The rush up to the mountain was, to lack of better words, stressful. He hurried as fast as he could, making sure to keep his breathing as stable as he could. Thankfully the snow hadn't piled up too much, only barely reaching his ankles, so it was just the cold he had to deal with.
Muzan would not come near his family.
His face felt numb from the cold wind and all his body was craving for was some sort of warmth, but he couldn't stop. Even when he missed his step and stumbled into the snow, he continued his sprint.
After all, if he didn't make it...
No, he could do this. Tanjiro told himself over and over, hoping to stop the growing fear that he will fail. It constantly picked away at the layers of confidence he put up, revealing the distress he desperately tried to ignore.
Beneath the confidence and distress, though, was a layer of anger that had been hidden from all eyes. Even his own.
He didn't know where or when this anger came to be, or what he was even angry about, but it was what fueled his steps. What kept him going in this cold.
Eventually his home came into view.
And so did he.
Tanjiro faltered.
His name loudly roared out of his mouth without thinking. His head snapped towards him. His eyes, lack of any humanity, stared at him.
Tanjiro stopped several feet away from his home. His eyes fell onto Nezuko.
Nezuko, who was holding onto their youngest sibling Rokuta with one of her arms as she gripped onto the doorway. Tears traced down her face, blood spattered everywhere on her clothing, Tanjiro could smell none of them were her's, but... his insides churned. He would recognize the scent of those bloods anywhere. After all, there was no way his siblings would go a day without getting some sort of scratch.
His eyes shifted to the indoors of his home. His mother was already slumped over in the corner inside, blood covering the edges of his mother's face and shoulder. Hanako was squeezed between his mother and the wall, blood dripping down her head.
The anger inside him begged to be released.
Takeo and Shigeru had fallen over at the entrance, their bodies close to falling into the red snow. Takeo's eyes were blank, staring into nothing, and yet Tanjiro thinks he could see the fear in his brother's eyes.
The anger cried out, calling for revenge.
Tanjiro's eyes returned back to Nezuko. The scent of anger was overwhelmingly strong from her. Her eyes were wide open and staring straight at him.
"Onii-chan..." She breathed out.
Her voice reminded him of her last moments, of the Nezuko from his past, whose voice trembled as she shed tears for not herself but for him.
The one standing in front of him was not her.
Tanjiro tightened his grip on the axe, lifting it in a familiar motion. It wasn't the best weapon but it was currently his only choice. He won't be able to kill Muzan, but his current priority was saving his family— or at least the remaining of his family.
The anger inside resisted. Revenge, it chanted, revenge, revenge, revenge!
No, he firmly thought, he knows he's not in the best condition right now, his legs shaking from the run, entire body suffering from the intense cold, and most importantly, he doesn't have his nichirin blade.
Muzan may have killed his mother, Hanako, Takeo, and Shigeru, but Nezuko and Rokuto were still alive. They were his priorities.
"Those earrings..." While Tanjiro was distracted with his family, Muzan, too, seemingly had been distracted as well.
Steadying his breath and arms, flexing his fingers, he stared straight into Muzan.
He shouted, voice echoing in the forest, refusing to be quieted by the violent winds. "I might have failed once before, but I swear by my name and Yoriichi Tsugikuni, you will die by my blade Kibutsuji Muzan!"
big thanks to Il0vEcOoKiE once again :DD
This took a while, yeah. I'm currently working on my portfolio for college aaaaaaa
lowkey stressed out of my mind but writing is pretty relaxing from time to time i guess
Portfolios should be done around febuary ish?
YOU ARE READING
A Different Replay
Fanfiction[Starts during the last arc after Tanjiro becomes a demon.] Everyone was dead and it was by Tanjiro's hands. He can't look at his surrounding, the bodies of his friends and comrades lay on the ground, all broken and torn. Oddly, he didn't have to. T...
