35

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"Wahhh Miss Nakahara! Please don't leave us!" One of the maid girls wail as they all cling onto my yukata as Haganezuka and I stand at the residence gates, ready to leave for the swordsmith village.

"Don't get married! Stay here with us forever!" I giggle, crouching down and hugging them all as they all cry.

"Come on girls... you know I can't stay here anymore, I'm not a demon slayer anymore.."

"Be a maid with us!"

"Well I wouldn't be very useful with only one hand would I?"

"We don't want big sis Nakahara to leave!" I frown, kissing each of their heads.

"I'll come visit you all as much as I can ok? And I'll send letters every day through Piiko don't worry!" I say and they all continue to wail but step back. I then look sadly as Miko slowly walks over to me, tears in her eyes making mine well up as well. "Miko..." She cuts me off, gently hitting my arm.

"You jerk!" She says with a frown and I smile sadly, opening my arms to her and she immediately hugs me tightly. "Why do you have to leave me? Do you have to leave so soon?"

"We need to prepare for the wedding, you'll see me again in a few days..."

"But you won't be Nakahara Hanako anymore.. the girl I used to go on missions with and eat rice balls with... and stay up late telling stories and stealing food from the kitchen with... we'll never be able to do all that ever again will we?" Her words make tears escape my eyes as I bury my face into her hair.

"I'll always be that girl Miko... Just don't forget about me ok?" She pulls away scoffing, and I smile at her through my tears, gently wiping away hers with my thumb.

"You were always like my big sister Hanako... I don't think I could ever forget you, even if I wanted to," I smile, pulling her into a hug and gently kissing her cheek before she steps back. Haku then walks over, staring at the ground and I smile softly.

"Come here Haku..." I pull him into a hug and he buries his head into my shoulder, softly sniffling. "Don't worry, I'll still visit," I whisper and he pulls away, sniffling. I ruffle his hair before gently punching his shoulder. "I'm expecting you to get stronger so that you will finally be a better demon slayer than me ok?" He chuckles softly, puffing his chest out proudly.

"I will surpass you, you can count on it!" He says and I grin, kissing his cheek gently. "Take care Hanako... don't let him push you around ok?" He grumbles and I giggle while nodding.

"Thank you Haku, for everything," I say and he nods, stepping back as I take a deep breath.

"Are you ready to leave?" Haganezuka says, placing his hand on my shoulder and I nod, taking a deep breath. I turn my back to everyone, taking a few steps before stopping and looking over my shoulder. I see all their sad faces and my heart breaks.

The demon slayer corps became my family when I lost mine, and I can't express how grateful I am to them for giving me their love when no one else did. I will always be a demon slayer, no matter how injured or how old... it'll always be who I am.

"Bye everyone," I whisper, waving over my shoulder as tears flow down my face.

We then leave as I listen to all their goodbyes and I squeeze my eyes shut, sniffling and wiping my tears. Haganezuka then offers me a handkerchief, and I laugh taking it and drying my tears.

"Are you ok?" He says worried. "Do you still want to do this," I nod quickly, holding his hand in mine with a smile.

"Of course I do! Like you said, from now on I'm only looking forward, never behind!" I say with a smile, preparing myself for the next chapter of my life.

-

After a week of returning to the swordsmith village and breaking the news of our engagement, the marriage ceremony was finally ready to take place. It caused some initial uproar in the village after we announced it, reasons being a marriage between a swordsman and their swordsmith had never been heard of... and because it was Haganezuka who was being married.

But nonetheless, everyone eventually supported it and were very happy for us.

I haven't been allowed to stay with Haganezuka at all since we announced our engagement as it isn't proper, so I've been staying in the demon slayer residence despite not being a demon slayer anymore. I wasn't even really allowed to see him that much leading up to the wedding, which was very difficult I'll admit but Genji made sure to keep me company in the mean time.

He was arguably the most ecstatic about the news... and he said that as soon as we are married he will live with us and be our son... His parents have practically disowned him, so even though Haganezuka says he won't allow it... even he can't turn Genji away.

It is now the day that we are to be married, and I sit staring at myself in the mirror as some girls do my hair and makeup for me. I look at myself, completely awe and shock written all over my face. I can hardly believe that this situation is really happening... that I'm really to be married to someone that I love and loves me back.

They finish doing my hair and makeup and help me dress into my wedding kimono. I take deep breaths, observing my appearance with a smile and a full heart.

"Hanako~!" I hear a girl scream and I gasp as Miko bursts into the room. She immediately stops however when she sees me, and I watch as her eyes well up and she gushes making me giggle. "You look beautiful!" She says and my lip trembles as she walks over and holds my hand gently. "I'm so happy for you Hanako... you deserve to live a long and happy life," she says and I quickly shake my head.

"Don't make me cry!" I say and we laugh together.

"Haku is also here! Everyone is ready for the ceremony... we're just waiting for you now!" She says and I take a deep breath, taking one last look at myself in the mirror.

This is the last time I'll ever be looking at Nakahara Hanako. After today, I can leave her in the past. I can finally move on from all the pain and sorrow... and I can start a new life with a new me.

"Ok... I'm ready," I whisper, taking one last deep breath.

My nerves are through the roof as I'm making my way to the ceremony, and I stare at the ground as I try and calm my racing heart. I'm not regretting my decision at all.. but maybe we rushed into it. I mean we only arrived back here a week ago... and now we're getting married... What will my role even be here in the village since I can't even do anything?

My thoughts run wild... until I lay my eyes on Haganezuka. He's waiting for me and I look up at him in his wedding attire... and I immediately feel calm. Just looking at him is enough to reassure me, that this is where I am supposed to be.

Haganezuka had never felt this kind of nervousness and fear in his entire life before. The entire week leading up to the ceremony, he contemplated running away at least 4 times. Not because he didn't want to marry her, but because he worried for her. He still didn't know entirely if he could give her a life she deserved, and he's sure someone else would've been better.

But she said yes to him.

So he waits anxiously at the ceremony, wishing for Takahashi to still be around more than he ever had before. At least then he'd have someone who actually cared for him by his side... Takahashi would've loved to say 'I told you so' after they were married...

The entire village is there to see the wedding, as it's a close village and everyone considers themselves family anyway. However, he's sure they're mainly here for her sake not his since they all liked her within the short time of knowing her more than they liked him... despite living there his entire life.

His palms get sweaty as the wait feels like eternity, until finally the priest clears his throat and he turns his head to see her, his heart immediately speeding up as he feels like the entire world fades from around them.

He locks eyes with her, and she matches his wide eyed expression. He can't help but be in awe at how beautiful she looks in her white wedding kimono, and he watches as she approaches him with a smile so large it hardly fits on her face. He can't hold back his smile, and he's thankful his mask is there to cover his absolutely star struck expression right now. Any doubt he previously fades, and he just knows that his life is about to get 10x better... purely because of one silly demon slayer.

She joins his side, and it takes every fiber in him to not hug her immediately. So instead he just nods his head to her, to which she returns with her signature giddy smile. They both then kneel before the priest... and the ceremony begins.

-

After the ceremony, we sit as everyone comes to offer their congratulations to us. I can hardly contain my wide smile as my happiness overflows from me. I am officially Haganezuka Hanako.... Haganezuka Hotaru's wife.

We thank every person who comes to offer their congratulations to us, and I giggle as Miko and Haku fight over who gets to give us their gift. The ceremony was perfect and everyone was so happy for us, and I already feel at home and welcomed into the village. I was also informed of their rules I had to follow now that I live their, such as being sworn to secrecy of the location of the village and wearing a mask most of the time... however the mask policy is a little lenient for me since everyone knows my face already.

After the ceremony, I say goodbye to Haku and Miko as they have to leave the village now, and we say goodbye to all the other villagers. Until it's finally just Haganezuka and I, sitting together on his veranda in the moonlight.

"This doesn't feel real," I whisper and he hums in agreement.

"It doesn't..." He says and I sigh. "There's one more thing I'd like for us to do... as apart of our ceremony," he then says standing, extending his hand to me. I'm confused, but take it nonetheless and he leads me through the village as we're still in our wedding attire.

He leads me to their village graveyard, and I immediately figure out where he's taking me. We stop in front of one of the shrines, and I read the name I hadn't seen in so long.

"Since neither of our parents were present at the ceremony... I wanted to include the person who was closest to a father the two of us ever had," Haganezuka whispers and I hold my chest with a soft smile. "I'm sorry I never took you here sooner... he wanted me to, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it," he says softly and I grab hold of his hand.

"Thank you... this is perfect..." I whisper before kneeling in front of the shrine. I then place my head to the ground, and Haganezuka joins my side to do the same. "Mr Takahashi... I'm happy to finally be able to talk to you, I've missed you a lot," I say, sitting up and smiling at the shrine. "Thank you for handing me over to Mr Haganezuka.. Perhaps it was your intention all along, but I really love him, and it's thanks to you that I get to finally marry someone like I've always dreamed of," Haganezuka holds my hand and I smile up at him.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to bring her here... but I'm happy in a way that I'm able to bring her back to you, as my wife," he says softly. "You were always looking out for me, and you handed her over to me because you knew I'd need someone after you passed right? Even on your death bed you were plotting..." We both laugh together before sighing.

"I'll be living here from now on Mr Takahashi, so I can visit you lots from now on! I'm sorry to be disturbing your peace... please put up with me for a little more," I bow my head back down to the ground, blinking away a few tears. "Thank you, Mr Takahashi." Haganezuka also bows down.

"Thank you... gramps... Takahashi..."

After a bit of silence, Haganezuka stands and helps me up. He turns to face me and I look up at him with a loving smile as he cups my cheek.

"I uh..." He begins to whisper with a shaky voice and I tilt my head. "I want to show you my face.."