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Genya Shinazugawa is an amazing husband, and an equally amazing father.
He did it all on his own. Growing up, he didn’t get to witness a good role model for what a dad should be. Genya is the son of Kyougo, a man who used his god-given size and strength to trample upon those weaker than him. Kyougo’s breath always smelled of alcohol, wafting like hot sulphur from his mouth when he would tower over Genya and Sanemi and tell them both how useless and stupid they were; first with his words, and then with his fists. That’s the main thing Genya remembers his father by to this day— the stench of cheap beer and the imprint of hard knuckles.
Kyougo was cruel for no reason other than to be cruel, and drunk for no reason other than to be drunk. Genya hated him, from the bottom of his heart, and Sanemi did too. They were both relieved when he died. If felt like, all of a sudden, their house wasn’t haunted anymore.
Genya promised himself he would never be like him. He promised himself that if he ever got a wife and a family, he would never be like his father.
The more Genya grew up, the more he began to resemble Kyougo. His hair, his height, his scar, his eyes, and his strength— it disgusted him, how much of a likeness he held to that asshole.
But he kept his promise. He may look like his father, but he will never act like him. He knows what love is. He knows who he loves.
Y/n L/n is a gutsy woman. Always was. She was the successor of the Stone Hashira, back when the Corps was still together. The first time he met her, it was like if thunder came before lightning because he heard her before he saw her.
A rumble only comparable to an earthquake shook the ground he stood on, before he saw a young woman clear the horizon. She was pushing a boulder twice her height across the ground. The moment he saw her, he knew she was someone special. He just knew it. Time slowed down.
Back then, he was closed off. He didn’t have any friends, and he wasn’t in touch with Sanemi. He didn’t take care of himself and he was mean for little reason. But Y/n was patient with him, like warm water to a clam, and she was the first to break him open. He fell in love with her, and he made another promise to himself— if they both got out of the Corps alive, he was going to tell her how he felt. He was going to tell her he loved her.
Two years later, Muzan was dead, and he kept that promise. He took her to the waterfall behind the old Stone Estate and held her hand, confessing a nervous spiel of how she made his heart beat hard enough to crack his ribs, how he thought she was amazing and brave and kind. He told her she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, that her smile was like the summer sun. He’s not a poet. Still, true to his comparison, his face stung red like a sunburn after she kissed his cheek and told him she felt the same way. The whole year became summer with her.
Soulmates. He didn’t really believe it when he first heard about it, but it was undeniable. The two of them were soulmates. One spring, years later, they got married, and she became pregnant soon after.
Genya gave her his mother’s engagement ring, but, this time, it actually means something. It’s another promise. He’s going to take care of her. He’s gonna take care of their kid. He’s gonna love her until his heart stops pumping, and even then…
If there’s anything he learned from his years as a Demon Slayer, it’s that nothing lasts forever and nothing is supposed to last forever. That’s why the existence of demons was so inherently flawed. That’s why Muzan couldn’t exist. Nothing is immortal, no matter how strongly it claims to be. And if anything on this great green earth is immortal— if there’s any one thing on this planet that deserves to be immortal, it’s love. It’s the center of everything, the great big shiny nucleus of our existence that makes us, us.
Genya cradles his wife in his arms because that’s what his arms are for. He holds her taut third-trimester belly in his big hands because that’s what his hands are for. He kisses the top of her head because love is what he is for. This lasts forever. This deserves to last forever.
She’s fast asleep, smiling sleepily in his warm embrace. Loving her comes so easily. He knows she won’t hear him, but he whispers a wish into her hair, closing his eyes as he’s taken over by fatigue of his own.
“I hope our baby looks like you.”