Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 23

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Several weeks had passed but Tanjiro made a full recovery and underwent his rehabilitation training with Kanao aiding him. He spent a lot of his time with her and they ended up developing a friendship of sorts. Though, it was really just Kanao asking Tanjiro about his life and what he's been through. Kanao didn't really talk about her past, she was just curious about the things around her. Tanjiro did observe that the girl was rather clingy towards Shinobu. He wasn't jealous, it was just something he observed during his time there. Unfortunately, his swordsmith, Haganezuka, was unwilling to give Tanjiro a new sword after the boy had chipped his current one. This left the boy in a predicament but he was given special permission by Ubuyashiki to make his way towards the village. That's when he learned that the route to the village was complicated, using a series of pathways and various Kasugai Crows and Kakushi to navigate through. These assets are constantly switched out to remain inconsistent. Tanjiro packed his things and he went on his way towards the swordsmith village.

It was a perfect day to enjoy the warmth of the sun. As a result, everyone was outside to take advantage of the weather while it was great. In a separate location, Zenitsu was fishing by a small river, trying to get his food for the day. He had discarded his uniform for something much more casual as he had started from scratch with the money he had saved up from the Demon Slayer Corps. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing or what he wanted to do. He was just existing, life was very boring now. By no means did he miss killing demons but at least that kept him busy. Now, he's just mindlessly living his life as a civilian on the streets. He definitely needs to get a job soon because the money he's saved up won't last him too long. He reeled in a small fish to his disappointment but he didn't complain, food was food.

He did carry his Nichirin Blade with him, something he could use in self defense if anything ever went south. He was grateful to his mentor for teaching Zenitsu about how to use the blade. He'll be able to defend himself wherever he goes now. He sighed and made his way back to the small village he was residing in for the time being. As he continued forward, he noticed one of his neighbors blindly running towards him, his focus was on something behind him. He bumped into Zenitsu which shifted his attention to the boy in front of him. Zenitsu could see the panic stricken on the man's face which compelled him to ask what was wrong. The man answered, "There's some maniac killing people in the village with a sword! I don't know what his deal is but he just keeps asking people the same questions!" Zenitsu didn't sign up for this. He can handle a demon but he wasn't sure about a serial killer. There's no way it's a demon because it's in the middle of the day so it was clearly a human being he was dealing with.

The man noticed Zenitsu's blade and pointed out, "You got a sword, kick his ass!" Zenitsu cried out:

"Who? Me?! Uhhh, this is a toy sword!" The boy lied through his teeth, trying to avoid this as much as he could.

"Don't bullshit me, man! If you got a weapon, use it! Other than that, I'm out of here!" His neighbour scrambled to his feet and bolted away as fast as possible. Zenitsu couldn't help but look down the way the man came, why did he have to be dealing with a serial killer NOW of all times? He left the Demon Slayer Corps to get away from this type of crap. Maybe he could get past the guy and grab his belongings so he can leave for another town? No, that's stupid and irresponsible. He had to at least check out the scene.

In the village, there was a young man with a bloody blade passing by a group of people who were on their knees and in a line. The young man had black hair and turquoise eyes, his attire consisting of a simple black kimono and a blue obi over it with many necklaces around his neck. He stopped at one end of the line and lifted his blade up under the person's chin, pressing the edge just lightly into their throat as he asked, "What's your purpose? What do you live for? What are your dreams? Your aspirations? What gets you out of bed every morning?" The person that was being threatened cried out: