Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

❖━━☽【1x1】Cruelty

Anime Episode [1x1] & Manga Chapter [1].

❖━━☽【20091 words】

Giyuu had been under the impression that he was dreaming— but apparently not. None of this gigantic, rather Western-looking mansion with furnished marble surfaces, none of it is a lucid dream. It's all real. Somehow.

Is this a Blood Demon Art?

Probably not... he can't feel any signs of a demon...

Kochou Shinobu sips on something— is that tea, okay fair enough, if someone is daring enough to drink tea they've found in a suspicious place, it would be their local poisons expert— sitting upon the kitchen island on a chair that's much too tall for her to practically get on or off. Why are all the chairs so tall? He supposes it might make sense— the floors are white stone rather than wood or tatami, so it would be cold to sit upon it.

"Are you done gawking, perhaps?" Shinobu asks, her voice suave and— annoyed, perhaps? It's a rare hint of an emotion aside from her usual cheerful mystique.

Giyuu feels rather affronted.

"I do not gawk."

Shinobu sips on her tea. "Yes you do."

"I do not."

"Oh my! Tomioka-san, you don't know that you gawk! I'm so sorry, I wasn't aware that no one had ever told you before," she lilts into that tone again. The tone that always makes fun of him without making fun of him but it's definitely making fun of him (but either way Giyuu gets too confused to even be offended,) "it makes you look so much like a country bumpkin. I had thought you were aware and were doing it regardless... I suppose you are just a country bumpkin then... I am so sorry."

"I do not gawk," Giyuu insists, already exhausted from this encounter.

Where even am I? He wants to ask. Shinobu doesn't seem as baffled and out of place as he feels, but it's her, so one can never quite be sure.

"Unfortunately, we've found no exits thus far," Shinobu finally reports the important information, because of course she has all the time in the world. "You're free to try kicking the walls and screaming, but Shinazugawa-san already did the honours."

Giyuu hinges onto the 'we' and the 'Shinazugawa is here?' both at once and promptly forgets how to articulate any manner of sentences at all.

He settles on a very eloquent, "what?"

"He tired himself out and found a bed so he went to sleep. Apparently he's been all-nighters recently and he was very irritable today. Don't go near him, I hope for a little longer of peace and quiet."

"What," Giyuu repeats.

He's not going to understand this situation anytime soon, is he?

By the time the next person shows up— Uzui, who is very vocally confused and has tried to destroy ten walls and three opaque windows thus far to no success— Giyuu has taken a shower and found himself some fresh salmon daikon and rice.

Muichirou, who showed up somewhere in between only to ask absolutely no questions before inviting himself to the table, doesn't even look up to acknowledge Uzui's entrance. Shinobu is also helping herself to a meal, and Sanemi is angrily trying to have Muichirou eat more than tea with his damn rice.

Uzui barges into the kitchen to witness this weird family dinner and he's left utterly speechless.

Iguro and Muichirou are sleeping sprawled across the bean bags with Kaburamaru looped across their arms and about seven crows between them, Mitsuri is eating her thirtieth bowl of rice while Uzui marvels at her healthy appetite. Shinobu has run off to explore the space— apparently there are individual bedrooms (Sanemi has claimed one), several training rooms (one of which Giyuu is inside meditating) and somehow they're all making themselves well and comfortable at home.

Rengoku stares at everything, shrugs off his rather muddy cape, and marches into the kitchen.

"What is that, Kanroji? That looks delicious!"

Rengoku goes with the flow. Because of course he does.

Embarrassingly enough, they only snap out of their little vacation mood when someone shows up grievously injured and clearly having just been thrown out of a battle that they should have died in.

It's not Himejima.

But Uzui knows who that is.

Kaigaku snarls at them when Mitsuri approaches to help— only to get immediately subdued by an irritable Iguro not in the mood to pamper hurt children today— and then Shinobu gets started with the treatment.

It's quick.

But his injuries are severe.

"He's a Kinoto. The demon he fought must have been strong, then," Shinobu reports, after checking. "I hope we don't get more injured people coming by, wherever this is. I don't quite have the supplies of the Butterfly Mansion to spare."

"Was the demon strong, or is this brat just weak?" Iguro murmurs. "Either way, with his arm split down like that, I doubt he'll be able to hold his sword properly again."

Unnervingly, Kaigaku's injury— the one cut through his arm, all the way through the bone and severing vital nerves required by a slayer— didn't seem like the result of claws or teeth. It looked like a sword wound.

The implications are not good. But it felt undeniably demonic. So why?

"I wouldn't call him weak," Uzui says, "this guy is old Jigoro's apprentice, so that has to be worth something..."

"Old Jigoro?" Muichirou asks. "Is that name supposed to mean something? Not that I'd remember..."

"Kuwajima Jigoro," Giyuu offers, and the look Muichirou gives him indicates that he is doing the exact opposite of being helpful.

"It's the former Rumble Hashira," Rengoku informs, happily. "I haven't seen him since the last time he visited my father! Is he doing well?"

"I wouldn't know," Uzui says. "I haven't seen that man since I found my Breathing Style. But I heard from Oyakata-sama that this kid had potential to rise up to Hashira soon, he just had to defeat a Demon Moon on his own."

Now, he receives skeptic looks.

And Uzui is honestly on their side.

"Hey now!" he barks at Kaigaku. "Lightning breath users are supposed to make flamboyant entrances! What a miserable introduction this is!"

Kaigaku growls at him wordlessly, heaving through the clear agony that must be rippling through his entire body. If not from the deep wounds, then, from whatever poison or demon art he must still be under the effects of.

"Stop growling. What are you, a demon?" Iguro huffs.

Seriously, how dare a child glare and glower at them as if they're not the literal pillars of the war against demons? Bow down, damn it.

" I—"

Kaigaku's voice is sharp and full of fight, strained by the pain.

And full of regret and anger.

"I... didn't."

Didn't?

"I didn't drink the blood..."

Kaigaku's no good very bad horrible shitty day goes like this: He's sent to an emergency mission in the dead of the night and finds more than thirty slayers already dead on the way, more dying by the second, and a desperate call for the Stone Hashira that's just between the nearest available and too far away to arrive soon enough.

Kaigaku's going to buy time. He's going be one of those bodies building up the numbers so the Hashira can come to defeat the demon, that's the kind of mission this is.

And hell if Kaigaku's going to die helplessly to some Lower Demon scum! He's going to win, he's going to—

—it's Upper Moon One.

(And he's so much of a coward he buckles so quickly but he doesn't want to die doesn't want to die, please I'll do anything I don't want to die—)

The offer of becoming a Demon Moon is right in front of his face. The blood of Kibutsuji Muzan that flows between Upper Moon One's veins.

Why does Upper Moon One wield a Nichirin Blade?

Kaigaku will be a demon that wields a blade, too. If he drinks it.

(He remembers setting fire to a shrine, so a demon wouldn't eat him. He remembers the desperate screams of a blind priest, trying to find his children.)

(He thinks of the magatama beads around his neck and wrists, how he dug them up from the ashes of the building, because he doesn't want anyone to realize there's another child still alive. The child that doomed the others so only he could live.)

If I drink that... what happens to Sensei? What happens to Zenitsu? It'll be Zenitsu that has to cut me down. There's no way that coward can do it. He'll get a Hashira to do it.

(If he drinks this, he shits on every life he's saved. He steps on every life that saved him. He steps on his crimes and builds himself a throne of bodies. All because he's a coward, he doesn't even hesitate to kill helpless children so he can live. He will be forced to be a proud servant of Kibutsuji Muzan, killing more. Has he no pride? Has he no honour?)

(...well, that's nothing new, is it?)

Kaigaku hates Zenitsu for being a coward.

Zenitsu is privileged. Spoiled. Naive. He's never had to consciously, desperately, and sincerely bargain the lives of his very own siblings to a demon because he's too scared to die instead.

(Kaigaku loves to cry about his own miseries.)

(He's such a hypocrite.)

So Kaigaku reaches for the blood. He reaches for the blood, because he's already a horrible, despicable, irredeemable villain. He's going to rot in hell either way.

Might as well make the most of it.

(Right?)

But before he can make the decision to ruin his life, he's here.

Kaigaku expects the blade to his throat.

And honestly, everything hurts so much right now, he wants it to stop so bad— but maybe if they lop his head off right now it won't hurt. Yeah, maybe it won't hurt. Then he'll stop feeling anything. He won't even have to realize his own death.

The adrenaline and panic has dwindled and exhausted him and he can no longer do anything but feel so pathetically sorry for himself.

"Now," Shinobu pulls the blades away from Kaigaku's neck. "Did you not hear the boy? He said he didn't. If he did my medicine would have killed him, and since I do not fancy wasting my supplies in this time of limited available, none of you are going to kill him yet."

"...Yet," Giyuu murmurs under his breath.

"He would betray Oyakata-sama in a heartbeat! I refuse to trust him!" Shinazugawa whirls like a biting beast upon Kaigaku, sword still refusing to be sheathed.

"You don't trust anyone," Uzui says. "I, on the other hand, want to hear about this Upper Moon One. It's stronger than anything we've faced before."

"Let the poor boy rest," Mitsuri says, "I- I mean... look at him! He barely got out of it alive! Let's just be glad he survived."

"But it's really strange how he's here!" Rengoku says. "I mean, we don't know why we're here either, but he's very out of place right now!"

He's the only non-Hashira, after all.

"Maybe we're here to kill him," Muichirou says.

"Maybe I will, whether that's true or not!" Shinazugawa snarls. "Let go of me, Uzui! I am stabbing the demon!"

"I'm not a damn demon you piece of crap!" Kaigaku finally snaps, "I am fucking bleeding to death right now! I wish I were a demon so I could stand up and punch you in the face if that's what you want!"

"Oh so you admit it! DEMON! Fucken' fight me then!"

"Shinazugawa! Bullying a half-dead corps member that still isn't a demon yet is not very flamboyant of you!" Uzui chides.

"Geez, where's HImejima when we need him?" Shinobu sighs.

Kaigaku flinches so viscerally everyone notices.

Whatever their past relations— it didn't matter right now.

"Himejima...-san... was on call to where I was heading," Kaigaku says. "I don't know what's going on or where I am, but he should be out there now, fighting Upper Moon One. If that guy hasn't left the scene yet."

They needed information.

Alas, there's no way to find out anything new. No one's been able to find any form of an exit yet, so even their crows couldn't get their next orders.

(How is the world outside, now that all but one Hashira are trapped inside a mansion like this? They can't stay here forever.)

(But they sense no demon.)

(This isn't the work of a demon.)

(So whose work is this?)

Approximately sunrise, as their instincts wager, (there's no way to know for sure what time it is. There are no open walls, no natural lighting of any kind,) something in the mansion rings out a chime across every hall.

And they run to the source, only to find a set of double doors where there wasn't one before.

Kaigaku finds himself last to arrive.

It opens into a small room, tatami (familiar flooring that is nowhere else in this entire place) lining the floors and a single scroll hung upon an off-white wall.

Shinobu picks it off the wall so they may read it from her hand.

[It's exceedingly difficult to believe, but the century-long war between demons and humans will come to pass in my generation, of all times.]

[This is the story of Kamado Tanjirou, my best friend, who fought hard with our peers and our seniors against Kibutsuji Muzan, and won.]

[ - Agatsuma Zenitsu.]

Kaigaku can't help the indignant yelp.

"What do you mean, ZENITSU??"

Everyone's staring at him. The question they're demanding from him with pointed glances and raised brows is clear— their situation is suspicious enough, the out-of-place Kaigaku even more so— and this isn't making his case any better.

"He's my..." the admission is a little sour. He's not a fan of acknowledging his bond with that crybaby. "Junior Disciple."

Uzui frowns. "But for this child to claim that the war ended in his generation..."

"That kids not even a demon slayer yet!" Kaigaku insists, "is he a fucking idiot?! He's not due for the Final Selection at least three years from now!"

"And who's Kamado Tanjirou anyways? I've never heard of a slayer with that name. Definitely not a prominent one that could win against Kibutsuji Muzan."

"It's a very bold claim to make," Shinobu says. "Zenitsu-kun has a hard time making friends, does he?"

Kaigaku has to take a moment. Shinobu had said that so sweetly, in the tone of a 'he's a loner with imaginary friends, huh?' sort of jibe, and Kaigaku wonders if he's able to unwillingly take severe mental damage on behalf of his embarrassing junior disciple. Yes, yes, he can.

"But this is strange," Rengoku says. "I don't see why this could make it here. And none of this explains our situation."

"It's definitely some sort of divine or demonic influence," Shinazugawa says. "Doesn't smell demonic enough, so the former, probably."

"But the former's stupid," Iguro murmurs.

"Shut up! It's what Himejima-san would say!"

Mitsuri tries her best to hold in her laughter as Shinobu sighs in defeat. She looks up to find Tomioka's eyes wide with what seems to be— horror? She turns to where he's looking. At the wall, right in front of them.

And her eyes widen with horror too.

In the mere seconds she'd looked away to read this scroll— another had replaced it.

They're all crowded around this wall. No one could've reached around them to hand up another. Muichirou looks around warily, and it doesn't take long at all for the others to notice the anomaly as well.

Eyes narrowed with suspicions, Rengoku takes down the second scroll.

[What you will see here is undeniably the future soon to come. It's the future that happened to me, when I finally became the Demon Slayer Grandpa wanted me to be.]

[We defeated Muzan, and I will never change that. But sometimes I think of you, Kaigaku, and I always wish I could have done so much more.]

[I pray that you will find a way into a different future.]

[A future we can be brothers again.]

Now, Kaigaku is completely and utterly speechless.

"This creep really has something to do with it," Shinazugawa says. "I vote we kill him."

"I agree," Iguro says. "Maybe the mastermind just wants you. Well, we'll give you back. To Hell. And then we can get back to our missions."

"I think that would be the safest option," Muichirou adds, dryly.

"I mean, I'll go with the majority, I guess," Mitsuri says.

"Yeah! Better safe than sorry!" Uzui, the traitor, beams.

"We are not killing the injured boy!" Shinobu has finally having had enough. She composes herself a mere second later with a breath and a pair of hands buried into her face. She hasn't lost her temper even once since her sister died and she just knew it would be these idiots that would change that trend.

Kaigaku honestly doesn't have a defence for himself.

Why would Zenitsu— sure, that sounds like Zenitsu, the obnoxiously sentimental part, the frustratingly naive kindness, and sickening way he always feels sorry for Kaigaku like Kaigaku's a child, the term brothers— but... but Kaigaku knows the penmanship.

He knows this is the penmanship of a Zenitsu that is weighed down by sincere guilt.

Kaigaku knows. He's been receiving letters from this brat every week, ever since he left the peach orchard, and it's very easy to tell Zenitsu's bad days from his nonchalant ones.

"Watch?" Giyuu asks. "Watch what?"

"The future?" Muichirou nudges his head toward the scroll in Shinobu's hands.

"You're not really believing that," Iguro says.

"But it would be cool if it's real!" Rengoku says. "I can't think how a demon would benefit from us gaining the ability to see the future."

"Other than the fact they've managed to keep all of us locked up here with no known way to get out?" Shinazugawa snarls, "yeah. Very fucking assuring."

"I mean, it's weird enough already, I'd believe the future sight more than the thought of all of us being trapped here at once, and look at us now," Uzui says, "either this is some crazy illusion by a demon, or..."

Uzui looks up to find a third scroll, so he snatches it off the wall.

[Watch the future and change it.]

[Sincerely, someone that wants to save as many lives as possible.]

━ ❖ ━

Regardless of how they thought, and the many suspicions they had about the place— if this thing speaks the truth...

It's possible. Blood Demon Art has done crazier things.

Maybe sometime in the future, one finds a way to send a message to the past. It's crazy, and even crazier to think a demon would do anything to aid humans— but nothing makes sense, anyways.

"Zenitsu wouldn't become a demon," Kaigaku says. "He's too much of a coward to."

And above all, he loved Kuwajima Jigoro so much more sincerely than Kaigaku could ever. He would never do anything of that accord.

This isn't a Blood Demon Art. It doesn't smell like one, anyways.

And suggesting divine intervention at this point just felt wrong.

"Then, this is just a miracle!" Mitsuri suggests, brightly. "A human, and very beautiful miracle. Isn't that wonderful?"

It's a naive train of thought.

"Regardless," Shinobu rolls up all the scrolls again. "It doesn't seem like this place will tell us how to leave until we do what it wants. So I suggest we 'watch' this, whatever this future is."

"I'm for it," Uzui says. "If we're seeing the future, we can see me being flamboyant for all the world to see! Why would I pass up this chance?"

"You guys are fucking ridiculous!" Shinazugawa snaps.

"Well do you have a better idea?" Muichirou prompts, and Shinazugawa only groans in frustration.

Rengoku nods. "I don't really care for this either, but we really don't know how to leave."

"...I guess you have a point," Iguro sighs.

"But we still don't know what this 'watching' even means," Kaigaku says. "Watch what? How?"

The question doesn't linger for long, because the next moment the room is plunged into darkness— and the wall before them lights up.

Everyone takes at least three steps back in alarm.

"What the—!!"

The panic settles abruptly when something begins to play.

And then, one by one— eyes affixed on the screen— they step back, a little further— taking in the magic before them.

Movies didn't exist to them. Even physical pictures were a rarity reserved for occasions.

So they didn't know what to make of the 'video' in front of their eyes.

The snow falls.

The darkness abates, revealing frosty, haunting white. A figure trudges desperately upon the snow, his breaths heaving from effort, his gaze lifting toward the forest sunken in the midst of a snowstorm.

"Something... started," Mitsuri says, dumbly.

"Yeah. We can see that," Shinazugawa snarls.

Iguro gives him a warning glance, and Shinazugawa pretends not to see it.

Shinobu glances toward thes scrolls in her hands. "It's as if we're really seeing these events transpire before us. How strange."

"The story of Kamado Tanjirou, did it say?" Rengoku says. "Who is this guy, anyways? If it's about the war ending in their generation, it would make more sense to feature us Hashira, since it's our generation too."

"Why not Zenitsu?" Giyuu glances over Shinobu's shoulder to the writings once more. It would make a little more sense. "He is the one addressing Kaigaku in these letters."

"Well, I think..." Muichirou hums, "we're watching to find out."

"This story starts in Winter..."

Kaigaku tries to think. If this is a story of someone Zenitsu knows... then it must not be far into the future. It's late summer now. Who's to say this story isn't showing them an event that will transpire not even a year from now?

(This place is showing them a looming threat.)

(A threat so looming, they might barely have time to deal with it at all.)

"But this is a story of how we win, isn't it?" Uzui says. "Well, nothing to worry about then! We will win! There's no point in seeing the future."

"Can we just... be quiet and watch...?" Muichirou mumbles. "I'm not going to remember most of this anyways... do I need to be here?"

"Even if we win, think of how many people will die along the way. I suppose gaining such omniscience will definitely prevent casualties if nothing else," Shinobu says. "I will be watching. You noisy men may leave if you wish."

"Who's to say this is even real to begin with?" Shinazugawa groans, turning to leave.

He breathes heavy, a tear clinging to the edge of his eyes as he powers on, his sister laid limp upon his back. Blood trickles down the curve of her face, a gnarly mirror to the burn scar on his forehead.

How did this happen?

"Nezuko, don't die!" he pleads. He hopes. "Don't die!"

It's a common story. And it leaves a bad taste in all of their mouths. Demons kill a family, leaving one survivor to hope for something, anything to cling onto.

That survivor goes on to become a warrior, a slayer, for revenge. Most of them are like that, them Hashira.

This too, must be one of those stories.

A tragedy, much too common in this cruel world.

Blood taints his hasty tracks. He takes step, after step, after step, and then he takes another. He doesn't slow down.

"I'll save you, no matter what! Whatever it takes, I'll save you! So please... don't die...!"

The scene pulls away into the wintry forest. Ot the long, unending trek he still has to soldier on. Help, and humanity, are nowhere in sight— speaking only to how utterly bleak his situation is.

"Your  nii-chan  is going to save you no matter what, okay?"

He promises. He swears on  everything . Because he has nothing left.

There's a hitch of a breath from someone, but they don't know who it is. They don't care to find out. It speaks to all of them, this desperation.

Once upon a time, Shinazugawa fought with those same words in his breath, only for his world to come crumbling down. Once upon a time, Shinobu heard similar words directed toward her, and that world came shattering like a dream, too.

It's hope.

They all start somewhere naive.

"If we are watching our war, must it begin here?" Rengoku frowns. "This boy is important. But must we know this?"

No one wants each other to see such visceral scars. They're their greatest weaknesses.

His heart speaks over the scene, solemn.

When happiness is destroyed,  Tanjirou mulls, to himself, almost melancholically.  There's always the smell of blood in its wake.

Kaigaku scoffs. "Rather obvious, in this society."

This world doesn't know peace. War is always happening, if not about the demons and humans, then between humans.

There's hardly a soul here that has never lived at the mercy of violence and death.

For demon slayers, the smell of blood is something so familiar to them, they've long grown numb to it all.

The scene turns toward the sky.

Toward the sky, on a better day, when the boy first hefts the basket of freshly-burned charcoal over his shoulders.

"Tanijrou?"

His hair is tied back, his face speckled with black dust against the frothy white of his breath. His earrings, hanafuda with the inscriptions of the rising sun, swung gently against the swirl of his head as he turns toward the call.

"This is a day before, I suppose," Uzui says. "We're not getting information chronologically."

"Tanjirou..." Shinobu looks at the scroll. "It is the name of this Zenitsu's best friend. I wonder why this random, unheard-of child is so central to our efforts in the future."

"Charcoal burning..." Muichirou says.

"Seems like a family business, which how much wood's stacked outside," Rengoku says.

"He's not from a noble or warrior family, not even samurai," Iguro says. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has never held a sword in his life!"

"You could say that to quite a few of us, before we joined... except we've all been here years at this point," Mitsuri says very softly, "but I'm curious too. He's only a budding swordsman, then."

"So a newbie is so important to defeat Kibutsuji Muzan. What are we doing in the future that we gotta rely on the kids?" Uzui groans.

"Which begs the question, why are we watching him," Shinazugawa mutters. "A family of wood burners saved the world, you are kidding me."

"But those are definitely some rather unique earrings he's wearing," Rengoku says. "The flag of the rising sun... it's... rather fitting of demon slayers!"

"Maybe he's just patriotic," Shinobu says.

"...Aren't they flammable?" Giyuu considers.

"They don't look very comfortable for fighting. They'll swoosh around a lot," Muichirou says. "They'll be weird."

"You don't even tie up your hair and you're worried about that?" Giyuu's affronted.

"Why are we judging man's fashion choices! Focus on his sister dying!" Kaigaku groans.

"Your face is covered in soot. Come here."

His mother wipes her hands clean against her apron, before reaching out with a clean rag. Her hair is gathered back in a shawl, she crouches down and carefully dabs her son's face clean.

"The snow's coming down and the roads aren't safe," she reasons, "so you don't have to head out today."

It's a warm, heartwarming scene. It's hard not to be endeared by such a familial scene— it's something most of them have lost, a long time ago.

And it's something Tanjirou will most likely lose, too.

It won't be surprising.

There's a reason why the Butterfly Mansion and Wisteria Houses are so treasured, other than being the primary spot for rest and recuperation for injuries. It's a place that warms the heart with hospitality, with care, and most of the time, with a loving, motherly figurehead to make them feel like children with a place to return once more.

Tanjirou accepts the care and pampering from his mother.

"I want everything to eat a lot for New Year's, until their bellies are full," he says. "So... even if it's a little, I want to sell as much charcoal as I can."

Her eyes soften into a smile. "Thank you."

"Guy's the breadwinner of the family, it seems," Shinobu says.

"He's so young too," Uzui says.

"Well, that's not unusual," Rengoku says. "It's the duty of the eldest son, after all!"

Shinazugawa frowns. It's familiar, and similar to him, and somehow, that pisses him off a little. They already know the inevitable.

(Shinazugawa doesn't want to see how it would be like, to see someone so similar to himself, lose everything all over again.)

(At least, Tanjirou seems to have a better hold on his sister, but who knows. He fucked up with Genya, and there was nothing he could have done better about it at the time.)

And what Shinazugawa sees next makes him wince, just a little.

"Nii-chan!"

A younger boy and girl run toward them, the boy beaming brightly. "Are you going to the town again, today?"

The girl frowns, and she insists, "I want to go with you!"

A third brother, holding an axe, steps out from the same threshold of the house, a displeased noise rippling from his throat in unpleasant surprise as he spots Tanjirou about to head out.

"No you cannot," their mother chides, standing up again to usher the children back in. "You know you can't walk fast like Tanjirou."

"But mom!"

"No buts," she's stern. "He can't bring the cart today, so you won't be able to rest even if you're tired."

The two younger siblings puff up their cheeks and pout, very disappointed.

"A big family!" Rengoku says, brightly. "Common among the poor."

"They're so cute!" Mitsuri says.

"I wonder if those checkered prints are a family thing, like my butterfly pins," Shinobu says. "It's rather distinctive."

"The fabric has probably just been passed down since they don't have much to go around..." Giyuu says. "The one the girl has looks like a patchwork job, too."

Muichirou gives Tomioka's haori a very off-put glance, but Giyuu doesn't notice.

Kaigaku finds himself thinking of his own haori, that he's so long refused to wear. The dark blue haori that matches Zenitsu's that Sensei had given him after he passed the selection... he never wore that. Not even for a day.

Because it was embarrassing. And he didn't want anything to do with it.

(He wonders if it's still where he left it, in the Butterfly Mansion...)

Finally, the younger brother pounces on Tanjirou, "nii-chan!" he clutches onto his brother's haori, hoping he would convince their mother they could go along.

The younger sister steps forward too, eager. "I want to go!" she says, sincere, "I promise I'll help you properly!"

Tanjirou reaches out and pats his sister on the head.

"Thank you, Hanako," he says, and a light of hope brims through her eyes— only to wilt spectacularly at his next words, "but you two watch the house today."

Hanako makes a despaired noise, a tear finally reaching her eyes.

"Well, if the snow's piled up that much, climbing a mountain is never a good idea," Mitsuri says. "If they're burning charcoal, they must live far up, too."

"I'd rather not have to lug around little tykes the whole trek up and down," Shinazugawa mutters.

"Yeah. Shinazugawa would probably start yelling at them at the end of the day because they're tired, and then everyone will be miserable," Shinobu chuckles.

"Don't even try to insist you wouldn't do the same!"

"It's hard to imagine anyone not getting cranky at needing to take care of their spoiled siblings after a long day of work," Kaigaku mutters. Hell knows he is very familiar with that particular brand of anger.

"Really? I'd be fine!" Rengoku says, brightly. "It's training! Plus if it was Senjuro, it would be good stamina training for him."

"For HIM? Carry him, dammit!" Shinazugawa snaps.

"I thought you were on the side of the ones shouting at the kids?" Giyuu murmurs, only to get screamed at.

"YOU THINK I CAN'T CARRY AND SCREAM AT THE SAME TIME?!"

Uzui says. "I on the other hand absolutely hate children. I would never even bother."

"I'd let Kaburamaru eat them," Iguro says. "Peace and quiet."

"None of you should ever be trusted with children," Muichirou says, dryly.

"Rude!" Shinobu says. "I am very good with children!"

Rengoku's also affronted, "what did I do?"

Tanjirou pushes his brother back onto his feet a pace away, crouching down so their eyes could comfortably meet.

"You too, Shigeru," he says, resting a hand on that near-crying cheek. "In exchange, I'll bring lots of tasty things back."

And Shigeru brights immediately.

"For real?"

"Yeah."

Shigeru giggles cheekily, and Tanjirou transfers his hand to Hanako's head, soothingly running a hand through her hair.

"Hanako too. I'll read a book to you when I get home. Alright?"

She cheers up immediately. "Uhn!"

It's sad, but it's not uncommon. Tanjirou is young, maybe barely a teenager at this point— but he has to be the adult of the family. He's expected to be it.

And even after trying so hard to be a good son, he still loses it all.

(The war against Kibutsuji Muzan really can't end soon enough.)

(It's good to hear that the war ends, in their generation... but thinking of how many they must have lost to need to depend on a child, how many they already have lost—)

( —one has to wonder if it's even worth it.)

"It's a nice family," Shinobu says. "Being the younger sibling is nice. You have the assurance of someone to cling to. You can afford to act spoiled."

Until it's gone and you become the eldest instead, she doesn't say. But Shinobu loves to spoil her juniors and youngers, because she knows very well how she would have adored it once upon a time, too. It's in the heart of an older sibling to do so.

Most of them here are older siblings, or only children, or like Muichirou, who doesn't know at all. But in the nature of their rank as Hashira, they're all deeply familiar with the burden of being relied on by those younger and weaker.

They're all familiar with the joy of being reliable.

(They're all familiar with the pain of not being reliable enough.)

"Thank you very much, Tanjirou," their mother says, and Tanjirou straightens with a smile and a nod, clearly comfortable with the brother duties entrusted upon him.

"Yeah," he says, "then, I'll be off now."

He turns to the third brother.

"Takeo, just as much as you can is enough, so could you chop some wood for today?"

"Yes... well, I can do that, yeah," Takeo looks aside, trying subtly to hide his very clear frown and pout as he mumbles, "I thought we'd do it together..." He puffs up his cheeks, clearly miffed.

So Tanjirou comes over to pat him on the head, endeared. "There there."

Takeo brushes aside the hand. "Geez, what's this all of a sudden?"

That's when Shigeru briskly points out with a wide grin and loud point, "Take-nii's  blushinnngg!"

"Shut up!"

Tanjirou uses both his hands this time, gently smothering his brother with head pats. "there there," he says, in even more of a babyish tone than before. He almost seems pleasantly amused when Takeo bristles like an angry kitten.

"Knock it off already!"

The lighthearted laughter that rings through the family is heartwarming.

"Takeo-kun is a hard worker too!" Rengoku beams. "What a nice family. Everyone's contributing, in their own ways, even as young as they are."

"Wait, which one is the one that was bleeding out at the start?" Iguro frowns. "There's so many of them."

"I'm not keeping count," Muichirou mutters. "They're probably going to die if Tanjirou becomes a demon slayer."

"You're so cold!" Mitsuri says, "can't we just enjoy the love in this family?"

"I don't think it's Hanako," Uzui says. "The hair's different... and she's a bit smaller, too."

"He's got more siblings?" Kaigaku groans.

"What's so weird about that?" Shinazugawa frowns, "At least five is the average for families like this. They need so many hands to keep the business going and the household fed."

"Well, you would know?" Giyuu asks. "Was your family like that too?"

"Why are you asking me that?!"

"Ahem," Shinobu clears her throat, "we are not answering or asking personal questions at this time, Tomioka-san. Please read the boundaries. If you know how to do that."

"...what boundaries? Where? I didn't see any. Are they outside the room?"

Shinobu proceeds to level Giyuu with a 'your entire life is a mistake' stare.

"I'm not touching that topic with a ten-foot pole," Uzui says, looking utterly disgusted. "But seriously Tomioka, you can't just ask that."

"...okay..."

"Hurry back, okay?"

"Stay safe out there!"

They see him off, and Tanjirou makes his way down the mountain— not before being briefly stopped once more.

"Onii-chan!"

"Nezuko."

Nezuko has their youngest brother wrapped around her back.

"Ah, that's the one," Rengoku says. "She's the one that he was carrying at the beginning. Seems like she's the oldest daughter."

"She's the only one with a patterned flower kimono, so that checks out," Shinazugawa says. Nezuko had the checkered family patterns too, but only in her obi.

"How so?" Iguro's brow raises.

"Don't you know? Eldest daughters get mommy's prettiest kimonos once it fits her," Mitsuri says. "She keeps it until she finds a marriage partner, and uses her husband's money to buy an even prettier kimono for mom! It's the duty of the eldest!"

"Ah," says Kaigaku, with a grimace.

He supposes it makes sense. Usually only men inherit the family business, especially if it's something rough like charcoal burning. Women marry into other families, take her husband's name, and help out in that business.

(Thus is the reality of this society. It's not necessarily sad, it's just how things usually go.)

"Is that true?" Uzui turns to Shinobu. "My wives are kunoichi, so they wouldn't know."

"Don't ask me, do any of us look like we have parents," Shinobu's offended that he even turned in her direction.

"It's normal to pass down haori, though," Rengoku says, perusing his own coat. It's the traditional Flame Hashira haori, and it's the most well-cared for fabric in the house.

"Of course. Kimono wears down easier, so we only buy patterned, pretty ones for occasions! And we wear plain ones all otherwise," Shinobu says, "some poor people only have one pretty kimono in their life, you know!"

"Really? I didn't know that part," Mitsuri says.

"That's because you're rich."

"Is that why Kanao always wears just that one kimono?"

"Trust me, if I could make her wear something prettier for once, I would," Shinobu says, resting a hand on her cheek. For once she looks genuinely troubled. "If she sees something new in her closet she just dutifully puts it back in mine... I end up having to wear them or give them to Aoi just so they don't go to waste."

"I was putting Rokuta to sleep. Or he'd make a fuss when you left," she says, looking back toward the soundly sleeping toddler. "He's been really lonely after Dad passed away..."

Tanjirou touches him, tenderly, brushing his bangs just a little, not enough to wake him.

"So everyone's really gotten clingy towards  Onii-chan  now."

It's endearing to her. And to him, as well.

"Hah! I get how that feels," Rengoku says. "Senjuro does that a lot, too."

(Mainly because your father became a deadbeat, everyone thought, but no one said.)

Shinazugawa sighs. Eldest brothers really have so much to deal with. The moment dad's gone (or, well, dad was never part of the story in his case,) everyone clings to him like they all want to be like him.

Genya was like that too.

(And honestly, he doesn't know what Genya's doing right now, but he really hopes he's stopped trying to cling to and imitate Sanemi in everything.)

(Hell knows that Sanemi will throw that brat into a ditch if he becomes a demon slayer.)

"Have a safe trip!"

Tanjirou finally makes his way down the mountain, passing through the wintry forests step by step.

Our lives aren't easy, but we're happy.

But life can be as fickle as the weather. It's constant, and ever-flowing. It won't always be sunny, but yet again, the snow won't fall forever either.

And...

...whenever happiness is destroyed, there's always the smell of blood in its wake.

"I really don't like how ominous this will be," Mitsuri says.

"They're all going to die," Muichirou says. "That's how it is with lots of demon slayers."

"But he's still too young," Rengoku says, "maybe he'll be another genius like you, Tokito? Maybe he'll spend some years training first!"

"If Kaigkau-kun is to be believed, he will most likely become a slayer around the same time as this Agatsuma-kun," Shinobu glances his way. "Which is?"

"...about three years from now..." Kaigaku frowns, "but how long from now is this showing us, anyways? Are we sure it's the future? It might even be slightly in the past."

"I suppose...we'll find out?" Giyuu says.

"I do wonder what Breathing Style he'll learn!" Uzui says. "As a family of charcoal burners, he's a child of fire, as the Haganezuka will say. Maybe Flame Breathing?"

Rengoku beams. "So I'll have Tsuguko again!"

"Senjuro will be jealous," Mitsuri says.

"Since he lives in the mountains, I wouldn't discount Wind so easily," Shinazugawa says. Glancing at Uzui, then at Shinobu, then Iguro, "he doesn't seem like the type to go for Thunder, though. Or for anything Water."

"Not Stone, either," Kaigaku says. "He doesn't have the bulk for it."

"He doesn't really fit in a mould, but that's normal," Uzui says.

"Well maybe he won't fit in a mould for Water offshoots like me and Iguro-san," Shinobu says, "but Water Breathing is a very adaptable style, so it's the style with the most users. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the direction he goes."

Giyuu perks up at that. "A new Water Hashira, then."

"That's jumping the gun, Tomioka! Calm down!"

Iguro deflates, exasperated by him even suggesting that. "Tomioka, even if he does become a Water Breathing user, we're not getting a new Water Hashira until you die. So what is it, do you want to die?"

There's silence.

"I mean... who isn't at least a little suicidal here?" Shinazugawa says.

"You're the one we had the least questions about," Muichirou curtly states, and he has to draw his sword to defend himself when Shinazugawa retaliates. It doesn't stop him fron an additional jibe of: "okay, mister rip-your-arms-open-Marechi."

"I suppose if death is necessary to win, it's a good deal," Shinobu says. "Wouldn't anyone here do the same?"

No one refutes. "If it comes down to something like that, it goes without saying," Rengoku shrugs, and Mitsuri nods.

Iguro rolls his eyes. "...if you're going to phrase it like that, I suppose you've got a point."

Kaigaku quietly murmurs, "should've known this place's full of nutjobs."

"Kaigaku, you almost got turned into a demon! You don't get to talk!" Uzui snaps.

"Well I was trying to live which makes it not the same!"

"Not in a good way!"

"Okay I get it shut up! Stop talking about this!"

Tanjirou arrives at the town, quickly greeted by the shopkeepers and homeowners sweeping off their entrance ways of piling snow.

"Oh my, Tanjirou-chan! I can't believe you came down the mountain in this weather! Always a hard worker, aren't you? You'll catch a cold."

"This much is nothing," Tanjirou says, politely. "How are your charcoal stores, ma'am? Do you have enough?"

"Hey Tanjirou!" someone calls. "Good timing! I'll need some charcoal."

"Sell me some charcoal too!"

"Oh and thanks for fixing my shoji the other day."

Doors open, and people quickly notice his presence in the town. He's a very warmly welcomed face in the city, and there are smiles and polite hollers left and right for him.

"Seems he's very popular in his town," Rengoku says. "I wonder how long he's been the eldest of the family, for the entire town to care for him like this."

"You know what they say," Uzui says, "takes a village to raise a child!"

Shinazugawa sighs. "This is normal. You think charcoal burners move houses often or something? They've obviously been there for generations. Hard not to know a kid from a family like that."

"Hoh," Rengoku is interested. "I've always lived in the Rengoku estate, so I don't know the specifics of how townsfolk have that kind of relationship with each other."

The only reason he could leave Genya alone after their entire family died that day was because he knew the town would take care of him.

(It didn't matter though. Because Genya didn't need care or pampering from the villagers, he only needed his older brother, and his older brother abandoned him.)

(He's fine. They can never go back to the way things were anymore, so there's no point in regretting it. The only thing he can do is move on forward and die killing demons.)

"This town has it nice," Muichirou says. "They'll never run out of charcoal for winter. It'll always be warm."

"Ah, that certainly does sound nice," Kaigaku says.

A door clatters unceremoniously open and a man escapes his house with his clothes disheveled, his nose bleeding from a beating, and an older woman trying to drag him back by his kimono.

He spots Tanjirou and gasps.

"Tanjirou!" he wails urgently. "Oh man, perfect timing!"

"Oh wow, what did that man do?" Rengoku says, more amused than concerned, "he's bleeding!"

"And why is he running to a child for help? Not flamboyant at all!" Uzui adds.

"I suppose, we're learning why this boy's relevant," Shinobu says. "The boy himself may be interesting. He is wearing the symbol of the rising sun around his ears."

"And seeing how poor they are, those accessories are probably also inherited," Kaigaku says. "Why a family of charcoal burners, though? You'd think important people working something like this would be in Swordsmith Village."

He clambers forth, pulling free of the woman's grasps and unfurling the satchel in his hands, presenting shards of an ornate dish.

"She's accusing me of breaking this plate! Help me out!" he raises it to him, on his knees, because Tanjirou is much shorter. "Give it a sniff!"

The woman steps forward with a scowl and her arms crossed, supposing gaining evidence before continuing her punishment would be fair.

Tanjirou leans forward and takes a whiff of the broken porcelain.

He reports his findings very quickly. "I smell something like a cat."

"A keen sense of smell that's almost superhuman!" Shinobu says, fascinated. "Quite like Kanao, though hers is superhuman sight."

Kaigaku frowns. He, and Gramps and Zenitsu, they all have that superhuman hearing of theirs. (THough Kaigaku's always paled in comparison.) Is this relevant, or just a coincidence?

"...so, just like Urokodaki-sensei," Giyuu says, frowning. "Weird."

"They're rare, but not entirely unusual. Maybe around the same ratio as Marechi," Rengoku says. "Maybe Tanjirou and Kanao will become good friends."

"Uh..." Shinobu seems reluctant, but not necessarily for that. "Now that I think about it, Kanao's going to the Final Selection in three years..."

"She's advancing quickly!" Mitsuri says, brightly. "We must celebrate when the time comes!"

"Wait, three years, too?" Uzui says. "Didn't you say Agatsuma Zenitsu was going then, too, Kaigaku?"

Kaigaku's frown deepens. "This is weird."

It's one thing to find multiple people with superhuman senses, another thing entirely for them all to be in the same generation at the Final Selection.

"So if Tanjirou joins the selection then too, we'll have a pretty crazy generation," Muichirou says.

The man beams so brightly before whirling on the woman, offering his greatest vocal satisfaction in a scandalised, "SEE?? "

"Oh dear," the woman says, rather appalled, "so it was a cat?"

"I told you it wasn't me!"

An older man huffs as he pushes his cart of things to his destination. "Ah, Tanjirou!" he hollers. "Could you give me a hand with all this luggage?"

"Man, this kid's popular!" Uzui says.

"He came down to sell charcoal, but before selling a bunch he's helping out in odd jobs a lot more," Kaigaku groans. "Does he not get tired? He's going to get taken advantage of."

Iguro nods sagely. "This kid stops to help everyone. He's going to die early. I can tell."

"Which means he's a good boy!" Rengoku beams.

"Who here isn't going to die young?" Giyuu asks, sincerely.

"There was a guy thanking him for fixing shoji doors, too," Mitsuri says. "He seems the kind to be overly helpful in all manner of things."

"He's going to get taken advantage of," Shinazugawa says.

"I kind of want him in the Butterfly Mansion doing chores," Shinobu says. "Give my girls a break."

"Kochou, you're the kind that will take advantage of this child! Don't go near him!"

"Absolutely not!"

By the time he's done selling for the day, the sun has set, and he makes the trek back home in the moonlight.

"It's gotten so dark already... but I'm glad I managed to sell everything."

"Look at this idiot, selling until dark!" Kaigaku groans. "If I sold peaches until this late I'd get killed by Master Kuwajima before I even knew what was happening!"

"As you should!" Rengoku and Shinazugawa snap in unison, though one speaks with much less intensity than the other.

"At least you would have Wisteria on hand," Shinobu sighs deeply.

"Peaches?" Muichirou is clearly focused on the most important part of the sentence.

"Old Jigoro has a peach orchard!" Uzui says, also on another plane. "They are very nice peaches. I do not like them, but Makio does."

"Hey now, demon attacks aren't common here, it's clear they don't even know they exist," Mitsuri says. "I mean, I'd be worried for the family house, if I was worried for the kid."

"So basically you're doubly worried right now," Iguro observes.

"I am so worried I might just cry. It's going to happen. Just put me out of my misery."

"Hey, Tanjirou!"

This yell comes rather fierce. It's a big contrast to the fond yells from the day, but this one isn't malicious. It's more angry with concern.

"You're planning on hiking up the mountain now? It's dangerous, so stop there."

"Finally! A sensible adult!" Shinazugawa groans.

"He lives quite a ways from the town too," Rengoku says. "At the mouth of the forest. That's also dangerous."

"The foot of every mountain needs their eccentric grandpa," Kaigaku says. "It's like, their thing. Can't have a mountain without a self-appointed old coot."

Giyuu is abruptly pulled into some kind of internal revelation. "So Urokodaki-san is—?"

"Oh no, stop there Tomioka-san," Shinobu says, before turning to Kaigaku, "stop it. This idiot doesn't understand sarcasm. Like at all."

Tanjirou looks down the hill, to the singular hut at the foot of the mountain. An older man looks toward him from his open window, a stern glare set in his features.

"I've got a good nose, so I'll be fine," Tanjirou tries to assure the man.

"We're not thinking bears, kid!" Shinazugawa groans.

"Yeah, I mean, bears are easy!" Mitsuri insists.

"No please, be worried about bears too!" Kaigaku says. He's well-acquainted with the loud rumours of the Love Hashira's crazy grip strength. "Normal kids can't handle bears with punches!"

But the old man doesn't budge.

"You can spend the night in my place. Get down, and come here." He's insistent. Almost commanding, in his tone.

Tanjirou frowns, not quite keen on the idea. "But..."

"Don't argue, hurry up and come!"

There's really no way a polite boy like Tanjirou can refuse another time, especially with how clearly impatient and angry the older man is.

"Before the demons come," he warns, with eyes wide and full of urgence.

"...well, that's assuring," Uzui says. "Self-appointed old-coot knows what demons are."

"I suppose I'll accept self-appointed old coot being at the mouth of the forest if he'll at least be useful in helping kids not die for stupid reasons," Iguro says, resigned.

"Self-appointed old coot is a good old man!" Mitsuri says, cheerfully.

Kaigaku's head lifts with surprise. They're using the term 'self-appointed old coot'? For real? He never thought Mitsuri would ever say something so crude.

"But sounds like this old mister—"

Shinobu pauses. Everyone's giving her a side glance.

She clears her throat. "So, sounds, like self-appointed old coot has experience with demons."

Oh no, what have I started, Kaigaku thinks in despair.

Rengoku nods. "He lives in such an isolated place, after all! I wouldn't be surprised!"

"Most self-appointed old coots are probably there to isolate themselves after tragedy, so, fair enough," Uzui says.

Tanjirou enters the house, where he's served a hearty meal and lent some comfortable clothes. Paper umbrellas are set up in the corner of the sitting area, but they make do with the little space they have.

Tanjirou eats heartily, drinks the warm soup, and thanks for the food after cleaning his bowl. He drinks his tea.

"So self-appointed old coot is in the paper umbrella business," Kaigaku says.

It's a business with a lot of word, including dyeing paper, assembling and cutting wood, fine-tuning the mechanisms... it's impossible to think this wasn't once a family business on the same scale as Tanjirou's charcoal runs.

But self-appointed old coot is alone, now. How tragic.

"What a shame, a man like him doesn't have anyone to take over after he dies," Rengoku says. "Though I suppose it was a tragedy, since he's looking out for Tanjirou about demons specifically."

"Say, Saburou-ojiisan," he brings up, "the demons... what are they like?"

"The man-eating demons have always roamed the land after dark. That's why you shouldn't wander about after dark."

Old Man Saburou retrieves the spare futon from the closet, laying it out properly beside his own.

"If you've eaten, then sleep," his words are curt. "Tomorrow, wake up early and make your way home at first light."

"Ah, he's one of those traditionalist old coots," Shinazugawa says. "I've heard the old legend of man-eating demons too. From like, my grandma or something."

"I heard it before from Hisa-baachan!" Mitsuri says.

"Who's that?" Iguro's brow raises.

"She's this really nice old lady in this Wisteria house uh, I don't remember the place specifically but my Kasugai Crow does!"

"Sure is nice that the town is full of good people," Kaigaku says. "Even gave him a meal. And a proper futon. This kid's got it good."

"That's a normal expectation," Uzui says. "It's unbelievable for any self-respecting old coot to not be a good host after insisting Tanjirou stayed over."

"I mean... that's not in my experiences," Giyuu says.

"With how you two interact with literally any human being, I'd be surprised if you weren't left out with the bears as a child," Shinobu says.

Giyuu doesn't even respond to the jibe.

Worried, Shinobu says, "that didn't happen, right? Tomioka-san, please look at me!"

"It's okay, my sister got mad at them for me."

"TOMIOKA-SAN IS YOUR CHILDHOOD OKAY??"

Kaigaku scowls. Maybe he shouldn't tell Shinobu that he agreed with Giyuu.

Tanjirou does as told, and the lights are shut off on one side, so Old Man Saburou may continue his work in the other side of the house, smoking through a kiseru pipe.

"The demons... can they not enter homes?" Tanjirou asks.

Shinazugawa scoffs. "Like vampires? We fucking wish."

Old Man Saburou takes a calming drag. "No, they can enter, and they will."

He takes another.

"Then... won't they just eat everyone, then?" Tanjirou asks.

"And that's why the demon slayers will hunt them down." Old Man Saburou does not lift his head. "From days of old, until now."

They're so crucial, and yet, there are never enough demon slayers. As many as the corps have grown, the selection process is strict because of how arduous the task is, and they can't save everyone even then.

It's such a hopeless war.

It's completely baffling to believe the claim that the war ends in this generation.

He knocks out the ashes upon his pot.

"I'll extinguish the lights now. Just go to sleep."

Tanjirou turns away from the conversation, understanding that's where their talk ends.

Saburou-ojiisan has been living by himself, ever since he lost his family. He must be lonely... next time I'll bring my siblings down here with me.

So he'll know that it'll be fine, and there are no demons to be afraid of.

But, come to think of it...

...Grandma said the same thing too about demons, when she was still alive.

"Such a shame that now, only the older generation are really keeping to the old traditions and precautions against demons," Rengoku says.

"That's a good thing," Shinobu says. "It means some children grow up never knowing about demons. It means we're doing a better job than the slayers before us."

At this point, Tanjiro is still a child that doesn't even believe in demons. He's never met one, after all, and it's a good thing that some people don't know demons really exist. It's a good sign that some people can go their whole lives never meeting a demon.

Alas.

That's about to change for Tanjirou, isn't it?

(Maybe one day, they will truly come to a time where demons are a long-lost folklore, both in belief and in reality.)

The next day, Tanjirou sets off at sunrise.

"You be careful now, y'hear?"

Old Man Saburou sees him off, and Tanjirou hurries up the mountain.

And whenever happiness is destroyed, there's always...

Tanjirou pauses. Something in the air— he takes a more careful whuff, and what he notes makes his eyes blow wide with horror.

"The smell of blood!"

He rushes forward.

Mitsuri makes a despaired noise. "Here it comes!"

"I suppose we're not going to see this child's natural life forever..." Rengoku says.

"As it should be. We're seeing how we win, we're not here to watch this random brat," Shinazugawa says, "honestly we should just skip straight to the final fight with Muzan!"

"Shinazugawa, even you can't be as naive as to think that there weren't great pains along the road to even get us to Muzan," Shinobu says.

"I mean... none of us have even met him," Giyuu says. "No one has in a long time."

"But some of the Upper Moons have been getting active recently," Iguro says, casting a very subtle but not unnoticed glance toward Shinobu. "Which is strange. They've been as quiet as Muzan until recently."

Kaigaku frowns. "Come to think of it, it is very weird..." he says. "Upper Moon One just showed up in town. I thought higher ranked demons don't need to eat as much? Why would he show up just to cause as big a scene as killing a couple hundred slayers, only to leave?"

"Maybe you were just, severely unlucky and caught him in his once-in-a-century stroll," Mitsuri says, genuinely trying, but unable to be serious apparently.

Kaigaku affixes her with a very conflicted look.

Shinobu pats him on the shoulder. "It's okay, you can say it."

Kaigaku does. "Are you fucking kidding me—"

He pauses. Iguro is promising death. (Shinobu said he could say it, but she sure as hell didn't mean she would help him out of any consequences. What a witch.)

"I'm sorry."

Iguro grounds out, "as you should be."

"So it's entirely reasonable it'll take us a long while to get to that point," Uzui says, defeatedly. "We're going to be here a while, huh. Hope the world's still out there when this place finally spits us out."

When he comes to his home— he doesn't register the sight at first. For the first painful seconds, he doesn't believe what he sees. He catches his breath.

He can't catch his breath.

But Nezuko is curled right outside the door with Rokuto grasped bodily in her figure, blood seeping through her light pink kimono, stark crimson dragging from the inside of the house out toward the entranceway where she'd unceremoniously spilled out, staining the sheer white snow.

He can't even scream.

The silence in the room is palpable, eyes narrowing with constrained anger. It never gets easier, seeing the aftermath of a demon attack.

It must be devastating to come home to that.

(It brings back memories, for some of them.)

(It's very unpleasant.)

He shrugs off the basket as quickly as he can as he runs for it, falling to his knees.

"Nezuko! Nezuko, what happened— what is this?! How could this—!!"

His gaze spins to the inside of the house and everything is stuck inside his throat. A scream, a question, the war-torn despair— all of it hitches in his chest in a loud, rapidly accelerating heartbeat and everything thrums painfully.

The blood spills out, and inside is worse. The shoji are wrecked. Blood paints the ground but it covers every inch of their sitting area.

The scene is horrible. It's a bloody, heaping mess, bodies sprawled out with clear attempts at escaping and protecting, all to no avail.

The Hashira can't help covering their mouths in disgust. A tear escapes Mitsuri's eyes, but she holds it back.

It never gets better, seeing these.

"Strange."

It is Shinobu that breaks the silence.

Brows raise.

"Strange? What's strange?" Rengoku asks.

"The bodies," Shinobu frowns at the screen. "They're all intact."

"What does that have to do... wait, you're right."

Tanjirou stands up briefly to get closer, but his knees crumble once he sees it all in full.

Hanako is wedged between the wall and Mom, but they're both cold and unmoving as blood seeps through their clothing, smeared across their faces, and drenched through Mom's usually well-kempt hair now splayed loose across her shoulders.

Takeo lays on his back, his eyes open and lifeless, his arms splaying out weakly as his gaze falls toward the entrance. As if he had spent his last moments looking at Nezuko, as she ran desperately for the last life she could save.

And he now looks at Tanjiro, blaming him for not being here.

The scene is morbid, but something nags at them. The bodies are intact, barely mutilated. There is so much blood, as if someone had an adjective purpose that was simply to ruin everything in this house.

Demons are predatory creatures. If they siege a house, especially a house full of defenseless children and women, it is because they are starved.

And yet, this family is not missing a single member of its house. And the bodies can all be buried with every piece in its place.

So, why did this demon attack this house? They've wasted so much human blood, and feasted on no flesh at all. What was the purpose?

The blood isn't dry. This happened only just before the sun rose.

And yet, there are no footsteps leading out of the house stained in the blood all over the floors. The demon's either a freakishly clean eater, or they never intended on dirtying their hands to begin with.

(But what demon would have the self-control to eat nothing in this massacre? Even a demon not particularly hungry wouldn't be able to resist the allure of so much gore.)

"...at the very least, it's a Demon Moon," Shinazugawa says.

At the very least.

"But that's optimistic. Upper Moons have been active recently, this could be another one of them," Rengoku says. "I don't want to jump to conclusions but..."

"It could be, I'd believe it," Uzui says.

"Believe what?" Muichirou prompts.

"From the start we're told that Tanjirou's crucial to defeating Kibutsuji Muzan," Uzui says. "There must be a reason for that. It's like fate, you know?"

"It's like every revenge story ever," Kaigaku says. "So you're guessing Tanjirou is the one that defeats Muzan? Weird for a newbie to be the one."

"You're not saying—" Mitsuri gasps.

"I suppose it would make sense, then, why the story begins all the way back here rather than straight toward the important battles," Shinobu says. "It's rather drastic to think of such an extreme, but... I think we'll have to suspend our disbelief."

And her meaning quickly spreads through the room.

"It sounds impossible, but could the demon that attacked this house be..."

"But a random child of a charcoal business!" Shinazugawa says. "Why would Muzan show himself to someone so insignificant, after centuries of not even a shadow?!"

There's no way for them to get an answer immediately.

This is all guesswork.

They have to be patient, if they want the answers.

The scene finally shifts back to the beginning, where Tanjirou runs across the snowing eve, Nezuko's bleeding figure on his back as he heaves, and breathes, and tries his hardest.

Nezuko's the only one still warm!

If I get her to a doctor, maybe she can make it.

This vain string of hope is the only thing he can cling onto. He slides through the steeper hills and rushes, as quickly and recklessly as he can manage, down the mountain.

How did this happen?

Was it a bear? A bear that wasn't able to hibernate?

"Now that you've put that idea in my mind, I'm not having a good feeling about the sister being alive," Rengoku says.

"I think a bear would eat in a cleaner manner," Muichirou says.

"That house was in a horrible state, honestly," Kaigaku says, "it was like the demon was trying to make as shocking a scene as possible because he knew someone would be coming home to witness it. It's sick."

Shinazugawa sighs deeply. It's never a good feeling to watch someone lose everything in one day. There was nothing Tanjirou could have done, differently, too.

And Shinazugawa knows that feeling very well.

They've become demon slayers in hopes stuff like this won't happen again (or, some of them, at least. Hell knows Sanemi is only in it for the euphoria of pretending not to think of how horrible his life's become) and yet again, tragedies continue to happen.

The demon slayers really can't ever save people soon enough.

He lunges across trees, holding back the tears already pooling through his eyes. He can't cry now. He has to save Nezuko, or he'll really have no one left.

It hurts. It's so cold it hurts to breathe!

He gasps and cringes at the frigid agony in his lungs, but he can't afford to slow down.

A single untrained human boy who has never had to run ten rounds around the mountain for endurance training before— that's the kind of boy they'll have to depend on.

It's not very assuring.

"In a way, I can kind of understand why we're sent to watch all this," Shinobu says. "If a boy as young and new to our world as he is the most important link to our battles, I can see how many casualties could pile up."

"Because he's weak and useless so everyone died?" Iguro asks.

"You don't have to be so mean," Rengoku says.

"I can be meaner," Muichirou emphasises.

Rengoku huffs. "Please refrain."

"All he's got is a good sense of smell, which I guess can be useful, but..." Rengoku frowns, "it's not any fault of his own, everyone starts somewhere."

"But he's clearly got something that makes him important to defeating Muzan," Mitsuri says. "I'm sure we'll see it soon! Or eventually."

"There's no way we're relying on a child unless he has something no one else has," Shinazugawa says. "Once we find out what it is we're taking the advantage and fighting ourselves, so this brat won't slow us down."

"I suppose that's efficient," Shinobu says.

"You're all very mean," Rengoku says.

"Do you disagree?" Iguro's brow raises.

Rengoku laughs, "Nope! If there's a way for us to defeat Muzan without waiting for this kid, then I'm all for it! Hopefully that's something we can change."

Keep walking. Move your feet faster, it's still a long way before town. Hurry!

Nezuko's arm twitches.

The entire room whirls on the scene in alarm. "Crap—!"

They reach for their swords instinctively, but remember that they can't fight a vision that isn't with them, and they curse louder.

I won't let you die. I'll save you, whatever it takes! Your nii-chan will save you!

Nezuko's fingers writhe against the air, but Tanjirou doesn't notice.

Growling, inhumanely—- Nezuko's head lifts, leaning back her jaws agape, like a child gasping for breath—- fangs bared, she grabs as Tanjirou's shoulders, distracting him just long enough for his feet to slip and a horrifying tilt sends them careening over the edge of the cliff.

They fall the considerable height, back flat into the snow, and Tanjirou has to take the moment to breathe in deeply, relieved to not have fallen to an untimely death.

...the snow saved me...

...the snow was also the reason I slipped, though.

He gets up, trying to compose himself. "Nezuko!"

She's gotten up. Among the trees, standing lopsidedly with blood staining her kimono, Nezuko is standing.

"Well, Tanjirou obviously doesn't die at the start of his story," Uzui says. "So either some poor chap assigned to this case is going to kill his last family member in front of him right after he lost everyone else—"

At that, a few of them winces. They've all had to do that before. Many of those don't end well or pretty.

(Sometimes, Giyuu still shivers viscerally at the thought of that girl who immediately pointed her gun to her throat once Giyuu slayed her grandfather— if the trigger hadn't jammed when it did—)

And unfortunately, demon slayers always have to be the bad guy in the scenario.

(It's a thankless job, a lot of the time.)

"—or the arguably worse alternative, he has to do it himself to survive."

And somehow, that's genuinely horrid to imagine. Shinazugawa can't help the full body cringe that he tries to suppress at the mere thought of it.

"I don't wanna watch either of those!" Mitsuri wails. Killing demons to protect their family they're about to eat is one thing, watching someone despair as they kill their loved one is another entirely. She really doesn't want to watch more of those kinds of situations if she can ever help it. "I'm going to the kitchen and getting food. You guys watch without me."

And then she turns around— only to squeak in a very high pitch as the door slams shut right in her face, with a loud slam. Everyone whirls around in alarm, Iguro pulling Mitsuri back onto her feet as she falls flat and stays petrified at how she almost got doored to the nose.

"Okay, this place has a mind of its own," Muichirou says, trying to sound calm but his hand's very firmly on his sword.

Kaigaku had his sword half-pulled out in alarm.

"I thought we established that before," Giyuu says.

"Well we didn't exactly expect it to slam right then and there!" Shinobu groans, "geez, Tomioka-san, a little empathy here. This is why you'll never get a girlfriend."

Giyuu looks very affronted and further confused as he says, "I don't... need one...?? Why is that relevant to anything...?"

"Uhm... I'm guessing this means we're not getting out until we're done watching," Rengoku says, trying for the door handle but it's locked. Shinazugawa is trying to decimate the door to no avail. It's actually getting really windy.

"Damn," Uzui says, very unbothered, "should've grabbed another bottle of alcohol from the kitchen."

"Uhm... Mister Room," Mitsuri calls out to the ceiling, "I'm sorry, I'll stay here and watch. Please don't be mad."

Very quietly, the door unlocks itself. Everyone turns to stare at Mitsuri.

"What the fuck," Kaigaku blurts out.

"I'm getting my alcohol! Be back in two seconds!"

"Uzui-san, Get some tea, too!" Shinobu calls over her shoulder.

No one has the intention to run anymore, though. Because the story continues to play out before them, and there's no way any of them can pull their eyes away from the story of Tanjirou now.

"Nezuko, are you alright?!"

The extra blanket he'd draped over her falls, but she doesn't move to pick it up. She doesn't even lift her head as he calls him.

"You don't have to get up! I'll carry you all the way to town, alright?" Tanjirou rushes to her side, and when she's irresponsible, he calls once more, "Nezuko!"

"He's going to get eaten," Giyuu says.

"That's honestly the best possible turnout for them both," Uzui says. "Nezuko can't think straight anymore, so if they can both die together like this then Tanjirou doesn't need to live with the memory of killing his own sister."

"But we already know Tanjirou's going to live, so..."

"I guess he does kill his sister."

Rengoku sighs. He wants to be a little more positive, but their line of work has never really allowed for that before.

He tries to reach for her, but that's when she lifts her head, eyes bloodshot, fangs barred with a deep snarl rumbling through her throat and she  lunges  at him.

He barely catches her before she sinks her teeth into him, startled.

He snags the hatchet from his waist and locks it between her teeth just in time. But she's stronger, and shoves him into the snow.

She's... she's a demon!

He can't believe it. He doesn't understand it. But it's the reality before him.

A firm glare sets on their brows.

"Oh, boy's got good reactions," Rengoku says, "managed to avoid being bitten immediately, that's great."

"At least this proves he knows how to use that hatchet well," Shinazugawa says. "He's not completely hopeless."

Shinobu sips on the tea Uzui brings back. "I do wonder how long it'll take for a demon slayer to get there."

Is this what Saburo-ojiisan was talking about? Is Nezuko a man-eating demon? But that can't be. She's been human. From the very day she was born, she's been human.

"Oh how we wish that was how it worked," Mitsuri sighs, "unfortunately, all demons were once human..."

Muichirou frowns. "Then how did the first demon come about?"

"What came first, the chicken or the egg," Uzui says. Clearly, there's no way to know, and the debates about it could go on forever.

But it didn't matter. Whether Kibutsuji Muzan was born a demon or was the first to become a demon unwillingly, it's far too late in the war for any sympathy.

Her scent's changed. Now, she smells of blood and death.

But Nezuko couldn't have done that to the house. She couldn't have killed everyone!

Some brows raised.

"But that's the most likely turnout now, since there were no footsteps out the building," Rengoku says. He won't latch onto the idea of Muzan visiting this house so surely yet. "Is he in denial?"

"Reasonable, honestly."

"But if he can smell even the difference, his nose must be something else," Giyuu says. "It's really like my Master Urokodaki-sensei."

"Like the Former Water Pillar?" Shinobu asks.

Giyuu nods.

Kaigaku frowns. What's with former Hashira and inhumane senses?

She was hunched over Rokuta like she was trying to protect him. There's no blood on her hands or her mouth.

That makes Shinobu's eyes widen. "That's right..."

So Nezuko hasn't eaten a human yet. Tanjirou had brought her away just before she turned, so she hasn't smelled human blood as a demon yet, either.

They usually don't take notice of this. Whether a demon's eaten humans or otherwise, they're to be killed. Paying attention to blood on their mouths was just an indicator of how feral they could act at the moment.

Even if Nezuko hadn't eaten a human, she's still a demon now. It didn't matter.

And that other— that other one, the lingering scent!

"Another scent. It'll be the demon that killed his family," Uzui says.

"This guy's nose is off the charts..." Muichirou says.

To his surprise, with a creak of bones and flesh, Nezuko's body enlarges, growing in size and bulk to resemble an adult, overpowering him even further.

She's getting bigger? And she's getting stronger, too!

Rengoku frowns. "I've heard of demons slightly changing their physical structure as they transform, some can even grow additional limbs, alter their muscular formation and even anatomy... but nothing as straightforward as literally growing up."

Shinobu's brows also furrow in thought.

She's seen many demons gain multiple eyes, limbs, and even beastly appendages— but one constant in demons was how they are unaging. Many times, demons are found simply because they stayed in a human place for too long. If they could make themselves naturally age, they would always do it.

"I suppose it's not impossible, if you think about it," Shinazugawa says, "just unusual."

All demons are unique. So it probably shouldn't be too surprising that Nezuko is unique in her own way, too.

(Plus nothing is impossible, when you think about Muzan. Whether this was Muzan's work or not, all demons inherit his powers in some way.)

His hands shake, struggling to hold back her face with the hatchet lodged between her teeth. But all he can do is regret.

While I was sleeping so safely and comfortably in Saburou-jiisan's house... everyone was brutally murdered!

It was painful, wasn't it? You must have been suffering, so much, and I didn't even know. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to save you.

Tears brim through his eyes.

He has to find a way to at least save Nezuko. At least her. But he's not strong enough to push her back.

"Nezuko!" the tears finally spill past his eyes, running down his cheeks, "fight it, Nezuko! You've got to hang in there!"

And wasn't that just the worst feeling in the world?

They did feel sorry for the boy— but steeling their hearts is what they've had to learn since joining the Demon Slayer Corps, and it will be something Tanjirou will soon have to learn, too.

"Unfortunately, if there was ever a way for demons to turn back, we'd never have any suffering in the world," Uzui says. "It's impossible."

"Even if we were to try finding a cure, or even find out if it's truly possible... we're much too far in this war to even begin the research," Shinobu says, "and I've become uninclined to do anything to help demons, recently."

And that's without even addressing the ethical problems. There's no way any demon would volunteer to be a guinea pig to humans that hate them so much, and there's no way any of their surviving family members would accept it if their already-demonified family members become experimental subjects for the sake of science.

And thus, research never happened for it.

And research probably won't, ever.

Footsteps encroach, a pair of feet donning a black uniform.

Giyuu perks up. "Someone's coming."

"Wait..." Iguro scowls.

"Whatever you do, don't become a demon! Hang in there, please, fight it—!!"

Tears fall upon his face. Tears that aren't his own.

Nezuko's eyes flood through with tears as she whimpers, confusion bleeding through the ferocity in her bloodshot eyes.

"...she regained her senses," Muichirou says. "That's sad."

He says so, with no sympathy at all.

Because regaining senses isn't unusual, for demons.

It usually only happens when they're satiated, but often, they come to senses in the middle of eating their own family, and it breaks their hearts to pieces.

They've had to chase down several demons that ran from their own deeds, desperate to escape their reality. Trying to insist it wasn't them. They didn't eat them. They wouldn't. (And the blood on their hands will prove them otherwise and they will despair.)

But it only lasts a moment.

It will only take until the next bout of their hunger before they lose their senses again.

Occasionally they may think of the human lives they once had. But it will only bring them pain, and thus, they will stop trying. Then, they will succumb to demonisation fully.

(Sometimes, they come to their senses, and they smile as the slayers cut them down.)

(Somehow, killing demons like those always hurts the most. Their smiling faces keep them going on this path, though they also haunt them in their dreams.)

The man wields a sword, and a red haori split down the centre, the opposing side vividly patterned yellow and green.

"Ah," is the only sound that comes out of Giyuu's mouth.

He dons the uniform of a demon slayer, his eyes a cold shade of blue.

"Oh dear. Looks like the lucky sod in charge of taking this girl out is Tomioka!" Uzui says.

Giyuu grimaces. "I wouldn't... say it's lucky..."

Uzui glances at him with a grim nods.

Shinobu pats Uzui on the back, "I did say he didn't understand sarcasm, did I?"

"But this proves it's truly in the future, then!" Rengoku says, "if you've not experienced this yet, then it's truly something that hasn't come to pass."

"And it won't, if we'll be able to do anything about it," Shinazugawa says. "None of this stupid shit is happening. Fuck's sake a child is saving th eworld what the fuck are we Hashira doing, huh?"

"With both Kaigaku-kun's situation and ours, it really seems as if we're always just a step too late, huh..." Mitsuri says, "how regrettable."

Kaigaku lifts his head at the address.

Well... he doesn't blame them, but he can't deny that, when the Upper Moon showed up, that was what everyone was doing. Everyone wanted the Hashira to come, quickly, hurry, and they cursed that the Hashira wasn't there yet as they died one after another.

He leaps toward the demon, that notices him—

—but Tanjirou reacts first, a hand grasping her neck with the opportunity, flipping them both over and out of the trajectory of the sword's swing. It misses her neck and lops off Tanjirou's hair by the knot at its base.

Their attacker's eyes widen with surprise.

"Ah, so close," Muichirou says. "Should have just lopped his head off while you were at it. Put the boy out of his misery."

"You guys are dark! Too morbid!" Mitsuri wails.

"You're really slipping, Tomioka-san, if both the demon and the boy noticed you," Shinobu says.

"Hey now, not everyone can fight as quietly as you," Uzui says. "Though, I'd have definitely cut it off so fast no one notices."

"...same," Kaigaku murmurs.

"That's because both of you are Thunder users, your whole things is basically being fucking fast," Shinazugawa groans, "stop bragging, you shits!"

"And Wind users, their 'whole thing'," Iguro says, "is being loud and obnoxious, is that it?"

"FUCK YOU SAY?"

"Now, come on, don't be so rude to Tokito!" Rengoku says. "He's very quiet!"

Mitsuri bursts out laughing. "Not even going to defend Shinazugawa?!"

Giyuu hums. "His attacks are very explosive, however. He's got the illusiveness usually characteristic of Water users."

"And I! Am usually very loud!" Uzui beams. "By design!"

"I mean, you created your own style by mixing and matching all you liked, so fair enough."

"And," Shinobu turns to Kaigaku, very informatively, "Water users like me, Tomioka-san, and Iguro-san are very adaptable, while Flame users like Rengoku-san and Kanroji are very physically strong. It'll do you good to remember these for the future in case you ever find yourself on the other end of the sword."

"Ah— uhn. Okay. Understood, ma'am," Kaigaku jilts out, too incredulous to even retort. "Wait, is this about me turning into a demon?"

Kaigaku's never really paid attention to which Breathing Style as an offshoot of which, but it appears there's more relevance to where they come from than he'd thought.

They roll across the snow with the violent aftershock of the swing, until Tanjirou's back crashes upon a tree to bring them both to a stop. Nezuko is still cradled in his arms as she shrinks back to her usual size.

"Oh, she shrank!"

"Well, that's convenient."

The demon slayer straightens, turning toward them pensively.

What? Who's that?

His sword gleams blue, the words  Destroyer of Demons  engraves at its base.

A katana?

"See, Tomioka-san, this is why you have to conceal your sword when you go out," Shinobu says, "I caught you last time just holding the sword as it is, too. Do you want to get arrested?"

Giyuu frowns. "I don't see the problem."

"Only the police are allowed to carry swords in public now, you know," Uzui says, "We're in the Taisho era now. Were you under a rock when the sword hunt happened?"

"I was a child that did not have a sword."

"That checks out."

"We're still allowed to possess them, just not carry them around like samurai used to do," Rengoku says. "So keep a low profile, Tomioka-san! Or the public will give you more trouble than demons."

Kaigaku is honestly baffled that a Hashira didn't know that.

"I mean, if we stay in the forests and lesser-travelled roads, it'll be fine," Muichirou says.

"It's a pain to hide them," Iguro says, "just don't interact with humans and you won't have to worry about anything."

"Obanai, Tokito, not everyone is allergic to social interaction like you two, okay."

"Oh fucking hell, all of you shut up already!" Shinazugawa yells, "who cares about the damn sword! Just glare at anyone that tries to arrest you, you're stronger!"

"It's because we're stronger, Shinazugawa. Oyakata-sama would be disappointed in you if you beat up a civilian."

"Who said anything about beating up?! A glare is enough!"

"Oh that's right!" Shinobu says, brightly feigning concern, "Shinazugawa-san doesn't even need a sword to be suspected as a criminal, so I suppose you never need to conceal your sword, huh?"

"Kochou, I swear I'll wring your neck one day!"

"If you want to become my experimental subject for my newest [the most torturously slow-acting life-extending poison that causes excruciating pain] concoction, I dare you to try!" her reply doesn't even miss a beat and brightness.

"WHY WOULD YOU EVER NEED TO USE THAT?!"

"Why are you protecting it?" he demands.

"Sh— She's my sister!" Tanjirou responds, quickly. "She's my little sister!" But it's not very convincing, when Nezuko wakes up growling and incoherent once more, struggling to leave his grasps.

His brows furrow, but it eases. "Is  that  your sister?"

He says, in the tone of 'are you sure?'

Tanjirou wants to refute it. But his sister's state makes him realize that anything he can say would be empty. This isn't his sister. His sister isn't a man-eating demon that has to be called and commanded like a feral dog.

(But it's still  Nezuko .)

"It's a harsh reality, kid, but the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can move on from it," Uzui says. "It's just how it is."

"Kill the sister already!" Iguro says.

"Yeah, you monster of a cruel man, kill his sister in front of him already, you know it's inevitable," Shinobu says, in complete monotone. "Do itttt~"

They would all despise being in the same situation, but humour as a coping mechanism is just as common as self-destruction among demon slayers. No hard feelings. It's not like they're currently in that situation, after all, it's always nice to make fun of their coworkers for stuff they've done or will soon do.

Giyuu has the look of utter misery on his face. "I hate this job."

"Don't we all sometimes!" Rengoku bursts into laughter.

"Huh? I'm proud of my job!" Mitsuri panics. "I do! I swear!"

"We know, Kanroji, we are, too."

The demon slayer lunges at him.

Tanjirou pulls his sister into his arms and curls in— but she's gone. The demon slayer has taken her by the arm and gained distance. Nezuko continues to groan in hostility, fierce and feral.

"Nezuko!"

"Don't move."

Tanjirou freezes.

"Oh, silly boy, there's no way he can be faster than you," Shinobu says.

"Poor boy," Mitsuri says. "But for his first reaction to be to try and protect her, I'm rather touched!"

"That's how the weak fight," Shinazugawa says. "If we have nothing to give, we give our life. Though, this kid's desperation instincts seem to be dialed to maximum pacifistic for some dumbfuck reason."

"Being a pacifist is good," Rengoku says. "Not in this society, though!"

Shinazugawa scoffs. "I'd have hurled the damn hatchet at Tomioka first."

"I can dodge and we'll be back to square one," Giyuu states. "Considering Tanjirou is an untrained boy that isn't even a hunter."

"Yeah, and then next my teeth will be in your shoulder you bitch! You better fucking bet if that was me I'd tear your haori into two pieces as it should be!"

"But I— my—!!" Giyuu's utterly flabbergasted, settling on a mildly affronted and very meek, "my haori... looks okay as it is..."

He goes completely silent.

This prompts Rengoku to pat him on the head. It just feels appropriate. Shinobu does so too, and eventually, Mitsuri is offering him tea.

"You hurt his feelings, Shinazugawa," Uzui reports, accusingly. "Not flamboyant of you."

"Shut up!"

"My job is to slay demons. As such, I will also be slaying your sister," he says.

"W- Wait! Nezuko hasn't killed anyone!" Tanjirou insists. "There was another scent back there, one I didn't recognize, it was in my house! That must be who killed everyone! I don't know why Nezuko's acting like this, but—!"

"It's simple. Her wounds were exposed to demon blood, so she's transformed into a demon. That's how they multiply."

"Only from particularly strong demons, though," Uzui says, "and if the victim's civilian. We'd be much more worried about fighting demons if blood in my injuries got me turned!"

Kaigaku nods. "So many more of us would be turned by day one if it was that easy. There's gotta be a good amount in there."

Giyuu feels very affronted. "Guys... I'm keeping it simple for the kid..."

"And Breathing Styles, as well as proximity to wisteria and Nichirin swords, and of course, the corps-distributed medicine, all help build up immunity to trace amounts of Muzan blood," Shinobu says. "I make very sure of that."

"Which is why not many Slayers get turned," Rengoku says. "If Upper Moon one really tried to turn you, Kaigaku, it'd have taken a lot of blood!"

"Probably it would be enough blood to make you the level of a Demon Moon immediately," Iguro says. "Well, makes it all the more exciting when we have to kill you."

"That's if he survives the transformation to begin with," Muichirou says.

"Sure enough! All our immunity makes it really painful to try and turn. Your body will probably give up first," Shinobu beams. "You'd have died agonizingly! So don't try taking any demon blood in the future okay, Kaigaku-kun? Even if you survive, we'll all do our best to kill you anyways so it's really not worth it."

"Stop scaring the poor boy, everyone! Please!" Mitsuri pleads. Kaigaku is hiding behind her at this point and they're all unrepentantly having fun with those threats.

"Nezuko would never eat a human!"

"You can't be serious. A moment ago she almost ate  you ."

"You're wrong!" Tanjiro's desperate, "she can recognize me! I won't let her hurt anyone, I'll find a way to cure her! I'll turn her back into a human!"

Giyuu's quiet. "There's no cure. A human can't turn back, once they've become a demon."

"I'll  find  a way, I swear! Please don't kill her!" he begs. His words wane away into pathetic wails, sobbing, as he cries out more desperately than he has ever in his life, "I'll find the one that killed my family, too! I'll do all that, I'll make everything alright again so– so!! Please! Please stop!"

Giyuu doesn't heed his pleas. He raises his sword.

Giyuu sighs deeply.

This is always the worst part of demon slaying— the people who are left behind.

Perhaps the thing that makes it most frustrating to deal with these type of people— is the fact that they're all so fully aware, that once upon a time they would have been in the exact same position, making the exact same pathetic pleas, and being similarly incapable of understanding why their loved ones had to die.

It never gets easier. And now that he's on the other side, he hates being on both sides. He's overcome that horrible phase of his life once already and he doesn't understand why he has to see himself in so many more people, over and over again.

It's projection, he knows.

"Please—!!"

Tanjirou thinks of his family, dearly,  please don't take anyone else away from me.

And he crumbles into pieces, falling to his knees, planting his head so firmly to the ground in a desperately, deeply sincere prostration.

"...please don't kill my sister.  Please ."

The room's fallen silent.

"Hey now, Tomioka," Uzui says. "If you're going to do it, might as well get it over with already."

They all hate doing this. Some have just learned to cope better.

They're going to be despised for doing this, no matter what. Might as well do it quick and never see the boy ever again. Then maybe the boy can live on with that unbridled fury in his gut to keep him moving onward.

(That's how they all handled their own.)

Giyuu's fist tightens by his side.

He really hates being put in the spot.

There's a moment of stilted silence. And Giyuu's teeth grind with anger.

"Never let your enemies take such blatant advantage of you!!" he snaps, loud and furious, his eyes burning as his voice raises.

Everyone in the room jumps with surprise. Eyes wide and affixed on the screen, some take a cursory glance at Giyuu to see that he, too, is surprised to hear himself shout.

How long has it been since he's raised his voice?

He honestly didn't think he was still capable of it.

"Stop that pathetic grovelling! If begging and crying were the least bit effective, your family wouldn't have been killed!"

Tanjirou head lifts with surprise.

"You're a weakling! A coward who does nothing but just  fold  at adversity— and you think you swear you can save your sister? You swear you can find the one that killed your family?" Giyuu's voice raises into exasperation, coming from a place of such raw resentment— "Don't make me laugh!"

The first to crack is Uzui.

Into a sort of short laugh. "I never thought I'd see the day Tomioka actually gets angry!"

"I thought you were like Tokito," Rengoku says. "So you do have emotions!"

Shinobu giggles, "don't be so hard on him. Tomioka-san does his best, you know? I've seen him smile once. It was so weird I couldn't sleep that night. It's my sleep paralysis demon."

"What? When?" Mitsuri's very curious.

"Salmon daikon at a very nice food stall."

"That is so cute??"

They say this, fully aware that most of them hide their emotions, too. But Giyuu's face heats up and he pointedly looks away the more attention is put on him. It's hilarious.

"I suppose we've all wanted to yell in these situations," Iguro says.

Shinazugawa clicks his tongue. "Seriously, I hate it when they start fucking groveling. Almost makes me want to let them be eaten just to prove my point."

"Well, don't!!" Rengoku says.

"Obviously!" Shinazugawa snaps back.

"The weak have neither rights nor options! It's their fate to be crushed by the strong!"

He shoves Nezuko forward, grip tight on her forearms as she struggles vainly.

"Say there  are  demons out there that know how to cure your sister. Don't think for a  second  that any of them will respect your whining and begging! And for that matter, I have zero reason to respect you either!" he shouts. "That's just reality!"

Giyuu raises his sword.

"Why did you try to cover your sister, just now? Did you think you could protect her?" he demands. "Why didn't you throw your hatchet? Why did you do nothing but show me your back and show your vulnerability against an enemy? That's how I was able to take her so easily! I should have skewered you along with her instead!"

"I do like the way you say it," Shinobu says. "I would have just told him to off himself at this point. That's how I get angry."

"Tomioka's anger is actually kind of refreshing," Uzui says. "I would have punched the kid already! Tomioka being able to keep to just yelling is great because I could never."

"I would have killed the kid already," Iguro says.

"Same," Muichirou says.

"Tomioka-san's so angry his voice is cracking," Mitsuri's enthralled, "that's passionate. I've never heard his voice go that tone before it's so cool."

"None of you are ever allowed near kids, and I can't believe I'm the one saying this," Kaigaku says. "Yelling is the most normal option. I'm so sorry you have to work so closely with these guys."

Giyuu groans into his hands.

Nezuko flails about wildly, trying to escape. And Tanjirou can do nothing but listen, and realize how  right  he is.

Don't cry.

Don't despair , Giyuu deigns.

Those things will do you no good, and now's not the time for that.

Your family was massacred and your sister has turned into a demon. I know you must be devastated. It hurts, doesn't it? You want to scream, don't you?

I know how that feels.

If I'd arrived just half a day sooner, your family might have survived. But there is no turning back time.

Be angry.

This pure, unforgiving wrath that festers inside you shall become the unwavering force that fuels your path onward. With such fragile resolve, you can never protect your sister or find her a cure. And you certainly cannot avenge your family.

"Well said!" Rengoku says. "You can be very blunt when you need to be Tomioka, why aren't you like this more often?"

"Stop. I want to die. Why do we have to watch this."

Giyuu is ready to perish. It's one thing to lose his temper, another thing entirely for his inner thoughts and year-suppressed frustrations to come right out while all his peers are here to see it. It's horrifically embarrassing.

They all know the frustration of 'not getting there early enough'. It's not their fault they can't be anywhere at once— they train until their bones break and their stomachs upturn, they spend days travelling and nights fighting without any rest at all, and yet, demons are always a step earlier than them.

It's frustrating that they cannot be everywhere at once. It haunts them, as slayers, that they cannot save everyone.

(It's a fool's dream, and they're just trying their best, but they're still at fault for not being able to prevent one more death in the world.)

"I heard a hint of Tomioka-san projecting his insecurities just now," Shinobu says.

"Stop it, he's going to cry!" Kaigaku hisses. Giyuu has taken to hiding behind Kaigaku at this point and seriously the Hashiras are all such bullies!

"I feel ya, Tomioka!" Uzui laughs. "Don't we all!"

He raises his sword, and plunges it into Nezuko's shoulder. She howls.

"STOP IT!"

A stone is thrown his way.

Giyuu deflects it with the hilt of his sword.

"And here comes retaliation!" Rengoku beams. "Good one, boy!"

"Go, beat that bully!" Shinobu cheers with false excitement. "You definitely can't win, but kick him in the nuts or something."

"DO any of you even have the right to talk about bullies right now?" Kaigaku murmurs.

"Guys, whose side are we even on," Mitsuri cries, so confused. "Do we want Tomioka to defeat the demon, I thought that's the obvious one?"

"We want to see Tomioka-san get his just desserts!" Uzui cheers. "Because it's funny!"

"Tomioka if you fucking lose to that brat I'm kicking you off the Hashira meetings myself!" Shinazugawa yells, like a cornerman in a fighting ring.

"I want to quit the Hashira meetings right now immediately,," Giyuu pleads, hands over his ears. "I need to find a Tsuguko as soon as I get out."

"I honestly don't blame you for wanting that," Muichirou nods. "I mean, this is what you deal with."

Tanjirou runs for the axe, another stone in his fist as he runs across the forest, behind the trees, gaining distance. He circles around to the side, and pitches the stone once more before ducking behind a large tree.

Giyuu swerves aside from the rock, turning to face the boy.

Tanjirou makes a mad, howling dash forward right toward Giyuu, hands lowered as he charges up a swing for his hatchet.

Giyuu is unimpressed.

A simple head-on charge, driven purely by emotion... what a fool.

Fueled by irritation, Giyuu plunges the back of his sword into Tanjirou's back, knocking him out cold into a heap on the snow.

"...well, yeah, we figured," Uzui says.

"What a letdown!" Kaigaku groans.

"You lost your temper there again, Tomioka-san," Shinobu chuckles, "now now, let's all~ take a deep breath now one, two— and out—"

"Kochou, I think you're trying to help, but if Tomioka does that—" Rengoku oh no! Tomioka did you do it! Did you stop Total Concentration Breathing Constant?!" Rengoku's flustered. "You know you can't do that at resting point! You could burst your lungs!"

Iguro huffs. "You've managed to interrupt his Total Concentration Breathing Constant by just being an utter menace. Congratulations."

"Thank you!" says Shinobu, brightly.

"Tomioka-san are you okay?? Going back to normal breathing probably hurts a lot for us since it's been so long!" Mitsuri is very worried. "Where's that tea from just now??"

Nezuko, witnessing the strike, falls shock silent at the sight, eyes locked on her brother's fallen form.

This catches the attention of the Hashira as well.

"Wait, that's not common."

That demon has no reason to suddenly regain her senses there. She'd reacted, not for a temporary satiation of hunger or a particular desperate plea for sanity— she stopped, purely upon the fact that someone was struck down.

Simply because she realized her brother had been struck down, and had fallen limp upon the snow, at the mercy of the main holding her aside.

(Those eyes are wide, as if she truly understood the danger a human being was in.)

(And that, beyond even her own captured state, took over her thoughts.)

But something's wrong, and Giyuu notices belatedly that Tanjirou's hands are empty.

Where's his hatchet?

"Eh?" and now, another problem.

"Wait, when did it disappear?"

"And what kind of idiot lets go of their only weapon in a situation like that?"

"You're supposed to hold onto your sword even after you're dead standing, dumbass!" Shinazugawa yells. "Where'd he drop it?!"

"No..." Giyuu says, "when did he throw it?"

He lifts his head, suddenly hearing the swish of a spinning axe overhead— and he only has a narrow tilt of his head to dodge as the blade plunges firmly into the tree right behind him, exactly where his skull would have been.

Giyuu's eyes are wide, this time, with genuine surprise.

...right before he hid in that tree's shadow... he threw that rock at me to distract me as he flung the hatchet into the air. And then he hid his hands and pretended to attack me, so I wouldn't realize he was unarmed.

He knew he couldn't win against me head-on, so he tried to take me out after he was struck down? This kid...

Unbelievable.

The room's at a loss for words.

"Well... that was interesting, for a kid who's clearly never tried to hurt a human before," Muichirou says.

"...are we sure," Kaigaku says, "because I'm pretty sure we just saw the kid try to take Tomioka-san's head right off."

"Yeah, that really wouldn't have been pretty," Shinobu says, "Imagine the Kakushi that would have to find the Water Hashira with a hatchet in his skull. Won't even be a demon that did it. You'd go down in history."

"...how does Kochou always find a way to rub in the wound with salt and pepper?" Iguro says, "seriously, I'm about to ask you to teach me your ways."

"That was really close!" Rengoku says, brighter than he should.

That was so close to his head. Granted, Giyuu probably only dodged as much as he should, lost in thought and not in the mindset that he would be killed by a kid either way— but it's clear it really caught him off guard. How long has it been since he was so unpleasantly caught off guard?

"Wait, the kid was trying to land a hit after getting knocked out?" Shinazugawa says. "Even if he took out Tomioka, the demon would eat them both!"

"I guess that's sibling love!" Mitsuri says, "he believed his sister wouldn't eat him even then!"

"That, or he was planning to feed Tomioka's dead body to the demon," Uzui says. "So begins the journey of his conquest to keep his sister alive by killing humans!"

There's morbid silence.

Uzui starts, defensively, "what?? It's possible! And I've had to fight a delusional bastard who wanted to do that before."

"You have???"

Giyuu's speechless.

So speechless, the distraction allows the demon in his hands to break free, kick him away with a surprising burst of strength—

Shinazugawa yelps. "Tomioka you idiot!"

"Ahhh why'd you let her go!" Mitsuri wails.

"Calm down! Everyone calm down!" Uzui yells. "Just cut her down! It's not that hard!"

"Why are all of you screaming?!?" Kaigaku screeches. "You're HASHIRA!"

"Well Kaigaku-kun," Shinobu says, obviously the clamest, "if you've never screwed up before, you panic when you do. It's tough being awesome."

"Are you boasting or insulting Tomioka-san??"

Giyuu curses.  Damn it! She's going to eat him!

Nezuko lunges for Tanjirou, before skidding to a stop right before him, her arms spread out over his figure as she  hisses  at Giyuu, standing over her brother with arms spread out.

Giyuu stops in surprise.

( Nezuko hasn't killed anyone! Nezuko would never eat a human ! Tanjirou had insisted.)

And she has proven it true.

And this makes the commotion in the room pause.

"Well, that's... interesting," Shinazugawa says.

"Oh dear," Rengoku says.

They've definitely seen demons regain senses for moments at a time, usually enough to run away from their murders and cry in denial, or resist and insist they're not monsters— but never one like this.

Never one that reacts like a mother beast, with protective instincts almost as if she were trying to cover her young from a threat.

"She's... protecting him," Kaigaku says, almost dumbly. "She completely turned away from him."

She didn't hunch over him like a beast protecting its food.

She stood over him, face upturned, body tensed, and ready to strike. She levelled Giyuu with a glare, trying to intimidate him— all while keeping the unconscious Tanjirou in the corner of her gaze.

"Well... now I want to study that girl," Shinobu says.

"Oh you've got to be kidding," Uzui says. "You can't be thinking of doing what I think you're going to do."

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Giyuu asks.

She roars, leaping at him, not to kill— but to  protect .

Giyuu's anger wanes into thought. And thought transpires into consideration— and into a decision.

This kid is by no means the first to say something as wishful as that. Many have, only to get proven wrong. Starving demons will eat even their parents and siblings for their sustenance. It's happened countless times.

But this girl is gravely wounded.

Giyuu thinks, and he doesn't strike yet. He dodges her lunges, her attempts to hurt him, easily, and she never turns back to her brother to sate her hunger, to gain more strength.

And she's expending energy to heal that wound... her transformation must have drained her, too. That means she's undoubtedly, severely starved at this moment. She must crave human flesh so desperately she should be able to think of nothing else.

And yet, she protects him, and sets her anger on me instead.

He sheathes his sword.

There might... be something special about these two.

Giyuu knocks her out instead of killing her.

There's a moment of silence.

Then, Giyuu dryly admits, "my teacher always told me to obey my instincts, so... maybe?"

Everyone whirls on him. "Dude, you've always been an outlier but come on! You've always been such a good boy that you're the last person we expected to do something like this!"

"Yeah," Shinobu says, "I'd sooner expect me to do it first. And it would be to dissect it! You've surprised me, Tomioka-san I didn't know you had it in you! Are you growing up now?"

Mitsuri's confused. "Why are you guys treating him like a kid going through puberty??"

"Because for Tomioka, it kind of feels like that sometimes," Rengoku says.

"But he's got a point," Uzui says. "I've never seen a demon as weakened as that still manage to hold back their natural instincts to devour. Older, wiser demons that have eaten many, maybe— but this is a freshly-turned, fledgling demon that's on her first day of feeding."

"Are you not against this?" Iguro says, "you're awfully calm for what's literal treason toward Oyakata-sama."

Kaigaku grimaces.

"I mean... I almost turned into a demon, myself. I don't think I have a right to comment on this," he admits. "But I do know that... if I became a demon and still had my senses... and I didn't want to be one... I'd still be scared of dying, so I'd have hoped someone saved me instead of killing me too."

Shinazugawa scoffs. "Demons should just accept their fate and die, doesn't matter if you're exceptional or not."

"And I don't disagree, Shinazugawa, but..." Rengoku frowns at the screen. "This is the story of the boy that's going to help us end this war, or so we assume. And his demon sister, who has managed to defy demonic instincts so far..."

"Maybe this is what makes him special?" Uzui says. "The demon slayer that kills Muzan will be one that has a demon sister! Flamboyant! I like it!"

In his dreams, Tanjirou is surrounded by his family. They'll all crouched over him, concern painted grimly over their faces as Tanjirou sleeps.

His mother hovers over him, whispering close.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind, Tanjirou," she says. "Take care of Nezuko, alright?"

Tanjirous grasps desperately in response— but it's not his mother. It's Nezuko's shawl, and she's asleep by his side.

Tears stream down his face.

"So you spared them, after all," Iguro sighs. "I'm disappointed in you."

"Another corps traitor to kill before we get out of here," Shinazugawa declares.

Kaigaku jumps. "You guys are still planning on killing me...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you under the impression you were getting spared?" Shinobu says, and Kaigaku whirls around with a betrayed look on his face, "I only didn't want to waste supplies because I already used them on you. Once you're healed it's a different story."

"Hey come on now," Rengoku chides them all, "we are seeing the future to try and prevent things, here! Not to make preemptive murders!"

"Prevention's better than cure," Muichirou says, sagely.

Everyone turns to him in silence. That had felt random.

Then, Giyuu speaks up with understanding, "oh, so it would be faster to kill me now than risk me defying corps rules in the future. Makes sense."

Shinazugawa's sword comes down and Giyuu parries it just as quickly.

"No fighting! NO FIGHTING! We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves we're all friends here aren't we?" Mitsuri wails, arms swinging about frantically, shoving herself between them, "we don't have space for that, anyways! Love and peace! Love and peaceeee!!"

There's something around Nezuko's mouth— bamboo, strung around thin red fabric and wound around her face like a muzzle. She's sleeping, almost peacefully.

"You awake?"

Tanjirou rises with a start.

Giyuu stands by a tree, a distance from them.

"Woah! You let him sleep?!" Uzui says. "I wouldn't have been that nice!"

"You even put the shawl back on the girl!" Mitsuri says, eyes twinkling absolutely endeared. "That's so sweet Tomioka-san!"

"Is..." Kaigaku's baffled, "is that a muzzle...?"

"What were you doing until he woke up, killing time?" Iguro says. "Just kick him awake. Geez. You're wasting your time and your wasted time is wasted lives."

Giyuu frowns. "How am I supposed to know..."

"It's lightly snowing and cloudy," Shinobu says, "if I had to kill time in that situation, I'd build a snow hut and make kirimochi over a fire. Would be good to hide the demon in, in case the sun comes out."

Kaigaku stares at Shinobu with reluctance, absolutely terrified of even asking why she would ever be in a situation where she would try to keep a demon alive longer.

Unfortunately for him, Shinobu answers the unasked.

"You see, Kaigaku-kun, when I meet a particularly strong and misbehaving demon that loves to torment humans, I always nake sure to pay them back the suffering of our corps members tenfold," she says, smiling so sweetly shivers run down his spine. "Of course, I am always coming up with means to make my calculations as accurate as possible. Just telling you so you know, in case you ever need this information."

Kaigaku pointedly takes a step away from Shinobu.

"...yes, ma'am."

That's the most informative threat he's ever received.

Tanjirou quickly takes Nezuko to his lap, looking back up at Giyuu skeptically. Giyuu makes no move, but he doesn't quite trust him not to make attempts again.

"Go to Mt. Sagiri," Giyuu advises. "A man named Urokodaki Sakonji lives there, at the foot of the mountain. Tell him Tomioka Giyuu sent you there."

"You're sending him to your Master??" Uzui is baffled.

"Water Breathing, I see," Iguro says.

"What a shame!" Rengoku says. "But you get your Tsuguko, Tomioka, congrats!"

"To a former pillar?? And you don't think he'll kill him immediately??" Shinazugawa roars, "why are you getting a former Hashira involved in your treason, what are you thinking?!"

"...uh," Giyuu says, "that Urokodaki-sensei will probably have a better idea of what to do."

"Tomioka-san, can you like, deal with your own problems? Stop running to Grandpa for help?" Shinobu says, but of course, the mockery flies right over Giyuu's head as he squints his eyes and says with complete confusion,

"But Urokodaki-sensei said I can always rely on him..."

"Oh my god the Water Pillar spoils him. That's why he's such a hopeless boy."

Kaigaku grimaces. "You were the golden younger student, weren't you?"

Giyuu whirls on him, mortified. "How did you know...?"

"Experience."

"Your sister should be fine right now while it's still cloudy, but make sure she's never exposed to direct sunlight."

And Giyuu leaves, so quickly only dust is left in his wake.

Tanjirou's eyes are still wide, his body still winded from the ordeal— and he doesn't have any words to articulate the bizarre events thus far.

"You're not even going to walk him there, huh," Mitsuri says. "I'd be worried. What if they don't make it to Mt Sagiri?"

"Then good riddance!" Shinazugawa says.

Rengoku nods at that. "If they can't make the trip, then they wouldn't have made it far either way, and the problem would settle itself. This was the right choice."

"Plus, we're probably too busy to make that kind of leisurely trip around," Muichirou says.

Uzui nods. "I'm supposing you'll keep this from the corps for a while, so you have to keep your activity quiet and unnoticed by the crows."

"They also need their own time to grieve," Shinobu suggests. "It's the respectful thing to do. And the exact kind of thing our awkward Tomioka-san would do."

"I still don't approve of all this, so this better not contribute to a ton more deaths, you shithead!" Shinazugawa groans. "Or I'll hang your head before we get out of here!"

"Now, now, all of you," Rengoku says. "Clearly this was an important turning point in the life of Tanjirou. It's relevant to our victory, so let's just see how it goes, alright? If the future goes to hell because of her, then we'll do the obvious and make sure she dies when we get out."

They are, after all, here to see the future, and hope it turns out better. They've been given the authority to decide what fates to keep and what to discard.

(They're ill-fitted, but hey, god chose this casting knowing full well it's full of unhinged, broken warriors. They shouldn't complain.)

Everyone seemed to be in agreement at that, so they huffed and turned away from further inner conflict.

He returns home, first, to bury the dead.

He prays on his knees, hoping they would find peace.

Nezuko, less comprehensive of the situation in her current state, does not do that same. But she looks on the graves forlornly, standing in silence.

The room has a moment of silence for the dead.

"She's not very responsive," Shinazugawa scowls.

Iguro frowns. "That's the better alternative, but... I've never seen such a quiet and passive demon before. It's suspicious."

"She's even allowing herself to be led around, and she's standing like a doll when left alone," Shinobu says. "It's like her instincts are... resting."

"She doesn't understand what's going on, either," Mitsuri says, upset. "She cared for her brother before, but now, she doesn't know how to pay respects to her family."

It's a little sad. She has all the right to cry and break down after the death of her family— to mourn for them one last time before they leave— but Nezuko doesn't remember how to. Her humanity's been taken from her, and with it, her right to truly grieve.

And when Tanjirou is done, he rises slowly. And speaks quietly.

"Let's go."

The siblings walk down the mountain, hands in each others', their steps calm and lonely as they leave behind everything they've ever known. Their family is well and truly dead, and there is no one seeing him off when he leaves.

Tanjirou turns around to the silence behind him, to the graves that do not wish him a safe journey ahead.

Just a day ago, Tanjirou couldn't leave the house without being stopped twice or thrice, because that was how adored he was in his family. Behind him were loud calls of staying safe and hurry-on-homes, and he never looked back, feeling warm and loved and knowing those waves were swinging until he went out of sight.

Now, no one stops him as he goes.

No voices call after him.

And when he turns around, no one is seeing him off as he leaves home.

(And they won't ever again, because now, they're buried in the cold dirt a little further down the other side of the house, unable to wave until he's out of sight.)

It leaves a hole in their hearts, a hole the Butterfly Mansion and Wisteria Houses were made for.

To lose everything in a day, and it's not even an uncommon occurrence— all of them know that pain vividly. And all of them crave that home and warmth once more.

For everyone to every day be able to leave home to lovely calls of staying safe, and come home to warm hugs and recuperation— it's a dream all demon slayers hope one day will come true.

He turns to the road forward, resolve and a new spring in his step.

They make haste down the mountain in the falling snow.

Shinobu sighs, deeply.

"It seems we'll be here a while," she opens the door behind her. "Let's get some refreshments before we continue, shall we? Tanjirou's journey has only just begun."

【 1 】☾━━━❖

【 TO BE CONTINUED 】☾━━━❖