As the author of this story, I would just like to say: this is a terrible idea.
Tanjirou's knees are weak and he's trying to control his breathing, but Akiko is two seconds away from forcing him onto the ground and elevating his legs to treat for shock.
"Your parents are going to kill me," Tanjirou wheezes out, arms wrapped around his bandaged chest in fear that his hammering heart will break his rib cage.
Akiko rests a hand on his back, free from having to carry his sister around. He follows her instructions to take in deep breaths, but she still finds it odd that his body is well above normal body temperature.
"Are you running a fever still?"
"If I say 'yes' can we go home?"
"No. But I will ask my father to help lower your body temperature."
"Not if your mom tries to exorcise me first," Tanjirou sighs under his breath, but Akiko pretends not to hear as she walks up the steps of the house, dragging Tanjirou despite the fact that he's digging his feet into the cobble steps.
She quickly raps her fist against the wooden door, using her other hand to keep Tanjirou in place. She's glad that he still isn't at full health yet, or he would have tossed her into the Model-T with no problem.
"Hello?" The head maid answers, opening the door before her eyes brighten upon seeing the young mistress.
"Oh! Welcome home," she bows, head lowered with her hands neatly folded in front of her plain kimono.
"Are you here to surprise your parents with a visit?"
Akiko smiles brightly, as if she's an innocent lamb, before tugging Tanjirou out from behind her.
"Kinda!"
Akiko makes it a note to give the poor maid a raise the minute she faints.
Tanjirou can smell antiseptic and metal from inside the house, and a whiff of silk, hemp, satin and linen right behind that scent. He stiffens at the familiar smells, but Akiko's grip feels like a death vice.
"What's all this noise?" Ray questions, then begins to rush down the stairs at the sight of his fallen maid.
"Hiratsuka, my bag!"
Akiko decides to peek through the entrance, a smile on her face as she waves to her parents and calls out, "No need! Just elevate her legs and grab a blanket! She's just in shock."
Hiratsuka blinks in surprise at her daughter's sudden appearance and Ray raises a suspicious brow.
"Last you left you were a complete mess, and that was half a month ago. Just what are you playing at young lady," Ray chastises, but orders another maid to fetch a blanket and some pillows.
Blonde hair and green eyes, a new maid trying to make a living in Taisho Japan.
Perfect.
"Actually, three blankets should suffice."
"Are you trying to bury Mika?"
"Oh, they're not all for her," Akiko swings the door open and Tanjirou pales upon seeing his in-laws.
"Ta da! Kamado Tanjirou lives- Damn it I didn't get to finish my grand reveal. C'mon let's drag their bodies onto the couch. Blankets and pillows should be in the closet down the hall three doors to the left."
Tamura Akiko has no respect for her elders.
---
Despite being assumed dead for over four years, the couple remains overjoyed that their son-in-law is very much alive and kicking.
Though it did take a thorough medical examination from Ray for the two to believe that Tanjirou isn't just some ghost bound to Akiko.
And while the scar runs deeper and his hands are worn to the bone, Tanjirou still has the same smile and the same glow within his eyes as he did when he was a child. Ray is beyond shocked with Tanjirou's strength, even though he has barely recovered most of it.
All the while, Hiratsuka is chewing Akiko's ear off and forcing her to do some housework as punishment for nearly killing her parents and inheriting the family hospital. The maids are allowed the rest of the day off as an apology for Akiko's shocking antics, though a few laugh off the incident and comment on how Akiko's face seems to glow.
Akiko's already broken a plate, and her mother is in the midst of tying her tasuki to help her daughter with the day's laundry.
"Unbelievable," Hiratsuka mumbles under her breath, hanging some blankets and a kimono while Akiko drenches herself in soapy water, not used to using a washboard.
"The warai-hannya is going to kidnap you and eat you, you know?"
"I'm not a kid anymore... And I said I was sorry," Akiko grumbles back, grimacing at the sight of her pruney fingers. Hiratsuka whips her head to her daughter, fire raging in her eyes at the sight of the brainless good for nothing little doctor she has on her hands.
"You didn't say it with heart! And why aren't you washing the bed sheets in alphabetical order?!"
"What does that MEAN?!"
Upon hearing her father's booming laugh, Akiko looks to the backyard's entrance to see both her father and a tired looking Tanjirou.
"Good news! Your fiance isn't a yuurei-"
"Pray to the gods he's not a yokai either. Next thing you know he's a tsuchigumo or a moryo!"
Akiko laughs at the confused look on her father's face. Ray can never quite remember all the Japanese folklore, which is fine since English folklore goes over Hiratsuka's head too. But the look of fear on Tanjirou's face is even better.
"Don't worry," Akiko moves to his side, taking his hand into her own. "I know you won't spill out thousands of small spiders or eat my dead body."
"Akiko I still can't process spiders," he mock cries and Akiko laughs joyfully, cupping his face into her hands.
Ray and Hiratsuka look at the two with warmth overflowing their hearts.
It's been so long since Akiko has smiled in this way, and they know that Akiko brought Tanjirou to show them that she's okay. Their worry can't get past her eyes and in this way the two know that Akiko will be just fine.
Akiko truly is her happiest with her fiance, her best friend.
She's breathing and she's eating. She's living, truly living.
Akiko's in love.
Just like how Ray and Hiratsuka were in love 18 years ago, and how Tanjuro and Kie were in love 18 years ago.
---
Again, as the author, I would just like to say: this is still a terrible idea.
"She's going to have my head..."
Akiko glares at the door of the Tamura manor, drilling holes into the estate with a deep seeded hate. Hiratsuka and Ray have decided to accompany the two, just to make sure that Akiko doesn't wring her grandmother's neck.
The one that really flipped the boat on three years of Akiko's life.
"I'll have her head first," Akiko spits out before pounding her fist against the wooden gates.
Once the gatekeeper opens the gates, she pushes past and forces her way in. Tanjirou begs her to stop her yelling, but Akiko continues to march towards the front entrance, screaming for an audience with her grandmother.
Hiratsuka has her face buried into her hands, dreading the worst out of this intervention. Ray doesn't even know what to do, considering the fact that he really has no power within the Tamura manor. They watch as Akiko stops herself from decking Kakera in the face, instead kicking her geta off and stepping up onto the wooden floor.
The three stumble after her and Kakera sighs to himself, walking off to the kitchen to brew some tea.
"Grandma!! I request an audience with you!!" At the end of the hall, Akiko spots traces of her grandmother behind doors. She slams the shoji open, but Higuchi doesn't seem bothered by Akiko's appearance.
"Took you long enough," Higuchi says calmly, and that only seems to rile Akiko up.
She feels a gentle hand take her sleeve, and when she turns her face to look at Tanjirou she can see that he's pleading for her to calm down.
"Remember, if we do this, we have to do it right."
Higuchi cracks an eye open to glance at Tanjirou, but even then she doesn't seem surprised or mad.
"Hm, I was wondering why you stopped sending letters. Condolences for your family, boy."
Tanjirou turns to Higuchi, slipping his fingers in between Akiko's to stop her trembling fists. Then he bows his head, thanking her for her kind words before requesting her audience.
Higuchi waves her hand for the two to sit and Kakera slips into the room as well. Hiratsuka and Ray are seated right behind Akiko and Tanjirou, quickly bidding Higuchi a 'hello.'
The smell of jasmine tea wafts through the air and Higuchi continues to drink her tea without a real care in the world. Akiko doesn't dare touch her cup even when Tanjirou gives her a look to at least take a sip out of courtesy.
"Well? You have your audience with me now, do you not?"
Akiko resists the urge to roll her eyes. Fours years later and she's grown out of her grandmother's bullshit.
"Alright, fine, I suppose I'll start. I burned all your letters, but you've surely figured that out already if you finally decided to see me together."
"Why?" Tanjirou is the first to ask, which surprises Akiko. She glances at him, surprised to see how calmly he's handling the situation. Akiko bites the inside of her cheek in embarrassment, hands tightly folded in her lap as she tries to reel her emotions in.
By letting Higuchi know that she's mad is in itself allowing Higuchi to win, and that's the last thing that Akiko wants.
She's here to prove herself. Prove that Tanjirou is more than just a dime a dozen fiance.
He's more than her fiance. Akiko can't really find the words to describe him, since they've gone through so much together.
A bit too much, in her opinion, but she's taking everything that has to do with Tanjirou and she back.
And she's starting with Higuchi.
Higuchi scoffs at Tanjirou's question, "You both know why."
"And I thank you for the three years you've granted me," Akiko speaks up. All eyes turn to her with surprise, thinking those words to be the last thing to leave her lips.
"Grandmother, I'm a doctor now, if you weren't already aware. I was nearly driven insane without Tanjirou but I overcame all the trauma that you threw at me. I overcame the dead bodies sent my way and all the bodies barely grasping at the hems of life. I overcame all that and became my own person. And for that, I thank you."
Higuchi smirks into her cup, "Finally you start to talk sense."
"However, you've allowed me to confirm my thoughts on forsaking the Tamura name."
Now that catches Higuchi's attention, and she chokes on her tea.
"I built and am still building my career on my own name. Tanjirou and I have our own problems elsewhere, and whatever familial discord that remains between the Tamuras will be thrown away by me."
Akiko knows that the plan was always to have Tanjirou adopt the Tamura surname when they were to be wed at 16. But with the headache of slaying a whole demon race and saving humankind on the forefront of their minds, plans were skewed.
And they're both back to right it.
Tanjirou meets Higuchi's eyes, head held high with pride and determination. He no longer cowers from her gaze like he did as a child. Not with Akiko by his side, the two finding this conversation to be child's play in comparison to sewing skin together or beheading a demon.
Then, Tanjirou places his hands in front of him, lowering his head to the floor in deep respect.
"I apologize for my rudeness, but I say this as a promise rather than a request. In four months time, when Akiko turns 18, I plan to marry her like we were supposed to at the age of 16."