Oops. no anti blood demon coagulant since yushiro didn't get to him in time. Sorry

As a steadfast man, Jigoro could count the number of times his blood truly ran cold on two hands. Funnily enough, his youngest foster child was responsible for a non-insignificant chunk of them.

God, not again, he thought as he grasped his grandson's hand on his own.

It must be some joke of the universe that Zenitsu fell unconscious right as he entered the room; the lack of unnecessary screeching was deeply concerning, and if he were forced to admit it, the man preferred that over whatever silence was hanging over the room.

"Really, how did this boy even get himself into these situations?" he sighed tiredly, trying to break the uncomfortably quiet atmosphere.

Tanjiro's tone was subdued as he said, "About that. Agatsuma hasn't heard it yet, but the doctor said it's like nothing they've ever seen."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.

The boy hmm-ed to himself in thought. "It's covered up right now, but if you see his injuries, it almost seemed like if lightning could cut, not just burn," he said, tracing a finger down where Jigoro presumed the wounds rested. "They stitched them up, but the doctor mentioned it felt like his cuts were fighting to stay open."

First a lightning strike on a clear day and then this. Maybe this kid was cursed after all, and Jigoro should give him a break. Temporarily.

"Tell you what, kid," he said, rising to his feet. "As thanks for getting him help, I'll buy you a drink. What do you want?"

"Huh? I'd hate to trouble you like that, I'm just glad you're here right now!"

The sudden offer must've flustered him, Jigoro realized with some amusement. "Come on, you're partially why my boy's still alive right now. Just name something."

"Okay! Then whatever's cheapest!" Tanjiro replied instantly, having the audacity to make eye contact after a statement like that.

Hey.

The man exhaled in defeat and began walking toward the exit, a grin slowly growing on his face. "Oh, whatever. I know your type. I'll just grab the most expensive option to spite you."

"Wait, you really don't have to do that!" he shouted in the most inside voice he could, helplessly watching as the tiny man disappeared from behind the door.

"First, I relay awful news to him, and then he buys me a drink. I feel kind of bad now," Tanjiro complained to no one in particular. Leaning into the uncomfortable standard hospital chair, he pulled a phone out of his pocket.

"I should call Nezuko. She's probably getting more worried by the second. I hope she managed to hide or clean the blood, though."

Their younger siblings didn't need to see that, especially not Rokuta; he should really ask to confirm that nothing happened. However, before he could even begin dialing, the squeak of an opening window sidetracked him.

Tanjiro looked up in surprise. "Ah, Agatsuma, I'm so glad you're-"

The bed was empty. Beyond that, a pair of curtains waved innocently in the breeze as if nobody had just passed by.

It took a moment for him to piece together what just happened.

"...Wait. Isn't this the 7th floor?"

⁂

Something was so, so deeply wrong here.

Zenitsu leapt from roof to roof, adrenaline fueling each step as he fled the hospital.

The rough texture of the roofs scraped his feet raw, but he hardly noticed. Every fiber of him screamed to get away.

While all demon illusions had flaws, maybe it was possible to trick his mind into creating the exact person in his mind. Maybe everything here was all in his head.

Or maybe it was a blood demon art that mixed his memories and perceptions with whatever the hell this world is. It looked as if a town had been built with anything except wood. And the sounds, they were nothing like what he'd grown to expect, but it all felt so real.

It was mentally disorienting. He didn't know what to think, and each explanation he could hack together only served to throw him into further panic.

He finally began to slow as his exhaustion-addled mind guided him toward an expansive grove of trees at the edge of the town. They were silent save for the shuffle of leaves in the breeze and the chirping of sparrows, and a part of him told him these trees would be safe for the time being.

Even so, he was tearing himself in two different directions. One told him to continue, and the other to stay.

This was giving him a headache on top of everything else. Finally, he caved into the latter compulsion and collapsed at the foot of a particularly large tree.

He'd stay here for a moment.

Just a little while longer.

…

Just a bit more.

…

..

.

"...You were trying to run away from me, and out of all places, you chose to hide in my orchard? Somehow, I almost expected that."

The voice jolted his child awake with surprising speed, but in his hasty bid to stand, he forgot to take into account the stiffness of his legs and promptly toppled over.

Jigoro let out a disapproving grunt as he walked closer.

Quickly, Zenitsu scooted back as far as possible until his back thumped onto his most prized peach tree's trunk. He then brought up his knees to curl into a protective ball, all the while clinging onto the sheath of a sword. Neither hand rested on the handle.

Seemingly out of options, the only thing he could do was open his mouth.

"You're - you're not supposed to be here! You're dead!"

That almost made him drop his cane. Now that was something he didn't expect to hear.

"How-I… How can you be here? There's no way I can have this!" he stuttered out in a rush as his grandfather kneeled in front of him.

The boy flinched as a hand rested itself on his shoulder. "Zenitsu, what the hell are you talking about?"

Something inside him seemed to snap at the question. "I don't know!" he cried. "You're probably something my brain's making up before I die! I don't want it to end now! And I don't want to be dead since that would mean Tanjiro's dead since he's here too and that'd make Nezuko sad, so it has to be that-"

"Calm down, Zenitsu! If you're dead, then you wouldn't feel physical pain, right? Hey, Zenitsu!"

He continued on as if the words never entered his ears. "-But if… if that's it then I wouldn't have even seen your body before I died! How sad is that! Why won't my own brain let me down quickly instead of taunting me like this?"

Jigoro shook him over and over, but his frantic, scattered rambling trailed on unbroken. "You were the only person who actually believed in me and cared about me this much, even if you were probably believing in your own training more than me! Why was it you? That's too cruel-"

The kid was dangerously out of it. Did he have some unaddressed head trauma along with his usual self-esteem issues? Zenitsu often hyperbolically screamed about death, usually during training sessions, but this felt different.

There was a hint of genuine hysteria permeating his voice that had never been present in his previous complaints, and Jigoro didn't like that at all.

Mind made up, he leaned forward.

A cut-off "Wha-" escaped Zenitsu before a pair of wiry arms wrapped themselves around him, giving him a firm but calming squeeze that managed to avoid the worst of his injuries. Slowly, the uncontrollable tremors shaking him began to fade until only the lingering sensation of weakness was left.

A solid ten seconds must've passed before a voice broke the silence.

"I… can't have imagined that. You've never done that before." Zenitsu responded at last, eyes curiously dry.

Having done its job, Jigoro released the hug and crossed his arms. "I don't usually do this kind of thing, but it seemed necessary this time," he stated with his head cocked to the side. "Looks like I was right. More importantly, though, what was all of that? Something that dire can't have come from nowhere, and you still haven't explained how you got so injured when you're supposed to be home."

A watery hiccup bubbled out of his throat. "I really meant it when I said I don't know," he muttered as tears finally began to bead in his eyes.

Ah, there it is.

"I'm really tired, though," Zenitsu continued. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

Jigoro knew the kid was padding for time, but he'll let it slide for now. "Fine. Let's get you back to the hospital now that you've settled down. It's already dark, but I'm sure they'll let you back in."

"Okay, gramps."

"I told you to call me coach."

The increasingly comfortable silence became somewhat stilted at the last line for god knows what reason, but it slowly returned as they made their way back in a taxi.

"I forgot to ask this earlier," Jigoro said as they entered Zenitsu's designated room. "Did you hitch a ride back to the orchard earlier? You don't seem to have your wallet on you."

He hummed, then said, "Of course not. I just ran there."

"We're a 30-minute drive away."

"Huh? Is that supposed to mean something?" he replied with actual confusion.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Jigoro felt the urge to sigh.

I'll deal with it tomorrow, he thought as he watched the boy tuck himself into bed. But for now, it's time to head back.

A hand shot out from under the blanket the instant he formed that thought, latching onto the man's sleeve.

"Please don't leave me. Please?"

Whining, the man was familiar with. But once again there seemed to be something deeper in those words. However, Jigoro still had to go home and check on some things, namely Kaigaku.

"You'll be fine, I promise. It's not like this is your first overnight here," he said flatly.

"But-"

"I'll have none of that. I'm going to be right back in the morning anyway."

That finally seemed to appease the boy enough for Jigoro to tug his surprisingly tight grip off.

After a quick goodbye, he felt the weight of today's revelations press onto his shoulders as he made his way home. Something was obviously afoot, and he needed to get to the bottom of things if he was to consider himself a proper guardian.

A glossy blue car flashed in the headlight, sending the memory of a brief observation to mind. Jigoro could swear that today, Zenitsu's eyes shined blue when the light caught it right.

The man opened his front door to the sounds of some unknown video game and a figure hidden behind a chair.

"Oh hi gramps, you got home pretty late."

"Zenitsu, what did I say about playing video games past 9?" he lectured automatically.

Jigoro came to a standstill, and stood there for almost a minute. He then pinched the bridge of his nose with enough force to break the noses of lesser men.

"...I'm going to bed early."

a/n

I honestly forgot how long writing takes for me. 2k takes like, a day for me to write. Can you tell that I like seeing these two interact

If it's difficult to tell what's up with zenitsu, it's that his heavy suspicion is warring with his want to be with jigoro. Add in exhaustion and unaddressed grief. There's a lot of confusion going on around both sides.