𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 | KNY x OC (ON HOLD)

~Chapter 1- Cruelty~

Ryoka's POV

So it came to this after all.... He got to them before I did.

I could've gotten here sooner.

All these years of being alive, I didn't know about the Kamado family.

Nor did I even know that Yoriichi passed down his earrings and techniques to them.

I only found out about them because of my demonized crow, Shizu, informing me of a young boy who had the same earrings as my late friend had, because the last time I saw it was during before I went rogue. And last I saw Yoriichi, he was left dead by his own brother, who I had heard became a demon as well. Despite being old by that time, I recognized him. And I realized that I had been too late to save him.

Just like I had always been.

Such cruel life I have.

Such cruelty that Kamado Tanjiro has to face because of me.

Speaking of him though, I see footsteps. He must still be alive, because my crow told me he was out on an errand when she saw him, and when she went to see where his home is, she noticed that he lived with his mother and 5 younger siblings.

Yet I only see 4 of them, along with their dead mother....

My crow said that his one of his two younger sisters stayed home when he was out, along with the rest of the family.

Wait— There's a trace of blood...

....He must've went to get help for his sister....

~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~

3rd POV

While Ryoka was contemplating back in the Kamado home, Tanjiro went to get help for his younger sister, Nezuko, who was somehow still breathing, only to be stopped by a mysterious swordsman. He struggled to plead with the man to free his sister, who he called a demon. He begged for his sister to be let go, as she was the only family he had left, but it didn't work, the man was persistent.

So Tanjiro had resorted to taking down the man. He didn't necessarily want him dead, but he just wanted his sister back.

He was knocked out though, but Tanjiro knew he wouldn't be able to face the mysterious man head on, so he devised a little plan in his head.

Yet it didn't exactly work either, courtesy of Ryoka who just so happened to have seen the axe that Tanjiro had about to hit the man that was still holding Nezuko and caught it herself, alerting them of her presence.

'Another one?! But... I didn't sense her presence....' Tomioka Giyu, the man holding Tanjiro's sister, thought to himself.

Suddenly, Nezuko got out of his grasp, and went to Tanjiro. The two slayers thought that she was going to devour him, only for her to stand protectively in front of her older brother. She had a malicious glare, and perceived the two as threats. Naturally went to attack them, attacking Giyu first, as he was the one to knock out her brother, yet she was quickly knocked out as well by Ryoka.

But that in turn, started a small clash between the two slayers, as Giyu still perceived Ryoka as a threat. He quickly drew his sword at her and she parried his strike with her blade, swiftly backing away. He lunged at her again and thrusted his sword at her, only for her to quickly kick him, which knocked him back. This resulted in him getting a blade near his neck when he was about to get up again. Giyu looked up to see Ryoka just staring at him, despite having a fox mask covering her the upper part of her face, he still saw her strange eyes, and from what he could tell, she had showed nothing but good intentions. He sensed it.

There was only silence between them before Ryoka finally decided to sheath her sword back to its scabbard, as did Giyu when he stood up. The two didn't see each others as threats anymore.

"Kuzunoha Ryoka." She told the man.

"Tomioka Giyu." He told her, but then said something obvious, "You're a demon like her."

"Not like I was trying to hide it, but all you need to know is that I work for the demon slayer corps too. The Ubuyashiki family knows of me." She responded back to him, but then paused, remembering a certain former hashira she would sometimes meet on her missions.

"Urokodaki-san knows of me as well." This caught the attention of Giyu, as said person was his mentor.

Ryoka then left to get some bamboo, to make it some sort of muzzle that can hold Nezuko back from biting humans. It was really the only way she could think of to hold her back for now. She then carved it just enough to fit Nezuko.

Giyu was still with the siblings, just watching them closely. He had placed a haori over Nezuko, just to keep her warm. He should've killed her, but he, along with Ryoka, had noticed that she still had some humanity left in her. These siblings in front of him were obviously something different.

He felt bad that he couldn't save their family sooner, but he can't do anything to turn the time back. Besides, something told him that even if he did get there in time, that he may not come out of it alive, and the family may still be dead nonetheless. The thought of it made him feel uneasy, but he shrugged it off.

"I'll get going now, maybe I might encounter you again later." Ryoka said to him, then she disappeared as if she hadn't been there.

Kuzunoha Ryoka. Giyu felt like he heard the name somewhere before. His mentor must've mentioned her at least once, since she did say that they're acquainted, maybe he just didn't remember. Nonetheless, she left quite the impression on him. He'll probably see her again later like she said.

Though he wonders how many people know about her. It didn't seem like everyone in the corps knew of Ryoka, with the exception of the Ubuyashiki family and his mentor like she said, and maybe some others too.

Unbeknownst to him, he was right about some other people knowing Ryoka too.