The Water Tsuguko

Chapter One

Takeo loved helping out his family. Even though he was only ten, he did everything he could to protect all of them, no matter how old he was. Currently, he was chopping wood for both the charcoal they were burning and to sell to the villagers to earn more money for a wonderful New Year's celebration. He was especially excited because this was the year that Tanjiro was going to start teaching him their family Kagura dance, as he had learned from their father when he was ten.
He finished chopping the last bit of wood, and separated them. Half went stacked neatly on the side of their small house, while the other half went in a woven basket for him to carry down the mountain. He set his ax down for a quick second while he adjusted the straps of the basket on his shoulders, before picking the ax up again and holding it steadily in his left hand.
As he walked closer to the front of their house, he could hear Shigeru and Hanako practically begging Tanjiro to let them come with, though both him and their mother refused to let them, due to the fact that there was no cart to carry them in for now. He could hear his older brother bribing the younger ones with goodies and reading for later, which immediately cleared up the frowns on their faces as they began smiling widely and agreeing to stay home.
"You didn't actually want to help, did you," Takeo asked his sister accusingly, a smirk on his face.
"Of course I did!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms across her chest and puffing out her cheeks. This caused her siblings and mother to explode into a fit of laughter, before Tanjiro gestured to his brother.
"We should get going," he said, smiling. "We don't want to miss all the daylight we have."
As Takeo and Tanjiro began walking away, they heard the well wishes that they were sent off with, being sure to wave before going out of sight. Takeo had a content smile on his face as he and Tanjiro walked side by side.
They walked more, and soon, they could see the slightly tall figure of their older sister. Takeo always envied Nezuko's height. She was only a year older than him, yet she was maybe an inch or so taller than Tanjiro at the moment. Rei had insisted to him many times that girls hit their growth spurts earlier than most boys, and that Takeo most likely will grow taller than her, though he still didn't like it.
"Nezuko," Tanjiro said, causing her to turn around and greet her two brothers with a smile.
"Going into town," Nezuko smiled, making sure not to be too loud as little Rokuta was passed out in a sling on her back. "Make sure you two make lots of money so we can have a feast for New Years."
"Of course we will," Takeo huffed, leaving his sister with an amused look on her face. Rokuta began to stir, and Nezuko excused herself, insisting that she better go lay him down in his futon otherwise he would cause a fuss again.
With that, the two Kamado brothers were off, ready to sell as much charcoal and wood as they possibly could for the new year. The walk down was peaceful as Takeo and Tanjiro discussed almost anything they could think of to pass the time.
Takeo's legs were feeling a little wobbly once they finally reached the village around noon, though he didn't dare to complain. That would mean his mother wouldn't trust him to come down with Tanjiro anymore without him carrying the cart.
A lot of the villagers greeted the brothers fondly, asking for a few favors to be done in exchange for money, along with several wanting to buy the wood and charcoal the brothers originally came down the mountain to sell.
Pretty soon, dusk began to fall, and all the wood and charcoal were sold. Takeo was close to exhaustion, but refused to show it to his older brother, but based on how good Tanjiro was at reading emotions, he probably already could tell. As they reached the foot of the mountain, they heard their neighbor, Mr. Saburo, calling out to them.
"Tanjiro, Takeo. Are you boys really about to head up the mountain at this hour?"
"Yes, Mr. Saburo," Tanjiro said with a smile. "We promised to return as soon as possible."
"You two really should come inside and spend the night here," he insisted. "It is really dangerous at this hour. Especially since this is the time that man-eating demons come out."
Takeo and Tanjiro exchanged a look at each other, and eventually they gave in, walking into the old man's house. The property had a few trees with beautiful purple flowers surrounding the cottage.
"Can't demons get into houses, '' Takeo asked as he took his boots off, sighing at the relieving feeling of his feet finally being free from the tight shoes.
"They indeed can," Saburo said, pulling out two extra futons. "Though I've protected myself all these years after the demons ate my wife and daughter with wisteria flowers."
"Wisteria?" Tanjiro asked, his thirteen-year-old curiosity getting the best of him.
"Those trees with the bright purple flowers," Saburo explained. "Extremely toxic to demons, so we should be okay as long as they don't wilt."
They conversed more throughout the dinner Saburo served, though it was really just the brothers listening to the stories Saburo told. Once their food was all done, they laid out the futons and tucked themselves in, sleep taking Takeo much faster than Tanjiro- his consciousness gone before Saburo could even blow out the candles.