"Please, make yourself comfortable."
Tamayo's clinic had a small adjacent room with low tables and cushions arranged in traditional style. The siblings settled down while Tamayo prepared tea with practiced movements. Yushiro stood near the doorway, arms crossed, still glaring at me like I'd kicked his dog.
The tea arrived in simple ceramic cups. I took a sip—good quality, subtle flavor.
"So what does a pair of demons want from a human?" I asked.
Tamayo set down her own cup carefully. "The cure you used tonight. I've spent centuries researching ways to reverse demonic transformation. Seeing it accomplished in seconds..." She paused. "I need to understand how it works."
"It's a healing potion. Forces the body back to its original state, purges foreign elements." I pulled out the HWL bottle. "Muzan's blood is the foreign element. The potion treats it like an infection and purges it."
"Then you can cure my sister!" Tanjiro said, hope flooding his voice.
"Yeah." I looked at Nezuko, who was watching me intently behind her bamboo muzzle. "One bottle, she'll be human again."
Tanjiro's expression lit up. "Thank you, Akira-san! I don't know how to repay—"
"Hold on." I raised a hand. "Before we do this, you need to know something. Nezuko's different from other demons. She doesn't attack humans, she can think clearly, she's evolving into something unique." I paused. "If I cure her now, she goes back to being a normal human. Which means when demons attack—and they will—she won't be able to help you fight."
The hope in Tanjiro's eyes dimmed. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying there's a choice here. Cure her now and she's safe but weak. Or wait, let her develop her abilities, and she becomes strong enough to protect herself. Maybe even help you."
"She shouldn't have to fight!" Tanjiro's fists clenched "She's already suffered enough—"
"I know. And I'm not telling you what to do." I pulled out another bottle and set it on the table. "This is yours. Use it whenever you want. Tonight, tomorrow, whenever. Your sister, your choice."
Tanjiro stared at the bottle like it held his entire world. Which, in a way, it did.
"There is one thing though." I met his eyes. "The cure works perfectly now because Nezuko's freshly transformed. Wait too long and her body adapts more, becomes more demon than human. Might not work as well. So if you're going to cure her, do it as soon as you can"
"Its only downside is it tastes awful." I stuck my tongue out. "Feels like eating a bitter dish which is a hundred times more bitter than your expectations"
Nezuko's eyes went wide. She grabbed Tanjiro's sleeve and shook her head vigorously, making muffled sounds of protest behind her muzzle.
"I'm kidding. It tastes just fine"
Nezuko's panic shifted to indignation. She glared at me, and I swear if she could talk freely she'd be chewing me out right now.
Tanjiro looked between us, then actually smiled slightly. "You shouldn't tease her like that, Akira san"
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." I turned back to business. "But seriously, that bottle is yours. No payment, no strings attached. Just think carefully about when you use it."
Tamayo had been watching this exchange with that analytical gaze. "You're remarkably cavalier about giving away something so valuable."
"It's one bottle. I can make more." I shrugged. "Besides, what's the point of having a cure if I don't use it to help people?"
"Most wouldn't be so generous."
"Most people are assholes."
Yushiro made a noise that might have been agreement, though his expression didn't change.
Tanjiro picked up the bottle carefully, like it might shatter. "Akira-san, why are you helping us? You don't even know us."
Good question. Why was I helping? Plot knowledge said Nezuko would be important, that Tanjiro would become a cornerstone of defeating Muzan. But looking at this kid who'd lost his entire family and was still trying to do the right thing, still treating demons with compassion at their dying moments...
"Because you're a good person in a shit situation, and I can actually help. That's reason enough."
Before anyone could respond—
*Crash!*
The front of the clinic exploded inward. Not broke—exploded. Wood splintered, debris scattered everywhere, and two figures stepped through the destruction.
The first was a woman, if you could call her that. Pale skin, wild black hair, wearing a tattered kimono. Her eyes were manic, pupils dilated, and six temari balls orbited around her like satellites. Demon. Definitely a demon.
The second was a man, shorter, with arrows for eyes that rotated unnervingly. He moved with eerie precision, hands already forming some kind of technique.
"Found you," the woman said, voice pitched high with excitement. She giggled, the sound completely wrong.
One of her temari balls shot forward like a cannonball, aimed directly at my head.
I dove sideways. The ball obliterated the wall behind where I'd been standing, continuing out into the street. The destruction was way beyond my calculations, who would have thought balls could do such a level of damage.
"Tamayo-san!" Yushiro moved immediately, positioning himself between the demons and his mistress.
Tanjiro had his sword out, stance ready, putting himself between Nezuko and the attackers. Nezuko's eyes had gone red, demonic aura flaring.
The male demon raised his hands. Arrows appeared in the air, pointing directly at us.
"Susamaru," he said, voice flat and emotionless. "Muzan-sama wants the human and the cure intact. Try not to destroy everything."
"But it's more fun this way!" Susamaru laughed, another temari ball forming in her hands. "Besides, he just needs to be alive. Didn't say anything about undamaged!"
She threw. I rolled behind the examination table as the ball tore through the space I'd occupied.
*Well. So much for a peaceful conversation*