*•Crystals in the Moonlight•* a Demon Slayer fanfiction

Chapter 6: First Mission

"Hey Tanjiro. Long time no see."

My crimson-eyed friend looked over his shoulder to see me smiling at him. He smiled back. "Hello Y/N, it's so nice to see you again! I never expected that we'd bump into each other like this, but I'm glad we did!"

"I assume that you've been assigned your first mission." I asked. Tanjiro nodded. "Yes, in fact I'm on my way to the town northwest of here. My crow told me that young girls keep disappearing there." I laughed. "What a coincidence, I'm heading to the same town! Would you mind if I joined you? Traveling with someone else is a lot less boring." My friend gave me a warm smile, "Of course, I'd love the company!"

===

The two of us walked for a while until we came across a bridge that led into a small village. It reminded me of way back when in the village where I grew up. But instead of a happy atmosphere I had expected, the streets were quiet and bare.
A young man passed by us, his face was covered in bruises, and had a few scratches on his cheeks. "Look at poor Kazumi." A woman nearby whispered. "I heard that his fiancé had been taken last night. Quite a shame, they would've been such a lovely couple." Another woman next to her responded back. Tanjiro and I looked at each other, realizing that we had found our mission's location.

"Excuse me, Mr. Kazumi. We'd like to talk to you about what happened last night." I asked as I lightly tapped his shoulder. He turned to face the two of us. Up closer, we realized how beat up this man was. "Do you mind if we treat your wounds first? If that's alright with you." Tanjiro asked. Kazumi nodded ever so slightly and we helped him sit down on a nearby bench.

Afterwards, he led us into a small alley. "It happened last night, this is where Satoko went missing. You probably don't believe me, but it was as if she vanished into thin air." "We do believe you, Mr. Kazumi. We've come here to find out who or what had taken your fiancé away." I replied.
I looked down and saw Tanjiro sniffing the ground. "Uh, Tanjiro? What are you doing?" I whispered. "There's a small trace of a demon's scent, I'm trying to follow it."

===

Tanjiro had been following the scent of the demon until nightfall, while Kazumi and I had walked behind him the whole time. "Are you sure you know what you're doing? I appreciate how dedicated you are to helping me, but don't you think we should turn in for the night and continue the search tomorrow?" Kazumi asked.
"Demons are more active at night, so we'll have a better chance at finding one if we keep moving." I insisted.

Tanjiro quickly stood up and gripped his katana, "The scent just got stronger! Y/N, this way!" He took off running and I followed behind him. Kazumi wasn't as fast, but Tanjiro eventually came to a stop in a small alley. The two of us drew our swords and prepared to attack. "It's right here! The demon is close!" Tanjiro stabbed his sword into the ground and black water came spewing out. A young girl came out of the sludge and a demon came up from behind her.
"Are you the one who's been kidnapping these girls?!" Tanjiro shouted. The demon made an ear-piercing noise with his teeth and disappeared into the dark water. "Mr. Kazumi, hold this girl and we'll take care of the demon. We can protect you!" I maintained as I handed the girl to Kazumi.

Out of nowhere, three demons surrounded Tanjiro and I. He was able to slice off two of the demon's arms with his 8th form, while I attacked the third with my 1st form. They sank into the water once again. "What the hell?! Demons don't usually work together?!" I recalled. "The demons are giving off the same scent. Which means that it's a morphed demon and is using a blood art!" Tanjiro explained.

Another popped up behind us. "DAMN KIDS! Give me back that girl! She's going to lose flavor if I don't eat her! She's already 16!" The demon spat. A second demon came up from the opposite side of the first. "Calm down, other me. I've eaten plenty of girls that were 16!" Their creepy eyes fixated on me and grinned. "But this one here smells to be only 15! She'll certainly be a treat!" I looked at him with a disgusted but terrified face. "Shut up other me! I'm not satisfied yet!" The angry demon screeched.

Kazumi called out in anger, "You monsters! Return Satoko to me! The girl you took last night!" The demon looked at him as he revealed the inside of his jacket, "Satoko? If her hairpin is among my collection, then I've already devoured her!" Kazumi's eyes widened as he began to break down in tears. The two demons then went under again. Everything went silent. All of a sudden one of the demons jumped out at me and I was caught off guard.

But before the demon could've grabbed me, a girl with black hair and a bamboo muzzle had landed a kick to his head. The demon crashed into a nearby wall. The girl looked at me with her large pink eyes, walked up to me and pat my head.
"So I assume that's your sister, Tanjiro. She's cute!" I recalled as Nezuko pat Kazumi and the unconscious girl. Tanjiro smiled as he looked back at her.

A demon had appeared in front of Tanjiro, but before I could run to help him, I felt my foot sink into the ground. The black sludge began to swallow me up. "Y/N! Take my hand!" Tanjiro shouted as he reached out to me.
I was able to get a hold of his wrist, but the demon had come out of the dark water and grabbed me, their sharp nails piercing into my forearm. I winced in pain as my grip gave out, and I sank underground.

Nezuko was about to go under as well, but Tanjiro called out to her. "Nezuko, stay here and protect the two people! I'm going to find Y/N!" He stepped into the sludge and sank into the dark water.

To be continued...

HAHA! I gotcha with the cliffhanger! >:) I know that this chapter is a little bit shorter than the rest but it was like midnight when I got to sleep (on a school night). But I hope y'all enjoyed and I'll see you guys next time! Art for Yui & Y/N is coming soon!

-Emily*

Word Count: 1133 words