Chapter Text
--One year ago--
“As of yesterday, Fire Pillar Kamado Tanjirou has been declared missing in action.” Ubuyashiki proclaims, “It was reported that he was hunted down by Muzan Kibutsuji, who also claimed the lives of his mother and siblings. The only one who survived was a younger sister named Nezuko.”
“It’s unthinkable,” Himejima says, “that such a soul was taken so early.”
“So, he’s coming after the Pillars now?” Iguro mumbles.
“I won’t accept it! He’s missing right? So, he’s not for sure dead!” kanroji cries.
“Tomioka-san,” Kocho turns towards the silent Water Pillar, “are you…are you okay?” Tomioka didn’t acknowledge the question, choosing instead to stare forward in complete silence.
“Tomioka Giyuu was the one who discovered the aftermath.” Ubuyashiki adds when Tomioka remained unresponsive, “And as you all know, Kamado-san has not had time to find a successor for the Fire Pillar position. Unfortunately, until someone of similar caliber appears, the Fire Pillar position will be suspended.”
“Suspended!” Shinazugawa shouts, “Then we’re down a Pillar!”
“The Fire Pillar position has always been flexible in history. We’ve gone long stretches without a holder; it’s not unheard of.” Ubuyashiki responds, “Either way, please be cautious, it’s likely that Muzan will be targeting another Pillar soon.”
The room turned somber. The Pillars avoided each other’s eyes, choosing instead to either look at the ground or at Ubuyashiki. Tanjirou was an inseparable part of the group, always chirpy and energetic. Without him, the lightheartedness has been smothered with a blanket of mourning and seriousness.
Muzan, in fact, did not come after another Pillar, in the coming months. Thus, it was even harder to accept that the attack of Kamado Tanjirou had been a freak incident, an event that seemed highly bizarre and unusual. Perhaps, the family was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps Muzan had simply chanced upon the mountain in passing travel and the Kamado family were the unlucky victims. Either way, the name “Kamado Tanjirou” became taboo between the Pillars.
Still the lower ranks couldn’t help but speculate on the topic of Kamado Tanjirou:
“Kamado-san was closest to Tomioka-san and Rengoku-san and they definitely took it the hardest.”
“And Shinazugawa-san, they seemed to hate each other; always bickering and fighting. But after Kamado-san left, Shinazugawa has been more irritable. I heard they were actually good teammates when they were grouped together for missions.”
“I heard that Tomioka-san and Kamado-san mentored Tokito-san together.” Another whispered, “but I haven’t seen Tokito-san and Tomioka-san interact in ages!”
“Do you think he’s actually dead?” Someone mumbled, “Kamado-san, I mean. They never did find a body.”
“It’s been months! If he hasn’t popped up by now, the chances are way too slim otherwise!”
*sigh* “I guess you’re right.”
--Present—
“I’m thinking of starting Nezuko-chan on the boulder training soon.” Urokodaki says after taking a sip of his tea. Nezuko had passed out from the physical exhaustion, leaving Urokodaki and Tomioka to sit quietly at the table. “I think she’s almost ready.”
“Already?”
“She’s not as frail as she looks.” Urokodaki responds, “She’s a fast learner, like Tanjirou. Determined too.”
“Seeing her reminds me of when Tanjirou and I trained under you all those years ago.”
Urokodaki chuckles: “you two really didn’t get along at first.”
“… he’s hard to get used to. Very annoying.”
They settle into a comfortable silence after that, sipping on tea. Then Tomioka stands up, and bows.
“I must be going.” He says, “it’s already very dark outside.”
“Of course,” Urokodaki says, “I hope that you will be back for Nezuko-chan’s final selection. It would be good for you to send her off.”
“…I’ll see if I can take a little time off.”
****
Nezuko woke up at the stroke of dawn the next morning. Brushing her hands through her hair, she sat up and looked lazily around the room. Tomioka must be long gone by now! Why did I have to pass out asleep?? Nezuko wonders. She sits up and pushes back the sheet that Urokodaki must’ve placed on her last night. Her morning routine starts with cleaning herself up before going to check up on her brother. Tanjirou remains the same as the day before: eyes closed with the bamboo piece clenched tightly between his teeth.
“Brother, brother. Did you see Giyuu-san yesterday? He came by to say hello.” She says as she brushes a piece of hair back from Tanjirou’s face, “hurry up and wake up soon. We’re all waiting for you.”
She pushes up from her crouched position and puts up her hair, getting ready to move out for another day of training.
-
“I have nothing left to teach you.”
-
“This is the final training: you must split this boulder.”
-
*SMACK* Nezuko falls backwards onto a tree after being hit by yet another swing from the pink-haired boy. He had appeared out of nowhere just to criticize her fighting style and resolve.
“Too slow, too weak!” He shouts as he swings the blade again, “you can’t hope to beat demons if you can’t even beat me!
I’ll make sure you never forget the secret techniques Urokodaki has taught you!” He charges forward again and strikes; Nezuko just barely blocks the two hits beside her neck.
“I’m learning! Everyday, I’m doing my best to learn!”
“You have to move forward! You don’t have any other choice!” BAM, the last strike forces Nezuko onto the ground. “Let me witness your power!”
As nezuko lied on the ground, the pink haired boy walked away and vanished into the air. The mist thickens more and Nezuko feels chills as another presence leaned over her. However, Nezuko’s more interested in trying to remember exactly how she was struck down.
“Are you alright?”
“That strike was amazing!” Nezuko exclaims i, “So clean! No hesitation at all! He must be on the same level as brother! Or Giyuu-san! I wonder if I could also do that one day… Can I?”
“Of course,” A young girl responds. She has a similar fox mask strapped to the side of her head, “I’ll witness it.”
“Oh dear! I’m so sorry, I didn’t even ask for your name. I’m Kamado Nezuko, and you?” Nezuko asks, she scans the girl before her. Dark hair with a pretty flower kimono. She’s so cute!
“I’m Makomo,” She responds lightly, “the one you just fought, that was Sabito. We once trained together with Tanjirou.”
“You know brother?”
She nods, “He’s gotten himself into quite the predicament, hasn’t he?” She looks over at Nezuko and smiles, “We’re going to help you and make sure that you’re ready for the Final Selection, because we all love Urokodaki-sensei.”
Makomo pauses, a sad look appeared on her face. “The other children too, they’ve been watching you. You’re our hope!”
Nezuko decides that they’re weird, both the weird-hair boy and the soft-spoken girl. As she trained more with them, she discovered that they happened to know everything about her. They knew exactly where she was lacking and gave tips on how to improve. Yet, she never learned anything about them. And even after fighting every day, she still wasn’t able to defeat Sabito. And so, they trained, Makomo to point out all her mistakes and Sabito to physically beat the lessons into her. It wasn’t until a half a year later when Nezuko first witnessed Sabito with a real blade.
“You’re finally starting to look like a woman.” He says.
“Am I supposed to be flattered by that?”
Sabito responded with a dry chuckle.
That day was the first time that Nezuko’s sword struck Sabito before he struck her. The sword cracks open his mask and she’s met with the sad smile of a young, scarred boy. I won! And immediately, she’s overcome with happiness and fatigue.
“Sabito-san! I—”
“You must win, Nezuko-chan.” He responds before she even finishes talking.
“Against that person as well,” Makomo adds, “and help Tanjirou.”
Then they’re gone, vanished with the mist. In their place was the large boulder, split down the middle. Nezuko decides to find them again after the Final Selection. To thank them for all their help, she thinks.
Tomioka appears the next day, stoic as always. He visits Tanjirou first, whispers words to him as he always did whenever he visits. Then he turns and walks over to Nezuko, offering her a little good luck charm. She’s not sure how he happened to know that she was going for her Final Selection and when she asked, Tomioka just gave her a hug and tapped the fox mask tied on her head.
“We’ll be waiting for you here,” He whispers, “Tanjirou too. Return for him.”
“You must come back alive from the Final Selection.” Urokodaki says as Nezuko is drawn into a second hug, “You are an impressive child, remember that, Nezuko-chan. We’ll be waiting here.” He steps back and let’s Nezuko adjust the water patterned haori around her Frame. Then she bows.
“I’ll be off!” She says before she turns and runs down the path, “Please take care of Makomo-san and Sabito-san! Urokodaki-san, Giyuu-san!”
“How did…” Tomioka turns sharply to Urokodaki, “Those names--?!”
“Perhaps we really did underestimate her.” The older man sighs, “the Kamado family never fails to amaze me time and time again.” He pats Tomioka back, “Let’s go inside now, the rest is up to Nezuko-chan.”
--
Four days after Nezuko leaves for her Final Selection, Tanjirou wakes up for the first time in two years. It was a sudden occurrence around noon, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. He didn’t stir in his sleep and groggily blink open his eyes (like Tomioka remembered), but instead, shoots up from his makeshift futon, eyes wide with worry. Tomioka is frozen with shock at the doorway; he curses the fact that today of all days was when Urokodaki chose to venture to the nearby village market for groceries.
“Tanjirou?”
The sound of his name draws Tanjirou’s eyes towards the older male. They stare for a bit before the demon leaps up and charges at him, hands drawn to show off his razor-sharp nails. Tomioka has his sword drawn in an instant, reflecting Tanjirou’s hands with a loud *CLANK*. They stumble for a bit and Tanjirou himself must not be used to his new strength because Tomioka quickly restrains him, binding his arms with a rope that he swipes from the nearby floor. He sits there for a bit, heavily breathing as he watches Tanjirou struggle violently against the binds. The piece of bamboo had fallen from his mouth in the fight.
“Gi---” Tanjirou is snarling, screaming. He kicks at the other male, then lands onto his face when he realizes that he has no hands to break his fall. “GAAAAHhhHHHH”
By the time Urokodaki returns, Tanjirou had calmed down, settling for silently glaring at Tomioka from his position on the floor. Sometime in the wait, Tomioka had returned the bamboo to the (unwilling) Tanjirou’s mouth. Then he bound his legs, after being rudely kicked in the shin. Urokodaki blinks his surprise for a few seconds before dropping his basket of vegetables onto the table, unloading the plants as if this sight was the most normal thing in the world.
“Just what happened while I was away?” He finally asks when the other two didn’t offer an explanation. “When did Tanjirou wake up?”
“A couple of hours ago.” Tomioka says a minute later. “He charged at me, so I restrained him.”
“Hm… I was hoping the hypnosis I was using on him while he was asleep had worked. Maybe not.”
They hear grumbling from the demon next to them and find Tanjirou staring with pleading eyes. He glances down intermittently at the bamboo in his mouth and mumbles against the restraint. Outside, the sun was beginning to set. Deciding that there wasn’t anything he could do about the situation, Urokodaki hums for a bit before settling to cook dinner, leaving Tomioka with a “Don’t you two destroy any of my furniture while I make food!” Tomioka sighs before sitting down near Tanjirou once again. He reaches out for the muzzle, then pulls his hand back. The demon was restrained, what was the worst thing he could do without something in his mouth? Scream? Bite him? There’s no way he could even reach that far with just his head alone.
But then again, Tomioka has faced enough upper-level demons to know what nothing was impossible when you were no longer human. Distorting their body and stretching limbs? That was child’s play to them. But he reaches over and grasps the piece of bamboo anyways. Tanjirou shuffles closer as Tomioka tightens his hold on the bamboo.
“No biting.” He warns, “no screaming either.” Tanjirou nods quickly. Does he actually understand what I’m saying?? He pulls the bamboo down and watch as Tanjirou’s eyes well with tears.
“Gi—yuu—” He manages out, “Gi—”
And soon he’s full-on crying, sobbing into Tomioka’s lap where his head had fallen. Tomioka stares with widened eyes at the scene before him. He’s not quite sure what to do with a crying man, let alone a crying Tanjirou. Or demon? Is this actually Tanjirou with me?
“Giyuu,” Tanjirou (?) sniffs, “Untie me.”
“No.”
“It hurts! It really, really hurts! You suck at tying knots… it’s digging into my wrist.”
Tomioka glances at the rope marks on the other’s arm. “A demon can heal itself no problem.”
“IT STILL HURTS, you asshole!”
Tomioka makes no move to loosen the binds at his wrist, instead choosing to scan his eyes across Tanjirou’s features. There hasn’t been much physical changes: his eyes are more glazed and his teeth seem much sharper than before. But other than that, this was basically the same man he had more or less grown up with.
“And what about you? Are you finally cognizant?” he asks.
“Yes? I want to scratch your face out a little bit less now, so yes?”
Tomioka feels a vein pop and his brows furrow: “Do you even realize what happened?”
“…” Tanjirou averts his eyes, “Muzan killed my family. And then he… something to me… I can’t remember what he did to me…”
“I have a pretty good guess--”
“Why didn’t you kill me.” Tanjirou cuts in sharply, “When I was attacking Nezuko and you… I even attacked you! You’re supposed to KILL demons, demon hunter.”
“How much do you remember?”
“And where is Nezuko!? Nezuko!!!” He calls out, “What did you do with my little sister?”
“She’s at the Final Selection.”
“Final…” Tanjirou stops. He’s so still that Tomioka has to check to make sure that he was still conscious. Then, as if he finally seems to understand the words that he had just heard, Tanjirou lurches up, headbutting the man in the best way that a completely restrained person could. He screams: “YOU SENT MY SISTER TO THE FINAL SELECTION?! UNTIE ME! UNTIE ME YOU FOOL!!! I’LL KILL YOU, I’LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS, YOU --- THAT’S MY BABY SISTER---!!!!”
When Tanjirou finally manages to calm down (which was mostly due to the appearance of Urokodaki), Tomioka unties the ropes on his wrists and legs. Tomioka then stands and moves to sit, curling into a ball, as far away from Tanjirou as possible. Tanjirou watches with a sad gaze as he realizes the implication, Giyuu’s doing the thing where he draws into himself again. And perhaps it’s not completely Giyuu’s fault (he knows deep down that it isn’t), but he can’t help but worry that his last remaining family could be facing her death at this very moment.
“I’m going to go get her.” He finally declares.
“You will not.” Urokodaki responds sternly, “That mountain is full of wisteria. But even beyond that… You’re supposed to be dead. What are people going to think if a suddenly revived Kamado Tanjirou appears, huh?”
“Then you go get her!” Tanjirou points at Tomioka.
“Tanjirou, you must accept the fact that Nezuko chose this on her own. She’s a lot stronger than you think. Maybe even stronger than you. She’s determined to turn you back into a human, you know.”
“…”
“Giyuu,” Tanjirou addresses, “Urokodaki-sensei, if I ever do anything… wrong. Will you” He pauses and glances at his hands, at his nails, “Kill me? I don’t know what I would do if I were to harm Nezuko...”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Urokodaki replies quietly after a while, “it won’t ever come to that, I promise you.”
---
“Here comes another cute little fox~!”
A mutant! A horrible, disgusting mutant demon! Nezuko holds out her sword in front of her, backing up slowly into the other demon hunter candidate. She had some ideas about what kind of demons she was going to face on this mountain, but this wasn’t anything like she imagined.
“Hey little fox. What year of the Meiji era is it?”
“Taisho.” Nezuko mumbles, “It’s the Taisho era now.”
The demon stares at her, slowly processing her words. Then he lurches back and screams, “THE ERA NAME! EVEN THE ERA NAME HAS CHANGED!!! HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN LOCKED UP IN THIS PLACE?!!? I’LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM! NEVER! THAT DAMN UROKODAKI! THAT DAMN UROKODAKI!!!”
“You know sensei! Why do you hate him so much…?” Nezuko says.
“WHY??? HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THAT! I WAS CAPTURED BY THAT MAN! I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT MOMENT 47 YEARS AGO WHEN HE STOLE MY FREEDOM. IN THE EDO PERIOD, DURING THE KEIO ERA!”
The other candidate screams, “NO WAY! THERE AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE DEMONS HERE THAT’D LIVED THAT LONG! THERE’S ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE DEMONS THAT HAVE EATEN TWO OR THREE PEOPLE…. NO WAY! NO WAY!!!”
“And yet, here I am!” The demon laughs, “I’ve eaten a total of fifty little kids. But you…. You’d be the fourteenth! The FOURTEENTH APPRENTICE OF UROKODAKI THAT I’LL HAVE EATEN! HE HE HE HE HE HE! I’ll kill them all! Every last kid he sends to this mountain!” He pauses, “speaking of which… there were a pair of kids that was most memorable. The kid with the pink hair and scar on the corner of his mouth; he was the strongest! And a little girl with flower patterned clothing. Very quick, she was small but as fast as lightning.”
A boy with pink hair… a scar… and a girl in a flower kimono. That couldn’t be... Sabito and Makomo? But they trained with her! She felt the sword strikes, the breathing exercises, being beaten by Sabito. More specifically, Nezuko remembers their words, Sabito’s smile, and Makomo’s every pointer. They were with her! They taught her! And they were...
“Eaten! Every single person who’s walked in here with that mask, I’ve devoured them all!” The demon chuckles, “ ‘Mask of Disaster Prevention’, was it? They were eaten because they wore the mask! In my belly, as if Urokodaki had killed them with his own hands. HAHAHAHAHAHAA And that little girl! Her eyes glistened with tears when I told her what happened to the other children; she was so angry!
And then she FROZE! HOW Stupid! So, I plucked off her little arms and legs!”
Nezuko swings, leaping forward and slicing through the arms that charged at her. She thought about Sabito, about his taunts and how this isn’t fair! She breathes rapidly, huffing as she ran to the side to avoid another arm.
“Calm down, Nezuko. Your breathing is all over the place. Stop thinking about us, you need to focus!” She hears in her head, Sabito’s voice.
Nezuko jumps back, no matter how much she sliced at the arms, they just grew back at the same pace, at this rate, she was going to lose by exhaustion before anything else. The arms stopped grabbing at her and she has a single second before she suddenly feels it: a sizzling heating emitting from beneath her feet, under the earth. Below me?!? She jumps, just as fingers erupted from the dirt to grab at her. She evades, and using the arm below her as a stepping-block, she bounces off the demon, flipping in midair, before shooting forward with her sword behind her.
She feels it before she sees it: a spot near the junction between the demon’s chin and neck that seemed to radiate with an abnormal heat. There’s not much time for her to speculate her next moves so she swings and drops the sword directly at that warm spot: “FIRST STYLE! WATER SURFACE SLICE!!!”
The demon crumbles.
Sabito, Makomo, and the other children who were also killed…
I won. You guys can rest now.
Nezuko lets out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Urg. And I didn’t get to ask him about Brother.”
---
Days later, Nezuko passes the Final Selection, along with Agatsuma Zenitsu, Shinazugawa Genya, and Tsuyuri Kanao. She’s barely standing when she wanders back to Urokodaki’s little cottage, limping against a large stick she had picked up on the mountain. Everything was heavy (and it hurts!) as she fought her fatigue to walk back to the house.
*BANG*
The door flies from the house. Dumbfounded, Nezuko leans against her stick as she watches Tanjirou step out from the doorway.
“Brother!” She screams, dropped down to her knees, “You’re awake! You’re… Brother!!!”
Tanjirou runs over, faster than she remembered, and wraps his arms around her. He leans in and tightens his hold around her neck. As if all the exhaustion had washed from her body, Nezuko reaches up and grabs hold of her brother’s jacket.
“I… I THOUGHT YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO WAKE UP!” She cries into his shoulder, “YOU JUST SLEPT AND SLEPT AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE ME TOO!! BROTHER!!”
Then she feels larger hands wrap around them both. Urokodaki looms over them, grasping at their clothes.
“You’re back. You’re safe.”
Tomioka stands to the side, watching with quiet acknowledgment. Tanjirou shifts, wordlessly reach out and grabbing ahold and tugging at Tomioka’s uniform. He pulls the older man in, and wraps an arm around him as well.
They stayed like that until Urokodaki pushes up from the younger hunters, talking about how his old back can’t handle crouching for such a long time. They talk about the Final Selection, about the demons that she killed. (She’s careful to break the news of the demon that killed the fox children—and watches as Urokodaki lets out a heavy sigh.) Before Urokodaki retired into the house, they decide together to bring some flowers for the lost children tomorrow. Then, Nezuko turns her attention to Tanjirou; his eyes were unfocused and blank and he hasn’t spoken a single word since she saw him (granted there was a piece of bamboo in his mouth). She must’ve been staring for a while because she barely registers Tomioka guiding them both back into the house.
“He’s been in and out of consciousness even when he’s awake,” Tomioka explains, “It seems that he’s reverted back to a child-like state to preserve energy, like right now. When he first woke up, he was normal for a bit. I don’t know what triggers it, but he hasn’t been ‘awake’ since that one time.”
“I found it strange, most of the demons I met seemed to possess distinct personalities but bother seems so empty...” Nezuko added, “I thought it was just because he just turned into a demon.”
“He’s been able to survive without any human flesh. No blood or meat or anything.” Tomioka says, grabbing Tanjirou’s hand and pulling him through the door. Tanjirou follows, seemingly smiling with his eyes at Tomioka, “Urokodaki-san and I think that there’s something abnormal about how he is adapting to the demon blood. He’s accidentally been in the sun a couple of times without harm too. I’ve never seen anything like it. ”
“Isn’t that good?”
“Maybe.” Tomioka says, “but either way, We’ll have to observe some more before we can say anything conclusive. That’s why Tanjirou will be going with you.”
“What?” Nezuko looks up in surprise, “on my missions? But Brother’s always worked with you!”
“No matter what, Tanjirou is Pillar-level. There’s no one better to travel with you and protect you.” Tomioka says, “He wants to go with you too, see?” He lets go of Tanjirou’s hand, who walks over and smiles at Nezuko.
“Okay.”
“Don’t worry,” Tomioka says, “You’ll figure it out, Nezuko.”