A/N:

bonus chapter for those saps out there

When he dies, Sabito is not reborn as before. Nor does he find himself in any afterlife he knows of.

Instead, he appears in between one blink and the next next to a boulder.

Whispers explode around him, melding together into sorrowful wails and apologies that he can't quite make out.

From the crowd, a girl steps out, wearing a soft smile that reaches her oceanic eyes.

"Hello," she greets warmly. "I am Makomo. And we are Urokodaki's children."

Sabito tries to make friends with the others, but most of them aren't too receptive.

"It's not their fault," Makomo tells him softly one night. "We're all tired. But some handle it better than others."

Sabito supposes he can understand that. When he'd first been reborn, he'd felt out of place. He can't imagine what it'd be like if he didn't have his parents, and later Urokodaki and Giyuu, to stick by his side.

It's awful, though, seeing the way Urokodaki seems to have aged by a decade. He holds his head as high as he can, but it's hard not to see how the years have taken their toll on him each time he spends a night by the boulder.

And Giyuu, despite Sabito's hopes, never visits. He's not… entirely unsurprised. The boy, while a bit of a crybaby, had never been the best at handling his emotions. He wouldn't be surprised if he locked his feelings away in an attempt to keep - whatever's left of - his heart safe.

But then, finally , the boy - Tanjirou Kamado - arrives.

Many of the others believe that he'll fail, just like the rest of them. Sabito thinks - knows - that they're wrong.

When he's finally given the boulder test, it doesn't take long for Sabito and Makomo to visit. Although he has a nose as powerful as - or even stronger than - Urokodaki's, there seems to be a disconnect between their presences and lack of scent, and he makes no mention of the 'impossibility' of their appearances.

The boy reminds him of Giyuu in the way he gets frustrated, but is more like Kazuha in the way that he steps back and keeps himself calm. But the way he keeps at it, despite everything, is just like Tanjirou .

Sabito engages him in battle day after day. It takes a full year, but eventually, he slices through the boulder, and his mask falls.

"Good job," he says warmly. "Tanjirou."

For the first time in years, Urokodaki's other children begin to feel hope .

When Tanjirou is sent off on the final selection, he stands on the boundary of his 'domain' and watches him go. He also can't help but laugh alongside Makomo when Urokodaki nearly does a double take when the boy mentions them.

For the next few days, they watch over Urokodaki - who visits the boulder for the first time since Tanjirou arrived, praying for his safety - and Nezuko, who continues to sleep peacefully.

And then one day, midway through conversation, Makomo and Sabito pause to stare at each other with wide eyes.

"Did he—"

"I think he did."

They both raise their awe-filled gazes towards the sky, along with Urokodaki's other children.

"Finally," Makomo whispers, a smile on her face even as her eyes fill with tears. "It'll never happen again."

Sabito breathes, watching as his hands fizzle out into light. "Yeah," he murmurs, letting out a huff of wet laughter. "Good job, kid."

Sabito watches Giyuu's form flicker into the afterlife, and he hums pleasantly.

"Nope," he says cheerfully, then slaps a startled Giyuu back down to earth without remorse. "Not yet."

Giyuu dies at age twenty-five. It's not as late as Sabito would have liked, but he supposes he should've expected it, considering what the demon slayer mark does.

The man is horribly confused by his appearance - some odd mixture of Sabito and Tomo - but quickly gets over it, eyes going increasingly distant as Sabito berates him for every stupid thing he's ever done.

And then, of course, he captures him in a bone-crushing hug (or… one that would've been bone-crushing, had either of them had bones) and promises that he'll never do anything like that again.

"I'm already dead," Giyuu says a little incredulously, seeming to have forgotten how to hug a person.

Sabito pulls away and meets his gaze. "You never know," he says ominously. Giyuu stares at him like he's insane.

(Later, when a new-age version of Sabito and Giyuu appear in the afterlife, the first thing Sabito does is greet him with a smug "Told you so."

Almost immediately afterwards, he's tackled by Kazuha, and he gets to introduce his two best friends to one another.

It's a win/win situation for him up until the two gang up on him for being as idiotic and reckless as Sabitomo (hah) said they were. He always befriended such bullies.)

A/N:

if you're wondering why the text was all in italics, it's because they were like quotes and i wasn't followed the conversation directly

on another note:
i hope this was enjoyable, bc i certainly had a great time writing it, even if it's pretty short :P
(and if you can't tell, i'm far more used to writing angst than fluff... sorry ;,D)

(edit: the first review on this fic, in response to that line^, is probably the funniest review ive ever gotten in my life, LOL)

anyway
Thanks for reading!