Keeping Up with the Demon Kamado Family

an empty house of bloodied floors (part 3)

Promises

The deer carcass was nothing but bone now since his siblings finished their meal while he was crafting their muzzles. If the situation was like it was now, he would probably be saving the bone for a broth in the future. But there was no need for something like that since his family would be craving more blood than anything else. He had to drag it into the shadowed part of their home when the sun started to come up.

Tanjiro's fingers hurt after making five new bamboo muzzles for the rest of his family that matched Nezuko's. But he felt better once his mother had pushed a bowl of her famous soup in his hands that she took off a shelf for him. It was cold like it was waiting for him for hours and made him tear up at the first swallow at the familiar taste.

The warmth of his mother's bloodied sleeve against his cheek was more comforting than he realized after everything that happened.

Luckily, with Nezuko's example, everyone fit the muzzles over their faces except Rokuta who needed Nezuko to fix it for him. Somehow Rokuta was more... open to nibbling on his skin than his other siblings. Hopefully they can get that under control, so Rokuta doesn't bite into an actual human.

"Thank you. Whoever is listening up there, thank you," Tanjiro mumbled a prayer while he watched his demonic family hiding in the shadows of their home. Shigeru was tangled in Takeo's limbs as Hanako was attached to his back. Nezuko had Rokuta in her lap, holding him back from joining the siblings dogpile before them. All while his mother watched all of them with a serene look in her purple snake-like eyes.

Hah, he needed to get moving. He had to get to the mountain that Giyuu told him about, but he couldn't leave any of them behind. Goodness, he needed some sort of cart to transport them all there.

"I made money with the coal I sold yesterday and—ah! I dropped the box somewhere on the way up here. It should be a bit further down the path, so maybe I can use that...for something." Tanjiro whispered as he tried to break down possibilities of what he could do.

The coal basket is not big enough for all of his family. Maybe he could weave together several baskets and then pay extra for a covered cart? That seemed possible. He heard somewhere along the tree branch yesterday that one of the aunties in town was selling an older cart because of a lopsided almost-broken wheel.

If he could make enough baskets, all of them would be safe from the sun and safe for travel. And even if he couldn't get a cart, he could simply tie the baskets together and drag them... Although that option didn't seem quite comfortable

"I vow that I will make sure everyone is back to normal." Tanjiro promised, his voice catching the attention of his family who turned to watch him carefully. He pulled out one of their sharper knives they used for dealing with tougher meats. The glint of the metal reflected his determined expression. "Until then I will provide what all of you need wherever it might be."

If he has to kill a few rabbits to keep his family satiated, so be it. As long as they didn't harm any humans on the way. They couldn't draw any demon slayer's attention. From what Giyuu said, they wouldn't hesitate with their sword if they saw him and his family.

They would not be merciful.

*

The day passed quicker than expected since he spent most of it making bamboo muzzles and then watching over his siblings as they hunted for a fresh new body the next night.