Tanjiro slept… a lot.
Honestly, it worried Nezuko. The night after he came home, he went to bed and they couldn't wake him up the next morning. He only breathed deeply in response to their prods, nudges and shakes but seemed to be fine otherwise. Tomioka said that Tanjiro had predicted this and that his body was changing to get used to his abilities.
His demon abilities…
Urokudaki-sensei had explained more about what would happen when he left to take care of Tanjiro's Hashira duties, duties that included patrolling and gathering information and reports to send back to Ubuyashiki-sama – the head of the Demon Slayer Corps. He informed Takeo and Senjuro that he would still train them when he was there, but that his lessons would likely be fewer and farther between. He told them to listen to Kie, Nezuko and Tanjiro when he wasn't there and that he still expected them to keep up with their training.
Nezuko didn't voice it, although she wondered why Urokudaki could leave if the Hashira all believed Tanjiro would go crazy and try to eat people without one of them there. She didn't bring it up because she couldn't help but be resentful towards the decision the rest of the corps had made. Tanjiro would never hurt anyone!
Then Urokudaki-sensei had informed Tomioka that he'd made arrangements for the current Water Pillar to head over to the Rengoku Estate to train once he left, that Ubuyashiki-sama had already okayed it and that he was expected there the next day. The blue-eyed man had just stared at his sensei as if the man had grown two heads.
And before he left, he'd asked Tomioka to spar with Nezuko.
The man had utterly thrashed her. She appreciated that he hadn't gone easy on her especially when he told her she needed to spar more, preferably against someone who could see and help correct some of her stances in battle.
She thanked him for his advice and his corrections before he left.
She still couldn't cut the boulder.
Urokudaki-sensei had showed her how to set the traps for her fellow trainees, seeing as she was the senior student, and charged her with setting them every day he was gone. She felt that would cut into some of her own training, but agreed and tried to use the necessary balancing and climbing she would need to do to reach each of the traps themselves. It was a surprisingly calming activity.
Things fell into a sort of tentative routine, after that, where each of them knew it would change regularly and they would keep an eye on her older brother to predict those changes. It honestly made training more difficult and Nezuko felt that added to her plate along with everything else.
Everything came to a head for her not long after Tanjiro came back. Tomioka-san left and Urokudaki-sensei wasn't there and it had been a long day with almost no progress to speak of when her frustration with the giant boulder finally pushed her over the edge.
"Why can't I figure this out?!" she screamed at it, then kicked it and immediately regretted it as her foot hurt. She hopped around, grabbing her toes and trying to see through the tears in her eyes.
"Stupid boulder," she muttered.
"Nezuko?" she froze and whipped around, almost falling down in her precarious position, to see her brother standing there, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and yawning widely. The moonlight glinted off of his sharp fangs, but otherwise he just seemed tired.
She just stared at him for several seconds before she sprinted forward, ignoring the pain in her foot. "You're awake!"
He caught her, eyes wide with surprise. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked, concerned.
"Almost three weeks!" she said angrily, puffing her cheeks out as she looked up at him.
He blinked. "That's… both longer and shorter than I thought it would be."
She just stared at him. "Longer and shorter?"
Tanjiro sighed fondly. "Nezuko, that first time, when you turned into a demon, you were asleep for almost two years. It usually takes me about five months to change to a point where I gain more energy from sleeping than eating humans, and that's if I sleep straight through." He rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes as if facing something monumental. "I don't know whether I'm sleeping like I am because I'm not fully demon or if I just sensed you needed me. I could smell your distress all the way from home, you know."
She folded her arms in a huff and looked away. "I'm… just frustrated. That's all. I didn't mean to wake you."
He reached over and patted her head. She backed away almost immediately. She wasn't a child! But when she saw the sad look on her brother's face, she instantly felt bad.
"You don't have to treat me like a kid, Nii-chan," she said sulkily, hoping that would explain her feelings and actions.
And, because it was Tanjiro, he just dropped his hand and smiled at her. "Sorry, Nezuko. Now, what are you having problems with?"
She watched him warily for a couple of moments before she pointed at the large boulder. "I'm supposed to cut this, but I just can't seem to! I've been working at it for months on my own now, but Urokudaki-sensei says he can't teach me any more!"
"Hmm," her brother said thoughtfully, studying the rock. "To be honest, I had the same problem," he said, grinning at her. Her eyes went wide.
"Y-you did?"
He nodded. "Urokudaki-sensei hates sending people to the Final Selection. He's lost a lot of students that way, and even though I took care of the hand demon that likes to target his kids, that doesn't stop the fact that you will be going up against a supernatural being who will be typically faster and stronger and who wants to eat you. I'll suggest that he take on the task of sparring with you when he gets back from his current patrol. He doesn't have to stop people from going to the selection anymore."
He paused and looked around. "You… haven't met anyone here, have you? A boy with light hair and a girl wearing a fox mask with a flower on it?"
Nezuko just blinked at him. "No."
He frowned. "Must have sent them on. Then I suppose it's up to me!" With a strange expression on his face that seemed both bittersweet and determined, he took out his sword. It… was wooden.
"Nii-chan… that's a wooden sword. I have a metal one."
He just tipped his head to one side in amusement. "Then I suppose you'll have an advantage."
She glared at him for a minute before taking her sword out of its sheath and holding it in a ready stance, then charged.
She couldn't even land a hit.
"Okay," he said after a couple of minutes of sparring, "first thing you need to do is work on your breathing techniques while moving. You'll need to do this every morning and evening as well as any time you draw your sword.
"Second, let's tighten up those stances."
And then, very gently, he would move her foot here or arm there and then make her repeat the motions to 'undo bad habits' before having her come at him again. They worked through the night and into the early light of the predawn.
Once Tanjiro saw that, he smiled. "Why don't you sleep today, Nezuko, and I'll take over any duties you have."
She blinked and shook her head furiously. "Oh, no! I have to go set up the traps on the mountain and I have to oversee Senjuro and Takeo's training and help mama fix breakfast and—"
"I can do all of that," he assured her. "Perhaps not as well as you, but everyone will survive with me filling in for a day."
Nezuko bit her lip, still unsure. She was tired, but she didn't want to push off all of her duties onto her brother.
"Nezuko," Tanjiro said, coming over to put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm the older brother. Let me take care of everyone for once."
Eventually, she sighed and nodded her head. "Okay, Onii-chan."
With that, they walked back to the house just in time to see their mother get up and begin preparations for breakfast. They discussed their decision to let Nezuko sleep and then proceeded to get everything ready for the day.
The boys were both happy that Tanjiro had woken up again and bummed that Nezuko wouldn't be overseeing their training, until Tanjiro said he would. Then they lit up. Until Tanjiro's smile turned a little sharp and he informed them that if they thought what they'd been through before was bad, they were in for a surprise. No one became a successful demon slayer without training until they almost died.
Suddenly Nezuko was happy she'd be sleeping.
She crawled into her futon almost twenty minutes later and slept through to the mid-afternoon. When she woke, she did her breathing exercises, then went out into the hot sun to begin her daily warm-ups, this time making sure to try and do so while using the Total Concentration Breathing. She almost kicked herself for not having thought of doing so before. It made the exercises more difficult, but she refused to give up.
Then she went over to her typical running spot to head up the mountain without the traps and tried to do her breathing exercises while running (which she normally did do, the effects just didn't last very long). She found that doing so that day became just a little easier than it had previously.
That evening, after dinner, Tanjiro went back to bed, saying he didn't know how long he'd sleep this time. No one seemed happy about that, even a hurting Senjuro and Takeo. Then he turned to his sister.
"Don't stay up too late, Nezuko. And if you see Sabato-san and Makoto-san, tell them Giyuu-san and I said hi."
She didn't know quite what to say to that other than to nod. Then she went back to the boulder, but instead of working on it, she slowly went through the small things Tanjiro had pointed out yesterday, doing her best to correct them.
Even though she kept an eye out, she never did meet the people Tanjiro had spoken of.
xXx
They soon realized that Tanjiro tended to sleep for anywhere from one to four weeks at a time, although usually the former. When he woke up, he would either train everyone or he would go out with Urokudaki-sensei on his Pillar route. Thankfully, due to his circumstances, he'd been given a rather small one and they didn't come across demons often.
Once, just before he and Urokudaki-sensei left, Takeo had asked about their father's earrings and why Tanjiro didn't wear them anymore.
Tanjiro had just stared at him for several seconds before he pounded one of his fists down onto the other palm.
"Oh! I didn't wear them because I didn't want to draw attention! That doesn't matter anymore!"
With that, he dug out a small package from his pocket and then proceeded to open it and reveal the hanafuda earrings Nezuko remembered from her father. He put them on and Takeo and Shigeru both looked relieved. Nezuko watched with a warm smile and her mother looked like she was about to cry. Rokuta thought they looked cool and Senjuro agreed. Urokudaki-sensei had simply huffed and told Tanjiro to hurry up.
Nezuko was glad, though. It hadn't looked right to see her brother without them.
xXx
Almost two years to the date after the Kamado family had arrived at Urokudaki-sensei's, Tanjiro showed up at the boulder with his black, Nichirin blade. He'd been on a normal sleep schedule for almost two weeks by then and had informed everyone that his body had changed about as much as could be expected at this point. He suspected that any further changes would require more rest, but until then, he had begun to adhere to a far stricter schedule than before.
Unfortunately, the sleeping and changes hadn't really done much from Nezuko's point of view. He still had elongated canines (she'd hoped him sleeping would help him get rid of those). Fortunately, he could still go into the sun and eat normal food – a normal amount, even – and thus everyone seemed relatively happy.
Now, as he stood there with his sword sheathed but very much real, she could tell he wasn't playing around, nor was he there to spar. He still had that calm smile on his face, but it had a hard, determined edge to it.
"This is it, Nezuko," he said. "The final selection is a week and a half away. Prove to Urokudaki-sensei and I that you're strong enough to go." Then he closed his eyes and his grin widened. "I know you can."
Nezuko took a deep breath, then focused on her breathing. She took the proper stance and opened her eyes.
"I'm not going to go easy on you, Nezuko," he said. Then he launched forward. Nezuko's eyes widened. She almost couldn't follow him! He really wasn't going easy on her!
She moved on instinct, pushing the breath form through her body. Out of the corner of her eye, she could almost swear she saw what looked like water form on the edge of her sword as she parried Tanjiro's blow. They traded a couple more strikes and then Nezuko went into the First Form: Water Surface Slash. To her surprise, Tanjiro didn't parry or counter or block, he dodged. Nezuko, already following through, saw the enormous boulder behind him and her eyes widened. Her sword fell. The boulder cracked and two halves fell away from each other.
Nezuko stopped and stared in shock at what she'd done… because that had definitely been her.
Her mouth fell open.
Tanjiro came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Well done, Nezuko," he said.
She still couldn't answer, unable to tear her eyes away from the broken boulder.
"You were right, Tanjiro," Urokudaki-sensei's voice came from behind her, finally pulling her out of her shock enough to turn her head and close her mouth. "It would seem she is ready… and I need to rethink my later training strategy."
"Urokudaki-sensei?" Nezuko asked, still feeling a little shaken.
"I've lost more children to the Final Selection than anyone should. I changed my way of training because… I didn't want them to go. I don't want to see more children die."
"Well, our new way of overseeing the Final Selection will probably help with that," Tanjiro pointed out.
Nezuko blinked. "New way of overseeing?" she asked.
Tanjiro nodded. "When people failed the test in the past, they either quit, or they die. We're going to prevent that, but if we save someone, they automatically fail. However, we can then send them back to train some more. We need more quality demon slayers after all. Ubuyashiki-sama agrees."
"Oh," Nezuko said. That sounded like a good idea to her.
But it also seemed like a distant thought because… she'd succeeded. After a moment, she turned so she was facing both of them and bowed. "Thank you so much for teaching me!"
Tanjiro just grinned and Urokudaki-sensei sighed, reaching out and patting her on the head. "You've done well, Nezuko," he said.
She couldn't help but notice out of the corner of her eye that Tanjiro's smile fell a little, eyes fixed on Urokudaki-sensei's hand patting her head.
Oh… right.
"Um… y-you can do that too," she said softly, glancing at Tanjiro and then at her foot, scuffing the dirt. "If you want, Tanjiro-nii-san."
More silence, and then Tanjiro reached over as Urokudaki-sensei pulled back and patted her head. She felt herself blush a little, but still enjoyed the contact.
"We'll celebrate tomorrow and then head off for the Final Selection the day after," Urokudaki-sensei said.
Nezuko blinked. "Um… aren't we supposed to go on our own?"
The Water Pillar nodded. "Yes, but a rank Kinoe or higher has to be with Tanjiro, who will be overseeing the Final Selection with another Hashira."
"Not the Wind Pillar guy Nii-san told us about, I hope," Nezuko said worriedly.
Tanjiro snickered while Urokudaki-sensei shook his head. "Ubuyashiki-sama wants this to succeed. I don't think he'd send Shinazugawa-san unless he had no other choice."
She felt herself relax a little. "Oh. Good."
"Well, shall we go back to the house?" Tanjiro asked. "We can still get some sleep tonight."
The other two agreed and they began their trek down the mountain together.
xXx
Nezuko could see why Tanjiro liked Kenroji Mitsuri. The girl had been bubbly, happy, forward and so, so accepting it was unreal. When the two Kamado siblings and Urokudaki-sensei had arrived at the Fujikasane Mountain, the pink-haired pillar had met them there. The moment she saw Tanjiro coming down the street, she'd squeed and shot forward to hug him, saying she was so glad he was alright and very much still not a demon. Then he'd introduced Urokudaki-sensei, who had bowed and taken his leave. She'd greeted him happily, but respectfully, thanked him and promised him she'd look after his students.
Then Tanjiro had introduced Nezuko. If Nezuko thought Kanroji had squeed earlier, it was nothing compared to that moment. Minutes later, her ears had still been recovering. The woman had then practically attacked Nezuko in a hug, saying how adorable she was and how amazing she was to have gotten this far and how happy she was to finally meet Tanjiro's sister who he always spoke of (that may or may not have made her blush) and how she couldn't wait until Nezuko passed the selection.
Thankfully, Tanjiro had been able to get Kanroji to let go so Nezuko could breathe. To her credit, the Pillar had apologized. Then they'd climbed the mountain together as Tanjiro and Kanroji caught up. Apparently the final Hashira spot had been filled by a man who had made his own style based on the water style called the serpent style. The man, Iguro Obanai, was "super cute" and "extremely handsome" and "competent" and "amazing" just like so many of the other Hashira, according to her. Nezuko couldn't help but think that the woman's style – the 'Love' style – certainly fit her. Was there anything she didn't absolutely love? Besides demons, obviously.
Once they'd reached the top of the staircase, Tanjiro had told Nezuko how much he believed in her and then he and Kanroji had headed off to one side. Then what looked like nearly identical twin girls (except for their hair as one had white hair and the other a dark black) stepped out of some wooden doors and explained the test. Nezuko found it more than a little creepy that the girls didn't seem to have any other expression than their fixed smile as they explained how everyone would have to survive in the area beyond the gate for seven nights.
Then they said that the two Hashira already there – Kamado Tanjiro and Kanroji Mitsuri, who both waved at the applicants – would go around the forest helping where they could, however if they interfered in a fight, it would be an automatic fail and the contestant would be escorted out and sent back to their cultivator for more training. They insisted there was no shame in that, although Nezuko could already tell that several people didn't actually believe or agree with that. One boy in particular, wearing a boars mask of all things, seemed more than happy to proclaim that no one had better interfere in any of his battles. For some reason, she noted that Tanjiro had smiled at the boy almost nostalgically. Perhaps someone he'd known in a former life? She wondered what that said about his companions.
And then they were released into the area behind the doors on the demon-infested mountain. Two days in and Nezuko had already encountered and killed three demons. It had been both easier and harder than she expected. Every fight had seen it's own difficulty, but once she'd established- a rhythm that worked, she'd found herself surprised at how easily the water style she'd once found so difficult came to her. When she'd heard about breath styles people adapted from the original elemental styles, she'd initially wondered if that would be for her, but it seemed as if that would be unnecessary (although she made a mental note to look into it anyway).
So she slept during the day as much as she could (not easy in the extreme heat) and then woke at night to hunt demons, all the while hiking in the direction they'd been told to head towards. She didn't see much of a point in hurrying as quickly as she could as she was there to survive and kill demons.
The only point where it got dicey was on the fourth night, when she was attacked by three demons at once. It had not been an easy fight and her leg had been terribly scratched in the battle, but she'd washed and bandaged it as best she could before moving on. It had hurt a lot the next day and night, and worse the day and night after that, but she fought through it, still using her body and breath style to slice the necks of the demons she came across.
It was probably made worse the sixth day as a storm had come in that evening and the demons hadn't had to remain under cover. The rain had continued into the night, soaking Nezuko to the bone as she trudged tiredly onward. She still made a note to stop by the stream she'd been following to continue to wash out her wound and rewrap it.
When she finally made it to where she was sure the test finished, towards the end of the seventh night, she sighed in relief and pushed on towards an alter she could see at the edge of a path. Once there, she practically collapsed by a table with first aid equipment on it, almost too tired to keep her eyes open… but she'd made it.
"Nezuko!" a familiar voice drew her out of the daze she'd been in and she looked up to see the worried eyes of her brother staring at her. She just grinned at him.
"I made it, Onii-chan."
He blinked, but then sighed and patted her head. "Yeah, you did. You got hurt on your leg, right? Let's get that treated."
She nodded, feeling a little dizzy. He'd taken off her bandages and pulled up her pant leg as high as it would go only to gasp. She looked down to see the gashes from the demon had gotten red and very swollen. That couldn't be good.
"Nezuko," he said softly, "this is probably going to hurt…"
She winced and nodded, then bit the arm of her haori in preparation. Tanjiro began to treat her wound, using a small knife to cut it open again, letting a gross clear liquid streaked with white out, and then squeezing it to get more. She screamed into her sleeve as he did, but didn't move. Once he'd done that, he poured alcohol onto it and she screamed again, still refusing to open her mouth fully so the fabric could mute her at least a little.
"H-hey… are you alright?" a voice had her looking up through the pain and haze to see light brown – almost amber – eyes and yellow hair. It was a boy, she realized, and he looked worried.
"Yeah, Zenitsu," Tanjiro said. "Her wound was infected."
The yellow and orange clad-boy paused.
"H-how did you know my name?"
Tanjiro froze, then turned and smiled up at the boy. "I'm a Hashira. Kamado Tanjiro," he said with a huge grin. "I know everyone who has passed the test."
The boy blinked. "Oh," he said, sounding relieved. Well, technically Tanjiro hadn't lied. Perhaps he could sense that somehow?
"Okay, Nezuko," Tanjiro said as he tied off the bandage. "We still have an hour or two, so why don't we go and sit somewhere you can rest for a little while?"
Nezuko started to nod, but then stopped. "What about the rest of the people in the forest?" she asked, looking around. For now it was just the three of them.
"Oh, everyone who won't pass has already been sent home. I give it an hour before Inosuke comes to find me… I had to tell him I won't fight him three times already." He sounded so fond when he'd said that. Nezuko's brow furrowed in puzzlement.
"Who?" she asked.
"Oh, the guy with the boar's head. He likes difficult fights and wanted to fight me. I actually had to knock him out at one point."
"Do you know him?" she asked, glancing up at the yellow-haired boy then back at her brother.
"I told you," Tanjiro said with a grin, "I know everyone here!"
Zenitsu gasped and stepped away for a moment. He must have seen Tanjiro's teeth. Nezuko frowned at the boy when Tanjiro wilted a little.
"No, I'm not a demon. Yes, I have some demonic traits due to a Blood Art, I don't really want to go into it right now as I'd much prefer to look after my sister. However, are you hurt anywhere, Zenitsu-san?"
The boy seemed a little taken aback at that. "Oh, no. I mean, I have this enormous bruise on my butt and so many little scratches all over my arms and face and I hurt, but it's nothing compared to… Nezuko-chan?" he asked, looking to her.
Tiredly, she nodded.
"Kamado Nezuko. Nice to meet you."
"Agatsuma Zenitsu," the boy bowed. "And you're so pretty, will you marry me?"
At her side, she felt Tanjiro tense.
"Let's see if I understand you, Zenitsu-san," Tanjiro said with a bright smile that hid his abrupt defensiveness – very suddenly, he seemed to want to show off his teeth. Nezuko wanted to roll her eyes, but was just too tired. "You're so utterly shameless that you'll come up to a girl who is plainly injured, who may not even be in the right mind to answer your question, and try to goad her into marrying you?"
Agatsuma suddenly backed away, eyes wide with fear as Tanjiro continued. "You're both what, fourteen? Fifteen? Thirteen? Somewhere around there. You both have time and you, Zenitsu-kun, will need to get to know any possible wife before they become your fiance."
"But I just passed the Final Selection!" Zenitsu's voice rose and Nezuko could hear the panic in it. "That means I'm gonna be a demon slayer! Do you know how quickly demon slayers die?!"
Tanjiro just sighed tiredly and began to walk Nezuko over to one of the absolutely lovely wisteria trees. "I'm a Hashira. I do know how quickly demon slayers die. That's why we came to stop that from happening… and you didn't need help. You're stronger than you think, Zenitsu."
"But I'm noooooot! I only survived the selection by chance! I totally fainted every time I saw a demon and woke up to the demon being gone! That happened four times!"
"Yeah, I saw that," Tanjiro said as he settled at the base of a tree and then patted his legs. Only too happy to do so, Nezuko laid down and rested her head on his thigh, using said leg as a pillow. The cool breeze blowing through the trees felt just the right temperature…
This… this was nice. She set her sword down next to her and sighed, relaxing into her brother's presence as he continued to talk to Zenitsu.
"Do you know what happened when you fainted? You used your breathing style – your thunder breath – subconsciously." Then she heard the smile creep back into her brother's voice. "You must have trained very hard to ingrain your breathing style to that level."
She heard Zenitsu gaping, his mouth opening and closing with a clop/pop noise that made her giggle a little, very softly. She hoped he didn't hear it because she wasn't laughing at him. She wasn't entirely sure why she was laughing at the moment, actually. She did that sometimes when she got tired… and was in pain. Better than crying, she supposed.
"I… No, that couldn't have been what happened!" Zenitsu finally said, sounding utterly disbelieving.
"You don't think so?" Tanjiro asked, and Nezuko could hear the frown in his voice that time. "Because I'm sure that's what I saw at least three times. Why do you find it so hard to believe that you're strong?"
"Because I'm nooooooooooooot!"
Nezuko winced, having almost been asleep.
"Shh!" Tanjiro hissed.
"Oh, right… sorry."
Her brother sighed. "Look, whatever or whoever made you think you're weak is wrong. You're not."
Zenitsu grumbled something, and her brother prodded for a repeat, apparently not having heard. "What?"
"I said it's only everyone I've ever met!" Zenitsu almost yelled.
Nezuko sighed.
Tanjiro cleared his throat.
"Sorry, again," Zenitsu muttered.
"You say everyone thinks you're weak?" Tanjiro asked after a couple of moments of silence.
"Yes!" Zenitsu practically whisper-yelled. "Every person I've ever met?"
"Even your cultivator?" Tanjiro asked.
Zenitsu didn't answer for several seconds, then muttered, "He's the only one who hasn't."
"No, he's not. Because I think you're strong and my fellow Pillar, Kanroji Mitsuri thinks so too."
More silence. Then, "R...really? Me?!"
"Absolutely," Tanjiro said firmly. "You're strong, and if you work at it, you'll only get stronger! But I think that sometimes people see someone crying and automatically assume they're weak. I don't think crying is weak. People who are able to cry in front of others know they may get ridiculed, but do it anyway. People who cry in front of others – real crying, not crying for sympathy – are strong.
"I cry all the time." He added that last part on as if in after thought.
"Y-you do?"
"Yes."
"He does," Nezuko muttered, her words a little slurred. She doubted she'd remember all of this when she woke up, but when Zenitsu wasn't too loud, their conversation was nice to listen to. "So do I."
"O-oh."
More silence.
"Nezuko-chan… do you like a man who cries?"
"Hmm," Nezuko answered while Tanjiro sighed.
"Zenitsu-san, I like you. We could definitely be friends," her brother said.
"Really?" Zenitsu asked sounding pleased.
"Most certainly. However, if I find you pestered my sister to try and get her to marry you, especially before you've known each other for at least two years, I will make sure you very deeply regret it. Do I make myself clear?"
A gulp. "Y-yes, sir!"
"Good."
Nezuko frowned. "That doesn't sound like you, Onii-chan," she said. Nii-chan was supposed to be happy and positive, even when giving scoldings. Then again, she'd never heard him give a threat before… As far as she knew, he'd never had to.
"Sorry, Nezuko," he said softly, stroking her hair. It felt nice. "I've changed, I suppose."
"Hmmm," she agreed, but then had to concede, "Although, not that much."
Then something seemed to occur to her quickly fading mind.
"Where's Kanroji-san?" Nezuko asked.
"She's escorting the last person we rescued to the bottom of the mountain. She'll be back by the time the Final Selection comes to an end when the sun rises."
Nezuko giggled again. "She's smart. She trusts you, too."
A pause, and then Tanjiro's gently smiling voice. "Yeah. I'm really lucky."
This time more silence, filled by the sound of the wisteria trees around them shifting in the wind.
"You're tired too, aren't you Zinetsu-san?" she heard Tanjiro say. "You can rest too. I'll let you know when you need to get up."
"Th-thank you," she heard Zenitsu say, but didn't much mind or care as the safety and warmth from her brother made the world finally fade away.
xXx
AN: So, yep! TIMESKIP! What? It needed to happen. *shrug* I have to admit, next chapter is one of my favs. :3
For anyone who is interested, I posted a new fic that is more or less an Appendix to this story. It gives short summaries of all of Tanjiro's loops up until this point. If you're interested, check out the title Appendix - Tanjiro's Time Loops Summarized. Original, I know. *shrug*
Last, but not least, thank you to TimeLordTim and Quathis for your help on this! Much luv!
