Chapter Text
Tanjiro barely dodges the demon’s claw, rolling around in the dirt. How long has he been fighting? Time is not passing fast enough.
“Get back here!” The demon screeches, clawing at her own face, “Your face is so beautiful” she wails, dragging thin lines of blood down her cheeks, “I must have it”
Do not look at her, Tanjiro reminds himself but the smell of his own sweat is too strong and overpowering to guide him. When he opens his eyes, he wishes he had kept them closed instead.
The demon’s body wraps around the walls of the cave, body glinting when the moonlight catches onto her, hard like an exoskeleton. Her face continuously morphs to people he does not know, each one frozen in their scared expression as she rolls them back and forth, switching again and again between faces.
There is a man with a scar over his eye, mouth still open in shock and fear, an old woman with wispy gray hair and teeth missing, a young child with a tear-streaked face and blood on his cheeks and Tanjiro’s blood boils under his skin.
“Disgusting,” Tanjiro spits out, “You stole these people from their home, took their faces and tortured them, how could you?”
The demon moans, head rolling back like a lotto machine until it reverts back to her original face, giant black holes in place of where her eyes should be and a mouth that has been originally stitched closed but the strings stretch with every word she pronounces.
“Oh,” The demon moans, “But they were so delicious, those pretty faces”
Tanjiro’s face twists into one of disgust and abhorrence, facial features contorting with each passing word the demon utters.
That’s enough out of her
“Breath of Water, Second form: Water Wheel”
The demon dodges right before he gets to her, the cave rumbling from the force of his Nichirin Blade, and pieces of rocks begin to fall around him. Nails sharper than diamonds reach out to claw at him and he is not as lucky as he was before and one talon catches him square in the chest, throwing him to the other side of the wall.
Lights dance in and out of his vision, head still spinning from hitting the rock wall so hard. There’s a trickle of blood that streams down his head and over his eyes, making it hard to see.
“Just give up,” The demon croons, slithering her way up and around the cave walls to dangle her head right in front of him, “You’ll look so much prettier if you just stopped moving”
Get up, he’s screaming at himself, keep fighting, but his body is unresponsive and he’s pretty sure he’s not supposed to be twitching.
“So pretty,” The demon coos, “So delicious”
Before she has the chance to lunge at him, there’s the sound of a sword slicing through the air and then a loud thud as half of her body falls onto the ground, scattering clouds of dirt and sand in its wake.
“He is pretty,” Tanjiro hears a voice agreeing with the demon. His eyes struggle to focus on the figure walking closer to him, red nichirin blade shining in the dark cave. The voice continues and then there’s the sound of a sword slicing through the air and another part of the demon’s body drops, “but I’d prefer it if you didn’t keep his face all to yourself”
“Breath of the Eclipse, Sixth form: Badar, full moon”
A bright flash of light. A thud on the ground. When Tanjiro blinks again, the demon’s head is sliced clean off her neck, rolling until it stops at your foot. You murmur a prayer under your breath as she begins to fade into dust.
There is the scent of sorrow in the air, Tanjiro’s lungs burn with the pressure, gasping for air. The demon is crying, large globs of tears falling down her cheeks, and despite it all, you cradle the head to your chest, whispering empty words of comfort into the still air.
If Tanjiro strains his ears, he can hear the words you whisper.
You are beautiful
Let go
It’s time to rest
The demon lets out a choked sob, eyes blurring. She sees the faces of people who once mocked her, their noses pointed in the air as they laugh at her mismatched eyes. So ugly, they point at her and laugh, no one will ever want you
They fade away into the background and now there is someone warm holding her, staring straight at her. Your eyes are so pretty, they kiss her eyelids, you are so beautiful. There is a warmth that floods through her, one brown and one blue eye watching them caress her cheeks.
To see into heaven and earth is a gift, they rub their thumbs across her cheeks, wiping away her tears, you are special
The faces of the people she had stolen float in front of her and she weeps and begs for their forgiveness. She weeps and they console her and then she has dissolved into a pile of ashes.
Tanjiro fades in and out of consciousness, struggling to breathe as blood seeps out of his gashes and staining his black uniform. You walk towards him, gravel crunching underneath your feet. He squints his eyes to try and focus when you bend down in front of him, a hand reaching out to gently caress his own cheek.
“There you are,” You grin, “Looks like I made it just in time. I’ve been looking for you everywhere”
Looking for me?
Before he can ask what you mean, exhaustion creeps into the corners of his eyes and the last thing he remembers is your smiling face and your soft touch.