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The sun had just gone down when Tanjiro reached the middle of Mount Sagiri, he wiped the sweat off his forehead while he observed his surroundings, it was a somewhat dense forest but it wasn't too much from him to handle.
Gently, he placed down the bamboo basket containing his beloved little sister, "Nezuko?" He called softly, "You can come out now, the sun is gone."
As he slowly unwrapped the blanket, sounds of shuffling were heard inside, and out popped the head of a girl, his little sister, Nezuko.
Tanjiro chuckled at her tired expression, "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" He gave her a gentle head pat and smiled as she leaned into his touch.
Tanjiro abruptly stopped patting her, he froze. Nezuko looked up at her brother, confused as to what made him stop so abruptly.
He put the blanket over her head while looking in a certain direction, "Stay here, and don't move until I get back." Without waiting for a reply, he took off sprinting into the forest.
It's that same scent from my house...!
He ran like a madman trying to pinpoint the smell, the scent itself wasn't moving but he still ran fast in case it did.
Finally, he stopped when the scent was strong enough. In front of him were two figures standing by a cliff, a mother and a child.
The child reeked of that eerily similar scent.
Tanjiro examined the scene closer and his eyes widened. The mother was hoisting up her child by the neck over the cliffside.
Without a second thought, he came out of hiding and rushed to her, "Ma'am! What are you doing?!"
The woman looked back at the man approaching her, her eyes wide and shaking with fear, and her grip on the child's neck loosened slightly.
"I'm..." Her eyes took a glance at her child, "I'm doing what's right..."
Tanjiro stared at her in disbelief, his hands clutching at his sides, "This isn't right! What you're doing is wrong! That's a child!"
The woman's expression changed to one of anger, "...Do you know what this child has done!" Her grip tightened on their neck and the child started whimpering in fear, "I come home from selling coal, only to find this... this...demon,feasting on the corpse of my husband! Their father!"
Shimmering white tears from the child went unnoticed by the woman, but Tanjiro saw them. His heart ached at the sight of a mother, someone designed to protect, trying to choke and kill her child.
He had to think of something to save them, but what could he do?
"This thing..." Her face hardened when she stared into the child's glowing (e/c) eyes, "is no child of mine."
Suddenly, an idea sprung into Tanjiro's head. It wasn't the best one, but it was worth a shot.
Slowly, her hand began to let go of their neck.
"Wait! Let me do it!"
The woman whipped her head back to Tanjiro, her grip tightened again but this time, the child looked somewhat thankful.
"Excuse me?"
He gulped, "Let me do it. I-I have a hatchet, it can do the job faster." It was a stupid plan and at first, the lady was confused.
She stared at him for an uncomfortably long time, he thought that she wasn't buying it. Until she harshly threw the child in his direction.
"It's yours now." Those were the last words she spoke before disappearing into the forest, never to be seen again.
The child sat up and looked at Tanjiro, dried-out tears displayed on their cheeks. Their breathing became uneven the more they stared at him, they thought that he was going to pick them up and do the same thing their mother did.
But instead, he gently wrapped his arms around them in a secure embrace, "It's okay," he whispered, "You're safe now..."
At his words, the demon child felt the tears resurface. They buried their face into Tanjiro's chest and cried as if their life depended on it, sharp demon-like fingernails gripping his checkered haori.
✎ (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈) ༉‧ ♡*.✧
Nezuko was surprised to see her brother come back with a demon in his arms.
This demon was younger in comparison, they wore an oversized pale blue haori, and underneath was a beige nagagi and black hakama pants.
Next to their right eye, there was a small snowflake and another one near their left eyebrow. All over their small (s/c) hands were even more snowflakes, all different sizes but they remained small.
Nezuko tilted her head to the side, confused at the sight of so many snowflakes printed all over the small demon.
She got a fright when the demon yawned, their fangs were the size of a full-size demon! She was expecting small baby fangs but those were sharper than hers!
She shrunk into the basket in fear.
"Nezuko, I'd like you to meet [Name], they'll be traveling with us from now on." Tanjiro kneeled in front of her, holding the demon child in one arm, "Don't worry, they won't hurt you."
Nezuko peered out of the basket and saw that the demon child was asleep, which made her relax.
She reached out her hand and softly began petting the child's head, the demon slightly leaned into the touch. Nezuko smiled under the muzzle. Did the child enjoy head pats as much as she did? She hoped so.
Tanjiro looked up at the sky, even though night just started, they still had to keep moving, "Nezuko, how about they take the basket and you walk with me? Does that sound good?"
Nezuko eagerly jumped out of the basket, excited that she had another person to travel with. Tanjiro smiled at her eagerness and placed the smaller demon into the basket, then he used the blanket to cover their body.
He held the basket up like a backpack and held Nezuko's free hand, the two resuming their walk up Mount Sagiri.
