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There was a prick.

His eyes snapped open. Sword unsheathed, he held his Nichirin blade on his assailant's neck—

Red doe eyes blinked at him, slitted and half-lidded.

"...Tanjirou," Giyuu hissed, forcing himself to resist the urge to continue the motion of decapitating the demon. "What are you doing?"

Tanjirou stared blankly at him for a few moments before blinking, the fog dissipating from his gaze.

"Tomioka-san?" Tanjirou asked, confused, because all of a sudden Giyuu had grabbed his shoulder tightly while his other hand held a blade on the young boy's neck. After all, the three had been sleeping while sitting on the floor with their backs on the wall—Giyuu's prefered resting position while the children just followed him, settling on both of his sides—but now Giyuu was kneeling in front of him with a stern expression on his face. "I… what?"

"This," Giyuu showed him his arm. There were two puncture marks on the skin as blood trickled down the wounds. "You bit me."

The little boy's eyes widened. He recoiled, scrambling backwards to get away from the Demon Slayer. Giyuu let him be because he saw something unusual in a demon's eyes: horror.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" Tanjirou gasped, wiping away the saliva in his mouth roughly as tears filled his eyes. He retreated to the corner of the room, away from the Demon Slayer and his little sister, who was still sleeping by Giyuu's side. "I d-didn' realise—Your arm—'m sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry—"

"Nii-chan…?" Nezuko stirred awake, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Tanjirou clammed up immediately.

"...It's nothing," Giyuu whispered and covered her eyes with his palm, mindful not to let her see the blood on his arm. "Go back to sleep."

Nezuko did just that, clutching on his haori's sleeve as she snuggled by his side, snoozing. Thankfully, she didn't realise that her brother was now on the other side of the room, staring at her with terror in his eyes.

Giyuu let out a tired sigh.

"...Tanjirou," he called the boy as he sheathed his sword with a silent click. "Come here."

Tanjirou shook his head mutely, hands still covering his mouth.

"You're sitting near the window. The sunlight will burn you," Giyuu said, noting how the curtains on the window didn't completely block the sunlight. "I won't kill you, so come here."

"B-but, I might e-eat you," Tanjirou stammered. "You'll d-die. Just like M-Mommy and Daddy."

Giyuu blinked. "Did you eat your parents?"

"N-no…," Tanjirou hiccuped. "But t-that man did and—and—hic!"

Giyuu felt a vein throb in his forehead. Not because of Tanjirou, but because of the demon who had destroyed this child's family. He had seen the mangled state of Tanjirou's parents, which was evidently done not by a tiny demon like Tanjirou but a full grown one. Turning an innocent child into a demon was apparently not cruel enough; Kibutsuji Muzan had to eat his parents in front of the boy just to satisfy his sadistic urges.

Giyuu sighed and forced himself to relax. There was no use in cursing the Demon King now. The traumatised child in front of him was more important.

"You are weak, Tanjirou," Giyuu said. Tanjirou flinched. "And I am strong. You won't be able to hurt me, let alone eat me. I won't die."

Tanjirou peeked hesitantly at him. "But you're b-bleeding. Because of m-me."

"This is nothing but a scratch. It doesn't hurt at all."

"R-really?"

"Yes. That's why, come here. I can't come to you because your sister is leaning on me—"

Suddenly, Tanjirou barreled into his chest and clung onto him, crying his eyes out. Giyuu froze, before loosening up. Recalling what his late sister had always done whenever he had a nightmare, his hand rose to pat the little boy's head softly. Tanjirou's voice was thankfully muffled enough that it didn't wake Nezuko up.

"'m sorry, I won't do it again, p-promise, 'm sorry…" Tanjirou blubbered on his chest.

"It's alright. It was just an accident," Giyuu sighed, before pulling Tanjirou away. Then, he rummaged through his pockets until he found a small bamboo canister filled with healing herbs. He poured the contents onto the floor, before showing it to Tanjirou. "That's why, wear this when you're sleeping. It seems like you can't control yourself when you are unconscious or feeling emotional, so hopefully a gag is enough to prevent such an accident from happening again."

"M'kay," Tanjirou sniffled. He obediently lowered his head so that it was easier for Giyuu to fasten the bamboo canister onto his mouth.

"Try bite into it," Giyuu told him. Tanjirou scrunched up his eyebrows as he clenched his teeth. The bamboo didn't break. "That's enough. Good job, Tanjirou."

Tanjirou beamed at him. He hugged Giyuu one last time, before settling by the Demon Slayer's side and went back to sleep.

Giyuu sighed and closed his eyes.

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