For some reason it won't let me add characters, so, this is mainly a Rengoku x Tanjirou fic, with one-sided Muzan x Tanjirou and Giyuu x Tanjirou
Much like with my AiDeku story, there will be potentially triggering things described in detail, so please head the content warnings before each chapter and just don't read if it's going to make you upset or uncomfortable.
If you would prefer to read it on Ao3, so you can review all the tags, you can find me Kurosaki_Taicho
Warnings: graphic depictions of violence (canon-typical)
"Muzan-sama!" crimson eyes close up into cheerful crescents, earrings bounce against soft skin as a smile tugs at plush lips. "I am done with today's prayers, may you have much fortune in battle tomorrow!" Thick red hair tied high falls gracefully over a thin and delicate shoulder as she bows, excusing herself with another kind smile that makes his heart flutter in his chest.
He must have dismissed her, though he does not remember doing so, because in the next moment the door slides shut again with a soft click.
It feels colder, without her warm gaze on him, and he shudders.
Beautiful.
Stunning.
Radiant.
Ethereal.
Everything about her is breathtaking, and no words crafted by mere mortal minds could ever hope to do her true beauty justice.
She is the sun.
Bright and blazing and fierce.
A burning star that bathes its surroundings in warmth and love- no one is forbidden from it's embrace, everyone is deserving of care, of understanding.
But that does not mean that the sun does not burn, that it does not protect, unrelentingly, the ones that it loves.
Oh to be loved by the sun…
Muzan growled, eyes flashing dangerously, as he made his way through the snow. It had been centuries since he'd last laid eyes on her reincarnation, and he was running out of patience. He hadn't had to wait this long the last time, and he was not a man used to being kept waiting.
He tilted his head back, letting out a huff of annoyance as he glared at the gloomy sky, the clouds a heavy grey blanket preventing the sun's rays from touching his skin.
'You will pay for what you've done to me, E-... Ah, what's this?'
He caught a scent of burning fire on the wind, chimney smoke drifting lazily into his line of sight.
'Finally, I've found you.'
Whenever happiness is destroyed, there is always the smell of blood.
"Hurry back Tanjirou! It's going to be very cold tonight!" the boy turned, a joyful smile on his face as he waved goodbye to his family.
"Of course! I'll be home before you know it!" With one last wave, he continued down the path, heading into the village at the foot of the mountain.
Though he could not see it, he knew the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon as the sky became ever darker, the smell of burning wood even more prominent as the temperature plummeted- not that it affected him.
When he finally reached the source of the smell, a comely little house with a large oven outside prefect for making charcoal, he smirked.
He knocked briskly on the door, something akin to excitement churning in his gut as he waited.
He'd waited for so long, but finally, finally he had found her again.
He would not make the same mistakes he'd made in the past- she would not escape his grasp this time.
The door began to creak open, and if he'd had breath to hold, he would have held it, but-
"Tan-" it wasn't her, her coloring was all wrong.
"Afraid not," he didn't give the woman a chance to speak, barging into the house to find what he was searching for.
At the sound of the woman's cries of protest, several feet came running, and Muzan observed them each carefully as they each entered the room.
"Who are you?! What do you think you're doing barging in like that?!" He ignored the woman who had answered the door, as she came to face him, clutching her children close, trying to move them subtly away.
Muzan scoffed, 'how futile.'
He continued to stare, unnerving red gaze pinning them in place, searching for any sign of her.
Rage quickly boiled in his gut, obliterating any excitement, 'she's not here.'
"I have no use for you-" he raised his hand, eyes glowing with malice, and the woman flinched, pulling her children fully behind her.
"What!-" he didn't wait to hear her words, did not care for what she had to say.
"Begone," faster than any human could hope to perceive, he lunged forward, hand piercing through her stomach, splattering blood all over the petrified children behind her as he pulled, ripping her guts out through the hole he'd created.
He grinned, manic, as he brought his hand up, licking the blood off his fingers.
He was right, she wasn't a descendent, but perhaps the children…
"Who's next?" The one who was directly behind her, covered head to toe in her blood, whimpered, crying out as his legs gave out and he fell onto the blood soaked mats with a wet squelch.
Muzan smiled as he took a deliberate and slow step forward.
"You, then?"
"N-" before the word could even form in the eldest girl's mouth, his hand was already inside the young boy, digging around as his blood-curdling screams filled the air.
The sound seemed to finally shock the girl into action and she grabbed onto the smallest one, rushing for the still open door.
He could have easily stopped them, but he let them go, let them hope to escape- it was so much more fun when he could see that light of foolish hope fade as they bled out.
He killed the remaining boy, tasting both of their blood before standing to deal with the runner.
They were indeed descendants, but the connection was weak... perhaps a distant relative from the main family?
"Did you really think you could escape?" he gripped the girl's shoulders tightly as he came up behind them, delighting in the terrified cry that escaped her mouth.
"Please!-" he ignored her, nails piercing both of their necks as he injected his blood into them.
"Let's see if your bodies can survive the transition, shall we?" Muzan smiled, sickly sweet, as he stepped away, watching as the girl screamed, clutching the boy to her chest as they fell onto snowy ground, staining pristine white a deep red.
The boy was already dead before they touched the frozen ground, his body too young to handle the transformation, but the girl was squirming, grunting in pain.
She might just make it yet.
'Hmm… You do have her blood, however faint. Will you become as strong as him, I wonder?'
Turning his back to the scene, Muzan headed off back into the woods.
He didn't need to linger here, he would find out if she had survived soon enough.
It was time to head back to Tokyo, he'd already been gone too long.
Whenever happiness is destroyed-
"Wha- no way…" an empty basket, once full of charcoal, dropped heavily to the ground, the sound deafening in the eerie silence. The snow felt more like mud, and it took every ounce of his strength to keep moving forward.
"Nezuko! Rokuta!" he fell to his knees, hands trembling as they hovered over the bloody bodies of two of his most treasured people.
'Nezuko, she's still warm! I have to get her to a doctor!'
He spared a look into the main room, long enough to know there was no chance those inside were still alive, the walls painted red.
- there is always the smell of blood.
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。(｡･ω･｡)ﾉ💖