A/N: Before we start, let me tell you a few things; it takes six weeks (minimum) to recover from broken ribs and almost a good month or two to recover from a severely sprained wrist, so yeah, that's why there'll be a time-skip.
(~Natagumo Mountain Arc~)
One thing that I absolutely never realized was how much and how many time-skips an anime actually had.
Honestly, it's almost ridiculous, now that I thought about it.
It had been almost close to a month since we arrived at the Wisteria crest manor, and not even once were they called in for their mountain mission.
'At least not yet, I hope.'
I really hope me being with them didn't change this detail because my presence alone, had changed so many things in the plot that it's actually ridiculous.
Agreed, that the changes were not exactly plot affecting (at least I hope they weren't—) but that didn't mean what I was doing was something right either.
But, then again, I just couldn't leave either. Zenitsu and Tanjiro were very adamant about keeping me here with them, and that showed when almost every morning, the first thing they did was to greet me in my room.
It was really sweet at first, but now it felt heart-wrenching since I realized how easily they had bonded with me.
'They both have lost so many people in their lives...' I thought, smiling wistfully as I stared down at my reflection in the milk in my cup, 'Can I... really leave now? Will I break their hearts if I did? Would they feel betrayed if they ever knew who I really was? Can I... ever be myself again?'
There were so many things that we didn't know the answer to, and so many people spent their entire lives to find these answers— and yet, here I was, not willing to divulge into such quests as I was already familiar with the heartache it caused.
A life devoid of any kind of drive— that's the kind of life I was leading.
"Miyasha-san!"
"Hm?" I turned back to look at Tanjiro, who was sprinting towards me for some reason, "What happened, Jiro-kun? Did Itsu-kun try to peek into the wooden box, again?"
For the last four weeks, my time with the three boys had been interesting to say the least.
Despite the each of them sustaining at least two broken ribs, none of them behaved in any way that made it seem so— always jumping, head-butting or screaming at the top of their lungs at almost any given hour.
Not to mention that Zenitsu had started showing his real colours— not that he was ever hiding them deliberately in the first place. He was apparently just a little... shy in front me, I guess? I didn't know, but whatever it was, it had worn off. And for the better or worse, I wasn't able to decide yet.
"No, he's not touching the box again. I wanted to ask you if you were going to the town again, today?" Tanjiro looked hopefully at me.
"I was thinking to, actually." I replied motioning him to sit down on the porch beside me, "Why, did you need something?"
Tanjiro nodded, sitting beside me as he replied, "I needed a needle and some thread..."
"Oh? What happened? Did you accidentally tear your..." Well, the uniforms can't exactly be torn without some level of extreme force, so, "...haori?"
Tanjiro smiled sheepishly at me, nodding as he continued, "Inosuke suddenly started chasing me again last night and we fell on Zenitsu when he entered the room... accidentally tearing his haori's sleeve."
I let out a short laugh, shaking my head at their ridiculous antics as Tanjiro scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.
"I have some with me in my satchel, but I'm not exactly sure if I have the right colour of thread with me." I replied off-handedly, sipping my warm milk as I took a long breath, "Leave the haori with me, and I'll see what I can do, okay?"
"But, Miyasha-san—"
"How many times have I told you to drop the honorific, dear?" I raised my eyebrow at him teasingly, "Anyway, don't worry, your 'Miyasha-san' knows how to mend clothes, I assure you. Though, I still may ask Hisa-obasan to help me with the thread, since I most likely don't have that colour combination with me."
I gave a Tanjiro a look, daring him to challenge me, which he didn't because he knew better. One month in, and it was almost like the four of us knew most of the peculiar habits of each other— especially my own.
Tanjiro simply smiled, conversing a few more minutes with me before offering to take my now empty cup with him back to the kitchen.
"Thank you, dear."
"You're welcome, Miyasha-san!" I shook my head with a smile on lips, wondering when he will actually start listening to me.
My days at the manor was really calming— except the occasional havoc these three caused.
The porch in this manor was very wide and had a good amount of sunlight reaching it— making it a perfect place for me to meditate/sleep there. I mostly slept there in the mornings as I tried to meditate— when my brain had calmed down enough to have some rest.
It was very peaceful and the absence of almost any kind of noise made this place heavenly.
My eyes closed instinctively, sleep trickling in as the warm rays of sunlight traced any skin I had left exposing. The soft chirping of birds made into a beautiful lullaby, encouraging me to fall into a dream-less sleep.
(~×~)
"Isn't it strange how she sleeps in the mornings instead of the night?" Zenitsu off-handedly remarked, as they cleaned their respective swords and sheaths.
"Eh?" Tanjiro turned to look at where Zenitsu was staring; noticing Miyasha pleasantly dozing off on the porch, "It's... not?"
"What?"
"It's not strange," Tanjiro continued, "She is too used to hunting in the night, that's why she sleeps in the day. She did explain this to us..."
'Does he honestly believes that...?' Zenitsu thought with a sweatdrop.
"Or maybe it is because of her blood..." Tanjiro suddenly suggested, grabbing Zenitsu's interest.
"Blood? But isn't her blood..."
"Yes," Tanjiro nodded, focusing back on his sword, "But I feel like her needing exposure to sunlight to sleep is also because of her blood? I don't know..."
'If it is... it'll explain many things.' Zenitsu thought, intently staring at the elder female's sleeping figure before focusing back on cleaning his strangely soiled sheath.
(~×~)
'Okay, so first they heal completely from the broken ribs, and then the crow comes in with the mission, right? So, that means Doctor Takahashi would have to give them clearance before they leave—' I sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose as I cursed internally again.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not remember beyond some certain details of the manga— I didn't know if it was because of being reborn or because it had been a good seventeen years or so, since I last read the manga or even watched the anime.
The only way I could force myself to remember some of the plot details was as we went through the plot itself— just like how I remembered that the kids were supposed to be inside that mansion with Tanjiro and Zenitsu after almost all of it happened. Like an idiot.
I sighed again, closing my journal where I was noting these things in Hindi— so that no one could decipher it by any chance. Not that there was much to go by in it anyway.
After brain-storming a few more minutes, I left my room and went out to the hallway to get some fresh air; smiling as I heard commotion from the boys' room.
'Looks like Zenitsu is following Nezuko again.' I shook my head in amusement, passing by their room as I found Inosuke sitting in the hallway quietly, looking at the sky as if he was ruminating about something.
Suddenly his stomach growled, making him look down and mutter to himself, "Man, I'm hungry."
"Don't worry," I started, making him turn to me in surprise, "Dinner will be served soon. Why don't you go ahead and change your clothes?" I casually suggested as I took a seat beside him, making him stare at me all the while.
It was quite unnerving to be stared by him, if I were to be honest. With such a big and yet, clean boar mask, it looked quite strange when he looked at me. Sometimes, making me feel as if the big blue eyes of his mask moved like actual pupils.
"Pardon me, Sir, Ma'am." Hisa-obasan suddenly appeared, making us both turn to her. She sat gracefully in between us with some clean clothes (which I assumed was Inosuke's) in her hands.
She bowed respectfully, smiling as she said politely, "I am sorry if I disturbed you."
"You didn't, oba-san! Please do not apologized." I gratefully smiled, making her nod and turn to Inosuke.
"Those clothes of yours are quite soiled, I see." She remarked politely to Inosuke, "I'll clean them for you, so please wear these meanwhile." She pleasantly finished, slightly moving the clothes towards him.
"They are pleasing to the touch and quite comfortable." She added, all the while smiling politely, "How does tempura sounds for dinner? You know, something covered with batter and fried." She asked, her soft brown eyes darting to us both.
"It sounds amazing, oba-san!" I replied enthusiastically, smiling at the polite old lady, "If you need any help, please do not hesitate to tell me, oba-san! I'd love to help."
Hisa-obasan merely smiled, "You are a guest here, ma'am; I cannot I ask you to help like that... but thank you for offering, Miss."
I smiled in defeat, letting her lead Inosuke towards the bathing area as she carried his clothes with her.
'Inosuke is too well behaved around the old lady nowadays...' I mused as I watched them disappear around the corner, turning back to the sky as I slowly swung my feet in the air, 'He did grow some kind of attachment to her, didn't he? I mean, he did had those 'anime sparkles' around her when she politely helped him with things...'
It was funny how I remembered these useless things from the manga but couldn't remember half the things that happened during their mountain mission.
'Many demon slayers had died during that mission though... if I remembered correctly.' I frowned, placing a hand under my chin in thought, 'The... mother spider had killed them, I think? Through her strings? But then what? The father spider came in maybe, but... how did Tanjiro meet Rui then? Wasn't Giyuu the one who killed the father demon? Then how...?'
I brooded over the subject for some while, concentrating on getting the timeline of the events right, before I was distracted by stomping behind me; a sudden aggressive yell could be heard from Inosuke as he slid open the doors of his room.
I turned to look back at the commotion, hearing Inosuke head-butt Tanjiro before yelling again and starting to chase him.
"Hold up, hold up! Stop chasing us, Inosuke!"
"Tanjiro...!"
I shook my head in amusement again, leaving those four to their devices— I'm not going to intervene in their 'quality-team-building-time'; not to mention it was more amusing to just watch.
"You're fully healed." Doctor Takahashi declared, delicately turning my wrist over in his hand as he looked over it one last time, "Does it still pains?"
"No, Doctor." I answered honestly, "At least not till I put too much pressure on it."
He simply nods, packing his bag as he replied, "That pain may not ever go away." He said bluntly, looking sadly at me as he got up, "Keep exercising with that hand daily, but don't put too much pressure or exertion on it. Avoid carrying heavy things in your right hand too."
I nodded soberly, thanking him for his treatment. The boys looked at me sympathetically, which I pointedly avoided as I got up and left for my room.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck. The plot didn't even fucking started and I already got myself a fucking disadvantage— as if my body already wasn't weak enough that this added to it.' I took in a deep breath, shuddering out all the negative thoughts I had.
This was not the time for all this.
The boys were now completely healed- and that meant the message for the next mission will be arriving any day now.
'What... should I do now, then?' My mind raced with ideas— maybe I could leave now? Tell them I had some patients to look at in some other town? Or maybe I could go with them... and save those other demon slayers-?
'Could I really though?' I frowned, looking up at the blue sky as I stood in middle of the hallway, 'Am I really ready to take the responsibility of so many lives?'
"—asha-san! Miyasha-san!" Someone called me from behind, breaking me away from my thoughts as I turned back to see the three boys jogging towards me, "Miyasha-san!" Tanjiro called again, finally reaching me as he straightened looked at me in the eye, "I'm sorry that happened to you!"
"Eh...?"
"Your wrist..." Zenitsu started, as Tanjiro continued for him, "I'm really sorry for your wrist, Miyasha-san!"
"What... are you talking about?" I honestly looked at them weird, "Whatever happened was because of my own carelessness— I was the one who jumped in front of that demon without any proper plan, like an idiot. What role did you play in it?"
Tanjiro opened his mouth to reply, to which I instantly cut him off, "None. So, stop apologizing."
"But—"
"Don't." I repeated, sighing as I gave them a soft smile, "Trust me, it isn't much big of an issue either. So, don't worry, okay?"
Tanjiro didn't say anything further after that; he just kept looking at me apologetically before Inosuke huffed and commented about how weak I was.
The corner of my mouth twitched as Tanjiro and Zenitsu started reprimanding him, resulting in a big yelling contest as Inosuke kept on denying to apologize.
'He isn't exactly wrong...' I mused as I noticed— not for the first time —that the boys were taller than me. Not by much; barely an inch or two, but taller nonetheless.
"It's okay, boys!" I tried to interject, "Stop forcing Inosuke to apologize— he didn't say anything wrong after all."
"You're not weak, Miyasha-san!" Zenitsu yelled, making me smile widely.
"I am physically weak, Itsu-kun." I commented, turning away slowly to walk towards my room, "But that does not make me any less powerful." I finished, smiling at Inosuke as I turned around the corner and left the boys in the hallway.
"Mount Natagumo, you say?" I asked off-handedly as I continued packing my satchel. It had been about two days since the doctor diagnosed us to be fully recovered, and the message for the next mission had already arrived.
"Hai, Miyasha-san." Tanjiro relayed, "Tennoji came in with the message just a few minutes ago."
"That's good then." I simply commented, at a loss of words for what to say, "Are you gonna leave immediately for the mission, then?" I finally asked, to which Tanjiro nodded, sitting cross-legged in front of me.
"Thank you for informing me then." I smiled, "I'll be leaving along with you too, then."
Tanjiro nodded again, leaving the room immediately to give me some time to collect my belongings.
I sighed at my situation, pondering again over my decision. I had spent almost all of this lifetime resenting the Gods and the whole Demon Slayer anime, and yet here I was— planning to go to a canon mission willingly.
'But if I didn't... many people will die—'
Not that I was confident that I could save them either, but the thought of turning a blind eye and letting them die was heavier than disrupting the plot itself.
'Not to mention, them not dying won't exactly effect the plot...' I reasoned with myself, 'And I could very well just leave before Shinobu and Giyuu's arrival— not that they would be paying much attention to me; after all, I was only a civilian to them and nothing more...'
.
.
"We're heading out now." Tanjiro started, bowing as he thanked the old lady standing in front of us, "Thank you for everything."
Zenitsu and I followed his example— bowing and thanking her just as Tanjiro did. Inosuke meanwhile looked at us incredulously.
Oba-san bowed as well, "Now then, for good luck..." she produced a set of sekiei (quartz) and hiuchigane (steel striker), smiling politely as she moved towards us.
Tanjiro thanked her gratefully, turning around along with Zenitsu. Inosuke simply looked confused, so I stepped up to explain the custom to him, "It is for a purification ceremony called Kiribi," I started as I turned around as well, "In which you send someone off by striking a stone with steel so that sparks fall on their back as a sign of good luck."
"Hah...?" Inosuke looked at me, "Why would she wish good luck for us—"
"Just quiet down and turn around!" I insisted, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around against his wish.
"Oi—"
.
...
"Always live your lives with great pride." Oba-san sweetly advised, "I wish you luck in battle!"
Everyone expect Inosuke bowed, after which we finally departed for the next mission.
"Great pride? Luck in battle? What does that mean?" a clueless Inosuke asked as we jogged our way through the forest around the mountains.
"Hm," I hummed, wondering how to explain it, "There are many people who waste their whole lives away, not knowing their places and thus, don't feel great pride in the way they are living. That is why she advised us to live with great pride and to never be ashamed of ourselves."
"When she wished us good luck," Tanjiro added, turning to look back at us, "Oba-san was also praying for our safety!"
"So, what is this 'place'?" Inosuke asked further, "What do you mean by 'never ashamed'?"
"Well it's—"
"Why in the hell would that old hag pray for our safety anyway? She has nothing do with us, then why?"
"It's not like that—"
"She has no clue what her own place is, does she?"
Upon hearing Inosuke's demeaning words for oba-san, Tanjiro seemed to decide to just move faster to avoid any such talks between them.
As he sped up, Inosuke growled loudly and started running as well, "You won't beat me!"
"Wait up...!"
"May Lord help us..."
The Sun was almost down the horizon by the time we even reached the region that mountain was in.
The dread in my chest grew with every step as we neared the mountain.
"Miyasha-san?" Tanjiro suddenly called me, making me look up to him as we were walking down the road. The sky above us was almost dark blue now— one could even see the moon as the last rays of sunlight gradually faded away from the sky.
"Hai...?"
"I..." Tanjiro hesitated, frowning as if rethinking what he wanted to say, "We... are now fully recovered, aren't we?"
"Yes...?"
"Then..." he hesitated to speak, making me really nervous about the whole thing.
'He did seem to discreetly stare at me throughout the journey...'
"Just spit it out." I bluntly replied, the dread in my chest growing heavier as we almost stopped in our path, "What happened?"
"Miyasha-san..." Tanjiro turned his gaze away from me, "I think... you should stay behind for this mission..."
'What...?'
"I... am getting some very bad vibes." Tanjiro confessed, his voice barely above a whisper as finally Zenitsu and Inosuke noticed us stopping, "I don't want to hurt you further... Especially not without your knowledge."
"I... what are you talking about Tanjiro?" My mind was drawing blanks— I knew what he was talking about but... I just...
"I'm asking you to stay behind for this mission." He bluntly replied, his eyes staring at me with a silent plea, "I can smell some very strong demons from that mountain... and I don't want you get hurt again." He looked down at my hands, making me look at them as well, "Especially not when you didn't even want to come with us in first place..."
"Tanjiro..."
"You can... leave us too, if you want to." He softly said, making me freeze at his words.
"We'll understand if you do." Zenitsu added, darting his eyes away from me as I looked at him.
My stomach fell down to my toes, the barely suppressed dread from before came back with a vengeance; spreading through my whole body... leaving it cold.
'I-I...' My breath hitched as I looked at the three boys, my eyes darting from face to face, 'I... really do have a choice now, don't I?'
Honestly, I almost wanted to laugh at the irony of this situation— when I didn't wanted to be involved, I didn't had a choice except to do so, and when I did decide that I wanted to be involved with the plot, I was given a way out.
'Why... why does all this only happens with me?'
Cliffhanger... maybe?
This will be Miyasha's "to the point of no return" kinda decision— because honestly, how far will she go if she keeps blaming her luck for everything?
Anyway! Now, onto the review replies~!
Einklley: Okay, I actually agree on the part that I showed Zenitsu a little too milder than he normally is xD It wasn't intentional, but yeah, now that you point it out, it does seem he keeps on following her like a duckling, lol. It's too early for him to do that— Anyhoo, Miyasha shutting Zenitsu when he becomes too hysteric to handle was intentional because she was too tired to handle ANYTHING. The only reason she was not blowing off on them (most of the time), was because it kept playing in her mind that 'They are innocent children and they don't deserve your shit'. Miyasha's exclusion from canon conversations was mostly intentional, because she kept her way out of it let them "develop their dynamics" which she thinks she is severely interrupting. Not to mention that since this was from a particular perspective, shifting attention made her a background character in many of the scenes (if you get what I mean). Now, about mentioning Miyasha during the last fight... well, I honestly didn't thought about it xD I am completely not used to writing characters like Zenitsu, so thank you so much for pointing these mistakes out to me! I'll try my best to write him better in the future chapters.
Guest 1: I'm so sorry for my bad grammar! I promise I'm working on it and would be editing the whole of this fanfic soon so that it won't be an issue! And about the AU parts— I'm extremely sorry if they pull you out of the story! The only reason I'm adding them along with the main story is because the manga as well as anime has these AUs and I wanted to follow the same aesthetics! Unfortunately, they don't have enough material to be turned into a book of their own, so, I'll have to continue adding them here! Please forgive me for that ^^;; Still, thank you so much for the reviews and giving this fanfic a chance!
natonatonii: Ooh! I'm really glad to hear you are going for medical! Please do tell me whenever I'm medically inaccurate in this book xD I had science stream in my highschool, but turned to law instead in college; so, I know only the basics about medical treatments... I really hope I do not disappoint you with my medical ignorance xD
TheBlueAmethyst: Welcome back! I'm really glad you liked the story so far— I promise I'll edit this whole fanfic after the Infinity Train arc :') —and about Shinobu and the Kakushi; they'll be introduced a few chapters later in the story, that's why I didn't showed them anywhere near the manor for now. Not to mention that the kakushi normally only treat patients on the battlefield or the butterfly estate— these manors have their own specific doctors. Unfortunately, I didn't showed Miyasha doing anything productive during this time period because of her injuries and because she needed some time to decide what her next move should be. As she is an overthinker, she didn't exactly focused on anything else than that either :')
Guest 2: First of all, thank you so much for your reviews! I'm really glad you liked my fanfic! And secondly, her war fans are a little different than of the ones you are thinking, but I assure you, they are pretty badass as well! Thank you so much for giving my fanfic a chance!
And that's all for the replies! And damn, there were sooooo many reviews! Thank you so much to you all for reviewing and giving me motivation to work! You all spoil me so much TwT
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!
Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D
Stay safe and stay healthy!
