? How did he not die?

Still, she got up and walked over to him, extending a hand out to him. "Hey, I..."

She paused, unsure how to word it.

But soon, she found the right words. "I want you to join my team."

Rui's mouth hung wide open. Was she. Was she SERIOUS? He just tried to KILL her, and that's all she says?

"The team ain't anything hard!" She said. "It's just a group of people who can do better than the ****ty circumstances they were dealt. I call it...”

"Why not Team Redemption?"

Sarah looked over to Taeyang, the Galaxy Master smiling as he offered, "Cause you want friends right? Isn't it appropriate in its own way?"

'TaeTae don't joke like that," She scoffed. "It's a ****ty name."

"I don't see the problem with it, yo," Swag said. The former cyborg looked at Sarah, an amused smile on his face as he offered, "After all, it's not a bad name."

"It highlights the themes of your team pretty neatly," Pilseung added. "Given a second chance, moving forward to forge a better life despite the bad things they've done. I think it's neat."

Sarah scoffed. Yeah right. It was pretty lame.

Still, she thought to herself, as she prepared to verse jump after breaking the seal, "That's not a bad name.'

"Team Redemption," She said. "That's the name of the team. It's your choice, but..."

Rui looked at her. Looked deep into those orbs of hers, speaking of pain, of sorrow, of being isolated for so long.

Yet there was also healing, happiness, belonging.

The one thing Rui had coveted for so long... It was being offered right after he realised he was a ****ty *******.

He.... He could only wipe the tears away with his yukata. A determined smile formed as he took her hand. "I... If you'll have me."

Sarah felt a smile curl up. "I'm Sarah Bellum. It's nice to meet you, I guess."

"I..."

He closed both his eyes, ignoring the stinging pain of his left eye. He felt the screams, the threats.

But even as the blood tears fell from that one eye, he smiled.

Only one eye was opened.

"I'm Ayaki Rui, Lower Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki. At least, former Lower Rank Five."

Sarah grinned at this, but then her eyes narrowed as she threw a fire glyph over Rui's shoulder, nearly hitting Giyuu in the process. "Uhhhh, we need to run now. I think that dude probably wants your head!"

Taking a quick look back, Rui gulped. She had a point. "Yeah, we should run."

"Wait-" Tanjiro's words were cut off as Rui used his threads to form a ramp of threads, Sarah getting a wooden board out and getting on, whooping while she slid down the mountain, Rui not far behind.

Honestly, the sight of it was so bizarre even Shinobu and Kanao paused, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Just... What?

At the bottom, Sarah looked at Rui, dusting herself off as she said, "We need to fake your death."

"That... Would be for the best," He said, unable to deny that he would be hunted down. "What do you suggest, though?"

Sarah smiled, her eyes looking at the bodies strewn around while taking out a small vial. Boy, was she glad that Jinpei made this for her. She would have to ask for a new one in replacement, though. "I just need a pinch of your blood."

He could only watch as she injected it into one of the bodies, and it... It morphed into one with his face.

"Damn, so it really is a good thing that the rabbit tank guy had someone's face plastered onto his," Sarah said while whistling. That was IMPRESSIVE.

Rui stared at her. The what.

The only thing he could say was, "HUH?"

Sarah only offered a cheeky smile in return.

"I'm home!”

"Oh, hi!" A brown-haired lady looked over with a smile. "You're.... Sarah Bellum, right?"

"Has my name truly spread that far?!" She gasped.

"Kinda! The team listed you under 'Be Wary of Them But Know They Have Your Back in Combat' list," The adult, Kurama Neon, said. "I'm Kurama Neon, though you can call me Kamen Rider Na-Go when in battle. Who's the new person, though? Is he a new recruit?"

Rui suddenly shifted, feeling a bit uncomfortable as he looked at her. He could smell she was human, and he had to abstain himself from wanting to eat her.

Alright, a quick introduction should do. "I-I'm... Ayaki Rui."

"Well, nice to meet you!" Neon said. "I hope you have fun while with the team!"

"Actually, Neon, he's going to be part of my team," Sarah interrupted. "Team Redemption."

"A sub-team then?" She suggested.

The younger female shrugged. She would have to see. "We'll see. For now, we'll just have to wait and see."

Rui closed his eyes, taking in the air.

It definitely smelled different from where they had been.

It felt... More peaceful.

It brought a smile on his face. He... He felt a bit more confident. That someday, he would be able to fully repent of his sins.

But for now, he supposed he would have to cooperate with a stubborn spitfire named Sarah Adeline Bellum-Cipher and her family.

The cogs turn. Team Redemption is coming together.

Their start is rocky, but with the right amount of work, they will work seamlessly.