Every Beat || Tankana

II

CHAPTER 2 : The Very Thought

As he walked the halls once more in search of the Flower Pillar, he found himself starting to get confused again. Who knew that the Butterfly Mansion would be this big? He passed by seemingly same looking doors, entered the same looking empty rooms, but still no Kanao. She wasn't in the clinic like he assumed she would still be in, and she was also not in the garden like she always lingered in during her free time.

He was starting to get worried that Shinobu and the others were getting impatient, but that's when that same flowery scent got stronger the closer he walked to a certain room. He stopped dead on his tracks and stared at the door for a moment before realizing that it must be her bedroom.

Just when he was about to knock, Kanao slid the door open. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. Seconds past of them just staring at each other's eyes; he tore his gaze first, shifting to her hand. That was when he noticed the empty vial in her grasp, the cork was missing so he assumed she had been drinking it's contents.

"Tanjirou?" she blinked, maybe her eyes were deceiving her but when she opened them after the second blink, there he stood. "You are still here?" she asked.

The young swordsman averted his gaze from the clear tube to her face. He laughed awkwardly. "Yeah... Kocho-san insisted we stay for lunch." though trying his best to speak normally to her, his mind was still elsewhere at the moment.

That vial...

"I see." she nodded. "Then we should hurry and join them, yes?" He watched her as she placed the vial on top of her dresser near the door. He narrowed his eyes at the unsteady state of the vial as it rolled dangerously at the edge of the dresser, only to be stopped by the wooden rim.

He shook his head and nodded at Kanao as she smiled softly at him. He almost forgot what he was worried about.

They walked alongside each other, a comfortable silence bestowed upon them. When they reached the dining hall, Inosuke gave a dramatic 'Finally!' at the sight of the two. They joined them in the table, sitting next to each other and engaged in their conversation.

The talk between the people present in the table was mostly about Shinobu and Giyuu's baby and sometimes about the younger ones desire to be a part of the Demon Slaying Corp one day. Kanao even offered to train the three girls but it was visible in their older sisters' eyes that they were hesitant to let the girls hold swords and go about killing almost invincible enemies.

Once the meal was over, Tanjirou and Inosuke bid their goodbyes and started their walk back to their homes. The whole travel, Tanjirou spent silently thinking about the questionable vial Kanao had earlier. He tried to push it in the back of his mind, tell himself that it was nothing and probably unimportant. But he can't help think about the worst case scenario.

"Oi, Tontaro, where are you going?" he was alarmed by Inosuke.

He stopped abruptly, turned his head and saw the Beast Hashira standing infront of their property. He was thinking too much that he missed their destination.

"Oh," he scratched the back of his neck and walked back to their stop. "Sorry. I was just thinking." he said. Inosuke hummed- more like grunted and walked towards the door.

"WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?!" Zenitsu demanded, wearing an apron over his Demon Slayer uniform, hands on his hips and glaring daggers at the pair. The two swordsman just stared at him in utter confusion. "I HAVE BEEN CLEANING ALL DAY. DOING YOUR LAUNDRY, AND MADE LUNCH." the blonde listed off.

He almost sounded like an nagging wife complaining about her husband's antics, but his voice was more high pitched and to Inosuke, annoying. Nezuko appeared next to Zenitsu, holding a duster and had a handkerchief tied to her head to keep the hair in place. Tanjirou thought that his little sister looked adorable, but he couldn't appreciate it because Zenitsu's eyes were blazing fire, waiting for some kind of an explanation.

"Kocho-san just invited us for lunch. We're really sorry for not being able to help you with the chores." a simple apology would always be accepted by the Thunder Hashira, so he sighed, dropped his shoulders and patted Nezuko's head as a gesture for her to continue helping him with the cleaning.

The two left the foyer and went to another room to clean. It was good that Nezuko's injuries from the last time she was off fighting Demons with her brother, were fully healed, so she was up and about and somehow productive.

Inosuke moved along to remove his boar mask and walked towards the kitchen, probably for another meal. Tanjirou sighed himself and decided to spend the day training, helping with the chores, and sleeping.

.  .  .

A week past since then, Tanjirou was sent out for missions again, some of which were simple night patrols. He finished his mission for that day and decided to head home. Zenitsu and Inosuke were not present so he assumed that they were still busy with their own set of duties. The teenager set his sleeping sister in her futon in her own dark room.

He was now sitting on the table, sipping tea as he waited for the rice to boil. Even though he wasn't completely alone in the house, he felt lonely. He remembered those days in his younger years where him and his whole family would sit and eat the food their mother prepared together as they laughed and joked. He missed those times so much.

One day, when he builds a family of his own, he's going to make sure that they all eat together in one table inside their warm house. Their going to eat good food his wife prepared, and laugh and be happy no matter the circumstances.

Food his wife prepared.

The sudden thought of a certain purple-eyed woman with a winning smile, cooking but acknowledging their children's bickering as she laughed and patted their heads lovingly, entered his head.

Kanao.... My wife...

The very tips of his hair stood up at the realization. His cheeks were so red it was starting to look unnatural, his chest tightened and he could hear the loud pounding of his pulse that it almost cancelled out the sound of knocking.

He straightened up in his seat, still trying to collect himself, he waited for another set of knocks just incase he heard it wrong. And he wasn't wrong, the soft knocking came again at the same time the rice started boiling.

He slightly panicked in his seat and quickly stood up to remove the pot's lid. He stared at the door before leaving the rice and answering whoever was outside. It couldn't possibly be Zenitsu and Inosuke, because usually if it were this late and they still have not returned, they would stay somewhere else and come home the next morning. And they would probably just barge in.

It must be one of the villagers, Tanjirou presumed. He opened the door but was greeted by someone else.

Black hair, shimmering eyes, pale skin, topped with a beautiful smile. Standing expectantly infront of him, she stretched her smile further and it only made him freeze in his spot more, so much so that they would need fire to melt away the ice in his blood.

"Kanao?" he finally said through the racing of his heart.

•  •  •

I swear chapter 3 will get deeper.