Candles || Kokushibo

🖤16: sᴀɴɪᴛʏ🖤

      Tanjiro is unsure of how long he will live. Given his physical and mental agony, he is really shocked that he has survived this long. His mind is almost elsewhere, though, and he is aware that this could endanger the lives of others. He can't help himself; the demon kidnapped his youngest sister, and as a result, Nezuko can't stop crying. He couldn't help but wonder, how can she be in such emotional anguish and still fight?  She's doing it for Mabel, which is why Tanjiro never stopped fighting. Whether they are biological or not, he is acting on their behalf. He won't give up the struggle. He won't stop fighting until he is killed, but he also doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to fight, yet he can't let up. He refuses to stop. So when he saw the massive neck bone beneath the train, he wanted to smile. But as soon as he raised his sword to strike the bone, it was prevented. His family's images suddenly entered his mind. He worries if they're alright. His father will not wake up, and his sister has been wrapped in the demon's flesh. The idea of never seeing her again breaks his heart, despite the fact that he could tell that Enmu wasn't trying to hurt her.

      When Tanjiro senses that dozens of eyes are fixed on him, his entire attention shifts, and his body chills as a wave of fatigue sweeps over him. He is well aware that it is a demonic technique. Each time an eye blinks in his direction, he continuously returns to the same familiar snowy location, which he detests. He needs to save his sister; he can't keep doing this! Her life is in danger! He can't keep falling back on this method when he's meant to be chopping the neck. In the hopes that this will stop further, he raises his sword to the throat. Inosuke snatches his black sword and tosses it to the ground before he can create his gash. "This isn't a dream!"

      Tanjiro finds it hard to accept that he nearly committed suicide without recognizing it. He was about to abandon the things and people he cared about the most because he was being deceived by this demon. He's even more enraged now than he was before. He made the decision to endanger more than 200 lives first. He then abducted his little sister, causing Nezuko to weep in mental pain as she struggled, and attempted to lure Tanjiro into killing himself, nearly abandoning everything in the process. To say the teenager was angry would be an understatement. He wanted to see him die. He wanted Enmu to experience dreams in which he saw the people he loved betraying him. Nice Tanjiro had vanished. The beast side of him was emerging, furious with the lower moon and occasionally casting a glimpse at Mabel, who was still out.

      He was so enraged that he almost failed to notice the conductor who was almost about to stab Inosuke. He takes the stab in the stomach as he runs in front of him. He's fine; in fact, he rarely notices anything wrong. He isn't thinking about this wound; instead, he is focused on murdering Enmu so that he can aid Mabel and Kokushibo. He's more than just anxious. The boy is terrified because he believes that none of the two will ever wake up. He should know better than to consider those unfavorable ideas. He has always been the kind of person that gave others confidence and comfort. Consider him now, visualizing a demon's slaughter as unpleasant as possible. Is this how he would have felt if his biological family—other than Nezuko—had survived? Would he be thinking these violent things if his biological little brothers and sister were still here, walking and breathing? Maybe he would, and even if what is going through his thoughts is too much, that's not going to settle him down until he understands that everything is okay.

      He sees Inosuke once again expose the neck bone by making a sizable hole within the front train on the floor. He could only think about one thing, pushing every other thought to the back of his mind. He readies his sword by holding it aloft while squeezing his grip. 'Father, give me your strength! I'll cut the bone in one blow!' And he complies. The front of the train burns off as he breaks the bone in two with his dance of the fire god. Hands start tossing about as the monster flesh erupts suddenly. The train is being forced off the tracks by the flesh as Enmu starts to cry out in agony. Tanjiro eventually lays his palm on his stab wound and looks at the gash on his abdomen. As he soars out of the damaged train, he raises his gaze to his companion, stretching out his hand. "Protect the passengers!" His intended phrase was 'protect Mabel.' He wanted to say, 'protect my dad.' Was he being too selfish?

      Tanjiro is lying in the dirt on his back, gazing toward the heavens. He takes a deep breath, taking in the presence of two people alongside him. He reluctantly turns his head, but when he sees his sister and father dozing nearby, his eyes enlarge. Why was Kokushibo's demon smell invisible to him? In fact, he had no fragrance at all; he could only sense his presence because of how close his body was to him. Mabel, on the other hand? She still had the same scent as when they first met. Only he is different, but Tanjiro is aware that he is okay. After all, he is breathing. He reaches out and clutches Kokushibo's hand just as Kyojuro approaches, hovering over him. Oh, he nearly forgot about his full-focus breathing. He wasn't paying attention to his body, so was he still performing it? Not only that, but he had almost forgotten about the wound. Closing it would help not just him, but also his family. He dislikes burdening the people he is meant to be protecting. However, the news that everyone on the train was alive caused his heart to flutter with happiness.

      When a loud noise occurs nearby the small group, Tanjiro's breathing begins to tremble somewhat. He tilts his head back in an effort to catch a sight of whoever it could be hiding behind the whirling dust. It was upper moon three. He rushes from his position to take the teenager out, but his sight wanders to the upper moon one and a familiar small girl. His eyes are wide with disbelief and perplexity as he freezes. He gestures to Kokushibo. "What is he doing here?" He looks anxiously in the direction of the Kamado and the hashira before asking. Inosuke and Zenitsu are aiding the bystanders when he casts a quick glance in the direction of the derailed train before his golden eyes focus on another demon. Zenitsu is franticly asking whether Nezuko is alright as Nezuko shrank in front of her box. He waves his arms erratically while she sits there and looks at nothing. Akaza returns his gaze to Kokushibo, who has one arm casually wrapped around Mabel, who is lying on his chest.

      Is this what Muzan has mentioned to him? He was informed that Kokushibo had escaped his control, but neither of them anticipated that he would change his allegiance. Akaza is convinced that Mabel is responsible. What else might the cause be? He had to acknowledge that, ever since he met the kid, he had eaten less people overall, though he never quite stopped. Kokushibo could only have changed sides if he had entirely quit, which he never believed was conceivable for him. He's not sure why, but he can't blame him or his decisions. He has a young daughter to look after. Akaza regarded that child as a member of his family, but would his beliefs change if he had his own child? Would he no longer wish to interact with Muzan? Maybe he would, but there is a significant difference between that and this:

He doesn't need a daughter to find out.

🖤Secret's/Extra's🖤

~In Tanjiro's dream, he actually left the family sooner because he was heartbroken and missed Kokushibo's warmth since Tanjiro's biological dad was already dead.

~Kokushibo's demon aura and scent left with his subconscious mind. That's why Tanjiro couldn't smell him even though he was right beside him. 

~~The only reason why Tanjiro could smell Mabel perfectly fine was because she was waking up

~Nezuko planned on sleeping like normal, but when she learned that Akaza knew who Mabel was, she grew protective and had full intentions to kill him even though she knew that she didn't stand a chance. 

~An unknown letter was sent to HQ about Kokushibo and Mabel, now the other pillars are worried that they won't come home. 

~~The unknown letter was a threat

~Muzan knew about Enmu's plan to kidnap Mabel. When Enmu died, Muzan got pissed and went on a killing spree. He only killed demons.

~Muzan sent Akaza to capture Mabel without realizing that Kokushibo was there

~~Muzan never told Akaza that it was Mabel herself. He said that there was a young girl on the train that he needed to kidnap.

~If both Tanjiro and Akaza see Mabel as a little sister, then that would mean that Akaza was basically Kokushibo's oldest child

~~Akaza doesn't know this yet

~~~But he will