Feel free to drop this story as it is incredibly shitty

——————————
{third POV}

Tanjiro refused to talk about what happened that night.

No matter now persistent Muichiro was, it always resulted in the same answer; 'it doesn't really matter'

This was the longest Tanjiro had been away from fluffy before... and let's just say he wasn't doing so well. His normal bubbly and excited demeanour had almost dimmed to a mere flicker, his eyes dark and a heavy aura surrounding him.

Even Inosuke was a little scared to approach the boy.

"CAW CAW UP THE MOUNTAIN! MANY DEMON SLAYER HAVE GONE MISSING! CAW UP THE MOUNT-"

"Will you shut up or I'll eat you! We get it!" Inosuke roared as they walked away from the house after the lady had done a little good luck ritual.

"WAHHHH not again! We've already got another mission!?" Zenitsu wailed, trying to find someone to cling onto. However he wasn't in much luck, Muichiro was scary, Tanjiro was scary at the moment and Inosuke was just weird... and slightly scary.

"Stop your incessant wining for one moment will you" Muichiro hissed, cold mint eyes glaring daggers at the blonde.

Zenitsu let out a terrified sheik and thought his best option would be to hide behind Inosuke "GET OFF ME!" He roared, trying to fight poor Zenitsu.

'I've got a headache' Tanjiro thought in a huff, running of so fast not even Muichiro could keep up with him.

———————————

Tanjiro had been waiting for the three for around an hour at the bottom of the mountain now; at some point he got tired and fell asleep on the side of the path.

In his defence, he didn't really sleep much last night so he had a reason to be tired.

"Hey Tanjir-"

Zenitsu was cut off when Muichiro slapped his hand over the boy's mouth, indicating him to be quiet as he glared at the bore before gently picking up the slumbering boy in his arms.

"I'm not going in the creepy mountain! Just look at the-"

That was all Muichiro needed to knock the blonde out, delivering a swift chop to his neck while walking into the forest with Tanjiro snuggled into his chest.

After that, Inosuke didn't dare make a noise. As hard as that was for him, he managed to do it nonetheless.

They came across a slayer hidden in a bush, he had straight black hair and wore a terrified expression.

"We're here to help, please tell us what's going on" muichiro said out of nowhere, placing his hand upon the Corps member's shoulder.

"W-what rank are you?" He stuttered, trying to be quiet as possible for some reason.

"We are both hashira, the creature over there is rank Mizunoto" the pillar responded, pointing towards Tanjiro in his arms then at the bore "hah?! HASHIRA! You didn't say anything abo-"

"Shut the hell up pig or you'll join blondie at the bottom of this mountain" the pillar hissed, refferjng to when he knocked out Zenitsu.

"Brilliant! Two hashira, that's just what we need!"

———————————-

The battle went fairly quickly with Muicjiro figuring out the swordsmen were being manipulated by threads from the spiders, all the while Tanjiro slept peacefully either in Muichiro's arms or against a tree of the pillar needed to work harder in a battle.

"Ooo a demon!" Inosuke growled, seeing another demon girl on the other side of the river. Inosuke went to recklessly chase the demon obviously, yelling words of insult before the girl screamed for her... 'father?'

Out of nowhere, a massive mutated demon whom was supposedly the 'father' came crashing into the water; waking up Tanjiro in the process.

"Hm? What's going on?" Tanjiro mumbled cutely fluttering his bright red eyes to look up at the pillar.

"You fell asleep Tanjiro... I didn't want to wake you" the pillar admitted, not taking any notice to Inosuke being beaten to a pulp by the  spider father.

'Ahhh I guess I should help him...' Muchiro wondered, his mind foggy with how cute Tanjiro looked at the moment "GET AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!"

Muichiro rolled his eyes at the disturbance, annoyed that this horrendous being dared to cut his time short with Tanjiro.

"I'll be back in a sec ok? If you wanna go back to sleep you can, I'll just pick you up afterwards" he reassured, giving a faint smile before leaping to help Inosuke.

Tanjiro sat next to the river with his legs crossed 'that smell... Rui-chan! He must be somewhere around here!' Tanjiro beamed, hopping off the floor and walking away from the scene; blindly following his nose into the woods.

Tanjiro had often played with Rui in the infinity fortress when growing up. Due to his intense desire to have a family, Muzan thought Rui would be the best person for Tanjiro to forge a sibling relationship with.

And he was right for the most part.

Rui and Tanjiro truly were like siblings. The spider demon often cared for Tanjiro when the upper moons were busy doing... demon stuff.

Tanjiro developed an adoration towards the boy, looking up to him and loving him dearly. Something he wasn't allowed to do with his last family because of his parents.

Well... their all dead now so there's no need to dwell on the past.

Tanjiro finally found the spot where Rui's scent was the strongest, peeking his head around a tree to see him standing above one of his so called 'sisters' while wearing an annoyed expression. The demon before his feet was holding her face in pain, blood seeping through the cracks in her fingers.

"R-Rui-chan?" Tanjiro stuttered, his eyes widening at the scene.

Rui snapped his head towards the meek voice, ready to kill the one whom got in his way. However his gaze softened at the sight of Tanjiro.

Tanjiro was his true sibling. He didn't need anyone else.

"Tanjiro-kun! I've missed you a lot... please don't be afraid" he smiled worriedly, subtly waving his hand behind his back in order to tell his sister to heal herself quickly.

She did as motioned, quickly healing the gashes in her face and plastering on a happy smile "look she's just fine!" Rui enthusiastically smiled, grabbing her hand roughly.

Tanjiro crept forward and beamed, sprinting up to the spider boy and engulfing him in a hug "oh how I've missed you so so much Rui-chan!" Tanjiro smiled into his shoulder, hurrying his nose into the boy's neck.

Tanjiro had always loved Rui's scent.

He smelt of fresh coconut, sweetened slightly by the scent of wild berries and a dusting of a cold snowy like smell.

"Leave me sister. Let me have a catch up with my brother"

———————————-

My bird has mites... :(