The bright moon hung in the night sky, illuminating everything in its sight. Thick lashes slowly fluttered open. Inosuke found himself sitting up against the wall of the mountain. His head hurt a lot. He tried to stand, but his ankle stung.
It was then that he could hear munching sounds. Someone was eating. No, it had to be a demon. He got up using the wall as support for his ankle. He quickly grabbed both his swords and headed toward the noise.
The sight before him was a bloody one. A single arm laid on the ground, wrapped in a bloody yellow sleeve, in the hand was a familiar bloody bamboo muzzle. The demon at the scene held a familiar scarred head detached from its body. He was removing the hanafuda earrings and then ate the head in one bite before continuing to the remaining parts of its dinner.
Inosuke took a few steps back, face in absolute horror. "No..." His underlings, no, his friends were dead, and it was all his fault. If only he had been there. If only he had been awake. He could have stopped this. But he failed.
"No no no no..NO!" Inosuke sobbed as he turned around and began running, his breathing unstable. The savage could hear the demon chasing after him. The boy began to panic. His legs, already weak from the shock, tripped over a rock that was broken off the mountain from when he hit his head. He rolled over to face the demon, but when he did, it wasn't there. In its place was Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Nezuko covered from head to toe in wounds and blood.
"Why would you leave us, Inosuke? I thought you were our leader. You were suppose to protect us." Tanjiro spoke first, his voice and facial expression showed dissappointment. It made Inosuke's throat tighten.
"You're the worst leader ever. You should have died instead. Even my precious Nezuko was hurt because of you. This is all your fault." Inosuke's stomach twisted.
Nezuko just violently growled at him, teeth bared, her claws out and ready to pounce on him at any moment and rip him to shreds. His body went weak in fear and absolute guilt.
"It's all your fault, Inosuke. All your fault. ALL YOUR FAULT. ALL YOUR FAULT!" They repeated in unison as they one after another kicked, punched, and clawed at him as he curled up on the ground and cried.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Inosuke sobbed.
"osuke... Inosuke! Wake up, Inosuke!" Tanjiro leaned over the sleeping boy, trying to shake him awake.
Tear filled eyes flew open, and a gasp escaped the boar boy. He picked up his head and leaned on a single forarm, tears streaming. He watched in disbelief as they stained the sheets below.
Once he realized where he was, he shot up from where he was laying. He saw the blond laying in his bed, fast asleep.
"Inosuke?" He turned to face the boy, his breathing was still shaky and uneven. "It's alright. You were just having a bad dream." He whispered, trying not to wake their friend. Thankfully, the blond hadn't woken up from his yelling before.
Inosuke immediately wiped the tears from his face. "I was trying to wake you. You were yelling in your sleep. You don't have to talk about it but are you really okay?"
Inosuke eyes went glossy again, ready to spool more tears at the question. He hesitated for a minute before speaking up. "I'm fine! I-I just...I'm just sorry for being so weak. I'm a terrible leader, and it's all my fault you guys got hurt. You guys could've.. could've.." Inosuke's throat began to close up, remembering his dream. His nose burned, and a single tear fell from an emerald eye.
Tanjiro reached up and gently cupped the boy's cheek, wiping the tear with his thumb. "Inosuke... Is that what you've been so upset about?"
The blue tipped boy turned his head away, releasing his cheek from the others' tender touch.
Tanjiro felt sad for the boy, but he had to be positive. "I promise you that we're okay. I'm just so glad that you're alive. We're all alive, and that's what's most important." Tanjiro smiled, slowly pulling the boy into a warm, reassuring hug.
The savage was in shock at first, unsure of how to respond to the gentle touch. But after a few seconds, the boy returned the hug, burrying his face into the redheads chest.
Tanjiro could smell salt and frustration. He knew what was happening, but he didn't say a word. He just held the boy while he silently cried.
--
Inosuke soon fell asleep in the others' arms. Once the redhead realized this, he pulled away from the boy, having to pry his arms off of him.
The scarred boy was used to the clinging. It wasn't anything new.
Inosuke was rowdy, even in his sleep. He was also very grabby and clingy, and even sleep talked sometimes. Tanjiro found this out pretty early in their adventures.
The first night that they had spent together, the boar boy had grabbed Tanjiros yukata sleeve, mumbling something about fighting him.
Tanjiro had noticed over time that the boar boy had become less aggressive in his sleep and a bit more... intimate. He would curl up to the red haired boy, clinging to his arm and sometimes hugging his torso.
At first, it had killed the redhead, just to be so close to the savage. The first time he woke in the middle of the night to Inosuke's face only inches from his, he couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. But now Tanjiro didn't really mind it. In fact, he smelled really nice. Very masculine, but light and beautiful at the same time. Like wet earth and pine.
Tanjiro never mentioned the clinging to Inosuke, though. He wasn't sure if it was something that would set off the other male, even though it was Inosuke who was clinging onto him.
"Tanjiro..." The said boy blinked at his sleeping friend. He was sleep talking and dreaming of Tanjiro. That made the boy smile.
He had heard him sleep talk about many things, like his "underlings", food, fighting, and occasionally Zenitsu's mispronounced name followed by a "weak" or "pathetic". But this was the first time Tanjiro had heard this own name come from the sleeping boy. It made his heart race.
Inosuke was always hiding his weaknesses. He couldn't show any weakness. He had to show nothing but strength. But when Inosuke was asleep, he was an open book. He laughed, looked angry, smiled widely, and very occasionally, he would cry. No feelings were hidden. Even if he wasn't so expressive in his sleep, Tanjiro would still be able to tell due to his keen sense of smell.
He was always able to tell if his siblings were in distress due to a nightmare. Or even if they were having a good dream, he would know.
Inosuke was usually the first to wake up with Zenitsu being the last, due to staying up late with Nezuko every night. So the blonde never caught the wild boy cuddling up to their friend.
The savage always had a slight feeling that Tanjiro knew, but he didn't dare ask. He didn't want anyone to know how vulnerable and weak he was when he's sleeping. He wasn't going to chance it.
He knew he couldn't help it, cuddling up to his friend. The boy was a bit touch starved, and Tanjiro made him feel warm and fulfilled his need for physical contact. He was gentle and kind and exactly what Inosuke needed. He was what he wanted.
The sleeping boy hummed happily as he slept. Tanjiro couldn't help but smile in response.
This was the first time Tanjiro had seen the boy have a nightmare like this. Sure, he had been in distress before while sleeping, but nothing like this. The guilt must have really been eating away at the boy. Tanjiro wondered why Inosuke blamed himself for what happened. It wasn't anyone's fault.
Tanjiro frowned slightly at the other. He wanted to make sure he could rest easy tonight, so he laid down next to the boar boy.
The blue tipped boy almost immediately latched himself to Tanjiro, face buried in his chest, and for the first time, the scarred boy held him back. Their bodies were pressed close to eachother, legs entangled, though Tanjiro was careful of the others injured ankle.
The redhead held him as if he would never let go. He didn't want to. Atleast, not until he knew Inosuke was alright.
Soft lips were pressed on the top of Inosuke's head just before whispering. "Goodnight, Inosuke."