[ WARNING ]

This is a incredibly big chapter, I did consider parting it to two/three parts, but mostly of you guys said you would rather read it all in one sit, so here it is!

Word count : 7791

  ──✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ──

'This smell… Is it grass?

I like it… Wet grass… Grass after the rain…

Wait- Grass?!'

Y/N quickly shot up from where she was laying, looking around to see… an open field?

'Oh, right. I'm probably dreaming….'

After coming to her senses, the girl's body let go of all the tension it has been accumulating, she rapidly proceeded to plop down to the ground.

Faint footsteps could be heard from behind her, she snapped her head back to look at the sound, and then…

“… Yoriichi?”

He looked at Y/N with an expressionless face for some seconds, before letting out a small chuckle and sitting beside her. “That's quite the dry reaction, won't you call me dad like you used to?”

Her surprised expression quickly turned into a frown, she hugged her knees, silently proceeding to say with pink cheeks : “… T-That was a long time ago…”

“You were really cute back them, following me around everywhere like a baby chick-”

“Stop it! Jeez, why I am seeing dead people all of a sudden anyway?!” She exclaimed to herself, her face flustered in red.

“… For what reason do you think you are?”

“Well, maybe am I dead or something? Is this what after life is like?”

He giggled a bit at her response, saying with a small smile : “Sorry to disappoint you, but no, you aren't dead. You're just unconscious.”

“I see. So, you're only a dream. An extension that my mind created. How great.”

“I see that you still talk sharply, even after all these years.”

“… I'm not really like that anymore… I changed a lot after all this time, you know! I really grew up a lot! I- Though I never managed to live a long life, I met a lot of wonderful people, and I made many friends too! I even saved someone!…”

“That's nice.” He responded, patting her head.

“They… I think you would get along with them! You know, I even met a Kamado! You know, like Sumiyoshi! He's his ascendant! He's name is Tanjiro, and he's exactly like him! Even the eyes are the same!”

He just hummed in response, quietly hearing her rambles.

“… And… And… why I am saying these things? You aren't even real…” Y/N's expression rapidly changed to a frown, the corners of her mouth twitching as she tried to hold back her tears.

She buried her head between her legs, her shoulders twitching being the only apparent signal that she was crying. “I'm sorry that I died so soon… I'm sorry that I left you alone…”

“You can't blame yourself for getting sick…”

“I- I don't think I can keep going on- I'm scared. I need to save everyone, but I'm just getting weaker with time…”

“You have to stop putting pressure in yourself. Death is a normal thing for all humans, sooner or later, you will have to accept that you just can't save everyone.”

“You don't understand…” Her sobs got more silent, her voice weakening. “I miss you… I miss just traveling around with you without any perspective about what my future would be! I used to be just Y/N, but now…”

“But now?”

“… Now… Now I'm nobody. I'm nothing without someone else to save.”

It suddenly turned quiet, Y/N confusedly raised her head to check if he still was there, but was engulfed into a surprise hug by him.

“You know very well that this is not the truth.”

“Then…what is the truth? What I am meant for?”

“Hmm… Well, you're meant to… eat a lot!”

“What?”

“And sleep well…”

“Huh?”

“And to take care of yourself…”

“Hey! That's just normal stuff everyone else does!”

“. That's the point. You don't need to have a meaning.” He said, gently pulling away to look at her, resting his hand against her cheek with a caring smile in his face. “You only need to live. Use all the pretty clothes you want, eat all kinds of sweet you set your mind in, play whatever games you want…because these things, though simple, are what gives meaning to human lives.”

“… Is this really enough…?”

“Maybe it isn't, after all, who I am to say what gives you happiness?”

“… Do I really deserve to lack around like this? Even when people's lives are at stake?”

“Nobody will blame you for living. You don't need to base your happiness on the happiness of others, the source of it has to come from you.”

“… Hahaha… You even talk exactly like dad!… Should I say good job to my brain for making this or something?”

“The fight isn't over yet. You will need to wake up soon.” He commented, Y/N breaks away of the hug, quietly scooting away from him and cleaning the snot she got from crying with her sleeve.

“Did you finish crying?” He gently asked, she jumped in response.

“I wasn't crying! I never cry! My eyes were just sweating!”

“Whatever you say.”

It was a comfortable silence for a while, until she suddenly blurted out : “If I say that I want to stay here… will you be mad with me?”

“… You know that I could never be mad at you.”

“So it's fine?”

“What do you think? Do you want to stay, or to go back to your friends?”

'If I stay, then I will finally die, won't I? Peace… It would be nice to not have to worry about anything anymore.

No more worrying about death or to changing the future…. How nice would it be?'

“… But that's just not the type of person you are.” Yoriichi suddenly says, interrupting her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“You're incredibly stubborn, always jumping straight on without a plan when you set your mind at something, you're also very hardheaded, when you decide that something is right, nobody can convince you otherwise. All in all, you're an amazing person.”

“Half of the things you said were insults! And what do you mean amazing? It seems like everyone around me always have a waaay better impression of me than they should! I'm not anything close to amazing at all!”

“You're wrong about that. Even though you can't see it yourself, you're a way better person than you think you are. After all, if you weren't, then for what other reason would so many people stick around you to this day?”

“That… I'm… not really sure…”

She closed her eyes and looked like she was in deep thought for a while.

“The choice is yours. I won't blame you, no matter what you choose to do.”

She suddenly opened her eyes and started getting up, a determinate expression in her face.

“… You're right. Though I wouldn't say that I'm amazing, I DO can say that I'm amazingly stubborn! I am going to wake up! And then I'm going to drag Daki back with me to the corps if it’s the last thing I do! And then… well, I don't really know what I will do after, but I will think about it later!”

“Pfft-”

“Thank you, dream version of dad! It was a nice chat, but I need to help my friends!”

“Yes, I understand, be careful.”

“Oh! Also, you won't miss me for too long!” Y/N suddenly stop in her tracks, turning to look at him.

“Huh?”

“Do you remember the demon slayer mark? If what I remember from the future is right, then It won't be long before the people from the corps to start awakening them again!”

“They…will?”

“The mark cuts your life in trade of strength, right? Just like my breathing style does! So, if by chance, I awake this mark, my life will be shortened even more! So, I guess that's its over for me!”

“You're doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Saying depressing things with a happy tone, so it will seem like it isn't a big deal. You did that when you got sick before.”

“… Death is a normal thing for all humans, you said so, didn't you? I'm a bit sad that I won't be able to stay with everyone after we defeat Muzan, but I don't care, as long as I live enough to save them.”

“… Is that really what you-"

CAW.

“Huh? What's this sound?”

“Seems like its already time for you to wake up.”

“But-”

CAW.

“If you really are going to die, then I suppose that instead of farewell, should I say, until later…?"

CAW! CAW!

The open field, the sky, and even Yoriichi himself started to turn blurry, then suddenly being engulfed by darkness until nothing of the peacefully dream remained.

Y/N woke up to something poking her head, she quickly got up to glare at whatever was interrupting her sleep.

“… Shiro?”

The white crow landed in her arm, tilting their head, almost like they were feigning innocence.

“I see, did you think that I was dead? Sorry for scaring you.”

“Caw!”

She looked around her, for one second she had forgotten she was in the middle of a battle, but what scared her the most was the position she was.

She was in between a big chunk of wood who got parted in half.

“What- how?”

Looking at the size of it, she would definitely have been smashed to death since it seemed like it would have fallen right atop of her, but…

Y/N looked around, seeing a piece of cloth stuck under one of the woods, she reached to take it, and after analyzing it closer….

'This pattern… It's from Daki's obi! No wonder the way the wood was parted seemed far too perfect!'

When the house got destroyed and everyone all started to fall, she was about to get crushed by one of the debris falling in her, but Daki parted it in half and probably even cushioned the fall! She really did help her!

'Though I was already planning on taking her with me anyway, this is more than enough proof that maybe she can willingly change sides!'

“Shiro!” She exclaimed, turning to the white crow, their red eyes curiously staring back at her. “Zenitsu, I need to find him! If I remember correctly, he got stuck under the rubble, can you help me find him?”

They didn't respond to her, only flying off instead.

Y/N searched around for a while, looking at the sky and seeing Shiro flying in circles above a specific spot, she quickly ran up to check on it, immediately letting out a relieved sigh as she saw Zenitsu sprawled on the floor, stuck under the wreckage.

“There you are! Thank god!”

Using all of her strength to help move the rubble out of the boy, she silently crouched to look down at him. “Hey, Zenitsu, there's something I need your help with.”

He asked, confusingly tilting his head. “What is it?”

“Well, it's something quite dangerous, in fact, it could kill both of us if it goes wrong.”

“?”

She approached his face. “Zenitsu, do you trust me?”

Out of all the answers she expected, it was definitely not the one he blurted out :

“Will you… marry me?”

“Whaaaa?-” She let out a confused shriek before loudly laughing, more because it was such an unexpected request that it ended up funny.

“Pfft- I suppose- Ahaha!- That you're still the same Zenitsu doesn't matter whether you're awake or not, pfft-” She took a deep breath, calming down and once again asking : “You didn't answer my question, though.”

“Yes. I do trust you.”

“And that's a terrible choice! Unfortunately, what I'm planning to do won't work unless you trust me, so bear with me for a little, kay?”

                           『••✎••』

'I'm sorry… everyone… Nezuko…'

“Stop apologizing, Tanjiro. Why are you always saying you're sorry? Is it because we were poor? Did you feel unworthy because you wore a tattered kimono? Is that why you're always looking to take the blame? That's just the way things were once father died. We tried as hard as we could, but it didn't work. It's no one's fault. Things don't exactly go the way we want them to. We're only human. You get to decide where your happiness comes from. What's important is now. Let's look to the future. Let's do your best together! And let's never apologize for it! I know you understand, you know how I feel!”

Nezuko's voice exclaimed, Tanjiro suddenly shot his eyes open.

'Was that a dream? Where am I?'

“What? Are you still alive?! You're one lucky bastard.” Gyutaro's figure suddenly appeared above him.

“Oh well. That good luck is all you have going for you. Poor you! Everyone else is already a goner! A single thrust to the heart finished the boar, the yellow-haired kid is buried under rubble and struggling, I'll leave him to die alone, he's wriggling like a worm, it's pathetic! That girl got smashed by the wreckage! It's a shame that we won't be able to bring her alive to the lord, but that's what she gets for being a human! Such a shame that she won't even leave her body behind to her burial! Even the hashira was weak, determination was his only strength! The poison got him, his heart just stopped, so he's dead too! Pathetic! Each and every one of you is truly pathetic!”

“Is the person you're carrying around in that box a relative? I know what it's like to have close family, even after becoming a demon. Is she your younger sister? Older sister?”

'Why isn't he killing me? What's going on!? My arm is numb, I couldn't hurt him even if I tried...'

“… My younger sister.”

“Hee hee hee! Really? I suspected as much! You're completely failing to protect her! What a shame! Now that I think about it, wasn't that Y/N girl someone important to you too? To think you failed to protect the two! How pathetic!”

“?!”

“Your sister is a demon, and you're only human! Oh well, what can you do? Of course, you're weaker! Even so, you're pitiful! As the elder brother, you should be using these hands to protect her!” He suddenly grabs his hand, starting to bend and snap his fingers.

“How do you feel now, you worm? You're still alive, but your younger sister and little girlfriend used all of their strengths protecting you!” He harshly grabbed his hair, proceeding to exclaim more insults :

“Hey! Worm! Fool! Dimwit! Coward! Loser! Why were you even born?! What're you gonna do with that weak, beat-up, worthless human body? Cut off my head? Just try it! C'mon! C'mon! Give it a try!”

In response, Tanjiro silently lowered his head, looking at the ground and using his twisted fingers to rip a perfume bag who happened to be lying around him.

Daki was silently sitting in the ceiling, observing what was going on, her grip in the edge getting stronger, as she started to bite her nails in anxiety. 'Why did I help her? No- Did I even used enough protection? What if she got stuck under it and died? What if-' She was interrupted by Gyutaro's loud laugh.

“Hee hee hee! Oh! I get it! At death's door, your spirit is finally broken! How terrible! You truly are miserable! But I don't mind that! I like wretched, pitiful, filthy things! Things like that sad scar on your forehead! I think it's cute! I have an idea! Why don't you become a demon?! You should do it for your little sister's sake! Yeah! That'd be good! Become a demon and help her! Then you'll be the same! If you don't, I'm just gonna kill her too! Cuz I don't care at all about someone's else sister!”

“Gyutaro! Don't! This is a bad idea!”

“As a demon, you'll be stronger! Goodbye to your pathetic body! So, how about it?”

Tanjiro didn't say anything, instead, he only raised his head to look at the sky.

“You're ashamed of your own weakness! That's why you're looking up to the sky to stop your tears from pouring out.”

“I… I… I prepared for this moment!” He said, suddenly giving a harsh headbutt to Gyutaro's forehead.

'A desperate headbutt? That won't help!'

“Gyutaro, what are you doing?! Stand up! Hurry!”

'Wha-?! Huh? How?! I can't move right! This is so weird! What is this? What's going on?! It was just a human headbutt!'

He looked down in surprise, seeing Hinatsuru's poisoned kunai stabbed in his thigh.

'The kunai! He stabbed me at the same time as the headbutt! He got it from that woman, then clawed open a courtesan's perfume bag to hide the smell of poison! This worm! Even though he's weak! Even though he's human! Even with a broken body! Even after I proved how much stronger am I! He's all alone! Why won't he give up? Why won't his spirit break? Why won't he lose…'

Tanjiro swung his sword against the back of his neck, throwing him against the floor and making his head stuck in between his blade and the ground.

'… The will to defeat me?!'

“YAAAAAAAAAH!”

'Cut! Cut through it, damn it! We have to win!'

“Gyutaro!” Daki tried to get up to help her brother, but was suddenly interrupted by someone attacking her, she defended from the attack and jumped back a few steps.

“You! Why are you here?!” She exclaimed, seeing Y/N.

“Daki, let's talk!”

“I- I don't have anything to talk about with you!” She whined back, making various of her worm-obi go in her direction.

Y/N started to use her sword to parry the obi swings at her, talking in between huffs. “You! ugh- You helped me! Didn't you? You don't want to do this, do you?!”

“Shut up! I hate you! You know nothing of me!”

“Maybe I don't! It's not like we had enough time to get close anyway, but I want to know! I want to know you better, Daki!” She exclaimed back, trying to once again approach her, but being stopped by another wave of obi.

“It's- That's not enough! There's- It's too late! It's all over!”

“It doesn't need to be over!”

“Yes, it does! If my lord says it’s over, Then it is!”

“… So, what?”

“Huh?”

“So what if your dumb lord said its over? What did he ever do for your sake anyway?! You are the one who should decide what's worthy fighting for!”

“Then… Then I say it's worthy fighting for this!”

“And what is the “this” you talk about?! His love? His admiration?! Do you really think that person is capable of feeling such things?!"

Her eyes opened wide in surprise, it's not like she hasn't already noticed that there was not a single warm thought behind his ruby eyes, but it still felt like a bucket of cold water threw at her to have it said directly to her face like this.

“… It doesn't matter. He has mine and my brother's life in his hands. I don't even know if I care about receiving his affection at this point, but my brother- I can't risk our lives for you! You're a just a human, and I'm an upper moon! That's just how things are!”

“That's what he decided, too! Humans and demons don't need to be enemies at all! Nezuko is a demon, but she's on our side! You saw it yourself! There's also another demon who managed to escape him and is on our side, Tamayo! Do you recognize this name?”

“Wha- You can't be serious! You can't be saying that I should become a traitor!”

“Why not?!”

“What guarantees that I will even be able to stay with you humans?! I killed hundreds of you guys! My hands are already stained! Would you forgive that!?”

“I can't! I'm not some kind of goddess, I don't have the right of forgiving you in place of those who lost their lives, but even so, why keep repeating the same mistake then!? Use your stained hands to save people instead!”

One of Daki's obi managed to hit her, harshly throwing Y/N's body some meters always from the demon and almost making her fall from the house they were standing.

“Y/N!” To her surprise, Y/N gripped the edge of the ceiling before completely falling, weakly crawling back to it.

“See? I told you that you didn't want me dead.” Y/N raised her head to look at her, a small smile in her face.

In response, Daki slapped both of her hands against her mouth, she didn't even notice she exclaimed her name in worry like this.

“No- No- No- You're confusing me! No!”

She grabbed her hair, crouching and looking down while trembling.

“muzan, demons, humans, y/n, traitor, tamayo, side, lord, my lord, y/n, my y/n, which side, which side? what do I want? but i don't want anything! Do i? Affection? Love? i want it? Do I?”

She started to rumbling a bunch of rubbish, Y/N just looked at her in complete shock, did she actually break her?

“I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!” Daki suddenly loudly exclaimed, not even paying attention to where her obi was slapping against, they just getting completely out of control and attacking everything around.

One of them tackled against Y/N's side, once again throwing her in the air, this time not strong enough to throw her off the house again, but still enough for the tiles to crack in where she hit against.

She slowly got up, holding her wounded arm that dripped blood, her sword long abandoned since she didn't even have enough strength to hold on to it anymore.

Daki was standing some meters away from her, her eyes glassy like she wasn't seeing anything in front of her anymore, her obi just randomly flying around her, she was really going crazy.

“Daki!” Y/N exclaimed, trying to go to her as quickly possible, but too weak to run, she noticed that the lunges of the obi were now sloppy, and besides the small cuts they were making all over her body, it seemed like she wouldn't be killed even if she approached too much.

She took a deep breath, Daki was already shaken up enough, all that she needed was a last push. A last push to see what she would decide.

“H-have you ever thought about running away? Because I did! I always thought about it! Every day of my life I kept thinking about just leaving everything behind, but now, I realized that I've looking been too much into my future! But I want to live my present! Daki, the Y/N from the present wants to spend more time with you! The Y/N from the past really did like staying with you! Every time I said you were pretty, every time I said that I was happy, I was being sincere! So, let's run away from here, together! I know that you hate humans, and you probably hate me too, but I really like you, even if you hate me, I like you! So, Daki, what present do you want? I know that our time together was very short, but please, let's end this! Nobody needs to die today! You don't need to choose between me or you, it can be us!”

“…Nononono! You can't do this! Why?! Out of every demon slayer who could have come to kill us, why did it have to be you?! YOU MESSED IT ALL UP!” She exclaimed angrily, lunging at her in a crazy speed.

Y/N didn't even make an effort to move at all, she just stood there, looking at her with a cold expression.

The obi stopped inches across her face, Y/N just stared at Daki, expressionless as the girl trembled in front of her. “…why? Why can't I kill you?” Her voice weakly said, tears seeping out of her eyes as she slowly fell to her knees.

Y/N held back a relived sigh, silently crouching in front of Daki and engulfing her into a hug as she sobbed in her ear.

“…what I am doing? I really am a failure of a demon!”

“You know that's not true.”

“It is! What kind of demon can't kill humans?!”

“The best kind.”

“I…what will my brother say??”

“He loves you, Daki. He won't hate you, doesn't matter what you do.” She started to sob even more loudly after Y/N said this.

“Sob… I'm sorry for saying that I hated you…”

“It's okay.”

Daki then finally hugged her back, squeezing her tightly. “I'm so sorry! I'm sorry for hurting your friends!”

“None of them died, but you do should apologize to them later.”

“I will, I will…”

“There there, it's all okay now.” Y/N soothingly said, patting her head as she cried in her shoulder.

Their calm moment was interrupted, as a loud voice suddenly appeared.

“LORD INOSUKE IS BACK TO HELP! Don't underestimate my flexibility, I can easily shift my internal organs around, and poison doesn't work on me! I grew up on a really dangerous mountain! Where's the demon? I'm going to wreck her up, grah!”

He stops in his track to see Y/N and Daki still in each other arms, looking blankly at him.

“… Did I miss something?”

They let go of each other and started to get up, Daki fidgety bowing beside Y/N and saying with a red face : “I'm… I'm sorry for hurting you! Please accept me in the humans side!”

Inosuke just stood there. Confused. Really confused.

“… What? Underling, what the hell did you do to her? Why is she being so meek all of a sudden!?”

“Well, that is-”

Daki suddenly tugged at her sleeve, she looked back at her. “…can we go to my brother? I want to see him…”

“Yes, let's go.”

“HAAAAH? You're going to let her and her brother get close so easily? What if it is a trap?!”

“Inosuke, your underling can barely take a step right now, and you're not really in your best shape, if she really wanted to she could just kill us right now and go help her brother.”

“Oh.”

                          『••✎••』

While Y/N was still trying to convince Daki into changing sides, Tanjiro was using all of his strength to cut Gyutaro's neck, but he suddenly started to create more blood blades.

'He's recovering from the poison! If I get caught in that, I'll be mangled!'

The blood sickles started to hit against his blade, slowly making him go back. 'It repelled my sword!'

They managed to throw him away from Gyutaro, even though his blade was already halfway through his neck. 'Aaaagh! I was almost there! Just a little further and… Don't give up, Tanjiro! Never give up! Hang on to the end!'

“YOU LITTLE BRAT!”

'His attacks are speeding up! He's shaking off the poison! He's healing!' Tanjiro thought in panic as he quickly started to defend from the attacks. 'Can't give-'

One of Gyutaro's attacks got fatally close to him, but a yellow flash suddenly grabbed him by his waist and got him out of the way.

Thunder breathing, first form : Thunderclap and flash! Godlike speed!

“Z-Zenitsu?! You're okay!" Tanjiro exclaimed, looking up at his face, different from the burgundy boy who was very relived to see him, Zenitsu was frowning.

'I can only use thunderclap with godlike speed once, and then my legs will be shot! I used it to save Tanjiro from Gyutaro attacks. So that's all. I need to buy more time!'

He could still clearly remember Y/N's “plan”, though it was more like a stupid and hopeful idea than a plan.

“What? You're going to try talking to Daki?! That's suicide!”

“Hey! Didn't you just say that you trusted me? You know me enough to tell that I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't 100% sure it has a chance of working!”

“Just a chance is entirely different from it being definitive!”

“Look, since you will forget about all of this anyway, I might as well tell you. Uzui is going to lose his arm.”

“What? How do you even know that?”

“Go help him and Tanjiro with Gyutaro. I will handle Daki myself.”

“Are you crazy? You can't go fight her alone!”

“Inosuke is still alive, if I fail in talking to her, then he will cut her head in my stead.”

“But that means you would be dead…”

“Oh please, you're speaking with the girl who survived having a hole in her stomach!” (though it was Ether who healed me, and a normal human would never be able to survive that! )

“But even so-”

“Hey!” She gave a weak bonk to his head. “Just do what I said, and if Uzui loses his arm, I'm definitely going to hit you!” She set off before he even could protest, leaving the poor boy without any other options besides going along with her crazy idea.

'Y/N… please be okay!'

Gyutaro was ready to redirect his blades at the boys, but Uzui suddenly appeared to defend them, making his double blades hit against each of the blood blades.

'He's not dead?! But his heart! I heard it stop!… Oh, I see! He forced his own heart to stop, to keep the poison from circulating!'

“I perfected the musical score technique! I'm going for the win!” Uzui exclaimed, an almost maniac smile in his face.

Tengen Uzui has analyzed combat maneuvers to the point where he can read them like sheet music. It just takes time. He converts the rhythm of the enemies attacks into sound, so every fight becomes a song. He hears repeated phrases and can attack between beats and during the rests, dancing with his opponent.

But… The poison in his body has him at his limit just blocking the enemy's attacks, he can't strike at Gyutaro's head.

Zenitsu or Tanjiro, one of them must do it! Zenitsu is also at his limit since he already used his thunderclap with god speed, so the only one who can cut Gyutaro's head right now...

Is Tanjiro!

'He deflected all the rotating circular slashes! How?! It shouldn't be possible! I can't believe it!'

One of the blood blades made a cut against Uzui's face, as he suddenly went down and grabbed Gyutaro's leg to keep him in place.

“Uzui!” Tanjiro exclaimed, running is his direction.

“Don't stop! Jump!” Uzui screamed back, as Tanjiro jumped in his direction.

'Too slow, you little snail! He's useless, no matter how much help he gets!' Gyutaro though, using his scythe to stab Tanjiro's jaw, you could even see the tip of the blade inside his opened mouth. 'This is the end! The poison will get him!'

'Do it! Finish this! Don't give up! Cut off his head!'

Even with the blade sinking at his jaw, Tanjiro didn't stop swinging his blade at the demon's neck. 'I can't believe this fool! He's still swinging at me! He knows he can't cut my neck!'

'Arm strength alone isn't enough. I have to use my whole body! Use everything from head to toe! Gotta ignore the pain! Stay focused! A single blow won't be enough. Summon a hundred times that strength!'

The scar in Tanjiro's forehead started to shift, changing to a form similar to fire.

'What… the scar in his forehead…! I can't pull my sickle out of his jaw!'

The blade was already halfway through his neck. 'Argh! This brat is gonna cut off my head! But even if he does, I'll be fine as long as my sister's head is still on!'

It was a vain thought, as the connection with Daki was suddenly turned off, and he couldn't see what was going on in her side anymore 'What - Why did she cut off the connection? What's going on with her?!… The Rotating circular slashes!'

Tanjiro finished cutting off his head, which flied away and hit the ground some meters always from his corpse.

“YOU CUT IT OFF?! YOU DID IT! YOU CUT IF OFF! YEEEEEEEES!”

Suma exclaimed, happily wrapping her arms around Hinatsuru's neck. “They cut off his head, Hinatsuru! I bet that has you rolling up in your grave! Ah ha ha!”

Makio proceeds to give a small slap to her head, exclaiming : “Do you even know what that means?! You idiot!”

Hinatsuru suddenly speaks up. “Wait, something strange is happening…”

Tanjiro's was panting heavily in the ground, his face drenched in his own blood. 'Th-the poison… Somehow… With breathing… Slows its circulation, even a little…'

Uzui suddenly started to run to him and scream, but he couldn't hear him at all. 'What? He's saying something… wasn't the head… cut off? Uzui is… saying… something…'

“RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!”

Hundreds of enormous blood scythes hurricanes appeared, engulfing everything around, nobody had time to escape, as Tanjiro was knocked out cold.

                           『••✎••』

“Mummph..”

He slowly opened his eyes, seeing Nezuko's face.

“Nezuko…”

Tanjiro then remembers what was going on, getting up exasperated to see everything around him completely destroyed, not even a single clue of the houses that used to exist around the place besides the debris all over the floor.

“This is awful! What a mess!” Nezuko then started to bump her head into his shoulder.

“You helped?” He asked, patting her head. “Thanks.”

Tanjiro suddenly got up. “What about everyone else?!” He started to run in a random direction, but stopped after noticing something. 'How I am still moving? How I am even alive after I was poisoned?'

Very recognizable screams reached his ears. “Y/NNNNNNNNNN!”

“That's Zenitsu!”

Nezuko yanked her brother, putting him in her back and taking him to where the screams were coming from. “Whoa!”

The scene they saw was…

Y/N was standing there while Zenitsu hugged her by her waist and loudly cried with his cheek pressed against her stomach. “I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SEE YOUR FACE FOR SOME REASON! WAAAAAAAAH!”

“There there, I'm really thankful for your help!” She happily responded, petting his hair.

“I DON'T KNOW WHAT HELP YOU'RE THANKING ME FOR!”

“Y/N! Zenitsu!”

“Huh? Oh, Tanjiro! It's nice to see you-” He tackled her into a hug, both of them falling to the ground. “…all right?”

“I'm so glad you're okay!”

"Huh?"

“He- the demon said that you were dead! He said that you were smashed under the rubble, and I was so scared! I thought I would never see you again!” He cried loudly while nuzzling against her neck, this is already the third hug Y/N received today, you could say that she was happy with the sudden affection.

“HEY, AREN'T YOU GOING TO ASK ABOUT ME?!” Zenitsu exclaimed in an offended way, Tanjiro just gave a small nod while still sobbing, reluctantly letting go of Y/N to check on his friend.

“I woke up and my whole body hurts! Are my feet broken? What the heck happened?! Who did this to me?! It hurts! I'm too scared to look!”

“There there, no need to worry…” Y/N gently said while patting his head, but it only had the contrary effect as he started to cry even more loudly : “AND Y/N IS SUDDENLY BEING VERY AFFECTIONATE TO ME FOR SOME REASON! AM I GOING TO DIE?!”

“Oh good, you're all right!”

“I'm not all right! I'm pretty badly off, but Inosuke is even worse! His heartbeat is getting weaker and weaker! He's over there!”

He looked over to see Inosuke's body lying around. “Inosuke! Hang in there! Inosuke!”

Tanjiro put his hand in his chest, checking his heart. 'His heartbeat! It is getting weaker! I have to do something about the poison! I know! Put him in sunlight? No, it isn't dawn yet… Send a crow to Shinobu? No, that's too slow! What can I do?! If I don't do something, Inosuke will die! Why am I all right?! Why only me?!”

“Come on Nezuko! Time to put him on fire!” Y/N happily said while sitting beside Nezuko, who just responded with a happy “hmmph” and started slowly reaching out to the unconscious boar.

“Huh? What do you-”

Nezuko lit his body, it immediately being consumed by red flames. “EEEH- YOU MEANT IT LITERALLY??”

'??? The poison tainted skin… is healing?'

“I'M HUNGRY! FEED ME!” Inosuke suddenly exclaimed like his heart wasn't about to stop a few seconds ago.

“Boss! I'm glad to see you awake!”

“A measly poison is not enough to kill lord Inosuke!” He exclaimed, sitting and proudly putting his hands in his hips.

“Yay!” Y/N clapped happily, she decided to avoid telling him that he was about to die from the 'measly poison'.

“That's right! Praise your lord!”

“NOOOOOOOO YOU CAN'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T DIE TENGEN!” Suma exclaimed while she and the other two surrounded Tengen weakened body.

“WE WON! WE ALL SURVIVED! NO! NO! WHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUT THAT DEMON POISON? OUR ANTIDOTE ISN'T WORKING! THIS IS AWFUL, GOD! JUST AWFUL!”

“…I want to share with you my final words, if I've learned anything-”

“TENGEN, IF YOU DIE, I'LL NEVER PRAY TO THE GODS AGAIN! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE THIS, DO YOU HEAR?!”

“SHUT UP FOR A SECOND! TENGEN IS TALKING!” Makio angrily exclaims at the crying Suma.

“BOTH OF YOU, BE QUIET!”

“DON'T MAKE ME STICK A ROCK IN YOUR MOUTH, YOU DUMMY!”

“WAAAAAAH! MAKIO'S BEING MEAN TO ME!”

They all started to scream and fight, that was, until Nezuko silently approached the four, they looked confused at the demon girl, who touched his shoulder, his whole body catching in flame in response.

“GYAAAAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHO ARE YOU?! IT'S TOO SOON TO CREMATE HIM! HE ISN'T DEAD YET! DON'T BURN HIM! I'M GONNA TAKE YOU OVER MY KNEE LIKE A BIG SISTER SHOULD!” Suma cried while holding Nezuko.

“Wait look! What's the meaning of this? The poison is gone!”

Tanjiro approached them, “I think Nezuko's blood demon art burned all the poison, I don't understand how it works, but it does. The wounds aren't healed, so don't move around, but I'm glad you're alright.”

“How is this possible? I'm so confused- you shouldn't move either, you will die.”

“He's looking for the demons.” Y/N said, Hinatsuru quickly recognizing her.

“You! I'm glad to see you're fine!”

“I'm glad to see you are okay, too!”

“Eeh? You know her, Hinatsuru?” Suma says, she nodded in response.

“Oh, I think Tengen told us about you before!” Makio said.

“He….did?”

“Yeah! About a girl who invaded a hashira trial and called the wind hashira mochi!”

Y/N smile quickly got twisted, as she menacingly approached Uzui and started pulling his hair. “Out of all things you could tell to them about me, why this moment?!”

“I was confused at the time, but now that I think about it, it was totally hilarious!” He said while laughing loudly, ignoring her murderous look.

“NO IT WASN'T! DON'T REMIND ME ABOUT MY DARK MOCHI PAST!” She exclaimed even more loudly, grabbing his shirt and shaking him harshly.

“We need to keep looking for the demon's head, I can't rest until I confirm their deaths.”

Y/N quickly let go of Uzui to follow him and Nezuko, after a while looking around, she shyly approached the burgundy boy.

“Tanjiro, I think there's something I should tell you…”

                         『••✎••』

Daki crouched in front of her brother's decapitated head, she couldn't find proper words to tell what she was planning to do.

“You- What are you doing? You should be-”

“Brother. I think… I think I will be going with the humans.”

“What?! Are you crazy?! How could YOU join THEM? They are all weak! Weak and pathetic! We hate them!”

“They… They aren't weak! You saw it yourself! Your head is on the ground, but they are all standing!”

“… You really… think that this is okay? Do you really think that these humans have a chance against the demons?!?

“I don't know. But… I want to try! Even if I'm joining the losing side, even if it is the hardest route, I want to fight for another thing apart from survival! We aren't at risk of death anymore, so I want to fight for me! And for you too!”

“....For…me?”

“I want to protect you too, brother! I never noticed it, but… I love you.”

“I-”

“Please, come with us! I want to stay with you! You promised, didn't you? That we would always stay together!”

He looked at her, in complete shock, her face contorted in sadness when she noticed that he wasn't responding.

“I… I will be going! Even...Even without you! You can be an upper moon alone if you want to!”

She exclaimed, her face filled with tears as she started to get up to set off.

“… Ume…”

“Huh?” She turned back to look at him.

'I only just remembered that my sister's name was Ume!'

“… I promised… didn't I? We would always be together…”

“Yes! And, even if we were to die and be reborn, I would always want to be your little sister again!”

“I… even through heaven and hell, we will be together…I said so, didn't I?"

“You...will come with me?”

“I can't leave my little sister alone, can I?”

“B-Brother!”

The heartwarming moment was interrupted by a loud sound, the demons looked to see Tanjiro and Nezuko standing there with a very surprised expression.

“Y/N! Brother said he will come with us!” Daki happily said, running to the girl and wrapping her arms around her neck.

“Hummmph! Hummph!” Nezuko exclaimed, trying to pull the demon off Y/N.

“What do you mean?! You have to wait for your turn!” She pouted at Nezuko, who just started to humph even more loudly.

“HUummph!”

Tanjiro just stood there, without any idea about how to react to this, didn't this mean that they all almost died for nothing?

“Hey you. The boy.”

“M-me?!”

“My body. I lost it around the rubble. Help me find it.” Gyutaro said, his head still laying there in the ground.

“But-”

“Let's go find his body!” Y/N interrupted him before he could question.

“Y/N! Are you sure…?”

“Huh?”

“What if they…”

“Don't worry about it Tan-Tan, the more to help against Muzan the merrier!” She said, reaching out to pat his head.

“I'm going to cut him in a hundred pieces for making a fool out of me!” Daki exclaimed in a cutesy tone, it didn't even look like she was talking about cutting someone to pieces.

Tanjiro reluctantly helped them find Gyutaro's body with his nose, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, they say.

After he connected his head back to his body, everyone just stood there in an awkward atmosphere.

Well, it's hard to instantly turn into friends when they all almost killed you before.

“Come on, brother! You have to apologize!”

“Huh?”

“Y/N said that the first step to being in the good side is apologizing!”

“I never said that, but you do should apologize.” Y/N commented.

“…Sorry, boy. Sorry about breaking your fingers, too.”

“… Its…fine?”

"Hmm…Sorry, girl.”

“It's all fine, your poison is weak anyway.”

“You little-”

                          『••✎••』

“Well done! I'm very impressed!”

Obanai said, looking down at Uzui hurt form.

Thanks to Zenitsu, he didn't lose his arm like in the manga, but the same couldn't be said about one of his eyes.

“We don't need compliments from the likes of you!”

“Yeah!”

“You're late!”

“Where have you been?! You're late!”

“Hssssss” His snake hissed, making Suma cower in fear and hug Tengen tightly. “YAAAH!”

“Geez, I see that you still bully girls around.” Y/N said, walking from the middle of the rubble.

“You're… alive?”

“Happy to see me?”

“Not at all.”

“Anyway, I have good and bad news! Which one do you guys want first?”

Uzui raised his brow suspiciously, but said weakly : “… The bad one?”

“Upper moons 6 are still alive!”

“WHAT?!”

“Where are they?!”

“Hey! Won't you guys ask about the good news?”

“… And they are?”

“They are willing to enter the humans side!"

“What?!”

A mini version of Daki popped her head from behind Y/N.

“SHE'S HERE!”

“WAAAAAAH!”

Uzui wives started to cry loudly as the demon approached him in baby steps, Obanai was in too much shock to react.

She silently patted his head. “Sorry about your eye.”

“What?”

“What?”

“What?”

“And… sorry for trapping you guys in my obi. And for making you consume poison.” She said, turning to pat the Makio, Suma and Hinatsuru heads one by one.

“EEEEH?!”

“This… can't be real-”

“Y/N, the hell did you do to the demon?!” Uzui exclaimed to her, who just proudly puffed her chest in response.

“Aren't you a shinobi? So, you should know the very effective technique of talk-no-jutsu!”

“That's not a technique! You're lucky I'm too weak to hit you right now!”

“Don't worry, I can do it for you.” Obanai commented, approaching her and harshly pulling her cheeks. “Ouch! Ouch! Imh shorrhy!”

“You know that we can't take a demon with us, do you?” Obanai said, still pulling her cheeks.

“Don't you guys want to make a hashira trial to decide or something?!”

“We can't… do a trial.”

“Eeeh?! Why?!”

'The other hashiras are too biased toward you-' Is what he thought, but he stared at her hopeful eyes for some seconds and let go of her with a sigh. “We will decide this later.”

“Phew-” Y/N sighed, rubbing her swollen cheeks.

“For now, let's just say that we won this battle.” Uzui just commented with a sigh, still unsure about how to feel, he didn't expect he would ever see a demon sincerely apologize to him while patting his head.

'… It's over. It's finally over! I'm so… tired….

dad… I did it… I saved her…. I saved someone again….' Y/N body finally gives in, as she fell limp to the ground.

“Y/N! HEY!” She could hear some screams, but everything was blurred as she passed out.

  ──✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ──

[ This chapter made me SUFFER.

Yoriichi and Daki dialogues really came to bite me in the ass, I tried to make it less corny as possible but honestly I don't know if I succeded in making them good-

I really hope you guys liked it because I really wasted all of my tears and sweat in this one, please appreciate the suffering of this poor author 😭😭😭😭😭 ]