"You must be careful," Urokodaki instructed her handing her the fox mask that would ward away danger. She smiled at it, thinking about how much it reminded her of Sabito and Makamo. She then walked over to her bed and lifted up her pillow.
"What are you doing?" Urokodaki asked.
Nezuko pulled out the hanafuda earrings and stared at them, "I didn't want to wear these... I wanted to give them back to Tanjiro when I found him."
"And?" Urokodaki asked.
"Tanjiro... I felt him last night and... I think he wants me to wear them," Nezuko murmured studying the earrings.
Urokodaki was unsure of what to make of the girl's mental connection to her demon brother. He feared that it could be used against her, but the girl was not a fool. She would recognize danger, Urokodaki had faith in that.
"Then, perhaps you should," he murmured.
Slowly, Nezuko slipped the earrings into her ears, piercing them as she went. It was a messy job but her ears healed immediately, solidifying the earings into her ears. They were unfamiliar weights on her ears, but she felt comforted by them. She put the fox mask on and looked to Urokodaki.
"Thank you sensei," she murmured bowing.
Urokodaki nodded, "Now... come home when you are done."
Nezuko smiled and felt the sword at her side, "I will."
She walked out of the door and down the path, turning only once to wave goodbye to Mr.Urokodaki.
"Say hello to Sabito and Makomo for me!" she called happily, wishing she could've said goodbye to her other two trainers. She turned and didn't see her master's reaction.
The wisteria trees were beautiful at final selection but Nezuko was awed by the number of people there. She wondered if they all had suffered just as she had. Many of them had scars, so she could assume that there were stories to be shared.
She wished he could talk to Tanjiro, but the connection had been unusually quiet, she hoped her brother was alright.
But, she couldn't worry about her brother.
She had seven days of endless fighting to endure. Final Selection had begun!
The demons she faced were easy kills. The training she had received helped her to no bounds, but with each demon she met, she asked the same question.
"Do you know a demon with bright red eyes?" she would demand.
"DIE!" some would yell, others would snarl, some ignored her... but those who listened would have wide eyes and would tremble uncontrollably.
"You know who I'm talking about!?" Nezuko would cry to those who listened.
"No," the demons would quake, "No... I don't know ANYTHING!" they'd scream, and Nezuko would have to kill them.
The demon she saught was obviously dangerous, terrifying most of the demons she spoke to. Something told her that he possessed immense strength. She'd have to get stronger to kill him - and she would kill him.
Perhaps it was fate that led Nezuko to the hand demon, perhaps it was a cruel irony, or perhaps the spirits of the warding masks desperately desired vengeance. Either way, Nezuko faced the green mass of grossly malformed hands and stared into the yellow eyes of her foe.
"Another little fox cub has come to play," the mass of flesh giggled.
Nezuko readied her grip on her sword, she had to kill this monster.
"Tell me, little fox, what year of the Meiji year is it?" the demon asked.
"Meiji?" Nezuko murmured, "It's the Taisho period now," she spoke up preparing to attack.
"Taisho?.... Taisho?... NO! DAMN IT! DAMN YOU UROKODAKI!" the mass of writhing hands screamed cursing Nezuko's master over and over again.
Nezuko was beginning to sense that there was a history she didn't understand. The pieces of the shattered history came together quickly.
Inbetween avoiding attacks Nezuko learned that the hand demon was here because of Urokodaki. She learned that he killed fifty people... and thirteen of Urokodaki's pupils. Two of those pupils sounded dreadfully familiar.
Very suddenly, it all made terrible sense to Nezuko...
Why Mr. Urokodaki had wanted her to fail and never go to Final Selection.
Why Sabito and Makomo had pushed her so hard.
Why Nezuko had always felt watched.
"You... monster," she trembled glaring at the demon, "YOU MONSTER!"
She rushed forward and piled all of her rage into her attacks. Slicing hands away from her and running for the demon's neck. She would make this demon pay!
A hand backhanded her into a tree where she hit her head and crumpled to the floor. The man she had tried to save fled leaving her at the mercy of the demon... but Nezuko didn't need help.
"I wish I could see Urokodaki's face when he realized that another one of his students isn't coming home," the demon chuckled.
"You won't," Nezuko snarled getting to her feet. Her fox mask had shattered, breaking the blow of the tree for Nezuko, perhaps there was luck in that mask after all. The wound on her forehead was already healing, "Master will never have to feel that pain again..." she swore.
She was angry, she could envision Mr. Urokodaki's pain, the pain of losing children that you loved with all of your heart, losing children that you saw grow and flourish... losing family.
"Still awake, huh!?" the demon laughed attacked.
Nezuko launched herself forward again, attacking and slashing away at her opponent. Suddenly, arms erupted from below her, grabbing her legs. She jumped into the air and slashed at them, escaping the grasp of the demon. Another arm lashed out but she kicked that one away with the force of a powerful demon. She ran faster.
She would kill this monster.
She would avenger Sabito and Makomo!
She would come home to Mr. Urokodaki!
No one else would die!!!
With a solid, swift moment, the same movement she'd struck the boulder with, she slashed the beast's neck. The hand demon's head rolled away and Nezuko landed before looking back at the body that was now disintegrating.
She didn't feel happy, she never felt happy after killing a demon. Each one of them was a painful reminder of what Tanjiro could become. She walked up to the hand demon and stared at its open hand. Sabito and Makomo were avenged... and yet Nezuko felt saddened. Could this be what Tanjiro could've become if he had lost everything?
"You were a person once too," Nezuko murmured, "You were just like me... you had a family, maybe some siblings. Did you lose them? Did you suffer? Did you forget?"
She reached out and took the demon's hand... it seemed like something she should do. Suddenly a raspy voice resonated from the demon, it sounded sad and sorrowful.
"Yes," it breathed as the demon disappeared.
"Then... I hope you find them... I hope you find your family again," Nezuko murmured as the hand in her grasp disappeared.
She closed her eyes and thought of Sabito and Makomo, "Please... please rest easy now. It's done."
She could envision Makomo's gentle smile and Sabito's grateful eyes. She smiled as she thought of them. Their souls would go back to Mount Sargiri... to Urokodaki... that's where she would've gone had she died.
But she couldn't die. Not yet.
There was little to worry about after the hand demon. The seven days passed by Nezuko who relied on her regenerative abilities heavily. By the end of it, she felt exhausted.
She walked through the wisteria trees and was shocked to find that there were only three others. She was even more shocked to find that only five had survived.
Five...
How many had died?
Nezuko shook her head as the two sisters with the strangely distant eyes explained the demon slayer corps. She took a deep breath after they finished, she was a demon slayer... she was one step closer to finding Tanjiro. The peace within her was broken by a cry of indignation.
"What about the swords!" the scarred kid demanded, grabbing one of the sister's hair and yanking.
Nezuko didn't need any signal to move, she immediately tackled the boy and pinned him to the ground.
"What is your problem?" Nezuko demanded, "I get it, it's been a long seven days but what gives you the right to attack people like that?" her voice was still soft and sounded exasperated but her glare was dangerous.
The boy only stared up at her angrily. Nezuko looked into his eyes and recognized that he too had a story... he too was here for a reason - to kill demons. She let him up and looked to the sisters.
The sisters didn't look phased. They continued talking and finally showed Nezuko and the others the ore.
Nezuko looked over the rocks and sighed. Suddenly, she felt Tanjiro's presence and she smiled... maybe he could help.
"Which one Nii-chan?" she murmured. The yellow-haired boy to her side peered at her, confused and concerned.
Tanjiro must've been looking through her eyes and as Nezuko's eyes landed on a solum rock, Tanjiro's emotions told her she was right. The demon blood in her curled in disgust as she picked up the rock... which meant that it was perfect.
"Thanks, Nii-chan," Nezuko smiled looking at the rock.
Tanjiro's pride in his sister flooded into Nezuko and the girl smiled as tears came to her eyes.
"I'm close, I'll find you... and I'll kill him," Nezuko breathed gripping the ore, her words went unheard except by the blonde boy who heard everything.
Nezuko opened the door to Mr. Urokodaki's house wanting a long night's rest, she was met by her master who wrapped his arms around her. She thought back to the thirteen children who he must've stayed up waiting for... she had avenged them and they could rest easily.
She couldn't tell Mr. Urokodaki that, she wasn't sure how she would explain it... and it didn't matter. She was home.
Home... yes, this was home now. It was quieter than the one she had lost, much more organized and empty, but there was still warmth in it.
"I think I know the name of the man who killed your family, and of the man who turned your brother into a demon," Mr. Urokodaki murmured the next day over dinner.
Nezuko almost dropped her tea. She looked up in shocked wonder and curiosity.
"Really?" Nezuko asked.
"It is speculated that there is only one demon who can transform humans into demons... and based on the reactions of the demons you described in Final Selection, I think it's safe to say that the demon you seek is the first demon... the lord of all demons, Muzan Kibutsuji."
The name struck something into Nezuko's blood, yes... the demon blood in her recoiled at the sound of the name... that was the man. The man who murdered her family, who took her brother.
Nezuko stood and faced her teacher, "Master... I'm going to kill him."
Urokodaki looked up at her, "Perhaps... "
"I will kill him for what he's done," Nezuko stated, "Muzan Kibutsuji will be slain."
Saying his name made the demon blood in Nezuko quiver and Nezuko felt like saying his name was a crime... but the demon blood made her feel the same about sunlight. No, she would not fear this monster's name. She would not fear Muzan. She would kill him.
For her family. For everyone who suffered because of him. For Tanjiro.
It was a few weeks later when Nezuko's sword arrived.
That was a fiasco.
The sword turned black under Nezuko's grip which she thought was rather fitting. Her family had worked with fire and coal, of course, her blade would be as black as her family's livelihood. She loved the blade as soon as she touched it...
Of course, the sword forger had different ideas and put Nezuko into a headlock for a solid two minutes because her sword wasn't red.
Nezuko's crow arrived the same day as her sword, she loved it too. The bird could talk and it had quite the personality; mean and cruel, yes... but she loved the bird.
With the bird came her first mission and she looked back to Urokodaki who was most likely smiling proudly.
She prepared herself, ensuring that there wasn't a wrinkle in her clothes and that the earrings were still perfect. Her sword was sharp and she was well-rested.
"Do you mind," Urokodaki asked walking up to her. Nezuko only smiled. The old man tucked a loose strand of her black hair behind her ear and put his hands on her shoulder.
"Good luck," he murmured.
"Thank you, sensei," Nezuko smiled at her mentor. Then, without warning, she hugged him, "Goodbye..."
Setting out on the trail once again, Nezuko looked back at her home. That house, with her master, was her home. She would return. She would bring Tanjiro and introduce him to Urokodaki... the two would get along wonderfully, she could feel it. If ever it all ended, if suddenly demons went away and Nezuko was left with Tanjiro, she would take her brother here.
Here, where her home would stay.
She waved goodbye and then was on her way... a Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer Nezuko Kamado, the girl with the hanafuda earrings, pink haori, and the black sword.
(Okay, I promise guys, this gets more exciting. These first few chapters are boring and bland and kinda cringy when it comes to the dialogue, I'm sorry. It will definitely start getting more exciting next chapter! Thanks for reading, I hope you like it (I'll take in input you can give me on how to make my writing... smoother? I guess). I hope you have a great day/night!)