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Chapter Text

Shinazugawa Sanemi was an ordinary teenage boy. He was an ordinary high school student.

Sanemi went to school in the mornings and came home in the evenings. He did some judo, and while he was good, he didn’t aim to excel in it; it was just a means to pass time. His grades were average, and he was satisfied with them. He was proud to say that he has never failed an exam in his life. His teachers liked him, because he was helpful and willingly did as he was asked without any complaint.

A hobby of Sanemi’s was photography. He was self-taught by studying various pictures in magazines and looking up photography tips on the Internet. He even saved up his pocket money to buy a decent camera to take pictures with. As such, he joined the photography club in school too.

Sanemi had six siblings. He was the oldest of them all, so he had to make a few small sacrifices in his life, for example, giving up the slice of cake he had bought for himself to eat while he did his homework on the way home from school to his youngest sister because she saw it and wanted it. He couldn’t buy more because he only had enough money for one slice. But Sanemi was happy to do it. He loved his brothers and sisters. They were his irreplaceable brothers and sisters.

All in all, Sanemi led a relatively simple life. And he had no complaints. He was happy.

Or so he thought.

On the night of his sixteenth birthday, after his family dinner, where his parents and siblings celebrated his turning sixteen with some specially cooked dishes and a cake, Sanemi entered his bedroom to find a strange apparition sitting on his bed. He stifled his cry of surprise with his hand over his mouth – he didn’t want to alarm his family, especially since they were in such a good mood after the celebration.

Sanemi took a step back and peered at the apparition, who was staring at him expressionlessly. The apparition had a ghost-like quality to him – he had a form but he was see-through. He was obviously male, but his unruly hair was long and tied into an equally unruly ponytail. He was dressed rather oddly – what he was wearing reminded Sanemi of a gakuran, and over it was a horribly mismatched haori. There was a katana sheathed into its saya, which was tucked into his belt on his left side. And over the lower part of his calves were these strange white wrappings that ended with black socks and a pair of zori at his feet.

Sanemi had never seen such an attire before. But he had to admit that it kinda suited the apparition.

What unnerved Sanemi, however, was the way the apparition was looking at him. Even though the apparition’s face was expressionless, his eyes were soft. It was as if he was gazing at Sanemi with fondness… with love. Why was he looking at Sanemi like that? Sanemi didn’t know him and had not done anything to garner such a look of affection.

Slowly and cautiously, Sanemi walked into his bedroom. “Who are you?” he asked softly.

The apparition did not answer. He continued gazing at Sanemi.

As it was apparent that the apparition did not mean to harm him, Sanemi got a little bolder. “What do you want? What are you doing in my room?” Sanemi demanded.

But the apparition remained silent. Instead, he smiled at Sanemi before he disappeared into thin air, leaving Sanemi blinking stupidly at the now-empty space on his bed.

“What the hell was that?” Sanemi questioned aloud. Honestly, that whole experience gave him a fright. Finding a stranger in his bedroom who could suddenly disappear… it did not bode well with Sanemi.

Or maybe it was just his imagination? That man was totally not familiar to Sanemi, but maybe he had seen him in a movie before and he just couldn’t remember, and his subconscious was just projecting an image he had seen before but couldn’t remember?

Exhaling, Sanemi decided to put the encounter at the back of his mind. He probably did not get enough sleep, and his brain was playing tricks on him. It was a one-time thing, and he just needed more sleep.

So, Sanemi got ready for bed, and once he laid his head down onto his pillow, he was out like a light.

***

That night, Sanemi had a strange dream.

In the dream, Sanemi was dressed in a similar manner to the man he had seen sitting on his bed. The only difference was that he had a white haori. Alongside him was the man with the mismatched haori, as well as three similarly dressed people: two other men and a woman. In fact, one of the men also looked exactly like his best friend in school – Iguro Obanai, and Sanemi wondered what Obanai was doing in this strange dream of his. With the exception of the tallest one among them, who had an axe connected to a spiked flail by chains, each of them was yielding some form of a katana.

They appeared to be desperately fighting against a very peculiar-looking man – they were running around or jumping up in the air, urgently trying to bring their weapons down on the man, to at least cause some level of damage on him. Sanemi wasn’t even sure if “man” was an appropriate word to describe him. He had long white hair, he wasn’t wearing any clothes, his fingernails and toenails were long and practically claw-like, and on his arms and legs were many mouths with vicious-looking teeth protruding from them. There were sharp tentacle-like extensions projecting from his body, attacking everyone and parrying the blows of their weapons with little effort. The tentacles certainly looked sharp enough to sever a limb should it come into contact with them. Sanemi could not help the shiver of fear and disgust he felt at the sight of that man. What kind of creature was that man? He obviously wasn’t human. However, it seemed like Sanemi’s dream counterpart was unbothered by the man’s appearance.

Sanemi’s subconscious provided a name for the monstrous person: Kibutsuji Muzan. And subsequently, the identities of the people fighting alongside him too: Tomioka Giyuu, Gyomei Himejima, Kanroji Mitsuri and of course, the person who looked exactly like his best friend was also called Iguro Obanai. For a brief moment, Sanemi was bewildered. Where did the names come from? They were totally unfamiliar – with the exception of Obanai’s, Sanemi was sure he had never come across those names in his lifetime.

Sanemi didn’t have time to dwell on that, though, for his dream counterpart had just set Muzan on fire.

Whoa, that is so fucking cool! Sanemi cheered internally.

Unfortunately, fire didn’t hurt Muzan at all. But he looked pissed, which Sanemi thought was a good thing. At least dream-Sanemi managed to anger him – maybe Muzan would make mistakes in his anger, and maybe this would result in their victory?

But then, Muzan’s attacks became faster and more aggressive. So, everyone fighting against him also had to move more quickly. As Sanemi watched events unfold through his dream counterpart’s eyes, he was amazed at the speed at which he and his comrades were able to move. Were they even human?

At one point, out of the corner of his eye, Sanemi noticed Mitsuri get seriously injured by a lightning bolt from Muzan and Obanai rushing to her aid. The rest of them couldn’t slow down at all – they were now down to three people against Muzan, they couldn’t afford to slow down; on the contrary, they had to fight harder than before.

Shortly after, Obanai rejoined the battle. Sanemi thought he must have left Mitsuri to someone, because her wounds looked deep enough that they probably needed stitches or something, and couldn’t just be bandaged up.

All of them continued their battle against Muzan. Sanemi could feel his body being sucked in towards Muzan by the ugly mouths with sharp teeth on Muzan’s body and the tentacles attacking them, perhaps to draw him in so that Muzan could kill him more easily. It was taking quite a lot of Sanemi’s strength to resist the suction, and he realized that his endurance was slowly dwindling. It was a very troublesome attack. And Sanemi reckoned it was the same with his comrades.

Suddenly, one of Muzan’s tentacles snatched Giyuu’s katana right out of his hand, and another tentacle was quickly approaching him, ready to slice him into two. Sanemi’s body rushed towards Giyuu, but Obanai was faster – he ran in front of Giyuu to slash at the tentacle, and cut it before it could reach Giyuu.

Sanemi felt a rush of gratitude go through his dream counterpart’s heart towards Obanai. That was really strange. He didn’t feel this way when Mitsuri got injured and Obanai went to her aid. Why was Giyuu different that Sanemi should feel thankful that Obanai got to him before Muzan did? Sanemi was a little confused by it, but he let it slide. Maybe he and Giyuu were good friends, and of course, he wouldn’t want a good friend to die, right?

Dream-Sanemi snatched a fallen katana from the ground and threw it at Giyuu’s feet. “Stop spacing out! Or I’ll kill you!” he shouted at Giyuu.

Huh. So, they weren’t good friends after all. By that tone, Sanemi could only conclude that they were far from being good friends.

Sanemi saw Giyuu grab the katana and continue fighting, and he, too, leapt right back into battle.

However, Sanemi was beginning to realize that his movements were getting slower, which was a very bad thing in the midst of battling an enemy such as Muzan. His vision was getting blurry and his whole body was on fire, was in terrible pain (and that was saying something, since he already had a very high pain-tolerance); he didn’t know if he could take it any longer.

Shit! My body’s not going to last! Sanemi heard the thought that went through his mind. And then, Nevermind, even without a body, I am going to take a bite out of that bastard! Those must be his dream counterpart’s thoughts.

Afterwards, almost immediately, without any warning whatsoever, a calico cat appeared in the sky above Muzan. Some small objects shot out from it, and Sanemi felt a sharp prick on the back of his lower thigh. Looking at Giyuu, he saw a little bottle containing an unknown liquid jabbed into the back of his shoulder as well. That must be what pricked Sanemi too.

Fuck! What is that liquid?! Sanemi could feel the panic in his dream counterpart’s heart. And it was a valid worry too – if whatever that liquid was made them weaker, then they would surely die against that monster.

Sanemi’s eyes darted around, searching for the cat, but when he found it next, its body had been separated into three parts that were now scattered on the ground. Muzan had evidently cut it down, meaning that it was not his ally.

At that point, Sanemi noticed that not only was he starting to feel better and his vision was clearing up, the pain was drastically decreasing and the dark marks on his hands were disappearing. His erratic heartbeat was also beginning to steady itself, and he could breathe better. So, the liquid that the cat had just injected into them must be some sort of antidote against a poison that was already in their bodies.

“I don’t know why, but a passing cat just helped us!” dream-Sanemi yelled.

Now that Sanemi and his comrades were recovering from the poison, they fought with a renewed vigor.

But then…

“Sane-nii-chan!” a voice interrupted Sanemi’s dream.

“Sane-nii-chan!” the voice repeated. “If you don’t wake up now, Kaa-chan says you’re going to be late!”

“Huh?” Groggily, Sanemi opened an eye to see the face of his little brother, Hiroshi, hovering over him. “What time is it?” he mumbled.

“7.45am,” replied Hiroshi. “You still have some time for breakfast. Kaa-chan says you must have breakfast.”

“Ah… Okay, okay,” groaned Sanemi, sitting up in his bed. Now, he was wishing that he could sleep some more – he was curious about his dream, how would it have ended if it was allowed to continue? The occurrences in his dream were so other-worldly (especially the appearance of Muzan), Sanemi reckoned that they must have been the product of his over-active imagination.

Sanemi got out of bed to brush his teeth and freshen up. He then changed into his school uniform, and when he looked up, Hiroshi was jumping on his bed.

“Get off the bed, Hiroshi,” Sanemi said. “I need to make my bed, and you are going to make me even later than I already am.”

At least Hiroshi had the gall to look sheepish when he leapt off Sanemi’s bed. “Sorry, Sane-nii-chan. I was just imagining how nice it is to have a room to yourself.”

Sanemi smiled at his little brother and nodded understandingly. Because as the oldest, he made a lot of concessions for his younger siblings, his parents thought he at least deserved a room to himself. So, after renovating their house to accommodate their big family, Kyougo and Shizu gave the biggest bedroom after the master bedroom to their firstborn son. Sanemi’s siblings were a little envious that he had his own room, but they also knew that he made sacrifices for them and understood their parents’ reasoning for giving him a room to himself.

“That’s okay,” Sanemi replied. “You are welcome to jump on my bed anytime, just not when I am going to be late.”

Hiroshi laughed. “Thanks, Sane-nii! You’re the best!” With that, he bolted out of Sanemi’s room, presumably to join their mother and other siblings in the dining room.

As he watched his brother’s retreating form, Sanemi shook his head, but he was still smiling. Then, he quickly made his bed and went downstairs to join his family for breakfast.

Thus, began Sanemi’s day.

Chapter Text

When Sanemi returned home in the evening, he was tired. More tired than usual. This was because he couldn’t get the previous night’s dream out of his mind, and kept thinking about it, so he couldn’t concentrate on the things he was doing. He ended up getting them wrong the first time and had to redo them, quite often even a few times.

Sanemi also tripped over his own feet while taking his shoes off at the genkan, making a loud thump and causing his mother to peek out from the living room.

“Sanemi!” Shizu cried when she saw her son sprawled on the floor. She rushed out towards Sanemi with the intention of helping him up to his feet. “Are you okay?” she asked, peering at Sanemi worriedly.

“I’m fine, Kaa-san. Just a clumsy moment,” explained Sanemi with a sheepish grin at his mother.

“It’s okay, Kaa-san,” Sanemi said when Shizu took his upper arm to pull him upwards. “I am heavier than you are – you’ll hurt yourself. I can get up by myself.”

So, Shizu let go of her son’s arm. Once Sanemi was standing up again, Shizu touched his back gently. “Does it hurt?”

“No. I’m tough, you know, Kaa-san!”

Shizu smiled tenderly at Sanemi. “Indeed. My baby boy is growing up into a young man already.”

Sanemi could feel his ears heat up in embarrassment; he was lucky that his friends weren’t around to hear such a thing come out of his mother’s mouth – he would be subjected to some merciless teasing otherwise. “Kaa-san! Don’t say such embarrassing things!”

Shizu hid her grin behind her hand. “Okay, dear,” she acquiesced. “Why don’t you go and settle down in your bedroom first, maybe take a shower first? Dinner is ready already, but we are just waiting for your father to come home.”

“Okay.”

Sanemi did as his mother suggested – he took a quick shower and settled down in his room. He was just taking his homework out of his school bag when he heard his mother call everyone to the dining room for dinner.

The Shinazugawa family ate their dinner together as usual, catching up on each others’ days with some jokes from the younger members of the family. Sanemi refrained from telling his family about the strange apparition in his room the previous night. They wouldn’t believe him, or even worse, they might think he was losing it.

Later, Sanemi went back into his room to do his homework. After he had finished, he leaned back in his chair and stretched with a grunt.

When Sanemi stood up and turned around, there it was again – Giyuu’s ghost, wearing the same outfit as before and sitting exactly where it sat the previous night, looking at Sanemi with soft eyes. Was it a ghost in the first place? Sanemi wasn’t sure.

But Sanemi knew that it was harmless. All it was doing was sitting and looking at Sanemi. If it meant to hurt him, it would have done so the previous night.

“Your name…” Sanemi said softly as he took an uncertain step towards the apparition. “You are Tomioka Giyuu, right?”

Giyuu’s eyes widened for a millisecond, and his face split into a joyful smile. It was clear that he was happy that Sanemi knew his name.

“I… I don’t know how I know who you are… I mean, I don’t know how I know your name… I had a dream that you were in last night… And, I somehow knew your name…” Sanemi tried to explain. He hated that he was stammering to explain himself, but there was just something so very unnerving about talking to an apparition, a ghost.

Giyuu nodded. It seemed that he understood what Sanemi was saying, which was good.

“Apart from that… I don’t really know who you are… or what you want from me,” Sanemi continued hesitantly. “Why are you appearing here? Are you a ghost?”

Giyuu merely shrugged.

“Can you speak?”

Giyuu opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Sanemi sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “I guess not, huh? But you can hear me?”

Giyuu nodded again. There was an encouraging expression on his face, which prompted Sanemi to continue talking. Now that he had started talking to the ghost, Sanemi was quickly getting comfortable with the one-sided conversation. Perhaps, it helped knowing that Giyuu was unable to rebut whatever he said.

“Do you mind if I just talk to you then? About my dream?” Sanemi asked. “Since you are just sitting here… There is stuff that I don’t quite understand, and maybe if I put them into words, they may make more sense to me,” he hastily added, not wanting Giyuu to think that he was some sort of talkative person who talked to anyone.

Giyuu replied with a small smile and another nod.

So, Sanemi sat down next to Giyuu on the edge of his bed. He tried touching Giyuu’s leg, but as expected, his hand went through it. Giyuu really did not have a corporeal form, he really was a ghost.

Then, Sanemi began talking. And Giyuu just listened, nodding to indicate that he understood when Sanemi paused to gather his thoughts. At the end of it, Sanemi felt a little better after letting it out even though he didn’t know why he had such a dream in the first place or the significance of it. He still didn’t really understand his dream, but at least now, he wasn’t the only one who knew about his dream – Giyuu did too, and the knowledge that he wasn’t alone in this comforted him. When Sanemi was done, Giyuu began fading away. Before Giyuu completely disappeared, he graced Sanemi with one last smile.

Deep inside his heart, Sanemi knew it wouldn’t be the last time he saw Giyuu.

With nothing else left to do, Sanemi got ready for bed.

As he slept, Sanemi had another dream, similar to the one he had the previous night. This time, his best friend since elementary school, Kumeno Masachika, appeared in the dream. They were fighting against a very peculiar-looking but frightening creature. In fact, it resembled Muzan a little bit.

Demon, Sanemi’s brain supplied.

Ah, so this was what a demon looked like. Well, it made sense – it looked a bit like what Sanemi pictured the yokais he learnt about while growing up to look like. Yokais were traditional Japanese demons after all, right?

This demon was very strong, Sanemi noted. Even with he and Masachika attacking it, it didn’t seem to be doing much damage to it. But Sanemi could also tell that this dream counterpart of his was less seasoned, less experienced than his dream counterpart from his previous dream. That Sanemi moved quicker, with more precision and was able to think quicker on his feet.

Eventually, Sanemi finally managed to separate the demon’s head from its neck with his katana. However, it was not without cost – Masachika was severely injured and was bleeding very profusely from a large wound on his stomach.

Sanemi knew that Masachika was not going to make it, and he suspected that Masachika knew that too. However, that did not stop his grief and the tears that were falling down his face as he screamed and yelled for Masachika to stay awake, to stay alive, not to die.

The anguish woke Sanemi up. When he sat up in bed, he noticed droplets of water falling onto his blanket, so he touched his cheeks and found that they were wet. Huh, even in the real world, he was crying. Sanemi scrubbed at his face to wipe the tears away.

Sanemi glanced at the digital clock on his side-table. It was only 5.30am. He considered going back to sleep, but decided that it was quite pointless – he had to be up at 7am anyway, so that would only be about an hour and a half’s worth of additional sleep.

Sanemi opted to make himself useful by helping his mother prepare breakfast for the entire family in the kitchen.

And as soon as he reached his school, Sanemi hunted Masachika down to give him the biggest, tightest hug just to make sure that Masachika was alive and well. Needless to say, Masachika was confused as hell, but Sanemi didn’t care.

Chapter Text

Every night after, Sanemi had these sorts of dreams where he was in some organization that hunted and killed demons. After two weeks, Sanemi deduced that these dreams were memories of a past life of his. Even though they didn’t seem to be in chronological order, they all revolved around a common theme – a life of hunting and killing demons.

There were a couple of dreams that strayed from demons, which depicted Sanemi’s family and him as a young boy, who was clearly not old enough for demon slaying yet. Just like how he seemed to also be friends with Obanai and Masachika in his past life (he was also apparently friends with someone named Kanae, who he recognized in this life as a pretty girl his age whom he had never had a conversation with because they weren’t in the same class, but she had a kind expression and always smiled at him when they passed each other in the hallways at school, as he learned shortly after through a separate dream), Sanemi’s family members were all the same in his previous life and in this one. The main difference was that in this life, his parents were actually happy together. His father was not abusive, he didn’t hit his children and his wife. Sanemi hypothesized that maybe his father also had memories of his past life too, realizing his mistakes and deciding not to repeat them this time. Sanemi couldn’t be sure, though – he daren’t ask his father.

So, Sanemi postulated that the same people in his past life had also reincarnated along with him into the present. Perhaps god was giving them a second chance at life, as seeing the previous life had been rather miserable with the existence of demons?

As Sanemi continued having these dreams, memories of his past life began gradually returning to him. All in all, it took him a little more than a month to remember everything: about his family, how his father died at the hand of someone with a grudge, how his mother became a demon and killed all his siblings except Genya, how he went around killing demons with reckless abandon as revenge for taking his family away from him, how he met Masachika and was introduced to a Wind Breathing sensei to learn the Breath of Wind in order to properly kill demons, how he joined the Demon Slayer Corps… Well, you get the idea. Sanemi remembered EVERYTHING.

Sanemi also remembered that he and Giyuu began a romantic relationship after the final battle with Muzan, and lived out the short remainder of their lives together before Sanemi died from the curse of the Demon Slayer Mark, which manifested when he fought Kokushibo in Muzan’s Infinity Fortress. Of course, Sanemi didn’t know what happened to Giyuu after that, but he assumed that Giyuu, too, died from the same curse when he turned twenty-five years of age (which was less than three months after Sanemi did) since Giyuu disclosed that his Mark activated when he battled Akaza in the Infinity Fortress as well.

As Sanemi began remembering his past life, the flashback dreams also decreased in frequency. Now that he could remember, somehow, his brain knew that he did not need so much help remembering anymore.

One night, Sanemi had a flashback dream of him and Giyuu having sex. It was a very enjoyable dream, and being a teenage boy with no sexual experience, it was Sanemi’s first venture into sex in this life. However, he woke up with a hard on and so, had to take a cold shower. Even though it was obviously a private matter, it felt so awkward.

Now that he thought about it, when his male friends were desperately trying to impress girls and woo them, Sanemi couldn’t identify with them. He just didn’t see the appeal of females. After his reaction to the sex dream, Sanemi understood why: he was gay in his past life, and in this life, he was still attracted to males.

That feeling of gratitude that Sanemi felt when Obanai prevented Muzan’s tentacle from killing Giyuu in his first ever flashback dream now made a lot of sense. Although at that time they hadn’t begun dating yet, he was in love with Giyuu then; he had harbored feelings for Giyuu then, perhaps even before that. In essence, Sanemi was thankful towards Obanai for saving his beloved.

It might possibly be that his feelings for Sanemi and vice-versa was what made Giyuu’s ghost appear in front of Sanemi and trigger these memories of his past life.

Sanemi wasn’t sure if he was still in love with Giyuu in this life, though. After all, he didn’t know if Giyuu had been reincarnated too: Giyuu hadn’t appeared in his life and Sanemi didn’t know if he ever will. All Sanemi had of Giyuu now was just a ghost that appeared before him every night, and while he was now comfortable with babbling his thoughts aloud to the ghost and might be a little fond of the ghost, he was pretty sure that his feelings would not be considered love. Could a person be in love with a ghost in the first place? Sanemi didn’t think so. You could only be in love with someone tangible, right?

Since there was no point dwelling on a person who wasn’t in his life, Sanemi decided to put his feelings for Giyuu aside.

Apart from his father, who Sanemi only suspected possessed memories of the previous life just by the fact that he was no longer the asshole he was in the past, no one else seemed to remember anything from their previous lives. Therefore, Sanemi did not mention anything about a past life or memories of a past life. There were no more demons in the world, people were happy now, and that was all that mattered.

Shortly later, when Obanai developed a crush on a girl two years their junior that he met at the game center when he helped her grab a cute giant kitty plushie she had her eye on from a crane game, he brought Sanemi and Masachika over to meet her. And Sanemi was tickled pink to discover that the girl was none other than Mitsuri, who Obanai had feelings for in the past. Moreover, it was evident that she liked Obanai too. So, Mitsuri had been reincarnated too, huh? It seemed that just like how Sanemi’s parents had found each other in this lifetime, Obanai and Mitsuri had also found each other.

Did that mean that the romantic relationships in the past were bound to repeat themselves in this life too? Did that mean that the romantic relationship Sanemi had in the past would repeat in this life too? Would Sanemi and Giyuu find each other as well?

Sanemi tried not to keep his hopes up. He didn’t want to be disappointed in the end. In any case, he still didn’t know if his feelings for Giyuu had carried forward into this life.

Besides, Sanemi didn’t need a partner, did he? He was happy and contented – he didn’t need anyone else to complete him. He was fine on his own; he spent sixteen years without a significant other. He had other important things to think about, like school, judo, photography, his family and friends… Who had time to be dating?

Meanwhile, Sanemi would just enjoy the company of Giyuu’s ghost every night. It was an opportunity to let out some steam anyway (verbally, of course).

Chapter Text

Five months later

It was a new school year. Sanemi was now a second-year in high school.

Spring had arrived, and a nice morning spring breeze was blowing outside. In their classroom, Sanemi and Masachika were having a conversation about the latest release of their favorite manga, while Obanai sat resting his head on his arms at his desk and tried to catch up on some sleep before classes officially started for the day. Personally, Sanemi was amazed at Obanai’s ability to sleep for such short periods of time, so he could catch up on sleep practically anywhere. Sanemi couldn’t do that – when he slept, he had to sleep for a stretch of time. This was why he didn’t take naps.

When their homeroom teacher, Yuzuki-sensei, entered the classroom, Sanemi’s classmates who were away from their desks hurried back to their desks, and the entire class stood up to greet their teacher. Sanemi stole a glance at Obanai, who was now wide awake and on his feet too. Once again, Sanemi was impressed at how Obanai could shoot straight up on cue.

Yuzuki-sensei greeted her class with a warm smile. “Good morning, class,” she said. “You may be seated.”

The sounds of the chairs shuffling on the floor could be heard as Sanemi and his classmates took their seats.

Yuzuki-sensei cleared her throat and began speaking, “Today, I will be welcoming a transfer student from Osaka into our class. His father was transferred here for work purposes, so his family has relocated here. His name is Tomioka Giyuu. Please come in, Tomioka-kun.”

At the mention of the name, Sanemi’s head jolted up. It couldn’t be, could it?

As soon as the boy whose name was Tomioka Giyuu walked through the door, Sanemi’s eyes widened that they were practically bulging out of his eye sockets. That Tomioka Giyuu was the same Giyuu from his dreams, he was the same Giyuu whose ghost kept appearing in his bedroom at night! He was the same Giyuu from Sanemi’s memory! He looked almost the same as Sanemi remembered him – his features were the similar to the Giyuu in Sanemi’s memory, but younger and a little bit rounder of course, because he was a teenager now and was still growing into his body. However, he didn’t have his ponytail anymore, just like how he wore his hair after he lost his right arm in the battle with Muzan. So Giyuu had been reincarnated too! And somehow Sanemi and Giyuu had found each other in this life too!

Yuzuki-sensei asked Giyuu to introduce himself, but Sanemi barely heard what Giyuu was saying. A roaring was going off in his ears. Suddenly, all the feelings Sanemi had for Giyuu in the past returned to him, hitting him akin to a punch in the face. A deep longing for the black-haired boy resonated within Sanemi’s heart.

Sanemi was still in love with Giyuu.

Sanemi watched as Giyuu made his way towards him. What?! Why is he coming here?! For a brief moment, Sanemi panicked (he was not ready to talk to Giyuu yet!), and then, he realized that there was an empty desk beside him on his right, so of course, Yuzuki-sensei had instructed Giyuu to take that desk.

Oh, Giyuu and I are desk-partners. Sanemi guessed he was a little delighted that Giyuu was seating next to him.

Giyuu was looking at Sanemi strangely as he sat down, and Sanemi shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Was there something on his face? He rubbed his cheek self-consciously. Nevertheless, Sanemi offered Giyuu a smile.

Giyuu started, clearly surprised to receive such an expression from such an abrasive-looking teenager. But his expression, too, quickly transformed into a smile at Sanemi.

After that, Sanemi’s class was kept busy for the next few periods of lessons, so Sanemi did not have an opportunity to speak with Giyuu. But that was okay – it gave him time to compose and prepare himself. He didn’t want to come across as an idiot upon his first conversation with Giyuu.

Right before he knew that Minato-sensei, their Chemistry teacher, would dismiss them for lunch, Sanemi turned towards Giyuu to quietly invite him to have lunch on the rooftop with him and his friends. He kept his voice down, so as not to interrupt Minato-sensei, who was at the front of the classroom, explaining once again how to calculate the number of moles of a substance in a sample to some of his classmates who found it difficult to grasp the concept. Sanemi’s best subject was mathematics (he always did well in that class), and this was practically mathematics anyway, so he had absolutely no trouble with it.

Giyuu blinked once. “Okay, thanks,” he replied in a small voice.

“I’m Shinazugawa Sanemi, by the way,” Sanemi introduced himself.

“Tomioka Giyuu. But I think you already know that,” said Giyuu with another smile at Sanemi. Oh fuck, that smile was making Sanemi’s heart do somersaults.

Sanemi chuckled. “Yeah,” he replied, before continuing to explain as he gestured towards Masachika and Obanai, “The guys seating beside me are my friends – we usually hang out and have lunch together too. The one beside me is Kumeno Masachika, and the one in front of him is Iguro Obanai.”

From their seats, Masachika gave Giyuu a cheerful and friendly wave, while Obanai nodded at Giyuu.

“Cool,” Giyuu said, returning Masachika’s wave shyly. Sanemi grinned to himself internally – Giyuu was evidently on the reserved and introverted side even in this life.

Approximately two minutes later, Minato-sensei released them for lunch. Sanemi grabbed the lunchbox in which his mother had packed food for him in from his schoolbag in his desk. Masachika and Obanai told Sanemi that they were going to buy something from the school cafeteria because they didn’t have time to prepare their lunches that morning, and that they would meet him on the rooftop. Sanemi said okay.

Sanemi then asked Giyuu if he brought lunch from home, because if he didn’t, Masachika and Obanai could either take him down to the cafeteria to get something, or if he didn’t like crowds (just like Sanemi himself), they could buy him something while they were there.

“It’s okay, my older sister packed lunch for me,” Giyuu said, as he held up a Tupperware box that was lovingly wrapped up with a furoshiki cloth.

Tsutako-nee-san, Sanemi recalled.

“Okay, we’ll catch up with you guys upstairs then!” said Masachika cheerfully.

“Yeah!” Sanemi replied. Then, he turned towards Giyuu. “Let’s go. Nobody else uses the roof, for some strange reason, so it is nice and quiet up there,” Sanemi told Giyuu.

“You seem to like nice and quiet,” Giyuu commented, a reference to Sanemi mentioning that he didn’t like crowds earlier on, as they began making their way to the roof, with Sanemi leading the way.

“Yeah, well… I’ve got six siblings at home, so it gets pretty rowdy…” explained Sanemi a little sheepishly. “That’s why I really appreciate it whenever I can get some peace.”

“And you’re the oldest,” Giyuu said.

“… Yes.”

“I… I, uh, I don’t know how I knew that.” Giyuu sounded surprised. Sanemi’s lip twitched involuntarily. Were Giyuu’s memories of his past life subconsciously manifesting themselves?

Nevertheless, Sanemi chuckled. “Maybe I give off an oldest brother vibe? I’ve been told many times that I have that sort of feeling about me.”

“Ah, maybe,” said Giyuu, sounding a lot more relaxed.

When Sanemi and Giyuu reached the top of the building, just as they were stepping off the staircase and onto the roof, Giyuu spoke again, “I want to apologize for staring at you… earlier on in the classroom. You know, when I took my seat at the desk next to yours?”

“Oh.”

“It’s just that… you seem very familiar to me. I just can’t place my finger on it, because I know that I have never seen you before…”

It’s because we have a past together! We knew each other in a past life! We killed demons together! We were lovers! Sanemi wanted to scream.

“And also… I usually have trouble talking to strangers, I don’t make friends easily… because I am just not comfortable with conversing with people I don’t know,” Giyuu admitted with an embarrassed tone. “But somehow, with you… I am okay. It’s like I already know you. Does that make sense? Is that strange?”

Sanemi did not know what to say in response to that without divulging the fact that they were reincarnations of Demon Slayers. It sounded so ridiculous that Giyuu might think he was a lunatic, and he absolutely did not want to give Giyuu that sort of impression of himself. So, Sanemi decided to say the truth, but in a joking manner. After all, it seemed ridiculous, so Giyuu would probably laugh at it if it was obvious that Sanemi wasn’t serious about it, right?

“Hm,” began Sanemi. “We probably knew each other in a past life,” he said with a wry smile at Giyuu.

Giyuu let out a quiet laugh, and Sanemi felt relieved that Giyuu saw his statement as a joke, which was exactly how he had meant it to be.

Sanemi showed Giyuu to the corner of the rooftop where he and his friends usually ate their lunch together. Then, he invited Giyuu to sit down with him on the floor, and together, facing each other, they plopped down on the floor.

As Giyuu unwrapped the furoshiki cloth around his Tupperware, Sanemi asked, “Does your sister always make lunch for you?”

“No,” replied Giyuu. “Tsutako-nee-san actually doesn’t live with us anymore – she just graduated from university about one and a half years ago. She is already working and has a job back in Osaka. But she took time off work to help us with the move, so she is staying with us at the moment. While she is here, she wants to do all the cooking – she says she has to practice for domestic life after she gets married.”

“Oh, when is she getting married?” Sanemi asked. It was very unlikely of course because there were no more demons in this world, but Sanemi prayed desperately that the tragedy that befell Tsutako-nee-san prior to her wedding day in the past did not repeat itself this time around.

“Not for another year or so,” said Giyuu. “She and Yuichi-nii-san are childhood sweethearts, they have been engaged for what feels like forever to me,” he added with a snort. Giyuu lifted the lid of his Tupperware to reveal a delicious-looking bento with tempura prawns and vegetables.

“Ooh, that looks good,” Sanemi told Giyuu.

Giyuu peered at Sanemi’s lunch, which he had also just opened, and said, “Yours looks good too. Especially that tamagoyaki.”

“Here, you can have one.” Sanemi picked up a tamagoyaki from his box and place it into Giyuu’s.

“Let’s exchange then – one of my prawns for your tamagoyaki?” suggested Giyuu.

“That sounds good.”

So, Giyuu gave Sanemi one of his tempura prawns. Sanemi ate it first, and it was every bit as delicious as it looked. Tsutako-nee-san was indeed a good cook. She would do well in cooking for her husband in the future. Sanemi told Giyuu that, and Giyuu said that his sister would be delighted to hear that and promised to convey it to her.

Then, Masachika and Obanai arrived with the food they had bought from the school cafeteria. They sat down on the floor with Sanemi and Giyuu. Giyuu properly introduced himself to Masachika and Obanai, but Sanemi noticed that he was still a bit withdrawn around them. That was okay – Giyuu just needed to get to know them better, it was just a matter of time.

Chapter Text

Thus, Sanemi incorporated Giyuu into his friend group. Masachika got along well with Giyuu, but it took Obanai a little while. Sanemi noted that it was somewhat similar to the past as well, where Obanai hated Giyuu’s guts. To tell the truth, Sanemi actually disliked Giyuu at first, too, because he couldn’t understand why Giyuu was the way he was. To be frank, Giyuu just pissed him off. Eventually, even before their relationship improved after the final battle with Muzan, somehow or rather, Sanemi warmed up to Giyuu and began falling in love with him. And well… the rest was history.

Of course, Sanemi didn’t feel negatively towards Giyuu in this life, but it made Sanemi wonder, though, if he didn’t have memories of his past life, would he have disliked Giyuu upon first meeting him? After all, all of them who had been reincarnated retained their personalities, more or less.

Like his previous incarnation, Giyuu was a typical introvert, but he gradually opened up as he got to know his friends better and became closer to them. He was particularly close to Sanemi, which was only natural, Sanemi thought, seeing as they were lovers in the past, so it was no surprise that there was a kinship, a natural pull between them, right?

Along the way, Sanemi enquired about Giyuu’s life back in Osaka, so Giyuu told his new friends about it, and it seemed that another important person in Giyuu’s previous life had been reincarnated too: Sabito. Apparently, Sabito was Giyuu’s childhood friend and best friend; they basically grew up together because their parents knew each other and brought them over to each other’s houses to play. It really saddened Giyuu to leave Sabito when his family had to relocate, but they still kept in touch. According to Giyuu, Sabito was coming over to visit him and his family during the school winter holidays or something. Giyuu had already enlisted the help of Sanemi, Masachika and Obanai to show Sabito around then.

In addition, ever since Giyuu came into Sanemi’s life, the ghost that appeared in his bedroom every night stopped materializing. It was like the ghost was preparing Sanemi for Giyuu entering his life and knew when Giyuu finally entered his life. Now that he had Giyuu, the ghost didn’t see the need to appear any longer.

Sanemi missed spilling his thoughts to ghost Giyuu a little bit, but he preferred real Giyuu to ghost Giyuu a thousand times more anyway.

“Oi, Shinazugawa! Hurry up!” called Obanai from a few meters in front of Sanemi.

Sanemi looked up to see his friends already walking ahead of him, with Giyuu slinking a little behind them and glancing back worriedly at Sanemi. Sanemi had been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t realized that he had slowed down. So, he jogged to catch up with them.

“What were you thinking about?” Giyuu asked Sanemi quietly once Sanemi had caught up.

“Mm, nothing, really. Just thinking about how to structure that essay Kurota-sensei assigned us,” Sanemi lied.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sanemi saw Masachika glance at him disbelievingly. Crap, this was the downside of having a friend who knew you as long as Sanemi and Masachika knew each other – you couldn’t lie to them. Masachika knew it was total bullshit that Sanemi was thinking about homework, because Sanemi never thought about homework until it was time to do it.

Shortly after, Sanemi and his friends reached the river bank where they planned to fish. They made themselves comfortable on the grass, took out their fishing rods and began fishing. Sanemi, Masachika and Obanai fished regularly (not too often, though), but it was Giyuu’s first time fishing, so the more seasoned boys helped him out.

Later, in the evening, after they were done fishing (and in Sanemi’s case, taking photographs like he always did on their outings and catching a few rhinoceros beetles for Hiroshi, who shared this interest with Sanemi when he was a little boy) and had divided their catch between them, the teenagers parted ways on the way home. Sanemi and Masachika remained together, because their homes were in the same vicinity.

“Hey, Sanemi?” Masachika asked, nudging Sanemi on the upper arm lightly. They were walking side-by-side. Unlike Obanai and Giyuu, with whom Sanemi addressed each other using last names as it was conventional amongst male friends, Masachika and Sanemi addressed each other using their first names, a habit left over from their kindergarten days.

“Hm?”

“You like Tomioka, don’t you? I mean, in the romantic sense.”

“What?!” squeaked Sanemi, jumping backwards.

Masachika stopped walking and turned around to regard Sanemi with a deadpan face.

Sanemi contemplated denying Masachika’s accusation, but eventually decided to just come clean. Masachika would know if he was lying anyway. “Yeah,” he admitted. “How did you know?”

Masachika shrugged. “I could sense it,” he replied simply.

“Does it disgust you?” Sanemi asked Masachika in a small voice. He didn’t know if Masachika was homophobic – Masachika had never said anything about what he thought of such relations in the past life and in this life.

“What? That you like another boy?”

Sanemi nodded.

“No, not at all,” said Masachika. “You are still you, aren’t you? You are still Sanemi. It doesn’t change who you are, and that’s what matters most to me.”

“Okay.” Sanemi exhaled a sigh of relief and began walking again. Masachika followed suit.

“Is that why you lied to Tomioka earlier on?” Masachika asked Sanemi playfully. “Because you were thinking of him?”

Sanemi sighed. “Nothing gets past you, huh?” He glanced sideways at Masachika and was annoyed to see a shit-eating grin on his face. “Yeah, kind of.”

“Did you develop feelings for him when you first saw him? Is that why you invited him to have lunch with us on his first day and befriended him after that?”

“Yes,” replied Sanemi. It was the truth. All his feelings for Giyuu came back the instant he saw him, and he was in love again.

“Whoo…” Masachika whistled lowly. “Our Sanemi is all grown up and having crushes on other boys!”

“Don’t make it sound like I’m so pathetic…” grumbled Sanemi. “And it’s not a crush. I am in love with him.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Masachika said in awe. “But… but you guys haven’t even known each other for that long… Are you sure it is love?”

“I am sure,” confirmed Sanemi. He decided then and there that he would tell Masachika about his past life. Masachika was his best friend – he would believe him; he wouldn’t think he was crazy. After all, Masachika also had a past life and he should know about it too. Sanemi continued, “I will explain to you, but not now. It is going to take a while. We should hurry and get home with the fish, otherwise they will no longer be fresh. I’ll call you later?”

Masachika blinked at Sanemi in confusion. Nevertheless, he agreed. “Okay.”

When Sanemi reached home, he gave the fish they had caught that day to his mother, who was delighted with their catch. She promised to cook the fish for the entire family for dinner the following day.

After dinner and settling down for the night, Sanemi gave Masachika a call, like he said he would. He explained to Masachika that they were reincarnations of Taisho-era Demon Slayers, while Masachika listened without saying a word.

Finally, Sanemi asked Masachika, “Does the whole thing sound ridiculous to you?”

Masachika made a sound. “It… it actually explains some things…”

“Huh? Like what?”

“I don’t get dreams like you did…” began Masachika a little hesitantly. Then, he continued speaking. “But sometimes, a weird thought just crosses my mind, like, you mentioned Wind Breathing? Yeah… I know Wind Breathing too, only of course, I didn’t know it was Wind Breathing before… I can recite the movements to the different forms. I do it sometimes when I am bored.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah, so I did think that it might not be entirely farfetched that I must have learnt that in a previous life and somehow retained those memories… and now, you confirmed it – I had a past life!” exclaimed Masachika with joy. “Although… those are the only things I remember from it. I don’t remember anything else. Even after hearing what happened in our past lives, I don’t remember,” his tone turned glum.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it – everyone whom I know has been reincarnated doesn’t seem to remember either. At least, I don’t think so… Though, I suspect that my father has his memories, but I cannot confirm it yet. If I hadn’t said anything, you wouldn’t have known either,” Sanemi told Masachika.

“That’s true. We are all happier now, aren’t we, in a world in which demons no longer exist?”

“Yeah.”

“So… how do you know that you are in love with Tomioka anyway? Were you in love with him in the past as well?” enquired Masachika curiously.

Sanemi hummed affirmatively. “After… well, after everything, as we spent more time with each other, we developed feelings for each other, and eventually we ended up falling in love with each other. We began dating… then, as our relationship developed, he moved into the Wind Estate, and we lived together until I died. I presumed he died shortly after as well because of the Demon Slayer Mark curse – he manifested it too in the Infinity Castle,” he explained rather shyly. “I didn’t know if I retained those feelings in this life, because he wasn’t in it at first. But when he came into my life, when I saw him enter the classroom that day, all those feelings came back to me. I still love him.”

“That makes sense,” said Masachika. There was a brief moment of silence, before Masachika spoke again. “Are you going to tell Tomioka about this past life thingy too?”

“No… I don’t know,” replied Sanemi. “We are not well-acquainted enough with each other yet, I think.”

“Even though you were lovers in the past?”

Sanemi laughed. “Yes, even then. To him, I was a complete stranger until we became friends. He doesn’t know me that well yet. He’ll probably think I’m a lunatic if I started talking about past lives and killing demons.”

“Okay, I get what you mean,” Masachika said, laughing too. “Perhaps you’ll tell him when you guys start dating?”

Sanemi snorted. “IF we start dating, you mean.”

“It’s only a matter of time,” Masachika told Sanemi. Sanemi obviously couldn’t see Masachika because they were conversing on the phone, but in his mind’s eye, Sanemi could see Masachika waving his hand in an offhanded manner as he said it. “Tomioka likes you romantically too.”

“How do you know?” Sanemi demanded.

“I have a knack for sensing these sorts of things.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I didn’t say anything at the time, but I could tell that Mashima and Ayase-san had the hots for each other, and look where they are now,” said Masachika smugly. “Same with Kurosawa and Sato-san, Sakaki and Miyano, Fukugawa and Suzuki–”

“Okay, I get it! You have a love radar!” Now that Sanemi thought about it, there were A LOT of couples in their class…

Masachika chuckled heartily.

Anyway, after telling Masachika the truth about how they were reincarnations of Demon Slayers, Sanemi expected to feel better. At least, now, someone else also knew. He could talk about it. He didn’t have to keep it to himself anymore.

Chapter Text

Despite being close friends, Sanemi, Masachika and Obanai had different interests in sports and so, they each joined different sporting teams as part of their co-curricular activities. Sanemi was a member of the judo team, Masachika soccer and Obanai badminton.

Giyuu was no different: he joined the school swimming club – he swam for the school team back in Osaka, specializing in freestyle. He was a quick swimmer and won quite a number of competitions with his team. In spite of this, Giyuu no longer wanted swim competitively, but he still enjoyed swimming. So, he aided in the practice sessions by swimming with his club-mates and challenging them to swim faster than him. He was very rarely beaten.

Sanemi liked watching Giyuu swim. He was like a fish when he was swimming. He made his strokes seem so effortless, and he moved so gracefully in the water. When Giyuu swam, he was truly one with the water.

Sanemi had to wonder if this affinity with water was because Giyuu used Water Breathing in his past life. If that was the case, then it would also reasonable to deduce that Sanemi might have an affinity with wind too. Maybe he should try wind-surfing? Too bad he wasn’t the least bit interested in it.

Like how Sanemi enjoyed watching Giyuu swim, for some strange reason, Giyuu also enjoyed watching Sanemi do judo. It perplexed Sanemi, because he didn’t know what Giyuu liked about watching people try to topple other people to the ground. It was fun and stimulating when you were out there competing with another person and doing judo, because you had to think and strategize on how to defeat your opponent, but Sanemi often questioned what the spectators found so interesting. Well, each to his own. In any case, if he was free, Giyuu always attended Sanemi’s matches to watch him compete and to silently cheer him on.

An inter-prefectural tournament had just ended. Sanemi won his first couple of matches, but lost when he went up against a tall third-year from Shizuoka. He wasn’t upset at all. He was just glad for the opportunity to compete.

Giyuu told Sanemi that he would wait for him in the park outside the tournament venue. It was a good idea in order to avoid the dispersing crowd after the tournament.

When Sanemi spotted Giyuu, he was sitting on a park bench and munching on a senbei. Giyuu’s eyes lit up when he saw Sanemi, and he waved him over. Sanemi’s heart gave a pleasant leap at the knowledge that he was able to make Giyuu’s eyes light up like that without really doing anything.

“Hey,” Sanemi greeted Giyuu. “You know, if you’re hungry we can go and grab a bite first,” he said, eyeing the half-eaten senbei Giyuu was holding in his hand.

“Okay,” replied Giyuu. “By the way, you did really well in the tournament. Shame about the Shizuoka guy, though.”

“Thanks. He had height to his advantage, I think. But it’s okay. I’m okay.”

“Glad to hear that.”

After that, Sanemi and Giyuu made their way to a convenience store, where Sanemi found ohagi and bought a box, while Giyuu got himself a mochi cake. They sat down at a table in the small eat-in section of the store and began digging into their food.

As Giyuu unwrapped his mochi cake, he said nonchalantly, “I had a strange and scary dream last night.”

“What about?”

“There was a… creature in my dream. I don’t know if it can be considered a creature because it was also human-like… I was hunting it down with a katana or something? It was fighting back with some weird super-power thingy…” Giyuu explained but ended up at a loss for words. He groaned. “Ugh, I don’t know if I’m explaining myself well!”

“It’s memories of your past life,” said Sanemi absent-mindedly through a mouthful of ohagi.

“What? Past life?”

Sanemi froze mid-chew. He totally did not mean to say that. His ohagi was just so delicious that he hadn’t been paying attention to what he was saying. It came out automatically.

Sanemi’s eyes rose to meet Giyuu’s. Giyuu was looking at him with an inquisitive expression.

Sanemi swallowed the ohagi in his mouth and let out a sigh. He might as well tell Giyuu about this whole past life business. There was no taking it back now that he had said it.

So, just like how he explained it to Masachika, Sanemi explained to Giyuu that they were reincarnations of Demon Slayers from the Taisho era. The creature in Giyuu’s dream was a demon, who once had been human but circumstances had made it choose the path of becoming a demon. The progenitor of all demons, Kibutsuji Muzan, was capable of transforming humans into demons. Sanemi explained what a demon was, and about Breathing Styles as well as how they were used by Demon Slayers to kill demons. Then, he told Giyuu that together, along with a few others, had been Hashiras in an organization known as the Demon Slayer Corps, whose function was to rid the world of demons and to kill Kibutsuji Muzan once and for all. Sanemi told Giyuu about some of the things they did as Demon Slayers to help him understand better. He told Giyuu how they finally defeated Muzan, which was why there were no more demons in the modern world and they could live in peace without the threat of demons anymore.

However, Sanemi did not mention that they had been lovers. He didn’t want Giyuu to start dating him and start a relationship with him in this life out of obligation because they were lovers in their past lives. Even though Sanemi still had feelings for Giyuu, he thought Giyuu should have a choice on who he fell in love with in this life. If Giyuu fell in love with Sanemi, then it was fate – they were meant to be, in the past and now. And if he didn’t, well, it just wasn’t meant to be. That was it.

After Sanemi had finished and he had stopped talking, there was silence from Giyuu. Sanemi thought that Giyuu must be processing the information, so he remained silent too, to give Giyuu the time he needed to think things over.

Finally, Giyuu asked Sanemi, “How… how do you know all this? How do you know that we are reincarnations, that we have a past life?”

“On the night of my sixteenth birthday, I had a similar dream like you had. I called it a flashback dream,” Sanemi began explaining. He did not mention the appearance of Giyuu’s ghost – that was something even he didn’t understand. “Every night after that, I had these dreams. After a lot of thought about them, I deduced that they were memories of a past life. I was right – eventually, the memories of my past life came back. I remembered everything.”

“And I am in your past life?”

Sanemi nodded. “My family are the same. Masachika too. And Iguro and that girl he likes, Kanroji-san. And that pretty girl from class 2-5, Kochou-san. And my kouhai in the judo club, Rengoku. Your sister and your friend Sabito back in Osaka too, even though I never met them in my past life because they were killed by demons prior to me knowing you, but you used to tell me stories about them. I suppose there are more people who have been reincarnated too, but I just haven’t met them in this current life yet.”

“Then…” began Giyuu hesitantly. “Then, will my memories eventually come back to me too?”

“Maybe? I don’t know,” replied Sanemi with a frown. He frowned not because he was displeased at the question, but because he was truly clueless about regaining past life memories. “I don’t know if it is the same for everyone who has been reincarnated. I don’t know if memories of the past life will ever come back for everyone. You just have to let nature take its course – if they come back and you are able to remember, then great, if not, then so be it.”

“I see,” murmured Giyuu.

“I think this is god’s way of giving us a second chance at life, since demons made our previous lives pretty shitty,” Sanemi said, grinning.

“That makes sense… Kind of,” said Giyuu wistfully. “From your explanation of demons, I don’t imagine them to be pleasant at all. How did the demons make your life, uh, as you put it ‘pretty shitty’?”

Sanemi chuckled – it was a little funny that Giyuu was trying to imitate his use of words. “Well, my loving, caring and soft-spoken mother somehow became a demon. Then, she killed my brothers and sisters. Basically, because of demons, I lost most of my family in a single night.”

“I’m so sorry,” Giyuu said quietly with a sad expression.

“But that’s in the past, isn’t it?” replied Sanemi cheerfully. “Now, my family is alive and well, my father isn’t an asshole, we are happy.”

“That’s true. Second chance, right?”

“Exactly!”

After that, Sanemi continued eating his ohagi, while Giyuu began to dig into his mochi cake. After Sanemi had swallowed the last of his ohagi, he placed his right elbow on the table and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. He peered at Giyuu with a soft expression. “You know,” Sanemi began. “You were an excellent Demon Slayer with a magnificent Breathing Style. I used to admire the way you moved whenever you used the Breath of Water – you moved with such grace and how your movements seem to flow so easily and effortlessly… I could never dream to execute my Breath of Wind in the same way as you did your Breath of Water.”

“Oh.” Giyuu’ cheeks were turning pink. In Sanemi’s opinion, Giyuu looked so cute with his cheeks colored pink like that. “Thank you,” Giyuu said. “But I don’t remember any of the Breath of Water business, so I don’t think I am deserving of the compliment.”

Sanemi shrugged, grinning. “I don’t give compliments out so easily, so you better appreciate it,” he joked.

Giyuu turned a deeper shade of pink. Sanemi wondered if god will bless him with the luck in this life to be able to see Giyuu’s face like this all the time.

Chapter Text

Now that Giyuu was aware that the strange dreams were memories of his past life, he started paying close attention to them. Well, as close as he could anyway, because he admitted to Sanemi that he quite often could not remember details in his dreams. Whenever he had a flashback dream, Giyuu talked to Sanemi about it, and Sanemi helped him make sense of the dream.

Also, Sanemi thought that he should tell Obanai that he was also a reincarnation of a Demon Slayer – he didn’t feel good that Obanai was the only one in his friend group who still didn’t know about the past lives. So, Sanemi sat Obanai down and explained everything to him. And Obanai took it pretty much as well as Masachika and Giyuu did. A little bit like Masachika, Obanai said that he had a feeling that there was something peculiar about him – he claimed that sometimes, when he closed his eyes, an image of a strange-looking knife thingy would appear. Then, Sanemi asked Obanai to describe the knife, and Obanai replied that it had a zig-zag blade and wondered if that sort of blade could cut anything effectively. Sanemi told Obanai that it was indeed a memory of his past life – the Nichirin blade that Obanai wielded as the Serpent Hashira was unique in that it was a zig-zag blade and that Obanai was very proficient at using it to kill many demons.

Thus, Sanemi concluded that everyone who had been reincarnated probably had some form of memory from their past lives, even if they didn’t know what it was. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but like what he told Giyuu, Sanemi supposed it was best to let the memories come back naturally – if the memories returned, then great, but if the memories didn’t return, then it was just meant to be that they didn’t remember.

After that, being with his friends (well, his friends in his friend group, that is) was more liberating now that Sanemi wasn’t keeping the fact that they were reincarnations of Demon slayers to himself anymore. All of them now knew; there were no more secrets between them.

Sanemi kept it to himself in the first place mainly because he was worried that he would be thought of as crazy. The other reason was that he thought the past should be left in the past – they had been given a second chance at life in a world where demons no longer existed, it would be better not to remember the depressing life that was marred by demons, right?

***

As planned, Sabito came over to visit Giyuu during the winter break. Giyuu wasted no time in introducing Sabito to his new friends.

After the introductions, Sanemi noticed that Sabito was looking at him with a strange expression. Self-consciously, he straightened his shirt.

Embarrassed to be caught staring, Sabito immediately apologized. “I’m sorry for staring, Shinazugawa-san,” he said. “It’s just that… I’m so sorry to say this, but you do not match the image I had of you.”

Sanemi blinked. He was becoming nervous. Did Sabito think that he was a delinquent or something? “What image did you have of me?”

Sabito laughed heartily. “The way Giyuu talked about you… He made you seem so gentlemanly that I had the impression that you wore suits or something!”

“Suits?!” What fucking teenager wore suits?

“Okay, maybe not suits. You see, when I think of gentlemen, I automatically think of men in suits,” Sabito said, still laughing. “My point is: Giyuu talks very highly of you.”

“Oh.” Sanemi could feel his cheeks warming up. “He does?” he asked, stealing a glance at Giyuu, who was now beet red.

“Sabito!” Giyuu hissed.

Meanwhile, out of the corner of his eye, Sanemi could see Masachika and Obanai exchange a meaningful glance. Huh, so Obanai caught wind that he had feelings for Giyuu.

Sanemi coughed to divert attention from Giyuu; he knew that Giyuu didn’t like being in the center of attention. Then, Sanemi changed the topic. “Anyway, Iguro suggested that you might like to see the Tokyo Tower or perhaps the Skytree?” he asked Sabito.

“Ooh, which one is better?” Sabito enquired excitedly.

“Well, the Skytree is a lot taller and there are a lot of eateries and shops in the Skytree Town, so we can probably spend a lot of time there. On the other hand, Tokyo Tower is more… traditional,” explained Obanai.

“I see. Then if it is okay with you guys, I would like to see the Skytree first,” replied Sabito.

“No problem at all! Let’s go!” said Masachika, as he led the way to the subway station.

The rest of the boys started walking with Masachika, and before Giyuu turned around to follow the group, Sanemi saw him glance shyly at him. Sanemi’s heart raced. What did that glance mean? Sanemi thought he might know what that glance could mean, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. What if he was wrong? He didn’t want to be severely disappointed.

Sanemi inhaled a deep breath to calm his heart down. Then, he, too, followed Masachika, Obanai, Giyuu and Sabito as they walked to the station.

At the end of Sabito’s stay in Tokyo, Sanemi was glad to say that he, Masachika and Obanai had made a new friend in Sabito. They got along very well, and Sabito was even interested in seeing all the photographs that Sanemi had taken. When he returned to Osaka, Sabito promised to keep in touch with them. Sanemi always pondered if the chemistry between them was because they all had something in common: they were all Demon Slayers in their past lives.

Chapter Text

A few months later, Sanemi and his friends entered a new school year. Now, they were officially third-year students in high school and were about to face the university entrance examinations at the end of the school year. Miraculously, they were all still in the same class. This is fate, Sanemi remembered thinking.

One quiet Saturday afternoon, while his parents and all of his younger siblings sans Genya were out in the amusement park utilizing a family coupon that Teiko had won in the department store when there was an event to promote some product, Sanemi was lazily lying in his bed, looking at his old photographs and mentally critiquing his past self on his photography skills. He was supposed to be doing his homework and studying, but he just didn’t have the mood right now.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Sanemi got out of bed to answer the door. He was aware that Genya was napping in his own bedroom and so wouldn’t be assed to answer the door. Sanemi wondered who could it be? His parents didn’t mention anything about expecting anyone or even a delivery.

As Sanemi made his way down the stairs, the doorbell sounded again, this time with three incessant rings. Sanemi raised an eyebrow. Whoever was at the door was very incessant. They seemed almost desperate.

“I’m coming!” Sanemi yelled. It’s not like the person who was outside and had rung the doorbell could hear him, but at least Sanemi could justify them waiting by saying something. Nevertheless, Sanemi quickened his pace.

When Sanemi yanked open the front door, he was surprised to see Giyuu standing outside the gate. And when Sanemi walked out towards the gate, he noticed that Giyuu was panting. It looked like he had sprinted all the way to the Shinazugawa home. But it was odd – Giyuu usually had excellent stamina because he used to swim competitively, so why was he so out of breath just from running?

“Tomioka!” Sanemi said, opening the gate to meet Giyuu. He stepped out and peered at Giyuu in concern. “Are you okay?! Why did you run all the way here?!”

Giyuu nodded, still rather breathless. He held out his hand to signal that he needed to catch his breath first.

For a moment, there was silence between the two boys except for the sound of Giyuu’s breathing, which was gradually calming down. Eventually, Giyuu’s inhalations and exhalations returned to normal again.

Sanemi, satisfied at seeing that Giyuu was better now, opened his mouth to say something, but was taken aback when Giyuu surged forward towards him and slammed his lips onto his. Startled by Giyuu’s sudden movement, Sanemi lost balance and fell backwards onto the ground with Giyuu following along, falling on top of Sanemi, their lips still pressed together. Sanemi was so shocked, his brain didn’t even register the pain in his back when it hit the ground.

What the fuck? was Sanemi’s first thought. Then, Shit, he looks so good up close like this.

Once Giyuu had pulled away, Sanemi began to speak. “Tomi-”

“No,” Giyuu interrupted him in a soft voice. He was looking down at Sanemi with a tender expression. “Don’t call me ‘Tomioka’. Call me ‘Yuu’. Just like how you used to.”

Sanemi’s eyes widened. His throat went dry. “You remember?” he managed to rasp out.

The corners of Giyuu’s lips curled upwards into a smile. “Yes. I remember everything.”

Sanemi wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the right words. He wanted to ask Giyuu if he still felt the same way about him, if he still loved him. Sanemi’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

Giyuu chuckled. As though he could read Sanemi’s mind, he said, “I still love you, Nemi.”

Fireworks exploded in Sanemi’s brain. Just like how he still loved Giyuu in this life, Giyuu still loved him too! They were clearly and undeniably soulmates!

“I still love you too,” Sanemi choked out. “I have since I found out that you had been reincarnated too, since the moment you walked into our classroom that day.”

Giyuu leaned down to rub their noses together. “I’m sorry you had to wait so long for me.”

Sanemi shook his head. “It’s not your fault – you couldn’t help when and if your memories returned. But I think it is worth the wait.”

Giyuu tilted his head to the side to gaze at Sanemi very cutely. Sanemi swooned inwardly, and the desire to kiss Giyuu senseless welled up within him.

With the agility of a tiger gained from his judo practices, Sanemi flipped Giyuu over so that their positions were now reversed. Giyuu looked a little alarmed by the sudden movement, but his expression quickly softened.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Sanemi declared quietly.

“Okay,” replied Giyuu with a loving expression at Sanemi.

So, Sanemi leaned down towards Giyuu to plant a kiss onto his lips. Giyuu started kissing back, and Sanemi couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He deepened the kiss; he didn’t care that they were on the ground in front of his house, in broad daylight where his neighbors and passersby could see them kissing, or even worse, his parents and siblings could come home anytime and see them kissing.

Giyuu let out a quiet whine, then he opened his mouth. Sanemi took this opportunity to plunge his tongue into Giyuu’s mouth. For a moment, Sanemi and Giyuu’s tongues twirled around each other in a dance. When they finally broke apart, the two of them had saliva dribbling down their chins.

Sanemi didn’t say anything after that. He was busy admiring the way Giyuu looked: thoroughly kissed with his lips very pink in color. There was even a blush creeping up Giyuu’s cheeks. Sanemi felt a little proud of what he had done – he made Giyuu look like this. He kissed Giyuu to make him look like this. There was a sense of nostalgia when he kissed Giyuu, and Sanemi was beginning to realize that he missed doing it.

Giyuu lowered his gaze shyly. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Sanemi smiled. “Just admiring you,” he replied. “I just realized how much I missed kissing you.”

“Oh.” Giyuu’s mouth formed a small ‘O.’ He lifted his eyes to meet Sanemi’s. “I missed kissing you too.”

“I also missed having sex with you,” Sanemi told Giyuu with a grin, while wagging his eyebrows suggestively. Then, when Giyuu immediately turned beet red, Sanemi laughed heartily. “But of course, that can wait until we are older… maybe when we become adults. I mean, we are still young after all. It would be inappropriate.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Giyuu agreed.

After that, Sanemi got off Giyuu and got to his feet. He extended his hand towards Giyuu to take so that he could pull him up. When Giyuu took Sanemi’s hand, while pulling him up, Sanemi said, “Let’s head inside. We can have tea while we talk, or would you prefer coffee?”

“Tea’s fine,” said Giyuu with a smile. “Would I be disturbing your family?”

“Not at all – my parents and siblings are in the amusement park, and I think Genya might still be napping,” replied Sanemi.

“Okay then.”

However, when Sanemi and Giyuu turned around to head inside the Shinazugawa house, they saw Genya’s head peeking out from the open front door. It was apparent that he had seen what had gone on between Sanemi and Giyuu just a few minutes earlier.

“I think your ringing the doorbell woke Genya up,” Sanemi muttered to Giyuu.

“Sorry,” said Giyuu apologetically.

As Sanemi and Giyuu walked towards the house, Sanemi could see one of Genya’s eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. He supposed he should let Genya know that he and Giyuu were now dating, and that Genya would be seeing a lot more of Giyuu.

Genya opened his mouth to speak when Sanemi and Giyuu approached him, but Sanemi beat him to it. “Yes, we are dating now,” he said, as if it explained everything.

“Really?” Genya looked like Christmas came early. “I have a new older brother?” he asked gleefully.

Sanemi started, momentarily dumbfounded by the question. “That’s… not quite it. I mean, no… we are not married or anything like that… but I guess you can consider Yuu an older brother of sorts.”

“Sweet!” exclaimed Genya, pumping his fist in the air. If he thought Sanemi’s usage of Giyuu’s nickname from their previous lives was odd, Genya did not comment on it. It was like Genya just accepted it, no questions asked. “Does this mean that you prefer men, Aniki?” Genya seemed to be choosing his words carefully in fear of insulting his older brother. Sanemi smiled inwardly, because he found it endearing that his younger brother was so careful of his feelings even though they grew up rough-housing with each other.

“Yeah… I’m gay. I haven’t been interested in a single girl in my entire life,” Sanemi confirmed.

“Do Kaa-san and Tou-san know?”

Sanemi shook his head. “I haven’t had the opportunity to come out to them yet,” he said. “Please don’t tell them until I do.”

“Okay.”

“What about you? Are you bothered that I am gay?”

“No. Not at all,” replied Genya. “You are still my loving Aniki, aren’t you? Nothing has changed.”

“Thank you,” Sanemi said with a smile.

Genya replied his older brother with a smile of his own as well.

“Tou-san is going to be super-pissed, I reckon,” Sanemi said a little darkly and mostly to himself. “I am willing to bet fifty-thousand yen that he disowns me.”

After he said that, Sanemi felt Giyuu squeeze his hand comfortingly. So, he turned towards Giyuu and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

Genya chuckled, though. “Don’t worry, Aniki. Kaa-san will not let him disown you – she loves you too much to let him do that. She will make sure he doesn’t.”

Giyuu laughed too, and Sanemi was glad for that – it meant that Genya’s comment had abated Giyuu’s worry about Sanemi’s father disowning him. “Is Nemi your mother’s favorite child?” Giyuu asked Genya.

“Hm… I don’t know if she has a favorite among us,” admitted Genya. “But she does have a soft spot for Aniki because he is her first-born. She doesn’t spoil him or anything like that, but she worries particularly whenever he is in trouble or gets hurt. She doesn’t like the thought of him being in pain.”

Giyuu grinned, stealing a glance at Sanemi. “Must be hard then, with Nemi doing judo.”

Sanemi let out a soft sigh. “I could tell she had objections when I said I wanted to take up judo in middle school. She didn’t say anything, though. She let me do it.”

“That’s a mother’s love, huh?” said Giyuu, still smiling at Sanemi.

“Yeah,” Sanemi replied with a shrug. Then, he turned towards Genya to ask, “Do you want some tea? Yuu and I are just going in to have some while we talk.”

“Oh!” Genya was realizing that Sanemi and Giyuu’s conversation was meant to be private. “I would like a cup and then I’ll get out of your way, Aniki!”

“Sure, I’ll boil a pot of tea for us then,” Sanemi said as he led the way indoors into the kitchen.

While Sanemi made the tea, Genya took out some rice crackers from the pantry and offered some to Giyuu, which Sanemi thought was very hospitable of his brother to do.

After Genya had left for his room with his mug of tea, Sanemi and Giyuu made themselves comfortable on the three-seater sofa in the living room with their own mugs of tea. There, they talked about their past lives – it was stuff that they already knew, but it was nice to get it out in the open between them once again.

Sanemi and Giyuu lost track of time. When Kyogo and Shizu returned home along with their children, Sanemi and Giyuu were still engrossed in their conversation. Shizu cheerfully invited Giyuu to stay for dinner, and the three of Sanemi’s youngest siblings asked Giyuu all sorts of questions which he patiently and readily answered.

That night, after dinner, Sanemi told his parents that he was going to drop by the convenience store with Giyuu on his way home, but what he really wanted to do was to walk Giyuu home. Giyuu initially protested, saying that Sanemi did not need to go out of his way just to make sure he got home fine because he was not a little child and of course he was capable of walking home alone. Nevertheless, he ended up giving in after Sanemi said that he would like to spend a little more time with Giyuu.

So, Sanemi and Giyuu walked together to the Tomioka home. They stopped by the convenience store, so that Sanemi could tell his parents truthfully that he did go to the convenience store. Sanemi bought two onigiri for a late-night snack and some chocolates for his younger siblings.

When they finally reached the front gate of Giyuu’s residence, Giyuu turned so that he was facing Sanemi. Sanemi supposed he wanted to say good night before he went inside. Sanemi wanted to, as well, and also perhaps to give Giyuu a good night kiss.

Giyuu’s eyes met Sanemi’s and he smiled. And for a millisecond, Sanemi was taken aback. Giyuu’s smile was unexpectedly intimate and affectionate – he smiled at Sanemi like he had been in love with him for years. Which, Sanemi thought, was true, if you considered and added on the time they had spent as a couple in their past lives.

Sanemi returned Giyuu’s smile. He hoped that his smile mirrored Giyuu’s, because he, too, had been in love with Giyuu for years. He hoped his smile would convey to Giyuu how much he loved him.

“I had fun reminiscing with you today, Nemi,” said Giyuu quietly.

“Me too,” replied Sanemi. “The next thing we need to do is to go on a proper date,” he added with a grin.

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

“How’s next weekend?” Sanemi asked Giyuu.

“Mm… I don’t have anything planned for then, so next weekend’s perfect,” replied Giyuu.

“Great. We’ll figure out the details later in the week,” Sanemi said.

“Sure.”

“Can I kiss you goodnight now?” Sanemi asked Giyuu.

Giyuu chuckled. He reached his hand towards Sanemi’s face to stroke his cheek affectionately. “You don’t have to ask me every time you want to kiss me, you know,” he told Sanemi.

“Ah, okay. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I think it is very endearing. But unnecessary,” said Giyuu.

“Okay then.” So, Sanemi planted a kiss onto Giyuu’s lips. This time, it was chaste, and very unlike the kiss they shared on the ground in front of the Shinazugawa house. All the same, they were satisfied.

“Good night,” Sanemi murmured when he pulled away from Giyuu.

“Good night, Nemi,” Giyuu replied.

“Let’s have lunch together tomorrow before Masachika and I go to that bug exhibition,” said Sanemi. Sanemi and Masachika had an interest in bugs, as they spent their childhood searching for and catching bugs, with Sanemi having a particular fondness for rhinoceros beetles. Therefore, when they heard that an exhibition was being held in the city, they couldn’t miss the opportunity to attend.

“Okay. I’ll meet you at your place?”

“No need. I’ll come over and then we can decide where to go for lunch. I will be heading out anyway, so I’ll just tell my parents that I’m going out a little earlier.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow,” said Giyuu with another adorable smile while he waved goodbye to Sanemi, just before he turned around to head into his home.

Sanemi practically skipped back home after that, and he fell asleep that night with a giant grin on his face.

Chapter Text

Masachika and Obanai reacted to the news that Sanemi and Giyuu were now dating like supportive friends would. And Sanemi realized that he needed to come out to his family soon. For one, he didn’t like keeping his relationship Giyuu a secret. For another, he didn’t like lying to his mother.

Giyuu offered to be by Sanemi’s side when he came out for moral support, but Sanemi said that it was okay and that he could do it by himself. In all honesty, Sanemi didn’t know how his father would react, and he didn’t want Giyuu to see the ugly side of his father if he reacted badly.

So, when Sanemi told his mother he had something important to tell her and the family, she called for a family meeting. With his family members seated on the sofas and on the ground in the living room, all looking at him expectantly, Sanemi was beginning to think that this was a terrible way to come out to his family. They seemed to be under the impression that he had something exciting to announce, but Sanemi was now afraid that he would be disappointing them considerably, especially if they didn’t take well to him being gay.

Sanemi inhaled a deep breath. Then, he opened his mouth and began speaking. While he spoke, he refused to meet the eyes of his parents and siblings. He didn’t know if it was out of embarrassment or out of fear, but regardless, he knew he didn’t want to see the expressions of disgust should it grace their faces.

Well, at least Sanemi knew that Genya didn’t care that he was gay, so that was one less person to worry about. Maybe he should look at Genya while his family processed the information he just relayed to them. Yes, that is a pretty good idea.

When Sanemi lowered his eyes to meet Genya’s, he was reassured by Genya’s kind and encouraging expression. It calmed him down. He could feel his heartbeat beginning to normalize.

Sanemi was only aware of his mother’s reaction when Shizu got to her feet and approached Sanemi to gather him into her arms. It was then he braved himself to peek at his other sibling’s faces over her shoulder, and unexpectedly, they were all beaming happily at him. Sanemi wasn’t sure if his youngest siblings fully understood the implications of being gay, but in any case, they weren’t disgusted by him.

As soon as Shizu let go of him, although he was more relieved that she seemed okay with him being gay, Sanemi still regarded his mother a little nervously. Apparently, Sanemi’s anxiety showed on his face, for Shizu let out a giggle and her hand reached out to comfortingly pat him on the head.

“Is there a special someone?” Shizu asked.

Sanemi swallowed. “Yes. He… Um, Giyuu. Tomioka Giyuu,” he replied quietly.

“Oh, Tomioka-kun!”

There were delighted murmurs from Sanemi’s siblings. Evidently, Giyuu was an excellent choice of partner. That was a good thing, because Sanemi has heard of nightmare stories where families did not like or did not get along with a family member’s significant other.

“Poor Sanemi! You look so stressed out about telling us!” Shizu exclaimed good-naturedly.

“I am,” Sanemi mumbled.

Then, Sanemi’s eyes drifted towards his father, who had remained silent all this while. Everyone else also turned to look at Kyogo. Kyogo’s mouth was set in a thin line and he looked like he was struggling with himself over something.

“Anata?” Shizu spoke softly to her husband. Her voice was worried. She stepped away from Sanemi and towards Kyogo to place a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Kyogo grunted in reply. “I just… Just give me a moment, will you?”

There was a moment of silence as Sanemi, Shizu and the rest of the Shinazugawa children watched Kyogo inhale and exhale a few deep breaths. Sanemi was glad that his father wasn’t exploding into a massive tirade and instead seemed like he was trying his very best to control his temper.

Finally, Kyogo opened his mouth to speak. “Sanemi,” he began by addressing his oldest son. “I had my suspicions that… well, that you swung the other way. You weren’t a girly boy, but you never showed any interest in girls. All the same, having that confirmed… it just made me unsettled.”

“I’m sorry, Tou-san,” Sanemi said, bowing his head. He already knew his father’s ideologies and he knew that his father would not accept him being gay; he was dismayed that his father was disappointed in him, but he couldn’t help who he was!

“Son, let me finish,” said Kyogo in a gentle voice, which made Sanemi start a little. He didn’t expect such a voice coming from his father at hearing this sort of news. Or perhaps this was merely the calm before the storm?

“Yes, Tou-san,” replied Sanemi in a small voice.

“It is very brave of you to come out to us, and I am proud of you. I can’t say that I am happy about this, but give me some time – I will accept it in due time. I want to understand this lifestyle of yours, so you need to educate me.”

“Yes, of course,” said Sanemi, stunned by his father’s response. This was further proof that Kyogo most probably had memories from his past life too and was trying to be a better person than he had been previously. The Kyogo that Sanemi knew and was familiar with would not stand for his son being gay.

Kyogo attempted a smile in reply. Sanemi could tell how hard his father was working to not let the fact that his eldest son way gay bother him. At that moment, he felt a surge of extra affection for his father – Kyogo really was trying to be a better father in this lifetime.

“Nothing has changed about me, though – I am still me. There is nothing much to educate in terms of my lifestyle because there is no difference in my life, except that I have a boyfriend now,” added Sanemi.

“Okay. I get it,” replied Kyogo.

Shizu then took Kyogo’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “I am so proud of you, Anata. You handled this well,” she told her husband with a proud smile at him.

“Yeah… well, just trying to be a supportive father,” said Kyogo gruffly with a slight blush in his cheeks. Sanemi realized that his father was embarrassed at this demeanor of his. It was rather endearing, in a sense.

“Thank you, Tou-san, for accepting me,” said Sanemi, with a bow of gratitude towards his father. “I thought you would disown me or something.”

Kyogo snorted. “I thought I would too,” he said. “But when the reality hits you, you realize that you really don’t want to disown your son. It would be too sad.”

Now that the atmosphere in the living room became lighter, the younger of Sanemi’s siblings erupted into an excited chatter. They were speaking so fast that Sanemi couldn’t even decipher what they were saying. One thing he managed to catch, however, was Teiko asking if Giyuu would move into their house when Sanemi and Giyuu got married in the future. Sanemi didn’t have the heart to tell her that he and Giyuu couldn’t marry in the conventional way like their parents did, and that their house was already crowded enough as it was, so if anything, Sanemi would be the one moving out.

***

After Sanemi came out to his family, it was Giyuu’s turn. Giyuu’s parents were rather open-minded, so they didn’t really have a problem with him being gay. Though, his father jokingly lamented that Giyuu wouldn’t be able to pass on the Tomioka family name.

Chapter Text

At the end of the school year, when they took their university entrance examinations, the four friends managed to get into their universities of choice. However, they were now separated. Always being good with numbers, Sanemi was going to study applied mathematics and got into Waseda University, managing to secure some financial aid even, which was an excellent thing, considering his parents still had six mouths to feed at home. Giyuu got into Rikkyo University, which was one of the leading universities in the field of sports, which was great, since he was going to pursue a double-degree in sports science and nutrition. Obanai managed to get into Komazawa University to study chemical engineering. And Masachika, who was the smartest and most ambitious one of them all, was going to study medicine in Tokyo University of Science. He would take the longest to graduate.

Location-wise, Sanemi and Masachika were closest to each other; both of them would be studying in Shinjuku. Giyuu would be in Ikebukuro, while Obanai would be the furthest away in Setagaya. Overall, not terribly far away from each other, and they could still meet up to hang out when they had more time during the weekends.

Relationship-wise, Masachika and Obanai were not left behind either. Masachika started going out with Kanae at the end of their final year in high school. They hung out in the library and got to know each other better and there was chemistry between them. In the end, Masachika asked Kanae out. Kanae also got into Tokyo University of Science to study biology, aiming to major in microbiology, so Masachika was really thrilled about that. It made Sanemi wonder if they would have become a couple if Masachika had lived to meet Kanae in their past lives.

Likewise, after a lot of dancing around each other with their feelings, Obanai and Mitsuri also started dating. Mitsuri was still in high school, but it wasn’t a problem whatsoever. Obanai had to travel a little bit from where he was living in Setagaya to meet up with Mitsuri, though.

When Sanemi and the guys were celebrating their admission into university at an arcade by being silly and playing games, he made the startling discovery that Mitsuri also had memories of her past life. Obanai had brought Mitsuri along to the arcade to officially meet his friends for the first time and upon meeting Sanemi and Giyuu, she excitedly glomped them both, squealing, “Shinazugawa-san! Tomioka-san! It is so good to see you again!” It was a very nice reunion with Mitsuri, and when they parted later that night, they promised to catch up with each other again.

Upon entering university, Sanemi and Giyuu decided to take their relationship to the next level by co-habiting. So, they found an apartment in Takadanobaba, close to the station there. It was a popular student district, so rent was reasonable. Giyuu could take the JR train from Takadanobaba Station to Ikebukuro Station and after that, walk to his university. Sanemi had more options: from Takadanobaba Station, he could take the Tozai Line subway, bus or if he had time and was in the mood, walk to his university.

Giyuu’s parents were to thank for Sanemi and Giyuu being able to live comfortably in their rented apartment – it was through Giyuu’s parents’ finances that Sanemi and Giyuu were able to furnish their apartment. After paying for his share of the fees, deposit and reikin, Sanemi was really broke. But their apartment was still empty. So, Giyuu’s parents gave them quite a hefty sum of money to buy furniture and appliances. Giyuu’s father told Sanemi, “We know your parents still have other children to raise, so money might be an issue. It isn’t so easy to raise children financially. But don’t worry – we’ll take care of you. Because you make our son happy. You are almost like a son to us already.” At that moment, Sanemi felt his throat constrict and he almost burst into tears. He was so touched and so happy that Giyuu’s parents thought of him as a second son. Likewise, he did think of them as a second set of parents to him too.

Despite having moved out of his family home, much to his younger siblings’ consternation (which they got over pretty quickly anyway because Genya moved into Sanemi’s bedroom, so there was a bit of reshuffling and there was more space to accommodate everyone else), Sanemi still went back home every week. Sometimes, he brought Giyuu along too, especially if there was a special occasion, like if they were celebrating a birthday. The more the merrier, after all.

Likewise, when Giyuu went back to his own family home, he occasionally brought Sanemi along too. Sanemi liked talking to Giyuu’s father – he was smart, well-read and always had a story to tell, so Sanemi never got bored conversing with him. In his past life, Sanemi had never met Giyuu’s father as he had died before Tsutako-nee-san had been killed by a demon and Giyuu ran away from the relatives who were supposed to take him in to begin training under Urodaki-sensei and become a Demon Slayer. Now that Sanemi has met Giyuu’s father, he could see that Giyuu had inherited a lot of his father’s features, and they looked somewhat similar. It wasn’t difficult to imagine what Giyuu would look like when he grew older whenever Sanemi saw Giyuu’s father.

With regards to his family, Sanemi was no doubt very surprised about his father – Kyogo kept his word that he would accept Sanemi for being gay. He trusted his father’s word, but Sanemi had also half-expected his father to backtrack and maybe throw him out of the house a month after he came out to his family. The most mind-boggling thing of all was Kyogo accepting Giyuu into the family so quickly (especially when he was currently only just a boyfriend – they were still a little too young to register for a same-sex partnership certificate or anything like that). Sanemi wasn’t even going to question it; he was merely going to thank the gods and revel in his father’s soft disposition, so very unlike the asshole he was in his past life.

Therefore, it was evident that Sanemi and Giyuu’s families had really warmed up to the idea of their sons dating a member of the same sex.

This life was indeed a second chance to redo everything. At least in this life, things were mostly going Sanemi’s way.

***

About four months after Sanemi and Giyuu started living together, Sanemi thought it was a good time to take the next step in their cohabiting journey and have sex. They shared a bed and they slept together side-by-side, often holding each other while they slept, but they have not yet crossed the boundary into sex. And honestly, Sanemi was finding it a little hard to keep his libido in check while sleeping next to Giyuu in the same bed especially when Giyuu slept in such adorable positions and woke up with the cutest, most ridiculous bed-head. Since they had entered university, Giyuu started to grow his hair out and tied his longer hair in a ponytail – he was looking more and more like his past incarnation. As such, his bed-head also grew more and more ridiculous (and cute, not to mention) by the day.

On the day that Sanemi had the least number of classes, which also happened to be a Friday (which was a good thing, because if Sanemi and Giyuu really ended up having sex and overdid themselves, then at least they could sleep in the next day without any problems), Sanemi tidied up the bedroom as soon as he returned to the apartment when he was done with lectures for the day. It wasn’t that Sanemi and Giyuu were messy per se, it was just that when they were tired, they often left things to clear later and never got the chance to get to it until stuff began to pile up.

After that, Sanemi set up a couple of candles on each of the side-tables by the bed and scattered some red rose petals on the bed. He studied his handiwork for a while, wondering if it was too much. He was trying to be romantic, but he wasn’t sure if rose petals were the way to go. In the end, Sanemi left the rose petals as they were on the bed. If it didn’t achieve the desired effect of being romantic, Sanemi and Giyuu could laugh at it later.

Sanemi passed the rest of the afternoon working on his assignment on his laptop in the other room that had been designated for work purposes. However, he couldn’t concentrate and didn’t manage to get much done. Sex with Giyuu dominated Sanemi’s brain. Sanemi wondered what it would be like doing it for the first time in this life. Would it feel like how Sanemi remembered it feeling in his past life? Would is be as amazing? Would Giyuu still be sensitive in the same areas? Would touching Giyuu so intimately elicit the same reactions and erotic sounds like it did in the past? Sanemi was excited to find out. His heart was hammering frantically against his chest with anticipation.

Of course, there was the possibility that Giyuu might reject Sanemi’s proposal to have sex that night. He might not want to, or he might not even be ready. That was okay too. Sure, Sanemi would be disappointed, but there was always next time. Sanemi did not want to pressure Giyuu or rush him into anything he was not comfortable with.

Sanemi told Giyuu the previous night that he would meet him on the way home from Rikkyo at Takadanobaba Station and then they could grab dinner together nearby before heading back to their apartment. Sanemi wanted to set the mood before he suggested that they have sex, and he thought that perhaps a nice dinner might do the trick. So, in the evening, Sanemi stopped work and set out for the station.

When Sanemi spotted Giyuu emerge from the station’s main Waseda exit, he waved at Giyuu to beckon him over and away from the crowd. Giyuu walked towards Sanemi, and as soon as they were close enough to hear each other, Giyuu asked, “Have you been waiting long?”

“Maybe five minutes,” replied Sanemi.

“Sorry – I missed the first train. It left just as I got onto the platform.”

“It’s no biggie. Five minutes isn’t a long wait,” Sanemi said, smiling at Giyuu. “You hungry already? Let’s go for dinner.”

“Mm, okay, where do you want to eat?” asked Giyuu.

“I’m sure we can find something in Big Box,” replied Sanemi as he pointed at the nearby mall.

In the end, Sanemi and Giyuu agreed to have their dinner in Saizeriya. It was within Sanemi’s budget too. It wasn’t every day that they dined like this for dinner; they usually took turns cooking during the weekdays and sometimes ate out during the weekends. As a nutrition student, Giyuu made sure that they ate well-balanced meals. Not wanting to burden their parents, both of them worked part-time jobs to supplement their expenses, but they didn’t earn very much; they earned enough to sustain themselves with a little extra at the end of the month. Actually, Giyuu had asked Sanemi what the occasion was when Sanemi suggested that he take a break from cooking to have dinner out. Sanemi had replied, “Just want to treat my handsome boyfriend once in a while,” and Giyuu had blushed and let out the most melodious laugh. Sanemi was on a tight budget, but it was worth it if it made Giyuu happy and he could hear Giyuu laugh like that. And it would be even more worth it if they ended up having sex that night.

In any case, having a nice dinner in a restaurant was a good idea. At the end of the night, when Sanemi and Giyuu got back to their apartment, Giyuu was in a good mood. Sanemi hoped that meant that Giyuu would be more amenable to what he wanted to do that night.

Giyuu was in the middle of telling Sanemi how his professor praised his work on his project. Sanemi knew that Giyuu was not boasting – Giyuu was not the type to be proud and boast. It was just that he worked really hard on this project, so it was nice to see his efforts get recognized. And Sanemi acknowledged Giyuu’s efforts too – he had spent many late nights working on this project.

Sanemi was the one to step into their bedroom first. He turned the dial of the light switch on, but only so that the lights were dim, in order to create what he hoped was a romantic atmosphere.

“Nemi, why is it so dark-” Giyuu asked as he peered around Sanemi’s shoulder, his voice dying in his throat when he saw their bed with the rose petals on top of the mattress. “Oh.”

Suddenly, Sanemi felt nervous. He turned around to look at Giyuu somewhat anxiously. “Would you… Er, do you want to do it tonight?”

Giyuu grinned. It was obvious he knew what Sanemi meant. But he tilted his head sideways, and asked, “Do what?”

That cheeky bastard. Giyuu was teasing him, Sanemi knew it. He played along, though. So, Sanemi took a deep breath in and let it out. Then, he repeated his question, this time saying it clearer and more specifically. “Do you want to have sex tonight?” Even as he said it, Sanemi could feel his cheeks getting hot.

Giyuu let out a chuckle. “I just wanted to hear you say it aloud,” he said, still with that shit-eating grin of his.

Sanemi snorted in reply. This was one of Giyuu’s rare mischievous moments, so Sanemi let it slide.

“Well?” Sanemi prompted. “Do you?”

“Yes,” Giyuu’s answer was immediate. “I want to. So much.”

Sanemi’s heart was now going a mile a minute. “Really?” he breathed out. Sanemi’s hands reached forward to take Giyuu’s hands into them, and he gently pulled Giyuu into their bedroom.

“Yeah,” said Giyuu. “I just… Can I take a shower first?”

“Ah, sure,” Sanemi replied. He recalled that it was a habit of Giyuu’s in their past lives to bathe before they had sex. It was something about making himself clean and presentable for Sanemi. Sanemi thought it was very endearing.

“Thanks.” With that, Giyuu took off his backpack from his back and placed it in his corner of their bedroom.

“On second thought…” Sanemi said, feeling bolder by the second now that they had agreed to have sex. “Can I join you?”

“Oh.” It was Giyuu’s turn to turn red.

This puzzled Sanemi. From Giyuu’s blush, it would seem that he was shy about something. But what was it? It couldn’t be that he was shy about being naked in front of Sanemi, right? He had just said that he wanted to have sex! Sanemi was very familiar with Giyuu’s body in his past life, but maybe Giyuu had gotten a scar or a mark in some embarrassing part of his body when he was a child in this life that Sanemi was not aware of? Well, Giyuu should know that Sanemi didn’t give a fuck about scars and marks. Or maybe Giyuu had some embarrassing shower habit that he didn’t want Sanemi to know about?

Nevertheless, Giyuu replied, “Sure.”

Sanemi grinned at his boyfriend in reply. He was just about to take off his jacket and begin undressing when Giyuu spoke again.

“Nemi?” Giyuu began in a small voice. “I’m sorry… But can we remove the rose petals from the bed first? I know you wanted to be romantic, and it IS romantic, but I don’t want rose petals sticking to us when we lie down on it later.”

“Yeah, good point. I doubt it is very comfortable having stuff stuck to our skin,” Sanemi said.

“I’m so sorry that your efforts are going to go to waste…”

“No, don’t worry about it,” said Sanemi as he waved a hand dismissively. “I am just glad that you knew my intentions and that you recognized that I was trying to be romantic.”

Giyuu chuckled quietly. “Well, it wasn’t subtle,” he told Sanemi.

Sanemi laughed. “I wasn’t trying to be subtle!”

After Sanemi brushed the rose petals off the bed and onto the floor (he would sweep them up the next day), he and Giyuu took a shower together. It was surprisingly more innocent than what Sanemi expected it to be – they merely showered together and there was no hanky-panky in the shower. Perhaps it was because they already knew what they were going to do later on and were saving their desires for the main event. Sanemi couldn’t figure out what Giyuu was shy about because he did not have any embarrassing marks or scars on his body. In the end, it didn’t matter.

Unexpectedly, it was Giyuu who made the first move. As soon as Sanemi had finished drying his hair, Giyuu took the hair-dryer from his hand and placed it back into its holder on the bathroom counter. Then, without saying a word and gazing at Sanemi with a fond expression, Giyuu pulled him out of the bathroom and back into their bedroom. Giyuu continued leading Sanemi over to their bed, walking backwards, his eyes never leaving Sanemi’s. It was like Giyuu thought that if he looked away, if their eyes broke contact, they would lose the nerve.

“You okay?” Sanemi half-whispered to Giyuu.

“Yeah,” said Giyuu softly. When the back of his calves bumped against the bed, he fell backwards onto the mattress, bringing Sanemi down along with him. They both had towels wrapped loosely around their waists after the shower (Sanemi wasn’t sure why they even bothered to cover themselves up because they were going to end up naked again, but he supposed it was just reflex), and Sanemi thought his towel would come off as he collapsed on top of Giyuu. However, it remained fastened around his waist.

Sanemi gazed down at Giyuu, admiring his boyfriend’s beautiful face and the way his hair fanned out behind his head on the bed. Then, without saying a word, Sanemi leaned down as Giyuu lifted his head to meet Sanemi’s lips in a kiss.

When they broke apart, Sanemi reached up to stroke Giyuu’s hair. Giyuu’s face softened into an affectionate smile at Sanemi.

“You remember,” Giyuu murmured.

“Hm? Remember what?”

“That I like it when you do that before we have sex.”

“Oh… yeah, I guess I do?” said Sanemi. Now that Giyuu mentioned it, Sanemi began to remember that he always made it a point to stroke Giyuu on the head before they had sex during his past life. Sanemi recalled that to Giyuu, that gesture was one of love, and to have his head stroked before they had sex was like reinforcing that he was loved.

“How sweet of you,” Giyuu said with endearment as he booped Sanemi’s nose lightly with his finger.

“I am pleased to know that it makes you happy, that’s all,” replied Sanemi.

“It does. It really does.”

Sanemi’s head dipped down to kiss Giyuu again. This time, the kiss was more intense – their mouths moved against each other’s desperately, changing the pressure and intensity and amount of tongue. For an instant, Sanemi was so overwhelmed by the kiss, he felt the room spin. Nevertheless, while they kissed, Sanemi’s hand managed to creep downwards towards the towel around Giyuu’s waist and untied it. He felt the towel come loose and slide off Giyuu’s waist.

Sanemi and Giyuu were so engrossed in kissing that Sanemi didn’t even think to break away to look at Giyuu’s naked body. Besides, in the next moments, he would have plenty of opportunity to do so.

When they finally broke apart, Giyuu whispered a breathless, “I love you, Nemi.”

Sanemi replied, just as breathlessly, “Love you too, Yuu.”

After that, Sanemi and Giyuu made love slowly, which Sanemi thought said a lot about his self-control, considering he had been dreaming and fantasizing about having sex with Giyuu since his high school days. Sanemi knew he and Giyuu agreed at the time that they should wait till they were older to do it because they were still minors in high school, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t allowed to think about it. He was still a healthy young male after all.

Every dip and hollow of Giyuu’s body, each contour of Giyuu’s body, Sanemi committed to memory. There were some very slight differences to Giyuu’s body compared to what Sanemi recalled from his previous life. It was most probably because the muscles of Giyuu’s body developed a little differently now – back then, he had the training of a Demon Slayer, but now, he had a swimmer’s body. The differences were not that pronounced and were practically unnoticeable, but Sanemi, who was very intimately familiar with his boyfriend’s body in his past life caught onto them. The most significant difference was that Giyuu’s shoulders were a little broader. The less noticeable differences were that his abs were just a bit more prominent and his triceps a bit more defined. It wasn’t a big deal nor was it a bad thing, in Sanemi’s opinion. In fact, he thought Giyuu might actually look better. Or maybe he was just biased to current Giyuu.

Sanemi silently wondered if his own body was different too.

When they were done, Sanemi and Giyuu lay cuddling in a comfortable silence for a while. No words needed to be said between them; it was clear that the two of them enjoyed every bit of their activity. As Sanemi held Giyuu, he could feel that Giyuu’s body was languid and relaxed. It was like Sanemi had just fucked the life out of Giyuu. Sanemi couldn’t help the satisfied grin that appeared on his face.

Soon, however, Sanemi realized that Giyuu was struggling to stay awake. Why Giyuu felt the need to stay awake was beyond Sanemi, but he didn’t want to probe too much. “Hey,” Sanemi said, giving Giyuu a light nudge. “You’re tired. Go to sleep.”

“Just a little while more – spending time with you like this feels nice,” Giyuu mumbled.

“Okay,” Sanemi relented. “Just a little while more.”

Eventually, Giyuu drifted off to sleep, and Sanemi, too, allowed himself to succumb to the darkness.

***

Sanemi was well aware that sharing sexual experiences with his best friend was not a manly thing to do. But Masachika knew everything about him; it was ingrained in Sanemi to tell Masachika everything! He didn’t think Giyuu would mind – Giyuu respected and understood the friendship between Sanemi and Masachika.

So, the next time Sanemi saw Masachika, he casually mentioned that he had sex with Giyuu. He was met with a hearty congratulatory whack on his back.

Sanemi could tell that Masachika was curious about the mechanics of gay sex and had some questions on his mind. “You have questions, don’t you?” Sanemi said, smirking at Masachika.

“Maybe? A little?” replied Masachika a little sheepishly. “You don’t mind? It isn’t embarrassing?”

“As long as you don’t imagine Yuu and I doing it, it’s fine,” said Sanemi.

“Of course! If I did that, I wouldn’t be able to look you in the eye anymore!” replied Masachika, laughing.

Over coffee, Sanemi answered Masachika’s questions. Masachika acknowledged everything he was told with an open mind, which Sanemi was thankful for.