—*—
"Why?" The girl spoke as she carried her brother, "How could this happen?" The girl gasped for air as she wandered through the snow carrying her brother, who seemed to be physically hurt, "Tanjiro...don't die...please, don't die," the girl spoke as water started pouring out of her eyes, "even though you're my big brother, I'll still find a way to save you...your little sister, will definitely find a way to save you."
—*—
"Tanjiro!" The mother called, "You've got black all over your face, come here," the mother spoke as she soon whipped Tanjiro's face clean, "You shouldn't be selling coal right now in this kind of weather, it's snowing and could be very dangerous. You already have many things to do," cried the mother,
"But, I want us to have a Great New Year's feast, so I'll go sell as much charcoal as I can, even if it's just a little," Tanjiro replied,
"Thank you, but aren't you overwhelmed, are you sure you can go?" Questioned the mother,
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Tanjiro replied. As soon as their conversation was over, the youngest siblings, Hanako and Shigure.
"Tanjiro, are you going to town again today?" Shigure asked gleefully, "I wanna go too!" Cried Hanako,
"No, you can't walk fast like Tanjiro," the mother responded,
"But mom!" Cried the siblings,
"No, he isn't taking the cart today...so he can't pull you when you're tired." The mother explained. The children began to express their disappointment and started clinging to Tanjiro.
"Please take us!" They begged. Tanjiro soon saw the older sibling, Taeko, doing work.
"Taeko," Tanjiro called out, "I know you can't do a lot, so cut a little wood today," Tanjiro asked in favor,
"I will but..I was hoping we'd do it together," replied Taeko.
"Hurry back ok?" Shigure shouted as Tanjiro began distancing himself from them,
"Be careful!" Replied Hanako as the family waved goodbye. Tanjiro was about to leave when suddenly, he was stopped by his younger sister, Nezuko.
"Tanjiro, where are you going?" Nezuko asked,
"Oh, well I was going to sell some coal," Tanjiro replied,
"I was putting Rokuta to sleep...but I heard all this commotion!" Nezuko exclaimed, "They've been so lonely since father died, so they've started clinging to you." Nezuko paused herself and asked Tanjiro something, "Wait, Tanjiro, don't you already have many things to do?" Nezuko asked,
"Well, yes I do, but I'm going to try to sell as much coal as I can!" Replied Tanjiro,
"Well not like that!" Nezuko refuted, "Let me go and sell coal for today!"
"What?!" Tanjiro replied as he looked shocked as ever,
"I'll go and sell coal for today so you can do all the work you need to do and rest!" Nezuko explained,
"Nezuko...are you sure?" Questioned Tanjiro,
"Yes, I'm sure about this, here, I'll swap with you," Nezuko replied, "Take Rukota and I'll take the bag of coal,"
"O-oh! Alright then," Tanjiro replied with a worried expression on his face.
"Be careful, ok?" Tanjiro exclaimed as Nezuko walked from the distance with the bag of coal,
"Don't worry, I'll be back!" Nezuko cheerfully replied, "see you later!"
—*—
"The work that Tanjiro does for us is amazing", Nezuko spoke as she began talking in her head, "Our life isn't easy, but we're happy. But life is like the weather...it's always changing. It won't always be easy...and the snow won't always keep falling. When happiness ends there's always...the smell of blood in the air."
—*—
Nezuko arrived at the town where Tanjiro usually sells coal at.
"Aren't you Tanjiro's sister?" A man asked,
"Yes, I am," Nezuko replied, "I'm his younger sister, Nezuko, my brother has a lot of work to do, so I'm helping him sell coal today!"
"Why thank you Nezuko, tell Tanjiro I said he works very hard," the man said, " You do too, in fact, you're selling coal in this type of weather? You'll catch a cold!"
Another man spoke from atop his house, "Hey, tell Tanjiro I said thanks for fixing my door!"
Another man coming out of his door shouted,
"Hey! Sell me some charcoal!"
"Sell me some too," said another man.
'Wow, so this is what Tanjiro has to work with?' Nezuko thought.
"Hey! You in the pink kimono!" A man cried as he came out of a house with a mad woman, "You're Tanjiro's sister right? This lady said I broke a dish, can you prove her wrong!" The man cried out as he brought a plate to her.
"O-oh u-um...I'll try…!" Nezuko replied.
'Uh, Tanjiro has a great sense of smell! Maybe...I should try it?' Nezuko questionably thought.
She came up to the plate and sniffed it. She tried coming up with a scent and eventually figured it out.
"U-um...I think it's a cat," Nezuko explained,
"A cat? Oh dear," replied the woman,
"SEE? I told you it wasn't me!" The man replied in relief.
Nezuko was a bit overwhelmed when people started asking for help.
'Ugh...how does my brother deal with this?!' She thought.
When Nezuko finished all she had to do, she waved at the village and took her leave.
—*—
'Whew, it's getting late,' Nezuko thought,
"Hey! Nezuko," shouted old man, Saburo, "You aren't...going back up the mountain aren't you?" Saburo asked,
"It's too dangerous!" The man continued,
"I've got an axe Tanjiro gave me for protection! I'll be fine," Nezuko replied,
"You can stay here, please, come back," Saburo pleaded,
"But…" before Nezuko could speak, she was cut off,
"It's all right, you're welcomed here," Saburo explained, "You don't want to run into any demons."
Nezuko settled down at Saburo's small house.
"For ages...man-eating demons have roamed these woods after dark," Saburo explained, "So you shouldn't walk around at night. Eat, then sleep. You can get up and go home early tomorrow."
Night arose, Nezuko was worried about her family, she finally began asking questions about demons,
"But...can't the demons come inside houses?" Nezuko asked,
"Yes...they can." Replied Saburo,
"But...then...why don't they eat everyone?" Nezuko yawned,
"Because demon slayers cut them down...they have for ages…" Saburo replied. Nezuko began to sleep. She thought for a while about demons.
'There's no reason to be scared, demons probably aren't even real...but now that I think of it…'
—*—
As the sun rose, Nezuko waved goodbye to Saburo and began walking up the mountain to her home.
'Tanjiro told me something grandmother said before she died, I think it was something similar…' Nezuko thought,
'When happiness ends...there's always the smell of blood in the air.' Before long, when Nezuko came back home, she was met with a scare. She came across Tanjiro lying on the floor with Rukota in his arms, from what seemed like trying to protect him. They appeared lifeless right before her. Nezuko was shocked and began screaming in fear. She ran up to their bodies,
"WHAT THE...AGH...WHAT HAPPENED?" Nezuko screamed as she tried waking up her two brothers,
"WHAT HAPP-" Nezuko looked in the house and her face went blank. She was dead as a ghost.
Her whole family was slaughtered inside the house. She couldn't believe it,
"Mother...Hanako.." Nezuko cried out, "Taeko...Shigeru...Tanjiro...Rukota." Tears began pouring out of her eyes,
"Why? Who would do this…?" She trembled.
—*—
As the snow came falling down, Nezuko began walking through the snow while struggling to carry Tanjiro on her back.
'Only Tanjiro's body was still warm, maybe a doctor can save him.' Nezuko thought as she tried holding back tears. When Nezuko couldn't hold back her tears, she began letting her sadness burst out.
"How did this happen, a bear?" Nezuko cried out, "Maybe a bear too hungry to hibernate?" The snow began falling hard.
"It's so hard to breath," Nezuko said as she could barely speak, "The air's so cold, it's freezing my lungs." But Nezuko was determined, she didn't want to lose her older brother.
"Keep going," Nezuko thought to herself, "Move your feet faster," Nezuko began motivating herself to get Tanjiro help fast, even if she was gasping for air, "It's still a long way to town...I won't let you die... I have to save you...your little sister will save you!" Nezuko cried out.
While Nezuko only thought of their survival, Tanjiro began making erry movements. He began growling and shaking Nezuko.
"GRAAAH!" Tanjiro howled out. It scared Nezuko that she slipped and both began falling down a cliff.
'Oh no, I slipped!' Nezuko thought. She tumbled down to the ground, but thanks to the snow, she didn't die.
'The snow...saved me, but it also made me slip!' Nezuko fearfully thought in her mind.
—*—
Nezuko quickly regained her focus and started looking for Tanjiro, who seemed to have disappeared from her sight.
'Tanjiro...where did he go?' Nezuko feared.
Looking around in panic, Nezuko found Tanjiro, who stood there faced-down. The blanket Nezuko covered him with fell out of his back.
"Tanjiro?" Nezuko asked.
When she asked in concern, Tanjiro looked up with fierce eyes and a growl.
He lunged at Nezuko, grabbing her from her shoulders and trying to bite at her. Nezuko shrieked and panicked as she was pushed into the ground. Before she knew it, she grabbed the axe Tanjiro had given her and blocked it from Tanjiro's sharp, monstrous teeth as he lunged towards her. Nezuko soon realized what was the outcome of Tanjiro's fate, he was a demon.
'A demon!' Nezuko thought, 'I thought of what old man Saburo said about demons, was Tanjiro really a man-eating demon?'
Nezuko couldn't process what was going on. She refused to believe that Tanjiro was a demon.
'No, that's impossible! Nezuko refuted, 'Tanjiro was always human...since the day I was born!
Nezuko's hands began shaking at the might of Tanjiro digging his teeth into the axe.
'But this Tanjiro...doesn't have the scent of himself, it wasn't his doing!' Nezuko thought as she started trembling in fear for her life, 'But Tanjiro couldn't have done all of that. I found him fallen over Rokuta, like he was protecting him!'
Nezuko gripped harder into the axe. In a heartbeat, Tanjiro grew into the size twice as Nezuko.
'What! He's grown bigger, and he's getting stronger too!' She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Nezuko began struggling as Tanjiro's grip on her shoulder got stronger. 'While I was safely asleep in town, something horrible happened to my family!' Nezuko imagined all of the terrible things that her family endured while she was away, 'How they must have suffered, and I couldn't do anything to help.'
Tears began streaking down from Nezuko's eyes. She didn't want to die. 'Tanjiro's so strong, I can't push him away!' She told herself.
With tears shooting out from her eyes, Nezuko began to call out for Tanjiro.
"TANJIRO!" Cried Nezuko, "FIGHT IT, FIGHT IT FOR YOUR LIFE!" With words of encouragement, Nezuko began crying out for her brother to return to his senses, "BE STRONG TANJIRO, DON'T TURN INTO A DEMON! YOU CAN DO IT!" Cried Nezuko, in desperation to get Tanjiro back, the Tanjiro she knew.
Suddenly, a tear fell onto Nezuko's cheek, it was Tanjiro. He finally regained consciousness.
"Ta...Tanjiro?" Nezuko asked.
While still on the ground, tears started streaking Tanjiro's face. He couldn't bring himself to hurt his younger sister. Nezuko started weeping. She couldn't believe what was going on.
"Tanjiro…" Nezuko whimpered.
—*—
Not too far, someone was approaching. A man, wielding a katana in his hand, his hair tied up in a ponytail, with a purple haori that had black spots on it, quickly approached behind Tanjiro. He brought his blade up and tried to attack Tanjiro. Nezuko quickly noticed this and protected Tanjiro in her arms as she threw herself against him. The mysterious man quickly figured out what was going on and swinged his katana out of range, barely missing Nezuko and undoing her hair with the force of his blade. Nezuko and Tanjiro rolled over to a tree, where Tanjiro reverted to his old body. Nezuko glanced in front of her to see if her brother was ok. She then looked up in front to see a man, wielding a blade.
'Who is that guy? Nezuko thought. She soon realized that the man was wielding a katana in his right hand. 'A katana!'
"Why did you protect it?" The man asked.
"This...this is my older brother!" Nezuko responded as she hugged Tanjiro into a tight grip preventing him from escaping,
"...that thing is your older brother?" The man responded, staring down at Nezuko.
He then dashed towards Nezuko and Tanjiro with his blade in his hand, ready to attack. Nezuko tried shielding Tanjiro into her arms. She glanced back up only to find that Tanjiro was no longer in her arms and being held in a grip by the man with his katana at his side.
"TANJIRO!" Nezuko yelled.
"Don't move," the man spoke, "Killing demons is my job. So I must cut your brother's head off."
"WAIT!" Nezuko pleaded, "Tanjiro hasn't killed anyone! There was a strange scent from my home that felt very odd!" Nezuko explained, "That must be the one who killed my family!" Nezuko tried proving Tanjiro's innocence,
"Not Tanjiro! I know what's making him act like this! But…" The man cut Nezuko off while looking in disbelief,
"That's easy, demon blood got in his wounds. That's how he became a demon," The man explained, "That's how demons multiply." Nezuko tried refuting the man's claims,
"Tanjiro would never eat anyone!" She cried out,
"A moment ago he tried to kill you!" The man stated,
"No! I'm sure he knows who I am!" Cried out Nezuko, "Tanjiro wouldn't hurt anyone! I'll find a way to turn him back into a human! I promised!" Nezuko cried out.
"He won't get better," the man replied, "A human who becomes a demon cannot go back."
"Then I'll find a way! I promise, please don't kill him!" Nezuko pleaded. "I'll also find the person who killed my family! I'll do that!" Nezuko cried out desperately.
Ignoring the nonsense the girl had said, the man knew not to waste this time and began to raise his sword at Tanjiro, ready to slice his head off,
"So…SO STOP!" She begged. Nezuko soo began to have a vision of her family, "I can't lose my big brother too…" Her voice began to tear up as she put her head down,
"Please, stop. Please don't kill my big brother," Nezuko pleaded, "Please."
Silence.
—*—
The man put his head down, thinking about his actions, and then raises it up in a fit of rage, "DON'T EVER GIVE OTHERS THE CHANCE TO MURDER YOU!" Nezuko flinched as the man began to scold her,
"STOP WITH THAT PATHETIC GROVELING! IF IT WAS THE LEAST BIT EFFECTIVE YOUR FAMILY WOULDN'T BE DEAD!" Nezuko raised her head up in disbelief as the man scolded her for being weak,
"HOW CAN A WEAKLING LIKE YOU WHO CAN'T EVEN TAKE THE INITIATIVE IN A SITUATION HEAL HER OLDER BROTHER? EVEN HUNT DOWN THE ENEMY?!" The man asked in a mix of annoyance and rage, "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! THE WEAK HAVE NO STRENGTH AND RIGHTS, THEIR ONLY FAITH IS TO BE CRUSHED BY THE STRONG!" The man continued even as if Tanjiro was struggling to get out of his grip,
"THE DEMONS MIGHT KNOW HOW TO CURE YOUR BROTHER," The man angrily replied as he grabs a tighter grip on Tanjiro, this time, bringing him closer to him to prove his ideals, "BUT DON'T THINK THAT A DEMON WILL RESPECT YOUR WISHES."
Nezuko started blankly in despair as she couldn't believe what was going on. She didn't want to believe that there was no cure to turn a demon back into a human. She loved her big brother so much, she didn't want to lose him.
"NATURALLY I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOU EITHER,THAT'S REALITY!" The man continued, "WHY DID YOU THROW YOURSELF OVER YOUR BROTHER? WAS THAT YOUR RECKLESS WAY OF PROTECTING HIM? WHY DIDN'T YOU SWING THAT HATCHET YOU HAD? WHY DID YOU SHOW YOUR BACK TO ME? ALL OF THOSE THINGS LEAD TO YOUR BROTHER'S CAPTURE!" The man angrily asked. Tanjiro tried to escape the man's grip as he kicked the snow and started growling. "I COULD'VE SKEWERED HIM ALONG WITH YOU!" The man angrily raised his blade at Nezuko
Nezuko was on the verge of tears. She had never felt this much despair before. She didn't know what to do since she was only young. Her brother usually knew what to do.
'Please don't cry, don't despair,' the man spoke in his thoughts, 'Now's not the time for that.' The man stared her face down glaring at her, pointing his katana directly at the young girl.
'I know you feel devastated, you're only young,' The man continued in his thoughts, 'Your entire family was massacred and your older brother became a demon, I know, it's painful.' The man soon began to show some sympathy towards Nezuko, 'I know you want to scream, I understand, if only I was here a half-day sooner,' the man thought, 'Then maybe your family and brother would have still been alive.' The man remarked in his thoughts, showing compassion towards Nezuko, 'But there's no way to turn back time, I'm sorry.' He soon began to express his own thoughts about the situation,
'Feel the rage,' the man remarked, 'The powerful, burning rage of not being able to forgive will become your unswerving drive to take action!' He still stared with his katana at hand, a Nezuko on her knees, tears streaking her face, as he continues to make his remarks on Nezuko, 'With that fragile resolve like yours, you will never protect your brother, nor heal him…or get revenge for your family!' The man finally stopped his train of thought as he raised his sword at Tanjiro ready to slice his head off. In a sudden panic, Nezuko realized what he was doing and quickly got back up on her feet
"NO!" Nezuko shouted as he began to stab Tanjiro through his right shoulder,
"STOP!" Nezuko pleaded once more as she couldn't bear to watch.
She instinctively picked up a pair of rocks and threw them at the man all in an attempt to protect her big brother. He instinctively blocks them with the hilt on his katana as Nezuko stares at the hatchet on the floor-covered snow. She quickly grabs it and tries to hide herself from the man as she attempts her next move. She quickly dashes behind a tree and pelts another rock at the man and he blocks it with breeze once more. Out of nowhere, she drives herself, while screaming into the man who believes she is carrying the hatchet behind her to try and attack him.
'A straightforward attack driven solely by emotion,' the man observed as he got ready to defend himself, "YOU FOOL!" He scolded as he quickly hit Nezuko on the back with his hilt at impact. The impact was hard enough to make Nezuko get knocked out. Tanjiro then stops attempting to escape as he witnessed his younger sister knocked out cold by the man. He stares with his eyes wide open as if he's realized something, something important. The man stares at Nezuko and realizes she doesn't have the hatchet with her anymore.
'Where's the hatchet?' The man thought. He soon realizes where the hatchet went and quickly looks up. The hatchet quickly came at full force directly towards the man's head. He instinctively moves his head out of range and the hatchet comes straight towards him hitting the tree, just barely missing his head. He stares in disbelief at Nezuko as he can't comprehend what just happened.
'Just before she hid behind that tree,' the man analyzed, 'She hurled that rock towards me and at the same time, tossed the hatchet in the air with her full strength.' He still stared blankly at Nezuko, wondering how she pulled this off, 'She pretended to have the hatchet behind her back so I wouldn't notice she was unarmed. She knew she couldn't beat me,' the man assumed, 'She tried to bring me down after I struck her!' He soon realized the potential of this child. 'This kid…'
While lost in his train of thought, Tanjiro attempts to break free from the man's clutches and forcefully pushes him away, knocking him back far enough from Nezuko. Tanjiro then luges himself towards Nezuko while she's still unconscious, with his claws and fangs out. 'Damnit!' The man panicked, 'He'll devour her!'
As all hope seems lost for him, he looks in disbelief as something he doesn't expect happens.
'Tanjiro…' familiar words come back to him. He soon stares in disbelief as Tanjiro doesn't proceed to devour her, rather, protect her instead! 'Tanjiro hasn't killed anyone! Tanjiro wouldn't hurt anyone!' Those familiar words come back to the man as he is glared at by Tanjiro protecting Nezuko, baring his claws and fangs at him.
—*—
Tanjiro then lunges himself towards the man in an attempt to kill him. The man attempts to dodge Tanjiro's attack, while he's in his train of thought.
'Long ago, there was someone who once believed the same thing, only to be devoured by a demon.' He attempts to successfully dodge Tanjiro's attacks while continuing to jog his memories about demons.
'When a demon is starving, it will kill and devour even its own loved ones. Because they're nutrient-rich. I've seen this happen more times than I can count.' The man still seems to be in his train of thought and tries analyzing why Tanjiro didn't devour Nezuko, 'This boy has been wounded,' the man analyzed, 'And he's expending energy to heal his wounds.' Tanjiro still comes at him with full power at him and the man keeps dodging,
'He must've drained vast amounts of his energy as he transformed into a demon,' the man thought as he knocked Tanjiro back from an attack. He bares his fangs at the man and launches himself with full force. 'That must mean he's severely starving at this moment without a doubt,' the man continued, 'he must've wanted to feast on a human, right away, even if it was his own sister.' He recalls back to the moment Tanjiro protected Nezuko from him while she was unconscious. 'Yet he protected her instead, and he even intimidated me.'
The man questioned himself. Tanjiro then moves up to a tree and lunges him at the man to try and finish him off. While starting face to face with each other, the man proceeds to put his katana away and try to make sense of the situation.
'I wonder…' the man asks himself, 'If these siblings might be...different from others.' Once he finishes his train of thought once more, he hits Tanjiro on the neck, which is able to knock Tanjiro out.
—*—
In the unconscious mind of Nezuko, a final farewell occurs. Surrounding Nezuko are her younger siblings Taeko, Shigure, Hanako, Rokuta, and their mother. The siblings stare in gloom as they feel guilt and sadness that Nezuko wasn't there for them.
'I'm sorry to leave you so soon, Nezuko,' the mother says, 'Make sure to watch over Tanjiro.'
And with that, Nezuko awoke from what seemed to have been a dream. She wakes up to find Tanjiro covered in a haori from the coldness. She also notices a bamboo-like muzzle in Tanjiro's mouth. Tears started streaking Nezuko's face as she discovered her brother was still alive, peacefully sleeping.
"You awake?" A voice asks. Nezuko moves her head up and sees the man waiting for her next to a tree.
In a panic, Nezuko grabs Tanjiro to shield him just in case he would attack again.
"Go visit a friend of mine who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri," the man spoke, "Tell him that Kokushibo sent you." Kokushibo moved out of his place, getting ready to say some words before he left.
"He seems to be alright since it's cloudy," he explains, "But never let him be exposed to the sunlight alright?" And with that, he left at an instant. No trace of him to be seen.
Nezuko stared in disbelief that the man left Tanjiro in one piece, but she's relieved. She holds her older brother by her arms, tears still streaking her face.
—*—
The siblings return to the house, where the bodies of their deceased family members are buried. Nezuko struggled to carry their bodies as she couldn't bear to see them. As she lays where her family is, Tanjiro is nearby, wearing his blue scarf and his green and black haori, with the clothes he wore earlier. This time, they were washed by Nezuko.
Nezuko said one final prayer to her family, who were now buried by the house. Tanjiro stood next to her, accompanying her as she prayed. She then got up, wearing her pink kimono that she would always wear and a pink haori. Nezuko was still holding onto the hatchet Tanjiro gave her to protect herself.
"Let's go." Nezuko spoke as she approached Tanjiro.
She grabbed him by the hand to hold him. They began walking away from the home they loved. Where they had many memories with their family. Nezuko kept moving forward with her big brother, Tanjiro, at her side. She decides to look back at her deceased family member's bodies one last time. One last time before she goes. Nezuko then regains her focus and moves forward with Tanjiro. They begin dashing to their next destination. And thus, the journey begins.
—*—