Chapter Text
Michikatsu had been on his way back home after yet another battle, when one of his subordinates paused, stopping his horse and getting off. The man walked over to the side of the road, crouching down to stare at something in the bushes.
"What is it?" Another asked, stopping his horse as well.
The small commotion had caught Michikatsu's attention, and he stopped as well, forcing everyone else to stop, as they couldn't continue without him. The man who had stopped first had gone pale.
Michikatsu got off his own horse, letting someone else hold the reins. "Is something wrong?"
"There's..." The man swallows, not taking his eyes off of the bush. "There's a child, sir. He's heavily injured."
That got the attention of the rest. Michikatsu pushed past a few who were standing between him and the side of the road.
And just like the man had said, there was a young boy lying on the ground, just barely hidden by the bushes and plants. He was wearing some sort of uniform that looked strange and a little expensive—Michikatsu had never seen that sort of clothing before, where would that uniform even come from?—over which he had a simple haori with a green-and-black checkered pattern.
The boy didn't look old, perhaps a mere teenager—yet he was loosely holding a sword in one hand and had countless injuries. The boy was unconscious.
Michikatsu crouched down next to the child and carefully lifted him up and out of the bushes. The boy's head tilted to the side, causing his earrings to clank emptily.
Michikatsu froze when he saw the boy's face. A flame-like mark—a birthmark? A scar?—marred his forehead, framed by a messy head of burgundy red hair, Hanafuda earrings clipped to his ears.
Michikatsu knew only one other person with those earrings and that mark. The boy's mark looked different, but the earrings did not make the difference any more comforting.
Was this injured child related to Yoriichi? Was Yoriichi around somewhere? Was this boy Yoriichi's son?
"Sir?" One of Michikatsu's subordinates spoke up carefully, remind him that the boy was actively bleeding while he thought about the child's origin.
Michikatsu adjusted his hold on the boy and walked over to the small carriage where some supplies were being transported. As carefully as he could—while ignoring how shaky his hands were—Michikatsu lowered the boy into the carriage.
"We'll take him to my estate, it's closest to us currently." Michikatsu announced. "Someone go ahead and get a doctor. I'll ask attendants to tend to the boy while we wait."
Michikatsu heard someone say "Yes sir" and then saw one of his subordinates gallop away, the dirt kicking up under the horse's hooves. Another draped one of the blankets in the cart over the boy to keep him warm as Michikatsu got up on his own horse and they continued the travel—now going faster so the injured child they had with them wouldn't die.
During the whole ride back to the Tsugikuni estate, Michikatsu's mind kept wandering to that boy, and the face of his younger twin brother.
...He would be sure to question the boy once he woke up.
The attendants back at the estate hadn't been expecting the lord of the house to arrive back home with a severly injured child, so Michikatsu does not blame them for the slight panic. He's certain he saw someone accidentally push another over in a rush to give the boy first aid.
Luckily a doctor was brought in quickly—since Haruhime was approaching the end of her second pregnancy, doctors operating in the nearby area were expecting to be summoned to the Tsugikuni estate any day—and the boy recieved help fairly quickly.
Now the unnamed child was bandaged and lying on a spare futon, changed out of his bloodstained clothing and still unconscious.
"Do you have any idea what could've caused his injuries?" Michikatsu asked the doctor.
"An animal, I assume. His wounds looked like they had been caused by claws. Possibly a bear or another predator." The doctor answered. "...Is... is he related to you, sir? There's a small resemblance between you two."
Michikatsu was silent. He didn't know. Were they related? Was this child possibly his nephew? Or was it just a coinsidence?
"I am unsure. I will have to ask him myself once he wakes up." Michikatsu decided on answering. "Thank you for your help."
"Of course, it was my pleasure." The doctor nodded. "I do hope that the boy recovers just fine."
Michikatsu hoped so as well. He needed answers.
It took about a day for the boy to wake up. He was visibly confused and delirious. He kept asking for someone named Nezuko, and didn't recognise the name Tsugikuni, or even know the year or day correctly—when the doctor had asked to test how conscious the boy was, he had said that it was the year 1913. The doctor said that the boy must've gotten a severe concussion along with his injuries.
About a week after being brought in, the boy's head cleared enough to give coherent answers. He looked visibly shocked at hearing the year. Maybe his concussion had been more severe than originally thought...
"Uhm, so- where am I?" The boy asked, now sitting up on the futon and looking around the room in confusion.
Michikatsu, who had been waiting for the boy to get coherent, was sitting a bit away from the boy's futon. "You are in the Tsugikuni estate, my home. My name is Michikatsu Tsugikuni."
Michikatsu stared at the boy's expression, waiting for a sign of recognition—anything really. But the boy looked just as confused as ever.
"Tanjirou." The boy replied. "Tanjirou Kamado."
Michikatsu silently went through all the relatives he knew—close and distant. None of them had the name Tanjirou nor Kamado.
"Are you from a commoner family?" Michikatsu asked.
"What?" Tanjirou blinked.
"From a commoner family." Michikatsu repeated. "Your name is quite simple."
Tanjirou stared at Michikatsu for a moment before answer. "Uh, y-yes? I think? I mean, I'm from a charcoal burner family."
A commoner then.
"Where did you get those earrings?" Michikatsu asked.
Tanjirou brought a hand up to clasp one of his earrings between his thumb and index finger. "They're a family heirloom."
"Are you related to someone named Yoriichi?" Michikatsu asked. He left out the fact that Yoriichi was related to him, not wanting to take the chance that the boy would think about lying to claim relation to the Tsugikuni clan.
Tanjirou frowned. "No, no one in my family is named Yoriichi."
Well that made no sense at all. If the boy was not related to Yoriichi, why did he have his earrings and resemble him so much?
Tanjirou must've noticed Michikatsu's confused expression, because he spoke up again. "Is something wrong?"
"...No." Michikatsu decided on. "You just... resemble him strangely. I would've assumed you to be related to him." Michikatsu paused. "He had those earrings, ever since childhood."
"Oh." Tanjirou blinked. "Uh, I'm really sorry, but I don't know anyone named Yoriichi. My earrings were passed down to me from my father."
Tanjirou wasn't making any more sense. "And your father's name is?"
"His name was Tanjurou." Tanjirou answered.
"Was?" Michikatsu raised an eyebrow.
"He died because of an illness when I was thirteen." Tanjirou looked down at his lap.
"Oh... my condolences. That must've been hard for you." Michikatsu replied softly. "I lost my mother to her illness when I was seven."
Tanjirou looked up at Michikatsu, his bright red eyes full of sympathy. "I'm sorry for your loss, sir."
"It's alright." Michikatsu waved him off. He didn't need a child to pity him. "Who is Nezuko? You kept asking for someone with that name when you woke up." Michikatsu changed the subject.
"She's my little sister." Tanjirou answered. "She wasn't with me when I got attacked, she was too exhausted to travel with me."
"And what exactly attacked you?" Michikatsu asked. "You had a sword with you as well. You seem too young to be a fully trained samurai, so you shouldn't be allowed to carry a sword with you alone."
Tanjirou looked baffled for a moment, then cleared his throat. "I'm not a samurai, I- I'm not even training to become one. I'm a Demon Slayer, I got attacked by a demon."
Michikatsu stared at Tanjirou for a long moment. A demon? This child claimed to hunt demons? "...Your concussion seems to linger."
"Wha- n-no! It's not that! I'm telling the truth, I swear." Tanjirou sputtered.
"Just rest and take it easy. You've only now become lucid enough to speak clearly, I'm not surprised that you're still a little delirious." Michikatsu stood up, preparing to leave. "An attendant will bring you food soon, don't move too much so your wounds won't reopen."
Without waiting for the injured child to answer or explain his tales any further, Michikatsu left the room and closed the door behind him.
With Tanjirou alone in the room, he slumped with a sigh. This was not how he expected his mission to go...