"Gonpachiro!"
"It's Tanjiro!"

"I found this piece of paper on mismatched jacket's bed!" Inosuke shoved a paper to him. Tanjiro gasped as he read the note.

Tomioka Giyuu was the one looking out for the Kamado siblings ever since their family died in a car accident, and had been a very good friend since. He went missing for 2 days. Since he only goes to his own house and workplace, there is no telling where he could be.

The note says he was feeling pretty empty and decided he wants to kill himself. After leaving his bank account information for the Kamado siblings, he was prepared to go out.

"Do you realize what this means?!" He asked Inosuke.

"NO! I CAN'T READ!"

He sprinted towards Giyuu's room and found an Aokigahara Forest postcard.

"Oh no."

Meanwhile.

Giyuu cussed internally as he forgot to being a rope with him. But it's too late now, he was on the entrance of the suicide forest.
Due to the vastness of the forest, desperate visitors are unlikely to encounter anyone once inside the so-called "Sea of Trees," so the police have mounted signs reading "Your life is a precious gift from your parents," and "Please consult the police before you decide to die!" on trees throughout.

After seeing a few signs here and there, it wasn't long before he started seeing dead decomposing bodies.

He stopped in his tracks as he saw a hanging young man, it seems to be quite fresh.

Ignoring it, he started of thinking of ideas to off himself.

"Handsome."

He immediately turned around after hearing that feminine voice. But no one is there with him. Giyuu remained stoic anyways and decided to continue strolling. He accidentally stepped on a corpse that is wearing a backpack, crouching down, he took note of it. "This man doesn't look like he was trying to kill himself... It seems like he just got lost."

"Correct."

He once again turned to search for the disembodied voice. He was considering calling out if someone is there with him but he was too socially awkward to yell so he decided against it. Looting the backpack, he found some packaged food and water. 'How did this guy died if he had this?'

Apologizing as he took the backpack, he pressed on.

A cold breeze blew on him, he adjusted his mismatched jacket and scarf.

"Did you come here to kill yourself?"

This time, he decided to answer.

"Yes."

"Oh! You can talk after all! I got the impression that you were mute."

Frowning, he decided he won't respond to the voice ever again. "There is a cliff northeast from here, near the base of the mountain." The voice giggled. "Thanks." He replied lazily.

The entity had seem to taken an interest in him and his weird behavior, since the other countless people who passed away in the forest had the same boring reaction of being terrified.

Giyuu heard footsteps echoing throughout the area. He glanced at the source and saw a small girl with a side ponytail running away from a distance.

"Must have been a ghost." He mumbled to himself.

"Actually, she is the forest guardian. She doesn't like littering very much. Suicide is fine though."

"Wait, then who are you?" Giyuu asked the voice. If the voice isn't the forest guardian then what is she?

"I'm just a nobody~ now come on, do you wanna die or not?"

He grumbled something about going to the cliff, he crouched down and opened the backpack and searched for something that can help him. Giyuu's frown returned to his pokerface as he can't find compass. 'No wonder the guy got lost...'

"Wanna play hot or cold? I can direct you to the cliff."

Sighing, he stood up and wore the backpack. He faced a random direction.

"Cold~"

He turned to the left.

"Warmer."

He turned to the left slowly.

"Warmer~"

He paused before turning to the left slightly. "Tomioka-san."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Because you're hot, ugh, you're so slow... Head straight towards that path. You'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"How did you know my name?" He asked without moving.

"I know everything."

Giyuu remained motionless. He haven't got any clue towards anything paranormal, so this must be normal for the supernatural.

"You also watched Sabito died in a housefire when you were 13. How does it feel? Wanna join him?"

His heart skipped a beat, that was a very private memory and the thing was teasing him about it so nonchalantly. He tapped his foot to the ground. "... Yeah. It's what I came for."
He started brisk walking towards the direction of the cliff.

"My, oh my! Are you in a rush to die? I'm sorry if what I said brings back bad memories... I really am."

Giyuu would rather die than hear her voice right now. Literally.

The voice kept pestering him about what made him draw the last straw, the man concluded that the entity didn't know everything about him, just a couple of things. He effortlessly gave her the silent treatment, it's what he does best.

"Yoo hoo? Did you turn deaf or something, Tomioka-san?"

'Just ignore her.' His eyes widened as he finally saw the cliff. It offered a wonderful view of the forest and the base of Mt. Fuji. But what made him hesitate is the drop doesn't look too high to actually kill him. There's a 50% he'll just break his bones and starve to death.

"Come on, talk to me, say something atleast before you jump."

Giyuu was deciding whether he should leave the backpack or not. He opted on just taking it with him. But as he braced himself...

"You see, this is why nobody likes you."

It made him stop. He took offense to that one.

"I'm... I'm not disliked by people." He lamely replied.

"Ahh! You don't even know that people hate you and I just said it so casually. I'm so sorry."

His eye twitched after hearing the voice giggled.

"Nobody likes you, Tomioka Giyuu."

"Who are you to say that?" He snapped.

"I'm... Nobody~"

His head was about to explode from all the mixed messages he was receiving. Giyuu decided to screw everything and just fucking jump. But as he leapt, he hit an invisible wall that knocked him back.

"What the-" he mumbled in confusion.

"On second thought. I won't allow you to die yet."

Giyuu slowly picked himself up "And why?"

"... Because you're fun."

Giyuu lets out a long sigh. He walked all the way here for nothing.

"Just you wait. I'll be beside you soon~"

"No thanks. I'd rather die."

"I know."

Meanwhile near the outskirts.

Tanjiro panted heavily as he finally reached the entrance of the Aokigahara forest.

He had to ride a bullet train and rent a cab to get here.

"Finally... No, this is just the start. I have to look for him. And I'll find him, dead or alive!" The young man steeled his resolve "But I hope to find him alive."

He took out a candy and unwrapped it. Tanjiro looked at the vicinity. He was all alone...
"No one will know if I leave it here..."

But as he let go of the wrapper, his voice of reason told him "But it would be disrespectful to nature."

"!" He caught the wrapper with his foot before it landed and sighed in relief. "What am I thinking?"

Putting the wrapper inside his pocket, he shuddered at the 'Don't kill yourself signs' before entering and well, eating the candy.

He can smell a bizarre scent, and he can sense that he was being watched. By who exactly?
"Ahh!" He gasped as he saw the first corpse in his trip. He bowed as a sign of respect before proceeding.

Looking at his cellphone, he noticed that there is no signal inside the forest. And also that it's 17:47

'I didn't tell anyone aside from Inosuke that I was going to search for him. I just hope I find him before Nezuko and Zenitsu noticed that I'm gone...' Tanjiro returned the phone back to his pocket as he jogged 'I need to find him fast!'

Meanwhile in the city.

"Inosuke!" Zenitsu yelled as he ran towards his friend. "WHAT?!" he asked loudly.
"Have you seen Tanjiro anywhere?" The blond boy asked.

"Yes! He went to the find forest to suicide Tomioka."

"WHAAAAAAT?!"

Back in the forest.

Tanjiro stopped for a brief moment as he picked up a scent. "..." he sniffed for a bit before grinning in relief "It's Mr. Tomioka's scent!"
He then proceeded to follow the scent.

Giyuu didn't notice but he drifted off for quite some time. As he slowly opened his eyes, he can see butterflies fluttering above him.
'So it wasn't some stupid nightmare.' He mused while he sat up. Inspecting the cliff, he started preparing himself to dive head first. But a mist appeared behind him.

"You're finally awake!"

The voice sounding very close this time. Giyuu turned around and saw a very beautiful woman. A petite girl with pale skin and large compound-looking eyes that do not possess pupils, only a haze of gradient, purple iris that becomes darker, the lower it goes, which made her eyes appear similar to those of bugs. She had shoulder-length hair that faded from black into dark purple, usually fastened at the back of her head into a "yakai-maki" style, with a white and purple butterfly ornament with split ear-length bangs that rose a little away from her head before they fell down to frame her face, with two thinner chin-length strands below them.

"I honestly thought I had to kiss you to wake you up. Just like Sleeping Prince Charming."

Giyuu blinked. "I was expecting someone taller."

A vein became visible on her forehead but her smile didn't disappear. She promptly kicked the man and caused him to fall off the cliff.

Tanjiro started running as he noticed that the sun is going down. 'I haven't found a single clue that Mr. Tomioka was here..! But his scent was still fresh. I can't stop now...'

Something weird started happening. He stopped and looked around with suspicion. He started running again. As he ran he can hear another set of footsteps running with him. But when he stops, the footprints also do.

As he ran, he leapt and the footsteps continued even when his feet were off the ground.
"Aha!" He landed with a smile.
"Show yourself!" Tanjiro demanded in a false display of bravery, he figured if he showed that he is not afraid, whatever it is that is there with him will back down. He prepared himself if anyone jumped in front of him before realizing that he was in the lifeless suicide forest. "Huh?" Tanjiro frantically glanced around as he heard a coin being tossed in to the air.

He heard it land.
Hairs on the back of his neck stood as the following silence consumed the area for a few seconds. Tanjiro began sweating even though it is very cold. He lets out an audible gulp.
"W-Well? Are you going to keep a guy waiting?"

He immediately regretted his decision as a young girl with large, gentle eyes of a pink-lilac color that are framed by thick eyelashes. She has thin black hair, worn tied into a ponytail on the right side of her head.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed at the appearing phantom.

"Uh?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Giyuu grunted as he landed at the bottom. The disappointment in his eyes present as the fall did not kill him.

He didn't really fall, he just rolled down the slippery slope.

*distant AAAAAAAAAA*

Giyuu stood up, on high alert. "Tanjiro?!"

'How did he managed to find my note so soon?' He thought in disbelief. Now he needs to choose whether he should kill himself immediately before the boy finds him or if he should save the boy from getting lost.

Giyuu knew Tanjiro had a dream for himself and his sister. To be able to put up a successful bakery in honor of their late parents. He has so much to live for compared to him.

He flinched as a terrifyingly cold hand grabbed his. "My, oh my! You're so warm, Tomioka-san." the mysterious woman giggled.
But instead of being terrified, he pouted. "You sucked at your job."

Meanwhile, Tanjiro had the completely opposite reaction.

"C-Coward!" He says as he ran away from her.

The ghostly girl blinked as she watched the retreating figure. Having second thoughts of chasing the kind boy.
She fished out the coin in her pocket and tossed it high in to the air. Catching it, she made up her mind and dashed towards him.

The sun started to set.

Giyuu can only frown as the woman trapped him in her grasp. Telling him everything about herself.

"I'm actually an angel of death. My job is to point where the souls need to go after they left their body. So far, there's only a couple of suicides this month. So it's pretty boring." She said in a rather bored way. She proceeded to tell him how amazing he is for having nerves of steel. She asked him if he is really brave or is he just too depressed to care. But before he can respond, she changed the topic once again.

'This is torture.' Giyuu thought to himself.
How can he save Tanjiro like this? "I- MMPRH!" Giyuu was silenced as Shinobu shoved a green apple to his mouth "I see that you left the backpack up there, here have some food."

It's evening, and Tanjiro's only source of light is his phone.

The boy panted as he strayed away from the main path. He can hear her following him.

He halted as his light shined upon a rather steep cliff. He inhaled quickly "Mr. Tomioka was here."

Tanjiro looked down and saw a backpack. Wondering if it's Tomioka's, he decided to screw everything and just take it as the mysterious whatever that was chasing him was getting closer.

"Ngg!" He gasped as the footsteps are near.

Meanwhile, directly below them...

Giyuu is currently feeling a high level of coldness as the angel of death snuggled on to his warm body.
"I'm kind of envious of you, you know?" She whispered.
"Huh?" He hummed.

"You get to be alive. To feel alive. To interact with other humans... Hmmm..."

"C-C-C-Cold..." he whispered. She teased him by touching his face, causing him to shudder even more.

"Tomioka-san. It must be nice to have name. I... I've always wanted to have one." Giyuu sensed the sadness in her tone.

"What name would you like to have?" He asked without meaning to. Causing her to gasp and let go of him.

It was dark but the fireflies beside the angel showed him the happiness in her face.

"Will you call me by name if I tell you?" She asked with her smile as big as it can get.

Giyuu blinked. "Sure, why not."

"Hmmm... My surname is gonna be... Kochou! Because I love butterflies. And first name is gonna be..."

She looked at him in th eye. "Shinobu."

"That sounds... Nice, I guess." He awkwardly replied. Shinobu closed her eyes and giggled "The stars sure are pretty tonight, isn't it, Tomioka-san?"

"Whatever you say, Kochou."

Meanwhile, directly above them.

As the girl approached Tanjiro, she began to greet him as the phone light shined towards her.
She halted her advance as she tossed a coin to the air, baffling Tanjiro.

"Hi..." she greeted shyly.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He continued to scream but he had nowhere else to go.

"I just want... To say thank you for not literring in my home. That is all, farewell." She smiled sweetly. Tanjiro blinked as he calmed down. The boy slowly got his composure as he inspected her features.

"Wait! You mean, you're... Not gonna hurt me?"

"Farewell."

"Ahh! I'm sorry if I thought you were evil!" He bowed and apologized sincerely.

"Farewell."

"Say, by any chance have you seen an aloof, sad guy roaming around the forest? His scent is still fresh. He was about erm... This tall." He asked with a hopeful tone and did his best to describe him. The guardian simply nodded "Although we might be too late, since the angel of death has already taken an interest on him."

Tanjiro's world shattered, that means he must be dead or dying.
The man who was like a big brother to him, the one who worked around the clock to make sure him and Nezuko can study, the man who took care of the two orphans even though he had no reason to, died even before he can repay him.

Tears started to fall "Mr. Tomioka... No..."

The guardian of the forest tilted her head at the crying boy. She slowly crouched and wiped the tears from his warm face.
Tanjiro winced from her cold hand.

"Tears..." the guardian blinked.

She held her hand out and offered to help him up.

The dead guy in question was walking back to the entrance, having his hand held by Shinobu, who told him that she won't allow him to die in the forest.

"That's fine, I'll just kill myself somewhere else."

"THAT IS NOT THE POINT, TOMIOKA-SAN."

She sighed and squeezed his hand gently. "Didn't you learn anything from our talk? Life is a precious thing. Just think that there are creatures out there who wished they were human. Such as yours truly... I'm so envious of you, Tomioka-san. I feel like I'm dying of thirst, watching you drown."

Giyuu stared at her for awhile. Before humming in agreement.

"Don't you have anything else to say?" She asked with an irritated smile. Shinobu stared at the nightsky "Are you selfish enough to not even consider what the people you left out will feel?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?!"

Giyuu cleared his throat "You did say that nobody likes me."

Shinobu chuckled "I am nobody. My gosh, you're so slow."

The two continued the walk towards a path that Giyuu has never seen before.

"I guess, I'm just lonely. I know that my friends won't always be by my side. They have their own lives, and I'll be left on my room. Or behind the counter serving people coffee." Giyuu muttered.
"My, oh my! Lonely eh? We have so much in common!" Shinobu giggled.

She grabbed his ear "Look, give me a few days, I can fix that." They finally reached the forest entrance through a shortcut.

"Now get out of here." Shinobu shoved him away.

The two stared at eachother for awhile.

Shinobu winked at him and pointed at her cheek. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she pouts, motioning him to kiss her.

Giyuu's eyes widened "Tanjiro! I forgot! He is inside the-"

"Mr. Tomioka!"

Giyuu turned around and saw Tanjiro running towards him, he was with the girl he saw earlier this morning.

Tanjiro hugged his bestfriend and cried his eyes out.
"Don't worry, I won't do it anymore." He reassured him.

The guardian walked and stood next to the angel of death as they smiled at the two. "You better get going. It's getting pretty late." Shinobu said.

Giyuu smiled at them in return as Tanjiro tried his best to stop crying.

"That's a pretty good look on you, you better smile more often, Tomioka-san." Shinobu grinned.

The guardian waved at Tanjiro silently.

"T-Thank you! Thank you to you people! Thank you Miss..."

"Shinobu."

"Miss Shinobu for taking care of Mr. Tomioka!" Tanjiro wholeheartedly yelled.

"The pleasure is mine, Tanjiro." The angel giggled.

"Wait, I never told her my-"

"I did." Giyuu interrupted hum.

"Alright, alright. We'll see eachother soon. Sooner than you think." Shinobu giggled. "I don't have plans on killing myself anytime soon." Giyuu turned his back on them "Let's go home, kid."

Tanjiro nodded and glanced at the guardian. "B-Bye!" He waved timidly.

The guardian just stared at him with her default expression, a tiny smile on her face.

A few days later.

Tanjiro was pissed at Inosuke for giving everybody the wrong idea.

"What exactly happened there?" Zenitsu asked as the two sat on their chairs. "You won't believe me even if I tell you." Tanjiro dismissively replied. He let his gead rest at his palm as he started to zone out.

"Alright class, we have a new student from..."

Tanjiro ignored the teacher's words as he daydreamed, staring outside the window. "H-Hi..."

The voice was too familiar, he whipped his head to the source of the sound but as he did, Zenitsu gripped his sleeves "She is pretty!" The blond whispered.

"My name is Tsuyuri Kanao, nice to meet you." As she introduced herself, she was staring directly at Tanjiro.

The boy was speechless, and motionless even as the blond kept shaking him and screaming "TANJIRO YOU LUCKY DOG!"

Kanao smiled at him sweetly. And not long after, Tanjiro returned the favor with a blush.

Giyuu returned to his job as a barista at a small cafe. He's a bit surprised that the establishment was under new management.

Sighing as he waited for 8 am to open the cafe, a familiar texture touched his skin as a delicate hand grabbed his and an arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Tomioka-saaaaan."

Giyuu gasped in shock "Y-You..!"

"I thought you're gonna call me by my name?" She pouted. "Sh-Shinobu..." he corrected himself.

"That is Miss Shinobu to you! I'm your boss now." She stuck a tongue out to taunt him. The poor barista went silent as he tried to process everything.

"I told you to give me a couple of days." she said rather devilishly.

"S-Shino- Miss. I have to open the cafe." He gasped as he felt her breath on his neck "Not today. For now, it's just you and me. And coffee."

And they finally kissed.

"Nobody loves you."

I tried my hand at writing a wholesome oneshot. Please go easy on me.