Demon Slayer: The Strange Demon

by Blackdrag-rose

Entertainment: The Operation

"So, out of curiosity, where is this Demon living?" Pinkamena inquired, as that was the only piece of information that she and the others were missing right now, though since Tengen wanted her assistance in this mission it meant he had to answer her questions, especially since she was the closest to him in terms of rank.

"They are in the most flamboyant place in all of Japan, a place filled with lust and greed: the Red Light District." Tengen said, showing them that he had definitely done a bit of investigation before seeking Pinkamena out, or maybe it was the rest of the Corps who figured out where the Demon was hiding and sent him to confirm their sightings, while the fact that he came to her meant it was important, before he stopped and turned on them, "Let me clear on one thing, I am the highest ranking Slayer around, and, not including Pinkamena, you three will obey my commands to the letter... you might as well think of me as God! Get that information through your thick skulls, right here and now! If I command you to become a dog or monkey, you will do so without delay, and you shall humor me while imploring me for favors, especially while flattering me at all times!"

"Well, um, what exactly do you rule over as a 'god'?" Tanjiro asked, as he wasn't stupid enough to believe that the Hashira was some sort of deity, though after meeting Kyojuro, and getting to know him, he figured that getting on the good side of the others might be a good idea, even if Zenitsu thought he was stupid.

"Nice question. I have high hopes for you." Tengen replied, where Pinkamena knew that Tanjiro was humoring him, due to what the Hashira had said not a few moments ago, and he, in turn, was humoring her friend to some degree, as he clearly assumed that he was some sort of deity, causing her to roll her eyes for a moment as she listened to them, "I am the god that rules over flamboyance... the God of Festivities!"

Inosuke, clearly impressed, informed Tengen that he was the 'King of the Mountain', referring to where he lived before he found out about the Demon Slayer Corps and all of the Demons that existed across the land of Japan, where the Hashira thought he was disgusting. After that instant he informed them of what they would be doing, they would be stopping at a Wisteria House that was on the way to the Red Light District so they could get ready for the operation, as in he would brief them and make sure everyone was disguised before they reached their destination. Pinkamena thought it was a good idea and agreed with the first step of his current plan, even though she had a feeling it would be an infiltration mission to find the Demon he had been sent to kill and that it would fall on her friends to gather information. At the same time, however, she knew that there was more to the topic than what Tengen was telling them and that he had to be waiting for them to reach the Wisteria House that was his current destination, so she decided to say nothing so they could get started on the trek and get this mission started.

As it turned out Tengen showed off his speed by rushing forward at one point and she followed after him without delay, causing Tanjiro and the others to freak out before rushing after them, as they didn't want to get left behind, though this was a good way to show off the results of their individual training. During the trek Tanjiro informed the others that they were following the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, meaning he had definitely been humoring him earlier, as per what he had said earlier, even though Zenitsu didn't care and Inosuke saw him as the 'God of Festivities'. Tengen seemed pleased that one of them was playing along, even though he already knew she wouldn't do the same as her friends and was taking this far more serious than most of them, causing the Hashira to focus as well, meaning he must have some stake in finding the Demon he was after. Such a thing made her wonder if someone important to Tengen had been taken, like a sibling or a lady he had his eyes on for some time, since a fair number of Slayers and Demons seemed to have family issues, based on all she had seen so far, but decided that she would remain quiet until he gave them the information they needed to figure out where their target was hiding.

The Wisteria House they stopped at was definitely on the way to the Red Light District, run by a middle aged man and his wife, plus their two kids were running around and stopped when Tengen approached them, who gave them some orders before ushering them to the second story, where they took a room and sat down, even though he waited for some tea and dumplings to be delivered before speaking.

"Once we infiltrate the Red Light District, your first objective will be to locate my wives, while I and Pinkamena look around for information on our target's whereabouts." Tengen explained, confirming Pinkamena's earlier thoughts on the matter, someone important to him had likely gone missing and he was worried for them, especially since they went missing in an area that a Demon was operating in.

"This is unbelievable!" Zenitsu declared, showing them that he must have only heard part of what Tengen had to say, while at the same time Inosuke was more interested his snacks and Tanjiro, who had set Nezuko's box to the side, was doing his best to pay attention to what the Hashira was saying, "Please, stop joking around! Don't use your subordinates to look for personal brides! Since you're delusional, I'm just going to say it: weird ass people like you will never be popular, as what you just said is all in your head... no Hashira would say such a thing to their own subordinates."

"You damned fool, my wives infiltrated the Red Light District in order to gain more information on the Demon, but now I've lost contact with them." Tengen angrily replied, showing them that he didn't like being challenged by those that were far below him, before he opened a pouch and hurled some lettered at Zenitsu, enough to push him back for a moment, which caused Pinkamena to chuckle a little, "Those are the letters they sent via crow, proof that I'm focused on the Demon and not on tracking down a wife."

The concept of three wives finally dawned on Zenitsu and he was even more outraged, finding it unfair that Tengen even had one and demanded that he stop spouting lies about the reality he was living in, causing the Hashira to deliver a harsh blow to his chest in the form of a punch, which ended up knocking Zenitsu out.

"So in the letters you remind your wives to do their best to not stand out," Tanjiro commented, as he had picked up some of the pieces of parchment, after seeing Pinkamena pick a few up, and had read the first one while Tengen dealt with his friend, who he knew was okay since they were needed for Tengen's mission, "How exactly are we doing to do this?"

"Well, my original idea was to utilize Pinkamena's ability to infiltrate our target locations, but with you three we'll be going in with disguises... and be plain, as much as I hate such a thing." Tengen answered, where his tone informed Pinkamena that he was pleased to find that one of them wasn't questioning him or the fact that he had three wives, while making her wonder what sort of plan he had in mind when it came to Chaos World, "You three will have to do a certain something, but after that infiltrating should be easy, even for you. My wives are top of the line female ninja, kunoichi, and we believe that the Red Light District, sometimes called the Flower District, is the ideal place for a Demon to lurk, especially with rumors of people disappearing. I tried to infiltrate it once as a customer, but, sadly, I couldn't find a trace of the Demon, or Demons, that the Corps claimed was lurking in this place, so we decided to go deeper than mere customers... thanks to the work of my wives we've narrowed down the number of suspicious stores down to three, which you three will infiltrate and gather information from. You three are looking for Suma in the Tokito House, Makio in the Ogimoto House, and Hinatsuru in the Kyougoku House, as that is where each of them were when I got their last reports."

In that moment Inosuke remarked on the fact that all of Tengen's wives were likely dead, given that they had vanished in an area controlled by a Demon, though, as Pinkamena expected, the Hashira was having none of that and punched him as well, knocking him out for the time being, leaving it to Tanjiro to explain things later.

"So, am I correct in assuming you want me to minimize casualties and search for the Demon?" Pinkamena asked, as while she understood the more mundane method of searching that her friends would have to undertake, to track down all three of Tengen's wives, he had said nothing about her or her powers, even though she was the one he had come looking for in the first place.

"Yes. Chaos World is a wonderful power and we're lucky to have it on our side, so while the boys infiltrate the stores I want you to scan the district and set up a protective zone," Tengen replied, as he had seen what she could do back during their first meeting, drawing all of them into her world with the slightest of movements, and suspected that her awakening had boosted her power to new extremes, making him wonder how much of this world she could influence, "with your ability to sense Demons we might be able to find our target's whereabouts far sooner than originally planned and might save more lives in the process."

In that moment the man and his wife opened the door and delivered the supplies that Tengen had asked them for, items to paint and mark up the faces of her friends, while dressing them up as girls, causing her to turn her attention to the rest of the information she could get on the Red Light District. It was a night district where the lust and charms of both men and women swirled around in a storm of love and hate, or at least that was Tengen's description of it, located in a place called Yoshiwara, while the name 'Flower District' came from the shape this part of the city took on. She found that it was a place where prostitutes lived and worked, either willingly or because they were sold into this life, where women were given the necessities of life in exchange for such hardships, and they had a chance to be bought into a wealthy household, if they worked hard and made their way up as prostitutes. The most prominent among them were the Oiran, ladies who were different than the lower women, as they had acquired beauty, education, and performance, though meeting one was the hard part, as men had to visit the Red Light District often, as if competing with each other.

Since Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were going undercover as prostitutes, or at least young girls who would be put to work until they were of the proper age, each one had their faces painted, their hair done up in a girly way, their attire only had a slight change to match a Red Light District, and all of their Slayer attire was hidden, but they were pretty ugly, if Pinkamena was being honest, meaning Tengen's skills left much to be desired.

With the changes made, and Pinkamena took Nezuko's box so no one would ask questions, Tengen headed out with the boys, where Tanjiro was to be called Sumiko, Zenitsu was Zenko, and Inosuke was Inoko, and the Hashira, despite his own dislike of being plain, removed most of his attire and appeared as a dashing man. Pinkamena remained on the roofs of the Red Light District as she watched them move throughout the district, as he was planning on approaching all three of the houses his wives had recently infiltrated and sell the boys to each one, so they could begin their own search for his wives and the Demon. With that thought in mind she extended her senses and determined that three demonic signatures were in this place, at the very least, and a faint fourth one that likely came from Muzan, meaning he must have come here not all that long ago, meaning if she was right they would be dealing with an Upper Moon. As she thought about that, and the potential disaster that was waiting for them, Tanjiro was taken on by an elderly couple while both Zenitsu and Inosuke, for the time being, were left with Tengen, who marched them down the street as he sought out the other houses.

While that happened she found one of the Oiran, a woman of elegant beauty and dressed in some fine clothing, walking down the same street and her friends moved off to the side to observe her movements, where she overhead Tengen say that it was Koinatsu, from the Tokito House, only for an older woman to come and claim Inosuke for the Ogimoto House, leaving Zenitsu to be dropped off at another location.

"So, what's the verdict?" Tengen asked, as he had disappeared for a few moments, leaving Pinkamena to watch over the Red Light District in his stead, and had returned with his Slayer attire on, showing her that he was ready for anything and everything, which was great considering what she had found so far.

"There's definitely a Demon here, with two more somewhat faint signatures," Pinkamena replied, something that caused Tengen to pause for a few seconds as he processed that information, as three confirmed signatures meant all three of his wives might have met some trouble, "plus Muzan was here at one point, but that hardly means anything, as he could have been hiding here before heading to a brand new hiding place. In addition to that Tanjiro and his friends have infiltrated all three of the houses you wanted to check out: Inosuke is inside the Ogimoto House, Zenitsu found his way to the Kyougoku House, and Tanjiro is in the Tokito House."

"And the barrier?" Tengen inquired, as that was the piece of the puzzle that was missing, because while he was willing to fight off all of the Demons that were in this district, at least one right now and three at the most, saving the lives of those who weren't part of this battle was also important.

"Don't worry, its up." Pinkamena said, where she beckoned down the street to their right and Tengen followed her gaze for a few seconds, though while he couldn't see anything she placed a hand on his shoulder and let him see what she had done, there was a faint line outside the district, part of the zone she was creating, "I'm copying the entirety of this district, making note of where the houses are and who lives in each one, so when we face the Demon I can knock everyone out and transport them to safety, allowing you and the others to fight at full power and, more importantly, not have to worry about innocents being caught in the crossfire."

"This is why I came looking for you." Tengen stated, his tone revealing that he was pleased with her and that they would be able to save all sorts of lives now that she was helping him and his wives out, before he turned his attention back to the rest of the district, "Now we just have to wait for Tanjiro and the others to discover something, anything really, before we make our move against the Demons."

Pinkamena nodded and glanced out at the Red Light District, knowing that the Demon they were here for wouldn't have even noticed her existence, in fact none of the Demons noticed her until she revealed her demonic nature, meaning they had time to gather all sorts of intelligence before making their move and she would be ready for when that moment arrived.