Chapter Text
It was a cold and snowy day on the mountain, but Nezuko was determined to sell enough coal to afford a proper new years feast. She trudged down the white slopes, semi-regretting offering to take her older brother's place. Of course someone had to go down, but it couldn't be him. Walking down a mountain to a village, and all the way back up again while running a fever is not a good idea.
***
After a long day of selling charcoal, Nezuko started stomping back up the mountain, mentally preparing herself for the tiring walk ahead of herself. It was getting dark out, if he hurried she might be able to get home before her siblings ate all of the dinner. Just as she was leaving the village, a man called out to her,
“Hey! You shouldn't go back up the mountain, the man eating demons roam at night! It's not safe.” Her dark plum eyes widened at the thought of demons, she had heard rumors in the village of course, but she didn't believe in them.
“Trust me, just stay here for the night.” If this was anyone else she would have ignored them, and brushed them off as a creepy pervert, but this was old man Saburo. He would never lie about something like this, his family had passed away a few years ago. He insisted it was demons, but nobody believed him. Eventually he gave up on convincing people, but some still looked at him weirdly. Nezuko didn't believe him, but she trusted him. After all, there still might be wild animals. She agreed and came into his home, he cooked her dinner and she thanked him many times.
After she had finished her food, she got curious about what he said about ‘demons’.“Mister Saburo?” He turned to her, “What did you mean by man eating demons?” She questioned, he gave a solemn look, as if remembering something, then he spoke.
“demons have existed for thousands of years, many believe they are only a children's story made up to scare kids into not sneaking out, but they are real.” Nezuko thought for a long moment, she wasn’t one to believe in stories like that, but she did remember her grandmother saying something similar to that before she passed. Then old man Saburo added,
“demons only come out at night, they burn to death in sunlight.” That sounded reasonable, but there was one thing she didn't understand. “But can't the demons come inside houses at night?” She wondered if they didn’t know how to open doors.
“Yes they can, but the demon slayer corps protects us from them, they are mere humans who dedicate their lives to killing evil.”
Nezuko could barely sleep that night, she had a horrible feeling about the ‘demons’ Saburo told her about, –but they obviously aren't real, right?–
***
“Thank you for letting me stay the night, mister Saburo!” She thanked him sweetly, he waved her goodbye and smiled. Nezuko set off on her long journey back up the mountain, she had made sure to buy some tea for Tanjiro's cold, that always helped. She wondered how she was going to explain why she didn't come home last night to her mother, eh she would figure something out.
Eventually, she was getting close to her home. She caught a whiff of smoke on the breeze, even if she didn't have Tanjiro's sharpened sense of smell. All of her little siblings didn't like the scent, but to her it was home. She got excited at the thought of showing her mother the empty basket and telling her they sold out. Business was booming for the Kamado family, at this rate they would be able to afford a whole feast for New year's.
Nezuko was close, she could tell, just a few minutes. Then she stopped dead in her tracks, looking down at the snow.
–Is that… Blood…?–
There were footsteps leading away from her house, but it looked like the person had run away bleeding. She started following the tracks back to her home, praying everyone was okay. She saw her house, it was so close.“Please, please be okay.” She begged, her lungs hurt from panting in the cold winter air. Then she saw him, Tanjiro. He was crumpled in the snow, blood all over him. She stopped breathing for a few seconds, her heart thumping out of her chest. She just stood there, shocked. She wasn't crying, she was in shock. Then she snapped out of it and ran over, she saw that Tanjiro was cradling their baby brother, Rokuta, as if to protect him. Her heart shattered into what felt like a million pieces. She ran towards them, her breath hitching in her chest. She stood over them, tears forming in her eyes.
–But if Tanjiro and Rokuta are here, what about the rest of them…?–
Nezuko turned her head towards the open door, her hand flew to cover her mouth, they were all there. Laying motionless on the floor, faces contorted in pain. Blood was coating the walls in red, organs littering the ground. It felt like the world was collapsing under her.
***
“Come on Tanjiro, please. Not far now, your little sister is going to save you!” Nezuko carried him on her back, running down the mountain. He was the only one with a faint pulse, she had to get him to a doctor. Deep in her heart she knew she was nowhere near fast enough, but she had to try.
He was always the one who cut the wood and carried the coal, she wasn't nearly as strong as he was. Her lungs screamed and she wanted to as well, then suddenly, she felt Tanjiro move on her back, swaying her.
She slipped, and realised too late she was next to a small cliff. She landed in the snow, panting. She regained her strength and stood up, looking around.
“Tanjiro?” She called out, no answer. Then she heard something behind her, she swerved around and saw Tanjiro, standing there silently looking at the ground. He bared his teeth, saliva dripping from his mouth, She called to him again, confusion lacing her voice. She started walking over to him, reaching out for him.
Then he lunged, he pinned her down onto the ground, Nezuko had managed to pull out the hatchet she was carrying, and shove the handle into his mouth vertically, restraining him. His eyes were bright red, with cat like slits for pupils, his fangs were dripping from hunger.
“T-Tanjiro? What’s going on?!” She cried out, it was taking all her strength to hold him back. If it was possible, Tanjiro seemed to be growing bigger, growling at her. —He’s a demon… but how?—He's been a human for Nezuko’s entire life, what has changed? Her arms were trembling, tears pouring down her face.
—I'm sorry Tanjiro…—
Then she felt something, warm droplets of water falling onto her face, she looked up, confused.
—He’s crying…—
He was still in there, she had to get him back. “Tanjiro please, it’s me, your little sister! Remember?” She cried out, his eyes were pained, as if he was trying with all of his strength to resist the temptation of human flesh. Tanjiro was getting closer, her arms were giving out, Her pleading was doing no good.
She thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but brushed it off, too busy to care.
Then suddenly he was gone, her arms collapsed down from exhaustion, tears still streaming down her face. She forced herself to stand up. Her eyes fixed on a man in a uniform with short black hair, and beautiful blue eyes.
—Who is he…?—
Then her head snapped over to Tanjiro, who was thrashing and growling. The blue eyed guy was clutching his wrists behind his back, his arm barely moving while Tanjiro struggled. The man held a blade to his neck, as if to decapitate him. Her breath hitched and she felt like passing out cold in the snow, her eyes welled up with tears.
“PUT MY BROTHER DOWN!” Nezuko shouted suddenly, he looked down at her with pity in his eyes, but pity wouldn't get her brother back,
“He isn't your brother anymore.” he said with sorrow. —Bullshit,— Nezuko thought, it was him and he was going to be killed by that man. He raised his katana up, and stabbed Tanjiro in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, still trying to escape the man’s grip, with no success. Nezuko’s mind raced, thinking of anything she could do to save him, her lip trembled, and she decided on a plan.
The black haired man's eyes widened, Nezuko had fallen to her knees, sobbing.
“Please,” She begged him, “Let him go please, he would never hurt anyone.” She cried into the snow, her hands trembling in front of her. She needed him to be alive, otherwise she didn't know what she would do. She wasn't old enough to work a job that wasn't for her parents, she had nowhere to go.
The man stared daggers at her slumped form, his breath becoming uneven, until he burst out in rage.
“DON'T LEAVE YOUR BACK OPEN! Pleading will do you no good, if it was even half effective, your family would still be alive right now!”
Nezuko looked up at him in shock, his words piercing her heart. He was right. She should have just ignored Saburo and walked up the mountain, maybe then she would have died with them.
—Don't cry, don't despair, now is not the time.—
Nezuko stood up, pain and rage surging through her. She looked around frantically, and picked up a relatively small rock. She ran behind a tree drawing closer to the man. When she got close enough to land a blow, she raised her arm, preparing to strike. But she was nowhere near fast enough, before she even started to lower her arm downwards to strike, he hit her straight in the back with the handle of his katana, knocking the breath out of her. She collapsed into the snow, unconscious.
—How pathetic.— He thought, there has never been a demon who wouldn't go for the kill. He had seen it a thousand times before, someone would swear on their life a family member would never hurt them, only to get brutally torn apart and devoured only seconds later.
Then he saw something out of his peripheral vision, a hatchet, barreling towards him. His eyes widened, he tilted his head to the left. The hatchet slammed into the tree right behind him, missing his skull by mere inches. He stood there, shocked.
—He must have thrown the hatchet when he was behind the tree, and only pretended to come at me.—
He had to admit, that was smart, this girl could go places. Then before he could process what happened, the demon boy he was holding was gone, running towards his younger sister. He took in a sharp breath, starting to run towards them, until he froze.
“What…?” The demon was… protecting her. He kneeled in front of his sister, facing the man, his arms spread out in defence. His mouth was drooling and he was obviously resisting the urge to devour her, but despite all that, he protected her. —maybe these ones were different.—The boy lunged at him, his face inches away, the man had made his decision. Before Tanjiro could reach him, he hit the boy's neck with lightning fast reflexes, knocking him out cold.
***
Nezuko jolted awake, subconsciously grabbing Tanjiro's haori. She looked at him, —He’s not dead— she calmed herself, only just realising she was close to hyperventilation. He had a piece of bamboo tied to his mouth as a muzzle, —there was only one person who could have done that—
She sat up in the snow, looking around, then behind her she saw the man from earlier, looking at them both. Now that she got a closer look at him, she noticed a few things she didn't before. His eyelashes were a beautiful light purple, —Is it even possible to be an albino only with your eyelashes?— Her eyes drifted to his arms, he seemed to have three criminal tattoos on each, –But he's a demon slayer, doesn't he fight evil for a living?– His haori was pink, fading into a light blue, with white spots and snowflakes scattered across the fabric. A small hairclip with three snowflakes on was clipped to his hair, she wondered where he got it from, he didn’t look like the type to buy accessories for himself.
Then his voice snapped her out of her thoughts, “You two are different, head down mount Sagiri and you will find a former demon slayer named Keizo Shokuzai, he will train you to become a demon slayer.” Nezuko’s eyes widened, –Her? Become a demon slayer?– but her brother was a demon, how would that work?
“Tell him Hakuji Soyama sent you.”