just like a blue gem shining

By: Aviantei

Part Six:

"Water Nourishing Flowers"

With autumn on its way, Shimizu doesn't have time to linger around Tanjirō and Nezuko's village. Winter comes early so far up north, and finding anyone willing to travel in all that snow will be near impossible. She has to hitch a ride with another traveling merchant who's heading back down south, and it takes several long weeks on the road and multiple different wagons, but Shimizu does, in fact, make it to Asakusa, where she hopes Tamayo is already established, otherwise she's going to be in a whole lot of trouble.

It's funny how nostalgic such a place feels, despite the fact that Shimizu herself didn't swing through Tōkyō more than once or twice the last loop, and never for long enough to go on a mission. Even so, she did spend time in a handful of other more modern cities, and the aesthetic grew on her. From the mix of traditional lanterns and decorations to the more modern additions of electric lights and trolleys—it's prime Taishō Era material. If it weren't for the whole, you know, fate of the world thing, Shimizu would settle down and live there forever.

Though whether the current situation is as dramatic fate of the world as it was in Canon is yet to be seen. If Tanjirō did as he promised—which Shimizu knows he will; he's just too good a boy not to—then maybe Nezuko didn't become a demon, which then means Muzan won't know there's a ready way to overcome the sun? Shimizu's just not banking on it, since there's every chance something will happen to the Kamado family anyways, despite her interference.

And, in the end, Muzan is still a problem. As much empathy as Shimizu has for all the demons, it's for the better of everyone if killing people isn't on the docket. If everyone could get by the way that Tamayo and Yushirō do, that would be fantastic, though Shimizu doesn't know if that's a reasonable outcome to wish for, either.

Still, if we're going to have a chance at killing Muzan, the anti-demon serums that Tamayo-san and Shinobu-sama made are going to be critical.

Hence: why Shimizu has gone to Tōkyō instead of making her way back up to Urokodaki-san's cabin in the mountains. If there's no Tanjirō out and about doing protag things, then someone needs to bridge the gap between the Demon Slayer Corps and Tamayo. Doing so a few years earlier seems best. Besides, when it comes to conditioning her body, Shimizu remembers enough of her training to handle that herself. Will that do her much good without a Nichirin sword? Well, if Sanemi survived long enough to make it to the Corps, Shimizu thinks she can, too.

Still, even if getting to Asakusa is half the battle, there's still all the difficult parts of, you know, finding Tamayo-san and then convincing her to help out.

Shimizu doesn't blame Tamayo for being secretive about her location; after everything Muzan did to hunt her down last time, Shimizu, too, understands the desire to go and hide somewhere that no one will ever, ever find you! But the chances of beating Muzan without Tamayo's help are very uncertain, and Shimizu's taking every advantage she gets.

Lucky for her, Tamayo had a clear lead to her location in Canon: that she paid people down on their luck for blood donations to keep herself and Yushirō fed. If she hangs around the right places, she'll have to hear news at some point. All it takes is a bit of smearing her clothes with some dirt and some exploration to find the sort of people who are willing to do anything for money.

It takes a few weeks of talking with the residents to learn anything useful for her hunt. The good news is that Shimizu's general level of pretty endears people to her quick, so they're willing to share information. If you wait around a certain place once a month, you can get some coin for helping a doctor with her research. Great, but it's a week more until that date, so it's more waiting for her.

At least she knows how to keep herself busy. Depending on how her appeal to Tamayo-san goes, the amount of time she'll be able to spend training under Urokodaki-san, if any, is going to be cut down. So keeping up her training routine it is. Even if she never becomes a Slayer this time, Shimizu would very much like to be able to at least run for her life from a demon should the need arise.

Wearing herself out with Total Concentration takes more time each and every day at least. That's a good sign, right?

And then the date arrives, and Shimizu goes with a few others to the space they've been before. Everyone else's arms are thin, and it's obvious they're desperate for coin. Shimizu feels a bit bad for coming along, too, but it seems Tamayo never turns anyone willing away and there's always enough payment for all, so it's not like she's interfering in anyone else's wellbeing. Besides, it's just the once, until she can give conversation a shot and hope she gets somewhere.

Rairi-kun, if you could give me some of your blatant confidence in whatever you're saying, I'd appreciate it!

(Where is Rairi? Are they at the Thunder Estate, training? Will Shimizu be able to stand it if they meet each other again and Rairi has no idea who she is? Those questions get shoved into the back of her mind to be dealt with another time, just like every other doubt about the situation Shimizu has.)

And then there's the subtle sound of footsteps approaching, Shimizu tensing from the sensation of someone approaching from behind. No one else in their group seems to notice, but she turns around, finding herself staring into the pale blue eyes of no one but Yushirō.

The feeling isn't anywhere as near as intense as it was whenever she saw Nezuko again, nor Tanjirō. While she recognizes Yushirō thanks to his anime and manga design, Shimizu didn't get much of an opportunity to talk with him in her last go round of Kimetsu. The remaining sense of surrealism she has is from the way that he's now a flesh and blood person before her—the deep green hair that catches the light just right to be much brighter at the top, the Western button-up beneath the Japanese kimono-style coat and hakama-but that's a feeling she got used to after meeting Canon character after Canon character. If anything, she thought Yushirō would be shorter.

The good news, though, is that he's unmistakable, so Shimizu's completed step one!

Now the hard part of actually getting to see Tamayo-san and convince her to help me.

Yeah, she needs to stop wandering into all these situations without a plan. At the rate she's going, Shimizu will end up just skipping up to Muzan and hoping she trips just right to take his head off, and that's not the most reassuring thought in the world. Her mind's still spinning with thoughts all the way up to getting sat down, a needle pinching its way into her arm, and Shimizu can't help but watch the syringe with a detached sense of fascination.

She was never the type to be afraid of needles. They don't feel pleasant, and watching them go in is a little bit squicky, but after that? The way that the blood comes out, the glass filling up with deep red—

(deep red, everywhere, guts spilling out on the floor, the absolute taste of copper and Muzan's wine red eyes, thin pupils becoming even thinner slits as he—)

(You don't get to talk about them anymore, you hear me?!)

Forget the fact that it's dangerous; Shimizu slaps both of her hands to her mouth as her guts riot and hot acid rushes up her throat, threatening to bring up her udon dinner up with it. Yushirō shouts—something, nothing sounds real—and Shimizu's breaths are desperate gasps of hyperventilation. She's dying, she's dying—but she's not, she can't die, every time she almost dies she keeps—waking—up, and it just doesn't stop, why won't it stop?!

Why do I have to be the one that keeps going through this?! What do you expect me to do?!

There's the smell of flowers.

And then Shimizu's unconscious.

"…zu-san? Shimizu-san, can you hear me?"

Existence seems blurry. That's never a good sign. Existence being blurry means something's wrong, means Shimizu might be disassociating? Well, she remembers who she is (as much as she can be anyone), at least, so there's that. Why did she pass out again? Right, PTSD from the blood. That's…not a reaction she wants to have, at least not if she's going to be a Slayer again.

"Shimizu-san, if you can hear me, blink twice."

The words register in her brain, and she does what she's told. The voice is calm and pretty, and it's coming from an even prettier woman. Tamayo's anime design was elegant, but it has nothing on the woman herself. The shape of her face, the careful application of red to her lower lip, the gorgeous pale amethyst of her eyes—wow, is Shimizu feeling very gay right now. Not a great combination with her lingering sense of lightheadedness, but at least she gets where Yushirō is coming from with all his simping.

"…my name…?" She didn't get the chance to introduce herself—no, wait she remembers. She put it on the patient form. "Never mind." Shimizu wants to sit up, but she has the sinking suspicion that's going to end in her just falling back over again, so she doesn't bother. "I've never…passed out from seeing blood before."

"Is that so?" Tamayo asks, looking relieved to hear Shimizu forming complete sentences. Shimizu presses her hands to her eyes, as if that will make her feel more alert. "Sometimes, if we have a negative experience, that can change our reactions. Does that explanation sound familiar?" Shimizu grimaces, knowing full well that is, in fact, what's wrong with her. "In that case, I think it would be best for you to refrain from trying to give blood again in the near future. Don't worry. We will still pay you the same amount we were intending to, so you won't have to go without."

Yeah, money—while still a pressing one, since you can't get shit without cash—is kind of the least of Shimizu's concerns at the moment. "It's…okay." She wants to say I'll be alright, but she's kinda not sure that one's true, and she doesn't want to lie to Tamayo when the woman's being so nice to her.

And there's that soft little smile that somehow makes Tamayo even prettier. Shimizu thought she lucked out with her new body, but man. "In that case, the best thing for you to do is rest. You should also get something in your stomach. I'll go get you something."

While it's super sweet of Tamayo to have human palatable food around for her patients—heheh, food for food, the half-delirious side of Shimizu's brain says—a snack isn't what Shimizu needs (well, she does, but not the point!), so she croaks out, "Wait." Tamayo stills. "Please. Please hear me out." Those pale amethyst eyes rest on Shimizu, and running her mouth like she did with Tanjirō it is! "Tamayo-san, I want you to help the Demon Slayer Corps defeat Kibutsuji Muzan."

The atmosphere in the room changes in an instant. Yushirō materializes the next second, his pupils turned to thin, dangerous slits, and he's baring his teeth. It's almost enough for Shimizu to go into a fresh panic attack, were it not for Tamayo lifting her hand, a few droplets of blood on her fingers, the thick aroma of flowers filling the room, and her Blood Demon Art is something if Shimizu isn't passing out again. It's soothing, but it's also a few tweaks away from also spelling Shimizu's untimely demise.

Not even making a few months into Canon before getting offed. That'd be a new record.

"Yushirō," Tamayo says, and the demonic aspects of Yushirō's appearance soften. There's still that edge to him, though, which is no doubt to keep Shimizu scared. "Shimizu-san is our patient and our guest. You will not attack her under any circumstances, do you understand me?"

"But Tama—"

"Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Tamayo-sama," Yushirō says, looking like he hates everything about this.

Same, tbh.

"Now, Shimizu-san," Tamayo says, turning the conversation back to her. Shimizu didn't think this far ahead. "I have quite a number of questions for you. However, I would like to give you a chance to explain yourself first. Please, do go ahead."

Oh, Shimizu is way too dizzy for this. She should've thought about that before talking, but that also would've required her to have way more common sense loaded into her, which is much harder when you're coming off of passing out. When it came to Tanjirō, Shimizu ended up relying on him being kind enough to trust a stranger with little to no explanation, but that's not going to work on Tamayo, not whenever Shimizu needs her trust for the long-term.

"It's possible to make a cure for demons," she says. "I know you've been theorizing that, and I'm here to tell you it's true. I…I've seen a future where it happens." Wow, that sounds sketchy af. "But it's going to require a lot. Both the blood of the Twelve Kizuki and the cooperation of the Demon Slayer Corps. One of their Hashira, Kochō Shinobu—she's a genius, and if you work with her, you can make your dream reality." Never mind the part where Nezuko surviving the sun was a key component to the whole vaccine, but that's something that can be worked around, right?

God, it better—no, focus!

"You're someone incredible, Tamayo-san. If you could pull yourself from Muzan's control and even make Yushirō-san, then it must be possible to make something work. And I know you've worked hard to keep your location secret, and I don't ever want to take that away from you. But in this generation, we can put an end to all of this, I promise!"

"…And just what are you basing this on?" Tamayo asks, and she has every right to be skeptical, but Shimizu will be damned if she doesn't think there's also a bit of hope in those words.

Welp, time to go for broke! "Because I've seen a future where it happens. I…I came from another world. Where your world was a story. And, at the very end, everyone was able to defeat Muzan by working together."

It was a brutal, unclean victory, but it was a victory, and that was worth something. Not to mention the way that Rairi was able to save Rengoku before, without everything collapsing into the ground? Everything can change.

I wasn't just sent here, but I was also sent back. There has to be a reason for that.

There's a furrow in Tamayo's brow. "A story?" she echoes.

"Yes. That's why I knew your name without being told." Shimizu didn't take as many notes this time—she has some, they're just still in progress—but she can still recall a decent amount. "I know about how you hate Muzan for turning you and thus making you kill your husband and child. I know about the night in the bamboo forest. Where you watched a Slayer with a red sword come close to defeating Muzan but he failed. But you were still able to break free of his control." Tamayo stills, and Shimizu knows none of that is perfect evidence. Most things she knows about Tamayo haven't happened yet, and a handful won't happen if Tanjirō keeps his family safe with her advice, but it's still something.

Even if those incidents are ones that Muzan would know about.

Even if those moments could be taken as evidence that she's a spy.

(If Shimizu has to keep reliving this timeline over and over until she gets something right, she'll at least try to view this go as an opportunity to learn from her mistakes. If nothing else, death by flower poison doesn't seem as bad as the last time.)

"And why the hell should we trust you?" Yushirō asks, and Shimizu's far more surprised that it took him this long to say something than that he's protesting in the first place. "Tamayo-sama, please reconsider. This one doesn't have a blade on her, but she carries herself like a Demon Slayer would. I bet she's just trying to lull you into a false sense of security so she can take your head!"

Considering that's a pretty damning argument about her even when accounting for all of Yushirō's paranoia, Shimizu shouldn't feel as pleased as she should about being recognized as a Slayer without a uniform or blade, but damn does it feel good. Her training's been paying off, gosh darn it, and she won't let anyone take this moment away from here.

"Hey, what are you smiling about?"

"Yushirō." Oh, there's the disappointed Tamayo tone again. Yeah, Shimizu wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that, either. "You're being rude. Yes, Shimizu-san may have such skills, but I think that she hasn't brought a weapon with her is proof enough that she is at least worth hearing out." I'll just keep the fact that I didn't bring a sword because I don't have one to myself, yeah? "Please, forgive him. I think you already have an understanding of why we would be wary of anyone seeking us out."

"Yes, I do. And I'm sorry to do this. I just…want to be able to defeat Muzan, no matter what. And I don't think that's possible without asking for your help." Ah, when she words it like that, Even Shimizu thinks it sounds a little pathetic, but what else is she supposed to do? She can't back out now. Man, she sure lucked out with Tanjirō being able to smell her sincerity. If she could, Shimizu would dip down into a dogeza, but that's kind of out when you're stuck in a bed. "Please. Whatever I can do to make you believe me, I will. I'll work in the clinic. I'll go out and hunt demons to collect blood samples. Just say the word, and I'll do it, Tamayo-san. Just… please.

"Please help me."

Shimizu feels like crying. No, scratch that: she's already crying. Still feels like crying more, though. Curling up in a ball in the process would also be nice. Shimizu could use a hug or two or thirty. While she ended up embracing her life in the world of Kimetsu, it's in that very moment that Shimizu finds herself wishing she was just a kid binging manga again, without a care of the world.

But that me died a long time ago. And this time, things will be different. If she doesn't convince Tamayo to help, then, then—well, she doesn't know, but she'll try something!

"Please. There's no need to beg." Shimizu accepts the handkerchief being handed to her, and the look on Yushirō's face is screaming something along the lines of Tamayo-sama is so kind! "I will admit I am hesitant. I have worked hard to keep myself hidden from Kibutsuji for centuries, and now I also have Yushirō to worry about. But I…also dream of a world where no one has to fear him ever again. And if you think such a thing is possible, I will give it my best effort. However, if there is any sign at all that you are in fact aiming to betray us…"

Scratch Shimizu's earlier thought. She gets the feeling Tamayo's Blood Demon Art could be a very nasty way to die, if she so willed it. Whatever desecration Yushirō would put Shimizu's corpse through in the aftermath would be a kindness.

"I understand. I promise. I just want to help everyone." Human or demon—Muzan just ever wanted to make a world for himself. It would be a kindness to everyone to eliminate him. There's no way that handkerchief is going to survive the waterworks Shimizu is about to put it through. "Th-thank you. I can't even begin to say how much your trust means." It's a precious gift, one that Shimizu can't afford to waste.

"We can discuss the particulars after you get some rest, Shimizu-san. I assume you'll let me get you some food now?"

Not one to argue with doctor's orders, Shimizu nods and tries to make herself presentable by the time she has some mochi and tea brought to her clinic bedside.

Task number two for changing the route of Canon, done.

Just a million more to go.

[Author's Notes]

Shimizu has, shall we say, a fuck ton of work to do. She's doing her best, though!

Thanks to JustBr1an298, Lucifer_Archangel, ToonyTwilight, Neon Silhouette, AofX, and amgs for the comments! I love seeing so many recurring names; you're all the best.

We're moving right along. Shimizu has gained an ally (and one reluctant Yushirō)! And also a bunch of PTSD, but that was to be expected. One step at a time!

It's time for me to promote [Twelve Shots of Summer] again! This year, I'm writing a one shot collection for one of my The World Ends with You OCs, and it's titled As the Fox. Go check it (and the other writers out on the fanfic dot net forums) if you so like.

What walk steady thing am I posting next month? I haven't the foggiest! See you in July, so please look forward to it!

-Avi

[16 June 2024]