Happy New Year, Everyone!
Here's three chapters to start this year!
Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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When Tanjuro reached the vicinity of the Butterfly Mansion.
The gloomy weather seemed to be clearing up, allowing the sun to peek out from behind the cloud.
The dampness in the air cleared up, as if the rainy weather report was disproven and turned the day into a warm summer.
'What strange weather.' Tanjuro thought.
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A hurried figure was darting back and forth, mopping the floor around the Butterfly Mansion.
"Tanjiro, over here please~"
"Yes!"
"Tanjiro, I'm going to need your help later!"
"Yes!"
"Tanjiro-kun~~"
"No problem!"
Tanjiro raised his head, his eyes flashing with kindness and eagerness. He rolled up his sleeves and patted his chest.
"Leave it to me!" He happily agreed with all the requests.
After saying that, Tanjiro continued to mop the floor with renewed vigor.
Watching him were several servants of the mansion huddled together, gossiping.
"Wow, this child is really defendable."
"It seems like he's the type who can't stand being idle."
"Leaving us with quite a bit of free time..."
^_^ x3 🎶
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In the courtyard.
We saw Tomioka Giyu sitting on the veranda watching over the garden and the entrance to the mansion.
His face was stoic, sitting upright perfectly. His deep blue eyes were like a still pool of water, calm and unruffled.
Being the eye of the storm... that is a bunch of Tanjuro's kids making a lot of noise and playing around him.
"Giyu-Nii!"
"Is that the Nichirin Blade that Grandpa Urokodaki mentioned?"
Shigeru, sitting next to Giyu, asked curiously. His eyes are full of little stars as he looks at the sword on Giyu's waist. He reached out and touched it from time to time. "So cool~!"
Giyu turned his head and glanced at Shigeru and immediately withdrew his gaze.
'Too young.' Giyu thought.
Not yet suitable to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
He didn't say anything and only gripped his Nichirin Blade, keeping the handle away from grabby hands.
"Giyu-Nii! Can you teach us swordsmanship!?"
"Giyu-Nii!"
Takeo, who was practicing with a wooden sword, stands in front of Giyu and asks that question.
"Please!"
It seemed the children learned a lot about Giyu from their conversation with Grandpa Urokodaki.
Since then, they have been very curious about this silent swordsman and pestered him about anything they can think of, especially swordsmanship.
The excited children were different in their approach to relationships than their father.
"Takeo! Shigeru!" Nezuko walked closer to the group while holding Rokuta.
"He's an important person; don't waste other people's time..." Nezuko quickly chastised her younger brothers and shot an apologetic look toward Giyu.
"I'm sorry, my brothers are not very sensible." Nezuko apologized.
In Nezuko's arms, Rokuta suddenly opened his arms and clapped, laughing happily.
"Giyu-Nii!"
If people were to walk in the courtyard, they would see a comical sight of the Water Hashira being surrounded by noisy kids that tried to touch and beg and chastised each other while Giyu just sat there, not doing anything.
Which is exactly what Tanjuro was walking into.
"…!"
Giyu raised his head in the direction of the entrance to the mansion, where he saw Tanjuro walking toward the group.
Tanjuro was stunned.
'Takeo, Shigeru, Nezuko, and Rokuta were talking, laughing, and having fun with... Tomioka-kun?'
'This guy... is surprisingly popular with children.' Tanjuro thought to himself.
Giyu was the first to stand up and stared straight at Tanjuro's eyes.
He didn't say anything, but the corner of his mouth was moving.
Just a two-centimeter curl, forming an invincible smile on any other face, but on Giyu, it's like the sun has shone again.
For some reason, Tanjuro could hear and understand the words and emotions that Giyu wanted to convey better than any scream or shout.
'Look... did you see...'
'They like talking to me...'
Giyu's face gained a smidge of smugness in it.
'I'm not hated!'
'...Is that what he's trying to say? I can only guess.' Tanjuro thought, nodding as he returned his gaze to Giyu.
"Hey! It's Father! Father is back!"
Shigeru, who was following Giyu's gaze, exclaimed as he saw Tanjuro.
The moment he saw his father, Shigeru froze, and then suddenly his eyes turned red.
He pursed his lips as his nose turned runny with snot. He immediately ran toward Tanjuro at full speed.
"Father—!!"
Tanjuro smiles and opens his arms, bending slightly to embrace Shigeru, who has tears coming out from the corners of his eyes.
Smack!
Tanjuro was stunned again as Shigeru jumped up, not to his embrace, but hugged his head like a koala, obscuring his vision.
"Father! I thought you had already gone to heaven, Wah-wah~~ sob!
He cried out to the sky, his fear and his excitement at seeing his father again.
"Demons! So Scary~! Don't leave us again!"
Shigeru tightened his hug on his father's head.
"Okay, okay, I won't." Tanjuro patted Shigeru's back helplessly and comforted him. "You can let go now, Shigeru. I can't see anything..."
"Father!" Takeo joined in and hugged him at his waist. He was older than Shigeru, so he didn't express his emotions so lamely, but you could see tears coming down from his eyes.
Nezuko also came over, still holding Rokuta. She smiled and blinked hard to try and stop the tears from falling from her eyes.
"It's good to see that you're okay..." She reached out and held Tanjuro's hand that wasn't busy trying to pry off Shigeru.
Kie, who was working in the room overlooking the courtyard, heard Shigeru's shout and couldn't help but stick her head out of the window.
"Tanjuro...?"
Her hair was tied up in a bun, and the headscarf she wore previously was taken off and replaced with a beautiful hairpin.
Although she heard from Tanjiro that her husband was fine, she hadn't seen him ever since that day.
So, Kie was worried.
Now.
Kie looked at the group surrounding Tanjuro.
She saw her husband being covered in snot and tears. Shigeru still perched on his head like a koala, not letting go. She couldn't help but laugh softly.
At the same time, the burden weighing her heart finally lifted itself.
"...That's great." Kie smiled and propped her face up with her hand on the window. She watched her husband being led by Nezuko inside and trying to breathe while being suffocated by Shigeru.
"Mom! Mom!" Hanako was jumping up and down by the window. She was helping Kie with her work when Kie went to see what the commotion was about.
"Is Father back?" Hanako asked Kie as she raised her head to look at her mom.
"Yes, your father is back." Kie lowered herself and picked up Hanako and perched her up on the window sill. "Look."
Hanako, finally seeing the group, waved excitedly at Tanjuro from her position.
"Father!"
Tanjuro turned his head toward the voice; his right eye, which wasn't covered by Shigeru's body, caught sight of his wife and his other daughter.
His muffled voice came from under Shigeru's.
"I'm back."