Chapter Text
Being a demon slayer wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t an easy job, and it never got any easier. You had to kill children— or, at least, monsters who were once children. You had to live with the guilt of not being fast enough, not being able to save everyone, not being able to do anything. It was hopeless— yet it was needed. If demon slayers weren’t there, humanity in itself would diminish.
Keeping that in mind, Tomioka Giyuu hurried his steps.
He’d already checked the house— dead, all of them. Children, young children, and their mother. But footprints carried off in the direction down the mountain, down towards the town. Had one survived? He almost wished they hadn’t, so whoever it was wouldn’t have to live with the grief. He followed the tracks, urging himself to be faster. That demon could still be around, it wasn’t exactly morning yet.
When he caught up, he almost threw up. Two kids. Two pups. One human, and the other, a demon. Both were crying. The human boy was shouting, sobbing, pleading. The demon girl seemed to be doing her best to control herself, but it wouldn’t last. She was newly turned, and she was starving.
Feeling sick, Tomioka pulled out his sword. Keeping his presence hidden until the last second, he lashed out—
And missed.
The boy tossed himself over her, protecting her.
This was going to be so much more difficult than he first thought, Giyuu’s frown deepened. In a single swift movement, he had grabbed the demon, keeping it away from the boy. “Why’d you protect it?” It was obvious they must’ve known each other, but how-?
“She’s my sister!”
Oh.
“She’s my little sister!” The omegan boy cried out. “Please don’t kill her!”
The scent of distress, sorrow, horror, and fear that reeked from this boy was overwhelmingly sickening. Something dormant inside of Giyuu twitched, yet he ignored it in favour of using his own logic.
“She wasn’t always like this! I don’t know what happened, but I’ll fix it! Please, stop—”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Giyuu spoke through gritted teeth. “Your sister’s become a man-eating demon. She will kill and devour innocent people.” He raised his blade— though, rather than slashing her neck, he stabbed into her shoulder. He was doing the right thing, but still, he felt guilty about it for some reason.
“Please, please stop! Don’t kill her! I’m begging you, please don’t hurt her!” He blubbered, crying his eyes out. “She won’t kill anyone, she won’t devour anyone! She’d never hurt others! So, please, let her go!”
Tightening his grip on his blade, he bit his lip so hard that it almost bled. And, for the first time in many years, he found himself raising his voice. Yelling. Screaming. Scolding. “Never give others a chance to kill you! How do you expect to get anything done with begging?! And what was that before, throwing yourself over her?! Was that your was of protecting her? Don’t make me laugh! You’ll only get the both of you killed! If you want to stop me, pick up your hatchet and stop me yourself!”
Realizing that begging wouldn’t work, the boy got up, wiping his tears. As Giyuu raised his blade to strike again, this time much closer to her neck, he shrieked. “Knock it off!”
The wind swept snow across the field, blocking their vision. Giyuu could clearly scent and detect him. The scent of distressed, juvenile omega was a hard scent to hide.
The boy rushed at him, hiding his hatchet behind him.
Again, Giyuu scoffed. A head-on attack, driven only by emotions? Idiot! Still, he didn’t want to hurt the boy. He was only a child. Only a child, only a child, only a child— A child who’d had his entire family massacred because he was too slow.
The pup dropped to the ground, unconscious.
His hatchet wasn’t there.
Where was it—?
The tree behind him vibrated with the force of the hatchet digging into it. It landed right next to Giyuu’s face, barely missing his face.
The demon in his arms twisted and struggled with more force. She kicked him into the tree, rushing towards her brother.
“Shit!” Giyuu shouted, reaching for his blade as he struggled to catch his balance.
Yet, before he could attack, instead of devouring the boy, she stopped in front of him. She was protecting him.
His entire worldview flipped upside down. This didn’t make sense. She was newly turned, she was starving, she was wasting energy trying to fight him off. Still, she didn’t make any moves to devour the free meal at her feet.
"She’d never devour humans!"
...Was that even possible? Was that even allowed? Was this treason?
Grunting, he slammed the hilt of his blade against the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.
Slipping a bamboo muzzle into her mouth, he stepped back and waited for them to wake up.
It took a good twenty minutes, but the boy woke up first. He grabbed his sister, holding him close to her, glaring at Tomioka.
“You said you wanted to find a cure for her. Right?”
Slowly, the boy nodded.
“That’s not possible. But, the higher-levelled demons might know a way, but don’t think they’ll just give you the answer. You’ll have to fight. You’ll have to train until you die.”
“How do I do that?” The boy croaked, dropping his scowl.
“Head towards Mount Sagiri. Search for a man named Urokodaki Sakonji. He’ll be able to train you to become a demon slayer.”
Was this a mistake? Would this kid be able to make it past Final Selection? This was a bad idea. Still, he couldn’t just kill the demon girl. She hadn’t done anything wrong yet, and that boy would truly be alone.
“Another thing to remember,” Giyuu tried to hide the waver in his voice. “Never let your sister be exposed to sunlight. Demons die in the sunlight. She seems to be fine right now, since it’s cloudy, but be careful.”
He turned to leave, but the boy called out to him. “Wait! Where are you going?”
“I’m going to save other people. Take care.” If he stayed any longer, he’d overthink it. If he stayed any longer, other people who needed saving would die. Even still, something about leaving these two pups alone like this seemed so wrong.
“What’s your name?” The boy asked, wiping his eyes of freshly shed tears.
“Tomioka Giyuu.” He found himself answering. Strange. He didn’t usually give his name out to people, even to those he rescued.
“Tomioka Giyuu...” The pup echoed, sniffling tiredly. “I’m Kamado Tanjiro. This is my sister, Nezuko. Thank you for sparing her, Tomioka.”
His eyes... such kind eyes. Such caring eyes. Such young eyes. He really was only a child, only a juvenile, only a pup.
Giyuu nodded awkwardly, jumping away as the wind mixed the snow into the sky again. This was probably a huge mistake, said the logical side of him. Yet, the dormant emotional side of him stirred of its sleeping state, protesting against the cold hearted logic.
While it was maybe borderline treason against the corps, Giyuu found himself intrigued on his this would play out.