Demon Slayer | One-shots

➺ Secret Garden {Tanjiro Kamado}

« You smile at the stars like they knew all your secrets. »
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You were shy, not an introvert where you felt the power in being alone. No, that wasn't it, you wanted to be around people, to connect with them, you just didn't know how. Staying at the Butterfly Mansion, you work alongside Shinobu and the others to heal injured Demon Slayers.

You loved the quiet days, the ones of still telephones and silent clocks. You loved the random sounds that came sailing in the breeze; the birdsong came so sweetly, almost tangible as if it were softly spun sugar. You would sit there, in your garden, upon the clouds that were your dreams until, as the ones above are so prone to do, they condensed to form the random ideas that quench your mind.

One day, 3 new patients came to the Butterfly Estate. You have heard about them, and how they fought against a lower moon. How brave of them. Their names were Zenitsu, Inosuke and Tanjiro, but you were interested in Tanjiro's sister. You were curious about his sister being a demon but didn't need to eat humans to survive.

As you were finishing up tending to Inosuke's wound, Tanjiro walks up to you and introduces himself.

"Hi, there I'm Tanjiro Kamado! What's your name?"

Being overwhelmed by the sudden outburst, you ran away, into your garden.

"Did I say something wrong?" Tanjiro scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"I hope I didn't say anything to offend her and think badly of me."

You felt terrible running away like that. It was so rude and you could've at least said back a hello or something. You bury your face into your hand out of embarrassment. You thought about the smile and the cheerful vibe he gave out when he went up to you. Your cheeks turn pink as you think about him.

"Prrrrrr." A white cat lumbers over and sits on your lap, waiting to be petted. It was your cat friend, Ren, the only thing you could comfortably talk to. You pick Ren up and nuzzled his nose.

"Should I try to talk Tanjiro again?" You ask Ren. Ren purrs loudly.

"You think so too?" Putting Ren down, you get up and make your way out of your secret hideout, looking for the dark red-haired boy. You walk into the training room to see the boy training hard. Not wanting to distract him, you turn around, deciding to not bother him and to find another time.

"Wait!"

You feel a gentle hand on your shoulder as you began to leave, you look back and sees the red-haired boy's hand on your shoulder

"Wait, I just wanted to apologize to you." You were confused, what was he apologizing for?

"Um it's alright, but you didn't need to apologize," you mumbled out, but since he was talking to you already, you took this chance to introduce yourself.

"Um, my name is [Y/N]."

"Tanjiro Kamado!" He extended his hand, and you shook it.

You look back down to the ground out of embarrassment, "sorry I interrupted your training..."

"It's fine. I was about to have a break anyways," he smiled at you. His smile was so vibrant and free, filled with purity.

"Would you care to join me for a walk then?"

You liked the sound of the idea and you didn't have anything to do at the moment so you accepted.

"The garden is so beautiful!" Tanjiro's eye sparkled, he looked at everything, the flowers, the squirrels, the birds, the trees.... you couldn't help but just smile at his enthusiasm.

"Ne... [Y/N]..."

"Hm?" You replied.

"Where do you usually run off to?"

You weren't sure what to tell him. "Should I tell him about my secret?". You decided if you were gonna become friends with him, you should show him your secret. You motioned for him to follow you as you run behind a giant rock and disappeared behind a rose bush. Tanjiro looked around, it was filled with all your favourite flowers, like roses, amaryllis, carnations and more.

"Mrrrow."

Tanjiro looks down to see a white, blue-eyed cat. "Oh, who's this?"

You pick up Ren and held him in your arms. "This is Ren, my cat". You hold out Ren for Tanjiro to hold. Tanjiro gently held him as Ren purrs loudly.

"It seems like he likes you," you giggle, he smiles and puts Ren down. You look at the sun seting in the sky as fresh colours brushed upon an artist's canvas as if those rays were destined to create a great work of art - one given to those open to capturing simple moments in the soul.

"Oh my, the sun is already setting"

"I think I should get going now," he starts walking but stops in his track and turns around.

"I hope we talk more" Your heart starts pounding in your chest. You could feel your ears start to heat up, as you nod in agreement.

Weeks pass, and you got closer to Tanjiro. You helped him with his training and talked a lot together.

"[Y/N], it seems like you've gotten closer to Tanjiro." Shinobu snickers, she was glad you weren't as shy anymore and made a friend. You nod back to her.

You look at Tanjiro, and he smiles back. Tomorrow he would be leaving and you were sad that your friend was leaving, but you had to keep in mind that he was a demon slayer that needed to protect people.

The next day came faster and before you knew it, you were standing at the doorway to send him off.

"Come back and visit sometime," you tell him. He walks over to you and smiles; you felt at ease whenever you saw him smile. Tanjiro suddenly pulls you into a hug making you flustered.

"Thank you [Y/N] for everything." He hugs you tighter before pulling away to look at your [E/C] eyes.

"I'll come back to visit, and that's a promise!"

"Until next time!"

He gives you one last hug before leaving, and you wave goodbye. You wait outside for a few more minutes before going back into the building. You thought about all the memories you created with him, the secret garden and how he became your friend. Feet firmly planted on the ground you look up at a defiant sky, the dome of our existence. You see no fairness there, no sense of responsibility. Some days are dark, angry, bitter spitting rain, hail, fire and brimstone. Others calm, serene with light fluffy clouds as if there wasn't a care in the world.

"Until next time, Tanjiro"

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After reading it over and over again, it felt more cheesy than I anticipated...☁️