Ayaka's mind had been full of lots of things ever since her father's death. And although it was difficult not to, she found herself nearly buried in a dream. But this time, her worries take a concrete shape:

Senjuro looked at the floor and she involuntarily frowned.

"I don't think I could…" he shook his head and his ponytail moved from side to side. "Not yet, at least."

Ayaka sipped from her teacup and didn't even realize that her tongue got burnt.

"It's okay," she said. "Just promise to send me a crow in case you change your mind."

Senjuro nodded again and both got out of the room.

"It's not okay," she thought, "it's definitely not okay." She could see something broken and dying in the way Senjuro Rengoku walked, moved in the way he breathed, and she could not stand it.

"What will it be?" The bakery lady called Ayaka from the counter and she finally looked up.

"Taiyaki." Yuu butted in before Ayaka stayed silent for too long. "And some dango." He hit her ribs with his elbow, making her blink.

The bakery lady slid a packet over the counter containing whatever it was that Yuu asked for and Ayaka slid back a few coins. With one last smile at her they both went out of the bakery and set off back to the Rengoku residence.

Ayaka sent a discreet glance at Yuu by the corner of her eye and clutched the package closer to her chest.

"How do you know Senjuro?"

Yuu eyed her the same way, like a specimen he didn't want to get too close to, and shrugged. At least, Ayaka sarcastically thought, they weren't trying to kill each other.

"I've been helping with the funeral since last month." None of them talked for a moment. "I had to return the favour, I guess."

Ayaka raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Are you suddenly worried about your karma?"

"Nah," Yuu said, scratching at the back of his head before looking her in the eye. "I'm not a devotee. I just wanted to honour Rengoku-san's memory."

Ayaka nodded in understanding.

"I heard it was very violent," and then she quickly added, "his death."

"It was," Yuu said, gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. Now that she focused on his face, he looked much wiser. Were those wrinkles? "In the end I told him the truth."

The idea of giving him some sweets from the package quickly flashed by Ayaka's head, but she finally dropped it. "About your mum?"

"And training under Shinobu." The difference between adults and children was that they didn't run away at lies, or at admitting them once the moment's come, Ayaka suddenly thought. "He wasn't mad or anything."

"That's good, isn't it?"

Yuu muffled a chuckle against the back of his hand, expression in between sad and amused.

"Disappointment," he said," is much worse than anger."

After that, none of them said another word.

They reunite with Senjuro and Tanjirou. By then, Tanjirou was already back to consciousness and there was a new teapot resting on the table.

Ayaka scrunched her nose up when smelling green tea and not jasmine, but she was discreet enough for Senjuro not to notice and come off as rude.

"So they're completely torn to shreds?" She asked over the cup of tea she wasn't going to drink. The 'Generational Flame Hashira Record' sat on the table, seemingly useless

Nezuko, who had come out of her box by then and now sat on her knees, groaned in indignation.

"It must have been my father." Senjuro looked uncharacteristically nervous, more than usual, at least. Yuu by his side hissed a curse under his breath. "Sorry again, Tanjirou."

"It's not your fault, Senjuro." Despite his words, Tanjirou looked slightly disappointed. Then he turned to look at Ayaka. "How's your nose?"

She looked up from Nezuko, who was playing with her fingers.

"It stopped bleeding a while ago." Without making Nezuko get up from her place on her knees she went up to him, gaze fixed on his forehead. "What about your head?" And more silently, nearly as if it intimidated her, she continued. "And the injury in your tummy..."

"You don't have to worry about that." Even if he said that, Ayaka still had a frown on her face.

"We should get going." Yuu looked for a moment through the window, where the sky was starting to become orange. Then he shared a long stare with Senjuro.

Ayaka realized that, were he the one to ask, Senjuro would have gone with him.

'He doesn't trust me,' she thought. And unintentionally, she frowned.

ᵒᵒ✿ᵒᵒ✿ᵒᵒ✿ᵒᵒ

The Sun made him sweat and Nezuko's nails scratched at the insides of her box on Aya's shoulders. Senjuro gave them some snacks for the way back from the pile Aya bought and wished them goodbye with a smile, leaving the hilt of Rengoku's sword in his hands. He didn't accept "no" for an answer, Tanjirou guessed another burden wasn't that much.

A few meters ahead Aya walked beside Yuu, braid still half assed and uniform messy, and even if she had denied it, he could smell the blood dripping from her nose. Every few minutes she discreetly wiped her nose, hoping for Tanjirou not to notice, but his sense of smell could. The scent of metal taunted him with its smell, it nearly felt like a punishment.

It bothered him more that he didn't care as much as he should have.

Even if Aya was bleeding or sweaty or her braid was half assed, the only thing that mattered was that she was there, with him.

But recognizing such a simple desire felt somehow freeing. And he enjoyed it.

He wanted to enjoy it a bit more.

"What's up?" Tanjirou blinked and found his hand holding onto Aya's wrist, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Something he enjoyed, too, was that there was no frown on her face.

He could hear Yuu whistling in the distance. He knew, didn't he? Tanjirou had never been able to lie, or maybe it was his cheeks, which he felt burning.

It was the first time it felt so natural for him to say something.

"You asked me to be more selfish." At his words, Aya only stared at him. "You told me that, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to stand it."

"I did say that." Aya scratched her cheek with the hand Tanjirou wasn't holding, nearly looking embarrassed. "'I'll hate you if you become someone like my father', right? I'm surprised you remember. I think I was a little bit rough."

"But it's still true." The harshness on Tanjirou's eyes made Aya leave behind any kind of shame, adopting a somber expression.

"Yes, it's still true."

"Then," Tanjirou stopped abruptly as if he, too, needed time to process what he was about to say, this time taking both of Aya's hands in between his. "I want to be selfish by asking you to stay."

For a moment, she stayed completely still. Tanjirou took the opportunity to attack again.

"I want you to continue guiding me." He thought about Natagumo mountain and about how Aya's voice had whispered into his ear on the battlefield.

Only a second passed for Aya's entire face to turn red.

"Huh?" She let out a sound similar to the muffled squeak of a small animal. "Huh!?"

"You heard me." Tanjirou would have been lying if he had said he wasn't enjoying this. "I want to be selfish. Even if it hurts you or even if you can't stand it, I want you to stay by my side," he looked her in the eye when pronouncing his next words, "and witness how I burn."

It was one of the few times something like this made the mountain that was Ayaka Iwamoto quake.

He had only been able to imagine Aya as a child who trembled a lot and smiled nervously on little occasions. But now he could see it clearly, without problems, as small as any of his siblings and as vulnerable or even more to the mean words of other kids.

As he stared at her, Aya muttered to herself.

"What does that even mean? That's…? I don't understand, you don't…?"

In some kind of miracle she managed to get away from the hold Tanjirou had on her hands and buried her face in them, evermore conscious about the reddish warmth on her cheeks.

"Aya," Tanjirou called, smiling, at the same time as he took both of her shoulders to stop her from tumbling back.

"I can't… I cannot…" The words got stuck on her throat but Tanjirou'd been the eldest brother long enough to learn patience was a valuable skill. "I actually already… you didn't need… it wasn't necessary… to ask…" For once she stopped looking at the floor to look him in the face although, of course, in between her fingers. "I was already going to… You didn't need to ask…" She shook her face as if trying to stop blushing, failing terribly. "I'm not going to be with you to witness how you burn." Tanjirou thought that determination suited her. "But to prevent you from doing so."

And suddenly she pulled him toward her, arms wrapped around his body and head buried on his shoulder (so he wouldn't be able to see her rosy cheeks, Aya would always smell like pride).

When was the last time someone hugged him? He wondered, all the while clutching to Aya, as best as he could with the box he should have been carrying on her back.

Aya smelled so good.

"Meow."

So, so good.

"Meow."

That he could just eat her whole.

"Is that a cat?" Aya let go of him and looked around.

If it had been a normal cat he'd be irritated (he already was). When looking at the floor, Tanjirou found yellow eyes.

Both looked in curiosity at the cat that looked back, not in curiosity, but in sharpness.

It had been a while since Tanjirou stopped hearing Yuu's whistling in the distance.

"Chachamaru?"