Nezuko had left the "safehouse" a few days ago, with Inosuke and Zentisu at her side. She had hoped that her next mission would be a simple task. She desperately wanted to search for Muzan and her brother but she still had a duty to fulfill as a demon slayer.

Of course, the next mission was anything but simple. The entire mountain she had been sent to seemed to be full of demons. The demon slayers who had come before her were either dead, injured, or traumatized. 

She had convinced Zentisu to come up the mountain with her and Inosuke would've rather died then sit out a fight.

Fighting the puppeted demon slayers was difficult for Nezuko, seeing people moved and controlled against their will just reminded Nezuko of Tanjiro - the pain of helplessness in their eyes.

The trio fought their way through the mountain, following Inosuke's sense and Zenitsu's ears. They came upon a house suspended in the air where they met a horrific demon with the body of a spider and the deranged face of a man. His spider minions were a terrible nuisance and horror descended on the group when they realized that Zenitsu had been bitten.

Of course, Zentitsu then passed out, and Nezuko learned very quickly how that boy had survived Final Selection. For Inosuke, it was like watching an entirely different person massacre the brother spider demon.

It was over in a moment, but Zenitsu was still poisoned despite his incredible victory. He fell to the earth and was caught by Nezuko.

"That was amazing!" she told him honestly looking at his poor state.

"You were holding back on me, huh?" Inosuke bet.

Zenitsu looked confused, and in pain.

"He needs medical attention," Nezuko told Inosuke.

"What do you want me to do!?" Inosuke asked incredulously.

"We need more assistance, TENNOJI!" Nezuko cried to the sky. There was a frantic amount of cawing and flapping as Tennoji, her crow, landed on her shoulder.

"What is your problem? CAW!" Tennoji squawked.

"Fly back to headquarters! Fly and get more demon slayers, tell them we need help! Hurry! Zentisu doesn't have much time!" Nezuko ordered.

"Backup is already on the way, CAW!" Tennoji countered angrily, "Who do you think I am!? Of course, I called for backup moron!"

"You wanna fight, bird!?" Inosuke yelled.

"You blockhead! Moron!" the crow yelled pecking at Inosuke.

"I'm GONNA EAT YOU!" Inosuke roared.

"Inosuke, we don't have time for this!" Nezuko shouted. She looked over her shoulder and saw some more of the puppeted demon slayers moving towards them.

"Go Nezuko," Zenitsu assured her, "You can take out the other demons, I'll be alright."

"What are you talking about - "Nezuko began angrily.

"Go, you moron!" Tennoji shouted, "You're a demon slayer! Slay demons! CAW!"

"But I can't just leave him like this!" Nezuko countered.

"I will watch the stupid boy!" Tennoji squawked, "Go slay demons! I'll make sure he stays alive!"

There was more frantic chirping and Nezuko looked down. Zentisu's sparrow, Chuntaro, was hopping up and down on her lap. Nezuko caught the words 'go' and 'he be safe', or some form of that.

"Are you sure?" she asked Chuntaro.

"Those puppet bastards are getting closer Nekuson," Inosuke warned.

"It's Nezuko!" Nezuko scolded him.

Chuntaro chirped again, urging Nezuko to go.

"Alright... I will be back Zenitsu, don't you die on me!" Nezuko warned the boy.

Zenitsu nodded slowly, the poison seeping through his system.

Nezuko stood up and looked at Inosuke.

"Come on," Inosuke yelled running into the fray. Nezuko ran after him, glancing back at her friend and sending a quick prayer that he stay safe.

Zenitsu watched them fight through the first wave of puppeted demon slayers and then his two friends disappeared into the brush.

"Stay awake, stay alive!" the crow squawked pecking his ear.

The sparrow angrily berated the crow for doing so and looked at Zenitsu. Little Chuntaro wasn't going to let his very annoying demon slayer companion kick the bucket yet! 

Rui looked at his "mother" who was staring at him in fear.

"If you can't kill them, perhaps I should tell father," Rui murmured.

"No... please Rui, not him... I'll do it, I'll do it! I'll protect you!" she cried desperately. Rui looked up at his new "big brother" who was to his left. His eyes were sad and looked concerned for their mother, Rui liked that, it was almost like he wasn't pretending.

"Good, come on Nii-chan, let's go home and wait for this to be over," Rui murmured walking away. Tanjiro followed, his eyes watching the Mother Spider Demon sadly. She met his gaze and her face softened.

He may have been the newest demon, but he had such kind eyes - such sincere emotions in those eyes. The mother spider demon looked down at her hands covered in spider silk, she was terrified... she had to kill those demon slayers!

The mountain was full of demons, left and right Nezuko would glance a white face only to pursue and find nothing. The puppet demon slayers were no longer a problem... whoever was controlling them had killed them all, enraging Nezuko once again.

So many people, each with their own lives, stories, and dreams, all dead.

But, Nezuko still had Inosuke, a sword, and her determination. After a few moments of bickering, Nezuko found herself being flung into the air by a stubborn Inosuke and she very quickly understood why.

Sitting there, on the rock was the demon responsible for this puppet game. 

Nezuko tightened her grip on her sword, she could do this. She readied her fourth style; striking tide.

The Mother Spider Demon spotted the girl. She was frozen in panic and terror realizing that she was about to die. 

Then, she thought of the new boy's eyes. So kind and quiet. She remembered when he had smiled at her the first day they met... she had been reminded of how scared she had been all this time. She wasn't living, she was simply dying every day without death ever actually coming.

If she died... she'd be free. She wouldn't have to be afraid anymore.

So she reached out and embraced it.

Nezuko saw the change, the way the demon relaxed her shoulders and held out her hands - craving the release of the sword.

In an instant, Nezuko switched forms. Fifth form; Blessed Rain after Drought.

Her sword cut swiftly and the demon's head slid off. Simple and painless.

Nezuko landed and looked back at the demon who was now disintegrating and fading. The Spider demon looked back at her, and Nezuko thought she saw recognition in the demon's eyes.

"You... have such kind eyes too," The demon murmured, tears slipping out of her eyes. 

Nezuko knelt down beside's the head and looked down at her. Such suffering, even this demon who had killed so many was suffering.

"One of the Twelve Kizuki is here, be cautious," the demon warned softly.

Nezuko reached out, wanting to give the demon some sense of comfort but she was gone. Nezuko stood, wondering where that Twelve Kizuki was... and what they could tell her about Muzan, and more importantly, her brother.

Inosuke and Nezuko ran through the forest once again, coming face to face with two more demons. One was a young girl, but she fled quickly. The other was a much larger, much more dangerous, monstrosity of a demon. 

Nezuko and Inosuke struggled for minutes against the beast. Then, Nezuko was sent flying into the air when the demon hit her away with an entire tree. She soared into the air, her thoughts only on her friend who had been injured while fighting the puppets.

"YOU HAVE TO STAY ALIVE INOSUKE!" she screamed as she flew further from the fight, "STAY ALIVE! PLEASE!"

Was that beast one of the Twelve Kizuki? It certainly had impressive strength, Inosuke could die facing that monster! She swore to herself that she would race back to his aide, she just had to not die in the fall.

She used her Water Wheel form to break her fall but the tumble still left her with a few bruises and maybe a cracked rib. They would heal soon enough, she just needed to get back to Inosuke.

There was a soft cry of pain jerking Nezuko from her thoughts. She looked around and crept towards the noise.

"Get out of the way Nii-chan," a cold voice ordered. Nezuko peeked around a tree and saw a young demon, with spider webbing between his fingers. He was glaring at an older boy who had his back to Nezuko. The older boy, who looked to be related to the other two was standing in front of the young girl demon that had run from Nezuko a few minutes ago. The girl was holding her bleeding face and was trembling.

"Don't disobey me Nii-chan," the youngest boy commanded, "Nee-san is the one in trouble but it can just as easily be you."

The older boy didn't move and Nezuko stood up straighter.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

The older boy glanced back at her, his eyes wide in shock. Nezuko recognized something about him but she couldn't place it. Suddenly the boy was struck by a razor web and he stumbled to the side, holding his now bleeding face.

"This isn't some show," the young demon murmured to Nezuko. He walked past his bleeding brother and looked down at his sister.

"I'm sorry, I'll do whatever I can to make it right!" the girl cried desperately. The young boy's webs slashed her face again and she cried out in pain.

"Go kill the demons slayers on this mountain, and I'll consider forgiving you," the young boy scowled.

The girl stood up quickly and ran as fast as she could. Nezuko raised her sword and looked at the boy.

"You would torture your own comrade?" Nezuko scowled.

"Comrade?" the boy asked, "Don't sully our bond with that weak word. We're family."

Nezuko looked at the older brother behind this young boy and saw that he was still holding his bleeding face.

"Family?" Nezuko demanded. The thought of a family like this made her sick. "Family bonds are forged out of trust and sacrifice, this is a fake bond, one made by terror and hatred. Your bonds are nothing more then falsities!"

She was thinking of her own family. How much they loved and sacrificed for one another. They never hurt one another, never...

The young boy's face contorted in anger, "Take that back."

"I can't take back what's true," Nezuko spat.

"You will," the boy stated, glaring at Nezuko. He raised flung his webs towards Nezuko. She dodged the first two and went to slash the third with her sword.

SNAP

Nezuko rolled away, staring in horror at her blade that had been sliced as if it was butter. Part of her wanted to cry, just like that, her sword was broken. The thread had also sliced her face but that would heal in a moment.

"Take it back," the boy demanded.

"Never," Nezuko growled.

"Then perish," the boy growled. Webs shot out for Nezuko, numerous and intertwined. There was no way she could dodge them all!

She didn't have to.

There was the sound of flesh being sliced apart and blood splattered on Nezuko as the older brother spider demon jumped in front of her, shielding her with his body.

Nezuko looked up in confusion until the demon looked back at her. She hadn't seen his full face until that instance but the moment she did, she trembled.

"Nii-chan?" she murmured in shock. His kind eyes had changed color but they were still very much Tajiro's eyes

It was, it was Tanjiro. He smiled weakly back at her and then fell, she caught him and pulled him behind a tree desperately.

"Tanjiro! Nii-chan!" Nezuko cried leaning him onto the trunk of a tree. She gingerly looked over the numerous wounds on his body. Relief and horror were racing through her body as she looked over her brother who was wearing the masked appearance of a spider demon.

"You're here, you're hurt," Nezuko cried fumbling with Tanjiro's arm that was nearly sliced in two.

Tanjiro reached up with his good hand and touched Nezuko's face. Nezuko was startled out of her concern and looked her brother in the eye. She felt his pride as he studied her. He had barely been able to see her the last time they had bumped into each other. She was so big, her face had matured and her eyes were full of emotion. She'd grown up.

Tanjiro smiled as he put the hand on her face and Nezuko began to cry. She hugged him desperately and forgot about the danger they were in. She'd found him again.

"I won't let you go again!" Nezuko promised, clinging to his white kimono that was decorated with spider webs.

"Tanjiro..." a voice murmured. Tanjiro stiffened as he glanced around the tree at Rui.

"Is she... is she your sister?" Rui asked, trembling as he pointed at Nezuko. Nezuko sat up and looked down at her broken sword, somehow she still had to beat this demon.

Tanjiro grated his teeth and grabbed Nezuko's pink kimono. She looked at him and Tanjiro realized that the cut on her face was almost nearly healed.

"It's all right," Nezuko assured him feeling his concern.

Tanjiro knew it wasn't.

"You... you do have a sibling, you care for her. You have such true and honest bonds..." Rui murmured, still shaking, "Nii-chan, you were always sincere weren't you. None of your emotions were an act."

"He's not your brother," Nezuko yelled running out of Tanjiro's gasp and facing the demon with her broken sword, "He's mine... and I won't let him go again."

Rui, however, was completely ignoring her, "You really do care about everyone... you have a true bond... Nii-chan, I'm sorry"

Nezuko tightened her grip on the handle of her sword and tried to calm herself down. She had to take this demon down! She had to get Tanjiro out of here! She had to save Inosuke too!!

Before she could move, a pale arm reached out in front of her, stopping her. Tanjiro stood at her side, his arm outstretched to stop her from attacking. He looked Rui in the eye and Rui smiled at him.

"You've moved me tonight, Nii-chan. Seeing you jump out to save your little sister, it warmed my heart. So, I'm going to make you a deal," Rui smiled putting a hand on his chest. Tanjiro didn't move but Nezuko's anger was festering.

"Come back to me and be my big brother again. I'll convince Master to leave you here. Wouldn't that be nice? You wouldn't have to be a pet anymore, you'd be a brother, in a family," Rui assured him. Tanjiro kept his gaze even but Nezuko could sense his fear at the mere mention of Muzan.

"And... I'll even let your sister go free. She can walk off of this mountain unharmed," Rui offered.

Nezuko sensed Tanjiro's sudden protective urge.

"NO!" she yelled grabbing her brother's kimono and  yanking him back, "I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me again!"

Tanjiro looked at her, his eyes displaying his torn emotions.

"Don't be foolish girl," Rui smiled, "Can't you see your brother's trying to keep you alive? What chance do you have..." he lifted up his bangs exposing his other eyes which had the kanji for "lower five" etched into it, "against one of the Twelve Kizuki?"

Nezuko's bones went cold, this was the Kizuki member the spider demon had warned her of.

Nezuko's fear was quickly replaced by her brother's reluctant calm; Tanjiro had made his decision. The demon turned to her and smiled.

"No," Nezuko ordered coldly, "I won't let you go again. I would rather die than leave you!"

"I know," Tanjiro's soft voice murmured. There was a sharp pain in her knee and Nezuko cried out as she fell. Tanjiro's arms caught her and propped her up on the trunk of a tree. Nezuko was trying to understand what just happened. Her leg felt as though it was broken, it was broken! How?

She felt Tanjiro's guilt and she looked into his eyes. He was smiling sadly again.

"You didn't," Nezuko denied in a pained gasp.

He had broken her leg. Tanjiro had broken her leg so that she wouldn't be able to fight or stop him from going.

"NO!" She screamed grabbing his shoulders and glaring at his eyes, "I WON'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

Tanjiro firmly grabbed her hands and pulled them off of him. He stood up and turned towards Rui. He walked slowly up to the demon who smiled at him.

"NO!" Nezuko screamed trying to get up. Her leg was in agonizing pain but she wouldn't let that stop her. She tried to hobble but made it only a few steps before falling on her stomach. Why wasn't her leg healing faster! She needed to heal!!

Rui grabbed Tanjiro's hand and smiled, "Let's go home Nii-chan."

The young boy began leading Tanjiro away. Tanjiro glanced back at his sister and smiled reassuringly at her.

"NO!" Nezuko screamed in emotional agony. There was a sickening crack as her bones suddenly cracked back in place. She raced towards the duo, and with as much force as she could, tried to slice Rui's head off.

There was a clang as her sword slammed against his neck, but the blade went no further. She looked in shock as the broken blade did nothing.

"How annoying," Rui snarled releasing Tanjiro's hand and backslapping Nezuko with immense power. She flew backward and crashed into a tree, crying out in pain, "You healed unusually fast... I wonder if your one of those demon slayers I heard about... the ones who eat demons to gain their powers?"

"Eat demons?" Nezuko repeated, dazed from the attack.

Rui moved to send his threads out but suddenly he was tackled by Tanjiro who pinned him to the ground with his strength. Rui looked up and realized that Tanjiro was reverting to his old form. His white hair was turning its dark red and his eyes were reverting to their old color, his skin became a much warmer tint and the red dots on his face faded.

Rui twitched his finger and Tanjiro suddenly found himself with a taunt thread wrapped around his neck, cutting into his skin and drawing blood. The sting pulled him off of Rui and the demon was struggling as the razor-sharp thread slowly sliced through his neck.

"What a nuisance," Rui sighed gesturing with his hands. Suddenly Tanjiro had small threads wrapped around his arms, chest, legs, and fingers. They sliced through his skin and drew blood as he struggled. He knelt there, unable to move, staring at Rui. 

"You know I hate it when you revert to your old form," Rui snarled clenching his hands.

The threads tightened, slicing Tanjiro further making the demon cry out in pain. His hair and skin went back to their bleached white and his eyes returned to their old forms with their dark sclera and light irises.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Nezuko screeched jumping to her feet. Rui swung out his threads forcing Nezuko back in the attempt to dodge them. He caught her on her ankle and she stumbled, cursing her now slashed ankle.

Rui looked back to the motionless demon held stationary by his taunt strings. He reached out and cupped Tanjiro's face in his hands, studying it. "Much better. Don't worry Nii-chan. I'll forgive you for this. I just have to kill your sister and sever your bond to her, then you can grow new bonds. We'll be a family."

"FAMILY!?" Nezuko cried, her wound healing, "This isn't a family! It's a prison! When I killed that puppeteering demon, she wanted to die! She would've rather died then stay in your hell. Your brother! That creep, the only reason he was fine with it was that he was a deranged bastard! Your sister is terrified of you! Your father is a mindless beast! This isn't a family! It's a demonic prison with a sick prison guard!" Nezuko yelled.

"Don't listen to her," Rui smiled at Tanjiro, still holding his face, "I'll start over. I'll bring us another mother, another father. I'll give you all of the siblings you want. You can teach them how to play, you'll be able to instruct them on their roles. It'll be perfect."

Tanjiro growled and tried to struggle again, scarlet blood pouring out of his wounds. The strings held tight and didn't budge.

"No," Tanjiro bit looking up at Rui who scowled.

Nezuko charged again but had duck away as Rui lifted a hand and attacked her with his strings again.

Rui then turned his hand on Tanjiro, slashing his face once again, deeper this time. Tanjiro made no sound even though it was painful.

"Master warned you not to speak," Rui reprimanded him, his face then softened as he spoke again, "It's alright though, I won't tell him."

Tanjiro struggled again and Rui smiled, "It's alright Nii-chan, you'll be alright."

Suddenly Tanjiro's threads jerked him upward, suspending him the air like a hanging decoration. His struggles were useless and only drained him of blood.

"NII-CHAN!" Nezuko cried in horror as she looked up at him.

"Now look what you've done," Rui scolded her softly, "He was so obedient before, now I have to teach him to be docile once again."

"You monster," Nezuko shook, "Tanjiro's not some dog that you can order around! He's not some animal that you can force into submission! He's my brother and you're going to pay for what you've done to him!"

Rui scowled, "Of course he's not an animal, he's my big brother. Once he learns his place, I'll take him down. First, though, he should watch you die... that should teach him his lesson about attacking me."

"You bastard!" Nezuko cried preparing her next attack.

Tanjiro struggled wildly, he couldn't watch this happen!

Nezuko could feel Tanjiro's terror and it infuriated her. She couldn't let him go again! She couldn't die!! She wouldn't die!!

Rui lashed out with his threads and she ran out to meet them. 

"WATER BREATHING, TENTH FORM; CONSTANT FLUX!" she cried using her speed to rotate around and gain momentum as she dodged the threads. With confidence, she sliced down on a few of the threads and smiled as they broke.

"How annoying," Rui murmured his strings turning a blood-red, "Gaining strength with every rotation, that could be a problem. But... these threads aren't at full strength yet."

Tanjiro twisted and writhed. He wouldn't watch her die!

Nezuko watched in horror as red threads descended down on her. She couldn't slice them all, and something in her gut warned her that these threads weren't normal threads.

They came down to kill her but there was a snap as something broke and suddenly Nezuko was picked up and rushed away.

Rui looked up in shock at the snapped threads that floated to the ground, the threads that had held Tanjiro. Tanjiro and his sister were gone.

"So you became strong enough to snap the threads Nii-chan? How annoying," Rui murmured, "I suppose this is what Master said when he called you rambunxious."

Nezuko looked in shock at her brother who was now racing through the forest with her in his arms. His appearance had changed back into his normal... well, to his normal demon self. She felt exhausted suddenly in her brother's arms.

"Nii-chan!? How did you -" Nezuko cried, her voice weak.

Tanjiro only smiled at her. He was bleeding profusely but it didn't seem to bother him. 

Tanjiro knew that Rui would be after them in an instant. He knew he needed to get Nezuko to safety. Where was safe!? There it was! A strong scent of demon slayer!

Tanjiro skidded to a halt and ducked under the sword attack that came for his neck. He turned and faced the attacking hashira. Nezuko recognized the man immediately.

"Tomioka-san!" she cried.

Giyu looked in shock at the girl in the demon's arms. She was familiar... but more worrisome, she was unafraid that she was being carried off by a demon. 

The demon, surprisingly put the girl on her feet gently and looked at Giyu.

"Tomioka-san, It's me Nezuko!" the girl cried.

Yes... yes that seemed right to Giyu. The girl who had contracted demon's blood and yet didn't fully transform into a human.

"This is my brother, Tanjiro, the demon I told you about. He's not a danger to us Tomioka-san!" Nezuko cried standing in front of her brother. She took a step forward and stumbled.

It had been a long night, she had healed a few major wounds and was exhausted and worse yet the adrenaline was wearing off. Her demonic brother caught her, concern in his eyes.

Giyu noted the demon's state. He was bleeding, clearly wounded, and weak but he didn't even seem tempted to eat the girl in front of him.

The demon supported Nezuko and then smelled the wind. He tensed and so Giyu tensed too. The demon ran up and put a dreary Nezuko in Giyu's arms - much to Giyu's surprise.

"No... don't you dare," Nezuko warned her brother. She was clearly exhausted. She had never had to heal anything that bad that fast. Healing her shattered knee bone had taken a hefty toll on her stamina, not to mention that broken rib, the gashes from Lower Five's strings, and the dozens of minor wounds she had received through the night.

Tanjiro kissed her forehead and smiled.

"NO!" Nezuko cried weakly.

Tanjiro looked up to Giyu.

"Keep her safe," he pleaded in a soft voice. And in a breath of wind, he was gone.

"NO! Tanjiro! No! no..." Nezuko cried, her voice fading with her consciousness, "don't go... don't go back. we can fight... don't leave me..."

And then her world went dark.

(Welp. What did y'all think? Hope y'all liked it but if you have anything you could critique, I'd appreciate it. Hope y'all have a great day/night and thanks for reading!!)