Chapter Text
After so many days of trying to ask for remedies on how to fix his family’s situation, Tanjiro was tired.
He was also tired from all the fighting and killing of the demons inside the wisteria tree area. But he was so glad that he bested the demon who had killed Urokodaki’s past students including Sabito and Makomo.
Their help training him to slice that huge stone was otherworldly. Yet he didn’t know until the demon started bragging about their deaths that they were ghosts. Maybe that’s why Urokodaki gave him that strange choked noise when he brought up their names before he left.
Either way, now their souls are at rest along with the past disciples that suffered the same fate.
Now he was finally done with the exams. He had his crow assigned to him and picked out a stone that would be made into his future sword. And Tanjiro was focused on his journey home, carrying his broken mask back with him. Maybe he can sew it back by sticking some holes in it and tying it with thread.
Urokodaki-Sensei will know what to do with his mask when he gets back.
Tanjiro followed his way back to the safety of the house where all of his family was waiting under his teacher/pseudo strict grandfather’s care.
No matter what Urokodaki said he had already been adopted into the family despite his protests. As soon as Rokuta started importing hope to him, he was already absorbed into the family circle wherever he noticed or not.
When Rokuta showed that he trusted him, his younger siblings started to follow him more. And then his mother made the final decision by treating him as a pseudo elderly parent by the small step of placing more protein on his plate. He had only seen that when his mother ventured down to the town and help the elderly when she could. The same kind of kindness radiated through her new snake-like pupils.
He can remember how many times he held back on his laughter when his family’s pupils would widen then sharpen in focus whenever Urokodaki begrudgingly accepted the new food on his plate or offered more small gifts to them.
He allowed himself to laugh out loud when he thought back to Takeo’s expression when Urokodaki had chopped up wood and started to show him how to carve it into a wind chime.
The journey was long. Many times he had to dig into his rations to fend off his growling stomach craving his mother’s meals.
The amount of relief he felt when he approached the familiar mountain was enough to fill his legs with energy again to start running towards his destination.
As he got closer, he saw that blue and white, cloud pattern belonging to the old man sweeping the path. His grin widened as he spotted that angry red mask look up at him.
“Urokodaki-Sensei! I made it!” Tanjiro yelled out, continuing to run towards the older man that paused in his sweeping. “I’m a demon slayer!”
Urokodaki dropped the broom to grab Tanjiro in a hurried embrace. “Well done. I am very proud of you.”
Something in his teacher’s response and the way his grip tightened around his shoulders made him choked up. Tanjiro pulled back to look at his teacher’s face.
“I defeated the demon who took the lives of Sabito, Makomo and the others.” Urokodaki’s grip loosened at his words. “Their souls can rest now.”
“Thank you, young Kamado.” His voice was shaky but he didn’t dare to point it out. He could hear the relief in his teacher’s reply. “I have been feeling a sense of... peace recently. I can only assume that it is their souls finally moving on from this world without the demon holding them back.”
“Now, young demon slayer, there are more than quite a few guests that have been waiting for your arrival.” Urokodaki turned Tanjiro around to face the house where he knew his family was waiting inside. It was still a bit too bright for them to be out playing while the sun was slowly setting. “It’s best not to keep them waiting any longer.”
Tanjior nodded, separating from his teacher to approach the house. He took a breath before swinging open the door to greet his family. “I’m back!”
All at once, his family turned to him with masks pushed up on their foreheads or dangling around their neck. All six of them stared back.
Wait. Tanjiro looked back at the painted pink details of the mask similar to the one he saw Makomo wear during his training. And that’s when he finally noticed that Nezuko was standing right there. She wasn’t asleep anymore. His sister was right there staring at him with pure joy
“Nezuko?” His sister’s head bobbed with a hum. Her eyes squinting at the corners from the force of her smile. He could see the hints of white fangs peeking over the bamboo. But he didn’t care about that as he rushed forward to pull his sister into a hug first. “Nezuko!”
As soon as he hugged his super, the rest of his family reacted by making them the center of a huge embrace. His mother’s arms reached out over all of her children to cradle them as best as she could.
Tanjiro let his tears fall from the flow of happiness as he distantly heard the door close again. He glanced with his blurry vision to see Urokodaki leaning against the door as he watched the family embrace.
Tanjiro closed his eyes as he sunk into their comfort after the sleepless nights of fighting at the exam.
He felt his mother’s touch leave his skin and could hear Urokodaki start to protest. The frantic whispers, the reassuring hums and the sound of footsteps dragging behind him.
“Hey, wait—“ Then he felt another body join the family hug and Rokuta’s muffled coo. “Okay. I might as well.”
Tanjiro felt even more relaxed at the added presence of his teacher, especially with Rokuta’s chest rumbling rhythm.
*
“Ah, it’s a black blade.”
Tanjiro stared at the dusky black shade of his newly crafted sword. His sword-smith had high expectations to see a red color to appear when he saw his appearance. But the dark color of his sword made the sword-smith’s shoulders drop in not-so-well-hidden disappointment.
Hagenezuka Hotaru’s body language drooped to show his feelings. He couldn’t see his facial expression with a mask firmly obscuring his face. He left with a warning that the special sword, a nichirin blade.
After he got his sword, it seemed like the job of demon slayer started right away. That was what Urokodaki told him anyway. So when the sword was being made, he helped Urokodaki upgrade his cart more so his family could rest more easily with the small amount of possession they brought with them.
The baskets were replaced with three large sturdy wooden boxes that would fit all of his family safely.
Tanjiro packed away his father’s performance outfit to place in Urokodaki’s safe hands along with items that his teacher promised he would watch over while they were on their endless journey. Tanjiro promised Urokodaki that he would see many new year’s performances until he got sick of it.
Now that he had his sword it wasn’t long until his crow started cawing instructions and directions for his first mission.
Urokodaki helped him prepare his family for the journey since his crow started cawing as soon as the sun set.
When the boxes were open, his family seemed to clue in that they had to leave. That’s when Rokuta started openly crying and clutching onto Urokodaki with a sad crooning noise.
Urokodaki picked him up as the other siblings started to crowd around him to have their own hugs. Tanjiro heard his teacher lower his voice to be softer than it usually was as he comforted his emotional demon family. He held onto Rokuta as he said goodbye to each sibling with a hug, ushering them to the safety of their new boxes that he lined with cloth and the old baskets to provide more cushion.
Urokodaki took extra care to make sure that each of them had their masks and their little stuffed toys they took comfort in. Nezuko pulled Takeo into a tight hug within their box while he held onto his trusted ax.
He gently guided Kie to lay in her own box and separated a now calmed Rokuta from his chest.
“Hey, now. Don’t be upset, little one.” Urokodaki said, pulling up his mask slightly to expose his eye and part of his mouth. His voice was lowered in a whisper, but Tanjiro could hear him from how close he was to him. “Don’t tell anyone else, especially your siblings, but you’re my favorite.”
Rokuta responded with a barely hidden smile behind his bamboo muzzle. Urokodaki pulled Rokuta’s mask up to tap his own mask against his forehead in a kissing gesture. “Be safe. And don’t worry your mother, Tanjiro has that handled all on his own.”
He softly lowered his arms so Kie could tuck Rokuta to her own chest inside the larger box. Rokuta waved with his hand at his grandfather figure as Urokodaki slowly shut the box, cooing and gurgling at him.
When there was only a peek left, Rokuta loudly grumbled in a rhythm. Urokodaki scoffed, “Yeah, Yeah. I’ll miss you too.”
The older man stood up straight and looked over to him. Urokodaki groaned as he started to help Tanjiro set up the very last of the things for the cart.
Soon enough, everyone was in their box on the cart, the canopy was secured to cover all of them, there were a few smaller baskets of foot rations and jugs of clean water.
Everything was ready.
Urokodaki cleared his throat. “Listen here, boy. If you ever are running yourself ragged—“
“I’ll be sure to stop and rest before I get too overwhelmed.” Tanjiro straightened his shoulders. “And if I’m ever close by, I’ll make sure to come here and rest
“That’s not what I was going to say,” Urokodaki scowled at him, he could feel it through the mask. “But you are welcome here either way.”
Tanjiro replied, “I’ll make sure to visit when I can. Everyone will miss grandpa if I don’t.”
“Why you, little—,” Urokodaki flicked his forehead with a finger, flinching his hand back after the action. He said, “I’m not that old yet.”
“I’ll miss you,” Tanjiro admitted.
“Brat.” Urokodaki commented like a whisper. “Hah, be safe out there, got it?”
“Got it, grandpa.” Tanjiro nodded, ignoring Urokodaki’s choked sound. “I’ll send letters to update you on our progress. I’ll let you know when I get some information on how to cure them.”
“I’ll be waiting for the first one,” Urokodaki said before freezing where he stood. He watched the older man groan, running a hand down his mask in frustration. “Speaking of letters, I should get to writing to Giyuu to update him as well on your success and everything else.”
“Yes! I’ll start writing as soon as I finish my first mission.”
“Good. Now get going before your crow starts diving at you to get you to move faster.”
“I’ll take your advice then.” Tanjiro smiled. “Goodbye for now!”
Urokodaki nodded to him as he started to roll the cart away from his house. He heard the older man call out to him, “Goodbye, Tanjiro!”
*
Tanjiro has been following his crow under the moonlight past the forest line. He walked through the plains, sniffing the air to make sure that no other demons were around. He hadn’t smelled any human blood since he started walking. That was a good sign since he hasn’t had to face any demons yet, but he knew that they were waiting for him once he got to the town.
As far as the details went, several young women were being killed only during the night in the town. Many were at the marrying age if not younger. And they seemed to vanish with nothing left behind of them.
When the night fell over the entire horizon, he heard one of the boxes open behind him. Curious, Tanjiro glanced behind him to see his mother getting up from her sleep and crawling outside the box. Rokuta made a noise at her movement but quieted down shortly after.
“Mom, we’re not there yet. You can keep resting,”
His mother made no indication that she heard him or cared about his words as she started to stand up in the cart. Fearing for his mother’s stability, Tanjiro slowed the small cart to a stop.
His mom jumped down onto the ground to stand stall before him. He looked up at his mom’s gentle face before feeling her hands scoop him up under his arms. Tanjiro will deny the little squeak that moves past his lips as she moves him under the canopy of the cart.
Tanjiro hurriedly sat up before hearing his mother humming, gently pushing him down against the floor of the cart. Her message was more clear as she took the cart’s handles into her own hands.
“Mom, I can handle it,” Tanjiro whispered, making his mother drop one of the handles to boop his forehead. He whined as his mother chuckled, the sound vibrating from the sides of her muzzle.
‘I will take care of this while you rest.’ Her eyes communicated as she started to move the cart with his crow cawing directions to the village they needed to investigate.
“Thank you, mom,” Tanjiro continued talking with a soft tone, so he wouldn’t wake up the rest of his family sleeping. “Wake me up before the sunrise, so I can take over the duty.”
His mother hummed the most familiar song to him about bunnies as he laid down next to her box with Rokuta still resting inside.