The House

"No! You can't leave me here! I'm about to die!! I'll definitely die the next time I'm on the job!!" Zenitsu started yelling towards Tanjiro. "I'm super weak, and don't think I'm exaggerating! Ask him!" Zenitsu pointed to Hiroto, looking off to the side.

"Let's just go Tanjiro, this is going to take a while," Hiroto said as he continued to walk away.

"Ahh! Wait for me!" Zenitsu yelled following the two.

"We have not been properly introduced to each other yet, my name is Kamado Tanjiro. And that's my brother, Hiroto." Tanjiro said.

"Ah! My name is Agatsuma Zenitsu." Zenitsu replied.

"Tell me this Zenitsu," Hiroto asked as he kept on walking. "If you are a Demon Slayer how can you keep asking like this? Let alone from two people you have never met."

"It's because I was deceived by a woman, and I've got a boatload of debt! That guy I owe money to says that I need to repay the debt the woman owes him as well, so he "Groomed" me!!" Zenitsu yelled in anguish.

"I thought I was going to die during the Final Selection! In the end, I was lucky that your brother saved me at the beginning! But then I ended up back in that hellish lifestyle again." Zenitsu cried out, tears flowing down his face.

Tanjiro reached into his pocket and gave Zenitsu his rice ball, "Here, calm down a bit and eat. I understand what you're going through, but please don't cause any more trouble for the sparrow." Tanjiro said walking behind Hiroto next to Zenitsu.

"That's what it's saying." Tanjiro pointed to the sparrow in his hands. *Chir chirp!*

"Wait! You can understand bird language?! Seriously?! You're making this up, aren't you?" Zenitsu cried out in surprise.

'If I don't get killed by a Demon soon, I will die from all this crying.' Hiroto thought, taking out a rice ball and giving it to Tanjiro.

"Here, you didn't even eat yourself yet," Hiroto said.

Tanjiro smiled at his brother, as he was about to say something the crow started yelling. "CAWW!! HURRY UP!! HURRY UP!! HIROTO, TANJIRO, ZENITSU START RUNNING!! THE THREE OF YOU WILL MOVE FORWARDS TO YOUR NEXT LOCATION!!" The crow yelled out.

'I forgot about another loud one' Hiroto thought, covering his ears. "Alright guys, we need to pick up the pace. You heard the crow Zenitsu, you're coming with us."

Hiroto said, as he started running forward, Tanjiro followed behind him.

"...But that crow just talked…" Zenitsu whimpered, before running after them. "Wait for me!"

[1 Hour of running Later]

Running through a forest, the three started to see a large house stand reveal itself in a clearing. Walking up to it, Tanjiro muttered. "There's a smell of blood in the area… but this smell is…"

Hiroto narrowed his eyes.

"This is a smell that I've never encountered before." Tanjiro finished.

"Eh? There's a smell? I can't smell anything at all, but can you hear a sound coming from over there? Seems like we're going to need to work together in the future as well." Zenitsu said, cupping his ears toward the side of the clearing where the treeline was.

"Sound?" Hiroto muttered, turning around he saw the two kids hugging each other. A boy and a young girl, scared. Looking into their eyes, Hiroto could tell that the two had fear and worry within their eyes.

Walking up to them, Hiroto asked, "What are you two doing here?"

The two kids flinched back in fear, as the boy stared back in fear while shielding her younger sister.

'They must have been traumatized by something to be this scared.' Hiroto thought.

Walking up to them, he reassured them. "Don't worry, no one's going to hurt you. We're here to help." Hiroto said smiling. Reaching his hand behind the young girl's head, he pulled it back to show a flower.

"Here, you can have this," Hiroto said to the scared girl, who looked up cautiously before slowly reaching her hand out to take the flower.

A moment later the two fell to their knees and started crying. 'The boy seems to be around 8 or 9, the girl looks to be even younger'

Tanjiro walked over and asked them, "What happened? Is that house over there the home of the two of you?"

The boy spoke up, "No… It's not *sniff*... it's… the home… of the monster." his tone getting stiffer and more anxious at the last mention of a monster.

Tanjiro looked over to Hiroto. The boy continued saying, "Our older brother was captured by the monster. We were traveling during the night… the monster came, but it ignored the two of us and only took our brother away…"

"The monster entered that house over there?" Hiroto asked.

"Yes… yes…" The boy whimpered.

Tanjiro looked at the two kids with soft eyes, "So the two of you followed it all the way here? That's impressive. You guys are strong."

The boy started tearing up, "Uu… We were following our brother's blood trail. He's hurt…"

Hearing the boy's words, Hiroto's eyes narrowed. 'I can't have these kids go through what it's like to lose someone from your family.' Hiroto thought. He reached his hand out and ruffled both the hair of the boy and the girl. "What's your name?" Hiroto asked.

"Soichi," The boy said. "Teruko..." The little girl muttered.

Smiling measuredly, Hiroto said, "Don't worry. I'll defeat the monster, and rescue your brother. You have to stay strong, your siblings are looking up to you. You have to show your strong side, no matter what."

The boy looked up into Hiroto's eyes and felt calmer, but he also saw grief in them.

'Brother…' Tanjiro thought, looking at his brothers back, which seemed to be larger than it is.

"Really? Will you save our brother? Do you mean it…?" The little girl spoke up.

Patting her head, Hiroto said, "Don't worry, I'll bring him back for you."

"Hiroto, Tanjiro…" Zenitsu said, cupping his ears.

"What is that sound? It feels really uncomfortable… It keeps on ringing. Is that… a drum?" Zenitsu said worriedly.

"Sound? I can't hear any…" Before Tanjiro could finish, a scream could be heard from the top floor. "Aghhh!"

Looking up, they saw a man fly backward out of the room and fall from the balcony. *Thud!* The man's face landed on the floor.

"Ah!" The two kids yelled out. "Don't look!" Tanjiro yelled out, before he ran to the person shouting out, "Are you alright?!"

Tanjiro gently supported him up, "Are you okay? Hold on…" Tanjiro said in agitation. 'The wound is deep. This is…'

"I finally… Got… Out…" The man's hoarse voice said as blood started coming from his mouth, staining his shirt and face.

"Ah… ah… Finally… got out… got...out...side… Am I… Going… to die? I...Am... Going… to die?" The man looked up confused and scared at Tanjiro. Tanjiro quickly hugged him as he had a pained look.

"GROOOOOOWR!" A loud growl sounded out from inside of the house through the opened side door. Hiroto and the others tensed up, Zenitsu was scared stiff.

As the sound died down, Tanjiro looked at the man's body. 'Ahh… He's dead already. Must have been painful. He must have suffered.' Tanjiro thought, looking pained at not having been able to save him.

"He… He isn't our brother… our brother was wearing yellowish-brown clothing…" The boy said hugging his sister.

This drew Hiroto's attention, "So there's a lot of people being kept together inside the house." Hiroto said, looking towards the house.

Standing up, Hiroto started walking towards the house, with a deep frown on his face. 'Brother' Tanjiro thought, seeing the anger in his brother's face.

"Zenitsu!! Let's go! Tanjiro called out. Zenitsu, however, just stood there petrified scared. Seeing this, Tanjiro has a look on his face that only Zenitsu could see.

"... I see. I understand." Tanjiro said, before slowly turning and walking away.

"Yah!! What is it! Don't look at me with that face full of fury and disappointment, I'll come along okay!" Zenitsu cried out hugging Tanjiro's back.

"I don't plan to force you." Tanjiro's lows voice sounded out.

"I'll come along as well!" Zenitsu yelled in desperation.

Hiroto waited for the two by the door, looking over to the two kids he decided on something. Walking over to them, he placed the box down in front of them.

"I'm placing this box here in case of any danger. No matter what happens, it will protect you both." Hiroto said, before looking away and walking to the direction of the house with the other two behind him.

As they entered, Hiroto said, "Tanjiro, I know you're still injured from the previous fight. You don't have to force yourself."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE INJURED?! THEN WHY DID YOU BRING ME WITH YOU?! WHO'S GOING TO PROTECT ME THEN!!" Zenitsu yelled out.

"Zenitsu…" Hiroto said in a low growl.

"HI!" Zenitsu cried out at the menacing voice.

"If you keep on yelling, who knows what will happen to you before we find the Demon," Hiroto said, with a sadistic smile.

"!! y-y-Yes, Sir!" Zenitsu saluted quickly, shutting his mouth.