~BRAVE~ (Tanjiro X Reader)

Season 2- The hidden truth.

There was a sudden sharp pressure on my neck. It was at the worst moment, when I had released my breath of air only to be choked by an abnormally strong floating child.

"What fun! Oh such fun! What next? Shall I wake up your friends? Or maybe have you find them?" He giggled profusely as he spun in circles. A small finger was pointed to my neck. Was it gravity?

At first I had remained calm. As the child kept talking I found it harder to hold my breath. I was not special like the others. No breathing techniques, only the physical contact to remember pasts from the cells of living demons had assisted me to become a demon slayer. Making the test almost Childs play. I was quick on my feet and smart, but when it came down to brute strength, I wasn't anything compared to Tanjiro, or Inosuke for that matter.

This was my suspicion, he had singled me out not realizing that I had a trick up my sleeve.

Underneath the hem of my belt was a small piece of paper. The child looked at me with interest in his eyes.

"You said a game right? If I can fly this paper airplane to you with out it faltering, I get to decide what happens to my friends. If I lose, then you get to decide. Deal?" I nervously smile towards the entity. He had said his personality changed with each body transfer, so this option should be extremely enticing.

He smiled wickedly. As if he had his own trick. He nodded eagerly and his eyes glowed. "Fine. I rather favor you anyway. Ms. Feisty."

My mouth opened in confusion to the nickname but I shook it off. Within this time, the paper airplane had been folded. My arm reached back behind my head and I took a couple of steps away to ensure distance and safety. I breathed a few breaths for readiness before swiftly throwing.

The planes ride was smooth through the air. Only lasting a few seconds which felt like hours. I was readying myself for what I was about to do.

The child's eyes squinted. It was no ordinary paper. Forgetting our rules, he had taken a step forward and reached for the paper-

"Ofuda!" I yelled. My hands crossed over my chest.

The talisman that the boy had so foolishly taken in his hands had exploded, demolishing his two arms and half of his face.

I squeaked and squeezed my eyes shut. Closing my ears with my hands in the process.

The body had fallen back into the floor. I took this time to run.

My hand reached for the door from which I came from. Sprinting as fast as I could towards Shinobu's room.

I thought to get Tanjiro first, but he had already seen and fought with an entity first hand. It was Shinobu's turn to decide and take note of these things.

"Excuse me!" I harshly opened the door and the girls looked up at me. Kanao had a monotoned look to her while Shinobu displayed her regular smile.

"My my~ what is it?" The butterfly Hashira had mused. Her hand flew up to her mouth in a playful manner.

"Well- uh," how was I going to explain this? "Never mind, just follow me..."

Kanao's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It only took us about a minute to walk back down to the base floor of the hotel. There, the body of the child was being absorbed back into the wooden floor it had laid on.

Shinobus's smile dropped in disgust. "This is quite a surprise. How did you manage that?" Her finger pointed towards the corpse.

"This is one of the entities. The soul transferring from one body to the next. When I first encountered him, I could tell the life of the boy previously living in this body was long gone. Due to the blue hue in his skin and the yellow in his eyes." I shook my head in discomfort.

"Yes it seems so. It looks To be this boy had died of a liver problem right after the entity entered its body, devouring its soul." Shinobu poked at the dead boy with her foot. The body didn't move much. As it was finally swallowed by the wood of the cursed hotel. The Hashira sighed and looked at me. "Thank you for coming quickly. Have all the entities been this way? Diseased?"

"Not that I know of. D-....Daikoku didn't have a disease..."

"None that you knew of." Kanao spoke. She bit her lip, contemplating continuing her confrontation.

My heart thumped in my chest. Was...was he infected with something? He never told anyone...

"I had diagnosed him when he came back from a mission about a year ago."she continued.

Shinobu found no use in standing. The lobby was empty, so she found a nice place to sit while the two of us followed her.

I was eager to listen to Kanao.

"The muscles in his right knee were too enlarged, and swelled up around his bone. Causing the tendons to become brittle. He had arthritis." He sighed, her eyes guided to me before continuing. "I told him of my discovery, but from the look in his eyes that day, he already knew about it."

Shinobu was silent, her gaze on Kanao was never faltering. "What is your excuse for your lack of report?" She asked.

Kanao quickly bowed her head apologetically "He-He asked me not to. He didn't want it to put him on lower missions. That's why I asked Oyakata to assign him a subordinate. But I did not know that it would be his sister...."

The conversation had continued further into the night, but the rest of it was meaningless.

I had snuggled next to Nezuko on the bed where I had placed her. Curtains down to avoid light. My mind was blank. Nothing but one thought.

Arthritis was the cause of my brothers downfall as a future Hashira. I couldn't believe it.
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Original release date: January 10, 2022