Chapter 30

Title: Siblings v Siblings

**********************************************

Mt. Nagasumo

As Tanjiro and Nezuko waited inside the cabin, Tanjiro could smell the demons getting further and further away. Afterwards, he sighed before opening the door to the cabin.

He peeked out and saw the coast was clear.

"Mm, we should be fine now." He said as he walked from the cabin. Nezuko was currently sleeping inside the box on his back, so he was really talking to himself.

'I can't go back down or else I'll have to fight that horde again. Don't wanna do that.' He thought with a nervous chuckle.

"Then I'll head further up the mountain. It looks like these demons are avoiding it, so it should be fine." He said.

He adjusted the box he was carrying and started going further up the mountain. It wasn't as difficult to spot the traps and they seemed to thin out the further he went.

At some point his nose caught the scent of multiple different things. Some stung his senses while others smelt nice. He had to cover his nose on the way up, but soon stopped as he gained a foreboding feeling.

He skeptically looked around him with his sword drawn in one hand and the other still on his nose.

"You there, boy." He heard as he turned his head towards a tree. He saw three beings standing in a tree.

The moment his eyes were laid on them, he knew they were demons. He released his hand on his nose and immediately their foul scent invaded his senses.

It felt as if he was choking and couldn't get a solid piece of fresh air into his lungs.

'How man have they eaten?' He thought.

His grip tightened around the hilt of his blade as he glared at them.

"Mm, we aren't here to fight you. Make you way down the mountain and there won't be trouble." Koyuki said.

'There's no way they're like Yushiro and Tamayo. This stench is nothing like how they smelt!!'

"I'm a demon slayer. Being face to face with a demon, there's no way I can leave!!" He yelled. His determination was unwavering.

"Well we did try talking." Itsumu said as he jumped down from the tree.

He landed on the ground and glared at Tanjiro before sniffing the air.

"You're harboring a demon in that box aren't you?" He asked.

Tanjiro glanced behind him and didn't answer, so they took it as a yes.

"You must be that demon slayer Kyoshi's become interested in recently. Then I'll try not to kill you."

Tanjiro took the box from his back, but his eyes never left the enemy. Finally, he got into a proper stance and slowly breathed in as they came to a stare down.

Just like that, they vanished.

*Clang*

As they met in the middle, they were caught in a deadlock. Tanjiro's sword slash, was blocked by Itsumu's stingers which protruded from his wrist.

Itsumu used his left hand and went to jab his other stinger into Tanjiro's sides, but quick to react, Tanjiro tilted his blade downward and blocked the stinger. He swung his blade clockwise and pushed Itsumu back before dashing towards him.

He slashed his sword upwards diagonally, but Itsumu leaned back and spun to the to the right aiming a kick to Tanjiro's head.

Tanjiro ducked and had his blade placed over his shoulder as he spun around extending his blade. Itusmu flipped over him and while doing so, grabbed him by the back of his collar before launching Tanjiro at a tree as he landed.

Tanjiro flexed his back muscles as he braced for impact and slammed against the tree. He grunted, but was able to recover quickly.

Itsumu ran towards him and did a cartwheel as his stingers extended and he began his attack.

He slashed towards Tanjiro diagonally, but it was blocked and he continued. With every spin, he gained momentum and wasn't exactly looking to kill him, but rather knock him out.

He went for another swing and saw Tanjiro going to block it, but he feinted that attack and with his left hand, he stabbed his stinger into Tanjiro's stomach and kicked him away.

He was sent rolling across the ground and knocked over the box he placed on the ground. Blood started soaking his clothes so much it was dripping through the fabric.

He held his stomach area with dreary eyes. He dug into his jacket and pulled out a syringe before injecting himself with the fluid inside.

His wound started closing at speeds visible to the naked eye as veins began bulged from his body and his eyes seemed to go bloodshot.

Some rumbling came from the box that was tumbled over behind him and emerging from it was a cute little girl.

She had kitten-like pink eyes, long flowing black hair that faded into orange at the tips. She wore an obviously over sized yukata that was pink and white with flowers on it.

She took a glance over the field and ran over to Tanjiro with a worried expression on her face. He rubbed her head as she took a glance at the hole in his clothing and saw the wound that had just finished healing.

She started growing in size as he fangs and claws were bared. Veins appeared on her face leading to her eyes as she grit her teeth and glared at Itsumu.

Tanjiro saw this and smiled as he stood up and got back into his stance. Nezuko shot forward and as she got ready to attack Itsumu, Mayumi; his sister jumped down from the tree and blocked her kick.

She swung her arm, effectively deflecting the attack and with her other hand she slashed towards Nezuko's face.

Reacting to this, Nezuko jumped back and landed next to Tanjiro.

"You focus on the demon slayer, I'll handle her." Mayumi said.

Itsumu nodded his head as he readied his stingers.

His Demon Blood Art was called "Chemist".

It allowed him to inject himself with drugs, poisons, antidotes, etc and his body would absorb them. He's then able to replicate what's absorbed repeatedly.

Through his stingers, he's able to choose what he wants to inject himself or an opponent with and he could inject it through stabbing with them.

This was of course limited to Wisteria poisons as he would die or become severely weak.

As of now, he was using a sleeping agent as he only wanted to knock Tanjiro out.

He dashed forward and jumped into the air as he performed an axe kick. Tanjiro raised his sword and sliced towards Itsumu's legs, but to his surprise, Itsumu shrunk his legs and his upper body was pulled forward.

He shot his hands out and they were aimed right for his shoulders. Tanjiro quickly reacted and turned his blade to the flat side as he raised it towards his shoulders.

Itsumu's stingers collided with the blade and Tanjiro swung it to the left which opened up Itsumu to an attack. His legs went back to normal size and as Tanjiro swung his blade to the right, horizontally, Itsumu ducked.

He whipped his leg out and spun, which made Tanjiro trip, but he caught himself with his right hand and to the side. Itsumu got low and charged forward as the veins in his legs bulged.

Over with Mayumi, she set the tone for her fight. She ran forward and swung a right hook towards Nezuko which she ducked under and aimed a punch towards Mayumi's stomach.

Once she let it fly, Mayumi caught her fist and yanked her forward. She then sent a punch that hammered into Nezuko's gut.

She coughed up air before gritting her teeth and using her left hand to grab Mayumi's haori and pull her off balance. She was sent stumbling backwards and with that chance, Nezuko punched Mayumi in the jaw.

Her head didn't even move an inch from the punch as she grinned. Mayumi still held onto Nezuko's right hand and she pulled her i to the air by it before sending another punch into her stomach.

Nezuko was sent rolling away as she smashed into a tree, completely knocking it over. Mayumi ran towards her as she got up with a grunt and started growling.

As she saw Mayumi coming, she also ran towards her. The two collided with their legs crashing against one another. The wind from the blast kicked up dust all around them.

Mayumi, spun her leg to the right which made Nezuko's leg come down as she reached for her yukata. Nezuko saw this and gained her balance before she grabbed Mayumi's right hand and yanked her forward.

She then grabbed her face and slammed it into the ground. Cracks were formed as she raised it and went for another slam before Mayumi swung her hand towards Nezuko and she jumped back, but she suddenly couldn't feel her feet. A blanket made of web was swung across the field as Mayumi got up.

The webs were absorbed back into her hands and she looked towards Nezuko who was on the ground.

She ran forward and went for a kick, but was surprised when Nezuko leaned back till she was laying on the ground before pushing herself up, regrowing her feet and head-butted her.

In this stunned state, Nezuko grabbed Mayumi's haori with both hand and continually kneed her in the stomach.

Mayumi coughed up blood before Nezuko tossed her upward and hammered an overhead punch into her jaw which sent her body slamming into the ground.

Mayumi was utterly shocked.

At first she couldn't even stand a chance yet now she's the one being overwhelmed?! She glared at Nezuko as she got ready to get up, but was immediately kicked which sent her rolling across the field.

Itsumu and Tanjiro heard the loud crash and Tanjiro looked away from Itsumu. Itsumu grinned as he took advantage of this and slammed his left leg into Tanjiro's ribs.

Tanjiro was sent flying into a tree as he panted from exhaustion.

Currently, he looked like shit. Blood from his nose and mouth. Cuts all over his clothes which were dripping with blood.

"Damn it!!" Itsumu cursed.

He was trying not to kill the guy for Kyoshi's same, but he wouldn't go down. He didn't know what type of condition Kyoshi would need him in, but at this point Itsumu felt as if he'd have to seriously cripple Tanjiro.

"Just stay down already. Keep this up and you'll die!!" Itsumu yelled. At this point he'd already used poisons in small dosage to weaken him, but they seem to barely be taking effect.

"I-I can't do that!!" Tanjiro retorted. He dug into his jacket and pulled out another syringe.

Before he could inject himself with the fluids inside, Itsumu ran forward and grabbed him by the shoulders before ramming his knee into Tanjiro's gut.

He spat out more blood and let go of the syringe. In that moment, Itsumu took the syringe and kicked Tanjiro away.

He inspected the syringe and the fluid inside before putting his arm out and stabbing himself with it. He injected the fluid and felt all the RC cells in his body go crazy.

It felt as if a huge burst of energy was just unlocked and felt like a new demon. His veins bulged as a grin emerged on his face.

"I wonder who could've made something like this? If it was a human demon slayer, I'd imagine that they'd make it lethal to demons yet this…" He took a glance at Tanjiro who seemed to be out cold as he walked up to him.

He knelt down quickly stabbed him in the shoulder as he started injecting him with the sleeping agent. As that was happening, he noticed Tanjiro's other shoulder twitch and within a second, Itsumu jumped away.

Slowly a slash wound was formed across his chest as he looked at it. He then turned his head towards Tanjiro and saw him looking more serious than before.

His blade especially seemed off.

**********************************************

I'm currently trying to come up with a Demon Blood Art for Kyoshi. Maybe something like Crystallization from AOT. Idk.

In the end Kyoshi's gonna be pretty OP anyway.

We'll get back to Kyoshi and Rin after this fight since it's rly important. Along with that Itsumu's gonna come in clutch some time later.

Not for Kyoshi tho. Lol.

GN guys😴

Also close to 2k collections. Thanks to everyone who's reading and giving ps. The support is always cherished even if I've exchanged a few paragraphs with some of you before🤔