Where The Dandelions Grow

5

After nine months of living in this new world, you started helping Tanjiro with the charcoal business. You started out by helping him out with his trips down the mountain, mostly just doing grunt work. But after a while, you started doing more. You'd go out on days that Tanjiro was too tired to, and since you were an adorable eleven-year-old child, you bet you were gonna use that to your advantage, even if it did concern Tanjiro sometimes. By the time you were twelve, you'd started going to other nearby villages. Sometimes you'd be gone for days, which worried the family for the first few times, but they'd always be ready and waiting when you got back.

Sometimes, you'd get into competitions with Tanjiro to see who could sell the most. Well, it was a competition to you. Tanjiro would just give a hesitant smile whenever you got too fired up with the prospect of a challenge, but would give you head pats no matter what the outcome.

Tanjiro head pats = 10/10

But no matter what, your favorite part of the competitions was when you came back to your mountain. You had the sequence memorized. You'd come up the trail, tired and huffing from exhaustion. When you looked up, you'd see Takeo, Shigeru, and Hanako running out from the house or yard to engulf you in hugs. After receiving your lifetime supply of endorphins, They would lead you into the house, where more hugs would ensue. Then, you'd take a bath in the creek by the house, and by the time you came back dinner would be ready. Dinner was always quiet, which never ceased to unnerve you. In your world, dinner was always loud, as you would bicker and horse around with your brothers every night,much to your mother's chagrin. Here though, everyone was more respectful. It was just plain weird.

After dinner and cleanup with Nezuko there would be a story. Tanjiro, Nezuko or Mom would read to the younger ones. You always listened, too. You never read, the kanji making your brain hurt each time you tried, so you'd just listen with the little kids. After story time it was time for bed. You'd tuck in the little ones and made sure Rokuta was secure before finally heading to bed yourself, not after giving Mom a hug, of course. The next day you'd wake up, challenge Tanjiro, and be off again. This blissful time of competitions and family and training was something that you never wanted to end.

It lasted for a year.

You were twelve now. Any semblance of remaining fat or softness was completely gone. You were lean and muscular, healthy and strong. You were ready to kick ass when the plot would start. You just hadn't thought it would start so soon.

"Hey, Tanjiro!" you called, cupping your hands to your mouth. "I'll be back in two days, okay? I'm going to the village of Yukisato."

Tanjiro nodded, giving you a hug, which you gladly returned. "See you then, Y/n!"

You zoomed of down the mountain, basket strapped to your back. You couldn't help the laugh that was ripped out of your throat as you felt the ice-cold winter wind nipping at your face. You jumped over tree trunks, dodging branches and leaping over the frozen streams and creeks as you made your way down the mountain.

After a while, you slowed to a stop, panting and out of breath. You laughed and grinned, rubbing your hands together to keep out the chill before starting on your way again. After a while, a sudden thought popped into your head.

Oh my god, I could totally...

"OOOHHHHHHHH.....

"THE ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH ARE WAAARRRRRMMMMM!!" you belted. "PINA-PURU-PURU THEIR HEADS GET REALLY HOT!! AND THEY'RE ALL," you took in a large gulp of air. "IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTSSSSS!!"

You cackled as the song came to an end. "This is just awesome." You grinned, looking around and shaking you head in disbelief. Even though it had been years, you were still amazed that you were here. You planned to do every single stupid thing that you could possibly think of, just because you could. Plus, if it was too weird, you could just blame it on being a foreigner. Easy!

You proceeded to do other weird crap, seeing as no one was around. You had mini concerts, danced, raced with a leaf down a stream (you won. Suck it, leaf), and just doing things that would kill you of embarrassment if anyone found out.

It was mid afternoon by the time you got to the village. You were greeted by your customers, fulfilling orders and helping out occasionally if anyone needed it. It was night by the time you were done with everything, leaving you very anxious. You knew the plot would be starting soon, so you hated staying away, even if it was just for a night. When Muzan showed up, you wanted to at least be there to try to stop him. You owed your family that much, at least.

Unfortunately, it was too dark to return. Damn winter months. You sighed, nerves building up as you went to the local inn. You paid your due for the night, ignoring the strange looks you got. You were used to it by now, how people stared at you. And who could blame them? You were obviously a foreigner. With your (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes, it would be hard to mistake you for a Japanese citizen. You went to your room, only bothering to take off your zori before falling on the bed, asleep.

A nice thing about winter is that there were no birds waking you up at some god-forsaken hour of the morning. Unfortunately, you did that to yourself. Waking just before the butt crack of dawn, you set out early back to the house. Somehow, the trip up the mountain was only slightly faster (because gravity has no power in anime), and you were able to make the trip in about half a day.

You trudged up the mountain through the snow, regretting the Japanese's choice of footwear. You gave a tired grin as you passed a familiar tree, gaining more energy the closer you were to home. You laughed at the thought of playing with Takeo, a game of tag would be much more interesting in the snow. Ooh! Or maybe a snowball fight! That would be so much fu-

Your heart stopped at the color red. The clear white snow was stained with it, splattered and smeared and sprayed. Your heart dropped into your stomach and your knees went weak at the sight. Lying in the largest puddle outside was the body of Rokuta, the puddle of blood entirely too big for his tiny body.

You staggered forward, collapsing next to Rokuta's body and cradling him in your arms. Hot tears streaked down your cheeks, leaving cold trails behind in the icy air. You sobbed as you felt his cold, lifeless body, holding him tighter as though it would bring a spark back into your brother's blank eyes. You looked up, peering into the house.

Big mistake.

Your throat clenched at the sight you were met with. The inside of the house was drenched in blood, your family in the middle of it. Their eyes were blank and empty, staring off forever into space. You let out a guttural scream as you ran over, shaking your siblings. 

"Wake up!!" you screamed. "Wake up, please!!"

You screamed again, the futility of it hitting you like a truck. They were dead. You knew this. You knew it was going to happen. This was why you'd trained. This was why you'd stuck so close. And none of it mattered. They were dead.

You sat on the floor, sobbing over the forms of you family for a long time. Time and sound seemed to stop, and you couldn't feel the cold winter air nipping at your ears and nose. You started at the feeling of a hand on your shoulder, whirling around to see who it was. Tanjiro's sad eyes looked at you, tears spilling over at the sight of you hugging Shigeru's corpse. Your eyes caught on a movement behind him, seeing Nezuko, but not as you'd known her for the past few years. Her hair was down, with lighter brown at the tips, and her eyes were a much lighter shade of pink. The most notable, however, was the bamboo muzzle she now had in her mouth. She was a demon. The plot had started.

It took a bit, but all the graves were finished. You knelt next to Rokuta's, patting the dirt. You hoped that his spirit could feel as though you were patting his head. He was way too young to have died such a gruesome death.

Your trio hadn't bothered cleaning up the house. You were never coming back here. 

You turned towards the road, giving a reassuring smile to Tanjiro despite the blank look in your eyes.

Taking Nezuko' hand, Tanjiro gave you a reassuring nod.

"Let's go."