Chapter Text
After filling the basket with coal, Nezuko put on her father’s earring and was ready to head down to the village.
“Nezuko!” Her mother, Kie, called out, “Your face is covered in soot. Come over here.”
As Kie wiped down her daughter's face she reminded her that it would be dangerous to walk down the mountain with all the snow and that she could always go some other day. But Nezuko refused, saying she wanted everyone to eat their fill for the new year.
“Thank you. But remember to be careful.” Kie said.
“I will.” Nezuko replied
Kie worried for her daughter, as she wasn’t as fast or as strong as her older brother Tanjiro, who usually took care of selling the coal. But it couldn’t be helped, it would be much more dangerous for him to go down with his injured leg.
“Nee-chan!” Shigeru called out.
Two of Nezuko’s younger siblings, Hanako and Shigeru, ran up to her.
“Are you going to town again!?” Shigeru said with a smile, “Can I come!?”
“I’m going with you too!” Hanako said
“Oh no, you’re not.” Kie said, “It’ll take a while to walk down the mountain. And even if Nezuko could use the cart, she isn’t strong enough to pull it with you two in it. You won’t have anywhere to sit down when you’re tired.”
The two children pouted then held on to their sister, insisting they wanted to go and that they could help her. Nezuko patted her sister’s head and thanked her. The smile on Hanako’s face was big and bright, but quickly disappeared as Nezuko told her they would still be staying home.
“Don’t worry Shigeru, I'll bring you back some goodies.” Nezuko said to calm down the children, “And Hanako, I'll read a book to you when I get back.”
Hanako and Shigeru happily agree to stay in exchange for their rewards.
“Takeo. Make sure you chop a little wood today.” Nezuko said to another one of her siblings as she patted his head, “Onii-chan won’t be able to help you this time.
“Hurry back okay! Be careful!” the children said to their sister as she left.
Just as Nezuko was about to walk down the path, her older brother came to say goodbye with their youngest brother, Rokuta, asleep on his back. Rokuta, who is only three years old, loved his family dearly. But ever since their father passed away, he would always make a scene whenever one of them would leave, so they had to put him to sleep beforehand.
“Be safe Nezuko. And make sure to train your nose.” said Tanjiro jokingly.
“I will.” Said Nezuko, letting out a chuckle.
The Kamado family isn’t rich, they don’t have an easy life, but they are happy. But life is constantly changing, just like the weather. It can’t always be a nice sunny day and the snow has to stop at some point. Things need to shift and move on. And whenever happiness is destroyed, There’s always the smell of blood.
Down in the town near the mountain, people are simply living their daily lives.
“Nezuko, is that you?” said a middle aged woman, “Where’s Tanjiro? Did you come down the mountain by yourself on a day like this? You might catch a cold, you know?”
“Onii-chan got injured so he can’t come down for a while.” Nezuko said, “Would you like some charcoal?”
“Oh, is that Nezuko!” said a man nearby, “Can I buy some charcoal!? And tell your brother I said thank you for fixing my door!?”
“I’ll need some charcoal, too!” said another woman.
It was already past sundown when Nezuko began to head back home, But she was glad to have sold everything in the basket.
“Hey, Nezuko!”
Nezuko turned around to see old man Saburo in his cabin.
“You’re not going back to the mountain are you?” he said, “You’d better not. It’s too dangerous. I’ll put you up for the night. Come in here before the demons come out.”
Mr. Saburo made some food for the girl and laid down a futon for her to sleep.
“Hey, Granddad Saburo,” Nezuko said hesitantly, “what are demons like?”
“Man-eating demons always go looking for prey after nightfall, that’s why you should never walk outside at night. Eat, sleep, then you go back home in the morning.”
“Does that mean they can’t get inside this house?”
“Nope, they can.”
“Then why hasn’t everyone been eaten yet?”
“Because the demon slayers protect us. They have been for ages.”
As Nezuko drifted off to sleep, she thought about bringing her siblings the next time she visits him. Mr. Saburo has been lonely ever since his family died. She wanted to convince him that demons don’t exist. However she remembered her older brother saying that their late grandmother used to say the same thing.
The next morning, Nezuko headed back up the mountain and went home. But, as she was almost home, she smelled blood. Arriving at home, as saw what was at the door, her legs nearly gave in. Tanjiro and Rokuta were lying outside on the ground covered in blood. She ran to her siblings wondering what happened. She looked into the doorway of the house to see her mother and siblings all dead laying in pools of blood.
“Why? What happened?” Nezuko thought as tears streamed down her cheeks, “Was it a bear? How did this happen?”
Nezuko went to grab a hatchet, worried that whatever killed her family may come back. She came back to Tanjiro and Rokuta and noticed that her older brother was still warm. He was still alive. She used all her strength to lift him up on her back and immediately made her way back down the mountain to find a doctor. As she ran, the cold winter air made her lungs hurt. But she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. She had to keep going. There was still a long way to go before they reached the town. When they arrived at a cliff, Tanjiro suddenly yelled. This startled Nezuko, causing her to lose her footing and fall off the cliff.
“The snow. It saved me.” She thought, “Although it made me slip.”
“Onii-chan!” She yelled, looking around for her brother.
She spotted him standing by a tree with his head down.
“Onii-chan, are you alright!?” She said, running towards him, “You don’t have to walk! I’ll carry you down, okay!?”
Tanjiro looked at Nezuko and lunged at her. Nezuko took out the hatchet and Tanjiro bit down on it before pushing her to the ground.
“H-He’s a demon!” She thought.
Was this truly Tanjiro? He had large fangs and his eyes were pink like sakura instead of dark red.
“Onii-chan is a man-eating demon!?” She thought, “No! That can’t be! He’s been human for as long as I can remember. But, he no longer smells like Tanjiro.”
Tanjiro’s keen sense of smell was a great advantage whenever he would go down the mountain. He could smell things from far away and even know how others were feeling based on their scent. Nezuko could only recognize different animals, people and the scent of her home. She would often use that to find her way home as a child when she got lost in the woods.
But now, the person in front of her had a scent she didn’t recognize. It seemed like Tanjiro’s scent but…different. But Nezuko was sure the massacre wasn’t his doing. She saw him fallen over Rokuta like he was protecting him and he didn’t have any blood on his hands or mouth. Suddenly, Tanjiro became a lot heavier.
“H-He just grew in size!” She thought, “And he’s getting stronger! While I was sleeping at Saburo’s house, they were all brutally murdered. You suffered didn’t you? I’m sorry I couldn’t help you! I have to save Onii-chan. But he’s so strong! I can’t push him away!”
“Onii-chan! Hang in there!” she yelled, “Fight it! Fight it with your life! Don’t turn into a demon! You gotta stay strong!”
Still biting on the hatchet, Tanjiro began to cry. It was then that he was pushed to the side by his sister right as a man with a sword was about to cut him down from above.
“Who is that?” She thought, “A katana?”
A man with pinkish hair, holding a sword, was standing in front of them.
“Why did you protect it?” Said the man.
“M-My brother! He’s my older brother!” Nezuko replied
Tanjiro returned to his normal size and started growling and moving around with Nezuko trying to hold onto him.
“You call that your sister?” The man said.
Just as Nezuko opened her mouth to speak, the man charged at them. In a mere second, Tanjiro had disappeared from Nezuko’s arms and was being held in place by the man a few metres away.
“Don’t move!” The man said, just as Nezuko stood up. “My job is to kill demons. So, I must decapitate your brother.”
“Wait! Onii-chan hasn’t killed anyone!” Nezuko said in desperation, “There was another scent at my house that I didn’t recognize! He has no blood on his hands or mouth! It wasn’t him that killed them! I don’t know why he’s acting like this but-!”
“It’s simple.” The man interrupted, “Demon blood got into her wounds, and so she became a demon. It’s how they multiply.”
“Onii-chan would never eat anyone!” Nezuko shouted.
“Are you serious? Just a moment ago he was trying to eat you?”
“No! He was just confused! I won’t let him hurt anyone! I will make him human again! I’ll find a way to cure him!”
“You can’t cure him you idiot. Once a person becomes a demon there’s no going back.”
“I’ll find a way!! Please don’t kill him”
“Please. Don’t take anyone else away from me.” Nezuko thought.
“Please! I’m begging you.” She said as got down on her knees with her head on the ground.
“You’re pathetic.” He said
The man stabbed Tanjiro with his katana causing him to scream in pain.
“NO!!” Nezuko screamed.
Grabbing the hatchet, she charged at him. It was a simple head-on attack driven by emotion.
“What a fool.” the man thought, right before striking her down the handle of his sword, knocking her unconscious.
Tanjiro stared down at his little sister laying on the ground motionless. In a fit of rage, he headbutted the man, causing him to stumble and let go.
“So hard!” the man thought, “His head is rock hard! What the hell!?”
While trying to regain his balance, he saw Tanjiro crouched down in front of his sister with his arms outstretched. He seemed to be protecting her.
At that moment, the man recalled Nezuko’s words, “Onii-chan would never eat anyone!”.
“He wouldn’t be the first to say such a thing.” He thought, as Tanjiro attacked him,“Starving demons will eat their own family because they need the energy. This boy is injured. Healing that wound is definitely taking up energy. Not to mention the amount of strength it took just to transform into a demon. He should want to eat something as soon as possible, yet he’s protecting the girl and focusing his anger towards me.”
“These two may be different.” he thought, putting away his sword.
As Tanjiro lunged straight at him, the man karate chopped him in the neck, knocking him unconscious.
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“I’m sorry for leaving you behind, Nezuko. Take care of Tanjiro for me.”
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As soon as she opened her eyes, Nezuko grabbed hold of her sleeping brother’s haori. The two were laying down in the snow.
“Are you awake?” The man said.
Nezuko looked up to see him leaning against a tree. She took Tanjiro in her arms ready to run.
“Go see an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri.” He said, “Tell him that Sabito Inoue sent you. Your brother is for now because it’s cloudy, but don’t ever let into direct sunlight.”
And just like that, the man vanished.
Nezuko and Tanjiro went back up the mountain to bury their family. They got changed, took some money and food and left for Mt. Sagiri after praying.