Demon Slayer: Welcome to the Butterfly Mansion

(Some liberties taken with canon. Any out-of-character moments are my fault. Includes Tanjiro/Kanao, Shinobu/Kanae, Sanemi/Giyu, Obanai/Mitsuri, and a little Yoriichi/Michikatsu. Read with caution.)

Ten years have passed since the final battle at the Infinity Castle, and Tanjiro is dead. The sun, always shining with a bright smile, melted into the night and never rose again.

Does it hurt?

Of course.

The love Kanao never confessed as a girl became her lifelong regret.

After Muzan's death, the Demon Slayer Corps fell apart. With no enemy left to defeat, the Corps no longer had any reason to exist.

Kanao returned to the Butterfly Mansion of her own accord. It was home, the home her sisters had brought her to, a harbor that would always be warm, and... the last thing she had left to hold on to.

“Gods, please hear my heart. Let me see them one more time, even if only for a moment. I'll pay any price. Any price...”

Kanao lay in a pool of blood, her eyes vacant and lifeless, murmuring to herself.

A faint sigh fell upon her, and Kanao shut her eyes, unwilling to accept it.

When she opened them again, she was in the familiar Butterfly Mansion. Kanae's voice was gentle and warm; Shinobu was complaining like a child. It was... before anything had begun.

Kanao reached out with trembling hands and touched them. They were real, warm, alive: her sisters.

Gods, thank you for giving me another chance, for letting me speak my heart at last.