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.

Beta'ed by LamboLover36. Thank you so much~

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Manga: Chapter 25

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(A/N): guys...I just read the Wikipedia for Kamado Nezuko. And you know what I saw? This sentences:

"As a demon, her black hair fades to orange near the bottom"

I am...so SHOCKED! WHAT? I THOUGHT SHE ALREADY HAS THAT ORANGE GRADATION ON HER HAIR ALL THE TIME! I know about the red-eyes-turned-pink-after-she's-a-demon (idk why the anime already made her eyes pink from the very start. Siigghh) but her hair? Seriously? My world just...turned upside down!

I mean...we actually never saw her full hair when she was a human because she usually kept it in the bun. So I can use that as an excuse for my negligence. And Wikipedia was created by some strangers anyway, not the mangaka herself :/

But you see. If I accept that Nezuko's hair faded to orange at the bottom, my "hair color theory" was actually...kinda right o.O

So I'm really in a pickle with myself here. Should I deny it and pretend Nezuko already has the orange gradation from the very start. Or accept it so I have another evidence of "black coloration usually becomes light whenever they turned into a demon" :'D

I forgot to include this in the last chap oops. Here's the link of how Nezuko's synesthesia work: novirp13. tumblr post/ 185217046259/ kimetsu- no- yaiba- reverse- role- au- this- is- how

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The Drum Demon realized that one day—

He… had slowly lost the ability to eat humans.

Of course, he still needs to continue hunting and consuming humans, even though the amount that he eats is not as much as it was before. For a normal demon, this may not be a problem. That as long as they can survive another day, the decreasing quantity of their meals would be nothing to worry about. But for the Drum Demon, it was. It was something he had to worry about. Because he was one of the Twelve Demon Moons. Because he expected something more from him than normal beasts. Because if he cannot eat more, he will—

"Kyogai," the demon jolted, eyes immediately darting to the other presence in the room. A man with a white fedora that covered his wavy, black hair. It's him. It's Kibutsuji Muzan-sama!, " already you can't eat any more humans? Is this your limit?"

"N-No..." he stuttered, hands flailing. His yellow eyes widened, the number carved in his right eye contracted, "no, Muzan-sama. I can...I can still eat more—"

SLASH

The pain came even faster than he ever thought. The beautiful number (a number that showed the whole world he means something. He's not useless. He's not trash. He's not the scum of society. Is now gone, gone, gone) has been slashed. Now, the number everyone was so proud to have—he was so proud to have—was just a glorified trophy without shine. No meanings. No power. No nothing.

(He's not useless. He's not trash. He's not the scum of society. He's not, he's not, he's not—)

"Enough. I am removing your number," he snarled, plum eyes glowing with immense disappointment, "this is your limit and you've reached it."

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(—I'm trash...)

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"That's why. I need to eat that Marechi,"That's why he had been hiding his number behind his eye. Because clearly, he's not strong enough. Not strong enough to eat more humans (not strong enough to proudly show his number and declare that he's one of the worthy demons). Kyougai smacked the drum, turning the gravity of the pink hunter girl for the nth time. Sending another wave of claw attacks, she managed to dodge even with the swerving room. Changing the pull to the opposite direction so she'll feel the vertigo and lose her focus. Anything. Anything to break her fighting spirit and keep her from approaching him, "I need to eat humans with rare blood so I will be recognized as one of the Twelve Demon Moons again. I have to. I need to—"

(Because I don't want to be useless)

"VANISH FROM MY SIGHT, YOU VERMIN!"

RAPID DRUMMING

DUNG DUNG TAK DUNG DUNG TAK DUNG DUNG DUNG

And then the room was nothing but a blur.

"Guaaahh! My eyes! My eyes are spinning!" Nezuko gagged, holding back the bile that started to rise to her throat. This is terrible, terrible, oh so terrible! The demon's technique was too strong, she could feel her stomach churning with dread. Yahaba's arrows had nothing on this one because Nezuko could apply her skills in the opposite reaction to negate the eye demon's power. But this drum demon? He could literally spin her around like a pinwheel in a breezy day, no amount of opposite force will ever minimize the damage. Only giving her a small amount of time to breath when the beast grew slightly tired after playing the instrument; which, was a long time coming for a human like her because his kind's strength is immense, monstrous. The claw attacks had increased from three to five, the power in it went from devastating to utter hell. This is the worst. This is really the worst!

One of the claws grazed her chin. Oww! But at least that distracted me from my need to vomit all over the place—

She blinked when the previous strike from him destroyed the furniture, cracking the small selves open and making the thing inside flutter about. Those looked like papers. The one author used to create a book. The spinning stopped for a split second, causing her to flail and her foot to fall right on top of the fallen paper—

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—Shizu fell to the ground with a loud thud. Hands and legs spread like a starfish. Her breath was uneven, but it was clear she was happy. Grin splashed on her pale complexion, sweat pouring from her forehead as she chuckled, "you really are too strong, Shibei!"

Shinbei chuckled, propping himself using the bokken to stare at the laughing comrade, "that was a great move you've got there, Princess. Looked like your self-training had done you good, huh?"

" I'm still nothing compared to you," she waved away the praise, closing her eyes in bliss. The grass felt cold and comfortable after an intense workout, she really didn't want to get up. But she knew not doing the cooldown will only strain her muscles, "it's only half a month, anyway. I don't think I can measure up to you in a very long time."

"Sure. But you have a strong determination to train yourself in wielding a sword. Not just a bow," he said, suddenly sounded solemn. The tone made the other blinked as she turned her attention to the senior. His eyes were now blank, staring at the wall without emotion, "as long as you sharpen your blade and your conviction for protecting your dearest remains true, you'll always be the strongest. You are the strongest." Then he stared at her, with a smile that was not as wide as usual but the pride within it was so sincere, Shizu felt like crying.

"So hold your head high and face the world. Because you, Shizu, are ready"—

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Nezuko stomped her foot to the side instead, avoiding the paper entirely, keeping its condition pristine with no creases on it at all.

(She didn't notice. But the Drum Demon let out a gasp of surprise at that small gesture)

(She...didn't step on my work?)

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(Something within Kyogai's mind cleared. He was looking at two people—one of them standing while the other kneeling on the floor—having a bleak conversation in a dim, dark abyss. Aah...is this—)

(—my past?)

("How boring," the standing person uncaringly said. His eyes were covered by the short, black bangs but Kyogai could clearly see the disappointment in them. The speaker dropped the papers he held in his hands, making them flutter uselessly to the ground, "too boring. Everything you wrote is garbage. Not beautiful, not fantastical and not shocking at all")

("You should stop writing" he continued, not even trying to understand what the writer was feeling at that moment (Why didn't you say anything? He wanted to scream at the silent creator.He's mocking you. He's looking down at you. Why didn't you say anything—)"what you're doing right now is wasting paper and ink")

("Recently, you haven't been going out during noon either. You're just too boring now that you're like this," he scoffed (say something, me! SAY SOMETHING!), "all you need to do is beat the drum that you're so interested in and shut yourself at home. After all—)

("—you don't have the skills to teach other people anyways")

(He walked away, stepping onto the paper as he passed by. Stepping onto the work he did so hard. Onto the work he had put his blood sweat and tears into. Onto the work he sacrificed his sleep for like it was MERE GARBAGE—)

(Unforgivable...unforgivable...)

(UNFORGIVA—)

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"Interesting..."

Kyogai was startled from his flashback when the hunter silently muttered. He didn't realize he stopped his attack, giving the girl enough time to rest. And now, the said girl was looking right at the paper (at the work I made) with jaw unhinged and wonder in her burgundy eyes. The moment she felt his gaze boring into her, she blushed and jumped away; like she had done something wrong (she didn't), fighting stance was back in place. Right. He played the drums, continuing their dance of danger once more. They were enemies, they were meant to fight each other. Kill each other.

(There's no way this girl just complimented my story. Reading it intently, even. No way. No way—)

The demon hunter herself was smacking her head internally for the crazy move she just did. What was she thinking, leisurely reading the book? What if the demon decided to unleash his devastating claws while she was too engrossed with the story? Stupid Nezuko, you're going to get yourself killed! It was really good though...okay focus! The thing she did had been borderline suicide, but thanks to that novel she read just now, she had remembered. There's one thing she could do to finish this battle quickly without prolonging it unnecessarily. To move her own body and not let the demon control it anymore, as well as a way to breathe without increasing the pain from her older injuries.

DUNG DUNG. The room spun, the claws were back. She ducked.

—Shizu's breath was uneven—

That's it. Uneven breath. Short rapid breaths, was one of the moves Sakonji taught her. Breathing like this will increase the muscle strength around the broken bones in her legs. It will make her sound like she is having a panic attack, yet this is the only thing that will solve this stalemate, will solve her dilemma on whether she should proceed or not. DUNG TAK. She pivoted to the nearest wall. And I kinda realized. DUNG DUNG. Another change in gravity. There. (a fog circling the demon's neck. Loosening, tightening, before loosening again) The ring of interval. The ring of fog that will tell her to strike and give her the best damage output. That ring is my opening! My key to finally use this technique I've been wanting to use. I just have to wait for the claw attack and—

He beat the drum on his stomach.

Here it comes!

"Full Focus, Breathe of Water Ninth Style!" her arms were spread to the back, blue liquid started regenerating from the heel of her sandals. She lept from one point to another, pushing her body away from the claw move with the boost alone. From the beast's point of view, Nezuko was like a frog jumping on a lilypad, with ripples formed at every point she landed. She moved so swiftly yet gracefully, drenching the whole room with whole buckets of water and ignoring the usual stable footing, prioritizing flying around without limitation, "WATER SPLASH, CHAOS!"

"S-She dodged all of my attacks!" Kyogai thought, frantically smacked the drums for the next onslaught, summoning another offense. The room moved, the girl was thrown. But he knew, even if he managed to pull her to the opposite direction, it was almost useless. She just repeated the same skill and now was in his face once again, "she's going to kill me! She's going to kill me and everyone will remember me as nothing but tras—"

"You know," Nezuko started talking. It felt like the time itself stopped as Kyogai saw her expression softened, a smile adorning her pretty face, "if you're still a human—"

"—I'd like to hear you playing your drum in a summer festival."

The demon's orbs widened.

SLASH

Then his head fell, beheaded from its place with one, clean cut.

Nezuko dropped to the ground with a wince, cradling her chest and gasping in pain. She had accidentally breathed in too deeply, it hurt and it made her heart pump erratically. There was a reason why Sakonji warned her not to use this move if she didn't have to. The sudden change in the beating speed of one's heart will break your concentration, will turn your legs into jelly and sap away energy.

She did it, though. She finally killed the Drum Demon. Now, with no master, this house will be—

"Kid," Eep! I forgot the demon can still talk even when their head is separated from their body! His head rolled, looking at her with wonder in those red sclerae. He didn't look dangerous anymore, no animosity in that expression (and the fog. Aah...it turned from black to a fiery carmine. So festive, just like his performance. Playing the drum with vigor and a happy smile, brightening the beautiful night and appeasing the audience. How could such a lively person turned into a demon like this, she didn't understand. She didn't understand this cruel, cruel world—) his mouth parted as he uttered, "do you think my playing is good? Good enough for you to watch me on a festival stage?"

"...it is. It's good," she answered, smiling. Tears started pricking at the corner of her eyes, her sight going hazy. But she won't let it hinder her need to express the true feelings she had to the poor, poor victim, "both your play and your story. They're both very, very good."

"Is that so..." the head slowly and surely turned to dust. There was no mouth present anymore, yet his glassy eyes were a clear indication that he was grateful. Grateful for what she said. Grateful that someone finally praised him and this hurts. It hurts so much Nezuko wanted to weep—, "thank you. Thank you, demon slayer."

(Thank you for recognizing my manuscript)

(Thank you for not treating it like garbage)

(Thank you—)

(He remembered her expression when she read the pages. Full of wonder and fascination, smiling as the words flew by)

(—thank you for appreciating my work)

(Thank you...)

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Nezuko kneeled by the crumbling demon's body, staring at the small knife she stabbed to the upper arm. Yushiro prepared this tool for her, a tool she could use to collect the blood of the member of Twelve Demon Moons so Tamayo-san can examine it for more data to assist with creating the cure. The knife will automatically absorb the blood and store it safely inside the handle, filling it up till the tip. When it was done, a calico cat that was tasked to deliver the goods will appear. Literally out of nowhere; it meowed once to reveal itself from Yushiros cloaking spell and twice to hide itself once more. She pets it once, distracting her distraught self with its cute purring before she let it go, watching the rest of the demon disappear with thinned lips. The second Kamado gathered the scattered papers, reading some of the words written as she stored them back in the wrecked drawers.

"It really is interesting," she mused, closing the drawers. She put her swords back into their sheaths, walking out of the room turned battlefield, and started following Kiyoshi's unique fog, "If only he didn't turn into a demon, I'm sure he could have been a famous novelist"

There was a bit of a scuffle when she arrived at the room that the siblings were in; they started throwing things at her the moment she opened the door, panicking because the drum that they used as their only tool to survive had disappeared the moment the demon had died. But everything turned out okay. And there's no black fog lingering around the hallways anymore—does that mean Zenitsu killed the remaining two? Maybe that weirdo of a hunter too. Because he sure looked like he had an abundance of energy to bounce around the manor while slaying some demons as he was passing through—so she easily brought the civilians out of the empty house without any interference. Nezuko winced a bit whenever her run jostled the child on her back too much, ribs twinging and legs spasming. Though nothing stopped her desire in prioritizing the children's safety, she jogged lightly towards the exit. Her eyes zoomed in on the distinguished electric fog of Zenitsu, the quivering cyan of these siblings' fog, along with the refreshing silver of the Pig Mask. Something else caught her attention, however.

The black-burgundy fog swam erratically. It's niichan's fog.

And the red fog she knew so well, Nezuko almost stumbled.

S-Someone's hurt?!

She sprinted, almost leaving Teruko in the dust. The moment they were out, Nezuko was blinded by an instant rage.

Pig Mask was kicking the bloody Zenitsu over and over. While the electric boy himself didn't move an inch, still cradling onto the box Tanjiro was in even when he fell to the ground. Holding it with such intensity, he was trembling.

(Nezuko saw her brother slumped, protecting Rokuta's fragile body with his own bloodied one)

"Oh...Nezuko-chan..." the yellow-haired hunter looked up, face swollen and nose bleeding. His quivering voice was heartbreaking yet he tried to soothe her anyway. Like the injuries his body sported was nothing. Like it didn't hurt him a single bit even though they knew it was a big, fat lie, "I've been protecting it, see?"

"Because you said this thing...is more important to you," Shoichi, who was hiding behind the nearest trunk, sobbed as Zenitsu weakly smiled, "...more important than your own life."

(A/N): This is my least favorite arc from this manga so far. I don't understand why Tanjiro said "good thing I didn't step on the paper'. Uuuh...so what? I know you always have your priority in check (lol) but why is it a fortunate thing that u didn't step onto the paper? Did something on that paper give you the idea to use Short Rapid Breath? Idk! The mangaka didn't tell us anything!

And then before he beheaded the demon, Tanjiro said 'your blood demon art is very impressive'. That scene sounded too forceful for me. Like the mangaka need the reason for the demon to realize his mistake after receiving Tanjiro's talk-no-jutsu but couldn't find any.

This arc seems so...rushed. It was such a waste too because I really like Kyogai's Demon Art and this is the arc where Zenitsu and Inousuke were introduced _

That's why I created that small story. And Nezuko appreciating said story. Because I feel like Kyogai's editor was a prick. A story doesn't need to always have a plot twist at the end of it, you know. It can be a simple, fluff, daily-life kind of story; like K-On, or Kocchi Muite! Mikko, or Doraemon, or even my favorite manga/anime ever, Natsume Yuujinchou. I'm sure his story was actually good if it was seen from other people's point of view and not this jerk of an editor. Just look at Shingeki no Kyojin. Jump Publisher didn't accept it because it was not 'shonen' enough, but now? It's a very successful series that even my friend who is not really into anime knew this show. :/

Oh, btw reminder! Nezuko's eyes are very sharp. Even in the middle of the battle, she managed to take a glance at the content written on it. Those five paragraphs original story that I wrote was when Nezuko stopped for a good while to continue reading it. I just put it into one section because the POV immediately went to Kyogai after that section before it was back to Nezuko again. The only word she managed to take a glimpse of was the 'Uneven Breath', and that word reminded her of the technique. Although at that time she didn't really know, she just knew those words rang a bell through her mind. That's why Nezuko didn't step onto the paper as she wanted to REALLY read them to jog her memory.

So in short, at least in my version of the event, the reason why Nezuko didn't step onto the paper was clear; because the story in it gave her an idea to end the battle. Not just because it was the polite thing to do.

I hope the anime will fix this problem...

Edit: Hmm, pretty good. In the anime, Tanjiro had to jump over one paper from another. So maybe when he did that, he accidentally used the Short Rapid Breath, that's why he got the idea to use that skill. Okay. I can accept that. The reason it's a lot clearer than the manga XD

Shizu and Shinbei are the main characters from the Legend of the Eight Samurai. As I search the title on google, the first thing that popped out was this drama tv. I don't know if 'The Legend of the Eight Samurai' Tanjiro mentioned in Taisho secret corner was exactly this, especially he said Kyogai was creating a biographical novel of it, but eeeh. Biographical story doesn't always have to be boring like a history book we learn in school. Or let's just pretend Kyogai is the first creator of the Legend of Eight Samurai fantasy novel before someday, in the far, far future, someone finally made a tv adaptation of that novel lol #pleaseMeNo #thisSoundsLikeAnExcuseDon'tDoIt

...wait. Now that we know Kyogai wrote a biographical story, of course, there'll be no plot twist in it! Man, that editor really was just being a jerk :/

(LL- Admittedly this was chapter 20-27 of the manga, super early so it makes sense that some things would be a bit weird. And I do get why you would be frustrated, but isn't it such a Tanjiro thing to compliment the drumming of the dude who was trying to murder him like like 5 seconds ago?)

(NvRp: Actually, I just saw a picture in Tumblr. It shows a collection of Tanjiro having his 'priority in check'. Like when he said Yahaba's palm eyes are disgusting but it was rude of him to say that. Then a picture of him putting the teacup on Kanao's head instead of pouring the liquid to her. And him worried about Genya's stomach when he started eating a demon. And yeah! I can actually see it now, my betaer. It may sound weird, but that just how Tanjiro is. Pure and innocent and too polite for his own good! :'D )