The fanarts for today were submitted by Myeviland_uwu! They submitted two pieces, the second of which is a meme (I have been desperately waiting for someone to send one in, lol)! I will add the link to the second fanart in the comments once the chapter is published.

As I'm writing this behemoth of a fanfic, many eras of internet humor have already come and gone and their timings may not match up with the year of (Y/N)'s disappearance when you think about it, so my advice to you is to not think about it.

———

You yawned as you woke up the next day, stretching your arms and sitting up. Nezuko was letting out little grumbles and puffs of air on your left. Then, on your right, Tanjiro was snuggled up to your side, an arm lightly wrapped around your arm.

They're so cuuuute.

After that sobfest (oof, can't believe you got snot all over everyone), Tanjiro barely got food in himself before he immediately passed out. It was a little funny how the spoon just fell out of his mouth, but you barely caught him from falling backward and hitting his head. Carrying him to the room was (not really that surprising, but you were still surprised) easy while Urokodaki set up his futon and you set him down on one side next to Nezuko, like it had been since you'd lived here. You went to sleep pretty quickly after that.

Then, in the middle of the night, some rustling noises made you jolt awake and reach for your swords (which Urokodaki put away almost as soon as you got home because it seemed he foresaw this). However, when your eyes adjusted, you saw Tanjiro and Nezuko slowly dragging their futons somewhere. Curious to see where this was going, you closed your eyes again and pretended to be asleep. They then proceeded to quietly rearrange themselves into the position you woke up in and it took everything in you not to reach out and hug them tightly.

Patting Nezuko's head softly, you extracted your arm and got up to leave the room. When you could barely see the sun's rays through the window, you realized how early it was and how much your traveling habits have conditioned you to get less than five hours of sleep without any kind of alarm. In very high spirits because seeing Tanjiro in the morning was a gift in and of itself, you opened the door to let in the crisp morning air.

"What a nice — fuck."

You stared at the sky. More specifically, you stared at a black blob moving closer to you. At first, you thought it was a demon using some sort of freaky powers and you got really worried. A few seconds pass and you realize it was not a demon but in fact a group of crows. A caw-gle, if you will.

"That was horrible. Good going."

You counted around five crows, four of them carrying letters plus Sora. They landed on the ground in front of you.

"CAW! You're already awake," Sora said, "I'm surprised."

"CACAW! SORA, IT WAS NICE SEEING YOU!" One of the crows stated loudly.

"SSHHH!" Both of you exclaimed suddenly, Sora putting her wing over the other crow's beak.

"There are sleeping children inside, so conduct yourself with more dignity." She stared at the other crow who nodded their head so fast that you thought it was going to propel them to the sky.

"O-Of course! I have a letter from the Master." Confused, you untied the message and the crow flew away without a goodbye.

Another crow hopped in front of you. Every hop made the little clover tied around its neck bob up and down.

"Hello, I am Urara, caww . . . " This crow seemed a little nervous with her head down and claws absentmindedly scratching the ground. "I have a letter for (L/N) (Y/N) from the Pillar Kanroji Mitsuri."

You brightened up, a smile already on your face. "Kanroji sent me a letter?!" Urara flinched away from you, the foot she held out with the letter trembling violently. You carefully untied it and the crow took off, disappearing in about 0.2 seconds. You and Sora watched her fly away.

"She's a ball of anxiety and nerves, isn't she?" You wondered. Sora sighed.

"She's been like this since I was training her."

"Do you think human medicine works for crows?"

"Probably not, and I believe it would result in many adverse effects." She eyes you carefully. "Please stay away from human medicine and crows at the same time, for your sake and mine."

"Alright then."

The next crow you recognized as the one who bullied you while occasionally delivering Tokito's letters when Sora couldn't. You also recognized her by the way she looked at you like you were mud.

"Hel — "

"Take this, stupid human."

You just smiled blankly at her. Sora just sighed.

"Alright then." You fought back the urge to flick her away. Maybe at this point, you should walk around with a sign that says 'Free shots. Roast her as much as possible'. It would help it make sense why everyone else does.

This last crow was the quietest out of all of them, patiently waiting behind everyone, a teeny tiny backpack slung around it. It immediately became your favorite of the bunch.

"Hello!" It croaked, hopping forward. "My name is Muni, caw! I am a crow assigned to the Masamune family and I have a letter for the Demon Slayer (L/N) (Y/N), caw."

"'Tis I."

Muni looked at Sora and she just gestured with her wing for it to continue. It turned around and showed you its backpack, similar to how Chachamaru waited for you to put vials of blood in his pack. Once you took it out, it said, "I will wait here for you to read it and send your response back as soon as possible, caw."

Sora nodded in satisfaction. Meanwhile, you had unfolded the letters and, either through your delusion or groundless hope, you tried reading the Japanese script but to no avail. That should have been even more evident based on how you couldn't even tell what type of script it was.

"Sora . . . " You pouted and slid one of the letters across the floor to her, who was already ready with her imaginary reading glasses. She cleared her throat and started using her talon to guide her reading, just like your grandma used to do (but with her finger, obviously).

I miss you, grandma.

"Dear (L/N) (Y/N), how have you been? It's been a while since we last met (this is Masamune Akira, by the way) and I gave you your swords. Are they working out well? Recently, I've been a little concerned since I've heard many stories of slayers breaking their swords during their missions and I would absolutely hate for that to happen to yours. I'm currently tied up in the village, so I won't be able to come and pick them up. As such, I would like to humbly extend an invitation to the Swordsmith Village so I can check on your swords and make sure they are well-maintained. Sincerely, Masamune Akira."

You grew quiet for a second.

I'm being invited to the village? Is that allowed? Originally, Tanjiro went over when Haganezuka didn't want to make new swords for him. It's probably fine for me then, since I'm being invited. Right?

Sora muttered a small, "Interesting," under her breath.

"This is good, right?" You whispered and she shrugged as all crows do.

"It is rude to decline an invitation from a prestigious family, and I've heard other crows complain about their slayers' swords breaking mid-fight."

"Akira's family is prestigious? What do you mean?"

"The Masamune family is one of the founding families of the wordsmith village, caw!" Muni piped up. You and Sora turned to it in surprise and it stared at you. "What? I heard you mention the eldest son of Masamune by name, caw."

" . . . Continue."

"Well . . . that's pretty much it, caw. I don't know any of their secrets, if that's what you want, caw." That last sentence was one hundred percent rehearsed but whatever. You weren't about to pry for their secret recipes for creating the best swords you'd ever seen. It's not like you were Plankton, but a secret recipe for the Krusty Crab would be a different story.

"I'll think about it by the end of today," You ultimately decided, "I want to talk about it with Tanjiro and my sensei."

"Of course, caw. I will wait in the area and I will come if you call, caw." Muni then flew off into some of the trees around the clearing.

Sora quickly read over Kanroji and Tokito's letters, both of which were along the lines of 'Hello how are you I'm good thank you' lines, so it was easy to write up a quick reply to them.

And then you got to Ubuyashiki's letter.

Here comes the problem. He wanted to meet you.

"How do I tell him I don't want to meet him?"

"You can't."

You let out a small groan. It's not like you were absolutely against meeting him. Like, hey, yeah, it would be fun to meet him, and giving him a face to the person who sent him letters about what to do in the future is probably a good idea in case you were accused of being a spy or something. But you didn't want to meet him before you felt more confident in your strength, when you were sure you could tell him to rely on you. He'd seen the Pillars in the organization, so being weaker than them but claiming you could save everyone was a far stretch. Plus, you just got to see Tanjiro again. You didn't want to leave so early yet.

At least give me twenty-four hours with my boy, please.

Sora lightly pecked at your hand (you say lightly, but her 'lightly' was still painful). "It is an honor to get the chance to meet Master."

"I know, but wouldn't it be better to meet him later when I'm stronger? I'm sure he has expectations of what he expects from me, so I'd rather meet those expectations."

You really didn't want to disappoint someone who was so important to this fight. He was kind to his players, but he was also super duper smart and there was a high possibility of you being outed as an outsider (besides not having the best grasp of the language). It would suck ass if you were booted out before accomplishing anything.

"How about this?" Sora suggested, "Go to the Swordsmith Village and get your swords repaired. I will get you a mission and you can meet him after that."

"Yeah . . . then I could get conveniently injured and go to the Butterfly Estate and avoid him! You're a genius!"

"NO! Fool!" She smacked your head a few times. "You will meet him! I cannot allow you to always avoid him!" She calmed down for a moment before asking, "Why do you not want to meet him? It was you who reached out to him first, so I would assume you would want to meet him sooner."

"I — "

"What are you doing out here?" Urokodaki seemed to have woken up from the noise and stared at you, his mask shadowed in exhaustion.

"Good morning, sensei," You sheepishly replied. "Just getting some mail."

"Mmm." He glanced between you, Sora, and the letters. As he did, you saw Sora get a gleam in her eye. Desperately, you attempted to telepathically communicate with her.

No! Don't do it!

"I must! You have to meet the Master!"

SORAA!

"Urokodaki! (Y/N) is planning on avoiding summons from the Master, CAW!"

Sora, you traitorous bitch.

He stared at you longer and you squirmed under his 'getting ready to yell at you' look.

" . . . In my defense — "

"You have no defense."

That made you shut up faster than you ever have before.

"You will go meet him after getting your swords repaired. If you don't, I will find you and I will drag you there myself." He didn't even wait for you to nod before closing the door and leaving you and Sora silent on the ground.

How did he even know my swords needed to be repaired? Ah, whatever. He's probably just a mind reader or something.

~~~

It had now been two days since Tanjiro came back from his Final Selection. Why your stupid author didn't elaborate and describe every single moment you had with Tanjiro with 4K Ultra HD clarity, including closed captions, background commentary, and five to six YouTube reactions that would have blown up your popularity and promoted your glorious and epic story to the world, you didn't know.

"What are you writing, (Y/N)?" Tanjiro asked, sitting beside you.

"Eh, just something to remember as an insult later. Don't worry about it."

What matters most for now is that everything was super peaceful and dandy. So of course that meant you had to leave immediately because this world loved you too much and the plot needed to move on. Who has time for filler when you've got people to save, right?

Sora had delivered your summons to you the previous morning and you had yet to break the news to Tanjiro. You. just didn't have the heart to tell him you were (being forced to) leaving so soon after seeing him again. When Urokodaki had just started getting dinner ready, you had gone outside for some fresh air. Lost in your thoughts about your amazing, hot, successful, rich, sweet author and the next stop in your journey and the ever-looming pressure of whatever the future held for you, as much as you loved Urokodaki's cozy little house, your thoughts were making it hard to stay inside. You barely noticed Tanjiro sitting beside you until he spoke up.

"Anyway, what's up, Tanjiro?" You asked, turning to him and dropping the stick you were using to scratch out some insults in the dirt.

He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, I just wanted to be with you."

Your face heated up like always whenever Tanjiro said something sweet like that and you looked away. "Did Nezuko go to sleep? She seemed pretty tired when I stepped out earlier." Tanjiro hummed in response, placing his warm hand on yours.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Is . . . is everything alright?" You blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm doing alright. Why wouldn't I be?"

He stared at you, his eyes filled with worry, and squeezed your hand. "You seem distressed and frustrated about something. Would sharing what worries you help in easing the burden?"

Would . . . it?

For some reason, you started thinking of Suzuki Aiya and her need to find her sons, that demon who stashed rotting bodies of humans, Hideshi and his little kids who wanted to die, Kokushibo who fought (and almost killed) you, Muzan who definitely knew of your existence and would be looking out for you, Tamayo and Kocho working on the Anti-Kibutsuji drug, Kanroji who supported you unconditionally, Tokito who trusted more than he seemed to trust any other slayer, and all those people who were relying on your plan's success without even knowing.

Two years is a long amount of time. Even in a normal world, a lot can happen in two years. A majority of an infant's milestones, a breakup, a marriage, finishing a degree, and traveling the world. And for you, two years of almost nonstop fighting. You were killing demons more than relaxing, and if it seemed that you were relaxing a lot, then what a shame. You were, what, 16 now? You didn't even realize your birthday had passed between everything else that was happening.

Was your mentality reaching its limit? It can't be, it's too soon. You still have so much to do, you can't have a breakdown now. You're goddamn (Y/N) (L/N). Of course, you can't stop now. You have to see this to the end. Don't half-ass it now.

You threw your arms around Tanjiro and buried your face in his shoulder so he couldn't see your face. It was a futile effort to hide your feelings from him, but you wanted to pretend just for a bit that everything was fine and Tanjiro was your normal boyfriend in your normal world where you might not die at the hands of the strongest human eater tomorrow.

Just for a moment, and then you'll go back to your normal girlboss self.

And Tanjiro knew what to do like he always knew what you needed. He held you close, his hands warm and touch reassuring.

"You know, while you were gone, I met someone who helped me become stronger. And whenever he taught me, I always found myself wishing it was you who taught me. Whenever I'd eat meals, I'd miss your comments on how good it was, or how you'd feed Bearnice some of your food. When I'd train alone, I'd miss your company, our talks about the world, and how I'd get worried when you found another new and dangerous method of training. But I knew you were out there, getting even stronger, protecting more people, and doing what you needed to do." He patted your head lightly and you could just picture the soft smile he had on his face.

"I guess I'm rambling. I really did miss you. I'm just saying all this because if the burdens you carry grow too heavy or if you feel like you need a break from everything, I will always be here. I may not know everything and I fear I may rely on you too much, but I want you to be happy, whatever way that happiness comes. If you want to stop, you can stop and I will protect you. If you want to keep going, I will always be beside you. And I have no doubt that all the friends you've made wouldn't hesitate to stand right there too."

Man, this author just wants to see me cry. Well, they got it.

"Thank you, Tanjiro," You mumbled, voice thick. "I'll miss you a lot once I leave tomorrow." He hummed, still patting your head.

You didn't know how long you stayed like that, but the night grew colder and you soon needed to go back inside. Tanjiro went in first, giving you one last smile and encouraging thumbs-up that made you crack a smile. You turned your gaze to the stars, watching more twinkle with every passing minute.

One day, this will all be over. All the fighting, the pain, the bloodshed. You'll have to figure out what you'll do then, but you just realized you had something more pressing.

"I should probably tell Tanjiro about who I really am," You muttered quietly to yourself, before nodding.

Not now, but later. Soon. When he's at the Wisteria House. I'll find him and I'll tell him everything then.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Bonus Scene:

About 5-10 minutes after Tanjiro returned — From the moment the four of you (minus Bearnice cause she had other things to do, you guessed) entered Urokodaki's house, Tanjiro was the clingiest you'd ever seen him. He had latched himself to you and Nezuko with a grip so tight you doubted he even realized. By the time Urokodaki heated up the leftover curry, his tears had dried and left his eyes red and puffy. But despite his looks, he had a massive grin on his face. That grin stayed glued on his face as he gobbled down his dinner, then passed out, and the rest is history.

Taisho Secrets:

— The real reason Urokodaki took your swords was because he was sure that you would have abused the shit out of them soo he took them so he could evaluate the damage. Surprisingly, they were in decent condition with only slight chipping, but he recommended that you go to the Swordsmith Village anyway just so that they remain in top condition

— Yes, the author did want (Y/N) to cry a little bit. To be fair, however, crying is a very good and healthy way to express built-up emotion so she shouldn't be too upset about crying

— (Y/N) will have more breakdowns. The author is looking forward to them

— Past Life Shenanigans: When Kalindi's younger brother was born, she promised to protect him and ensure that he was happy and healthy no matter what (foreshadowing sorta)

———

Okay, this chapter took a while not because I was lazy and procrastinated, but because I literally rewrote it from scratch like six (6) separate times. I really did try please believe me 🙏.

(P.S. If you ever read something in here that feels like deja vu but you can't pinpoint it, chalk it up to the author's delusion)

Question of the day: Speaking of deja vu, what's the most recent time you experienced deja vu that you remember?