Balance

2| The Change

I start to regain consciousness. I hear footsteps. The crunch in the snow. It's coming closer. They're getting faster. I sit up quickly.

It's Tanjiro.

"What happened?"

"A stranger came and killed them all. I don't know how I'm alive."

"Nezuko's still alive!" Tanjiro says.

I get up and run over to them. 'My leg isn't broken anymore. Weird. You're alive so don't question it.'

"She doesn't seem hurt," I say.

"We still need to go down the mountain to get help. You're both covered in blood. Your hair is white on the bottom."

"I wonder how that happened. We have to go. I'll carry Nezuko."

"I'll carry her. You're covered in blood."

"Alright," I say as Tanjiro puts Nezuko on his back.

"What happened?" Tanjiro asks as I'm running next to him.

"There was this guy. He showed up as we were setting up for dinner. Mom sent me to get another plate. He killed them. I tried to attack him then. I couldn't stop him in time."

"You did the best you could. I should have been there."

As we're moving at a fast pace, Nezuko starts to convulse and I can hear her growling. Tanjiro slips, falling down the cliff.

"Tanjiro! Nezuko!"

The snow cushioned his fall. I jump down, bending my knees on impact. I look for Nezuko. I see her standing by a tree, still like a statue. The wind blows our mother's kimono off Nezuko's shoulders. I notice that the ends of her hair are now orange.

Tanjiro runs toward her but she starts to attack him. He grabs his ax and uses it as a barrier between him and her mouth. I jump down and come to a roll in the snow. As I'm heading toward them I notice someone with a half-red, half-cubic patterned haori. They have uneven black hair. They run towards Nezuko and draw a katana.

Tanjiro notices as I run toward them. Tanjiro flips Nezuko onto her back so he can protect her. The sword cuts through Tanjiro's hair and I come up behind the guy.

"Why are you protecting it?"

"She's my sister!" Tanjiro says. "We're going to get help!" Tanjiro backs up to the tree with Nezuko in his arms, restraining her. No matter how hard she tries, she can't get out.

I walk behind the man. "Hello there. Please don't touch them." I smile.

He turns around and tries to hit me with the sword, but I quickly move out of the way. Too quick for a human.

"How do you call these your sisters?"

"He calls us his sisters because he is our brother."

In a second, Nezuko and I are being restrained by the man.

"Could you please let us go?" I ask.

"Don't move another muscle. It's my duty to kill any and all demons. Like you and your sister. That means I'll have to decapitate you and your sister."

"Don't kill them! They've never hurt anyone! There was another scent at my house! That was the killer! I don't know why they've changed into that, but they would never harm me," Tanjiro says.

"It's very simple really. Their wounds were exposed to demon blood, that's how the man-eating monsters multiply."

"They won't eat humans! I won't let them hurt anyone! I'll find a cure!"

"You're kidding me, right? If I hadn't come when I did, your sisters would have devoured you."

"You're wrong. Nezuko would never hurt me."

"And I would never hurt Tanjiro. Don't hurt my family."

"I'll turn them back into humans!"

The guy moves his arm to stab Nezuko with his katana. I break free from the man's grip and move in front of the sword. It stabs me through the chest. I cough up blood and Tanjiro runs toward the man, trying to attack him.

The guy blocks Tanjiro's attacks. He pushes Tanjiro back. Tanjiro gets up. He runs toward the guy. He throws the ax in the air. Then he runs into the tree line. The guy didn't realize the ax was in the air. Tanjiro comes out of the tree line. He charges at the guy. The guy looks up. He notices the ax. He dodges. He hits Tanjiro, knocking him unconscious.

I grab Nezuko and rush toward Tanjiro. I bend down and check for a pulse, finding one, while Nezuko guards him.

"I told you to not hurt them." I create a pole of wood growing from the ground. I grab it and run at the man.

He swings his sword at me and I block it. I hit his arm to the side. He brings his sword to my neck and I wrap vines around his arm before he can cut my neck. I twist his arm and he drops the sword. I pick it up and throw it away from us, the blade sticking into the tree. I push the young man against the tree.

"Why aren't you hurting anyone?"

"Because I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm also normally kind. Trying to kill me and my sister doesn't sit well with me, especially after my whole family was killed."

"Were you the one who killed your family?"

"No. The blood that is on me is my blood and the one who killed my family. I guess he was a demon. I'll let you go if you won't hurt me or my sister."

"Fine." I release him from my grip and the vines. He goes over to Nezuko and knocks her out. "What did you do?"

"I just knocked her out so we could talk. You said that you have the blood of a demon on you."

"Yes. I stabbed him in the heart and cut his back."

The man looks at me in shock. "You stabbed the demon?"

"Yes. It didn't work though." I walk over to the sword stuck in the tree and pull it out. "Here." I hand over the sword back to the man.

"It didn't work because to kill a demon you need a Nichirin blade. Have you ever had any training?"

"No. I just do what feels natural."

"Interesting. Your form is good."

"Thanks. I'm Kamado Tsukiko."

"Tomiyoka Giyuu."