Chapter 6: Gladiolus

Months have passed. Shinazugawa was always there to help take care of Hanari every day. She also had Kakushi that lived with her and took care of her needs. Yet they weren't able to do much, till Sanemi appeared to help. She would always be at the door, sitting and waiting all day for her husband to return. No matter how many times Sanemi tried to explain to her that he wouldn't come back, she would always cry and blame the demons and him for being late home. She would always say that he was just out doing his job and would be home soon. Sanemi couldn't do much except go with it. He did his best to help her at least eat and lay her to rest in her bed at night, since she was still with child. He had to make sure that she didn't harm herself or the child she was carrying. Despite her despair, he believed that she knew that she was carrying a child, so she didn't always try to show much emotion. She was sad, of course, but it didn't stop her from carrying the child.

It was now February eighth. The snow was resting outside pure white and shining from the moon. The night was a cold due to the gentle breeze from outside. Hanari was lying in bed crying from her pain being in severe pain. Aoi, Sanemi, Tanjiro, Kanao, and the kakushi were there to help her. She was giving birth on this beautiful moonlit night. She screamed and cried from the pain. Aoi did her best to try and help catch the child, while the boys were holding her hands. They were surprised from her tight grip and did their best to not tear up from the crushing pain on their hands. Kanao held a blanket, ready to wash the child. It took a few hours, but the child came out with a loud scream from Hanari. Aoi smiled brightly catching the small baby boy, handing him to Kanao. She washed him and helped cut the cord, before wrapping him up tightly in a blanket. As they thought it was over, Sanemi growled from the continued painfully grip and hearing her still crying and screaming. "I don't think she's done yet." he said as Tanjiro agreed. A few minutes later, Aoi caught the next baby. "It's a girl." she said happily washing the girl and cutting the cord. Hanari relaxed now and was trying to catch her breath. The boys finally got their hands free and shook the pain away. Sanemi was even surprised from there being twins. "Wow, Tokito really did it, huh? He's got twins. That kid had balls." Tanjiro only chuckled a little with his brows furrowed nervously at Sanemi's comment. They helped Hanari sit up a little as the girls brought over the twins. Hanari looked to their crying faces and started to tear up. They were crying from their blue eyes and their hair dark like Muichiro's. She couldn't fully look at them without seeing him in both of them. While holding them, she smiled faintly. She named the boy, Tsukino and the girl Yukino. She did her best to understand that no matter what is to happen in the future... She had to know that it was just the three of them from now on. She had to raise them alone. At least, that is how she felt. Sanemi and the others weren't going to allow that to happen though. They were going to be there with her till the very end.

A couple years have passed, and the twins were running around happily. They were now four years old and playing in the yard. Hanari was sitting outside watching them, as Kanao was visiting and sitting beside her. Kanao was also now with her second child with Tanjiro. Hanari was happy for her, as they talked together. She even now found out that Aoi was with Icchinose's child at the moment. Even Nezuko and Zenitsu were about to have one. It made her pleased that all of her new friends were having families. Even Sanemi found a new girl and started to settle down. So did Tomioka, which surprised everyone. Even if Hanari never really talked to him. Tanjiro arrived, knocking on the door, getting Kanao to turn around and smile. She tapped Hanari's hand and had her turn around to see him. Tanjiro had a bright smile as he walked up with his son in his hands, "Hello Lady Tokito." he said as she nodded back to him with a smile. Soon after the twins noticed Tanjiro had arrived and smiled brightly. "Uncle Tanjiro!" they both screamed and ran up to him. They wanted to jump up on him, but Hanari stopped them at the same time, since he was holding his son. Tanjiro kneeled in front of Kanao, handing his son to her, before turning to the twins. Hanari then released them, and he was tackled by the two children. They started to all laugh together and play together.

"Would you two care to join us for dinner tonight?" Hanari asked them, as the Kamado's nodded with a smile. Tsukino and Yukino both exclaimed happily from their uncle able to join them. They love Tanjiro like he was their father. They knew that he wasn't, but they loved him the same way. They may have never met their father, and their father didn't know that they existed, but they heard all of the great stories of him from Tanjiro. How he was so strong and controlled the mist around him. It always made the twins happy to hear the stories from their uncle and learn new things about him. They always thought that their father was the coolest. From hearing how their father kept fighting till his last breath. That their dad helped them defeat that demon race. Without him, they wouldn't have won at all. The kids always saw paintings of their father and realized at how similar they both looked to him. The painful knowledge of how close they looked to him always made their mother smile in sadness. The twins knew they had to cheer their mother up, but they didn't know what to do. All they could do was hug her tightly and tell her that they loved her.

Even when she would tell them no and they got mad, hiding their mouths from her view, so they could talk about things, since she couldn't hear it. It would only get them a spank and grounded when they did so. Not just by their mother, but by Tanjiro. "You don't speak that way to your mother. If your father was here, he would be highly upset with you both. You don't disrespect your mother in that way at all. Keep your mouths in view when your mother is here. If you hide them again, you will be punished." he always told them when they acted up. They knew their mother was deaf, so they tried to get away with it. Yet it didn't fly when Tanjiro was there. Not only because he knew it was rude, but because he was told by Muichiro not to do it. If he did do it, he knew Muichiro would have not let him see the next sunlight. As they grew up, Tanjiro kept them respectful to their mother and others. He helped raise them for Muichiro, since it was a wish the mist hashira asked of him before. Of course it wasn't exactly this, but he knew that if he had to help care for Hanari, he would have known that Muichiro wanted help of taking care of his kids.

That alone gave Tanjiro the happiness when he came to visit every week. He saw Muichiro mostly in Tsukino. The boy didn't speak as much as his little sister. The two were always together and couldn't be pulled apart, till they grew up more. That is when Tanjiro saw more and more in Tsukino. Even one night he visited, he saw Tsukino in his room and folding paper into planes and other shapes. That shocked Tanjiro at first, but then smiled and walked up to him, sitting beside him to join him. Tsukino remained still faced a lot of the time but smiled at his family and Tanjiro. "What are you making there?" Tanjiro asked the boy, who had the black hair like his fathers, but cut short. His bangs were the same as his mother and sister. Eyes she same shade as his father. "Origami." he said calmly and folded the paper more and more till a flower was created. "I heard that father liked origami, so I wondered what was so fun about it. I tried a few things myself, and found out how relaxing it is. And how it is also a little fun." he continued as Tanjiro listened. "Did you know I lost to your father in a paper airplane challenge?" the older boy chimed to the eldest twin. Tsukino looked over to him and tilted his head. "Really?" he asked, and Tanjiro nodded. He sighed in defeat and memories. "Yeah. The challenge was that if my plane flew farther, he had to speak a little nicer to the corps members. If he won, he didn't have to." Tsukino looked back to his origami, folding more. "I am assuming he buried you in defeat." he said to make the older man hang his head. "Yes. We did ten rounds. I had to win only one round, but he won all of them." Tsukino chuckled a small bit from hearing that he lost to his dad repeatedly. He knew his dad was awesome, but not that awesome. Tanjiro only smiled once again and then grabbed a paper himself to fold with Tsukino.

It was later at night when Tanjiro was going to head home. He said his goodbyes to Tsukino and went out to the backyard to find Yukino. She was sitting there quietly breathing in the air during the moonlight. Her eyes staring at the stars, as Tanjiro knocked on the door behind her. She turned to look back at him with a smile. "Uncle Tanjiro~!" she sang happily, as he sat beside her. He told her that he was going to be going home to Kanao and his two children in the next few minutes. Yukino was saddened he was going to be leaving, but she knew that she could always go to his home to visit during the day. She turned to look back up at the moon. Tanjiro looking with her. It was even on nights like this, that Tanjiro missed spending time with Muichiro on the deck to watch the moon. He glanced over to see Yukino's blue eyes staring at the moon in admiration. Her semi-long hair, that was to her shoulders and starting to have its blue tint on the ends, was swaying in wind. Physically, she looked the closest to Muichiro at first glance. Yet her personality wasn't exactly as close as Tsukino's was. Nevertheless, she did have her father's hair and eyes. Tanjiro could even tell, but the way she breathes to relax herself was the same techniques as  Muichiro's mist breathing. He wasn't going to tell her exactly, since there was no reason for it. Well not now at least. I am sure that Muichiro wouldn't have wanted her to learn breathing for no reason. Even Ginko had flown in around the twins. Even sitting on Yukino's lap during the night. That gave Tanjiro enough reason to know that Ginko loved the twins. Since they were both so close to their father. Ginko had even gotten a little closer to Hanari, which surprised the male.

He was now standing at the door, as Hanari was with him to wish him a safe trip home. He smiled and bowed to her, "Have a good night, Lady Tokito. I shall return in three days." he said to her and she nodded. Hanari didn't speak as much as she used to when Muichiro was alive, but she slowly was speaking more since her kids started to speak. Tanjiro knew that it was a process, but she was doing well to move on from his death. It was hard for her, since her kids look just like him, but he knew Hanari was getting there. She even apologized to the corps survivors and Sanemi for her outbursts on blaming them for his death. She knew it wasn't their fault. But it took so much time for her to realize that he was gone. She was depressed but did her best to hide it for her children. That much Tanjiro knew. He understood her and was there to check on her till she was okay. Even admiring her new flowers that she laid around the house outside and inside. Beautiful, white gladiolus flowers. He smiled knowing that she finally accepted Muichiro's passing but continued to visit her and care for her. 

Hanari sat in her room, staring out of the window. The lights were out, and her children were sleeping. She was the only one awake in a dark room. Her rosy eyes lack of light, as she silently stared to the sky.  There was nothing that gave her more peace of mind than being alone in the dark. Her calmness flowed through her as she sat there with her eyes closed. It wasn't till much longer that with her eyes closed, she felt Muichiro's presence embracing her from behind. Even if she couldn't see him, she felt like she could hear his voice for the first time. It was calm and soft. She began to cry as she reached up to her shoulders. Able to feel his hands around her. She whispered she missed him as she felt a gentle kiss to her lips. "Thank you for being the new family I needed." she heard him whisper. "Thank you, Mui for being mine." she returned the comment to him. "Our children are beautiful, aren't they?" he asked her, as she nodded happily. Keeping her eyes closed, she looked to the ground, whispering once again. "Will you wait for me?" she asked, and he smiled in return. "Of course. I still have to introduce you to my brother and parents." She giggled a little as she leaned back to him, trying to feel his embrace even more. "Have you met mine?" she asked in a tease, and he only chuckled a little.  "Of course I have. Your father says that he likes me. Even your mother has treated me well." Hanari giggled a little and then hummed happily in his presence. "Will you stay with me tonight?" She asked and he nodded in return, saying he would never let go of her. As the night went on, she fell asleep while sitting in place on the futon. Dried tears were on her face, as her children woke early in the morning to see her. They noticed she was asleep yet and then cuddled on her lap till noon.

The Tokito family had great times growing up. Tsukino grew up to be a scientist. Yukino grew up to marry Tanjiro's son, Kazuhiko. The years went on as eventually Hanari got severely ill when she was in her mid-thirties. With the new sickness, she slowly lost the rest of her sight in her only eye and then she passed away in her sleep. Eventually meeting with Muichiro once again. Embracing him tightly as she kissed him tightly. She could see him then and hear him at the same time. She cried at how she missed him and then flicked his forehead. "You idiot. I had your favorite dish prepared and it went cold." she said for leaving her like that. She knew it wasn't his fault, but she had to say it. He blinked and smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, Hana." he said as he rubbed his forehead. They both heard a small 'ahem' and turned to see both families standing there. Hanari began to cry as she ran to her parents, embracing them tightly. "Dad you're stupid! Very stupid!" she cried, as he accepted her words. She then cried how much she missed her mother.

The crying then slowed down, as Muichiro reached to hold her hand. She looked up to him and then looked over to see his family. She rubbed her face free of the tears and walked up to them with him holding his arm. She bowed to them as she said her hellos. The parents smiled to her, as she stood. They said their hellos and congratulated them on their marriage. She looked over to see Yuichiro standing there with his arms crossed. He was only staring at her with a small pout and glare. She smiled to him, making him get flustered for a second. "I guess she isn't that bad..." he spoke to Muichiro, who nervously smiled at his brother's comment. This was going to be the way it had been before, due to Yuichiro's brother complex.  Yet, this was going to be the happiest moments for her. Her children are being cared for by the Kamado family and she was with Muichiro in heaven. There was nothing else she could have ever wanted...