Wilted Wisterias - Demon Slayer AU

Jabberwock Mountain

"Could you give me some of those straws and that bamboo basket you have over there?" Hinata pointed in the direction of said materials.

"That won't be a problem, but there is a hole in the basket." The man said.

"That's okay. I'll pay for it."

"No need to pay. There's a hole in it after all." The man shook his head, putting his hand up.

Hinata huffed, frustrated that the kind man wasn't letting him pay, "I insist."

Not giving the man a chance to speak, he grabbed his hand and placed the leftover coins he had gained from the village in his hand.

"Thanks for the help!" Not paying any mind to the man's reaction, he grabbed the basket and the straws and ran off in the direction of the cave his brother was hiding in.

Hinata and Izuru had been traveling for the whole night. They had decided to take shelter in a cave when the sun came out.

When he reached the cave, he put the materials on the ground and ducked down to enter the cave, "Izuru, Izuru?"

Except he wasn't there. 'He's gone!?'

As if on cue, Izuru's head popped out of the hole he must have dug with an irritated expression on his face, though it wasn't obvious.

'He seems to really want to stay away from sunlight...' Hinata observed, 'Must have been demon instinct.'

"Wait here for a moment." He grabbed the bamboo basket and began to weave through the basket with the straws to patch up the hole, all while Izuru silently observes. Hinata smiles slightly at this. Even when Izuru's a demon, he's still the same as ever.

-------------------------------------------

Once he completed the finishing touches, he called out to his brother, "Can you sit inside here? I want to travel by day as well." Izuru looked at the basket for a moment before lazily crawled out of the hole and into the basket.

Except...

'Can't fit inside the basket at all...' Hinata frowned. He didn't take into account how big Izuru would be.

'It felt like it was just yesterday that Izuru was just so tiny. He had grown a lot since then.'

Even if they were twins, Izuru was small for his age. Hinata's frown slightly lifted up at the nostalgic memory before fully frowning again. 'How the hell am I suppose to get Izuru in the basket?'

Then an idea popped up in his head.

"Hey, Izuru? Since you were able to grow bigger, could you do the opposite and grow smaller?" Izuru didn't respond for a while, and the brunet was beginning to think that his brother didn't hear him until Izuru grabbed the handles of the basket and flipped himself and the basket over.

"Ah-!" He shrunk into the basket, then propping himself up into a tuck sitting position. "Good job, Izuru!" Hinata praised, clearly impressed, patting his twin's head. The raven-haired boy let out an annoyed huff but didn't pull away.

Hinata covered Izuru with the blanket he brought with him and carried him on his back as he set off to Jabberwock Mountain.

-------------------------------------------

"If you want to go to Jabberwock Mountain, then you must cross over that mountain ahead."

"But be careful! There are people there who had gone missing at nightfall!"

"I'll be careful!" The brunet reassured, running off into the distance.

-------------------------------------------