Rokuta's 8th Birthday started with a clear sky. The little boy ran around the house happily. Takeo woke up groggily, but sighed and smiled at his youngest Brother. Hanako smiled as she made the four of them Breakfast. "It's my Birthday!~ It's my Birthday!~" the youngest Kamado sang. Suddenly he stopped, "are our big Brothers and Sisters coming back today?!" he asked excitedly. Hanako smiled sadly, "I don't know, sorry Rokuta. They might be busy with Missions still." She replied. The 8-year-old pouted. A few hours passed with cleaning up the house, making sure it was presentable for any guests that would show up. Finally, after 2 hours, the distinct form of Amane Ubuyashiki appeared, the woman carrying Kiriya in her arms. Rokuta grinned and waved to his friend, who smiled and waved back from his Mother's arms.
In his arms, he clutched a wrapped present that was round like a ball. Rokuta giggled excitedly, as he already knew what the present was, but the boy politely invited his guests inside, "Mrs Amane, Kiriya, please come in" he said. "Well, thank you very much Mr Rokuta. And thank you for inviting my Son to your Birthday today" Amane replied, as she entered the house and removed her and her Son's shoes. The she set Kiriya down. Rokuta grinned at the slightly older boy, "you came! Thank you Kiriya!" he cried happily. The other black-haired boy blushed, "well, I couldn't miss my first friend's Birthday" he replied shyly. "Come on!" the youngest Kamado said excitedly, "I wanna introduce you to my Older Brother's and Sister!" he cheered, carefully pulling the Ubuyashiki boy along.
Hanako walked out of the Kitchen, "ah! I guess he was too excited to notice me." She turned to the Wife of the Demon Slayer Corps Leader and bowed. Amane bowed back, "It's very nice to meet you. My name is Hanako Kamado. Let me show you to the Sitting Room. It's very nice. I feel like your Husband spoiled us when he had this house built for us Ma'am" the 12-year-old girl said with a giggle. "Oh no, he see's it as only what you all deserve, after the Corps failed to save your Mother. You're all so young, and because of your circumstances, you have to essentially raise yourselves. The least we, the Ubuyashiki family could provide is a good house" Amane replied. Hanako smiled, "we do appreciate everything you've done for all of us. Especially when is comes to o0ur Older Sister's. We're all truly grateful" the little girl replied, opening the door to the Sitting room.
"Please wait here, and I'll get you some Tea Ma'am" Hanako said, leaving the room.
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Gyutaro and Ume thankfully hadn't gotten any extra Missions in the last few days and were now almost home. He checked his bag for all of his Siblings presents. Maybe he should put the others away for when it was their Birthdays instead, and only give Rokuta his present. Then his thoughts wandered to Tanjiro. Would his oldest younger Brother be able to make it to Rokuta's Birthday too? He hoped he would. A scratching sound was heard from the box Gyutaro carried. "Yeah, I hope we'll make it time in time too. I also hope we don't get anymore Missions on the way home either. Otherwise we will miss Rokuta's Birthday" he muttered. He looked around, "well, I think we're pretty close. It should only take a couple more hours to get home. I hope having you and possibly Nezuko at the house doesn't alert any of the Hashira" Gyutaro said.
He looked back at Ume's box, "until then, get some more sleep Ume. We don't want you to fall asleep during the party. Rokuta's very understanding now, and wouldn't hold it against you if you were tired, but I know that you wouldn't want that, right?" Gyutaro asked, Ume hummed from inside the box, and there was a quiet sound of shifting. Then silence. The green-haired young man smiled and continued walking down the road, looking forwards to his baby Brother's reaction to his present. Suddenly his Crow flew down to him, a letter tied to her leg. Gyutaro looked at it in surprise. Usually Missions were given verbally by the Crow. If it was delivering a letter, then that meant that the letter wasn't a Mission. Gyutaro took the message and read it. As he did, his face broke into a smile. Rokuta made a new friend! With the Master's Son, surprisingly. He wondered if the boy would be at his baby Brother's Birthday. He hoped he would be there. This was Rokuta's first friend. "That's great! I hope they stay friends" Gyutaro said happily to himself. He continued travelling home.
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Tanjiro read the letter, smiling happily at the thought of Rokuta making a friend. He was sure Nezuko would be happy to hear that as well, when she was awake. Unfortunately he couldn't make it to his baby Brother's Birthday, since he has another Mission, but he hoped his present for Rokuta would make him happy. He first thought of sending a toy. But then he met two more good Demons, who are trying to make a cure to turn Demons back into humans. Finally, they had a concrete goal I turning Ume and Nezuko back into humans. He decided that this would be the perfect present for Rokuta, for all his Siblings, really. He hoped the letter would get there on time.
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Rokuta beamed as Kiriya handed him a Temari Ball for a present, "yay! Now we can play together again! Although I'm afraid that I haven't been able to practice since we met" he said. "That's fine. You can practice more now. Why don't we invite your other Siblings to play too?" he asked. "Okay! Takeo, Shigeru, Hanako, wanna play Temari with us?" the 8-year-old asked his Brother's and Sister. "Okay!" Shigeru said excitedly. "Sorry Rokuta. I'm busy cooking lunch, and later I have to cook dinner as well" Hanako replied. "I can do that," Amane said. The 12-year-old girl shook her head, "oh no Ma'am, I couldn't ask you to do that. You're a guest" she replied with a smile. "Please, I insist. I'm used to cooking for a lot of people anyway, and you deserve to play with your Siblings sometimes too, Hanako-Chan" the white-haired woman replied.
Hanako frowned in uncertainty, but eventually decided to go play with her Siblings, "alright, thank you. Once lunch is done, please put it to the side. I'm going to make some snacks later!" she called. Rokuta gasped excitedly, "Rice Crackers?!" he asked. His Older Sister smiled and nodded, "yep. I thought we should have them on your Birthday, since I made Rice Cakes a couple of day ago" she said. "Yay! Rice Crackers are my favourite! Mommy made the best ones!-" he began, but cut himself off sadly, "well, she did make the best Rice Crackers. Big Sister's Rice Crackers are really yummy too though. You'll like them Kiriya!" he began excitedly, only to trail off sadly. However, he an effort to cheer up again after.
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A couple of hours later, everyone was happily eating Rice Crackers together. Suddenly a Crow cawed, flying down to them. Amane let it perch on her arm and took the letter off of it's leg. On seeing the name written on the outside of the paper, she held it out to Takeo, "it's for all of you" she said. The fifth oldest Kamado took the letter and all of his Siblings crowded around to read it. He lit up with a beaming grin, "Tanjiro found a way to turn Ume and Nezuko back into humans you guys! He's working on it now, and he really thinks it'll work!" Takeo said. "Our big Sister's are going to be human again! Yay!" Rokuta cheered, as his Older Brother's and Sister grinned, "this is the best present ever!" he cried. "Congratulations Rokuta" Kiriya said, truly happy for his friend. "Now we have even more to celebrate! Heh, heh!" Shigeru said with a giggle. "Eveyone, let's play with my new ball again!" the little boy said excitedly. "Yeah!" Shigeru cried. And so, the five children began another game of Temari.
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After 5 minutes, Kiriya had to rest. Rokuta waved at his Siblings to let them know that they could keep playing. "Sorry Rokuta. It's your Birthday, and you have to take care of me" Kiriya said apologetically. "It's fine. if you need a rest, we can just keep playing after you've had one" Rokuta replied. Amane came over, "are you alright Kiriya?" she asked. The boy smiled, "I'm fine Mother. I'm just taking a break" he replied. "Alright. Please take care of your health" she said. "Are you okay?" Hanako asked as she stopped playing to check on him. "Yes, I'm fine, *pant*. Could I have some *pant* water please?" Kiriya asked. "Sure! Hold on!" the little girl replied. Rokuta sat next to his friend while they waited. "I hope you're at least having fun Kiriya. This is the first time I've ever had a friend over, much less to my Birthday. I hope you can come to the next one too" Rokuta said hopefully.
"I am. I'm hoping you can come to my Birthday too" Kiriya said softly. "Here. I've brought you both water" Hanako said. The two bays drank their water and then stood up again. Suddenly Gyutaro entered the house, "hey Rokuta! Happy Birthday!" he called. "Big Brother! You made it!" the little boy cried, hopping off the Engawa and running to hug his Oldest Brother. "I'm glad that I could make it. but I think Tanjiro is still on a Mission. Sorry." The green-haired man said apologetically. "That's fine! He already sent me, or all of us an amazing present!" Rokuta said excitedly. "Oh? What?" Gyutaro asked. After he heard about the human medicine that was being made, Gyutaro was amazed, "amazing! So that means that Ume and Nezuko might be human again soon?" he asked excitedly. Rokuta nodded with a big grin. "Wow. That is an amazing present Rokuta! And I have something here for you too" Gyutaro said, handing his Brother the Bear.
"Wow! I've never had a stuffed toy before!" he said happily, "it's so soft!" the green-haired 27-year-old beamed, "I'm glad you like it Rokuta." He replied. By this time, the sun was starting to set, "alright Kiriya. It's time to go home" his Mother said. "Mother, may I stay the night with Rokuta? I'll do all my studying tomorrow. Please? I've never been able to sleep over at a friend's house before" Kiriya asked. Amane frowned, "I don't think your Father will want you so far away. And what if your health declines. You know how important you are to the Demon Slayer Corps Kiriya" she said. The other 8-year-old looked down, "I understand Mother" he replied. "It's okay. Maybe sometime I can have a Sleepover at your house. Maybe for your Birthday" Rokuta said. The Ubuyashiki smiled, but it looked slightly strained, "yeah, maybe" he replied.
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Rokuta watched as Mrs Amane carried Kiriya home, waving as he held his new Temari ball. His friend waved back. As they disappeared into the distance, the family went back inside, where they closed all the windows. Then Ume crawled out of her box and grew to her normal size. "Big Sister Ume!" Rokuta cried, running to hug his Oldest Sister. Ume smiled and scooped the little boy up into her arms, hugging him close. "Hmmm" she hummed happily through her muzzle, stroking her baby Brother's hair. "Okay, bathtime before I get Dinner ready everyone" Hanako said. Everyone began to get their things to wash up. "Today was fun. Thank you everyone!" Rokuta said happily.
"It was no problem little Bro. We're glad you had fun too" Takeo said with a grin, "but it's back to training and patrolling our home area for me tomorrow night, so I'll have to sleep through the day, so I'm not too tired at night, okay?" the 13-year-old explained. "Okay. Have a good sleep tomorrow big Brother Takeo" the 8-year-old nodded in understanding, yawning. "We'll be heading out again tomorrow as well. I have another Mission. Sorry Rokuta" Gyutaro said apologetically. "S'okay. Peaple, *yawn* need to be saved from bad Demons" Rokuta replied, yawning again. Gyutaro smiled, "yeah, they do. Thank you for understanding little Bro" he said gratefully.
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Everyone had a bath, then ate dinner. Even Ume had a bath. Then, the mostly complete family went to bed together. 'I hope Tanjiro and Nezuko are doing well. I wonder if I can help with the human medicine too. Tanjiro said that he's collecting blood samples from the Demons he and Nezuko defeat and sending them to those two Demon Doctors,' Gyutaro thought to himself. 'Maybe if we meet up with them, we can fix up something to send blood samples to them too.' Then Gyutaro thought about Ume, 'maybe a sample of her blood would help too. After all, Ume even regained her senses right after being transformed into a Demon, and Giyu and Urokodaki both said that that was unheard of for a Demon who hadn't even had a bite of human flesh or blood. Ume might be special' he thought to himself. As he slowly fell sleep, he hoped that the cure would be finished soon. For both of his younger Sisters.
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The next day, Gyutaro said goodbye to his Brothers and Sister's and left their home with Ume sleeping in her box. 'I'll make sure that the human medicine is completed sooner Ume' he thought.
To Be Continued