Random Kny One Shots [Requests Closed] Do I know you? | {KanaNez}

Theme: Fluff

Note: It starts as regular AU then skips to modern!!

I TOOK SO LONG ON THIS, I GOT STUCK AND HAD TO REWRITE IT ARGHH

There’s a little SaneKana and InoAoi mentioned btw :3

Tags: @bluespiderlilac

×××

Kanao had always been there for Nezuko. When she was a demon and wandered about the halls at night, Kanao would bump into her sometimes as she arrived home from a mission. They would meander through the garden under the moonlight as Kanao pointed out different flowers, her voice soft yet clear in the silence of the night. Nezuko would trot along by her side, picking up a fallen flower from a tree, smoothing out its petals and handing it to Kanao. After the war, they spent even more time together, going on picnics or swimming in a river. Most of the time, they were with the others. But occasionally they had their time to themselves and they enjoyed it to the utmost pleasure. At times after Tanjiro died, Kanao would spend nights comforting Nezuko, holding her in her arms and rocking her to sleep. She was always there till the day they died and she would always be close.

×××

The alarm rang. Usually, Kanao was never up late. But last night she had been out with a couple friends of hers; Tanjiro, Aoi, and Zenitsu. They had lost track of time and she had ended up coming home late and knowing full well she would need an alarm tonight. Typically, she woke up even two hours before the alarm but today she woke up right as the loud beeping entered her ears. 

She jolted up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she dragged herself out of the bed and changed into her school uniform. There was the annual school festival today, which was a bad day to arrive late, so she hurried through her morning routine, checking her bag to make sure she had everything. She went downstairs to where her adoptive family was.

Shinobu was making breakfast in the kitchen, humming to herself as she put a plate on the table. 

“Good morning, Kanao,” she said cheerfully. “Kanae’s boyfriend picked her up already so she’s not here. Eat your breakfast quickly, alright? We have to catch the bus.”

Kanao nodded and put her bag down, murmuring a quick thank you before she ate. After finishing, she followed Shinobu out the door as they walked to the bus stop, barely catching the public bus. They arrived at the school twenty minutes later and went their respective ways to their classrooms.

The school was adorned with all sorts of banners as people rushed about, getting things ready. This year, Kanao’s class was doing some sort of Flower Café for their event and it had seemed like a good idea at first but, even from a hall away, Kanao could already smell the heavy scent of nectar wafting from the classroom. Luckily, as she arrived, she found that visually it was quite pleasing, the decorations of both real and fake flowers giving it a beautiful look.

Naturally, the café would be outside, but that didn’t stop people from decorating inside as well. The classroom was rather small for a whole café anyway, but it could be thought of like the back of it where all the supplies were. Some people had arrived earlier to help with the food and everyone else was starting to filter in as they would begin to prepare. Kanao put her bag down and walked to where Tanjiro and a girl she didn’t recognize stood. They were placing out some pastries that would be sold in the café. 

“Good morning!” Tanjiro said cheerfully to Kanao when he noticed her. 

She nodded. “Morning.”

“Hello!” the other girl said. She had eyes like Tanjiro but lighter, and black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. 

“Ah! That’s right, have you two met before?” Tanjiro asked.

Kanao shook her head.

“This is my sister, Nezuko,” Tanjiro explained. “She’s come to help me. She goes to a different school but will go to ours next year. Nezuko, this is Kanao. I think I’ve told you about her before.”

Nezuko smiled. “Nice to meet you, Kanao! I hope we can be friends—it’ll be helpful to know people here when I transfer schools.”

Kanao dipped her head in a bow. “A pleasure to meet you, too.”

Nezuko turned to her brother. “She’s so polite,” she said contently, picking up a croissant with a napkin and offering it to Kanao. “Want one?”

“Thank you, but they should be saved for the event.”

“Awee, she really is,” Nezuko squealed, putting the croissant back. A phone rang and she took it out of her pocket, glancing at the name. “I’ll be back, alright?”

Tanjiro and Kanao both nodded and she left the classroom, answering the call.

“She’s super nice, don’t worry,” Tanjiro assured Kanao once Nezuko was out of earshot. “I know she’s a bit energetic for your taste, probably, but she’s the sweetest person to exist.”

Aoi, who seemed to have popped up out of nowhere, said, “There’s two of you, basically.” 

Tanjiro yelped. “When did- Huh?”

Kanao tilted her head in Aoi’s direction. “Good morning.”

Aoi smiled. “Morning, Kanao. How are Shinobu and Kanae?” 

She had lived with the Kocho’s and Kanao for a bit after her parents death but had recently moved with Inosuke as it was hard for the Kocho’s to provide for so many people and Inosuke’s grandmother was more than willing to care for Aoi.

“They’re good,” Kanao said, nodding. “Don’t you have class with Kanae?…”

Aoi shook her head. “No, they changed some things a while back. I’m surprised you didn’t hear—a lot of my classmates were complaining about being switched to a different teacher because they preferred Kanae. So I haven’t really seen her except in passing the halls.”

“Oh.”

Tanjiro smiled at them. “Ah, speaking of teachers, ours said we have to bring these things out at ten so that everything is ready by three.”

“Alright. I don’t have anything to do now, so I’ll do it,” Aoi offered. 

“Yes, okay! I can do it too.”

Kanao nodded. “I’ll help.”

“It’s almost ten…” Tanjiro said, checking his phone. “So I think we can go now.”

He and Aoi both picked up some of the boxes of food and made their way out of the classroom. As Kanao went to pick up her own, Nezuko reentered the room and looked around.

“Where did Tanjiro go?” she asked, frowning.

Kanao nodded towards the doorway. “Outside.”

“Oh! Are we already bringing the things out?”

Kanao nodded again.

“Okay. I’ll go with you,” Nezuko said, picking up a box and walking with Kanao out the door.

They walked silently for a while as they maneuvered their way through the crowded halls. Then Nezuko said, “You know… I haven’t met you before, I think, but you seem familiar. Maybe Tanjiro has shown me a picture of you…? I don’t know—it’s kind of weird. Like, I’m getting déjà vu right now and I can’t tell if it’s creepy or not…”

Kanao raised an eyebrow in response. She had thought Nezuko looked familiar as well but figured it was just the similarity between her and her brother. It probably was nothing. A picture, as Nezuko had said. Tanjiro liked taking pictures to remember things so they had acquired a lot of selfies throughout the years. 

They made it outside and found where Tanjiro, Aoi, and some of the others were clustered about, putting things up. The two girls placed their boxes down where a teacher instructed them and then went back towards the building again to retrieve more.

The day blurred through as classes were cancelled for the event, the halls much too loud and the energy excited for anyone to focus anyhow. 

Kanao found herself having fun, the spring air and the laughter of the others around her lifting her spirits and making her smile time and time again. The day drew to a close as evening approached and the stalls were closed. The festival’s winner was, in fact, not Kanao and Tanjiro’s class. Yet, though there were definitely some disappointed groans, nobody seemed to mind much. 

Things were put away and people stayed behind to clean. Kanao was amongst them, putting away the boxes and throwing away trash. She bumped into Nezuko again, who was sweeping. 

“Oh, you stayed late, too?” Nezuko said, flashing her a quick smile. “Tanjiro’s also here somewhere. Probably cleaning down the whole classroom…”

Kanao nodded. “I’m going home with Kanae and she has to stay a little longer.”

“Oh! Okay!” Nezuko said cheerfully. “Well, once we finish, wanna get a snack or something? I’m a bit hungry since I didn’t eat much of lunch.”

“Alright.”

They finished cleaning up outside and grabbed their bags as they walked to the classroom to find Tanjiro. Nezuko took out of her bag some bread buns, handing one to Kanao. “Here. You probably know that my family owns a bakery? My mother gives us some of the food sometimes,” she explained. “I like this one a lot, so you should try some.”

Kanao took it gratefully. “It does taste good,” she murmured, after taking a bite.

“Yep!” Nezuko said, biting into her own. 

As they walked, Kanao glanced at Nezuko. Something about the girl striked her as someone she’s met before. She would assume that they had seen each other in passing, or maybe when she’d been over to see Tanjiro. But she found herself thinking it wasn’t that. Had they been close in the past, maybe? When she was younger? No, when Kanao was younger she hadn’t had any friends.

Kanao glimpsed a discarded plastic bamboo tube on the floor when they passed a classroom and she picked it up to put it away. She paused. In her mind, she had envisioned a red ribbon coming from either side of the bamboo. She frowned and turned to Nezuko to ask her if there had been something of it from one of the other classes’ event. Nezuko had continued walking, not noticing that she’d stopped, but had turned now to look at her. 

“Are you alright, Kanao?” she asked, starting to walk back. “What’s that?”

Kanao held up the bamboo slowly and froze. She had been about to hand it to Nezuko but, as she held it up, it seemed that it fit perfectly over Nezuko’s mouth. The image of Nezuko with a similar looking bamboo tied around her mouth like a muzzle, her hair down and long, the tips orange, surfaced in Kanao’s mind. What? 

“Ehm… Is everything okay?” Nezuko asked, taking the bamboo and inspecting this. “Isn’t this from the class that was doing some sort of panda thing? It was weird since they said stuff about the great panda or whatever, even though it’s from China.”

Kanao stared blankly, her hand falling to her side. 

“Kanao?”

She blinked. 

“Yes?” Kanao asked, coming to her senses.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Sorry,” she murmured. “Let’s go find Tanjiro.”

“Alright!” 

They continued down the hall, the plastic bamboo put away in the classroom. Later, as Kanao sat in the backseat of Sanemi’s car, Kanae and Sanemi in the front and Genya sitting beside her, she found herself asking Kanae something.

“Did I know a girl… with bamboo in her mouth? With long black and orange hair?” she asked. Genya glanced at her inquisitively but said nothing of it.

Sanemi, on the other hand, who was driving, nearly choked and the car jolted slightly before he regained his composure.

“Do you mean the Kamado girl? Nezuko?” he asked, after recovering.

Kanae frowned. “Tanjiro’s sister? Her hair isn’t orange, Sanemi. And she doesn’t eat bamboo—I think.”

Sanemi shook his head as he pulled over at the Kocho’s house. “No, it’s not that, Kanae.” Then he turned to Kanao, a strange look in his eye. “Did you remember her today?”

Kanao nodded slowly. 

“Right. It’s Nezuko,” he confirmed. Then he paused, some sort of understanding dawning on his features. “Hm. You did know her. A long time ago, though.”

Then he got out of the car, ordering Genya to stay inside as he opened Kanae’s door. Kanao stepped out, nodding a quick goodbye to Genya before walking with Kanae back inside.

Hm. So she had known Nezuko before, then.

×××

« Word count: 2024 »

y’all the word count wasn’t on purpose at all, not at all ^^ 

also

Tanjuro (nez and tanji’s father) and Sanemi are probably the only ones who remember near to everything, while everyone else only had vague memories of the past that they pass off as dreams 😀