"You don't think my mother will be mad, do you?"
"Based off all the stories you've told me about your mom, I think she's going to be pissed," Ray laughs and Hiratsuka gently punches her new fiance, pouting as Ray whips the reigns.
He continues to laugh and Hiratsuka joins in, the laugh is contagious and their happiness is relenting. Hiratsuka hugs Ray's arm, the two cuddled up together as they slowly approach the mountains.
The sun is setting now, golden rays bouncing off the grass that's been watered with melted snow. Despite the serene atmosphere, the horses become harder to control the deeper they ride into the mountains.
Hiratsuka holds her stomach with worry, the baby bump unrecognizable underneath the kimono (which is good considering the two haven't even wed yet. Higuchi would have a riot upon finding out).
Ray yanks on the reigns, eyebrows furrowed as the horses buck once again, "What's gotten into these guys-?"
They neigh even louder, crashing against each other and shaking the carriage. Hiratsuka cries in panic and Ray yells for her to get off the carriage as quickly as possible. She does as she's told, rolling out of the carriage much to Ray's concern.
He calls out her name, struggling with the horses before hopping out too. With no one to control them, the horses run off with the carriage and all their belongings in tow.
"Hiratsuka! Hiratsuka! Are you okay, love?" Ray cradles his fiance, checking for a pulse before pulling out a handkerchief to press against the head wound she's suffered.
Hiratsuka coughs, her hands immediately flying up to her stomach as she slowly nods her head.
"I'm fine... I'm just worried for our baby..."
She tears up and Ray wipes them away, placing a soft kiss against her temple to reassure her. The sun sinks lower and it's starting to get darker, and Ray has no game plan in his head.
They're stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no food or shelter, and Ray doesn't know his way to his fiance's village. In fact, this is his first time visiting, and it's to tell his future in-laws that he's marrying their daughter.
Hiratsuka's eyes narrow at dusk, her breathing finally even as she calms herself for the sake of her unborn child. She no longer shakes, but she freezes now at what her eyes see.
"Ray. Run. Now."
"Wh- What do you mean-"
"GO! YOU HAVE TO RUN!" Hiratsuka pushes him away from herself, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she curls into a ball.
"Hiratsuka-!"
The words in Ray's throat get caught and he's drenched in cold sweat, shivers running through his body at the sight of his fiance.
A massive bear prods her body with its nose, eyes casting a slight red with the lighting. It looks as if its on the verge of becoming hostile, and Ray doesn't know what to do.
"Ray..." She whispers out, voice trembling and wet with regret that she can't see him in her final moments.
"Please... Run away... "
"How can I-!?"
The bear snaps its head up, looking straight at Ray. He flinches as it paws its way over to him, stepping on one of Hiratsuka's legs.
Under the weight, Hiratsuka hears a sharp snapping noise and she starts to scream, the pain overwhelming her senses as she shuts her eyes.
The bear startles, turning back to her before letting out a roar loud enough for Ray to clasp his ears. It charges at Hiratsuka, and Ray watches with horror.
He doesn't even realize that the bear's head is lying at his feet.
"R-Ray? Are you alright?" Hiratsuka asks aloud, standing before him and holding his face within her soft hands.
Air fills his lungs again and he grabs her hands, feeling their warmth and checking her radial pulse to confirm that she's alive.
"You're alive..." He breathes out, eyes wide as he stares into her's. She smiles gleefully, relief washing over her as her shoulder drop.
"I'm alive... We're alive," her hand grazes over her stomach and Ray's vision blurs.
He blinks them away, looking at the bear's head before looking for their savior. Because he sure as hell didn't behead this bear.
"Are you two alright?" A gentle voice asks, and Ray is over run with a comforting aura. His heart settles and Hiratsuka takes his hand, bowing to the man that saved their life.
It's a man with long hair, kind eyes and a scar across his temple. The hanafuda earrings dance with the slight breeze, and Ray looks down at the man's bloodied axe.
Ray blinks a few times before quickly bowing to their savior, remembering Japanese customs like a slap to his face.
"If we have a daughter, please allow her to take your eldest son's hand in marriage!"
Okay, so that's not a custom.
Ray and Hiratsuka find themselves in the house of the man and his wife.
Ray just fixed his wife's leg, Kie holding her hand as she screams with pain. It hurt his heart, but he's glad that she's going to be okay.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Ray bows his head and Tanjuro smiles. Kie hands the two a bowl of miso before leaving to the other room to keep Hiratsuka company. She's bedridden for now, nothing to ease her throbbing pain but time.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come to your aid any sooner," Tanjuro says, but Ray shakes his head.
"You saved my life, my fiance's life, and our unborn child's! We're in your debt," He bows his head lower, and Tanjuro beckons his head up.
He laughs, "You offered your first born daughter, and she isn't even born yet."
Ray flushes with embarrassment, choosing to drink his miso to avoid the subject.
"Would you do the same if you had a son and we a daughter?" Tanjuro questions, sipping from his miso right after.
Ray looks over at Hiratsuka, the end of the futon she lays in shown past the shouji.
He knows that Hiratsuka is mad about his sudden declaration. But what's been said has been said, and it doesn't help that this will have to be announced to Higuchi.
She doesn't even know Ray exists.
"I... Can't... " Ray admits, staring into his bowl with guilt.
"Truth be told, this isn't even my decision to make. Hiratsuka and her household, the Tamura family, mainly her parents, will be the ones to decide my children's fates. If we have a male heir instead, circumstances will change. I don't have much power here in Japan, but I'm a doctor. I can assure that I'll do my best to keep you and your family in good health."
Tanjuro raises a brow at the mention of the 'Tamura' name. Now he knows why Hiratsuka looks so familiar.
Her parents are the lord of the land.
Or, well, they used to be. They're more so just the only nobles within the mountain range and the town now.
Tanjuro looks at Kie and her more prominent baby bump.
He has the chance to secure his child's future...
"I'll... Take you up on your offer."
Ray looks up in surprise, "Really?"
Tanjuro smiles, his hands neatly folded in his lap.
"As long as they agree to their marriage when they become adults. If either one wishes to break the marriage off, it will be allowed."
Ray hesitantly nods his head, the future for once in his life looking murky.
---
Akiko throws up.
She's hurling in the bathroom, Kiyo holding her hair back with Naho holding a glass of water and a towel. Sumi rushes in with a plate of oranges just as Akiko finishes, her knees still weak.
"Akiko-san.... Are you okay?" Naho asks, handing her the towel.
Akiko wipes her mouth, shuddering before asking for Kiyo to bring her a blanket. Kiyo releases her short hair before rushing off to do ask she's ordered, worry filling her mind as she watches Aoi patch up the cut on Tanjirou's shoulder.
He's in an empty room, Akiko ordered for Aoi to clean his cuts and do nothing else, to wait for her instead.
Then Akiko walked away, to the furthest bathroom in the estate. She promptly collapsed over the toilet before hurling, tears pooling out as well. The girls were quick to help her, worried and panicked over Akiko.
They've never seen her in such a pitiful state.
Kiyo brings the blanket back and Akiko's already finished gulping her water down, sucking on the oranges in an attempt to freshen her breath.
Her eyes are unfocused, a different hue of gold coloring her orbs. The girls are foreign to the shade.
"You girls can go," Akiko says, patting their heads one by one. They look at each other with uncertainty, Akiko struggling to stand. She takes Sumi's hand and stands for a few seconds, looking at her knees and cursing them for shaking so violently.
"Are you sure?" Naho asks timidly, and Akiko smiles bravely for them. She strokes Naho's hair with a soft fondness, and Naho smiles back with glee. The other girl shuffle closer to Akiko, and Akiko's heart rise as she strokes their heads as well.
They help her out of the bathroom and Akiko walks down the hallway and into battle.
"Oh, you're back," Aoi sees Akiko standing by the doorway. Her eyes are trained onto Aoi, blocking out the sight of her fiance in case her knees give away once more.
"I can take it from here, Aoi. Shut the door please?"
Aoi nods her head, finishing up with the last bandage before rushing out of the empty room.
Tanjirou stares at her, his mind blank as he struggles to find what he wants to say to her first. She looks as if she's seen a ghost, and Tanjirou wonders if this has to do with the complete lack of letters he's received from her.
He takes a quick whiff of her, curious as to why he didn't pick up her scent outside the estate. She smells mainly of pain, soap, rubber, and blood. She smells cold, but it's different from what he smelt outside. The smell outside was warmer, and had hope.
He can't tell if there's hope in Akiko right now.
Tanjirou wants to know why she smells so different and what's changed her. Why she's here helping demon slayers and why her eyes don't glow like amber or the rising sun. Why her hands are dry and littered with tiny cuts and no longer soft like when they were kids.
He sniffs again and catches the scent of citrus masking bile.
Tanjirou keeps his mouth shut with this new information.
Akiko's hands finally finish bandaging his bicep, much stronger due to the past few years of training. She can see his muscles are sore, and they're ripped at the seams. They'll only grow stronger from here on out.
Her fingers move down to his hands, flipping them over to see his palms.
There's blood and dirt, calluses and cuts. Blisters and torn skin and she can't see the soot on his hands. Her cold fingers run over every bump, memorizing the ridges all over again as they feel foreign to her.
These are the hands of a new Tanjiou, a different one that's grown up without her.
"The only thing I wanted to do was hold your hand these last three years," Akiko finally finds her words, and Tanjirou quickly snaps his attention to her face. "They look different now."
Somewhere along the way, Tanjirou picks up that she understands the work he's gone through. So she must have read his letters and all of his hardships.
So why...?
Her grip on his hands slacken, and despite her cold touch they feel even icier now.
She feels icier.
Akiko feels as barren as this room, and Tanjirou searches for remnants of their past in her eyes. She instead focuses of bandaging his fingers one by one, covering his hard work with its imprint glued in her mind.
She can help him now.
She's worked this hard and can help now.
Tanjirou laughs weakly, eyes closed as he smiles brightly at his fiance, "Funny enough, I just wanted to look into your eyes one last time!" When he opens his eyes to look at her again, his gaze softens.
"They still look like that amber my dad showed us when we were kids."
Akiko's heart throbs with pain.
He doesn't recognize her work.
The work she put in because he died.
"The color of my eyes aren't their only value, Tanjirou."
The room grows colder and Tanjirou blinks in surprise.
Younger Akiko would have blushed furiously at his comment.
This Akiko looks unbothered, bangs shadowing her face as she continues to wrap up his hands, and he smells an even stronger sense of pain radiate off of her.
She finishes with his left hand before leaning across the bed to take his right, and Tanjirou cups her face with his newly bandaged hand.
"But they've seen so much since we were kids!" He cries out, and Akiko finally looks him right in the eyes.
His grasp on her cheek falters as he sees the tears stream out of her eyes, glistening with all that she sees now. He doesn't know what she sees.
"I thought you were dead." Akiko bitterly chokes out, and Tanjirou nods his head, choosing to listen to his fiance spill her woes.
"I thought I was never going to see you again."
"Mhm."
"I thought you died in such a horrific way, and I wasn't there to save you."
He nods again.
"And even if I was there to try, I wouldn't have the skill to!"
"But you do now!" Tanjirou finally interrupts, leaning his face closer to her's.
He smiles gently, his way of apologizing for startling her. Then, he lifts his hand, reaching up to pat her head, "You've been such a good girl-"
Akiko bats his hand away, frustration, pain, agony, and confusion pouring out of her.
"I only wanted to see you!"
She grasps the collar of her blouse, panting as the tears continue to roll down her face. They don't stop, and she's far too stubborn to brush them away.
Tanjirou doesn't talk, and it doesn't look like he will. He's shocked and out of words to try and say to Akiko. She's a bomb ready to blow up with no intent on being pieced back together again.
So she stares him right in the eye, the topaz gleaming clearly, unbreakable.
Akiko leans forward, taking his face into her hands.
Tanjirou's heart rate quickens, his palms become sweaty, and the blush on his face is the same shade as his eyes.
She gets closer and he has to shut his eyes; he doesn't want to tell her that he can almost see down her blouse. It would ruin their moment, and he doesn't want to ruin his first kiss.
"Sorry," Akiko whispers against his lips.
"Sorry-?"
The minute Tanjirou opens his mouth, Akiko's fingers work quickly to hook around his jaw, her thumbs shoved into his mouth before she wrenches his jaw back into place with a sharp SNAP.
Akiko pulls away quickly, hands flying away as she looks into his mouth from her seat.
Akiko can still hear Tanjirou's scream of pain as she walks out of his room.
She has no intention in going back right now.