48. Genya Shinazugawa

Later than evening, Hana and Tanjiro returned to their lodgings. As Hana entered the dining room, she heard loud yelling. Genya Shinazugawa was there, looking as angry as ever. Tanjiro sat right beside him holding a bowl of rice crackers for him, looking completely unfazed by his temper.

"I DON'T CARE!! GET OUT, DAMMIT! DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE I'M YOUR FRIEND!" Genya shouted slamming his hand down on the wooden table, making the tea cups rattle.

"But we're friends, right?" Tanjiro said softly. He tilted his head slightly, his big burgundy eyes filled with genuine confusion and kindness.

"NO WE'RE NOT, DUMBASS!! DON'T TELL ME YOU FORGOT! YOU BROKE MY GODDAMN ARM!"

Hana stepped into the room, her eyes darting between the two boys. "Oh, actually, it was me who did that." she said, giving the him the "don't-mess-with-my-brother" look.

Genya's gaze snapped to her. For a split second, the fury faltered. His eyes widened slightly, and he looked away just as quickly. His ears turned red, shoulders stiffening.

"You hit a girl," Tanjiro reminded him. "Someone had to intervene, Genya. You were completely at fault."

"Don't call me by my first name!" he grumbled. He turned his back to them, though his ears remained bright crimson.

"These rice crackers are really good. Wanna try?" Tanjiro offered, holding out the bowl.

"SHITFACE! I DON'T NEED THAT! GET OUT!"

Tanjiro leaned in closer. "Your teeth. Didn't you pull them at the spring?"

"You must be seeing things." Genya snapped. He clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late.

Tanjiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a tooth. "I mean, you dropped it and I wanted to give it back!"

Hana facepalmed. "Tanjiro, why did you keep that?"

"EWWW! YOU'RE FUCKING GROSS!!" Genya yelled, his face turning red with a mix of embarrassment and genuine disgust. "YOU'RE INSANE! THROW IT OUT!!"

"Hey, calm down, he was just being thoughtful." Hana started, but before she could finish, Genya kicked the siblings out of the room slamming the door shut behind them.

Standing in the hallway, Tanjiro pouted. He looked down at the tooth in his hand and then at the closed door. "Why is he so mad all the time? Maybe he's hungry or something."

Hana looked at him, shaking her head. "I don't think food is going to fix that, Tanjiro."

Later that night, the house was quiet. Hana, Tanjiro, and Nezuko were curled up in their room. Suddenly, Hana felt a presence in the room. She sat up instantly, her hand reaching for her blade.

In the dim light, she saw Muichiro Tokito leaning over Tanjiro, pinching the boy's nose.

"Hey, what do you want?" Hana whispered.

Muichiro looked up at her. "Do you know the swordsmith Kanamori?"

Tanjiro woke up, gasping for air. "Whoa, Tokito-kun did you pinch my nose?"

"Yeah. That was a really slow reaction."

"No, no! I mean, I'd notice if you had malice or something," Tanjiro said, rubbing his nose.

"Well, I wouldn't pinch you if I had bad intentions," Muichiro replied blankly sitting back on his knees.  "I need Kanamori. He's my new swordsmith. Where's Haganezuka?"

"I don't know. Wanna look for them with us?" Hana asked.

Muichiro looked confused. He blinked slowly. "Why are you so concerned? Don't you have something else you should be doing?"

"Helping other people ends up being beneficial for you at the end of the day," Tanjiro said with a bright smile. "And I wanted to go check up on them too. Nice timing!"

"What? What did you just say? What was that?" Muichiro asked, looking genuinely shocked.

Nezuko woke up then, crawling towards Hana and flapping her hands like a bird at the newcomer. She made a soft muffled sound behind her bamboo muzzle.

"That's one strange creature." Muichiro remarked.

"Is she?" Hana asked, smiling at her sister.

"Yeah. Really weird. I can't put it into words. Have I met her? I feel like I have..." Muichiro said his head tilting in confusion. Nezuko mirrored his actions, tilting her head to the side just as he did.

Suddenly, a scratching sound echoed from the ceiling. The air in the room turned freezing. Hana's hair stood on end. She recognized that feeling.

A figure crawled into the room. It was small, hunched over, with a large growth on its forehead. It looked pathetic, weeping and trembling.

But Hana knew better. Both Tanjiro and Muichiro sensed it too.

In a heartbeat, the room exploded into action.

"MIST BREATHING FOURTH FORM!" Muichiro roared lugging towards the demon but his blade only sliced through the air. The demon moved out out the way and landed on the ceiling.

Tanjiro and Hana uses Hinokami Kagura yet they too failed to make contact with the demon.

"Stop it! Don't bully me! Eeeek!!" the demon wailed.

Growing in size, Nezuko landed a powerful kick on the demon, slamming him into the wall. "Nezuko! Don't transform here!" Hana warned her against using the form as it will only further her transformation into a full demon.

Muichiro moved with incredible speed, his blade slicing through the air. He beheaded the demon in a single strike.

However, remembering that beheading alone does not kill Upper Rank demons, Tanjiro warned Muichiro to keep him alert. Without warning, the demon's severed head changed appearance and grew into a new body, while the headless body gains a new head and form.

"Something is wrong." Hana whispered, drawing her sword. They weren't fighting one demon anymore, they were fighting two.

Tanjiro and Hana went after the standing demon, while Muichiro attacks the one in front of him. Before he can reach it with his blade, the demon used a leaf-shaped uchiwa and blasted the Mist Hashira away with a powerful gust of wind, further destroying the room and forcing Nezuko to hold Tanjiro and Hana down from flying away as well.

As Hana attempts to plan an attack on the two, Sekido wields his khakkhara and summons bolts of lightning, paralyzing the siblings in place. Hana stumbled from the attack and almost loses consciousness, she looked up to sees someone on the roof above them.

Using a hand-held double-barrel shotgun, Genya fires nichirin steel shots at the demons, beheading Sekido but partially severing Karaku's neck. With his blade, he runs down to finish the second demon off. He beheads the demon only for it to heal and form new bodies and heads.

"Genya, no. No matter how strong your weapons are you can't beat them like that. If you slice them, they'll just split up. They rejuvenate and get stronger!! They let you cut them up on purpose!!" Hana yelled.

Suddenly, before either of them could react, a winged demon lunged from the shadows and seized Tanjiro, its clawed grip tightening around him with terrifying force.

"Hold on!" Hana cried out. She grabbed onto Tanjiro's hands, holding on as tightly as she could, her fingers locking with his as the demon began to pull him away. On the other side, Nezuko clung to his other hand, her grip just as firm, refusing to let go as they both struggled to keep him from being dragged away.

The force was overwhelming each powerful push of its wings dragged Tanjiro further from her, inch by inch. Hana dug her heels into the ground, refusing to let go, her arms straining, trembling under the pressure.

"GENYAAAAA!!" Tanjiro suddenly yelled.

Hana turned to see Genya impaled by the spear-wielding demon, Aizetsu. Blood spilled from his mouth as he choked, his body trembling slightly.

"Genya… no," Hana muttered, horror flooding her voice.

Tanjiro’s eyes snapped toward them, urgent and sharp.

"NEZUKO, HANA, GO!! HELP GENYA NOW!!" he shouted.

With a sudden, violent jerk, Tanjiro was torn from her grasp. His fingers slipped from hers, leaving behind only empty air as he was yanked away, carried off by the winged demon into the darkness above. Hana stumbled forward, reaching out desperately, her heart racing as his figure grew smaller with every passing second.

"TANJIRO!" she screamed, but her voice was lost in the wind.

Beside her, Nezuko didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Hana’s arm, pulling her back down.

"We have to go," Hana whispered to herself, shaking, forcing her feet to move. "We have to help Genya…"