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When Nezuko dreams,
she can see the stars.
Somewhere deep within her wandering consciousness,
far from the mountains, far from the sky,
far from her home.
Glimmers of light across the clouds, far into the dark night. So far… what does the distance hold?
She can see the stars.
Do you see me?
She waves to the stars.
The stars do not wave back.
If it is the light… are they lonely?
If stars are lonely,
then Nezuko wants to be the emptiness between them. And so she sleeps.
Somewhere, beyond home.
Somewhere, where the stars can reach her.
Sleep, little bunny… sleep.
Little bunny, why are your eyes so red?
Because I have cried for the stars.
The night is beautiful.
Nezuko can see the stars.
The wind gently brushes her face.
“Dance for me,”
the petals whisper.
The rhythm cradles her dance.
Breathing… heartbeat.
Stars.
“Dance into the night.”
Hmm~
The crickets are not chirping.
Now—now it is quiet.
There is only Nezuko.
Only the stillness.
Only the stars.
Spring comes. Spring goes.
And so she counts her breaths.
Her heartbeat is heard by her.
One… two… In… Out…
She tastes home in her chest.
Charcoal, bamboo lattice, rice balls…
The wind swirled around her, turned with her.
They become one.
No, they do not.
Nezuko can see the stars.
✕
Onii-chan loves the stars.
On her fifth birthday, he showed them to her.
Nezuko was five when she held the stars in her hands.
“You just have to—like this!”
Onii-chan loves the stars. So he gave them to her. His whole face beamed as he handed her the paper. Much more than just paper.
It was a star.
“Do you like it? It’s really easy!”
He hummed happily.
His hands cradled hers.
So warm… she sees the star in her hand.
And… And…
“…Yes…!”
Then she threw herself around him.
Her arms encircled him.
Held him close.
So warm… a bright sound came from her lungs. It will always be warm.
Never cold. Always Onii-chan.
And Onii-chan gave her the stars.
“Thank you, Onii-chan… Nii-chan is the best!”
His hands patted upon her back.
Clumsily.
But he was there.
“S-So you like it?”
His voice trembled.
Like a blossom shaken by a snowstorm.
“It’s really just paper, Nezuko…
I’m sorry I can’t give you anything better…”
She held him tighter.
“I love it.”
Tanjiro loves stars. When Nezuko dreams,
she sees the stars.
But now—now she is home.
Nezuko can see the stars.
Nezuko…
“Then… then you want to learn how to fold them yourself?”
Nezuko was five when she folded her own stars. Nezuko…
Little bunny, why are you crying?
✕
Little bunny from the little hill…
why are your eyes so red?
✕
“Nii-chan?”
The night was cool. Warm. Spring carries flowers in the air.
Nezuko sits beneath the sky. Beneath the moon.
Beyond the stars.
Tanjiro. Do you see the moon?
Do you hear the stars whispering?
“Do you think stars are lonely?”
Onii-chan lies beside her. Under the same sky. Why was he so far away?
Home. Tanjiro’s smile is gentle.
His hand is warm.
Warm against her warmth…
“Definitely not!”
He promises her. His eyes sparkle red.
Like a lonely blossom under moonlight.
A water sheen glimmering softly.
“They are never alone—you just can’t see them during the day!”
A sigh. The wind carries the sound.
“But don’t you see the moon?”
He whispers.
“They must shine for him, right?
So that the moon is not lonely.”
The moon and the stars…
Her eyes close.
Onii-chan is always right.
Just as the sun will rise every day.
Just as light casts shadows.
But… Her eyes shimmer open.
Her voice is no more than a whisper.
“But,”
her gaze wanders into the sky.
“the sun… is just a star too, isn’t it?”
Little bunny… do you see the moon?
Do you see the night?
I carry the sun for you.
“Why is it separated from the other stars?”
So lonely.
Nezuko cannot reach the stars.
✕
Once upon a time there was a little bunny on a little hill. The little bunny slept.
Sleep, little bunny, sleep~ the stars whispered sweetly. Forget the moon, far beneath the sun~
Sleep~ She floated beneath clouds.
Sleep~ once her eyes had been red.
But today the little bunny slept on the little hill. The wind will not be able to wake her. Not the moon. Not the sun.
Only the stars.
Little bunny with long claws…
with sharp teeth… do you hear the cat?
Yes… I hear it.
Little bunny, born with red eyes… whom will you protect?
Onii-chan.
When Nezuko dreams, she searches for the stars.
When Nezuko dreams, she no longer sees the stars. It’s okay.
she already has the stars.