A couple of days later, when their Brother's and Sister had recovered mentally and emotionally, Shigeru made a suggestion, "hey! You guys should meet our new friends while you're here! Right guys?" he asked excitedly. Hanako smiled for the first time in a month, "yeah, Teiko and Sumi are really nice" she said. "I like playing with Hiroshi and Koto" Shigeru exclaimed, while Rokuta nodded, "me too!" he cheered. Takeo looked away with a faint blush on his cheeks, "Genya's pretty cool, I guess" he added. Tanjiro smiled, "I'd love to meet all of your new friends. Gyutaro would too, right?" he asked. "Sure. I had only planned to do some training today, and I can always do that tomorrow" Gyutaro agreed.
Shigeru and Rokuta cheered, while Takeo grinned. Hanako smiled slightly wider.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Sanemi had a day off training to help look after his younger Siblings. It was one of the conditions he'd set up with the Master when he'd joined the Corps. "Look 'Nemi! I drew you!" Sumi said happily, holding up a picture of a vaguely human shaped figure with white hair and a sword. Sanemi chuckled and patted the little girl's head, "looks great Sumi. Keep practicing, and one day you'll be an amazing Artist!" he praised. The 6-year-old giggled, before there was a knock at the door. The white-haired man stood up, and walked to the door, "who could that be?" he wondered under his breath. "Coming!" he called. When he opened the door, the smile fell off his face. Both Gyutaro and Tanjiro, standing at the door with their younger Siblings were frozen.
There was complete silence for a while, while the younger Kamado children looked between their Older Brother's and the white-haired man in confusion. Finally, Gyutaro spoke: "Oh. I knew I recognised the name Shinazugawa when I heard the Master say it before" he said.
Because Takeo had said they were the Shinazugawa Siblings in his letter to him. "You!" the Wind Hashira snarled, "what are you two doing here?! You'd better not have brought those fucking Demons near my Siblings!" he somehow snarled and hissed out at the same time. Both Older Kamado Brother's were angry, but Tanjiro still tried to be calm, "our younger Siblings wanted to come play with their new friends, so we brought them to visit. We didn't know they were your younger Siblings" he explained. The 15-year-old glared at him, "I haven't forgiven you for what you did to our Sisters, but for both our Siblings sake, I am willing to ignore that for one day. Ume and Nezuko will be staying in their boxes, though they wouldn't have hurt anyone anyway. So, do we have a deal?" Tanjiro asked, holding out his hand.
Sanemi looked from the teen's hand, to the kids who were obviously the younger Kamado Siblings, to Gyutaro, to the boxes both Brother's carried on their back and back to Tanjiro's hand again. Finally, he let out an explosive sigh and a groan, "fine, you can come in. But those Demons don't leave those boxes. I don't trust them at all, and if they even try to come out, I will behead them, no matter what the Master said!" he growled. "Fine, whatever. Now let us in, I don't want the younger kids to get heatstroke or something because they stayed out in the sun for too long" Gyutaro agreed, and, as the Wind Hashira again looked over the Kamado's, he could see that the younger kids were indeed sweating a lot.
Wordlessly the white-haired man stepped aside, and the group of 6 (8 if you counted Ume and Nezuko) entered the house. "Thank you for your hospitality" Tanjiro said, though it sounded like he was only saying that out of courtesy, and not because he really wanted to be here. Sanemi understood. He didn't want to be around these two brats and their pet Demons either.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Both the Kamado Siblings and the Shinazugawa Sibling were happy and excited to see each other again. Takeo introduced the other family to his Older Brothers, and then introduced them to his friend, "Gyutaro, Tanjiro, this is the friend I told you about, Genya" he said, gesturing to the mowhawked teen. Tanjiro's eyes widened, "hey, you're the guy from Final Selection!" he said in recognition.
Genya's eyes widened when he remembered the two. Then he looked away, "I'm sorry, about how I treated that kid. I was just so anxious to get home to my Siblings. 'Nemi was out on a Mission, and I wanted to get back before anything happened to them. I didn't mean to hurt that little girl, I was just scared" he muttered, after making sure his Older Brother couldn't hear them. "Because of what you told me about the first time we met, right?" Takeo asked. Genya looked up, "yeah. I wanted to be able to protect my Siblings when 'Nemi wasn't here, just in case something like that happened again" he replied.
Gyutaro and Tanjiro looked between the two in confusion, "I think we're missing some things here" he said.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
The kids played happily together, while Sanemi went to cool his frustration and worry, leaving Genya in charge of their Siblings. Gyutaro, Genya and Tanjiro and Takeo sat together watching over their Brothers and Sisters. Genya had just finished explaining their past to the Older Kamado's, and Tanjiro smiled, "your Mother definitely recognised her children Genya. And so she refused to eat them. No matter what it seems like, there are good Demons in this world, and your Mother may have ended up being one of them, if things had been different," he placed his hand on the box where Nezuko was sleeping, "she may have ended up being like Ume and Nezuko, refusing to eat humans and working beside you and your Brother to protect them.
Maybe in a different world, she was" he suggested. Genya smiled, "riding around in a box and helping 'Nemi and I kill Demons, while protecting all of us? Sounds like fun" he replied wistfully. They watched their Siblings pay together for a while, before Takeo struck up a conversation with Genya about his hobbies. Gyutaro and Tanjiro smiled as they watched Takeo spend time with a friend for the first time. He had always been so serious, never bothering with anything besides their family. Now he had a friend. Genya was a pretty nice guy, now that they got to know him. Tanjiro wondered if he would like to be his friend as well. Over with the kids, Hanako had stopped playing with Sumi, Teiko and Rokuta.
What's wrong Hanako?" Sumi asked worriedly, as she noticed the look on the Kamado's face. The 12-year-old shook herself out of her thoughts, "no, its nothing to worry about you two. What should we play next?" Hanako asked, trying to focus herself back in the present. Rokuta smiled, "let's play hopscotch!" he suggested.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Back with Gyutaro, Tanjiro, Takeo and Genya, Takeo was looking over at his friend, "wanna, do something? I'm not really big on games though" he said. "I'm sure we can figure something out" Tanjiro replied with a smile. Gyutaro was also smiling, glad that they could have this moment of peace. But his bad feeling's were rising again. The green-haired young man was starting to wonder if he was slightly Psychic or something. He remembered that every time he'd gotten a feeling like this, something bad had happened. The day Father had found them and Ume and nearly died, he'd had a rising feeling of nausea and fear. The day Father died, he'd had the same feeling. Then on the day their Mother was killed and their Sister's transformed, and again the three times they'd met member's of the 12 Kizuki. Every time some form of heartbreak or danger was heading their way, he'd been able to sense it.
So, why was he feeling like this now? Was it a current danger, or a looming one? He couldn't tell, but, no matter what, Gyutaro knew that he would protect his family. Tanjiro noticed when his Older Brother's smell turned to distress, and he frowned worriedly, "what's wrong big Brother?" he asked, drawing both Takeo and Genya's attention to the Oldest Kamado. Gyutaro gulped, and turned to the kids, "I have a feeling that something bad is coming. Maybe not now, but it's coming. And we have to be prepared Tanjiro" he warned seriously. Tanjiro became serious in a heartbeat, "right. We will be Gyutaro. Don't worry" he swore. Genya and Takeo looked at each other worriedly. That did not sound good at all.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Later that Afternoon, Gyutaro prepared to take his family home. Sanemi was standing at the gate to their Estate with his own younger Siblings around him. "Come back again soon!" Shuya said, Hiroshi nodding in agreement next to his Older Brother. "Yeah, we can play again!" Teiko said happily as she and her Siblings waved their friends goodbye. The Kamado's waved goodbye to their friends as well, as they left to head home. "Well, that was a fun day, huh? I'm glad that we could meet your friends," Tanjiro said with a smile, before it faded slightly, "too bad Ume and Nezuko could meet them though" he added. "They can meet them when they're human again! I'm sure they'll be good friends as well" Shigeru said with a grin. "Yeah. They will be" Tanjiro agreed happily, spirits raised again.
As his younger Siblings talked about all the fun they'd just had, Gyutaro was internally panicking, 'what the hell is this feeling?! The last time I felt something like this an Upper Rank Demon turned up and tried to kill Tanjiro!' he thought, struggling not to show his fear on his face. Whatever was going to happen, would be big.
To Be Continued