Chapter Text
Kamado Tanjiro, the sole survivor of the Demon Slayer Corps, looked up as the sun rises from the eastern horizon. He had defeated Kibutsuji Muzan, had avenged his fallen family and finally had succeeded in keeping his promise to make his sister Kamado Nezuko human once more after she was turned into an Oni by Muzan. But at a cost…
His humanity taken from him forever…
As the new reigning Demon King, with the loss of Lady Tamayo who had created the strain that saved Nezuko, Tanjiro was cursed to walk the earth forevermore. He had stayed with the corps, watched as the world change and the corps slowly disappear from history. He had watched over his sister’s family and hunted down any remaining demons.
Tanjiro tried to die. He tried so many times as the people who knew and accepted his change moved on into the next world one by one. He survived each attempt…
Tanjiro was a kind man, a good brother and an honorable slayer. He did his best to give aid even when the world moves on without him, walking a lonely road as he seek ways to die. He was so lonely, so very lonely. All he wanted was to sleep and never wake up, to dream about his family. His family that knew him instead of just a stranger that came to help them when they found themselves in great need of aid.
Nowadays he hid in the Misty Mountains. He lived as he always had, dancing the Hinokami Kagura as a way to past time. Being able to walk under the sun, he sometimes forget about the world as he danced and danced and danced to his own memories. He ate foods that he cooked because he missed their taste, though it doesn’t do anything for him. At the very least, he had never, not once had he ever consume human flesh.
He didn’t know how, but somehow he managed to kill Muzan’s will inside him after the Demon King tried to take over his body. Tsugikuni Yoriichi had appeared to him and guided him into retaining his moral value and empathy as a human being within the spiritual realm. A realm that Tanjiro seldom heard from ever since he lost his humanity.
Even so Tanjiro swore to live as a human. He does his best in the early years refusing human flesh and ignored his hunger, sleeping for years only to wake to older friends and new generations of slayers. When it was confirmed that they had slayed all the remaining demons into extinction, Yushiro begged to be reunited with beloved Lady Tamayo and Tanjiro had kindly granted that wish, many of them had tried to meet his wish for death but no matter the Breathing Style none succeed.
In the end, to spare them from their pain of failure, Tanjiro bid his descendants and successors goodbye. He hoped that one day he will find someone who could kill him using the revived Sun Breathing technique. He practiced all that he had learned, mastered them to perfection and somehow improved on them all so he could find a successor that could release him.
He only wished for eternal rest.
“Is that your true wish?”
Tanjiro blinked up from where he had been dozing in the snow, watching as snowflakes fell from the heaven to cover his form. He looked to his side and found a very strange sight, “Who are you?”
The strange man with the oddest skin tone, bearing twin horn on his forehead and strange eyes, answered him, “I am Otsutsuki Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths,”
Tanjiro breathed in and smelled no deceit. He smiled as he sat up and bowed in greeting, “Kamado Tanjiro at your service, wise one,”
Hagoromo asked, “I am traveling via astral projection. This world is so strange, so similar to mine yet not. I had met your predecessor in the other realm, the one called Tsugikuni Yoriichi. He told me of his concern for you,”
Tanjiro’s smile deepened, “Ah, he’s a very kind man. I hold him in great respect,” He couldn’t help but touch the relic dangling on his ears, “Truly I wished to see him again,”
Hagoromo stared at him, studying this pitiful creature with great interest before nodding, “Unlike this world, mine wield a great power called chakra,”
Tanjiro perked, interest gleaming in his crimson gaze despite being surprised by the sudden change of topic, “Chakra? I have heard of the term but it’s more spiritual, is it not?”
The two fell into great discussion between the chakra Tanjiro was familiar with and the one Hagoromo wielded. He was overwhelmed by the idea of wielding such power and the fact that Hagoromo had long perished but because of his enormous chakra he lingered still. Tanjiro blew out his awe in a great breath, “Remarkable. A power like that…I am most grateful this world does not wield it,”
Hagoromo was surprised, “You are grateful for the lack of chakra in this world?”
Tanjiro nodded as his smile turned grim, “Even as it is, humanity has found great ways to hurt each other. Some develop it for protection while others will take that same invention to hurt. This chakra is just another form of something good being wielded for bad. Even the Breathing Technique, originally made to slay demons for the sake of saving lives, have once been used as nothing more than a violent show of superiority,” He recalled dark memories where he had personally hunted down the group of fallen practitioner and executed them with his own hands.
The remaining practitioners had then refused to teach the archaic technique to their descendants, soon taking what knowledge of Breathing to their graves. In the current era, Tanjiro was the only true practitioner of such a devastating Kenjutsu. It was a sad end but also a necessary one.
Hagoromo was in awe of this man. Truly he understood tempering kindness with discipline. He knew that to truly wield power require kindness and empathy for others. He’s powerful, in mind and body as well as his heart. Hagoromo nodded, “I need your help,”
Tanjiro blinked, “My help?”
Hagoromo nodded, “It’s about my sons and their endless battles…”
Tanjiro listened, transfixed by the story of Indra and Ashura who fought for peace but differed in their ways. Indra believed in power while Ashura believed in love. The two battled between oppression and compassion, one abandoning the other while the other seek out reunion. It was like Michikatsu and his twin Yoriichi yet not. Theirs were a battle of envy and regret but then…so does Indra and Ashura. The younger brother who ended up outshining his once praised elder brother.
Hagoromo sighed, “It is one thing if their battle ended with their death but like me, their chakra lingered and affected the way of the world long after their passing. Ashura’s legacy struggled to revive itself even as Indra’s words proven true; that power dictates,” He then looked at Tanjiro, “But in you in find the answer; balance. You tempered your power with love and kindness. You also defended that same love and kindness with power. It pained me that Indra could not see this. I chose Ashura precisely because he found his strength to defend his bonds,”
Tanjiro was flustered by the elder’s compliments but asked, “And in what way would you like me to give aid?”
Hagoromo smiled, “There was once a prophecy given to me by my teacher in the Sage art. He told me that mischievous blue eyed boy will bond with all nine Tailed Beasts and change the world. Be it for better or for worse I do not know thought I prayed for the former. I knew that Ashura will be fixed with this child and I can sense his birth coming. I do not want this cycle of feud between brothers to continue through this child. I need a tie breaker and I have decided that you will serve that breaker’s position,”
Tanjiro gaped, “Huh? But I am more Samurai than your Shinobi. How am I to break this tie of feud if I do not fit?”
Hagoromo laughed, “He is bound by a terrible destiny. When you reach him, you will understand how you can help him. Your kindness is weapon in its own way. Even better as you know more than just pretty words and weak actions,”
Tanjiro pondered. He’s tire of this world. He needed something that will allow him to be free from the current shackles of modern society. It has been 89 years since he last left the mountain. What danger lurks in the night belonged to humans and a demon has no place in this world.
A slayer has no place in a world at peace…
Tanjiro nodded, “Very well. I accept your request!”
Hagoromo let him take his time to bid goodbye as he visited familiar burial grounds. He burned incense and prayed for his family’s soul. The Kamado weren’t as big as they once were but Tanjiro loved them all the same. He visited the graves of friends and allies. He informed them of his decision to make a move.
Tanjiro sniffled, “I won’t be able to come back here but I hope when I do pass away, I will be able to find my way back home,”
After the lengthy goodbye, as he also made a final journey to foreign lands where he met foreign friends when the demons managed to leave Japan in an attempt to escape their purging. He visited foreign graveyards, hiding in the shadow of the night so as not to attract the migration office in those foreign countries with pale faced people and bright hair.
He then journey to Mount Fuji, the holy ground of Japan’s Shinto religion. He looked where Hagoromo waited, “I am ready,”
Hagoromo smiled. He had enjoyed the short time traveling through this new world with Tanjiro, although Tanjiro do not travel as a man but a demon on a mission. He explained, “I will take you to the Hidden Continent. You will have to start over there but I am sure you have many ways to integrate into their society,”
Tanjiro nodded, he had learned much about their culture from Hagoromo on their journey together. He breathed in, “How do I find him?”
Hagoromo smiled, “He’s unmistakable when you see him. Like your special breathing skill, he’s akin to the sun itself. Just keep an eye out for a bright haired boy with whiskers that will remind you of a fox,”
With that the world flipped itself and Tanjiro knew no more…
In the void between time and space, Hagoromo whispered, “I will help your plight once you reach the end of this journey, my friend…”