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Nobody— not even her beloved brother— understood why she had done it.
Why she insisted on marrying him.
Some may say out of pity, others with more envious glances would say it was money. There wasn’t a soul in the world who truly believed it was out of love. Except, maybe, Yushiro. And it was with crude amusement that the only one who could understand her feelings was the last demon in the world.
She watched as his unendingly kind eyes smiled at her with a large hint of worry, asking her if she was alright and ‘was she sure this would make her happy?’. Nezuko stood firm and unwavering as she recited her answer for the nth time. She did not care what they thought of it and yet held tense, only allowing herself to breathe a sigh of relief after her brother had given her his blessing.
Exiting the Butterfly Estate where her brother and sister-in-law now resided, she took her time as she walked on the trail to the foot of a mountain a short distance away. The sun was setting now, but demons had been vanquished from the world and she fell into a lull ease as her footsteps made a clak-clak noise against the stone pathway.
The moon was high and bright against the night sky, lighting her way home to her fiance.
Nobody was around, and thus she had allowed herself the privilege to blush like a common village girl who had just gotten engaged. Pink tinging her cheeks, she smiled to herself as that is what she was now. Not a demon, nor orphan, or burden to the world. A young girl who had gotten her brother's blessing and is now engaged to the man she loved the most.
After a good half hour of walking, Nezuko had arrived at a decent, unassuming house at the edge of the woods. It was in no way grand, like the butterfly estate, or cramped like their childhood home. Though, that crampedness most likely came from the fact they were eight of them residing there in total.
The fire was lit when she entered the house, making it very homey indeed. The night sky was very beautiful today. A cold breeze rushed in from the entrance to the backyard where she found her beloved sitting, staring at the stars.
She would allow herself the delusion that he was staring, enjoying the night sky with her. But as she sat down to lean her head on his shoulders, she was greeted with a slight jolt of surprise that meant he hadn’t realized she’d come home. Nezuko dulled the small pang of pain in her chest that meant he hadn’t gotten his senses back yet, a pang that used to be a mess of anguish when she had realized there was a chance he never would.
“You’re back” He huffed gently, his momentarily tensed shoulders now relaxed as she leaned in even further.
“Tanjiro gave us his blessing.” Nezuko hummed, to which the crickets chirped in agreement.
She was met with a silence from her lover, one that was uneasy and unlike the previous nights that they’ve spent together. The nights she spent as a volunteer in the Butterfly Estate, tending to his wounds and finding herself lost in his unseeing eyes. Back then she thought it was a shame that he’d never see her in her human state. Now she was glad for the tears so often stained her cheeks. It was not a good look, she was sure.
He spoke, softly but with a hint of tension,
“I don’t think I’m good for you.” And if his voice broke slightly, there were only the trees to witness.
“Hmm.” She brushed it off, they had had this conversation so many times already.
He insisted as he had in the past, but now, even more desperately,
“Nezuko, please. I’m blind and crippled and even now I tried my best yet couldn’t sense when you’d come home. You deserve—”
“I deserve you—”
“ —someone who’d be able to light the fire for you without struggling for what seemed to be hours to do such a simple thing.” He ended, voice rough with the hint of tears.
“I don’t mind the soot,” She replied softly.
When Nezuko was younger, she would’ve imagined herself marrying a boy from the village at the foot of the mountain, or maybe someone from the next town over. Now, however, she wouldn’t have any boy over the man sat beside her right now.
The tense silence between them stretched for what seemed like a few minutes, the sound of crickets filled the air.
“You are… so stubborn.” He sighed out fondly in defeat, the atmosphere losing its tense demeanour. She chuckled softly in response.
They sat in the easy silence that had graced them, the sky above grinning with mirth.
“The sky is beautiful tonight, my dear.” She started, as she told him of the rabbit she had seen at the marketplace earlier, its fur white as snow. The hints of spring in the ground as flower buds came to fruition, her brother’s expression when she had asked for his blessing, and the pure joy she had felt at his acceptance. The sounds her sandals had made against the stone pathway and the stark difference of the cold outside and the warmth of their home.
Of course they had had this conversation a hundred times in the past. It was hard to convince a man he deserved loving, but the essence of love is that it never came without any difficulty. Love was never easy.
*
They had no grand wedding ceremony.
Sanemi had downright refused the idea, fussing about ceremonies and smaller non-issues. It was going to be one of their largest fights to date until Nezuko saw the hints of tears in the corner of his eyes. People would never understand why a young, beautiful girl like her would willingly settle her life down to that of what is essentially a caretaker. There were snide comments everywhere, ones that she thought they’d have gotten through already. But a wound can reopen and it seems the thought of not seeing her in her wedding kimono, but rather only hearing the whispers as he stumbled through the ceremony or had to have his hands guided to the rings was utter torment for him. And she had understood, after a while.
So they got married in the backyard instead.
A tea party, Kanao would say to her children in the coming years. It could hardly have been called a ceremony, anyways.
There were only four people in attendance. Her brother, Kanao, Ubuyashiki, and the uncle from the foot of the mountain. It was a peaceful gathering, albeit a bit sad in numbers; showing the reality of life for the remaining demon slayers.
She had guided his hands to cup her cheeks as he asked meekly, “May I kiss you?” after the officiant had declared them husband and wife. There were flowers in her hair that he very delicately glided his hands upon after the kiss, asking her what color ayame they were. She wished, just for today, that he could see her.
He had remembered her favorite flower, a fact she had told him at the Butterfly Estate all those months ago. It was said as an afterthought, facts about herself she had droned on about so that he may go to sleep. She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before replying.
*
When she was 12, Nezuko prided herself on her onigiri-making skills as it was what the younger kids— especially Rokuta, she smiled fondly— loved eating the most. When she was 18, she learnt that this skill transferred onto ohagi-making too.
*
It had been two years since the battle, and there was no longer soot spread messily around the fireplace nor misplaced objects around the house.
*
It had been six years since the battle, and there was soot spread messily all over the place. Everything was misplaced now, plates in the bedroom or blankets in the backyard. One thing Shizu learnt never to leave around was her toys, for her father might accidentally step on them. The idea of her beloved toys possibly breaking was more than enough for her to cease her messiness and grow the habit to organize them immediately after playing.
She did not know why her fathers lavender eyes were blurred, or why he needed her mother whenever he left the estate. She assumed he was just that deeply in love with her.
*
When Nezuko went blind in her old age, it was Sanemi’s turn to care for her. He had been sightless for over half a century now, and knew their entire village— even the nearby city— like the back of his hand. He cleaned the estate and made their food as she struggled like he had in those early years, their roles now reversed and love stronger than ever. He had learnt to make onigiri, for it turned out it was not just young Rokuta’s favorite dish, but Nezuko’s too.