little bunny, why are your eyes so red? - Chapter 48 - elreee - 鬼滅の刃 (2024)

Chapter Text

Falling deeper into sleep, deep in their dreams…

***

Kanao was sitting in the engawa of the butterfly estate. The wind was blowing softly. She reached a hand out, and a butterfly settled gracefully on it. Fluttering its beautiful wings, mesmerizing.

What was Kanao doing?

Oh, that was right. She was waiting. Kanae was out on a mission. Shinobu just received an emergency message from her crow, asking for reinforcements. It sounded really dangerous. She was sitting here, waiting for them to get back. Waiting for them to come back home. But she knew how this ended. Shinobu would come back with a forced smile on her face and rage in her heart, while Kanae would come back on a stretcher with the blanket over her entirety, still as a calm lake.

It was a tale that was so old now, to Kanao's heart. A tale of loss. A tale of tears that rose inside her chest but remained unshed. Kanae, sweet older sister Kanae– would be nothing but a butterfly clip in her hair and an old haori around Shinobu's shoulders, her name barely uttered in the estate that used to be hers. Sitting here by her lonesome, Kanao could not help but dread the moment Shinobu walks through the entrance. Surely, any moment now…

"Please be careful of Nee-san," she heard Shinobu's voice say distantly. She must be talking to a Kakushi. "Her body is a bit beaten up, so—"

"I'm fine, you know!" Another voice, painfully familiar, said in a sing-song. "I was merely lightly grazed, Shinobu-chan!"

"Stop talking, Nee-san! You inhaled that bastard's icy blood demon art, didn't you? We need to first examine you!"

"But I feel fine!"

Something was building inside Kanao's chest. Something that felt like disbelief. She found herself hurrying to get on her feet. As if she was possessed, she ran— faster than her legs could carry her at this age, in order to get closer to the voices as soon as possible. She found herself gasping when she arrived at the scene, seeing it in front of her– Shinobu standing there with an irritated but protective expression, a Kakushi who looked like he didn't want to be here, carrying a person–

Kanae. Kanae was riding the Kakushi on a piggy back ride, looking worse for wear, but alive.

Alive…

Kanao opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Kanae noticed her immediately, saying in delight, "Kanao-chan! Did you wait for us?"

It should not be possible. It should not be possible, but–

"You're making Kanao worry as well!" Shinobu berated her– their– older sister. "Stop talking!"

Kanae let out a small pleased sound, but didn't talk anymore.

Kanae. Kanae!

When they walked past her, Kanae patted Kanao's hair, gentle as she had always been. It made something in Kanao's chest unclench. Something she couldn't name. Something she couldn't understand–!

She grabbed Kanae's haori before they could walk further. Kanae gave her a questioning look, but simply smiled happily at her, used to her wordless self. Kanao followed them inside, clutching Kanae's clothing like a little child, even as they situated her into a bed fit for a patient.

Kanao won't let go. She would never let go– ever again.

***

Forget to breathe, deep in their dreams…

***

"This way!" Zenitsu said, holding the hand of the person he treasured most, running along the peach orchard in excitement. "The peaches over here taste great! And there are tons of white clovers in bloom! We can make flower crowns for Nezuko-chan! Don't you think she'd look great with it?"

Tanjiro laughed as he ran with him. "Zenitsu, we really shouldn't be wandering too far. Aren't we supposed to be helping out your Jii-chan with the peach preserves? Kaigaku-san will be mad at us if we bail out on the work."

Zenitsu pouted. "It's just a few minutes! We've been picking peaches all day! And Inosuke and Nezuko-chan will be there!"

"Nezuko would be keeping Inosuke from eating all the peaches— they're really more of a nuisance than a help," Tanjiro said.

"But! I wanted to show you around!" Zenitsu insisted.

Tanjiro looked conflicted, but eventually, his expression softened. "Alright. Just for a little bit, okay?"

Zenitsu grinned. Leave it to Tanjiro to always be so nice! His heart would burst with such consideration! He took a moment to study him. Tanjiro, with his crimson red eyes and his hanafuda earrings twinkling in the wind, his long red hair pulled in a ponytail. Everything about him was so red, so warm, and the way he stared at Zenitsu, with such deep adoration, made his heart skip a beat. The sound of his kindness was as gentle and soothing as ever, and Zenitsu just wanted to listen to it forever. Especially now after they have turned him back into a human and didn't have that strange demonic undertone— Tanjiro's sound was like what Zenitsu imagined the angels from the heavens would sound like. He felt so blessed to be able to hear it.

Tanjiro tilted his head, smiling curiously. "Do I have something on my face?"

Gah! I've been staring at him too long! Zenitsu turned away, flustered. "N-No!" Eager to distract him, he pointed in a direction far away. "There's a river that way! Do you wanna see? There's a field of flowers on the other side!"

"I would go anywhere you want, Zenitsu!" Tanjiro said cheerfully.

"Don't say things like that! You're gonna give me a heart attack! A-And I mean, there is a river there, but it's kind of deep. There are rocks we can jump on though, but it's slippery, so as long as we're careful—"

Tanjiro leaned close with an expression that was genuine, and yet, it almost felt like there was a little bit of teasing in there. "What? You think I'm so delicate? I can jump those rocks no problem while carrying you, Zenitsu."

There was no doubt! Tanjiro was so much stronger than him after all! But the thought of his arms around his shoulders while Tanjiro's supported his legs, the space between them nonexistent, the warmth between their bodies, his beautiful sound oh so close— it was too much! Way too much!

Zenitsu fainted.

"Zenitsu—!" was the last thing he heard Tanjiro say before everything went black.

***

Even if the demons come, deep in their dreams…

***

The atmosphere felt ominous tonight, and Genya didn't know why. But he waited along with his siblings, waited for Nii-chan to get home with their mother. Even though, deep in his heart, Genya knew that wasn't going to happen. Even though, deep in his heart, he expected tragedy. He had half a mind to tell his siblings to pack up whatever they could so they could flee, but something stopped him. He didn't know what. It just felt like whatever was going to happen needed to happen, and he had to let it.

There was a shadow on the other side of the door to their apartment.

"Ah, it's Mom!" Sumi exclaimed. All his little siblings save for their baby brother Koto, who was in his arms, started to run to the door.

No! he wanted to yell. That's not Mom anymore!

The door slid open.

"Mom!" Hiroshi said with a grin as he hugged their mother's waist. She laughed as she patted his head, and Genya was left dumbfounded, staring with his mouth open. Behind their mother, Sanemi stood, waving with a smile and mouthed, Found her.

"Where were you, Mom?" Teiko asked. "We were worried."

Their mom knelt and hugged Teiko. "I'm sorry. You need not worry about me. I was just looking for more work opportunities around town, and I lost track of time."

Sumi plopped herself back on her futon. "Did you find any, mom?"

Mom smiled. "Yes. We shall see how it fares in the next few days."

"As long as you don't overwork yourself, Ma," Sanemi said, as he too started laying back on his futon.

"I won't," Mom promised.

"Sing us a lullaby!" Shuya demanded.

Mom laughed and obliged. As the sound of her beautiful voice rang around the room, Genya couldn't help but feel something in his chest unclench. Their little siblings were now shifting further into their soft futons and giggling as they slowly fell to slumber, but he couldn't quite relax yet. Sanemi, his sweet wonderful nii-chan Nemi, seemed to notice that he was acting off, and reached a hand out to cradle his.

"Are you alright, Genya?" he whispered.

Genya didn't know. His heart felt too big, too filled with unrecognizable emotions. He clutched Sanemi's hand in his, and found that in that moment, there was nothing more important to say than this: "I love you, Nii-chan."

Sanemi's eyes softened. "I love you too, Genya. Go to sleep."

So Genya closed his eyes, and for the first time in a long while, slept knowing that his older brother cared.

***

Even in the demon's stomach, deep in their dreams…

***

Tanjiro blinked. He was staring at the bright blue summer sky.

Even disoriented, he knew something was strange. Something was different. Something… something. He didn't know what it was. He didn't know what was wrong. No… it wasn't wrong. It was right. It felt so right.

Something about Tanjiro's body felt different. It made him want to roll on the ground and moan in absolute relief. Every inch of his body thrummed with a certain— lack of something— he felt light, he felt wonderful, he felt like— like—

Oh.

The constant rolling in his stomach that he had gotten used to for two years… the pit of hunger like an eldritch void inside him, for the first time since he opened his eyes that fateful, snowy day— for the first time since then, he wasn't hungry.

Tanjiro wasn't hungry.

Tanjiro let out a keening noise as he closed his eyes and marveled, letting himself get lost in the almost-pleasure of the lack of pain. Sure there were moments when he was not as hungry, like after that time when he bit Inosuke. But this was— this was something else. Something else entirely. Tanjiro's body, his body which has suffered since he was turned into a demon, felt divine. It felt so good that he could feel tears forming in his eyes. So good, so good, so good—

"Tanjiro? Stop laying there and let's get moving! This isn't the time for naps! I know you're tired, but we can rest when we get to your home, right?"

Tanjiro opened his eyes. Zenitsu's face was hovering upside-down above him, a small pout on his face. Lost in his pleasure-addled mind, Tanjiro reached a hand out in his direction.

Ah, Zenitsu.

"Monjirooo!" Inosuke was yelling from somewhere. He could hear Nezuko's laughter, too— and Tanjiro slowly sat up, looking around for the very first time. He realized that he had been laying down on a field of grass at the side of the road, under the shade of a tree. There on the road was a cart occupied with crates of peaches. Nezuko was sitting inside it, while Inosuke was at the front, raring to go. "I will pull the cart farther than you ever could, Gonpachiro! I will pull it until we get back to your mountain! Just you see!"

Tanjiro could not help but smile at the sight, especially when Zenitsu huffed and walked over to the cart as well. He didn't really understand what was happening, but something about this scene felt warm. It felt right. Seeing his traveling companions together, lively as always— wearing worn kimonos with no nichirin blades in sight, Nezuko giggling as the wind played with her long dark hair— something about this made Tanjiro's heart melt in wonder. He didn't know what was happening, he didn't understand—

"What's happening?" he asked, with no difficulty nor even a stutter. Something about that made the lightness in his chest expand, and he let out a breathy laugh. What was this? What was happening?

"Did you hit your head or something?" Zenitsu asked in concern. "It's summer, so Jii-chan told us to deliver peaches to your place again. The harvest is pretty good this year… I'm sure the kids will like it!"

Peaches? Kids? Tanjiro's mouth felt dry as he confirmed, "Y-You mean… our siblings?"

"Who else, Onii-chan?" Nezuko asked, seemingly baffled. "We need to hurry, you know? We've already been gone for a few days. Any more and Rokuta will be very upset. Zenitsu-san and Inosuke-san will be staying with us this summer, so I'm hoping to get a lot more free time…"

Tanjiro sputtered. "We left Mom alone with all the kids for days?! Nezuko! She will be exhausted!"

"Dad is there, too! And I wanted to see Kuwajima-san! Dad said it was fine!" Nezuko insisted. "But it won't be fine if we don't hurry up! Let's go!"

Inosuke was so pumped that steam was going out of his boar mask's nostrils. "Let's go, Tonijiro!"

Dad..?

Tanjiro was lost. He was so lost . And yet, the more he processed it, the more he was becoming convinced that nothing about this was amiss. That the world had always been this way. He looked down at his fingernails, blunt and human. He didn't know why that was strange. He had always been human. There was no such thing as demons. His family was strong and healthy and safe and bigger than ever.

Ah… that's it.

He must have woken up from a bad dream.

***

That sounds like fun.

little bunny, why are your eyes so red? - Chapter 48 - elreee - 鬼滅の刃 (2024)
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