Now.

WARNING: Blood, injury, and implied/reference torture.

A/N: I dunno the video/Song fits with the mood of this chapter, or at least Akaza and Giyuu's relationship which you'll soon see why.

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Oh fuck, is the only thing Tanjiro can really think at this current moment, I'm dead. And also, what's he doing here? Ordinarily, it doesn't make sense, why in the world would someone who's that high of a rank be here? Why waste their time here? But then he remembers, the train, train full of probably over 100 maybe 200 humans. Which makes sense why more than 1 demon, but 3 were on it. Well 5 if you count Nezuko and Giyuu but they didn't eat humans, he's pretty sure.

As the demon who was previously crouching stands up, Rengoku immediately goes to rest his hand on his blade as if on instinct. Wordlessly, in the blink of an eye, they charged forwards and swung their fist at him, Tanjiro closed his eyes, waiting for impact but opened them when he heard those words:

"Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun," and he watched as Kyojuro sliced the demon's arm open who in return with a singular flip, which might I add is pretty cool, the upper moon jumps away, his limp arm, twisting and bending with a crackling sound and melting together. 

"That's a fine sword," He draws with a never-ending grin. The smile never leaves Kyojuro face despite his thoughts, his sheer speed of regeneration, and the pure malice behind his attack. So this is an upper rank. Unluck anyone else in this situation, he doesn't cower in fear, instead, he stands stronger, standing his ground with a firm expression. Sliding his foot to the side so it's slightly in front of Tanjio as he struggles to get up. 

"Why would you go after a wounded first over me?" Ignoring his previous warning, Tanjiro pushes himself up on his forearms, his body feeling like lead. He manages to bring himself up to his knees, shaking as sweat drips down his face, he clenches his teeth, wincing at the stabbing pain in his stomach. This really isn't my day, is it?

"I thought he'd get in the way of our little chit-chat, is all."

"What is it you'd like to discuss? While this is our first time meeting I already dislike you," Tanjiro can practically smell the disdain radiating off of the hashira, while the demon smells completely different, there's pride, maybe some malice mixed in there, but most importantly admiration. Admiration for a human of all things, the only time he's smelt a demon having that come off of them is Giyuu, even then that was rare since it only happened when he discovered that Shinobu made her own breathing style, even then it was little, this is admiration it's purest form. 

He never thought he'd find admiration so terrifying.

"Is that right? Well, I dislike weak human beings, the mere sight of them makes my skin crawl,"

"If that is the case I do not believe we will ever get along,"

Akaza rests his left hand on his hip, gesturing with his right as he talks, "Be that as it may, let me make you an offer," then he raises his right hand and closes it into a fist. "why don't you become a demon as well."

"No thanks,"

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Akaza's eye's widened, glimmering with excitement, what form of excitement, Rengoku isn't sure.  "I can tell just by looking at you that you're strong, a hashira huh? My last encounter with one was hardly comparable to the likes of you," Kyojuro tenses, he has a guess who that hashira was. So it is the twisted form of excitement, he silently notes, this shall not be fun to explain to Oyakata-sama... Or ask Tomioka... At all...

"Your fighting spirit is tempered like quality steel. Your name?"

"I'm the flame hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku,"

"And I'm Akaza. Kyojuro, let me tell you why despite being a hashira your strength is not enough,"

"Because," The demon opens his eyes at him, a devilish smile painting his lips. "you're merely human," He simply states, "destined to grow old and eventually die." then he extends his hand outwards towards the flame hashira,

"Become a demon Kyojuro," his grin grows imaginably larger. "doing so will allow you to better yourself for another 100, even 200 years."

Of all the demons I've met so far, he smells the most like Kibutsuji, Tanjiro narrows his glare at the Upper Moon. I have to help fight him! So as the Upper Moon rambles on, he tries his best to get up and unsheath his blade.

"Both growing old and passing away are what makes being human beautiful, those may seem like weakness to you, but our lives are more precious and honorable because of them. You see, true strength does not just refer to the physical body."

"This boy is not weak, don't insult him," Kyojuro starts, tightening his grip on the handle of his blade until his knuckles turn white. "let me be clear, the two of us will never say eye to eye."

"No matter what twisted reason you give, I will not yield."

"I see, but your friend over there certainly will," Without much care in the gesture, limply, he points over the Flame Hashira shoulder, falling for it, Rengoku looks over his shoulder and spots Giyuu. Ordinarily, this sight wouldn't be strange, no, not at all, but something is off about him. He has his blade drawn, which isn't strange but the sudden shaking is. He's shifting his weight from foot to foot starring from afar, he can't look at him- no he can't look at Akaza, and only Akaza. "he's shaking in his boots and for reasons, I can't blame him for."

"Tomioka are you-"

"Long time no see Giyuu? Did you miss me?" Almost out of character for the demon, he waves at the other one with a bright grin. "Tomioka you know him?"

"He-"

Blood splatters onto the wall as he hangs onto the fists thats currently gone through his stomach, almost completely. The demon pulls their fist back and he does tumbling to the ground, blood blooming around him like a puddle. He watches as the demon who's barefoot walks around him, kicking at his body muttering small insults under his breath. It's not that different from the other times he's had to endure this, however, it had never been this brutal.

He had never had a fist nearly punch a hole into his stomach. Usually, he was just chained up, forced to get up until he couldn't stand up, he was Akaza's personal punching bag, both literally and physically. The demon would spit out insults, something pertaining to a 'fighting spirit' and other things had gotten lost in a blur of blood. He was also Akaza's personal blood supplier along with all of the Upper Moon's, and occasionally Lower Moon 1.

A kick to his side brings him away from his thought as he lets out a shaky breath. "Stand up," He stilled once more, body shivering as ragged, sharp breaths escaped his lips. "I said stand up!" A foot comes in contact with his hand with a loud, wet, crunch echoing throughout the room. A sharp gasp escapes the demon's lips, eyes wide as tears prickle in the corner of them, blood bursts from the hand, bones peeking out from broken skin.

He lowly whimpers, recoiling once the pressure on his foot is gone. Thick tears stream down his face as the Upper Ranks scoffs above him, kicking nonexistent dust at him. "Pathetic," They sneer with a frown. "a hashira should be strong enough to fight back, or at least not immediately give up as you have." Then the demon starts to stalk around him, circling him like how a vulture circles its prey. "Where's your fighting spirit? That spirit correlates with your will to live, you have none, it's dull, unlike when we first met you."

"Your lack of fighting spirit aside, however, I look forward to continuing to sparring with you Giyuu," The demon crouches down, licking his lips as he uses a singular digit to tilt his head up at him. "even when you become a demon, I'll make you your greatest self," Then he swiftly swiped the digit out from under his head, the head following to the floor with a thud.

"but for now I think you owe me something for this complete and utter waste of time." He brings his fingers up to the hashira's shoulder and flicks his fingers, a wound being ripped open by the simple pressure of air. A strangled, wet noise escapes the human's lips as he tries to inch away from the demon who simply grabs tightly at the human's forearm, pinning his head down to the ground by gripping at his hair.

Not without licking his lips, the neon-pink-haired demon moved his hand that used to pinning his forearm down and uses it to spread open the wound to where blood generously spills from the wound. Licking his lips, the demon leans down and laps at the wound, his tongue even finding its way inside the wound making him shutter.

Tears race down his cheeks as pure unrelenting shame rolls over him, he feels disgusting, used, like some kind of toy. Then again that's all he was, a blood supply, nothing more.

He felt his head spin, nausea and dizziness taking over as dots start to dance across his vision. He's dying, he's sure of it. A lazy smile crosses his face as he feels his breath grow shallower and shouts start to ring out throughout the room.

Yet he woke up before he knew it, now, a demon. He couldn't seem to die.

"G-get away from me! G-get him away!" The demon hashira's face burns with shame as everyone stares at him, expressions ranging from a Cheshire cat-like smile, beaming with mirth to ones completely horrified. His hands find their way in his hair, gripping at anything he can and pulling, pulling as much as he can to hopefully get those rotten thoughts away, the shameful times of where he should have been able to fight against the demons he was pitted against. His face is flushed red with embarrassment, tears prickling in the corner of his eyes. He was a hashira for god's sake, this is his job, yet here he was once more not being able to do exactly that. It was shameful for him to act like that, especially after another pillar, it wouldn't be the first time but it was still as shameful.

"Tomioka what's going on?" His gaze flickers from the other pillar to the demon who he gives a hardened glare. "What did you do?"

A Cheshire cat-like grin stretches across his lips as he holds his finger above his lips as if trying to hush someone, ironically enough, it instantly shuts Giyuu up. "Nothing he didn't deserve,"

"You sure you won't turn into a demon now?" He widely gestures, "Think of it this way, if you did we could spar with each other endlessly, even your friends over there could join in, however," The demon spares a quick glance at Giyuu who's backed up from his previous spot, still, shaking. "I'm not sure he'd want to join in, he never did like our sparring matches-"

"T-they weren't sparing matches y-you-" Akaza just brightly grins at him. "I used you as a punching bag? You'd be correct, but can you blame me, you hashira just have blood that's so delicious,"

"Did you know that too Kyojuro? I'm sure you already figured it out though, you hashira are known for your intelligence along with strength, even though he's pale it's not because he's a strong demon like the rest of us, but instead, because he supplied us with blood while we had him. How nice of that was him? Truly sad when he had to become a demon, leaving us with blood worth nothing of value, but he was always fun to play with even after, but oh well, I guess good things never last that long, unless you're a demon."

"So I commend you once more, you should turn in a demon, just think of how much stronger you can become if you do."

With gritted teeth and flared nostrils, Kyojuro tightens his grip on his blade. "Never."

"I do not like you."

"I will not become a demon, not after everything you've done! To both me and my friends! " 

Before Tanjiro can even blink, Kyojuro has already charged forward, blade drawn as he belts out the words: "Third Form: Blazing Universe!" and then the Upper Moon has blood lightly spilling from their chest.  

"What a magnificent attack!" The Upper Moon charges forward, baring his fists as it clatters with the sword, blocked, and then they both go tumbling back the charge towards each other baring their weapons to attack.

Meanwhile, Inosuke has stumbled towards the battlefield, past the trembling, and is only left to watch the fight go one with a desperate look. I wanna join the fight, he thought, unable to track them with his eyes, they were just too fast, inhumanely fast. But they're moving too fast, he thought with a frown, I can't find an opening. These two are on a whole other level, he marveled, getting between them would get me killed, and even if I took the opportunity I'd only end up slowing them down. He shakes his head, taking a step back and looking towards his friend, Tanjiro who's struggling to get up, so, he helps him sit up and trying his best to ignore the worries in the back of his mind.

Kyojuro swings his blade once more, in one fell swoop, Akaza blocks with his arms, and Rengoku only creates slight wounds in his wrists. "The struggle is futile! Continuing this meaningless assault will only result in one outcome:"

"YOUR DEATH!" The demon loudly exclaims, rushing forward to meet Kyojuro who lets out a loud yell and does the same. After dodging a singular swing, the metal catching on the edge of his skin and slightly spilling his blood. They jump backward, then pull a punch with is blocked with a sword. In return, Akaza pulls back his other hand and hits Rengoku square on the right side of his face. Instantly, that side of his head burst open, blood generously spilling from the wound as Akaza licks his lips at the sight. Rengoku flinches back, on instinct closing his right eye as he stumbles but quickly regains his composure. 

Changing forward, but not without dodging to the left to avoid another fist, he yells: "First Form: Unknowing Fire!" In a speed undetectable to the human eyes he goes to slice at the Upper Moon's throat which is blocked by both of his arms which are positioned in front of his face. They fall to the side in a burst of ashes but immediately grow back within a singular second. 

"Killing you know would be a waste!"  Kyojuro positions the blade in front of his face so instead of hitting his face, the fist hits his blade. "You haven't reached your peak yet!" As Kyojuro is distracted Akaza pulls back his arm and punches him in his left ribs. Blood blooms under the fist, staining the clothing as the pillar stumbles back, spit mixed with blood dripping out of his mouth.

"Imagine it! All the hashira turned into demons, that'd truly be an army!" Regain his composure, quicker than any normal human could he rushes forward quick on his feet. "Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!" He belts as he slashes his sword upwards only to be blocked by the same arms covering the face of the demon. Completely unaffected, Akaza backflips backward readying his stance as air gathers around him.

"In only a few short minutes your abilities will be sharpened into an even finer point!" In a flurry of attacks, Kyojuro tries to dodge as many as he can by positioning his blade in front of each one. Unluckily for him, he's not fast enough and a hand fits him square in his left eye, blood gushes in response, and Rengoku flinches as it does, stumbling back with a grimace.

And as a response to that action, Kyojuro fights back with clenched teeth, a murderous look in his eye. Attacking back with a nuance of attacks while he nimbly dodged attacks thrown at him. Third Form, dodge, Fourth Form, then cowardly, Akaza jumps backward with a cool-ass flip. Airbursts around the demon as he changes his stance, gesturing towards the human with s singular digit to come towards him. And Kyojuro does exactly that.

"Fifth Form: Flame Tiger!" A sudden burst of flame covers the flame hashira in the shape of a tiger and it rampages forward in a flash, as Akaza just boisterously laughs with his hands on his hips, widely grinning. "Come at me!" He exclaims and then a cloud of smoke surrounds the two as they meet each other in the middle. 

Kyojuro dodges to the right, Akaza moves back, the hashira slices his chest. Then, given no opportunity to recover, Kyojuro is sent stumbling back with a fist to his chest, a wet cough escaping his chest as caught his footing and then stilled almost completely. 

Then, blood, barely visible blood, drips down onto the ground, staining the dirt red. Heavy breathing ringing throughout the silent battlefield, it seems as if the whole world has gone quiet.

Come on Rengoku! Come on! Tanjiro thinks, panic running through his veins, it... It can't be! You can't die on us now, not after we all just met.

"Come on, tell me it's over," The only response Akaza gets is heavy, gargling breaths as if he's choking on something every time he tries to breathe. "I won't have you die on me," Come on Rengoku! Tanjiro inwardly yells as he struggles, Rengoku please! Regoku!

"Don't you see that fighting to death in that frail human body will never measure up to mine?" Carefully, the demon rests his hand over his own chests, the skin sewing itself together through small strands of flesh that merged together.

"Those impressive attacks you inflicted on me have already healed completely. You on the other hand a smashed left eye, shattered ribs, damage to the internal organs, all irreparable. If you were a demon you'd heal in the blink of an eye, and those wounds would be much but mere scratches," Akaza widens his stance, holding out his hands with a large grin as he exclaims this:  "in the end, a human can never surpass a demon!" 

Tanjiro tightly grips at Insouke's arms, trying to pull himself up with what little strength he has. I wanna help him, I have to, but I don't have any strength left to move, this injury, he winces as he falls back onto his knees with a slight thud, this injury and using hinokami kagura have taken their toll.

Wincing with a grimace, he watched intently as the demon and the hashira basically had a starring contest, the heavy breathing being the only thing that filled the empty air. Then, it stopped, being replaced by the sudden flames that burst around the flame hashira just as it had earlier in the day. "So this is how it is then,"

"I," As he says this, he raises his blade above his head. "will see my duty fulfilled, no matter what it takes no one shall die here!" And yet despite where he's standing Giyuu knows with the expression Kyojuro has what his next move will be. As the fight raged on, he managed to calm himself down, thankfully, although it took a long time, and pulling his own hair wasn't the best way to ground himself, he managed

He already knows what comes next if Kyojuro makes another move, what Akaza will do is... He grinds his teeth together, it wouldn't be the first time he used it on someone. It's one of the two reasons he became a demon, and one of the reasons he hasn't seen him since he became one. This means he's going to lose someone he cares about once again, he's going to lose someone because he couldn't fight back... All because he was scared. He was gonna lose his friend, a friend he just made all because he was weak. The demon looks around, the only one who isn't capacitated to some extent is me which means...

If he dies, his grip on his blade tightened until his knuckles turn white, it's all my fault. Someone who died because I was too scared to move, someone who died trying to protect me. 

No...

No. Not again. Not again not again not again not again!

If it's anyone who's going to die tonight, he glowers at the upper rank, it's you and me. He spares a quick glance towards Kyojuro who's about to ready another move. Sorry Kyojuro, but someone has to die tonight, whether you like it or not. 

Once again, the vile of blood is heavy in his pocket, but this time he knows what to do, as swiftly as he can he grabs it out of his pocket tears off the cap, and drinks it and the effect is almost immediate. He feels a sudden power rush through his veins. Teeth-gritting, as he flexes his fingers, watching as the veins in his arms bulge slightly, he licks lips, hoping, inwardly praying that there will be more there. There isn't so he licks up the remaining in his mouth, unsheathes his sword in a quick motion, and starts to rush forwards. 

He kicks himself off the cliff, spinning, and spinning and spinning, imagining it as water flows from the edge of his blade. The water grows longer, gains scales as he catches his footing, his steps growing faster and faster and he spins faster and faster with each step. It's a small stream that turned into a river, a wave turned into a tsunami, its territory that's familiar, a familiar move at that. 

"Feel the pressure of it under your fingertips and imagine yourself as that water. The pressure needed to execute such a move with such force, visualize yourself creating and manipulating water, that's the key to water breathing, visualization, and manipulation."

Water breathing is based on creativity, visualization, and manipulation of the art, it's simultaneously the easiest and hardest breathing style to master depending on who you learn it from, he learned it from the best. Which is why when the wave grows a dragon that bears its fangs at those who he viewed have hurt the innocent it's entirely his creation despite how much it seems like it isn't.

"Tenth Form: Constant Flux!" 

The more he spins, the more strength and power he gets along with speed so by the time he nears the two he has to stop halfway there so his blow can actually, properly land. And it does, with a loud splash he ends up cutting, while not deeply he still cuts Akaza's chest which compared to the previous fights they've had is major progress.

He slides to a stop as dust gathers around him, it stains his clothes as he steps to the side trying his best to separate the two with himself. He spares a swift glance to the other hashira who looks at him with a raised brow and a tilted head. "Tomioka, I thought you were going to sit this one out!"

He frowns, edging himself slowly but surely towards the other pillar. "Sorry Rengoku, but this is my fight,"

"These battle styles combined! Such power!"

"Right," Kyojuro  confidently nods, "we'll attack him together!" Giyuu has to resist the urge to sigh. If you fight anymore you'll die, he'll kill you then he'll fight me, a sorrowful look crosses his face as he tightly shuts his eyes for a brief moment, not being able to look at his friend's expression while he speaks. "I'm sorry Rengoku, but I can't let you do this,"

"Tomioka, your not-" Kyojuro responds, his nose scrunching up, taking a step back or two. But it was far too late for him to that finish when a demon suddenly came rushing forward.

"Demon Blood Art:- "

There's a sudden, immense heat burning under his skin, the closer he approaches the Flame Hashira the bigger it grows, it's raging on and untamable, he's not sure why it's like that but he understands soon enough.

"-Sacrificial Blood!"

His foot makes contact with Rengoku's chest, and wounds mirroring the younger hashira's as he sends the other one flying backward. Blood drips from his lips, his arms- which feel like lead- hang limply at his side, that previous strength he felt like he had been all zapped away just from a single kick. He grits his teeth and flexes his fingers out and turns towards the other demon, gripping at the handle of his blade tightly with both hands. 

"A demon blood art now, wow, things really have changed since we last met, huh? You've developed your own demon blood art, your battle spirit has refined since we last met, hasn't it Giyuu?"

"Shut up, you don't get to call me that," Giyuu in response grits his teeth. 

"I guess you do have some fight in you, but unluckily for you, you aren't my target so if you'd kindly get out of my way-" Akaza changes his stand, his hands on his hips. "Never, if you want to get to them you'll have to get through me first,"

"I never was allowed to spar with you when you were a demon," At the word 'spar' he flinches, but stills himself, trying his best not to think about all the times they... Sparred. "now I'll get to truly see your strength. Don't disappoint me Giyuu,"

"Destructive Death: Annihilation Type," His fist glows as he charges forward with a wide 

"Eleventh Form: Dead CAL-" A choked-out noise followed the demon before he could even finish his sentence a burst of blue and dust surrounding them as a fog of dust hides whatever is going on. 

Kyojuro has to strain his eye to see what's going on, after being blasted away like a ragdoll, he managed to catch himself with his hand not without stumbling. He ended up landing next to both Tanjiro and Inosuke who barraded him with questions of concern which he easily waved away, even if that meant he had to pass the concern onto someone else, that someone else being Giyuu who was currently behind a veil of dust that none of them could see.

However, eventually, the dust finally starts to clear up after seconds- it felt like hours- and what he sees can only make him stare.

Giyuu- Giyuu Tomioka, both a demon and hashira like him in the place he should have been in- in the fight he should have been! With Akaza's arm through his stomach.

He felt his heart stop at that moment.

"No..." That was almost him, but instead, it was Giyuu instead. He almost died.

He almost died.

"Giyuu-san!" Tanjiro loudly shouts, tears prickling in the corner of his eyes as struggles to get up and Insouke has to hold him down. They stare on, no one is really sure what to do, and are rooted to the ground as they can only stare not sure if anything they go can help. 

While on the other end of things, mockingly, Akaza is cooing down at the demon hashira who's on his arm while flexing his arm, blood dripping from the wound every time he does it. "You were doing so well, now here you are, my arm through your stomach, now if you mind I-" He tries to move back, remove his arms and finds out he can't, and looks up at the demon with raised brows. "What the- what're you..." The upper moon at first is taken aback and then suddenly trails off, a sudden realization dawning over the demon. "Oh... I get it,"

"That look on your face," he grins. "you know what you were doing when you did this, but why?"

"I... I won't let you hurt them... Not again!" My parents, Tsutako and Sabito all died protecting me, now Kyojuro was trying to do the same if I let that happen when I can prevent it- I... Tears prickle in the corner of his eyes as he grits his teeth.

"Tomioka-" Before Rengoku can finish the sentence he wetly coughs, blood dripping down his skin as there's a sharp pain in his chest. "Kyojuro-san are you okay?!"

"That's not the problem," He winces as the pain grows even louder, it's running through his veins in flames of passion "t-the sun it'll-" Before he can finish his sentence a loud clamor across the battlefield, dust circling the two demons as the Upper Ranks tries to pull away but struggles, Giyuu tightly wrapping his arms around the forearm of the other demon and sinking his claws into their skin. Silently they watch the two struggle, if it were any other situation it'd be amusing but with the rising sun amongst them, it's lost all of its comedic effects. "Are you really going to kill yourself just to kill me?!"

"So be it, I'll take you down with me if I have to," Akaza kicks at the other demon's knees and manages to hit them. "Let go. I said let go Giyuu Tomioka!"

"C-consider this payback, for all those times you've hurt me, l-let you feel the same pain I felt and the sun b-burns you too a crisp,"

"The sun will kill you too, do you really want to die that early!"

"If Kyojuro would, so will I, it is our job as Hashira to! Protect the innocent, that is the whole reason anyone becomes one!"

"I won't be the one saved this time! I'll kill both you and myself!"

"You!..." Almost out of character for him, the upper moon trials off, then, suddenly and unexpectedly, widely smiles at him, exclaiming. "Yes Giyuu Tomioka YES! How excellent!"

"Wha?..." Confusion is the only way to describe how he currently feels. "Let that rage consume you! Accept it all and use it to kill me and become what you truly are! A demon!"

"Wha-what do you mean?" Then it's pure fear.

"Your form, your true form, no matter how much you try to suppress it, it keeps coming back."

"Your eyes, " His eyes look like layers of darkness folding in on each other, "skin, " there are fluid like patterns on his skin, "nails, teeth, " and his nails along with his hair have grown longer in length. "your hair growth and those 4 horns poking out of your head. You could become a fine demon if you come back with me, Muzan would be more than pleased to have your demon blood art to protect us. I'll just bring you along with me, with my arm through you,"

"I..." Fumbling slightly, he tries to back up, slide his blade back to him that's clattered to the side, Akaza, who's spotted this, pushed him forward, pushing his arm into him even move and lifting him up slightly with it.

"Fine then!" Akaza flashes him a devilish smile dripping with malice. "You'll live to regret it though, it's about time I left anyway, I'm not going to die from a weakling like you." Then before Giyuu can comprehend what's happening the arm that's through his stomach has been ripped off of the body it was attached too and now he has an arm in his stomach while the assailant runs away, faster than he can comprehend once more.

"I..." He stares deeply at his calloused, bloodied hands, a blue, fluid-like waves have imprinted themselves onto his skin, his nails have grown again once more into claws. "No..."  Almost immediately after the previous conversation he reaches up towards his head, feeling around for anything, any bumps, anything spikey an-and... He feels 4 hours roughly protruding out of his head, instantly feeling his breath being knocked out of his lungs as a sense of cold dread rolls over him. "No... God please no-" Choked sobs racks their way out of his chest, tears staining his cheeks as he realizes what'll eventually happen to him.

There's no way you can avoid it, a voice in his mind tells him, and he knows, despite what he wants, that voice is true. To push the point forward, even more, Akaza stops at the entrance of the trees and looks at him with a wide grin exclaiming the words: "I look forward to seeing it the next time we fight, try to master both it and you demon blood art, then you can really join our ranks, 'kay?" then he runs away and any reassurance he had of this situation somehow being salvageable breaks into a million piece.

"Tomioka!" The other hashira's voice breaks him out of his thoughts and he looks towards him, tear-eyed as his body shakes in pure terror.

"Rengoku, I-" Giyuu feels all the strength he might have had left, combined with adrenaline escape his grasp as he falls to his knees, shaky hands trying to support himself so he doesn't collapse onto his front and make the situation somehow even worse. A small chuckle manages to escape past his lips as tears trickle down his cheeks. It's comically somehow, comically that how he became a demon is how he'll end up dying as one. He's not sure whether to laugh or cry, he ends up crying as more sobs wrack their way out of his chest, he curls in on himself feeling his organs slightly shift as he does, whimpers of pain bubbling out of his chest. He really can't catch a break, huh?

"Tomioka!" Rengoku shouts once more, ignoring how much his body protests as he tries and success to get up, rushing forward as his body aches with every step.

"Kyojuro-san, what about us?" Tanjiro asks, leaning onto Inosuke as the other teen tries to help him up. "Wait until the kakushi get here, I'll deal with Tomioka,"

"But your injuries-" Kyojuro interrupts him before he can finish his sentence with a wave of his hand. "I'll be fine, worry about yourself," 

Walking as fast as he can without the pain becoming too overbearing, he manages to stumble over towards the demon as blood drips from his own wounds. Every step accompanies a sharp stab of pain no matter what he does, breathing even hurts him. I guess he wasn't lying about the shattered ribs, is the only thing he can think of as he stumbles in front of the demon. Carefully- not without a stab of pain- he crouches down in front of Tomioka, resting a shaking hand on the demon's shoulder the other hovering over the hand that's currently protruding out of the demon's stomach. 

"Your stomach..." A grimace crosses the man's face, looking him up and down trying to observe his other injuries.  "There's no possible way to take this out without consulting Kocho," He looks the demon in the eyes, "We need to get you somewhere else, do you mind if I carry you?" and as a response, the demon lets out a mangled noise, leaning against the other man's chest.

"Your eye... You're injured," The demon lowly croaks, limply reaching forward towards his face, Kyojuro lightly pushed away his hand with light resistance.

"Don't worry about me, you should worry about yourself," Kyojuro consoles, with a frown. "H-here," 

Kyojuro slipped his hand around Giyuu's shoulders, the other under his legs as he lifted the man almost effortlessly in the air, ignoring the deep ache racking itself throughout his body as flashes of pain ached in his chest. His arms were starting to feel like lead as seconds passed by, it felt like he was dying but he couldn't exactly drag him. He stumbled along as he walked towards the broken train.

"Don't worry Tomioka w-we'll get you out of here it'll be fine," Giyuu wasn't sure whether the reassurance was for him or Kyojuro himself.

Tiredly, the demon's head lolled against his chest, hearing the distant sound of a heartbeat thrumming under the other hashira's skin, his lips curved into a sorrowful smile as he stared up, the sun was approaching, and sooner or later it'd approach and he'd be done for. But he didn't mind, at least it'd be him who died instead of someone else, it seemed fitting.

"K-Kyojuro?..." He shakily croaked gaining the other hashira's attention as he stared down at him. "D-don't worry Tomioka we'll get out of this, you'll survive!"

"Mmmmmm," The demon lets out a small hum, his eye's fluttering open, as he stares almost innocently at the man carrying him. "D..." He sharply and wetly inhales. "Did I do good Kyojuro?"

"What are you trying to say?"

Beads of blood drip from the demon's lips, a rueful smile painted on his lips. "D-Did I fight good enough? A... Am I a hashira now?" With tears prickling in the corner of the younger hashira's eye he smiles, nodding down at the demon, somehow, brightly. "Of course Tomioka you always have been,"

"Mmmmm..." Tomioka's eyes flutter closed, his consciousness slipping away from his grip far too quickly for his liking. 

"Forever and always..."

A/N: Originally, this wasn't supposed to be his demon blood art but let's just say, this isn't all we have in store. Have you forgotten? Demons can have multiple moves with it. His in order to work with have to do with self-inflicted injuries, however, we haven't even seen Giyuu's true demon blood form yet(it'll be wild tho-)! Don't worry, it'll happen soon. However, this idea was greatly inspired by a comment left by Sup_itzDee (On Ao3) so give them the credit for the first demon blood art he used.

To explain what happened in case it's unclear what happened, he died by a wound to the stomach in both the manga and show since it bleeds out so unless he sits there and waits he'll be fine. But let me explain it, and also the demon art thing too.

Demon Blood Art: Sacrificial Blood - Giyuu can take the place of whoever he desires as long as he replicates their injuries which can be done by touching them, this includes both internal and external injuries. Like all demon blood arts, this will only work if said target is bleeding since it requires him to spill his own blood in order to do it. While not being able to heal said target he can protect them from extreme dangers if he's fast enough to get there in time. However, he cannot do this ability over and over again since he is unable to heal as fast as other demons unless he is in water.

But that's it for this arc, kinda, it's over next chapter. Come back soon for another surprise (Maybe) accompanied by a new chapter.

ALSO before I forget Kyojuro isn't dying, put down your pitchforks, jeez. I like him too much to kill him. The countdown in the previous chapters was meant to signify the arrival of this one so yeah, see ya soon!