Paradise | Kimetsu No Yaiba ( Demon Slayer )

◆ Chapter Two - Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki ◆

◽◤◦Third Person Pov ◦◢◽

 "Excuse me. Would it be okay if I took that basket, straw, and some bamboo?" Tanjiro asked a farmer.

 "Sure, feel free to have it," The farmer said, "But that basket's full of holes."

 "That's alright. Here, I'll pay you for it," Tanjiro said, beginning to reach for the coins in his pocket when the farmer urges him to halt.

 "No, that's all right. Like I said, the basket's full of holes," The farmer shakes his head, "You can have the bamboo and straw for free too."

 "I'm still paying you!" Tanjiro shouts, an expression of unneeded determination playing on his face, much to the farmer's dismay.

 "I said it's okay, you stubborn kid!" And just then, Tanjiro grabs the farmer's wrist and slams the coins down in his hand. The man yells out in pain.

 "Please accept this, although it's just small change!" He shouts. He then grabs the basket, some straw and bamboo, and runs away, leaving the man to hold his stinging hand and writhe in pain.

 "Thank you very much!"

◂◆▸

 "She really dug a hole.." Tanjiro mumbled under his breath at the sight of his sister peeking at him from where she sits in her self-dug hole, her brows creased from discomfort.

 "Is she a mole now?"

 "Don't be an idiot," Y/n butt in, "She's hiding from the sunlight," Upon hearing that, Tanjiro's brows knit together, his eyes wearing his sympathy for all to see. He then suddenly gets on his feet, yelling out a quick 'Hold on!' before turning back to the basket, straw, and bamboo.

 "What do you plan to do with.." As Y/n watched Tanjiro work, her tongue fails her and the urge to finish her sentence dies. With quick movements, Tanjiro chops the bamboo and begins to twist and tie them around the basket, slowly covering each and every hole until the entire basket is covered in a bamboo pattern.

Once he puts the final touches of weaving the straw into basket straps, he gets up and walks past Y/n and into the cave where he kneels before Nezuko and presents her the basket.

 "Do you think you can fit inside this? I want to keep moving during the day so I'll carry you in this," He says to her before pointing at the inside and speaking slowly, "..Can you fit? ..In here? The basket?"

After a moment passes, Nezuko finally crawls out of the hole and into the basket. Unfortunately, only her head can fit inside. The sight makes Tanjiro frown initially, but a smile soon replaces it.

 "She's gotten so big.. Seems like yesterday that she was tiny," And then it clicks. Tanjiro gasps at his own realization befor speaking once again, "Hey, Nezuko. Remember how you became big like an adult earlier? Do you think you can do the opposite? Can you get smaller?"

Giving her encouraging pats on the back, Y/n stares at the sight with skepticism. To her, it's a miracle that she's even understanding what he's saying so quickly after transforming, but to further her surprise, Nezuko seems to listen. Grabbing onto the basket, she gets onto her knees and dips head first into the basket. The basket tilts uprigt and rocks and Tanjiro quickly grabs the edges to steady it, allowing the demon girl to slide the rest of her body in with ease and roll over so that she sits up in the basket, revealing her face which looks noticeably younger. Tanjiro beams in awe.

 "Good job, Nezuko! I'm impressed!" He says as he pats her head. Y/n simply stares at the sight as she walks further into the cave and up to them, tossing him a large blanket. Tanjiro blinks at the blanket before looking up at her, confused.