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tanix-dragon · 3 months

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Subsystems, Sidesystems, and Headspaces: A look into the inner workings of the DWW

Hey everyone, Troile here! We were recently talking idly about our subsystems in a Discord chat, when it was brought to our attention that the way we function in regards to our subsystems is fairly interesting and that at least a couple of people would be interested in reading an essay or explanation of the subject. It had never occurred to us to write about it, since it seems so mundane for us, but now that it’s been pointed out, it makes perfect sense as a topic! As per usual, a quick disclaimer: this is how each subsystem in our system works, as well as the sidesystems—in no way are we claiming that this is how all subsystems or sidesystems work, or that all systems should work the way we do.

A couple of definitions before we begin: a subsystem is a system within the system, ie, one of the system members is themselves a system. The DWW has many members in it, but some, like Flux, have members inside of them. Meanwhile, a sidesystem is a totally separate headspace from the “main” headspace, inhabited by DWW members that typically do not show up very often. When in a sidesystem headspace, it is almost impossible to feel or reach out to these headmates while in the main headspace, which is the main way that we tell that someone belongs to one of the sidesystems.

Let’s start with the variety of subsystem that we think of as “standard four-member” subsystems, as that seems to be one of our subsystem templates. This template is followed by Flux, Orion, and Simulacrum, and works like this: a subsystem forms with four members. Each member is numbered, one through four. (You’ll notice that our subsystems have a group proxy, such as x?, ?>, and ?], and then individually, their proxies are numbered, such as x4, 2>, and 3].) The number one position is taken up by the host of the subsystem—Psius for Flux, Grimgoth for Orion, and Polonia for Simulacrum. The subsystem hosts aren’t always the most common fronters of the subsystem while the subsystem itself is fronting—that is true of Orion and Simulacrum, but not Flux. Psius almost always fronts Flux, but isn’t big on actually being in the front of the DWW. Number two is the subsystem’s protector, which is Cirros for Flux, Therimna for Orion, and Carolina for Simulacrum. These individuals often front their respective subsystems and will show up whenever something bad happens. Number three seems to be a quiet individual with very specific interests of some description—the “autism slot,” if you will. (For clarity, we’re autistic, so this is funny.) This is Uldrak for Flux, Dr. Tanji for Orion, and Moloch for Simulacrum. Finally, number four is the wildcard slot, where apparently just any old fucking individual can show up—this is Sascha Vykos for Flux, RC for Orion, and Tytalus for Simulacrum. Best we can figure is that these are people who can cause some chaos and aren’t sorry when they do it.

Typically, these subsystems form all at once, with four members right off the bat once they’re solidified enough to speak. Whether or not they’ll identify, though, is another story. In Flux, Cirros identified first, then Psius, and then after some prodding, Uldrak and Sascha stepped forward. In Orion, Grimgoth was first, then RC, then Therimna, and then a significant amount of time passed before Dr. Tanji was willing to identify. Simulacrum was a little different—their protector didn’t form at first, and I’m not sure that Moloch did, either, so Tytalus and Polonia were there first (with Tytalus identifying first), then eventually Moloch, and then much, much later, Carolina finished forming and stepped up as their protector.

Flux has also gained members since its creation—Ilias and Troile (that’s me!) as numbers 5 and 6, respectively. We don’t really have any data on if those slots are part of the template or not, yet, since Orion and Simulacrum are both still at four, so we’re keeping an eye on that. We do know that the addition of Troile to Flux expanded their headspace significantly, and has improved their ability to make Flux in the main DWW headspace appear like whoever is primary fronting the subsystem, instead of just this beacon of vaguely humanoid-dragon-shaped pink light that’s hard to look at directly. Speaking of which—Flux has a defined headspace that other DWW members can kind of peak into whenever, assuming that Flux is okay with it. Their headspace is a small, concrete room, kind of like a basement, with a desk that houses the computer or terminal that they use to front. Behind that is a nice, sturdy table, and to the side is a couple of chairs. The room extends a little further back, and is lit by a couple of bare light bulbs in the ceiling, and then there’s a door out in the back, letting Flux members exit the subsystem to exist as teeny tiny little dudes in the DWW headspace. They… basically never do this. Orion, meanwhile, I’m sure has a headspace, but the rest of the DWW can’t peek into it, and we’re not convinced that Simulacrum has one at all—they seem to be in a bit of a dark void situation.

Finally, as to how each of these subsystems appears in the DWW headspace—Flux, as previously stated, tends to either be pink light or will reflect the primary fronter at the time. Orion is almost always a bipedal dark red dragon with a polearm, although this is typically the case when Grimgoth and Therimna are co-fronting, which is the usual. Sometimes Orion will reflect the primary fronter, assuming that it’s Dr. Tanji or RC, but it’s almost always the dragon. Simulacrum, when they formed, were a big black box around the front, but now tend to appear as the primary fronter, or, sometimes, as all fronters, in separate bodies but forced to stay fairly close to each other. It’s kind of weird.

The most interesting thing about the dragon that Orion appears as is that… no one in that subsystem is a dragon, necessarily. Grimgoth’s a little draconic, but he denies that dragon being “him”—in fact, Orion considers the combination of themselves (however many there may be at the time) into that dragon shape to be halfway towards its own identity! Orion typically doesn’t get called a plural they/them in this instance, ie, if you’re talking to the general Orion proxy, he/she pronouns are appropriate instead. I don’t really have much of an explanation for this, and neither does Orion. Typically, this draconic Orion is made up of Grimgoth and Therimna, but the others can slip in just as easily, and her personality is a little hard to pin down. He’s like a more mellow Grimgoth, or a more aggressive everyone else, but usually just likes to watch. I don’t know. This is still an aspect of identity that we’re exploring, Orion most of all.

The rest of our subsystems don’t seem to fall into a “shared template” situation. Our remaining subsystems are Temperance, Emerald, and Skull Scholars. The closest template they have is that all three of them initially formed with two members, then Temperance gained one. I think it’s best if we just go through each of these individually.

Emerald is our only median subsystem, and consists of Talitus Verner and the Orchestrator—essentially, an emerald dragon and his half-elf alter ego that he played into so hard that he formed an entirely separate facet with different ideals and opinions. They consider themselves to be two sides of one person, so Emerald is typically counted as a single member of the DWW rather than two, but that doesn’t mean they agree on things or get along—I’ve never seen such an inharmonious subsystem, and the main writer of this essay is Flux! Emerald appears to us typically as a bipedal and human-sized emerald dragon, reflecting the two sides of him, but if specifically Talitus or the Orchestrator is fronting, Emerald will appear as them instead. Talitus is tagged as number one in this subsystem because he’s more sociable and friendlier, and is more likely to front the subsystem to talk. I have no idea if Emerald has a headspace, and if he does, it’s probably a recreation of the Orchestrator’s lair.

Skull Scholars is more of a weird case. We didn’t realize this subsystem existed for a long time—Roger de Camden showed up in the DWW, and we wondered if he was in a subsystem with Japheth since he seemed like a subsystem, but we ruled that out pretty quickly. Turns out, no, he’s in a subsystem with Lazarus, who we did not know was here for several months. Oops. Skull Scholars are such a weird subsystem that they don’t even have their own front in our tracking app or their own proxy—they can’t blur or be confused for each other, and only one of them can front the subsystem at a time. This means that de Camden and Lazarus are almost completely mutually exclusive—if Lazarus is fronting Skull Scholars, hearing from de Camden is almost impossible, and vice versa. It’s extremely, extremely weird, and they seem fine with it, although having a conversation with both of them is very difficult and takes a lot of energy, typically resulting in a headache for us. It’s like the brain forgot to install the co-fronting module on this subsystem—if it had, they’d probably have proxies that look like other subsystems’, but they don’t, instead having [] and {}. They’re visually similar, but not numbered. I don’t know if they have a headspace—if they do, they’re not talking.

Finally, we have Temperance. Temperance started out as a two-member subsystem, consisting of Saulot and Arikel. They’re interesting in that they’re the polar opposite of Skull Scholars—they can’t help but front together. They like to joke that they’re stapled together, which is basically true—when Temperance fronts, all members of it are much more present than members of other subsystems who aren’t in the front of their subsystem. All Temperance members are always fronting Temperance, if that makes sense—it’s like their whole headspace is the front. (Not that I know if they have a headspace—I’ve never gotten a glimpse in and even though they’re in the front right now, they’re not telling.) Saulot is numbered as one because he was the first one that started talking, and is still the chattiest, and Arikel is two because she was the other one. Kenaddel formed in Temperance some time later, so he’s number three because that was the next sensible number. I don’t have a lot to say about Temperance, honestly—they kind of “just work.” They can more or less “spin around” to make one of them the most in the front, but they never stop fronting the subsystem, so this is a bit of a moot point. I think they’re slowly developing the ability to back out of the front independently, but they haven’t quite managed it yet—stay tuned.

Now, as we move into the sidesystems, it’s probably worthwhile to note that no subsystem exists in either of the sidesystems. All subsystems live in the main DWW headspace, the one with the fronting terminal, and we’re curious to see if this ever changes.

We have two sidesystems, and we’ll address the first one we realized that we had first. We don’t really have a name for it, we just call it “the sidesystem”—this being anyone who predominately “lives” in the secondary headspace that we think of as being owned by Kyir, the headmate that we call the “system administrator” due to him having so many powers and abilities that the rest of us don’t have, as well as knowledge of the inner workings of the system that she’s in charge of keeping track of and only telling the rest of us when she considers us “ready.” I don’t really know what goes on in the other headspace, or what it looks like, but I get the impression of light wood floors and more of an open-concept design? I’m mostly getting this from Lazarus, who got it from de Camden, who got it from his husband, Mithras, who is a sidesystem member, so take that with a grain of fourth-hand salt. We don’t really have a great understanding of what makes a headmate a sidesystem member, although most of them have yellow or purple for their colors, other than Caleb and Kyir himself. Sidesystem members ar mostly defined by their ability to fuck off so hard that, as far as we can tell, they don’t exist, making them sneaky elusive bastards that we tend to find months or years after their formation. We consider Blame (our mechanic with admin powers that hid for eight whole years), Caleb, Caluna, Khouru, Kyir, Mithras, and Spades to be members of this main sidesysyem, and we’re trying to learn more about that whole thing as we go. None of them are terribly interested in explaining how it works, probably at Kyir’s direction, so we figure we’ll find out when we’re ready or when it’s relevant.

The other sidesystem was a surprise to everybody. One day, the space outside of the two headspaces, what had previously been a void became a beach, with an ocean and a little island with a palm tree in the distance and everything. This bamboozled everyone, but most of all Kyir, who is typically in charge of making sure that shit like this doesn’t happen without their permission and he was pretty pissed off about it, strutting around and mumbling and kicking at sand for days. We don’t really have an explanation on how this happened, but we found Anadox washed up on the beach and both Khadgar and Varian off on the island in the distance. As a result, we call these three the Beachgoers. Their default location is to be on the beach or the island, or to be swimming in the water, so we consider them to be a sidesystem of some description. They kind of exist outside of the two main headspaces, although they come into the main headspace to front whenever they want. They can dip so hard that we can’t feel or find them, like regular sidesystem members, but they usually don’t, and typically one of us can open up the door to the main headspace and yell out onto the beach if we want to contact someone. Interestingly, these three also all share a source, and it’s not the source that most of the system shares—they’re the only three fictives from World of Warcraft, and they all came in together as the Beachgoers. Absolutely no one knows why this happened, except for maybe Blame, but if he does, he’s not telling or suggesting it, not even to Kyir, which is kind of pissing her off. She’s not mad that the Beachgoers are here, per se, mostly just that such a drastic change happened to the system without his input. It’s kind of a whole situation, but it’s worked out in the end.

And now, finally, since I’ve discussed everyone else’s headspace, I might as well talk about the DWW’s main headspace that most of the rest of us, including all of the subsystems, live in. We have kind of a big living room situation, on one side of which is a white-tiled area with a terminal system and an indeterminable amount of seats that acts as a front. A crack in the wall in the front leads to some kind of outdoorsy well-lit plains area that feels extremely dreamlike. The living room itself contains several chairs and couches, all surrounding a table, and a specific couch that faces the fronting terminal that lies just outside the tiled area. We call this simply The Couch and is a common area for people to sit when they’re having a conversation with someone outside of the system but don’t actually feel like fronting. Past all these seats is the kitchen, to the right is the door that leads outside of the headspace onto the beach, and to the left is a hallway that goes out of line of sight of the front that leads to everyone’s individual rooms. It’s hard to get an idea of what it looks like around that corner, since we’re monoconscious and don’t remember much of what we’re up to when we’re not in the front, but we sometimes get flashes of what’s going on back there. Somewhere in the back of that area, there’s also an entrance to a room where the wood floor and the walls start to fall away into a big, black abyss. This is the Void, from whence most (if not all) new headmates come, and it’s Kyir’s responsibility to keep an eye on this and ensure that only non-harmful people form. As far as we can tell, they’re the only one that has any control over who does and does not form in the DWW, and if they miss their chance during the early formation stage in the Void, then there’s nothing that can be done, so he’s ever-vigilant, just in case.

That should be it, for now! Obviously, as time goes on, this essay will get more and more out of date, and may need addendums to clarify or add to it as we understand more about the sidesystems and subsystems and as each expand.

#tans journals #i'm too scared to put this into system tags tbh so i'm not going to #alterhuman #troile's thoughts

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larz-barz · 7 months

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Never again

Tanjiro, Milo, and Inosuke sped through forest of Mount Natagumo.

Father spider roared. The 3 of them stopped and fought the large demon.

“Milo! Inosuke! You 2 stay back and fight this demon! It’s one of the 12 kizuki so be careful!”

The 2 nodded then Tanjiro ran off.

Milo and Inosuke ran at the demon from opposite sides.

Inosuke gets impaled by father spider.

“Inosuke!!” Milo yells, worried (btw, she doesn’t full on dislike him and zenitsu, they just scare her).

The demon grabbed Milo by the neck, choking her.

“TANJI-“ She tried to yell through coughs before passing out.

Father spider threw Milo at a nearby tree.

After Giyuu showed up and defeated Rui, Tanjiro couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

‘Milo!!’ Tanjiro frantically ran around trying to find Milo and Inosuke.

He eventually found them with a group of kakushi.

He ran to them, tears filled his eyes at the sight of Milo. Bandages were wrapped around her head and torso.

~A week later~

Milo woke up, she looked beside her and saw Tanjiro asleep, hand intertwined with her own.

Tanjiro’s eyes fluttered open.

When he saw that she had woken up he leaped up and hugged her tightly but carefully.

“I’m so sorry angel. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.” He spoke quietly through his tears.

“I-it’s ok Tanji.. I love you so much.”

They spent the rest of the day together, clinging to each other despite the fact that the kakushis were all telling them that they need to rest up and heal.

#tanjmilo #fluffy angst #yk the drill #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #tanjiro #tanjiro kamado #tanjiro kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer tanjiro #milo’s strawberries #theyluvsmilo #milo suzuki #chsjcjsndnsnd #fanfic #tanjmilo fanfics

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knynumber1simphere · 2 years

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Tanjiro Dirty Alphabet

Tanjiro Kamado

A: Aftercare

He would kiss all over your body and praise you on how well you did. He loves that you blush so much when he flirts, when he baths you, he ends up just saying constant compliments towards you.

B: Body Part

For you it’s his hands, because his hands might seem rough, and trust me they are, but he uses them with such care when he’s placing with your body.

C: Cum

It’s a creamy texture, but yet it’s really sticky. Not to mention it slides down the throat easily.

D: Dirty Secret

Along missions he’ll have dirty fantasies about you constantly, and it almost cost him his life (didn’t tell you), so that’s why sometimes he does get a bit rough.

E: Experience

He would never have sex till he was married, but once you two were husbands, he’ll be really nervous to the first couple of time, so you’ll have to be top and show him how it’s done.

F: Favourite position

He likes any position that he’s able to gays at your eye and/or see his cum slowly leak out your ass.

G: Goofy

Of course, our baby laughs at little mistakes he makes, and even kiss you if you were to, but if it was just a little bit important then he wouldn’t stop apologising.

H: Hair

Hasn’t until you guys do it, so if it bothers you then he’ll shave.

I: Intimacy

(How much love to they feel) He would love you no matter what and won’t stop telling you how good you did. (And I’m not even going to start on his sweet kisses.

J: Jack Off

Tanjiro doesn’t jack off, and even though he might have a boner, from thinking about you, he waits till it calms down. He takes his role as the eldest son seriously, and he takes it to himself to hold back.

K: Kink

He has a huge bunny tongue kink, so if you play with his cum in your mouth, he goes nutty over you, and if you were to say something dirty as for, “Your so sweet tonight Tanji”, he might actually faint from embarrassment.

L: Location

He doesn’t like it if you do it in public, so the only place he’s conferrable is in the bedroom of your own house.

M: Motivation

He love it when you hug him tight and kiss his neck with your soft lips.

N: NO

Doesn’t like people even close to hearing you two together in the bedroom.

O: Oral

Likes when your grip if tight on him. He likes you expression as well.

P: Pace

He starts slow then waits for you to ask before he continues, unless he’s needy, then he gets straight to the point and apologises for what he’s doing to the love of his life.

Q: Quickies

You guys see nothing wrong with tease, but Tanjiro prefers to take it slow and enjoy having you. He likes knocking you down slowly teasing you till your just at your brim and fuck you for a couple of seconds hard core to get his point across, you are his and you can never change that fact.

R: Risk

Doesn’t take any beside trying a new position once and again. He is a very save and loving partner to whoever ends up next in him, at the end of his life. Also he doesn’t mind if you want to try something so don’t be afraid to ask.

S: Stamina

Since he’s just as strong as a Hashira, he uses his breathing jurying sex to make it last longer then expected.

T: Toy

He only uses something when he’s finding it hard to get hard.

U: Unfair

He likes using his mouthly fluids as a type of lube, but instead of using his fingers he likes to eat your insides instead.

V: Volume

Quiet and sweet but growls are loud.

W: Wild card

He does think it’s cute of you to dress up like a cute bunny but he just caudles you, so nothing naughty from this boy.

X: X-ray

4-6 is how many he can pull out of you, but his actual amount could be around 15-20.

Y: Yearning

He doesn’t really get hard but if he catches you getting dressed then it make him go a little wild.

Z: zzz

He would be happy to spoon as the little one because he just loves the centre of your scent and the warmth that comes along with it. Not to mention he adores when you play with his hair.

#tanjiro x you #kny x y/n #kny x reader #kny x male reader #bxb #kny x you #tanjiro kamado #tanjiro headcanons #tanjiro kimetsu no yaiba #tanjiro smut #tanjiro x y/n #Tanjiro x alphabet #Tanjiro Alphabet #Tanjiro Dirty Alphabet #tanjiro kny

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raidenssblog · 2 years

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How they react to you dying in front of them.

Characters: tanjiro ←you are here Zenitsu, inosuke and genya.

Genre: agnst

Pronouns: gender neutral

Warnings: blood, death, crying, yelling. Not proff read

Summary: how tanjiro reacts to you dying in front of him while on a mission.

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Two words: absolute disbelief

We all know tanjiro heart and soul will be crushed.

Zenitsu swore he could hear his heart brake.

Once the demon was finished tanjiro would run up to you. Dropping to his knees he would just scream. Sorry's, I love you's, come back to me. Stuff like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of metal snapping ripped through the thick forest. The red heads eyes bolted to your figure dodging attacks, sword laying in the ground broken in half.

Tanjiro warned inosuke that you were in trouble but the boy couldn't do anything, already having a strong demon on him.

Zenitsu was passed out and couldn't do anything. So tanjiro ran towards you slashing at the incoming attacks.

You managed to grab your broken sword and defend yourself, tho, it wasn't enough.

A burning pain hit you like a bus. You've been hit with the demon's blood art.

Your body was flung into a nearby tree. Your vision began to haze and your head started to spin.

Your chest felt heavier than before. Snapping sticks and leaves were heard before you felt hands on your wound attempting to stop the bleeding. You looked up and saw Zenitsu.

"h-hey st-ay with m-me alri-ri-right? Ta-tanjiro's gon-gonna help you j-just breath" Zenitsu continued to sob.

Once the demon was about to be taken down you whispered to zenitsu. "T *cough* tell tanjiro I love him for me yeah?" His eyes darted to you.

"n-no your going to tell him y-yourself!" Zenitsu's yells attracted tanjiro's attention.

His breathing caught in his throat as he stared at you almost life less body and Zenitsu covered in your blood and tears.

He droped everything and let inosuke finish off the demon. Running up to you he slides on his knees a little and began to sob. Pulling you onto his lap and holding your face

"y-y/n?" Tanjiro's tears were now pouring out. "I-its ok tanji *cough* I promise" you smiled. Blood was dropping out of you mouth as you spoke and you wound was bleeding onto tanjiro's haori.

He shook his head and pulled you as close as he could but also tring not to put you in anymore pain. "Im-im s-s-so sorry I couldn't p-protect you!"

"i-it wasn't your fault tanji *cough cough* it was mine. I broke my sword being careless" you Hug him back with all you left over strength.

Inosuke had heard the commotion and walked over only to stop at the sight of Zenitsu, tanjiro and you covered in blood.

"y/n?" It was his first time saying your name correctly. He kneeled down and placed his swords beside him.

You smile. Even if there was no reason to smile. At lease not in the situation. You were dying. Bleeding out in front of them.

You look at the three boys before speaking "I-i love you guys. Just know that. Thank you for always *cough* always being there. Thank you for wanting me in you lives. And tanjiro"

Tanjiro's teary eyes met yours. "Thank you for letting me love you. I hope in our next lives we can *cough* live happily with out the fear of death"

That, that is what broke tanjiro. "I-i love you. And and of course I'll let you love me for a-as long as you wish. I- I should be the one saying thank you. You allowed me to have the strength to continue to fight. And-and you showed me what love really feels like and for that i owe you so much love" your faint smile still played on you lips.

By now Zenitsu and Inosuke had walked away. Zenitsu was overthrown with how many sounds he was hearing. Inosuke didn't want to seem 'weak'. He wanted to help you.

But he couldn't. Nobody could. And now, tanjiro was rocking your lifeless body in his arms. Crying and saying sorry's.

He just wanted to protect you. But he was still to weak to even do that...

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

I'll be doing Zenitsu next, remember to look after yourselves:) Requests are open

-Raiden

#demon slayer #kny x you #reader insert #agnst #kny fanfic #tanjirou #tanjiro x reader #tanjiro angst #reader dies #demon slayer angst #x reader #tanjiro x y/n

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cherrykamado · 1 year

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thinking about tanji giving me one of his earrings. a sign of utter, absolute trust, passed down to his family from generation to generation. it's such a valuable possession for him, and to share it with his wife... shows that love's just not a verb for him. to tanjiro, trust is the ultimate form of love, and such a small (yet big) gesture is the living proof of it.

#hes my everything<3 #tanjicherrycore.💚#nothing can beat tanjicherry<3

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giggly-squiggily · 1 year

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my other love which has significantly increased is that for tanosuke so, last but not least, i would like to request 💜 angel for tanjiro and inosuke

i failed to restrict myself to three asks, demon slayer what are you doing to me 💀 sorryyyy <3

EKrjkajkeajrjakjreajkr MOOD! Demon Slayer just has that effect on us! And ahhh, Tanosuke! I've yet to write for these two ala ship- so this was really fun! :D I've gotcha covered friend! (And don't apologize! These prompts are so fun!)

Angel: "What happens if I do this?"

“Gagapoku!” Inosuke called, running at Tanjiro at near blinding speed. Had he held his swords in hand, Tanjiro would have dodged it- if only to avoid accidentally getting sliced.

Instead, he let the other boy tackle him dead on, sending them both flying into the dirt.

“Tangerine! Mehehehe! I’ve finally found you!” He cackled, grinning behind his bore mask. “Now- tell me!”

“Tell you what? And my name’s Tanjiro!” The brunette huffed, getting comfortable. They were gonna be here for a while. “I’m not hiding anything.”

“Are you now? Mehehehehehe~” Inosuke readjusted himself so he was sitting on Tanjiro’s hips, raising his hands. “I learned of a new training method today from the flashy one- he said it was effective on all! So, tell me!” He wiggled his fingers, snickering more when Tanjiro’s eyes widened. “Are you weak to the tickly, Manjojo?”

“It’s Tanji-rohoohohoohohoho!” A squeak of giggles escaped Tanjiro’s lips before he clamped his mouth shut, squirming beneath Inosuke’s fingers. “Gehehehe! N-Noohoho, whahahit!”

“Oooohoohoho~ So you’re weak to the tickly too, Tictactoe! You and the screechy one! Mehehehhheehe!” Little puffs of giddiness floated around him as he worked his fingers along Tanjiro’s belly, just like how Tengen showed him. “Bow down to the strength of the king of mountains!”

“Yohoohohohohu knhohohohow my nahahhahhame! Ahehahahahhaha, Inohohohohosuke!” Tanjiro cracked some, giggling non stop when Inosuke’s fingers pinched along his lower ribs. “Shahahhahhy ihihihihit rihihiihihiihght!”

“I am! TiktToki!” Inosuke declared, grinning when Tanjiro arched. “Oh? What happens if I do this?” He pressed a little more into the back of Tanjiro’s ribs, making him squeal. “HAH! You sound like the muscle mice!”

“INOHOHOHOOHOHOSUKE!” Tanjiro howled in mirth, kicking his feet against the dirt ground as he tried to block out the hands. Realizing he wasn’t getting out of this anytime soon- he did the first thing that came to mind.

“Muahahhaha! Give up yet-HEY!” Inosuke yelped when his mask was torn off, revealing his surprised face. “What are you- MMPH?!” His complaints were cut off instantly when Tanjiro captured his lips with his own. Tanjiro half expected to be shoved away, understandably punched.

Instead, he felt Inosuke relax, his hands stopping in their tickly tracks as he kissed the other boy back. It was messy with too much pressure, but a kiss nonetheless. When they pulled away, both were flushed bright red, staring at each other.

“Whoa…I didn’t expect that, Tanjiro.” Inosuke sounded a tad breathless.

“You said my name…” Tanjiro smiled. Victory.

“Heh, guess that jogged my memory…hey, I’m forgetting again. Do that again.” Inosuke decided, making Tanjiro laugh.

This time, the kiss was much softer.

Candy Heart Prompts Are Officially CLOSED!

#Candy Heart Valentine Event #chve2k23 #tickle #tickle dabble #demon slayer #inosuke hashiriba #tanjiro kamado #tanosuke #fluff #I don't think about this ship alot but honestly it's so freaking cute?#Like- ridiculously cute #I love it :D

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darkdevasofdestruction · 1 year

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Chapter 16 - Unlikely Best Friend

All the CEOs were gathered in the VIP Room 2, but neither of them had any idea why they were summoned by the Chairman. Kisara had to admit, she knew old man Katahara was a playful jokester, but this was a fishy situation and she was getting rather suspicious. Silently staying between Akira and Urita for comfort, she was listening intently to their chattering - And they were right. There were about five CEOs that were missing - All of them were CEOs that had lost their battles, though it wasn't a criteria, since many others who lost were present... In fact, apart from Akira and her parents, all CEOs were losers. Not only that, but her parents looked awfully relaxed... And that jerk of a fighter was there with them too, and he was looking at her with a wretched smirk. How annoying.

At some point, Katahara, followed by his best friend, the patriarch of the Kure clan, the king of Thailand Rama XIII and a ton of bodyguards came into the room... But the old man seemed to be completely unaware of the meeting.

It was a trap - The first to try to run away were the samurai-CEO and the CEO whose fighter was that sumo guy who lost against Seki in the first round, both of them having the fighting instincts in their blood... But as the door opened, an ocean of men with weapons, all garbed in white suits and wearing mean looks, flooded the room... with Hayami Katsumasa, the CEO of Toyo Electric Power Co. in the lead. So this guy was the reason for everything. He was trying to overthrow Katahara. He must have known from the very beginning that he and his cheap influence had no chance of winning, especially now that Julius lost against Wakatsuki, so he had to resort to this kind of blackmail. Disgusting.

Though three of the good bodyguards threatened Hayami, they were defeated in the blink of an eye by the most surprising man in the world - Hassad, the Arabian Whirlwind that was thrown in the ocean after the preliminary matches. How ironic. Still, he wasn't the real threat, but many of the other awfully strong looking men.

ONe of the men in white took out a laptop and showed a live broadcast of some of the missing CEOs, who were outside, bound by ropes and threatened to be killed by a fat man with a knife or a machete to their neck. Actually.... That man's build looked an awful lot like Kaburagi's. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if he somehow teleported his way to Katahara's private resort out of the blue.

"Oh hoooo. You guys there - If you were just a few points short, you'd be there with them now, isn't that right?" Katahara loked back at the CEOs of Burger Boss, Nentendo... And her parents. "So you guys were in it too, weren't you?" Kisara walked next to the chairman and looked at her parents in disgust. "Of course we were. We pledged from the very beginning that we would nominate Mr. Hayami as the CEO. Katahara's getting old and senile." her father let out an amused exhale. "Were you afraid that Wakatsuki would defeat you, then?" she crossed her arms, glaring at them. "No, you stupid girl. Tanji would have easily swept the floor with that idiot. But once again, you completely shatter all of our plans with your idiocy." her father accused her, but she could only raise her eyebrow questioningly. "What, did I breathe the wrong way? Did I blink twice as much as I should have? Enlighten me." she truly was curious what happened. "Tanji refused to fight for our company, unless you agree to date him." Kisara's eye widened in shock, only to burst into fits of laughter and needed to lean on the old man's shoulder, who was chuckling, just like her. "Really? Please, tell me you're joking, this is the most pathetic thing I've heard in my entire life." obviously, it wasn't a joke. "I have a boyfriend already. And even if I didn't, I wouldn't be dating this fuckass. If he doesn't want to fight, then find another fighter. Sure, there's no way you'll win, but at least you won't face the humiliation of forfeiting." she suggested briefly, only to see her mother smiling at her. "Because of you, the company will suffer a massive loss of income. If you don't solve this issue, we will sue you." she threatened, but it only made her look ridiculous. "Of course I'll solve the issue. I am going to take over the company. It's in my interest to keep appearances, isn't it?" both of her parents were shocked. "Wh-Who said anything about passing on the business to you?! You're a stupid little child who likes to throw around money! Even after death, we'll never pass on the heritage to you." her mother snarled at her with anger. "I can get you Raian for your fight. He may have lost against Ohma, but he dominated the whole match. Not to mention, both Wakatsuki and the two fighters of the first match from round 3 are heavily injured. A little bit of persuasion and Raian might even be capable of killing them and win the competition..." Kisara trailed on with a smirk on her face. She knew she didn't need to convince the psycho to fight, though having the patriarch there wasn't too good for her. "No. We don't want that deadbeat from the Kure clan. In fact, we don't want any fighter. I think we can come to a nice compromise, you and us, daughter." her father came forward, towering over her. "You go in there and fight against that musclehead. If you come out of there alive, we will consider writing your name in our will." "So you're betting on me getting killed by Wakatsuki, aren't you? Fine. Hey, gramps, can the company CEO be changed during a kengan tournament officially, regardless of the circumstances of the change?" she asked, smiling at him. "Of course, it can be done - My, how exciting, we've never had a woman fighting in our tournament before! Have you heard that, Erioh? Maybe you should have sent some of the girl to fight at some point, I'm sure it would have been exciting." Katahara laughed, while the Kure leader merely smiled and shook his head. "Sweet! Well then, let's make this deal right now. You write my name in the will, I fight for you instead of that dumbass, I get out alive, I kill you, and I get the company! Wonderful!" Kisara chirped in mock-glee, shocking her parents. "There are no fights allowed between company owners! You will be kicked out of here!" her father yelled at her. "Actually, no rule states that a retired fighter, who becomes a normal spectator, cannot actively fight against a company owner." Katahara himself pointed out - The Hasashi owners surely didn't play that smart. "Oh, which reminds me... Hayami. The Hasashi company won't be supporting you anymore. We are supporting the Nogi group." with a peace sign thrown in, Katahara laughed again, while the man with half of his face burnt looked pissed off. "You will regret it, little girl - But I will give everyone a choice, even you. Will you join those four and wait for your executions, or will you join me and form a new Kengan Association?" his mustache was curled up evilly. "And Metsudo, I have a demand to make of you. Cancel the tournament and resign as chairman, effective immediately." "And what if I say no?" the old man was defiant - He surely must have his ground. "Then I'll blow up the kengan dome along with all of the kengan association members and foreign dignitaries." it seems that Katahara already knew about the intruders and the others who went to plant the bombs around the dome. He's not an old man for nothing, obviously - Which made Kisara relaxed. Katahara surely knew about Hayami's evil intent from the very beginning and has something prepared.

Nikaido Ren, along with the other Heavenly wolves, were the ones who actually installed the bombs, seeing as they were special ops for the Japanese army, how interesting. Hayami has about a thousand guardians inside and outside of the dome, and compared to Katahara's 250 bodyguards, the good guys were seemingly outnumbered... But doesn't this guy get that Katahara's best friend is the Patriarch of the Kure clan? Surely, those assassins would be helpful.

"Now, the cancellation of the tournament won't affect those of you who have already lost - As a matter of fact, I've prepared another chance for all of you. I promise you that I will host a new Tournament for the key positions in my association - Let us all build a new Kengan Association together." still.... If these many guardians were around... Were they threatening the fighters not present? "Hey, I have a question for you - What's happening to the fighters right now? The active ones AND the ones from the medical room." Kisara called out, hoping for the best. "Well... Who knows~? I will tell you only if you desert that old geezer." Hayami thought he had won. "Admit it, Katahara - Your time is done!" one of the CEOs who must have been an old friend of this jerk tried to call him out and reason to him, but he was completely out of it. "Hey, Metsudo - Do you see it now?" Erioh called out to his best friend, in a sort of shady way. "He's gone back to his old tone of voice." the old man nodded his head dismissively. "You know you brought this upon yourself. You should've finished him off back then. The first time that Hayami Katsumasa rebelled against you." the patriarch was reproaching his best friend for his merciful decision from long ago. "You're fucked in the head. Who the hell would want to join you? Do yourself a favour and kill yourself or something." Kisara sighed, rolling her eyes. "Exactly! In your dreams! I'm going to reach the top by my own power! I don't need your help!" Yoshitake, shaking like a leaf, shrieked desperately at the evil man. "Ohhh, look who's grown a set of balls." Shion was puffind her cigarette, amused. "But that still just about sums it up." the Sumo-lover shrugged, along with his samurai friend. "Mr. Yoshitake speaks for the rest of us, here - WIth some exceptions, of course." Gaolang's employer smiled. "Oh, and let me take this chance to give you my answer - I'm not gonna be your partner." Kaneda's CEO spoke leisurely. "Likewise~." it was time for Naoya's employer to speak up. Hayami humphed in annoyance, seeing the resistance. "And what about you, Akira? Your late father was a loyal subject of mine, so I decided to extend this offer to you, the only executive of a winning corporation present, out of respect - Seeing that Miss Hasashi over there decided to rebel unwisely." once again, the red head rolled her eyes. "Loyal subject...? And who was it that ordered Mr. Urita's father to dispose of your Loyal Subject?" Akira accused the jerk. "My father was nothing but your puppet. He killed Mr. Nishihonji's father, just as he was told - But not us. We'll never be your puppets." Sukizo, too, seemed pissed off. "You fools are completely oblivious to the situation. Forget it. Get lost!" in that instant, the guardians were ready to attack - And so was Kisara. She took her katana out and got in her stance. A that point, Katahara raised his hand like a little child, asking if he was allowed to ask something. How hilarious. "There's something I just have to know - You didn't care about the tournament results all along, did you?" Hayami confirmed that thought, saying that his true goal was simply to overthrow him and destroy his Kengan association, to build his own. Still, in that motion, he confirmed that he was going to throw the Heavenly Wolves under the bus for being 'terrorists' Not only that, he said that he would blow the dome either way if the people didn't accept him being appointed as the new Chairman - What a mad man! "And, okay~! That's all the evidence I need~ 💖! I just so~ happened to have this recorder on me~♪ Now. What would your subordinates think if they heard this?" Katahara asked, only to be called a fool by his enemy. "It'll be even worse when the foreign heads of state hear of this. As soon as they know you're the terrorist mastermind, then you can kiss any hope of becoming Kengan association chairman goodbye. In fact you'll never return to public life again." "I said you're a FOOL." Hayami was getting very pissed off by the old man's antics. "Ohhh~! Listen to how clear the audio is~♪! You'll have a hard time working your way out of this one~!" Katahara hummed all amused. "SHUT UP!!!" Hayami yelled sternly, and the guardians were ready to strike. He really thought he had Katahara in checkmate, that idiot. "How do you plan to get THAT outside, exactly? In case you've forgotten, you're completely surrounded!" in that instant, someone got a message on his walkie talkie and went to communicate it in a whisper.

As if on cue, the wall was freaking broken and from a helicopter jumped 50 elite Kure members - Kisara couldn't help but laugh - Those two old men were really fantastic! "Thank you for the patience. Fifty elite members of the Kure Clan, at your service." the Patriarch was ready to fight. "The pieces are in place. Shall we have ourselves a game~?" a mischievous, triumphant grin was painted on the Chairman's face. "Hyoooohoohoho! Surprised yet, Hayami? And just to be clear - We're not the only ones resisting you! You guys join in too!" all of his elite bodyguards, and some famous fighter relatives of the employed fighters, like Inaba's gramps or Mikazuchi Rei's old man.

"HEY BABE! THANKS FOR TAKING CARE OF GRAMPS!" Raian's loud, boastful laugh resounded through the VIP room as he run to her side, killing guardians at fantastic speed. "Sure, sure! Raian - I have to go save Ohma. How about we have our little teaching lesson right now?" Kisara grinned, stepping forward next to her psycho friend. "HA! HEY, GRAMPS, IMMA MARRY THIS ONE, GOT IT?" his grin was splitting his face in two. "Keep dreaming, Raian!" the red head laughed as she charged ahead of the Kure boy and started killing away at the guardians. She let all restraints loose - She never killed before, but she threw all of her anger and frustration into destroying the people threatening her life. She had one goal, and that was to get out of there and reach Ohma. She had to save him before it was too late. "Work on your stance, babe - And careful to those fuckers - Don't wanna hurt your pretty face, do ya?" he said as he ripped a guy in two perfect sides. "...Wicked..." Kisara's green eyes looked with awe at his raw power. To think a human being can actually rip a man apart like that, it was fantastic. "LOOK OUT!" Raian rushed and threw his arms around the red head, turning around - He shielded her from a sickle throw. "Shit, I'm sorry -" the girl tried to apologise, but Raian activated his Removal. "You're dead." yep. He was beyond control now and he went on a rampage. So much for a killing lesson. At least she was now able to follow him through the corridor of dead bodies and leap out of the room. "THANKS, RAIAN! SEE YOU LATER!" she called out, not looking back and hurrying the hell out of there before anyone could catch up to her.

The girl ran out of there, and as soon as she got to the lower parts of the dome, she saw various fighters teaming up against bunches of evil guardians surrounding them. All of the fighters were bare-handed, but neither seemed to be struggling, despite their injuries. That is the true pride of a fighter, huh? Fascinating.

There was Kuroki Gensai at some point, looking completely unbothered and in perfect shape as always, and then there was Saw Paing going all out, as always - And further down, she found four fighters going against a guardian with long, dark hair, wielding some kind of weapon that seemed to have severely harmed Adam Dudley. Kaneda was in the back, whilst an injured Cosmo, finally out of his wheelchair, was in the vanguard with Gaolang and his shattered right fist just behind him.

"We wouldn't want the Thai God to injure his Heavenly fist so bad that he can't protect His Majesty, now, would we~?" Kisara teased as she lunged forward and cut the enemy's weapon in two, before cutting him down in the same manner. "Don't worry, things are going to settle down... And your employers are safe too. Toyo's CEO tried to make a coup, but Katahara has everything under control and the guardians are being killed left and right. Any idea if Ohma is still down at the medical wing?" she asked, cleaning the blood from her katana on her sleeve. "Thanks for the help, Nee-san! Anyway, I think he's still there. But don't worry, there were a lot of fighters in that room, so he's safe!" Cosmo smiled, tired from the exhaustion of getting out of his wheelchair. "Wonderful. Now then, I suggest you go somewhere safe and wait until this commotion dies down. See ya." with a rushed peace sign, the red head sprung out of there as fast as when she'd arrived. "Huh. I never imagined Miss Kisara would slice a man in two without any hesitation." Gaolang's eyes were wide with surprise, but at the same time, he could easily get it. He, too, would kill and has killed, in order to protect His Majesty - Sometimes, assailants don't know how to stop when they see themselves at a disadvantage. Ohma... That Tokita Ohma must be a really lucky man and a good fighter. Perhaps he should pay attention to his next fight.

Just a little more, just a few more bannisters to slide down on, just like when she was a child at the skate park - And there it was, the lowest floor, the one that housed the Infirmary - The whole place was swarming with guardians - But no matter. They will all die by her sword. The killing was, however, stopped once she noticed the huge frame of the ex-Nentendo fighter, Haruo, who had Mokichi, Ohma and Yamashita Kazuo in his grasp, and was followed by Miracle Doctor and Inaba.

"RYO!" the girl cried out, running up to him and following Haruo to the secluded, safe room where she let those three. "Are you three staying?" "I need to go help Master, but I'll come back later!" Haruo said, rushing out of the room. "Since these two are the most injured, I need to constantly keep an eye on them. Now that you're here, I guess I don't have to worry anymore. Inaba wanted to make sure these guys were safe." though the doctor smirked and wiped the sweat from his forehead, Ryo smiled at the girl. "Thanks, you guys, you are the best. Stay in the corner next to the those three. I'll handle the rest now." closing the door, Kisara went to kneel on the ground, the sword laid in front of her, and her hands were resting on her lap. If there was something useful she learnt with Hatsumi, was to throw the enemy off guard by not showing your intentions - Either keeping your hands in your pockets, or... Sitting on the ground, completely unbothered and seemingly defenseless. Or at least, that was the impression she wanted to let. "Will you be okay, Miss Kisara?" Ryo asked, frowning. "Let's just say that I've never been angrier in my life, and that someone broke all the shackles that restrained me ethically. I'm going to let all my frustrations out." she smiled wickedly, like an enigmatic Kitsune, as she cracked her fingers.

And then they waited. And waited. Until the door opened, and three guardians got in. They started laughing, saying that she was ready to commit seppuku, hence the katana before her, but before they knew it, all of them were left in pieces, in their combined pools of blood - And Kisara was back to her spot, as if nothing happened. This process continued each time the door was kicked open, and she would slash them to bits - That is, until Haruo opened the door, stumbling in and dripping with blood from head to toe. Everyone yelled out his name out of shock and concern, only to see some kind of sharp rapier impaling him, making him fall limp to the ground.

"I found you." the grave and somber looking guardian spoke in a low voice. Although, the next words that followed were completely in disarray compared to his previous action. "Run." he said, making the people inside the room blink in confusion. "Wh-What did you say...?" Yamashita Kazuo, fallen to the ground, managed to stammer meekly. "Run. This dome will be blown up shortly." the enemy spoke so casually as he took out a handkerchief and cleaned the blood from his blade. "I will allow you to go freely, if you'll take that man with you." he continued, motioning towards Ohma. "Why is Ohma so important to you?" Kisara spoke sternly over Yamashita, who was trying to whisper a question of concern. "This is your only chance. Julius in engaged with Squad B just up ahead and my squad is heading to him as back-up. He's furious, now that he's realised he was just a sacrificial pawn. Security should be light now. Go on and escape." everything he was saying was so completely weird. "W-W-Wait just a second...! Did you say that the dome's gonna blow up...?! Then what are we waiting for?! We have to evacuate everyone - Quickly!" the manager wailed in desperation. "Don't get the wrong idea." the man threatened solemnly, piercing Haruo's back once again, earning a shriek of distress from the old man. "Do you think that I was letting you go out of good will? Keep the Tiger's Vessel alive. Those were my orders." Tiger's Vessel? What an odd metaphor for a human, let alone Ohma. Did something happen to him when he was younger, still in the Inside, and he doesn't remember? Could this be the cause of his amnesia? "What in the world does that mean?" Kisara got up from her spot, yet didn't drop her guard for a second. "You don't need to know, and you knowing wouldn't make a bit of difference. Take Tokita Ohma and leave the dome. This is your last chance to survive." and he was dead serious about this. "Miss Kisara, maybe we should go. I have to find Uri and get him out of here." Ryo was gritting his teeth, afraid for his best friend. "This isn't the most optimal scenario I envisioned. We have to come up with a plan." though the miracle muttered, though quite fantastically, the once unconscious man got up on wobbly feet - And everyone gasped out his name - Only for him to groan, asking what happened while he was asleep. Seeing that he was awake, the guardian decided that letting other people live would only get in his way, and with someone in such a bewildered condition, it wouldn't pose as too much work to get him out of there - So he lunged towards the manager to attack, only to get his rapier blocked and kicked to the side. "Hold up, hombre. Don't you think you've gotten too full of yourself?" Kisara hissed at him, getting in a defensive stance in front of the manager and his fighter. "Hasashi Kisara - Why are you covered in blood, and who the hell is he?" Ohma's low voice made her feel instantly more relaxed and courageous. "Well - One of the CEOs had a coup d'etat and planted bombs around the dome and is now threatening to blow this up, while his bodyguards go around killing everyone that isn't present in the stadium. Was that good enough for an explanation?" the red head chuckled, sparring intensely with the rapier wielding guy. "Nah. You have too much red on you. Come over." just as she drove the guardian back, she turned her back to him and stepped next to Ohma who was eying the blood caking her clothes and face. "I don't like this look on you. Who ruined that cute outfit of yours?" he asked, raising his hand to cup her face and wipe the blood from her cheek. "I wouldn't know. They're long dead. They stood in my way while I was trying to reach you. Grave mistake." that sweet yet playful smile made the man huff in amusement and reach his other hand forwards the enemy, using a new skill altogether to catch the tip of his rapier and break it. As he flicked the tip away, he lunged his foot forward and punched the guardian easily, driving him away. This wasn't the same Ohma as before - This Ohma was on a completely other level. He was radiating calmness, he was cool-headed and collected, and most of all, he was stable both mental and physical, apart for his injuries. "This guy is too predictable, I should have let you had your fun." Ohma spoke, before turning his attention towards the opponent, looking bored. "I'll only repeat myself once. Get lost." "I see that you qualify as the Tiger's Vessel." the guardian spoke, throwing away his weapon to clatter and clank on the ground. "...Are you working for Him? Why is He showing up now?" by the looks of things, Ohma had an idea about what was going on. Something tells Kisara that this wasn't JUST a coup d'etat, nor was Hayami the real mastermind behind all this, but a greater force was behind him, using this opportunity for far more sinister schemes. Though the enemy had no more weapons, he didn't need that, for he activated something similar or quite literally Ohma's Advance technique. "I'll have to take you by force. The Tiger's orders are absolute." "I'd completely forgotten It's real name until now. Possessing Spirit. I guess you're not bullshitting me. You must be His messenger." stepping forwards, Ohma got in a stance. "Hasashi Kisara, stand back and protect Yamashita Kazuo if needed. This guy's not gonna back down easily." though she wanted to yell at him for going into a fight while so heavily injured, she merely nodded her head and got in front of the old manager, along with the assassin and the doctor. Thankfully, though, and quite incredibly, the fight lasted far shorter than expected, and the opponent was unconscious "Hey. Go back and tell him this - You won't get me with the same trick again. If you want me, you'd better come for me yourself." Ohma's cocky smirk was as enticing as always and she wanted to just grab his face and pull him in a deep kiss.

He was alright! Ohma was alright! Awake and alive and alright - More or less - But he was! What a relief, even if temporary, it was good. "Hasashi Kisara - Is there something you want to say to me?" the brunet came over to her, bending down slightly at the waist. "I..." he raised her chin with his finger to make her look at him. "I have quite a few things to tell you... But looking at you made me forget everything." her smile widened. "I'll talk to you properly tonight... Until then... I just want a single reassurance from you. Can I have that, please?" she asked, extending her pinky towards him. "Can you promise me that, no matter what I do, you won't hate me or be disappointed in me?" This question clearly surprised the man, but he was quick to get over his shocked, and he let out a small chuckle as he hooked his pinky to hers, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I promise." as soon as he spoke those words, he could see his beloved relax visibly - Only to side step him and go towards the exit. "Then, I'll be seeing you tomorrow night. Take care of Yamashita Kazuo." with a wink, she skipped out of the room, leaving everyone, especially her brunet darling, confused. "Have I missed a lot while I was asleep?" he asked out loud, though nobody knew what to answer.

As soon as she stepped out into the hallway, she noticed that there were no more white guardians anymore, but the place was filled with Katahara's fighters. So the coup was dissolved. Perfect. It was time to go to the chairman's office and look for his fighter. Getting there, she saw not only the chairman, but his best friend and a few of his personal bodyguards, yet no sight of The Fang.

"Ahh, Miss Kisara, to what do I owe the pleasure?" the old man asked, stepping towards her. "Well - Now that so many people are here, I guess I have a bit more to say. First, I think I should thank you for authorising the inheritance deal and the fighter change, even though it was kind of a weird thing." she smiled wryly, only to see the old man laughing merrily. "Not at all, not at all! You see - Sayaka is my daughter, and as a father, I would never want her to come to any harm. She and my son are my greatest treasures - And I'm sure Erioh here feels the same about his daughter. If your parents want to have you killed, but you have a plan, then by all means, I'd love to give you a chance to prove that you're going to be a far better CEO than they are. I had my doubts, but after seeing you fight earlier, I knew I had made the right decision. Still, there are no weapons allowed, I wonder what you will do, especially against a veteran like Wakatsuki Takeshi." this answer made the girl smile and drive her hand through her hair. "Few people know that I trained with Hatsumi for four years - But that's for the best, isn't it? Nobody expects anything from me, because I'm a girl. But... Look at Karla. Nobody expects a cute girl like her to fight, and yet..." she ended with an enigmatic smile. "Haha, she's right! Erioh, what do you say? Maybe you ought to bring some female fighters for the next matches?" the old man turned towards his best friend, who had his hands in his haori sleeves. "Your opponent won't be easy to fight and four years of training will count for nothing against a veteran. Even so, I'm quite curious how the match will unfold. What style do you use?" the old fighter asked. "Aikido is my main style, but Hatsumi's style isn't the only thing that I know. I've been developing my own style, based on my fortes, so that I overcome the obvious physical weakness." this explanation earned a chuckle from the patriarch. "I see, I see, so the match will prove to be rather fun to watch. I will be rooting for you, Miss Kisara." Erioh spoje, making the girl smile. "Thanks, you two. So, this gets me to my next reason for being here. One - I can't find Raian, and I need to meet him in half an hour in the forest. And two... I need to see Agito urgently. I'd like to know where I can find him, please." the chairman chuckled, realising with ease her intent. "Agito never taught anyone before. Are you sure you're up for that?" the girl simply shrugged. "No clue. But his fight against Gaolang fascinated and inspired me. And that Formless style... Whatever it was, it looked a lot like the Aikido style I've been practicing, but on a whole other level. Even if I didn't have to prepare for a fight, I'd have liked to have Agito as my teacher, at some point... If he'll have me." her explanation earned a chuckle and a pat on her shoulder from the old man as he told her where to find his Fang, and she made a bee-line right to his room, knocking and waiting for the door to open.

Once it did, she looked up at the man towering over her and gave him a sweet smile. "Hi, Agito! How are you doing? Congrats on that amazing fight against Gaolang, you both were fantastic!" but the man remained silent. With a better look at him, she realised his hair was still disheveled and looked troubled, yet with added surprise at seeing the girl in front of him. "Uh... Are you doing alright? Is something upsetting you?" "Why are you here?" he asked bluntly. "Ah - Well... I need to ask a huge favour from you. I really need you to teach me your fighting style." his eyes widened slightly, before grunting out a definite No and stepping back to close the door, only for the girl to throw herself into the door to keep it open. "Agito, please, I need you! My parents' company fighter cowarded out and I have to fight against Wakatsuki myself! I can't do it without you!" hearing her desperate plea and the reason for her seeking his aid made his stunned - Not only was someone actually asking for HIS help, but a complete newby, a small and frail girl, of all things, was going to fight a Kengan match against a man that was only defeated twice in his over 300 matches career. She could have been placed against him, and it would have made no difference altogether. What the hell was in anyone's mind to accept this? "The chairman won't allow this. You're safe." but she shook her head. "The chairman already allowed this deal. It's all a business move, and it's beneficial on my part. If I get out alive from that match, I inherit the business. And well... I guess I finally get to test the progress I've made in the past four years of my training. Please, Agito, I really need you. I started learning how to fight so that I would be able to stop people from walking all over me. This is the last step I have to take. Once I inherit the business, not even my parents will be able to betray or humiliate me anymore. Please, accept. Just for a day. Just tomorrow." the girl's plea made him look down at her with his hard stare - And he nodded his head, albeit skeptically. "I can't guarantee you won't leave injured." the girl simply smiled widely. "It's fighting, I'm not expecting to leave unscratched. Thank you so much for accepting, it means the world to me!" they exchanged phone numbers for the next day's meeting, and once again, the girl darted off.

This time, Kisara went to her room, changing into comfortable, fighting clothes, and then ran into the forest, hoping that the old man had informed his psycho devil kin about the meeting time and place. Thankfully, Raian was already there, with his hands in her pants' pockets, almost as if he was imitating her from their earlier encounter. "Lookie, lookie who's finally decided to show up!" he sniggered teasingly. "I'm only ten minutes late. It took longer than I expected to find Kano's room and ask him to train me tomorrow." she sighed, stretching a bit. "Eh? Why d'you need that guy, when you've got me?" he asked, tilting his head like a confused puppy - It was almost adorable. "Realistically speaking, the fighting style he showed at the end of his fight with Gaolang matches my own. Whether it is Aiki, Systema or his Formless style, it's exactly what I need. Not only that, but Wakatsuki only ever lost against two people: Kano Agito, the man that I want to train me tomorrow, and Hatsumi Sen, the man that has trained me in Aikido for the past four years. He has never seen me fight before, but I have seen him. I know most of his fighting style and patterns by now, and I know that his Karate hits have a far shorter range compared to normal ones, so that will be in my advantage. I play a lot on the deceiving and surprising side - I shock with my moves so that I will gain that 1 second advantage and take you down. When Wakatsuki sees me taking his arch enemy's stance, he will pale. Not only that, but my Aikido style uses the enemy's strength and power against them, so adding his mountain-like state, you can imagine that he will be fighting against his own power added to my own. I don't need to win. I need to impress myself. This is my chance to prove to everyone, myself included, that I'm not the stupid, worthless doormat called Kisara that can't stop people from walking all over her. So... Yeah, Raian, I need all the help I can get." she explained - But the man before her barked a laugh. "Fine, fine, whatever, I get ya, you're a fine cookie, babe. Now let's see what you've got." he got in a stance, while Kisara adopted a more leisure one, although not the same one as before, as that trick was already done and wasted. That was the huge problem with Kisara's strategy - It was based on one-tricks for the most part. She really should have had grappling lessons from Cosmo.

For the rest of the day until later into the night, the two kept on sparring and sparring, until the girl couldn't take it anymore. She was exhausted and famished. Of course, that psycho was doing fine, despite having used his Removal repeatedly, but he was nice enough to let her lean on his shoulder while they ate together. When things weren't revolving around fighting, Raian was actually a weirdly good company - If you were able to ignore the weirdo aspect of him and how he kept saying they were going to get married, though Kisara suspected he made the idea more into a gag, copying and mocking Karla's behaviour around Ohma. She wasn't entirely sure, but it didn't make much of a difference.

When she was finally full and ready for resting, the girl went to Hatsumi's room for a well-earned shower and strategy planner, considering he was one of the only two people to ever defeat Wakatsuki. Even if a lot of years passed since then, facts were facts, and neither changed their fighting style 180 since then. Now, three people were aware of the fight... With Wakatsuki being the fourth, but she will only tell him the next day, at evening, hoping to create enough disarray into his tactics, at least short-term.

-----

The night of the fourth day of the Kengan Annihilation tournament has approached, and all fighters were anxious for the last day, which held three rounds - It was going to be the most fantastic show anyone will witness in their entire life... And for Kisara, it mean the beginning of the end.

As Agito praised her progress and watched her leave from the forest grounds, the girl had only two objectives for the remaining time - First of all, she went by Wakatsuki's room and waited for him to open the door and let her in. He looked as bad as the previous day, unfortunately for him. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and looked up at the girl fidgeting from one foot to the other. "What is it, Kisara?" he asked. She had an almost guilty look on her face - He wondered why. "Remember when I said I will kill my parents?" she asked, taking a deep breath. "With Katahara as a witness, I struck a deal with my parents so that I will have my name on the business inheritance once they die. And, of course, I will force their time of death." she continued, with an almost dramatic effect pause. "Taking a life isn't easy, Kisara. Don't let anger take over you. You're not like them. They're not worth your time." despite his advice, the girl merely smiled. "I'm sure your employer told you about the coup from yesterday, didn't you? Though he wasn't present, he must have heard from the other CEOs. I was there. And when the guardians filled the VIP room, I and Raian went on a killing spree. I had to get the hell out of there and make sure Ohma was okay. That doesn't take away the fact that I took lives without any kind of hesitation. I had a single goal in my mind, and I achieved it. And so I will. Tomorrow. I will kill my parents and get my hands on the business." she spoke more sternly, much firmer, as he's never heard her before. "If you're so set on doing this, why did you come to tell me? Is it because I'm your best friend?" though he stated that possibility, he was more than aware that it wasn't the right answer. "No. I didn't want anyone to know about this, in particular. I don't want anyone dear to me to change their view of me, or think I'm some kind of evil, murderous, greedy person. The reason I'm here to tell you is... Because this issue, unfortunately, involves you indirectly. You were supposed to fight Tanji, but that cowardly jerk dropped out of the competition because I rejected him and Raian socked him in the face and wanted revenge. The deal was that they will only write my name in their will... If I become their new fighter and come out alive. They new you were their opponent in the next fight, and considering out differences... You could easily kill me in a single move. They don't know that I've been training, nor that we are friends. So... At least I know that I won't die." she explained with an awkward smile, watching his flabbergast expression, his single visible eye wide, and mouth slightly agape. "Are you trying to tell me that my next match will be against -- You?" the girl nodded sheepishly. "Are you out of your mind?" "Slightly. Despite everything... I still want you to fight with everything you've got. Don't be afraid to kill me. You know I can't be killed that easily. It's because you're my best friend that I hope you'll have enough faith in me that you'll fight the same as with any fighter. Please respect me and do your best, as you always do, okay, Takeshi?" with a small smile, she stepped in front of him and opened her arms wide - It was their signal to have a hug - And despite his head shake, he did indulge and embraced her. "You're far too reckless for you own good. Didn't you always cry about how awful it is to get injured? That you can't handle pain? And now you're willingly getting into a fight against someone like me. Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?" he asked, only to feel the girl shrug. "Not entirely, but for the most part, yes. Though I'm not really qualified, I promise, I'll still do my best to make you and all my friends proud. I will go rest for now. But before I go..." with a cheeky grin, Kisara opened the door. "Please don't destroy my face. I'm far too pretty for that. And getting a full dental implant would get my business in bankruptcy." she laughed, going back to her room. To Ohma. Now that was going to be a difficult conversation to have.

Not only she didn't go to see him for a whole day and a half, but he had changed radically. She was almost afraid to see how Ohma was like now - Possibly this was the real Ohma, before his memories went down the drain. "Ohma? Are you here?" the girl asked, quietly opening the door, careful not to wake him up, if he were asleep. But he wasn't. "Look who's finally here. Did you miss me?" that didn't sound like Ohma at all. As she stepped inside the room properly, she saw him laying down on the bed, shirtless as always, and with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Of course I did. You have no idea how worried I was when you were unconscious." she sighed softly. "Yeah, I know, I heard you." he smirked wider, seeing the sweet smile on her face. "And I did what Her Majesty requested. I woke up. Now get over here already." though he reached out his arm towards her, she shook her head. "Let me take a shower first." and so she did, returning back all freshened up and wearing one of his Tshirts. As she climbed on the bed, the man playfully grabbed her and placed her on his lap. "How bold." she chuckled, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss. "Now that's a proper welcome." he let out an amused huff. "Did you get your memories back?" his smile widened. "As right as always. Yeah, I did. About time, huh?" she nodded with a happy grin on her face. "I'm really happy for you." this time, she kissed him gentler. "What have you been doing these days? You seem pretty tired. And you have bruises all over you." he noticed, running his hands down her legs. "Uh... Can I tell you that tomorrow?" based on how evasive she was, Ohma merely raised his eyebrow, but agreed nonetheless. "Thanks, love. How about you tell me whatever you want that you remember, and tomorrow, I promise I'll explain everything to you." Once again, the brunet agreed, but instead of beginning a tale, he switched their positions so he would be on top of her. As always, he was always on top. Of everyone and everything. "I've got another idea." "I'm sure you do." her smile matched hers, as she pulled her closer to him, her hands playing with his beautiful, dark hair. "Welcome back, my love."

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#kengan ashura #kengan ashura x reader #kengan ashura imagine #kengan ashura x oc #tokita ohma #tokita ohma x reader #tokita ohma imagine #tokita ohma x oc #tokita ohma x hasashi kisara #hatsumi sen #kano agito #kure raian #katahara sayaka #wakatsuki takeshi #okubo naoya #soryun shion #kiryu setsuna #yamashita kazuo

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swordsxandxsakuras · 1 year

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WARNING: Body shaming

In Nezuko's POV of the Swordsmith Village Arc, this is where her feelings for Genya are explored. She wanted to interact with him, but Genya is either too shy or still holding a grudge over their fight from Final Selection. Her being unable to get a positive reaction from Genya crushes her confidence when it comes to dating. It gave her flashbacks of when Yushiro called her an "ugly hag", and it's beginning to affect her because Genya's not giving her any attention. Her self-esteem gets worse after seeing Mitsuri outside the bathhouse and the infamous "breasts almost slipping out" scene. Unlike Tanjiro, she doesn't react at all. She gives Mitsuri a "are you kidding me" type of look while staring at her figure. Her thoughts were riddled with self-doubt. She only decided to stay with Mitsuri in the bathhouse because Tanjiro likes her. This amplifies her jealousy of how easily Mitsuri attracts men. Nezuko doesn't believe Mitsuri after she said she joined the Corp to get a husband because she sees Mitsuri very beautiful and how she gets along with Tanjiro, so Nezuko thinks Mitsuri's love life is easier than her own. Note: Nezuko does not hate Mitsuri. She prefers her over Tengen since she doesn't gloat about her beauty like Tengen does. Nezuko just has body and love envy.

Between this and the mission to the Swordsmith Village, Nezuko goes to the Kakushi and asks for a different slayer outside. She would want an outfit similar to Mitsuri, but of course, she is too young. And they don't want protective big brother Tanji drama. So she settles with a uniform that mirrors Tengen. It shows off her figure/muscles and she secretly respects Tengen after the Red-Light District. And she keeps her robe around her waist.

So yes, this arc includes self-love issues. I'm so woke.

#kny spoilers //#body shaming ///#🌸 \\ goutouge is observing // (headcanon)#//i want to plot this so badly now that s3 is out

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dxncingwithastrxnger · 6 months

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one single thread of gold tyin' me to you (Inotan)

A/N: Here we have day 2 of Inotan Week!!! This is being posted much later in the day than I originally wanted it to be, but oh well, at least I'm finally getting it posted now!! I'm actually really happy with the way this turned out, this is my first time writing a soulmate AU and I LOVE them sm. This world is super fun, so I hope you enjoy it!!

Pairing(s): Inosuke x Tanjiro, Kanao x Aoi

Prompt: Day 2: Flowers

Summary: At 10 years old, everyone gets their soulmate mark. Throughout their life, soulmate injuries lead to flowers. At age 22, Tanjiro finally meets the one whose initials are on his chest.

Tag(s): Soulmate AU, slight angst, child injury/abuse (implied/mentioned), fluff

Word Count: 4,329

Song Inspiration: Invisible String By Taylor Swift

Not beta'd, all mistakes are my own.

~*~

[Author Masterlist]

[Read on AO3]

~*~

At age 10, everyone receives their soulmate mark. The initials of one’s soulmate appears on the skin right over someone’s heart, looking as if written in their soulmate’s handwriting. For Tanjiro’s family, the appearance of one’s soulmate mark is always a big celebration. As big as someone’s actual birthday. And that’s why he found himself surrounded by his parents, younger siblings, and close friends on the day of his tenth birthday, waiting for his exact time of birth to arrive. Each of them waited with bated breath as the clock ticked closer and closer to 4:37 in the afternoon. Two minutes to go.

Tanjiro exchanges looks with his three best friends sitting on the couch with him, Zenitsu, Muichiro, and Senjuro. Muichiro looks intrigued, Senjuro seems excited, and Zenitsu seems nervous, though that doesn’t surprise Tanjiro as nervous is Zenitsu’s constant state of existence. He then looks over at his mother, who gives him a soft, warm smile that eases any doubts or anxieties he may have in that moment.

He then looks right in front of him as his sister, Nezuko, younger by only a year, walks up to him. She’s holding their father’s phone above her head, the screen lit up and facing Tanjiro’s direction to show him the time. She makes a small, happy humming noise as the time turns from 4:36 to 4:37.

“Feel anything yet, onii-chan?” Hanako asks him immediately, looking at him with wide eyes.

Their father’s hand falls to Hanako’s head, ruffling her hair slightly. “Be patient, dear Hanako, it can take a few moments to actually appear. She lets out an impatient whine as Takeo and Shigeru huff at her sides, also impatient.

Tanjiro giggles quietly at his siblings as he feels a hand touch his shoulder. He turns to his left to look at Senjuro, who gives him an encouraging smile. Tanjiro beams back at him and nods, and that’s when he starts to feel it. It’s a very strange sort of feeling. A strange tingling warmth that starts right above his heart and spreads halfway over his chest. He gasps and brings his hand up to touch where it is on instinct. As soon as he moves, everyone in the room reacts, everyone abuzz with excitement.

The redheaded little boy immediately shoots up and rushes over to the mirror hanging on the wall in the middle of the living room. He pulls his shirt off, too focused on seeing his mark to feel any sort of embarrassment at doing such a thing in front of his friends. Everyone else follows him, crowding around him as they all look in the mirror and at the newly appeared mark on Tanjiro’s chest.

Just a couple of inches underneath Tanjiro’s left collarbone are two letters in handwritten cursive. He brings his hand up to trace his finger over the initials gently. I.H.

“What kind of name starts with I?” Zenitsu asks from beside the redhead, his nose crinkling up.

Muichiro brings his hand up and flicks the side of Zenitsu’s head. “Probably a cooler name than yours.” He quips.

Zenitsu gasps and pouts, bringing his hand up to rub at the spot Muichiro had flicked. “Tanji, Mui’s being mean againnnnn.” Zenitsu whines, but Tanjiro is too focused on his mark to pay much attention to anything going on around him. As he stares at his mark, his entire body feels warm and fuzzy, like he’s tucked under a big, cozy blanket.

After a few more minutes, his mom places a hand on his shoulder while his dad holds up his shirt. “C’mon, my sweet boy, it’s time to head to dinner.” His mom tells him softly. Tanjiro slowly pulls his hand away from his chest and grabs his shirt from his dad, pulling it back over his head and turning to face everyone, unable to keep the giddy grin off his face for the rest of the day.

~*~

It isn’t until over 24 hours later, close to bedtime the next night, that Tanjiro finds out he gained more than just his soulmate’s initials. See, whenever one’s soulmate is injured, flowers appear on their body in the exact same place as their soulmate’s injury, no matter what kind of injury it is. Big or small, serious or not, there’s always flowers, and the flowers that appear with each injury represent the emotions that their soulmate feels right when they receive the injury. Eventually, once the injury heals, the flowers fade. Unless the injury scars, then the flowers stay. When the injury is bad enough to scar, there can also be phantom pains.

When someone’s soulmate already has scars by the time the soulmate mark first appears, not the most common occurrence given how young people are when the mark first appears, the flowers for the scars appear around the same time as the initials, though sometimes it takes awhile.

When Tanjiro’s mark first appeared, he never noticed any flowers marked into his skin, and truthfully, he’d forgotten that it was even a possibility. But that next night, when his mom is helping him get ready for his bath, he admits to her that both his right side and back have been quite sore all day and he’s not sure why. Her brows furrow in concern and she tugs up his shirt to inspect his side, but immediately gasps.

“Mama…?” He asks uncertainly.

There’s a deep frown on her face and she doesn’t reply, instead saying, “Arms up, sweetheart, I’d like to check your back.”

Now feeling anxious, Tanjiro does as she says, holding his arms up as she tugs off his shirt and turns him around gently in order to inspect his back. At first, there’s nothing. No movement or sound from his mom and he squirms slightly, very much wanting to know what’s going on. So, he instead turns to his sense of smell, sniffing the air around him to try and figure out what’s going on with his mom. He’s still learning to pick up the differences between each scent and what each one means, but he’s got most of them memorized, especially when it comes to those closest to him.

Filling the air is the scent of sorrow and concern and he frowns deeply. Is mama okay? He wonders. Before he can ask the question out loud, though, he feels a painful sting on his back as his mother brushes her fingers over his right shoulder blade and he immediately pulls away from her touch instinctively.

His mother sighs softly. “Honey. It seems that your soulmate has a few scars.” She says. Tanjiro’s eyes widen. She doesn’t need to say anything else, he already knows what that means.

He looks down at his side and sees a cluster of aconites and tiger lilies in a line from about an inch above his hip and down, disappearing where his clothes block his view, but from the soreness he’s felt all day, he knows that those flowers stop a few inches down the top of his thigh. Aconites and tiger lilies. He’s spent the last few years studying the meaning of each and every flower, reading through them all over and over until he had them memorized. Aconites represent fear. Tiger lilies represent anger.

He quickly turns around and moves past his mother, hopping up onto his step stool and trying his best to angle himself so that he can see the right side of his back. He manages to see just enough to know what flowers make up that scar. Calla lilies, Amaranthus, and more aconites. Sorrow, hopelessness, fear.

He faces forward again, his back to the mirror. His mother is now standing in front of him, a look of concern on her face as she watches him. He looks up at her, his bottom lip wobbling and tears pricking at his eyes. “Is my soulmate okay, mama?” He asks quietly, his voice shaky.

“Oh, sweetheart, of course they are.” She immediately reassures, pulling him into her arms and embracing him tightly, careful not to touch either of the flower clusters. He clings to her, sniffling. “These are already scars, Tanjiro. They wouldn’t be this detailed if they were fresh wounds. I’m sure your soulmate is just fine.”

He nods after a moment, pulling back and rubbing at his eyes to clear the moisture from them. “Alright, mama.”

~*~

Over the years, Tanjiro received many flowers from injuries, many of them becoming scars. A few more of those injuries were filled with the same negative emotions as his first flowers, but after about a year or so, any injuries his soulmate ended up with were filled with completely different emotions. Things like excitement, frustration, and pride. His mom and dad always say that whoever his soulmate is, they must be quite a reckless person, but Tanjiro’s just glad that there hasn’t been any more injuries or scars like those first ones. And, honestly, it’s not like Tanjiro doesn’t have his fair share of scars as well.

Tanjiro is now 22 years old and in his 4th year of university, majoring in Soulmate Botany and minoring in Biology. It’s the beginning of his first semester of his senior year and it’s also the first time he’ll be attending classes without any of his friends joining him, as none of their classes overlap this semester. But, in full Tanjiro Kamado style, he takes it only as an opportunity to make new friends. So far, he’s become friends with a sweet soulmate couple, Kanao and Aoi. The two of them have been together for the past 7 years, apparently. The two of them, along with Kanao’s brother, just moved into town not that long ago and transferred to the university.

Today was like any other day, nothing different about it at all so far. Tanjiro is waiting for Kanao and Aoi in one of the many common areas of the main university building, as the three of them planned to walk to class together. He was looking down at his phone, scrolling through some notifications, when he feels a presence approach him.

The redhead looks up and comes face to face with Kanao giving him a soft smile, Aoi not too far behind her. “Good morning, Tanjiro.” Kanao says in her quiet timber.

“Good morning to you both!” He beams at them, his ponytail swishing behind him as he puts his phone into his pocket.

As the three of them begin walking towards their next class, Tanjiro feels a slight sting that quickly fades into a warm tingle across his finger. His brow furrows and he looks down to see a new cluster of flowers covering the top half of his left pointer finger. “Huh.” He says, filled with curiosity. One of the flowers that has appeared is familiar, having seen it quite a few times. However, two of them haven’t ever appeared on his body before, not that he knows of.

“Oh? What’d your soulmate do now?” Aoi asks, looking at his finger as well with a raised eyebrow.

“Which flowers do you have now?” Kanao asks, looking just as curious as Tanjiro himself.

“Gardenia, Iris, Ranunculus. Surprise, hope, attraction.” He says automatically, like reading directly from a textbook.

“Attraction, huh?” Aoi gives him a look full of mischief. “Seems like your soulmate is exploring the field a bit.” She says teasingly.

Tanjiro snorts and shrugs, shaking his head at her. “I don’t really care if they are, Aoi. It’s not like we’ve met yet.”

“It truly doesn’t bother you?” Kanao asks, her head tilted to the side slightly.

“Not at all.” He answers truthfully. “My soulmate’s love life before we meet is nothing for me to be concerned about. As long as we end up together eventually.”

“You’re pretty weird, Kamado.” Aoi quips.

“You’re one to talk, Kanzaki.” Tanjiro quips back, nudging her with his elbow. The three of them share a laugh as they continue their walk.

~*~

Two days later, Tanjiro finally gets to meet Kanao’s brother. The two of them aren’t biologically related, though aside from that, he doesn’t know much else since it isn’t brought up in conversation very often. But today, Kanao and Aoi invited him out to lunch, telling him that Kanao’s brother would also be joining them, and Tanjiro was happy to say yes.

Entering the small restaurant near the university dorms, it doesn’t take long for him to spot Kanao and Aoi’s butterfly hair clips. As he makes his way over to the booth they’re sitting at, he spots a third person with them. He can see a full head of black to blue ombre hair pulled back in a short ponytail, bangs covering most of their forehead and almost falling into their eyes. But before he can register any other details about the person, they’re stumbling past Aoi out of the booth and hurrying to stand right in front of him right as he reaches the table.

His eyes widen slightly as his vision is suddenly filled with bright green eyes and a sweetly flustered face. “Hello!” He greets kindly, giving them a warm smile.

“H-hey!” They greet him, the person brings a hand up to rub at the back of their neck as Tanjiro hears giggles coming from the two women still sitting down.

For a moment, the two of them just stare at each other. Tanjiro finds himself completely captured by their eyes. There’s something about the bright green that reminds him of sunlight shining on fresh grass. He looks away from the person’s eyes only to observe the rest of their face. Soft, pink lips with a natural upturn, a small nose with clusters of freckles dotted all over it that spread across their pink-tinted cheeks. They were so…cute. The thought surprises him and he blinks.

Someone clears their throat right as Kanao speaks up. “Introductions, Keke.”

Those green eyes widen slightly and they hurry to take a small step back and hold out their hand for Tanjiro to shake. “I-I’m Inosuke Hasibira!” They exclaim, grinning widely.

Tanjiro finds that grin infectious and returns it with one of his own as he grabs Inosuke’s hand to shake. “Nice to meet you, Inosuke! I’m Tanjiro Kamado!” He replies, giving their hand a firm e shake before letting go. “Not to make you uncomfortable or anything, but what are your pronouns…?” He asks curiously.

“Oh!” Inosuke pulls their hand back and taps their fingers against the tops of their thighs. “Uh, w-well, any, a-all!” It’s clear their words come out louder than intended, as they wince as soon as they finish speaking. “I-I don’t really, uh, care what pronouns are used f-for me, you can c-call me anything.” Inosuke stumbles over his own words and Tanjiro can smell how nervous he is, though he’s not sure why.

Hoping to put them at ease, he gives them a warm, reassuring smile and nods. “That’s good to know, thank you, Inosuke. My pronouns are just he/him.” He informs him.

“Great!” Inosuke nods.

“You weirdos gonna sit down or what?” Aoi asks from behind Inosuke.

“Oh, of course!” Tanjiro slides in next to Aoi, Kanao on her other side and Inosuke sliding in right beside Tanjiro.

“Tanjiro, Inosuke is my brother.” Kanao informs him as she slides a menu over to him, Inosuke already grabbing his.

“I see. How are the two of you related, by the way? I know it isn’t biologically, but you never really specified past that, Kanao.” He looks between her and Inosuke curiously.

“Through marriage.” Inosuke pipes up, causing Tanjiro’s attention to settle on him. “My mama’s married to Kan’s legal guardian, Shinobu.”

“Oh, wow, that’s cool. How long have they been married?” He asks curiously.

“About nine years now.”

“That’s so sweet. They’re soulmates, I would assume?”

“Yep! Found each other a bit late, though.” Inosuke says, a slight frown appearing on their face.

“Yes, but they still found each other eventually, that’s what matters.” Kanao speaks up, and Tanjiro watches as the siblings exchange a meaningful look that he doesn’t quite understand. Then Aoi speaks, and they both return to their normal expressions.

“We ordered you a sweet tea, Tan, since we figured that’s what you’d want anyways.” She says as the waitress appears to bring their drinks to them.

“Thanks, A, that’s perfect.” He tells her gratefully as he takes the glass from the outstretched hand in front of him.

As Inosuke reaches for his own drink next, something catches Tanjiro’s eye that he hadn’t noticed before. On Inosuke’s left pointer finger, there’s a bandaid wrapped around it. “Hey, Inosuke, what happened to your finger?” He asks them, only slightly concerned.

The black-haired man looks confused for a moment, brows furrowing, before realization lights up their face and they look down at their finger. “Oh, right!” Then his expression turns sheepish. “I just got a little papercut yesterday, it’s nothing really.” He admits.

“Yeah, it’s completely nothing compared to all the injuries that she’s gotten on purpose.” Aoi says, putting great emphasis on the last two words. “Swear, this one doesn’t even know what the word “safe” even means.” She grumbles.

Tanjiro raises an eyebrow at the comment as he starts looking through the menu. “Awww, do I worry you, Miss Aoi?” Inosuke asks, peeking past Tanjiro and batting their eyelashes in a way that reminds the redhead exactly why he had to question Inosuke’s gender in the first place. Right, he said any pronouns. That means “she” as well, just like Aoi used. He reminds himself.

Aoi immediately responds with a roll of her eyes. “In your dreams, Hashi.” Kanao and Tanjiro giggle at their banter and the rest of lunch goes by filled with laughter and fun conversation.

~*~

After their first meeting, Tanjiro sees a lot more of Inosuke. The two of them don’t have any classes together, as both their majors and minors are quite different, Inosuke majoring in Photography and minoring in Art. But they walk each other to classes and meet up in the common areas or for lunch sometimes. The third time they see each other is when they exchange numbers and start talking outside of school as well.

Tanjiro finds himself enjoying his time talking to Inosuke much more than he realized that he would. In fact, he enjoys it in a way that he’s never felt before with anyone else. Senjoru, currently his roommate, keeps teasing him about it, making comments about how smitten he is with his new friend. He’s even commented a time or two about Inosuke possibly being Tanjiro’s soulmate, and while he usually just brushes off such things, Tanjiro can’t help but imagine it sometimes, being with Inosuke in that way. He can admit that it feels right. The feeling he has when he’s around Inosuke is the same one he’s always felt when he touches his soulmate mark. That same warm and fuzzy blanket wrapped around him.

Not only that, but Inosuke has the exact right initials. I.H. Inosuke Hashibira. That can’t be a coincidence, right? He questions internally. The signs are adding up and Tanjiro has noticed enough of them to convince him that he should ask Inosuke about their mark. And so, on a day in which he has the apartment to himself and no classes to attend, he invites Inosuke over to hang out for the afternoon. And now, Inosuke, having accepted his invitation, is knocking on the door.

Tanjiro opens up the door with a grin. “Hey there, Ino!”

“What’s up, Tanpachiro?” Inosuke greets, stepping past him and into the apartment.

He closes the door behind him and then turns around and gestures to the entire living room. “Make yourself at home. Do you want something to drink?” He asks them, hoping the answer is yes so that he can spend just a little more time preparing himself.

“Yeah, surprise me.” Inosuke tells him, flopping down on the couch.

Tanjiro chuckles as he walks into the kitchen and to the fridge, pulling out two peach sodas. Closing the fridge, he leans his head against it for a moment, taking a deep breath. He can do this. It’s just a simple question. ‘What are your soulmate initials and do they happen to be in my handwriting?’ Yeah, so simple. Not like the answer could possibly change his entire life or anything like that. He shakes his head at himself. There’s only one way through it and that’s to just spit it out.

He walks back into the living room. “Hey, Inos-” Tanjiro freezes as he lays eyes on Inosuke again.

In the few minutes he spent in the kitchen, his friend has adjusted his position on the couch so that he’s now upside down, now bare feet hanging off the back and head hanging close to the floor at the front of the couch. There’s nothing too surprising about the position. From what he knows about Inosuke so far, something like this is perfectly normal. The thing is, the position has caused all of Inosuke’s bangs to hang down towards the ground along with the rest of his hair, revealing their forehead to Tanjiro for the very first time since they first met each other.

And with that reveal, Tanjiro finds another piece of evidence to add to his ever-growing list that leads to the conclusion of Inosuke being his soulmate. On the left side of Inosuke’s head, is a cluster of flowers. Gardenia and Amaryllis. Surprise and determination. That in itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, except for the fact that those flowers are in the same exact spot that Tanjiro’s scar on his forehead is at. The one he got when saving his younger brother from being hit with a steaming hot kettle. Surprise at the incident and determination to not let his sibling get hurt.

Inosuke looks away from his phone and at Tanjiro, his head tilting to the side slightly once he sees the surprised look on the redhead’s face. “Tan? You alright?” He asks.

“Y-yeah, uh, I’m fine.” He replies, taking a deep breath and shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Those are some pretty flowers on your forehead.” He comments casually, walking over and setting both of the sodas on the table in the middle of the room.

Inosuke’s eyes widen slightly and Tanjiro sees a slight shade of pink come to his cheeks as he turns his body and sits on the couch normally in one motion. “Oh yeah, they are pretty cool, aren’t they?” Inosuke clears their throat.

“When did they show up?” He asks the black-haired man, sitting down beside him a little closer than he normally would.

Inosuke looks away from him, tapping his feet on the floor. “Ah, when I was about 13 or so. Been awhile.”

Tanjiro swallows and licks his lips. “Oh, cool. I got the scar on my forehead when I was 13.” He informs him.

“Really? How’d you get it?” Inosuke turns his head to face him again, the scents of anticipation, anxiety, and curiosity filling the air around them.

Tanjiro gives him a bright, warm smile. “My little brother, Takeo, was almost hit with a hot tea kettle that had been knocked over. I jumped in the way and took the hit instead, giving me this.” He taps his finger against the scar.

“Oh, wow. Sounds like something you would do.” Inosuke tells him, his tone slightly teasing. The redhead giggles a little before falling silent, neither speaking up for a moment. Then he decides to speak up again.

"Inosuke…what are your soulmate's initials?" Tanjiro asks quietly, his words barely above a whisper as he locks eyes with those bright greens.

Inosuke looks back at him, the look on his face the softest Tanjiro had seen from them. "T.K." He utters out. "Yours?"

Tanjiro sucks in a breath as soon as he says those letters, his heart nearly beating out of his chest now. "I.H."

The other man's eyes sparkle as soon as it leaves his lips. "Kanao and Aoi kept teasing me that first week we met 'cause I kept swearing that you were my soulmate as soon as I first saw you. They didn't believe me until the signs started adding up." He tells him.

A wave of warmth travels through Tanjiro. "What? In the restaurant?" He asks.

"No, idiot. In the common area, couple days before that." At Tanjiro's surprise, they continue. "I was in the room that day when you met up with them. I had just finished talking with my sister about something when the two of them walked right over to you and I watched them walk over, which led to me seeing you. I looked at you right as you looked up and it's like you were glowing." He explains.

Tanjiro feels heat rise to his cheeks, knowing without a doubt that a blush is now covering them. He scoots closer so that now their legs are pressed together and Inosuke accepts the physical contact immediately, reaching up and brushing a lock of red hair behind his ear. "I knew right then and there that I had to meet you. Talk to you. Because I knew you were the one, immediately. But then the paper in my hand - a map of the school that I was still trying to memorize - slipped and sliced a cut across my finger. It distracted me and by the time I looked back up, you had already left with Kanao and Aoi. So, I asked them to introduce me to you."

"You really knew this whole time?" Tanjiro asks him, voice full of awe.

"Of course I did. I am smarter than you, after all." Inosuke quips, some of his usual cocky attitude bleeding through. In response, all Tanjiro can bring himself to do is laugh and surge forward, pressing their lips together.

~*~

A/N: What did you think?? I have a lot of headcanons for this AU and many different scenarios rolling around in my head for it, so if you guys like this AU and want more, please let me know!!! I'd love to add more to this world and storyline ^-^ I hope you enjoyed my little story!!!

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