Tengu and Yuki-onna 2

Yeah, I'm not good at coming up with titles, haha.

Theme for day 30 is 'Free day' so I can basically write whatever I want.

Like I mentioned in the last chapter, this is a continuation of it with some more ideas that I wanted to write but I felt the chapter got too long.

Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.

"It's a shame, I thought we would have at least another hour before any human showed up." Tanjiro mentioned with a frown.

The two had gone for a walk together but it was cut short when the tengu noticed a few humans entering the mountain.

"It's alright." Kanao answered. "I don't really mind…"

"Well, we'll have to make time until they leave… would you like to come to my house? It's in the opposite direction of where they are."

"…if you don't mind."

"I've been to your house a lot of times, it's just returning the favor" Tanjiro smiled behind his mask. "Follow me."

…

A short while later, they had made it to Tanjiro's home.

"Come on in." The tengu said as he opened the door and walked in, taking off his mask and putting it in a shelf. "Make yourself comfortable; would you like some water?"

"Yes, please." She nodded, sitting down in seiza near the middle of the living room. "Your home is definitely nicer than the cave."

"Hehe, thanks." Tanjiro chuckled, coming back with two cups. "You're welcome to stay here if you want."

"Eh?"

"…what? Did I say something wrong?"

"Ah, no, I was just surprised." Kanao answered. "Are you sure… I can stay?"

"Of course." He nodded with a large smile. "You said yourself that this is nicer than the cave; plus, we can talk whenever instead of me needing to go there and you waiting for me." The tengu scratched his cheek. "To be honest, a lot of times I come back here and think 'I wanted to talk with Kanao more' so… what do you say?"

"…if you'll have me, I'd love to."

"…" The red haired tengu stood there, his eyes wide and staring at the Yuki-onna.

"Tanjiro? Is something wrong?"

His shocked expression turned into a soft smile.

"Kanao… you're smiling."

"Eh?" She brought her hands to her cheeks and noticed that it was true. "…I guess I finally gave you my thanks for back then." Kanao muttered.

Tanjiro's smile widened.

Tanjiro walked back to his house, the sun shining brightly in the sky and warming him as he approached it.

It had been over three months since Kanao had officially moved in with him and now, every time he comes back, he can't help but smile at the thought of seeing her.

'Who would have thought having someone waiting for you would be this nice?' The tengu thought with a chuckle. 'Well, I better hurry.'

…

"I'm back." Tanjiro called out as he entered his house.

"Welcome home." Kanao answered with a smile.

"What are you doing?" The tengu asked noticing the pot above the fire.

"I can't go out when it isn't winter so I wanted to try and do something here, I'm trying to cook rice." She answered.

"Oh, can I try some?"

"S-sure… just please don't expect much, I never cooked before."

"That's alright, do you want me to help?"

"No, I want to try to learn on my own." The Yuki-onna shook her head. "It should be ready soon."

"Great, I can't wait." Tanjiro said, letting his staff rest against the wall and moving a bag next to it before sitting in front of Kanao, the pot between the two of them.

"How was your day?"

"Good, some humans gave me another offering." He pointed to the bag. "I don't think you will be short of ingredients to practice with."

"Let's just hope I learn soon so they aren't wasted." She answered with a giggle.

The tengu couldn't help but stare, she had been a lot more expressive since the first time he saw her smile and he really enjoyed being able to see that side of her; he didn't have an issue with her previous demeanor but he would be lying if he said he didn't prefer seeing her smile over her neutral expression.

"What about you? Anything happened while I was out?"

"Not really." Kanao answered. "It was… a bit boring but that's why I'm trying to learn to cook, it will keep me busy."

"…I'm sorry about that." The red haired tengu sighed.

"No, don't worry about it; you have a duty as the 'guardian' of this mountain and I can't go out unless it snows, I understand."

"Still, I feel bad for leaving you here alone." Tanjiro frowned. "Is there anything you want to help you pass the time?"

"Hmm… nothing really comes to mind."

"Alright, just let me know if something does."

"Sure."

…

"I think the rice is ready." Kanao said, taking some of it and putting it in a bowl before passing it to Tanjiro.

"Thanks." He said as he took the food, waiting for her to get her own portion before digging in.

"Thank you for the food." The two said in unison before starting to eat.

"Hmm…"

"It's a bit too salty, isn't it?" Kanao asked with a frown.

"A bit, yeah." Tanjiro nodded. "I'd say it's still pretty good for your first try, though; besides, you can only improve as you keep practicing."

"Yeah, you're right." She agreed as she took another bite.

"Oh, Kanao."

"Yes?"

"You have some rice on your check, stay still for a moment." He said before closing the distance, moving one hand near her cheek-

Kanao suddenly jumped back, moving until her back hit the wall.

"K-Kanao?" The tengu called out in shock. "Wh-what's wrong?"

The Yuki-onna just stared at him, her eyes wide with fear and her breath ragged.

"S-sorry, just… give me a second."

"Y-yeah…"

After a few moments, she calmed down.

"I'm sorry for my reaction." She apologized.

"What happened? Did I do something?"

"No!" She quickly answered. "It's not you, I… I'm a Yuki-onna, remember?"

"Yes…?"

"I… if someone touches me… I will freeze them." Kanao explained, looking at the ground. "So… please don't touch me… I don't want to hurt you."

"Ah…" Tanjiro sighed in relief. "I thought I had done something to scare you."

"I'm not afraid of you, Tanjiro." She shook her head with a small smile. "I know you, I have no reason to be afraid of you."

The tengu smiled back.

"But Kanao, I think you're forgetting something."

"Hm?"

Tanjiro moved towards her, stopping at enough distance that the two would need to extend their arms to touch the other.

"I'm a Tengu."

"Hm? I know."

"I'm not a human." He continued. "Maybe could freeze me if you put your mind to it and I just let you but… I'm not a human, you can't freeze me just by touching me."

Her eyes widened but she shook her head.

"A-are you sure?"

"Positive, I've fought some Yuki-onna before and… well, if they could have won just by touching me then I wouldn't be here now." Tanjiro explained. "I can prove it if you want." He extended his right arm towards her and raised his index finger. "Just touch your index finger to mine, even if you were to freeze me I could move back before any real damage is done."

Kanao stared at the finger, then to her friend's face, then back to the finger and once more to his face.

Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly raised her own arm and extended her index finger; doubting for a moment longer before touching his index with hers.

"See?" Tanjiro said. "No problem at all." As to drive that point home, he moved forwards a bit and rested more of his finger on hers.

The Yuki-onna stared, her eyes fixated on their fingers as if to make sure that she really wasn't freezing the tengu.

"…I'm not hurting you." She whispered, barely loud enough for Tanjiro to hear.

"You said you have no reason to be afraid of me." The red eyed tengu began, opening his palm and using his fingers to prompt Kanao to do the same. "I can say the same to you." He rested his palm against hers. "I'm not afraid of you Kanao and you don't' have to be afraid of hurting me." He intertwined their fingers together.

"-sob-"

"Kanao? Why are you crying?"

"I-I don't know." She used her free hand to clean her tears but they kept falling. "I…I thought I couldn't cry but… tears are supposed to fall when you're sad… and I'm not sad at all." She said as she continued to try and clean her tears to no avail.

"Are you happy?" He asked softly, using his free hand to help clean her tears.

"Yes! I… I'm so… so happy right now!" She cried out between sobs.

"I think those are called 'tears of joy'." A few tears began to form on Tanjiro's eyes. "Ah…" He realized they were falling from his eyes as well.

"And why are you crying?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." He answered, not bothering to clean them and continue to clean Kanao's. "I think… I'm just happy that you're happy."

She giggled at the answer before stopping to try and clean her tears and start to try and clean his.

Their hands continued intertwined for a long while.

"Winter is coming again." Tanjiro mentioned as he enjoyed the food Kanao prepared. "Is there somewhere you want to go?"

"Hmm, I haven't been to the south part of the mountain yet." She thought out loud.

"Ah, there are a lot more clearings on that side; I'm sure you'll like it."

"I see… will it be okay, though? More clearings means less space for us to hide."

"Don't worry, the town is in the north side so humans rarely go to the south, even when it isn't snowing." He assured her. "Even if one shows up, I'll make sure we can avoid them."

"Alright, I'm looking forward to it, then." Kanao smiled brightly.

"Great!"

…

A week later, snow had piled up allowing Kanao to leave the house.

Like the two had planned, they went to the south part of the mountain; trees were still around but, like the tengu had said, there were a lot more clearings between them as opposed to the north side.

"What do you think?" He asked as Kanao looked around, his mask resting on the side of his head.

"Hm, you were right, I like it." She answered with a smile. "Oh, I think we can even try that."

"That?"

Instead of answering, the Yuki-onna touched his shoulder before running off.

"Tag, you're it."

"Ah…" Tanjiro couldn't help but chuckle as he saw her go. "Alright, here I come." He waited a few more seconds before dashing forward, lifting a small amount of snow from the sudden burst of speed.

Kanao moved between the trees to avoid letting Tanjiro just dash forward and catch her and forcing him to zig zag around them, as well as throwing some snow on his way or using her ability to create a wall and cut him off.

Tanjiro was able to keep up, using his nose to guide him whenever Kanao managed to escape his sight.

'There aren't any trees on the path she is going.' With a grin, he jumped high in the air and began to jump from tree to tree, dodging the snow her friend tried to hit him with until he had a direct line to her. 'Now!' Extending his wings, he used the trunk of a tree to propel himself forward, closing the distance before she could raise a wall between the two.

Tanjiro caught Kanao in a hug, the impulse sending the two to the ground and he used his wings to cover the two as they slid on the snow, stopping a few seconds later with the tengu resting on top of the Yuki-onna, his wings acting as a cushion between her back and the floor.

"I caught you." Tanjiro smiled as he caught his breath.

"You did." She smiled back in the same state. "I think this is the first time I've seen you use your wings."

"It's a bit hard to use them during a blizzard and I couldn't walk with you if I'm flying." He replied with a shrug.

"…they're soft." Kanao commented, one of her hands touching the feathers.

"Thanks." Tanjiro said, absentmindedly moving a lock of her hair behind her ear. 'She is… really close…' He thought, his hand gently cupping her face.

"…something wrong?"

"…"

"Tanjiro?"

"…can I kiss you?" He asked, his expression completely serious.

"…eh?"

"Can I kiss you, Kanao?"

"Wh-wh-wha…?!" The Yuki-onna stuttered, her face quickly turning crimson.

The tengu stood still, waiting for her to calm down and hear her answer.

"Wh…why… do you want to kiss me?" She managed to ask, her eyes moving to look anywhere but him.

"Two people kiss when they care about each other a lot, right?" He began. "I heard some humans mention it."

"Y-yes, I've heard that as well." Kanao nodded.

"I care about you a lot, Kanao." Tanjiro smiled. "I… don't think I have the right words to tell you how much, so I want to show you… hmm, I wonder if that's another reason why two people kiss." He muttered the last part but opted to leave that thought for later. "So… may I?"

The two seconds it took for Kanao to answer felt like the longest in the tengu's life.

"Yes." She smiled the brightest smile he has seen from her so far, moving her left hand over the one that's cupping her face. "I… I'd like that."

He slowly moved closer, his red eyes fixed on her purple ones and gently posed his lips on hers; just brushing them together for a few seconds before moving back.

"I never kissed anyone before so… sorry if I didn't do it right." He said with a blush.

"No, it was perfect." Kanao assured him. "I don't have anything to compare it to but… it just felt right."

The two stayed in that position, hypnotized by each other's gaze, when Tanjiro's eyes suddenly widened.

"…why today of all times?" He sighed, earning a curious look from Kanao. "Some humans just entered this side of the mountain." The tengu explained with another sigh.

"Oh…" Kanao frowned, letting out a sigh of her own. "I guess we should be going back."

"Yeah…" Tanjiro nodded, carefully grabbing Kanao's back with his right arm and passing his left one beneath her knees and hoisting her up.

"Tanjiro…" She muttered with a blush. "I can walk on my own."

"I know but… I don't want to let you go yet." He answered with a smile.

"…good." The Yuki-onna moved her arms to his neck and pulled herself closer.

The two went back to their home like that, a large smile on their faces.

And done!

A bit late but I made better time than before, go me!

I hope you enjoyed because I did; it was really nice to write about them as a Tengu and Yuki-onna, not even sure why, it just was.

I… may or may not write one last chapter for day 31 but it's a maybe, not sure if I will make it in time… oh, who am I kidding? Even if it ends up taking me an entire year, I would just write it for the next Halloween, hahaha.

I hope Eliz doesn't mind if it's not on time, hehe.

Anyway, once again, I hope you enjoyed!

Until next time!