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"'Nemiiii," Genya drawled out the nickname, voice high in a whine with a scowl as scary as a kitten flashing its claws. "M'not a baby anymore."
Sanemi hummed, and without another noise, reached down and picked Genya up to plop his younger brother on his shoulders.
Genya's nose wrinkled with a pout. Sanemi's silent, but effective point making his earlier words moot. His chin touched wild white hair and he sighed, letting Sanemi's hands grab his ankles as he strolled to the Sound Estate for the monthly Hashira-Get-Together that Uzui insisted upon.
"Meanie." Genya tugged on Sanemi's hair, just to soothe his own bruised ego.
"Shinazugawa-kun!" Kanroji is the first to greet him. Her usual three braids loose as pink-green hair spilled over her shoulders and back like a river. Her pale skin is blemished with a slight flush, Sanemi sniffs the air for faint traces of sake — each Hashira knew the rule "When Genya attends, there is to be no drinking until he falls asleep." And Sanemi made well on that rule.
His violet eyes catch Kochou next, her usual perfectly polite smile was ever so slightly bent in humor. Sanemi's worries cease immediately.
"Mitsuri-chan!" Genya chirps back when Sanemi doesn't deign to respond. He hardly ever did. Genya's legs kick excitedly in Sanemi's palms — a clear indicator for his wants that he so happens to voice.
"Lemme down." If Genya could, he'd scale down his older brother like a tree. But after many glares and lectures, he (im)patiently waits for his brother to kneel so Genya can dismount. Toddling happily over where the rest of the Hashira sat in something of an uneven circle. Kochou and Iguro sat on either side of Kanroji, silent but attentive. Uzui had an arm thrown around Tomioka with a hungry, non discreet look in his lone eye. And naturally, Rengoku was stuffing his mouth like a squirrel, chatting without manners around the food to Hinatsuru, Suma and Makio, complimenting their cooking.
Sanemi already regrets coming.
He takes a seat by Iguro, the only one he could remotely tolerate besides Kochou. The Serpent Hashira glances at him with his mismatched eyes. "How was the trip?"
"Would've gotten here sooner, but we passed through a town that happened to have an ongoing market. Genya was curious to see what all there was."
"Mm, I'm sure that's all it was." Something akin to humor flits through Iguro's hidden lips. To that, Sanemi doesn't offer a reply either. It wasn't a secret that the Wind Hashira enjoyed spoiling his younger brother, perhaps in excess. But he also made sure that Genya grew up to be a good boy too. Sanemi paid for the finest tutors to ensure Genya's education, kimonos and yukatas that could put Uzui to shame, an over abundance of toys and mechanical trinkets placed in his room, mostly music boxes to lull him asleep when Sanemi was away, and angled his potential for the future away from slaying demons and something far more suited for a dearly beloved one. That's what Sanemi was there for, to carve and bleed so Genya could safely walk an illuminated moonlight path.
He still couldn't get Genya to stop hungrily glancing at his blade, unfortunately.
A stray giggle catches Sanemi's attention once more, attention snapping to the source of the sound of a bird’s song. Mitsuri lasted only so long as the center of Genya's attention, apparently, as his brother was knelt in front of the Mist Hashira — slightly surprising Sanemi as the boy tended to reject, or forget more accurately, about these get togethers. But there was a cognitive glint in pale blue eyes that let Sanemi infer Tokitou was here, present, as Genya babbled excitedly with a blush that could only bloom from a puppy crush.
"Easy killer, you're looking at him like you would do a demon." Kochou chimes, leaning over Iguro to pat his thigh in a would be sympathetic nature if it weren't for her mocking words.
"Genya likes him." Sanemi grumbles.
"He's seven," Kochou deadpans, her mask dropping for a split second. "He likes everyone."
"And that's a problem."
"I think it's cute!" Kanroji giggles, her delicate fingers locking together as she gazed at Tokitou and Genya. "I hope Genya-chan's puppy crush keeps growing until he's a teen!"
"And I hope Tokitou is dead by then."
Kanroji whined. "You're no fun."
After Genya made the rounds of greeting, chatting, and crawling in the laps of each Hashira, Sanemi finally manages to wrangle the boy back in his own arms.
"He's so cute," Suma coos, squeezing Tomioka's arm tightly — the Water Hashira looked like he was about to combust with how her breast pressed against him. Sanemi smirks, both in pride because his brother is cute, and because he loves to see Tomioka suffer. "I can't wait to have our own."
Makio huffed, adjusting her head on Tomioka's lap. "Not for another few years, Tengen-sama just retired. I need a few years of wild fuc—"
Hinatsuru, lovingly cuddled next to her husband, kicked her leg out to roughly dig her heel in Makio's stomach. The dual haired woman grunts and corrects herself.
"I need a few years of domestic activities before we have a runt of our own running around."
Hinatsuru retracts her foot, pleased. Then turns her head toward the stiff, red Tomioka. "Giyuu-san, what do you think of children?"
All eyes lock immediately on Tomioka, his mouth falling agape as he made short, stuttering noises before collecting himself.
"They're… nice." He replies after a moment, skin only redder. Hinatsuru smiles, coy and sharp. It's no wonder she's Uzui's wife, really.
Genya yawns, blissfully ignorant to the ploy in front of him. Sanemi's attention snaps to his little brother snuggling in his lap, straining to keep his eyes open like stubborn children tend to do.
"Tired?" Sanemi curves his back to mumble, blearily, an annoyed violet eye looks up at him.
"Nooo…"
Yup, definitely tired.
"We have a room prepared for you and your brother, thought it a safe choice since you were the only one bringing a child." Uzui notes, and in that note there's a secret message outlined: I want to get shitfaced.
"M'not a baby." Genya growls, but lets himself be hefted and carried like one.
"Of course," Uzui nods wisely. "You're a flashy young man."
Pleased, Genya nods. "Better."
"Say goodnight, Genya." Sanemi chides, securing his handle on Genya as his legs were only loosely clinging to his sides. The boy mumbled something incomprehensible, a mish-mash of names and the courtesy goodnight. A chorus of replies come — some louder, some softer.
"G'night… Tokitou-kun." Genya yawned again, waving over Sanemi's shoulder to the Mist Hashira who waved back, wearing an expression he couldn't discern but didn't like.
Sanemi growls, Kanroji's giggle rings out victoriously.
Sanemi pulls the two futons together, knowing that sometime in the night Genya would crawl over to his anyway. It's a little bit awkward while holding a sleepy baby brother, but he manages to get it accomplished.
Genya sighs as he's laid in the futon, wiggling under the covers on his own. Sanemi can't help the affectionate smile that forms on his lips.
"I wanna stay up." Genya grumbles. His exhaustion turning to agitation.
"But you love sleeping." Sanemi points out, calloused fingers running through coarse curls in a soothing, repetitive motion. He could see the fatigue wash over Genya again, eyelids straining to blink.
"When I was a baby." Genya rolls his eyes with more snark than a seven year old should be able to muster. "Haven't you been listening to me? I'm not a baby anymore."
"You've only repeated it the whole day." Sanemi mused.
"Because you have a thick head."
"And I think you're spending too much time around Iguro." Sanemi replies, hotly. Genya's lips quirk to smug smile — erupting into giggles. Sanemi only shakes his head, sighing through his nose, more exasperated than pleased.
"I'm tired…" Genya finally yields, nearly fusing with the futon.
"Then sleep," Sanemi commands, tugging the blankets up Genya's neckline. He had a tendency to run cold and a tendency to catch one. "I'll be here when you wake up."
Genya is out like a light, anyway. Probably was before Sanemi even said "then". The ambiance of his fellow Hashira was drifting to the room, but Sanemi took a moment of this finite peace to simply admire his brother. Palm perched over a beating heartbeat.
"You'll always be my baby brother." Sanemi mumbles in whorls of ebony black hair where he laid a chaste kiss. Then raises himself up, preparing for a night of drinking and Uzui's fifth attempt to add Tomioka to his harem.
Which he'll need a lot of alcohol for.