#thisthe

[carnivoured]

if lost return 2 me. pls.

[somevillainfuckery]

Wooooo More Sillies

Huzzah, more of the sillies!! Fleegle and Fleela! [Fleegle took his glass eye out and it freaked Fleela out]

Ofc, naturally, just like last time, Fleela is not mine, belongs to @fantasi34567 and as always a clear look at the girly:

[aaaaaaaaagenloser]

(Tw: kinda transphobia? Use of it/its for a character who hasn’t declared what their pronouns are yet. Arguments over whether a character is a person or not; that ties into the pronoun thing here. Bonus points for descriptions of canon-typical gore yipeeee)

An update from after writing this: oh this. Got. This one got away from me?? I think I started this at 4 minutes past the hour. It is now 43 minutes past the hour. shitt.

Update; it is now 17 minutes after the NEXT hour. 26 minutes after th last update. I have seen god in the past hour and she shook in fear of both my power and audacity. I have lunch with my family scheduled in like 6 hours and I have not yet slept. This wasn’t meant to be as long as it is but I was possessed and this is the result. I may edit it and make it smoother later but I’ll make that a separate post, I want this sleep-deprived chunk of words to be here as like a monument to the fact that I could have been playing stardew valley during this time but I chose to do this instead

TLDR: long ass story ahead written by a sleep-deprived and hyperfixation-driven author. Who is now going the fuck to BED

“We can’t just keep it! What if it has a tracking device? It won’t let us fucking touch it so there’s no way of knowing it has one unless it leads them right to us!”

“Ok, I hear you but think. That hasn’t happened yet. It’s been about what, three days? and that hasn’t happened, and they haven’t been violent towards any of us at all. They haven’t tried to go back either, so there’s no risk of them telling or leading Showfall where we are.”

“Why do you keep calling it ‘they’?”

“Well they can’t be an “it” now can it? …wait.”

“Ok can we figure out the gender of the thing in the other room after we figure out if it’s a threat to us or not. It’s not even a fucking person, you remember what those things did to you back there, don’t you?”

“Those people were not themselves, they were just doing what he wanted them to do—“

“They’re not fucking people! Those things are all part of Showfall, just like Hetch was! It’s just waiting for the right time to turn us in, or pull some shit on one of us like they did before.”

“They weren’t… they weren’t in control.”

“Yeah like fuck they weren’t, I saw it fucking happen!”

“You can’t just… Ok. Sneeg. Stop. You don’t speak for me, the one who, oh I don’t know, was the one that shit happened to? They were being controlled just like us—“

“No, no, not like us. We were wandering around and not knowing what the fuck was happening. None of us knew what was happening. We just went along blindly. Those things—on purpose—dragged you to that stupid wall and sewed wires into your hands—“

“Shut up, Sneeg—“

“No you shut up! You didn’t see it fucking happen! I saw them and Bitchface literally hold you down until you passed out! They were fucking choking you, they fucking—they nearly fucking killed you with just their hands, that’s not a little suggestion in the back of your brain, that’s on purpose! That is fucking deliberate, that is a thing those machines chose to do! You don’t remember, you weren’t conscious when they fucking stapled you to the wall and strapped your head in—“

Sneeg glanced at Ranboo for a moment in-between pacing as he ranted, and the far away look in their sibling’s eyes shut them up immediately. Ranboo was still present, thank fuck, but they were looking at their brother like he was holding up a knife to their throat.

“Fuck, Ran, okay, okay—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… shit. Do you need Charlie?”

“You don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

“…okay. Okay. I’m sorry. Do you need me to get Charlie?”

“No, I’m fucking fine.” It did not sound like he meant that at all. His voice was less steady than before. “I don’t want him to worry about our… hitchhiker. He’s worrying enough about… well, everything.”

“The fact that it’s here, so close to us is the reason I’m trying to get you to see, Ran. What if it turns on him? What if it does that shit to him when we aren’t there?”

“We will be there.”

“And when it tries anything, we can kill it?”

“Sneeg!”

“You wouldn’t kill it, even if it hurt our fucking brother?”

“Of course we wouldn’t keep them around if they did that, could we at least just… just leave it behind? …wait, no, they couldn’t take care of themselves. If we had to leave it behind, maybe we should…”

Silence lingered for a bit too long.

“We should what, Ran?”

“…Sneeg, I was about to say that killing it would be a mercy.” The Hero laughed. “Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

The Taken didn’t reply.

“We have to help them. I don’t… I don’t want to be on the other end of a mercy killing. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

“Okay. I’m—are you okay?”

“…m fine. It’s fine. Just. Can you stop acting like they’re any different from us? Please.”

“What do you want me to think then?” His voice was softer than it had been a few minutes before.

“Just assume that they… that they were someone. Just like we were before. And they didn’t… they didn’t do anything on their own, it was all Showfall.”

“Okay. Fine. Let’s assume they were controlled, they didn’t mean to, so on and so forth. Why haven’t they talked yet.”

“I don’t think any of the drones even could talk. Wait, should we really be calling them a drone—“

“Shut the fuck up, Ranboo, we have got to figure out what to do with it. It probably doesn’t even know what is happening, what the fuck does it matter what we call it.”

“It matters to me! Do you want me to call you by your title? Do you want to call me by mine? …No? Then why are we treating them like all they are is what Showfall made them? We had lives before, we were someone, so they must have been too. They might not realize it, or… or act like it, but they used to be someone. They are a whole person, Sneeg. We have to help them, we can’t just leave them behind because that would mean we are giving up on someone just like us, and we cannot give up on each other. They… they would have hurt us by now if they were going to. And Showfall hasn’t found us since… you know, which means there aren’t any more trackers.

…okay, Sneeg?”

“…okay. If it,” he sighed at the look Ran gave them, “if they try anything, we have to leave them behind. I’m not letting a dumbass puppet be the reason we get taken back.”

“If they—ok, whatever, you’re not understanding. You can’t say one of us somehow wanted to be controlled, and they’re a ‘puppet’ but those rules don’t apply to the rest of us—“

“There is not an ‘us,’ Ran! That thing isn’t like us!”

“Guys?”

A sleepy voice shut the two of them up instantly. They had a split-second conversation with their eyes before looking to their brother. ‘We aren’t done talking about this’ ‘You’e absolutely right, so later?’ ‘Later.’ ‘We’re telling Charlie nothing happened?’ ‘Of course.’ ‘Ok good plan.’

“Why are you two fighting? I’m tired, can we please go back to sleep?”

“We weren’t fighting, we were…”

“…talking about plans for tomorrow. And you can go back to sleep.”

“I don’t want to be by myself.” Charlie looked at Sneeg pointedly, who sighed to Ranboo with a playfully annoyed expression.

“Well I guess I gotta go be a teddy bear again.”

“Have fun”

“Absolutely not.”

Charlie punched Sneeg in the shoulder lightly for that, who just giggled in response and led his little brother back to their room.

Which left Ran by themselves.

Some nights, he would join them, but some nights Charlie couldn’t stand to be anywhere near Ran, and the three of them had made a silent mutual agreement that Charlie trusted Sneeg more than he did Ranboo.

…Ranboo was okay with this. He wasn’t hurt by it. He didn’t cry on the nights he slept by himself.

He didn’t wish he could be the one Sneeg comforted sometimes. They were just fine.

They were fine, which is why they went to the living room where their… well. Their hitchhiker? They weren’t exactly a brother, or a sibling, more like a fourth wheel on a tricycle. Or a flyaway hair. Okay, maybe Ranboo needed to get tbr fuck to sleep, alone or not.

But he found himself in the living room, where their hitchhiker slept. Or, didn’t sleep, as they seemed to not need to. They would sit on the couch and stare idly at the tv. That was what had started the whole conversation with Sneeg in the first place; Ran wanted to leave some kind of entertainment for the fourth person so they wouldn’t be made to sit in the dark for hours. Sneeg took this remark as a perfect opportunity to explain all the reasons why the former drone should be abandoned, but Ranboo would have fucking none of it. Maybe the couch potato (shit, he really needed to come up with a name for them—) didn’t seem to sleep, barely ate, and stayed still unless actually verbally told to move, but they were still a person. Ranboo was sure of it.

Their hand wandered up to the fresh scabs where their mask had been. The fourth person had a mask, one that hadn’t been touched. Despite usually staying still, the person—(Ranboo thinks they might just call this person Couch for now. Maybe it’s not accurate, and they’re tired, but it’s something. C, for short.)

C would back away any time the others would try to get near them. And they did in fact try, but despite how creative or sneaky they got, C always ducked away. It reminded Ranboo of the drone who had followed them with a camera, always one step away and never letting the Hero get too close.

The mask turned to Ranboo, who stared back quietly. C hadn’t talked at all, so Ranboo didn’t expect them to suddenly start now. He wasn’t even sure if they understood what was said to them, but Ranboo wanted to try anyways. Better to be polite.

“Do you like the show that’s on? I think it’s called Lucy, or something. I don’t know, Sneeg said it was funny. And it didn’t seem, uh- scary or anything.”

The mask didn’t speak.

“If you want to change it, the remote’s right there, um, I showed you how to use it before. And there’s like, instructions drawn on there. You can thank Charlie for that one.”

…

“I think I’m going to head to bed.”

…

“Fuck it, can I stay here?”

The mask still didn’t speak, but the head hidden behind it tilted a bit at the sudden change in tone. Ranboo took this as an absolute win.

“So I just. I don’t want to be by myself. And I don’t think you sleep, I mean if you just sleep when everyone else is asleep that’s cool, but also if so how do you even? function? on that much sleep? It really isn’t that much but to be fair you don’t do much so maybe you don’t need it. …do you sleep sitting up? And just somehow wake up when we get close? I know, um. Sorry about that, again, we were just worried your mask had a tracker like mine used to.”

Ran laughed nervously. “I think I did convince them that it doesn’t, so that should stop now. If um. If we make you uncomfortable you still don’t have to be touched, it’s, it’s fine.”

Other than the head tilt before, there wasn’t a reply.

“Okay, since. You can’t talk, I’m just gonna… I’ll sit down beside you. On the couch. And if you don’t want me to be that close you can uh- you can leave. Or like, get up, and then I’ll leave. This is the only room with a tv, so I’ll let you stay here, but I can’t tell if you want me to be here or not, so. Okay, sorry, I’m rambling. Just… move if you want me to leave, okay?”

Ranboo waited for a response that didn’t come, then sighed. “Okay.” He kept his hands up and open while sitting down, waiting for a few moments before tucking his feet under himself to get more comfortable. “I’m just gonna stay here, okay? Like I said, just move if you want me to leave.”

The mask had tracked them to where they sat now, but the person—C—didn’t make a move to leave. Ranboo turned their attention to the tv, keeping an eye on their couch partner in their peripheral vision. During a moment of audience laughter in the show—I Love Lucy, they remembered—C turned their head back to the television as they had been before Ranboo walked in.

Seeing as how C (they needed a better name than that—) didn’t speak, this was the closest Ranboo could get to being told “you can stay here.” So they did. A few episodes later, his head was on the arm of the couch and his eyes were closed.

Five turned its attention to the Hero, who was now asleep. He had said it was a person, which was almost hilarious. And the Taken and the Hero seemed to think it couldn’t talk? They had to know it needed to be given permission first: any handler of a Drone or Prop knew that basic rule. It would wait until permission was given: it knew how to obey. It wasn’t meant to speak to a superior unless it was told it was allowed. It would wait.

…in the meantime, it studied its handler, the Hero. The other Actors, their two other handlers, called him ‘Ranboo’ but Five knew that wasn’t his actual label. The Hero was his character in the last show, and so that is who he was. Five didn’t know if Actors had a number, but he had been called the Hero in the script, and so the Hero he will be until the script changes.

It hoped to get new instructions, a new script for itself, something, soon. It was tired of simply watching the Actors go about their incredibly off-script show. It was sometimes told to participate, and since no other superiors were nearby, it had to obey its current handlers. But it was told to participate, to stir eggs, to help clean the kitchen, to attack small webs in corners with a stick with soft spikes on the end. Those sorts of things weren’t it’s usual directive, and so it found itself…

It didn’t resent its handlers. They were doing their best, and they at least knew that they were meant to give it orders. It simply wished they were familiar orders. It wished the Hero had told it to play dead, or play chase, or play camera, or caught, or prop. It would even listen if it was told to power down until needed. At least then it wouldn’t have to be conscious in this boring and unfamiliar set.

.

Y EA I know they probably don’t like tvs. Shhhhhh. I didn’t think about that until like. I had already written the tv part. At this moment it is 55 minutes past th hour and I want these characters to go the fuck to sleep so I can go thr fuck to sleep /lh

And yeah Five only uses “he” for glran. That is intentional. It’ll be talked about and shit later. Something about being put into a role, something about showfall being transphobic, something something I want to go to bed

Powering down = “sleeping” for a drone. Different but similar. I’ll explain how it works later?, anyway The others hav e told Five to “sleep” but it doesn’t understand because it is only ever told to “power down” so it’s like error.sleep_not_found and it stares at them like “bitch you said the wrong. Thing. You’re supposed to know how to control me so you don’t want me to power down I fucking guess” and it’s gonna be really funny after that miscommunication is taken care of.

If you remember the Five Gets A Cold And Wants To Throw Hands With Everyone post, this is wayyy before that. These motherfuckers are fresh out of showfall. Don’t ask how they got a house. I’ll figure it out

I am! Tired! I’m not proofreading this!! Goodnight please give me your thoughts if you have them. I need to know I didn’t sacrifice tbis much sleep in vain /nf /lh (I appreciate words but you are Not required to give them. Love you have a good nigt/p)

[olli-online]

okay ACTUALLY you’re like this to me

INTERESTING ......

[hsslilly-blog]

i feel like i should be insulted !

[pikslasrce]

all of us strangers

all of us strangers 😭

[daughterofhecata]

Maybe this is the year I finally start the Coffeeshop Not-AU (Peter helps out Taavi during summer, Skinny gets a job there as well, they don't get along until they do)

[redbusters]

sorry if this sounds rude but i saw one of your posts and it had women dni and said non mlm dni, but ur pfp has the lesbian flag

oml is that that joke post i made like 2 years ago

[goinghomecomic]

Going Home - Chapter 2 - Pg 64

(BEGINNING) - (NEXT)  

[melto]

[romqnticstylez]

why tf is 90% of my screen time whatsapp 😭🙏

[latestageyouth]

mmm when i fatshamed my cat i didnt mean for him to get liver problems n go dangerously underweight :/ :(( it was just a funny joke i swear

[chemicalarospec]

Playing my record and damn how did I scratch up Timberwolves at New Jersey this bad....

[bloody-trio]

Hoy hace 1 años que llegué a Tumblr. 🥳

?!?!?!??!?!?+ this blog has been open for like a month!!!! what!!!!!!

[charli3emily]

A deep dive into the character of Ralph🐚

It is directly stated in chapter 4 that Ralph was one of the most comfortable about being on the island and his earlier actions shows thisThe only time he was show to feel worried was when he was forced to face reality(mulberry boys death,the war,getting rescued,ect). We also know that his life before the island had likley been falling apart. His mother was gone for some reason(as yk i hc her as dead which is the most common theory) and the war had gotten to a point where he needed to return to the Navy leaving him alone. He was in a new school(the boarding school which is all brought up in chapter 7) and likely shortly after the war has gotten to a point where they needed to be sent of to saftey. Those itself would be incredibly stressful for any kid of his age but adding in all of the previous changes it would be too much for anyone to deal with. So when he survived a crash and ended up in this paradise like place(which he likely had already dreamed of or loved in some way due to his original intrest of coral island which was brought back in that graphic novel) this would almost feel like an escape from the harsh reality he has been living in for atleast a few months. This would explaine why is reaction why his initial reaction came off as so odd. He was exited because he finally got an escapeHe also then gained a position of leadership(similar to his father who he is show to look up to) and a friend(Jack) taht he was finally able to get close too(Ralph is highly implied to move around as a child which would make making and keeping friends very difficult). Ralph loved the island so much because it was the first real escape he had. And having to accept reality took this feeling of stability away and forced him to accept that things where it good. We also know that this wild nature was somthing he had previously loved. In chapter 10 he brings up his last home again and how he loved the wild nature(which at that point he no longer loved) so the island would be even more enjoyable. When piggy once again mentioned rescue in chapter 4 and immediately after Ralph saw the boat he was still in the ehad space of dealing wirh reality which explains why he reacted so strongly. And of course the fact that he wa sthe cheif and it felt like his responsibility .This also makes the island falling apart even sadder because it was the only good thing he had left and it was stolen in 6 days with a weight that fell directly on his shoulder. And in the end he is confront with reality for the last time when the naval officer reprimand him for not doing enough to keep things in order despite him doing all taht he good in teh situation he was put in. And we know that war was still clearly going on(chapter 6 with the dead parachutes) so he was also forced to go back to that grim reality after the book concluded. Thsi would be 100 times worse if the original cannon of the nuclear bomb destroying London was still cannon.

If anyone chose to fully read this thank you

[xxlady-lunaxx]

could you possibly write something about the kamado siblings and giyuu after the war? (but especially tanjiro)

i personally headcanon that giyuu is forcefully adopted by the kamado siblings afterwards and they call him their big brother lol

it's revealed that nezuko repaired giyuu's haori and visited him each day he was unconscious to call him back, and just imagine nezuko properly greeting giyuu as a human??? and giyuu definitely would have been at tanjiro's bedside as soon as he was able to and be one of the first people tanjiro saw as he woke up- i need them to hug and for giyuu to admit it's nice to care for others and to be cared for ;lkadjf;aijouha;fkj;lajdf;lafjklah;h;

tanjiro always being the older brother but now having someone to lean on ;ad;lafj;odiuwehrj;lj;lkaj;dlfhoeiwhfkja

sorry giyuu and tanjiro brainrot has taken over recently

the rq is so cute 😞 i love you for thisthe ask itself screams spoilers so i don't think i need warningsbtw. this gave me a lil motivation boost so thank you<3 (I also got carried away with this HELP)

The first thing Giyuu said when he woke up was—"Where's Tanjiro?"

Nezuko was by his side when he came to and for a moment he had to gather his bearings. It took him only a couple seconds but in his mind it was too much; he was wasting time and energy that he would need to save for later, his reaction timing was too slow. Then he remembered vaguely, through the pounding in his head, the demonic eyes of Tanjiro's. Memories instantly flooded him and he jolted up, ignoring the blood that rushed to his head as he turned to Nezuko, eyes wide and frantic. "Wh- Where's Tanjiro? Is he okay? Why are you here?"

The questions poured out of him one after the other as he worried that Nezuko was only here because Tanjiro was gone, because in the end their efforts had been futile, because-

Nezuko smiled gently at him. "He's sleeping."

Her voice was like nectar and instantly calmed Giyuu. It hit him then that he had never truly heard her voice before and he took her in now, feeling himself relax further as he noticed her eyes were back to normal, resembling Tanjiro's in a way.

"Oh. Has he woken?"

"No, but Aoi says he might, soon. He's still injured, even though he turned into a demon and healed, so he's been in a coma for a bit. He'll wake," Nezuko explained. She gazed at Giyuu. "I should tell Aoi you woke up. She'll want to check you over."

"Okay," Giyuu murmured. Absentmindedly, he went to fidget with the blanket only to realize that one of his arms were gone. He frowned at it, prodding the sleeve that dangled uselessly past his upper arm. It felt weird, as if his senses had been abruptly stopped. He let out a breath, turning his attention back up as Nezuko stood and went to the door to call for Aoi. He looked around, realizing he was in one of the rooms with multiple beds. They didn't seem to be all occupied but he noticed one or two to his left with patients. The one closest to him he recognized by the tufts of white hair that potruded from the blankets. It was Sanemi, who looked fast asleep.

Aoi entered the room briskly, her expression tense until she laid eyes on Giyuu, relief flooding her face. "Ah, good, you're awake," she breathed, as if she hadn't believed Nezuko. "Tell me how you feel."

And so the rest of the day went by quite peacefully, despite the dizzying number of tests and medicines he was put on. He was updated as well on the current state of things, which was basically just the Kakushi scrambling for their cover story about a sinkhole, the Ubuyashiki's having graves made for each and every one of the fallen slayers, burying those they could and commemorating them all. Aoi had been working practically non stop since the war, being in charge of healing the ones who could be saved. Tengen and some of the people from Wisteria Houses had been at aid, but it had been a lot for the young girl, especially with having to deal with the loss of Shinobu as well. But overall, everything was going quite well and as the sun started to set, dinner was delivered to Giyuu on a tray, resting on his lap as he and Nezuko made mindless chatter. Nezuko had eaten earlier after helping Aoi cook and now, as Giyuu grew accustumed to using his non-dominant hand, she pulled out a small sewing kit. Then, to Giyuu's surprise, she got out his haori which was folded, a needle stuck in one part so it wouldn't be lost.

"Wha- My haori? I thought it was... I thought it was practically gone...?" he said quietly. He recalled how it had been quite tattered, mostly covered in blood and barely hanging from his shoulders. He watched now as she unfolded it and placed it methodically on her lap, adjusting the needle in her grip.

"It was. But Aoi managed to get me more fabric and I'm trying to fix it," Nezuko hummed, pushing the needle into the haori, red thread trailing behind it. "I used to mend our clothing back before I turned into a demon, so I was hoping I could do something."

"Oh." Giyuu's eyes were trained on her hand, watching it as it moved in practiced, undulating movements, pushing the needle in and out as she continued. "Thank you..."

She looked up, tilting her head. "You don't have to thank me. In a way, this is my thank you to you."

"For what?"

She thought about this for a moment, pausing her sewing. "For everything."

Giyuu frowned, busying himself with spooning soup into his mouth. "Everything?"

"You helped us from the very beginning, both by stopping me from harming Tanjiro and from sparing my life, too. You protected us from the other Hashira when they were against us and I heard you helped Tanjiro a lot during the fight with Muzan. You did so much more than even that, and I'm sure Tanjiro would want me to do whatever I could to pay you back for that. Expect a lot of thank you's from him, too," she said with a gentle laugh. She went back to sewing and Giyuu gazed at her, mulling over this. He found that she no longer seemed as much of a child as she did before, or even just from a couple days prior the war. He wished, really, that he had managed to shield them from everything. But he supposed as long as they were both alive, it was okay.

He finished his dinner and Aoi came back to collect his tray, instructing him to sleep because he had had much more of an eventful day than he should've having just awoken after two weeks.

He spent most of the following days in bed or supported by others until Aoi decided he was allowed to walk around. Naturally, he made his way instantly to Tanjiro's room, finding a chair and sitting by him. Nezuko sat next to Giyuu, working diligently on the haori, which she was nearly done with. Mostly, it was quiet, both either preoccupied or having nothing to say. From time to time, they made small talk but it usually died out quickly as Giyuu still found himself unaccustumed to having someone to talk to and ended up answering with short, almost curt responses. Nevertheless, they were able to pass the time for the days that continued up until Tanjiro awoke with a startled gasp, much more abrupt than Giyuu's awakening.

Of course, both Giyuu and Nezuko flinched at the sudden sharp intake in the quiet room. But they realized where it had originated quickly and instantly reacted: Nezuko, dropping the haori onto Tanjiro's bed and standing to hug her brother and Giyuu, calling out to Aoi before turning back to the boy and joining the embrace without a thought. Despite the reassurances that Tanjiro would be fine, both had been worried sick at Tanjiro's seeming reluctance to wake up and relief flooded their expressions—along with tears, although Giyuu managed to rein them in—as they pulled back.

Tanjiro looked mostly confused, really. But he was well, to say the least. Certainly, he looked pale, but he had for the past few weeks anyway so that was nothing new. He was struggling to sit up now, trying to make sense of everything—no doubt his head was very muddled, having just awoken after a month's worth of slumber. Eventually, they had to help him up as the arm he had regenerated as a demon was unable to do much. He sat there for a moment, blinking slowly. Then he turned first to Nezuko, then Giyuu, a slow and, curiously, relieved smile breaking through. "I'm glad you're okay..." he said quietly. His voice was fragmented and hoarse and worse for wear—but it was his, he was talking! And it brought the other two to near tears once again, although they both managed to get ahold of themselves for his sake.

"We were kinda worried; Aoi said you would be fine but you've been asleep for, like, a month, now!" Nezuko whined, slumping down on the bed, then yelping and removing her needlework quickly before it pricked her anymore.

Tanjiro fretted over her, confirming she wasn't badly injured despite having just resurfaced from a coma. He seemed unconcerned for himself, really. He turned to Giyuu, frowning momentarily at the obvious loss of a limb. "You two aren't hurting, right? I don't remember too much yet, my head is a bit... misty?" he suggested, using his good arm to rub furiously at his temple, mussing his hair further.

Nezuko laughed, somewhat hysterically, reaching up to fix his hair back in place. "Don't worry about us, we're doing great. Giyuu-san's almost completely up for leaving the Estate and my injuries were light," she assured him. "Worry about yourself, for once."

Tanjiro pouted. "But-" Then he paused, realizing something. "Oh. Oh, Nezuko, I hurt you when I was a demon, right? I'm so sorry- I hurt you too, Giyuu-san, I'm sure. I'm sorry, I'm-"

Giyuu spoke now, having felt before that he would be intruding in the other two's moment (even when they mentioned him). "Don't be sorry," he said firmly, gaze fixated on Tanjiro. "You were a demon and Muzan directly gave you his powers, somehow. You did very well in resisting a lot of the instincts that typically surface for demons, which is probably the only reason we're talking now. You had no control over the other things then, really, but I think you were somehow minimizing your attack's full capacity on Nezuko as a demon, or even not hurting her at all."

There was a moment of silence, punctured only by Nezuko's agreement. Then Tanjiro caved, apparently too tired to try and argue. "I still hope anything I did wasn't very lasting," he mumbled, dipping his head down.

"Hey!" Nezuko huffed, flicking his forehead. "He just said you don't have to say sorry, so don't! We're all better now, and that's what matters, right?"

Tanjiro nodded reluctantly, although mostly to please his sister. "Fine," he conceded. "So you're both better?"

They nodded in unison and he brightened again. Then Aoi arrived and both Nezuko and Giyuu were ushered away so she could check on Tanjiro. The next day, Giyuu was finally let out. Sanemi was having some final check ups but both Hashira were informed of some meeting with Kiriya in a couple days. Despite being allowed to leave, Giyuu intended to stay and help around as much he could, knowing that Aoi had a lot on her shoulders and also just wanting to watch over Tanjiro.

Though Aoi insisted he needn't stay, it ended up being a good thing he had because apparently Tanjiro was going through a mountain load of guilt—which, he supposed, wasn't inevitable, but it pained him to see the boy so anxious. Of course, Tanjiro did little to tell him any of his worries and it wasn't until Giyuu had been getting water at night when he passed by Tanijro's door and heard the muffled, yet unmistakable sounds of crying. He abandoned his need for water and slowly opened the door, peeking into the room. It was dark but the faint moonlight that seeped through the window's curtains was enough for Giyuu to see the sillhouette of the boy, hunched over in bed. Upon hearing the creaking of the door, Tanjiro jolted, snapping his head up to meet Giyuu's eyes.

"Eh- Giyuu-san?" he asked, reaching up to rub his eyes though no doubt Giyuu wouldn't have been able to tell he was crying in the darkness.

Giyuu made his way towards him, sitting on the side of the bed. "What happened?" he asked, clear concern decipherable in his tone.

"Nothing, nothing! I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Tanjiro fretted. His voice was hoarse and Giyuu's worry increased. He must've been crying for a while.

"You didn't wake me, I was getting water. Are you okay?" Giyuu said, reaching up to pat him, then thinking better of it and retracting his hand.

"I'm- I'm fine, it's fine. You should go sleep, it's late," Tanjiro said, tugging the blankets up. "Please, I'm alright."

Giyuu shook his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tanjiro paused, then mumbled a quiet, "not really..."

"It's okay. I can just sit here with you," Giyuu suggested, scooting closer.

"Okay." Tanjiro moved over a bit, letting Giyuu under the blanket. The bed was small but they managed to find a way to sit side by side. Tanjiro rested his head against Giyuu's shoulder, drawing swirls absentmindedly on the blanket. They sat like this for a while, the only sound being their breaths and the occasional hiccup in the quiet comfort of the room. Then Tanjiro spoke, his voice quivering and meek, so unlike his usual self that Giyuu's arm wrapped instinctively around him.

"I feel like I should've done more," Tanjiro murmured. "Fought harder against Muzan. Nezuko and Aoi told me about all the Hashira who had died and the estimated count of people in total who were lost. And I know I wasn't present where a lot of them died, but in the places I was there... At the very least, I could've saved your arm..."

Giyuu understood him completely. It would be a lie to say he hadn't been going through everything time and time again in his head, noting each place he could've done something different and saved someone. But Nezuko had been so constantly by his side, supporting him without even realizing it. And caring for Tanjiro had kept his mind occupied, allowing him to appreciate the people he was able to save than focus on those he had lost. So he told Tanjiro this now, letting him see a part of Giyuu he wouldn't have dreamed of sharing just a couple months ago.

Tanjiro gazed up at him as he spoke, silent but intent. When Giyuu finished, he stayed quiet for a while before answering. "I understand... It just feels harder to... to let myself be happy? Now? And I still feel responsible for hurting Nezuko, like I have to be a better brother for her now and support her instead of the other way around," he admitted, his voice cracking at the end.

"I know. I know," Giyuu said quietly. And he did, he really did. He felt that, somehow, they had embraced him into their family of some sorts. As if he had become their brother, that now he must accept the role and take care of the two, to be there for both of them. He didn't know if he was doing a good job, if he was succeeding. But if Tanjiro felt comfortable to be telling him all of this, then maybe he was. "You're doing great, Tanjiro. I can tell... from Nezuko, that she admires you a lot and she seems to be happier when you're around, too. But also you shouldn't feel like you have to be in charge of everything, you should let other people take over from time to time and put less pressure on yourself."

Tanjiro bit his lip, considering this. Then a small smile curved his lips and he tilted his head up to look at Giyuu. "You should do that too, Giyuu-san," he said, nudging him gently with his head.

That brought a smile to Giyuu's face as well and he let out a breath. "Then we can do this together, okay? We can navigate it all, but we won't be alone. Yeah?"

"Yes... okay," Tanjiro agreed, closing his eyes and leaning back onto Giyuu. They were quiet again and Giyuu figured that Tanjiro had fallen asleep after a while. But then Tanjiro spoke, seeming to be on the brink of slumber, his breaths slowing to a tranquil beat. "Thank you, Giyuu-san."

Giyuu gazed at him for a moment. Then he leaned his head against Tanjiro's, closing his own eyes. "Thank you, too."

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