50. Upper Rank Four

"Genya? he looks just like..." Tanjiro started to say, his voice trailing off in confusion. The change in Genya's appearance was startling, but before Tanjiro could finish his thought, Genya lunged forward. He growled low in his throat, a sound of pure aggression, and grabbed Tanjiro by the front of his uniform.

"Genya! What are you doing?" Hana asked her voice laced with confusion.

Genya didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on Tanjiro with a rage. "Don't get so ahead of yourself! I'm the one who's going to defeat an Upper Rank!" he spat.

"Genya, leave him!" Hana said, stepping in. She didn't hesitate to reach out and pull Tanjiro back toward her.
Her firm tug forced Genya to release his hold, and Tanjiro stumbled back, rubbing his throat

Genya wasn't finished. He pointed a trembling finger at Tanjiro. "You didn't defeat Upper Six on your own! That's why you haven't become a Hashira!"

Tanjiro didn't look offended. He simply nodded, his honest nature shining through the look on his face. "Uh, yeah, that’s right!" he admitted readily

"You can bet... that I'm going to defeat the demon–" Genya started again, but his voice cracked.

"Genya! You're drooling, okay? What's wrong?" Tanjiro cut him off, his eyes widening in genuine wonder and concern. He wasn't mocking him he was only worried but Tanjiro’s lack of malice seemed to throw Genya off balance.

"I'm the one who's going to become a Hashira!" Genya shouted.

Tanjiro smiled, a small, encouraging smile. "I get it! Sure! Me, Hana, and Nezuko give you our full support!"

Hana stepped up beside her brother, nodding. "Let’s give it our all, the four of us," she said, her voice calm. She saw the confusion flicker in Genya’s eyes. He didn't expect such kindness from them.

"I'm sure there's a fifth demon somewhere. We'll look for it, so I want you to buy us some time!" Tanjiro explained, his nose twitching as he tried to catch the scent over the overwhelming stench of the demons.

Genya’s face twisted. "I know what you're up to! You're just making me let my guard down, and–"

"Genya, listen." Hana gently grabbed his arm, her touch was gentle. She looked him directly in the eyes. "You have to trust us, alright?"

Genya’s eyes widened. For a moment, the rage died in his throat. His face began to heat up with a flush of shyness. He looked into Tanjiro’s eyes and saw nothing but pure innocence. There was no hidden agenda, no plan to steal his glory.

"Huh?" Genya muttered, stunned into silence.

The moment was shattered by a screeching cry from above. The demons Sekido and Urogi were upon them again. The winged Urogi dove from the sky, his talons extended.

"Go!" Tanjiro yelled.

The battlefield split. Genya and Nezuko threw themselves into the action against the manifestations of the Upper Rank’s emotions. While Tanjiro and Hana turned their focus to the forest, their senses heightened trying to detect the fifth demon.

Urogi swung his fan, creating a massive gust of wind that tore through the trees. As the wind moved, it shifted the scent of the nearby hot springs. Hana’s nose wrinkled. She caught a whiff of something. "I got it!" she shouted. "Genya! Go straight northeast!"

She ducked a blast of lightning from Sekido, the ground exploding where she had stood a second before. "The fifth demon is hiding itself close to the ground! It's small!"

"Genya, go after it! We'll cover you!" Tanjiro added.

Genya didn't hesitate this time. He turned and ran in the direction Hana pointed. He looked back once, seeing Hana and Tanjiro standing side-by-side, forming a wall between him and the powerful demons.

"Nezuko, go with Genya! Don't let the lightning demon get in his way!" Tanjiro commanded. Nezuko nodded.

Suddenly, a massive gust of wind caught Tanjiro. He was lunged away, his feet leaving the ground as he was slammed into a thick tree. He groaned, grabbing onto the trunk with all his might to keep from being swept further away.

Hana wasn't as lucky. The force of the wind sent her skidding across the dirt, her sword clattering just out of reach. She looked up just in time to see the lightning demon, Sekido, raising his staff.

"Hana!" Tanjiro screamed from the tree.
Sekido brought the staff down, but a streak of pink and black blocked the strike. Nezuko had doubled back, throwing herself in front of Hana. The staff pierced Nezuko’s stomach, the electricity causing her to cry out in pain.

"Nezuko!" Hana and Tanjiro shouted in unison.

The demon pulled the staff back, preparing to strike Hana next, but Tanjiro had recovered. He rushed forward with an incredible speed. His sword was blazing with the Hinokami Kagura, his eyes burning with a light that looked like the sun itself.

Hana watched for a split second, mesmerized by her brother’s growth. He was faster, stronger, and more focused than he had ever been. She didn't stay down for long. Grabbing her sword, she jumped up and rejoined the fight.

Nezuko ignited her blood. Pink flames erupted around her, searing the demon and forcing him back.

"Keep going, Genya!" Hana yelled as she and Tanjiro moved keeping the demon occupied while guiding Genya further toward the hidden demon.

But Sekido was cunning. He realized the threat Genya posed to the fifth demon. He moved, preparing to lunge toward the forest where Genya was struggling to kill the tiny demon in the underbrush.

Hana saw the movement. "No you don't!" she screamed. She rushed after the demon, her lungs burning.

"Genya, don't give up!" she yelled swinging her blade, slashing through the sekido’s arm just as he reached out to strike Genya's back. The limb fell to the forest floor, dissolving into ash.

"Go after it again!" she told Genya, her eyes wild. "Slash it again! Whatever you do, don't give up! You can do it, believe in yourself! Don't you want to be a Hashira, Genya Shinazugawa? We'll protect you! You can do this! Don't think about anything else but beheading it!"

Genya looked at her, his eyes wide. He turned back to the tiny demon, his resolve hardening.

Hana turned back to face the battle, but she was met with the demon of Pleasure, Aizetsu. He moved with a sickening speed, his spear leveled at her chest. Hana’s heart skipped a beat. Her sword was out of position, and the demon was too close.

"No," she whispered, bracing herself for the impact. She closed her eyes, waiting for the cold steel to pierce her chest.
But the pain never came.

She opened her eyes to see a broad back in front of her. Genya had stepped in. He stood there, his body was implanted with holes where the demon’s attacks had landed. He was bleeding from a dozen wounds, his flesh mangled, yet he remained standing like an immovable wall.

"Genya... no," she whispered, horrified by the carnage.

"Go... behead it," Genya rasped, his voice thick with blood. "You're the one to behead it... hurry!"

Tears brimmed in Hana’s eyes. She blinked them away, her face hardening. She rushed past him, her eyes scanning the ground. There. The tiny demon, was scurrying through the tall grass, its face twisted in a look of pathetic terror.

"I can do it. I’ll behead it," Hana thought. "All I need to do right now is behead him."

She swung her sword the blade catching the demon’s neck. She felt the resistance, the skin as hard as diamond. She put every ounce of her strength into the swing, her muscles screaming. The blade sank halfway through the tiny neck, but then it stopped.

Her grip on her sword weakened as the exhaustion finally started to take hold.
The pink flames from Nezuko’s power had flickered out, leaving her blade cold.
The demon’s neck was too strong. Without the burning blood of Nezuko blood, her blade couldn't finish the job.

Suddenly, the air behind her turned cold. The presence so heavy and malicious. Hana froze, her eyes widening. "There's... someone behind me." She thought.

The scent changed. It wasn't any demon they had encountered earlier anger, joy, sorrow, or pleasure, it wasn't like any one of them.

"What is it?" she gasped.

"Hana, get out of the way!" she heard Genya and Tanjiro scream.

She looked back. Genya was trying to raise his gun, but she was directly in his line of fire. Tanjiro was sprinting toward her, but he was too far.

"It's not good. No..."

Then a rhythmic, booming sound filled the air the sound of drum. A massive blast of sound and pressure erupted. Hana was thrown through the air like a ragdoll. Debris, dirt, and splintered wood flew everywhere.

She looked up through the dust and saw wood-like, serpent-headed dragons lunging through the air.

Hana swung her sword wildly, trying to catch onto something as she fell. She felt a pair of small, strong arms wrap around her waist. Nezuko had jumped into the air, catching her and pulling her away from the path of a lunging dragon head.

They hit the ground hard, rolling through the dirt. Tanjiro rushed to their side immediately. "Hana! Are you alright?"

Hana nodded breathlessly, pushing herself up. She turned to her siblings. "Are you fine?"

Nezuko nodded, but she looked weak, her eyes droopy from the constant use of her demon arts.

"You brutal fiends who torment the weak..." a voice boomed, deep and filled with a terrifyingly calm authority. "Atrocious. Offensive to the extreme."

Hana and Tanjiro looked toward the source of the voice. Standing there was a new demon. He looked younger than the others, holding a bone-like drum, surrounded by four massive serpent dragons that had drums embedded in their backs. His eyes were a piercing red, and the characters for Upper Rank Four were etched into them.

"...you awful villains," the demon said.

Hana’s eyes widened. "A sixth? Just how many are there?" she whispered. But as she sensed the air, she realized she was wrong. "No, there's no trace of the other four. This is all of them combined."
The demon’s aura was overwhelming. Hana felt a sharp pain in her chest, her heart fluttering in terror.

"Do you have a problem with what I'm doing?" the demon growled, his eyes narrowing. "Well, you awful villains?"

Tanjiro stepped forward, his jaw set. "What makes us awful villains?"

"It's because you torment the weak," the demon replied, his voice rising. "Just now, you tried to slash a small, weak being who could fit in the palm of your hand."

"Small, weak being?" Tanjiro repeated, his grip tightening on his sword. "The scent you're giving off... the smell of blood... it's not just a few people. It's not just one hundred or even two hundred humans that you've devoured! What did those people ever do to you? Did they all do something they had to pay for with their lives? Don't you dare play the victim card after killing and eating scores of people!"

Tanjiro raised his sword, the tip pointing at the new demon. "You won't get away!"

Hana stood beside him, her own blade leveled. "We're going to behead you," she said, her voice trembling slightly but filled with resolve.

"Is that all you have to say?" the demon asked, tilting his head. "Were they members of your family?"

"No," Hana said.

"Then this has nothing to do with you."

"It's not just that," Hana countered,
stepping forward. "We're not going to let any more people suffer like this. No one should have to feel this kind of pain."

"Surely you have nothing to do with those people either," the demon persisted.

"What reason does a person need to help another?" Hana challenged, her eyes flashing. "If you can't understand that, then you're the true fiend."

The demon snarled. He raised his hands and clapped the drums on his back.
The dragon heads lunged forward.
The siblings moved as one, dodging the massive dragon deads.

Nezuko and Genya were quickly forced back, trapped by the sheer force of the wooden serpents.

Two of the dragon heads lunged at Hana and Tanjiro. They split up, running in opposite directions to distract the beast.

Tanjiro was caught off guard as one of the heads looped around a tree. It lunged, its mouth opening wide, and swallowed him whole.

"TANJIRO!" Hana screamed. She turned, her heart stopping. She swung her sword, attempting to slash the neck of the dragon that held her brother, but a second head lunged from the shadows.
It wrapped its thick, wooden body around her, pinning her arms to her sides. It began to coil tighter and tighter, the pressure on her ribs becoming unbearable.

"I—I can't breathe–" Hana gasped. She looked toward the head that held Tanjiro, her vision blurring. "Tanjiro... I have to... save...Tanjiro...Nezuko.."

The world began to fade. The crushing weight was too much. The sound of the battle became a distant hum. "It's over..."

"No! No!" Hana gasped, fighting against the darkness. "Not like this.."

Just as her eyes began to roll back, a flash of bright pink and green streaked across the sky. A flexible, whip-like blade whistled through the air. The wooden bodies of the dragons were sliced into multiple pieces in a single second.

Hana felt the pressure vanish. She tumbled toward the ground, but before she could hit the dirt, she was caught by a pair of warm, soft arms.

Mitsuri stood there with a bright smile, her hair fluttering in the wind. She had moved Tanjiro to safety in the blink of an eye and was now holding Hana.

"Don't worry, everyone!" Mitsuri chirped, her eyes sparkling. "The Love Hashira is here to help!"