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The yearly Masquerade Ball that the palace put on was currently the talk of the castle town and all the little villages outside of the walls, word spreading all the way to the edge of the castle’s domain.
It was Masquerade time.
This was the time of the year when everyone from the poorest kid to the richest elder got their fanciest clothes out of the back of the closet and hunkered down for the trip to the castle to attend the ball, all of the motels within the castle walls setting up extra rooms for the added influx of people who would be headed to the capital in the coming weeks.
Tanjirou’s family was no different.
The entire Kamado family—maybe especially his mom, Nezuko, and Hanako—were budding with excitement for it, their fancy kimonos already hanging, protected in the closet. All three of them had not only also gotten kimonos for him, his dad, and Taekeo, Shigero, and Rokuta, but were also crafting their masks from wood, spare fabrics, and little trinkets that they had been buying from the market that was in the village closest to them all throughout the year.
Tanjirou, of course, continued his normal work in the weeks leading up to the Masquerade, carrying the charcoal his family makes down to the village and selling it, bringing back both money and materials for Masquerade crafting.
Eventually (the day before they had to leave to get to the capital, since he had refused to stop working before then) his mother had convinced him to clean himself up, leaving enough time for the family to leave before sunrise the next morning.
And, as was now clockwork for Tanjirou, they trekked down the mountain in the morning, borrowed the horse and buggy from the nice man in the village, and set out on their way.
In the four days that they were travelling, Tanjirou had listened to all of his siblings rave about how cool the ball was going to be and how cool it was that they had a chance of meeting the crown prince there, albeit unknowingly, since he too would be in attendance.
Of course, if Nezuko had been awake for periods longer than the time it took her to sleep and eat, Tanjirou wouldn’t have had to listen to all of his siblings for 4 days straight, but apparently she could sleep through anything.
After the—seemingly longer than it actually was—travel period (anything can seem longer when you have the same thing being yelled into your ear by 4 people for that length of time) they got checked into the motel they had booked last year when they left the capital.
The ball, as always, was the next day, starting mid-afternoon and running until early the next morning.
Of course, Tanjirou got woken up early by Rokuta, who wanted to go to a bakery he had seen nearby and bring back some bread and fruit for a hearty breakfast before the buffet meal that would be served while the dancing was going on at the party. Tanjirou, unable to say no, informs his parents before taking his brother out of the room.
Of course, as six year olds do, Rokuta runs ahead of him, Tanjirou chasing after and berating his laughing brother loudly as they retrace the route they took yesterday towards the bakery.
“Rokuta! Slow down!” Tanjirou cried, weaving through the sparse crowds to chase after his brother.
Rokuta looked back at Tanjirou to stick his tongue out at his older brother and promptly ran into someone’s legs.
“Oh my god,” Tanjirou whisper-cried, running up to Rokuta and scooping him up before standing and facing the man who Rokuta had run into and bowing.
“I apologize for my brother,” Tanjirou says, “I wasn’t paying close enough attention to him.”
“It’s ok,” the smooth, higher voice said. Tanjirou stood up and looked at the man in front of him.
He was attractive, unruly, long, black hair tied back into a ponytail. He was wearing a fancier but casual looking haori over some clothes, and would honestly not be very remarkable if you were anyone but Kamado Tanjirou, who was absolutely blown away.
“Th…thank you for understanding!” Tanjirou says louder than probably necessary, and bows again.
It’s understandable that in his state of shock Tanjirou keeps walking with Rokuta, putting his brother down as soon as they’re a few meters away from the man he bumped into, and not noticing the man looking back at him and getting ushered away from them by a couple of guards, going back into the carriage that had carried him into the castle town in the first place.
Every single year Tanjirou gets surprised by the sheer size of the castle.
Its square footage is probably 100x of the town closest to Tanjirou’s house, and super tall, towers coming out of every place Tanjirou could see.
Tanjirou fiddled with the mask on his face, hiking up his kimono to walk up the steps with the rest of the population, his parents showing their invitation to the guards and the kids immediately all running in with shouts of their parents of meeting them outside at 3am to leave! leaving Nezuko and Tanjirou with their parents.
“You two keep an eye out for them, make sure they get back out here on time,” His mom said, and Tanjirou smiles at her before looking back at Nezuko, and they both race into the castle’s main hall together.
The party was already bustling when they walked in, people from all over the kingdom filling the large ballroom and making Tanjirou’s eyes widen. Nezuko had already slipped off into the throngs of dancing people, leaving Tanjirou alone to scan his eyes over everyone in the ballroom. The intricate, delicate kimonos mixed with ones that were less fancy but no less beautiful. People mingling and talking no matter their social status. It made Tanjirou buck up as he walked through the venue, spying on all of the people.
In between looking around and hanging at the buffet, a few hours had passed and the real dancing had started. Tanjirou spotted one of his siblings on the other side of the dance floor and started pushing through the people and children on the dance floor to get to the other side, yelling out for them.
Then he got a little sidetracked.
“Excuse me, could I please have this dance?”
Tanjirou froze, his view sliding off of his sibling and onto the person who had asked him the question.
Their voice had been masculine enough for him to tell that it was a man, but was still slightly high and smooth, and undeniably attractive. The man himself was wearing a beautifully intricate kimono with china rose accents all over it. Tanjirou let out a small sigh at the breathtaking beautiful eyes staring at him from under the wave-covered mask.
The man also had soft-looking black hair that was swept over his shoulder, and Tanjirou wanted to touch it so badly that he almost reached out and touched it.
He realized he had not accepted (or denied) the invitation and scrambled up, placing his hand into the other (seemingly amused) man’s hand.
“Yes, of course!”
“Thank you,” the man mumbles, pulling Tanjirou in close.
He wraps his arms around Tanjirou’s neck, and Tanjirou wraps his arms around the man’s waist.
They start dancing, and after a song Tanjirou unwraps his hands, expecting the pretty-looking stranger to let go as well.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Tanjirou froze, “uh…I don’t know, I thought you only wanted one dance? Isn’t that how this works?”
The man smiles softly, and Tanjirou watches his beautiful blue eyes crinkling under the mask.
“Not for me.”
They continued dancing for a few more songs, Tanjirou bringing up a few topics of conversation while dancing and just talking about things, his partner humming along or interjecting with one word answers or short sentences.
Every single time his dance partner spoke (especially during the exchange where Tanjirou told the stranger his name. “Oh, I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this, but my name is Tanjirou.” “That’s a pretty name.” Tanjirou’s face had lit up bright red.) he felt like his chest was exploding with happiness, his entire world lighting up as the smooth, higher voice washed over him.
After those few songs, the stranger made a proposition.
“Hey, do you want to get out of here?”
Tanjirou tilted his head to the side in confusion, grip tightening around his partner’s waist.
“What do you mean?” He asked, and the stranger smiled softly, slipping his arms down to Tanjirou’s hands and gripping them.
"Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me."
Tanjirou thinks for a second, contemplating it. The stranger’s eyes seem kind and nice, and he doesn’t feel a sense of danger from him, so he nods.
“Ok.”
Tanjirou gets dragged from the ballroom, the stranger pulling him down the hallway and up a set of stairs to the second floor (of many, he’s sure) of the castle.
“Where are you taking me?” Tanjirou asks as he gets pulled up a tight, spiralling staircase that presumably leads to the third floor.
“You’ll see,” the stranger says, but lets go of his hands as soon as they get to the third floor. Tanjirou frowns and re-connects their hands, and the stranger shoots him a soft smile.
The stranger kind-of huffs as they turn a sharp corner that leads to another staircase, pulling Tanjirou up that one as well, as well as the ones that followed.
Whenever Tanjirou felt his grip slipping a bit, the stranger would tighten his grip as well, as if he wanted to keep holding Tanjirou’s hand the entire time they kept climbing. It made Tanjirou smile up at what he could see of the man (mostly his red-patterned kimono) but it was really the sentiment that counted.
Eventually they stop, and after Tanjirou stops huffing from the long climb he looks around, his eyes going wide.
The tower they were in was completely wrapped in windows, the end of the sunset and the full sky of stars completely visible from where Tanjirou was standing in the middle of the room.
He slid his mask off so it would stop blocking his vision and rushed to one of the windows, leaning up close to the glass and peering out of it, eyes wide. He feels a hand land on his back and turns around just in time to see the stranger slip his mask off of his face. Tanjirou does a double take, because not only is the stranger absolutely stunning , but super familiar as well.
“Holy shit, you’re the—”
“The cr—”
“The cute guy my brother ran into earlier today, holy crap I’m so sorry about that,” Tanjirou frantically bows.
“Oh, yeah, it was seriously no problem,” he says, placing his hands gently on Tanjirou’s shoulders to pick him up. “I’m Giyuu, by the way.”
Tanjirou smiles at him and grips his hand again, plopping down on the floor (pulling Giyuu down with him, of course) and looking around at the stars, leaning back against Giyuu at some point and talking again, about his life, his family, and his friends back at home (Zenitsu, who was out of the kingdom at the time, and Inosuke, who had been banned permanently from the capitol as a child.), when finally he asks the question that had been on his mind the whole time.
“Wait a second, how did you know this place existed?”
“Oh,” Giyuu says, surprised, “I really thought you knew. I live here.”
Tanjirou hums, “like a servant or something? That’s cool. My siblings were really curious about what the crown prince was like. I might have to introduce you.”
A pause.
“Tanjirou. I am the crown prince.”
“ You’re the what?!? ”