Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Heaven, Y/n’s mother, slams a cup to the floor in anger, the porcelain scattering across the tiled floor and cutting Y/n’s bare feet. She grimaces in pain, not daring to look up in Heaven’s furious eyes, knowing that if she did, the next cup would collide with her head.

“You useless fucking girl! How many times do I have to tell you to clean up after yourself!? Did you forget your brain when you left my womb?! Huh?!” Heaven stomps forward to stand in Y/n’s face, screaming at her at the top of her lungs, her horrid coffee breath entering her nose.

Y/n trembles where she stands, her fists tightly squeezing her pants. “I’m sorry, mother…”

“Ugh, you’re impossible! Go out! Don’t come back until I call for you! Am I making myself clear?!” She points to the front door, her long red nails illuminating under the ceiling light.

Y/n turns around but Heaven grabs her hair before she can go far, Y/n groaning in pain, “If I see you before then, I’ll fucking kill you, disgusting child.”

She glares down at her through her massive eyelashes, her child under her feeling her skin run cold at the threat. A threat she knew well that her mother was gonna hold.

“Yes…” She lets Y/n go and she hurries out of the house with tears running down her cheeks in streams, forgetting to put on shoes and a coat. The only thing she could think about was how she missed her sister. Why is her sister not here?! Why?!

The sound of her father’s laughter from the living room enters her ears right before she slams the door shut, the sound making her shiver in discomfort. She always hated how her father would ignore everything going on under his roof.

Y/n walks out of their property, walking down the road with bare feet, the local park as her destination. She wipes her tears away and calms down. This was nothing new, she’s not bothered by it actually, it would just be nice to have her sister by her side like before.

Heaven has always been like this, way before she met Cedric, Y/n’s father, and of course they’re the perfect match. Cedric is a fat, lazy bastard who’s only pleasure at the time was to pump the angel-like Heaven with his seed to breed her like a dog. He’s disgusting. But it let Heaven be able to do whatever she wanted without him caring at all. 

Despite how her mother acts, she’s never actually hit her, not yet at least. Y/n’s trying her best to not anger her and she would say she’s doing a pretty good job, it’s just today must have been a difficult day for Heaven. Everyone has those days. Heaven more often.

The shouting is an everyday thing, so it doesn’t bother her. She would be more scared if her mother wasn’t screaming and throwing things all the time, that would mean something’s seriously wrong with her.

Y/n walks behind a bush, finding her special blanket she’s had since she was five. A blanket her sister, Fiona, crocheted for her. Well, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that most of the blanket is gone and the whole of it is hanging on by a thread. But it’s better than nothing.

She spreads it out on the grass under a tree and lies down, her hands resting by her sides. She looks up at the trees in a sudden calmness. These times are nice, to just be out like this and still knowing that her parents know where she is. 

They’ve never hated her, despite all they do. She thinks, or more like hope. It’s just a matter of time when she’s really gonna go on Heaven’s nerves and actually die by her hands. It’s a scary thought, but with Y/n’s mindset, she couldn’t really care less about the ordeal.

[...]

Y/n wakes up in the middle of the night, the night sky above her pitch black. There was no moon or any stars glimmering above her head and she felt the emptiness to be kind of comforting.

She had managed to fall into a dreamless sleep as she rested in the park, the sound of nature lulling her away from her consciousness.

The street lights were turned off, and she could barely see anything, nothing gave her any light to use her eyes. She squinted her eyes as a small monkey came into view.

It patted her head gently and she felt the familiar touch to be comforting, like she’s been with this creature or its loved ones. 

The monkey was brown and had black eyes. A golden crown of sorts circled the monkey's forehead and it had the same gold on its earrings. It was small and its hands and feet were small, even the tail swinging behind it.

The monkey slapped her head harder and jumped a few steps back. Y/n sat up even though she didn't really want to, with a loud sigh. It waved its small hand and took one more step back. Y/n stood up this time, getting the gist that the monkey wanted her to follow it.

She didn't really understand what was happening, but she ignored her thoughts of suspicion and followed the monkey. She would just check what it wanted and then go back to sleep to hopefully come back to the real world once more.

It jumped through the park and into the forest connected to it. She pushed past the twigs on the trees and tried her best to keep up with the monkey who began to get faster and faster the more they got deeper into the woods.

Soon enough, she was forced into a sprint and held a lot of her attention to her feet so as not to trip on the tree roots showing themselves on the leaf-filled dirt path.

The monkey was quick on its feet and Y/n could feel her stamina run thin. She was never known for having a lot of stamina, which she would sometimes get teased about by her friends because she couldn’t climb the stairs in school without collapsing at the top. But like, who could when her classroom was on the fifth floor?

She had to strain her head and look up at the trees as she ran because the monkey decided to run up and jump from tree to tree.

Y/n breathed heavily and her eyes began to well up with tears. She was tired and scared of tripping on the tree roots. She wondered why she even decided to follow the monkey in the first place. How did the monkey succeed in persuading her to follow it? Plus, her mother’s gonna be pissed.

The monkey stops and jumps down on a boulder after an infinitely long time of running and Y/n collapses on the ground with her butt meeting the dirt first. She pants with closed eyes and throws her head back in exhaustion.

It stares at her quietly and waits for her to regain herself as its fluffy tail swings behind it. She opens her eyes and stares up at the endlessly black night sky, just contemplating life, really. After a while, she stands up straight and stares at the monkey with a judgmental expression.

The monkey turns around and jumps down from the boulder, disappearing from Y/n’s sight and she sighs in annoyance. She walks around the boulder and comes face to face with an endless hole in the ground. The hole was two times as big as her and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“No way I have to go down that hole. I have no idea where it’ll bring me, so no thanks.”

Y/n turns around to walk away but gets stopped by the monkey jumping out from the hole and piercing its claws into her shirt. She flinches at the feeling of the claws grazing her skin and stops in her tracks, looking behind her to see the monkey being eye-to-eye with her.

The monkey chatters and then jumps off her back and down the hole yet again, peeking its head out. She glares at the monkey as she takes a step closer to the hole. “Fine..!” She mutters through gritted teeth. “If I die, I’m coming back to haunt you forever.”

Y/n sits down on the ground and lets her feet dangle over the edge of the hole. She stares down in the hole nervously and looks to her side where the monkey sits beside her with a judgmental look. Y/n scoffs and squeezes her eyes shut tight before she pushes herself off the edge and falls down in a never-ending dirt slide.

“Oh, fuck fuck fuck!! I think I’m gonna vomit!” Y/n places a hand over her mouth while her other hand is pressed tightly to her chest as she screams, her throat getting sore as the ride never ends. She can hear the monkey right below her feet as it giggles, amused by her reaction.

Ice-cold air punched in her face and for a moment, she forgets how to breathe. She comes to a stop with a thud, a soft cushion catching her fall. Y/n grunts at the coldness entering her system. She breathes in cold air and her bare arms get goosebumps.

She weakens the hold on her mouth and chest, bringing her arms to hug herself, to try and warm up. It was freezing. Where did that monkey take her? And why?

Y/n finally opens her eyes and the only thing she can see is white. Snow. The snow was spreading out on every side of her and the sky was covered in white clouds. No wonder it was so freaking cold.

“Where the fuck am I!? Oh, my God. Okay, calm down, this is just a dream. Just a dream. Breathe…”

“...”

“It’s not a fucking dream!! How can a dream feel this cold?! Fuck I’m gonna freeze to death at this point! Where did that bastard monkey go?!”

Y/n watches her surroundings once more, trying to spot the monkey she has been following for quite a while now, but can’t find it anywhere. To be completely honest, the dirt slide she came out from is not even there anymore! It’s like it never existed in the first place!

“Fuck fuck fuck, where did it go!? It can’t just leave me here!” Y/n muttered as her teeth shuttered against each other. “It’s so fucking cold!”

She stands up on her bare feet and continues to hug herself as she steps forward. She has already lost all feeling in both her feet and can only wait for the moment when her feet will give up on her and make her fall face-first into the ice-cold snow.

She sees her breath take form in the air as she breathes out and curses the monkey in her mind. “Curse you, you damn monkey! When I find you, you’re dead! You best believe it!”

Y/n takes slow steps forward, her whole body stiff and frozen cold. Then, a new sound enters her ears. A growl. She can hear a growl and she freezes where she stands, almost peeing herself at the sound.

“There’s no fucking way that there’s a wolf or something here. Not right now! Fuck, is God out to kill me!? Oh, my fucking, God, what the fuck did I do to die in this loser ass way?!”

The growl came from ahead of her and she slowly raised her head and looked through the trees. There, not even that far away from where she stands, stands a girl with long black hair with orange tips, it blowing gently in the wind.

She was growling threateningly as she stood protectively in front of something. She was dressed in a light pink kimono, quite unmodern for the time she’s in. The girl suddenly took action and ran forward at high speed, her eyes set on something Y/n couldn’t see from where she stood.

All of a sudden, the girl falls to the ground, landing softly on the snow. She appears to have been knocked out.

A man comes out from behind a tree. He had black hair tied into a low ponytail, messily styled, and wore a haori, a japanese cardigan-like clothing, and he sheathed something, a katana .

Y/n didn’t know what to think. These two random people suddenly appeared in front of her, apparently fighting, looking like they came from the past, but not from where she lived. She did not live in Japan.

“Who-Who are those two? Why did they fight? Are they in an organization and the girl disobeyed that guy, her boss, and now has to die!? Oh, my God! I have to leave, like right now! Before I die, too!!”

The black-haired man looks behind him, unbeknownst to Y/n, and he squints his eyes at the newly arrived person. In a second, he’s standing right in front of her and Y/n looks up from the snow at the shift in the winds, staring into dead blue eyes piercing right into her very soul.

She jumps in surprise and her eyes widen. The man inspects her from head to toe, noticing her weird sense of style, wearing clothes he has never seen before. He opens his mouth and Y/n stares at it in wonder, the next thing she knows, he’s talking gibberish.

“Why is this threatening-looking man speaking simlish with me??”

He goes quiet and stares at her, expecting an answer, yet, he does not know that she has no clue about what he just said. Her face scrunches up and she tilts her head to the side, and the man sighs as if he understands the situation he’s put himself into.

Having no clue how to approach the girl, he simply just takes a deep breath in and lets it out before he takes his hand and stops it a few centimeters from her forearm. After a second of Y/n not moving, he grips her forearm and walks back to where the passed-out girl is lying.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Y/n shrieks as she tugs on her hand in surprise at the action. She didn’t know that he would actually grab her! The guy looks back at her in confusion, having no idea what she just said, but from the tone of it, she doesn’t seem that pleased with his action. Even so, he does not let her go until they’re in the open area with the black-haired girl.

Only now does she see that there is another person with them. In the snow lies a boy with red hair, it cut weirdly at the back of his head. He was lying on his stomach as his face was kissing the snow. She could see one half of his face and she had to admit that he looked quite beautiful, despite obviously being a year or so younger than herself.

“What the hell…? Did he kill those two? Is he gonna kill me too!? No! Fuck no!” Y/n goes into panic mode and tugs harshly at her arm, trying to get free from the man, not ready to die just yet.

“No! I don’t wanna die! Let me go!” She yells and the man lets her go, making her fall on her butt. She grunts and stares up at him as he walks away from her, going to pick up a grey haori lying by a tree further away.

He comes back and picks up the girl lying a bit away from Y/n and puts the haori on the girl together with a piece of bamboo in her mouth, then lays her down beside the boy who seems to also be passed out as Y/n can see his chest rise and fall as he breathes.

After he’s done, he leans back on a tree and closes his eyes. Y/n stares at him, judging him silently. “Um, who are you? And where am I?” The man opens his eyes and looks at her, not answering.

“Can you even understand me?” She tilts her head as she crosses her arms and shudders. He once again gives no reaction, just watches, and Y/n sweat drops.

“I guess not… Fuck, how the fuck am I gonna get out of this?” Y/n mutters and throws her head back, looking up at the clouded sky. She looks back at the man to see his eyes closed yet again and sighs tiredly.

“I wanna go home…”

[...]

The boy on the ground gasps as he wakes up, catching both Y/n’s and the black-haired man’s attention. He’s clasping his hand around the girl’s grey haori and he breathes out in relief.

The black-haired man speaks up, making Y/n jump. She looks at him and she manages to pick up something from his words sounding like a name; Tomioka Giyuu.

“Must be this guy’s name. Quite a weird one to be honest. Yeah no shit, he doesn’t even speak English so, of course, he’s gonna have a foreign name.”

Tomioka, weird first name, says something more as he points at her before he disappears into thin air, leaving the boy and Y/n alone with the black-haired girl lying passed out. Y/n looks at the boy and flinches as she notices him already staring at her and she scratches her neck nervously.

“Hello..” He looks at her, his mind seeming to run miles as he thinks deeply. “H-Hello, me Kamado Tanjiro, are you?” He says in a very, very thick accent, his words spoken in a weird order.

Y/n’s face breaks out into a grin as her mind celebrates. “Oh God, you understand me! Thank God! That guy couldn’t understand me at all, and I couldn’t understand him, what a pain that was! And he’s so scary?? What’s his deal?! Ah! I’m Y/n L/n, nice to meet you!”

She stands up and approaches the boy, reaching out to shake his hand. He shakes it firmly with a kind smile and a nod. Kamado stands up, picks the other girl up in his arms, and looks at Y/n. 

“Come.” He says yet again with a thick accent as he motions with his head to the right, wanting her to follow him. Y/n tilts her head in confusion but does as he says, walking behind him as they walk for at least fifteen minutes before they reach a house.

“No come.” He says as he stops her from taking another step forward. “What? Why?” Y/n wonders but he shakes his head and points behind her, making her look back, but seeing nothing, she looks forward again, into his eyes.

But Kamado shakes his head. “No eyes.” He points to the tree again and then turns her around completely when she doesn’t do as he says. “No eyes.” He repeats and Y/n can hear his footsteps retreat.

“Does he mean that I should not look? Man, the language barrier is so complicated. Guess I won’t but I do wonder why.”

Y/n hears his feet come to a stop before she hears something like a shovel penetrating the ground over and over for at least an hour before he stops and begins to walk once more. He goes back and forth between the house and the snow, laying something into the holes he did before each time he comes out from the house. Suddenly, Y/n realizes something.

“Oh, is he… burying someone? But so many? What happened here…?”

After what feels like decades, Y/n finally feels a tap on her shoulder and she turns around stiffly to see Kamado standing smiling while the other girl is standing right beside him, the both of them holding hands.

Y/n stares at the girl, looking into her unusual pink eyes. They were pretty, but they somehow seemed empty, like there was no one looking through them. It made her feel weird to see the girl piercing her eyes into her soul.

She notices the bamboo stick around her mouth and visibly shows her confusion, but she doesn’t voice it. “Kamado Nezuko. Baby sister.” Kamado says as he notices Y/n’s confusion.

Y/n nods her head slowly. “Hello, Kamado two. Nice to meet you.” Kamado tilts his head at her name for his sister. “So, Kamado, where are we going? More importantly, where am I and why is it so goddamn cold here!? I’m freezing to death over here! Seriously!”

Kamado takes a minute to think before he answers her with a small chuckle, “Call Tanjiro, sister Nezuko.” He points to himself and then his sister, getting a nod out of Y/n who seems to understand what he wants. “We walk Urukodaki. Stand by mountain, high way.”

“This is gonna kill all my last brain cells! Well, no matter. I’ll just have to follow this guy if I want to live in this unfamiliar place. He seems nice enough to not kill me in my sleep. If he does kill me, then I’m just gonna give up, honestly.”

“Alright, nice. After you, Tanjiro.” Y/n smiles at him and he nods, walking away with Nezuko by his side and Y/n right behind him. She stares into the back of his head the whole time they walk, shuddering like crazy.

Y/n hugs herself and she slows down the slightest, as she feels her feet escape her senses for the nth time. No wonder since they’re completely bare. Tanjiro seems to notice and stops, looking back at her. Without a second thought, he takes off his green and black haori, giving it to Y/n who looks at his outreached hand in shock.

“For me? Are you sure? You’re gonna freeze.” He nods his head firmly and pushes his hand closer with an unwavering smile. “Well, a-alright.” She takes it with shaking hands, putting it on, securing it close to her body as they begin to walk yet again.

Y/n was not so cold on her upper body anymore, but her feet were going to fall off if she didn’t get a pair of shoes anytime soon.

“Hang in there, feet! I believe in you both!”

Chapter Text

Walking for hours had paid off! Tanjiro and Y/n had walked the whole night, and just as the sun was about to come up, Tanjiro had hidden his sister in a small cave.

“Is she scared of the sun? Man, that sure is fair.”

Y/n stood outside the cave as Tanjiro was squatting down, speaking to his sister who didn’t speak back, but he looked happy doing it so she didn’t put any thought into it.

He stands up and turns to Y/n. “No come.” And he walks away, leaving Y/n with an open mouth as she watches his back.

“Seriously?! Where is he even going? Fuck my feet hurt!”

Y/n scoffs at herself and sits down right by the entrance of the cave, closing her eyes in contentment. The feeling of her feet being lifted off their burden for only a minute and the sun beaming down on her made her happy despite the reality behind her eyelids.

She hears feet getting closer and she flinches, opening her eyes. Tanjiro says something but she doesn’t understand so she just shrugs it off. He was holding a basket and had some bamboo threads, setting them down on the ground as he sat down with his legs in a circle, sort of.

“Now what is he gonna do with that? He’s such a weirdo. Well no wonder, he almost died a few hours ago, I should cut him some slack… Maybe I shouldn’t be with him after all, he’s affiliated with people who wear weapons on a daily basis! I’m so gonna die!”

Y/n sweats nervously as she watches Tanjiro tie the thread around the basket for a while, never taking her eyes off him. When he’s done, he enters the cave with the basket in his hands and talks to his sister. Y/n blocks his voice out as she leans back on the wall limply, looking down at her hands lying on the dirt.

“So, uh, where am I, by the way? I just got transported here by a freaking monkey! I’ve met these siblings and they’re kinda nice but they’re in contact with some crazy affiliation who wears swords. I can’t understand a single word they’re saying and Tanjiro is just barely able to converse with me. I wanna go home to my sister, mom and dad again…”

She feels a tap on her shoulder and snaps out of her brain back to reality, looking up into Tanjiro’s red eyes which hold nothing but kindness. How can anyone only feel kindness to someone they don’t even know? What a complete weirdo.

“Come.” He reaches a hand out to her and she ponders whether she should take it or not but does after a second. He pulls her up as he leans his body back slightly to support both his and Y/n’s weight. She flinches as she stands up and shifts her weight from foot to foot before she walks after Tanjiro.

The basket he had made was now sitting on his back with a cloth covering it. Y/n notices that Nezuko doesn’t come out of the cave and looks at Tanjiro in confusion. “Where’s Nezuko?”

He looks at her and answers after a second by tapping the basket gently with a smile. Y/n understands, although confused.

“How did she fit in there? She’s gotta be uncomfortable. Poor girl, I’m praying for you…”

Y/n puts her hands together and walks side by side with Tanjiro for the rest of the day. Tanjiro could feel Y/n’s thoughts radiating from her in waves and couldn’t help but smile at her. He could smell her kindness, confusion, and… fear, but he knew that she wouldn’t do anything evil to him and his sister.

[...]

Night came and Tanjiro let his sister out of the basket. Y/n doesn’t understand how the girl can fit into the basket because she’s obviously bigger than it. She shrugs the thoughts off yet again and walks a step behind the siblings as they begin to walk up a stone staircase.

Tanjiro suddenly gasps and runs up the few steps left of the staircase, Nezuko following close behind him as they’re holding hands. “Hey! Where are you going so suddenly?!” Y/n calls out in shock and follows after them, stopping atop the steps while the siblings go up to the small temple in the area.

He suddenly comes flying out, a man on top of him with his large hands squeezing around his throat. Y/n gasps and takes a step back, tripping and tumbling down all the steps to the bottom.

“Ow, fuck! That fucking hurt!” She exclaims and sits up, rubbing her head as it thumps loudly, blood sticking to her hand. “What the hell? Did he just get attacked? Oh, my God…” Y/n springs up and runs up the stairs just in time to see Nezuko come running up to the older man on top of Tanjiro and kicking his head off with a growl.

The head flies right into a tree and both Tanjiro and Y/n stare at it with gaping mouths, Y/n gagging loudly with a blurry vision. He pushes the headless body off of him and stands up, walking up to his sister.

“Tanjiro! Are you okay?! Why did that man jump at you?!” Y/n grips his shoulders in worry. “Is he working with the man who attacked you yesterday? Are we gonna die!?”

He does not get the chance to answer as the headless body stands up and throws itself at Y/n’s back. She falls to the ground with a surprised gasp, the air escaping her lungs. “W-What the fuck?! How in the actual fuck is that thing still moving!? Hello?! I wanna go home already!!”

Terror paints her eyes as the blood from the headless neck drips onto her face, making her grimace in disgust and fear. However, the body only stays on top of her for a short minute as Nezuko kicks him off of her and the three teenagers watch the body collide with a tree.

“You bastards!” The man exclaims, the sound coming from the kicked-off head meters away from its body. “One of you is a demon after all? What’re a demon and humans doing teaming up?!”

“D-Did I just hear that right? Did that head just say “Demon”?? Demons aren’t real. Nope, no I can’t do this! What the fuck have I gotten myself into?!”

The body of the “man” comes running and jumps up in the air, coming back down to the ground to attack Nezuko with his leg. Debris flies up in the air and Y/n grasps Tanjiro’s clothes in a panic.

Nezuko runs backwards away from him but he follows after and grabs her arms to prevent her from running back further or attacking him. Tanjiro is quick on his feet, however, and flies up with his axe in hand, running towards the body with a determined yell.

What he didn’t expect was for the head to grow arms and run towards him and jump up and latch itself onto his axe with its sharp teeth and hands squeezing his shoulders.

All the while, Y/n is frozen on the ground, vision all too blurry and body too shaky to hold her up on steady feet. She can only hear the fight ensue.

Nezuko, on the other hand, gets thrown to the ground and Tanjiro calls out her name in a panic. She gets kicked repeatedly and then thrown a second time but this time far into the forest, the body close behind her.

“Nezuko!”

Y/n sees the outline of Tanjiro with the head attached to his axe. He head butts the head and then spins around and throws the head towards a tree where it gets stuck.

He wastes no time in chasing after his sister, leaving Y/n all alone in the open area in front of the shrine. The smell of blood and rotten bodies enters her nose as she seems to calm down the slightest at the absence of sound.

With her reflexes kicking in, she leans forward with her hands and throws up on the stone tiles, the puke splashing and running past her hands. The warm substance makes her want to throw up again.

Tears run down her cheeks and snot enters her mouth. She brings her shirt up and wipes her face dry, then pulls Tanjiro’s haori close to her body as she shivers where she sits close to the stairs. She hums to herself and swings back and forth gently.

Y/n only stops swinging when she hears footsteps closing in, tensing up but relaxing once more as she sees Tanjiro walk out from the forest with his sister close behind.

She sighs in relief and walks up to him, “Tanjiro, are you okay? Where’s the body?”

“It fell.” He smiles at her gently then walks past her up to the head stuck on the tree. He brings out a knife from his pocket and unsheathes it, sweating nervously.

He breathes heavily, slowly but surely panicking at the realization that he has to end this “person’s” life. 

“...You can’t finish him off with that.” A deep voice says in a language Y/n can’t understand, the owner of the voice having a hand on Tanjiro’s shoulder. Y/n flinches at his sudden appearance, taking a slow step back to not notify him of her presence.

“How can I finish him off?” Tanjiro asks the man, lowering the knife to his side and turning around completely.

“Don’t ask me! Can’t you use your own head to figure that out?” 

Tanjiro gapes at his tone, staring into the tengu mask’s eyes. His gaze wanders down to the dirt as he thinks, then slowly turns his head to look around the area. He walks away to pick up a stone lying by a tree and comes back with a fearful expression.

He stands there, for many minutes, shaking and trembling in his boots. Y/n felt bad for him, sure, but no way in hell will she help him with whatever he’s doing. Killing someone else? Yeah, no thanks, buddy.

Though, she kept a watchful eye on the elder by her side, barely breathing so he wouldn’t catch the sound of her hoarse lungs fighting for air. He must be familiar with Tomioka, surely. Why else would he step out and “guide” Tanjiro.

She jumps out of her skin as he walks away to the shrine, his steps not even entering her ears. How is he able to walk so quietly? Still, he hasn’t acknowledged her yet so she still has some time to live.

Y/n takes a step back as the head wakes up, bloodshot eyes shooting up to lock with Tanjiro’s right in front of him.

“You bastard! I’ll kill you!” He yells as he swings his short baby arms, trying to reach the thirteen year old boy. “I’ll eat your fucking guts! Get over here, dammit! I can’t reach you, so come over here!”

Tanjiro seems to ignore him, looking Y/n’s way, but on a second thought, he looks behind her, on the sun going up. The warmth of the sun kissed the side of her body, doing little to warm her up from the cold air swarming around the bottom of the mountain.

“Are you listening you fucking brat?! Ah-Argh! Ahh!” He suddenly begins to scream as his body starts burning up, a horrible smell of burning flesh entering Y/n’s nose, making her retch. She slaps a hand over her mouth as she crouches to the ground, tears welling up her eyes. No way is she going to throw up again .

The demon disintegrates with a shriek, the remaining bits of him flying away with the wind, leaving only Tanjiro’s axe in the tree. There wasn’t even a single thing left of the demon to show that it ever stepped foot in this place. Well, if we’re not talking about the dead bodies in the shrine.

Tanjiro drops the stone in his hands, backing away in pure fear, eyes wide as sausages. He freezes at a sudden thought, yelling out Nezuko’s name. At the mention of the girl’s name, Y/n feels fear run up her spine, knowing that the sister was a demon, like the head on the tree. What if she…

She couldn’t finish her thought as Tanjiro runs past her and up into the shrine where he exhales in pure relief. Y/n jogs up to him and grabs his shoulder, seeing Nezuko cuddled up in her basket. She smiles with a hand over her heart, so damn happy that Nezuko’s okay and not some specks of dust in the wind.

She backs away and sits down on the steps, letting the sun try to wake her up.

She watches as Tanjiro walks to the side of the shrine, speaking to the strange man. With a sigh, she stands up and pulls Tanjiro’s haori closer to her body as she walks after him, trying to hide behind him as the man stands up from his crouched form on the ground in front of three graves he made.

She’s pretty sure he introduces himself as she catches the name “Urukodaki Sakonji,” the name Tomioka said before he left the three of them. The second thing he caught was Tomioka’s name leaving the man’s lips, and now she’s certain she’s right.

Tanjiro in his turn introduces himself to the man, then his sister, and lastly Y/n, who curses the boy out in her mind, hoping he would have forgotten her or something.

“Tanjiro.” He didn’t sound so kind as he said the boy’s name, asking him a question right after. Tanjiro gasps at the question, not even having enough time to answer as the man walked up to him and slapped him on the cheek. Y/n gasps loudly, though quickly slapping her mouth shut.

The man, well, Urukodaki, yells at him as Tanjiro slowly lifts his head back up, a hand hovering over his red cheek. Y/n looks to the ground as she sweats, the tone of Urukodaki reminding her of her father when she accidentally destroyed their family heirloom.

“I’m sorry, father! But, oh, this is hard to watch, Tanjiro’s so kind.”

Tanjiro pats Y/n’s shoulder with a smile, using the back of his hand to wipe away the blood on her cheek, “We follow Urukodaki. Come.”

She glances at him and then at the man who stood at the edge of the forest waiting for them. She sighs but nods her head, following after him reluctantly as she graces her hand against his nervously.

[...]

Tanjiro and Y/n ran after Urukodaki as well as they could, but he was very, very fast on his feet. We’re not even gonna talk about how Y/n was so far back, she could barely see his blue haori in the distance, only having Tanjiro to look for so she doesn’t get left behind.

Her bare feet burned against the ground as she ran, tears running down her hot cheeks. The haori she was borrowing was getting abused by her hand as she held it as tight as she could so she wouldn’t drop it. Her strength was gone long ago, but giving up meant dying. She wasn’t ready to die just yet!

The road to their finish line was long, unbearably so, the sun only going higher and higher into the sky. And that damn old man wasn’t slowing down for nothing!

Though, after hours of running on irritated feet, they finally reached their destination as the sky was growing orange from the sun going down the horizon. There, at the bottom of the mountain, stood a small hut. Both Tanjiro and Y/n assumed that was his home and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

Tanjiro gasps in pure shock at what Urukodaki says and Y/n feels dread fall down on her.

“Don’t tell me we haven’t even started the “test” he’s giving him. Me?

[...Bonus…Tomioka Giyuu’s letter…]

“Greetings, Lord Urukodaki Sakonji,

I have sent a boy your way who says he wants to become a demon-slaying swordsman. He had the courage to fight me unarmed. A demon slaughtered his family, transforming his surviving sister into a demon, but she chooses not to attack humans.

  I sense something in these two that is different from the others. Like you, the boy has a strong sense of smell. I believe that perhaps he could be worthy of carrying on your traditions. Please, train him. I know this is a selfish request, so please forgive me.

  I met a girl in the same space, wearing foreign clothing. I put her in your care so do what you wish. She seems unable to understand Japanese, so it's quite a bother. I do believe she holds a kind heart, not that that is important in this line of work. A parallel to you, perhaps?

  May this find you in good health and in good spirits.

Sincerely, Tomioka Giyuu”

Chapter Text

Tanjiro and Urukodaki had left Y/n alone by the cabin quite a while ago, the sun already giving space for the moon to light up the place. She sat outside with Tanjiro’s haori yet again draped over her shoulders, leaning up against the wall right under the window, pulling out small stones from the wounds under her feet, tears leaving her eye sockets at the pain.

“It seems I’m just made up of buckets of tears. I fucking hate this. Fuck you, damn monkey, fuck you, mom, and fuck you, dad. I hate you all!”

She curses up at the sky as she screams, but deflates and slams her head back at the wall, “I wanna go home…” 

In the corner of her eye, she sees something blue come out of the trees and she quickly wipes away the tears from her cheeks. Urukodaki walks up to her silently and sits down in front of her with crossed legs.

He spoke in a low tone, though Y/n didn’t understand so she just tilted her head at him with a sniff. With a sigh, he slowly stands up and brushes off his pants, walking behind the cabin.

Y/n’s lips quiver when he’s out of sight, “You won’t even try to talk with me?” She mumbles and plays with the dirt under her, the dirt finding their new home under her nails. “What am I doing here?”

Yet again, she’s alone, well, Urukodaki is on the other side of the hut, but still. Is this how it’s gonna be from now on? Tanjiro will train and Urukodaki won’t even try to teach her? Or let her train with Tanjiro? 

Is it because she’s a girl? Or was she too slow to run here? It’s hard being insecure and at the same time not being a mind reader. Why can’t they just tell her what’s wrong with her?

Pause.

She knows why, she can’t even understand their language! Oh, silly you!

Y/n chuckles at herself, feeling a little better all of a sudden. Of course, they won’t talk to her if they know she can’t understand a thing they’re saying.

She wipes off the dirt from her hands and attempts to dig out the rest from under her nails, much of it refusing to leave. It’ll have to wait until she’s close to a body of water.

The bushes on the other side of the path up the mountain rustles, catching her attention. She freezes, fully expecting a demon to jump out but quickly pulls that thought out of her head, trusting Urukodaki to not let a demon eat her up. That would be the least he could do after making her run all the way here.

So, no, it wasn’t a demon who showed itself, it was a monkey. A certain, shit-eating monkey at that. Y/n wasn’t gonna let it run away as easily this time.

“Aha! You!” She growls, going on all four, “This is all because of you, you fucking ugly, disgusting, rude… ugly monkey! I hate you! Take me back! Take me home!”

She springs up to her feet and manages to come halfway to it when she collapses to the ground with a whine, her feet all too sensitive to keep her up. The monkey laughs in her face and then runs away into the forest, the sound of its light feet tapping on the ground haunting her thoughts.

“You… You piece of shit…” Y/n gives up, relaxing her whole body to the cold dirt, “What did I do to you…”

“Y/n?” She sits upright at the sound of her name, only to see Urukodaki by the door of the hut with a bucket and towel in his hands. She had forgotten that Tanjiro had given him her name.

With a lazy wave, she slumps back down to the ground, staring up at the cloudy night sky.

“Y/n,” He says again, now standing over her.

“Yes, what is it?” She sighs, avoiding looking up at him. He shakes his head and sits down by her feet, gently taking her left foot in his hands.

“Woah, what are you doing?” She asks and pulls her foot out of his hold, well tries to, but he doesn’t budge and holds her foot still. “Urukodaki? What are you doing?”

He seems to react at his name but gives her nothing more.

“Whatever. If nature’s not gonna listen to me, why should you?”

She lies still as Urukodaki fiddles with her feet. She soon realizes that he’s cleaning them for her, which makes her feel bad for the assumptions she made about him. Maybe he isn't so bad, after all.

When he’s done, he stands up and motions for her to lie still while he picks her up. Y/n shrieks in surprise, hugging his neck tightly in fear. She never has been someone who’s been picked up a lot in her days, so even these few centimeters in the air scared her. Checks out why he wouldn’t want to train her to kill literal demons .

He walks inside his small home and lies her down in a futon beside Nezuko. He pats her head gently before he leaves and the room goes silent, except the occasional inhales from the demon girl.

Y/n stares up at the ceiling, emotions flaring up inside her. But she won’t cry, she’s already done that enough today. Maybe falling asleep wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Her mind began to wander, and it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. The monkey would haunt her dreams the whole night and when she awoke, it would feel as if she never slept at all.

[...]

The next morning was cold, the blanket she had draped over herself the day prior lying by her feet. She sits up and flinches as her feet sting and when she looks down to pat them, she sees bandages carefully wrapped around each foot.

How kind of him.

Y/n attempted to stand up but quickly gave up and decided to crawl out of the room. The main area was empty and the sun shone in through the window.

What was she supposed to do? Just lie on the ground as Tanjiro trains? No, that won’t do. She has to do something.

She crawls out of the cabin and closes the door behind her, going around the house to look for something to do. Aha, the firewood needed a little refill! She grabs the axe lying atop the wood and places it through her shirt, the cold wooden handle quickly heating up against her skin.

Thing is, she doesn’t know where Urukodaki chops his trees so she looks around the area and notices that the trees here stand and no stem anywhere, this couldn't be the place.

She goes to the right, the path leading up to the mountain. She kept an eye out for chopped trees as she crawled and after ten minutes of just crawling around, she saw a few stems here and there.

“Ha, found it!” She exclaims in happiness, leaning over a stem in exhaustion. It was a lot more tiring to crawl around when she’s now older than when she was a young child.

She grabs the axe from its place in her shirt and inspects the stem, taking in the details of the tree so she wouldn’t cut down the wrong sort. There was a similar tree a meter away from her and she pulled herself off the stem, dragging her useless body over to it and sitting down criss-cross in front of it.

Hm, on second thought, maybe this wasn’t so smart after all. If she cuts the tree, it’s probably gonna fall on her and she won’t have time to get out of the day.

Well, if she’s already here…

She shrugged with a sloppy smile, “If I die, then that’s all I was good for. But I don’t wanna, so bitch, behave!”

With the axe ready in her hand, she swings both her arms far back to gain momentum. As the axe collides with the tree, a shock runs up Y/n’s body and she chuckles to herself.

“Yeah, this is gonna take a while.”

And taking a while, it did. She had barely come to the middle as she heard a scream from Tanjiro up in the mountain, “Well, lucky you, Tanjiro. Lucky you.”

She continues chopping the tree as well as she can, her strength dying out. One tree would be enough, right? It has to be enough or she’ll be here the whole night.

Her hands ached as it made contact with the tree for the nth time, sweat rolling down her temple at the activity. Crazy how one can sweat like this when sitting down. 

When she throws her arms back, the axe suddenly gets pulled out of her hands and she looks back in shock. There, in all his glory, stands Urukodaki.

He was shaking his head at her, as if disappointed, and pulled her up to her feet. She shrieked in pain, doubling over as she leaned all her weight into him.

“Haha, well hello there, Urukodaki…” She smiles at him nervously and he exhales, picking her up bridal style. “I was only trying to help! Is that so bad of me?!”

She crosses her hands over her chest as she sulks, her body swaying in his arms like a baby. She hated how he carried her like that. The cabin comes into sight and she groans.

“Are you really gonna confine me in that small hut? I’m gonna die!” She grows limp in his arms, trying to see if she could glide out if his arms like her cousin would do to her all the time. Too bad Urukodaki knows how to hold her anyways.

He puts Y/n down by the fire in the cabin, a pot of soup hanging above it, and he sits down on the other side. At the smell of food, she suddenly realizes that it’s been more than a day since she last ate. She hasn't eaten anything since she arrived here in this world.

Her stomach growls unnecessarily loud, making Urukodaki chuckle. He hands her a bowl of soup which she pours down her throat in an instant. He gives her a refill and this time she eats it slower.

“Thanks,” She says with her mouth full of potatoes and carrots.

Urukodaki clears his throat, catching Y/n’s attention. She looks up at her with big eyes and he points at her bowl, saying a singular word.

“What? Did you poison my soup!?” She puts the bowl down on the floor in a panic and Urukodaki shakes his head. He may not understand her but he knows she just said something stupid.

He tries again, pointing at the bowl and saying one word.

“Man, what?! I can’t understand!” She groans and leans back on her hands, “There’s nothing wrong with my bowl! Right?”

Urukodaki picks up an empty bowl and waves it around while with a higher voice, says the same word for the third time.

“Oh! Do you mean bowl? That’s a bowl! B-bowl ?” It finally clicks in Y/n thick head that he was trying to teach her what the bowl’s name was in japanese, and she grins at herself, attempting to say it. He corrects her pronunciation and she gets it right the second time. Though, granted, she’ll forget it in twenty minutes, but a win is a win.

He pats her head like a proud father and motions for her to eat up.

“Hehe, I’m not that stupid, after all. Ha, suck on that Fiona!” She grins triumphantly and eats up the rest of the soup in her bowl, asking for a third round. “This is a breeze!”

[...]

Night came and as Y/n was lying on the cold wooden floor in the main area, the front door slid open to reveal a beaten down and exhausted Tanjiro. He seems to light up as he notices the older girl on the floor, walking over to her to give her a hug.

She hugs him back, albeit confused at his reaction.

“You okay!” He exclaims and pulls back to look her over, “Me fear you gone! No eyes you yesterday !”

She laughs at his bad attempts at english but feels her heart warm up at his worry. “Yeah, I’m okay. Not going anywhere, I would tell you if I was gonna leave.”

The boy sighs in relief and sits down beside her.

“I’m sorry if I destroyed your haori, I’ll buy you a new one.” She pulls at his haori, a guilty expression painted on her face. He shakes his head at her.

“No need.”

“Okay,” She whispers, looking into the fire in front of them. “You look rough, is Urukodaki a harsh teacher?”

“Yes,” Tanjiro chuckles, rubbing his arm, “Very, um, harsh. Very harsh. But very good. Very, mm,” He hesitates, pointing to his head for help.

“Oh! Smart! Yeah, he seems like a very smart guy.”

“Smart,” He mumbles, putting the word into his wordbank. “You? Only heal?”

“Haha, yeah, he won’t let me do much.” Y/n wiggles her feet, “Still, I kinda understand. But it’s unfair, I wanna train too if I’m gonna be stuck here for the rest of my life. Fucking monkey, I swear…”

Tanjiro tilts his head at her sudden animosity, patting her shoulder in comfort he thought she needed. She glances at him and looks up at the ceiling.

“Do you think I could become strong like you? I mean, you’re already strong and you’re now training to become even stronger. Could I do anything good for this world? Or am I just destined to be a weak, useless woman who can only cry at the smallest inconveniences?”

“No. No speak.” He grabs her hand firmly, making her look him in the eyes, “You okay, you very…good, you kind. Strong. Nobody perfect.”

Y/n tears up at his fumbling words, “Oh, this is stupid, so stupid… You don’t even know me…”

“No need to “know,” I trust.” He smiles at her and wipes her tears, the feeling of his warm hand on her cheeks makes her heart calm down, “You be okay. Trust.”

“Okay, I trust you. Thank you, Tanjiro.” She hugs him tightly, letting her remaining tears drip onto his clothes. He pats her back reassuringly then stands up.

“I, sleep ,” He makes a sleeping charade and Y/n nods at him, understanding. He leaves her alone in the main area and Y/n lies down on her back with her arms spread out to her sides. It sure is tough being a foreign person, both in language and world.

Chapter Text

“ Sky. ” “ Futon .” “ Fire. ” “ Green. ”

Both Tanjiro and Urukodaki tried to force Japanese words into Y/n’s head the whole week she was stuck inside, and she was sure she was gonna explode. Granted, she’s picked up a few words they say daily, like, thank you for the food , and I want more . Oh, and good morning and good night .

It’s way harder for her to learn sentences as the words suddenly change form and become something else. How does that work?? But they don’t give up. They’ve said the word for everything in the vicinity and when she tried to write it down, Tanjiro stopped her and wrote the complete words down, using another alphabet than she’s used to.

We’re not even gonna talk about that.

At the same time, she thinks Tanjiro has gotten a little better at his english, which gladdens her. Soon they’ll be able to communicate completely! She has no idea, however, if Urukodaki even cares enough to learn what she says.

But sure enough, a little more than a week had gone by since they arrived at Urukodaki’s place, and Y/n felt more than ready to get the same treatment as her friend. Urukodaki wasn’t so accepting of that, though.

It was early in the morning, the sun wasn’t even up, and Y/n and Urukodaki stood outside the hut. Tanjiro was already away training up in the mountain. She didn’t even see him when she awoke like she usually did.

Urukodaki snaps his fingers to get her attention and motions for her to follow him, which she does as she drags her feet behind her. She wanted to train by Tanjiro’s side! But you’re the boss, Uru…

They walked up the mountain, the air getting thinner and thinner the more they ascended. Y/n starts to cough when she doesn’t get enough air in her lungs, but Urukodaki seems okay, making her try to suppress it.

At the top, she could hear Tanjiro grunt in pain and she looked that way, only to have Urukodaki grabbing her head with a shake of his head. She pouts but does as he says.

He gives her a wooden sword, motioning for her to swing it. She furrows her brows and goes into a sloppy form, one leg behind the other, both hands holding the wooden sword, and her back being slouched.

Hey, don’t judge. This is the first time she’s holding a sword, better yet training to kill someone.

Urukodaki nods his head at her form but goes in to fix it, straightening her back, legs, and arms, as well as fixing where she holds the handle of the wooden sword.

Y/n sweat drops, guess there was a lot to fix, huh? That he’ll have to do thousands of times.

“ Go, ” He says, and Y/n actually understands that word! She begins to swing down at the air and Urukodaki immediately goes in to slap her back, making her stand up straight. Ouch…

Once more and he’s kicking the back of her knees to make her go down more. Twice and he’s fixing her shoulders. By the tenth time, her body parts were aching all over and he didn’t look like he was gonna let her go any time soon, so she sighs and continues swinging, long into the evening.

Her arms were way past the time they could have fallen off, and when Urukodaki stops her from swinging more, she cries in relief and falls to the ground, letting her arms go limp.

He whistles at her and tells her to stand up.

She gasps in shock, she really thought they were done for the day! She stands up, very slowly might I add, and when she’s up, he motions for her to punch his stomach.

“What?” She sweat drops but he ushers her on impatiently, “Well, alright…”

She pulls her fist back then makes contact with his stomach, grunting in pain at the rock hard contact. “Ow! That hurt! What, are you made out of stone?!”

She cradles her hand to her chest as he smiles behind the mask. He goes up to her and pushes her arms down, making her stand still in front of him. Before she can even react, Urukodaki punches her guts and she falls to her knees.

“Fuck! What was that for!?” She cries, hugging her abdomen. Urukodaki shakes his head before he bows down to her and grabs her arms to pull her up on two feet. He readied his fist once more, bit way slower so his student could actually see what he was going to do.

“Oh, man, why are you punching me?!” Having no right to refuse, as this is her training, she squeezes her eyes shut and waits for impact. Though, it never came.

She opened her eyes slowly to see that he lowered his fist.

" Tighten ,” He says, but Y/n only tilts her head at the unfamiliar word. He sighs like the old man he is and puts his arms together like an angry kangaroo and then taps her stomach.

“Bro, what, I’m not some walking sign language expert!” She groans and drags a hand down her face, “You guys are making me feel like an idiot!”

He grabs her hand and places it against his stomach and Y/n shines as she understands what he means when she feels his stomach harden and loosen on command.

“Oh! I get it!” She backs away from him, trying her best to tighten her muscles in her stomach, her cheeks puffing out as she holds her breath, “Come on, try me!”

He slaps her stomach with a flat hand, nodding his head at her. She grins with her hands in the air, happy that she did it correct. He, however, clears his throat and pats her shoulder with more force than necessary.

Y/n sweat drops and calms down.

He motions for her to focus on him and she widens her eyes to bring in the new information he’ll bestow on her. He takes a deep breath in slowly, using his hand to further emphasize on his action, and breathes out, the air taking a physical form behind his mask.

“Woah! How did you do that!?” He shows her again and she watches as his chest rises and then lowers as he lets the air out. She goes to try it herself and when she breathes in, Urukodaki punches her gut. Again.

“What?! Did I do it wrong?!” She cradles her stomach, “You’re gonna kill me…”

He crosses his arms over his chest, staring at her hunched-over form with no mercy.

“Oh, man…” Y/n whispers as she stares up at him, “I wanna go home…”

[...]

Weeks upon weeks were spent learning the correct way to breathe and hold a sword. And Urukodaki wasn’t a very gentle teacher, so every night, Y/n went to bed with blue and purple spots all over her body. Bye-bye to sleep, am I right?

By now, it has for sure been a little more than six months since she arrived here, and she’s sure she’s becoming stronger. She definitely feels it in her body with the way she won’t get tired as fast when running or swinging her wooden sword.

Best thing as of late, Y/n and Tanjiro can converse with each other in full sentences! And still understand each other! It made Y/n like the guy even more. He really knew how to use those words of his, and we’re not speaking of his actions here, that’s a whole ‘nother subject.

He’s way too good for this world.

She knew since the day she met him, but still, how could someone not like the guy? He’s an angel! He’s the only thing that’s making her continue training and not give up. If he can do it, then so could she.

This place is way different from her own and having no clue on how to get back, she needs to know how to protect herself, or she’s dead meat. This is the only thing that’s gonna help her from now on.

Talking about home, that bastard monkey hasn’t shown its face since she saw it in her first week here. She needs to find it and pull answers out of its ass. Fucking ugly monkey.

Y/n walks out of her room with heavy feet and slumps down beside Tanjiro on the wooden floor, grabbing her own serving of breakfast. “Mornin’...”

“ Good morning! Are you ready for today?” He smiles at her brightly, too bright for a morning like this.

“Ready? Ugh, I’m never ready…” He chuckles at her tired state, sneaking in some more protein into her bowl as he nudges her gently.

“Mm, I hope you know how to swim .” 

“Excuse me?” Her eyes widened at him. What was that supposed to mean??

“You’ll see,” He stands up and leaves the hut, all the while Y/n was screaming after him.

“Hey! What do you mean?! Tanjiro! Am I gonna die?! Is today my day?!” She reaches out for him but he only waves at her before he slides the front door shut.

“Come back!” She slams her head down on the floor, groaning at the contact and rolls over to her back only to scream into the palm of her hand, “This is crazy…”

She gobbles down the rest of her food and goes to wash the dishes quickly, her heart thumping in her chest in fear. When she’s done, she puts on her shoes and leaves her temporary home to begin the torturing day of training.

“Swimming, what the hell is that supposed to mean? I know Uru works with some water breathing thing or whatever, but don’t tell me he got his powers by almost drowning… No, I don’t wanna die by his hands!”

She pulls at her hair in stress as she walks up the mountain, her heart hammering harder and harder the further she nears their meeting point. “Calm down, calm down, Tanjiro’s just joking… Ha, ha… No he isn’t! Tanjiro can’t lie for the life of him!”

She arrives at her usual training spot and sees Urukodaki standing there with his arms in a cross. Habits die hard with that oldie. She waves at him, masking her worry behind a smile, not that that would help as Tanjiro has given her some intel on how his nose is more sensitive to smells, much like his own. A crazy fact to be bestowed, not gonna lie. Just imagine living with two guys that can smell everything within a mile’s radius. A horror.

“ Follow me ,” Urukodaki walks away, quite fast at that, and Y/n jogs to catch up to him. She comes up to his side and looks up at him, studying his side profile. Short gray hair sat atop his head and his jawline was soft, the same as his neck. She always wondered what he looked like under that mask, but never had the courage to ask.

But if she had to guess, he probably has a baby face of some sort, and being teased about it made him cover it up with that hideous tengu mask. She smiles unconsciously at her own made-up picture of his face in her head. 

“ Walk up ,” He breaks her out of her head and she looks around the area, noticing a waterfall in front of her. And the cliff they stood on. She looked back at him in horror but he only ushered her forward.

“ No, are you certain ? I’m gonna die !” She yells back at him, however, he seemed quite used to this kind of reaction so he just stepped up to her, pushing her to the edge, then kicked her in the back, making her fall down to the pond meters down.

She screams as she feels his foot make contact with her back and her life quite literally flashed before her eyes as she saw the body of water coming closer and closer to her.

Her mom, tall and proud on her feet, her dad, lazing away on the couch, her sister, always drunk, and… And Caleb, her… friend. Yes, her childhood friend. She had completely forgotten about him! He was with her everywhere she went and then one day… wasn’t.

But he wasn’t the only one with her during those days. He would always have different weird ass animals with him that he insisted was some God or something. Crazy boy, if she thought back on it.

The last day she saw him, he had a–!

Y/n makes contact with the water, the fall slamming the air out of her lungs as she slowly began to sink. Stars painted her vision and she began to panic, trashing her arms and legs around to try and come up to the surface. She tried to breathe, but water entered her mouth instead, and her lungs burned at the intrusion.

Her face comes out of the water and with the air entering her lungs, she begins to cough with tears running down her wet face. She looked up from where she fell with haggard breathing, eyes bulging out of her head at the long distance up.

And won’t you look at that, Urukodaki had his head sticking out over the edge, as if to see if she survived the fall. 

“Attempted murder! Attempted murder, I say!” She yells out with a fist in the air, “I hate you! I hate, hate, hate you!”

Understanding nada of what the girl screamed at the top of her lungs, Urukodaki only points to the waterfall, indicating that he wants her to go over there.

Y/n glares at him but does as he says, not wanting to be thrown off a cliff for a second time. The ground was shallower by the waterfall, not that that made things better for her, but now she has somewhere to stand and sort of dry off to warm up.

She looks to the side at the sound of rustling leaves, seeing Urukodaki standing there with his hands brought together in front of his chest.

“What!? Don’t tell you you’re praying for me !” She gasps, her whole body trembling. He throws a pebble at her in response and points once again to the waterfall, though more violently. Y/n growls and unwillingly stands under it with her hands clasped together.

She falls almost immediately down, hitting her head on a stone in the water. She groans and puts a hand on her aching head to see a small amount of blood. Urukodaki didn’t seem to give any shits, so she wiped the blood off and strained her body to be ready for the ridiculously strong waterfall.

The second time went better but after a minute, she began to lose strength in her knees and she soon sat on her knees with the water still falling onto her with full power. She cries in misery, wanting all this to be over already, but lucky her, the day’s just begun!

Chapter Text

That night, Y/n comes back home with an aching head and sits down in the main area beside Tanjiro silently, grabbing a bowl of steaming food.
“So, how did it go?” He asks her carefully, pushing her hair away to see the wound on her forehead, “Ouch, that’s gonna scar.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I just entered hell…” She mutters and leans on Tanjiro, “You couldn’t have warned me like a year ago?!”

“Haha, sorry, but you’re alive, that’s an accomplishment on its own.” He pats her head with an amused smile, the fire cooking the stew lighting up his eyes, “Did he push you over the edge, too?”

“He sure did. I swear, he must love seeing us in pain! He’s a sadist! A sadist!” She lies down like a star on the dark wooden floor and stares up at the wooden ceiling. Her favorite activity in this place, it seems.

“Uh, how’s Nezuko doing? Is she ever gonna wake up?” Her sudden question caught Tanjiro off guard and he looked down at his wounded hands with a frown.

“I don’t know. They say she’s fine, but they don’t know when she’ll wake up.”

“I think she’s gonna wake up when you’re ready for her.” Y/n says, grabbing his hand, “She must be gathering her strength like you right now, so you can both fight when the adventure begins.”

He looks her in the eyes gently, “Yeah, you must be right.”

Y/n laughs, “Of course, I am. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

“Thank you, Y/n. You’re always so kind. I’m happy you came with me here, I’m less lonely to have you here. I don't know if I could have done this if you weren’t here by my side, supporting me.”

“Oh, please, I’m the one who should say that. You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met and you’re the one who made me want to train my ass off like this. It’s all because of you. You know, when I get home, I’m never going to forget you.”

“When you get home…” He mumbles, “You’re not gonna stay?”

Her eyes widen.

Now that he asks, she’s never really thought about it. She’s always just told herself that when the opportunity arises, that she’s gonna go home to her family. But what about Tanjiro? Urukodaki? Is she just going to leave them behind like they’re nothing? They don’t deserve that.
It’s been six months, but they’re everything she has in this world. They’ve taught her how to live here without even knowing her origins, they won’t even ask. She owes them everything she has for their kindness.

“I-I’m not sure… I thought I wanted to get home as fast as possible, but I’m not sure if there’s even a way back home…” She sits up and hugs her knees with her brows furrowed together.

“What do you mean?” Tanjiro’s voice was low, like her own, and they stared into each other’s eyes as if they were the only ones in the world.
“I…” Y/n hesitates, “I’m not from here, as you know, but it’s much deeper than that…”

“Stop, you don’t have to tell me. I was just curious, so don’t tell me. But I’ll be here if you wanna talk, I hope you know that.” He grabs her hand in his, his warmth transferring to her.

She smiles at him, her heart speeding up at the contact, “Thanks…”

If not him, then who else?

Chapter Text

Mornings were usually a time where Y/n found it in herself to charge up on her energy. Well, actually, most of the time, she does that when she’s asleep but some days just require a helping hand in getting the day started.

Today, however, was starting very peculiar. The sun has yet to rise up above the horizon when Y/n opens her eyes, the dark room conveying the empty space filling her heart. She sits up and yawns, stretching her arms over her head as she tries to swallow her emotions.

Knowing herself well enough, this was probably not going to be a good day for her. She doesn't even know what’s wrong with her. What’s pulling her down this certain day of all?

Y/n’s ears perk up at the sound of silent footsteps outside her door, the footsteps she’s come to learn is Tanjiro’s. He usually got up at this time to get ready for the day, much like herself. She sighs and pulls herself out from her futon, rolling it up to place it in the corner of her room.

The main area of the small hut they resided in was empty and she slowly ate breakfast in silence. She hears the occasional hoot of an owl up in the trees outside and she feels a certain dread wash over her at her reality in this place.

What, it’s been six months since she arrived here? And she still feels like an outsider, which in its own way is kind of true, because she’s not from this place. She doesn't really know where she is, but it’s quite similar to her own world, so maybe she’s just in the past?

She chuckles at herself and stands up, placing her dishes on the counter to clean later. She walks back to her room to change into her training gear and then makes her way up the mountain to do her daily torture. Though, she has to admit, the training is becoming easier by the day, which obviously is the meaning with it.

Rain water drips down onto her as she walks between the trees, the night’s rainfall still making itself known even in this early morning. When Y/n comes to her usual spot, she sees her wooden katana resting in a makeshift nest to shield it from nature. 

She sighs and picks it up, her thumb running up the length of the handle with silent thoughts. A call from a crow up in the trees makes her flinch and look that way, seeing the very crow staring at her with unblinking eyes. In its beak lies a bright yellow dandelion. A stark contrast to the dim surroundings.

Her eyes widen and she feels her mouth go dry at the sight. Being in a different world doesn’t mean that your past is simply erased and filled with better memories.

Dandelions were Y/n’s signature flower to decorate her birthday cake with each year, and she had the perfect place to find them back home. A place where no one could find her as she celebrated her big day.

Granted, it was only made out of mud, but it was better than nothing.

Y/n had completely forgotten what day it was today, but at the sight of that dandelion and with the memories of her past, she remembers clear as day. Her birthday was often one of the days where she felt the worst, simply because she knew she would never be able to get a birthday to cherish.

She always wanted to have a birthday party like her classmates, to get presents just for her, to know that people cared for her. But with a family like hers, that was just close to impossible to achieve. Birthdays were just a waste of time in her home.

That’s why she ran away to her field of dandelions, to celebrate herself in private, just so she could have one day to appreciate the hardships in her life. That she actually manages to survive year after year.

The crow flaps its wings and soon flies out of the tree top, dropping the dandelion. It falls slowly to the ground and lands right by her feet, as if beckoning her to pick it up.

Y/n picks it up gently with two fingers and holds it under her nose to take a sniff. Tears gather in her eyes at the familiar scent of sweet grass and something akin to apricot, her previous favorite fruit.

She blinks her eyes and looks around her, seeing a pile of leaves under a tree and some sticks not too far away. She holds the flower gently in her hand as she picks up a few sticks and leaves, and sits down by the nest for her sword.

She places the things beside her with the dandelion on top of a few leaves to keep it protected. The ground was perfectly damp thanks to the downfall of rain this night, so it was fairly easy to form it into a small puck sized form.

With sticks on the sides of the mudcake and leaves on top, Y/n had successfully made a cake. The only thing that was missing now was the candles, so that she had to create with her available things around her.

She rolls leaves around a few sticks and then sticks them to the cake proudly. “There you go, just how I like it.”

With a stick rubbing against another, Y/n soon has a small fire started so she could light up her candles.

Now make a wish, Y/n.

“What do you think? Could I wish for something different this time around? I’m not there anymore, after all…” She glances at the dandelion, not expecting an answer, but still needing something to talk to.

“Just this one time, okay?” She mumbles and leans down, blowing out the three candles on the cake. Smoke immediately comes up and she waves it away, careful to not let any fire spread.

“I wish that I can go home...”

A moment of silence passes as Y/n sits in the grass, staring down at the dandelion in her hand. A weak smile travels to her lips and she stands up, “No, I wish I will someday make Urukodaki proud.”

With newfound strength, she grabs her wooden katana and walks out to her small open area to start training. If she’s stuck here, she may as well just make it worth her time, and become someone she would never be able to be back home.

Maybe here, she would actually be able to be someone she could respect.

Chapter Text

Wake up, eat, train, eat and sleep. Repeat.

A schedule she’s been having for the last year and a half, but it sure as hell has been paying off. Sacrificing tears and blood, she’s now stronger than ever and it didn’t take more than a month for Y/n to finish her final assignment as Urukodaki’s student.

The boulder he assigned to her was cut in half and when she finally did it, Urukodaki engulfed her in an embrace like a proud father. She hugged him back twice as hard, tears running down her cheeks.

“You did it. Now only the final selection stands in your way,” He said and patted her head. “A feast is in store.”

That night, they had a small feast at her success and Tanjiro was so happy for her that he had managed to break the front door when he opened it. He even gave her a kiss on her cheek, like they always did to each other when they overcame an obstacle.

You may just have thought that he was the one who succeeded, but Y/n didn’t mind sharing her success with him, knowing he wouldn’t be far behind. She’s still shocked that she finished her training before him.

Tanjiro has always been stronger than her, both in body and mind. And like her, he’s been growing into a man during their time here. When she accidentally took a glance at him when he came back from a bath, she saw the muscles on his body, not able to restrain the skip her heart made at the sight.

She’s never been attracted to him. Well, that’s a lie, she may or may not have a small crush on him, but who wouldn’t? He’s kind, strong, and respectful. Everything you search for in a man. 

Though that feeling was buried deep inside her, knowing he would never feel the same for her, despite everything nice he says about her. There’s no way he would be attracted to her.

When Tanjiro had gone to bed for the night, Y/n and Urukodaki sat in front of the fire together, relaxing in each other’s company. It wasn’t often they could be with each other like this, especially after she began to master the forms of Water Breathing. When he noticed she would actually master all forms, and quite fast at that, he seemed to grow more serious in her training. Harsher.

“The final selection isn’t more than six months away,” Urukodaki said, making Y/n look up from the fire, “Still, that doesn’t mean you can laze around. You’re gonna train like usual, and you’re gonna train until you die. You understand me, young lady?”

Y/n sulks, having completely thought she could at least get a few days of rest, but of course not. That would never occur as long as she’s Urukodaki’s student.

“Yes, yes…”

“On second thought,” He began and she lit up like a star, “You could take the weekends off. On the condition that you take over some house chores.”

“Ugh, of course you’re gonna make me work anyway!” Y/n groans in protest, crossing her hands over her chest, “But I’ll do it. Better than having my arms fall off every day.”

He chuckles with a nod of his head, “Smart choice. Go and get some rest.”

“Good night!” She runs off to her room with a skip in her step, “Hehe, what a wonderful day!”

Now, in present time, a week later on a Saturday, Y/n decided to sleep in a little, as she didn’t have to be awake at dawn. It felt weird to see the sun when she left her room but she sure as hell didn’t mind it.

She eats her breakfast slowly and in silence, Urukodaki nowhere to be seen. After eating, she’ll have to go on a hunt for the old man so she can get her duties for the day.

With the breakfast neatly placed in her stomach, she flies out of the hut, first looking around the vicinity and then making her way up the mountain.

“Man, he’s always gone whenever I wanna find him! What is it with adults and just disappearing?!” She looks behind every tree close to her, not seeing a trace of the man everywhere. Then, she remembered a place she hadn't visited in a long time.

Lo and behold, there he was in all his glory, cutting down trees without breaking a sweat. She calls out his name with a wave, jogging up to him. He lowers his axe and turns to her, “Y/n, what are you doing? You have work to do.”

“Yes, I know,” She drags out, “I’m just curious on what you want me to do, you never told me.”

He sighs, “Go to the village and buy some stuff. There’s a list on the counter.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” She salutes and runs away from him. He shakes his head at her antics with a weak smile. That girl never changes, no matter how much she’s grown.

With the list secured in her pocket, she begins her adventure to the village an hour away. She’s never actually been in the village before so Urukodaki is pretty brave for sending her away by herself for her first time.

“Ha, this is gonna be a piece of cake! You may call me the master buyer! I was the one keeping our fridge full back home!” Y/n boasts as she walks on a trail in the tall grass, though she goes silent at the thought of her family.

What were they doing now? Are they searching for her? Or… has time even gone by in her world? If she came back after these years here and nothing would have changed back home, she wouldn’t know what to do.

She shakes her head at her thoughts, “Oh, come on, let’s not think of that! I’m sure they miss me! I’m just that amazing! Even grumpy gumpy Uru misses me after I shut myself off in the mountain for days! Heh, he’s too cute.”

Y/n comes up on a dirt path with fields on each side, remembering this scenery weakly. It’s the path the three of them took on the first day of meeting Urukodaki. That was the time. She was such a loser back then.

“Hah! Who’s to say I’m any better,” She mutters, kicking a stone on the ground.

With twenty more minutes going by slowly, she finally reaches the village with a sigh of relief. “I’m finally here! Who thought letting me be all alone like this would be any good for me?”

She looks around the village, a few stands here and there open. Not that many people are swarming around here, nice!

A woman greets her as they walk past each other and Y/n greets her back with a wide smile. She hasn’t seen a woman in almost two years, and gosh is it refreshing! There’s nothing wrong with Urukodaki or Tanjiro, but being around two men for years does something to the brain.

In the middle of the village stood a fountain with kids running around and playing. She smiled at the sight and saw herself in them, that was her before she came here. Just playing around and not thinking about consequences, enjoying life.

Then she was brought to this world that has dangers lurking at every corner. But these people are all unaware of the danger they’re putting themselves into by just being outside after sundown, and there’s no way to tell them. They won’t listen.

A kid runs into her legs and falls to the ground with a grunt, Y/n getting pulled out of her head at the collision. “I’m sorry, little one,” Y/n reached out a hand for him, helping him stand up. The kid looks up at her and a blush adorns his puffy cheeks.

“N-no it’s my fault! Sorry miss!” He runs back to his friends who all begin to tease his red face. Y/n chuckles and waves at them when they all turn to stare at her. They must have never seen a foreign beauty like Y/n before!

“Okay, first on the list is… Mm, milk. Easy enough, just gotta find the seller,” She looks around as her feet move her around the square, “Oh, never mind, milk can wait. This is also on the list.”

She walks up to a stand selling metal, picking up different ores and ingots, inspecting them. 

“Hm, yes, I see… I have no idea what to pick! He couldn’t have taught me about this stuff first?!”

“Welcome, miss, do you need help?” The shopkeeper walks up to her with a smile, leaning his hands on the table. “Anything special you’re gonna use the metal for?”

“Oh, yeah, uh, for an axe and tableware.”

“Then I would recommend this one for you.” He picks up a pretty big ore from the table, placing it in her hand, “It’s the finest this season. It’s twenty-one thousand yen, but for you it can be nine thousand.”

That’s one heck of a prize, gotta take advantage of that before he changes his mind!

He winks at her and Y/n cringes, “Really? Thank you!” She grabs the right amount of money from her pouch and places the ore in a bag she brought with her. She waves at the man as she walks away, checking off metal ore on the list.

“And there’s that stand, let’s go! Gotta be home before sundown or I’m fucked.” 

[...]

When the things on the list in Y/n’s hand were all crossed over, the sun was just beginning to descend the sky. Originally, she said that she would leave when she’s done buying everything, but after seeing so many nice things on the stalls, she couldn’t refrain from buying stuff for Urukodaki and Tanjiro.

So, with her leftover money, she bought a red pendant for Urukodaki, the same dark red as his tengu mask. She wasn’t really sure why she chose a pendant, but it just felt right. He could use it for more special events or when he’s meeting someone special. It’s never too late to meet some special woman, you know~

For Tanjiro, however, she had a tough time picking between a black hair tie with four purple crystals or a black handkerchief with red carnation flowers. The handkerchief would really fit him as he has dark red hair and eyes but then again, he really needed a new hair tie. The one he has now is on the brink of falling apart, but he refuses to grab a new one.

Deciding to make it easier for herself, she looks over to the stand owner, the woman smiling kindly at her as she notices her stare, “Can I help you, miss?”

“Well, I’m just wondering what you think I should buy for my friend. This handkerchief or this hair tie? I can’t choose which one to pick, they’re both a good choice.” She holds the items in her hands, the woman glancing down to her hands.

“Hm, why not take both? I’m sure whoever you’re gifting them to will appreciate it whatever you choose.”

Both? Mm, no that seems a little over the top, then she would have to give Urukodaki another one too. “Ah, fuck it, I’ll take the hair tie!”

The woman gets a little taken aback at her foul language but nods her head, grabbing the hair tie and putting it in a small bag of sage green fabric. They trade, the woman getting the right amount of money and Y/n getting the hair tie. 

After that ordeal, Y/n’s all done and ready to head home for the day, the sun agreeing with her as it sits right above the horizon. “Thank you, have a good night!”

With a hurry in her steps, she leaves the village that began to get empty of people, looking down at her bag to smile proudly at her finds. This is sure to make Urukodaki happy!

The village wasn’t the only place getting empty, the farms outside the village were also empty of workers. Still, being out at this time wasn’t so bad. Nice view of the darkening sky and no evil demons in sight, I mean, could it get worse?

She walked the same path she took to get to the village, though walking faster to not accidentally run into a demon on her way back. That would suck as she had no katana with her. 

“Ha, I’m still pretty good at this! Uru’s gonna be happy with all this stuff I managed to buy!” She hums and tries to stay on a path with an open area so she wouldn’t get lost. Well, and to not have any demons surprise her.

Still, they could do that anyways as two toddler-like demons jumped up from the trench at the side of the path. Y/n jumped out of her skin, jumping back so they wouldn’t attach to her.

“Where did you guys come from?!” She yells, putting her guard up and keeping an eye all around her for more intruders of her peace. The two demons say nothing, only charging at her once more. Great, Y/n jinxed herself.

“Yikes, better skedaddle!" She yells as she jumps over one of the demons, running full speed down the path with her bag tightly clutched to her chest so she wouldn’t drop it, “If only I took a katana with me!”

The two toddler-built demons were very quick on their small feet, but not quicker than Y/n so they never managed to catch up to her. But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t follow her all the way back home.

“Woah, stay back you pest!” She screams as one of them nearly caught her pants in their claws, jumping over it easily.

The mountain she resides in comes into sight and she picks up speed and starts screaming at the top of her lungs. “Urukodaki! Help! I need a katana! ASAP! Urukodakiiiii! Can you hear me?!”

She sees his blue haori on a long way ahead and she smiles in relief, waving her hand in the air. “Over here! A katana! I need a katana!”

He comes running at her with a katana in his hand and as he comes closer, he tells her to jump as high as she can. She does as he says, albeit confused as he kills both demons with a swing of his katana. She thought he would just let her fix her own problems, like usual.

She lands back down and hugs Urkodaki tightly, “Thank you! But why wouldn’t you have me take a katana with me?! I could have died!”

“That’s on you. Haven’t I taught you better than this?” He squeezes her head with one hand. “Next time you’re on your own.”

“Ow! Stop! I’m sorry!” She laughs through the pain as she holds his arm. He lets her go with a sigh, “Hey, look, I got everything! I’m amazing aren’t I? Tell me I’m amazing!”

He takes the bag from her without a word and Y/n yells as she follows after him, “Hey! Don’t ignore me!” She jumps up on his back, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you be glad that I survived, at the very least? I know you love me!” She sees his cheeks lift from behind his mask and she screams out in happiness, “I saw that! You’re smiling! I was right, haha!”

“You have way too much energy. Maybe you should train everyday anyway.” He comments and Y/n shuts up immediately with a pout, “That’s what I thought.”

He brings her inside their home and sets her down by the fire in the middle and goes to pick up everything from the bag. Though, Y/n nearly forgot that she had bought him something so she springs up from the floor to snatch the bag right from his hands.

“Wait!” She yells, holding the bag protectively over her chest. Urukodaki deadpans at her and reaches his hand out to take it back but she takes a step back, “No, just a minute…”

She turns around, Urukodaki sighing at her antics but not doing anything to stop her. The shit-eating grin on her face made him worry for a second before he saw the red pendant held between her fingers.

“Behold my greatness! I got this just for you, pops! Do you like it?” He takes it from her and inspects it from all sides, the silence he emits making Y/n worry.

“You didn’t have to give me anything, Y/n. But thank you.” A grin breaks out on her face and she jumps on him, squeezing his waist tightly.

“I’m so glad you liked it! I was worried you wouldn’t!” Urukodaki says nothing, only pats her head slowly before he pulls her off him. “Okay, I get it. Here you go. I’m gonna go out.”

She gives him the bag and turns around to leave only to be stopped by a heavy hand landing on her shoulder, “You know what’s gonna happen if you disturb Tanjiro, don’t you?”

“Ha, haha, of course!” Y/n sweat drops, “I won’t go near him!”

He squints his eyes at her before he sighs and lets her go, “I have my eyes on you, young lady.”

“Great, bye!” She flies out the door and contrary to her words, she booked it right up the mountain to visit a certain red-headed boy. Her little gift was securely sitting around her wrist, hoping that during the short time of wearing it that her scent would linger a little while, so he would have something to remember her by when he’s up in the mountain.

The sound of grunts and cries enters her ears as she nears his training spot and it doesn’t take a lot longer for her to see him in an opening between the trees, his boulder not far away. Oh, surprisingly, his boulder was a little smaller than her own, which was weird. Did Urukodaki not treat them the same?

Shaking her head, she walks out of the trees and notices how Tanjiro freezes for a second before he turns around to stare at her. His eyes light up, “Y/n! What are you doing here?”

He jogs up to her with a smile and Y/n feels her heart skip a beat at the action. It’s not like he did anything weird, so why is her body acting up again?

“Hi, am I disturbing? Wait, of course I am,” She laughs, “Don’t tell Urukodaki that I was here, okay?”

“If he asks… I’m not sure I’ll be able to save you,” He rubs his neck sheepishly and Y/n slaps her forehead.

“Right, forgot about your whole can’t-lie-to-save-myself thingy,” A breeze comes flying at them, Tanjiro’s hair whipping in the air and blocking his sight. Y/n smiles and helps him push it away, “Anyway, I’m just here to give you something. Better now than later when I’ll forget to, right? I never do see you as often as I would like to.”

“Sorry, Y/n, I would love to hang around but you know how he gets,” He sweat drops and grabs her lower arm gently, never breaking eye contact with the girl.

“Yeah, I know. And it’s not like it’s been like this since we arrived here, so these moments are more cherished in my heart than you might think.” Y/n feels her face heat up at her sudden confession, quickly changing the subject back on course, “ANYWAY, here, I got you this while I was in the village. Thought you might need a new one, now more than ever it seems.”

She pulls off the hair tie from her wrist and shows it to him. His cheeks flare up and he hesitates to grab it, his eyes flashing with a certain guilt, “Oh, you didn’t have to get that for me…”

“Ha, sure I did! Your old one is now broken, right? You refuse to borrow one of mine so I just thought if you got one that was never mine to begin with, that maybe you would be more open to accept it. I even chose one that would make you never forget me!”

Tanjiro slowly looks away from Y/n’s strong eyes and down to her hand where the tie lies, picking it up with such care that she thought he believed he would break it if he was too quick to grab it. She laughs and puts her hands behind her back as she waits for his reaction.

“Well, what do you think? If it’s not to your taste, we could go and switch it out for something else,” She tilts her head but Tanjiro shakes his head, pulling his hands up to gather all his hair to tie it up in a ponytail.

“No, I love it. Thank you, Y/n, truly,” He turns around to let her see it in his hair, “Does it fit me?”

“Yep, it looks just like how I imagined it! I’m glad you liked it,” She gives him a quick hug, then starts backing away, “That’s all I wanted, so I won’t disturb you any longer. Remember to take breaks in between those reps!”

A quick wave is all he gets before she runs down the mountain, leaving him alone again, all starstruck at the interaction. The shift in the wind behind him makes him turn around to notice the familiar boy who has been training him for a few weeks now, his light pink hair swaying in the air as he stands by the boulder.

A short laugh can be heard from behind his warding mask, “Didn’t know someone like you could grab a chick like her! That’s what I call a real man! Now, stop drooling and fight me!”

Tanjiro snaps out his mind with a red face, bringing his wooden sword up in time as the boy runs forward towards him with his face as his goal.

[...]

When Y/n comes back down the mountain, she decides to sit on her bench for a few minutes, just appreciating the silence of the night before she has to go in and sleep. But of course that silence wouldn't last long when she hears Urukodaki walk out from the hut.

She looks at him with a hand in the air, “‘Sup, pops! Not sleeping yet?”

“Ah, Y/n, just the one I was looking for…” At his ominous tone, Y/n feels her hairs stand on edge, “You know, I don’t really appreciate liars in this household.”

“Oh, man…” Y/n mumbles and stands up, “I’m sorry, Urukodaki, but I just had to see him! When else do I have the time, honestly?!”

“I don’t care. You better get up on that mountain and perform the breathing forms until your arms fall off. Good night.” Urukodaki slams the door shut, leaving Y/n outside with a mouth gaping open in shock.

“That’s not fair!” She screams at the top of her lungs, but does as he says and begins to make her way back up the mountain with her feet dragging behind her. You would have to be really damn brave if you don’t do what Urukodaki tells you to do. Who knows what punishment he’ll give then…

Only thinking about it makes Y/n shudder in fear.

She grabs her wooden sword that lies protectively under a diy’d tent of leaves and sticks, going to stand in the middle of her small training area to torture herself for the rest of the night.

“Ugh, how did he even know…” Y/n cries and performs the first form without any flaws, “Man, fuck my life…”

Chapter Text

It’s a normal Tuesday and Y/n’s up in the mountain training, doing all the forms of the Water Breathing more times than she can count, just so Urukodaki would get off her back. He’s always complaining that she’s not doing them often enough, and she really thinks he’s scared she’s gonna forget them in battle and die.

But that won’t happen, of course. She’s not that forgetful, there’s just some things that slip her mind, that’s all.

There’s a total of ten forms of the breathing style, the third and fifth forms are her favorites to use. The third because it’s quick to use, you’re all over the battlefield in seconds and that form is quite similar to the tenth, but that one is harder to hold as it uses a lot more stamina. 

She likes the fifth because it’s a strike of kindness. She’s never really liked the thought of killing people, or demons in this case, and this one she promised Urukodaki to only use on demons who surrender, and not on every demon she comes across. Not all deserved to die painlessly.

The sun in the sky began to descend and Y/n decided to take a short break, just sitting on a rock as she drank water. Sweat ran down her temple and she thought about doing another workout, something to enhance her muscles a little more.

The boulder she cut comes to mind and instead of having her muscles grow, it would maybe be better for her to work more on her core. So, with that in mind, she descended the mountain and searched up her teacher who was inside his little hut, carving out a mask from wood.

She knocks on the door to catch his attention, smiling as he looks up from the floor, “‘Sup, pops, got a question for you.”

“What do you need?” He sighs, annoying Y/n for he already knew she needed something from him.

“Well first off, don’t know me that well! It’s creepy! And second of all, do you have another one of those big ass boulders somewhere? I need one for my training.” She leans up against the door frame and pulls down her clothing so it wouldn’t strangle her any longer.

“Hm, yeah, they’re placed on the other side of the mountain. Get it yourself.” He goes back to his woodcarving, shooing Y/n away when she doesn’t leave.

She groans and shuts the door, walking up the mountain with heavy steps, “Of course, he’s gonna have them allll the way back there! Oh, but this is great, actually! I can just have the finish line at my training place. Ha! You’ve outdone yourself once more, Y/n!”

With a grin painted on her face, she struts up the mountain and dances through the trees with a made-up song leaving her lips until she comes out on the other side. There, below the steep hill, stands tens of boulders in a big group, all in different sizes and smoothness.

She smirks and makes her way down, sliding on the wall of the mountain skillfully, using a tree to change her direction as she begins to glide out of her path. She lands on the ground with a grunt, high fiving the closest boulder to her.

“Mm, yeah, that is pretty high up… Ugh, do I really have to push you all the way around ?!” She looks up from where she came down from and groans, going in to hug the boulder by her side, her cheeks pressed against the cold surface.

“I’m about tired of his stupid ideas!”

She pulls herself away from the boulder and places her hands on her hips, her biceps flexing unintentionally under her sleeves. “Well, better get to it if I wanna finish before the final selection begins. In one month. Sheesh, I’m worried if I’ll be able to do it together with Tanjiro, he’s gone so much nowadays that I don’t even get an update on his training.”

The thing is, Y/n and Tanjiro used to always sit after dinner and talk about the day until they practically fell asleep in each other’s laps. Now, he’s just up in the mountain and she never sees him anymore, but she’s happy for him. That must mean he’s really doing his best, like always.

And let’s not forget how Urukodaki is so aware of the whole mountain, so much that he’s scooping Y/n up in his arms each time she comes too close to where Tanjiro trains. That old man sure doesn’t want the two of them to interfere with each other in any way. It’s a miracle he even lets them talk about their training at night.

Y/n chuckles and folds up her sleeves neatly, placing her calloused hands on the boulder. “Okay, so I first gotta get this guy around all these ones, then it’s just easy peasy lemon squeezy around the mountain.” 

She mutters to herself, trying the weight of the boulder with her whole body working to push it away. It doesn’t move a single centimeter. Shocker, I know.

With a sigh, she drags a hand down her face and goes in to try again. Just gotta focus on her core. Keep your back straight, work with your knees, don’t push pressure on your shoulders, and breathe. 

She takes in a deep breath through her mouth, letting the air fire up her muscles in her body. With a determined look in her eyes, she places her feet on the ground, one in front of the other, and angles her arms away from each other.

She pushes, her feet gliding away from under her but she refuses to let herself fall. Sweat drips down her forehead as she looks down at the ground in concentration, grunting at the resistance of the boulder.

“You…prick..! Move..!” She mutters through gritted teeth, completely forgetting to breathe. “...Move..!” A scream slowly builds up in her throat and soon she’s yelling as she uses all her strength on the boulder.

“Ugh!” She groans, falling to the ground and hitting her head on the massive rock. “This is exhausting!”

She pants on the ground, wiping her forehead with a dirty palm. She stands up and tries again. And again, and again, and again.

She tries tens of times, only stopping when the sun was nowhere to be seen in the sky. She lies down flat on the ground with heavy breathing, the dirt under her sticking to her sweaty body. 

The sky above her was cloudy but the moon managed to peek its face through the clouds to look down on her. She scoffs at the sight, “What, you gonna judge me too? Ha! You’re all the same…”

Y/n rolls over to her stomach and pulls herself up, putting on her layers of clothing again so she wouldn’t go back home with only pants on. Though, she didn’t bother with putting them on correctly and just threw them on in the wrong order.

She came home and as usual, Tanjiro was nowhere to be seen. Urukodaki, however, sat by the fire, stirring in his favorite pot. “I’m home, Uru. What you making?”

The smell of the usual vegetable stew he made entered her nose as she leaned over his shoulders to look down in the pot. “Mm, I like this one.” She grins at him and pats his shoulders.

“Hey, are you even feeding Tanjiro?” She asks him as she sits down in front of him on the other side of the fire.

“Yes, of course.”

Y/n only nods her head and takes the bowl of stew from his hands. They eat silently and it didn’t take long for Urukodaki to shoo her away to her room to sleep. She rolls her eyes at him. He’s been way too harsh lately, it makes her uncomfortable.

She gets ready for bed slowly, but not before checking in on Nezuko, the girl she’s never had the pleasure of speaking to. She’s heard stories of her from Tanjiro but they always end with Tanjiro on the verge of tears, afraid his sister might never wake up again.

Y/n sighs at the memories and lies down in bed, cuddling her pillow close to her chest to feel less alone. It’s at cold nights like these where her mind wanders to the family she had, a family who never deserved to have that title. Still, she misses them everyday, despite their difficult characters.

The time ticks away slowly with Y/n tossing and turning in bed, never able to find a comfortable position. It was well into the night when Y/n decided to go out for some air to see if that would help her grow tired.

She tied her brown robe around her body and left the hut, sitting down on a bench just beside the door. A bench Urukodaki made when he noticed how often she sat outside in the dirt.

She leans back against the wall with her hands hanging behind her. The night air was cold as it traveled through her body and if she didn’t have all these muscles on her body, she would for sure shiver, just like she always did before she arrived here.

It sure is peaceful out here during the night, not that it’s much different from the days, but still, being out in the dark with only her own thoughts circling her head is calming. She can’t just sit and think like this during the day, Urukodaki would have her head for it.

An owl hoots up in the trees and Y/n smiles to herself, “It’s almost been two years, huh?”

Time sure has gone by quick. She can remember her meeting with Tanjiro like it was yesterday. All these months and she’s done nothing but training to kill people, it’s quite weird when you think about it.

Y/n never thought that this is where she was gonna be when she grew up. Being seventeen and having the chance to die by a demon’s hands in a month is scary, she hasn’t even kissed someone yet or held hands. She hasn’t done anything romantic with someone, like she always wanted to when she saw her friends all lovey dovey with their boyfriends.

Sure, she’s happy that she has someone to crush on now, but it hurts just watching him from afar, knowing she’ll never be anything more than a friend to him.

But, then again, it wouldn’t be safe to be in a relationship if she were to pass the final selection. It would probably just distract her from her mission, even more if they were to have missions together.

She would try not to, she’s not really a clingy person, but how was she supposed to know when she’s never been in a relationship? He would probably get annoyed, right? Not that he seems like that kind of person, but anyone would be.

Y/n sighs and wipes her hands on her robe, closing her eyes to try and sleep the thoughts away. Though that came to be impossible as the trees at the bottom of the mountain rustled, the sound of footsteps not far behind.

She opens her eyes and looks to the side, seeing Tanjiro descend down with haggard steps. Damn, he was dirty and beat up. And damn, his hair has become long, it fits him.

“Tanjiro,” Y/n stands up and walks up to him, engulfing him in a sudden hug, making him falter backwards, “I’ve missed seeing your face.”

He chuckles, “Sorry, Y/n, I’ve been caught up in training. Why are you not sleeping? It’s late.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, you should see yourself,” She grabs a handkerchief from her pocket and wipes his face, “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, promise.” He leans into her touch for a moment, “You’re going to the final selection soon, are you nervous?”

“Ha! Of course, I am! You better catch up to me or you’re gonna have to wait another year!” She guides Tanjiro to the bench she sat on a few minutes ago, pushing him down to sit down, “Are you hungry?”

“I can wait until morning, thank you.”

“No can do, you shouldn’t starve yourself. You’re not gonna grow any muscles that way, silly.” She pulls his long hair behind his ear, “I’ll make something for you, so sit here and breathe, okay?”

“Okay,” He whispers and looks down at his lap as Y/n walks inside quietly.

She comes back out with a small pot and a cup of water, “Here, hold this, I’ll build a fire real quick.”

The fire comes alive out on the dirt path and she ushers Tanjiro over to her to the ground, “Let’s see if I can heat it the same way Uru does,” She laughs and grabs the pot from his hands, hanging it over the fire.

“So,” Tanjiro mumbles, catching Y/n’s attention, “You seem fine. What have you done these past few weeks?”

“Hm, just the usual, really. I’ve been training like I always have, but I’ve now started a new training where I'm gonna move one of those big boulders around the mountain. It’s for sure gonna help me grow my core!”

She flexes her arm muscles with a laugh, Tanjiro smiling at her gently, “Yeah, that seems like something you would do.”

They look into each other’s eyes, the fire lighting Tanjiro’s eyes beautifully. Has he always been so pretty? Maybe he’s looking better because she hasn't seen him in a hot minute.

“Not to break the mood, but if I didn’t come with you two years ago, I would have died.” Tanjiro flinches at her sudden statement, “I don’t think I’ve ever told you how grateful I am to you, for letting me go with you and just being kind to me, over all. Where I come from, no one would do what you did. Not to me, at least.”

“Y/n…” He looks at her with saddened eyes and Y/n smiles at him, her cheeks growing hot at the eye contact.

Her heart hammers in her chest, was she really gonna do this? Now of all times?

“Tanjiro, did you know that I like you?” Despite her strong urge to look away from his eyes, she didn’t. She knew that if she looked away, she would run away like the coward she is.

“Yes, I know.” He smiles at her like he always did and Y/n shakes her head at him.

“Not like that, I mean like as in love. I want to kiss you, I want to hold you, and I want to just look into your eyes like a stupid teenage girl madly in love.” His eyes widen and Y/n’s heart might just jump out of her chest at the silence from the boy by her side.

“No, nevermind, I said nothing.” She looks to the other side, tears stinging her eyes. Why did she tell him? She was fine with just being friends, this would just destroy their relationship. Fuck, she hates how she just acts without thinking first. All. The. Time.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and another warm hand on her chin, guiding her head back to face him. He had the softest look in his eyes she’s ever seen and it hurt her to see that look gazed upon her . 

Tanjiro said nothing as he brought his lips to hers slowly, kissing her gently but lovingly, his hand moving to the back of her head. Y/n’s eyes were wide as she felt his warm lips on hers and tears escaped her eyes, wetting both their cheeks as they were practically smooshed together.

Y/n was the first to break away from the kiss, a hand shooting up to wipe away her tears. Tanjiro took her hands in his and kissed them.

“I like you, too, Y/n.”

“You’re just saying that…” She mutters and looks down at their intertwined hands. His hands were wider than hers, but she had longer fingers than him, and well, prettier hands overall.

“No, I’m not. I would say that I’m quite bad at lying, actually,” He laughs with pink cheeks, “And I would never lie to you. Especially you. Can I kiss you again?”

Y/n blinks and suddenly there's a waterfall of tears streaming down her cheeks. Tanjiro wipes them away with a gentle smile and lets his hand stay on her cheek as she leans into his touch.

“Okay…” She whispers and Tanjiro slowly leans in to kiss her with closed eyes. Y/n breathes in through her nose and hugs him, pressing her lips closer to him if that’s even possible.

This time it’s Tanjiro who pulls back first, “Do you want to be mine, Y/n?”

“Yes, that would make me happy…” She smiles at him, grabbing a lock of his hair to spin it around her finger with her cheeks on fire.

He caresses her warm cheek, “I like you, Y/n,”

“I like you, too…” She cries.

The door to the cabin opens and they both jump, Y/n hurriedly wiping away all the tears from her face. They look back to see Urukodaki standing in the doorway with messy hair, his tengu mask held in place with his hand.

“What are you two doing? In the middle of the night?”

“I’m sorry, Uru!” Y/n springs up from the ground as she wipes away the snot from her nose, “I couldn’t sleep so I went outside for some air, then Tanjiro came down from the mountain and I offered to give him some food so he wouldn’t go to sleep hungry!”

He sighs, “Just get some sleep, okay?”

“Wait, Urukodaki!” Might be the adrenaline in her body but this seemed like the perfect time for her to bring up her worries regarding his change the past few weeks.

He stops and turns around, “What is it, Y/n?”

“Uh, am I misunderstanding this, but are you angry? You’ve been off the last few weeks…” She plays with her fingers nervously.

“I’m not angry at either of you. Just get some sleep and get ready for the final selection.” He closes the door silently. She looks after him and her eyes light up in realization.

“Oh… So that’s it!” Y/n grins, “He’s too kind.”

“What is it?” Tanjiro wonders as she sits back down beside him.

“I just realized why he’s been so tense lately. He’s scared to lose us, that we won’t come back from the final selection, like all his other students.”

“Oh,” Tanjiro looks back at the front door with furrowed brows, “Maybe that’s what I’ve been picking up from him.”

“But lucky him, there’s no way we’re gonna die in that place! Right?” She nudges him with her elbow, leaning forward to stir in the pot of stew.

“Yes, you’re right. I have to heal Nezuko.”

“That’s right!” She scoops up the stew from the pot and gives the bowl to Tanjiro, “Here, eat up.”

“Thank you.” He eats the stew while Y/n sits beside him, looking up at the sky. Earlier this day, Y/n was just thinking about how lonely she felt and how much she missed Tanjiro, and now here they are, sitting so close to each other that they can hear their hearts beat in the same rhythm. Best of all, they’re now a couple, the real deal!

Y/n smiles and leans her head on Tanjiro’s shoulder, letting his breathing lull her to sleep.

Chapter Text

“Y/n, do you know how to cook?” At Urukodaki’s sudden question, the mentioned girl attempts to answer but only muffled sounds come from her mouth filled to the brim with food. He shakes his head at her with an amused scoff, giving her a glass of water, “Never mind, I don’t trust you in the kitchen.”

“What?! Why not?!” Y/n screams after swallowing most of the food, extremely offended at his comment, “I’m an excellent cook, mind you! You’ve never allowed me to show you, that’s all!”

“Uh huh, you stay away from the ingredients, young lady,” Y/n frowns at him with a silent mumble, biting down on a fried tiger shrimp with more force than necessary. “What I wanted to say is that you and Tanjiro will have to fix dinner tomorrow night on your own. I’m leaving for a day for an urgent call. Don’t touch anything, you hear me?”

“Yeah, yeah… Where are you going?” She scoops up some more rice into her bowl with her tongue licking her lips in greed, “Like I can’t handle myself for a day. Ha! You underestimate me, pops!”

“I’ll leave Tanjiro to it, so let him do the cooking. You won’t see another day if I come back and my house is gone.” He glares at the girl in front of him and she chuckles nervously, sipping on her water as she avoids looking at him.

Y/n clears her throat, “When are you leaving? Tonight or early morning?”

“Before dawn. I hope you two will train even when I’m not here. I’m not the one who’s going to die, so behave.”

“Geez, I get it…” She eats three full spoons more of her food before she sighs, leaning back on her hands in satisfaction, “Relax gramps, everything will be fine. Well, I’m heading to bed, big day tomorrow!”

She leaves the main room with a whistle, going to the restroom to brush her teeth and make her ready for some well deserved sleep. When she’s done in there, she walks to her room to slither down in her newly washed futon with a pleased sigh.

[...]

The next day wasn’t much different than usual, except that she got the chance to eat Tanjiro’s food for breakfast for a change, though it wasn’t as fun as she hoped, because Tanjiro was already up in the mountain training when she woke up. Like everyday for the last two years.

She quickly washed the dishes before she left the hut and the mountain to do her newfound training– pushing her new friend boulder-smolder! Her big rock was sitting on the other side but instead of walking through the mountain top, she decided to walk around in the sun, so that she could get some good vitamin D’s in her system.

Nothing exciting happened during the day and Y/n spent the warm hours slaving away on her boulder to some success. Though her not-so-little friend was refusing to move most of the time, so when the sky was dancing in hues of pink and orange, she had only moved it around fifty meters before she gave up for the day.

She wipes her sweat away with her simple black haori, pulling it on soon after it's decorated by her sweat. “Great day today, huh, Smolder?” Y/n slaps the boulder with a grin, “I’ll see you tomorrow, better be ready to fly across the ground!”

With a last slap to the rock, she makes her way back to the entrance of the mountain, groaning in happiness as she sees the familiar black wood of her home. She slams the front door open and walks to her room to grab a change of clothes before she takes a quick cold bath.

Y/n stretches her arms above her head as she walks out of the bathroom with a pleased smile on her lips. She walks around the hut to come to the front, but stops by the door as she hears Tanjiro hum from inside.

With a smirk dancing on her lips, she walks up to the wooden window on the right of the door, leaning down slightly so she could look inside.

Tanjiro stood by the counter in the kitchen, chopping up some carrots skillfully. Well, she wouldn’t suspect anything else, because that boy sure knew how to cook. His hair was splayed over his shoulders in a mess but he didn’t seem to mind it all too much, and he had rolled up his sleeves so his muscled forearms were on display for her watching eyes.

“What are you doing, Y/n?” 

“Gah!” Y/n screams as Tanjiro looks straight into her eyes from the other side of the window, pulling herself away from the wall with a thumping heart, “W-what?! You knew I was there?! How?!”

Tanjiro laughs at her reaction and pulls up the hatch keeping the wooden window in place, pushing it out to the side so he could see her. He leans over the counter and rests his arms on the small window sill with a teasing smile.

“I mean, someone like you is impossible to miss,” He points to his nose, his eyes softening as he continues to look at her, “Did you have a good bath?”

Y/n pulls her arms away from her chest with a relieved sigh, walking up to him, “Yeah, it was nice. Are you making dinner already? The sun isn’t even down yet.”

“Well, I thought I could be finished before you were done in the bath, but it seems I was wrong,” He smiles sheepishly and Y/n laughs, placing her hands on his chubby cheeks.

“Why, thank you, my sweet gentleman,” She leans in to give him a kiss on his lips, though not letting it linger so he could have something to yearn for. His pink cheeks as she pulled away from him told her everything she needed to know of what was going through his head.

“Any way you could let me help?” Tanjiro seems to hesitate for a second, reaching his hand out to caress her cheek gently.

“Mm, I’m sure Urukodaki has spoken to you, right? Are you really sure you wanna challenge fate? Aren’t you a little too young to die, Y/n?” His teasing smile travels back to his lips and Y/n hits his shoulder playfully.

“Hey, I can cook! I’ve made food for you before, remember?!” She defends, taking a step back with an exaggerated pout.

“I wouldn’t call it yours, but sure,” He laughs, pulling himself off from the window sill, “But I would love to have your help, so come inside before you catch a cold.”

“Okay!” Her face lights up and she makes her way inside on bouncing feet. Tanjiro closes the window and goes to put out another cutting board for his partner quickly. He takes the towel from her hands and puts it down on the cushion on the floor.

She picks up the knife and smiles at him, “So, am I gonna cut vegetables? What are you even making?”

“I’ve decided on ramen, is that okay with you?” He asks, taking a small step to the side to put some distance between him and the swinging knife in her hands. 

“Yes, of course! I love ramen!” She grabs the red bell pepper from the counter, “Do you want me to cut this? Or maybe I could handle the noodles? That way I won’t be going completely out of line.”

“Maybe that would be better, yeah…” Tanjiro mumbles and takes the sharp knife out of her hand carefully, “I haven’t started boiling the water yet so you could do that, right?”

“Geez, what’s with the lack of trust? There’s no way I could fail in boiling water, silly,” She slaps his back with a humorous laugh, grabbing a pot from under the counter and filling it with some fresh water. She hangs the pot over the fire in the floor pit, putting the lid over it and walking back to Tanjiro with her hands behind her back.

“Woah, already done?!” Y/n exclaims over his shoulders, seeing all the vegetables already cut up and neatly placed on the cutting board, “You’re quick!”

“Thanks! That’s what happens when you have younger siblings, I guess,” He shrugs and turns around to lean on the counter with a sigh, “Did Urukodaki tell you what he was going to do today? He just told me to fix the dinner situation this morning before he left.”

“Him? Psh, nah, he won’t tell me anything if I don’t annoy him to death,” She laughs, crossing her arms over her chest, “Maybe he’s found a woman to fuck? It was about time, he’s going to die maidenless at this rate. But, who knows? It is Urukodaki we’re talking about.”

“Y-Y/n!” Tanjiro stutters at her unfiltered words, his cheeks going red. Well, he hasn’t really gotten to talk about the birds and bees, his mother never really managing to get him to stand still at his growing age, especially not when his father died when he was so young.

“What? We’re not eight, Tanjiro. You’re sixteen, right? Isn’t it normal for someone your age to already have kids?” Y/n looks at him with a teasing smile as his blush grows darker, “Sheesh, you’re too easy!”

“Well, maybe that’s true, but I had a lot of younger siblings so we didn’t need more in the pot, and well, I never met someone in the village I lived in.” He rubs his neck sheepishly, shifting his weight on his feet.

“Oh please, I don’t believe you!” Y/n exclaims, “You’re the sweetest person I’ve met, I’m sure there were tons of girls swooning after you! You just didn’t want to be with anyone, I’m sure!”

“Well, either way, I’m in no place of my mind to have children to raise. I have enough to think about as it is.” Tanjiro shrugs and grabs her hands with a loving smile, “And I’m glad I didn’t, because that meant that I got to have you.”

“Oh, what a sweet talker,” She swoons, feeling her heartbeat picking up speed at his tender touch and words, “I’m sure you’ll be a great father one of these days.”

“Only if- Oh, the water is boiling,” He interrupts himself and points to the pot, the steam of the boiling water leaving a little space between the pot and lid. Y/n’s face lights up and she walks over to take off the lid.

“Where’s the noodles, noodle man?” She smirks at him and Tanjiro chuckles, turning around to grab the bowl of uncooked noodles.

“Here you are, my lady,” He smiles, giving her the beige bowl. She thanks him and pours the noodles inside and starts stirring. Tanjiro gathers the vegetables and the sauce, setting it down on the floor by the fire. Let’s not also forget two bowls and two glasses of water.

“Say,” Y/n slowly mumbles, making Tanjiro look up from the fire and into her eyes, “If you were to only be able to live in one season for the rest of your life, which one would you choose? Haha, sorry, I’m bored."

“No no, it’s a good question,” He’s quick to deny her apology, placing a hand to his chin in thought, “Well, I like all seasons, they all bring different things with them… Hm, probably spring. Yeah, spring seems like a good choice. It’s the start of life and you’re starting to get out of your abode to bask in the comforting touch of the new sun…”

“Oh, wow, you-you really like spring, huh? But weren't spring and summer harsh times for you? With you guys selling coal and all that,” Y/n asks, chewing on a carrot absentmindedly.

“Not really, people always needed coal for something, and in some cases, we even sold firewood. Sure, we weren’t rich but we had enough to go buy with. We were happy,” Tanjiro smiles at the memory of his family, leaning on his hand, “It was the moments we had together that was our real money in life.”

Y/n smiles silently at him, letting him dream away to the past. At least one of them had something to smile at, unlike Y/n who can’t name more than three happy memories from her childhood. Geez, and she always thought the poor had it worse…

It seemed like they were both growing hungry and tired, because they didn’t speak much more to each other. Y/n had poured the broth inside the water to let the noodles suck it up before she put in the vegetables.

She fills Tanjiro’s bowl first, then hers, and they eat in silence, the both of them blinking slowly, trying to fight the sleep overtaking their bodies. Y/n complimented his food quietly, to which he smiled at her in gratitude.

Now, after washing up everything and getting ready for bed, Y/n stops Tanjiro from walking to his room with her hand grasping at his sleeve. “Hey, do you want to sleep with me tonight? If… you feel comfortable, that is…”

He smiles at her and walks closer, taking her hand in his without a second thought, “I would love to.” She looks into his eyes and guides him to her room and rolls out her futon so the both of them could lie down.

Tanjiro lies beside her like a stick, not moving a muscle, not even when Y/n turns around to look at him in the darkness, “You’re allowed to hold me, you know? I won’t bite you, I promise.”

“I know that…” He mumbles, his red cheeks almost lighting up the room. He lifts his arm and Y/n’s quick to make her way over to him to hug his upper body with a big smile.

“Thanks,” She whispers, nuzzling her face into the crock of his neck with a quiet giggle, “I’m not sure I would be able to fall asleep if you were going to lie like a rock for the whole night.”

“Sorry,” He places his hand on her hand and lets his eyes close in contentment. Y/n chuckles silently as she hears his gentle snores, hugging him closely as a shiver runs through her body. Some sleep now wouldn’t hurt and tomorrow she’s going to tease Urukodaki for doubting her. She didn’t break anything tonight, like she knew she wouldn’t!

He’s probably going to glare at her and then she’s going to escape up the mountain for the rest of the day. She can’t wait…

Chapter Text

It didn’t take more than two days after Y/n and Tanjiro’s confession for the boy to cut his own boulder in half. Y/n was jumping around him in happiness while Tanjiro just felt like collapsing from the relief. Really, the final selection is only in a few days.

That night was calling for a big feast, celebrating his success at finally cutting the boulder. It was a party and they ate the best hot pot Urukodaki has made yet! Though, most of it happened to land in Y/n’s stomach. She may have forgotten to eat all day because she was so focused on her own training for once…

Before they went to bed, Tanjiro had asked Y/n to help him cut his hair but she refused, saying that she wouldn’t allow him to cut it, just his bangs if he wanted to. He was way too beautiful in long hair! So he sighed at her with a smile, deciding to put his hair into a ponytail with his newly cut bangs framing his face.

Now it’s a day before the final selection and Y/n couldn’t sleep, even though she knew she really needed a good rest for her difficult week to come. She looks up at the wooden ceiling while she lies like a star on her futon, the cool night air hugging her nearly bare body.

A gentle knock on her door made her sit up slowly, hunching over to grab her robe at the bottom of her futon. She pulls it on with a yawn and rubs her hands together to get some warmth going.

“Yes?” The door opens slowly at the sound of her quiet voice, Tanjiro’s head peeking inside with a sloppy smile at the sight of her. Y/n’s eyes soften at the sight of him and she stands up, grabbing his hand reaching out for her.

Without a word being spoken between the two, he leads her outside to where all the stars shone beautifully, holding her hand as if it was the most precious thing to him..

Y/n takes a deep breath and relishes in the fresh air entering her cold lungs.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up,” Tanjiro says, letting her go to sit down in the grass outside of the mountain. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh, me neither. Believe it or not, I’m kinda nervous for tomorrow.” She sits down beside him and leans her head on his shoulder, “Thanks for getting me out.”

He chuckles and brings a hand up to pet her head, “Yeah, me too, but this is something we’ve worked towards for two whole years now. I trust that we’ll be fine.”

Y/n sighs and lies down on the grass, staring up at the wide night sky with her hands resting on her stomach, “If I die, I hope I’m brought back as an eagle or a leopard.”

“Y/n, you’re not gonna die,” Tanjiro says in a firm voice, grabbing her thigh with his warm hand, “I won’t forgive you if you do.”

“Haha, don’t worry, I’ll do my best.” She grabs his shoulder and pulls him down to lie beside her, their hands intertwining, “I don’t have the heart to leave you behind.”

Her eyes glinted with doubt for a second, a second Tanjiro saw all too well. He smiles at her and rolls over to lie on his side, a hand supporting his head as he looks at her.

Here, in the middle of the night, she seemed so peaceful, so ready for whatever was to come. Then with him, he’s nervous for what’s to come. With her emotions, it’s easy for her to get off track and that could easily kill her.

“You can’t die…” He whispers, catching her attention. She smiles at him gently and squeezes his hand, looking back up to the sky with no major emotion being portrayed on her face. “I can’t lose you too…”

[...The next day…]

Both Y/n and Tanjiro get dressed for the journey to the final selection, a blue haori with a cloud design both clad on them, a gift from Urukodaki. Tanjiro goes to bid farewell to Nezuko while Y/n stands outside beside Urukodaki with her hands in her pockets.

She rubs her eyes with a yawn. They had managed to fall asleep outside and woke up when Urukodaki had found them, yelling at them for their stupidity. Deep down, behind all his yelling, she knew he was scared for them, like the little softie he is.

Y/n chuckles and Urukodaki looks down at her with a raised brow. Feeling his stare, she shrugs with a smug grin and he only sighs, patting her head gently. His hand travels down to squeeze her shoulder firmly, his actions clearly telling his fear of losing her to the demons in the exam.

Tanjiro walks out of the hut with Urukodaki’s handmade warding mask placed on his head, one much like Y/n’s, but hers had a misty pattern with eyes closed shut, long eyelashes drawn on them.

She smiles at him and pats his back encouragingly and they both stand in front of Urukodaki to say goodbye.

“I’ll take care of your sister while you’re away,” He begins, Tanjiro thanking him with a bright smile, “So do your best, both of you.”

He pats them both gently on the head and Y/n laughs with closed eyes, “Hey, don’t miss us too much, pops! We’ll be back!”

Y/n and Tanjiro take each other’s hands and begin to walk away, Tanjiro turning around to wave goodbye one last time. “I’m off, Urukodaki! Give my regards to Makomo and Sabito!” Then he pulls Y/n with him as he jogs down the path, out to where the sun shines brightly.

“Hey, Tanjiro, who’re those?” Y/n asks him with curious eyes, squeezing his hand to get further attention from him. He glances at her with a gentle smile.

“I never told you? They helped me become stronger up in the mountain! I could have never been here right now if it weren’t for them.” Eh, okay? Y/n didn’t know what to say to that so she only nodded her head with a smile, following after him with silent steps.

There were other people up in the mountain? She was sure she would notice someone that was close to her but maybe they were just masters at stealth. Then, it would make sense why they were on Urukodaki’s mountain, they could have been his previous students who may have died before they could become hunters.

Y/n and Tanjiro ran for hours on end, only stopping for fifteen minutes to eat and for a quick bladder relief, though quickly came back to the road to continue their journey to the final selection.

They had barely spoken a word to each other during the day so they could save their energy for the week to come, but when night came with harsher winds, they slowed their pace and made small talk.

Nothing much, just talking about the final selection and how it would be. They decided that they would split up to make it fair, because in Tanjiro’s words, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from helping Y/n if she were to get in trouble. 

That would just defeat the whole purpose of the final selection.

Y/n agreed strongly, rubbing her knuckles on his head with a loud laugh that scared the birds in the trees, “You’re so smart! I’m not sure I would be able to hold back either!”

They intertwined their hands once again, smelling the air at the scent of the sudden appearance of Wisteria trees. Tanjiro looks around them, grabbing a branch of purple-glowing leaves gently.

“So pretty…” Y/n mutters behind him with her hands on his broad shoulders, “I’ve never seen these flowers before, might become a new favorite.”

She laughs and pulls him away from the tree, “Come on, not much farther now, I can see the meeting place!” She points to the stone stairs ahead of them, the Wisteria trees leading them the whole way there.

They walk up the stairs with no problem, Tanjiro stopping at the top at the sight of other people standing spread out on the stone tiles in the area. There weren’t that many there, maybe thirty at best.

Y/n leads him through the crowd, stopping by a red torii. The two identical kids at the very front start talking about the rules of the final selection, such as that they have to survive seven whole days in the mountain with demons captured by demon hunters.

Well, Y/n did predict that it would be something like this, it does make sense for them to be hunted for a week because then it would show who would be strong enough to handle real missions. But having to die only because of an exam is a little much…

“And now, be on your way.” The two girls bow to everyone in the area and almost everyone runs out through the trees to begin their exam, a few more excited than others, as if not everyone would die. Seriously, there can’t be many in this group here that would survive.

Tanjiro grabs Y/n’s hand tightly, looking into her eyes with a firm stare. “Take care of yourself and be aware of your surroundings. I don’t want to lose you.”

“What, you don’t trust me? No way am I gonna die!” She teases, grabbing both his hands to kiss them, “I’ll be alright when I see you standing here in seven days. Don’t even dare die to some lowly demons, you hear?”

“I hear you loud and clear. Good luck,” He smiles and gives her a long kiss on the lips, his hands traveling around on her upper body and head, trying to remember the feeling and form of her. They let each other go with yearning looks, Tanjiro being the first one to walk away with a worried smile dancing on his lips.

Y/n looks after him, her whole body growing cold at the loss of his warm touch. You would think she’s used to being without him, but after these past few weeks of him being with her all the time, touching and talking to her, she’s grown quite the attachment to him.

She gives him a gentle salute with two fingers, walking out to the darkness behind the Wisteria trees she stood in front of. The wind blew past her, picking up her clothes to kiss her skin. She felt a shiver run up her spine and slowly spun around to take in her surroundings.

The forest was dark, a dark green-like fog swarming the cold ground and entering her lungs. Though, it was no match for her because she’s been up in Urukodaki’s mountain for two whole years that had ten times thinner air than this. That mountain of his was crazy hard to breathe in, especially the first few months.

She chuckles and walks deeper through the trees keeping her guard up times a hundred, a steady hand resting on the handle of her katana. The wind carried no sound with it, making the hairs on her neck stand on edge. Sure, it’s the first hour but these demons must be starving .

Great way to jinx it, Y/n.

A high-pitched scream enters her ears and she spins around to the direction it came from in surprise, her eyes wide in attention. The scream dies down and it takes a minute for Y/n to look away, feeling horrible for not helping the girl. 

But she can’t. She can’t help others. If they can’t survive here by themselves then they wouldn’t survive as a real demon hunter.

She really can’t.

She squeezes her eyes shut tight, biting down on her lower lip in guilt, her heart hammering harshly in her chest. Maybe she can’t survive this. How can she?! Demons are fucking terrifying! And they’re practically immortal!

She takes deep breaths, letting the damp and thin air calm her heart down. She won’t survive panicking like this so she pushes her feelings down and begins to get on the move, her hands shaking in fear for her own life. Let’s not talk about how scared she is for Tanjiro right now!

She walks and walks, jumping at the simple sound of bushes rustling or the occasional hoot of an owl. This place was massive, how was she ever gonna be able to find anyone else in here?

But this may be good, if she just stays in this area, maybe going more to the right to be extra sure, she may be able to survive the whole seven days without even encountering any demons! Well, are you a fucking pussy, Y/n? Go and fight some demons to show what you trained for!

“Yeah, I’m a coward, so what?!” Y/n hisses through her teeth in english, “I do actually wanna see my family again, believe it or not.”

Y/n smirks at the sound of a stream entering her ears, “Aha, jackpot!” She runs up to the water and dips her hands down in it, shivering at the ice cold water. She drinks a little, then stands up and looks around.

“Mm, perfect,” There was a big tree south of the stream that had the perfect branch to sleep on, “I’ve found my crib for the week.”

She climbs up the thick tree with ease, not even breaking a sweat. She sighs at the top, leaning back on the stem as the sun rises from behind her. “Now this is calling for some well deserved rest. Just six more days.”

The tree sure as hell wasn’t soft to lie on but it did the job wonderfully, and Y/n can’t lie, if there weren’t demons actively hunting her ass down, she would sleep like a baby up here.

It wasn’t that different from all those times in the park as an early teen.

[...]

In the morning, well, evening, Y/n woke up with an aching back, popping all the uncomfortable cracks in her back as she sat up from her lying position. It would seem her body ain’t so used to being a miserable teen anymore. Thank the gods that Urukodaki had money and a kind heart.

She notices the loss of feeling in her feet and wiggles them around, only to sigh as they haven fallen asleep, dead cold at that too. She hits them and they slowly wake up with that horrible tingly feeling that feels like a thousand needles pricking her skin.

The place below her was empty and it seems like no one’s been walking there, as she can see her own footsteps in the dirt. She begins to descend the tree, landing on the ground with a soft grunt. 

“Okay, food. I’m gonna need to eat.” She looked around and granted, the only thing around her was the stream she found last night. How likely would it be that it had fish swimming in it?

“Only one way to know,” The water ran past her legs as she stepped into the water, already feeling her feet crying at the cold temperature. Sure enough, there were fish in the stream, but they weren’t that big.

With her tongue sticking out her mouth in concentration, she shoots her hands down and catches a fish, impaling it with her nails so it wouldn’t be able to slip away. It flops around in her hands and she smirks at her catch, “You’re mine now, fishy.”

One would be enough for now, so she went back to her temporary home, laying the fish down on the ground after it had died and she had drained out most of the blood by sucking it out. She makes a fire to cook now when the sun is still up, waiting impatiently as she wanders the area while it gets a beautiful golden-brown color.

While she waits, she attempts to skip a rock on the surface of the stream, but it sinks to the bottom the moment it makes contact with the water. She groans and throws her head back, attempting again only for it to do the same.

“Stupid rock,” She grumbles, walking back to sit down by the fire. She spins the fish around then picks it up, killing the fire right after. Perfect timing for it to be done, the sun is going down in a few minutes and then the demons are coming out for her ass.

She gobbles down the fish, complaining at the poor taste. Sure, this world is a little underdeveloped than where she comes from but Urukodaki was a beast in making heavenly food! If he didn’t become a demon hunter, she’s sure he would be a chef or something.

Anyways, she looks upon as the last ray of sunshine disappears behind the horizon, welcoming the cold of the night. She stands up to stretch her arms high above her head, groaning in satisfaction.

The mountain goes silent, as if it’s the calm before the storm. She knew what was gonna come now that the sun had gone to rest. The demons will walk out of the shadows to feast, the main predator of mankind. Even higher than mankind itself.

Y/n kicks her fireplace to rid of evidence that she was here, deciding to wander the perimeters for some knowledge of the place she’s nesting at. There wasn’t much to take note of, it all pretty much is a normal forest up in the woods, well with the exception of wild animals.

The very thought that every step Y/n takes is the battlefield where a fellow student either died mercilessly or achieved victory makes her shudder.

So many emotions in one small mountain.

Chapter Text

Only four more days to go. Y/n can do this! Or not!

Y/n never imagined that she would wake up on her third day by the sound of two female voices below her tree, fighting for their life. Three demons surrounded them as they forced the two women to back into the very tree she’s in, watching the hunt go down.

One of them was scrawny, its grey hair thinner than Y/n’s patience for herself, and it had blemishes all over its face. It wore a patchy robe, the sleeves nowhere to be found and she saw the bones of the demon's torso happily showcasing themself through the robe that didn’t cover its chest.

The second demon was short and she suspected that during its human life that it had dwarfism. It had a long braided brown beard that reached down to its belly and a nice set of brown hair nesting upon its head. Almost made Y/n jealous of the good state it was in.

And finally, the third. It was huge, both tall and extremely muscular. That’s what Y/n thinks she looks like after a week of intense training. It had no hair, bald as an egg, and wore some simple pants without a shirt on its torso. That one looked the most dangerous.

All three of them cackle as they bring their hands up, sharp claws gleaming in the little light they get from the moon. Y/n grasps her sword in her hand in a reflex, downright forcing herself to go quiet, heart and all. There’s no way she would be able to fight off three demons all by herself…

The demons lunge forwards at the two girls, their claws impaling into their flesh with no resistance. It didn’t take more than a second before the horrifying scream of the girls vibrated through the stem of the tree and entered Y/n’s stiff body.

She shivers and looks away from the sight. The gut wrenching sound of the demons snacking away at their limbs and intestines makes her want to rip her ears off her head.

With wide eyes and a throat ready to throw up, she did something incredibly stupid. She looked over the edge of the branch she was resting on to look down on the three demons, their faces drenched with the blood of the girls. The dwarf was gulping down the head of the blonde haired girl, eating at it as if it were a chicken leg or pork ribs.

As expected, she couldn’t keep the contents of her stomach in anymore, the horrible sting in her throat growing until it all fell down on the three demons under her. They all stop with their eating, looking up quickly, their piercing yellow eyes making eye contact with Y/n who in a hurry pulls her head back to hide on the branch. But it was all too late, they’ve seen her and demons never do get their hunger satisfied.

The growl they let out resonated in her body as if it came from her very own throat and she felt panic surface up in her at the undeniable fact that she had to kill them. All three. Or she’s gonna die.

“This is insane,” Y/n mutters as she unsheathes her katana slowly, “Fuck, they’re three too many!”

Her heart hammers against her chest and no matter how much she tries to move from her spot, her body straight up refuses to move. Fight or flight, more like fight or hide!

“Come on, Y/n, you can do this..!”

As she’s stuck in her head trying to persuade herself to jump down and just go for it, the tree trembles and Y/n hugs the branch under her in confusion. “What the…”

She looks down to the ground to see the three demons hugging the tree while holding hands, and they grunt before they squat down, picking the tree up like it was a feather.

“No… No fucking waaaaay!!” Y/n screams as the tree falls down to the ground. She softens her landing by rolling away and avoiding being smudged to a pancake by the heavy stem. She rolls down in the stream filled with her lunch, choking on the water entering her lungs.

She coughs loudly as she sits up with the water up to her breasts, pushing her hair away from her eyes. Though, she’s not given much time to recover from the fall as the three demons shriek with starving eyes, jumping at her. She manages to push herself away in time to avoid their sharp claws and teeth, but just barely.

A curse leaves Y/n’s mouth as she sees her katana lying behind the demons. She stands up on two steady feet, eyeing them all at the same time.

Unlike human fights and battles she’s seen, these guys here don’t give a fuck about fighting etiquette, running at her once more like hungry animals. Well, they are hungry monsters, so.

She turns around in a snap and starts booking it down the trees, her feet flying across the ground like never before. It really is true that in life or death situations, you become the strongest you.

The wind whips in her face as she runs, using a skinny tree to abruptly change direction, it breaking at the force of her turn. It falls to the ground and trips the demons hot on her heels. She smirks and runs all the way back to the stream to pick up her katana with relief flooding her body at the security she feels of it close to her.

“Welcome back, baby,” She wipes off the handle so she would be able to get a better grip on it and holds it up, waiting for the demons to come back with sweat trickling down her face, mixing with the water soaking her skin and clothes.

She feels her hands shake and she tries her best to breathe it away, but her body really couldn’t lie. She was terrified of what was going to happen next. Seriously, her first fight with demons and it had to be three of them who’s just jumping at her?!

If Y/n survives this all by herself, you better bet she’s going to brag about it to everyone she meets for the rest of her life.

The dwarf and the scrawny demons walk out from the trees, their heavy breathing fogging in front of them. They drool at the sight of her and lean forward, appearing in front of her in a snap. They’re faster than before!

In surprise, she takes a step back as she swings her katana at them, cutting off their hands successfully but it doesn’t take long for them to grow back, making her curse under her breath with a glare. 

What she couldn’t calculate, however, was that the third demon of the group was nowhere to be seen. So she failed to watch her surroundings completely, which made it possible for the very demon to sneak up behind her.

Feeling a shift in the wind, she begrudgingly looks behind her with wide eyes, the air escaping her lungs at the sight of the enormous demon with its huge muscles glaring down at her.

“Oh, fuck-” The demon swings its fist down on her head, making her tumble down to the ground with her sight blackening out. A painful intake of air at the contact leaves Y/n and she digs her fingers into the dirt to strand herself in consciousness.

She sways where she sits, looking up at the demons with teary eyes and a ringing head, the hot feeling of blood trickling down her nose and entering her nose as she breathes heavily. They were all glaring down at her with such a hunger present in their eyes that Y/n had no choice but to realize that no matter what she did, she’s not going to be able to leave unscathed. 

Realistically, what are her chances of surviving this? After already landing on the ground, unable to stand up without her vision going black…

The seconds go by slowly and Y/n feels herself panic at their stillness. Why weren’t they doing anything? They just stood there, staring at her as if they were waiting for her to gain more control of her body once more just so they could crumble her slim hope of winning.

She takes a deep breath and tries to push herself up from the ground but her feet refuse to hold her weight so she falls back down to her knees. If she couldn’t stand up then she has to at least protect herself where she sits.

The moving shadow of the demon above her makes her glance up at them again, only to see the very katana she was supposed to hold with all her strength being hostaged by the big demon. She sweat drops at the horrors of the reality she’s in. This “fight” didn’t even last for five minutes. How the hell were they so strong?!

No, this was never a fight. This was a hunt, and she’s the prey. She never had a chance of winning.

“ Fuck. I’m gonna die. ” She was oddly calm at the realization, though her body wasn’t. She was trembling and crying and sobbing. She knew it was gonna hurt. From all the stories Urukodaki had told her of the demons he had killed, how they wailed and wailed as they slowly died by his hands. It couldn’t be much of a difference between humans and demons regarding pain, right?

“Ah, I hate pain…”

She only managed to have her eyes closed for a few seconds before she felt a heavy pressure on her right leg, pressing and pressing down until she heard a horrible crack echoing through the area, the low hum of satisfaction from the demon making her heart stop.

At first, the pain didn't register in her mind and she thought it wasn’t her that it had stomped on, and she was close to believing that this was all just a dream, but then it came. The pain, the excruciating, horrible, gut emptying pain. And it hurt like a bitch.

“Ah, fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! You piece of shit, I’ll kill you! Fuck!” She swore at the demon responsible for stepping on her, cradling her leg as her hands got soaked in the warm, dark red blood seeping out the wound on her calf. The demon’s eyes seemed to glimmer at the sight of her pain and if Y/n had the strength that Urukodaki had, then those two would really know what pain is.

“Just kill me already you sons of hypocrites! Go on, get it over with!” Y/n cries. What else could she do but give up?

The faces of Tanjiro and Urukodaki show up in her mind as her body relaxes. Her family. Urukodaki who trained her to become an independent woman, strong and confident.

Tanjiro, who hasn’t even been her boyfriend for a month. The boy who she would sacrifice anything for to have him live pain free. The boy, who from day one, always saw the good in her even when she couldn’t…

Oh, they’re gonna hate her for being weak enough to die here…

The muscular demon cackles loudly, bowing down to grasp her neck tightly, shutting off her airways in a matter of seconds. It pulls her up to have her dangling above the ground, her fingers clawing at its hands to try and break free with futile attempts.

Her eyes grow red at the lack of oxygen and stars color her vision. The demon brings her in and bites down on her neck, pulling back and chewing on her skin with a satisfied groan. He drops her to the ground and the two other demons run in to each take their part of her.

The skinny one pulls off her broken leg and the dwarf one takes a massive bite of her abdomen, her organs spilling out of her from her leaning position on the ground.

The pain was becoming unbearable until it all just went numb. Her whole body ached and she felt the heart in her chest slow down as her fingers got that uncomfortable cold you get in the winter. But even then, she didn’t give them the satisfaction of her painful screams because that would mean that they truly did win over her.

It’s funny, she’s dying and here she is, barely attempting to save herself. And why in her dying moments did she have to see that damn monkey? The monkey who put her in this situation in the first place… She hates it! But now she’ll be able to haunt it to the end of time. The very thought made a smile appear on her dry lips.

A bright yellow light blinds her and she closes her eyes with a groan but when it went away just as quickly as it came, she didn’t have the strength to open them again. That’s when she knew she had died. Dying in a world she didn’t even belong in. Ha! What a miserable destiny.

Are they still munching on her body? Drinking her blood? What’s gonna happen to Tanjiro? She promised him to stay alive… Knowing him, he’s gonna blame himself for what happened…

Urukodaki, will he be sad when Y/n doesn't come home? Well, of course! He loves her! But what if it was all an act? Why did he even bring her with him that day? He couldn’t possibly have seen something worthy in her…

Ah, maybe she did want to live after all…

Chapter Text

Y/n wakes up with a gasp, her eyes shooting open to get blinded by the sun glaring down at her high up in the clouded sky. She sits up slowly, holding a hand to her throbbing head as she stares down at her lap. Oh, she was missing a shoe.

“Ugh, what a weird dream,” She mumbles and stretches but pulls back with a grimace as her stomach stings in pain, “Ow, what the fuck?” She was going to pull her haori open when she noticed it wasn’t necessary, a gaping hole being in place of the fabric to kindly show her skin.

There was a horrible big scar on her abdomen, taking up the whole left side of her stomach. Y/n frowns at the sight, pulling her fingers gently over the scar she hasn’t seen before. The touch of her fingers makes a burning sensation travel through her and she quickly pulls her hand away with a sound of confusion.

With a sigh, she looks around the area and can’t remember when she got to this place. It was significantly different from the place she’s been resting at for the past three days, the large open area screaming, “Here I am, come and eat me, demons!”

Why would she ever pick this place? Even when sleepwalking, she wouldn’t be this stupid.

She shakes her head, relieved that it’s at least daytime so she can move around without something like the dream she just had happening in real life. She stands up slowly, using her hands to push herself up to her feet. However, her right leg bends at the weight of her and she lands on the ground again with a grunt.

“Ugh, what’s going on?!” She complains, caressing her leg in annoyance. “No, don’t tell me…”

She glances down and sure thing, there’s another scar she didn’t have prior to falling asleep. It was way smaller than the one on her stomach, though, and sat on the side of her calf with a twin scar rounding her kneecap.

Y/n grumbles and tries to stand up again, putting all her weight on her left leg so she wouldn’t fall. She limps forward to the forest, wanting to leave the open area that’s bound to have her killed if she stayed. And shit, she’s so fucking hungry.

She scouts the area for the best path to take, quite in a pickle as they all seemed equally as bad as the next. With a roll of her eyes, she eeny, meeny, miny, moe’s her destined path to take, stopping her finger at the one to the right.

“If you say so,” She shrugs and makes her way over with a hand over her growling stomach and with her right leg still refusing to function normally. She groans in annoyance at the slow pace she’s moving at, shaking her leg to wake it up but it doesn’t butch.

“This is ridiculous, what even happened to me?” 

“You died.” A shrill voice said behind her, making her stumble around in surprise. And lo and behold. There it is, that annoying little monkey.

“You! You can talk?! After all this time!” She glares, stomping over to it with the intention of grabbing it by the neck. However, she freezes a step away from it as it slowly looks her up and down.

“You shouldn’t move yet, your body is still healing after all the damage.” It says, shaking its head in disappointment. “I brought you some food. Sit down.”

At the mention of food, her stomach growls and she can’t bring herself to refuse the offer. She gets the ability to move back and follows the monkey with curses as it walks back to the middle of the area where she woke up. She sits down with a scoff and crossed arms, watching it place some grilled fish in front of her on the grass.

Y/n’s hesitant to take it at first but with another grumble from her stomach, she groans and takes a big bite of the fish, groaning in happiness at the spectacular taste of seasoning and perfect grilling of it.

The monkey chuckles at her and she immediately quiets down.

“Regarding the questions you have, I’ll answer three for now.” It holds up three of its four fingers with a smug smile, as if this whole situation is funny to it.

“Three questions? How stingy,” Y/n thinks long and hard about what questions would be the most important, but it’s quite obvious what the first one should be. What she’s wondered from the very minute she stepped foot in this world.

“Why did you bring me here?” She tried to read its face as it registered her question but it kept a neutral expression, only crossing its short arms and looking up at her.

“You’re the chosen one, Y/n. With you, this world will be one step closer to how it was before.” The monkey was skipping a whole lot of information in its answer but she didn’t ask more about it, knowing that would take up her last two questions.

But, chosen one? How and when did that happen? Who would meet her and just decide that yep, this stupid teenage girl will help save the world! She couldn’t believe it, but she was kinda forced into it when she was quite literally talking to a monkey for god's sake.

“Okay,” She breathes out, rubbing her neck in thought, “Now if what you say is true and that I died, how am I still alive?”

“You remember all that happened, do you not?” It asks her, standing up to walk around the area close to the middle, its hands held behind its back.

“I do, but I thought it was just a dream…”

“Yes, it may seem like it at first, knowing you woke up here with none of them present.” It starts, pulling its arm out to make her look around, “I saved you. Though, you were dead when I had killed the three demons. It took a lot of persuasion to let you come back to life. Worry not, there are no drawbacks! Except, when you die the next time, you’ll cease to exist and your reincarnation cycle will break!”

“...Uh, what? That’s insane!” She’ll cease to exist? Just like that? Because of this fucking monkey that brought her here?!

“Now, now, let’s not get violent. I know how you feel,” Y/n glares at it in anger, really wanting to just squeeze its head ‘till it explodes. “But I have to say, you really do have a knack for not doing what your teacher says. If you had just been calm and used what you’ve been taught, you would have survived all on your own.”

Y/n squints before she realizes what it means, “Oh. The water breathing…”

“Exactly,” It smirks at her.

“I forgot. I actually forgot?!” Now how did that come to happen? She’s been training those forms for one and a half years now and she mastered them all, so how in god’s name did she forget to use something that’s a sure way of making her win??

“You truly are something,” It laughs at her loudly, making her glare at it again. That laugh is going to make her go insane and definitely now that she’s mad at herself for being a fucking idiot.

With gritted teeth she asks her last question, the question she hopes will give her more answers, “Who are you?”

“I really hoped you wouldn’t ask me that,” It sighs, “But a promise is a promise.”

It backs away from her, letting its arms fall to its side limply. A blinding yellow light emits from its body, the very same light Y/n saw right before she died. Y/n’s eyes widened in shock, she knew this monkey would be anything but normal due to it saving her and all, but isn’t this a little overboard?

The light dies down and in the place where the monkey just was stands a tall man with dark brown skin, his even darker hair laying in waves over his shoulders and down to his hips. His yellow eyes bore down on Y/n’s form sitting in the grass, her mouth hanging open as she stared at him.

He wore a white linen type dress that he wore elegantly, half his chest exposed as the cloth only wrapped around his left shoulder. He wore gold jewelry on his upper arms and a golden belt around his waist to keep the cloth closed. He wore a pair of golden shoes with strings dancing up his legs.

He was ethereal.

“My name is Fiben, I am the God of Mischief.” He has a hand over his heart as he bows to her, “I’m also the one who trapped you here for the goodwill of my friend Khonsu, or in your case, Caleb.”

Y/n couldn’t believe her ears or her eyes. What the fuck was going on? She’s been trash talking about a god this whole time?! She’s lucky even being alive!

She gasps, “Wait, Caleb? He and you worked together to have me thrown into this world?! You tricked me! Was any of it ever real?!”

“Of course, it was real,” Fiben says as he sits down criss-cross in front of her, “He treasured you like no other. But he is but a human and he needs your help to save this world, his home.”

From out of thin air, he grabs a photograph of her and Caleb where they’re sitting in school together with faces that screamed “I wanna go home!” and Y/n couldn’t help the smile traveling up to her lips as she remembered the memory.

That day was when their english teacher gave them an assignment where they had to interview random people on the street and if they didn’t, then they would fail the class. She could remember how relieved they were when they passed the class with a simple E. Better than a fucking F.

The sight of the monkey on Caleb’s shoulder makes her glance up at Fiben who smiled down at her. “You’ve been with him the whole time? I don’t even remember you.”

She grabs the picture from his hand, caressing Caleb’s face with her thumb, “I guess I didn’t even remember him when he left. It’s like someone wiped my… memory?”

“You wiped my memory?!” She points her glare at Fiben in recognition who only chuckles nervously at her outburst.

“It had to be done. I’m sorry, Y/n, it was for the best.”

“For what?! Why would you take away precious memories from my childhood?! It feels like he was with me in another dimension…” Y/n looks down at the picture, Caleb’s exaggerated face matching her own. A tear falls onto the paper and she looks up in shock.

“I never got to say goodbye…” She wipes her eyes with the palm of her hands and gives Fiben back the picture. He takes it from her and it disappears the moment he touches it, golden specs of dust flying away into the sky.

“Worry not, he’s still alive. But as I’ve said, he needs your help.” He grabs her shoulders firmly, making her look at him with wide eyes. His golden eyes seemed to be swirling like a drink with edible glitter and she was unable to look away, as if in a trance.

“When I was helping you enter this world, I had to leave his side. That must have been when Kibutsuji Muzan got in contact with him, because when I got back to him, he had changed into this… horrible monster. He didn’t remember me.” Fiben looks down in guilt, “It’s all my fault. I never meant for him to become the very thing we were fighting to eradicate.”

He laughs bitterly, oddly emotional, contrary to the picture of Gods Y/n had in her head. “Originally, the plan was for us to bring you here to help us in the final battle with Kibutsuji Muzan, the demon king, but after what happened to Khonsu, I had to prepare you for your fight between each other. That meant leaving anger in your heart. You won’t be able to defeat him if you see him as Caleb, your childhood friend.”

Y/n frowns at him but he puts his hand up to prevent her from talking, “We were never supposed to meet like this, you were never supposed to know-”

“Stop, you were gonna keep me in the shadows for my whole life?! You wanted me to just shut my mouth and accept battling for my life because you two decided I’m some hero ?! What the fuck!” Y/n interrupts him as she throws her hands in the air, eyes dancing with fury.

“Something more you wanna tell me?! Huh?!” He grabs her hands gently with a careful smile.

“Listen to me, Y/n. I understand how you feel but we have to get on the same page for us to be able to defeat Khonsu. Forget Kibutsuji, your partner will be able to pull together a powerful team. Your mission in this world is to defeat Khonsu. When that has been done, I will bring you home. I promise.”

“Ha! I never knew you Gods could be so insufferable,” Y/n scoffs, pulling her hands out of his grasp, “I can’t fight Caleb. As you said, I’m not emotionally strong enough for that, I won’t be able to. Why don’t you do it yourself? It is as you said, once more, that it’s all your fault. You’re a God for crying out loud! A God !”

“I am,” He sighs, brushing his hair behind his ear, “But it’s strictly forbidden for us Gods to interfere with the human world. We both picked you because you're the most fit for this job. Believe me, Y/n, when the time comes, you won’t be able to run away.”

“Bullshit,” She glares, “You saved me! You killed those demons for me!”

“For a price. There’s always a price to pay when you don’t abide by the rules. I can’t help you in this battle. It’s all on you to relieve him of his anger, sorrow, and loneliness.” The harsh wind comes blowing at them, Fiben’s hair blowing around their faces. 

Y/n stands up and brushes off her skirt of the grass and dirt, shaking her head at him sadly, “Then, you’ll have to find someone else to help you. I just can’t. I can’t face him with the intent of killing him…”

Fiben pauses for a minute, looking up at her as she curses at her stiff leg, smacking it to try and get some life in it. He sighs and pulls himself up from the ground, bringing forth a roll of paper.

“Very well,” Somehow, he seemed saddened at her choice of action, “Just sign here and you’ll be brought back home as if nothing ever happened.”

“...What?” He gives her a feather pen while her mouth hangs open, “What do you mean? If-if I don’t help you, you’ll send me back? Just like that?”

“That’s right. You were only brought here for one reason. To fight. Not form bonds, not grow feelings for this world, and not to wish to stay. You don’t belong here. If you don’t want to help, then I’m not going to force you, but you can’t stay here.”

Y/n backs away from him, glancing down at the pen in her hand, the object that’s gonna set her fate in stone. If she went home, it’ll be like she’s never been gone. She’ll wake up from her sleep in the park and go home, with no recollection of ever being here. She won’t be strong, she won’t be seventeen, she won’t be confident. She’ll only be an obstacle in her mom’s eyes. Like she’s always been. 

She won’t remember Urukodaki, her trainer and second father, or Tanjiro, her boyfriend. She won’t remember all the memories she’s made in this world. She won’t be able to watch Nezuko become a human, she won’t be able to let Tanjiro put a ring on her finger.

She’ll go back to her miserable life in a normal world where no nice boyfriends  or strict teachers exist. Oh, she couldn’t leave them, not now. Will they even remember her when she doesn’t?

A few more memories with them is all she wishes for, even if she won’t remember them.

“I… I’ll help you…” She mutters, dropping the pen in defeat, “But I have to know, when I defeat Caleb, will you send me back no matter what I say or do? Will… they remember me at all?”

“Good choice,” He smiles at her as he hugs her shoulders, “I think it’s time for you to wake up. The exam is over.”

“What? Wait!” She reaches out to him as she’s pulled away by an invisible force, the form of Fiben growing smaller and smaller. “You didn’t answer me!”

“Until later, little star.” He waves her goodbye and her sight goes black, the chilling feeling of water circling her body makes her face scrunch up in discomfort. God of Mischief, more like God of Ignorance.

Chapter Text

The relief flooding over Y/n’s body when she saw the glowing Wisteria trees was almost enough to make her faint, all her strength willing to just let her rest. Sure, she’s been asleep for four days according to Fiben, but no way in hell was that a sleep that would rest her up.

When she woke up after he forcefully made her, she thought her head was gonna explode from the pressure, but it ha calmed down a lot during the hour she’s been awake. And it sure did feel weird walking on her own two legs when she a few days ago had been dead. Good thing though, her leg wasn’t acting up like it did in her dream.

Well if it did act up, she would just cut it off. Kidding! Well…

Anyways, Y/n walks up to the trees, grabbing a purple petal with her fingers, smelling it and letting the scent linger under her nose, effectively calming her nerves down even more. Seven days in this hell and she survived, sort of. It’s only a matter of time before she finds out if her significant other did as well…

The thought scared her. Her heart hammers against her ribcage as she nears the opening where he’ll stand. He has to. What would she do without him? Well, she wouldn’t be the same, that’s for sure.

She steps out of the trees, the bright morning sun glaring down on her and blinding her momentarily. When she gets her vision back, her eyes lock onto Tanjiro, where he stands in the middle with three others surrounding him. He was already looking at her, like she knew he would. Even if he was a thousand miles away, he would find her wherever she was, way before she could even think of seeing him first.

He was slow at first but he picked up speed until he was running full speed towards her, throwing himself at her to hug her tightly. Y/n, with wide eyes, grabs him as tight as her body lets her, feeling up his body to really put it into her mind that he’s in front of her and touching her again.

“Y/n, you’re okay! Do you know how scared I was when the scent of your blood covered the mountain?! Y/n!” He sobs on her shoulder, clawing at her back in a desperate attempt at grounding himself to her warm body in his arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Tanjiro…” Tears fall down her cheeks as they pull away from each other slowly, their eyes blurring their sight as they look at each other, trying to look for any injuries. “I’m not leaving you, okay?”

He places a hand on her cheek with a soft look in his eyes, sniffling before a gentle chuckle rises in his chest. “Thank the Gods.” Y/n cringes at his choice of words but says nothing, only leaning into the warm touch of his calloused hand.

His hand travels down to her neck, his eyes following with, though they shoot up in fright at the sight of her scar on her throat. “What happened?! Is this why I could smell you so vividly…”

“Oh, you know…” Y/n looks away, chuckling nervously while he glares at her in worry, “I’ll tell you later?”

He opens his mouth to speak but gets interrupted by a light voice up on the small altar at the front. There stood the two girls that initiated the exam, “Welcome back.”

A young boy with black hair beside Y/n and Tanjiro starts whining about his sword when the two girls speak but they quickly shut him up with their instructions. All five of the survivors would be measured and have their rank inscribed to their hand with a special ink.

There are ten ranks in total and right now, they are all at the very bottom one, Mizunoto.

“So, where’s my sword?” The boy starts again, making Y/n fight back an eye roll. Tanjiro smiles at her, noticing her shift in emotion. She smiles back and grazes his hand, making him grab it firmly.

The two girls explain that for their sword to land in their hands, it would take up to fifteen days because the swordsmiths crafts their swords based on the ores the swordsman picks themselves. 

With that out of the way, the boy sighs in annoyance and clicks his tongue. The young girl with white hair claps her hands twice and soon crows come flying down to them, one landing on each Mizunoto hunter.

Y/n looks to her right shoulder where her own one sits, it already staring her dead in the eyes. She gives it a wobbly smile, attempting to pet it with a finger but it only jumps up and lands on her arm, successfully avoiding her affection.

She laughs and shakes her head, “Nice to meet you too.”

This little fella was called a Kasugai Crow and would be their primary source of information to their missions and letter bearing. Seems like these beautiful beings could talk. 

Well, as she could have guessed, the black-haired boy had lashed out, storming up to the two girls to further complain his dissatisfaction of whatever it was he was talking about.

She gasps as he grabs a handful of the white-haired girl’s hair, swinging her back and forth in an attempt to get his anger across. Tanjiro wasn’t having any of it and she could feel his hand slip out of hers, walking up to the front to grab the boy’s arm firmly.

“Take your hand off of her! Before I make you,” He glares, the boy switching his attention to him with a yell.

“Let's see you try!” He growls, keeping eye contact with Tanjiro.

With a grunt of pain from the boy, he lets the girl go and holds his arm close to his chest, glaring at Tanjiro with all he had, for he had started squeezing his arm until a horrible crack resonated in the area. Y/n scoffs with a grin, crossing her arms over her chest proudly.

Tanjiro stood in front of the girl protectively, daring the boy to continue with only his eyes. The other girl by the altar spoke up, however, breaking off the fight that could have very well have happened, asking if they were done with their chit-chatting.

The boy groans and backs off with a scowl, making Tanjiro turn around to flatten down the girl’s hair to its former state. “Are you okay?” She ignores him and walks back to her sister who’s currently pulling off the purple sheet over a table.

“Now then, please select an ore,” She says, going off to stand beside the table with her sister on the other end of it. All five newly appointed demon hunters walk up to the table in a horizontal line, looking at all the ores in confusion. How would they know which one to take?

Y/n places a hand on her chin as she thinks. Would it matter which one she took? What if one is better than the other and she took the wrong one and that would make her die?!

She shakes her head with a smile. No, that’s just silly.

She watches Tanjiro grab an ore in one of the corners of the table, walking off to give it to the black-haired girl. She grabs it and her sister walks off with Tanjiro in tow. She grabs a measuring tape from a small table off to the side, beginning to measure Tanjiro’s body for his uniform.

Y/n brings her attention back to all the ores on the table, groaning with a roll of her eyes before grabbing a random ore in the middle. She walks off and gets her measurements taken while Tanjiro stands off to the side as he waits for her.

When she’s done, they begin their journey back home, finally.

With their tired state of mind, they couldn’t even muster the strength of conversing on the way back, only saving their last bit of strength to keep themselves up right.

Y/n, however, had a little more spirit in her than her partner and managed to dream away as they walked, wondering how she’s gonna explain to Tanjiro of everything that’s gonna happen in the future. How in the hell is she gonna explain anything to him without breaking down into tears? It’s impossible.

But who said he has to know? No, that would be cruel. She has to leave one day and she couldn't just leave, without even letting him know why she disappeared. He would never be able to rest if that happened…

She sighs at her own stupidity. She has to tell him, the only matter is how she would go about it.

Breaking out of her mind, she notices that she’s kissing the grainy ground, groaning uncomfortably at the pain shooting up her stomach, right where her massive scar sits. Looking around for the reason for her fall, she notices Tanjiro flat on the ground to her left, chuckling as she pulls herself up slowly.

“You doing okay, lover boy?” She teases, pulling him up by his hands. She ruffles his dirty hair with a gentle hand, going down to rub under his eyes, the dark circles making him look horrible.

“Ugh, I’m so tired…” He mumbles as Y/n pulls his arm over her shoulder, her other hand going around his back to hold his waist so he wouldn’t bring the both of them down to the ground again.

“Worry not, we’re almost home,” She chuckles, “You’re gonna be just fine.”

He mumbles incoherently as she pulls him with her the last thirty minutes home, feeling her own stamina run thin at having to pull Tanjiro with her also. To be honest, she would on a normal day pull him up on her back but she didn’t trust herself enough today, knowing that if she did, he would crush her into a pancake in a matter of seconds.

The sun was long gone when they reached the bottom of the familiar mountain and Y/n wasn’t sure if she could walk further without collapsing. She takes a deep breath through her nose, fixing her hold around Tanjiro, who was seeming to gain a little more life in him now that they were almost by their small home.

She smiles at him and looks up, walking the last minute up with her body yelling at her for rest. 

The little hut, their home, comes into sight and they both breathe out in relief, looking at each other with tired grins. “We… made it…”

Tanjiro was breathing heavily, his eyes fighting against him. But they shot right up at the sound of the wooden front door to the hut crashing onto the ground, the sight of a foot in the doorway making them tilt their heads.

Next out was the very girl Tanjiro had been so anxious for her awakening. Nezuko, Tanjiro’s younger sister. She didn’t look a day older than when she and Y/n met for the first time, but there was something different about her, something in her eyes that made her seem more approachable. Something that made her seem less like a… monster.

“N-Nezuko!” Tanjiro cries out, pulling himself away from Y/n’s hold to run towards his sister. On the way over, he falls to the ground with a grunt, Nezuko already being by his side to engulf him in a gentle hug.

Tanjiro cries into her shoulder, calling her name desperately, all the while Y/n watches the siblings reunion from her place on the ground, her ankles swollen from all the walking to get here. She smiles at them with a saddened smile, though looks away as Urukodaki comes out from the mountain with a pile of wood in his arms.

He drops the wood to the ground, slowly walking up to the siblings to hug them, his own eyes tearing up at the sight of his students back by his side, Tanjiro wailing loudly at the touch of his arms around him.

Oh, how happy Urukodaki looked when he hugged them, she didn’t even have to look at him to know what he was feeling. But Y/n, she came back hurt. He must be so disappointed in her. If he ever came to know that she had died… He would be furious at her, right?

Y/n starts to pull herself up from the ground, but doesn’t get to get up far enough before two buff arms squeeze around her fragile form, and the scent of firewood and tea leaves enters her nose, making her eyes tear up. She couldn’t believe it. Urukodaki was hugging her, as if he missed her and was glad she’s back in one piece… 

“My daughter… Thank you for coming back to me,” Cue the waterfalls. Y/n cries more than she ever has before, her shrill voice dampened into Urukodaki’s chest as he hugs her tightly. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t stop crying. Urukodaki pats her head silently, letting the girl cry into his chest for as long as she needed.

She was crying when he brought all of them inside and she continued to cry when he helped bathe off all the dirt from her body, and she cried even more when Nezuko engulfed her in a hug after her bath.

It’s like everything that’s happened in her life where she didn’t have the time to cry came out in this moment, and in this place was where she felt the safest. No one in this home blamed her for crying, no one yelled at her to shut up, no one forced her down in a toilet to give her a real reason to cry.

They all hugged her. She never knew what this was called before, but now she’s sure. This is love.

Chapter Text

The next few days after the final selection were spent with Tanjiro and Y/n sleeping most of the days away, picking their strength back up after going through a week in that hellhole.

Y/n’s body had healed up nicely and now all that remained was the scars that told her victory of the brutal murdering. A victory that wasn’t really her own.

She has yet to tell anyone what happened but they haven’t brought it up, not even Urukodaki that almost cried at the sight of her scars. They’re deadly scars, there’s no way she could actually survive the injuries she obtained but he never asked. It made her want to just hide in a hole.

She promised to tell them, it’s just that she’s not sure how and when. It’s gonna be a long conversation to hold, having to explain what happened with Fiben and how he saved her and all.

But with Tanjiro, on their fourth day back, he was up on his feet, running around helping Urukodaki manage the hut, catching up with his sister and training harder than before, with a newfound strength.

He had also been wounded at the final selection and his scar on his forehead had changed into that of a red scar, almost looking like a birthmark instead. Without even having to ask, Tanjiro had told her that he had no clue why it had changed.

But that’s okay. As long as he’s alright and that there’s no harm done to him, then she’s happy. She just feels bad for keeping so many things from him when he’s so sure of sharing everything with her.

When five days had passed since the final selection, Y/n was also up and going, not feeling the need to sleep the days away anymore. She was right now helping Urukodaki fish for their dinner tonight while Tanjiro was away in the village to buy some stuff.

And yes, he had a few more brain cells than a certain student and brought his katana with him just in case…

“I’m expecting to see you in the mountain tomorrow, young lady,” Urukodaki says, glancing down at her as he baits his fishing rod. Y/n groans as she throws her string out, biting down on an onigiri roll she made that morning for them.

“Ugh, already?! Cut me some slack, will you?” 

“You have no time to rest if you want to keep those muscles you worked so hard to gain,” He squeezes her biceps which she giggles at, poking his side in retaliation.

“I know, I know, I’m just tired of all this. After what happened back in the final selection… I’m not so sure I’m gonna survive as a real demon hunter…” She looks down at their bucket with the three fish they’ve caught in four hours, kicking a small rock into the water.

She hears Urukodaki sigh by her side, an arm slithering its way behind her to hug her. She looks up at him and her forehead touches the long nose of his red tengu mask.

“You’re gonna do just fine. With the way you’ve worked so hard every day, I’m positive that whatever you come across will be like a stone in your shoe.” Despite his grumpy voice, his words were quite reassuring to hear. It’s nice to know that Y/n’s mind has no clue what kind of man Urukodaki really is.

“Thanks,” She mutters, placing a hand around his waist, “I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear right now.” 

He squeezes her shoulder gently before letting her go, going back to focusing on his fishing, though she’s sure the both of them know that they’re probably not going to get more than three today. They’ll have to cook some more rice and vegetables than normally tonight.

When night fell, Tanjiro had been told to cook dinner for tonight and Urukodaki disappeared shortly after, leaving the two teenagers alone with Nezuko. They all sat around the fire, Y/n and Nezuko lying together on the hardwood floor while Tanjiro was turning the fish on their sticks.

“Mm, it smells good, Tanjiro,” Y/n compliments as she sits up, Nezuko following her movements. She chuckles and allows for Nezuko to lie her head on her lap.

“I’m trying my best,” He laughs, stirring in the pot with rice, “Do you know where Urukodaki went?”

“Beats me,” She shrugs, braiding Nezuko’s hair who was smiling up at her, “You know how he is, always disappearing and reappearing when he feels like it.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

They both go silent but Nezuko whines as Y/n stops playing with her hair, making her chuckle and continue with a teasing smile. Nezuko hums in happiness, sitting in front of the older girl obediently.

“Y/n?” Tanjiro calls out after a few minutes of silence, looking at her with unsure eyes.

“Yes, what is it?” She looks up into his eyes with a smile, though it falls at the serious look in his eyes.

“What… What happened during the final selection?” He smiles nervously, obviously noticing the shift in her emotions at his question.

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say, half expecting the question and half expecting he would forget it. But of course he’s gonna ask. He’s worried about her.

“Well, you know, fighting demons here and there… Haha,” She laughs nervously, looking away, trying to find something, anything that she could do to avoid this conversation. But alas, there was nothing.

“No, I mean, you’ve changed, somehow. Not in a bad way! It’s just, it seems like… something happened during your time there that’s weighing on you.” He shuffles over to her, grabbing her right hand in his left, “I’m always willing to lend an ear to you, no matter what. I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, I know,” She sighs, leaning on him, “I just don’t know where to begin…”

“Y/n, don’t misunderstand me,” He had a new tone in his voice, a more firm one, as he spoke to her, “You don’t have to tell me, that’s not what I want you to do. I only want to know if you’re okay. I want you to tell me when you need help, any help at all. I really care about you, I don’t want to see you in pain.”

“I know,” She whispers, Tanjiro shaking his head at her and grabbing her face with both his hands.

“You say you know, but you don’t. I’m not blind, I can see that there’s something in there,” He places a hand over her heart, “that’s hurting you, ever since the day we met. I don’t want this pain that’s inside you to eat you up just because you’re forcing it down. That’s not the fate I wish for you to have.”

“Then,” She swallows the lump in her throat, looking at him with watery eyes, “what fate do you want me to have?”

“Well, for starters,” He begins with a smile, his thumb tracing circles under her eye, “I want you to be able to look in the mirror and be happy with what you see. I want you to find a place where you can be the loudest you, be the meanest you, and be gone for twenty years but the people you call family will welcome you back home with open arms. I want you to realize that you’re loved, that you’re needed, that you’re selfless, and that without you, we would be nothing.”

Y/n tears up as she looks into his eyes, “But I-” He places a hand over her mouth.

“What I want more than anything is for you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” She grabs his hand wiping her tears gently, “Maybe not when I first got here, not even when I first met you. But when the days became weeks, weeks becoming months and months becoming years, I realized how truly wonderful it is to have a home. A family. This is my home and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Tanjiro smiles at her with pure happiness, happiness for her sake. She leans into his hand, her own one over his.

“But the thing is, one day I’ll have to leave this home. You, Urukodaki, Nezuko. I don’t know when, but it’s gonna happen whether I want it or not.” Tanjiro’s smile falls and he feels his heart skip a beat, his hand lifting from her cheek in shock.

“What do you mean? We’re all gonna die, but hopefully in many, many years!” He tries to reason, but Y/n stands up from her seat on the floor, Nezuko looking at her with worried eyes.

“I don’t mean death, Tanjiro. I won’t even have the pleasure of dying here. With you .” He tries to question her once more but she interrupts him, “Tanjiro, I don’t belong to this world. Never have and never will.”

“What are you saving?! Of course you do, why else would you stand here in front of me?” He jumps up from the floor, grabbing her hands firmly.

“I’ve told you before, remember? That one day I’d have to go back home. Where I come from, there’s no such thing as demons or breathing techniques, just a boring world filled with horrible, normal human beings. But somehow I was brought here as a fucking hero and now I have to save the world?! Because some fucking God decided that I’m the human for the job! Me, a worthless human who can’t even stop my own family from crumbling apart!”

She pants from her outburst, tears streaming down her hot face. She wanted nothing more than going six feet under from the shame of screaming at her boyfriend. He must hate her…

“I’m sorry, Y/n. I’m sorry that happened to you…” He engulfs her in a hug where she in an instant crumbles into a crying mess, “I’m sorry my words are never going to be enough to help you, but just know that through this world and the next, I’ll always be with you.”

Nezuko comes crawling and hugs their legs in an attempt to help soothe the girl, Y/n crying her heart out, as if she hasn’t done that enough already.

When she seemed to calm down the slightest, Tanjiro pulled away to check her over, noticing her runny nose and red eyes. He caresses her cheek and goes to grab tissues for her to dry her face.

She thanks him silently and blows her nose into the paper, taking a deep breath with closed eyes.

“I’m sorry, Tanjiro,” She apologises, placing her hand on Nezuko’s head by her legs.

He shakes his head at her, “Don’t say that. I’m always here for you and we’re gonna change that fate for you. I’ll be with you all the way.”

They look into each other's eyes, Y/n feeling her cheeks heat up at the fact that his eyes only held love in them as he looked at her. “Oh, I truly do love you, Tanjiro…”

Tanjiro’s face blossoms into a bright red at her confession, “I love you, too, Y/n.”

They hug each other again, now acting if this is their first confession out of all the others they’ve done during the past month.

The door to the hut opens and Urukodaki deadpans at the two teens in his home hugging like the lovebirds they are, “What are you two doing? Nevermind, follow me.” Just say you’re lonely, man…

Y/n and Tanjiro both look at each other and shrug, following after Urukodaki who starts walking up the mountain. Nezuko walks in between the two, grabbing them both by their hands, swinging them back and forth during their walk up the mountain.

“Do you know what’s happening?” She whispers to Tanjiro.

“No idea,” He says, smiling at her while Nezuko looks between them. He pushes her hair behind her ear, making her giggle.

Really, what was going on? Urukodaki is so secretive. He said nothing else other than telling them to go with him to wherever he’s taking them.

Though, Y/n barely has any time to think about his objectives as they reach the top, candles marking their way into a globe of blankets hanging through the tree like a fort. There were string lights lining up the blankets and on the ground sat a round table with four chairs.

On the table sat desserts and drinks that could last them weeks. Y/n looks at Urukodaki who turns around to her, willing her to come over as he puts his hands out for her. With an obvious question mark over her head, she walks over to him while Nezuko and Tanjiro stay back.

“Uh, what’s going on, pops?” She asks, slithering her hands into his carefully.

He pulls her into a warm embrace, kissing her head through his tengu mask, “Happy birthday, my daughter.”

“...What?” At first, she didn’t understand, because logically speaking, she hasn’t celebrated her birthday like… ever, but even less here. She never told either of them when her birthday was, she’s not even sure she remembers it herself.

“How… did you know? I never…”

“You didn’t have to,” Tanjiro speaks up, walking up to place his hands on her shoulders behind her. She backs away to give him space to stand with them, “I mean, it took us over two years to figure it out. Birthdays aren’t that huge for us but we noticed that to you, it was a very special day.”

“You shouldn’t have to light a leaf to congratulate yourself all alone. You should have told us from the very first day how important these days were for you, Y/n.” Urukodaki caresses her cheek with his hand, her tears building up in her eyes yet again.

“Ugh, you guys always have to make me cry!” She laughs, “But, thank you. Thank you so much for noticing me…”

They both engulf her into a hug, Nezuko jumping in to hug her the hardest. Tanjiro pulls away from the hug, glancing up at Urukodaki who nods his head at him.

“Well, why don’t you sit down?” He guides her to the table, pushing the chair in when she sits down. Nezuko and Urukodaki sit down and Tanjiro walks behind her, picking up something that rustles in his hands.

Y/n bites down on a cookie from one of the plates on the table, smiling to herself at the taste of a simple, sweet cookie. She hasn’t had a cookie ever since she entered this world! Oh, it was delicious.

Tanjiro comes back around and sets down two boxes in front of her, one blue and the other red. She looks up at him and he smiles at her, petting her head gently.

“Happy birthday, Y/n,” He kisses her temple and then sits down beside her, “We hope you’ll like them.”

Urukodaki nods his head proudly, “Oh, you guys, you didn’t have to…”

“We know, but we wanted to anyway. Come on, open them.” She smiles at them both, her heart all giddy from the love she’s receiving.

“Well, okay, uh, I’ll start with this one then,” She picks up the blue package that was fairly big and slowly lifts the lid. From inside the box, she picks up a dark blue haori with purple butterflies dancing at the bottom of it.

“Oh, wow! It’s beautiful, thank you, Urukodaki!” She stands up and puts it on, “It fits perfectly, thank you!”

“I’m glad you like it,” He says, a smile evident in his voice.

Y/n sits back down with a big grin, picking up the other box on the table, this one was red and much smaller than the other. Inside it lies a hair clip with a crescent moon and smaller stars along the length of it. She picks it up carefully and puts it on her head with a smile.

“Thank you, Tanjiro,” She grabs his hand on the table gently.

“You look beautiful, Y/n,” He says with a blush adorning his cheeks, Nezuko chiming in with a happy chirp. Y/n looks down at her lap and wipes her eyes.

“This might be the best things anyone has ever given me. I love you both so much! Thank you!” She grins, “But how did you guys pull this together?”

“Well, I was away the whole day buying all this, and you know, this was the perfect time to give you your gift. I had been wondering when the opportunity would come up and this was like destiny.” Tanjiro explains.

“Happy eighteenth birthday,” They both say, looking at her with all the love in the world. Nezuko throws her arms in the air before she jumps off her chair and hugs the birthday girl tightly. Y/n tears up and hugs her back, smiling like she’s never done before.

The rest of the night consisted of Y/n crying her heart out once more as she stuffed her face with cookies and cakes and everything in between. And that night was the only time she heard Urukodaki sing as he sang happy birthday to her with much persuasion from both her and Tanjiro.

It’s wonderful how much your life can change when you find your family, a family you were never destined to meet. This would be a night she would treasure forever, even when she leaves this earth.

“Thank you…”

Chapter Text

The tall grass in the open field five minutes from Y/n’s home was swaying gently around her, the grass leaves tickling her bare skin. Y/n couldn’t help but smile at the situation, being all alone with nothing but the whispers of the wind keeping her company.

She closes her eyes and points her face to the sun in the sky, relaxing at the feeling of being kissed warmly in the middle of the day. The white skirt around her hips swayed with the wind and her white top welcomed the warmth of the sun gladly.

The feeling of the sun warming every part of her body has always been something she’s loved. Honestly, it was the only warmth she received from something that wasn’t from herself. After all those times outside sunbathing, reading books, crying, people-watching, she truly only has the sun as her true friend.

Even in this world, it still takes its time in hugging her carefully so that when the detailed face of her mother haunts her, she’s able to stand her ground and laugh in her face.

Y/n sighs at the sudden thought of her mother, the woman who truly did make it her mission to make her youngest daughter feel worthless. Just by simply coming home late from school on a day where her mother had to go to a meeting, Y/n would be degraded and put down. And she was then expected to feel like cooking dinner for the night?

Though, the worst feeling was when she would come home from hard shifts from her job just to have her mother snatch her hard-earned money right out of her hands, going straight to spend it on stupid shit. It was always the bored gaze of her father that made her feelings tip over the jar but she could never do anything. She could never defend herself, never glare back, never demand anything.

It was as if her only purpose in that yellow house was to make her mother blow off some steam, whereas before she was born, she never did anything remote to what she did to Y/n to her older sister. No, of course not, because Fiona is the angel of the family. The perfect daughter, who behind closed doors, was a drug addict.

Y/n was only born in hopes of her becoming like Fiona, so they could live in a perfect family with the perfect children. 

But even if she was desired to be like her older sister, and to be treated like a bug, she never could bring herself to hate her older sister. Because she truly was an angel and she loved Y/n just as much as she did. It’s just that after she moved out, it could be as if Fiona betrayed her in a sense.

Y/n still can’t fathom how Fiona could just pack up and leave when she knew how hard she had it at home. She must have known that when she were to be gone, everything would become worse. There’s no way she didn’t know…

The sudden presence of someone close to her makes her eyes flutter open, her body going stiff at the unwelcome guest. She looks around her through the tall grass, her eyes still adjusting to the bright light of the sun as she grabs a few grass leaves to pull them to the side.

Through the leaves, she could see the hint of something red moving in a frenzy and she smiled, her whole body relaxing and immediately starting to yearn for the warm touch of the boy. She never could get enough of him.

She raises her hand up over her head and waves it around to notify him of her location, “Tanjiro! Over here!” Her voice was hoarse, having been quiet ever since she woke up this morning, which was quite unusual for someone as chatty as her.

Tanjiro hurriedly makes his way over and parts the grass so he could see her clearly, his face adorning a sweet smile as they make eye contact. “Y/n, there you are! I come with food,” He brings his hands out where he holds a basket containing a few onigiris. 

“Oh, thank you,” She takes it from his hands gently, her stomach rumbling at the sight of the food. If it was one thing she had learned to love in this world, then it was the onigiris Tanjiro would make for her. “You didn't have to come out here to me, I would be back sooner or later.”

“I know.” He smiles and walks closer to her, ghosting his hand over her arm, “I just needed to know that you’d eat… You seem distant today, are you okay?”

Y/n was silent for a moment, reading his face for any emotion that would tell her something. But he stood patiently, like always. “Oh. Right, that nose of yours. How could I forget?”

“No, not this time,” Tanjiro chuckles as he rubs his nose with a slight teasing smile, “I noticed right away when you left this morning. I’ll have you know that I see you. In here.” He places his hand over her chest without thinking, but in the moment, Y/n didn’t even react to the inappropriate touch. In a lighter situation, you better bet that she would tease him for it. She probably will at a later date.

“Thanks, but I don’t want to bother you. I’m always talking about myself when I’m with you, it’s not fair.” She looks to the side with a sigh and Tanjiro lowers his hand slowly to grasp her cold hand.

“So what? I love listening to you, it’s my favorite activity,” He gives her a slight nudge to her shoulder, “For me, I prefer just being alone when I feel down. Then, after a while, I’ll be fine, but it’s different for you. You need someone to talk to or you’ll explode.”

“That’s so not true,” She scowls but a small smile is present on her lips, “I’m just taking advantage of your kindness.”

“No, you aren’t.” Tanjiro’s smile falters at her words, “I know how it feels to be taken advantage of and I know how easy I am to step over sometimes, but that’s not you. Not in a million moons, I’m afraid.”

Y/n stays quiet and Tanjiro grabs the basket out of her hands to place it on the ground by their feet. “I could talk about my feelings more if that would make you feel better? Just promise me you’ll never stop only because you think you’re a nuisance. Whoever told you something as cruel as that has no idea what they’re talking about.”

“This is why I don’t want to talk about it, because you’re always making me cry,”  She wipes her eyes with a quiet sob, Tanjiro’s eyes softening at her shaking form in front of him.

“One of the things I love about you is your honesty.” He says and grabs her hands in his to make her look him in the eyes, “You’re quick to put up a thick and indestructible front but I can see that you were only forced to. When you leave that zone of yours, the woman I love is making her appearance. And I see her more and more as the days go by, but today, I only see this iron armor hiding her away.”

Y/n sniffs, patting down her skirt in uncertainty as he continues, “Why is that? Why now of all times? Have you… been thinking about your family again, Y/n?” She stops breathing at the sudden mention and Tanjiro is quick to engulf her in a hug.

“I don’t know anything about your past but it’s so clear that you haven’t had the best upbringing. I also don’t know what they’ve said or done to you, but I want you to know that for me, you’re the most precious person. I could never have gotten to where I am today without you. You’re always making me believe that it’s worth going through another day.”

“Fuck my family,” She seethes as she nuzzles her nose into Tanjiro’s neck, “I don’t want to think about them, they’re all from the past now. I want to know more about you , I want to lend you an ear. It’s just not fair that I’m the only one speaking with tears in my throat…”

Tanjiro smiles and caresses his hand up and down Y/n’s back slowly, “Alright, we can do that. What do you want to know? I was often in the village selling coal or if not that, I was making the coal. I was working a lot, I know.”

“I don’t care what you’ve done, I want to know everything about you, so I can say that you’re the most precious one,” She pulls back from the hug but holds him close with her hands on his elbows, “Why don’t you talk about a day in your life, with your siblings and parents?”

“Uh, alright,” He looks to the side in thought, “Well, my day would start quite early in the morning. I would go out and chop wood and gather all the coal I would need to sell for the day, then I would go back inside my home to wake the others as the sun was rising.”

Y/n nods her head with a sweet smile dancing on her lips, Tanjiro completely focusing on his storytelling and keeping eye contact with her that he unconsciously let his hands wander her body as he spoke.

“If it wasn’t winter, my siblings would sometimes join me when I went down to the village. They had a lot of energy, so it’s safe to say that the time doubled when they joined, but I really wouldn’t have it any other way…” He smiles weakly, brushing his hair behind his ear, “Nezuko would a lot of the times stay home with mom and during the time she did come with me, she was always walking around and talking with our neighbors down there.”

“Nezuko,” Y/n mumbles, “How was she as a human? Was she just as silent as she is now?”

“Not at all,” He shakes his head at her question, “She was the beauty of our village and the kindest person I knew. And yes, she did get quite a few marriage proposals, but my mom didn’t want to give her away. Neither did the rest of us, she’s too precious to us to just give away just like that.”

Tanjiro lets his hand wander up to Y/n’s shoulder, his eyes following his hand’s every move, “You would have loved her just as much as she would have loved you.”

Y/n smiles at him, nuzzling into his warm hand atop her cheek, “But about Nezuko at this moment… Do you think she’s still your sister, or is she just not able to fight back her body’s memories?”

He looks at her in slight shock, his body going rigid. Of course that’s his sister, it’s not even a question! But it is true, she’s not the same little girl he’s grown up with and it’s all Muzan’s fault. He dirtied her blood and made her into one of his kind and he has to save her. It’s the least he can do after he let his family die…

“She’s my sister. I know she’s in there, she’s shown herself capable of fighting back the poison in her body.” He sighs and lets Y/n go, “It must be a constant battle for her, to fight Muzan’s blood in her system. I just wish there was something I could do to help her as we’re finding out how to cure her.”

Y/n’s gaze softens at his words, “I’m sure she’s going to be just fine. With a brother as caring and determined as you, she has nothing to worry about.” She gives the corner of his mouth a kiss with fluttering eyes, “And don’t forget me, I’ll help the both of you to the best of my abilities.”

The grass around them sways in their comfortable silence as they hold each other close, their bodies not leaving an inkling of a space between them. A dove is heard in the distance and Y/n takes a deep breath and lifts her arms to place them around Tanjiro’s head gently.

“Uh, maybe we should go back before Urukodaki beats us up…” Tanjiro mutters nervously, pushing his head away from Y/n’s shoulder. She sweat drops and takes a step towards their home.

“Yeah, you’re right. Do you think he’s going to yell at me again?” She sulks and picks up the basket from the ground, grabbing an onigiri to take a small bite.

“No, I don’t think so. He doesn’t usually yell at you, does he?” He shakes his head with a humorous grin, offering his arm for her to hold as they slowly make their way out of the tall grass.

“Mm,” Y/n hums, “Maybe not. I just always feel like he does, but then again, I always over exaggerate and think everything is worse than it actually is.”

Yep, that’s who she is. Always letting her mind speak full force no matter the situation, and oftentimes, she seems to be reading the situation in the wrong light. But lucky her for not always indulging in her thoughts and messing everything up.

“Y/n?” The mentioned girl glances at her lover, her eyes raised at his sudden shift in tone, “The next time you don’t feel okay, I want you to talk to me. Don’t shut me out, don’t run away. I will never judge you for your feelings and I'll always be here to listen to your heartaches.”

“Woah, where did that come from?” She laughs breathlessly, grasping his hand in hers tightly, “I’m fine, I promise. And I know you’ll always be at my side, much like I am at yours. Don’t worry about me so much.”

Tanjiro frowns at her with a sigh, “Still, I’m here for you. I would love to hear about your family some time. When you're ready, of course.”

“...” She stares at him silently, stepping up onto the gravel path beside the field of tall grass. He always had to put her above himself so much, she really didn’t know how to act around him sometimes.

“Thanks…” She mutters, quite clearly ending the conversation. The short walk back to their little mountain was quiet, but they didn’t even have to say anything to each other to know that they were both alright. They didn’t have any heavy feelings left in their chest. At least not at this moment.

The familiar shabby hut they call home comes into sight, relaxing Y/n’s muscles. But she goes rigid at the very sight of her mentor sitting outside the front door on his wooden bench, his arms crossed over his chest and a leg crossed over the other.

The two students glance at each other in uncertainty, having a silent debate on whether to turn around or to stand their ground and take his yelling. Well, define debate, because Y/n was just trying to convince Tanjiro to turn around but he didn’t budge from his place beside her.

He pats her back reassuringly and they both walk up to Urukodaki, who looks up at the sound of their footsteps that they didn’t bother to cover. He stands up and Y/n holds her breath, her cheeks puffing out dramatically.

“Well? Where have you two been?” He asks, “I’m sure I’ve told you both to train. Do you take my words as a joke?”

“What? No!” Y/n exclaims, jumping forward to latch herself onto him, “I’m sorry, I’ll train tonight! Please don’t make me jump off the cliff again! I swear, I’m going to die this time!"

Urukodaki looks down at her as she shakes him back and forth, Tanjiro standing a bit away just watching his lover going back to her usual behavior. Really, he couldn’t help the smile traveling up to his lips.

“Me too,” Tanjiro speaks up with his hand in the air, as if they were in a classroom and awaited the permission to speak, “I’ll do an extra harsh training to make up for the lost time!”

“What a troublesome pair you two have become,” Urukodaki sighs and places a heavy hand on Y/n’s head. She looks up at him with starry eyes, “I don’t care what you do, but you have to tell me if you're leaving the mountain. How will I know you’re not becoming dinner for a demon if you don’t?”

“What, you don’t care?” Y/n gapes, stepping down on the ground again, “So, we could, in your words, do whatever we wanted on this mountain and you wouldn’t care?”

She points her eyes to Tanjiro with a knowing look, “You really shouldn’t have!  Hey, what do you say we just spend the night in the forest? We could do whatever we want!”

Tanjiro’s face flares up at her words, “Y/n! You really-! I, I don’t think so! Well, not that I would mind- no, we can’t, we’re too young! Actually, we aren’t-” He continues mumbling incoherently, Y/n laughing at his inability to think clearly.

She turns to Urukodaki with a grin, “Well, it’s good to know that you care about us, pops! What a relief! Anyway, sorry for disappearing without a word. I just needed a minute.”

“Nevermind, the day is still young, so go and train,” He pats them both on the head before he walks inside the hut, closing the door firmly. Y/n let’s out a heavy breath, dragging a hand down her face.

“Tanjiro,” She says his name in a laughter, the boy still not clear in the head from her teasing words, “If you’re so hung up about it, how come you’re not ready to take a step further to our intimate relationship?”

With his cheeks and collarbones adorned in a beautiful pink color, he looks up into her curious eyes, “It’s not that I’m not ready, I just want us to be sure that we’ve not made the wrong choice. Wouldn’t it be best to wait until we’ve been together for a little longer, at least?”

Her eyes soften and she grabs his hands gently, “How admirable of you, Tanjiro. You’re too cute. Well, no matter, I will never force you to do anything with me, no matter how small of an act.”

“Thank you,” He smiles at her, his blushing dying down and leaving a pink tint to his cheeks, “We should get some training out of the way, so we have done something important today. We can… talk about this subject some other time?”

“Yeah, that’s true,” She walks beside him as they slowly begin to make their way up to the top of the mountain, “There’s no rush. None at all.”

Y/n didn’t want to show it, but she’s a little nervous about it all, because she knows she’s on borrowed time. She doesn’t know how long she’ll be able to stay here. There’s nothing that’s telling her when or where she’s going to meet Caleb. Every second by Tanjiro’s side matters.

Every single second that passes by.

She has to engrave his scent, his touch, his voice, his warmth, everything, to her body, so that when she goes back to her original world, she will never forget him. Even if her mind has, her body will still know the feeling of him with her.

He truly doesn’t know what he’s putting himself up for…

Chapter Text

Y/n smirks with her wooden sword in hand, circling the imaginary circle in the green grass between her and Tanjiro, the boy doing the same with a focused expression. He knew she was stronger than she thought and if he lost concentration for even a second, she would easily be able to win him over. But his girl refuses to see the best in her and only the worst, so she hasn’t really honed that ability of hers yet.

Today he’s gonna help her own it with confidence. It’s just a matter of how…

The air was thin as they both inhaled but they didn't even notice it, long since been used to the air on the mountain. Though, with how far into the mountain they were, Tanjiro’s sense of smell was acting up because of the strong scent of bark and wood. We're not even gonna talk about the constant sweet smell his lover is emitting, as if taunting him to take a bite…

Y/n chuckles at his distant expression, “Come on, don’t tell me you’re daydreaming when this is life or death!”

“Sorry,” He shakes his head, smiling at her and grasping his wooden sword tighter. They were both waiting for a que to run in, not wanting the one to be it as that would give the caller the advantage. A spar should start fair even if the fight is anything but fair.

The sound of a shriek call of a crow in the trees made them both silently agree that it was the signal to clash swords. The wind blew against their faces as the sound of their wooden swords colliding traveled through the thick trees around them and made the birds scatter away from their homes.

Y/n jumps back, changing hold on her sword and jumping onto the younger boy again with an excited grin plastered onto her face. Tanjiro brought his sword up and swung it to the side, making Y/n stumble over her feet. With the small opening, he spins around with his arms in the air and swings them down to hit her back, but the girl was one step ahead and rolled away from under him just in time.

She stands up and rolls her left shoulder with a smirk. She pushes her whole body to run to the left, coming on Tanjiro’s other side in a matter of seconds, where he doesn’t have time to react before her sword makes contact with the back of his knees. 

He falls to the ground with a groan and swings his sword behind him, but Y/n was already in front of him. He glances up and this time has enough time to react, bringing his sword up to block her sword targeting his face. Sweat drips down his temples, sure he has a thick skull but that’s still a dangerous move for only a spar…

He tries to push her back with his wooden sword but Y/n presses down with a determined gleam in her eyes. She presses down harder and in a last attempt to save himself, Tanjiro uses his right leg to kick her left leg, making her knees bend.

He scatters away from her and stands up when he’s a safe distance away, wiping his forehead to get rid of the sweat running down. Y/n stands up with a chuckle, staring up at him with an amused smile.

“You got me there,” She says and pulls off her cloud-patterned haori, throwing it to the side. They run up to each other again to clash swords, this time not bothering with doing some fancy tricks to show who’s better. 

The mountain top echoed with the sound of their swords clashing against each other, the both of them jumping out and away from an attack before jumping back in. They were digging up dirt from the grass under them from the pressure of their feet dancing above at an invisible pace.

A normal human with no training whatsoever wouldn’t be able to even see Tanjiro’s black and green haori or Y/n’s impressive footworks through the speed they both sported. Though, they were quite even in speed with their legs but Y/n’s might be faster with her handiwork at swinging her sword down or around at a graceful act.

It truly looked like they were dancing as they fought.

But before either of them could get really hurt, the sound of Tanjiro’s wooden sword breaking in half made them skid to a stop, staring at the second half of his katana lying at his feet.

“Ha! I win!” Y/n bursts out as she hits his shoulder with more force than necessary, making him snap his gaze up to her. He smiles at her victory dance, bending down to pick up the piece of wood.

“You sure did, I didn’t expect anything else from you.”

“Oh, stop it. It was just good timing, you could have won as well!” She pulls on the hem of her clothes and picks up her haori from the ground with a sigh, “But, uh, you might want to hide that. Not so sure if pops will appreciate us breaking his wooden swords now that we’re ‘professionals.’”

She does quotation marks with her fingers and nudges onto him, “But, if you want this day to be your last, then by all means.”

Tanjiro laughs and pulls a hand through his long hair and pulls out his hair tie as most of the strands had escaped during their fight, “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll just… put it in the fire tonight?”

“Mm, that might be smart. Only if that wood doesn’t smell any different than the firewood.” She points out, making him freeze. She chokes down a laugh. Well, damn, he’s so gonna kill them tonight.

“Don’t worry! I’m sure we can just throw it away on the other side of the mountain!” Y/n tries to comfort but her lover shakes his head at her suggestion.

“No, we’re done…” He sighs in a low tone, trudging beside her as if their fate was already set in stone.

Y/n sweat drops and grabs his hand, “I’ll save you, lover boy.”

“My savior,” He swoons and turns around with a teasing smile, “We should get back to our individual training for now. Hm?”

“What? Alreadyyyyy??” Y/n grabs his shoulder as she complains and Tanjiro can’t help but to laugh at her state of mind. Truly, no matter what comes out of her mouth, he’s always entertained.

“Yes, I don’t think I would ever see either of us still on the ground. Don’t you think the muscles we worked so hard to gain should be able to stay and support us?”

“Urgh, that’s true,” She grumbles and lets him go, “But still, I think we deserve to take a day off here and there. It’s not fair that pops’ making us train day in and day out!”

“Well, that’s what it takes to save humanity? Come now, my beautiful complainer, let's meet each other again tonight.” He leans in to give her a kiss on the mouth, his hands holding her hips in place. Y/n sighs but kisses him back, then stands her ground as Tanjiro walks away.

She pouts and kicks away a rock before she grabs her wooden sword to change it out to her real sword. Train this, train that, she’s always training, it feels like. But that’s life for her, an outsider that decided to become a hunter.

[...]

By some miraculous change of fate, Urukodaki didn’t even bring up the broken wooden sword that night as they ate dinner together. It was suspicious but they both shared a glance and decided to not say anything, or they would be done for real.

Urukodaki left soon after eating up, like always, and Y/n and Tanjiro were left alone to clean up. Not something they ever minded, as he often made them food even though he didn’t actually need too. It’s of course expected of him, but you know, he’s not their dad.

Tanjiro put out the fire while Y/n washed the dishes and he then went to fill the bath with warm water so his girlfriend could relax. After that was done and Y/n had disappeared to take a long bath, he went into his sister’s room to find her lying in her futon with wide, empty eyes.

“Hi, Nezuko,” She perks up at the sound of his voice, watching as he sits down beside her, petting her head gently which she hums at. Tanjiro smiles down at her with love adorning his eyes.

He leans back against the wall, closing his eyes with his hand resting atop his sister’s head. He slumbered away to the land of dreams, the faces of his family soon showing themselves to him. But lately, in this dream that he often has, there have been new additions to it. Y/n and Urukodaki.

Of course, after these two years here, those two people are the closest thing he has to a family now. Without them, he wouldn’t be able to survive in this dark world where his sister has become the very thing that killed his life force.

His eyes snap open at the sound of Y/n’s voice near him. He sees her standing in the doorway to Nezuko’s room, a gentle smile on her lips as she stares down at him.

“Good morning, the bath’s free if you want to hop in?” She chuckles, “Or you’re skipping today?”

“No, I’ll go…” He mumbles, pulling himself up from the floor silently. Y/n steps away to give him space to walk by, but before he leaves, he gives her a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” She says and watches him disappear, “Phew, now I’m getting some well deserved sleep.”

Y/n walks into her room and rolls out her futon, lying down on it with a relieved sigh. It’s not even that late into the night but she’s already feeling sleepy. She may just be getting lazy from not having the training for final selection anymore. Still doesn’t make sense because for the past six months, she’s been doing nothing but yawning her days away.

But hey, a girl’s allowed to be tired.