Chapter Text
Inosuke had gone out on a mission. Of course he did. He couldn’t just stay in the Butterfly Mansion and sit next to his favorite underling. How could he have gotten the necessary items he had promised Tanjiro?
So there were some demons, but they were all weak compared to him! He sliced those bastards' heads off before they could even get a good hit. They were terrorizing a small village offshore.
When the demon was killed, the hideout where victims were stored was revealed. A little boy was there with long red hair tied into a messy bun.
“Please! Don’t hurt my imouto anymore! She’s too small!” The boy was clutching onto a girl. She looked five at least.
“EH? I’m not here to hurt you! I’m here to save you! You should be happy to see me!”
“Huh..? A wild boar that talks?”
“NO! I’m Inosuke Hashibira and don’t you forget it!”
“Um, how would you spell that?”
“Uh… I-N-O-suke!!” He said proudly.
“Where did the monster go?” The boy asked, timid.
Inosuke was about to give the kid a very hearty and detailed explanation of how he chopped the bastard's head off and stomped on its disintegrating form. He didn’t though, remembering what Tanjiro had done the last time he’d encountered a scared hapless child.
“Uh, well I scared him off, of course!! He got so scared that he ran away and vowed never to come here again!”
The boy's eyes lit up. “Wow! You really did that? You’re amazing!!”
Inosuke gave a throaty laugh. “Of course I am!! Now, how’s the smaller one?” he pointed at the girl.
“Yumi… Yumi we’re saved! Isn’t that incredible?” The boy gave his sister a little shake. Her head lolled to the side. “Yumi? What’s wrong?” He gave the girl another shake, this one more aggressive.
The boy wailed, tears streaming down his face and dripping onto the little girl. “She won’t wake up! She won't wake up!” He screamed.
Inosuke got closer to her and checked her pulse. She was alive, barely. “Where do you kids take the injured?”
The boy looked up at Inosuke and sniffled. “There- there’s a small hospital by my house… will they help Yumi?”
“Yeah, sure. They can help Umi.”
“It’s Yumi! Yumi!!”
“EH? THAT’S WHAT I JUST-” Inosuke huffed. “They can take care of her, now come on!” Inosuke picked up the boy who had his sister tight in his grasp. Making sure that the two of them didn’t fall, he sprinted to the village in time to get them some much-needed attention.
Okay, so maybe he couldn’t read, but there was a building with a red cross on it and it was the same symbol as the one on Tanjiro’s healing wraps of life package.
“HEY!” He shouted, bursting through the doors, children in hand, “These kids need help!”
A lady, who was sobbing, clutching at a woman's chest, whipped her head around. Her face was red and her eyes were so so swollen. Her face contorted into relief and burst out crying again, dashing toward Inosuke.
“My babies! Oh, my angels, they’re alive!” She cupped her kids' cheeks. “Yumi, darling, it's going to be alright!”
Inosuke aided her in getting them to the emergency room.
Soon, after maybe an hour or so, Yumi was resting peacefully. The men in white coats said that she was exhausted and had lost a lot of blood, but that she was stabilizing and would wake up within the next few days.
“Thank you so much!” The lady (mother?) cried, pulling Inosuke into a tight hug. He got that bubbly feeling again.
“You're welcome!” Inosuke said, patting her on the back. “I’ve gotta go now!” and he left the hospital, making his way back to the Water Estate.
“Tanjiro. I’m back. I saved two kids from a demon and I didn’t tell them how I killed them. I saw that old man guy. The one with the scars. I think he and Kimu have something going on. Like- I walked in ah… without asking home that’s okay… but they were sleeping next to each other. Is… that normal? For two guys? I’m more used to like- the two different ones?” Inosuke made vague gestures with his hands, trying to explain in that way.
He was met with silence. Inosuke sighed and laid his head on the edge of Tanjiro’s bed.
“It’s too boring without you here, Tanjiro. Please wake up.”
Tanjiro remained silent and unmoving, his chest rising and falling peacefully under Inosuke’s arms.
Inosuke’s breathing fell into a rhythm that matched and he was soon out like a light.
---
It’s been a month since Inosuke saw Tanjiro’s eyes. He knows they were beautiful red that looked nearly magenta in the right lighting. He knows that they brightened whenever Tanjiro was talking about something he enjoyed. He knows that they crinkled at the edges whenever Tanjiro smiled. He knows that he missed seeing them, as those eyes were truly beautiful to look at.
Zenitsu came over to see Inosuke. He had been taking Nezuko’s box wherever he went. He’d brag that Nezuko was so pretty and that it was an honor to be fighting demons alongside her, even if Zenitsu would cower in fear a lot of the time.
“She fights wonderfully!” He’d sing, worshiping her like some goddess (and Inosuke thought that it might be true, anyone who shares the same blood as Tanjiro must be some sort of reverend).
“Not better than me!” He cried.
‘Not better than Tanjiro!’ was left unsaid.
“How’s Tanjiro doing?” Zenitsu asked over some Tempura one afternoon.
“He’s doing just fine. Quiet, breathing, alive.” Inosuke answered, a hollow feeling making itself known in his chest. Like the opposite of whatever sickness he got when Tanjiro complimented him.
“Ah. I see.” They didn’t talk about Tanjiro for the rest of the meal. If they did, Inosuke might’ve cried.
Inosuke went to bring him a plate later that day when the sun was starting to set and the sky was beginning to turn into swirls of purples and pinks and oranges, and the clouds began to fade into stars.
“Are you going to open your eyes yet? I haven’t seen them in so long. Taiyaki says he doesn’t know when you’re going to wake up. Salmon says to not get my hopes up. The jerk.”
Tanjiro bristled- then stilled again like he was having a nightmare.
‘ Another one .’ Inosuke thought. He climbed into bed and laid next to Tanjiro, holding the scarlet-haired boy until he was peaceful again.
“Soon. I hope you wake up soon.” Inosuke said, more to himself than to Tanjiro. He fell asleep, dreaming of young love and tempura.