~Breathe~ Kimetsu no Yaiba x !Demon! Reader

💗Heart To Heart💗

We've been at the Butterfly Estate for two days now. I've gotten closer to a few people. Mostly Kadzuki. But the trio of boys we met in the forest of Natagumo asked if we, Kadzuki and I, would travel with them for missions. I say they asked when it was more of Tanjiro offering if we wanted to come.

Even though they offered they still weren't free to leave the estate yet because they haven't finished their rehab from their last battle. Kadzuki hasn't finished hers yet either. I was left with nothing to do and no one to talk to for a while. All the Pillars were long gone already so I couldn't try and make amends with them. It scared me to the bone but I promised I would be stronger and the first step is facing my fears. And one of those fears was the Pillars. Being a demon this should be understandable. 

The sun had gone down long ago so I was free to roam the gardens surrounding the large estate. It was beautiful, it would've been better if I could see all of it in the day time. 

I stood in the open area at the back of the estate, bathing in the moonlight, thinking about how fast my life fell into shambles. The family I would dedicate my life to has been victimized to cannibalism by their own. No, I'm done blaming myself for this. This is all to blame on Muzan. None of this was my fault and I know that. But I still intend to repay the debt. The more the days passed the less I remember from that morning, every time I try to remember the details my head begins to produce a sharp pain. It scares me, almost like everything else haha... It scares me to think that Muzan's curse might start taking effect on me. 

Every day I worry about what would run through Mari's mind when she comes home and finds everyone dead but I'm the only one not there. She'd probably assume the best and that I had escaped. She would have no idea.  

I wanted to cry. But I didn't. I made a promise to Kadzuki then to myself. I intend to see those promises through to the end.

I jumped in my skin feeling a presence behind me, making my skin prickle. I spun around and spotted no one, making my skin crawl and jitter. I glanced around to see if anyone was hiding behind any bushes or support beams. I looked up at the roof of the estate just out of gut feeling. I found the culprit sitting at the top with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

"Tanjiro?" I called, he didn't respond. Maybe he didn't hear me. "Tanjiro!" I called louder this time, he still didn't respond or move. I began to get frustrated and didn't want to yell at night where people could be asleep. So with much struggle, I managed to climb up the decorated walls of the estate. To anyone who was watching I looked like a drunk sider hanging onto the outside walls of the estate. "Tan-...hah...Tanjiro!" I got called right next to him, still panting from my struggle.

"Yes?!" He gasped, startled by my sudden appearance... okay, well not very sudden, I wasn't being quiet while climbing that damn wall. 

"Don't act startled! I've been calling you!" I huffed plopping myself down next to him crossing my arms, still trying to catch my breath.  "What are you doing anyway?" I asked turning to look at his red hues.

"A-ah! I'm training with my full focus breathing!" He beamed, flashing his iconic adorable smile. Making me feel at ease, all past frustrations floating away. He's so adorable. It's strange really, it's almost deformed how his face is so adorable and soft while is body is... ahem... daddy.

Anyway, I had no idea what full focus breathing was. Like I breathe every day, how do I fully focus on it? Is it like meditating? I didn't want to burden him by asking what that meant so I just nodded along instead.

"Oh, well, don't you feel lonely up here all by yourself?" I mean I have no idea how long he has been up here. Plus it's a little cold out.

"No! Not anymore since you're up here now!" It was hard to stop the pink rise to my cheeks. He's so sweet that it was difficult not to gush over him. It was so strange, no matter what face he was making he still managed to look happy. And dorky.

What a heartthrob.

"Well, what about Inosuke and Zenitsu? They ditched their training and left you here. You don't feel the least bit lonely?" 

"No! Because if I can learn full focus breathing I can teach them how to do it!" 

We sat there in silence. I felt as though I intruded on his training but I couldn't force myself to leave. I hardly know him but he has such an attractive personality.  His child-like features give a welcoming glow, his larger than average forehead, small concave nose, big chubby cheeks, big round eyes. His eyes... I could get lost in the sea of red. Pure innocence and forgiveness swirling in them. A color normally connected with blood and evil now held such purity. My heart leaped from my ribcage as I stared at his face. A smile gracing my lips.

I feel like I've been doing that a lot lately. 

"Are you sad?" He asked, catching me off guard.

"huh?"

"You smell as if you're sad or confused... I-I mean I can understand why-!"      

"Yeah, I guess I am," I looked down at my lap, holding my hands together into a tight ball. "For the past two days, I've been telling myself I'm not sad anymore or that I know what I'm doing..."

He patiently waited for my response, his large burgundy hues wide in anticipation. "I want to be better... better than I was back in the forest...For the past week, I have done nothing but cry and moan because my life is so horrible. But I guess everyone's lives kind of suck... that's why their here." He nodded turning his head to look down at his hands. "Tanjiro I lost my family... I had an infant sister, two younger siblings, and older brother, then both parents...and..."

I choked back tears, refusing to let them slip this time. I bit my lip harshly and took a deep breath. "And I'm not sure who to blame... Muzan put this curse on me but yet I'm the one who ate them... I'm pretty sure everyone around me hates me because of what I am... but I-"

"I don't hate you." He softly said, almost a whisper, barely auditable. "It's not your fault... I lost my family too and Nezuko was turned into a demon also, I don't blame her for anything that happened... I don't blame any of the demons. They had lived once too, they had families, they were kind once... no one is to blame other than Muzan..."He finished with a silent growl in the back of his throat. 

We sat in comfortable silence for a while, thinking over the words we exchanged. It was refreshing to know someone else has trust in me. And unlike Kadzuki, Tanjiro has a reason to trust me. It lifted a large weight from my heart, a storm cloud faded.

"Thank you." He suddenly said, startling me slightly. 

"F-for what?"

"For taking care of me that night at Natagumo..." I silently listened. "Shinobu said the leaves you used happened to be an ingredient she uses in her healing medicines, so it helps the healing process... She said if you didn't stop the bleeding that night I might've died from blood loss..."

I was shocked, I was panicking that night and really didn't know what I was doing. Seeing I didn't have the right materials. I also remember feeling up the poor boy that night too but ahem... moving on. "Oh, I was just-"

"Thank you." He looked up to meet my gaze. Letting that adorable smile shine and dance, making my heart speed up at the sight. If I wasn't sitting right now my knees would be w e a k. He smiled wider this time and I could see slight dimples wanting to make an appearance, almost like they were shy.

"Tanjiro, I know this might be a handful... but, will you help me? Become stronger? I-I mean like as in metally... I cry at almost everything that even slightly scares me and it gets in the way of people..." I bashfully asked, feeling like an even bigger nuisance.

"Of course! Zenitsu is much worse!" I laughed at his response, continuing to hear him ramble, a little mean but true. "Ahaha! Not that I mean Zenitsu is a nuisance! He's a great friend, really! I'm just saying-"

I stood up cutting him off, slightly chuckling under my breath. "I'll let you continue your Full Focus Breathing. I'm sorry to bother you. I better go back in and get some sleep."

"Oh... Yeah, you're right. Have sweet dreams!"

"Don't stay up too late!" I waved at him, beginning my journey to get back down from the roof. Completely unaware of a certain Incest Pillar listening to us from below, I descended the roof and went inside to find my bed and sleep.