Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 10

It's more imperative than ever that they need to finish their training and rejoin the front lines. Tanjiro needs to find Muzan and end him for his sister's sake.

The training continued for the boys. It was later that same day where Tanjiro and Inosuke would be getting their replacement Nichirin Blades. Both boys were ecstatic upon receiving a fresh batch of swords from their swordsmiths. Unfortunately, the swordsmith for Tanjiro, Hotaru Haganezuka, wasn't so pleased to see Tanjiro after hearing his creation was destroyed by the boy. He constantly picked on the boy for the duration of his stay there. Tanjiro's sword turned into a black color and Inosuke's into an indigro-gray. Unfortunately for Inosuke, his words weren't serrated like he wanted, he had them that way for a reason. Left with no other alternatives: he took a rock to the swords and chipped them on purpose to give them the jagged edges he wanted. This was met with extreme backlash from his swordsmith, Kozo Kanamori. The two men quickly left, leaving the boys to their own antics as they now had their replacement swords.

It was getting late by then and the sun was setting. The boys were getting ready to head to bed in a little bit as they were finishing up their daily activities. Tanjiro was heading to his bed to put up his sword when he passed by Kanao. Their eyes were locked on one another as they passed by, but Tanjiro felt the need to break the tension by saying, "H-hey, Kanao! Check out my new Nichirin Blade that just came in. Doesn't it look cool?" He says as he partially unseathes it to reveal it to her. She inspected the blade and offered a cheerful smile to the boy, still not saying anything to him. She turns around and continues on her way, leaving Tanjiro in the hallway by himself. Tanjiro felt slightly flustered looking at her, she was beautiful in the sunset light. He stopped himself and shook his head repeatedly, berating himself for getting caught up like that and that he needed to focus on his task..

Once he got to his bed, he saw his sister, Nezuko, playfully rolling back and forth on it out of sheer boredom. She stopped when she saw her brother enter and hopped off the bed. The siblings embraced one another as she attempted to speak despite her bamboo gag preventing her from doing so. Tanjiro got the idea and figured his sister was asking how he was doing; He replied, "I'm doing fine, Nezuko. It looks like you were a little bored." The girl pouted angrily, expressing her frustration. Tanjiro could only imagine how much of a pain it must be to be isolated at all times, stuck inside something so you don't burn from the sun. He changed the topic by showing off his sword to his younger sister who took a fascination with the blade.

Tanjiro placed his blade next to his bed and felt like asking Nezuko a question, "Hey, Nezuko. I've been thinking recently and I'm feeling kind of conflicted. It's about demons and who they are. I don't feel like they're terrible creatures, they're just people who have been dealt a bad hand in life. Take you for example: You're the same old Nezuko I've always known. However, Lady Shinobu asked me to explain how they're so willing to commit to violence. Every explanation that comes to the top of my head has a contradiction. That's why, I wanted to see what you think."

Nezuko partially spaced out, that was a lot to unload on a girl. She tried to think but her brain got fried trying to process it all, plopping on the bed because it was comfortable. She made an elongated "hmm" sound as she tried to conjure up an explanation but had nothing. Tanjiro could understand, and besides, she couldn't really talk in the first place. That gag is holding back her primal urges as a demon to eat human flesh. Tanjiro sighed, apologizing for his sister and telling her to rest up. He made his way towards the door to rejoin his comrades but he heard his sister sit up from the bed and attempt to call his name. He turned around to see her gazing at him. She had a determined expression on her face as she gave a reassuring nod.

Tanjiro felt at ease having his sister believe in him. Really, that's all he could ask for nowadays besides giving her back her humanity. He swears, even if it's the last thing he does, he will give Nezuko's humanity back.