Chapter Text
“Get away…”
The girl in the bloodstained pink kimono stared at the man in front of her, slowly walking back. He was covered in blood, but seemed unbothered by it. Even in such a cloudy day with heavy snow, she could see his face clearly enough to have it burned into her mind. Red, lifeless eyes. Tall figure. Pale skin contrasted by dark hair. He dressed in clothes much too fancy for how careless he’d been staining them with the blood of her family.
Tanjiro … Thoughts of her brother came in this moment of desperation. Where is he?! Why hasn’t he come back?!
The man walked forward as Nezuko stepped back. Her little brother clung to her kimono as he hid behind her. Neither him nor Nezuko could bring themselves to cry, no matter how badly they wanted to.
“G… Get away!” cried the girl. “Get away! You horrible man!”
She gasped at her own words. Once she saw his expression twist from disinterest to vague anger, she cursed herself for allowing her temper to get the better of her when Takeo was in danger.
“…Is that how it’ll be?” the man spoke. The outstretched hand balled up into a fist, before raising a single finger, continuing to approach. She couldn’t help but stare at his sharp, dark fingernail getting closer. What was he gonna do? She’d seen what he was capable of—this man had murdered her family, feasting on their blood. She’d barely made it out of there alive along with Takeo. She wouldn’t let him suffer the same fate.
“Takeo… Run…” she commanded with shaky breath.
“N-Ne–”
“Run!” she interrupted his protest. “RUN!”
After a moment of hesitation, the young boy tried running away in spite of the thick snow. Nezuko didn’t even look at him. Instead, she continued to stare at the figure in front of her, this time with a scowl in place of fear. She was prepared to fight this… this demon , even knowing it’d be the death of her, so long as Takeo was safe.
To her dismay, the figure shoved her to the ground with a single push, immediately dashing away in Takeo’s direction. As she scrambled to get up, Nezuko heard a brief cry, then a thud. She gasped, standing up with difficulty to rush to her little brother’s aid. “Takeo!?” she called. The man wasn’t there anymore, but her brother was. He laid unconscious on the snow, a bloody gash on the side of his neck.
Cover art by JoyTheBoi (me)
An axe struck against wood. Then again. Then again. Then once more, before the tree came down. “It’s so unfair,” complained the boy. “He was supposed to accompany me today.”
“Oh?” the girl in the pristine pink kimono teases with a grin. “Is my company not enough?”
The boy scoffs. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Takeo… We can’t be keeping Tanji–”
“I know!” Takeo exclaimed, bringing his axe down on the fallen trunk. “I know we can’t keep him here. Doesn’t mean I can’t be upset about it.” He shook snow from his black hair—hair that every Kamado shared, save for their brother Tanjiro.
He makes a good point , Nezuko thought to herself, shifting to try and get more comfortable, finding that, surprisingly, sitting on a tree stump wasn’t exactly the best thing. “I’d at least like you to look at the bright side. He’s out there trying to sell as much charcoal as he can so that we can have a good feast this New Year’s.”
Takeo huffed, continuing to strike at the logs with his axe. “I suppose.”
“…And, the rest of our siblings miss him too, you know? You saw how I had to calm Rokuta.”
He stopped chopping for just a second. “…I know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. Just focus on chopping for now, the way Tanjiro would if he were here! Make sure we have all that we’ll need!” she beamed.
That attitude… Takeo allowed himself to smile for a little bit. His older sister could be so energetic. He gladly resumed his chopping.
“Still,” Nezuko continued, “I wish I could help you like how Tanjiro would. He sure has a way of overworking himself, and I don’t like that you’re the only one left to do this when he’s gone.”
After another swing of his axe that pretty expertly split a log in half, Takeo nodded. “Yeah, but it won’t be too many years until Shigeru’s old enough to start helping out.”
At this, Nezuko looked concerned. “I know… I just wish mom would let me do this kind of thing.”
“You know that’s not the kind of work for you,” a feminine voice replied, causing Nezuko to quickly turn around.
“M–Mom!”
Her mother, Kie, giggled, footsteps crunching the snow beneath her as she walked towards them. “You’ve got a great heart, Nezuko. I’m sure you’ll be a fantastic mother when you’re older—the kind that can do just about anything she has to. But for now… what I really need is help in the house.”
Nezuko sighed, smiling. “I know, I know. And you know I love to help when I can.” She could never bring herself to disagree with her mom—she loved her too much.
“That’s my girl. Honestly, you kids grow up so fast. You’re growing into a little woman right in front of me.” Carefully, she walked over to Takeo, catching him by surprise as she pinched his cheek—the right one, with the emblematic little dot on it. “And you’re growing into a little man!”
“Mom…!” the boy bashfully retorted, eliciting a muffled laugh from his mom.
The woman walked back to Nezuko, taking advantage of Takeo’s woodchopping concentration to whisper. “Thanks for keeping him company while Tanjiro’s away, Nezuko.”
The girl smiled at that. “It’s no problem at all.”
“I’m gonna go call over the rest of your siblings and stay here for a bit. You can go rest.”
“I like being here better,” Nezuko reassured, placing a hand on her mom’s shoulder. “Although I’d still like you to call for everyone else.”
“Goodness, Nezuko,” her mother grinned. “You really care about your siblings, don’t you?”
She simply nodded. “More than anything in the world.”
“Oh dear,” Kie exclaimed. “Hanako wins again.”
Hanako cheered at her victory, all her siblings looking dejected or exhausted.
“No fair,” Shigeru pouted. “Hanako never loses at Higo-bana!”
Kie giggled. “No mercy, even against your little brother, right, Hanako?”
Hanako laughed, pridefully flipping her hair with an exaggerated grin. Kie pat Shigeru’s shaved head as if to comfort him as Nezuko began to put away the hanafuda playing card set they’d been using.
“Wait, not yet!” the boy protested. “I’ll beat her this time!”
Takeo scoffed. “We played 13 rounds and nobody beat her.”
Rokuta, the youngest of the Kamado siblings, nodded. “A–And Takeo has to go back to getting wood, right?”
Kie wrapped an arm around the young boy, humming in agreement. “That’s right, Rokuta. Your brother’s bravely facing this weather head on so we can have more charcoal.”
Takeo shrugged, picking up his axe and slinging it over his shoulder. “It’s not that bad. I have a feeling it’ll be worse tomorrow, though.”
Hanako nodded. “The snow’s already really hard to walk through.”
“Do you think Tanjiro’s gonna be fine walking through all that snow?” asked Shigeru, with that kind of worried look only a child can give.
In turn, Rokuta exclaimed “Yes he will!” with the confidence only a child could have. “I know he can do it.”
Their mother giggled. “Rokuta, you really believe in your brother, don’t you?”
Takeo huffed. “He shouldn’t be putting himself in danger.”
“Takeo,” Nezuko sat up, reaching for her brother’s scarf and adjusting it. “There. It was lopsided. But, I believe you’re right. If it gets too late or dangerous out there, Tanjiro should probably stay.”
“Yeah,” Hanako added. “He shouldn’t have any trouble finding where to stay—anyone in the village would be happy to have him.”
“Not everyone,” Kie remarked. “You’ve seen how the girls in the village look at Tanjiro. Their fathers probably wouldn’t want him in the house.”
Laughter erupted from the Kamado siblings at their mother’s comment—except Rokuta. “Why wouldn’t they want Tanjiro in the house? He’s so fun!” The boy was much too innocent to understand what they meant—although truth be told, only Nezuko and Takeo got it, with Hanako and Shigeru’s mind drifting towards the idea of Tanjiro secretly holding hands with the girls. Scandalous.
One foot already out the door, Takeo chuckled at his brother’s reply. “You’ll get it when you’re older.” With that, he left to resume his woodchopping. Once more, Nezuko went to accompany him. She’d suggested to her mother that they could switch, having Kie accompany Takeo and having Nezuko take care of the kids, but she didn’t want to burden Nezuko if there wasn’t a need to. It seemed she still didn’t get that Nezuko truly didn’t consider this a burden.
Nezuko looked back at her siblings and mother before stepping out. Honestly, their life wasn’t easy, and it had only gotten harder since the death of their father. Even then, she wouldn’t give it up for the world. In this moment, she stared at the faces of those she loved most—minus Takeo and Tanjiro—and she knew, so long as they were there, she could handle whatever life threw at her.
“Isn’t it getting late, Takeo?”
“It’s gonna snow hard tomorrow,” the boy replied. “I just know it. I have to gather as much wood as I can tonight.”
“Takeo…” his older sister beckoned. “You don’t need to put yourself through this, you know?”
“Tanjiro–”
“Tanjiro is 13, and the oldest. He puts himself through the kinds of things the man of the house is expected to. Even then, I still think he works himself too hard, but he knows when to rest.”
He split another log in half. “He wouldn’t be resting now.”
“Yes, he would.”
The boy frowned, snapping at his sister with a “How would you know that?!”
“Because he’s not back yet,” she replied.
Silence. Takeo thought about it. He struck his axe down to hit another log. “You’re right. He must be resting.”
“Yeah. So… please?”
“…Just ten more minutes.”
Nezuko smiled. “Ten more minutes.”
Only four minutes passed before they heard screams coming from their cabin. The scene that greeted them when they rushed back was… horrifying.
Blood lined every part of their humble house; the floor, the walls—some had somehow managed to get to the ceiling. The mangled corpses of their family were spread out. The trails of blood and their separation seemed to imply a struggle, running from one part of the room to another as they tried to escape from whatever had done this to them. Most horrifying of all, to her, was Rokuta’s corpse near the entrance. He was undoubtedly dead, but he was still the least harmed. He must’ve been the last one. Everyone else must’ve told him to run away.
Nezuko kneeled by his body, holding him. This bloodied her once-pristine kimono, but she couldn’t care at all right now. Takeo simply looked away, unable to process what he saw. Both of them were too shocked to cry. They only snapped out of their trance when they heard footsteps.
When they turned, they were greeted with the sight of a man covered in blood from head to toe. Around his mouth, on his hands, staining his unique outfit.
“Oh. I missed two of them.”
Takeo and Nezuko ran away.
Takeo’s body was too heavy. Nezuko was too weak to carry it through the thick snow. She cursed every moment she let anyone stop her from training to do manual labor. Tanjiro could carry him the same way he could carry coal. He’d make it to a village in time. She wouldn’t. Sometimes they’d use a cart to carry the coal—a cart Takeo would fit in, and that would make it easier for her to carry him. Yet, that was back in the cabin, and they’d already run too far away. Not to mention the snow was too much for the wheels to properly function.
What do I do?! Takeo…! She dropped to the floor, arms and legs giving in as, leaving her unable to carry her brother any longer. She was exhausted from… everything that had happened. She got up, attempting to drag his body instead. It was too difficult, and he could get scraped by rocks. In frustration at the hopelessness of the situation, the barrier that had been preventing Nezuko from shedding tears finally shattered. The shock of it all hit her at once. She couldn’t see anything, and wiping her tears away felt useless; new ones sprouted immediately. The cold made them sting so much worse.
Before she could even get up to continue attempting to save her brother, he got up by himself.
“T–Takeo! Thank goodness! Can you walk–?!”
Before she could even finish, her brother leapt at her, pinning her to the ground. “Takeo?!” she called out. She tried pushing him away, and as soon as her tears dissipated, she saw a sight that horrified her: her brother’s eyes were slitted. His teeth were sharp, like fangs. With difficulty, she pushed him off of her, not realizing she pushed him downhill. As he slid, he grabbed Nezuko her ankle, dragging her with him.
They fell downhill together, and when they finally landed, Takeo tried attacking again. Nezuko rolled away from the attack, managing to get up before cautiously walking backwards. “Takeo?!”
He lunged at her once more, at which point Nezuko raised a kick, striking her brother in the arm and sending him to the floor. And yet, he got up as quickly as he fell, attempting his attack again. Nezuko dodged out of the way, grabbing his axe from the sheath on his side. This proved wise, as his next attack finally pinned her back down. She held out the axe on its side, Takeo biting into it as he attempted to bite his sister.
“What’s gotten into you?!” she cried. “Takeo! It’s me! Nezuko! Your big sister Nezuko!” Tears ran down her cheeks once more. “Please…”
To her dismay, Takeo grew in size, gaining more muscle mass. It became harder to keep him at bay, his face inching closer. Nezuko could look into his eyes and see a sad truth: her brother wasn’t in there. The stories of demons were real. Of course… That man could’ve only been a demon. He had gone after the boy on purpose.
With a heavy heart, Nezuko realized what she had to do. She looked to the side as she struggled to hold off her brother, locating a boulder. She’d have to let go and reach for the rock, bashing him over the head with it. She would have to kill one of the last remaining members of her family. Before she forced herself to do something so horrible, she had to try one last time to rescue her brother from what had taken him.
“Takeo… Hold out… Please! You’ve always been strong for the family… Be strong one more time! Don’t make your sister k… Don’t make me do this…!”
Her tears streaming down her cheeks made it hard to notice when one of Takeo’s own tears fell on her face. She only noticed once he stopped struggling, at which point he began sobbing.
Nezuko heard quick footsteps. For a second, she thought the demon had returned. She held Takeo close and just barely rolled away from the incoming strike, a blade tangled in her hair that had been tied up in a bun. When she got up, she noticed it had been entirely chopped off.
“Get away.” The man that stood in front of her was certainly striking. He wore a colorful haori on top of some odd uniform, with long spiky hair and a ponytail. “That thing’s a demon.”
“Wait!” she begged. “He’s still in there! My brother!”
“It was attacking you.” The man’s katana clicked as he unsheathed it once more. Nezuko stood in front of her brother, defying the armed man, prompting him to sigh. “Whoever you think that was, he’s not in there anymore.”
“He is! I got him to stop attacking me, s–so he’s…”
“Impossible. Demons feast on flesh indiscriminately. You wouldn’t be the first person killed by a sibling-turned-demon, and you will most likely not be the last. Step away.”
“I can bring him back! Plea–!”
She was shoved aside by her brother, who tried running at the man. Nezuko held him back, arms wrapped around him. “Stop!”
“Don’t you see his hostility?”
In one swift move, he’d taken the boy away from Nezuko’s grasp and into his, holding a sword to his neck. The demon boy found that the bladed man’s grasp was such that even at such a close distance, he could hardly attack, teeth and hands unable to reach him.
“You don’t get it!” she yelled. “A man… a demon… He murdered them! My entire family!” She kneeled, letting tears fall to the snow. “I don’t know where my older brother is, so Takeo is all I have left! He’s the only one I can still protect! So please…” She rested in a pleading position, arms outstretched in front of her.
For a second, the man regarded the young, pleading girl. “And this is how you’re choosing to approach this?” he asked. “You're gonna sit there while I have a sword to his neck?!”
“…I don’t stand a chance at fighting you,” she said. “If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.” She got up, grasping her brother’s axe in a fighting stance. “But I’m not strong.”
“Strength isn’t all there is. You need technique, but more than anything, it’s about willpower. Sometimes it’s the will to get stronger so you can protect those you love, but often… it’s about having the will to fight knowing you don’t stand a chance. Tell me, do you think you can save your brother, even when nobody else has been able to?”
Nezuko grinned. “I’m good at taking my chances.”
“Then prove it.”
With that, she kicked a boulder in the strange man’s direction before running at him with axe in hand.
The man simply stepped aside, cringing at the stone breaking against the tree behind him and wondering how she had the strength to kick such a big boulder. He stepped aside once more as she swung her axe, causing it to sink into the bark of the same tree. As she tried removing it, he delivered a simple hit with the blunt end of his katana to knock her unconscious.
She’s got guts. She’s missing technique. As he tried stepping away, he felt something grab him by the leg. He looked down to see the girl he’d just knocked unconscious clinging onto him.
“Let him… go…!” she weakly demanded. She reached for a piece of the boulder that had broken, and just as she placed her hand on it, she went unconscious once more.
Nobody could tank a hit like that. Or rather, nobody at her level. Hashira, Moons, particularly high-ranking slayers, they could’ve. She shouldn’t have. Willpower.
In his distraction, the demon shoved him away, freeing itself from his grasp.
“Dammit!” the slayer exclaimed. He readied his sword, ready to strike before the demon could eat its unconscious sister. And then he paused once he realized it didn’t. The demon, instead, stood in front of her as he faced Giyu. A spotless body that wouldn’t fight back lay right there on the ground, and as opposed to feeding, the demon guarded it.
It had just transformed, it was wounded, it had been fighting. Now more than ever, he needed to replenish energy. And there he was, protecting his sister.
“He’s still in there!”
He’d never seen anything like it. Maybe…
The demon took the axe from the tree, running to attack. Giyu knocked him unconscious as well.
“I’m sorry, Nezuko,” weeped her mother. “I’ve burdened you with taking care of us again, haven’t I? Please, care for your brother as best you can…”
The girl woke up with tears in her eyes, finding her brother lying next to her, wrapped in a blanket. He had a piece of stuffed bamboo tied around his mouth as a makeshift muzzle.
“Good, you’re awake.”
She quickly sat up, spinning around to the source of the sound, locating her attacker. She reached for Takeo’s axe.
“Calm down. Listen very closely.” He knelt down in front of her. “Go see an old man named Urokodaki Sakonji who lives at the foot of Mount Sagiri. Tell him Tomioka Giyu sent you. It’s still nighttime, so your brother should be fine. If tomorrow’s cloudy, it might be safe, but you can’t let him get hit by direct sunlight.”
With that, he stepped away, nowhere to be seen.
Tomioka Giyu. Urokodaki Sakonji. Mount Sagiri. She stood up, offering her brother her hand. Once they were both up, she pat his shoulders.
“…Let’s go to the village so we can check if Tanjiro’s back.”
The boy nodded.
The villagers hadn’t seen Tanjiro after he’d finished selling coal. Old man Saburo had offered him to sleep in the house since it was getting dark, but he’d refused. Nezuko and Takeo, with heavy hearts, buried their dead, said a little prayer, and waited. After waiting, Nezuko decided to clean her kimono of bloodstains. After that, they waited until daytime, and then a little bit more, but their older brother never came.
The spots around their house and around the village had no sign of him. Granted, they didn’t want to spend too long searching—they felt that the earlier they could go to Mount Sagiri, the better—but finding him shouldn’t have taken long in the first place. And just when it all seemed hopeless, they finally found a trace of Tanjiro’s whereabouts.
A ripped, bloodied piece of cloth from his checkered haori, caught on a branch near a river. Nezuko sobbed softly as she held it close, lamenting that his body must’ve been carried by the river. She should’ve imagined that the demon had gone for him before going for her family—he would’ve been on his way to the cabin, after all.
Once she felt she’d grieved enough, she stashed the cloth away and took Takeo’s hand. “Let’s go.” Together, they went to find Urokodaki.