Once again, a very big thank you to euphoricimage who has betaed this chapter, as well as to LittleDoot who has proofread it.
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"Kanao-chan."
A whisper in her ear. A butterfly, fluttering amongst wisteria petals. A gentle caress on top of her head.
And a kind, loving smile.
"Wake up."
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The coin was gone.
It was the first thing Kanao noticed, even before she opened her eyes. She was alive, warm and breathing, but the usual weight of her coin in her pocket was gone.
No one in the Butterfly Mansion would dare to take her coin away. Judging by the familiar smell of ointment and the tight bandages wrapped around her torso, she must have been taken care of by a professional, so perhaps an affiliate of the Demon Slayer Corps. They must have taken away her coin when they changed her clothes.
It was the first time she had ever passed out due to her injuries. It felt disconcerting, to be manhandled while she was unconscious.
Kanao regulated her breathing and focused on her senses. She could hear a snowstorm howling outside, but the room was comfortably warm. The futon she was lying in was soft and smelled slightly of burnt coal. Muffled laughter could be heard beyond the room door, high-pitched and merry.
Someone was staring from above her.
"... Excuse me. Are you awake?" a male voice asked hesitantly.
Kanao opened her eyes. Dark red eyes blinked back at her.
Slowly, he moved back to sit in seiza on the right side of her futon.
"...Sorry, I thought you were awake but you didn't open your eyes for quite some time," he said awkwardly. He was a young man, with dark red hair and eyes of a similar shade. He had a scar on the left side of his forehead, and hanafuda earrings dangled from his earlobes. "My name is Kamado Tanjirou. You're in my house right now. Five days ago, I found you buried in the snow not too far from here."
"..."
Tanjirou began to frown when she remained silent, concern clear in his eyes. Kanao was reminded of Kanae's eyes.
"Do you feel hurt somewhere?"
"..."
"Um, no? But you smell like…" Tanjirou mumbled, before fumbling around once he noticed her suspicious stare. "Sorry, that was rude of me. I have a keen sense of smell, you see, but it's not like you're smelly or anything. Just that, you, how to say…You seem worried."
Was he able to 'smell' an emotion? A 'special' sense was a rarity, limited to those who practice Total Concentration Breathing. Was he a Demon Slayer?
Tanjirou began to fidget when all she did was stare at him, so Kanao tried to sit up. Sharp pain pierced through her stomach, reminding her of the demon's attack, but she gritted her teeth and pushed through with the motion. A warm hand landed on her back and helped her up.
"Careful," Tanjirou said worriedly. "Your wound is quite deep, so don't move too much."
Kanao ignored him and looked around. The windows were closed to protect the interior from the snowstorm, and the lanterns were lit, bathing the room in warm orange. Must be night.
"Ah! Are you looking for your belongings?" Tanjirou asked before standing up to go out of the room. Immediately, the muffled sound of laughter ceased, replaced by hushed voices. Tanjirou came back not long after with her belongings: her uniform and white cloak, her Nichirin sword, her butterfly hair clip, Tenma, as well as her coin.
"Tsuyuri Kanao! Tsuyuri Kanao!" Tenma, with her wings bandaged, chirped happily. Kanao blinked at her in bewilderment. "Awake, awake! Tsuyuri Kanao, awake!"
"She finally talks," Tanjirou smiled, relieved. He placed her items on the floor beside her futon. Tenma immediately hopped towards her. "Miss Crow made a fuss when we told her she could not fly yet, but then she went silent for days until you woke up. I had thought something was wrong with her."
Kanao allowed Tenma to perch on her arm as she took the coin, which had been lying on top of her washed, folded uniform. The familiar feeling of the coin in her palm soothed her.
Kanao tossed the coin. Tanjirou looked on in interest as the coin spun in the air. She caught it deftly when it landed on the back of her hand.
Kanao removed her hand to reveal the coin. Then, she turned towards Tanjirou and smiled.
"Thank you for saving me and my crow," Kanao said. "My name is Tsuyuri Kanao, and this crow's name is Tenma. We are deeply indebted to you."
"You're finally talking!" Tanjirou beamed in delight. "Hey, by the way, what was that?"
"Thank you," Kanao replied in return.
"Money? But I've never seen a coin like that before. It says 'heads' and 'tails', huh? Why did you flip the coin?"
"Thank you."
"You really made it twirl around!"
...This guy is quite persistent.
Kanao tossed the coin again. This time, Tanjirou watched with rapt attention, like a cat with a foxtail weed. The coin landed on her hand once more.
"Tails," Tanjirou read the kanji on the coin. "So what does that mean?"
"I flip this to decide on what to do when I haven't received any orders," Kanao responded patiently, as decided by the coin. "I just decided whether or not to explain to you. Heads for 'don't explain,' tails for 'explain.' Because it came up tails, I explained it to you."
Tanjirou 'ohh'ed at her. Before he could ask her about it further, though, the door slid open once more, and a lady in a kimono entered the room.
"Mum!" Tanjirou exclaimed and stood up. "What are you doing here? You should be asleep!"
"It's okay, son. I've rested enough," the lady smiled at him before kneeling in front of Kanao to address her. "I am glad you are awake, miss. My name is Kamado Kie. Tanjirou here is my son. He found you injured in the mountain, and I was the one who tended to your wounds."
Kanao gave Kie a slight bow and said her gratitude. Tanjirou hovered behind Kie, clearly anxious over something.
"You haven't been sleeping properly for a week already, Mum. You should rest more," Tanjirou said to his mother. "I'll take care of her."
"Oh shush," Kie waved her hand, dismissing his concern. "You have work tomorrow, Tanjirou. You're planning on going down to the village to sell charcoal, aren't you? You should be the one who needs to sleep now." Then she raised her voice and called out, "That includes all of you too, children!"
"Eep!" a few high-pitched voices yelped from behind the door. Must be Tanjirou's siblings.
"You sure?" Tanjirou continued to insist. "I can stay up for a few hours longer. You should catch up on some more sleep."
Kie stared at her son. Suddenly she smiled, a hand rising to cover her giggle. For some inexplicable reason, the Kamado matriarch had the exact same smile Kanae had whenever Shinobu complained to her about a certain young Water Hashira. Kanao wasn't sure if she liked the smile.
"My, oh my," Kie tittered. It seemed like Tanjirou was disturbed as well, because he stepped back warily. "No wonder you were never interested whenever we visited the village. You kept making excuses like you're too busy with work, you want to take care of your siblings first, or things like that. Turns out it's just because your standards are quite high."
Tanjirou spluttered, embarrassed by Kie's remark. His mouth kept opening and closing like a stressed goldfish, as if he was appalled by her words. Finally, he threw his hands up and left the room.
Kanao didn't understand. What standards?
Kie didn't offer any explanation and merely winked at her. "He didn't deny it."
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"So, what brings a Demon Slayer to this mountain?" Kie asked out of the blue while she was changing the bandages around Kanao's torso. Only the two of them were in the room; Kanao wondered if Kie had chased Tanjirou away from the room so they could talk alone.
Kanao flipped the coin.
Tails. She sighed. Today seemed like a 'talking' day.
"There was a report of brutal massacres occurring near the area," Kanao replied. "I came to investigate."
"A demon?" Kie asked, a frown marring her face. "There shouldn't be one so close to the mountain."
"It wasn't an ordinary demon. My rank is Tsuchinoe, but it managed to overwhelm me in an instant," Kanao said as she wondered how Kie was so confident that a demon wouldn't be so close to the mountain. Unless… "Are you part of the Demon Slayer Corps? Or a branch of the Fuji family?"
Kie shook her head. "Not quite, but my late husband had a connection with the Demon Slayer Corps in the past." Sensing Kanao's questioning glance, Kie continued. "He had prepared several measures to keep our family safe, even after his passing. Normally, demons should not be able to enter this side of the mountain because there were talismans placed around this area to ward them off. Especially at this time of the year..."
Kanao lacked the necessary information to link Kie's explanation together, but she paid it no mind. Her task was to kill demons. If the Kamado family had their own way to ward off demons, then good for them.
However… Kanao hadn't expected that demon to be so strong either. Judging by the colour of the 'mist', it may have been one of the Twelve Kizuki, though Kanao would've never thought she would meet one on an isolated mountain like this. At any rate, the killings may become more severe if the demon wasn't taken care of. She alone would not be enough to stop it, however; considering how powerful the demon was, the Hashira would have to be deployed. She had to report this to Oyakata-sama as soon as possible.
Tanjirou and Kie had told her that she had been asleep for five days. Tenma was still injured; she was not yet fit to fly, especially in this kind of weather. Thus, no report had been sent back to headquarters in at least the past six days. Demon slaying had a very high fatality rate; if a Demon Slayer went missing for more than a week, it could be assumed that he or she had fallen in battle.
However, Kanao was a relatively high ranked Demon Slayer and a Tsuguko. A successor to the Insect Hashira, Kochou Shinobu. Her being missing in action could be a sign of major trouble in itself, as it would mean that there was a demon powerful enough to defeat a Tsuchinoe in the area. Kanao was certain that at least one Hashira would be sent to investigate her case.
Still, she had to get back as soon as possible. Kanae had ordered her to not die and to always make it back to the Butterfly Mansion alive. If Tenma could not fly yet, Kanao would have to go back to the headquarters herself.
"No can do, young miss," Kie suddenly flicked her finger at Kanao's forehead. Kanao dodged, but the sudden movement sent sharp pain shooting across her abdomen, making her flinch. Kie tsked at her reaction. "You're thinking of going out with this kind of wound, aren't you?"
Did she also have a 'special' sense like Tanjirou? Kanao didn't even know if 'special' senses allowed one to read minds.
"I have to report back to the headquarters," Kanao said.
"That can wait," Kie rebuked as she tightened the bandages. "Unless you want a report of your death to reach your headquarters instead. You'll die of blood loss if you go out in this state, Tsuyuri-san."
"But a powerful demon—"
"I'll ask Tanjirou to pass a message to someone I know in the morning," Kie said. "They'll report the demon to the Demon Slayer Corps, along with news of your wellbeing. For now, we can only hope that the talismans were enough to ward the demon off."
Kanao flipped the coin.
"... What are the talismans?" she decided to ask since Kie had mentioned it twice. "Are they filled with wisteria flowers?"
"They do, but that is not all," Kie answered. "My husband had an acquaintance who knew how to make the talismans. I do not know how it works, but he had said that the talismans are able to hide this house from the demons. I know they are effective because we have not encountered any demons for at least two decades already."
That… was news to Kanao. Sure, the Demon Slayer Corps had talismans filled with wisteria flowers as basic demon repellents, but Kanao had never heard of one that could fully hide an area from demons.
"Can you show me one?" Kanao asked after another flip of the coin. If the talismans really did work as intended, the Demon Slayer Corps would benefit greatly from it.
"Only when you're well enough to move," Kie said with a smile while she prepared a cup of medicinal tea. "The talismans are pasted permanently in multiple locations, so I cannot just take one and bring it here. Now, drink this and go back to sleep. You wish to return home as soon as possible, right?"
With that order, Kanao reluctantly nodded and did as she said.
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In the morning, Kanao was greeted by five more Kamado family members.
"Pretty!" the youngest boy, Rokuta, exclaimed when he first saw her.
"Hey, hey, what's your name?" the second youngest boy, Shigeru, asked with a smile. "Where did you get Miss Crow? I want a crow too!"
"You have a pretty hair clip," the youngest girl, Hanako, said in awe while staring at Kanao's tied-up hair. "A butterfly!"
"Oi oi oi! Don't clamber over her!" The third boy, Takeo, told his three younger siblings off, pushing the three back with his arms. "She's still recovering!"
"Don't raise your voice near her too, Takeo," the eldest girl, Nezuko, sighed before turning to Kanao with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for the rowdiness. Are you feeling better now?"
Kanao flipped her coin. The children stared at her in wonder as she caught the twirling coin smoothly. Then, she smiled.
"I am feeling better now, thank you for asking," Kanao said. The younger children suddenly became even more thrilled.
"What was that?!"
"She flipped the coin! So cool!"
"Teach me how, teach me!"
"She smiles! She smiles!"
"Guys, give her some space please!"
Kanao was overwhelmed by the barrage of excited exclamations. Never had she seen this many children laughing so much around her. Sumi, Kiyo and Naho in the Butterfly Mansion were cheerful kids, but they weren't exactly carefree. Kanao's own blood siblings had never even been seen with a smile on their face.
But these Kamado children looked…happy. Content. Judging by the state of their house, they were not that well off, and Kie had said that their home was pretty much isolated in the mountains. They must have lived a harsh life. Yet they still smiled, as if they had everything the world could offer.
What made them so different from her own birth family?
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