Tanjiro blinked.

And blinked again.

With the sun coming up, he could see a face that was similar to his, down to the scar on his forehead. Their scar same over their left eye, making the red liner around their eyes more pronounced. A single red stripe on the center of their bottom lip made them look like they could be related to a geisha who was waiting for their samurai to return home; like the stories his mother told him about when they were younger.

"Seriously, he's right! How is there more than one Tanjiro?!" Zenitsu screeched, closing the lid to Nezuko's box so the sunlight wouldn't touch her. "Who is he, your long lost brother?!"

"I know it's been a long time, so I understand if you wouldn't remembe r."

.-o-.

"You're sure about this?" My brother asked, looking at me with worry. "We just celebrated your tenth birthday, and now we're expecting a child soon-"

"Which is why I decided to travel. You two need your space, especially with a child. I promise you that I will write at least three times a week, and visit whenever I can. I plan on being the best uncle in the world, after all!"

"Dear, you worry too much." My sister-in-law put a hand on his shoulder while her other was resting on her pregnant belly. "We both know that he'll do as he's saying."

"Brother, I know you're just worried, but I know good things will come with this." I gave them both a hug, squeezing them as hard as I could. "I'll come back and see my niece or nephew soon!"

.-o-.

"How have you gotten so big already?" I exclaimed, throwing a giggling child into the air. "I wasn't gone too long, you must have grown overnight!"

"No, I didn't grow over night! You're being silly, oji-san!" They answered, putting their arms around my neck.

I gasped, holding a hand over my mouth. "How could you say that? There's no way that I'm silly!"

"But you're just acting so silly! You're acting like ka-san when tou-san teases her!"

"I'm not like ka-san and tou-san at all! They're so gross!" I tickled the child, laughed as a surprised screech came from them.

"You two are pretty wild tonight, you might wake the baby up." Kie-onee-san commented, holding a newborn in her arms while another one of her children lay by her side.

Hearing a gasp, I turned my attention back to the child in my arms. "Oji-san, you came back in time for New Year's! You get to watch tou-san dance!"

"I don't want to watch him dance, I'm going to dance with him, Tanjiro! Now you're saying silly things!"

.-o-.

"Have you been taking the medicine I've been sending to you, onii-san?" I asked, sitting on the veranda as the children played outside. Even though it was summer, it wasn't as warm as it was in the town beneath the mountain.

"I have, Kie has been making sure of it." He responded with a soft smile. "With our fourth child on the way, I've been taking it at breakfast and dinner. Tanjiro has been by my side whenever I say I'm going to the village to sell charcoal, so I think that his mother has been telling him to stick close by the promise of rice cakes."

I laughed. "I would believe that, I would do the same if she promised me her homemade rice cakes." Sitting in silence for a moment, enjoying the sight of Tanjiro and Nezuko playing gently with their younger sibling. "I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of things, but I can't really complain about it; since I was the one to leave in the first place."

"The children do comment on that once in a while, wondering why you're not home that often."

"This really isn't my home, this is your home for your wife and kids."

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, looking over to see my brother smiling at me. "This will always be your home as much as our family's home. No matter how long you're gone."

.-o-.

It had been a long day for everyone.

While the children were allowed to see their father in his final days, Kie-onee-san didn't want them to see him as he passed. It ended up being me and Kie-onee-san who were with him when he went to sleep for the last time. The older children understood what was happening with their father, but Rokuta didn't know why he couldn't find his dad.

Onii-san passed away not too far away from New Years, so I stayed longer than I usually did. Tanjiro danced with me that year, only lasting about two hours until the morning came. After that year, I came home more often. While Tanjiro took up a lot of work by selling charcoal, Nezuko helped Kei-onee-san with taking care of the younger ones. There were days when our loss would catch up to us, but I tried my best to not cry in front of my family. Kie-onee-san would always keep an eye out for my mental health; making sure that if I needed to cry; it was in her arms and when the kids went to bed for the night.

"I know that he wouldn't want me to cry over him, but it just hurts. He was my last blood relative left, he raised me, Kie-onee-san." I quietly said, tears freely falling down my cheeks while she held me like she would a child.

"We're all allowed to cry right now, you lost your brother, I lost my husband, and the children lost their father." She reasoned, pausing her humming for the reassurance. "We'll get through this."

.-o-.

I stood alone in the house, spending days cleaning it top to bottom. The blood on the floors and walls seemed to just have started to turn dark like coal, meaning that it hadn't been there for more than a few days.

I hated myself.

I hated myself because I couldn't protect my family, the family that my brother left behind for me to watch over.

I hated myself because I was too late, when I shouldn't have been.

Getting down on my knees, I held a match to a fresh stick on incense; making sure that it was lit before blowing out the flame. A silent prayer was given to my family while I stared at the smoke floating off of the shortening incense stick.

It was weird, not hearing excited voices and the pitter patter of footsteps echoing through the house. The only sounds were the winds outside and the house settling because of it, my sniffles sounding like nothing compared to the weather.

'I need to keep going.' I told myself, pushing myself up from the floor so I could leave. Putting something something into my bag, I turned to walk out the door.

.-o-.

"I tried my best to make sure you wouldn't have to be a demon slayer, that you could live a long life with your siblings, and I would someday be able to watch you all until I grew old and ugly-" I stopped, sharply inhaling in the middle of my rambling. Feeling the stress starting to settle and reality setting in, my chest felt tight. "I didn't want to know what would happen, I just wanted to-"

Tanjiro threw his arms around me, his heavy limbs pulling us to the ground as he started to cry. I soon joined him, the ugly sounds of sobbing from the two of us bouncing off of the nearby trees. For some reason, Zenitsu and Inosuke were crying with us, most likely because Tanjiro set them off. The others just let us sit there and cry, seeing as we hadn't seen each other for more than three years now. For some reason, it wasn't me who was consoling my nephew; it was the other way around. I was supposed to be the adult, the person who was supposed to take care of the ones younger than me, but it was Tanjiro who was patting my back as I cried.

By now, Kakushi had arrived to assess our wounds and escort us back to the Butterfly Manor to recuperate once more. When they tried to take a now sleeping Tanjiro from me, I shook my head; telling them I would be the one to carry him back. After putting him on my back and getting Nezuko's box settled on my front, we started our journey back.

I sniffed, combing my hair out of my face. My eyes were red and puffy from the crying and my voice was hoarse. Since we got back, everyone was resting while I cried and yelled into my pillow. Maybe it was seeing Tanjiro recognize me again, seeing his eyes widen with wonder and hope, made me remember how I had failed to keep Kie-onee-san and his siblings safe. I thought I had the time and mental strength to prepare for the day that we could talk with no kitsune mask in between us.

A knock on my door broke me from my thoughts, making me push myself up from the bed to answer.

"Well, the boys are awake and asking for you. Rengoku-san is especially excited to see you." Shinobu teased, a grin on her face. "In fact, I think he mentioned wanting to talk to you alone before you see the others."

"I'm assuming that he's either in the infirmary or a different room?"

"A different room, he actually asked me to request you meet him in the garden."

I smiled. "Thank you, Shinobu, I appreciate it." After she had left, I gathered my nerves and made my way towards the said garden she mentioned. We didn't have time to talk on the way back to the Butterfly Manor, the Kakushi very insistent that they rush him to the mansion for his injuries. Zenitsu and Inosuke tried to ask me questions, but they soon fell asleep from all the energy they used on the mission.

The walk to the garden wasn't as long as I wished it was, the warmth of the sun soon on my pale face. As the short girl told me earlier, Kyojuro was indeed waiting for me, sitting on the veranda. Staying aware of his loss of an eye, I carefully sat down on his right side. We sat in silence for a while, basking in the sun and listening to the sounds of nature around us.

"I can basically hear all the questions in your head right now." I quietly commented, knowing that I sounded nervous. "If you're angry with me for keeping this from you, I'm-"

"You lied, you know." He interrupted me, his voice unusually soft.

"I-I know-"

He suddenly turned his head to face me, a smile on his face. "You said that you were so ugly, you would make a man sick, and yet here I am; healthy as a horse! In fact, you might be so beautiful, you could heal my injuries!"

I was speechless, staring at him with my mouth slightly open. It took a few seconds to finally register what he had said before I could feel my face and ears flush a bright pink. Covering my mouth, I looked at at the green grass in front of us while I tried to calm my fluttering heart.

"After seeing the young Kamado's reaction, I can only assume you know each other?"

So I had explained everything, starting from the time I decided to become a Demon Slayer. Kyojuro was patient and quiet while listening to my ramblings, so I did my best to try and stay on topic. Once in a while, he would comment on things, saying how some things I said and did in the past now made sense to him. His father had obviously known some of these things, but there were a few details that I had decided to exclude.

He hummed, mulling over my words. "So instead of Naoto, your name is Taishiro... And you did everything to try and help you family, even creating a new breathing style."

"Yes, that's correct."

"Well, I like the name Taishiro! While Naoto fitted the masked friend I know, your original name suits you very well! Getting to see your reactions while talking to you has been well worth the wait."

Putting my hands on either side of my face, I tried to hide my red cheeks. "You just like to tease me and be able to see how it affects me, you little sneak!" Hearing his booming laughter, I couldn't help but to smile.

"As much as I enjoyed our conversation, I know that those three boys are eager to see you." Kyojuro said with a smile. "Why don't we go visit them in the infirmary?"

"I hope you're not trying to get me to help you there, I know how injured you ended up!" Helping him up from our spot, I held onto his arm as we walked. His room was just a few doors down from the infirmary that the boys were in, so walking him back was something I didn't mind doing. We still talked, Kyojuro commenting on little things he remembered when we were young and how he thought my accomplishments made realize how much more he needed to do to catch up to me.

As we got closer to the infirmary, I could feel myself getting nervous again. Since everyone was still healing, I hadn't had the time to visit, let alone talk to Tanjiro. Just like the first time I had met the trio, I could already hear Zenitsu screaming about medicine again while Tanjiro tried to calm him down and the boar child was yelling about getting stronger.

"You don't need to be nervous." The man by my side reassured me, making me wonder how he thought I was nervous. "You're rubbing your fingers together, you've done that since we were young. The young Kamado is a very gentle child, so you don't need to worry."

"O-oh." I could only say, clenching my hands. "I guess you're right.. So let's just get this over with." Opening the door, all eyes turned to us.

Tanjiro's eyes immediately lit up. "Taishiro-oji-san! And Rengoku-san!" I couldn't help but to smile, his reaction reminding me of the many times I had come home after being gone for a while. From what I heard from Shinobu, he was meant to not leave bed for a while. The breathing style that he had used really strained his muscles, so if he was out of bed, he needed to be gently forced back into bedrest.

"I'm relieved to see that you haven't forgotten my face." I sighed, noticing Nezuko's box not too far from Tanjiro's bed. "Would it be alright if I pulled the curtains closed so she could come out too?"

With the help of Aoi, the infirmary closed off from the sun outside. I gently knocked on the door, admiring how well made it was. Popping her head out of the box, Nezuko immediately made eye contact with me and hurriedly crawled into my arms with an excited hum. Putting her hands on my cheeks, she continued to hum as she carefully looked over my face.

I chuckled to myself, happy to see her concern. "You already knew it was me before, huh? And you're fussing over me like Kie-onee-san would when I came home." With no warning, my face was pulled to hers as she gave me a headbutt.

"N-Nezuko!" Tanjiro put his hands out, as if he could try and stop what happened from his bed.

Despite the pain forming behind my eyes, I laughed. "I guess I deserved that, didn't I? Again, just like Kie-onee-san." I hugged Nezuko tightly. "I know I've already cried a bunch, but I feel like I'm about to start all over again."

"Taishiro-oji-san.." Tanjiro began, the cheery tone from before turning solemn. "Where were you? I know you had tried to explain things during our last mission, but..."

"I'm assuming that you not only mean these last few years, but the years before that as well."

I sighed heavily, trying to decide on how to word this. "This.. started not too long before you were born, if I'm being honest. I went out of my way to find the Flame Hashira at the time-" I glanced to my left. "-which was Kyojuro's father. He took me in and taught me how to be a swordsman, until I decided to leave to learn more on my own. Of course, I tried to visit as much as I could, but as you know; being a demon slayer is very time consuming. That's why I wasn't around as much as I wanted to be."

"Like I said before, I became a Demon Slayer to see to that you didn't have to become one yourself, but I failed to stop that." My shoulders drooped, remembering the house I came home to after what happened. At that point in time, I had a horrible nightmare just a week before it happened, and even with the little notice and far distance; I still rushed to the house that my brother raised us in.

"When I got home, I saw what was left.. I could almost hear the echoes of what happened. I tried my best to clean as well as I could; I still go to light incense whenever I have a moment to spare." Combing Nezuko's hair out of her face, I smiled as she nuzzled into my side as she did when she was little. "I took onii-san's haori.. I know that it wasn't my place, but-"

"Tou-san wanted you to have it." Tanjiro said, surprising me. "Before he passed, he asked me to make sure that you got it, I was going to sneak it inside when your bag when you weren't looking, but I never got to do because your bag wouldn't leave your side."

I huffed, not surprised with this revelation. "That haori belonged to our father before it was passed on to Tanjuro-onii-san. He told me that it had been passed down to every generation since we started selling charcoal. Once our father passed, it was going to go to you, since you were his first son."

"I'm glad that you got it in the end." Tanjiro smiled, his eyes softening before he turned his attention to Kyojuro. "Rengoku-san, were you going to go home soon?"

Kyojuro hummed. "Yes, I've been cleared to return whenever I choose, since I'll be taken off duty for a while. You're welcome to come along, we can look for those records that I mentioned on the Mugen train."

Knowing what records he was talking about, I put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll come with you then, I have a faint recollection on where I put those records shortly before leaving."

bing bong i'm alive