Stone Cold | Tanjirou Kamado (old version)

15. The Tsuguko

"You can still save your bonds, don't end up like me, you stupid girl."

Ayaka's eyebrows furrowed uncomfortably. Something... There was something poking her cheek, what was it? It was hard to discern what was happening, she could feel the touch of the humid earth under her palms and the biting cold of twilight against her cheek. The fresh air that filled her lungs confirmed her that she was, indeed, still breathing, but she couldn't think about anything else. The sweetness of dreaming and rest was too alluring to let go of, she lacked willpower to get up without reason, she didn't have any reason, did she?

A name came to her mind. Nezuko. Who was that and why did she think about her, bursting into her dream? Even so, her mind continued.

Nezuko, Nezuko, Nezuko, Nezuko, Nezuko. Pink ribbons, crushing hugs. Nezuko was in danger, right? She loved Nezuko, and she loved Tanjirou. Tanjirou, right, the smell of charcoal and burning eyes. Tints about the events of that night threw themselves at her and made her remember like rabid dogs. They buried their fangs strongly on her flesh and with every bite and raging chomp, Ayaka regained consciousness.

A Lower Moon. Tanjirou surrounded by flames, Rui's head falling to the floor and Ayaka with him. And Nezuko... she had been hanging from Rui's threads, but they broke with her fire, Nezuko's fire, a strange magenta colour that made it clear it wasn't any ordinary fire.

Nezuko, Nezuko, Nezuko, Nezuko, Nezuko.

Her senses came back, and what had appeared like a far away touch on her cheek turned into insistent pokes.

"Nezuko," she muttered, without being sure about why she was saying a demon's name.

The first thing she saw when she woke up were a pair of eyes of a blue deeper than any lake or sea she had ever seen.

The person to whom they belonged, however, wasn't of her liking.

"Kid," called the kneeling man in front of her.

He was young, no more than twenty five year olds that was for sure. Spiky hair that ended in a blue the same tone like his eyes. First thing Ayaka's eyes ran to was his nichirin sword by his waist, the second one, his demon slayer uniform, the last one, his empty eyes.

«You've been abandoned too», she thought without hesitating, squinting for a moment and then letting out a long sigh. «You seem so lonely, is that how I look to other people?»

"Kid," the man called once again, as if he believed her silence was a lack of attention. He stayed poking her cheek.

"Stop poking me, please, I'm awake," Ayaka asked with a frown. She vaguely slapped his hand away from her face, and he stayed looking at her without paying no mind to it.

«This guy is clueless», she thought in an estranged grimace.

"Is this yours?", he asked, raising his hand to show her gray sword.

He had meant the sword, but his gaze, pointed at two bodies nearby, showed it wasn't the only thing he thought hers.

"Tanjirou." Ayaka exhaled his name in a sigh a moment before running towards him, but she was suddenly stopped by the unknown man, who grabbed her by the nape of her neck like one would grab a cat.

What kind of person was he to do something like that? However, he got to keep Ayaka still, although her eyes stayed fixed on the pair of siblings, who laid on the floor as if they were trash.

"Don't be so careless, you will only make your wounds worse," the man warned, who still held her sword on the other hand. "You fought against a Lower Moon, take a break, you deserve it for putting up with it until a pillar arrived. The boy did a good job too, be grateful for being so lucky."