Chapter Text
Tanjiro’s perspective
Location: Mountain Forest
“Papa? Why did you bring me out here? You’re sick and I don’t want you to get hurt.” A 5-year-old Tanjiro Kamado shyly asked his father in concern as the sickly man lead him into the forest near their home. It was beginning to get dark, but not to the point where the young boy couldn’t see, yet it left the young boy concerned.
“I’m sorry if this seems confusing right now Tanjiro, but with things that have been happening, I have come to a decision. You remember how what I have told you about our family’s dance, correct?” Father asked him, making the young child beam with a smile and eager nod of his head. He had seen his dad only perform it once with his mom and his baby sister, but it was incredible and he wished to perform it someday. However…
“But… didn’t you say that you would only teach me when I was older since it could hurt me?” He asked, causing the man to nod his head before he began to cough violently, making Tanjiro cry out in worry and he used his small figure to try and help up his father.
“Papa! Please, you are sick! We should head back!” The little boy cried in worry, but Tanjuro merely shook his head as he took a moment to breathe and control himself again.
“I’m okay son. However, before I can explain everything, I need to ask you a question. Do you remember your grandmother’s stories about Demons?” The man questioned the young child, who reluctantly nodded his head as his wide and youthful eyes showed nothing but concern, yet no fear.
“As terrifying as this will sound, they are true. Out there in the world are creatures who devour humans with nothing but cruelty and hunger driving their actions. They are creatures of instinct that may once have been human, but were forced to become something entirely different and wear the faces of many kind people as a result.” Tanjuro explained as gently as he could, making Tanjiro gasp in shock and fear.
“But… if they are like Grandma’s stories… how are they stopped? Wait, does that mean they may come for us!? Nezuko can barely talk properly!” The young boy inquires before panicking a bit, making his father smile gently as he rubbed the boy’s head to calm him down.
“It’s possible. And sadly happened not too long ago. Do you remember how I have been sick for a while, yet my sudden weakness came out of nowhere? If my memory serves me right, you smelled blood coming from me around that time.” Tanjuro asked of his son, causing the young boy to nod his head in confusion. If there were creatures that would apparently ate humans, how was his father’s sudden illness that started a month ago connected to it?
“You see Tanjiro, a Demon attacked our home not too long ago and they were the cause behind the sudden turn of my illness when they hit me. Thankfully, I was able to take care of them, but the experience and the time I needed to recover has caused me to think over and realise a few things and I have made a decision.” The man explained, sitting down with his legs crossed.
“But first, there is something else concerning Demons that I need to tell you before I reveal my decision. For as long as Demons have existed, an organisation of brave humans have fought them in secret, using a special way of breathing and swordsmanship to protect people like your sister and mother. Our family’s dance happens to be similar to the ways that those brave souls use to protect the innocent.” Father told Tanjiro, causing the young boy to tilt his head curiously before an idea entered his mind.
“How is that possible dad? Wait… are you one of those people!?” Tanjiro asked with wonder and awe in his eyes, with his father unable to stop the warm smile from appearing on his face as he reached out his hand and rubbed his eldest child’s head affectionately.
“Not quite. I have experience with fighting Demons and even met a couple of the brave men that are currently fighting for the people out in the world, but that life was never for me and I only learnt what I needed to protect my parents and I intended to use those teachings to do the same for you, Nezuko and Kie. However, we are getting off track.” Tanjuro explained to his son with amusement clear in his eyes. After he finished speaking, the sickly man stood up and walked around a small boulder to pick up the same wooden tool that Tanjiro noticed was the same one his father used when he performed their family’s Kagura dance in front of Tanjiro, Nezuko and their mother about 3 months ago.
“Tanjiro, I am going to train you to fight Demons so that when the day comes that I am no longer around, you can protect our family.”
1 year later
Location: Mount Fujikasane
“Hinokami Kagura 11th step: Fake Rainbow!” A now 6-year-old Tanjiro yelled out, using the next part of his family’s dance to rotate at an incredible speed, allowing the child to momentarily see a blurry image of himself as a grey skinned humanoid with spiked shoulders and bone like blades coming out of its arms struck at the spot he was previously standing at, only hitting the afterimage of its intended victim.
Feeling his lungs tighten, the young boy swung out his sword and used as much of his strength as possible to decapitate the Demon he was fighting, and was able to successfully cut through his opponent’s neck like a knife would through vegetables. Taking in a few deep breaths and trying to control the pain in his lungs, Tanjiro looked around at the disintegrating corpses of the small group of Demons that attacked him. Once they all passed on, he bent down in a bow, put his hands together and began to pray.
“Hinokami-Sama. Please, allow these poor souls to return to this world and live a good life without being turned into a Demon.” The kind child prayed to the god of fire that his family had praised to for many generations. Once he was done and saw the last head of the Demons disappear into dust, the Kamado began to move and used his enhanced sense of smell to avoid any more Demons on the mountain he was on.
However, as he snuck past another Demon that was complaining about a lack of food, Tanjiro’s incredible smell picked up on something, causing him to run full speed in the direction of the smell of two different types of blood. Now, human blood was something the Kamado was a bit used to, as the training his father put him through did cause Tanjiro a few injuries that made the boy bleed, though they were only light cuts at worse. But something the child learnt very quickly after arriving to partake in this test was that Demon blood smelt a bit different and this different scent was more potent depending on how many humans a Demon has consumed; with the Demonic blood he was currently smelling being far more potent than anything he had before.
It took a bit, and Tanjiro could practically hear his own heartbeat in his ears, but he came across a sight that filled his tiny body with terror. As before him was a large green Demon that appeared to be made almost entirely out of hands holding onto the limbs of a girl that appeared to be twice as old as Tanjiro as the Demon laughed.
“Well, you are definitely impressive little fox cub! But your speed changes nothing! Now, time for Urokodaki to cause the death of anoth-!” The Demon spoke with glee as it began to slowly pull the limbs of the girl, causing her to scream in agony. However, before even the sound of bones breaking could sound off in the area, Tanjiro leapt forward and slashed at the hands that were holding the girl with Fire Wheel technique of the Hinokami Kagura to slice off the body parts with ease, giving the young boy the time he needed to grab the girl and jump away from the giant Demon before it could attack.
“What the…?” The girl spoke in shock, looking towards her saviour’s tiny form before Tanjiro leapt up once more, getting above the Demon’s head before they could hope to counter the tiny child’s incredible speed.
“Hinokami Kagura 2nd step: Clear Blue Sky!” Tanjiro yelled as he performed a full 360° slash aimed for the Demon’s neck and with little issue, sent its head flying through the air.
However, as gravity began to do its job and make Tanjiro’s body fall to the ground, a sudden burst of pain struck at the child’s lungs, causing him to scream out in absolute pain and before he could even see the Demon’s body begin to disintegrate, the Kamado fell unconscious.
Makomo’s perspective
Time skip: 5 hours later
“Finally….” Makomo spoke in relief as she saw the sun rising through the gaps of the many trees and lit up the mountain with light, telling any surviving potential Slayers that they were safe from Demons for a few hours so long as they stay within the warm light of the sun. Speaking of potential Slayers…
“Mmmm…” The Water Breathing user almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the muffled noise of the boy that she was carrying on her back. Looking over her shoulder to look at the child, she saw his eyes beginning to open slightly, which made the pre-teen girl smile at her saviour.
“Hello there. Are you alright?” She asked the boy gently as she let him off her back, and while she momentarily became concerned when she saw the child stumble when his feet landed on the ground, she relaxed when she saw him quickly recover and stand properly.
“Yeah, just… dizzy from using my family’s dance. Wait… you’re the girl who I helped! You aren’t hurt are you?” The child asked in concern, making Makomo giggle a bit though his response did cause two different reactions. The first was that the child’s inquire into her health caused her mind to flash back to the battle with the Demon who killed her adoptive father’s other students, who she was more than aware were seen as his own children by the man and the agony those deaths caused him. And more specifically, it made her remember how she gave into anger, allowing it to blind her and thus gave up any chance to win, which resulted in her nearly having all of her limbs torn off. The other line of thought though…
“His techniques came from a dance made by his family? Could it be that the rumours of that ex Slayer who left the Corps are true?” She idly thought, remembering a conversation between her and her adoptive father about a few rumours she heard and was actually curious about. One such rumour was that a Slayer from the Sengoku era had been banished for sparing the life of a Demon and that he taught any potential family members his techniques while hiding it in some way. If those rumours are true, it appears that the banished Slayer did so by disguising his Breathing techniques as a dance that was most likely passed down from generation to generation as tradition.
“I am okay thanks to you. My name is Makomo Urokodaki by the way, so can I ask who you are?” Focusing back on reality, Makomo introduced herself to the boy as she knelt down to look the kid in the eyes.
“Oh. I’m Tanjiro Kamado! It’s a pleasure to meet you Makomo-San.” Tanjiro introduces himself and bowed to her to show respect, making the girl smile and giggle in amusement.
“You don’t need the to use formalities with me, Tanjiro-Kun. After all, you saved my life and I owe you for that.” She told him as she reached out and rubbed the child’s head, causing Tanjiro to look at her in confusion.
“Are you sure? I only did what anyone else would.” The child said, clearly underestimating himself in terms of his character as far as Makomo was concerned. After all, she had actually interfered and stopped the Hand Demon from killing another person that came here with the intent of becoming a Demon Slayer, only for them to actually kick her towards their would be killer and noticing another coming across her brief battle with Demon, only to run away.
“You would be surprised by how low the number of people would risk their lives for others unless they had a personal connection are. Though, can I ask why you are here? You don’t even look like you are properly 10 years old.” Makomo asked the Kamado with a hint of a teasing tone as she sat down next to him and brought out some fruit that she found naturally growing on the mountain and passed it over to the boy, who took it with a quiet “thank you” practically shoved it down his throat given how hungry he likely was.
“That’s because I’m not. I’m only 6 years actually.” Tanjiro informed her, taking Makomo completely off guard. The adopted girl thought that the child might have just been short for his age and was simply saying that to have a little bit of fun.
“But… why would you be here when you’re so young?” She inquired, being able to keep her emotions in check so as to not scream out in her confusion.
“Well, my dad told me about Demons a year ago due to one nearly killing him. It made him realise he may not always be around to protect me, my mom, and my little siblings, so he taught me how to fight them and made me aware of the Corps. As for why I’m here… I’m not sure how I can properly word it in all honesty….” Tanjiro began to explain, but slowed down near the end as he thought it over. Seeing this, Makomo simply put her hand on the kid’s shoulder and smiled at him, causing the boy to relax a bit as he took in a breath of fresh air.
“For some reason… I felt like I… needed to be here. That someone could die if I didn’t show up and I told dad…. After a while, he reluctantly allowed me to come here.” The Kamado explained, gaining more of the adopted Urokodaki’s interest. She had heard from her adoptive father how a few days before he found her in…
“Are you okay little one?” A gentle voice asked her, causing Makomo to slowly peak her head out to look at a tall elderly man with grey hair, a sword in his right hand and wearing an odd looking red coloured mask.
“Who are you…?” She cautiously asks, looking around for any sign of the monster that attacked her hometown.
“My name is Sakonji Urokodaki. Can you tell me what happened here?” The man asked as he knelt down to her, but as he did so, the monster that attacked her home came charging right at the pair from a cloud of smoke.
“Behind yo-!” Makomo yelled out in terror, or at least tried to. Because faster than she could finishing speaking, the old swordsman spun around, water appearing to come out of his blade and struck as the monster’s neck, slicing it off faster than the child could hope to react.
“So it was a Demon. Do you know if your parents or anyone else is alive child?” Urokodaki asked her, causing the stunned girl to shake her head negatively.
“I see…. Come on, it’s possible other Demons may try coming here in a few hours. Let’s see if we can find anyone else together.” The man says, taking off his mask to reveal his surprisingly kind looking face as he smiled gently at the girl and offered her his hand.
Hesitantly, Makomo reached out and after stopping for a moment, fully placed her small hand in Urokodaki’s own hand. With that, they began to walk around the remains of Makomo’s hometown to hopefully find any other survivors, coming across only a single spiked, peach-coloured hair boy with a bleeding cut along his cheek that was younger than Makomo almost buried under rubble of a mostly destroyed house.
“Makomo, are you okay?” She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Tanjiro speak up, causing Makomo to look down and smile at her young friend.
“Don’t worry, your explanation just reminded me of my adoptive father and how he found me and my adopted little brother. You see, he saved me when our hometown was attacked and when we asked why he decided the usually quiet place, he simply said that he felt like he needed to be there.” The Water Breathing user told Tanjiro, leaving the mysterious child in awe as he explained. Looking up at the sky, Makomo was unable to stop herself from sighing in relief.
“Well, the exam will end tomorrow and we can head back. Want to stay with me until then Tanjiro?” She asked the 6-year-old, who nodded his head happily.
“Okay! I hope that we can continue to get along Makomo-Chan!” The Kamado said happily, causing the adopted Urokodaki to giggle in amusement before the two began to walk along for a decent place to rest after the older child of the pair had stayed awake all night to avoid Demons.