45

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Haganezuka watches from the top of the cliff at the celebrating slayers, and the strange demon girl who conquered the sun. They won, thank god they won. He falls to his knees, one eye closed from a deep gash across it and blood trickling down his face which he just ignores. He made sure the sword was renewed, and it was thanks to him that Tanjiro was able to kill the demon...

He then shakes his head, snapping out of his daze.

Hanako.

Immediately he staggers to his feet, racing to the village. Last he heard was she was fighting in the village. He'll scold her another time for putting herself in danger like that, first he just has to find her and their children to make sure they're ok. They have to be ok... if something happened to them and it was because he wasn't there to protect them, he'd never forgive himself.

As he pushes through the low hanging branches, ignoring the pain he's feeling, he freezes in his tracks as he hears a distant voice.

"Cmon mum! Just a little further!" He recognises Kyousuke's voice immediately, Seiko's softer one following after it as the two children yell. His steps pick up instantly as he runs through the forest, desperate to get to them...

-

I stagger through the forest, leaving a trail of blood as I bleed through the poorly wrapped injuries and struggle to keep holding up Genji's weight. I should've gone to the village, but something tells me Haganezuka isn't there, so I just follow my gut instinct and continue to stumble through the thick trees.

"Mum..." Genji groans and I shush him, wincing as I hold onto my aching stomach. My vision is starting to get blurry as I'm finding it harder and harder to hold on, but I have to. I'm not just protecting myself anymore, I have my whole family to protect, and before I can rest I have to make sure they're ok.

"Mum cmon just a little further!" Kyousuke yells as he holds onto Genji's other side and Seiko sniffles, holding onto my torn and bloody clothes as I drag my feet along the floor.

"Hanako!" My head lifts at the distant voice... immediately feeling relief wash over me. Hotaru... it's Hotaru... he's ok...

"Dad!" Seiko and Kyousuke both yell, immediately darting off into the forest towards the voice and I try my best to follow after them, however I can't hold up both our weight anymore and Genji and I fall to our knees.

"Genji.." I whisper and he just smiles with a dazed look.

"It's ok mum... Mr Haganezuka is here now, you can rest," he says, leaning his head on my shoulder and I sigh, resting mine gently on his... until we're suddenly wrapped into a tight and warm embrace. His scent surrounds me and the whole world disappears as I feel his familiar touch.

"Hanako... thank god you're all ok..." he whispers to me and I sigh, resting my head against his chest as I listen to the pounding of his heart. "I'm sorry-"

"Shhh don't talk... Thank god you're ok as well..." I whisper as the five of us remain embracing each other as the sunlight peeks through the tree leaves, knowing that we'll all be ok now... and that we made it through as a family.

-

Back at the village the destruction was heartbreaking, and already people are preparing to relocate to another village as now that this location has been revealed, it's not longer safe here.

The village hospital is filled with injured people and I sit with the two young children on my bed as the doctor tends to my wounds. Genji was taken to the demon slayer rehabilitation location, but I promised to come visit him as soon as I can. Thankfully my injuries weren't too bad.. at least not as bad as some of my past ones... and we're still unsure if our baby is ok. All seems well at the moment, however the doctor said to keep a close eye on any pain I may feel...

Haganezuka walks back into the room I'm in, his mask back on and he sits down on my bed, holding onto my hand.

"Kyousuke, Seiko, can you go help the nurses for a bit?" He says softly to the two children who nod and run out the room together. We're left alone in the room and he immediately pulls me into a hug, sighing as he removes his mask and buries his face into my hair, taking a deep breath. I wrap my arms tightly around him, holding back my tears as we remain silent for a moment, not needing to express our feelings with words.

"What were you thinking..." he whispers, not letting go of me, his grip only tightening.

"I couldn't do nothing... I had to fight..." I whisper back, pulling away and looking at him with a frown. He gently cups my cheek and I trace my finger over the bandage over his eye. "What about you? Kanamori told me even as you were being attacked, you didn't stop forging that sword once?" I say with furrowed eyebrows and he shrugs.

"It was all I could do in the moment.. to be useful... to help the slayers..." I nod, just holding onto his hand tightly and holding it over my chest.

"Don't leave us again Hotaru... the kids missed you... I missed you. We had no idea if you were even alive?" Tears brim my eyes as he looks at me with hurt eyes, pulling me into a hug once more as I hide my face in his chest while sniffling.

"I'm sorry Hanako, please forgive me. I'll never leave you again... I promise," he whispers and I nod. He then pulls away, placing his hands on my stomach while leaning his forehead against mine. "I'm sorry for placing so much responsibility to take care of our family on you... I'm going to do better. I'll be a better father and husband, I swear."

"You're already the best Hotaru..." I whisper and he cups my cheeks, kissing me softly as I melt into his touch, just happy to finally be together again.

The two kids then burst into the room again making Hotaru and me smile as we turn to them as they jump onto the bed.

"Hey be careful, mummy is still recovering!" Hotaru says sternly as I giggle, just opening my arms to the two as they giggle while hugging me.

"Don't be so grumpy~" I giggle as he rolls his eyes before pulling us all into a hug as the three of us squeal.

"I missed you daddy.." Seiko grumbles and he just smiles softly, ruffling her hair before kissing the top of her head.

"I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I knew I could trust you two to take care of mummy, and your little sister," he says as they look at my stomach. "Have we decided what to name her?" I hum and the two kids seem to think deeply at the question.

"I think, when we see her we'll know immediately!" I say and the three nod in agreement. "I think we deserve some dango tonight... after the night we just had hm?" I giggle at their excited faces, Hotaru's arguably being the most excited of the three at the mention of his favourite food.

He helps me as we all go back to our home, seeing the damage. I try to cheer up the two kids, telling them that moving to the new village will be a greatest adventure yet, but I can see Hotaru's sadness.

That night the two of us stand in the kitchen, making the dango together as the two children rest in their room. We've already packed our things, ready to leave first thing in the morning. I can feel his low mood and I look at him with a frown.

"is everything ok Hotaru?" I whisper and he sighs, placing down the poorly made dango that he had been working on for the past half hour.

"It's just.. everything I've ever known has been this village, how am I supposed to leave?" I look down at his words, trying to think of the best way to console him in this moment. "I was born here, grew up here... I've lived in this house my whole life... we shared a lot of our first moments here together Hanako, how can we just leave?" He turns to me with an almost angry expression and I sigh, putting down my own dango I was making. "Takahashi's grave is here... and we'll never be able to return to it ever again... all because of those dammed demons," I notice his fists clenching and I quickly grab his hands, holding them tightly and looking up at him with stern eyes.

"Hotaru... do you remember what you told me when we left my parents village? The last time I ever saw them?" He looks at me confused.

"That was years ago... I don't think I remember..."

"You told me... to only ever look forward, not behind. To look forward into the future. We can't change what happened here, but we can decide what we make of our future. I know it'll be hard leaving our home, some of my greatest memories were made with you in this very house... but that doesn't mean we won't make more, special memories together with our family," his angry expression softens as he looks into my eyes and I smile up at him. "This is just apart of our new chapter together, and we can handle anything together right? Mr Takahashi will always be with us as well... he'll understand why we can't visit him anymore... plus he'll probably enjoy the peace and quiet don't you think?" We laugh softly together and I reach up to cup his face gently. "I'm excited for what's new to come... because I get to go through it with you, and our children."

He just sighs, reaching down to press his lips against mine making me giggle, before I yell softly as he flicks my forehead gently.

"How is it you always know exactly what to say? It's kind of annoying you know," I just smirk, putting my hands on my hips in triumph.

"Well it's just cause I love it when you admit I'm right... makes me feel like I've tamed the untameable Haganezuka Hotaru~" I giggle as he smirks, pulling me closer to him by my waist and he lifts my chub up with his thumb, leaning closer.

"Careful Hanako... just because you're my wife doesn't mean you can play around like that," I just tilt my head with a smile, leaning closer to him while giggling.

"Oh please, you love it," he just rolls his eyes before capturing my lips in a passionate kiss and I can feel his tense body just relax under my touch. I then pull away making him look at me with a pout and I giggle, removing his tight grip from my waist and redirecting his gaze to the unfinished dango. "Get back to work! This dango won't make itself!" I scold and he slumps his shoulders with a pout.

"Tease..." he grumbles and I just giggle, standing on my toes to whisper in his ear.

"Think of it this way... the quicker you finish the dango... the sooner I can make up for the months we've just spent apart~" I then place a kiss on his cheek, giggling as he immediately straightens up while making the dango the fastest I've ever seen him move, even faster than when he's forging his swords. I then yelp as he finishes the last one, wasting no time in scooping me up into his arms and carrying me into our bedroom with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Make sure you don't wake the kids," he whispers, pinching my bum making me gasp and hit his chest.

"Says you!"