TanKana Week 2020

Day 3: Cuddle

Lo and behold, day 3 is here!

The theme for today is: Cuddle/Juniper butterfly (Progress, good fortune and abundance)

As always, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to check the tumblr and twitter for more content!

Without further ado, on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Demon Slayer.

Enjoy!

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'It's been a while since I slept outside.' Tanjiro thought as he moved near the small fire him and his companion had prepared for the night.

"I'm surprised a demon would get this close to the home of a Pillar." The Kamado commented.

"It is unusual." Kanao answered with a nod.

"Well, considering what it said, it probably thought its Blood Demon art could manage to face anyone." The red haired swordsman said.

Shinobu had received reports of what looked like demon activity slowly closing in to her home and had acted accordingly.

There were two scenarios in which a demon would get so close to a Pillar's home base.

The first one, and most likely, is that it was a feral demon that was turned recently and it just happened to be moving in the direction of the Butterfly State without knowing.

The second one, while unlikely, was more worrisome; if a demon knew that it was closing in to the home of a Pillar and continued to do so then it was either strong enough to face one or, at least, arrogant enough to think it could.

After checking the direction it was coming from, Shinobu deduced the two more likely routes that the demon would take the following night to continue its approach and had asked the four Demon slayers currently residing in her home to go and try to intercept it; she would remain in the Butterfly State in the event that it somehow managed to slip past them.

So, after giving some 'encouragement' to Zenitsu (Nezuko patting his head), the Beast and Thunder Breath users formed one team and moved to block one of the paths while Tanjiro, with Nezuko in his back, and Kanao went towards the other path, where they encountered the demon.

As it turns out, the demon did have a rational mind and knew exactly where it was going, saying something about a 'rumor that 'that person' will give some of his blood to anyone that manages to kill a Pillar' when Tanjiro and Kanao asked it why it was going in this direction.

While it did have a rational mind, its fighting prowess was not enough to actually face a Pillar. It was an annoying fight, the monster's Blood Demon Art allowing it to control any plant life around it but, in the end, the worst wound it got in any of the three was when it used some tree branches to try and pierce Kanao, only for her to use her cape to block its vision, the branches shredding her cape and making the demon miss, then Tanjiro using his hands to form a step for the Tsuyuri to jump in the air to avoid a wall the demon had made with some trees and Nezuko to literally kick the Tsuyuri on the soles of her boots and send her towards the demon, decapitating it before she even touched the ground and making its body turn to ash.

With the demon defeated, Tanjiro and Kanao sent a message via crow to Inosuke, Zenitsu and the Butterfly State that everything was over but, since it was really late now, they would be camping outside for the rest of the night and go back tomorrow.

"I'm glad we managed to stop it here before it could cause more trouble." Tanjiro commented as he moved Nezuko's box a bit closer to the fire to make sure she wasn't cold.

"Yeah." The Tsuyuri answered, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Kanao... are you cold?" The Kamado asked, noticing how she seemed to try to hide her trembling.

"A bit, my cape got torn so I can't really use it to fend off the cold now." She answered honestly.

"Here, have my haori." The red haired teen said while taking off said item.

"B-but then you'll be cold." Kanao protested, trying to push the haori back towards Tanjiro.

"I'll be fine, I can deal with the cold since I'm the eldest son." Tanjiro said proudly.

"...I... am not sure what being the eldest son has to do with this." The black haired girl said with a puzzled look.

"It means I'll be fine, I had to deal with worse weather back in the mountain I used to live in." The Kamado assured her but she still looked reluctant. "Then... how about we share it?" He proposed, a blush beginning to rise on his cheeks. "O-only if you're fine with it, of course."

"...okay." Kanao answered softly.

With her permission, Tanjiro moved closer and wrapped his haori around both of them.

"Better?"

"Hn." The Tsuyuri nodded, leaning her head against the red eyed teen's shoulder. "...it's similar." She whispered quietly.

"Hm? What's similar?"

"...I used to stay like this with Kanae-nee-san before she..."

"I see..." The Kamado trailed off, using his right hand to pull her a bit closer. "She must have been a great person."

"She was." Kanao answered downcast.

"...it's okay to cry Kanao." Tanjiro suddenly said. "I don't need to use my nose to tell you're sad, there's nothing wrong with crying."

"...I can't." The purple eyed girl said after a moment, before looking up at Tanjiro with a smile so sad it felt as if someone had just clutched his heart. "I forgot how." She said with that same expression.

"You... forgot how to cry?"

"I... something broke one day, ever since then... it was as if nothing mattered anymore." She began, closing her eyes but still with that beautifully sad smile in her face. "I'm a really broken and horrible person... one of the two people that saved me... gave me food and shelter... and even gave me a way to, in a sense, decide for myself died... and I couldn't cry her death." Kanao said before opening her eyes. "I... Tanjiro, what's wrong?" She asked, noticing the tears falling from his eyes.

"...I'll cry for you." He said, not bothering to wipe his face or look away. "Until whatever was broken in you gets better, I'll cry your tears for you." Tanjiro declared, the tears doing nothing to hide the seriousness in his eyes.

"I-what do you-" She couldn't finish her sentence as Tanjiro gently pulled her close, making her head rest in his chest.

"I'm so, so sorry for what happened to you Kanao." He spoke softly the tears not looking like they would stop any time soon.

'...you'll cry my tears for me...' Kanao repeated in her mind, unconsciously clenching her hands in the red haired boy's jacket. "Thank you." It's the only thing she could think of saying.

She didn't spill any tears but, in that moment, Kanao could swear that she heard something similar to a thread sewing itself back together as she continued to rest against the red haired teen's chest.

Neither of them pulled away and, eventually, they lie down and fell asleep while clinging to one another.

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I think this is something more along the lines of the butterfly than the 'main' theme compared to the two before it but I like to think I did a good job.

I hope you liked my contribution for day 3 and remember to check the tumblr and twitter for more TanKana content!

I hope you enjoyed and feedback is always appreciated; until next time!