The move was much easier and more discreet than anyone would have expected.
Tamayo didn't really have that much equipment, truth be told. What mattered were a few vials, her research notes, and that unfortunate couple—the bearded demon and his wife—tied up and unconscious.
Marcus stood in the middle of the wrecked yard, scratching his chin. He looked around, ripped three reasonably flat boards from what was left of the wall, and tossed them on the ground.
"I think this should do..."
Blinking, the arrows in his pupils shifted.
Instantly, invisible arrows pierced the corners of each board, hooked them from underneath, and lifted them off the ground. The three boards hovered half a meter up, firm and stable.
Yushiro's jaw dropped. 'You... you could use it like that?'
"Whoa!" Tanjiro exclaimed, completely amazed.
"It's not that impressive," Marcus said with a smile that said exactly the opposite, while guiding one of the boards to Tamayo's feet. "Miss Tamayo, your chariot awaits~"
"..."
Looking at the floating board, she hesitated, but finally sat down sideways, legs together, maintaining her poise.
And the board stayed perfectly stable.
"Amazing!" Tanjiro hopped on in one jump, marveling, and the board held without any trouble.
Nezuko, who had been watching everything for a while with eyes full of stars, couldn't hold back anymore. She started bouncing around the board, stretching her arms trying to reach it, hopping more and more desperately.
Seeing her, Marcus launched an arrow that hooked the collar of her little outfit and lifted her up, setting her down gently on the board.
Yushiro watched everything from the side with his arms crossed and a sour face. Very much a "that's nothing special, I would've done it better" look.
But even so, without anyone asking, he activated his ability and wrapped them all in invisibility. Figures, presence, everything.
Marcus used the other two boards to stack the luggage, instruments, vials, and the unconscious couple on top—all neatly arranged, floating in a line.
When he finished, he dusted off his hands and looked at the board where Tamayo and Nezuko were sitting with a bright smile.
"Let's see if I can too…"
He placed one foot carefully on the edge of the board.
The board didn't move.
Seeing this, his eyes lit up and he lifted his second foot to climb on fully—
But his arrows dissipated all at once.
The board plummeted straight down, with Tamayo and Nezuko on it.
"—?!"
Marcus stomped his foot back on the ground by reflex, and the arrows reappeared instantly—the board stopped centimeters from the floor, hovering again as if nothing had happened.
Tamayo was clutching her chest with one hand, pale, and Nezuko blinked, confused but unharmed.
Marcus stared at the board. Then looked at his feet, then at the board again.
"What the hell?"
Refusing to give up, he tried several more times. Climbing on carefully, jumping on, standing on his tiptoes—he even tried using the arrows directly on his own body to lift himself into the air.
But nothing.
The arrows spun around him, circled him, passed right by... but flatly refused to act on him. As if his own body were a blind spot.
"Tch..." He finally accepted it. "As expected, it doesn't work."
And it had its logic, because just like no matter how strong a person is, they can't lift themselves up by pulling their own hair...
The arrows couldn't make the one who launched them fly.
He sighed, genuinely disappointed. He'd gotten his hopes up about flying on a board like Aladdin, soaring through the night sky…
Then again, thinking about it rationally, Yahaba had never flown in the anime either. So it was to be expected.
"Fufu~" Tamayo, still seated, couldn't hold back her laughter when she saw that little disappointed face. "Marcus-kun, what you've already accomplished is more than enough. It's impressive."
Marcus looked at her. And like a dog getting scratched behind the ear, the tantrum vanished instantly.
"...Right?"
He straightened up, cracked his neck, and clapped his hands.
"Let's move!"
Three new arrows appeared out of nowhere and embedded themselves in the front of each board, pulling them forward like engines. The boards took off smoothly, gliding through the air half a meter off the ground, one behind another, in a line.
Tamayo rode the front board and had taken the opportunity to pull out bandages and start wrapping Tanjiro's wounds—he was right beside her. The boy let her work, but his eyes were glued to the scenery floating past around him, his face glowing with excitement. His wounds hurt, but he'd completely forgotten about them.
Nezuko was crawling from one board to another, back and forth, peeking over the edges with an energy that seemed to have no end.
Yushiro walked at the front with a serious face, in charge of maintaining invisibility over the entire group and discreetly steering away the few late-night drunks who crossed their path.
And behind the last board, Marcus walked with his hands in his pockets. Every now and then, he made the boards do a little skid when turning corners.
"Marcus~!" Tamayo's shout reached him from up ahead as she gripped the edge of the board.
And Tanjiro was cracking up, having the time of his life.
…
The new residence was about fifty kilometers from Asakusa, buried in the guts of a forest that seemed to go on forever.
It was a two-story mansion with an attic, half swallowed by vegetation, with vines climbing the walls and trees pressing in around it as if trying to embrace it.
It was a little reminiscent of the Drum Mansion, just without the psychopath demon inside.
"This is it."
Stepping off the board with grace, Tamayo smoothed her clothes. "Thank you for the ride, Marcus-kun."
It was one of her many safe houses. Hidden enough that no one would find it by accident, far enough from everything that no one would have a reason to look.
Under normal circumstances, getting here with all the equipment, the patients, and an entire group of people would have been a nightmare. Hours of walking while hauling things, leaving tracks everywhere, risking being seen.
But with Marcus's arrows and Yushiro covering them, they'd arrived without breaking a sweat, without leaving a trace, without a single blade of grass giving away which way they'd gone.
If Muzan—who was already the worst tracker in the world—managed to find them after all that, then they'd really have bad luck.
"Not bad…" Surveying the surroundings, Marcus nodded in satisfaction. "Looks like a hermit's hideout. I like it."
He guided the boards inside the mansion, unloaded the equipment and the unconscious couple, and withdrew the arrows. The boards settled on the floor with a dry tap and went back to being what they'd always been.
Yushiro dropped the invisibility and instantly materialized at his mistress's side. "Tamayo-sama, are you tired? Would you like to rest? I'll make you tea right n—"
"Hey, Yushiro." But he heard Marcus's voice. "Take the equipment down to the basement and get the couple settled. And tie them up tight, yeah? Don't let them get loose."
A vein swelled on Yushiro's forehead. "And who the hell are you to give me orders?!"
"Can you beat me?"
"..."
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Clenched his fists. His jaw trembled with pure contained rage. But the memory of spinning like a fan was still far too fresh.
Watching him grind his teeth as he started hauling things, Tanjiro shook his head with deep compassion.
Because he saw himself in Yushiro.
That feeling of being bossed around by Marcus without being able to do a thing about it. Of swallowing your rage because you knew protesting would only make it worse. Of being exploited by someone you couldn't even touch… He knew it all too well.
However, for the first time in a long while, he realized something wonderful.
For the next few months, the slave wasn't going to be him.
Thinking about that, the sadness of being separated from Nezuko eased just a little.
'So this is what it feels like when it's someone else's turn...'
It was freedom.
…
They were in the middle of working when two squawks cut through the silence of the forest.
Two Kasugai crows appeared among the treetops and perched on a branch in front of the house. One was Tanjiro's. The other was Shimei, Marcus's.
"How did they find us?" Tanjiro stared at them, baffled. They'd just arrived, invisible, without leaving a trace, fifty kilometers from where they'd been.
His crow flew to his shoulder but didn't deign to answer the question. It had more important things to do.
"South-southeast! South-southeast! Kamado Tanjiro, head immediately to the south-southeast!"
"A mission? Now?"
"South-southeast! Demons on the prowl! Head there at once! At once!"
"..."
Tanjiro was quiet for a moment. He looked at the crow, looked at the house, and then looked at Marcus.
"Senpai, I…"
"Go." Marcus put a hand on his shoulder. "But watch it—if things get ugly, you run. None of that playing hero crap, you hear me?"
"Yes!" Tanjiro nodded firmly, but his feet didn't move. His eyes drifted on their own toward Nezuko, who was sitting on the porch watching him.
Marcus saw and sighed. "Go on, give her a hug. Five seconds."
Tanjiro's eyes lit up and he bolted toward Nezuko, knelt down, and hugged her so hard he lifted her off the ground.
"Nezuko, wait for your brother to come back! I promise I won't be long!"
She responded with a soft "mmh mmh" and patted his back with her little hands, as if to say "don't worry, I'll be right here."
Three seconds.
Marcus pulled them apart.
"Alright, alright, I'm getting jealous."
He grabbed Nezuko and gently moved her aside, ignoring the bewildered look on Tanjiro's face.
"You said five seconds!"
"I changed my mind."
He looked one last time at his sister and his senpai, turned around, and left, following the messenger crow toward the "south-southeast."
He didn't look back. Because if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave.
Shimei, for his part, didn't budge from the branch. He was still perched there, back turned to Marcus with a suspicious stiffness. Saying nothing and making no move to leave.
Marcus glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "What's the matter, Shimei? You think I don't know he sent you to keep an eye on me?"
Shimei flinched but didn't respond.
"Hahaha, do whatever you want. I've got nothing to hide anyway."
With these crows around, nothing escaped Kagaya's eyes. Marcus had known that for a long time.
Though what did give him something to think about was how they'd found them so quickly.
He looked at his wrist, and the camouflaged tattoo of his rank stared back at him, etched into his skin.
In the anime, that tattoo had never really served much purpose.
But now he had the suspicion that it wasn't as harmless as it seemed.
'A tracking mark, probably.'
But oh well, it didn't matter. It wasn't like he had any intention of hiding, and Kagaya already knew about Tamayo's existence. He'd surely been watching her from afar for years, keeping an eye on her without intervening, waiting to see what she'd do.
Tanjiro's silhouette grew smaller and smaller among the trees until it disappeared completely.
Nezuko squirmed under his arm, stretching her hands toward where her brother had gone, making desperate little noises. But Marcus held her firmly. "There, there. He'll be back. He always comes back."
He turned around and walked toward the house with Nezuko tucked under his arm.
He wasn't going to worry about Tanjiro. Out there, Zenitsu and Inosuke were waiting for him. The trio that fate had decided to bring together from the very beginning.
Marcus had no intention of meddling in that. He trusted that those three, even without Nezuko in the mix, would find a way to stumble into each other and forge that ridiculous, unbreakable friendship he'd watched them build in the anime.
That path was theirs.
His was here.
Because in this house, at Tamayo's side, there was still something extremely important left for him to do.
____
Thank you for reading! 🙏
A new arc begins as Tanjiro heads south-southeast, while Marcus stays behind for some 'private' business. What was your favorite moment? Leave a comment and drop your Power Stones below!
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