The demon's apprentice

Grief

Tanjirou's crow, Matsuemon, cried while flying towards the Ubuyashiki estate to report. The red haired boy and the demon girl had quite grown onto him. The demon girl, despite being a demon, seemed to be quite intrigued by the talking crow. There were rare moments when the demon girl had gotten close enough to touch Matsuemon's black feathers. Sometimes he'd fly away from the demon, sometimes he'd stay. On those accations he did stay it usually ended up with Matsuemon curled up in her long curly hair or wrapped in her black haori. The demon girl was suprisingly gentle with the loud crow.

Tanjirou was no different. Despite many finding him annoying, Tanjirou didn't. Tanjirou didn't care if Matsuemon screamed at the top of his lungs. Yeah, he'd say that he already heard the mission and no need to shout it, but he never got angry. Sometimes Tanjirou would give Matsuemon some of his food. Sometimes he'd pet Matsuemon's feathers while talking with his two friends.

But now, Nezuko was dead and Tanjirou remembered nothing. Matsuemon felt guilty. He had been the one to inform Tanjirou about the mission. If he hadn't, then maybe Nezuko would be alive and Tanjirou still a human.

No no no.

Tanjirou wouldn't want him thinking like that. He wouldn't want him to blame himself. Tanjirou would want him to do what's right. The right thing to do right now was to complete his job.

Matsuemon landed quietly onto the tatami floor infront of Oyakata-sama and Amane-sama.

"Nezuko Kamado had been killed by Uppermoon 1 and Tanjirou Kamado has been turned into a demon by Uppermoon 1." Matsuemon informed.

Oyakata-sama's smile didn't waver, it only took more of a sadder form. "Is Tanjirou still alive?"

Matsuemon lowered his head. "Possibly. Uppermoon 1 took him soon after the transformation."

Oyakata-sama nodded his head softly, his eyes holding a sad gaze.

Tears started to spill from Matsuemon's eyes once again as he was dismissed. His next objective was to infrom other crows about Tanjirou's and Nezuko's fate and then inform their friends. He flew from crow to crow, telling what had happened to the poor siblings and continuing on his job. Eventually he reached the Butterfly Mansion, where he was ordered to tell Inosuke and Zenitsu, who were recovering from their last missions.

For the first time, these two were complitely quiet. Zenitsu obviously looked like he was ready to cry waterfalls and Inosuke, he only stared at the crow with his eyes widened under his mask. Kanao had stopped smiling. Naho, Sumi and Kiyo were already crying. Aoi had dropped the laundry basket from her hands. Then Zenitsu bursted into tears.

"Tanjirou was turned into a demon...?" Aoi muttered as tears began to form in her eyes.

No one said anything else. Kanao stayed silent while looking at the ground and thinking about the few meaningful memories she and Tanjirou made. Naho, Sumi, Kiyo and Zenitsu were all crying their eyes out and Aoi was ready to join them. Inosuke had started trembling, tears prickling in his eyes. Then he yelled.

"Shut up! Monjiro wouldn't want you to cry like a crybaby! Shut up! Remember what he told us!?" He yelled right at Zenitsu while crying as well.

"Inosuke, Zenitsu. If something ever happens to me, I want you to not cry over me. If I die on a mission or if I get turned into a demon, I want you to train and become stronger. That way you will be able to defeat me. That way my soul will be able to train with you guys as well. I want you to continue on living without me. Don't cry over me, okay? Become stronger for me, alright?"

That's right. Tanjirou wouldn't want them crying their eyes out over him. He'd want them to continue on, even if he can't be with them. He'd be upset if his death or demonification would hold them down. He'd be sad if all they did would do was cry. He wants them to grow stronger. He wants them to smile.

There's no point in crying. Crying will do nothing. They needed to train harder so they could be strong enough to behead Tanjirou. They needed to be stronger so they could kill Tanjirou and bring peace to him. Tanjirou wouldn't be mad at them, they knew that. He'd accept his fate in hell and atone for his sins. They knew that once they'd defeat Tanjirou, he'd only smile warmly at them and thank them.