NOTE: THIS IS THE SECOND CHAPTER I'VE POSTED TODAY! IF YOU'RE JUST COMING IN, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ THE OTHER ONE! Thank you! :D
xXx
Sanemi's head felt… heavy as he woke. And he was hungry. Really hungry. Famished even. When was the last time he ate?
After several seconds, he opened his eyes to near darkness. He could still see a fair bit, though, and realized he was in a very plain, small room. Huh. He didn't really remember why, but he felt safe enough, so he simply yawned and stretched before sitting up and getting a better look.
That was when he realized he wasn't alone. He slept against the back wall of the small room, but another figure on a futon took up the space in front of the door.
He frowned… what?
His mind, still fogged from sleep, didn't seem to want to work to make sense of the situation.
Before he could begin to really try, though, the figure groaned sleepily and rolled over. Then, two small slits of red pierced the darkness.
The Wind Pillar blinked, recognizing the bottom half of the kanji in those eyes.
"Sanemi-san?" a familiar voice asked slowly. "You're awake?"
Sanemi blinked again. How long had he been asleep?
Then the boy's eyes opened fully and he sat up. "You are! I'm relieved. Palm fire."
Then the kid's hand lit up. Sanemi couldn't stop himself from backing away from the display, half because demon fire, and half because the light wasn't comfortable on his eyes in the dark. Although, that didn't linger at least. Thankfully.
Kamado must have noticed because he kept his burning hand well away from Sanemi. "How do you feel?" the boy asked.
"Hungry," he replied, trying to remember how he'd gotten here and what was going on.
"Yeah… sorry about that."
Why would he…?
Wait…
"I died," Sanemi said as his memories started to come back to him. He'd been cut in half, and the only reason he'd lasted as long as he had was due to his control of the constant concentration breathing. He looked down at his body and found himself in a sleeping yukata. He pulled the garment open and searched his torso. Nothing. Not even a scratch. All of his other scars were there, though…
"You almost did," the boy said softly, sadly.
But Sanemi had other memories too. They were fuzzy… of him jumping through trees and Shinobu and another woman he attacked – a demon?
"You told me I couldn't save you," Kamado went on, looking down at his still-lit hand, but then he looked pointedly – almost pityingly (and Sanemi hated that) – over at the older demon slayer. "But I could."
"How?" Sanemi asked. "I—"
Then he cut off as the pieces began to come together in his mind. The boy winced and seemed to brace himself.
Good thing, too, because the next thing Sanemi knew, he'd lunged at Kamado and punched him as hard as he could. The kid flew out the open door and crashed into the wall on the other side of the hallway. Sanemi hadn't realized that his punch would have that kind of force… but he brushed that aside, anger fueling him as the kid's fire went out and they were plunged into darkness again.
Before Kamado could get up, Sanemi was there, grabbing him by the yukata and shoving him against the wall. His mind noted how much stronger he felt and how fluidly his body moved. He felt his very sharp fingernails (yes, fingernails, not claws, they couldn't be claws) digging into the palm of his hands through the Yukata.
But the worst was his tongue. It felt… weird. Stronger, and longer and yet not… coiled? As if ready to strike… past very sharp teeth…
Yeah, he decided he really didn't want to think about that right now.
Or that cloying hunger that just gnawed at his gut.
Nope.
Focusing on other things. Like the brat he held against the wall.
The brat who looked up at the taller demon slayer (because he was still a demon slayer!) both defiant and contrite. Sanemi had no idea how he managed to pull both of those off at once.
"What was I supposed to do? I couldn't let you die!"
"You should have!" he yelled, trying not to panic. "At least I would have died human!"
The boy's eyebrows drew together and Sanemi felt the kid's breath catch.
"Do… you really mean that?" he asked quietly.
The older man opened his mouth to say, 'Yes, absolutely!' but the words died in his throat. He remembered the heart-stopping moment when he'd fallen and seen his legs detached from his body. He remembered Waxing One and how Kamado – who had taken on four Hashira at once – had been on the back foot in that fight.
How he must have chosen to try and save Sanemi, despite everything… How the Waxing Moon had been screaming and shrieking in pain as the fire came to life around them. Had… had he killed Waxing One?
And did Sanemi really want to be left on that field?
No. He really didn't.
"Were you in my place, could you just sit by and watch a fellow Demon Slayer die when you could do something?" the kid continued.
Sanemi grit his teeth. In his mind, he came up with a billion curses for the brat in front of him, but he swallowed them down (with more than a little difficulty). Then he took a deep breath and released it before forcing himself to open his hands and take a step back, because Kamado was right and Sanemi knew it.
That didn't make him happy, nor did it make what happened good. No, that was still very, very wrong… but…
Angrily, he let out a yell and punched the wall right by Kamado's head. His hand literally crumbled the stone and cracks spider-webbed out from the point of contact. Kamado didn't move a muscle.
They sat there in silence for several seconds, the only sound Sanemi's heavy breathing as he tried to come to terms with this new development.
"For what it's worth… I'm sorry," Kamado's quiet words finally broke the silence. Sanemi withheld a hysterical laugh.
"I don't want your apologies," he growled, but there was no heat to his words. He just felt… well, he wasn't sure how he felt right now. Ashamed? Frustrated? Angry? Understanding despite himself? Did it matter?
"How did we get… here?" Sanemi asked after a couple more seconds, raking his hands through his hair and looking around. They were in a hallway with a low ceiling. Along each wall, he could see a series of doors. It wasn't a terribly long hallway, with maybe eight doors altogether and then a stairwell leading up. "Where are we, even?"
Something in the back of his mind said he knew the answer, but he didn't really want to examine much of anything right now.
"We're at the Butterfly Estate," Kamado explained cautiously. A weight lifted from Sanemi's shoulders, but at the same time he wanted to groan. He didn't want anyone else to see him like… well, this. But knowing where he was and that other Pillars were around was… relieving. If things got out of hand – if this ever present and utterly maddening hunger got the better of him…
Speaking of…
He felt himself go a little pale. "This… isn't the first time I've been awake, is it…" he ventured cautiously. It wasn't a question.
Kamado didn't answer for a second, but finally shook his head as he eyed Sanemi warily.
The Wind Pillar didn't want to ask his next question, but he had to. He had to know… He turned away from the teen. If he didn't look, it might make this easier.
"Did I… attack anyone?" he asked. His arms shook at his sides, he clenched his fists so tightly.
"You… have not eaten – or even attacked – a human. You did have the opportunity, but… I… um, tried to keep you in check. It worked."
Sanemi glared at the kid over his shoulder. "What do you mean, you 'kept me in check'?"
Kamado rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Um… I… um… have some… control over you. Like I do Akatsugi. And I can sense your… um… emotions? Health? Um… yeah."
Oh, Sanemi did not like that. "What?!" he hissed turning around and feeling his fingers stretch out then curl. He didn't like that instinct either, but decided to focus on one problem at a time. Right now, his gaze was locked on Kamado, who held his hands up placatingly.
"I don't want it! I hate it! But there isn't anything I can actually do about it except try not to… do anything… about it."
An animalistic growl that he supremely hated worked its way up Sanemi's throat.
Kamado took a deep breath and forced a smile. "At least you can go out in the sun."
Sanemi just stared at him because did he really think that something like that would make up for… for turning him into a monster?!
But attacking the kid wouldn't do any good, he knew (as much as he may want to). Kamado had made a hard decision and even as angry as Sanemi was, he could still understand that.
He just couldn't stand to look at the kid right now. And those instincts that urged him to attack were almost as difficult to ignore as the hunger.
So, instead, he turned and stomped back into the small room – cell, it was a cell for holding demons he recognized now (that did not make him feel any better) – and stopped only once he stood on the futon he'd woken up on. He stood there, facing the wall as his fingers flexed and stretched because as little as he wanted to think about his new… status, it was a surprisingly soothing movement.
He didn't know how long he stood there, focusing on his breathing and his fingers flexing, but eventually he felt like he could talk and move again without tearing something apart.
Kamado showed some rather amazing brilliance by not drawing any attention to himself at all whatsoever.
Eventually, Sanemi dropped into a crouch, his arms resting on his knees and head down.
He did not like this turn of events at all, but… well, it was what he had to work with right now. The sooner he came to terms with that, the better.
When he did speak, his voice croaked more than he would like, but… he had more questions he wanted answers to.
"How do you handle it?"
"Handle what?" Kamado's ever calm, ever understanding voice replied. He must have come back in to sit on his own futon as his voice came from right behind the Wind Pillar.
"The hunger." There weren't even humans in the room right now and Sanemi just wanted to consume. How could anyone overlook it? Brush it off? Ignore it?
Kamado didn't answer for what felt like a very long time.
"Practice, I suppose," was his final answer.
Sanemi snorted out a mirthless laugh. "Practice."
"And… I'll be here to stop you if it overrules you."
That was… more comforting than Sanemi wanted it to be.
He took a deep breath. "I have… memories… of attacking a woman…" Of eating her, but he couldn't bring himself to say that aloud.
"Yeah. That was a demon. Apparently we can eat demons just as much as we can eat humans. Go figure."
The kid sounded bitter enough that Sanemi found himself looking over at the figure now leaning on the door frame, arms crossed and a sardonic expression on his face as he studied the packed, dirt floor as if it held the secrets to the universe.
"I actually think," Kamado continued, not looking up, "that that jump-started your… well, growth, I suppose, for lack of a better word. Nezuko slept straight for two years and still couldn't really speak when she woke. Once she conquered the sun, she could say a couple of words. It took me a dozen loops of constantly being turned into a demon before I could overcome it enough to speak and even then, I still needed dozens more to get to where I could think like normal."
He finally looked up at Sanemi. "Between what you ate and sleeping for… well, however long we've slept – a couple of weeks, I suppose – it helped you get to a point where you could think on a similar level to… well, before."
Sanemi looked back at the wall in front of him. That didn't make him feel any better. Although, he was grateful he hadn't eaten a human. He wasn't sure he could forgive himself then.
"Oh! I was able to burn the demon out of her."
Sanemi looked over his shoulder again. "Who? What?"
"The woman you attacked. Shinobu-san knocked her out with her poison and I successfully burned the demon cells out of her. She survived too!"
And there was the kid's usual sunshine smile. It felt odd, for some reason, that this was the first time since waking up that Sanemi had seen it. He didn't even know Kamado that well…
"That's great," he said, a little sarcastically. "But I can't say I care too much unless you can burn the cells out of me, too."
Kamado's smile faded, but then he looked thoughtful. "I… suppose I could try that. It never really occurred to me before. But… I don't know if it would work. I mean, you saw what happened the first time."
Sanemi winced. Yeah, he didn't exactly want to go out like that either.
Still better than being a demon though…
"Look, before we decide anything, let's go talk to Shinobu-san. She'll want to know that you're awake anyway."
That… actually wasn't a bad idea. Except he wasn't sure he trusted himself around humans right now…
"I'll make sure you don't hurt anyone," Kamado assured him. "I promise."
Sanemi didn't want to agree, but… what else could he do? Hide away down here forever?
Yeah, he was many things, but a coward wasn't one of them.
"Fine," he said, standing up. This was a bad idea, but it was better than anything else he could think of at the moment.
"Great!" Kamado grinned. "Come on."
He hurried up the cramped stairwell and reached the top where a heavy, iron door blocked their path. To Sanemi's surprise, the kid started pounding on it. A dull, metalic thump rang through the celler.
"Can't you just… break that down?" he asked.
"Yeah, probably," Kamado replied nonchalantly, "but it would scare the girls and probably Shinobu-san and the last thing I want to do is make her angrier than she already is."
Sanemi snorted. Kid had a point.
They stood there for several minutes as Kamado kept knocking before a muffled voice finally interrupted the steady (and rather annoying) thumps.
"Nii-san?"
The kid perked up immediately.
"Nezuko?"
"It's me!" the muffled voice replied. "I sent Sumi-san to get Shinobu-san. She's the only one who has keys."
"That's great, Nezuko! Thanks!"
"How are you feeling?" the girl asked.
"I'm great!" Kamado responded brightly. Sanemi rolled his eyes. "Sanemi-san and I just woke up, but it was a good sleep."
"Shinazugawa," Sanemi muttered.
Kamado glanced back at him. "Really?"
It… was a little weird to have someone who could probably tell everything he was feeling call him Shinazugawa, he had to admit. So he sighed.
"Sanemi's fine, I guess," he grumbled. The kid just beamed at him.
"Sanemi…? Oh! Right…" the girl on the other side said.
"That your sister?" the older demon slayer asked, not really knowing what else to say.
"Yup!" Kamado said with that grin of his. "I'll introduce you when we get the door open. Oh," his smile suddenly turned sharp, "if you try to hurt her in any way, I'll kill you myself."
"Nii-san!" the girl from the other side said, sounding exasperated.
Sanemi just matched Kamado's smile. "Same for my brother, Kamado."
The kid just nodded and turned back to the door.
"Oh, you can call me Tanjiro if I can call you Sanemi."
The older man sighed, smile dropping. "Whatever. We're not friends."
Kam… Tanjiro just shrugged. "Of course we aren't. In my first life, you stabbed my sister and then cut yourself to try and get her killed – to prove her wrong. I kind of still haven't forgiven you for that."
Sanemi winced. He really hoped he never came across a merechi. He already knew just being around humans in general wouldn't be easy… and they wouldn't even be bleeding. He almost felt bad knowing what kind of torture he'd put some demons through now with his blood.
Almost.
They were still demons and deserved it, after all.
That didn't stop him from dreading the day when he may come across something like that…
"Right," he muttered.
"Nii-chan!" the girl on the other side said, sounding even more exasperated than before. "I can take care of myself! I bet I could then too!"
"Of course you could!" Tanjiro called back. "Didn't stop me from getting angry! You'd be just as mad if someone did the same thing to me!"
She didn't answer for several seconds, but when she did, it was soft enough that Sanemi almost didn't hear it.
"True."
A couple more seconds of silence fell over them before Nezuko spoke up loudly.
"Oh, Shinobu-san! Thank you for coming!"
Another familiar voice answered. "Of course." Sanemi winced. He really didn't want to face her… or, well, anyone.
"Coward," he muttered to himself, even as he braced for the scent of humans.
Kamado – Tanjiro (maybe he'd just stick with the kid's family name?) turned to look at him worriedly as the sound of metal sliding into and hitting metal echoed from the lock.
"You're not a coward," he finally said. "And if you don't want to do this now, I'll just tell Shinobu-san to—"
"No," Sanemi shook his head. It had to happen some time. May as well be now. "It's fine."
"Are you sure?" Kamado asked.
"Yes," the older demon replied.
The sounds of keys in a keyhole stopped and Shinobu spoke up.
"Tanjiro-san," she said sweetly, "is that Shinazugawa-san with you?"
The kid glanced back at Sanemi and took a deep breath of his own. "Yes," he called. "He's awake and actually lucid."
"Really?" She sounded surprised. Right, she'd seen him as a demon before…
That really just made this all worse.
"Yeah, I'm good, Kocho," he called.
A pause, and then: "I certainly hope so. If not, I'll be forced to kill you." He could just picture the smile on her face as she said that.
It should have worried him or ticked him off, but it really just relieved him.
"Good," he said back.
Another long pause, then the clicking of the keyhole continued and the heavy door swung open.
Once again, the much brighter light of the estate had Sanemi looking away, but his eyes adjusted quickly. He expected to see two figures standing in the hall outside, but he only saw one. It didn't take long to recognize Kocho Shinobu in a ready position, hand on her sword.
Both he and Kamado held up their hands in surrender.
That didn't stop his mouth from watering.
It wasn't terrible, at least. He wasn't drooling.
Right about then, it hit him as to just how strong Kamado was. The kid only smiled at Shinobu and stepped aside so Sanemi could finish ascending the stairs.
"Nezuko?" Kamado said.
"Back here, Nii-san," she called from behind the open door that blocked part of the hall from view.
"I had to make sure," Shinobu said as she straightened, although she didn't take her hand from her sword. Sanemi approved.
"I'm good for now," he said, rubbing the back of his head in annoyance. "As long as no one is bleeding, I guess."
The Insect Hashira tipped her head to one side. "You think you'd lose control then?" she asked curiously.
Sanemi withheld a wince, but figured he needed to tell the truth. "Yeah."
Instead of making her more wary, she actually smiled at him – probably the most real smile he'd seen on her since Kanae. "Thank you for being honest with me. I will keep that in mind. And you are to go nowhere in this house without myself, Tanjiro-san or Himejima-san for the foreseeable future."
He nodded again. "Yeah, yeah. I get it."
"Hmm. Perhaps we should exchange notes and discuss what has happened so far?" She said as she looked between Sanemi and Kamado.
"Can I come out now?" Nezuko asked petulantly.
Shinobu raised an eyebrow at Sanemi.
"Yeah, I'm good," he said again.
She smiled at him, then looked over past the door.
"You may join us, Nezuko-chan. If you wouldn't mind shutting the door?"
"Sure!" the girl said. Sanemi and Kamado got out of the way as the iron door began to shut. A girl in a demon slayer's outfit and a pink Haori came into view as she pushed it closed. It shut with a loud clang and she straightened up, smiling almost as brightly as her brother. Then she bowed.
"Kamado Nezuko," she said. "Pleased to meet you!"
Somehow, he doubted that.
"Shinazugawa Sanemi," he replied, bowing shallowly.
"Now, if you would follow me, we'll speak in my office," Shinobu said with that usual fake smile as she turned and began to head down the hallway. Sanemi fell into step behind her while Kamado and Nezuko began to whisper behind him as they, too, followed.
They turned down another hallway, and then another, and Sanemi was beginning to wonder just how large the Butterfly Estate was when a figure turned into their hallway across from them. Shinobu froze and Sanemi had to stop himself from running into her. Behind him, the whispering stopped as well. The figure on the other side of the hallway stood stock still, eyes wide with fear and mouth agape.
And Sanemi recognized him immediately.
"Genya?"
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AN: I asked my discord server if they wanted me to post another chapter knowing that the ending would be just as bad if not worse than last chapter... Yes, I am totally throwing them under the bus. ;)
(Just kidding, you guys are awesome! Luv ya!)
Thanks to TimeLordTim, Found and Quathis for this!
Discord: discord. gg/q4pkrymvvr (No spaces)
