I am really sorry for posting this so late, I haven't been doing the best lately and I have no motivation for anything, I promise I'll do better next time.

Tanjiro's pov

I laid in bed, looking up at the ceiling while running my fingers through Muichiro's hair. It was weird to be back.. but I was also feeling very safe and calm, knowing that nothing bad will happen and I can rest peacefully.

I looked to my right to see Yuichiro laying on a bed on the other side of the room. He's been sleeping for hours now but I don't blame him, he must be exhausted after all that happened.

Suddenly, the door to our room opened and Mitsuri walked in, whispering "is someone awake?"

"I am" I whispered back and Mitsuri turned to look at me "okay, can you come with me please?"

I nodded and slowly took Mui off of me, laying him on the bed. He stirred a bit, looking up at me sleepily "Tanjiro..?" he mumbled sleepily and I kissed his forehead "go back to sleep Mui, I'll be right back"

He nodded and closed his eyes again, burying himself into his cozy blanket. I smiled and quietly left the room, following Mitsuri into a kitchen where Nezuko and Sanemi were sitting too.

"What is this all about?" I asked and sat down at the table together with all of them. Sanemi crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair, saying "like I said before, we want to go outside again tomorrow, to try to find help"

I gave him a small confused nod "yes? Did anything change? Are we not going?"

Sanemi shook his head "it's just that it's really far, we have to pack really well, still watch out for monsters, Yuichiro can barely walk so someone will have to carry him and same with Kotetsu, I don't trust him with walking around without anyone holding his hand"

I nodded understandingly "I can carry Yuichiro, or at least help him walk, Mui can watch Kotetsu, I am sure we'll manage somehow"

"Okay, how about our supplies?" Nezuko asked with a bit of a worried tone but Sanemi quickly reassured her "I don't think we have to worry about that.. it's not that far and I think that if we eat only when we really need to, we'll be okay"

Nezuko asked and looked down at her lap, it was clear that she was worried about the whole thing once again. "Alright, is there anything else?" I asked and Sanemi shook his head "that's all for now"

I nodded and stood up, walking back to the room where Muichiro and Yuichiro were. I quietly opened the door and walked into the room, slowly closing it behind me.

I laid down and pulled Muichiro on my chest again. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and I kissed the top of his head. When I held him like this, I couldn't help but think of what happened before..

I could have lost him.. I couldn't get over the fact that he was literally on the edge of dying..

I caressed the back of his head while looking at his sleeping face. "I promise that I'll never let anyone else hurt you.."

Next day

"Alright, do we have everything?" Sanemi asked and I looked at our things "I think we do" I replied and looked behind me to see Yuichiro and Muichiro walking towards us.

Yuichiro was barely walking, needing Muichiro's support otherwise he'd fall down. "Come here, I'll help you out" I said and walked over to Yuichiro, helping him sit down for a bit before we went out.

"How am I supposed to go out like this, I can barely walk from the bedroom to here" he complained and crossed his arms. "It's okay, I'll carry you" I said and he sighed "fine fine"

I heard Muichiro sigh and look away which confused me. I was about to ask him what's wrong but then Yuichiro said "don't worry, I won't steal him away from you, I am not into big foreheads"

Muichiro opened his mouth, like he was about to say something but before he could, he just crossed his arms and looked away, blushing heavily.

I chuckled and patted his head "oh come on, you know t- WAIT, I DON'T HAVE A BIG FOREHEAD" I yelled out and Yuichiro laughed "yeah you do"

"Okay okay, stop fighting you two, let's go" Sanemi said and I nodded, helped Yuichiro up and helped him on my back.

"Where's Kotetsu?" Muichiro asked and looked at us. Everyone fell silent, only responding with a small shrug. "Okay hold on, I'll look for him" he said and walked out of the room.

Muichiro's pov

I walked around the shelter, anxiously looking for Kotetsu. From what he told me yesterday, he was really nervous about going outside again and only wanted to stay in a shelter for a little longer to recover from what we went through.

I opened the door to the room where he slept that night and looked inside. It was really dark, only a small lamp was turned on that was shining the bringt light onto one of the beds where I saw Kotetsu.

I sat down on the bed next to him, gently nudging his shoulder "Kotetsu, we need to go now.." I mumbled and he looked at me with tear filled eyes, fear showing through them clearly "I don't want to.."

I sighed and pulled him into a hug, feeling his tears soaking up my hoodie slowly "hey.. it'll be okay, we got out safely, right? Now we just need to get somewhere and then everything is going to be okay.."

"But.. b-but.." he mumbled and pulled away a little, looking down at the floor "I promised that I will protect you, no? And I will keep my promise" I said and wiped away his tears "I promise that everything is going to be okay.. you have no need to worry about anything"

Kotetsu gave me a small nod "okay.. thank you" I hugged him tightly "of course, Kotetsu'' I said and picked him up "okay, let's go now, everyone is waiting for us"

He nodded and I carried him towards the entrance. "Well finally, where were you hiding lil guy?" Mitsuri said and grabbed Kotetsu's facial cheek playfully which made him giggle.

"Alright, let's not wait any longer," Sanemi said and opened the door, holding it open while we walked outside. It was quiet.. very quiet.

"Geez, what the fuck happened here" Yuichiro said and looked around in shock. Right, he doesn't remember anything..

"Let's just say that things have been.. difficult" Tanjiro said and began to walk behind Sanemi together with all of us. Everything seemed okay so far, no monster, nothing at all.

"Are you just not planning on telling me what happened? Why don't I remember anything? Where the fuck are other and why is Muichiro suddenly crazy over Tanjiro?" Yuichiro said and I looked down, not wanting to talk about it.

Tanjiro seemed to notice and began to talk instead "well, there was something like an apocalypse we could say, people turned into some weird monsters and unfortunately.. you did too"

Yuichiro's eyes widened "you have to be fucking kidding me"

"No.. that's why you don't remember anything.." he mumbled, staging silent for a bit before saying "as for Genya.. he.. he got infected too, and sacrificed himself"

The memories flood back again, all the grief needed to wash over me once again, making my tears water. I never got over his death.. never, only pushed the painful memories away and only thought about the positive ones..

"Mui? Hey, it's okay, don't cry.." I heard Tanjiro say and place his hand on my cheek, gently wiping away my tears. "Am I crying..?" I thought to myself and touched my cheek "fuck.. I am.."

"Sorry.. I don't know I just.. got emotional all of the sudden" I mumbled and calmed my breathing down, wiping some remaining tears.

"It's okay, Mui. We understand" Mitsuri said with a reassuring smile and I nodded.

Yuichiro looked down, sighing "fuck, I remember being so mean to him but now.. I actually miss him" he chuckled.

"We all miss him" Tanjiro sighed and everyone nodded in agreement. "But.. there's a chance that he's still somewhere out, right?" He asked and Sanemi shrugged "I doubt that"

"How can you even say that? He's your brother!" Mitsuri said with an annoyed tone and Sanemi shook his head "I am just being realistic"

They continued to talk about it, saying very mean things to each other, eventually it escalated to a full blown fight.

I couldn't handle it, it was too much, talking about Genya made me feel so emotional and this made it even worse. "Pl-please.. st-stop.." I mumbled but they didn't stop, yelling at each other even louder.

Before I could break down completely, Yuichiro yelled out "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU" on top of his lungs.

Everyone fell silent and looked at Yuichiro "are we really going to fight over something like that?! Just shut up and go!"

Sanemi let out a groan and began to walk, clearly getting bored of everyone's bullshit. Yuichiro turned to look at me and asked "you good?"

I nodded a little and smiled "y-yea.. thanks" I said and followed behind Sanemi.

The whole way there seemed calm.. really calm. Everyone was just quiet and refused to talk, knowing that it would turn into another pathetic fight.

…

"It's getting dark, let's rest here" Mitsuri said and everyone nodded. We walked into a building that looked somehow.. stable.

We all sat down on the floor and Nezuko immediately fell asleep. I heard Tanjiro chuckle and put his jacket over her shoulders.

Mitsuri took out some food out of her bag and handed it to us. I thanked her and finally ate something after an hour of walking, if it never felt nicer to eat something.

Even though the food was cold, I couldn't help but feel so happy that I was finally eating and in a second, all of it was gone.

Tanjiro sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me, saying "tomorrow we'll finally be safe.. we finally will not have to worry about anything"

"How can you know that.. anything can still go wrong" I said skeptically and reached out to grab one more piece of bread.

"You are being too negative, Mui" he chuckled and leaned me on him, wrapping his arms around me tightly "everything will be back to normal tomorrow"

"If you say so, I believe you" I said and kissed him. He returned the kiss and chuckled after pulling away. "Let's get some rest now, we'll need it for tomorrow, we still have a long way ahead of us.

I nodded and closed my eyes, nuzzling close to Tanjiro and falling asleep soon after.

...

Word count : 1842