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aritsukemo · 4 months ago

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Paradise | Chapter One - Cruelty | KNY

Summary: All is well in the Kamado Home until tragedy strikes..

Warnings: Descriptions of blood ahead. One of the main characters ( Y/n ) has a panic attack. First scene involves needles and scalpels and the character gets their skin ripped open! With all that said, read with caution!

A/N: Thanks to all the love and support I've been getting recently, I've gotten the courage to post this! This story is a very special piece to me as it's been stuck in my head for around..four, maybe five years now? ( I started the thought process of it sometime around the time the demon slayer anime came out ) This story is actually the reason I started writing, but I haven't posted it until now because of..perfectionism reason.. It's not much right now, but if you like it, please support it over on Wattpad! ..Or not and simply support it over here! ( Or don't! You simply taking the time to read this means a lot to me! )

Tagging: @overluvsick, @nursedflowers, @jspidey5 + anyone who wants to be tagged! <3

Next Chapter

First Person, ???'s Pov

"Father, please! Stop! It hurts!" A needle invades my flesh as my protests contort into a sharp scream. It booms off the dank walls after leaving my mouth and bounces back to echo into my ears as if to mock me. The man that towers over me, my father, his breath is ragged and hot as his grip on my arm tightens.

"Stop resisting!" He shouts. Although, I'm more focused on my arm that's slowly numbing over from the lack of circulation. I yell at him, pleading for him to let me go but he doesn't listen and instead grabs his scalpel. The steel gleams ominously in the light but I barely have the time to process the sight before it digs into the flesh of my arm and tears my skin open.

White, searing pain radiates through my arm as crimson drips onto the floor. Tears blur my vision and flows down my cheeks like a waterfall, snot drips from my nose and mixes with the blood on the floor. A brief, high-pitched scream leaves my lips followed by a choked sob. My father doesn't take much mind to my reaction.

"Still not the right color.." I hear him mumble. There's some commotion from him as he uses his free hand to search for something on the shelf closest to him. After a few moments, I feel smooth glass touch my lip and before I even realize it, I violently flinch away.

"Drink it!" He yanks me forward and in the process, accidentally spills a small chunk of the substance on my lips. I gag at the smell but in the process I subconsciously dart my tongue out and run the wet muscle over my lips. I nearly vomit at the taste. My father doesn't seem to care.

"Open your mouth!" He shouts, "Just drink it and get it over with!"

"No!" I yell back, "It tastes digusting!"

"The taste doesn't matter! Just swallow this as fast as you can and--!"

"No!" I swing my arms and twist my body, trying my hardest to escape his grasp, "No, I won't! You can't make me no matter what-!" My words get cut off by my own gags as my father wraps his calloused hands around my throat and gives it a threatening squeeze.

"Drink it damnit!" He brings his thumb up to force my mouth open, "If you'd just get it over with you wouldn't be suffering so much right now!"

My hand comes up to grab his wrist as my head moves away as best it can while it's still in his almost suffocating grip, "Why are you doing this to us? We didn't do anything wrong!"

"I never said you did!" He clenches his teeth, "Just drink it already!"

"No! I told you already, I'm not drinking that!"

Suddenly a tired, almost sorrowful sigh leaves his lips as he pulls away from me completely. I look at him with wide eyes but he looks back with one that's indescribable to me.

"You leave me with no choice then.." He reaches for something just out of my eyesight as my trembling figure backs away from him, "Remember that you brought this upon yourself."

"Dad.. What are you.. No. No! Get away from me with that-! Stop! Please!"

"Stop!" My body jolts up and my hands shoot outwards, pushing the person in front of me with an unnecessary amount of force. There's a tumble that I just barely hear over my erractic breathing.

A few moments pass. The tightness in my chest becomes less constricting, allowing me to breathe a little better and amidst this, the warmth of someone's touch envelopes my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.." A gentle voices reaches my ears and as if a drug was injected in my veins, my muscles instantly relaxes. That suffocating feeling in my chest ceases to exist and I'm able to breathe comfortably again.

"You were thrashing around so much it made me worry," The warmth moves along my clothed skin and up to my naked cheeks where soft fingrtips brush away stray tears that had escaped from me without my knowing.

Kie's asks, "Are you alright, Y/n?"

As my vision clears and I can finally see her clearly, sitting on her knees and brows knitted from worry, I mumble out, "Yeah.. Yeah. I'm fine, Kie. Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Her question comes out almost immediately and each word that left her lips were filled with nothing but worry, "If there's anything I can do.." As she trails off, I bring my hand up, softly peeling her hands off my face before wiping away the excess tears clumped along the waterline of my eyes.

"I promise, I'm okay. You just startled me.. No need to fret over it."

Kie's lips thin into a line. It's clear that she doesn't believe me but to my luck she silently decides to drop the conversation and gets up.

"If you say so," She says, her eyes keenly watching my every little move, "Tanjiro is waiting for you outside."

"Alright," I run my hand through my hair, letting out a sharp wince when it gets caught in one of many tangles, "..I'll be out in a few minutes."

Third Person Pov

"Morning," Y/n says as she walks out of the hut, successfully catching the attention of a certain black and burgundy-haired boy. He looks back at her, his ponytail swaying a little as his red eyes meet hers.

"Good morning, Y/n!" Tanjiro greets with a smile, causing the girl in question to mirror his expression, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, Let's.." Y/n's smile drops as she nears him and notices the smaller girl that stands behind him, her expression blank, "What is she doing out here."

Tanjiro's smile falters for a moment as his brows knit together to form a nervous expression, "Well—"

"Tanjiro," Both Y/n and Tanjiro look back at the call of his name. Kie walks out of the hut, a dirty cloth in hand as she walks past Y/n and up to her son, "Your face is covered in soot. Let me help you with that."

She gets down on her knees and puts the cloth to Tanjiro's cheek, "Are you sure you want to go down the mountain today? It'll be dangerous with all of this snow."

Tanjiro nods, his left eye closing as his mother rubs his cheek with the cloth, "I want us to have a good New Year's where everyone can eat as much as they want without worry."

Kie smiles, her eyes softening, "How thoughtful of you.."

"I'm still waiting on your explanation on why she's not inside," Y/n says, interrupting the moment that was shared between Tanjiro and his mother. She crosses her arms and rest them against her chest, looking at him with expectant, irritated eyes.

"Well.." Tanjiro begins, scratching the back of his head as he flashes her a closed-eyed smile, "Sumiko will be going down the mountain with us."

"Like hell she will," Y/n retorts almost immediately. Tanjiro half expected the answer but even so, her instant rejection to the idea still makes him frown.

"No need to be so angry with him, Y/n," His mother steps in, standing up and turning to face her with a carefree smile, "After all, it wasn't his idea. It was mine," She confesses.

Y/n's eyes snap over to Kie, her vexation faltering, "..Why?"

"Sumiko needs some fresh air," She replies simply, "She hasn't struck a fever in a few weeks so now is the best time for her to go out and experience the world."

"She doesn't need to 'experience the world', what she needs is to get back in bed and rest. I mean, look at her!" She points at her sister who's droopy, absent eyes stare at a nearby tree, "Does she look the least bit better?"

"Yes," Kie replies. Not sparing the girl a glance nor seeing a reason to, "To me, she looks miles better than she did before. She's practically glowing."

"You didn't even look at her," Y/n deadpans. Pinching the bridge of her nose as she shakes her head and groans. Kie doesn't seem fazed, still smiling sweetly at her.

"I know you're worried about your little sister, but it's not fair to keep her cooped up in the house when she's clearly getting better."

"She has a tendency of being inconsistent with her health," Y/n reminds, "Plus it's freezing. Her condition could worsen if she tags along."

"That's a likely possibility, but I think it's for the best if she went with you," Kie's eyes trail over to stare at the blue-eyed child with a loving gaze, "It'll help her both physically..and mentally. I can feel it."

Y/n's eyes trail back and forth, staring at Sumiko, then at Kie, then back at Sumiko, her eyes flashing with confusion before she finally gives in and lets out an exasperated sigh.

"I guess I can humor this for a bit," She grumbles something incoherent under her breath before muttering, "If her health gets worse because of this, just know I told you so.." Kie's smile widens.

"Thank you," She says, and just as that breath of thanks leaves her lips, the sound of children's laughter grows louder as it nears the hut. The noise catches everyone's attention immediately and as they turn their heads to look back at the hut, they manage to catch Shigeru and Hanako running out of it.

"Tanjiro!" Shigeru yells as he runs up to his elder brother with his sister in tow, "Are you and Y/n going down the mountain together today?"

Hanako runs up to Sumiko and scans her up and down with curious, perplexed eyes and after a moment, the realization hits and Hanako lets out a loud gasp.

"Is Sumiko going too?" She asks in which Tanjiro nods his head. Hanako frowns at this.

"Hey, no fair!" She whines, "I wanna come too!"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but you can't." Kie butts in, "You know you won't be able to keep up."

"Awh, come on mom!" Shigeru pleads. Backing up his sister as his bottom lip juts out in a small pout. Eyes drooping and creating a look akin to a sad, pleading puppy dog. Alas, it does little to sway his mother and she shakes her head.

"Tanjiro won't be able to use the cart today so he won't be able to give you a ride when you're tired. And, it would be too much on them to have to watch you two, Sumiko, sell charcoal, and do whatever else they may have to do," She explains. Shigeru groans. His face scrunching up in disdain as his sister appears crestfallen beside him.

"Hey!" Tanjiro softly exclaims, catching both of their attention, "Don't be sad guys," He smiles, "We'll bring back some yummy snacks for you."

At the mere mention of delicious treats, both Hanako and Shigeru's expressions brighten. Their previous looks of disappointment erased from their faces as if they were never there to begin with.

"Do you really mean it?" Hanako asks, grinning from ear to ear, "Don't eat them all on the way back, alright?" Shigeru adds, his face mimicking his sister's.

Still smiling, Tanjiro straightens his posture. His hand coming up to rest over his heart as he closes his eyes and says, "I promise to eat not one snack, no matter how hungry I get on the way back home."

Shigeru laughs, both amused by his brother's sudden serious stance and happy about the promise of treats in a few hours. Hanako lets out a giggle as well but her laughter quickly dies down as she looks over at Y/n and Sumiko.

"You two gotta promise as well!" She says, "Those snacks are for us only!"

"Eh, Sumiko's not one for sweets anyway," Y/n mumbles under her breath before saying in a slightly louder voice, "We both swear not to touch your snacks no matter how good they smell or how hungry we are."

Satisfied, Hanako lets out a gleeful 'Yay!', her hands clapping as she bounces up and down, "Don't break your promises, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Y/n replies. Kie doesn't say it aloud but she notices the girl's eyes softening as she said that. It makes her smile. Yes, Y/n can be a stickler about certain things but when it came to her family, she was a big softie. Whether she was aware of that fact or not remains partially unknown.

"Hey, Takeo!" Tanjiro exclaims after spotting his spiky-haired sibling walk out from the side of the hut, "Do me a favor and chop as much wood as you can for me, okay?"

His younger sibling huffs, pulling his hatchet back to rest on his shoulder, "Yeah, I was already plannin' on doing that. But.." He pauses, his eyes darting away from Tanjiro and looking off at nothing in particular, "I was kinda hoping we'd chop wood together this time.."

Sensing Takeo's disappointment, Tanjiro walks over to him with a gentle smile displayed on his face. He pats his head, "There, there," He says, ruffling his hair. Takeo's frown deepens and he groans loudly.

"Hands off," He grumbles, swatting his hand away. Tanjiro retaliates by attempting to ruffle his hair again but Takeo quickly stops him by grabbing his wrist. Takeo asks, "Seriously, what's with you all of a sudden?"

"You're blushing, Take'!" Shigeru blurts out, pointing his finger at him. Takeo snaps his head in his direction, looking at him with wide eyes filled with embarrassment.

"Huh..?!" He drawls loudily, "Shut up, you brat! You're seeing things!" Tanjiro plants his hands in Takeo's hair once more, his smile even more lax as he messes with his hair again, "There, there," He repeats.

"Cut it out!" Takeo shouts only to be followed up by everyone else's laughter which makes him groan again. Y/n watches the sight with an unreadable expression on her face. Sumiko stares, but the absent look in her eyes give her away; she wasn't there and was most likely trapped in her own tangle of thoughts.

"We should get going now if we want to be back before nightfall," Y/n reminds. Tanjiro looks over, finally retracting his hands from his brother's head, "Yeah, you're right." He looks over at his family, "We should go."

As Hanako and Shigeru nods their heads and Takeo responds with a small 'Yeah,' Tanjiro walks past Y/n and up to her little sister. He looks down at her and grabs her hand but she doesn't react at all to it, allowing him to trudge her along as he walks up to Y/n, "Let's go,"

"Wait," Kie says and, of course, both Tanjiro and Y/n halt. As she walks up to them, she shoots them a brief, apologetic glance before focusing her attention on little Sumiko. She crouches down, her covered knees sinking into the thick snow beneath her as she adjusts the large scarf around the girl's neck so that it covers the bottom half of her face better.

"I'm sorry for doing this to you," She cups her face, her skin serving as a pale contrast to Sumiko's cold, pink cheeks, "And in such weather as well. To make you tred down this mountain even though you've only been better for a few weeks.. It's selfish of me." She pulls her forward, encasing her in a warm embrace as she leans in close to her ear, whispering as she continues, "But for some reason.. All of my thoughts are screaming at me to go against my better judgement. So please..stay safe."

To Kie's surprise, when she pulls away, Sumiko's staring at her. Her eyes are surprisingly attentive which catches her off guard, "What's wrong?" Y/n asks after seeing Kie's shock on her face, but Kie quickly stands to her feet and replies with, "Oh, it's nothing. Have a safe trip, you three."

Y/n raises an eyebrow at this but decides not to question the interaction between the two and turns on her heel. Tanjiro walks up to Sumiko and grabs her hand again, quickly following after Y/n as his family shouts their goodbyes and waves until they're no longer in sight.

"Tanjiro!" Not too long after beginning their journey down the mountain, the trio runs into Nezuko. Tanjiro smiles upon noticing his sister and Y/n's face bears a small grin. Sumiko remains unfazed.

"Hey, Nezuko," Tanjiro greets as he walks up to his sister, tugging Sumiko along with him which she quickly notices. Her smile drops and her face now holds one of perplexment.

"Are you going down the mountain to sell charcoal with Sumiko today?" She questions. Tanjiro nods, "Yeah, and I even convinced Y/n to come with me today." He says as Y/n finally walks up to them.

Nezuko looks over at Y/n, her smile returning, "I see. Well, I'm definitely surprised. Usually you prefer to go down the mountain super early in the morning before anyone else wakes up. Did you agree to tag along when you found out Sumiko was going?"

"No," Y/n shakes her head, "Actually, I agreed to go with Tanjiro because he wouldn't stop asking me yesterday. I only found out Sumiko was coming this morning and the only reason she's coming with us is because Tanjiro and Kie managed to talk me out of making her stay."

"Really?" Nezuko tilts her head a little to the side, "Why is that, Tanjiro?"

Tanjiro uses his free hand to scratch the back of his head, his brows knitted together and a crinkled smile displayed on his face as he responds, "Well, mom thought she could use a break from home and since her health has been improving lately, I agreed to take her with us."

"Hm.." A look of worry appears on Nezuko's face for a brief moment, "I guess that's fair.. Make sure to look after her well," Tanjiro nods his head, "Don't worry, we will."

"Rokuta's fast asleep. Did he manage to wear himself out on your walk?" Y/n points out, cutting away from the previous topic as she stares at the little boy laying on Nezuko's back. His small body covered in the thick, white cloth ( Onbuhimo ) that's wrapped around the both of them.

"Not exactly, but I had to put him down for a nap regardless," Nezuko says, "After dad passed, he's been glued to Tanjiro's side. If he realizes he left, he'd throw a fit," She explains, Tanjiro's eyes noticeably soften.

Y/n comes closer to Nezuko, her hand reaching behind her to pet Rokuta's head. He fidgets ever so slightly and nuzzles into Nezuko's back some more, still asleep. Y/n's small smile returns, disappearing soon after she retracts her hand.

"We should get going. Make sure to be careful on your way back up the mountain," She says, "It was nice seeing you, Nezuko," Tanjiro adds. Nezuko's smile widens.

"It was nice seeing you guys too," She says as the three of them began to walk away, "Be safe and make sure not to overdo it, especially you, Sumiko!"

"Ah, Y/n! Good morning!" An elderly woman who was sweeping snow from her porch greets the girl after noticing her arrival to the village, "For a second, I started to think you were finally going to take a day off since the weather has gotten so bad."

"Not a chance," Y/n replies, "A little snow would never stop me," The woman chuckles, "I see that now.. Oh!" Finally noticing Tanjiro, the woman's expression changes to one of surprise, "Tanjiro's here too? I can't believe you came down the mountain on a day like this. You and Y/n are such hard workers!"

The woman's brows furrow, "Why is Sumiko here? Shouldn't she be resting in bed?" Y/n shoots Tanjiro a dirty look, crossing her arms as she waits for him to explain the situation. Tanjiro doesn't seem to mind.

"Sumiko's health has been taking a turn for the better recently so we thought it would be good for her if she got out for a little," He explains, but the woman doesn't seem pleased with his answer. If the frown on her face wasn't obvious of that fact.

"Isn't it a bit too soon? And letting her out of the house today of all days, what was Kie thinking?" She says, mumbling the last part more to herself than to them.

"I know you're worried, but it's going to be alright. Me and Y/n are going to keep a good eye on her," Tanjiro says. And, although the woman's expression doesn't change much at all, she says, "Well as long as you two are watching her, I suppose I don't have much to worry about.. Make sure she doesn't get hurt while she's here."

"We won't, I promise," Tanjiro says.

"Hey, Y/n!" A man calls, catching her attention, "Are you selling charcoal today? I'll have some!" Another man pokes his head out of his window, "Ah, Tanjiro! Good to see ya'! Thanks for fixing my sliding door the other day!"

"Y/n! I'm glad you came down today!" A dark-haired women says, a smile on her face as she asks, "Can you look after my children while I run an errand?"

"Can you sweep my porch?" A younger, short-haired lady asks, smiling sweetly.

"I'll take some charcoal!" A young man shouts.

"I'll pass, but could you two help me move this furniture into my house?" An old man asks and just then, a boy comes bursting out of a nearby home. He runs but doesn't make it far before he's roughly snatched up by the shopkeeper who comes chasing after him.

"Tanjiro!" The boy yells upon spotting him, "Thank goodness you're here!" Despite the resistance from the shopkeeper, the boy manages to wiggle his way out of her grasp, fumbling up to Tanjiro with blood dripping from his nose.

"What's wrong?" Tanjiro asks, turning his attention to the boy on his knees before him, "I've been accused of breaking this plate! Can you help me out and sniff it?" The boy replies desperately.

Complying to his wishes, Tanjiro bends over and gives the plate a good sniff. He then straightens his posture, both brows raised as he says in a simple tone, "I smell a cat."

The laugh the village boy lets out after Tanjiro says that is one filled with joy and relief and as he turns to look back at the shopkeeper, his grin is wide and toothy, "See? I told you!"

The shopkeeper in question brings her hand up to her chin, muttering, "So it really was a cat.."

"I told you I didn't do it!"

"Now that that's done.." Tanjiro mumbled, his eyes panning over to Sumiko. Y/n had long left them to help out some of the villagers, leaving him alone with the eleven year old.

"Hm, what should I do.." He thinks, "I know I used the excuse that she could help me out with selling charcoal, but will she really be able to..?"

"Tanjiro!" Someone calls, snapping the boy from his thoughts, he looks over to see an older male calling out to him, "Can I get some charcoal?"

"Sure," Tanjiro says. But just as he begins walking over, he stops, glancing back at Sumiko before looking down at the charcoal and then walking back up to her. He puts the charcoal in her smaller hands which, although her reaction was delayed, catches her attention.

"Come on," He urges softly, being as gentle as ever as he nudges her in the direction of the man's home, "Let's sell our charcoal together."

"It's already so late.. How did the day fly by so fast?" Tanjiro asks as the three walked the snowy trail back up the mountain.

"I told you we should've left sooner," Y/n says in which Tanjiro looks at her and smiles, nodding his head in agreement.

"Well next time, we'll definitely listen to you."

"You say 'we' as if this is going to be a common occurrence."

"Is that bad? I was able to sell a lot more charcoal thanks to you and Sumiko's help," Tanjiro says. Y/n rolls her eyes.

"Sumiko didn't sell anything. All she did was follow you around and stare at nothing."

"That's not true. She sold a few pieces," Tanjiro defended, but Y/n didn't seem impressed. In fact, she didn't look like she believed him and although her reaction was understandable, it was still disheartening to Tanjiro how little Y/n seemed to believe in her little sister..

"Hey Tanjiro, Y/n, Sumiko!" They all stop. Turning his head, Tanjiro is met with the sight of Saburo, one of the villagers that lived on the outskirts of the village.

"Oh hey, Mister. Saburo," Tanjiro greets, "What're you—"

"It's too late for you three to be traveling up the mountain. Come inside, you can sleep here for the night," He offers. Tanjiro opens his mouth to politely refuse the offer but Saburo quickly cuts him off, shouting, "Don't argue! Just get in here..before the demons show up.."

Despite everything, Tanjiro still wants to refuse him. Although he really appreciates the offer there was really no point in staying the night here when they were almost home..

"Tanjiro," Tanjiro turns to look at Y/n as she rests a hand on his shoulder, eyes widening at both the serious expression on her face and the heavy scent of fear that surrounds her being.

"I'm..pretty tired from everything I did in the village, let's rest here for the night," She begins walking down the small hill, along the pebbled stone pathway that led to his front door. Murmuring something about explaining the situation to his mom when they get home in the morning.

As he watches her disappear into the small home, Tanjiro looks over at snowy path that led up to his home. It was quite the venture, but if they were really determined, he's sure they could make it home within the same hour..

But at the same time, it's not often that Y/n admits to being at her limit so maybe he should—

"Hey!" Tanjiro jumps a little, sharply and quickly turning his head to look back at the hut where Saburo is once again peeking his head out the window, scowling, "You two get in here already!"

Guess he has no choice..

"Alright, we're coming," Gently tugging her along, Tanjiro and Sumiko walk down the pebbled path that leads to Saburo's home.

Hopefully his family won't be too concerned about them arriving home later than intended..

"Thank you for the meal!" Tanjiro says as he sets his chopsticks down on top of his bowl. He then takes a sip of his tea, holding it in his hands afterwards and harboring a distant look in his eyes as he stares down at the green liquid inside.

After barely touching her food, Y/n had quickly made herself a makeshift bed out of pillows and blankets and had long went to sleep. Sumiko, who finished her food before everyone else, had ended up falling asleep against the wall near her sister, leaving Tanjiro alone to pester Old Man Saburo.

"Hey, Mister Saburo, what are demons like?" In all honesty, Tanjiro didn't really believe this talk of demons. It was far-fetched, fantastical, and just hard to believe. Even so, the mere mention of it managed to completely capture his interest.

Without much to any hesitation, Saburo begins, "Demons are man-eating creatures that prowl around at night. That's why you shouldn't walk around when it gets late," He pulls out a futon, walking over to Y/n's sleeping form and laying it out besides her. After setting a pillow out he walks over to Sumiko, bringing the small girl into his arms and carrying her over to the futon where he tucks her in.

"If you're done eating, go to bed. You can set off as soon as day breaks," Saburo says taking one last glance over at Sumiko before getting up. Tanjiro gets up and slides into the futon on the opposite side of Y/n, eyes wide open and showing no sign of sleepiness.

"These demons.. They can't come inside, can they?" He asks, staring up at the ceiling as he awaits for an answer to his question. Saburo grabs his smoking pipe ( Kiseru ) and holds it in his hand, replying in a simple tone, "Yes, they could come in."

"Then what's stopping them from coming in and eating everyone?" Tanjiro asks. Saburo doesn't respond immediately. Deciding to bring his pipe to his lips, inhaling the fumes before letting it slip from him in one, long exhale.

"Demon hunters protect us at night by slaying as many demons as they can. Always have, even way back when," Saburo finally answers only to then tap his smoking pipe against the edge of a large, stony bowl, emptying it's contents into it.

"Go to sleep," He suddenly repeats, but this time he follows it up by cutting the lights off. Tanjiro complies to his wishes and closes his eyes, thinking to himself, "Mister Saburo is all alone after losing his whole family. He must be so lonely.. I'll bring my brothers and sisters next time and say, 'You don't have to be scared. There are no demons. You're safe.'"

"..But come to think of it, my grandma used to say the same thing when she was still alive.."

The wind seems to have picked up a little since last night. As they walk, the chilly breeze sticks to their skin, stinging their faces like a slap in the face and leaving redness in their wake. Despite this, none of them seemed fazed by it. With Y/n leading the charge, the three hiked the treacherous mountain in tranquil silence. The icy wind blowing being the only sound heard between them.

"Hey, Y/n," Tanjiro suddenly speaks up, "Can I ask you something?"

Y/n hums, a little surprised albeit she didn't show it, "Sure, what is it?"

The wind seems to blow just a tad bit stronger, as if trying to warn Tanjiro of the mistake he's about to make. Alas, the warning falls upon deaf ears and without much hesitation, Tanjiro asks, "What was your life like before my father found you and Sumiko?"

The silence that Tanjiro is met with intially is a bit disheartening, but it doesn't last long before Y/n answers, "Nothing interesting. We lived with our parents and when they passed suddenly, I fled home with Sumiko in my arms and.." She trails off as if the wheels were still turning in her head, as if she was struggling to remember the events that happened to her, "..Well you know how the rest goes.."

But is that really the truth, he wonders. He's not very certain of anything, but this smell that clings to her. The unusual amount of anger, sadness, and guilt that has mixed and meshed together into this heavy, uncomfortable scent that makes Tanjiro's heart sink.. A smell like this wouldn't- shouldn't exist if one lived a simple life like Y/n claims..

But for some reason, she feels the need to hide what really happened to her from him. Does she think he wouldn't be able to handle it? Is it something that she fears he would judge her for? If that's the case then he needs to change that view she has of him because it's just not true! No matter what it is, no matter what has happened in the past, nothing she says could ever make him think differently of her!

"Y/n—!" Tanjiro halts. A grotesque scent hitting him like a truck, rust overwhelming him to the point it burns his nose and throat. The sickening scent that's like no other. The smell of..

"Blood!" Y/n stops in her tracks, looking back at Tanjiro with knitted brows.

"What are you talking about?" Y/n asks only for her eyes to widen at the fear-stricken face she's met with. Tanjiro lets go of Sumiko's hand, which catches her attention, and without another word begins running up the snowy mountain trail.

"Tanjiro, wait!" Y/n calls after him, but it's too late. He was already too far away to hear her voice. Or maybe, he purposely ignored her. Maybe the scent was so strong that he panicked and tuned her out, primarily focused on finding out its source.

Either way, she knows she needs to catch up with him. Fast.

With sharp movements, she turns her head and runs up to her sister, "Why are you still standing there?" She yells, roughly grabbing her thin wrist before yanking her along, "Move your ass!"

There's this familiar feeling swelling in her chest. Was it fear of the unknown? Sadness for what she knows is to come? Maybe the dread of uncertainty? Whatever it is it's strong. So strong that as she sprints up the mountain, her stomach twists and curls, giving off this strong sense of nausea. Thank the heavens she barely ate last night, otherwise she would've puked by now..

She hopes- no, prays that everything's alright. That everything was the same as they left it and that Tanjiro was just overreacting. It has to be. There's no way one of her worst fears have manifested into reality. There's just no way..

They have to be fine. No way something happened to them.

How could this have happened?

As if a nightmare had forced itself into reality, the first sight Y/n got when she finally made it up the mountain was a pool of blood staining the snow in front of the hut the Kamado's called home with the familiar bodies of Rokuta and Nezuko lying in the middle..

Tanjiro was on his knees, shouting their names and throwing out questions while frantically nudging the corpses of his siblings. Y/n stood there, motionless and in shock even when her sister slowly moved forward, looking as if she was watching the scariest movie of her life.

Still shaking his sister's shoulder and yelling her name, Tanjiro turns his head and freezes. As the sight slowly burned itself into his memory, it felt as if the world, that had already began crumbling, came crashing down onto him. It felt as if someone squeezed his heart and made it stop beating for a moment or two..

There inside the hut, which was painted from the roof to the floor in crimson and smelled like battered flesh and rusted, decaying iron, was the rest of his family. His mother Kie, his younger brothers Takeo and Shigeru, and his younger sister Hanako all laid lifeless on the ground, their faces and body splattered in their own blood and their blank, pupil-less eyes burning holes into him.

At some point, Y/n and Sumiko had walked over. Tanjiro didn't care enough to look up and gaze at the expression on their faces. Most likely it was similar to his own distressed one.

And just then, he felt something. A slow, weak drum, thrumming against the skin of his sister's neck. A pulse. A faint one but a beating pulse nonetheless.

Wasting not another second, he hauled Nezuko's limp, bleeding body onto his back and got up, "What are you doing," It was meant to be a question, but Y/n's words came out more as an angry demand. Tanjiro didn't care, answering her in a hurried breath as he began running.

"Nezuko has a pulse..! I- I can still save her!" Y/n's eyes grow wider. She was still alive? Soon after Tanjiro began his descent down the mountain, Y/n followed after him and then Sumiko followed her.

"Tanjiro, wait!" Y/n called after the boy when she finally caught sight of him. She sped up as best she could with the slippery snow beneath her feet, "There's no point in doing this! She's lost too much blood!"

"Don't say that! I can still help her!" He shouts back, but his mind was elsewhere. How could this have happened? Did a bear attack them? They should be hibernating at this time of the year, but anything is possible at this point!

As he stumbled over a fallen tree, it gives Y/n the perfect opportunity to catch up to him. She hops over the wood, planting her sandals deeply into the snow so that she doesn't slip, taking large steps so that she now runs beside him. As if she was simply going through the motions, Sumiko hopped onto the log and took a huge leap forward, only stumbling a little when she landed a little ways behind the both of them.

Tanjiro was heaving at this point. The air was icy and when he inhaled, it felt as if the air transformed into little needles. The pain in his lungs only added onto the tears that were already bubbling in his eyes.

"Tanjiro! Listen to me!" As Tanjiro's pace begun to slow, so did Y/n's, "She's beyond saving! I know this is hard to accept, but you need to snap out of it and face reality!"

"No!" I won't let her die, he thinks, "I'm not giving up on her!" I refuse to sit and do nothing and let Nezuko die! I'm going to save her no matter what! "How can you give up on her so easily?"

"I'm not!" She snaps, neither of them noticing Nezuko's hand twitch and tense with life, "You're trying to run away from the inevitable! It's going to take you forever to get to the village in this weather! Hell, you'll probably pass out before you even make it halfway there!"

Slowly, Nezuko's head lifts which goes completely unnoticed, "There's still a chance! Even if it's a small one, it's better than nothing! Why are you trying so hard to—" And in that moment, Tanjiro's words are cut short as Nezuko throws her head back and starts letting out throaty growls. She grips Tanjiro by the shoulders and began rocking wildly which is all it takes for Tanjiro to slip on the snow and right off the edge of the side of the mountain.

Oh no, Tanjiro thinks before a series of screams come tumbling out of his mouth. Y/n's eyes grow wide and her hand flies out to grab at Tanjiro. She slips on the snow at the same time Sumiko jumps to Tanjiro's rescue which causes their bodies to collide roughly..

As Sumiko's body was forced in another direction, Y/n throws her arms up and over her face. Her eyes clamp shut as she fell at high speeds, and when she finally hit the snowy ground, a rush of pain shoots through her. The breath she sucks in is sharp, almost painfully so.

She lifts herself with one arm slowly, the snow that had latched itself on her clothes silently sliding off and back onto the ground which is barely noticed by Y/n as she's more focused on her other arm, specifically her throbbing wrist.

"Nezuko!" She blinks and quickly looks up, her eyes darting around until she finally spots Tanjiro and Nezuko standing a handful of steps away from her. Both seemed to have recovered from the fall quicker than she did.

"Nezuko! Are you alright?" Tanjiro calls to his sister once more. Y/n watches, but her eyes stayed trained on Nezuko. As her tattered haori slipped off her shoulders, revealing the dried blood sticking to her kimono, the girl remained motionless. Tanjiro didn't seem to care, but it bothered Y/n, especially after what just happened.

"You don't have to walk!" Tanjiro take one small step forward as he continued, "Let me carry you.." He trails off as a firm grip on his shoulder catches his attention. He look back and Y/n's standing there, looking at him with scrunched brows.

"Don't get any closer," As her eyes trail over to Nezuko, Tanjiro notices a new scent surfacing that leaves him puzzled; a scent of fear dressed in sadness, "Let's..go find Sumiko. I lost sight of her when I fell."

What? What is she saying? "But what about—"

"Forget about her!" Her voice raises with urgency and force that has Tanjiro jumping as a result. Y/n notices and takes a breath to calm down, but in doing so, it makes her trembling more apparent, both in her limbs and tone..

"Now's not the time to fight, we need to get out of here," Is all she tells him. But all it does is makes Tanjiro more and more confused. Nezuko was standing right there! She was still breathing and even standing! They have the chance to save her! Why is she acting so cold towards the situation? And..why does she seem so scared of Nezuko?

Furrowing his brows, Tanjiro's face bares a look of pained disbelief, "How can you act like Nezuko's nothing to you? To me? I.. How can you act like she isn't your sister too!" As those words echoed in her ears, Y/n loosens her grip and Tanjiro shoves it off his shoulders. He turns, running towards his sister before Y/n can grab him again.

As he naively approaches her, Y/n calls out for him once again. The last warning he got. Before he could even call her name again, Nezuko looked up, angry veins protruding from her skin, eyes gleaming with hunger, and sharp fangs baring for all to see. He could barely process the sight and before he knew it, Tanjiro was laid against the snowy ground and his hatchet was in between his sister's teeth as she forced all her strength onto him.

Y/n hadn't moved a muscle. She simply stared, wide eyed as her breathing labored. As Tanjiro and Nezuko struggled in the snow, Y/n remained unmoving. Memories flashed. Imaginary blood filled her vision until they were replaced by her very real tears. Her chest tightens and her nails dig into the skin of her other arm. The lifeless faces that were burned into her memory stared into her soul before they were replaced by the image of blood painting the snow and Tanjiro laying in the crimson art; lifeless, decaying, and staring into her with those dark, cold eyes. Her lungs begun to feel heavy in her chest and her mouth falls open. Small, quiet wheezes are sucked in along with the freezing air around her. It does little to fill the sudden emptiness in her lungs..

Meanwhile, Tanjiro stares up at his younger sister, sweating bullets despite the below-zero temperature and his eyes wide, fully showing off the fear in horrid surprised that covered his deep red pupils.

"Hey, Mister Saburo, what are demons like?"

"Demons are man-eating creatures that prowl around at night," He pulls out a futon, walking over to Y/n's sleeping form and laying it out besides her. After setting a pillow out he walks over to Sumiko, bringing the small girl into his arms and carrying her over to the futon where he tucks her in, "That's why you shouldn't walk around when it gets late."

Tanjiro's heart stills in his chest, "Nezuko's a man-eating demon? Impossible! She's been a human ever since she was born! But..she no longer has Nezuko's scent."

"But Nezuko couldn't have done this! When we found her, she was laying as if she was protecting Rokuta, and there was no blood on her mouth or hands," Nezuko's newly sharpened nails dig into Tanjiro's shoulders, feeling like knives against his skin. He grits his teeth, "There was another one.. There was one more scent!"

A small gasp slips unsuspected from Tanjiro as he watched in horror as Nezuko slowly tensed and grew in size. As she became double his size, Tanjiro's arms buckled under the newfound weight and strength. Nezuko's fangs grew an inch closer to him.

Y/n's body trembled and her tears began to build and crumble and fall in clumps down her tingling cheeks where they inevitably drop from her chin and splash on her clothes. The only thing she felt in the moment was her swallowing anxiety and the the slight stinging in the wrist she landed on earlier; one being much more intense than the other. The breath she hastily inhales grow thinner, quicker, and dries in her throat as soon as it enters..

"While I was sleeping peacefully.. You were being brutally murdered with the rest of our family. It must've hurt really badly.. You suffered greatly, didn't you?" Tanjiro's guilt knits his brows together as it strangled his chest with an iron chain. Little tears began to form along the waterline of his eyes, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you.. I'm sorry I couldn't save any of you.."

"At the very least, I wish I could save you, but you're too strong for me to push back..!" As his arms started to numb over, his now thick tears slid down his cheeks and Tanjiro screamed as loud as he could muster with his burning lungs..

"Nezuko! Hang in there, Nezuko!" His voice cracked. He shakes his head as he keeps eye contact as best he can through his blurred vision, "Don't give in! You gotta hang in there!"

Soft, quick feet plant their steps into the snow, crunching it in a fast succession and nearing the dire situation completely unsuspected.

"Don't turn into a demon! Please, stay strong! Hang in there!" An aching pain seeps into his poor bones. His arms'll give out soon, "Please! You gotta hang in there, Nezuko!"

A big tear drops onto Tanjiro's cheek. He gasps once again and more tears drop onto him and slide down his cheek. Nezuko, with humane confliction soften her once slitted gaze, stared down at her older brother with big, gleaming wet tears dropping from her pretty pink eyes like a leaking faucet.

A figure slowly appears in the distance. Despite his fast approach towards them, no one seems to notice him. In a blink of eye, a gust of wind blows through Y/n's hair as he passes by her and leaps into the air.

Nezuko looks back, finally noticing the new presence from above, but she's not able to react before her older brother grabs her by the throat and pushes her over. He rolls over and seconds before he rolls again, gleaming blue metal slices away a portion of his hair in an instant.

The blade collides with the ground with an intense force despite the snow cushioning it. It blows a gust of wind and snow towards the siblings and the two go tumbling together until Tanjiro's back hits a tree with a harsh thud. Y/n's heart stills in her chest as her hair blows in the wind behind her, every part of her body tingling intensely from both the cold and the overwhelming feeling that clouded every inch of her being until a few moments ago.

Tanjiro can feel Nezuko's body shrinking back to it's normal size, but he's more focused on other things. As he opens his eyes, his attacker is revealed. There, standing tall with piercing blue eyes darkened like the deepest depths of the ocean, was a man with raven black hair.

"..Who's that?"

As the man locks eyes with Tanjiro, Tanjiro immediately breaks it. His eyes drifting down to the katana in the man's hands; the words 'DESTROY DEMONS' engraved on the side of the shining blade. Is he some kind of swordsman?

"Why are you protecting it?" The blue eyed swordsman asked in a blank tone of voice. Tanjiro sits up as he asks this, holding his sister close to his chest.

"She's my sister!" He yells, "My younger sister!" As those words leave his lips, Nezuko seems to awaken from her temporary unconsciousness. And as soon as she does, she immediately attempts to flee, growling up a storm as her brother held onto to her shoulders for dear life and called her name. The swordsman's eyes narrow at the sight.

"You call that thing your sister?" He asks simply with not a hint of emotion on his face to give away how he's feeling. Tanjiro looks at him pitifully before looking away to focus on his sister once again. A mistake on his part.

The swordsman suddenly lunges forward. Tanjiro gasps, closes his eyes, and immediately drops down to cover his sister with his body. Alas, as his eyes opens, she's gone from his grasp. He looks around in a panic. His eyes finally settle on the sight of the swordsman standing a couple feet away from him, holding his growling sister's wrist behind her back with one hand.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro calls as he stands to his feet, "Don't move!" The swordsman orders, his voice loud but even. Tanjiro has no choice but to comply.

"My job is to slay demons. Needless to say, I'm going to decapitate your sister," He speaks plainly. Tanjiro's heart feels as if it'll beat right out of his chest at this point.

"Hold on!" Tanjiro hurriedly shouts, "Nezuko hasn't killed anyone!" As he speaks, Nezuko thrashes around, her hair swaying wildly, "Back at my house, there was another scent that I've never smelled before! Whoever that smell belonged to is probably the one who killed my family! It wasn't Nezuko!"

His voice dips, "..I don't know why she's turned into something like this, but.." He takes a step forward, his voice raising again, "..But still!"

"It's quite simple. Her wounds were exposed to a demon's blood. That's why she turned into one. That's how man-eating demons multiply." The swordsman states.

"Nezuko would never eat humans!" Tanjiro blurts out, "You've gotta be joking. Just now, she was about to devour you."

"You're wrong! I'm sure she knows who I am!"

"I won't let her hurt anyone!"

"I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human! I swear, I'll heal her!"

Word after word spews from Tanjiro's mouth in succession. Promise after promise slipping from his lips only to be shot down by the swordsman's finishing voice as he says, "She can't be healed. Once you become a demon, you can never go back to being human."

"I'll find a way no matter what! So please, don't kill her!"

"I'll hunt down the one who slaughtered my family!" As Tanjiro shouts and the wind picks up, the swordsman raises his sword, "I'll make everything right! Please!" The swordsman tilts it downwards, the tip of his blade nearing Nezuko's neck with a threatening glow to it's tip, "Don't do it!"

Y/n's eyes keep trailing from the swordsman to Nezuko to Tanjiro then back to the swordsman. At last, she can feel the air entering her lungs. She breathes in and out slowly. That insufferable suffocating feeling has just about disappeared. She bites down on her tongue and her face scrunches, her eyes narrowing with frustration. She wants to run, just like she did last time, she wants to flee from the situation.

No, at the very least, she should get Tanjiro out of here. Yeah, that's the least she could.. Huh?

As her eyes drift over to Tanjiro once again, she watches as he drops to his knees, hands planted in the snow as he bowed his head to the ground and speaks in a loud, choked up voice, "I'm begging you! Please..! Don't kill my little sister!" He practically sobs out, "Please, don't do it! I'm begging you.."

A moment of silence passes. Y/n's eyes look over at the swordsman. He hasn't moved, completely frozen in place with his blade pointed at Nezuko. Another moment passes. Y/n notices the swordsman drop his head, his unruly bangs falling over his eyes like a sliced up curtain. His jaw locks and forces his teeth together as they grind and create a low, uncomfortable cracking sound. His body begins to tremble and for just a moment, Y/n mistook it for sorrow until he suddenly looked back up, the dark coloring of his irises lighting up with fury as he starts shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Never leave yourself so defenseless in front of an enemy!" Both Tanjiro and Y/n's bodies jump a little from the sheer power of his voice, the pure rage that coated it, "Stop that pathetic groveling! If it were even the least bit effective, your family wouldn't be dead!"

"How can a weakling like you, who bows down when it's time to fight, who can't take initiative.. How can somebody like yourself cure his little sister or even find the enemy?"

"The demons might know a way to cure your sister!" He swings Nezuko forward with force, still holding onto her with one hand tightly, "But don't you think for even a second that a demon will respect your whining or begging or your will or wishes! Naturally, I have no respect for you, either! That's reality! "

"Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier? Was that supposed to protect her? Why didn't you swing that hatchet? Why did you show your back to me?" At this point, Tanjiro's sitting up on his knees, staring with surprise reflected in his teary eyes. The swordsman redirects his blade at last only to aggressively point it at Tanjiro.

"All those blunders led to your sister's capture!" Nezuko's growls become all the more hostile and persistent as she begins kicking her feet around which causes the snow under her feet to fly every which way, "I could've skewered her and you along with that girl over there and been done with all three of you!"

"Don't cry. Don't despair. Those things will do you no good. Your family is dead and your sister has become a demon. Your heart is crushed. I know your pain, how you must want to cry out.. If I'd come half a day sooner, your family might have survived. ..But there's no way to turn back time.."

"Fill your heart with anger. Strong, pure anger that cannot be quelled. Anger that becomes the unwavering force that will drive your limbs," The swordsman's sword raises into position again, "With such fragile resolve like yours, you can't protect your sister or heal her.." He slowly pulls his arm back, "..And weakness and empty promises certainly cannot avenge your family!"

"No!" With one final yell from Tanjiro, the swordsman forces Nezuko back and stabs the chilling steel of his blade into the soft flesh of her shoulder. She lets out a painful cry and that seems to be the last straw for her older brother.

"Stop!" He yells before throwing a pebble. The swordsman retracts his sword and deflects it with a simple flick of his wrist. Immediately, Tanjiro gets up and as the wind picks up and blocks his view of the swordsman with the thick, scattering snow, he makes a run for his hatchet. Y/n stays sat, rooted in place.

Running around, bypassing the countless trees around him, Tanjiro chucks another pebble before disappearing by a tree. The swordsman sidesteps and the pebble hits the tree behind him. With a loud battle cry, Tanjiro charges at the swordsman, his hands at his side, ready to swing. Y/n simply watches, dumbfounded, frozen in place in the snow.

"A simple, head-on attack driven solely by emotion.. What a fool!" Clenching his teeth, the swordsman raises his sword and swings down. His hilt hits Tanjiro's back with excruciating force. Tanjiro bites his tongue to hold back a scream as his vision blurs. Y/n merely watches as he hits the ground, his body limp, unconscious. Nezuko stares at her brother laid out in the snow, mouth agape.

The swordsman straightens his posture, his arm falling to his side, "Where's his hatchet?" He thought to himself and as if to answer his question, a whirring sound makes him look up. His heart skips a beat and he moves his head just in time for the hatchet to hurl into the tree behind him with a thud. A moment of silence passes. Both Y/n and the swordsman share a similar expression of surprise as their eyes both lock onto the hatchet that's stuck into the tree, a literal inch away from the swordsman's head..

"Just before he hid behind the tree, he hurled the rock towards me and, at the same time, tossed the hatchet into the air," The swordsman's eyes pan over to the boy laid out before him, "He hid his hands as he pretended to attack so I wouldn't realize he was unarmed."

"He knew he couldn't beat him, so his plan was to bring him down after he struck him. But.." Y/n's uninjured hand balls into a fist, paying no mind to the freezing chunk of snow in her hand, "He failed.."

At that moment, Nezuko lets out a particularly violent growl. Having completely thrown off his guard, the swordsman lets go and Nezuko immediately kicks him away. The swordsman quickly recovers. Nezuko lunges for her brother.

"Damn it.." The swordsman thinks, "No, Tanjiro!" Y/n cries out, "She'll devour him!" They both think.

"Nezuko.."

Sliding on the snow, Nezuko moves in front of her brother, crouching down. Flashing her fangs and growling threateningly. Arms up and protecting him from the swordsman.

"It wasn't Nezuko! She'd never eat humans!"

Nezuko launches herself off the snow and sprints towards the blank-faced swordsman, He jumps back, "Long ago, someone once said the same thing, only to be devoured soon after.."

"When a demon is starving, it will even eat its parents and siblings because they need the energy. I've seen it countless times," The swordsman's eyes train on Nezuko's kimono, which is stained by her own drying blood, while he dodges her sharp nails that claw at him, "She's wounded. It costs her energy to heal those wounds. Not to mention the strength it took to transform into a demon.." Nezuko swipes at the swordsman's face only to miss as he spins and elbows her in the stomach. He then forcibly palms her in the chest causing her to stumble back, "She must be severely starved at this moment and wants to eat human flesh as soon as possible.."

"Yet, she protected him, turned her anger to me, and even intimidated me."

Jumping high into the air and flipping into the tree behind the swordsman, Nezuko pushes herself off the wood using her feet. She hurls downwards, nails ready to claw open whatever part of the swordsman she can get her hands on. The swordsman steps back and slides his sword into the sheath on his hips, "These siblings might be different from others.."

And with that, the swordsman lands a firm chop on the side of Nezuko's neck. Her body twitches before falling limp and right into the snow. Y/n's heart drops at the sight of both siblings laid out on the ground. A second or two passes and the swordsman's gaze falls on her. She sucks in an icy breath and blinks; the swordsman has disappeared from her sight.

In a panic, she whips her head in every direction. Before she can look back though, a pain shoots through her neck and her entire body goes numb. As her vision blurs, her eyes look up to gaze at her perpetrator. The last sight she sees before everything goes black is the strange mismatched design of the swordsman's haori..

A loud gasp slips from Y/n's lips as her body jolts up. The sound of her uneven, quickened breathing is the only noise that she can hear. Slowly, she opens her eyes. It's blurry at first, but it fades in no time and the familiar sight before her leaves her puzzled.

She looks around. There are futons of varying colors laid out on the floor, specifically six aside from the one she's in. They're striking patterns catch her attention. They remind her of Tanjiro and his siblings. Speaking of which..

There's no sign of anyone anywhere. Not the swordsman or Tanjiro or Nezuko. She seems to be in the hut of the Kamado Residence but..everything seems fine. There's no blood, nothing's destroyed, no bodies to be found..

She finally notices. Her wrist feels..fine. She looks down. It doesn't seem to be swelling or irritated anymore. She's sure she sprained it or worse when she fell on it earlier. Earlier.. Did earlier even happen? Was it all a nightmare?

She breathes in slowly and closes her eyes once again. Images flash one by one. Everyone falling from the cliff, Tanjiro being attacked by the newly transformed Nezuko, the swordsman, the corpses— Y/n sucks in a particularly sharp breath. Best not think about that..

"Even here, you still run away."

Y/n's eyes shoot open. She sees herself staring her down, scrutinizing her, judging her.

"When will you realize that you can't escape fate? That simply running away does nothing for you?" The person speaks in her voice, but the strong tone they're using breaks away the illusion. This isn't her. That much was obvious, but it feels..odd. It was as if this wasn't just some weird hallucination of herself..

"Tell me, are you content with how everything has turned out? The innocent having been tortured and slaughtered and the lone survivor being forced into a world he was never supposed to be apart of in the first place? Surely it eats away at you."

"Who are you?"

"Earlier, when that boy was attacked by his sister, why did you sit there and watch? Why didn't you jump to his rescue? Were you hoping that his sister would kill and eat him?"

"No, I—"

"When that swordsman attacked the siblings and threatened to kill them both, why didn't you intervene? Why didn't you immediately jump to the boy's aid? Why did you allow him, a mere civilian, to risk his life to protect a demon? Why did you let your guard down? Why did you let that swordsman knock you out?"

"That's not my fault! Tanjiro was the one—!"

"When will you stop blaming your own shortcomings on everyone else? When will you realize that being a coward will only present you with the same, devastating result? How can you feel okay going on with your life when you have the potential to save thousands from this cruel fate?"

"I can feel your anger. Thatpure, boiling resentment that stems from your own sorrow and hatred of being so helpless in your current situation. You've felt this way in the past but decided to do nothing with it. Now that the chance has risen again, embrace it. Never let this feeling fade. Let it grow into this insatiable fury and let it drive you from this point forward.��Use it to fight."

"Because in the end, when you're fighting for the sake of everything you have left to hold dear, this growing rage is going to be the only thing you will be able to rely on."

"And that's what he told me," Tanjiro said, his hand intertwined with Nezuko, who now seemed much calmer and has a bamboo muzzle wrapped around her mouth.

Y/n's skeptical gaze and scrunched brows gives away her thoughts before she's able to speak them, "So a random guy with a sword tells you to go to some random mountain and meet this stranger you know nothing about and you're just going to do as he says?" Her tone of voice speaks every insult she doesn't say. Nevertheless, Tanjiro's mind doesn't waver for a second.

"I know how it sounds, but I want to trust him," He says, "Even if we got off on the wrong foot, he seems like a nice guy."

"He almost killed you."

"And I'm sure he had his reason behind why he did what he did," Tanjiro raises his free arm and puts his soft, cool hand on Y/n's equally freezing shoulder. He decides to ignore how she slightly tenses under his touch, "I understand that you're worried about us, but I need to do this.. For Nezuko's sake..I need to take this risk."

"I promise I'll stay as safe as I can and as soon as I get there, I'll find a way to send you letters—"

"I'm going with you."

"Huh?" Tanjiro pauses. Y/n places her hand atop of Tanjiro's and removes it from her shoulder, giving it a squeeze of affirmation as her eyes drift away. Her sights landing on the graves of their late family lined up in a neat row.

"I said, I'm going with you," She repeats, "After everything that happened, it would bother me to let you go on alone. Especially with that reckless intuition guiding you.." She mutters. Tanjiro seems shocked at first, but it's soon replaced by a wide smile.

"If that's what you truly want, then I won't stop you," He says, his hand squeezing hers back. His eyes sliding to look behind her, where their eleven year old sister lays against the hut, unconscious.

"What are we going to do with Sumiko? It'd be wrong to make her go with us.." As Tanjiro says this, Y/n walks over to her, "She'll travel with us for now until I can find a place to drop her off," She responds. Her hand grabbing Sumiko's arm and throws it over her shoulder before doing the same to her other arm, pulling the girl onto her back and getting up with ease. Tanjiro waits for Y/n to walk back up to him before turning towards the slope of the snowy mountain..

"Hey, Y/n.." Tanjiro calls.

"What is it now?"

"I'm sorry for what I said before, about you not caring about Nezuko. You noticed before I did, right? You were trying to protect me and I.." As he trails off, his expression grow somber. Y/n takes the expression in before looking back towards the slope.

"I already forgot about it. You should focus on the journey ahead," She says, but Tanjiro doesn't seem satisfied. Noticing this, Y/n takes the first steps down the mountain, cutting the conversation short and leaving him no choice but to follow after her with Nezuko in silence..

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

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intheclearblueskies · 11 months ago

Text

How You Met

| Masterlist |

Tanjiro Kamado:

You met in the Final Selection.

He saved you from a demon, although neither of you ever got each other's names. You survived and went on to become a Slayer with the others.

Nezuko Kamado:

You met in Asakusa.

Well, maybe not met, per se, but you accidentally bumped into the Kamado siblings and apologized. You offered to buy them both some food, but Tanjiro politely declined and they kept going.

Zenitsu Agatsuma:

You met shortly after you got your first assignments as Slayers.

You were on your way to a village when you ran into Zenitsu, who immediately noticed that you were a girl and started groveling on his knees before you, begging you to marry him.

You tried to push him off, but he kept at it until he recognized you as one of the ones from the Selection. He then started begging you to protect him until you knocked him out with the handle of your sword and fled.

Inosuke Hashibira:

You met during the battle with Kyogai.

You were one of the ones who came as backup, although you mostly kept outside the battle due to the two boys rushing in immediately and leaving you on standby (your exact words were 'This is total bullshit', but Tanjiro pleaded for you to stay back in case they needed fresh backup. You couldn't say no). You helped guard Nezuko's box when Inosuke barged out of the house, adamant to fight.

You tried your best to fend him off, but you unfortunately sustained a nasty shoulder wound from his sword and collapsed, leaving Zenitsu to guard Nezuko alone.

Giyuu Tomioka:

You met during one of his visits to a Wisteria house.

Your family dedicated themselves to helping the Pillars, although you secretly detested them for their general behavior (Sanemi cussed you out when you accidentally spilled a pail of water on him, Tengen's tastes were a bit expensive, and both Obanai and Muichiro were too cold). So far, the only nice ones were Mitsuri, the love pillar, and shinobu, the insect pillar, although Shinobu's aura kinda freaked you out.

But one day, an injured man with unruly black hair in a ponytail came to your door. The water pillar, it seemed, a taciturn man whose name was Giyuu. You were wary around him, but he proved to be kind enough that when he left the next morning, you hoped he would come around again.

Kyojuro Rengoku:

You met during a demon attack on your village.

A rogue demon was going around killing and eating. It nearly got to your family, but luckily the flame pillar Kyojuro arrived and killed it just in time.

Your family vowed to repay the favor someday. You were so impressed with his exuberant demeanor and his moves that you were determined to meet him again.

Muichiro Tokito:

You met on the way to a hot spring.

You had just finished your job for the day and were on your way to relax in a well-known spring. On the way, you accidentally bumped into the mist pillar. You apologized, and he merely kept walking without acknowledging you.

It irked you, and you vowed that if you ever met him again, you'd give him a piece of your mind.

Shinobu Kocho:

You met at the Butterfly Estate.

You were badly wounded after a fight with one of the more powerful demons, and you were rushed off to the estate. While you healed, you met your superior, the insect pillar. She was rather kind to you during your stay, and when you were healed, you gave her a box of dango from your home village as a thank-you.

Gyomei Himejima:

You met during one of his vists to a Wisteria House.

You had grown rather curious about the taciturn man, and so when he visited, you went to his room and offered to talk while you both ate. Your parents were wary of it, but he didn't mind, so you two sat and talked for hours.

You were surprised to learn that he was blind, but he intrigued you with his stories. When he left the next morning, you hoped to see him again.

Sanemi Shinazugawa:

You met during a battle with a demon.

The battle against Lower Moon Six was a little tougher than you anticipated, but right at the last moment, Sanemi came in and stole your kill, slicing the demon's head off and winning the fight.

When you complimented him on a job well done, he curtly answered, "Tch, whatever. Don't be so damn careless next time; that demon nearly cut off your arm."

He was right, of course, but his tone and rude phrasing seriously pissed you off. You sent him off with a middle finger before going off to sulk back at your residence.

Akaza:

You were walking home late at night when you realized you were being watched. You drew your katana and looked for the source, but you could only find a pair of yellow eyes watching from a rooftop. It thoroughly creeped you out, but you weren't looking for a fight, so you sped up your trek.

Douma:

Your meeting was brief, but it stuck with you.

You were the student of the retired Ice pillar just yesterday, and while you were running an errand for them they were attacked by a Kizuki and killed. You came back to their body, and for the second time, you were an orphan. Now with nowhere to go, you stumbled upon a cult and a man with a plastic smile who called himself their leader. You politely refused his offer to stay, only meaning to stay the night before finding your hometown to make a new life. You left the next morning with some new friendships, food and a little more money, but his false endearing smile burned itself into your mind. You vowed to meet him again when you got your life on track.

Kokushibo:

Your family was sort of famous for being one of the first branches of the Wisteria family, the ones responsible for sheltering slayers and helping them out. Your ancestor was one of the ones helped out by the first slayers (and one of your paternal grandmothers became a Breath of Ice user -- a long-lost art now, only cultivated by one of your aunts).

You were now a slayer yourself and were on a mission when your squad was ambushed. One of them started screaming about an 'Upper Kizuki' and begged for someone to call for a pillar before they were killed. You were hidden in a knot of a tree, watching breathlessly as this mysterious person (a tall demon with long, unruly black hair in a ponytail) gracefully struck down your squad members.

Just as you were about to leave your hiding spot, you caught his eyes -- all six of them, to be exact. The sight of his unblinking, cold yellow irises made you faint from fear.

... Hours later, you were awoken by a worried Kanroji as she and Obanai looked over the area. Most of your companions were gone, probably to be devoured, only leaving you.

Muzan Kibutsuji:

You were going about your night as a shop employee in Asakusa when a handsome-looking man in a suit and fedora walked in. He seemed gravitated to something, going straight for the back, where you kept your stuffed animals.

He picked out a small stuffed rabbit and walked up to the counter. He flashed you a charming smile and handed it over.

"How cute," you commented with a small smile of your own as you rang him up. "That'll be 1,200 yen."

He pulled out a coinpurse and picked out some coins. He handed the correct amount to you and put it back in his pocket.

You nodded, handing him back the rabbit. "Thank you, sir. Have a wonderful evening."

"Thank you," he spoke for the first time, his deep voice resonating with you and making your cheeks go pink.

Even a while after he left, you stood there stunned. Secretly, you hoped he would come back again.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni:

By your 21st birthday you had completely given up on getting married; you were still trying to find a suitable match, and your parents were still losing hope in you. Your father had hoped that someone would want to marry you, but here you were: still single and depressed. What a mood.

One day, a demon attacked your village and managed to separate you from your parents. You screamed, bracing yourself for the killing blow... but suddenly, the demon was struck down by a blade, just inches away from you. You watched in awestruck horror as it began to disintegrate, and a man with long black hair in a ponytail stood before you, his hard eyes turning softer as he beheld you.

He made sure you were alright before bringing you back to your worried parents. Your father offered anything as a thank-you, but the man simply said he didn't want anything. He left after politely declining tea, leaving you gazing pensively at his back (and trying to ignore the stunned stares your parents were giving you).

"...shit, he's hot. Hope Dad doesn't try to set me up with him, boy would that be embarrassing."

#kny scenarios #kny x reader #kny x female reader #female reader #tanjiro kamado #nezuko kamado #zenitsu agatsuma #inosuke hashibira #tomioka giyuu #kyojuro rengoku #muichiro tokito #kocho shinobu #gyomei himejima #sanemi shinazugawa #akaza #douma #kokushibo #muzan kibutsuji #yoriichi tsugikuni

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astoldbyaja · 4 months ago

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The Orisha and the Hashira Part 2 - Ch.1

Sequel to The Orisha and the Hashira

Ayo finds herself at Muzan's mercy as she does what is needed in order to survive and get Femi out of the Infinity Castle at all costs and get back to her beloved mate. Meanwhile Bambaataa, Kyojuro and the rest of the Hashira must put together a plan and fast to find and save both Orisha before Orisha Ogun steps in and takes matters into his own hands which would lead to the annihilation of the entire Demon Slayer Corps.

WARNING: MDNI 18+ Rape/non-con, smut heavy smut, mature content.

Whispers spread through the foggy mist of the land between realms.

“Two Orisha have been captured.”

“Two missing by one demon.”

“One demon that created all demons.”

“Liability.”

“Defenses are down.”

“Not enough self-portraits.”

“Who is to blame?”

“Who is responsible?”

“Those that hunt the demons.”

“Human demon slayers.”

“Demon Slayer Corps.”

“Weak.”

“Pathetic.”

“We want blood.”

“We want war.”

“Kill them all.”

“Kill the demons and the slayers.”

“Retrieve the heart and the water.”

“I warned you all of the threat of Muzan Kibutsuji. Now he has two Orisha. If the heart becomes a demon or even dies, no more Orisha can be reborn.”

“We will have war.”

“I will have blood.”

“Send Ogun. Send the plague amongst all of Japan.”

“Bring them to their knees.”

“They are not one of us.”

“Not one of us… Not one of us… not one of us!”

It had been a full seven days since Ayo and Femi were taken and the fact their energy could not be sensed in the world alerted all the Orisha.

Bambaataa made sure to be as far away from the Ubuyashiki manor as he remained standing in a field. The pink rift opened across from him and slowly a large figure began to march out. A man, much older than the earth Orisha approached. His head was clean shaven, and his beard was thick and full peppered with white hair. His eyes were black as the night and his black robes showed the power he held. Bambaataa just stared as the man approached him, then walked past him and stared at the sky for a moment. The rift remained open and now it was just the two of them.

The air was tense all around them and Bambaataa knew not to speak.

“So where are they?” he asked, lowly voice deep, drenched with authority. Bambaataa closed his eyes slowly unsure of how to exactly answer a question the larger Orisha already knew. He finally turned around with a glare.

“Where are my children!” he roared, his voice echoing across the land. Bambaataa looked in the direction of his father who approached him with a crazed look in his eyes.

“Utata-”

“DO NOT SPEAK!” he snarled as he began to turn and pace about, his eyes taking in every ounce of the land before him. His energy channels open. He could feel the presence of every human in Japan. “You are the oldest, you are MY first born, and you lose not just my young son, but my only daughter as well to a pathetic demon!”

Bambaataa scowled.

“Ayo sacrificed herself to get Femi back!” he argued. Ogun stood before him now, his large hand gripping his son’s chin hard causing him to let out the smallest sound of discomfort.

“That was not her choice to make! I don’t think you realize the position you have put me in, son, the position we are all in. You three were sent here to do a simple task, and now two Orisha are off somewhere held captive by demons, and I was sent here to clean up the mess you put yourself in.” he explained. Bambaataa could feel the grip in his father’s hand, and it was harsh enough that if he were a human his jaw would have broken easily.

“Let me fix this, Utata.” he said. Ogun laughed dryly.

“You cannot fix this. The demon who has my children has existed even when your mother and I were in chains. I know his power and I know the humans who fight against him are no match for him. Uncultured swine, all of them.” he spat letting Bambaataa go and turning from him. He took a few steps and looked around. “This land hasn’t changed, that much I know. I see you came here to meet me alone rather than allow me to speak with Kagaya Ubuyashiki in his territory.”

Bambaataa looked down with a slight wince.

“You think I would have held him responsible for all that has happened, killed him and then kill the pathetic insects he has called his children.” he said. Bambaataa was quiet knowing that his father did not want to hear a response. Ogun turned to him and nodded. “Well, you’re right. That’s exactly what I would have done. I would have torn his cursed skin off his body, then I would do the same for the rest of his blood line then that would have counted as penance for the position he too has put me in. Then I would kill all his pathetic Hashira as well for simply existing on this planet long enough to lay claim to my daughter!”

Bambaataa knew that conversation was coming. His father knew his sister was mated, and he knew he was not going to approve. He would never approve. Ogun shook his head holding up his fist.

“Japan has caused our family nothing but pain since our ancestors were brought here in chains. I will have retribution for this grave offense that has fallen upon our tribe.” he said holding up his hand and curling his fingers into a tight fist.

“Utata please… let me try and find Ayo and Femi and kill the demon known as Kibutsuji.” he said, his tone almost close to pleading. Ogun looked at his son for a moment before turning and placing his hands behind his back.

“I will give you six weeks to bring Ayo and Femi back. If you fail, I will bring a plague onto Japan that is so severe that the suffering will live on for as long as Japan is called such and the very first to be infected will be the Demon Slayer Corps. If Ubuyashiki is not dead from his curse by that time, then he will be the very first to feel the plague’s effects, then his Hashira, then the rest of the pathetic humans in the corps and slowly all of Japan will feel it. Then when the sun goes down, I will bring an even swifter punishment on the demons themselves. No one will know peace once I am finished with this land, and this pain will not stop until Femi and Ayo are presented. You have weakened yourself by showing too much mercy toward humans. I should hope you’ll come back to your senses before I have to come back here in six weeks to do what you couldn’t.” he said and without saying anything else he began to walk toward the pink rift.

Bambaataa winced letting his head fall as he felt his father’s aura disappear from the field as he disappeared. Ogun, the Orisha of disease and famine. His power grows from sickness and death, the very thing that plagued many slaves on the ships they were chained to. He need only to touch a living creature and their body decays. He was the opposite of his mother, the Orisha of love.

Ogun was always a strict man, and an even stricter father. He has been the cause of many plagues that have occurred throughout history because the black energy in death gave him such power. Bambaataa finally looked up at the sky.

“Ayo, I hope you know what you’re doing.” he said. The Orisha journeyed back to the Ubuyashiki manor and looked around at the place. He could feel his own anger rising. They should have never come here. They should have never come here. This war against the demons in Japan was not their business and they made it their business! And now look what’s happened!

It's their fault, it’s Ubuyashiki’s fault! He wanted to blame the man, the sick man who took up this crusade against demons! How easy it would be to walk in and just kill the man right now! But he knew that would set off a chain of events like no other. He’d be spending most of his time fighting and killing the Hashira and then that would push him further from his task at finding his little brother and sister.

“Bambaataa.”

The older Orisha looked to the side watching as Kyojuro and Tengen approached. The two looked seemingly calm, but Bambaataa could feel the pure tension radiating off of the flame Hashira. Ever since Ayo left, the positive energy around the bug-eyed man was gone, morphed into something dark.

“You have returned from your meeting with your tribesmen. Will they offer help?” Tengen asked. Bambaataa looked at the man, the feelings gone from his eyes.

“We have six weeks to find both Femi and Ayo or things will get significantly worse, and it will not only be Kibutsuji that you have to worry about.” he said before turning, leaving the two with looks of concern.

Kyojuro turned, crossing his arms and looking at the ground. He felt so helpless, and he couldn’t believe he let his love go off on such a dangerous mission.

“I shouldn’t have let her go.” He said. Tengen looked down at his friend.

“Don’t do that to yourself. Ayo was going to go after her brother no matter what any of us said or did. You know that.” he said. Kyojuro closed his eyes and just shook his head.

“I feel her… in here.” he said placing his hand over his chest. “It’s faint, but that warm feeling I always felt when she was here, is still there, like it’s still calling me- trying to guide me back to her.” he said. Kyojuro knew ever since the first time he looked upon Ayo’s face, the deep, sensual look in her eyes, had ensnared him. Ever since he held her body close to his, protecting her from the cold, a warm inside him was lit, it was not like anything he had ever felt before. But he knew that no matter how close or how far Ayo was, he felt that flame, that warmth. When she is close, his body is ignited, and when she is far, the flame dims just a bit, but it is still there.

When he fought Akaza and felt he was going to die, he felt that flame grow as if it were his soul telling him that she was coming. And now that flame is still there inside him, clawing at him as if it wanted to rip from his chest and guide him to where she was.

Tengen placed his hand firmly on the man’s shoulder a look of determination on his chest.

“Then use that feeling and let it guide you back into her arms! We will find her, and we will cut down any demon or upper moon who stands in our way!” he said with a flashy tone. Kyojuro looked at the man’s confident face and nodded.

“I will find her!” he said with confidence.

Ayo’s POV

I stood outside on the engawa, staring up at the dark skies and closing my eyes quietly.

I felt no wind, no life, nothing in this realm.

“Ayo, you finally came to me.” Muzan said with an amused smirk.

“Where is my brother?” I asked.

“Ayo!” I hear the scared voice of my brother. I turned to see Femi standing across from me, but he was held in place by a blonde-haired demon who smiled almost happily.

“Femi!” I called out as I tried to stand. However, I felt immense pressure over my body, and I felt the feeling leave my legs making me drop to my feet. I groaned at the pressure that I felt weighing down on my body. Muzan chuckled.

“There is no water in this realm. Your abilities are useless here.” he said wickedly. I growled looking at my brother and then at him.

“You said if I gave myself up, you’d let him go.” I said. Muzan chuckled even more.

“And you actually believed I would be true to my words?” he asked. I actually knew he wouldn’t. I would never trust a demon to be true to their words ever. “No, I think I will keep you both here. You both will play a key role in the events that are to come. Then it will only be a matter of time before your older brother joins us as well.”

“Bambaataa will never join you.” I snarled trying to fight the pulse in my legs so I could stand. Muzan smirked.

“Who knows, after having both his beloved his siblings here, it may be quite easy to convince your brother to reunite with his family. He is playing on a losing team; he must know that.” he said. I growled at his words. Muzan could see the pure rage in my eyes, and he smirked.

“Doma will be in charge of your brother until you both can behave. Until I know you can be trusted, this will be the last time either of you will see each other.” he said. The blonde demon chuckled.

“Oh, how exciting! Thank you, my lord. I will cherish this gift.” he said placing his hand on Femi’s head and I yelled in frustration.

“Let him go, do what you want with me, but let him go!” I snapped. Piercing red eyes were before me already as a hand gripped my face hard.

“Oh, I plan to do whatever I want with you Ayo. You will obey without question and if you don’t then I will rip your brother’s heart out of his chest and make you eat it.” he snarled. I glared at his words feeling my entire body tighten.

There truly is no water in this realm, and I would need to store all the water I could in order to keep up some of my senses. This castle was a maze, I noted, when I was allowed to move about it. There was no where I could go that Muzan did not see.

I made no moves at all. I let my hand slide up over my chest, over my heart and I felt it beating beneath my skin. I could feel Kyojuro still. I felt a cool sensation moving about me when thinking of him. I would not deny I was afraid, but I would do what needed to be done. I needed to get Femi, and I will save him.

“Nakime informs me that you haven’t been eating.” I hear the low purr of Muzan’s voice. He was close and I slowly let my head lull forward. “Is the food not to your liking? I have tasked the servants into getting specific foods imported from your country so that you would feel comfortable here.”

He sounded so genuine and that scared me, but the fact he truly did bring me fruits and meats from the Mother Continent, terrified me. Why would he go to such lengths?

“It is hard to have an appetite when your loved ones are in danger.” I said finally turning to face the demon. Muzan smirked.

“Young Femi is doing quite well in Doma’s care. I hear his cult has taken a liking to him. I hear the boy paints very well.” he said. Keep it together. Femi would never paint for a demon unless he were threatened with something causing harm to his loved ones. But they don’t know to combine blood with a painting. This could be harmless.

“I simply wish to see my brother, to hold him.” I said. Muzan tilted his head some watching me as if amused.

“And what will you offer in return for my generosity of seeing him?” he asked. I looked down some and gave a shrug.

“I will eat the food you bring me.” I said. Not that I would trust it. But I couldn’t weaken myself now while Femi is here and in danger. Muzan didn’t look very moved by my words.

“No, you will have to do better than that.” he said approaching me with a calm and collective stride. Yet his eyes watched me like a predator watching its prey. His body was calm, but those eyes were feral.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You will share my bed and do your part in birthing a new demon for me.” he said.

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sugurumybeloved · 4 months ago

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⤷Accidents happen!

────────────────

⠀𔓕 synopsis - You and your s/o plan to go out but you accidentally ruin their outfit.. oops.

chars: sanemi s., giyuu t., muichiro t., kyojuro r., obanai i., gyomei h., shinobu k., mitsuri k., tanjiro k., and inosuke h.

pairings: kny characters x gn reader (only female on Mitsuri's part)

warnings: none <3

felt like posting today hehe

#lia cooks!#kny smau #kny x y/n #giyuu tomioka #rengoku kyojuro #muichiro tokito #obanai iguro #sanemi shinazugawa #mitsuri kanroji #gyomei himejima #shinobu kocho #mutuals?

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zikkytheblicky · 10 months ago

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♡︎ you can call me zikky or any pet names if you prefer. I’m black and Jamaican— pronouns are he/him/they/them/theirs i’m transgender and bisexual !!

(REMAKE.)

⊹ FANDOMS ⊹

ও jjk (satoru gojo, suguru geto, kento nanami, toji zen’in, yuta okkutsu, kenjaku as geto, ryomen sukuna, masamichi yaga, kiyotaka ijichi, toge inumaki, aoi todo)

ꔛ csm (denji, aki hayakawa, kishibe, hirofumi yoshida, young kishibe)

✦ astv (miles 42, hobie, miguel o’hara, spider noir)

⊹ demon slayer (tanjiro kamado, kyojuro rengoku, inosuke hashibara, sanemi shinazugawa, tengen uzui, giyu tomioka, obanai iguro, gyomei himejima, kokushibo, muzan kibutsuji, akaza, kagaya ubuyashiki, doma, gyutaro)

★ kpop groups (stray kids n SEVENTEEN)

(such little fandoms ik!! i don’t watch a lot of things/remember what i watch , sorry !!)

⊹ DNI LIST ⊹

-homophobes, transphobes, racists, antisemitics, zionists, trolls, isnotreal supporters, dsmp stans/fans, female readers (this includes SHE/THEY, SHE/HER, SHE/XE/THEY, etc.), people who sexualize itadori, sexists, pedophiles, rapists, sex offenders.

⊹ i WILL write

black male reader

feminine t!m/m reader chubby black male reader

trans black male reader

trans chubby black male reader

pre top surgery black male reader

pre top surgery chubby black male reader

pre bottom surgery black male reader

pre bottom surgery chubby black male reader

male reader

chubby male reader

Pre top surgery male reader

pre top surgery chubby male reader

pre bottom surgery male reader

pre bottom surgery chubby male reader

submissive t!m/m reader

switch t!m/m reader

feminine t!m/m reader

any kink besides body fluid ones and foot fetish

gay t!m/m reader

sugar daddy x sugar bby trope

any trope really except for those cringe ones like golden retriever x black cat idk those are just.. uhm. like just say introverted x extroverted trope if you really want that one!! (My op sorry.)

pet names , i love them. Except for those really.. cringe ones like "my little sugar waffle! " stop it. I will use different language ones too depending on the characters nationality.

fluff

smut

“ crack “

t!m/m reader with a core/style (any types of cores like aaliyah core for ex).

WILL NOT WRITE ⊹

any kink involving body fluids or foot fetish.

HEAVY angst (r@pe, HEAVY abuse, etc.)

m preg. Like i'll do the getting cummed inside of part but not the giving birth.. having kids.. like no sorry!! ( it makes me uncomfortable. )

mahito.

aged up characters

minors

fem readers (you guys tons of stories you'll be ok, twin.)

✧ Thats it really i'll probs add more tho !!

⊹ i write in lowercase on purpose !! and sometimes space my punctuation (like this !! or this , or this . but i rarely space the period.)⊹

☆ if you’re black reader please inform about your hairstyle/texture !! i don’t wanna accidentally just use the wrong hair texture/hair style for you 💓.

request status: closed ! ⊹

#male reader #x male reader #ftm reader #hazbin hotel #gender neutral reader #gn reader #jjk x male reader #jujutsu kaisen x male reader #black male reader #black ftm #chainsaw man #gay #astv #cod x male reader #gojo satoru x male reader #könig x male reader #ghost x male reader #angel dust x male reader

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jackiepackiee · 2 months ago

Note

GENYA X A READER WHO'S PRACTICALLY JUST THE FEMALE VERSION OF HIM IN TERMS OF PERSONALITY

Genya x Genya Personality Fem! Reader

CRUSHING

Oh boy…

You’re both in for a wild ride

Now let’s assume that the two of you met after he went through his younger teen years

Meaning now he gets incredibly flustered around girls

It’s likely the first time he meets you is while you’re training

Yelling at the other slayers to leave you alone before you kick their asses

And when you do “train” with them it’s just you man handling them and throwing them around

Wooden katana swinging with brutal force

Clearly not enjoying the idea of group training

You held your ground and boy was he WHIPPED to see such a strong and independent girl that was also so cute

Cue Genya staring with a bright pink face and not listening as Tanjiro tries to talk to him

It wouldn’t make much sense for you to be rude and outspoken to every boy, especially since they are the majority of the demon slayer corps

So unfortunately you only get flustered around cute boys

Meaning… one Genya Shinazugawa

You definitely stormed off after that annoying encounter with the other slayers

Trying to find a place to train by yourself

And you walked right into a frozen and blushing boy while you focused on sheathing your sword

A very tall, very strong, very handsome boy

You looked at him before blushing wildly and standing awkwardly

Too focused on your own embarrassing to see him freaking out that such an amazing girl was right infront of him

Safe to say yall didn’t talk

Until… Gyomei noticed how off the two of you were at your separate trainings

And how Genya seemed to stare longingly the few times you passed the grounds he was on

So Gyomei had the idea for the two of you alone to take on one of his missions

So here you both are, in a city you’ve never been to walking side by side

Neither of you had said a single word

And he was starting to think you hated him

Little did he know you were thinking the same thing

Concerned about your behavior and trying to stay composed around such a cute boy

Any on looker would think you were both nervous teenagers in love with each other by the blushing and awkward body language

Until the sun set and the demon showed up

Genya was quick to draw his weapon, obviously too busy fighting to be embarrassed

And you did the same, attacking the demon with brute force of your blade and yelling at it

“Die you damn bastard!”

Unfortunately he paused, too busy now watching you absolutely demolish the demon

He realized how much he liked his girls to be strong

DATING

You two dance around each other like love sick puppies

You’re both now a lot calmer however

Able to hold a normal conversation with only a slight blush and stuttering

You both make sure to never yell at each other, not that you have a reason

Even if you’re similar in personality, he tries his best to “be the man”

Despite the fact you have a fair chance of beating him in a fight, he’s always going to defend you and stick it to any person stupid enough to oppose you

Affection is something the both of you crave deeply but never express that want

So the first kiss won’t come for a while

Even while dating you both fluster like you’re on fire when you get close

It starts with simple hand holding and hugs of comfort after scary missions

Neither of you fully let your guard down for a while but when you do it’s obvious

This is when you become more affectionate

Your first kiss is definitely something unique

Even with your twin embarrassment you’re two of the most passionate people alive

So even when the kiss ends after a few seconds you both feel like all the air in your body is gone

Congrats! Both you and him are now broken

When you are both in that fiery mood it can’t be helped

It’s endearing to see him be so outspoken when you know deep down he’s so gentle

And it’s encouraging to see a girl in your time period to be so strong willed

You’re both perfect for each other… not even Sanemi can disagree

#kimetsu genya #kny genya #demon slayer genya #genya x reader #shinaguzawa genya #genya shinazugawa #Genya #kny #kny shinazugawa #demon slayer shinazugawa #demon slayer #demon slayer x reader

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 1 year ago

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RoR x Demon Slayer Crossover Masterlist

Zenitsu Reader

Zenitsu Reader Part 2

Shinobu Reader

Nezuko Reader

Tamayo Reader

Rengoku Reader

Tanjiro Reader

Tanjiro Reader Part 2: Coward

Tanjiro Reader Part 3

Tanjiro Reader Part 4

Tanjiro Reader Part 5- Final Battle

Tanjiro Reader Part 6- A Wedding!

Tanjiro Reader Part 7- A Family

Mitsuri Reader

Mitsuri Reader Part 2

Tanjiro Reader (Hades/Hercules x reader)

Shinobu Reader: Wisteria Poison

Shinobu Reader: Wisteria Poison Alternate

Reincarnated Mitsuri

Shinobu Reader: Hidden Blades

Tanjiro Reader x Platonic Yandere Family Figures

Tanjiro Reader x Raiden HCs

Chen Gong x Mitsuri Reader

Gyomei Reader

F Tengen Reader

Hantengu Reader

Muichiro Reader x Ares

Daki Reader

Haganezuka Reader

Haganezuka Reader part 2

Gyomei Reader

Protective Headbutts (Ares x Tanjiro Reader)

Kanao Reader

Demon Slayer Sasaki Kojiro

Demon Slayer Sasaki Kojiro- Forest Breathing

Ubuyashiki Kagaya Reader

Fem Giyuu Reader

Inosuke Reader

To be a Demon Slayer

Akaza Reader

Female Ubuyashiki Reader

Buddha x Tanjiro Reader

Obanai Reader

Nezuko X RoR- Sunrise

Papa Hercules and Daughter Mitsuri

Papa Hercules and Daughter Mitsuri Part 2

Lion Hearted Proposals

Muichiro Reader- Wandering Off

Teenage Tengen Reader

Genya Reader

Kokushibo Reader

Fem Giyuu Reader

Leonidas x Mitsuri Reader

Hades and Persephone x Mitsuri Daughter Reader

Kanao Reader x RoR

Yoriichi Reader x RoR

Sanemi Reader

Sanemi Reader Part 2

Thor’s Darling Daughter! (Mitsuri Reader)

Yushiro Reader

Doma Reader

Doma Reader Part 2

Kanae Reader

Raiden and Thrud’s Daughter

Rui Reader

Fem Giyuu Reader x Raiden- First Meetings

Mitsuri Love Goddess Reader

Fem Tengen Reader- Muscle Mice

Teen Mitsuri Reader

Muichiro Reader- Bluntness

Muichiro Reader- Wandering

Teen Obanai Reader

Susanoo x Fem Yoriichi Reader

RoR x Teen Giyuu Reader

Obanai Reader- Past Tales

Thor x Mitsuri Daughter Reader- 1st Meetings

Gyomei Reader- Tales of the Past

Teen Mitsuri Reader- Comfort

Muichiro Reader- Past Trauma

Yoriichi Reader- Past

Inosuke Reader HCs

Giyuu Reader- Past

Rengoku Reader- Little Guest

Tanjiro Reader- A Little Birdy Told Me

Nezuko Reader- Copy Cat

Tanjiro Reader- Training

Muscle Mice

Makomo Reader

#masterlist

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sweetfushi · 9 months ago

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RULES AND REGULATIONS.

FANDOMS I WRITE FOR.

○ jujutsu kaisen: gojo, itadori, megumi, inumaki, yuta, kamo, nanami, sukuna, higuruma, choso, geto, junpei, toji, shiu. ○ my hero academia: aizawa, kaminari, kirishima, todoroki, midoriya, bakugo, tetsutetsu, monoma, tamaki, mirio, shinso, endeavor, hawks, dabi, natsuo. ○ haikyuu: daichi, sugawara, asahi, nishinoya, hinata, kageyama, tsukishima, tanaka, ukai, kuroo, kenma, oikawa, iwaizumi, kyotani, aone, bokuto, akaashi, ushijima, tendo, terushima, sakusa, kita, atsumu, suna, osamu. ○ demon slayer: tanjiro, inosuke, zenitsu, kagaya, giyu, obanai, sanemi, gyomei, rengoku, uzui, genya, yoriichi, muzan, kokushibo, doma, akaza.

MY DO’S.

○ i write in the context of married or engaged couples; always. sending in a request does not guarantee that i will fulfil it, sometimes i don’t respond simply because i’m not feeling the idea. ○ i will always and only write for male characters.

MY DON’T’S.

○ do not ask me to write about dating relationships/flings/intimate details. my content consists of fluff, angst or a mix of both. the most i will write is suggestive content. ○ do not use my ask box as a way to unnecessarily critique or discriminate against my work or me as a person. ○ do not ask for your scenario to be written and provided to you instantly - i am an overwhelmed student with a life outside of this page. ○ although i do not write nsfw, i will not age up canonically minor characters to write suggestively about them. ○ i do not write for anything other than x female reader. ○ do not spam like (5+ likes) without reblogging. you're not really helping, you'll just get me shadowbanned. if you do spam like, i will block you. ○ bots and empty blogs, do not follow me. your @ says "haikyuulvr936" and you got nothing of the sort reblogged on your page bye.

DNI IF.

○ you support israel or "don't have a view on the matter". ○ you support racism, religious discrimination, or any form of prejudice/discrimination. ○ you send me a request that you have sent to multiple other writers. it makes me want to wring your neck.

#directory

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h8ani · 1 year ago

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Updated Rules List

With my new updated list I’m going to be listing all the requests I’ll be accepting, what fandoms I write for and how you should go about requesting them :)

But also if you are an ageless/blank blog or a minor please do not request me, follow me or interact with me as you will be blocked. thank you.

I also write both nsfw & sfw content, I also label it on my writings I post. I don’t shy away from anything really so if you’re unsure just send me a message and I’ll clarify if I do!

Things I’ll write for: yandere, noncon/dubcon, fluff, angst, smut, age gap, stepcest, professor/student, sensei/student, spanking, choking, slapping, torture, abuse, female x male, drug use, use of sex toys, issues with eating, etc type shit

Things I won’t write for: anal, piss/shit play, boy x boy, girl x girl (I’m not super comfortable in my writing yet to write for same sex couples yet I hope you guys understand!)

Fandoms I write for:

Attack on Titan - Levi Ackerman, Eren Yeager, Zeke Yeager, Armin Arlert, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Erwin Smith, Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, Porco Galliard

Hunter x Hunter - Chrollo, Feitan, Shalnark, Kurapika, Leorio, Hisoka, Ging, Illumi, Wing, Kite, Pokkle

Naruto - Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Minato Namikaze, Shikamaru Nara, Gaara, Neji Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Deidara, Sasori, Pain/Yahiko, Iruka Umino, Shino Aburame, Hidan, Kankuro, Sai, Genma Shiranui, Izumo Kamizuki, Kotetsu Hagane, Hayate Gekko

Tokyo Revengers - Takemichi Hanagaki, Manjiro Sano, Chifuyu Matsuno, Shuji Hanma, Takashi Mitsuya, Kazutora Hanemiya, Tetta Kisaki, Atsushi Sendo, Nahoya Kawata, Souya Kawata, Ken Ryuguji, Shinichiro Sano, Ran Haitani, Rindou Haitani, Naoto Tachibana, Izana Kurokawa, Inui Seishu

Tokyo Ghoul - Ken Kaneki, Hideyoshi Nagachika, Uta, Ayato Kirishima, Nishio Nishiki, Koutarou Amon

Ouran Highschool Host Club - Kyoya Ootori, Tamaki Suoh, Takashi Morinozuka, Hitachiin Hikaru, Hitachiin Kaoru,

Wind Breaker - Haruka Sakura, Akihiko Nirei, Kyotaro Sugashita, Hayato Suo, Mitsuki Kiryuu, Ren Kaji, Hajime Umemiya, Toma Hiragi, Choji Tomiyama, Jo Togame, Kota Sako

Haikyuu - Shoyo Hinata, Tobio Kageyama, Kei Tsukishima, Tadashi Yamaguchi, Daichi Sawamura, Koshi Sugawara, Asahi Azumane, Yu Nishinoya, Ryunosuke Tanaka, Keishin Ukai, Tooru Oikawa, Hajime Iwaizumi, Tetsuroo Kuroo, Kenma Kozume, Kentaro Kyotani, Kotaro Bokuto, Keiji Akaashi, Eita Semi, Wakatoshi Ushijima, Yuji Terushima, Naoyasu Kuguri, Shinsuke Kita, Atsumu Miya, Rintaro Suna, Osamu Miya

Fruits Basket - Shigure Sohma, Kyo Sohma, Kureno Sohma, Yuki Sohma, Hatori Sohma, Hatsuharu Sohma, Momiji Sohma

Demon Slayer - Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, Genya Shinazugawa, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Gyomei Himejima, Muichiro Tokito, Kyojuro Rengoku, Giyu Tomioka, Tengen Uzui, Obanai Iguro, Muzan Kibutsuji, Doma, Akaza

Prompt Requests/Writing Requests in general:

I will usually have a link of the prompts to request from, from the original post.

If you’d like to request something I wrote just state what content you’d like and who the character is/member he is

I default by writing in fem! reader pov so please state if you’d like gn! reader

Reaction Requests:

State the type of reaction you’d like (example: reaction of them kissing you mid argument)

For any anime reactions just state the anime, boys you’d like the reaction for

#rules #updated list #credit for border goes to benkeibear #navigation

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theyanderespecialist · 2 months ago

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Tie Breaker~ Gyomei Or Shinobu?

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aritsukemo · 4 months ago

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Paradise | Chapter Three - Sabito and Makomo | KNY

Summary: Sakonji Urokodaki's grueling training begins!

Warnings: Nothing much. Tanjiro, Y/n, and Sumiko are in pain for the majority of this chapter.

A/N: Here's chapter three that's been sitting in my drafts for like two to three months now! This is my first time doing a first pov so I hope my lack of expertise doesn't show too much!😅 I'm going to re-remind everyone once the next chapter comes out, but chapter four will be posted alongside the first oc profile! You'll only be able to read it over on Wattpad, but I hope everyone goes to give it a quick read whenever I post it! :D

Tagging: @overluvsick, @nursedflowers, @jspidey5 + anyone who wants to be tagged! <3

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Third Person Pov

Crickets and other noisy bugs converse loudly during the night. Tanjiro sits at a small table, a singular lamp by his side as his soft hand holds a brush—which bristles already stained in ink and are coloring symbols into the once clean sheet. The brush glides across the page until it comes to an abrupt stop and goes back to the start, hovering over the next clean area of the paper. Tanjiro looks behind his shoulder. Nezuko sleeps peacefully on the futon behind him. Y/n sits propped up against the wall with one of her legs kicked up, her eyes closed, and silent snoring coming from her in steady breaths. Sumiko leans against her, also fast asleep.

Guess it's finally time to get some rest. After all, his first day of training begins tommorow.

Closing the book, the light shines on the book cover. It displays in big symbols and clean, black ink, "Journal" with his full name written in smaller characters below that. Tanjiro's hands leave the book at last after spending his final free day writing for hours without end..

First Person, Tanjiro's Pov

"The Demon Slayer Corps has around several hundred members. It's an organization unrecognized by the government, yet it has existed since ancient times and continue to hunt demons today. As for the one leading the Demon Slayer Crops, however, that remains a mystery."

"Demons. They mercilessly kill and feed on humans and their flesh. No one has a clue where or when they first appeared. Their physical prowess is remarkable. Wounds heal in the blink of an eye. Flesh is restored no matter what damage comes to it and limbs that are hacked off can easily regenerate. Some demons can shapeshift, others have otherwordly powers. The only ways to kill these heinous creatures are via sunlight or decapitation with a special sword."

"The Demon Slayers battle demons with their mortal bodies. Since they're only human, they're wounds are slow to heal, and once lost, their limbs never grow back! Even so, they continue to selflessly fight to protect other humans!" Those were the first words Mr. Urokodaki spoke to us when our training to become demon slayer swordmen first began. As he was explaining everything, I couldn't help but look at her from the corner of my eye.

Y/n's face hid everything from me like an iron wall. Her scent opened a window for me to peer into, but whenever it did, it always left me puzzled. It always contradicted her in some way and that fact worries me.

I want to ask her so many questions. About these contradicting feelings, about her past that she for some reason refuses to tell.. I want to have a heart to heart with her like a brother and sister would..

But now's not the time for questions. For now, I need to focus on becoming a demon slayer so that I can start finding a cure to turn Nezuko back into a human!

"I am a trainer. I literally train swordsmen," Urokodaki said to us that early morning, "There are many trainers like me all over Japan, and each of them train their pupils with their own regimen in their location."

"To join the Demon Slayer Corps, you must survive the Final Selection process held on Mt. Fujikasane. Whether or not you're eligible for Final Selection is up to me," He explained. I remember thinking at the time, "Simple enough."

How naive I was..

Starting today, I'm going to keep a journal for Nezuko.

I'm decending the mountain again today. I'm going to train my hardest so that I don't die during Final Selection!

After repeatedly descending the mountain, day after day, I'm starting to learn how to avoid most of the traps. I've become stronger and I'm even more adept at detecting scents than before. Even so..the traps are getting more and more difficult. At this point, I'm starting to believe he's actually trying to kill us! I nearly fell into a hidden pit of knives today..

Despite the increase in difficulty, I seem to be the only one struggling to keep up. Y/n and Sumiko have cleared the mountain a couple times without problems. At first, Sumiko would trigger traps left and right fearlessly and would just narrowly dodge them. She really worried me for a while, but after some scolding from Mr. Urokodaki, she started trying to dodge them at last. I'm relieved that he stepped in before she got seriously injured.

As for Y/n, she seems to be on a whole different level! She's quick on her feet—quicker than both me and Sumiko—and her natural senses manage to keep her from triggering most of the traps on the mountain. In only half a day, she had already managed to make it up and down the mountain three times! Seriously, how does she do that?

I run down the mountain as fast as I my legs can take me and leap over an oncoming rope. As soon as I planted my feet back onto the ground, a log comes swinging right at me! I barely dodged it and stumbled a bit. Because of that, I nearly triggered a trap..

Mr. Urokodaki's scent hits my nostrils and leads a clear trail to the next trap ahead. Knives fly from the trees and I find myself stopping to look. My heart skips as I swing my body out of the way, just bsrely dodging as the knives dig into the tree behind me.

My legs felt like jelly and I wobbled right into an obvious trap. I nearly twist my ankle catching myself before I fell completely into the hole—thank goodness for that, because under me were sharp knives, threatening to cut me open with even the slightest touch.

I gasped out in horror without realizing. But really, is a pit of knives really necessary?

As this was happening, Y/n and Sumiko shoot past me. Y/n is ahead, her face still like a stone as she hopped over ropes and other traps without so much as pausing for a breath. Sumiko mimcks her, taking wide leaps over everything until her foot steps down on her demise. A snap is heard and I suddenly see her dangling in the air by her foot.

"Ah, Sumiko!" I manage to maneuver myself out of the way of the hole and crawl to my feet. I jog up to my little sister in need only to realize that the rope was just out of my reach. Oh no.

In the end, I accidentally triggered a trap trying to help her down and got myself stuck as well. Mr. Urokodaki had to cut us down and we both got a scolding for our slip ups..

I made my descent down the mountain again today, sword in hand, but it really hampered my movements. I can't stop getting ensnared by traps! Sumiko seems to be having as much trouble as I am, if not worse. Her sense of balance has been thrown off entirely and she can't seem to dodge even the simplest of traps..

Y/n started only a few days before we did, but she's already gotten the hang of her sword. She truly is amazing!

I run down the mountain, large sword hanging heavy on my hip and Sumiko by my side, and we simultaneously hop over a rope tied low to the ground. Urokodaki watches us in silence, arms crossed. And, although I can't see his face because of the mask, I know he's judging our every move.

Each trap I hop over, Sumiko lags behind, just barely being able to mimick my movements. She leaps after me, but she doesn't make it high enough to avoid a rope. I hear intense ruffling along with a small yelp and look over my shoulder to see that Sumiko's gone and there's a large pit where she used to stand.

"Sumiko!" I find myself sliding to a stop, "Don't worry, I'll—" And then another snap echoes throughout the forest; a warning that I didn't process fast enough to heed. I fall back, but I wasn't even able to hit the ground before I'm snatched into the air..

We were kept stuck in our traps until Y/n finished her descent through the mountain. What makes things worse is that when Mr. Urokodaki cut me down, I fell right on my head..

I swing my sword today. Well, it's not just today. After descending the mountain, I, along with Y/n and Sumiko, swing our swords until our arms nearly fall off. We do this every day.

"Nine hundred ninety-one.. Nine hundred ninety-two..!" Numbers were shouted out in unison by all three of us as we stood side by side in a clearing at in the mountain. The evening glow shines down on us and our blades which causes them to gleam every time we swing downwards.

Every inch of my arm throbs with each tense of my muscles that are caused when I swing my sword. I've been clenching my teeth for so long that I'm scared they'll shatter if I don't ease up, but how am I supposed to do that? Even though they're beginning to numb over, my arms hurt so badly!

But at last, I can finally rest, "One thousand!" We all finally yell out, but immediately after we said that, Urokodaki gruffly follows up with his own shouting, "Five hundred more!" He told us.

And just as that demand reached my ears, I felt my tired soul completely shatter into pieces..

"Swords break easily," That's what he told us beforehand. Though it's strong vertically, it's weak horizontally, so you need to apply the force straight along the blade. The blade's direction and the direction in which you apply force must be exactly the same. And that's when Urokodaki added, "If you ever damage the blade, in other words, break it, I'll snap your bones as well," in a very threatening tone of voice. Just thinking about it, makes me nervous all over again..

Today, we did nothing but fall. We started training to break our falls and get up quickly from any position.

We wield our swords, charging at Mr. Urokodaki, really trying to kill him. In contrast, Mr. Urokodaki is bare-handed and unarmed. Even so, he's ridiculously powerful! He flings me away and I roll on the ground every time..

Even someone like Y/n seems to struggle when up against Mr. Urokodaki. She starts off good, getting up faster than me and Sumiko and manages to get a few swings in. None of them ever hit him, however, and in the end, she's always flung away just like me.

Sumiko seems to have it the worse since she tends to charge at him with the intent on fighting bare-handed. Her sword gets in her way and she's always flipped or tossed away quicker than either of us. Every time it happens, my heart skips a beat thinking she'll accidentally land on her sword and hurt herself..

We stand before Mr. Urokodaki, swords in hand. I merely blink and in an instant, my world is flipped upside down! ..Literally. Before I even had the time to process that my feet were no longer planted on the ground, my face was already sliding against the gravel and my nose was already being invaded by the strong, muddy smell of the dirt that I had begun to grow used to.

As I crack my eyes open again, I spot Y/n running towards Mr. Urokodaki. She had already managed to regain her senses after the temprorary lapse and got up. How does she do that?

With her face scrunched in conentration, she charges forward and swings her blade when she's close enough. She immediately follows up with an upward slash attack after her intial strike misses. The movements of her swings are sharp, but I get the sense of aggression towards the tail end of every single strike. It's passive-aggressive which contrasts Mr. Urokodaki, who's movements are pretty lax as he dodges the majority of her swings by simply moving out of the way of her blade.

That relaxed air around his being leaves him for a mere moment as he goes on the offense. He suddenly charges forward and Y/n immediately raises her sword. She swings downwards with the intent of landing a singular strike, but he sidesteps her attack and I find myself having to tense and squint my eyes as to not miss Mr. Urokodaki's next movements. While she's still focused on her previous attack, Mr. Urokodaki steps behind her and lands a kick to the back of one of her knees which causes them to fold. She falls on one knee and Mr. Urokodaki waste no time in kicking her in the side and sending her tumbling away.

Both me and Sumiko get up at the same time, but I attack first. I run as fast as I can, mouth open and yelling as I hold my sword above my head..

And in less than a second, my view of the world was flipped upside down again and spinning like a wheel. I couldn't feel the ground anymore either which made it finally dawn on me what just happened; Mr. Urokodaki had flipped me into the air and the momentum of his throw had me rolling midair!

The revelation hits at the same time that I hit the ground. I land right on my chest which knocks the majority of the air outta my lungs in a loud gusp. Quickly after that, I hear light groans that signal Sumiko's defeat.

"Again!" I hear Mr. Urokodaki demand and I catch myself groaning softly as I peel myself off the gravel. I don't know how long I can take being tossed around like this..

Today, we learned breathing techniques and some forms. We'd get yelled at for not bracing our stomachs and clobbered to a plup..

"Total Concentration breathing?" I questioned, my head instinctively tilting to the side a little.

"That's right," Urokodaki said, "And I'm going to teach you three all ten of the Water Breathing forms."

"Remember to take a long breath so the oxygen flows into every cell in your body," He told us, "This will enhance your body's natural healing power, and both stabilize and energize your spirit."

"Relax your upper body.." He instructs and we do as he tells us to the best of our abilities, all of our shoulders' slumping, "..while bracing your lower half," I tense up my legs and feet. Y/n and Sumiko do the same.

"All right, now breathe!" My head tilts back, and at a turtle's pace, I suck in as much air as I can. I exhale just as slowly, my whole body slumping..and then, bam! My eyes shoot open as pain shoots through my entire body and spit is propelled from my mouth and shot out in all directions.

Mr. Urokodaki had smacked me in the stomach and it felt horrible!

To try and ease the pain, my body curls into itself. I'm hunched over, shaking with my arms wrapped around my stomach and my knees bending when I hear Mr. Urokodaki yell, "Wrong!" And I hear groans. I guess Y/n and Sumiko had met a smiliar, painful fate.

"Next! Forms!" Mr. Urokodaki shouts and we have no choice but to straighten back up. He didn't give us much to go off of, but I was determined and struck a pose anyways.

"Right! Like this?" I ask, "Wrong!" He yells. And so, I snap into a different pose.

"Like this?" I ask again only for him to repeat, "Wrong!" I change poses once again and promptly ignore the sideway looks of confusion, dissaproval, and embarrassment I get from my sisters—the latter two more apparent in the look Y/n gives me; the former one more accurately represented in Sumiko's dot-eyed expression—and yell out, "This?"

In an instant Mr. Urokodaki had popped me in the stomach once, then twice, then a third time, and unfortunately a fourth, fifth, and sixth which elicited a loud, whiny moan from me.

After that, he told us to become one with the water.

We stood fairly high up on one of the ledges near the mountain we descend every morning as a warm up. Before us was a large waterfall that was so noisy that we struggled to hear each other despite standing side by side with one another. It loudly flowed it's abundance of water down to the bottom, which I couldn't really see all that well due to the constant stream blending together and crashing down producing a light steam at the bottom from the sheer coldness of the water..

And then, our demise rings out in the form of Mr. Urokodaki's voice, "What are you waiting for? Get in there!" And we're suddenly kicked off. Off instinct, I try to run away from my fate, but all it does is prolong the inevitable until gravity finally hits me and I go falling along with Y/n and Sumiko.

My stomach flutters in an uneasy sorta way at the airy feeling of falling from such a high vantage point. I scream, going to call out for the first person that pops into my head, "Nezuko..!" I drawl until I finally hit the water with a loud splash!

After a moment of floating along the stream, we all manage to pick ourselves up and huddle under the waterfall. As the heavy water comes relentlessly crashing down onto us, we stay firmly planted with our hands mashed together as if we were praying.

"Nezuko..!" I find myself yelling, my voice being carried in the wind. Echoing and bouncing off the rushing waterfall, "I...! ..Am...! ..Water..!"

My constant yelling must've really irked Y/n, because after a while, she shouted at me, her voice strained but angry, "Could you..! Shut up..! ..For one second..?"

As of now, it's been six months since Nezuko was last awake. Mr. Urokodaki summoned a doctor right away and had him examine her, but he found nothing wrong.

But it's not normal for her to stay asleep like this.. I'm scared. Scared that one morning, I'll wake up to find her dead. Not a day goes by that I don't worry..

Sumiko had begun staying up later and later at night. I think she's also worried about that possibility and it's causing her to fear sleeping. I try to soothe her nerves as best I can, but I fail to do much.. At least she seems to be getting along with Mr. Urokodaki well. I sometimes catch them talking late at night when they assume everyone's asleep. I have no idea what their talks could be about, but soon after their late night talks began, Mr. Urokodaki had started supplying her with books. She tends to stay up all night reading them now and it got to the point where catching her fast asleep, face first in a book was a common sight we all saw of her in the mornings.

Whenever we talk about Nezuko, Y/n's face scrunches and she always says that it's only a matter of time. It upsets me badly to hear that she has no faith in Nezuko ever awaking up again, but now that I think on it, this is probably her way of coping with the situation herself. I think she's trying to be overly pessimistic in case of the worst happening so that she doesn't fall apart. Looking back on it, she acted like that for a while when dad's health started to decline and he was bedridden..

My descents are getting more dangerous and the air's even thinner since we've started descending from a higher point in the mountain. Time and time again, I think I might die, but at the same time, I've felt that, not just I, but all three of us have gotten stronger! Under Mr. Urokodaki's steady, stern guidance, we've all grown and I was sure at the time that we'd reach unspeakable heights with his help! ..And then it happened.. }

"As of today, I have nothing more to teach you. The rest is up to you!"

A year after we arrived at Mt. Sagiri, he told me that all of a sudden after I descended the mountain. I remember that initial feeling of surprise that struck me followed quickly by fear. After all, when he said that, it was just me there. I was the last out of the three of us to make it down the mountain. My first assumption was that this was some kind of punishment because of my own shortcomings, but then he told me to follow him. We walked for a long while—long enough for the air around us to grow colder and the snow to finally start falling—before we finally made it to a wide clearing with..a boulder in the center of it..

I found myself staring on in awe. Before me, was the largest boulder I had ever seen in my life. It was taller than both me and Mr. Urokodaki and wide to boot! That being said, it was surprising to see that a rope with long shide attached to it was wrapped all the way around it.

"If you can slice this boulder, I will allow you to enter Final Selection," Mr. Urokodaki said after a while of my gawking. Without blinking, my eyes glide over to look at him and I only move my head a little to gaze at him for a moment before my head slid back in place and my eyes found itself on the large rock again.

I found myself thinking, "Is a boulder, especially on so big..even capable of being sliced with a sword? ..I don't think I can.." I barely noticed it, but my hand had made it's way to wrap around my sheathed katana, just under the hilt, "My sword will snap, no question!"

During my silent distress, Mr. Urokodaki stayed just as silent. Without any advice or tips or instructions, he turned on his heel and began walking away from me, "Mr. Urokodaki, please wait! ..Mr. Urokodaki!" I called his name again and again, but he just kept walking without turning back or saying anything to acknowledge my calls, leaving me alone with the tough boulder and the soft snow falling around me..

After that, Mr. Urokodaki never taught me anything again. Not just me, he apparently did the same thing to Sumiko and Y/n, taking them to one of the many designated clearings in the mountain and giving them the same task before leaving. That thought comforted me a little knowing that I wasn't alone in this.

Every day after that, I practiced what Mr. Urokodaki taught us over and over by myself. I was able to go over the basics like holding my breath and flexibility without trouble thanks to the notes I'd written down in this journal. But, even after six months had passed, I still couldn't slice the boulder. I felt frustrated. I wasn't training hard enough and it showed every single day I failed..

But, just when the despair of the situation started to set in, he appeared..

A loud clank rang, echoing my failure throughout the area. I stood there with my sword laid against the boulder after having smacked my blade against the thick rock. My head hung low under the evening's bright, yellow glow and I huffed softly, unable to catch my breath.

"Am I hopeless?" The thought stained my mind like ink on paper. It spread, inviting similar thoughts into my head until it plagued my brain entirely.

"Have Y/n and Sumiko already sliced their boulders in half? Will they go on to become demon slayers without me?"

"Is Nezuko going to die without ever waking up?"

Those thoughts made me anxious which made it hard to shake them away easily. They were dark, like black paint and had smeared itself all over and made it hard to think of anything else aside from this heavy feeling that had already begun to sink to the bottom of my gut; that depressing feeling of self-dissatisfaction.

But I can't give up! I've spent all this time training! It can't all be for nothing! I won't allow it to all be for nothing! This is for Nezuko!

Using those small pebbles of determination, I clench my teeth, move my sword out of the way, and headbutt the boulder. All while yelling words of encouragement into the air.

"Keep working, Tanjiro!" I told myself, "You can do it! You have to!" And then landed another headbutt to the boulder. That seemed to anger it, because after that second headbutt, it screamed at me, "Shut up!"

..Wait, that wasn't the boulder. Looking up, my eyes immediately lock on a fox mask and I feel my brows scrunching from confusion. Sitting atop the boulder with his leg kicked up, was a kid seemingly around my age. His pink hair reminded me of a ripe peach and blended well with our surroundings, which were colored in orange and yellow to match the sky above. That said, his kimono top and calf leggings were covered in clashing, bright, yellow and green shapes that had me racking my brain from how familiar the pattern was.

"A man shouldn't whine. It's unseemly," His voice caught me off guard because of how much deeper it was compared to my own. However, it wasn't gruff like Mr. Urokodaki's and still held this certain smoothness of youth that kept me from thinking he was older than me.

His sudden appearance raised questions that temporarily shushed the loud, disheartening thoughts screaming and running amok in my head. There was no scent to him which formed some of my biggest questions. Never in my life have I never been able to catch the scent of someone. Never.

"No matter how much your suffer, a man should always bear it in silence," He got to his feet, and that finally made me take notice of the wooden sword in his hand, "That is, if you call yourself a man," And with that, he gracefully lept into the air. His plain, white haori raised, floating in the wind just like his hair. It distracted me, and because of that distraction, I wasn't able to process the shift in the air when he flipped. If it wasn't for my instincts, I would've also missed the raising of his wooden sword before it was brought down onto me with a sudden force.

His blade clanged against my metal hilt and before I was able to take in the fact that he was suddenly attacking me, the boy landed another attack on me. This time twisting to land a kick to my chin that had me flying back and landing on my head.

"Slow. Weak. Immature. None of those are qualities of a man," He said and I found myself growing angry. Not because of his petty insult, but because of the fact that he attacked me without reason.

"What are you doing?" I asked him only for him to mimic me and ask, "I'd like to know what you think you're doing."

"What do you mean? I'm training," I told him, but he replied with a mean, "Hardly."

"Now, how long do you plan to sit on your butt and not take a stance?" I don't know why, but when he said that, my body immediately moved. The authority in his tone was terrifyingly familiar so maybe that was the reason.

In so many ways..he reminds me of Mr. Urokodaki. I guess that's why my body jumped to do as he said.

He raises his hand and gestures me closer, "Come on. Come at me," He said, but I found myself hesitating.

"But I have a real sword and you don't! What if you get hurt?" The question made him pause. I thought that was because it finally dawned on him how crazy he sounded for suggesting me to attack him wih an actual sword, but that didn't seem to be the case. Instead, his shoulders—no, his entire body shook and he threw his head back, laughing as if I had said the funniest joke in the world.

"Well aren't you considerate! Thank you for worrying about me," He said, but the way he said it didn't sound the least bit grateful. He then said, "So, you think you're actually going to injure me?" And then he was suddenly in front of me. I stepped back on instinct with my blade raised halfway—a good move on my part, because he immediately brought his blade down on me and I was fast enough to meet him the rest of the way and block him.

He was strong. Even though he was fighting me with a wooden, practice sword, I still found my body shaking, quivering under the power he's putting against my actual sword. I remember it shocked me along with his next words, "Well, you have absolutely nothing to worry about!" He so confidently said to me, "I'm far more powerful than you! After all, I've already sliced my boulder!"

Those words echoed in my ears as they were slowly injested. He..sliced a boulder? The thought shocked me as much as it sparked hope in me. The fact that it's not impossible made a tiny weight lift off my heart.

But I had no time to dwell in that feeling, because the masked boy jumped into the air. As dust kicked up where he previously stood, I found my eyes closing—an almost deadly mistake. I was lucky enough that time to feel the shift in the wind. I turn at the last second, just fast enough to throw my sword up to block the boy's incoming attack from above. It didn't faze him at all. He jumped back and immediately jumped into the air again.

His speed was incredible. I could just barely catch the aftermath of his jumps as he zipped around me. I could only assume that he would touch the ground whenever he passed a tree because I could never catch him touching the ground. It was almost as if he was flying and it left me looking around like a chicken without its head.

Then suddenly, he was right beside me. I was able to see him at last, but him being right at my shoulder didn't process fast enough. In the end, all I had time to do was turn my head to look at him—with a look that probably told everything I was thinking in that moment—before the thunder of my first defeat was sounded and I was suddenly on the floor, my face and body stinging and shaking a little..

"You've learned nothing," He stood behind me, totally composed aside from his voice that sounded pretty upset, kinda like Urokodaki when he used to scold me for my mistakes, "You haven't mastered a single thing! Certainly not the breathing technique taught by Mr. Urokodaki; Total Concentration Breathing!"

That caught my attention most out of everything else he said. It made waves of confusion and surprise wash over me and temporarily redirected me from the pain he inflicted on me, "He knew Mr Urokodaki? The breathing technique too?" Were the questions that intially surfaced, but his identity is still on the top of my list of questions for him.

As I turned my body to face him and sat up, he continued, "All you did was memorize it as fact!" He lifts his sword and points it at me, "Your body has no clue what it needs to do!"

"Just what the hell were you doing for a whole year and a half?" The question rang out extra loud just as his sword clanged against my steel, "You need to slam it into your flesh!" He shouted as he broke away as did I only to immediately clash our blades again.

"More!" As he picked up speed, I tried to do the same, trying my hardest to replicate his movements. Thankfully, I was just fast enough that his blade met mine continuously instead of my battered skin, "More!" I took the defensive, staying strong as he slammed and hammered his blade against mine in a quick succession, "More!" A particularly strong hit sends me back but I plant my feet into the ground and manage to still myself before he closes the distance and I was forced to go on the offensive once again, "So that you become the embodiment of what Mr. Urokodaki taught you!"

He sends me back again and I recover quick enough to watch him ready his next attack and swing it at me, all while screaming at me, "Pound it all into the marrow of your bones!"

"I'm trying!" I found myself crying out the next time our blades met, "Every single day! I'm trying with everything I got!"

"..But I'm not making any headway!" As my own words sunk in like a rock falling to the bottom of a lake, I found my voice slowly cracking apart just as my resolve has been these past six months, and I finally admitted aloud, "I just can't go any further!"

Despite that all he did was tell me as he lunged at me, "Don't 'try', just do it! If you're a man.." And then he quickly landed his attack on me, smacking me in the chest. I clench my teeth as the striking pain begun to spread and my feet left the ground for just a moment before they're forced back down as he harshly slammed his sword down onto my arm, "..If you call yourself a man!" And just as I raised my sword to attack him back, he spins and his sword hits my chest again, but at an angle this time.

"There's no other way to go but forward!" I stumbled back, my feet uncomfortably light which made me tip and sway in different directions. The boy followed after me as if he was chasing down a fleeing wild animal. Our blades clashed again and he shouted, "Bring it on!"

"Show me what you're capable of!" He swings at me, but this time I'm quick enough to completely jump out of the way. His words had an extra surge of adrenline shoot through me and I found my mouth falling open and letting out a loud scream of my own. No words, just a strong yell that came from the core of my chest—from the depths of my heart—where all my pent up frustration resided.

But then I miss my swing and my second defeat is sounded in an instant. It's painful, moreso physically as I watched his arm swing up and I felt his wooden sword collide with my chin. It was an extra powerful swing, one that had me flying several inches off the ground when it hit me. My entire jaw immediately numbed over in a desperate attempt to soothe the searing pain that shot through it and up my cheeks.

And then, suddenly all I could feel was that pain as my vision slowly faded. I had passed out, but what made matters worse was that I hadn't even hit the floor before everything went black..

The next time I opened my eyes, I was met with the sight of the crescent moon peaking through cracks made by thin clouds. All the pain in my face had dulled aside from my chin which stung like a bad bee sting. Everything around me had a blue-tinted screen over it that matched sky, signalling that nighttime had arrived. My eyes widen at the realization.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked. It was soothing to my ears, kinda like putting a cool cloth on a bad bruise. It was nothing like his voice.

I shot up, immediately turning my head to be met face to face with eyes that match the night sky above. Despite her sudden presence, the only question I asked her was, "Did you see that?" She tilted her head, signalling to me her confusion but I continued regardless, my eyes blown wide.

"That was an incredible blow! Not a single bit of unwasted motion! It was beautiful!" I praised. It really was amazing and my words could hardly explain it in a way that gave it proper justice which is probably why I started moving my hands and shaking my head to further exaggerate my point.

Now that I look back on that moment, I probably looked really silly to her.

"I want to become a swordsman like that!" I exclaimed and then I asked her, "Do you think I can become like him?" And I watch as her lips widen into a smile. One without a hint of underlying doubt or hidden skepticism. It was a completely pure and trusting smile that she gave me as she spoke in a soft voice.

"I'm sure you can..since I'll be looking after you from now on," She told me. And it was only then, when her thick eyelashes fluttered and her eyes closed, and that pure, trusting smile of hers widened that I realized just how pretty the girl before me was..

But who was she? It was then that it dawned on me that I didn't even ask. And so, with my cheeks tingly and warm and my heavy jaw having my bottom lip hung low, I mumbled out, "Who are you?"

That night, she told me her name, Makomo, as well the name of the boy I sparred with, Sabito.

Makomo points out the defects in my style. Throughout countless days, she corrected my unnecessary movements and my bad habits.. I found myself wondering, why? Why is she doing this for me? Where did she come from? I once asked her, but she didn't tell me anything. Something in me refrained me from asking the others about her or Sabito..

Speaking of which, Makomo often said, "We love Mr. Urokodaki very much." It was her favorite phrase. She said that Sabito and her weren't siblings and that Mr. Urokodaki raised them after they'd been orphaned.

"They're other children besides us. They're always around, watching you, Tanjiro," was something she said to me once. You see, I've come to realize that Makomo is a bit of a strange girl. Her way of speaking is abstract and dreamy and she says things in a weird way..

"See, Total Concentration Breathing accelerates your blood circulation and your heart rate. That causes your temperature to shoot up and makes you strong like a demon despite still being human," She explained, "You expand your lungs and bring lots of air into your blood and when it gets excited, your bones and muscles scurry to heat up and grow stronger!"

"..Huh?" Was all I could say, my face twisted into a puzzled expression. Maybe it was the words she used to explain it, but I didn't understand the majority of what she said. And so, I asked her, "How can I do that?"

And she looked at me with that kind, angelic smile and told me in the nicest voice ever, "Train to death. At the end of the day, I don't think there's anything else you can do."

I swung my sword over and over so hard until my arms and legs felt like they were going to fall off.. Until my lungs were ready to burst into flames, I did that for so long..but even then, I just couldn't beat Sabito.

I would train hard under Makomo's gentle guidance until it felt like I was going to just kneel over and die on the spot, but he still always got the better of me. It was only until six months later, and six months after Y/n cut her boulder, when the snow coated every speck of grass and every wilting tree in sight..

I stood before Sabito once again. The sun was out, but you wouldn't be able to tell by looking due to the thick clouds that covered it and made snow fall in all ways and directions. The wind was icy against my dirtied skin—colder than when I first stood before him and the boulder—but I didn't flinch even when it blew so strong that my hair flailed it's grown out lengths wildly.

When I challenged him that day, Sabito was wielding a real sword..

"After six months, finally, you have the look of a man," I watched his movements as he gripped the scabbard and used his other hand to grab ahold of the hilt. The eerie sound of the steel sliding out didn't scare me and neither did the sight of his blade gleaming under the dim lighting as it was pulled out and pointed at me.

I had long pulled my sword from it's scabbard and gotten into my stance, my brows creasing downwards and scrunched into my dirt-covered skin, "Today's the day I win!"

The head-on battle was simple. Who ever was stronger and faster wins.

My mouth opens as wide as a small crack—just wide enough for air to enter my mouth. Slowly, I breathe in. My chest steadily rises as my lungs swell with air. I then close my mouth, my grip tightening on the hilt of my katana..and dash forward at the same time Sabito does.

The battle was over in an instant..

We immediately found ourselves closing the gap. Both of our swords were raised the entire time, and it was in that fraction of a second that I swung down with all my might..

On that day, in that moment, for the first time, my blade reached Sabito first.

With a hollow clack, his mask split and fell on either side of him, suspended on the sides of his neck by that thick, red rope that was tied to it. His face..didn't match anything I had pictured originally. His eyes were a foggy purple and gentle like the falling snow around us. It contrasted that peach pink hair of his which barely covered the sides of his face so I saw that large, spiky scar that hiked up at an angle and covered the majority of his otherwise smooth skin. And his smile.. That smile that he gave me as his brows scrunched together..was so full of relief.

That moment I won, Sabito smiled. It seemed like a sad smile to me at the time, but looking back on it, it seemed more proud and reassuring than somber..

"Tanjiro.." I was so encaptured by him and that smile of his that it took Makomo's gentle voice to pull me back down to earth which, seemed much foggier than when I left it a mere moment ago. I find myself blinking, as if what I was seeing was an illusion or hallucination, but the thick fog never disappeared.

"You did great," Her praise is what made me finally turn my head her way. Her body was steadily disappearing in the fog and I found myself looking on in silence, at a loss for words for what I was witnessing..

The next thing I knew, Sabito and Makomo were gone..

"Don't forget what you just did and win against them, okay? Beat that guy too," And she was gone, disappearing into the shrouding fog as if she was never there to begin with..

..And my sword, which I was sure had slashed Sabito's mask..

I turn my head back, but Sabito was gone too. Leaving me to gaze at the thick fog and watching as it slowly cleared away into nothing. Sabito and Makomo were still nowhere to be found, but that wasn't what made my eyes widen. What made my eyes grow wide like a bug's was the fact that I was gazing through a rocky opening just narrow enough that only my blade could slip through.

..had sliced the boulder in half.

Y/n Kamado | *Arms crossed* So, you actually managed to do it..

Tanjiro Kamado | *Smiles with hands on his hips* Yeah! I was shocked, too! I never imagined I'd be able to cut a boulder like that! I couldn't have done it without Sabito and Makomo. I can't thank them enough.

Y/n Kamado | ..Who are they?

Tanjiro Kamado | *Speechless by his own slip up*

Y/n Kamado | ..Well? Who are—

Tanjiro Kamado | *Panicked* Uh- Now, It's time for a Taisho Era Secret!

Y/n Kamado | Wait, you haven't answered my—

Tanjiro Kamado | *Leans in and whispers* Why does Mr. Urokodaki wear a mask? I heard that's because demons used to make fun of him for looking too kind.

Y/n Kamado | *Visibly irked* Hey! Don't ignore me! Answer—!

Tanjiro Kamado | Everyone, we'll continue working hard to find a cure for Nezuko! And Ms. Ari, I hope that you make a full recovery soon!

Y/n Kamado | Who the hell is that? And who are you talking to—

Tanjiro Kamado | Next time, chapter four, "Final Selection"! Bye everyone! *Runs away*

Y/n Kamado | Tanjiro..! Get your ass back here and answer me! *Runs after him*

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

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astoldbyaja · 3 months ago

Text

The Orisha and the Hashira Part 2 - Ch. 3

Normal PO- 2 weeks later – 4 weeks left

The crows cawed loudly.

“DANGER! EMERGENCY THE MANSION’S UNDER ATTACK!” the crows informed as all the Hashira rushed through the trees at great speed. The fear was drenched in all their eyes. The overwhelming panic coursed through their bodies.

Kyojuro was running swiftly, eyes filled with anger.

‘I won’t lose the master too!’

‘Gotta hurry!’ Sanemi thought.

Bambaataa was staring up at the night’s sky from his spot in the earth feeling the new source of energy that was here.

“She’s here.” he said standing up and moving to walk in the direction of the mansion.

Amane stared collectively at the woman who stood before the engawa. Her eyes were used to showing strength and coolness. However, her brow lightly twitched as she fought to preserve herself before the slim woman who who stood like a statue, wearing a purpose dress with gold bands around her hip, the shoulders sharp showing the long flowing cape around her body. Her hair was down in long flowing black locs with a single white strip going down the side of her hair.

The sounds of her metal bracelets bounced gently as she bounced young Kiriya in her hold with a gentle smile. The boy’s eyes were pale as he smiled up at the woman with praise and admiration.

“You have a lovely family, Amane.” Her voice was cool, her accent angelic. She was smiling at the boy whose eyes matched hers. White eyes looked up to meet her while Kiriya hummed softly holding onto her neck and nuzzling her as if she was her mother.

“It has been a long time, Ayomide. You have not aged a day.” she said with an inviting smile.

“No. It would appear I haven’t.” she said smiling at the child before slowly looking up to the woman, that motherly smile fading.

“LADY UBUYSHAKI!” Sanemi yelled and now all the Hashira were standing atop of the mansion roof tops, however, their eyes widened as Amane raised her hand to pause any attacks. All their eyes widened as they looked down at the strange woman holding their lord’s son.

“This energy, this presence is unlike anything I have ever sensed before.” Gyomei thought, his body tight, ready to draw his weapon and attack. Slowly Ayomide’s head moved to look up to her left at the flame Hashira. Kyojuro’s widened as he looked upon the woman who looked just like his fiancé.

Ayomide looked at Kyojuro for a moment before moving her eyes to look at Amane.

“Where is your husband?” she asked. Amane remained calm, still like a statue.

“His illness has is taking him, he draws weaker and weaker by the day, but he had a strong feeling you would come.” she said. Ayomide raised Kiriya up some and eyed his happy loving face before giving a sigh of disappointment.

“Pity. A man I once highly respected, raised almost from a young boy, is the reason for all the pain I feel.” she said gently smiling at the boy.

“My husband regrets that he cannot stand before you today.” she said. Ayomide could hear it in her voice, the slight struggle to remain calm.

“The Japanese always kept their feeling and emotions buried deep down. It was not your way to show feelings of pain or despair, or fear for a loved one.” She said softly, yet coldly.

“Hey lady! I don’t know who you are, but you had better release that boy right now or you’ll have to deal with all of us!” Sanemi threatened. Ayomide continued to bounce the boy as if he were a baby and slowly, she held him out and up a bit smiling at his giggling face, although the trance he was in made him feel as if he were with his family right now.

“I’ve birthed many babies, those that did not survive I reabsorbed into my body. I was pregnant all the time, birthing dead babies just to bring them back into me in hopes one would come out alive. My eldest was born and he was born strong in the dirt. When Ayo was born,” she continued which caught all the Hashira’s attention. “The currents of the water grabbed her so hard from my body, it tore the placenta right out of me, as if wanting to wash her away so that she would be one with the water forever, but I wouldn’t allow it. I ripped her from the water, her crying the only thing I cared about to tell me she was breathing. She was strong, how she suckled from my breast. She was mine, my baby daughter. More babies died after she was born, then Femi came, the one with the power to give new life. He was born on the battlefield amongst the fallen people. He soaked in their blood and absorbed their spirit, their blood spirit.”

Amane remained staring calmly. Mitsuri covered her mouth in pain as Shinobu eyed her comrades wondering if any of them would strike, but as Lady Ubuyshaiki’s hand was up no one moved. But she was worried, this Orisha’s power was heavy and thick. She was on a different level than the three Orisha she knew.

“And now I entrusted my children into the care of the Ubuyashiki family so a gift could be given, and in return my baby daughter and baby son are held captive by demons.” she said before placing Kiriya to her chest, his head resting on the spot beneath her neck. Amana’s eyes squinted knowing what the woman was doing.

“You’ve given birth to five children; I have given birth to only three who have lived. Do I have to absorb all of your children, so you know the pain I feel of losing MY children?” she asked, voice broken.

“Ayomide please,” Amane said, “your children, still alive, sacrificed themselves to save many.”

Ayomide smiled viciously as she looked at her.

“Sacrifice… that is all my people have ever known on this planet. I thought you were different. But you’re not. You’re all just humans who cannot find let alone defeat one demon!” she snarled holding Kiriya closer. Kyojuro could hear the pain in her voice, see the despair in her eyes. He could see the way she was holding the child that if she was truly meaning to absorb him into her body, she was going to do it right now. Amane’s hand was trembling as if she was preparing to let it drop, to let the Hashira attack. Kyojuro shook his head.

“No!” he called out and now everyone looked at him except for the two women who kept their eyes on each other. He jumped from the roof top.

“Kyojuro!” Tengen called, and the Hashira landed effortlessly on the ground, his crouch was perfect as he slowly stood up. Slowly Ayomide’s eyes turned to look at him.

“Ayomide… I am Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, and your daughter, Ayo’s… mate.” he introduced. Ayomide’s eyes flexed as she watched him. Her aggressive body language began to lighten just a bit.

“You… you are the man the universe sent to my daughter.” She said. Kyojuro nodded remaining in his position.

“I cannot begin to imagine the pain you feel in this moment! You are hurting. We are all hurting! We not only care about Ayo, but we care for Femi as well! But please, do not take your despair out on the ones you once called your allies! Your anger should rightfully be aimed at Muzan Kibutsuji, the demon who owned you and terrorized many of you!” he said. Ayomide’s eyes widened at his words. “I know it’s easy to go for the humans and call us weak. Your power is on another level I could never begin to fathom. We can’t beat you, none of us could even if you decide to absorb young Kiriya!”

Ayomide looked down at the boy whose eyes were closed as if he were asleep holding on to the woman. Kyojuro’s look of understanding slowly faded to one of anger.

“But if you hurt him, you hurt Ayo by becoming all of our enemies!” he said. Ayomide’s eyes widened even more as she looked at Kyojuro, his eyes showing a strength she had seen before, a very familiar feeling. Every step she took long ago was a step at gaining freedom for her husband and babies. She knew if she harmed any of the Ubuyashiki family members, then they would come after her, forcing her darling husband to retaliate quickly and swiftly wiping them all out. Giving Muzan exactly what he wants, his enemies annihilated.

“Tell me Kyojuro Rengoku… would you let the world fall into darkness if it meant my daughter would be safe?” she asked lowly. His body tensed his eyes showing raw emotions. He remembered when he was on his knees before Akaza, hole in his chest, eye crushed, preparing to meet his death when Ayo appeared like an angel to defend him. He remembers her strict tone as she claimed Akaza was her opponent and hers alone.

“I cannot speak for the future of the world, but I would give my life a thousand times over for her no questions asked!” he said. Amane looked at the flame Hashira a gentle smile showing on her lips. Ayomide stared at him for a moment looking down some.

“Do you agree with this human’s sentiment, my son?” she asked as Bambaataa walked through the gates calmly, hammer down to his side. He would never raise a weapon to his mother no matter the situation.

“I do Mother… do you really hold us in such low regard that you and Father would believe we would go through this plan without thinking?” he asked. Ayomide winced and looked at him as he approached.

“You three are my greatest contributions to this planet, my son. But no plan in this world have ever involved an Orisha being held by a demon, especially Muzan Kibutsuji!” she hissed. Bambaataa nodded.

“I know. But if you want him to dead, you have to let Ayo do this! We are warriors trained for this.” he said firmly. The elder Orisha looked up at her son, his firm glare resembling that of his father’s. She slowly looked at Kyojuro who was standing there with a cool gaze, waiting for her reaction. She then looked at the eyes of every Hashira.

Gyomei’s blind eyes still held the story.

“Everyone has seen me except for you.” Ayo said gently.

“I can hear you. Your voice is soft and trustworthy. I can smell you; your skin is fresh and reminds me of the warmth of the sun from the energy you give off. I could pick your voice out in a sea of roaring people. That is enough.” he replies.

“Gyomei, would it be alright for me to take your hand?”

“Oh of course.”

“May you be able to remember the feelings of my skin if we are ever in battle and you don’t know who to trust”

Sanemi’s eye’s held rage, but vulnerability as well.

“What’s the matter?” Ayo asked with worry.

“You ran into Kibutsuji because I wasn’t with you. I told you to wait for me in that damn town, not even thinking of what threats could be there. I’m happy you got away, but I feel so fucking weak I wasn’t there to have your back.” he said, voice trembling.

“Sanemi, you had my back the entire time. You fought those demons off when they came, due to my bleeding. You gave me time to escape.” Ayo said. He shook his head.

“I could have done more. I shouldn’t have gone ahead to kill the target demon.” he said through clenched teeth. Ayo smiled and grabbed his shoulders pulling him into a gentle embrace. His body tensed.

“But had you gone back for me, more people would have died, but because you hadn’t, no one died. I am alive and you are alive, and those villagers are alive. It’s alright.” she replied gently sharing a hug with the man.

Ayomide looked to Giyu seeing his daughter sparring with the boy, then she looked at Shinobu as they healed patients together and danced in the ways of her people, to Mitsuri as the two ate large portions of food together laughing happily, then to Obanai as he sat with Ayo and the two spoke about their childhoods, then to Muichiro to see his daughter learning to fly a paper plane with the boy, to even Tengen whose eyes showed the man proposing to his daughter and her brother immediately coming to her defense. Lastly, her eyes fell to Kyojuro who’s soul filled eyes shared the most memories, from the two fighting a demon together in snow, to him finally seeing Ayo without her mask. She’s even fighting a demon to defend the flame Hashira. She even saw a moment where his naked form laid her naked body down…

They all truly did care for her children.

Ayomide closed her eyes and gently looked down feeling the tears fall from her cheeks as she gently began to cry before looking at her son.

“I want my babies. I want you all to come home” she said, the pain evident in her tone. Bambaataa nodded, his eyes softening on her. After a few moments, the tears absorbed into her skin before she leaned back up and pushed her emotions down. She then looked at Amane who stared at her, this time, her arms down, but gently connected together in her kimono. Ayomide looked down at the sleeping Kiriya and before holding his body out to him. Amane wasted no time in approaching the woman and moving to take hold of her son. The other Hashira were all tense as they watched their lord’s wife approach. This woman still felt like a threat, her aura still heavy and dark.

Once Amane returned to the engawa, the doors slid open, and she disappeared inside. Ayomide looked at Bambaataa before looking at the group around her.

“I stand behind my husband’s decision. You have four weeks to present my daughter and my son or else we will solve your demon problem for you.” she said coldly, her eyes looking at Kyojuro and then her son. Bambaataa bowed his head in response before Ayomide’s left arm raised high into the sky creating a pink rift in the sky. Her body moved up into the air floating silently before disappearing inside the rift.

Bambaataa stared at the pink light as it vanished.

‘Ayo if you’re going to do something, please do it fast.’ he thought.

Ayo’s POV

The pool I was allowed to bathe in was still dead almost. My body hurts, but I took all the force and beatings my body would endure if it meant Femi would not have to feel pain. I couldn’t heal like I wanted, so my body was black and purple. Two weeks have passed and Muzan has been delighted with his ability to walk in the sun, if only for a few minutes with my blood. With my body in so much pain and distress my period has not come yet due to the conditions I was in. This environment was not a healthy one, so my body will not respond as if healthy.

“Why do you continue to resist?” I hear his low voice. I just remained sitting on the inner steps not saying anything. “This pain you are facing was avoidable.” I turn to see Muzan standing over me with a tilt of his head, emotionless eyes watching me. I didn’t respond and he tutted with his tongue.

“Your insides are hurting, aren’t they? Your vaginal walls are bruised, your anus is beyond damaged. But I can heal you right up. You’ve given me your blood, so why don’t I give you my blood I return. It’s the least I could do for helping me produce some good results with your blood.” he purred, and I just winced knowing what tasting his blood could do to me.

“No thank you.” I replied. I hear him chuckle before I feel his arms on my shoulders. The world around me seems to move, and I can feel my body standing and now I’m on the ground naked before the demon. He looked so amused.

“You are quite the stubborn one, but I fear you are in over your head here. It will not be long before you are pregnant with my child.” he said.

“Then I will be of no use to you.” I replied.

“On the contrary, your purpose as a woman will finally start as you will help raise our child.” he said stepping forward and placing a hand on my swollen bruised stomach. I hissed softly at the bruise he touched and the fact he stated my purpose being clearly to have children. “Together we will bring a new demon into this world and once your older brother joins, I will be unstoppable.”

He raised his hand to my cheek now and I winced at the pain, however, I felt the painful throbbing and bruises start to heal. My entire body felt so much better.

“It was never my intention to harm you in this way. Your mother would be furious with me.” he said gently. Okay that’s odd. It seems my mother has left her mark on many in Japan especially the demons. Now Muzan smiled almost genuinely.

“I must go back to the surface for a while. But don’t worry some of my upper moons jumped at the opportunity to keep you company. When I return, you and I can further have some alone time.” he said gently massaging the spot under my white streak of hair.

The walls moved all around me and before I knew it, a blue and white kimono was wrapping itself around my body fully dressing me. Muzan was gone and now I was on my feet in an open area. But a blue and white vase was the only thing in the middle of this room.

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Author's Notes

Ayomide was ready to just kill everybody at that mansion! She didn't care what the consequences were. XDntr

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