"Thank you, Grandpa Saburo!"
Tanjiro bowed to Grandpa Saburo and said.
Grandpa Saburo nodded.
"Yes! You should go home soon! Your family must be very worried about you since you didn't go home last night!"
"OK!"
Tanjiro responded and bowed again to Grandpa Saburo.
Then, carrying the empty bamboo basket, he walked up the mountain.
After last night, the path Tanjiro had trod down the mountain yesterday was already buried in snow.
Tanjiro walked for a long time before finally arriving near his home.
Tanjiro looked up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, a smile involuntarily appearing on his lips.
"Great! We sold out of charcoal yesterday, so my younger siblings can have a wonderful Lunar New Year this year!"
A gentle breeze was blowing.
A very faint smell of blood wafted on the breeze.
Tanjiro's nose twitched slightly twice.
"This is... the smell of human blood?"
Realizing something was wrong, Tanjiro immediately ran towards home.
No!
No way!
Nothing will happen at home!
My younger siblings just accidentally fell and scraped their skin!
Tanjiro kept praying in his heart.
However, the increasingly strong smell of blood kept telling him that things were far from as easy as he had thought.
Finally, home appeared in front of us.
However, Tanjiro suddenly froze in place.
"Ha--hoo--"
"Ha--hoo--"
Tanjiro was breathing heavily, his eyes wide open.
They seemed unable to believe what they were seeing.
The front door was wide open, and Nezuko was lying on top of her younger brother outside the door.
Below the two figures, blood stained the snow.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Painful screams echoed through the forest.
Tanjiro rushed to Nezuko's side without hesitation and put his hand on Nezuko.
Great, she still has a temperature!
Nezuko, what's wrong? What happened?
Tanjiro gently shook Nezuko's body, hoping Nezuko would wake up and recover.
However, to his disappointment, Nezuko did not wake up.
A strong smell of blood wafted from inside the house.
Tanjiro's gaze involuntarily drifted towards the interior of the house.
The scene inside the room made Tanjiro gasp for breath, and his pupils contracted rapidly.
It was a scene even more desperate than the one outside.
"Mother..."
Tanjiro leaned weakly against the doorframe and slowly knelt down; his sensitive nose had already told him so.
Everyone inside the house was dead...
"Why...? What exactly happened?"
Whoosh!
Tanjiro's nose twitched, trying to find the cause of the scene before him.
A faint scent wafted into Tanjiro's nose amidst the strong smell of blood.
It was a scent that Tanjiro had never smelled before.
It didn't resemble a human, nor any animal Tanjiro had ever seen.
If I had to say what it is...
Grandpa Saburo's words from last night came back to mind.
A ghost! Is it a ghost?
Tanjiro stared intently, as if trying to etch the scent into his mind.
Suddenly, Tanjiro shook his head.
No! That's not right!
Nezuko still has a body temperature!
I need to get Nezuko Yamashita to get her treated as soon as possible; maybe then Nezuko can be saved!
Thinking of this, Tanjiro quickly turned around and carried Nezuko on his back.
They ran wildly down the Yamashita.
"Whoosh--whoosh--"
The snow was falling heavily.
Tanjiro's labored breathing could be heard from the mountain path.
The climb up the mountain had already taken a toll on his strength, not to mention now he had to carry his younger sister down the mountain.
So tired!
I can't breathe!
My lungs hurt so much from breathing in the cold air!
no!
We must keep moving forward!
It's still a long way from town!
I need to walk faster! Faster!
Otherwise, it will be too late if Nezuko completely loses her body temperature!
I will definitely save you!
Your brother will definitely save you!
Sudden.
Nezuko, who had been perched on Tanjiro's shoulder, raised her head and let out a meaningless roar.
Before Tanjiro could even begin to feel happy...
Nezuko seemed to be leaning to one side because she had just woken up and was still weak.
Tanjiro, who didn't have much strength to begin with, was involuntarily thrown in that direction as Nezuko's body tilted.
Tanjiro stared wide-eyed at the direction he had fallen.
Oh no! It's a cliff...
"Ah--!"
Bang!
With a soft thud, the two figures fell off the cliff.
Tanjiro lay on his back on the snow at the foot of the cliff, watching the falling snowflakes, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Very good!
Thankfully, the snow was deep enough!
wrong!
Nezuko!
Tanjiro sat up on the snow and scanned his surroundings.
Their gazes quickly focused on Nezuko was standing in the distance.
Tanjiro quickly stood up and ran over.
" Nezuko! You're hurt. Don't walk by yourself, I'll carry you to town!"
Tanjiro ran up to Nezuko, but seeing that Nezuko didn't reply, he asked in confusion.
Nezuko...?
Nezuko suddenly raised her head and lunged at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro instinctively drew the axe from his waist.
The axe handle was raised horizontally and placed against Nezuko's mouth.
With Nezuko's exertion, Tanjiro, who was already weak, was pushed down onto the snow.
Tanjiro's gaze was fixed intently on Nezuko's eyes.
Those were vertical pupils that did not belong to humans.
A demon? Nezuko is a demon?
No! Nezuko isn't a demon!
She is human!
She's someone I've watched grow up!
Were they turned into this by a ghost with a scent they'd never encountered before?
hateful!!
Tanjiro roared angrily in his heart, looking at Nezuko in front of him, tears welling up in his eyes.
While I was comfortably sleeping in someone else's house...
We can't believe something like this happened!
It must have hurt a lot.
It must have been very painful.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...
"Ugh--"
The food was right in front of her, yet she couldn't eat it; Nezuko couldn't help but let out an animal-like roar.
Its body seemed to have grown larger than before.
Feeling an even stronger force emanating from above, Tanjiro's hands, which were holding the axe, began to tremble slightly.
Nezuko!
Go Nezuko!
You have to be patient!
You absolutely mustn't become a ghost!
Tanjiro looked at Nezuko in front of him and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Go for it, Nezuko!!"
"Go for it!!!"
"Tick-tock!"
A drop of liquid landed on Tanjiro's face.
Tanjiro was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Nezuko.
Sobbing sounds came from Nezuko's mouth.
Tears streamed from Nezuko's eyes and fell onto Tanjiro's face.
Tanjiro's lips curled into a smile.
Just as I was about to feel happy, my vision went dark.
A figure wielding a knife leaped down from mid-air.
He chopped downwards with the knife in his hand.
Is this... meant to kill Nezuko?
Tanjiro reacted quickly.
He grabbed Nezuko by the neck and rolled quickly to the ground.
Giyu Tomioka's pupils contracted slightly, and the speed of his descending Nichirin Blade slowed down involuntarily.
Whoosh--!
As the Nichirin Blade slashed through the air, stray red hairs fluttered in the breeze.
boom!
Even though Giyu slowed down the speed of his sword strike.
But the falling Nichirin Blade still managed to clear away the snow in front of it.
Giyu slowly stood up straight, turned slightly to the side, and looked at the two figures from before.
Was he just... saving a ghost?