7 Chapter 7 - Relief and Discoveries.

"NO! No! Why are you getting up?! Your body is a wreck!!"

"No…what happened to Nezuko…and Tanjiro…?"

"You don't have to worry about that! Just rest!"

"Aoi…where are they?" Ai closed her eyes, sensing the dire situation that her body was in. It was painful, and she didn't understand why.

She assumed that since she was immortal, the only side effect would be that she would be mortal when she used Wood Breathing. But for some reason, that wasn't so; for some reason, she was going through body-wrecking pain, which didn't seem to follow any logic.

Although now, from the moment she regained consciousness, her speed of healing was being enhanced by her Immortal Physique.

She opened her eyes, worried that something had happened to those two when she walked into the nightmares.

"They…" Aoi hesitated, not wanting to tell her, but sighed, "They are in front of the Master of Demon Corps."

"Thank you," Ai pressed her lips into a smile, getting off the bed, taking only the Cursed Blade, not the Replica. Every step she took her feet, it felt as if she was stepping on pins and needles.

She wanted to run, but all she could do was drag her legs, hastily running to the spot where she knew the meeting was. Her mind got hazy and the pain slowly, but Nezuko's and Tanjiro's situation seemed less dire than she had imagined by the time she reached there.

"Ai, you are here. I heard you defeated one of the Twelve Kizuki," Rengoku laughed, welcoming her since she learned from him. His smile didn't disappear the next moment, but the meaning behind his words was different, "To think you would protect a Demon. What were you thinking?"

Ai shook her head, "This and that are different…I believe that she is an exception. No…maybe she is something more than an exception…. She's…"

"You must be Ai Senju that I have heard so much about…and the Cursed Blade that you wield," A voice, one that was kind, and warming, naturally calming, talked to her.

Ai did calm down, turning her observant sight towards the man with the skin on the upper half of his face rotten. A disease of some kind? She wasn't sure that she had heard of it before, but it had made him blind.

It was his calming voice, and she didn't feel much about his life force; somewhat, it was waning. This man's situation assured her that he wasn't more substantial than a Hashira; instead, he might be weaker than an ordinary human in terms of physical strength.

Yet, it didn't change a thing for her, if he was strong or weak. She bowed forward for no reason but because she heard that is how the westerners in this world did things, and she wanted to look like one. Especially when someone so sharp was in front of her, "My apologies for not greeting the Master earlier."

"No, I understand that you were worried about the children. It shows when you are here, even your condition," Ubuyashiki, the 97th Master of Demon Corps, smiled at her, only to hear from one of his daughters that she was uncharacteristically shocked for some reason.

"Oh, is it my face?"

Ai was speechless, and it was about his face, but not what he thought about. Unlike others, her ability to imagine was higher than most she met, including many of the Kages.

When she read the books, even the scenes that weren't graphic, she made them, creating a world inside her head. Seeing something like this didn't shock her or make her react; she had seen worse.

What did was that her father's chibi avatar showed himself after months and was circling her head, with fireworks going off around them.

The digital screen appeared before her, giving her the information he wanted to say.

[Hooray!! Hooray!! Found a Thousand Year Old Curse!! Thousand Year Old Curse! Super Rare! Super Awesome! Super Rewarding! Get his blood, girl! You might be in for a surprise!]

"Oh, no…it's not that…I just realized…it's not a disease…it's a…." Ai glanced towards other Hashira's, closing her mouth, bowing apologetically, "Forgive me."

She already said what she wanted; he would have figured it out if he were as sharp as she assumed.

"No, there is no need to hide…you figured out that this is a curse? Do you have experience with them?" Ubuyashiki traced his face, "This curse plagues my whole family; it has been for a thousand years."

"Master?" Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, watched him, not with shock but with care. He was from a line of Hashira, so he had heard in his family that all men in Ubuyashiki Family died before the age of 30, and girls were married off before 13 and had their names changed. Or they died off accident. Many believed it was a curse, yet not everyone talked about it.

There were even rumors that this curse had something to do with the Demons, which is why Ubuyashiki Family was the most motivated.

Although he wasn't, the ones that didn't come from the lines of Hashira were shocked, including Tanjiro.

"You do not need to worry about anything. Nezuko has proven that she doesn't want to drink human blood and has self-control. As for you, Tanjiro, defeat one of the Twelve Kizuki. If you do, they will accept your words and recognize the value of your presence."

From Tanjiro's face, Ai could tell that he felt the same way as she did, feeling calm after hearing his voice. Still, he declared with zeal, "I swear!! Nezuko and I will defeat Muzan Kibutsuji!! We will not fail!! I'll use my blade to break the chain of sadness!!"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki softly smiled at him with a kind look, "You are not ready for that yet. For now, defeat one of the twelve Kizuki."

"Uh…okay," Tanjiro's face turned red with embarrassment, and the Hashira's tried their best to hold back their laugh.

"Now then, there is someone that has defeated one of the Twelve Kizuki, only months after becoming a Demon Slayer," The moment Kagaya Ubuyashiki said that, all the Hashira's looked towards Ai, fixing their gaze on her.

"Did she? Since she defeated it, I thought they were just rumors. That one of the Twelve Kizuki was on that mountain?" Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro fixed his gaze on her, watching her closely.

"No, there was one of the Twelve Kizuki, Lower Five? If I am not wrong?"

"Yes, Rui was there," Ai wondered how he knew which one it was and thought back to the crows, one such crow she saw on Tamayo's window. Was it a coincidence?

"Rui? You call a Demon as if you were talking about a human. Don't tell me you sympathize with them because you are front outside," Wind Hashira sent a glare toward her.

"I do not sympathize with Rui, the Lower Five, the Demon," Ai shook her head, pressing her lips in sadness, "I do sympathize with Rui, the human boy who was too weak to even walk. The boy, whose weakness was used by Muzan, was twisted by his words so badly that he couldn't even hear his parents loving words when they wanted to kill him and themselves to atone. Not hear his mother's regret that she couldn't give him a strong body, or his father who couldn't protect him, only for the child to end up killing them, seething with hate from the betrayal, only for that flame to be fanned by Muzan, for his desires, toyed until he wasn't of use anymore. You forget…that humans aren't the only victims; they are not the only ones who need salvation. I wish to save them, the Demons, even if it means killing them with my hand or Muzan himself!"

"Oye, to begin with…how do you even know how a Lower Five became the Demon and what happened in detail? Are you trying to fool us with a random story?"

"No, this is what I wanted to inform you all. As I said before, Tanjiro has seen Muzan, but that is not all we have against him," Ubuyashiki 'gazed' towards Ai, but what he wanted to see if the sword was there, and his daughters replied to him, telling him there was.

"I see, so you brought that sword. Ai's sword is special, although I still don't understand where that power comes from. Whenever she kills a Demon, or one is killed near her, their ashes turn to carry their memories of their time as humans and their time as Demons. Anyone who holds that sword dreams of their memories, and what Ai told her was her dream of Rui's end. End of his suffering."

"Oh, I did hear rumors that the Swordsmith Village that her sword was named the Cursed Demon Slaying Sword?" Rengoku walked over to her, holding the sword, holding the hilt.

"You say there are Dreams of Demons inside this? Even Muzan Kibutsuji appears!" A grin spread on Rengoku's face, "Let me borrow this! I will see that man's face and find him before ending him once and for all!"

He turned the broadsword, stopping another one of Hashira's attacks, "Wind Hashira, Sanemi? What is the meaning of this?"

"If anyone should have that sword, then it should be me! Once I get a good look at the Demon King, I will send him to an early grave!"

"Muzan Kibutsuji, if we kill more Twelve Kizuki with that sword, we can gain more information on the Leader of Demons and send him to an early grave," The Stone Hashira said with tears. In his eyes, "We can finally grant him salvation."

The Love Hashira darted her eyes between the others, raising her fist, "Yes! I see the hope in this thousand years old battle! Finally, we will all be able to live with love!"

Tengen Uzui, the sound Hashira laughed, "Now that is flashy! Give me that sword, and I will kill him flashily!"

"It's not without drawbacks," Ai didn't want to kill their hopes. Still, it was something they needed to know, "The memories I see are random…and so at times they are memories of them killing someone…sometimes, there is the feeling that I am chewing human flesh that keeps me awake at night…or the feeling of cutting into human body…or their screams…or the time when they were the happiest, saddest, angriest. Whether it be dreams or nightmares, they are off when their emotions are heightened. So even with the draw of the luck…there is a high chance that Muzan appears in them."

She raised her hand to take her sword back, entirely determined to live those moments that disgusted her again if that meant she could bring about an end to this, but Rengoku pulled away from her, raising the sword above his head.

Soon a laugh escaped his mouth, "So what?! Girl, do you think that only you can go through that? That only you are the only one determined to do this?! That only you want to kill that man and save the people of our world!!"

His voice became louder, encompassing their surroundings as he declared, "Do not underestimate the Hashira's!! We are all prepared to die here! If some bad dreams are all it takes, then we will all push through it! We will kill Muzan Kibutsuji and free this earth of Demons!! Once and For All!"

Ai widened her eyes; not only him but all the Hashira standing behind him also had a smile or grin, with a look of determination filling their eyes, something that touched her heart.

She felt relief sweep over her, and her hand fell beside her waist. A genuinely happy smile appeared on her lips, "I see…I am glad."

Tanjiro parted his lips, watching the sword in amazement, declaring at the top of his voice, "Me too!! I, too, will help!"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki let out a smile, raising his head toward the sky, "Muzan Kibutsuji…be careful; these children are coming for you with all they have. Your end…is near. I hope I am around to see it."