Asakusa

Now in front of me, Ubuyashiki stood there in peaceful silence, looking to the ground where a murder of crows was hopping around. I had already informed Ubuyashiki of our mission's success and he had dismissed Mitsuri, but he made me stay.

"I want you to head to Asakusa."

Confused by his sudden order, I decide to quell my questions.

"There is a demon there that I wish for you to meet. Her name is Tamayo, a friendly demon, who had been trying to develop a drug to rid others of their demonization. Since you can transform yourself into one, I was hoping that you would help her in her endeavor."

"And how will I find her once I'm there?" I inquire.

Instead of answering my question, Ubuyashiki beckons me over, grabs my arm, and then places an object in my hand.

"Wear this on your right ear and it is she who will find you."

Looking at the object, I found that it was a hanafuda earring with a chrysanthemum blue ribbon design.

"Although do wait until you actually reach Asakusa." Ubuyashiki kindly adds.

Making my way inside the Butterfly Mansion, I am immediately greeted by a bright-faced Tanjiro who gives me another piece of surprising news.

"Rengoku decided to take me in as a disciple." Tanjiro begins fervently. "Since you informed them that I am an inheritor of Hinokami Kagura, Rengoku thought the best idea would for me to learn Flame Breathing and the other Hashiras agreed."

Glad that Tanjiro wanted to fight, I place my hand on his shoulder and give the short message of, "Good Luck."

Walking past him and greeting the remainder of the Kamado children, I stand in front of Shinobu's door and knock. Luckily, Shinobu opens her door, revealing a refreshed figure to me.

"Want to come with me to Asakusa?"

Dumbfounded by my quick question, Shinobu asks, "Is Kanao coming as well?"

"Nope, it'll be just to the two of us."

"So, like a date then?"

Putting my finger on my chin, I smile, "I guess so."

After hearing that, Shinobu closed her door, rummaged around her room, and then came out with a fully packed bag on her back.

"I rarely unpack since I go on mission so much." Shinobu explains.

Taking that a good thing, we head out for Asakusa. The city was bustling with life and a lot of people. My senses were immediately assaulted by the smell of the street vendors year old oils and the food that they were cooking. Not forgetting to put the hanafuda earring on, Shinobu and I, like the teenagers that we are, begin to freely explore Asakusa doing anything and everything that we found interesting. Luckily for me, the pay for Hashiras is grand enough that I can splurge at a place even as expensive as Asakusa.

Enjoying my time with Shinobu to the fullest, our fun is soon halted by a young man with pale skin and light green hair that has black tips. However, his eyes stand out the most as a light purple color.

"Follow me."

Straight to the point and rather disrespectfully, the man then begins to walk away. Shinobu wanted to originally ignore the man and continue with our date, but I drag her forward and start to follow the man. Turning into an alley and then towards a dead end, the man suddenly walks through the wall, disappearing from our sight.

Poking his head out of the entrance, the man says, "Well, come on then, my lady doesn't have all day."

Pushing Shinobu through the wall, the two of us find ourselves now standing in front of a home that we knew wasn't here before.

"He's a demon."

Nodding my head, I make my way towards the house, but the one I was meant to meet comes to greet me. Her appearance is that of a woman with long, dark brown hair, parted in the center and worn braided back into a large, low bun, which is held in place by a floral tama-kanzashi hairpin. Her pupilless eyes are large with only a haze of lavender that fades into dark purple the higher it goes.

The two of us stare at each other for a time before Tamayo adorns a sad smile.

"Has it finally been decided that I've lived for too long?"

Aware that Tamayo was aware that the Demon Slayers were aware of her existence, I shake my head.

"Quite the opposite in fact, it's been decided that we will be helping you."

"We're helping a Demon?!"

Realizing that Shinobu was unaware of the two Demons in front of us being good, I looked to find her ready to pull her blade and kill the two of them.

"Why would the Demon Slayers suddenly send me help?"

Smirking in the face of Tamayo, I answer, "Mabey because Ubuyashiki was aware that I wouldn't kill you. Or maybe because as a Hashira, I can get you the proper materials to create an Anti-Blood Demon Coagulant or an Anti-Kibutsuji Drug."

Hearing as those words come from my mouth, Tamayo's back straightens slightly before she then rushes forward. This near causes Shinobu to pull her blade but is stopped by a look that I give her. Grabbing me by the hand, Tamayo restlessly pulls me towards her home. Entering their abode, Tamayo rummages through her pantries until she returns to me with a syringe in one hand.

"I've been doing my best to research and develop a method of treatment. To make this kind of medicine for treatments, there is a need to investigate a large amount of Demon Blood. So, if you really want to help me with developing, the I need you to do your best to gather as much blood from Demons with Kibutsuji's blood coursing through their veins."

"I'll do you one better; I'll give you my blood as well as the blood of the Upper Kizuki."

Staring at me strangely in response, Tamayo states, "But I only need the blood of Demons, human blood does not good for me."

"Exactly, so I'll be giving you, my blood."

This once again invokes a confused response from Tamayo. That confusion soon turns to surprise and slight fear when I start my demonic transition.

"I've never seen a Demon able to do that." Tamayo breathes.

"Well, you learn new things every day. Now…" Grabbing the syringe from her hand, I plunge it directly into my skin and watch as it automatically pulls my blood out. Handing it back to Tamayo, she stares at it with fascination. "I must ask that you not use this blood in your Anti-Kibutsuji Drug, if you do, then if Muzan adapts to it, then he will be immune to the sun."

Having her mouth agape at such information, Tamayo gives me an extremely deep bow.

"Also, this one will be helping you develop the drugs."

Hiking my thumb at Shinobu, Shinobu breaks out of whatever trance was in and yells, "I'm doing what now?"

As I go to explain the situation to Shinobu, I feel the presence of two Demon enter the premise.

"Seems we have guests now."

Promptly following, a Temari handball blasts through the wall, straight towards my abdomen, but I crouch down and catch the ball two handed. Looking through the hole that the Temari had made, I see two demons standing side by side. One a pale-skinned woman with bright hazel eyes with cat-like slits and white horizontal slats with black hair with orange-colored ends. The other a young man of average build with pale, gray-tinted skin and very short black hair with a pair of pale-ringed orange eyes on the palms of his hands, a red upward-pointing arrow marked on each iris with sclera of glowing dark green color.

Seeing as one of the eyes of the man clicks shut, the ball in my hand tries to escape from my grip, but it doesn't move an inch. The woman then generates two new Temari and throws them.

Forming two new holes in the wall, the balls suddenly change direction, aiming for my head. Twisting my body upside-down, I execute a double bicycle kick, pushing the Temari back out, flying rapidly toward the woman. Before they can hit her head however, their movement stops, and they fall to the ground.

A portion of the wall then suddenly breaks away, forming a large enough hole for me to walk through. Revealing myself to the two demons, they immediately start to shiver.

"Susamaru, this is the Demon Slayer we're supposed to hunt?" The man worriedly asks his comrade.

Instead of answering back, the woman removes her jacket and grows six arms. Each arm then suddenly has a Temari in is. Hoisting them backwards, Susamaru flings them forward.

Looking with disinterest at the oncoming Temari, I take the ball that I still held and fire it forward. Easily breaking through the line of six, the ball hits the woman's head before then causing it to explode into a bloodied mess. Showering the other demon in her blood, he screams out slightly when the blood lands on his hand eyes.

"Shinobu, mind handling the man for me?"

Having Shinobu rush past me as an answer, I watch as the Susamaru's head starts to regrow itself.

"A lower moon like myself should not be insulted like this." Susamaru whines.

"You," I scoff. "A Lower Moon, as if. They're at least twice as powerful as you. If you're going to lie, then make it a bit better."

Firmly believing that she was a Lower Moon, Susamaru gets upset at my statement, causing her to get more serious that before. Creating six new Tatami, Susamaru tries the same technique that had failed her before. In response, I unsheathe my blade and then use 'Boomerang Blade' which is literally just me throwing my blade forward, causing it to spin around rapidly and hopefully return to me.

Spinning around so quickly, my blade easily cuts through the Temari and then directly through Susamaru's neck. Waiting for my blade to return to me, I stare in disappointment to find it embedded in a tree.

Another day, another failed technique.

Grabbing my blade, I look over and watch as Shinobu's fight with the man. The man's hand eye clicks shut and in return, Shinobu's body starts to plummet to the ground. Using 'Insect Breathing First Form: Butterfly Dance - Caprice', Shinobu leaps up and charges towards her opponent.

Before she can even reach him, the man closes his hand eye, causing Shinobu to be sent backwards. Skidding against the ground, Shinobu uses 'Insect Breathing Second Form: Dance of the Bee Sting – True Flutter'.

Dashing forward at an incredible speed, Shinobu manages to land a single thrust into the man. The man opens his real, red eyes and stares at the bladeless katana. Laughing aloud, the man begins to insult Shinobu, however, the two of us stood there, waiting patiently for the Wisteria Poison to set in and kill him.

After ten seconds of blabbering, the man's skin starts to turn purple and expand into boisterous, rough patches that start cause the demon to start tearing at his skin, trying to rid himself of the pain. Foaming at the mouth, the demon falls to the ground, barely able to breath his last breath.

Placing our blades back in our sheathes, the two of us smile at each other and then return to the flabbergasted duo. Standing there patiently waiting for the two to regain their senses, they eventually do, and we continue our conversation of Drug research. By the end of it, Shinobu was happily working alongside with Tamayo as they examined every drug and their possibilities.

By the time we were supposed to leave with Tamayo and Shinobu communicating to one another by crow, I asked Tamayo something.

"Can you identify the properties of my blood? Even I don't know all of its capabilities."

Tamayo was more than happy to agree and with that, Shinobu and I returned to the Demon Slayer Headquarters, content with our date and everything thereafter.

Meeting with Ubuyashiki, I started to go on more and more missions with either Kanae, Mitsuri, or Shinobu. They were rather small Demon Slayer Missions and the entire time, I only ever fought with one other Lower Kizuki. Along the way of completing my missions, I had encountered Zenitsu and helped him to complete the Tsuzumi Mansion in which I fought with the former Lower Kizuki Six, Kyogai.

After completing that mission, having a one-sided beatdown against Inosuke, and spending a short reprieve in a Demon Slayer Resting Place, Salvia came flying to my arm.

"You have received an emergency summon. You are to head to the Natagumo Mountain as quickly as possible."