Bound to you by love

My love will never die

Since he can remember, slayers has always tried to kill a man named Kibutsuji Muzan.

Since he can remember, he always stood by his side. From the very beginning to the very end. They were soulmates. They were destined for each other. Bound by the red string of fate.

But... Not all soulmates has to be happy with each other. Muzan is undoubtedly more than happy to have him. If he was not, he would not have given him an immortal life.
He would not care for him.
He would not make love to him.

He know Muzan loved, loves and will love him for all eternity. As long as they are alive and even in death. He knows it. It's just that...

Tanjiro, unlike Muzan, never wished for eternity. He wished for simple and happy life with the man he fall in love with. The same man who was deadly sick, and Tanjiro was praying for every day and night. He never wished for... THIS. And he could not be more disgusted with himself... Because he was not able to control himself and killed his family when Muzan turned him into a demon. He really couldn't be more disgusted with himself.

And yet... Somehow... He found himself still blindly in love with the man whom whole organization was trying to kill. That's why... He never betrayed him. And in return, Muzan never ordered him around and loved him unconditionally.

He gave him a position among his ranks. As the Upper Moon Zero. Muzan's soulmate. The very first human he turner into a demon.

When that man... Yoriichi was his name... Almost killed Muzan, Tanjiro felt once again disgusted. Because he actually felt some kind of sick satisfaction... sick relief when he saw that it is possible to end his soulmate's life. And that is exactly why he pleaded that man, to let them go. He fell to his knees and pleaded with him, to take his life instead of Muzan's.

Surprisingly, Yoriichi let them both go... Just like that. And Tanjiro never felt more relief, happiness but also more anguish and despair than in that moment. He was sure he was going crazy.

What they were doing... What the other demons were doing... It's wrong. He should have let Yoriichi kill them. And yet he couldn't bring himself to think about Muzan's death. It made him as sad as it made him happy. So he copes with his frustration in a different way. He saved demon slayers where he could.

Every other demon knew who he was. They also knew what would happen to them should anything happen to him. And they also knew he was stronger than them.

Muzan kept him well fed with his own blood after all.

That's why they all respected him in almost the same way they respected Muzan. He was strong. Stronger then them all. And he could kill them should he wish for it. He was thaught the Breathing of the Sun by the same man who almost killed him and Muzan. Tanjiro still can not understand why would Yoriichi teach him... A demon. When he asked him, Yoriichi said:

"Because you have the most purest soul and most honest and warm eyes I have ever seen. You are much kinder then the humans I know. You are a demon, but I can see... Since you killed your family, you have never killed anyone. Not humans, not demons. Because you are that kind, even thought you are suffering as you are now, you still hold onto the hope that the man you once loved will come back and you will die together like you were supposed to many years ago."

And for Tanjiro that was more than he could wish for. He broke down in Yoriichi's embrace and he never felt more safe in his life. Yoriichi's arms were his safe heaven.

It was ironic. A demon crying himself to sleep on demon slayer's shoulder. A demon slayer taking care of a demon until he wakes up and leaves. Their training was over. There was nothing more Yoriichi could teach Tanjiro.