Chapter Text
Ginko’s taking longer than usual.
The Mist Hashira looked up at the sky. It had been a week after the battle at the swordsmith village that the crows' odd behavior had started. She was gone most of the time and only ever really appeared to give Muichiro his next assignment.
It was odd, to say the least. Ginko adored Muichiro, so for her to suddenly stop almost all interactions with him worried the young Hashira.
He had tried to bring up his worries with the bird a few days ago when she was giving him a new assignment, but she quickly brushed him off and flew off. ‘It’s nothing you need to worry yourself about, 'he recalled her saying right before she left.
That statement had piqued the young prodigy’s interest, but he had little to no leads on his crows' newfound rebelliousness to go out and act on it.
A loud cawing sound broke Muichiro out of his contemplative stupor. He looked up at the cloudless sky to see the familiar silhouette of his Kasugai crow land on his shoulder.
“Ginko, where were you? I finished my mission yesterday. I've been expecting you since this morning.” Muichiro said with a worried tone as his crow ruffled her feathers as a form of apology.
“Forgive me, Muichiro-dono, but I’ve been rather busy with some personal affairs.” The crow responded with an apologetic tone. “No new missions have been assigned to you, which is also why it took me some time to get to you. Oyakata-sama instructed you to take some time off at the butterfly mansion or your estate to heal from any injuries sustained in the past few weeks.” Ginko started to get restless as she relayed the instructions. The crow looked up at the sky longingly as she finished saying her instructions.
Muichiro didn’t respond for a couple of seconds, observing his crow with a calculating look. She seemed to notice this as well, as she started to squirm under his watchful gaze.
“What personal affairs, Ginko?”
“Nothing that is worth your time, Muichiro-dono!”
“If these affairs are enough for you to put aside your duties, then I think they are worth my time,” Muichiro stated bluntly, catching the female crow off guard and resulting in her trying to sputter out a response.
“I’ve found love!” was all Ginko could yell out in her flustered state.
“Love?” Muichiro said it with a dumbfounded expression. That was why she was spending less time with Muichiro? Was it that simple? The young Hashira breathed a sigh of relief at the new information. He had assumed something bad had happened to his beloved crow for her to act this way.
“Yes! I’ve found the most handsome crow to spend the rest of my life with!” The crow's voice took on a fond tone as she said, “I must be going now, Muichiro-dono; my love is waiting for me!” She responded impatiently as she took off, leaving a shocked Muichiro in her wake.
The mist pillar looked at the sky with the same shocked expression as he saw his crow's silhouette be accompanied by another silhouette before shortly disappearing from view. Muichiro huffed as he looked away and started to make his trek to the butterfly mansion.
-
Tanjiro noticed something odd was going on with his crow. The bird no longer pestered Tanjiro to recover faster; in fact, Tanjiro hadn’t seen Tennouji for the past few days.
Tanjiro had asked Shinobu if it was normal for his crow to be gone for so long, and she had said it was unusual but not entirely unheard of.
“Your crow is fine, Tanjirou. He’s probably out looking for a mate.” Shinobu gave Tanjirou a knowing smile.
“A mate?” Tanjirou responded while tilting his head to the side.
“Yes, it’s early spring, so mating for crows has started.”
“Oh, I see! Thank you, Shinobu-san!” Tanjirou beamed at the new information, now knowing his crow wasn’t in any danger.
The young slayer left the Insect Hashira shortly after to start his rehabilitation training for the day.
-
‘I remember this being a lot easier’
Tanjirou’s arms ached as he finished swinging his practice sword through the forms of Hinokami kagura. He’d only done a full set, yet it felt like he was fighting Uppermoon Four all over again with how horribly his body ached.
‘The girls said not to overdo it so I’ll take a short break’
Tanjirou briskly walked to the engawa and gingerly sat himself down. His body instantly felt better as his muscles started to cool down.
A long sigh came out of the burgundy-haired boy’s mouth as he relaxed. It felt nice to relax for once, but Tanjirou still felt restless. He’d been recovering for three weeks while everyone else was already healed! Muichiro woke up a day after the battle, for Kami’s sake!
To say Tanjirou felt weak was an understatement; he felt disappointed in himself for not being stronger. If someone like Muichiro, who was a year younger than him, could recover at a remarkable speed, then why couldn’t he? Was Tanjirou just not training hard enough?
‘On the subject of Tokito-san, I never got to thank him for his help’
Tanjirou’s heart stuttered as red rushed up to his cheeks as he thought of the teal-haired boy. He didn't know why his body was reacting this way, but he assumed it was for the large amount of admiration and gratitude he held towards the young Hashira.
‘I owe him a lot; without him, I don’t think I would’ve been able to beat Uppermoon Four’
Tanjirou sighed and looked at his hands with a thoughtful expression.
‘I’ll repay him for sure’
Tanjirou smiled as a flush unknowingly crept up his cheeks as he started to think about his newfound goal.
-
‘It’s so hot’
Muichiro’s long journey to the butterfly mansion was almost over, to the young boy’s relief. Today’s weather had been brutal. The sun was pounding down its scorching heat as Muichiro walked down a pebbled path that marked the way to the butterfly mansion. Sweat fell down Muichiro’s face like a never-ending stream. His clothes had started to stick to his skin as the sun reached its peak.
As Muichiro walked, he couldn’t help but admire the wildlife around him. Beautiful hues of green painted the landscape around him, along with the swaths of wildflowers that dotted the forest floor. His eyes raked over the landscape, taking in every minuscule detail that presented itself. Muichiro’s eyes paused as he spotted a group of peonies sprouting up from the side of the road.
The flowers had the same plum-red shade as a certain kind-hearted boy’s hair and eyes. Muichiro unconsciously smiled as he was reminded of the boy he owed so much to. Muichiro got back a major part of himself the moment he regained his memories, and for that, he owed everything to Tanjirou. Even though with his newfound memories came nightmares of the day his brother was mercilessly slaughtered, his body splayed across the floor covered in blood as maggots consumed his body, Muichiro didn’t regret regaining his memories, even if they came with a nasty side effect.
Muichiro was alone with his thoughts when he left the butterfly mansion after his arduous battle, and he realized how close he had come to losing everything. He had sobbed for what seemed like hours as he recalled bittersweet memories from his previous life. Kind eyes, the scent of wood permeating everywhere, and his stern-voiced brother, who always cared for him. Muichiro hated himself for almost forgetting about the family he adored, but he was grateful that he remembered them at all.
‘Thank you, Tanjirou; I owe you so much’
A flush rushed up to the boy’s face as he pictured his savior. Muichiro wasn’t stupid; he knew what attraction looked like. He remembered seeing a flush and a dopey smile reach his father’s face anytime his mother breathed, but he wasn’t sure if what he felt was attraction or just adoration, or if it was even possible to have these feelings towards another boy. He had asked Kanroji about that when they had the pillar meeting a week ago.
“Kanroji-san, can I ask you something?” Muichiro looked at the love pillar shyly as a flush started to creep up on the boy's face.
‘I can’t believe I’m actually asking her about something so stupid.’
Kanroji, along with all the pillars, paused as they saw the flustered expression on their most emotionally closed-off hashira. (Aside from Tomioka), Muichiro had informed them all at the pillar meeting with a joyful expression that he had regained his memories during his fight with Uppermoon four thanks to Kamado Tanjirou. The pillars were overjoyed at the news and decided to meet up in the following weeks to celebrate Muichiro’s newfound memories.
“Of course, Tokitou-kun! What is it?” Mitsuri smiled sweetly as she saw, in her opinion, the world's most adorable little boy shyly ask her a question.
“Can we speak in private?” Muichiro's eyes narrowed as he looked past Mitsuri and saw that his fellow Hashira was a few feet away, conversing.
“Of course, Tokitou-kun follows me.” Mitsure led Muichiro to the corner of the courtyard. ”So what did you want to ask?”
“How can I tell when I...” Muichiro’s voice trailed off to a barely audible mutter as his face became two shades darker.
“What was that, Tokitou?”
Muichiro huffed as he repeated himself with a little more clarity in his voice.
“How can I tell if I’m attracted to someone or if I’m just admiring them?” Muichiro murmured as he looked down at his feet with a shy expression.
Mitsuri almost outwardly squealed at Muichiro’s question. He had a crush!
“Oh! Well, Muichiro, tell me, what do you feel when you talk to her?”
“Her? They’re not a-“ Muichiro paused as he processed what he was about to say.
“Oh! I’m sorry for assuming Tokitou-kun; I won’t judge if it’s another boy!” Mitsuri quickly interrupted as he looked at the boy with a kind smile.
"When I talked to him last, he made me feel so airy. My stomach felt like it was buzzing the entire time, and I could practically feel the heat on my face when he smiled at me.” Muichiro smiled as he recalled his last conversation with Tanjirou. He had smiled at Muichiro during their conversation, which caused a flush to rapidly spread across the boy’s face.
Mitsuri carefully observed her colleague as he recalled his conversation with this mystery boy. It didn’t take a genius like Muichiro to figure out what the expression on Muichiro’s face meant when he recalled this mystery boy’s smile.
“Tokitou, I can tell just by looking at you that you really like this person a lot!” Mitsuri exclaimed as she saw Muichiro’s eyes widen to the size of saucers.
“Oh.” Muichiro's face turned as red as Gyomei’s prayer beads as Mitsuri told him this. Visible steam started to come out of the boy’s ears, much to Mitsuri's amusem*nt. “Thank you, Kanroji-san; this information helps me a lot.”
Mitsuri stifled a laugh as she saw the way Muichiro hurriedly fled headquarters as the steam coming out of his ears trailed behind him. The other pillars saw this and tried to ask Muichiro if he was okay, but were quickly ignored as Muichiro practically sprinted down the graveled path that led to the Mist pillar estate.
“Mitsuri, is Tokitou okay?” Gyomei looked to where he heard Muichiro sprinting with a worried furrow in his brow.
“Yeah, is he okay? His face was practically the same color as my tattoo the moment he left.” Uzui exclaimed as Muichiro faded from view as he sprinted down the road.
“Not to mention the visible steam coming out of his ears.” Iguro intoned.
“Tokitou’s fine, everyone! Let’s just say he needed my expertise to figure something out!” Mitsuri looked at Muichiro’s fading figure sweetly as she tried not to squeal at the prospect of the youngest pillar having a puppy crush.
‘He’s just too adorable!’
Muichiro cringed as he recalled his interaction with the love pillar. He shouldn’t have acted so flustered at finding out he liked Tanjirou; all the pillars knew something was up with him now because of that little spectacle.
Muichiro paused as he noticed the path he was walking on came to an end. He looked and saw the familiar entrance of the butterfly mansion greeting him. He noticed that Shinobu was near the entrance, sitting on the engawa of the mansion.
“Tokitou-kun! I’ve been expecting you; my crow informed me that you were to spend a few days with me to recover.” Shinobu smiled as Muichiro greeted her and sat himself down on the engawa next to her.
“Yes, that’s right. Oyakata-sama deemed it necessary for me to take a short rest.” Muichiro’s face twisted into an irritated expression at the mention of his forced break. He should be training, not taking an unnecessary break.
“Hm, well, I know you’re not one to enjoy breaks, so I came up with something to keep you entertained.” Muichiro looked at her curiously as she paused before she told him what she had in mind. “I want you to aid Tanjirou in his rehabilitation training. He’s been rather frustrated at himself for not being able to fully recover yet from the battle at the village, so I thought having a friend with him would help.” Shinobu carefully studied the boy next to her to see if he expressed any discomfort with the idea, but to her shock, Muichiro’s face began to flush.
“Tanjirou’s here! Of course, I'll help him!” Muichiro’s eyes began to shine as a wide grin settled on his face at the thought of being near the boy he had come to care for so much.
“Alright then, Tanjirou should be at the back of the mansion practicing a few katas. Make sure he doesn’t overexert himself, and don’t worry about making too much noise. It's just me and the girls at the mansion today.” Shinobu grinned as she saw the expression on Muichiro’s face. She had an inkling as to what Muichiro felt for the other boy, but she decided not to meddle more than she already was.
-
After his short break, Tanjirou continued his katas. A familiar ache began to settle into his bones as Hinokami Kagura guided his movements. The forms came to him naturally, but he still felt too stiff and rigid to execute the forms to their full potential.
“Tuck in your elbows and widen your stance.” An unknown voice called out
Tanjirou’s eyes widened in shock as he whirled around to see a familiar teal-haired boy come around the corner of the mansion.
“Tokitou-san!” Tanjirou visibly brightened as he caught sight of the younger boy making his way towards him.
“Tanjirou, it’s nice to see you again. How has your recovery been?” Muichiro looked at the older boy with a fond expression as he carefully analyzed the boy’s form.
Tanjirou visibly wilted in response to his question. How was he supposed to explain to a prodigy that even after three weeks, he still wasn’t back to his full strength?
“My recovery has been slow. Shinobu-san says, I’m recovering at a good pace, but I feel like I'm still not trying hard enough.” His expression became downcast as he recalled his less-than-stellar recovery.
Muichiro looked at Tanjirou sympathetically. He didn’t necessarily understand what it felt like to have a slow recovery, but he knew what it felt like to be frustrated with your own weakness.
“Everyone needs time to recover Tanjirou. It’s better to go back into the field at full strength after a few weeks of recovery than to go while injured after a few days of rest. You’ll only injure yourself further if you keep pushing yourself.” ‘and I don’t want you to get hurt’ Muichiro almost laughed at his own hypocrisy; he himself had done the exact same thing he was telling Tanjiro not to do. How did that saying go again? Do as I say, not as I do? Muichiro was an exception; he was a Hashira. He couldn’t afford to take breaks. Not while demons still existed.
Tanjiro flushed as Muichiro finished his lecture. Muichiro was right, but Tanjiro still felt frustrated. His recovery was moving along at a sluggish pace, and that made his body simmer in deep frustration, but he felt himself relax a little in response to Muichiro’s lecture. The Hashira had a point: he’d only be a burden if he wasn’t at full strength.
“Thank you for the insightful words, Tokito-san. It’s nice to be assured by someone as amazing as you.” Tanjiro looked at Muichiro with a fond expression as a small smile began to adorn his face. Muichiro’s face flushed in response.
“Thank you. How about we do a light spar so you can practice your forms effectively?” While performing breathing forms by standing still did help refine the execution, it barely made a difference if you didn’t have someone to spar against.
“If it isn’t much of a bother, then I would love to spar with you. I’ll bring you a spare bokken." Muichiro quickly assured Tanjiro that he wanted to and thanked him for getting him a spare training sword. Tanjirou quickly jogged to the engawa and picked up the other bokken he had haphazardly tossed there a few minutes prior to starting his training. He handed the bokken to Muichiro and quickly assumed a stance a few paces away from him.
Muichiro let Tanjiro move first. The red-haired slayer dashed to Muichiro’s left and quickly hit Hashira with a jab to pierce through his defense. Muichiro deftly blocked the strike with the handle of the wooden sword and quickly retaliated with a swing of his own sword in order to create some space between him and his opponent.
Tanjiro leaped back and quickly winced as he landed hard on the foot he sprained in the last battle. The young slayer quickly regained his composure as he ran up again to his sparring partner to interlock their swords in a dance of parries, blocks, and jabs.
Muichiro obviously had the upper hand in this spar, seeing as he was fully recovered from the battle, but he let himself hold back a little bit to allow Tanjiro to get into the rhythm of swinging his sword while moving. Tanjirou, noticing this, took advantage of his opponent's reluctance and quickly delivered a multitude of swings that caught the Hashira off guard.
Muichiro’s eyes widened at the newfound challenge, and he responded by quickly blocking the rest of the Tanjirou’s swings with his own. He delivered a particularly powerful swing on reflex that caught the red-haired boy off guard as he winced, lost his balance, and quickly started
to fall backward. Muichiro, seeing this, grabbed Tanjirous's sleeve to pull him back up, but the teal-haired boy grabbed the sleeve at an awkward
angle, which caused Tanjirou to flail and try to grip onto the Mist Hashira.
Tanjirou accidentally gripped the collar of Muichiro’s uniform, which caused the young boy to stumble forward and begin to fall on top of Tanjirou. Muichiro stuck his arms out on reflex as he fell, which caused him to unintentionally pin Tanjirou to the ground as his face stopped a mere inches away from Tanjirou’s face. He felt the hot puff of air Tanjirou let out as his back hit the ground.
“Are you okay?” both of the boys said at the same time, causing them to pause and realize what position they were currently in. Muichiro had Tanjirou pinned by the shoulders with a knee between his legs, while Tanjirou had gripped Muichiro’s hips so he wouldn’t land entirely on top of Tanjirou. Their position right now was, well… compromising
Tanjirous's face was practically on fire, as Muichiro’s flushed face was basically an inch away from his own. He tried to ask Muichiro something again, but paused as his lips accidentally brushed against Muichiro’s as he formed the first word. The younger of the two flushed as he felt their lips brush and desperately tried to keep his composure.
“I’m so sorry, Tokitou-san!” Tanjirou said as he ripped his head away from Muichiro’s. He quickly tried to scramble backwards but was stopped by Muichiro’s strong grip on his shoulders.
“It’s not your fault, Tanjiro,” Muichiro murmured as he quickly sat back, removing his body from Tanjirou’s.
Silence quickly took place as the boys awkwardly tried to communicate.
“I really am sorry, Tokitou-san. I shouldn’t have retaliated the way I did when I knew I was still recovering.” Tanjirou bowed as he said this in hopes of hiding his blush from the other boy.
“It wasn’t your fault, Tanjirou I shouldn’t have reacted that harshly. I should be the one apologizing so please stop bowing.” Muichiro responded with an apologetic tone and regretful look on his face.
Tanjirou rose up from his bow and looked at Muichiro with a small, reassuring smile. “Let’s agree to disagree, Tokitou-san.”
Muichiro let out a small chuckle in response and gestured to the engawa. “Let’s take a break and catch up.” Muichiro quickly stood up and walked over to Tanjirou to help him up. Tanjirou deftly took the younger boy's hand and walked to the engawa.
"So, how have you been since the battle, Tokitou-san?” Tanjirou asked as he took a spot next to Muichiro on the engawa.
"Fine, for the most part. We had an impromptu Hashira meeting after Mitsuri and I woke up from the battle to discuss the marks and our plans moving forward. Oyakata-sama is currently developing a training schedule for the hashira in hopes of getting them all to unlock the mark. But other than that, I’ve just been doing assignments around my region.” Muichiro furrowed his brow as he recalled the past few weeks. He was forgetting something important…
“Before I end this meeting with my children, I want to announce something.” Ubayashikki paused as the Hashira all waited with bated breath. “Someone will be joining the Hashira in a few weeks.” The pillars all sported surprised expressions on their faces as they processed this new information.“May we ask who Oyakata-sama ?” Gyomei asked.
“You shall see when I formally present them to you.”
“Oh! A new Hashira will be joining the ranks in a few weeks!” Muichiro suddenly exclaimed as he recalled the master's parting words.
“Really! Do you know who they are?” Tanjirou quickly replied.
“Nope. The master said we'd be introduced to them in a few weeks.” Muichiro responded disappointedly. “Anyways, other than rehabilitation, what have you been up to, Tanjirou?”
“Nothing much; I’ve been helping around the butterfly mansion for the most part and teaching Nezuko new words.” Tanjirou's voice trailed off as he realized that Muichiro’s was the first person, aside from the butterfly girls, that he’d talked to after the battle. Zenitsu and Inosuke had written him a letter to check in and inform him that they’d visit as soon as they could, but it would be awhile because they had assigned a mission to a faraway region. “You know you’re the first person I’ve talked to aside from the butterfly girls since the battle!” The older boy said joyfully.
“It's an honor to be one of the first human interactions you’ve had in weeks.” Muichiro responded teasingly. “I’ll be staying for a few days so we’ll have plenty of time to spend time together.” Muichiro looked at tanjirou and smiled.
“Really! I’m looking forward to spending these next few days with you, Tokitou-san!” Tanjirou paused as he noticed something. Muichiro wasn’t really injured, as far as he could tell. So why was he staying? "Tokitou-san, how come you’re staying for a few days if you’re not injured?” Tanjirou tilted his head inquisitively.
“Oyakata-sama ordered that I take a break here.“ Muichuro paused as he realized that he didn’t necessarily need to be here for his break. He had a whole estate he could rest in. "Actually, I could just go to my estate for my break.” An idea suddenly came to Muichiro. "Tanjirou, would you like to come to the Mist Pillar estate while I’m resting? I’m assuming you’d like a change of scenery after being here for three weeks.”
Tanjirou looked at Muichiro with a shocked expression. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to disturb you while you rest.”
“I want you to come with me to my estate, Tanjirou; it’ll be nice to have some company while I’m on break.” Muichiro smiled at Tanjirou as a blush started to slowly creep up the younger boy’s face.
"Well, alright then! If you’re sure it’s fine, then I’d love to go to your estate with you!” Tanjirou beamed.
“Ok, we’ll head out tomorrow, so make sure you have everything you need packed.” Muichiro scooted closer to Tanjirou.
“Alright! I’ll let Shinobu know that I’ll be staying with you for a few days. Thank you again, Tokitou-san; you didn’t have to do this for me.” Tanjirou stood up and bowed at Muichiro.
“It’s fine, Tanjirou; really, I enjoy your company.” Muichiro smiled shyly as he stood up to make Tanjirou look at him. "Also, call me Muichiro and drop the honorific.”
“Ok Muichiro.” Tanjirou chuckled.
