Work Text:
Sometimes, Iguro’s eyes are empty.
Sanemi picks up on this pretty fast. They talk to each other a lot, so it was easy. He doesn’t know for sure if anyone else has ever picked up on it. Sometimes, he can see Kanroji gazing worriedly at Iguro from behind, but he can’t tell if that’s why. He suspects Kochou knows, but doesn’t say anything. She’s a doctor, so she has to. She probably just doesn’t care- the two of them don’t get along very well.
Just like them, Sanemi never brings it up. Instead, he keeps his thoughts to himself- trying to deduce what the cause of it might be on his own.
He has a lot of ideas, but none of them hold up. It’s not that he's disproved them - it’s that he can’t prove them. Iguro never leaves enough clues for Sanemi to piece together.
Rengoku is dead.
Sanemi liked him. He was a good person. They weren’t close, but Sanemi had a lot of respect for him. It made him sad that he died, but only a bit. It made him more angry than anything.
Along with the news of Rengoku's passing came the news of another pillar meeting, likely to honor Rengoku and discuss plans going forward.
It won’t be very eventful. There will be some tears, mostly from Kanroji and Himejima. Himejima is always crying, so that won't be a big deal. It’ll be hard to get through a discussion with Kanroji crying, though. Sanemi’s never heard her cry, but he can guess she's a loud crier.
When he arrives for the meeting, he notices something is very, very wrong with Iguro.
His eyes are empty again- somehow, emptier than usual. They’re unfocused, staring ahead without even a glance to the door when Sanemi enters. His hair is slightly disheveled, as if he’d barely had any time to run a brush through it. His clothes are messy, too- all wrinkled and somewhat dirty. The bandages on his face look as if they’d been put on in a hurry, rather than the neat and meticulous look they usually imply.
Kaburamaru hisses at him when he walks in the room. That’s not normal- she’s usually pretty chill, especially for a snake. She hisses again when he tries to sit next to Iguro, so he sits across from where he normally sits. He smirks, knowing damn well that this is Tomioka’s seat. At least Kaburamaru’s pissy mood gives him a chance to annoy Tomioka.
“Iguro,” he says, leaning his head on his hand. So far, they’re the only two in there. Sanemi was surprised with himself- he usually got there only a few minutes before the meeting started. Iguro was always early.
“What’s with her?” Sanemi asks, pointing at Kaburamaru. She hisses again. “Why’s she being such an ass?”
No response.
Sanemi tilts his head farther over the table to get a better look at Iguro’s face. Now that he’s closer, he can see the bags under his eyes. And, out of the corner of his eyes, hidden beneath the sleeves of his haori-
“Holy shit,” Sanemi says, eyes widening. “What the fuck happened to your hands?”
That snaps Iguro out of whatever trance he was in. He pulls his hands farther into his haori, looking down and away from Sanemi.
“That,” he whispers, voice hoarse and quiet, “is none of your business,” he practically hisses. Sanemi stares at him, shocked. He’s never talked to him like that before.
At that exact moment, the door opens, and Kochou steps into the room. She gets hissed at as well, which makes Sanemi even more concerned. Iguro had told him in the past that Kaburamaru really liked Kochou- what was with those two today?
The rest of the pillars file in, slowly. Tomioka makes his way in towards the middle of the group, staring at Sanemi in his seat. He opens his mouth, closes it, then looks around the room. He grips his sword handle, and ends up sitting on the floor away from the table. Sanemi can’t bring himself to laugh.
Every single one of them is hissed at, until Kanroji makes her way in, second to last. Kaburamaru doesn’t react at all when she walks in, or even when she plops down next to Iguro and greets him with a smile and red eyes. At first, Iguro doesn’t react, but then Kanroji sniffles, as if she’s about to start sobbing, and Iguro casts her a glance and a weak wave. She sniffles again, but quieter, and turns her head towards the table and wipes her eyes.
Tokitou comes in last, of course. Kaburamaru hisses at them, too- albeit not as loudly and not for as long. They sit down in their usual seat. There were exactly nine in the room- one for each of them. Two of them remain empty.
The meeting is, as Sanemi expected, uneventful. Kanroji weeps throughout the whole meeting, and the emptiness never leaves Iguro’s eyes.
The meeting came to a close. Iguro was the first one to leave, dashing away without even saying goodbye to Kanroji.
Sanemi walks down a street in an unfamiliar town. He’d gone the same way as Iguro- he wanted to talk to him to figure out what was wrong, and what the hell happened to his hands.
It’s like the sight of Iguro’s hands is stuck in his head. The bandages wrapped haphazardly around them, dry blood soaked through the parts covering his fingertips.
That’s not the kind of thing he’d get from fighting a demon. He would never have to use his bare hands to fight a demon- he’s a pillar, for fuck’s sake. And if he did end up fighting a demon with his hands, Sanemi knows damn well he would have other injuries too. Iguro is incredibly powerful with his sword, but his physical strength is below average.
He’d followed Iguro as close as he could, but he ran and weaved his way through the crowds so fast that Sanemi lost sight of him.
He searches the crowd, eyes out for a black and white striped haori. He has no luck at first, until he dips onto a side road. As soon as he slips away from the crowds and into the dark, he spots the exact haori he’s looking for.
Iguro is leaning against a wall, hunched over. He’s breathing heavily, and Sanemi can tell it's putting a strain on him.
“Iguro!”
Iguro flinches, whipping around and locking eyes with Sanemi.
The emptiness is entirely vacant from his eyes. In its place is pure, unadulterated terror.
Huh…?
“What,” Iguro hisses, voice shaky. “What are you doing? Why are you here?”
“You're acting weird, so I followed-“
“Go home,” Iguro demands. To any ordinary person, he would sound angry.
Sanemi knows better.
He gives Iguro a stern gaze. “No.”
“No, you’re going home,” Iguro snaps, turning away from him.
He takes off, running as fast as he possibly can.
Sanemi doesn’t relent- he chases after him. He’s faster than Iguro- he’s the wind pillar, after all- so he manages to catch up quickly.
“I said go home!” Iguro yells, voice shaky. “Just leave me alone!”
“No!” Sanemi cries, contemplating tackling Iguro to the ground. But he’d probably get bitten, and he’d rather not deal with that today.
“Yes! Leave!” Iguro practically screams. There’s no way nobody’s heard them by now, but it seems like anyone who has didn't care enough to intervene.
You know what? Screw it. Sanemi can deal with a snake bite if it means figuring out what’s up with his friend.
He lunges forward, grabbing Iguro’s arm and placing one hand on his back, using the leverage to slam him onto the ground. He braces himself for a bite, and then-
Nothing.
He doesn’t get bitten. Instead, Kaburamaru hisses wildly, curling closer to Iguro.
That’s weird. That’s really fucking weird.
But he doesn’t have time to dwell on that, because it's at that moment he realizes something even more concerning.
Iguro didn’t fight back.
He looks down at Iguro. "Uh?"
He’s shaking. He has his face buried in the crook of his arm and is shaking.
Sanemi stares, unsure of what’s happening or what to do. He opens and closes his mouth, unable to figure out what to say.
A tremor spreads through Iguro’s whole body, breath hitching.
Is he…crying?
“What the fuck,” Sanemi mutters, absolutely and positively dumbfounded. “Iguro?”
His breath hitches again, and he attempts to curl up further, shaking his head desperately.
“Iguro!” Sanemi yells. Iguro flinches harder than Sanemi’s ever seen anyone flinch.
“Iguro, what the hell is wrong with you? Say something, goddamnit!” Sanemi practically screams.
The shaking gets harder.
“P- lea - se,” Iguro whispers, voice ridden with sobs. “D- on’t, I-“
Sanemi’s heart drops.
What the fuck. What the fuck.
“I- c- an- t,” he hiccups, grasping his hair in his free hand. “N- ot- h- ere- b-be m- ad-“
Sanemi should move. Something is so, so wrong and he needs to move. But for some reason, he can’t. his body is glued in place.
Iguro sobs, clutching his hair so hard Sanemi is surprised he hasn’t yanked it out. Then-
“Y- ou’re m-y f- rien- d…”
That snaps Sanemi out of whatever stupor he was in. He jumps back, chest heaving. Iguro gasps, as if he’s been underwater for a long time and just finally broke the surface. He sits up, pushing himself as far away from Sanemi as possible. Kaburamaru stretches out in Sanemi’s direction, hissing and spitting.
They stare at each other. For a moment, neither of them move.
A look of realization crosses Iguro’s face, and he bolts.
Sanemi stands there as Iguro runs away, eyes wide and fists clenched.
What…?