Chapter 05: Doing some Missions.

The little sparrow kept giving missions for a month, sending Zenitsu here and there, one after the other, sometimes it was just fake rumours, sometimes there were demons and once there was even a pack.

With Zenitsu's hearing ability, it was quite easy for him to track and find demons. Each encounter meant another fallen demon under his blade.

Despite the little sparrow's attempts at making Zenitsu work in a team, it was fruitless. Zenitsu had an impeccable track record, and even the higher ups were pleased with him. His rank increased from MIZUNOTO to MIZUNOE in just two weeks and from MIZUNOTO to KANOTO by the end of the month.

Three more months passed but Zenitsu was not deployed again, "the higher ups are not sending me on more missions, Chuntaro." [Chuntaro is the little sparrow.]

"Tell them that if they don't give me missions, I will hijack missions from others and tell pops that I will return home by the third full moon."

Chuntaro nodded and flew away. Zenitsu having nothing better to do, sat in a tea stall and ate dumplings while sipping on green tea. The sun shifting to the west horizon, painting the sky red along with the distant floating clouds, the spring breeze drifting by, it was a beautiful morning, perfect for enjoying a cup of tea with dumplings.

The door slid open and a boy with burgundy hair, wearing a green and black chequered haori came in and on his back was a box.

"Zenitsu, is that you?" Tanjiro asked seeing a familiar haori wearing boy sitting on the counter.

Zenitsu turned around and saw Tanjiro, he smiled. "Ah, Tanjiro, how have you been these days?"

"It's been troublesome, but I have to hold on, for Nezuko." Tanjiro cheering himself up.

"Troublesome is the least you should say, you probably have a broken rib and a leg bone, they are creaking as you move. Come, sit and have some tea, the dumplings are really well made." Zenitsu patted the seat next to him, inviting Tanjiro to sit down.

Tanjiro accepted the invitation and they chatted about their days of demon hunting.

"Huh? You are already promoted to KANOTO? Just what did you do?" Tanjiro asked in shock.

"Well, I slaughtered a lot of demons and then I got promoted, for the last three months I was not given another mission, I sent Chuntaro to the higher ups saying that I will hijack other's missions if they don't give me one." Zenitsu said chewing a dumpling.

Paying the owner, Zenitsu and Tanjiro came out of the shop only to be greeted by a raven.

"KAAAA~ Zenitsu, Tanjiro, run. Go towards east, run. KAAA~"

"Tanjiro, can you use total concentration breathing while running?" Zenitsu asked despite knowing the answer to his question.

"Huh, is that even possible?" Tanjiro asked tilting his head.

Zenitsu picked up Tanjiro in a piggy-back ride and dashed, he looked like a thunderbolt streaking through the roads and came to a pause seeing a big demon with tChuntaromi protruding from his body. The demon held a boy in his hands and was walking off towards the mountain.

Setting Tanjiro down, Zenitsu stood in the demon's way and looked him in the eye. The little boy in his hands looked towards Zenitsu in hope that he would be saved from the demon.

Zenitsu placed his hand on the blade hanging on his waist, KAMINARI NO KOKYU~ ICHI NO KATA~ Zenitsu flashed beside the demon and sliced his head off in a single stroke. HEKI REKI ISSEN~

The demon turned into ashes and the boy fell down, Zenitsu walked towards him and patted his head.

"Fear not, the demon is dead and will never hurt people again. Can you tell me your name?" Zenitsu asked kneeling down to match the boy's height.

"My name is Shin, I live in the village down this mountain." The boy replied.

"Good boy, now come with us. We need to see if that demon had taken any others hostage, if there is any danger, hide behind that big brother, okay?" Zenitsu said while pointing towards Tanjiro.

Tanjiro on the other hand was really shocked by the strength displayed by Zenitsu. Be it the dash or slaying the demon in a single slash, it was on a whole different level.

He realized his weakness and his goal distant, he knew that wishful thinking would land him nowhere, what he needs is to grow stronger, to train with blood, sweat and tears, if he wanted to cure Nezuko. Because for that, he would need blood from the lower and upper moon demons that were out of his league.

The forest clearing led them to a mansion in the woods, "Tanjiro wait here with Shin-chan and protect him, in the possibility of a demon escaping from me, slay them if possible or just hold them back till I return, can you do that?"

"Yes!!" Tanjiro said with vigour.

Zenitsu entered the mansion to find a demon feasting on the remains of a human corpse, he flashed int to decapitate it, but something else broke in through the window and bumped into him.

"COMING THROUGH!!!!"

A boar headed person with two chipped demon slaying blades stood across the room and the demon sat in between. He knew that he would die and did the most rational thing he could, he jumped through the window, shattering the sliding window pane.

"My name is Inosuke Hashibara, the lord of the forest." The boar headed person declared.

Zenitsu bowed in greeting, "nice to meet you forest lord, I am a Demon Slayer, Zenitsu Kuwajima. Let's chat after we slay that demon, alright?"

"You are strong, fight me!!" Inosuke said while brandishing his blades.

"I will, but for that, you need to kill that demon first, can you do it?" Zenitsu asked provocatively.

"A demon or two demons, nothing matters in front of the great Inosuke Hashibara-sama. Just you wait, I will kill that demon right now." Inosuke declared and jumped through the window following the demon.

"This person will be a headache to keep around, but let's just stick to the canon and deal with the mess. I will end Muzan the fastest I can lay my hands on him. That bastard is too tenacious, without the crimson blade, it will be harder to finish him off." Zenitsu muttered as he started collecting the dead bodies to give them a proper burial.

"COMING THROUGH!!!!"

Inosuke rushed in through the door, blades drawn, he was raring to have a fight.

"Lord of the forest, I challenge you to a duel, a duel where the one to properly bury the most bodies will win. Do you dare to accept." Zenitsu said while spreading his arms and challenging Inosuke with exaggerated theatrics.

"Ten or a hundred bodies are nothing, I will bury them before you, prepare yourself to lose, Genjutsu Masashima." Inosuke sheathed his blades and rushed out.

*chuckle* "I take back my words, this guy will be pretty fun to keep around." Zenitsu smiled and walked out of the door and went to see what Tanjiro was doing.

Tanjiro was chatting with Shin and his siblings, assuring them that they would be fine and will be back home, safe and sound.

Inosuke, who had finished giving the dead bodies a proper burial was about to rush into Zenitsu who caught him and took him to the graves.

"Inosuke, thank you for giving them a proper burial. Now, sit beside me and pray for them. Oh, just join your palms and think ask God to accept them in heaven, see like this." Zenitsu offered a prayer and showed Inosuke how to do it.

Inosuke was confused, but still did what Zenitsu did. He offered a prayer for the dead and turned to Zenitsu to see him smiling warmly.

Zenitsu patted Inosuke's head, "congratulations lord of the forest, you did your first lordly deed. A lord must always care for the people under him and by giving them a proper burial, you helped them pass on. Good job~"

Inosuke was feeling the warmth from Zenitsu's words and nodded, they walked towards Tanjiro but Inosuke who felt Nezuko's presence had drawn his blades to slice her apart.

Zenitsu grabbed him by his waist band and picked him up, Inosuke was like a little kitten, flailing around and after he realized that he was held in place by Zenitsu he growled, "why did you stop me? There is a demon in that box."

Tanjiro's face went pale as he was in a dilemma deciding whether to stay or flee. He was visibly sweating, considering his position, no matter how fast he ran, Zenitsu was faster and if he decided to fight, the only result was death of both him and Nezuko.

"I know that there was a demon in Tanjiro's box, but let's just listen to what he has to say form himself." Zenitsu let him down and spoke, breaking the tension.

"But that's a demon, what's left to ask?" Inosuke chortled.

Zenitsu knocked Inosuke's head and chided, "the lord must listen to both the sides before deciding right or wrong, whether to punish or to reward. That is how a lord should be, you understand Inosuke?"

Inosuke huffed, folding his arms; he asked, "Monjiro, why are you carrying a demon?"

"She is Nezuko, my sister. I became a Demon Slayer to find a way to make my sister human again. I can assure you that Nezuko will never hurt innocents, please believe in me." Tanjiro pleaded.

"Now that you have heard from him, look into his eyes and judge, judge if he is worth your trust, if he is worth helping. Show me what you have learned." Zenitsu spoke sagely.