Chapter Text
Tanjirou stared at the bandages on his body. The battle against the Lowermoon 5 had made him understand how far his strength compared to Muzan's was.
The sound of wind chimes from the inn window distracted him. He was drawn to stand and open the window wider, enjoying the cool night breeze blowing against his face.
Nezuko had been asleep for two days. This worried Tanjirou to death, hoping this sleep wouldn't be as long as the last. Nezuko's last long sleep lasted two years. Tanjirou was worried because his sister hadn't woken up, and it was killing him little by little.
The inn door slid open slowly. Tanjirou didn't need to turn to know who had arrived. Giyuu had been carrying the same scent of sadness and anger for the past two days.
"I brought food," Giyuu announced himself.
The younger man flashed a smile, closed the window, and sat down.
It wasn't anything fancy. They didn't even have chabudai for dinner, just spooning grains of rice and swallowing them like sand.
Perhaps Tanjirou could sense someone's emotions as easily as turning the palm of his hand. But he still had no idea what Giyuu was really thinking.
Honestly, Giyuu didn't even know much about the Kamados. But in their two encounters, Giyuu had twice shown all the kindness Tanjirou knew he needed.
The same was true for Tanjirou. The young teenager clearly knew nothing about the Hashira—the former Hashira.
At the very least, Giyuu had been loyal to the corps since meeting Tanjirou at the foot of the mountain that day. But Giyuu didn't even blink when he decided to throw everything away for himself and Nezuko.
Feeling a little guilty was an understatement of Tanjirou's feelings at the moment.
The floor lamp in the small inn room flickered because of the fire inside. Tanjirou tried to see Giyuu's face and focused on his dinner when he noticed Giyuu's usual blank stare.
The sound of Nezuko's breathing as she lay on the futon was the only thing keeping Tanjirou awake at the moment.
"What... what happens after this?" Tanjirou muttered. Apologizing for pushing Giyuu into this situation wouldn't be appropriate right now. It would only make him sound like he was questioning Giyuu's judgment, and that was the last thing Tanjirou wanted.
Giyuu finished his meal quickly. Tanjirou hadn't even finished half of it. "Mingle in. My warning at the meeting might not have gone unheeded by the hashira."
The younger grimaced at that. He hadn't smelled a lie when Giyuu had clearly stated he would kill anyone who dared lay a finger on Nezuko. And now, he didn't smell any remorse either. Giyuu wasn't joking about it.
"Should we write a letter to Urokodaki-san?" Tanjirou muttered, staring at his food.
Giyuu paused, exhaled slowly, and then stood up, going behind the curtain to change. "She'll be fine," he said, almost whispering.
Tanjirou clenched his jaw, deciding to focus on finishing his meal and laying out the futon for himself and Giyuu.
"If you haven't thought about where we should go, I have a suggestion," Tanjirou said when Giyuu returned from washing his face, already dressed in a comfortable yukata.
Giyuu neatly folded his haori, storing it in the pile of demon slayer uniforms. "I'm listening," he replied curtly.
Tanjirou considered for a moment, but remembering that Giyuu was the only one who had defended Nezuko, he dismissed any negative possibilities.
"There's a hidden house in Asakusa. Where the two demons hid from Muzan." Tanjirou began to recount his experience finding Tamayo and Yushiro. He didn't miss Giyuu's scent, which sharpened at the mention of Muzan. Tanjirou had to reassure Giyuu that he was okay.
"Wash your feet and go to sleep. Whether Nezuko wakes up or not, we'll leave tomorrow." Giyuu's words cut him off, making Tanjirou want to cry again at how easily Giyuu trusted him.
He nodded, standing up, wiping his eyes. He couldn't cry. Not when his situation wasn't stable.