9

The flame Hashira and the unkempt young man were facing each other at both sides of the short table, which only reached up to their waist as they sat cross legged on the floor. Any windows and door were slid shut, creating a rather gloomy atmosphere throughout the room, with the exception of a single small opening near where the wall met the ceiling, sunlight shone in pale patches onto the otherwise glow deprived floor, giving the two individuals enough light to see each other.

The Hashira picked up a small tea cup etched with fire-like endowments and decoration, he swirled the pale and steaming green liquid around gently as he looked into it, before finally staring up to face the scruffy black-haired boy, as Kaigaku realised this, he exhaled sharply, Rengoku chalked this up as post traumatic nerves, the Hashira in turn choosing to break the silence which filled the dimly lit space as he put down his cup.

"If you're okay with it, please try and recount the events of last night regarding the attack." The Hashira replied with a warm smile.

Kaigaku's necklace jingled as he bent down to pick up the tea cup in front of him, his hand shuddered with the cup now grasped, spilling a little of the liquid on to the table, the unkempt young man hurriedly rubbed the spill into the wood of the table with his finger in an attempt to dry it up.

"It's fine, don't worry about it, I understand what you've been through." Rengoku waved off the accident with a bright grin, seemingly filling Kaigaku with the confidence needed to begin, gulping down his spit and nodding, the young man began to explain.

"I was tending to some chores the old man gave me in the kitchen, when it happened, a loud crash or something which startled me, I then suddenly heard rapid footsteps as the old man's voice coming from the other room shouted out the words 'Run!', and it seemed like he was about to speak again when he was suddenly cut off, I didn't hear Zenitsu either, so I made sure to crawl out of the kitchen as silently as I could... and I hid... I stayed so still, not even daring to breathe too loudly as my ears heard what seemed like deep, guttural growls from just outside the door." Kaigaku recollected, before suddenly lowering his head to the table.

His voice grew shaky as he reprimanded himself. "A coward's actions were displayed that night... I hid and let my younger half of the thunder breathing teachings and it's master die as if nothing could be done." His breathing grew sharper as tears welled from his eyes, silently drooping onto the table he had planted his face on.

"Do not let such incidents lead you astray, there's always a fire burning in your soul, and these feelings you have towards hiding are simply proof you still contain a deep sense of bravery and good, your flame sparks proudly even after this, and that's all you need to know." Rengoku replied enthusiastically, tapping the table with his hands at intervals during the speech to highlight the importance of his words.

Kaigaku looked up, his eyes were glazed with a mixture of admiration and moisture from crying, with redness covering his face. "Thank you for having confidence in me." Nodding gently as he acknowledged Rengoku's words of hope meekly.

The source of light in the room was then drowned in a veil of momentary black as a bird swooped in from the opening, it stood on the edge of the table as it cawed. Kaigaku had turned swiftly to stare at the bird as it startled him slightly, whilst Rengoku's smile grew in response to his Kasugai Crow's entrance.

"This is Kaname, my Kasugai Crow." Rengoku stated in response to the boy's surprise, the scruffy young man's expression quickly relaxed, he was already a member of the demon slayer corps, therefore he was aware what the crows were and wasn't astonished that it began to speak in broken Japanese.

"Hashira... gathering... important!" The crow squawked aloud.

"I see." The Hashira nodded, before getting up and turning to Kaigaku. "My presence is needed there, unfortunately I can't put this off, please feel free to use this as your home for now, as I can't see that you'd want to return to that place." The crow on the table suddenly flapped its wings, leaping upwards and onto the shoulder of the Hashira with a surprising gentleness.

"Thank you so much..." Kaigaku was at a loss of words as he expressed his gratitude to the exiting Hashira. With the sliding door shut, the scruffy young man stared down at the table in front of him.

His constant shuddering suddenly ceased, as his disposition shifted, sighing out loud, he became lost in thought as a small smirk pronounced its self on his face.

...

Hidemi Oye sat upright on the soft mattress of a bed that wasn't his own. He looked around impatiently as his eyes met with the other injured who were apart of various demon slayer corps missions and assignments which had gone sour, Hidemi's eyes settled on someone who was bandaged up so thoroughly that you could barely make out the features of his face, the thought of the grisly sight under the white wraps that clung to his face made Oye naturally shake his head in disgust.

It had been a few days since he was admitted into the butterfly mansion to recover from his wounds, the slayer unwrapped the thin linen blanket from over his leg to reveal a bandaged patched with hues of red. On an assignment with a few other demon slayers, they were ambushed in a forest by a small group of demons, one of which took a chunk out of his leg. Hidemi clicked his tongue in boredom before his expression suddenly turned serious.

Apart from the usual Kakushi attendants who would run around the recovery room tending to the different injured slayers, another individual had walked in who he had not seen before in his few days of being here. It was Shinobu! The owner of the mansion and the insect Hashira!

"Please ensure my medicine is given to the ones in need of urgent care immediately." She gently informed two Kakushi walking with her, who swiftly followed such orders and darted off to those much more injured than Hidemi.

Oye's eyes traced her as she stepped towards the side of the hall where his bed was situated. As she drew nearer, he had begun working up the courage to ask her something that had been weighing so heavily on his mind ever since he entered this recovery room. And was the reason for him looking around the other beds for any sign of a familiar face. His friend had disappeared without a trace ever since his last mission!

At first it was just an assumption he was busy, but the couple days time he had spent in here, the man had not even visited him once, nor turned up injured in this very room. So he had to pose this question! He couldn't be left without a conclusion, no matter what bad news it brought!

"Miss Shinobu? Can I just ask if you have registered anyone in this hall by the name of Hayara Ichinose?" Hidemi questioned nervously as she walked past his bed, pestering Hashiras was a scary ordeal, as they were incredibly intimidating to lower ranked slayers.

The Hashira pivoted as she heard the voice of the low ranked slayer call out, now facing him, Hidemi looked at the gentle calm, but seemingly hidden torrent behind her eyes, it unnerved him as he had to focus on some other part of her face.

"I don't believe so." She answered simply, as if she was in a rush.

The young man in the bed clutched at his blanket, it scrunched in his tensed hands with veins surfacing from his skin that looked like they could pop out at any moment. As he stared down at his injury in hatred, wishing he could have helped his comrade rather than sit idly in this bed. In the Demon Slayer Corps, being unaccounted usually meant death.

"Thank you for helping me reach the truth of the matter." Oye answered calmly as his tense clutch of the bedsheets lessened, his pupils sunk into despair as he held in tears, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of such an important figure of the corps.

"It's no problem, but please don't fret." The Insect Hashira sat on a chair next to the bed, a comforting smile on her face.

"I'm sure your friend will end up in safe hands, even if he is injured, I promise that when he makes it here, he will be nursed back to health by the staff of the butterfly mansion in no time. I will be sure to note his absence to other members and see if we can get him back safely." Her convincing words put Hidemi's mind in a calmer place, the oncoming waterworks receded from the corner of his eyes as he thought over the situation properly.

"Now how's that injury healing up?" Shinobu questioned genuinely, Oye was shocked that the Hashira was spending this much of her valuable time checking in on a rather unimportant person such as himself, however he also realised that he had just admitted to his friend being missing, she probably just wanted to put his mind at ease for a moment.

"It's going well, that demon took a real good chunk out of it." He passed a hand through his short hair, which was strangely mixed with colours of black and blonde in embarrassment, this Hashira could probably have killed that demon a hundred times over and he had suffered such an injury to it.

A crow suddenly dropped in from an open window next to his bed, almost causing Oye to fall off of his bed in shock.

"Sorry about that." A small chuckle came from the Hashira.

The crow gently landed on the Hashira's shoulder, flapping its twilight black wings as it did so.

"What do you have for me En?" Shinobu queried, her calm and deep purple eyes unchanging.

"Hashira... meeting!" Squawked out En, Shinobu nodded tersely as she got up.

"I hope you have a speedy recovery." She said before quickly leaving along with two attendants who guided her out.

"Miss Shinobu sure is interesting... is this what all the Hashira are like? I wonder if she would actually be willing to spend the time to look for my friend." Hidemi blinked as he reasoned, before laying down on his side as he sharply exhaled, this conversation he had didn't do too much to ease his worries.

...

A few figures dotted the gravelled garden of the Ubayashiki Estate, some of the Hashira had already gathered, including Tengen Uzui, the sound pillar, Obanai Iguro, the snake pillar, the stone pillar, Gymoei Himajima as well as the water pillar, Giyu Tomioka.

Obanai was rested upon a tree, a white snake comfortably coiled around his neck as he peered down on the other three who had already arrived.

"Another flashy thing has occurred I'd wager, too many gatherings this week, something is most likely brewing!" An enthusiastic shout from the wind pillar Tengen.

"I wouldn't label events which have innocent lives hurt as flashy." Giyu replied coldly.

"May the dead's innocent and pure souls be put to rest." Gyomei's face had a constant streak of tears as his muscular and veiny arms had various crimson beads wrapped around them.

A few moments later another two Hashira had arrived, the Insect Pillar and Flame Pillar, one held her constant neutral gaze and deep set purple eyes, the other always with his bright smile and over passionate demeanour.

"A beautiful day outside, as always!" Rengoku beamed.

"It's too hot." Obanai mumbled as he gently landed onto the gravel from his previous spot on the tree.

"My fucking body's baking out here!" A shout erupted from behind the group of 6. The wind pillar, with all his frustration, stormed over.

"Mind your language, the master is about to arrive at any moment, how dare you act so vulgarly." Giyu reprimanded Sanemi with a stern expression.

"Shut your mouth shithead, unless you want to lose in another bout." Sanemi spat, clearly angered by Giyu's provocation.

As the argument picked up it's heat, the love pillar walked onto the gravel of the estate, looking around worriedly at the two Hashira at odds with each other. I hope this doesn't break out into a fight... Mitsuri worried inwardly. Followed by her was the last member to arrive, the mist pillar Muichiro, who was only a boy.

The gravel's so disturbed today, it's all messed up and in such different positions... Muichiro pondered the state of the gravel as he walked towards the rest of the group.

"Last to arrive, it's because you're always thinking about useless things." Sanemi suddenly hurled an insult towards the mist pillar, who simply ignored it as he lined up with the rest.

"Sanemi, enough-" Giyu once again tried to reprimand him, but was cut off by the sound of a sliding door opening. All the Hashira were silenced as they kneeled down with unimaginable swiftness.

"Such warmth, I imagine that ever so beautiful weather is lying just beyond my sight." Kaguya Ubuyashiki stated as he was lead out of the door by his two daughters, both had very similar features, white hair and deep, black eyes, whilst the master of the Demon Slayer Corps had raven black hair, and deep marks across his forehead which blinded him.

"Good afternoon, my resplendent children, it brings me joy to see you all here, the same faces time after time." A gentle smirk beamed out from his face, seemingly overshadowing his glum illness. This was the attitude of a man with a presence. A leader.

"I must solemnly report that another demonic incident has erupted in Tokyo, a small neighbourhood was wiped out, along with multiple families." His sickly face glowed with a momentary sadness before returning to a normal, neutral expression.

"And it appears that there have been multiple reports related to these incidents that concern me to no end, a man in demon slayer attire, with a katana was seen driving that bloody carriage, then again, he was witnessed in the area near the demolished neighbourhood engaging in a largescale gunfight with a prominent Tokyo gang, this large group was later confirmed to have been slaughtered by something with a blood demon art, in other words, a relatively powerful demon possibly belonging to the twelve Kizuki." Ubayashiki explained.

The Hashira all shared the same thoughts. Traitor! One who was in cahoots with a demon, killing as they pleased.

A demon slayer colluding with a demon, how unthinkable! Justice must be served! Rengoku's mental shouting reverberated in his brain. Until suddenly something clicked. The strange event from last night, the prominent sword wounds, no demon had assaulted those two. It must have been the traitorous slayer? Kaigaku said that he had heard growling from the other room, the demon must have been there as well... Rengoku reasoned.

"Master, I found former thunder Hashira Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma dead in their residence last night with prominent sword marks on them, which I believed was strange for a demon attack, Kaigaku, another student of Jigoro's was the only survivor of the ordeal, so I initially considered him suspicious, however he also recollected hearing a demon and with the corresponding slash injuries, I believe this to be the same pair behind the demonic incidents!" Rengoku recounted.

The Thunder Hashira is dead... Collective thoughts would buzz through all of the Hashira's brains.

"Our dead must be atoned for... we will have to drive this pitiful traitor into true deliverance." Gyomei spouted with an incredible calmness.

"If it's a traitor from our ranks, then surely they'd be gone for a time whilst committing these acts, are any slayers unaccounted for but not confirmed to be dead? I believe the answer lies within that, master." Muichiro explained respectfully.

Shinobu suddenly blinked.

"Someone recovering in my estate claimed to be a friend of a missing demon slayer, although he had no idea whether he was dead or not, he wanted me to check if the name 'Hayara Ichinose' came up on our records recently, yet there was no such mention of him, meaning he is truly unaccounted for." The Insect pillar stated.

Hayara Ichinose... the pillars internalised the name swearing not to forget it, a deep feeling of scorn in their hearts, especially Sanemi, who was boiling with rage.

"Then he is likely to be our culprit, I'd like the Hashira to be on high alert for the time being, I will covertly pass on information regarding this man to the police, a demon is unable to travel during daylight, so if he rears his head during such times, and is therefore vulnerable to being apprehended by the police without it's help, we will move towards where he is being detained waiting until night so that the demon is lured in as well in order to rescue it's new found ally, getting two problems solved in one action. We'll only need one pillar to do this, as the demon's strength isn't considerable." Ubuyashiki began to draw out a plan.

"If I may, master, I'd like to be the one to participate in hunting the traitor." Sanemi blinked, barely able to control his anger out of courtesy for the figure in front of him.

"That is acceptable, Sanemi." A considerate nod came from the master of the mansion.

"Meanwhile, I'd still like for Tengen to investigate the entertainment district of Tokyo." Ubuyashiki directed his gaze towards the sound pillar.

"I will do so flashily, master." A bowing of the head as Tengen acknowledged his leader's orders.

"This wonderful meeting is concluded, hopefully the results of this only leads to good things for my children and the demon slayers, and let us all find Hayara Ichinose, doing so strikes another fault in Muzan's plans."

"Your will is our will!" The Hashiras exclaimed collectively.