Embraced

The girl raised her needle katana and pointed it towards Giyu. "Okay, Tomioka-san, get out of the way." The girl said.

Giyu looked back at her and said resolutely. "I am not hated."

Hiroto slowly turned his head towards Giyu and thought. '... Really? That's what you picked up on?'

Tanjiro looked at the back of Giyu's head as he covered Nezuko, questioning Giyu's choice of words.

The girl just looked on and had a look of pity in her eyes as she responded, "Ahhh, that… I'm sorry, so you didn't realize you were hated. Pardon me for saying too much."

*!!* Giyu looked down and Hiroto couldn't see his expression.

"Boy." The girl called out, both Hiroto and Tanjiro turned and looked towards her. She raised her hand to her mouth and said to Tanjiro, "Boy, you're protecting a Demon. It's dangerous, so please get off her."

Before Tanjiro could respond, Hiroto intervened and spoke up. "I know it looks bad, but she's our little sister, although she-"

Before Hiroto could finish the girl covered her mouth and looked sadly at Hiroto, saying, "Well is that so, what a pity. Okay then…" The girl's look then changed as she smiled.

"I'll kill her with a sweet poison that won't leave her in pain." Hiroto looked at her with a complicated expression but knew that she would stick to her words when he saw her eyes. However, he also saw, in the depths of her eyes, an indescribable look of sadness hiding behind her eyes.

Giyu turned to Hiroto and said, "Take both your brother and sister and run, I'll keep her back for now."

Hiroto looked at Giyu and expressed his gratitude silently, before going to pick Nezuko up in a princess carry and put Tanjiro on his back. "Thank you so much!! We're sorry!" Tanjiro shouted, looking back as his brother carried them away.

"Isn't this a violation of the Demon Slayers conduct?" The girl said smiling towards Giyu.

Running through the forest, Hiroto was panting as he carried both Tanjiro and Nezuko, using that new move from before took a toll on him since it was his first time performing it.

'No matter what, you can't stop. Keep running. For Nezuko's sake, keep running.' Hiroto thought as he navigated through the forest.

"Brother… put me down… I… I can walk on my-"

"No." Hiroto interrupted what Tanjiro was going to say. "You're too injured from your fight, just rely on your big brother for now. That's what a big brother is for." Hiroto said as he smiled looking down at Nezuko who stared back and didn't say anything.

'What should we do now, once word gets out, people would know that we're protecting a Demon…' Hiroto thought as he ran along. Behind him up in the trees was a small figure of a girl wearing a white haori following them.

Jumping down from the tree's she lunged towards Hiroto *thump* and knocked them down. "Ah!" Hiroto wasn't paying attention as he was too lost in his thoughts and lost his balance as he was knocked over.

Looking up, Hiroto recognized the girl to be the one he met at the Final Selection, she was raising her sword to kill Nezuko. "Kanao! Don't!"

Upon hearing his words, Kanao flinched and stopped her actions, as she looked towards Hiroto. Her eyes widened in surprise for a second before going back to her usual state. Given this one moment of hesitation, Tanjiro grabbed her haori and pulled her down, causing her to trip and fall over to Hiroto.

"Ah! Watch it!" Hiroto said as the girl fell on top of his chest. Hiroto then proceeded to restrain her by wrapping his arms around her body to stop her from moving.

"Tanjiro! Take Nezuko and get out of here! I'll deal with her! Just take her and go!" Hiroto yelled at Tanjiro. Tanjiro gritted his teeth before he could refuse, he saw the look in Hiroto's eyes and knew he couldn't refuse him.

Tanjiro then picked Nezuko up with all his might, as every fiber of his body was aching and begging him to stop moving before they commit suicide.

"Kanao, listen. I know this looks bad, but you have to trust me on this. My sister was turned into a Demon, but she had never eaten anyone up till now or in the future as well." Hiroto tried to explain to her, as he stopped her from escaping his grasp.

Kanao stared back into his eyes, as she saw that he had a look of sincerity. She tried to wiggle her arms on impulse to get out her coin.

"Ah, trying to get your coin again? Wait, you still didn't do what I told you from the coin during the Final Selection right? What did I ask again back then?" Hiroto said as he began to rewind his thoughts to the events of the day.

Kanao looked at Hiroto and opened her mouth. "You… you said that for the duration of the exam I need to answer all of your questions." Kanao said, recounting the exact words from that day.

"Oh, I did? Then it doesn't matter since it was only for the exam. By the way, how many more know of Nezuko?" Hiroto asked, this time with a serious expression.

Kanao didn't respond but just stared at Hiroto. Hiroto looked into her eyes, and as he was about to say something…

"CAWW CAWW!! MESSAGE MESSAGE!!" A crow started shouting from above them. Hiroto and Kanao both look up at the same time.

"We have a message!! Restrain the ones named Hiroto, Tanjiro, and Nezuko, and bring them to headquarters!!"

Kanao looked up curiously then towards Hiroto. "Hiroto, Tanjiro as well as the Demon Nezuko! Restrain them and bring them to headquarters! Hiroto has a scar on his right hand, Tanjiro has a scar on his forehead! The Demon Nezuko is biting onto a piece of bamboo!" The crow shouted.

"Oh my, am I interrupting something?" A girl's teasing voice came from the side. Hiroto and Kanao blushed, as they looked over to see the girl with the needle katana from before. Behind her were two men with clothes covering their faces, one carried Tanjiro while the girl had the box with Nezuko inside of it.

"What did you do to my siblings!" Hiroto yelled as he let go of Kanao. Kanao took this opportunity to knock Hiroto out but was blocked as Hiroto raised his elbow to block her blow to his head. Hiroto then pushed her to the side and rolled to regain his footing.

As Hiroto stood up, he smelt a sweet and pleasant fragrance assault his nose. "Now now, no need to put up a fight, although I don't mind if you resisted a bit. It gives me an excuse to tie you up rougher and tougher." The girl with the needle katana's voice sounded out from behind Hiroto's ears.

Before Hiroto could react, he started to feel nauseated and dizzy. Staggering he tried to keep his footing but was tripped over by the girl as she bent over above him and said, "Sweet dreams…"

[Demon Slayer Headquarters]

"Get up."

"He's waking up."

"Wakey… hey."

"Hey, come on."

"Come on, bastard."

"Come on!!"

"How long are you gonna sleep! Get up already!"

Hiroto opened his eyes as he heard a multitude of voices enter his ears, shouting at him to wake up. As he lifted his face off the gravel-covered ground, he noticed that not only his hands but his legs were also tied.

Hiroto looked up and saw 6 different people standing over him. Looking to the side, Hiroto saw Tanjiro waking up, with his hands tied behind his back as he laid prone.

"The pillars are now present!!" The person with the cloth covering his mask knelt beside him and announced.

'Pillars? What pillars? They look like people to me.' Hiroto thought as he looked up at the people in front.

'Who are these people? Where are we?' Hiroto kept questioning.

Seeing the figures, Hiroto saw, from right to left. A very tall and wide-set man with a bulky and muscular build and lightly tanned skin. His hair was white and uneven, with long strands reaching his shoulders. He wore a sleeveless and dark turquoise version of the Demon Slayer uniform, with two blades on his back connected with chains.

To the left of him was a curvaceous young woman with fair skin and round, light green eyes and long eyelashes, having a small mole beneath each of them. She has long, pale pink hair that fades into a neon green color halfway down, and was down in three thick braids. She wore a short skirt and plain white haori, with her breast area left unbuttoned.

The left of her was a young adult of tall stature with bright yellow hair and red streaks, black forked eyebrows and golden eyes. He wore a haori white haori which was torn at the bottom, leaving the strips to act as flames at the bottom half of it turned red.

The left of the man, a short young man with a light complexion and long, straight hair of black color that faded to pale turquoise as it approached his waist. He wore a dark, slightly turquoise-tinted uniform with longer and looser sleeves.

Behind him stood a hulking figure, easily towering over the others. He looked extremely bulky and muscular, with spiky black hair and a prominent scar running horizontally across his forehead. He seemed to be blind as he has white eyes with no visible irises or pupils. His hands were clasped together with beads in between them.

In front of him stood the woman that Hiroto saw previously, the one with the needle katana, who looked at Hiroto and said with a smile, "This is the headquarters of the Demon Slayers. You are both on trial right now. Kamado Hiroto-Kun, and Kamado Tanjiro-Kun."