Chapter Text
Time.
Among the siblings, Kamado Nezuko had always had the messiest relationship with time. And it was because of sleep.
She often had to fight back sleep at random times throughout the day, disrupting her chores. She always fell asleep when resting, even if she simply wanted to sit still and appreciate the world around her.
And that was the least of her worries when it came to sleep.
She slept the longest in the family and was the hardest to wake up, no matter how many hours of rest she may have gotten. She had always lamented that last trait since it brought the most trouble to her family.
And her older brother’s ability to wake up immediately at the time he wanted made her feel slightly worse about it.
Nezuko had managed to get herself to like the sensation of falling and staying asleep. She convinced herself it was good to the point that she didn’t have to lie when she proclaimed how much she loved it.
It was simply the time lost she hated and had left unsaid over the years.
This quirk influenced her life as a demon, manifesting as the ability to gain energy from sleeping instead of eating. That was the first time she had truly appreciated her strange propensity for sleep.
But it still came with a downside. Nezuko, as a demon, didn’t realize how much she was sleeping until she regained all her memories when she was turning back into a human.
She had lost two entire years to a coma and the majority of the following year sleeping in between missions. As she thought back to all the people she had met as a demon but would never get the chance to as a human, she regretted having spent so little time with them.
Nezuko knew as much as any other sensible person that she shouldn’t dwell so much on the past. And she has been trying her best not to. She knew that she shouldn’t be fantasizing so much either, but she couldn’t help but live vicariously through the rare dreams she got during her spontaneous sleeping sessions.
Back when everything was simpler, her dreams were more abstract. They were confusing but also filled with wonder and whimsy that would stay, not in her mind, but in her heart when she awoke.
But after she had become a demon, her dreams had almost exclusively been of her memories. It allowed her to revisit both the good and the bad. She clung on tightly to the good, desperately wishing the past wasn’t just the past.
This change in her dreamscape followed her into her regained humanity. Often, she dreamt of the encounters she had with people who were no longer around. It made her happy initially, but it made waking up harder and harder each time.
Thankfully, Nezuko still had her older brother and their friends. She wasn’t completely alone. She could tell they also had their own regrets and pain to sort through after such a big war. But they made one another happy and got each other through each demon-free day.
So she never stayed down for so long. It was uncharacteristic of a Kamado to stay despondent for an extended period of time anyway, so she was quickly able to put a smile on her face and energetically move through the tasks of the day until the sleepiness hit her as it always did.
Everyone, including her, was having a difficult time adjusting to the massive change in their lives brought by the final battle, but each day was easier than the last until they almost didn’t notice how many months had passed if not for the calendar that was gifted to them.
She often hoped that these peaceful days would stretch on until they had passed on to meet their loved ones in the afterlife.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
A year after the defeat of the Demon King, Nezuko was dreaming yet again.
Once more, it was when she regained all her lost memories as she rushed to save Tanjiro. Her dreams didn’t usually coincide with the anniversaries of the memories they would show her, but she supposed it was only right that she would remember her return to being a human exactly a year after the event.
Once more, she saw the dead. She saw her family, she saw their last moments, she saw how Muzan expressed his disappointment at his own work, she saw her brother’s tear-streaked face, she saw the snowy confrontation with Tomioka Giyuu, the meeting with Urokodaki Sakonji, and so much more.
But she focused on the people she could no longer make more memories with. She saw herself hugging Tamayo, she saw Kocho Shinobu watching over her as she watched her goldfish, she saw Rengoku Kyojurou giving her an approving look as he passed by her in the flesh-infested train, she saw Kanroji Mitsuri beaming as they played, she saw Tokito Muichiro bonding with his crow, and she saw Shinazugawa Genya congratulating her again on conquering the sun after his recovery.
Deep down, she felt some guilt for not having met the others who had perished.
No matter how much she didn’t like the idea of Iguro Obanai crushing on Mitsuri, she respected him for his efforts in the fight against Muzan and his cooperation with her older brother. She wondered if her opinion of him could’ve changed even further, like it did with Shinazugawa Sanemi, if she could only have interacted with him after the Hashira meeting that tested her will.
Her opinion of Himejima Gyomei certainly has changed from word of mouth alone. She remembered seeing him briefly and being quite intimidated by the large, crying man.
But then Tanjiro had told her about his love for cats, about how he had cared for orphans, and she came to learn from Tsuyuri Kanao and Kanzaki Aoi that he had temporarily been the caretaker of the Kocho sisters. She couldn’t help but admire the Stone Hashira for having a heart of gentleness despite the body he has built for violence.
Nezuko’s pondering was disrupted as she started hearing more and more voices in the dream. It was when she had arrived at the battlefield with the morning sun shining light on all of the destruction and bloodshed. She tore herself away from her past self that was surrounded by Kakushi and barreling through the ruins to get to Giyuu and Tanjiro in the distance.
The ensuing scene had stayed in her conscience enough to have it burned into her eyelids. She didn’t need a reminder.
She opted instead to look around at everyone else. She noted how Sanemi lay completely wrapped in bandages. Some of the Kakushi were still trying to calm down from the high of victory, while others were tending to the wounds of other slayers.
Far off, she could spot Kanao being tended to by one of the Kakushi. To the side, she heard Agatsuma Zenitsu sniveling as he imparted what he thought would be his last words.
And just as she glanced elsewhere to look for a certain slayer with a boar’s head, she suddenly felt the familiar sensation of waking up from a particularly long and deep nap…
.
.
.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
.
.
.
“...-suke!”
Nezuko groaned as she slowly came to. She was lying on her side while also somehow in motion. Was she riding on something? Given that she had just heard someone call out the wild boy’s name, she assumed she had been riding on his back on the way to the Butterfly Mansion again.
The voice sounded like her brother. Maybe Tanjiro realized they left something behind and caught up to them.
But something felt off about the situation she thought herself to be in. And there were strange noises that she never expected to hear from her friend. He sounded like he was made of …wood? That can’t be it. Hashibira Inosuke never made sounds like that.
Sure, he had made noises everyone thought humanly impossible, but never so much like an actual object. And she never fell asleep on Inosuke during such trips. She wouldn’t let herself out of guilt. That, and it was hard to fall asleep while sitting up with nothing to lean on.
“-not lettin’ ya!” She heard the boar-head-wearing boy yell, strangely not right under her. This perplexed Nezuko even more. Where was she then if not on his back?
She finally opened her eyes and sat up, slowly rousing herself from her drowsiness.
She turned out to be on a moving cart, which explained the wooden sounds that had confused her when she was still half-asleep. She sat up and removed her head from where it was placed on a sleeping Zenitsu’s lap, rubbing her eyes as she looked at where the argument was occurring.
“Inosuke, please! You’ve had your turn for over seven hours now!” Tanjiro pleaded in an exasperated tone. She spotted him walking out front beside the cart, with his right hand on the handle as he pleaded with the boar-headed boy pushing them.
Apart from herself and Zenitsu, the cart also contained their belongings, a generous amount of packed food, some gifts, and various offerings. The offerings were so numerous that they were the heaviest of the cart’s contents.
It made sense that Tanjiro was worried. Pushing a cart around for seven hours was already a daunting task, to do so with people and so much luggage on it was even worse. Among the survivors of the final battle, Inosuke was the one who had stayed the closest to his peak, and he was quite proud of that fact. But that didn’t mean he was invincible and tireless.
“Shaddup, Kotaro! I’m the strongest of us all, so as the Lord of the Mountain, I will pull this thing the longest!” Inosuke huffed and puffed, both in stubbornness and from the exhaustion he should have been feeling by then if Tanjiro’s words were to be taken seriously. “We’re close to that celery place now anyway!”
“It’s called a ‘cemetery’...” Mumbled Zenitsu, who was responding even if he was still asleep.
Nezuko had already learned that her sleepfighting partner had enhanced hearing, which led to quite the interesting and entertaining interactions in their odd little family while he was unconscious.
“HAH? What’s that, Monitsu?!” Inosuke yelled as if he had been challenged to a fight.
The blond only whined lowly and moved to cover his ears in response, his lower body now free from the burden of Nezuko sleeping on him.
“Let’s not fight, okay?” Nezuko tried to mediate as she put a hand in Zenitsu’s hair. She then pouted in the direction of the noisiest person in the group.
“Also, Inosuke, a big, strong boss like you should rest too! What’s the use of having minions if they don’t get to work for you?”
“Exactly! Let me have this so you can rest up!” Tanjiro interjected. The boy with the boar head seemed to contemplate this for a little while, but eventually refused again.
Nezuko frowned, on purpose, and tried to sound as pouty as she could.
“Fine, then we won’t let you join the race to give the most offerings.” She huffed while crossing her arms, hoping she had pressed the right buttons.
“WHAT?! Nooooo! Okay, fine! You take it, Santaro.” The cart stopped moving as the exchange finally happened. Tanjiro had long stopped bothering to correct Inosuke and simply sighed in relief at finally being listened to. Her older brother shuffled a bit to adjust his left arm to maintain some balance before he resumed the journey.
Inosuke begrudgingly hopped onto the cart and slumped down on the empty seat in front of Nezuko, oozing with grumpiness despite his face being concealed. The former demon smiled and patted him on the head before asking if he was too sore somewhere. He didn’t answer, but she decided to massage his legs and feet.
He ended up relaxing and then giving her that look he always gave when he was about to follow her around like a duckling. It was quite entertaining how easy it was to read Inosuke’s mood despite the boar head covering his expressions.
“Onii-chan, how far along are we?” Nezuko asked as she turned her head to address her brother properly. Tanjiro responded with a thoughtful hum as he tilted his head up.
“Hmmm, I think we’re less than two hours away.” He answered almost absent-mindedly, obviously unsure since he had never taken the route they were on before.
“You made me stop when I can still go for three hours?!” Inosuke quickly yelled.
“Inosuke, your legs are already so sore. If you kept walking and pulling us for that long, they’d start to swell.” Nezuko promptly squeezed one of his feet a tad harder, and the boy let out a tiny yelp before lowering his head in what seemed like shame.
“O-okay…”
“Anyways, did we receive any news on who else might be there?” The girl asked after a beat of silence. She did not miss the way her older brother’s face lit up at the question.
“Oh! Kanzaburou dropped by and told me that Giyuu-san was able to find time to visit and say hello!”
“That’s great news! I haven’t seen him in such a long time.” Nezuko smiled wistfully as she tried to recall when she had last met the blue-eyed man.
“But Ol’ Scarface isn’t coming.” Inosuke let out an indignant huff as he lay back.
At this, Nezuko’s eyes widened. “Awww… Did he say why not?”
“Kiriya-kun told me via crow that he had already visited a few days ago. It would be too much to trouble him to come over again so soon just so we can meet.” Tanjiro explained with some dejection mixed into his tone.
She could understand why the older Kamado felt that way. Seeing Shinazugawa Sanemi had become a rare but welcome occurrence for the Kamado family - most of them anyway, Zenitsu openly glared at him every time - so most of their interactions were limited to one-sided letters and equally one-sided gifts.
It was through the Ubuyashikis that they learned that the former Wind Hashira had taken to travelling around Japan since the disbanding of the Corps, starting with the areas he had been defending, but never truly learned to appreciate.
Nezuko was glad that he was trying to make the most of the few years he had left in that manner, but a selfish part of her wanted to see him around more. But as much as she wanted him to be outright with the gift-giving, she could understand why he chose to be sneaky.
From what she’s learned so far, Sanemi was even more averse to showing vulnerability than some of the other Hashira. She supposed that he wasn’t content to be fully soft even after wartime, not after everything he had gone through.
And she had a hunch that his early visit to the Corps’ cemetery was a way for him to intentionally avoid having others around as he spent time with his comrades and loved ones’ graves. It made all too much sense that he would want privacy at such a solemn place around such a contentious date.
Her heart had begun to grow heavy from the contemplation when Tanjiro’s voice snapped her out of her thinking, which she was grateful for. It would do her no good to feel sorry for so long, so she would try to go back to living in the moment as Kamados were prone to doing.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
At one point during the ride, Nezuko hopped off the cart to walk alongside her brother and assist him a little. She had started to become ansty from her own lack of motion, and she couldn’t bear to sit a second longer as her weakened sibling hauled all of their weight. Inosuke snored away while a now-awake Zenitsu tried to keep a conversation going between them.
Tanjiro had protested a bit, but she eventually managed to convince him to just let her help, and he relented.
She really didn’t know what to do with him sometimes. Always so willing to help. Always so selfless. The red-haired boy never knew how to think for himself enough to keep her assured that he wouldn’t get overworked if left on his own.
“I can hear them! They’re near!” Zenitsu suddenly exclaimed, causing Inosuke to stir slightly as Tanjiro and Nezuko snapped to attention.
“Oh! He’s right. I can smell them now!” Added Tanjiro, a big grin on his face.
All three of them looked eagerly in the direction of the location they were approaching, knowing who they would find once they got there. Somehow, both Kamados gained a pep in their steps despite their shared exhaustion from pushing the heavy cart.
Zenitsu got to work, and by work, it meant waking Inosuke up from his fatigue-fuelled nap. Nezuko could already tell it was going to get noisy very soon.
As they rounded the corner and came upon an area where visitors commonly held picnics, they spotted several people already there. The Butterfly Girls immediately bounced with energy upon their arrival, while the Ubuyashiki triplets simply smiled excitedly at them.
“Welcome, Kamado household!” Kiriya, Kuina, and Kanata all exclaimed in sync, which drew a shivering noise from Zenitsu. There was a beat of silence before the Ubuyashikis burst into giggles.
She was glad to see the triplets having fun and acting more their age. It’s only what they deserved and more for being burdened with that dreaded curse and the pressure of leading the Corps from such a young age. Seeing them ease up even after the loss of their own parents and sisters was a relief.
“I’m so glad to see you all again!” Tanjiro easily replied while Nezuko waved at them. Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho were quick to swarm the group while Aoi stayed a bit away to watch the chaos unfold with barely any care.
“You got here earlier than we thought you would.” Kanao then approached them as the youngest Butterfly Girls started working on waking the boar boy up.
“Ah, well, Inosuke over there had been lugging us for almost half a day in total. He almost never let us trade places…” It almost seemed as if Tanjiro was hoping for a doctor’s opinion to prove his worries correct.
Kanao gasped lightly. “He shouldn’t be pushing himself that hard!”
“How about you go and tell him that, Kanao-nee?” Nezuko butted in, watching happily as the girl she was referring to got flustered.
“I-I told you not to call me that!” She squeaked out while trying to avoid a certain someone’s clueless gaze. That certain someone tilted his head with a confused expression.
“Well, you are older than Nezuko is, Kanao. Besides, she’s a great younger sister, and I bet you’d be a great older sister to her!”
“!!!!” Kanao covered her face and had slowly started turning red. Nezuko truly could not believe that Tanjiro could get her and Zenitsu together, yet was too oblivious to Kanao’s feelings towards him. At least he was aware of his own feelings now, but had yet to act on them.
“Okay, that’s enough. We need our resident doctor to check on Inosuke’s legs.” Aoi suddenly stepped in and steered the shy girl away from the Kamados.
Nezuko had to stifle a grin as she saw Kiriya stare at her brother, dumbfounded by his denseness. He glanced at her as if to ask, ‘This was the guy with insane battle intuition?’, and it took all she could not to burst out laughing on the spot.
Thankfully, Kuina was there to give them all a look that conveyed a threat to slap them if they got on her nerves.
She sheepishly gave an apologetic look before all of their attention was drawn to loud yelling from the cart. Inosuke had finally woken from his nap and he was both energetic AND sore all over, a very bad combo for anyone who didn’t want to hear his voice.
Zenitsu trudged over to them with his hands over his ears.
“I wish my ears were what got weaker, not my legs…!” The yellow-haired boy whined.
“But I think it’s great that you all still get to have your enhanced senses.” Nezuko comforted him, to which he snapped his head in her direction as if he had been given an epiphany.
“You’re so right, Nezuko-chan! You think my hearing is cool, right? Right?!” And once again, he had her hands clasped in his just like when he had proposed to her just recently.
“Yes, yes. You’re very cool, Zenitsu-kun.” She answered sweetly.
Tanjiro watched this with an expression that looked like a mixture of pride, amusement, and bittersweet reflection. He then sniffed the air before turning around just to catch a certain former Hashira quietly show up behind them.
“Giyuu-san!” Hearing this, Nezuko tore her eyes away from the Thunder Breathing user in front of her to look towards her older brother and her older brother figure.
“Hello.” Giyuu smiled softly and waved. “How have you all been?”
Nezuko rushed to give the black-haired man a hug, which he gladly returned and even widened to accompany Tanjiro.
“We’ve been great, Giyuu-san.” She answered, ignoring the Ubuyashiki triplets jokingly greeting him in sync as they would have back then and Zenitsu’s grumpy muttering in the background. “And you?”
“Slowly getting a hang of teaching non-demon slayers.” He chuckled while ruffling their hair.
Nezuko hummed as her brother went on to ask questions about all the students he had heard about from their letters to each other.
She remembered their shared surprise when they had found out through those same letters that Tomioka Giyuu had set up a dojo, where he took on willing students and trained them for free.
Their training would be nowhere near as strenuous as the one demon slayers had to go through to prepare their bodies to fight the supernatural, but they struggled all the same.
At one point, he had to turn to his old master for advice on how to teach youths that were new to the concept of fighting with swords. She remembered how smug Urokodaki was whenever he would bring up embarrassing stories about Giyuu when he was younger and much weaker.
“May we drop by the dojo and say hello sometime?” Tanjiro asked excitedly, red eyes sparkling at the idea.
“Yes, you may. Just let me know beforehand so I can prepare to host you all.” Giyuu himself seemed excited as well, though his energy was more subdued in comparison.
“HEY! Lemme fight your students and show them how powerful Lord Inosuke is!” The boar head-wearer cut in as a frustrated Aoi followed close by.
“It would be a good learning moment for them to spar with a former demon slayer, I suppose.” Gyuu mumbled, only for Aoi to rapidly shake her head.
“Tomioka-sama! Among the slayers, Inosuke was the one whose current state is closest to what it was before the final battle. I don’t think letting him fight innocent civilians is a good idea! Especially when he wants to prove how strong he is.” She pleaded while trying to hold Inosuke back from saying anything else.
“Is that so?” Giyuu hummed thoughtfully. “He’ll spar with me, then. Would that be better?”
Aoi shared a glance with Kanao off to the side for a moment before nodding and then letting go of the wild former slayer. “That would be more ideal, yes.”
“WOOHOO! I can finally spar with Tamio!!” Inosuke pumped his fists into the air and cheered.
“To-mi-o-ka.” Nezuko gently corrected him, which he genuinely considered for a second before rambling on about how strong he was that he had to be put up against a former Hashira instead of some ‘weaklings’.
“Of course they wouldn’t be that strong, you idiot! They don’t need to be because all the bad demons are gone!” Zenitsu started arguing with Inosuke on some of the points he was making, much to Aoi’s chagrin and the amusement of most of the people there.
Nezuko and Tanjiro looked at each other amidst the chaos and shared a laugh before they finally decided to help set the food out for everyone to enjoy as they spent time with each other.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
The gathering was lively and chaotic, but most of all fun. It was some of the most fun many of them had in a while.
The first to make any move to leave was Tomioka Giyuu, who excused himself as he stood up.
“It’s getting late.” He uttered as he stared up at the reddening sky. “I should start visiting the graves right now if I want to make it back on time…”
“What about you all? Do you want to visit them tonight as well? Or would you rather get to it tomorrow like you’ve planned?” Giyuu then asked.
“Ah, we’re still going tomorrow, to allow ourselves more time to rest from the journey, especially Inosuke…” Tanjiro answered somewhat sullenly, seeming like he was one word away from changing said plans if it meant making it so the former Water Hashira wasn’t lonely as he paid respects to his fallen comrades.
Kiriya appeared to have caught onto the elder Kamado’s consideration as he smoothly inserted himself into the conversation.
“It was a pleasure having you with us today, Tomioka-sama. I wish you luck and safety on your journey back after the visit. Please do write to us when you arrive at your estate.”
Giyuu looked like he had gotten shy from the respectfulness of the former Oyakata. Nezuko could relate; it was strange having someone who used to have so much power lower themselves to below your status.
The blue-eyed man seemed to have fallen back on old habits because of this, and he mutely nodded his head before quickly turning away and walking to the numerous graves in the cemetery.
Most of the others shouted their farewells at the retreating man before falling into contemplative silence with some idle chatter from those who weren’t paying that much attention.
“...Do you think he wanted someone to go with him?” Kanao then asked softly, drawing a look of sympathy from Tanjiro and Aoi. “It just felt like he was trying to be subtle about it.”
“I’m sure he would have said so if that was the case. Giyuu-san has opened up so much now, after all.” Nezuko reassured her.
“He’s awkward sometimes, but he’s a grown man who teaches a bunch of people in a dojo. If he wanted us to go with him so much, he could have scheduled better. He knew we were going tomorrow anyway.” Zenitsu tried to come off as huffy, but she knew he was just trying to give the others more reasons not to feel bad for Giyuu.
“You could have been nicer about it, Zen-kun. But you’re right. I got the sense he would rather be here with us than there with or without us.” She added.
And now the yellow-haired boy looked comically conflicted between being sad that he was scolded slightly and proud that she agreed with him.
“Maybe he wanted some privacy when it came to visiting those who passed on? Like Shinazugawa-san.” Tanjiro then suggested, mood lightening up a bit as he considered the possibility.
Kanao appeared to be quite reassured by that possibility as well. Giyuu had yet to let himself be emotionally vulnerable around her and the other Butterfly Girls. It was likely a side of himself he had only shown to Tanjiro and the Ubuyashikis.
“If Shinobu-sama were here, she would have teased him on and on about daring to want privacy when he has closed himself off from other people for so long.” Aoi remarked. This drew out some laughs from the group, though there was still some lingering bittersweetness.
Around a year has passed, and yet the wounds still stung, no matter how much better their lives have been since the eradication of man-eating demons. Those who gave their lives for their cause were sorely missed, and Kocho Shinobu was the furthest from being an exception.
She had taken in and cared for so many of them. It was hard not to wish to see her purple-tinted hair and beautiful smile again, even after all this time.
“Well, we can tell her all about it tomorrow!” Nezuko tried breaking the slight tension by being the optimistic one.
“We should probably go rest up for the night. The sooner we set out, the more time we can spend telling stories of all the shenanigans we got into this past year!”
Tanjiro gave her a slightly strange look before agreeing and then getting into cleaning up after themselves so that they could retire to their temporary residences and sleep the night away.
She knew what that look meant. It only came out when they knew a secret that they couldn’t tell the people they were with, and he wasn’t actively lying about it. And this time, the secret was the existence of ghosts.
Nezuko remembered the shocked looks they gave each other when their family welcomed them home. It resulted in them eventually having a heated storytelling session about all of the odd experiences they had with the supernatural that they thought had been hallucinations or imagination.
She narrated the many times their family woke her up to save her brother at crucial moments.
And Tanjiro then dropped the story of Sabito and Makomo, the older students of Urokodaki who never got to be demon slayers because of the Hand Demon.
Upon asking Zenitsu and Inosuke about their own experiences, they could only recall hazy dreams filled with emotions when they were close to death. Kanao reported that she had imagined her older sisters telling her she did well. Kiriya then told them that his father had instructed him from the afterlife to let Nezuko run to the battlefield.
They weren’t sure what to feel about ghosts existing. It was comforting to know that their loved ones had stayed with them so long. But it was also saddening to know that they must have watched them at their lowest, when they were so close to giving up.
So Tanjiro and Nezuko promised each other that this would be their little secret that they could only reveal if asked to by the very ghosts they were hiding from the rest of their living loved ones. Not that any ghosts had contacted them since the days of peace began.
She couldn’t help but wonder if the ghosts were happy that they were visiting. Did any of them mind the noise? Did they like the offerings that were given last time? Would they have wanted them to visit more often? She wished she could ask. But she had already tried, and no one answered. So she kept those questions to herself.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
The following day, they all set out early to the part of the cemetery where most of their former comrades lay. Even if they had the decency of giving offerings and prayers to those who passed much earlier in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, they still wanted to spend the most time they could with those they knew personally.
It was at the graves of the Rengoku family line and the Flame Hashiras they produced that the Uzuis and the remaining Rengokus were spotted when the group of kids made their way over.
“You didn’t tell us you were coming.” Kuina said. It almost sounded like an accusation coming from the spunkiest of the Ubuyashiki kids.
“We didn’t know if we could make it…”
“We wanted to surprise you all!”
Rengoku Shinjurou and Uzui Tengen answered over each other. Tanjiro tilted his head with concern at the Rengokus.
“Why would you have been unable to make it?” He asked, worry and care dripping through his every word. This piqued Nezuko’s interest as well. She figured he must have picked up some scent from the fiery-haired pair of father and son.
“Ah, well, we were just not sure….if we could handle visiting Aniue with you guys..” Senjurou sheepishly answered. And she felt bad for almost forgetting how much closer they were to Rengoku Kyojurou than anyone else. They were his family, after all.
“Hey, get your spirits up! It won’t be flashy to get all gloomy when you’re in front of him right now!” Tengen squeezed in and ruffled Senjurou’s hair.
Uzui Hinatsuru shared a look with Nezuko, and she immediately knew they were thinking the same thing: The former Sound Hashira himself also felt down but was once again falling back into old tactics to come across as both unbothered and reassuring to others. It was a very elder sibling trait that seemed to be protecting him as much as whoever he was using it on.
“I…you’re right, Uzui-san. I bet if he had a ghost, he would be standing right here, happy that we came to visit!” Senjurou cheered up quickly, much to the relief of Tanjiro and Tengen in particular.
“Oh, that was so touching! Waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!” Uzui Suma suddenly burst out crying, only for her fellow wife Uzui Makio to smack and yell at her for being so loud and disrespectful to the dead.
But Nezuko was sure that if she could see Kyojurou’s ghost, she’d find that he wouldn’t have minded. In fact, she believed he would have been throwing his head back laughing at the scene with his hands on his hips. She glanced at her older brother, and he seemed to have gotten the same idea before they started a chain of laughter and giggles across the group.
As they finished up giving their respects to Kyojurou, his mother Rengoku Ruka, and all of the other Rengokus who have died in the history of the Corps, Shinjurou sought out both Nezuko and Tanjiro. A question was obviously weighing heavily on his mind.
“If you could go back in time, at any point before anyone you were thinking of had perished, would you try to prevent them from dying the way they did when you first went through those events?” He asked solemnly.
This was the type of question she had overheard once or twice over the past year. And she could tell that this was a line of thought that had been haunting the retired Flame Hashira, possibly even more so than the ghosts of his wife and son.
“I…I would. If I could do anything to help with the knowledge I had from the future, I would do what I can to make an even better future than before.” Tanjiro answered honestly. Nezuko agreed with him and nodded as much to Shinjurou.
“But Blood Demon Arts are gone now, and Yushiro-san isn’t capable of such a thing. So I think it would be better to think of what we should be doing now, instead of back then. I’m sure they would have wanted you to keep on living.” She added, and it was her older brother’s turn to agree with her fervently.
“Thank you..” The older man seemed to have gotten the answer he needed, and perhaps even wanted. He then went back to his remaining son’s side, completely uncaring of the gazes of Tengen and Zenitsu, who have most likely overheard the conversation with their superior hearing.
Nezuko couldn’t imagine the guilt that was threatening to swallow him up. He must have believed he would have been able to protect his beloved son from his grisly fate if he had just gotten himself together sooner and been a better father to him.
She and Tanjiro had been trying to help him out of that mindset over letters for the past year, but the thoughts probably resurfaced at the sight of Kyojurou’s grave.
Nezuko tried to not let the question bother her as it had bothered Shinjurou, but the possibility stuck in her mind as they moved on to the other graves. Perhaps she was taken off guard by the location and the occasion, and it was the first time someone had asked such a question to her directly.
Should she, of all people, entertain that thought? If she went back in time somehow, would her demon self still not be in the same mindless state she forced herself to be in to prioritize conquering the sun? Would she have been able to choose any differently than she already had?
She stared at the graves of Kocho Kanae and Kocho Shinobu as she knelt with the others in respect.
.
.
.
Would she have helped Shinobu, Tamayo, and Yushiro in their research if she had been fully conscious while she was a demon?
Would they have developed more cures and cured more demons than just her and her brother?
Would the drug used against Muzan have been made more potent?
Could they have lost fewer people against him?
Would they have been able to create similar drugs to subdue the Upper Moons as well?
Could she have developed her strength so they wouldn’t need to hide her away when she conquered the sun?
.
.
.
She felt the flick of Kaburamaru’s tongue against her cheek and snapped out of her pondering to look at his current owner. Kanao was glancing at her with worry.
Nezuko flashed her a reassuring smile before looking to the other side, only to find that Tanjiro and Zenitsu had been staring at her with concern as well. They must have smelled and heard her.
She tried to reassure them as well, wanting to hide behind a rock from the embarrassment of worrying them while they were supposed to be paying respects to the dead.
Zenitsu then craned his neck to glare daggers into Shinjurou, probably blaming Nezuko’s strange mood on the conversation they had a while ago.
Tengen gently placed a large hand on Zenitsu and Tanjiro’s heads, one at a time, as if to wordlessly tell them to leave the matter be for now.
It was that motion that snapped Inosuke out of his own thoughts about one of his lost mother figures and finally drew his attention to all of them. And it naturally descended into chaos from that point on, as was typical when Inosuke was involved.
Nezuko watched with a small smile as Tengen tried fruitlessly to resolve things peacefully with the wild boy for a little while, slowly feeling some of her heavier thoughts and emotions get filed away for later as she focused on enjoying the here and now.
After a moment of watching, she finally decided to help get things back to being relatively quiet so that they could move on with what they set out to do.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
The sun was setting by the time they were finishing up their task of paying respects to the fallen. The Rengokus have long left by then. Shinjurou blamed himself for ruining the day and offered to escort the Ubuyashiki kids back home. The Uzuis were just about to head out when Tengen suddenly called for them to come closer.
“What is it, Uzui-san?” Tanjiro asked with Zenitsu behind him, trying to make sure Inosuke doesn’t kick up another fuss.
“We have a guest right over there hiding from the sun. I’m assuming you know him?” Tengen lowered his volume and jerked a thumb in the direction of this supposed guest. Nezuko had no idea who he could have been talking about, but Tanjiro was the opposite.
“Oh!” Her brother’s eyes lit up as they always did whenever he met up again with a friend he hadn’t seen in a bit. He then moved a little closer to and lowered his voice in tandem.
“Yes, that was Yushiro-san. The demon with the talismans who helped us in the final battle. I’ve been picking up his scent nearby for almost an hour now!” And now it was Nezuko’s turn to have her eyes light up when presented with the opportunity to see a friend again.
”He’s here?” She whisper-yelled excitedly.
“Oh? Well, don’t let any of us hold you back from greeting the only demon left in the world. It wouldn’t be flashy at all.” The tall man chuckled and gave Tanjiro a couple of rough pats on the back as if to push him in the direction of the subject of their conversation.
Tengen and his wives finally said their goodbyes and turned around to leave the place for real, with the Kamado siblings in particular returning the farewells enthusiastically before the group went to where the last demon was hiding.
“Took you long enough.” It wasn’t unexpected of Yushiro to say such things to them upon reuniting.
“Sorry! I just thought it would be awkward to come over and start a conversation when the sun was still so far up.” Tanjiro grinned sheepishly.
“It’s nice to see you again, too, Yushiro-san!” Nezuko then added in.
The mint-haired boy looked like he was about to combust from having to handle two excited Kamados at once, but he managed to school his expression before crossing his arms and looking to the side.
“How…have you all been?” He asked slowly, almost as if he was being threatened to do so. But she knew it was just him being hesitant to be all friendly with them.
“We’ve been doing good!’ Tanjiro chirped as Inosuke quite obviously sized the demon up, likely to gauge whether or not he was worthy of being asked for a spar.
“Ah, Yushiro-san, are you perhaps here to…” Kanao asked with uncertainty in her tone, which got Nezuko curious.
“Yeah.” Was his curt reply.
.
.
.
Zenitsu started grumbling after a moment of confused silence.
“What are you guys being so cryptic for, huh?!” He spat out. “What’s going on here? I don’t like it!”
“Kanao and Yushiro-sama are planning to collaborate directly for some time.” Aoi explained while giving a pointed look at Zenitsu that told him to shut up.
“That sounds like good news!” Tanjiro cheered as Nezuko beamed. “We’ll be able to see you much more often, then!”
“Wait, what’s this corroborating? Why is it good?” Inosuke asked.
“It means they’ll be working together.” Nezuko answered patiently.
“This seems so sudden. What brought this on?” Tanjiro then inquired, and now she couldn’t help but wonder the same as well.
“We plan to investigate the marked people together.” Yushiro answered, staring directly at the eldest Kamado and glancing at the part of his forehead that housed his Demon Slayer Mark.
.
.
.
Huh?
.
.
.
All of the residents of the Kamado household stared at Yushiro in disbelief. Even Inosuke knew about the mark’s curse and cared deeply about what it meant for one of his closest friends.
“It’s been a year now, but I’ve yet to find any conclusive evidence about the fates of those who have unlocked their marks.” Kanao explained. “We were hoping that the ‘curse’ wasn’t exactly a curse on the same level as the Ubuyashiki disease.”
“We figured that simply exchanging letters isn’t enough if we want an answer faster.” The demon boy then added.
“We wanted to be sure so that we’ll know for certain if you’ll be gone in such a short time or if there is still the chance you get to live longer.” The girl who now owned Kaburamaru finished.
“You guys…!” Tanjiro was obviously touched by their motive.
Their little makeshift family had by now come to terms with the certainty that they would lose the eldest Kamado by the time he was 25. Nezuko could tell that he had already been preparing himself and everyone around him for his early departure. So it came as a surprise that their best doctors were still holding out hope that they had a shot at a longer life.
“...But didn’t the records say that there was no exception?” Zenitsu hesitantly brought up. “Muzan himself told Tanjiro he would still die early even if parts of his body healed when he became a demon.”
“That sniveling little baby could have just been lying to him to convince him to stay a demon.” Yushiro spat, face scrunched tightly at the thought of the dead Demon King.
“And we can never be too sure since it wasn’t documented properly.” Kanao added. “The records were incomplete. There was always the possibility that those who should have been able to live past 25 had died from other means.”
“The Stone Hashira lived a while after unlocking his mark. He was 27.” Aoi then said.
“I think...if he hadn’t been too badly hurt by the fighting, if he hadn’t been hit by Muzan’s poison, and if he hadn’t refused treatment, he might have survived..” Yushiro said softly. Nezuko had almost forgotten that he was there with Chachamaru on the battlefield, treating those they could.
“Yushiro-san and I will return to the Butterfly Estate and thoroughly look at all of the results of the checkups we have done so far. So there’s no need for you to be examined today, Tanjiro. Just come next month as you always have.”
“For now, examining the conditions of the former Water Hashira and former Wind Hashira is our priority. After all, they have less than three years remaining, so if their bodies are deteriorating the closer they get to 25, we’ll know.”
“Thank you so much!” Tanjiro beamed at them. Though some of that relief was for himself, Nezuko could tell that most of it was for their friends. It had brought him some guilt, knowing that he had a significant amount of time left to live a peaceful life without demons and prepare for his upcoming demise, compared to Giyuu and Sanemi.
“It’s the least we could do for you three for all you’ve done.” Kanao said sincerely.
“Thank you..!” Nezuko couldn’t keep herself from tearing up as she jumped forward and engulfed both Kanao and Yushiro in a tight hug. Tanjiro pulled everyone else in so that they were all hugging each other, much to Yushiro’s discomfort.
“H-hey!” The demon yelled as he tried pulling away from the mass of bodies. “It’s not like we actually found anything yet, stop acting so relieved!”
“But you’re already trying so much! Of course, we would be grateful to you guys!” Nezuko answered, wiping her eyes.
“You may be a demon, and I don’t know you that much, but you’re alright in my book.” Zenitsu said. No doubt it could be taken literally as well, Nezuko wouldn’t be surprised if her brother ended up mentioning that Zenitsu had added a character based on Yushiro into his book and painted him in a positive light. She decided to keep quiet about how he had once called her ugly.
They eventually broke off the group hug, especially when Yushiro started getting really uncomfortable, and they all started walking towards the cart that was brought by the Kamados. The sun had set by then, its golden rays no longer present to threaten the life of the last remaining demon in the world.
“Hey, if you’re a demon, how didya get here while the sun was still up?” Inosuke stared at Yushiro intently.
“I was covering myself with a cloak, a hat, and an umbrella for good measure.” He answered without even bothering to glance back at the boar head wearer.
“Can’t you just use Nezuko or Tanjiro’s blood or something to conquer the sun?” Zenitsu inquired.
“I can, but I don’t like the idea of being immortal. I’m not Muzan.” The demon huffed. Having the option to die by stepping into the sun whenever he wanted had worried Tanjiro and Nezuko before, but they were glad to see that Tanjiro’s words had gotten through to him and encouraged him to keep on living. Now came the question of whether he was still only doing it for Tamayo or if he had started to live for himself.
“Will you be going back now?” Aoi asked just as they arrived at the picnic spot from yesterday.
“Yes! We’d like to get back and start working immediately. The new year’s approaching and I have to get myself ready to perform the Hinokami Kagura.” Tanjiro answered.
“Will we be seeing any of you then?” Nezuko asked the Butterfly Girls. “Urokodaki-san and the swordsmiths were there the last time Onii-chan performed.”
Tanjiro had insisted on doing the dance as soon as he could upon resettling into their old home, even if it was months late, even if he hadn't done the ceremony itself for years. The swordsmiths were very interested in seeing the Dance of the Fire, no, Sun God that was based off of the swordsman that inspired the Yoriichi Type-Zero.
Kanao and Aoi exchanged looks for a bit before nodding, which resulted in Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo cheering in delight.
“We’d love to.” Kanao replied. “We’ll let you know if we’ll be able to go by that time. Surprises can happen, after all.”
“I’m looking forward to that letter!” Nezuko beamed before pulling both Aoi and Kanao into a hug and then patting the youngest Butterfly Girls on the head. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke each gave their own goodbyes.
“You guys get home safely, okay?” Tanjiro called out as he helped load up the cart.
“You too!” Kanao called back.
“They have a demon with them, you guys should focus more on yourselves.” Yushiro cut in snarkily.
“Alright, alright.” Nezuko giggled as she sat in the cart with Zenitsu and Inosuke. The wild boy agreed to rest for a little while longer on the condition that he would be allowed to push the significantly lighter cart as long as he wanted the moment it was his turn.
Tanjiro heaved as he pushed the cart onward and started their journey home.
Nezuko looked back at the retreating image of the graveyard filled with monuments to the departed, both old and young. Shinjurou’s question about changing the past resurfaced in the back of her mind as she stared. But then she saw the shrinking figures of the Butterfly Girls and Yushiro.
She shook the heavy thoughts away as she chose again to try to live in the present than dwell on the past.
= = = = - = = = - - = = - - - = - - - - = - - - = = - - = = = - = = = =
Unsurprisingly, Nezuko had once again drifted off into a deep sleep during the ride.
But surprisingly, she was having a dream, or rather a nightmare, of the night of the Kamado massacre. She dreamt of this incident many times, it was hard not to. But she had only had this nightmare a few nights ago. It should not have invaded her sleep so soon.
She didn’t find it strange when she felt the chill of the winter night on top of Mt. Kumotori. She has experienced it many times over, and could have easily imagined the sensation.
She didn’t wonder how real her family’s voices sounded as she interacted with them in their final moments once more. Their ghosts had followed her enough for her to not have forgotten them even the slightest bit in the four years or so since they perished.
She wasn’t truly alarmed when she felt the pressure of Muzan’s presence as he appeared in their doorway. Her fear and anger never faded even after one year of him being dead himself.
But she’s never had a nightmare that let her experience the pain that came with Kibutsuji Muzan’s appendage striking her down again.
Nezuko could now vividly feel the chilling sensation of his blood entering her own system. How Rokuta felt lighter and heavier in her arms at the same time.
It felt exactly as it did when it truly happened to her. She has never felt this way in any of her dreams before.
But before she could question any of it…
.
.
.
…everything faded to black.