Nezuko has always felt a tugging in her gut.

When Rokuta was about to fall into the snow and hurt his wrist, she was the first to grip his arm so that he wouldn't. When Hanako was playing tag with Shigeru, she had a feeling that the younger girl would crash into Takeo who was walking by with a hatchet, so she approached her younger brother and held him back a little with a small chat.

She had always known when one of her family members were in trouble, and over the years, she has grown to rely on what she called 'her sixth sense'.

(She didn't know it was so much more than that.)

So, when she felt the strongest tug in her gut one day, she knew she had to intervene somehow.

"Onii-chan! I'll go down the mountain today, why don't you take a small break?" Nezuko says, hoping that her tightening smile wasn't too obvious. Of course, her older brother, Kamado Tanjiro, noticed immediately that something was wrong with her, so he placed his palm to her forehead.

"Nezuko? Are you okay? You don't look too good."

Nezuko closes her eyes, enjoying the warmth of her brother's palm, before her smile turns more genuine. "I'm fine, thank you! I'm more worried about you, you go up and down the mountain every day, aren't you tired? I might as well take one day over for you."

Tanjiro furrows his eyebrows, but his smile never faded. "Sorry Nezuko, but the mountain is too dangerous for you to go alone. Besides, don't worry! Your brother is pretty strong, you know!" He grins at her warmly, as he always did.

Nezuko feels a pout coming on. "But…of course, I worry. How can I not? You're always doing the most work around the house. You cook, wash, clean, you even do half of my work when you can! I want to help you too."

Tanjiro's eyes glittered with pride at her words. "Thank you, Nezuko. But really, don't mention it! I'm the oldest, so it's only a given that I do the most work!" He grins at her one last time, before wishing her goodbye.

Nezuko bites her lip, looking at the back of her sibling. The pulling in her gut hasn't lessened, it only seemed to get stronger.

(A faint buzzing enters her head. Screams, pleads, crying out 'Mother, Hanako, Takeo–)

Before she realizes it, she sprints after him and grabs the back of his haori. Tanjiro yelps and almost falls backwards, but he steadies himself when he sees Nezuko behind him. He turns around.

"Nezuko! That was dangerous, you could've hurt yourself–" Tanjiro scolds, but abruptly stops when he sees Nezuko look at him. Her lip was quivering, eyes glinting faintly with tears, and her voice was shaky as well.

"Please, Onii-chan. Let me go today, I don't…I don't think you should go," she pleads, her hand still holding onto his clothing. Tanjiro is taken aback by her words and attitude, wondering where his normally strong-willed sister went to.

He spends a few seconds thinking, and Nezuko braces herself for the 'sorry' that is surely to come, but instead, he smiles at her and lightly grips her hand.

"Okay! If Nezuko is saying this much, it must mean that you have a really bad feeling this time, right?" Tanjiro says, his eyes gentle and understanding. "I trust you, Nezuko. You were always sharp when it comes to these things, so I'll stay home today. I promise. But on the other hand, if you're going to go in my place, please be careful and take your time. It would be bad if you slipped on snow and fell, understand?"

Nezuko nods, relieved that Tanjiro finally gave in. They head back into the house for Nezuko to change into something more mobile than a kimono, and Tanjiro is bombarded by their overjoyed little siblings. Nezuko smiles, it seemed like she wasn't the only one who wanted him to stay home.

"Be careful, okay Nezuko?!" Tanjiro shouts behind her as she waves them goodbye, walking down the mountain. "Don't run! Remember to keep yourself warm! If you run across a bear, don't–"

Ahh, Nezuko thinks, an exasperated smile tugging at her lips. He's always been a little overprotective.

"Don't worry, Onii-chan, I'll be fine!" She shouts, hoping that he could hear her over the chilly wind.

XXX

Dawn slowly approached. The sky was littered by gray clouds as always, but Nezuko made sure to smile a thousand times brighter to appease old man Saburo. She thanked him for letting her stay at his hut for the night and trudged back home, determined to see her family as soon as possible.

(Red eyes. Red everywhere as someone screamed and begged, red splattered on the walls, the ground, everything in sight –)

She smelt it before she saw it.

Blood.

Nezuko's legs moved rapidly, her heart pounding as she ascended the snowy path. Her house wasn't far, it was just up there, so why could she smell blood out of all things?

When Nezuko reaches the top, she feels everything in her body freezing.

In front of her house were two figures. One was over another, cradling the smaller one's head close to theirs. Red hair, a burn scar, it was…it was…

"ONII-CHAN!"

(Everything breaks. She feels hundreds of memories flooding into her, thousands of screams, millions of growls, and everything in between. She sees her brother, taller and stronger, his hair up in a ponytail and burning red eyes with a gentle smile. She sees three other boys, one with long blonde hair, one with short blue, and another with black styled like a mohawk. She sees a woman with a butterfly in her hair, her eyes pink and shining alongside the others. She sees herself, taller, her hair down with orange at the ends, a toothy smile and bright pink eyes hugging the older version of her brother as well. She sees everything, she feels everything, she remembers.

And she cries, because she failed to stop everything from happening once again.)

She rushes to her brother's side, throwing away the cargo basket along the way. She bends down and puts a finger to his neck, feeling an immense relief when she detects a faint pulse underneath. She tries the same for Rokuta, but to no avail. She then runs to the front door and enters the house, immediately assaulted with the strong stench of blood and death.

She lets out a strangled whimper when she sees her family dead. Her mother, Hanako, Takeo, Shigeru, Rokuta, everyone–

She screams, bringing her hands up to slap the sides of her face. There was no time to despair. If she replaced Tanjiro in his role, that meant that she must keep him alive no matter what. She steps on the blood-stained floor and heads towards her family, almost puking when she sees their faces up close. She checks each of them for any signs of life but finds nothing. She then wills herself to move on, opening the cabinet to fetch a thick blanket and heads outside. Her heart clenches when she sees her brother on the snow with his arm around Rokuta. She remembers to take the hatchet nearby, in case of her brother waking up.

I'm sorry, Onii-chan, she apologizes in her heart, wrapping him in the blanket stained with bloody fingerprints. She looked down at her fingers and realizes that she must have gotten some of the blood on them when she opened the cabinet, and she cannot help but letting out a small cry at that.

She pulls Tanjiro to her, wrapping her arms around his neck, and buries her sobs into the fabric. I'm sorry that I couldn't remember sooner, I'm sorry that I let that demon get to us again, I'm sorry that everybody had to die again–

"Please, Onii-chan," she pleads, her voice soft and watery. "Please wait a bit longer. Giyu-san will come, he did before, there's no way that he won't this time, and you'll be okay again, I promise I'll turn you back into a human, you did it before, it's going to okay, it's going to be okay–"

Grooowwl.

She snaps her eyes open, facing up to see her brother's face. His eyes were white, completely without pupils and irises, and his teeth morphed into the sharp fangs she was all too familiar with.

"Aaaa!" Tanjiro growls, starting to struggle against Nezuko's hold. "AAAHHH!"

"Onii-chan!" Nezuko begs, tightening her hold on him. "Calm down! It's me, Nezuko! Try to hold back, remember our family, yourself, PLEASE!"

Tanjiro seems oblivious to her screams though, because he faces down and bares his fangs in her face. She feels her face turning white but manages to roll away in time before he chomps downwards, aiming for her shoulder.

"Argh!" She grunts, her hands immediately going to the hatchet she attached to her hip. She tries to get up, but is assaulted by her brother once more, who pushes her down to the snow.

She sees his face nearing her, monstrous growls coming out from his mouth as he opens his mouth. Nezuko aims at that moment and brings her arms up to shove the hatchet into his mouth, gagging him.

"Onii-chan, please!" Nezuko cries, feeling the cold tears on her cheeks. "Please, remember! It's me, Nezuko, your little sister…You're not a monster who eats humans, you're not a killer, you're my brother, Kamado Tanjiro! Please fight it! I know you can do it!"

She remembers the countless times he saved her with his kindness. How he was always willing to put everyone before him, how he was always thinking of her more than himself.

He was her sun, her light, her everything. She couldn't bear to lose him again.

A tear drops onto her cheek.

Nezuko halts her breathing when she sees her brother. He was faltering, his hands no longer holding the strength that was used to push her down, and his eyes were widened with tears dropping down. Nezuko feels her own eyes well up once more as his tears hit her cheek.

"Onii-chan," she chokes out. "You're still in there. It's okay, it's going to fine–"

Tanjiro suddenly lurched sideways, his hands scooping her into his arms as he tumbled. Nezuko could feel a faint slash through her hair, but she couldn't tell what was happening. They both crashed into a tree, but Nezuko was still in her brother's arms.

"Onii-chan…?"

A foot steps onto the snow in front of her. She feels her heart thump with hope.

It's him, Giyu-san, he's here –

"Young girl, are you alright?! Hold on tight, and don't worry! I'll make sure to save you!"

No, it wasn't him. It wasn't Tomioka Giyu.

Nezuko feels her eyes widen as she slowly looks up. Instead of cool blue eyes, bright, fiery red and orange were staring back at her. The same shade of fire was in place of black hair, and a brilliant smile graced her sight instead of a frown.

Rengoku Kyojuro. The man who died while passing his will down to her brother. The man of fire.

But Nezuko isn't supposed to know this. So instead of calling out his name, she retorts back.

"No! Please don't hurt him! He's my big brother, he's not going to harm me!"

The smile on his face falters. "Young girl, please listen to me! Your brother has been turned into a demon, he's no longer human! You might die if I do not kill him this moment!"

"No!" Nezuko shouts. She turns behind her. "Onii-chan…!"

Her brother is staring at her. Eyes with the pupils like stilts wide open, he reaches out a hand. His sharp fingernails brush against her cheek, to her hair. He lets out small whimpers and growls. She realizes what he seems to be mourning about, but she smiles anyway.

Her hair, her long, beautiful hair her mother loved, was cut short.

She puts her hand over his. "It's okay, Onii-chan, I don't mind. Please, you have to help me convince Rengoku-san that you mean no harm. We can't–"

Tanjiro's docile growls turns fiercer. He snaps his head toward the direction of Rengoku, who was a lot closer than before. He stands up and pushes Nezuko behind him, stretching out his arms to shield his little sister from the person who had cut her hair.

Grooowl.

"Onii-chan!" Nezuko yelps, pushing herself to stand. "I'm fine, it's alright!"

Tanjiro growls stubbornly, glaring at Rengoku. Nezuko can see the veins popping out at the side of his head, and feels like he had grown taller, which meant that he was taking on his adult form. This isn't good, this is really bad –

"…He shields you," Rengoku murmurs, his smile completely gone. His eyes dart back and forth, from Nezuko to Tanjiro. He seems to be pondering about them, by the way he was frowning.

Nezuko sees an opportunity. "Yes, he's not a bad person! He's not going to attack me!"

"…He is a demon. When a demon gets impossibly hungry, there is no telling what it'll do. You may suffer a cruel death by his fangs, but you still say he's good?" Rengoku tightens his grip on his sword, his tone utterly serious. "I'm afraid I can't believe that. There is no concrete evidence that he will not eat people from now on. Don't worry, I will not cut you when I run my blade through him."

Nezuko eyes widen. "No–"

Tanjiro growls. He reaches down – Rengoku raises his sword, prepared to strike – and flings a handful of snow into the taller man's face.

"Hngh–?!"

Tanjiro rushes over to Nezuko and scoops her up in his hands once more. Nezuko, sensing what her older brother was about to do, nods and scraps some snow off the tree nearby. Tanjiro makes a small purring noise and takes off faster than she did when she first changed.

The scenery around her blurs, but when a fiery orange blob enters her vision, Nezuko aims and flings. Some of the snow she gathered had rocks in them, but it was quite obvious that her projectiles weren't actually hitting the man. Tanjiro throwing snow at his eyes was just a small distraction, there was no way the Flame Pillar would be hindered by just that.

But even then, Nezuko had no choice. Because even if she had to go against the world once again, she would gladly do it with her brother by her side.

XXX

He protected her. He carried her like she was a princess and took off. He assessed the situation, decided that Kyojuro was a threat, and tried to bring his little sister to safety.

Rengoku Kyojuro was a man who used to believe that demons could do no right. But it felt as if his entire view was falling apart when he met those siblings.

When Oyakata-sama sent him to investigate a mountain, he'd expected to find a threatening demon who ate thousands, not a protective sister and her brother-turned-demon.

Despite the situation, Kyojuro feels a smile tug at his lips as he dodges the snowballs the young girl was throwing at him.

Maybe these two are different.

Kyojuro breathes, feeling his blood pump, and jumps right in front of them. The brother skids to a halt, baring his fangs while the sister glares protectively, but Kyojuro only smiles.

"I see, maybe you do have a point, young girl," Kyojuro says, his tone significantly warmer compared to before. "I think that I would like to bet on you two."

Before either could respond, Kyojuro sheathes his Nichirin blade and hits the back of their necks with it, knocking them out. He holds them in his arms as they fall forward. He can still feel their warmth and their slight breathing indicating their life.

Two lives out of seven. He couldn't save the rest of their family.

"I'm sorry that I could not get here sooner," Kyojuro murmurs, gently patting their small heads. "If only I was faster, your entire family might have lived."

Kyojuro hefts them onto his shoulders respectively and starts his trudge back to their house. Considering his speed, it didn't take much time at all. He lowers them onto the trunk of a nearby tree and covers the two with the blanket that was around the older brother. He approaches the house next, inwardly grimacing at the horrible sight that greeted him.

Kyojuro breathes, rolls up his sleeves, and gets to work.

XXX

Onii-chan…Onii-chan…!

She was calling for him. The small girl with long – no, short now – hair was crying. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but reach out a hand towards her. He wanted to embrace her, comfort her, tell her that everything will be fine because he was going to make sure that it would be.

He hates her tears. They made his heart hurt in a way that he never thought possible.

When his conscious returns faintly, he manages to open his eyes. He sees the fire man in front of five human sized lumps of snow, his hands together in a prayer with his eyes closed. When he opens his eyes, Tanjiro sees the sadness in them, and Tanjiro knows that he meant no more harm to him and the little girl.

He turns his head to the side, seeing her sleeping. He purrs softly, shuffling closer to her, rubbing his cheek against her head. She was to be protected, safe, unharmed. Something in him told him that, although he didn't know what it was exactly.

Footsteps approaches them, and Tanjiro blearily looks up to see the tall man. The sadness in his eyes are gone, a smile there instead.

"I will not harm both of you," he promises, and Tanjiro believes him. "Do not worry. Sleep, you need to recover."

Tanjiro grunts, gesturing towards the little girl. The man seems to get his meaning. "I will protect your sister as well, do not worry, demon boy! I swear on my name, Rengoku Kyojuro!"

Tanjiro, not fully understanding his meaning but knowing that he probably got his message, nods and closes his eyes.

Sleep.

XXX

When Nezuko wakes up, she finds herself in a room. Waking up frantically, she tries to find her brother first thing and sees him sleeping next to her in a futon. She feels her worry drain out of her, until Rengoku barges into their room with a loud declaration of breakfast.

Rengoku Kyojuro is a kind man. She feels like she's basking in sunlight when next to him, a different kind but somewhat similar to the sun her brother is. His voice is loud and sometimes annoying, but he cares so deeply, and Nezuko knows that she couldn't hate him for her life even if he had threatened to hurt her brother before.

During their shared breakfast, Rengoku explains to Nezuko about the demons and the corps. Although already aware because of her past life, she listens attentively, trying to find any differences between this reality and her memories. Everything seemed the same, which meant that she was right, Kibutsuji Muzan was the one who killed her family again.

"Rengoku-san," Nezuko says. She is well aware of the consequences of her actions, but when this man instead of one Tomioka Giyu came to their aid, she throws any thought of following her past life out the window. Some things may be the same, but her and her brother's life will be completely different.

She wonders if any of her friends are the same as her.

She bows down deep, her short hair falling beside her head. She is aware of how short it is, she's never cut her hair ever since she was three years old. Another sign of change.

"Please teach me," she sounds out, loud and clear. She doesn't have to look up to see the surprised look on Rengoku's face. "I want to get stronger. I want to be strong enough to protect my brother and turn him back into a human. If one can change into a demon, there is no way one cannot go back," Nezuko raises her head, staring straight into those golden eyes.

"I need you, Rengoku-san. I need you to share your teachings with me, I need you to help me grow stronger," Nezuko continues. "Because I love my brother too much to let things lie the way they are now. So please, Rengoku-san."

Help me, save me, save us.

XXX

Kyojuro, in all his life, has been called many things. A disappointment, a noisy brat, an optimistic asshole, and tons more.

He thinks that 'crazy', 'out of his mind', 'lunatic' would be added to that list.

Because in the face of absolute determination and love, he couldn't help but smile.

His heart clenches, squeezes, aches for them.

In another world, Rengoku Kyojuro would have given his life for the Demon Slaying Corps, slaying demons left and right. The last thing he saw would be a fifteen-year-old boy with burgundy hair, and red eyes wet with tears as he tells him everything.

In this world, Rengoku Kyojuro still would give his life for the Demon Slaying Corps, but he cannot afford to die. Not because he has someone to kill, but because of two little kids who had their family ripped away from them when they were too young.

In another world, Rengoku Kyojuro would have died without the Breath of Flames being passed on.

In this world, he accepts Kamado Nezuko as his tsuguko, his only successor.

Taisho secret: Giyu's grampa Kasugai Crow accidentally messed up and relayed Oyakata-sama's message to Rengoku instead of Giyu, resulting in the Fire Pillar meeting the Kamado siblings instead.

KnY is too amazing. I couldn't help it, I needed to write this!

This is going to be a reincarnation series with the Kamaboko crew (Nezuko, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Genya and Kanao), and most of the stories will be oneshots!

Warning: They are not in chronological order.

To briefly summarize: the canon Kamaboko crew live out their lives as Pillars. They don't defeat Muzan the first time they raid the demon's hideout, but another time when the crew grows older and stronger. They all live pretty fulfilled lives after that, but when they died, they didn't go to heaven or hell, and are reincarnated into themselves again in a parallel world. They slowly get their memories back, and kind of mess up the universe together.

I also have a twitter! I'm accepting prompts right now, so if you want to, you can send me a DM there~

Twitter: Runefairy12

~LunaricFairy12~