Let Me Down Slowly (Kamado Tanjirou x Agatsuma Zenitsu from Demon Slayer)

Part 16: A Million Reasons To Walk Away

The sound of the friction of glasses was the only prominent sound that could be heard. Tamayo and Zenitsu sat across each other, the former's attention was drawn to the numerous amount of bottles and vials on the shelf. Zenitsu stared at the she-demon carefully sorting out her tools before looking down.

"Is it true?" Zenitsu asked, his voice almost echoing in the silent room. Across him, Tamayo held a flask of his blood. She looked up to see the blonde gently patting the cotton swab covering his syringe shot. "That you can make medicine that can turn demons back into humans?" He resumed.

"In time, I can," Tamayo said softly. She put away the blood inside a small crate full of others.

"That's incredible," Zenitsu looked up. "You don't know how much it means to me."

"I'm not just making the cure for others. I'll be saving some for myself, too." She pushed her hair out of the corners of her face. "My apologies. I'm not as selfless as I appear to be."

Zenitsu stopped for a moment before he continued. "But you're doing a lot of good for the world, y'know? Selfless or not, you're still saving many people!"

"My gratitude for the compliments," Tamayo smiled. But her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She drew herself closer to the blonde, the latter scooting away in retaliation.
"May I ask you a question?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Have you ever eaten a human?"

The question made Zenitsu hold his breath. What was this woman saying? "What... what sort of question is that? Of course not. I'd never harm a human."

"Excuse my rude question. I didn't mean for my words to be struck as offensive."

Zenitsu observed her closely. Her voice never wavered, not even when asking him such an absurd query. "That's fine." He didn't realize his judging stare slowly turned into a distasteful one.

Yet even when the boy scowled, she still continued her interrogations. "The bite wounds on Tanjirou. Those were your doings, no?"

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"You say you have yet to harm humans, yet I find that hard to believe," She jeered at him. "Hurting humans is a demon's nature, after all."

"What?" Zenitsu couldn't help but talk in a condescending tone.

"This lifestyle you're living now is a threat to everyone." She slowly pulled something from behind her, somewhere Zenitsu couldn't see. "A demon can't survive without consuming a-"

"Alright. What's your big deal?" Zenitsu couldn't help but talk in a condescending tone.

"Pardon?"

"It's my life, isn't it? I think whether I choose to eat humans or not is my choice!" He said, his voice shrill.

"It's not a matter of choice. Were it that simple, then I wouldn't have-" She paused, gulping. "I wouldn't have devoured so many in the past."

"Sorry to hear about your past, but I won't be changing my stance. Eating and killing humans... It's too-" He stopped, throwing his gaze away. He couldn't bear thinking about it, let alone performing it.

"You can eat humans without the need to kill them," She announced.

"How? Just sever their limbs and let them live without a part of their body?"

Now it was her turn to glower. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't put words in my mouth."

"Then what exactly are you implying?"