Blood Moon

Chapter 11 - Thicket of Lies

"You," Tanjiro growls through his teeth, reaching to his side to grasp the hilt of a sword that isn't there. His fingers close around the air and you see him jolt as he realises that he has no weapon. Akaza laughs tauntingly. A speck of blood rests on his cheek; he catches you looking and laughs. "I got a bit hungry on my way here," he says by way of an explanation, though it makes you feel sick inside.

"What do you want?" you pant, standing up, cradling the palm with the line across it to your chest to hide it from both Tanjiro and Akaza.

Akaza turns to you with a smile. "It's been a while since I've seen you, Tsukoni!" he says conversationally. "How have you been? Things haven't been the same since you ran away."

"What is he talking about?" Tanjiro demands, looking at you. Embarrassment, guilt, confusion, love, anger - all of these emotions run turbulent in his eyes, so much so that you wonder how he isn't betraying any of them at all. You shake your head, unable to supply an answer. After everything, why would you want to reveal your pitiful nature? Akaza seems to notice the reluctant expression on your face, the way you loathe to tell Tanjiro anything, but for some reason, he doesn't say anything.

Instead he smiles again, lips curved like the crescent moon. His face shows no emotion, betrays nothing of what he's going to do, so it takes you by surprise when his fist is suddenly clenched around your hair. You cry out in shock as pain sears through your scalp, and claw at his knuckles. Each scratch closes up as soon as it appears; Akaza chuckles and begins to pull you away. You stumble up onto your feet, forced to move by his iron grip. He drags you through to try the camp that you and Tanjiro set up, trampling over dead leaves. A sword - Tanjiro's sword - sticks out of the wooden box, having pierced through to whatever's inside. The heavy smell of demon blood rises up through the hole. "Ah," Akaza says, almost as an afterthought, "I didn't want his meddling sister interfering with me."

You gasp in horror, nausea rises up in your throat, tasting acidic and bitter. "You stabbed her?" you choke out, just as he passes your Nichirn blade. With a deft flick of your foot, you kick the hilt of the blade up; it follows through and you catch it neatly in the palm of your hand. "Flame Breathing: Rising Scorching Sun!" you say, swinging your blade upwards in a fiery arc, slicing neatly through his wrist. His grip on your hair instantly releases; you drop to the ground and roll backwards.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro's voice screams from behind you; turning around, you can see him sprinting towards the mutilated box. With a grimace, he wrenches his blade from the box, and the door swings open. A crouching figure - no, a young girl - of about fourteen with a bamboo muzzle across her mouth glares at Akaza with undiluted hatred. This must be Tanjiro's sister, Nezuko - the rumours regarding her were obviously untrue, as they claimed that she was not wearing a muzzle, and that she didn't attach herself so tightly to her older brother.

Akaza growls in annoyance as his wrist bursts back into place. As Tanjiro stands, clutching his Nichirn blade, Nezuko rises alongside him, seemingly growing bigger as she does so, until she stands to at least his shoulders. You move back with your blade unsheahed in your hand. You feel slightly uncomfortable standing next to Tanjiro, knowing the things that he doesn't. Your relationship is akin to ducking through a thicket of lies, dodging and dancing in fear of giving yourself away.

Akaza smirks, his grin as cold and as deadly as a shark's. "Alright then," he says, shifting forward into a fighting stance. "Why not?"