When Snow Falls | Tanjiro x Kanao | {Completed}

Chapter 14 - The Invitation

Tanjiro sat at the dining room table, the newspaper they'd received that morning sprawled in front of him on the dining room counter. The glass of hot chocolate in his hands, though half gone, still steamed hot and fresh. Before the military, Tanjiro had often made his hot chocolate from cocoa powder and actual chocolate, sometimes even cream. There had always been something comforting about it and it's rich taste. Coming home, it was one of the only sweet things his poor tongue could endure. It had helped that he'd replaced the milk chocolate with dark.

Just as he was reading about some drama involving the basketball this week, Nezuko walked into the room. Her eyes were focussed on the plate she held in her hand as she crossed the room toward the kitchen sink. Humming to herself, she set the dish in the sink with a clatter and stood on tiptoe to reach a cupboard above her head. She reached in and grabbed the pretty pink heart shaped mug on the shelf, she glanced around at Tanjiro. He looked up from his newspaper, watching her as he placed his cup down on the hardwood table. Nezuko's eyes rolled to the heavens.

"Tan, you're so old sometimes. You've only been gone three years, yet you're reading a newspaper. Good gracious, I wouldn't be surprised if you said your sevenieth birthday was tomorrow," she said, putting the cup down with a clunk on the counter and reaching for the jar of green tea.

Tanjiro frowned, offended.

"It's a good way to get the news of the world," he protested, "I like to know what's going on."

Nezuko snorted and gestured toward the television on the mantel.

"That's what the TV is for," she said.

Tanjiro swallowed. Nezuko was right, he knew. He was only a few years older than her, but he was still did old fashioned things that weren't typical for his generation. Folding up the paper carefully, he put it aside and cleared his throat. Nezuko noticed and her expression changed to a look of guilt.

"Oh, Tan. It's okay, you can do whatever you want. I'm just teasing, I'm sorry if I hurt you," she said, chewing her lip as she picked up the mug and walked slowly over to him.

With a shrug that was more for him than for her, Tanjiro smiled.

"It's alright, I know. I'm very behind my time."

Nezuko smiled. "Probably all that stuff you picked up from Dad."

While both of them laughed, Tanjiro also felt the hesitation grow inside him. They'd never really joked about their dad before. He was something of a sacred topic in their family circle, although he'd been a very happy and outgoing person himself.

After his death five years back, Tanjiro's mother had been devestated. She'd stopped eating, drinking, sleeping, functioning. In later years, she would admit that it had felt like she'd lost a fundamental part of herself and her composure. Tanjiro shivered at the memory of his mother sitting in the rocking chair on the porch behind their house, gazing over the pond and to the woods beyond, a dead look in her eyes. Anytime they'd ask a question, tried to talk to her, all she could do was answer with a blankness to her voice that did not suit her.

Tanjiro's mother was a strong and lively woman. Ever since they were children, their father a successful but overworked doctor, Mother had always been the one to take the reins. Running the household, looking after the children, cooking and making sure everyone was happy. Tanjiro remembered many a time when he'd been an emotional wreck, and had to turn to Mother. His only lifeline.

When that lifeline was severed, it felt like the world had been turned upside down. Nothing seemed right, nothing seemed balanced. Tanjiro was constantly stressed, upset and heartbroken as he fought to keep the family together. His younger siblings had been devestated. Nezuko had been at college, unable to find means to get home.