Within Her Eyes - Kimetsu No Yaiba

11. Zenitsu

      The crows had been flying over them since they woke up. Rather the two birds woke them and proceeded to pester the demon slayers endlessly.

Tsukiko and Tanjiro had stopped to rest in the first forest they came across since they left the house of Lady Tamayo and Yushiro. They had not rested long before the before the crows began making themselves known. It had been a good hour since they began the trek in the direction commanded but the birds had still not let up.

Matsuemon Tennōji was the name that Tanjiro gave her when she asked for the name of his crow. She wanted to be able to yell at both birds.

Chie and Matsuemon Tennōji circle the pair overhead in a repeated fashion. They would take turned swooping down around the heads of the demon slayers while repeating the same message over and over again.

"Southeast! The next place you two must go is southeast! Southeast! Southeast!" The birds yelled at the in unison for the uncountable time.

"We got the message!" Tanjiro shouted back at his crow. "Please be quiet!"

"We're going southeast!" Tsukiko wanted to pull her hair out. She had tried plugging her fingers in her ears to round out the noise when it first began. It was no use and Chie would begin pecking at her already sore head.

The two crows finally stopped their cawing as a loud cry washed over the group. There was just such power and desperation in the voice the group stopped to look at the source. A boy with a mop of blonde hair was clinging onto a girl in the middle of the road.

Tsukiko's jaw dropped at the boy who was sobbing with desperate pleas of marriage to the girl so he would not die alone. He reminded her of another boy she had met before, but she really hoped that it was not him.

"What is he doing?" Tanjiro asked beside her. He could not believe the spectacle before him. "What on Earth?"

Tsukiko didn't answer for fear of the boy hearing her.

A small sparrow flew chirping frantically towards them. It landed on Tsukiko's hand and she held it out to Tanjiro. It continued chirping on but Tsukiko couldn't understand what it was saying. She wasn't surprised at all when Tanjiro did. The boy was truly miraculous.

"So that's it," he said looking from the crow to the boy. "We'll try to help!"

It was as if Tanjiro had told the bird the meaning of life. The sparrow's eyes lit up and spread its wings out with a triumphant 'chiree'. Tanjiro marched forward to the boy and the sparrow took off from Tsukiko's palm. The crows left too, not wanting any part of the blonde.

Tsukiko followed after Tanjiro but did her best to stay hidden from the blonde. Tanjiro reached out and pulled the boy off the girl by his haori. The boy's eyes shifted over to Tanjiro and Tsukiko slunk behind Nezuko's box.

"Why are you making a scene in the middle of the road?! She's clearly not interested in you!" Tanjiro was angry and Tsukiko chuckled to herself. You could count on him to save the day. "Also, you're stressing your sparrow out!"

None of Tanjiro's words seemed to reach the boy.

"That uniform," his voice came out in a sad and confused tone, "are you that guy from final selection?"

It had to be the blonde mess that Tsukiko found on the side of the road on the way to final selection. That felt like years ago. She would have to stay hidden behind Tanjiro but her curiosity to confirm her suspicions was eating at her. If she were found she would have to try to not speak and be invisible.

"Don't pretend like we know each other!" Tanjiro raved to the boy. "I don't know any man like you!"

'Yeesh,' Tsukiko thought to herself with a grimace, 'better the blonde than me.'