❝𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐲❞ - KNY Fanfiction

Chapter 2 - ❝𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬❞

"Who's there!" Darius shouts, preparing for a battle, and suddenly, a short girl with bamboo in her mouth walks out of the bushes. Alaina puts down her bow and hesitantly walks towards her, but Darius grabs Alaina's arm and pulls her back, saying "I sense a demonic aura from this child. Let me take care of it, " while unsheathing his katana.

However, Alaina is unwavering.

She says, "Darius, no. Leave her alone! She's just a child!" pushing him away. "I'm not sensing any hostility...She's hasn't even attacked yet!"

"I'm not letting you make that decision. Mom told me to protect you, and I will!" Darius retorts.

"Oh really? Cause Mom told ME to protect you!" The girl shoots back, with her hands on her hips.

As the kids argue, the child walks closer with worry in her eyes. She doesn't like the arguing, and she hugs Alaina's leg.

Alaina jumps, grabbing her sword instinctively. She holds it staring at the girl as few seconds pass before Alaina gets her bearings. She then lets out a long, dramatic, genuine "Awwwwwwww." Alaina crouches down, picking the girl up, and hugs her, forgetting herself as the little kid giggles. She realizes to be responsible and examines the child for injuries. Other than some tiny scratches, she looked perfectly fine; unusual because she was just in a dense Japanese forest.

Darius, still focused on the possible threat, asks, "Where are your parents little one?"

The siblings wait for a response, and just before they ask again, they hear another noise coming from the forest. Waiting, they hear a male-like voice, yelling, "Nezuko! Nezuko...Where are you?" Alaina tilts her head at the child and asks, "Are you Nezuko?"

She lets out a "Mmhmm, Mhm!" nodding cutely.

The girl then smiles, heart melting at how cute she is. Alaina hugs her again, and Darius watches the interaction, still suspicious.

Suddenly, an auburn-haired boy burst through the forest looking around frantically; when he sees Nezuko, he lets out a sigh of relief.

Alaina puts her down and, unfortunately, Nezuko runs to the boy calling for her. She hugs his leg, and the boy bends down to her height saying, "Nezuko please do not run off again. You scared me!" She looks sad at this and hugs him in a way of apology. He smiles at her, and pats her head before turning towards them.

"I am so sorry, for my sister's behaviour," he apologizes and bows formally.

❝𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕❞
I blink in surprise not used to this.

"Um," I say still confused. "Oh no it's perfectly fine! Trust me its ok! She's adorable," I say quickly, feeling a bit nervous.

My brother looks at him, confused as well, and the boy raises his head smiling. Looking at Nezuko sweetly, the boy proudly says, "She is, isn't she?"

Darius then asks suspiciously, "Is she a demon?" The boy nods solemnly, no longer smiling. He actually looks quite nervous.

My eyes widen and I wonder out loud, "Your part of the demon slayer corps right?" The uniform made this fact obvious.

I then ask, "Why...are you carrying a demon with you? And most importantly why didn't she attack me." She pouts at the little girl, sad at the new revelation.

"Oh...yeah I am. She is a demon...but she never attacked a human before-" he explains. then Nezuko grows taller. The two siblings look in surprise as she does this and I then gasp covering my mouth, shocked. "Oh my gosh! She looks my age now" I tilt my head inquisitively.

My brother then asks him, "What if she attacks someone?" I shoot him a glare thinking 'shut up, that's rude'. Tanjiro then says quietly, "Well... I guess I have to hope that doesn't happen." He says with a hopeful smile then says, "Master Urokodaki and Tomioka-san said she wouldn't attack a human. And when she was first turned...she didn't attack me, only tried to protect me."

I smile at him. Then, I say to Darius while smirking, "See! I knew she was good! Well... kind of."

The polite boy then smiles at my enthusiasm bowing again and thanking us for not killing Nezuko.

"It's no problem...It's mostly my annoying sister's fault, I didn't," Darius jokes, smirking at me. I roll my eyes at my brother, smiling softly. I then look at Nezuko and ask her, "Does your brother bother you too?"

She tilts her head at me and then looks at the boy, nodding multiple times. I laugh as I look at my brother who was laughing too.

"She's telling on you," I say to the boy, giggling again. "What's your name?" I ask him.

The boy in the checkered haori looks at Nezuko, looking surprised and a little hurt. "Whaaat? I'm annoying?" he asked her confused. She ignores the question and hugs him. He hugs back, looking a little confused at the lack of answer and instead responds to my question.

"My name is Tanjiro and this is Nezuko! What's yours?" the boy asked, turning away from his sister with a very friendly smile on his face.

I look at my brother, still smiling while saying, "I'm Alaina," as he says "Darius."

"Oh, Darius and Alaina..." he says tapping his chin. "Those are unique names. Are you not from here?" Tanjiro asks curiously.

I didn't know how to explain, but thankfully, my brother answers his question for me. "No, we're African American, so our parents just picked names that they liked!" He pauses. "I guess they are kind of unusual, compared to common Japanese names".

"Well I like it! Your names are beautiful!" Tanjiro says then smiles.

'Oook....he's absolutely adorable!' I think to myself, looking at him, then smiling at the floor shy and slightly embarrassed.

My brother then glares at me as if saying, 'Don't you dare flirt with that man'.

I sigh in defeat, understanding what my brother means. Tanjiro must've not understood what was going on, so he walked a little closer to me asking "Are you alright?".

My eyes widen slightly, and I smile back at him, nodding. I make up an excuse. "Im just tired from all the demon slaying missions I went on." I feel kinda bad for lying, but a girl gotta do what she gotta do.

"Well you must work very hard!" He says kindly, "But don't overwork yourself now. It's good to have a healthy balance between work and fun!"

I nervously bite my thumb nail, until I tell myself to stop. I put my hands down, still fidgeting a bit. I nod again smiling and say, "Yes that is important!" I try to calm myself down but can't help giving him a friendly hug. I really appreciate his kindness and look up at him, saying, "Thank you so much. I'm glad I met you two!" I pat Nezuko's head and give her a hug as well.

I back away from the hugs, holding my hands and tilting my head a bit. I notice Tanjiro looked a little shocked and was blushing after the hug. Nezuko looked really happy.

I look at my brother who looked like he was trying not to laugh. I then realize 'People may not hug a lot in Japan!' I feel very embarrassed, but I brush it off as a mistake. "Well byeee! My brother and I have to go on a mission," I nervously say, waving goodbye to them, and Nezuko waves bye to us, but Tanjiro still looked awkward and quite flushed. Finally, he smiles and waves as well. I then drag my brother away, trying to leave that situation.

When we were out of their line of vision, I whisper-yell at him "That was the most awkward hug of my life...!".

My brother laughs at my respond and says "Its ok, you didn't know. I probably should've told you that hugging isn't common here, huh?"

"What?! You knew?!" I glare at him, then try to hit him, laughing in the process. He dodges, chuckling at my pathetic attempt. We then started play fighting until we were out of breath.