The clear sunlight slowly penetrated the clouds and fell down in beams from the sky. Looking out from the wooden house, the town at the foot of the mountain was just covered by the sunlight through the dense forest.
The snow melted slowly.
"Father? What's wrong with Father?" Shigeru bent down to pick up the scattered firewood on the ground as he turned his head in surprise, his tone full of disbelief. "Nezuko-nee, is it true? Father is awake?!"
The firewood that Shigeru had just picked up was scattered on the ground again.
Nezuko stood in front of Shigeru, holding Rokuta in her arms, and nodded excitedly several times. "That's right, Shigeru, go and call Takeo back, and you don't need to cut down trees today."
Nezuko's face was full of joy. Because she had come running all the way, her breathing was a little rapid, and her speech speed unconsciously became faster.
"Hanako and Mom are already home; come on!"
After saying that, Nezuko turned around and left with Rokuta, who had woken up from his sleep.
Seeing that Nezuko doesn't wait for him, Shigeru turned to shout into the forest behind him.
"Takeo-nii!!"
"Father is awake!! Come back quickly!"
---
---
Soon, Nezuko, Shigeru, and Takeo returned.
The Kamado family were all gathered in the sleeping room, except for Tanjiro, who had gone down the mountain to sell charcoal.
Nezuko, Takeo, Shigeru, and Hanako huddled together, looking at the center of the room, where their father used to lie.
"Cough cough cough..."
Tanjuro was coughing at the moment. He took a deep breath and sat up stiffly with the help of Kie.
"Father!"
Takeo saw Tanjuro sit up with his own eyes, and he couldn't help but shout excitedly.
"Father, is there anywhere else you feel uncomfortable?"
Not wanting to be left behind, the other children crowded around.
"This is great." Hanako hugged Nezuko, who was standing next to her, and breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her father safe and sound.
Tanjuro was slightly out of breath. He looked up at the children who were leaning toward him. The weakness of this body was beyond his imagination.
"Takeo, Shigeru," he said. "You've grown taller."
Takeo nodded vigorously, afraid that if he stopped for a moment, tears and snot would come out of his eyes. "Yeah!"
"You're so old, and you're still crying," said Shigeru, who was standing to the side with red eyes, to his brother.
"You too!" Takeo immediately retorted.
Tanjuro smiled slightly, his eyes slowly swept over each of his children, and then slowly stretched out his arms.
~Pounce~
He hugged everyone who came close, including Kie.
Takeo and Shigeru, who were trying hard not to cry, couldn't hold it anymore and hugged everyone back.
The family embraced.
"...it's so good to be back this time."
Tanjuro whispered, hugging his family, and the reunion he had longed for for more than 30 years was realized at this moment.
At least when he woke up, his family was safe.
Slightly closing his eyes, his rough, calloused hand rubbed his children's heads.
He felt complete here.
His long crimson hair hung down, and because he had been asleep for a year and had not been trimmed, the length of his hair was close to his waist.
Tanjuro adjusted his breathing rhythm and enjoyed the short and beautiful time of family reunion.
Even if the kanji over his head keeps flashing.
—The blood-red word "Danger" has been lighting up since Tanjuro woke up.
Tanjuro quietly raised his head—the warning in his heart was like a needle pricking his neck.
After not seeing Tanjiro's figure, he probably guessed what the upcoming danger was.
---
After a while.
"Thank you for your hard work." Tanjuro was slowly standing up with the help of Kie and Takeo.
His waist-length hair was tied into a high ponytail that hung behind his head at the request of Tanjuro.
"Father, you suddenly slept for a whole year, making us so worried!"
Shigeru was beside him, gesticulating and describing what had happened in the past year.
"And and, that bear, it's really big!"
Tanjuro rubbed Shigeru's short hair.
'I see.'
'My body here didn't actually die but fell into a coma?'
Thinking this, Tanjuro felt a trace of doubt in his heart.
Since he is here, will Wolf's body on the Sekiro side also suddenly fall into a coma?
Tanjuro moved his body while listening to his child's childish prattling with a smile.
Although his family was by his side to take care of him and help him recover, the atrophy and stiffness of his muscles were inevitable.
"Kie, dear," Kamado Tanjuro said as he stood up and stretched his legs, though he couldn't stretch them too far.
"What's wrong?" Kie heard the words and looked up, looking at her husband with concern.
"Is there anywhere you feel hurt?"
Seeing that Tanjuro shook his head, Kie's expression gradually became puzzled, and then she suddenly realized what he had asked without saying it—that she had loosened her tightly frowned brows and said softly.
"Tanjiro? That child is fine; he just insisted on going down the mountain to sell charcoal today."
"Don't worry, Tanjiro... has always been very strong."
Kie took her husband's hand and accompanied him as he slowly sat down on the veranda outside the house.
Yes, Tanjiro has always been strong.
Tanjuro did not answer but gently wrapped his fingers on Kie's hand and held it tightly.
Kie also got used to Tanjuro's quiet nature; after all, he was like this before.
Hearing his wife's words, Tanjuro confirmed the thoughts in his heart.
'I guess that's why I felt the warning in Sekiro.'
The word "danger" above his head also flashed more and more frequently as time passed.
He looked up at the sky under the eaves.
The winter sky was a little hazy, but it had cleared up a lot by noon.
The beginning plot of the manga "Demon Slayer."
It was a winter day a year after Kamado Tanjuro's death, and the eldest son, Tanjiro, went down the mountain alone to sell charcoal.
When he returned home, his entire family was slaughtered by the "Demon King," and only his sister, Nezuko, survived as a man-eating demon.
Now, it seems that because of his own particularity, he did not die as in the original.
Instead, he slept for a year.
And woke up right after Tanjiro went down the mountain to sell charcoal.
'I woke up from the world of Sekiro because of this strong warning, and for some unknown reason, I returned here.'
The warning was from his counterpart, the ninja "Wolf."
When encountering a life-and-death crisis, Wolf's heart will issue a warning like an instinct.
It is a powerful instinct for survival.
In the game, it is shown as a red "Danger" character on the top of the head.
It is the same now.
Based on the various conditions that were met, Tanjuro came to his own answer.
The content of the warning is obvious. The "Demon King" is coming.
This also explains why the warning this time is unprecedentedly strong.
In the original work, Tanjiro left home on the first morning.
On the first night back, an old man at the foot of the mountain warned him that there were evil spirits at night and asked him to stay.
The tragedy of the Kamado family happened on this evening.
Tanjuro, who knew all of this, would naturally not allow all of this to happen as it did originally.
The plot, Kibutsuji Muzan, will come and slaughter the Kamado family tonight.
Tanjuro Kamado narrowed his eyes.
'Time to prepare and throw out the red carpet.'