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It was class registration day; normally Saki’s favorite day of the year. As a sixth grade teacher she typically didn’t get to interact much with the younger students, so on registration day she always volunteered to help with Kindergarten check-in to get her fill of all the sweet, new baby-faced kids that would be attending school in the fall. The icing on the cake was that every year the second grade teacher, Tanjirou Kamado, also volunteered for check-in. She didn’t see much of Tanjirou during the school year, given their busy schedules and large gap in student ages, so registration day always loomed ahead of her like a shimmering oasis.
Many of the female faculty at the elementary school (and some of the men too) had a crush on the burgundy haired teacher. He was tall, handsome, and effortlessly kind, with a smile that could stop a crying child in their tracks. He was also married, a fact which many chose to ignore despite the admittedly beautiful silver ring that glimmered on his left hand every time he moved it. Tanjirou was quite private about his personal life so some thought (hoped) that perhaps the marriage was strained, or had even ended, leaving Tanjirou with a ring that he kept on out of habit or nostalgia. Saki wasn’t so presumptuous, but she did hold every smile or brush of the hand from Tanjirou close to her heart.
When she gets to the table she’s somewhat disappointed to see that it’s empty, but forces a smile on her face for the nervous parents who are standing nearby with their equally nervous children. She registers two children before another teacher shows up, Shinobu Kocho, who oversees the art lessons. She gives Saki a kind smile when their eyes meet. “Is everything going alright?” She asks in her soothing sing-song voice.
“Y-yes!” Saki says, uselessly adjusting a stack of papers on the table in front of her. Shinobu is infamously a close friend of Tanjirou’s. When she had first started working there, Saki had made the mistake of asking Shinobu if she was Tanjirou’s wife. It was the only time that she’d seen the woman’s serene smile crack into something that was almost like genuine amusement. “I am not,” she had replied, leaving a red-faced Saki nearly shouting her apologies behind her. Now Saki was extra careful not to overstep any boundaries when talking to the dark-haired woman. “Um,” She falters, unsure whether she should ask, “Is Mr. Kamado going to be coming?”
Shinobu watches her quietly for a moment and Saki flushes under her gaze. “Yes,” She says finally, “But not as a teacher. He’ll be registering his daughter today.” Daughter. Saki grips the edge of the table to steady herself. “How exciting…” She responds, her own voice sounding faint to her ears. Of course Tanjirou would have children, he adored them. She tries to picture what his child would look like, some beautiful girl with unruly hair like her father and a breathtaking smile, maybe her mother’s eyes. Distantly, she hears Shinobu wishing her luck for the day, and then a mother with twins distracts her from any more of her miserable imaginings.
Half of the morning passes with no sign of Tanjirou or his mysterious daughter or wife. Saki is almost relieved, sure that the sight of the man with his beautiful family will break her heart. She sighs, looking around to see if there is another teacher nearby to take her spot for a while so she can go get a snack, when a little girl flings herself nearly prostrate onto the registration table. “I’m Kikyo!” She shouts, picking up her face to show a grin with missing teeth.
“Hello, Kikyo,” Saki says with an amused smile, helping the girl get down from the table when she sees that her tiny legs are kicking uselessly above the ground. “Are you going to be in Kindergarten this year?”
“Yes! Papa says I’m going to be the smartest in the world!” She bounces excitedly. Her hair is dark and curls messily around her face where her honey brown eyes try to dart everywhere at once, taking in all the new sights around her.
“I’m sure he’s right, is your Papa nearby?” Saki asks, looking up to try and find her father and frowning when she doesn’t see anyone who seems to be approaching.
“We were racing,” Kikyo says, “But I’m the fastest.”
“ Kikyooooooo! ” A voice wails. Saki turns to see a man with long blonde hair jogging over with another child on his hip, sleeping soundly despite the movement and the volume of the man holding him. “Don’t run off like that! You scared me!”
“Sorry, Papa,” Kikyo calls, bounding over to meet the man and walk with him back to the table. Close-up, Saki can see that the man is very beautiful, despite the snot leaking from his nose. His hair falls like silk ribbons over his shoulders and down his back, almost glowing in the sun, and his eyes look like pots of honey, shimmering with unshed tears. The baby on his hip looks a bit more like him than his daughter, with light brown wisps of hair curling over his pink skin.
“Thank you for keeping an eye on her,” He says, quieter now, and embarrassed as he wipes delicately under his nose with his free hand. “I’m Zenitsu Kamado.”
Saki feels the world shift under her feet again. Kamado is not such a common last name, but maybe they’re not related. Her eyes are stuck to the silver band on his left ring finger. Is it the same? How much variation is there in wedding bands, anyway? Maybe they just look alike…
“Wow, Kikyo, you are the fastest,” A familiar voice breaks her from her trance. There, in all his glory, is Tanjirou himself, looking a bit disheveled in a wrinkled shirt buttoned only two thirds of the way and a burp cloth over his shoulder, his hair tied half-way up with the rest falling to his shoulders. Saki is trying to slyly admire his lean frame when she jolts in shock at the sight of another child peeking at her from behind Tanjirou’s legs, a shy-looking toddler with a shock of blonde hair and deep brown eyes.
“Sorry, baby,” Tanjirou murmurs, bending to press a kiss behind the blonde man’s ear, “I didn’t think she’d bolt off without us.” Saki flushes at bearing witness to such an intimate moment between the pair. She physically turns away when the shorter man leans up to press his own lips to Tanjirou’s.
“Daddy and Papa kiss too much,” Kikyo complains. If they’re already like this in public, surrounded by other parents, students, and Tanjirou’s coworkers alike, she can’t imagine how they must be at home. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Zenitsu hide his face against the baby sleeping on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Miss Yamada,” Tanjirou apologizes, gently pushing the toddler hidden behind his legs in front of himself, “Please, allow me to introduce my family. You’ve met Kikyo, and this is Rui.” He pets the little blonde boy’s hair soothingly when his bottom lip quivers at having so much attention on him. He seems to have inherited Zenitsu’s temperament, Saki notes. “Our youngest is Haru, and this is my husband Zenitsu.” Zenitsu smiles at her again, blush still lingering on his pale cheeks.
“I- yes, um,” Saki stammers unsure where to look when surrounded by so many beautiful people, “Nice to meet you.”
“I want to go to school now! ” Kikyo whines. She takes hold of Rui’s hand and starts to tug him toward the campus entrance where several other children are milling around. Zenitsu follows them closely, obviously not wanting a repeat of his earlier panic. Tanjirou watches them fondly and Saki’s heart aches at the love that shines in his deep brown eyes.
“She’s been begging to go to school ever since she found out I was a teacher,” Tanjirou explains. “Here, I can fill out the paperwork now while they’re playing.”
Saki helps him somberly, half watching his large hands and long fingers as he scribbles on each page and half watching his family a few feet away. Zenitsu is radiant, his good looks and unwieldy children drawing attention from everyone around them. He laughs at Kikyo’s antics, drawing his husband’s eyes as well at the bright sound.
“You have a beautiful family, Mr. Kamado,” Saki says suddenly, surprising even herself. Tanjirou grins.
“Yes, I do. Thank you,” He says, his earrings tinkling when he bows his head respectfully. “I’m sorry I was not able to work with you today. I’ll see you around, Miss Yamada.” Tanjirou makes his way over to where Zenitsu is sitting and takes baby Haru from his arms, laying yet another kiss on his husband’s pink cheek. Rui scurries over to take Haru’s place in Zenitsu’s empty arms. Saki can see some of her friends watching from their own tables in shock, gesturing wildly to her across the courtyard. She sighs, knowing that she’ll be interrogated within an inch of her life later. Until then she watches Tanjirou and hopes that one day she will be in a similar position, surrounded by a family that everyone watches with envy.
It takes longer than usual to get the kids to bed that night, Kikyo still buzzing with excitement from visiting school and hyping Rui up in her mania, and Haru having napped a bit too long during their outing. Tanjirou sends Zenitsu to bed when he starts nodding off with Haru fussing in his arms, though the baby prefers when Zenitsu puts him to sleep and puts up a bit of a fight before settling down. When Tanjirou finally gets to their room, Zenitsu is curled up under the covers, his eyes half-closed as he scrolls listlessly on his phone.
“I thought I told you to go to sleep,” Tanjirou chides, sliding under the sheets behind his husband and pulling the phone from his hands to place on the side table, “You’re as bad as the kids.”
“I can’t sleep without you anyway,” Zenitsu grumbles, turning to wrap his arms around Tanjirou’s neck and press their bodies flush against each other. Tanjirou allows himself to be kissed for a few minutes, petting a hand through Zenitsu’s long hair, until the blonde yawns into his mouth.
“Alright, bedtime sweetheart,” He laughs, tucking the covers around his husband’s ribs and planting kisses all over his giggling face.
“That lady had a crush on you,” Zenitsu says sleepily, his lips forming a pout. “Shinobu says you’ve got a fan club.”
“Shinobu’s a shit talker,” Tanjirou counters. He doesn’t mention that he’s almost certain there is a club dedicated to him; he’d walked into one of their meetings once when he’d stayed late at the school. No need to fuss Zenitsu over something silly. If his husband were a teacher he knows for a fact he’d have his own fan club as well, where Tanjirou would be an avid member.
“She was pretty,” Zenitsu slurs. His eyes are closed and his brows are furrowed cutely, fighting sleep as hard as Haru had been.
“I suppose,” Tanjirou can’t help but tease, knowing he’ll never look at anyone twice with Zenitsu by his side. Zenitsu’s eyes crack open and, as expected, are filled with tears. “Really, Zenitsu? You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” Tanjirou sighs with fond exasperation.
“What about our babies?” Zenitsu whines, red-faced at his husband’s words as if he isn’t told the same thing ten times a day. Tanjirou wants to eat him up, delighting in the clingy side he shows only late at night like this, when he’s extra tired.
“And our babies. All of you take my breath away,” He answers honestly. Zentisu settles, satisfied with this answer, and tucks himself into Tanjirou’s waiting arms.
“Love you, love you, love you,” He sighs, asleep before he can hear Tanjirou’s echoing reply.
“I call this meeting of the Tanjirou Kamado fanclub into order! Everyone please quiet down and allow chairman Saki Yamada to speak!”
A group of women perched on tiny school chairs turn to face Saki, their faces containing nothing but rapt attention. “Saki, please tell us everything you found out!”
“Well, Mr. Kamado has three beautiful children, and the blonde man is his husband,” Saki says shyly, not used to being the speaker at club meetings. “They seem very happy.” Several women groan in despair.
“I saw his husband! His beauty is the only one comparable to Tanjirou! It felt criminal to look at the both of them at once!” One woman shouts, some others nodding in agreement.
“Saki, what were the children like?”
“Um, the oldest was a girl. She was very energetic, but sweet. The next was a boy who looks like Mr. Kamado’s husband, and acts like him too. He was shy. Maybe two years old, very cute. And the youngest was still a baby and slept the whole time.”
“ Three children?! But he’s so young, perhaps it was a rushed marriage,” One woman says.
“That doesn’t even make sense, idiot.”
“Still, so many children must lead to a lot of arguments.”
“There were no signs of any tension at all, Saki? Even a hint of some unrest?”
Saki recalls the way Tanjirou watched his family, how he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off his husband when they were together, how he kissed him and spoke to him sweetly.
“None whatsoever,” She says firmly. The room erupts into chaos, women shouting over each other left and right. Saki thinks it’s time for her to leave the Tanjirou Kamado fanclub and spend her Thursday evenings doing something more productive.