Disclaimer: I do not own Kimetsu no yaiba.

01

Getting lost in the mountains.

Saori huffed an annoyed breath for the tenth time in the span of a minute as sweat trickled down her forehead. She wiped it with the back of her haori's long sleeve, leaving a grayish stain on the once white fabric.

A tired sigh escaped her, 'So much for wanting to look presentable for grandpa.' She was not looking forward to being scrutinized and criticised by his stern gaze.

'Your clothes not only represent you. It also represents our shrine! Shame on you, child!'

She could already hear his gruff voice scold her. It wasn't her fault her eyeliner had smudged during her hours-long nap at the plane. It also wasn't her fault that she hadn't removed it properly in her hurry to change her casual clothing inside the tiny restroom stall at the airport.

In hindsight, it was a smart idea. To change her 'inappropriate' clothing before arriving at the shrine to avoid her grandpa's scolding. But now, Saori has come to quickly regret her decision.

Climbing up a mountain wearing traditional Japanese clothing and shoes under the summer sun was no joke. At least the tall, imposing trees around her provided some sort of coverage from the sun rays. Though the humidity was just as bad.

Saori was positive she was being steamed alive.

'I do this almost every summer and yet...' Another sigh blew past her chapped lips as she adjusted the strap of her duffel bag, glad to have learned from past mistakes of bringing a rolling case with her. It wasn't fun to drag her heavy case through the many uneven steps of the stone stairs that led to her family shrine. Especially if she was alone now that her sister wasn't by her side.

She was so tired and she wasn't even half way through.

As Saori lamented her poor physical state and lack of stamina, the tip of her straw sandal got caught on a loose stone, bringing her to her knees. Her palms got the worse of the fall, now covered in dirt and some tiny pebbles that dug into her flesh and one or two scratches that left the area stinging painfully.

She cursed her luck under her breath as she carefully wiped her hand down her hakamas. At least the red colour was more forgiving with the stains than her top.

Saori stood there for a bit, briefly tempted to just grab her things and leave. Call her parents to book her a flight back home and do the same thing her older sister did, refuse to come visit ever again unless grandpa changed his attitude.

But her sister was a college student, technically an adult, with her own place and bills on her name to pay. She could refuse all she wanted and their parents could do nothing about it.

Saori on the other hand was still in high school and living under their roof. They could ship her overseas all they wanted and she wouldn't have a said in the matter.

Unless...

'Yeah, right. Like they would let me get away with it... and I'm already here. Might as well walk to hell's doorstep on my own accord than to be dragged screaming and crying.'

Her reluctance to visit her grandpa wasn't because she hated him or something. It was just that they had a completely different view of the world and more often than not they ended up butting heads to defend their beliefs. Shiranui Sato was the embodiment of the 'forget modernity, embrace tradition' phrase. Though he took it to more extreme lengths with his strict behaviour. Like wanting to force his only son to carry on the family tradition of caring for the Shiranui Shrine in spite of his own dreams.

'No wonder dad left and moved to the States. I would've done the same if I had dealt with grandpa my whole life.'

Saori and her sister, and their parents, to an extent, were the opposite of that. While they didn't completely ditch their traditions, Saori knew they were heavily influenced by their new homeland. Not that it bothered any of them besides grandpa.

It had gotten worse since grandma's passing two years ago. Any trace of warmth and kindness left on him was incinerated and buried with her. It was like his emotions were switched off, leaving behind a lifeless body that was still standing out of sheer rage alone.

He didn't yell at Saori, not like he did to her sister. Naoko was the embodiment of everything he didn't approve of, with her dyed hair, the tattoos and the piercings, she was his own walking nightmare.

Grandpa had finally lost it last year when Naoko showed up with a new full tattooed sleeve on her right arm and Saori had pierced her ears for a third time.

After lots of yelling and angry tears, Naoko had grabbed their things, took Saori's hand and left as grandpa screamed at her to never return.

Their parents had been very understanding, already knowing how the old man was so they acted as mediators between them resulting in Naoko getting 'banned' from the shrine and Saori to be treading on thin ice.

'He's the only man on earth to complain about getting free labour!' Naoko had said angrily.

Saori agreed with her, having more than enough of her grandpa's craziness in the few weeks they spent there helping around at the shrine, guiding the tourist dressed in miko garbs from head to toe under the summer heat. All for free under the pretense that family is supposed to help each other out.

Around her, the cicadas started their concert, adding to her growing misery. Saori couldn't wait to reach the top- though grandpa probably wouldn't let her rest much before he put her to work.

At least this time he wouldn't yell at her for showing up in denim shorts and a tank top. Though her foresight of changing before coming here was turning out to be more troublesome the longer she wore it. If her long socks made her sandals slip one more time she was going to scream.

The sound of her ringer going off startled her as it broke her out of her musings. Saori cursed under her breath as she dropped her bag and sat down on a step to rest and take the call.

'Mama.' She read on the screen before swiping her thumb across as a small smile bloomed on her face.

"Hey," her mom's soft voice came from the other end, "Did you arrive yet? Your flight should've landed hours ago. Was there a delay?"

"A delay?" She repeated and her mom hummed, "No. The flight landed at the right time... I just forgot to let you know. Sorry?"

Her mom sighed, probably running a hand on her hair, "Saori, you can't be this forgetful." She admonished lightly, "Your dad was about to call the airline."

"Mom," Saori said, "I've been on a plane before, ya know? I know what to do."

"I know, honey. It's just that this is your first time flying on your own and I was so worried about you."

Saori smiled, "I'm fine, mom. Really. The flight was as uneventful as always and I sleep through most of it-"

"As always," her mother finished with a chuckle, before clearing her throat, "Enough of that then. Tell me honey, did you change at the airport? Removed your nail polish? The piercings?" She inquired, dreading a repeat of last year's fiasco.

"Yes mama. I stripped myself of any trace of the modern world before coming so he wouldn't get offended."

"Saori..."

"I know, I know. That's how he is and I must respect him."

"Alright then, keep that in mind and try not to agitate him too much with your jokes."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be as bland as his food."

"Saori."

"Sorry mama. It slipped. No more jokes from now on." She said as she got up from her seat as her bottoms were starting to grow sore.

"I hope so. From your own sanity of course."

Saori nodded, smiling, "I should get going now. Is almost noon and you know how grandpa can get."

"Oh, I know. I heard his 'stop wasting daylight' speech too many times when dating your dad." She said, "Take care honey. Call me before going to bed, okay?"

"Yes, mama. Goodbye, luv ya!" Saori said, shouldering her bag.

"Wait- I need to ask-"

"Hm? I can't hear you. Come again."

"Did- dad told you-"

"Give me a sec. I'm going to try to get a better signal. Don't hang up!" Saori said, hurrying down the steps, "Mama- shit!"

She cursed as the weight of her bag dragged her down to the side and out of the stairs.

Saori closed her eyes out of reflex, bracing herself for the impact, her body tensed as she fell.

She rolled a few feet down, her body erupted with pain as rock and twigs dug and scratched her tender flesh.

She came to a sudden halt when her stomach collided with a trunk that knocked out the air out of her lungs. Saori gasped, struggling to catch her breath as dark spots danced around her vision and her head started to throb painfully.

'Don't fall asleep!' Her mind screamed at her as her eyelids started to grow heavy.

"Don't..." She muttered weakly as her vision faded into black and her mom's scream echoed in the distance, fading away into silence each growing second, "Fall..."

(...)

Hours later, under the dark veil of night, Saori's eyes fluttered open as she struggled to sit up, one hand holding her bruised abdomen as she used the other to prop herself up. A sharp pain on her side had her gritting her teeth as tears welled around her eyes.

She blinked them away, trying to make out the shapes around her as she tried to stand again. The silence was deafening, eerie in a way that made shivers crawl up her spine as goosebumps rose on her skin.

The only sound she could register was that of her own heartbeat and the hiss she let out when she stood under wobbly legs, her left side weighted by her bag. She must admit she was very surprised to see she was still carrying it.

'My head hurts.' Saori ran a shaky hand along the side of her head where she felt a pulsing bump and what she could assume was a patch of dry blood.

She blinked again as she glanced up, noticing for the first time how dark it was. Her grandpa must be so worried. Her parents too, as she never called them back. Her phone must be flooding with missed calls and messages.

Luckily, she was still holding her phone as well. She swiped a shaky thumb across the now cracked screen before it lit up.

'5:16 am.' She read, eyes wide with surprise, 'and half the charge gone and no signal. Excellent.' There goes her hopes of calling for help.

Saori stored her phone inside of the sleeve of her white haori before she stared up ahead, glaring at the distance she had to climb.

'Fuck me.' Saori growled inwardly as she started to drag her aching body up the mountain trying to find the stairs but was meet with the unfamiliar forest around her, 'Fuck!' There was no way she made it this far down with such a short fall. 'The stairs should be here!' She thought, panicking as she glanced around.

With her blurred gaze and dizziness, Saori had a hard time seeing ahead of her and more than once she ended up colliding against a tree by mistake. It was so dark still, it was hard for her to believe dawn was about to break.

It felt like she'd been walking forever. She was so thirsty and so damned tired, she couldn't even recognize if she was near the abandoned stairs she always took to the shrine. It was an old path, used since the Edo period according to her grandpa but years of use had dented and damaged the steps and with no one to fix it, her grandpa had blocked it from being accessed by the tourists.

Saori was the only idiot that still used it just because she wanted to avoid the cluster of people as she climbed up.

Now she was paying the price like a damn fool.

If her mind had been sharper at the moment, she would've noticed that she was about to trip with a rope.

She yelped as she went down face first on the hard ground. Pain exploded on her nose as she felt a wet trail drip down her nose as a fresh batch of tears fell involuntarily.

'The universe fucking hates me!' Saori growled to herself as she fisted her hands on the dirt.

She was about to raise her head when she heard it fast approaching, cutting the air with a 'whoosh' from both sides when they collided loudly above her, making her ears ring and her heart to almost leapt out of her chest.

The wood splintered above her and as it rained down upon her and terrified out of her wits, Saori crawled away before she stammered back to her feet.

"What the fuck was that!?" She said as she looked over her shoulder as her hand rummaged through her pocket to find her keys. She knew this wasn't her grandpa's doing and the truth, whatever it was, scared her.

Once she felt the cool metal caress her fingertips, she pulled it out before finding the Kirby shaped flashlight attached to it.

It was small but very powerful as it proved useful to navigate the darkness that engulfed her.

Nothing looked familiar to her. The trees were too big and the air was nonexistent. She felt her lungs burnt painfully at the lack of oxygen. Her chest constricted as she wheezed out a breath, adrenaline pumping on her veins as a voice in her head told her to run.

Saori obeyed, ignoring the growing pressure on her chest and the dizziness she was experiencing in favour of escaping.

A crow's caw came from above, startling her and making her trip with another trap. Saori pressed her forehead tightly against her thighs to protect herself as a pair of knives flew above her head, embedding themselves on a tree next to her.

'I'm trapped in a fucking nightmare.' Saori thought, shaking as she flashed her light around-

"Miko," someone called when she pointed her light ahead, "Are you lost?" He asked and Saori heard his fast approaching footsteps, ``What are you doing here?" He halted in front of her, offering her a hand as she flashed the light on his face.

'Did I die?-This can't be real?' Saori's panicked mind supplied, 'Why is Urokodaki in front of me?! A freaking anime character! '

"I-" she licked her lips, "I'm lost." She said, accepting his help.

"I can see that." he said, "Are you injured? Can you walk?" He asked and she nodded, "I live nearby. You look like you've been through a lot." He commented softly, staring ahead, "Don't worry. You're safe now."

Saori sniffed, and quietly she answered, "Thank you."

(...)

I can't be stopped. I love the trope of 'oc/si tries to save everyone by changing the plot' too much!

Also I watched the movie and finished the manga yesterday and let's say I want Kyojuro to live.

Let me know what you think!