Solar Blade

Stranger

"[Name]!!" Tanjiro screamed. Nezuko had fallen from his back, and he didn't know where she was. Was she alright? Had she fallen safely into the snow? Tanjiro saw [Name]'s anguished expression as their fists clenched. His eyes were locked on his sibling, wondering if he'd die from the impact.

Luckily, Tanjiro's back came into contact with the snow. [Name]'s features relaxed as they saw Tanjiro mostly unharmed at the bottom of the cliff. They still held his hatchet in hand and their spools of thread and needles in the other. Tanjiro seemed breathless as he lay on the ground.

"I was saved by the snow. I slipped because of the snow to begin with," Tanjiro spoke to himself, before getting to his knees, "Nezuko?"

Hearing Tanjiro mention Nezuko, [Name] turned their gaze to the clearing. Tanjiro and [Name] found Nezuko standing further away, by a tree. Her head was angled downwards, and she was breathing heavily. Her kimono was coated in her blood, and she looked animalistic.

"Tanjiro! Get her out of there! We must reach a doctor!" [Name] shouted down to Tanjiro.

"Yes! Nezuko. Are you okay? We'll have to carry you to the village," Tanjiro uttered soothingly to Nezuko.

However, she didn't respond. [Name]'s knuckles tightened around the cliff's edge, watching on anxiously. Their eyes were glued to Nezuko, watching her every movement. She seemed unphased for just having fallen off a cliff. What was that sound she made earlier? Had she... growled?

Nezuko made a dash for Tanjiro, moving faster than comprehensible. She threw herself onto Tanjiro, snarling and trying to bite at him. Tanjiro and [Name]'s thoughts mirrored the other's. Nezuko, a sweet girl just a few hours ago, was now trying to rip away at her brother's flesh.

"Nezuko is..." Tanjiro thought.

"...A man-eating demon!" [Name]'s thoughts concluded.

So Saburo was right. Demons existed and it was no lie. While Tanjiro and [Name] were sleeping peacefully in Saburo's home, Nezuko, Mother, Hanako, Shigeru, Takeo and Rokuta were all being murdered mercilessly. What had done this? A bear that hadn't been able to find a place to hibernate? That would explain the bear traps that [Name] detected ever so effortlessly.

"No, Nezuko is human! She was born a human and she is my younger sister! She would never murder her family! She had been holding Rokuta protectively as if shielding him! But... but there was one more scent at the house!" Tanjiro thought.

Suddenly, Nezuko grew in size and squeezed Tanjiro's arms. He had no form of defence. He was helpless. He began to cry. Would this be how he died?

"Hang in there, Nezuko! Don't give in! This isn't you!" [Name] screamed, making Tanjiro freeze.

Suddenly, he heard a sound. It sounded like something headed towards him. He angled his head up to see that [Name] had hurled Tanjiro's hatchet down to him. As the hatchet hit the ground, he reached out for it and placed it between Nezuko's teeth. But then he saw her expression. She had begun to cry. He kept his grip on the hatchet tight. Her bite force seemed as if the hatchet wouldn't last long. He could hear [Name] running. Were they running towards him or away?

"[Name]? Where are you!" Tanjiro shouted hopelessly, but [Name] didn't respond.

Nezuko couldn't have killed everyone. However, she no longer has Nezuko's scent. She didn't have blood on her mouth or hands. [Name] was running down the side of the cliff. They knew that if they jumped, they would break bones. Tanjiro's bones were as hard as steel, [Name] thought, but [Name] wasn't as strong as their older brother. Was Nezuko going to kill Tanjiro? She was oozing bloodlust, and she had grown to a size that could tear off his limbs as if he were a leaf.