~BRAVE~ (Tanjiro X Reader)

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"What's on your mind?" I asked him, lightly bumping his shoulder. His boar mask looked over at me like it had it's own emotion and I tried hard not to laugh.

"Nothing." He spat. He brushed off his own emotions. I smiled weakly.

"It's not nothing. Something is bothering you. What is it?"I tried to persuade him to talk. I've gotten to know the other two boys pretty well, but this one was a tough cookie to crack.

"It's nothing!" He yelled. My hands went up in defense.

"Alright alright. Since your king of the mountains, how did you become king?" I asked trying to at least get his mind off of his worries.

I could practically see the devilish smile come from his face. "The animals crowned me." He boasted.

"Well, what did you do to get crowned?" I smiled.

Inosuke told me about the many things he did to help out the forest and its wildlife. He had gained the trust of many of the animals which was a hard thing humans could do. He was raised in the forest. His primal instincts as a human let him survive.

"I think I get what's bothering you now." I bring up. We were now about an hour's walk away from the estate. Our feet were starting to get achy. He had been talking about himself for four hours.

"Hmm?" Inosuke asked. I could hear now that Tanjiro and Zenitsu's conversation were totally different. They were now talking about what they would do in certain situations.

"I think you're a bit nervous about seeing what a real mother is like," I said. I expected some sort of retaliation from him but he stayed quiet, waiting for me to proceed. "From what you say, you didn't really have a motherly figure in your life at all."

Inosuke looked down at the ground, thinking. "Yeah. That might be it." He said. The new change in behavior shocked me.

The last thirty minutes of the walk were all talk about how my mother was like. "Very stubborn and clumsy. But get things done." I said. "She refused to move out when my brother and I did. She was all 'Then what home would my baby's come home to? A damn one-room apartment! That's what.' She always complained about her work though she never stopped doing it." I laughed. The pathway leading to the house could be seen. It was grassed over, but still there. "This way." The walk up the hill was silent. When we arrived at my doorstep, the porch was covered in a layer of dust. I opened the door and it creaked. I peaked my head inside. "Mom?" I asked. Nothing could be heard. We walked through the halls. "Moooommmm." I called out for her.

I stopped when I noticed a woman standing with her head down and shoulders slouched. She was holding a soup ladle. Her hair covered her face so I couldn't get a good look. Though clearly based on her smaller figure and the color of her wild hair she was my mother.

"G-host! Ghooosssttt!" Zenitsu cried. Tanjiro clamped his hand over Zenitsu's mouth to keep him quiet while he wailed.

"Hello?" I called out to her.

"Why..." she said. Her voice was semi-broken.

"I'm sorry?" I tilted my head a bit.

"Why are you in my house!" She cried. My eyes widened as she started sprinting in our direction. Zenitsu made a break for it and started running away. She held the ladle up like a weapon and let out a battle cry. Before she had the liberty to hurt any of us with her ladle, I smacked her in the back of the head.

Her body slumped over on the floor as she was displayed like a pancake.

"Now is that any way to treat our guest mom? And what do you think you could do with that? Scoop at us until we die?" I laughed out.

"(Y/n)?" She questioned. She looked up at me with her hand gripping the back of her head in pain. "Your hair is longer".

Inosuke and Tanjiro were taken aback by the sudden attack. Our friend had run off and this crazy lady was talking to me.

"Let me introduce you to my friends." I said. My mother's face was clear now. It was quite obvious that we were indeed mother and daughter. "This is-" I began, but he beat me to it.

"Tanjiro Kamado! My sister is Nezuko Kamado! This is Inosuke Hashibira. And the boy who ran off was Zenitsu Agatsuma. Sorry for the intrusion." Tanjiro bowed. My mother observed the two of them and put a hand over her mouth.

"My my (Y/n). Surrounding yourself with young men like these..." she scoffed at me playfully with a smile gracing her lips. "It's quite the catch." She winked at me and my face erupted in a fit of red.

"It's-it's not-" I begin to stutter and the boys looked at me in awe that my mother even had the confidence to say it in-front of the people
In question. Inosuke walked away uninterested. Probably to look for Zenitsu.

"Oh suuurreee. Anyway, why don't I get you guys settled into your rooms? I'm sure you're tired." My mother began to guide us through my childhood home. The picture on the walls took me back. I couldn't help but look at them as we passed by. My mother stopped walking all of a sudden and I accidentally bumped into her. "You said you had a sister? Where is she?" Mom asked She turned around to look at Tanjiro.

"A-ah well, she's sleeping in the box right now." Tanjiro scratched the back of his head nervously.

"What? You kept a girl in a box? How rude! How does she fit in there anyway?" She asked.

I laughed and look at her. "That's exactly what I said! But she's a special case. She's not exactly...human." My laughter fades as my mother's eyes widen.

"Oh dear me. She's not dangerous is she?" My mother clutched at the cloth close to her heart. She steps back once but her other hand was tight on my forearm.

She had known of the demons existence of course. Her brother was in the Demon Corps. But when she got news of her own son wanting to join, she did nothing to support. The same could be said with her daughter.

"No, ma'am. She's never eaten anyone." Tanjiro pointed out. It seemed to put my mother at ease. My mother guided us separately to our rooms. I stopped her before she left mine.

"About Diakoku..." I shook my head as if to signify that he had passed. My mother's tears started to run down her cheeks but she wiped them away. She refused to show any weakness to her now an only child. "I'm sorry mom," I said hugging her, knowing full well she would cry about this later. I grabbed his sword from my bag and hand it to her. " I thought you might want to hang it somewhere. So that you could add a new story to your list." I smiled. She nodded before taking it from my hands and walking away.

I took a breath in and smelled the familiar aroma of home. The old wood creaked under my feet as I jumped onto my bed.
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Original release date: May 24th 2020