Chapter Text
Tanjiro grabs the basket, the weight of it familiar on his back. His smile was bright as he prepared to head out. After all, coal won’t be able to sell itself! And he needed to make sure he used all the daylight the day had to offer, it is the winter season after all. His dark red hair was pulled back into its usual bun, wearing his usual green haori and the hanafuda earrings.
Today was going to be a good day!
“Tanjiro? You have soot covering your face..Come here.” His mother interrupts his train of thought. He dutifully obeys, allowing his mother to fuss over him. His mother had her dark purple eyes trained on him, as she wiped away the soot from his face, strands of her black hair escaping from her tied up hair, framing her face in a more delicate light. It’s at times like these where he mourns the fact that his mother is left without his father. Sure his dad was sick all the time, but he was at least here . He often enjoyed entertaining his other siblings, leaving Mum free to work on chores with him and his other siblings.
“You know you don’t have to go, right? It’s dangerous with all this snow.” His mother says, a hint of worry in her tone.
He smiles, saying “Well I want everyone to eat their fill for New Year’s eve! I want to sell as much coal as I can.”
His mother nods, a fond smile on her face. “Thank you.”
He knows his mother feels guilty for not being able to rely on someone else to do the coal runs, but he doesn’t see it as a bother at all! It only makes sense as the one of the oldest that he takes up this responsibility!
“Tanjiro!” A voice shouts. He turns to see it’s Shigeru, the young boy bounding ahead. His dark red eyes, the same as Tanjiro’s and the rest of his siblings, his dark black the same as their mother. He wore a smile as he rushed to his older brother, Haneko right by his side. Shigeru asks “Are you going to town?”
Haneko says, in all her excitable 8 year old glory, “I’m going with you!”
Tanjiro smiles at them, taking the chance to smell their happiness and excitement. He always likes seeing his family happy. He pets Haneko’s head, his fingers messing with her short dark hair. Their Mum says “Oh no you’re not. It’s too snowy for Tanjiro to take the cart.”
Shigeru whines, which looks more adorable since he had gotten his head shaved down, revealing the youthful chubby cheeks as he pouts. “Mum!”
His mother says in not an unkind tone “Neither of you can walk as fast as Tanjiro, and you know how your brother gets when the lot of you stay out late in the dark.”
Shigeru whines slightly, clinging to Tanjiro, the 7 year old always has been quite the clinger. “Brother!”
Haneko follows her younger brother’s lead, clinging to him too. “Please! I wanna go with you! I promise to help!” She pleads, her eyes wide. It makes him chuckle as he pets her head, ruffling her dark locks.
He lets her down in a gentle tone. “Thanks Haneko, but you’ll be staying home today.”
Haneko makes a small sound as he says to the 7 year old, “You too Shigeru. But I’ll get you lots of goodies!”
He pats Shigeru’s head as well, the feeling of the short strands of hair tickling his hand. He turns back to Haneko and says “And once I get home, it’s my turn to read to you, ok?”
Haneko gasps, nodding her head. She always liked it when it was Tanjiro’s turn to read because he puts on funny voices for her. “Ok!”
“Good girl!” He praises.
“Thank you Tanjiro.” His mother says, a tone of gratefulness in her voice for not having to handle both of her kids' disappointment.
“Sure. Ok! I’m heading out.” He says when he spots Takeo standing a few feet away, an axe in hand. “Takeo, will you chop as much wood as you can?”
“Sure I’ll do it but…” The ten year old says, his little 10 year old face hiding his disappointment well. “I was hoping we would do it together!”
The cuteness was too much for Tanjiro as he comforts the boy, petting his head, hair styled in a similar way to him, spiky hair tickling his hand. “There, there!” He says cheerfully.
And naturally as all little brothers do at some point, he shies away from the affection. “What’s with that?!”
He blushes, something that is immediately caught by Shigeru who begins to tease “You’re blushing Take!”
“Shut up!” Said boy growls out, though Tanjiro knows there is no heat to his words, embarrassment flowing out of him- giving the faint smell of slightly spoiled milk.
“There, there!” Tanjiro repeats the action, smiling at the boy.
“I said cut it out!” The boy insists, despite his scent smelling more like fondness and love- a lovely smell of home cooked meals and the scent of earthy wood scents.
Everyone could see that deep beneath the prickly exterior and serious demeanour, Takeo was a softie. Hence they laughed, the sound of it drawing attention.
“Why are we laughing?” A voice calls out, popping a head out of the house. Despite it now being a year since his father’s passing, Tanjiro still needs a moment to pause.
His twin had always looked the most like their father in his opinion.
He had the same dark red hair that their father had, the same dark red eyes. Currently he wasn’t wearing the haori that was like their father’s a soft orange, instead he was simply in a white shirt, wearing some simple brown trousers. But Yoriichi didn’t have their father’s pale and sickly look. He didn’t look like their father had, all skin and bones. He had a hearty look to him, some colour to his cheeks as the cold wind of winter hit him. He wore his hair down, the long hair flowing down to his shoulders. He also had the distinctive mark. A strange birthmark that was like a burn mark around his forehead, the mark resting where Tanjiro’s burn scar was, similar to their father’s.
He started to change his appearance a little after Dad passed, the year often leading to moments where the family would be sorely reminded of the man they lost.
“Take is blushing because he wants Nii san to cut wood with him!” Shigeru teases once more, causing Takeo to pinch his brother’s ear.
“You’re heading out?” Yoriichi questions Tanjiro.
“Yep! I want everyone to eat well this year! Especially since this year we will be performing the dance together!” He says with an excited smile.
“Are you sure that is wise?” Yoriichi asks again. “I doubt you would be able to get through the whole of town on your own.”
“I’m sure I can, and I promise I will be as quick as I can.” Tanjiro argues back slightly.
Despite the fact that Tanjiro and his twin were born around the same time, his twin always gave off this faint whiff of a knowing sense. As if despite being in a younger body, he had a vague knowing of the world around him, that belonged to a person far older.. As long as Tanjiro could remember, his brother had always looked out for him, always leading the way. A sense of maturity that would pop between all the times he was a menace to those he felt deserved it.
Sometimes, his brother’s actions hardly made sense.
He never understood why his brother feared them staying out late. Well..Ok that makes sense, but Tanjiro can smell emotions from others all the time! He knows that his brother normally tends to view other people with a minty chill flavour of detachment. Even the few times they did encounter someone after dark, his brother never reacted beyond sticking closer. And yet he would listen to old man Saburo go on about Demons with an unnerving gaze, the smells of his emotions blending together in a cocktail that made Tanjiro’s head spin.
Or the fact that he practised the Hinokami Kagura with an fervour, sometimes even on bad nights breaking his own rules to practise in the night….
Those nights only dad could stop him from doing so.
Or how every night, as long as he was able to get it, he would try to find wisterias to burn at night, and every night he couldn’t he would stay up, keeping watch. Not even he knew why the scent was supposed to do. He just never could sleep without the aroma wafting around the house. He even tried his hand at planting wisterias around the house, but while his brother is surely skilled in lots of things…Gardening is not one of them. Nezuko is better at that.
His brother was complicated. Some days, he would be protective and borderline hovering, while others he would be fine with doing something silly- like the time when he was three and gave their father a heart attack when he climbed the tallest tree while dad was out collecting wood. Others he would be brooding, but if questioned could never properly answer.
Sometimes it frustrates Tanjiro if only because he wants to help. He wants to pluck out the sadness from his twin, like it was a bad weed.
“I promise I will be fine. I got a good nose after all!” He instead says, choosing to not give voice to his thoughts. He looks over at Takeo and has an idea. “But maybe you can help Takeo out!” He offers. “I just asked him to go and chop some wood. Maybe you can help him practise his swings?”
Takeo perks up, a sweet excitement flooding the air. “Could you?”
While it was no secret that the favourite older sibling was Tanjiro for Takeo- mainly due to the fact that Takeo was prevented from having a burn scar that decorates Tanjiro’s head- Yoriichi was a pretty close second. His twin was a natural talent for anything to do with blades, as if it was made for him. Something he inherited from their father.
Yoriichi pauses for a moment. He glances at Tanjiro before saying with a small smile. “Of course Take. Let me just go get the axe ok?”
Takeo nods, smiling widely. Yoriichi, raises an eyebrow clearly seeing when he is being distracted but merely mutters a “Just be home quickly as you can.”
That’s basically the closest thing to a “Be safe!” so he’ll take it.
“I will!” He reassures.
Shigueru tugs on his sleeve saying “Hurry back, ok?”
Hanako cheerfully adds on a “Be safe!” always receptive to what wasn’t spoken. He begins the trek down, glancing back to see his family waving back. His three younger siblings and his mother smile back at him as he waves back. He knows the only reason why his twin isn’t doing so is to avoid the temptation to drag Tanjiro back or try to follow him.
The two had plenty of arguments about that much to their parents' dismay.
As he heads down he sees a familiar pink kimono and sighs inwardly in relief. " Maybe I have picked up a habit or two from Yoriichi." He thinks as he sees his younger sister carrying the littlest one of them all.
“Brother!” She calls out happily, carrying a sleeping Rokuto in her arms.
“Hey Nezuko!” He calls back, smiling at her. “Putting him down to sleep?”
“Yeah!” She giggles, rubbing the 4 year old’s back. “Otherwise he would make a scene of you leaving, and then try to cling to Yoriichi. And you know how he is, he would just cave in to the clinginess. He’s missed dad a lot since he passed.”
Tanjiro laughs, picturing his twin in his mind attempting to mimic what their dad has done in the past with all their siblings, carrying the little one on a back too small for such things. Rokuto was very much a clingy kid, but then again, it made sense. His main person had been dad, happily playing or napping with the man, while everyone else did chores. Dad even helped little Roku learn his words and letters. And with how both Tanjiro and Yoriichi (Yoriichi especially) it made sense, how the little one was attached to them.
“Yeah! And Yori would just let him cling on even when he is clearly wanting to be alone.” Tanjiro comments, chuckling as he pats Rokuto’s head, the soft bowl cut being messed with slightly. Let it be known, his brother was not much of a social butterfly.
“And everyone follows wherever you both go.” She comments, a smile upon her lips, pink eyes glowing under the soft snowy light. “See you later!”
He chuckles as he waves her off, picking up speed as he hurries down the mountain. And the only thing he can think of is this…
"We may not have had an easy life, but we are happy!"
He slides the last few feet down the slope of the mountain, indulging the old habit when he and Yori would race each other down the mountain, something he had started as a way to bring a smile to his twin’s face. Sunlight begins to peek out behind the silver clouds as he walks into the freshly cleared streets of town, the town itself beginning to wake up. He smiles as he smells the cheerful emotions of the people around him. This town may not be much to some people, the place being in the countryside and all that, but this is what he loved. Being able to see the people around him happy.
A familiar face called out to him.
“Well now Tanjiro! I can’t believe you came down the mountain on a day such as this! Such a hard worker! You might catch a cold!”
He approaches Mrs Ito, the kindly woman having always been someone who has been kind to the Kamados. She runs the local bookshop, but in exchange for the charcoal they make, she lets them borrow books for free.
Yoriichi definitely has made use of the place, reading history books and stories on myths and legends. Shigeru made use of the kids' books, liking the western stories that came by the most. Hanako liked books on fashion and princess tales. Nezuko liked gardening and foraging books, always willing to expand her knowledge. Rokuto simply liked it when people read to him, though it was often encouraged to try to sound out words. Their Mum liked to borrow school textbooks, both she and their dad doing their best to give as good an education as they can get.
“This is nothing, really!” He assures the kind woman. He tilts his head as he asks. “Do you need anymore charcoal?”
She shakes her head. “Thank you dearie but you need not worry. Your brother came and gave me some last week, though I can imagine you both are excited for New year’s aren’t you? He mentioned that you both would be doing that special dance of yours.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. He’s really been putting me through my paces. He’s even been teaching Nezuko and Takeo a bit of it too! Takeo especially has been keen about it.”
Since their dad has now passed, it’s up to both him and Yoriichi to do the Sun Dance. Though he doubts he would be able to dance from dusk to dawn like their dad did. Yori, maybe. Him? Hardly. He still hasn’t been able to get the breathing right, frustrating both him and Yoriichi who is unsure how to teach him what comes naturally to him.
“Well, try to keep your brother out of trouble won’t you dear? We don’t need a repeat of him pushing himself and getting hurt again! He gave my grandkids such a fright when he just walked in to return a book still covered in blood from his fall!”
Despite his brother being quite the protective force of nature in regards to his siblings, he has a poor sense of knowing when he should rest. Often he would end up injured or sleep deprived saying he could “handle it”, which was a lie since it resulted in incidents where he had fallen on the mountain and instead of going to the doctor, he did whatever he was originally going to do. One could say Tanjiro was being a hypocrite for his words, but he would be a proud one in this case- he does have the only one twin .
“Of course Mrs Ito.” He says, with a kind smile.
Soon he hears the sounds of the other townsfolk calling him. Mr Watanbe, the butcher, calls out “Hey can I have some charcoal kid?”
Something he is more than happily willing to oblige. And even though he tries to return the extra money he slipped in, he gets a simple “Happy New year” and is hurried along to the next one. Mr Sato says “Thanks for fixing my sliding doors the other day! Also give thanks to your brother for being able to find my cat!”
Mr Sato was well known for being clumsy, so he often requested help in fixing things he wasn’t able to. Takeo had done him the favour of tracking down the cat, after it had gotten lost. Takeo has always been very good with animals.
Miss Watanabe calls out to him, “Can I have some charcoal too? Oh I hope your sister will be able to come play soon, Aiko would love to have another play date!”
He smiles as he gives her the charcoal, making a mental note to tell Hanako that Miss Watanbe’s sister would like to play.
He sees a door slid open. A boy that he thinks is Mrs Suziki’s son is dragged out, blood in his mouth. He can catch the whiff of hot and heavy anger mixed in with smokey nervousness.
“Tanjiro? Oh boy, am I so glad it’s you!” He says, perking up, the cooling relief flooding out of him. He shows him a bundle of cloth and china and shoves it in his face as he kneels.
“I’ve been accused of breaking this plate! Help me out would ya? Sniff it!”
Ah yes. Definitely not the first time he has been used as a lie detector. He sniffs the cloth, smelling past the anger and nervousness he smells on it, dragging up older smells. He has to thank Yoriichi for helping him practise that skill in their youth. He smells.. “I smell a cat.”
“You see?” The boy says, turning to the woman behind him, Mrs Suziki smelling of a faint whiff of guilt.
“Oh really? So it was my cat?”
“I told you it wasn’t me.” The boy says.
Thankfully Tanjiro is spared from being brought further into the conversation by a voice calling out to him. “Hey Tanjiro, mind giving me a hand with this luggage?”
He sighs slightly in relief. While Yoriichi would have little shame on listening in, and while he is curious himself, Tanjiro definitely feels a little shame for being nosy.
Suffice to say, what with selling charcoal and helping everyone, it grew dark as he climbed up the mountain. He was tired, his pace slower than it would normally be. " Geez, Yori is gonna kill me." He moans in his head, hating the thought of stressing his twin out. No doubt another sleepless night awaits for him. He winces as he thinks. " Hopefully I can make it back quickly enough without trouble. I don’t want to disappoint Hanako, I did promise I would read to her after all." Despite her sunny and bright appearance, his sister sure could hold a grudge. The last person who ticked her off was Shigreu, who had made the mistake of making fun of her hair when she attempted to braid it when she was 5. That day resulted in a large tantrum. And she had only started to let it go. " But still, Takeo will no doubt have had fun." He assures himself. " Plus I still got the sweets for Shigeru and made plenty of money!"
He is broken out of his voice by a familiar voice.
“Hey Tanjiro!” Saburo called out. The older man had a look of worry in his dark eyes, holding a lantern. It’s the same kind of look worry Yoriichi gets.
He doesn’t get why it’s so important.
The smell of worry is a particular scent of stifling rotting fruit smell.
“What are you doing out here so late?” Mr Saburo says in worry. “Don't you know it's dangerous!?”
“Oh don't worry, I got a good nose! I can make my way up the mountain!” He tries to assure.
“You can stay here for the night.” Mr Saburo says gruffly, though the fear and worry cling to him tightly.
“But..” He tries to argue.
“No buts!” Saburo argues back, his eyes wide with an unspoken knowledge. “Come on! Before the demons show up!”
And with that said, Tanjiro knew he couldn’t argue.
"Forgive me guys." He thinks as he enters the house with a sigh. " Looks like I’m gonna be a little late after all."
He enters the house and politely sits down as Mr Saburo pours out two bowls of food, and he eats it. He lets the older man fuss over him, knowing that since he arrived Mr Saburo has been alone. Loneliness was like a permanent chill that hung around him. In a surprising twist, despite the older man being a self proclaimed hermit, Yoriichi managed to befriend the older man, finding a quiet solace. " Perhaps because they both share the same fear?" He pondered.
As he finishes the meal, he says, “Thanks for the meal!”
He pauses for a moment. He knows his brother well, while his brother has been pretty good at not sneaking out to practise the dance since dad died, Tanjiro knew his twin well. He would likely have another sleepless night unless someone could convince him. And now with dad gone, the task falls to him. And while he doesn’t believe in the things his brother does, he can at least try to understand. And who better to ask?
“Mr Saburo, can I ask a question?” He says, tilting his head.
A gruff huff is his response, but his smell says he’s open.
“What are demons like?” He asks bluntly.
Mr Saburo stiffens, but answers “Hasn’t your brother taught you anything about them? As knowledgeable as he can be on the subject.”
“He has! But…I kind of want to hear your take on it.” He says.
Mr Saburo hums. “They’re man-eating demons who prowl around at night, constantly seeking out prey. It’s why you should never stroll out at night.”
Tanjiro nods, frowning a bit in thought. “I see…It’s just, Yoriichi always says that the demons used to be human, for the most part. All but one. The one who calls himself the Demon King.”
Mr Saburo shrugs. “I don’t know about all that, but I do know this, Demons will never pass up an opportunity for food. It doesn’t matter how you beg or plead. It doesn’t matter what you offer them. They will get you one way or the other.”
The bitterness was an overpowering smell that Tanjiro held his head up with a hand, and discretely pinched his nose to block the smell.
“I see…” He says quietly. " The loss of his family must have hit him hard. In order to come up with this stuff. But then again, why does Yori know this more than him?" He thinks to himself.
“Either way, I have to thank your brother for giving me the tip about the wisteria.” Mr Saburo says, shrugging. “Having that has helped me sleep better at night.”
“Wait!” Tanjiro jolts up in surprise. “You didn’t teach him about that?”
“No. Why do you look shocked?” He says, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s just that…Yoriichi said it was you who taught him.”
Mr Saburo shakes his head. “Nope. Not me. Don’t know why he lied about it. Now, if you’re done eating you can go to bed.”
It’s as he’s laying down to head to sleep that he asks.
“So what
does
the wisteria do?”
“It protects the house from Demons. Demons can’t stand two things. Sunlight, and the scent of wisteria. If you didn’t have that, you just had to hope and pray a Demon Slayer showed up.”
Tanjiro can faintly smell the scent of wisteria, Mr Saburo must still have some of the flower's scents stocked up. Yoriichi was getting worried about the low stock he had.
“What’s a Demon Slayer?” he asks.
“Your brother never told you about them?”
Tanjiro shakes his head. “Nope. He always just says that the wisteria would keep most demons out. He normally just tends to stay up on nights that he doesn’t have the scent.”
“Hmm. I would say he’s stupid but then again I have seen your brother with an axe. Demon Slayers slay Demons. They protect us. Have done since…forever.” Mr Saburo takes a deep breath, a brief flash of sadness passing through before saying gruffly “Now go to sleep. You can head out at first light.”
As Tanjiro lies his head down, all he can think is "He’s been here all along except for my brother this whole time. Maybe next time I can convince Yori to bring our siblings with him, so that the both of them can see there is no reason why they should be afraid. After all, Demons don’t exist."
He sleeps peacefully, for the most part, though flashes of…something cross his mind, making him a bit unsteady as he wakes up. His breath is quick and fast paced. But he pushes it aside as he heads back to his house, practising his apologies in his head as he does.
At least he does till he smells…
Blood!
He rushes up and he almost vomits on the smells of fear, and death. A horrid stench fills his nose as he approaches the place, the white snow crunching under foot. He sees his home. The door is…unlocked. Open. The wind easily blows in, taking with it the smell of wisteria. He can see how the pot was kicked over, the grey ash mixing in with the white snow. The copper scent of blood is overwhelming, mixing in the rotten scent of death.
“Mum?” He calls out first, slowly approaching the house.
He enters the house and is greeted with a corpse. It takes a moment to place why it’s there. But soon he registers the open purple eyes, the familiar dark hair, the hair loose and flowing free from its usual bun.
The table is upturned. The place is wrecked and there is a corpse in the doorway.
His mother is in the doorway.
He screams, birds flying away.
“Rokuto? Nezuko! Shigeru! Hanako! Yoriichi !” He screams as he looks around for them. In the snow, he sees footprints, his eyes focused on it. A group of them, heading down the mountain. He runs, barely hearing the sound of thunder as the scent of pressure tells him that more snow is incoming. Better make use of the footprints. They zig and zag every which way. He runs, his breathing erratic, his heart racing.
"Please god not them! Please God not them!" He pleads in his mind.
It doesn’t matter how much you beg or plead. Demons get their way.
He smells the blood, and though he is terrified by what he would find, he is more terrified at what he wouldn’t.
He sees a clearing half way down the mountain. In it, there are 5 corpses and one body. Shigeru is face down in the snow, blood covering his clothes. Hanako’s face he can’t see but there are great big wounds on her back. Takeo’s face has a mark on it as his eyes are closed, and Tanjiro can’t see if he is breathing, too distracted by the sight he sees.
Rokuto is laying limp in the bloodied arms of Yoriichi, Nezuko’s eyes are open, her arm torn through, her shoulder exposed, the blood staining the ground. It looked like his burn mark changed, becoming red swirling flames. Panicked breathing is coming from Yoriichi, something Tanjiro had never seen from his twin before. Not even nightmares draw this reaction out.
In his hands is a heart.
Muttered words are heard like this.
“Come on Roko, come on baby, I know it’s hard but you got to breathe for me. Open your eyes for me please, I don’t wanna do this to you too. Please..Please!”
“Yori…?” Tanjiro can only faintly say.
Panicked red eyes look to join his own.
“Tanjiro! Help me! ”