Work Text:
Sanemi and Giyuu rarely had time for a night to themselves. Between their work as teachers and taking care of Genya the two had a pretty full plate.
So when they found they had a free evening the two jumped at the opportunity to have a night out.
And everything seemed fine, Genya wasn’t regressed, but despite Sanemi’s wishes, Tanjiro Kamado would be over. He and Genya would be meeting up to study together which would actually be Genya helping Tanjiro study.
Sanemi really did not want Kamado in his home, but he loved his brother despite his poor taste in friends, so he allowed it.
“Giyuu and I won’t be home until late,” Sanemi told his brother, “you have my number if anything goes wrong. There is stuff for dinner in the fridge you just have to reheat it. And don’t do anything stupid with Kamado.”
“Sanemi, you don’t have to worry about me,” Genya assured, "I'll be fine.”
“I’m always gonna worry about you,” Sanemi replied.
Genya sighed, “just enjoy your night with Giyuu.”
Then there was a knock at the door.
“That’s probably Tanjiro,” Genya said, heading towards the door.
Genya opened the door and Tanjiro was on the other side holding his school bag and smiling brightly.
“Hey,” Genya greeted.
“Thanks for having me,” Tanjiro replied, stepping into the Shinazugawa apartment.
“Hello Mr.Shinazugawa, hello Mr.Tomioka,” Tanjiro addressed the two teachers when he saw them.
Sanemi just huffed and rolled his eyes.
“Hello, Tanjiro,” Giyuu returned the greeting.
“Well, now that Kamado is here we should get going,” Sanemi said, grabbing Giyuu’s hand and pulling him towards the door.
Tanjiro got his shoes off and moved out of Sanemi and Giyuu’s way, and once the two adults had their shoes on they left the apartment leaving Tanjiro and Genya alone.
“Sorry that my brother is like that,” Genya apologized to Tanjiro.
“You don’t need to apologize to me on his behalf,” Tanjiro told Genya.
“Still, he's sort of an ass to you.”
“He’s just strict and cares in his own way.”
Genya knew Tanjiro was right to an extent, but his brother really was not fond of Tanjiro. It wasn’t that easy to get Sanemi to agree to let Tanjiro even come over for the night.
“I guess so,” Genya shrugged, as he started heading towards his room, Tanjiro following behind him.
“So it’s just you and your brother?” Tanjiro asked.
Genya nodded, “mom and our other siblings are back home. Sanemi moved here for his job and I ended up moving here to attend the academy.”
“Does your family live far away?”
“Sort of, it’s like a five hour drive,” Genya told Tanjiro, opening the door to his bedroom and inviting Tanjiro in.
All of Genya’s age regression supplies, including Bingo, had been put away into his closet before Tanjiro arrived.
Genya did trust him and trusted that if Tanjiro learned about his age regression he wouldn’t say anything but Genya wasn’t ready for his closest friend to know that side of him yet.
“That sounds like quite a drive,” Tanjiro commented.
“A bit,” Genya shrugged, before taking a seat at his desk. “You can just put your bag down wherever,” he added.
Tanjiro nodded, placed his bag down then sat on Genya’s bed.
“Do you miss your family?” Tanjiro asked.
“Of course,” Genya replied.
He wasn’t expecting Tanjiro to ask him so many questions.
“Makes sense, how many siblings do you have?”
“There's seven of us.”
“Seven?” Tanjiro repeated in surprise.
“Yeah, Sanemi and I are the oldest.”
“And I thought I had a lot of siblings.”
Genya laughed, “guess we both have pretty big families.”
“Is that why you decided to go to the academy?” Tanjiro continued to ask questions.
“No, my mom wanted me to have a better shot at a future I guess.”
Genya started pulling his homework from his bag, “speaking of, we should get started on our homework.”
Tanjiro opened his bag and pulled out his own homework.
“There’s probably more space in the living room,” Genya said, “maybe we should move out there.”
Tanjiro nodded in agreement with Genya.
The two boys went from Genya’s room to the living room, and set up at the coffee table.
“What subject should we start with?” Tanjiro asked.
Genya shrugged, “What do you want to start with?”
“Uh, maybe science?” Tanjiro suggested as he went through his papers, “we have a bunch of homework for chemistry.”
Genya nodded, getting out his chemistry homework.
Chemistry was one of Genya’s best classes. He did well enough in it but he often found himself struggling with the calculations.
As the evening went on they slowly made their way through the assignments. Most of the time Genya was helping Tanjiro figure the questions out, but Genya didn’t mind too much. He was just happy to be doing homework with a friend.
And Tanjiro was one of Genya’s best friends. He loved spending time with the boy who was practically the human manifestation of sunlight.
They were working through their English homework when Genya started to feel fuzzy. He wasn’t exactly sure why, nothing had triggered him to make him regress. His only thought was maybe it was Tanjiro.
Even though it was Genya who was helping Tanjiro through most of the homework, his kindness was still overwhelming. Honestly Genya was pretty sure no one alive was more kind and warm than Tanjiro.
So the fuzziness began to creep up on Genya, but he ignored it. Not only was Sanemi out on a date, Tanjiro was here, this wasn’t the time or the place for Genya to be little right now.
“Genya are you okay? Do you need a break?” Tanjiro asked as they were wrapping up working on their English homework.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, you look a bit out of it.”
Genya shook his head, “don’t worry I’m fine, just a bit tired.”
Tanjiro frowned, “are you sure? We still have lots of time to get stuff done.”
Genya sighed, “we can take a break for dinner I guess.”
Genya did like the idea of a break, maybe if he ate something he could fully push away the fuzziness that was trying to take over.
Genya went to the kitchen and pulled the dinner that Sanemi had left out of the fridge. It was just some fish and rice, but Genya preferred simpler meals like this. He put the food into the microwave for a few minutes and when it was done he took it out and dished it on two separate plates for himself and Tanjiro.
“Sorry it’s not anything fancy,” Genya apologized as he placed Tanjiro’s share of dinner on the table in front of him.
“It's fine,” Tanjiro said with a smile.
Genya returned the smile.
Genya ate dinner the way he always did, slowly poking at the food and infrequently taking small bites. Every once in a while Genya would notice Tanjiro giving him weird looks.
“Is something wrong, Tanjiro?” Genya asked.
“You aren’t eating,” Tanjiro replied.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat.”
Genya blinked, he never thought about how people outside his brother viewed his eating habits.
“I have a whole thing with food,” Genya tried to explain. He didn’t really want to tell Tanjiro he had an eating disorder, he knew his friend would worry too much about it.
Tanjiro nodded, then looked down at his own food, “sounds like it’s a sore subject, sorry to press you about it.”
“No it’s okay.”
“I mean it, I don't wanna make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay, Tanjiro,” Genya reassured, “let's just finish eating and get back to our homework."
The two boys went back to eating their dinner and engaging in simple small talk. Once they had finished their meals they put the plates into the sink and went back to homework.
As they went back to work Genya felt the fuzziness begin to take over again. The worst part was that it was getting stronger and Genya wasn’t sure he could hold it together until Sanemi came home.
“Are you sure you're okay Genya?” Tanjiro asked.
Genya nodded, “I already told you I'm fine.”
“You just seem a bit out of it, do you wanna call your brother?”
“Tanjiro, I promise I am fine.”
Tanjiro frowned, “thing is,” he began a bit hesitantly, “last time I saw you act like this, people said you peed your pants and Mr. Shinazugawa had to take you home.”
Genya tensed up as embarrassment and shame washed over him. People were talking about the accident he had in class, and worse yet Tanjiro heard about it. Genya swallowed a lump in his throat.
“That was a one time deal,” Genya lied.
“So it wasn't just a rude rumor?”
Genya shook his head.
“Oh, sorry I brought it up.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
Tanjiro looked down and didn’t say anything, he just kept his gaze averted.
“You don’t need to feel bad,” Genya told Tanjiro, trying to reassure him.
“I don’t want to make you feel bad,” Tanjiro explained.
“You didn't, it's just embarrassing,” Genya replied.
“You’re my friend Genya, so I worry about you,” Tanjiro’s voice was clearly full of concern.
“Thanks, but you don’t have to,” Genya dismissed in an attempt to brush him off.
Silence fell between the two as they continued progressing on their homework.
Genya couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt when he looked up at Tanjiro. Genya was far from an open book of a human. He kept lots of things to himself, it was a safety thing.
But Tanjiro was different.
“Do you want to know what happened?” Genya asked in a whisper.
Tanjiro stopped what he was doing and made eye contact with Genya. “Only if you want to tell me.”
“I do, I think,” Genya put his pencil down.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Genya sighed, trying to figure out why he was about to tell Tanjiro about this. He figured it was because he was so close to slipping and he wasn’t thinking right.
“Do you know what age regression is?” Genya asked, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
“Kind of.”
“Yeah it’s like, sometimes you’re mentally younger I guess,” Genya explained, “sometimes, I... yeah.” He couldn’t bring himself to say much more.
“Do you feel like that now?”
Genya shrugged, “kind of.”
“Do you need to call your brother?”
“Not yet. I haven’t slipped yet.”
“Slipped?”
“Like, actually regressed, I just feel like I might.”
“Do you want to regress?” Tanjiro asked, tilting his head to the side.
Genya bit the inside of his cheek, then shrugged. Part of him really did want to slip, to give in to his head space and be little and just watch cartoons with Tanjiro until his brother came home. But Genya wasn’t sure if he wanted Tanjiro to see that side of him.
But he did trust Tanjiro with knowing that side of him.
“Well, how about we finish up with homework for the night, then do something else,” Tanjiro suggested.
Genya nodded, “yeah.”
“Is there anything you want to do until Mr. Shinazugawa gets back?”
“Maybe we could watch a movie?”
“I like that idea,” Tanjiro said with a smile.
Genya returned the smile as he stood up and grabbed the remote for the TV, “we can use my brother's Disney+ account.”
Turning the TV on, Genya sat on the couch and Tanjiro quickly followed him.
“What do you want to watch?” Genya asked.
“You can pick.”
Genya nodded, and scrolled through the movies until landing on one he thought both him and Tanjiro would enjoy.
They didn’t speak when the movie was playing. Genya was okay with this, as he found himself slipping into his little headspace he didn’t want to talk that much anyway.
Slowly Genya began leaning towards Tanjiro, and his friend didn’t seem
to mind at all, in fact Tanjiro shifted his position so Genya could lean against him comfortably. Tanjiro wrapped an arm around Genya, and softly brushed his fingers through Genya’s hair.
Genya was comfortable and he felt safe with Tanjiro. Not as safe as he did with Sanemi, but safe enough that he didn’t care that he felt little.
Soon Genya had his thumb in his mouth. Tanjiro gently removed Genya’s thumb upon noticing it, and Genya just whined.
“Sorry Genya,” Tanjiro said trying to sooth the little, “do you have any of your chewlery on you?”
Genya thought for a moment then tugged at the cord around his neck, which was tied to a light purple silicon ring that he quickly brought to his mouth.
Tanjiro smiled and lightly patted Genya on the head, “good boy.”
Genya made a small sound, and Tanjiro seemed to understand that it meant he was happy.
Genya was half asleep as the movie finished, happy, content and comfortable snuggled up next to Tanjiro. That was until there was the soft sound of the front door unlocking. Genya was suddenly upright and looking towards the door.
“Nemi back!” Genya cheered when he saw his brother enter the apartment.
Sanemi smiled and quickly got his shoes off before heading to his brother, “hey Gen.”
Genya leaned over the back of the couch and hugged Sanemi.
“When did this start?” Sanemi asked Tanjiro.
“Only a bit ago.”
“Fuck,” Sanemi sighed, “do I have to explain all this?”
“No,” Tanjiro quickly replied, “Genya told me.”
“He told you?”
Tanjiro nodded, “he said it was age regression. He said he was starting to feel little so we turned on a movie.”
Sanemi combed his fingers through Genya’s hair, “he trusts you a lot then Kamado.”
Tanjiro smiled then patted Genya’s head, "I'm happy he trusts me.”
“Doesn’t mean I do,” Sanemi added, “don’t tell anyone about this.”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“Good, I need to get Genya ready for bed. You’re staying here right?”
Tanjiro nodded, “but if it’s not a good time I can go home.”
Genya responded by pulling Tanjiro into a hug, “stay.”
Sanemi sighed, “looks like you’re still staying the night Kamdo. I’m gonna get Genya ready for bed and set out a futon for you.”
“Thanks,” Tanjiro said, as cheerful as ever.
Sanemi took Genya to his room, “you sure you want Kamado to stay the night?”
Genya nodded enthusiastically.
Sanemi sighed again, “okay, but if anything happens it’s not my fault”
Genya nodded again.
Once in Genya’s room Sanemi placed his brother on the bed then went to the closet and grabbed Bingo and some pyjamas for Genya.
Sanemi quickly helped his brother get changed then tucked him in with Bingo.
With Genya in bed Sanemi went to the closet in the hall and pulled out a futon he had stored there. He went back into Genya’s room and set the futon down for Tanjiro.
“Bed is set up for you,” Sanemi told Tanjiro.
“Thank you again, Mr. Shinazugawa.”
“Don’t thank me, I’m only letting you stay because Genya wants you to.”
Tanjiro smiled, bowed his head then went to Genya’s room.
He smiled upon seeing his friend tucked comfortably into bed.
Genya sat up when he heard Tanjiro enter the room. “Tanjiro!”
“Hey Genya,” Tanjiro greeted in a warm tone. He knelt at the edge of Genya’s bed by the futon. “Who’s this?” he asked, pointing at Bingo.
Of course, Tanjiro did know who Bingo was. His youngest siblings loved watching it, so he wasn’t surprised that Genya seemed to have a soft spot for it.
“Bingo,” Genya replied, “she’s fr’m Bluey.”
Tanjiro smiled, “nice to meet you Bingo,” he said to the toy.
Genya just giggled and hugged Bingo close.
The smile never left Tanjiro's face. He loved that his friend could have this, just a space for him to feel safe and protected, and he was happy that Genya let him be a part of it.
“I’m pretty sure your brother wants us in bed,” Tanjiro told Genya as he gently pushed Genya down, then tucked him in again.
“Nemi doesn’t like it when I break the rules.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t. All the more reason for us to go to bed.”
Genya nodded, "nini Tanjiro,” he mumbled.
“Goodnight Genya, sweet dreams.”
Maybe in the morning Genya would regret showing this side of himself. But right now he was happy to have a friend he could be little around.