Sister of the snake - Tanjiro X Reader

CHAPTER 18

The demon was dead. The sun killed it. I held his ashes in my hand as they disintegrated. I wasn't like Tanjiro. I wouldn't feel pity for him. What a pathetic existence he led. Robotically, I stabbed a part of his body that hadn't fully disintegrated with the needle Tamayo gave me to take blood and gave it to the cat.

I was snapped back to reality by coughing. I looked over at Rengoku, bleeding out. He called for me and Tanjiro to come to him. I did so with slow, robotic movements. Even though it was the first time Tanjiro saw my scars, he paid them no mind. Probably didn't even notice them. Rengoku looked at Tanjiro, and spoke to him, his voice gargled by blood.

"Listen, Kamado. I just remembered some things when I saw the dreams of my past."

I gulped. I always had this theory of why a person's life flashed better their eyes before they were about to die. It was to find a way, any way, to escape their imminent death. It worked for Tanjiro, when he saw his father's Hinokami Kagura dance. Rengoku continued, probably valuing every second he had left.

"I think you should try to go to my parents' house, the Rengoku house. Y/N, you go with him. You met my father before, didn't you, Y/N?"

I nodded. Kyojuro's father was the one who saved me and Obanai.

"There are records of the flame pillars from every generation. My father read them often, but I never did, so I don't know what's inside. You might find something about this 'dance of the fire god'."

Tanjiro's mouth opened, he was probably going to say something, but I put a hand on his mouth. He just needed to listen to Kyojuro.

"I want you two to tell my little brother Senjuro that he should proceed down the path that he thinks is right, as his heart tells him to. Tell my father to take care of his body. And also, Kamado, my boy. I believe in your sister. I accept her as one of the demon hunters. I didn't see her, but I know she must have been instrumental in defeating the second demon. Those who risk their to fight demons and protect humans are demon hunters, no matter what anyone else says. Live with your chest high. If you get knocked down by your weakness and cowardice, flame up your heart, grit your teeth and move forward."

I removed my hand from Tanjiro's mouth. Kyojuro kept speaking.

"Even if you stop in your tracks and cower, you're not gonna stop the flow of time. Don't be saddened by the fact that we're all reaching the end. Don't worry about me dying here. As a pillar, it's natural to become the shield for your juniors. As a pillar, you do the same as everybody else, no matter what. Young buds can't get plucked. Kamado, my boy, Inogashira, my boy, golden boy, Y/N, you all have ways to grow. And next time you all, with the exception of Y/N of course, will become pillars to serve the demon slayer corps. I believe in you. I truly do."

Rengoku stopped speaking. He looked at something behind me. Even without looking, I knew there was nothing there. So Kyojuro was having a vision. He really was near death. Zenitsu started speaking.

"When the train derailed, Rengoku used a lot of techniques. The damage to the passenger cars was kept at a minimum."

"I suppose."

Tanjiro answered. Zenitsu kept speaking.

"I can't believe it... did an upper moon demon really come?"

"Yeah."

I answered.

"It was upper moon 3. But I killed him. He disintegrated under the sunlight."

Zenitsu's eyes widened, but he didn't answer. Tanjiro spoke again.

"I hate it... even if I was able to do just a single thing, there was another thick wall right in front of me. Even though I should have been able to help them out, I just couldn't keep up with them. It felt like I was stumbling then, so... Y/N and Rengoku had to fight on their own. We won, but Rengoku died. Can I ever even become like Rengoku..."

Me and Inosuke both snapped at Tanjiro and Zenitsu at the same time.

"Don't go spewing timid-ass words!"

Inosuke continued.

"All that talk about whether or not you can be like him is pointless!! He said that he believes in us! Don't think about anything else than living up to it!! Creatures that die just return to the earth! He won't come back, even if you bawl about it!! Don't cry, even if you feel regret!! No matter how miserable you are, how embarrassed you are, you have to keep living!!"

Zenitsu replied to Inosuke with,

"But you're crying too... there are tears coming out of that headpiece..."

"I'm not crying!!"

Inosuke snapped. I also yelled something at Tanjiro and Zenitsu.

"Come on! We're returning to the Butterfly Mansion to heal you guys!! I'm tripling you guys' training regimen!! And don't think I'll wait for you to be healed!! We can't show the demons how broken up we are about any of this!! We need to keep fighting!! If we let them see our pain, our tears, they'll strike us when we're weak!! I'm not giving them that chance! We lost a hashira, yes, but they lost an upper moon! And they had less than us to begin with!"

The kakushi arrived a few minutes later. I rejected their aid as I didn't need it. I had taken practically no damage.

Within a few days, I came to the Butterfly Mansion to pick up Tanjiro. He hadn't been officially discharged from the hospital yet, but we had agreed that this would be the day where we went to see Kyojuro's father and brother. I wondered about his mother, but didn't question it. She was probably dead, I didn't need to rub it in.