Twist of Fate

Chapter 2

His head pounded when he inevitable awoke.

Zenitsu groaned as he rolled off the bed to get up. He was feeling like shit. Guess that's what dying does to you, huh? He took a deep breath to get his bearings together. Then, he opened his eyes.

He was in a room. A very familiar room.

It was the room he stayed in when he was still with his Jii-chan.

A tiny part of him whispered it was only an illusion. Perhaps he didn't really die, and this was a random demon's way of torturing him. But then again, that didn't really make much sense. He heard his own heart stop, so he was sure he was dead. Besides, that demon would surely make certain that he was in fact deceased.

Kaigaku wouldn't spare him. Not at all. He wasn't that kind.

And he definitely wasn't in heaven, neither was he a ghost. The fact that someone could touch him was proof of that. But if it wasn't any of those, then what happened? And most of all, how?

A silent sound suddenly made its way into his head. It was a ticking sound. Like a clock. A never-ending ticking sound at the back of his mind. That also made no sense to him. Why the hell would there be a constant noise like that? Was it a sign? And why a clock?

The thought made him freeze a few seconds. Clocks. Clocks told time. Time.

Did he somehow time-travel?

No, that made no sense. How would he travel back in time? And if it was possible, why him? If anything, it should be Tanjiro, or even one of the hashiras. They were more capable than he would be. They would know what to do. They were better than him, so why was he the one given a second chance?

What kind of sick nightmare is this?!

His headache was growing by the second. The constant ticking didn't help either. It actually just made it worse.

When the hell is that sound planning to stop?

His ears picked up the soft patter of footsteps going in his direction. Quietly, Zenitsu took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he would see. The door creaked loudly as it opened. The wooden door made way to reveal his Jii-chan. Wide and relieved eyes made contact with his. And in a millisecond, he was embraced in a tight hug.

"Zenitsu, you're okay. You were asleep for a whole day! What happened, boy? Why did you faint like that?"

The stern yet comforting voice of his grandfather made Zenitsu's eyes wet with tears. There was no mistake. This was his grandpa. His ears wouldn't lie to him. He could hear the familiar circulation of blood in the elderly man's vessels.

It was real.

Gramps is actually alive!

He wanted to shout and scream with joy.

Jigoro Kuwajima could not say the same. Although relieved to see his grandson awake, he was concerned. The previous day kept replaying in his head. It started out normally. Both him and Zenitsu would head off to training as soon as breakfast was finished. But at the afternoon, he could not find the boy anywhere. He wasn't a stranger to his grandsons disappearing acts. It happened almost every day. Most of the time, after a little convincing—and a ton of pulling—Zenitsu would head back to training. The boy was mostly unharmed and fine in those times of hiding.

So, imagine his shock when he saw his grandson clawing at his own ears desperately. He would never forget the way the boy crinkled his eyes in pain. He was crouched down on the ground, looking like he was being tortured to death. Jigoro Kuwajima almost had a heart attack at the sight. Immediately, he tried to pry the hands of his grandson off his ears. He screamed the boy's name loudly, trying to call his attention. But before that could happen, Zenitsu suddenly fainted.

Jigoro was even more concerned when he saw the blood dripping from his grandson's ears, leaving rivers of bright crimson in its wake. The old man sat there absolutely flabbergasted at the sight, he was frozen in place. It was only when the rivers of red became a pool at their knees did he suddenly gain control of his own body again.

He carried his grandson's body to the house to treat him, not caring if his clothing would get stained with blood.

There, he cleaned the boy off. Making sure the blood was completely gone from his ears. The poor boy's hands were also stained with blood. The pressure and force of the balled-up fist broke skin.

Jigoro Kuwajima never hated the color red more.

He was sick with worry, worry he had never felt so much of before.

He was sure his grandson was fine now, but the thought did nothing to calm his racing mind. For a fleeting moment, Jigoro almost thought about stopping the training. To grant his dear grandson's wish. To give Zenitsu a normal life. But something in him told him not to.

There was a voice in his mind saying it was a bad idea. His gut was telling him Zenitsu's fate was to become a demon slayer, and taking him out would only result in failure. Failure of what? He didn't know. And he didn't care. Right now, his grandson's health was the most important.

"Zenitsu! Answer me! Are you alright? Do we need to call a healer?" The former hashira was fully expecting the tears to fall at this moment. That's what usually happened. Whenever he could, Zenitsu would always back out from training. He couldn't count how many times the boy lied about feeling 'unwell'.

But unexpectedly, the boy neither cried nor whined. He laughed. Zenitsu laughed loudly. A genuine laugh that took his grandfather off guard.

"I'm alright Jii-chan! It was nothing! I feel completely fine now! This is actually the best I've ever felt!" Jigoro felt his heart stop.

Oh god, his grandson had fully lost his mind now. Better take him to the hospital before it gets worse!

"Better? Fine? Your ears were bleeding, boy! Don't tell me lies like that!"

The blonde looked surprised, his hand going up to his ears to check the validity of the statement, "Really? I didn't know they were bleeding."

"Don't touch them yet! They might bleed again!" Zenitsu gave a soft smile at the concerned elderly.

"It's okay, jii-chan. I feel perfectly fine now."

This made Jigoro even more worried. Where did his emotional and whiny pupil go? Did something happen to the boy's brain? Was he possessed?

With nothing in his mind to reply with, Jigoro sprouted the topic that was stuck in his mind for the past few hours, "Are you feeling well enough to go to the final selection tomorrow? It's fine if not, Zenitsu. Your sensei can understand if you want to rest more. Maybe you can just compete in the next one."

The boy gave a shocked look yet again, "Ah, I didn't realize the final selection was tomorrow. Time is moving so fast," Jigoro didn't know why, but his grandson had a thoughtful look on his face. It was completely new to him to see the blonde wearing such an expression.

There were multitudes of emotions buried in those eyes. But he couldn't read any of them.

When did his grandson become so complex?

And like so many times today, Jigoro was once again stunned at what his grandson said next.

"Well, I guess I better get to training. Right, jii-chan?"