The Bad Days [Tanjiro X Reader]

18 | Bittersweet |

Ren had a hard life.

His mother was abused by his father. Every night he would hide under his futon in fear, not because he was afraid of getting hurt... but because he would be brought to the brink of insanity when he had to hear his mother's pleas for help, her screams of anguish.

Eventually she commited suicide, and that's when he ran.
Ren ran, far away. So far away that no one would recognize him, no one would approach him.

If he was alone, then no one could hurt him. At least that's what his logic was.

Until he met a girl, his age.

Her name was Aimi.

A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Is what he thought everytime he saw her.

Ren never talked with Aimi, she was with a family-- a good one. He lived in an alleyway in the night, and roamed the streets of the town in the morning. He changed clothes, stealing them from shops without getting caught-- a skill he picked up when he had to steal for his food because his father wouldn't provide. He would pass by her house every day, looking at her from afar.

Every day Ren saw her, it gave him hope. Hope for the world, hope for him.

Until that hope was shattered in front of his eyes.

He was woken up by the sounds of chewing and squelching, he clearly remembered that night. He was sleeping in the alleyway, curled up in the corner. But he couldn't ignore the ravanous sounds that echoed through the silent town.
Ren followed them, he learned that following new things would always lead for one to gain something.

At least that's what he learned from Aimi.

But when he turned the corner-- finally finding the sounds he was hearing-- he was horrified.

A creature, what he soon learned to be a demon, was eating Aimi.

He remembered the blood, oh there was so much blood. Her blood. It was everywhere.
He remembered the sounds of her bones snapping.
He remembered the way her flesh sounded against its teeth.

That was the day he lost all hope, that was the day Emnu found him.

Now here Ren was, standing at a demon slayer's spirtural core. He was promsied if he would destory it, that he would be promised good dreams.

Ren wanted good dreams, he wanted to die peacefully. He wanted to forget everything.

But the needle in his hands shook.

He hesitated.

Ren was in this-- this etheral place. The sky was indigo, littered with stars and constellations. The ground he was standing on was iridescent, the grass glowed a soft blue. The plains were endless, there were trees of dark, brown, wood and leaves that were littered with tiny dots of the same soft blue illumination that shone from the grass. Fireflies blinked near the vines of bushes, and the entire place was eerily quiet. Ren thought it would be disturbing, but it was surprisingly... peaceful.

Up ahead was a small circle of grey dirt, absense of any light. Floating a foot on top, was this orb of flashing colors. It was beautiful, yet chaotic. The colors were dark, yet vibrant and rich. Circling rings of rose-gold spun around the sphere likes electrons around protons. The movement gave a vibrating hum.

It was powerful, but so, so beautiful.

And for some reason... Ren didn't want to harm it, he felt bad. At least that's what he told himself. Deep down he knew that it wasn't guilt that was stopping him, but fear.