The boy tried his best to open his mouth, struggling to make a sound.
"Finally... came out..."
"Ah... I clearly... ca-came out... clearly... to the outside... I... am, going to die..."
The boy said the last word, and died without closing his eyes.
Tanjiro's face showed sorrow.
Takeshi slowly raised his hand, closing the boy's eyes.
He looked up at Tanjiro. "Are you ready? Let's go meet these demons." His slightly narrowed eyes, without their usual casualness, revealed a cold gaze.
Tanjiro nodded heavily.
Zenitsu looked dazed, asking, "Senior Aoyama... Tanjiro... was that boy... the children's brother?"
The sound of the drums suddenly rang out again, and the whole atmosphere became oppressive.
The children hugged each other, squatting on the ground, and Zenitsu only felt his body completely stiffen, unable to move, his upper and lower teeth knocking together.
"Hey, children, was he, your brother?"
His voice gradually became smaller. If it really was, then the blow to these two children would be too great.
"No. No, he's not brother!"
"Brother wears khaki-colored clothes!"
The children hugged each other, not daring to raise their heads at all.
Takeshi put down the boy who had already died in his arms, saying coldly, "Tanjiro, Zenitsu, it's our turn!" His hand on the sword at his waist.
Zenitsu was too scared to speak, only shaking his head vigorously, indicating his unwillingness.
Tanjiro, seeing him like this, didn't say much, turning around and putting the wooden box containing Nezuko in front of the children, letting the two children help take care of it, turning around and rushing inside.
Halfway there, Takeshi turned back, grabbing Zenitsu's collar, forcefully throwing him towards the door that Tanjiro had opened, directly throwing the person inside.
Thud—
The person landed on the corridor, sliding out a short distance, stopping right in front of Tanjiro.
Seeing Zenitsu coming in, Tanjiro's mouth loosened slightly.
When he came in, seeing that he was unwilling in every way, he had felt very unhappy in his heart.
Seeing the tragically dead boy, as a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, he was unwilling to enter the house to slay demons and avenge him.
"Tanjiro! Hey, Tanjiro... You'll protect me, you'll protect me, right!"
Zenitsu, who had been thrown in, was about to suffocate from fear, he really hadn't expected Senior Aoyama to directly throw him in.
Tanjiro sighed slightly, saying, "Zenitsu, although I'm a little sorry, but my ribs and legs have suffered different degrees of injury in the previous battles, and they haven't healed yet, so..."
So he couldn't protect him, so he should wish himself luck! These were the words that Zenitsu made up in his mind, and he became even worse.
"Eh!? Eh!!! Why why, how can you be injured, if you're injured, what will I do!!!"
"How can an injured Tanjiro protect me well!!!" He knelt on the ground, grabbing the top of his head, roaring.
"I'm Gonna die, I'm gonna die! This time, I'm ninety-nine percent going to die, ah!!!"
Takeshi, who came in later, rubbed his ears that were about to be deafened, kicking Zenitsu on the ground.
"If you shout like that, you'll attract the demons, what do you think the consequences will be?"
Hearing these words, Zenitsu used his hands to tightly cover his roaring mouth, not daring to breathe heavily.
"Se... nior... Aoyama... You're not injured, right..."
The implication was, if you're not injured, then you should protect me!
At the same time, the two children outside, hand in hand, ran inside.
"B-Big brother, that wooden box has creaking sounds, we're scared!"
Knowing the reason why the children had come in, Tanjiro hadn't expected it to be this. "You... if it's because of this, I'll be very sad, that's something more important than my life!"
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Tanjiro turned his head, just happening to meet Senior Aoyama's cold gaze.
"Aoyama, Senior! I... Nezuko is outside, she can protect the children, and it's also safer for her..." That's what he thought, and that's what he did.
The last time he fought the Arrow-Pattern Demon, because he had called Nezuko to help Senior Aoyama, Nezuko had almost gotten hurt. At that time, Senior Aoyama had given him that look...
And now, that look had appeared again.
Rumble—
With a loud sound, it felt like the entire house was shaking.
"Kya—"
Zenitsu felt like his entire heart was about to burst, and his liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys were all shaking in fear.
His legs couldn't help but tremble, and his body unconsciously retreated, accidentally bumping the little girl into the room next to him.
Takeshi instinctively reached out to pull the child, and he also ended up in the next room. Accompanied by the sound of drums, the room kept changing, and finally the room changed into a room with red lanterns hanging.
The girl, frightened, threw herself into Takeshi's arms, clutching his clothes with both hands.
Takeshi's eyes were fixed on the doorway of the room, asking in a low voice, "What's your name?"
"Teruko!" the little girl said tremblingly.
"Oh, Teruko, listen to big brother, in a bit, if anything comes in, you hide in the corner, and big brother will protect you."
As soon as he finished speaking, heavy footsteps came from outside of the room.
A huge foot appeared at the edge of the door, followed by his entire body.
Takeshi calmly looked at the demon outside the door, slowly raising his hand, covering Teruko's mouth, to prevent her from making a sound.
Standing outside the door was one of the former Twelve Kizuki, Lower Moon Six—Kyogai!
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