Two years.
Two years have passed since Tanjirou had last seen Nezuko awake, two years of complete silence in which she only slept, leaving him behind alone and worried with no idea if she would ever wake up from her deep slumber.
It always gnawed at his substance even though he tried his best to mask his concern and be as brave as he could be. Not only would it be impolite of him if he didn't give it his all during Urokodaki-san's relentless training, but also be a waste of Tomioka-san's kindness he had shown on the snowy mountain.
Tanjirou smiled at that, fully knowing that he only came so far because of these two. Without them, he would have never made it so far and would have never seen the day Nezuko finally awoke from her dreams. Words were not enough to express the gratitude he felt towards them, now and forever. He was indebted to them for the rest of his life and beyond, never able to repay them for their kindness to look after him and Nezuko when nobody else did.
The redhead had just finished washing off all the grime and dirt from Final Selection. During the week he had relied on mountain streams to do the most basic of cleaning, so his wounds wouldn't get infected. It wasn't that uncommon for him to take baths in mountain rivers because during summer he had used to do the same on the mountain he grew up, with all of his family in tow. However, nothing could beat an actual bath, scalding water burning his skin in the best way.
He dressed in the new set of clothes Urokodaki-san had provided him, a simple dark haori, a green shirt coloured white at the rims and black baggy pants. The clothes felt comfortable and put his mind at ease. The memories from the test were still so vividly in his head, but slowly they faded into the back of his mind. They were replaced by a sense of security instead, the scent of Urokodaki-san's delicious cooking wafting around his nose. His stomach growled in response, eager to be filled properly after such a long time.
Pushing the sliding door open, he found Urokodaki sitting at the cooking spot, stirring the contents of a large pot. Opposite him sat Nezuko, curiously looking at what their caretaker was doing. It caused him some pain because it looked like Nezuko had lost most of her memories, but that was an issue that could wait for another day. For now, he was just happy to have her back with him. Besides, demon or not, Nezuko would always be his baby sister.
"This smells delicious," the redhead exclaimed when he shifted his attention to the pot, getting hungrier with every passing second. It smelled even better from up close Urokodaki laughed at his eagerness.
"Don't worry Tanjirou. It won't take that much longer before it's ready." The redhead hummed happily at that, rubbing his belly and telling it to wait a bit longer.
"Tanjirou," his name was suddenly called. Turning his head in the direction from where he heard it, he found Tomioka-san sitting on his knees, motioning to the spot in front of him, several medical supplies laying on the tatami mats right next to him.
"Let me see your wounds," the stoic man said. It wasn't exactly an order, but Tanjirou could tell that Tomioka-san wouldn't accept a no as an answer. "Y... Yes!" He stuttered for some reason, closing the distance and sat similarly as Tomioka-san.
He pulled the haori and his shirt aside so that the older male could examine his body. He had countless bruises and cuts all over his body. It would take a while before he fully recovered from all the injuries he received throughout Final Selection. Tomioka-san must have come to the same conclusion because Tanjirou could smell displeasure streaming off from his senior. At the same time, he couldn't help the small smile forming on his lips because it felt like Tomioka-san was worried about him.
It was a really weird feeling because, on one hand, he felt bad for worrying the older male while on the other hand, he was also happy that Tomioka-san cared for him enough to be worried. It made him remember the dream he had while his senior carried him back. His smile grew even bigger and he felt two words dancing on the tip of his tongue.
His senior took care of his wounds by applying a balm that silenced the mild pain almost immediately after the first contact before he wrapped bandages around the injury. Tanjirou was amazed at how well it worked and he wondered from where he got it.
"It was made by Urokodaki," Giyuu suddenly said while he worked on the wounds. Seemingly he must have seen the question in Tanjirou's eyes and took the liberty of answering it right away.
"Really? Amazing! I didn't know you were familiar with making medicine, Urokodaki-san!" Tanjirou called loudly, looking over his shoulder at the old man.
His mentor didn't stop to stir the dish still cooking in the pot, the silence a bit too long for Tanjirou's taste. "I taught you about it, don't you remember?" He finally said, the redhead's body going rigid a moment later because he couldn't remember that! His cheeks reddened and became very hot even though it was pleasantly cool inside the house.
"You should reread the journals you wrote, my boy," Urokodaki-san added after a few seconds, throwing Tanjirou the lifeline he very much needed.
"I will!"
"Show me your forehead," Giyuu chimed in coolly, pulling the redhead's attention back to his still ongoing treatment. He only noticed now how professional his senior was working on his wounds. He really had to read his journals again!
Tanjirou could smell how the discomfort grew stronger when Tomioka-san inspected the wound on his forehead. Despite its hardness, it was really sensitive and that injury was the only one he couldn't block out. From the contorting expression on his senior's face, Tanjirou figured it looked as bad as it hurt. The amount of balm the older male used just cemented this assumption further.
"This might scar," he murmured softly. Tanjirou didn't care though. He would bear the mark with pride.
"It's fine Tomioka-san! That spot was already scarred from an accident during my childhood, so nothing really changes!" Despite his best attempts, the displeasure didn't disappear from his senior's scent and Tanjirou frowned at that. Before he could try again though, he suddenly felt a large hand brushing through his hair, calloused and rough yet so very warm.
"I'm finished," Tomioka-san proclaimed and Tanjirou swore he could see a little lift in the corners of the man's mouth. Was he smiling? The redhead had a hard time believing what he saw and it sealed his mouth shut. He knew that Tomioka-san was an incredibly kind man, but he had trouble showing this side of him. Seeing him like this was overwhelming.
"Good timing Giyuu," Urokodaki said a second later. "The stew is ready."
The mention of food pulled Tanjirou away from his spiralling thoughts. He would think later about what he saw. Probably he had only seen things because he was so hungry anyway. They seated around the fireplace except for Nezuko. His sister was lying on the ground and kicked her legs eagerly. Neither Urokodaki nor Tomioka seemed to mind, so Tanjirou didn't say anything about her behaviour. Instead, he brushed her cheek with his thumb and smiled at her lovingly, Nezuko leaning into his touch, seemingly content and happy about his actions.
Urokodaki took it upon himself to fill the bowls. Normally, Tanjirou was pretty adamant about taking this role because it just felt natural to him, but he smelled how happy his mentor was, so he said nothing and instead received his bowl with gratitude. The stew looked even better than it smelled.
"Thanks for the meal!" Tanjirou exclaimed before he dug in, his cheeks burning from the delicious taste dancing on his tongue. The stew smelled heavenly, looked absolutely amazing and was a delight for his taste buds. He only realised now how much he had missed Urokodaki-san's cooking.
They ate in comfortable silence, simply enjoying the peace and normality of their meal. Tanjirou devoured bowl after bowl, refilling all the energy he had lost and Urokodaki was more than happy to fill the boys time after time again.
While the three men ate, Nezuko rolled and robbed across the floor until she grew bored. She had no idea what was happening around her, but she knew that she was happy. Something was missing though and she tried to figure out what it was which was pretty difficult because her mind felt so cloudy and foggy.
However, when she laid her pink eyes on the man with the long black hair, she immediately understood what was bothering her so much. She crawled to him, earning herself a curious look from the man.
A moment later she dropped her head on his leg, pulling a surprised gasp from his lips and grabbed his arm, placing his hand on her forehead. She was waiting for him to start, but unfortunately, the man didn't do anything. She puffed her cheeks up and made an unsatisfied sound, looking into his eyes wide with shock.
Why didn't he understand? Wasn't it obvious what she wanted? Maybe she had to help him a bit. She grabbed his hand again, lifted it and then brought it back to her forehead. She repeated the action several times, but there were no signs that the man understood what she wanted. She made a dissatisfied noise.
"Nezuko!" Her brother suddenly said, urgency evident in his voice. She turned her eyes to him and he looked worried for some reason and she wondered why. "Please stop that! Tomioka-"
"Don't worry," the man on whose leg she was resting interrupted. "It's fine."
Looking back at him, she saw that the shock had worn off from his face and was replaced by a smile. Without her assistance, he brought his hand to her forehead and began brushing through her hair. Finally! Nezuko hummed in contentment, enjoying the feeling of the man's soft hand. It felt so warm, gentle and protective just as she had imagined. It reminded Nezuko of Tanjirou's hands doing the same to her, her nii-chan.
Tanjirou was at a loss for words at what he was seeing and he knew without looking that Urokodaki-san felt the same. Tomioka-san was smiling while he played with Nezuko's hair and his sister looked so happy about it. The scene looked so natural on top of that, almost as if it was meant to be like this.
On their way back, Tanjirou had dreamed about his family and Tomio-, no, Giyuu had also been there. The redhead wondered if the scene he was currently witnessing looked similar to what it looked like when he took care of one of his siblings. He had no idea of knowing because he was the oldest and never had the chance to view it from this perspective.
However, as he watched Giyuu and Nezuko like this with a huge smile on his lips, he was certain this was what it felt like to have a Big Brother.