Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

Chapter 149 - Not so peaceful recovery

[Seiji's POV]

After a week had passed, there was no longer humanity in his form. My eyes searched in vain, analyzing every pulsing cell for a bit of humanity but I found none.

He was a demon, in every sense of the word.

I hated that.

I hate that I hated that.

My absolute hatred for demons worked against my intention. Every single part of me other than my heart was utterly disgusted just looking at him.

I'm a horrible person and a worse friend. I couldn't help it.

I released a shivering breath. I realized then that my lungs ache due to the lack of breath.

"I guess we need to work on that," I said to myself. I had been fanning my hate for demons all my life and I found no reason to fix that issue. It even became my main source of strength.

But now I had a reason to stop. A reason to become sane again.

I slowly approached Rengoku, stopping only when I was right beside him. I leaned down cautiously and got close to his sleeping face.

"It's you, right?" I asked and reached out my hand to touch him. I hesitated for a second before my fingers pressed his pale and cold face.

My hand continued to caress his face and with every second of contact, I realized that he was still my friend. He was still the Rengoku I knew, just in a different form.

As a warrior who trained his body all his life to kill demons, I untrained myself to see the person before me for who he really was. I learned to see in a demon the human they were before.

The demon on the bed was not the one who took my family, he was not the one who threatened what I held dear, he had nothing to do with it.

It was just him. Rengoku.

My friend.

"Are you okay?"

The words seemed to be an awakening call to my trance as I retracted my hand quickly. I flinched back a bit.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, shaking my head to clear my messy thoughts.

"How is he still sleeping?" I turned to her and asked curiously.

Demon regeneration meant that they could not only heal external injuries but also poison in their body. It was for this reason that no other poison other than wisteria worked on them.

Normally, they could never be put to sleep for long either. No matter how much dosage you use, it could be enough to knock out a whale, you couldn't put demons to sleep for long.

"It's a new type of....medicine that I made from my research," Shinobu said while gesturing to the table beside her. It had the blood and tissue samples of both Muzan and Rengoku.

"I see, that makes sense," I said and turned back to Rengoku.

It would also make sense if he just never woke up. I remember that Nezuko slept a lot when she first became a demon. I think she was asleep for years at one point.

"It's good that he remains asleep," I said. It was better this way, until we made a cure or until the Blue Spider Lily Blooms.

If he woke up, it could jeopardize the location of the Butterfly Mansion and I was certain that Muzan would waste no time pulling up with all the Twelve Kizukis if that happened. So I'd prefer him asleep and unconscious.

"Do you think you can find a cure?" I asked her to which she stayed silent for almost a minute, seriously contemplating my question because she did not want falsehood.

"I can, but it will take time. A long time," she admitted.

'That's why we need Tamayo,' my mind said immediately. Shinobu was a genius but the most she ever did was try to create better poison to kill humans, she never needed to find a cure to turn demons back into humans.

On the other hand, Lady Tamayao had time to study and experiment for hundreds of years.

I must go find Tamayo immediately after I recover my strength.

I stayed in the room for the whole day, contemplating my future plans and facing my problem head-on. By the time I left, I noticed the burden of my heart lessen.

The bitter hate in my heart changed for my friend.

..

..

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(The next day)

"Where is it!! Where are the promised white balls?!" The speaker was a boy smaller than his age due to starvation and lack of proper nutrition. He had the skin of a boar's head on his head.

"RICE!! RICE!! ITS RICE!! How many times do I have to tell you that?!" A familiar face yelled back with equal vigour, Sanemi.

"MICE!!" the boy bellowed, with all the confidence in the world.

"It's RICE!!" Sanemi corrected again.

"LICE!!"

"RICE!!"

"eyes?"

"R-I-C-E."

...

"....."

The boy seemed to be in deep thought. You could almost hear gears shifting into place inside his head. Then something clicked.

"Snow pebbles," he said eventually.

"That was not even close!!" Sanemi yelled in frustration. I saw his blood pressure rise sharply and his veins bulged.

"AHHH!! rice, mice, dice, nice- I don't care!! Just give me my food!!" the boy yelled back, steam coming out from his boar nose.

*BONK!!*

Eventually, Sanemi snapped and bonked the poor boy on his head. The boy's head smashed into the ground and for a second, I was worried but the boy bounced right back.

"Self Defense : Hog-quake!!" the boy inhaled air sharply and jumped at Sanemi like a wild beast. We were all surprised by that because the boy had used a breathing style, the question was what.

A chaotic scuffle ensued between them. True to its name, the boy shook Sanemi's head to make him dizzy. His small stature cling to his body like a wild monkey and Sanemi had a hard time tearing him off.

"...."

"...."

"What the fuck," I could only say as the event took place in the courtyard.

Kanae who sat beside me on the veranda laughed out loud and asked, "Is that your friend?"

"Nope," I denied fast, "Must be Shibi's,"

"Nope, never seen him before in my life," Shinobu denied fast too. She looked up from the book in her hand and smiled in amusement.

"I thought I would have a peaceful healing session but I guess it couldn't be helped. The idiot brought home an idiot,"

"I heard you scar-face!!" Sanemi screamed.

We laughed.

'But Innosuke huh?' I thought to myself while looking at the small boy.

Interesting.

..

...

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Double Chapter cuz this one is smaller than my dick