Main Content
Archive of Our OwnArchive of Our OwnHi, TheBrimmedHat!PostLog Out
FandomsBrowseSearchAboutWork Search
tip: katekyou "alternate universe" sort:>words
Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime)鬼滅の刃 | Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga)
Characters:
Tsuyuri KanaoDouma (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Hashibira InosukeKotoha (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Kimetsu no Yaiba EnsembleTwelve Demon Moons Ensemble (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Original CharactersDaki | Ume (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Gyutaro (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Kochou KanaeAkaza | Hakuji (Kimetsu no Yaiba)Kokushibou | Tsugikuni Michikatsu
Additional Tags:
Alternate UniverseFluff and AngstCanon-Typical ViolenceCannibalismDouma is a Little Shit (Kimetsu no Yaiba)BAMF Tsuyuri KanaoDysfunctional FamilyBad ParentingDouma grabs Kanao instead of the Kochou siblingsAnd grabs Inosuke before Kotoha can chuck him off a cliffDouma: I'm not like a regular dad I'm a cool dadSwordfightingDubious MoralityConditioningKanao and Inosuke as siblingsBlood and GoreLoyaltyFamily Bondingno beta we die like the KamadosCultsTsuyuri Kanao-centricCanonical Character DeathHashibira Inosuke Being Hashibira InosukeTsuyuri 'if anything happens to my family I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself' KanaoPast Child AbuseMorally Neutral KanaoProtective KanaoVivisectionAnimal Abuse
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2021-11-21Updated:2026-04-06Words:154,514Chapters:39/?Comments:1,970Kudos:3,614Bookmarks:794Hits:129,333
Iron and Ice
SkilledWarriorKiwi
Chapter 19: Nightmare
Summary:
🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃
Chapter Text
Kanao awoke abruptly in the middle of the night.
Distantly she could still hear rain but beyond the soft breathing surrounding her it was quiet.
Inosuke was moshed against her, little piglet snorts escaping him as he breathed in and out. Against Inosuke's back was Misaki, brown hair loose and curling across her shoulders. Her arms were stretched across Inosuke, hands loosely holding Kanao's back.
Kanao had dozed off and on after Inosuke had fallen asleep, her mind idly running through everything that had happened in Tokyo and then Inosuke's birthday and then whatever bothered to cross her thoughts. Her sleeping schedule, along with her brother's, tended to be more nocturnal and her nap during Daki's meeting had somewhat thrown off her schedule.
At one point in the night Misaki had snuck into the room bearing a plate of fresh pork dumplings. Inosuke had been roused by the smell and he had sleepily eaten several of them while sandwiched between Kanao and Misaki. As Inosuke sleepily ate, Misaki asked Kanao more about her trip to the city,
Misaki had been a bit concerned when Kanao told her of visiting Yoshiwara, but had quickly relaxed when Kanao reassured her that Douma took care of her and refused to sell her. Kanao also knew better than to mention some other aspects of the trips, such as cutting the woman and what Daki and Gyutaro really were. Though she did mention the siblings, it was a vague mention of them being her father's friends and how Daki had taught her how to walk in the towering geta and how she had brushed up Kanao's hair and painted her face. Misaki found that interesting, even if she admitted she had taken care to avoid the red-light districts when she had been younger to avoid being 'snatched'.
She had given Kanao the last dumpling after that, then offered to tell stories to her as Inosuke had already fallen asleep after eating the majority of the dumplings. Kanao liked having people read to her, much like how she liked reading to Inosuke. Misaki also had a soothing voice, soft and sweet. Though her stories were just local tales she had heard during her time at the orphanage, even if Kanao believed the one about a haunted house at the edge of the village to be about a demon just eating people.
But nonetheless even after been lulled to sleep she woke up only a few hours later. The kakebuton was warm and heavy, Inosuke's presence comforting as was Misaki's. But Kanao felt deep unease, sweat dotting her brow and limbs shaky while her heart beat quickly within her chest. She did not know what was wrong.
Kanao tried to go back to sleep but after enough time of lying there wide awake she realized it was not going to happen. So slowly, carefully, she extracted herself from futon. She gently pushed Inosuke into Misaki's arms and the woman grumbled in her sleep, burying her nose in Inosuke's messy hair, and Kanao silently rearranged the duvet over them both. Her hair was loose and she checked on her lotus hairpin where it was safely stored for the night. The night air was slightly chilly and Kanao straightened up her pale violet nemaki before taking the empty plate Misaki had put aside and exiting the room.
It was quiet in Paradise Faith, leading Kanao to believe it was still hours from dawn. Usually when it drew closer to daybreak the cooks would be up and about. But still, she was rather surprised when she entered the kitchen to see Rojin's lanky form in the middle of scrubbing at one of the tables.
He looked up at her entry, wide eyes blinking. His long hair was tied at his nape with a simple ribbon and he was wearing his usual orange kimono. His fingers were water wrinkled around the damp rag he was twisting.
"Oh, it's rather early for you to be up and about Kanao-kun. Or late, depending on how you want to see it," Rojin said, his gaze skittering off her face as usual.
"You are awake."
"Well yes, but I've always had terrible insomnia," he admitted. At Kanao's blank stare he elaborated with, "It means I find it extremely hard to sleep. I can't sleep for long periods and when I do wake up I can't go back to sleep. So I figured I could either just lie in bed thinking about how tired I am or do something. It's been better since I've got here, since it's far more quiet than the city but I still have awful sleep. It's why I have those dark circles around my eyes."
"I woke up and can't sleep either."
"And that's fine. People can have bad nights from time to time. Do you need help cleaning the plate?"
"No."
"Okay."
Kanao scrubbed and cleaned the plate off herself, drying it and putting it away in the cupboards. By then Rojin had dried off the table and was in the middle of filling up a bucket with soapy water. Kanao wasn't too sure what he was going to do but she did not care so she left without a word. Rojin was too occupied by the bucket to notice. She appreciated how he would leave her alone and not take offense to her blunt demeanour. She found it annoying how others did.
She knew the hallways and the lack of candles or lights did not impede her; Kanao's eyesight was keen enough she could easily see in the dark, something which had deeply entertained Douma when he discovered it. 'A tiny nocturnal hunter' he had joked once.
And it was his rooms she was heading for. Passing the occasional indoor lotus garden, the water looking silvery in the dark, passing various Buddha statues and sculptures, passing paintings and portraits and carvings. Passing the door that led to the room filled with skulls and the one planted in the pretty pot.
Until she was sliding open the shoji door to step into the innermost rooms of the temple, a place where the air was constantly tinged with the coppery smell of blood beneath the heavy aroma of incense and lotus blossoms.
Further inside she found her father, his rainbow coloured eyes luminescent in the dark. He was sprawled out on a massive pile of silken cushions, wearing a robe of dark crimson with black inky edges. His hair was loose, hanging over his shoulders, and he was holding a partially eaten arm which he had been in the middle of nibbling on. He blinked at her as she silently stopped at the threshold, giving her a toothy grin and showing red fangs.
"Little mouse! And here I thought you were all tucked up with Inosuke," he said jovially. "It is awful late for you to be scurrying around. Why is that?"
"I can't sleep."
"Aw. Why not?"
"I don't know."
"Ah. Well I suppose some days our bodies don't function how we want, do they."
Kanao didn't really know.
He beckoned to her, the severed arm flopping in his grip, and Kanao went to him. Clambering up the cushions to be tucked between her father's arm and his chest. He patted her head with his free hand, long nails lightly scraping at her scalp.
"So why don't you know what woke you up? Was it a dream?" he asked her. "I'm a good listener, no matter how silly you think it is."
"I woke up feeling...bad," she said carefully.
"Bad? Feeling guilty, perhaps? Most unusual."
"No. I was sweating a lot and I felt as if I had eaten something bad. My heart was fast, and I could not go back to sleep," Kanao explained. Even now there was that uneasiness she could not explain, something that kept her on edge even if Douma's presence helped soothe it.
Otousan made a thoughtful noise at her words, taking another bite out of the arm as if it were a sushi roll and leaving only the hand.
There was the crunch of bones splintering before he swallowed and said, "So it's simply the emotions left behind that are upsetting you? Since you seemed to have no dream or nightmare?"
She thought about that for a moment, "I don't feel anything. My body does."
"Ah. So it's having a stress reaction, which is preventing you from falling asleep? Rather than emotive. That's interesting. You've never had these problems before and I've had many people here whine about their nightmares who'd have only a slither of a childhood you had, little mouse."
Kanao wasn't too sure, she just found the sensation annoying.
Douma shifted her in his arm, flapping the severed hand in her face as he asked, "Do you think its because of the biology lesson?"
"No. It was informative."
"That is was. Remember what's in the human hand?" Otousan asked, waving the severed one before her nose.
She recited dutifully, "There are bones, twenty seven of them. There are only tendons, no muscles, and the hand is controlled by the muscles in the forearm."
"Very good!" the hug puffed the air out of her lungs and Kanao felt more of her unease ebb. Her father was always so carefree and his lackadaisical manner was comforting. He also gave nice hugs, even if he was chilly.
He bit off one of the fingers of the hand, munching on it like a stick of dango before saying, "Then after that we visited the siblings. What about Daki and Gyutaro? I know some people think Gyutaro looks a bit strange, a bit disturbing the poor thing. Could he have bothered you?"
"No. His teeth were pointy, Inosuke would like them," she said. Kanao did not understand the comment about Gyutaro's appearance. Was it because he had those ink splotches on him? Daki had flowers on her.
"Of course not. You don't worry about those sorts of things like other humans do you?" he said. "Honestly, all the whining and moaning I deal with here, you're always a breath of fresh air. Especially about Inosuke, half those audiences seemed to be people complaining about him- 'Oh Inosuke kicked my child, he bit me, he destroyed a three hundred year old vase, he hid a dead frog in my futon, he ripped up a thousand year old painting, he tore up my plants, he threw a pinecone at my head' just whine whine whine. Should ban that as a topic, really. I think I've spoiled this lot."
That pleased Kanao, she was glad her father thought differently of her than the rest. It was like how she knew all the secrets, much like how he was eating that hand. And how he was annoyed when people complained about Inosuke.
"Well with your bad dream there's no need to worry about nightmares or monsters getting you here," Douma said, looking down at her with his glowing rainbow eyes and a wide grin. "After all, I'm the scariest thing on this mountain."
Kanao stared at him. Otousan wasn't scary. He was tall and had sharp teeth but Kanao wasn't sure if that meant someone was scary. Maybe because he ate people but it wasn't like he did it in public, so how would people know he's scary? After a moment she decided to just accept it so she nodded.
"The Slayer woman," Kanao said instead.
Douma paused where he was stuffing the rest of the hand in his mouth before, with the splinter of bones, he swallowed it whole. He licked off his bloody fingers before asking her, "Did she scare you?"
"She hurt you."
"Yes, she did."
"Her sword was strange."
"You noticed that?" there was a tone of delight in Otousan's voice.
"It seemed too bright," Kanao explained. The pink blade had a shine to it that none of the weapons in the store in Tokyo had. She then added, "Flowers also came from it."
"Oh ho!" Douma jostled her in his arm. "You could see that? The Breathing technique?"
Kanao did not know what that meant so she said simply, "There were ribbons coming from her sword."
"You're exactly right, you have such special eyes. Usually only demons or those with sufficient training can see the Breathing techniques Slayers use. Hashira especially, they're the strongest. But all Slayers use certain swordsmen techniques and she was using Flower Breathing. That's why you could see the ribbons and flowers."
"Are there others?"
"Yes. Water, air, fire, wind, stone- there's quite a lot and Slayers taste differently depending on which they use," he explained. He resumed stroking her hair.
"Is it like your magic?"
"No, mine is Blood Demon Art. When a demon grows strong enough, that is they eat enough people, they become powerful enough they can use Blood Art which is basically magic now that you mention it. Mine is all based on ice, but it varies demon to demon."
"Why did she want to kill you?" Kanao asked. The woman had been so angry despite her smiling.
"The Demon Slayer Corps is dedicated to killing demons," he shrugged, making her lurch with the movement. "That's basically all they do. Running around trying to kill us."
"You should kill them all so they won't bother you anymore."
Douma laughed, hard enough he started wheezing. Kanao wasn't sure why it was so funny. The woman had tried to harm him so it was logical he would try to kill her right back. In that case if there was an entire organization dedicated to trying to kill him then he should kill them first. It just made sense.
Otousan playfully tweaking her nose jolted her from her thoughts, "Well the reason we haven't done that is because the Corps is very very sneaky. We almost have killed them all before but each time they cling to life. They hide and sneak, have so many bothersome fail safes and decoys. It's so annoying trying to snub them out. But the fighting is fun."
Kanao's gaze slid down to Douma's shoulder, remembering how the woman's sword had cut into him. The average knife in a kitchen couldn't but the too-bright blade had been able to hurt him.
He noticed her stare and tugged down the collar of his robe slightly, so she could see his unblemished shoulder. She poked at the skin but it just felt like human skin, if not too cold. She still remembered how bright his blood had been.
"Did it hurt?"
"Yes, but that was part of the fun."
Kanao frowned, not understanding why being hurt would be fun. He laughed and just gave her another playful jostle. Then another thought came to her, remembering how the fight with the slayer ended. How all it took was a single narrow strip of light to force her father back.
"Otousan."
"Hm?"
"Do you miss the sun?"
"...Sometimes," he admitted. "I remember when I was very little, no bigger than you, one of my favourite pastimes was to nap in the sun."
Kanao found it hard to think of her father being as young and small as she was. To her he had always been big, the tallest man she had seen, and broad shouldered. Trying to imagine him her age and just as little was impossible.
"But that's ancient history," he said, rearranging Kanao so he could rest his chin on her hair. She could hear the very slow pulse of his heart. It would be as large as his fist. "I much prefer things as they are now, even if the 'dying in sunlight' thing is a hindrance. But that reminds me, you were so good with the Hashira. Knocking her over to me, such a good girl. I didn't mention it earlier since I know Inosuke would have been a mite cross, but now I can offer you a gift. For being so good! And so brave, you let me have such a wonderful meal. I have a habit of hunting the lady Pillars, they're so rare and delicious, so you need a reward for not letting her get away. What would you like, manamusume?"
It took some thought but eventually Kanao decided she wanted a gramophone.
Actions
↑ Top ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Bookmark Comments (40)
Kudos
Efield, HIRO_Moon_18, Greekgods1hades, TheSecondC, Solsticalpine, Baypatatas, Hihoo, Egg3, Orange08, Mr_owoa, CherryPepsiPerson, It_has_to_mean_something, Herbig_Haro_24, Finchfrin, chatichy, TheTinnnMan, runninwhimsy, Dradiodemon, Just_Me_IDK, idk_myname, Shroomly_Enby, sleepycatjeans, SingDanceRead, Kiwiwbord, SelfProclaimedHermit2, FishyAngel, starlesslabyrinth, Jackthetimberlog, FluffyCatsrbestCats, TheydaGecko, RxAzazel, seashellsigh, Gray_Scale77, Lori_NS, Halogenicalis, A_Black_Hat, DevianYue, Puppetmaster13, whispers_ofthestars, designatedidiotnumber12, Circusafton, ChishiyasNiragi, gyokkopottery, Anzhelina_3, PeridotFallen, Nino_read_it, wistfulpetrichor, XxEstiaxX, Abomina__me, Nightmar3_wolf, and 1603 more users as well as 1961 guests left kudos on this work!
Comments
Post Comment
Comment as TheBrimmedHat
Plain text with limited HTML ?
Comment
10000 characters left
Footer
Customize
Default
Low Vision Default
Reversi
Snow Blue
About the Archive
Site Map
Diversity Statement
Terms of Service
Content Policy
Privacy Policy
DMCA & TIDA Policies
Site Status
Contact Us
Policy Questions & Abuse Reports
Technical Support & Feedback
Development
otwarchive v1.2.0.0
Known Issues
GPL-2.0-or-later by the OTW