Why me? ᴷᴺʸ

과거의 추억~ Memories of the past

She tossed a harried apology to every person she bumped into, very careful not to lose sight of her sister's back. She could hear Zenitsu's clumsy apologies as he ran after her. Whatever scent Sumiko had gotten, it had her surprisingly agitated. It had been the first time she'd truly seen her angry as a demon. She looked entirely different. Nezuko stopped abruptly as someone grabbed her hand, halting her chase.

"What are you doing? We're gonna lose her!" Nezuko gritted out.

"I can follow her sound for you!" The blonde frantically reasoned as he stared at her imploringly. "There's something you need to know first," Zenitsu insisted urgently.

"What could be more important than following nee-san right now?" She glared at him angrily as she yanked her hand out of his grip–

"I'm telling you, whatever that sound is, it's louder right now than her gentle sound!" Zenitsu yelled out, clenching his fists by his side, stunning her. "I'm afraid of Sumiko because she has two separate sounds, okay? Her sound as a demon is the gentlest sound I've ever heard of anyone, even in humans. But underneath that is a grating noise I can't ignore, Nezuko-chan!" He seemed to be on the verge of tears as he said this.

That sense of something was wrong got stronger. There was no time to think hard on his words, not yet.

"Then the more reason to catch up to her," She merely said before grabbing his hand and ran. "Where is she?" She refused to acknowledge the apprehension in her voice, be like the water, but how could she when her sister was involved? The most important person in her world right now.

"T-Turn left at that corner!" The blonde directed.

***

When they finally caught up to her, they found her standing in front of a man out with his family.

At first, Nezuko was worried about what she's going to do after Zenitsu's revelation. She'd always thought about how she'd retained her kind nature as a demon. Urokodaki had explained to her that most humans who got turned usually lost their human reasoning. But her sister had been an exception, for some reason. Still, she hadn't fully understood what Zenitsu really meant but she knew instinctively that it was bad.

Red eyes stared fixatedly at her sister's hands, the way the bandages had come loose and how she was flexing her claws out as if she was prepared to tear someone apart. There were too many people. Nee-san, you can't, you can't–

When they reached her side, Nezuko's world stopped as soon as her eyes landed on that man.

"W-What the hell is this sound?" Zenitsu's faint horrified voice came from her left.

He might be wearing different clothes and a slightly different look on him but his plum red eyes would always stay in her memory. Mother, Hanako, please wake up, don't leave me alone. Takeo, Shigeru, Rokuta, sorry onee-chan couldn't save you. Her hands shook before her right hand automatically sought out the hilt of her blade. Her skin felt like it was burning, heartbeat unusually loud in her ears. She needed to kill him, she had trained for this moment–

"Do you know these children, dear?" The woman beside the man asked worriedly, eyes straying to Sumiko's form nervously. Are they demons too? But they don't seem like one. What is going on?

"Not at all," That same voice from two years ago made her tremble from sheer anger. "I've never seen them in my life. Maybe, they've mistaken me for someone else," He spoke nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just killed her mother, Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru, and Rokuta all those years ago. For the past two years, she had despaired about her helplessness during that time. And how this monster continued to live freely after having committed something unforgivable.