Don't Leave (Kimetsu No Yaiba)

Candy 4

In an abandoned house, a few days later (afternoon)...
Your stomach was aching. You were really hungry. So hungry that you couldn't even sit up. Lying on the wooden floor, you clutched your belly as you scratched the floor, leaving deep claw marks. You growled, you panted, but your stomach just kept on grumbling and wouldn't stop. Your shoulders felt so heavy, and your legs felt numb. You tried to stand several times, but would always fall back down. Eat... I must eat...
But you just wouldn't. You were not ready to eat your own (ex)kind.

Your stomach grumbled louder, and your vision turned blurry. You couldn't take the pain anymore, you couldn't stand your hunger anymore. Now, you couldn't see anything but mixture of colors. Brown bombarding with black and grey. Moreover, everything started to turn dark little by little. But just when the pictures of the world faded away, you saw a glimpse of white light with a brown figure of a person...
Then blank.

The next thing you saw was a black world with nothing but a sunlight, enlightening a Wisteria flower which was planted on a small grassy area. You contemplated on it with sadness, reminding yourself that it was the flower which Shinobu loves a lot. Not because it was beautiful, but because it was poisonous and extremely deadly towards animals, humans, and demons. Shinobu uses that plant to poison her enemies since she lacks the strength to cut a demon's neck. You then touched your neck with both of your hands, and imagined if Shinobu really poisoned you because you have turned into something she really despised: a demon.

Then you heard a gentle chime.

"No... Kanae..." said a familiar, gentle voice, followed by thin, skinny hands coming from the sides of your neck, and hugging you from the back. It was Shinobu, wearing a kind smile as usual. "I will never poison you." She spoke in whispers, "you are my dearest person ever. How can I ever hurt you?" Shinobu walked around and stood before your eyes. "I love you, Kanae... come back home..."

The same chime again... and warm. Everything felt so warm and comfy —

You gushed your eyes open only to see the house's wooden ceiling. It was a dream. You turned to your left to see a wooden wall, then to your right to see two familiar faces looking at you with glee, sitting a few feet away. A very dark red headed boy with his sister in pink kimono, but there was something different about her. She didn't have any brown highlights before, and her eyes weren't that pink. You also remembered that her nails weren't that sharp. Not to mention her height. Did she shrink or am I getting taller? And what's with that bamboo in her mouth?

Warm... it felt so warm...
That is because a brown blanket was placed on top of you, accompanied by a bunch of leaves which was compiled together to become a pillow under your head. You abruptly rose to your elbows while keeping your stare at the kids. "Still hungry?" Asked the boy with a kind smile, this time, not showing any fear. You contemplated on him with confusion before you shook your head. "No, not anymore..." you replied, "anyway, it was Tanjirou, was it?"

"So you can talk!" He cheered. "Yup! My name is Tanjirou, Kamado Tanjirou! And this is my sister, Kamado Nezuko." He traced his vision to his sister who was smiling in a kiddish manner, rolling side to side on the floor as if she was a cat. Moreover, she said nothing more than "Mmn! Mm! Mmn!" all the time. Tanjirou smiled and averted back to you, "thanks to your rescue, she's alive." He then kneeled in front of you and rested his forehead on the floor. "Thank you very much, miss!"

At that point, you were immediately intrigued by Tanjirou's personality. Astonishing, and utterly stunning. He was a human, and usually, humans would run away or kill any demons in sight, but he didn't. Instead, he befriended you and thanked you for your help. You sat up while scanning him and Nezuko who was now lying on her back, looking at the ceiling. "Mmn! Mmn! Mm!" She hummed.

"I don't understand..." You spoke in a sweet voice. "Why are you thanking me? How did you even find me here?"

"Oh, that..." Tanjirou rose his head, and sat up straight. "Nezuko and I followed your butterflies so that we can say 'thank you'. And to be honest, we encountered a demon slayer when we were heading to the hospital. Your butterflies are exceedingly strong, they even blocked the demon slayer's attacks."

Your butterflies revealed themselves from Tanjirou's back and flew onto your head. Within a blink, they transformed back into hairpins.

"Also..." Tanjirou continued afterwards. "Nezuko won't be needing any help from the hospital... since she turned into a demon."

"Well, I am a demon too." You butted in. "If I feel hungry again, I might go after you. You better not come near me."

Tanjirou nodded bluntly as if he was a ten year old. "Yeah, I knew that." He spoke, "I could tell that you were hungry by your wince last time."
You shrunk in embarrassment. Was it that visible?!
"Actually, I was scared at first... since I never encounter any demon before. People from the village said that demons are bad, but..." Tanjirou paused, and you leaned forward to hear what he had to say. Tanjirou let out a kind grin before continuing. "...when you stood in front of me, all I could smell was kindness from you."

You blinked and set your vision on him. "...smell?"

"Y-Yeah, haha. You see, I have a very keen sense of smell, so I can smell anything around. Even emotions have smell, you know?"

"Eehh~" You got closer to him with an awe, impressed. And Tanjirou just giggled in reply.

In the end, the both of you made up and became friends. Including Nezuko. Tanjirou explained that his family was attacked by a demon while he was out to collect some woods for fire. The others were dead and only Nezuko remained. She survived, but had turned into a demon. From the case, you analyzed deeply, and told Tanjirou that there is only ONE demon who has the ability to turn humans into his kind. You focused on Tanjirou's eyes, and spoke with a deep tone. "Kibutsuji Muzan."

"Kibutsuji.... Muzan...?" He repeated.

"Yes." You pressed, accompanied by a small frown. "He is definitely the one who attacked your family. Because ordinary demons would usually hunt to eat, not to kill."

Suddenly, a grassy noise came from outside. You and your (new) friends instantly glanced at the door. Tanjirou lingered to Nezuko, then quickly pulled her behind his back. "Stay behind me." He whispered. From his expression, you knew that he was scared. But he wasn't the only one...
You too, was tensing up. Building up questions in your head as the noise turned into footsteps. Growing louder and louder on each step. You were curious, but at the same, didn't want to know what or who was heading towards the house. Isn't this house supposed to be abandoned? You asked yourself.

ςςƙ... ᏕᏕᏦ... ርዪልርጕ...

It was definitely footsteps of a human being stepping on grass and twigs. Who is it? What do they want? What will they do if they found out that you and Nezuko are demons? What would happen next? You sat still as your whole body froze, and your complexion fading to white because of your fear and your nervousness. Tanjirou and Nezuko were also nervous, and scared. So scared that they didn't even blink. All of your stared at the closed door, until four fingers slowly slid it open....

<To be continued>