The Camp

Waking up early in the morning, Nezuko came out of her box to be with her brothers since the sun wasn't fully in the sky yet.

Zenitsu thought that it was a good idea to try and chase Nezuko around. However, Hiroto quickly ended this with a kind reminder that if he should get close to her Zenitsu would find it difficult to have children in the future.

After this little episode, a crow flew into the room and started shouting. "Kamado Hiroto! North-east! North-east! You need to go and meet up with a squad of other Demon Slayers and assist them in their mission! Caww! You will go alone as you are the healthiest!" The crow stated it's mission for Hiroto.

Hiroto paused for a second before nodding his understanding. "Alright, I'll get prepared after breakfast," Hiroto said.

Tanjiro looked towards his brother with worry. Hiroto saw this and ruffled his hair, reassuring him. "Don't worry, it's only a mission. I'll just have to go up and assist some other Demon Slayers, so I won't be alone. Besides, you already know I'm strong." Hiroto said smiling.

*bump* "Mm"

Nezuko came up behind Hiroto and bumped her head into his back. "Hey Nezuko, don't be like that. We'll only be separated for a bit, just like last time I went to Asakusa. Who knows, if you guys recover from your wounds faster you might be able to join this mission." Hiroto said hugging Nezuko to calm her down. "I'll be back soon, just stay with Tanjiro."

"Mm," Nezuko mumbled through her mouthpiece before going into her box.

The group had their breakfast and gathered outside to see Hiroto off. Hiroto was wearing his usual black and white haori over the Demon Slayer uniform. "Thank you for letting me stay here and taking care of me." Hiroto bowed to the old lady.

"You will always be welcomed here, I wish you luck in your next mission." The old lady bowed, before taking out a flint and steel and striking it for good luck.

"I'm off now, Tanjiro takes care of Nezuko while I'm gone. Zenitsu…" Hiroto glared. "Tanjiro, if he goes anywhere near her I allow you to forsake his future generations," Hiroto told Tanjiro

"Wahhh! So cruel!" Zenitsu cried out.

Hiroto looked over to Inosuke and gave him a nod. "Humph, you better wait until I catch you again! I'll find your weak point and take you down!" Inosuke yelled.

'Tsundere' Hiroto thought, before running off while waving behind him.

"Let's go back inside, we need to recover from our wounds so we can go do more missions," Tanjiro said before heading back inside.

After a full day of running, the night started to descend. Hiroto saw in the distance a camp was set up with some people around serving as lookouts. Approaching the camp, Hiroto saw them wearing Demon Slayer uniforms.

"You there! Stop! Identify yourself!" One of the lookouts shouted out.

"Kamado Hiroto rank Mizunoe, I was told to come and assist a squad in their mission," Hiroto stated.

Hiroto was promoted from the rank of Mizunoto to Mizunoe after completing his mission in Asakusa and having confirmed the deaths of the Demons there.

The lookout saw the uniform under Hiroto's haori and said, "You'll have to go see the one in command, he should be over by that tent over there." The man pointed to the central tent erected in the middle of the camp.

"Thank you." Hiroto then proceeded to walk towards the tent. Looking around Hiroto saw that there were at least about a dozen people here. 'Must be a dangerous mission, sending this many Demon Slayers. But… all of them are Mizunoto rank.' Hiroto thought as he arrived at the tent.

"State your business." The person guarding the entrance of the tent said.

"I'm here to meet with the leader of the mission, I was told to come and provide assistance," Hiroto stated.

The man went into the tent, and after a minute of muffled talking he came out. "You can go in."

'So formal.' Hiroto thought.

Walking in, Hiroto saw 4 people sitting around a table discussing the details of their next mission.

The person in the middle said, "I appreciate all the help we can get, what's your name and rank?"

'Must be the leader of the mission.' Hiroto thought.

"Kamado Hiroto, Rank Mizunoe," Hiroto said.

(Author: In case you forgot; Mizunoto>Mizunoe>Kanoto>Kanoe>Tsuchinoto>Tsuchinoe>Hinoto>Hinoe>Kinoto>Kinoe)

"Mizunoe, huh? Good. So far we have only gotten Mizunoto's." The person said. The person seemed to be 18, had short black hair and wore the standard Demon Slayer uniform with nothing else on top.

"I'm Eiko Akira, rank Kanoto. The other 3 in here are also of rank Mizunoe. Since I am the highest-ranking personnel here, I took command of the mission." Akira said.

Looking at the eyes of the men around the room, Hiroto could see discontent within them. 'Being the leader would mean if the mission was to succeed then he would reap the most benefits.'

"Glad to meet you, can you fill me in on the mission."

"Of course. Our current mission is to investigate the Demon sightings within Mt. Natagumo and deal with it accordingly. We've sent a forward recon team to scout out the area and bring back any intel they might have. We are currently waiting for them while also awaiting for more reinforcements to arrive. I assume that you are probably the last person we need to wait for." Akira said, explaining the mission.

"When should we move?" Hiroto asked.

The man's eye twitched, as he said. "Just to remind you, you should address those of a higher rank with sir."

Hiroto said nothing and stared at the man dead in his eye. Feeling uncomfortable, the man coughed, "*cough* since it was your first offense I'll let it slide. We will start moving tomorrow night. We are still waiting for the recon team to come back, and it'll take a day at most."

Nodding Hiroto turned to leave as he heard a sound from the man. "Tsk" Hiroto paused for a second, gripping his sword sheath tightly with his left hand. 'I can't. I need to calm down. Just think of Nezuko.' Hiroto thought, calming himself down from acting recklessly against that man.

Hiroto walked to a tent, and upon seeing it empty decided on occupying it. Entering the tent, he saw two sleeping mats on the floor and went to lay down on one. Playing with the bracelet in his hand, he looked towards his burn mark.

'Ever since I started using the Dance of the Fire God, the burn mark changed…' Hiroto saw that instead of the usual burn scar, it was changed to a red flame pattern, going from the inside of his palm to the back of his hand.

'Now that I think about it, Tanjiro's burn scar also changed.' Hiroto thought back, remembering how to mark Tanjiro changed to that similar to Hiroto. 'I wonder what's causing this…' Hiroto's final thoughts played out before he dozed off.

As the morning came, Hiroto got his food from one of the people walking around giving it out. He went to the edge of the camp and looked towards the direction of the mountain. 'It should take about half of the day to get there.' Hiroto said looking into the distance. 'I wonder when that recon team would get back, we're wasting time just sitting around here.'

Hiroto spent the rest of the day walking around and asking people what they knew of the upcoming mission. However, they said that all the information was with Akira.

'It's with that stuck up guy, I don't want to have to talk to him if I have to, but I need more information on the mission. I don't want to go in blind.' Hiroto thought as he decided to walk to Akira's tent.

Hiroto heard some laughter coming from the tent as he got closer. Seeing that no guard was posted outside Hiroto walked straight in and saw Akira with some other people he didn't recognize.

"What are you doing barging in here like that?" Akira asked, looking displeased.

"I asked around the camp and was told that you knew more about the mission that we have at hand. Do you mind sharing some of this with the others or do you plan on keeping us all in the dark?" Hiroto asked.

"You want information? Well, currently we are still waiting for the recon team to bring back our intel. That's all that you need to know for now. You can leave." Akira said looking at Hiroto.

Hiroto left unsatisfied and decided if the Recon team doesn't come back by tonight, he'll take matters into his own hands.