Kagome smiled as she watched Nezuko walk around her small home. Her kimono dragged on the floor behind her as she looked around her and made approving sounds. The child-like demon walked over to her brother who was sleeping peacefully near Zenitsu and lightly shook him. Inosuke was somewhere outside sleeping, probably. Kagome wasn't entirely sure where Inosuke was. The boar-headed guy came and went as he pleased.
"Nezuko," Kagome whispered, "Let him sleep, he's had a long day. Come over here with me." Nezuko looked at Tanjiro with a pout before walking over to Kagome. She climbed into her lap and in that moment Kagome could practically feel the tears spill over and slide down her face.
Nezuko gave her a curious look as she watched a tear glide. She reached out and cupped Kagome's face in her clawed hands. For reasons Nezuko couldn't comprehend, the tears fell faster and more were falling. How did she make the water stop? Why was Kagome leaking? Maybe she was dying and the thought of Kagome dying made Nezuko feel sad.
"I'm okay," Kagome wrapped her arms around the small demon, "It's just very overwhelming to have so many people around when you've been alone for so very long." She laid her head on Nezukos shoulder and felt her small hand rub the top of her head. When was the last time she was comforted by someone? She couldn't remember.
"There's a part of me that doesn't want you guys to leave because when you leave, I'll be alone again…" Kagome wasn't entirely sure Nezuko could really understand her.
"I wasn't always alone. I used to have lots of friends!" Kagome smiled at the memory of her futuristic friends and her friends in the feudal era. So Kagome told Nezuko all about her friends. About Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, and then about Inuyasha, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, Kouga, and Sesshomaru.
"Despite how I felt about Inuyasha, even then it was weird. I loved him, sure, but I'm not sure I was ever in love with him." Kagome sighed, "It felt like something, or even someone, was still missing. It was almost as if I missed this person and it's really weird to feel like you miss someone you're not even sure you know."
Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. Would it even matter if she met the person she was meant to be with? She would eventually outlive whoever he was due to her, as some would say, 'blessing' of immortality. Immortality was nothing more than a curse that she prayed one day she'd be able to break and live a normal human life. She wanted to experience growing old and dying alongside those she cared deeply for.
She shook her head and focused her attention back on the demon currently sitting on her lap. The rest of the night was spent with Kagome telling Nezuko old tales from the past.
Little did Kagome know, Tanjiro lay awake listening to her talk to his little sister. He could practically smell her loneliness and sadness, it came off her in waves. The night was when it was the most overwhelming. Sometimes he even found himself shedding a tear or two on her behalf. "What could cause a human being to feel such a way?" he often thought to himself. He wanted to ask her but decided not to pry into anything too personal, especially seeing as how they were practically strangers. But he noticed the longer they stayed there, the more the smell of her loneliness was washed away.
Nezuko made it a habit to curl up with Kagome at night while she slept. It filled his heart with joy to see that his sister being a demon did not mean anything to Kagome. She seemed to accept Nezuko right off the bat and welcomed her with open arms. They were practically inseparable. One evening, he noticed Kagome covering up her windows.
"What are you doing?" Tanjiro asked her as she inspected the window.
"Since Nezuko is a demon and can't roam around during the day, I thought I should block out any light coming through the window so she can be more comfortable," she gave a satisfied nod. "We'll have to be careful when coming in and out, not much I can do about the door."
Tanjiro swore at that moment, he fell in love with Kagome. No one had been considerate enough to make their living space comfortable for his demon sister.
"Tanjiro?" Kagome waved a hand in front of his face, "Are you okay?"
"H-huh?" He blinked.
"You were spacing out there for a moment and your cheeks were a little red, are you catching a cold?" Kagome raised her hand to rest on his forehead while her other hand rested on her own. "You are a little warm to the touch, but you don't seem to have a fever. Why not take it easy today, yeah?"
"I-I'm fine! Really!" He reassured her with a kind smile on his face.
"... If you say so…" she shrugged.
And then she went on about her business leaving Tanjiro standing in the middle of the room with his heart pounding in his chest. He took a deep breath before he decided to step outside and train a little, to keep his senses sharp.
Inosuke's arrival came as a shock to Kagome. She was outside spacing off, as she usually does, hanging up the sheets when she caught sight of something in the tree line. She froze as she focused her attention on whatever it was.
There, in the treeline stood a boy with the head of a boar and two swords gripped tightly in his hands. "Is it a demon…" She thought her eyes never leaving the boar-headed boy, "He doesn't have a demonic aura. It's human alright… but what's with the boar head?"
Just as that thought crossed her mind, he lunged at her, swords raised ready to strike. She gasped as she rolled to the side to avoid getting hit by him. His swords slashed through her sheets rippings them to shreds.
"Hey, asshole!" Kagome quickly stood up on her feet, "How dare you shred my bedding!"
"Where is Gonpachiro!"
"G-Gonpachiro?" Kagome blinked.
"I sense him around here!"
"I don't even know who this Gonpachiro is! Who the hell do you think you are attacking me like that and destroying my bedding!" Kagome's aura flared with anger. Inosuke tensed when he felt her angry aura brush against him. He had never felt anything like it before, but he prepared himself for whatever she threw at him.
She approached him, cracking her knuckles. She raised her fist…
"Inosuke!?" Tanjiro's voice appeared from nowhere distracting him. In that moment he felt her fist collide with the back of his head. He didn't want to admit it, but the hit to the back of his head caused him to feel slightly dizzy.
"I'll kill you for that!" Inosuke had the front of her shirt in his grip, completely forgetting about Tanjiro.
Kagome only glared at Inosuke.
"Let her go Inosuke!" Tanjiro approached the two of them. "She saved Zenitsu!"
It was tense for a moment longer before he let out a huff and all but shoved her backward. Kagome stumbled, but regained her balance, "Hey! That was rude!"
"I'm so sorry about him, Kagome. Inosuke is a little…. Odd."
Things were tense with Inosuke deciding to stick around. Every time they were in the same room together, they'd had a glaring contest. She wasn't actually sure if he was looking at her due to the boar head, but she just assumed he was.
"He's really not that bad once you get to know him, just rough around the edges," Tanjiro was constantly trying to be the peacemaker. It seemed like at any moment, one of them would start a fight. It took a few days, but eventually, they simmered down to be able to be in the same room with one another without the tension.
"Gonpachiro, what is she?" Inosuke asked him one day.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"There something…different about her." he crossed his arms over his chest.
"She seems pretty normal to me," Tanjiro thought really hard about it. He didn't notice anything off about her. The only thing he thought that might have been odd was her scent. Her scent smelled almost… ancient. And he wasn't sure how to explain that.
Inosuke disappeared shortly after their conversation. He sprinted off into the woods and didn't return until that evening.
"Gonpachiro! Mahome!" Inosuke's unmistakable voice called out for them.
"M-mahome…?"
Tanjiro sighed.
They stepped outside and were greeted with Inosuke standing in front of a dead deer. "I was tired of eating those green things you have in there!"
"Vegetables…" Kagome's eye twitched. No matter how many times she told him what they were he just brushed it off as if he didn't hear her. She couldn't be too mad at him though, he had brought them a whole deer. She wasn't good too good at hunting so whatever animal she normally caught she was grateful for, but it was rare and far between.
Inosuke walked into her home with a triumphant air about him. Kagome sighed and rolled up her sleeves. "Meat's back on the menu boys!" (A/n: Lord of the Rings reference anyone?).
As the days passed, Kagome became more and more comfortable with Inosuke being around. She stopped glaring at him and he seemed more relaxed in her company. Tanjiro had been surprised to see Inosuke so relaxed and unguarded. He didn't even wear his boar head as often.
When he had first removed his boar head, Kagome had openly gawked at him. "How the hell can he actually be that attractive?" His voice and body did not match his face. She stared at him until he got angry and yelled at her. After that, he stomped off. She later apologized and admitted she was shocked at his appearance.
~X~
When Zenitsu woke from his coma, all hell broke loose. He was groggy as he sat up and looked around the room.
"Where…am I?" Zenitsu knew that this wasn't a Wisteria estate, it was much too small. It had a warmer vibe to it, it was more homey than the Wisteria estates.
"You're in my home," a female voice suddenly spoke from the doorway. Zenitsu snapped his attention to her and his jaw hit the floor. There before him stood a goddess holding a basket of what looked like herbs. She set the basket of herbs down on a counter and approached him, kneeling beside him. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel perfectly fine!" Zenitsu took her hands into his own and giggled.
"U-Um…"
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on! Would you please marry me!"
"M-Marry you? I don't think so–"
"PLEASE! I MIGHT DIE TOMORROW AFTER ALL!" Kagome scoffed and stood up to back away from him, but Zenitsu latched himself to her leg, wailing while he did so.
"H-hey! Get off of me!" Kagome tried to shake him from her leg, but he had an iron grip and refused to let go of her. He kept crying about how he wanted to marry a beautiful girl before he died fighting demons.
"Tanjiro!" Kagome yelled as loud as she could knowing he was just outside tending to the garden she had.
A few seconds passed before Tanjiro barged into the room, sword drawn. "What happe– ZENITSU!" Tanjiro sheathed his sword and quickly helped Kagome pry him from her leg, "If you don't stop moving, you're going to reopen your wounds!"
Zenitsu suddenly stopped wailing and glared at Tanjiro, "Why are you preventing me from getting married, Tanjiro? Is having a cute sister not good enough for you?"
"What do you–"
"Now you have to hog all her attention too?"
"Zenitsu cal–"
"You're a greedy bastard, aren't you? Guys like you should be purged from this earth! You hear me, purged!"
"I am NOT going to marry you!" she seethed and with a final push, and pull from Tanjiro, they somehow managed to pry Zenitsu from her leg.
Tanjiro watched as Kagome inspected where his wound should have been. Chuntaro had told him that Zenitsu had been stabbed all the way through, but looking at where the stab wound should have been, he could see nothing.
"It won't even leave a scar!" She grinned.
Tanjiro was a bit confused by this. A wound as serious as his SHOULD have left a scar. Is Kagome's medicine so far advanced to be able to heal scars? With Each passing day, she becomes more and more of an enigma to him. And from what he could tell, Inosuke was thinking something very similar.
Knowing that they would be leaving that evening tore him in two. He could tell that Kagome was putting on a brave face for them. He knew that she didn't want them to go, but he was also aware that she knew they had to. He had to find a cure for his sister and he had to kill Muzan. She was well aware of this, and yet she didn't want them to go.
Her heart was shattering knowing that she'd be left alone once more. She wasn't too terribly fond of Zenitsu, but in time she knew he would eventually grow on her much like Inosuke had. "Here, I prepared some of these for you." Kagome handed each of them a bag that hopefully had enough food to keep them going. "Please be safe on your journey."
Zenitsu swooped in and took her hands into his own and stared into her eyes, "Please… don't miss me too much. I'll come back and propose to you again one day!" Kagome's eye twitched.
"I'll reject you every time."
"Harsh," he cried.
"Mahome…" Inosuke approached her next. He just kind of stood there in front of her, not knowing what to say or what to do.
Kagome smiled at him, "It's Kagome," she said softly to him and gave him a pat on his head.
Saying Goodbye to Tanjiro was the hardest part.
"I guess this is it…" Kagome's smile was bittersweet.
Tanjiro shook his head, "No this isn't a goodbye." Kagome gave him a confused look, "We'll meet again." Tanjiro wiped a tear that had fallen from her eye, "We'll miss you."
"You're always welcomed back, you and Nezuko." She glanced at the two boys behind Tanjiro, "They're…. Welcomed too…. I suppose." The two of them shared a laugh.
Kagome leaned forward standing on her tippy toes as she pressed a kiss to Tanjiro's forehead. She said a silent prayer for him before stepping back. Tanjiro, red-faced, joined his two companions.
"Stay safe! Don't get stabbed again Zenitsu! I might not be nearby to save your life again!" She waved goodbye as they began their trek down the path to an unknown destination to face an unknown danger.
