THE COLOR OF THE WORLD
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Disclaimer: Kimetsu no Yaiba belongs to Koyoharu Gotouge
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Genre(s): Adventure/ Hurt/Comfort
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Warning(s): Typo is my most loyal fan, spelling mistakes because English is not my mother language, Possibly OOC and a lot of Angst. I hope. Not Beta.
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Manga: Chapter 8
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(A/N): Reminder! that this fanfiction is not completely AU. Bluntly speaking, this is basically the novelization of Kimetsu manga with a different perspective. That's why I'll skip other characters fighting scene yet keep Nezuko's in the story even tho' it's basically the same. Because, the fighting scene and the skills are the same as the canon, but not her personal thought and her opinion towards the enemy or the fight itself.
I'm sorry if the story seems repetitive as the scene is basically just like how the manga goes. However, I can't really create new techniques for her to use because she learned the same Water Breathing technique from the same teacher just like canon!Tanjiro did `3`.
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This sound she made...the beast mussed, watching the form of the bastard's student slowly inching toward it. Like the world decided to stop the time just so it could memorize every single detail of the girl it mocked beforehand. Underestimated beforehand. At that moment, this girl produced the same sound that came from that other guy back then. Like a sound echoing against the rolling wind.
It felt like it was back at those days, when it was still a human, no, demon. Still a demon in human form—it remembered that it was a male before—weak, cannot fight back, could only run away in desperation. And when the demon slayer was onto it—him—he could only stand and do nothing. Could only watch when—
The form of that guy reflected on his yellow orbs as he stared at the girl who leaped at him without hesitation.
"UROKODAKI!"
SRAAASSSHHHHH
And his head flew away, it rolled over to the furthest open field.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn I'm going to die!" He couldn't even talk now that his mouth is mostly gone. The beast saw the girl landed gracefully onto the earth, right near to his deteriorating body, "it's gradually falling apart. I'm already too late to stop it!"
"In the end, this girl will just be the same," the demon cursed, could only observe her sheathing the katana back, knowing the fight is already over, "in the end, she'll gaze upon me with eyes that are as if she's looking at filth. The type of eyes that are full of disdain!"
"Damn it, damn it! I'm so afraid to close my eyes. But this body won't allow me to turn my head," the long-haired girl slowly pivoted on her heels. This is it. This is the time. This is the time where she looked at him and figuratively burned him with her resentment, "I can't believe the last scene I look upon before my death is the face of a demon hunte—"
It was the eye full of sadness that greeted him instead.
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Why?
W-Why do you have that expression on your eyes?
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(Something within his mind suddenly becomes clear. Something that he forgot long, long time ago. A boy with black hair, squatting alone in the middle of the darkness. The boy was covered in blood, crying helplessly and hopelessly. He was covered in blood, crying helplessly and hopelessly)
(Big brother, where are you? I'm so scared. He bawled, tears won't stop pouring from his black eyes. Please, hold my hand like you always do. Why? Why did a devour my own brother?)
(Huh? He looked up, now eyes turned yellow and pupils formed a black cross in the center of the orbs. He blinked in confusion Who is this brother I'm thinking about?)
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Nezuko stepped to the unmoving body of the humongous demon, now half gone. Staring at the hands splayed to the air. Ah, she could see it. She could see how the fog around its body turned from black to the color of green, releasing the previous victims from its clutches too. The color of the normal living being. The color of the human. The fog flew around slowly, aimlessly, like it was searching for something. Or someone, as it latched onto Nezuko's red fog.
Are you searching for your memories? Are you forgetting your precious life just like my niichan do? She clasped the remaining hand gently, leaning her forehead on it and letting her tears rolled down her cheek
(she didn't know that someone was crying alongside her. The green demon, the previous human, was crying alongside her)
Please, God. Nezuko prayed from the bottom of her heart, watching the body turned into dust, swept away by the wind to the beautiful, night sky full of stars. Allow this person to never become a demon again when he reincarnates.
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(The crying boy looked up when he saw a speck of light at the corner of his eyes. In the middle of the dark abyss without end, he saw another person. Carrying a lantern and was slowly walking away. He stood up, running to him with a wide smile on his face. The hand of the crying boy reached out, finally managed to catch up and grasped the palm of the teenager. His brother. My brother. My precious, precious older brother)
(Big brother! I called. Smiling so wide my eyes closed in bliss. Grab my hand, please)
(Haha, alright, alright. The teenager laughed, curling his big, warm hand around his finger, pulling him to the light and out of the darkness. You're always such a scaredy cat)
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She stared blankly at the last remnants of the demon vanishing from her sight. Now that the danger is gone, her body lost its previous energy, heart empty. They're all...victims. Nezuko stared at her hand (the body of the demon was so cold, cold, cold. But the feeling lingering within it was so warm, warm, warm it hurt her so much). When she moved her gaze upward, she thought she could see the previous fox masks bearer standing in front of her. The late Urokodaki's pupils, along with Sabito-kun and Makomo-chan, watching her from afar, behind the thickening fog of the otherworldly realm. Ah, she understands now. Finally, she knew why she couldn't see their color.
Because they're already long gone. Because the color was trapped inside the tummy of the demon. Because they're all, along with the said demon, are victims.
Victims to this cruel, cruel world.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner," she cried. Even when her sight turned blurry and throat constricting. Even when she knew it's not her fault and she was years too late to even meet them, she has to say it. She needs to say it, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry you have to suffer so much, waiting for someone to release you from the clutch of the demon."
"But I won," she smiled, shaky, unsteady. Nezuko stepped forward, finger reaching towards them desperately. Oh, so desperately. However, she couldn't. The images of them smiling at her got smaller and smaller. She started to run but she still couldn't reach. Because she's not one of them. Because she's not dead. Because she's still alive, "I won, Sabito-kun. Makomo-chan. You can rest easy now."
"So please..." she fell, hugging herself as the colors of their existences circling around her like a beautiful rainbow. Brushing her skin, wiping her tears away. Before it followed their owner. Followed them to the realm she couldn't enter. Her sobs turned into a full weep, eyes reddened and nose running. It's unsightly yet she couldn't stop. She cried and cried and cried I don't want you to go away— "Please...don't go. Please stay with us. Please stay with Urokodaki-san. Be the happy family the old man wished to have. He's suffering, Sabito-kun, Makomo-chan. He's suffering and I couldn't help him"
"Please..."
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The bushes rustled and the wind whistled, singing the melancholy tune of a mourning family. Nezuko wondered if she had died back then, will her spirit return to where Sakonji and Tanjiro are? Or will it stuck between the realm of living and death, wandering through the lonely night as she watched her family—yes. Sakonji is her family now—suffered under the lost of another kid?
She didn't know. She didn't know because the tears just won't stop flowing.
Seven days later, on the morning of the new day. When she arrived back at the entrance of the temple, she was so exhausted, felt like her soul is going to leave her body at any second. The moment the biggest and dangerous demon was gone, the lesser one were a lot more active at their prowling, hunting for their long-awaited meal. After fighting the green monstrosity, they're all a piece of cake to her. Looks like the rumor about most of the demon around were only managed to kill two or three people and starving were true, so they didn't have that much energy to go for an instant kill. Even when Nezuko was not in a good shape at fighting them either—because instead of resting, she spent most of her morning till evening getting nightmare and crying for the loss of Sakonji's adopted kids—they were still no match. Doesn't mean it didn't sap her energy away like a quicksand though.
"Welcome back," the twin greeted the only four survivors. Wait, what?! "congratulations. Being safe and sound is better than anything else."
Wait, wait a minute. Four?! The second siblings of Kamado looked around, trying to locate the rest of the attendees but end in vain. No, it was not a joke, thinking that they'll come up at the very last moment and screamed 'surprise!', laughing at their bewildered look, no. Nobody really did survive besides the four of them. And that thought really chilled her to the bone, widening her eyes, "there were twenty people or so before. There's no way that...that—"
Even that guy, the one I saved from the big demon, was not here too. Because I passed out at that moment, he—
(I couldn't save him. I couldn't save him I couldn't save him I couldn't save him I'm sorry I'm sorryI'mSorry—)
The pretty lady with black hair, styled in one pigtail played with the flying butterfly and smiled serenely, ignoring Nezuko's internal thought (the grey fog around her was...how could she describe it? Tasteless? It was just so blank that Nezuko almost recoiled). The boy with thick, dual eyebrows and yellow hair (so bright like a sun. His fog was crackling like a thunder under the cloudy sky) mumbling—or cursing like a deranged spirit—muttering things such as "I'll die" or "even if we survived, we'll still gonna die in the end", which, didn't improve her mood. And lastly, the boy with short, messy black hair that shaved off at the sides of his head growled low (his fog is...are? there are two colors? Purple and black. Wha—black? Wasn't that the fog of a demon?! Is he...no. He's a human. He has the color of purple in him. But he also has black. She doesn't understand!). He stepped forward and mouth pulled back, making the scar on his right cheekbone wrinkled, "so, what about the blade?" he asked.
"You must first pay the cost for the uniform. Then you must get your body measured and have your rank engraved," the white twin said. The black one continued, "there are ten ranks in totals"
"Kinoe. Kinoto," and now they're back in talking alternatively, " Hinoe. Hinoto. Tsuchinoe. Tsuchinoto. Kanoe. Kanoto. Mizunoe. And Mizunoto."
"What about the blade?" the scared teen asked the same question, clearly impatient.
"Today, you will each choose a chunk of Tamahagane Alloy," but the twin totally ignored him, they just continued explaining, "your blade will be completed within ten to fifteen days.
"Also," the white-haired twin clapped her hands. Nezuko heard a screech of a bird. Shadows fell onto them from above and a black crow landed on her right shoulder, "from now on, Kasugaigarasu will be following you all. It's a crow that is primarily used for communication."
"Eh? Crows?" she heard the meek boy uttered a question. Nezuko turned her heard toward him and almost giggled, she managed to disguised her mirth with a cough in the last second. Because the bird the twin provided for him is clearly not the intimidating, black crow but a small, brown sparrow. He was just as incredulous as she was, asking for confirmation. Yet again, the twin didn't answer.
It was cute though. the second sibling of Kamado mussed. I kinda want that one instead.
Maybe it was only her imagination but she thought the crow on her shoulder was giving her a pointed glare.
"CAAWW CAWWW!"
The temporary happy lull was destroyed in a second when she heard another loud screech. The black haired-boy had swatted the crow from coming near him, clipping the wings a little bit that the bird actually fell in hurt. Fortunately, the other boy managed to caught it before it painfully crashed to the ground. Unfortunately, nobody could stop him in time as he marched to the twin, grabbed the white one by the hair and pulling it harshly, "I don't care about some dumb crow!" he exclaimed, eyes slit and his non-existences eyebrows furrowed in anger, "what I want is the blade. The blade! The blade of the demon hunters! The 'blade of color change'!"
The heck? Nezuko was mystified. Was horrified. Was indignant beyond measure she literally teleported to the twin side and grabbed the rude boy by the wrist, "What are you doing, you brute?!" it was her turn to yelled, "that is not how someone acts toward kids! Let go of her this instant, jerk!"
"Huh? Who are you?" he snarled, "a girl like you should just stay in place!"
The nerve—"I said...let go of her!"
"And? What do you want to do to me if I don't?"
You asked for it. Nezuko tightened her other fist and—
BUAK
—gave him her right, mean hook, he flew to the air.
The black-haired boy fell with a loud whomp. The yellow-haired boy cradling the crow and whimpered in fright. While the pretty girl just kept smiling.
Nezuko sniffed in satisfaction, clapping her hand after a job well done. She was not usually this temperamental. But after seven days without good night rest, running and hiding for the sake of her life (then the revelation of her trainers' apparent death), forgive her for the immediate violence. She was just...stressed and the boy managed to snap her last thread of patience. She turned to the white twin and rummaged her pants' pocket. Glad her handkerchief was not that dirty after all of that Final Selection debacle, she crouched and wiped the dirt off from the milky face of the kid, "are you okay? That...punk didn't hurt you too much, right?" asides from her bleeding mouth. Her anger started boiling again yet she clamped it down to give her her genuine smile. Seriously, what a brute! Punching a girl—a child at that—so hard, she was actually bleeding?! Maybe Nezuko should aim for the spot between his legs, honestly.
The white twin blinked slowly before she gave her a small smile. She didn't answer verbally. But she nodded at her question.
"If everything is alright now, please go over there," the black one finally opened her mouth, not giving a single glance to the scary teen who was shakingly trying to get up. Nezuko could see the bruise started forming under his chin, though she could care less. His own fault for underestimating her. The other half of the twin waved her hand, silently asking the audience to where they should rest their gaze. It was a wooden table with tons and tons of black stones on top of it; it ranged from a small to a big stone, the shapes are uneven and some of them are pointy. The color is so beautiful, however, glinted under the sunlight like a mirror, "this is the alloy that will be used to create your blade. The alloy for the blade that will be used to destroy demons and protect yourself will be chosen personally by each of you. So—"
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"Choose wisely"
At somewhere else, far away from the mountain, was a big temple surrounded by bonsai trees and koi pond with sparkling, blue water. A man with black hair that reached his shoulder was caressing the crows with the same color. His white haori was tucked under his legs as he sat gracefully, staring at the purple cloth tied around the bird's neck while it preened under his caress.
"Is that so," his voice was soft, anybody who hears it will fell the calmness from his tone alone, "there are five people remaining and all of them seems to be excellent. I'm glad that my swordmen have increased..."
He smiled, warm and full of hope.
"I wonder what kind of person they are."
(A/N): Yooo I'm crying so bad when I write this chap wth? And when I went back to check for the grammar mistakes and read the scene where Nezuko broke down, I cried again! D':
Seriously, I need to stop writing for like, three times! Because the tears won't stop falling and I can't see my computer! :'D