Demon Tamer

Chapter 15: Resilience

You woke up one night to screaming. Usually you'd ignore it, but you stood up quickly and grabbed your sword. Though you wished you weren't wearing the pyjamas - it was the middle of the night and Tanjiro was the one screaming. You nodded at Kyojuro's dormant body and zipped out, skidding across the floor with every turn you took until you were out of the mansion. You heard the screaming from outside. Hopping over the fence, you looked around and saw Tanjiro screaming and running. It wasn't like him to just run, you even gave him your katana so that he could fight back. Then you saw it behind him. The boy spotted you and slipped behind you and you got a closer look at the rapidly approaching figure, "oh my God, Tanjiro is that a ghost!?" You looked at him and then at the flowing figure with a knife in its hand.

"No! It's my swordsmith!" He wailed and hugged your torso as you picked him up. He only let go when you left him on your shoulders. And just as the silhouette appeared closer than ever, you hopped over and ran, cackling slightly as the swordsmith had to turn around and catch up to you again. "I'm sorry, please forgive me!" Tanjiro cried as you tried not to break anything. You wanted to hop off of a tree but the last time you did that, you uprooted the plant. So all you could do was run and strafe past the swordsmith - who wore a familiar looking kimono. It was the only thing you could see - they had a hat on that covered nearly all of their face. Even still, you teased the man a bit more before getting bored and hopping into the estate with Tanjiro suddenly. You didn't even realise it was becoming dawn, you didn't run that long did you?

You dropped Tanjiro on the floor and ushered him to get Aoi, who arrived to see you leaning against the door the swordsmith was trying to break in from. His barking sounded familiar and Aoi groaned internally.

She thanked you and requested you hold down the door for some time longer as she went to make him food, not that you minded, you sat down and felt the force of the door do nothing to you. It did feel rather nice on your back though. When she returned, you left her to deal with it, and you returned to your seat by Kyojuro's bed with ease.

Well into the morning, some time later, you looked outside and saw that the girls were already hanging up laundry. You looked at Kyojuro, you stood up and left the room. Well, you did, but you nearly stumbled on the sat body that was eating dango there. You knew the smell and you hissed, stumbling and falling over the top of them, off of the porch. You looked up at the mask and they looked down on you. There was silence.

"Fake demon slayer?" He asked. You felt you recognised the voice, the nickname hadn't been said in a while but it did feel like something you'd want people to call you.

"Do I know you?" You questioned while still laying on the floor. It was silent for a moment.

"Huh!? You brat! I go through all of that effort to remember your name and who you are - even when you've changed so much - and you forgot your own swordsmith!?" He exclaimed.

"My name isn't brat! I'm ol- oh my God..." who he was had dawned upon you and you sat up, "Haganezuka!?" You leaned closer and he pushed you away with a hand.

"Yes! You ungrateful swine. I haven't seen you in years. Have you been fixing your own swords again!? No wonder you're a fake slayer!" He exclaimed and you didn't even know how to react.

"I haven't broken my sword since I gave it to you!" You exclaimed, "I've been busy! Plus, why'd I give you my sword if I can do it myself!" You bargained and crossed your arms and legs while looking at him.

"Because you won't do it properly!" He argued back. "Just give it to me if it gets broken. I'll make sure to fix all of your swords." He promised and you looked at him. He seemed more genuine and still, it was hard to say under that Hyottoko mask.