Chapter Text
“How interesting. To think someone would look just like him.”
“Hanako!!
“Get away from them!!”
“I wonder… just how much of my blood can you handle?”
“Another failure in my quest for a Demon that conquers the sun.”
“T…Tanji….”
“Well, isn’t this a surprise.”
Slowly, with a groan and whine coming out at once, a pair of light pink eyes with catlike slits opened up, their owner beginning to stand, only to stumble about in a manner that was similar to a drunk or a person that was still half asleep.
“A…Aah?” The owner of the eyes began to open their mouth, only for a confused sound without proper words to come out. A fact that felt like it should have been the case since the beginning, but also felt just so… wrong.
In the end however, although no proper sound could come out of him, it would matter little as the owner’s light pink eyes finally noticed something.
Namely, the state of the home he found himself in.
They widened in horror at the Corpses that surrounded the Home, covering the Tatami mats in their Blood while filling the Room with a smell that felt… tantalising. Something equally delicious as it was revolting to him.
“Aaaa…” Despite the feeling of wrong that practically strangled the boy, he began to take a step forward. And then another, and repeated this process until he stood over the bodies of a girl that appeared to be similar in age to himself, and a boy that was so small, that he was almost completely hidden from the drooling child’s sight.
But as he leaned down and grabbed the arm of the girl and began to raise it up to his mouth (Had there always been fangs there?), he froze up as he now saw their faces. They were lifeless, as he already knew, but their faces were etched in a way that implied pure agony. But it wasn’t that that stopped him. It was the familiarity. As if he knew them, but… that couldn’t be right…
Could it?
‘’Yo… n’t… go. It’s… an… gerous.’’
‘’Tanji… going… aga…’’
‘’...ut…’’
‘’I wan… go… you!’’
‘’...I was… we’d… it togeth…’’
‘’Be careful!’’
‘’See… later!’’
“Rokuta has… lately. Eve… passed awa…”
“Be… ful of… Demons, Tanji….”
Ah… what are… those? Why is he… who even are those people?
And why was… water? Was that it? Coming from his eyes?
Was he… crying? Why?
Why would he cry for… for those… those… strangers…? Siblings? No, what even were… Siblings….
Were… are they… no.
No, it can’t. He… he must be… jumping to conclusions! Yes, that’s it. They can’t… or could they…?
He… he needed some air. He needed… something.
With his mind as it was, the boy who had completely halted his meal, walked away in a state of confusion. In fact, at a glance, one could almost confuse him for being in a trance with how he stumbled.
He found himself unsure about everything related to that House.
Just… what was going on here? Who were they? Why was he there? Why… did everything smell so nice? And why did that thought make him want to… claw at himself?
So many questions went through his mind like a storm, one that caused the boy to continue his trance-like state and not pay attention to his surroundings.
And so, he completely missed another Body. One that caused him to trip on top of it, and slam face-first on the snow. Not that it hurt, nor did the Boy really notice it.
However, it did cause the ‘’Body’’ to stir.
Consciousness slowly returned to the person in question while the Boy rose back up on his feet. Watching in curiosity at this… familiar person. And oddly, they gave him a similar feeling to the ones in the house, but something… else was familiar too… Was she like him?
The boy wouldn’t have to wait long for his answer to come. The person, a woman to be more specific, rose up from where she’d laid. Just like the girl and boy he’d seen previously, her Kimono showed signs of damage. Like someone who had cut across it. In fact, it seemed to be a miracle that it still clung to her body and covered her, yet… the Boy knew that even if it fell completely, she would face no problems from it.
However, another problem did stir up. It was not one the boy entirely acknowledged then, but the woman’s gaze went to him for a brief second, something that made him feel like all would be right in this confusing world, before looking at where the dead girl and boy were.
And then, the woman took steps towards them. At first, it was slow, just like the boy’s own earlier movement. But then, it grew more frantic. As if the woman couldn’t wait for something and was going after it now. No, her movements could likely better be described as if she was possessed in that moment.
And the boy realised exactly what caused her to act that way, once she abruptly stopped in front of the Corpses. And unlike the boy when he was above the pair, the woman wasn’t careful when reaching out. In fact, it looked like she was about to lunge at the bodies as if she was a starving wolf, rather than raising them up like he had.
And as her intent became clear, there was only one thing that the Boy could do. Especially with just how… wrong, the sight felt. As if it was a stain on reality itself.
And that one thing, even with the state of his voice, was to scream.
A scream that gave his fear of the situation away. A scream that felt like it tore apart his throat as he cried out. A scream the boy hadn’t even been aware he could do. A scream that, as the woman was inches away from biting into the flesh of the youngest, made her pause.
Well, no, perhaps not pause. But it made her stop. Freeze up in her tracks as she heard that scream. And it caused something within her to snap. Something that now pushed away the mind-numbing hunger that existed in all her cells, in favour of something else.
Something that… made her… cry?
She couldn’t understand why she cried when hearing that scream, but the tears came down, nonetheless. And it caused her to look away at what was previously an appetising meal.
She looked behind her, mouth salivating and eyes slitted, to see the boy who had screamed.
And looked utterly terrified of her.
Just seeing him completely terrified, alongside the scream of terror he’d given, amplified her own tears. Why, she did not know. And yet, cry she did.
The Corpses of the boy and girl were left completely forgotten as the woman chose to instead step closer to the terrified boy. Each of her steps are no longer frantic nor slow. Instead, they seemed more normal.
Not that it helped much of anything else, considering her approaching him, caused the boy to look even more terrified. In fact, it caused him to do something even stranger.
It caused his size to shift. To shrink and hide beneath his now oversized clothes.
The woman froze up again when seeing that display, unsure on how to react that the boy just shrunk in front of her eyes. It didn’t feel wrong to see that, but at the same time, she knew deep inside that shouldn’t be normal. But the sight of him, now only a bit taller than the boy underneath that girl’s body… it made something in her stir. Something that made her want to… calm him down even more.
But what? That was the question that came to mind once she desired to calm the boy down. What could she do that could ease him?
But… nothing came to mind. She didn’t know what to do. And if she had been aware at some point before, then she certainly was not aware of how now.
Yet, while consciously, she did not know what to do. Her subconscious came up with something.
And that something was just as weird as the boy shrinking.
Unknowingly, the Woman’s appearance began to change. After all, if the boy reacted in such a way when she was going to feast on the now forgotten corpses, wouldn’t it make sense that something similar to them or the child himself could aid her in her new goal?
Her purely Black Hair gained burgundy tips. Her Dark Pink coloured and slitted eyes turned into a Dark Red colour with round pupils. Her skin tone, which almost appeared to be as white as the snow beneath her bare feet, turned slightly darker, making it match a skin tone that felt… right to the woman herself. Her Nails, which had been elongated akin to sharp claws, retracted into normal lengths. The purple that was on it faded back to being colourless. Her Canines dulled, becoming shorter and becoming less noticeable, despite them remaining sharp and closer in appearance to the teeth of those corpses.
But the final change came from the peculiar flower markings on her head. One on the left side of her forehead and another that was beneath her right cheek, closer to her jawbone. As they began to change colour and tone until one was completely masked while the other looked like the same colour as scarred flesh, and then shifted shape, going up to the left side of her forehead and now resembled that of the same scar…
Of a certain man that briefly appeared within her mind.
For a moment, she wondered who that was. Who could that man be? But then, that quickly had to be pushed to the back of her mind as her priorities shifted to the matter at hand.
Comforting the boy who had shrunk and currently hid beneath his oversized clothes.
“I… It’s… okay.” Opening her mouth and wiping away the saliva that had previously been dripping from her mouth, the woman spoke out to the boy. She didn’t know how she was speaking, and the action felt so foreign yet natural, but the action came to her all the same. Yet, she did not understand the words that came from her mouth, not truly anyways.
Despite this, it was clear that it still helped. Because the Boy, upon hearing her voice, peaked out of his oversized clothes to look at her, his light pink eyes glowing lightly within the shade the clothing provided him.
The Woman honestly felt like she was out of her depth, and yet, it still came to her in a manner that did not feel foreign.
‘’I… I won’t… hurt you. I… want to… help.’’ The words took some effort to get out, as if she had not used her Vocal Cords in ages, even needing to swallow her saliva to soothe the vocal cords over, but they still came out the way she intended to be heard.
The boy, for his part, looked cautious. After all, the previous woman didn’t seem to be there anymore. Someone else was here now. But he felt like he could trust her, in a weird way.
Except just looking at her also made him feel… off. Like there was something wrong with her. And the fact that her scent… it was exactly the same as the now gone lady.
‘’Please… you don’t need… to hide…’’
But in the end, trust won out. The boy chose to trust the woman and so, unknowingly, began to regrow back into his previous size. The clothes are now no longer oversized.
And the woman smiled. Because this felt right. As if something important was with her again as she approached the boy and held out a hand to him.
The boy though, merely tilted his head at the action, a confused rumble rising from his throat. But as he looked at the woman, he did something that felt natural.
He hugged her and buried his head into the crook of her neck.
And the woman, in answer, did something that felt just as natural. She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around his body. Feeling like she’d never let go. Then she began to hum out a sound. In fact, it wasn’t even something that she noticed, but she began to rumble a sound within her throat, humming something that felt as second nature to her as breathing itself.
But, while that was going on, a thought crossed the woman’s mind. One that hadn’t really been thought of earlier due to what she’d nearly done.
Who was she? Where is she? And who even is that boy?
Now that, as brief it may be, she had time to think… she had to wonder. All of those questions began to flood and swirl about within her mind. And those were only the prominent ones.
However, she filed them away for now as she looked at the boy and finally noticed the state of her own clothing. It was clear that a single tug would cause the whole thing to fall from her frame and expose her body to the cold, and while she felt no danger from that idea (Had it ever been a problem for her?), she knew that walking around without clothing wasn’t a good idea, even if she did not know why. As a result, she turned to look at the destroyed house and entered it.
And as she did, she noticed another set of bodies lying on the floor, consisting of 2 boys and a single girl. And just like the 2 from earlier and the boy within her arms, now that she wasn’t consumed by hunger, she felt some kind of connection to them.
Just who were these people?
‘’You’re going to town? I wanna go! Please Tanjiro, take me with you!’’
‘’Hey, wait! I want to go to!’’
‘’Well… I was going to take the Cart today, so it should be fine. Right?’’
‘’Today is mostly free of Snow… alright, they can go with you.’’
Those voices just now… were they… related to her in some manner? If so, then… how? In which way? And… was Tanjiro the boy in her arms? The idea certainly felt right to her.
However, while she now knew the boy’s name, or so she assumed, she was no closer to knowing her own.
But then, as she looked around a bit closer and ignored the smell of blood that filled the Home, she noticed a mirror. It was nothing too large, it was in fact just big enough to be slightly larger than her own head. But it showed her reflection.
And when she saw her features, and then compared it to the dead Boys and Girls… to her, it all clicked.
“Could you be… Tanjiro, are you my brother?” The woman wondered out loud before speaking to the boy in her arms, who looked sleepy. But upon hearing her question, he blinked his eyes as he woke up a bit and looked at the kind lady curiously.
The woman looked at the boy, now Tanjiro, and found the action adorable. Although it did not really help her wonder, rhetorical it may have been.
“S… Sitaaahh….” Surprisingly though, for the first time since she saw the boy under those previously oversized clothes of his, Tanjiro spoke out in a tired and confused tone, but quickly leaned into her body afterwards.
For a moment, it surprised the woman. Tanjiro hadn’t spoken a word to her, besides his scream if that counted, so she’d wondered if he simply did not desire to speak.
Now though, she began to wonder if it was less he didn’t want to, and more that he faced a similar issue she had at first. That whatever happened to them, caused their speech to be hampered. But that begged the question, why was Tanjiro seemingly having a tougher time than herself?
But then, it also made her consider something else. What even happened here? Why were she and Tanjiro even alive? Or why did she remember so little of who she was gradually certain, were her dead siblings?
Was it related to why Tanjiro had a tougher time speaking? Was it because of how Tanjiro could alter his shape? Was it related to why she’d nearly… eaten…
The woman stopped thinking in that direction. But nonetheless, more questions had arisen than answers.
Answers she may never receive, at this rate.
“Okay, one thing at a time. Tanjiro, can you wait here for a moment?” The woman asked the boy she was convinced was her brother, who merely nodded as she put him down onto the ground, watching her as she opened a door and entered a room that, unlike the previous one, was completely unscathed.
Looking around, she saw a closet within the room and opened it, finding a variety of clothes within, causing her to offhandedly sharpen her nails and cut at the piece of her kimono that kept it still on her body, allowing it to drop to the ground. With that done, she looked through the sets of clothes until eventually, she took out a pair of light purple pants and a red kimono and put them on. But as she was about to close the closet and head back to Tanjiro, she saw an orange and black checkered pattern haori, which stood out to her and oddly… it made her heart clench in a feeling that was somewhat foreign to her.
Shaking her head, the woman reached out to the Haori and grabbed and put it on, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a letter fall out of a pocket and land on the ground. With three simple words written clearly on the front.
“To Kie Kamado”.
The woman grew curious about the letter. Initially, it was simply because she wondered what was written in there, but then, when reading over the front of the Letter, she wondered…
Who was Kie?
Was it one of her supposed Siblings? Was it someone else? Or perhaps… her own?
She wasn’t quite sure, but in the end, curiosity won. She chose to open the letter and read over its content.
‘’If you’re reading this, then that means I have died before I could tell you farewell. And for that, I can’t apologise enough.’’
Already, the letter went off for a grim start. The Woman could already guess that this was a dying man who’d written this. And for it, she could feel her heart tighten further. She read on.
‘’But I guess it’s a good thing I’m writing this then. Call me Paranoid, but I at least want my last words to be heard… in a manner of speaking. But above all else, I want to apologise that I won’t be there anymore. I want to apologise that I won’t be there for Tanjiro, Nezuko, Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru, Rokuta, and you, Kie. I want to apologise for falling Ill, even when I know that one was out of my control. But I also wanted to tell you that I’m glad to have met you when I did. I’m glad we got to known you. I’m glad that you entered my life when you did, Kie. And I apologise for being unable to protect you all any longer. So, from the bottom of my Heart, thank you for everything, my dear.’’
At the bottom of the letter, it was signed: ‘’From Tanjuro Kamado.’’
Kamado? This man had the same last name as her and Tanjiro? So is he perhaps another sibling of her’s, or something else? But then, what else could it be?
This Letter was addressed to a Kie, and the letter mentioned many names, including Tanjiro, her Brother…
The more she read over the letter, the more it seemed to her that this Tanjuro wasn’t a Sibling of hers. But something else… something she feels like she should be able to put her hands on… something that was hers, but wasn’t property either…
She feels disappointed in herself, the more she thinks about it. She just can’t put her words into it. She can’t figure out what this Letter implies, even though she knows it should be obvious to her.
So, she decides she can think of it further later. Once things are settled… somehow.
But the name on that letter. That?
It’s now a confirmation.
The name she had forgotten, the name that she had sought out, was now written before her eyes by a man she knows, yet does not at the same time.
Her Name is Kie Kamado.