Chapter Text
“Excuse me, sir, can I help you?”
A slightly concerned shopkeeper asked a young man wearing a mismatched haori in front of her shop. He had been glaring at her wares for nearly an hour now and at this point, she doesn’t know whether to call the cops or give him some food. For a moment it seemed as if the young man hadn’t heard a word she said but eventually, he looked up at her with the dullest look she had ever seen.
“What toys do boys like?”
Oh how cute the shopkeeper thought, was he looking for a toy for his son?
“How old is he?”
“......12, no 15?”
Okay. Must be a little brother then, she picked up the item he was glaring at and gently handed it over.
“This is a really popular item right now with children, would you like to buy it.”
The young man nods.
“Great. I will wrap it up for you.” the shopkeeper said happily
In no time Giyuu walking down the road delicately holding the item he bought, and the lady was kind enough to wrap for him. He didn’t know what he would have done if she didn’t come and help him, there were so many choices to choose from, and Giyuu was worried if he picked the wrong item. Yet, that shopkeeper was so nice and helped him out. He should make sure to stop by and buy things next time he needed something. Ah, but this is kind of a faraway village, but the shopkeep was so nice. He’ll think about it later.
First things first, he made sure to write a letter to Tanjirou telling him to meet him at a specific clearing near his house after his group has returned from their mission. With the specific requirement of meeting him alone.
“Giyuu-san what is this?”, Tanjiro asked.
Luckily for him, Tanjiro was actually on his way back to the Wisteria House when he got Giyuu’s note so he could impart his plan sooner than he anticipated. What he didn’t expect was his own inability to communicate anything beyond a grunt.
“A kite?” he said
Tanjiro’s eyes widened in surprise, “Oh I’ve heard of these things. I’ve never seen it but the merchants that stop by our village would describe them to me. Wow, thank you for showing me!” Tanjiro smiles while giving the kite back to him.
Giyuu froze, “No you keep it.”
“Eh? Why?” Tanjiro said confused
“It’s cool isn’t it?.”
“Oh, OH.” Tanjiro adopted a strange look on his face, before smiling gently. It’s a smile that he’s seen before but he can’t place it. “ Yes, Giyuu-san it’s a very beautiful toy. How do you use it”
Strange, Tanjiro’s voice shifted to a strange pitch kinda like Shinobu’s but Tanjiro was asking a genuine question that wasn’t mocking him. It gave him a fuzzy feeling inside.
“You just throw it in the air,” Giyuu said
“I see, please show me,” Tanjiro said while handing it back to him.
So Giyuu walked up the hill and when the wind was just right he released it into the sky. Tanjiro cheered when it stayed afloat.
“You can do tricks to,” Giyuu said
“Wow, really! Show me!”
So Giyuu did, it has been a while since he flew a kite so he was a bit rusty, the last time he did was with his sister.
Realization hit Giyuu in the face, embarrassment flooded his insides as he let go of the kite crouching down to bury himself in his knees. Tanjiro’s expression from earlier, he knows where he’s seen it, his sister used to give him that expression when he tried to explain something. It was an expression she would use to humor him when he got excited. This whole time Tanjiro was treating him like a younger sibling, Shinobu is never going to let him hear the end of it if she learned Tanjiro was treating him like a younger sibling.
“Giyuu-san are you alright?” Tanjiro’s voice pulls him out of his downward spiral. The brunet was hovering nearby and there was a look of concern etched into his face that was a mirror image of his sister.
Giyuu sighed, this was not how he expected this to go.
“Giyuu-san, if something is wrong we can go back to your house.”
Giyuu is really no good with this stuff, he should have just been blunt, to begin with. He stands up and places his hand ontop of Tanjiro’s head.
“Being an older sibling is hard.” He started, ignoring how his companion stiffened, “You’re just a kid but you have people relying on you.”
His mind conjures up an image of a young woman a child herself, lugging around a crying 5 year old.
“You always put others before yourself.”
The woman’s face growing gaunt over the months, giving their meager food to the 5 year old.
“Hey big brother,” Giyuu finally addresses Tanjiro, “It’s okay to be a kid once in a while. You’ve worked hard.”
Tears start collecting in the corners of Tanjiro's eyes, and Giyuu was ready to panic and bolt only to be held down by a weeping Tanjiro who went to hug him. Giyuu was as stiff as a board, not knowing what to do. Eventually, Tanjiro released him and despite the red in his eyes his overall demeanor seemed softer.
"Giyuu-san, can I play with your kite?" Tanjiro asked.
"Sure"
So they spent the rest of the afternoon teaching Tanjiro how to use a kite. Carefree laughter filled the small opening as for this small moment, the outside world didn't exsist.