Archive of Our Own

Sometimes Inosuke wishes that he understood people.

He understands how to make a house from scraps of wood. Face it away from the wind, against a tree, layers and layers of soft leaves and something on the ground to protect him from the cold.

He understands water. He understands that it’s cold and it can kill him sometimes if he lets it pull his feet from him. He understands fire, even if it makes him uncomfortable in large amounts.

He understands.

But humans.

He knows that this thought process would probably make Tanjiro snicker in a weird way, and not tell him something. Not explain something, even if Inosuke throws an absolute tantrum about it.

They’re. Strange. With their strange customs, and strange roles. Some that he’s faced, mostly because of his damn ‘pretty’ face. Comments made by ugly humans with their lewd faces, and their grubby hands.

Most of them make sense. Don’t touch people without permission. Pups--

“Babies! They are called BABIES, Inosuke!”

--are to be protected because they’re kinda stupind and can’t hold their heads up. They’re frail and weak, and Inosuke knows that they are the future, so he must keep them safe. Safe like piglets, and kits.

Some don’t make sense.

Like, no elbows on the table. Don’t talk to your grandparents like that. Don’t say certain words--

“Those are mean words, Inosuke,”

--because people make mad faces at those.

Now those are dumb. 

He doesn’t really think about them until. Until it affects Tanjiro.

Now, Tanjiro… Tanjiro is strange.

Inosuke can feel when people look at him. He can feel the gentle hum of a bug far away, the looks of those lewd men, the gentle looks that the three little ones give him when he carries things for them.

Tanjiro is soft. Like that expensive silk that Zenitsu had shown him, one that was the color of tusks and smells sickeningly sweet. 

His fingers had traced the patterns of Wisteria, sniffing and thinking “Honeysuckle” as Zenitsu sighed and thought of pretty lashes and feminine hands that could tear him to shreds.

Tanjiro’s eyes felt like this, he had thought as he put the shirt back and walked away, feeling dirty at touching something like that.

He feels him stare at him.

“What,” Inosuke hisses, turning over his shoulder. His long hair flows over his pecs, and it itches. Tanjiro almost physically beats him when he’s ready to cut it off, so he’s decided to keep it.

For now.

“I was just…” Tanjiro stares at him, then sighs out gently. A smile greats his lips and he puts his hand on his cheek, leaning against his knee.

“I was going to tell you something,”

“Okay. Tell me,”
“It’s. Private,”
“Tell me, Monjiro. Don’t waste my time,”

Tanjiro goes to open his mouth, when a woman walks in. The Wisteria house is newer, a lot bigger and a lot more… stuffy than the older woman’s. While she was soft, like a petal leaf, this place felt distant and cold. As if they couldn’t wait til they left.

What was strange, though, was that the clothing placed at Tanjiro’s feet resembled the one that Nezuko was given. It was a poppy shade, almost shimmering in the bright tassel color. It was beautiful, but not exactly Tanjiro’s look.

The man froze, staring intently at the clothes. Inosuke notices the disturbance, and quickly grabs it and glares.
“I’ll take that,” 

He could see the discomfort settle into his scarred right eyebrow. Something about it had made him uncomfortable, so he decided to take it away.

Tanjiro began to stutter, telling him that it was fine, but Inosuke huffed at him, taking the clothes to the bathtub.

“Be quiet,’

And he disappears.

Whatever the man with long red hair was going to say is forgotten.

“Inosuke!”
Zenitsu screech that ungodly screech as he throws himself on his mattress. He lays his head on his hand, sticking his finger in his ear and wiggling it.

“Shut up. It is night time, and night time is for resting, brat,”
Zenitsu screeches again as Inosuke puts up a leg and probably flashes him (He doesn’t care), sighing as he wiggles his hands.

The years have been kinder to Zenitsu out of all of them. He’s shaped much better, with his arms broader than Tanjiro’s and his height battling Inosuke’s 5’10. But, even to this day, this man is an absolute--

“Pussy--” Inosuke hisses at him and launches a pillow at him. The bright poppy yukata is too warm and too tight, but he will not let it defeat him.

“You aren’t supposed to wear that. That’s for Tanjiro--”
“Why?” Inosuke sits up, the yukata sliding off his shoulder and his hair curling around the expanse of his broad chest. The blond harrumphs as he slaps himself down.

“It… this place is a lot more… old school. Tanjiro cannot wear the uniform he wants to, as we are guests,”
That’s strange.

Inosuke is about to say something, when Tanjiro steps in. He wears a yukata that matches Inosuke’s, deep with a beautiful green that compliments his hair and his eyes--

“What the fuck is that,” Inosuke whispers angrily at the hair pin in Tanjiro’s hair. The man bites his lip, and for a second, he thinks he’s going to cry.

“Please, Inosuke. I want to get through this night. Just don’t mention any of this til tomorrow, ok?”

Zenitsu’s eyes are soft and sad as he gently squeezes his hand. The man moves over both him and Inosuke and goes into a seperate room.

“Renitsu--”

“Zenitsu--”
“Quiet,” He hisses and the blond obliges, 

“... Is he dressed like Nezuko for a reason?”

For a second, there’s a brief moment that Zenitsu looks at him like he’s the dumbest thing in the world. But a look at his face makes him pause, then smile sadly.

“Inosuke… Sometimes things aren’t fair,”

“That didn’t answer my question,”

Zenitsu sighs, but doesn’t answer Inosuke’s question, even though he throws a tantrum and finally gives after Zenitsu says Tanjiro will explain it some day.

Humans are dumb.

“I hope you find a good spouse--”

“Yes sir,”

“A good one, to cook for and clean for,”

Inosuke huffs angrily, ready to leave as he sees the group of people surround Tanjiro, who looks ready to jump into a new fight with Muzan.
“He sucks at cooking, and can barely clean his face, you expect a woman to take him like that?” Inosuke hisses, grabbing Tanjiro’s hand and walking away with him.

“Why would you say such a thing to a sweet young lady?”

Inosuke turns around and stares daggers at the woman, who puts her hands on her hips. Inosuke grows close, and uses his height to an advantage. Growling he bends forward, and hisses at her.
“You must be ugly and blind if you don’t see that Tanjiro is a man,” 

An abrupt smack to the head and he yelps and turns around, seeing Tanjiro turn electric red. He grabs his hand and yanks him away from the family, who are shaking at Inosuke’s fierce face.

“Tanjiro?”
He whispers softly, but Tanjiro just drags him for a couple of minutes, not saying anything and confusing the taller man, who blinks awkwardly at both of them.

“Tanjiro?”

Inosuke stares at him as he pauses and looks at the ground. He shrugs the case on his back to a more comfortable position and turns over his shoulder. There’s a redness in his ruby eyes, and Inosuke pauses.

“Thank you, Inosuke,”
They don’t bring that up for a while. But, it makes Inosuke feel strange for weeks, at how soft and how thankful Tanjiro sounded.

-

“A butterfly?”

Zenitsu looks at Inosuke as he stares at a butterfly in his hands. The wings are made from the softest material, the color matching his green eyes perfectly. The little girls had handed him it, wrapping their tiny little hands into his, and inviting him to be with them. To be their brother, to be a part of a family.

He puts it back into his half up haori, and ignores Zenitsu as he turns around and walks towards the fire. 

Humans are strange. They get attached to strange things. To inanimate objects, to things that can’t speak. They look down on animals for killing and fucking, but they don’t have a choice.

But humans have choices. It’s strange that sometimes they aren’t good.

Settling down beside Tanjiro, Nezuko slides out of her box and crosses her legs. Tanjiro smiles softly at the younger lady, who cuddles next to him.

“Inosuke. I have to tell you something,”

“If this is about me eating the last onigiri, I have no regrets--”
Nezuko huffs a little ‘hehe’ behind her mouth piece, and Tanjiro runs his fingers through her hair, his eyes sad and soft. Zenitsu stares at him, swallowing audibly.

“Tanjiro, I don’t think Inosuke will understand,”
“He’s not an idiot, Zenitsu--”
“Stop talking like i’m not here, just tell me,”

Inosuke throws kindling into the fire, chewing on meat that he cured. He slips off his haori, and leans back on his hands, crunching as Tanjiro looks into the fire.

Dual scars run down his chest in an X. Tanjiro stares at those, rubbing his own chest in a horizontal way, and he looks away.
“Inosuke. I wasn’t born a boy,”
“I know that. You were born a baby. Dumb Tanjiro,” He smirks and lays back down, and stares at the sky.

“Inosuke… That’s not what i’m saying,”

He sits up again, angry that the conversation isn’t over. He throws up his hands and then crosses them, cocking himself to his left.

“Tanjiro, what are you even saying?”
“I’m saying that… I changed…” Tanjiro whispers softly, and Nezuko is staring intently at the feral adult. Her eyes sparkle in a way that makes Inosuke feel like she’s waiting to strike at him.

“You changed? Of course you do. Every day you cha--”
“Inosuke, please can you rub two thoughts together hard enough to understand this--” Zenitsu groans and turns to him.

“You know how people are born girls,”

“Yeah,”

“And others are born boys?”
“Yuh-huh--”
“I wasn’t born a boy. I was born a girl. But it wasn’t correct, so I…. changed. I’m different now,”

Inosuke shakes his head, agreeing with what he says. It makes sense.

“Like a lizard,”

There’s a silence. No one says a thing, and Inosuke opens his eyes to stare at Tanjiro, who is blinking away in confusion.
“Tanjiro… You are a man. Why are you trying to tell me something I already know?” He flicks his hand and then lays on his back again. He huffs and turns over.

“Just because you look different, doesn’t mean that you aren’t Tanjiro. Some mushrooms look funny, but they’re still mushrooms.”

Tanjiro’s look feels strange on Inosuke’s skin. Nezuko’s feels amused and Zenitsu isn’t looking at him.

As everyone starts to sleep, he hears Tanjiro whisper gently--

“Like a lizard?”

Animals do stupid things too. Not just humans.

Inosuke once saw a boar try to cross a river because he thought the ice on top was thick enough. He laughed so hard he peed a little when it fell through and squealed. It was an adult.

This also involved… other things.

He thinks he sort of made one. Sort of.

The girl was pretty. She was cute and her eyes were almost so brown they were red. Her dancing is pretty, her legs are pretty, the way she smiles is pretty--

Pretty, pretty, pretty--

Inosuke grunts angrily, feeling frustrated but not knowing why exactly. There’s something coursing through his blood and he’s not sure why it itches, why his skin feels so flushed and why he keeps wanting to touch.

She’s a paid girl. A highly paid girl. She’s wonderful, she’s kind, she smiles out of the right side of her face, her skin is freckled and her hair is a gorgeous shade of yellow and pink, and--

“Inosuke. Inosuke, what is wrong, you smell strange…”

Tanjiro says to him, and the man pulls his boar head tighter on his own. He usually doesn’t wear it anymore, it is rare to see it as it’s hard to fit over his thick hair. But today isn’t a good day. 

This woman he had just met is haunting him.

“I…”

“You can tell me,”

Inosuke stares at Tanjiro. Nice and sweet Tanjiro, with a soft smile and a gentle touch.

“There’s… There’s this paid girl--” Inosuke feels his cheeks turn red but he thinks it’s just the szechuan peppers he ate. He ignores the blush and keeps going.
“I think of her in weird ways. It makes me hot and uncomfortable and…” 

Tanjiro looks upset. He looks very very upset, and Inosuke shuts up. He knew it, he knew he should’ve kept it a secret. He feels dirty.

“Nevermind--”
“Inosuke, no wait don’t… Don’t think that. I can smell you, stop,”

Tanjiro puts his hand up and Inosuke stares at him above the fire. It’s running on a low flame so the taller man throws in another log.

“You know what mating is right?”
“Yes,”

Oh.

Oh.

“Yeah that. Makes sense,” He says softly to the fire.

“Do you know what it’s like between two humans?”
“No,”

Another silence.

“Inosuke… do you want me to show you?”

Humans are very stupid. He thinks that he counts sometimes. And he can’t deny that he’s thought of Tanjiro’s long legs, or his pretty eyes, or his soft skin, or--

“... Yes…”

That night, Tanjiro’s gaze feels a little different, and it haunts him for a while.

It’s very difficult for him to wake up achy. But recently, Tanjiro hasn’t let him get away from him. His touches are more frequent, his hands are on Inosuke’s chest, squeezing and pulling and Inosuke melts under his touches.

It makes him wake up with bruises and hickeys, and a bit of a dry mouth. Like Tanjiro is a drug, like he’s addicting.

And he is.

But then it stops. 

Tanjiro doesn’t want him to touch him. He stays far away from him, like Tanjiro’s soft, breathy moans in his ear never happened. Like his promises and his I love you’s were just for the night. Just for when Zenitsu couldn’t hear them, just for when Nezuko couldn’t see them.

He feels dirty.

He doesn’t know why.

Tanjiro knows. He knows because he stares at him when he thinks he doesn’t see him. He forgets he can tell when he looks at him. 

“Are you going to talk to him?”

Zenitsu stares at Inosuke, who is glaring at the fire. He throws a piece of dirt into the fire, hissing and then throwing another one.
“No,”
“Inosuke, you should. It’s important for you guys to keep whatever the hell you guys are--” He says and Inosuke wants to cry. His eyes itch and his throat tightens, and he grips his sword tight in his hand, shaking a bit.

“If it is important, then he can tell me his damn self.”

Human’s are stupid, he thinks, as he stands up and walks towards Tanjiro. Nezuko is asleep in his box, and he stares at the ground as both of them don’t look at each other. 

They don’t talk.

“I’m going on a mission for a while,” 

Inosuke doesn’t say anything.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to come,”
He doesn’t say anything.

He stares at the ground. Tears threaten to fall, but he stands his ground.

He doesn’t say anything.

Humans are dumb. And cowards.

Coward.

“You have been eating a lot more, Tanjiro--” 

The little girl, Bumi, he thinks, takes Tanjiro’s bowl, laughing gently as he stares with wide eyes at her. Inosuke eats quietly, shoving his face and burping loudly as Tanjiro sets the plate down, and swallows.

“I have,”

The girls are older now. Zenitsu always hugs them tight, warning any man that he would kill them if they approached the cute little faces. Inosuke had the same feeling. They were sweet and kind and trained with all of them to become demon slayers.

So, they could take care of themselves.

“Are you okay? Do you need something stronger?” She giggles softly, and the other one, Piyo, is about to titter off to do something, when the third one, Nako, takes her hand and squeezes her hand. They look at each other, and Piyo gasps.

“Oh! Oh? OH!”

The girls got close to Tanjiro and they whispered something softly, and Tanjiro smiled at them.

Inosuke felt a bubble of something at the bottom of his belly, and he put his plates down, standing up and leaving to his room.

He feels his stomach churn and he knows that it doesn’t involve him. It doesn’t involve him, he needs to get away.

Scratching his head, he heads over to his room and slides into his bed. The room is quiet and his bed feels cold.

He closes his eyes.

“Inosuke… Inosuke, Inosuke,” 

Whispers of his names haunt him as he grips his pillow. His skin feels itchy, and he feels sweat pour down his body. Tanjiro’s soft skin, and his soft gaze, his…

What even is his gaze?
It feels warm, like when he puts on his boar head. It surrounds him, engulfs him in a lovely way that makes the liquid drip down his throat feel like thick honey. 

The little hitches in his breath when Inosuke runs his thin and long fingers up his stomach drive him insane. It makes his blood thick and his cheeks flush and it’s hard to deny that he wishes Tanjiro could become one with him.

Inosuke can’t sleep.

So he dreams of him.

Humans are idiots. 

The girl is on his back, flushing dark red. He can tell as he carries her that her gaze is like Tanjiro’s when he takes off his shirt. It’s thick like pudding, heavy and distinct in its heat. But unlike Tajiro’s he doesn’t… Like it.

She’s petite. Her eyes are a shade of platinum, and her thin hands run over the expanse of his back, making his skin prickle.

“You’ll be safe when we get to the house. Just hold on a little longer,”

“Can we stop?”

“We should not,”

But he does. He does because he’s an idiot. Humans are idiots.

He does because her hands are soft and she’s warm. His bed has felt so cold, and Tanjiro has been so distant. It hurts to think about it but he doesn’t understand why.

Why, why, why--

Animals mate and never see each other again. They just breed and make pups, and kits, and cubs, and they move on. But why does he only think of Tanjiro when the lady kisses him. When her hands are soft against his throat, gripping hard and making his eyes swim.

He is a human, and he’s an idiot.

“You smell different,” 

Returning to the Wisteria house took a lot longer than he had hoped. There’s dirt in his hair, and leaves in his pants, and he feels dirty.

Fucking humans and their stupid feelings--

“Why are you smelling me,” Inosuke snaps at Tanjiro as he clicks his mouth shut. For a while, they’ve been like this. Inosuke guesses three full moons, and he knows they need to do what Zenitsu says, to talk, but he…

Is he scared?

Scared of what?”
“I just. Was worried,” He whispers, and stares at the petite woman as she enters the home. She looks just as messed up as Inosuke, but he can just say it was the demon.

But Tanjiro knows. He knows because he sees something flash in his eyes. He’s not good at hiding his emotions, and Inosuke was grateful at times. It was easy to read him, and it helped him well into the days when he got tired of humans and their series faces.

Today, though. Today he wished he couldn’t see the twitch of his nose, and recognition hit him like sad bricks.

“I see,”

Inosuke ignores the girl's attempts at hand holding, and he growls and walks into the house. A boiling pot of water for a bath feels delicious right now. 

Tanjiro doesn’t look at him all night. Or the next day, or the day after.

Humans are stupid and Inosuke wishes he wasn’t one.

It’s a nightmare. He knows it.

Tanjiro is whimpering and it makes Inosuke snap his eyes open. The instinct to attack is sedated as Tanjiro whimpers more, gripping the sheets and curling away from Inosuke.

Nezuko glares at him, and the taller man sniffs at her. For the last couple of months, the younger woman has been making faces at him. Angry little faces that he doesn’t understand, but he knows they’re because of Tanjiro.

Out of all three of them, Nezuko is the easiest to read. She’s like other animals. She’s very forward with her emotions, no underlying secrets, or meanings. Just a feeling that he can read, and it helps.

“What do you want, brat?”

She flicks her head to her brother, as if signing to him to do something. Something that he doesn’t really want to do, or is…

Scared to do.

He turns to look at the shorter man, who grips the sheets tight. Tears are staining his pillow and he looks so pathetic and sad. 

His chest aches.

And, as a stupid human, he slides underneath Tanjiro’s quilt, and wraps his arms tightly around him. His stomach almost explodes in feelings, and he misses this. He misses the softness of Tanjiro in his arms. Even through the muscles that could break boards, and arms, he’s soft.

Inosuke feels his heart ache and he digs his head into Tanjiro’s neck, sniffing the soft smell of gardenia and grips him tight. He denies the little prickles at his eyes as Tanjiro sighs in fluttery happiness, and snuggles back at him.

Inosukes hand travels to his belly, and Nezuko growls at him. He stops, rolls over to look at her and she shakes her head.

The feral man hisses, but obliges. Instead, he takes both Tanjiro’s hands in his (they were always smaller, though much stronger and thicker) and kisses his cheek.

Humans are dumb, and Inosuke is happy.

It was a demon who made him realize it.

That the feelings aren't the same as he though they were.

The demon had swung at him, launching him across the battlefield and making Tanjiro scream at him. His eyes were watery and the man with the red hair ran towards the demon, yelling a death yell that shook even Inosuke.

He slammed against a tree, feeling something pierce straight through the middle of his stomach. Letting out a howl, he sees a large stick come out of the other side of his belly. Right below his belly button, but thankfully missing his spine at the weird angle he got stabbed.

The lights around him turn too bright and he lets out another howl as he tries to move. It’s too much pain, it hurts, but he needs to go back into the fight.

Tanjiro cuts off the demon's head in a quick swipe and comes running towards him. For some reason, Inosuke thinks he waddles a little when he does. He looks much rounder, and he knits his brows at that.

“Inosuke! Inosuke, oh no, no no,” He whispers, cupping his face and feeling tears drip onto his face. Inosuke stares up at him, smiling.

Blood drips down his lips and he tries to say something funny. Something that will make him laugh, something, anything--

Instead he chokes on his blood, and leans back, feeling the lights start to finally dim. A sob escapes the other man’s mouth, and he hears in a gentle tone--

“Please make it. Please, you have to be alive to see them--”

It's dark afterward. He feels his chest ache in a certain warmth. Honey and molasses, and Inosuke feels his chest ache.

Whatever he feels for Tanjiro is more than a friend.

And it scares him.

It takes weeks for him to actually fully recover. It takes another week for the girls to convince him to relax and try not to strangle someone from not moving.

It’s his last day. He’s finally healed. A star like scar is spread against the lower of his back, along with a tiny pinprick on his stomach. He rubs at it, and wishes that the intense fear didn’t wash over him like that, but it does.

This time he almost did die. Piyo sobbed and cried as she was giving him CPR, Zenitsu had said, twiddling his fingers when he said so, and making Inosuke gently hold her as she cried again.

The night was beautiful when he woke up. Sleeping a lot wasn’t good, as he liked action, but it was nice. It was nice to feel safe. It was nice to feel warm.

There was a little grunt from beside him and he turned over to see Tanjiro sitting on a chair. There were streaks of tears down his cheeks, and he snored lightly, his hands cupped on his belly, and he stared at him.

He was gaining weight. It looked good on him, making him look healthy and not ready to keel over from not eating on the road.

Sitting up, he gently places his hand on Tanjiro’s leg, making him jump a little. The man opens his ruby eyes, and smiles at him.
“Inosuke, you’re awa--”

Inosuke takes his head in his hands, and presses a soft kiss against him. Tanjiro freezes, his hands shaking as he kisses him harder, bringing him in close and pulling him into his lap.

“Inosuke?”
“Don’t say anything. Just… Just let me--” He runs his hands up his shirt, and kisses his neck, leaving a perfect circle for a hickey.

Tanjiro only obliges. He knows what he feels, he can smell his hesitance, his anger, his love, and it scares him but god it feels good.

Later, as Tanjiro is putting on his haori, he notices that Tanjiro’s chest is a little bigger. That, and his belly is rounder.
“You need to not eat so many dumplings,” Inosuke laughs, running his tongue up Tanjiro’s neck, nipping at a mark he left. The red head stares at the ground, his eyes wide.

“I… Inosuke I need to tell you--”
“OH MY GOD! PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!”

Zenitsu screams, covering his face, and then putting his hand on Nezuko’s as they enter the room. Tanjiro scrambles to throw on his clothes, apologizing and trying not to look embarrassed. Inosuke ignores all of them, putting his head in his arms, and looking at Tanjiro as he blushes and apologizes.

Don’t die on me.

I won’t.

Tanjiro, promise. Please, don’t. Don’t leave me.

I won’t. I promise.

Tanjiro and Inosuke are left alone after a stern talking to from the triplets, telling them not to do stuff like that on the beds. Of course, all three of them blush when Inosuke insinuates something, making Tanjiro punch him, hard, in his healing wound.

“They are children !”

Inosuke wheezes out an apology, and lays on his side, letting them huff and leave them.

Tanjiro sits beside him. His hand is placed on Inosuke’s cheek, and he smiles down at the man.

“What am I ever going to do with you, Inosuke?”

Inosuke doesn’t answer. Just replies with a kiss to his fingertips, and a sigh.

“Will you join the butterfly estate?”

“I am… not sure,”

He whispers, taking out the butterfly clip from his haori. It’s beautiful. 
He tries to think about the girls and if he would be perfect with them. He really wants to be a part of a family, but does he deserve it? Does he actually want this?
The soft little touches from the girls when he's in danger man him squeeze the butterfly, and put it back.

He wishes he wasn't a coward. That he wasn't human. Because his eyes prickle and he huffs angrily.

To be a part of a family would be lovely.

And he feels love when he thinks of Tanjiro and the girls. And Nezuko, and unfortunately, Zenitsu.

So maybe.

Maybe.

Inosuke hears him before he can even make sense of the situation.

Tanjiro is screaming bloody murder, the girls frantically rushing across the door. There’s chatter and talking and in a second, Inosuke is out of the bed, running towards the entrance of the butterfly estate.

Inosuke had just had some bad scraps, nothing too bad, just some healing and a good night's sleep. Then he was awoken to this.

Another scream, and he rounds the corner to see Tanjiro shaking as the three girls hold him. One of them is making puffy faces as she’s trying to calm him down and breath.

There’s a puddle underneath the man, and his legs keep giving out on him. Inosuke goes to walk towards him, when Zenitsu holds his arm.

“You… Might want to wait,”

Inosuke’s eyes meet Tanjiro’s. The red head looks away in shame, leaning against the girls, who take him into another part of the hall.

What Inosuke notices, though, is that he feels another presence. But he’s only counting 6 of them, so why is there another one.

“He hasn’t told you?”
Zenitsu turns to look at him, and something flashes in his eyes. He seems to understand something and he sighs heavily.

“Give them about an hour. Then ask them if you can go in,”

“What do you mean? He’s going to be fine right?”
Zenitsu shakes his head, and turns away from him. 

“Come on! You can’t just say something cryptic like that and leave me hanging!”

“Oh, so you know big words?”
Inosuke throws his shoe at him.

“You can come in,” 

Piyo takes his hand gently, her eyes tired and all of the little girls washing their hands from blood and… whatever the hell the other stuff was.

They walk past a door and Tanjiro is propped against mountains of pillows. There’s sweat pouring down his face and he looks uncomfortable, but relieved. There were weird noises, and that presence was making him uncomfortable.

And then there was a stare.

“What’s going on?”

He felt his skin tingle, and right next to Tanjiro, there was a tiny little bundle of something. It wriggled and moved, and Hiyo went over and lifted the tiny little thing.

“I think it’s yours…”
He cocked his head, and stared as she brought the thing close to him. They handed him it, making sure that his hand was in a certain area.

“What is this?”
“A baby, Inosuke-sama,”

Inosuke raises his brows. Tanjiro had a baby?

Pulling the sheets back, he saw two bright red eyes staring at him. A little boy stared at him, gurgling and wiggling angrily in his hands. 

Black hair with a pretty shade of red tones curled around his ears. It’s obvious that this is Tanjiro’s.

Lucky. The color of luck. A child of the Sun.

And looking at the cute nose, the pretty, big eyes, the pretty face, he sees himself. The baby looks like him.

“Oh,”
So that’s what Tanjiro wanted to tell him. This is why he was gaining weight.

Oh.

“He is yours, right? Tanjiro said he was,”

He doesn’t listen to her. He walks away from her, closer to the moonlight and staring at the tiny thing that wriggles and kicks at him. He suckles on his hand, staring at him, making deep eye contact that’s unnerving for a child.

“He is mine,”

The girls are all staring at him, staring at him as he sits down, wrapping his hands under the babies body.

It’s tiny. No wonder Tanjiro could hide it so easily. He’s small and cute and Inosuke feels his stomach flutter at how much he looks like him. He’s so small.

So tiny.

The girls leave him. 

The baby is gurgling and staring at him, letting out small chirps. There’s a feeling of someone staring at him, and he smiles.

“I didn’t expect you not to tell me I was having a pup, Tanjiro,”
“I’m… sorry it's just. I just never had time to tell you,”

The missions. The fear of dying. He understands.

He turns over his shoulder, seeing Tanjiro looks awkward as he scratches his hand. 

“You only took 2 hours. It must’ve hurt. I heard you across the estate,”
“It did hurt. But they came out okay,”
“It’s a boy. He has your eyes,” He turns him over and Tanjiro’s eyes fill with tears. The little boy stares back at him, wiggling in Inosuke’s hands, making noises and curious as to where he was being put.

“He. He looks like you. He literally has your face,” Tanjiro laughs as he holds out his hands for his child, who attaches himself to him, making Tanjiro wince.

“Oh. That isn’t nice,”

Inosuke laughs softly, and slides next to him, staring at the both of them.
“You could’ve told me,”
“You… you had that girl with you the day I wanted to. I go jealous and--,”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have slept with her,”

Tanjiro shakes his head.
“I shouldn't have pushed you away. It must’ve been confusing, especially you. I was so upset about it, but. I’m glad we’re okay,”

Tanjiro stares at the baby as it finishes and burps him. The baby yawns, and it’s tiny little body is cupped into his arms, tight against him, kissing his little head and smiling.

“I’m scared about what’s going to happen with him. But. But i’m glad he’s here now,”
Tanjiro scoots close, letting Inosuke wrap his arms around him, tight and close. Tanjiro is warm and perfect in his arms, and both him and the baby start to fall asleep.

Humans are dumb.

His fingers run through Tanjiro’s long hair, kissing his forehead and gently squeezing the baby’s cheeks.

The baby cooes, opening bright red eyes, staring deep into his own green. 

“I want to name him Akane,”
Akane lets out a noise, as if agreeing with Tanjiro. Inosuke hums in agreement to both, sliding Tanjiro closer, wrapping both of them tight in his arms.

The hair tie in his haori burns a little as he presses kisses on Tanjiro’s forehead. Maybe he needs to make a less dumb decision about being a human. About his new family.

He blinks as he thinks of the three little girls.

About his entire family.

The humans in his arms aren’t as dumb as everyone else. Maybe the girls trying to make him family isn’t so much of a dumb decision.

He slides on his hair tie, gripping the boys tighter and sighing softly.

Inosuke is dumb.

But he’s only human.