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| Bet you didn't expect that ;)

I was watching the blue haired demon.

I had just finished

It was currently writing in a rage in a journal that it had pulled out of its kimono. For some reason, there's a strange aura around the demon. It doesn't feel like a normal demon at all but it's certainly not human. I'm very intrigued on the origins of this demon. It doesn't look like she's part of the boy's family and it's definitely experienced in combat as it was easily able to evade my attacks.

I get the feeling that this demon has yet to show off its true potential. In fact, all my instincts tell me if I were to fight it, it could easily defeat me. If we were able to get it as an ally it might just give us an advantage.

Maybe we would be able to finally defeat him.

It was then, that my focus went back to the blue haired demon. It was currently staring off into the trees very clearly deep in thought. Possibly assessing the situation? There were too many questions about this one being.

Where'd it get the experience from? How does it have that intimidating aura? How has it not shown any attempts to devour anything yet?

'How interesting' I thought as I heard the boy start to wake up.

.

I heard shuffling sounds next to me.

When I turned around, Tanjiro was awake and had the kimono that covered Nezuko in a grasp. I immediately dashed forward. "Tanjiro, are you awake? How are your injuries?" I asked as he let out small breaths as he turned up to me. "Rimuru, thank goodness you're ok." He let out in a small voice.

"You awake?"

The voice came from the man that was now resting against a tree. Tanjiro immediately pulled us Nezuko and I into his grasp in a protective manner. "Go see an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki, who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri." The man just stared at us in a way that was slightly unnerving. 'What's with this guy? Does he show emotions?' I thought as I heard him speak again. "Tell him that Giyu Tomioka sent you."

'Ah, so that's his name.' I thought as the man that I now know as Giyu, started speaking again. "They seem to be all right since it's cloudy now, but never let them be exposed to sunlight, okay?'

'Eh?'

'Wait a minute, are demons not supposed to go into the sun?' I thought as I deadpanned at what the man had just said.

'So I've just been walking around the whole time, without knowing this.' I thought. 'Well, at least people won't think of me as anything but human if they see me walking around in the sunlight.'

I was too caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't realized that the man has disappeared. 'He's fast. I have to keep that in mind the next time I meet him.'

Tanjiro and I then stood up. Nezuko was still unconscious. So much had happened in one day. It was definitely taking a large toll on the both of us. We have to be strong though. Move past this and learn from this to make sure it never happens again.

"Tanjiro." I said while we were still deciding what our next plan of action would be.

"Let's go back to the house. We have to say our final goodbyes."

.

We had just finished burying the last of the Kamado family members. It all happened so fast, It was hard to believe. We sat down saying our prayers for their safe descent into the afterlife.

"Let's go." Tanjiro said as we finished the last of our prayers.

Nezuko, Tanjiro, and I started walking away from the Kamado household. The place where I had stayed for the last couple of months. The people that had cared for me. The people that had welcomed me with nothing but warmth and hospitality. It made me realize that their really were people out there that only think of kindness, naive as it is, they still helped me.

I turned around one last time, and stared at the graves. I saw an image of the Kamado family from the other day, waving us off as we went to sell the charcoal that we had worked hard to achieve.

'I promise. I'll protect them both. Tanjiro, Nezuko, both of them. For as long as I can and to the best of my abilities. This is the only way I can repay you now for all the hospitality you showed me.'

And just like that, all three of us left, never turning back.

.

It was a long walk, neither of us had the courage to say words. The only sounds were that of the forest.

'This mood is kind of dull.' I thought as we kept moving along the path. We had long left the Kamado household and the trees were a lot livelier than on the mountain. Everything was green and you could hear a lot more things than on the mountain. It just felt like everything was more diverse.

At this point, I had enough with the awkward silence.

"Tanajiro. What do you think about this person. 'Sakonji Urokodaki'?"

"Hmmmm." He thought for a bit. "I don't know. That man seemed pretty trustworthy. He spared our lives and gave us an opportunity. Plus, if we don't follow his advice I wouldn't know what to do."

Silence returned after the answer. Of course, I wasn't going to let that stay for long. "Hey, Tanjiro, you think that guy was one of the Demon Slayers Mr. Saburo was talking about?"

'I wasn't asking you!'

"Well, he did say that he it was his job to slay Demons. He is also very obviously experienced in combat. He was moving at speeds I could barely follow." Tanjiro said enthusiastically. Just then, the sun had started rising over the horizon.

"Tanjiro, we have to find shelter." I said pointing towards the sun just peeking over the trees. "Alright, let's go." He said as we started to pick up our pace. We kept moving trying to find any sort of shade that we could use to protect Nezuko.

In the end, we managed to find a small cave that had a large opening and protected us from the sun. The cave was fairly damp and there wasn't much space but it would suffice for now.

The second we entered the cave, Nezuko scrambled into the corner of the cave, as far away from the opening of the cave as possible. As me and Tanjiro got situated, and relaxed. I realized something.

'Did Tanjiro know that I wasn't human the whole time?'

I figured this was the right time to ask him about it, since we weren't particularly doing anything. We had indirectly decided that we were going to set off towards Mt. Sagiri tomorrow.

"Hey, Tanjiro." I started, thinking about how I was going to ask this question. "Yes, Rimuru?" Tanjiro responded. "How long did you know I wasn't completely human?" Tanjiro seemed shocked at this question though he still answered it. "For a while now. Around two months ago, when we first went to sell the town, I realized that the smell around you was different from everyone else. Originally, I figured it was just because you were from a different place or country but it didn't smell 'human' at all." Tanjiro said.

I just nodded at his answer. He knew for a long time though he still didn't say anything. I still needed to ask another question though.

"Can you still trust me?"

Tanjiro gasped at this question but answered anyways. "Of course. Rimuru, I've known you for a while now and I can tell you're different from how Mr. Saburo and the man described demons. I've never seen you devour a living soul before and I've never smelt any ill intent or hostility from you either."

I sighed as he answered the question. It was exactly what I expected it to be. "Tanjiro." I said. Tanjiro just stayed silent and waited.

"What if I told you I'm not like the demons at all?"

Tanjiro seemed to have a questioning look on his face. "I'm sorry, Rimuru, but if you mean that you're not like the other demons because you can walk in the sun and you don't need to devour humans then I understand."

I sighed as I got up and walked over to corner of the cave where Nezuko was and started to comfort her. "

"I'll tell you when the time is right. What I really am." I said as I leaned against the wall next to Nezuko.

'What would happen if I told him I was a slime? He would figure it out at some point. Slimes don't exist in this world though. He would probably be really confused.'

This marked the first day of the three of us going on a journey to discover a cure for Nezuko and prevent the same tragedy befalling on any other family ever again. The journey to become Demon Slayers.

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