Our Halcyon Days || Reader x Tanjiro | RESUME 2022!

* t h i r t y - f o u r *

Sorry the wait was long! This one is twice as long as usual since I couldn't find a good place to stop the chapter haha. Remember to vote and share your thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

(Due to popular demand I have decided on a Midoriya x Reader! I have an interesting plot premise in mind. I'll share a little preview with you as soon as I can!)

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You turned to your side and stepped back to avoid the vertical-running thread. The sound of it alone was intimidating enough, and you already knew a single one could fell a whole tree.

Taking one more look at Tanjiro's broken sword, you tossed it blindly behind you, hoping it'd land somewhere near him. It landed with a thunk into the barren soil before you heard him pick it up.

He needs it more than I do. Besides, cutting through the threads takes specific and difficult measures. We'll simply need to try something else.

An image of your mother and father practicing their breathing techniques surfaced in your mind. It was incredibly vivid, given that you'd pretty much memorized them to the smallest, most intricate detail. Your own fighting style mimicked the ones of those you admired, after all.

It could come to the point where your hand would be forced. Ideally, the Ninth or Tenth Forms would be enough, but there was no guarantee.

"Since you won't hand her to me, I'll just kill you both and take her."

Your eyes flicked over to Tanjiro's and met them with fierce conviction. Holding up his broken blade, he snarled, "We'll take your head off first."

At this, the demon chuckled. He brushed the large locks of white hair that framed and covered the left side of his face, so that it was now exposed.

In place of a pupil in his left eye was the character for 'five.'

"You can't beat me," he stated simply, and immediately, you realized why he had reason to be arrogant.

"As one of the Twelve Demon Moons, I cannot possibly lose to you."

He was confirmed to be one of them.

A powerful demon whose power came closer to Kibutsuji Muzan's than nearly all others.

In the back of your mind, you'd already known that truth. You just didn't want to admit it, for it meant that the father demon, with his incredible amount of physical prowess, was not even a Demon Moon himself.

It meant that Rui was and would be far superior to him in all aspects — it meant that you wouldn't stand much of a chance against Rui.

For thinking so negatively, you dug your nails into the palm of your hand.

Snap out of it. Even if it's a facade, show some strength. If you were okay with dying, you would've died a long time ago.

So despite the hesitation of your body, which was near paralyzed with injury and anguish, you stepped forward and extinguished any trace of fear from your expression.

You sucked in a full breath in between the gaps of your clenched teeth -- you could hear the air quickly enter your mouth.

For their sake.

Rui began to fiddle with his threads, prompting you to go in before he could launch another large-scale attack. Tanjiro ran right on your heel. But when you were five meters away, Rui stopped twisting the strings and instead tugged on them.