Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 1

Chapter 15

Giyuu looked back at Tanjiro. "What, you're gonna smile at him until he tells you answers."

"Well... not exactly..."

Giyuu snorted. "Do what you can. I have a feeling that you can sympathize with demons a lot more than I could."

Tanjiro nodded. Although he wasn't EXACTLY sure what he was going to do, he had faith in himself that he could pull it off.

Tanjiro reentered the room to find the chair empty. Instinctively, he reached for his blade.

"AAAAAAH!!!"

Tanjiro paused, confused at the sound. In the dark corner of the room, he could see a shadow, hugging itself in fear.

The demon.

Tanjiro sighed in relief and put his hands back down. He walked over to the demon and sat next to him. He could hear the demon moving away from him, quiet sobs escaping his mouth.

"Calm down!" Tanjiro said with a chuckle. "I won't hurt you. I promise."

The demon paused for a second, then relaxed his posture and looked at Tanjiro. His face was sad and depressed. He was still hugging himself, but not out of fear, but of sadness.

Tanjiro frowned. "What did Douma do to you?"

The demon looked away, ashamed.

"It's ok, you can tell me. Douma doesn't know where we are, after all."

The demon looked back at Tanjiro hesitantly, then finally spoke. "All the other demons in the Pit serve him. He calls us his 'servants'. Heh, more like 'slaves'. A single misstep, and he snuffs you out of existence."

"...oh. So, he's quite the tyrant."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Looks like he trusts me. Now to get answers out of him.

"You said he wanted to feel love. Why is that? What's his goal?"

"I'm not quite sure, but... the other say... ever since he was a kid, he was... emotionless. They said that he never really cared for anyone but himself. He didn't care about his parents, he didn't care about his fellow demons..."

"...and he didn't care for you."

"Yeah. But lately, he was curious... so he, in a way, experimented with the food- I MEAN-"

The demon put his hands over his mouth and looked back at Tanjiro. Fortunately, Tanjiro nodded. He silently permitted the demon to keep talking.

"...humans in the pit." The demon continued. "He dated the females, trying to make himself feel something, anything, but he never did. And now, he's trying it on your friend."

Tanjiro nodded in understanding.

So Douma is desperate for love, huh? Not as monstrous as I thought.

The demon yawned and leaned against Tanjiro's shoulder. Tanjiro's eyes widened in surprise as he stiffened.

"You're the only kind human I've met..." The demon whispered. "So thank you."

And with those final words, he slept.

Tanjiro smiled. He was reminded of his little brothers, and all the times they would sleep together in one big pile. He was always the one in the bottom of the pile.

Tanjiro reached for his blade to give the demon a peaceful end, but his hand hesitated. His mind thought of his family, which ultimately led to Nezuko.