Chapter Text
It's exceedingly rare for many of the Hashira to convene in one place outside their two yearly meetings. However, as they're preparing to train the lower-ranking members of the Corps on an unprecedented scale, all but one of them currently happen to be in the general vicinity of headquarters, and so Muichiro sees a unique opportunity... not only to spar against his peers and hone his skills further, but also to make the most of his few familial bonds.
Since Master Kagaya always calls them his children, it makes sense that Muichiro's peers are like older siblings to him. (Along with nearly the entire rest of the Corps, if they're going by actual age, but he doesn't like most of them that much so he's ignoring that.) He never appreciated it while the fog in his brain shrouded out everything except his training and missions, but the other Hashira have always tried to look out for him, in their own strange ways... well, except maybe Shinazugawa, but after talking some more with Genya, Muichiro suspects that the Wind Hashira is just a deadbeat older brother in general and probably incapable of being even vaguely pleasant for more than five minutes at a stretch.
Anyway! The point is that the Mist Hashira has been feeling lonely in the few days since he recovered his memories, even with Nezuko and Genya to hang out with, and he suspects it's because he misses being doted on. Much as he bristles from time to time at being reminded he's the youngest, he also wouldn't mind having some family warmth and comfort again... ideally in a way that his seniors won't be too eager to tease him about later lest he embarrass them in turn.
Tomioka is not exempt from Muichiro's plans just because he's off moping at his own estate, for the record. Far from it: out of a combination of genuine concern and general contrarianism, his retreat has actually prompted the youngest Hashira to move him up the list for extracting some much-needed family affection... with an important ally in tow, at that.
He isn't sure whether the terms of her semi-official membership in the Demon Slayer Corps mean he technically needed to ask someone's permission before bringing Nezuko with him, but he did ask Nezuko herself whether she wanted to come, so he figures that ought to be enough. If anyone makes an issue of it later he can play it off as simple forgetfulness. (He gets the sense it'll be at least a few months before people other than Shinobu and her sisters/assistants fully register how much his amnesia has cleared up, so he's still got plenty of strikes left in that excuse.) Since she can stand in the sun now, it's not a logistical issue anyway - they can just walk together instead of having to enlist a member of the Kakushi to carry her in that box that's almost his height.
It only feels right that she's his "mission partner" for this - not only because she has history with the Water Hashira (or at least, he assumes so based on the whole thing with the man staking his life on her exceptional willpower and good nature), but also because she inspired the scheme in the first place.
They were sitting by the big cherry tree in the Butterfly Mansion's garden one day shortly after arriving there; Muichiro had woken up and was more or less back on his feet, but Shinobu had insisted that he stay another couple days to monitor for side effects from his poisoning. Antsy as he was about the lives that might be lost thanks to his not getting back to the field immediately, he had to admit he was also a little glad of the extra time to process everything that had changed over his brief jaunt to the Swordsmith Village.
Folding origami was a hobby he hadn't indulged since before his parents' passing, but the familiar motions came back easily given the inclination and opportunity. He'd always been good at learning and retaining movement patterns; even when the rest of his memory had been all but nonexistent, his kinaesthetic memory remained exceptional, as evidenced by the speed with which he picked up breathing techniques and swordsmanship.
Nezuko did not seem to be quite as experienced at origami in general - plus, she was hindered by her claws slicing her creases - but she knew a few patterns he didn't. She'd taught him how to make the basic pieces for a tamatebako, he'd taught her his five favourite paper airplane forms, and now they were working on making a giant kusudama (though they'd have to ask someone else for help stitching it together later; her claws and strength made handling needles hard, and he had recently remembered the incident that'd led to Yui issuing him a lifetime ban from using any sewing supplies).
He felt a very nostalgic impulse to idly fill the silence - and, maybe because he was at least two and a half years out of practice on doing so, the question that slipped out was... admittedly a little odd. "Nezuko, how do you get Tanjiro to give you attention?"
He wasn't really expecting an answer, but Nezuko gave him one anyway: she leaned closer and gently pulled his hand to rest on her head, moving it to give herself some pats until he got the hint and took up the motion on his own.
One and a half seconds later, he froze as he realized what she was telling him.
"Oh." That... made a lot of sense, actually.
"Oh!" Nezuko patted his head in turn, beaming a sunlight smile (a sunlight smile which, he marvelled, was somehow even brighter than her brother's).
"Thank you." He puffed out a sound just short of a laugh at the gesture, feeling his face warm to a dark pink. "For the pats and for the strategy."
Not that the latter did him any good, seeing as he had no family left, but he appreciated it all the same.
Then he happened to glance over to the engawa, where he saw Shinobu righting the ornament in her tsuguko's hair - an ornament that looked so very much like her own. Right... He'd heard about this before. That hair ornament had once belonged to the eldest Kocho sister, a Hashira herself. As for Shinobu and Kanao, they were sisters in everything but blood, weren't they?
And that sort of bond wasn't uncommon among Demon Slayers, either: something about the perilous and traumatic lives they led put it in stark relief just how precious the people who shared their path were, so they were less prone to wasting time on social propriety and maintaining a polite distance until some nebulous threshold of duration and information exchange had been reached to say that they "knew" each other in the right way.
Case in point: Muichiro had known Nezuko less than a week, and here she was getting settled to take a nap using him as a pillow. He didn't mind it, and in fact ended up falling asleep as well - maybe the most restful sleep he'd had in years...
Muichiro thought at the time that after the Hashira meeting would be a great opportunity to try out his new strategy, but between making plans for training and getting Shinazugawa to shut up and stop whinging about Tomioka's departure every five seconds, there hadn't really ended up being an opening for it. (Honestly, just one more in a long list of things of reasons to be mad at that guy.)
So instead, here he is making his way to the Water Estate hand in hand with Nezuko - on her initiative, and thinking back on his vague memories of the story he heard about her in that Hashira meeting, he supposes it must be because she hasn't gone anywhere without Tanjiro in nearly three years. (The kasugai crows are busy with some kind of special training of their own, done in rotations to retain support for the Corps members on active duty missions, and this week is Ginko's turn, so it really is just the two of them.) Whatever the reason, it feels nice; he hasn't held anyone's hand in almost that long himself.
This is... definitely a different kind of nice than holding his big brother's hand when he was a kid, though.
He puzzles over that for a moment before deciding that it doesn't really matter, and anyway it's more fun to pay attention to the clouds as they go.
"That one there... it's a frog," Muichiro decides.
"Hm..." Nezuko points out where that cloud meets with another, their shapes melding together. "Plum blossom."
She's still struggling with longer words and more complicated sentences, but he hopes getting to practice with simple things helps. He used to go back and forth with Ginko like this, back when he was rising through the ranks but couldn't regularly remember basic vocabulary.
Muichiro tilts his head. "Oh, you're right, it does look like a plum blossom. And that one's a fish."
"Yes, a fish - salmon?" Nezuko gasps as she spots another cloud. "Big Boss Inosuke!"
He follows her gaze to a cloud that does indeed look a lot like a certain junior's distinctive boar mask.
"Hm. That resemblance is just weird... Do you think he climbed up there and sculpted it himself?" Muichiro's joking, of course, but having recently met the "Beast Breathing" slayer, he can picture the other boy making a serious attempt to do so if anyone were to say such a thing in his presence.
Nezuko giggles and turns up her nose in an imitation of Inosuke's prideful puffs, even making boar noises. Muichiro tries his hand at it as well, but can't stop himself from laughing - and soon enough they're at the Water Estate.
"Good morning!" They both shout through the gate at the same time, aware that the Water Hashira lives alone; they have to make sure he hears them or no one will let them in.
They can always just enter on their own, of course, but Muichiro is a little concerned that if they did that they'd find Tomioka in an awkward or inappropriate position. Shinobu told him something like that a long time ago: the reason Tomioka doesn't have anyone living with him, not a tsuguko or any kakushi or attendants, is most likely because he's often doing indecent things he wouldn't want anyone to see. The youngest Hashira has no idea what she could have meant by that, and back then he had no interest in asking, but whatever it is, he certainly wouldn't want to cross a line and end up hurting his colleague...
After what must be half an hour of waiting at least, the sky clears completely, leaving them bereft of interesting cloud shapes. Muichiro is getting bored, and he feels bad watching Nezuko's struggles to start up a more normal, unstructured conversation - he's been there, albeit not to the same degree, so he can imagine how frustrating it is. The first few times he tried to talk to one of the Ubuyashikis or a kakushi and had to reach around futilely for terms and names that just wouldn't come, he wanted to cry, even through the severe emotional blunting and the mask of his twin that he unconsciously took up; for Nezuko, so warm and vibrant and open, it must be nothing short of hellish.
No matter how many times they call out greetings to Tomioka, though, it doesn't look like they're going to get a response... So naturally, Muichiro decides to climb over the wall.
"Tomioka, it's Muichiro Tokito and Nezuko Kamado. We're coming in now, so... if you're doing indecent things, this is your warning to stop," he says into a nearby open window, deliberately not peeking inside. His voice isn't all that loud, but it's so quiet and empty in the estate that he feels certain the sound will carry.
With that, he hops down to the other side of the wall - where Nezuko is waiting with a smile, having simply opened the gate and walked in. Inside the large house, they open the first door they see, and find a plain, neat training room with nicely-waxed flooring. Tomioka is sitting in slightly off-kilter seiza, looking like he's meditating... or rather, like he was meditating until he heard them come in and bristled like a newly-woken cat.
"What are you doing here? And... just what did you think I was doing?"
※＊※
They end up staying the night more or less by accident, as it's dark by the time they finish putting together the kusudama and the Water Hashira - who apparently can sew quite well - is concerned about them getting back to the Butterfly Mansion without a crow. Giyu insists that Nezuko take his futon, and Nezuko in turn insists that Muichiro share it with her; although it's already a tight fit, Muichiro pulls Giyu onto the cramped mattress too when the man tries to tuck them in. The weather hasn't turned yet, so they can all suffer the last dregs of damp, sweltering heat together.
(He knows why it bothers him now, being alone on a stifling summer night - but knowing doesn't really do a thing to make it better.)
Unsurprisingly, none of them ends up sleeping all that well in their strange position overnight, but somehow in the morning Giyu sneaks off to make rice with miso soup and daikon for breakfast. He even prepares a bowl of steaming water so Nezuko can "eat" with them, a gesture that moves the girl almost to tears.
Is this the first time she's shared a meal with anyone since being turned? Muichiro asks before he can think better of it, and she nods.
(On getting confirmation that his demon friend can, in fact, still drink water, Muichiro makes a mental note to pass this idea along to Tanjiro and the Butterfly girls so that Nezuko can always feel included this way.)
They cross paths with Tanjiro on the way back to the Butterfly Mansion and find out two things: first, that the master has officially assigned Tanjiro to pester Giyu while he recovers, for the sake of the Corps and also the Water Hashira's mental health; and second, that Shinobu noticed had arrived back from her research excursion in high spirits... until Tanjiro told her they'd gone out.
Muichiro wishes the other boy luck. Cheering Giyu up might be the hardest mission the master has ever assigned - he vaguely remembers that same task being set to all the other Hashira before once, with no success.
※＊※
"What were you thinking?!" On their return to the Butterfly Mansion, Shinobu is nothing short of livid - and worse, her voice soon loops around to its absolute most cloyingly sweet. "You do know that Muzan and his forces are bound to be searching for Nezuko like nothing else now that she's conquered the sun, don't you?"
Muichiro did not know that, actually, though now that he thinks of it it makes sense. "Oh."
This acknowledgement does nothing to diminish the Insect Hashira's fury. In fact, going by the vein that's twitching next to her strained smile, she might be angrier now. Nezuko interposes herself between the two Hashira, which Muichiro is about to tell her is unnecessary because Shinobu wouldn't actually hurt him (and he could just dodge if she tried anyway)... and then she does something even stranger.
"Welcome home," she says.
Muichiro and Shinobu both tilt their heads, making very similar confused noises.
"Welcome home," Nezuko says again, more firmly, and moves Shinobu's hand to pat Muichiro's head.
After another moment of befuddled silence, Shinobu smiles and pats both children's heads on her own accord.
"Yes, I'm glad you made it back safely, despite your tremendous lapse in judgement," she says. "But if you ever do something this foolish again I am locking you both in the cellar until Nezuko's cure is ready, understand?"
"Uh... Understand..." Nezuko twiddles her clawed fingers sheepishly, looking every bit a normal girl their age and not a demon whose uniquely strong spirit and determination gave rise to powers in a class all her own. It's rather nice to see, Muichiro decides, even though there's a tension he can't quite place in her expression and it makes him feel like he should reassure her or give her a hug or something.
"In the cellar?" He wonders what that's like. The Mist Estate has an en-no-shita that's unusually complex and spacious, with multiple internal entrances, and he gathers that that's broadly similar - but he's never been in a cellar before. "What do you use that for?"
Shinobu smiles a suspiciously soft smile. "Would you like to come have a look?"
"No!" Nezuko answers for both of them, shaking her head at a speed that'd probably make a human sick.
"Well..." Muichiro hums as he considers it. The Butterfly Mansion might be large, but it's not so large that it could take more than a few minutes to go through the cellar, surely?
Nezuko stares him down with surprising intensity. "No."
...on that mildly disturbing note, Muichiro flits off to check on Genya and resolves not to upset Shinobu again anytime soon if he can help it.
※＊※
At the end of that same week, Muichiro intends to go bother the Stone Estate's inhabitants on his way back from a mission - Nezuko probably won't mind not coming along for that, because she's spent plenty of time with Genya while he was recovering in the Butterfly Mansion and Gyomei is always notably uncomfortable around her anyway - but before that, he happens to spot Mitsuri in a town near headquarters.
Now, Mitsuri is honestly the one Hashira exempt from Muichiro's plans. (Yes, including Shinazugawa, mostly because Genya adores his awful big brother despite everything and Muichiro wants to find some way to force that volatile bastard to clean up his act - or at least get a closer look at the jerkface's weak spots in case he one day gets permission to defend his friend's honour against the older Hashira.) With her, the trouble lies more in getting her to stop with the displays of love and affection rather than to give them in the first place, so there'd be no point in going out of his way and his immediate victory just wouldn't be all that satisfying.
Except... today, she happens to be with Iguro.
There are a few different pieces of information that this brings up in Muichiro's mind, and as surely as his next steps in a battle, he automatically glides through them to choose his ideal outcome in a split-second. In this case, he'd like to make these two stop dancing around their incredibly obvious feelings for each other - even from the time he spent in a constant fog, he can recall flashes of other people's exasperation with how both would deny any implication that their affection could be reciprocated.
Especially Rengoku. Mitsuri's bashful insistence that a man as "kind and wonderful" as Iguro (a mildly baffling way to describe him, but one she's always seemed to favour) would never be attracted to "someone like her" was one of the few things that made the late Flame Hashira's voice turn mournfully owl-like in a sad match with his appearance.
...yeah, Muichiro has to help them stop being dumb immediately.
"Mitsuri!" He waves at her, smiling, and she soon runs over with Iguro in tow. "How are the arrangements for your training going?"
It came up in the meeting the other day that the Love Hashira's training will require some extra preparation of supplies and dedicated equipment, probably because of the sheer difficulty of attempting to impart even a semblance of her flexibility onto people not born with her unique constitution. Muichiro would know; he's the only one of the other Hashira who can fully keep up with her workouts on that front, and that's only because he hasn't quite grown out of a child's natural flexibility yet. The rest of them are using standard Corps gear when they're using gear at all, which is why they decided to delay her lessons to the third stage rather than right after the basic physical conditioning Uzui is doing.
"It's going great, I think! Mr Iguro has been helping me test recipes, too," she says, a light pink dusting her face. "And he even offered to treat me to lunch today while we shop!"
"I just happened to have some time, that's all..." Iguro's muttered words are undercut by the matching blush that rises over his bandages.
Kaburamaru hisses and flicks out his tongue before nuzzling Iguro's cheek; somehow, Muichiro feels like the snake has a better grasp on the situation than either of his two fellow Hashira.
He makes eye contact with his reptilian ally for a long moment as he considers how to go about this. Kaburamaru twists his tail conspicuously, unwinding from his usual perch just a bit to point gesture at his human's sleeve.
It seems like something's tucked in there, but what does that have to do with—
Oh. It's faint, but through one of the white stripes of Iguro's haori, Muichiro can make out the edge of a dark green fabric wrap.
So then, does that mean...?
Thank you, Kaburamaru! This should be easy.
"If you're both shopping..." Muichiro makes sure to let his voice drift airily just a little more than usual, in a calculated display of innocence lest his comrades (rightly) suspect him of being up to something. "Did you get a gift for Mitsuri, Mr Iguro?"
Mitsuri squeaks. "A gift? Wha - uh, what for?"
Hm. That... is a good question.
"Valentine's Day?" He remembers hearing something about that on a mission in Kyobashi once: some kind of foreign festival where couples exchange presents and do lovey-dovey things.
"What." Iguro definitely looks like he's frowning under his bandages.
"That's in February, though," says Mitsuri, because of course she knows that.
"Then... your anniversary?" Maybe it'll work to just pretend he thinks they've acted on their feelings, to give them both a hint that those feelings are definitely reciprocated and everyone can see it.
Mitsuri beams. "Oh! I guess we did first meet around this time of year, didn't we? I'm sorry I didn't get you anything, Mr Iguro..."
...seriously?
"You don't have to - besides, you gave me honeycomb candy this morning." Iguro is fully looking away from both other Hashira now. Muichiro leans over to check - and yep, sure enough, he's turned an almost feverish red.
Mitsuri is about the same shade, and when Muichiro grabs her left hand and Iguro's right, their pulses are fluttering like the wings of a dragonfly. If their temperatures rise even slightly more, the younger Hashira suspects his colleagues will both have their marks appear for reasons entirely unrelated to slaying demons.
"Let's all have lunch together, since we ran into each other," he says, to buy time for himself and Kaburamaru to strategize.
Iguro's present for Mitsuri turns out to be a fine floral hairpin decorated with pink and green enamel. Muichiro innocently suggests that he put it in her hair for her, which practically makes steam come out of the Love Hashira's ears but does not seem to prompt any clarity in either of them. Muichiro repeatedly compliments how nice it looks on her, remarking on how thoughtful and attentive Iguro is - and, when that doesn't seem to be enough of a hint, how he must think about Mitsuri a lot; that accomplishes absolutely nothing.
As they eat their meal, he tries to figure out why this isn't working and overhears a young couple talking about how hard it was to escape their friends on this day out. Is it because he's here? No, he knows these two spend time together alone whenever they can and yet they still haven't managed to recognize those outings as "courtship"...
Just in case, after Mitsuri insists that they try the restaurant's highly-recommended anmitsu, he pretends to fall asleep. Kaburamaru joins him after a moment, snuggling into Muichiro's hair and giving the two hopeless Hashira some privacy... not counting everyone else in the room, of course, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for other couples.
In the end, Muichiro falls asleep for real and wakes up back in the Mist Estate, having been carried there by Mitsuri. Along with the little bottle of konpeito and note she left him, he finds a skewered candy sculpture of a goldfish at his door, stuck carefully between the floorboards next to a piece of paper that seems to have been bitten by a snake.
Well, his actual goal for the day doesn't seem to have worked out, but he'll take this for now.