※ The flame that sparked beside the dawn ※ Demon slayer x Male Reader

「The somber truth」

"(Y/N), listen. I need to tell you the truth. The truth about our family," Hana says with a sudden seriousness.

The mention of the truth about our family and the sudden seriousness in Hana's voice got me to pause for a second.
 
"Okay... I'm listening, nee-san" I replied, my voice shaking and barely audible.
 
〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
 
"I'm sorry I never told you before, and I understand it was wrong of me." Hana started. 
 
"The truth is... when you were merely four years old and I was nine years old, we ran into the woods that surrounded the home we lived in at the time. It was against our family's rules for us children to go into those woods alone because of all the dangerous wildlife. But I wanted to be rebellious, so I dragged you along with me. However, we quickly got lost in the seemingly never-ending sea of trees. We spent all day in those woods, from dawn 'til' dusk, lost, scared, and alone." 
 
Hana pauses for a second and looks over at me. I nod, signaling that I'm listening, and she can continue.
 
Hana then continues with "We were only able to get back home because we wandered into a less dense part of the forest where there was a giant boulder. Desperate to get some sense of direction and maybe find a way home, I climbed on the boulder, looked up, and saw smoke from our furnace rising from our house. We, of course, quickly and excitedly made our way home, ready to just take a hot bath, eat, and sleep. The problem was that, due to us being small, exhausted, and already really far out in the forest, it took two hours to reach home. By the time we got back, everyone in our family had been ruthlessly slaughtered by one of those demons, I'm assuming.
 
My eyes widen in shock and fear. 'Our family was killed?! And by one of those vicious monsters no less?!'

 
Hana keeps talking. "We had two older brothers, an older sister, and another baby on the way. Our older brothers were Itsumi, who was 10, and Haru, who was 13. Our eldest sister, Semini, was 14, and the baby was going to be named Ame if they were a girl and Yuki if they were a boy." 

Hana sighed as more tears came flowing out of my eyes. 'I had siblings? What were they like? What did they look like? Why don't I remember them?'

"Everybody loved you dearly, y'know..." Hana tells me this in an attempt to make me feel slightly better.
 
"I know I must've loved them dearly too." I replied. Hana just nodded, a slight smile forming on her face. The smile quickly fades, though, as she continues telling the story. 
 
"You didn't know what was happening, and I didn't dare tell you. So I told you to go sit on a tree stump outside while I went and checked everyone's body." Hana's breath hitches as she struggles to keep her voice from wobbling.
 
"They were all cold. Dead. Gone. I was scared, distraught, and broken..." Hana had to pause for a second to gather the strength to continue.
 
"From there, I grabbed you and just ran. I ran, and ran, and ran until I thought my lungs were going to burst and my legs would fall off. After hours of relentless running, just as I was about to reach my limit, we stumbled upon a path. On that path, some kindhearted travelers found us. Those travelers picked us up and brought us to the closest town, which happened to be a two-day walk away." Hana stops talking for a second, seemingly trying to remember what happened.
 
"I slept almost the entirety of those two days, and whenever I was awake, you were just asking for food... I think..." Hana says. 
 
"After getting to the town and explaining our situation, we were offered our current house by a sympathetic man who was moving away."
 
'So that's how we got the house... Man, we were lucky,' I thought. 
 
"Although we didn't have to pay a single yen for it, we did have to take care of the house and ourselves by ourselves. At that point, it didn't really matter. We just needed a place to shelter in." 
 
I nod, waiting for Hana to continue, but she doesn't. She just tells me, "From there, I raised you as best as I could. I wanted you to become a fine young gentleman, and I must say that's exactly what you are." She finished the story with the most sorrowful eyes I've ever seen. Looking into those somber eyes of hers just made me cry harder.
 
Hana pauses for a second and asks me 
 
"Hey... Could you take me outside? I want to see the stars."
 
"Of course, nee-san" I replied. 
 
So I pick her up in the bridal style and take her outside as she requested.
 
Once outside and sitting down, I placed Hana in my lap, facing up towards the night sky.
 
"They're beautiful." Hana mumbled while looking at the stars that, at that moment, seemed to shine more brilliantly and brightly than I ever remembered.
 
Hana suddenly coughs up some blood, causing me to freak out, but I know there's nothing I can do to stop it.

Hana's face contorts into a slightly panicked expression. She looks up at me with pleading eyes. "Please forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner." 
 
"Of course, I forgive you! You did nothing wrong!" I replied back without a second's hesitation, clearly becoming more and more frantic.
 
Hana reaches up her right arm and starts gently stroking my face. "You're beautiful, (N/N). I love you so much. Never forget that, okay?" She tells me
 
I grunted in agreement "I-I'll never forget nee-san. I love you too."
 
"I'm... so... very... glad.." Hana says, her words, slightly slurred. 
 
Hana looks up to the stars one final time and smiles. Her eyes shone with the reflection of the brilliant night sky. 
 
Hana took a deep breath before closing her eyes. I watch as her chest slowly stops moving, her body goes limp in my arms, and she grows pale and cold. 

My beautiful big sister is now gone. Her short life of sixteen years, over. And both of our dreams crushed.

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

995 words.

Please give me feedback and constructive criticism. I'm always looking for a way to improve my writing!