Chereads / Saga of Tanya the Demon Slayer / Chapter 28 - Tsuzumi mansion/rescue mission arc: The house with the Wisteria family crest

Chapter 28 - Tsuzumi mansion/rescue mission arc: The house with the Wisteria family crest

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Tanjiro and Kanao made their way through the lower floor of the mansion, the two were injured from their fight with the Tsuzumi drum demon, Kyogai. Especially Tanjiro due to having injured still lingering from his fight with the arrow and temari demon. But they were managing to search without any issues, or other demons getting in the way. 

 

They opened the door and suddenly something was thrown at them. The two blocked the object thrown at them. "H-hey," Tanjiro said as he looked over at Teruko and her older brother Kiyoshi standing there hugging each other. "The drum disappeared, we and lady Tamayo got worried," Kiyoshi said, as both slayers turned to see Tamayo ready to attack but her face softened when she saw Tanjiro and Kanao. "Sorry, we kept you waiting," Tanjiro said with a bowed head, Kanao did the same. "W-why does the cat look scary?" Teruko asked when she saw the cat, Chachamaru, that guided Kanao and Tanjiro through the mansion. 

 

Tamayo smiled, she got up and petted the cat, which purred under her hand. "This is Chachamaru, he helps me and my two apprentices." seeing how the cat despite its odd eyes was nice, Teruko petted it as well, giggling as she did. Kiyoshi smiled as well, glad to see his sister smiling again. "By the way, why was I taken? I only know that they called me a 'marechi' but I have no idea what that means." the boy asked as he looked at the two slayers. Tanjiro and Kanao did not know the answer, but Tamayo did. "It means you have a rare blood in you, as did those other people those demons killed and ate." Tamayo gave a saddened look, regretful that she could not save all of them. "It makes you more delectable to demons. Due to how the rare blood is stronger." 

 

Tanjiro suddenly ruffled through his pockets until he took out the needle with Kyogai's blood in it. "The demon we fought was a former lower moon demon, I hope this will help you find a cure." he of course wanted a cure because of his sister, but he hoped all demons could be cured, at least the good ones like Tamayo, Yushiro, and Gunner. "Yes, that will do nicely. I was hoping we could get Zettours blood since he is lower moon 2." Tanjiro rubbed and looked down at the floorboards "the flame hashira, Kyojuro went after Tanya. If he succeeded I doubt Zettour is still around." he believed the Kyojuro could take down Zettour by himself, but if he had freed Tanya Zettour was dead and gone, at least, he hoped so. 

 

"We will head upstairs to find them in case they need any help after we make sure you three get somewhere safe, right Kanao?" The girl nodded, agreeing with Tanjiro. "Alright, the sun is still setting, so I will have to remain inside for now. But at least we can get These two kids out." before they could leave the room though, Kiyoshi would grab Tanjiro's sleeve "w-what about Shoichi? My brother?" Tanjiro smiled, and placed his hand on Kiyoshi's shoulder "he is likely with Zenitsu, another slayer he…" for a moment, Tanjiro imagined Zenitsu trying to protect someone by himself. The nervous look only made Kiyoshi more nervous. "I-I am sure he is fine…" he looked back at Kanao, both mentally agreeing that if Zenitsu and Shoichi were not outside they would look for them first. 

 

After the five of them made their way down, they saw the door open. And heard screaming, and ran outside. There they saw the boy with a boar mask, Inosuke, kicking Zenitsu who was holding onto the box that held Nezuko inside it. "Kiyoshi!" Shoichi shouted when he saw his brother-sister now out of the house as well, the boy had been too afraid to face Inosuke as well. 

 

"What are you doing you?! There is a demon in this box! I can sense it!" Inosuke growls as he continued to kick Zenitsu on. "I KNOW THAT! ITS TANJIRO'S SISTER OF COURSE I CAN'T LET YOU KILL HER!" the thunder breather shouts as he continues to guard the box with his own body. 'I've only seen Nezuko a couple of times while we were training on Sagiri mountain with Tanya.' he grasped the box harder 'but even if I did not know of her, she is Tanjiro's brother, he is too kind to everyone, even a worthless person like me.' Zenitsu thought to himself as he was continuously kicked. "Tch, fine then! You can die along with the demon!" Without thinking, Inosuke raised one of his two swords up, prepared to stab Zenitsu. 

 

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" Tanjiro shouted as he ran at Inosuke, but the boy moved out of the way. "Another person getting in my way?!" he holds up his two swords, each having many gaps all across the sharp side of the blade. "Are you crazy you can't attack other slayers like this?" Inosukee just laughs at what Tanjiro said "I can if you are guarding a demon. Besides, who cares? I just wanna fight damn it!" the two of them clashed their swords together. 

 

The sun was still out, and while it was setting it was too dangerous for Tamayo to exit the building. She also spotted Yushiro hiding from the sunlight under a tree, he would not be able to help either, nor would Mary who seemed to be more injured than before. Kanao was uncertain, she wanted to help Tanjiro, but her indecisiveness had come back to plague her mind. She reached for her coin and stared at it. But she was unable to flip it. 'What if I am unsatisfied with the outcome, what would satisfy me?' they watched as Tanjiro flipped over Inosuke, quite impressively since he was still wounded from his fight. 

 

"Hah! Is that the best you can do Mangiro!" Inosuke pointed at Tanjiro, making a hardy laugh. "It is Tanjiro!" he sighed 'at least not I am technically fulfilling my promise to duel Inosuke, but these wounds. I am not sure how long I can last.' Tanjiro touches the area of his fresh wounds. "H-huh?" Tanjiro says as he sees Inosuke bend backward and places his head between his legs. "What the hell is he doing?!" Zenitsu shouts when he sees this, while the others watching are more so perplexed. "See, I am far more flexible than you!" Inosuke flipped around in his strange position and pointed his sword at Tanjiro, ready for 'round two.' 

 

"Tanjiro are you okay?" Kanao asked as she was now standing at his side. Tanjiro nodded, while Inosuke just growls "Agh! Fine I will take both of you on!" Tanjiro knew Inosuke was in a better position than both him and Kanao, unlike both of them he did not seem injured. He would also prefer to keep Yushiro or Zenitsu out of it since he did not want to slash up or kill Inosuke. He just wanted to keep him from killing Nezuko. "Kanao keep his swords off me, I have to use my head for this." Kanao nodded, and both Inosuke and her clashed swords. 

 

"Hah, hiding behind this girl? Weak." Inosuke growled, but Kanao took personal offense even though the slight was meant for Tanjiro. So she was able to force Inosuke back with a few well-placed slashes near the boy. After seeing an opening Tanjiro ran in, instead of swinging his sword at Inosuke he grabbed the boar mask, and then slammed both of their heads together. "Gah!" inosuke grunts. Kanao was not expecting Tanjiro to literally use his head. "Don't worry, My head is very hard," Tanjiro said confidently, with the smile Kanao loved to see. "I- what- Am fin- fine." Inosuke suddenly falls to the ground, momentarily unconscious. Mary breathed a sigh of relief from where she and Yushiro were. 

 

"WHAT A WONDEROUS FIGHT!" they all felt the spines tickle out of shock from hearing Kyojuro shouting right by them. Tamayo backed up, the sun was very close to setting. But she was still trapped in the home, right behind the flame hashira, she doubted she could get away from him easily either. But it seemed he had not taken notice that she was a demon. "Put me down Kyojuro," Tanya said with a huff, which he listened and placed her down easily since she was still recovering. "But why were you fighting to begin with? All the demons in the mansion are gone! This is a time for celebration not quarrel." 

 

The look on Tanjiro's face was obvious to Mary 'he did not tell him about Nezuko or the other demons, did he?' she thought to herself, slowly approaching and told Yushiro to remain hidden for now. Tanya thought Kyojuro knew, she figured he would have been told about Nezuko at least. "H-he just likes fighting, you saw how that boar guy was right?" Mary remembered how Inosuke acted before he ran off to this place full of demons on his own. That would probably have been something Kyojuro would have believed, if Zenitsu, still looking beat up, was not standing by the box. "What is in there?" 

 

Quietness filled the area around them. "Please, just wait a couple of minutes until nighttime, I will explain everything," Tanjiro said as he went to stand in front of the box. Though his smile did not drop the look Kyojuro had on his face seemed more intense now. "Young Kamado, are you hiding a demon in there?" Tanjiro looked up at Kyojuro, keeping as much eye contact as he could as to not seem ashamed. "Yes, it is my sister Nezuko. Please don't kill her mister Rengoku. I swear, she has not once eaten a human." no one was sure how Kyojuro would react, but slowly the flame Hashira pulled out his blade. "It is remarkable that you would protect your sister, even when she is a demon Kamado! But protecting a demon, as well as preventing someone from slaying a demon, is against corps rules!" with his sword raised above his shoulder "but you have my sympathies truly." 

 

"Oh no," Tanjiro said as, with one quick run, Kyojuro was already right behind Tanjiro, where the man pushed Tanjiro away. "No stop!" Kyojuro raised his sword over the box. Zenitsu started pushing against Kyojuro's stomach but was unable to move him, "move you bushy eyebro- aahh!" Zenitsu found himself tossed over the man's shoulder and right against the mansion, landing in front of the kids, Shoichi, Teruiko, and Kiyoshi, all three of which had no idea why the slayers were fighting. 

 

Kanao and Tanjiro then ran at Kyojuro from both sides. All three swords clashed, with the two lower-ranked slayers just trying to just hold Kyojuro's in place. "Please mister Rengoku I swear, Nezuko has not and will not hurt any human!" Kyojuro did not seem very amicable to pleas at the moment, as he quickly pulled his sword back, and used it to block an attack from Mary. "you as well? Hah!" before Mary could respond her legs were swept by Kyojuro, she landed on one of her wounds though that was not Kyojuro's intention.

 

"HAHA, A FIGHT!" Inosuke shouted, having awoken suddenly. His boar mask was off, showing off his beautiful face, barring the massive bump on his head courtesy of Tanjiro. It was a face that was a stark contrast to his personality. Inosuke did not care about the context of the fight, he just saw it was happening so he opted to join in the fight. Tanjiro and Kanao did not care that Inosuke fought them a minute ago, help was help after all. The three of them clashed swords with Kyojuro, but despite the number advantage, Kyojuro was winning, not having lost grip on his sword once. "You three fight quite admirably! But I am afraid I must finish right now." 

 

suddenly Kyojuro's sword slightly lit up in flames, making a circular slash. In one quick motion, he threw his sword into the air, and hit both Inosuke and Tanjiro with the palms of his hands, the two went flying back into separate trees, before Kanao was grabbed and flipped over towards Tanjiro, landing right on the boy. 'This guy is so strong, I did not even see him move until he hit me. I want a strong teacher like that' Inosuke thought as he waved between consciousness. "Stop!" Tanjiro yelled, but he was struggling to get back up. By now Nezuko had poked her head out of the box, the sun was still up but the shades of the trees kept her safe, relatively as Kyojuro was now standing above her. 

 

"I AM SORRY, but I will make this quick since you are young Kamado's sister." Kyojuro raised his sword over Nezuko and used first form flame breathing. But as he slashed down his sword was caught by the purple flames of Tanya's sword, it took her a minute to recover, but now she was in the way of her partner. "Enough Kyojuro." was all she said, the man backed away, but both still had flames on their blades. "I know you trained Kamado and his friends, but what they are doing against corps rules," Kyojuro stated, a bit of disbelief shorn in his eyes. "If that is the case I broke th corps rules months ago when I spared Nezuko's life," Tanya stated plainly. 

 

Though Kyojuro was still smiling, he could still not believe what he was hearing. "You knew?" Tanya nodded, she was not an idiot, she knew in her present state she stood less of a chance against Kyojuro than she normally did. This is why she hoped her words could convince him. "Kyojuro, I did not want to keep it from you. I had hoped to tell you after Tanjiro had joined the corps." she had to keep her previous life from him after all, this secret would have been easier told under a less provocative situation like right after killing demons, which was the situation they found themselves in now. 

 

The sun had set by now. 'Do I help them? Or just grab lady Tamayo and run?' Yushiro thought to himself, he was fearful of Kyojuro after seeing how easily he swept aside five people, even if some of them were injured. Nezuko crawled out of her box and grew a bit, but was still small at the moment. When he saw Nezuko approaching Tanya from behind Kyojuro snapped out of teh stare he was having with his partner. "Tanya look put." he thought the demon girl was going to attack her from behind, but instead she hugged Tanya's leg. "Grrr" Nezuko growled at Kyojuro while glaring at him from her position behind Tanya. She was quite mad that the large smiling man had attacked her brother and friends, more so than that he almost beheaded her. 

 

Tanya's face went a little pink that Nezuko was hugging her leg like a little girl would her older sister or mother, the thought of which made her embarrassed. "You see! Nezuko did not harm a human even with ample opportunity!" Tanjiro stood up slowly while saying that. Tanya tried pushing Nezuko off her leg, but the girl was not letting go. She sighed "it is true Kyojuro, I promise we can talk about this more, all of us. Nezuko is not the only demon here, but all the ones present our not our enemies." after nearly half a minute of silence Kyojuro spoke up "Sorry I was distracted by how adorable it was that the demon girl was hugging you as if you were her mother!" his face was a little pink, but Tanya's went red afterward "Did you seriously not hear what I just said because of that?!" 

 

Everyone just sorts of stared at them while they argued for another few minutes, Nezuko holding onto Tanya the whole time. Though their argument was not over killing Nezuko at least, even if it was on how she made Kyojuro think of children in the middle of their fight. Tanjiro smiled though, as did Kanao, for now at least Kyojuro seemed to have calmed down from his tirade. Inosuke had put his boar mask on, trying to band his head as well as the palms of his hands on trees. 'Seriously how does this guy have a girlfriend?' Zenitsu thought to himself, rubbing the back of his head, feeling envious of the man who flipped him nearly 6 feet into the side of a house. 

 

After that everyone went to bury the humans that were killed in the mansion by Zettour and his demon cronies, Inosuke managed to bury the most and cheered himself on for burying more people than everyone else, since he thought it was a contest. Mary along with Yushiro made a grave for Gunner, even if they could only bury his clothes. "I am sorry I killed Gunner miss Tamayo," Mary said with a face full of regret. Tamayo finished her prayer and then gave a small smile to Mary "I know it is what Gunner wanted, thank you." there was a tinge of sadness in her voice, unlike Yushiro she was not forcefully trying to hide her grief. Shortly after that Tamayo and Yushiro would leave, in a hurry before Kyojuro could demand they stay, though the smiling man was focused on praying for the dead at the moment. 

 

Before they did though Yushiro had handed a talisman to the three children that were there, only saying to place it in their home to keep demons away. Their confusion was only added to when Tanjiro's crow coughed up a small bag into Kiyoshi's hand "Caw! Keep this on you at all times to help ward off demons coming after you for your mariachi blood." the boy did not know how either object given to them, but he was thankful none the less, he and his siblings left after Tanjiro managed to pull Zenitsu away from Shoichi "AHH no, I need him to help protect me from demons!" he shouted as he had no idea it was actually him who killed the tongue demon and not the regular boy. 

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The group was following their crows, who were leading them to a place to rest and heal. As they walked Inosuke's grumbling filled the air, he was hungry but Kyojuro hit him on the head a couple of minutes ago after asking constantly "are we there yet?" Zenitsu was looking at Nezuko while the demon girl walked alongside her brother. Kanao was also next to Tanjiro but was forcing herself to look forward so that she would not be staring at Tanjiro the whole walk. Mary, Kyojuro, and Tanya walked slightly ahead of the rest, though none said anything. 'Can't believe I feel guilty over this.' Tanya thought to herself, she keeps plenty of secrets from Kyojuro, this one she only feels the full weight of the guilt because he found out. While Kyojuro thought 'I hope she is not keeping other secrets from me, I am certain this was at least the only important one. But that look I saw on her face when I finally found her where she killed that lower two demons.' 

 

Eventually, they came across a gate that had a wisteria crest on the front. "Huh?! Why did that bird lead us here!?" Inosuke shouted, annoyed since the gate. "Hey calm down, apparently this family was saved by demon slayers a long time ago, so they help any they come across," Mary spoke trying to calm Inosuke down, which failed. Before another argument could break out the gate slowly opened, and an old lady peered out from it. "Ah, slayers, come in." the old lady said with a sweet smile. 

 

The events after that played out as them being given fresh clothes so that the uniforms they had could be cleaned or fixed up. Inosuke resisted this for a moment, but with enough help from Tanjiro and Kyojuro, he relented. After that, a doctor came in and looked at the bump on Inosuke's head, as well as the injuries everyone else had. He never once asked how either of them got injured in such ways, he smiled and patched them up the best he could, saying he would come back to see if their wounds healed, otherwise they would have to remain here to recover. Finally, the old lady brought them food for dinner, "enjoy" she said with another warm smile. They all started eating after 'thanking for the food.' Tanya says more so to the older lady than to a god or spirits. 

 

"AH, THIS IS QUITE DELICIOUS!" Kyojuro shouted as he ate from the bowl of rice and meat, a few pieces of lettuce sticking out from his mouth. "Don't talk with your mouth full," Tanya grumbled, poking him on the shoulder twice. Kanao giggled seeing that, it reminded her of Shinobu. The only person not eating was Nezuko, since she could not enjoy regular food like the others. Zenitsu tried to offer, but he was rejected by both Nezuko and Tanjiro. Which made the boy huddle into a corner in sadness. "Jeez, what would master think," Mary whispered a little before putting a carrot piece in her mouth. 

 

After they were done eating, Tanjiro decided he would tell Kyojuro everything. Tanya told some of it as well, making sure Kyojuro got all the details. This included not only did everyone else in this room know about Nezuko but also that Giyu and one of the water cultivators Urokodaki knew about Nezuko as well. He was also told about Tamayo and Yushiro, as much as Tanjiro actually knew about the demons who worked against Muzan. "I see, so Tomioka also knows…" he closed his eyes, this many people breaking the rules was not a good omen, Tanjiro was worried Kyojuro might go for Nezuko again. 

 

"VERY WELL! I SHALL KEEP THIS SECRET AS WELL!" Kyojuro shouted loudly, he did not need to of course, but knowing that he at least would not report or kill Nezuko helped ease the feeling in the room. "However, much like Tanya, should your sister ever attack a human. I will kill her Kamado." Tanjiro nodded, "yes of course, but I am confident that will never happen." he smiled over at Nezuko, who was poking the walls. 

 

"Good, in that case, when we are healed up. I will train you Kamado! Your fighting skills are superb, but require more fine-tuning!" Kyojuro phrased it in a way that it was already decided, rather than asking. 'Of course, heh.' Tanya thought in amusement to herself. Tanjiro stood up, "if you do not mind that would be great! I know that I was on the brunt of it, but the way you fought was amazing!" Tanjiro seemed ecstatic about it as well. "Wait for me as well! I wanna get as strong as you as well Kyuta." Inosuke said with another mispronounced name, which Kyojuro found amusing as well. "WAIT I WANT TO TRAIN TO GET STRONG AS WELL!" Zenitsu shouted, normally training physically scared him. And he probably would complain when it actually started. But being rejected by Nezuko so quickly, even if it was over the food and not directly him, made him want to at least try to get strong to get her attention. 

 

"Haha, VERY WELL! Come morning I shall train you all, you will become great demon slayers under my tutelage!" Kyojuro shouted as the three boys, even Zenitsu, seemed to be inspired by his intense aura. "Why don't you join them?" Tanya said as she looked over at Kanao. The girl was silent "still need to decide with your coin? Oh well, besides you are Shinobu's Tsuguko after all, you probably have enough training." Kanao nodded, as a small bit of sweat went down her head. "U-um one-san" Kanao muttered out quietly "can I ask you a question in private?" Tanya cocked her head up, surprised but she nodded her head "sure, need a break from all this shouting anyways." Kanao and Tanya would leave the room, and head outside. 

 

"So what can I help you with Kanao? I hope this is not me making the decision to join them in training for you." Kanao shook her head, she nervously pushed her fingers together while the two of them sat on the wooden patio outside. "I…I wanted to know how you get someone to be your partner…romantically." Kanao managed to push it all out of her throat, the normally unexpressive girl now had a rush of pink all over her cheeks to match her flustered feeling. Tanya chuckled "let me guess, for Tanjiro? It is obvious." Kanao's eyes were wide for a moment, but she nodded. "That is sweet Kanao, but I do not think I can help you much." 

 

Kanao seemed shocked to hear this. "B-but you're the only one i know in a relationship. At least of her sisters." Tanya gave a hardy laugh, she wished she could have seen the looks on Shinobu's face had she heard that last part. "I love this so much…but sadly, in case you have not guessed it. I am not exactly the most romantic person there is. Weird when you consider that my boyfriend is the most enthusiastic human alive. We kinda seem like the most opposite people."Kanao was starting to look worried, but Tanya gave a small far away smile. "Yet we are together, for a while I was in denial about my feelings as well. To be honest, if Kyojuro had not pushed so hard when asking me out, I probably would have continued to." she smiled more as she remembered the festival two years ago. 

 

"I will be honest Kanao, I think you should decide on your own how to approach this. Maybe Tanjiro will ask you himself, maybe. But if you cannot make your own decisions. How will he react if you do not know how to answer him? He may not even know you're interested, to begin with." she sighed, if Kanao's situation was like Shinobu's the poor girl would be stuck like this. Kanao placed her hand by her chest "after final selection, Tanjiro told me to follow my heart if I ever need to make a decision. I am still struggling to understand what that means." Tanya kept herself from rolling her eyes, she placed a hand on her shoulder "I suppose it is up to you to think of that, so how about this." she hold her hand out "for the next few days, I will hold your coin, and if you still need it when the days are up. Then you will know that you are not ready to ask him yet." Kanao was hesitant, but she slowly placed the coin Kanae gave her in Tanya's hand. She trusted Tanya would not lose it, since even if she did not need it in the end, it was still a keepsake from Kanae. 

 

Later in the night, everyone was soon ready to fall asleep. Kanao, Mary, and Nezuko were in the room across from Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu. Nezuko was laying down even though she did not feel tired enough to sleep yet. She was more sure happy to be out of the box. Mary and fallen asleep. Kanao had smiled at Nezuko, patting the demon girl on the head when she looked over at her. Nezuko seemed filled with joy, which made Kanao happy as well. 

 

"It still hurts…" Inosuke muttered as he patted the bump that was still on his head healing. "Sorry…again," Tanjiro said, staring up at the ceiling above him. Inosuke grinned, his hands going behind his head "can't wait to train with that strong guy, even if I will get strongest than him soon!" Tanjiro chuckled a bit, he had doubts if either of them would catch up to Kyojuro's level, he doubted they could get up to Tanya's level. At least not quickly as Inosuke thought it would be. But having confidence was always a good thing. Tanjiro blinked when he heard Zenitsu grumbling, he turned his head to his right and saw Zenitsu looking a little agitated "you…okay?" Zenitsu nodded but very slowly, he could hear everything after all and hoped he fell asleep soon before he heard everything that happened in the room where the flame hashira was. 

 

"Ahhh, keep going Kyojuro," Tanya muttered with pleasure lacing her voice. Tanya and Kyojuro were sharing a room, and right now Kyojuro was giving Tanya a back massage. She had waited for this even before she was even kidnapped by Zettour. "Mmnn, I feel so much more relaxed now," Tanya said with a bright smile after Kyojuro was finished. "My pleasure Tanya." Kyojuro said as he rubbed his hands with a towel. Tanya then started to tie the robe she was given back over her body, having taken it off from her so Kyojuro could massage her better. She blushed a little when she saw he had taken his off as well, "d-did you want me to give you a message as well?" Kyojuro shook his head, she wondered why he had taken it off. But she decided not to complain about it. 

 

"So why did you ask to train Tanjiro if I may ask?" Tanya said as she attempted to make eye contact with her half-naked boyfriend. "Oh, that? I just think he will make an amazing demon slayer, I also aim to make him my tsuguko. He will make an amarmmm!" Tanya covered his mouth "idiot, people are trying to sleep don't shout. And what do you mean tsuguko? I am your tsuguko." after she removed her hand Kyojuro would respond "I believe you will be made a hashira soon, so I am planning ahead of time." 

 

Tanya was happy about the vote of confidence but wished he had said that first. She wondered if she would become a hashira soon since she did take out a lower moon. Her eyes narrowed a bit, remembering Zettour's final words before there was nothing left of him. "Tanya Degurechaff" he had called her by her previous last name. It still did not sit right with her, there was no way being X would mess with her so badly that he would have Zettour remember his previous life. Right? 'On second thought…yeah, I am going to yell at X later.' she thought to herself, wondering if Being X was shaking knowing this. 

 

Kyojuro pulled her in from behind, hugging her. "Are you okay Tanya? When I came across you after you had finished off the lower moon demon. You seemed shaken up." Tanya figured he would have noticed, he may be a loud idiot but he was still an observant person when he wanted to be. "I…well." perhaps her earlier guilt was getting the better of her. So she told her what the demon said as his last words. "Degurechaff? But your last name is Kocho." Tanya nodded, her hand tightening on Kyojuro's arm. She would tell a half-truth, since she still was unsure about telling him about her previous life, mainly out of worry that she would not be believed. "I know, but it felt familiar. I do not know my original last name, Kocho is my adoptive name." 

 

Kyojuro considered that and said, "but Degurechaff does not sound Japanese, and how would this demon know anyway?" Tanya once again nodded. She did not know what answer she wanted, but whatever the answer was she would get it out of Being X and Z later. For now, though she wanted to relax after all this 'fugitive demon' and being kidnapped business. a particular thought came to mind, Tanya felt her cheeks go hot for a second, "Kyojuro…" she muttered. "Yes…Tanya?" 

 

The two stared at each other, they leaned in and kissed. It lasted for a while before their lips parted. Tanya knew her face was redder than before, but for some reason, it did not matter to her. She then moved in Kyojuro's hug until they were face to face. "I had a talk with Kanao earlier, while you were talking about training with Tanjiro." she nearly lost eye contact with him when she noticed how red his cheeks were as well. "It made me realize…how lucky I am Kyojuro." Kyojuro's smile grew a bit "I feel lucky as well Tanya." 

 

The two leaned in closer again. Suddenly though a large "CAW!" was heard from the window of the room. Causing both to jump in place. Their faces become redder than before. Tanya looked over at the window where she saw her crow "What is it?!" she shouted at her bird, disregarding what she had told Kyojuro about being quiet. "Tanya Kocho is to come to the master mansion of the demon slayer corps, for a meeting with the master of the demon slayers. Kyojuro Rengoku is to join her!" the crow then flies off. 

 

The two are silent for a while, the moment was ruined. Tanya just hoped that she was not in trouble with whoever the leader of the demon slayer corps was. Or else her week of misery before this moment would get worse.