A/N: Firstly, I would like to thank you guys for your support! It really means a lot to me! :D
I hope you guys keep enjoying this series!
About this chapter…
This chapter is a filler which has a tiny bit of story plot points hinted here and there.
Not a very important chapter in terms of story but something I couldn't help but write.
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"Its morning right now, the Demons won't appear for the sun. We have quite sometime to prepare till the night" Giyuu stated slowly.
"I think its better to get some rest since with what we witnessed and heard…it might be a rough battle" Tanjiro said.
With how specific and confident Muzan had been in terms of what he asked for, through his demons. It was clear, he has sent one of his most ruthless bunch.
"But where do we stay till then…? The inns here seem abandoned and destroyed…and I am not fond of staying in this deserted, bloody mess of a place till the night…the scenery and residual sound of all the suffering is too much for me to handle-" Zenitsu said timidly but kept a serious tone.
"As much I hate to agree with Monitsu here…the essence of air around the place is making me sick" Inosuke said in a low voice.
Tanjiro smiled softly and said, "I never said we have to stay here till the night. You might have forgotten but up there-" he continued as pointed his index finger to the near top of the mountain.
"-is my and Nezuko's home. Where we grew up. We can stay there, get some rest and come back down the mountains by the evening to kill the demons and go home"
This earned him happy, excited noises from the other two while Giyuu's lips, ever so slightly turned into a smile which was gone within a second.
This was felt by the others as they turned and looked at him curiously.
But their stares yet again got ignored.
"Um but-" Tanjiro started nervously.
"Its been a long time since I have visited my house and when I left it, I had to clean the dried up stains of…blood in a hurry so that Nezuko doesn't give into her new demon senses" his voice turning more and more sad as he continued.
"The stains and maybe a bit smell could…-" he couldn't continue.
"Tanjiro, Its alright, if anything I am sure that it would be hundred times better than this place. If something needs a bit more cleaning, we could do it together. It is your and Nezuko-chan's home after all. That's the least we can do" Zenitsu stated kindly. Giyuu nodded.
"Yup, Lord Inosuke would clean the place till the surface turns into a mirror!" Inosuke said, fired up. It was his way to lighten the mood and cheer others.
"Thank you everyone" Tanjiro said, small specks of tears forming at the corner of his eyes.
"Alright, let's head out" he said as he started to walk towards the direction of the mountains, very close by and the others followed.
As they climbed up, Giyuu noticed that the place looked much different than the last time.
Colourful flowers of all sizes were scattered at the base of all trees.
Slowly they came across an old house under the shade a huge tree. Tanjiro stopped and glanced over it.
This caught the attention of others as they asked if something was wrong.
Tanjiro shook his head and stated, "A man named Saburoji-san lives here. He was like a grandfather to me for all the time I grew up in the mountains"
The others nodded as Tanjiro knocked on the door and called out, "Saburoji-san! Its Tanjiro! You here?!"
No response.
Tanjiro went to knock again but before he did, a loose paper fell in front of him. He picked it up and it simply read,
Occupant left the house. You are free to claim it.
He then turned back to his friends and told them what happened and started journeying forward.
The others seemed convinced that he left for his own safety since his house was located near the foot of the mountain but Tanjiro knew something was off. The writing seemed a bit skeptical and the paper smelt like-
He shook his head and focused on directions. He was overthinking.
The group eventually enters the steep flat valley portion of the mountain where the river flowed in its purest form.
The nearing grounds were covered entirely in hundreds or thousands of flowers. Each flower differing in size, colour and fragrance.
The group except Tanjiro was awestruck by the beauty of it.
He knew the true beauty of the mountain when spring gave her gentle touch to it. He and his siblings would spend hours here playing after their household or selling coal work got over.
Zenitsu plucked a few pink flowers and thought loudly, "Nezuko-chan would love these flowers! It matches with her kimono~"
as he looked at the sky, dreamingly.
Giyuu just stared at all the flowers.
Inosuke simply went and jumped on an area where the most flowers grew and rolled on it.
Tanjiro looked through all the flowers his eyes could see, he seemed to be looking for something.
"Did it really not grow again? Even after so many years?" He thought to himself.
After a few more minutes of shenanigans, they started moving again. Giyuu started walking in the front, beside Tanjiro. Ofcourse, the latter didn't mind much of it. He respected him a lot.
The other two followed close behind. Inosuke's mask had two pink petals sticking to it while Zenitsu carried the flowers he plucked in his hands.
Currently, they passed through the line of Sakura forest. The pink petals fluttering down and falling on the ground, creating a calming and aesthetic sight.
Zenitsu's leg were starting to hurt after so much walking but the beauty of the mountains was something that kept him calm. He didn't feel like complaining while witnessing a sight like this.
Inosuke seemed to do the same. He hasn't boasted about his abilities or talk out loudly.
When asked he simply said that little animals wake up during this season and shouting or yelling might disturb them which is very rude.
It was the rare instances where Inosuke decides to be normal for once. Zenitsu had absolutely no intention to change that. He hoped it lasted a bit longer.
"We are here" Tanjiro announced, cutting Zenitsu out of his thoughts, as they stood in front of a humble looking house. It was definitely not small by any means and seemed to be more than enough to house just four people till the night.
So this was Nezuko-chan and Tanjiro's house?
Tanjiro's trembled a bit as he slid the door open.
He would be lying if he said the trauma had left him completely.
The house was surprisingly cleaner than he remembered. The stains which were still visible even after he rinsed them to the best of his ability, seemed to have dulled down in a similar way a stain could be removed with repeated scrubbing overtime.
Considering they have been gone for more two years; the state of the house was as if they left the house for a week or two.
This ofcourse caught the attention of others two who were surprised at the mint condition.
Tanjiro then noticed a pair of old slippers at the shoe keeping space.
"Could someone have been living here?" Zenitsu asked.
Tanjiro looked at the slippers carefully and eventually sniffed it to recognize the smell.
"I think this slipper belo-" he got interrupted.
"No way! This is your home! No one deserves to steal that!! If they forcefully take over it then they should be the ones leaving!" Inosuke said as he drew out his katana.
"Hold up!!! YOU AREN'T COMMITTING MURDER HERE" Zenitsu yelled.
Giyuu wasn't even going to bother interfering. He wasn't about to waste anymore energy on these morons who are constantly giving him a headache.
Tanjiro said with a firmer and louder voice, "These slippers are of Saburoji-san! It has his scent and the slippers seemed to have gathered a bit dust too. They must have been left for a while."
This caught the attention of others who immediately quietened down.
He added, "I am guessing he took care of the house after we were gone." A small smile appearing on his face.
Why are his slippers left here then? Did he leave in a hurry?
Tanjiro thought to himself.
"Why are you all standing outside? Come in!" Tanjiro said as he put his zori in the shoe space.
The others nodded and put their shoes in the place carefully. Inosuke, however, tossed his sandals carelessly as they remained flipped over unrulingly.
Proceeding inside, Tanjiro opened the wooden sliding window, letting in fresh air and light. He also unlocked the garden sliding door for gentle breeze to enter.
Then, He carefully set his box in a side and then ready the table up in the middle of the room and put on the cushions they had when guests came in.
"OI! NO NEED TO PUT THOSE THINGS!" Said Zenitsu feeling guilty at all the arrangements Tanjiro was doing.
"Its alright, Zenitsu! Don't think much of it!" Tanjiro shrugged it off.
The others then went and settled down on their seats*
"We might need to refill water though…" as he glanced at Inosuke violently shaking the gourd (bottle) for water and Zenitsu & Giyuu's stomachs grumbled which the latter turned his face away from others in embarrassment.
"...And maybe a few fruits and a lunch" Tanjiro said to himself.
Within a blink of an eye, he rushed to the kitchen area; found a clean pitcher and his old basket. This genuinely shocked everyone at how speedy he was.
"Alright! I will be back soon! Don't roam around in the forest incase you get out of the house!" Tanjiro said as if warning children of the dangers of the wild as he set off with his basket into the forest area.
"WAIT I WILL COME WITH YOU! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!-" said Zenitsu as he rushed.
"YOU TWO AREN'T BEATING ME IN LEAVING THE HOUSE FIRST!" Inosuke yelled as he raced closely behind.
Giyuu set his head on the table and made his arms act like a pillow and slept. He really had no idea how the other three had so much stamina even after traveling for more than day, non stop. At the very least, he needed sleep badly.
After a while, the three arrived bickering over some non sensible topic but got silent immediately as they realized Giyuu had went to sleep.
The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Tanjiro cooked because Zenitsu and Inosuke really had no clue how to even start the stove.
He was half glad, the other two followed since Zenitsu had helped him pluck a lot of fruits, some of which make great spices and Inosuke managed to catch decently sized fishes from the river with his bare hands while the other two were filling water in the pitcher. His talent was pretty handy and earned the praise of him and Zenitsu.
Even if they didn't want to disturb, Giyuu had to woken up from his sleep for the lunch. They expected him to be grumpy at best, but what was not expected that he would be pointing his sword at Inosuke's throat who took the challenge of waking him up after Zenitsu gave up.
He apologized immediately when he realized what he had done and seemed to be pretty embarrassed at how he attacked a fellow demon slayer because he tried to wake him up during his beauty sleep.
This was dropped quickly since no one really can blame him. He is a hashira after all, they are known to have fast reflexes and on top of that, he was just as tired as them.
A few moments later, they all sat for lunch and once they put the food in their mouths. Their eyes widened.
Tanjiro visibly tensed.
Are the dishes really that bad tasting? I should probably apologize-
"Tanjiro…." Zenitsu started.
"Y-yes??"
"DID YOU EVER CONSIDER BECOMING A COOK?! THIS IS AMAZING" He yelled as he started chomping down the food offered on his plate intensely.
Inosuke was licking his plate clean and Giyuu seemed pretty satisfied.
"T-thank you! It has been a long time since I cooked- I was worried how it might come out" Tanjiro stated honestly.
After the meal and cleaning up the dishes (which Giyuu helped in), everyone passed out in exhaustion.
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A/N: Yeah..like I said, this was a filler chapter. I hope it wasn't very disappointing-
I apologize if I made any grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes and stuff-
Give this story a like if you liked it!
Please do leave a review! They are always great to read and encourage me to write more :D
I would update soon! See y'all!~