"Kirika, I'm back…" My eyes flew open from his voice. I was overwhelmed by fear that I would never see his face ever again.
"Giyu!" I rose up quickly and threw my arms around his neck. My heart was beating so much, as I held him close to me. Our child was going to have a father, and I wasn't going to raise our child alone. "I'm so glad you're back," I pulled back to see his beautiful face. "I missed you so much!" I pecked his lips until my hand felt something wrong with his body. "Where's… your other arm?!" Giyu only had one arm, what happened to him?
"Kirika, calm down you're stressing yourself out." His voice was delicate as he spoke to me, staring into my eyes as his only hand was caressing my face.
"How can I not be stressed? You lost an arm in battle! But that's better than losing your life, but still, you lost an arm!"
"Just because I lost an arm doesn't mean I'm not able to do most things," Giyu leaned over and kissed my lips. "I kept my promise, and now I'm going to make your wish come true and take you as my wife, Kirika Tomioka. We're going to live happily because it's over. Our child's generation won't have to live in fear of surviving because of demons. I love you,"
"I love you too," I kissed him again before putting my head in the crook of his neck. "Tell me what happened." I pulled my head back to stare at his face. "Your eyes show that there've been countless deaths you've seen because of this fight."
We cuddled together in bed, as he opened his feelings, recalling what events took place. My heart broke, hearing that so many pillars had lost their lives to stopping the demon, Muzan. I held him tight, letting him sob out any sadness lingering in his heart. "There, there… They sacrificed their lives so everyone else can be saved, so no more innocent victims are targeted again." I couldn't believe that Shinobu was gone. I never thought that she would leave the world so quickly, but that was a job of a pillar and nobody will ever forget her deeds as the insect pillar.
After a while of holding Giyu, I heard commotion outside my room I slept in. Glancing down, I saw that Giyu fell asleep, so I got up to see what was happening. I breathed out slowly, holding my rounded stomach and slid the door open, "Oh my! It's been so long since I've seen you two!" It was Zenitsu and Inosuke. "Are you two okay? I'm so glad that you're not critically injured."
"It's Kirika, and she's pregnant!" Zenitsu cried out loud in the hallway.
"I'm fine," Inosuke simply answered, and it made me smile to see them well.
Aoi popped out of nowhere with her hands on her hips and an angry expression was shown on her face. "Why are you two still walking instead of resting?! Go rest you two!" The two males scurried away, so they wouldn't have to face Aoi's wrath.
The Aoi stormed off to see if the two boys actually went to rest or not.
Walking down the semi-busy hall, I bumped into someone familiar. I've seen her face before, she was the demon girl inside Tanjiro's box. "You're Nezuko! The last time I was with you was when you saved me from that demon lady who wanted to kill me!" She didn't have the mouth guard and she looked healthier than before. Her appearance changed from the last time I saw her, and from my intel of Giyu, she was human again.
When Nezuko started talking to me, she was so cute. "Oh my, how adorable you are!" I couldn't help but show my excitement to her. It made me hope that my baby was a girl.
"Kirika, we should head out now. I want you to get yourself settled at my place." Giyu said, as I turned around to see him fully awake.
"Don't you think we should stay another night? Just for your sake? I don't know how long it's been since you've been back, but let's stay one more night so you're fully rested." I wobbled my way to him and held his hand. "And besides, I want to see everyone too!"
Giyu held my waist as we both walked down to check up on Tanjiro. "You know I can walk on my own right? I don't really need your help." I chuckled, adoring how doting he was to me. It wasn't like I had trouble walking, my back ached from my huge stomach and with my pregnant stomach, my legs were spread widely because of it.
"I know you can walk on your own, but I want to be by your side since I wasn't."
Once we got to the room that the trio resided in, Tanjiro was peacefully sleeping. He had bandages wrapped around one of his eyes and both of his arms. Giyu assured me that he was going to be fine, and the daylight turned into nighttime.
"Sorry, Aoi. We're all relying on you to cook for us." I sincerely apologized as she presented us the food she cooked for everyone. Aoi was a hardworking young lady who never asked for help, but I felt really bad that half of the males were injured and I was pregnant.
"It's not that hard to cook, don't worry too much! I'm just as happy as you are that at least half the brave warriors who sacrificed their lives are here to eat." Aoi's content smile brought happiness to everyone at the table. It was a sprinkle of joy that we all consumed.
The next day later, Giyu and I parted ways with the others in the Butterfly Estate.
"Don't cry, Kirika. We'll visit them again, once they've fully recovered." Giyu wiped away running tears from my eyes. It a lot has happened in the course of two days for me. This wasn't normal at all: seeing familiar faces, many people were injured, Giyu lost his right arm, and so many more.
"Yeah I know," I sighed, staring down at my belly. "Our little bean is going to be coming out in two months. I hope we're both prepared for parenthood and we have to name our child too! When we're in your house, let's think of names for both genders."
"Yes, and I have to find a midwife to help you give birth too," Giyu planted a kiss on my forehead as we walked on the dirt ground to where I will live with him for the rest of my life.
"Let's have a big family, like six children in total!" I knew my upcoming pregnancies were going to be hard with multiple kids running around the house but I didn't care. I wanted the house to be loud and loved by our kids, and what I really wanted Giyu to experience was true happiness… After all, he hasn't gotten that until he found me and he was going to get more. "My job as your wife-to-be is to make sure that you're the happiest man with a big, loving family."
"We'll see about six children, Kirika. And my job as your husband-to-be is to protect you with my body and soul, and make sure that your eyes will never shed a tear again. You will be the proudest woman to marry a man like me. I love you," Giyu was so soft and loving, it squeezed my heart because it's been so long.
I stopped us from walking and I moved in front of my lover. "I am a proud woman to marry a man like you, I've always been. Our kids will also see the same in you. They will listen to their dad's story of slaying demons and marrying the love of his life." We stared at each other, letting this beautiful silence takeover as white petals started flying around us from the course wind. "I love you too, and it'll never stop!" Giyu bent down to passionately kiss my soft lips.
Two months later after officially marrying,
Sweat was drenching my face as the process was ongoing. "GIYU! HOLD MY HAND! THE BEDSHEETS AREN'T EASING MY PAIN!" I yelled in agony, squeezing his hand tightly. Our child was arriving right now with the help of a midwife. My womanhood was on fire from delivering my baby. "I don't know if I want to have five more children with this much pain!" I cried out streaming tears.
"Keep breathing! Push!" I followed the instructions from the midwife.
Just when Giyu started to talk, I knew he was going to pissed me off. "Do the breath of water technique that you've been learning—"
"STOP PLAYING WITH ME! AGHHHH!" There was a demon raging out of me because of labor. I kept pushing and squeezing Giyu's hand until he had to squeeze back to prevent his hand from breaking.
"I see the head! The baby is almost there!" When the midwife said that, it was a sigh of relief. I knew after the excruciating pain of childbirth, I will be able to hold my baby in my arms. "Push! Push! Push!" Then a cry rang in the air.
"Our child is finally here!" I released Giyu's hand and let him get the water and cloth to wipe our baby. His footsteps were frantic and it was the second or third time that I possibly saw him like that.
"It's a girl, Lady Tomioka!"
Hearing the gender of our baby, I dropped my knees down after all, my joints ached from propping it up for a long period of time. My chest felt light knowing that labor was done and I got to see my baby girl after nine months. Once the midwife was done cleaning our girl, she handed me my tiny bundle of joy.
Our daughter was still crying after being bundled up. "She's so tiny!" I started to cry from how precious our baby girl was. She was so beautiful and small. "Look how small her nose is! It's so cute! She has a lot of hair for a newborn." Her hair color was black. I wondered if she would have my green eyes or his blue eyes? "I can't believe we brought her into this world!" Her wails had stopped after hearing my voice.
"She's going to grow up to be as beautiful as you, dear." Giyu's face was warm and gentle. It was an amazing expression to see on his face. I loved seeing him at peace, it made my chest swell in warmth. "Asami…. That's her name, Asami."
"Asami will fit our little girl just right," I smiled tiredly at him. "I won't be able to move for the next few days, sorry for making you do most of the work."
One month later,
"Where are you going, Giyu?" I looked over at him heading out of the house while I rocked our little girl in my arms.
"I'm going to meet the Ubuyashiki family."
"Dear, you're not going without me." I got up and gathered my things for Asami, in case our little girl needed anything from us. "After you pay them a visit, we should see Tanjiro and the others. Show off your new haircut," I ruffled his hair, and we both walked out together.
"She has your eyes, dear. Asami is going to be so beautiful once she comes of age. All of our kids that we have will be beautiful!" I kissed my baby's forehead.
"Maybe be in a year or two we'll have another child,"
"You can say that you're jealous because I haven't been giving you much attention after Asami came into the world," I teased him, recalling his pouty face when he saw me showering love and affection to Asami than him.
"When she's asleep, you're going to show me the same affection too."
I waited in another room for Giyu to be done with the meeting. Asami was awake, making cooing noises as she stared at me with her innocent blue eyes. Asami was strapped to my chest. "Hi, my little bean!" I lightly swung my body side to side. "Once daddy is out from his meeting, you get to meet other family members!" A big smile appeared on my face. My little bean made me so happy to wake up every morning to see her awake and smiling.
"Okay, dear, we can go to the Butterfly Estate now." I saw Giyu and Sanemi walk out together.
"Hi Sanemi, are you also coming with?" I asked, moving next to Giyu.
"Yeah I was. I see that you both have a child now," Sanemi stared at Asami strapped to my chest.
"Yes we do! Her name is Asami and she's one month old. I'll show her to you and the others once we get to the estate,"
Arriving at the estate, Urokodaki was waiting for us. "Let me see my granddaughter," Giyu helped me unstrap her as he untied the cloth and I held onto Asami.
"This is the first time that she'll meet her grandpa," I handed Asami to Urokodaki, and she wasn't fussing about strangers holding her. Asami was such a good girl from not crying, she tried to grab Urokodaki's mask.
"Grandpa?" Giyu looked over to me in confusion.
"Of course! Urokodaki took you in, he's like a father figure so he's going to be Asami and our future kids' grandpa." I hooked my arm around his body and pulled him in.
Holding Asami in my arms again, we walked inside the estate and immediately encountered the two kiddos: Tanjiro and Nezuko. They were so excited to see us, as they ran over to hug us.
"You cut your hair!" That was the first thing Tanjiro noticed, and Nezuko was hugging Urokodaki.
"He cut his hair because his baby Asami kept on pulling it!" I laughed, remembering the times where he told me to help pull out his hair out of Asami's viper grip. "Giyu's more handsome now," He was very attractive with short hair. I'm glad that he didn't cut his hair short before we met, or else we wouldn't be together.
"THE BABY!" Both siblings looked over at me, seeing that I had a small baby in my arms. Their eyes were doll-like as they saw Asami awake in my arms.
"She's so adorable!" Tanjiro and Nezuko were huddling around Asami. They were in love with her by the looks of their soft expressions.
Then somehow I met Tengen's three wives: Hinatsuru, Suma, and Makio.
"Oh my gosh, you're Giyu's wife! And that's their daughter that Tengen was talking about to us!" Suma came over to look at Asami. "Wow, she's so beautiful! Tengen, can we have children too?" Suma looked over at her husband with puppy eyes.
"Maybe later, but not now." Tengen made his way over to see the child he's heard of from a letter. "Hmm… Cute baby. Giyu is a lucky man to have a beautiful wife and child," he said laughing with his chest out.
I still remembered when Tengen joked about making me his fourth wife.
Giyu and I stayed at the estate for a few hours. Everyone was in one room as it was very lively. Asami was laying on blankets, looking at new faces she had never seen before. She was nonetheless smiling and cooing from the attention she's receiving.
My right hand ran through Giyu's short hair as he rested his head on my lap. "I never thought that fate would bring us together. We have a beautiful family, and we're going to have more in the future." I pinched his cheek lightly, grinning about our bright future we had without demons.
"Neither have I, but I'm glad that we did encounter that day. I should be glad that you never settled down for the men that wanted to wed you." He gently grabbed a hold of my wrist to kiss the back of my hand.
Then something funny popped inside my head, as I knew it would make everyone laugh til their stomach hurts. "Do you guys wanna hear something funny that Giyu told me to do while I was giving birth?" Everyone was laughing from what I told them, and the atmosphere in the room was warm and loving. Seeing people happy without worrying about demons was a life that everyone wanted, and it came true with a heavy cost that no one will ever forget.