The Blood of a Phoenix: A Tanjiro x Half Demon OC story

Interaction

That morning, as they reached their destination, the witch in question started to enter inside a deep cave, where no sunlight was shown in sight down below. Very slowly, they placed the box on the side and walked to the other side of the cave. They pulled out the jewel from their pocket, examining the damages left inside the gem.

"Damn it," they spoke out loud, glancing at the necklace. "There's a cracked chip?! They aren't easy to fix if sent to the jewelers. At least I can try to fix it with the temp he had given me."

Looking around, they started to pull the glove out of their hand and laid the cracked gem on top of my hand.

"Come on. Work. Work!"

The flame slowly started to merge between the hand and the gem, making the stone tough. While the witch was focusing on their power, the door of the box slowly opened again, allowing the demon to appear. The figure rose from the box and looked at the hooded figure. Unsure as to who it is and what she thought about them, Nezuko started to walk behind them. With a small tap on their shoulder, the witch turned towards them, only for her to see the bloodshot look in their eyes. Any other human being would be scared and run, but Nezuko wasn't anything like that. She slowly looked and could see the reflection of her brother Tanjiro in them. With a smile on her face, Nezuko hugged the witch, making them feel guarded. 

"Wha-what are you?"

With her embrace, the witch slowly placed the necklace down and accepted the hug from her. No one has ever hugged her like this before. It had been such a long time since someone did. Had her negligence kept her from feeling any kind of emotion at all?

"Thank you," they spoke to Nezuko.

*****

After their hug session had come to order, Nezuko and the witch stared at each other intently in regard to the next step.

"Until the sun sets for tonight, you can't return to your brother just yet. I hope you understand... Nezuko?"

Nezuko nodded for their correct pronunciation but then realized what was said. In a panic, she started to walk in circles, trying to figure out what to do in situations like this.

"If you're worried about the sun touching us from in here, there's no need for that." the witch called out grabbing ingredients and items from their bag, "we're about six feet underground inside a crystal cavern. No amount of sunlight will strike you down for good."

She sighed in relief since she would live to see another day. However, she started to notice a few things about this witch. For starters, what they were wearing, the items they carried, and how they knew the light wouldn't work down here. She mumbled loudly, waving her hands in the air for their attention. The witch turned to the side and noticed her motions and language.

"Alright. What do you want?"

Nezuko pointed at the items in question.

The witch looked and noticed the ingredients on the ground.

"You want to know what these are?"

She nodded as she sat next to them.
The witch was in complete surprise.
It had been the first time they'd ever had someone ask them about anything.
With such enthusiasm, they have slowly shown them the items in question to Nezuko.

"These are my ingredients."

She tilted her head to the side since she didn't know what they meant by that.

"To make me walk out in the sunlight without being burned alive. Here let me show you."

Her eyes widened with curiosity as she paid close attention to their instructions. The witch's eyes softened as she showed her step by step on how to create a perfect concoction.

As the witch was explaining Nezuko details of these instructions, Nezuko started to glance at them once more. From her eyes, she started to remember one time in her life when Tanjiro was explaining to Takeo how to chop wood at one point in his life. She could remember how hard it was for him to not hit the tree countless amounts of times, making him flush with embarrassment. Even so, Tanjiro still had patience with him and continued to teach him until he was able to manage to chop his tree. It was a great moment in her life to see two brothers working together in their home.

Once the concoction was completed and placed inside the jewel, Nezuko started to smile at them, reach their head, and slowly started to pet them as gently as they could. It startled them at first, then became the most comforting thing the witch has ever felt in a long time.

"Thank you." They replied tearfully, "No one's ever done that to me before."

Tears then started to fall towards the ground as it was something they'd never had in a while.

Showing real emotions.

Even as an isolated witch.

Nezuko noticed how sad the witch was feeling, reminding her of Tanjiro crying when he pled for his sister's life. She turned towards them with a concerned look on their face. They knew what she was saying: why were they crying?

"Sorry." she whimpered, trying to wipe the tears from her face, "I haven't cried for such a long time. Master always pets me gently like that so..."

Nezuko nodded and hugged them again.

With a warm touch, they lightly placed their hand on Nezuko's shoulder, embracing this small demon in question. It had been the first interaction they'd ever encountered with another demon for a long time. Other demons they came across either attacked them or wouldn't look them in the eye. However, with Nezuko, it was one of the rarest encounters they'd ever experienced. The witch looked up towards the ceiling, noticing how much sunlight is remaining. From the looks of it, the sun was about to set soon. At that moment, Nezuko started to fall asleep and rested on my shoulder for a moment. With such comfort in my eyes, I started to brush her hair to keep her comfortable.

"You will return towards your brother, young one." I vowed, "I promise."