The faint light of dawn crept in between the trees, pushing the darkness away little by little.
"Mmh?"
Nezuko, who had been standing there watching the scene, suddenly shuddered.
Her eyes lifted toward the sky. Toward that brightness growing on the horizon, and on her face appeared something Marcus hadn't seen on her until now: unease.
The sun.
Before anyone could say anything, she lost all interest in Marcus and shot toward the temple like a pink bullet.
"NEZUKO!" Tanjiro went after her.
Marcus and Urokodaki looked at each other.
Nothing needed to be said, and the two of them went inside.
Inside the temple the light was scarce, dusty, and in the shadows of a corner, Marcus made out a simple bamboo basket.
Inside, Nezuko had already shrunk.
Literally. Her body had gotten tiny, a miniature version of herself curled up inside the basket like a hamster in its burrow.
After looking at her for a moment, his eyes drifted to another part of the temple.
And the smile faded from his face.
On the floor, half hidden by the dim light, there were three bodies...
People the temple demon had killed.
"..."
Marcus looked at Nezuko and then at the bodies.
She wasn't looking at them...
That was really good! It meant that what was left of the human Nezuko was still in there.
Urokodaki noticed it too and was frowning.
Then he walked over to the three corpses and observed them in silence.
"Marcus, Tanjiro. Let's bury them..."
"Yeah."
And for the first time all night, nobody added anything else.
The burial was silent. The three of them found a patch of ground that was more or less flat and dry next to the temple, and with whatever they could find, they dug.
Marcus had just emptied himself completely with that cut he made, so his arms were about as useful as two wet noodles, and he shoveled dirt at a pathetic pace, barely a little faster than Tanjiro, who hadn't trained a single day in his life.
Urokodaki's movements, on the other hand, were something else entirely. Steady and rhythmic.
The only sound was the dull thud of tools against the earth.
They placed the three bodies carefully into the holes. Covered them with dirt and raised simple mounds on top.
Nothing elaborate. Just three little hills of earth.
There were no names. No headstones. Nobody knew who these people were, where they came from, or where they were going. Just three stones placed in front of the graves as markers.
Someone existed here...
The three of them stood in front of the graves.
Urokodaki bowed.
Tanjiro did the same. Eyes closed and lips pressed tight.
As for Marcus...
He just stood there, in silence.
He didn't bow because it wasn't his custom, but he stayed there, quiet, with his head slightly tilted.
And for once, he wasn't acting like a clown.
Though it wasn't like he was overflowing with compassion either. He wasn't going to fake that. He didn't know these people.
He didn't know their names, their faces, their stories. He didn't feel that deep pain Tanjiro was clearly feeling.
What Marcus felt was something else.
He felt something more selfish and honest.
He was thinking.
If he didn't have the system...
If he hadn't found Urokodaki that time...
With his blood... with his damn Marechi Blood that he carried around...
He probably would have ended up just like them. Right...?
...
...
NO.
He would have had it MUCH worse.
These people at least had someone who found them. Someone who buried them. Someone who placed a stone on their grave and gave them a moment of silence.
HE WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN HAD THAT.
Or rather... with his blood, if a demon caught him, there wouldn't have been a body left to collect. They would have devoured him whole.
"..."
A chill ran down his spine.
And thinking about it that way... That spectacular cut he had made a while ago...
He was still far away. Very far away.
He had power. He had range. He had split trees and cracked open the ground and disintegrated a demon's head.
But...
He thought about the future, about what he knew was coming.
Because he KNEW what was coming. He had watched the anime and read the manga. He knew the story better than most of the people living in it.
Tanjiro, standing next to him with teary eyes, who had barely just started training, who didn't even know what Water Breathing was yet... at some point was going to split a boulder.
A massive boulder weighing dozens of tons, in a single cut.
And that was just the beginning.
On top of that, most demons weren't punching bags that stood still waiting for a sword slash to land on them.
In a real fight, against a real demon, one that moves, that dodges, that counterattacks...
Marcus clenched his teeth.
He lacked strength. He still lacked A LOT OF STRENGTH.
To live well in this world, on his own terms. Without being glued to an old man's leg for the rest of his life. Without looking over his shoulder every five seconds fearing something might smell his blood...
He needed more. MUCH MORE!
But that was future Marcus's problem. Present Marcus had already done plenty for one night.
The light of dawn finished flooding the forest, but in front of those three freshly raised mounds, the warmth of the sun couldn't quite lift the weight of the moment.
Urokodaki straightened up. He let the silence last one more second, and then his gaze fell on Tanjiro.
"Kamado Tanjiro."
"Yes!" Tanjiro snapped upright.
"If your sister dared to eat people... what would you do?"
!
Tanjiro tensed up.
Pain and struggle were reflected in his eyes.
But it didn't last long, because underneath all that pain, underneath the doubt and fear, there was something harder.
Determination.
His sister would NOT eat humans. Period.
That possibility didn't exist. He refused to accept it. Nezuko wasn't like those demons. She was different.
He opened his mouth, filled his lungs, ready to make his promise...
"Relax, master!"
A voice beat him to it.
Marcus had materialized next to Urokodaki without anyone knowing when. Hands behind his back and a relaxed smile.
"I'll keep a good eye on Nezuko! With me nearby, with my scent, she won't even look at anyone else. I guarantee it, master!"
!!!
The scar on Tanjiro's forehead turned so red it looked like it was about to start glowing, and a web of veins popped out on his temple.
"...WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"
"I take care of my sister! WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?!"
"Hey, Tanjiro, calm down." Marcus waved his hand. "I understand your concern as a brother, I deeply respect it, but think about it with a cool head. Isn't it better to have an extra person looking after her? Besides, I have a special breathing technique that can calm Nezuko down. You saw it yourself. It's destiny!"
"DESTINY MY ASS!"
"She's MY sister! She does NOT need someone... someone so... so SHADY as you looking after her! I've barely known you and I already saw you grabbing her... I AM NOT REPEATING WHAT I SAW!!"
"Shady? Me?" Marcus pointed at himself with an offended face. "Tanjiro, we're already comrades. Comrades who have been through a life and death situation together. That creates bonds, you know? Deep bonds. And between comrades, helping each other out, looking after each other's sister... isn't that the most natural thing in the world?"
"MARCUS!!!" Tanjiro was half a second from lunging at him.
"Enough."
Urokodaki's voice cut the escalation like a bucket of cold water, as he brought a hand to his head.
Before it was already hard. One troublesome disciple was more than enough to drain his patience. But now...? Now it seemed like they had multiplied.
Two brats screaming at each other in front of graves they had just dug.
... Wait.
It wasn't two.
IT WAS THREE!
There was also the demon!
"Both of you shut up." Lowering his hand, the severity returned to his voice. "Tanjiro. First answer my question."
Glaring daggers at Marcus, Tanjiro forced himself to calm down.
Because he wasn't like this. He didn't get angry at people. But this guy... every three words he mentioned Nezuko, as if he had some kind of right... as if he had known her his whole life.
Nezuko was his sister. His ONLY family. The only thing he had left. And this stranger was already talking about "watching over her" and "taking care of her" and practically taking on the role of... of... NO! He wasn't even going to finish that thought.
But now wasn't the time.
The master had asked him a question, and that question was more important than the urge he had to slam his fist into Marcus's face.
Inhaling deeply, he let the air clear his mind. He pulled his eyes away from Marcus, and when he turned toward Urokodaki, he was a different Tanjiro.
"I'll find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human! Until that happens, I'll watch over her without rest, and I guarantee with my life that she won't hurt anyone. And if... if she really did eat someone..."
His voice choked up suddenly, or rather, the words refused to come out. He knew what he had to say, but his heart wouldn't let him say it.
"..."
Urokodaki watched him in silence.
In the short time he had been observing this boy, he had already read his personality: a heart that was too soft, but with a steel spine underneath all that kindness.
And the words that soft heart wouldn't let him say, Urokodaki said them.
"If Nezuko really ate someone... I want you to kill her with your own hands. And then take your own life."
"YES!"
Urokodaki nodded.
"Remember what you said today. Next, I will be the one to test you, to see if you are worthy of becoming a true Demon Slayer."
"!!!" Tanjiro's eyes lit up and he pointed at Marcus excitedly. "Was what he did a moment ago the skill of a Demon Slayer?! That giant pink sword?! Is that what they do?!"
"..."
Urokodaki glanced sideways at Marcus, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a smug expression, and let out a tired sigh.
"Yes... what he used is indeed the skill of a Demon Slayer."
'Though it has absolutely nothing to do with what I taught him...'
Beaming, Marcus walked over to Tanjiro and threw his arm over his shoulder like they were lifelong friends.
At six foot three with a body that eight months of training had turned into something fairly respectable, leaning on Tanjiro was like watching a bear propping itself against a broomstick.
"What's all this 'he' this and 'he' that? That's really cold, Tanjiro. I don't like it." He clicked his tongue. "Let's do something better: you call me big brother, and I'll call you little brother in law... That way we're all family."
The veins on Tanjiro's temples erupted with the force of a geyser. BROTHER IN LAW. He had called him BROTHER IN LAW. That implied... that meant that... with Nezuko... THIS BASTARD!!
Suddenly, all the excitement about learning to be a Demon Slayer evaporated in an instant.
The only thing he wanted was to strangle this guy with his bare hands and...
But...
Without strength, how was he going to help Nezuko become human again? How was he going to avenge his family? How was he going to protect her from demons and, apparently, also from this moron?
He needed to get strong. Stronger than anyone. For Nezuko. For his family. And also, now he knew with absolute certainty, so he could beat the crap out of Marcus someday.
Hold it in...
"...Big... brother..." The words came out through clenched teeth.
"..."
Shaking his head with exhaustion, Urokodaki turned toward the temple. "Let's go. It's already dawn, we need to get her out of here before more light comes in."
Inside the temple, the dimness was still holding, but it wasn't going to last long. Nezuko was still curled up in her little bamboo basket, in her miniature version, rolled into an adorable ball.
But her little head was swaying with that unmistakable motion of someone losing the fight against sleep.
"Nezuko..."
Seeing her, a gentle smile returned to Tanjiro's face. He stepped forward and reached his hand toward the basket.
His fingers were about to close around the edge when another hand appeared from the side and pressed firmly on the opposite end of the basket.
Stopping, he looked up.
Marcus... Of course it was Marcus. Who else would it be?
There he was, with his hand pressing the edge of the basket, looking at him with that smile Tanjiro was starting to hate with every fiber of his being.
But what he didn't know, and what Marcus was never going to explain to him, was that Nezuko represented his level two.
Ride or Die.
Automatic Total Concentration Constant just by being near her. Every second next to her was training, continuous improvement, power flowing effortlessly.
He wasn't going to let that opportunity slip away even if they paid him.
"Little brother in law." His smile was radiant. "You just fought a demon, then you were digging for a good while, you must be wiped out. Rest a little, come on."
"..."
Tanjiro's brows furrowed and the veins on the backs of his hands swelled up instantly as he gripped his side of the basket.
________
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