Note:Thank you all so much for the support—seriously, it means the world to me! 🙏 Just wanted to clear something up that's been popping up in the comments: yes, I do know that the elemental effects in Demon Slayer (like water, fire, butterflies, etc.) are mostly imaginary flair and not literal.
I'm fully aware of what the creator has said and have memorized all the major and minor characters' names, all the breathing techniques, and every form. You think I don't know 'that'?
That said—if it looks awesome in the anime, it's gonna look awesome in this fanfic too. That's the vibe. Thanks for understanding and for reading! ❤️
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The sun had risen.
The mist had cleared.
Takeo and Iori stood in silence, holding the children they had rescued from the wooden cabin, glancing back at the house behind them.
"…So why did that woman keep kidnapping these children?"
Iori suddenly asked aloud. "And more importantly—she never actually ate them."
Demons grow stronger the more humans they devour. The more they consume, the more potent their strength becomes.
That demon woman had already been powerful—so strong that even official Demon Slayers had fallen to her.
Yet she could've been even stronger.
If she had devoured all the children she kidnapped, instead of simply taking a few bites and discarding them, she might have reached the level of the Twelve Kizuki.
Had that been the case… Neither Takeo nor Iori would have survived this battle.
Honestly, if Takeo hadn't been here, Iori would have undoubtedly died.
But the demon woman hadn't done that. Judging from the number of corpses in that pit, she had consumed the flesh of only about eight or nine victims—at most a dozen—including the three fallen Demon Slayers.
Even that limited intake had granted her a Blood Demon Art and significant strength.
Her potential had clearly been tremendous.
So the question remained for Ioti—
Why didn't she eat those children?
Takeo didn't explain and chose to say: "Sigh... Probably because of some kind of psychological trauma."
"Psychological… trauma? What's that supposed to mean?" Iori tilted her head, confused.
Takeo fell silent for a while. In the end, he gave up on explaining it to her and said bluntly, "Whatever. She's dead now, so what's the point in thinking about it? Let's hurry and get these kids back. We can't afford to miss the Final Selection."
"Oh—right!"
Only then did Iori remember—they still had to make it to Mount Fujikasane for the Final Selection.
But… to think they had taken down a demon that even official Demon Slayers had failed to kill—In a way, that should already count as passing the Final Selection, shouldn't it?
…Not that anyone would ever know. They didn't have a crow!
That thought left Iori feeling a bit disappointed.
If she were already an official member of the Demon Slayer Corps, just slaying this one demon might have earned her a promotion in rank.
But since they had defeated the demon before officially becoming members—and without a Kasugai crow to report the mission—this achievement would likely go unrecognized.
And with demons turning to ash after death, there wasn't even any way to prove what they had done.
What a waste.
Iori let out a sigh. Still, no matter how regretful she felt, they had things they needed to do.
The two of them quietly made their way down the mountain to a small nearby town, where they left the rescued children at the front of the local police station before slipping away unnoticed.
They didn't have a choice. Thanks to the Sword Ban Law, they couldn't afford to let anyone find out they were carrying weapons. Even though they'd saved the children, they had no way of explaining where they'd found them.
No one would believe stories about demons anyway.
And given how young they both were, if they tried to hand the children over directly, the townspeople would probably detain them for questioning.
So, the only option was to return the children in secret.
By the time they had left the town and resumed their journey to Mount Fujikasane, the sun was already high in the sky.
Because Iori had been injured, she needed rest. As a result, they had to slow their pace.
Takeo didn't hide his irritation. "…Why am I even traveling with you again?"
"Don't be so cold!" Iori replied cheerfully, munching on something. "We fought side by side, right? That makes us comrades. Want some rice crackers?"
She held out a toasted rice cracker toward him.
Takeo stared at her with a deadpan expression, ignoring the rice cracker she was offering.
"Comrades? With you? Don't kid yourself. Anyway, what were you even doing there yesterday? What were you doing in the forest?"
"Uh…"
At the mention of how she'd crashed into him the day before, Iori's expression grew a little embarrassed. She took another bite of her rice cracker, cheeks puffed out as she mumbled,
"Um- mm- mn- um-…I was too tired, so I found a place to rest… mm- mn- um- and then I accidentally fell out of the tree into the grass… mm- mn- um- and I didn't want to move, so I just slept there…"
She spoke so quickly—and through a mouthful of food—that Takeo barely caught what she said.
Still, he managed to grasp the key points.
Basically, while traveling, Iori had grown exhausted and decided to sleep in a tree nearby. But at some point during the night, she slipped and fell into a patch of grass.
A normal person would've gotten up right away and looked for a safer place to sleep.
But Iori… her brain clearly didn't work that way.
She just stayed in the grass and kept sleeping.
If it weren't for the baby's crying waking her up, she probably would've slept until sunrise.
"…Are you an idiot?" Takeo asked flatly.
The red-haired boy gave her a look of sheer disbelief and fired off a soul-piercing question.
Iori immediately flushed red with anger and snapped, "I was tired, okay?! If it were you, you'd have done the same thing!"
"No, I wouldn't. I'd have gotten up and found a better place to sleep… Actually, scratch that—I wouldn't have fallen out of the tree in the first place."
"Yeah yeah, we get it, you're amazing, okay? Geez… I hate you naturally talented types."
Still munching on her rice cracker, Iori grumbled under her breath.
She was already on her second rice cracker now.
And those things were bigger than her face…
"Judging by how much you're eating, I'd say your injuries must be pretty much healed," Takeo remarked, squinting at her.
Iori shot back immediately, "I have to eat more because I'm injured! Jeez—you really don't know how to treat a delicate flower, do you?!"
"'Delicate flower' only applies when someone's actually, y'know, delicate and graceful."
"Ha?! Are you saying I'm not pretty, you little brat?!"
"You're the one who said it," Takeo replied flatly.
"Y–YOU LITTLE—!"
Iori, clearly offended, raised her hand to give Takeo a good head-rub of punishment, only for him to effortlessly dodge out of the way.
And just like that, the two began bickering and roughhousing again.
Takeo didn't particularly like Iori—or more accurately, he wasn't fond of people who got overly familiar too fast. But since they were heading in the same direction and taking the Final Selection together, he didn't bother speeding up to ditch her.
Besides, having someone to talk to—and argue with—along the way wasn't all bad.
And… Takeo had a feeling this girl might actually be a plot-relevant character.
After all, they'd run into a demon before even reaching the Final Selection. That kind of encounter didn't feel like something meant for a background character.
Maybe this girl had a real part in the original storyline. Though how much of one, he couldn't say.
Of course, this was all just speculation. For all he knew, he could be completely wrong.
After all, he'd never actually seen the anime.
Seriously, why get isekai'd into a world he didn't even know?
If he had a choice, Takeo would've rather been sent into a world he was familiar with.
He could have been a great Gryffindor, known most of the plot, hidden passages, about the prophecy, and the locations of all the Horcruxes, learned magic, and used his future knowledge to become powerful and rich, not to mention becoming friends with the most precious Luna! But nope—unfortunately, being isekai'd wasn't exactly something he had a say in.
...
"Haah! We are finally here!"
Amid the noisy banter and playful chasing, Takeo and Iori finally reached the base of Mount Fujikasane within the allotted time. On the night of the Final Selection, they ascended the mountain together with the other examinees.
The test officially began at night. From the moment darkness fell on that day until sunrise on the seventh morning, participants were required to survive on Mount Fujikasane. Anyone who was still alive after those seven days would be recognized as an official member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Anyone who died or forfeited during the trial would, of course, fail.
The test's only condition was survival. There was no requirement to kill demons. Technically, someone could just hide in a safe spot for a week and still pass.
But realistically, most wouldn't choose that approach.
"Whoa! So many wisteria flowers! They're beautiful!" Iori exclaimed as they arrived at the mountain's summit, gazing in awe at the scene.
Mount Fujikasane was blanketed year-round in blooming wisteria—the very flower demons feared most. The poison contained in wisteria was fatally toxic to demons, and because of that, none would dare approach the outer edge of the mountain.
The entire mountain was surrounded by wisteria, making it impossible for any demon inside to escape.
As he recalled the information about Mount Fujikasane, Takeo shifted his gaze to the other examinees gathered there. His eyes scanned the crowd, searching for anyone who looked like him.
But unfortunately, no such person stood among them.
Did Kamado Tanjiro and Kamado Nezuko not participate in this round of the Final Selection?
Takeo scanned the crowd, searching for the two main characters of this world, only to be met with disappointment.
It seemed they hadn't joined the Demon Slayer Corps during this cycle of the exam.
Still, although he didn't spot Tanjiro or Nezuko, Takeo did find someone else who caught his attention.
It was a boy who appeared to be around his age.
He had jet-black hair with faint blue highlights at the ends—yet another person in this world with unusually colored hair.
But Takeo's attention wasn't on his looks or age. What truly stood out was the boy's presence.
His aura was faint—so faint that if one didn't focus, it was easy to overlook him completely. But once noticed, the sense of danger he gave off was impossible to ignore.
He was strong.
Exceptionally strong.
Stronger than anyone—or any demon—Takeo had encountered so far. Stronger by a massive margin.
If someone like Yoshizuu Asato ranked at a five in combat power, and Takeo now stood at fifty, then this boy was pushing close to one hundred.
To think someone this powerful would appear during the Final Selection...
Takeo couldn't help but feel uneasy. In a world where anything could happen—as if it were part of an anime—which it was.. ehm.. it was hard not to worry that something would go wrong.
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o(*￣▽￣*)ブRead 12 Advance chaps—P@treon: HornyFBI