Tanjuro, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Kanae sat together in the children's room. Nezuko looked down at her hands that were clenching the sheets of her Futon, "I'm sorry Miss Kocho, but I'm not sure if I can do that" she replied. Kanae frowned, "why not?" she asked softly. Tanjuro watched as his eldest Daughter clenched her teeth, "because I'm too scared. I can't leave this house, and if I can't do that I can't fight Demons. The last time I left our house, and my parents, we came back to find them in a state that would have killed them if they hadn't turned. What if I leave, and come back to my whole family dead next time?! I can't do it! I can't leave them like that!" Nezuko cried, tearing up at the admittance of her deepest fears, and of her own weakness.
"Nezuko. Why didn't you tell me, or Father? We would have listened and reassured you that everything was okay. After all, Father's here, and he can protect all of us no problem. We'd be fine here" Tanjiro asked. "It's not that simple Tanjiro. You can tell Nezuko that nothing would happen to any of you 100 times, and it wouldn't mean anything. Because her fear is not a rational one. Nezuko knows that your Father is a powerful Demon.
That he could burn any other Demon that targeted you to ashes in a few minutes with his flames, and keep all of you safe. Your Sister knows that. But when you have an irrational fear, logic doesn't factor in. No matter how you try to assure her that she has nothing to b afraid of, her mind will not be able to accept that, and will keep that fear going. I know, because I've felt that kind of fear as well" Kanae explained, making all three Kamado's gasp in surprise. Nezuko was so shocked that her gaze snapped up to the woman, "what do you mean?" she asked.
Kanae sighed, and glanced down at her missing arm, "four years ago, I ran into an Upper Rank Demon. He was so strong, none of my attacks did anything. I lost my arm and eye in that fight, but the sun rose in time to save me. After that night, I was traumatized, but not for the fact that I almost died. That Demon told me that he only eats woman. I have 6 younger Sisters, and I was terrified of letting them leave the Butterfly Mansion at night, in case he came after them. The Butterfly Mansion is basically a Hospital for Demons Slayers that my younger Sister set up. All of the girls that we've taken in live there with us, and I was terrified of losing them.
I wouldn't let my Sister's out of the house at night for any reason. It took me a long time to overcome my trauma, and even now, I still feel nervous when I or they have to leave, but it got a bit better after my Sister Shinobu became a Hashira too. Still, I sometimes have days where I don't want to leave them all alone at all. It takes a lot of willpower to remind myself that I have things that I can do to help people, even in my condition, and that my family will be fine, since no Demon has ever found the area where we live. I'm still dealing with my trauma, but I believe in my two Oldest Sister's to protect everyone, and I try to save everyone that I can. I know you're scared of losing your family Nezuko, but you have people here that can protect them.
But you can't be one of them unless you fight to become stronger on your own" Kanae explained. Nezuko stared at the older woman, deep in thought. After a long moment of thought, she looked back up at her, "I-I want to become stronger. Both as a Demon Slayer, and as a person" she replied.
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The group stood in front of Urokodaki's house once again. "I'll write to you as soon as I get there, I promise" Nezuko said. "You'll do great Nezuko! I'm sure you'll become an amazing Demon Slayer. I'm going to work hard to learn from Father too! And then, we'll fight together!" Tanjiro said enthusiastically. Nezuko grinned, "and we'll protect our family and turn our Parents back into humans!" she replied. Tanjuro stepped up, holding Rokuta, "I promise I'll protect everyone, so please don't worry Nezuko. Alright?" he asked. Nezuko smiled up at him, "I know you will Dad. I trust you" she said, before hugging the man.
"I'll see you at Final Selection, alright?" she asked. "Of course" Tanjuro agreed. Then they were gone, Nezuko focusing on controlling her breathing, instead of all the thoughts in her head. The Kamado's watched until she was out of sight. Tanjuro sighed in relief and smiled, "she's doing well. I know she'll be alright eventually." He said. He then walked away, "Tanjuro, you have some training to do with your abilities. You have to learn to Shape-shift and appear human, you also have to learn to tone down your Demonic presence and how to hold back and release it. Otherwise you'll be targeted by Demon Slayers. Maybe they can't kill you, but you don't want to draw attention to yourself with the Demon King out there" Urokodaki said.
"There's a Demon King?" Tanjiro asked. The masked man nodded, "yes. He's the only one who can turn humans into Demons, so he must be the one who attacked and turned your parents" he explained to the boy. Tanjuro clenched his fists. His memory of what happened to make him this way were foggy, but he had remembered one thing. A pair of bright red eyes, burning with hatred through the snow and darkness. The memory of those eyes brought a furious hatred coursing through him, before he forced himself to calm down. Getting angry wouldn't help anyone. Urokodaki continued, turning back to face the Demon, "since you've conquered the sun, he'll be coming after you to make that immunity his.
If he devours you, we're all finished. You must become as strong as possible, and learn to hide yourself from detection at all costs Tanjuro." Urokodaki explained. The Kamado Patriarch clenched his fists, "right!" he cried in determination.
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Tanjuro sat in his bedroom beside his sleeping Wife, holding a mirror in his hands. He tried to Will his eyes or hair to look how they used to, but couldn't seem to do it. His features remained stubbornly in-human. Tanjuro frowned, and took a breath. 'Okay, let's try again' he thought. As he focused on his eyes, Tanjuro saw them slowly change from bright red to the same shade as that of his children. 'It's working!' he thought. Part of being a Demon meant that he didn't need to blink, so he could focus on his Shape-shifting without blinks distracting him.
However, once his concentration broke, his eyes snapped back to Demonic bright red. Tanjuro sighed. Maybe his hair would be easier. He needed to at least get this down, before he tried to work on his Demonic presence. However that worked. As he turned his attention to his hair, his earrings caught his eye. Tanjuro stared at them as they dangled innocently from his ears. Suddenly something flashed into his mind. The door of their house smashed open, snow invading the house with the fury of nature. The cold wind and snow invaded the house in tandum with his Wife's scream of agony as Kie was slashed across the throat and crumpled to the ground.
He squinted through the darkness and snow, desperately trying to stand up from his futon and move over to his Wife. Glowing red eyes pierced through the snow, filling his already broken heart with pure terror. "You" a deep, evil voice spoke over the howling wild, the Demon somehow speaking loudly without raising his voice. Tanjuro scrambled for something he could use as a weapon, before he was slammed into the wall faster than he could blink.
The man gasped raggedly, as he stared down at the limb piercing his chest. Liquid fire poured into his veins, and Tanjuro choked on his scream. Suddenly the limb was gone, and the man collapsed to the ground, gasping and coughing blood as his body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside. "We'll see if you have the ability to conquer the sun. That's the only use scum like you have. I hope you enjoy the food I've left for you in the meantime" the man's voice spoke over the still howling wind. Then he left, and their house was filled with snow. Despite everything, Tanjuro forced his agonized body to move, "K-Kie" he whimpered, coughing blood, even as he felt something else filling him.
As he reached his Wife's body, Tanjuro thought of his children. 'No, I will never harm my family!' he thought, as he finally collapsed to the floor, as all of his strength left him. Tanjuro gasped like he had just breached the surface of the ocean, his head burning. 'So that's what happened. That man. He's the one who did this to us. He said something about my earrings- I don't know what he has against us, we were just Charcoal Makers' he thought in confusion. He clenched his fists in anger, 'damn, if I had given Tanjiro my earrings, he might have been targeted instead! Thank God I hadn't given him them yet!' he thought in relief, tears coming to his eyes.
After a moment of crying, Tanjuro tried to calm his emotions, noticing that his claws had sharpened and the veins had popped on his face in response to his anger. He focused himself and his body slowly responded, shifting back into his human form. 'I will never become like that monster' Tanjuro promised himself. "I will become a Demon Slayer and protect my family. Then Kie and I will become human again! No matter what!" he swore firmly.
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6 months later, Tanjuro, Tanjiro and Nezuko were all ready for Final Selection. Urokodaki was amazed at their progress. Tanjuro was able to completely hide his Demonic presence now, both in appearance and his aura. Tanjiro and Urokodaki could still tell that he was a Demon with their sense of smell, but just by looking at him, neither could tell that he was a Demon. He wasn't sure how other Demons would react, but Tanjuro wasn't too worried about them, especially since he'd be around his Demon Slayer children. Before they left for Final Selection, Urokodaki pulled the Father and Son aside.
"These are for you. You may not have learned Water-Breathing, but I would still like you to have them" he said, holding out two fox masks. One had red eyes and a sun where Tanjiro's scar was, and the other had red eyes, fangs, and Tanjuro's mark on it. "Mr Urokodaki" Tanjuro said as he took the mask. He looked up at the older man, "you didn't have to do this for us. We didn't even learn Water-Breathing" he said softly. "I wanted to," Urokodaki began, before holding out a Sword to Tanjuro, "this is for you Tanjuro. You'll both get new ones if you pass the Final Selection, but still. I wanted to give you your one myself. You may be a Demon, but I trust you. I've watched you over the past year.
You have an unbreakable will. You both do. I know you'll pass and become Demon Slayers. And when you find a cure and you and your Wife become humans again, come see me. I want to meet you both as properly then" Urokodaki said to Tanjuro. Both Kamado's nodded, "of course we will. Please take care of my Wife and children while we're gone" the Demon asked. "Of course" the trainer replied. That night after dinner, and the rest of the Kamado children went to bed, the Father and Son left for Final Selection. They had already said their goodbyes earlier that night at dinner. And now, they wouldn't see the rest of their family until several days had passed.