━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Chapter 16 ━☂

❁ཻུ۪۪ ━ ❝ Fighting together

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┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚⋆｡˚ ⋆

┊ ┊ ┊ ⋆

┊ ┊ ★⋆

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★⋆ ┊ . ˚

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Silence soon followed as the demon disappeared into his goo portal leaving behind a determined (Y/n) and a pumped-up Tanjiro, as well as a knocked-out teenage girl. 

Hearing footsteps heading their way (Y/n) quickly turned around only to slightly relax as he saw that it was none other than Kazumi. "Who was that?" Kazumi asked, pure disbelief and fear clear in his black orbs. "Kazumi-sama, can you please hold this girl for me? Can you also stay close to me and Tanjiro? The closer you are to use, the better chance you have of not dying." (Y/n) explained to him, a reassuring smile on his face contrasted to the absolute terror on Kazumi's face.

Seeing him nod his head slowly (Y/n) smile widened as he handed over the passed-out girl to Kazumi, pulling out his blade soon after as he stood next to Tanjiro. "So this demon can appear on any solid material, like a wall or ground for example. Be careful, Tanjiro." (Y/n) warned, his smile now gone and instead replaced by a stern line. 

'What (Y/n) said is right. The demon can appear in either the ground or wall and I have to be prepared for both! Though what if it can also appear from thin air? But this demon...' Seeing that Tanjiro stopped walking (Y/n) did the same and looked at him in confusion, none of his senses being able to detect any signs of unwanted being. 

'... even when it's emerged it can't hide its scent!' Tanjiro thought, closing his eyes as he began to try and smell out the demon's next move. Seeing that his friend wasn't going to continue walking any time soon (Y/n) sighed and widened his eyes, glancing around the terrain to try and detect the demon. 

"I don't see anything- Tanjiro!" Turning around to watch his friend run away with his sword raised (Y/n) frowned and tried to detect anything, only for it to prove futile. 'Water Breathing... Fifth Form!' Raising his sword in the air, Tanjiro looked down at the ground only to gasp as he saw the familiar black goo appear, though instead of seeing one demon he saw three in total. 

'I... I can't escape this!' Tanjiro thought in panic, seeing how his feet still have touched the ground giving him no support in jumping away. "God's Breathing: Second Form- Trapped Lamp: Third Stage!" (Y/n) yelled, vein-like things coming out from the walls as they wrapped themselves together into a ball that protected Tanjiro, suspending themselves in the air and away from the three demon's clutches. 

Bringing his sword closer to himself the vein ball came hurtling towards him, landing beside him quickly as the veins unwrapped themselves and disappeared. Catching Tanjiro as he was about to fall (Y/n) balanced him as he almost stumbled to the ground. 

"Pay attention to the battle, Tanjiro! They're serious now." (Y/n) stated, his eyes completely focused on the demons not daring to look away for a second in fear of a redo of his ignorance couple of seconds ago. Nodding his head in understanding Tanjiro looked back towards the demons. 

"I'll apologize for any pain that I may cause you all in advance. Now, it's my turn to redeem myself!" (Y/n) exclaimed, his gaze hardening as he readied his sword. In a blink of an eye (Y/n) appeared on top of the demons, his blade raised. 

'God's Breathing: Tenth Form- Whip Slash.' Once (Y/n) thought of this he rolled into a ball as he began to spin at high speeds, his blade along with him as his sword glowed a bright white light burning the demons in the process making them forget of the incoming attack and instead try to shy away from the light only for (Y/n) to be quicker and go down onto them, slashing some of their body parts. 

'Too shallow!' (Y/n) thought, gritting his teeth as he saw that his attack was too high into the air, this obviously angering the male. 'Come on! At least do something useful, (Y/n)! You even missed the most important spots!' (Y/n) scolded himself, stepping back onto the ground. 

Seeing as all three demons disappeared he ran towards the other three and stood close to them, trying to use his technique to the best of his abilities to try and detect any unwanted movement. 

"Sorry I took your spotlight, Tanjiro!" (Y/n) apologized, looking at Tanjiro's back who was trying to protect the four people behind him. Tanjiro nodded, "It's fine! I needed a break anyway!" Tanjiro reassured him, sending (Y/n) a bright smile. 

(Y/n) smiled back, "I still do think I should make it up to you-"

"Could you two please focus?!" Kazumi exclaimed, looking at the distracted two making said two blush in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah!" Both Tanjiro and (Y/n) said in unison, looking away from one another as (Y/n) inspected the other side while Tanjiro did the front. 

'I can't see them anywhere! They seemed to have just disappeared completely. I bet Tanjiro isn't having a hard time following their movements. He's so cool!' (Y/n) fanboyed about his friend's power, a little bit jealous of not having very good sensing abilities. 

'I was told that demons don't band together as a rule. So one demon has dispersed into three. I'm going to protect these three while slashing those three demons! Like (Y/n) implied; don't lose your nerve!' Tanjiro thought in high alert, not lowering his guard for a moment.

Sensing that something was approaching, (Y/n) frantically looked around only to see nothing approaching. 

'Make sure you get him to tell you... about Muzan Kibutsuji... and how to turn a demon back into a human!' Tanjiro though in determination, (Y/n) still frantically looking around as he felt eyes on him. Finally catching a glimpse of something approaching him (Y/n) gasped as he went to go and stand in front of the two, his sword drawn as he went to go for a quick attack. 

'... Water Wheel!' Seeing that Tanjiro was able to attack the demon (Y/n) smiled in relief, obvious that he didn't have an attack in mind to try and kill the demon on the spot. Hearing the demon grunt in pain (Y/n) saw that blood spluttered out as his arm was cut clean off, though it wasn't perfect.

'Too shallow!' Tanjiro thought in disappointment, glaring down at the demon as he landed back down on the ground and continued to try and hit the demon with his blade only for the demon to continuously dodge it. 

The demon finally disappeared inside of his goo portal and quickly moved away from the five, emerging back up after he was a decent foot away. 'I can't chase him too far, and I can't take a full swing while guarding others! (Y/n) is still weak, he won't be able to protect himself properly! I still need to protect him!' Tanjiro thought in worry, not taking into account how useful (Y/n) could be. 

"You-" Covering (Y/n) ears, Tanjiro glared over at the demon. 'What is sunshine doing now? Why is he covering my ears? Was there a fly or something?' (Y/n) thought in confusion, Tanjiro still glaring over at the demon as the demon made a sound of understanding. 

"Back off for crying out loud! That girls gonna stale on me, da- I mean, dangit!" Catching himself from making a mistake the demon took a deep breath before he continued. "That girl is already 16, okay? If I don't devour her soon she's gonna lose her flavor by the second!" The demon angrily complained. 

"Oh, I see... so to you she's just a meat that's about to expire!" (Y/n) snapped his fingers, finally getting the demon's motivation. "Well, aren't you a douchebag." (Y/n) stated, giving the demon a look of disgust making the demon a bit sad for some reason. 

'You could have at least been a bit nicer about that...' The demon unknowingly pouted, seeming a bit self-conscious all of a sudden. Feeling something appear behind him (Y/n) turned around to face the other demon while Tanjiro dealt with the other one. 

"Calm down, my other self." The other part of the demon suggested, his calm and mature voice contrasting with the childish and impulsive voice of the other demon. 'This one is less impulsive than the other one. I should pay more attention to this one. Tanjiro, good luck!' Turning around to fully face the mature demon, (Y/n) paid close attention to anything that the demon might let slip.

"Hey, so what? There are gonna be nights like this." The mature demon calmed down the childish demon, the mature demon's full gaze now on (Y/n). "I've already fed on plenty of 16-year-old girls in this town. They were all quite meaty and tasty. I'm satisfied." The mature demon stated, a malicious aura around him. 

"Well, I'm not satisfied, my other self! I wanna consume more!" The childish demon proclaimed, throwing his arms everywhere. "I'm afraid this isn't a restaurant, demon-sama, so you're going to have to pay the bill now." (Y/n) stated, his blade seeming to shine in agreement. 

"You monster..." Kazumi drifted on, his voice showing clear horror. "Return Satoko to me. The one you abducted the night before last!" Kazumi demanded, desperation clearly shown on his face. "I'm afraid that isn't how it works, Kazumi-sama." (Y/n) whispered, not wishing to say that to his hopeful face. 

Suddenly the sound of teeth-gritting together sounded from up above a roof making the four look up towards it. Soon the other childish demon began to do it, this giving (Y/n) a slight flutter in the heart. 

'What a clue you to have given to me, thank you!' (Y/n) thought, a plan quickly forming in his head as he went back to look at the other quiet demon. "Satoko? Who are you talking about?" The demon questioned, pulling off one part of his haori to show the other three a full collection of hairpins. 

'This demon-sama! Killing is already going too far, put to keep their hairpins like it's some trophy...! Or do they just use it for their own hair?' (Y/n) questioned, a bit more curious if they ever did use them to play with their long hair. 

"If her hairpin is among these collectibles, then I've devoured her." The demon announced happily, this making (Y/n) look at him in disgust as he tried to hold back a gag. 'You...! To do something like this... is this really the extent of people's actions under the influence of Muzans blood? How cruel!' (Y/n) thought in anger, clenching the hilt of his own sword at the thought. 

'This will not do! I shall free you all from this hell! I promise you!' (Y/n) announced, looking at the demon and nodding towards him. Suddenly the demon disappeared from their vision as he went underground. 

Remembering everything that got ruined because of demons Tanjiro's last thought was (Y/n). 'What could have (Y/n) gone through to have chosen to become a Demon Slayer? Whatever it is, it must have been painful to go through! Don't worry, (Y/n), I'll avenge us both!' Tanjiro thought in anger, his blood vessels showing on his head as he glared at where the demon used to be. 

Sensing that Tanjiro was really angry (Y/n) turned around to him, confused about his anger. 'Is he angry because the demon didn't answer his two questions?' (Y/n) questioned. Walking over towards Tanjiro, (Y/n) placed his hand on top of Tanjiro's shoulder and squeezed it gently, giving Tanjiro a warm smile. 

"Don't get mad, Tanjiro, we can still accomplish our goal." (Y/n) reassured him, giving Tanjiro a thumbs up in the end. Sensing that a demon was coming their way (Y/n) eyes widened as he quickly stood in front of the demon, his sword drawn out as he quickly grabbed Tanjiro's waist and dragged him away from the punch that was sent their way. 

Going to slice the demon's head off (Y/n) didn't succeed, but was able to cut off the arm of the demon. 'Another miss! He's too fast! I suppose I'll just have to surpass his speed!' (Y/n) concluded in his thoughts, letting go of Tanjiro as he went to go and protect the other two. 

Hearing a portal opening up beside him on the wall (Y/n) sighed and dodged the attack by pending down as he tried to slice off the demon's hand only to miss. Landing down on the ground (Y/n) continued to dodge the demon's attacks as best as he could. 

'Thank you, Sensei!' (Y/n) thanked him in his head, almost getting distracted from an incoming attack only for him to quickly dodge it. 'That was close-' Seeing that a demon was about to pierce their hand through his throat (Y/n) breath hitched as he saw that he didn't have enough time to react.

Just as the hand of the demon was about to pierce his throat suddenly a foot hit the demon's face making it spin around at a ridiculous speed before the demon was pushed out of the way as he landed on the ground, his neck ruined. This, of course, made (Y/n) want to laugh only for him to hold it in due to remembering that he was on a mission. 

"Why would a mere human be accompanying a demon?" The mature demon questioned, appearing from his goo portal as he was surprised by these new change of events. "Why, aren't you racist." (Y/n) stated, walking towards Nezuko's side and patted her head as thanks. 

'What's the meaning of this? Who are those three? Are they two swordsmen and demon working together?' The mature demon continued to question, him being just as confused as Kazumi. "Glad you could join us, Tanjiro's sister! You could say that I've worked with a demon before, but not like this so please forgive me if I make a mistake." (Y/n) stated, smiling happily over at the demon sister completely forgetting her name. 

Nezuko nodded her head, her eyes shining. 'I don't get it at all.' The mature demon thought, disappearing soon after into the goo portal. Just after the mature demon disappeared the childish demon began to fix his neck making a sickening noise while doing so. 

Suddenly the childish demon's head began to spin quickly before stopping, now fully fixed from Nezuko's powerful kick attack. After he was done fixing himself a full-body length portal came and picked him up allowing him to sink inside to regain his strength. 

"Nezuko..." Tanjiro whispered, this catching (Y/n) attention as he looked over his shoulder to see Nezuko cupping the cheeks of Kazumi and the unconscious girl. "Ah, so that's her name." (Y/n) commented, going back to surveying the place. 

Feeling that someone was heading towards him (Y/n) quickly turned around to face Nezuko who was staring at him intently, but her eyes held no malice or hatred. "Is something the matter?" (Y/n) asked, only for his attention to be ripped away from Nezuko as he looked over towards the new arrival of the other two demons. 

Seeing as Nezuko was walking towards them (Y/n) went to aid her only for Tanjiro to stop him, shaking his head in disapproval. 

Looking back over towards Nezuko, his eyes widened as he saw that she was attacking them. 

'How...? The gods said that demons attack humans, not help them? Being passive with humans is something that I'm okay with, but this? Nezuko... I like you!' 

𑁍┊𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐑 ˎˊ˗

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⠀⠀┊ ⊹ ⋆

⠀⠀┊. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀✧ ⠀

┏━━━━━━❂━━━━━━┓

ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴅᴀʏ/ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ!

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