Keeping Up with the Demon Kamado Family

an empty house of bloodied floors (part 1)

Monster at the Door 

Kamado Kie watched as her son went down the mountain, humming as he dragged through the snow with coal packed into the basket on his back. With the New Year, the town would need more coal for the winter. But she knew that her softhearted boy would probably stay out later than expected because he was always willing to help out the townsfolk.

She was so proud of her boy. Ha, if only Tanjuro could see him being the responsible older brother he was now. He would be so proud of the son they raised.

Kie swiped away a tear before it could trail down her face as she watched Nezuko carry Rokuta on her back.

"Kaa-chan! When will brother come back?" Shigeru asked while dragging a log behind him.

Kie smiled reassuringly at her son as she stitched up his shirt. Takeo had accidentally swung his ax into his sleeve which resulted in quite a large tear. "I'm sure he'll be back soon, my dear.

"Kaa-chan!" Hanako yelled with a grin. "Are we going to have blue soup tonight?"

"Oh!" Shigeru's eyes widened. "Can Rokuta have some this time? I think he's old enough!"

"Oh really?" Kie turned her attention to Nezuko who was slowly walking around the forest line close to their home to find some herbs. "I'm sure I can make some for lunch and save some for Tanjiro when he comes back."

Kie adored the special blue flower because of the sweet, flowery taste it provided for the soup she would make for her children. The flower combined with the sweet vegetables and berries in the forest was a perfect meal for her young family.

"Kaa-chan, is Tanjiro going to get married soon?" Takeo asked after chopping a log in two with deadly accuracy. He looked like his father when he chopped the wood so precisely.

Kie turned her attention to him, "Why do you ask?"

"He's getting old. And when you get old, you get married," Takeo gloomily said with a pout. He chopped the firewood with his ax like he was trying to turn it into twigs. "And if he gets married, he'll leave."

"Eh? No, big brother will stay with us forever!" Hanako protested.

Shigeru looked so worried that he dropped the wood in his arms. "Brother?"

"Children," Kie got her children's attention with a wave of her arms. She calmly reassured, "Tanjiro is not getting married anytime soon. And even if he does, he will never stop visiting and loving each one of us."

Her words calmed her children down enough to continue working. Nezuko walked up to her with a smile.

"Kaa-chan, do you need any help?"

"Ah, can you fetch some coal for the fire?" Kie asked her eldest daughter who adjusted Rokuta on her back. His soft hum was the only sound he made in his slumber, making her smile at the softness of his face despite the small shiver in his shoulders. "I'll start working on the soup soon, so it can slowly cook until lunchtime."

"Where do you even find such flowers?"

"It's a secret place. I showed Tanjiro once when he was younger, but I'm sure he forgot where by now," Kie bit down on a laugh. She knew that her son would have forgotten by now since she only showed him when he was only five. "I'll show you sometime soon."