It was the middle of the night on the butterfly estate, when a young Kamado Tanjiro wondered around practicing his breath.

It has been a week since he, with the help of the 3 Kakushi jrs, started training on implementing his breathing technique as his regular.

There hasn't been much improvement on his breath, instead, all he got are sets of bruises that he recieves each time he was beaten to a pulp by the trio after he subconsciously lets go of his breathing.

It is certainly of couse painful, but the hopes of beating Kanao and leaving this place already deserted his 2 blockheaded teammates, so if he were to stop training now, then who would encourage those two?

Needless to say, the desire to turn his younger sister back to being human is still there, raging. But, for some reason, the thirst for it has exponentially decreased.

He doesn't know why...Or how...

He still loves his sister, that's for sure. The lingering thought of his once happy family, the images of their bodies that were perfectly engraved on his mind, and his never ending worry that plagued him when his sister went asleep for a year.

All of this has been constantly igniting what fire a certain demon left in him.

So, why?

Casually strolling around a suspiciously quiet Butterfly Estate, Tanjiro found his feet carry him on what seemed like the backyard.

There, he saw someone that could be described as someone that's nothing short of a beauty.

His eyes dilated, his heartbeat skipped, and his breathing was laboured.

"Kanao?"

He huddled in a corner immediately, somehow nervous after seeing the gracious gaze of the woman casted on the beautifully lit night sky, paired with her charming smile that brightened her face that can be mistaken as one in the middle of admiration.

Strange.Why was he acting like this? He didn't know.

He wanted to come closer to Kanao. So, he took the opportunity and gently, so as to not shock her, revealed himself.

For one, he first looked at the moonlit sky as to distract his eyes from gazing to her.

However, even with increased effort, he somehow found this to be difficult, considering as to how he had never seen Kanao in any other outfit other than their black uniform.

Surprisingly, she's wearing a yukata at the moment. A bright pink yukata with white lines the edges, adorned with a maroon lower half.

Kanao looked so good on it that even after painstaking effort, Tanjiro struggled on keeping his posture on the sky as he walked to the girl.

"U-uh-"

Choking on his words, he felt embarrassed as blood rushed on his cheeks.

Nice try, Tanjiro. Echoed on his head, constantly punching him on the face for his failure of a simple task.

"K-Kanao-san. You're still awake."

In a desperate attempt to break the awkward silence that surrounded the athmosphere, Tanjiro opened up with some words for the girl that is still, for some reasons, staring at the sky.

She merely took a glance to Tanjiro and looked down, briefly licking her lips as she closes them.

Tanjiro, upon witnessing this, blushed at the seductive display and immediately looked away.

Weird.

"Isn't it pretty late?"

He also added. This time, Kanao looked down as a melancholic expression clouded her once enthusiastic face.

Saddening as Tanjiro once again witnessed this, he frowned as his heart felt heavy.

"Oh-Sorry."

His sorry wasn't exactly out of place, but it seemed to shock Kanao for a moment.

She bit her lips. Taking out a coin from the Yukata's sleeves after.

That coin...Watching her as she flipped the coin off to the air, time seemed to slow down as Tanjiro subconsciously used his Total Concentration Water Breathing to almost literally halt time.

The spinning of the coin seemed all too slow for him as he started to smell the result.

A head...The coin rebounded from the ground, spinning that seemed so endlessnas he anxiously waited for the result.

It rebounded once more as the coin started to settle in one place on the wooden floors of the house.

It seemed to spin around, only to actually inevitably land on a head.

Kanao gulped as she saw the result and settled herself in the edge of the wooden house.

"T-Tanji-"

Lacking in communication skills, she stuttered multiple times as she painstakingly tried to release some words that is in her mind.

"C-Can I tell you a story?"

She finally did it.

Standing just a bit in front of Kanao, Tanjiro's puzzled expression became obvious. He smiled.

That one gentle smile that has always soothed people on one way or another.

His stiff movements became fluid as the looks on his eyes grew to be a bit softer than they usually are.

"Ok."

He replied.

OoO

Once there was a girl.

She was a slave. Passed on from one master to another.

Since birth, she has served more masters than the hours of sleep that she can get everyday.

She also had no friends. Quite an inevitable part of her life, since she is often quiet that only waited for orders, she barely had any opportunities to actually communicate.

Not that it mattered. Since for as far as she knew, all the kids her age that was also slaves are lashed whenever they do something that their masters doesn't do.

And for as long as she remembers, her master never orders her to have fun.

This is the type of life that she was subjected to.

This is her life, and will always be.

No.

After her master died due to the shady business that he was operating, she was caught by another slave merchant and paraded her and some other kids around town, hoping to earn a few coins for the pitiful kids that the merchant possesed.

Not like she has any complaints, she's been through with this treatment for as long as she remembers.

Just another day in the office as they might say.

But no...

She expected herself to be sold at yet another harsh man that only wanted another slave to do his bidding, not a pretty, enthusiastic girl that wore a black matching uniform with a butterfly haori on top.

No.

But it happened. After a quick negotiation, she saw the girl pay the slave merchant a price that she's never seen before.

This girl has bought her for 3 times the price that her master had paid.

She had mixed feelings about it, but has learned to completely ignore it.

So, without any resistance, she abided to her new master and followed her immediately.

She was then brought to a small lovely place that could be nothing short of home.

Surrounded with a beatiful array of lavender colored flowers, she wasn't able to prevent her eyes to wander around.

Because unlike the other masters that she has served, this one seemed to resonate the word, care.

Unlike all her former masters, whose lair always smelled of smoke, sake, and copper, this one has a sweet smell of wisteria and loving vibe of home.

At first, she couldn't believe that she now lives here, but as her logical mind started to kick in, she immediately adjusted to it.

There, she met the sisters, Kochou Kanae, and Kochou Shinobu, both donning black uniforms with butterfly designed haori.

Both that are now her masters.

One accepted her for what she is, and the other rejected her for her dependent nature.

OoO

Years have passed and her expectations for her new life has been long dumped in the trash.

As she is now an official student of the Insect Pillar, and is a legitimate Breath of the Insect user.

To be honest, she didn't expect this life, not one bit. But she didn't oppose, nor did she deny it.

Despite being taught over and over that this job literally has her life on the line, it is still infinitely better than serving some old stinking snub.

"Kanao. Shinobu. Let's go."

She still isn't an official demon hunter, but despite that, Kanae insists on taking her to their missions.

And at the moment, their mission is to kill a certain ice wielding demon that's been known to ravage villages only to eat women, and brutally decapitate the rest.

They've been sent there as bait, considering as to how much resources is put in the execution of this mission.

As such, someone like Kanae was necessary for the success of this mission.

Although, one Shinobu Kochou disagreed on bringing Kanao along with them, she was still brought along since Shinobu often has no say on her sister's decisions.

OoO

"We're at the site. Shinobu, look around. Report to me, and never, I repeat, NEVER, engage in a fight. Even if its just a normal demon."

Unsheating her sword as she unleashes a few test swings, Kanae issued her orders.

Pouting as a certain disagreeing Shinobu heard this, she left immediately and scanned the surroundings.

"As for you, Kanao, stay with me."

She also added.

They then proceeded to walk around the deserted village, the smell of blood and insides still lingering from the place.

Fortunately, they've been all too used on this smell, as it doesn't seem to even bother them at all.

"My, my, what luck do I have for today.

God! Thank you! Wait...I forgot...There is no god!"

A certain voice resonated from a corner while they were patrolling, came a crescent fan that was swiftly unfurled in front of them.

There, a person that looked like on his 20s slowly emerged. He had pale white skin that could be mistaken for a maiden's, and a pair of reflective silver orbs.

He also possesses silver hairs that blended with his crimson red attire.

His confident stride striked alarms at Kanae as she immediately gestured for Kanao to step back.

She tightly held her katana with her 2 fists as her veins started to pop out after her blood accelerated.

After then, a fierce fight over a casual, happy go lucky demon, and a desperate demon hunter became history.

OoO

"Then..."

"Then?"

Midway through their conversation, Tanjiro noticed Kanao's sudden change of expression.

Her shoulder dropped, her eyes felt sad, and her breathing slowed down.

He became affected by this, and started to feel sad as well. But even so...

"Then?"

"T-Then Kanao nee-san died. Protecting me till the bitter end. Even resorting to exchanging her life f-for me."

She started to tear up.

Tanjiro had already concluded that eventually, it will lead to something like this, so he wasn't shocked.

He was just...sad.

Kanao, in an outburst of emotions, unconsciously threw herself to the frame of the boy beside her. Hugging him tightly as she cries on his chest.

Tanjiro was taken aback by this. But that didn't mean he doesn't know how to respond.

Overcoming her embarrassment, he then slowly hugged back at the petite frame of the girl that's now so. smudging her tears on his clothes.

He didn't mind. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on, every once in a while.

Embracing her head with his right as she gently taps her back his left as to soothe her, he started to ask.

"And, I'm guessing today's her death aniversary?"

Right to the dot.

Shinobu often refuses to celebrate it as it reminds her of her dead sister, often distracting her from her missions.

But Kanao does not. As for every 3rd full moon of February, she occasionally stays awake overnight as she looks at the moon, wondering at what things she could've done better.

She was always alone when doing this, but not tonight. She had that one thing that everyone always needed.

Someone that'll listen.

She had someone.

She had Tanjiro.

OoO

My first attempt at a Kimetsu fanfic!

Personally, I never write one shots, but for some reasons, my phone didn't distract me as I went through this smoothly.

Leave a comment guys, Constructive Criticism is always accepted.

Also, to say that I still have a lot of ideas, so this may end up as not just a one shot one day.

Who knows.