Candles || Kokushibo

🖤49: ᴀ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ʟɪғᴇ🖤

      "Tanjiro, stop cheating!" Muichiro shouts, grasping his cards fiercely and staring at the Kamado seated beside him. He stares at his adopted brother in the eyes, a single droplet of sweat trickling down the side of his face. "I'm not cheating! You're just bad at this game!" Muichiro lets out a theatrical gasp, holding his cards tighter as he moves away from the other male and closer to Giyuu, who was also playing with them. The Kamado looks at the younger man with a somewhat irked expression as he lowers his cards while continuing to hide them. "Why do you think I'm the one cheating when there are seven people playing?" Muichiro places his cards face down on the table, pressing his hand against the table and pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You give out bad vibes to me! I know you're cheating!"

      Kokushibo, who goes by the name Michikatsu, looks at the gathering while sighing wearily. He approaches the group and tugs on Muichiro's ear, causing for him to shriek out in surprise. "Muichiro, you're twenty-five years old; quit acting like a child." He glares cheekily at his father while growling at him and covering his ear. With a humph, he averts his eyes from the man and glares at his cards in frustration since he was lacking a certain color despite having so many cards. Michikatsu crosses his arms and gives the boy a stern look, which causes Muichiro to turn to face the elder man once more. "Nobody cheats at Uno!!"

      Uno is a card game that some family members like playing, while others believe it is a terrific way to lose friends. Fortunately, they had a huge family, so no one would be leaving under Micihkatsu's watch. However, there are currently seven players playing Uno at a table inside a closed restaurant. The restaurant belonged to the popular Mabel, who was currently playing along with them. The place appeared expensive and luxurious, and it was also rather large. They could manage it since almost every living member of the family was employed here. It was certainly a one-of-a-kind event for the family.

      The tables were rectangular, and the group sat around a single table that had been pushed closer to the temperance bar. Muichiro was seated on one side of the shorter end, still peering at the several cards he was holding in his hands. Tanjiro, who was betrayed by Muichiro's nonsense about cheating, is seated on the long side of the table on Muichiro's left. Next to Tanjiro is Akaza, who prefers the name Hakuji because that was his human name, and he is, in fact, a human now. His eyes were a bluish tone, and the blue tattoos that had previously covered much of his body were now solely on his arms. The only change between his appearance before and after he became a demon was his hair. His black hair was still the same color it had been before he changed, but he made the decision to let his hair grow out since he typically loved it and so did everyone else. His body wasn't as muscular as it once was since he never completely continued his martial arts career because there was no reason to. He lived so far away from his dojo now, and there were no more demons around since they had either died or reverted to human form, like the demons in his family.

      Mabel, the one who brought this family together in the first place, sat next to Akaza on the same long side of the table. Not only that, but she was a seventeen-year-old soon-to-be mother. Some people cry when they realize how much she has changed over the years. Her hair was jet black before she took the drug that changed her back into a human, but it curiously became strawberry red after she took the medicine. Everyone assumed that something had happened to the medicine until Mabel revealed that she was born with this hair color until the demon blood took control and her hair began to change. She was still a stunning woman in any case. Not only that, but she was married to a man in whom everyone had total trust: Kiriya Ubuyashiki, the Ubuyashiki family's sole son.

      Surprisingly, Kotoha was on the left side of Mabel, on the other side of the shorter end of the tabel. Kotoha was Inosuke's mother, and despite their obvious resemblance, she was a sweet and gentle person. She is currently chuckling at Muichiro's childish behavior while raising her six cards in front of her mouth as if to hide her giggling. Inosuke is sitting behind her, his back against hers, reading a book. Since her kid was raised in the woods, Kotoha devoted her time teaching him to read and write; he turned out to be a bookworm, he even requested Michikatsu if they could have their own library. Sumiyoshi was sitting beside Kotoha on the opposite side of the longer side of the table, openly laughing at Tanjiro as he began to fight with Muichiro about him not cheating at Uno. His daughter, Sumire, was sitting in his lap, while his wife, Suyako, was seated in the distance with their son at the temperance bar. She watches everything happen as they play the game while smiling lovingly at her husband. Giyuu was the last one to play with them, of course. Nearly a year after the fight with Muzan, he had a child. He laughed a lot more and never blamed himself for anything that had happened in the past.