In Chapter 2~

Y/n bridal style carried Tanjirou once again before looking down on the kids.

"Ora...," Y/n muttered as she crouched down low so that the boy could climb on as he had a leg injury.

"Ah... thank you," The boy slightly blushed before climbing on.

"Wait you don't have to-," Tanjirou started protesting.

"Shhhh...," Y/n hushed him as she motioned for the girl to follow. They walked through the dark hallway silently.

"I smell blood...," Tanjirou muttered.

Y/n looked up at the entrance and the light coming from it before walking slighter at a faster pace.

They reached the entrance to see...

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"Take this!" An aggressive voice was heard as well as stomping sounds. "Move it! Take this! Take your sword and fight me! You spineless punk!!" 

"Tanjirou... I protected it... Because you said... this was more important than your life...," Zenitsu muttered as he lifted up his half beaten/bloodied up face.

"After all that bluster! You won't even draw your sword, you dumbass? If you're a fellow Demon Slayer then let's see you fight!" A guy with a boar-shaped mask was kicking Zenitsu who was protectively hugging the box.

"If you're not gonna fight, get the hell out of my way! Move it! If you're not gonna move then I'll just have to skewer you with that box!" The boar-guy muttered as he lifted up his nichirin blade.

"OI!! KNOCK IT OFF!" Tanjirou pushed himself out of Y/n's grasp as he charged towards the boar-masked guy. His fist made in contact with the boar's stomach creating a slight crack sound before the boar made a gasping noise. He tumbled on the sand floor losing his grip on his blades.

"He broke his bones!" Zenitsu shouted in surprise. 

"Aren't you a member of the Demon Slayers Corp? Don't you get why Zenitsu refuses to draw his sword? It's because it's taboo for us to draw our swords on each other for no reason! But here you are, giving him a one-sided beatdown! Is that fun for you? You're the lowest of the low!" Tanjirou shouted angrily as he tightened up his fists.

'Ah... So he can be angry,' Y/n thought as she looked at the sight before crouching low so that the boy could get off her back. 

The boar started to cough before he started laughing. 

"Oh, so that's why? My bad. In that case, let's fight barehanded!" The boar spoke as he lifted his head from the ground.

"No! I don't think you get it at all!!" Tanjirou panicked as the boar jumped up and rushed towards him. "We're not supposed to fight each other, period!"

The boar struck a punch at Tanjirou in which he dodged. 

"We're not meant to be fighting!" Tanjirou protested. 

'But you are fighting...,' Y/n thought as she sighed. 'She should stop this right...?'

Y/n eyes widened at the sudden fist coming for Tanjirou's ribs where they were already badly damaged without her realizing she had already caught the fist...

"Oi...," Y/n muttered as she stood in between them before menacingly threatening them. "Stop this child play at once,"

The boar backed out for a bit as he shivered slightly and Y/n sighed before walking away. 

'Finally...,' Y/n thought only for her flinch at the boar's aggressive howl and Tanjirou's yell. 

"Calm down!" Tanjirou shouted as he bashed his head with the boar.

'Ah... never mind I take that back...,' Y/n thought as she heard an echoing noise of a loud thud. 

"That sound! Are your skulls fractured?" Zenitsu whimpered in fright as he clutched onto his own forehead.

The boar stumbled backward and his mask fell off.

...

...

...

"Huh? A girl? Huh? Your face!" Zenitsu shouted.

"What the hell? You've got a problem with my face or something?" The guy asked after he looked up. 

"...You're pretty creepy... you've got such a ripped body, but there's a face of a girl sitting on top of it," Zenitsu said as he stared. 

"Why the hell are you staring at my face like that?"

Y/n tilted her head as she studied his features.

He had an incredibly pretty and feminine face, with large, wide eyes that were framed by an array of long eyelashes... the irises were a dark to soft pale gree and he had thin eyebrows and what could be a small mouth <not when he shouts>. 

Her eyes then trailed off to his thick, black hair that reached just past his shoulders, fading into a blue at the tips and forming an unruly and uneven fringe that fell just above his eyes, puffing out before curving and thinning towards his forehead... however, in contrast, he had an average heigh and pale complexion with an extremely toned and muscular build... possessing large and defined muscles notably over his stomach and arms.

"I-I'm not staring!" Zenitsu muttered before scrambling to the side behind the three kids.

"We don't have a problem with your face! It's quite petite, fair-skinned, and therefore attractive!" Tanjirou complimented with no harm intended. 

"You're a corpse! Come at me!" The boar grumbled as he made a smashing motion with his fist.

"Not happening! I'm not gonna attack you anymore!" Tanjirou yelled. 

"Try head-butting me one more time!" 

"Nope, I'm done!" Tanjirou refused.

"I said do it again! Come on!" 

You need to stop! Sit down are you alright?"

"Hey, Big Forehead! Let me tell you my name. It's Inosuke Hashibira! Don't you forget it!" Inosuke aggressively introduced himself. 

"What characters do you use to spell that?" Tanjirou asked, making a comeback. 

"Spell? Spell... I don't know how to read or write! Anyways! Come one! Headbutt me once more-," Inosuke was interrupted by Y/n walking up towards him.

"Oi, Pretty boy," 

"I am not a pretty boy-," He was interrupted again as Y/n headbutted him on the head... really hard.

He visibly looked like a clock that stopped ticking for a second before he collapsed... foam coming out of his mouth. 

"You!" 

"...Whoops," Y/n shrugged. "He asked for it,"

"This is not a 'whoops' matter!" Tanjirou panicked as he rushed to Inosuke.

"It's just a concussion," Y/n said before taking off her f/c haori and folding it before placing it under Pretty boy's head gently. "Oi... can you lend him a haori so that he can be covered," 

Tanjirou just nodded before taking his haori off and placing it over Pretty boy.

~

"AHHHHHH!!!!" A sudden yell startled the two boys.

"He's awake!" Zenitsu panicked as he saw Inosuke jumping up and charging towards them like a maniac.

"Fight me! Fight me!" Inosuke yelled as he chased Zenitsu around before he stopped in front of a burial.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"It's a burial," Tanjirou explained as he stood up before pointing at the house. "You help out too Inosuke... There are still people's corpses that are in the house,"

"What's the point of burying the corpses of creatures?" Inosuke asked. "I'm not doing that! I'm not helping out! Forget that! Fight me!" 

"I see... You can't do it because your wounds are hurting you," Tanjirou spoke out of concern no insult intended.

"Huh?" A tick mark appeared on Inosuke's forehead.

"No, that's okay. After all, we all have a different pain threshold. Moving everyone who died out of the house then burying them is a lot of work. Zenitsu, the woman, the kids and I will do our best, so don't worry!" Tanjirou said smiling. "You should go get some more rest,"

"HUH!! Don't underestimate me, dammit! I'll bury a hundred, no two hundred of your corpses! Just wait! I'm going to bury more than any of you!" Inosuke exploded in anger as he jumped around in frustration.

~

It was around dawn when the seven finished burying everyone. 

"Caw! Caw! Descend the mountains! Descend the mountains! All right, follow me! Follow me!" A crow shouted as it was flying over the seven.

"Where are you going?!" Inosuke shouted.

"Descending the mountains," Tanjirou said. 

"We haven't finished our battle yet!" 

"You're tired, right? Come one we're heading down," Tanjirou said gently as he tried to persuade Inosuke.

"I'm not tired!" Inosuke complained but reluctantly started to walk towards the gang.

Y/n stared blankly at them... not moving as they descended... she should go now... she's lingered for too long. This had been the first time she had spent nearly a day with anyone...

"Ano...!"

A sudden shout stopped her in her tracks she slightly shifted her head towards the side to glance at him.

"Thank you so much for saving me...!" Tanjirou yelled out as he bowed.

Y/n said nothing only nodded her head slightly before she started to walk away in the opposite direction.

"Would you mind telling us your name?" Tanjirou asked hesitantly.

"...There's no need for you to know," Y/n muttered. "I presume we won't cross paths again,"

"Please at least stay until your arm heals!" Tanjirou pleaded. "It's still my fault that your arm became like that,"

Y/n turned around only for her eyes to lock with his.

'I shouldn't have looked,' Y/n thought. Tanjirou's eyes shone desperately at hers... his orbs glistening with guilt.

"Only until my arm heals," Y/n said softly and flinched when the boy let out a huge heart throbbing smile.

'One day you'll suffer...,' Y/n thought as she gazed upon the boy as he cheerfully went back to the group. 'One day you'll realize that the world is not as it seems... and that you can't always be kind,'

Her eyes trailed off to his smile... his eyes squinted as he laughed wholeheartedly at Zenitsu and Inosuke...

'But for now... I'll stay with you... I'll... protect you... just for a little while,'

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Thanks for reading today's chapter :))

Hope you enjoyed it!!

Word count: 1578

ACE out~