Chapter Text
~~~Break #2~~~
After Shira announced a break Kanroji immediately went to the kitchen. Several of the other Hashiras got up and stretched, they weren’t used to sitting down for so long. Shira and Shiro both left the recording studio.
“You said for us to get lunch if we hadn’t. Is Selena-san coming here again,” Kocho asked.
“She’s not,” Shiro said, “But we have plenty of food in the pantry and fridge to make something quickly.”
“Why isn’t she coming here,” Nakime asked.
“She isn’t coming here because she’s busy,” Shiro sighed.
Iguro was with Kanroji in the kitchen, she was eating several sakura mochis. A few were just hanging around.
“Tanjiro, can I tell you something that’s been bothering me,” Zenitsu asked softly.
“Hm? Of course,” Tanjiro smiled.
“Shira-san and Shiro-san don’t have a heartbeat or blood. It’s really creepy, even demons make these sounds… but those two don’t,” Zenitsu said.
“Now that you mention it… neither of them smell like flesh,” Tanjiro said, “And when we came here and Shinazugawa-san cut their cheek, I never smelled blood.”
Just then Tanjiro’s stomach growled.
“Tanjiro, you didn’t eat lunch earlier, did you,” Zenitsu asked.
“Oh.. no I haven’t,” Tanjiro admitted softly.
“Let’s go eat then,” Zenitsu smiled, he turned to Inosuke, “You’re coming too, Inosuke.”
Meanwhile, Muzan was getting up from his seat.
“Master Muzan, where are you going,” Daki asked.
“I’m going to see if there are any books on the blue spider lily, since you are all useless,” Muzan said angrily.
I wonder why Muzan-sama is so angry. Rui thought.
He then looked over at Tanjiro and his friends. They were heading for the kitchen to grab food. Tanjiro was smiling brightly, and Nezuko was right next to him.
There’s something I should do. Rui thought, as he stood up.
“Oh? Where are you going,” Enmu asked.
“It’s none of your business,” Rui said coldly.
“Tanjiro-kun,” Kanroji smiled brightly, “Have you seen some of these cool things! I’ve never seen one in person before!”
“Oh, hello Kanroji-san. What things are you talking about,” Tanjiro asked.
Tanjiro, how do you get women to talk to you so easily? Zenitsu wondered.
“There’s a stand mixer! I’ve never seen one before, I’ve only read about them in books,” Kanroji said joyfully.
“A stand mixer? What’s that,” Tanjiro asked.
“A stand mixer mixes things by itself so you don’t have to. It’s used in baking, I think,” Kanrjori smiled.
Just then Rui walked into the kitchen. Iguro stepped in front of Kanroji and held a knife up.
“What the hell are you doing here,” Iguro asked firmly.
“Calm down… I just want to talk to Tanjiro,” Rui said.
“You want to talk to me,” Tanjiro said skeptically.
“I do,” Rui said, “Although, could we not talk in here. The smell of human food is irritating my nose.”
“Alright then,” Tanjiro said softly, his guard still up.
“Tanjiro, do you really want to go with him? What if he hurts you or Nezuko-chan,” Zenitsu asked.
“We’ll be fine. I trust Shiro-san and Shira-san will do something if Rui’s planning anything,” Tanjiro said.
“If you say so,” Zenitsu said.
Tanjiro followed Rui into the main room. Several Demon Slayers had their eyes on the duo, and Muzan exited the library with a stack of books.
What is Rui doing? Muzan wondered angrily.
“So.. what did you want to talk about,” Tanjiro asked.
“Well, when we get out of this hell hole there’s something I was hoping you could do,” Rui said softly.
“You want to ask me a favor,” Tanjiro asked skeptically.
“Yes,” Rui said.
Oh? I wonder what that demon wants to ask Tanjiro. Hinaki wondered.
“Tanjiro… when we get back will you cut off my head,” Rui asked quickly.
“What,” Tanjiro said, still processing what Rui asked.
“I know it probably sounds unreal… but it’s what I want,” Rui said, “I want to be reunited with my parents.”
Is this demon for real? Shinazugawa wondered.
“Sure, I can do that for you,” Tanjiro said.
“Wait… really,” Rui said softly.
“What the hell,” Muzan said angrily, “And to think you were my favorite!”
Muzan walked towards Rui, rage covering his face.
“I’ve been thinking for a while that the Lower Moon’s should get disbanded and I suppose I should start with you,” Muzan yelled.
Tanjiro stood in front of Rui, Muzan raised his hand ready to strike. Tanjiro braced himself for the attack. Before Muzan could hit either of them his arm was stopped. Tanjiro opened his eyes after a second, wondering while Muzan hadn’t hit them. Muzan’s arm was glowing purple.
“What the hell,” Muzan yelled.
“No violence is allowed in the Reaction rooms,” Shiro said firmly, “If you choose to continue, we’ll use force.”
“What the hell did you do to my arm,” Muzan asked.
“We just paused it so you couldn’t injure anyone,” Shira said, “I’ll unpause it, if you go back to your seat.”
“Whatever,” Muzan said.
After a few moments Muzan’s arm went back to normal. He stormed back to his seat, annoyed that he was made a fool in front of everyone. He opened his books back up and began researching.
Several of the Demon Slayers were flabbergasted at Shira and Shiro’s actions. They didn’t know how to react to two girls, seemingly under eighteen, acting nonchalant around the king of demons.
“What the hell,” Shinazugawa muttered.
“They act so carefree around Kibutsuji. It’s rather odd,” Amane said.
He protected me. Why? He’s the mortal one, why did he protect me? Rui wondered.
“Are you alright,” Tanjiro asked.
Did Kamado-san protect another demon? His sister was one thing, but this demon has killed several people. Shinjuro thought.
“I know that might seem shocking, however you all have twenty more minutes of your break so if you haven’t gotten lunch I would do so,” Shiro said.
“I don’t understand. How can you so carelessly stand up to the Demon King,” Uzui said, “It’s rather flashy.”
“We aren’t scared because we could effortlessly send Kibutsuji into sunlight if we so pleased,” Shira said.
What… Muzan thought.
“You can kill Kibutsuji,” Ubuyashiki said, “How interesting.”
“If you can do that, then just send him into the sun right now,” Genya said loudly.
“We cannot. Please understand, if we could we would but it would disrupt the timeline and we don’t want to get in trouble,” Shiro sighed.
“Ooh! I have an idea,” Shira said, “We should totally all play Uno,” Shira said happily.
“Shira, that wasn’t invented until 1971, they don’t know what that is,” Shiro whispered.
“Uno? Isn’t that one in Spanish,” Tamayo asked.
“You know Spanish, Miss Tamayo,” Yushiro asked in horror.
I didn’t know that she knew Spanish! Yushiro thought.
“I only know a little,” Tamayo said.
“Fine, fine… maybe on a different break I’ll teach everyone how to play Uno,” Shiro sighed, “Now spend your last fifteen minutes doing something.”
Those that hadn’t eaten lunch got up finally. Kocho went into the library, searching for something giving her more information. Tanjiro and his friends were chatting. Rui watched, too scared to go over there.
When there was only a few minutes left Shira and Shiro went back into the recording studio. Making sure they had everything set up correctly.
“I heard that Juliet might be getting her own reaction assignment in the future,” Shira said.
“Oh? What fandom,” Shiro asked.
“I don’t know, Lemon didn’t give me details. She was too busy jumping up and down from excitement,” Shira said.
“Are we sure she’s not a random five-year-old,” Shiro chuckled.
“Positive,” Shira sighed lightheartedly.
“Everyone, the reactions are going to resume in one minute. Please make your way back to your seat so we may get started,” Shiro said through the intercom.
Everyone who left made their way to their seats. Those who were already there were getting comfortable. Inosuke and Zenitsu were both leaning on Tanjiro. Then after a minute, the screen turned back on.
