Chapter Text
It had been…a long couple of days. Nezuko wasn’t sure when the last time she’d gotten a decent night’s sleep was, and it was honestly a bit of a miracle she was still standing. She thought longingly back to the quiet two years she’d spent in Urokodaki-sensei’s care, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness strike her. She’d promised she would return, and she planned on it. She just wasn’t sure when she would be able to, if the pace of her life continued the way it currently was. Which is to say, fast. Very, very fast.
She’d killed six demons since she’d last seen her mentor. She’d come face to face with the Lord of Nightmares himself. She’d befriended two rogue demons and now had two crazy humans to look after. Urokodaki-sensei’s quiet hut felt like a hundred years ago. Her blissfully sweet life with her family felt like a different world entirely. She was almost certain that if she were to run into her mother tomorrow, Okaasan wouldn’t even recognize her.
The thought hurt so much that she tried to unthink it, but it was too late. The damage had been done.
Despite all of the craziness, during her quietest moments when she was truly honest with herself, she thought that even if she could go back to her life before all this, put on the clothes of that old Nezuko who was soft-spoken and kind and didn’t know anything about death or pain or exhaustion so intense it could drive you mad, Nezuko didn’t think she would.
She hated admitting that, even if it was just to herself.
It wasn’t that she didn’t miss her family. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss how blissfully, perfectly simple everything had been. But in all honesty, she liked Nezuko the Demon Slayer. She liked having a crow land on her shoulder and assign her her next task. She liked practicing her forms and swinging her sword with enough power to take off a creature’s head. She liked walking in the hot sun, she liked running without having to slow down, and she liked being free of the responsibility that came from being a member of society. It was refreshing.
That didn’t mean she didn’t miss her old life. She missed her family like a lost limb every day.
She thought that perhaps it simply meant she had come to terms with her new one. Accepted it, decided that the only thing she could do now was embrace it until she could find a way to get her brother back.
She just didn't know if she would be expected to become Gentle Nezuko again once Tanjirou was human once more. She didn't know if she'd be able to if she tried.
↫↬
The Wisteria House was probably a very restful experience for some people. For Nezuko, however, it mostly consisted of mediating between Zenitsu and Inosuke as they bickered, and occasionally smacking both of them when they got on her nerves for too long.
They were greeted by a wise-souled elderly woman named Hisa-san. Nezuko could instantly sense her respect and dedication to caring for them, which was a pleasant surprise. So was the fact that they would be able to rest here until their wounds were all healed up. After all, Nezuko had a lot of injuries, and she hadn’t thought that she’d be given the time to tend to them. She’d sort of assumed that being a demon slayer wouldn't have normal job benefits, like specific work hours or monthly paychecks. She certainly hadn’t expected that slayers would be given time between jobs to recover, but it made sense now that she thought about it. She couldn’t imagine that most slayers would live long if they constantly entered battle with various not-quite-healed injuries.
The only unpleasant thing about Hisa-san was the fact that Zenitsu instantly decided she must be some kind of monster, since she moved strangely fast for such an old lady. (Even Nezuko had to admit that her speed was a little…unnatural. But she was human, through and through.)
“Use your ears, Zenitsu,” Nezuko snapped the second time he brought it up to her after Hisa-san showed them to the spare room. She smacked him hard on the head, and felt a flash of hurt flood off of him as he glared at her.
As it turned out, all three of them had varying numbers of broken ribs. Nezuko had done more damage than she’d intended with her punch to Inosuke’s stomach. Inosuke didn’t really seem to care about the damage he’d done to Zenitsu, and Nezuko couldn’t help but catch the whiff of offended irritation coming from Zenitsu. (Poor Zenitsu, between Nezuko’s impatience with his antics and Inosuke’s hard-headedness, he really was having a tough go.)
“Stupid pretty boy,” he grumbled before Inosuke returned from changing into his clean clothes.
“Just ignore him,” Nezuko replied. “I have a feeling he doesn’t mean to be offensive.”
“Then what exactly is he meaning to do??”
Nezuko shrugged. “Probably nothing? I don’t think he’s ever had to think about being nice to others.”
Zenitsu folded his arms, pouting. Adorable, Nezuko thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
“That’s stupid,” Zenitsu replied.
“Then ignore it,” Nezuko shot back.
↫↬
“My head hurts,” Inosuke grumbled, touching the bruise on his crown gingerly. So do my ribs. He wouldn’t admit it, but maybe Kamaboku Nakamono had been right when she’d told him not to prove how flexible he was when he was injured. And he’d never say this, but damn that girl had a sturdy punch. It made a little more sense when she wasn’t wearing all those stupid jackets—in the thinner clothes the old lady had given them to wear, Inosuke could make out defined arm and shoulder muscles. For some reason, the yellow boy (Monitsu?) also seemed to be quite fascinated by her arms. And his, actually. But Inosuke couldn’t figure out why; the boy wasn’t a fighter—he’d proved that—so muscles shouldn’t be all that important to him. Right?
No matter how hard Inosuke tried to rile Namuko up again, she wouldn’t take the bait. He tried to steal her food and she just moved it away before he could even reach for it, giving him a stern look. She told him to apologize to her yellow boy, which Inosuke didn’t do, hoping to get her angry again. But she just scowled at him and then refused to talk to him for the rest of the meal. She even smacked his hand when he tried to steal from Monistu. And now she was paying more attention to the weakling than she was to him! HIM! He was Inosuke! He was strong, and she was strong, so they should fight again to prove who was stronger.
Obviously.
Well, Nebumoko didn’t want to fight him anymore, but Benitsu sure seemed like he did. He kept scowling and making little comments about Inosuke that he didn’t understand, but they sounded mean. He called him a ‘sexy gorilla’, and then a ‘stupid woman-head’, which made Menbuko smack him.
That actually made Inosuke feel better. After all, if Nebu was going to be grumpy at Inosuke, she might as well be grumpy at Senisu too.
As they were getting ready for bed, Monitsu looked at Inosuke for so long that Inosuke glared at him. “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he yelled. “ARE YOU TRYING TO FIGHT??”
“Both of you idiots better stop bickering before I turn around,” Nemuro threatened. “I don’t care if Inosuke isn’t apologizing and I don’t care if Zenitsu is being petty. Stop arguing. It’s time for bed.”
“But he beat the crap out of me over that box and now he doesn’t even care about it,” Betugo whined. “All he wants to do is fight you.” He scowled, and Inosuke found he kinda liked the look of those weird yellow-brown eyes turned on him in anger. It was…exciting. Inosuke wanted to know if Zeniku would hit him. Or at least try. He had a feeling Nezumo would stop them before they could really get into anything.
Senitsu turned away from Inosuke, focusing his gaze on Nerunomo’s back. “Nezuko…” he said slowly, looking suddenly nervous. “I know you’re carrying a demon in that box.”
Inosuke’s eyes snapped to the box in the corner of the room, and he was struck with the memory of kicking Senimu around in order to have a go with the demon. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten it. Well…maybe it didn’t matter. Nezuku was way more fun to fight than any dumb demon.
~
“I just wanted to know…why? Why are you carrying a demon on your back?” Zenitsu watched Nezuko nervously, waiting for her face to change.
He could practically hear her absorbing his words, taking in his meaning. Suddenly, her eyes blinked a few times, and her mouth turned upwards in a tiny smile. “You knew?” she asked. Her voice was heart-breakingly soft.
Zenitsu nodded, uncertain.
“And you still protected him?”
Zenitsu shifted slightly, aware of Inosuke’s eyes on him as well now. He nodded. “You said that it was important to you. More important than your own life.”
Nezuko nodded, her expression growing distant, like she was remembering something life changing. She walked over to the box and placed a hand on it, uncharacteristically gentle. Zenitsu had never heard her sound so fond or sad before. It made her seem a little smaller than she really was. “The demon…is my brother,” she said, so softly that Zenitsu probably wouldn’t have heard her without his exceptional hearing.
“WHAT?” Inosue asked loudly, proving Zenitsu’s theory correct. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU. YOUR VOICE IS TOO QUIET.”
Nezuko shot Inosuke another look, one that flickered with amusement. “The demon in this box is my brother,” she repeated, just a little louder.
Inosuke didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “IS HE FUN TO FIGHT LIKE YOU?”
Zenitsu ignored the stupid pretty boy and his one track mind, mostly because he didn't actually know what to say. He’d mentally prepared himself for a lot of explanations, and even when faced with the truth straight from Nezuko’s lips, he wasn’t sure how to deal with it. “H-how?” he found himself asking. “How is your brother a—a demon?”
Nezuko sat down next to the box with a sigh that sounded heavier than anything Zenitsu could physically carry. “That really is the big question, isn’t it?” she murmured. Her eyes flickered up, and she looked at Zenitsu for a long moment, before transferring her gaze to Inosuke. “My family was killed two years ago by a demon that then turned Tanjirou into a demon as well,” she said softly. “But…Tanjirou is the kindest, gentlest person to ever live. Even as a demon, he’s…different. Incredibly so.” She huffed a small laugh. “He doesn’t eat humans like a normal demon. He sleeps in order to recover his strength instead. He’s been asleep for the last two years, actually. He woke up a few weeks ago for the first time since we’d arrived at Urokodaki-sensei’s.”
Zenitsu could only stare, and realize how incredibly, terribly young Nezuko was. She didn’t seem it, because she had the air of a big sister; because she had scars that made her look older and tougher; because she’d killed demons and watched people die; because she carried the weight of this life on her shoulders. But she was probably physically a little younger than him and Inosuke, probably fourteen or fifteen at the most. That meant that at somewhere around twelve years of age, she’d walked into her home to find everyone she loved dead and dying.
Zenitsu didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t know if there was anything he could say.
He was an orphan too, but he hadn’t walked into a bloodbath in order to realize it. It had just always been like this: Zenitsu on his own.
Luckily, before he could make any stupid choices, vocabulary-wise, the box in the corner started to rattle.
Zenitsu felt himself fly backwards, gracelessly crashing into Inosuke. “THE DEMON!” he shrieked, flailing in Inosuke’s lap. The other boy shoved him away roughly, but Zenitsu kept scooching as close to him as he could get. Finally, he scrambled around, hiding behind Inosuke’s impressive muscles, sincerely hoping that Nezuko was playing some kind of prank on them, like, sike nerds it’s actually a puppy, man you guys are such wimps.
Like…he knew there was a demon in there…the sounds didn’t lie…but still. It would be nice to be wrong for once.
~
Nezuko couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes. She’d had Inosuke and Zenitsu's full attention when talking about her life. Then Tanjirou made one (1) sound, and Zenitsu was flying away like a little bird taking flight from a hungry cat.
“Zenitsu, please chill out,” she said sternly. “You’re going to wake up our hosts. Besides, I just told you Tanjirou wasn’t aggressive. Look—” she moved forwards, undoing the latch on Tanjirou’s box, rolling her eyes again as Zenitsu squealed.
~
Nezuko undid the latch, and Zenitsu’s heart stopped, but for an entirely different reason than he’d been expecting. Out of the box crawled a small boy, red hair and warm eyes with a bamboo muzzle. He stood slowly, looking around curiously, continuing to emit nothing but gentle, calming noises.
And then…the boy started growing.
He grew like a tree, stretching until he was about Zenitsu’s height, but with broader shoulders and much larger muscles. His red hair was tied back in a ponytail, and a large red scar stretched in an odd crescent shape across the left side of his forehead. A pair of hanafuda earrings hung from his ears, dangling below the edges of the bamboo muzzle. He cocked his head at the newcomers, warm red eyes regarding each boy in equal measure before he turned to Nezuko, ambling over to her, making a contented sound in the back of his throat.
He was…breathtaking. Beautiful even, but in a way that was different from Inosuke.
He was beautiful like a sunny day; like a picnic with people that you loved; like water and warm grass and birds singing over your head. He was beautiful like flame, like warm blankets, like every safe thing you’d ever known.
He was beautiful like sunlight, and when Zenitsu looked at him, that's all he could see.
↫↬
The next few days spent recovering were some of the most entertaining of Nezuko’s life. Zenitsu was content to fawn and gasp over every noise that Tanjirou made, and since Tanjirou was such a sweetie, he would pat Zenitsu on the head and coo at him from time to time. Nezuko thought it was hilarious, but she made sure that Zenitsu knew that if he tried anything with her brother, she would personally gut him like a fish. He was a little more cautious around her for about five minutes after that, and then everything was back to normal—Zenitsu was surrounded by three people that he was obviously (and quite unfortunately) attracted to, and as a result, he acted like an idiot. Nezuko was starting to think that maybe that was his default state.
Nezuko hadn’t ever really had a crush on anyone, nor had she known someone to have a crush on her before (except for that whole thing with Sabito, but she mostly chose not to dwell on that unless she was looking to give herself a migraine), and as a result, she didn’t have anything to compare Zenitsu’s behaviour with. For the most part, he seemed to smile and laugh a lot, even when there weren’t any jokes being made. Nezuko didn’t understand the psyche of ‘someone in love’ well enough to understand why he was doing what he was doing, or if he was doing it right.
Inosuke continued to try to fight her, and when they began recovering a little more, she indulged him a few times, sparring hand to hand in the yard while Zenitsu shouted his complaints from the enganwa. Despite Zenitsu’s commentary (which was mostly unwelcome, but could be pretty funny at times), it was actually a lot of fun, just like Inouske had promised it would be.
He became obsessed with her kicks, and often tried to mimic them. Nezuko knew he’d lose his mind if he ever saw Tanjirou do a headbutt. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to see his reaction to that or not. Currently, Inosuke ignored Tanjirou for the most part, which she decided was probably for the best. Inosuke tended to be twice as much of a disaster when paired with literally any other human, which, while annoying, Nezuko kind of had to respect. It took a lot of effort to be a problem in any and all situations, and Inosuke mostly succeeded without even realizing what he was doing.
He was a bit of a natural at causing trouble, but Nezuko didn’t mind as much as she thought she was going to.
There was something child-like and almost sweet about Inosuke. He was incredibly honest about his opinions and thoughts, which Nezuko appreciated. He was also strangely funny. Zenitsu was too. The two of them made her laugh in a way she hadn’t for a long time, and they weren’t even trying to. They were just authentic idiots, and Nezuko found herself appreciating them more and more every moment she spent with them.
↫↬
Hisa-san had a very wise soul—like a letter sent years ago, blotchy and yellowed with time, carrying words from a different life in its pages. It soothed Nezuko’s senses, which were a little frayed after spending so much time surrounded by so many larger-than-life essences. Of all the things she would miss about the Wisteria House, Hisa-san was definitely the one she was the most reluctant to part with.
This morning, their crows had arrived with their next mission, and Nezuko couldn’t even pretend she wasn’t a little relieved. As wonderful as it felt to rest, her legs were starting to itch with the urge to be on the move again. After all, she wouldn’t find a cure for Tanjirou at the Wisteria House.
“I shall light sparks for you,” Hisa-san said as they stood in front of the estate’s gate, thanking her for caring for them so diligently.
Nezuko bowed her head, her heart swelling with warmth at the gesture. Beside her, Zenistu bowed as well, his soul riddled with its ever-present anxiety, currently softened by Hisa-san’s kindness. On her other side, Inosuke stiffened. She felt a wash of confusion and suspicion in the air around him, and she grabbed his arm, holding him firmly before he could move forwards. That didn’t stop him from yelling, however.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, OLD HAG???” he demanded, attempting to move against Nezuko’s grasp. She gripped him around the middle, straining to keep him in place. “Stop that!” she growled, digging her feet into the ground. Zenitsu shrieked and jumped in front of Hisa-san. “ARE YOU STUPID??” Zenistu demanded. “SHE’S WARDING OFF EVIL SPIRITS FOR US!! I MEAN, WE’RE ABOUT TO EMBARK ON A VERY DANGEROUS MISSION, YOU KNOW!!!”
Hisa-san, for her part, only seemed vaguely amused by the spectacle. “No matter what happens, please live your lives with your heads held high. I wish you luck in your upcoming battles,” she murmured, her voice soft and creaking with age.
Nezuko was suddenly struck with a thought of her own grandmother—similar silver hair, the same wise energy. A glittering smile, kind red eyes. Keep your head high, my Nezuko, her ghost whispered.
She blinked, and the image was gone. The only thing in its place was Hisa-san bowing to them and Zenitsu giving her a curious look while Inosuke stewed in his confusion and brusque uncertainty.
Nezuko bowed in return and turned, beginning to run to their next battle.
↫↬
Inosuke…didn’t understand a lot of things about these new people. He didn’t like it, but it was something so true that he was having trouble pretending it was a lie.
Nezuko was strong enough to carry her demon brother wherever she went. She was strong enough to spar with him. She was strong enough to beat him in fights. She was strong enough to talk about her dead family and cry a little bit in front of strangers.
Zenistu was scared of everything, but he still did things that were brave, like protect Nezuko’s box, and jump in front of that old lady, and yell at Inosuke whenever he did something that the yellow boy didn’t like.
That old lady didn’t know a thing about him, but she had tried to light them on fire, and told them to hold their heads high. She gave him extra clothes and food when he needed them without being asked or expecting anything in return.
It was…strange. Inosuke hadn’t ever known anything like it in his whole life. He’d met people before (obviously), but they’d never been as complex as Serutsu and Hembako, or even the old hag.
“Nembuko…The old hag…what did she mean? Heads held high? Luck for our upcoming battles?? Why?” Inosuke had planned to sound annoyed when he asked his question, but to his chagrin, he sounded softer, and a little uncertain. THAT WASN’T HOW HE WAS SUPPOSED TO SOUND!! NOW NERUMONO WAS GOING TO GET THE WRONG IDEA!!
Neroku was silent for a minute, her breaths even despite their fast pace. “I guess it is a bit of an odd thing to say,” she replied after a minute. “I think Tanjirou-nii would say that it means to live a life without shame, understanding your place in the world, your standing, stuff like that. It’s the old woman’s way of praying for our safety.”
“What’s a ‘standing’? What do you mean, no shame? Why does she want to pray for our safety? She doesn’t know us. Maybe she’s the one who doesn’t know her place in the world.”
Zemigu choked next to him. “Are you serious right now??” he sputtered. Inosuke didn’t understand why his questions were causing such a reaction, but he turned his attention back to Neruto. He didn’t know why, but he wanted her to say something more, answer his questions. She was quiet, running a little faster.
“You said what your brother thought,” he eventually pointed out. “What do you think?”
Nembuno turned slightly, looking at him with her unnerving pink eyes. “I think…that she wants us to live lives that we can look back on and feel proud of. I think that she cares for our safety because it is a formality that people often adopt because society says that we should. But I also think that she is fond of us. True, she might not have known us all our lives, but she still took care of us when we were recovering, and she likes our personalities…for some reason.” When she glanced back over at them, her eyes were sparkling with mischief. “As for knowing her place in the world, she’s much older than us. I think that if anyone knows their place, it’s probably her.”
Zemizo sputtered again. “A formality?? You guys are both crazy,” he muttered.
Nazaru grinned. “Probably,” she replied, picking up the pace.
Inosuke digested her words slowly. A life that he could feel proud of? He didn’t even know what that would look like, but Bemuko was running too fast now to allow for any more conversation, and he didn't feel like talking to Senibu. He matched his pace to Neruzu. If she wanted to race, they could!
As he chased after Nabmuko, and Monitsu whined behind them, Inosuke considered everything she’d told him. He didn’t understand what she meant by a ‘formality of society’ or whatever, but maybe he could ask her later, when she was done trying to outrun him. So far, she’d been kind about his questions, and she always seemed like she was really trying to answer them. Inosuke didn’t really understand why everyone else knew so much more than him, but he supposed that if he had the pink girl to explain things to him when he needed it, then it didn’t really matter.