"Whoa, that's so amazing!" Takeo and Shigeru yelled as the Hashira carving appeared on the back of his hand whenever he flexed the muscles.
"Isn't Hashira the highest rank in the Corps, Nii-chan?" Takeo asked, eyes wide with surprise.
Tanjiro, lying comfortably on the ground, answered casually. "Yes, it's the top rank a Demon Slayer can achieve. Heh, Nii-chan is the Sun Hashira now. Isn't that cool?"
Takeo nodded, his face full of smiles.
"Onii-chan will keep fighting demons?" Shigeru asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
Tanjiro sensed the concern and gently patted his head. "Yes. But don't worry." He flashed a confident smile. "I'm the strongest, after all."
Hearing that bold declaration, the three little girls playing with Rokuta and Hanako nodded eagerly.
"Tanjiro-san is the strongest," Sumi said with a bright smile.
"Yes, he blew up the largest and hardest gourd with his breath in just a second. Not even the other Hashira can do that…" Kiyo added, still marveling.
Naho chimed in. "He defeated a Lower Rank demon all by himself. That's proof of his superior strength."
Listening to their praise, Tanjiro smiled warmly. "Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho-chan are excellent girls too. Thank you for taking such good care of my siblings."
The three laughed shyly, unaccustomed to being praised like that.
Shigeru pouted and hugged his side. "I helped a lot too!"
Hanako leaped at him with a shout. "Hanako helped too!"
Rokuta, not understanding why everyone was jumping on Nii-san, joined in anyway.
Turned into a human cushion by the little runts, Tanjiro could only tickle their bellies to push them away while they squealed with laughter.
Watching the fun, Kanae's ghost mumbled beside him. "You really are loved by kids, huh… I'm kinda jealous, you know."
He shot her a quick glance full of mock exasperation, as if asking why she'd ever be jealous of such torture. Was she crazy?
Not understanding his reaction whatsoever, she just smiled joyfully.
Kie, on the other side, sat outside the hall on the engawa, staring at the moon and the night sky in utter silence.
Her mind cared only about her son, and nobody else.
Yet something in her being urged her to devour these delicious-looking humans, as if her primal instincts tingled to massacre and eat them without care. However, all those urges were subdued by the overpowering motherly love she had for her child.
If not for that, she would likely have gone berserk on a killing and devouring spree.
Shortly after, the door slid open, and a pink-eyed Nezuko entered.
"Dinner is ready, everyone. Come to the dining room after washing your hands."
Several voices replied immediately. "Hai!" "I'm hungry!"
The brats left the room one by one.
Nezuko turned to Tanjiro, walked to his side, and said with a warm smile she hadn't shown earlier. "Onii-chan, let's go." She stretched her hand toward him.
He took her hand, fingers locking, and stood up without pulling her over.
Hovering Kanae saw the siblings and chuckled to herself. "Ara, extra service for her favourite Onii-chan? So cute~"
Thankfully, others could not see or hear her. Otherwise, Nezuko would have completely freaked out, like she did with Shinobu last night.
After fetching her brother, Nezuko looked toward Kie's back and asked softly, almost curiously. "Onii-chan, can Mother eat normal food?"
He shook his head. "Sadly, no."
Her eyebrows dropped instantly. She had wanted to have dinner with their mother joining them, though it wouldn't be possible.
Tanjiro's hand reached for her head and patted gently. The loving act seemed to make her forget the temporary pain.
Before leaving for dinner, Tanjiro instructed Kie. "I'll be back after eating."
To his words, the sulking Kie nodded and returned to their room, not by the stairway but by jumping through the window.
From her strength, Tanjiro could tell that her power was just that of an ordinary demon.
And since she had transformed after being scratched by Muzan through the system's help, not from a heavy load of that man's blood, she suffered from memory loss and was able to escape Muzan's control over her mind.
He had concluded.
....
As they arrived outside the dining room, Tanjiro heard a familiar pleasant voice from inside.
"Moh~~ I can't wait anymore. Can we start already, please? The food smells so delicious, wahh…"
'…This girl…'
Nezuko chuckled lightly. "We already learned about Mitsuri-san's condition. That's why we had to prepare a lot more food. Four people were helping, but it still took us quite some time, hehe…"
Tanjiro released a sigh with a funny look. "Let's hurry then."
Nezuko nodded with a wry smile.
Once they entered the room, Mitsuri and Kanao noticed them first.
The girl with beauty marks on her face immediately shut up, pouted, and mumbled to herself quietly. "I was about to starve… Why don't you hurry…"
Kanao, sitting beside her, felt like smiling but couldn't quite put it on her face. She remained expressionless and waited for dinner to start.
"Onii-chan, hurry, hurry." Hanako said, clapping the seat beside her.
Everyone was sitting on the ground in the traditional way, so there was no spacing problem.
Tanjiro and Nezuko sat down with Hanako.
The food had already been served by Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho.
"I humbly receive!" Everyone said before they started eating.
Everyone was in the large room except for Shinobu. Because of her late-night research, she had a habit of eating late. That was the reason for her absence.
'Finally settled down…'
He felt calm inside.
Now that everything had stabilized, he could finally focus on other things.
Like checking his limits.
Training in other combat arts.
Dealing with Douma.
Dealing with Gyutaro and Daki.
Searching for Tamayo.
And many more—anything he wanted!
'Heh, things are just starting…' He smirked inwardly.