Clash Of Swords (Rengoku x OC)

Chapter Six: The Butterfly Mansion

"Moon breathing, first form: Evening Palace."

I hear the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and the monster before me cries out as it's head it removed from it's body. Various chaotic crescent moons slash him into ribbons, leaving nothing but a gore-y mess behind.

Fresh air enters my lungs as the red vapor dissipates, causing me to cough a bit to expel the remains. In the demon's place is a man wearing a purple and black beehive patterned kimono, with black pants tied with a white cloth.

The man is tall, pale and muscular, with long and spiky hair with red tips kept up into a high ponytail. But what startles me most are his eyes, which are an unsettling shade of red that seeps into what should have been the whites, along with yellow irises.

Also, the fact that he has six of them.

The man glances over at me, one hand on his sheathe as he looked me up and down. "It's odd to see a human fighting back against a demon, without the proper training," he comments, a sly grin appearing on his face. "I'm intrigued.. if only your blade had been made of nichirin ore, you might have actually killed him."

"W-who are you?" I ask, but the man quickly looks over his shoulder and sheathes his sword.

"You may refer to me as 'Upper Moon One', young miss. But I believe your demon slayer friend is here now, so I shall take my leave. I was only here to slay the demon that broke his promise to Master Muzan."

The man darts away just as Tanjiro appears within my line of sight. His eyes are filled with rage as they follow the man's retreating form, a hand on the sword by his side. "What the.. was he another demon slayer?" Tanjiro says, glancing down at the demon's remains.

Demon slayer? I think to myself, feeling my heart continue to race in my chest. The hell is he talking about? And what was that about moon breathing? Who is Master Muzan?

So many questions fill my head, while Tanjiro watches the last of the demon's remains disintegrate into nothing. "Tsukino-san!" he cries after a moment, rushing over to my side. "You aren't hurt are you? Do you know who that man was?"

The words catch in my throat preventing me from responding, so I merely shake my head. Tanjiro's brow furrows worriedly, and he looks up at the bright blue sky before adjusting the box on his back.

"We should get you to the butterfly mansion. I'll explain what I can on the way, but I saw a trail of red vapor on the way here. The scent was hard to miss, so I want to make sure you weren't poisoned in any way."

I nod as I try to shift to sit up, but my arms are still numb from the vapors. "C-Can't move.." I manage to say, and Tanjiro nods in understanding.

The boy leans down and wraps his arms around me, hoisting me up into the air with a tight grip. "Don't worry, it's not too far. The butterfly mansion is where Shinobu lives, she's the one who knows the most about medicine in the kendo club-"

"Liar."

Tanjiro's eyes widen as I interrupt him. I close my eyes and rest my head against his shoulder, the shock of everything only slightly winding down. "It's not really a kendo club, is it?" I ask, the words now able to leave my lips normally instead of catching. "That man.. he called you a demon slayer. What did he mean by that?"

The boy hesitates before answering, giving me a sad smile before nodding his head. "Simply put, Tsukino-san.. I'm not who you think I am."

At some point during the walk I had fallen asleep, exhaustion must have caught up with me I suppose. My dreams were riddled with the memories of everything that happened, causing me to constantly slip in and out of consciousness.