Chapter Text
As the sun began to crawl its way over the sandy desert mountains, Tanjiro opened his burning red eyes to view the dark wooden ceiling above him. The bright Sun landing on his features makes his eyes squint.
Tanjiro yawned as he sat up in his twin sized bed. swinging his legs landing his feet to the creaky wooden floor. He stretches his arms above his head and hears a familiar voice calling him.
“Tanjiro you up yet?”
An older dark haired boy creaks open Tanjiro's bedroom door peeking in with a bland expression.
The raven haired boy wore a dark red almost black button up with detailing in bright red stitching and a yellow and green patterned bandana tied loosely around his neck.
“Yep I'm up!”
The older boy nods and begins to walk off but pauses as he hears the red head call his name.
“ Giyuu? What's wrong, you seem on edge.”
Tanjiro sees a twist in the boy's expression with hints of fear. Tanjiro begins to worry. Why does his face look like that?
“Just come downstairs to the bar and we can update you”
We? Tanjiro watches Giyuu close the door leaving Tanjiro alone in his room. Tanjiro launches out of bed and attempts to quickly make it presentable. He failed. Nezuko will probably fix it later. Tanjiro takes note to thank her later. Grabbing the clothes laid out on his dresser where he put them the night before. Tanjiro puts on his black jeans that are worn in with use, he buttons up his dark green shirt with Black stitch work And tucks it into his pants. Tanjiro picks up a black worn down vest throwing over his shoulders and buttons all but one button since that one fell off. He'll have To get nezuko to fix it up if she has the time, He now realizes how much he relies on Nezuko.
He walks towards his bedside table and uses a key hidden within His vest. He turns the key opening the bottom drawer revealing his smoke wagon pistol. The handle is made of red tinted wood and the barrel Made of a black steel. He picks up the pistol and places it In his brown homemade holster. Clicking its button to keep the pistol secure.
Tanjiro takes a deep breath. He is scared of what Giyuu has to tell him. Did someone get hurt? Or worse.. no he must not think of that. He doesn't know how much more death he can handle. He begins walking to his door sliding his feet into a new pair of boots Giyuu got him recently. They hurt to walk in since they aren't broken In yet but he doesn't care he appreciates every gift someone gives him since it could one day be the only thing he has to remember that person by.
Tanjiro was always shocked with how well Giyuu knew him. Makes sense though Giyuu basically raised him and Nezuko. Giyuu was basically a brother even though not bonded by blood. Tanjiro stares at the black boots with red detailing and smiles. He really appreciates Giyuu.
Tanjiro opens his bedroom door and locks it. He heads towards the stairs, he peaks over the wooden railing and spots Giyuu sitting at a table with two others. Tanjiro walks down the flight of stairs swinging open the gate that separates the first floor and stairs and heads over to the large round wooden table with eight seats, two of which are taken.
“Took you long enough kid”
A white haired man covered in scars tells Tanjiro in a jokingly irritated tone. Tanjiro was still getting used to seeing the White haired guy more often as his first encounter with him left a sour taste in his mouth but Tanjiro knew he couldn't hold a grudge forever. He still doesn't plan on forgiving the man as he almost shot Nezuko around 5 years ago due to his violent nature but Giyuu enjoys the man's company and trusts the man and well Tanjiros trusts Giyuu so Tanjiro forces himself to look past it. Not to mention how much the white haired man changed, Tanjiro is thankful to Giyuu for that.
“Sanemi.”
Giyuu gives Sanemi a look. Tanjiro guessed it was a ‘watch it’ look but he wasn't sure. Sanemi looks at Giyuu and gives a guilty smile. Before Tanjiro could ask what this small meeting is about, a long black haired boy storms in through the wooden saloon gate entering the bar. Causing the doors to swing violently. Tanjiro immediately smells an upset but twisted with anger feeling radiating off the man.
“WHY ARE WE JUST STANDING AROUND?”
The boy in black ripped jeans and a black and white striped button up tucked into them accented with an unbuttoned dark black vest stitched with snakes on the front slams his fist on the table. Everyone exchanged a shocked and almost scared look. Tanjiro is very lost and he feels anxiety rise in his stomach. Why is everyone acting so odd?
“Mitsuri was taken and you guys had that Mohawk freak follow them and we just sit here being useless?”
what. That's why. Tanjiro starts to piece things together slowly as the striped shirt boy goes on a tangent. Tanjiro starts to agree with the frantic man. Why are they just sitting here and not going after her… even though I bet Mitsuri could handle herself but still it feels wrong to sit and do nothing.
“First of all that Mohawk freak is my brother, second of all we need a plan that wouldn't get her or any of us killed.”
Giyuu follows up Sanemi’s statement with his bland face and cold tone.
“Sanemi's right. Obanai , pull yourself together. We still Don't know the enemies capabilities and we have made the mistake of just going for it without a stable plan”
Sanemi nods proudly in agreement. Giyuu gives a look to the yellow and red haired man standing next to him. Tanjiro remembers that mistake of a mission from a few years back. It was Tanjiro’s first real mission as he turned 15 and Giyuu believed he could handle it. In short he couldn't, Kyojuro got severely injured as he blocked a gunshot with his stomach that would have killed Tanjiro due to his smaller frame at the time. Thankfully their local doctor was amazing and was able to save Kyojuro’s life. Tanjiro remembers saying thank you to Dr.S hinobu for 3 weeks straight. He was so grateful for her.
Even though Kyojuro survived, Tanjiro still felt a hideous amount of guilt. Kyojuro never blamed Tanjiro saying it was his choice and he didn’t regret a second of it. Tanjiro smiles at the memory.
“Come on now! We won't make the same mistake that was years ago, we are stronger plus we have each other!”
Kyojuro states and follows up with his comforting laughter as usual.
As soon as Kyojuro’s laughter starts to die out the bar gate swings open revealing a Mohawked boy with dark blue jeans that could be mistaken for black. He wears a purple button up with hints of black. He looks exhausted and is clearly panicked.
“ genya ?! You oka-”
Before Sanemi could finish his sentence, Obanai rushes to Genya and slams his hands onto the taller boy's shoulders causing the boy to shudder.
“MITSURI?? IS SHE OKAY? ANSWER ME!”
“yes she's fine..i- i think”
“the f*ck you mean…You think?”
Obanai’s tone was toxic and laced with poison almost like an inland taipan snake. Genya explained that the people who took her set up a camp further south and they had not laid a breath on Mitsuri that he could see. Seeing how Obanai relaxed slightly he asked Genya for directions to the camp.
Everyone jumped up to stop Genya from saying the location. They knew Obanai wouldn't waste a second and would be off to save his wife which was sweet and all but they needed a plan.
They were too late. Obanai was already out the gate.
“follow him before he does something stupid.”
Giyuu states and heads towards the door but stops in his tracks leaving the rest to push past him leaving the bar. Tanjiro begins to follow the group before Giyuu grabs his wrist, stopping him in his place.
“Tanjiro, I need you to stay here for this one.”
“huh? Why Mitsuri needs our help!”
Tanjiro was confused because they don't have time for this. Mitsuri could be hurt or worse. They needed all the help they could get. He can sense Giyuu’s intentions are pure and not a negative thing but he didn't get it why can't he help his friend?
“I get that but look, this group is dangerous and I just don't want you out there. Please hear me”
As much as Tanjiro appreciates Giyuu’s worry he had to see this through and help. Tanjiro pushes past Giyuu and sees Sanemi waiting by his and Giyuus horse, giving Sanemi a slight smile. Tanjiro swings his leg over his black horse and starts to catch up with the rest.
=/=
Giyuu lets out a sigh. Tanjiro is too kind, which bothers him sometimes. He wishes he would listen to his orders more but if someone was in danger he knew his orders meant close to nothing. He just hated seeing Tanjiro gain new scars and he knew Tanjiro was a weakness. If Tanjiro got taken and severely hurt or even if Tanjiro let out his last breath Giyuu would lose the means to function. He had lost too many people he cares for and he can't handle another sibling of his to leave. not to mention Nezuko she would never forgive him for losing her big brother hell he wouldn't forgive himself either.
He puts those thoughts to the side for now and rushes out the door and heads towards his horse to see Sanemi holding his own and Giyuus horse by their worn down leather reins. Giyuu was shocked as to why Sanemi was still hanging around but he was soon to figure it out.
“Took your sweet time, yeah?”
“Yeah I'm aware”
Sanemi shared a teasing smile towards Giyuu and handed him the reins of his horse. As Sanemi got onto his own horse he watched Giyuu lift himself on his own. Giyuu was still new to this. New to Sanemi Shinazugawa but you would never catch him complaining. Giyuu gave Sanemi a nob and both began to follow the rest before they had the chance to lose them.
=/=
As Tanjiro, Giyuu and Sanemi catches up to the rest of the group they spot the camp ahead and the Group starts to grab their pistols. with the sun blazing the pistols steel give off a blinding glare.
The group begins to Close in on the camp when a blonde cowboy notices their arrival and yells at his group and grabs Mitsuri by the ropes holding her in place and throws her onto a wooden carriage. She kicked the man in the leg which only gifted her a chuckle.
The blonde sits in front of the wooden carriage and grabs the two reins of carriage horses instructing them to start running.
Obanai shares a look which everyone understood. They break off heading in different directions. Obanai and Kyojuro head towards Mitsuri and the blonde while everyone else heads towards the camp where the other members of the group reside as they pick up their weapons.
Tanjiro watched as Giyuu’s charcoal blue pistol leaves its holster revealing its orange wooden handle and a blue finish on the steel. Giyuu wasted zero time and started to aim at his target's Sanemi joining in. Sanemi’s pistol was the same model as Tanjiro’s but instead of red tinted wood and black steel it shined in a white glossy finish with silver lining. Tanjiro was always fascinated with how everyone's pistol matched them.
“TANJIRO BEHIND YOU!”
Tanjiro turns due to Giyuu’s calling to see a man with a pink-ish buzz cut covered with tattoos closing In on him. Tanjiro hated doing this but you would never catch him hesitating. So he didn't. He aims his dark coloured gun and puts weight on the trigger. The tattooed man cried in pain as he held his stomach falling off his horse colliding with the sandy ground. Tanjiro originally aimed for the man's lower arm but with the horse's movement and adrenaline rushing through his veins he missed. He shot the man in the stomach which would confirm the man was most likely going to die.
Tanjiro's mind forces him to ignore this for now and looks toward Giyuu who returns a relieved smile and stare.
Sanemi managed to tie up the rest of the kidnappers' group with ropes. Giyuu joined Sanemi in watching them and searching the camp for anything useful to them whether that be food, weapons or just information on this group.
Tanjiro stops his horse and pans over to the others to see if they need assistance, It's Likely they don't as their reputation is impressive. They wouldn't need help especially from Tanjiro but he still looked.
“Kyojuro handle the blonde i'll do the rest”
“On it!”
Tanjiro swears he saw the air move with how Kyojuro’s voice boomed over the desert.
Kyojuro Stands on his horse as if he is surfing and lunges himself onto the carriage. Kyojuro grabs the blonde by his red denim shirt and throws Himself and the blonde overboard tumbling in the sand.
Hearing Kyojuros laughter fade out into the distance, it gave Obanai the confidence that he was okay and continued to rush towards the carriage. Though nothing was commanding the horses they kept running but that was nothing Obanai needed to stress over. Obanai jumps into the front grabbing tightly onto the reins rushing the horses to a stop.
“Obanai!! You looked so cool! I knew you’d come”
Obanai blushed at the remark. Shaking his head to erase any dirty thoughts. He untied Mitsuri in such a hurry as if a fire was igniting the carriage about to engulf them in flames.
Once Mitsuri was free from the restraints she embraces Obanai’s smaller frame messing up his tucked in shirt, then pulling away to fix said shirt and properly button up Obanai’s dirty vest.
“Are you alright? I swear if they laid even a breath on you ill ki-”
Before he could finish his violent sentence Mitsuri's sweet soft lips make contact with his chapped ones. As Mitsuri deepens the kiss she rubs Obanai’s cheek tracing over Obanai’s facial scars. Tanjiro decided it's best to look away. It's a private moment and he doesn't wish to intrude. He turns to the group tied up then the rest of the camp.
Something is off.
Tanjiro counts the prisoners they caught. There are three of them But six tents. One for the blonde and the other for the tattooed man but the last one? Maybe extra storage? No cant be. There is a cooking station in front and he can see personal items inside. There is one person they haven't caught yet. Anxiety rushes through him and he looks around frantically. He swings his leg over landing his two feet on the ground and pets his horse as it's a habit of his. He walks over to Giyuu and Sanemi who are asking the prisoners questions.
Tanjiro gave Giyuu a look which Giyuu understood instantly and guided Tanjiro to the side away from Sanemi and the prisoners. He gave his thoughts to Giyuu.
“I think there is one person we haven't caught”
Giyuu agreed with Tanjiro and scanned the grounds. Maybe the mystery person is hunting or gathering materials. If they didn't capture that person they would probably retaliate and try to take revenge on behalf of their comrades, especially taking it out on Tanjiro. It was an accident but he did kill one of the group members at the end of the day.
Giyuu shares this information with Sanemi who now shares a frustrated look on his face unlike his taunting smile from before. Before anyone could react a figure covers Tanjiros view filling it with Black and blue. Tanjiro feels a slight sting on the side of his stomach. His face contorts with the confusing sensation.
“TANJIRO!”
Tanjiro looks down and his waist is slaughtered with a thick crimson. His eyes widened, he looked up to see Giyuu and Sanami running his way while screaming words Tanjiro couldn't make out. Someone with short black hair stands behind them cutting the rope holding the prisoners releasing them back into the world. Tanjiros eyes start to fail him, fading in and out of blur. Everything is so slow and agonizing the last thing his brain seems to render is Mitsuri’s rose gold Pistol aiming towards the black to blue haired person.
…
End of chapter
