Light steps quietly echoed as you climbed the stairs while your hands twiddled with a small piece of Wisteria flower. You gulped as you watched the flower in your hands be lightly rubbed in between your fingers. Slowly, your feet came to a halt and you raised your head, asking yourself, 'Am I really sure about this? I could die if I continue through with this.' A thick bead of sweat traveled down your temple as you thought and took in a deep breath of the Wisteria scented air. 'Once in a lifetime opportunity, I suppose.' You thought to yourself, trying to see the better side of this. 'Plus, I could, perhaps, save someone.' A bittersweet smile slowly grew on your face at the thought of being able to help someone else, or save them in this case. But your thoughts were quickly cut short by a light tapping on one of your shoulders.
"Are you alright?" A voice asked from behind. You turned your neck quickly to meet a deep crimson eyed boy. A faint blush appeared on your cheeks as you realized how close he was to you. Taking a quick side-step away from him, "Uhm, yes! I'm sorry if I was in your way." You said sheepishly, your hand rubbing on the back of your neck. The red-eyed male only looked at you with agape lips before quickly smiling and chuckling. "Don't worry! You weren't in my way whatsoever. I was just curious since I could smell that you were so nervous."
Your (e/c) eyes stared at him blankly for a moment, before your mind clicked to the worst possible idea. And thus, the mayhem began. Your face quickly became a beet red, "I-I-I'm that stinky!? Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" You yelled with embarrassment as your body crouched away from him, pulling your haori tightly around your neck. The young boys face suddenly became filled with fear as his body stiffened, "E-Ehh?! No! No! No! I didn't mean it like that!" "It's fine! If you think I smell then you don't have to make up excuses!" You yelled out, embarrassment and irritation tainting your voice. "I promise that's not what I meant!" With fast movements, the young male quickly bowed down, making a large 'thud' sound with the stone stairs , "I apologize immensely!"
You crouched there speechless, unable to form words for this situation. Your mouth stumbled over its words like a small baby learning to walk. "T-t-then what did you mean that you could smell me then?" You asked bashfully, now ashamed for freaking out so wildly at the poor male, 'Maybe I don't actually smell?'. He raised his head up with agape lips and wide eyes once more before speaking, "Uhm, it's my nose, I-" A large vein popped out of your forehead as you felt your blood begin to simmer, "WELL NO SHIT IT'S YOUR NOSE!" You yelled angrily while hitting his head. "Unbelievable! Just when I thought you were actually going to be nice..." you huffed as you quickly stood up and began to ascend the stairs with anger. "W-wait! Please!" The burgundy headed male wailed as he scrambled to grab your black, baggy pants, forcing you to stop in place. Your face contorted with disgust as you looked over at him. "I promise that I can explain! I really didn't mean to insult you! Please forgive me! And please don't give me that look!"
Your (e/c) orbs looked into his pleading eyes with suspicion. You looked at his face for anything that would signal to you that he may be just trying to fool you and that you really do stink, but nothing was there. It was just a pleading look of forgiveness and thin lips from an oddly attractive boy. Like a sudden crack of lightning, you realized what you had just thought. 'Attractive?! I've just met this guy!' You could feel your internal self screaming as it slapped you relentlessly. Your face lit up at the thought of seeing this male as 'attractive'. You whipped your head to the other direction hastily as you could feel the burning sensation over your cheeks. Closing your eyes and taking in a deep breath to calm yourself down, you opened your hand for the male that was still clutching your baggy pants, "Alright, fine. Just get off the steps before you start sliding down them." A gasp of relief and excitement escaped from him as he grabbed your hand with haste. 'Callous...' You thought, when you felt his hand in yours.
As the two of you walked up the stairs briskly, he explained what he was trying to say to you. "Your nose is really that sensitive?" You asked with astonishment. He nodded eagerly, "Yeah, it's pretty handy." You hummed in response as you watched your feet climb the never ending stairs. The boy, who you came to know as Tanjiro, cleared his throat before speaking, "What breath user are you, by the way?"
You gave a quick side glance to him before shrugging, 'No need to be shy at this point' you thought to yourself. "Destruction," was all that you said. Tanjiro 'oohed' at your response, "That sounds really cool (Y/N)! I'm a water breather!" He said excitedly. "That sounds cool also, Tanjiro." You replied, trying not to sound like you were uninterested, but you were just really bad at keeping a conversation alive. "Thanks!" He beamed happily.
Silence filled the air around you two, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The silence felt warm and inviting as you held Tanjiro's hand while walking up the steps. It reminded you of when your father would bring you down to the market to choose the poultry for that nights dinner. After sighing contently and lifting your head up with a happy smile etched upon your lips, you and Tanjiro finally made it to the top of the stairs.
And there, a sight greeted the two of you; at least 20 other people around your age were there. You gasped as you and Tanjiro trudged on, deeper within the selection waiting area. 'There's so many people here,' you commented internally. 'So many people, with so many different emotions showing.' You took note on how some people were looking at you and the young male with impatience while some looked calm, except that one male who looked completely horrified to even be here, and that one guy who looked ready to kill anything... well anyone in this case.
But before your eyes could catch anymore details of the area, two, identical voices wrapped themselves around your ears, grabbing your attention easily. "Everyone," the two, from what you assumed to be, females paused, "we thank you for coming here tonight. To the demon slayer corps final selection." You listened intently at the two shorter individuals and learned how, from this point on, there are demons crawling around the woods, and that there would be no more Wisteria from this point forward. You swallowed thickly as Tanjiro only looked ahead with sharp eyes and a challenging look. You stared at him with awe,
'Why are you not scared Tanjiro?'
'What happened to you?'
A/N
Hello person reading this! I do hope that you enjoyed this very first chapter that I've written for this story. But if you didn't enjoy it, please tell me your thoughts! Other than that, have a great whatevertimeitisforyourightnow!
Edit: I JUST REALIZED I WAS SPELLING TANJIRO'S NAME WRONG LMAO