Time moved quickly after that. The year after Tanjiro was born, Kie became pregnant for the second time. A few months later a baby girl named Nezuko came into the world. Ume was happy to have a little Sister. Over the next few years in succession came another younger Brother named Takeo and a third little Sister named Hanako. Around the time their Mother was pregnant with Hanako the older children noticed a change in their Father. He went from strong and healthy man, to starting to become tired more often. His appetite faded and he began to lose weight. Gyutaro and Ume were very worried about the man. He was so kind and loving towards them, despite the fact that they weren't blood related. He had saved them and brought them into his family. Gyutaro had heard Ume crying a lot when everyone was out of the house. The year after Hanako was born, their Mother gave birth to a baby boy named Shigeru.

5 years later, Kie was pregnant again. Tanjuro was happy about it, as usual, but something seemed- off. He had been getting sicker and sicker over the years. And now he was so skinny and frail. The man began spending more time with Tanjuro, teaching him the family's Traditional Dance. It was performed during New Years. Gyutaro still remembered the first time he'd watched the Dance be performed.

(Flashback) It had only been a few Months since Tanjiro had been born. Tanjuro led the way through the trees, carrying bundles of unlit torches and dressed in fiery robes. "Dear, where are we going?" Kie asked, confused. "My family has a Traditional Dance that gets performed on New Years. We dance from Sundown to Sunrise. Now it's time for it" Tanjuro explained. 'A dance?' Ume wondered what it would be like. Tanjuro set up the torches as Kie lit them. Once everything was ready, the man picked up a branch tied with bells. He took a deep breath- then started dancing. Everyone watching was utterly enthralled. The dance was unlike anything the two older Siblings had ever seen before. Time slipped away, as did the sensation of the cold night air.

Gyutaro and Ume sat and watched their Father dance for hours. "How does he do that?" the little girl asked. "Tanjuro uses a special Breathing Technique to help him keep dancing in the snow. One day I hope he will teach this dance to you Gyutaro" Kie explained. Watching Tanjuro dance, the green-haired boy couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that welled up within him. Because even now, at only ten-years-old and without even having tried to perform the dance, he could tell that he wouldn't be able to do it. Something just felt off about it, like it wasn't meant for his body. But the boy said nothing and continued to watch the traditional dance. (End flashback)

Gyutaro was snapped out of his thoughts when Shigeru ran up to him, "hey Big Brother! You said you'd play with me today!" he called excitedly. The green-haired teen smiled down at his little brother, "That's right, I did. What do you want to play Shigeru?" he asked kindly. The biggest change had come from Gyutaro himself. The 19-year-old no longer thought of himself as ugly. His parent's acceptance of his appearance, as well as everyone else not caring what he looked like had fully erased his feelings of self-loathing. The child with the crew-cut beamed, "let's play Tag!" he cheered. Gyutaro smiled softly, "sure, let's play" he replied.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

Tanjiro walked back home after chopping some more firewood. With their Father's current condition, it was important to keep him warm. Mom too. She was due to give birth any day now. The excitement of getting a new baby brother or sister was hampered by Tanjuro's worsening state. Kie tried to keep everyone's spirits up, especially for herself. After five Pregnancies, she knew how emotional states like depression and anxiety could affect her body and the baby. They would have enough to mourn soon, the stillbirth of their youngest Sibling shouldn't be one of them. And that was only if she came out the other side alright. One early morning, Kie went into labour. Despite his current health problems, Tanjuro helped her through the birth, just like he had every other time.

And as the first rays of the sun pierced the clouds, the wail of a baby could be heard through the house. Everyone, even Hanako and Shigeru, who had nearly fallen asleep by then, gasped and sat up quickly. Gyutaro, Ume, Tanjiro and Nezuko, being the four Eldest went to check on their Parents first. "Father, Mom? Is everything okay?" Tanjiro asked, peeking inside the bedroom. Their Parents looked absolutely exhausted, but they still smiled warmly at them, "everything is fine Tanjiro. All of you, come meet your baby Brother Rokuta" he said The 7 children entered the room quietly, looking in awe at the little black-haired baby in their Mother's arms. Gyutaro smiled softly, "you know, this reminds me of the day you were born Tanjiro. You were such a cute baby, just like Rokuta is.

I felt the same way about you that I did about Ume. You were our baby Brother, and I swore that I'd protect both of you no matter what" the green-haired teenager said, stroking little Rokuta's cheek with a finger.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

Over the next two years, Tanjuro's health continued to deteriorate, to the point where Gyutaro had to start delivering the Charcoal himself at the age of 20. He would have started doing so sooner, but he was always dissuaded with reasons like: "don't you want to spend more time with your Siblings?", "I need you to stay home and look after everyone Gyutaro" and: "can you help your Mother today?" But now, finally, Tanjuro had to admit defeat. He could barely stand anymore, let alone travel up and down the mountain. So the oldest of the Kamado Siblings started working to make and sell Charcoal in their Father's stead, while Ume helped their Mother and Nezuko take care of the home and their Siblings. Baby Rokuta was pretty much attached at the hip to their Parents. If he wasn't babbling away to their Father and sleeping beside him at night, he was secured to their Mother's back with a blanket and watching while she did chores.

But it was agreed that out of everyone, Rokuta loved their Father most of all. He hardly ever left the man's side. Which would make what happened next all the harder and more painful for the poor 2-year-old.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

One night a few days later, Tanjuro woke up in his Futon, waking Tanjiro and Gyutaro up with him. "Father?" Tanjiro asked in a whisper, sniffing the air, smelling the slight anxiousness emanating from the man. "What's wrong? Father? Tanjiro?" Gyutaro asked, looking at the two worriedly. "Stay here Gyutaro," he whispered lowly, the seriousness in his voice making his oldest Son clench his fists. The Tanjuro turned to Tanjiro, "come with me Tanjiro. And no matter what happens, stay quiet" he said softly, standing up firmly, despite the thinness of his body, or how it would normally shake with weakness. As his younger brother carefully followed their Father out of the house, Gyutaro felt a strong sense of worry for what was about to happen. It was an hour later that the two retuned to the house. Tanjiro was silent and shaking. The green-haired Kamado wanted to ask what had happened, but his younger Brother looked far too scared to speak.

Gyutaro wrapped an arm around the 12-year-old, looking up at their Father, "what happened out their Father?" he asked softly. Tanjuro sighed and moved to lay down in his Futon, "there was a wild bear. It was too close to the house, so the wards went off. I dealt with it, everyone is safe now Son, don't worry" he replied. Gyutaro quickly helped him down and fixed up his Futon comfortably. There Father smiled gratefully at him, "thank you Gyutaro," he said as he fell asleep, "you're a, good boy". After their Father was asleep again, the green-haired young man turned to look at his younger brother, who was still shaken, but was calming down, "we'll talk tomorrow Tanjiro. Get some sleep little Brother" he said softly, helping to tuck the boy into bed as well. Eventually, though his nerves were shot, Tanjiro did manage to relax and fall asleep next to his beloved big brother.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

The next day, Tanjiro told Gyutaro about what had happened the night before with wide eyes filled with both awe and fear. "We went out because the property line had been triggered by a wild bear. I had never been so scared in my life, I mean it was huge!" he said, having to stop to take a shaky breath. "Father told me to hide behind a tree, but to watch him carefully. Then he took a deep breath and just vanished! The next thing I knew, the bear's head was gone and it was falling over. Father reappeared, before kneeling down in front of it and saying a prayer. He apologised for having to take it's life, before he turned to me and told me about this thing called the Transparent World. I don't really get it though. Then he hugged me and told me that it was alright. Even so, I couldn't calm down until we were home and I saw that everyone was safe" Tanjiro explained.

The Brothers were silent for a while. Then Gyutaro spoke, "well, I'm glad you're both alright and the bear isn't going to harm our family. I know it was scary, but you know Father never would have let you get hurt, right?" he asked. Tanjiro let out a sigh and relaxed, "yeah I know. I'm really surprised, I thought Father was too sick to do that kind of stuff anymore. The breathing technique for the Hinokami Kagura really is something else, isn't it?" he asked. "It is. And one day, you might be able to do that too Tanjiro" Gyutaro replied. They sat in silence until it was time to start their chores.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

Three days later, Tanjuro called Gyutaro and Tanjiro to his room. Upon entering, the green-haired young man almost couldn't look at his Father. Tanjuro Kamado seemed more like a shell of his former self than ever. Compared to the amazing and powerful man who had saved the 10-year-old Gyutaro and 6-year-old Ume from a horrible death, the skeleton-like man laying limply on the futon seemed like a completely different person. Tanjiro flinched at the horrible sight, tears gathering in his eyes, which he fought desperately to hold back. His Older Brother on the other hand broke down. For the first time since he'd almost lost his little Sister all those years ago, Gyutaro fell to his knees and began sobbing. It was no secret how much the green-haired young adult loved their Father- the first person to see any worth in him, to love and accept him when the rest of the world shunned and reviled him.

So seeing the man who'd literally saved his and Ume's lives looking so weak and frail. On his deathbed caused the normally strong young man to break. He covered his face with his hands and cried uncontrollably. His Mother and Younger Brother both struggled not to cry too. Tanjuro reached for him, "Gyutaro. Shhh, it's okay Son" he soothed softly, his voice sounding just as strong as before, despite his weakened state. The young man roughly dried his eyes and took the offered hand as gently as if he were holding spun glass. "Gyutaro. You've always had such strength inside you. But you no longer needed it after we took you in. Instead you put that aside to take care of your Siblings. You showed such a gentle and kind side of you that I loved watching grow everyday *cough, cough*" he began. Tears formed in Gyutaro's eyes again, despite how hard he tried to hold them back. He never knew how painful it was to lose a loved one. It hurt. It hurt so much. "But now I need you to be strong. Your Mother and Siblings need you to be strong, I know that it hurts Son, I truly do. But please- just try. Take care of them for me. Please" Tanjuro pleaded, squeezing his Oldest Son's hand with as much strength as he could. Gyutaro sniffed, trying to hold back more tears, "I-I'll try Father. For our family" he replied, trembling. The dying man smiled at him, and Gyutaro just wished that he could do something- anything damn it! "Thank you my Son. I love you all so much, and I never regretted saving you and Ume" Tanjuro said. After that, the green-haired 24-year-old left the room, leaving his Father to talk to his younger brother one last time.

Despite knowing that his younger Siblings would need him, he had to be alone right now. He needed to vent, and that tended to get rather violent. Their Father died that night.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

Rokuta wouldn't stop crying. It had been two days since their Father died and his small Funeral where they buried him out the back of the house. Even since then, the 2-year-old just cried and cried, non-stop. The only times when he would stop crying were when their Mother sang to him to when Tanjiro held him. No matter where he went, if the -year-old couldn't see him, Rokuta would burst into tears, making doing things very difficult. It was especially hard since Tanjiro had been determined to work alongside his Older Brother and make money for their family. Meanwhile, Gyutaro was beginning to see how crowded their house was. This had led to him making a very big decision. He had known about this problem for a while now,but had held off on making a decision.

Mainly due to their Father's condition. Now, though, he walked up to their Mother with a determined look on his face, "Mom, I need to talk to you about something important" he began, nervousness showing on his face. Kie frowned at her oldest Son, "yes Dear? What did you want to talk about?" she asked in slight concern. Gyutaro took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, "I've been thinking about it for a long time now, even since Rokuta was born" he clenched his fists in nervousness. "I am truly grateful for everything that you and Father have done for us over the years. And I love you all more than I can say. But this house just isn't big enough for all of us. Plus the money coming in is barely enough to keep us going. So with the fact that I'm now 24 and Ume is 21, I wanted to try and rent a house in town instead. It won't be a big one, and we'll still come visit as often as we can.

But we're old enough to take care of ourselves now Mom. I don't want to be a burden on any of you, especially with how you made us members of your family. And this is the only way I can think of to keep that from happening" he said. Gyutaro closed his eyes as he waited for his Mother's reply. He was so nervous about this, what would her response be? Kie smiled kindly at her grown-up Son, "Dear, that's perfectly fine, you and Ume are adults now after all. If you've talked this over together properly, and she agrees with you about moving out into your own home, then by all means, go ahead and do so. I know that you can take care of each other. Although what will you do for work?" she asked curiously. Probably the same thing that Father used to do before we moved here, just odd jobs and things" Gyutaro replied. His Mother nodded in understanding, "well, you know that you two can come and see us anytime you want. And if you get in trouble, don't hesitate to come to me for help Son" she said. The green-haired young man nodded, "of course we will" he replied.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

The day for the older Kamado Siblings to move out had finally come. Looking over his family, Gyutaro noticed that Shigeru was tearing up and even Takeo looked upset, though he hid it well. He knelt down in front of his younger Brother's, "hey now, no crying. It's not like we'll never see each other again. Cheer up!" he cried, tickling Shigeru's side and Takeo's ribs. Both boys squealed, wiggling away, "I'm not a baby anymore big Brother!" Takeo groaned, but he was smiling slightly. "I know you're not, but you're acting like we're moving across the Country or something. We'll just be down the mountain!" Gyutaro snickered. Takeo crossed his arms and looked away, "yeah, well, it's still pretty far to stay. And I guess I might miss you" he replied, trying to act aloof. The young man rolled his eyes, 'always so reserved, this one. He reminds me of how I used to be years ago' he thought with a smile, before he turned to look at Tanjiro. His younger Brother looked resolute, but still sad.

"Hey, you're the Oldest Brother in the house now Tanjiro. Take care of everyone for me, okay?" Gyutaro asked. The 12-year-old nodded, "I'll look after them for you Gyutaro, Ume" he said firmly. Ume giggled, before reaching out and hugging Tanjiro and Nezuko close, "you two were the first younger Sibling I ever had. Take care of yourselves too, okay? Then look after Mom and the others" she asked. Nezuko wrapped her arms around her Older Sister, who'd given her a new set of orange ribbons for her hair as her last Birthday present, "I will, I promise. Big Sister" she said, trembling only slightly. Ume hugged Nezuko close. Then the two oldest Kamado children began to head down the mountain together.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

As the Kamado family was well-liked in the Village, the two Siblings were given their pick of the vacant houses. Of course, the only ones they could afford were tiny, but that was fine for them. There were only two of them after all. "You know you didn't have to move out with me" Gyutaro said conversationally as they unpacked their small amount of belongings. "Of course I did. We're family. And even after getting adopted, I still haven't forgotten that promise we made to each other all those years ago," Ume stared her Brother in the eye, "we're always going to be together. I promise, I'm never going to leave your side" she recited and promised herself, with a warm smile on her face. Gyuatro looked down, ashamed that he'd ever thought of leaving his little Sister behind, even if it was with their family. "I'm sorry Ume. Can you ever forgive me?" he asked. The white-haired 21-year-old looked away, "fine, but you're cooking dinner tonight big Brother" she said. Her Older Brother sighed, "fine. I cook, you clean?" he asked. Ume shook his hand, "deal!" she replied with a grin. Then the two of them continued to unpack their things.

To Be Continued