Our Halcyon Days || Reader x Tanjiro | RESUME 2022!

* t h i r t e e n *

"Allow me, then, to lend you a hand."

Her pale arm was positioned upright. Long scratches ran down its length, from which blood oozed, but with each passing second the skin would close up a little more. Her dainty nails were long and pointed. The boy behind her had cat-like pupils, and a piercing gaze.

All this evidence pointed to the fact that they were not human.

Then, w-

"-hy?" Tanjiro asked, completing your thought. The demon continued to struggle beneath his hold.

"You- your scent tells me that you're..."

The beautiful lady looked down. "That's right. I am a demon, but I am also a doctor." You raised an eyebrow questioningly. A demon doctor? It was the first you'd heard of such a person. It was harder to believe that there were any good demon at all.

"I wish to annihilate that man, Kibutsuji."

At this, you watched for Tanjiro's reaction.

Surely, if he can smell sadness, he can sniff out lies, too.

Tanjiro's nose twitched, and he nodded as if to confirm the truth behind her words.

"I've left Nezuko, my sister, behind on one of Asakusa's streets," he said. Then he looked to you with a sorrowful expression, but you refused to return his gaze and flicked your eyes away. You wished you could be reasonable, and not so steadfast in your stubbornness.

You already knew there were two sides to every story.

By not slaying that demon who had yet to kill, he was only following his ideals. Maybe he was naïve to practice such ideals without enough strength to support his actions, sure. But you are not his entire life, and he is not yours. And it's not as if Tanjiro didn't care for you at all -- how else could you explain the whole Swamp Demon incident?

But... even still...

"Please," murmured Tanjiro as he bowed his head formally, "take care of (Y/n) for me..."

A pang of guilt struck at your conscience. You ignored it.

The woman demon gave an understanding smile and nodded. "Of course." She softly padded over to you, the patterns and colors still swirling about the area, concealing your presences. "Come now, my dear," she said, and offered to help you up. You remained quiet, but accepted her aid. "Yushiro, we're going. And we're taking the demon and his wife with us for now."

The boy who you presumed was Yushiro nodded.

"We will see you when you are accompanied by your sister."

Tanjiro seemed upset. At last, you found the voice to speak. You didn't want your relationship to be soured by this one incident, regardless of who was "right."

"Tanjiro-"

But it was too late.

The flowing ribbons of vivid flowers phased past, waving away his sad figure in one fell swoop.

• • * • • * • • * • •

The woman must have given you a sleep draught, because you'd fallen asleep immediately. When you woke up, you saw a clean white ceiling above you. Your body rested comfortably on a bed of down; all the bloodied bandages had been replaced with fresh ones, including the one wrapped around your ear.