saturn

I

"Tanjiro."

A woman who had a gentle expression on her face looked at her eldest son. Wiping her hands with white cloth, she once again called out to him.

"Your face is covered in soot. Come over here." Walking towards his mother, the boy stood in front of her as she got her hanker chief. Resting on the snow, she begun to gently clean her son's face. "It's dangerous with all this snow. You don't have to go, you know." The mother voiced her concerns as she knew that her son tried his beat for their family.

"Well, I want everyone to eat their fill on New Year's, so I'm going to sell as much charcoal as I can." Tanjiro replied as he saw the warm smile of his mother. He felt happy that he can at least get extra money for food. "Thank you."

"Big bro!"

Two younger children came running towards Tanjiro and Kie with excitement in their voices. Halting to a stop, the younger boy, Shigeru, asked "You're going to town again today?" Before Tanjiro can answer, his younger sister, Hanako, shouted "I'm going with you!"

Standing up, Kie immediately shut down the idea. "Oh no, you're not. You know you can't walk fast like Tanjiro." Feeling the disappointment of not being able to go with his brother, Shigeru turned to convince his mother "Mom!"

"You may not." Walking towards her younger children, she once more begin to tell the reasons as to why they can't go. "Since he can't use the cart today, he won't be able to give you a ride when you're tired." Knowing that they couldn't win against their mother, they both looked down in disappointment. "Big bro!"

Shigeru yelled out before he tackled his brother with a hug. Hanako behind him yelled out as well "I wanna go with you! I promised I'll help you!". Tanjiro only smiled as he extend his arm to pat his sister on her head. "Thanks Hanako." Filling up with hope, Hanako believe that she would be able to go with her big brother today. However, her hope was cut off as Tanjiro added that she would need to stay home today.

Tears started to build up in her eyes as Tanjiro moved to Shigeru. Crouching down to his height, Tanjiro said "You too, Shigeru. But I'll promised to get you tons of goodies, okay?" Quickly the disappointment turned into joy as the thought of goodies came into his mind. "Really?"

"Yeah." Tanjiro promised as he saw the smile that filled his beloved younger brother's face. Turning once more to Hanako, he made his own promise to her. "And Hanako, I'll read for you when I'm back." Tanjiro promised as he pat her head again. "Okay!" A smile appeared on her face, which also cause Tanjiro to have a smile on his face as well. Kie smile fondly as she saw her eldest try his best to cheer up his siblings. "Thank you Tanjiro."

Standing up from his previous position, he turned to his mother as he replied that it was ok. Seeing his brother Takeo who was behind Hanako and Shigeru, he was about to tell him to give it his all for his job, however, someone else beat Tanjiro.

"Mama!"

A young girl no older than 12 with crimson red hair and violet eyes came running to where part of her family is. Natsu Kamado the third eldest of the siblings ran in her Sakura kimono to try to get her plan to work.

"Natsu?" He mother question as the girl stopped in front of them. Worried that her daughter wanted to go with Tanjiro too, she said to the young girl "Natsu you can't go with Tanjiro." Quickly swinging her hands in front of her as a no motion, Natsu finally said what she had been wanting to say. "Mama I'll take Tanjiro's place for today. I'll sell as many coal as I can." Having a bright smile on her face, Natsu knew that her mother would object. "Natsu it's too dangerous to go with this much snow." Kie answered as she knew the snow was thick and could cause problems for her children.