Moonlight: A Kimetsu No Yaiba Fanfiction

17. The Sleeping Hero

There was no way this mission would go smoothly for Yua. For starters, her fellow slayer was dragging her and Shoichi in the opposite direction of where she could sense the demons were.

She was trying to remain calm but it was hard with the way he was shaking, sweating and dry heaving.

"Hey, Zenitsu..." She began but this only made him scream in alarm.

"Shut up, baka!" She yelled at him as she sma ked him on the head. "You wanna alert every demon where we are?"

"S-sorry! But you should warn me first before you speak. I almost died of a heart attack, you know!" The yellow haired boy said as he anime cried. "If I had died then you would have been a murderer."

"Gosh, you're being dramatic." She said whilst rolling her eyes.

Letting out a frustrated breath, she turned to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"How about this, you be the brave strong demon slayer that I know you are and I'll let you treat me to some sakura mochi. How does that sound?" She asked him with the sweetest smile. "Of course if you get in the way of this mission and I end up having to save you then I'll make you wish that a demon had eaten you instead. Good deal, right?"

She had spent enough time with the insect Hashira to know how to channel her scary aura whenever the need arose. She saw the yellow haired boy grow paler at her words but she imagined they had the desired effect.

"You guys are making me nervous, you know." Shoichi suddenly chipped in. "All his shaking and sweating is making me nervous."

"Don't worry, Shoichi, Zenitsu will be on good behavior from now on. Right, big boy?" Yua said.

"What the hell? She's scarier than any other girl I've met." Zenitsu whispered to himself as he remained frozen, his brain short circuiting from the terror he was feeling.

Suddenly, Yua sensed a malevolent presence approaching them and, unsheathing her katana she dashed forward quickly to strike the enemy.

The demon sensed her attack coming and moved to avoid being decapitated.

"Well look at this, a bunch of kids. I'm sure you'll be quite tasty." The demon said as it crawled towards them from the shadows.

"Aaaaah! A demon!" Zenitsu screamed before he grabbed both Yua and Shoichi and started running. "Leave us alone, we taste awful!"

As Yua prepared for an all out battle with the demon, she was suddenly stunned when she felt Zenitsu grab her hand and start running in the opposite direction.

The boy was frantic and scared out of his mind, much to her despair.

"Well, I'll never know till I have a taste!" The demon said out loud as it continued in pursuit.

Sensing an incoming attack, Yua managed to break free of Zenitsu's grasp. She grasped the hilt of her sword tightly as she tried to gauge how she would stop the attack without getting the two boys injured on the process.

I hope that move will work, she thought to her before she intercepted the demon's attack.

"Moon breathing, third Form: Loathsome Moon, chains!"

Swinging her sword rapidly into two gigantic crescent slashes, a storm of smaller crescents spread out, causing huge destruction in the small area around the demon. The recoil from using this move shot the three of them backwards into one of the open rooms.

"Are you alright, Shoichi? Zenitsu?" Yua asked as she got up and stood in a battle ready stance.

"I'm alright, thanks for protecting us, Yua-san." Shoichi replied, his voice filled with gratitude.

"In my knees." Zenitsu whimpered.

Looking down, Yua saw the boy crouched down shaking down to his core.

"The fear is in my knees. I can't move anymore." The boy continued.

"Hey, Zenitsu, I know you're scared but we have to stop that demon." Yua said to him as a way to encourage him.

"No! You have to take him and go. Just leave me here I'll only slow you down!" Zenitsu said but Yua only shook her head at him.

"I won't do that." She said affirmatively before she turned to Shoichi. "The two of you should get to safety. I'll take the demon down right here."

"Huh? You guys aren't serious. I would never forgive myself if I left you here." Shoichi responded as he tried to help Zenitsu sit up straight.

"Ahhhh! I'm so sorry, I am going to get you both killed!" Zenitsu cried, as he remained on the floor. "I'm so sorry, Yua-chan!"

As much as she wished that the two would leave for their own safety, Yua knew that she was going to have to fight off the demon and protect the two boys simultaneously.

She took on a protective stance in front of them just as the demon appeared.

Seeing the demon, Zenitsu let out a loud scream before falling forward unconscious.

"Did... Did he just faint?" Yua sweat dropped.

The demon grinned wickedly at the trio as it proudly declared that it would have one hell of a feast. She readied herself to defend against its attack as it lashed its obscenely long tongue at them when suddenly the tongue cut in half.

Looking around in confusion, she raised her eyebrows in shock when she saw that Zenitsu was now standing in front of her, his stance threatening. Even the air around him was crackling with a threatening energy all of a sudden.

"Z - Zenitsu?" Yua stuttered as she tried to make sense of what was happening. 

Hadn't he fallen asleep a few seconds ago? What was going on?

"Thunder breathing, first form." He said in a confident voice before shooting forward in lightning speed, decapitating the demon in record speed. "Thunder clap and flash!"

Yua was certain that her eyes were wide in shock and admiration but before she could praise him, boy's eyes opened just as the demon's head landed with a loud thump next to him.

He let out a cry of surprise as he ran behind.

"What the hell? The demon's dead all of a sudden!" He said before looking at her. "It was you! You protected me, Yua-chan. Thank you so much!"

"Huh?"

She was once again confused and irked by the boy as she tried to understand what was going on. Eventually she decided that she would forgive him for his strange behavior. He was strong but he didn't believe in himself it seemed.

"Okay you two, let's get out of here. I'm sure Tanjiro will protect your sister and your brother, Shoichi." Yua said with a reassuring smile.

"Okay, if you say so." The kid said.

With that, Yua managed to lead the two towards the safety of outside where the sun would protect from any danger.