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“So that’s why we should- Tanjiro, are you even listening?” Kaizen crossed his arms, an exasperated sigh abandoning him as he looked into Tanjiro’s undoubtably bright puppy eyes.
“…sorry, I got lost at the part where you said ‘good morning’” the reddish brunet confessed, his intense gaze piercing through Kaizen’s very soul.
Kaizen just sighed, crossing his arms. “Listen to me, coal boy, we’re talking serious here! Serious business, Sun Breathing! Focus.”
“I love it when you call me that,” Tanjiro spoke, an idiotic smile plastered all over his face.
Kaizen could barely believe what he was seeing. Was Tanjiro broken? Why was his brain not functioning? They had had serious conversations on other occasions, so why wasn’t he paying attention?
“Like I was saying, you are probably the only remaining Sun Breather. And you could be related in some sort of manner to the first Sun Breather ever,” he spoke, making his gestures a bit more exaggerated to see if he could catch Tanjiro’s cognitive attention. “So that’s why we should get a meeting with Ubuyashiki Kagaya.”
Tanjiro blinked a couple of times. “Sorry, what was that again?”
Kaizen placed his palms together, closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and counted to ten in his mind. Kamado Tanjiro was his lover. He was not supposed to insult him. He had to really hold his tongue around this guy.
“Alright…” he finally spoke after a while. “Let’s say your Hinokami Kagura is most likely a form of Sun Breathing.” He started for what was the 100th time that morning. God, he loved Tanjiro, but his lack of attentiveness that morning was really starting to wear him out. He was fighting at least a thousand inner demons within himself not to lash out at the poor lovesick boy. He could even feel his eyebrow involuntarily twitch.
Keep it together, Kaizen… Lashing out is something Muzan does… and you’re not him. You’re better.
“Okay, the Hinokami Kagura is most likely a form of Sun Breathing…” Tanjiro nodded his head, seemingly listening now.
“Very well! Passed down through your family for generations, along with those earrings of yours!” he smiled, finally relieved that the conversation seemed to be moving forward.
Tanjiro nodded his head eagerly, touching his own earrings. “Right! The eldest sons of my family inherited these earrings and passed the Hinokami Kagura down to the next eldest son!”
“So, if the Hinokami Kagura is Sun Breathing and it’s being passed along with those hanafuda earrings, it means that…” Kaizen tried to gauge whether Tanjiro was really understanding him or not.
“It means that… I might be related to the first Sun Breather, the one who gives your father nightmares!” Tanjiro concluded, his eyes bright with excitement as he spoke those words.
“See? Easy to understand!” Kaizen finally celebrated, clapping his hands together as he paced around the demon room. “This means you’re the last remaining Sun Breather!”
“I guess I am the last remaining Sun Breather…” he repeated back, though more to himself than to Kaizen.
“So, we should talk to Shinobu and try to get a meeting with Ubuyashiki Kagaya,” Kaizen finally concluded, hoping that Tanjiro had actually listened to him after so many tries.
Tanjiro hummed as he tilted his head slightly, “what would a meeting with Ubuyashiki do for us anyway?”
“Well, Ubuyashiki Kagaya has access to the Demon Slayer Corp Archive,” Kaizen sat down in front of the reddish brunet on the tatami floor. “Surely, there must be something about Sun Breathing in there. It’s the original technique and it did change the game for demon slayers.”
Tanjiro nodded his head eagerly as he took Kaizen’s hands in his. “You are so right, let’s go talk to Shinobu immediately!”
Kaizen smiled, glad that the conversation had finally gone as it should have. Maybe Tanjiro wasn’t broken that day. Maybe he just needed a little bit more time. Maybe he just really needed to work on his patience and anger management. Maybe he just-
Before he could even finish his thought, he was already pinned against the tatami floor. Tanjiro was seated on his thighs and held the demon’s wrists down with his full body weight.
Yeah, I don’t know what else I was expecting.
He looked up at the human, whose eyes were practically shining with their own light as he stared down at him.
“Oh, no…” he chanted in a monotone. “I’m trapped.”
Tanjiro laughed as he tightened his hold. “You look so helpless from this perspective,” he mocked, though it was clear his harmless jab came with no venom.
“I sure am, I can’t move under your massive human weight,” Kaizen smirked mockingly, though his own words carried no real venom, either.
The truth was that Tanjiro’s weight was merely a feather-like pressure on him. He barely felt it at all, and he could stand up and move just fine even with him trying to weigh him down. However, after some time with Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu, he had learnt that the way human boys his age usually bonded was through physical dominance. Thus, he decided to let the reddish brunet have his moment. Heck, even his older adoptive brother Giyuu enjoyed trying to physically win over him.
“At least struggle a bit! You make it too easy,” Tanjiro laughed heartily, his full body weight still on the demon.
“Oh, right. Of course,” the demon smirked and effortlessly turned them both around, now sitting on top of the human himself and holding his hands down in the same manner. “I won.” He simply stated, just to jokingly taunt his partner.
He could see the reddish brunet blush furiously as he futilely attempted to move his hands and arms from under his grip. He wasn’t really saying anything back to Kaizen, so the demon just shrugged, let go of Tanjiro’s wrists and stood up effortlessly.
“Anyway, coal boy. Like you said yourself, we have to talk to Shinobu immediately,” Kaizen straightened his kimono with his hands, looking at a still lying Tanjiro, who remained on the floor with his eyes slowly looking up at the demon’s face.
Seeing no replies from the human, the demon tried speaking once more.
“What are you looking at me like that for anyway?” Kaizen probed, lightly pushing Tanjiro’s leg with his foot. “Need me to stand you up myself?”
“Wow… Kaizen, you can’t just pin me like that and expect me to recover…” he covered his blushing face with his forearm.
Oh, fuck. I was too rough, wasn’t I? Did I break him? Humans are too delicate for roughhousing.
“Holy shit, are you alright?” he immediately kneeled down next to the human boy, making sure he held no major injuries where Kaizen had touched him. “Does it hurt anywhere?” he was starting to get genuinely worried. “I’m sorry…”
Tanjiro looked up at him, removing his forearm from his face. “Oh, what? N-no, Kaizen, I’m fine, you didn’t hurt me, don’t worry.”
Kaizen exhaled and took one of Tanjiro’s hands in his. “Holy fuck, you scared me shitless for a second… What do you mean about being unable to recover then?”
“It’s just… You are not even aware of the effect you have on me, are you?” he asked, placing his other hand on one of Kaizen’s.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Tanjiro… is it bad?” the demon asked, tilting his head and taking both of Tanjiro’s hands in his own. “What do I do?”
The reddish brunet just sat up, gave Kaizen a short kiss on the lips and finally stood up on his own. “Well, let’s first talk to Shinobu, then we’ll figure it out.” He simply said, his usual smile adorning his face.
Kaizen stood up as well, more confused than anything. Still, he decided to let go of their last interaction and nodded his head in favor of their plan to get more information on Sun Breathing.
“Let’s go talk to Shinobu.”
After listening to them while inside the lab, Shinobu was certainly surprised to say the least. Still, any efforts to defeat Muzan were welcome by any Demon Slayer Corp member: especially the Hashira.
“I see… I think it is worth a shot, now, isn’t it?” she smiled at them as she clasped her hands together. “I’ll send my crow to contact Lord Ubuyashiki as soon as possible, then!” she exclaimed. “He’ll probably be willing what you have to say, so get ready for a meeting call.”
“Thank you very much, we deeply appreciate your help!” Tanjiro exclaimed, bowing respectfully.
“You’re the best Hashira,” Kaizen smirked, earning a head pat from the only person who was the same height as him.
“Even better than Tomioka?” she probed, pinching one of Kaizen’s cheeks softly.
“You could call it a tie,” he replied, looking at her with a genuine smile. “Thank you for everything as per usual.”
She playfully pulled one of his curls and then proceeded to pat his shoulders. “Anything for my fellow pharmacologist.”
As they left Shinobu’s lab and walked towards a more crowded area of the house, Zenitsu practically ran up to them, his eyes wider than plates as he spoke.
“TANJIRO! We need to talk!” the blond then eyed Kaizen. He was acting hectic even considering his usual behavior.
What is up with him today? The demon boy wondered, tilting his head slightly.
“Of course, Zenitsu,” his lover smiled warmly, as he usually did. “What would you like to talk about?”
“It’s private,” the blond stated, looking straight at Kaizen and then back at Tanjiro. “We need to talk alone. So, you need to leave.” He said, looking at the confused demon.
“Huh? Are you kicking me out? What is it that you can’t say to Tanjiro in front of me?” he wrapped his arms around Tanjiro protectively from the side, looking at the blond intently.
“It-it’s none of your business! Stop being so nosy!” Zenitsu blurted out, grabbing Tanjiro’s wrist and attempting to pull him from Kaizen’s death grip.
“No way! He’s my best friend!” Kaizen pulled Tanjiro back towards himself. “Whatever you have to say to him, say to me!”
“Guys!” Tanjiro intervened, pulling himself off both boys. “It’s alright, Kaizen… it’s just going to be a few minutes,” he smiled gently at the demon boy.
Kaizen crossed his arms, huffing slightly. “Fine. Go talk or whatever,” he swiftly turned around and paced away with a furrowed brow. “Fucking idiots.” He mumbled to himself, heading towards the cleaning supply room.
It was time to drown his sudden burst of anger in copious amounts of cleaning.