Shingeki no Yaiba (Demon Slayer x Attack on Titan crossover)

Sabito and Makomo

Tanjiro stood in front of the machine, his fists shaking. There wasn't even anyone to help him try and fail. All he could do was stand here, uselessly.

Am I...hopeless? He felt tears gather in his eyes, hot and stinging. Is Nezuko going to get found by the government and killed before I can do anything about it? Ahhhh, I'm gonna give in! I'm breaking down! He swung a fist against the splintered wood of the beam, sharp spikes of pain filling the side of his hand, but nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

"Keep going, Tanjiro! You can do it! Do it!" he cried to himself.

I can't go home. Not while Nezuko still needs my help! And I'm not abandoning her, whatever I do! I can't—

"Shut up!"

Tanjiro gasped, flinching back from the machine as a man swung down in full ODM gear, landing on top of the nearest barrack, then leaping down to land a few feet from Tanjiro. "A man shouldn't whine. It's unseemly." He wore a Survey Corps uniform, but, more importantly, a Fox mask almost similar to the one Tanjiro wore around his neck. It was white with a dark brown scar stretching from the mouth to halfway up the face.

He had no scent! Tanjiro realized, taking a step back. The only people he knew with no scent were Urokodaki and Mikasa, both of which were dangerous.

"No matter how much you suffer, bear it in silence..." the man continued, taking a step forward so he was at the same distance as before, "if you're a man."

Suddenly he leapt at Tanjiro, flying so high he almost passed overhead, then kicked straight out, sending the boy tumbling backwards. Tanjiro tried to block it, but the man was way too strong for him.

"Weak. Immature. That's not what you call a man," he scoffed. "You don't deserve to be part of the military. You don't deserve to succeed on those machines."

"W-What are you doing?" Tanjiro gasped, rubbing his arm tenderly where he'd blocked the kick. "Why are you attacking me? I don't even know you!"

"I'd like to know what you think you're doing!" the man yelled, drawing one of his blades with a shing.

"What am I doing?" Tanjiro repeated. "I'm training! I have to succeed at this or else—"

"How long do you plan to keep your butt on the ground without even taking a stance?"

Tanjiro gasped, then scrambled to his feet, looking around for a weapon, but there was nothing he could use. He was defenseless, completely at the man's mercy.

"Now," the man waved him on. "Come at me. Come on."

"What?" Tanjiro cried. "I have no weapons and you have blades! How am I supposed to win?"

"And it's that mindset that makes you fail!" The man charged at him, raising his blade, and Tanjiro did the only thing he could do: run.

But he didn't get far, as the man wrapped an arm around his throat and threw him to the ground. He coughed, dust from the ground flying into his lungs, and for a moment all he could see was steel as the man raised his blade to strike and—

"Sabito," a small voice chided, somewhere off to their right. "We have to teach the child, not kill him."

The man, Sabito, raised his blade from Tanjiro's throat with an annoyed noise from behind his mask, and the boy gasped in relief. Sabito stood, offering a hand to him, and he hesitantly took it, pulling himself off the ground and dusting his uniform off.

"You did well to run." A small woman with Fox earrings walked into the circle of light made by one of the oil lamps, smiling lightly. "But in a real fight, you must be willing to put your own life on the line to defeat the Demons."

"T-Titans?" he asked, still catching his breath.

The woman tilted her head to the right, still smiling. "I did not only mean Titans, Tanjiro. Inner demons as well."

"You know my name," he gasped. "How?"

"Oh, we know much about you," she nodded to herself. "We've been watching over you. I am Makomo, and this is Sabito. Despite the signals he sent, we want to help you, trust me. Because we've mastered that machine."

Tanjiro glanced at Sabito, who huffed. "Are you doubting me? Or what? Do you want to fight again?"

"N-No!" he yelped, taking a jump back. "Sorry."

"Now, Tanjiro, night is waning soon, and we don't have much time." Makomo took his hand and led him back towards the machine. "Let's get started, shall we?"