Work Text:
Eyes of bright emerald in the darkness of the woods, a slight whisper of almost silent breathing, and a shine of dark blue fur in the moonlight. That’s all Tanjirou could remember from his dreams lately. They started appearing in his subconscious a few months ago and ever since then, he was mesmerized every night by those eyes. He didn’t know what they meant and they were always in the dark, like two beacons of light beckoning him to follow. He wanted to follow those beautiful eyes wherever they led.
He always ended up pushing the comforting feeling back every morning though; there was no time for living in dreams when you had classes to go to, bills to pay, and a younger sister to look after. He was only nineteen years old, but circumstances made him grow up fast, faster than most. It was just Tanjirou and his sister, Nezuko, left to take care of their family house.
Tanjirou didn’t expect anything to happen with these dreams. They were just something that his subconscious conjured up from the depths of his mind, or he thought that at least.
That was until a wolf appeared in his room one starry night.
That night, Tanjirou immediately noticed a difference in his dream; there weren't any eyes, breathing, or fur. He also noticed a presence along the edges of his consciousness, but he couldn’t force himself to wake up. He felt a strange sense of fear in this world with no viridescent eyes staring back at him with a curious look. Slowly, the fear was growing into panic. He didn’t know how to get out when there was no moon to guide him and show him that deep blue fur and shine in those eyes. He couldn’t hear the comfort of the almost inaudible breathing. His anxiety was spiking, his own breathing becoming rapid, and he could still feel that presence floating on the cusp of his mind. He tried to calm his breathing, but all he could feel was the enclosing darkness wrapping around his legs and his arms, pulling him under suddenly until he wasn’t able to breathe.
Tanjirou woke up with a start, crimson eyes wide and searching as his heartbeat pounded in his ears until his gaze fell on a large lump in the corner of his room. Confused, Tanjirou pulled the covers off and turned on his side lamp, illuminating the room to reveal a sleeping wolf with that same blue fur that Tanjirou had seen glimpses of in his dream.
His eyes focused on a wound on the side of the creature’s stomach, wet and bloodied. His breath hitched and he gently climbed out of his bed and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, mere feet away from the giant canine. Tanjirou didn’t really know what he was doing when he stepped towards it, but he knew that it needed help and he was never one to shy away from someone in need.
Tanjirou put his hand on the wolf’s fur, slightly surprised at his softness. He felt the fluffy undercoat before he realized that the canine’s breathing was labored. Concerned, Tanjirou moved to inspect the wound on it’s stomach. It was jagged around the edges, as if something had taken a bite out of the flesh. It was oozing blood and other bodily fluids and Tanjirou had to wince at how much it looked like it hurt. Tanjirou couldn’t stop himself once he realized that his hand was about to touch the wolf’s head. He set his hand tentatively on its head, petting along the large ears as big as Tanjirou’s handspan.
All of a sudden, Tanjirou saw the once wolf features morph into the features of, in Tanjirou’s opinion, a very pretty man. All of the beautiful fur disappeared and pale human skin appeared in its place, glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. The only thing resembling the wolf at all was the black to blue ombre that was the man’s hair. The man’s breathing was ragged, but slow and quiet. Tanjirou touched his head and the man groaned in his passive state, moving his arms to protect the smaller, but still as bloody, wound on the side of his stomach.
Tanjirou pulled his hand back and waited as the man fluttered his eyes and opened them slightly. He closed them once again, groaning, and opened them again, blinking a couple times to focus on the face that was regarding him with curiosity. Tanjirou had seen those eyes every night for the past few months, yet he was still amazed by them. Once focused, the man’s eyes flared to life as he held the wound in his left hand and pointed at Tanjirou accusingly.
“Oi! Where am I?! Did you kidnap me? I’ve only watched you from the woods, how did you find me? You wanna fight? I’ll fight you right now even with this cut! It’s only a scratch!” The man shouted and started moving frantically.
“It's okay! I’m not going to hurt you; I promise. And I didn’t kidnap you; you kind of just… appeared when I was sleeping.” Tanjirou tried to stop him from moving as he stuck out his hand and the man looked at it with a feral look in his eyes. Strangely, Tanjirou wasn’t afraid of that look. He just had to get the man to open up a little so he could help him.
“I’ve seen you,” Tanjirou started as the man’s eyes became a little less wild. “Your eyes… I’ve seen them at night. They’ve been in my dreams,” Tanjirou confessed. Tanjirou saw the dark-haired man’s rigid posture relax slightly.
“I’ve only ever put myself in your head, so I don’t know why I’m here… My memories are all messy, what the hell?” The wolf man growled out in frustration and he knitted his eyebrows together in confusion.
Tanjirou didn’t know what to say and he sat there for several moments until the black-haired man growled out again, this time in pain as he rested his head against the carpet of Tanjirou’s bedroom floor. Tanjirou snapped out of his daze and gazed at the angry wound.
“I can help you take care of that, if you want.” Tanjirou offered to change the subject and pointed at the wound the other was holding his hand against. He didn’t say anything, but nodded.
Tanjirou was up like lightning and went to grab the first aid kit in the bathroom. He came back with the box and set it on the ground in between them. Tanjirou went to work on the wound, warning the wolf man that it would hurt slightly. He may have felt a little bad when the man growled and grit his teeth when Tanjirou put on the antiseptic, but he tried to work as fast as possible.
Once he was done, he cleaned up the kit and offered the man a place to rest in his bed. The feral man looked at it in confusion and chose to stay in his place on the ground. Tanjirou decided to make him as comfortable as he could on the ground by grabbing a pillow off of his bed and his softest blanket. He put the pillow under the man’s head and draped the blanket across his, Tanjirou didn’t even really realize it until now, naked body. Tanjirou sat on the floor in thought as he tried to tame his out of control heart.
“What’s your name, if you don't mind me asking?” Tanjirou allowed his curious brain to ask at least this question; he had to call him something after all.
“Ino...suke.” Inosuke breathed in between flashes of pain. Tanjirou nodded, smiling slightly.
“I like it,” Tanjirou commented and Inosuke opened one eye to look at him. “I’m Tanjirou.”
“Tontaro,” Inosuke mumbled.
“No, Tanjirou. Tan-Ji-Rou.” He emphasized each syllable to make sure Inosuke got it right.
“Kentaro, got it,” Inosuke mumbled again and Tanjirou laughed slightly.
“Tanjirou, Inosuke. I said it like three times already.”
“Gonpachiro. That's a good name. Not better than mine, but it's good,” Inosuke replied, closed eyes not seeing the incredulous look on Tanjirou’s face.
“That’s not even close,” Tanjirou commented, but he could already tell that Inosuke was asleep soundly.
--------
Tanjirou didn’t expect to be taking care of the wolf man that appeared in his bedroom, but that’s what he found himself doing. He also wasn’t able to hide Inosuke from Nezuko forever since, once Inosuke felt better, he was quite fond of exploring. Tanjirou also realized that Inosuke had no idea what many human things were, which resulted in him asking Tanjirou a plethora of questions. It was maybe a week after he appeared that Nezuko found out about him. They sat in the living room, Inosuke’s eyes glued to the TV, mesmerized by it, when Nezuko walked in the front door.
“I’m home!” Nezuko announced and Tanjirou jumped up immediately, not expecting her to be home this early.
“Oh! Nezuko! Welcome home. I wasn’t expecting you this early!” Tanjirou exclaimed and tried to block Inosuke’s shirtless form with his. Tanjirou hadn’t been successful in getting him in a shirt and he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to, but that didn’t mean that Nezuko had to see him like that.
“Yeah, I got out of class early!” Nezuko smiled happily at him as she toed off her flats. “Oh! I didn’t realize we had guests! Tanjirou, you should have told me,” she scolded him slightly and went over to Inosuke who was still staring at the TV.
“Hi! I’m Nezuko, Tanjirou’s sister! It’s nice to meet you.” She bowed before him as he tore his eyes away from the TV to regard her with curiosity.
“I’m Inosuke. I’ve been in Gengoro’s room for the past week.” Inosuke replied and Nezuko looked at her brother with a look of extreme confusion. “He told me about you though. He said you were pretty and really nice, but I like being around him a lot! You’re nice too, but Tontaro is… different.” Inosuke explained in his own way and Nezuko, weirdly, ended up nodding.
“Tanjirou. Can I talk to you in the kitchen?” Nezuko stated and Tanjirou immediately knew that he was going to have to explain everything to her as best as he could. Tanjirou slowly followed her into the kitchen as Inosuke settles his gaze right back onto the TV.
“I can explain-” Tanjirou started and Nezuko immediately cut him off.
“Yeah! You might want to! Who is he? He was in your room for a week?! Why was he saying all that stuff? Tanjirou Kamado, you better explain.” Nezuko whispered heatedly and crossed her arms over her chest, looking too much like their mom for Tanjirou’s liking.
“You know about those dreams that I’ve told you about? With the eyes and the woods and the fur? Well, it's him. He just appeared with like this wound on his side and I had to help him! I’ve been wanting to meet the person with those eyes ever since I saw them.” Tanjirou explained and Nezuko knew that her brother would never lie to her, but she was trying really hard to believe this one.
“Okay… But, he’s your responsibility.” Nezuko warned and went to go get to know the wolf man in the living room. Tanjirou breathed a sigh of relief, thanking everything above that he had such an accepting sister.
--------
It had been a few months since Inosuke appeared in his room and Tanjirou had gotten closer with him. He had started to teach Inosuke different words when he asked what they meant and they were both becoming more affectionate towards each other. Tanjirou let Inosuke sleep in his bed and they spent every day Tanjirou was home together. Tanjirou was done with his classes for the weekend and Inosuke was asking him his countless questions while Tanjirou was cooking in the kitchen.
“Oi! Gonpachiro! What’s this thing?” Inosuke pointed at the utensil Tanjirou was using to stir the soup he was making. Tanjirou sighed, not really getting tired of these countless questions, but he was sure he had answered this before.
“This is a ladle. We use it to get soup out of a pot.” Tanjirou explained to a waiting Inosuke. The wolf man made a noise of acknowledgement and jumped up to sit on the counter next to the stove. Tanjirou peered at him and noticed that he was wearing his pajama bottoms.
“You never told me how you became what you are or how you got that wound,” Tanjirou commented and Inosuke tilted his head in confusion. Tanjirou thought he looked like a little puppy when he did that. He wouldn’t admit that he thought it was cute.
“What, a werewolf? And this thing?” Inosuke asked, pointing to his scarred side and Tanjirou nodded, turning his attention back to the stove. Inosuke hummed to himself. “Well, some guy with this weird curly hair turned me into one. I was alone in the woods, I really don't remember why, and he was there. He had this hat on and I remember him asking me questions but it was a really long time ago. Then he turned into this really big black wolf and bit me on the neck. All I remember was running through the woods, eating animals, and watching you. Then, I ran into an actual wolf, not a werewolf, and it bit me. I got away, but it was a really deep bite, so the only person I thought I could turn to was you.” Inosuke answered as Tanjirou put a lid on the pot.
“Why me, though?” Tanjirou had been wanting to ask the wolf this for a few days, but didn’t have the courage until now.
“I don’t know… I thought you were… What’s that word? Pretty? No, isn’t that usually used to describe girls? Maybe handsome? You just seemed really happy. When I saw your smile, I wanted to be closer.” As Inosuke rambled, Tanjirou’s smile just kept growing. Maybe it was just his lack of knowing the right words to say or the fact that he was a wolf for so long, but Tanjirou thought it was cute of Inosuke to try to compliment him.
“That’s uhh, cute?” Tanjirou giggled and Inosuke stared at him intently. “When I started seeing the eyes in my dreams, all I could think was that they were beautiful.” Tanjirou admitted, not looking at the man in front of him.
“You think that I’m cute?! That my eyes are beautiful?!” Tanjirou was surprised at the man’s outburst and chanced a look at him, seeing the light blush on his cheeks.
“Uh… Yes? I guess?” Tanjirou questioned himself. He did think both of those things. He thought that way for a while, but he wasn’t ready to admit them yet. At least, he didn’t think he was ready, but when is anyone ready?
“Well… You’re prettier for sure! Your eyes always shine and stuff… You’re definitely prettier, but I’m manlier!” Inosuke exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking like he’d just won a fight. His smirk faltered slightly when Tanjirou burst out in a fit of giggles. “Hey, what are you laughing at?!”
Tanjirou wiped the tears from his face and put his hand on top of Inosuke’s head, ruffling his long hair. “You’re so innocent, Ino,” Tanjirou said affectionately. Inosuke shook his head, fixing his hair, and smirked evilly at Tanjirou’s back as he headed into the living room.
“Oi, I ain’t done with you yet, Kamaboko!” Inosuke shouted as he tackled Tanjirou onto the couch, tickling his sides, as Tanjirou howled in laughter.
“You sneaky little puppy! You found my only weakness!” Tanjirou laughed as he retaliated against Inosuke, the wolf man running around the house while Tanjirou chased him.
Fifteen minutes later, they ended up on the floor, out of breath and still giggling. Tanjirou put his hand on Inosuke’s head again, feeling the soft locks of hair on his fingers. He smiled shyly at the wolf man and Inosuke stared at him, his own faint smile on his face.
“I’m glad you appeared in my dreams.” Tanjirou spoke, happiness evident in his voice.
“I wanted to be around you, so I came.” Inosuke replied, leaning into Tanjirou’s hand, feeling at home.