Chapter Text
My lashes fluttered as I slowly opened my eyes, due to the light that seeped through the bedroom window and onto my face.
I lifted my hand and rubbed my eye a bit. The glow had somehow made it past a part of the blind, and angled directly towards me.
Noticing how bright it was I decided to open the blind curtain a bit more and leaned closer to the window.
Moving the curtain to the side just slightly so I could get a clear view. The sun seemed to have risen not very long ago, signaling that it was around 6:00 or 7:00 A.M.
Groaning at the fact Yui and I start school at 8:30 A.M. I shifted in my foam mattressed bed before stretching my arms and legs in a more comfortable position.
Once finished stretching I pulled off my silky soft bed covers, moving my legs to the edge of the bed which I then stepped into my fuzzy white house shoes that matched my white & light blue cloud patterned pajamas.
Taking in how dark our bedroom actually was, I carefully walked towards my older brother’s bed which was on the other side of our centered nightstand, praying I wouldn’t trip over anything like one of his dirty shirts.
As I successfully made it to his bed without falling, I tapped Yuichiro’s shoulder a few times.
He hadn’t even opened his eyes a single time throughout this which made me wonder how heavy of a sleeper my twin brother could possibly be.
Noticing how messy his hair was from bedhead, and how one of his legs ended up on top of his silky black cover I stifled in a laugh.
I noticed he was also wearing the black and blue clouded pajamas which matched mine.
After tapping him a few more times I realized he simply flopped around the bed, and progressively started holding his favorite pillow closer to himself.
I deadpanned giving up, and moved further from him, closer to the bedroom door. If he’s late then that’s on him, I thought.
I slowly opened the silver door handle connecting our room to the hallway, and began my journey towards the bathroom.
I walked at a simple pace, the bathroom was only down the hall near the stairs so it wasn’t far.
Once I made it, I slowly twisted the silver doorknob and tapped the button for the light.
The white lightning made the bathroom look 10x cleaner than it currently is due to Yuichiro and I’s things being messily placed.
I grumbled to myself a bit as I opened the drawer connected to the sink, and pulled out the mint toothpaste.
Once I grabbed that, I lifted up my toothbrush from its respected spot in the toothbrush holder.
Glancing around I took in my surroundings. The entire bathroom was a mixture of white, blue, and black.
The walls were a creamy white color, while the floor was a black wood one. There were also clouds, along with paintings of oceans or seashells, orcas, and sharks strung up.
This was what we deserved in the past, a peaceful life.
I frowned at the thought of remembering my entire family’s fate during our past lives, but quickly recovered and squeezed the toothpaste onto my toothbrush.
I brushed the front of my teeth in circles, then brushed the sides, top and bottom, then finally my tongue.
Afterwards I gargled some water and spit it all into the sink rinsing it down with water.
Once done I quickly washed my face, and then dried it it with a face towel before fixing my hair a little. I looked in the mirror at myself and noticed how basic I look.
Shrugging it off after I clicked the button to the bathroom light, and made my way back down the hall to the bedroom.
I clicked the light button, and went to the closet to grab my uniform. Kimetsu Academy’s Uniform was quite unique, it was a white shirt and green tie with yellowish plaid like pants, white or brown shoes, and a cardigan of any color you chose.
Apparently it was only students who had to dress to this code though, staff could dress however as long as it was school appropriate.
After admiring the texture, material, and appearance of the uniform I heard Yuichiro mumbling under his breath angrily saying things like “What kind of idiot turns on the light while someone’s asleep?” Which made me turn his direction to look at him.
I noticed how out of place he was and I laughed. “The hell’s so funny Muichiro?” He said clearly annoyed.
“Nothing. .” I said hiding my face. I could sense the bloodlust coming from him, and quickly dressed myself before I threw into a laughing fit.
After I was completely dressed I dusted off my uniform in case of any dog fur from Candy.
I then grabbed my handbag for school which matched my older brother’s and walked back out of our bedroom.
Swiftly making my way down the hall and back towards the stairs, I went down step by step quickly before I reached the bottom.
After turning around the corner I noticed my mother moving about in the kitchen while father was sitting at the table reading a newspaper.
“Goodmorning Okaasan, Otousan.” I said calmly. This caused the two older Tokito’s to look at me as they smiled sweetly.
“Goodmorning son/Muichiro.” I smiled a bit to myself.
My father now wore glasses due to his eyesight becoming worse over the past few years, and mother had no major changes, but my parents looked older than they had 3 years ago.
Knowing we escaped our original fate that we had once received felt so peaceful. I was happy, and my family was happy that was what mattered.
But I still felt as if a piece of me was missing. And I knew the answer to that, it was Tanjiro.
I searched for him ever since I had regained my memories of the past, but I never once found him.
Yuichiro tried to help me too, we’d take longer detours on our way home and to school, go to different sports games, and even went to malls.
But not once had we caught sight of him, remembering this made my brows furrow.
I had took my seat at the table when I heard Candy running up towards me, Candy was a medium sized Pomeranian mix that Yuichiro and I found abandoned in a box while walking home from school, our parents being as kind as they were allowed us to keep her.
We’d had her for about 2 years now, and she was an important part of our family.
Suddenly I heard rushing coming from upstairs and snickered to myself, Yuichiro must’ve found out what time it was.
Candy quickly made her way upstairs and towards the bathroom most likely to bother my brother as he was trying to get ready.
Okaasan had set my plate of toast, eggs, and bacon in front of me, and I quickly ate it.
Once finished I yelled for Yuichiro to hurry up, I heard him grit his teeth angrily as he ran back downstairs with Candy and grabbed his food making it into a sandwich.
“Goodmorning Mother, Father, we’ll see you later. And bye Candy!” He said as he ran towards me.
I swallowed, he was really angry. I quickly burst out the door clutching onto my handbag tighter.
Yuichiro closed the door, and locked it with his keys before running my direction and fixing his handbag so that it sat perfectly on his shoulder.
After making a few twists, and turns I had luckily escaped my older brother.
But still scared, I hid behind a large cardboard box I saw lying against a wall.
Suddenly, a cat appeared. I made eye contact with it, and took in its features.
It was a Calico cat that wore a weird collar.. I looked at it puzzled until I remembered.
It was the same cat I seen on our birthday 3 years ago. Suddenly the cat started swaying its tail and ran away.
I chased after it “Wait!” That cat had to be related to our past, this couldn’t be a coincidence.
It was far quicker than I thought so I struggled to keep up, then suddenly it turned a corner and vanished.
I ran towards the sidewalk layered with shops on every side of the street darting my eyes around, but couldn’t find it.
Looking for the Calico cat, I spotted a flicker of red in the corner of my eye.
Maroon hair was quickly making its way through the crowd. “Tanjiro.” I said under my breath.
Without a thought I ran towards the distanced red I seen moving swiftly throughout the crowd.
“Wait..!” I yelled. “Tanjiro.! Tanjiro wait!” I started to pick up the speed I couldn’t lose him, he was right there, within my reach for the first time.
I chased him until the crowd dispersed and I nearly tripped on a crack in the neatly paved sidewalk before catching myself.
I quickly regained my balance and looked around in desperation, where, where was he?
After thinking that I saw red hair waiting at the bus stop across the street.
I have to make it. I mentally screamed at my legs to go faster and dashed towards the bus stop.
But once I had successfully crossed the street and arrived the flash of red disappeared between black doors.
The driver began to slowly press on the go pedal. Now I’m pissed I lost him, after getting so close.
There had to be a bike, a taxi, something!? But there wasn’t, and the bus had already turned a corner and vanished behind cars beyond my capability of sight.
My chest began to ache, and I started to cry to myself silently.
I lost him. . again. Suddenly I felt buzzing coming from my bag, I didn’t have to look at the contact name to know it was my brother wondering where I went.
My entire body was screaming at me for putting it through so much, and my eyes were stinging.
But regardless, I had to pick up this call.
After clicking accept, I heard my twin brother’s voice yelling through the phone line.
“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? IT’S 7:57 A.M YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” I choked on my words a few times before I got a sentence out.
“I’ll be right there.” I then hung up, and felt my eyes begin to water once more.
Tanjiro, he was right there. Then a thought registered in my head, it was my realization that Tanjiro was reborn, he was reborn in the same lifetime as me.
And he was in the same city I was in, so that means he couldn’t live far.
My breathing became labored and I jumped up cheering. Basically dying from happiness I remembered what time it was and tidied myself up before making my way towards my brother and I’s new school.
I ran at a fair pace, I couldn’t be late on our first day.
Luckily, 5 minutes before the gates closed I skidded to a halt on the sandy dirt texture signaling thay I’d arrived and I let out a sigh of relief.
Yuichiro approached me with his arms crossed, clearly pissed off while tapping his finger on his arm.
I rubbed the back of my head a bit as we made eye contact. “Sorry . .?” I said awkwardly.
He simply shook his head before grabbing my hand and forcing me to follow him.
I took a quick glance at the school building, and its outer yard before we entered inside.
It was neat, we were walking on a white pathway surrounded by grass, flowers, wisteria trees, and small bench tables.
The school building itself was a gorgeous shade of creamed white, with clear windows, black doors and window frames.
It looked about 3 stories tall, and had an upper roof that was fenced off.
Most likely a lunch area for students. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as we originally thought.
Once Yuichiro dragged me inside I noticed lockers, which were most likely for shoe changes and small items you carried around.
Without a single delay we made our way to the front office for our new schedules.
The lady sitting at the front desk had beautiful white hair pulled into a ponytail, dark purplish eyes, pale skin, red lipstick, and a gentle smile.
I took in her features and my eyes widened. It was Lady Amane, she looked just how she did the day we first met her like an Angel.
I wanted to say something, make her remember, but Yuichiro noticed my change in demeanor and looked at her.
His eyes widened and he turned to me, shaking his head slightly so only I could see.
“But-“ I tried to reason. And my brother signaled for me to stay silent.
I sighed and nodded.
Lady Amane looked up and smiled at us. “You two boys, must be the Tokito Twins correct?”.
We both nodded in unison, as she let out a sweet laugh and told us the principal was ready for us.
I frowned as we started to walk towards the principal’s door, I wanted to speak to her but she held no recognition of us in her eyes.
But my thoughts no longer lingered on Lady Amane once I heard the smooth voice that said, “You may come in.” I gasped in disbelief, Master, it had to be Master.
I quickly turned the handle before Yuichiro could get the chance, and walked up towards the smooth wooden desk in front of us in excitement.
“Hello young men, I am the principal here at Kimetsu Academy. My name is Kagaya Ubuyashiki, but please refer to me as Principal Kagaya.” He said smiling at us with his extremely healthy complexion.
My chest ached in guilt, I wanted to sob and bow apologizing that I and the other Hashira couldn’t protect him back then.
But I refrained.
He was healthy, and he still held onto his youth despite looking to be in his late twenties or early thirties.
It was a miracle, it had to be.
If master is here. . then so is everyone else. I made eye contact with Yuichiro and he got the message.
We were going to meet everyone.
Suddenly my older brother stepped closer towards the desk so that he’d be eye level with the man before us.
“Hello Principal, we are Yuichiro and Muichiro Tokito. We’re here for our schedules.” Yuichiro stated calmly.
Master nodded, and opened a drawer while neatly pulling out two papers along with two maps.
“Here you two boys go, it should provide everything needed for you. But I’ll still have a student tour you around.”
Master then clicked a button next to the speaker, seemingly calling someone up.
“Kanao Tsuyuri to the front office, please.” Master seemed to say in a sing song tone.
It was good seeing him and Lady Amane in perfectly good health, I was relieved.
Suddenly there was a small knock before Master let out a quick “Come in” a girl about an inch taller than myself with a black side ponytail, china bangs, butterfly hair clip, magenta purplish eyes, white top, yellow plaid skirt, green tie, with white knee high socks, and brown shoes appeared in the doorway.
I looked her up and down, I seemingly recognized her as Ms. Kocho’s adoptive sister and Tsuguko.
The girl bowed to Master before smiling at us, signaling for to follow.
I grabbed Yuichiro’s hand, after waving a “See you Principal!” To Master and following the selectively mute girl.
She walked at a quick pace, dashing down halls and up stairs showing us all the classrooms on our schedules, then highlighting them on our maps.
She also showed us ways to the nurse’s office, gym, changing rooms, club / sports areas, indoor and outdoor lunch areas along with the rooftop.
There was no time for questions whatsoever as she was seemingly in a hurry for some odd reason.
Once finished with the tour she gave us a silent bow and quickly vanished down the hall, most likely heading to the nurses office where Kocho resided.
Yuichiro and I tilt our heads in confusion as we were left alone on the first floor closest to the west stairs, before looking at one another then down at our own schedules.
Being twins, our schedules were always identical therefore our first class was Art.
The teacher name and classroom listed were on the right side of the papers were Tengen, Uzui Room 2.
I looked to Yuichiro and started to speak, “This man, was a hashira just as I was in the past Yuichiro.” Yuichiro hummed in reply.
I felt a ding pop in my head and got a little excited before speaking. “Oh, also I forgot to mention. . I saw Tanjiro earlier.” My older brother’s eyes widened in shock, and surprise.
“YOU SAW TANJIRO? WHAT, WHEN, WHERE!?” He said in a low voice, so no teachers or staff would heard towards our direction.
I snorted, it was almost like he wanted to meet Tanjiro more than anything after I shared my memories with him.
“After you chased me, I saw that Calico cat who appeared on our 11th birthday 3 years ago. Then after following it around I saw Tanjiro in a crowd from a distance.” I stated with a faint smile.
Yuichiro cheered silently with me, he was usually annoyed or grumpy, but this news seemed great to him.
I was happy that my brother seemed to like Tanjiro just as much as I do, without having met him in his past life or this one yet.
Suddenly being pulled out of my thoughts, I heard a ding come from in front of me.
Yuichiro noticed his phone that went off in his pocket and carefully pulled it out of its resting place.
The device flickered on with light illuminating his face. He had used Face ID to unlock it, and afterwards he skimmed over something with his eyes before sighing.
“Today we won’t attend any of our classes, we’ve been told to meet our teachers and introduce ourselves to classmates before having a meeting with all of our teachers in the meeting room during lunch.
Also, mother and father want us to join the Shogi, and Kendo clubs along with the student council.” I scoffed and then nodded, of course we’d gotten all tidied up for no reason.
But that all aside, I never thought Mother and Father would want me to join Shogi again, and never would I have thought they’d want Yuichiro attend Kendo.
It was supposed to be our own separate things, I was a Kendo champion after I stopped playing Shogi the day of our 11th birthday as my talents lied more in my swordsmanship.
While Yui continued to play Shogi alone and maintained his status as one of the country’s best because it was his talent.
I’m not sure why this made me upset, but I accepted it.
“We should get to introducing ourselves now and meeting teachers.” I said nonchalantly.
Yuichiro nodded, and we held hands as we walked towards room 2.
We’d always held hands with one another since we were babies, usually to keep each other safe, and because we both had anxiety it served as a comfort.
After making it to our destination, Yuichiro slid open the classroom door and we walked in simultaneously.
A white haired man with an eye tattoo or makeup, and very bright accessories with a grey hoodie, pants, and sneakers looked up at us from his seat.
Shockingly, none of the other students glanced our direction, instead they seemed scared?
I glanced around and were all painting on their own canvases in a hurry, making sure to keep their strokes passionate and clean.
Some students hands were shaking and their eyes were beyond focused.
It felt eery, but I suppose that’s what you’d expect from a former Hashira.
I let go of my brother’s hand and walked closer to the former Sound Hashira.
“Hello, I am Muichiro Tokito, and this is my twin brother Yuichiro Tokito. We are the new students who will be attending your first period class.” I stated.
I noticed his eyes twitched with recognition of some sort, but the man before me clearly regained no further memories.
“Tokito huh, last name sounds familiar. But it’s nice to meet you kids. I’m Tengen Uzui, but call me Mr. Uzui.”
He said holding his hand out to Yuichiro and I.
This was a golden chance, maybe I could.. just like I did with Yui.
Yuichiro shook his hand first, and the second I did I felt a stinging sensation in my hand.
Suddenly Mr. Uzui’s face became clouded with confusion.
I heard him mutter under his breath “What the hell was that.?” Before widening his eyes and apologizing.
“Well time for you two to introduce yourselves.” The man before us clapped loudly, and every single student turned their heads towards us.
“We have new students who will be joining us in classes after today. Be sure to welcome them to the best of your abilities.”
The students all swallowed and nodded. Yuichiro stepped to the front of Tengen’s desk first.
“I am Yuichiro Tokito, 14 years old and I hate people.”My older brother said before walking back beside me. Humming I walked in front of Tengen’s desk.
I took a deep breath before speaking. “I am, Muichiro Tokito, 14 years old and the younger twin. I don’t like weak or annoying people.” Saying this with a deadpan face and flat tone people groaned.
Though most girls and some boys still held expressions of respect, admiration, or a crush like face.
Once we finished we bid Tengen farewell, and went to the next class.
Our schedules were Art (Tengen) Class 2, Math (Sanemi) Class 202, History (Rengoku) Class 68, Civis (Gyomei) Class 182, Biology (Kocho’s older sister Kanae, but this week Kocho was filling in as her sub) Class 25, and P.E (Tomioka) the Gym.
We’d went to every class, each one more different than the rest. And everyone was the same as I’d remembered them.
My brother found their personalities and antics quite amusing, and wondered how I dealt with it in the past.
I had no idea myself, but I missed it.
Tengen was what he’d call “flamboyant and flashy”, Shinaguzawa was rude and quite loud, Rengoku was loud and cheerful (I missed him after his death, it was nice that he’s here too), Mr. Himejima-san was still blind in this lifetime, but he was just as righteous and kindhearted. Kocho was a shit-talker, but nice and calm, then finally Mr. Tomioka was silent and a decorative object like before.
But he seemed more peaceful and open than before it was refreshing to see, I had actually enjoyed meeting them all once again including Master and Lady Amane.
But. . two people were missing.
The loud pink and green haired woman, Kanroji and . . Iguro.
I frowned at the possibility of those two not being reborn during this lifetime, especially Mr. Iguro out of everyone.
We had spoke sometimes, I spoke to him and Mr. Rengoku more than anyone.
I shrugged the thought off though, and luckily I was able to shake hands with the rest of the past hashira I’d notice some flicker of recognition in their eyes.
Even though it’d happened for only around 10 seconds and no more, it still happened.
Once Lunch finally rolled around, I held my brother’s hand and we head towards the meeting room.
All of our teachers were here, along with Master and his wife.
They’d all properly welcomed me and Yuichiro, giving us small rules and briefs on what we would need for each class.
It felt, like a Hashira meeting, it was a nice and nostalgic experience.
Once it was all over, each one of our teachers and such fled. I looked over to Yuichiro who seemed annoyed for some reason, but before I could ask he told me we should hurry and go.
I didn’t question it, and we head back to the office once more.
We picked up two slips for Kendo, two slips for Shogi, and two slips for the student council.
Once we both separated the papers and put 1 of each into our own bags we left the school’s premises for the day.
Yuichiro seemed to be in a rush, I had no idea why but he wasn’t holding my hand for the first time and he was walking quite quickly.
I had no trouble keeping up but it was odd. We made a few twists and turns once we were out the schools grounds.
We’d ended up around the place I had last seen Tanjiro.
Suddenly Yuichiro opened the door to a small cafe, it was decorated in pastels, white, and grey / black colors.
The sign in front was in a nice writing or font and read “Kabamaru’s Delights” with the drawing of a snake that had red eyes at the bottom.
Once I walked inside I was hit with a melancholy and sweet atmosphere, it smelled heavenly.
I looked around noticing people chattering, or reading books in window seats.
It seemed the cafe was connected to a library, and people were studying or simply hanging with friends.
I noticed black and teal hair standing in the line ahead of me which caused me to quickly make my way towards my older brother.
Once beside him I acknowledged the fact there was more to this cafe, and I eyed yellow and teal / blue patterns on some treats like a mini cheesecake, or chocolate swirled cupcake.
This was definitely going to be our new study spot afterschool, I liked the vibe along with the fact everything seemed to have both looked and smelled delicious.
Once my brother and I were moved directly to the front of the line, I froze on the spot.
There before us I saw a woman with 3 braids, pink and green hair, with green eyes and beauty marks on both of her cheeks.
Then beside her a man with choppy messy black hair pulled into a mini ponytail, a white mask, and heterochromia teal , yellow eyes along with a small snake around his neck was packing orders into small bags.
My eyes stung and I stood in place granted the fact my hopes weren’t crushed.
So Iguro and Kanroji were reborn after-all I thought, this meant everyone received their second chances.
Letting out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding, I went to pay Kanroji with cash once my brother finished his to go order, making sure my hand brushed against hers so I could see that flicker of recognition within her eyes.
Seeing it, felt nice and once the to go order for Yui was called by Iguro, I did the same.
Our hands had made contact with one another’s as I was reaching to grab the to go bag.
But I lingered for a second observing his face as I did so.
Maybe just maybe, he’d remember. This was the first time. . I’d seen no flicker of recognition.
.
.
.
But instead I had received a kind hearted smile from the man before me, and the words. “Hello Tokito.” Holding relief, sadness, guilt, and deep regret.