Candles || Kokushibo

🖤27: ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴋᴀᴍᴀᴅᴏ's🖤

Sumiyoshi sits with Tanjiro on the bed while he recovers from the upper moon incident. The younger man is enjoying a small cup of mint tea that Kokushibo prepared for the two boys while the adult sits with his knees squished to his chest and his back resting on the headboard of the bed. "You're healing pretty quickly." He informs the teen as he notices him shifting his focus to the adult. "You think so? Akaza said the same thing." Tanjiro brings him his cup, inhaling the fresh aroma of tea as the elder man takes it from his palm. The younger boy is seen reaching his arms out and holding onto the cup with both hands while Sumiyoshi beamed at him. He shifts his gaze into the cup and studies the lightly swirling green liquid within. "I never met Nezuko during those two months." He acknowledges, sensing the teen's interest in him. Tanjiro moves in closer to the man, his gaze fixed on the little brown box on the floor. Following his gaze, Sumiyoshi discovers the still-small container. "She's in there." The older Kamado raises an eyebrow in perplexity as he points. "In a box?" The adolescent is giving him another one of his innocent smiles as he turns to face him.

Sumiyoshi chuckles faintly, dropping his head so that it gently touches the cup's edge. "Sorry, I just find that thought amusing." Tanjiro looks at the older male for a few moments before beaming at him again. "I like to travel during the day." Sumiyoshi hears him remark as he slumps his back somewhat, his arms carelessly draped over his knees, thinking back at the tiny box beside the bed. "I see."

Their ears are soon filled with scratching noises, which makes Tanjiro grin. "Nezuko," he calls out in a quiet and compassionate tone. The modest door opens, revealing his younger sister, who is visible via his soft red eyes. Nezuko looks up at her older brother before shifting her sight to the older male, her eyes slightly widening. She huffs loudly and repeatedly, raising her arms swiftly as she struggles to make sense of what she is witnessing. Sumiyoshi hums in confusion as he studies her face, but suddenly it dawns on him. "She looks like my daughter." The little demon pauses and gives him a perplexed hum as he slips the words out of his mouth. Nezuko leaps up and tries to move her body up onto the edge of the bed by clutching onto it. She pumps her legs back and forth before extending her arms and rolling on top of the bed. Sumiyoshi jumps a little as she firmly wraps her arms around his leg.

Kokushibo had to agree that it was a nice sight, one that made him smile. He thinks to himself as he lingers in the corridor outside the door, holding two small dishes of noodles for the two Kamado's. What would happen if he failed to rescue Mabel? Would she have died from spending so much time outside in the cold. Alternatively, given that she was bleeding, perhaps another demon would have discovered her. Even though it has been a while since that day, remembering how close he came to killing her makes him regret everything. The idea of nearly murdering his own young daughter makes him angry. Furious at himself. Thanks to his brother, he now has a daughter that can see instead of merely a blind one. And now he has eleven children. Having so many seems so surreal. How many did he have when he was a human? Two?

The subtle squeaking of the door draws the attention of the two other males to the door, where they observe Kokushibo in his human form. Tanjiro droops his head. "Dad?" The demon hands them their plates as he moves across the bed. Kokushibo grumbles. "The kakushi are still... terrified of me. Except for Gotou, that is." Nezuko leaps up, dangling on his nagagi kimono with one hand while tugging at his hair with the other. She delicately taps her fingertips across the six eyed demon's face as he slowly lifts his arms to hug her. Kokushibo brushes her hair away from her face before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I rarely see you with your hair down." The tall man turns to face Tanjiro as he speaks, a faint smile forming across his face. Despite her puffing complaints, he places Nezuko on the bed on top of Sumiyoshi's legs. "Mabel was playing with it, and the... ribbon snapped." He pats Nezuko, which appears to soothe her down as she flops on her back and lifts her arms to grip his fingers as if she were a toddler.

Sumiyoshi leans back and looks blankly ahead. He lived in the Sengoku era from the time he was born to the time he passed away, but right now he is in the Taisho era, roaming around. Despite the fact that he was practically dead, people could still see him. He isn't as solitary as he was in Tanjiro's subconscious house. He spent a few weeks there, but no matter how far he traveled, he was unable to speak to anyone. He was alone in the world. Now he is always surrounded by individuals who are concerned about his well-being and emotions. They desire for him to be satisfied with the new chances that have been presented to him. Why were they handed to him? How did he end up in that predicament? With a smile, Sumiyoshi casts a glance towards his descendant.

'You're just like me, Tanjiro.'

🖤Secret/Extras🖤

~The man that we thought was Mabel's biological dad in the beginning of the story went missing

~~There was a rumor that he was killed by a demon, but there was no blood

~In chapter 22, it was stated in the 'secrets/extras' that the only living family that Mabel had was her mom and the man that she thought was her dad. However, Yoriichi only knew about this because it was written in the journal. It's actually not true, Mabel's biological dad is still alive.

~Senjuro cried for 25 minutes straight when he figured out that Tanjiro woke up. He also told him that Kokushibo 'surprise adopted' him and Tanjiro wasn't surprised

~Muichiro fell asleep on Tanjiro and Sumiyoshi's legs like he was a dog.

~~Tanjiro wasn't surprised that Muichiro got 'surprise adopted' as well

~~~Actually, no one was surprised

~Mitsuri likes braiding both Yoriichi and Kokushibo's hair like her's

~Mabel was born with strawberry red hair, but as she got older, it was getting darker until it became black

~~There is a reason for this

~Kokushibo scolded Giyuu for an hour about the negative affects of giving Mabel too much candy

~~Giyuu didn't care, so Kokushibo pulled on his ear.

~Yoriichi left, but he'll be back in the next chapter

~The list who Kokushibo has adopted, wants to adopt, and does NOT want to adopt has been updated. Here's is the new list:

~~Has already been adopted:

~~~Mabel

~~~Tanjiro

~~~Nezuko

~~~Akaza

~~~Aoi

~~~Sumi

~~~Naho

~~~Kiyo

~~~Senjuro

~~~Muichiro

~~~Sumiyoshi

~~Wants to adopt:

~~~Mitsuri

~~~Giyuu

~~~Shinobu

~~~Kyojuro

~~~Genya

~~~Hinatsuru

~~~Koinatsu

~~Does NOT want to adopt:

~~~Sanemi

~~~Obanai

~~Wants to adopt but can't:

~~~Kanao

~~~Inosuke

~~~Zenitsu

~Author-chan wasn't feeling that good, but she still wanted to update because she loves you guys!

~We now have 39 people in the Anti-Muzan Club!! Comment "Anti-Muzan Club" to join us!

~~Should Author-chan make a group on Quotev so that we can add ideas for future stories? (Or just insult Muzan and spit on his grave >:))

~~~She'll add the link in the next chapter if it's a yes!

~~~~For the ones who don't know Quotev, it's like wattpad, but you can do more stuff on it like making quizzes and polls! It's also easier to talk to others and ask for help for stories! (P.s: Author-chan updates her stories on there as well.)