Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Fire. Everything was on fire.

The entire entertainment district had been reduced to rubble and splinters. The people were gone, though Nezuko did not know how or where they could have escaped to. Tengen, that tall man who spoke too loudly and hurt dear Aoi, was nowhere to be found. Poor Inosuke lay bleeding with nothing to stop it. Zenitsu, sweet and kind Zenitsu, was buried so deep Nezuko would never see his face again. And her precious brother, Tanjiro, was barely clinging to life. The demons stood in the center of their destruction, laughing in their victory. The next to lay eyes on Tanjiro would finish this battle in one blow, killing the last beaten, desperate Demon Slayer.

Nezuko opened her box. Tanjiro had told her very clearly to stay there, but if she didn’t act, it wouldn’t matter what happened after this. Her brother would fight until the very end, until those strong and terrifying demons were dead, or until they killed him first. It was easy to see which one of those would happen, but Tanjiro couldn’t run away.

He was close by. Nezuko found him lying on his back, still gripping what was left of his sword, but struggling to breath. It didn’t look like he was poisoned, which was good. He was just injured.

After a moment of contemplation, Nezuko grew a few inches. She had to be strong enough to carry Tanjiro, even if she scared him like she had earlier. Gingerly, she lifted his body into her arms, checking over her shoulder with every movement. The other two demons seemed to be arguing about something. Good. Nezuko did not want to have to fight that obi again while protecting Tanjiro.

"Nezuko," Tanjiro groaned.

Nezuko froze. Had she hurt him?

Tanjiro’s eyes slipped shut. For a second, Nezuko wondered what to do. Her brother probably wanted to stay and fight, but she couldn’t let him die. He would still be unhappy that he lost to those demons. She looked around, hoping that, against all odds, Tengen would appear. All she saw was rubble. Tanjiro was unconscious now. The most she could do was save his life by running.

Carefully, Nezuko crept out of the rubble. She stopped to grab her box— Tanjiro would be sad if it got lost. Then, she slipped away, carrying her brother in her arms, out of the remains of the town and into the woods.

When Tanjiro woke up, he was alone.

A warm breeze blew through the room, billowing the curtains by the window. He smelled something sweet in the room, like cake, and flowers. As he opened his eyes, his nose sorted out the information, and he realized that he actually was not alone. He was in a private hospital room, and Kanao was standing in the doorway. There was a piece of castella on the floor.

"Tanjiro!" she gasped. Then, she ran to the side of his bed. "You’re awake! Thank goodness."

"Wh… what?" Tanjiro paused to clear his throat. His voice was rough, and it hurt to speak. "What happened?"

"You’ve been asleep," Kanao explained timidly. "For almost three months."

Tanjiro stared up at the empty ceiling, blinking slowly as he processed that. "Have I?"

"After that battle," Kanao told him, "you were in really bad shape."

Battle? "Oh, right." Tanjiro remembered. He, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had been recruited by Tengen to infiltrate the entertainment district and defeat the demon living there. He sort of remembered what had happened. With each passing moment, his memory started to clear. 

"It’s amazing you survived," Kanao said quietly.

Tanjiro could guess what that meant. He felt his eyes well up. The battle had gone really badly. Tengen, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had all been injured, and Tanjiro himself had passed out. He doubted the rest of them had defeated the demon. "Just tell me," he requested, even though he knew what Kanao would say. "Please just tell me what happened to the others."

Kanao looked down. "Inosuke bled out. He was already cold when the Kakushi found him. They only found Zenitsu’s sword. They’re still searching for his body."

A sick feeling curled around Tanjiro’s stomach. He wanted to scream. He wanted to rip the sheets off his bed and slash open the mattress and just scream and scream until his two best friends came back. Where was Inosuke, to jump on his bed? Or Zenitsu, to cry about taking his medicine? Tanjiro tightened his fist. Muzan Kibutsuji… two more precious people he had taken out of Tanjiro’s life. He would pay. Tanjiro would make him pay. The urge inside him was so strong to take his sword, leave now, wander the country doing nothing but tracking down the scent of that vile demon until he found his lair and avenged his friends, his family, Mr. Rengoku, and everyone else he had lost.

Instead, he said, "okay. What about Mr. Tengen?"

"We didn’t hear anything for a few weeks," Kanao whispered. "Then his wives payed Master Ubuyashiki a visit, and said he died from the poison."

"I see." Tanjiro closed his eyes again. He wanted to yell, but not at Kanao. It wasn’t her fault. His rage needed to come out at the right time, in the right place. Controlling his emotions was something Tanjiro had always been praised for. He knew the right time to show a quiet acceptance, and the right time to release all his feelings into a powerful vengeance.

"Nezuko carried you back," Kanao told him. "Master Shinobu says she saved your life."

Tanjiro nodded once. "I’ll be sure to thank her."

"Tanjiro?" Kanao requested, "can you… would you please talk to Aoi?"

"Aoi? Sure, any particular reason?" Tanjiro didn’t mind, but he liked to have a little bit of information.

Kanao fiddled with the fabric of her skirt. "She’s taking it really badly. That Zenitsu and Inosuke…"

"I understand." Tanjiro sighed. "Okay. I’ll speak to her."

"Thank you." Kanao stood up. "Would you like some time by yourself?"

"Yes please," Tanjiro agreed.

Kanao backed toward the door. "I’ll bring Master Shinobu to check on you in a little while." She paused to pick up the cake on the floor. Then, quietly, she said, "I’m glad you’re awake," before slipping through the door.

As soon as he was alone, Tanjiro began to sob.

How could they be gone? Months and months, he, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had traveled together. They had been on the same missions. They ate the same food, trained together, even talked about hard stuff like losing family and feeling like a disappointment. Well, the talking had mostly been Tanjiro and Zenitsu. Inosuke and Nezuko usually played with bugs during deep talk time. That memory only made Tanjiro cry more. The pain was too much. He started coughing, gasping for air between wails, and yet unable to stop. 

Shinobu peeked through the door. When she saw him struggling to breathe, she rushed over to him, and helped him sit up. Once he had caught his breath, he started to cry normally again.

"Why?" he sobbed. "Why am I so weak? Why couldn’t I save them?"

Shinobu rubbed his back gently, letting out a small, frustrated breath. Tanjiro knew she understood exactly how he felt. She must have cried like this too, after losing her parents, her sister, and her past tsugukos. "Tanjiro, you’re not weak. It doesn’t fall to you to save them."

"I’m a Demon Slayer," he argued.

"We are all Demon Slayers. It’s up to all of us working together to end this nightmare."

Tanjiro shook his head violently. "It’s not enough," he gasped. "Working together didn’t save them. I can’t save them." It was just like when Rengoku died. If he wasn’t so weak, Tanjiro could have done his part. He could have protected his friends, his mentors. And yet, all his training, all the work he had put in over the past years, wasn’t nearly enough.

Shinobu didn’t seem to know what to say. Once again, Tanjiro got the sense she understood. "Get some rest," she encouraged gently. "After sunset, I’ll send Nezuko over."

Tanjiro sniffed. The wet stream down his face was starting to get itchy, and yet he had no way to stop it. "Okay," he agreed.

Shinobu stood up. Then, after one last look of pity, she left him to his tears.

Nezuko didn’t want to leave Tanjiro’s side, and it seemed that Tanjiro didn’t want to leave hers either. 

He had started sleeping during the day, and playing with her at night. Nezuko knew this because, every day before the sun came up, he would tell her, "good night." It was a silly thing, to say "good night" right when night was ending and morning beginning. Nezuko didn’t mind. She just wanted to be with her brother. 

Zenitsu and Inosuke being gone made her sad. She missed her brother’s strange friends, who were always being silly and making her laugh. When she thought about Zenitsu, she started to cry. He used to tell her all kinds of nice things, and promised to buy her peaches and candy. Maybe he wasn’t dead, she thought. Maybe he would come back one day.

What made Nezuko saddest of all, though, was when Tanjiro cried. It reminded her of her family. The sound of his wails and sobs took her back to that day, when he found her in the snow, her precious brothers and sisters dead before her, her mom laying unmoving in her own blood. Nezuko didn’t want to remember that. She wanted her family to come back too.

On the second day after Tanjiro woke up, Aoi came to visit Tanjiro.

"Nezuko," Tanjiro called.

Nezuko looked away from the window. She knew no one was coming. She knew, and yet she had to check.

"Will you please come sit with me?" her brother requested.

Nezuko crawled from the window over to his bed, and sat beside it, resting her chin on the mattress. Tanjiro’s hand fell naturally on top of it, and she smiled to herself. His hands were always warm and gentle, and his head pats felt so comforting. She liked to hold his hand sometimes, just to feel that there was nothing in the world that could separate them. 

"Aoi will be here in a minute," Tanjiro told her. "We’re going to talk about what happened."

Nezuko reached up to her head and pat her brother’s hand. She knew he was offering for her to leave, if she didn’t wan to listen. She would stay, though, and that was her way of telling him. If she stayed, he wouldn’t be so sad. Nezuko never wanted him to be alone.

A few minutes later, Aoi came to the room. She shuffled in, her posture instantly telling Nezuko how she felt. If not for how her head and shoulders hung, the red in her eyes showed she had been crying.

"Aoi," Tanjiro breathed.

Aoi plopped down in the chair beside his bed. "Hey, Tanjiro." She forced a small smile, but it only lasted a second. "Glad to see you’re awake. Sorry I didn’t come check on you sooner."

"It’s alright," Tanjiro assured her. "I’m sure you’ve been busy."

"Well." Aoi looked down. "Not really. Not since…"

Nezuko didn’t understand. Tanjiro seemed to know what she meant, though, because he just said, "yeah."

"I just can’t believe," Aoi paused, but her voice kept wavering. "It’s all my fault. If I had just gone, they would still be here. I’m such a coward."

Tanjiro shook his head. "Aoi, if you had gone, it would have been you. It was an upper rank demon. There was nothing anyone could do."

She shook her head. Bitterly, she said, "it should have been me. That was my mission, it should have been me."

"And how do you think I feel?" Tanjiro smiled, but his mouth kept going up and down. Nezuko wished it could stay up, that her brother could be happy again. He didn’t smile enough anymore. "My family, Mr. Rengoku, my friends. Everyone around me dies. That was my mission too. It should have…"

No. Nezuko tugged on his sleeve to tell him no!

Tanjiro said it anyway. "It should have been me. Instead, everyone else died that night. I’m only here because of Nezuko."

Nezuko grabbed onto his arm, pulling it into her chest. She had to tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

"I was there," Tanjiro finished, "and I couldn’t do anything. All of my training, even with how much I’ve improved, wasn’t enough. So please, don’t feel like any of what happened was something you could have changed. Even Ms. Shinobu said there was nothing anyone could do."

Aoi just closed her eyes. "Thank you, Tanjiro," she said quietly. "That doesn’t really change how I feel, but still. Thanks." She took a deep breath, then let it all out at once. "It helps to know you feel the same."

Tanjiro turned and met her eyes. Nezuko felt an odd coldness from him, one she had never felt before. She gripped his arm even tighter, asking him to go back to smiley Tanjiro who played with her. He ignored her.

"I’m going to kill that demon," Tanjiro swore. "Daki and Gyutaro. I’ll kill them. Then, I’ll kill the other upper ranks, and then Muzan. Whatever it takes, I don’t care. I’ll get stronger any way I have to. The only thing that matters is that they die."

Aoi sighed, and Nezuko hoped she would tell him no, that Tanjiro’s friend would tell him what his sister couldn’t. Instead, she said, "I wish I could help you." Her voice was full of remorse.

Thankfully, Tanjiro’s voice went back to normal. He even smiled a little as he said, "Aoi, you help me all the time."

And Nezuko, Nezuko reminded him with a tug. She helped Tanjiro too.

"I want revenge."

Tanjiro and Shinobu stood opposite each other in the hall. It was too soon for Tanjiro to be out of bed, and he knew that. He didn’t care, but he still had to count on Shinobu understanding and being willing to let him out of the butterfly mansion.

Shinobu raised an eyebrow. "Revenge? Not justice, or peace, or something more noble?"

Tanjiro shook his head. "This isn’t just about defeating Muzan anymore. It’s not about bringing my family peace. I need to make him suffer like they suffered."

"Oh, my." Shinobu’s smile barely wavered. It made Tanjiro wonder if she had been expecting this.

"Nezuko and I are going out on our own," Tanjiro told her. "I intend to track Muzan down directly. Please don’t try to stop us."

"How could I stop you?" Shinobu laughed lightly. She certainly could, so Tanjiro was glad she seemed to understand. "Instead, let me point you in a better direction."

"What do you mean?" Did she already have a clue to where Muzan was hiding?

Shinobu nodded toward Tanjiro’s broken sword. "A weapon like that will simply not be enough to kill Muzan Kibutsuji."
Tanjiro understood, but he was feeling too impatient. "I can’t wait around for a new sword."

"And you shouldn’t. You should go to the secret swordsmith village, and talk to your smith directly. Tell them your intention."

"A village?" Tanjiro hadn’t heard of it before. "I can go there?"

"Yes. I’ll send for a Kakushi to take you there," Shinobu offered. "And while you’re there…"

"Do you have a task for me?" Tanjiro wondered.

"Of sorts." She smiled secretively. "I happen to know of someone else currently visiting the village. Someone I think this is the right time for you to meet."

All Tanjiro’s thoughts of running away took a back seat to his curiosity. "Who is it?" He had to know. Was it someone who could help him?

Shinobu just grinned like she was teasing him. "You’ll know when you see them."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Tanjiro tapped the box on his back. "What do you think, Nezuko?" he asked quietly. "Should we go to the village, or should we leave now?"

Nezuko scratched back. Tanjiro didn’t know what all her scratches meant, but he did know which Nezuko would choose.

"Alright," he agreed. "We’ll go to the swordsmith village."

Tanjiro was used to leaving a town with no fanfare, no thanks, and no recognition of what he had done. He didn’t need it, because defeating demons was more than just a goal. A world without demons was the reward too, and every battle brought him closer to Muzan Kibutsuji. He would have been happy to let the Kakushi carry him quietly back down the mountain.

The swordsmiths insisted on loaning him a cart, so he could ride back down in comfort. His foot was really messed up, and it would be weeks until he could walk again. It was still an improvement from his last battle with a demon, when he had laid unconscious for months.

Remembering the entertainment district was enough to erase the high feeling of having defeated Upper Four. Six was still out there. His friends were still dead. Until he could defeat Daki and Gyutaro, they would not be at peace.

"Hm?" Nezuko poked her head out of her box, which was sitting in the cart beside him.

Tanjiro pat her. He didn’t quite understand why she still wanted to be in the box now that she could stand in the sun unharmed. Seeing her safe, happy, and even in the sunlight was such a relief after being so close to losing her. The only person he had left.

"It’s okay, Nezuko," Tanjiro promised her. "We’re going home now."

Nezuko reached up and held his hand. He turned his so they were holding hands properly, her sharp claws smooth in his calloused palms. Tanjiro smiled at her, his sweet, selfless little sister. He wished she was more careful, that she would let him protect her, but her heart was too big. She refused to stop caring about the villagers, even at the risk of her own life. Tanjiro knew now that he couldn’t do that. When it came down to it, he would choose to save Nezuko over the whole world.

The swordsmiths said goodbye with confetti. It rained down over the cart as the Kakushi rolled Tanjiro out of the village, showering him with all of their gratitude. Tanjiro tried to appreciate it. He had saved people. Even if he couldn’t save his best friends, his family, there were people who would go home to their own loved ones because of his actions.

Tanjiro was distracted from the celebration by a silhouette behind the crowd. He was standing in the shade, leaned against a tree, arms folded and a hard expression on his face.

Genya.

If his foot wasn’t broken, Tanjiro would have jumped out of the cart and ran to him. Genya had something he needed. He could smell it.

Genya was different from other demon slayers. Even though he didn’t use breathing techniques, he could summon power equivalent to a demon’s. Tanjiro had seen him throw a tree, exerting enormous strength in ways that seemed impossible. A sick feeling in Tanjiro’s stomach told him how Genya did it. He’d seen the way the other boy had chewed through the demon’s woody arm. And yet, the overwhelming desperation in his heart urged him to learn more. If Genya’s power was something he could learn, in addition to his breathing, he had to do it no matter the cost. He had to get strong enough to avenge his friends.

Tanjiro’s eyes met Genya’s. They stared at each other, both their gazes firm with an understanding that Tanjiro had never felt with anyone else before. Then, the cart rolled on, leaving Tanjiro desperate to know more about the boy in the shadows.

Chapter Text

"It’s alright to put you in the boys’ infirmary now?" Kocho asked sweetly. "I heard you and Tanjiro aren’t fighting anymore."

"Uh." Genya scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He felt like he didn’t need to be in the infirmary. It wasn’t like he was injured, but Kocho always wanted to do all sorts of poking and prodding and checkups. "Sure?"

"Excellent. You can keep each other company," she decided.

Kocho led Genya down to the boys’ infirmary. As they entered, Genya looked around for Tanjiro. He was there, asleep in a bed. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t wake up to Genya’s sudden appearance, but it sure was easier to do it this way than come in when he was awake. They hadn’t been allowed to share a room since final selection, when Tanjiro had broken Genya’s arm. Genya had been furious at first, but slowly come to realize that was his own fault. Knowing that didn’t mean he had to admit it to Tanjiro.

Still, there was something about the other boy that intrigued Genya. Maybe it was just that he wanted to be friends. Genya didn’t have a lot of those.

Kocho assigned Genya the bed right next to Tanjiro. She told him to get some rest, and that she would be back in the morning to check on him. Then, she left. Genya watched her go before changing into the pajamas folded on his bed and climbing under the covers. He was exhausted, and ready to get a little sleep.

"Genya?"

Genya turned to look, and saw that Tanjiro was not asleep. He was laying with his eyes barely open, like he had woken up to the shuffling and rustling. "Uh. Oh. Uh, sorry," Genya stammered. "I didn’t meant to wake you up."

"It’s alright." Tanjiro sat up, and rubbed his eyes. "I’m glad you’re here."

That made Genya frown. What a strange thing to say. "Me? Why?"

"I want to talk to you about something," Tanjiro told him. He shifted so he was sitting up all the way, then patted the bed next to him. "Do you mind coming over here? I can’t walk."

Genya went, but not without suspicion. What did Tanjiro want from him? Was that the reason he was being so nice? He very carefully perched himself on the edge of Tanjiro’s bed.

Tanjiro looked up a him, eyes wide, full of honesty but with a shadow of something. Genya was close enough to see them clearly now, and noticed they were a deep reddish brown. His own were dark purple, which he would think was a strange color if Sanemi’s weren’t the same. If he was remembering right, Teiko and Shuya had purple eyes too.

"What is it?" Genya asked apprehensively. 

Tanjiro looked down. He didn’t look smiley and cheerful anymore, like he usually did when he talked to Genya, or have that fierce determination like when he broke Genya’s arm or fought demons. This was a new expression, full of sadness, desperation, and anger. "Tell me how you do it."

Genya frowned. "Do what?"

Now, Tanjiro looked up, and they locked eyes. Genya could see his were burning, full of a hateful fire. "Tell me how you fight demons without using a breathing technique."

Halfway through that sentence, Genya was already on his feet and several steps back.

"It, it’s not what you think," he stammered, although he got the feeling it was exactly what Tanjiro thought. He had figured out that Genya was eating demons. His foot was still broken, but Genya had seen him kill an upper rank demon in worse condition. Tanjiro could kill Genya with ease, put his worthless life out of its miserable, shameful existence. He felt his hand go for his sword, but it wasn’t there. Damn, it was on the floor with his clothes, and he was in pajamas. Could he reach it in time?

Tanjiro moved, and Genya flinched. But Tanjiro hadn’t stood up, or drawn his sword. He had only extended his hand.

"Wait!"

Genya froze, still keeping one eye on where his sword lay, but also carefully watching Tanjiro. Worst case, he could probably dodge a direct blow to his neck and take the hit somewhere else while he reached for his weapons. Tanjiro wasn’t attacking, though. Actually, he seemed kind of desperate. 

"Please, wait," Tanjiro begged. "I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m not judging you. I just…"

He just what? Genya crept closer again.

"I want to know," Tanjiro requested, his tone low, voice quiet and breaking as he whispered, "because I want to try it too."

"No," Genya snapped on instinct. No. No! Tanjiro could use breathing, and not just any technique, but sun breathing, the hardest and most powerful of all. Why would he ever need to stoop down to Genya’s level? 

"Please," Tanjiro pleaded. "I need to get stronger. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it. I don’t care if it’s taboo."

Genya bit his lip. That feeling was something he understood well, and was what had driven him to eat demons in the first place. Still, he stood his ground. "That’s not a road you want to go down," he warned. 

Tanjiro set his face, in that hard, stubborn expression he wore when he simply was not going to let something go. "Let me make that decision for myself."

It was tempting. Genya crept closer, slowly making his way back to where he was sitting on the edge of Tanjiro’s bed. There was no one else in the world who understood what he went through. Eating demons was disgusting. Stabbing his sword into a living thing, cutting it up, biting into it while it was still writhing and screeching, made his stomach twist over before he even had to tear into the flesh, crunch into the bone, force the wet meat down his throat. After that, there was only pain: the pain of transforming into a demon form, the anguish of being cut apart, blasted full of holes, bleeding and broken and yet never dying, ready just a minute later to do it all again. Only the really deep wounds left scars. There was very little proof of all he had been through. He couldn’t begin to explain it to Tanjiro with words. But Tanjiro was asking to experience it all firsthand. He said he wanted to do it to get stronger, but, in a way, what he was doing was offering to join Genya. Being a demon eater was a lonely experience. The temptation to have someone by his side was so, so strong.

Genya shook his head again. "I can’t let you do that to yourself."

"You do it," Tanjiro argued.

"I have no choice." Genya frowned. "Tanjiro, you’re already crazy strong. If you’re not yet on par with the Hashira, you will be soon. You have no need for dirty, dishonorable tricks."

"You’re wrong." Tanjiro’s eyes started to water, and Genya grimaced. Damn, he hadn’t meant to make him cry. "I’m weak. I can’t save anyone."

Something had happened, something beyond almost losing Nezuko. Genya wondered what it could be. He waited quietly for Tanjiro to say more.

Tanjiro sniffed. "My friends," he explained, his voice wavering. "They were part of our final selection class. Do you remember Zenitsu and Inosuke?"

Genya nodded. While he didn’t know them personally, their only other classmate was Kanao, so he knew they were the other two survivors from the mountain. All he really remembered was that Zenitsu had cried pretty much the entire test, and Inosuke was so loud he actually scared the demons away.

"We fought an upper rank demon together," Tanjiro told him. "Us, and Mr. Uzui. The Sound Hashira. Nezuko and I were the only survivors."

"Damn." Genya usually fought alone. He couldn’t imagine the guilt Tanjiro must feel, being the only one to walk out of a battle like that.

Tanjiro’s fists tightened, and desperation returned to his voice. "I have to avenge them," he said. That fierce, angry pain once again covered his face. "I have to kill Daki and Gyutaro. And I have to do whatever it takes to get strong enough to do that. Water breathing and Hinokami Kagura have gotten me far, but I need to go further than breathing techniques can take me. I have to be strong enough to win against Upper Six."

Genya took a deep breath. He could feel his resolve crumbling away under the pressure of Tanjiro’s story. It was still a bad idea. Tanjiro wasn’t just some random Corps member. He had the potential to be the greatest swordsman of their generation, the one who actually had a chance to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji.

"Genya," Tanjiro tried, returning to his pleading. "Please. We can help each other. You still want to be a Hashira, right? Upper Six consists of two demons, so let’s make a deal."

It was clear where he was going with this, but Genya still hesitated. He only wanted to be a Hashira to get to Sanemi, because he had no other way to do so. Was that worth dragging Tanjiro down with him?

"Help me," Tanjiro proposed. "Help me become stronger. We’ll train together. Then we’ll track down Daki and Gyutaro, and kill them together. I’ll avenge my friends, and you’ll become a Hashira. We can both achieve our goals."

It hurt to say no. There was pain in Tanjiro’s request, but also hope. He wanted to get back something he had lost. Genya couldn’t replace Zenitsu and Inosuke, but he could fill the hole in Tanjiro’s heart, the longing for companionship. That was something else Genya knew well. He had been alone so long, he had forgotten what it was like to have someone by his side. Himejima was the first person he had lived with in eight years, and the only one beside Kocho he had any sort of regular contact with. Mentors and doctors were not the same as friends his age. He wanted to be friends with Tanjiro, desperately. The more he let himself imagine that future, the more tempting it was to say yes, to let Tanjiro walk with him, to go side by side down this dark path.

Tanjiro hesitated, then set his hand on Genya’s. Who was the last person to have held Genya’s hand? It might have been Sanemi, all those years ago. Genya turned his palm over, Tanjiro laced their fingers together, and that was enough to change his mind.

"There’s no going back," he warned. "Once you decide to do this, you can’t stop. I have no idea what will happen to you. You might die instantly." If his body rejected the demon flesh, there was nothing Genya would be able to do.

"I’ll do anything," Tanjiro repeated.

Genya sighed. Time to see if that was true.

"It’s not… it’s not some cool training trick," he started. He paused, but couldn’t make himself keep going. Was he really going to let Tanjiro become like him?

Tanjiro squeezed his hand. "Genya," he said, dropping into a whisper. "You eat demon flesh. Right?"

So he knew. He must have seen during the fight with Upper Four. "Yeah," Genya confirmed, his own voice naturally getting quieter. No one was listening, but whenever he talked about this he always felt like someone would overhear. "That’s right."

Tanjiro’s shoulders relaxed, like his guess had been confirmed. He must not have been certain.

"It’s more than just disgusting," Genya continued with his warning. "It’s cruel. It’s painful, and shameful, and terrifying every time. Your body will change. You’ll lose your appetite as your organs adapt to digesting demon flesh. You’ll start to both crave it and hate it. For a while, you’ll take on a stronger demonic form, but it hurts to transition in and out."

"Pain is nothing new to me," Tanjiro assured him.

Genya frowned. "This kind of pain will be. It’s not just the physical stuff either. You’ll be an outcast. Eating demons isn’t just something you do. A demon eater becomes who you are."

"I don’t care what people think of me," Tanjiro insisted. "All I want is to defeat Daki and Gyutaro, and Muzan. Whatever happens to me in the process doesn’t matter."

"If you mean that," Genya muttered, "then I guess there’s nothing stopping you from trying. But I’m not exaggerating, if your body doesn’t want to absorb the demon flesh, you could die."

"That won’t happen," Tanjiro decided.

Genya wanted to argue that it could, but he got the feeling Tanjiro wouldn’t listen. "Fine," he agreed. Then, he sighed. "Tomorrow. We’ll leave at sunset."

"Tomorrow," Tanjiro echoed softly. He let out a gentle sigh. "Tomorrow. Let’s get some rest tonight."

How Tanjiro could look so peaceful after making such a gruesome resolution was beyond Genya. Once again impressed with his new friend, he started to stand up, headed over to his own bed.

"Wait." Tanjiro caught his hand. Then, he met Genya’s eyes again, his expression full again of hope. "Sleep next to me?" he requested.

Oh, no, they did not know each other well enough for that. Genya thought he should tear his hand away and go back to his own bed, just to maintain some boundaries. More than that, though, he wanted to be close to someone, so what the hell? Why not go all in? He was already dragging Tanjiro down to the level of eating demons. Might as well get cozy. 

In a split second decision, he slipped under the covers and curled up next to Tanjiro. Tanjiro smiled at him, then closed his eyes and fell asleep. It took Genya longer. He stared for a moment, taking in the boy in front of him, the fiery scar, round cheeks, quiet rhythm of concentration breathing even in his sleep. Tanjiro was perfect in every way. 

And Genya was about to ruin him.

When Tanjiro woke up, Genya was drooling. Adorable.

For a minute, Tanjiro just lay on his side and watched him, breathing gently, his face peaceful for once. That long scar scraped across his cheek to his nose, marking some horrible memory Tanjiro desperately wanted to know. Genya hadn’t said much about himself. All Tanjiro knew was that he ate demons, used a gun instead of a breathing technique, wanted to be a Hashira, and must be somehow related to the Wind Hashira. He made a note to ask for Genya’s backstory that evening, when they left the butterfly mansion to start whatever training Genya had planned first.

It felt good to wake up to someone beside him. Until now, Tanjiro hadn’t realized how much he had been missing this. He used to have Zenitsu and Inosuke both there, one on each side, although in different beds. It was silly of him to have asked Genya to sleep so close. How had he gotten this clingy to someone he barely knew?

Maybe it was just that he was missing his friends, but Tanjiro did feel a connection with Genya that he had never shared with a stranger before. It could be the anticipation of what was going to come. He got the feeling that they were about to share an extreme level of intimacy, becoming the only two of a kind. That wasn’t Tanjiro’s reason for doing it, but he was glad his choice would make Genya less alone.

As he became more awake, Tanjiro’s nose warned him that they were not alone in the room. He rolled to his back, wincing from the pain of his bruises, and sat up to see none other than Kanroji, the Love Hashira, standing at the end of the bed with her hands clasped.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" she whispered. With any more volume it would be a shriek. "So cute. You two are so precious, ahhh! I can’t believe this is real!" She bounced on her heels, her braids jumping around like waves.

It took Tanjiro a second to figure out what she was thinking. "Oh!" he realized. "No, it’s not what you think. We’re not dating."

Genya stirred, and they both froze. He sat up, blinking. When he saw Kanroji, his cheeks turned bright, bright red. "Uh, what, why," he spluttered through his sleepy embarrassment.

Tanjiro turned back to Kanroji. "Why are you here?" he wondered. Genya’s muttering was unintelligible, but he was probably wondering how and why Kanroji got into the boys’ infirmary. It was a fair question.

"I came to see you, Tanjiro, but this is so much better!" Kanroji squealed at full volume. "Love is real! All it takes is one fantastic battle, fighting for each other’s lives, for interest to bloom into romance!"

"No, that’s not what’s happening," Tanjiro tried to protest, but Kanroji was squealing too much to hear him.

Genya mumbled something about leaving, then slipped out of bed. His face was only getting redder, and Tanjiro could see him blushing all the way up to his ears as he stomped out of the room. It was hard to blame him for running.

"Ms. Kanroji," Tanjiro tried again.

Kanroji twirled over, then kelt by his bedside. "Tell me everything," she said greedily.

Tanjiro smiled sadly. "We’re not together. Genya and I aren’t dating. We slept together because we wanted to be close to someone else. That’s all."

Kanroji clicked her tongue. "Silly, silly. Love comes in all forms. You may not love him romantically, but that doesn’t make your love any less real. You’ll see."

Tanjiro wanted to argue that he barely knew Genya, so he couldn’t possibly love him. That wasn’t true though. There was something about Genya that Tanjiro couldn’t help but love. Maybe it was because they were similar, headed down a dark path of vengeance together, to a place where they probably would start to love each other with that deep affection Kanroji assumed they already had. Tanjiro could imagine that future easily. Genya was more cautious, but it was pretty clear he wanted that too. Why else would he have said yes to teaching Tanjiro to eat demons, or sharing a bed?

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Tanjiro asked.

"Oh!" Kanroji went back to smiling normally. "How are you feeling? We’ve been so worried about you."

We? Who else had Kanroji been talking about him with? "I’m okay," he answered. "Bruised. My ankle hurts."

Kanroji pretty much ignored his answer. "Shinobu told me what happened to your friends. I’m so sorry. It’s the worst feeling ever, to lose comrades in battle."

Tanjiro looked down. That answered the question of who she had been talking to. He didn’t want to think about that now. It hurt too much. "Thanks," he said anyway.

"How are you feeling?" Kanroji repeated. "Shinobu said you were really discouraged."

Was that right? Tanjiro remembered feeling angry, full of hatred and wrath, ready to leave everything behind and go after Muzan, but not discouraged. If anything, he was feeling empowered, and now more rational about the situation. Leaving the Corps to go off on his own was a bad idea, but that was the inspired feeling he needed to push him to do whatever it took to move forward. He had a plan now, so nothing could stop him.

"I feel fine," he told her. "I’ve had some time to process what happened, and I’m ready to keep fighting."

"Tanjiro, fighting is not the only thing that’s important," Kanroji told him. "You’ve been through a lot. You need to have people around you to rely on."

That actually made Tanjiro smile. "See, that’s what’s so great about Genya! Right when I needed him most, he showed up."

"Awww!" Kanroji cupped her hands to her cheeks. "The two of you are just darling together!" She stood up. "Keep doing great, Tanjiro! Don’t be discouraged. Let Genya hold your heart, and always stay full of love!"

Tanjiro smiled back at her. "I will!"

"Eat lots, and get better soon, okay?" Kanroji instructed. "As soon as your ankle is better, I want you to come visit me."

"Deal," Tanjiro agreed.

Kanroji said goodbye with flourish, then skipped away.

"Wow," Tanjiro said to himself. "I want to be like her." She had been seriously hurt in the battle too, and yet she was already back on her feet and skipping. Amazing!

Her visit left Tanjiro feeling a little confused, though. At first, when Tanjiro had arrived in the swordsmith village, he had assumed it was Kanroji who Kocho wanted him to meet. Then he had met Genya, and started thinking maybe it was him. He even dared to think that sending him to Genya was Kocho’s way of tipping him off about eating demons, that she wanted to help him do whatever it took to defeat Muzan. Now, he wasn’t sure. Kocho and Kanroji were clearly talking about him when he wasn’t there.

Not too long after Kanroji left, Kocho came in herself to check on him. She looked over his bruises, then unwrapped his ankle.

"Still quite swollen," she reported. 

Tanjiro slumped down. How was he supposed to train with his foot in this condition?

"Kanroji said she stopped by," Kocho said.

"Yeah. We talked a bit," Tanjiro replied. He didn’t want to give her all the details. 

For a minute, Kocho just focused on treating Tanjiro’s foot. Their conversations were often brief, the result of seeing each other often and never having many new updates. Then, she asked, "did you get a letter from the Master yesterday?"

Tanjiro’s shoulders slumped. "Yes."

Yesterday, pretty much as soon as he got home, Tanjiro had received a letter from Master Ubuyashiki, leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. He was kind about it, but he had requested to send Nezuko somewhere safer. Now that she had conquered the sun, Muzan would stop at nothing to hunt her down and absorb her. It hurt to be separated from her, but Tanjiro knew there was no choice. He would miss her dearly anyway.

"Have you decided what to do?" Kocho asked.

"It’s not much of a decision," Tanjiro sighed. "I know where they want to send her, at least, and I believe it’s the safest place there is. I just don’t want to be away from her." He choked on the last few words.

Kocho looked down, but her expression of pity was unmistakable.

Tanjiro decided to change the subject. "Have you seen Genya today? I haven’t seen him since he left this morning."
"Yes, I saw him earlier," Kocho confirmed. "He’s already had his checkup for the day, so he went out to train a bit. When I see him, I’ll send him back in," she promised.

That made Tanjiro smile again.

"You two are certainly getting along a lot better than before," Kocho observed.

Tanjiro nodded thoughtfully. "We just got off on the wrong foot. I think we actually are pretty good together."

Kocho’s hands paused, just for a second. Cautiously, she warned, "be careful with him."

"What do you mean?" Tanjiro said, but inside, his heard started to pound. Did she know what they were planning?

"Genya needs you just as much as you need him."

It was a simple statement, and one that was undoubtedly true. Tanjiro didn’t understand why it should be preceded with a warning. 

Kocho finished bandaging Tanjiro’s foot, then left him be. He contemplated for a moment what she would think of him eating demons too. It was possible that she had meant for him to figure that out when he met Genya. Yes, it was probably Genya who she had intended him to meet in the swordsmith village. The perfect friend for him in his loneliness.

About half an hour later, Genya came back. He shuffled in slowly, scowling as he approached Tanjiro’s bed. He stopped at the end of it, shifting between his feet. "Hey," he said cautiously. 

Tanjiro smiled, trying to hide how much he shared that awkward feeling. "Hi. Kocho stopped by and said you were training. How was it?"

"Fine." Genya scooted closer, but he was clearly still apprehensive. Tanjiro realized he was going to have to address this.

"Sorry about Kanroji," he said. "I explained to her that it’s not romantic."

That made Genya blush again. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Tanjiro tilted his head. "For what?"

"I dunno." Finally, Genya came all the way over, and sat on the edge of the bed like he had yesterday. "I barely know you, and it feels like we’ve been suddenly dropped in deep water together."

"That’s true. I get what you mean." Carefully, Tanjiro picked up his hand. "There’s good things and bad things about it."

Genya flushed again. "It’s just awkward," he whispered.

"We don’t have to sleep together again," Tanjiro assured him.

Genya groaned, and laid down."It’s not that," he sighed. More quietly, he added, "I guess I’m just not used to being around other people."

"That’s okay," Tanjiro promised. He scooted closer, so he and Genya were only an inch apart. Maybe he was being pushy, but he wanted to be close in every sense. "You’ll get used to it again."

Genya didn’t say anything to that, and Tanjiro started to worry that maybe he really didn’t feel the same. Then, he rolled onto his side, so he was facing Tanjiro. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked quietly. "Now that you’ve had more time to think about it."

Tanjiro had thought it over a bit more in the time Genya was gone, and he was certain he still wanted to follow their plan. Thinking about eating demons made his stomach twist inside out. He actually really did not want to do that. That feeling didn’t matter nearly so much as his need for the strength that eating demons would give him. In his heart, he truly wanted to do it, even if only to get closer to Genya. Maybe if he didn’t, they could still be friends, but there would always be that wall between them. Tanjiro was pretty good at getting people to open up, even if it usually happened naturally and not by any particular effort on his part, but Genya was difficult. He had set his ability as a boundary between him and everyone else, which Tanjiro only saw one way to cross.

"Yes," Tanjiro said firmly. "I want to do it."

For a minute, Genya just stared at him, his expression hard and challenging. Then, he sat up. "Kocho said Nezuko’s leaving today."

Tanjiro looked down. He didn’t want to think about that, but it was going to happen and there was no getting around it. "That’s right."

"Is this the first time you’ve been separated?" Genya asked.

"Since final selection," Tanjiro confirmed.

Genya nodded slowly, an unmistakable glint of jealousy in his eye. Tanjiro had been waiting to ask about his background until that night, but he figured now was just as good a time as any.

"Genya, is the Wind Hashira your brother?" 

Instantly, Genya’s expression closed off. Last time Tanjiro had brought up Sanemi Shinazugawa in front of him, he had tried to drown Tanjiro in the hot spring. Maybe asking him about it again wasn’t such a good idea.

"Yeah." Even though he answered, Genya sounded incredibly defensive. "Sanemi is my older brother."

"Is that why you want to be a Hashira too?" Tanjiro guessed. "To impress him."

"Pretty much," Genya huffed. 

"That’s great," Tanjiro encouraged. "Once we kill Daki and Gyutaro, he’ll be impressed."

Genya looked doubtful. Tanjiro wanted to press on the subject, find out everything there was to know, but he didn’t get the chance. Aoi came in with some more medicine for Tanjiro, Nezuko following her. Tanjiro was surprised to see his little sister was carrying a tray of supplies.

"Nezuko, are you helping Aoi?" Tanjiro asked. "That’s so kind of you!"

Nezuko smiled brightly. "He— helping," she stammered.

Aoi smiled a little too, which was good to see. She had been pretty down ever since losing Zenitsu and Inosuke, so a smile from her had become rare. "Yes, Nezuko has been helping me all day. Well, when she’s not playing with the little ones."

Tanjiro felt his face fall again. Since becoming a demon, Nezuko hadn’t had a single friend of her own. He hated to send her away right when she was making some connections. 

Nezuko was standing at the end of the bed now, staring at Genya. She looked both worried and confused. For a second, Tanjiro debated telling her what was going on. Usually, he wouldn’t hesitate, but since they were being separated, he didn’t want her to worry about him while she couldn’t see that he was fine.

Last night, when he had gotten the letter, Tanjiro had tried to explain to Nezuko that she had to go somewhere safer, so Muzan couldn’t find her. Nezuko had rolled around on the floor the whole time, so distracted that Tanjiro wasn’t sure she had heard a word he said. Hopefully she had been listening, because it would be even harder to explain tonight when it was time for her to go.

It was time for Nezuko to go.

She didn’t want to. She wanted to stay with Tanjiro and his strange new friend. Her brother was clearly hurting. She needed to be there for him.

Tanjiro couldn’t walk, so Nezuko had to say goodbye to him from his bed. Everyone was there: Aoi, Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo stood by the door, Kocho was hovering right next to her, and Genya stood on the other side of Tanjiro, arms folded and looking grouchy. Nezuko had seen him smile before, so she knew he could be nice.

At the end of Tanjiro’s bed, Goto, the Kakushi, stood by Nezuko’s box. Last night, Tanjiro had told Nezuko that Goto was one of his friends, and he was going to carry her to a secret place. Once they were somewhere Muzan couldn’t find them, he would send her with Urokodaki, Tanjiro’s trainer, to a very safe place that only he knew where it was. Nezuko remembered Urokodaki from the last time Tanjiro had to go somewhere without her. He was very nice to her, much like her dad had been when she was young.

Tanjiro looked up at her, and started to cry. "I’m sorry, Nezuko," he said.

Nezuko started crying too. She wasn’t sure what Tanjiro was sorry for, but seeing him sad made her feel sad too.

"I wish I could protect you," he sniffed, "but the safest thing for you right now is to go somewhere Muzan won’t look for you."

Nezuko believed him, or she would refuse to go. "Tanjiro," she said.

Tanjiro wiped his eyes. "I love you," he said quietly.

Nezuko loved him too. She sat down on the edge of his bed, and hugged him tightly until his sniffing was all over. Then she stood up. It was time to go.

Before she went to her box, Nezuko turned to Genya. She had no doubt that he and Tanjiro would be spending a lot of time together. "K— keep sa, safe," she said. Keep him safe for me.

Genya must have understood what she meant, because he responded with one solid nod.

Nezuko patted Tanjiro on the head, careful not to brush his hair the wrong way. Then, she marched to her box, climbed in, and closed the door.

"Alright," Goto said. Nezuko felt the box lift off the floor, then sink down again as it rested against his back. "Ready to go?"

He didn’t wait for her response before starting his walk. Before they even left the room, though, Nezuko cracked the box open a sliver to have one last look at her brother.

He was wiping at his nose with the back of his hand, tears once again rolling from the corners of his eyes. Genya stood close, resting one hand on his shoulder. Even though she knew it was the responsible thing to do, Nezuko had a sick feeling that she really should not leave.

Chapter Text

Evening came, and Genya started to feel on edge. 

So many things could go wrong. If Kocho caught Tanjiro out of bed on a broken foot, they wouldn’t even make it past the front door. Then there was the possibility that they wouldn’t be able to travel with Tanjiro so injured, or they wouldn’t find any demons, or Tanjiro would eat one and die instantly. Even if all of that succeeded, Kocho would be furious when they got back, and Genya would be reprimanded, probably by Himejima. Eating demons wasn’t technically against Corps rules, but only because no one was stupid enough to do it. Tanjiro, who was both on thin ice for protecting Nezuko and was also the hope of the future of the Corps… Tanjiro eating demons was a lot bigger deal than useless Genya doing it. And, even after their plan succeeded, if they escaped punishment, they still had the monumental task of killing an upper rank demon that Tanjiro had already failed to defeat once, this time with half as many demon slayers, no Hashira, and no Nezuko. Death was almost a given.

Still, that was not the worst scenario Genya could imagine. When he closed his eyes, a scene came to mind. He would be crouched over a demon, cutting it up, showing Tanjiro what to do, blood already dripping down his chin. Tanjiro would be standing just a pace back, shaking his head, too disgusted to go through with it. Then he would leave, and Genya would be alone again, the hope of love torn away from him.

It very well could happen. Or, Tanjiro would stick with what he had said, and they would dive headlong into the strange relationship they were teetering on the edge of.

They waited for Kocho to do their evening checkups, then leave them for the night. Genya watched out the window. As soon as the last light in the mansion was dark, he and Tanjiro got dressed, out of their pajamas and into their uniforms.

"Ready?" Genya asked.

Tanjiro nodded. "Pass me that?" he requested, and pointed to a crutch leaning against the wall.

Genya got it for him. He wished he could offer to just carry Tanjiro, but he definitely wasn’t strong enough. They would probably have to go a long way.

They made it outside without Kocho noticing. Tanjiro had insisted on leaving her a note, a piece of paper on which he had written, "gone fishing," and then signed their names. Genya thought it was a stupid idea, because she would be mad regardless and would figure out that they had not been fishing, but he let Tanjiro do it anyway.

"Alright! How do we find a demon?" Tanjiro asked once they were far enough away that they could talk freely without being heard.

Genya brought his fingers to his mouth, then let out a sharp whistle. After a moment of watching the sky, Hashibami, his crow, came fluttering down. Genya held out his arm for Hashibami to perch on. 

"I was sleeping," the crow complained. Then, he glared at Tanjiro. "What is he doing here?"

"We’re going hunting," Genya told him. "Can you find us a demon?"

Hashibami cawed. "Of course I can. What do I look like?"

With a great flap, the crow lifted off. He circled for a minute, then disappeared into the trees.

"What now?" Tanjiro asked.

Genya kept watching the sky. "Give him a minute."

Sure enough, Hashibami returned. "This way!" he called as he soared past.

Genya started after him, glancing back to make sure Tanjiro was keeping up. Tanjiro stayed right beside him, moving surprisingly fast on a crutch. "How does he find demons?" Tanjiro wondered.

"He asks other crows," Genya told him. He had wondered the same thing at first, but it didn’t turn out to be all that complicated. "They have a whole network of information just among themselves."

"Wow, I had no idea." Tanjiro looked up at the crow just ahead of them.

"How are you doing?" Genya asked. "We can take a break whenever you need to."

"I’m fine. I’d rather get there quickly than take a break."

Genya worried Tanjiro would wear himself out, but he couldn’t exactly force them to take a break.

After only about three hours of walking, counting a short break that they both agreed to, they arrived in the area where the demon had been sighted.

"There are rumors of a murder in the area," Hashibami informed them. "The Kasugai crows spotted a demon. Estimated to be equal to a Kanoto-rank Demon Slayer." 

Genya was ranked way above, at Hinoto, and he happened to know that Tanjiro was even higher, at Hinoe. "No problem." He fished a rice cracker out of his pocket and offered it to Hashibami as thanks. The crow swooped down and snatched it, nearly biting his finger. Genya brushed his fingers together to knock the crumbs off.

"You shouldn’t give him that," Tanjiro warned. "It’s not good for them to have crackers."

Hashibami squawked. "I bet your crow hates you."

"Ignore him," Genya advised. He took Tanjiro’s hand, and led him forward into the dark trees. "Smell anything?"

Tanjiro inhaled deeply. "There’s definitely a demon around. This way." He changed direction, pulling Genya along by their clasped hands.

When they got close enough, Genya could hear it. It was up ahead, rooting around in the bushes.

"What now?" Tanjiro whispered.

Genya drew his gun. "Catch it without killing it."

He loaded one shot, then took aim. Tanjiro was injured, so it was up to Genya to catch this thing. Once the demon’s neck was in his sights, he fired. Then, he drew his sword, and sprinted over to it.

The demon let out a pained wail, and grasped at its neck. Genya had been careful not to shoot it clean off, just to do enough damage that it wouldn’t escape. As soon as he was in slashing distance, he aimed another blow to its already healing neck, and reopened the injury. Then, he jabbed his sword into its chest, before quickly withdrawing the blade and kicking the demon into a tree. It howled, and waved its arms toward him in desperation.

"What did I do?" it whined. "Why are you treating me like this?"

"Shut up." Genya stabbed his sword through its mouth and into the tree, pinning it in place. Blood started leaking from its mouth, and Genya’s stomach growled softly. Not yet, he told it. Soon, but not yet. 

He loaded another bullet, then shot it point blank in the forehead. That should shut it up for a while. He pulled out a piece of cord and tied the demon up as best he could. 

Tanjiro hobbled over, and stood next to Genya. His eyes were wide with pity. For someone with such a soft heart, he had made it amazingly far as a Demon Slayer. Or maybe having a soft heart was the secret. Both Sanemi and Tanjiro had done much better than Genya.

"Last chance to back out," Genya warned.

Tanjiro set his jaw firmly, the look of mercy completely gone. "Let’s do this."

"Can I borrow your sword?" Genya requested. His was holding the demon still.

When Tanjiro handed over his katana, Genya hesitated. This was a special sword, he remembered, found in the doll at the swordsmith village. After the battle, Tokito had speculated that it might have belonged to the first user of sun breathing. Such a precious heirloom was never meant to do something as dirty as this. Genya grimaced with regret as he plunged the tip of the blade into the demon.

A longer sword was difficult to cut meat with. Genya struggled to slice out a chunk he thought would be an okay first piece for Tanjiro. He aimed for the leg, cutting out some muscle tissue that would hopefully have the texture of regular meat. It would still taste like demon, though. There was only so much Genya could do.

Once he had out a sizable piece of meat, Genya sliced it in half. He pulled out a napkin and wiped the blade, then handed it back to Tanjiro, who sheathed it. Then, Genya picked up a chunk of meat in each hand. He was kneeling, by where he had cut the demon, so Tanjiro knelt too.

"I’ll go first," Genya told him. "So you can see what will happen."

Tanjiro nodded.

Genya stared at the chunk of meat in his hands. A disembodied piece of meat looked a lot more appetizing than what he usually had to eat— limbs and flesh and hair, whatever could make it to his mouth before he was killed. It still smelled like rot. When he raised it to his lips, it still tasted wretched. Yet, as he tore the flesh apart, gulping it down in slimy chunks, his stomach accepted it. His body was grateful to have food again, even if that food was the most unimaginable horror on earth.

Halfway through, Genya started to transition into his demon form. He had to pause, clenching his teeth as pain coursed through his body. The burning always started in his eyes, as his scleras turned black and his pupils adjusted to see in the dark. Next was his mouth, all of his teeth aching as they grew two great pairs of pointed fangs. That didn’t fade until the end, after every one of his muscles had seized, and his fingers throbbed with the pain of his nails extending into claws. By the end he was panting hard. This demon was weak, so it wasn’t too bad.

"Genya?"

At the sound of Tanjiro’s soft, fearful voice, Genya looked up. Tanjiro was watching him with concern. Now it was time to see.

Genya offered him the other piece of demon meat. "Last chance," he warned.

Tanjiro took it without hesitation.

After a deep breath, Genya shoved down the rest of his meal. He wiped the blood off his chin with the same napkin, giving Tanjiro just a few more seconds to think it over.

"The first time is the most painful," Genya informed him. He didn’t mention again that it might kill him, because Tanjiro had not listened so far. "Seriously, Tanjiro, this is your last chance to back out."

Tanjiro’s response to that was to take a bite of demon flesh.

Just as soon as he had swallowed, Tanjiro dropped the meat. He doubled over, his hands grasping at the sides of his head, and let out a cry. It broke Genya’s heart to see someone else go through this. He placed a hand on Tanjiro’s lower back for comfort. Other than that, all he could do was wait.

Tanjiro screamed. He tried to curl up even smaller, and his body shook with the effort. Genya could see sweat pooling on the back of his neck. In a sudden jerk of movement, Tanjiro threw his hands on the ground and tossed his head back, letting loose another pained cry before breaking into panicked pants. With his face away from the ground, Genya could see that he too now wore a set of demon fangs. His fingers digging into the grass were claws. That was good. His body was accepting the demon flesh, and transforming instead of dying.

"Almost done," Genya told him. 

"Everything hurts," Tanjiro screamed.

"It gets better," Genya promised. "Hang in there, one more minute."

Sure enough, after another minute Tanjiro’s body relaxed. He was trembling, cold and clammy, still panting, but alive and calming down. Genya just sat with him, rubbing his back. Like how Sanemi used to rub Genya’s back when he threw up.

Tanjiro sniffed. Then, he put a sleeve to his chin. When he drew it away, a string of drool stuck across the gap.

"Here." Genya grabbed the napkin and dried Tanjiro’s chin, then did his best to pat off his sleeve. Tanjiro was still panting, drool sliding out of the corners of his mouth, which would need to be wiped up in a minute.

"Sorry," he wheezed, his voice hoarse from screaming.

"Don’t worry about it." Genya reached up and combed Tanjiro’s hair back into place. "My first time was way worse. You’re doing great."

"You were so calm," Tanjiro coughed out. 

"As I eat more demons, and stronger demons," Genya explained, "they affect me less. You saw what happened after I ate Aizetsu. I was drooling everywhere."

That got Tanjiro to smile. Pleased with himself, Genya smiled too. He reached into his belt and felt around in his pocket until he found the small mirror he carried around with him.

"Here." He handed it to Tanjiro. "Have a good look."

Tanjiro tried to take it, but his hands were shaking. He missed the mirror with his fingers and it fell through the tips of his claws. Genya picked it up.

"I’ll hold it for you," he decided. Then, he angled it so Tanjiro could see his own face.

Like Genya, Tanjiro mostly looked the same. The most striking difference was that his scleras were black, his auburn irises blending into the dark background. With his vision enhanced for the night, Genya could see every detail of Tanjiro’s face, from the fangs in his mouth to the blood still stuck to his chin, and the slight terror and shock in his expression. Tanjiro lifted his hands up to look at his still shaking claws. Then, he turned to Genya.

"What now?" he whispered.

Genya put the mirror away. He looked down, then back toward the demon. "I’m going to eat more," he said, almost as a warning. "Why don’t you sit for a bit and get used to the changes?"

Tanjiro clenched his fists. "Eating more will make my demon form stronger."

Genya frowned. "Yeah, but—"

"Then I’ll join you," Tanjiro decided. "I need to get stronger as fast as possible."

It was a bad idea, Genya thought, to eat more after a rough first transition. As usual, though, Tanjiro was unstoppable.

The demon was starting to heal, and was squirming around, trying to get loose. Genya shot it a third time, and it hung limp long enough for him and Tanjiro to cut up more of the meat. At first Genya just watched Tanjiro. He cut out a piece from the other leg, lifted it to his mouth, gagged, but shoved it in anyway. Every bite was like that.

Genya turned back to the demon’s body. He didn’t hesitate to plunge his teeth in directly. After years of eating demons, his jaw was strong enough to cut through bone. Once he had transformed, the flavor barely bothered him too. He worked his way through the demon until his stomach said it was enough.

"Done?" he asked Tanjiro. When he saw his friend’s face, he quickly scooted over.

Tanjiro was crying silently, yet still trying to eat the piece of meat he had cut off. Genya reached over and took it out of his hands. Tanjiro didn’t resist, or even protest. He just sniffed.

"What is it?" Genya asked.

Tanjiro looked up, his eyes glistening. "This used to be a person," he whispered.

Genya frowned. Maybe he should have seen this coming. "We would have to kill it anyway," he started, using the line of logic he always told himself when he felt bad about eating a demon. "Demons aren’t human anymore. This one has probably killed a dozen people. We’re demon slayers, so it’s our job to kill it. Eating it gets us closer to a future where no one gets turned into demons or gets killed by one."

Tanjiro sniffed again. "Yeah, you’re right," he said. His voice still sounded awful, which was strange, because he should have healed already. Maybe it wasn’t from the screaming.

Genya decided that Tanjiro should be done whether or not he wanted to be. With a firm grip on his sword’s handle, he withdrew the blade from the tree and the demon’s mouth. He slashed clean through the demon’s neck, and, in an instant, it began to crumble away.

"We did it," Tanjiro said quietly, his voice sounding more normal. When Genya looked back at him again, he saw that Tanjiro was still staring at his claws.

"How do you feel?" Genya asked.

Tanjiro frowned. "Anxious," he decided.

Genya knew what he meant. He had long gotten used to that feeling of being constantly on edge, but it was always worst right after eating a demon. "Do you feel up for a little training?"

Tanjiro stood up. "Sure." He took a step forward, then stopped and smiled. Genya was confused until Tanjiro held out his foot and rolled his ankle around a few times. "Genya, look!"

Genya couldn’t help but laugh at him. "Best thing about eating demons," he joked. 

"It is!" Tanjiro agreed. He started walking in circles. "It’s amazing! Will it go back to being hurt once the demon form wears off?"

Genya shook his head. "Even after you’re depleted, you’ll keep some healing abilities. The longer you go between eating demons, though, the weaker they get."

Tanjiro stopped pacing to face him again. "What’s the limit?"

"We’re not demons." The word we made Genya’s hair stand on end even though he was the one who said it. "It doesn’t take a nichirin sword to kill us. If you get your head cut off, or get hurt too badly, it’s over. Don’t be reckless."

"I see," Tanjiro said thoughtfully. "So we’re sort of between humans and demons."

Genya nodded slowly. "Something like that."

For a moment, they both just stared at each other. Then, Tanjiro asked, "can you show me how to throw a tree like you did in the swordsmith village?"

Genya felt his face go bright red. "No! There are probably people living around here! I’m not throwing a tree for no reason." Then, he grumbled, "it didn’t even stop Hantengu."

"But it was cool," Tanjiro argued.

Again, Genya found himself laughing. "I’m glad you thought so."

Genya got Tanjiro to agree to some real training, so they sat down. It was his first time transforming, and Genya thought Tanjiro had already been pushed enough, so he decided to explain healing and repetitive motion. That was calm, not physically taxing, but interesting enough to satisfy Tanjiro. Although, they had to keep pausing for Genya to wipe drool off Tanjiro’s chin, which embarrassed Tanjiro to no end.

An hour later, Tanjiro was clearly getting tired. He was probably close to being depleted, by Genya’s estimate. 

"Let’s get some sleep," Genya suggested.

Tanjiro nodded, then stood up to help get a bed together.

Between the two of them, Genya and Tanjiro scraped together enough leaves and grass to sleep on comfortably. They both laid down, agreeing without words to share again. For a while, they both just laid on their sides, watching each other. Genya found himself caught in a strange gap between comfort and unease. 

The choice was made now, and Tanjiro had decided to be with Genya. Seeing Tanjiro’s face, a human face with demon features that wasn’t just Genya’s own reflection, almost felt like a hallucination. If Genya woke up back in the infirmary tomorrow morning, he wouldn’t be surprised. Having someone here with him like this was more than he had ever dreamed. And yet, he couldn’t relax. There was still a long way for him and Tanjiro to go before he could fully let his guard down. That was not to mention the incredible guilt Genya felt over his own selfishness.

He closed his eyes, hoping that turning Tanjiro Kamado into the same kind of half monster freak as him, just so he wouldn’t be so lonely, wasn’t a huge mistake.

When Tanjiro woke up, he felt as if the night before was a dream. If he was back in the infirmary, he would believe it was.

Instead, he was laying in a pile of leaves beside Genya. That was his first clue that all of it was real: Genya was still with him. The second was that his ankle didn’t hurt, and it felt like all of his bruises and cracked ribs must be better too. His muscles and mouth still ached a bit from the stress of transforming, which was something Tanjiro had not expected. Genya was always so calm when he transformed, it didn’t seem like it would be that painful. Last night, though, Tanjiro’s entire body had felt like it was turning itself inside out. Just remembering how much it had hurt brought tears to his eyes. 

Was he really going to put himself through that again and again? It would get easier; Genya said the first time was the most painful, but Genya, who had eaten countless demons, still seemed to feel a good bit of pain. When it was time to eat the next one, the decision would not be so easy. The back of Tanjiro’s mind was already debating whether he could stop now and go back to how he was, forgetting this ability and locking his demon form away.

Beside him, Genya let out a long breath, then rolled onto his back. His mouth hung open a little, letting a stream of drool drip out of his mouth. Tanjiro smiled to himself, though he couldn’t judge Genya too much after how much he had drooled last night.

Genya took another deep breath, then scowled. His eyes blinked open, and he sat up.

"Hm?" he turned to face Tanjiro.

Tanjiro gave him nice, big smile, one that he hoped was a nice thing to wake up to. "Good morning, Genya," he greeted.

Genya rubbed his eyes, still blinking as he sat up. "Is the sun coming up?" he muttered sleepily.

Tanjiro looked in the same direction, toward the brightening horizon. "Yes, it looks like it."

"Damn." Genya inhaled deeply, then let it all out at once. He stood up, and Tanjiro’s foolish heart sank. For whatever reason, he had imagined that they might lay there together a littler longer. 

"Why?" Tanjiro asked. "Did you want to get going before sunrise?"

"We wasted a lot of time," Genya explained as he brushed the leaves off his clothes.

Tanjiro wasn’t sure a good night’s sleep after stressful training counted as wasting time, but he understood Genya wanting to stay active. "You have leaves in your hair," he noticed. "Let me get them out."

Genya stopped in his tracks. He held still until Tanjiro, fingers shaking, had freed each small piece of plant matter from his mohawk. The feel of Genya’s hair on his fingers made his heart pound, but he made sure not to touch any more of it than he had to. Was this crossing a line? Tanjiro had pushed Genya’s boundaries a lot in the last forty eight hours, sharing a bed multiple nights, asking about his brother, and even going so far as to join him in eating demons. There was a purpose to it, but, feeling Genya’s hair curling around his fingertips, Tanjiro suspected he might have done it even if for no reason other than to get closer to Genya. He tossed the last stick fragment to the ground. Against his better judgement, he let his hand go back up, catching a small chunk of Genya’s hair, and just letting it trail through his fingertips. It was softer than he expected.

"Done," he breathed.

Genya took a step forward, then ran his hand over his hair a few times. He turned toward Tanjiro. "Let me get you," he said.

Tanjiro blinked. As Genya moved behind him, Tanjiro realized that he was offering to pick the leaves from his hair too. He held still so Genya could extract them.

Genya was not careful. He combed his fingers roughly through the strands, pausing to remove the leaves a few at a time. Every time he touched Tanjiro’s skin, it sent a prickle across his scalp.

"You’re covered in leaves," Genya muttered, moving down to Tanjiro’s shoulders. Tanjiro froze.

It wasn’t fair. Tanjiro closed his eyes. It wasn’t fair at all, and he knew that. Whatever the reason he had developed this obsession, Tanjiro felt like he shouldn’t have. Genya had no idea how Tanjiro was feeling, and although he had shown some signs that he liked Tanjiro quite a bit too, he clearly didn’t feel it to the same intensity.

Genya started brushing off Tanjiro’s back, and Tanjiro flinched. Some part of him had foolishly expected everything to change last night. He had led himself to believe that eating demons would break down the wall between them, and they would be able to share everything with each other. Genya, though, still seemed a little wary of Tanjiro, which should not have hurt as much as it did. Realistically, they barely knew each other. 

"What’s wrong?" Genya asked bluntly as he moved down Tanjiro’s body, shaking out his coat before starting to pat the leaves from his calves.

Tanjiro blinked. How could Genya tell? "Why do you think something’s wrong?"

Genya huffed. It took Tanjiro a second to recognize the sound as a laugh. "You’re not talking."

"I don’t… talk that much…" Tanjiro started, but his argument fizzled out as he realized that, compared to Genya, he did talk a lot.

Again, Genya just snorted a laugh. He didn’t press on his question, for which Tanjiro was relieved.

Tanjiro set his face. "Well," he decided, "maybe the real problem is that you don’t talk enough." Hearing more from Genya would be amazing.

Genya stood up, then reached down and dusted newly stuck leaves from his pant legs. "Damn leaves," he muttered. He didn’t respond to Tanjiro, which was disappointing. "Come on. Let’s get moving."

Tanjiro scooped up his crutch before following his friend.

"How are you feeling?" Genya asked. They seemed to be headed back to the road, though Tanjiro did not know what the plan was. Were they headed back to the butterfly mansion already?

"I feel fine," Tanjiro reported. He picked up the pace so he was walking the same speed as his tall friend. "My mouth is sore, but that’s it."

Genya didn’t even look at him as he answered. "Good. And…"

Whatever he was going to say next, it never left his mouth. It just hung in the air, thick between them. Tanjiro wondered if he should ask. He was starting to feel self-conscious about how pushy he was being, so he decided to let that one go.

When they reached the road, Genya stopped. He whistled again, then waited until Hashibami swooped down from the sky.

"You have two choices," the crow said. "Same strength as last night, or equal to a rank Hinoe."

"The second one," he requested. "How far is it?"

"Wait," Tanjiro said. "Can we make it to both?"

Genya frowned. "We shouldn’t push too hard," he warned. "You’re still new to this."

"Yes," Tanjiro agreed, "but either way, both demons need to be slain."

Genya nodded slowly, an unreadable look in his eye. If Tanjiro had to guess, he would say that Genya still disagreed, and only wanted to kill the stronger one tonight. He probably saw eating the weaker one as a waste of time, on which he had a point. For a second, Tanjiro considered that perspective, and felt a little bad for his insistence on saving everyone instead of focusing on the big picture. Then he shook that thought from his head. Defeating Muzan was important, but people still needed his help between now and then.

"Yes," Hashibami calculated, "I can take you to both demons tonight."

After waiting for Genya to nod his approval, the crow took off with a caw, leading them farther away from the butterfly mansion.

For a minute, Tanjiro stayed where he was standing, watching as Genya strode down the dirt path, hands in his pockets, glancing around. A warm feeling of attachment bloomed in Tanjiro’s chest, which he knew was irrational. Genya turned his head all the way back and, when he saw Tanjiro, frowned.

"Are you coming?" he called.

Tanjiro startled back into reality. "Yes! One second!" He found a place on the side of the road to stash the crutch, where he could pick it up on the way back. Then, he jogged to catch up to Genya. "Another demon," he commented.

Genya nodded once. "As long as you’re up for it."

"Always," Tanjiro told him, despite his fears and doubts. Those were the things he should never listen to. Instead, he should focus on how much stronger he was getting. The unpleasantness never mattered so much as the end result. "Eating stronger demons will help me get stronger too, right?"

"Yeah, or, that’s what happened to me." Genya kicked a rock in the road. "You know, you’re handling this a lot better than I expected."

Tanjiro frowned a little. What did that mean? Had Genya expected him to turn and run at the scent of demon flesh?

"Most people are disgusted when I tell them," Genya said quietly.

Instantly, Tanjiro interpreted what he meant. He meant that Tanjiro wasn’t like other people. He was special to Genya. Unlike others, Tanjiro hadn’t shied back from Genya’s abilities or methods. Instead, Tanjiro had risen up to join him. That brought a smile to his face.

"Maybe," he started carefully, "maybe this will sound messed up."

Genya glanced at him, head tilted with a dry smile saying that it couldn’t be more messed up than what was already happening.

Tanjiro went on anyway. "But I’m glad to be doing this with you. Even if eating demons is awful, I’m glad it’s bringing us together."

There. He had said it. Tanjiro studied Genya’s face, waiting for his reaction.

To his disappointment, Genya turned back to facing the road, his expression totally unreadable. Tanjiro couldn’t even smell what he was thinking. 

Minutes passed. Tanjiro left them silent, hoping that Genya would say something, anything, in response. When Genya finally spoke, though, he changed the topic.

"Why did you become a demon slayer?"

Tanjiro blinked, taken aback by the sudden and very big question. "Um, I don’t think my circumstance was too unusual," he started. How was he supposed to tell everything that had happened.

"Your family was killed," Genya guessed.

Tanjiro nodded. "And Nezuko was turned into a demon. So I guess I became a demon slayer to turn her human again, and to get revenge on Muzan for my mom and siblings."

Again, Genya didn’t respond. It was starting to irritate Tanjiro. Were they friends, or not?

"What about you?" he asked. Maybe Genya was waiting to be asked to open up. "Did you lose your family?"

Genya sniffed. "Yeah. My mom and siblings."

When he didn’t add anything, Tanjiro prompted him again. He felt bad for pressing a sore subject, but really, he wanted to know. "What about your brother? He wasn’t killed."

Sure enough, Genya stiffened. "No," he started hesitantly. When he paused, Tanjiro was sure this would be another frustratingly short answer, but this time he continued. "Sanemi became a demon slayer first. That’s actually why I joined the Corps."

That was so sweet. Tanjiro smiled. "So you could fight together?"

Genya paused, opened his mouth, then closed it again. He glanced at Tanjiro for a split second, before turning his eyes back to the road. "Yeah."

Questions filled Tanjiro’s mind. Above all of them, one was the loudest. If Genya wanted to be a Hashira so much, why didn’t he ask to be Sanemi’s tsuguko? It was an obvious choice. Tanjiro couldn’t fathom a reason that a big brother wouldn’t want to train side by side with his little sibling. He would gladly do the same for Nezuko.

Before Tanjiro could ask, Genya turned to him with a small smile. "Can we change the subject?"

"Oh, okay." Tanjiro didn’t really understand that, because Genya was the one who had brought it up in the first place, but he was also really guarded about his brother. "What should we talk about?"

Genya looked down. "Anything else," he grumbled.

It took Tanjiro a few minutes to come up with another topic. He studied Genya in the meantime, taking in the roughness of his features, the slight stomp to his walk, and just how tall he was. Genya yawned, and Tanjiro realized for the first time. 

"You still have demon fangs," he blurted.

Genya frowned. "Huh? Oh yeah." He ran his tongue along his top teeth. It caught on each of the sharp canines.

"I thought they fell out," Tanjiro admitted. Although, his own hadn’t fallen out. They had just shrunken back to normal by the time he woke up that morning.

"No." Genya bit down lightly on his thumb, unable to ignore his teeth now that they had been brought up. "And I’ve eaten so many demons that they stopped going back to normal."

"But…" Tanjiro reached in his pocket, his hand closing around the small, smooth object he had kept in there for a week now. He withdrew it, and opened his fist to show his proof in his palm. "You lost this one."

Genya glanced over. When he saw his own tooth resting in Tanjiro’s hand, he glared furiously. "Why do you still have that!" he shouted. In one swift movement, he brought his hand down on Tanjiro’s, smacking the tooth onto the ground and completely out of sight.

"No!" Tanjiro looked around on the ground, but the tooth really was gone. He started to bend down, but Genya caught him by the back of the shirt, stopping him with a firm glare. "I thought you might want to try to put it back in," Tanjiro explained feebly. Which was true. He had heard of dentists putting lost teeth back in, and thought maybe Kocho could do something about it.

Genya kept his grip as he pulled Tanjiro along, away from any chance of finding that tooth. "I can heal," he reminded him bitterly. Then, more softly, he admitted, "I pull them out sometimes, when I’m going to be around people, so they grow back normally."

That sounded incredibly painful. Tanjiro couldn’t help but stare up at Genya with a bit of pity. "I’m sorry," he said quietly.

Genya snorted. "Tanjiro, you’re going to have to do the same thing. Eventually."

He was right that Tanjiro’s teeth would eventually end up in the same state. There was a bit of hope in Tanjiro’s heart, though, that told him it was possible to live a different way. They had each other now. The two of them, together, showing up as themselves was so much easier than Genya having to do it alone. 

"I kept that tooth for a second reason," Tanjiro admitted.

Genya let out a sigh, like he already knew how weird Tanjiro’s confession was going to be.

Tanjiro looked up at him hopefully. "Having it with me reminded me of you."

Like before, Genya made no sign that he had even heard. This time, though, he did respond, his words mismatched to the gravely tone he invariably spoke in. "You don’t need a reminder, Tanjiro. I’m right here."

That line was enough to keep Tanjiro going until nightfall.

It was only afternoon by the time they reached the area that the weaker demon had been spotted near. Genya would have preferred to press on and only bother with the stronger demon, but it was fair enough for Tanjiro to want to kill both. Unlike Genya, Tanjiro cared about saving people.

That wasn’t quite fair. Genya cared about protecting people from demons, and he always tried to make quick work of them so fewer people would die like his family had. Saving people just wasn’t his main priority. His number one goal would always be to reach Sanemi, even if that meant he had to forget about a weaker demon in order to reach a stronger one. There was no time to waste on anything that didn’t make him stronger, or push him closer to his goal of becoming a Hashira. 

Genya felt a little bad about this, but that was one reason he was glad to have Tanjiro with him. Alone, he would have hesitated to take on a stronger demon. There was always the possibility it would kill him, and he would never reach Sanemi. Tanjiro, though, could stand his ground against upper rank demons, so Genya had faith that Tanjiro was sure to win.

There were plenty of other good things about traveling with Tanjiro, Genya reflected as they stopped at the edge of the forest. It was nice not to be alone. More than that, Tanjiro seemed to actually like Genya, a lot. He asked all sorts of questions, followed Genya closely, looked at him with those pure, shining eyes. Whatever this affection was that he had, Genya desperately wanted it. Sure, it might be weird that Tanjiro had hung onto his tooth, and Genya was relieved he was not carrying it around anymore. Maybe all of Tanjiro’s questions and insistence could be considered invasive, and his immediate acceptance of eating demons disturbing. But Genya wanted nothing more than for Tanjiro to keep looking at him like that, keep following him around and asking questions and catching his hand to hold on the road. One day, Genya would be brave enough to answer everything Tanjiro asked him, or to be the one to pick up Tanjiro’s hand first.

Until then, Genya really wanted to find a way to encourage Tanjiro, to tell him that he loved how close they were becoming.

"Let’s stop here," Genya suggested, even though they both had already stopped walking. "The demon won’t come out until after sunset."

Tanjiro glanced up at the sky. "We have a few hours. Want to do some training?"

Genya had been thinking the same thing, so he agreed.

Tanjiro immediately started warming up. For a second, Genya just watched him, before turning away and doing his own warm up. He glanced back over every so often to see what Tanjiro was up to.

Eventually, Tanjiro moved on to sword practice. He spent a long time just swinging his sword in simple motions. Genya usually did the same thing, as Himejima had instructed him, to warm up his swinging muscles. Today, though, he was feeling shy about drawing his sword in front of a much better swordsman.

"Genya," Tanjiro called when he saw Genya just standing limply. "Come join me!"

Cautiously, Genya walked over. Training with Tanjiro, who was more than just an amazing swordsman, was a privilege. Genya wasn’t sure it was worth a sun breathing user’s time and effort to train with someone who couldn’t use breathing at all. Selfishly, he wanted to train with Tanjiro anyway, to see if he could pick up some of his friend’s skill.

They stood in mirrored positions, Genya copying Tanjiro’s two-handed grip on his own short sword. Tanjiro started his first swordplay sequence, and Genya moved alongside him. This one was pretty simple, one that he had learned from his trainer before final selection. It was the bare basics, what demon slayers fell back on when they were desperate, and something that Genya had spend hundreds of hours pounding into his muscle memory. Having this down was something he was proud of, but not when he saw Tanjiro do it.

Tanjiro flowed through the sequence like he had invented it. When they continued to the next set of moves, Tanjiro had mastered that one too, and the one after that, and even some that Genya had never seen before. He did his best to keep up, but Tanjiro was incredibly far beyond him. Genya just grit his teeth and kept going. This was no new discovery, that Tanjiro was amazing and he was average at best.

After an hour of hard sword drills, Tanjiro announced that he was going to start practicing sun breathing techniques. "But you should still train with me," he told Genya.

"That’s okay." Genya took a few steps back. "I’ll just practice over here." He liked training with Tanjiro, but he had plenty of his own stuff to work on.

"Okay," Tanjiro agreed before returning to his training.

Genya turned his back to Tanjiro so he could focus on what he was doing. By now, he had pretty much given up on learning a breathing style, but he still practiced some of the different forms he’d learned over the years. Not that he could do them very well.

"Are you left handed?"

Genya froze at the random question. He turned around to see that Tanjiro was not practicing, he was just standing there, watching Genya.

"I thought you were using your right hand earlier, but now you’re using your left." Tanjiro walked closer, that friendly smile wide across his face telling Genya he had no motivation aside from pure curiosity. 

Genya looked down at the sword in his left hand, then switched it to his right. "I’m ambidextrous," he admitted. "That’s how I can shoot or hold my sword with either hand."

"Wow!" Tanjiro’s eyes sparkled. "That’s so cool, Genya! I’ve never met anyone like that before."

It wasn’t that cool, Genya thought. He didn’t practice or learn to use both hands. That was just how he was born. He would prefer Tanjiro to think he was cool for one of the skills he had dedicated every moment to learning, but of course he wasn’t good enough at anything for Tanjiro to be impressed.

After that, Tanjiro actually trained. They each practiced for a while, until Genya got tired. He sat down and watched Tanjiro pull off fantastic and beautiful sun breathing moves, one after another. At some point Tanjiro noticed he was watching, and shot Genya a big smile that made him blush instantly.

Afternoon turned to evening, and Tanjiro sat down for a break too. "It’s strange," he commented as he plopped down in the dirt beside Genya. "I trained for a few hours, but I don’t feel hungry at all."

"Your stomach has changed," Genya told him. It was one of the things Kocho had told Genya the first time they had met, when Himejima had made him go in for a full checkup. "If you go long enough without eating a demon, you’ll want food again." That happened to Genya more often at the beginning, but now it was rare for him to want real food. Although, recently he had started feeling hungry for demon flesh instead of nothing at all. Probably a sign he was taking it too far, but he couldn’t exactly back out now.

They rested until the sun set, then followed Hashibami into the forest to where the demon was supposedly lurking. This time, Tanjiro went first, sprinting silently through the leaves and sticks. Genya tried to be quiet too, but he couldn’t move as fast without making some noise and would rather startle the demon than lose Tanjiro.

"There!" Tanjiro glanced back at Genya, then gestured ahead. "I can smell it."

Genya didn’t see anything, but he nodded anyway. He trusted Tanjiro.

They caught up to the demon. Before it even noticed them, Tanjiro cut its arm off with a water breathing move. The demon cried out and swiped at Tanjiro with a claw, but when it saw Genya, it tried to run.

"No you don’t." Genya drew his gun and fired two shots, one into each of the demon’s legs. It stumbled, struggling to heal, which was just the moment Tanjiro needed to swoop in and slice off both its legs altogether.

Genya shot it again, this time in the head. Demon blabbering didn’t bother him, but he worried that it would make Tanjiro feel bad about eating the thing. A bullet should shut it up for a while. 

He met Tanjiro where the demon was writhing on the ground. Tanjiro was bent over the body, the tip of his sword near it. Genya held out a hand to stop him.

"Don’t cut," he said. "Bite off of it directly."

Tanjiro’s eyes widened.

With a sigh, Genya crouched down too. His stomach was turning around and around, waiting in anticipation of being filled. Without hesitation, he took the demon’s still attached hand, and bit into it. The creature screamed, so he paused, gave it a good stab in the head, then continued. Even as his body seized and the pain of transforming kicked in, Genya didn’t stop eating.

With shaking hands, Tanjiro reached to the end of the arm he had cut off just a minute ago. He had to lower his head for his mouth to reach. This time, he got a few bites down before he doubled over, clutching his stomach and crying out. Genya watched to make sure he was okay, but offered no comfort. Tanjiro needed to figure out how to do this on his own, for the day when he would pass Genya in this ability too.

A few minutes later, Tanjiro stopped eating. "I can’t," he whispered.

He should keep going, and get past the mental block of eating something that looked and talked like a human. Genya had too much sympathy to tell him, so he let Tanjiro be done. He ate a bit more, then drew his sword and cut the demon’s head off cleanly. 

Tanjiro folded his hands. "Be at peace," he prayed.

Genya just stood up, wiping the blood on his pants.

"Um." Tanjiro smiled at him sheepishly. "Do you still have that napkin?"

Genya laughed a little. Again, Tanjiro was drooling absolutely everywhere. He got out the napkin and wiped his friend’s face clean. Then he wiped his own on a different corner, sure it was covered in blood. "Better get going."

Tanjiro nodded once, and they set out, following after Hashibami.

Tanjiro hated to complain. Really, he didn’t want to say anything. But Genya was simply walking too fast.

They had until sunrise to reach the next demon. It didn’t make any sense to rush. Usually Tanjiro could keep up pretty well, but Genya was a whole head taller than him and seemed to be in a hurry. When he was in demon form, he was also much stronger and faster than Tanjiro. Not to mention, although he too was powered up on demon flesh, Tanjiro was feeling a strange sense of exhaustion.

"Genya," he called ahead, trying not to whine, "please can we slow down?"

In response, Genya stopped and waited for him to catch up. "We’re almost there," he promised. "Hashibami always speeds up when we’re close."

"That’s a relief," Tanjiro sighed. "I’m getting pretty tired. I still want to have some energy when we get there."

"You’re probably getting close to depleted," Genya guessed. He started walking again. "Try to get a bite on the demon toward the beginning of the fight."

"Oh, right!" Tanjiro had been asleep the first time he transitioned back to normal, so he didn’t really know how it went. It must not be too painful, or he would have woken up. That was a relief too. He hurried after Genya. 

Hashibami disappeared, and Tanjiro started to smell a demon. He covered his nose as the rotten stench got stronger. Genya nodded to him, then loaded his gun and dropped into a stalking position, carefully creeping between the trees.

From up ahead came a shuffling noise, and the sound of a human crying. Tanjiro drew his sword and charged in without a second thought, concentration breathing making up for his weariness. He took stock of the situation in an instant: two travelers, probably around his own age, were cornered against a fallen log by a monstrous, mutated demon.

"Hinokami Kagura, sunflower thrust!" Tanjiro cried as he began the sun breathing technique. He surprised even himself with the strength and power of the stab as his sword surged through flesh.

The demon reacted with a backhand aimed for Tanjiro’s stomach.

Remembering Genya’s advice, Tanjiro twisted in midair and let it hit him in the face instead. He opened his mouth, then clamped his fangs right into the demon’s flesh. Blood leaked into his mouth and right down his throat, burning on the way. His head started to pound and his eyes stung, but he kept his jaw clamped until the flesh tore loose, the force of the demon’s hand tossing him several yards. He landed on his feet, and swallowed hard.

Genya appeared on the other side of the demon, baring his teeth as he fired several shots into the demon’s belly. It turned on him, and Tanjiro prepared a counterattack.

"Blood demon art," the demon started. The air around them began to shimmer. "One thousand needles!"

Tanjiro smelled them before they appeared. Countless tiny blades of silver formed from the haze around the demon, shooting in all directions. "Hinokami Kagura," Tanjiro panted, sprinting to the space between the demon and the travelers, "burning bones, summer sun!" He defected the blades from himself and the humans. The moment his feet met the ground, he checked to see how Genya had fared.

Genya was bleeding from a hundred different points, but he was still upright. If anything, he seemed to be doing even better, as he charged the demon head on. Tanjiro took that as his chance to change directions and attack again.

"Hinokami Kagura, beneficent radiance," he performed, hitting the demon from multiple sides to distract it while Genya landed his own hit. Tanjiro saw his friend slide out the other side of the attack area, blood smeared across his crazed grin. How he had managed to eat any of this demon in such a quick move was amazing.

The demon unleashed its blood demon art again, this time managing to get a few needles through Tanjiro’s defense. He gritted his teeth at the pain, but noticed a moment later that the wounds were already gone. No longer distracted by the injury, he joined Genya in what was sure to be the final assault.

Genya emptied round after round into the demon’s vital spots, even the neck, but held off on decapitating it. Tanjiro went for the same strategy, turning his techniques to the places that would hurt most. Between two such powerful demon slayers, it was only a few minutes before the demon’s regeneration started to slow down. Tanjiro cut it into pieces, forcing his hands to cut the creature up in a way that his heart knew was painful and unnecessary. 

No, he reminded himself. This was necessary. He needed to eat demons to get stronger than was possible on his own, to avenge the people he couldn’t save.

Genya strode over and stopped by Tanjiro’s side. He was drooling too now, saliva mixing with demon blood as it rolled down his chin. Without a word, he stooped down and started eating the demon’s torn flesh.

In a moment, Tanjiro would join him. First, though, he used his sleeve to clean the blood from his own face, then went to check on the travelers still huddled against the log.

"No," one cried as Tanjiro approached, her eyes growing wide with fear. "No, oh please, no! Please!"

The other turned her face into her lap. "Don’t," she begged, her breaths fast and panicked. She turned her face back to Tanjiro. "Don’t kill her. Do whatever you want with me, just don’t hurt her, please!"

Tanjiro stopped. He’d come across this scene countless times, constantly rescuing lost travelers from demon attacks. Most just curled up and begged for their lives, having no means of protecting themselves. Why would they have ever needed to pick up a sword? They lived in the peace that Tanjiro was fighting to make complete. Never before, though, had Tanjiro been in a position where a human begged him to spare them.

"I…" he stopped, unsure of how to explain that he was there to slay the demon, not to hurt them. Wasn’t that obvious? He had already protected them once.

"Tanjiro," Genya called.

Tanjiro turned. When Genya gestured for him to come, he stepped away from the travelers, then went over and crouched by his own companion. "What is it?"

"Ignore them." Genya bit off another piece of flesh, and swallowed. "They’ll leave on their own."

"I wanted to make sure they were okay," Tanjiro explained. He knew Genya wasn’t too friendly with strangers, but it seemed like basic decency to make sure they didn’t need first aid.

"You look like a demon right now," Genya reminded him. "They won’t trust you."

"But we were clearly trying to protect them," Tanjiro pointed out.

Genya shook his head. "Doesn’t matter."

For a moment, Tanjiro just contemplated that. If he were one of the travelers, what would he have seen? Two demonic looking heroes saving them from a monster? Or just three demons, ready to kill anyone around? He felt a sudden stab of sadness as he realized that this must be how Nezuko felt. She was always risking her own life to save people, and yet she had nearly been executed simply for being a demon. Tanjiro’s heart burned with the pain of rejection. It wasn’t right at all.

"See?" Genya said quietly. "They’re gone."

Tanjiro glanced back, and sure enough the travelers had run the second he turned his back. He could barely smell them now, their scent trailing off into the forest.

Genya paused, letting out a satisfied sigh before scooting over a foot and starting on another part of the demon. How he could manage to eat so much, Tanjiro could not understand. The smell, the taste, even the thought of what he had to eat was repulsive. Maybe it got easier the more he ate. Tanjiro wouldn’t be surprised if that was included in Genya’s warning about his stomach changing.

"Should I eat some?" Tanjiro wondered. He wasn’t sure if Genya meant for him to work his way up slowly, or if it was okay to eat a more powerful demon right away.

"Sure," Genya said lazily. "If you feel up to it. Stronger demons will give you more power faster. But don’t push yourself if you want to go more slowly."

Tanjiro found a piece that he couldn’t identify as a body part, and started eating. The first mouthful to enter his stomach reawakened the aching in his body that came with transforming. It felt like eating poison, burning his throat on the way down and then diffusing into every limb. The pain in his teeth ignited, and his eyes and fingers felt like they were twisting. Still, he kept eating.

"I should mention," Genya said suddenly, "it matters which part you eat. The more important it is, the more power it gives you. Eating a bit of the demon’s hair does very little, but consuming part of its blood demon art, or a vital organ, gives an extra strength boost."

"Hm." Tanjiro looked down at what he was eating, but he couldn’t tell what it was. "Did you figure all of this out on your own?"

Genya had his mouth full, so he shook his head. Once he had swallowed, he said, "Kocho told me a bunch of stuff about the biology side, and Himejima helped me work out some of the confusing bits. Not sure he meant for me to use that to eat more demons, though."

"Oh!" Tanjiro smiled. "You talked with Mr. Himejima about it?" He hadn’t known that Genya interacted with any of the Hashira other than Kocho. And his brother, of course. Maybe Sanemi introduced Genya to the others.

"Yeah. I look up to him, a lot." Genya wiped his hands, then sat back in the grass. He told Tanjiro about how he had run into Himejima and insisted on being trained by him, even if Himejima refused to make him an official tsuguko. "He’s not all that personable," Genya laughed, "so he’s a little hard to be around. Then again, you could say the same about me."

"Hm." Tanjiro tilted his head, amused. "I’m not sure I would say that."

"Oh." Genya tucked his knees to his chest, curling in on himself. He might have looked cute if not for all the blood on his face and shirt. Also, he seemed to be blushing, just a little. "It’s different with you," he muttered.

There, in the soggy mess of a disemboweled demon, Tanjiro took his chance. He was surprised how calm he felt as he scooted closer to Genya. "I feel different around you too," he said with a smile. "I feel a connection to you that I’ve never felt with anyone else."

Genya frowned, like he didn’t believe that. "Me?"

"Yes!" Tanjiro laughed. "I really like you. I know the circumstance is hard, and messy, but I’ve loved traveling with you these past two nights. I want to get to know you more."

"I…" Genya looked lost, staring into Tanjiro’s face, his own full of confusion. He blinked. "Really?"

To show him that he meant it, Tanjiro moved right in front of him, so close their knees were touching. He picked up both of Genya’s clawed hands, and looked him in the eye. "Really," he promised.

Genya smiled, although just a little and with a twinge of sadness to it. "I want that too," he whispered. Then, he looked down. "Sorry. I’m not… I’ve never been good with relationships. Not even with my family."

"That’s okay!" Tanjiro squeezed his hands. "I think that, the longer we’re together, the better we’ll get along."

Genya let himself smile a little more. "Thanks, Tanjiro."

Tanjiro would have liked to keep talking about it, but Genya took a deep breath and stood up just then. He drew his sword, then picked his way through the bloodied grass to where the demon was reforming its body around its shredded head and torso. In one swift motion, Genya beheaded it.

Tanjiro held his hands together, and, as usual, prayed that the demon would find peace in the afterlife, and would live his next life fully human. Before, he used to ask that the demon would pass without suffering. That felt hypocritical now. He and Genya had personally caused this creature to suffer unduly. 

When he was done, he turned to Genya. "What now?" he asked.

Genya didn’t seem to be listening. He had his gun drawn, and was holding it straight out in front of him, his wrist twisted so the gun was sideways. Tanjiro didn’t smell any more demons, and when he looked, there was nothing in the bushes ahead.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Training?"

Genya stayed like that for another few seconds. Then, he holstered his gun, and continued on like it it hadn’t happened. "We can train," he said, seeming to misunderstand Tanjiro’s question as a suggestion. "You should test out how your concentration breathing reacts to your demon form."

"Good idea," Tanjiro agreed, deciding to forget that Genya had done anything weird. If it happened again, he would figure it out then. "I don’t want to be surprised in a fight."

Genya nodded, then stalked off to give Tanjiro a little space. Tanjiro watched him as he stood between the trees, fiddling with his gun. Maybe there was something wrong with it, and that was why he was acting strange.

Tanjiro trained for a while, going through all the movements of both water breathing and Hinokami Kagura to get an idea of how his body moved in this state. It was amazing! He was so much faster and stronger than he had ever been when relying on concentration breathing alone. Eating demons was definitely the boost he needed to be powerful enough to win against Daki and Gyutaro. A few more weeks of this kind of training, and he was certain he and Genya could defeat them.

Thinking about Upper Six reminded Tanjiro of his friends. He felt a sharp pang of sadness. What a failure he was, to not be able to save his two best friends. To walk into a fight and emerge the only survivor, and still have lost. That was a shame he would never escape as long as those demons were alive. Next time, Tanjiro would win, and he wouldn’t lose his new friend in the process.

As much as it hurt to no longer have Zenitsu and Inosuke around, always there to amuse Tanjiro and challenge him to do his best, having Genya filled that hole in his heart. It wasn’t so much that he replaced Tanjiro’s lost friends as that he gave somewhere for Tanjiro to direct his love. The sadness and loneliness melted away when he watched Genya glare at his gun, gritting his teeth before snapping something into place and once again aiming it at nothing.

Tanjiro realized he was staring and snapped himself out of it. He was getting tired, and losing concentration.

"Genya," he called. "Are you getting tired? I am."

Genya looked up from his gun, then holstered it and walked over. "You should have eaten more," he teased. He sat down, and patted the ground for Tanjiro to sit with him. "I’m good to go for a while, but you do seem close to depleted. I’ll sit with you."

Tanjiro sat right beside him. "How can you tell?" 

"Uh." Genya scratched his neck. "I guess you just seem tired. Not so on edge, maybe? And you’re not drooling."

"Oh!" Tanjiro felt his chin, and it was dry. He hadn’t noticed, probably because he was used to no drool being normal. 

Genya stared out into the trees, toward where they had killed the demon. "How are you feeling about all this?"

"The same," Tanjiro decided. "It’s more difficult than I imagined. It’s painful. And eating…" He didn’t finish, mostly because he didn’t want Genya to feel judged, but eating a human-like creature absolutely repulsed him. How Genya did it with ease was beyond Tanjiro. Maybe he felt just as disgusted on the inside, and was simply better at hiding it.

"Eating a living creature," Genya guessed. "Seeing it suffer."

"Yeah," Tanjiro breathed, because that bothered him too and was much easier to talk about than his discomfort with something he could make an argument was cannibalism. Quickly, he changed his tone. "But I felt amazing! Hinokami Kagura takes a lot out of me. In the beginning, I couldn’t do more than one or two moves in an entire day. In my demon state, it feels as easy as water breathing!" Water breathing was even easier, but Tanjiro didn’t feel the need to bring that up.

"That’s good," Genya encouraged. "That’s what you wanted, right?"

"Yes." Tanjiro smiled. He wanted to get stronger, and he wanted to get closer to Genya. Both of his goals were well on their way to being accomplished.

"Let’s rest for a while," Genya decided. "Then we should head back to the butterfly mansion, before Kocho sends out a hunting party."

That earned a laugh from Tanjiro, which was immediately interrupted by a stinging feeling in his eyes. He started to rub them, and noticed that his fingers were no longer sharpened to points. His teeth ached a little, and all of his muscles started to lose their tension to soreness. "That’s it?" he asked Genya.

Genya flipped out his mirror and showed Tanjiro his face. It was back to normal, except for the deep circles beneath his eyes. "Not too bad, huh?"

Tanjiro was caught by a yawn, but he nodded. "Can we sleep?"

Genya smiled gently. "Sure. Let’s find somewhere without so many leaves," he joked.

They found a soft spot where the grass was thick. Tanjiro laid down as close as he thought Genya would tolerate. To his pleasure, Genya closed the gap between them, laying so their shoulders and hips were touching. One last time, Tanjiro looked over the boy beside him, staring up at the treetops and absently running his tongue over his demon fangs. Then, Tanjiro curled up beside him, and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Genya wasn’t sure why he felt the need to pull out his teeth.

He hadn’t bothered yesterday, because he was only around Tanjiro and was going to grow his fangs back the next night anyway. Now that they were headed back, he felt compelled to make himself look a little more human. Logically, it didn’t matter. Everyone he interacted with knew he ate demons. Kocho would take one look at him and Tanjiro and know exactly what they had done. Genya still wanted them gone. He wanted to feel his teeth and know they lined up just like everyone else’s, to relax and feel safe in his own skin, and be free of this awful hunger forming in his stomach. That was part of why it was so unbelievable that Tanjiro wanted to eat demons too. Who would chose this?

Genya’s plan was to pull out his fangs, then go lay back down until Tanjiro woke up too. He was only on the third tooth when Tanjiro found him.

"What are you doing?" Tanjiro asked sleepily.

"Don’t worry about it," Genya grumbled, hoping Tanjiro would go away.

Instead, Tanjiro sat down next to him with a yawn. "That looks like it hurts."

It hurt like hell, but only for a minute until Genya’s body started to close the wound and replace the tooth. That hurt too, just not as much as many of the other wounds he endured because he wasn’t skilled enough to evade every attack. Genya wasn’t going to complain, though. There was plenty to hate about being a demon eater without picking on the one ability that was really nice to have.

He got the third tooth loose, chucked it into the bushes, then started working on the fourth.

While he worked, Tanjiro started talking. It wasn’t about anything in particular; he started by wondering aloud how Nezuko was doing, then went on about training to be a demon slayer, how he met Zenitsu and Inosuke, and how he met the Hashira. Genya paid close attention to that part, hoping for some word on his brother, but all Tanjiro said was that Sanemi helped prove to the Master that Nezuko wouldn’t eat humans. It was strange, hearing about Sanemi from such a distance, although helping Tanjiro and Nezuko sounded exactly like the kind older brother Genya remembered. Nothing like the last time Sanemi had spoken to Genya. He was glad to know that Sanemi really only hated Genya, and hadn’t become an angry and hateful person.

Genya closed his eyes, remembering. He had only seen Sanemi once since they lost their family, and Genya had screamed that Sanemi was a murderer. It was shortly after final selection. Genya had been very pleased to be summoned to the demon slayer headquarters, and even more thrilled when he arrived to find only Sanemi present at the meeting. His brother must have seen his name on the pass list from final selection, and finally, they could reconnect.

When Genya had arrived that afternoon, Sanemi met him out front. Genya could still feel how big his smile had been. Then, Sanemi had glared at him, denounced him as his brother, and called him weak before shouting at him to quit the Demon Slayer Corps. Before Genya could say a word, Sanemi had turned and stomped away.

A thousand times, Genya had replayed that scene in his mind, trying to figure out how he could repair things between him and Sanemi. The only thing he could come up with was to prove to his brother that he was not weak, and he could fight even if he wasn’t talented. That would earn Sanemi’s ear, even if just for a moment long enough for Genya to apologize.

Genya tugged his last demon fang free. He tossed it, then stood up. "Let’s get going."

They stopped and washed the blood out of their clothes. Genya thought he was decent at chores for a boy his age, but Tanjiro was amazing. He got the blood stains out quickly, then sewed the holes shut by the time the fabric was dry. He even fixed Genya’s clothes.

On the walk back to the butterfly mansion, Tanjiro talked more. Genya wasn’t sure whether Tanjiro talked this much around everyone, or if he was trying to make up for Genya’s silence. Either way, it was nice. Tanjiro told lots of stories about his adventures, making Genya feel like he was getting to know his friend a lot better.

They stopped by where Tanjiro had stashed the crutch he had borrowed before making their way back up the road to the butterfly mansion. It was noon now, and would be well into the afternoon when they arrived. Genya had to admit that he had intentionally dawdled a bit, trying to delay the scolding that would come with their return and simply enjoy Tanjiro while it was just the two of them.

"And then Nezuko jumped down to save me!" Tanjiro was saying as they walked up the road that led to the butterfly mansion. "We fought as hard as we could, but it was super scary. I thought I was going to die, and Nezuko would be all alone. Luckily, Mr. Giyu showed up to save us. He beheaded that demon so easily, even though he was one of the Twelve Kizuki."

"I bet you were great too," Genya chuckled. In all of Tanjiro’s stories, he found a way to make someone else the hero. Genya knew firsthand how great Tanjiro was. He wished his friend was more confident.

Tanjiro just smiled. He shifted the way he was carrying his crutch as they rounded the corner through the front gates of the butterfly mansion.

As soon as the front porch came into view, Genya froze. Kocho was standing in front of the door, her smile positively murderous.

"Tanjiro," she called, her tone clipped. "How was your fishing trip?"

Tanjiro turned to Genya, meeting his eyes for just a second. It was amazing how they could communicate with nothing but a fragment of a glance. Genya nodded, and Tanjiro turned back to Kocho with their answer. "We weren’t fishing," he quietly admitted.

Kocho’s jaw tightened. Her gaze flitted over Tanjiro, taking in his posture, with both his feet solidly holding his weight, before scanning Genya. "Inside," she ordered. "Both of you to the infirmary. Now."

Genya slunk in after Tanjiro, hanging his head with the weight of knowing he shouldn’t have agreed to do this. Now, they would be told off for it, probably pretty severely. Remembering waking up beside Tanjiro in a peaceful forest, knowing they shared the same determination and willingness to do anything, he almost wished they had never come back.

Kocho made Genya sit in the corner of the infirmary. Then she made Tanjiro sit on his bed and take his shirt off. After poking at his healed ribs and pressing a stethoscope to his chest, she moved on to his foot. When she saw it was completely healed, she stepped back. 

"Put your clothes on," she snapped, clearly furious. She waited for Tanjiro to have his uniform back on properly before pointing at Genya. "You stay where you are. Tanjiro, follow me."

Without another word, she marched out of the room. Tanjiro met Genya’s eyes before sliding off the bed to follow her. 

There was nothing for Genya to do but wait for them to return.

Tanjiro was used to the scent of Kocho’s anger, but this was something new. It was much stronger.

They went into one of single bed rooms, where Kocho placed patients who needed more intense care. There, she turned on him. "I know what you did."

There was no use in denying it. That was not the path Tanjiro had chosen, and he preferred to be honest anyway. "I ate demon flesh," he confirmed softly.

Now Kocho seemed a little confused too. She lowered her voice as she asked, "did Genya make you?"

"No!" Tanjiro stepped back, shocked she would suggest that. "I asked him to help me. He tried to talk me out of it, but this is my own decision. It was all my fault, not Genya’s!"

Now Kocho just stared at him. "I don’t understand. What possessed you to think this was a good idea?"

Tanjiro struggled to explain. "I need to get stronger. I need to do whatever it takes, even if it’s disgusting or shameful. It doesn’t matter, as long as I can defeat Muzan Kibutsuji."

"How can you think it doesn’t matter?" Kocho snapped. Her voice had lost its usual softness, showing all her rage beneath. "It always matters how we conduct ourselves! Beyond that, it matters how you treat your body. You’re lucky it didn’t kill you, Tanjiro!"

Genya had warmed him about that too, but Tanjiro had disregarded it. Maybe he was a little too quick to forget the risks. He just kept thinking how, if Genya ate demons, it couldn’t be all too wrong for him to do the same. "Genya does it," he found himself arguing. 

Kocho let out a frustrated breath. "Genya has completely different goals from you, Tanjiro. He’s not aiming to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji."

Tanjiro wanted to argue that Genya was, he must be, like they all were. For some reason, though, he got the sense that he shouldn’t say that.

"Your actions carry a different weight," Kocho continued, "as a sun breathing user, and a marked one. Tanjiro, out of everyone, you are the one destined to win this centuries-long nightmare."

Tanjiro closed his eyes. No one had said that to him so explicitly yet, but he could feel the pressure of it. The same doubts that drove him to eat demons would not leave. He wasn’t even strong enough to protect his friends. Now, on the eve of the final battle between Muzan and the Demon Slayer Corps, it was the time to try everything possible to push him toward his goal. He wanted to do what everyone expected him to, and finish off Muzan for good. Why couldn’t Kocho understand that he needed to eat demons to accomplish that?

"You must not eat any more demons," Kocho finished. "Complete your mastery of sun breathing instead. Only that technique will ever injure Muzan."

"But…" Tanjiro hesitated, then decided to ask anyway. "But what if that’s not enough?"

Now, Kocho smiled gently. "Then someone else will try again."

That wasn’t a good enough answer, Tanjiro decided. Muzan had already walked on this earth for far too long. Tanjiro would not abandon any more families to meet the fate that his did.

The firm, angry look returned to her face. "Wait here," she instructed. "Think everything over. I’ll be back to get you in a bit."

Tanjiro sat down. He watched Kocho leave, figuring she was going to talk to Genya. Maybe he should have made it more clear that this was entirely his fault, and Genya shouldn’t get in trouble at all. 

With a groan, Tanjiro lay down on the bed. Part of him did wish that he hadn’t insisted on learning to eat demons. If Genya got in trouble, that was going to hurt his goal of impressing his brother. Yet, Tanjiro couldn’t quite regret it. That closeness that he and Genya now shared was something he would have worked months to get another way. Not to mention the power he had felt when using concentration breathing in his demon form. That, he knew, was the level he needed to be at to defeat Muzan.

No, Tanjiro didn’t regret his decision one bit. 

Genya expected Kocho to come back and scold him. Instead, the next person to enter the room was Himejima.

It was about two hours after Kocho had taken Tanjiro away. Genya sat by himself the entire time, in the seat he had been directed to stay in, and worried. He couldn’t bear it if Tanjiro got in trouble because of him. He was desperate for Kocho to come back, so he could promise that it was all his fault and Tanjiro shouldn’t be blamed for anything.

Himejima had to duck to get through the doorframe. He stopped just inside the infirmary, and sighed. Genya felt his hands curl into fists. He knew Himejima well enough to identify that as a sigh of disappointment.

Before Genya could say anything, Himejima said, "come with me." Then, he turned and walked back out.

Genya hurried after him, having to walk quickly as usual to keep up with his mentor. He thought about trying to explain what had happened, but figured it might be better to let Himejima speak first. Himejima didn’t say anything at all, though. He just led Genya out of the butterfly mansion and up the road toward his hut in the mountains.

The walk up the mountain was long. Genya could still recall the sense of wonder he had felt the first time he followed his mentor up there, and the awe of receiving any kind of attention, even if it was somewhat negative, from a Hashira. 

The landscape started to change at a higher elevation, which Genya recognized to mean they were almost there. For a while, he had tried to think of the little hut in the woods, and the gardens around it, as home. It never felt like that, though. He had never shaken the feeling that he was interrupting Himejima’s peaceful life of solitude, his dwelling there being a temporary situation until the Stone Hashira decided his pity project had gone far enough and it was time for Genya to strike out on his own.

They passed through the vegetable garden, up to the front door of the hut. It was a small building, though sturdily constructed, but tall enough for Himejima to fit in comfortably and wide enough for two rooms and what used to be a small storage area. Himejima had cleared that out for Genya to have some privacy. The dried goods and tools whose room Genya had stolen were still stacked in the main room.

Himejima finally turned to face Genya, and spoke for the first time since the butterfly mansion. "Would you like some tea?"

Genya looked down. "No, thank you." He had never once accepted food or tea from his mentor, and felt incredibly rude for it. Why Himejima kept offering it to him was a mystery.

After making himself a cup of tea, Himejima sat down, then motioned for Genya to do the same. Genya sat very carefully. He hated this. It would have been better if Himejima shouted at him back at the butterfly mansion, or lectured him on the entire walk up. Instead it seemed his mentor was going to prolong the suspense for as long as possible. Genya wondered how Tanjiro was faring. Tomorrow, he would walk back down and check in. Or maybe he should send a crow tonight. Well, nothing was stopping him from doing both. He wasn’t worried about coming on too strong after all of Tanjiro’s very pushy behavior. That was just how their relationship was.

Thinking about Tanjiro, and how he was actually, really friends with Tanjiro, Genya found himself smiling a little bit. He felt guilty about it, because he was supposed to be in trouble, but the last two nights had made him pretty happy.

Himejima took a sip of his tea. "Kocho and I discussed the incident at length," he told Genya. "According to Tanjiro, he asked you to teach him about eating demons, and, after protest, you obliged. Is this true?"

That was about how it had happened, but Genya didn’t want Tanjiro to get into trouble. "It was all my fault," he tried.

"Hm." Himejima smiled, seeming the tiniest bit amused. "Tanjiro said the same thing. Both of you are trying to protect the other from any consequence."

Genya opened his mouth, then shut it. That was kind of true.

"That tells me two things," Himejima continued. "The first is that you must both be equally responsible: Tanjiro, for his insistence, and you for your concession."

After another second of remembering that day in the boys’ infirmary, Genya muttered, "yeah, that’s fair."

"The second," Himejima said, "is that you and Tanjiro have formed quite a strong bond."

To that, Genya didn’t answer. He didn’t have the words to explain their relationship. "Friend" didn’t seem strong enough, with how loosely the term could be used. But he and Tanjiro weren’t dating, or romantically involved in any way. They weren’t related. They weren’t in any business arrangement. Technically they were coworkers, and they had made a deal, but again, those words did not capture the emotional connection they shared.

Himejima sighed. "Genya, I’m afraid this matter is more serious than you and Tanjiro anticipated. Eating demons is taboo for a reason. It took quite a bit of convincing to prevent the Master from immediately expelling you from the Corps."

Genya’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realized Himejima had done that for him. This whole time, he had just assumed that no one cared he was eating demons.

"I will meet with the Master tomorrow," Himejima explained. "I doubt either of you will be expelled, as the Corps needs Tanjiro Kamado, but you can expect some form of punishment."

Genya frowned. It could be worse, but not by much. The Master of the Demon Slayer Corps rarely got involved in disputes between members, leaving that work to the Hashira and the Kakushi. Having this brought to his attention was worrying. 

Then, Genya thought of something else. What if his brother found out?

What would Sanemi even say? Eating demons was an even more understandable reason to disown a little brother than simply being weak. Sanemi might be disgusted. He might never look at Genya again. If Genya was still allowed to become a Hashira after this, Sanemi still might not acknowledge him. Although, Genya had his doubts about that plan anyway.

He shook his head. No, he needed to keep his path forward, keep fighting for even the slim chance to see his brother again. Next time Genya saw Sanemi, it didn’t matter for how long or if Sanemi tried to ignore him. Genya would apologize. He would make Sanemi see him. 

"Please don’t let Sanemi find out," Genya asked weakly. He knew he was in no position to make a request, but he still hoped Himejima would understand.

Himejima nodded. "I won’t say a word of it to him. As always, the possibility of eating demons must be kept confidential, so he won’t hear of it another way either."

When Genya and Himejima had their first real talk about eating demons, Himejima had told Genya not to let any other demon slayers see him doing it. Others might try, wanting the power that came with it and not understanding the consequences.

Himejima seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he said, "although, you and Tanjiro may be the only two actually determined enough to try it."

Genya didn’t think he should feel proud of that, but he did. Skill and natural talent would be nice and make his life a thousand times easier, but if he couldn’t have those, then he was glad he was determined enough to follow through on whatever crazy plan he came up with.

"For today," Himejima finished, "relax. Let yourself rest, do some chores, train a bit. We’ll see what the Master decides tomorrow."

That was very generous, to give someone in deep trouble a day off, so Genya did his best to follow Himejima’s instructions for the rest of the day. He still found himself quite anxious to hear tomorrow’s resolution.

Tanjiro hated spending the night in the infirmary alone.

He was awake for along time, crying quietly to himself. When he was completely alone was when he felt the weight of Zenitsu and Inosuke’s absence the most. This was the first time ever, he realized, that he had slept a night with absolutely no one around. His family was gone. Nezuko and Urokodaki were safely far away. Zenitsu and Inosuke were gone. Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Uzui were gone. And Genya…

Kocho had told Tanjiro that Genya left with Himejima. When they returned to the butterfly mansion, Tanjiro had known that he and Genya would be in trouble. He had never anticipated that they would be separated.

Around midnight, Tanjiro heard a tapping on the window. His first thought was that it must be Genya. In an instant, he was on his feet, drying his eyes as he fumbled with the window latch.

There on the windowsill was Genya’s crow. A note was tied around his ankle.

Tanjiro hurried to untie it. The crow seemed unhappy, but it was hard to care with a note from Genya so close by. The second he had it free and got the window closed, Tanjiro collapsed back in his bed, grinning uncontrollably. He fumbled to unfold the paper, careful not to tear it. Once he had it unrolled, he let his hands press it right up to his face and inhaled.

Even the ink smelled like Genya. Tanjiro breathed him in, his nose reconstructing the scene. Genya, lighting a dim candle, smiling to himself as he quietly scratched out a note for Tanjiro. Proof that he thought of Tanjiro while they were apart. Genya had creased the letter between his hands, his rough yet nimble fingers pressing the paper into its shape. The phantom feel of those hands lingered on Tanjiro’s palms. He pulled the paper back, and read the letter.

Tanjiro,

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to write to you or not. Himejima already talked to me about it, and it sounds like we’re in pretty big trouble. He’s going to talk to the Master tomorrow. Not sure what the results will be, but it might be a while until we can go hunting again. That is, if you still want to continue.

Anyway, I wanted to check in on you, see how you’re doing. Are you feeling alright? I hope Kocho didn’t scold you too harshly. Himejima told me off, but it wasn’t all that bad. He’s softer than he seems. The real punishment will be whatever the Master comes up with.

I’d better get to sleep, or Himejima will wonder why I’m so tired tomorrow. I get the feeling he’s really going to put me to work. You should sleep too. 

Whatever else happens, I’ll see you soon.

Genya

Tanjiro’s heart felt overfull. He curled up around himself, the letter pressed to his heart. He should write a reply! But Genya was probably already asleep, and Tanjiro didn’t want Himejima to see it. Instead, he rolled onto his back, holding the letter against his chest. Finally feeling some small sense of peace, he went to sleep.

The next morning, Tanjiro tucked the letter into his pocket before anyone could see it. He got up to train, but was shooed back into the infirmary by Kocho. She gave him a thorough checkup, before announcing that he was fine to go to training.

"I am going to a meeting with Himejima and Master Ubuyashiki," she informed Tanjiro. "When I return, we are going to have another talk."

"Okay," Tanjiro agreed. After Genya’s letter, he had assumed that Kocho would be present at the meeting since she seemed to be taking charge of Tanjiro’s side of things.

The moment Kocho left, Tanjiro sent a reply to Genya. He figured that, while the Hashira were at their meeting, no one would notice a crow deliver a message. 

Tanjiro sat on his bed, and contemplated what to write. Aoi had loaned him a book to use as a hard surface so he didn’t have to move to a desk while he was injured, and he still had it. He thought for a few minutes, then decided to just say what he was thinking.

Dear Genya,

Thank you for sending me a letter last night. It made me very happy. I wanted to send one back right away, but I thought I should wait until I could be certain no one else would find it. Like you said, we might not be allowed to be exchanging notes like this. But all that means to me is that we should avoid getting caught. I miss you too much to drop all contact.

I wish you were still here. I feel very lonely without you. Hopefully the Master decides something reasonable for our punishment, and we can go out again. I’m still all in on our plan, and I can’t wait to be together again. I promise I’ll come find you as soon as I can.

If you can’t reply without being caught, I understand. I’m sure we’ll see each other soon, maybe even today if the meeting goes well! I can’t wait.

Whatever else happens…

Tanjiro paused, and bit his lip. He shouldn’t say it. He should just send the letter as it was. But he really, desperately wanted Genya to see how he felt.

Whatever else happens, I love you.

Tanjiro

There. Tanjiro folded up his letter with all the same care Genya had folded his with. He opened the window and called to his crow, then requested he take it up to Genya.

With that done, Tanjiro felt both calmer and more anxious. Eventually, whether through letter or in person, Genya would reply. Did he understand what Tanjiro meant by "I love you," and did he feel the same? It hurt that Tanjiro would have to wait to find out.

Kocho returned from the meeting while Tanjiro was outside training. He found this out from Aoi, who came outside to tell him. She didn’t add anything, just quickly informed Tanjiro that he should meet Kocho in her office.

Tanjiro tried not to feel afraid. He fought bloodthirsty monsters for a career. A little punishment shouldn’t be frightening. What scared him more than the decision of that meeting was what would happen to Genya.

Genya and Tanjiro had different roles in the Demon Slayer Corps, which Tanjiro was well aware of. Tanjiro was expected to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji. Multiple Hashira had taken time to mentor and encourage him. Two had died to protect him. Genya did not have the privilege that came with that pressure. Sure, he had a brother and a mentor among the Hashira, but the rest probably did not even know his name. He couldn’t use any breathing techniques, much less Sun Breathing. Tanjiro had met Master Ubuyashiki before, and wasn’t certain that he would punish them equally even if they were decided to be at equal fault. If Genya was prevented from his goals, Tanjiro would feel terrible, but not as bad as he would feel if he wasn’t punished the same.

Tanjiro tapped his knuckles softly on the door to Kocho’s office. When he heard her call, "come in," he pulled it open and shuffled inside.

"Sit down," Kocho invited.

Tanjiro took a seat opposite her. "How was the meeting?" he asked apprehensively.

"Productive." Kocho folded her hands. "Unfortunately, Master Ubuyashiki is too ill to attend. His wife filled in for him with his authority, and we had quite an insightful conversation."

Tanjiro looked down. He wished she would skip to the decision.

"The issue," Kocho explained, "is that it is taboo to eat demons. It’s not technically a rule, but that is only a question of formality. Eating demon flesh is strictly prohibited. An exception was made for Genya on behalf of Himejima, but that was partially on the condition that Genya did not spread any information on eating demons."

"He didn’t tell me that," Tanjiro said, almost to himself. Genya hadn’t said anything about the rules, or Tanjiro’s request being expressly against his orders. That just made Tanjiro feel worse about pushing him into it.

Kocho continued. "We discussed the matter, and came to a decision. The priority right now is that all demon slayers are prepared to fight when Muzan Kibutsuji launches his attack, as the Master has anticipated he will. That includes both you and Genya."

Tanjiro’s shoulders relaxed. It sounded like the weren’t going to be punished harshly after all.

"So, at Himejima’s recommendation, you and Genya are to be kept apart indefinitely."

Tanjiro jolted upright. "What? No!" One day, and his heart already ached to be with Genya again. He thought of the letter in his pocket, and tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. Was the distant scent of Genya on his hastily written notes all Tanjiro could have of the other boy?

Kocho drew in a long breath, then let it out just as slowly. "If you two are around each other, you are just going to leave and eat demons again."

That was true, so Tanjiro didn’t bother arguing. He kind of wanted to point out that he could leave and do that on his own, but Kocho was right to assume that Tanjiro would not do anything without Genya. He needed Genya’s help to defeat Daki and Gyutaro anyway. 

"Tanjiro," Kocho started slowly. She was very careful as she asked, "are you and Genya dating?"

Tanjiro shifted. This was the second time someone had assumed that. "No, we’re not," he said softly. Then, with a bit of hesitation, he asked, "is that what it looks like?"

"Not necessarily, I suppose," Kocho admitted. "But you two seem to have formed a very close bond in quite a short amount of time."

"That’s true," Tanjiro agreed. He felt very close to Genya, and though Genya was more cautious with his affection, he seemed to feel the same.

Kocho nodded thoughtfully. "While it’s good to have close friends," she advised, "it’s also good to have some boundaries."

Tanjiro frowned. "Close friend" did not seem like a strong enough term to describe what Genya was to him, but he couldn’t think of another. "Maybe I’m misunderstanding this," Tanjiro said, "but… isn’t Genya who you meant for me to meet at the swordsmith village?" Or maybe it was Kanroji after all.

Kocho pinched the bridge of her nose. "You had just lost your two closest friends, and Genya hadn’t made any at all. Kanroji agreed it would be good for you. I never imagined that this would happen."

Tanjiro blinked, surprised. Kanroji had been in on it too?

"It would be good for you, Tanjiro," Kocho sighed, "if you hadn’t tried eating demons."

Tanjiro didn’t see how eating demons was hurting his and Genya’s relationship. If anything, it made them closer. All he could think to say was, "can I at least right Genya letters?"

Kocho looked displeased with that response. "Yes," she answered anyway. "You and Genya may write letters, but your crows have been instructed to deliver them to Himejima or myself first. We’re going to check them over before you read them."

Tanjiro had no response to that. A sick feeling churned over in his stomach, and the ache in his heart changed. Even if he and Genya were allowed back together one day, would they ever stop being watched?

"Go," Kocho said. "Finish your training, then get some rest. Try to forget about it."

Without another word, Tanjiro dragged back outside.

Genya refused to get up. No matter what Himejima said, he wasn’t going to move.

It was fair. Genya had gotten close, and ended up hurting Tanjiro. More than anyone else, Tanjiro needed to be at his best. He shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with Genya in the first place. The Master had probably made the right decision to separate them. Genya sincerely hoped Tanjiro could move on, master sun breathing to its full potential and defeat Muzan once and for all.

It still hurt. Genya missed Tanjiro, a lot, even after only one day apart. When Himejima had returned, Genya was doing his chores in the garden. Himejima had delivered the verdict, and Genya had flown into a rage. In the end, he had marched into his room and slammed the door.

Himejima came to him later with a letter from Tanjiro. Genya had accepted it, but refused to say anything, which he felt bad about. Then he had folded the letter back up and shoved it under his bed. Since he had no plans to write back, that was probably the last he would ever hear from Tanjiro. Leaving the letter unread made him feel like Tanjiro still might come back for him, like there was still something he had to say to Genya in the future.

Since then, Genya had not gotten out of bed. He stayed under his blanket, occasionally shifting around but never leaving, not even when Himejima begged him to come outside. Maybe it was childish to spite his mentor, but part of him wanted Himejima to feel bad about how much this hurt. The other part of him just really did not feel like moving. He was afraid that if he sat up, the lump in his throat would dislodge and he would never be able to stop crying.

Himejima returned in the evening, this time with food. He set it on the floor, right behind Genya’s head, then stood up again. Genya almost gagged at the smell.

"Sit up," Himejima ordered. 

Genya didn’t budge. Neither did Himejima.

"I am not going to leave until you sit up and eat," Himejima said. Genya could hear that firmness in his tone that he used whenever Genya was being unreasonable.

"You know I’m not going to eat," Genya grumbled. He wished his mentor would put the plate somewhere else.

Himejima sat down. "Then we’ll be sitting like this for a long time."

Genya glared at the wall. When he didn’t cooperate, his mentor often treated him like a child. He wished Himejima would just let him do his own thing, whether or not he was acting childish.

They stayed like that for a long time: Himejima sitting practically in the doorway, and Genya laying on his side, glaring at the wall. He thought Himejima might say something, or try to get him to talk, but neither of them said a word.

Eventually, Genya fell asleep. When he woke up, it was midnight, and Himejima was gone. The food was still sitting there, stinking up the room. Genya wanted to put it outside, but his arms felt too weak to move, and his body didn’t want to sit up. He started crying quietly to himself.

Even though he hated it, Genya knew that this was all his fault. If he had said no, he and Tanjiro could have stayed friends, even if with some distance between them. The moment that they had been together was amazing, but Genya would give that up in an instant if only he could be near Tanjiro at all. Instead, they would never see each other again.

The second day after the verdict, Tanjiro received a visitor.

That first afternoon, Tanjiro had been miserable, but the reality hadn’t quite clicked yet. It was only on the second day that he had processed it: he and Genya were never going to see each other again. They weren’t just separated for a few days, or weeks, or even years. The only scenario where they would be allowed back together was if demons were eradicated.

That second day, Tanjiro had concluded that his only chance to see Genya again was to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji. So, with renewed dedication, he returned to his training. He was in the yard when Aoi popped her head outside and called that someone had come to see him.

Tanjiro dried the sweat off his face, then slipped his haori back on. He was about to go inside when a familiar face shuffled onto the back patio. Despite himself, Tanjiro smiled. "Hi, Mr. Giyu."

Giyu didn’t smile in return. He just squinted in the sunlight as he stepped off the porch, crossing the yard to meet Tanjiro. "Hello, Tanjiro."

"Want to spar a match?" Tanjiro asked. He’d never trained with Giyu before, but knew the Water Hashira was a magnificent fighter. It would be great practice, and Giyu looked like he could use a little movement. He seemed exhausted.

"No," Giyu refused flatly. "I only came to check up on you. I heard something happened, but Kocho refuses to tell me any details." He glanced back at the house, seeming displeased. 

"Oh. Yeah." Tanjiro found himself facing the ground, suddenly blinking back tears. The only way he had made it through the morning was by focusing on his task, his ultimate goal. Thinking about Genya again made him feel sick. "They’re trying to keep it quiet."

Giyu just stared at him, eyes hollow.

Tanjiro sighed. "It’s been… the last few days have been hard. First Nezuko, and now Genya." He choked on Genya’s name. A tear escaped the corner of his eye, but he quickly wiped it away.

"Genya," Giyu muttered to himself, like he was trying to remember who that was.

"Genya Shinazugawa," Tanjiro supplied. "One of my final selection classmates. We were getting to be pretty good friends." Again, he didn’t feel like that phrase was enough to describe his and Genya’s relationship.

"So Shinazugawa really does have a brother," Giyu said to himself. Then, he switched the topic. "I’m sorry Nezuko had to leave. I know you wanted to stay with her."

"It’s alright. It’s just for now." Tanjiro said that even though it was hard to believe. "It was hard to say goodbye, but I know I had to."

"You’ve made it a long way," Giyu said.

"Yeah." What Giyu meant was that it was incredible they’d survived so long, and Tanjiro sort of had to agree. "We couldn’t have done it without you, though."

Giyu lowered his eyes. "I’m sure you could have," he muttered.

"No," Tanjiro insisted. "If you hadn’t found us that day, Nezuko would have died in the sunlight. We never would have met Urukodaki. The Hashira would have sentenced us to death." It was a sharp turn of conversation, he knew, but Tanjiro couldn’t stand to have Giyu believe he hadn’t helped them. Not with everything else that was happening.

Instead of arguing, Giyu met Tanjiro’s eyes again. "I just wanted to help you, because you reminded me of something," he mumbled.

Tanjiro blinked. "Of what?" He didn’t know much of Giyu’s history. In fact, he didn’t know Giyu well at all.

"Someone I lost." Giyu looked away again. Then, after along pause, he quietly said, "my sister was killed by a demon. I couldn’t do anything to save her."

This time, Tanjiro didn’t know what to say. He’d lost many brothers and sisters to a demon. Everyone in the Corps had lost someone, so it should be easy to relate to Giyu’s story. Tanjiro did, but he couldn’t put that pain into words.

"If I can, I want to help you save Nezuko," Giyu explained. "I don’t want you to lose your sister too."

"You have helped," Tanjiro assured him. 

Giyu just closed his eyes. He stayed like that for a few minutes, looking asleep on his feet long enough that Tanjiro wondered if he should say or do something. Then, Giyu opened his eyes again, and changed the topic back. "What happened with Genya?"

"I…" Tanjiro looked down again. "I’m really not supposed to say. But we’ve been separated. Himejima is keeping an eye on him, and Kocho is watching me. We can’t visit each other, and they’re checking our letters."

After another minute of silence, Giyu asked, "what kind of friend is Genya?"

"He’s…" Tanjiro tried to think of the right way to describe Genya. He wasn’t a best friend, like Zenitsu had been, or a brother, like Inosuke had been. He wasn’t a boyfriend, like Kocho suspected. Why weren’t there words for the kind of relationship they had? "He’s everything," Tanjiro blurted.

Giyu looked startled, and Tanjiro worried he had said the wrong thing. But then, Giyu’s face fell into sadness. "I used to have a friend like that," he said quietly.

Tanjiro couldn’t help but be surprised. Giyu always seemed so solitary. The way he said it, though, made it sound like this special friend of his was long gone. Maybe Giyu hadn’t always been so withdrawn.

"Tanjiro," Giyu said.

Tanjiro had already been listening, but he tried to meet Giyu’s eyes to show that he knew this was important.

Giyu looked away. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again and said, "you and Genya shouldn’t be apart."

While Tanjiro agreed, he was sure that if Giyu knew what he and Genya had done, his opinion would be different. "Well," he stared, but Giyu cut him off.

"Whatever happened doesn’t matter." He turned back to face Tanjiro. "I think you should still be allowed to be friends. I trust you not to repeat the mistake."

"What, what are you saying?" Tanjiro asked nervously. He didn’t deserve Giyu’s trust. The moment he and Genya were together again, they were definitely going to go eat demons again.

Giyu lifted his chin and stared into the sky. "This evening, I’m going to ask Himejima to meet with me. If you want to see Genya, that’s the only chance you’ll get."

Without another word, Giyu turned and left.

Tanjiro stood there in shock for a second. Only when the door to the butterfly mansion slammed shut behind Giyu did Tanjiro realize he should have protested, or explained more, or at the very least said thank you. Instead, he was left with a decision. It wasn’t a hard one.

Himejima simply did not understand when to give up, and it frustrated Genya to no end. He was not going to get out of bed, or leave his room. He was not going to eat. If he was anything other than purely stubborn, Himejima would have realized days ago that he should just give up.

It was getting uncomfortable, though, laying down all day with a plate of slowly spoiling food always by his head. Genya wished his mentor would stop wasting meals on him. There were plenty of people who could use that food, whose lives would be saved by just those meals. Instead, Genya had them, and for nothing.

As much as he hated to admit it, for all his stubbornness, Genya was no match for Himejima. He was just sneakier about letting up. Yesterday evening, he had waited for Himejima to fall sound asleep before getting up for the bathroom and a little walk around. Briefly, he had thought about running, but concluded that he would just get caught. And anyway, the only point in escaping this damn house would be to see Tanjiro. Tanjiro, though, was undoubtedly being guarded securely at the butterfly mansion. Even if Genya made it inside and saw him, they would never make it out. In the end, Genya had just slunk back into his bed.

Tonight, Himejima came to check on Genya a little earlier. He brought a fresh plate of food and new water, but Genya still refused to look at him. It probably broke his master’s heart to be treated this way. Genya had a hard time not feeling justified after his own heart had been broken.

Himejima disappeared, and Genya expected to hear him go to bed. Instead, he heard the door softly open and close. He just rolled over. Himejima was probably just outside training more, or going down to a Hashira meeting. Nothing unusual.

Nothing unusual happened at all, until the door creaked back open again. Genya rolled back to face away from the door, already glaring. No doubt Himejima would come check on him yet again, and probably give him a lecture about "taking care of himself." Then he would go to bed, and Genya could get up and walk around a little.

The footsteps creeping through the house sounded a lot lighter than usual, but Genya still tried to ignore them. The house was far enough out in the woods that they didn’t get intruders. Himejima was probably just trying not to wake him up. When he finally slid open the door to Genya’s room, Genya just tucked his face against the floor.

A small hand landed on Genya’s shoulder, and he tensed. This wasn’t Himejima after all. Damn it! He should have been more careful! Where were his gun and sword?"

"Hey," said a soft voice. "Genya. Wake up!"

It couldn’t be. Genya rolled himself over in a split of a second. "Tanjiro?" he breathed.

No, it must be a dream. Tanjiro was there, his face warm and smiling, his lips wavering with the same disbelief that Genya felt. How was this possible?

"Genya," Tanjiro said back, a slight laugh of disbelief shaking his tone.

"You’re, you’re here!" Genya hurried to sit up, though he had not quite accepted that this was real. 

Tanjiro took his hands. "I promised you I’d come, didn’t I? You got my letter, right?"

Genya looked down. "I didn’t read it," he admitted. Damn, he should have torn it open the moment he got it. "I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again. I, uh, I wanted to save it." Maybe that was weird, or coming on too strong, but it was no worse than anything Tanjiro had said.

"That’s alright, it doesn’t matter now. We’re together again." Tanjiro dropped his hands and stood up. "But if we want to stay together, we have to leave quickly."

Right. Of course. Genya jumped up too, and started gathering his things. The faster they ran, the less likely they were to be caught. The chance that they would make it was low. Even if they escaped the area, they would have to stay on the run. The Demon Slayer Corps’ surveillance network covered the entire country. Staying ahead of whoever was sent to track them would be no easy feat.

Once Genya had his gear, he and Tanjiro took off running. They sprinted down the mountain, hand in hand, into the setting darkness of the night. Genya couldn’t help but smile, and noticed Tanjiro doing the same. Finally. At last, they were together again. Genya’s heart felt free. He was with Tanjiro again, back on their mission, with nothing to stop them.