Chapter Text
Tomioka Giyuu knows he is late as soon as the winter storm forced him to share a house with a civilian who was too concerned about him traveling up the mountain in such weather.
He knows he is far too late to complete his mission when the civilian, Saburo, starts telling him about a boy who lived with his family up the mountain.
The old man ringed his hands with his face filled with worry. His eyes darted to the window that was closed with wooden planks with the sound of rushing wind and snow squeaking through the spaces between the planks. “I tried to tell him it was safer to stay here then go up the mountain at night because of demons.”
“You know about them?” Tomioka asked. The only ones who knew were ones that have encountered them before.
“I know about them and about you, demon slayer. I know far too much about it.” Saburo’s tone drifted down into a melancholy sadness that gave the Water Hashira a clue as to why the old man knew about them.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Tomioka said, his gaze drifting down when the old man thanked him for his concern in that familiar tone that victims used. The guilty feeling in his chest grew stronger when the old man admitted to losing his family to the creatures many years before.
After that, Saburo began to tell him about the Kamado family who lived up the mountain. A simple family of coal burners whose eldest son traveled down to the town right before the storm came in to sell a basket filled with coal.
“Tanjiro refused to stay and went up the mountain. I hope I am just being overly cautious, but something tells me a tragedy happened that night.” Saburo explained. The wrinkles on his face grew deeper with his obvious worry. “When it is safe to go out, can you please check on the family? Can you make sure that the Kamados, at least one of them, is alright?”
Saburo talked like a man who knew that most of if not all of the family was dead. His somber voice sounded like he was getting ready for the funeral rites.
However, it was three days before he could set foot outside. Saburo had plenty of coal from the Kamado family to keep both of them warm from the biting cold.
Once the snow finally started to lessen, Tomioka rushed out of the house with his sword ready as he dashed up the mountain. His breaths rattled in his chest as the technique calmed his body while he ran with all of his might.
There! The demonic aura is hard to pick up with the cold wind still blowing, but he knows a demon is on the mountain. Tomioka followed the trail up the mountain with a guilty feeling sinking with the realization it was coming from the location of the family’s house.
The slayer raced towards the house to destroy the demon who dared to feast upon a family that all of the town seemed to adore from what Saburo told him.
Once the house came into his vision, he frowned at the lack of visible blood or an iron scent lingering in the air. Was he too late to kill the demon? Had it already gotten away during the snowstorm?
His answer was clear once he saw a boy exiting out of the house. One with a green and black checker haori and red haired loose around his shoulders. And red eyes that immediately darted to him to stare dead into his gaze.
Tomioka tensed with his grip tightened on his sword’s handle. Without hesitation, he charged the demon with his sword drawn, ready to strike at his neck with one swift move of Striking Tide.
As he got closer, the demon didn’t move. His face remained calm despite the sword coming towards him. Gritting his teeth, Tomioka swung his sword only for the demon to catch it within its clawed hands.
“Its rude to attack someone unprovoked,” the demon commented like he was a small child getting reprimanded. Then, those clawed hands dug into his sword with blood dripping from its fingers. “Didn’t anyone teach you? I can give you lessons if you want, stranger.”
The demon tilted their head, staring into him with a gaze that felt so curious like the creature couldn’t understand why its life was getting threatened.
Suddenly, the demon’s tilted head leaned to the side so its face was facing the blade. Tomioka watched as the demon took only a second to slam its forehead down on the blade and—
Crack!
Tomioka’s eyes widened at the sound. He looked down to see that the demon boy had cracked his sword in half, severing the strong, blue colored blade without an ounce of effort.
“There we are.”
The Hashira took in a deep breath as he looked away from the other half of his blade laying discarded on the snow. Those demon’s red eyes called him into his gaze like a stunning ray of sunlight threatening to burn him to the core.
But that gaze shifted into a warm sunbeam once his sword had broken. The demon who used to be Kamado Tanjiro smiled at him with fangs barely hidden behind his lips.
There was no murderous intent even though he had raised his sword to him to attack. There was no bloodthirsty aura in the air between them like he had sensed with other demons he had slain before.
This was different. Now it’s presence… Tomioka could feel the full force of it now that he was close enough. It was suffocating.
It was heavier than anything he had ever experienced. It made him choke on his constant breathing for a moment like the energy the demon gave off seized his vulnerable spot without the other even moving towards him.
It was a physical threat yet it did not feel like one. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing waiting for his next move to catch him off guard.
“Big brother?”
Tomioka was stunned into silence when a young boy’s face peered around the doorframe of the house. The resemblance was uncanny even though the young boy had a mole under one of his eyes. Just when he thought the demon might suddenly changes its tune, the creature turned to the boy and gave him a reassuring smile.
“It’s alright, everyone. It seems we have a guest,” the demon said with a sharp smile.
Tomioka could only watch as the Kamado family, the family who he assumed would be dead from an attack, started crowding around the door. All of the members Saburo talked about were staring him right in the face without a single sign of injury.
The demon turned to him, those earrings swaying from the movement of its head. Those sun colored eyes stared at him warmly like he was welcoming a guest into its home.