Akaza

The demon had pearl white skin with blue lines covering its body. It wore an open pink vest and baggy white pants with red bead like bracelets around its ankles, leaving a lot of exposed skin. Its short pink hair stood out along side its orange eyes that had the Kanji for "Upper Rank Three" engraved into them.

This demon that had just appeared, simply stood there in a strange stance, starring at both Tanjiro and Rengoku, that is, it was, before it suddenly smiled and vanished.

Tanjiro blinked for less than half a second, and somehow the demon appeared in front of him, its fist just inches away from his face. But there was something weird about it, its entire arm up to its elbow was split in half!

That's when Tanjiro noticed Rengoku standing next to him with his sword drawn and fire surrounding it, as if he had just finished swinging.

'W-What just happened?' Tanjiro thought to himself in a panic as he jumped back and landed in a fighting stance, making sure to grab Nezuko and drag her back and out of danger.

At the same time, the demon also jumped backward to get out of the way of Rengoku's sword. And by the time he landed, his arm was already healed.

"Nice Katana you've got their." The demon commented as it licked its own blood.

"Now why would someone as powerful as you attack the weakest one here first?" Rengoku asked as he smiled, but the smile seemed forced.

"I thought he might interrupt the conversation... You know, the one we are about have." The demon said in a light hearted tone.

"What are we going to talk about? This is our first meeting and I already hate you." Rengoku replied, still trying to keep his smile, but it became more and more obvious how forced it was the longer he looked at this demon.

"Of course, that's not the only reason. I also hate weak humans. Whenever I see weakness my skin crawls!" The demon continued, as if that justified it.

"You and I have very different values." Rengoku's smile was replaced with a blank expression.

"Aha! Well then I have a great idea... Why don't you become a demon?" It asked, raising its hand.

"I refuse." Rengoku replied immediately.

"I can tell your strength just by looking at you. You're a Hashira right? You've developed your fighting spirit to the edge of perfection!" The demon commented as he looked at powerful aura that surrounded him.

"I am the flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku."

"I am Akaza. Now let me tell you, Kyojuro, why your power will never truly reach perfection. Its because you are human! Because you age. Because you will eventually die! Become a demon Kyojuro! If you do you can to train for hundreds of years and keep getting stronger!" The demon Akaza explained.

'Of all of the demons I have encountered so far, this one smells the most like Kibutsuji. I need to help somehow-' Tanjiro was thinking as he looked at the exchange in front of him, but his thought were interrupted as his sister suddenly freed her self from his grip and was ready to run at the demon with an absolutely livid expression on her face.

"Wait Nezuko!" Tanjiro grabbed her arm again and pulled her back, but she barely budged.

"Nezuko! You are not strong enough to fight that one, I can't let you fight him! Go and get the giant! He should be strong enough to help us! You are faster than me, hurry and go get him!" Tanjiro told her. While he wanted to help Rengoku he knew that neither he nor Nezuko could do anything.

Nezuko turned and looked back at him, she looked to hesitate a little, as if she was fearful, but when she looked back at the demon, her expression of anger returned. She then turned around and sped toward area where Jonathan was healing people at incredible speed.

Both Tanjiro and Inosuke were left there to stare at the demon and Rengoku, hoping that Rengoku could win or at least hold on until Nezuko returned with the giant.

"Growing old and dying is what gives meaning and beauty to the fleeting span of a human life. Its precisely because we age and die that our lives have value and nobility. Strength is not a word that means much in regards to the flesh. This boy is not weak, do not insult him." Rengoku gestured to Tanjiro.

"Now let me say this again, you and I have different values. I have many reasons for not becoming a demon!" Rengoku finished and took a fighting stance, knowing what was coming next.

"I see." Akaza looked a little disappointed as he to entered a fighting stance.

Technique Development, Destructive Death: Compass Needle

A light blue snowflake like pattern appeared around Akaza's feet.

"If you wont become a demon, than I will have to kill you!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezuko took less than a few seconds to run around the entire train and find Jonathan on the other side healing someone.

She was relieved to have found him, but her expression didn't relax. She was still angry after seeing that demon so close to killing Tanjiro. She immediately started to run toward Jonathan.

But then her gaze drifted to the golden light that radiated off of his hands and she stopped. She started shaking a little and took a step back.

Her expression became one of fear and only continued to warp with despair the longer she looked at the golden light. She then shook her head as that fear started to take over and she took a few more steps backward.

In her mind all she could here was her demon blood telling her to run away. She felt the same right now as she did whenever the sun rose. She couldn't even think straight as her instincts screamed at her to get as far away from the light as possible.

Although she couldn't think straight, she still knew why she came here. She needed to get the giants attention and bring him back to Tanjiro!

But she couldn't move!

What was she supposed to do? Every time she tried to take a step forward her entire body would freeze up and overwhelm her thoughts with the urge to run!

Now she was starting to get even more scared. Scared that she wouldn't be able to make it back in time and Tanjiro would die!

A few seconds later Jonathan finished healing the person in front of him and the light disappeared. But despite this, the feeling didn't. She still wanted to run away.

He then went to the next person, once again covering his hands in Hamon then reaching out to heal the mans injuries.

Nezuko watched this happen, wondering why she was so scared of it. Than she looked at the giants face. His eyes were kind and noble, just like her brother. Her brother who was about to die!

Her mind was torn between being scared of the light, and being scared of her brothers death. Both sides equally freaking her out so much that she couldn't do anything at all!

But then she felt something else in her blood. A different instinct, telling her that it was okay, that the light wouldn't do anything to her. This instinct felt familiar to her somehow. It felt like something that she has had since she became a demon, but it had been sleeping this entire time, waiting for something to wake it up.

With the appearance of this new feeling, the fear of the light disappeared, and all that remained was the fear of Tanjiro dying, so she immediately ran forward, appearing right in front of Jonathan.

He looked at her with curiosity. "Is something wrong?" He asked seeing the panicked look in her eyes.

Nezuko didn't say anything and just grabbed his hand and pulled on it, pointing toward the fight, that was currently taking place on the other side of the train, so Jonathan couldn't see it.

"What is it? Do you need help-" Jonathan stopped in the middle of asking his question as he heard some sort of clinging sound, like metal was hitting metal.

'But the train has stopped moving, so why does it sound like that? Wait, those swordsmen from earlier, where are they?' He then looked at Nezuko again. 'That's right! This is the girl that was defending one of the cars with that yellow boy. Why would a fighter be panicked? Is there a fight going on?'

Jonathan immediately stood up as he realized what had happened. 'There was another vampire! But I didn't see any more on the train, and if they were there, they would have been effected by my Hamon when I was using the Life Barrier Overdrive. So it was hiding in the forest than! I should have looked around to make sure it was safe before running off to heal people! Now those swordsmen are fighting it and they sent this girl to get my help. I need to hurry!'

Jonathan turned to the man he was healing and bowed, trying to apologize for having to stop healing him, but he wasn't sure whether he got through to him as he couldn't speak their language. He then turned around and started running, hoping that he would make it in time, with Nezuko running in front leading him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Don't die yet Kyojuro." Akaza said as he stood in front of the beaten and exhausted Rengoku.

"No matter how desperately you fight Kyojuro, its useless. That wonderful cut you made has already healed completely. But what about you? Your left eye is crushed. Your ribs are broken. Your bleeding inside. Those are serious wounds. If you were a demon you would heal in the blink of an eye, to a demon those wounds are just scratches." Akaza continued as he starred Rengoku in the eyes.

"No matter how hard they struggle humans cannot defeat demons." He said seriously, hoping that this last ditch effort would convince Rengoku to become a demon.

But Rengoku simply smiled. This time it was a genuine smile as his eyes filled with a noble presence and he once again took a fighting stance. "I will fulfill my duty! I won't let anyone die here!"

He then closed his eyes and thought 'Flame breathing, Esoteric art-'

"Such fighting spirit! Even with those wound you're filled with determination and spiritual fortitude. Your stance has no weaknesses! You really should become a demon Kyojuro! Then you can fight with me forever!" Akaza suggested once more with an excited expression on his face.

Ninth Form Rengoku!

Destructive Death: Annihilation Type

They both ran forward with so much speed and force that dirt was kicked up and dust obscured Tanjiro and Inosuke's views.

But when the dust settled everyone was surprised to see a giant holding the demons hand effortlessly. Rengoku barely had enough time to stop his sword swing before it hit Jonathan.

But the most surprised was Akaza.

Not because the giant had stopped his attack, or because he was surprised that there was another human as powerful as a Hashira around, but because of what he saw when he looked at the Giant.

"W-What the hell? How-why does your fighting spirit look like that?! I've never seen anything like it!" Akaza asked in amazement as he looked at the thin purple vines covering the giants body.