~BRAVE~ (Tanjiro X Reader)

Heart

"Well that was easy I guess but what are we supposed to do now?" Zenitsu asks once the man leaves.

"We have to expose it. Try to find some kind of door to get through. If we can't find it then we wait till it comes out." I explain the basics of the plan with Zenitsu and every so often I would get some complaints and protest. I searched the perimeter of the tree first, while Zenitsu climbs it, scanning for any openings up above. My hand slides against the wood looking for any signs of mutation. Upon further inspection, I notice a small carving in the bark.

"S+R" it read. Surrounding the characters was a heart. How cute. My face curves up into a smile. They found love...how come I haven't yet?

"Hey! (Y/n)! I found what you were looking for!" Zenitsu yelled from the top of the tree. How did he get there so fast? I start up a tree myself and look down to see the heart one more time.

"What's this?" I ask. The top of the large tree was flat with branches coming out of the corners of it. Making the outside of the tree look natural when it clearly wasn't.

"It's some sort of trapdoor, but I'm not gonna be the one opening it. No way in hell." He said shaking his head once again. I sigh and look to the sky.

"It's still day Zenitsu. Remember the whole...Demons can't bear the sun?" I bring up.

"Yes I know it's still day, but do you think it's bright enough to kill a demon? I mean, we haven't heard anything from the inside so who's to say that the demon's even in there?" Zenitsu showed a side that I would never guess he had. Intelligence.

"Hmmm yeah, good point. Then what do we do? Because if the demon's in the village and we're over here in the tree while it commits murder, we wouldn't have done anything but wait around for the demon to show up."

"That's also a good point. I guess the best course of action would be to open and take a peek inside for the demon, kill it if it's in there, look for it if it's not." complying with Zenitsu's suggestion, I open the trap door just a bit and thousands of bugs emerge from the tree. Zenitsu screamed in horror and clung to me. "They're not living! Look! They're dead! All those bugs, dead but alive! ZOMBIES!"

"He he he." A monotone voice came from the tree. "He broke broke broke." It sang. Scaring Zenitsu even more. "My heaaarrrttt... hahah." Suddenly, a stitched up doll emerged from the door, the flesh rotting, and the smell horrid. It's eyes were Beady like little kids toys.

"Who?" I asked. Covering my nose with my hand while grabbing the jolt of my sword with another. All the doll did was scoff one sheer disgust. The stench coming from her was disgusting.

"I don't remember! Isn't that funny? Hahahahaha. It was you wasn't it? I bet it was...."

"You are mistaken. I'm not this boy you talk about. I've never even loved." The fact makes me grit my teeth in dissatisfaction.

"No...Don't lie to me. There's no need. You're gonna die anyway." She laughed. She rose her hand and pointed it towards Zenitsu and I. The top of her finger popped off and millions of bugs crawled and fell to the floor in desperation to get to us. All of their eyes clouded.

"AAAIIIIII" Zenitsu yelled one fear. Once a city boy, always a city boy. I thought as he passed out. I guess it's my turn to carry him around a bit. Wrapping my hand around his waist, I jumped back on to one of the branches to gain distance between me and the critters. I myself am a little freaked out by the bugs. Honestly I've never been a big fan of spiders, so seeing this gives me the chills. The doll continues to laugh as I jump.

"You're like a bunny! Cute and fluffy but with buck teeth that eat away at the soul." She comments.

"That doesn't even make sense!" As I say that, I jump into some sort of liquid sap and loose my footing, as well as my hold on Zenitsu. My eyes widen in panic as Zenitsu's body comes closer the the forest floor. Sure there's snow, but not enough for a cushion. He's gonna die. And I'm gonna be the one who killed him... "ZENITSU!" I yelled, in attempt to wake the boy up before he landed. I jump towards the ground in a desperate attempt to try and catch him, but he suddenly disappeared from my vision with my hand reaching towards his body. "Wha-what?" I say. A great force comes from my side and pushes me to the ground in a gracefulness that I've never seen before. I close my eyes tightly thinking of the worst that could happen, when my trip down came to a stop.

Arms gripped my side tightly as the boy exhaled. Zenitsu breathes out with eyes closed then inhaled sharply.

"First style. Thunderclap dash." He says while dropping me quite rudely to the floor taking his first stance. His arms grips his sword as he lowers himself breathing in a bit more. "Six fold."

As soon as I blink he vanishes, lightning following his track. Jumping once to get in the tree and the other four dashes to fake out the demon doll. The final dash Zenitsu took, ended the life of the poor demon.

By the time I got to where he was, the dolls rotten flesh was deteriorating more than it already was, and Zenitsu was panicking at the sight of the doll.

"(Y/n)! Did you do that?" He asked, pointing his finger shakily towards the demon.

"The ring. My wedding ring." It called out. Zenitsu jumped a bit from the sudden noise. My eyes scan the floor of the top of the tree and spot a slight shine coming from one of the branches. Picking it up, I examine it's carving and detail and smile weakly. A basic heart. But now I know the meaning behind that sign on the tree.
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Original date released: March 22 2020