Kei checked her youngest son's temperature with a worried frown. Rokuta had developed a bad fever earlier that evening, and despite her and her children trying everything to try and break it, it just seemed to keep getting worse. Nezuko brought in another fresh bowl of water and some cloths. "Here Mom, I brought you some more water and clean cloths" the 12-year-old said. The woman smiled gratefully up at her oldest daughter, "thank you Nezuko, I appreciate it" she replied. The second eldest of the Kamado children leaned over to look at her baby brother, "how is he?" she asked worriedly. "It's getting worse. I'm afraid that if we don't go into town and get some medicine for him, he won't last the night" Kie replied, tearing up slightly. She couldn't bare to lose any of her precious children, she just couldn't! Nezuko looked scared, "but the storm looks like it's going to get worse! If you get caught in it, we'll lose you and big brother too!" the young girl replied. Kie gently wiped away the beginning's of tears that formed in her daughter's eyes, "it's alright. I have that breathing technique that your Father taught me. It'll help me keep up my body heat, even in this weather if I can use it right. please Nezuko. Stay here and take care of your younger siblings, okay? We'll be back, I promise" the woman swore, determined.
Kie Kamado may be a kind-hearted housewife, but she had more determination than anyone Nezuko had ever met. After all, her older brother had to get that near-iron-will of his from somewhere, right? the young girl sighed and nodded, "alright, I'll do my best to take care of everyone here Mom" she replied, her eyes lighting up with determination as well. Her Mother smiled encouragingly, "that's a good girl." Tanjiro, who had been watching everything silently, but with a steely look in his eyes, perked up when his Mother turned to look at him, "go get something warm on Tanjiro, the last thing I need is you getting sick as well out their Son" she ordered. The 13-year-old nodded in determination, "right!" he said, rushing off to do as his Mother asked.
PF
Kie and her Son rushed down the mountain as fast as they could, 'I have to get this medicine for Rokuta! Please, just let the weather hold out until we get home! The storm can rage as much as it wants then, but please, let us get back up the mountain before that happens!' the Kamado woman thought desperately. By the time they'd made it down the mountain it was nighttime. The two Kamado's hurried to the Doctor's, pounding on the door, "excuse me! Please, it's an emergency!" Kie cried. Tanjiro kept glancing up at the mountain with worry turning to desperation. His Mother knew how much he loved them, and how deeply he had ingrained the fact that caring for his younger siblings was his responsibility. She knew that if anything happened to Rokuta, he would blame himself. Then the door finally opened. An older man, wrapped up in many layer's of clothes peeked his head out of the door, "oh! Kamado-Kun! what are you doing here?" he asked in confusion. The man was the town Doctor, and relatively new. However, he already knew Tanjiro because the teen had delivered some Charcoal to him a few days ago.
"What are you doing out here in this weather young man?" the Doctor asked sternly, his instincts from his job showing. "Are you Dr Kusari?!" Kie demanded, reaching out and gripping the man's hands tightly. The Doctor turned to the adult woman that was with the young Charcoal-Seller. "Please, you have to help us! Its my youngest Son! My baby! He needs medicine, please! W-we don't have much money, but we'll make double the charcoal to give you for a week if you would just let us have some medicine Sir!" the woman begged, desperate to save her baby boy. The Doctor frowned, then nodded and stepped aside, "alright. As a Doctor, it's my job to help all those in need, so I'll give you whatever medicine you need free-of-charge tonight" Dr Kusari replied, making both Kie and her Son smile in relief.
PF
After getting the medicine for Rokuta, Kie and Tanjiro raced back up the mountain as fast as they could, but the increasingly strong snow that blew from the sky slowed them down considerably. Tanjiro was slightly better off, due to his job of travelling up and down the mountain everyday to sell charcoal, but his Mother was falling behind. "Mom!" the 13-year-old cried, bracing himself against his Mother's side to try and help her against the wind. But it was still too strong. "At this rate, we'll both freeze to death!" Kie cried, numbing fingers unable to grasp the jar of medicine any longer as it slipped from her fingers and fell into the snow. "Oh no!" she cried, bending down to pick it up with trembling hands. "We have to find somewhere to stop for the night, at least until this particular cold front slows down!" Tanjiro cried, trying to sniff out anywhere that they could safely stop.
"Hey! Over here!" a faint male voice called out. Tanjiro squinted against the snow and lit up with relief, "Mom! It's Grandpa Saburo! We're right by his house!" he cried. He braced himself against his Mother and helped her walk towards the house that was built on a lower part of the path, so it was more out of the way of the storm.
PF
Kie shivered, blowing clouds of warm air out of her mouth as her Son helped her sit down in front of Saburo's fire pit. "Oh, that feels so much better!" she sighed, rubbing her hands together after she'd put down Rokuta's medicine. "Thank you so much Sir" she said with a smile, turning to him and beside her, her Son started to pull his warm clothes off so that he could defrost in front of the fire. And she meant it when she said defrost. Tanjiro's hair and face were white with frost, as were his winter clothes. After stripping out of most of them, the teen sat before the fire, rubbing his hands together to dry and warm them up, even as they shivered. Kie sighed, she really hoped this storm wouldn't last too long. Suddenly her stomach growled with hunger, making the woman blush in embarrassment. Saburo dished up some of the stew he'd been cooking, "here boy, give this to your Mother will you" he ordered.
"Oh no, you don't have to-" Kie replied, shaking her head in decline. But the old man simply looked at her, "you need hot food in you to warm up girl. Now don't waste it" Saburo said sternly. The black-haired woman looked down before nodding, "alright, thank you" she said, taking the food from Tanjiro with a sigh, while the older man dished up some food for her Son as well.
*Timeskip*
After the two Kamado's had finished eating their meal Kie glanced out the window to see the storm continuing to rage. "I hope everyone will be alright at home, especially Rokuta. Hold on baby, Mommy's coming" she said softly. "It might have been a good thing you two were held up by this storm," Saburo muttered as he began to get a spare futon ready, and to try and fix it up in a way that would let both Mother and Son sleep in it. "What do you mean?" Tanjiro, ever the perceptive one, asked. "Nighttime is when the Demon's come out. They eat whatever humans they can find, even people in the town's aren't safe. So you two, bein' out their at this time of night and bein' unable to tell what's around you 'cause of the storm would be prime meals for those things" Saburo explained as he fixed up the bedding.
Kie nodded politely, but mostly ignored the man's words as senile ravings. But Tanjiro couldn't help but think about what the man had said, 'didn't Grandma used to say the same kind of thing? About Demons' he wondered with a frown. "Alright, lights out. You two can head on up the mountain when morning comes. The blizzard should be over by then, so get some rest" Saburo said. As the Mother and Son went to bed, both dismissing the old man's words in their minds, neither knew that soon, their whole lives would change.
PF
Thankfully the next day the snowstorm had ended. Kie and her Son bowed to the old man, "thank you very much for your hospitality Sir. We'll have to thank you properly some day soon" she said gratefully. "Just take care of Rokuta-Chan. That's all the thanks I need" Saburo replied, waving the pair off. Then the two of them headed back up the mountain. Since they were close, neither were hurrying as fast as last night. 'I hope everyone is alright. Don't worry Rokuta, we're almost their-' the adult thought, before noticing that Tanjiro had stopped dead in his tracks. Kie turned to look at her Son, "Tanjiro, what's-" she began, but paused upon noticing his expression. He looked pale, "Son? What's wrong?" she asked seriously. "I smell blood. Lot's of it," he began, fists clenching, "It's coming from, the house!" he cried, before taking off running. "Tanjiro, wait!" his Mother called, but she was even more worried than her Son. 'Why would there be lot's of blood?! Is everyone alright?! Please God, let my children be alright!' she begged.
Upon reaching their house, Kie needed a moment to process the sight before her as her Son screamed. When she had the jar fell from nerveless fingers. "Th-this- can't be, real-" she muttered. Their, laying in the snow and covered in blood was Nezuko, her arms wrapped tight around Rokuta. Nezuko's back had been slashed open- the woman almost vomited, but Tanjiro was screaming, and every part of her Maternal instinct was screaming at her to comfort him. Even in the face of her own devastation. Kie stumbled towards her Son, but Tanjiro, being the good older brother that he was had rushed forwards to check on his younger sister and brother. Kie wanted to go to him, but her legs gave out as all her strength had gone into moving to Tanjiro's side. She was dimly aware, in the corner of her vision of her Son moving towards the open door of their house. When she finally managed to look up, Tanjiro was kneeling on the ground in the doorway, gripping onto it like it was the only thing keeping him from breaking all together. Then he let out a scream of pure agony, kneeling in the snow and beating the wooden floorboards, the snow, anything he could reach with his hands.
Somehow, Kie managed to stand up and make her body move towards her oldest daughter and youngest son. With trembling hands, she checked Nezuko's temperature and pulse. Nezuko was still warm. But her heart stuttered when she couldn't find a heart beat initially. However, after a couple of seconds a weak, barely-there pulse registered against her fingers. Gasping in relief, the Mother turned to look up at her oldest Son, who still knelt by the door, tears streaming from his eyes. She cringed. She felt the same, her heart breaking more every second, but she knew that Nezuko needed them now, "TANJIRO!" Kie snapped, catching her Son's attention, "grab something warm for Nezuko, we have to get back down the mountain NOW!" she cried in determination. Taking a breath, Tanjiro nodded and rushed into the building to get Nezuko's thick brown haori.
Kie grit her teeth and stared down at her daughter, 'Nezuko, please. Just hang on a little longer!' she thought desperately.
PF
Kie and Tanjiro ran as fast as they could down the mountain, the adult carrying her daughter on her back. The situation was even more dire than it had been the day before. Nezuko's life was hanging on by a thread. 'How could something like this have happened?! We were barely gone for the night!' Kie thought, trying hard not to slip or trip in the deep snow. 'Now's not the time to think about that! Just get Nezuko to town! Come on Kei, you have to move faster.' She began to slow down as her breathing got shallower, 'no! control your breathing! Come on! If Tanjuro could dance all night with his poor health, you can get down this mountain faster! Or what was the point of him teaching you the Hinokami Kagura!' Kie thought, the snow and cold wind stinging her eyes and she fought to get her breathing under control. Tanjiro tried to keep up with his Mother as she sped up, in order to help lighten Nezuko's weight, but she was moving too fast in the snow.
'How is she doing that?' he wondered. Suddenly he noticed Nezuko begin to move. She was waking up! "Mom, Nezuko is-!" Tanjiro called. Kie noticed her daughter's movement too late, and Nezuko ended up knocking the two of them off the cliff. "MOM! NEZUKO!" Tanjiro screamed as they fell. Immediately the burgundy-haired teen hurried to climb down the cliff-side to get to his family. Kie gasped as she sat up, "Tanjiro! Nezuko!?" she called, afraid that her daughter had been hurt more during the fall. Kie saw Nezuko just as her Son reached her, "Mom! Are you okay?! Where's Nezuko?!" he demanded. Tanjiro sniffed the air to find his younger sister, but frowned, 'why is Nezuko's scent different?' he thought, looking to where he'd smelled her. Nezuko stood by a tree, swaying slightly in the wind as the haori wrapped around her shoulders fell off. Tanjiro shivered, 'I want to go help her, make sure she's okay, but there's something- wrong with Nezuko's scent' he thought.
Unfortunately, his Mother didn't have the same sense of smell that her Son did. "Nezuko! Are you alright?! Are you hurt?!" she cried fearfully as she ran up to her daughter, "it's okay, I'm here now. Tanjiro too! we're going to get you some help, okay?" she asked, reaching out to touch the girl. That's when Nezuko opened her eyes and growled. Kie gasped, catching sight of the large fangs, bulging veins and light pink-slitted eyes just before Nezuko growled and lunged at her. "Mom! Nezuko!" Tanjiro cried as his Mother reacted on instinct and grabbed a nearby stick on the ground, shoving it into her daughter's mouth before she could bite her. Nezuko's sudden lunge forced Kie back onto the ground, and she winced from the force of the impact. The woman opened her eyes in shock as her oldest daughter gripped her shoulder tight with clawed hands and her large fangs were now clearly visible around the stick.
"What- what is this?! Nezuko?! Nezuko what happened to you?!" Kie cried in fear and worry for her child. Nezuko growled as she pushed down harder on the stick and suddenly increased in size. "What the- N-Nezuko?!" Tanjiro yelped in shock, as his baby sister was now as big as their Mother. He tried to move towards them, he needed to help! "N-No Tanjiro, stop! Something is wrong with your sister! *grunt* she might be sick or something! Stay back!" Kie cried as she struggled with Nezuko's strength. Tanjiro suddenly remembered what Saburo had said the night before. 'Man-eating Demons. Nezuko- no, it couldn't be, right? My little sister is a human, she has been since she was born!' he thought, remembering holding the baby Nezuko with his Mother's help, 'But this scent, she doesn't smell like Nezuko anymore!' Tanjiro began to tremble as he watched his sister struggle to eat their Mother.
'It wasn't her, I'm sure of that! If Nezuko had attacked and eaten the others, why would she have been unconscious too?! Besides, there were no signs that she'd attacked them, like blood on her mouth or hands. It can't have been her, but-!' tears started to gather in his eyes, and he felt his body move instinctively. He wrapped his arms around his younger sister's upper arms and tried to pull her away from their Mother, "stop it Nezuko! It's us! Tanjro and Mom! We're here now! I'm sure you were scared! And hurt! But it's okay! You don't have to be scared anymore! Just come back to us Nezuko! Please! Just remember!" Tanjiro begged, muscles straining as he tried to pull Nezuko away. "T-Tanjiro! Look!" his Mother called. The 13-year-old risked a peek and saw his little sister crying. "Nezuko-" he said in surprise, but also relief. She remembered them! Suddenly another smell caught his attention, 'flowers? But it's winter-' his thoughts ground to halt, as his instincts screamed at him: move now! The young teenager threw himself at his Mother and Sister, landing on top of them and feeling something slice the tips of the hair. "Wha-what?!" he gasped out, as he and his Mother looked up to see a woman wearing a butterfly-like haori and with long hair. She had two butterfly hair clips on either side of her head, pinning her hair back, while her black hair fell straight down her back.
She held a katana in her hand which had a pink blade. "A sword-?" Kie mumbled. "Who are you?" Tanjiro asked, voice trembling slightly in shock. The woman turned around, and frowned when she saw Kie holding Nezuko in her arms, "my name is Kanae Kocho. Did you know that that child is a Demon?" the now named Kanae asked. "What?! no! She's my daughter, not a Demon! We were taking her to the Doctor's in town!" Kie replied. The swordswoman closed her eyes, "oh, I'm so sorry for you" she said sadly. Tanjiro moved in front of his family, "Nezuko's hurt, we were going to get help for her!" he explained. Kanae opened her eyes, which had a sad look in them, "I'm afraid that a Doctor couldn't do anything. Not now-" she remembered a woman with a fierce expression, purple eyes and short black hair with a purple tint to it's tips, "not even the best doctor in the world." She said softly. Tanjiro's eyes widened slightly, 'her scent. There's so much sadness and regret.' He realized. Suddenly a gust of wind blew past the two human Kamado's, who flinched from the stinging cold snow. When they blinked their eyes open again, Nezuko wasn't being held by their Mother anymore.
"Nezuko!" Kie yelped, looking around as her daughter's growls could be heard nearby. Both Tanjiro and his Mother spotted the girl at the same time. She was being held by the Swordswoman, Kocho-San. "Nezuko!" the two cried at the same time. "Please don't move, I don't want to have to hurt you both" Kanae asked, holding her sword close to Nezuko's neck. "No please! I swear, my daughter hasn't eaten anyone! Even if she has become a Demon somehow! Back home, she was laying on top of my youngest Son, but she had no blood on her face except for her head wound. She didn't attack them either because there wasn't any blood on her hands! Please! Nezuko would never attack or eat a human! Not my daughter!" Kie cried. Tanjiro nodded, "that's right! and the scent at our house, their was a whole new one that I'd never smelled before! I'm sure whoever's scent that was, is who did it, so please!" he agreed, as Kanae placed her sword against Nezuko's throat. "No! don't kill my baby girl! Please not my Nezuko!" Kie begged, beginning to cry. She fell to her knees, "please, don't take anymore of my family away. I've already lost my husband and the rest of my children. Please don't kill her! I-I'll do anything you want! Just please don't kill Nezuko!" she pleaded, kneeling in the snow, Tanjiro doing the same.
The woman watched them, before lowering her sword, but keeping up her grip on the newborn Demon, "how can I be sure that your daughter won't attack you once I'm gone. Or any other humans?" she asked. Kei looked up in surprise. "I am a Demon Slayer. It's unfortunately my job to kill Demon's to ensure that they don't eat any humans. What guarantee is their that this Demon won't attack anyone and eat them, other than you say she won't?" Kanae asked. The woman thought about that, there was really no way to promise something like- "Nezuko would never eat humans!" Tanjiro's voice suddenly cut through her thoughts and she looked up in surprise, "I'm sure she knows who we are! And my Mom and I won't let her hurt anyone! I swear as the oldest Son of Tanjuro and Kie, that I will find a way to cure her, and make Nezuko human again!" he shouted. The Demon Slayer's eyes widened in shock, "cure her? Do you really think there's a way?" she asked, voice trembling. Kie steeled her nerve and spoke up then, "has anyone ever looked for a cure? I've heard that anything can be achieved if a person is willing to try" she said, determination like a fire in her eyes.
The Swordswoman said nothing for a moment, practically still as a statue. That seemed to be all Nezuko needed, for she sent a strong kick to the older woman's stomach, knocking her back a few feet and lunged at her family members. 'Oh no! I was too caught up in my fantasies, I wasn't paying enough attention!' Kanae thought, moving to grab hold of the Demon girl again, but gasped as she slid to a stop, spinning around and standing in a guarding position in front of her Mother and older brother. Tanjiro and Kie watched in surprise as Nezuko stood before them protectively, growling at the Demon Slayer in front of them. 'She, didn't attack them. Or even try to eat them! Could this girl really be-' Kanae thought, before Nezuko ran towards her, fangs bared in a snarl. 'She's going after me. Because I have a sword? Does she really know that those two are her family? And is trying to protect them from a threat?' the Flower-Breath User dodged each blow. 'I have a feeling that this Demon is different from others.' She knocked Nezuko back, 'if that's true, could that old dream- finally have the chance to come true?' the woman wondered.
"Nezuko!" Tanjiro called. The newborn Demon glanced back at her older brother, giving the Hashira time to hit her in the neck, knocking Nezuko unconscious. "No, Nezuko-!" Kie cried, before stopping, as she watched the other woman sheath her blade. After she had, she reached into her pocket and pulled out something. It was made of green bamboo. When she began walking towards Nezuko, both Tanjiro and his Mother moved to protect her. Kanae smiled, "there's no need for that. I no longer have any intention of hurting Nezuko-Chan" she said. The two human Kamado's slowly relaxed. "I have something for her" the woman said calmly, holding out the bamboo thing. "Bamboo?" Kie asked, confused. "It's a muzzle. To keep Nezuko-Chan from biting anyone." After she'd tied the muzzle around the back of Nezuko's head, blocking her mouth, Kanae turned back to her Mother and Brother. "Could you come with me?" I want to train you two to be Demon Slayers, so that you can protect yourself. And if you were with me, it would be easier to protect Nezuko-Chan as well" she asked.
Kie nodded, anything to protect her children. But Tanjiro turned back the way they'd come, "could you wait for a while? We should bury our family first". His Mother nodded in agreement, "yes, we should". The older woman nodded, "of course" she said, following the three Kamado's back to their house.
To Be Continued