Work Text:
As he finally is in the hashira headquarters, the new kakushi realizes that the Pillars are indeed as scary as everyone told him they were.
However, just a few minutes later, a slayer arrives to the meeting and not only he's not kicked out, he's immediately surrounded by the nine hashira who are staring at him with heart eyes.
Oyakatasama doesn't seem to mind, in fact, he looks quite amused by the situation.
Then, as the redhead smiles and talks briefly to every single one, some of them immediately offer him to sit next to them. When the others hear, all of them start fight over who gets to have the slayer, whom they call Tanjirou, to their side.
What's exactly going on? Why is that lower rank making the most powerful swordsmen alive act like twelve-year-olds in love? It doesn't make any sense.
Well, even from where he's standing, he can tell the slayer is quite attractive and cute, but even after noticing that, the kakushi is still confused by the amount of devotion and worship that's directed at him.
Okayatasama has to intervene to calm the Pillars down and he chooses Himejima, the tallest of them all, to be the one to sit next to Tanjirou.
Kanroji, the love hashira, visibly pouts, but she, as the others, accepts Ubuyashiki's decision without hesitation.
"What's going on, senpai?" He whispers to the kakushi girl next to him. She's the one in charge of letting him know exactly what are his new responsibilities.
"What do you mean?" She asks back, confused.
Even though none of them can hear what the Pillars are discussing with Ubuyashiki, they at least manage to see them from where they are standing.
"What's the deal with the slayer with red hair? Why are all the Pillars constantly staring at him like they love him?" He asks, genuinely intrigued. He can see Kocho slowly trying to get closer to the redhead as he's asking the question.
The kakushi girl rolls her eyes.
"Because they do love him."
"But why would they fall for a simple-"
Three other slayers and two more kakushi gasp at his words even before he finishes his sentence. It seems he wasn't as quiet as he thought he was. The good thing is that the hashira are back on their feet, which means they have been dismissed and now they can keep fighting over Tanjirou as much as they want.
"How dare you?" One of the slayer says, outraged.
"Why did you call the sunshine simple?" Another one asks, irritaded.
Even his senpai is frowning at him right now.
A few feet away from them, Uzui, the sound Pillar is giving Tanjirou a kiss on the back of his hand, before Shinazugawa growls at the flamboyant man. The wind hashira manages to pull the redhead in his arms and nuzzle against his cheeks until Tanjirou chuckles.
"I thought that was the grumpy Pillar? They told me he was the scariest?"
"He is," another kakushi corrects him. "But not around Tanjirou."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?" All of them ask at once, completely shocked.
Now Iguro is hissing at Tomioka because he just pulled Tanjirou away from him and Kanroji. They were practically sandwiching him in a very possessive embrace.
"Well..." The Pillars and Tanjirou save him from having to say something that will probably get him scolded by his senpai because they're walking towards the entrance of the place, close to where the kakushi and the few slayers are standing.
The hashira ignore them, but Tanjirou stops to say Hi to all of them, and, as he kindly asks every single one how they're doing, the new kakushi finally realizes what's so charming about him.
It seems that everything he says comes directly from his heart. He's sincere and seems to genuinely care about them.
"He's new here," his senpai explains to the redhead after he asks a question the young kakushi didn't hear.
"Oh!" Tanjirou beams at him and the expression is so pure it's almost blinding; he doesn't even notice that Tokito is glaring at all of them for drawing the redhead's attention away from the hashira. "That's great! I'm sure you'll do an amazing job! Also, you all are so important for the Corps, I have no idea what we'd do without you!"
"Tanjirou!" The flame hashira, Rengoku, calls out to him with a smile on his face, however, they all have the feeling that he's also as jealous as the mist hashira. "Let's have lunch together!"
"I'm coming!" The redhead smiles back at all the Pillars (who are patiently waiting for him outside. He then faces the kakushi before grinning at the new one. "Good luck on your first day!"
The young kakushi feels his cheeks like they're burning, which is why he's so glad his face is covered at the moment.
"So?" His senpai asks; he has the feeling that her and everyone around can tell he's blushing.
"I think I get it now."
"Great, but don't say that out loud because the Pillars are very possessive of him."
It's his turn to roll his eyes. Of course they are.