The Sun Will Always Rise Again

Chapter 5: Coldest Day

Waiting for the sun to rise in the morning felt like an eternity. However, as soon as you saw a smidge of light, you got up as silently as possible. It definitely felt like you were doing something wrong, secretly creeping around like this. But there was no other choice. You had to act quickly, before things would get serious.

There were these voices in your head, telling you that no matter what you did, you would never be able to change their fate. On the other hand, there was also this pestering feeling, pressuring you to do something, to at least try. And that is exactly what you did...you tried and...hoped. That was everything you could do at this moment.

After you successfully sneaked out of the house and gathered your precious trash treasures, the gears in your head started to turn, even though you did not have a single second of sleep yet. It did not matter, you had to get to work now.

The cold morning breeze made your frame immediately shake but your stiff hands always kept working. You did the best you could with the things you had. Tripping hazards with the different ropes, pit traps that you had to dig up with your own hands (getting a shovel would have been too noisy), wind chimes with the different metal and wooden boards that made much noise when someone would pass them in high speed, and the most dangerous thing you build was a certain mechanism that, when it is triggered, "shoots" screws which you sharpened on a few rocks laying around before. Even though raining would be a better description for it.

This isn't good enough, the voice in the back of your head spoke up, If you actually think that this will hold him back you must be a total fool.

A frustrated grunt escaped your throat. You knew that this was not enough to stop him, but maybe, just maybe, it will give the Kamados a warning or a millisecond more to escape. Maybe it made a small difference...you had to at least try!

Your eyes fell upon thicker wooden branches and short tree trunks. It made your mind wander to Urokodaki and his training for Tanjiro in the anime. You sighed. I could at least try to replicate some things that I remember from there, you thought, soon with a new motivation found.

And this procedure went on for days. Getting up early in the morning to set up traps. Sometimes new ones, sometimes you upgraded the older ones. Some were heavily inspired by what you saw in Urokodakis training for Tanjiro and it was very helpful to take it as an inspiration. Of course, yours were not near as good as his but they were not so bad either. Still not enough to stand up against him though, the nagging voice made its presence always clear over and over again.

It was a miracle, that no one had caught you after around almost three weeks. You did not want to get sloppy and risk it though, you kept being very careful in the early mornings. However, some did notice a lot of cuts on your hand and from time to time even frostbites. It sure was getting cold now, especially in the morning. The sun also started to take its time while rising, which was typical for the colder seasons. That was a slight problem.

Tanjiro wanted to investigate but you did not seem nervous, whenever someone would ask about your injuries. There had been a certain twinkle in your eyes during the last few days. But there was also still a heavy sad smell that surrounded you like a small rainy cloud, hovering over your head, especially before everyone went to bed at night.

Nezuko was very concerned too. The bags under your eyes indicating a lack of sleep, even giving you tea before bed (which always seemed to help everyone else) did not make it any better. She even sometimes caught you dozing off in the middle of the day or while you were eating together. But you were sure to shoot her a smile, whenever you noticed her observant stare on you.

The younger children of the family did also manage to point out that you looked tired, but it was easy to convince them not to worry by cracking jokes or playing games with them, while laughing like you were perfectly at ease. You tired your best not to make them worry.