Charcoal and Mist

Hello everyone!

This is a fic made as a birthday gift for the admin of the discord server I'm part of; I hope you like it Mari!

Warning, this contains spoilers for the manga, you have been warned.

By the way, since I need a name for them and, as far as I know, they aren't named in the manga; I chose the names Eichi and Aika for Muichiro and Yuichiro's father and mother.

Without further ado, on with the one-shot!

Disclaimer: I don't own KnY.

"Dad." Kamado Tanjiro, a seven year old boy with red hair and eyes, wearing a grey kimono with a black and green checkered haori asked his father, a man in his twenties with the same features, as he held his hand and followed him.

"We're going to meet some friends." His father, Tanjuro, answered. "We are a family that sells charcoal and our neighbors that live on the other side of the mountain sell wood, you could say that our jobs are intertwined in a sense."

"Are they nice?" Kamado Nezuko, a six year old girl with black hair decorated with a pink ribbon and eyes of similar color than her father and sister, but with a lighter shade, wearing a light pink kimono with a dark brown haori on top asked while smiling excitedly and holding her father's other hand.

"Yes, they have two kids, twins, about your age; since I have to go meet them I thought it would be nice for you two to get to know them." The older Kamado answered.

"We'll be nice to them, right Nezuko?"

"Yes!"

"I'm sure you will." Tanjuro said with a chuckle.

.

.

It didn't take long before the three could see a house among the trees of their mountain; it looked old but well maintained, a man in his twenties with short dark hair and eyes, wearing a simple brown kimono with a black haori was currently cutting wood with an axe, he stopped when he saw the Kamados and waved at them with a smile.

"Tanjuro-san, it's been a while!" The man said.

"It has, I'm glad to see you in good health, Eichi-san." Tanjuro answered. "These are my oldest son and daughter, Tanjiro and Nezuko."

"Nice to meet you!" The two said with a bow.

"Likewise, my name is Tokito Eichi." The man said to the two. "Please, go inside, I just have to finish this batch and I will join you, Aika will accommodate you in the meantime."

"Thank you, we'll take you up on that offer." Tanjuro said.

"Thank you!" Followed by his two children.

The three walked towards the house and Tanjuro knocked.

"Excuse me, Aika-san, it's Tanjuro." He called out.

"Tanjuro-san?" They heard a female voice from the other side, followed by footsteps and, a moment later, the door slid open. "It's been a while, please come in." A woman with black hair that turned light green at the ends and mint green eyes, wearing a kimono that matched her eyes greeted them before looking at the two younger Kamados. "And who might you two be?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm Kamado Tanjiro, this is my sister Nezuko." Tanjiro answered, the two bowing in unison. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

"It's nice to meet you two as well, please come in."

"Thank you." The three Kamados said in unison before entering.

"You come to talk with Eichi, right Tanjuro-san?" Aika asked, moving to the kitchen to prepare some tea.

"That's right; I would like to talk about the trip to sell wood and charcoal in town." The older Kamado confirmed. "Since it's a nice day, I thought that Tanjiro and Nezuko would be happy to meet your sons, I hope it's not a problem."

"Nonsense, the more the merrier!" Aika assured him happily. "Yuichiro and Muichiro are on the back playing with a temari ball, do you want to go play with them?" She asked to the two Kamado children.

"Really? We'd love to!" Nezuko answered, her eyes almost shining in excitement. "Let's go, Onii-chan!"

"Yes, please excuse us." Tanjiro answered with the same expression before the two went to look for them.

"They seem like nice kids." The woman said fondly as she watched them go. "How is Kie-san?"

"She's doing fine, I actually asked her if she wanted to come too but she preferred to stay there, with the rest of my children." The red haired man answered.

"You're expecting another one soon, right?" Aika asked as she served the tea. "Your sixth one, if my memory serves."

"That's correct."

Before they could continue the conversation, the door slid open.

"Sorry for the wait, Tanjuro-san." Eichi said as he entered.

"No, it's no problem."

The other man nodded before sitting next to his wife.

"So, what do you say if we get business out of the way so we can enjoy some time all together?"

Tanjuro chuckled at the comment before nodding in agreement.

.

.

It didn't take long for the two Kamado siblings to find the Tokito children.

Like Aika had said, they were both in the back of the house playing with a temari ball by passing it from one to the other.

"Um, who are you two?" One of them asked.

They were certainly twins, they had the same eyes and hair color as their mother, with the hair even turning light green at the ends and it's really long, reaching to their lower back, the only thing really differentiating the twins were their wardrobes.

One of them wore a dark grey kimono with black lines while the other wore sky colored one with white lines.

"Ah, we're Kamado Tanjuro's children." Nezuko answered.

"My name is Tanjiro."

"And I'm Nezuko, we came to visit with our dad and Aika-san told us we could come play with you two… is that okay?"

The twins exchanged a look, the one with the dark grey kimono seemed to frown but shrugged and the one with the sky colored one smiled.

"Feel free." He said.

The Kamados smiled back before walking towards them to join.

"I'm Yuichiro, this is Muichiro." The one with the dark grey kimono introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you two." Tanjiro and Nezuko said in unison with a bow.

The four spent some time playing with the temari and took a break when they got tired, sitting in a circle in the ground while talking.

"I see, so Yuichiro-kun is the older of the two." Tanjiro said with a nod.

"I don't think I would have been able to tell if you didn't say so." Nezuko added.

"We get that a lot." Muichiro answered with a chuckle. "Don't tell our parents, but we sometimes change clothes in town to trick people."

"Oi, don't tell them that Mui, we just met them!" Yuichiro scolded him.

"Ehh, but they seem like nice people, Yui." The younger twin pouted.

"Don't worry, we won't say anything, right Onii-chan?"

"Yes, as long as you don't cause trouble, it will be our secret." Tanjiro nodded.

"…fine." The older twin sighed, accepting that answer.

"Yui, Mui, Tanjiro-kun, Nezuko-chan." The four looked in the direction they heard their names and saw Aika just outside the house. "It's getting late, please come in now."

"Yes!" They answered, getting up, grabbing the temari ball and walking inside the house.

"It's always nice to have you visit Tanjuro-san, please don't hesitate to come more often." Eichi said.

"Likewise, thank you for your hospitality, we better go before it gets too dark." He answered before gesturing to Tanjiro and Nezuko to follow him.

"Thank you for everything!"

"It was fun to play with you two!" The two Kamados said in turn.

"Feel free to come play anytime." Aika said. "Would you two like that?"

"Yes!" Muichiro answered with a nod while Yuichiro frowned but nodded slightly.

"Likewise, you are all welcome to come to our home anytime, I'll see you in a few days for the trip to the town." The oldest Kamado said before walking towards the door.

"Have a safe trip back home." Eichi waved, along with his wife and Muichiro as they saw the three Kamados walk away.

Tanjiro and Nezuko also waving back at them until they were a good distance away.

"Did you two have fun?" Tanjuro asked his kids as they walked back.

"Yes, Yuichiro and Muichiro are really fun." Tanjiro answered.

"Yeah, we can come again, right? They said we could." Nezuko added with a wide smile.

"Of course, maybe we can even get some of your other siblings to tag along next time."

"That would be great!" The two siblings said in unison making their father let out a warm laugh.

Years passed and the Kamado and Tokito families became closer and closer, it got to the point their kids sometimes spent the night in each other's houses since they lost track of time while playing together.

Their parents also became closer, they were already good friends but having their children interact gave them another reason to spend time together, sometimes even hosting a New Year's dinner with both families together.

"I wonder how they're doing." A, now, 12 year old Tanjiro thought out loud, holding a temari ball under his arm.

He and Nezuko were currently walking to the Tokito home after a week that they couldn't due to a snowstorm.

"I'm sure they're fine." An eleven year old Nezuko answered smiling. "It's a shame the others couldn't make it."

"There is always next time." Tanjiro assured her, passing the temari to her.

"Yeah!" She nodded.

"SHUT UP, LEAVE ME ALONE!" The two heard a scream and quickly ran, in time to see one of the Tokito twins run away from his house.

"Wait, Muichiro!" Eichi and Aika called out.

"Is everyone okay?!" The two Kamados asked as they approached.

"Tanjiro-kun, Nezuko-chan." Aika said in surprise at seeing the two.

"What's wrong? Why is Mui running away?" Nezuko asked worriedly, a part of her mind telling her to go after him.

"It's… about Yuichiro." Eichi answered with a sigh. "Muichiro went out during the snowstorm, it didn't look as bad as it had been all week so he thought it was stopping, but then it picked back up, Yuichiro went to tell him to go in but he saw a large branch flying and about to hit Mui, so he pushed him out of the way and got hit instead."

"Is he alright?!" Tanjiro asked fearfully.

"Yes, he is in a bit of pain but it doesn't look like anything is broken, I went to town earlier and called for a doctor just in case." Aika answered him.

"Then, why is Mui running?" Nezuko asked.

"He…" Eichi let out another sigh. "He is blaming himself for what happened to Yuichiro." He shook his head. "In any case, I better go look for him."

"Please let us help!" Tanjiro and Nezuko said.

"…alright, you two go north, I'll go south." Eichi answered. "Aika, please stay with Yui and in case he comes back."

"Yes, be careful out there you three."

They nodded before running off in the direction they saw Muichiro run off.

.

.

"Anything, Onii-chan?" Nezuko asked as the two ran through the forest.

"Yeah, the scent is getting stronger." Tanjiro answered. "Turn left here."

They continued running, guided by the older Kamado's abnormal sense of smell, until they finally found him.

Muichiro was in a clearing of the forest, the snow covering the entire ground except for the footprints the younger Tokito twin left when he moved to a tree where he was sitting, his knees close to his body and hiding his face.

"There he is." Nezuko said in relief as the two approached him.

"Go away." Muichiro said, not moving from his position.

"Your family is worried about you." Tanjiro said calmly. "Let's go back."

"Go away." He repeated. "Nii-chan got hurt because of me… he must hate me now."

"Of course not!" The two Kamados yelled in unison, surprising him and making him look up at them.

"No older sibling would ever hate their younger ones!" Tanjiro said.

"That's right, if anything, he must be worried sick that you ran off like you did and wondering if you're okay!" Nezuko added.

"Wha- you can't know that!" Muichiro protested, some tears falling from his eyes.

"…did we ever tell you how Tanjiro-nii-chan got that scar in his head?" Nezuko asked.

"Eh?"

"Takeo was near a brazier and accidentally hit it and it began to fall over, so Tanjiro-nii-chan moved over him and got hit instead." The black haired girl said.

"And I never, for a second, thought of blaming Takeo for it, it was my decision and I would definitely do it again!" Tanjiro finished.

"That's…"

"Yui would never hate you." Nezuko said, walking a bit closer. "The older siblings wanting to protect the younger ones… that's something obvious." She said with a wide smile.

More tears began to fall from his eyes, and he buried his head between his knees again as Nezuko patted his head to comfort him.

"Let's go back, then you can talk to Yui and see we're right." The girl with the pink kimono said.

"Y-yes." Muichiro answered between sobs.

The three met with Eichi on the way back, the man immediately running to Muichiro and hugging him before looking him over and making sure he is fine.

The four then walked together back to the Tokito home, where Aika was waiting and, like Eichi, ran to Mui and fuzzed over him.

Muichiro apologized to them for running away and asked about Yuichiro.

"He is awake, the doctor came and checked him earlier." Aika answered. "He has a bruise in his stomach but it was just a hit, it will heal with time."

"That's a relief." Tanjiro said as he and Nezuko let out a sigh.

"Can I see him?" Mui asked.

"Of course you can." His mother answered. "I'll go prepare dinner, could you get the table set up, dear?"

"Of course." Eichi nodded. "Do you two want to stay? Running around the forest must have made you hungry." He asked to the Kamado siblings.

"We'd love to, thank you." They answered.

With that Eichi and Aika walked to the kitchen to begin preparations.

"Um…" Muichiro muttered. "Could you two come with me… when I talk to him?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

The three walked towards the room the Tokito twins share and Mui knocked.

"Come in." Yuichiro's voice was heard from the other side.

The younger twin opened the door and entered, sitting in seiza next to his brother's bed.

"I-"

"What the hell were you thinking running off like that?!" Yuichiro suddenly yelled. "Do you know how worried I was?! I would have gone looking for you if mom didn't make me stay in bed!"

"Wha…"

"What if you got hurt or something?! You need to be more careful!"

"You… you're not mad?" Muichiro asked, part in disbelief and part in fear.

"Huh? Of course I am! You can't just run off into the forest-"

"N-no, I mean… you're not mad, about being hit with that branch?"

"…why the hell would I be mad about that?" Yuichiro asked back with a confused frown.

Tears welled up on Muichiro's eyes again and he tried, in vain, to wipe them away.

"Sorry… I'm sorry, Nii-chan." He said between sobs.

Nezuko smiled softly and patted Muichiro in the back to help calm him down.

"Seriously… it's not easy being the older brother, you know?" Yuichiro huffed.

"True, but you wouldn't change it." Tanjiro said with a smile.

"…yeah." The older Tokito twin answered with a small smile.

Alright, done!

I hope you enjoyed it Mari and, once again, happy birthday!

I also hope everyone else who read it liked it, until next time!