[ELSEWHERE - Within the Flesh Cocoon]
Tamayo was drowning.
The walls of Muzan's flesh cocoon pulsed like a dying heart, constricting around her. He was absorbing her, his cells seeking to dismantle and neutralize the drugs she had injected into his veins. Her consciousness wavered like a weak flame.
"Please..." she whispered into the suffocating dark. "Hurry..."
Miles away, Manjiro felt a sharp prick felt like a distress signal. He frowned, his dark eyes narrowing as he tried to place the source.
"Come on out," Zenitsu said.
His voice wasn't shaking. There was no whining, no stuttering. "I know you're there."
The shoji doors slid open.
In the center of the tatami room stood a figure in a dark kimono, his back turned. As he rotated, the light caught skin as pale and cracked as weathered porcelain. Black, jagged markings etched his face, and two curved horns jutted from his temples.
"That's no way to talk to your senior, Zenitsu," the demon sneered. "Show some respect."
Manjiro tilted his head, "You look a little stronger, Kaigaku. But somehow, you still look just as shabby as ever."
Kaigaku's grip tightened on the hilt of the sword slung across his back. "It's been a while, Manjiro."
"You're not my senior," Zenitsu said flatly. "Not anymore. You defected. You're just a demon now."
A vein throbbed on Kaigaku's forehead. "Don't you dare talk down to me! I am Upper Rank Six! I have surpassed everyone in that pathetic cult!" He growled at Zenitsu. "You're still just a one-trick pony, aren't you? Still crying? Still only able to use the First Form?"
"You seem pretty happy about being the lowest number," Manjiro interrupted, scratching his ear. "You're filling in the empty position because the previous Upper Six died."
Kaigaku's eye twitched, but then he laughed, "You haven't changed a bit, Manjiro."
Manjiro laughed with him. "It reminds me of the old days," Manjiro mused, "Remember, Kaigaku? That summer before the Final Selection?"
[Flashback: 2 Years Ago - Mount Yoke]
"Pick it up."
Kaigaku kicked dirt into Zenitsu's face. The younger boy was curled in a ball at the base of a tree, clutching a bruised rib. A wooden sword lay just out of his reach.
"I said pick it up, scum," Kaigaku sneered, "You can't even hold the First Form without wetting yourself."
Zenitsu sobbed, his hands trembling. "I'm trying, Kaigaku-aniki! I'm really trying!"
"Don't call me that!" Kaigaku raised his wooden sword, ready to bring it down on Zenitsu.
CRUNCH.
The sound wasn't bone breaking. It was a crisp, juicy bite.
They both looked up.
Sitting on a high branch directly above them, legs swinging lazily, was Manjiro. He was holding a peach, staring down at them.
"Catch him some slack," Manjiro said, swallowing a mouthful of fruit. "It's too hot for all this yelling."
"Manjiro," Kaigaku growled, lowering his sword but keeping his muscles tense. "This doesn't concern you. I'm disciplining the trash."
"Boring" Manjiro said as he hopped down. He approaches them helping Zenitsu up.
"There seems to be more peaches on the north grove where gramps go. Wanna go take a look. It will be fun."
Kaigaku's ears perked up. Those peaches were Gramps' pride and joy. They were strictly off-limits until the harvest festival. "Those are forbidden, Manjiro. If he catches us, we are dead."
"Only if we get caught," Manjiro grinned
Ten minutes later, the "Thunder Brothers" were huddled under the heavy branches of the forbidden grove.
"This is a bad idea, this is a terrible idea," Zenitsu whispered rapidly, his eyes darting around while hiding in the bushes. "Gramps is going to peel our skin off!
"Shut up, Zenitsu!" Kaigaku hissed. Manjiro was standing on his shoulders, reaching for a particularly massive peach. "A little higher, Kaigaku! Don't wobble!"
"Just grab it already!"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Jigoro "Gramps" Kuwajima had appeared at the edge of the grove, his wooden cane thumping against the ground.
"Found you," Gramps said, his eyebrows twitching.
Kaigaku was still wobbling on Manjiro's shoulders, clutching a giant peach like a golden trophy.
"It was Manjiro's idea!" Zenitsu shrieked immediately, pointing a shaking finger.
"Traitor!" Kaigaku yelled, losing his balance. Manjiro's tumbled off Kaigaku shoulders, but instead of hitting the ground, he performed a mid-air Fourth Form twist to land on his feet while still holding the peach.
Manjiro just blinked at Gramps. "Oh. Hello. Do you want a bite?"
Gramps sighed, shaking his head.
"Five hundred swings," Gramps said, "Each! But... after you finish the peach."
[Flashback End]
"I found it funny back then," Manjiro continued, his voice soft. "You called him a traitor for snitching about a piece of fruit."
"But look at you now, Kaigaku. Standing here with horns on your head… Being the one who sent Gramps to his grave."
Manjiro's eyes went dead. "Guess who the real traitor was all along?"
"Why?" Zenitsu shouted. "Why did you become a demon?"
Kaigaku shrugged. "Why not?"
"You were passionate! You wanted to be the Thunder Hashira's successor!" Zenitsu screamed. "Grandpa died because of you! He committed seppuku to atone for your betrayal! He died alone, in agony, with no one to cut his head!"
"Good. I don't care. I'm glad he's dead. He tried to make me share the title with scum like you instead of giving it to me alone. Only those who know my value are worth my time."
Zenitsu went silent, ready to strike.
Manjiro sighed, shaking his head. "You mastered every form except the First. The one Zenitsu mastered. That's why Gramps wanted you to work together. He wanted you to complete each other. While I had learn all thunder breathing styles."
He looked at Kaigaku with pity.
"But you... you're just pathetic for a senior. It's pitiful for Gramps to have a successor like you."
Kaigaku's smug mask shattered. "DON'T LUMP ME IN WITH ZENITSU!"
Kaigaku drew his sword. The blade was black, crackling with corrupt lightning.
[Blood Demon Art Enhanced Thunder Breathing]
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!"
He slashed.
A bolt of corrupt, black lightning tore across the room, aiming for both of them.
In the blink of an eye, the yellow-haired slayer was behind Kaigaku.
SHING.
A line of blood appeared on Kaigaku's neck.
"Trash," Zenitsu whispered, sheathing his blade slightly. "Was that too fast for you?"
Kaigaku gasped, clutching his throat. But the black lightning he fired was still hurtling toward Manjiro.
Manjiro stepped forward and kicked the lightning bolt.
CRACK.
It sounded like glass shattering, scattering into sparks against his leg.
Kaigaku jumped back, his neck knitting back together, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"What?" Kaigaku stammered. "Zenitsu... he cut me? And you... you repelled a Blood Demon Art?"
He stared at them. Zenitsu moved differently now. And Manjiro... Manjiro hadn't even taken his hands out of his pockets.
Kaigaku remembered meeting Kokushibo, the Upper Rank One. The terror of that encounter was burned into his soul. He told himself this was nothing compared to that. He was an Upper Rank now. He was powerful.
"You're worthless!" Kaigaku spat, trying to convince himself. "Jigoro was a fool to treat us as equals! You're a crybaby, and Manjiro is a lazy bum who never took anything seriously!"
Zenitsu looked at Manjiro, then back at Kaigaku. His expression was filled with disdain.
"Manjiro-aniki is the Rumble Hashira," Zenitsu said coldly. "He's the strongest. He mastered Thunder Breathing faster than both of us combined. He is lightyears ahead of a traitor like you."
Zenitsu's eyes burned. "And that demon you're so afraid of? The one who turned you? Upper One?"
Kaigaku flinched at the name.
"Manjiro killed him months ago."
"SHUT UP!" Kaigaku screamed. "LIAR!"
"THERE'S NO WAY A HUMAN COULD KILL HIM! HE WAS A MONSTER!"
He raised his sword, the black lightning erupting from his body in a chaotic storm. "I'LL KILL YOU BOTH! I'LL PROVE I'M THE STRONGEST!"
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