New Year's Homecoming
New Year's Day.
Urokodaki Sakonji, Roy embarked on his journey home.
The basket on his back was crammed full: medicine for his father, new clothes for his mother, Kie, and his younger sister, Nezuko, candy for Takeo, Bamboo-Copter for his youngest sister, Delia, and... Sabito...
The reluctant gazes of Makomo and the other senior brothers and sisters...
"It's not like I'm not coming back," the Sun-Earring Boy always said with a smile.
He knew all this; without him as the intermediary, the fact that they had just reunited with their master and then had to part again was an extremely cruel thing for their senior brothers and sisters.
Even though none of them were very sensible and mentioned asking him to stay, Roy could still feel the strong emotions and expectations.
"Don't worry, even if I'm not around, you'll still be able to see your master." This was the promise the Sun-Earring Boy made before he left.
The prerequisite for fulfilling the promise is -- [Zhou]. [Zhou] is an advanced application technique of [Entanglement]. It uses the technique of "Entanglement" to wrap one's "Mind" around an object that comes into contact with the body, thus strengthening the object's properties. Even if the object is released, it can temporarily persist... The duration depends on the strength of the user's "Mind"...
Sabito patted him on the shoulder. "Of course we believe you."
The master stuffed the New Year's money he had prepared into his arms... They all thought the Sun-Earring Boy was saying words of comfort...
Watching Roy leave, they silently waved goodbye. Roy didn't explain further, tightened his grip on the basket, smiled slightly at them, and turned to disappear into the forest, leaving behind two sets of footprints that vanished in the wind and snow...
The Sun-Earring Boy hunted another wild boar on his way through the Mount Sagiri. He sold it in town and earned some money to buy New Year's gifts. Then, he followed the familiar path into the mountains, trying to quicken his pace as he caught a faint scent of the rising sun.
He smiled, quietly activated [Absolute], lowered his own presence, and followed the scent. In a vast, open snowfield, he found a red-haired Sun-Earring Boy repeatedly planting a withered tree in his nails.
He bore a striking resemblance to him, with a flame-shaped mark spreading across his forehead, considered a lucky symbol in those days...
"Crack... crack... crack..."
"One thousand one hundred and fifty-one, one thousand four hundred and fifty-two, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, two thousand!"
The red-haired Sun-Earring Boy growled, his hand flashing as his knife pierced through the withered tree with a single "Snake Awakening" strike... Crack!
The withered tree, having lost its support, fell and became pieces of firewood in the basket beside the Sun-Earring Boy.
Tanjiro, axe in hand, wiped his sweat, straightened his back, and gazed intently in the direction of Mount Sagiri.
More than three months have passed since Nii-san left home. He had wanted to go to Mount Sagiri to find him countless times, but he was always held back by the firewood in his basket and his younger siblings at home. Fortunately... although Nii-san was not there, he would send some money through a crow every week... Tanjiro recognized the crow; it was the crow that accompanied Nii-san's master and was responsible for delivering messages.
The mother said that with crows around, there was hope, and she knew that Nii-san was doing well. That put her mind at ease.
As for the money that was sent, she didn't spend a single penny of it and put it all into a wooden box, locked it, saying it was for Nii-san to use when he got married in the future.
What is marriage? It's probably like the relationship between a father and mother... Tanjiro came to his senses, exhaled, and the white breath condensed into icy mist, falling to the ground... He bent down, intending to carry the basket on his back, when he noticed a pair of feet appearing in front of him.
Then, following his feet, all the way down to his knees, looking up from his chest... the axe in his hand clattered to the ground.
"Nii-san!"
The Sun-Earring Boy jumped onto Roy, and the firewood in the basket on his back couldn't withstand the violent shaking and scattered all over the ground.
"Tanjiro, you've grown taller." Roy smiled and patted Tanjiro's head. The red-haired Sun-Earring Boy choked up, about to cry, but Roy bit his lower lip and held it back.
He clung to Roy like a koala, and Roy let him cling to him, listening to his rambling while picking up firewood and tossing it into the basket...
"Nii-san, you haven't even written a letter. Mother was just asking you the other day if you wanted to come home for the New Year."
I wanted to give you a surprise.
"We don't need any surprises, we just want Nii-san to come home and visit more often, otherwise... Delia won't even remember you."
"It was my fault."
"Nii-san is right. Father said you're at the age where you should be making your way in the world, and you can't let going home for the New Year interfere with your important work..."
"It won't cause any trouble. How is Father?"
"The family hired a doctor to examine my father, and his condition is relatively stable."
That's good.
As the sun began to set, the older children led the younger ones through the snow-covered woods. In the evening, he stopped and looked up at the wisps of smoke rising from the wooden house on the east side. With a sudden release from his embrace, Tanjiro, no longer feeling comfortable hanging on, jumped down and stood beside him, gazing at their home not far away.
Faintly... one could hear the laughter of children playing, the coughing of adults, and several indistinct figures, creating a heartwarming scene.
Roy took a deep breath. "Let's go."
Then, lifting her leg again, she led her younger brother, stumbling along until they reached the courtyard gate and stood there.
"Creak~" The courtyard gate opened, and the wind and snow stopped... People poked their heads out from the main house, the kitchen, and the backyard, followed by a moment of silence, then a burst of cheers!
"Eiichiro..."
"Nii-san!"
"Grandma, come out quickly, Eiichiro- nii-san is home..."
"Who?"
"It's Eiichiro- nii-san!"
Takeo and Shigeru rushed out, each grabbing one of Roy's legs... Mother Kie wrapped in a headscarf, lifted the kitchen curtain, carrying a plate of freshly battered tempura, her eyes reddening and welling with tears... Nezuko supported her grandmother, who held Delia in her arms... Father Tanjuro sat up straight, nestled against the fireplace.
Roy smiled gently, a slight upturn to his lips. "I'm back."
"It's good that you're back... it's good that you're back... my precious grandson, come and let Grandma see you..."
"... Grandma, with her head of silver hair, handed Delia to Nezuko, hugged Roy's head, and pulled him into her arms."
Tanjiro helps his older brother unload the basket...
The two little ones, Takeo and Shigeru, kept calling out "Nii-san" as they peeked out from the basket, pulled out some candy, and beamed with joy.
Kie wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, lowered the kitchen curtain, and began frying tempura. The child was back; she couldn't let him go hungry. The Sun-Earring Boy stroked his grandmother's back, exchanged a glance with his father, and saw Tanjuro smiling at him, even his cough lessening considerably...
That night, the town at the foot of the mountain began setting off firecrackers to pray for peace and drive away Demon.
Roy bought some hand-held fireworks at the market at the foot of the mountain and sat next to Tanjuro, watching Tanjiro with Nezuko, Takeo, and Shigeru playing happily in the yard. He reached out and took the hot tea that Tanjuro handed him.
"Eiichiro, welcome home." Tanjuro raised his teacup and clinked it with Roy's; the year had come to a perfect end.