Chapter Text
Ch.1 - Hollowness
(AN- This chapter goes by pretty fast, cause I’m assuming everyone knows the basic premise of Kimetsu no Yaiba. So things will slow down from Ch.2 onward)
A gentle gust of wind made the leaves on the trees above you dance as you walked. Your eyes keeping a constant stare at what was directly before you, while your ears covered the rest of the surrounding areas. The sun was setting and thus the forest you walked through started to show it's nightlife.
You hoped that the village you were looking for would appear in another few moments. You had been walking all night to reach it and thus were ready for a nice long rest and some good food.
The pair of Nichirin blades on either side of you clattered gently, ready to be pulled out and used at the smallest hint of danger you could pick up on. Though you had not run into a demon at all during the night. So perhaps… the danger laid elsewhere.
Your thoughts fell silent as you soon saw buildings appearing before you. With a jump in your steps, you picked up the pace. The village before you appeared more and more and you couldn’t wait to relax after your long travels.
However, the smell of something coppery made you pause as you near the entrance to the village. Your eyes widening as your nose started to pick up on other scents mingled in burned wood, blood, and more.
You drew your left blade out, its lavender-blue hue reflecting the sun as you started to wonder about the village. Your eyes scanned the village and with each new image, your stomach fell more and more.
The homes were burned, destroyed, or falling in on themselves. The bodies of people laid in the streets: some still identifiable, others tore into pieces. There were even appendages just laying about.
There was only one culprit for such a gruesome scene- demons.
Those creatures have been around for decades, maybe even centuries at this point. You had run into them before and were lucky to tell the tale. Many others who had the misfortune didn’t live to tell the tale… like this village.
You wandered through with your guard up, part of you hoping to find survivors, but another part of you worried about what else you might find in the ruins of this place. Your feet were quick and you checked the bodies that had a chance of still being alive. But no one had a pulse… no one looked to be left.
Your head held low, seeing another devastated place. More innocent lives were lost… and now you would have to carry on and try to put these images behind you. You needed rest first though. And the only palace that seemed to still be standing somewhat well… was a small home near the back of the village. You’d sleep there tonight and then head out tomorrow to where you were originally heading.
You found your way back to the house and managed to enter it. The door had fallen off and several of the walls were knocked out, leaving several wooden planks scattered about the room. But it was not caving in on itself, so it was the best and only option for a place to rest for a few hours.
You started to put your things down, only to pause when something creaked. You blinked, reaching for the blade on your hip. But it seemed you acted too late, as something hit you and sent you tumbling over.
The sword you had grabbed fell out of your hand and scattered across the room. The sounds of it being kicked away only proved to you that whoever was here wasn’t human, but something else. Something… inhuman.
To make matters even worse, your other sword was caught. Your fall had landed you through one of the walls. You were unharmed for now, but your other blade was caught. Your other sword was caught in a hole and you couldn’t pull it out without turning your back to the enemy. Something you knew to not do, less you had a desire to end up as a demon’s dinner.
Speaking of the enemy, as you caught your breath… you managed to spy the demon for the first time. His breathing was ragged and his body was covered in quickly healing cuts along his entire body. His ash-blonde hair was tipped in a dark orange and his teeth were bared like fangs.
The demon leaped towards you, attempting to slash you with the fingernails that were now more like claws. He growled and made noises akin to an animal. You stepped back, leaping out of his path and rolling onto the floor.
Your pink Nichirin blade was on the floor near the demon… if only you could reach it, you would have a chance to fight! Your lavender-blue was still stuck in the wall, so you had to focus on the other blade.
Your thoughts were interrupted as the demon lunged at you again, and you felt one of his claws slice through your cheek. That was the first time you saw his face and the glow of his carmine eyes. Your heart-stopping for a moment as you gazed at him and then shaking the thought away.
Your momentary distraction had been a foolish mistake though, as in the next moment the demon pounced on you. He tackled you onto the ground and boxed you in. One of his hands looking ready to cut your throat open.
You reached around and managed to grab onto a board of wood and hovered it between the pair of you. His hands gripping the wood and starting to crack the weak board from his immense strength.
Cornered and quickly losing the battle of strength, your mind started to race. There had to be a way out of this situation and there had to be a way to stop this demon in his tracks before he devoured you.
You bit your lip and tried to think rationally. Demons were predictable creatures, always acting based on their hunger alone. Yet, some were creative, acting off other drives than their hunger. The one before you wasn’t that clever yet though.
It was clear to you that he was a newborn. Not only could he not speak, but the amount of force he was showing almost confirmed his recent awakening. A veteran demon was clever, newborns were desperate.
Which made the newborns dangerous. They were not like the veterans who were cunning and clever. The newborns acted only on hunger alone… some going as far as to harm themselves in order to get what they needed.
And that was exactly the situation you were finding yourself in. The demon hovered over you, his body growing in size and he expelled more strength by the moments. If he continued to use his power with no flesh consumed, it would only lead to pain for him.
But the demon’s health and safety were not of concern to you as the moments slipped by, as your own well-being started to diminish. The demon’s hands cracked the piece of wood you had used as a barrier. Pieces of wood fell onto you and you desperately tried to keep space between you and the demon.
Your eyes gritted and you inhaled sharply as the demon lurked forward and nearly tore off a piece of your neck. Your eyes fluttered closed and your brows twitched in frustration. Why did this have to happen? Why?
Another guttural noise escaped the lips of the demon before you and your eyes flew open. Your hues of (eye color) widening as you stared at the demon above you. It was clear that he was starving and wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into your soft and warm flesh, but his lips quivered.
You sucked in a breath and reaffirmed your grasp on the piece of wood that was barely together. You looked back that the demon and made sure he was looking back at you. His eyes looked desperate: for both his hunger and maybe for some sort of sense of humanity that remained in him. You were not sure, but you could tell that he was hesitating now. Something a demon didn’t do when they had cornered potential prey.
He growled again, eyes turning serpent-like and losing the human-like look that had previously been looking into your own eyes. His hunger was winning out, meaning you would need to do something and soon.
The piece of wood cracked in half as the demon snapped it. His body jerking forward and moving to finally satiate his hunger. Your throat was dry, but it didn’t stop the scream that escaped your lips as the demon neared your shoulder.
“Snap out of it, Kacchan!” You cried, tears spilling from your eyes. “If anyone can, its you!”
The demon stopped dead in his tracks. The sound of the name making him freeze. Something about it stirred something in his mind and he couldn’t move further. A tiny gray and worn image played in repeat in his head as the name echoed in his mind.
“Kacchan!” Two figures would repeatedly call him sometime before. “Kacchan!”
He couldn’t remember who called him it, why it was important, or even if it was his own name… but it was enough to make him stop in his tracks. The ring of such few syllables had momentarily freed the demon from his hunger and filled him with curiosity towards the dim memory in his head.
“K-Ka-” He started to speak, trying to recall how to make noises that would translate to language.
Before he could though, the demon was smacked upside the head with the piece of wood he had just broken. The shards sticking into his head as he fell downwards and collided with what remained of the floor.
You breathed heavily, pushing yourself back and looking at the demon you had knocked out. You almost couldn’t believe you had done it. He was ready to devour you, had come mere centimeters from doing so.
And yet… that silly childhood nickname you had called him so many times had saved you. The nickname he should have forgotten. The nickname that should have held no meaning to him. The nickname that somehow saved you.
You slowly stood up and then hesitantly wandered towards him. His ash-blonde hair was now bloody, but it was healed up now. His body shrunk back to its normal size and the claws, fangs, and orange-tipped hair disappeared. He really was a demon now… there was no denying it.
You gulped, moving quietly and cautiously to pick up the swords that had been carelessly thrown away in the fight. You picked up the pink blade and walked towards him. Your eyes narrowing as you looked at the sleeping demon.
You needed to behead him. It was your duty and the only thing that could save both the demon and any possible humans he might run into. You had gotten lucky, seeing as your childhood friend had yet to eat any humans… so his sin was little compared to whatever demons did this to him and destroyed your childhood village.
Your hands quivered as you lowered your blade to him. Your stomach churned and you closed your eyes. You had to do this. There was no way a demon could live among humans. No way a demon could return to being a human. No way a demon could live alongside a human.
You inhaled sharply and with a cry of your own, you swung the blade down and connected it. The result showed where your heart laid, and with a frown, you cursed your morals.
But that didn’t matter right now. So you instead pulled the blade from a large wooden beam next to the sleeping demon and put it back on your hip. The only thing on your mind right now was that you needed to find a way to carry this demon back to your old home and restrain him until you could figure out what to do with him.