"𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞" - 𝙺𝙽𝚈 𝚡 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎!𝙾𝚌

F̑̈ȏ̈ȗ̈ȓ̈

Tomioka awoke with an abrupt start, panicked eyes flailing all over the place and breath unsteady as he sat upright in his bed, alone. Tomioka cursed to himself, no way he was dreaming again. 

How childish, Tomioka thought. Finally, he was sure of his feelings, and it all ended up being a dream. Tomioka let out an angry scowl as he threw his pillow across the room.

"Eh? My love, is everything alright?"

Tomioka's eyes widened briefly, the thought of last night being a dream suddenly becoming a lot less like reality, "Tsukumo?"

Tsukumo smiled brightly at Tomioka, with steam pouring from the bathroom and a cloth robe wrapped around his body, "I was just getting cleaned up, I made breakfast earlier, I hope you like it!" The smell of lavender and linen invaded Tomioka's senses.

Tomioka's eyes finally fixated on the small coffee table that was a few feet away from his bed. There was a tray filled with food and what looked to be steaming tea sitting on the table in a clean and beautiful fashion.

Tsukumo quietly grabbed his clothing, slipping off his robe and changing before the Hashira. While Tsukumo's body was something Tomioka had already explored plenty last night, the mere reality of it all being real hadn't seemed to resonate with the Hashira just yet.

Tomioka sighed deeply, rubbing his hand over his face and feeling through his hair, "I see, thank you." Tomioka averted his eyes to Tsukumo's, "How long have you been awake?"

"Since the sun has risen, around 5 am. Had you slept well? I'm sorry if I kept you up." Tsukumo chuckled lightly, bringing the tray closer to Tomioka and setting it down in the sleepy Hashira's lap, pouring him a cup of steaming tea.

"I need to brush my teeth first." Tomioka bluntly spoke, eyes trained on Tsukumo's poise lovingly, "Thank you for making food."

Tsukumo smiled, allowing Tomioka to be freed from the bed before the demon fixed up the bed and rearranged the food tray. Tsukumo had already gathered water for Tomioka to use this morning, before bathing, Tsukumo had made sure to get water for Tomioka to use as well.

Tomioka was starting to like this peaceful life. A life with Tsukumo was something he had dreamed of for years, now that it was here, it felt too good to be true. Tomioka quickly brushed his teeth and hair, walking back into the bedroom to find Tsukumo fixing the tray of food.

"Ah, Giyuu... would you like sencha or green tea?" Tsukumo asked kindly as Tomioka quickly sat down beside the demon.

Tomioka sighed and placed his hand softly on Tsukumo's thigh, "Why are you taking care of me? I should be the one taking care of you, you know." Tomioka blushed in remembrance of last night, shoving his face away from Tsukumo.

Tsukumo laughed, pouring Tomioka a glass of sencha tea and giving it to him with a beautiful grin, "I'm a demon, Giyuu, I'm already healed! Not to mention, you had to've drained a lot of stamina last night... not to mention... your back..."

Tomioka hummed in acknowledgement, forgetting they had experimented with 8 other positions last night as well and he had to admit, he was tired but his back didn't hurt at all actually, "It doesn't hurt."

Tsukumo shook his head as Tomioka drank his tea slowly, enjoying the moment, "While I was unable to focus well, I tried my best to use a healing technique during the fact, so it shouldn't hurt too much. Besides," 

Tsukumo scooted back in order to lay his head on Tomioka's shoulder, "I wanted to do something nice for you. It had to've been hard to hide your feelings for so long."

Tomioka rolled his eyes and grabbed a pastry that Tsukumo had made, directly dodging the teasing phrases pouring from the demon's mouth, "Whatever."

The demon decided to leave Tomioka alone for the time being. Instead, focusing on eating the warm soup in front of him, Tsukumo enjoyed his morning with the water hashira. 

Tomioka was sure he'd be sent off for a mission any minute now. Utilizing Tsukumo's freshly made tea and affection, he tried his best to replenish some of his stamina. 

Shinobu was... perturbed to say the least. When checking over Tomioka after a nightly routine mission, one of her nurses quickly got embarrassed and called for the Hashira. Shinobu didn't understand what was occurring until she made it into the room. 

Needless to say, either Tomioka had no shame or he had no idea how vulgar such marks on someone's body was. There were hickeys and scratches everywhere, mostly healed, but still noticeable. Tomioka didn't quite understand what was so bad.

The marks were from his lover, how could they ever be seen as disgusting?

Shinobu wrapped up Tomioka's faintly injured arm tightly, a little too tightly, "Ara Ara ~ Tomioka-San, next time... make sure to tell your girl to calm down."

"What girl?"

Tsukumo wandered around the headquarters, slightly anxious and suddenly realizing he sent his baby sister and brother on a potentially life threatening mission. Then again, Tanjiro would never grow as a slayer if Tsukumo was always there to save him. Oh well, both Tanjiro and Nezuko had their protection bands, so Tsukumo decided he shouldn't feel too worried.

"Hey! Smiley-freak!"

Tsukumo furrowed his brows, surely someone couldn't be talking about him. However, when the demon turned around, he wasn't very surprised anymore as Tsukumo spotted the wind hashira blasting towards him. 

Tsukumo made sure his parasol and coverings were tightly over his body as he bowed to Sanemi, "Shinazugawa-San, it's good to see you after so long."

Sanemi narrowed his eyes, coming closer to Tsukumo until they were about a foot apart. The hashira glared up at the demon, "I want to fight you."

"What?" Tsukumo asked shakily, "No, I do not wish to battle with you."

Sanmei clenched his fists, "I wanna see how strong you are. What?" the scary hashira smirked with a wild facial expression, "Don't tell me you're scared? You know you're gonna lose, huh!"

Tsukumo smiled gently and shook his head, "Not exactly, I have promised not to hurt humans and when I land a blow on you, I don't think I'll be able to withstand your malodorous blood."

"Malodorous, huh?" Sanmei growled, "You calling my blood gross? You know, demons would go crazy for it!" And Sanemi swiped his sword at Tsukumo, not at all surprised when the demon dodged it.

Tsukumo frowned, "Please don't, Shinazugawa... I do not wish to battle you."

"Too bad..." Sanemi growled out with a crazed grin, ready to give it his all, "Come at me with all you've got! I've gotten too bored just walking around acting like you don't exist, I wanna see who you truly are!"

"Who I... Truly am?" Tsukumo frowned and bowed his head, "I'm afraid it'll be useless, Shinazugawa as I'll kill myself before landing a blow on you."