Chapter Text
The Kamado family has always been different.
The weird, yet overly friendly family that lives at the top of the mountain with their stupidly good senses.
Either their forehead of steel or their inhumanely good nose, the village loved them whenever the family ever came down.
Especially after the loss of their father. It was incredibly tough on them, it always resulted in the eldest son who looked exactly like Tanjuro to come down.
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"Please don't go- it's far more dangerous when it's snowing." He pleaded, knowing better than to sway his stubborn sister as she stood in the doorway, already hefting the charcoal basket on her shoulders.
"Let me take your place, I know the path!" His hands rested on her shoulders, pleading for her to not go in this weather.
"Aniue, you can't." She sighed, frowning at him. "You can't put any more pressure on your ankle by going down."
"Please just rest." Her lips pressed in a thin line as he sighed in defeat.
"Oh! Is onee-chan going to the village today?" Both looked towards Shigeru and Hanako running up to the two in the doorway.
"I wanna go! I wanna go with Nezu!" Hanako pleaded, puffing her cheeks as Tanjiro ruffled her hair with a grin.
"Please take me with you!" Shigeru peeped, the pleads making their mother soon poke her head out the door.
"Shigeru, she can't take you today. She can't pull the cart today, she won't be able to give either of you a ride to rest." Their mother chided, immediately making the two settle down with frowns at being denied.
"I'll be alright, I'll bring sweets back!" Nezuko grinned, seeing how they immediately perked back up again.
"Come back quickly then!" Takeo chimed with an axe over his shoulder.
"You only like her when there's sweets involved!" Shigeru teased, wincing as Takeo punched his shoulder.
"Do be careful, onee-san!" Hanako added, making Nezuko smile.
"I will, I will." She reassured, still seeing Tanjiro frown out the corner of her eye.
"Are you still worried about me, oni-chan?" He immediately looked away in embarrassment at how easily she caught him, nodding in agreement.
"I don't want you to get hurt..." He mumbled, met with her tsking.
"It's worth it, for the big meal we'll have on new years!" Her grin made him slightly less anxious, still unable to shake the underlying dread he felt.
“The taste and the portion doesn’t matter, as long as we eat together.” Sadly smiling at her, resulting in that sad pang in her eye again.
“That’s not stopping me from going to the village.” He sighed, hating how she could immediately snuff out what he was aiming for.
"Well, then take this." She watched curiously as his hands carefully went up to his left ear, unclipping the hanafuda earring that always hung by his face.
"Oni..." She muttered, taken aback at how sudden this was.
"Think of it as a good luck charm." He grinned with a tilt of his head, silently putting the earring in her open palm and closing her fingers around it.
She could only manage a nod, soon taking the earring as she clipped it to her left ear silently. His grin egging her on.
"Please be safe." He frowned once more.
"I'll be alright, don't worry about me! If it's too difficult I can always spend the night at Saburo-san!" That reassured him, mustering up a smile at her.
"Now please rest, oni-chan!"
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Life isn't easy, but living is a blessing.
She wakes up to a happy family, that should be enough.
She's happy living on the mountain with her family, she loves it. She loves her family more than anything.
Was she envious of girls in the village? Most definitely.
To be able to wake up and not have to walk down the four hour path to the shops must've been a dream, but she wouldn't trade her life for anything.
She's happy like this.
Able to wake up to her family right beside her, just a reach away. Sometimes, she believed she was put on earth just to see her siblings sleep so peacefully.
Happy living with her family, even in the cold snow.
Sure, money is always tight ever since father passed, but it meant she appreciated everything more.
Especially the happiness she felt.
When happiness is broken, it's always followed with a scent of blood.
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"Nezuko? Oh my! Haven't seen you in a while!"
She grinned as she finally reached town, bowing her head at the woman speaking to her.
"You've grown last time I've seen you! Is Tanjiro with you?"
"No, just me! Here to sell charcoal!" She replied with a grin, the kindness making her heart swell.
"Be careful! Don't catch a cold!" Both looked up at the man shouting out his window towards her.
Mentally, she made a note of how kind the village was. She should come down more.
Though, it wasn't soon before she was getting waved and flagged over for charcoal. It made her positively beam, they would for sure afford the biggest meal for new years!
Easily losing track of time, helping and selling to the people of the village, the sun already disappeared in the clouds.
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It made her so happy that they were happy to see her, especially after Tanjiro being the main one who always made the trek to the village. It even felt good to take a load off his back, he definitely felt overwhelmed and stressed ever since father passed. Difficult to see how he changed, he used to be far more carefree but now... as the man of the house...
She wondered how he always made it back up the mountain, the wind picking up making her shiver as she walked back up.
He's just always been stronger than her, even having a better sense of smell and everything compared to her.
"Nezuko! Are you going back up the mountain?" She froze at the voice behind her, snapping back to see Saburo poking his head out his window.
"You can't, it's dangerous." He said, almost solemnly.
"I can find my way, I'm sure!" She replied with a smile, yet he seemed just as stubborn as her, and the cold seeping in her bones made it hard to deny the offer to spend a night in his warm home.
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Kindly providing her warm meal, mumbling a thank you before digging in, unable to control her hunger.
"I'm glad you came in before the oni could come." He started, feeling her confused gaze look at him as she set her chopsticks down.
"Human eating oni have always been prowling at night, it's why nighttime is such a problem." He continued.
He pulled out the spare futon, she took it with a thousand thank-you's thrown his way.
Settling down in the futon, him close by, smoking.
"Can these... oni not enter indoors?" She yawned, tiredness finally making itself comfortable.
"No, they can." He breathed out smoke, tilting his head back.
"The demon slayers kill the oni for us, but we are only humans."
Demons?
Saburo-san must be lonely, keeping himself up with these false creatures...
It's alright, these 'demon slayers' would protect us anyway.
Lulled to sleep with the thoughts of these man-eating oni.
It's strange, how grandmother said the same thing before she died, though.
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"You be careful now." Saburo called out as she waved goodbye to him after the long thank yous she had to say.
"Thank you again!" She grinned, soon turning her heel to continue the trek up the mountain, far more energized and better than before.
She couldn't wait to get tackled in a hug by her siblings, excited to see them again. They would all be so happy for the dinner they'll have on new years!
Humming to herself, the same lullaby her mother always sang as she walked the rest of the path, careful to not slip on ice.
Yet, she stiffened as her nose caught scent of something pungent.
Pungent like... blood.
Sending power to her legs as she forced herself to hurry up, the snow dragging her down as she panted for breath, seeing the corner of her house finally come up.
The home wasn't the only thing she saw.
"T- Tanjiro!" She cried, soon stunned in silence as she stared at the crimson blood split on the snow.
In the middle of the puddle laid Tanjiro, holding Rokuta loosely.
Her stomach dropped, tossing the basket off her shoulders into the snow as she rushed next to him, dropping to her knees.
"Tanjiro! Tanjiro! What happened!? Pl- please!" She shouted desperately until the sound of dripping made her look inside the home through the destroyed home.
Sprawled out and mangled laid the bodies of her family.
Their blood staining and covering the floor and walls, all their bodies pale and lifeless.
Those lifeless eyes bore into her.
As if asking why she wasn't there.
She couldn't breathe, her chest felt so tight. Hot tears spilling down her cheeks, as she continued to stare at the scene, forcing itself in her mind.
The cold engulfed her, blood staining and seeping into her clothes as she forced herself in the home, kneeling in a puddle of all of their blood, her head pushed against her mothers chest desperately listening for a heartbeat.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
She didn't care, the hysteria seeping in as she frantically checked for a pulse, a heartbeat- anywhere on any of them.
None.
Mother, Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru...
Her knees hit the snow, barely able to listen for any heartbeat with her loud sobs and hiccups from her.
Then, there was Tanjiro.
It was weak, faint, but he was alive.
Tanjiro was alive!
The flutter of a pulse at his neck, he was still so cold.
"Tanjiro! Tanjiro! Stay- stay with me! I- I'll get you- to- to the doctor!" She hiccuped, gasping for air that froze her lungs with each lick of breath.
"I won't let you die! I won't let you die!" It was hard to see with her tears blurring her vision.
"This wasn't- supposed to happen!" She bawled, cursing at her own weakness as she tried to drag the limp Tanjiro away from the causalities.
"Please! Please have mercy on me- god!" Screaming to the empty skies, wanting nothing more than to die with her family.
No, she wouldn't fail Tanjiro.
His broken, limp body against hers as she cursed at how weak she is, he was so much heavier than her as she carried him on her back.
Her legs just couldn't go fast enough even with how much she tried to run, the snow slowing her down as she trenched through, clinging desperately to his legs hooked under her armpits.
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"Please- please stay with me..." All the forest blurred together, tears blurring it all into a white mess of snow as her voice got weaker. The cold air freezing her lungs, struggling to breathe through the sobs and hiccups.
He was going to die because she was so weak, she couldn't run fast enough, she couldn't do anything right.
Tanjiro would die and it would all be her fault.
No! No! You can't fail him again!
After everything we've lost?!
I don't care if I die! Keep Tanjiro alive- please!
He deserves a future! Do it for him!
Too lost in the panic, not noticing his arm stopped bleeding, or the low growl coming from his throat.
"Please! Your sister- your sister will save you!" She sobbed between hiccups, promising him that yet her body progressively got weaker, slower.
And then an inhumanely noise ripped out of his throat, making her lose her footing due to ice she didn't care to look out for.
The two sent tumbling down the cliff.
Her scream and the thud sent snow falling out of tree branches, her eyes snapping open to the cliff above.
And the arms wrapped around her.
"Tanjiro!" She yelped, he cushioned her fall.
"Tanjiro are you okay!?" She shouted, wrestling herself out of his grasp.
Finding difficulty as she tried to get up on her shaky legs, looking down at him laying on the snow.
Her blood froze in her veins as she felt something warm drip off her face, seeing red drip into the white snow beneath her.
Her hand unconsciously drifting up to her jaw, greeted with the warmth of blood.
A shrill screech left her throat as she looked at her hand covered in her own blood.
The screech sent his eyes snapping open, but she immediately noticed
Those weren't the friendly, crimson eyes she knew.
Those were red, slitted eyes staring at her.
Freezing as his eyes snapped towards her, fear freezing her in place until her back hit the ground again.
He tackled her to the snow, pinning her down as he stared down at her crazily with those slitted pupils
Pure panic led her hands to grab the stray branch near her head, terrified as he lunged forward, his teeth soon biting on the branch she held protectively over herself.
Fangs....
Fangs!
My brother has fangs!?
"Tanjiro!?" She shrieked, grip tightening on the branch as it began to splinter and break under his intense teeth.
"Please- please forgive me! I'm- I'm so sorry I didn't come home! I'm so sorry I c-couldn't protect you- just this once!" Looking up at him with her eyes blurry with tears, terrified of what creature her brother has....
An oni...
Saburo was... right?
"Please! I can't lose you too!" She sobbed, her arms shaking with effort to keep him away.
"We were supposed- to celebrate new years!" Tears split out of her, closing her eyes as her head jerked to the side.
Her brother was going to kill her, because she was too weak.
How have I always... been so weak?
I never grew tall like you or father, I never been able to carry the charcoal cart with ease like you. I couldn't even swing an axe correctly!
Please forgive me! Forgive me!
She blinked as the pressure breaking the branch eased up, making her finally open her eyes to look up at him.
Those slitted eyes had tears in them.
"Tanjiro..." She murmured, not caring as she let go of the branch, letting it fall to the side of them.
"N- Nez- nezu...." He hiccuped, voice so terribly raw and raspy.
"Y- yes! Aniue!" She cried out, arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled him down.
“I’m your Nezuko, do you… remember me?” There was no movement, no response.
Then, her nose caught a scent of something else.
Quickly grabbing Tanjiro by the shoulders with a choked out surprise sound as she tackled him to flip him on the ground.
A glimpse of purple flashed by her vision.
Black hair scattered in the pale, white snow as she clung to Tanjiro.
The force of the mans blade sent the two rolling away, not stopping until her back hit a tree as she kept the death grip on her brother.
"Who are you!?" She shouted, looking around desperately before her eyes landed on a man in a black and purple haori.
And once her eyes landed on him,
"Chichiue...?" She muttered once she looked at the mans face.
"Why are you protecting it?" She blinked in response, no. This man was not her father, he just looked exactly like him.
His spiky black hair, almost crimson at the tips pulled up in a ponytail as he stared down at her, his blade withdrawn.
Those eyes bore right into her.
"He's my- he's my older brother!" She shouted, clinging tighter to his haori.
"That thing," He spat, venom in his tone. "You call your brother?" His eyes narrowed at her across the clearing.
"He wasn't like this before! Our- our whole family was killed by- by a demon!" She shouted, tears silently forming in her eyes as her chest sputtered, choking for breath.
He suffocated her with his intensity.
Her shaky eyes tried to keep eye contact with his, soon broken by Tanjiro thrashing in her arms, met with her grip tightening as his eyes rolled back in his head, only whites of his pupils.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my brother!" She screamed, he only scoffed, seemingly amused before he charged forward.
Bracing herself for impact that never came, eyes screwed tight before snapping back open at the sound of a demonic growl.
Her arms were empty, filled with the cold.
Tanjiro was in his grip.
"This isn't your brother," He said calmly, punctuated with a jostle of Tanjiro in his arms. "This is a demon." He looked coldly at her, as though she was just a pitiful creature.
"My job is to kill oni, even your 'brother.' He glared at her.
Something flared within her, looking at him in pure hatred.
"You're not going to take my only surviving family away from me!" She screeched, standing up wobbly.
“I have to decapitate this demon before it harms anyone." He didn't care, holding his blade towards the thrashing demon.
"He hasn't eaten anyone! And I won't let him ever eat someone!"
Then the man laughed, actually laughed. "I've heard that many times, this case is not any different."
"A different demon killed my family! He's done nothing wrong!" She begged, the hope draining out of her cold body.
"Explain that wound on your jaw then." He argued, making her open then shut her mouth.
"If you were supposed to kill demons- then why didn't you kill the demon that killed my family!?" Shouting into those eyes that widened oh so slightly.
"Why weren't you there!? Why didn't you stop this?!" Hot tears stung her eyes as she collapsed to the ground, immediately begging.
"Please.... he's all- all I have left..." Her forehead in the snow, begging for mercy from the man.
"I beg of you... I beg of you! My brother is still in there!"
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