The Color of the World is a AU fanfic of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba written by Novirp13. It's a Role Swap AU fanfic about what would've happened if both Tanjiro and Nezuko had their swapped roles, Nezuko becoming a Demon Slayer who seeks to restore her brother's humanity and avenge their family.
The fanfic can be read here
and here.
This story assumes you have read the original manga, so beware of spoilers.
This fanfiction contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- When Sanemi tries to prove that Tanjiro will attack him because he’s a demon, the latter instead just throws a roll of bandages at Sanemi’s head and knocks him to the floor, completely ignoring the blood on his arm. Then Tanjiro starts throwing items at Iguro to make him let go of Nezuko, succeeding the moment Iguro catches two water bottles and forgets that he was holding Nezuko down, allowing her to escape. While Sanemi and Iguro find this humiliating, Mitsuri, Shinobu, Tengen, and even Ubuyashiki find this amusing.
- When Tanjiro tackles Haganezuka to the floor for trying to throttle Nezuko, both Urokadaki and Nezuko find the sight of Tanjiro sitting on Haganezuka amusing, especially since Urokadaki correctly points out Haganezuka has no one but himself to blame for trying to attack Nezuko in front of her brother and notes that he's lucky that he didn't get a punch to the face.
- Adaptation Personality Change: While Nezuko is still a kind-hearted girl like in canon, she is also shown to be quite aggressive when someone pushes her patience to its limits and can also be sly and devious when it comes to putting her friends on the right path.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- While Tanjiro and Zenitsu are good friends in canon, Tanjiro still tends to get exasperated by Zenitsu's overdramatic antics, while Zenitsu tends to overreact with jealousy whenever Tanjiro interacts with girls without him. Notably, when Zenitsu first sees Nezuko, he immediately concludes that Tanjiro is in a relationship with her, leading him to swing his sword at Tanjiro until the latter explains Nezuko is his sister. Here, when Zenitsu first meets Tanjiro as a demon, he becomes fast friends with him and comes to see him as lovable big brother due to sensing his kindness and warmth.
- Since Tanjiro has become a demon instead of the Demon Slayer Haganezuka forges Nichirin blades for, Tanjiro tends to tackle Haganezuka to the floor and sit on him to keep him from attacking Nezuko.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Similar to Tanjiro's heightened sense of smell Nezuko has the ability to see the auras of living beings.
- Due to his nature as a demon, Tanjiro similarly gains their enhanced abilities such as better strength and durability, as well as his own Blood Demon Art.
- Amnesiac Resonance: Tanjiro is no longer able to consciously recognize Nezuko as his sister, only calling her Pink Girl in his mind, yet he still feels the need to protect her after failing to save his family from Muzan.
- Big Brother Instinct: Both played straight and inverted for Tanjiro and Nezuko respectively.
- Despite no longer being able to recognize Nezuko as his sister after his transformation into a demon, Tanjiro still cares for her and does his upmost best to protect her from danger. Tanjiro will fight against demons to protect Nezuko, but when humans antagonize her, he avoids going for lethal forcenote .
- Since Nezuko is the one who remains human here, she makes it her duty to keep Tanjiro safe after his transformation. She even lampshades this with Yahaba.Yahaba: Why won't you just stay down already!?
Nezuko: Of course I'm not going to stop! It's my niichan you're talking about! The moment you decided to take him away from me...
(Nezuko decapitates Yahaba with a newly improvised technique)
Nezuko: THE MOMENT YOU'LL FACE THE LITTLE SISTER'S WRATH!
- Big Eater: Tanjiro likes to eat a lot of human food as a demon, keeping a lot of snacks packed up in his box to eat whenever he gets hungry.
- Break the Haughty: Akaza undergoes this just like in canon, albeit for a different reason. When Akaza manages to impale through Kyojuro Rengoku's torso, Tanjiro immediately rushes over and grabs onto Akaza's arm when he least expects it. Before the confused Akaza can understand what's going on, Tanjiro uses his Blood Demon Art to ignite all three of them. While the fire doesn't hurt Tanjiro and Rengoku (and in fact actually starts healing the latter), it does hurt Akaza enough to make him start screaming in agony, even if it can't kill him due to his regenerative powers. Forced to break off his arm in order to flee from the sun after he is unable to hit Tanjiro, Akaza has to break apart and regenerate his body several times in order to get rid of the flames. Although Akaza doesn't get punished by Muzan for failing to kill the Demon Slayers present (because Muzan is too busy laughing about how strong Tanjiro has become to care), Akaza is still utterly furious with Tanjiro for getting the best of him there.
- Black Comedy Animal Cruelty: Nezuko punching her Kasugai Crow whenever he annoys her is Played for Laughs.
- Cat Fight: A downplayed example that's Played for Laughs. Daki's last moments as a disembodied head are spend arguing with Nezuko when she interrupts her argument with Gyutaro, to the point it's noted that if Daki still had a body, the two girls would have been pulling at each other's hair. Gyutaro is stunned by what's unfolding in front of him.
- Color Motif: Nezuko's Aura Vision allows her to identify other people's Hidden Depths and whether or not it's a demon in disguise.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Played for Laughs. After Muichiro Tokito makes an accurate drawing of Muzan's family, Sanemi Shinazugawa's cursing leads Nezuko to cover Tanjiro's ears as she lectures him about using foul language in the presence of a toddler, explaining how Tanjiro's behavior has regressed after turning into a demon and she doesn't want profanity to be the next thing that comes out of his mouth. Shinobu, Tengen, Gyomei, and even Ubayashiki agree with Nezuko, either because they don't want their kids to pick up profanity or because they find it distasteful, with Sanemi reluctantly agreeing to censor his words at Ubayashiki's request.
- Didn't Think This Through: A small one. When Nezuko asks the Butterfly Girls to whack her with rug beaters if she stops using the Total Concentration Breathing in her sleep, she forgot to consider that Tanjiro might get the wrong impression if he sees the girls beating her. Nezuko has to calm down a panicking Tanjiro and explain the situation to him, so he doesn't grab her and rush her out of the Butterfly Mansion while the sun's still up.
- Dual Wielding: Nezuko wields two Nichirin Blades to use Water Breathing. Inosuke has challenged her to a duel multiple times to see who's the best dual wielder between them.
- The Fettered: Even after turning into a demon, Tanjiro still has remarkable restraint to avoid hurting humans and innocents, only using lethal force against evil demons. He subdues Haganezuka whenever he tries to attack Nezuko, tackling him to the floor and sitting on top of him (and in one case, destroying his butcher knife). He subdues a newly turned demon in Asakusa town and tries to hold on to him even when the Imperial Guard try to pry him off. Tanjiro grabs Yushiro by the arm to keep him from hitting Nezuko. When he sees Kanao knock out Nezuko, Tanjiro wards her off with non-lethal attacksnote . Sanemi and Obanai merely get a roll of bandages and food thrown at them for antagonizing both Tanjiro and Nezuko. When he thinks the Butterfly Girls are hurting Nezuko, Tanjiro tries to get his sister to safety without caring that there's daylight outside, with no mention of even attempting to fight the girls. Tanjiro also goes out of his way to knock out an engineer that tried to stab Nezuko to keep her from interfering with Enmu.
- Help Mistaken for Attack: When Nezuko requests the Butterfly girls to beat her with the carpet beaters whenever she stops breathing correctly in her sleep, Tanjiro walks into the room with snacks only to see the girls beating Nezuko in her sleep, leading him to panic and conclude the Butterfly Mansion is dangerous. Nezuko has to calm down Tanjiro and explain the situation when it looks like he's about to rush her out of there, even when there's sunlight out.
- Heroic BSoD: Nezuko undergoes one when Tanjiro falls into a coma alongside Rengoku. It takes a heart-to-heart conversation with Senjuro for Nezuko to start taking steps to recover.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Nezuko thinks very little of herself and admits that she would never be able to go on living if Tanjiro dies on her watch.
- I Was Beaten by a Girl: Nezuko exploits this mentality by doubling down on her training in order to motivate Zenitsu and Inosuke to get back to their rehabilitation training, reasoning that a girl surpassing them will get them to become competitive.
- The Incorruptible: Even as a demon, Tanjiro still remains a kind-hearted young boy, always trying to help people to the best of his ability. It's even noticeable that Tanjiro's Heroic Willpower as a demon is stronger than Canon!Nezuko's, as he is unswayed by any temptation for blood, allowing him to easily prove Sanemi's assertion that he's evil wrong, whereas Nezuko in canon was barely holding back the urge to lunge at him. The only time he falls into temptation is when Muzan forcefully injects more of his blood into him, but even then, Nezuko and Zenitsu are able to stop Tanjiro from killing anyone and help him come to his senses.
- In-Series Nickname: Before Nezuko learns the other Pillar's names, she gives them a nickname in her mind to help her differentiate between them. The Kakushi carrying her to Butterfly Mansion are horrified when they hear her say those nicknames.Kakushi: That's the gist of the whole Pillars of this Demon Hunter Association. [beat] Hey, do you hear me?
Nezuko: Hm? Yeah, sure. [Counts each one with her fingers] The Poison Lady is Kocho Shinobu. Tomioka-san, I already knew about him. The Golden Man is Rengoku Kyojuro. The Turban Man is Uzui Tengen. The Breasts Lady is Kanroji Mitsuri. The Monk is Himejima Gyomei. The Uncaring Boy is Tokito Muichiro. The Spiky Hair jerk is Shinazugawa Sanemi. And the Snake Man is Iguro Obanai. [The Kakushi gawk at her in open horror] Did I miss one?
Kakushi: IS THAT WHAT YOU CALLED THEM IN YOUR HEAD THIS WHOLE TIME? OH MY GOD, PLEASE, PLEAASSSEEE! DON'T LET US BE YOUR GUARDIANS ANYMORE! - Ironic Echo: When Nezuko intentionally uses Reverse Psychology to get Inosuke to help in burying the dead, Zenitsu asks her if she just tricked Inosuke, with Nezuko responding in the affirmative by saying how she's learned how to deal with Inosuke, stunning Zenitsu by how sly she is. Later, when Nezuko uses her charm to help Zenitsu get over his fear and convince him to come with her and Inosuke onto Natagumo Mountain, Inosuke asks her the same question, to which Nezuko replies that she told Zenitsu the truth.
- Manipulative Bastard: A non-malicious example. Nezuko is quite sly when she needs to get someone to do what she wants. She intentionally uses Reverse Psychology to get Inosuke to help in burying the dead, uses her charm to help encourage Zenitsu to come with her and Inosuke onto Natagumo Mountain, shows a willingness to lie while she's disguised as a servant girl in the Yoshiwara Entertainment District (whereas Tanjiro is so honest that it physically hurts him to lie), and she doubles down on her rehabilitation training in order to motivate Zenitsu and Inosuke to start training again, using the logic that a girl surpassing them will make them feel spiteful enough to get competitive. This is because she had to learn to coax her younger siblings from bothering Tanjiro while he's working.
- My Greatest Failure: Tanjiro's last memory as a human was failing to save his family from Muzan, so he works hard to protect Nezuko despite not being able to consciously recognize her.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- After ensuring that all the Demon Slayers are put to sleep and ensnared within his dreams, Emnu's attempts to capture Tanjiro ends up leading the latter to accidentally wake up Rengoku, allowing the Pillar to rouse Zenitsu and Inosuke from their slumber as the three get to work in defending the passengers much earlier than in canon.
- Muzan forcefully injecting Tanjiro does almost make him succumb to the temptation to eat humans, but after Zenitsu and Nezuko calm him down, Tanjiro is able to learn from Muzan's memories how to reconnect body parts, allowing him to reattach Tengen's hand.
- Pragmatic Hero: Downplayed. When the Pillars hear that Muzan wants to capture Tanjiro, Sanemi wants to kill the latter immediately, but Shinobu points out that they can use Tanjiro as bait to lure out Muzan instead, something that Nezuko doesn't like but doesn't disagree with either. Sanemi however hates demons to the point of refusing to even consider keeping Tanjiro alive.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Tanjiro resorts to this when he's trying to persuade Nezuko to let him eat more snacks.
- Reverse Psychology: While Tanjiro unintentionally used this on Inosuke in canon, here, Nezuko uses this deliberately when Inosuke initially refuses to help bury the dead.
- Ship Tease: Nezuko and Zenitsu get some moments of these, such as Zenitsu being there for Nezuko when she's in a Heroic BSoD from Tanjiro falling into a coma, and again when he sits by her side while the two are contemplating Daki and Gyutaro's relationship.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Yahaba lasts just as long as he does in canon, but his act of noticing Tanjiro’s Hanafuda earrings is what leads Muzan to take interest in making Tanjiro his new minion.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Kyojuro Rengoku is saved from his canon fate when Tanjiro uses his Blood Demon Art to heal the fatal wound Akaza inflicted on him, though the strain it puts on Tanjiro and Rengoku causes both of them to fall into a coma.
- Tears of Joy: Nezuko sheds these when Tanjiro is able start speaking following the events of the Red Light District Story Arc, happy that her brother is starting to recover his humanity even if he's still a demon.
- Tempting Fate: When Tengen tries to kidnap Nezuko to take her with him on his mission to the Yoshiwara Entertainment District, an angry Nezuko threatens to shout if Tengen doesn't put her down now. Tengen retorts that no one besides a Pillar would be able to stop him even if she does, and none of them are there to help anyway. Nezuko proceeds to prove him wrong by shouting out that a pervert is kidnapping her, leading to random civilians hearing her and one of them leaving to get the guard. Zenitsu and Inosuke both proceed to pop out out of nowhere screaming their own threats and accusations.Inosuke: I ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU'RE BAD! YOUR APPEARANCE IS TOO GIRLY!
Zenitsu: You don't have a right to say that, Piggy. Also…DON'T YOU TAKE ANOTHER STEP, YOU BRAWN! LET NEZUKO-CHAN GO THIS INSTANT!
Tengen: Gah! Girl! You're ruining my flamboyant image!
Nezuko: That's what you get for being so rude! Now, put me down or I'm going to holler once more!
Tengen: Alright, alright, fine! You two, flamboyantly follow me to the Red Light District!
Nezuko: KYAAA! YOU REALLY ARE A PERVERT!
Inosuke: What's Red Light District?
Zenitsu: BASTARD! BECAUSE NEZUKO-CHAN CAN'T MATCH YOUR STRENGTH, YOU WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER, HUH? I'LL KILL YOU!
Farmer: I'VE BROUGHT THE GUARD, GIRL! PLEASE, HANG ON!
Tengen: DAMMIT! THIS IS ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING! - Tranquil Fury:
- When Shinjuro insults the comatose Kyojuro, Shinobu calmly tells him to leave with a pleasant smile, even when the aura she's giving off makes it clear she really doesn't like him. After Kyojuro's father and brother leave, Shinobu actually considers killing Shinjuro, much to Naho's horror, which is played for Black Comedy.
- When Tanjiro awakens from his coma and comes to his sister’s rescue, Tanjiro doesn’t fly into a blind rage, instead giving Daki a Death Glare while remaining composed throughout his fight with her.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Nezuko keeps her hair in this style using a hair tie Tanjiro gave her.
- Uncanny Valley Makeup: Humorously lampshaded and defied. Nezuko is infuriated when she sees Tengen's terrible cosmetic job, telling him that they need to look normal and this makeup is only going to draw unwanted attention and discourage the masters of the houses from buying them, leading her to reapply the makeup herself.
- Vegetarian Vampire: One of the few signs that Tanjiro is different from other demons is when he actually starts eating human food, something that both the Demon Slayer Corps and Tamayo note is rather unusual. Nezuko usually packs up a lot of snacks whenever she's travelling with Tanjiro so he can get his strength back by eating.
- Vertical Power Play: Defied. When Chief Tecchin demands that Nezuko bow her head down until it touches the mat, Nezuko refuses and states outright that respect is earned rather than given. She only bows low enough to show respect but not enough to the point of groveling.
- Villain Takes an Interest: When Muzan sees Tanjiro's hanafuda earrings through Yahaba's eyesnote , he quickly realizes Tanjiro has a lot of potential as a demon if he were to capture him and make his new minion, which is why he orders all of his subordinates (from lesser servants to members of the Twelve Demon Moons) to capture Tanjiro should they find him. Hearing that he managed to force Akaza, an Upper Moon, to retreat makes Muzan want to capture him all the more. He is completely unfazed at losing Daki and Gyutaro unlike in canon because he now intends to replace them with Tanjiro.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Nezuko really hates cockroaches, to the point Tanjiro made her promise not to stand near a kitchen cupboard one time so she doesn't go overboard with the knives. Nezuko was personally glad that Zenitsu and Inosuke weren't present to see how she killed a cockroach demon.Nezuko: DIE! DIE, YOU DISGUSTING VERMIN! DIE AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!
- Would Rather Suffer: When Nezuko suggests trading her Kasugai Crow for Zenitsu's sparrow, since she actually likes the sparrow and dislikes having to listen to a nagging crow, her crow yells out that he would rather take Nezuko's mean hook than be a whiny Zenitsu's babysitter.
