"I want all my sisters to live a long happy life…"
Kanae was in the middle of writing a letter back to Tanya, after the unfortunate passing of the flame Hashira's wife it was not him updating her on her sister's progress with flame breathing, it was Tanya herself. And occasionally the eldest Rengoku son, Kyojuro. So far it seemed to be going well, Kanae had told her about Kanao whom they recently took in the last time she sent a letter. Maybe this time she will send a direct response and make it short. "Though I did read a few interesting things in this letter. Hehe," she giggled to herself.
"Onee-san" Shinobu opened the door to Kanae's office "did you remember to get more bandages?" she asked in a tired tone. "Shinobu! I am glad to have you back but didn't you leave with Tomioka three days ago on a mission?" fearfully thinking Shinobu had injuries she quickly ran up and held her face as she examined it "phew, still pretty as always." Shinobu huffed and said "can you let go of me I am fine! The bandages aren't for me they are for Tomioka!"
Kanae grinned "oh? Tomioka, what happened?" she loved seeing the various looks of frustration her younger sister had when it came to Giyu, she loved the reactions Shinobu had for her obvious crush oh so very much. "The idiot was not looking and got ambushed. If he had waited for me instead of going ahead he would have been fine." she puffed her cheeks out, it was one of Kanae's favorite looks, outclassed only by Shinobu's smile. "Well, at least you are fine." Kanae pulled out a roll of bandages from her desk "there are others in the storage room, but take this so you don't have to run all the way down the hall."
Shinobu took them "good, better patch him up before he wonders off again without being treated." Kanae grinned, remembering last month Giyu did that, she remembers the smile Shinobu had after Giyu finally relented and came home. "Well have fun patching up my future brother in law~" Shinobu turns to leave "yeah I- wait!" she flushes and turns to point at her older sister "I don't know what you are insinuating Onee-san but you better stop it!" Kanae gave a glum look "aww fine, be like that." Shinobu rolled her eyes, not about to let her sister tease her more "what were you even doing here before I came in?"
Kanae looked over at the few papers on her desk along with the feather pen and ink. "Oh I was writing back to Tanya, she seems to be doing well. She may even be done with training soon." she hummed "though maybe she will not remain a slayer." Shinobu gave an unsure look "what do you mean? Ever since we took her in she's been wanting to become a demon slayer, even Kanao wants to" Shinobu rubbed the back of her head "even if she decided based on a coin flip." Shinobu then had a dawning feeling "why…do you think she will not remain a slayer?" Shinobu obviously knew Kanae did not mean death, her older sister even pitied demons after all!
The Flower Hashira gave a large smile "oh well obviously she will join the corps, but perhaps not permanently. Just retire to support her husband." hearing Kanae's words Shinobu nearly lost her lunch "TANYA IS MARRIED?!" Kanae was silent for a few seconds and then shook his head "no-no, but she will be to Kyojuro if my instincts are correct."
Shinobu took a few moments to recollect herself and then yelled "ONEE-SAN!" She breathed in and out "seriously again? It is bad enough you do that to me, and even say Kanao will one day be the same way. But don't bring Tanya into this! Or Rengoku for that matter." Shinobu rubbed her forehead "just because they train together does not mean they will end up together, you have not even seen Tanya in a while!" Kanae wiped fake tears off her face "is it so wrong to wish my wonderful sisters a peaceful life outside the demon slayer corps?"
With a stern unhappy look Shinobu grumbled "Uzui has three wives and they often help him on missions, why would Tanya be any different? Though I doubt she will be getting married any time soon. And having met Rengoku, the two have conflicting personalities anyways." Kanae hummed and cheerfully "and yet have eyes for Tomioka" Shinobu's face went red "I DO NOT!" Kanae giggled "want to read the latest letter from Tanya? You will see it too!" Shinobu rolled her eyes as Kanae grabbed one of the scrolls from her desk.
Dear Kanae-nee,
sorry for the late response, the Rengoku patriarch is still a drunk old mess and the youngest barely comes to training anymore. The oldest brother, Kyojuro Rengoku has been helping me master flame breathing between his missions. I have gotten used to his constant smiling and yelling, but barely tolerating is a better choice of words.
Though having one semi-stable person here besides myself is nice. Rengoku has also been smiling a lot more than usual, it is weirding me out.
Shinobu's eyebrows crooked "Onee-san, so far I am not seeing it." she honestly figured her older sister was looking for a 'love' moment from anything. But Kanae smiled as she kept looking at the letter. With a few more paragraphs left Shinobu sighed and kept reading as well.
The reason for my late response was due to the Rengoku patriarch, Shinjuro, going on another drunken rampage that ended with what remained of the ink being spilled all over the garden. Do not ask, I ain't giving an in-depth story about it.
And one idiot, Kyojuro Rengoku, came back from a mission a day later and right away insisted he will get more ink, going out in the pouring rain!
He got a cold the next day….world part I gotta take care of him sometimes since the youngest has to keep their father away so he does not make it worse! I was fine waiting, IDIOTIC is how I describe all of it!
Shinobu stares up at Kanae "it sounds like she hates him." Kanae shakes her head "have you ever known Tanya to want to take care of someone? She only helped us medically if we asked. Same with rehabilitation training!" Shinobu grimaced "it was probably for the best, especially for the rehabilitation training. Or do you need to be reminded her methods of rehabilitation training are responsible for the current ten percent of current Kakushi because they became too scared to hold a sword ever again!" Kanae nodded "yes. Still, those that stayed were better for it. I also remember you volunteered to help more than a few times!"
Shinobu rolled her eyes "I think that you're just reading into it too much. Just like you do with me." Kanae smiled "from the letter I gathered she acts as you do around Tomioka-san" Shinobu's face went pink and mad "w-what do you even mean to imply?" Kanae tilted her head "speaking of which, didn't you come here to get bandages to patch him up?" Shinobu grumbled "this isn't over Onee-san. And don't tease Tanya, it's bad enough you do it to me." the younger sister ran off, leaving Kanae in her office. She giggled and said in a cheerful voice "they are so much alike, hehe."
Another day, Kanae had been recovering from a mission so she was home for a little longer than usual. Soon after she had woken up Kanae spotted Kanao sitting on her knees while butterflies fluttered around her. "How are you doing Kanao?" the girl tilted her head, after a few seconds she flipped her coin, it landed on the heads. "It is nice today, so I am fine." Kanae smiles, she sat beside Kanao, she knew one day the girl would find a boy that makes her heart flutter, or a girl, a good older sister does not judge! 'Or at least I won't, heh' she thought with a grin.
As she watched Kanao smile at the butterflies Kanae wondered what kind of person the little girl would fall for. She imagined nice ones, funny ones, scary ones, bad boy types that Kanae would be certain to frighten to make sure they never hurt Kanao, she was confident her other sisters would do the same. She patted Kanao's head "I cannot wait to see the day you become a woman, Kanao." Kanae smiled at the little girl, and Kanao did the same.
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"ACK! What the heck Tanya?!" Shinobu shouted after the mentioned girl splashed medicine water in her face. "It is what we are supposed to do for rehabilitation!" the two glared at each other, both soaked in terrible-smelling water. The others in the room just sorta watched. "Those argue a lot huh?" Granz says with blinking eyes, "yeah…" Mary agrees. "Hah! Just the way siblings are." Weiss gave out a little laugh.
Kanae just smiled, she and Kyojuro were the only ones not covered in water, though Kyojuro had easily gotten over motions requiring hands it was his legs that needed more recovery. It was a little while after Tanya's final selection, while Kyojuro was still recovering from his last mission. "I smell so bad," Viktoriya said in a whimpering voice. Kanae giggled "I will be sure to make baths for each of you" this did little to cheer the other user of flower breathing.
"You did well little Kocho!" Kyojuro shouted loudly as he approached Tanya. A vein popped in Tanya's head "don't you dare call me little! I'll make you pay Rengoku." everyone else except Shinobu and Kanae felt worried about what Tanya would do given her look of anger. But Kyojuro loudly laughed, not afraid at all "but there are three Kocho's in this room, what do I call you if not that?" Tanya's stare flattened but then Kanae raised a hand "maybe a nickname?" Tanya's mouth opened, and she could see the look on Kanae's face, it was one of amusement.
"We are not doing that!" Tanya shouted but then Kyojuro placed a hand on her head. "THAT IS A GREAT IDEA ELDEST KOCHO SISTER!" the flame hashira proudly grinned. "He's dead…" Wilibald said with sweat going down his head. "Very dead" both Granz and Viktoriya looked at the floor. Mary took a praying position "I'll start praying for his soul now." The bright-haired slayer gripped his other hand "Huh? Who is dead?" Kyojuro asked with confused enthusiasm. "Hrnn…." Tanya had a small flash of pink on her face as frustration built up, Shinobu also looked mad for some reason.
"Get your hand off of me/get your hands off of my sister…you idiot/pervert!" both Sisters splashed water on Kyojuro's face and body. They both did so twice as he backed up. The water dripped off his hair and clothes, and his bright smile remained. Kanae covered her mouth "oh my" she thought Shinobu would join in the teasing, but seeing her sisters work together was nice as well. Suddenly both Shinobu and Tanya had matching evil grins, though Tanya's was more fearful for sure. "We have at least twenty cups still on the table Shinobu." Tanya said as she grabbed one, "indeed, we do. And Rengoku does need to use his legs more so we can consider this an extension of the chase." Shinobu grabbed one as well. Kyojuro backed up more "Wait, aren't I supposed to be the chaser?"
The two started splashing the cups at Kyojuro, making him run with barely recovered legs. Even the poor slayers watching were splashed by accident. Kanae giggled as she squeezed the water out of her hair. 'If only fun and happy times like this never ran the risk of ending because of a demon, or because of a mission.' Kanae put that thought at the back of her head, Tanya had just become a demon slayer so having such thoughts would only bring bad omens. She was sure Tanya will be a great demon slayer like herself and Shinobu.
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Tanya's eyes were flat closed as Kanae continued to scrub her hair, "I can do this myself, I have been for a while" she said while she could hear Shinobu giggling 'traitor.' Kanae mewled out a few sad noises "you've been gone for almost two years Tanya, soon even Kanao might not let me do this, let your older sister scrub your hair. Please?" Tanya winces, and Kanae was both an amazing fighter and an amazing guilt tripper "fine" she grumbled. 'Besides, I would have killed for this kind of pampering before. Might as well not complain.'
Shinobu sighed, Kanae insisted that they all bathe together. Kanao and Aoi had gone to bed by then, so it was just them for now. "So Tanya, how was training over there?" Shinobu asked while Tanya tried to keep the soap from her eyes "it was fine, the father becoming a good-for-nothing drunk certainly made it harder." the two older Kocho's shook their heads "that poor family, we all understand what it was like losing parents." Shinobu nodded her head, agreeing with Kanae. Tanya said nothing, she did not know who her parents were in her second or current life, so she does not feel exactly the same way.
Kanae hummed before saying "I bet you helped the two Rengoku brothers through those hard times." Tanya shrugged a bit in the water "not because I wanted to, but because they were housing me and helping me train." Kanae giggled, from what she remembers in the letters Tanya did a bit more than she was letting on. "Really? What about when they were sad?" Tanya clicked her tongue when Kanae asked that "what was more annoying was dealing with Rengoku's dumbass smile all the time." Kanae frowned "language Tanya."
Tanya grumbled more "I suppose it's stopped being as annoying when he stopped faking it." Kanae's gaze softened as Tanya continued "though it was still annoying, at least I got to see him look serious during training, he looked sad sometimes as well. At least then I knew it was a real smile, even if I hated it and his bushy eyebrows. The guy needs to learn personal space as well, he never stops even when I glare at him!" Kanae moved her gaze over to meet Shinobu, who moved their gaze to not meet Kanae. 'Kyojuro Rengoku is probably the first person outside of our family to not be afraid of her anger or looks' she shakes her head, unlike Kanae she was not going to tease her younger sister over something like this.
Kanae pours water over Tanya's hair to get the soap out "I am sure your forceful training, slash ranting session really helped Rengoku a lot." Tanya whipped her long hair out of her eyes, she had forgotten she told Kanae about that. She adjusted herself in the water to longer be sitting directly by her older sister, which allowed her to see the bright smile on Kanae's face. Tanya adverted her gaze. "I doubt it, we basically beat each other and burnt a bit of their family garden." Kanae's smile went upwards, she could see that much like Shinobu, her other sister was reluctant to admit she even so much as helped a certain boy.
'I feel like it's for different reasons though.' Kanae sighed and leaned back in the water a bit, thinking to herself while all three sisters relaxed. 'I think Tanya thinks I can never tell what she thinks, but I am her older sister, blood or no blood.' she thinks back and remembers how long it took before she knew Tanya actually respected her rather than pretended to. It took quite a while, it was as if before Tanya only did what she was told because she was getting something out of it. Maybe that still is the case, but Kanae can tell Tanya truly does respect and care about them, at least in some way. 'Unlike Shinobu, it feels that Tanya won't even think about her feelings, because she is always waiting for something to end. If only I knew what that thing she is waiting to end, was.'
A week later Kanae heard a knock on her office door, "you may come in." she thought it was Shinobu or a Kakushi, but then a booming voice said "HELLO KANAE KOCHO!" it made her drop her ink feather. "G-goodness Rengoku, it is quite late, you should keep your voice down." Kyojuro nodded "yes, I am quite sorry!" it was still a little loud.
Kanae could see Kyojuro looking nervous, a rare look on the new flame hashira. "Are you alright Rengoku, did you reopen your wounds?" Kyojuro shook his head. "Oh. well then how can I help you?" she said warmly, Kyojuro sat down and then immediately bowed his head. "Kanae Kocho, I would like your permission to ask Tanya Kocho on a date!" Kanae stared in silence, thinking 'huh', no wonder he was nervous. "Well you should ask Tanya, but if you really want my approval you have it."
Kyojuro immediately sat back up "Thank you so much!" suddenly Kanae's face became very serious "but remember one thing, even if it's just one date, you better not make her upset. Or hurt her." Kyojuro sweated more profusely than before "of course! Hahaha, you and Tanya sure know how to scare people!" Kanae blinked "huh?"
Kyojuro stood up and opened her office doors, "your sister scared me at first, but that wall she puts up is the same one I still make for myself sometimes. She's the reason I don't just smile for others to think I am fine." he looked away from her "her genuine smile is quite beautiful, but I've only seen it once. I want to make her smile, and not just because she has the perfect plan to take someone out." he said nothing else before leaving.
After a few seconds pass Kanae looked back at her desk, "I just want my sisters to be happy, seems I won't have to worry about that for too much longer." she leaned her head on her hand "now what to do about Kanao? Maybe I should wait till shes just a bit older though." her crow flies in through the window, "hm?" the crow opens its mouth "attention! A demon has been spotted and is suspected to be leading a cult! A hashira is recommended to go!" Kanae petted her crow "thank you for the information."
Kanae stood up from her desk, "Shinobu can come with me on this mission now that most of the patients have recovered. It is at most a lower moon demon, I've dealt with those before." she opens her tatami door "maybe I'll tease her about Tanya possibly getting a date before her." she giggles and heads to inform Shinobu they have a mission.
.
.
.
.
If only Shinobu's last day with me was not a terrible day, I asked her if she and Tanya would consider leaving the corps. She said no, at least not her, not while the demon who killed me, lives. I told her everything I remember about the demon, including how I felt bad. And as I die in her hands I say my final words.
"I want all my sisters to live a long happy life, please, do that for me."