A Second Chance - KNY

-11-

I walked back out into the den area, seeing Shinjuro motioning me into the room he put Rengoku in with a worried expression. I stepped in, immediately seeing the deep cuts on his torso.

"Holy shit..." I breathed, rushing over and pressing my hand gently against the cuts. "I thought you said he didn't have any external injuries?"

"These are old. They must've reopened when he was fighting and since I'd sensed the pain from them for so long while they healed, I never felt them..." Shinjuro said, guilt written all over his face.

"It's okay, it's okay..." I cooed as tears built up in his eyes. "What I need you to do now is get me a rag and a bucket of warm water.

Shinjuro was off within a second, reappearing a few moments later with the items. I gently wiped the excess blood away, ringing out the rag before wiping at the area again. When I was finished, the cuts didn't look as bad, but Rengoku wasn't healing properly.

"Fireball, please go dump this out," I asked, the man following quickly.

I put the tip of my finger in my mouth, letting my saliva coat it before I ran it along his cuts. A green hue followed, the jagged, bloodied skin slowly mending together and healing. I noticed Rengoku's breathing finally even, not coming out in pained wheezes.

"What was that?" I heard Shinjuro ask, looking back to see him leaning against the door frame to the bathroom.

"I have a healing agent in my saliva." I answered. "Most demons have a special sense. Taste is mine."

Shinjuro nodded, offering a hand to pull me up from where I sat on the floor next to Rengoku. I took his hand, slightly shocked at how easy he pulled me up, but even more surprised when he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

Holy shit- I guess sitting like that for a while then suddenly moving will reopen them too... I thought, feeling some of the scabbing come loose. I need to leave before he smells the blood.

"Thank you for your kindness. You're truly an angel sent from above." Shinjuro muttered, squeezing me once before releasing me.

You wouldn't think that if you knew how evil I could be... I gave him a warm smile. "Anything for my family."

He returned my smile, and I took my leave, waving behind me as I left unsuspectingly. I walked down the stairs, lost in thought when I finally made it to my room. It's almost 7:30am... I could lay down for three hours, but I know I won't sleep. Not with all these thoughts racing through my head. And my kiddos need breakfast... Plus I need to adopt Kanao next, and get her siblings.

My gaze lingered on that drawer again. No. Not yet. Maybe in a few days when these heal...  The poison was stronger this time, too... I nodded to no one but myself, changing my clothes and transporting myself to the kitchen, seeing all my kiddos hustling about.

"Cranky, what do you think you're doing?" I scolded, plucking the knife from his grasp.

He huffed, crossing his arms. "I just wanted to help. Everyone else had something to do, so I wanted to be productive too."

I sighed. "Fine, but you're the only one who gets to cut meat, okay? You're one of the more responsible ones anyways."

"Hey!" I heard Genya call.

"Tiger, you have anger issues. I'd be afraid someone would annoy you and you'd chuck the knife at them." I deadpanned, snickering when his mouth fell open.

"That's not fair! Yui is short-tempered too!" Genya pouted.

"Am not!" Yuichiro argued. "I just have an attitude."

"At least you're self aware." I shrugged.

Both boys glared at me, going back to what they were doing beforehand. Eventually, everyone was seated in their respective spots, happily digging into their breakfast. I watched with a calm smile, content with how my family was growing.

Hopefully I'll be able to get all of them out and away from that place before she realizes I'm back... I'd hate to cause more bloodshed, but none of those demons there deserve the hell they're going through. Thank god this place is hidden from everyone unless someone comes with me.

"Mama, can you explain what happened now?" Zenitsu asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Oh, of course." I answered. "As I said, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go back to that... place, and adopt another child, but I came back with the whole family instead."

"I smelt blood when you entered, though..." Tanjiro mumbled, looking at me worried.

Shit, shit, shit- wait... I chuckled. "Shinjuro got a bit defensive when I said I wanted to bring him home. You have to understand though, he's a father looking out for his boys."

All of them nodded, smiling at me before digging into the rest of their food. I glanced at the time, deciding I better start heading off. "I'm going to try and get another family again this morning, so please, behave. If our new guests come down, be nice. Feel free to show them around, tell them about me and the house, and if anything serious happens, Nezuko knows how to get a hold of me."

All of them nodded, sporting a determined smile. I returned it with my own tired smile and calm eyes. I'm so drained...