More than a week later...

For the first time in a long while Giyuu woke up somewhere that was not some damp cave or a nest of leaves and twigs, without any licks of dreadful nightmares-memories, his brain oh so kindly supplied-roughly jerking him out of sleep. He took note of his surroundings, registering the familiar scent and wooden interior of the house he spent the whole of his training years in. Nagi was lying beside him on the futon, suckling lazily on his bottle's nipple. He didn't look as if he was in any kind of pain or discomfort so that was one worry off his head.

Now that he came to his head, he felt the tightly wrapped bandages and the bold throbbing somewhere on the side of his skull. The more he tried to find the exact source of his obvious injury the more it started to hurt so instead he directed his attention to his son who seemed the most playful Giyuu had seen him since their escape. So playful that he launched the entirety of his empty bottle at the masked man who entered the room. A real familiar tengu-masked man.

"Sensei?"

Oh wow did his throat feel like sandpaper.

Nagi squealed when he heard his parent's voice, flailing his limbs around trying to find where he was. His foot struck Giyuu's abdomen, his hand following the direction and latching onto his hair. He tried to pull himself as close to him as could, expressing his joy by babbling loudly, calling out to his father.

"Don't move,"

Urokodaki's firm words had Giyuu lying still, watching as his teacher carefully picked his son up and laid him on his chest.

"You're hurt, don't move and aggravate your injuries more,"

Giyuu would've nodded in reply if not for his teacher's hand coming to rest on his neck. He shot the man a questioning look while adjusting Nagi so his the baby's came to rest comfortably under his collar bones.

" The fever has gone down considerably," he heard the older man mumble, his hand leaving his neck and going to Nagi's mop of unruly black hair, patting them down while the baby chewed on the border of Giyuu's upper clothes, soaking them with his saliva.

After dealing with Muzan and his lieu of mood swings Giyuu was proud to say he had advanced his ability to read emotions and situations like a champ. And the feels he was gauging from his teacher certainly weren't ones of happiness.

He rubbed little circles on Nagi's back, squeezing him against his torso, calming his overly joyous son.

"I was so scared Giyuu," Urokodaki began, seemingly struggling with his words, "Your monthly letters suddenly stopped coming and when I tried to contact the Demon Slayer corps all I got was an 'investigation is underway' with no further information, I just- I-," his throat felt choked. Whatever he had wanted to say was lost in his muddled up head and all that came forth was the sheer relief at having his kid safe, breathing and in front of him.

" Sen-,"

Giyuu coughed, his throat dry and itchy. The coughing triggered a pounding ache in his head, causing him to hiss in pain. Nagi, being the ever perceptive baby he was, went quiet. His parent was hurt, the other nice man was also hurt, which made him feel scared. He let his feelings be known by hiding his face in the folds of his father's kimono, going still and silent.

Urokodaki hastily fetched a cup of already warmed water for Giyuu, helping him drink it in small sips with a spoon, "Tanjirou's letters arrived, he told me about Muzan and your kidnapping, came to visit with Nezuko. They-," Urokodaki took a deep breath, forcing away the lump in his throat, "The Demon Slayer Corps stopped the investigation on the sixth month, they said it was futile, that you were dead! They-they found your remains-,"

"W-what?"

"Ashes, Giyuu. With your blade, your blood, a-and your haori. I thought, I-I,"

Nagi cried out, sensing his father's tumultuous feelings. He reached up to lay his head right where he could sense his parent's heart the strongest, crying to express his worry.

" Shh, it's okay. Isn't time for your nap Nagi? Everything is okay,"

Urokodaki looked as his student effortlessly calmed the child, soothing him, patting him till he was relaxed, valuing the child's needs over his own.

"He is yours, isn't he Giyuu?"

Giyuu visibly tensed, his arms wrapping around the once again agitated baby.

"Giyuu?" Urokodaki called out worriedly, noticing the quick and harsh rise and fall of his chest.

"Please, don't,"

Nagi was wailing by now, making Urokodaki regret his question but he needed to know. He needed the information so he could protect them from the dangers that were sure to come. He needed to know so he knew from whom he had to keep them safe from, whether it be the demons or the demon slayers.

"Don't - don't take him away, please!"

"Giyuu, no one is taking him away from you, I won't allow them to." He pressed his hand on Giyuu's forehead, tapping his fingers in tandem with his heartbeat, "He is your kid right?"

Closing his eyes in a bid to calm himself, he tried to match his breathing with his teacher's, the taps and pressure on his forehead anchoring him down to reality, away from the dark storm in his head.

Multiple pairs of hands holding him down as he screamed.

The excruciating pain of his body being torn open.

The seemingly constant humiliation at the hands of those demons.

He felt twin drops of moisture leak out from behind his tightly closed eyelids, cascading down the sides of his head and disappearing in his loose hair.

That was the dam breaker.

It was akin to an out of body experience. He saw more than felt as a torrent of tears and harsh sobs escaped his body, how he held Nagi as close to himself as he could, turning on his side so he could cover him up as much as possible, to keep him safe, keep his son with him.

"N-Nagi is m-my son, m-mine, no one else's! Not that d-d-demon's, mine!"

As if to agree, Nagi snuggled in deeper against his father's chest, his hands digging in the folds of his kimono.

"Yours Giyuu, he is yours, it's going to be okay now, I promise,"

It was as if all the anguish of the past years was catching up to him, tearing through his nerves like a rapid wave, leaving him feeling doused and drained yet somehow refreshed. He latched onto his teacher's kimono, holding onto him as he cried, seeking comfort from someone who had rescued him at his weakest before, who had raised him and now again, providing him and his son a place to belong, to feel safe, to call home.

"You don't have to be scared anymore Giyuu, I won't let anyone take Nagi from you,"

"T-thank you, I-thank you so much," And thankful he was. Giyuu had, somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind, given up on being able to live longer than a few months. It just wasn't realistically possible. They had nowhere to go, no money, no shelter, no protection. They had been bidding their time before Muzan got tired of his game and finally exterminated Giyuu for good, taking Nagi with him for whatever he may have planned for his son. But now, now they had some semblance of hope. Now he had someone who could take care of Nagi in case something happened to him, a trustworthy person to raise his son in his stead.

Urokodaki smiled, patting his student's head, being careful of his injury, "You don't know how happy I was when I saw you again, alive. You were hurt so bad, you weren't waking up, I thought I was going to lose you again, right in front of me," his hand stilled in his hair, "Don't do that to me again Giyuu, I don't want to lose another child of mine. Not you."

All Giyuu could do in return was pull himself even closer to his teacher, taking care not to agitate his mended leg any more than he already had. Nagi sniffled loudly, using his hands to rub his wet and itchy eyes.

"Nagi, huh?" Urokodaki asked with a soft smile hidden behind his mask, using a clean cloth to gently wipe the baby's face clean of residual moisture from his tears, snot, and saliva.

Giyuu nodded in reply, tickling the baby lightly, making him erupt in giggles. He smiled.

"It fits him, perfectly."