Can't I See You One Last Time?

Chapter 48: Let it End in Content

Despite what Giyuu said, Tanjiro still wanted to understand the feelings of love that Giyuu was showing him. He wanted to be able to give Giyuu an answer to the confession that he had forced out of him. That was only right. All confessions needed an answer. Leaving the person in silence was just mental torture for them. Besides, it was best to tell them, so they can move on. In this case, it would be a way of releasing Giyuu. Although, that was already guaranteed.

Tanjiro had already noticed how the power of the former god was waning. For one, he had retained all of his memories from the start of this mess. He remembered the torture he went through wanted Giyuu start another life over and over again. He remembered watching his friends and family go through hardships through the luminescent screen. That in itself was proof enough that the messed up flow created by the god was going to end soon. Everything was going to be in it's rightful place soon. Tanjiro's friends and family together, reincarnated in another world, and him serving a god, unable to be reincarnated again. He was going to watch over them live new lives and forget all of the torture they went through in this one.

A bitter smile showed on Tanjiro's face when he thought about this. He wanted to be with his family and friends forever. Before this mess, he thought that looking over them wouldn't be so bad, but now, it was different. Now that he actually experienced it, he realized just how lonely it was going to be. How sad he was going to be seeing their smiles but not being able to be with them. It was going to hurt, but he could bare through it. All of his cherished people were going to be fine, and that was most important to him.

Tanjiro wiped the smile off his face, already feeling the loneliness he would feel when entering the heavens. He didn't want to leave them...

With those thoughts, he drifted to sleep, dreaming about nothing.

Shinobu knew something was up with Tanjiro. Nezuko had told her about how weird he was acting. She didn't know if she should confront him about it—after all, they weren't really close—or if she should wait it out. After all, Tanjiro was bound to turn to his regular self eventually. That's how he always was. However, Nezuko had told her, so that meant something was different this time. It wasn't the normal him being upset over something, but something deeper. Still, she didn't know if she should step in. Did she even have the right to?

The slayer's thoughts were cut short when one of her workers entered her office, "Kamado Tanjiro wants to speak with you."
Shinobu smiled, "Let him in."
The worker nodded and left the room, allowing Tanjiro to enter with just the two of them in there.
"Is something wrong?" She asked with her usual smile. Tanjiro's face was one of full seriousness, and Shinobu immediately realized this. She had never seen the kid truly serious, so she too started taking their sudden meeting seriously.

Tanjiro noticed Shinobu's change in attitude and was grateful that she understood how important this conversation was. It was different from the serios conversation she had about demon's with the kid before. This time, his eyes shinned like he knew everything and more. She could see the miserable wisdom in his eyes. 

Yes, her previous conclusion was correct. There was a reason Tanjiro was said to never retain his memories like the rest of them. The reason he was never going to go through suffering. It was because he knew the way to end everything. He knew things the didn't belong in the world. Knowledge that humans were never supposed to have. It was clear that the boy in front of her was nothing like a boy from the start. He held the knowledge from the beginning. He knew everything from the start. That was why he was never supposed to remember anything. The reason he was supposed to stay pure till the very end. Yet, his presence here. Tanjiro, in all of his knowledge--something that was never supposed to happen--was a sign. A sign that everything was coming to an end. Their torture...Her pain was all coming to an end.