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(*)
Taking deep, measured breaths, Yua took a moment to shelter behind a tree.
Damn! This nasty Spider-Demon was crafty; she had to admit.
How long she had been fighting against it, Yua couldn't tell for sure.
Maybe an hour?
Not that it was important. What counted was to give Tanjiro and Inosuke time to find and defeat the Spider Demon Mother.
The midnight blue-haired beauty opened her senses, sweeping with her aura-sensing ability the battlefield.
There!
On her left!
Total Concentration! Moon-Breathing! Second Form: Moongazing Pearl Blossom!
Fast, she performs three crescent-shaped slashes which deflect the incoming spider thread arrows of her opponent.
"Fu, fu, fu.", the spider demon laughend from his hidey-hole. "Little girl, aren't you tired already? How long can you deflect my attacks?"
"As long as I can!" she spats back.
(*)
A while ago, Yua raced through the forest with Tanjiro and Inosuke. They had to drag Inosuke along with them.
After the mask-wearing boy pinpointed the location of the Spider Demon, who was using the other Demon Slayers as puppets, they weren't sure how to reach it.
Fortunately, Murata and Katsumi had reassured them and decided to handle the controlled Demon Slayer themselves. They now understood that they needed to cut the threads and be cautious of the tiny spiders.
At one point, Inosuke insulted them by saying they had "pissed their pants" before, which led to Murata rebuking him for being a stupid boar. Inosuke was ready to retaliate, but thankfully, Yua and Tanjiro had gripped him and pulled him along, continuing their run forward.
Huffing annoyed the boar-headed boy told them: "Dammit! I'm gonna punch that guy if it's the last thing I do!"
"Stop talking like that!" Tanjiro told him.
"He called me a stupid boar", okay, Monjirou!"
"It's 'Tanjiro'!"
"How can you mess up names so much?!" Yua huffs, still astonished over Inosuke.
"What'ya mean Yunka?"
"THAT right here! How do you get Yunka from Yua?"
"Anyway!", Tanjiro interjected. "We're heading the right way, right?"
"My senses never lie!" Inosuke states proudly.
Like lightning struck her, Yua's aura-sensing acted up.
"GET DOWN!" she screamed and tackled the boys to the ground.
"Yua-Senpai?!", Tanjiro shrieked in surprise.
"What's your problem, woman?" Inosuke growled.
However, the males were speechless when they saw three big white arrows impaled in the ground where they had stood before their Senpai had tackled them.
"W-What?!",Tanjiro mubled.
He hadn't even smelled them, so fast were they!
Thankfully, Yua had sensend them with her ability or they would have died.
"Ara, Ara, what do we have here?" a feminine voice said mockingly. "A handsome boy, a beautiful girl and a ripped half-boar man? You are quite interesting. I wonder if you taste as good as you look."
The three Demon Slayers stood up and sheathed their Katanas.
"Inosuke, is this the Demon?" Tanjiro askend.
It was Yua who answered him. "No, this is a different one. The other demon was so far away that my aura-sensing didn't reach it. Also, the arrows have a different aura hefting on them than the threads that control the Demon Slayers."
An eerie giggle was heard.
"Fu, fu, fu, beautiful and smart. You will taste good, girl. I won't let you near my mother."
So the mother of the spider demons controlled the Demon Slayers. At least this was good to know.
Again, Yua's aura-sensing acted up.
"Guys, get ready!" She took a deep breath. "Total Concentration! Moon Breathing! Seventh Form: Mirror of Fortune, Moonshine!"
The barrage of arrows, which was flying towards the three friends, was stopped by Yua's technique. She performs a frontal crescent-shaped slash that unleashes straight and curved slashes that expand outward, hitting all arrows.
"Tzz!" the spider demon hissend.
Tanjiro and Inosuke are in awe.
They never saw Moon Breathing in action.
It was really as powerful and beautiful as their Senpai told them.
"Kamado, Hashibira!" Yua turns to them. "You two go along. I will take care of this demon. You need to get to the Spider Mother. It doesn't make sense if we all stay here."
"But Yua-Senpai." Tanjiro tries to argue back. "We can't just leave you behind!"
Yes, their Senpai and her Breathing Style were on a whole different level than theirs, but let her fight alone?
Yua gives them a confident smirk, which makes Tanjiro feel all flattery in his stomach, and even Inosuke feels strangely shy seeing it.
It was...hot.
"Don't worry about me, I'm not a Hinoto for nothing. I can take care of myself. Now go!"
After a few seconds, Tanjiro thanks her, and he and Inosuke start running.
This makes the Spider Child scream in outrage: "You aren't going to touch my mother!"
She sends a barrage of arrows after the boys, but Yua is already there.
"Total Concentration! Moon-Breathing! Eighth Form: Moon Dragon's Tail!"
Swift Yua performs a massive, long-ranged curved slash that leaves dozens of crescent moon blades along its path. The moon blades hit all the arrows, and the boys are safe to go on.
"You are going on my nerves, girl!" the Spider Demon howled.
"And I just got started.", Yua said confidently.
(*)
Back in the present, Yua had to curse herself again for not making any progress in locating the Spider Child.
The arrows were messing with her ability, since they still admitted traces of aura.
Also, her adversary didn't give her a moment to do a more powerful aura-sensing to find them in their hidey hole.
It was a mess.
Her only chance was while she attacked to try to locate the Spider Demon!
As her adversary sent new arrows at her, Yua performed Moon-Breathing Fifth Form: Ghost of the Moon, Advantageous Swirl!
It creates multiple long and curved slashes layered over one another, essentially creating a vortex of crescent moon blades.
Hopefully, this would give her enough time to sense where the demon was hiding.
The midnight blue-haired girl reached with her aura-sensing to the borders of her ability, and finally, she found the demon.
It was hiding up a tree, not far from her.
Determined, Yua ran up to it, deflecting the arrows that were sent towards her, and with a scream, she cut the tree down.
This made the Spider Demon jump out of it.
It stood now before her, pissed off.
Like Yua had guessed, it was a young woman with white skin and red circular markings on her face. Her Kimono was white with some red accents and a green obi. She wore normal wooden sandals, and her curly white hair had a green, orb-like hair comb to the side.
In her hands, the demon holds a bow and arrows.
"You are a pest!"Spider Demon Girl spat. "I will feast on you!"
"Come at me then, bitch!", Yua spat back.
With a scream, the demon readied her bow to shoot her.
Yua quickly dodged the arrow and charged towards the Spider Demon Girl. She swung her sword with precision, but the demon was quick to dodge and counterattack.
The Mochizuki felt herself getting weaker with each hit, that spider bitch was hard, yet she refused to give up.
She needed to end this quickly before she lost all her strength.
The two continued to exchange blows, neither one gaining an advantage over the other.
"I have to hit her with my strongest kata or I will be spider lunch!" Yua thought.
Uncle Noritaka had taught her before he left the family this specific kata. It was of his own creation and had secured him a place at becoming a Hashira, even if in the end he had refused.
However, a part of Yua hesitated to use the 11th kata. If not executed precisely, it took an enormous toll on the body, ending in broken muscles and/or bones.
Till now, she only ever used it on practice wood dolls, never on a demon.
Could she even do it?
Does she even have a choice?
No.
So she gathered all her strength for one final and hopeful devastating attack.
Yua closed her eyes and focused on the kata. She could feel her body trembling with anticipation and fear. With a deep breath, she opened her eyes and charged towards the Spider Demon Girl.
As she swung her sword, she shouted, "Moon-Breathing, Eleventh Form: Executing Moonlight Paradise!"
A loud boom echoed through the clearing as Yua's sword struck the ground in a crescent shape, sending shockwaves through the ground and air.
The Spider Demon Girl was flung screaming into the air, where Yua followed her and started to cut her over and over in crescent forms all over her body. It was so fast that it seemed that the Spider Demon Girl was cute by moonlight, thanks to Yua's sword being white.
Spider Demon Girl fell to the ground, resembling more ripped apart meat than her demonic spider form.
Elegante Yua landed back on the ground, covered in a white shimmering aura, which made her look like moonlight.
With a last deep breath, she jumped high up and attacked the neck of the demon, cutting its head off.
The Spider Demon Girl let out a blood-curdling scream as she disintegrated into ash.
For a moment, Yua just stood there panting heavily.
She had done it! She had defeated a demon all on her own using the Moon-Breathing's 11th kata. As Yua walked away from the clearing, she couldn't help but feel proud of what she had accomplished. She knew that Uncle Noritaka would also be proud of her if he were there to see it.
But then, all her strength left her, and she fell face down onto the forest floor. The comforting darkness embraced her.
***
Yua didn't know how long she was out, but she awoke abruptly as someone slapped her face.
"Hello, dear cousin, long time no see.", Sayako, her younger cousin, greeted her.
Sayako was dressed in her Kakushi uniform.
So that meant...
"Huh, we won. Didn't we?" Yua asked to be sure.
Her cousin huffed and petted her hair.
"Of course, you care more if the mission was complete than greeting me after so long.", the short black-haired girl whined playfully.
"Hello Sayako, you are still a pain in my ass.", Yua said back deadpanning.
"Much better.", Sayako hummed.
Carefully, the kakushi picked Yua up and placed her on her back, giving her a piggyback ride. "Well, you sure made interesting friends, I must say. You and them kept holding off the demons till the honourable Hashira's Kocho-Sama and Tomioka-Sama could come."
"Are the guys okay?" Yua asked worriedly.
"Well, as well you can be facing a Lower Moon.", Sayako answered.
"A Lower Moon was here?!"
"He made all this Spider Demon. Wanted to make a family if I understood right, but your friends are wounded, but okay. You will join them at the Butterfly Mansion for cures."
A little yawn escaped Yua, and she snuggled herself closer to Sayako.
"That sounds good. I used Uncle Noritaka's 11th kata. I think some of my muscles took damage."
Impressed, Sayako let out a whistle.
"Wow, YuYu, you didn't break a bone. You are really something!"
"Yeah, and now I'm gonna faint again."
She only heard Sayako's amused laughter before she fainted again.
Yua was sure she earned herself some rest.
(*)
The young woman didn't know how long she had slept. Yua just knew it was still not enough as she woke up.
With a loud yawn, she sat up in the comfy bed and stretched herself. Sunlight streamed into the familiar patient room of the Butterfly Mansion. It wasn't the first time Yua had ended up here, so she just rubbed her eyes to get the sleep away.
You never quite forget the smell of the flowers and antiseptic in the air, which was strangely comforting.
"Uurgh, what time and day is it?" she asked into the room.
She hoped Aoi-San was near or the least one of the little girls.
Luck was not on her side since a well-known and shrill voice shouted: "Yua-Senpai, you are awake!"
"Agatsuma...", she growled, turning to him, a vein popping up on her forehead. "I just woke up, I'm cranky and ready to commit murder, I don't need your shrill voice! Keep it down."
A little shriek escaped Zenitsu, till he noted what he did and fast clapped his tiny arms over his mouth.
Huh...?
Tiny arms?
"What the heck happened to you?" Yua's question, astonished. "What's up with your arms?"
The blond-haired boy started to cry softly.
And with a lot of snoot.
Urgh.
"It was terrible, Yua-Senpai. I followed you guys up the mountain to protect Nezuko-Chan, and one of these Spider Creeps injected me with venom! I nearly turned into a spider myself! That's why my arms and legs are shrunk! With my breathing style, I could stop the transforming process long enough for Shinobu-Sama could give me an antidote. But I need to drink disgusting medicine till I'm back to my old self again.", he told her, all teary and winy his woe.
Yua just deadpanned.
"Woman-up, Agatsuma! Be glad you are still alive."
He didn't woman up and whined into his pillow.
What a crybaby!
That's when Yua noted Inosuke in the bed next to Zenitsu.
The wild boy's aura was all gloomy.
Okay, now that was terrifying.
"Do I wanna know what happened to Hashibira?"
"I heard he lost his voice or something.", Zenitsu answered anyway. "I don't have all the details, but I heard he, like, got hit in the neck, and when he yelled at the top of his lungs at the end, that finished it off, and that did a number on his throat. He's depressed now, so it's made him gentle, and it really cracks me up! Hehehehe… Hehehehe!"
"Stop it with the creepy laugh or I will suffocate you.", Yua promised darkly.
Immediately, the blonde stopped laughing.
He could smell how murderous Yua was feeling. Better not to go on her nerves.
After looking around the patient room and not finding them, Yua wanted to know where Tanjiro and Nezuko were.
"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me. I'm worried.", Zentisu admitted, biting his lip nervously.
Yua also felt anxiety creeping up on her, but they couldn't do anything right now.
So she made herself comfortable in the bed.
"Then we can only wait and pray.", she murmured.
(*)
Moon-Breathing! Second Form: Moongazing Pearl Blossom! Is Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing.
Moon-Breathing! Fifth Form: Ghost of the Moon, Advantageous Swirl! Is Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy
Moon Breathing! Seventh Form: Mirror of Fortune, Moonshine! Is Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit
Moon-Breathing! Eighth Form: Moon Dragon's Tail! Is Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail
Moon-Breathing, Eleventh Form: Executing Moonlight Paradise! It is my own invention. ^^
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