Runaway | DEMON SLAYER X READER

Chapter One: Cruelty

Saying that you had a bad sense of direction would be an understatement, not that you'd ever admit it. Your older brothers, Momaru and Keiko would tease you about it all the time whenever leave your family estate and always with a handmaid or one of the hired guards. You weren't stupid, far from it, more like you were a bit cloudy. Your mother always told you that you'd had the clouds in your head ever since you were born.

The cold wind bit at your unprotected skin and you wrapped your arms tighter around you in a weak attempt to get warmer. Just when you had finally thought you were safe you had spotted the familiar men that you had seen at your family estate which made it safe to say that they were tasked with bringing you home. That was something you weren't willing to happen without a fight. So you ran into the snow covered woods, which at the time, felt pretty safe.

Right now on the other hand? Not so much.

It was cold. You could hear wolves howling and you're pretty sure you've almost stepped on a couple of dead mice. These woods were nothing like the ones by your family estate. You almost missed the walls outlining the property, protecting you from the outside world. Almost. This place felt like it'd fit in perfectly with the scary stories Keiko used to tell you before you'd both go to bed. You glanced up at the dark sky and hoped the sun would be up soon. Then maybe this place would be much less... creepier. Just a few magnolias over to the left and a little pond to the right, this could've been a nice place to stay.

You looked back ahead of you only to find that you were no longer alone. There, a few meters in front of you, was a young boy who looked not much younger than you were, at most by two years. The boy wore a black and green checkered haori and black pants, but the most distracting thing about him was his red hair and the girl he had on his back who looked almost identical to him. The boy seemed honestly surprised to see you before reaching out to you.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but please, help Nezuko!" He cried, stumbling over to where you stood. You assumed the girl on his back was Nezuko and from what you could see, she wasn't looking too good. You cringed at the smell of blood coming from the two. "She's my sister! There was this bear... and my family... Nezuko will die if I don't get her to a doctor! Do you happen to have any medical skills?"

You blinked at the boy, completely unsure about how to respond. You weren't a doctor, not even close to one. None of the members in your family new anything about healing or medicine since you always had your own personal doctors to call on. You pitied the boy in the checkered haori. "I-i'm sorry. But let's get you and your sister to the town! There's a doctor there, right?" you exclaimed without thinking. This was a complete stranger asking for your help, here. Everything your tutor had taught you screamed at you in the back of your mind not to help this boy, but one look at the girl had you changing your mind. Now all you needed to do was find your way back.

Back to the village.

Back to the old man who you can't pay for staying at his home.

Back to the place where you last saw those men.

You tried to swallow the lump in your throat and ran after the boy who had already started down the mountain once hearing that you couldn't truly help him or his sister. The air was freezing and made it hard to breathe but you still managed to follow along despite almost never having run in your life before. To say it wasn't exhilarating would've made you a liar. Suddenly, Nezuko's head tilted back and she let out a loud scream, starling you both and causing the younger boy to fall off the edge of the cliff.

You raced to the side and crouched down. "Hey, kid! Are you still alive?"

"Nezuko!" you heard him call from the bottom as he raced towards his now standing sister. "Nezuko! Are you alright? You shouldn't be up! Let me carry you into town!"