Home... so another year has gone by...
Urokodaki Sakonji paused his hand while cutting dried radish, looking up and gazing out the window. Year after year, the heavy snow seemed unchanged, and yet, everything seemed different... After a brief silence, he said, "Alright."
"Gurururu..." The porridge simmering on the stove hissed, pushing up the lid, and the old man hastily lifted it, getting a blister from the steam.
"Master." Makomo trotted over to him, pouting as she blew on his hand. Then, a pair of wide hands took over from Urokodaki Sakonji, the palms callused from sword handling over the years.
Roy smoothly removed the lid and turned off the stove, smiling, "Master, let me handle it."
"You always take care of me, leave this little task to me."
The porridge was ready; just cut some dried radish and slice the leftover pork leg from last night. Simple... Urokodaki Sakonji nodded and left the kitchen to sit quietly by the hearth, waiting. Makomo knelt beside him, a bit of sadness in her expression...
"Eiichiro Oda is going home, and for New Year's, Master will be alone again."
"What can be done? Haven't we gone through years like this?" Shinsuke's forehead had a big lump, wincing in pain at the touch. Luckily, Fukuda was even worse off, his face beaten to a pulp, barely recognizable... That's the price for mocking his height!
"Look at it this way, once Eiichiro Oda avenges us, next year there will be even fewer to accompany Master."
"If you can't speak properly, just keep quiet!" Fukuda noticed Makomo lowering her head, her eyes growing dimmer. He opened his mouth to say something but with his lips swollen like sausages, he couldn't open it, resulting in a sigh instead... It's fortunate that those who should go to hell remain in the world because of strong obsessions; one shouldn't demand too much.
"But I just want to..." Makomo stubbornly bit her lower lip, tears welling up... She unconsciously leaned closer to Urokodaki Sakonji, suddenly a sword came between them, pushing her away.
"Calm down." Sabito held his tachi, sternly looking at Makomo, "Master's soul is too strong, you know it, getting close will burn you."
Burn? So that's why Sabito could pull Tanjiro into his consciousness but can't do anything about Urokodaki Sakonji?
Roy, cutting the radish in the kitchen, glanced at the scene quietly, understanding in his heart that Sabito and Makomo lacked a bridge in the form of "Nen" to communicate with the living!
Roy himself didn't mind being the bridge, gladly doing so, as he did to help Minamino Guangzhi see his family... The young man calculated the time and simply set it for the night before the New Year.
It's a day meant for family reunion. A day for celebration. A day for happiness.
Makomo finally calmed down, stepping back half a body distance from Urokodaki Sakonji.
Sabito put away his sword, silently sighed, not knowing how to console, thankfully with a shout—
"Rice porridge is ready~"
Roy brought out the breakfast, breaking the somber atmosphere.
Makomo sniffled, seemingly returning to her little gluttonous self. Roy teased her appetite, waving pork leg meat in front of her. The girl's dull eyes lit up again.
"Hoo~" Outside, the snow flew in a whirl, while inside, warmth swirled...
As if nothing happened, yet everything seemed to have happened. After the meal, without Urokodaki Sakonji lifting a finger, Roy voluntarily washed the dishes, then picked up his Shallow Strike, heading out to practice swordsmanship.
After he left, Urokodaki Sakonji quietly approached the bed, looking under the pillow and pulling out a sock, counting some Silver Coins, and placed them into a small cloth pouch with a fox face on it.
"Hey... Eiichiro Oda is really lucky, what's Master doing... Preparing him some New Year's money?" Shinsuke jealously watched Urokodaki Sakonji tuck the pouch closely, feeling a sore toothache, not sure if it was from Fukuda's punch.
"Did Master ever prepare New Year's money for you?" Makomo poked Sabito, and the fox boy stiffened a little, shaking his head.
Since he and Giyu were adopted, they hadn't seen any New Year's money, not even a copper coin for themselves, with all necessities provided by Master without question, feeling grateful already, not daring to ask for money...
But... Makomo was delighted, her big eyes squinting into crescents, cheerfully saying, "I'll secretly tell you, I got it~"
"That's because Master sees you as a girl and takes care of you."
"I don't care, all I know is, I have it, and you don't, that's enough..."
Sabito feigned helplessness, stepping out with Roy, heading towards the dense forest... Luckily, Makomo was happy, and happiness was all that mattered...
The fox boy tightened his grip on the tachi, disappearing into the wind and snow...
"Forty-seven thousand... forty-nine thousand... fifty thousand... fifty-one thousand..."
With a thousand more strikes every day, it's Roy's minimum self-requirement.
[Hint: Swordsmanship +53]
The young man reversed his grip, slashing toward a cypress tree behind him from beside Sabito's ear, "Crack—"
The big cypress tree, too large for both of them to encircle, split right down the middle along its centerline,
the precision and sharpness of the blade, attracting attention... Sabito felt a surge of fighting spirit, his hand instinctively reaching for the sword hilt, but he quickly suppressed it...
Roy exhaled deeply, sheathed his blade, pretending not to notice the boy's grip on the tachi, and that night, returned to the cabin, casually dealing with dinner, then lay fully dressed on the bed.
Night deepened, fatigue set in...
Roy fell into a deep sleep,
once again leaving the world of Demon Slayer through Deep Sleep, returning to Kukuroo Mountain.