My Beloved (Demon Slayer Fanfiction)

#11

A year has passed since the incident with Aki and her mother; Lady Amane has helped Aki in her recovery process; Aki spent two weeks with her and in her house while having some therapy sessions every month. Mister Shinjuro, although he still drinks alcohol, doesn't go anywhere near one when Aki is around; plus, he has also been helping Aki train again.

Sanemi visited Aki twice throughout the year; the first time was brief because Aki still did not talk or look at anyone. The second visit was much longer; Aki turned her head at Sanemi when she heard the sound of the door slide open, a small act like that was enough to make Sanemi's eyes glisten. Both Sanemi and Aki talked for what seemed to be hours; only when it was time for him to leave he gave Aki a small present, it was her "birthday" after all. Nobody, not even Aki herself, knew when she was born, so Miss Ruka picked a day for her.

Which meant Aki was now twenty years old, "happy birthday," Sanemi said. He got off the ground and slid open the door to leave; he stopped right between the room and hallway. "Im proud of you," he said while having his back faced to her, "and, thank you for letting me be your sensei." Aki didn't have a chance to respond to Sanemi; he quickly left the room and slammed the door shut.

Sanemi has never once praised Aki for anything; there wasn't much encouragement when he trained her to the bone. Aki opened the box he gave her and was surprised to see it was filled with an assortment of sweets; in the corner of the box, there was a small pouch of an exquisite brand of green tea to compliment the pastries.

Aki heard her bird chirp as it flew closer to her room; a small note was tied to its leg, which meant it was a letter from Rengoku. Untying the rope from its leg, Aki began to read what was inside; every note he had sent to Aki was around the same length. This letter, however, was shorter.

One line, in particular, widened Aki's eyes, "he's coming back," Aki whispers to herself, "at night he should be back in town!" Aki's bird chips and hops in excitement while flapping its wings; he is excited even though he sees Rengoku almost every day.

Senjuro walked down the hall to Aki's room, "Aki," he said through the door, "I brought dinner, I'm coming in." He used his free hand to open the door; the sound of a wind chime gently echoed in the room, Senjuro froze in his tracks as he stared at Aki smiling.

"He's coming back, Senjuro!" Aki said in a soft, cheery tone, "Kyojuro is coming home tonight!" Senjuro nearly dropped the food tray after hearing this news, "he is?!" He exclaimed, "big brother is coming back?!" Aki quickly nods and shows him the letter, "the last paragraph says so! He's really coming home!"

~At Night~
~Rengoku P.O.V~

The town was tranquil when I passed the gates; the residence should not be far from here; I'm so close to seeing them again. I run down the street and reach the house around five minutes later; I quickly take off my shoes before taking another step inside.

I speed tip-toe down the hall to Aki's room; I was surprised to see a dim light piercing through the screen door. I slowly slide the door open and smile as I see Aki and Senjuro; it looks like they tried their best to stay up to greet me. Aki was sitting upwards while holding Senjuro sitting on her lap.

I walk inside the room and carefully lay Aki down on her futon; I take Senjuro off her; I hug my little brother more before I lay him down. I take off my haori, blow out the candle and get inside the fluffy futon.

I lay my arm across Senjuro and Aki; both were deep asleep. I smile as I look down at Senjuro, who is between Aki and me; I give him a brotherly kiss on top of his head. I leaned over and kissed Aki's forehead, I wanted to kiss her cheek, but I was scared to wake them both. Right now, I should just sleep along with them; I can't wait until the morning.