Chapter 1 : Cruelty
Before we start, here's a small presentation of my fanfiction :
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"Kimi No Tame Ni" is a fanfiction of mine, that basically is about an Inverse AU of the manga "Kimetsu no Yaiba" (Demon Slayer) where Nezuko and Tanjiro swaps their respective roles.
Now, that was the basic things...
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What I want to do with this fanfiction is simple : Imagine and share to people what I think the story could have been if Nezuko was the demon slayer and Tanjiro the demon.
That implies many differences between the two siblings. In their abilities, but also in their personnalities. The reactions of the two characters, what they say, what they think, how they interact with each other or with other characters... It will not exactly be the same as in the cannon, sometimes maybe completely different, which can lead to some added scenes, different dialogues or characters around them that answers them in a different way than they do in the cannon.
I want to make this story as original as possible, while still having to stay on the same cannon plot and not allowing myself to go too far either.
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There, you know a bit more about what you're going to read !
On that, good reading...
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Kamado Family
• Tanjuro Kamado
178 cm (5'10")
63 kg (138 lbs)
22/10/60 - 30/12/10
(Dead at 50 years old)
• Kie Kamado
165 cm (5'5")
55 kg (121 lbs)
09/02/70
(41 years old)
• Tanjiro Kamado
156 cm (5'1")
53 kg (116 lbs)
14/07/98
(13 years old)
• Nezuko Kamado
150 cm (4'11")
39 kg (85 lb)
28/12/99
(12 years old)
• Takeo Kamado
145 cm (4'9")
40 kg (88 lb)
01/04/00
(11 years old)
• Hanako Kamado
132 cm (4'4")
27,5 kg (60 lb)
23/11/02
(9 years old)
• Shigeru Kamado
125,5 cm (4'1")
22 kg (48 lb)
06/09/03
(8 years old)
• Rokuta Kamado
112 cm (3'8")
16 kg (35 lb)
25/01/05
(6 years old)
[...]
December 31st 1911
02:20 PM
Kamado's residence
《D-daddy... I want to see daddy again...》
The little boy cried his father next to his big sister; Nezuko. It has been about one year since their father Tanjuro was gone, and 5 good minutes since Rokuta was in this state.
《Me too, I want to see him again, Rokuta...》 Began the girl.《But you mustn't let yourself down... I'm sure that daddy asks you to smile from where he is !》 Nezuko made him a sweet smile, which reassured the younger a little.
《I think I know what could make you feel better : Going out to get some fresh air, does that sound good to you ?》
Rokuta nodded softly, smiling at her.
《But don't forget to cover yourself, it would be a shame to catch a cold.》
The little boy looked away for a moment, looking a little embarrassed, then ended up looking Nezuko in the eyes.
《Hey... could you carry me like Daddy did before ?》 He pleaded.
《Of course ! If it can makes you happy. Just give me a minute...》
She replied cheerfully, getting up to go to her mother in the other room, while her brother's eyes lit up.
Once Nezuko arrived in the kitchen, she saw her mother washing the dishes from the last meal with Hanako and Shigeru.
'They look so happy together...' Thinked Nezuko.
Suddenly, the little Hanako noticed her big sister at the entrance.
《Huh ? What is it, Big Sister ?》 She asked, stopping her activity for a moment and tilting her head slightly to the side.
《Ah, no nothing... I just wanted to ask mom if she knew where was her purple jacket that Rokuta likes, I'm going out with him for some fresh air.》
《He did it again, right ?》Kie smiled sadly.《It's in my closet, you'll find it easily, sweetie.》
Nezuko left after thanking her mother, then went outside with her little brother a minute or two later.
While she was walking with Rokuta on her back, the girl admired the view she had on this large landscape which seemed endless.
Pure, thick white snow covered the entire ground, and a few branches of trees were also affected by this solidified water. She could sometimes find a few birds on these same trees, all of them warming up in the cold and hard month of December. There was also sometimes a light breeze blowing on her cheek, but nothing too bad.
After a while, she stopped, turning her head back to see the sleeping cadet on her back.
'He looks so peaceful...' She smiles for herself.
She decided to keep walking at the same pace as before instead of going straight home, because she didn't want to wake Rokuta so early.
Suddenly she heard others not. She raised her head a little, then saw a young boy in front of her, with long, black, combed hair with burgundy red tips tied in a sloppy ponytail, having eyes of the same color and a scar on the left side of his forehead.
He wasn't so much taller than her; only 5 cm (3 inches) of more approximatively, wore a dark green checkered black haori and long earrings, as well as a bright blue scarf, a white top on another green and yet another black, all three which were over wide and dark pants.
《Big Brother !》 She exclaimed, happy to find him here.
《What are you doing here, Nezuko ?》Tanjiro asked, gently.
《I was walking Rokuta to calm him down and he fell asleep, he would have continued to cry if I hadn't done anything...》She turned her head a little to cast an eye on her little brother; still asleep deeply on her back.
《He's been so sad since dad's death...》
Tanjiro smiled sadly, then stepped forward to gently pat Rokuta's head; an affectionate habit he had acquired.
Nezuko smiled back, then spoke again.
《You know, you're kind of a model for them, Big Brother... They always want to go where you go and help you constantly...》
The redhead smiled tenderly at his two cadets, then withdrew his hand from his younger brother while Nezuko continued her monologue.
《So what about you ? What are you doing ? I see you have your basket of charcoal on your back...》
《Uh ? Oh yeah, I go to sell some in the village as usual ...!》He laughed lightly.《I think I'll come back here tonight if I can sell everything.》
《Oh, but... Doesn't that tire you out ? I mean- You must have back pain from carrying this weight almost every day...》 The girl tilted her head slightly to the side.
《No, don't worry !》The elder laughed.《My back is fine, but it thanks you for your concern, Nezuko !》
Nezuko laughed in turn, but she knew very well that her brother was this kind of person who; when they felt very bad, didn't tell anyone so as not to worry the people around them. At this point, he could almost die that he would continue to smile cheerfully and still do his job as a coal seller. Would that have something to do with his status as an elder perhaps ?
Anyway, Nezuko wanted to help him a little, even if he was fine, she felt bad to leave him again the dirty job to do.
She wouldn't tell him anything right now, but she would go help him later in the day when her walk with Rokuta was over.
[...]
December 31st 1911
03:32 PM
Kamado's residence
About an hour later, the girl returned home.
She was immediately welcomed by her little brother; Takeo, who ran to her.
《HEY WHERE WERE YOU ?! I DIDN'T KNEW YOU WERE OUTSIDE !!!》
《If you helped us with the dishes you would know why she left...》 Shigeru retorted.
《EH ?! WHERE'S THE CONNECTION WITH DISHES ? Plus, I was cutting wood !》He crossed his arms in discontent and started to sulk.
Nezuko laughed at his childish demeanor, then moved to Rokuta's room.
She put him on his bed first, leaving him the jacket to warm him.
While the girl gently patted his head, a sudden thought came to her :
'I also have to go see Big Brother down the mountain...' She thinked.
She kissed her brother on the forehead, then returned to the next room to warn her family again of her departure.
《Mom ?》
The young woman was playing with Hanako's hair, until she heard the voice of her older daughter.
《Yes, sweetie ?》
《Excuse me for leaving unexpectedly... I'm going to help Big Brother with his sale of charcoal in the village ! I'll be back tonight, and so, he'll come home a little earlier-- Well... If I can convince him to rest...!》She joked.
《Eh ?! Hey ! That's not fair ! I wanted to help Big Brother too ! Why can't we do anything to help you, guys ?!》Sulked the little girl.
The mother of the whole family decided to impose her opinion at this moment :
《In my opinion, you may should leave Tanjiro to fend for himself, sweetheart... You'll get tired of transporting all the coal, plus he'll surely not accept your help himself...!》She laughed lightly.
With that, Nezuko took a pleading look at her mother, retorting :
《Mom, I'm only one year younger than him, it's not that much... Plus, Big Brother always does this heavy task, I want to help him for once, he, who does everything for us...》
Kie looked down a little, avoiding eye contact with her older daughter to reflect on her final decision a little, while the young teenager continued her speech.
《Plus, he'll surely already have done a good part of the work, at least half when I'll arrive in the village, so it will necessarily be a little less heavy for me...》
Defeated, the young woman sighed, smiling.
《Alright, alright... You won ! I'll let you go if it makes you that happy...!》
The brunette's face lit up, but before she could even say a word, her mother spoked again :
《But be careful, ask your brother for some advice anyway; we never know !》
《Yes, I promise !》She said, stifling a little laugh.《Thank you, mom !》
The young girl bowed respectfully, then took a dark purple scarf and a dark haori from her closet before greeting her family once again and go outside.
[...]
December 31st 1911
04:05 PM
Mountain village
It has been almost half an hour since Nezuko descended the (small) mountain.
'To think that Big Brother does this every week with the weight of coal on his back...' She said to herself.
She was exhausted, almost unable to move even a finger.
She decided to sit for a moment in the snow at the entrance of the village to rest a little, when suddenly...
《Hey, isn't that Nezuko ?》
《You mean Tanjiro's little sister?》
《Aww what a cutie !》
The girl raised her head a little to see the villagers she knew advancing towards her.
《Is it ok ? Are you hurt ?》Asked an old man.
《Oh no, it's ok, Muraichi, thank you ! And you ?》Nezuko asked politely, smiling.
《Arf- Me, you know... With age, it's complicated ! Buuuut, it's the same for everyone I think, no ?》
《Haha, you're right !》Answer another villager.
《And how old are you today, sweetie ?》Asked an old woman.
《12 years old ! I celebrated them a few days ago !》She smiled.
《Already ?! Oh god, time goes so fast !》
《That means she's just younger than the little Tanjiro of one year !》
《Hey madam, when is your birthday ?》A little boy of about 6 years old asks, all smiles.
《"Madam" ? Oh come on, I'm not that old, am I ?》She joked.《My birthday is on December 28th- Oh, by the way, I should think about a gift idea for Rokuta's birthday, it's coming soon...》
While she was chatting with her village friends, the eldest Kamado; who came out of a charcoal sale in a house, smelled his sister's perfume :
Something sweet and light, which was quite close to a flower scent but not totally.
Because yes, Tanjiro had a kind of "power", a very fine nose being able to smell odors imperceptible by normal human beings.
He gradually approached the source of the smell until he found his little sister among the villagers who told her their stories, problems, asked her a few questions or listened to her simply speak...
《Nezuko ? What are you doing here ?》He asked, surprised.
When her big brother's soft voice reached her ears, Nezuko looked for the redhead boy, then answered after finally finding him.
《Ah, Big Brother ! Great, I was looking for you !》She exclaimed.
The brunette apologized to the villagers, briefly explaining the situation to them, then walked over to her older brother while her friends greeted her and returned home; still happy to have been able to speak with her for a while.
《So ? What's happening ?》Tanjiro tilted his head slightly to the side as a sign of incomprehension, while bowing his eyebrows in concern.
《Don't worry, it's nothing serious !》She reassured him by waving her hands with a gentle smile on her face.《It's just that... You're working so hard these days ! I wanted to give you a hand so that you can rest a little...》
The young boy smiled tenderly at her before speaking :
《Thank you, Nezuko... I appreciate your concern, really, but I told you, I'm fine... It wasn't worth going all the way for that !》He patted her gently on the head, laughing lightly. (he definitely likes to touch other people's heads !)
《You don't have to lie to me Big Brother, I know you, you know ?》She smiled at him, sadly.《Even if you were in the worst of your health, you wouldn't say anything to anyone and endure the pain on your own.》
Tanjiro looked away for a moment, then suddenly felt his hands frozen due to the low temperature warm up at the touch of his little sister's hands.
《Whoa, your hands are frozen !》She commented, before continuing.《I only hope that it's not like that for your whole body and that you didn't caught a cold...》She said, worried.
《You're exaggerating...》He sighed desperately.
《I just want to help you, Big Brother...》
The elder thought for a moment and then decided to speak.
《Well... I would feel bad telling you to come back alone by repeating the same path for nothing... Let me just light up the stock a little bit more and-》
《No no no ! It's fine, I can do it ! I promise !》Nezuko reassured him by retaining his two-tone check jacket.
《Are you sure ? It's pretty heavy you know...》
The girl nodded sympathetically, which made her big brother give in completely.
After a light sigh, Tanjiro removed his basket from his back and placed it gently on the floor.
《Well, here it is, you can wear it.》He declared while getting up slowly.
Nezuko lowered herself to the level of the basket of coal and passed her arms under the suspenders.
《Be careful though, it's quite heavy-》
The redhead didn't even have time to finish his sentence that his little sister was already standing, legs trembling against the immense weight placed for a few seconds on her back.
《N-NEZUKO ! DO YOU NEED ANY HELP ?》Stammered Tanjiro, worried.
The girl took a deep breath and then straightened, which almost made her fall back until her big brother stopped her.
《Be realistic, it's too heavy for you...》
《N-no... I-it will be fine !》She reassured him, stuttering because of the weight on her back.《So, how many houses did you make ?》She asked.
《Almost the entire left side... There's still a house at the back, and the right side to do...》He pointed to the houses in question with a little apprehension when it came to his sister's abilities.
《You really don't want me to lighten it up for you a bit ? I'm used to these weights you know, it wouldn't be a pro-》
He was cut by Nezuko's hand, holding one end of his jacket.
She stood straight, still a little shaky, but keeping her usual sweet smile.
《It will be ok.》
Tanjiro could only smile sadly, and accept the situation without making more fuss.
《Thank you, Nezuko...》
She smiled back at him as he slowly moved away into the mountains.
The girl then turned around and walked quietly to the nearest house to finish her big brother's tour.
[...]
December 31st 1911
06:30 PM
Mountain village
《Thank you so much, Nezuko ! It was nice to see you !》Kindly said a villager.
《You're welcome, it's me who's thanking you !》She answered him just as politely.《Take care of yourself sir !》
《What a nice little girl...》The old man let flow a small tear of tenderness towards Nezuko who went to join her family home in the mountain opposite.
'Oof... I did it, and I sold almost everything !' She said to herself happily. 'I hope that it helped Big Brother at least a little... To think he do this every week...'
She stopped walking for a moment; lost in thought, then recovered and continued her "journey".
[...]
December 31st 1911
06:48 PM
Snowy mountain
Walk...
Walk...
Walk...
She had only been doing this for almost a quarter of an hour, about half the journey between her house and the village.
She was already exhausted by the alley with almost 30 minutes of walking without breaks to get to the village, rested for about 5 seconds, then got up again, supported a several weight on her already tired body, continued her brother's tour and spoke with the locals which gives a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes without rest during the sale, and has continued to work now for a quarter of an hour.
She was breathless, gasping and trembling all over.
Suddenly, the brunette stumbled and fell on her buttocks in the cold snow.
《Ouchh...》She cried.《Well... I think it's time to take a little break...》
Nezuko sat more comfortably in the snow, while stucking her hands inside her haori to avoid the cold as much as possible.
《Nezuko ?!》
A close voice seeming to come from a man in his fifties reached the teenager's ears.
She looked up to see who was calling her name, then started to answer.
《Saburo ?》
《What are you doing here ?! Now is not the time or place to go out for a little girl of your age !》
《I sold the coal in place of my brother, he needed to rest.》
《No matter... Where are you going ? At your home aren't you ? In this case, come in mine, quickly ! The demons will come out !》
《The... demons...?》 The girl repeated.
《Don't fuss, Nezuko ! Come here immediately, if you go back home you will also be killed !!》Exasperated the old man.
With that, Nezuko laughed slightly and then spoke again.
《You know Saburo, I'm no longer a child...! These little stories are no longer really my a-》
《THESE ARE NOT STORIES ! IT'S REAL ! I SUPPLY YOU NEZUKO STAY SAFE AND GO IN !》He yelled.
Nezuko looked at him, speechless.
She had known him for a few years already, it wasn't as if he was a total stranger who was going to harm her. But still, the fact is that she found her behavior's attitude...
Strange...?
[...]
December 31st 1911
06:52 PM
Residence of Saburo
《Sorry to have yelled at you... But I'm not kidding with these things, this is important to me...》The old man apologized, handing the girl a meal.
《Don't wor- Eh ? Oh- no, no, no ! You don't have to !》She waved her hands in panic at the sight of the food.
《Oh yes, young girl ! You're 12, right ? You're growing up, so you need to gain strength, this isn't the time to skip a meal.》He walked away, smiling triumphantly.
Nezuko blushed slightly in embarrassment as she lowered her eyes to the kindness of the old man, then asked him :
《A-and you Saburo ? You don't eat ?》
Saburo turned around smiling at her gently.
《Haha ! No, I already ate a few minutes ago, but it's nice to worry !》He said while tooking off his jacket.
She smiled back at him lightly, then slowly began her meal.
《It's very good !》She commented, a little surprised.《I didn't know you had cooking skills...》
The old man turned to face her for thanking her, then followed the rest of the meal.
《Thank you very much for the food ! It was very nice of you !》She said, smiling brightly.
《Haha, you were hungry, right ?》He asked her, taking her dish back to wash it.《I've never seen anyone eat my cooking with such enthusiasm...!》
《Was it really so obvious...?》She laughed nervously. 《But it was still delicious, though ! By the way, Saburo...》
《Hm ?》
《You mentioned demons earlier... Could you tell me more about them ?》She asked.
《Well, well, you'll always surprise me, Nezuko ! I didn't think you'd be interested in these kinds of stories...》He smirked at her.
《In fact, when I was little, Big Brother always told me the stories that grandma had told him about demons... Sometimes I even surprised them talking together...! At first, it scared me a bit, and if I remember well, I even cried once...》She looked down, a little ashamed.
《So, Big Brother felt bad and didn't want to tell them to me anymore to avoid scaring me, then after growing up a bit, I took them as a kind of tales, myths and legends that we tell children, but the fact that you talked about it earlier puzzled me.》
The old man looked at her in amazement.
《Wow, that was a big monologue !》He joked.《As a matter of fact, I don't know much about demons... I just know that they go out at night to feed on human flesh. I know this because, you see, my own family was decimated by one of these creatures...》
With that, the young teenager widened her eyes a little, then lowered her head slightly.
《Oh- I-I'm sorry for you, all my condolences...》
Saburo looked at her sadly, without removing his faint smirk as he replied :
《No, you don't have to apologize, it's not your fault. That's how it is, life... But still, it's very dangerous to go out at night. They could attack us and kill us right away to eat our flesh...》
Nezuko was silent for a moment; biting her lower lip lightly, then finally decided to ask a question.
《Can... Can demons also go inside houses ?》She looked up, an expression at the same time a little frightened, but still calm in a certain way.
《Yes, they can, but demon slayers prevent them ! That's why as long as you're inside, everything's fine.》
The girl smiled slightly, strangely relieved.
A little later, Nezuko went to the guest room of the small house.
She took off her jacket, scarf and black banded over socks as well as her pink hemp leaf patterned kimono that could look like symmetrical flowers and untied her long wavy dark hair that were tied in a bun before, that reached the bottom of her back, only finding herself wearing her white purple striped yukata.
《Wow, you have very long hair ! You should let them down more often, it suits you very well !》Saburo commented.
The girl turned to the old man, then smiled gently at him.
《Y-yes, thank you !》
[...]
- Villager
• Saburo
184,5 cm (6'1")
78 kg (171 lbs)
04/04/61
(50 years old)
January 1st 1912
05:40 AM
Saburo's residence
The pink-eyed girl was ready to join her family.
Not paying much attention to her hairstyle this time since it was very early and that she could improve it back home anyway, she let her hair down with still one of her little pale pink ribbons which tied a small lock of her hair to prevent it from obstructing her sight.
Once she put her clothes and her older brother's basket on her again, she set out into the snow-covered forest.
《I'll have to go... Thank you so much for hosting me, Saburo !》
The old man smiled gently at her.
《It's nothing, kiddo, be well during this new year !》
《Yes ! I will !》She replies with a smile.
And so, she set out.
Strangely, Nezuko had a bad feeling since the previous night.
'It's surely because of these demon stories...' She said to herself. 'I see, I guess...'
'I'm still afraid of them huh...'
[...]
January 1st 1912
05:54 AM
Kamado's residence
About a quarter of an hour later, the brunette had finally arrived at her house.
《I shouldn't make too much noises, they're probably still sleeping at this time...》She whispered to herself.
One.
Two.
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Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Ten steps.
That's what it tooks her to get to her front door.
These ten steps led her to a massacre.
Her mother, her brothers, her sister...
All.
All were there, lying on the ground in a pool of blood that was theirs.
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《M-mo... om... Big... Brother..》
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《H-hanako, Takeo...》
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《Shigeru ! ROKUTA !》She said, bursting into tears.
Not even having the strength to stand, the girl fell to the ground.
'Why ? Why ? Why ? Why did this happen ? What happened ?'
The smell of blood filled her nose, the sound of flies and other insects flying around the corpses buzzed in her ears.
《I-I'm... sorry... I wasn't even there... When it happened...》
She whispered in her breath between a few sobs.
She walked slowly towards her mother to take her in her arms and to cuddle her cold and disgusting body of blood.
She did this to each member of her family, up to her big brother, Tanjiro, the one who was supposed to avoid that if he had stayed in the village.
The one who had to live.
Nezuko soon realized that he was covering his younger siblings in a protective manner, as if he had wanted to save them but to no avail.
He also no longer had his haori or scarf, surely having taken them off to sleep without suspecting that this was going to be his last night.
She hugged him as hard as she could, and kissed him on the forehead.
《I'm sorry Tanjiro... I'm so sorry...》
Suddenly, she reopened her eyes, irritated and wet by the hot tears which have and still continue to flow.
'Wait... What is that sound...?'
She frowned slightly and moved away from the boy.
Nezuko then put her ear close to her big brother's face and listened carefully.
'...'
'...'
'...'
'He...'
Her eyes started to shine, but not from tears, no...
This time, it was from happiness.
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'He's breathing !!!'
She gaped at him.
Tanjiro did take small, weak breaths, but as small as they were, he was breathing.
He was alive.
He was still alive with her.
That means there was a chance...
A chance to save him.
Wanting to make sure he was alive and that she couldn't imagine noises alone, Nezuko approached her brother's chest.
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"Ba-dump..."
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"Ba-dump..."
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"Ba-dump..."
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《B-big Brother...》
She hugged him, realizing once again that he was alive because his body was warmer than the other members of her family.
《You scared me so much...》
She hugged him a little more, then moved slowly to gently stroke the heads of her cadets.
《I'll come back, I promise...》
The brunette carefully pulled Tanjiro closer to the wall so that he wouldn't lose his balance as she got up to get his green checkered haori.
She then put it on her older brother's shoulders, hoping to warm him up, then decided to lend him her own dark haori as well. Better too much than not enough, she told herself.
She then took the unconscious boy's body on her back as best she could; no matter how hard it was, no matter if he was a little taller than her and weighed about fifteen kilos (33 lb) more, it didn't stop her.
She had to save him.
She wanted to save him.
Nezuko then went to the front door, then turned for a moment to face her deceased mother.
《Sorry, mom...》
《I'm leaving one last time.》
[...]
- Kamado family
• Tanjuro Kamado
178 cm (5'10")
63 kg (138 lbs)
22/10/60 - 30/12/10
(Dead at 50 years old)
• Kie Kamado
165 cm (5'5")
55 kg (121 lbs)
09/02/70 - 31/12/11
(Dead at 41 years old)
• Tanjiro Kamado
156 cm (5'1")
53 kg (116 lbs)
14/07/98
(13 years old)
• Nezuko Kamado
150 cm (4'11")
39 kg (85 lb)
28/12/99
(12 years old)
• Takeo Kamado
145 cm (4'9")
40 kg (88 lb)
01/04/00 - 31/12/11
(Dead at 11 years old)
• Hanako Kamado
132 cm (4'4")
27,5 kg (60 lb)
23/11/02 - 31/12/11
(Dead at 9 years old)
• Shigeru Kamado
125,5 cm (4'1")
22 kg (48 lb)
06/09/03 - 31/12/11
(Dead at 8 years old)
• Rokuta Kamado
112 cm (3'8")
16 kg (35 lb)
25/01/05 - 31/12/11
(Dead at 6 years old)
January 1st 1912
06:13 AM
Snowy mountain
A quarter of an hour has passed since Nezuko was on her way to the village.
A cold, hard and powerful wind had set in, which, in addition to more of 50 kg (110 lbs) on her back that slowed her down even more.
Yet she continued to advance.
She didn't care about the pain and the difficulty.
She was going to save her brother no matter what she was going to endure.
'Hold on, Tanjiro...' She said to herself, speaking indirectly to the little more older boy on her back. 'Stay a little longer with me... I'll get you out of there, I promise...'
The cold surrounding her made her cough slightly, but she didn't care.
'Hold on...'
Her legs hurted, but she ignored the pain.
'Hold on...!'
She could have sworn to hear a slight moan behind her back, but thought it was impossible.
'Hold on !!!'
Tanjiro slowly raised his head, which the girl didn't even notice because of her extreme focus on her goal.
A trickle of saliva escaped his lips when he opened his eyes.
He looked at his little sister's neck for a long time, trembling with hesitation at the extreme temptation that stood in front of him.
Wait...
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Which temptation ?
《Grrrrrrrr...》
A groan brought Nezuko back to reality.
She turned her head slowly to realize that her brother wasn't longer in the same position as before.
《Tanji-》
She was immediately cutted off by the young teenager, who was violently agitating on her back.
《GRAAAAHHHAAAAHHH !!!!》
《T-TANJIRO STOP !!! WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOU-》
But the redhead didn't listen.
He continued to shake constantly in order to escape from the hands of his sister who held him firmly behind her back.
But the fact is that the girl began to lose balance near of a cliff.
《STOP IT TANJIRO, WE'RE GOING TO FALL-》
《GGGRAAAHH AAAHHH !!!!》
《TANJIRO-》
Too late.
Nezuko stumbled into the void, dropping her basket of coal during the process and releasing her grip on her brother unwittingly, which allowed him to escape.
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'No...'
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'No...!'
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'No !!'
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'It isn't real...'
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'I'm not allowed to die...'
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'Not today... Not now !'
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'I have to help Tanjiro !!'
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'He needs me !!!'
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'My big brother needs me... so... why every time I have to be there for him...'
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'I can't do anything...?'
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《Huh ?》
The brunette slowly opened her eyes.
The gray sky covered the surface of the snowy trees, the wind was still blowing but a little less than before.
《I-I'm...》
Nezuko straightened, trembling slightly.
《Alive ?》
Indeed, the thick snow had prevented the young girl from even scratching herself with anything.
Her basket of charcoal was next to her legs with her brother's hatchet overturned next to it.
She stared into the distance, staring into space, until the realization hitted her.
《Tanjiro !》
She got up as quickly as she could while putting back her basket and her hatchet on her; disregarding the pain it gave her because of her fall and exhaustion, and started looking for her big brother.
《Tanjiro ? Tanjiro !!》
《Please tell me where you are !!》
《I just want to help you !》
《...》
《TANJIROO !》
Tears began to sparkle in her pink eyes as she desperately called her elder.
Suddenly, turning around, she caught the sight of her brother not far away in the snow, as if he had tripped and was trying to get up, but that was never the case.
He also no longer had her dark jacket on his back, surely having dropped it when they stumbled off the cliff a few moments earlier. But he still kept his green checkered haori on, so at least, he wasn't going to freeze to death.
《BIG BROTHER !!!》
Nezuko ran towards him, and then put her hand on his back.
《Are you alright ?? Are you hurt ??》
《...》
《...》
《...》
No answers.
The redhead just clasped the snow a little more in one of his hands and groaned slightly.
《B-big Brother...? What's wrong ? You've been acting weird since I-》
Suddenly, the young teenager noticed some water drops falling in the snow below her older brother.
She first said to herself that it was rain, but with more attention, she realized that it was something else.
'Saliva...? Big Brother is...'
Panicked, she quickly placed herself in front of the redhead and tried to straighten him.
《T-TANJIRO !! WHAT'S WRONG ??》
No answers came out of Tanjiro's mouth, except another slight growl.
《LOOK AT ME, TANJIRO !!》
She put her hands on the chin of her older brother and raised his head to see...
'What the...'
Kamado Tanjiro, eldest son of the Kamado family, now almost entirely deceased.
A sweet, caring, kind and helpful boy now looked more like a monster than anything else.
His eyes, once colored with a soft burgundy red with a certain pinkish tint on the bottom of his irises, were now bright red surrounded by a clear orb, making an almost frightening contrast.
His pupils were now split, like those of a cat.
His canines were long, so long... And his nails were much sharper than before, just like claws.
All of this...
All of this description...
'It reminds me of the stories he was telling me from grandma...'
'He would be...'
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《A demon...?》
But despite all of that, Nezuko couldn't be afraid of him.
We would have said...
That he was still there in some way...
The kind, gentle and caring brother she had always known...
He wasn't completely gone...
Demons are ruthless creatures, man-eaters who don't even spare their own family members if they were starving.
She might think he was the one who attacked their family, that he had been a demon all this time, but it was impossible.
Tanjiro has been human since his birth.
She knew it.
He, who cheerfully played with her when she was still a young child...
He consoled her when she was sad, was incredibly nice to her and all the members of their family.
This boy...
This boy couldn't be a monster...
Not back then anyway.
This day, when she arrived at the crime scene, she concluded from her older brother's position that he had tried to protect his cadets as best as he could.
He was still not a demon at this time.
And now...
The way he looks at her...
Panting, trembling and growling, could scare her...
But,
This wasn't the case.
He looked like he was trying... to hold back.
Holding back from hurting her.
Even if his gaze lingered a lot on the visible pieces of her skin, the flesh that was exposed to him, he tried to fight.
Because Tanjiro was still there.
And Tanjiro wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose.
Nezuko looked at him, sadly.
The redhead started to slowly straighten up towards his little sister, but was still trying to hold back.
《Tanjiro...》
Suddenly he bowed his head quickly.
Surprised, the brunette hastened to help him.
《BIG BROTHER !!! D-DON'T GIVE UP ! HANG IN THERE ! I'M RIGHT HERE- YOU'RE NOT ALONE !》
Tanjiro squeezed the snow even more in his hand.
《YOU CAN FIGHT IT ! I KNOW YOU CAN- WHOA !》
In just a few seconds, the young teenager jumped towards his younger sister's shoulder so violently that she fell to the ground with him.
Nezuko felt her brother's saliva run down her clothes, his aching stomach crying for food he could eat to appease his hunger which he was desperately trying to fight for her.
For her.
For her...
Even lying on top of her, holding her in spite of himself, continuing to growl with rage that he didn't control, Tanjiro didn't give in. He continued to inhale the almost irresistible smell of the flesh, but he resisted it again and again as best as he could.
And he did it for her.
《U-until the end... You'll always care more for others than for yourself, Big Brother...》Nezuko murmured in her breath, tears in eyes.
《In fact... since you regained consciousness... You were already fighting, w-weren't you...?》
The boy growled again.
《When you knocked me down from the mountain... Y-you knew... That you couldn't hold back any longer, s-so...》She sobbed.
《You did... e-everything you cou-ld... t-to save me...》
Warm tears ran down her cheeks as she slowly placed her arm on the redhead's back.
《I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so- so so..rry..》
She hugged him even harder.
《I'm the one... w-who should be s-suffering right now... Y-you shouldn't... W-why is it always you- why is it always to you... that the greatest misfortunes happen...》
《...》
Silence.
《I'm sorry, Big Brother... I'm so selfish...》
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《Y-you're wrong... N-nezuko...》
The girl's eyes widened.
This voice...
So soft...
So reassuring...
Even if it was weak, she could hear it...
Suddenly she felt something else wet her shoulder.
Nezuko turned her head back to her older brother who was...
Crying ?
His eyes were still bright red, but in a way, more... soft ?
She also realized that he had loosened his grip on her slightly, no longer holding her as a prey he was trying to prevent from fleeing, no...
It was much weaker than before, almost desperate, as if she was the only thing that tied him to this world.
《Y-you did... everything y-you could... to h-help me in the vil-lage... I-I saw... that you w-were exhaus...ted... at the b-beggi-ning... But you s-still- helped m-me... When you... c-carried me on your- back... des-pite my w-weight... the c-cold and y-your fa-tigue... you did... it a-anyway...》
He stuttered a lot, surely because of his tears but also because of his new nature which he was desperately trying to fight.
《I-I'm ashamed... I'm so- ashamed... t-to want...》
Tanjiro didn't need to finish his sentence for Nezuko to understand the hard situation he was in.
《Big Brother...》
She was about to continue her sentence when she suddenly felt violently pulled to the left.
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"Wow, you have very long hair !"
SLASH
In a few seconds, a sword cut off the teenager's hair to below her shoulders, and tore a part of her kimono in the back.
The young demon and his sister rolled up to a tree in which they bumped, causing some snow to fall on them from the branches.
《O-ouch...》She wailed.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw her big brother holding her tightly, the same way he had tried to protect their younger siblings.
《A-are you... o-okay...?》Tanjiro worried, out of breath because of his fight against hunger.
Nezuko looked at him with pity, feeling extremely guilty for his current suffering, then decided to answer.
《Don't worry about me... Tell me what's-》
《You.》
A deep voice reached her ears.
Even if the tone of voice was dark, she could still say that it wasn't a voice of a very old man, just around twenty years old or something.
The girl turned slowly, not even realizing her change of hairstyle during the process, then could finally see her interlocutor.
He was a tall man, measuring between 175 cm (5'7") and 180 cm (5'9").
He had long spiky bluish dark hair, deep blue colored eyes, and his skin was almost as pale as snow.
He was wearing a tricolor jacket, on one side burgundy red, and the other green with yellow-orange patterns, with underneath, a kind of navy blue jumpsuit with white borders, but above all...
'A sword...?' She said to herself.
《Why are you talking with this ?》He continued.
Nezuko looked at him, a little disoriented, then straightened up in a squatting position.
《H-he's my older brother !!》She tried to explain while Tanjiro was still on the ground.《W-what do you want from us...?! Why do you have a sword ??》
《You call this thing your brother ?》He completely ignored the things she said after the word "brother" and concentrated on the first part.
The brunette's eyes widened.
《T-this... "thing"...?》She repeated, slowly.
《You call him a "thing" ?! An object, a vulgar being insignificant !?!? DO YOU KNOW HIM AT LEAST ?! DO YOU KNOW IN WHAT HE HAD PASSED THROUGH ?!?!》
Before she even realized it, the young man had disappeared.
Nezuko looked for him to find out where he was hidden, when suddenly...
《Listen to me, young girl.》A voice from behind her back called her.
Nezuko turned in haste to find out who was speaking to her, but only one thing catched her attention.
Her big brother...
Her lovely big brother...
Was now in the hands of this man. This stranger holding him firmly by the wrists with one hand, and with the other holding his bluish sword.
《TANJIRO !》 She screamed.
The brunette was about to run to her older brother to save him when the blue-eyed man intervened.
《Don't make one single move.》He warned her, moving his sword towards the 13 year old boy's neck; who, despite everything, didn't do anything to fight against his aggressor.
Nezuko stopped immediately, her legs trembling at the thought of her brother being killed.
《W-what are you...》She stuttered, not knowing how to finish her sentence because of the shock that paralyzed her.
《I'm not here without reasons : I'm a demon slayer. My job consist to kill these creatures; that means I have to kill your brother.》He replied, calmly.
《W-WAIT !!》She panicked.《M-maybe we can help him !! T-there must be a solution to make him become human again-》
《No, there's none.》Replies the blue eyed man.《Once someone turns into a demon, he can no longer return to his initial stage of human being and is condemned.》
《No ! You're wrong ! There's always a remedy, we just have to search it !》
《Even if there was a cure, the fact that he tasted human flesh is unforgivable. He must be killed before he attacks other innocent people.》
《B-but... He didn't do anything ! I assure you he hasn't killed anyone ! And that he never will !!! O-our family was decimated by a demon... But it wasn't him ! I'm sure of it !! It's the opposite... In fact, he tried to protect them ! I don't know how did he became a demon, but he wasn't one before this morning, it's certain !!!》
《If this story you're telling me is true, it's very simple.》The unknown began.《During the attack of the demon who killed your family, your brother received part of his blood, this is how demons multiply. Otherwise, your brother has been a demon way before today and has managed to feed himself without you noticing it.》
《NO THAT'S NOT TRUE !》Screamed Nezuko.《Tanjiro wasn't a demon until this morning !》
《How can you be so confident about that ?》He raised his arm which held the redhead, who was breathing weakly.
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《New demons have no memory of their old life, and behave like savage beasts, unable to speak until they feed on a human, regardless of whether it's their family or not.》
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《 From what I could see and hear, your brother remembers you and has managed to protect you from my attack. Not to mention that for a starving demon, he looks pretty calm. He must have had a meal not long ago and wants a second, like the rot that he is.》He whispered the last part of his sentence.
《N-no, you're... y-you're wrong...》Tanjiro whispered under his breath, before the older man squeezed his wrists a little harder, making him moan slightly in pain.
《Silence, demon.》He said, dryly.
《HE'S FIGHTING SINCE THE BEGGINING !》Retorted the girl.《He fights his urge and his hunger despite all the pain it brings to him !!》
《A starving demon would eat its own family. If he had really been a demon for only a few minutes, he would have devoured you since some time ago.》
《YOU'RE WRONG !!!》 Cried Nezuko, tears in her eyes. 《WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND ?! I SWEAR HE DIDN'T HURT ANYONE AND THAT HE NEVER WILL ! I WILL HELP HIM TO FIGHT, I WILL FIND THE ONE WHO KILLED OUR FAMILY AND I WILL HEAL TANJIRO !!! SO PLEASE !!! P-please...》
On the verge of tears, the brunette brought her hands back to wipe her irritated eyes.
《P-please...》
No longer able to stand, she collapsed to the ground, kneeling in front of the demon slayer.
《D-don't kill him... I'm begging you...》She tightened the snow in her hands.
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'Don't take away from me the only person I have left in this world...'
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Tanjiro, who was still in the grip of the unknown, looked at his sister in the distance, his gaze filled with pain.
'Nezuko...'
With that, the demon slayer clenched his teeth in frustration.
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《DON'T EVER GIVE OTHERS A CHANCE TO MURDER YOU !》
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The girl's eyes suddenly opened because of what the stranger had just ordered.
《Stop these beautiful speeches; if they were effective, your family would still be alive as we speak !》
Nezuko straightened up slowly, tears in her eyes, listening attentively to what the young man in front of her said.
《A weak girl like you ? Heal your brother ? Revenge your family ?》
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《DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH !》
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《Weaks have neither rights nor choices ! They are doomed to be crushed by strongs !》
As he continued his speech, the demon slayer violently moved Tanjiro forward, to show him to his sister more clearly.
《The demons should surely know a way to heal your brother, but do you really believe that one of these creatures would have the desire, the time and the patience to help you ?! Myself ! Simple human, I have no respect either for you or for your brother ! This is the harsh reality !》He explained.《Why do you pretend that you have nothing to defend yourself when you have a hatchet right next to you ? Why don't you dare use it ?! All these mistakes you made led to the capture of your brother !》
The girl in the pink kimono had been staring at him for a while, without saying a word. She still looked a little less desperate than a moment earlier and was calmer.
《D-don't... talk to her like this...》The young demon boy got angry.
He hated seeing someone hurt physically or mentally an other person, especially when she or he was dear to him. That always put him in an uncontrollable rage, which we could qualify as "funny" when he was still human, but now that he had became a demon, if we added his hunger to his current state, it had reached a whole new level.
He knew it. He was aware of it.
He still tried to contain himself, not to get totally angry because he knew he was going to totally lose control of his body after that, but the speech of the slayer who trapped him in his hand didn't help him.
《Shut up demon. I'm not talking to you...》Murmured the blue-eyed man, tightening his grip on the poor boy's arms.
'Don't cry, don't despair...' The demon slayer encouraged Nezuko in his head. 'Now isn't the time for that.'
He looked at her more carefully.
'I know you're devastated. Your family has been slaughtered by a creature you didn't even know its existence, and you suddenly learn that your brother has become a demon. I know it hurts. I know you want to scream. I understand you.'
He slightly tightened the handle of his sword.
'If I had come half a day earlier, your family would surely still be alive... But we can't go back in time.'
'I know you won't forgive me. It makes you mad. I know it and I understand it perfectly. But use this rage... Use it to make it your strength, and use it in the moments when you must act ! If you stay with your fragile and weak mind...'
He raised his sword and pointed it toward the redhead.
'I have to tell you...'
This action was enough to bring Nezuko back to reality.
'That you will never be able to avenge your family.'
《NO ! DON'T DO-》
Too late.
The blade had already pierced the body of her older brother; Tanjiro, who let out a painful scream when he felt a sharp pain sink into his back.
Without thinking, Nezuko took the first stone she found and threw it at the one who had injured her brother.
The slayer pushed it away with his sword like a vulgar ping-pong ball in a tennis match, but that didn't stop the girl.
After picking up a few other stones and her hatchet, she quickly got up and started running through the trees.
While she had temporarily disappeared, the young man wondered about the demon he had in his hands :
He was screaming and growling in agony, shaking violently to free himself from the slayer's grip.
He no longer paid attention to the identity of the people present in the same place as him, not even recognizing the scent of his own sister whom he had always known until now.
All he knew was that they were made of flesh.
Flesh... Flesh...
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He obviously never had such thoughts when he was human, but the pain in his stomach had become far too unbearable.
While he still had some semblance of the strength needed to repulse his new impulses related to his demon nature, the blue-eyed man's sharp sword made him lose his sanity, dramatically increasing the now painful urge to feed and regain strength, and his already overdeveloped sense of smell as a human having sharpened even more than before didn't help him to resist to the oh so enticing scents of the two individuals at his side.
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'It's strange... Regeneration increases the hunger of some already starving demons as a warning signal to warn them that they must eat as quickly as possible, especially among novices, but the fact is that he didn't seem particularly hungry earlier, so why...'
He dodged another stone from the brunette.
'Unless what the girl said was true, and that he's been a demon only since a few minutes ago, but that would be impossible... Even the most powerful of demons couldn't resist to hunger to the point of talking friendly with his victim...'
Nezuko sent another pebble from in front of the demon slayer.
'Will she attack like this all along...?'
He immediately pushed the pebble which fell to the ground.
But, as soon as the pebble had touched the snow, another one coming from the exact same position, and going in exactly the same direction surprised him.
At the same time, Nezuko came out of her hiding place, hatchet in hand, ready to attack the young man from the left side to avoid injuring her brother who was on the demon slayer's right side.
'Shit...'
The blue-eyed man moved away from the tree trunk in order to dodge the pebble and be in front of the girl who was going to attack him, while trying not to release the demon he had between the hands and which was agitated more and more.
Once he felt she was close enough to him, he punched her hardly in the back, causing her to pass out immediately.
Wanting to make sure she was really unconscious, the man decided to wait a few more seconds, then, seeing that she wasn't getting up, relaxed a little.
'The space between the two stones has been calculated so that the one that was hidden was completely isolated from my view at first sight, and to keep me from dodging it with my sword because of the lack of time...' He said to him. 'Because of this, I had to focus on this stone, and she would have get me with her hatchet if I hadn't reacted in time... This girl...'
The young man was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that the demon he was holding had calmed down.
'N-nezuko...'
Tanjiro looked at his little sister for a long time, unconscious on the floor.
His stomach begged him to eat her.
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He wanted it...
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He needed it...
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But he didn't give in.
She could have left him, left him with this demon slayer and let him get killed.
She could have avoided getting hurt.
But she didn't.
She decided to help him.
To support him.
She didn't care about his demon status, he was still her big brother...
And she, his little sister.
As he was lost in thought and had slightly let his guard down, the young slayer suddenly felt Tanjiro moving again.
But hardly had he time to turn around that the young boy already made a small jump in height in order to exceed his size and bring his head back.
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'What the-'
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BAM !
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Immediately, the redhead gave him a powerful headbutt, causing his upper body to bow a little towards the ground as he temporarily lost his wits with a bleeding nose.
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'His forehead...' He told himself, as got up slightly. 'It's hard... as a rock...'
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Ah, here's another characteristic of the young boy : Not only does he have an high enhanced sense of smell, but he also has a very, very, VERY hard forehead coming straight from his mother.
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Suddenly, Tanjiro gave him another kick; but a leg one this time, pushing him back far enough in the snow so that he couldn't intervene at such a distance.
'DAMN-' Thinked the demon slayer. 'I should have known it was a distraction... He'll devour her-'
He immediately stopped his thoughts, widening his eyes.
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"H-he's my older brother !!"
A two-tone checkered haori softly fall on the girl's unconscious body.
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"I assure you he hasn't killed anyone..."
The young demon placed himself right in front of his little sister in a protective manner, placing a hand on Nezuko's shoulder as if to protect her.
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"And that he never will !!"
The demon slayer only had to take one step for that Tanjiro starts running towards him.
'A few years ago, someone said the same words, then was completely devoured.' He said to himself as he dodged the redhead's attacks.
'When a demon is starving, it would kill members of its own family, because human flesh is a source of food to them. It has happened more times than I can count.'
《GRRRRRR !!!》Growled the teenager, as he attacks the young man.
'This boy was injured, and is spending a lot of energy to regenerate himself. His transformation into a demon has also exhausted many of his strengths. And since I watched his first scenes as a demon and that he ate nothing, he must be starving to hell right now, without a doubt.' He thinked.
'He surely wanted to feed on his sister when I came, but when he protected her from my attack, and that he asked her if she was fine... At the beginning, I did have doubts about the fact that he had just been transformed, it seemed so unreal. But I just had another example... '
'Just some seconds ago, he wanted to protect her again, even though he was starving. How does he still manage to fight his hunger...? '
He tidied slowly his sword...
'I wonder...'
Then raised his empty hands to the sky, showing the demon that he wasn't going to fight with him anymore.
'If these two siblings...'
Seeing this, Tanjiro stopped immediately, not wanting to hurt the demon slayer when he didn't want to harm him anymore.
He still looked at him in mistrust, and stayed in front of his little sister, ready to defend her if the older man would change his mind at the last moment and starts to hunt them.
'Might be different from the others...'
[...]
January 1st 1912
06:28 AM
Snowy mountain
"Nezuko, sweetheart..."
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"I'm sorry to leave you so suddenly..."
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"What I'm going to ask you may seem absurd... Normally, elders protect their youngers, not the opposite... But..."
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"But he can't go on without your help and support..."
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"So... Please..."
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"Take care of your big brother..."
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[...]
Nezuko woke up suddenly, tears in her eyes.
She had thought back to everything that had happened in the past few hours :
Her family having been killed by a demon, her big brother having become one of them, a man out of nowhere who wanted to kill him by proclaiming himself as a demon slayer...
She wished it was all a bad dream, but it wasn't.
It was real.
Suddenly, a shock struck her.
Not knowing the outcome of the fight between her and the slayer, she was dying of worry for her big brother.
《TANJI-》
A hand came gently to rest on her shoulder.
The girl turned around in a hurry, afraid of what she would see behind her back...
《B-big... Brother...?》She murmured.
The redhead was there, crouching in the snow next to her, looking at her with worried eyes.
He was much calmer now, just the opposite of what he was just before she passed out.
He also no longer had his two-tone haori, which he had moved over to her a few minutes ago.
When she was about to burst into tears of relief when she saw her brother unharmed, one detail caught her eye :
He was now carrying a piece of bamboo that covered his lips, attached to his face by a reddish ribbon.
《What's... That...?》She pointed Tanjiro's muzzle.
《I gave it to him.》
Nezuko turned to the voice that answered her, and found the demon slayer, leaning on a tree, crossing his arms.
Instinctively, she immediately took her big brother in a protective manner while he let himself go without protesting too much.
《Don't worry, I don't intend to hurt him anymore.》He reassured her in a monotonous tone.《I gave him this bamboo in order to prevent him from eating human beings. Even if he keeps his human conscience, the risk is always very present until he regains strength no matter how. If he gives in to his hunger, his first reflex will be to bite into the first human he comes across, no matter who it is, and in this case, the bamboo will prevent him from doing so.》
A little relaxed, but still suspicious of the young man, she loosened her grip on her brother before continuing her interrogation.
《Will he... have permission to remove it from time to time...? Like for talking or...》
《It's better not. Maybe one day, when we would be really sure and certain that he won't hurt anyone.》
The thought of no longer being able to speak to her brother broke her heart.
Tanjiro was now the only one she could count on, the only one who could comfort her when she was sad, the only one who could make her laugh, remind her that she wasn't alone...
Even if his muzzle prevented him, he could still speak, he could say these words to her that she needed to hear so badly...
But because of a simple piece of bamboo, it was all impossible.
As she turned her head to the side to see the redhead, she noticed that he was quite... strange since earlier.
He wasn't saying a single word, not even a little "hm-hm". He didn't move much either, and when she took him a few seconds earlier, he seemed rather weak, giving in completely while he could had warned her by himself that the slayer was now on their side...
Now again, he was looking at the snow below him, shaking slightly for the most part because of the cold.
She took off the jacket he had given her and put it kindly on the redhead's shoulders, hoping that it could warm him up at least a little.
Surprised, Tanjiro gently raised his head to see the face of his little sister, a sad smile on her face as she gently stroked his soft burgundy red hair.
《He's been a demon for more than ten minutes, fighting hunger, being injured and fighting someone else. All of this made him consume a lot of energy, and demons recharge this missing energy by eating human flesh. But since he refuses to do so, he'll only be more and more exhausted until he finds a way to regain energy or with giving in to his hunger; even if he has a great self-control, everyone has limits.》Explained the demon slayer, still leaning on his tree.《You said you wanted to save him and take revenge on the one who killed your family, right ?》He asked, addressing Nezuko.
The girl nodded softly, allowing the young man to continue.
《In this case, go see an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki living at the foot of Mount Sagiri. Tell him that Giyu Tomioka in person is sending you.》
The young man, apparently called Giyu Tomioka, advanced a little towards the two Kamado.
《He's not risking anything at the moment because the sky's cloudy, but never expose him to the sunlight, understood ?》
The girl didn't even have time to answer that the demon slayer had already left in one fell swoop.
She looked down for a moment, then straightened, reaching for her big brother.
《Come with me, Big Brother...》She said in the sweetest and kindest tone possible.
Tanjiro looked at her for a moment, then sadly took her hand, understanding what she was going to do.
Indeed, Nezuko needed to do one last thing before setting off on the road.
[...]
- Demon Slayers
• Giyu Tomioka
176 cm (5'9")
69 kg (143 lbs)
08/02/93
(18 years old)
January 1st 1912
6:51 AM
Kamado's residence
The two young teenagers had been walking in the snow for almost 20 minutes.
During this amount of time, Nezuko had time to put again her dark jacket on her back to protect herself from the cold too.
She wanted to give her family a proper funeral. She just couldn't leave them without saying a last goodbye.
Once at their destination, the girl let go of her big brother's hand, who looked up at her, astonished.
《Wait for me here, Big Brother...》She tells him softly.
With that, Tanjiro immediately took her hands and looked at her with a pleading air, wanting at all costs to help her and be there for his family one last time, but the girl declined his request.
《No Big Brother... You can't come, that would only make you suffer more... Plus, what if you give in ? If we add your fine sense of smell to the scent of blood and flesh, it could go very wrong...》
He knew it. He knew it was a risk.
Only with the current distance between their home and themselves, he could already smell the tantalizing smell of human blood making his stomach growl.
Even if he knew it, he would still have wanted to help his little sister, knowing that she wasn't herself in top form. He also felt bad just watching his family being buried except Nezuko without being able to do anything.
It was pretty cruel.
But deep down, he also understood that he would surely not be able to bear hunger next to bloody corpses, he would end up losing control, and even if his bamboo would prevent him from biting in the flesh, he would never forgive himself for even having tried to do it.
He didn't even forgive himself for what he had done to his sister moments earlier, and he surely never will.
The redhead looked down sadly, gently letting go of the little brunette's hands.
Nezuko saw in his eyes that it hurted him.
She softly raised her hand to stroke one of his cheeks with her thumb.
《Don't feel bad, Big Brother, you're not doing anything wrong...》She smiled slightly at him.
Despite; or maybe, because of the girl's words, the teenager's eyes started to sparkle until little tears started running down his face.
He wiped them a little with the sleeve of his plaid haori, then, after a deep breath, gently withdrew from his little sister in order to move away a little more from the house.
《B-big Brother ?? Where are you going...?》Asked the girl, surprised and worried to see her brother moving away from her more and more.
Tanjiro turned to her, then pointed his nose with his finger before pointing it to the house.
Understanding what her big brother meant, Nezuko relaxed a little.
'He already smelled blood from here ?' She said to herself.
Indeed, even if the smell doesn't disappear for him even if he moves away, it's still fading a little and it was easier not to think about it.
He could have gone even further, but he wanted to continue watching over his little sister.
Nezuko smiled sadly at him, then turned to go and get a shovel.
She first dug holes in the ground for each member of her family, then went inside to clean and transport them.
It was hard.
Weight was a thing...
But it was especially hard mentally.
She still remember the little discussions she had until the day before with them. The calm and relaxing discussions she had with her mother, the funny arguments with Takeo, the games with Hanako and Shigeru, all the moments of sharing that she spent with Rokuta...
To tell herself that all of this was lost forever, that everything is over...
It was incredibly painful.
Once she had placed the bodies in their respective graves, she closed each of their eyes before gently stroking their cheek or hair as she used to do.
Before completely covering the holes, she turned to see where her brother was, but realized that he was no longer there.
Nezuko didn't even have time to panic that she quickly realized that Tanjiro was actually right next to her, looking sadly at their deceased family.
He started to crouch like her, silently, still staring at the bodies but never in a starving manner like he was now.
It was a sad, nostalgic look. Similar to his sister's.
The young girl smiled tenderly at him, before swinging a little to the side and then turning back to her older brother afterwards.
《By the way, Big Brother...》She said, handing him a bright blue scarf.《Here, I brought you this...》
The redhead stared at his scarf for a while before gently reaching out to grab the fabric.
He then wrapped it around his neck, a sad smile on his face as Nezuko just looked at him heartily.
The two then turned back to the graves and stayed like that for about a minute, then gotten up to cover the earthen graves.
Once this was done, the two brothers and sisters began to pray silently to their families (Ironic for a demon like Tanjiro to pray...), then turned around.
《Come with me, Big Brother ?》Nezuko asked him, smiling weakly.
Tanjiro looked at her for a few seconds before nodding gently and holding her hand to move forward as they had done a few minutes earlier.
The two Kamados began to walk slowly in the snow, gradually moving away from their house where they would probably never return.
Nezuko was on the verge of tears. She was fighting internally with herself not to release them, not forgetting what Giyu had said to her a few moments earlier.
She noticed that her brother sometimes threw a few glances at the graves behind them, but turned around, a pained expression on his face despite the fact that he was still looking in front of him.
She admired him a lot for that, he was her big brother after all.
She would have liked to be as strong as him mentally, but she just wasn't.
She tightened her grip on the redhead's hand; which he didn't fail to notice.
《S-sorry... I-I should n-not...》She whispered in her breath, desperately holding back her tears.
Tanjiro immediately stopped walking, raising his arm to her shoulder and preparing to open his mouth to be able to console her, but remembered that his muzzle prevented all kinds of verbal interactions between him and the girl.
He wanted so badly to remove this bamboo from his lips and talk to her, but he didn't want to risk hurting her by giving himself the opportunity to bite into the flesh according to how starving he was.
Helpless, the young boy looked sadly at his little sister.
'I'm so sorry Nezuko... I want to help you so much, but...'
He decided to go a little closer to her, then took her in his arms hoping to give her some support.
Nezuko returned his embrace by tightening him into her arms as well, and so they stayed there for a few minutes, until the girl's crying ceased.
Once calmed down, the young girl gently withdrew from the hug, then smiled tenderly at her elder while taking his hand again, more confident.
《Let's go...!》
Author notes :
- I surely did some mistakes on character's heights with the feet version and weights in the lbs version, or even some grammatical errors, English isn't my native language :")
- Tanjiro's family (except of Tanjiro and Nezuko) and Saburo doesn't have birthdays, heights, day of death etc, and KNY characters don't even have a year of birth in general, this is completely an invention of mine, I just really love to have all details in a story
Basically, I just estimate their heights and weights from pictures of the Kamado family and Saburo and Nezuko.
Also, they all have a random birthday date, except for Tanjiro's dad, October 22nd, who is the Fire day in Japan uvu
And for their age, it's also an approximation. I wanted to make all the cadets one year apart from each other, but in the end, it wouldn't match so well with their heights :") So there !
Also, I wrote that it was 31/12/11 - 01/01/12, but that's just a "theory", because in the first episode, Tanjiro said that he wanted that everyone could be warmed up for the New year, so it have to be in the end of December after Nezuko's birthday because she's already 12.
And for the year, it's an approximation of what year it could be in Demon Slayer.
WARNING SPOILERS OF THE CHAPTER 2 AND 5 OF THIS FANFIC, EPISODE 2, 4 AND 5 AND CHAPTERS 2 AND 7 OF THE MANGA
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When Tanji is 15/16, it has to be between 1913 and 1915, because when he is 15, it's supposed to be the Taisho time (July 1912 - December 1926), and 47 years before, Urokodaki captured the demon we'll see later in the story, and Urokodaki captured it on the Edo period (March 1603 - January 1868) on the Keio time (May 1865 - October 1868).
At the end of Tanjiro's training, it snows. Snow is there between December and March in Japan.
Wisteria flower's season starts from mid-April to the beggining of May. So the final selection has to take place before the mid of April because Tanjiro said that it wasn't the season of these flowers when he passed the selection.
When Tanjiro met Tamayo at her house, there are cherry trees that have already bloomed. This means that when he met her, they were between the beginning of March and the beginning of May.
Plus, the city she lives in appears to be in a festival back at that time. And if I thought I had figured out which one it was before, well it seems that was a mistake because it (Sanna matsuri) is actually happening two months later in June TvT
The festival taking place on the same day as what I think is the date Tamayo and Tanjiro met (April 14th) is the Takayama Matsuri (decorated chariots parade).
Even though we don't see any chariots in the anime nor in the manga, and that the parade isn't in Tokyo, we're just going to ignore that fact and continue down this path not only because the parade colors on images are the same as those of the anime (orange/yellow tones) and that it's the only parade having these colors which corresponds from all of the other festivals in the whole month of April, but also because I have to find something and that it's the only thing I thought about and that I'm lazy to change the dates oKaY ? ;-;
Usually, Japanese people prepare their festival at the last minute, and the city Tanjiro was in two days before didn't seem to be doing anything for the Festival, so knowing that the Takayama Matsuri is happening on April 14th and 15th, I guess Tanjiro met Tamayo on April 14th.
I estimate that the final selection takes place in the end of March (for snow, it's also sakura's seasons but not Wisteria's), that 7 days later he finishes it, 15 days later, in mid April, he got his sword and he go to his first mission, and then two days later he met Tamayo and here you go.
So I estimate that Tanji is 15 (before July 14th/his birthday) in 1914, and that Urokodaki captured the demon in March 1867 at the age of 19-20, after having passed the final demon slayer selection, because he should have captured the demon once he is a demon slayer, and for that he has to pass the test, and so since the demon should be captured in March 1867
I estimate that Sakonji would be 19-20 during that time thanks to the demon with a lot of arms' flashback, compared to Giyu, he seems a bit older... I would even say maybe in his 24-25 years old... but idk, he has a mask so anyway lol
So I tooked the 1914 year because if I tooked the 1915 year, if we say Urokodaki captured the demon 47 years before in March 1968, it wouldn't have been the Edo period.
1913 could work too, but I prefered 1914, maybe because it's the year more closer to the manga apparition ? (14 is closer to 16 than 13 is / 2016 - 1914/1913)
Also, it could be a good parallel to the world first war that began in 1914, except that here, it's humans VS demons and the war already began since centuries x)
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END OF SPOILERS
- In this chapter, Nezuko is 150 cm (4'9") for 39 kg (85 lb), and Tanjiro is 156 cm (5'1") for 53 kg (116 lbs) because they're of that height and weight during the first chapter based on the fanbook :)
But they'll grow up after don't worry :3
- In this chapter, a man is called "Muraichi", it's a complete invention of mine haha...
It means "First villager" or something like that... I don't really remember lol
- Nezuko's attack towards Giyuu was a bit different than Tanjiro's in this first chapter.
I was inspired by a scene of Assassination Classroom, in wich Ritsu attacks Koro-sensei with little balls owo
I want that Nezuko will have her own reactions in this fanfic, and so will be some dialogues that will be change if the brunette is in. But she's still pretty much like her brother and that's where it's complicated to do an Inverse AU of KNY haha..
- I decided that Giyuu didn't hurt Tanjiro to turn him unconscious temporarily just like he had did with demon-Nezuko.
I think that he couldn't stop demon-Nezuko, she couldn't talk or anything so it would have serves to nothing, but it's possible with this demon-Tanjiro, because even if he's now a demon, he still can talk, think properly and remember all of his memories (I can explain why but I have to mention manga spoilers lol).
So if Giyuu can talk to him normally, just like with a normal person, it wouldn't make sense to make him hurt Tanjiro for that he calms down a bit x")
- Nezuko doesn't support the fact that she can no longer talk to her brother. It will really hurt her during this fanfic.
Why ?
Don't forget that Nezuko is only 12 years old at the beggining, she's very young.
Even if Tanjiro isn't so much older than her and that in the original version, the fact that Nezuko can't talk doesn't really bother him, there's kind of a big difference between being 12 and 13.
And again, Nezuko isn't exactly like Tanjiro :")
But, Tanjiro didn't lost his memories, his humanity, his ability to think and talk normally. He's still like the Tanjiro we all know, and do you really think that he'll leave his little sister being in pain for 2 entire years without doing anything ?
ReAlLy ? ( ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ)
- I know that Giyu is supposed to be 19 in the begining of the story, it's just that-
If I make him being 19 (so in his 20th year - born in 1892), then in 1914 he would not be 21 wich is his original age after the timeskip, but 22 :")
So here, he's on his 19th year, but since his born in Feb and that we're here in January, he's not 19 already, but he'll turn soon ! X"D
- Tanjiro is exhausted and a bit weak in the end of this first chapter while being a demon. Demon Nezuko in the original show wasn't because she fells asleep after that Giyu stabbed her in the neck, and then regain energy from that.
Tanjiro didn't regain any energy, and I don't want sleep to be his source of energy in this fanfic, it would be too easy haha !
But the fact is that he's still extremely starving but he still control himself, I want that Demon Tanjiro has an even better self-control than Demon Nezuko, I explain you why in this :
SPOILERS ALERT ABOUT THE MANGA DON'T READ THIS PART IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED
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I was spoiled for the end of the manga and some little things, so I was a bit inspired of this for Tanjiro's demon appearance :)
But he isn't like that, it's not exactly the same situation, and since Tanjiro is still fighting Muzan and can still resist to the urge to eat entirely Nezuko, I think he would resist better than Nezuko to his demon nature. Plus with Muzan, he still remember his family, his friends and his memories perfectly, so yea
Of course, this is just a fanfiction that I made for fun, this is not real lol.
I like how things are in this fanfic, I think it can be interesting to see how Tanjiro and Nezuko will elvolve in this kind of story haha !