Rokuta was board. All of his Older Siblings were either on a Mission or busy with other stuff. There was no one to play with him. He looked around their new house. He'd already explored the whole thing, and he wanted to do something new. Then a genius idea struck the nearly 7-year-old. He could go explore outside. As long as he was back home before anyone noticed that he was gone, he wouldn't get into trouble. The 6-year-old snuck out of the house and ran into the surrounding trees. Rokuta knew that they lived near other people in this place, so he would try to find their houses. The boy giggled to himself as he ran off. He would be an explorer and maybe even make a new friend! These thoughts in mind, he continued to run past the buildings, looking around for interesting things.
After a while of running around, he came upon a huge house, even bigger that their new one. Rokuta stared at it in awe. He didn't know houses could be so big! Maybe a really huge family lived here. One with lots of kids he could play with! A smile breaking onto his face, Rokuta snuck towards a door. Suddenly he saw a little girl come out of it, walking along the Engawa. Gasping, the 6-year-old hastily tried to run away to avoid getting caught. He turned and tripped over a big rock, he felt a sharp stinging pain suddenly in his leg and he burst into tears of pain. The black-haired girl turned to see him and gasped. She hurried over to him, hopping down from the Engawa, "are you alright?!" she yelped worriedly. Rokuta clutched his leg as blood fell from it. He began to wail in fear as well as pain. He'd never seen so much of his own blood before.
"*SOB* It hurts!" he cried, tears running down his face. The black-haired girl knelt down in front of him, "let me see" she said firmly, gently grabbing his leg and inspecting the wound. It wasn't a deep gash, but it was long and bleeding. Rokuta continued to cry, as the girl moved away, "stay there!" she said, running back into the house, "Mother! Mother, help!" she called. It was a few agonising minutes later that the girl returned with a white-haired woman, "he needs help Mother, please! His leg's bleeding a lot!" she said. "Alright Kiriya, I'll take a look" she said calmly. When she caught sight if him, the woman gasped, "Rokuta? Rokuta Kamado? What are you doing here?" she asked, moving to examine the child's leg. "-" Rokuta tried to answer, but was crying too hard.
A hand gently rubbed his head, making him open his teary eyes to see a white-haired woman looking down at him, "come on. Up we go" she said calmly, lifting Rokuta into her arms and carrying him over to the Engawa. Once she put him down, she pulled out some items, including s damp cloth, "I'm going to clean the wound now Rokuta. It's going to sting, but I need you to be brave for me, okay?" the woman asked. Thee black-haired girl reached out and took his hand, making Rokuta turn to her. She had the same purple eyes as her Mama. The 6-year-old held her hand tightly as the cloth stung his knee. Rokuta whimpered at the pain, but the girl didn't let go of his hand, "it's okay. You're doing such a good job. Mother's almost done" she soothed him. Then the cloth was gone and a band-aid was on his knee.
"All done. You did well. Very brave" the girl's Mama said, patting his head gently. Rokuta wiped the tears from his eyes with one hand, before noticing that he was still holding the girl's hand tightly and let go. "Thank you for helping me," he told her, "You're very pretty. Like my Big Sister's". For some reason, this made the girl blush brightly, and her Mother to chuckle softly. He was confused, "what?" he asked. The black-haired girl looked at him in embarrassment, "well, it's just, I'm a boy" she- he, muttered, Rokuta blanched, also embarrassed, "oh. Sorry" he apologized. The two stared at each other for a moment, before the boy's Mother stood up, "well. My name is Amane Ubuyashiki, Rokuta. Does your leg feel any better now?" she asked. he checked it, finding hardly any pain. "Yes, it's a lot better. Um, Ma'am" Rokuta replied. The woman nodded, "that's good. I should send a Crow to your Older Brother, to let him know that you're here" she replied. The youngest child of the Kamado family looked down, "will I get into trouble?" he asked nervously. "Well, that depends. Did you mean to worry your Older Siblings?" Amane asked.
Rokuta quickly shook his head, "I was exploring and got lost. I didn't mean to worry my big Brother's and Sister" he replied, looking down. The woman smiled, "then I'm sure Takeo won't be too angry with you. Worried, yes, but not angry. Now," she turned to her Son, "you have to get back to your studies Kiriya" she said sternly. Kiriya looked down, "I understand, but Mother, if I promise to study later, may I stay here and keep Rokuta company until his Brother comes to get him? I'll do my Studies when they leave, but he is our guest right now, it would be rude to leave him alone" he replied. Amane looked down at them, "well, I would have to speak to your Father. But we'll see" she said. Kiriya smiled and looked at the other boy, who smiled back, injury now completely forgotten.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Amane walked into her Husbands room, where he was listening to a Kasugai Crow give a report. She waited patiently until the report finished and the Master sent the Crow off. Then she knocked on the door. "Master, may I come in?" she asked. "Come in Amane" Kagaya replied. The white-haired woman entered the room. "Master, we have a guest. Rokuta Kamado got lost and wandered into our Estate. Then he fell and injured his leg. I am going to send a Crow to his Older Brother to come pick him up, but Kiriya was wondering if he could take some time off from his studies to entertain our guest" she said. "Hm. I see. I suppose it wouldn't hurt him if he took one day off from studying for the moment. Besides, young Rokuta will be the same age as Kiriya soon. It might do him good to have a friend his own age. As long as Rokuta is here, our Son may entertain the boy" Kagaya replied. 'Especially since he will not have long to be a child' he thought. His Wife nodded, leaving to tell the two boys the news.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
When she returned and informed the two, both children lit up, "really? Thank you Ma'am" Rokuta said happily, As his Mother left, Kiriya turned to the youngest Kamado, "so? What should we play first?" he asked with a smile. "I don't know. I've never had other kids to play with aside from my Older Brother's and Sister's. I don't know what kids play" Rokuta admitted, embarrassed. The Ubuyashiki child thought for a moment, "my Older Sisters often play with a Temari Ball. We could borrow it" he suggested. "I don't know how to play that" the Kamado boy replied sheepishly. "Don't worry, I can teach you," Kiriya assured, before he moved to enter the Mansion again, "I'll go ask them" he said. Rokuta sat on the Engawa, waiting to the other boy to get back.
A few minutes later he returned, holding a colourful ball in his hands that jingled as he walked. When he stopped in front of Rokuta, he began kicking the ball from one foot to the other, "the main thing is not to drop it" he explained, kicking it up into the air with one foot, before tossing it to his other foot where he did the same thing. Rokuta watched the other boy in awe as he kicked the ball around. Kiriya then caught the ball and held it out to him, "try it" he offered. Rokuta kicked it a few times, but then it bounced away. He frowned, and kept trying, eventually, the two were laughing as they kicked the ball to each other. Suddenly, Kiriya almost collapsed, panting heavily. "Kiriya!" Rokuta yelped.
He ran over and held the boy up while he trembled, "are you okay?" the Kamado asked. "I- *pant*" the other black-haired boy tried to speak, but was unable to stop panting long enough. Rokuta helped Kiriya over to the Engawa, where he sat and gasped raggedly. Finally, he began to calm his breathing and looked down, "sorry, I didn't mean to disturb our game" Kiriya said sadly. "You didn't! It's okay if you need to take a break, I don't mind" the Kamado boy said. Kiriya smiled in gratitude. They were quiet for a few minutes, before the Ubuyashiki spoke up again, "you know, I've never played with another boy my age before. I'm usually too busy to play. I have so much to learn ass the heir of my family. I had a lot of fun today" Kiriya said gratefully. He then looked down, "my family has always done this. We're cursed you know" he said sadly.
Rokuta looked at the other boy in shock, "cursed?" he asked worriedly. "All the men die before the age of 30, and we're very weak. The only way to save us is to kill that monster Muzan Mibutsuji. If the Demon Slayer Corps can't do that, my Father is going to die. And one day, so will I, before I reach 30-years-old" Kiriya explained. Rokuta stared at him in worry. 'Muzan. I know that name' he thought. The 7-year-old noticed his friend's look, "what's wrong?" he asked. The Kamado looked down, "I know that name. Big Brother Gyutaro told he, that he killed Mommy. And turned our big Sister's into Demons," he clenched his fists, then looked up, "you're not going to die Kiriya. And your Daddy won't either. My big Brothers will get rid of him. Then our big Sisters will be human again" Rokuta said firmly. Kiriya stared at him for a moment, before smiling, "yeah. You're right. I'm glad I met you Rokuta.
Would you like- to be my friend?" he asked nervously. The Kamado beamed, "yeah!" he replied happily. Kiriya smiled back, "hey, maybe we should write to each other from now on." He suggested. Rokuta looked down nervously, "um, sorry. I don't know how to read or write. No one taught me yet" he replied in embarrassment. "Well, how about you visit more, and I'll teach you. Then we can be Pen Pals" the Ubuyashiki boy suggested. "Really? You'd do that?" Rokuta asked. "Sure. And we can play with the Temari again" Kiriya said happily. Rokuta took his hand, "can you teach me both?" he asked. The other boy nodded, "yes" he replied happily.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Later that day, Kiriya had recovered and they were playing with the Temari ball again. Amane walked out of the house with two cups of milk. "How are things going you two? I hope you're being a good hols Kiriya" she asked. Her Son nodded, "yes Mother" he replied. "He is Ma'am" Rokuta added, taking the cup and thanking Amane. Suddenly a girl's voice called out: "Mother, Takeo Kamado is here" she said. "Big Brother!" Rokuta cried as his Older Brother ran over to him the moment he saw him, "oh my God, Rokuta!" he exclaimed., hugging the boy close. "Why did you run off? Everyone was so worried about you!" Takeo cried. Rokuta started crying, "I didn't mean to, I was just exploring and got lost. I'm sorry!" he sobbed. The older Kamado held his baby Brother close, sighing as he soothed him.
"You're safe, that's all that matters." Takeo released the 6-year-old and stood up with his hand in his, "thank you very much for looking after my little Brother Ma'am" he said gratefully. Rokuta nodded, "thank you for helping me and for playing with me! Um- oh! And for taking the time out of your studies to play with me Kiriya" Rokuta said gratefully, "I hope we can still be friends" he said with a smile. The Ubuyashiki blushed slightly, "I'd like that Rokuta." He replied. The youngest Kamado Sibling waved as they walked away, "I'll definitely visit soon, so teach me to write fast and then we can send letters to each other, okay?" he asked cheerfully. And then the two Brother's left. After watching them go, the only Son of the Ubuyashiki family tuned to his Mother, "Mother, is Father well enough for me to speak with him?" he asked.
"He was alright the last time I checked" Amane replied. The boy nodded and left to go speak with him.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
As Takeo and Rokuta arrived at their hose, they saw Hanako and Shigeru run out to greet them. "Rokuta! Oh thank God! Where did you go, we were so worried?!" Hanako cried, as both of them hugged their youngest Brother. "I didn't mean to worry you, but I got lost. But today wasn't all bad. I made a friend!" he said cheerfully. "Really? That's cool, what's their name?" Shigeru asked excitedly. As the four Kamado's entered their house, Takeo stopped and sighed in relief, "that was too close. Thank God he found the Master's house and not someone else that might not have taken too kindly to young children wandering around." He said to himself, before looking up at the sky, "Mother, Father. Thank you for protecting Rokuta. I really owe you one" he said. "Hey big Brother!" Rokuta called, suddenly running out of the house and up to him.
The 13-year-old looked down at him, "yeah? What is it?" he asked. Rokuta looked down nervously, "well, I was wondering if you would write some letters to Gyutaro, Ume, Tanjiro and Nezuko for me? I want to tell them about the new friend I made today" he asked. Takeo sighed, but smiled slightly, "alright, let me just get ready" he replied. Rokuta beamed and the two Brother's entered the house together.
To Be Continued