Chapter 001
Kaina Tsutsumi, otherwise known as the Pro Hero: Lady Nagant, felt her body take its last breath. Her charred skin burned, but the only thing she focused on was the hero in front of her. Deku. He was one of the real heroes in her eyes. Why were they such a rare thing? Her eyes drifted and Kaina succumbed to blackness, accepting death with open arms.
After what felt like an eternity, Kaina felt her fingers regain their feeling. Eventually, she heard a voice calling out to her.
"Miss…"
"Miss."
"Miss!" Kaina jolted up ward, leaping to her feet. Where was she? Kaina was still in her hero costume. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her chest, causing her to lose her footing. Right, she blew up. But, someone caught her before she could fall. Kaina turned her head to see a burgundy haired boy, who was obviously concerned. His clothing was fairly traditional, a haroi and zori sandals, with what looked like a uniform.
"Hey kid. Where am I?" Kaina asked, wincing at the pain in her chest as she tried to right herself a little too quickly.
"Miss! You shouldn't strain yourself too much! You're hurt!" The boy had situated himself so her arm was draped over his shoulders, supporting her weight.
The hero sighed, nodding. "You're right, kid. Got anything I can wrap this with?" Kaina asked.
"Yeah, here." The boy said, pulling a roll of bandages out of his bag and handing it to the former hero.
"Thanks kid. By the way, what's your name?" The purplette questioned as Kaina turned away towards a tree, undoing her top and wrapping her chest.
"K-Kamado Tanjiro!" The boy borderline shouted, obviously flustered as he turned away, but understood the necessity of Kainas action.
"Tsutsumi Kaina." The woman replied as she finished up, re-buttoming her top. Once Tanjiro realized Kaina was decent yet again, he quickly rushed over to support her again. "Thanks Kamado, but I can support myself now. I was just disoriented." Tanjiro hesitantly let her go, and true to her word, Kaina was well enough to walk on her own.
~ ~ ~
Tanjiro kept a close eye on Kaina as they walked in comfortable silence, making sure she wouldn't hurt herself. Occasionally, he could smell a jolt of surprise mixed with a hint of fear, her eyes usually snapping to her hands for a split second. Tanjiros crow had landed on the elder woman at some point, seeming to like her. Most of the conversation from then on was said crows doing, the human duo seldom responding, enjoying the view. It was like this for about an hour, until: "Please! Marry me! I'll do anythiiiiiiing!"
"Get off me you creep!"
"But you love me don't you? And I could die any day!" Kaina and Tanjiro looked at each other, the woman speaking up.
"You can deal with the boy, I'll console the girl." Chuntaro then came over and voiced his complaints, prompting Tanjiro to move quicker and pull the blonde off of the girl, who Kaina beckoned further back. "Sorry about the blondie, he's with my friend here. You won't have to deal with him any longer." Kaina said with a smile.
"Oh thank goodness! Thank you for helping me." The woman then noticed the blood all over Kainas clothes, plaing. "I-is that blood? Are you okay Miss!?" The woman panicked.
"It's okay, I just have a fairly dangerous line of work and got hurt on the job just recently. The wound has been dealt with, so no need to worry."
"That's a relief." The ravenette sighed, calming down. "Well, I'd best get going. Thank you again!" She called as she walked away.
"No problem!" Kaina replied, waving goodbye.
"Tsutsumi-san!" Tanjiro called. 'And that's my cue.' The veteran thought, turning and approaching the two boys. Kaina almost choked on her spit at the look Tanjiro was giving the boy.
"Stop looking at me like that!!" Tanjiros 'look' only intensified and Kaina chuckled, nudging the crow. The bird seemed to get the hint and landed on Tanjiro, giving the blonde the most judgemental look someone could ever imagine. "THE BIRD TOO!?"
The blonde eventually calmed down, revealing his name was Zenitsu Agatsuma. Thankfully, because of the obvious age difference, Zenitsu didn't complain about Kaina traveling with Tanjiro after 'ruining his marriage'. As they were walking though, Kaina suddenly had a much larger hallucination. Ever since waking up, it was just her hand suddenly being covered in blood. But now, Tanjiro and Zenitsu were covered in blood. Tanjiro more so than the blonde. Kaina kept her face straight and looking forward, but she couldn't keep her heart from racing. 'It's just a hallucination.' Kaina reassured herself, clearing her head so those were the only words in her mind. 'It will go away soon.' Little did she know, Zenitsu could hear every word.
"Are you okay Tsutsumi-san? You seem a little rattled." The blonde said, snapping Tsutsumi out of her trance.
"Zenitsu! Be polite! It could be personal!" Tanjiro scolded. Kaina was grateful for the blonde's intervention, and could tell the boys were both aware of her unease, due to the worried glances they gave her.
Over the next hour or so, Kaina realized something. If something ever happened to Tanjiro, she'd probably go berserk. The boy was a literal ray of sunshine in her blood-caked mind, a source of sanity, if you will. Every time she was made aware of his presence, the blood creeping into her vision would fade away, helping her stay grounded. Tanjiro and Zenitsu also explained demons on the way, claiming that was the most likely reason for her waking up with a hole in her chest. The group soon arrived at a mansion in the forest, Kainas' guts screaming at her that there were demons in the building. So, Kaina promptly walked up to it, leaving the kids to Tanjiro and Zenitsu.
Suddenly, drum beads were heard, and Kaina quickly caught the bloodied man. Tanjiro rushed over, Zenitsu covering the kid's eyes. "Am I going to die here?" The man rasped, coughing up blood. "I get to see the sun again." He sighed, coughing up more blood.
Before Tanjiro could speak, Kaina did. "You only have about an hour left. There's no villages around, and the pain will only get worse." The man's head turned to her and the smallest ghost of a smile graced his face.
"Thank you-" he coughed up more blood, "for being honest. Make it quick." Kaina turned to Tanjiro, who had a sad look on his face.
"Tanjiro, make sure the kids are looking away." Tanjiro turned to the kids, who had Zenitsu covering their eyes.
"Zenitsu is. Here, I should do it." Tanjiro had reached for the knife Kaina pulled out, but she moved it away from his hand.
"You've never had to kill, kid. It changes you, and not always for the better. You should avoid it for as long as you can." The woman said, slashing the man's throat. Blood sprayed over her arms, silence permeating the air. Kaina then clasped her hands together, sending a small prayer.
~ ~ ~
Every single word out of Tsutsumis mouth was sincere, but Tanjiro was shocked, sad, confused and worried all at the same time as she slashed the mans throat. Tsutsumi didn't struggle at all as she finished the job. In fact, she smelled relieved. Tanjiro quickly joined her as she put her hands together and closed her eyes, sending the man to the afterlife.
When Tanjiro opened his eyes, he saw Tsutsumi waiting for him. "I'm heading in." She said as she got up.
"Wah! Tsutsumi-san! You're still hurt!" Tanjiro protested.
"You are too, Kamado-kun. Don't think I haven't noticed." Tsutsumi stepped calmly through the threshold, the door snapping shut behind her. In a panic, Tanjiro threw it back open, only to find a completely different room.
~ ~ ~
Kaina walked through the doors and they closed at the note of a tsuzumi drum. The room then changed as another note played, causing her to appear in front of a strange looking man. Presumably a demon. Kaina promptly shot it in both eyes, causing it to shout "What the fuc< was that!?" The demon began to turn to ash, panicking at the new development. "How?! You didn't even hit my neck!"
"Who knows?" Kaina said, retracting her quirk and looking around. She'd 'dealt' with quirks that involved room changing and warping before, so the veteran hero knew her way around, finding a couple demons along the way.
When Kaina found the exit, sliding the door open, she saw a sight that caused her blood to boil. "Tanjiro said that whatever's in this box is more important than his own life! I don't know why he's carrying a demon with him, but until we ask, I can't let you kill it!" Zenitsu shouted at a boar-headed boy, who had been trying to get to the box by beating Zenitsu.
"If you won't let me kill the demon, then I'll have to skewer you along with it!" Before the boy could follow through though, Kaina interrupted. She jumped and tackled the boy to the ground, grabbing both his swords in the process, crossing them over his neck.
"If you want to kill something Tanjiro views more important than his own life… Then I guess I'll have to kill you first!" Kaina said with a sneer. She was about to finish the job, but Tanjiro interjected, rushing over.
"Tsutsumi-san! Don't!" He shouted, knocking the woman out. Kainas eyes drifted closed, her body collapsing.
~ ~ ~
As Tanjiro exited the house with Teruko, he saw something that made his blood run cold. Zenitsu was beaten and bloodied by the boar headed boy he had met in the mansion, who was about to be killed by Kaina, using his own swords. "Tsutsumi-san! Don't" He called out, rushing over and knocking his elder out. Tanjiro also had to fight and knock out the boar headed boy, who's name was Inosuke.
"Zenitsu! What happened?" Tanjiro asked worriedly. Zenitsu recounted what had happened to the best of his ability, including what Tsutsumi had said. "S-she would do that?" Tanjiro asked quietly.
"Yes, there was no hesitation in her voice. Tanjiro, I know you might not want to accept this, but Tsutsumi-san is insane." Zenitsu said. "If any danger comes to you, she'll snap. That's what just happened here."
"I-I'm sure it's just her personality-" Tanjiro tried to deny, but Zenitsu cut him off.
"Tanjiro, Tsutsumi-san was hallucinating earlier. And has been all day. I know she won't attack any of us, but if you or whatever's in that box is in mortal danger, you'd better be careful. Especially if the corps decides to put you on trial for traveling with a demon."
"Zenitsu. You knew I had a demon with me. And still protected the box?" Tanjiro smiled softly. "You're truly a good guy. Thank you."