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He's not sure how he ended up like that, but Tanjirou has Rengoku's head on his lap now. The Pillar doesn't breathe anymore, but Tanjirou is still trying to cover the wound on his stomach.
"Tanjirou, please... Let's wait for the kakushi," Zenitsu begs him, sobbing. "You're bleeding."
That's right. He's crying and bleeding over Rengoku... Not even caring about his own tears or his wounds, Tanjirou takes the hashira's cold face in his hands.
Akaza tried to turn him into a demon; he tried to convince Rengoku and when that didn't work he tried to do it anyway. But Rengoku died and now Akaza is gone.
Tanjirou just wants more time with him; he didn't deserve this. He needed more time.
"Rengoku-san," he sobs again, leaning closer to press their foreheads together; the movement hurts him, but Tanjirou doesn't care.
He listens to someone taking a deep breath and realizes in a second that Rengoku's eyes are staring up at him.
Both eyes... But they're completely red now; his pupils are vertical and shaped in the form of slits, exactly like Nezuko's.
"Tanjirou, run!" He hears Zenitsu scream and watches out of the corner of his eye how Inosuke grabs his katanas again.
He doesn't move out of the way though, there's something more important in his mind now, something that makes him panic.
"The sun!" He almost screams, he tries to cover the hashira as much as he can with his body but he's not big enough. "Let's hide under the train's shadow, Rengoku-san!"
The Pillar smiles and Tanjirou notices that his teeth are sharp now... The wound on his stomach has healed completely.
However, the most impressive thing about the demon in his arms is that he's not burning under the sunlight.
"Tanjirou," the demon mumbles happily, making the boy gasp.
"What? You can talk?" Tanjirou knows there are demons that can do that, but he had always assumed they get back the ability to speak at least a couple of years after the transformation. He still remembers how Nezuko was at first.
She didn't even recognize him.
Rengoku manages to sit on the ground and pull Tanjirou on his lap; Zenitsu has frozen on his spot and Inosuke is still grabbing the katanas like he's ready to attack the demon.
"No... Inosuke. Rengoku-san hasn't hurt anyone!" Tanjirou says, voice breaking a little bit.
"He's a demon now."
"I know, Zenitsu. But Nezuko is one of them too and she's saved so many people since she got turned," Tanjirou reminds him; only when Inosuke puts the katanas back and Zenitsu moves farther away is when he relaxes a little bit.
Still on Rengoku's lap, he turns his head, only to notice the demon is staring at him intensely.
"What do you remember?"
"Not much," the demon admits as he frowns, trying to focus. He shakes his head quickly though, his expression softens right before he takes Tanjirou's face in his hands and rubs their noses together. "But I know I'm Kyojuro, I know your name is Tanjirou and I know you're the most important thing to me. You're everything."
Blushing, Tanjirou realizes that Rengoku is confused, he must be due to the transformation. When he looks away and notices a couple of crows near, he is sure that Oyakata-sama knows already.
Tanjirou has no idea how the other will react to this... There will probably be another trial.
"Rengoku-san..."
"Kyojuro."
"Alright... Kyojuro-san," Tanjirou mumbles, realizing there's not much time left to argue with a stubborn demon. "I think you should leave. You should hide... I'll come back for you as soon as I get–"
"No," the demon almost growls. "I won't leave you. I need to protect you."
"Kyojuro-san, please..."
"No," instead of leaving, Rengoku wraps himself around Tanjirou, carefully putting a hand on Tanjirou's wound to stop the bleeding.
"Do you... Are you hungry?" Tanjirou asks almost shyly because he has to, because he has the feeling that a bamboo muzzle won't work on Rengoku if he wants to eat.
"I have no desire for human flesh," the demon answers quickly. "Your blood smells really good though, but in a different kind of way... I also think it's because I have some of it in me already."
Tanjirou has to ignore the part about his blood smelling good in order to focus on Rengoku's last sentence.
"My blood? But how? Oh, I was bleeding all over your wound!"
"I think it got mixed with mine during the transformation," the demon continues, before pressing his lips against Tanjirou's cheek. "I think it protects me from the sun."
The boy is not sure about that; it sounds impossible.
"Kyojuro-san, you need to go–"
"I will never leave your side," the demon cuts him off, before nuzzling Tanjirou's cheek lovingly. "I have to take care of you and protect you."
The look in his eyes is the same one Nezuko had when he tried to leave her with Tamayo; she took his hand then like she didn't want to let go.
"Alright," he sighs, giving in.
***
It's difficult for the kakushi to patch him up because Rengoku refuses to let him go and they are even more afraid of him now. Still, everyone has orders to take them to the hashira headquarters alive so even if some demon slayer come with them, none of them dare to touch the demon.
Tanjirou arrives to the headquarters in Rengoku's arms; no one wants to touch the boy because they have noticed that the demon bares his sharp teeth at whomever dares to even look in Tanjirou's direction.
"What's with you and demons, Tanjirou?" Kocho sighs, looking from him to Rengoku with a tired expression. She doesn't look concerned, but Tanjirou knows by her scent that she's ready to kill the demon if he hurts Tanjirou. "This is the second time!"
"He's too dangerous," Tomioka mumbles suddenly. "The fact that he doesn't burn under the sunlight makes him a really powerful demon already."
"We should kill him now."
Tanjirou glares at Shinazugawa before putting his arms around Rengoku's neck protectively. The demon doesn't seem concerned though and Tanjirou is not sure if it's because he knows they won't kill him or because he thinks he can defeat them.
"He hasn't hurt anyone!"
"He doesn't even remember us," Uzui comments, narrowing his eyes at the demon.
"I just want to protect Tanjirou."
The sound of his voice startles them and Tanjirou realizes they hadn't listened to him talk.
"He's evolving too fast," Kocho mumbles with worry.
"I can look after him like I do with Nezuko!" Tanjirou says desperately. He's getting scared, especially because he hasn't heard Ubuyashiki talk yet; he doesn't know what he thinks about the situation.
"If he goes rough, you won't be able to control him," Tokito argues, eyeing Rengoku with suspicion.
"Tanjirou doesn't need to control me; I'll do anything he wants, anything he asks me to do."
Even though that is not the moment to feel flustered, Tanjirou still blushes after listening to the devotion in Rengoku's voice.
Before the others start arguing, Ubuyashiki makes a gesture with his hand and everyone shuts up; Rengoku says he doesn't remember most of his life as a human, but part of him still respects the man in front of them because he doesn't make any attempts to speak again.
"I believe him," Ubuyashiki finally says and Tanjirou feels so relieved he would've fallen to the ground if he wasn't already in Rengoku's arms. "But you two must work to prove everyone they can trust you again."
Tanjirou promises he'll prove them Rengoku can still work to defeat Muzan while the blond demon starts wiping away his tears with a thumb; he knows the Pillars are not that happy about their situation but he's sure they can make it work.
Besides, the most important thing for him at the moment is that he can have Rengoku back, that he's still alive even if he's a demon now.