Demon-Slaying Demons

~-CRUELTY(2)-~

  A/N: Before anyone mentions it, yes I know the chapter is titled the same as the first one. The reason for this is that this is a continuation of the last chapter. I cut the first episode in half so there would at least be something for the reader to look forward to. A reminder of the warning in the last chapter, there will be gore (though not as bad) in this chapter. I will add a warning before and after the gore for those of you who might be uncomfortable with certain topics. I'm sorry if this chapter seems rushed I had started writing it on a school night and am trying to finish it on a weekend. Since most of you are probably skipping this A/N anyways, I'll shut up and let you read. ^^

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Tanjiro sits up in the snow, the dim light of a snowy morning greeting him. He looks at the cloudy sky as it begins snowing, wondering if the events of the night before were all a bad dream. He then realizes he's laying outside, and not on the tatami mat he went to sleep on, so he looks around, squinting as his eyes adjust. His eyes land on what he was hoping was a dream and he screams. He lets out all of the pain, rage, sadness, and other emotions through the screaming, which continues until his voice has gone hoarse and he can't scream any longer. He stands up and clumsily stumbles over to his family.

"N-Nezuko..." He crouches down, reaching out his shaking hands towards his sister, "W-was it not a dream?" Tears begin to well in his eyes, clouding his vision as he shakes his sister gently. "N-Nezuko, Rokuta.. c-c'mon guys, this isn't funny..." He avoids looking into the house, having already seen the gorey scene once this morning. He carefully turns his sister over, cradling her head in his lap as the tears begin to flow down his face. He sits there in silence for what seems like an eternity, hugging his sister and crying silently.

He cries and cries until he is no longer able to bear tears. Once he has run his tear ducts dry, Tanjiro sniffles, standing up and preparing to dig graves for his family. That's when he inhales a scent that gives him hope; The scent of Nezuko. Usually, a person's scent would fade once they've died, so when Tanjiro realizes his sister is still alive, he scoops her out of the snow, putting her on his back, and begins hurrying down the mountain in an excited and nervous rush. He ignores the ache that floods his body and the sudden dizziness from too much movement, instead running faster.

Tanjiro feels the warmth from his sister's body and hears her almost silent breathing, allowing the fragment of hope to flood his veins with adrenaline. "J-Just hold on, Nezuko. I'll get you to a doctor in the village. You'll make it, I swear." He was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince his unconscious sister. "D-don't worry, Nezuko. Your Nii-chan will definitely save you, so j-just hold on!" The young boy's hoarse voice sounds loud to his own ears in the dead silence, making him more nervous. He's so nervous he doesn't notice his sister has woken up until he hears a growling noise. He stops in his tracks and looks at the girl, who begins pushing at her older brother, trying to get away from him.

Tanjiro gasps as the younger girl jerks to the side, throwing them both off of a cliff. He shuts his eyes as tightly as he can, waiting for the impact that doesn't happen. He opens one eye, then allows both eyes to open as he sits up, "T-the snow broke my fall... B-but it's what caused me to fall in the first place, i-isn't it?" He sighs and stands up, brushing the snow off of his clothes. The burgundy haired boy realizes something is missing and looks around. Once his eyes land on the blood-stained girl, he rushes over, grabbing her shoulders. "N-Nezuko! Are you o-okay?" He looks over her to check for injuries, though she seems unharmed. "Y-you don't have to walk, okay? I'll carry you to town."

Catching her older brother off-guard, Nezuko attacks him. She tackles him, trying to claw at his face as he struggles to keep her away. Her eyes, once a darker shade, now glow bright pink, the pupils slitted like that of a cat. She bares fangs she didn't have the day before, trying to bite at her panicking brother. Tanjiro quickly grabs the hatchet he had quickly grabbed and uses the handle to keep nezuko from biting him. Just then did Tanjiro remembers what Saburo had said the night before. "The oni will attack you!!" he freezes for a second. 'Nezuko? An oni? No.. Nezuko has been a human since the day she was born! However... Her scent is different now...' The fiery haired boy looks at his sister who, just yesterday, wouldn't hurt a fly, but now she's trying to kill him. She nearly doubles in size, causing the boy to struggle under her weight. "Y-You can fight it, Nezuko!" he cries out to his sister, in an attempt to hold onto her humanity, "Just d-don't give in, please!"