Chapter Text
All was quiet that night. Well, except for the bugs, which chirped incessantly and annoyed the heck out of Inosuke. He would yell at those poor bugs to, "just SHUT UP!", and in turn, annoy his already tired friends, Tanjiro and Zenitsu. As for Nezuko, she already had her fill on sleep and wanted to explore the area around them. However, being the responsible big brother he is, Tanjiro told his sweet and innocent sister to just go to sleep with the rest of them. Since sleep was a way for Nezuko to recharge her energy and get stronger, Tanjiro thought it would be better for her to just sleep. Of course, Nezuko wasn't very happy about it, but she complied. The group had just finished the dinner that they had found and cooked (not very well, but it got the job done), and settled down in a small and grassy clearing. They weren't near any towns or houses, since they had just completed a mission, and they were exhausted. Even the brash and energetic Inosuke hardly found the energy to yell at his usual volume. Eventually, the whole group just laid down and slowly drifted off to sleep. They needed to get to the Butterfly Mansion tomorrow to check up on Aoi, who wasn't feeling very well at the present time.
The night was soon filled with the quiet sounds of breathing. Mostly. Inosuke was snoring louder than a broken freight train trying to make it to its desired location. But even with that, the night was beautiful and peaceful, with a cool and gentle breeze blowing. It was cloudless, and a pale, full moon shone in the sky. It was a perfect time to be going to sleep. Nothing but you and the quiet and loving arms of nature and the night sky. Tanjiro was half-asleep, and he was used to Inosuke's loud snoring. He kept taking in gentle breaths and was lulled into a deep sleep. However, before he fully drifted off, he sensed an odd presence. Some sort of... disturbance? Who knows? He fell asleep before he could make out what it was.
***
The next morning was filled with shock and fear. Tanjiro had woken up in some sort of strange alley. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before! The surrounding buildings were tall, and they looked vastly different from what he was used to. Tanjiro looked around and found his sister, safe in her box. She seemed intrigued, but a little scared. She was making confused and scared sounds, and then went over to Tanjiro for comfort. He hugged her and looked around again and noticed his friends still soundly asleep. He muttered to himself, "I wonder where we are." He looked up and saw the clear blue sky. He saw his surrounding environment and took it all in. It held some sort of peace for him, but he wasn't very sure what to do. His sister let go of him and went over to where Zenitsu and Inosuke were sleeping. She made some noises and shook them awake. Immediately, Inosuke jumped up and stated yelling. Tanjiro jumped in surprise and went to calm his friend down. "Please," he said, "we need to stay calm so we can figure out what's going on." But of course, Inosuke didn't listen very well and continued to make a ruckus. As for Zenitsu, he also freaked out. He started crying, and Nezuko patted his head, as if telling him that it'll be ok. Tanjiro sighed and grabbed Inosuke's arms. Inosuke stopped yelling immediately.
He aggressively said, "Hey! Kamaboko, let me go!"
Tanjiro shook his head and said, "NO, since you're yelling so much. You'll draw attention! Just calm down; I'm sure there's an explanation for this." Zenitsu looked at Tanjiro with a weary expression.
He muttered, "How is he so calm about all of this?" In all honesty, Tanjiro was also freaking out. However, he knew that they'd have better chances if they didn't lose their heads. He pointed to the street outside the alleyway.
"We need to go there. Maybe we can find help, or at least an explanation of where we are." He hoped it would calm down his friends. It didn't really help, but as no one had a better idea, they all agreed with him. Nezuko crawled back into her box and Tanjiro picked it up and put it on his back. He looked back at the box as best he could and said, "Nezuko, are you comfortable in there?" He heard an affirmative grunt and looked to his friends. Inosuke gave him a confident look, while Zenitsu still shook a little bit from fear, but since he trusted Tanjiro, he was ready to follow him. Inosuke grabbed his boar head and put it on. And together, they all went out of that alley and saw a huge city, overwhelming them. Zenitsu let out a scared whimper, and Inosuke's mouth dropped in his boar head. It was early morning, so there wasn't a whole lot of people on the streets, but those that were gave them confused looks. The group saw some pretty strange people. One of them had a tail, and another had arms that looked like they were made out of plastic. Tanjiro noticed a young man that had purple hair and yellow skin. He was a bit confused, but he went up to the young man anyways.
The stranger smiled and said, "Hey there, kid. What's up?" He looked confused at the box on Tanjiro's back. "And why are you carrying around a box?"
Tanjiro was a little startled at the question. "Well, it's just something important..."
The stranger smiled and said, "Ah, I see. Is there anything you need?"
Inosuke spoke up, sounding a little aggressive. He said, "Where are we?"
The stranger's eyes widened in response to Inosuke's aggression. He said, "You're in Musutafu. Why don't you know this?" The group got a little nervous at that question. Tanjiro just said that it's a long story. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
"What's Musutafu," asked Zenitsu.
Inosuke just shrugged, and Tanjiro said, "It's the city. I'm just wondering why it looks so... strange." Zenitsu stayed silent, but he was observing everything around him and making a mental note of his surroundings. After around thirty minutes of walking, they came across some big building. It had a large wall around it. "Huh. I wonder what that is," muttered Tanjiro to himself. Inosuke seemed a little overwhelmed by this place. It was a little odd, seeing something like that, and Tanjiro wasn't sure how to feel about it. Zenitsu suddenly tensed up. He was hearing something faint in the distance. And it was getting louder.
Tanjiro noticed. "Hey, what's wrong?" Zenitsu couldn't speak. He kept on stuttering, and he pointed up. They could all hear it now. Some sort of fighting.
"I-i-i-t s-sounds likes-s-someone's in t-trouble," Zenitsu stuttered. And he was right.
Tanjiro said, "Then it looks like we need to help!" Inosuke immediately got excited while Zenitsu got scared (as usual). Tanjiro muttered, "But how are we gonna get inside?" Just then, a large blast blew out a part of the wall nearest them. Tanjiro said, "Come on! We need to help!"
Zenitsu yelled out, "But what about Nezuko?! She won't be safe there!" He was right. They all knew that Nezuko wouldn't be able to survive in the sun. She was a demon, and demons burn and disintegrate in the sun. Tanjiro knew he had to leave her. He went to a shady part of the area and took off the box and opened it. There she was, safe. She was awake and had heard everything that had been said.
Nezuko put her hand on Tanjiro's cheek, and he said, "Stay here, ok? We'll be back for you." She gave an affirmative grunt. Tanjiro pulled out his sword. With a determined expression, he said, "Let's get going then." Inosuke pulled out his swords and rushed in. Zenitsu did so as well, although he was absolutely terrified. Tanjiro followed them both, and the scene they saw was utter insanity and chaos. They saw a group of people, most of them wearing dark clothes, attacking teenagers. The teens were fighting back, and for some reason, they all had some sort of special abilities. Are those breathing styles? Tanjiro thought to himself as he watched the fight. No, they don't have swords. But then, how are they doing all that? What the heck is going on?! None of them knew who the bad guys were, so Tanjiro said, "Split up and fight the ones who look like they don't belong!" He figured that this strategy would give them all a better chance at fighting the right people. Of course, Zenitsu didn't like this idea very much, but Inosuke just rushed off yelling, "FIGHT ME!!!" and started attacking a lizard-looking guy. Tanjiro also ran off, leaving poor Zenitsu to fend for himself. He screamed out, "Wait! Don't leave me here!" But Tanjiro was already gone, looking for someone to fight.
Zenitsu ran to try and help out. He found a group of people fighting. He noticed that one of them seemed a few years older than the others, and that person was shooting blue flames. Zenitsu shook in fear. He called out, "H-hey! S-stop that!" The fire shooter looked at Zenitsu and laughed. The people he was attacking looked confused. One of them shouted, "Get out of here!" Zenitsu thought that that was a pretty solid idea, so he turned and ran. But the fire shooter followed. Zenitsu tripped and knocked his head on the ground. He blacked out.
The fire shooter laughed and stepped over to Zenitsu. "Pathetic," he said. The teens he was attacking earlier tried to fight him, and since they were already injured and tired, they were losing. All of a sudden, they saw a flash of light. Everyone stopped to see what it was. They looked to see Zentisu, asleep, gripping his sword and muttering, "Thunder Breathing. First Form. Thunderclap and Flash!" A great charge of lightning and speed followed as Zenitsu rushed towards the fire shooter, and in the blink of an eye, sliced his torso and knocked him out.
*** END OF PART 1. ***
*** Hey, sorry I stopped right in the middle of an awesome fight, I'm just tired lol. More to come later! (And yes, Inosuke will bungle the names of Class 1A. I just haven't written that part out yet. Also, the "odd presence" mentioned earlier will have some sort of role later on. I just haven't decided on what. Stay tuned for more! :D)
