find solace (belong) [KNY/BNHA]

[15] the one who would teach us survival

Tanjirou felt oddly relaxed. Like it was the calm before the storm. But that was okay. The weight of Nezuko on his back made it all more bearable, along with the presence of the girl walking leisurely by his side.

"Mount Sagiri?"

"If you want to go to Mt. Sagiri, you'll have to cross over that mountain ahead." The woman responded in a kind tone, "But the sun's about to set, are you sure you're heading there with all that luggage? It's dangerous, you know." A young boy bounded over to his mother as Char and Tanjirou walked. The woman wore a simple brown kimono and a white cloth on her head to cover her hair. Standing by her house and holding onto her son's hand, she expressed her concerns for them to be travelling so close to nightfall.

"Thank you for your concern, miss, but it's alright," Char replied, tilting her head slightly so that strands of shorter hair fell forward to frame her face, or what would be her face if not for the obscuring mask.

Absent-mindedly, Tanjirou wondered what kind of face would be behind that simple design. What kind of face needed to be hidden? One that was marred with scars? Or one that was too ugly to be seen with the naked eye?

Tanjirou wanted to say to the black-haired girl walking to his right, that he didn't care what she looked like. But he didn't want to push his luck and pry when Char had clearly decided to don that mask in order to keep her face unrevealed.

"We'll be careful." She had said, with a melodic voice that sounded so sweet and honest, as if it was made of the nectar of flowers.

As they waved goodbye and continued to go their way, the woman shouted after them, "There have been cases of people having gone missing there! Don't get lost!"

"Thank you very much!" Tanjirou waved as he turned back to walk with his new friend.

Or could he really call them friends?

Walking along the path towards the mountain that they needed to go over, Tanjirou and Char fell into a comfortable chatter. And Tanjirou was thankful for this opportunity to get to know his new companion better.

Tanjirou had never realised how much someone's facial expressions contributed to their words. It was only when talking to Char, that he realised that he couldn't truly decipher what she felt. The only thing he could receive from his senses was the faint scent of lavender and herbs on her, and even so that didn't really tell him much about her.

It wasn't like there was absolutely nothing to work with. It seemed that Char knew how her expressions wouldn't be seen, and so she managed to emphasise some of her tones so that they were easier for Tanjirou to understand what emotion was behind them.

She's a really good person. Tanjirou noted in his brain. The girl had helped him and Nezuko in their desperate situation and had even forgiven him for assuming that she was a cold-blooded killer. Her kind actions and willingness to offer assistance to him had warmed his heart. Usually, it was his role to help others, as was to be expected of the oldest child in the Kamado household; the breadwinner of the family.

It had always been his pleasure to help others in need, whether it be fixing the door of Kenji-ojisan's restaurant door, or helping Haru, one of the children in the village, get his kite out of a tree.

Though Nezuko had taken upon the role of helping him and his mother with cooking and chores, Tanjirou had forgotten what it had been like, for someone to offer help to him as he did others. With sincerity but with no need for anything in return.

"What's it like selling coal every day?" Char asked casually, body language noticeably more relaxed under the sunlight that shone from beyond the horizon. Her fingers twiddled with a long strip of straw as she spoke.