Nezuko looked out over the pathway leading up to Urokudaki-sensei's (and now her family's, she supposed – if only temporarily) home with a frown. She'd sworn she could have seen something in the distance. Her senses felt stronger now; more reliable. She'd been training for more than a year now and a couple of months before, Urokudaki-sensei had taken her to a giant boulder, telling her she would need to split that boulder before she could go to the final selection.
She'd continued her typical training after that, of course, making sure to do her basics every single day. Once finished, she would climb the mountain (that Urokudaki still set traps for) every other day that Takeo didn't go up, and she would run as hard and as fast and as long as she could on the other days. She'd almost been able to make it up and down the mountain a couple of kilometers over (where no one had set traps) without stopping.
She did push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups on tree-branches to keep her arms strong as well as many, many stretches to keep herself limber as the water-style required. It kept her in shape, but she still couldn't seem to make any progress in cutting that boulder.
Just after she'd begun to try, they'd received some guests. Rengoku Shinroji and Senroji, father and son. The elder had been the former Flame pillar and they had come to teach their own style and learn from Urokudaki-sensei's style of training. Thus, Senroji – a very pleasant, hesitant boy with a soft smile who happily gave encouraging words at the drop of a hat – began to head up and down the trapped part of the mountain every other day. Even the current flame pillar, Rengoku Kyojiro, stopped by for training on the mountain. (He'd only gone up and down the mountain, almost as fast as Tanjiro, three times before Urokudaki-sensei had simply taken him to the top of the mountain to spar, as he'd done with the elder Rengoku often.)
Meanwhile, the former Flame Pillar had put Takeo and Nezuko through the workout of their lives. She'd thought Urokudaki-sensei had been bad, but he didn't make them do a thousand squats at a time, five hundred push-ups, five hundred sit-ups and balancing exercises that made Nezuko's arms and legs hurt just thinking about them. Then they'd been told that they were lucky he was overseeing their training here as at their home, they had open pits of flame they would have to do all of this over to become one with the Fire Breathing Style.
Suddenly, Nezuko was grateful for being thrown off waterfalls and into freezing lakes and rivers instead.
Then, a couple of weeks in, much to the former and current Flame Pillar's frustration, Senroji hesitantly let his father know that he'd taken to the Water Style better than the Fire Style and had asked to remain there with Urokudaki-sensei and the Kamados. After a lot of discussion and some testing, Hanako actually came forward, saying she would like to learn the Fire Breathing Style if Rengoku-san was willing to train her.
He was.
Nezuko thought Hanako was a little crazy as she knew her younger sister had seen (and even begun participating in) the training Nezuko and Takeo had gone through. Even though Nezuko felt stronger for it, the idea of subjecting herself to that every single day did not appeal to her. But part of her was also extremely proud of Hanako for being so brave.
Thus, her little sister and the older Rengoku had set off only a couple of weeks ago, leaving Nezuko to try and cut the boulder again.
While she felt stronger and more confident than ever, she still couldn't seem to do more than scratch the stupid rock.
At least she hadn't broken her training sword. Urokudaki-sensei would not be pleased if she did.
So ,on the few days she had some time off to look after Rokuta and Shigeru while her mother did some chores (or, occasionally, her own training), she would often find herself pausing to think about what she could possibly do that would make her strikes stronger – strong enough to cut the giant stone. So far, she got nothing, and in her frustration, she found herself easily distracted, which was why she looked out over the land leading away from the mountain when movement caught her eye. She wondered if perhaps Hanako and the elder Rengoku had returned. For a visit, perhaps? More training maybe?
Or maybe someone was coming with news from Tanjiro. He sent letters often, but… it wasn't the same, and she hadn't seen him in almost a year now. He was supposed to visit more often, and she knew he was busy, but she missed her older brother! She missed her younger sister too, to be honest, but it had all started with Tanjiro leaving.
Eventually, she did spot two figures coming down the road, although she couldn't make out much more than that.
"Nee-chan!" a sudden tug on her sleeve had her looking down at Rokuta. "What's wrong, Nee-chan?"
She smiled down at him.
"Well, someone's coming down the road. Would you like to go and greet them?"
"Is it Hanako-nee?"
She ruffled his hair, unable to get over how adorable he was, even just having turned five.
"I don't know. That's why we should probably go and see!"
Besides, running down the path while carrying him on her back would be good training.
So she squatted down and let Rokuta climb up.
"Shigeru," she called out to her younger brother who had taken to weeding the garden. She was glad he seemed to have found something productive he liked to do. "We're going to go and see who is coming down the road, okay?"
His face lit up. "Can I come too?!"
She grinned, perhaps a little wickedly. "If you can keep up."
His smile immediately fell to a pout. "That's not fair!"
She winked at him. "Well, you're going to be starting training when Takeo has finished, aren't you? Don't you need to start getting into shape.
His pout only intensified. "Fine! I'll race you there!"
And with that, he started off down the road. Nezuko grinned, allowing him to have his head-start. Then she took off at a jog. It didn't take her long to catch up to him panting and wheezing, his hands on his knees. She approached and stopped beside him.
"That was a great start," she said, rubbing his hair. He only glared at her, too tired to protest. "Good job. But start a little slower and you'll be able to go for longer. We all had to build up to what we can do too. I'll be going on ahead now, but I expect you to catch up when you can. Just take it at your pace for now."
He didn't answer, still wheezing, only able to nod. She stood, grinning.
"See you soon!" she said.
"See you soon, Onii-chan!" Rokuta called behind them.
She had to stop herself from squeeing. Seriously, so cute.
She hadn't been running for more than a couple of minutes before she rounded a turn in the path and went to hop over a stream she knew was there when, on the other side, she saw the two figures who had come… and recognized them.
Or, at least one of them.
"Tanjiro!" she gasped as she jumped towards him over the stream.
"Nii-chan!" Rokuta yelped, delighted.
"Nezuko! Rokuta!" Tanjiro said, face lighting up as he held his arms open. She landed on the other side of the stream's bank and then transferred her energy into another leap, straight into his arms. For several seconds she just clung to him, so happy to have him back, feeling his hands wrap around both her and Rokuta. For just that moment, all was right with the world and then she stepped back, and punched him in the arm.
"You're supposed to visit more often, baka!" she said in mock anger.
He rubbed where she hit. "I wrote when I could!"
"It isn't the same!" she said.
"Not the same!" Rokuta agreed.
A little surprised, Nezuko looked over her shoulder at her youngest brother. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tanjiro do the same. Then she turned back to meed her older brother's gaze and they burst into laughter. She brought Rokuta around between them and hugged him tightly as she did.
"Don't ever change, Rokuta," she said.
Tanjiro just hugged them again.
Someone clearing their throat had everyone looking over to Tanjiro's companion. He was a good-looking young man with black hair and blue eyes. The strangest thing about him, though, was the haori he wore, half red on one side, half yellow and green on the other. Also, something about the way he stood let Nezuko know that he was a warrior. The way he walked and held himself.
"Oh, right!" Tanjiro said, a little sheepish. "This is Tomioka Giyuu, the current Water Pillar." Then he turned to the man and gestured to his siblings. "This is my sister Nezuko and my brother Rokuta."
Nezuko bowed deeply. "Pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you," Rokuta parroted.
"You as well," Tomioka said with a bow of his own. After a moment they straightened and he turned to Tanjiro. "I have delivered you here. I will return to my—"
"Oh, no you don't!" Tanjiro protested, grabbing Tomioka's arm and stomping towards the stream. "You need to see Urokudaki-sensei!"
"No, that's okay," Tomioka said, eyes a little wide with panic and trying to shake his arm from the other's grasp.
Tanjiro just shook his head, refusing to let go. "No. I don't know why you've gotten it into your head that other people don't want to see you, but it's just not true. Other people love you, Giyuu-san! Let them love you!"
The older boy suddenly looked lost and far younger than he had just a second ago.
"B-but…"
"I'll run ahead and let them know you're coming!" Nezuko said, not wanting to get in the middle of that, but also wanting to help her brother who seemed so determined to help Tomioka. "Okaa-san will want to know someone else will be staying for supper."
With that, she grabbed Rokuta's legs and breathed as deeply as she could, trying to use what Urokudaki-sensei had taught her to push herself off and run ahead. It worked… sort of. Somehow she knew that while she was running far faster than she'd normally be able to, it wasn't enough, just like it wasn't enough to cut the rock, and while she did easily surpass the pillars just walking along, stomping through the water, she had little doubt that either one of them could currently out-pace her were they using their own breathing techniques.
This was so frustrating!
But at least they had Tanjiro back again. That was something wonderful and so she decided to focus on that for the moment. She could worry about the rest later.
xXx
Nezuko was ashamed to admit she hadn't noticed the change in her brother until she'd really taken a good look at him.
Their mother hugged him tightly the moment he stepped through the door and then told him to sit down and rest from an obviously long journey after introducing herself to Tomioka. Tanjiro had protested, and then their mother had given him a funny look. He'd suddenly gotten quiet, drawn in on himself and taken a seat next to Tomioka, who had gone to sit in an out-of-the-way corner, looking around the new, larger house in awe. Nezuko recalled that it couldn't have been quite as big as this when he'd trained there.
However, her attention only stayed on him for a couple of moments before returning worriedly to her brother, who looked down and to the side as if embarrassed or nervous. She looked back at her mother, who studied him for a couple of seconds as well before shaking her head and calling for Nezuko to help. Then she went on as if nothing had happened, asking Tanjiro questions and making sure he had still taken breaks and naps and had eaten well and such. He claimed he had, albeit with short, sometimes monosyllabic answers initially, but then he seemed to warm up to explaining as their mother kept talking.
Then Urokudaki-sensei came back, opening the door without looking up.
"Giyuu," he said as he took his shoes off and stepped up onto the tatami mats. Tomioka shot to his feet and then bowed deeply to his sensei.
"Forgive me for just dropping by, Sensei," he said in a clear, stiff voice.
For a couple of seconds, Urokudaki just stared at Tomioka, who didn't straighten up. Then he sighed.
"Giyuu," he said. That got the young man to finally stand up, but before he could say or do anything else, Urokudaki-sensei grabbed him and dragged him forward into a hug. "Welcome home, brat."
"S-sensei?" he asked, almost choking the word out, eyes wide as he froze, not seeming to know what to do.
"Psst," Tanjiro said behind him, "hug him back."
Nezuko thought that might be going a bit far until Tomioka's hands slowly lifted to encircle the older man in the Tengu mask. It surprised her to realize he had honestly needed that push.
"I'm home, now,"* the younger man whispered, a little backwards but all the sweeter for it. Nezuko wanted to coo a little as she helped chop some of the vegetables. It was honestly adorable, especially now that he seemed to be clutching at Urokudaki-sensei's haori for dear life, fingers curled into the fabric.
Tanjiro beamed at the exchange, looking far too pleased with himself… and that was when Nezuko saw the enormous, very sharp fangs in his mouth.
She gasped.
Tanjiro must have heard because he looked over at her, and that quickly his smile vanished and he looked down again.
"Nezuko," she heard her mother say sternly and looked up to see a disapproving expression on the woman's face. "We'll discuss it later. For now, don't bring attention to it."
So that was what she had noticed earlier? That made sense, Nezuko supposed. She looked between her mother and Tanjiro for a couple of seconds before she put her knife down and stalked over to her brother. He looked up at her, puzzled and a little wary… and that hurt. So she squatted down and hugged him again, just to show she wasn't afraid.
"So happy to have you back, Onii-chan," she whispered. His tense shoulders sagged, relaxing in what was undoubtedly relief.
"Thank you," he whispered back.
Smiling, she stood up, then turned back around and went to grab the knife again. When she glanced at her mother out of the corner of her eye, she did notice the woman was smiling herself.
Good.
They made small talk until dinner was ready and Nezuko was sent to call the others in. At that point, they only missed Takeo, Shigeru and Senjuro. Rokuta had stuck around all evening, poking at Tomioka when he wasn't giggling at (or with) Tanjiro.
He was also the first one to point out the new abnormality, before the other boys had even gotten to the house.
"Nii-chan, why do you have sharp teeth?"
Everyone seemed to freeze at that until Tanjiro just smiled down at his brother, albeit a little strained. "I'll explain later, okay?"
Rokuta cocked his head to one side and then nodded knowingly. "Okay."
At that point, he turned and started poking at Tomioka again and asking him questions. Nezuko didn't know whether to relax or not. The room still felt tense to her… and she hated it, but didn't know what to do about it.
Eventually, the door opened to reveal three boys, all of which looked scuffed and dirty, and two of them had swords over their shoulders as they laughed at some joke one or the other one had said. Shigeru noticed Tanjiro first.
"Onii-chan!" he yelled, jumping into the house and practically throwing himself onto Tanjiro.
"Shigeru," their mother admonished, "take off your shoes before you come inside!"
The boy in question let go of his brother and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Okaa-san."
She huffed as he shuffled back over to the door to put his shoes back there. "You'll be cleaning the floor tonight."
"Yes, Okaa-san."
Meanwhile, Takeo (who had taken off his shoes) had almost flown past his little brother to also grab his older brother in an enormous hug.
"You're back!"
Tanjiro just smiled softly. "I am."
Then he frowned and looked around, opened his mouth, but seemed to change his mind when his eyes fell on Senjuro and widened in surprise.
"Senjuro-san!"
The yellow and red-haired boy blinked in surprise, thankfully not offended at all at their brother's rather rude remark. He really was such a sweet boy. Nezuko was certain Tanjiro and Senjuro would get along fameously. Although, she hadn't thought they'd already known each other. Had he known Senjuro in a former life?
"H-hai," the yellow-haired teen said and bowed lowly. "Rengoku Senjuro. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Oh! Right! I'm Kamado Tanjiro! It is my pleasure!" Tanjiro said as he bowed.
"Tomioka Giyuu," the black-haired man said quietly. "Pleased to meet you."
"Forgive me, Kamado-san, but how did you know who I am?" the boy asked curiously as he straightened, albeit still a little hesitant. He was slowly breaking away from that, thankfully.
Tanjiro's eyes widened and he glanced around for help. Apparently he didn't want to explain the time travel. Unfortunately, Nezuko could think of nothing that would help. She worriedly glanced at her mother who looked troubled.
Surprisingly enough, it was Tomioka who came to his rescue.
"You look like your brother, the Flame Pillar. He speaks of you often."
And that was it. Tomioka seemed to be a man of very few words.
Senjuro's eyes lit up and he practically beamed himself. "He speaks of me?"
"Yeah," Tanjiro said, smile so wide his eyes had closed. "We knew you right away." Then he opened his eyes again. "Are you here for the cross-style training?"
The yellow-haired boy nodded enthusiastically. "I know the basics of my family's flame style, but it never seemed to fit me all that well, so I'm learning the water style as I think it fits me better."
Tanjiro's eyes had gone very, very wide and Tomioka seemed to stare in a toned-down version of his own shock. Senjuro rubbed the back of his head, shrinking back and looking away. "I know it's a little weird, but—"
Before he could say anything else, Tanjiro interrupted. "You're so brave, Senjuro-san! I look forward to working with you!"
The boy looked taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled tentatively. "You… are?"
"Of course!" Tanjiro confirmed.
For his sake, Tomioka had cocked his head at him, then looked up at Nezuko. "One of you can definitely take the Water Pillar position," he said, almost to himself. Nezuko and Senjuro both blushed heavily.
Takeo huffed. "What about me?"
Tomioka turned to him, looking a little surprised at the comment. "You as well," he conceded.
Takao's demeanor changed and he grinned.
"So, where's Hanako?" Tanjiro asked, looking a little worried.
"She's actually training with my father," Senjuro replied. "She said she wanted to learn the flame style."
"Really?" Tanjiro asked, surprised yet again, but not looking displeased. "I'm sad I missed her, but I can't wait to see the progress she's made!" he said brightly.
That's when Takeo and Shigeru noticed.
"Nii-san, your teeth—" Takeo started, causing Tanjiro to immediately withdraw. Fortunately, their mother cut in.
"Why don't you go wash up for dinner, everyone," she said brightly. "And we can discuss everything else once we're finished eating."
Half-hearted groans and sighs met her, but everyone trudged over to the water bucket they kept inside the house next to some soap and began to wash up. Having already done so, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Tomioka stayed seated.
Once they all sat down and said their thanks, they began to eat. Even Rokuta kept up decently, although he still spilled quite a bit. They continued on with their small talk, asking Takeo how his training was coming along and then how Senjuro liked living here and how different it was.
Eventually, they all finished, even Rokuta, and Shigeru had been asked to take the dishes over to the stove where they could boil some water to wash them in later. Then Urokudaki-sensei broached the subject.
"Tanjiro, you said you'd give us an explanation for your teeth."
The boy in question wilted a little and Nezuko wanted to rush over and hug him again, but refrained. Then her older brother sighed.
"Yes, I can tell you," he finally said, then took a deep breath and followed through. He explained that he somehow (with subtle looks over at Senjuro) had gotten demon cells inside his body, but they weren't acting like normal demon cells. He spoke of how he could use demonic power, but how it would push him towards becoming a full demon the more he used it.
Nezuko wanted to cry. Her brother had already been through so much, and then this? Life really was cruel.
In any case, he explained that he'd come back to Urokudaki's to sleep and rest because his body needed time to change. He may very well sleep for anywhere from days to months at a time – he honestly didn't know – but that he would need to do so to gather energy and stop his demonic cells from making his body crave human flesh.
Then he promised he would never hurt any of them… as if he needed to.
"We know you'd never hurt us, Nii-chan!" Takeo confirmed Nezuko's thoughts exactly.
"Yeah!"
"Right!"
"Never hurt us!"
Tanjiro had already begun to cry as he hugged his nearest sibling (Shigeru, who had just returned from taking the dishes away).
"Ubuyushiki-sama already wrote to me," Urokudaki-sensei said calmly. "I have agreed to take on your Hashira patrols when you are unable to and will likely go with you when you can."
Tanjiro sighed and then nodded before bowing to his previous sensei.
"Thank you for everything you do, Urokudaki-sensei. It can't be easy."
"Wait, Pillar?" Nezuko jumped in about the same time Senjuro did.
Tanjiro blinked at them, then rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Since Muzan seems to have already taken an interest in me, my reasoning for not becoming one is kind of moot… So I… may have been promoted to Pillar."
A moment of silence and then, several voices spoke at once: "Eeehhhhhhh?!"
xXx
AN:
AN: *Refers to the Japanese tradition of someone coming home calling out that they are home, and those at home welcoming them. In this case, it's backwards. LOL
Sorry, long author's note incoming.
I kind of feel like these chapters are 'down' chapters, and I'm not as happy with them as I would like to be. That being said, they do have to happen for setup later on, so please bare with me. (Although I did love the interaction between Giyuu and Urokudaki. *hearts in eyes* )
Someone asked last chapter about how Tanjiro knows so much about the Waxing Moons when many of them would be very secretive about their pasts and Muzan discourages them working together. Here is my reasoning.
1. Tanjiro has infiltrated the upper ranks twice for multiple years each time, the first time with the intent on gaining all of the information about the Kizuki that he could. The second time he was forced into it, but he'd still do his best to take advantage of that imo.
2. He's had almost 100 resets by this point and you'd be surprised what you can learn even from just observing from a different angle. He's lived with Tamayo for years in some of the resets and knows a great deal about the human and demon body from her, and I can see her looking into the new ideas of psychology from around the world. I can see Tanjiro grasping onto that after so many fruitless resets. It wouldn't be much, but it could be enough to give him an idea about how some of the Kizuki work. Is he gonna be Froid? No. (For many, MANY reasons.) But he IS going to know some terms that came around in the late 1800's, although they will likely have different definitions than we know today, and he's going to know how to look at the reasons why people (even demons) do things.
3. Douma is a chatterbox. He doesn't care about his past as he doesn't see it as a weakness. No one could really use it against him, and he was more than happy to tell Inosuke more or less everything. I can see him gossiping with the new guy on the other Moons. The biggest problem I can see is figuring out what is actually true and what isn't. Tanjiro would likely know enough from the resets alone to be able to suss most of that out, though, imo. And as long as the gossip isn't about Muzan, the demon king wouldn't care either.
4. In canon, Tanjiro actually spoke to Yoriichi in a dream, so similar to ancestral knowledge, or perhaps the spirit of sun breathing passed down? So between that and anything any of the original five styles have about Sun Breathing and/or where the breathing forms came from as well as Tamayo who actually MET Yoriichi, I can see him piecing most if not all of it together. It would have taken him several lifetimes, but I think he could have done it.
In any case, I think there's more than enough evidence that Tanjiro has accumulated to be able to give some pretty accurate info on the Waxing Moons especially. Hope that clears some things up.
A guest asked if this was a TanjiroxMitsuri fic and I'm going to have to say no. It's cute and all, but I don't think that it's going to be a pairing fic for Tanjiro. He just has so much on his plate already, you know? I'm also someone who tends to like canon pairings (with exception, but Demon Slayer doesn't seem to be one of those exceptions). I have been thinking about TanjiroxShinobu if I deviate from canon, but I'm still leaning more towards 'no' and if anything did happen, it would be after he stops the time loops.
If he stops the time loops. *ahem* ;)
Thank you for asking.
If you have any other comments, grievances or questions, please feel free to ask. :)
Also, thank you to Quathis, TimeLordTim and Found for their help on this!
And last but not least, FANART!
*squee*
Unfortunately, I can't post it here on ffnet, so if you'd like to see them, you can go to my AO3 account here: archiveofourown (period) org/ works/31519247/chapters/84409417 (no spaces - period to . ) Or you can just search for 'Sunlight from the Ashes' by DAsObiQuiet, chapter 15. Thanks!
Discord: discord. gg/TQxEBuhVjK (no spaces)
