Chapter Text
Tanjiro’s blade cut straight through the demon’s neck. Its head fell to the ground and rolled a bit before stopping.
“Curse you! Curse you! Die! My body is crumbling away! I can’t stop it! And now, he too will look upon me as some filthy creature. He will look at me with eyes filled with disgust. No! I’m too scared to close my eyes, but I can’t change where my head is facing! The last thing I will see is a demon slayer’s face…!” The demon thought.
Tanjiro turned his head and looked down at the demon’s head, pity swarming in his eyes as he looked down at the demon’s head as it decayed. The demon’s eyes widened at the expression on Tanjiro’s face.
— — —
“How did this happen? I’m scared. I’m alone in the night. Hold my hand the way you used to. Why did I bite my brother and kill him? Huh? Who is my big brother?”
— — —
One of the demon’s hands was outstretched as its body decayed. Tanjiro walked over towards it and gently held it.
“I smell sadness…” Tanjiro thought.
He moved his forehead down to meet the demon’s hand as his warm hands encased its cold ones. The demon teared up as it watched the gesture, feeling the warmth of Tanjiro’s hands flow through his disintegrating body.
“What the hell is he doing?” Inosuke asked, turning to look at Nezuko.
Nezuko didn’t reply and stared ahead at her brother.
“Please, God…when he’s reborn, don’t let him become a demon.” Tanjiro murmured.
— — —
“Please, please! Hold my hand!”
“Well, if I have to! You’re such a scaredy-cat!”
— — —
After a bit more the demon’s body had fully vanished, its remaining ashes getting swept up into the air by the soft night breeze.
“Sabito… Giyuu… I won. You don’t have to worry anymore. The other children that the demon killed probably became spirits and returned as promised, to Urokodaki, whom they love so much and to their home on Mount Sagiri. If I had died, my spirit would have returned to Urokodaki too.” Tanjiro thought.
Nezuko walked up to her brother and wrapped her arms around him. Tanjiro returned her embrace, comforted by the warmth of his sister’s body. Once she pulled away she gently held his calloused hand.
“Come on, let’s go.” She said.
Tanjiro nodded and the two started walking hand in hand with Inosuke trailing behind.
— — —
Seven days later in the early morning…
“Welcome back.” The black haired boy greeted.
“Congratulations. I am glad you all are safe.” The white haired girl said.
“Only eight of us? We started with nearly thirty. That one kid isn’t here either… I was so distracted and he disappeared… I couldn’t save him.” Tanjiro thought, putting a hand on his head as he stared at the ground.
Nezuko placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder in comfort while Inosuke began to look around at the other people who had survived. The boy with bright yellow haired boy with red tips held onto his sword that was still cased in its sheath, he seemed on edge and anxious despite it being daytime and with the Selection being over. The girl who had been with Nezuko earlier was glancing off into the distance, a butterfly on her fingertip as she admired its wings. The boy who was covered in bandages that was with Nezuko earlier was shaking and had a terrified expression on his face.
“Die… I’m gonna die, die, die, die. Even though I survived here, in the end, I’ll die.” The boy muttered.
The boy wearing the yellow kimono was standing beside the shaking boy and simply rolled his eyes and scoffed.
“Jeez, you’re so pathetic. How did you even manage to survive?”
The boy with the bandages didn’t reply and continued to mumble under his breath while shaking.
“So? What am I supposed to do now? Where’s my sword?” The boy with the mohawk asked.
“First, we will provide your corps uniform. We will take your measurements and then engrave your rank.” The white haired girl said.
“There are ten ranks. Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe and Mizunoto. Right now, you are all the bottom rank of Mizunoto.” The black haired boy explained.
“Where’s my sword?” The mohawk boy asked again.
“Today you will choose the ore for your sword. Then it will take up to two weeks for the sword to be finished. Then we will assign you a kasugai crow.” The white haired girl told the new slayers.
She clapped her hands and then some crows flew down and landed on the shoulder of one of the teens. Tanjiro looked at his crow in wonder while Inosuke started to lightly poke his causing the bird to peck at his finger and this made Inosuke yelp in pain and quickly retracted his finger, glaring at the crow. Nezuko began to pet the bird on her shoulder, it leaned its head into her hair to show that it liked the gesture. The girl with the braid in her hair looked at the crow that was resting on her arm, replacing the butterfly that was once on her finger. The boy in the yellow kimono didn’t acknowledge the bird on his shoulder and simply looked anywhere then the boy he stood beside. The boy with the yellow and red hair looked nervously at the bird on his shoulder, hesitant to touch it. The bandaged boy looked confused at the small bird resting in his hand.
“Huh? Crow? But this…is a sparrow.” He said as the small bird chirped at him.
“Kasugai crows are generally used for communication, but not always.” The black haired male explained.
Tanjiro looked at the crow with a smile.
“Kasugai crow…” He thought, registering the name in his head.
A loud “KAW” was heard and everyone looked over to see the boy with the mohawk threw the bird off of his arm and then turned to glare at the white haired girl.
“I don’t care about crows!” He shouted.
He stomped over towards the girl and roughly grabbed onto her hair, pulling her towards him.
“I want my sword! And I want it now! A Demon Slayer Corps sword! A colour changing katana!” He shouted.
Tanjiro marched over and grabbed onto the boy’s arm with a glare on his face.
“Let go of her! If you don’t, I’ll break your arm!” He shouted.
“Huh? Who’re you?! Just you try it!” The boy shouted back.
Tanjiro grabbed onto the boy’s wrist harshly and gripped it so hard until a crack was heard. The mohawk boy quickly released his wrist and held it to his chest, glaring at Tanjiro. Nezuko, Inosuke, the bandaged boy and the boy with yellow and red hair looked over in surprise while the others could care less. Tanjiro stood protectively in front of the white haired girl, her hair was now ruffled and a bit messy.
“Are you done talking?” The black haired boy asked.
Tanjiro quickly walked back to his sister as the boy continued.
“Come over here and please choose the ore for making your sword.” He said.
The group approached the table that had several ores laid out on its surface.
“You get to choose your ore for your sword that will help you kill demons and protect you.” The boy said.
The group all stared down at the table with hesitant looks on their faces.
“I’m probably gonna die soon anyway.” The bandaged boy muttered.
— — —
A crow flew through the air and quickly dipped down into the opened door of a house. It landed on the hand of a man with short black hair. The man gently ran his finger over the bird’s head as he began to speak.
“Oh, eight survived? Excellent. My children have increased in number again. I wonder what kind of swordsmen they will be?”