Ice Cold [Demon Slayer x Male Reader]

Back Then

within the harsh cold

there is still warmth to find where

the frozen rose blooms

Y/N lightly smiled as he read his latest haiku, finished after about a dozen tries. He slipped some beef out of his recently opened bento box and into his mouth, subconsciously whispering, "Delicious." After neatly gathering his pen and paper, he gently laid them into a safe pouch in his backpack. Now with no distractions, he quickly finished his meal. After putting the empty box back in his backpack, he stood up. He had been sitting on a sturdy branch where he had dusted off snow from the recent blizzard. Luckily, he was used to cold environments, so he was fine wearing his normal Demon Slayer outfit. He put on his blue and gray haori that sported a snowflake pattern, covering up the "Kinoe" on his uniform's back. He winced as an orange ray of sunlight reflected off an icicle and directly into his face. He looked in the sun's direction to see that it was setting, so he hopped down from the tree and made sure that his Nichirin Sword was fastened to his belt before walking deeper into the frozen forest. While he was quickly walking through the heavy snow, he stopped as he noticed something pink that stood out among the endless white. He squatted down to see that it was a stunning rose that had survived the snow toppling over it. He reached out and brushed the petals with his fingertip, remembering the first time he ever saw a sight like this, nearly seven years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N's eyes slowly opened despite the shock of having just fallen face first into a pile of snow. He turned his head with an exaggerated sigh before his eyes widened. In front of him was a beautiful pink rose layered with ice that stood out like a beacon among the glum scenery. As Y/N was entranced by the sight, he heard a familiar whiny voice complain, "Dad, can we please go home?"

A rough voice simply replied, "No."

"But we've been out here for hours and I'm freezing!"

"Too bad."

Y/N was broken out of his trance as he noticed a hand in his peripheral. A tired, but soothing voice asked, "Are you okay, Y/N?"

Fuyuto, Y/N's older brother was reaching out to help him up. "I could be better," sighed Y/N as he took his brother's hand. After standing up, he dusted the snow off of his plain, gray kimono. Then he saw his younger brother Yukio pestering their dad as the gruff man continued trudging ahead.

Yukio whined, "Why does this even matter? Aren't we supposed to be fighting with swords and stuff?"

Their dad grumbled, "If you can't handle a little snow, you'll never become a Demon Slayer, let alone a Hashira."

"A little?!" Yukio exclaimed, "This is like a whole foot of snow!" While it wasn't quite a foot of snow, there was a lot, especially for Yukio with his marginally shorter legs than everyone else.

"Yukio, there's no point in complaining now," sighed Fuyuto.

"What?! You're on his side?!"

Fuyuto shook his head before calling out, "Come on, Y/N. We have to keep up."

"Yeah, you're right," Y/N mumbled. The two boys clumsily jogged through the snow to catch up.

Fuyuto glanced around at everyone before reminding, "Remember to control your breathing like dad taught us. It'll keep you a bit warmer."

Y/N nodded as he remembered all of the lessons and training they had gone through in the last couple weeks. He was already exhausted from the trek through that snowy wasteland of a forest, plus, the cold air felt like it was freezing his lungs, but he did his best to follow his brother's directions and the few tips that their dad gave them beforehand. Breathe in, breathe out. Not too deep, but deep enough to feel it enter the lungs. Not too long, but long enough to energize the whole body.