Twist of Fate

Chapter 5

It started with two. Then two turned to four. Then four turned to six. Six missions in two weeks. To say he was exhausted was an understatement. He didn't remember getting that many missions in the previous world. Even though the demons weren't that difficult to defeat, he was still using a lot of energy. But at least his physical state was getting better. His muscles grew, and his breaths weren't as frequent.

He was sure he could get his body back to its old condition in a few months.

He was getting there, slowly but surely.

Time moved fast. Before he even knew it, he was walking down a familiar road leading to his newest mission.

The ticking in the back of his mind still hadn't gone away. In fact, it seemed louder. Almost like it was a bomb about to explode.

"Chuu! Chuu! Chuu!" The sparrow on top of Zenitsu's head chirped to make conversation. As embarrassing as it was to admit, Zenitsu still didn't understand most of what his sparrow was saying. He could understand crows, but for some reason, his ears could not register the soft chirps of his bird.

He mostly just followed Chuntaro to the areas of his missions instead of trying to find the way himself.

Not looking at the direction he was going, Zenitsu suddenly yelped as he tripped on a rock on the road, making him fall to the ground.

Yikes! That was embarrassing!

"Oh my! Are you alright?" a soft feminine voice asked in concern. If he was his old self, Zenitsu probably would've latched onto the girl right then and there, begging to get married. But now, he was cringing at the humiliating scene.

"Oh, yeah, haha... I'm fine! Perfectly fine!" he said in a rush, trying to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.

"Are you sure?" The kind girl's eyes were wrinkled in concern. Zenitsu almost wanted to blush.

"Yes! Definitely! Don't worry about me!"

"Oh... Alright then, Goodbye." The girl voiced, walking away to continue her journey to the nearby town.

"Ahh... That was embarrassing! Watch where you're going, idiot!" Zenitsu whispered to himself as he put his face in his hands in shame.

The ticking got louder and louder. His eardrums were beginning to hurt, but he didn't show it on the outside. Then...

"Oof-" Two bodies made contact, hitting one another. The clock had stopped ticking. Instead, it played a bell like sound. It echoed in his ears and for a moment, Zenitsu heard nothing but. Eventually, Zenitsu heard the noise of wood and fabric before he looked up towards the person that hit him.

It was a familiar face.

The boy had fairly tan skin, burgundy colored hair, a set of red eyes, and finally, a scar at the top left of his forehead.

It was Kamado Tanjiro.

"Oh! Sorry about that. I guess I wasn't watching where I was going. My name is-" The red head gasped softly, "Hold on. You're the one from the final selection!"

Zenitsu's eyes widened. That was new, "Wait... You remember me?" In the last timeline, Tanjiro never mentioned about remembering him.

Tanjiro smiled, "Yeah! You were quite the talk if I remember correctly. Most of the hunters there talked about you saving them. And now that you're in front of me, I can see it. You are definitely a strong person! My names Kamado Tanjiro."

"Mine is Agatsuma Zenitsu." The blonde shook the outstretched hand in front of him. A crow from above suddenly started talking as soon as they were done.

"Kaw! Kaw! Tanjiro! Zenitsu! Run! Tanjiro! Zenitsu!"

Tanjiro gave him a kind look, "Nice to meet you, Zenitsu! But I think we better get going now." The blonde nodded at agreement.

And just like before, the red head was kind enough to give Zenitsu his rice ball.

They shared the snack as they walked to their destination.

------

As they stood in front of the mansion, the clock started its usual ticking.

It was weird to him.

Why did he hear a bell sound?

Was it somehow significant?

Did it play because of Tanjiro?

He had so many questions, yet no answers.

Was the bell a... guide?

Or maybe a warning?

He didn't know. And he did not have to time to think about it.

As the drums of the tsuzumi got louder, Zenitsu went in front of the two terrified children, blocking their view from the currently falling body.

Splat!

The children flinched when they heard the noise.

Zenitsu felt bad for them. At such a young age, these kids had to experience such traumatizing things.

"Don't look," he whispered. The two closed their eyes tightly, listening to his advice.

"Tanjiro, we need to go." The red-head—who had been busy checking up on the poor fallen boy—nodded at him. As he panned his gaze towards the two siblings though, Tanjiro's brotherly instincts kicked in.

"Don't worry. We will find your brother, alright? Here," The boy took off his wooden box, "If something happens, this will protect you."

After setting the box down, Zenitsu and Tanjiro nodded at each other, and ran inside the house.

"Hey, do you think we should split up? This place is huge. There might be more than one demon here." Tanjiro asked.

"There is definitely more than one demon here. I can hear it," answered the blonde.

"Wahh!" The sobs of a child shook them from their focus. Tanjiro's eyes had widened in shock, while Zenitsu stood unfazed.

Well shit, they went inside again.

"The box was making scratching sounds, so we followed you!" cried the boy.

"What? You guys need to go out! The box is safe! I value it more than my entire life!"

The familiar sound of tsuzumi was heard. And just like before, the fourwere separated.