The special kakushi

by Kyanroji

Summary:

Kamado Tanjiro was a peculiar kakushi member, at least that's what his fellow kakushi are thinking. The other demon slayers seem to pay no heed to the boy's… strangeness. In fact, the slayers are enchanted by Tanjiro, their eyes brighten and focus on the boy's smile and kind words that they forget about their injuries and recent missions.

Notes:

i just finished the kny manga last night and im writing this with puffy red eyes, so excuse my errors

Chapter 1: Rengoku

Kamado Tanjiro was a peculiar kakushi member, at least that's what his fellow kakushi are thinking. The other demon slayers seem to pay no heed to the boy's… strangeness. In fact, the slayers are enchanted by Tanjiro, their eyes brighten and focus on the boy's smile and kind words that they forget about their injuries and recent missions.

Goto is walking side by side with Tanjiro. The boy is carrying two heavy buckets of water in each hand all while keeping up with their conversation with a smile, Goto side-eyes Tanjiro, " He should be a demon slayer with that kind of strength ." He thinks belatedly.

"—and my youngest brother Rokuta started crying! But it was okay because he likes it when Takeo and I make funny faces for him!" Tanjiro laughs and Goto smiles too.

"Ah, Tanjiro-san, thank you so much for your help! You can set the buckets down here." Aoi says, pointing to a spot near the doorway of the Butterfly mansion's expansive kitchen.

Tanjiro beams up at the girl—she can't see it because of the cloth on his face, but everyone knows he's smiling, Goto swears he can feel Tanjiro's face muscles contract to a smile—he sets down the buckets on the ground, gently as if putting down a book, "No problem, Aoi-san! Anything else I can help you with?"

Aoi shakes her head and tells him that she and the three other young girls are fine and thanks him, then she bows at Goto as well as if she momentarily forgot he is there. Goto couldn't blame her, Aoi is staring at the sun's human form after all.

"It's a beautiful day today–ah! That hurts, Goto-san!" Tanjiro whines, rubbing a spot on his back where Goto has just smacked him firmly.

"Don't jinx it! How many times have we told you not to say how beauti–"

"Rengoku Kyojuro has defeated the lower moon one with slayers Zenitsu and Inosuke!"

A crow announces, circling overhead the blue sky with a tiny brown sparrow chirping beside it in obvious distress. The crow repeats the announcement and finally flies to the direction of the Butterfly Estate's entrance. Tanjiro gasps after the first announcement and his body springs for action, already steps ahead from Goto as he charges towards the main entrance to assist Rengoku, Zenitsu, and Inosuke as announced. Goto almost rolls his eyes, I told him not to jinx it, he thinks as he runs as fast as he can.

When they get to the entrance, there are multiple black-donned kakushi members tending to three people. The sky is clear and the sun is high in the sky, the time just before noon when the sun is bright but not as hot. The kakushi members seem to circulate in a harmony understood only by themselves. They assess the wounds, take supplies, give aid, and assist the demon slayers to rest in the Butterfly mansion's rooms. Goto notices that there are a lot more kakushi members surrounding the flame pillar, unmissable with his fiery yellow and red hair and even more fiery eyes, still alert despite the end of his battle.

Tanjiro notices this as well, Rengoku is seated on the engawa with his back straight, his eyes or eye , rather, is open and alert to the commotions of the kakushi and the crows around him but they seemed glazed over, an aftereffect of the obviously harrowing and exhausting battle he has just fought in. But Tanjiro also looks over at the other two demon slayers with the flame pillar. Inosuke, a wild boy of Tanjiro's age, is hunched over the engawa trying to deny the kakushi's pleas to check his injuries. A few feet across from them is Zenitsu, another loud demon slayer of Tanjiro's age, who is sprawled lifeless over the gravel, the same tiny brown sparrow chirping by its side.

Goto and Tanjiro head towards Zenitsu who is barely awake by this point. "His legs are fractured!" They hear their fellow kakushi announce and Goto scrambles along to get splints and medicine for Zenitsu's bleeding. Tanjiro starts doing what he does best: he's smelling.

The kakushi members found it weird and borderline creepy at first, but they realized how accurate Tanjiro's medical findings are after a few sniffs with that monstrous nose. "Zenitsu is going to be fine, his breathing is shallow, but his legs are definitely overworked and he might bleed out from there." The kakushi who announced Zenitsu's injuries at first nods just in time as Goto arrives with the supplies. They both do quick work of providing first-aid for the boy clad in the yellow haori and finally, two more kakushi members kneel beside them with a stretcher to carry Zenitsu inside the mansion.

"Inosuke! Stay still!" Tanjiro exclaims and steps towards the boy but before that Tanjiro looks behind him at Goto, they exchange a quick glance and Goto nods at him, I've got Zenitsu taken care of, he seems to tell him and Goto sees the trust and determination in Tanjiro's eyes as he finally heads toward the other demon slayer. 

Inosuke's boar mask is taken off despite the boy's weak but vehement protests. He clearly has many strikes on his body and many bruises are starting to bloom along his muscular arms. Inosuke seems to use up one final spurt of energy by exclaiming, "Don't you dare lose, Aragoto-san!" before he passes out on his stomach on the engawa.

Tanjiro sniffs at the boy, he's definitely bleeding, but where? Tanjiro exchanges a look with Kotaro, a fellow kakushi that clearly endured a few firm hits from Inosuke earlier, they both flip Inosuke over to reveal a large stab wound in his abdomen causing a major bleed in his system. Kotaro quickly puts pressure on the wound and provides coagulating medicine to prevent blood loss. Tanjiro works with him in bandaging the wound, as well as tending to the minor ones all over the boy's body.

Another pair of kakushi members get near them with a stretcher and they transfer Inosuke's unconscious body on it for transport. Finally, they are down to the last and most important person they need to treat. "He has a really deep wound in the solar plexus." Rina says, her voice trembling and Tanjiro sees her eyes are wide and lost. Even Kotaro behind him is hesitating, not knowing where to start.

Tanjiro plants himself in front Rengoku and without shame he sniffs at the pillar's hair, near his neck, and by his chest. There was blood everywhere and somewhere along the line, Tanjiro could smell flesh starting to rot and decay. He took a look at Rengoku's face. His left eye is bloody and closed shut, but his other one is open, staring ahead past Tanjiro, the kakushi in their black uniforms, and the gardens of the Butterfly estate.

We're losing him. Rengoku-san is drifting away.

Feeling panic cloy at his throat and nasal passages, Tanjiro taps his index finger in the center of Rengoku's forehead. He sees the pillar's right eye react lightly to the stimulus. "Focus, Rengoku-san. There's a wound in your chest, blood vessels have ruptured, you need to stop it. Breathe," Tanjiro says it like a prayer to any god listening, "breathe, please."

It takes a moment, but it was longest moment of Tanjiro's life, as Rengoku's right eye starts coming into focus and the flame pillar sucks in a breath through his teeth in a quiet rhythm that Tanjiro has been used to with his time exposed to demon slayers as a kakushi member.

"Tanjiro." Rengoku rasps, his eye finally meeting Tanjiro's as the boy offers the pillar a smile. Rengoku may not see the boy's lips curve into the expression through his black uniform obscuring half his face, but Rengoku smiles back as best as he can.

"I'll be in your care."

"Don't die, Rengoku-san, you're finally home, alright?" He hears Tanjiro say before he finally closes his eye and allows the kakushi to treat him.

Home.

 

---

 

There's a pillar meeting held immediately as Rengoku awakens, which was almost three weeks after the battle in the mugen train. Apparently, the lower moon fused his body with the large train, planning to devour the two-hundred or so human passengers. Luckily, Inosuke found the demon's weak point but had to suffer a blow from the train's operator. Zenitsu also suffered leg injuries due to constantly using his breath technique to defend three passenger cars from the lower moon. But then, just a few hours before dawn, the upper moon three arrived, Akaza was his name. He had been the one to pierce his fist deep in Rengoku's chest.

When Rengoku opens his eye, he sees Tanjiro sitting beside his bed with a tentative smile, he's being careful, as if Rengoku would fall apart if he smiled too hard. The kakushi mask and headgear is off, revealing Tanjiro's bare face. Rengoku is pleased. Tanjiro smells this and interprets it as Rengoku feeling better after resting.

"Tanjiro, my boy," Rengoku starts, voice hoarse and throat dry, Tanjiro offers the pillar a tiny sip of water to which Rengoku starts a coughing fit, "Rengoku-san—!"

But the flame pillar only extends his hand and lays it on top of Tanjiro's, "Tadaima."

The kakushi smiles, "Okaeri."

In the pillar meeting, Tanjiro offers for Rengoku to lean on him. The flame pillar is definitely taller than the kakushi, but nevertheless, both of them are walking in the headquarters with their sides glued to each other for support. Rengoku is pleased again, and Tanjiro smells this, interpreting the scent as gratitude and good recovery for the pillar.

They both arrived just on time. The two children of the Ubuyashiki family announce Oyakata-sama's arrival and all the pillars are lined up, on their knees, with their heads bowed in solemn silence.

Tanjiro feels goosebumps all over his skin, he feels like an intruder, an outsider looking in on such a stately affair. He bows his head and scooches a tiny bit closer to Rengoku's body until he feels like he's partially covered behind the pillar's broad and strong torso.

"Oh? Somebody else is with us?" Oyakata-sama piques, his face is in the same serene smile but his voice is curious.

Rengoku is situated at the end of the line from being a tad late. The rest of the pillars crane their necks to look over at Tanjiro, hiding meekly at the leftmost side of the assembly. Rengoku chuckles, his eye crinkling at the side as he regards Tanjiro's blushing face. The pillar slowly pinches Tanjiro's cheek, "Oyakata-sama, this is Kamado Tanjiro, a kakushi. He has been very helpful with the extent of my injuries. Without him, I would have crossed the Sanzu river myself."

Oyakata-sama turns his head slightly and Tanjiro feels another wave of goosebumps bloom on his skin, but Oyakata-sama regards him with a smile, "Thank you, Tanjiro-kun, for aiding Kyojuro after his battle."

Tanjiro flushes all the way to his neck, "No! I mean… Yes, it is a part of my duties, Oyakata-sama. I'm also grateful for Rengoku-san's work as a pillar!" Tanjiro bows fully, his forehead touching the gravel.

"Hmm," Oyakata-sama hums, "Is it just for your duties, Tanjiro-kun?"

Tanjiro sits up, confused, "A-Ah… yes." He answers reluctantly, his answer sounding more like a question and he briefly smells sadness on Rengoku to his right side. But that's not right, was it disappointment? As fast as Tanjiro smelled that little flicker of emotion on Rengoku, it vanished, leaving Tanjiro utterly confused about the situation. But Oyakata-sama changes the subject, focusing on the demon slayer corps' course of action following the recent tide of events. 

The pillars discuss findings and changes of demonic activity across many areas of Japan. Tanjiro merely sits and waits, if he could turn off his ears for a moment and give the meeting more privacy he would have done so, but he could not help but listen in on their discussions.

Oyakata-sama announces the silent but deadly activity of the twelve demon moons under Muzan's reign, Shinazugawa replies with a loud, "I'll squash that Muzan bug! I've longed to slice through his ne—"

"The only thing that can kill Muzan is the sun." Tanjiro mumbles to himself, his chin almost pressed to his chest. But it doesn't go unheard in the meeting and everyone is dead silent, once again craning their necks to look at Tanjiro at the farthest end of the line.

"Did you just cut me off, you bastard!" Shinazugawa exclaims, hands balled into fist as he half-rises from his kneeling position. Tanjiro cowers even more to Rengoku’s side.

“Maa, maa, Sanemi-san, Tanjiro has a point. Muzan is a demon after all, they will all perish under the sun.” Rengoku appeals, making eye contact with the wind pillar.

Oyakata-sama seems to regard Tanjiro for a second before putting his attention back to his swordsmen and their assembly, adding to the fact that the sun is also an enemy of Muzan's, Tanjiro flushes again. Soon enough, the meeting is adjourned and Oyakata-sama leaves with his two white-haired daughters leading him out of the room by hand. The pillars rise from their positions, so does Rengoku to which Tanjiro assists at his side.

“Tanjiro.”

Tanjiro whips his head to his left to find Tomioka looking straight at him, “Oh, Tomioka-san!”

“Call me Giyuu, it’s fine.”

Tanjiro can’t help a blush creep up his face but he manages to croak, “Okay, Giyuu-san.”

Tomioka smiles briefly, the corner of his lips turning up, and he smells happy. Tanjiro is not sure how to interpret such a scent.

“I… I just wanted to say—”

“Tanjiro! I found this for you!” Tokito calls from behind the three of them and at this point, Tanjiro can’t turn around to face the mist pillar fully lest Rengoku-san fall over from standing up or, god forbid, strain his injury further.

“What is it?” Tanjiro asks, trying his best to crane his neck to look behind him at the pillar.

Tokito takes this chance to grasp Tanjiro’s free left hand on his own, an action that makes Tomioka and Rengoku’s scents change into a slightly bitter smell. When the mist pillar lets go, Tanjiro is surprised to find a smooth black rock in his palm. It was jagged in shape but when Tanjiro turned it to one side it had a bright band of green on it! It caught in the sun's light showing a myriad of greens and specks of blue along that colored band.

Tanjiro’s eyes sparkle and his mouth opens in a shocked expression, he meets Tokito’s expectant gaze—Tanjiro briefly smelled worry on the pillar—but he beams at Tokito, “Tokito-san, thank you! This is a very precious rock, I’ll keep it with me!”

Tokito’s expectant gaze breaks into a smile, “I found it on a mission, it’s called malachite. Do you like it, Tanjiro?”

Tanjiro nods excitedly, “I like it because it’s the same color as your hair, Tokito-san!” And to put emphasis, Tanjiro holds the rock in front of his eyes, levelling it with Tokito’s ombre hair, “It’s beautiful.”

The mist pillar goes red all the way to his neck at the sudden compliment and he’s a sputtering mess of words until Shinobu quickly snatches the mist pillar away with an airy, “Oh, don’t mind us now! We should get going. I’ll see you at the mansion, Tanjiro-kun!”

The kakushi waves back at Shinobu and Muichirou, oblivious to his effects, as other pillars move out and pass by them, it takes everything from Rengoku and Tomioka not to drag the kakushi boy away from prying hands of their fellow pillars, those especially being an Uzui Tengen and Mitsuri Kanroji.

Tomioka clears his throat, he should really get going, “Tanjiro, I wanted to say that I’m off for another mission.”

Tanjiro tilts his head to the side with his brows furrowed and the beginnings of a pout forming on his lips, Tomioka flushes and Rengoku chuckles, “Eh? But Tomioka-san, ah, I mean, Giyuu-san, you’ve just arrived!”

“I have an assignment nearby, it will probably take me a few days.”

The kakushi boy seems to be a bit more satisfied with that, he nods and says, “Okay, then. You are a hashira, after all. Take care on your mission, Giyuu-san!”

The water pillar nods at the kakushi and Rengoku as well who regards Tomioka with a look of knowingness, Tomioka brushes it off and turns his back.

“Ah, wait!” Tanjiro says, hands outstretched for the water pillar but remembering that he’s assisting Rengoku. The flame pillar smiles at the kakushi and lets him go briefly for Tanjiro to walk over to Tomioka.

Tanjiro takes both of the water pillars hand in his, feeling slightly embarrassed at the gesture, but Tanjiro remembers Tomioka saving his family that snowy night from the demons. It was the reason he joined the kakushi, “Giyuu-san, stay safe and come back home.”

Tomioka’s breath hitches and his eyes widen, his expression quickly morphs to a smile, much wider than his usual ones and it makes Tanjiro’s belly wriggle in pleasant knots at such a rare expression on Tomioka's face, “I will, Tanjiro.”

With that, the water pillar is off, jogging at a moderate pace as he makes his way to the next city for his mission. Tanjiro goes back to Rengoku’s side and they both walk together back to his rooms to rest.

“It truly is nice to be home, Tanjiro, my boy.” Rengoku says quietly, just for the both of them to hear. Tanjiro opens the door to the bedrooms and he helps the flame pillar on his bed to rest.

Home.

Chapter 2: Shinazugawa

Aoi sighs to herself. It's not like she hates her job but everything is really testing her today to the point where sighing is somehow a form of breathing already. Kanao, who is usually quiet, even spared a tiny giggle for Aoi as they heard the crow announce the wind hashira's return from a particularly gruesome battle with a pack of demons.

Aoi is concerned—not because Shinazugawa might be hurt, honestly, she has seen these pillars take weapons, poison, fangs, and even claws in their bodies—but because she knows that the wind hashira might not even consider getting patched up and checked on for his injuries. She finds her away towards the entrance, bracing herself, however she sees the best possible scenario that she wished for deep down inside. Even the girls behind her gasped in obvious satisfaction.

Right outside the genkan is Shinazugawa (red in the cheeks, Aoi noted, but maybe it was simply a case of blushing more than a medical emergency) carried by a certain kakushi with familiar red eyes. Kiyo, one of the girls standing behind Aoi, exclaims cheerfully, "Tanjiro! Good job!"

Shinazugawa looks up with a glare, but in a weak rasp he says, "What did she say?"

The girls cower behind Aoi but the menacing effect the wind hashira usually exhibits is lost in the obvious mask of fatigue and god forbid, any other medical emergencies lying in his person.

"Should I lay him down in the beds, Aoi-san?" Tanjiro asks.

Aoi snaps out of her reverie and nods, leading the way towards the room for Shinazugawa's treatment. Tanjiro lays Shinazugawa on the soft bed and tentatively rubs circles on the hashira's shoulder. Aoi blushes, feeling as if she has just intruded on something intimate. She knows—almost everyone knows—of Tanjiro and his charms, everyone in the corps and the kakushi make it a point to know this before certain hashiras come in with menacing glares masked with an all-too bright smile looming behind one Kamado Tanjiro in protectiveness. Really, the only person who doesn't know the effects of such charms would be Tanjiro himself.

Suddenly, Tanjiro uses both his hands to rub on Shinazugawa's shoulders and moving tentatively down the wind hashira's toned arms slowly.

Shinazugawa, who is starting to look pale, has his cheeks flushed once again despite his condition. He is alternating between looking at Tanjiro and his hands on his body to looking away at some corner of the room with his lips pursed in shyness. But Tanjiro doesn't relent, his hands now climbing all the way up to Shinazugawa's ribs below his armpits.

"Uh, Tanjiro? What are you do—" Aoi stops as Tanjiro brings his face close to Shinazugawa's right side, sniffing.

Shinazugawa's face lights up in a full-on blush, creeping all the way up to his ears, "O-Oi, brat…"

"There's something…" Tanjiro mumbles and he offers the wind hashira a short apology before shoving his hands inside the hashira's uniform to touch his bare skin.

"Oi!" Shinazugawa yelps and comes to sit up, his own hands grasping for Tanjiro's wrists.

"A bug!" Tanjiro yells as he holds a dark purple beetle in the air triumphantly. Both Shinazugawa and Aoi are surprised (and confused) at the crawling critter in Tanjiro's hand.

The wind hashira recovers first, "What… What is that doing in my uniform?"

Tanjiro shrugs, "I don't know. Maybe from your battle with the demons, Shinazugawa-san? I smelt something weird in your uniform and I wanted to see what it was. Oh! I can still smell some of them on you, can I please take them out?" 

Maybe it's the bright and innocent eyes, the lashes, or the kind and calm voice but Shinazugawa relents after a moment, he looks away and crosses his arms, "Do what you want, brat."

Tanjiro seems to be satisfied with that answer as he unfolds Shinazugawa's crossed arms and lays them on his sides. The kakushi excuses himself as he plants his knee beside Shinazugawa's thigh and pushes the wind pillar back on the bed in a semi-lying position. Aoi blushes again, this is looking quite intimate. So she excuses herself, telling Tanjiro that she will get bandages and such for Shinazugawa's wounds and promptly leaves the room.

"They seem to like your sides a lot, Shinazugawa-san." Tanjiro comments as his hands dig within the hashira's uniform.

Shinazugawa hums, still staring at the far right corner of the room. Tanjiro's hands are rough and calloused from his hard work of charcoal burning at his family's and the grunt work of the kakushi. But they are warm and sure, Tanjiro isn't fumbling along the expanse of Shinazugawa's sides and back, but the kakushi is actually locating these critters.

The hashira holds back a gasp as Tanjiro's hands scurry to his abdomen making Shinazugawa's muscles flutter in response. Tanjiro gasps, pleased, as he fishes out another purple beetle. He lays the bugs on a piece of cloth, laid down by Aoi earlier, on top of the nightstand beside the bed.

"There's one last beetle I can smell, but it's…"

"It's what?"

"It's near your legs, can you stand?"

"Of course I can stand, brat."

Shinazugawa is shaky when he stands, Tanjiro notices, but the kakushi has made it his mission to remove these bugs from the hashira's body before it starts doing things. Tanjiro isn't sure what demonic beetles do necessarily but he figures that it isn't going to be good anyway. Shinazugawa stands up, his scarred arms crossed and back straight, the backs of his knees resting against the bed being the one sign of his fatigue showing.

"I'll make it fast, Shinazugawa-san, so you can finally rest, okay?"

"I'm not tired, brat, just get on with it."

Tanjiro nods and sniffs near Shinazugawa's abdomen tentatively. He clicks his tongue, not here, and he bends forward to sniff a bit further down near the belly button. Tanjiro is closer, the acrid smell of the critter is getting more prominent the lower he goes. Without warning Tanjiro kneels in front of Shinazugawa and nuzzles the tip of his nose on Shinazugawa's left thigh.

"Oi! What the fuck're you doin'?" Shinazugawa hisses, his words fumbling which Tanjiro immediately notices. The hashira has his strong hand on Tanjiro's shoulder in an act of half-pushing him back from the hashira's body.

"Shinazugawa-san, it's okay! It's near your legs, I told you, didn't I?" With that, Shinazugawa sends the kakushi one last look before taking his hand back and resuming his straight posture.

The smell goes sharp all of a sudden and Tanjiro perks up, his nose picking up on movement. The little bug is moving! Putting his senses to use, Tanjiro alertly observes Shinazugawa's left thigh again, and then, he notices a tiny bump appear from behind the thigh and circling just right above it. Tanjiro quickly cups a hand on the critter, "Finally!" he exclaims, feeling its tiny body squirming between his palm, the cloth, and Shinazugawa's own skin.

Aoi comes in just in time (or maybe not) with a container of medical paraphernalia to see Tanjiro kneeling right in front of Shinazugawa. From behind, Aoi can see Tanjiro's hands on the hashira's... crotch, and Shinazugawa breathing hard, his shoulder heaving up and down quietly.

"Wh-What… are you doing, T-Tanjiro?" Aoi stammers, her face heating up. She curses herself for not taking the hint earlier. Aside from the weird beetle that Tanjiro fished out from the depths of Shinazugawa's uniform, there was a lot of touching involved… which could have led to… 

"Shinazugawa-san, can you take your belt off, please?"

Aoi shrieks, legs finally able to move in an attempt to back away from the room without dropping the precious medical supplies in her hands. The two men in the room look behind them to find a wide-eyed Aoi by the doorway.

"Ah, Aoi-san, just in time! I've got the last beet–" 

"I'll give you your privacy!" Aoi shouts and leaves the room, but not before placing her box of bandages on the floor by the door.

"E-Eh…?"

"Ta… Tanjiro," Shinazugawa rasps, "I'll get the bug out, go and… go and look the other way."

Tanjiro doesn't do that, instead, the kakushi stares up at the wind hashira from his kneeling position with a sense of concern at how red and breathless the other man is, "Shinazugawa-san?"

"Look away, brat!" He growls and slightly pushes Tanjiro to the side as the hashira fishes out the demon beetle from his pants.

Tanjiro takes this as a time to check the supplies Aoi had left them, he should really talk to her later, she might have been feeling tired lately from all the work. The kakushi hears the wind hashira settle back down on the bed and he smells the beetles on the nightstand and since the very beginning of meeting the hashira from his battle, Tanjiro smells fatigue like a slow wave in the room. Not pungent and obvious but still there.

Tanjiro helps the wind hashira lay back in bed, to which the latter grumbles at, saying things like "I can lay down jus' fuckin' fine."

A drowsy and tired Shinazugawa is strangely compliant, something Tanjiro is pleased by, as the kakushi makes his careful assessment and treatment of the man's wounds.

He looks behind him at the purple beetles laying on the nightstand, they do not seem to be doing much of anything anymore but Tanjiro is sure that the sunlight will have an effect on the critters. But for now, Tanjiro carefully wraps bandages on Shinazugawa's wounds without disturbing the calming peace of the wind hashira's sleep.

Notes:

no beta just praying for sheer luck but have fun with shinazugawa because i certainly mfing did ehe more coming soon <3

Chapter 3: Tomioka

On some busy weekdays when Tanjiro's father and mother are busy from handiwork that they can barely watch over their kids and stay at home, it rests on Tanjiro, as the eldest son, to take care of his siblings. Of course, Nezuko is there and is definitely more than capable, she argues, to watch over her younger siblings and manage household chores. Takeo and Hanako are also enthusiastic in helping, as well.

But Tanjiro still stays to watch over them, asking Kocho Shinobu, the insect pillar, on alternative duties for the day and promising her to work twice as hard the next few days in return. The hashira only laughs endearingly, voice light and airy as she brings her hand up to ruffle Tanjiro's hair, "It's okay, Tanjiro-kun! Go with your family for the day and you can come back tomorrow to work."

Tanjiro scratches the back of his neck, it is a busy Monday, surely the kakushi will need more help today? It seemed unfair to Tanjiro as his fellow kakushi colleagues toiled and meanwhile he stayed at home to babysit. Kocho had also been so kind as to provide the Kamado family with permanent housing nearby the Butterfly Estate and the nearest village, maybe Tanjiro could still work but also check in at home to his family?

Kocho seems to catch up on what Tanjiro is thinking because she holds a firm hand up to grab the boy's attention, "Tanjiro-kun, I'm serious, it's okay. You can watch over your siblings for today and then you can come back tomorrow."

Tanjiro nods slightly, still unsure. After all, Nezuko is only a year younger than him and is definitely capable with the chores at home, plus it wasn't like his brothers and sisters were absolute troublemakers!

Before Kocho could stop Tanjiro's thoughts again, Goto arrives jogging towards them near the entrance of the Butterfly Estate, "Kocho-sama, we got word that Tomioka Giyuu-sama will be stopping by."

"Ara ara, I wonder why?" Kocho responds, eyes going back to meet Tanjiro's.

"Oh, I don't–maybe he just came from a mission nearby?" Tanjiro guesses, looking to Goto for some confirmation.

The other kakushi nods, looking at Tanjiro with a question in his eyes, probably wondering why the former isn't dressed in the black uniforms of the kakushi, "Yes, he was nearby. The crow announced he had completed a mission without significant injuries."

Tanjiro sighs quietly in relief but an idea dawns on him that he shortly exclaims an excited, "Ah!" causing Kocho and Goto to turn their attention to him.

"Kocho-san, er, -sama, I think I know how I can work but also stay to watch over my siblings."

Kocho's hands come to clutch at her chest feigning a hurt expression, "Kocho-sama? Aww, Tanjiro-kun, don't be so harsh. Shinobu would be more than enough, hun."

Tanjiro blushes, both at Kocho's request and Goto's incredulous eyes boring holes into his forehead, "A-Ah, I—"

"Please excuse me!" Goto cuts in, bowing deeply before turning on his heel and very speedily dashing away from whatever scenario is unfolding before him.

"Alright, Tanjiro-kun, you were saying you had an idea?" Kocho prompted.

"Ah, that's right! Um, since I don't live far from here, I was thinking if I could instead service the hashira's bodily needs!" Tanjiro requests.

Kocho's serene smile goes rigid and her head tilts in confusion, but then her mind fully catches up on what the precious kakushi has just said that she uncharacteristically shouted, "Ehh?!"

"E-Eh? Is somethi–Is it a bad idea, Kocho-san?" Tanjiro asks, head hanging low in apprehension.

"Oh, uh, no! No! I'm just wondering what this 'bodily needs' is?"

"Ah, I'm sure you've experienced things like fatigue or body aches, Kocho-san? My mother and father have always taught me to–oh, you don't like it?" Tanjiro asks mid-explanation upon smelling the thin line of disappointment on the hashira.

Kocho remembers the kakushi's sharp nose and dismisses her disappointment in exchange for curiosity again, "So, you're proposing… a massage?"

Tanjiro nods enthusiastically, "Yes! It occurred to me that Tomioka-san might be tired, so his body could use a refreshing massage! It surely works on my father after a long day."

Kocho giggles, "I see. Well, Tanjiro-kun, I approve. But this is only for hashiras that require your… services, okay? If you are free, you can stay with your family at home."

And with that, Tanjiro is stationed at a private room at the back of the estate where he is able to slip in and out of easily. He dons his black kakushi uniform and prepares for his work.

The room is small and made to be dimly lit, there is a scent lingering in the air of incense burning courtesy of Naho, Kiyo, and Sumi. Tanjiro has a single orange cushion he is kneeling on, dutifully waiting for Tomioka to come in.

He smells the water hashira before he can see or hear him. There is a slow wafting of sweat, dew, and fatigue that is characteristically what Tanjiro smells from hashira or other demon slayers coming in for treatment after a mission. Beyond those scents, Tanjiro can smell ice, something cool that reaches the kakushi's nose in a pleasant tickle. The sliding doors creak as they are pushed open.

By the doorway, Tomioka is dressed in his usual garb of the two-colored haori and demon slayer corps uniform, his long hair is tied back, and his face is stoic. Just as Goto reported, Tomioka doesn't have any injuries except for fatigue after work.

Tanjiro smiles and bows, "Good morning, Tomioka-san." 

"Good morning. You don't need to bow like that, Tanjiro."

Tanjiro lifts his head up as instructed and asks Tomioka to lay down. The kakushi averts his eyes to his hands when the water hashira starts to undress, layer by layer, while looking at Tanjiro.

It seems that the kakushi outside have already informed Tomioka of Tanjiro's task inside the room for the day as he wastes no time in laying his clothes beside him and laying down on the mat on his stomach, his strong arms folded underneath his chin on the pillow. Tomioka's back is fully exposed this way, showing Tanjiro his beautiful scarred skin and bulging muscles from years of training.

Tanjiro urges himself not to stare for too long, it would be quite rude, and so the kakushi mutters an excuse me and straddles the water hashira's back gently, barely leaning his weight on the latter's back. He fishes out the bottle of scented oil from his uniform pockets and pours a generous amount on his palm.

"I'm going to put the oil on you now, Tomioka-san." Tanjiro says before he spreads his hands across the expanse of Tomioka's back. He starts near the man's shoulders, pressing down and feeling knots of tense muscles there. He makes his way down until he reaches the dimples of Tomioka's back where it is distinctly more tense and knotted.

Tanjiro starts kneading the muscles of Tomioka's shoulders below the nape of his neck, putting pressure as he dips his thumbs in soothing circles. Below Tanjiro, Tomioka sighs in contentment but it is barely heard. When the knot of muscles finally breaks and eases, the water hashira grunts quietly and says, "Excuse me, sorry."

Tanjiro giggles, "It's fine, Tomioka-san. I'm glad I'm making you feel good."

Tomioka goes stiff for a while underneath the kakushi but after a beat the man nods once, "...Yeah. Th-Thank you."

The kakushi is pleased and resumes caring for the tense areas accumulating in Tomioka's back. Near his shoulders from swinging his blade, the middle of his back from the twisting and turning of the water breaths flexible demands, and the lower back from traveling and camping at often inhospitable and uncomfortable areas for missions.

Tanjiro knows they are finished when the final knot of muscle in Tomioka's lower back eases and Tomioka is turned into a spineless puddle beneath Tanjiro. His folded arms are at a loose tangle and his face is now smooshed on the pillow. Tanjiro takes this as a compliment to his massage as he removes himself on top of Tomioka and stands to grab a hand towel for his oiled hands.

Tomioka groans, lifting his face from his pillow and smiles loosely at Tanjiro, it makes the kakushi's heart flutter at the unguarded and carefree look Tomioka has, "Thank you, Tanjiro. I feel—" Tomioka seems to realize something by himself and it makes his eyes glint mischievously (another look that Tanjiro hasn't seen yet and is definitely fluttering the butterflies in his stomach), "I feel really good."

"Oh, really, Tomioka-san? I'm glad!"

There are fast footsteps coming over behind the door and before Tanjiro can even process the upcoming smell, the door is opened wide by even wider arms from Uzui, the sound hashira, who is scanning the small room with an unexplained fire in his eyes.

"You think you could take your clothes off around Tanjiro without me, Giyuu? That's not very flamboyant of you!" Uzui exclaims, his eyes landing briefly on a still-shirtless-and-oily Tomioka on the floor.

Tomioka replies by staring flatly into the sound hashira's eyes, face devoid of any previously shown emotion, and Uzui takes this as an acceptable reply either way. His eyes land on Tanjiro, "Tanjiro! I'd like a massage too!"

Tanjiro beams at him, "Yes, of course, Uzui-san!"

Tomioka sighs to himself before he stands up and starts to dress himself. On the other hand, with only just a vest on Uzui, the sound hashira wastes no time in simply taking the article of clothing off by the doorway, letting the sun shine on his strong body. Tanjiro flushes and looks down as the hashiras in the room situate themselves.

"Ah, ah, ah, Tanjiro," Uzui tuts, walking closer to the kakushi, "my body's up here." His finger is hooked beneath Tanjiro's chin and at this level, Tanjiro is faced with Uzui's smirking face and his chest. His wonderful pecs.

"Uzui, lay down." Tomioka orders and pulls (manhandles) the sound hashira to lay down on the mat.

"How flamboyant of you, Giyuu." Uzui laughs.

The sound hashira lays on his stomach, folding his arms under his chin just as Tomioka has done before.

Tomioka pulls on his haori and moves to sit in the corner of the room. Uzui chuckles again but oh will the sound hashira have his fun today.

"Shall we start, Uzui-san?" Tanjiro asks.

"Hai~" Uzui chimes.

Notes:

long chapter b4 my school starts drowning me w work again pls send help also ps hehe im sure u kno which hashira is going nextttt

Chapter 4: Uzui

Notes:

this was me spoiling myself because semestral break just ended, enjoy.
and thank you for all your lovely comments! it honestly makes me so happy <3

Uzui's bare torso is stretched beneath him in a wide expanse of muscle and fair skin, bulging and curving in a magnificent physique that Tanjiro moves to straddle. While Uzui has a thin waist, it is still wider in comparison to Tomioka's waist from earlier. Tanjiro is distinctly aware of how flush his thighs are on Uzui's sides. He keeps his body light to prevent from actually putting his weight on the hashira.

"No worries, Tanjiro, I don't mind if you sit on me." The hashira points out, head craned to one side to wink at the redhead. Tanjiro flushes but still doesn't put his weight on Uzui.

Instead, the kakushi asks for permission to use the oil for the massage to which Uzui approves with an amused lilt in his voice. At the right-hand corner of the room, Tanjiro feels Tomioka's presence watching over them. The kakushi boy gulps at the tension, are Tomioka-san and Uzui-san always this tense with each other? 

Tanjiro spreads the soothing oil on his palms and starts at Uzui’s shoulders at the junction of his neck. The muscles are tight in this area, possibly from the weapons the Uzui uses when fighting. Tanjiro massages the shoulders until he feels the knots of muscle ease up and relax beneath his fingers, “Ohh, that’s it, Tanjiro.” Uzui groans lowly, his voice making his body thrum beneath Tanjiro’s thighs.

The kakushi gulps and keeps himself from reddening at the sudden praise and moves down Uzui’s back, following the line of his spine until he reaches the dimples of the sound hashira’s back. Just like before, there is a tense knot of muscle at the lower back and Tanjiro moves to get a little more oil.

“Do you have a mission after this, Uzui-san?” Tomioka suddenly asks, taking everyone’s attention in the quiet room.

Uzui hums and Tanjiro, again, feels a slight thrum from Uzui’s voice beneath his thighs, “No, but there’s somewhere I need to be after.”

Tomioka looks at Uzui blankly, but both the kakushi and the sound hashira understand this as a questioning look, so Uzui clarifies with a smile, “Call it an errand, if you will, Tomioka.”

Tomioka’s eyes narrow, “There’s another joint training, you know-”

“Oh yeah, right there,” Uzui groans, his head now tilted upwards and his eyes blissfully half-lidded. Tanjiro drags his knuckles firmly on Uzui’s lower back garnering another string of praises from the latter.

“So good, Tanjiro.” 

Tanjiro blushes, the tips of ears are already hot, but the kakushi doesn’t exactly get why he’s reacting this way. He can smell pleasure in the sound hashira's voice, not the heady smell of sexual pleasure but somewhat more satisfying and relaxing.

“You can be silent when getting a massage, Uzui-san, it’s distracting Tanjiro.”

“Ungh… that’s- that’s why I’m called the sound hashira, aren’t I? I can’t be quiet when I’m- when I’m a flamboyant representative of sound. Ah, yeah, there!”

“Tanjiro, if it’s bothering you, just say so.” Tomioka says, arms now crossed.

The kakushi gulps and shakes his head, it wasn’t distracting, per se. But Tanjiro didn’t really know what else it was. Instead, he continued his massage. There aren’t any areas left that need further care and Tanjiro firmly kneads his fingers again from Uzui’s shoulder blades and down to his lower back in a final act before ending.

“I’m done, Uz-”

“Ah, wait, Tanjiro,” Uzui says, his head craned to look at the kakushi in the eyes, “I actually feel a bit stiff in my back still.”

“Oi.” Tomioka says in warning, his eyes glaring holes through Uzui’s bedazzled headband.

“Oh, it’s okay,” Tanjiro declares and settles himself back on Uzui to straddle him, “where do you feel stiff, Uzui-san?”

“All over my back, Tanjiro.”

“Oi!” Tomioka exclaims again, his body half-lunging forward.

“It’s okay, Tomioka-san, I’d like to help you all in any way I can!” Tanjiro beams and this seems to calm the water hashira down. The sound hashira, however, is triumphant, mentioning something about being a flamboyant member of the kakushi.

Tanjiro gets another bead of oil to spread on his palms and he starts massaging at Uzui’s shoulder blades again, “Mmm, yeah, there.” 

The kakushi works his hands and fingers on the shoulder blades and moves down near Uzui’s ribs. It still impresses Tanjiro how broad Uzui’s back is as he is running his fingers in circles, he tucks himself in the job of massaging and he barely registers the bemused chuckle Uzui makes, “Like what you see, Tanjiro?”

Tanjiro briefly hears Tomioka’s third warning “Oi!” but the kakushi realizes that he is marveling at Uzui, at the hard planes and bulges of the sound hashira’s body as a result of grueling training and years of combat expertise.

“Y-Yes.”

The room goes silent.

“Well… it’s only the natural outcome to living flamboyantly. Right, Tomioka?”

“I’m telling the others.”

“Wait!” Uzui extends his arm towards the water hashira, the quick and sudden movement almost knocking Tanjiro off of Uzui.

Tomioka is beside Tanjiro in a split second, his hands on Tanjiro’s shoulder to brace the kakushi, “Careful, Tengen.”

“My name sounds flamboyant when you say it, Giyuu, you shouldn’t be so stiff.”

“Go and do your errand, Tengen.”

Uzui sighs, defeated, and he cranes his head to meet eyes with Tanjiro, he sends the kakushi a wink, “I feel so much better, Tanjiro, thank you.”

The kakushi beams again and moves off of the sound hashira. Uzui sits up and puts on his vest, he grabs his weapons and makes his way to the door following behind Tomioka.

“Ah,” Uzui stops in his tracks and faces Tanjiro in the room, “if you’re free Tanjiro, I’d like to give you a massage, as well.”

Tanjiro flushes, somehow the idea of Uzui’s hands on his bare body sends sparks up his spine. But the kakushi is sure that the sound hashira is busy all the time!, “Uzui-san, I’m sure you’re very busy-”

In a blink of an eye, Uzui is hunched right in front of Tanjiro. The sound hashira hooks a finger underneath the kakushi’s chin and moves to speak directly in Tanjiro’s right ear,

“For you, I’d flamboyantly give time.”

Eh..? Tanjiro starts to stammer, finding some way to reply but the sound hashira is already walking towards the door again, “And I won’t take no for an answer this time, Tanjiro!"

Tomioka and Uzui bid their farewells, leaving Tanjiro in the room with a hand to his right ear and a promise for another massage.

Chapter 5: Tokito

Notes:

im back hehe (sleepy n tired) muichiro for this chap as requested by chaos_cocoon!!

When the skies start to darken, the Kamado family knows better than to stay outside where dangerous creatures and demons lurk. Years of staying in the mountainside, surrounded by the shades of the trees and bushes have alerted the family on their unanimous curfew.

It’s quiet in the Kamado house, save for the faint crackling of the firewood inside the house and the occasional giggling and whispers of Tanjiro’s siblings.

On the other hand, Tanjiro is standing on their engawa. The lights are turned off around him, but the weak light from the lamps within their house provide Tanjiro with enough illumination, his only hope is that it doesn’t alert anybody outside watching through the closed shoji doors.

The kakushi stands tall with his shoulders back, he breathes in through his nose and out his mouth in an attempt at mimicking the focused breathing technique the demon slayers use. In his hands is one of his father’s old wooden cane, cut neatly into a mere stick extending from Tanjiro’s body to resemble a sword.

Tanjiro swings the sword from the top of his head and down into a straight line, visualizing a target in front him. He tilts his sword sideways to mimic how Shinazugawa or even Uzui use their weapons in battle. 

A certain hashira springs into Tanjiro’s mind, one that represents the flow of water and Tanjiro closes his eyes. He remembers Tomioka on the night he saved Tanjiro and his family during the attack of a small demon horde in their house. He remembers how Tomioka twisted, turned, and sliced cleanly through the demons’ necks as if they were jelly. 

Tanjiro breathes in and on his exhale, he runs a few steps forward and jumps up to create a beautiful arc with his wooden stick in the air. Or at least, he tries to, but finds himself on the ground with a rather loud thud. When he opens his eyes, he can make out their ceiling staring back at him.

“Tanjiro? Are you okay?” He hears his mother call for him.

“Yes, I’m fine!” Tanjiro apologizes and resigns himself to sitting up with a sigh.

A moment later, the shoji doors rattle slightly and it startles Tanjiro, who quickly moves to stand up, but finds somebody caging their arms around him in a loose circle, “Ah! Who–Tokito-san?”

The mist hashira in question smiles at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling, “Tanjiro, konbanwa.” He greets sweetly and moves to stand in front of Tanjiro.

“Wh-what are you doing here, Tokito-san?” Tanjiro asks in a whisper, still confused. Tokito smells strongly of smoke, demon blood, and sweat, possibly because he has just arrived from a mission.

“I just got back from a mission,” Tokito giggles and moves his face near Tanjiro’s with half-lidded eyes, “I always pass by your house after my missions, Tanjiro, and you can always just call me Muichiro.”

The mist hashira giggles again and almost stumbles into Tanjiro, the kakushi quickly braces his arms on the hashira’s sides and feels his body relax like deadweight in Tanjiro’s arms. He’s exhausted, Tanjiro registers.

With careful steps, Tanjiro lowers Tokito on the floor, letting the hashira’s head rest on the kakushi’s lap. Tokito immediately sighs in content, circling his arms around Tanjiro’s waist, “A-Ah, Tokito-san–!”

“It’s Muichiro, not Tokito.”

“Those are still both of your names…”

“Call me Muichiro anyway.”

“Muichiro.” Tanjiro says slowly, feeling heat rise up his cheeks when the mist hashira hums and pushes himself up to meet Tanjiro’s eyes.

“Yes?”

“...Are you exhausted?” 

“Mmhm.” The mist hashira hums while nodding, the dopey expression on his face makes the hashira look rather cute, though Tanjiro quickly realizes that it would probably be rude to think so about a hashira.

“M-Muichiro... Can we—can you, um…” Tanjiro stutters, “Actually, nevermind. Would you like some water, Toki—ah, Muichiro-san?”

The mist hashira smiles, “No, thank you, Tanjiro. What were you about to say?”

Tanjiro shakes his head, “Nothing, Muichiro-san. Would you like me to lay down a futon? You can rest here, if you’d like.”

“With you?”

Tanjiro nods and is about to move to stand up when Tokito holds a hand to his shoulders and sits up, “What were you about to ask?”

“Oh, uh…”

“You can ask me anything, you know?”

“Yes, I know that… Um, I wanted to ask if we—you could, teach me how to do your breathing techniques?” Tanjiro finishes meekly, eyes staring at all parts of Tokito's face to look for signs of anger or dismissal. It was unheard of, after all, for a mere kakushi to ask an esteemed hashira for breathing tutorials.

Tanjiro doesn’t find any such signs, instead the mist hashira breaks into a blinding grin, “Sure!”

Tokito moves to the middle of the dark room and lays down on his back completely, his sword clanging on the wooden floors, “Come here beside me, Tanjiro.”

Tanjiro comes beside Tokito, feeling more excited than anything that a hashira is personally going to teach him the foundations of demon slayer techniques. The two of them lay flat on their backs beside each other, staring up at the ceiling.

“Concentrating your breathing is important since it helps us become physically stronger and faster, some even use it to recover from injuries,”

“The goal,” Tokito moves his hand to gesture on Tanjiro’s body, “is to inhale the maximum amount of oxygen and make use of the full capacity of your lungs,” 

“Let’s start breathing in,” they both inhale, “and you concentrate your breath to your muscles, your lungs, your blood vessels.”

They inhale and exhale together, Tokito’s quiet voice almost lulling Tanjiro to sleep in the current late hours. The only thing keeping Tanjiro up is the fact that he can hear how different Tokito’s breathing sounds compared to his, it makes him try harder to match the hashira's breaths.

“Focus.” Tokito says when the kakushi's breaths start getting ragged and irregular, Tanjiro catches himself and they both resume breathing in and out in the empty dark room. The whole house grows quiet as well, as the Kamado family retires for the night.

They inhale and exhale together until Tanjiro feels like his lungs will explode. Tokito notices such things and says, “Let’s rest for tonight. You did great, Tanjiro.”

“Eh? But—” Tanjiro stops, feeling his lungs almost rip when he starts speaking.

“Coughing and feeling pain in your sides means you’ve done it right. We can try again tomorrow, okay?”

Tanjiro nods, hoping the hashira can see him in the dark. The kakushi excuses himself briefly to gather futons and pillows for him and the hashira. They sleep beside each other that night. Tanjiro is still staring up at the ceiling, his eyes closed, listening to Tokito breathe. Hashira's really do breathe differently, even when they sleep, Tanjiro notes to himself.

The kakushi falls asleep as well, thinking how he still has to meet with Shinobu tomorrow morning.

When the sun shines through the open engawa, Tanjiro twitches awake and finds the futon next to him neatly folded over and kept, “He left already, nii-chan.” Tanjiro’s sister, Nezuko, tells him as she starts doing her laundry for the day.

“What were you doing last night, nii-chan?” Nezuko asks, almost giggling at her brother’s bedhead.

Tanjiro yawns and stretches, his lungs already feeling better from last night, “We were breathing.”

Eh? …Breathing? Nezuko thinks, “O-Oh, I see…”

She did not see, but she has come to realize that her older brother has always had such a hectic life working at the demon corps, even as a kakushi.

Chapter 6: Iguro and Kanroji

The little massage shed run by Tanjiro came to an abrupt stop after a few (familiar) hashiras stopped by, gaining the attention of other slayers. Suddenly, Tanjiro finds himself outnumbered by the amount of demon slayers needing a good massage, alarming in the pops and hard knots in their shoulders and backs. Tanjiro is pretty sure these people need professional masseuses instead of just a kakushi in a single room and scented oils.

It is a quiet day, Tanjiro is able to help around the Butterfly mansion along with his fellow kakushi members. A few of the demon slayers got assigned to missions in a few villages nearby, but it was nothing too serious that needed the attention of the higher ranks or hashira.

Tanjiro is sitting on one of the estate's benches with Goto, both kakushi members staring up at the clear sky with nothing in mind. But then there's a growing fuss going on at the estate's entrance, the two kakushi members pique their gazes in the general direction. The entrance is a bit far from where they are, but the slight noise is enough to get them both to wordlessly stand up and brisk walk towards the entrance.

Instead of injured demon slayers or actual demons at the entrance, Tanjiro and Goto find the serpent hashira and the love hashira standing together. Few of the kakushi members there asked the hashiras the standard kakushi protocol of oh, what brings you here, hashira-sama, is there another supernatural disaster we need to prepare for? and a good kakushi must also not forget the, what can we bring you, hashira-sama, we have stocks of weapons and poison in the mansion for your perusal!

"Oh, Tanjiro is here, Iguro-sama!" One of the kakushi members declared, just as Tanjiro and Goto got near the unlikely gathering of people.

"Ara, Tanjiro-kun, hello!" Kanroji greets, waving a hand at the kakushi.

"Hello, Kanroji-san, Iguro-san, and Kaburamaru-chan. What brings you here? A mission?" Tanjiro asks.

Kanroji pouts and scrunches her nose, a cute movement she directs to Tanjiro and Iguro, Kanroji tugs at the serpent hashira's sleeve, "He's calling me Kanroji-san again!"

Iguro looks briefly at the kakushi members gathered around them (who aren't Tanjiro, Goto notes), "Leave us. Please." The hashira says, though the roughly added please at the end sounded a bit forced, Goto notes again. 

Goto taps Tanjiro on the shoulder, "Have fun." he says and leaves with the few kakushi members for their other duties in the mansion for the day.

"Tanjiro, didn't we tell you to call us by our first names? I'm Obanai and she's Mitsuri." Iguro then gestures back to Tanjiro, as if to say now, it's your turn to say it.

"Okay, Obanai-san and Mitsuri-san, what brings you here?" Tanjiro asks, smiling.

The serpent hashira rolls his heterochromic eyes but supposes it is good enough (for now) and grabs Kanroji's hands in his own, "C'mon, let's go." 

"Yay," exclaims Kanroji, "I'm really hungry. Come on, Tanjiro-kun!" 

Tanjiro follows the two hashiras walking hand in hand, and only then does the kakushi see that Kanroji is carrying a large wicker picnic basket in her other hand.

The three of them stop at the clean yard behind the mansion, it is the large expanse of green grass where laundry is sometimes hung or a number of injured demon slayers are laid down for treatment. This time, Kanroji lays out a big white cloth on the grass and settles the picnic basket in the middle of it. She sits down on the right side of the cloth with Iguro on the left, Kanroji pats the spot next to her as she looks at Tanjiro.

"Oh, we're having a picnic!" Tanjiro says, just now registering what is happening.

So cute! Kanroji thinks to herself.

Tanjiro sits down in front of Kanroji and Iguro, the love hashira resists the urge to pull the kakushi closer to her and instead focuses on the various food and dishes Iguro and Tanjiro are laying out from out of the basket.

They prepared sliced loaves of bread, jams, cold cut meats, and cheeses. There are small bowls of chips and fruits, and a few homemade sauces. Tanjiro later stands up and heads into the mansion to provide a pitcher of cold, iced tea and some drinking glasses. Kanroji whoops, ready to dig in.

The three of them enjoy their picnic. Iguro is quiet as he makes savory sandwiches for Kanroji and Tanjiro to eat. The latter two would remind the serpent hashira to eat as well, you're not gonna get any stronger if you don't eat, Obanai! and the serpent hashira would relent, showing the two as he finishes one sandwich. Kanroji and Tanjiro talk, sometimes laughing at the stories Tanjiro would share or the little jokes Kanroji would make. Iguro sits back, handing them both sandwiches with a small smile on his face.

(Later, after the events of the day had ended, Kaburamaru—Iguro's snake familiar—would recount that the hashira had a larger smile on his face. But let’s not get into that.)

A few minutes later, just as Kanroji is sharing her story on her first ever mission she’s been assigned to, Tanjiro quickly whips his head up and looks from left to right sharply. This takes the two hashiras' attention to the kakushi.

So cute! He’s like a puppy, Kanroji says to herself.

At their right, rounding the corner of the mansion is the wind hashira and the insect hashira walking together. An unlikely pair that instantly locks their target at the picnic gathering and walks slightly faster than they did, Kocho waves at the trio as they walk over.

“Shinazugawa-san, Kocho-san!” Tanjiro calls and scoots over to make room for the two new hashiras.

Kanroji pouts, “Ahh, Tanjiro, you’re getting farther away from me now!”

“It’s okay, he’s nearer to me, Mitsuri.” Iguro consoles and places his hand right over Tanjiro’s. Kaburamaru takes this chance to slither and wrap itself loosely around Tanjiro neck and shoulders.

“Oi, your snake’s gonna choke the brat to death, Obanai.” Shinazugawa says, sitting beside the kakushi on his left and Kocho on his right side sitting with Kanroji.

“No, Kaburamaru would never. What are you both doing here anyway?” Iguro asks, pointing hostile chopsticks at the two additions to the picnic.

“Oh, I live here!” Kocho sings.

“I was, jus’ nearby…” Shinazugawa says, scratching at his temple.

Kocho giggles, “Actually, he came here all the way from—”

“Oi! Shut up and eat, Shinobu!” With that Kocho eats, courtesy of Kanroji who hands her an Iguro-made sandwich.

Sanemi looks rough as always with his scars, and he’s blushing! He’s blushing! Aww, his ears are so red! Kanroji giggles to herself, munching on her sandwich as she’s watching the wind hashira grow redder by the minute as Tanjiro makes him a sandwich to eat.

“Here you go, Shinazugawa-san—”

“Ah, Tanjiro-kun! Why don’t you feed the sandwich to Sanemi, hm? He's been tired after his... travels.” Kocho cuts in, laying a deceptively soft hand on Shinazugawa’s right shoulder. The insect hashira resists the evil smile creeping up her face when she feels Shinazugawa tense up.

“Oh, sure I can! Shinazugawa-san, say aaah.” Tanjiro says, mouth slightly parted as he slowly brings the sandwich to Shinazugawa’s lips.

Shinobu is so smart, and her hair is really nice today! Ah, Shinazugawa is soo red now! Kanroji says to herself.

Fighting an inner battle, Shinazugawa slowly relents and opens his mouth for a fraction of an inch. On Tanjiro’s left, Iguro grunts, “Hurry up already, coward.”

Shinazugawa takes a bite on the sandwich as Kanroji and Kocho cheer for the obviously reddened wind hashira. Tanjiro lays the food down and brings his hand to cup the wind hashira’s forehead, “Shinazugawa-san, are you okay? You look a bit red—”

“Tanjiro, feed me.” Iguro quickly says, his hand on Tanjiro’s left shoulder and a bowl of green grapes on his other hand.

Kanroji and Kocho gasp but quickly giggle to themselves, obviously pleased with Iguro's show of assertion.

As always, the kakushi smiles brightly, says “Okay!” and holds the bowl of grapes in his hands, he takes one of the green grapes and feeds them to Iguro, who lowers the bandage covering half of his face down enough to accept the fruit.

Tanjiro waits a few seconds as the serpent hashira chews the small fruit, before he takes one again to feed Iguro. But suddenly, Shinazugawa grabs hold of the kakushi wrist and takes the grape between his lips to eat. The wind hashira regards Iguro smugly, the latter returning the look with a mild glare.

Kanroji and Kocho giggle again. The rest of their picnic follows this flow. It is unfortunate for Tanjiro (and fortunate for Kaburamaru, Kanroji, and Kocho) that he is sitting right between Iguro and Shinazugawa, both of whom are clearly not intent on backing down from their food war.

At some point, Tanjiro also offered to feed Kanroji and Kocho the green grapes to which the two women promptly blushed and ate one grape each. After an hour of bickering, storytelling, laughing, and feeding, their food supplies significantly dwindled down to a single piece of strawberry in a bowl.

“Ah! One last strawberry left, would you like it, Kanro–ah, Mitsuri-san?” Tanjiro asks.

So cute! And he called me by name! Kanroji thinks to herself. She shakes her head and instead tells the kakushi to have the strawberry for himself.

Tanjiro holds the strawberry by the leaves and takes a small bite, careful to suck up the juice that comes out of the fruit. He looks up, noticing the silence, and finds the four hashiras looking at him, “Oh, uh, would you like some? I already took a bite though.” He chuckles sheepishly.

“I wanna take a bite.” Iguro says, his right hand raised like a school boy.

Feeling a challenge, Shinazugawa raises his hand as well, “I do, too!”

Not wanting to feel left out, Kanroji says, “I want too!”

Before Tanjiro gets to decide, Kocho appears right behind Tanjiro and swiftly brings the kakushi’s hand up to her mouth and bites the strawberry altogether. She giggles, “Gochisou sama deshita.” and stands up fully to stretch, she's turned away from the group in an effort to hide her smile.

The other three hashira are stunned. But Tanjiro is already tidying up their picnic space, unbothered and completely satisfied with the picnic.

Shinazugawa and Iguro grumble to themselves as they help clean and Kocho can’t help but laugh.

Shinobu is so smart, it’s like she won something today! Kanroji thinks to herself and holds the urge to giggle.

Notes:

hii happy new year!! i'm back hehe i got confused with naming this chapter because yes, it's obanai and mitsuri (as suggested in the comments in a previous chap, thank youu) but shinazugawa and kocho are here as well. #confusion

but anyways, i hope you guys enjoyed this!! hopefully, i'll finish this fic—and by finish, i mean complete the 9 hashiras and have a few extra chapters.... hehehe

and if you can't tell I absolutely love the idea of sanemi being flustered
also, i love hashiras calling each other by their first names bc #friendship (and because they're all united in their love for this one kakushi boy)

Chapter 7: Himejima and Kocho

It's Rokuta's fourth birthday today. The Kamado family busies themselves with cooking and preparing various foods the toddler prefers, with some Japanese delicacies the older Kamado siblings enjoy as well. Tanjiro is thankful that his baby brother's birthday falls just right on his free day, that means he can help with his parents and Nezuko with the birthday food and be able to go and play with Rokuta.

“Ah, Rokuta! Careful now!” Tanjiro calls for his baby brother, running (already past waddling by this point, oh, they grow up so fast) as fast as his chubby legs could take him past their yard.

Just before Rokuta could run farther and reach the gates of their small home, the small child stops in his tracks and looks up, up, and up to a tall figure looming over him. The child’s bottom lip juts out in an automatic response, a whine and cry threatening to spill from his mouth at the stranger in front of him.

The tall figure quickly crouches itself, height coming down to half of its original, and Rokuta finds himself looking slightly (just slightly) up at blank, milky white eyes and a kind smile, “Hello, Rokuta. Happy birthday.”

“Your eyes are pretty!” The child says, pointing a tiny hesitant finger at the man’s colorless eyes.

The man chuckles, “Thank you. Your eyes are very pretty, too.”

“Rokuta~” Someone sing-songs behind the tall man, voice feminine and light. This makes the child crane his neck to look behind the tall man.

“Kocho-san! Himejima-san!” Tanjiro calls, huffing slightly as he arrives jogging behind his younger brother. The poor child looks up helplessly at his brother Tanjiro and the kakushi takes this as a sign to hold Rokuta up in his arms.

“Happy birthday!” Kocho says, holding up a neatly wrapped box in one hand. Himejima does the same and Tanjiro can’t help but smile at how much smaller the box looks on Himejima’s hand compared to Kocho’s.

Tanjiro nudges his baby brother, whose eyes are fixated on the two mystery boxes carried by the hashiras, “Nezuko taught you this morning: what do you say, Rokuta, when someone greets you a happy birthday?”

Rokuta blinks his wide eyes once then presents the hashiras with a nice wide smile, “Thank you!”

Himejima and Kocho melt at the sight. Ah, this must be a special edition Kamado family smile. Tanjiro praises his younger brother, nuzzling the small child gently. It almost makes the two hashiras want to leave the two in their own space.

But Rokuta smiles wider this time and his small hands extend towards the small boxes the two hashiras are carrying, “Open! Open!” He says, almost wiggling out of Tanjiro’s hold from his excitement.

“Hai, hai~ Good boys know how to wait, don’t they? We’ll leave this in your house for later, Rokuta-kun.” Kocho says teasingly, walking past the Kamado brothers and going further in the household proper. Himejima stands up to his full height and follows behind the other hashira.

Tanjiro smiles, feeling quite warm inside with how gentle the two hashiras are towards his younger brother. Rokuta must also be enjoying himself, too, given how the child is wiggling in Tanjiro’s arms, wanting to run after the two adults with the mysterious but oh so alluring gift for him.

As they walk further past the front yard of the household and reach the house proper, the smell of burning firewood and something savory lingers in the air, beckoning the four people to check the backside of the house. The hashiras, who were walking first, find Nezuko hunched beside a cooking pot over an open fire.

“Nezuko-chan, that smells lovely!” Kocho says and Himejima mumbles a prayer of gratitude.

Tanjiro settles Rokuta back on his own feet and the young boy gravitates slowly towards Kocho, his small pudgy hand coming to grip gently on the hashira’s haori.

“Yes, it’s going to be a lovely feast tonight! Will you be joining us, Kocho-sama, Himejima-sama?”

“Ahh, if Nezuko-chan is inviting us, then we would love to! Ne, Himejima?”

“Yes, of course, if you all don’t mind.” 

Just then, Kie—the mother of the Kamado family—calls from inside the house for Tanjiro to bring over clean water to rinse the soybeans that the family has been wanting to turn into soy milk. Well, except for Rokuta and Shigeru who have not really gotten to enjoy the delicious taste of soy.

Nezuko and Tanjiro share a glance towards each other and then towards their younger brother now nestling himself between the two hashira’s, playing with the flowy cloths of the two hashiras’ haoris. Hesitantly, Tanjiro turns to Kocho and Himejima standing to his right with a sheepish smile, “I’m sorry, Kocho-san, Himejima-san, would it be alright if I leave Rokuta with you for a just a short moment? I’ll go fetch water for my mother and I’ll be back in no time at all!”

The two hashiras smile, Kocho is the first to respond, “No need to say sorry, Tanjiro-kun, come back when you can.”

Beside Kocho, Himejima has already moved to carry Rokuta in his arms, the child giggles brightly at the height he is in, “We’ll be here with this little one.”

Smiling again, Tanjiro quickly departs to fetch water in a pot for his mother waiting inside the house. The soybeans were all laid in a big flat dish already soaked in water and the kakushi helped his mother to rinse them.

“Do we have visitors, dear?” Kie asks as the two of them systematically get to work with the soybeans.

Tanjiro nods, “Kocho-san and Himejima-san have come to visit. They even bought Rokuta a gift!”

Kie smiles, “That’s very nice of them. Are the other hashiras also coming? I imagine they would love to be here.”

“Oh? I don’t even think that the other hashiras have met Rokuta.”

Kie hums, looking up to meet her son’s gaze with a teasing smile, “I’d still bet that they would want to come over even if it wasn’t Rokuta’s birthday, dear.”

Tanjiro tilts his head in confusion, but Kie swiftly goes back to her work and it is Tanjiro’s time to mash the soaked soybeans. 

‘No time at all’ turned out to be almost an hour before Tanjiro was able to successfully help his mother with the soy milk for later evening. When the kakushi steps out of their house, he is pleasantly surprised to see Rokuta and even Shigeru playing with Himejima. On the left side, still by the open fire and the cooking pot, both Nezuko and Kocho are tending to the dishes they have just finished cooking.

With a small but sturdy twig in hand, Rokuta heroically shouts a sentence Tanjiro could not pick up but imagines it was something grandiose, and the small child charges at Shigeru and Himejima. The latter two pretend to run away from the small child with the stick of terror, obviously outmatching Rokuta in speed.

Himejima, with his size and large gait, slows to an almost shuffling pace and waits for Rokuta to reach him. The young boy pokes the hashira with the twig with poor control (something that Tanjiro should definitely apologize for, nobody should be poking twigs at hashiras, even if it was his four-year-old brother) and Himejima dramatically groans in pain and pretends to double over from a life-threatening injury.

Rokuta guffaws, a pronounced, “Ha! Ha! Ha!” coming from the child, small fists on his hips as he juts out his chest proudly. Who exactly taught his younger brother this? Tanjiro wonders.

Himejima surprises Rokuta by quickly hooking his hands under the child’s underarms and carrying him high up, this earns the hashira with a well-received child giggle. Tanjiro takes this time to approach the group.

“Himejima-san! Rokuta! Shigeru!” The kakushi calls and the three slowly collect themselves from their high and walk over to Tanjiro, Rokuta still in Himejima’s arms.

“You can head inside now, we’ll lay out the food while you wait and rest. Shigeru, why don't you help Nezuko and Kocho-san?”

Shigeru nods, bows slightly to Himejima with a big grin, and leaves. Tanjiro looks up at his younger brother nestled in the hashira’s arms—possibly one of the safest people one could leave their younger brother to—and says, “You sure had a lot of fun, huh?”

Rokuta nods excitedly and his attention catches the big and shiny red prayer beads on Himejima’s neck, “Thank you so much for watching over my younger brother, Himejima-san, he is quite hyperactive at this age.”

Himejima smiles warmly, a thin stream of tears trailing down the sides of his eyes, “I’ve spent my youth growing up with children before. I’ve definitely had my fair share of playing.”

The sun, watching over the day, had gotten lower and lower as well, painting the sky with a soft orange. Finally, the preparations were complete and everyone in the family, save for Himejima, Kocho, and Rokuta (off to the side trying to fend off a curious Rokuta from trying to pry open Kocho’s gift again) busied themselves with laying down the delicious hot dishes they made for the birthday feast.

Kie, wiping her hands on her apron, approaches the hashiras seated at one corner of their humble house, “Hashira-sama, would you like some refreshments while you wait?”

“It’s okay, Kie-san, we’ll join once everyone digs in.” Kocho says and sitting beside her, Himejima nods as well.

“Okay, then.” Kie says, and turns to her son, settling himself quite comfortably on Himejima’s crossed legs, small hands busying themselves with the prayer beads on Himejima’s wrist. “My, Rokuta, you sure are quite comfortable with your guests, hm? Come here.”

Rokuta looks up to his mother’s outstretched arms and promptly stands and walks over to her. With a bow, Kie turns to leave with her son in her arms, but just before she leaves, she looks back at the two hashiras with a question, “Will the other hashiras come over as well?”

Kocho and Himejima exchange a glance, both unsure. With a finger to her chin, Kocho hums in thought, “Mmm, I think most of them are a little busy, but they may be heading back here soon.”

Kie hums, “It would make for a very fun birthday if they were to visit. Isn’t that right, little one?” She nuzzles her son’s cheeks and Rokuta giggles. Once more, Kie offers the two hashiras a small bow before she turns to leave.

A few moments later, the Kamado family including Kocho and Himejima sit around the widest low table they have, filled with traditional dishes of all sorts, as Tanjuro—the head of the family—offers a short prayer of thanksgiving for Rokuta’s fourth birthday. On Tanjiro’s right side, Himejima whispers a short prayer to himself as well, a thin stream of tears starting to flow down from the corner of his eyes.

Eating together brought a sense of security and happiness inside Tanjiro that made him smile all too brightly even in between bites of chewy udon and savory pork. Rokuta behaved himself throughout the ‘happy birthday’ song, even clapping along with everyone else and smiling, and as everyone eats, the young Kamado child also excitedly eats through the feast.

To Tanjiro’s right sits Himejima, holding his tiny-looking bowl in one hand and even tinier-looking chopsticks in the other as he eats. To Tanjiro’s left, Kocho’s eyes are closed in bliss as he slowly chews over the braised beef dish her and Nezuko worked together over earlier.

Sensing his gaze towards her, Kocho opens her eyes to see Tanjiro smiling over at her, “You should try this, too, Tanjiro-kun. Me and Nezuko worked hard to get it this tender and savory!” The insect hashira says as she reaches over the table and gives Tanjiro a good piece of beef for his bowl.

“Thank you so much for your help, Kocho-san.” Tanjiro says sincerely.

“You’re quite welcome.” Kocho responds, their eyes meeting. 

Slowly, as the night approaches, Tanjiro’s younger brothers start to reach less for the food and even Rokuta is starting to be affected by the infamous food coma, eyes blinking slowly and head bobbing forward. Tanjuro laughs, holding the child up and excusing himself to tuck in the sleepy birthday boy for the night. He had quite a fun day, after all.

Nezuko and her younger sister, Hanako, move to stand up carrying with them a few of the emptied dishes and plates on the table and also excuses themselves to go to the kitchen.

Tanjiro, Himejima, and Kocho laugh amongst themselves, still stuck in their bubble as the kakushi recounts cute a funny story of how he once saw Zenitsu—a demon slayer that Tanjiro has befriended—sleepwalking shirtless after a grueling training session with Iguro while his poor kasugai crow (sparrow) twits and chirps helplessly for his master.

It is completely dark out by now and most of the food had been lovingly finished and eaten with the younger Kamado siblings clearing out the low table of the empty plates. The two hashiras suddenly perk up in the middle of Tanjiro’s new story—one about Inosuke, another demon slayer Tanjiro had befriended, who insisted on having jagged edges on his twin swords, much to the dismay of his swordsmith—the two hashiras turn their heads towards the opened shoji doors, their eyes honing in on the slightly illuminated yard outside.

There are soft and barely heard thuds of multiple footsteps on the engawa that the two hashiras picked up on, noticing the sudden change of demeanor, Tanjiro and even Kie who is still at the table, also crane their heads to the shadows of the figures walking behind the shoji doors.

It is Kanroji’s head and vibrant pink hair that peeks in the opened shoji doors, eyes wide and round. At the immediate sight of Himejima, Tanjiro, and Kocho sitting on the tatami, Kanroji beams at them and stands up to her full height.

“Good evening, everyone! Where’s the birthday boy?” She greets, both hands waving excitedly. She enters the house with a bow and offers another bow towards Kie. Like they are tied to the front by strings, other interesting characters (as Kie would like to label them as such) enter the house in a neat line. Much like shy children, these adults enter the house with care and bashfulness that Kie enjoys a little too much from the hashiras.

Tanjiro, all the while, welcomes them all one by one. The kakushi is standing now, greeting every hashira that reveals themselves past the shoji doors. Each hashira sits around the table and with her son clearly taking over the birthday party, Kie excuses herself to her guests and heads back to the kitchen with a satisfied smile.

“I bought Rokuta a wonderful gift, Tanjiro!” Kanroji declares and looks to her right as Iguro takes out four paper boxes wafting with something that smelled savory and oily and much like the wonderful feast they had earlier.

Iguro clears his throat and explains, “She had me buy the tonkatsu rice bowls at—”

“You bought tonkatsu rice bowls for a four year old?” Shinazugawa challenges, sitting to the left of Tanjiro and across from Iguro and Kanroji.

“I bought four because he’s turning four!” Kanroji exclaims.

“Aww, Sanemi, you remembered how old little Rokuta is now? How sweet.” Kocho teases, sitting next to Shinazugawa and uses this seating arrangement to her advantage by teasingly elbowing Shinazugawa’s side.

The wind hashira sputters, ears growing red, and Kanroji laughs brightly. In one corner of the table, Tokito walks over to sit a little bit behind Tanjiro and Shinazugawa, presenting the kakushi a small pink bag that the kakushi can smell hints of sweetness and tartness. “I bought him some berries I picked this morning when I traveled to the countryside. I remember he liked the strawberries on the cake I once bought him.”

Tanjiro grins, eyes closing at the once again warm and secure feeling growing like a sweet embrace inside him, “Thank you so much, Tokito-san. He would love this!”

“I… also bought some for you, too.” Tokito says, presenting the kakushi with another pink cloth bag on his other hand and the kakushi happily accepts the gift, saying his thanks.

“You’re welcome, Tanjiro.” Tokito says, smelling like happiness and satisfaction. A perfect pair with the sweet berries.

“Tanjiro, my boy, I also bought you a gift!” Rengoku announces proudly, his chest jutting out and looking like he’s ready to stand at any moment.

Tomioka, sitting next to Rengoku, mutters to himself, “Shouldn’t it be his younger brother’s gift…?”

From behind him, Rengoku presents a neatly wrapped square item and hands it gingerly to Tanjiro at the head of the table. The kakushi’s head tilts in curiosity, but still offers his thanks to the hashira.

“It’s a kimono that me and my brother, Senjuro, chose together for Rokuta-kun.” Rengoku explains, his voice getting soft and mellow.

Tanjiro smiles at him, “Thank you, Rengoku-san!”

Kie clears her throat as she enters the room, this time carrying a dish in each hand with Nezuko and Hanako behind her. The three of them greet the hashiras in the room, to which the hashiras also solemnly return, and they lay down new dishes on the square table, some leaning more on sweets and desserts. When they finish, the three of them excuse themselves for the night and Tanjiro is left with the eight hashiras. 

The kakushi is quick to distribute bowls and plates and chopsticks for every hashira to dig in. Everyone in the table also agree to share two of the four boxes of Rokuta’s tonkatsu gift from Kanroji and Iguro, and much like the feast earlier in the evening, this second round of eating is met with conversation, laughter, and a pleasant smell of satisfaction in the air.

“Nee, Tanjiro, can you feed me?” Tokito asks, still sitting a little bit behind Tanjiro and Shinazugawa.

“Oi, you can feed yourself.” Shinazugawa retorts.

Just before Tokito can respond in kind, another figure—or figures, rather—appear suddenly at the opened shoji doors. The sound hashira’s tall height making it so his forehead is already obscured by the top of the small house’s veranda entrance. Behind him stands Uzui’s wives: Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru.

“Sorry for being fashionably late,” Uzui proclaims and the three women behind him present different sized items neatly wrapped in thin paper, “Where’s the birthday boy?”

“Rokuta is asleep now, Uzui-san, he had quite a fun day thanks to Kocho-san and Himejima-san.” Tanjiro explains. Uzui, Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru enter the house, and sit down on whatever free space is available. Their poor house has probably had the most visitors tonight than any other night before. Thankfully, everyone makes room for the newcomers and Iguro and Kanroji are quick to distribute bowls and chopsticks for them.

“Ahh, Shinobu and Gyomei cheated and got here early, huh? I see, I see.” Uzui says with a teasing leer directed at the two.

“I don’t know what exactly you mean, Tengen.” Kocho says with an equally teasing smile as she sips from the chilled soymilk. Delicious and creamy! Kocho has probably not eaten anything bad or subpar for this evening’s celebration.

“We didn’t have any missions today and decided to help the family with preparations.” Himejima placates, his big hand also holding a cup of the soymilk.

“You can save it! We can always help out Tanjiro in our free time, isn’t that right?” Uzui turns to his wives, but Makio is already striking up a heated conversation with Kanroji over something they are quite… passionate about and Suma is mid-sipping on some drink, so that leaves Hinatsuru who replies with a determined, “Yes, Tengen-sama.”
 
“Hm, you’ve been a bit busy lately, Tengen. I don’t know about that.” Tomioka says, sipping from his cup as well.

“Haa? I don’t think I heard you well, Giyuu.” Uzui challenges, though Tanjiro feels that there is a shred of truth with that as well, since a few of them—like Kanroji and Makio; Suma, Hinatsuru, and Shinobu; and even Himejima and Rengoku—are having conversations of their own, making Tomioka’s already low voice drowned out by the others.

“My schedule is a bit more free compared to yours.” Tomioka says, a little bit louder than his previous voice, but Uzui takes this as enough of a challenge for them both to exchange words.

The night extends to midnight, the desserts and sweets clearly giving them a bit of a sugar high as they exchange stories and laughs, keeping their voices a bit over a whisper to avoid waking the whole household. Even Rengoku has reserved his exclamations of, “Delicious!” to an acceptable low volume.

It is Uzui, Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru who make the move to leave first, talking about a mission that Uzui has for a nearby town. The kakushi also moves to stand, wanting to send off the hashira and his wives properly. As they near the entrance and exchange a few more pleasantries and birthday wishes for Tanjiro’s younger brother, Uzui faces Tanjiro, “Thank you for having us, Tanjiro.”

Tanjiro smiles, about to respond, when the tall hashira leans over and gives the kakushi a firm kiss on the forehead, “Happy birthday. To your younger brother, that is.”

At a loss for words, the kakushi could only nod. The sound hashira chuckles and says his farewells to his fellow hashiras—which were definitely not warmly returned, “Leave!” Shinazugawa exclaims—and he departs the Kamado household with his three wives, feeling a bit too satisfied as he ends the night.

Dazed, Tanjiro enters back to his house and Tokito is quick to his side, wiping something imaginarily disgusting on Tanjiro’s forehead with the sleeve of his haori.

Kanroji whines, “Ahh, I wanted to do that, too!”

“So do I.” Iguro responds, arms coming to embrace Kanroji. Even Kaburamaru, Iguro’s snake familiar, rests his head on Kanroji’s shoulder.

Before Tanjiro could sit back down, Rengoku is also standing up, “Tanjiro, my boy, I’m afraid I would also have to excuse myself for the night. I’ll be having sword-wielding lessons with my brother by morning.”

Reoriented back to reality, Tanjiro offers the hashira a smile, “Of course, Rengoku-san. Please send my regards to Senjuro-san.”

“Thank you. And I wish a happy birthday to your brother as well.” He says with an outstretched hand. Mindlessly, Tanjiro offers his own hand and nearly jumps out of his skin when Rengoku takes the kakushi hand to his lips and gives it a chaste kiss. This time, Tanjiro is definitely sure that he looks pink all over. This kind of… attention he has never received is something very new to him, but he supposes he doesn’t mind it…

Rengoku returns Tanjiro’s hand before giving it one final squeeze, he turns to his fellow hashiras—who aren’t exactly pleased with him, Tomioka had to settle his cup down, weird that it has cracks on its sides… really weird—and offers his goodbyes before he leaves the household, as well.

Tanjiro has only ever received kisses from his family and even then it was quite rare, reserved for special occasions like when his parents kissed him on each cheek when they found out Tanjiro got accepted as a kakushi for the corps, or when Rokuta turned two-years-old and give a big kiss on Tanjiro’s nose. But he has probably received the most kisses tonight than any other time with his family.

The next to leave after that night was Shinazugawa, who mumbled bashfully about having to travel to Tokyo for a mission and that he needed to rest and prepare. Opposite to the reception of Uzui and Rengoku’s farewell kisses, the remaining hashiras actually spurred on the shy and abnormally red-eared wind hashira. Quietly and gently, Shinazugawa gave Tanjiro a chaste kiss on the side of head, just at the top of his left ear. “Happy birthday to Rokuta, as well.” He says, close to Tanjiro’s ear so it was only the kakushi who could hear past the hashira’s muted cheers.

“Thank you, Shinazugawa-san.” Ignoring the way Shinazugawa's raspy voice sent chills at the side of his neck and down his spine.

After a moment, it was Tomioka and Tokito who also had to leave. It was a few hours past midnight now and it was quite a spectacle, to say the least, to be able to witness the mist and water hashira have a very intense staredown. Even Tanjiro had to stay back and out of it.

Whoever won at the staredown must have been Tokito because after a while, the mist hashira breaks eye contact with Tomioka and turns to Tanjiro. The three of them are standing, the mist hashira exchanges his pleasantries and gives a kiss on Tanjiro’s right cheek, a little bit lower almost near his jaw which gives Tanjiro a bit of a ticklish bout. Afterwards, the mist hashira leaves as well.

Tomioka steps forward, just as Tokito leaves, “I will be visiting you when I’m free.” He says simply and offers a kiss on Tanjiro’s other hand before he leaves wordlessly.

Lastly, both Iguro and Kanroji stand as well, reminding Tanjiro to let Rokuta taste the delicious tonkatsu so the young boy could ‘grow up strong’, as Kanroji says. As they bid their farewells, the two of them offer Tanjiro kisses to each cheek and before they leave, Kanroji gives the kakushi a quick hug, promising to see each other again soon.

Tanjiro finally turns back to the remaining guests of the celebration, Himejima and Shinobu who are quietly tidying up the empty plates, cups, and bowls together in a systematic way between them. “Oh, please, Himejima-san, Kocho-san, you’re guests! Let me tidy up the dishes.”

Kocho offers Tanjiro a smile, “Jaa, why don’t you and Gyomei take these dishes to the kitchen, hm? I’ll wipe down the table.”

Tanjiro hastily offers his thanks and gets to work with Himejima in the kitchen. The dirty dishes are placed in the kitchen and just before the stone hashira offers to wash them, Tanjiro stops him because he can not have a hashira wash the dirty dishes in his house. Let alone a hashira who has just spent the afternoon playing with his younger brothers.

Himejima and Tanjiro return to the open room to find Kocho standing in the middle of it, the low square table pushed to the side of the room and looking spotless. “Now it’s our turn to say our goodbyes, yes?” She says.

“I had a lot of fun, Tanjiro, thank you to you and your family’s generosity.” Himejima says and mutters a prayer of thanks to himself.

Kocho nods in agreement, “I had fun as well! And I certainly learned quite a lot of cooking tips from your sister.”

“I’m glad you both had fun, Himejima-san, Kocho-san. And thank you so much for helping out earlier.” Tanjiro says, offering them both a short bow.

“No problem, Tanjiro-kun. Before we go, let us give you one last gift as well.” Kocho says and steps forward confidently, her slender finger hooking under the kakushi’s chin as the insect hashira leans in to kiss the tip of Tanjiro’s nose.

Tanjiro feels heat rise from his neck all the way to his cheeks again, something that has been happening ever since the hashiras decided to give him kisses for the night. This was a normal reaction, right? …Right?

“Thank you for today, Tanjiro.” Himejima says after Kocho is finished (and quite satisfied, she can see the flush on Tanjiro’s cheeks and decides it is quite a nice color on him) and steps forward as well. The stone hashira places a firm kiss on the top of the kakushi’s head and with their height difference, Tanjiro’s nose is angled at just the right angle to get a good whiff of Himejima’s scent from his chest. It sends another flutter in his stomach and a heat wave from his neck all the way to his cheeks. Still normal, right?

Finally, just before the sun wakes up, the two hashiras leave the household and Tanjiro is left in the middle of the room fighting down the temperature elevation. Should he get checked? Should he file for a sick leave? Should he douse himself in cold water to get his temperature down?

But the water might wash away their—okay, Tanjiro definitely was not feeling normal. Thinking about preserving their kisses—the feeling, the quick press of their soft lips, the warmth—and having an unrecoverable blush is something not normal. With a lack of experience, it was a bit hard for the kakushi to understand: Was it friendly? Was it romantic? The hashiras are loved and admired by all, including Tanjiro. And he considers himself lucky enough to be able to talk regularly with all of them, let alone celebrate his younger brother’s birthday with all of them. He supposes the hashiras have entered and formed a bond with him that is quite… special.

Notes:

the end (...?)

THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your kind words, suggestions, support, and help with this story! I definitely did not expect it to have such a warm reception. This concludes the hashiras' story with their special kakushi and once again, I thank everyone who has stuck with me until this last chapter. I just graduated from Nursing school last month, so I literally grew up with this story's draft sitting beside my Nursing documents on my Google Docs.

I still have other works (ongoing and completed) as well that are waiting for your love and support! Also, I may or may not add other chapters to this fic when I feel like it. Especially since I love Uzui and Tanjiro's dynamics a little too much (in second place would be Shinazugawa and Tanjiro, if that wasn't obvious in the way I write them hehe)

If there are some errors, then I simply apologize ahshdah I will be correcting them when I can. I'm currently prepping for the Nursing Board Exams so i'll see you all around! <33