Hashira meeting!

(2248 words!)

Shinobu: "Let's get this over with. I'm already mentally fatigued."

Saying those words, Shinobu left the butterfly mansion and headed to the Hashira meeting sight on behalf of her sister.

Once she arrived, a few of the other Hashira asked about Kanae's condition and were relieved to hear that she is doing well and is currently recovering. Soon, everyone fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for their leader to enter. And when a young slightly sickly-looking man walked into the room the Hashira's were in, they all bowed down in respect to him. The Stone Pillar Gyomei Himejima spoke.

Gyomei: "Welcome Oyakata-Sama. We're all glad to see you are still healthy today."

The leader of the Demon Slayer Corps Kagaya Ubuyashiki or his other name Oyakata-Sama smiled softly as he spoke.

Ubuyashiki: "Thank you for your kind words Gyomei. I have called this meeting because of the fact that I was told something interesting."

He gestured his hand to Shinobu who was still bowing to the man as all eyes turned to her and Kagaya Ubuyashiki continued speaking.

Ubuyashiki: "I was informed that you and Kanae ended up meeting with the Upper Moon 2. Is that right?"

Shinobu: "That is correct Oyakata-Sama."

Everyone became shocked at the info! Not only did they meet an Upper Moon Demon, but they actually survived meeting one. They were about to start asking questions when Ubuyashiki raised a single finger to his lips silencing everyone as they all bowed their heads.

Ubuyashiki: "That was the first thing. The second thing was that Rengoku had told me he had seen you rushing outside the demon slayer headquarters and that you were quite the distance from him. But after he blinked you had already passed him. Could you explain what happened that allowed you to do that?"

Everyone became even more shocked hearing that. Let it be known that although Kyojuro Rengoku wasn't a Hashira, he was still the Tsugoku of one and he should still be faster and stronger than Shinobu whose petite frame means a lack of physical strength, and her speed is only slightly better than the average Demon Slayer. If what was said was true and she actually managed to get past him faster than he could actually react, then something is clearly wrong. Although most of them thought it was simply due to adrenaline that allowed her to push herself, to the point she passed Kyojuro faster than he could react, they still listened to what Shinobu was going to answer.

Shinobu took a deep breath to calm herself as she felt everyone staring at her. She felt nervous and afraid that if she told them what happened they would brand her a traitor and kick her out of the demon slayer corps.

Ubuyashiki took notice of her growing worries as he spoke.

Ubuyashiki: "Shinobu. I promise you that whatever happens, we will try to help you out with it."

Shinobu finally sighed and took another deep breath to calm herself down as she spoke.

Shinobu: "To understand what happened, I must first explain the entire event of our journey exploring that cult's base."

Ubuyashiki nodded his head and told Shinobu to continue. She nodded her head and continued explaining.

Shinobu: "When Kanae and I arrived at the cults base, we did find many bodies of women that were eaten. But we didn't find any signs of Demons. But then, he appeared. He was fairly tall, with pale skin and rainbow-colored eyes with the Kanji for Upper 2 written on his left eye. The moment he appeared, Kanae immediately reacted and attacked him.

She managed to throw him out of the building and she forced me to run away while she fought against upper moon 2 by herself."

Shinobu's fists clenched as she remembered that memory. Oh, how she loathed herself for having such a weak body that she couldn't even help her sister. The other pillars looked at her with sympathy understanding her frustration. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she continued.

Shinobu: "I tried to run back to the headquarters hoping I could get help for Kanae. But while I was running back, I slipped on one of the tree branches and fell onto the ground. I had hurt my back and I was tired. I had never felt so angry and frustrated as much as I did at that moment. My sister was going to die and I couldn't do anything about it."

Everyone suddenly realized that something about the story was strange. If she did injure her back from the fall and was tired, then how did she and Kanae return?

Shinobu: "I then did something I never imagined I'd ever do. I called out for a god or anyone strong enough to help me save Kanae. And by some miracle, my call was answered."

Everyone became serious hearing this but a single glance at their leader shook his head telling them to let her continue and to ask questions after she was done. So they did. They suppressed their curiosity and allowed her to continue her story.

Shinobu: "I didn't remember much about him, I only knew that he called himself Anos Voldigoad. And he said he answered my call because he had nothing better to do. When I told him I'd be willing to do anything even sell my soul as long as Kanae was saved his voice sounded like he was talking t...o.....an...idiot."

The looks she got from the others when she said this made her look away as she continued.

Shinobu: "Ahem. He said that we humans don't understand what it means to sell someone your soul. He then told me that he wouldn't save Kanae, instead that I would be saving her."

The shock and surprise in their expression were understandable, and just as she was about to continue, she was cut off by another one of the hashira. A tall and muscular man with spiky long white hair and large pale purple eyes. His face and body are covered with scars, accrued over his many years of fighting demons. This man was the current wind pillar Sanemi Shinazugawa.

Sanemi: "All I'm getting here, is that you made a deal with a demon! You disgraced us, slayers, by doing the one thing you know we never should! We should have you commit seppuku for breaking one of the biggest taboos as a demon slayer!"

Shinobu gritted her teeth in anger as she replied.

Shinobu: "I know I am in the wrong, but I couldn't just let my sister die! Kanae is someone dear to me. I know I broke a taboo, but all he asked in exchange for giving me the strength to save my sister, he wanted us to become his disciples. I honestly didn't want to accept but if he really could give me the necessary strength to save Kanae I would do anything. But I didn't want to drag Kanae without her understanding the situation herself and letting her decide herself. So I compromised with him. I pleaded with him to give me the strength to save Kanae and I will accept becoming his disciple, but he must let Kanae decide by herself whether she will accept or not as I couldn't make that decision for her."

Shinobu: "He did something as I remembered seeing light strings that attached themselves to my head and all the pain and fatigue I felt disappeared in an instant and I felt far stronger than I ever did. He told me that he only gave me enough strength to save Kanae and not deal with the upper moon. He also warned me that should I betray or backstab him he will return me and Kanae to the upper moon 2. I promised him I wouldn't betray him and went to save Kanae. It was incredible how I felt at that moment. Everything was almost as if time was frozen. I was running at a speed far beyond anything I'd ever achieved by myself. I then saw him aiming to fatally wound Kanae and then my body seemed to get even more strength and I managed to save Kanae and run away before he could chase us. I kept running until I reached the headquarters because I knew that this is where Kanae would be the safest and I could treat her in case she had any bad injuries. But from all that I saw, she thankfully only has a few cuts, bruises, some frost melting from her cheek, and just exhaustion."

Sanemi Scoffed as he replied.

Sanemi: "Answer me this Shinobu Kochou, Tsugoku of the flower pillar Kanae Kochou. How many slayers do you think have to face the same situation as you? How many lose their lives or the lives of their loved ones to demons? Tell me, what's the difference between you and them? Are you anything so special that only you get the right to save your loved one?"

Shinobu fell silent at Sanemi's words. She couldn't refute it after all. Sanemi continued.

Sanemi: "As Hashira, we're always ready to die no matter the occasion you know? If you cannot even mentally prepare yourself to lose your loved ones, then you are not fit for the role of a future hashira. Now you've made a deal with a demon, and you don't even know what kind of danger you've brought to the demon slayer corps."

Sanemi was going to continue but stopped when his leader raised his hand.

Ubuyashiki: "I understand your frustration Sanmei. For now, we will simply understand the entire situation, and then we will have to punish Shinobu for breaking our rules. Rather it leads all the way to seppuku will be decided afterward."

Sanemi bowed respectfully and sat down. Soon enough, everyone took some time to digest all that was told before Kyojuro spoke up.

Kyojuro: "I believe that we should try and meet this demon."

His words surprised everyone as he explained his reasoning.

Rengoku: "In her own words, she was still several hundred meters from where Kanae was, but this demon gave her the necessary strength to save Kanae from no ordinary demon, but an Upper Moon! Not only that, but she manage to pass me faster than I could react after I just blinked once. That isn't something she should be able to do."

This time the one who replied was Ubuyashiki.

Ubuyashiki: "Shinobu, although I am not very happy with the fact that you willingly accepted becoming the disciple of some unknown person, the fact that they were able to give you enough strength to outspeed upper moon 2 is a fact we cannot overlook. Do you have any means of contacting this individual?"

Shinobu nodded her head.

Shinobu: "He said when Kanae has made up her mind to call him just by speaking his name."

Ubayashiki thought about what to do. Should he risk meeting this person? If he was able to give Shinobu a boost in physical ability that large then with his help he could possibly beat Muzan. However, he cannot let go of the fact that he called Shinobu a human meaning he is most likely not human as well. After much thought, he finally decided.

Ubayashiki: "Shinobu, could you please call this person?"

Shinobu looked rather surprised as she spoke.

Shinobu: "Oyakata-Sama, are you sure?"

The other Hashira's were also surprised as they too protested.

Gyomei: "Oyakata-Sama. What your doing is inviting an unknown person that definitely isn't human into our base of operation. That's too risky! What if he is one of the upper moons?"

Sanemi: "I agree with Gyomei! This is too big of a risk to take Oyakata-Sama! Oi flame bastard! Arent, you going to speak?!"

The current flame Hashira and Rengoku's father Shinjuro simply shook his head as he spoke.

Shinjuro: "If Oyakata-Sama is willing to take the risk then it doesn't matter either way. We have this many Hashira in a single room with a Tsugoku. We should be capable of defending Ubuyashiki-Sama. Besides, Oyakata-Sama and Kyojuro still have a point. If we have the chance to meet a demon that might not be under the influence of Kibutsuji and can grant strength great enough to allow someone as weak as Shinobu to outspeed Upper Moon Demons. Mind you this was Upper moon 2 as well. Although I definitely agree that letting a Demon into our base of operations isn't the best, the final decision still stands with Oyakata-Sama."

Everyone: "..."

Ubuyashiki: "I trust my intuition Shinobu. It has never failed me so far. I definitely know that this person won't attack us. And so unless he attacks us please do not raise your weapons upon him less we lose our only hope for defeating Kibutsuji Muzan."

Everyone eventually agreed to this and Shinobu took a deep breath as she called out his name.

Shinobu: "Anos Voldigoad."

After calling his name the man in question appeared before them. Everyone immediately regretted listening to Ubuyashiki because they all felt it. This person could kill them and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Anos: "Nice to meet you all, I am Anos Voldigoad. The Demon King Of Tyranny. I am the pinnacle of all strength and wisdom. I stand atop all races and I have no equal. And know that even throughout the Heavens and the Earth, I alone am the Honoured One."