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 44, 45, 46 & 47

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SLAP SLAP

"Urghh..." Nezuko groaned, she rolled to the side, hair covering half of her face, "five more minutes, niichan..."

SLAP

"Oi," a rough voice echoed, the hand that had been hitting her cheek increasing its strength in annoyance, "Wake up already."

Wait a minute...her brother doesn't have this type of rough voice...

A stranger?!

(Also, isn't this some kind of deja-vu she was experiencing right now? Nezuko was sure she had this same conversation word for word)

Her eyes instantly flew open, hands moved to grasp the hilt of her blade.

Yet abruptly stopped in mid-air as she realized she couldn't do that. Her hands were tied together behind her back. Wrists touching each other yet palms outward so she couldn't fiddle with the rope. Her body was propped to a bonsai tree, the lush leaves gave a shadow that sheltered her from the morning heat. But even with all the precautions they did so she will not get heat stroke from not consuming waters in the past hours, the atmosphere around still took her breath away, Nezuko almost choked on her own saliva. In front of her stood seven people. Some of them looked friendly and some of them did not. Giyuu was right beside her—was the one who slapped her awake actually—and she recognized the Poison Lady. She stepped forward and gave her a soft smile.

"Good morning, Kamado-san. This is the headquarters of the Demon Hunters," she explained, "you're on trial now so please relax and sit down. You don't want to aggravate your wounds any further~"

"Kocho, what are you talking about? There's definitely no need for a trial here," a man with golden hair and red streaks at the end of the locks, wondered. The bright strands reached his shoulders and his bangs stood upright, resembling the antennae of a king beetle. He folded his arms in front of his broad chest, causing the white-orange-red haori that was cut messily and creating a pattern of a fiery flame, flutter in the wind. He grinned, his orange eyes shining with genuine happiness; although the words he uttered next making his smile seem like a bringer of doom rather than an old friend who longed to see you. In Nezuko's case anyway, "protecting demons is clearly a violation of conduct. We can deal with it ourselves! We'll decapitate every demon!"

"Then let me cut his head off flamboyantly," a man with a white cloth that covered most of his head, hiding his hair inside, spoke next. Borrowing his word, this man was…flamboyant. There were three big, light blue jewels that decorated the front of his turban, several small ones hanging from each side of it and some that even decorated his ears that glinted whenever he moved. He touched his left temple elegantly, showing a well-muscled arm as he wore the sleeveless version of the Demon Hunter uniform. The man winked, the red dot mark that almost resembled a blooming flower, along with the same red eyes, crinkled in glee, "I'll show I can spray the blood more flamboyantly than anyone else, period."

A lady with a long pink-green hair that was tied into three, braided pigtails frowned cutely at that announcement. She swirled her head towards the Golden Man and the Turban Man, fingers flailed like she wanted to say something. Yet decided not too and just covered her face, shaking her head slowly. Did she just…blush?

(Nezuko tried not to stare at her enormous breasts that literally tore her clothing open, by the way).

"Aaah…what a shoddy child he is. How sorrowful," a big man with black, short hair that was shaved at the side, and a nasty scar on his forehead chimed in. It was a bit unnerving to see his blank, pupilless, grey eyes stared at her. Tears were staining his study jaw, hands clasped in prayer as the purple bead on his fingers cackled, "it's so sorrowful that he was born into this world."

The last one, a boy with long, black-lime hair and blank lime eyes gazed hollowly at the blue sky with white clouds swimming by. His mouth was parted open and his expression uncaring, he definitely didn't pay any attention to the discussion flying around.

Wha—what trial? Kill who?

R-Right! Niichan! Nezuko swerved her head, burgundy eyes frantically rolled to every nook and cranny. Where is he? Where's niichan—

"Hands off," Giyuu's voice suddenly echoed through her ears, the girl snapped her attention to him. His back was now onto her, showing her a box she recognized immediately. Ah, here it is. Niichan is safe. Thank God. Giyuu gave a slight frown, his palm grasped the white straps, he said, "what are you trying to do, Shinazugawa?"

"Haah?" A man with white spiky hair heatedly scowled. Pretty sure he was not there before, did he just arrive? If Nezuko thought the scar on the Monk's face was painful, then this man's is devastating. Almost every inch of his milky skin was covered with scars; three on his forehead, one that crossed the bridge of his nose. Then crossly slashed at his chest, along with a crooked, vertical line on his stomach; she could see them because he didn't button his uniform properly. And don't even start on the small, multiple wounds on his wrists, palm, and maybe some more that were hidden by those white, short coat. His dilated black eyes glared right at Giyuu's blues, red nerves bunch on white sclerae, "I'm trying to kill a fucking demon here. Wasn't that our job in the first place? Kocho told me that you, quote-unquote, promised the demon not to hurt the girl only. Why the fuck are you trying to protect him too?"

"I may have told him that I promised not to hurt his sister," Giyuu's aura tightened, he looked more intimidating. Causing her to recall their first encounter in that bamboo field, "but I promised my Master not to hurt both of them."

"Waow. Something is clearly wrong with your shitty head there," Shinazugawa laughed, it sounded completely manic and bloodthirsty and it sent shivers down her entire being, "maybe you're actually a demon too. A demon who disguised themselves as Tomioka. Should I fucking chop your head instead?"

"Stop that, you brute. You're going to violate the demon hunter conduct as well," Nezuko jolted when another voice she doesn't recognize resounded from…above her? It was a bit hard to see because he was hidden beneath the leaves, but she could discern him as a male also. A male with shoulder-length indigo hair that was cut tidily, perched at the tree Nezuko was rested. His mouth was covered by white bandages that acted as a substitute for a mask. And coiled around his neck was…a white snake. A snake as a pet, she never heard someone who could tame a wild snake. Or was that animal a non-venomous one? He pointed his finger to the squabbling comrades, causing his white-with-black-strips haori to flutter as displeasure was written in his heterochromatic eyes—right eye was yellow and left eye was green, "I have a headache seeing him not bound there and I don't want my headache to get worse with you. We should deal with him first. How will we make him take responsibility? Should we make him suffer or just end it all in one go? I prefer suffering and pain if you asked my opinion."

"Well, it's fine, right?" The Poison Lady—Kocho—hummed, "he followed me without causing a ruckus. And without his help, we couldn't have apprehended the demon and the girl. Oyakata-sama's order, we have to bring them both alive. More importantly, we should hear Kamado's story," Kocho stepped closer, she gave the pink girl a small gourd that was filled with water for her to drink, "why don't you start with the reason why you brought a demon with you?"

The second Kamado coughed and her tense shoulders unconsciously relaxed. Was there a painkiller in that drink? Her body doesn't feel that hurt anymore, "I…Muzan killed my family," the spectators around held their breath when they heard that man's name, eyes widened and hatred immediately took over the glint of curiosity in there, "and he turned my niichan into a demon as well. So I'm trying to turn him back to a human. B-But niichan has never eaten someone before! Up until now. And from now on! He…he is more human than a demon! He eats normal food! Like we do!"

"…what? Are you stupid?" the Snake Man snorted, "did you even hear yourself there, girl? Man-Eating Demons are called Man-Eating Demons for a reason. There's no way a demon who eats normal food exists. Don't spit out stupid rash remark so recklessly."

"But it's true! I'm not lying!" Nezuko exclaimed, she was desperate, "I swear! I can even prove it to you! Tomioka-san!" she called the Horse-Tailed hunter, who turned to her, "in that box, we stock a lot of snacks for him to eat. At the bottom box, the left compartment. Just pick one and ask niichan to eat it, then—"

"Even then, there's no proof the boy will stay that way," the Monk interjected, tears still flowing freely, "you're being obsessed with the demon. Let's kill this pitiful child quickly and release him from his suffering."

"But Himejima-san, I have a question," the Braided Girl mumbled. She was still blushing, her green orbs were wide with innocent, "it doesn't seem like Oyakata-sama has grasped this situation yet. Can we just deal with it on our own like this?" she smiled broadly, beauty marks that decorated both of her cheeks pulled upward, "we should wait until he arrived, okay?"

Silence descended the occupant around. The other looked at each person questioningly; must be torn between agreeing with her words or just screw it and proceed to do the deed anyway.

"Come on, Kanroji! Don't be stupid! We're talking about a fucking demon here! Of course, there's only one thing we should do. Kill them." Shinazugawa roared, his hand swiped forward, intent on snatching the box from Giyuu's hold once again. But the Water Pillar snatched his wrist then hurled it down, the Spiky Man let out a growl, "stay the fuck away, Tomioka. If you don't want me to behead him, let's just open the box and let him burn. It's a win-win for me either way."

"No."

"Damn you. You really are testing my patience here…"

"That was a very short fuse. You should learn to control yourself a bit more. Maybe you will not get those scars on your body so frequently then."

"BASTARD! I'LL RIP YOU TO FUCKING SHREDS, YOU BITCH!"

("Since when was Tomioka (-san) this sarcastic?" everyone, including Nezuko, wondered. Shinobu giggled)

"OYAKATA-SAMA IS ARRIVING!" their entertainment—if comrades that were caught in a verbal fight that almost ended in a real fight could be called an entertainment—had to be cut short, however, when a young voice hollered through the surrounding. Nezuko didn't realize, as she was too caught off guard by the presence of these people and their question regarding her family. But two girls with white, short hair that went past their ears yet not touching their shoulders were there, sitting dogeza-style on the tatami of the big mansion of Demon Hunter Headquarters. She thought they were the same one that guarded over the Final Selection Exam entrance, although they were actually younger than that one, Nezuko surmised. They bowed when a figure walked past the doorway. A white haori with red-blue speckles at the bottom part flared after the new person, giving off a vibe of someone important with his way of walking alone. And, did Nezuko said Shinazugawa's scars looked devastating than the Monk—Himejima's? She retracted that statement back. Because this person—Oyakata-sama—clearly takes the cake.

Is that…a burn mark?

It covered the half-top of his face, eating the eyebrows till it was no more and blinded his sight, judging from the blank gaze he directed at them all and how he needed the white-haired girls to lead him—it was even blanker than the Monk and that said something. His shoulder-length black hair framed his face, showing the scar even more clearly to the whole world. Wait, no. It's not a scar. Nezuko's stomach twisted. That purple color…that's a sickness. A cruel sickness that eats him alive and that must be painful to bear oh my God—

"Don't stare. It's rude," Giyuu landed his palm on her head and forced her to bow, not too deep as she was in a sitting position. Nezuko watched as the other did the same—crouching with one knee folded back and head low—giving Oyakata-sama their best regards.

"We find it most honorable to be in your presence, Oyakata-sama. We eagerly pray for much happiness upon you," Shinezugawa proceed to do the opening speech, expression a lot calmer than before when he butted heads with Giyuu. He can speak politely, after all, Nezuko was impressed, "let me humbly say there is a soldier present in the Pillar Meeting by the name of Kamado Nezuko," he glared at her as he said her name, she threw one back at him. A maniacal smile flitted his complexion for a split second when he saw the clear disobedience before he continued, "I would like to explain the scenario. Will you allow me?"

"Thank you, Sanemi. But there's no need," he sat down near the balcony and smiled, "I have given my approval for Nezuko and Tanjiro. So I want everyone here to accept them."

That announcement immediately turned the polite silence into frantic murmurs.

Kanroji and Uncaring Boy accepted it because it was the leader's order, the boy went so far and promised to forget everything ever happen. Kocho and Giyuu didn't say anything. And then the rest. Oh boy, they disagree vehemently, even the Golden Man who looked the friendliest of them all completely opposed to this decision. Then don't forget Shinazugawa—Sanemi—who literally spat. Nezuko worried that, although Oyakata-sama is clearly the boss here, they decided to execute Tanjiro after all. With how the opinion was leaning toward the 'dissatisfied' crowd. However, Oyakata-sama just gave them another quirk of lips. With one glance, White Girl at his right pulled out a parchment and started talking.

"We received this letter from the former Pillar, Urokodaki Sakonji-sama," Urokodaki-san? "I will read an extract from it."

"—Please forgive Nezuko for being together with a demon. Tanjiro had a tenacious spirit and he retains human reasoning. Even when he was starving, he doesn't eat humans. Instead, he eats normal food as we do. Drinks normal drinks as we do. And sleeps as we do. You may find this sudden and difficult to believe, but this is the unmistaken truth. He has stayed that way for more than two years. As long as the others show him how a human should act, positively and not negatively, he'll follow that example to a T. As long as he stays near human—near Nezuko—he'll retain his humanity. But if any chance Tanjiro ever attack someone, Kamado Nezuko as well as—"

"Urokodaki Sakonji and Tomioka Giyuu will cut their own stomachs open as an apology."

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"T-Tomioka-san too?" Nezuko slowly turned her view towards the bowing man, who didn't show any emotion after all the discovery of his involvement. He didn't move, he didn't speak to redact that statement from Sakonji's letter either, "Tomioka-san…he trusted me?"

When I said I'll find the cure and turn niichan back into a human?

When I said I'll become a Demon Hunter and hunt the one who did this to my family?

When I said I won't regret nor forget the promise I made?

Nezuko realized she was crying. Fat, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, burgundy eyes trembling as her sight started going hazy.

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Thank you for believing in me, Tomioka-san. Thank you

Thank you…

Of course, the letter still didn't quell the opposition squad. Golden Man summarized Spiky Hair's brash word to, "if he kills and eats someone, nothing can be undone. The people who got killed will never come back." And yes. Nezuko understands their skepticism. They are Pillars, the one Murata-san told her before. They have walked this Demon Hunter path a lot longer than her, they killed a lot more demons than her. They will never believe in such nonsense, an empty promise. In all of their fights, there have been no demons like niichan, after all—

"But you can't prove he'll attack someone either," Oyakata-sama answered the rebuttal calmly, silencing everyone present, "the truth is that Tanjiro has been living by eating human food for more than two years. And because of him, two people are putting their lives on the line. To deny this, the deniers have to present something more than what is here."

Sanemi gnashed his teeth, Golden Man slowly nodded in agreement, "besides," their leader mussed, "Nezuko has come into contact with Kibutsuji."

That sentence sent the Pillars into chaos, they immediately crowded towards her.

"That can't be—"

"We Pillars have never even come into contact with him—"

"And this girl had—"

"Hey, what did he look like? His abilities? Where is he?"

"Did you fight?"

"What was Kibutsuji doing?"

"Have the headquarters been located?"

"Eh?! Uuh…" Nezuko was overwhelmed. Yet their desperation was palpable, she tried to raise her voice in the midst of the cacophony, "I-I saw him in Asakusa Town!"

"Okay…" Snake Man glared, "go on."

"H-He disguised himself as a human and lived a life as a human. Complete with a human wife and a human child," her lips thinned at another fake family. But she needed to be professional right now. So the pink hunter took a deep breath and tried to recall every single detail of the night of the encounter, "He has plum-red eyes with slit pupils. Short, wavy black hair. Judging from his tidy clothes and fancy coat, he may work as a businessman. But I don't know if he works near that town or was only there for sightseeing. I could not chase after him or gather any intel because he…he turned someone into a demon in order to shake me away," the Pillars frowned at that, some of them have their fists clenched or gripping their sword handle in agitation, "I'm sorry I'm not fast enough to stop him from doing so. But I took care of the new demon," not in a sense of killing him, however. Tamayo-san promised to change him back to human too when the cure is complete, "and I lost sight of him when the Imperial Guard went after me."

"Hmm…pity that it was such minimal information," Flamboyant Man hummed, ignoring Kanroji's whine, who fell to her bum when he accidentally knocked her over. Giyuu offered his hand to help her stand, "Oh, but we can try to search for the wife and the kid. If we pretend to be one of Kibutsuji's acquaintances," that word alone made him gagged. The other, even Nezuko, bristled at that too, "they may flamboyantly share more info with us."

"To think he dares mingle around us, humans. And lying to that poor family," Hamejima growled, the beads on his palm along with the ones looping around his neck trembled, a sign that he was trying to reign his emotion in, "what a distasteful man. He is unforgivable."

"Kibutsuji has come after Nezuko and she shook her pursuer loose," Oyakata-sama continued their briefing, everyone went back to their position, silent like the hubbub before never happened, "the reason for this may simply be just to close some loose ends. But for the time, I don't want to let go of the tail that Kibutsuji showed us. And this probably goes for Tanjiro as well. I believe something unexpected has happened, for Kibutsuji to ask his demons to capture Tanjiro."

"He did?" Golden Man blinked, "what did your brother do to incite that man's ire?"

"I-I don't know!" Nezuko stuttered, "Yahaba…uh, one of my pursuers, suddenly went berserk and asked the other to capture niichan. I don't know what he saw and he was too panicky for me to interrogate so—"

"So let's just kill him anyway!" Sanemi decided it was the right time for him to cut in, causing Nezuko to instantly glare at him; both in irritation and horrified realization.

"What are you saying, Shinezugawa?" Kocho's eyebrows furrowed, "this may be cruel of me, Kamado-san, but we can actually use your brother as our bait to lure Kibutsuji out," the sister gulped. That was…actually true. She didn't like it, but she could not deny it either, "rather than wasting our time, we should use our resources carefully—"

"Why? Why must we endanger ourselves just for the sake of it?" he let out a low snarl, "it's not like we can't search for that bastard ourselves! We can let humans live but demons? I cannot consent!"

Then he proceeded to nick half of his own hand with his green katana, Nezuko let out a gasp.

"Oyakata-sama! I will present to you!" he smirked, feral and murderous, "the ugliness of what we call demons…"

No…don't tell me he will—

Giyuu, who was focused on the Pillars meeting, was too late to react when Spiky Hair snatched the box from his back, shoving him away for a good measure, "Oi—"

Flamboyant Man instantly stood in front of him, a cocky smirk adorned his pale complexion while he acted as a barrier to stop Giyuu from interfering, "let's all calm down here, shall we?"

"Uzui…"

"Don't you want to see this flamboyant show?" he—Uzui—chuckled, "besides, if you believe the words the girl spoke, then there's nothing to be worried about, right?"

"…"

"Come on, filthy demon! Sink your teeth on this!" Sanemi, after apologizing to Oyakata-sama for his rudeness, went inside the mansion and hollered; it's basic knowledge that a demon cannot appear under the sunlight. He hovered his bleeding arm over the box, letting the blood dripped and went under the gap, "it's time for you to eat~"

No! Nezuko tried to stand up, wobbly and exhausted that she was. She knew Tanjiro never has any interest in human blood—his sister kept bleeding all over the place whenever she finished her mission after all—but she was worried. Because she knew Tanjiro lost himself that one time. Knew how scary his expression was. Knew how his warm aura like a sun turned colder and colder and colder—

I don't want to see that happen again! Niichan—

BAM

"UKH!"

Yet her advance had to be stopped when the Snake Man sunk his elbow into her back, right at her ribs and at an exact pressure point that it made her freeze I can't move, I can't breathe. He moved too fast, too agile for her to dodge, just like the snake his unusual pet was. She thought she heard Kocho explained that her lungs were under pressure. And if she used any Breaths, her blood vessels will explode. She also heard Uzui wanting that exact thing to happen—what a sadistic man—or Hamejima prayed for her existence—which, she didn't need right now!—but Nezuko didn't really deign them important. She was too focused on trying to free herself. To reach over her only family. To save her only living sibling no, don't come out niichan! Don't let me see you lose yourself once more! Don't give in to temptation, no—

Tanjiro slowly appeared. Sweating and hair frizzier. Mouthpiece right at its usual place as his yellow orbs glinted under the light of this fine morning.

(A/N): As you can see, some of the Pillars has their name and some of them are not. That's because this is Nezuko POV. They didn't introduce themselves and Nezuko managed to identify some just because the other member finally called the other using their name. And only their family name too; except Sanemi, because she heard his family name from Giyuu and his given name from Oyakata-sama. And Tomioka Giyuu, because he already introduced himself in chapter 1.

Don't worry, I'll let Nezuko know their name in the next chapter. There's no way I'm going to keep calling them Uncaring Boy or Orange Man or Snake Man lol.

WARNING: AS YOU MAY KNOW, SOMETIMES I COMBINED A LOT OF MANGA CHAPTERS INTO ONE CHAPTER FOR THIS FANFICTION. WHILE THE ANIME TEND TO COMBINE ONLY TWO MANGA CHAPTERS INTO ONE EPISODE. SO, FROM THIS CHAPTER ONWARD, THE FREQUENCY OF MY WEEKLY UPDATE WILL DROPPED DRASTICALLY.

Except when the anime finally end and we have to wait for season 2, then I'll start updating this fanfiction within a week once again (or maybe two. You don't know what kind of problem Real Life will throw at you, see?). There's no way I'll wait for a whole year to update just for the sake of waiting for the next season lol. Even I'm not that cruel. I can just edit every mistake I made in a term of the characters coloration (not the fighting sequence cuz I mostly followed the manga anyway) when season 2 aired `3`

(LL: Also school has started so both Novi and me are going to be busy with that stuff, Uni is hard. Doesn't mean this isn't going to happen just means its a bit hard to find the time. (￣▼￣*) )

(NvRp: ^ yup. So don't pressure any of us to update fast `3`)