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Waking up nauseous is something Inosuke discovers he hates very much, and waking up before Inosuke is something that never happens to Tanjiro so he's surprised when he wakes up and finds the boar still asleep.
"Inosuke? Inosuke time to wake up-" he's stops when he realizes that Inosuke is laying in the fetal position looking like he was stabbed numerous times in the gut, he's clenching his stomach hard and seems very uncomfortable.
"Inosuke!? I need you to wake up dear!" Tanjiro was sitting up now, shaking him and trying to get him up so his love didn't vomit everywhere, "Do we need to go see Ms. Shinobu!?"
Inosuke suddenly jerks up, covering his mouth, and startling Tanjiro.
"Hashibira, I need you to talk to me!" Tanjiro's hands flew to his lover to balance him.
Inosuke hated when Tanjiro called him that.
"I-" another wave of sickness waved over him, "I-I need-"
He didn't finish. He couldn't, but Tanjiro understood him just fine.
~~~~~~~~
Inosuke barely remembers the trip to the Butterfly mansion but what he does remember is the look on Tanjiro's face on the way there and feeling very motion sick as he was carried.
When they got there, Shinobu rushed to see Inosuke. She was surprisingly very fond of the boar and was concerned so see him sick, the other patients could wait.
"Kamado-san!" She immediately began to assess Inosuke and waved to Kanao to get a room ready, "What happened?" She questioned the redhead.
"I'm not sure, he slept for most of the morning and has almost thrown up a few times." Tanjiro was radiating worry, he wasn't sure how much more he could take.
"Ah, I see. Let's get him to a bed and I can take it from there. Inosuke! Can you hear me? I need a response!"
"Mm-" Inosuke hated that he couldn't talk to Ms. Shinobu. Out of all the Hashiras, he liked her the most.
"Thank you, I'm gonna take care of you." She happened to look at Tanjiro fully, "How far have you traveled?"
"Ah, uhm, the Wisteria house near the Sound estate..." Tanjiro responded sheepishly.
"I see. Why don't you head to my personal medical room and have Kanao give you some water, how's that sound?" Tanjiro was conflicted, he didn't want to leave his lover but it was clear he needed to rest, he walked too far for him not to be tired. "I'll let you know when you can come see Inosuke, how's that sound?" Now that was something Tanjiro could compromise on. "Alright." He agreed and headed down the hall.
~~~~~~~~
Tanjiro waited in that medical room for what seemed like hours, what was he supposed to do? He was scared, he'd never known his boar-headed lover to not recover quickly, what was going on? Why is Inosuke so sick? Did a Blood Demon Art affect him without either of them knowing? Is he dying? If so, how long did he have? How would Zenitsu take his death if he is dying?
His thoughts were cut off by Ms. Shinobu walking in.
"Tanjiro." Tanjiro!? It took him a second to realize what she'd called him. She never calls him that!
"Y-Yes? Is Inosuke okay...?" Tanjiro was nervous, very nervous.
"Yes, he's just fine." She sounded... small... Like there was something she wanted to say but was waiting for permission.
"What happened? Did you figure out what was wrong? He never gets sick, I'm so worried-"
"Kamado." She cut him off before he spiraled "He's okay, he's resting for now, but I do have some news for you that I don't think I can get across to him on my own. It's important for you to know too."
"News? What news? Did something happen?" He's was even more worried now despite being told he was fine.
"He's-" She seemed more content now, like she knew everything would be okay, "He's pregnant Tanjiro."
What.
Everything came crashing down. Not in a bad way, like when you spend so long building a tower just so you can knock it down because you know the crash will be worth it.
"He's... pregnant...? Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh!" Tanjiro was visibly a mess, what was he supposed to do!? He's a 16 yr old with the deadliest job on the planet, how was he supposed to take care of a kid!? He was terrified, but at the same time, so damn happy.
"I understand that it may take some time to process, but I will need your help passing this information onto Inosuke, I'm not sure he will be able to understand right away." She spoke calmly, but it was prominent that she too was concerned for the redhead and his lover.
"Yeah! Yeah! I'll uhm... help you in a second..." All he could do was sit there stunned, how would this affect Inosuke? The man who can't sit still for not even 15 minutes now has to lay around and do nothing for 9 months!? Even longer if you count recovery! That wouldn't do, Inosuke wouldn't allow it. "Ms. Shinobu," He stopped her as she was walking out, "what do we do?"
~~~~~~~~
The question hung in the air while they walked to the room they put Inosuke in, what would they do? It didn't matter right now, they just needed to tell Inosuke first.
"Hashibira-san? Are you awake now?" She gently knocked on the door then pushed it open and there he was, sitting off the side of the bed, staring into nothing.
"I'll leave you two, he's much better now so feel free to leave whenever." Shinobu said while walking out, closing the door behind her. It was obvious to anyone that Tanjiro would be the only one would could reach him.
Tanjiro walked over to the bedridden boy, he slowly turned to look at Tanjiro, who was kneeling down to be closer to Inosuke's level. He hated being looked down upon, even if it was physically.
"Monjiro, what's wrong with me?" The question was so innocent yet it held the world, Tanjiro was surprised by it and just as he was about to say that absolutely nothing was wrong with Inosuke, he noticed it. The boar was holding his stomach again. Not like he was earlier in the day, but more... protectively.
Oh my gosh.
He knew.
Inosuke. Fucking. Knew.
"Oh Inosuke..." He stood up and pulled the boy in, and the boar mimicked him only rougher, more scared than comforting.
After a few minutes, Tanjiro heard very quiet, soft sobbing and he pulled away just to look at his love. All the boar could do was look at the floor, Inosuke knew but Tanjiro didn't know how much Inosuke knew, what he understood and what he didn't.
"Magpie? I need you to look at me." There it was, the nickname that made Inosuke melt every time, the name made especially for the boar who's favorite bird was the magpie.
Inosuke looked up at him and Tanjiro immediately felt every worried emotion in the world. His eyes were puffy and he was flushed, he didn't feel good and Tanjiro could smell it on him.
"Do you know what's going on with you?" Tanjiro pulled a chair from the corner so he could sit eye to eye with Inosuke.
"Yeah," his voice was rougher than normal "my mom had a lot of litters, I know the signs..."
Okay, so he knew the signs so why didn't he say anything?
"Have you been feeling this way for a while? Why didn't you tell me?" Tanjiro was only slightly angry with his lover, if he knew why didn't he doing anything?
"I thought that maybe it was bad Tempura or whatever, but I guess I knew the whole time..." He was full on crying now "Will everything be okay with me?"
"Yes of course! I'm not going anywhere so I won't let anything happen to you, but you do understand that there's a lot you can't do because you're having a baby right?" He said it, 'baby' their baby.
"Yeah, I hate it, I just wanna run!" Running and twisting his body were some of the only things that could make him feel better, beside Tanjiro, so the fact he can't do that at all makes him want to do it more.
"I know, but we must keep you safe, and safe means no killing demons, running, twisting, or quick body movements!" Tanjiro said in a lighter, more humourous tone. That made Inosuke laugh a little.
"Okay."
"TAAAANJIROOOOOOOOO!!"
Zenitsu busted through the door in obvious panic and concern,
"Tanjiro! Oh my gosh what happened!? I came back from the village and you guys were gone and the owner of the Wisteria house you left in a hurry because Inosuke is sick and I was like 'Inosuke never gets sick' so I rushed here and Kanao said-"
"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro cut him off, "Lower your voice!"
Zenitsu jumped at the outburst but quieted and his gaze panned over to the boar who was still, but very angry. Man did he want to punch Zenitsu but he knew Tanjiro wouldn't be happy after what he just agreed to.
"Sorry, I was just worried, so what's going on?" Zenitsu questioned.
"Like hell we'd tell you piss boy!" Inosuke yelled as he threw the glass that was next to him at Zenitsu, and it shattered on the floor.
"Hey! I'm trying to worry about you here! Why do you make everything so difficult!?"
Inosuke (who was about to pick up the lamp to throw next) stopped in his tracks.
"I-I'm... What...?" He turned to Tanjiro who immediately knew what was gonna happen (he had enough siblings to know)
"Zenitsu. You need to leave."
"What!? What did I do-
"Leave!" Tanjiro snapped at him "Inosuke's more sensitive right now and you're not helping!"
After a stunned Zenitsu left, Tanjiro turned to Inosuke who was on the verge of tears again
"T-Tanjiro am I difficult..?" He was hurt, really hurt. Usually he would just bite back or attack Zenitsu. Come to think of it, he hadn't really done any of that for a few weeks, how didn't Tanjiro notice?
"No! Of course not! You're wonderful! He didn't mean it, you know he's just like that!"
"But I'm gonna be more difficult now! I-I can't help you with demons, I can't do anything!"
"No, you're gonna be going through something ten times more difficult than fighting demons. You will be doing such a brave thing, and I know you can do it."
"But I won't be strong..."
"You'll be growing another person Magpie, and that makes you stronger than anyone else, and I know you've always wanted to be the strongest."
"Really...?"
"Absolutely! I doubt there's another person in the corp. that has had a baby while being a demon slayer! I mean think about it! The fact that you're strong enough to fight off ravenous beasts while also having a kid is a feat worthy of gold!"
"I guess you're right..." Inosuke was smiling weakly but the emotion was there. He wiped his nose, "I don't why I started crying, I hate crying... He didn't even say much! He would've said that to me any day!"
"It's part of pregnancy Magpie, it's different from boars, they're called mood swings and they're pretty common, you'll have them a lot more." Tanjiro was amused by Inosuke basing his knowledge off of boar pregnancies.
"Hm!" Inosuke pouted, "bring piss boy back in, I wanna tell him!" Inosuke stood up and started stretching his legs.
The redhead was surprised by the sudden mood change, but he knew it was expected. "Whoa! Are you sure!? He may faint!" Tanjiro stood up to make sure Inosuke didn't hurt himself, he trusted him but he was pregnant.
"Let him faint!"
"Okay, if you want. Let me go find him, he's probably harassing Aoi again." He gave in to his love's request and left to find the the yellow-haired boy.
~~~~~~~~
About 20 minutes later, Zenitsu and Tanjiro walk in to find Inosuke sitting in the bay window which was somewhat odd, Zenitsu was surprised because he was certain Inosuke was gonna throw something at him as soon as walked in, which is why he was reluctant to go back (which is why it took 20 minutes lol).
"Inosuke? Are you alright?" Tanjiro walked over to the window and found his lover asleep, "Ah Inosuke? Time to wake up, I brought Zenitsu back."
"Mmm... too tired... You tell him-" a sentence cut off by Inosuke falling back asleep.
"Oh boy..." Tanjiro turned to Zenitsu, "So, it seems he wants me to tell you..."
"Oh come on! It can't be that bad!" It was. It was that bad.
"Inosuke's pregnant." Tanjiro blurted out, no going back now.
Zenitsu's eyes blew wide and his hands flew to cover his mouth, did he hear what he really hear? "Oh."
"Uhm yeah, we found out like an hour ago and Inosuke was very adamant we tell you."
"Okay uhm... Wow! That's uh a lot to process..."
"Yeah, I know, it uhm took me by surprise too."
"Does Inosuke like... understand what's going on?"
"Yeah he uh figured it out weeks before we were told, he was just kinda in denial of it all."
"Really!? I was sure he wouldn't know that stuff!"
"Apparently his boar mom had like a bunch of litters so he knew the signs for the most part, albeit they were kinda off because his theory was based off a boar." Tanjiro said sheepishly, how was he supposed to explain how pregnancy worked when the one he'd explain it to and the one carrying his child were the same person and raised to recognize the signs of an animal pregnancy!?
"Oh, that's... odd..." Zenitsu was obviously still not processing this fully, I'm sure Tanjiro will get to hear all about it later, "Is that why he was so stunned by my insult?"
"Yeah, that's why I had you leave before it got bad, he cried for a little afterwards. I told him it was a normal thing and that mood swings would be pretty common."
"I've gotta watch what I say huh?"
"I recommend it, yes."
With a heavy sigh Zenitsu announces his departure, "Alright, I'm gonna leave you guys be, I need to unpack the stuff I got in the village. See you later!" And with that, the lovers are alone again.
Tanjiro walked over and knelt beside Inosuke, "Magpie, he's gone and Ms. Shinobu said we could leave whenever, it's best not to bother the butterfly girls more."
"Mmm fine..." Inosuke responded sluggishly while sitting up, "I wanna sleep though..."
"I know dear but we must get going if we want dinner and I can't carry you so you have to walk."
"You carried me here though..."
"That's because I thought you were dying, you may be pregnant but I'm not gonna do everything for you." Tanjiro had a soft but firm voice, signaling that he wasn't gonna give in to Inosuke's whining, much to the boar's disappointment.
"Fine."
After saying goodbye to the butterfly girls, they were on their way.
~~~~~~~~
The forest seemed so still. Almost as if it was watching, because it was. It was later in the evening so demons would likely be coming out soon, this made Tanjiro on edge, he knew Inosuke could defend himself, probably better than the redhead could but that didn't stop Tanjiro from scanning the tree line, gripping his sword.
"Monjiro-"
"Tanjiro." Tanjiro corrected gently, still focused on the shadows slowly starting to surround them.
"Mm, Tanjiro?"
"Yes dear?"
"Do you actually want kids?"
That simple question, which was not so simple after all, made Tanjiro stop in his tracks and his gaze snap from the trees onto the boy next to him, neglecting the task he was doing previously.
"Why are you asking this?" Tanjiro's wanted a family for years, Inosuke knows this, he also knew that Tanjiro wouldn't push him if Inosuke wasn't up for the task.
"I-I don't know, I just... I feel like something might happen..."
"Like you feel like something bad will happen?" Tanjiro's voice is laced with concern, if Inosuke might be in danger, he'd do something about it.
"No, not bad exactly, I don't know... just... I feel like something weird might happen that we couldn't guess." (subtle foreshadowing?)
Tanjiro has never doubted Inosuke's instincts so if Inosuke thinks something weird might happen, he was gonna trust him.
"Magpie, you're allowed to be nervous..."
"I'm not nervous! I just don't want something to happen to our fucking kid Ma-Tanjiro!" Inosuke was on the verge of tears. He was scared. Very scared.
"Okay, okay, calm down. I don't want anything to happen either but I was just saying that you can be worried about it all, paranoia is very common during pregnancy." He said, letting go of his sword and running his arms up Inosuke's to show he wasn't going anywhere.
"Pair-an-ohi-a?"
Right.
"Paranoia. It's like when you get so scared something bad might happen to you, someone or something you know even though you have no proof anything will happen." Tanjiro spoke with such care, making sure Inosuke knew what it meant but also didn't make him feel stupid.
"Oh. I guess I do have that."
"Yeah I figured, now I know we're having a talk and all but it's getting dark and Zenitsu will start panicking if we don't hurry home, okay?"
"Yeah... Are you sure I can't throw stuff at him...?" Inosuke was still somewhat mad at the Thunder breather but didn't want Tanjiro to be upset at him for using his body too much.
"Pretty sure."
End chapter