Keeping Up with the Demon Kamado Family

a family waiting on a mountain of training (part 4)

Come Back Soon, Tanjiro

Tanjiro broke through the stone.

Urokodaki made it the biggest stone he had ever tested his students against, the toughest one. It was his last effort to test Tanjiro to truly make sure if he could make it. Because if he did, then maybe Tanjiro actually had a chance despite his empathy towards demons that he had witnessed when he first met him.

And Tanjiro sliced through it. It was right on time since the demon slayer exam is coming up soon. The fact that the time was so close made his nerves feel like they were on fire.

Even as he watched Tanjiro let his little sister braid his long, burgundy hair with little leaves and flower-like weeds, the unease festering inside him didn't end.

If he was honest, it only grew as his mind thought of what would happen to the Kamado family if their eldest brother did not come back home. He wanted to believe it was the sliver in his brain telling him that the demons might resort to human flesh now that their brother was not there to hold them back.

But maybe it was because the demons had softened a part of him. He couldn't refuse it since he allowed Rokuta, the smallest one, to take his mask off to reveal his very non-threatening face. The scene of Rokuta reaching up with his little hands to knead at his face is still fresh in his memories.

He thumbed over the fox-like mask he made for Tanjiro, his mask had a primary color of red with a sun motif at the corner near the ears. Hopefully, the strong demon ward spell he put on it will help him out.

The others' masks did not have the kind of spell, just a simple protection spell to protect them from enemies they might come across. And each of them carried a similar style to Tanjiro since they were his family.

Rokuta's mask had dark blue marks with dots under the eyes and big one at the sides of the mouth. Shigeru's mask had light greenish yellow lines on both cheeks like whiskers with round dots at the edges of the eyes. Hanako's mask had a muted yellow color around the eyes with light pink flowers along the right side.

Takeo's mask had dark blue lines making the eyes sharper along with painted scratches along the left edge. Kie's mask had purple and pink colors swirled around the eyes with mismatched small circles on the edge of the mouth. And Nezuko's mask was pink that matched her kimono with a line of green around the eyes that made the eyeholes more sharp.

As he looked from the sun painted on the mask to the scar on Tanjiro's forehead, he just hoped that Tanjiro would surprise him once again.

*

Urokodaki watched as Tanjiro until the cloud pattern blue robes and white mask disappeared from his sight. His family members couldn't say goodbye or watch him that closely since the sun was out. All of his farewells were given out to each member of his family before he left the hut for the demon slayer exam.

His hair was freshly braided by Hanako before he left because he said something about not needing anymore weird sword haircuts. Tanjiro said something about Giyuu cutting off his hair when he dodged a swing from his sword while protecting Nezuko.

When he went inside the hut, Rokuta was there by the door, peeking around his legs to try and find Tanjiro behind him. Rokuta chuffed behind his muzzle, tilting his head side to side to try and see if his older brother was training somewhere outside.