Kibutsuji Muzan's reprise (sequel to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Chapter 10: Forever and ever...

Nezuko stopped scratching on the door for a while. She knew nobody was going to let her out. She was hungry. She was drained. After that fawn, she had nothing. She was locked inside for days, with nobody visiting her. Although, she did hear familiar voices outside her door some two days ago. Wait, familiar? Who's voices were those? If she knew those voices, wouldn't she recognize their names already? Funny...

Anyways, since she could not go out for any hunting, she decided to sleep off her hunger. Though it wasn't as refreshing as having a new meal, it would have to do, for she still did get some amount of energy. And it really did help that the room was pitch dark.

Nezuko decided to do some exploring in the room. Most of the furniture was wrecked inside, due to her tantrum from her first day in here. But some of it was still intact- like that bed she would use to sleep on, and a cupboard she tried for days to break but it simply wouldn't give in. 

Nezuko rummaged through the rubble of the broken furniture for a snack she could eat to satiate a slight portion of her hunger. She saw something moving a few centimeters away from her, and pounced on it. Aha! It was a rat. A nice, fat, juicy rat!

Nezuko picked it up by its tail, and plopped the rat into her mouth. Bones and all. She chewed on the tasty morsel of snack and licked her lips. Delicious!

Nezuko then rummaged around the room and decided to explore it. Though she had lived and slept there with Zenitsu all her adult life, she knew nothing of it. The rat had already filled her stomach, she was getting better with this hunger preservation thing! She crawled about on her fours until she reached the same cupboard she tried to destroy. She placed her fingernails on the strong teak wood and slowly dragged it down, leaving a small impression on the wood. She spotted an opening through the doors of the cupboard and stuck her fingers through. She heaved with all her might and managed to get the cupboard's door to budge open. The momentum propelled her into a pile of rubble nearby and she cried of astonishment. 

Then Nezuko slowly got up, dusted her clothes, and crawled back to the now widely opened cupboard. She cocked her head to the right. It was filled with fabrics of lush colours and pleasant to the touch. Nezuko ran her hand through the fabric gently, careful not to tear them apart with her nails. A wave of nostalgia went through her, but she didn't know why. All she could remember was that someone special had gifted them to her. Someone she felt she had known for a very long time...

She saw smaller closed compartments and yanked on one of them with her hands. This time, she was careful enough so she didn't fly away like last time. Inside this compartment was another such piece of silken fabric, but this time, it was red. Red with pink and green patterned leaves and flowers*. This was the grandest of the fabrics the cupboard housed. Nezuko felt the fabric, and another wave of nostalgia overcame her. She remembered herself in this dress, standing in front of a man, a special someone. His face remained fuzzy to her memory, but Nezuko knew that he was immensely important to her. They were holding hands and were laughing about something unknown...

Nezuko's mind went back to the piece of fabric in her hands. She wondered to herself, why am I getting these visions in my head? Is there something I need to know of? Am I being hidden from myself? Who am I, really?

Suddenly, Nezuko's head experienced a sharp pain. She dropped the fabric and clutched her head, sprawling onto the floor in the process. She remembered having experienced similar headaches before, but not to this degree! She yelled and screamed, hoping it would scare the pain away, but to no avail. She just lay there, rolling on the floor and tearing at her hair for the pain to go away.

Then suddenly, it stopped. The pain. Nezuko turned over in surprise to the only entrance of the room and saw pitch darkness. The she saw light. It was blinding, dazzling enough to give someone a headache. But Nezuko did not hurt. Instead, she felt a connection towards this light, a warmth. The light was embracing her, protecting her from this cruel, horrifying world that has enslaved her in the clutches of this darkness.

Nezuko slowly got onto her knees and crawled over to this life-giving light. A figure emerged from it slowly. It was initially a blur, but then the figure's features were evident and recognizable the closer he came.

"Nezukooooo," this man rasped in a soothing voice. He was in a black tattered kimono with his long hair loose about him. "I have returned, your father has returned."

Tears welled up in Nezuko's eyes. Her father, who had died years ago when she was a mere child, her father who used to cuddle her and smother her with his unconditional love, had finally returned. For her. 

"Fa-fa...." Nezuko stuttered, for she was not accustomed to the human language. 

"Hush!" This man placed a finger on Nezuko's lips. "You need not say more. Father is here to bring you home!"

The visage of this man merged into Nezuko's memory of another one- a man with reddish-black hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a weathered-down blue kimono with an orange-and-black chequered haori. Her father... 

Tears spilt down from Nezuko's eyes. He truly was here!

"Don't be afraid, my child," the man caressed her cheek with his soft, warm hand. "You are not alone. I am here with you, for you are my daughter. And that is who you will always be, forever and ever."

That's right, that is who I will ever be, Nezuko thought to the man, as she placed her own hands into the man's palm and allowed herself to be taken away. Your daughter, and I will never be more or less than that...

---x---

* Used to refer to a traditional Japanese wedding dress for females. I'm not sure if it really looked like what I imagined it to be, but I did see a bunch of dresses which matched this description.