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Tengen has been thinking about stopping being a ninja for a while; he's tired of the killing and how the group treats women like nothing more than objects to produce children.
He's thinking about leaving with his wives, about doing something else, about seeking redemption, but at the same time it's difficult for him to abandon the only thing he's been trained to do; that's what his family taught him after all.
That afternoon he feels worse... He shouldn't have done it, there is blood in his hands and a weight on his heart that makes it difficult to breathe. Tengen falls to his knees as soon as he gets away from the village, back to that mountain and–
"Are you alright? Wait! I'll have something here in my pockets! I always carry them in case I get hurt..."
It's a boy. He looks like he's 18 years old, but Tengen cannot be sure, what he knows is that he's absolutely beautiful. His red hair is tied up into a ponytail behind his face, his eyes are like shiny rubies and his smile is like the sun.
For a moment, Tengen is confused and feels a little bit guilty for being attracted to a complete stranger; he has three beautiful wives that are waiting for him at home...
He kneels next to him and starts cleaning his hands carefully, after making sure Tengen doesn't have a fever. He should stop him otherwise he'll realize...
"Well, it seems like you're not actually hurt," he comments, still smiling even after cleaning all of the blood on Tengen's hands and realizing he actually doesn't have any open wounds. "You must be tired. Would you like something to eat? Oh, right! I haven't told you my name yet! I'm Kamado Tanjirou."
"Uzui Tengen," he mumbles, even though that one of the first rules he learned as a ninja is never tell anyone his real name during a mission. "Thank you, Tanjirou... But I can't stay."
"Oh... It's okay, you must be busy... Well, have a nice day!"
Tengen grins again, rising from the ground, realizing that the sweet boy is even shorter than his wives. For some reason he finds that truly adorable.
It's scary, but he's already halfway in love and yet he knows he doesn't deserve him. Tanjirou is... too pure for that.
"I'll always remember you," Tengen promises and allows himself to take Tanjirou's hand and give him a kiss on the back of it. "I hope you're happy, you deserve it."
"You too!" Tanjirou says with one of his beautiful smiles; his cheeks have turned slightly pink.
It takes a lot of strength not to take Tanjirou with him; the boy even tells him exactly where he lives, in case Tengen needs him.
When he returns home, he tells his wives he wants to leave the group, he wants them all to stop being ninjas and try to do better for other people instead.
They all agree and follow him without hesitation, although he knows Hinatsuru can tell something happened to him, but he's not ready to talk about Tanjirou.
He still feels guilty about falling in love with him.
***
Tengen becomes a hashira, but he doesn't forget Tanjirou; now not only Hinatsuru but Suma and Makio want to talk about what's going on with him as well.
"We'd like to meet them," Makio tells him once, startling him.
"Who?" He asks, even though he knows... Even though he's more tempted now than ever to look for him.
"The person you're in love with," Suma mumbles with a soft smile.
"Are you not... upset?"
"No, we just want you to be happy. Besides, if you love them, we're sure we can love them too," Hinatsuru says, making him smile before reaching out to pull his three wives towards him.
"I don't know if he still lives there..."
"Let's go look for him anyway."
***
What they find is terrible; the house is completely empty and oddly clean... There are things, many belongings there... It's like the family left in a rush.
But then, Suma sees them, there are many people buried near the property...
Tengen's heart hurts, but he doesn't give up until they go to the village to look for information; they tell him that an assassin killed all the Kamados... There was blood everywhere.
They look at each other before they decide to leave, at some point Tengen collapses on the ground and wonders why it hurts so much. His wives kneel next to him but don't say a thing, they just hug him.
He should've taken Tanjirou when he could. Because that was no assassin... Tengen is sure that a demon killed them.
They go back home and Tengen sits in the backyard to look at the sky; it's not fair for his wives, he's mourning someone he met once like he was one of them.
"It's okay, Tengen-sama," Suma assures him. "We'll mourn with you."
***
Honestly, Tengen doesn't care about the trial, but Ubuyashiki asked for all the hashira, and he's probably the person he respects the most so of course he's going to show up.
A young slayer is helping a demon... Or at least that's the information he gets from a couple of crows an a very scared kakushi. Why a trial? They should kill the demon and–
That's when he sees him; he's tied up on the floor, hands on his back, he's clearly hurt and in so much pain and yet he just wants the wooden box that the other kakushi is carrying.
He's the one helping the demon... Actually, it seems like the demon is his sister and he just wants to find a cure. No, Tengen doesn't have time to think because there's a tear escaping from one of his eyes, but he doesn't care if everyone else sees him.
Because that's Tanjirou and he's alive. He's breathing and Tengen's broken heart is not in small pieces anymore.
The sound hashira kneels next to him and unties him quickly before taking him in his arms and burying his face in the curve of his neck; he still remembers his scent.
"Uzui-san!" Tanjirou smiles at him and despite everything that has happened to him, the boy hasn't lost his kind heart at all.
Tengen feels like he's falling all over again.
"I'm so glad to see you again, Tanjirou!"
"Me too!"
To everyone's shock, he tells Ubuyashiki he's going to take care of Tanjirou and his sister, he'll make sure she doesn't hurt anyone and he'll keep training Tanjirou.
"Wait..."
Giyuu is not happy; he's the one that actually let Nezuko live and told Tanjirou to go to Urokodaki for help and even though Tengen is grateful he's determined not to let go of Tanjirou again.
"You lost your chance, Giyuu..."
At the end Ubuyashiki agrees to let the Kamados live with him. Tengen's heart has never been happier.
"Thanks for doing this for us, Uzui-san!"
"Please... call me Tengen. And it's time for you to meet my wives."
They get along quite well, even with Nezuko; she's actually pretty much like an ordinary girl, except for the strength and the fact that they can only see her during the night or indoors.
He likes her, she's very flamboyant.
Tanjirou is happy and he quickly wins everyone's hearts by being himself; he patches up Makio whenever she's hurt, he wipes off Suma's tears and makes her smile again when she's feeling down, he helps Hinatsuru with the food... And Tengen watches them from afar with a huge and probably besotted smile on his face.
"When are you going to propose?" Hinatsuru asks, catching him staring at Tanjirou as he braids his sister's hair.
"He probably doesn't–
"If you don't propose, I will," Makio warns him, almost furiously.
"Do it before the other Pillar takes him away! I've noticed how he looks at our Tanjirou!" Suma sobs.
Tengen knows she's talking about Giyuu; he's the one who has been visiting the Kamados regularly. And Tengen has noticed how he stares at their Tanjirou, he doesn't like it either.
"I don't want to scare him off..."
"You won't, trust me."
He doesn't do it right away, he still thinks about it and purposely ignores Makio's impatient frown.
Tengen is not usually like this, he's confident, he takes risks all the time and yet he's afraid to screw everything up this time.
Because this is Tanjirou and things are different when it comes to him.
However, one day he can't stand it anymore. Tanjirou is with him, telling him a funny story about his siblings, he looks beautiful and happy; the sun is lighting up his hair and features in a way that makes him look like he's glowing.
Tengen doesn't think too much about what he's doing, he just takes him in his arms, puts him on his lap and kisses him on the lips.
When he notices that Tanjirou has stopped moving, he releases him.
"I'm sorry, Tanjirou... I shouldn't–"
But Tengen's words die as gentle lips are pressed against his.
"It's okay," Tanjirou mumbles, blushing. "I was just... surprised."
"Marry me," the sound hashira blurts out. "I want you to be part of my family as my husband."
"But Makio, Suma and Hinatsuru..."
"You know they love you, they'd be more than happy to spend the rest of their lives by your side as well..."
A couple of tears escape from Tanjirou's big, red eyes before he smiles shyly and nods.
"I'll try to make you all happy."
"You already do that. Now, please... Let me kiss you again."
Tengen leans until their lips crash together as soon as Tanjirou nods and feels really proud when he makes him moan for more.
He can give Tanjirou more... He'll give him anything he wants from now on.