Hello again.
Honestly, I didn't plan on continuing this, it was meant to be a one-shot but since I got positive reviews and someone in ff.net 'extremely recommended' (their words, not mine) that I continue, well here you go.
Once again, spoilers for the manga (chapter 174 at the time this was posted). Consider yourselves warned.
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy.
On with the chapter.
Disclaimer: Same as last chapter.
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Sitting in seiza, Tanjiro took a deep breath to try and soothe his nerves.
Honestly, he found it almost laughable that he was this nervous, he has fought demons on regular basis since passing the Final Selection, has had more than one close encounter with the Grim Reaper and threatened what was possibly the most dangerous creature in the face of the Earth to its face, twice, and yet he was having a hard time maintaining his composure over something that, by comparison, seemed trivial.
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A few days ago.
Tanjiro and Kanao had returned to the Butterfly State and were almost immediately greeted by Aoi at the door. The new Flower Pillar had told her where they were going so the others wouldn't worry.
"Welcome back." Aoi said as they entered.
"We're back." Tanjiro greeted back while Kanao nodded and smiled at her.
"Is that chest the thing you wanted to get?"
"Yes, I'll go put it in my room now." The red haired teen answered. "I'll see you two later." With those words, he began to walk to his room.
"A letter came for you yesterday; I left it in your room." Aoi said before Tanjiro could go too far.
"Thanks."
.
.
The Kamado entered his room, well to be exact it was the room the members of the Butterfly State were lending him since he didn't have other place to go. He could stay at one of the inns that accept Demon Slayers but they had offered him a room first and he didn't see a reason to decline.
After leaving the chest at the foot of his bed, he saw the letter Aoi had mentioned resting in his nightstand so he took it, opened it and began to read it.
His eyes widened as he read the contents, he had to re-read it twice just to make sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him.
Immediately after his third read, he let the letter fall from his hands and ran out of the room, subconsciously using the improvised version of Zenitsu's lighting breathing to accelerate further.
He made it back to the entrance where Kanao and Aoi were still talking.
The two girls turned to him but he simply rushed past him.
"Was that Tanjiro?" Aoi asked, confused at his sudden appearance.
She wouldn't get an answer, though, since Kanao had immediately ran after him, Aoi quickly did the same thing. She didn't have to go far, though, since after leaving the entrance of the Butterfly State she saw the two frozen in place, staring at two figures approaching.
One was a man with white hair, wearing a blue haori and a Tengu mask while the other-
"Nezuko!" Tanjiro called out.
For that one moment, everything stood in place, not even the wind seemed to dare make a sound as everyone stared at the younger Kamado.
"Good morning, Onii-chan!" She said back, her voice clear and without any stutter or difficulty that the others had grown accustomed to.
In a blink, Tanjiro closed the distance and stood in front of his sister.
"A-are you alright, does anything hurt?" He asked rapidly as he kept looking her over. "Are you...?"
"I'm human again." She answered with a smile, she opened her mouth to show her teeth, with no fangs visible and her nails were no longer claw like, her eyes had also turned from bright pink to a deep red, more exactly, they had turned back to a deep red, her pupils were no longer slit and her hair that used to fade to orange at the end was completely black and tied into a bun.
There was another moment of complete silence before Tanjiro hugged his sister.
"You're human!" He cheered with tears falling from his eyes. "Y-You are-"
"Yes, I'm human." She repeated, returning the hug, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as well. "Thank you, Onii-chan, for not giving up on me."
And with that, the proverbial dam broke and the two became sobbing messes as they hugged each other.
Urokodaki, Kanao and Aoi simply watched with smiles in their faces, not wanting to interrupt them.
"Hey, what's the commoti- IS THAT NEZUKO-CHAN?!" Of course, that was the moment that Zenitsu decided to see what all the noise was about. "Nezuko-chan-guh." The blond had tried to run at them but Aoi grabbed him from the back of his haori before he could take two steps and pulled him to the ground.
"Let them have their moment." She hissed, resisting the urge to yell at him.
"Eh, but-" Just when she thought Zenitsu was about to start one of his tirades he went quiet. "...she is human again." He whispered.
"You can tell?" The girl holding him back asked, honestly surprised at his statement.
"Yes, she doesn't sound like a demon anymore." The breath of lighting user answered before smiling. "Good for them."
"Hey, why is everyone yelling?!" Before Aoi could say anything back, Inosuke appeared and the moment he noticed the siblings he ran towards them. "...is that your sister Gonpachiro? Something feels different about her."
The Kamado siblings let out a small chuckle and wiped their tears before turning to him.
"I am human again, nice to meet you Inosuke-san." Nezuko answered him.
"...I see." He looked her over. "Good, I'm glad that my underling is back to norm-" He couldn't finish the sentence as Zenitsu suddenly appeared in front of him and punched him.
Aoi stared at the blonde and noticed that she was just holding Zenitsu's yellow haori.
"She is not your underling you pig!" The blond yelled. "And why are you approaching so nonchalantly, I wanted to be the first to greet Nezuko-chan, don't try to get a lead on me!"
"What?! You want to go, you bastard?!" Inosuke yelled back, ready to charge at him.
The glaring contest was interrupted by Aoi moving between them.
"Seriously, now is not the time!" She yelled at the two with arms akimbo.
"But the pig-"
"That basta-"
"Not. The. TIME!" She repeated. "Nezuko-san turned back into a human and she doesn't need to see you two fighting when she just reunited with her brother, so give it a rest!"
"...yes, ma'am." Zenitsu said meekly while Inosuke huffed but otherwise stayed quiet.
"Hehe, sorry about that." Tanjiro said to Nezuko with a chuckle.
"It's fine." She assured him. "But let's go, I want to introduce myself properly to everyone."
The older Kamado nodded before looking at his master.
"Do you want to come too, Urokodaki-san?"
The masked man looked at the two for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, let's go."
The next hour or so was spent with Nezuko meeting every member of the butterfly state plus Zenitsu and Inosuke.
She still remembered them from the time she was a demon but she could barely hold a conversation at the time so she felt it was only proper to re-introduce herself to everyone.
Zenitsu, as expected, immediately tried to court her, or what he thinks passes as such. At one point, Tanjiro moved between them when it looked like Zenitsu was getting too close for comfort and all but dragged him away.
Inosuke was his usual self but it seems that endless patience was a family trait, as Nezuko didn't show the slightest hint of annoyance at how he kept asking to fight her, even after explaining that she is no longer a demon and she can't fight. This time, Tanjiro had to physically drag the dual wielder away when he had lunged at her. He ended up having to head-butt him so he would calm down, he held back so Inosuke didn't end up unconscious.
The 'butterfly triplets', Sumi, Kiyo and Naho, were a breath of fresh air, they each introduced themselves and the four got along almost immediately.
Aoi, likewise, was polite and it looked like they would get along well, the same could be said for Kanao.
As the time passed, Aoi mentioned that she had to get started with dinner, Nezuko immediately asked if she could help.
The blue eyed girl had refused at first, saying that she was a guest but Nezuko insisted saying that she wants to cook again and Aoi couldn't refuse after hearing that.
.
.
"This looks delicious." Zenitsu said as he eyed the food.
Everyone was sitting together at the table for dinner and Aoi and Nezuko sat down to eat everyone chanted 'thanks for the food' and began eating.
"By the way, Onii-chan." Nezuko called out, earning her brother's attention. "Why did you seem so surprised to see us? Didn't Urokodaki-san send you a letter saying that we would be coming here and that I was human again?"
"Oh, I was out yesterday, I just saw the letter earlier today and I immediately rushed to meet you halfway, you just ended up arriving before I could take three steps from here." Tanjiro explained.
"Where did you go?"
"...home." The red haired teen answered after some hesitation.
The jovial mood in the table sobered somewhat as everyone looked at the siblings.
"I went to visit their graves and to get the clothes for the Dance of the Fire God." He explained.
"...I see." Nezuko said downcast.
"So that's where you went." Inosuke mentioned, still eating with gusto. "Aoi mentioned that you and Hanao went out but couldn't tell us where."
"Can't you have some tact for once?" Aoi asked in exasperation, more to herself than others.
"Excuse me, what are the clothes for the Dance of the Fire God?" Sumi asked curiously.
"Ah, our father used to offer the Dance of the Fire God to ward off disasters and injuries." Nezuko explained with a fond smile. "It was amazing, he had a weak constitution but when he danced he looked like he could go on forever."
At this, Kanao let out a giggle, earning the younger Kamado's attention.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just that Tanjiro explained it in a similar way." She answered.
"Oh yeah, why did you go with Tanjiro anyway?" Zenitsu asked.
"I...I just didn't think he should be alone when he went there." The Flowe Pillar answered.
"Thank you, Kanao." Tanjiro said with a smile.
The black haired girl nodded and muttered a 'you're welcome'.
'Eh, what's this? What's with this atmosphere?' Zenitsu thought, noticing the interaction.
"So you're going to perform the Dance of the Fire God in New Year?" Kiyo asked.
"I'd like to see it." Naho added.
"W-well..." The older Kamado trailed off nervously.
"I'm sure you would do great, Onii-chan." Nezuko supported.
"I'll admit I am a bit curious about it myself." Urokodaki said, talking for the first time since introducing himself to everyone.
"Maybe we could invite Kanroji-san too?" Nezuko thought out loud, remembering the time when the Love Pillar played with her back in the blacksmith village. "She seemed like a nice person."
"Wait, I didn't say I would do the Dance of the Fire God, though." Tanjiro cut in.
"Eh, you won't?" The 'butterfly triplets' asked in unison.
"Why not? It's just a dance." Zenitsu asked.
Inosuke just kept eating, not really caring either way.
"Everyone wants to see it, Onii-chan, right Kanao-san?" Nezuko asked the newly appointed pillar.
"I... I would like to see it too." She answered with a blush.
Seeing everyone, except Inosuke, looking at him Tanjiro could only sigh in defeat.
"Alright." He conceded. "We'll have to get a few things ready."
"I'll alter the clothes, they probably won't fit you since you're not as tall as Dad was." Nezuko declared.
"I need to get some torches." Tanjiro thought out loud.
Soon, everyone was talking about how to make the 'performance' a success.
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And that brings us back to the present with Tanjiro sitting in his room in the Butterfly State and the clothes for the Dance of the Fire God laying on top of his bed.
'How did it end up like this?' At first, he wasn't too nervous about it, sure he had never performed the dance (fighting demons with it did not count for him) but it would just be a few people watching, he could handle that.
How wrong he was.
Like Nezuko had said during that dinner, she invited Kanroji to come as well, which was fine, one more person won't make that much of a difference and he got along well with her so there was no issue.
But the Love Pillar had taken it upon herself to invite every other pillar, somehow convincing them to come, as well as the new head of the Demon Slayers and his two sisters.
It hadn't stopped there either, word got around and some other Demon Slayers like Murata, some Kakushi and even a few people from the Blacksmith village would be in attendance as well.
So the 'few people' soon turned into an audience.
Letting out a sigh, Tanjiro took a deep breath and hit his face with both hands twice.
'Alright, all I can do now is do my best.' He thought, nodding to himself.
After all, he was great at putting in effort.
.
.
'Nezuko did a great job.' Tanjiro thought as he moved around in the clothes for the dance, sans the hat.
Like his sister had said, she had to alter them so he could wear them properly and they wouldn't get tangled since he wasn't as tall as their father was yet.
A knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts.
"Onii-chan, can I come in?"
"Yes." Tanjiro called out and his sister opened the door, her head peeking inside.
She had to blink a few times as she caught sight of his brother.
"You look just like dad." The younger Kamado said with a smile that his brother reciprocated. "Everyone is waiting, are you ready?"
Taking another deep breath, Tanjiro put on the hat, put down the paper so it would cover his face and nodded.
"I'm ready."
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At the backyard of the Butterfly State.
'I didn't think so many people would be in attendance.' Kanao thought, looking around the place.
Some of them weren't that surprising like a few of the Demon Slayers and Kakushi as well as people like the former Sound Pillar and his wives.
But how Kanroji had managed to convince people like the Wind Pillar and Snake Pillar to come she will never know, they didn't strike her as the type to be interested in something like this.
'Then again, before meeting Tanjiro I didn't really paid attention to them.' The Flower Pillar thought, smiling at the memory.
Other people in attendance included Kyojuro's younger brother, Senjuro, Tamayo and Yushiro as well as a bedridden Tokito Muichiro; they had placed down a futon in the porch so the Mist Pillar could watch the performance.
"So when will Tonjiro appear anyway?" Inosuke asked, eating a rice ball with his mask covering the upper half of his face.
"Nezuko-chan went to get him." Zenitsu answered him, sitting in seiza and holding a shamisen* with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
Almost as if on cue, the door of the house opened and Nezuko and Tanjiro walked out.
"Sorry for the wait." The two said.
Nezuko then went to stand near Kanao, Zenitsu and Inosuke while Tanjiro moved to the middle of the garden where a circle of torches had been set and were already lit.
"Do your best, Tanjiro-kun!" Kanroji encouraged him.
Sadly, instead of calming him, that only made him more nervous as he felt the glare of a certain 'snake' on him.
Taking a deep breath, he nodded towards Zenitsu who began to play the instrument.
His father hadn't had someone to play the instrument for him when he performed but the tune was written down in a book inside the chest where the clothes were and Zenitsu had declared that he would be able to perform it perfectly the second Nezuko mentioned 'it would be nice if someone could play it'.
As the music continued Tanjiro assumed his stance with the ceremonial sword and began his dance.
'Dance of the Fire God, Waltz.' He thought as he brought down his sword. 'From Waltz to Blue Heaven.' The red haired teen then moved in a circle keeping the sword parallel to the ground.
Everyone stood in place while watching him, almost as if entranced by his performance as he continued going through each of the forms, ending by jumping in the air spinning in place and performing a slash in mid-air while upside-down.
'The Setting Sun.' He thought as he landed back on the ground.
He then began again from the beginning.
"Breath of the Beast, Eight Fang." But just as he was about to go from Waltz to Blue Heaven. "Pig Assault." Inosuke suddenly rushed in, his swords drawn and poised to strike.
"What the-" No one could react in time since no one expected someone to suddenly try to attack.
But contrary to what everyone expected, Inosuke didn't attack Tanjiro, he simply rushed past him and struck the air as if hitting an invisible enemy.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Genya yelled what everyone was thinking.
"What?" Inosuke asked as he jumped in the air and started to cut in all directions but still not hitting Tanjiro.
"Why did you suddenly attack?" Iguro asked somewhat suspiciously.
"I didn't attack, I just took him up on his invitation." The masked teen answered as he performed an X slash with his two swords.
"Eh, invitation? What invitation?" Kanroji asked, voicing everyone's confusion.
"Everything in that dance was telling me to join in, so I did." Inosuke said as if it was obvious, this time performing a horizontal slash with his blades.
Everyone else exchanged looks at that statement but then they realized something, even when Inosuke rushed in Tanjiro hadn't stopped his dance, Zenitsu did stop playing for a moment but he was back at it again the second he noticed that Tanjiro was still moving and that Inosuke wasn't actually attacking the red haired teen.
"Then we can join in?" The Love Pillar asked with a smile.
"Feel free." Tanjiro called out to anyone who wished to dance too.
Letting out a squeal Kanroji unsheathed her sword, grabbed Iguro's hand and dragged him along to join in the dance.
.
"Oi, don't think for a second that you're leaving me out of this." Tengen said with a wide smile as he grabbed his sword from under his clothes. "Come on, you three come as well." He said to his wives, they looked somewhat reluctant but after a gentle push from their husband they ended up joining him.
.
Himejima, who was standing near Tamayo, Yushiro and Muichiro looked with a fond smile.
"Aren't you joining?" The Mist Pillar asked with a similar expression.
"I'm not sure it is my place to do so." He answered.
"Then... can I ask you to take mine?" The Rock Pillar looked at his younger comrade and nodded before also taking his weapon and joining.
"I am sorry I can't let you join as well." Tamayo said.
"It's fine." Muichiro answered. "I'll just enjoy the show, maybe I can join next year."
That brought a smile to the Demon's face.
'Tamayo-sama's smiling face is so beautiful.' Yushiro thought before also been entranced by the improvised dance.
.
"Don't you want to go too?" Urokodaki asked his successor.
"...it's not really my thing." Giyu answered while leaning against a wall.
"Then why don't you go instead of me, Tomioka-san?" The Water Pillar widened his eyes but didn't show any other reaction, he didn't even move his head towards where he heard that voice.
'You always loved to try to get a rise out of me.' He thought with a small smile as he moved away from the wall and walked towards the others.
Urokodaki raised an eyebrow under his mask at the sudden action but didn't question him, simply smiled and enjoyed the sight.
.
"...are you joining, Nii-san?" Genya asked.
"Why would I join that idiot festival?" The Wind Pillar asked back.
"Oh... alright." The younger Shinazugawa said simply.
"...damn it, you're coming too!" With those words, Sanemi dragged his brother along with him.
.
Kanao and Nezuko watched as almost every Demon Slayer in attendance began to join the Kamado in his dance.
"I didn't think it would end up like this." The former Demon thought out loud with a smile. "Aren't you joining, Kanao-san?"
"I... I'm not sure how to join." She admitted somewhat shyly.
"I'm almost certain that no one else did and look at them." Nezuko answered and gestured to everyone.
She couldn't explain it but instead of getting in each other's way, they all somehow complimented each other's dances with Tanjiro standing in the middle at the circle of torches.
"...do you think Tanjiro would mind?" The Flower Pillar asked.
"He told everyone to feel free to join, I'm sure that includes you." The younger Kamado said immediately.
Taking a deep breath to soothe her nerves, Kanao nodded, thanked Nezuko and also moved to join.
"And you, Zenitsu-san?"
"Someone has to play the instrument." The Breath of Lighting user answered, comfortable in his current position.
Nezuko simply smiled and nodded.
.
Tanjiro was genuinely surprised as he saw everyone joining one after another, the few that didn't have a Breath Style of their own following the steps of the ones that did and somehow no one was getting in each other's way.
Even Sanemi seemed to be enjoying himself.
He just finished his fourth set of forms when he saw Kanao standing in front of him, her sword drawn.
Smiling beneath the paper he prepared his own sword and the two began dancing.
Like everyone else, they didn't get in each other's way and at some point everyone began to change dance partners with each other in tandem with Tanjiro going from one form to the other.
By the time he was using the 'Setting Sun' to finish his tenth repetition he was back with Kanao and the Flower Breath user performed a similar technique, jumping in the air and spinning her body.
As gravity momentarily brought down the 'mask' covering Tanjiro's face, Kanao saw a smile that she would swear looked as bright as the sun.
The two fell back to the ground a moment later and at the same time Zenitsu played the last note, signaling the end of the dance.
No one said anything and, for a moment, everyone stood silent but that silence was soon filled by the sound of applause coming from everyone in the audience.
Everyone took it in a different way, some seemed to revel in the praise, some thanked everyone repeatedly, some tried to look indifferent but without a doubt, in that one moment, everything was right in the world, there were no demons, no Muzan, no fights.
Everyone was simply happy.
---------------------------------------------------
As much as everyone enjoyed it, the festivities had to come to an end eventually.
"Well, that was a lot more eventful than I thought it would be." Tanjiro said, he was still wearing the ceremonial clothes except for the hat that laid at his right.
"True, I don't think anyone expected that to happen." Kanao agreed.
The two were sitting at the backyard after everyone had retired for the night.
Most people had returned to their respective homes or rooms, save for a few people that lived too far away and took a room in the Butterfly State to spend the night.
Tanjiro and Kanao had stayed in the garden to put down the torches and clean up, Nezuko had stayed too but called it a night when her brother saw her yawn and insisted that she should go rest.
"Did it really feel like I was inviting the others to join like Inosuke said?" The red haired teen asked.
"Hmm... I'm not sure." Kanao answered. "If I'm honest I was too... entranced, I think would be the right word, to notice something like that."
"Entranced?" He repeated.
"Yes, I... I just couldn't tear my eyes away."
"I-I see." Tanjiro said a bit sheepishly. "That was probably the way I felt when watching my dad dance."
The two then stayed in comfortable silence as they watched the moon when an idea popped in Tanjiro's head.
"Hey Kanao." The girl turned her head and saw the red haired teen stand up with the ceremonial sword in hand. "Want to dance?" He asked with a smile.
"Eh? You mean now?" He nodded 'yes'. "...alright." The Flower Pillar answered after some hesitation.
Tanjiro's smile widened and he moved to grab his hat-
"Erm." But stopped when he heard Kanao mumble.
"Is something wrong?"
"...could you... not wear the hat?" The black haired girl asked, not meeting his eyes.
"I... don't really mind but why?"
"...ce..."
"Hm?"
"I... want to see your face while we dance." She managed to say before turning her head away with a blush.
Tanjiro couldn't help but blush at her words but managed to regain his composure after a moment.
"Alright." He said, leaving the hat resting in its place and moving near the now unlit torches with Kanao in tow.
The two took a bit of distance, faced each other, took a deep breath and began dancing.
All the while wearing wide smiles.
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And done! For real this time! ...maybe!
Okay, just to clarify two things.
Shamisen*: It's the instrument we see Zenitsu playing at the beginning of the Red Light District Arc, when he, Tanjiro and Inosuke are infiltrating the different houses and it's mentioned that due to his superhuman hearing he can play it with ease.
About him playing for the Dance of the Fire God, there is nothing indicating that there was any music involved in canon but I liked the idea so I went with it, plus it gives him an excuse to not join the dance and stay with Nezuko, something that I believe he would definitely want to do, haha.
Alright, I think that's it, once again I hope you enjoyed.
Until next time.