A Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba alternate universe.
❀check out my other tanjiro blog: @hinokami-kagura!❀
chapter one:
💬 0 🔁 10 ❤️ 3 · STARVING WINTER · Part X — Judgment
The courtyard was silent.
Not because nobody wished to speak.
Quite the opposite.
info
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The Kamado family is slaughtered by Muzan Kibutsuji.
But Nezuko Kamado never becomes a demon.
Instead, she survives as a human.
The siblings take separate paths.
Nezuko joins the Demon Slayer Corps in pursuit of justice and to prevent others from suffering the same tragedy.
Tanjiro disappears into the mountains.
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A winter unlike any other descends upon the region.
Stranded, starving, and completely alone, Tanjiro is forced to do the unthinkable to survive.
He remains human.
He remains mortal.
He remains Tanjiro Kamado.
Yet the boy who once carried charcoal down snowy mountains becomes something feared by demons, slayers, and ordinary people alike.
A human cannibal.
Though he survives by consuming human flesh, he still clings desperately to fragments of the morality that once defined him.
He refuses to harm children.
He refuses to prey upon the innocent.
He protects those under his care with absolute devotion.
The result is a man who is neither hero nor monster, but something unsettlingly caught between the two.
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Eventually Tanjiro is captured and brought before the Hashira.
The scent of human flesh on him leaves many of them disgusted.
Despite this, Kagaya Ubuyashiki sees the remnants of the boy beneath the horror.
A pact is made.
Tanjiro refuses to join the Demon Slayer Corps, believing their methods are too slow to stop Muzan.
In exchange, he swears that he will never harm a Demon Slayer.
Kagaya grants him a Kasugai Crow named Susu, who serves as his informant and link to Corps activity.
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Now Tanjiro wanders the wilderness hunting demons on his own terms.
His weapon is not a katana.
It is the iron woodcutter's hatchet he once used to help support his family.
The blade is eventually reforged with Nichirin steel and blackens like charcoal in his hands.
Though he never receives formal instruction in Sun Breathing, he unknowingly incorporates the movements of the Hinokami Kagura into his combat style, transforming the dance of survival his father taught him into a brutal and relentless fighting art.
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He is not alone.
⚒️ KANIE
A wandering swordsmith who becomes obsessed with maintaining Tanjiro's weapon.
Though free to return to the Swordsmith Village whenever he wishes, Kanie chooses to remain at Tanjiro's side.
Most people assume this is insanity.
Kanie insists it is professional dedication.
Whenever terrified, he freezes completely in place.
Tanjiro's solution is simply to carry him away.
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🐦 SUSU
A Kasugai Crow assigned to monitor Tanjiro's movements.
Susu is deeply afraid of him.
Unfortunately, Tanjiro considers him part of the pack.
As a result, Susu is routinely dragged into hot springs and scrubbed clean whenever his feathers become dirty enough to offend Tanjiro's sensitive nose.
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Together, the three travel through a Japan haunted by demons, winter, and rumor.
Some villages view them as heroes.
Others lock their doors at the mere mention of Tanjiro's name.
Even demons whisper stories.
Not of a Hashira.
Not of a legendary swordsman.
But of a long-haired man wearing hanafuda earrings who emerges from snowstorms carrying a black hatchet.
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Major Timeline Changes:
• Nezuko joins the Demon Slayer Corps as a human.
• Tanjiro refuses Corps membership and hunts independently.
• Muzan focuses his attention on Nezuko instead of Tanjiro.
• Enmu targets Nezuko during the Infinity Train incident.
• Rengoku still dies.
• Nezuko awakens an imperfect form of Hinokami Kagura during the Entertainment District battle.
• Tanjiro and Nezuko reunite intermittently throughout the story.
• Kanie eventually brings Tanjiro to the Swordsmith Village.
• Tanjiro develops an unusual understanding with Genya due to their shared willingness to consume what others consider monstrous.
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This blog follows the events of the Starving Winter AU.
Main responders:
🪓 Tanjiro Kamado
⚒️ Kanie
🐦 Susu
Questions, roleplay prompts, interactions, and AU discussions are welcome.
Please specify who your question is directed toward if you want a particular character to answer.
Years in the mountains had taught him to wake at the slightest sound, the slightest scent, the slightest shift in the air. His eyes opened instantly, his hand already reaching for the black Nichirin hatchet resting beside his futon.
Nothing was wrong.
No demons.
No intruders.
No snowstorm.
Just silence.
Slowly, he relaxed.
The room smelled unfamiliar.
Fresh wood. Clean bedding. Rice cooking somewhere in the estate.
Humanity.
Lots of humanity.
For a moment, he forgot where he was.
Then yesterday came rushing back.
The trial.
The Hashira.
Nezuko.
Kagaya.
The confession.
His stomach twisted.
"...Right."
The word escaped quietly into the darkness.
For several minutes he simply sat there, staring at the floor.
Then a voice spoke from outside the window.
"He's awake."
Tanjiro blinked.
A second voice immediately answered.
"Unfortunately."
He turned.
Perched on the windowsill was a black crow.
The same crow from the trial.
Susu.
The bird looked deeply unhappy.
Tanjiro looked deeply unhappy.
For several seconds they simply stared at each other.
Neither seemed particularly pleased by the arrangement.
"Good morning."
"Bad morning."
Tanjiro tilted his head.
Susu puffed up.
"I have been assigned to monitor you."
"You say that like it's my fault."
"It is."
"I don't think it is."
"It absolutely is."
Tanjiro considered this.
"Fair."
The crow seemed annoyed by the agreement.
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A knock sounded at the door.
Before Tanjiro could answer, it slid open.
Kanie stumbled inside.
Immediately.
The swordsmith froze.
Tanjiro froze.
Susu froze.
Three seconds passed.
Then Kanie pointed dramatically.
"THERE YOU ARE."
"I was sleeping."
"You disappeared!"
"I was sleeping."
"I DIDN'T KNOW THAT."
Tanjiro looked confused.
Kanie looked exhausted.
The swordsmith marched across the room, sat down heavily, and folded his arms.
"I spent an hour looking for you."
"Why?"
"Because we're surrounded by Demon Slayers."
"Yes."
"That's terrifying."
"Also yes."
Susu made a noise that sounded suspiciously like agreement.
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The room fell silent.
Not uncomfortable.
Just strange.
The kind of silence that came after a storm.
For the first time in years, Tanjiro wasn't wandering.
He wasn't starving.
He wasn't hiding.
He wasn't running from winter.
The realization felt oddly uncomfortable.
Like wearing clothes that didn't quite fit anymore.
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A shadow crossed the doorway.
Tanjiro looked up.
Nezuko stood there.
Neither sibling spoke.
Not immediately.
There was too much to say.
Too much that had already been said.
Too much that couldn't be taken back.
Susu wisely decided to look somewhere else.
Kanie suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
Neither wanted any part of whatever was about to happen.
Nezuko took a slow breath.
"...Good morning, big brother."
Tanjiro smiled faintly.
The expression looked rusty from disuse.
"Morning, Nezuko."
Silence followed.
Not because either of them wanted it to.
Because neither knew where to begin.
Susu suddenly became fascinated with a tree outside.
Kanie stood up.
Immediately.
"I'm leaving."
Neither sibling looked at him.
"Good choice," Susu agreed.
The swordsmith and crow vanished with remarkable speed.
The door slid shut behind them.
Tanjiro and Nezuko were alone.
The silence returned.
Nezuko stared at her hands.
Tanjiro stared at the floor.
For two people who had spent years wanting to see each other again, neither seemed capable of speaking.
Eventually, Nezuko broke first.
"...I don't know what to say."
Tanjiro nodded.
"Neither do I."
Another silence.
A smaller one this time.
Less painful.
More uncertain.
Nezuko looked up.
Her eyes were red.
Whether from exhaustion or crying, Tanjiro couldn't tell.
Probably both.
"I was angry."
The confession came quietly.
Tanjiro nodded again.
"Yeah."
"I thought..."
She swallowed.
"I thought you chose it."
The words hurt.
Not because they were cruel.
Because they were honest.
Tanjiro lowered his eyes.
"I know."
Nezuko laughed bitterly.
"I spent months wondering how my brother became a monster."
The word slipped out before she could stop it.
Immediately, she regretted it.
Tanjiro didn't react.
That somehow made it worse.
"I wasn't a monster when it started."
The response was calm.
Soft.
Nezuko felt her chest tighten.
"I know."
"You don't have to apologize."
"I'm not apologizing."
The answer came too quickly.
Too sharply.
Tanjiro blinked.
Nezuko immediately looked away.
"...Not completely."
For the first time, a tiny smile appeared on Tanjiro's face.
A real one.
Small.
Tired.
Familiar.
It vanished almost immediately.
"I don't want you apologizing for being upset."
Nezuko stared at him.
"Why?"
Tanjiro looked genuinely confused.
"Because I was eating people."
"...That's a pretty good reason."
"Exactly."
For one ridiculous moment, they both laughed.
The sound surprised them.
The laughter died quickly, but neither regretted it.
Nezuko's smile faded first.
"...Do you still do it?"
The question hung heavily between them.
Tanjiro didn't pretend not to understand.
He didn't dodge it.
Didn't lie.
"Yes."
The answer hurt more than she expected.
Not because she hadn't known.
Because hearing it out loud made it real.
Tanjiro saw her flinch.
His stomach twisted.
"I don't enjoy it."
Nezuko closed her eyes.
"I know."
"I don't."
His voice was quiet.
"I don't like it. I don't feel proud of it. I don't think it's right."
The room fell silent.
"Then why?"
This time the question wasn't Kagaya's.
It was his sister's.
Tanjiro thought for a long moment.
Then answered honestly.
"Because I'm afraid."
Nezuko froze.
Tanjiro stared down at his hands.
"I know what starvation feels like."
His voice had become distant.
Quiet.
Like he wasn't in the room anymore.
"I know what happens when your body starts shutting down. I know what it feels like when every thought becomes food."
His fingers tightened slightly.
"And I'm terrified of feeling that way again."
Nezuko didn't know what to say.
So she did something simple.
Something familiar.
Something she hadn't done since they were children.
She reached over and took his hand.
Tanjiro immediately froze.
Not because he disliked it.
Because he couldn't remember the last time someone had done that.
Nezuko's grip tightened.
Just a little.
"I'm still angry."
Tanjiro nodded.
"That's fair."
"I'm still upset."
"Also fair."
"And I still think you're an idiot."
That earned another tiny smile.
"Very fair."
Nezuko squeezed his hand.
"But you're my brother."
For the first time since entering the room, Tanjiro looked directly at her.
At first Tanjiro thought little of it; winter carried scents strangely through the mountains, stretching them across valleys and through forests until they seemed to come from everywhere at once. He shifted the basket on his shoulders and continued up the familiar path, boots crunching through fresh snow as evening settled over the trees.
Then the scent grew stronger.
Blood.
His steps slowed.
The metallic smell cut through the cold air, overwhelming the comforting scents of pine needles, woodsmoke, and frost. A knot formed in his stomach.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The mountain seemed unusually quiet. No birds called from the branches overhead, no distant voices drifted from neighboring homes; even the wind felt muted as it wound its way through the cedars.
Tanjiro quickened his pace.
The smell only intensified.
Soon he was running.
The basket bounced against his back as he sprinted through the snow, his breath clouding before him in frantic bursts. Relief nearly found him when the roof of the Kamado home finally appeared between the trees.
Then he saw the door hanging open.
His heart lurched.
The basket slipped from his shoulders and crashed into the snow.
Charcoal scattered across the path.
He didn't stop.
"Mom!"
No answer.
Tanjiro stumbled through the doorway and into silence.
The house looked as though a storm had torn through it.
Furniture lay overturned, dishes shattered across the floor, and dark stains soaked into the wood beneath his feet.
Blood.
Everywhere.
For a moment his mind refused to understand what his eyes were seeing.
Hanako.
Shigeru.
Takeo.
Their mother.
Each of them lay motionless where they had fallen, the warmth long since gone from their bodies.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
He dropped to his knees beside his mother and reached desperately for her wrist.
Nothing.
The skin was cold.
Far too cold.
His breath hitched.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be.
He checked again.
Then Hanako.
Then Shigeru.
Then Takeo.
Each time, he found the same terrible answer waiting for him.
Nothing.
The smell of blood filled his lungs until he thought he might choke on it.
A sob tore from his chest.
One day.
He had only been gone for one day.
How could everything be gone?
How could they all be gone?
Tears blurred his vision as he sat among the wreckage, unable to do anything except stare.
Then his nose caught something.
Faint.
Almost hidden beneath the blood.
Tanjiro froze.
Alive.
His head snapped upward.
The scent wasn't coming from inside the house.
It was outside.
Without thinking, he lurched to his feet and stumbled back through the doorway, nearly slipping on the snow as he followed the trail around the side of the house.
The smell grew stronger.
Hope and dread twisted together in his chest.
Please.
Please.
Please.
Then he saw them.
Nezuko lay half-buried in the snow, her body curled tightly around a much smaller figure.
Rokuta.
For one terrible instant Tanjiro couldn't move.
Even now, even after whatever had happened here, Nezuko had tried to protect him.
She was draped over her baby brother as though shielding him from the world itself.
Snow had gathered on her hair and clothing.
Rokuta was still.
The scent of life no longer clung to him.
But Nezuko-
Nezuko was breathing.
Weakly.
Faintly.
But she was breathing.
"Nezuko!"
Tanjiro fell to his knees beside them.
His shaking hands searched desperately for a pulse.
There.
Slow.
Weak.
Alive.
Relief hit so hard it hurt.
A broken sound escaped him, half sob and half laugh as tears spilled down his cheeks.
"Thank goodness..."
His voice trembled.
"Thank goodness..."
Carefully, he lifted Nezuko into his arms.
She felt freezing cold.
Far too light.
Far too still.
Yet she was alive.
The only one left.
Tanjiro looked down at Rokuta one last time.
Snow had already begun to gather around the infant's tiny form.
A fresh wave of grief crashed through him.
There wasn't even time to mourn.
Not yet.
Nezuko needed help.
She needed warmth.
She needed a doctor.
Pulling her closer against his chest, Tanjiro rose unsteadily to his feet and started down the mountain.
Behind him, the snow continued to fall.
Ahead of him waited a future neither sibling could yet imagine.
And somewhere in the darkness, far beyond the reach of the mountain wind, Muzan Kibutsuji walked away from the massacre he had left behind.
The doctor said it was a miracle she had survived at all.
Deep cuts covered her body, several ribs had been cracked, and blood loss alone should have killed her long before Tanjiro carried her down the mountain. Yet somehow she endured, drifting in and out of consciousness while the town physician did everything he could to keep her alive.
Tanjiro rarely left her bedside.
When he wasn't sitting beside her futon, he was helping around the clinic to repay the doctor for his kindness. He hauled water, chopped wood, swept floors, and carried supplies through the snow without being asked.
Anything to keep moving.
Anything to avoid thinking.
The moment he stopped, he remembered.
His mother's smile.
Hanako's laughter.
Takeo trying to act older than he was.
Shigeru's endless energy.
Little Rokuta bundled against Nezuko's chest beneath the falling snow.
The memories waited for him in every quiet moment.
So he kept busy.
The townspeople noticed.
Many of them had known the Kamados for years. They remembered the polite charcoal seller who always offered to help carry heavy bundles, who never complained no matter how long the climb home was, and who somehow managed to smile even after spending all day walking mountain trails.
Now that same boy moved through town like a ghost.
He smiled when spoken to.
He thanked everyone who helped him.
But there was something hollow behind his eyes.
No one knew how to fix it.
On the morning of the fourth day, Nezuko finally woke up.
Tanjiro had fallen asleep sitting beside her futon when he felt a hand weakly tug at his sleeve.
His eyes flew open.
Nezuko was looking at him.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then she started crying.
So did he.
The doctor quietly excused himself from the room.
Neither sibling noticed.
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A week later, a stranger arrived.
He wore a half-patterned haori split between crimson and geometric green, and his expression seemed permanently carved from stone.
The moment he stepped into town, Tanjiro smelled steel.
Not actual steel.
The scent of a swordsman.
Dangerous.
Disciplined.
The man introduced himself as Giyu Tomioka.
He asked to speak with Nezuko.
The conversation lasted hours.
Tanjiro wasn't present for most of it, though he caught fragments whenever the door slid open.
Questions.
Descriptions.
The scent Nezuko remembered.
The monster that had attacked their family.
The impossible strength.
The yellow eyes.
When Giyu finally emerged, he stood silently beneath the clinic's eaves while snow drifted around him.
Tanjiro approached first.
"What happens now?"
The swordsman studied him for a long moment.
His face revealed nothing.
"The thing that killed your family was a demon."
Tanjiro's hands clenched.
The word sounded absurd.
Impossible.
And yet his nose remembered that scent.
The unnatural scent lingering beneath the blood.
The scent that had never belonged to any human.
"Demon..."
Giyu nodded.
"There are others."
The words settled heavily between them.
Not one monster.
Many.
An entire world of monsters.
Tanjiro suddenly hated it.
He hated that such a world existed.
He hated that his family had become part of it.
Most of all, he hated that he had been too late.
"The Corps could use someone like Nezuko."
Tanjiro blinked.
"The Corps?"
"Demon Slayers."
For the first time, something shifted in Giyu's expression.
Not quite sympathy.
Something close to it.
"She has seen what demons do. She wants to stop them."
Silence followed.
Then Tanjiro looked toward the clinic.
Toward his sister.
And he understood.
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Nezuko accepted.
The decision surprised no one.
Least of all Tanjiro.
The moment Giyu explained what the Corps was, something fierce had awakened behind Nezuko's eyes.
The grief remained.
The pain remained.
But beneath both burned purpose.
If demons existed, she wanted to fight them.
If other families were in danger, she wanted to protect them.
It was exactly the sort of choice their mother would have expected from her.
Tanjiro was proud.
And terribly afraid.
Because joining meant leaving.
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The morning Nezuko departed, the town gathered near the road.
Snow covered the rooftops.
The sky hung gray and heavy overhead.
Nezuko stood beside Giyu, bundled against the cold.
Neither sibling seemed capable of finding the right words.
Eventually Nezuko hugged him first.
Tanjiro nearly broke.
"Don't do anything reckless," she whispered.
A watery laugh escaped him.
"You're joining an organization that fights monsters."
"That's different."
"It really isn't."
For the first time in weeks, both of them smiled.
Then they cried again.
When she finally left, Tanjiro watched until she disappeared beyond the falling snow.
Only then did he realize how alone he truly was.
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He remained in town for another month.
Long enough for winter to deepen.
Long enough for the grief to settle into something quieter.
Long enough to realize that staying would never make the pain disappear.
Eventually he made his decision.
He would find the demon responsible.
No matter how long it took.
No matter where the trail led.
The morning he prepared to leave, he discovered that the townspeople had already heard.
An elderly woman pressed a sack of rice into his hands.
A merchant gave him dried fish.
Someone else donated blankets.
Another offered matches.
One by one they appeared, each carrying something useful.
Food.
Supplies.
Winter clothing.
Small gifts.
Small kindnesses.
The sort of things Tanjiro himself would have done for someone else.
"You've always helped everyone around here," one man said gruffly.
"About time somebody helped you."
Tanjiro couldn't speak.
His throat hurt too much.
So he bowed instead.
Again and again.
By the time he finally started down the road, his pack was heavier than it had ever been.
The weight should have slowed him.
Instead it felt strangely comforting.
A reminder that despite everything, he had not been forgotten.
The town disappeared behind him.
The mountain waited ahead.
And somewhere beyond the endless white wilderness, a demon walked free.
Tanjiro adjusted the straps of his pack and continued into the snow.
He stretched every sack of rice as far as possible, mixed handfuls of grain with snowmelt and wild roots, and carefully rationed every scrap of dried fish the townspeople had given him. Nothing was wasted. Nothing was taken for granted.
Each meal became smaller than the last.
He told himself it was temporary.
Just until he found another town.
Just until spring came.
Just until he found a lead.
The first bag emptied.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Winter continued.
The mountains did not care.
Weeks passed.
The snow grew deeper.
The roads vanished.
And eventually, there was nothing left.
Tanjiro tried everything.
He trapped rabbits.
Most escaped.
The few he caught barely provided enough meat for a day.
He dug beneath the snow searching for edible plants and found frozen earth instead.
He chewed pine needles to dull the ache in his stomach.
It didn't help.
The hunger became a constant companion.
A living thing.
It followed him through the mountains, whispered to him while he slept, and greeted him every morning before he even opened his eyes.
His body changed.
His clothes hung looser.
His cheeks hollowed.
Walking became harder.
Thinking became harder.
Sometimes he would stop in the middle of a trail and realize he couldn't remember where he had intended to go.
The scent of food became unbearable.
One afternoon he caught himself staring at a crow perched on a branch overhead.
Not because it was unusual.
Because he was wondering how much meat was on it.
The realization made him physically ill.
He sat in the snow for nearly an hour afterward.
Ashamed.
The crow eventually flew away.
Tanjiro envied it.
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Days later, a storm rolled across the mountains.
The wind howled through the trees and buried the trails beneath fresh snow.
By nightfall Tanjiro could barely feel his fingers.
He needed shelter.
Soon.
His nose caught a scent.
Smoke.
Faint.
Distant.
Human.
He followed it.
The trail led him to a small shack tucked between rocky cliffs, so hidden it would have been impossible to find without the smell.
Light flickered through a crack in the wall.
Someone was inside.
For a moment, relief washed through him.
Another person.
A place to rest.
Warmth.
Food, maybe.
Then he smelled fear.
The scent was immediate.
Sharp.
Fresh.
Whoever was inside knew someone was approaching.
Tanjiro knocked anyway.
No answer came.
The fear intensified.
Slowly, he pushed the door open.
A man sat in the corner.
Thin.
Dirty.
A knife clutched in trembling hands.
Stolen goods lay scattered around the shack.
Purses.
Jewelry.
Clothing.
Things that clearly didn't belong to him.
The man looked up.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
Tanjiro's stomach twisted.
The scent of another human being filled the room.
The hunger stirred.
He hated it.
Immediately.
Violently.
The thought shouldn't have existed.
Yet it did.
The man flinched.
"Stay back."
Tanjiro didn't move.
His body felt strangely distant.
The room felt strangely distant.
Everything felt distant.
Weeks of starvation had reduced the world to a handful of simple facts.
Cold.
Hunger.
Survival.
The man raised the knife higher.
Fear poured from him.
Tanjiro remembered his mother.
He remembered Nezuko.
He remembered carrying charcoal down snowy mountain roads.
He remembered who he was.
And for one desperate moment, he held onto those memories as tightly as he could.
Because he knew, somehow, that if he let go...
...nothing would ever be the same again.
Outside, snow battered the shack walls.
Inside, hunger waited patiently.
And winter watched.
The storm raged through the night.
Snow hammered against the shack's walls, filling every gap with a low, mournful howl. The wind carried away sound, swallowed it whole, and left the mountain silent once more.
By morning, the blizzard had passed.
The door creaked open.
Tanjiro stepped outside.
For a long moment he simply stood there, staring at the endless white stretching across the mountains.
The cold no longer bit quite as sharply.
The weakness in his legs had faded.
His stomach no longer felt as though it were devouring itself.
That realization made him sick.
His gaze drifted downward.
The old woodcutter's hatchet hung at his side.
Dark stains marred the edge.
His breath caught.
Memories surfaced in fragments.
A trembling hand clutching a knife.
Fear.
The smell of smoke.
The endless ache of hunger.
Then nothing.
His mind refused to travel any further.
The shack stood silent behind him.
Tanjiro couldn't bring himself to look inside.
Instead, he sank to his knees in the snow.
The mountain wind tugged at his clothes.
His hands shook.
Not from cold.
A sound escaped him; small, broken, and utterly miserable.
"No..."
The word dissolved into the winter air.
He already knew.
His nose told him everything.
The scent lingered on his clothing.
On his hands.
On the hatchet.
No amount of snow would hide it.
No amount of denial would erase it.
The hunger was gone.
And he knew exactly why.
Tears blurred his vision.
His mother had taught him never to waste food.
To be grateful for every meal.
To respect the life behind it.
The memory twisted inside him until he thought he might choke.
Slowly, Tanjiro pressed a hand over his face.
He wanted to pray.
He wanted to apologize.
He wanted to wake up.
Instead, he sat alone in the snow while the mountain watched in silence.
When he finally rose to his feet, something had changed.
Not his body.
Not his voice.
Not even his goals.
He still intended to find Muzan Kibutsuji.
He still intended to protect people.
He was still Tanjiro Kamado.
But now there was a shadow following him.
A line crossed in the dead of winter.
A sin he would carry for the rest of his life.
Without another glance toward the shack, Tanjiro adjusted the strap of his pack and continued into the mountains.
The promise followed him through the mountains like a prayer.
Every morning he repeated it.
Every night he repeated it.
Every time his stomach growled, every time he passed an abandoned shrine or an empty hunting trail, every time the memory of the shack surfaced from the depths of his mind, he repeated it.
Never again.
The first time had been desperation.
Starvation.
Madness.
A moment of weakness born from circumstances no human being should ever have to endure.
He could live with that.
Maybe.
If it never happened again.
Winter disagreed.
The mountains disagreed.
Hunger, most of all, disagreed.
The food he found was never enough.
A rabbit here.
A handful of roots there.
Days passed between proper meals.
Weeks passed between good ones.
His body recovered from the brink of death, but it never truly recovered from the hunger.
The hunger remained.
Waiting.
Watching.
Remembering.
And worse than the hunger was the memory.
Because his body remembered.
It remembered surviving.
It remembered warmth returning to frozen limbs.
It remembered strength flooding back into exhausted muscles.
It remembered living.
The realization horrified him.
Months earlier, the thought would have made him sick.
Now it simply made him afraid.
Because he understood what it meant.
A starving body did not care about morality.
A starving body cared about survival.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second time happened near the edge of a mountain road.
Tanjiro found the man by scent before he ever saw him.
Fear.
Sweat.
Blood.
The smell led him to a traveler crouched beside an overturned cart.
At first, Tanjiro intended to help.
That was what he always did.
That was who he was.
Then he smelled something else.
The traveler wasn't alone.
Several other scents lingered nearby.
A family.
Recent.
Frightened.
Gone.
And mixed among them was the unmistakable scent of violence.
Tanjiro asked questions.
The man lied.
His nose told him so.
He asked more.
The answers only grew worse.
By the time the truth emerged, the traveler was shaking.
The family had possessed valuables.
The family had disappeared.
The traveler had their belongings.
Tanjiro stared at him for a very long time.
The man eventually ran.
Tanjiro caught him.
Afterward, he sat alone beneath a pine tree until sunrise, staring at the snow and trying not to think.
Trying not to remember.
Trying not to acknowledge what he had done.
The promise had lasted less than a season.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The third time was easier.
The fourth time easier still.
That frightened him more than anything.
At first he only targeted criminals.
Murderers.
Bandits.
Men whose scents carried traces of cruelty and bloodshed.
He justified it.
They would hurt someone else.
They deserved punishment.
The world would be safer without them.
Each excuse came more quickly than the last.
Each one settled a little more comfortably in his mind.
He hated that.
Yet he kept going.
Because winter kept coming.
Because food remained scarce.
Because every time he told himself he would stop, the mountains demanded another impossible choice.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A Year later, Tanjiro would struggle to remember exactly when the change occurred.
There was no single moment.
No dramatic realization.
No instant where he transformed into something else.
The shift happened slowly.
Quietly.
Like snow accumulating on a rooftop.
One layer.
Then another.
Then another.
Until the shape of everything had changed.
The smell no longer revolted him.
That was the first sign.
The second was worse.
One evening, while passing through a village, he caught the scent of meat cooking over an open fire.
His stomach growled.
But not for the food.
For a moment—a brief, terrible moment—the scent disappointed him.
Tanjiro stopped walking.
The realization struck like a blade between the ribs.
His face drained of color.
No.
No.
No.
He stumbled away from the village and spent the night awake beneath a tree, horrified by his own thoughts.
But horror changed nothing.
The thought had existed.
And if it had existed once, it could exist again.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
By the second winter, rumors had begun to spread.
A long-haired wanderer carrying a woodcutter's hatchet.
A polite young man who appeared where bandits disappeared.
A hunter who tracked monsters through blizzards.
A human being who inspired the same fear demons did.
Tanjiro heard the stories occasionally.
He never corrected them.
Never confirmed them.
Never denied them.
What could he possibly say?
That they were wrong?
That he wasn't a cannibal?
The lie would stick in his throat.
Because he was.
No matter how many people he protected.
No matter how many demons he killed.
No matter how desperately he clung to the memory of the boy he used to be.
The truth remained.
Tanjiro Kamado had become a cannibal.
And with each passing winter, that truth became easier to live with.
Nichirin steel cut through demons far more easily than iron ever had.
The first demon Tanjiro encountered after receiving the reforged hatchet barely had time to react. One moment it was grinning from the darkness, confident in the usual advantages enjoyed by its kind; the next, its head was tumbling through the snow as its body dissolved into ash.
The entire fight lasted less than a minute.
Tanjiro stared at the empty patch of ground afterward.
Then he looked down at the hatchet.
The charcoal-black blade reflected nothing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kanie was insufferably pleased with himself.
"I told you."
Tanjiro sighed.
"You've told me seventeen times."
"Eighteen."
"Kanie."
"Eighteen times."
The swordsmith folded his arms.
"The weapon is better."
"It is."
"I was right."
"You were."
Kanie looked unbearably smug.
Tanjiro immediately regretted agreeing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Travel became easier after that.
Demons died faster.
Injuries became less common.
The two of them spent less time hiding in caves waiting for wounds to heal and more time moving through the mountains.
For a while, things almost felt normal.
As normal as life could be for a wandering swordsmith and a demon hunter carrying a hatchet.
For a while, Tanjiro almost believed he could keep the darker parts of himself buried.
Almost.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The problem was that the new blade made everything easier.
Everything.
Demons.
Trees.
Game.
And humans.
Tanjiro hated himself for noticing.
Yet he noticed anyway.
The realization arrived during a snowfall so heavy that the entire forest seemed painted white.
A bandit had attempted to ambush them from behind a ridge.
The man smelled of old blood and fresh malice.
Tanjiro sensed him long before he attacked.
The confrontation was brief.
Afterward, Tanjiro found himself staring at the black edge of the hatchet.
Clean.
Sharp.
Efficient.
Far more efficient than the rusted tool he had carried during that first terrible winter.
His stomach twisted.
Because part of him had made the comparison automatically.
The thought had appeared before he could stop it.
Before he could push it away.
Before he could pretend it wasn't there.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kanie noticed the silence.
"You've been staring at that thing for ten minutes."
Tanjiro blinked.
"What?"
"The hatchet."
Kanie pointed.
"Either you're planning to marry it or something's wrong."
A laugh escaped Tanjiro before he could stop it.
Small.
Brief.
Genuine.
Kanie looked startled.
Apparently Tanjiro laughing was a rarer sight than most demons.
"Nothing's wrong."
It was a lie.
His nose told him when others lied.
Unfortunately, it also told him when he lied.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
As spring approached, rumors continued to spread.
Villages whispered about a black-bladed hunter wandering the mountains.
Some called him a protector.
Others called him a monster.
Neither description felt entirely wrong.
Tanjiro saved travelers.
Killed demons.
Guided lost children back to their families.
Carried supplies through snowstorms.
Chopped firewood for elderly villagers.
Then, on other nights, he followed entirely different scents through the wilderness.
Bandits.
Murderers.
Men whose crimes clung to them like smoke.
The line between hunter and predator blurred more with each passing month.
Tanjiro knew it.
He simply didn't know how to stop.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
One evening, while Kanie worked beside a campfire repairing a damaged strap, he suddenly spoke.
"You're lonely."
Tanjiro nearly choked on his tea.
"What?"
"You're lonely."
"Kanie."
"You are."
The swordsmith continued working without looking up.
"As terrible as you are at admitting things."
Tanjiro stared.
Kanie remained focused on the strap.
"You spent a year alone in the mountains."
Silence.
"You talk to crows."
More silence.
"You apologize to trees when you cut them down."
"That happened once."
"It happened three times."
Tanjiro buried his face in his hands.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The conversation should have been ridiculous.
Instead, it lingered with him long after the fire burned low.
Because Kanie was right.
Before meeting the swordsmith, Tanjiro had spent months speaking to nobody.
Months surviving on instinct.
Months becoming something increasingly distant from the boy who had once sold charcoal alongside his family.
Maybe that was why Kanie mattered.
Maybe that was why he tolerated the constant complaints.
The endless commentary.
The complete lack of self-preservation.
Kanie made the mountains feel less empty.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
That night, after Kanie fell asleep, Tanjiro remained awake.
The forest stretched endlessly beyond the firelight.
His ears tracked every movement.
His nose catalogued every scent.
Predators.
Animals.
Snow.
Smoke.
Life.
Death.
And beneath it all lingered another scent.
One he knew all too well.
His own.
The scent of a human.
The scent of a hunter.
The scent of a cannibal.
Tanjiro stared into the flames.
The fire offered no answers.
Only warmth.
So he sat beside it until dawn, listening to Kanie snore softly beneath his blanket and wondering how long he could keep his secrets buried.
Because eventually, he knew, someone would ask the wrong question.
And Tanjiro Kamado had never been very good at lying.
The truth was that curiosity had gotten the better of her.
Rumors had been spreading for months.
A long-haired boy wandering the mountains.
A black Nichirin hatchet.
Demons disappearing.
Bandits disappearing.
An unsettling number of disappearances, actually.
Enough to catch the attention of the Insect Hashira.
Enough to make her investigate personally.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
She found him in a clearing.
For a moment, she simply stood there.
Silent.
Watching.
Trying to process what she was seeing.
A teenager sat beneath a tree.
Long hair.
Patched clothing.
Scars.
A black Nichirin hatchet resting nearby.
Beside him sat a swordsmith.
The swordsmith appeared to be staring very intensely at a cloud.
As though refusing to acknowledge anything happening around him.
Which was strange.
Because there was definitely something happening around him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"..."
"..."
"..."
Shinobu blinked.
The swordsmith continued staring at the cloud.
A true professional.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The boy eventually noticed her.
Their eyes met.
Neither moved.
For several seconds the forest remained completely silent.
Then the boy slowly lowered what he was holding.
His expression suggested he had just realized this situation looked extremely bad.
Which, to be fair, it did.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu's first thought was not horror.
It was pity.
The boy looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Spiritually.
Like someone who had spent years surviving instead of living.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second thought arrived moments later.
Oh.
This child is completely insane.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The swordsmith finally spoke.
"Oh good."
Shinobu looked at him.
"You noticed."
"Noticed what?"
The swordsmith immediately looked back at the cloud.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Several hours later, Tanjiro Kamado found himself at the Butterfly Mansion.
Against his will.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Please stop trying to leave."
"I'm leaving."
"No."
"I am."
"No."
"I am."
"No."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu smiled.
Tanjiro found the smile deeply threatening.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The first attempt happened before sunset.
A Kakushi tried guiding him toward a room.
The Kakushi placed a hand on his shoulder.
Tanjiro immediately attempted to bite him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The entire mansion descended into chaos.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"It bit me!"
"He's not a dog!"
"He bit me!"
"Please stop calling him an it."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro sat in a corner.
Mortified.
The Kakushi sat elsewhere.
Also mortified.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second attempt occurred during dinner.
Someone tried steering him toward a table.
Tanjiro reacted on instinct.
Years of surviving in the wilderness had apparently damaged several social skills.
The resulting incident convinced everyone to maintain a respectful distance.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
By the third day, the staff had developed a system.
Food was left nearby.
Nobody approached suddenly.
Nobody touched him without warning.
Conversations occurred at a safe distance.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The mansion collectively began treating him like a rescued wild animal.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro hated this.
Kanie thought it was hilarious.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"You have to admit," Kanie said.
"No."
"They're basically taming you."
"No."
"They're using the same techniques people use on frightened dogs."
"No."
"One of them called you a 'good boy' earlier."
Tanjiro looked ready to throw himself into the sun.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Three days later, Nezuko arrived.
Injured.
Exhausted.
And entirely unaware of what awaited her.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The mission had gone poorly.
Not disastrously.
She was alive.
But alive and injured were not mutually exclusive.
The Butterfly Mansion had become familiar territory after Final Selection.
So when she stepped through the gates, she expected medicine.
Bandages.
Rest.
Perhaps Shinobu.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
What she did not expect was hearing Zenitsu scream.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"STOP CLIMBING THE WALLS!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko froze.
That voice sounded familiar.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A second later another voice answered.
"I'M NOT CLIMBING THE WALLS."
"YOU ARE LITERALLY ON THE WALL."
"I'm leaning."
"VERTICALLY."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stared.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She turned toward the source of the argument.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
There, halfway up a wooden support beam, sat her brother.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Tanjiro?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Tanjiro looked down.
Nezuko looked up.
Neither spoke.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Then Tanjiro immediately climbed back down.
The reunion was significantly less dramatic than the first one.
Mostly because Nezuko was too tired to run.
And Tanjiro was currently being treated like a problematic shelter animal.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Still.
When he reached the ground, she smiled.
And for the first time since arriving at the mansion, Tanjiro stopped looking for the nearest escape route.
Nezuko nearly dropped her tea.
"My brother is here?"
Across the room, Shinobu smiled pleasantly.
"Yes."
The smile made Nezuko nervous.
"He's been staying at the mansion for several days."
"Why?"
The smile remained.
Somehow it became worse.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Well..."
Shinobu folded her hands.
"That's a somewhat complicated question."
Nezuko immediately straightened.
That was never a good sign.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Was he hurt?"
"No."
"In danger?"
"No."
"Then why is he here?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu paused.
Carefully considering how to explain this.
There was probably a gentle way to say it.
A delicate way.
A tactful way.
Unfortunately, Shinobu had never been particularly interested in tact.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"I found him eating a person in the woods."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence.
Complete.
Absolute.
Silence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"..."
"..."
"...What?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu maintained eye contact.
Nezuko continued staring.
The room felt significantly smaller than it had thirty seconds earlier.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"What?"
Nezuko repeated.
More slowly.
As though speaking to someone who had suddenly forgotten how words worked.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"I found your brother eating a person in the woods."
Shinobu said it exactly the same way.
The same calm tone.
The same pleasant smile.
The same horrifying sentence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Unfortunately, yes."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stood up.
Sat back down.
Stood up again.
Then sat down once more.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"My brother?"
"Your brother."
"The brother who cries over injured birds?"
"That one."
"The brother who apologizes to furniture when he bumps into it?"
"Also that one."
"The brother who carried six children home through a snowstorm because he was worried they'd get cold?"
"Still that one."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko buried her face in her hands.
Because somehow that made the situation worse.
Not better.
Worse.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Are you sure?"
Shinobu tilted her head.
"Nezuko."
"Yes?"
"I was there."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A long silence followed.
Finally, Nezuko lowered her hands.
Her expression had changed.
Not denial.
Not anger.
Confusion.
Deep, painful confusion.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"...Why?"
The question came out barely above a whisper.
Not because she didn't believe it anymore.
Because she did.
And that was terrifying.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Why?
Why would Tanjiro do something like that?
Why would her brother become something so unrecognizable?
What happened during those two years alone in the mountains?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For the first time since beginning the conversation, Shinobu's smile faded.
Just slightly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"I don't know."
And that answer frightened Nezuko far more than the first one.
Nezuko did not move for a long time.
The words hung in the air long after Shinobu had spoken them, long after the tea had cooled, long after the sound of distant footsteps in the hall had faded.
I found him eating a person in the woods.
It should not have been possible to misunderstand.
And yet Nezuko’s mind tried anyway.
Not because she doubted Shinobu.
But because her brother existed in the same world as that sentence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“…No.”
The word came out quietly.
Not denial.
Not refusal.
Something smaller.
Something breaking.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu watched her carefully.
“I understand that is difficult to hear.”
Nezuko swallowed.
“My brother wouldn’t—”
She stopped.
Because she had said that before.
Because she had already been wrong once.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu did not press further.
She only added, gently,
“He is still here, if you wish to see him.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stood up too quickly.
The floor felt unstable beneath her feet.
Every memory of Tanjiro shifted all at once, like a painting suddenly seen in different light.
The boy who cried when he killed demons.
The boy who apologized to the forest.
The boy who smelled like smoke and kindness and home.
And now—
A different image, forced into the same space, refusing to fit.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
When she found him, he was sitting in the garden.
Kanie was nearby, sharpening something and pretending not to listen to the world.
Tanjiro looked up the moment she arrived.
“Nezuko—”
He stopped.
He felt it immediately.
The change.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
She wasn’t afraid of him.
Not exactly.
But she wasn’t the same either.
Her eyes lingered on him longer than they used to.
Measured him in a way she never had before.
Like she was trying to understand something that no longer made sense.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“…What did Shinobu tell you?” Tanjiro asked softly.
Nezuko hesitated.
“That you were here.”
A pause.
“And what she saw.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence.
Even Kanie stopped moving.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro exhaled slowly.
“I see.”
He did not ask what exactly she meant.
He already knew.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stepped closer, then stopped again, unsure of her own body.
“You’re still you,” she said finally.
It sounded like a question.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro smiled.
It was small.
Careful.
Not the same smile she remembered, but close enough to hurt.
“I’m still me.”
A pause.
“…Just not only me.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko flinched at that.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Neither of them spoke after that.
Not properly.
Not in a way that fixed anything.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
That night, the Butterfly Mansion was quiet.
Too quiet.
Even Zenitsu had stopped complaining, which was how everyone knew something was wrong.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro sat in his room for a long time.
He did not sleep.
He listened instead.
Footsteps in the halls.
Breathing outside the door.
The distant sound of people who were deciding what he was allowed to be.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Eventually, he stood.
Kanie looked up from where he had been pretending to sleep.
“You’re leaving.”
It was not a question.
Tanjiro nodded.
“I need matches.”
“…For?”
Tanjiro paused.
“Candles.”
Kanie stared at him for a moment.
Then sighed.
“Of course you do.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
They moved quietly through the mansion.
Too quietly for something that should have been simple.
Tanjiro did not take much.
Just enough to travel.
Just enough to disappear.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
At the gate, Kanie finally spoke again.
“She noticed.”
“I know.”
“She’s not going to forget it.”
“I know.”
A pause.
Then, quieter,
“…Neither will you.”
Tanjiro didn’t answer that.
Because there was nothing to answer.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Behind them, the Butterfly Mansion remained lit and warm.
Ahead of them, the forest waited.
And for the first time since Nezuko had found him again,
The moment the strange mountain boy had been dragged through the gates, everyone had wanted to speak at once.
The silence existed only because someone important had arrived.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro stood alone in the center of the courtyard.
His wrists were no longer bound.
They didn't need to be.
There was nowhere to run.
Hashira surrounded him on all sides.
Some watched with curiosity.
Some with pity.
Some with open disgust.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stood among the gathered Demon Slayers.
She could barely look at him.
Not because she hated him.
Not because she was afraid.
Because every time she looked at him she saw two different people.
The brother she remembered.
And the person Shinobu had found in the woods.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Neither image would disappear.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A door slid open.
The courtyard immediately straightened.
Every Hashira became still.
Every Demon Slayer lowered their voice.
Even the wind seemed to quiet itself.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A frail man stepped outside.
Tanjiro had never seen him before.
Yet instinctively, he bowed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The man smiled.
A warm smile.
A kind smile.
The sort of smile that reminded Tanjiro of home.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Thank you for coming."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The statement confused him.
He had been captured.
Escorted across the country.
Delivered to a courtyard full of armed strangers.
Nobody had asked whether he wanted to come.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Yet somehow this man was thanking him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"...You're welcome."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Several Hashira looked startled.
The man merely smiled wider.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"My name is Kagaya Ubuyashiki."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The name meant nothing to Tanjiro.
The reaction around him did.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This was the Master.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Oh."
Tanjiro bowed again.
"Nice to meet you."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A few people looked as though they had forgotten how to process information.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The alleged human-eating monster was introducing himself politely.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Unfortunately, the moment didn't last.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Can we stop pretending he's harmless?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The voice cut through the courtyard.
Harsh.
Sharp.
Angry.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The white-haired Hashira stepped forward.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Sanemi Shinazugawa.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
His eyes never left Tanjiro.
Not once.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"You all keep looking at him like he's some lost puppy."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The disgust in his voice was impossible to miss.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"He's a cannibal."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The word slammed into the courtyard.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko flinched.
Even now it hurt to hear.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Sanemi pointed directly at Tanjiro.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Ask him yourself."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence followed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kagaya remained calm.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Tanjiro Kamado."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The boy lifted his head.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Is what Shinobu reported true?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The entire courtyard seemed to hold its breath.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
One word.
That was all it would take.
One denial.
One lie.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro thought about it.
Briefly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Then he lowered his eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"...Yes."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Chaos erupted.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Voices exploded from every direction.
Disbelief.
Anger.
Shock.
Confusion.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Through it all, Tanjiro remained still.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Because he had spent years carrying that secret.
Years hiding it.
Years pretending he could outrun it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Now it sat in the center of the courtyard for everyone to see.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
And somehow...
It felt lighter than carrying it alone.
The chaos lasted several minutes.
Voices rose from every corner of the courtyard, colliding into a wall of disbelief and outrage. Some demanded punishment. Others demanded answers. Several Hashira had already begun arguing with each other.
Through it all, Tanjiro remained silent.
What was there to say?
He had already admitted it.
The rest hardly mattered.
"Enough."
Kagaya's voice was quiet, yet the courtyard fell silent almost immediately.
Even Sanemi stopped speaking.
The Master turned toward Tanjiro.
There was no disgust in his expression, no fear, no accusation. Only attention; the kind that made a person feel seen whether they wanted to be or not.
"Tanjiro."
"...Yes?"
"Why?"
The question settled over the courtyard.
Tanjiro blinked.
For a moment, he genuinely did not understand.
Why?
Nobody had asked that before.
Shinobu hadn't.
The Hashira certainly hadn't.
Even Nezuko hadn't.
Everyone wanted to know what he had done. Nobody had ever asked what happened.
Kagaya's gaze never wavered.
"Why did a kind boy from the mountains become this?"
Because for the first time in two years, he felt something far more frightening than judgment.
He felt understood.
Or at least... he felt someone trying to understand.
"I..."
His voice cracked unexpectedly.
The sound startled him.
He could not remember the last time that had happened.
"The food ran out."
Silence answered him.
"The villagers gave me supplies when I left town. Rice, dried fish, beans, vegetables; enough to last months if I was careful."
His eyes remained fixed on the ground.
"I was careful."
The words came out quickly, almost defensively.
"I really was."
No one interrupted.
"The rice spoiled first. Then the vegetables froze. The fish went bad before I could finish it."
His hands tightened at his sides.
"I thought winter would end before I ran out."
A bitter smile touched his face.
"It didn't."
Nezuko lowered her eyes.
She remembered that winter.
The storms.
The snow.
The endless cold.
She had spent it training under Urokodaki.
Tanjiro had spent it alone.
"I started rationing," he continued quietly. "One meal a day became one meal every two days. Then every three. After a while, I stopped keeping track."
The memory returned with uncomfortable clarity.
The weakness.
The shaking.
The way his thoughts had begun slipping away from him.
"I couldn't think properly anymore. Sometimes I'd forget where I was walking. Sometimes I'd wake up and not remember falling asleep."
The courtyard had gone completely silent.
Even Sanemi wasn't speaking.
"I kept looking for food. Rabbits. Deer. Anything."
He swallowed.
"There wasn't anything."
For a few moments he said nothing.
When he spoke again, his voice had grown softer.
"I thought I was going to die."
The confession hung in the air.
Simple.
Plain.
Honest.
Not dramatic.
Not self-pitying.
Just true.
"I found a man hiding in a shack."
Every muscle in Nezuko's body tensed.
Tanjiro closed his eyes.
Snow.
Cold.
The smell of another human being.
The ache in his stomach that had consumed every thought.
"He was a thief."
No one reacted.
No one moved.
"I killed him."
The words landed with a weight that seemed to pull the entire courtyard downward.
Tanjiro opened his eyes again.
His expression was strangely calm.
Not because the memory didn't hurt.
Because he had carried it for so long that the pain had become familiar.
"I ate him."
Nobody spoke.
Nobody knew what to say.
"I told myself it would never happen again."
For the first time, something cracked in his composure.
A laugh escaped him; small, bitter, exhausted.
"I meant it, too."
His eyes drifted toward the sky.
"I thought if I survived that winter, I'd never have to make that choice again."
The smile vanished.
"But then I got hungry."
The words were almost impossible to hear.
"And then I got hungry again."
He lowered his head.
"And after a while..."
His voice failed him.
When he finally continued, it sounded tired.
"So tired."
"After a while, it stopped feeling impossible."
The silence that followed was different from before.
Not outrage.
Not disgust.
Something heavier.
Because for the first time, the people gathered in that courtyard were no longer looking at a monster.
They were looking at a boy who had lost everything, survived when he probably shouldn't have, and hated the way he had done it every day since.
The courtyard remained silent long after Tanjiro finished speaking.
No one seemed quite sure what to do with the truth now that it was sitting in front of them.
The monster they had imagined and the boy standing before them were difficult to reconcile.
Kagaya was the first to speak.
"Thank you."
Tanjiro blinked.
Again.
People kept thanking him today.
It was becoming increasingly confusing.
"You have been carrying that burden alone for a very long time."
Tanjiro didn't answer.
Because that wasn't a question.
Because it was true.
Kagaya folded his hands in his lap.
"Tanjiro Kamado, I would like to offer you a place in the Demon Slayer Corps."
The courtyard stirred immediately.
Several Hashira looked ready to object.
Others looked merely shocked.
Nezuko's head snapped up.
Tanjiro looked genuinely surprised.
"...Me?"
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation.
"You have spent years hunting demons. You have protected civilians. You have survived circumstances that would have broken most adults."
A small smile touched Kagaya's face.
"And most importantly, despite everything that has happened, you still choose to fight Muzan Kibutsuji."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Tanjiro scratched the back of his neck.
"...No thank you."
The entire courtyard froze.
Even Kanie, sitting under guard nearby, looked offended on Kagaya's behalf.
"You what?"
"I said no thank you."
"He's the Master!"
"I know."
"And you're refusing?"
"Politely."
Kanie looked like he wanted to throw something.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
To Kagaya's credit, he simply smiled.
"May I ask why?"
"Because I'd be bad at it."
That answer seemed to catch everyone off guard.
Tanjiro shifted his weight slightly.
"I'm not good with rules."
Sanemi barked a laugh.
The sound held absolutely no humor.
"That's obvious."
Tanjiro nodded.
"Right."
That somehow made it worse.
"I don't dislike the Corps," he continued. "But if I hear Muzan is somewhere, I'm going after him."
The statement was simple.
Matter-of-fact.
As though he were discussing the weather.
"I don't care if there's paperwork. I don't care if somebody tells me not to. I don't care if there's a mission somewhere else."
His hand settled on the handle of the black hatchet.
"My goal is killing Muzan."
For the first time since the trial began, something dangerous flashed through his eyes.
Not madness.
Not bloodlust.
Conviction.
"If I join the Corps, eventually somebody is going to order me away from him."
The dangerous look vanished.
"And then we're both going to have a bad day."
A few people looked alarmed.
Kagaya laughed softly.
Not offended.
Amused.
As though that was exactly the answer he had expected.
"I see."
The Master considered this for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Very well."
The courtyard collectively stopped functioning.
That was it?
No argument?
No persuasion?
No speech?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"If you will not become a member of the Corps," Kagaya continued, "then become its ally."
Tanjiro hesitated.
That sounded different.
"An ally?"
"You continue your hunt."
Kagaya's smile returned.
"We share information. We assist one another when possible. You remain independent."
Tanjiro considered it.
That actually sounded reasonable.
Then suspicion appeared.
"...What's the catch?"
Several Hashira looked scandalized.
Kagaya looked delighted.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"The catch," Kagaya said, "is that you will not harm Demon Slayers."
Tanjiro stared.
"...I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"You could have started with that."
"I know."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Master gestured toward a nearby branch.
A black shape immediately tried to hide behind a leaf.
It failed.
Spectacularly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A crow.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The crow looked terrified.
Tanjiro looked confused.
The crow looked more terrified.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"This is Susu."
"No."
The response came from the bird.
Immediately.
Without hesitation.
"No. Absolutely not."
The courtyard stared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Susu puffed up.
"My name is not important."
"It is now."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The bird looked horrified.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kagaya smiled.
"Susu will act as a messenger between yourself and the Corps."
The crow immediately pointed a wing at Tanjiro.
"I object."
"No you don't."
"I do."
"No."
"I strongly do."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro looked up at the bird.
The bird looked down at Tanjiro.
Neither seemed particularly happy with the arrangement.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"...Do I have to feed him?"
"Preferably."
"..."
"..."
"That's fair."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For the first time that day, Nezuko laughed.
Just a little.
The sound surprised everyone.
Most of all herself.
Because for the first time since learning the truth, she could almost see her brother again.
Not the monster.
Not the starving boy.
Just Tanjiro.
For several moments, nobody spoke.
The courtyard sat beneath a crushing silence.
Tanjiro had finished.
The story was out.
The winter. The hunger. The thief.
Everything.
Then Sanemi laughed.
It wasn't a pleasant sound.
"That's it?"
Several heads turned.
Sanemi stepped forward, his expression unchanged.
"You all look like you're ready to cry."
The Wind Hashira swept a hand toward Tanjiro.
"He was hungry."
The words dripped with disbelief.
"He was starving."
Another step.
"So what?"
The courtyard tensed.
Sanemi's eyes never left Tanjiro.
"People starve. People suffer. People lose everything."
He stopped only a few feet away.
"And most of them don't start eating people."
Nobody answered.
Because nobody could.
The statement wasn't wrong.
Sanemi pointed directly at Tanjiro.
"He didn't do it once."
The accusation struck harder than the first.
"He kept doing it. He got used to it."
Silence settled over the courtyard.
"He admitted that himself."
For the first time, Sanemi turned away from Tanjiro. He looked toward the other Hashira, then toward Kagaya.
"What happens next?"
Nobody answered.
"So we let him go? We tell him to be careful? We trust him?"
Each question came sharper than the last.
"He's dangerous."
The Wind Hashira looked directly at Kagaya.
"More dangerous than most demons."
A collective intake of breath swept through the courtyard.
Sanemi didn't care.
"If a demon eats people, we kill it."
His finger snapped back toward Tanjiro.
"So why should this be different?"
For the first time since the trial began, Tanjiro spoke.
"Because I'm human."
The courtyard froze.
Sanemi's gaze sharpened.
Tanjiro met it calmly.
"That's the only reason."
No anger.
No denial.
No defense.
Just truth.
"If I were a demon, you'd be right."
The answer hit the courtyard like a falling stone.
Because nobody could argue with it.
Not even Tanjiro.
Nobody spoke.
Not after that.
Not after Tanjiro had agreed with the man calling for his death.
The courtyard sat in silence.
Sanemi looked frustrated.
Obanai looked unconvinced.
Several others looked uncertain.
For perhaps the first time since the trial began, nobody seemed completely sure of their position.
Then Kagaya spoke.
"Tanjiro."
The boy lifted his head.
"Do you regret it?"
The question hung in the air.
Not the killings.
Not the hunger.
Not the winter.
All of it.
Tanjiro was quiet for a long time.
When he finally answered, his voice was almost too soft to hear.
"Every day."
Nezuko closed her eyes.
Something in her chest hurt.
Because she believed him.
Without hesitation.
Without doubt.
She believed him.
Kagaya nodded.
Then he asked:
"If you could go back, would you make a different choice?"
A terrible question.
A cruel question.
Tanjiro knew that immediately.
Because he already knew the answer.
"I don't know."
The confession echoed across the courtyard.
"I wish I could say yes."
His hands tightened.
"I wish I was the kind of person who could say yes."
The words felt heavy.
Honest.
Ugly.
"But I was starving."
The memory of that winter clawed its way back into his voice.
"I thought I was going to die."
Silence.
"If I went back knowing exactly how much I would regret it..."
He swallowed.
"...I still don't know if I'd let myself die."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because that was the worst answer he could have given.
And the most truthful.
Kagaya smiled sadly.
"As I thought."
Several Hashira stiffened.
Sanemi looked ready to object.
The Master raised a hand.
Immediately, the courtyard fell silent.
"My judgment is this."
The words settled over everyone present.
"Tanjiro Kamado is guilty."
The statement struck the courtyard like thunder.
Nezuko's stomach dropped.
Sanemi's eyes narrowed.
Tanjiro simply listened.
"He has taken human lives."
Kagaya's voice remained calm.
"He has committed acts that cannot be ignored."
The Master paused.
Then:
"But he is not a demon."
The courtyard grew still.
"He is a child who survived an impossible winter and emerged carrying a burden no one should bear."
Kagaya turned toward Tanjiro.
"I will not order your execution."
A collective breath swept through the crowd.
Some relieved.
Some angry.
Some shocked.
Tanjiro looked stunned.
"I will not call you a Demon Slayer."
Another pause.
"Nor will I call you our enemy."
For the first time, confusion crossed Tanjiro's face.
Kagaya smiled.
"Instead, I will call you an ally."
The word lingered in the air.
Ally.
Not monster.
Not criminal.
Not hero.
Ally.
For the first time in years, Tanjiro did not know what to say.
Kagaya's smile softened.
"You have carried your burden alone long enough."
The Master glanced upward toward the branches overhead.
A black crow immediately tried—and failed—to hide behind a leaf.
"I believe introductions are in order."
The crow froze.
Tanjiro looked up.
The crow looked down.
Both immediately looked unhappy about what was happening.
And for the first time all day, a few scattered laughs broke through the tension.
At first Tanjiro thought little of it; winter carried scents strangely through the mountains, stretching them across valleys and through forests until they seemed to come from everywhere at once. He shifted the basket on his shoulders and continued up the familiar path, boots crunching through fresh snow as evening settled over the trees.
Then the scent grew stronger.
Blood.
His steps slowed.
The metallic smell cut through the cold air, overwhelming the comforting scents of pine needles, woodsmoke, and frost. A knot formed in his stomach.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The mountain seemed unusually quiet. No birds called from the branches overhead, no distant voices drifted from neighboring homes; even the wind felt muted as it wound its way through the cedars.
Tanjiro quickened his pace.
The smell only intensified.
Soon he was running.
The basket bounced against his back as he sprinted through the snow, his breath clouding before him in frantic bursts. Relief nearly found him when the roof of the Kamado home finally appeared between the trees.
Then he saw the door hanging open.
His heart lurched.
The basket slipped from his shoulders and crashed into the snow.
Charcoal scattered across the path.
He didn't stop.
"Mom!"
No answer.
Tanjiro stumbled through the doorway and into silence.
The house looked as though a storm had torn through it.
Furniture lay overturned, dishes shattered across the floor, and dark stains soaked into the wood beneath his feet.
Blood.
Everywhere.
For a moment his mind refused to understand what his eyes were seeing.
Hanako.
Shigeru.
Takeo.
Their mother.
Each of them lay motionless where they had fallen, the warmth long since gone from their bodies.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
He dropped to his knees beside his mother and reached desperately for her wrist.
Nothing.
The skin was cold.
Far too cold.
His breath hitched.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be.
He checked again.
Then Hanako.
Then Shigeru.
Then Takeo.
Each time, he found the same terrible answer waiting for him.
Nothing.
The smell of blood filled his lungs until he thought he might choke on it.
A sob tore from his chest.
One day.
He had only been gone for one day.
How could everything be gone?
How could they all be gone?
Tears blurred his vision as he sat among the wreckage, unable to do anything except stare.
Then his nose caught something.
Faint.
Almost hidden beneath the blood.
Tanjiro froze.
Alive.
His head snapped upward.
The scent wasn't coming from inside the house.
It was outside.
Without thinking, he lurched to his feet and stumbled back through the doorway, nearly slipping on the snow as he followed the trail around the side of the house.
The smell grew stronger.
Hope and dread twisted together in his chest.
Please.
Please.
Please.
Then he saw them.
Nezuko lay half-buried in the snow, her body curled tightly around a much smaller figure.
Rokuta.
For one terrible instant Tanjiro couldn't move.
Even now, even after whatever had happened here, Nezuko had tried to protect him.
She was draped over her baby brother as though shielding him from the world itself.
Snow had gathered on her hair and clothing.
Rokuta was still.
The scent of life no longer clung to him.
But Nezuko-
Nezuko was breathing.
Weakly.
Faintly.
But she was breathing.
"Nezuko!"
Tanjiro fell to his knees beside them.
His shaking hands searched desperately for a pulse.
There.
Slow.
Weak.
Alive.
Relief hit so hard it hurt.
A broken sound escaped him, half sob and half laugh as tears spilled down his cheeks.
"Thank goodness..."
His voice trembled.
"Thank goodness..."
Carefully, he lifted Nezuko into his arms.
She felt freezing cold.
Far too light.
Far too still.
Yet she was alive.
The only one left.
Tanjiro looked down at Rokuta one last time.
Snow had already begun to gather around the infant's tiny form.
A fresh wave of grief crashed through him.
There wasn't even time to mourn.
Not yet.
Nezuko needed help.
She needed warmth.
She needed a doctor.
Pulling her closer against his chest, Tanjiro rose unsteadily to his feet and started down the mountain.
Behind him, the snow continued to fall.
Ahead of him waited a future neither sibling could yet imagine.
And somewhere in the darkness, far beyond the reach of the mountain wind, Muzan Kibutsuji walked away from the massacre he had left behind.
The doctor said it was a miracle she had survived at all.
Deep cuts covered her body, several ribs had been cracked, and blood loss alone should have killed her long before Tanjiro carried her down the mountain. Yet somehow she endured, drifting in and out of consciousness while the town physician did everything he could to keep her alive.
Tanjiro rarely left her bedside.
When he wasn't sitting beside her futon, he was helping around the clinic to repay the doctor for his kindness. He hauled water, chopped wood, swept floors, and carried supplies through the snow without being asked.
Anything to keep moving.
Anything to avoid thinking.
The moment he stopped, he remembered.
His mother's smile.
Hanako's laughter.
Takeo trying to act older than he was.
Shigeru's endless energy.
Little Rokuta bundled against Nezuko's chest beneath the falling snow.
The memories waited for him in every quiet moment.
So he kept busy.
The townspeople noticed.
Many of them had known the Kamados for years. They remembered the polite charcoal seller who always offered to help carry heavy bundles, who never complained no matter how long the climb home was, and who somehow managed to smile even after spending all day walking mountain trails.
Now that same boy moved through town like a ghost.
He smiled when spoken to.
He thanked everyone who helped him.
But there was something hollow behind his eyes.
No one knew how to fix it.
On the morning of the fourth day, Nezuko finally woke up.
Tanjiro had fallen asleep sitting beside her futon when he felt a hand weakly tug at his sleeve.
His eyes flew open.
Nezuko was looking at him.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then she started crying.
So did he.
The doctor quietly excused himself from the room.
Neither sibling noticed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A week later, a stranger arrived.
He wore a half-patterned haori split between crimson and geometric green, and his expression seemed permanently carved from stone.
The moment he stepped into town, Tanjiro smelled steel.
Not actual steel.
The scent of a swordsman.
Dangerous.
Disciplined.
The man introduced himself as Giyu Tomioka.
He asked to speak with Nezuko.
The conversation lasted hours.
Tanjiro wasn't present for most of it, though he caught fragments whenever the door slid open.
Questions.
Descriptions.
The scent Nezuko remembered.
The monster that had attacked their family.
The impossible strength.
The yellow eyes.
When Giyu finally emerged, he stood silently beneath the clinic's eaves while snow drifted around him.
Tanjiro approached first.
"What happens now?"
The swordsman studied him for a long moment.
His face revealed nothing.
"The thing that killed your family was a demon."
Tanjiro's hands clenched.
The word sounded absurd.
Impossible.
And yet his nose remembered that scent.
The unnatural scent lingering beneath the blood.
The scent that had never belonged to any human.
"Demon..."
Giyu nodded.
"There are others."
The words settled heavily between them.
Not one monster.
Many.
An entire world of monsters.
Tanjiro suddenly hated it.
He hated that such a world existed.
He hated that his family had become part of it.
Most of all, he hated that he had been too late.
"The Corps could use someone like Nezuko."
Tanjiro blinked.
"The Corps?"
"Demon Slayers."
For the first time, something shifted in Giyu's expression.
Not quite sympathy.
Something close to it.
"She has seen what demons do. She wants to stop them."
Silence followed.
Then Tanjiro looked toward the clinic.
Toward his sister.
And he understood.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko accepted.
The decision surprised no one.
Least of all Tanjiro.
The moment Giyu explained what the Corps was, something fierce had awakened behind Nezuko's eyes.
The grief remained.
The pain remained.
But beneath both burned purpose.
If demons existed, she wanted to fight them.
If other families were in danger, she wanted to protect them.
It was exactly the sort of choice their mother would have expected from her.
Tanjiro was proud.
And terribly afraid.
Because joining meant leaving.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The morning Nezuko departed, the town gathered near the road.
Snow covered the rooftops.
The sky hung gray and heavy overhead.
Nezuko stood beside Giyu, bundled against the cold.
Neither sibling seemed capable of finding the right words.
Eventually Nezuko hugged him first.
Tanjiro nearly broke.
"Don't do anything reckless," she whispered.
A watery laugh escaped him.
"You're joining an organization that fights monsters."
"That's different."
"It really isn't."
For the first time in weeks, both of them smiled.
Then they cried again.
When she finally left, Tanjiro watched until she disappeared beyond the falling snow.
Only then did he realize how alone he truly was.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
He remained in town for another month.
Long enough for winter to deepen.
Long enough for the grief to settle into something quieter.
Long enough to realize that staying would never make the pain disappear.
Eventually he made his decision.
He would find the demon responsible.
No matter how long it took.
No matter where the trail led.
The morning he prepared to leave, he discovered that the townspeople had already heard.
An elderly woman pressed a sack of rice into his hands.
A merchant gave him dried fish.
Someone else donated blankets.
Another offered matches.
One by one they appeared, each carrying something useful.
Food.
Supplies.
Winter clothing.
Small gifts.
Small kindnesses.
The sort of things Tanjiro himself would have done for someone else.
"You've always helped everyone around here," one man said gruffly.
"About time somebody helped you."
Tanjiro couldn't speak.
His throat hurt too much.
So he bowed instead.
Again and again.
By the time he finally started down the road, his pack was heavier than it had ever been.
The weight should have slowed him.
Instead it felt strangely comforting.
A reminder that despite everything, he had not been forgotten.
The town disappeared behind him.
The mountain waited ahead.
And somewhere beyond the endless white wilderness, a demon walked free.
Tanjiro adjusted the straps of his pack and continued into the snow.
He stretched every sack of rice as far as possible, mixed handfuls of grain with snowmelt and wild roots, and carefully rationed every scrap of dried fish the townspeople had given him. Nothing was wasted. Nothing was taken for granted.
Each meal became smaller than the last.
He told himself it was temporary.
Just until he found another town.
Just until spring came.
Just until he found a lead.
The first bag emptied.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Winter continued.
The mountains did not care.
Weeks passed.
The snow grew deeper.
The roads vanished.
And eventually, there was nothing left.
Tanjiro tried everything.
He trapped rabbits.
Most escaped.
The few he caught barely provided enough meat for a day.
He dug beneath the snow searching for edible plants and found frozen earth instead.
He chewed pine needles to dull the ache in his stomach.
It didn't help.
The hunger became a constant companion.
A living thing.
It followed him through the mountains, whispered to him while he slept, and greeted him every morning before he even opened his eyes.
His body changed.
His clothes hung looser.
His cheeks hollowed.
Walking became harder.
Thinking became harder.
Sometimes he would stop in the middle of a trail and realize he couldn't remember where he had intended to go.
The scent of food became unbearable.
One afternoon he caught himself staring at a crow perched on a branch overhead.
Not because it was unusual.
Because he was wondering how much meat was on it.
The realization made him physically ill.
He sat in the snow for nearly an hour afterward.
Ashamed.
The crow eventually flew away.
Tanjiro envied it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Days later, a storm rolled across the mountains.
The wind howled through the trees and buried the trails beneath fresh snow.
By nightfall Tanjiro could barely feel his fingers.
He needed shelter.
Soon.
His nose caught a scent.
Smoke.
Faint.
Distant.
Human.
He followed it.
The trail led him to a small shack tucked between rocky cliffs, so hidden it would have been impossible to find without the smell.
Light flickered through a crack in the wall.
Someone was inside.
For a moment, relief washed through him.
Another person.
A place to rest.
Warmth.
Food, maybe.
Then he smelled fear.
The scent was immediate.
Sharp.
Fresh.
Whoever was inside knew someone was approaching.
Tanjiro knocked anyway.
No answer came.
The fear intensified.
Slowly, he pushed the door open.
A man sat in the corner.
Thin.
Dirty.
A knife clutched in trembling hands.
Stolen goods lay scattered around the shack.
Purses.
Jewelry.
Clothing.
Things that clearly didn't belong to him.
The man looked up.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
Tanjiro's stomach twisted.
The scent of another human being filled the room.
The hunger stirred.
He hated it.
Immediately.
Violently.
The thought shouldn't have existed.
Yet it did.
The man flinched.
"Stay back."
Tanjiro didn't move.
His body felt strangely distant.
The room felt strangely distant.
Everything felt distant.
Weeks of starvation had reduced the world to a handful of simple facts.
Cold.
Hunger.
Survival.
The man raised the knife higher.
Fear poured from him.
Tanjiro remembered his mother.
He remembered Nezuko.
He remembered carrying charcoal down snowy mountain roads.
He remembered who he was.
And for one desperate moment, he held onto those memories as tightly as he could.
Because he knew, somehow, that if he let go...
...nothing would ever be the same again.
Outside, snow battered the shack walls.
Inside, hunger waited patiently.
And winter watched.
The storm raged through the night.
Snow hammered against the shack's walls, filling every gap with a low, mournful howl. The wind carried away sound, swallowed it whole, and left the mountain silent once more.
By morning, the blizzard had passed.
The door creaked open.
Tanjiro stepped outside.
For a long moment he simply stood there, staring at the endless white stretching across the mountains.
The cold no longer bit quite as sharply.
The weakness in his legs had faded.
His stomach no longer felt as though it were devouring itself.
That realization made him sick.
His gaze drifted downward.
The old woodcutter's hatchet hung at his side.
Dark stains marred the edge.
His breath caught.
Memories surfaced in fragments.
A trembling hand clutching a knife.
Fear.
The smell of smoke.
The endless ache of hunger.
Then nothing.
His mind refused to travel any further.
The shack stood silent behind him.
Tanjiro couldn't bring himself to look inside.
Instead, he sank to his knees in the snow.
The mountain wind tugged at his clothes.
His hands shook.
Not from cold.
A sound escaped him; small, broken, and utterly miserable.
"No..."
The word dissolved into the winter air.
He already knew.
His nose told him everything.
The scent lingered on his clothing.
On his hands.
On the hatchet.
No amount of snow would hide it.
No amount of denial would erase it.
The hunger was gone.
And he knew exactly why.
Tears blurred his vision.
His mother had taught him never to waste food.
To be grateful for every meal.
To respect the life behind it.
The memory twisted inside him until he thought he might choke.
Slowly, Tanjiro pressed a hand over his face.
He wanted to pray.
He wanted to apologize.
He wanted to wake up.
Instead, he sat alone in the snow while the mountain watched in silence.
When he finally rose to his feet, something had changed.
Not his body.
Not his voice.
Not even his goals.
He still intended to find Muzan Kibutsuji.
He still intended to protect people.
He was still Tanjiro Kamado.
But now there was a shadow following him.
A line crossed in the dead of winter.
A sin he would carry for the rest of his life.
Without another glance toward the shack, Tanjiro adjusted the strap of his pack and continued into the mountains.
The promise followed him through the mountains like a prayer.
Every morning he repeated it.
Every night he repeated it.
Every time his stomach growled, every time he passed an abandoned shrine or an empty hunting trail, every time the memory of the shack surfaced from the depths of his mind, he repeated it.
Never again.
The first time had been desperation.
Starvation.
Madness.
A moment of weakness born from circumstances no human being should ever have to endure.
He could live with that.
Maybe.
If it never happened again.
Winter disagreed.
The mountains disagreed.
Hunger, most of all, disagreed.
The food he found was never enough.
A rabbit here.
A handful of roots there.
Days passed between proper meals.
Weeks passed between good ones.
His body recovered from the brink of death, but it never truly recovered from the hunger.
The hunger remained.
Waiting.
Watching.
Remembering.
And worse than the hunger was the memory.
Because his body remembered.
It remembered surviving.
It remembered warmth returning to frozen limbs.
It remembered strength flooding back into exhausted muscles.
It remembered living.
The realization horrified him.
Months earlier, the thought would have made him sick.
Now it simply made him afraid.
Because he understood what it meant.
A starving body did not care about morality.
A starving body cared about survival.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second time happened near the edge of a mountain road.
Tanjiro found the man by scent before he ever saw him.
Fear.
Sweat.
Blood.
The smell led him to a traveler crouched beside an overturned cart.
At first, Tanjiro intended to help.
That was what he always did.
That was who he was.
Then he smelled something else.
The traveler wasn't alone.
Several other scents lingered nearby.
A family.
Recent.
Frightened.
Gone.
And mixed among them was the unmistakable scent of violence.
Tanjiro asked questions.
The man lied.
His nose told him so.
He asked more.
The answers only grew worse.
By the time the truth emerged, the traveler was shaking.
The family had possessed valuables.
The family had disappeared.
The traveler had their belongings.
Tanjiro stared at him for a very long time.
The man eventually ran.
Tanjiro caught him.
Afterward, he sat alone beneath a pine tree until sunrise, staring at the snow and trying not to think.
Trying not to remember.
Trying not to acknowledge what he had done.
The promise had lasted less than a season.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The third time was easier.
The fourth time easier still.
That frightened him more than anything.
At first he only targeted criminals.
Murderers.
Bandits.
Men whose scents carried traces of cruelty and bloodshed.
He justified it.
They would hurt someone else.
They deserved punishment.
The world would be safer without them.
Each excuse came more quickly than the last.
Each one settled a little more comfortably in his mind.
He hated that.
Yet he kept going.
Because winter kept coming.
Because food remained scarce.
Because every time he told himself he would stop, the mountains demanded another impossible choice.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A Year later, Tanjiro would struggle to remember exactly when the change occurred.
There was no single moment.
No dramatic realization.
No instant where he transformed into something else.
The shift happened slowly.
Quietly.
Like snow accumulating on a rooftop.
One layer.
Then another.
Then another.
Until the shape of everything had changed.
The smell no longer revolted him.
That was the first sign.
The second was worse.
One evening, while passing through a village, he caught the scent of meat cooking over an open fire.
His stomach growled.
But not for the food.
For a moment—a brief, terrible moment—the scent disappointed him.
Tanjiro stopped walking.
The realization struck like a blade between the ribs.
His face drained of color.
No.
No.
No.
He stumbled away from the village and spent the night awake beneath a tree, horrified by his own thoughts.
But horror changed nothing.
The thought had existed.
And if it had existed once, it could exist again.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
By the second winter, rumors had begun to spread.
A long-haired wanderer carrying a woodcutter's hatchet.
A polite young man who appeared where bandits disappeared.
A hunter who tracked monsters through blizzards.
A human being who inspired the same fear demons did.
Tanjiro heard the stories occasionally.
He never corrected them.
Never confirmed them.
Never denied them.
What could he possibly say?
That they were wrong?
That he wasn't a cannibal?
The lie would stick in his throat.
Because he was.
No matter how many people he protected.
No matter how many demons he killed.
No matter how desperately he clung to the memory of the boy he used to be.
The truth remained.
Tanjiro Kamado had become a cannibal.
And with each passing winter, that truth became easier to live with.
Nichirin steel cut through demons far more easily than iron ever had.
The first demon Tanjiro encountered after receiving the reforged hatchet barely had time to react. One moment it was grinning from the darkness, confident in the usual advantages enjoyed by its kind; the next, its head was tumbling through the snow as its body dissolved into ash.
The entire fight lasted less than a minute.
Tanjiro stared at the empty patch of ground afterward.
Then he looked down at the hatchet.
The charcoal-black blade reflected nothing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kanie was insufferably pleased with himself.
"I told you."
Tanjiro sighed.
"You've told me seventeen times."
"Eighteen."
"Kanie."
"Eighteen times."
The swordsmith folded his arms.
"The weapon is better."
"It is."
"I was right."
"You were."
Kanie looked unbearably smug.
Tanjiro immediately regretted agreeing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Travel became easier after that.
Demons died faster.
Injuries became less common.
The two of them spent less time hiding in caves waiting for wounds to heal and more time moving through the mountains.
For a while, things almost felt normal.
As normal as life could be for a wandering swordsmith and a demon hunter carrying a hatchet.
For a while, Tanjiro almost believed he could keep the darker parts of himself buried.
Almost.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The problem was that the new blade made everything easier.
Everything.
Demons.
Trees.
Game.
And humans.
Tanjiro hated himself for noticing.
Yet he noticed anyway.
The realization arrived during a snowfall so heavy that the entire forest seemed painted white.
A bandit had attempted to ambush them from behind a ridge.
The man smelled of old blood and fresh malice.
Tanjiro sensed him long before he attacked.
The confrontation was brief.
Afterward, Tanjiro found himself staring at the black edge of the hatchet.
Clean.
Sharp.
Efficient.
Far more efficient than the rusted tool he had carried during that first terrible winter.
His stomach twisted.
Because part of him had made the comparison automatically.
The thought had appeared before he could stop it.
Before he could push it away.
Before he could pretend it wasn't there.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kanie noticed the silence.
"You've been staring at that thing for ten minutes."
Tanjiro blinked.
"What?"
"The hatchet."
Kanie pointed.
"Either you're planning to marry it or something's wrong."
A laugh escaped Tanjiro before he could stop it.
Small.
Brief.
Genuine.
Kanie looked startled.
Apparently Tanjiro laughing was a rarer sight than most demons.
"Nothing's wrong."
It was a lie.
His nose told him when others lied.
Unfortunately, it also told him when he lied.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
As spring approached, rumors continued to spread.
Villages whispered about a black-bladed hunter wandering the mountains.
Some called him a protector.
Others called him a monster.
Neither description felt entirely wrong.
Tanjiro saved travelers.
Killed demons.
Guided lost children back to their families.
Carried supplies through snowstorms.
Chopped firewood for elderly villagers.
Then, on other nights, he followed entirely different scents through the wilderness.
Bandits.
Murderers.
Men whose crimes clung to them like smoke.
The line between hunter and predator blurred more with each passing month.
Tanjiro knew it.
He simply didn't know how to stop.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
One evening, while Kanie worked beside a campfire repairing a damaged strap, he suddenly spoke.
"You're lonely."
Tanjiro nearly choked on his tea.
"What?"
"You're lonely."
"Kanie."
"You are."
The swordsmith continued working without looking up.
"As terrible as you are at admitting things."
Tanjiro stared.
Kanie remained focused on the strap.
"You spent a year alone in the mountains."
Silence.
"You talk to crows."
More silence.
"You apologize to trees when you cut them down."
"That happened once."
"It happened three times."
Tanjiro buried his face in his hands.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The conversation should have been ridiculous.
Instead, it lingered with him long after the fire burned low.
Because Kanie was right.
Before meeting the swordsmith, Tanjiro had spent months speaking to nobody.
Months surviving on instinct.
Months becoming something increasingly distant from the boy who had once sold charcoal alongside his family.
Maybe that was why Kanie mattered.
Maybe that was why he tolerated the constant complaints.
The endless commentary.
The complete lack of self-preservation.
Kanie made the mountains feel less empty.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
That night, after Kanie fell asleep, Tanjiro remained awake.
The forest stretched endlessly beyond the firelight.
His ears tracked every movement.
His nose catalogued every scent.
Predators.
Animals.
Snow.
Smoke.
Life.
Death.
And beneath it all lingered another scent.
One he knew all too well.
His own.
The scent of a human.
The scent of a hunter.
The scent of a cannibal.
Tanjiro stared into the flames.
The fire offered no answers.
Only warmth.
So he sat beside it until dawn, listening to Kanie snore softly beneath his blanket and wondering how long he could keep his secrets buried.
Because eventually, he knew, someone would ask the wrong question.
And Tanjiro Kamado had never been very good at lying.
The truth was that curiosity had gotten the better of her.
Rumors had been spreading for months.
A long-haired boy wandering the mountains.
A black Nichirin hatchet.
Demons disappearing.
Bandits disappearing.
An unsettling number of disappearances, actually.
Enough to catch the attention of the Insect Hashira.
Enough to make her investigate personally.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
She found him in a clearing.
For a moment, she simply stood there.
Silent.
Watching.
Trying to process what she was seeing.
A teenager sat beneath a tree.
Long hair.
Patched clothing.
Scars.
A black Nichirin hatchet resting nearby.
Beside him sat a swordsmith.
The swordsmith appeared to be staring very intensely at a cloud.
As though refusing to acknowledge anything happening around him.
Which was strange.
Because there was definitely something happening around him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"..."
"..."
"..."
Shinobu blinked.
The swordsmith continued staring at the cloud.
A true professional.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The boy eventually noticed her.
Their eyes met.
Neither moved.
For several seconds the forest remained completely silent.
Then the boy slowly lowered what he was holding.
His expression suggested he had just realized this situation looked extremely bad.
Which, to be fair, it did.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu's first thought was not horror.
It was pity.
The boy looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Spiritually.
Like someone who had spent years surviving instead of living.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second thought arrived moments later.
Oh.
This child is completely insane.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The swordsmith finally spoke.
"Oh good."
Shinobu looked at him.
"You noticed."
"Noticed what?"
The swordsmith immediately looked back at the cloud.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Several hours later, Tanjiro Kamado found himself at the Butterfly Mansion.
Against his will.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Please stop trying to leave."
"I'm leaving."
"No."
"I am."
"No."
"I am."
"No."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu smiled.
Tanjiro found the smile deeply threatening.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The first attempt happened before sunset.
A Kakushi tried guiding him toward a room.
The Kakushi placed a hand on his shoulder.
Tanjiro immediately attempted to bite him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The entire mansion descended into chaos.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"It bit me!"
"He's not a dog!"
"He bit me!"
"Please stop calling him an it."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro sat in a corner.
Mortified.
The Kakushi sat elsewhere.
Also mortified.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second attempt occurred during dinner.
Someone tried steering him toward a table.
Tanjiro reacted on instinct.
Years of surviving in the wilderness had apparently damaged several social skills.
The resulting incident convinced everyone to maintain a respectful distance.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
By the third day, the staff had developed a system.
Food was left nearby.
Nobody approached suddenly.
Nobody touched him without warning.
Conversations occurred at a safe distance.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The mansion collectively began treating him like a rescued wild animal.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro hated this.
Kanie thought it was hilarious.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"You have to admit," Kanie said.
"No."
"They're basically taming you."
"No."
"They're using the same techniques people use on frightened dogs."
"No."
"One of them called you a 'good boy' earlier."
Tanjiro looked ready to throw himself into the sun.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Three days later, Nezuko arrived.
Injured.
Exhausted.
And entirely unaware of what awaited her.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The mission had gone poorly.
Not disastrously.
She was alive.
But alive and injured were not mutually exclusive.
The Butterfly Mansion had become familiar territory after Final Selection.
So when she stepped through the gates, she expected medicine.
Bandages.
Rest.
Perhaps Shinobu.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
What she did not expect was hearing Zenitsu scream.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"STOP CLIMBING THE WALLS!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko froze.
That voice sounded familiar.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A second later another voice answered.
"I'M NOT CLIMBING THE WALLS."
"YOU ARE LITERALLY ON THE WALL."
"I'm leaning."
"VERTICALLY."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stared.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She turned toward the source of the argument.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
There, halfway up a wooden support beam, sat her brother.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Tanjiro?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Tanjiro looked down.
Nezuko looked up.
Neither spoke.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Then Tanjiro immediately climbed back down.
The reunion was significantly less dramatic than the first one.
Mostly because Nezuko was too tired to run.
And Tanjiro was currently being treated like a problematic shelter animal.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Still.
When he reached the ground, she smiled.
And for the first time since arriving at the mansion, Tanjiro stopped looking for the nearest escape route.
Nezuko nearly dropped her tea.
"My brother is here?"
Across the room, Shinobu smiled pleasantly.
"Yes."
The smile made Nezuko nervous.
"He's been staying at the mansion for several days."
"Why?"
The smile remained.
Somehow it became worse.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Well..."
Shinobu folded her hands.
"That's a somewhat complicated question."
Nezuko immediately straightened.
That was never a good sign.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Was he hurt?"
"No."
"In danger?"
"No."
"Then why is he here?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu paused.
Carefully considering how to explain this.
There was probably a gentle way to say it.
A delicate way.
A tactful way.
Unfortunately, Shinobu had never been particularly interested in tact.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"I found him eating a person in the woods."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence.
Complete.
Absolute.
Silence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"..."
"..."
"...What?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu maintained eye contact.
Nezuko continued staring.
The room felt significantly smaller than it had thirty seconds earlier.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"What?"
Nezuko repeated.
More slowly.
As though speaking to someone who had suddenly forgotten how words worked.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"I found your brother eating a person in the woods."
Shinobu said it exactly the same way.
The same calm tone.
The same pleasant smile.
The same horrifying sentence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Unfortunately, yes."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stood up.
Sat back down.
Stood up again.
Then sat down once more.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"My brother?"
"Your brother."
"The brother who cries over injured birds?"
"That one."
"The brother who apologizes to furniture when he bumps into it?"
"Also that one."
"The brother who carried six children home through a snowstorm because he was worried they'd get cold?"
"Still that one."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko buried her face in her hands.
Because somehow that made the situation worse.
Not better.
Worse.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Are you sure?"
Shinobu tilted her head.
"Nezuko."
"Yes?"
"I was there."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A long silence followed.
Finally, Nezuko lowered her hands.
Her expression had changed.
Not denial.
Not anger.
Confusion.
Deep, painful confusion.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"...Why?"
The question came out barely above a whisper.
Not because she didn't believe it anymore.
Because she did.
And that was terrifying.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Why?
Why would Tanjiro do something like that?
Why would her brother become something so unrecognizable?
What happened during those two years alone in the mountains?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For the first time since beginning the conversation, Shinobu's smile faded.
Just slightly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"I don't know."
And that answer frightened Nezuko far more than the first one.
Nezuko did not move for a long time.
The words hung in the air long after Shinobu had spoken them, long after the tea had cooled, long after the sound of distant footsteps in the hall had faded.
I found him eating a person in the woods.
It should not have been possible to misunderstand.
And yet Nezuko’s mind tried anyway.
Not because she doubted Shinobu.
But because her brother existed in the same world as that sentence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“…No.”
The word came out quietly.
Not denial.
Not refusal.
Something smaller.
Something breaking.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu watched her carefully.
“I understand that is difficult to hear.”
Nezuko swallowed.
“My brother wouldn’t—”
She stopped.
Because she had said that before.
Because she had already been wrong once.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shinobu did not press further.
She only added, gently,
“He is still here, if you wish to see him.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stood up too quickly.
The floor felt unstable beneath her feet.
Every memory of Tanjiro shifted all at once, like a painting suddenly seen in different light.
The boy who cried when he killed demons.
The boy who apologized to the forest.
The boy who smelled like smoke and kindness and home.
And now—
A different image, forced into the same space, refusing to fit.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
When she found him, he was sitting in the garden.
Kanie was nearby, sharpening something and pretending not to listen to the world.
Tanjiro looked up the moment she arrived.
“Nezuko—”
He stopped.
He felt it immediately.
The change.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
She wasn’t afraid of him.
Not exactly.
But she wasn’t the same either.
Her eyes lingered on him longer than they used to.
Measured him in a way she never had before.
Like she was trying to understand something that no longer made sense.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“…What did Shinobu tell you?” Tanjiro asked softly.
Nezuko hesitated.
“That you were here.”
A pause.
“And what she saw.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence.
Even Kanie stopped moving.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro exhaled slowly.
“I see.”
He did not ask what exactly she meant.
He already knew.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko stepped closer, then stopped again, unsure of her own body.
“You’re still you,” she said finally.
It sounded like a question.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro smiled.
It was small.
Careful.
Not the same smile she remembered, but close enough to hurt.
“I’m still me.”
A pause.
“…Just not only me.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Nezuko flinched at that.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Neither of them spoke after that.
Not properly.
Not in a way that fixed anything.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
That night, the Butterfly Mansion was quiet.
Too quiet.
Even Zenitsu had stopped complaining, which was how everyone knew something was wrong.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Tanjiro sat in his room for a long time.
He did not sleep.
He listened instead.
Footsteps in the halls.
Breathing outside the door.
The distant sound of people who were deciding what he was allowed to be.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Eventually, he stood.
Kanie looked up from where he had been pretending to sleep.
“You’re leaving.”
It was not a question.
Tanjiro nodded.
“I need matches.”
“…For?”
Tanjiro paused.
“Candles.”
Kanie stared at him for a moment.
Then sighed.
“Of course you do.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
They moved quietly through the mansion.
Too quietly for something that should have been simple.
Tanjiro did not take much.
Just enough to travel.
Just enough to disappear.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
At the gate, Kanie finally spoke again.
“She noticed.”
“I know.”
“She’s not going to forget it.”
“I know.”
A pause.
Then, quieter,
“…Neither will you.”
Tanjiro didn’t answer that.
Because there was nothing to answer.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Behind them, the Butterfly Mansion remained lit and warm.
Ahead of them, the forest waited.
And for the first time since Nezuko had found him again,
It was raining tonight, Mushi sat on the floor of the half burned down house in which it lived. It closed the book it was reading as it started to feel hungry. It didn't like luring people to its house because they might mess up its shelves of books and insect specimens. So it walked out into the woods, sat on a log near a trail, and rubbed its wings together, producing a loud bullfrog-like croak. Some unfortunate human would hopefully hear it, and it would have a meal. A tried and true method. It wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. @mushiwthewcricketwdemon
tanjiro sniffs the cold air of the night, kanie behind him and susu perched on the swordsmith’s shoulder.
blood was caked into his haori and smeared on his hands and face- kanie had been too scared to tell him about it.
tanjiros eyes were locked on the house in the distance- he could smell the demon from here. His hatchet hung at his side “stay close” he murmured to his companions.
he began walking toward the house, his winter boots sinking into the snow with every step.
Mushi's antennae were wiggling. It could smell humans but it could also smell blood. This only made it more hungry. It tried to wait patiently but ended up deciding to try to find its prey. This didn't take long, as Tanjiro was close by. As he got closer it realized he was covered in blood. Was he injured? Mushi started to unfold its extra legs from its back walking quickly towards Tanjiro.
Tanjiro keeps walking, kanie and susu behind him.
He has only just noticed the blood on his face as it dries- it’s human, but not his.
he stumbles slightly in the snow before picking back up his stride
“tanjiro, where are we going..?”
kanie says, wiping the snow off of the eye holes of his mask.
“I don’t know.” Tanjiro answers blankly- he can smell muchi coming, his grip tightens on his axe- he’s tired, but not weak. He just hopes the demon won’t cause problems for him or his swordsmith
Mushi saw him stumble and thought he must actually be hurt already. It produced one of its throwing knife like stingers full of paralyzing poison in its hand, licking its lips. But when it went to throw, it too, stumbled in the snow and actually fell. The stinger landed several feet from Tanjiro.
"Damn it" Mushi growled as it got up. It gave itself away. And this kid had a hatchet. So much for an easy meal.
“Well, that was pathetic.” Tanjiro mumbled, going to walk around mushi.
kanie was frozen behind him.
“kanie, come on we see demons all day- let’s go.”
kanie didn’t move
“for the love of-“ tanjiro walked over to kanie and threw him over his shoulder and walked around mushi
Mushi sighed. Now it had embarrassed itself. It walked away from Tanjiro and Kanie, heading back to its house. Though it did watch the two, it had never seen a human freeze up completely like that.
tanjiro glances behind him, surprised at the demon’s lack of pursuit. Susu (the crow) was perched on his shoulder staring at mushi with his head cocked
tanjiro put the cover back on the blade of his hatchet and returned it to his hip.
It’s rare to see a human drenched in human blood, and not injured; even more so with another person with them unharmed.
Mushi's curiosity got the better of it. It stayed inside of its house but couldn't help but ask. "Kid, what's your deal? You've got blood all over you but you don't seem hurt." Was he a murderer or something? But the blood was on his face too...
"It doesn't matter that much, I was just wondering." Mushi stood in the doorway of its house making eye contact with Tanjiro. Maybe it still had a chance.
"I uh. Kind of embarrassed myself, there. My appetite went away but now I'm hungry again." It started to form another one of the stingers in its hand.
“if you attack me you’re not leaving alive. So I’d think very carefully about your next move.” Tanjiro said, taking the cover back off of his hatchet.
“tanjiro PLEASE let’s just go” kanie begged “kanie, shut up. I’m in the middle of a conversation.” Tanjiro snapped back, making the swordsmith flinch
“if you’re hungry I’m sure there are plenty of thieves hiding out in the woods- I killed like three on the way over here.” Tanjiro said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Mushi snarled. "I've killed plenty of thieves, bandits, even demon slayers. You're nothing, it should be easy." It threw the stinger, this time it got stuck in Tanjiro's leg. It was a small one, but still was full of paralyzing toxins. It was more of a warning shot and a distraction, Mushi ran towards him with all six extra legs unfolding from its back ready to grab him.
”shit” tanjiro mumbled, pulling the stinger out of his now bleeding leg as it started going numb “now, why would you do that?” He raised his hatchet, ready to attack as soon as muchi got close enough “kanie-run.”
Mushi reached for both of them, but only managed to grab Tanjiro. It started squeezing him as hard as it could with both hands. Holding the legs on its back high above him, it prepared to stab the sharp claws dripping with poison into him. It didn't think he would even have a chance.
tanjiro swung his hatchet, cutting off muchi’s hands and falling to the ground.
kanie was running as fast as he could through the snow, susu flying behind him.
tanjiro went for the legs next, but only managed to get one off
Mushi dropped him, and before it could do anything else, one of its legs was cut off at the knee. It fell face first into the snow, picking itself up to crawl towards him. Its extra legs were more for holding things, not so much for crawling, but it used them anyway, and stabbed the claw of one deep into his other leg, injecting poison.
tanjiro hissed in pain, stumbling backwards. He had already lost feeling in one leg, and his other was going numb as well. he swung his hatchet and cut off mushi’s leg that had just stabbed him. Blood was seeping out of both of tanjiro’s legs
Mushi roared out of frustration and slashed across his cheek with another leg. The legs on its back were incredibly weak and its hands hadn't regenerated yet. Two claws went into Tanjiro's shoulders to pin him down, and one was held above his head. It probably wouldn't end well if it came down.
tanjiro tried to roll away, but he was undeniably pinned- blood was seeping into his haori from his shoulders- he could barely feel his legs, but he used what little strength he had left in them to brace his hatchet against his thigh and drive the upwards into mushi’s chest
There was a loud crack as the hatchet crushed Mushi's ribs into its heart. Its legs slid off of his shoulders and it fell on its side. Now it was seriously hurt, blood was rushing out into the snow. All it could do was roll over on its back and groan in pain.
tanjiro pulled himself up- his legs couldn’t support his weight anymore “how.. how long does this poison of yours last.” He mumbled, catching his breath and picking up his hatchet
"About...an hour. Not too long I guess." It said as it coughed up blood, watching him pick up his hatchet. It knew what was about to happen next, so it just closed its eyes and waited.
"I... really thought I was gonna win against you...but I didn't. I've been told I have the strength of a lower moon...So keep that in mind. Its voice was shaky as if it were about to cry.
"It's a good thing, for you. They're powerful.... Not as powerful as an upper moon, but still powerful." It sighed. " Not so good for us, it means you're strong."
“Really?” tanjiro looked surprised “you’re supposed to be a strong demon- and you just got beat by a fifteen year old without ANY actual training- I might actually just leave you alive so you can die with dignity”
"That's a great idea actually. You should leave me here to die, so I can have dignity." Mushi coughed up more blood. "Just walk off and leave me here..."
”I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”
tanjiro sighed “honestly, I don’t think I could cut your head off even if I tried, I can barely feel my body.”
"Ah. Good for me." Mushi smiled. Its ribs started to shift back into place and the flesh grew back together. Its hands were starting to grow back too and so were the legs it lost.
It was raining tonight, Mushi sat on the floor of the half burned down house in which it lived. It closed the book it was reading as it started to feel hungry. It didn't like luring people to its house because they might mess up its shelves of books and insect specimens. So it walked out into the woods, sat on a log near a trail, and rubbed its wings together, producing a loud bullfrog-like croak. Some unfortunate human would hopefully hear it, and it would have a meal. A tried and true method. It wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. @mushiwthewcricketwdemon
tanjiro sniffs the cold air of the night, kanie behind him and susu perched on the swordsmith’s shoulder.
blood was caked into his haori and smeared on his hands and face- kanie had been too scared to tell him about it.
tanjiros eyes were locked on the house in the distance- he could smell the demon from here. His hatchet hung at his side “stay close” he murmured to his companions.
he began walking toward the house, his winter boots sinking into the snow with every step.
Mushi's antennae were wiggling. It could smell humans but it could also smell blood. This only made it more hungry. It tried to wait patiently but ended up deciding to try to find its prey. This didn't take long, as Tanjiro was close by. As he got closer it realized he was covered in blood. Was he injured? Mushi started to unfold its extra legs from its back walking quickly towards Tanjiro.
Tanjiro keeps walking, kanie and susu behind him.
He has only just noticed the blood on his face as it dries- it’s human, but not his.
he stumbles slightly in the snow before picking back up his stride
“tanjiro, where are we going..?”
kanie says, wiping the snow off of the eye holes of his mask.
“I don’t know.” Tanjiro answers blankly- he can smell muchi coming, his grip tightens on his axe- he’s tired, but not weak. He just hopes the demon won’t cause problems for him or his swordsmith
Mushi saw him stumble and thought he must actually be hurt already. It produced one of its throwing knife like stingers full of paralyzing poison in its hand, licking its lips. But when it went to throw, it too, stumbled in the snow and actually fell. The stinger landed several feet from Tanjiro.
"Damn it" Mushi growled as it got up. It gave itself away. And this kid had a hatchet. So much for an easy meal.
“Well, that was pathetic.” Tanjiro mumbled, going to walk around mushi.
kanie was frozen behind him.
“kanie, come on we see demons all day- let’s go.”
kanie didn’t move
“for the love of-“ tanjiro walked over to kanie and threw him over his shoulder and walked around mushi
Mushi sighed. Now it had embarrassed itself. It walked away from Tanjiro and Kanie, heading back to its house. Though it did watch the two, it had never seen a human freeze up completely like that.
tanjiro glances behind him, surprised at the demon’s lack of pursuit. Susu (the crow) was perched on his shoulder staring at mushi with his head cocked
tanjiro put the cover back on the blade of his hatchet and returned it to his hip.
It’s rare to see a human drenched in human blood, and not injured; even more so with another person with them unharmed.
Mushi's curiosity got the better of it. It stayed inside of its house but couldn't help but ask. "Kid, what's your deal? You've got blood all over you but you don't seem hurt." Was he a murderer or something? But the blood was on his face too...
"It doesn't matter that much, I was just wondering." Mushi stood in the doorway of its house making eye contact with Tanjiro. Maybe it still had a chance.
"I uh. Kind of embarrassed myself, there. My appetite went away but now I'm hungry again." It started to form another one of the stingers in its hand.
“if you attack me you’re not leaving alive. So I’d think very carefully about your next move.” Tanjiro said, taking the cover back off of his hatchet.
“tanjiro PLEASE let’s just go” kanie begged “kanie, shut up. I’m in the middle of a conversation.” Tanjiro snapped back, making the swordsmith flinch
“if you’re hungry I’m sure there are plenty of thieves hiding out in the woods- I killed like three on the way over here.” Tanjiro said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Mushi snarled. "I've killed plenty of thieves, bandits, even demon slayers. You're nothing, it should be easy." It threw the stinger, this time it got stuck in Tanjiro's leg. It was a small one, but still was full of paralyzing toxins. It was more of a warning shot and a distraction, Mushi ran towards him with all six extra legs unfolding from its back ready to grab him.
”shit” tanjiro mumbled, pulling the stinger out of his now bleeding leg as it started going numb “now, why would you do that?” He raised his hatchet, ready to attack as soon as muchi got close enough “kanie-run.”
Mushi reached for both of them, but only managed to grab Tanjiro. It started squeezing him as hard as it could with both hands. Holding the legs on its back high above him, it prepared to stab the sharp claws dripping with poison into him. It didn't think he would even have a chance.
tanjiro swung his hatchet, cutting off muchi’s hands and falling to the ground.
kanie was running as fast as he could through the snow, susu flying behind him.
tanjiro went for the legs next, but only managed to get one off
Mushi dropped him, and before it could do anything else, one of its legs was cut off at the knee. It fell face first into the snow, picking itself up to crawl towards him. Its extra legs were more for holding things, not so much for crawling, but it used them anyway, and stabbed the claw of one deep into his other leg, injecting poison.
tanjiro hissed in pain, stumbling backwards. He had already lost feeling in one leg, and his other was going numb as well. he swung his hatchet and cut off mushi’s leg that had just stabbed him. Blood was seeping out of both of tanjiro’s legs
Mushi roared out of frustration and slashed across his cheek with another leg. The legs on its back were incredibly weak and its hands hadn't regenerated yet. Two claws went into Tanjiro's shoulders to pin him down, and one was held above his head. It probably wouldn't end well if it came down.
tanjiro tried to roll away, but he was undeniably pinned- blood was seeping into his haori from his shoulders- he could barely feel his legs, but he used what little strength he had left in them to brace his hatchet against his thigh and drive the upwards into mushi’s chest
There was a loud crack as the hatchet crushed Mushi's ribs into its heart. Its legs slid off of his shoulders and it fell on its side. Now it was seriously hurt, blood was rushing out into the snow. All it could do was roll over on its back and groan in pain.
tanjiro pulled himself up- his legs couldn’t support his weight anymore “how.. how long does this poison of yours last.” He mumbled, catching his breath and picking up his hatchet
"About...an hour. Not too long I guess." It said as it coughed up blood, watching him pick up his hatchet. It knew what was about to happen next, so it just closed its eyes and waited.
"I... really thought I was gonna win against you...but I didn't. I've been told I have the strength of a lower moon...So keep that in mind. Its voice was shaky as if it were about to cry.
"It's a good thing, for you. They're powerful.... Not as powerful as an upper moon, but still powerful." It sighed. " Not so good for us, it means you're strong."
“Really?” tanjiro looked surprised “you’re supposed to be a strong demon- and you just got beat by a fifteen year old without ANY actual training- I might actually just leave you alive so you can die with dignity”
"That's a great idea actually. You should leave me here to die, so I can have dignity." Mushi coughed up more blood. "Just walk off and leave me here..."
”I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”
tanjiro sighed “honestly, I don’t think I could cut your head off even if I tried, I can barely feel my body.”
"Ah. Good for me." Mushi smiled. Its ribs started to shift back into place and the flesh grew back together. Its hands were starting to grow back too and so were the legs it lost.
It was raining tonight, Mushi sat on the floor of the half burned down house in which it lived. It closed the book it was reading as it started to feel hungry. It didn't like luring people to its house because they might mess up its shelves of books and insect specimens. So it walked out into the woods, sat on a log near a trail, and rubbed its wings together, producing a loud bullfrog-like croak. Some unfortunate human would hopefully hear it, and it would have a meal. A tried and true method. It wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. @mushiwthewcricketwdemon
tanjiro sniffs the cold air of the night, kanie behind him and susu perched on the swordsmith’s shoulder.
blood was caked into his haori and smeared on his hands and face- kanie had been too scared to tell him about it.
tanjiros eyes were locked on the house in the distance- he could smell the demon from here. His hatchet hung at his side “stay close” he murmured to his companions.
he began walking toward the house, his winter boots sinking into the snow with every step.
Mushi's antennae were wiggling. It could smell humans but it could also smell blood. This only made it more hungry. It tried to wait patiently but ended up deciding to try to find its prey. This didn't take long, as Tanjiro was close by. As he got closer it realized he was covered in blood. Was he injured? Mushi started to unfold its extra legs from its back walking quickly towards Tanjiro.
Tanjiro keeps walking, kanie and susu behind him.
He has only just noticed the blood on his face as it dries- it’s human, but not his.
he stumbles slightly in the snow before picking back up his stride
“tanjiro, where are we going..?”
kanie says, wiping the snow off of the eye holes of his mask.
“I don’t know.” Tanjiro answers blankly- he can smell muchi coming, his grip tightens on his axe- he’s tired, but not weak. He just hopes the demon won’t cause problems for him or his swordsmith
Mushi saw him stumble and thought he must actually be hurt already. It produced one of its throwing knife like stingers full of paralyzing poison in its hand, licking its lips. But when it went to throw, it too, stumbled in the snow and actually fell. The stinger landed several feet from Tanjiro.
"Damn it" Mushi growled as it got up. It gave itself away. And this kid had a hatchet. So much for an easy meal.
“Well, that was pathetic.” Tanjiro mumbled, going to walk around mushi.
kanie was frozen behind him.
“kanie, come on we see demons all day- let’s go.”
kanie didn’t move
“for the love of-“ tanjiro walked over to kanie and threw him over his shoulder and walked around mushi
Mushi sighed. Now it had embarrassed itself. It walked away from Tanjiro and Kanie, heading back to its house. Though it did watch the two, it had never seen a human freeze up completely like that.
tanjiro glances behind him, surprised at the demon’s lack of pursuit. Susu (the crow) was perched on his shoulder staring at mushi with his head cocked
tanjiro put the cover back on the blade of his hatchet and returned it to his hip.
It’s rare to see a human drenched in human blood, and not injured; even more so with another person with them unharmed.
Mushi's curiosity got the better of it. It stayed inside of its house but couldn't help but ask. "Kid, what's your deal? You've got blood all over you but you don't seem hurt." Was he a murderer or something? But the blood was on his face too...
"It doesn't matter that much, I was just wondering." Mushi stood in the doorway of its house making eye contact with Tanjiro. Maybe it still had a chance.
"I uh. Kind of embarrassed myself, there. My appetite went away but now I'm hungry again." It started to form another one of the stingers in its hand.
“if you attack me you’re not leaving alive. So I’d think very carefully about your next move.” Tanjiro said, taking the cover back off of his hatchet.
“tanjiro PLEASE let’s just go” kanie begged “kanie, shut up. I’m in the middle of a conversation.” Tanjiro snapped back, making the swordsmith flinch
“if you’re hungry I’m sure there are plenty of thieves hiding out in the woods- I killed like three on the way over here.” Tanjiro said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Mushi snarled. "I've killed plenty of thieves, bandits, even demon slayers. You're nothing, it should be easy." It threw the stinger, this time it got stuck in Tanjiro's leg. It was a small one, but still was full of paralyzing toxins. It was more of a warning shot and a distraction, Mushi ran towards him with all six extra legs unfolding from its back ready to grab him.
”shit” tanjiro mumbled, pulling the stinger out of his now bleeding leg as it started going numb “now, why would you do that?” He raised his hatchet, ready to attack as soon as muchi got close enough “kanie-run.”
Mushi reached for both of them, but only managed to grab Tanjiro. It started squeezing him as hard as it could with both hands. Holding the legs on its back high above him, it prepared to stab the sharp claws dripping with poison into him. It didn't think he would even have a chance.
tanjiro swung his hatchet, cutting off muchi’s hands and falling to the ground.
kanie was running as fast as he could through the snow, susu flying behind him.
tanjiro went for the legs next, but only managed to get one off
Mushi dropped him, and before it could do anything else, one of its legs was cut off at the knee. It fell face first into the snow, picking itself up to crawl towards him. Its extra legs were more for holding things, not so much for crawling, but it used them anyway, and stabbed the claw of one deep into his other leg, injecting poison.
tanjiro hissed in pain, stumbling backwards. He had already lost feeling in one leg, and his other was going numb as well. he swung his hatchet and cut off mushi’s leg that had just stabbed him. Blood was seeping out of both of tanjiro’s legs
Mushi roared out of frustration and slashed across his cheek with another leg. The legs on its back were incredibly weak and its hands hadn't regenerated yet. Two claws went into Tanjiro's shoulders to pin him down, and one was held above his head. It probably wouldn't end well if it came down.
tanjiro tried to roll away, but he was undeniably pinned- blood was seeping into his haori from his shoulders- he could barely feel his legs, but he used what little strength he had left in them to brace his hatchet against his thigh and drive the upwards into mushi’s chest
There was a loud crack as the hatchet crushed Mushi's ribs into its heart. Its legs slid off of his shoulders and it fell on its side. Now it was seriously hurt, blood was rushing out into the snow. All it could do was roll over on its back and groan in pain.
tanjiro pulled himself up- his legs couldn’t support his weight anymore “how.. how long does this poison of yours last.” He mumbled, catching his breath and picking up his hatchet
"About...an hour. Not too long I guess." It said as it coughed up blood, watching him pick up his hatchet. It knew what was about to happen next, so it just closed its eyes and waited.
"I... really thought I was gonna win against you...but I didn't. I've been told I have the strength of a lower moon...So keep that in mind. Its voice was shaky as if it were about to cry.
"It's a good thing, for you. They're powerful.... Not as powerful as an upper moon, but still powerful." It sighed. " Not so good for us, it means you're strong."
“Really?” tanjiro looked surprised “you’re supposed to be a strong demon- and you just got beat by a fifteen year old without ANY actual training- I might actually just leave you alive so you can die with dignity”
"That's a great idea actually. You should leave me here to die, so I can have dignity." Mushi coughed up more blood. "Just walk off and leave me here..."
”I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”
tanjiro sighed “honestly, I don’t think I could cut your head off even if I tried, I can barely feel my body.”
"Ah. Good for me." Mushi smiled. Its ribs started to shift back into place and the flesh grew back together. Its hands were starting to grow back too and so were the legs it lost.
It was raining tonight, Mushi sat on the floor of the half burned down house in which it lived. It closed the book it was reading as it started to feel hungry. It didn't like luring people to its house because they might mess up its shelves of books and insect specimens. So it walked out into the woods, sat on a log near a trail, and rubbed its wings together, producing a loud bullfrog-like croak. Some unfortunate human would hopefully hear it, and it would have a meal. A tried and true method. It wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. @mushiwthewcricketwdemon
tanjiro sniffs the cold air of the night, kanie behind him and susu perched on the swordsmith’s shoulder.
blood was caked into his haori and smeared on his hands and face- kanie had been too scared to tell him about it.
tanjiros eyes were locked on the house in the distance- he could smell the demon from here. His hatchet hung at his side “stay close” he murmured to his companions.
he began walking toward the house, his winter boots sinking into the snow with every step.
Mushi's antennae were wiggling. It could smell humans but it could also smell blood. This only made it more hungry. It tried to wait patiently but ended up deciding to try to find its prey. This didn't take long, as Tanjiro was close by. As he got closer it realized he was covered in blood. Was he injured? Mushi started to unfold its extra legs from its back walking quickly towards Tanjiro.
Tanjiro keeps walking, kanie and susu behind him.
He has only just noticed the blood on his face as it dries- it’s human, but not his.
he stumbles slightly in the snow before picking back up his stride
“tanjiro, where are we going..?”
kanie says, wiping the snow off of the eye holes of his mask.
“I don’t know.” Tanjiro answers blankly- he can smell muchi coming, his grip tightens on his axe- he’s tired, but not weak. He just hopes the demon won’t cause problems for him or his swordsmith
Mushi saw him stumble and thought he must actually be hurt already. It produced one of its throwing knife like stingers full of paralyzing poison in its hand, licking its lips. But when it went to throw, it too, stumbled in the snow and actually fell. The stinger landed several feet from Tanjiro.
"Damn it" Mushi growled as it got up. It gave itself away. And this kid had a hatchet. So much for an easy meal.
“Well, that was pathetic.” Tanjiro mumbled, going to walk around mushi.
kanie was frozen behind him.
“kanie, come on we see demons all day- let’s go.”
kanie didn’t move
“for the love of-“ tanjiro walked over to kanie and threw him over his shoulder and walked around mushi
Mushi sighed. Now it had embarrassed itself. It walked away from Tanjiro and Kanie, heading back to its house. Though it did watch the two, it had never seen a human freeze up completely like that.
tanjiro glances behind him, surprised at the demon’s lack of pursuit. Susu (the crow) was perched on his shoulder staring at mushi with his head cocked
tanjiro put the cover back on the blade of his hatchet and returned it to his hip.
It’s rare to see a human drenched in human blood, and not injured; even more so with another person with them unharmed.
Mushi's curiosity got the better of it. It stayed inside of its house but couldn't help but ask. "Kid, what's your deal? You've got blood all over you but you don't seem hurt." Was he a murderer or something? But the blood was on his face too...
"It doesn't matter that much, I was just wondering." Mushi stood in the doorway of its house making eye contact with Tanjiro. Maybe it still had a chance.
"I uh. Kind of embarrassed myself, there. My appetite went away but now I'm hungry again." It started to form another one of the stingers in its hand.
“if you attack me you’re not leaving alive. So I’d think very carefully about your next move.” Tanjiro said, taking the cover back off of his hatchet.
“tanjiro PLEASE let’s just go” kanie begged “kanie, shut up. I’m in the middle of a conversation.” Tanjiro snapped back, making the swordsmith flinch
“if you’re hungry I’m sure there are plenty of thieves hiding out in the woods- I killed like three on the way over here.” Tanjiro said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Mushi snarled. "I've killed plenty of thieves, bandits, even demon slayers. You're nothing, it should be easy." It threw the stinger, this time it got stuck in Tanjiro's leg. It was a small one, but still was full of paralyzing toxins. It was more of a warning shot and a distraction, Mushi ran towards him with all six extra legs unfolding from its back ready to grab him.
”shit” tanjiro mumbled, pulling the stinger out of his now bleeding leg as it started going numb “now, why would you do that?” He raised his hatchet, ready to attack as soon as muchi got close enough “kanie-run.”
Mushi reached for both of them, but only managed to grab Tanjiro. It started squeezing him as hard as it could with both hands. Holding the legs on its back high above him, it prepared to stab the sharp claws dripping with poison into him. It didn't think he would even have a chance.
tanjiro swung his hatchet, cutting off muchi’s hands and falling to the ground.
kanie was running as fast as he could through the snow, susu flying behind him.
tanjiro went for the legs next, but only managed to get one off
Mushi dropped him, and before it could do anything else, one of its legs was cut off at the knee. It fell face first into the snow, picking itself up to crawl towards him. Its extra legs were more for holding things, not so much for crawling, but it used them anyway, and stabbed the claw of one deep into his other leg, injecting poison.
tanjiro hissed in pain, stumbling backwards. He had already lost feeling in one leg, and his other was going numb as well. he swung his hatchet and cut off mushi’s leg that had just stabbed him. Blood was seeping out of both of tanjiro’s legs
Mushi roared out of frustration and slashed across his cheek with another leg. The legs on its back were incredibly weak and its hands hadn't regenerated yet. Two claws went into Tanjiro's shoulders to pin him down, and one was held above his head. It probably wouldn't end well if it came down.
tanjiro tried to roll away, but he was undeniably pinned- blood was seeping into his haori from his shoulders- he could barely feel his legs, but he used what little strength he had left in them to brace his hatchet against his thigh and drive the upwards into mushi’s chest
There was a loud crack as the hatchet crushed Mushi's ribs into its heart. Its legs slid off of his shoulders and it fell on its side. Now it was seriously hurt, blood was rushing out into the snow. All it could do was roll over on its back and groan in pain.
tanjiro pulled himself up- his legs couldn’t support his weight anymore “how.. how long does this poison of yours last.” He mumbled, catching his breath and picking up his hatchet
"About...an hour. Not too long I guess." It said as it coughed up blood, watching him pick up his hatchet. It knew what was about to happen next, so it just closed its eyes and waited.
"I... really thought I was gonna win against you...but I didn't. I've been told I have the strength of a lower moon...So keep that in mind. Its voice was shaky as if it were about to cry.
"It's a good thing, for you. They're powerful.... Not as powerful as an upper moon, but still powerful." It sighed. " Not so good for us, it means you're strong."
“Really?” tanjiro looked surprised “you’re supposed to be a strong demon- and you just got beat by a fifteen year old without ANY actual training- I might actually just leave you alive so you can die with dignity”
"That's a great idea actually. You should leave me here to die, so I can have dignity." Mushi coughed up more blood. "Just walk off and leave me here..."
”I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”
tanjiro sighed “honestly, I don’t think I could cut your head off even if I tried, I can barely feel my body.”
It was raining tonight, Mushi sat on the floor of the half burned down house in which it lived. It closed the book it was reading as it started to feel hungry. It didn't like luring people to its house because they might mess up its shelves of books and insect specimens. So it walked out into the woods, sat on a log near a trail, and rubbed its wings together, producing a loud bullfrog-like croak. Some unfortunate human would hopefully hear it, and it would have a meal. A tried and true method. It wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. @mushiwthewcricketwdemon
tanjiro sniffs the cold air of the night, kanie behind him and susu perched on the swordsmith’s shoulder.
blood was caked into his haori and smeared on his hands and face- kanie had been too scared to tell him about it.
tanjiros eyes were locked on the house in the distance- he could smell the demon from here. His hatchet hung at his side “stay close” he murmured to his companions.
he began walking toward the house, his winter boots sinking into the snow with every step.
Mushi's antennae were wiggling. It could smell humans but it could also smell blood. This only made it more hungry. It tried to wait patiently but ended up deciding to try to find its prey. This didn't take long, as Tanjiro was close by. As he got closer it realized he was covered in blood. Was he injured? Mushi started to unfold its extra legs from its back walking quickly towards Tanjiro.
Tanjiro keeps walking, kanie and susu behind him.
He has only just noticed the blood on his face as it dries- it’s human, but not his.
he stumbles slightly in the snow before picking back up his stride
“tanjiro, where are we going..?”
kanie says, wiping the snow off of the eye holes of his mask.
“I don’t know.” Tanjiro answers blankly- he can smell muchi coming, his grip tightens on his axe- he’s tired, but not weak. He just hopes the demon won’t cause problems for him or his swordsmith
Mushi saw him stumble and thought he must actually be hurt already. It produced one of its throwing knife like stingers full of paralyzing poison in its hand, licking its lips. But when it went to throw, it too, stumbled in the snow and actually fell. The stinger landed several feet from Tanjiro.
"Damn it" Mushi growled as it got up. It gave itself away. And this kid had a hatchet. So much for an easy meal.
“Well, that was pathetic.” Tanjiro mumbled, going to walk around mushi.
kanie was frozen behind him.
“kanie, come on we see demons all day- let’s go.”
kanie didn’t move
“for the love of-“ tanjiro walked over to kanie and threw him over his shoulder and walked around mushi
Mushi sighed. Now it had embarrassed itself. It walked away from Tanjiro and Kanie, heading back to its house. Though it did watch the two, it had never seen a human freeze up completely like that.
tanjiro glances behind him, surprised at the demon’s lack of pursuit. Susu (the crow) was perched on his shoulder staring at mushi with his head cocked
tanjiro put the cover back on the blade of his hatchet and returned it to his hip.
It’s rare to see a human drenched in human blood, and not injured; even more so with another person with them unharmed.
Mushi's curiosity got the better of it. It stayed inside of its house but couldn't help but ask. "Kid, what's your deal? You've got blood all over you but you don't seem hurt." Was he a murderer or something? But the blood was on his face too...
"It doesn't matter that much, I was just wondering." Mushi stood in the doorway of its house making eye contact with Tanjiro. Maybe it still had a chance.
"I uh. Kind of embarrassed myself, there. My appetite went away but now I'm hungry again." It started to form another one of the stingers in its hand.
“if you attack me you’re not leaving alive. So I’d think very carefully about your next move.” Tanjiro said, taking the cover back off of his hatchet.
“tanjiro PLEASE let’s just go” kanie begged “kanie, shut up. I’m in the middle of a conversation.” Tanjiro snapped back, making the swordsmith flinch
“if you’re hungry I’m sure there are plenty of thieves hiding out in the woods- I killed like three on the way over here.” Tanjiro said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Mushi snarled. "I've killed plenty of thieves, bandits, even demon slayers. You're nothing, it should be easy." It threw the stinger, this time it got stuck in Tanjiro's leg. It was a small one, but still was full of paralyzing toxins. It was more of a warning shot and a distraction, Mushi ran towards him with all six extra legs unfolding from its back ready to grab him.
”shit” tanjiro mumbled, pulling the stinger out of his now bleeding leg as it started going numb “now, why would you do that?” He raised his hatchet, ready to attack as soon as muchi got close enough “kanie-run.”
Mushi reached for both of them, but only managed to grab Tanjiro. It started squeezing him as hard as it could with both hands. Holding the legs on its back high above him, it prepared to stab the sharp claws dripping with poison into him. It didn't think he would even have a chance.
tanjiro swung his hatchet, cutting off muchi’s hands and falling to the ground.
kanie was running as fast as he could through the snow, susu flying behind him.
tanjiro went for the legs next, but only managed to get one off
Mushi dropped him, and before it could do anything else, one of its legs was cut off at the knee. It fell face first into the snow, picking itself up to crawl towards him. Its extra legs were more for holding things, not so much for crawling, but it used them anyway, and stabbed the claw of one deep into his other leg, injecting poison.
tanjiro hissed in pain, stumbling backwards. He had already lost feeling in one leg, and his other was going numb as well. he swung his hatchet and cut off mushi’s leg that had just stabbed him. Blood was seeping out of both of tanjiro’s legs
Mushi roared out of frustration and slashed across his cheek with another leg. The legs on its back were incredibly weak and its hands hadn't regenerated yet. Two claws went into Tanjiro's shoulders to pin him down, and one was held above his head. It probably wouldn't end well if it came down.
tanjiro tried to roll away, but he was undeniably pinned- blood was seeping into his haori from his shoulders- he could barely feel his legs, but he used what little strength he had left in them to brace his hatchet against his thigh and drive the upwards into mushi’s chest
There was a loud crack as the hatchet crushed Mushi's ribs into its heart. Its legs slid off of his shoulders and it fell on its side. Now it was seriously hurt, blood was rushing out into the snow. All it could do was roll over on its back and groan in pain.
tanjiro pulled himself up- his legs couldn’t support his weight anymore “how.. how long does this poison of yours last.” He mumbled, catching his breath and picking up his hatchet
"About...an hour. Not too long I guess." It said as it coughed up blood, watching him pick up his hatchet. It knew what was about to happen next, so it just closed its eyes and waited.
"I... really thought I was gonna win against you...but I didn't. I've been told I have the strength of a lower moon...So keep that in mind. Its voice was shaky as if it were about to cry.
"It's a good thing, for you. They're powerful.... Not as powerful as an upper moon, but still powerful." It sighed. " Not so good for us, it means you're strong."
“Really?” tanjiro looked surprised “you’re supposed to be a strong demon- and you just got beat by a fifteen year old without ANY actual training- I might actually just leave you alive so you can die with dignity”
It was raining tonight, Mushi sat on the floor of the half burned down house in which it lived. It closed the book it was reading as it started to feel hungry. It didn't like luring people to its house because they might mess up its shelves of books and insect specimens. So it walked out into the woods, sat on a log near a trail, and rubbed its wings together, producing a loud bullfrog-like croak. Some unfortunate human would hopefully hear it, and it would have a meal. A tried and true method. It wasn't expecting anything to go wrong. @mushiwthewcricketwdemon
tanjiro sniffs the cold air of the night, kanie behind him and susu perched on the swordsmith’s shoulder.
blood was caked into his haori and smeared on his hands and face- kanie had been too scared to tell him about it.
tanjiros eyes were locked on the house in the distance- he could smell the demon from here. His hatchet hung at his side “stay close” he murmured to his companions.
he began walking toward the house, his winter boots sinking into the snow with every step.
Mushi's antennae were wiggling. It could smell humans but it could also smell blood. This only made it more hungry. It tried to wait patiently but ended up deciding to try to find its prey. This didn't take long, as Tanjiro was close by. As he got closer it realized he was covered in blood. Was he injured? Mushi started to unfold its extra legs from its back walking quickly towards Tanjiro.
Tanjiro keeps walking, kanie and susu behind him.
He has only just noticed the blood on his face as it dries- it’s human, but not his.
he stumbles slightly in the snow before picking back up his stride
“tanjiro, where are we going..?”
kanie says, wiping the snow off of the eye holes of his mask.
“I don’t know.” Tanjiro answers blankly- he can smell muchi coming, his grip tightens on his axe- he’s tired, but not weak. He just hopes the demon won’t cause problems for him or his swordsmith
Mushi saw him stumble and thought he must actually be hurt already. It produced one of its throwing knife like stingers full of paralyzing poison in its hand, licking its lips. But when it went to throw, it too, stumbled in the snow and actually fell. The stinger landed several feet from Tanjiro.
"Damn it" Mushi growled as it got up. It gave itself away. And this kid had a hatchet. So much for an easy meal.
“Well, that was pathetic.” Tanjiro mumbled, going to walk around mushi.
kanie was frozen behind him.
“kanie, come on we see demons all day- let’s go.”
kanie didn’t move
“for the love of-“ tanjiro walked over to kanie and threw him over his shoulder and walked around mushi
Mushi sighed. Now it had embarrassed itself. It walked away from Tanjiro and Kanie, heading back to its house. Though it did watch the two, it had never seen a human freeze up completely like that.
tanjiro glances behind him, surprised at the demon’s lack of pursuit. Susu (the crow) was perched on his shoulder staring at mushi with his head cocked
tanjiro put the cover back on the blade of his hatchet and returned it to his hip.
It’s rare to see a human drenched in human blood, and not injured; even more so with another person with them unharmed.
Mushi's curiosity got the better of it. It stayed inside of its house but couldn't help but ask. "Kid, what's your deal? You've got blood all over you but you don't seem hurt." Was he a murderer or something? But the blood was on his face too...
"It doesn't matter that much, I was just wondering." Mushi stood in the doorway of its house making eye contact with Tanjiro. Maybe it still had a chance.
"I uh. Kind of embarrassed myself, there. My appetite went away but now I'm hungry again." It started to form another one of the stingers in its hand.
“if you attack me you’re not leaving alive. So I’d think very carefully about your next move.” Tanjiro said, taking the cover back off of his hatchet.
“tanjiro PLEASE let’s just go” kanie begged “kanie, shut up. I’m in the middle of a conversation.” Tanjiro snapped back, making the swordsmith flinch
“if you’re hungry I’m sure there are plenty of thieves hiding out in the woods- I killed like three on the way over here.” Tanjiro said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
Mushi snarled. "I've killed plenty of thieves, bandits, even demon slayers. You're nothing, it should be easy." It threw the stinger, this time it got stuck in Tanjiro's leg. It was a small one, but still was full of paralyzing toxins. It was more of a warning shot and a distraction, Mushi ran towards him with all six extra legs unfolding from its back ready to grab him.
”shit” tanjiro mumbled, pulling the stinger out of his now bleeding leg as it started going numb “now, why would you do that?” He raised his hatchet, ready to attack as soon as muchi got close enough “kanie-run.”
Mushi reached for both of them, but only managed to grab Tanjiro. It started squeezing him as hard as it could with both hands. Holding the legs on its back high above him, it prepared to stab the sharp claws dripping with poison into him. It didn't think he would even have a chance.
tanjiro swung his hatchet, cutting off muchi’s hands and falling to the ground.
kanie was running as fast as he could through the snow, susu flying behind him.
tanjiro went for the legs next, but only managed to get one off
Mushi dropped him, and before it could do anything else, one of its legs was cut off at the knee. It fell face first into the snow, picking itself up to crawl towards him. Its extra legs were more for holding things, not so much for crawling, but it used them anyway, and stabbed the claw of one deep into his other leg, injecting poison.
tanjiro hissed in pain, stumbling backwards. He had already lost feeling in one leg, and his other was going numb as well. he swung his hatchet and cut off mushi’s leg that had just stabbed him. Blood was seeping out of both of tanjiro’s legs
Mushi roared out of frustration and slashed across his cheek with another leg. The legs on its back were incredibly weak and its hands hadn't regenerated yet. Two claws went into Tanjiro's shoulders to pin him down, and one was held above his head. It probably wouldn't end well if it came down.
tanjiro tried to roll away, but he was undeniably pinned- blood was seeping into his haori from his shoulders- he could barely feel his legs, but he used what little strength he had left in them to brace his hatchet against his thigh and drive the upwards into mushi’s chest
There was a loud crack as the hatchet crushed Mushi's ribs into its heart. Its legs slid off of his shoulders and it fell on its side. Now it was seriously hurt, blood was rushing out into the snow. All it could do was roll over on its back and groan in pain.
tanjiro pulled himself up- his legs couldn’t support his weight anymore “how.. how long does this poison of yours last.” He mumbled, catching his breath and picking up his hatchet
"About...an hour. Not too long I guess." It said as it coughed up blood, watching him pick up his hatchet. It knew what was about to happen next, so it just closed its eyes and waited.
"I... really thought I was gonna win against you...but I didn't. I've been told I have the strength of a lower moon...So keep that in mind. Its voice was shaky as if it were about to cry.
