Blood Moon

Chapter 6 - Secrets to Keep

"My name is Tanjiro. Tanjiro Kamado."

He smiles gently at you but the smile makes way for a frown of concern. "Is your leg OK?" he asks, glancing at it.

You smile through a wince as you accidentally put too much weight on your broken leg. "I'll survive," you say plainly and shuffle forward a little bit. Tanjiro shakes his head and favours you with another smile, one mixed with compassion and a little bit of pity. "Come. Put your arm around my shoulders." You feel your face flush with embarrassment.

"N - no! That's OK!" you stammer. Your pale skin betrays your emotions easier than you would have liked, as it flushes a painful shade of red. With a mumble that sounds vaguely like, "Fine," you gingerly wrap an arm around Tanjiro's shoulder. His skin is so warm, you think, flushed to the extreme, as he begins to steadily move you down the hill. It makes a heavy contrast with your cold skin; if Tanjiro notices how cold it is, he doesn't say anything.

The journey lasts twenty minutes or so. Throughout, you've constantly been panicking about the sun but thankfully you reach an inn in a small village nearby, one that you never knew existed. "There are always spare rooms, so you should be fine to have one on your own," Tanjiro smiles. "Is your leg going to be OK?"

"Yeah, I heal -- " You catch yourself just in time. What you were about to say was Yeah, I heal quickly, but your instincts stop you. This boy is unknown. Rumours have spread, and unfortunately being the child of Muzan has kept you out of the loop, about this boy. His family were murdered by demons, with one remaining survivor who - as rumour would have it - had never been seen again. It would be ridiculous for you to reveal your demonic nature to him - not now anyway. "I'll be fine," you amend. You make your way to your room without any more distractions, feeling the heated blush on your face more than anything.

***

The next evening, when the sun is down and the sky is a dark, indigo blue, you swivel your ankle around in circles. The day has passed without remark, and now your leg has healed, but it would do you good to stay in your room for a while longer, to keep up the pretence that your leg is still. But there's one issue.

You're hungry.

It's been this way for a while now, but you'd thought that it would be easy to ignore until you're on the road again, so you did. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Something feels different about this hunger, something more primal. You hold your breath as you climb out of the window so as to not get any ideas, otherwise, Tanjiro's sweet scent will become something more than just comforting.

So many secrets I need to keep, you think with a deep breath as you set off for a hospital. It gets annoying, but it's not exactly my fault. Damn you, Father. Damn you for making me what I am.