Chapter Text
He was in trouble. He could sense (smell?) It. The moment he started talking about the fact that Muzan is a demon - The King of Demons specifically, he smelled a scent of shock and confusion, which would make sense considering that only fraction of normal civilians know about the existence of demons. But he somehow can't shake this bad feeling off of him.
The redhead keeps his explanations short, forasmuch as the men are probably some kind of government workers, and he doesn't want to be the reason of Demon Slayer Corps revelation of identity.
So says only about what demons are, that there is a group that exterminates them, and that he fought with a strong demon right before he was transported trough the fog to this city. He doesn't bring up any of the Hashiras - except Giyuu, but he doesn't intoduce him as one, and Uppermoons, because that would be too much information to bear on the other men, judging by their look on their faces when he finished his speech.
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"What the hell?" was the sentence that kept repeating over and over like a carousel in the detectives mind, as Tanjiro finished explaining his situation with slight frown on his face.
Man-eating demons? What type of bullshit is that? It sounds like something from a urban story.
But the worst part of all is that the boy hasn't lied once during his whole speech. Not even once.
The detective was honestly speechless. Did demons actually exist, or was the boy manipulated into thinking that they exist? Because if he was, that would explain why he hasn't lied once - since he said what he believed what was true, making a kind of a loophole in his quirk.
Maybe the kid was stuck in some kind of religious cult? That would explain everything including the demons and the self proclaimed group that 'exterminates' them.
Another thing is the whole 'kill demons' thing. Tanjiros description of a demon seems very similar to a person with a mutant quirk. Is the kid being forced to think that people with mutant quirks are demons? Does he kill them? The detective tries to be optimistic and hopes that he just misunderstood the younger boy, and that the 'demons' he kills aren't humans.
But wait. Why did he say man-eating? It wasn't common to come across a cannibal, In fact, the detective has never interrogated one. But the kid was talking about the man-eating demons eating humans as if he saw them committing the crime on a daily occurrence (or nightly occurrence since they apparently burn in the sunlight).
The whole time the boy was talking, he being the detective he is, noticed that the explainations were kept short and simple. Usually he would be delighted by those kinds of answers, but this kid kept out all of the details. No names, or locations were shared. He was definitely hiding something from him, and he knows it isn't pretty.
Right now the only information he has is basically meaningless, since he has nothing to work with. So he needs to ask even more questions than he anticipated.
After the break of silence, the detective spoke up. "Tanjro, these questions that are about to come afterward might be a little sensitive," he starts. This kid might be a potential victim of being manipulated into a cult, so he needs to talk to him as softly as possible, so the kid doesn't get afraid of answering. "I am just saying that you are safe here and nothing bad is gonna happen if you answer these questions."
The red haired boy seemed quietly shocked at the announcement but after a second he cheerfully answered that he is okay and that we can proceed the questioning.
Naomasa sighed in relief before proceeding. "Tanjiro, how did you come across, this.. group of people that kills demons?" A pretty easy question to start.
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Tanjiro was distraught by the question. He wasn't sure if he should bring up the fact that when he first came across a Demon Slayer, it was when his whole family died except Nezuko, who became a demon during his attempt to get to a village to take her to a doctor.
Answering wouldn't reveal nothing of importance, so he detemined that if he responded to this question nothing bad would happen.
"Well, It was winter about two years ago, I was coming home from selling coal in the nearby village and my kind neighbor invited me to sleep over because it was getting dark." He softly smiled "I didn't know anything about demons back then, but he was the one who introduced me to them. When I came back, my family was brutally murdered by Kibutsuji Muzan."
Tanjiro can still recall the coldness of his family's bodies. The thought sent shivers down his spine, he didn't want to recall these types of memories anymore, so he quickly continued to get this over with.
"Everybody was dead except my younger sister Nezuko" Tanjiro looked down on his hands "so I tried to carry her to a nearby village to get her a doctor, but she became a demon. Thats when I met Giyuu-san! He tried to kill my sister, but I knew that she would never hurt anyone, so we uhh, kind of fought? "
The boy scratched head while chuckling "He knocked me out. But when I woke up Nezuko wasn't dead so I suppose she somehow convinced him that she isn't dangerous. Giyuu-san told me to go to find his mentor, and when I found him, I trained under him to become a Demon Slayer!!"
This was harder to explain than he expected, but oh well. The detective's eyes widened. His pen froze halfway across the page when the boy finished. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Eghm" the detective cleared his throat. "Okay, thank you for answering. How did you know your sister became a demon?" asked the guy.
Tanjiro thought about the question. He remembered the saliva dripping out her mouth, her fangs, her cat - like pupils and her widened body frame when she attacked him. The boy swallowed before answering. "Well her pupils were thin, she had fangs, and when she attacked me, she could change her size. But I didn't get hurt, she isn't dangerous. I swear that Nezuko is a good demon! She has and never will hurt humans, she is the reason I am a demon slayer, I want to find a cure for her. "
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The detective sighed. This is a mess, but he has to continue. He will cut the questions short, it is getting late, and he could feel a headache kicking in.
"Hm.. " he hums after he finished writing something on his paper. The kid hasn't lied once during this interrogation, and he didn't seem like he was manipulated into thinking that demons exist. Actually, he looked dead serious. Now that he is thinking about it, demons sound awfully similar to Nomus. Regeneration, superhuman strength and speed and inhuman appearance?
Maybe demons are another creation of All For One? That makes things a hundred times harder, because what he told them sounded like it could spread amongst humans. That could cause serious problems in the future. He'd have to keep the possibility in his mind.
Okay, that is another problem for tomorrow, now he needs to finish his questioning. "Okay, we are finished with those kinds of questions, now I am gonna ask you some basic ones. What is your quirk, and could you explain it?"
The kid seemed puzzled by the question. He rose one of his eyebrows up just like they do in movies before saying "Err, well I have a really hard forehead and I have really good smell!!"
The detective sighed as he pinched his nose bridge, a slip of annoyance and tiredness could be heard in his voice. "Now is not the time to make jokes lad, I will ask again, what is your quirk?"
"I-I am sorry sir, but what do you mean by quirk? Maybe you are thinking of a different kind of quirk than I am, could you explain it to me please?" he answered, his shoulders slumping as he finished speaking.
Naomasa's eyes widened. Does the kid really not know what quirks are? "Do you know what a quirk is?"
"Uhm, no? I am sorry should I?" said the boy in hurried voice.
According to his quirk, the boy was not trying to deceive him, he genuinely didn't know what a quirk was. How does he not know what a quirk is? "Maybe he grew up somewhere where a quirk has a different title." was the conclusion detective hoped for.
"It's an unique superhuman ability, approximately 80% of the population has one. Do you have one?" Naomasa explained.
Tanjiro raised his eyebrows at his answer. "Um, I don't think I have one. I've never heard about this 'quirk' before."
"Hmm, interesting.." murmured Naomasa. He will leave this on tommorow too, get this kid to a quirk specialist to see if he does have one. He has never heard of a person who didn't know anything about quirks, so this might be amusing to see how he will react when he sees one.
But why doesn't he know about quirks? Even in the areas where usually quirkless people live, the people have awareness that quirks exist. But the kid doesn't even have a clue what that might be. No way that he hasn't met a person with a quirk untill now, so why?
Does the group have something with it? Did they isolate him from people with powers on purpose, or is it just coincidental that he just doesn't know anything about them?
No. It is very unlikely that he hasn't met one just by 'coincidence', they or someone else must have something to do with this.
Naomasa took a deep breath.
He is definitely sure that Tanjiro isn't a murderer, Tanjiro certainly knows the difference between a human and whatever he has been slaying, and it couldn't be a person with a mutant quirk, because it's too coincidental for all of them to be cannibals.
Then again, what are demons?
"Okay, I forgot to ask, what is your date of birth?" Finally the last question.
"I was born on the 14th July 1900!" exclaimed Tanjiro proudly.
Naomasa didn't sense any type of lie. What. The. Fuck. "Could you repeat the date again please?" hurried the detective.
"Uhm sure! I was born on 14th of July 1900!"
Again, not a single lie said. Was the kid really born over 200 years ago? Wait, no. He said he was 15, so that wouldn't make sense.
"Tanjiro, can you tell me what year it is?
"Err, It's the year 1915, may I ask why?"
Naomasa, unexpectedly, believes the boy.
Tanjiro has this accent to his voice, accent that is in movies from his time. Even his clothes have this outdated look.
But how did he end up 200 years in the furture?
When he fell trough the fog, he must have accidentally time traveled ; would be a conspiracy that could make sense. But what kind of powerful power allows you to travel 200 years to the furture? This is completely unheard of.
Was the person that teleported him here from his timeline, or ours? It's true that quirks started to appear roughly 200 years ago, but only a very small fraction of people had powers and the powers were weaker then they are now, so it couldn't be anyone from his time.
Hm...
The detective really doesn't want to jump to conclusions, this is something way above his pay grade, something the higher ups need to discuss.
Naomasa can't help but wonder: who the hell teleported him here?
It couldn't be a 'demon', since Tanjiro told them that he didn't feel a demon presence anywhere when he was getting transported, and It is a very slim chance that it's someome from his timeline ; since quirks have yet to appear. So that leaves him with one possible answer ; that it's someone from this timeline.
But no normal human has a powerful quirk like that. A time machine is already an impressive quirk on it's own, but time travel that goes beyond centuries is abnormal.
This was another topic for tommorow that needs to be left to higher ups.
"Okay Tanjiro. This might be shocking to hear, but It's the year 2170. I think you might have timetraveld." The detective confessed.
"Right now I don't have any idea what is the purpose of you being sent here" Naomasa intertwined his hands "so I will send this to the people above so we can solve this as soon as possible."
Tanjiros jaw fell to the floor. The detective couldn't blame him. Anyone's mind would be racing
Tanjiro after a minute of silence came back to his senses. "Sir! Please I need to come back!" he said hurriedly "We might not get the chance to kill Muzan for another hundreds of years if we don't defeat him now, so all help is needed! Is there any other way? Please I beg you!"
Tanjiro stood up and bowed deeply. The detectives eyes widened. "Whoah kid, sit down, no need to do that." he waved " I am deeply sorry, but there is nothing I can do at the moment except giving you a temporary place to rest."
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This is the worst, he doesn't want to be here. He got his Katana back, but he is prohibited to use it because he doesn't have a permit for it; why do people in the furture have so many rules?.
He was put into Shouta - sans custody, since there was no other foster family free, and Aizawa - san was against the idea of sending him to an orphanage - which Tanjiro doesn't really understand, but is grateful to him nonetheless.
Aizawa reminds Tanjiro of Giyuu -san, they have the same cold aura around them, but you can see that they are a good person under the layer of coldness. So he definitely knows he will be in good hands.
After Shota came back from signing some papers, he and Aizawa went to a hospital. The hospital was so shiny and bright! But nothing could've prepared him for the doctor that came to heal him.
When the doctor first stepped into the hospital room Tanjiro and Shota -san were in, he was shaken. He looked like a demon. Tanjiro tried to reach for his katana, but then he remembered. He isn't at home.
The doctor probably could see his discraughtment, because he after a short while explained he was a.. dinosaur? Tanjiro doesn't know what that is, so he asked.
The other two men just looked at eachother before Aizawa - san answered that he would explain everything later.
Tanjiro was honestly let down by the answer, but he doesn't make a fuss about it.
After the doctor was finished with re-bandaging his head, he was told that he needed to go for a proper health check up later, since it's too late for one right now.
But what is he supposed go do now? He is here, with no way back , while others are fighting the hardest battles of their lives. He feels so useless now, but how can he not? He promised himself and his sister that he would defeat Muzan, and the moment he gets the chance, he loses it.
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It's late and Aizawa was drained.
This whole night shift was shock after shock. First shock was finding a kid with a sword on a rooftop of a building, then the second shock was discovering that the kid fights demons, and the third shock was that the kid is from the past?
What are the chances of that ever happening? Apparently not zero since everything happened right in front of his own eyes.
There is something different about Tanjiro. Aizawa can feel it. Tanjiro has the eyes of a person who has seen everything, a person who appreciates everything they get no matter if they like it or not.
That's a part of the reason why he volunteered to take care of him. The other reasons were mostly instincts, he had this parental feeling over this kid, and Aizawa is aware that this sounds like he is a distressed mother hen, but that is how he feels.
And foremost he really didn't want to leave this kid in an orphanage. Aizawa is aware that in orphanages not all kids get treated with kindness, and he does wish that it would change, but that's beyond his power to do so.
Right now they are driving to Aizawas apartment and Tanjiros face is literally stuck to the car window. His eyes are sparkling with interest as he is looking around the city, scanning over everything he sees. Every minute or so he points his index finger on something, and asks what it is.
Aizawa guesses that this must seem magical to Tanjiro, being in the future and all. But he can't blame him, he would've acted the same if he was in the same situation.
The car comes to a stop when they arrive to Aizawas apartment. Shota steps out of the car and closes the door, when suddenly, he hears knocking on the car window.
"Ummm, Aizawa-san?" tanjiro shouts "how do I come out?"
The hero sighs as he walks up to the passenger side door and opens it for the boy.
"Wow, thank you sir!" exclaims the boy cheerfully. "Whatever, let's go."
The pair start walking to the door when Aizawa stops. "Hey kid, I will give you a disclaimer that my husband can be quite loud, so don't be too surprised when you might hear him shout once in a while"
Tanjiros brows raise. He seemed to be in shock for a second. Aizawa then remembers, homosexuality in his time is probably frowned upon. Even though it is legal, even in his time, LGBTQ+ community still got discriminated heavily.
Tanjiro doesn't seem like the type of guy to be hateful to others, but looks can be deceiving - so Aizawa just hopes that the other won't have any problem with his husband, or otherwise he will have to give him a proper conversation.
After the short silence the boy spoke up.
"O-oh okay sir!! I have loud friends of my own so I am used to it by now, but thank you for telling me!"
"Hm, good." says Aizawa as he puts the key in the lock. He is really glad that there isn't any problem regarding this topic.
The moment he turns the key, the door swung wide open.
"HEY LITTLE LISTENER!!" shouts Hizashi with his iconic podcast voice. Aizawa shot his husband a look, it's evening for gods sake! His husband just smiled even more as he lowered his tone. "Welcome to our household! Come in!" Tanjiro opened his mouth in awe.
"Nice to meet you! Thank you for your hospitality" the boy bowed deeply before stepped over the threshold of the house.
"Ah It's fineee" Hizashi waved his hand "It's our pleasure! Now let's go get to your room!" He grabbed Tanjiros hand, and dragged him to his room.
Aizawa sighed, what has he gotten himself into?
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Tanjiro is lying in his room, looking at the ceiling and thinking. Aizawa - san and his husband who later introduced himself as Prii - senttt - miko or Hizashi Yamada were so nice to him!
Aizawa gave him some weirdly - shaped clothes that didn't fit him, they were oddly comfortable and breathable unlike his old worn out yukata he wore back at home. He was told that they were a normal black T - shirt and pyjama pants, he is incredibly grateful for them.
His room is very cool too! There is a desk with some type of western chair sitting beside it, bookshelf with all sorts of books and a comfortable futon - maybe the softest futon he has ever felt. Tanjiro has never had a room only for himself, the rooms at home were always shared between the family, and he didn't mind it - actually he prefers it, he always feels more secure that way.
He had a tasty dinner - chicken breast with potatoes, but it was nothing like he has ever had before! The potatoes were so soft and the chicken was so juicy! And the seasonings!
This might be one of the best foods he has had in the past two years.
He is super grateful to the couple, but he can't help feeling sad. Everyone at home is still fighting while he is sleeping here peacefully. He really despises this. When he wakes up from his sleep, the battle is already gonna be over, and he won't be there.
A tear slides down Tanjiros face as he turns to lay on his side. His vision slowly starts to blur as he slowly falls into peaceful slumber.