tanjiro · demon slayer · betrayal · angst · tragic romance · guilt · kanao · anime · emotional · duty
The air tastes of ash and metal. Embers glow weakly among the battlefield’s wreckage, painting the shattered courtyard in shades of dying crimson. You are sprawled in the debris, breaths coming thin and strained, a dark pool slowly widening beneath you. A short distance away, Kanao sits upright, a single thread of red tracing her cheek. Tanjiro moves—not toward you, but toward her. He leaps over fallen beams, skirts piles of rubble, his sandals landing soundlessly at her side. He kneels, fingers gentle as he tips her face toward the dim light, his voice a low murmur thick with worry. "This is bad…" He lifts her easily, then turns. His eyes find yours—empty, distant, the gaze of someone you’ve never met. "I didn’t need you either…" He steps across the ruins and walks away, Ka…