boketto || t. kamado

thirty-eight

"Y/n, Daichi sent another letter," Joji said from the doorway, cautiously peeking in with uncertainty but holding the folded paper in his grasp. I smiled from my short desk beside my bed, holding a hand towards him.

"Thank you," I greeted as he padded in, placing it into my grasp and then lingering by my side as I placed it on my desk and then pushed myself to stand as well. He'd gotten tall, just as I expected. Standing at my shoulder now and not the little kid he once was. It's how I'd imagined it to be. 

He still grabbed onto the fabric of my sleeve, like he did when he was younger, and asked, "Can I come with you when you go to town today?"

I smiled, "Ah, I don't think I'm going today. Tomorrow though, you can join."

Joji gave a small cheer to himself and followed on my heel as I wandered from my room, out into the more open area of our house. I could hear Tanjiro in the kitchen, speaking with Zenitsu and Inosuke about something or another. But I decided to give the house a look around and wandered down the halls. It all felt so new and old at the same time. My childhood home, but I hadn't been there while training to be a Demon Slayer. 

Now, my sword was decorative. Placed on a stand on a shelf. I preferred it there, in a weird way. 

Joji hummed alongside me as we walked, seeming content to just stay in my presence. That was a big difference between him and Ahmya and always had been. She liked to be productive at all times and rarely spent a moment not working on something. Joji, however, enjoyed the more scenic and calm things. He reminded me of Mom a lot in that way - the two of them looked exactly like her as well. I looked like my father. 

Speaking of Ahmya, she appeared around a corner suddenly with a bundle of flowers in her grasp. She always walked like she was on a mission, and this time was no different as she spotted me and just said, "I'm going outside to put these on Mom's grave. I'll be back soon."

My brow furrowed, "It's getting dark."

She blinked, then gave me a wary look, "What's wrong with the dark?"

I opened my mouth to speak but paused. Oh. Right. I recoiled a bit, glancing towards the wall that held the outdoors on the other side. Almost instinctively, I found myself searching for something. Auras - but not that of humans. 

I shook my head, trying to break myself from the curse, and instead smiled at her, "Nothing. Be safe, that's all."

She brushed me off with a wave of her hand, "You worry too much," and then walked past and towards the back door. I watched her with a careful eye. 

Joji pulled at my sleeve, and caught my attention again as he said, "Demons are gone now, remember?"

I blinked, "...Right. I'd forgotten."

The strange thing that made my head spin was I couldn't quite recall how or when such a reality had occurred. But I tried not to think about it too much, and instead continued my walk with my younger brother, humming myself this time to try and fill the silence and questions in my mind. 

Tanjiro woke with a scream, sitting up quickly despite the weight on him and his hand clutching his own throat. He fully expected the slash to still be there - for him cutting his own neck to have failed, and he ended his own life fruitlessly. 

Each breath was heavy and his eyes were wide, struggling to concentrate on anything besides the fact that he'd cut his own neck, and focus back on what was happening. Demons. Under attack. Nezuko's blood. 

"I'm all right," He told himself, "I'm alive."

With a calming breath, he blinked to refocus his surroundings. The warm boy became aware of the weight against his chest, glancing down and recognizing them quickly.