A cherished meeting.
Day 6 everyone!
Theme for the day is: Travel/Purple Butterflies (important meetings, healing)
Also, this got inspired by the new TanKana art from the artbook, it's beautiful and I went in a rant over it at the discord server, hehehe.
Anyway, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own KnY.
Tanjiro never thought much about traveling.
Before tragedy struck his home and he had no choice but to leave in order to find a cure for Nezuko, he thought he would live his life in his family's home and he would have been fine with that.
Now, while he wouldn't say he is like Inosuke who seems to be unable to sit still in one place most of the time, he must admit that he enjoys travelling.
In particular, he enjoys walking around towns after finishing a mission, without a demon to slay he can take his time and look around (at least until his crow informs him of a new mission and then urges him to go).
Right now he is in a town that had been influenced by Western culture, it wasn't Asakusa but the way people dressed as well as some of the stores around made it clear.
Japanese clothing was still more prominent, though.
'This is a nice town, it's a shame it's day time, I'm sure Nezuko would like to look around too.' His gaze moved to the box on his back for a moment. 'Maybe I could find an inn and stay the night… hmm?'
That thought went out the window when he caught a glance of a store from the corner of his eye, his feet stopping when he turned and looked fully at one of the items in display.
His red eyes widened when he saw a beautiful pink kimono, covered in different flower patterns, cherry blossoms, anemones, lilies of the valley and more.
Before he had even decided to buy it, his feet had moved him to the store.
"Welcome." A woman with a green kimono and a light brown obi and with her black hair tied in a bun greeted him with a smile. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Ah, yes, about that kimono with the flower patterns…"
"You have a good eye." She complimented. "It's one of our newest kimonos but… I mean no offense but I don't think a kid your age can afford it, it's quite expensive." The woman explained with a sincere tone. "I have some other kimonos that I could show you if you're interested."
"How… how much is that kimono?"
"Well…" She wrote a number down on a paper and passed it to him.
Tanjiro's eyes widened at the number.
"As I said, it's quite expensive." She repeated sadly.
"It is." The Kamado nodded, frowning in thought. "But… yes, I can afford it."
"…are you sure?"
"Yes! I really want to buy that one and I have enough saved up." He assured her.
"Very well." The woman nodded. "If you don't mind me asking… is it a gift for a girl?"
Tanjiro laughed sheepishly, a small blush dusting his cheeks.
"It is."
"She's a lucky one, just make sure you don't use your time looking for gifts instead of spending it with her." She chastised jokingly.
"I know, thank you." The Kamado smiled widely.
"I'll go wrap it up, please wait for a few minutes."
"Yes."
'I'm sorry Nezuko, I'll show you around town some other time, I have to go to the Butterfly Estate right now.'
When Tanjiro goes back to the corps' unofficial hospital, he usually takes his time walking there but, this time, he was running at full speed.
There were two reasons for this:
First, and most important, he wants to get this kimono to Kanao as soon as possible.
Second, he finished his previous mission without any injuries so he knows from experience that Matsuemon, his crow, could start cawing at him to go to a new one at any moment; he usually doesn't plan around this, since he does get a few days of rest between missions every now and then, but better safe than sorry.
'I'm here.' The red haired teen thought happily when he saw the Butterfly Estate.
He quickly knocked on the door and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
"Yes, who is it?" Aoi's voice asked from the other side.
"Tanjiro."
The door opened and revealed Aoi standing on the other side.
"Welcome Tanjiro-san, are you injured?" She asked, her eyes giving him a quick once-over.
"No, I just came to visit before my next mission; is Kanao here?"
"I think she is in the garden-"
"Thank you! I'll go see her and greet everyone after, please excuse me." With those words, he did a quick bow, before going around the house and to the garden.
Leaving a confused Aoi behind.
.
.
Tanjiro stepped on the garden of the Butterfly Estate and immediately caught sight of Kanao wearing the corps' uniform plus her white cape as usual; like the first time he came here, she was surrounded by butterflies, one of them gently posed on her finger and a smile on her face, although this one looked wider than the one from that time.
"Ah, Tanjiro." Her smile widened when she saw him, making his heart skip a beat.
She moved her hand so the butterfly would fly from it before walking to him.
"Hi, Kanao." He said after getting out of his stupor. "How are you?"
"I'm doing fine, what about you? Any injuries?" Like Aoi, her eyes seemed to scan him for any wounds as she asked that.
"No, I finished a mission and wanted to come visit." The red haired teen assured her. "Also… while I was in town I saw something-"
"Caw Caw Kamado Tanjiro, mission!" He was interrupted by his crow suddenly cawing. "Go, mission, mission!"
"Alright, please just give me a second and I'll go." Tanjiro answered before turning back to Kanao. "Like I was saying, I saw this while I was-"
"Caw Mission, now! Caw" Matsuemon repeated, flying down and starting to poke him on the forehead.
"…please excuse me for a moment, Kanao." He said with a completely serious expression.
"Caw Mi-caaaw?!" Tanjiro placed the box holding the kimono under his arm and grabbed Matsuemon with both hands before walking a few feet from Kanao.
"I will go to the mission in a moment, just let me give this to Kanao and say goodbye to her and I'll go; understood?" He said each word slowly while glaring at the crow.
Matsuemon started to sweat bullets before nodding meekly.
"Good." With that, he let him go and walked back to Kanao. "Sorry about that."
"It's alright, I know that missions can come up at any time." She assured him.
"Right, but before I go." He took the box on his hands and presented it to her. "I saw this in town and thought of you… I hope you like it."
Kanao stared at the box curiously as she took it from him and took off the top.
"Eh…?" Her eyes widened when she saw the contents. "This is…"
"I saw it on a store and an image of you wearing it entered my head." Tanjiro admitted with a blush. "Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful…" Kanao whispered, grabbing a sleeve of the kimono and taking it out of the box to look at the different flower patterns. "Thank you, Tanjiro, I love it!"
The Kamado's heart skipped another beat when he saw the wide smile on her face.
"You're welcome." He answered. "I'd really like to see how you look while wearing it… but I better go to the mission."
"Yeah…" Her smile died down a bit at his words but it was still incredibly wide. "Thank you again; be careful."
"I will." Tanjiro nodded before turning around and following his crow to the site of his next mission.
An entire week passed before Tanjiro finally had a break from missions and, to no one's surprise, he went to the Butterfly Estate.
He spent the previous night at a wisteria inn since it was still the middle of the night when he finished fighting and he was tired but he began his way back right after waking up and change.
"Ah, Tanjiro-san!" Naho greeted him happily.
"Hello, Naho-chan."
"Welcome, how did your mission go?"
"It went well, thank you." He said as she moved to the side to let him in. "How ab-"
"Tanjiro-san is here!" Naho suddenly yelled, catching the Kamado off-guard.
He heard someone come running and a second later, Sumi came into view.
"Welcome back!" She greeted happily.
"I'm back." Tanjiro answered by reflex, confused at the way they're acting.
"Sorry, please don't worry too much Tanjiro-san." He looked up and saw Aoi with a knowing smile. "Could you hand me Nezuko-san's box?"
"Eh, why?"
"It's a surprise!" The caterpillars said at the same time.
"I'll go help Sumi."
"I'll go after taking Tanjiro-san to the room." Kiyo and Naho said to each other in turn before the former ran off and the latter took his arm and lead him. "Follow me, please."
"…alright." Tanjiro smiled, handing Nezuko to Aoi.
He knows that they wouldn't plan anything bad and after seeing their eager smiles, it was hard to say no.
.
.
"Please wait here, we'll hurry." That's what Naho had told him after bringing him to a room in the Butterfly Estate before running off.
It didn't look like it was special, just a simple tatami room, the kind people could have lunch or dinner at, with a table large enough for 2 people, maybe 3 if they squeezed, with some snacks and tea on top of it.
'I wonder what this surprise is.' He thought with a mix of curiosity and anticipation as he sat at the table to wait.
Around 20 minutes later, his nose picked up something.
'Hm, this scent… Kanao? It's her scent but… it's as if there is something more to it too…'
Knock Knock
There was a knock on the door before he could think on it further.
"Tanjiro, are you there? Can I come in?" That was Kanao's voice from the other side.
"Yes, come on in." He confirmed. 'Strange, why did she ask before…' Whatever thought he had, it died when Kanao entered the room.
She was wearing the kimono he had gotten her last week but, as sure as he was that it would suit her, his imagination did NOT do her justice.
At all.
She looked so perfect on that kimono that if someone had told him that it was specially made for her, he would have believed them.
The different flower patterns seemed to represent an aspect of her that he has gotten to know.
The cherry blossoms with the kindness he has seen her show, be it with something simple like helping out at the Butterfly Estate, a gesture like buying the caterpillars candy with her money or making sure he is okay every time he comes back.
The anemone with how she was always honest; she may have some trouble speaking her mind at times still but Tanjiro has yet to hear her tell a lie.
Then the lily of the valley… if someone asked the Kamado to describe her with a single flower, then he would immediately pick that one; everything about her, from her smile, to her gaze, to her scent, everything could be described as 'sweet' just as the lily of the valley represents.
A purple obi was wrapped around the kimono to make sure it didn't fall, the color matching her eyes.
And last, but certainly not least, her long black hair, while it was stylized in her usual side-ponytail, it was held by a purple and white butterfly ornament as opposed to the usual pink and green one.
"Kanao, you…" Tanjiro trailed off, his mind still trying to understand how someone could look so beautiful.
"Y-you said last time… that you really wanted to see how I look with it." Kanao said softly, a blush on her cheeks and her lips curved in a shy smile as she fidgeted under Tanjiro's unblinking gaze. "So… what do you think?"
"I… just…" Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down and answer her. "You look stunning, Kanao; even more beautiful than I imagined."
Her entire face turned red at the compliment and she looked to the ground while rubbing her hands together in front of her but he could tell, both by the giggle he had heard and by the scent he was giving, that she was overjoyed at hearing that.
"Thank you, everyone helped me prepare." She said as she walked and sat at the opposite side of the table, her face still showing a blush but glancing upwards at the Kamado.
"I'll have to thank them later, then… how did you know I was coming, though? I'm sure it would have taken more time than how long I waited after Naho brought me here to prepare." Even as he said that, his mind was preoccupied with saving this image to his memory.
"Shinobu-nee-san asked to be informed if you are coming back to the Butterfly Estate and she told me." Kanao began to explain. "Aoi helped me prepare the snacks and tea here." She looked at table where said items were. "Then Sumi stayed with me and helped with my hair and putting on my kimono, I heard Naho say you came back, Kiyo confirmed it when she came to the room and began to help as well; I think you can guess the rest."
"Yeah, I can imagine." Tanjiro chuckled. "Wait, then you made these?"
"Y-yes; Aoi supervised me but I made these myself."
'She really went through all that trouble for me.' The Kamado's heart skipped a beat at that thought.
Tanjiro moved his right hand over the table and gently held her left.
"Thank you, Kanao, I'm touched." He said sincerely.
"You're welcome." She smiled at him. "You gave me a wonderful gift so… I thought this is the least I could do."
"I think you went above and beyond, just wearing the kimono would have been 'the least you could do'." Tanjiro said with a grin. "But thank you, truly, it means a lot that you went this far."
"…you misunderstand." Kanao whispered.
"Hm?"
"The kimono really is beautiful, and I love it, but… that's not the gift I was talking about." Using her free hand, she took out her coin, showing it in front of the Kamado's confused gaze. "Ever since I met you… I was finally able to stop relying solely on this coin; I still use it… sometimes but… I am actually listening to the voice of my heart, even if I need help to hear it; there are times I flip my coin but the result bothers me… I would have never listened to that part of me if you didn't make me aware it existed."
A few tears formed in the corner of her eyes but her smile was the brightest he had ever seen as she locked gazes with him and said the next words.
"Tanjiro, thank you so much for coming into my life, meeting you is one of the best gifts I've ever received."
"Kanao…"
The Kamado was speechless, after hearing such an honest declaration, he couldn't think of any words that could convey what he felt at that moment.
However, while words eluded him, he had already found a way to answer her.
Very slowly, he leaned forward on the table, his right hand still gently holding hers while using the left for support.
He stopped just short of kissing her, his red eyes half-closed as he stared into her purple orbs.
Kanao closed her eyes and slowly puckered her lips.
Tanjiro didn't keep her waiting.
He softly pressed his lips on hers, touching them gently, moving them a bit in a slow movement that she matched as they lost themselves in the moment.
A minute later they separated, barely, they still remained close enough that they could feel the other's breath.
"I couldn't think of any words… I hope that was a good answer." Tanjiro said softly, leaning his forehead against hers.
"It was perfect." She brought a hand to his cheek, gently stroking it and making him lean into her touch.
"Matsuemon said I have at least today off." The Kamado began. "Let's spend a long time together today, yes?"
Kanao agreed immediately.
Ok… I don't know if you'll believe me but I actually got a bit emotional while writing this one.
It's just… I love Tanjiro and Kanao, I really, truly, love them.
A quick note: the kimono Kanao was wearing is inspired by the new illustration from the fanbook; I admit I took a few liberties with it, though.
Thank you for reading, I hope you liked the story.
