The Legend of Mr. Hanakaba

Chapter 3 - Divulgence

Tanjiro knew what he had to do. Demons were a plague onto the world and although there were good ones willing to atone for their sins, risking it was risking the lives of innocent people.

"I have to be careful... If I can find muichiro and mitsuri... well... I don't know, but we can handle it from there! I have to go quickly-"

A downpour of loose wooden shards came pouring down from the ceiling, bartering the floor around Tanjiro.
"Oh no... did he-?"
The man's blade punctured the ceiling and sliced through the wooden structure, demolishing it and the ceiling lights as it went.
Tanjiro hastily scrambled to his feet in the darkness, opening the door to leap through.
As he landed, he took a glance tobehind them. There the man was, standing tall and upright on the roof, his silhouette's highlighted by the crystalline moonlight.

Tanjiro's heart stopped.
"His eyes..."

The man's eyes read...

"Upper moon... 1...?"

Tanjiro felt an ocean of dread come over him. His stomach churned.

"Why... won't my body move?"
The man stood atop the roof, preparing his blade once again to attack. He stared down at Tanjiro, and slowly opened the rest of his eyes. A row of yellow, glowing eyes opened grotesquely above his engraved pair, followed by another pair opening up runder the engraved pair.

Tanjiro stared on hopelessly at the man.

"This man... is upper moon 1? What am I supposed to do? What can I do? ...It doesn't matter. Just move your body! Make yourself move, Tanjiro! Just move!"

Tanjiro turned around to run away, but before he could even take a step, a shower of crescent shaped blades rained down on him.
He swiftly dodged them, loosing his footing as he landed.
Before he could back on his feet, another wave of the curved blades came raining back down on Tanjiro.
He kicked himself off the floor, giving himself enough momentum to roll out of the way, but the attack was too quick.
Tanjiro yelled out in pain as the attack battered the floor floor. One of the curved blades cut his leg.
"Aargh!! No! I have to get up!"
He tried to get up, instantly succumbing to the pain.
He looked down at the wound completely engulfed by fear
"Come on, get up!"

The figure jumped down from the roof, hurling himself into the floor. Tanjiro whipped his head back at the sound.

"Ugh!", Tanjiro yelled trying to pick himself off the ground. The man charged after him, and within a moment, not even long enough for a single heartbeat, the man appeared behind Tanjiro.

Tanjiro darted away from the man, half beaten, but the man pounced on his leg causing him to fall back down.
Tanjiro looked up, terrified. The man raised him arm, bearing the face of his blade in front him.The injured demon slayer stared at the edges refracting the bright moonlight.

"Is this it? Am I dead? There's no way I can defeat him. I'm sorry everybody... I'm sorry."
The man widened his eyes, stepping back from Tanjiro shocked at what he saw.
Tanjiro stared back, anticipating the torrent slash of the blade, but it didn't come.

" You... have the earrings... of the sun breathers..."
Tanjiro drew back on the floor, confused by the man.

"... My earrings are from my father..."

" You didn't have them on earlier..."
All Tanjiro could do was stare back, his mind completely boggled at how he wasn't dead yet.

Tanjiro awaited the man's response, but he stared at him as if in a daze. It felt like the demon was staring into his soul. The brooding figure's eyes scanned over Tanjiro's small frame slowly and menacingly. Was he...looking for something?

" Why is he not responding? Is he sparing me?"
In a haste, Tanjiro leapt off the floor, making his way to the central part of the village. Not wasting this chance, he hastened himself as he went down the hill and through the streets of the village.
He looked back, the figure had disappeared over the horizon. Tanjiro was far away enough now, but he still couldn't let his guard down.
" I have find Muichiro and Mitsuri- quick! Muichiro must be near the head of the village.

Making his way to the house near the village chief's chamber, Tanjiro made out a loose silhouette in the distance. It was Muichiro!

"Muichiro!" Tanjiro screamed.

Muichiro turned his head over to where Tanjiro was calling from. He had been outside the village chief's hut loosely mulling over why he had decided to go there in the first place. His face, as usual, held a lost expression. Teal eyes, unfocused and clear. Not an ounce of emotion displayed on his features. If it weren't for the uniform he wore and the blade fastened to his hip, one might think he was a child, lost and in need of...

"Help!!!! HEELLLLP!!!" Tanjiro yelled, still running.

The screeching was unpleasant to the young Mist Hashira's ears. Nevertheless, as if on command, Muichiro turned his entire body to face Tanjiro. His small but rugged hand already found its way to his blade's hilt. Normally, he would chock this sort of cumbersome screaming up to the shenanigans that his fellow Demon Slayers usually found themselves in. However, it was night and nights were to humans as the season of snow...necessary yet frightening. Necessary for rest to begin the day anew. Frightening because of the hidden terrors, the gusts that can suddenly extinguish the warming flame, the demons that can suddenly extinguish life.

Tanjiro, now in front of Muichiro, was bent over heaving, gasping for air. One arm supported him as he gripped the top of his knee and the other arm wrapped around his stomach, his fingers gripping tightly at the fabric on his waist. The boy's usually calm eyes were wide open, pupils small as he continued heaving, struggling to catch his breath.

The smaller of the two instantly caught sight of the wound Tanjiro received from Hanakaba.

"What is going on?" Muichiro asked.

Looking up, frantic yet determined eyes locked with Muichiro's.

"H-Hanakaba is a demon..." Tanjiro choked out.

Muichiro's eyes widened, the usual aloofness being replaced with a piercing focus.

"That's impossible," Muichiro thought. "We would have noticed people going missing. Though, Hanakaba san does leave the village from time to time to source other materials for his work. In theory, that would provide him the opportunity to eat humans away from the vigilance of the Corps."

"Muichiro," Tanjiro started, his body visibly shaking. He closed his eyes and let his head fall once more. Tanjiro hugged his arms to stop himself from shaking, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. Once his lips stopped trembling enough to speak, Tanjiro whispered out the truth that he witnessed on the hill.

"Hanakaba is Upper Moon One."

Muichiro was always accused of being unfeeling but for the first time in a long time he felt...scared.