"Hey Bro! Remember to smooth out the wrinkles on my clothes okay?! I don't want to see any creases on them in the morning!"
Before anyone could say anything, Kiyomi's voice dispelled any form of malice Tanjiro had for Kokushibo.
Kokushibo gave Tanjiro a few more glances before giving Tanjiro some head pats.
"I'm your brother now."
He then ignored Tanjiro who was staring at him with a flabbergasted look and went on to do his chores assigned to him by Kiyomi.
While still stunned by the sudden realization that he had gained an older brother, Tanjiro's mind went wild with imagination.
Hey, did nee-san just call that man brother?
'Wait.. brother!?! She totally said brother, didn't she!??!'
Tanjiro recalled Kokushibo's indifferent and mature face as he plastered an obviously panicked expression on his face.
'I don't recall having an older brother!!'
Sabito wearing leisure clothes walked into the room where Tanjiro was standing just after Kokushibo walked outside.
As soon as he saw the weird face Tanjiro was making, he raised his eyebrow asked:
"What's with the panicked look?"
"I have an elder brother..?"
Sabito looked at Tanjiro's eyes, which were currently so confused and lost, and replied, confused as to why Tanjiro suddenly had an extra sibling.
"You have an elder brother?"
Tanjiro replied with a slightly more confirmed and brighter tone:
"I have an elder brother.."
Sabito crossed his arms and looked at Tanjiro questionably.
"When did you have an elder brother? I only remember you saying you had an elder sister."
Tanjiro walked towards the kitchen, still a little confused.
"Just now? He's outside hanging clothes.. I'm going to ask my sister about this."
Sabito watched as Tanjiro zombie walks into the kitchen where Kiyomi was making food.
"..."
"Nee-san?" Tanjiro was immediately attracted to Kiyomi's slender hands chopping the vegetables into thin slices with unmatched precision using a very sharp-looking knife.
"Oh, hey Tanjiro! You're back? Dinner is going to be ready very soon, so help me get the table ready, yeah?"
Kiyomi stopped for a second before continuing to do her stuff.
Tanjiro didn't know how to start so he awkwardly stood in the kitchen, watching the ingredients magically turning into delicious food.
*Loud Resounding SFX for wooden sword hitting something* (Sorry, the best I could do was this.)
As the sound reached Tanjiro's ears first, he involuntarily remembered some painful memories of his training.
Kiyomi was more amused than anything, as she put down the knife in her hand and put her apron to the side.
"So that's why you were standing there saying nothing.. Is it about Kokushibo?"
Tanjiro recovered from his memories and his eyes uncontrollably gravitated towards Kiyomi's clothes.
"Eh?!? Nee-san!? Compared with my new brother and your clothes, I'm more concerned about your clothing!!!"
Kiyomi tilted her head to make an extremely charming and adorable pose.
"No?? What's wrong with my clothes? I'm only wearing some white tops, a black medium-length skirt, and some stockings..."
Towards the end, she even ended up whispering:
"I also made some safety pants too.."
Tanjiro stared stupidly at his adorably evil sister.
"A lot of things are wrong with your clothes, nee-san!! How are you going to get married in the future?!? If you let Nezuko see you right now, she will definitely say the same thing!"
Kiyomi flung her long hair behind her as she ran outside while yelling and laughing like your lively girl next door:
"I don't care! It's not like I plan on wearing this leisure set of clothes to meet people! And I'm still waiting for my kimono and haori to dry! You also know how much I dislike the clothes other people make!"
Tanjiro helplessly gave in and quickly followed behind.
...
"..."
Upon arriving at the scene, the first thing Kiyomi and Tanjiro saw was a heap of white bedsheets on the ground, and a wooden katana leaning against the wall.
And of course, our friendly Kokushibo innocently hanging the rest of the laundry on a long rack.
Tanjiro was the first to ask:
"Where's Sabito?"
Kiyomi glanced around and continued to stare at the pile of bed sheets with a hidden smile after some careful inspections.
Kokushibo responded with his usual toneless voice:
"Are you talking about the peach-haired boy?"
Tanjiro nodded his head.
Kokushibo hung the last piece of clothing on the rack and turned his face to look at Tanjiro.
"He was unconvinced of... something... and so he proposed a sparring match between me and him."
Tanjiro looked back at Kokushibo's terrifyingly emotionless eyes and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"So.. what happened..?"
After a short pause, Kokushibo gave Tanjiro his best try of a smile, albeit a weird and stiff smile.
But it was nevertheless a smile.
"He lost."
Kiyomi gave a cute laugh and tried muffling her voice.
She then muttered under her breath:
"Three.... Two...."
"One!"
As she finished her quick countdown, a stifled cry of pain was emitted from the huge rolls of bed sheets on the ground.
"Uhk! Ugh.... that hurts.. Hey.. where am I?"
"Puff~!! ...Hic! I'm not laughing..."
Well, Kiyomi seemed like she was having a good time.
And hey, Kokushibo finally learned to smile!
Tanjiro patted his forehead and sighed with relief that Sabito was safe.
"Oh, and Kiyomi... where did you get your clothes?"
Kokushibo questioned doubtfully.
"I don't remember seeing any type of the clothing that you are wearing right now.."
Kiyomi smiled proudly while Tanjiro's face returned to its stiff state.
"Haha! I made them myself! Very cute right?! Right? ...I think it's cute!"
Kokushibo watched as Kiyomi twirled on the spot a few times before making a statement.
"Well.. I also think it's... charming.."
"I know right? I feel like these few pieces of clothing I made are quite nice too!"
Tanjiro groaned at his two older siblings while giving himself another facepalm, as Kiyomi and Kokushibo continued to talk about fashion.
With Kokushibo's thousand years of knowledge, it's enough to compete with Kiyomi, who had a genius mind and the information of the internet.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro watched with a helpless smile, as he had accepted Kokushibo as his elder brother without much of a problem.
Even though he doesn't know Kokushibo's personality and has only seen him for less than a few hours, he does know that his sister seemed to trust him a lot, and that was enough for him.
Trust is something hard to build, and he is fully aware of that.
So the trust Kiyomi was giving Kokushibo was evidence enough that he is a good person and will not harm them in any way.
And he will do his best to accept Kokushibo into the family, even though he doesn't know how his other family members will feel.. but it'll definitely be great!
--------------------------------------------------------------
'What about me??'
Sabito was still sadly in his cacoon of bedsheets, completely forgotten by the family of three.
Darkness: "Hello old friend!"
Sabito: "OH HELL~ NO!"
Darkness: "Cmere!"
Sabito: "NOOOOO!!!!"
Author: "There, there!"
*Gives some head pats*
Author: "I'll be back in less than a month! So hang in there Sabito!"
Darkness: "...Oh hell yeah."
Sabito: "..."
Author: (◕U◕⊹)~ You play with them too systems!
Systems: "Why are you dragging us in to-"
Author: "Oh~ these square pancakes are so spicy!! Do you want some Kiyomi?"
...
Kiyomi: "Kokushibo! Did you know? Japanese women generally do not wear nail varnish."
Kokushibo: "...What's nail varnish??"
...
Systems: "Spicy Square Pancakes = ... pho-? ...Ohhh~!! We're in!"
Sabito: "╥﹏╥"