Chapter Text
I see you smile unfinished
Like a promise
Life wasn't ready to keep
I wanted roots
But the road kept moving
So I memorized your face
In my sleep
I tell myself
Sometimes love visits early
To teach a soul the deep
Not every flame can
Stay burning
So just show your delight
Before you go
From this world
If this world
Couldn't hold you together
If time refused your bed
And called it
The end of love
Then I call it not yet
If I can't love you right
In this life
If the stars don't shine
Where we stand
I will carry on through the darkness
Until I find you again
When the weight of the past
Is gone
And we meet with
Lighter shadows
Our hearts won’t have to run
~ I Will Find You In My Next Life by Mohib Beats
****************************************
The moment the demon laughed was the moment Tengen’s existence rewrote itself.
With a graceful sweep of his single arm the former hashira lunged forward, the silver-haired alpha glaring through his remaining eye at the demon who had so unflashily dared to attack one of the civilian footpaths near his home. Though he was officially retired after his battle with Upper Moon Six in the Entertainment District he still kept in touch with the Master, and did occasional patrols, so he had luckily been in the right place at the right time to stop this demonic scum from killing anyone.
“What a strong, but stupid, slayer you are for falling right into my trap! My lord Muzan will be inviting your best fighters to his castle very soon, though he still tasked me with getting rid of a few of you worn-out, broken stragglers in case you interfere, and when he wipes out the corps once and for all then humanity will become nothing more than cattle for us to feast upon!”
Tengen didn’t waste his breath replying; this demon talked more than enough for both of them, though the alpha was admittedly a bit curious about some of the nonsense it was spouting. He feinted, parrying to the left as its claws came slicing down towards his eye, and his cleaver only missed decapitating it by a razor-thin margin. He twisted his body at the last second, managing to turn its gouging move into a mere shoulder scratch, and he jumped back to give himself a moment's reprieve.
Little did he know that that single swipe of claws would seal his fate.
The demon began cackling, its maniacal laughter ringing out beneath the full moon's light as it waved at him.
“Hahahahaha! Bye byeeeeeeeeeeee! See you never!”
What?
“You unflashy brute, what're you on about!?”
His body began to glow in a rapid, white blink, almost like a firefly, and his weapon fell from a see-through hand that could no longer grasp it.
“What's h-happening to me!?”
Fear cracked his voice, his body going numb as pieces of it began to fade into oblivion. The demon shook with laughter, his voice high and gleeful.
“Nothing to worry about, since soon you will not feel a thing! All I did was use my Blood Demon Art to send you to a day where your body should not exist, and you can cause no troub…”
A whizz of motion caught Tengen’s eye, but the alpha couldn't feel his body enough to turn his head.
“First Form: Water Surface Slash!”
A sword sliced cleanly through the shocked demon's neck, its head leaving its body in a single strike as it rolled on the ground.
“Mr. Uzui!”
Tanjiro was running towards him when everything went dark, the teen's frantic face the last thing he saw, and then there was only a whooshing, air-filled tunnel of darkness. Tengen’s last thought was of the love of his life, his Kyojuro’s sun-bright smile, and then there was nothing.
****************************
Tengen’s eyes opened the minute he slammed on the ground, his hands clutching at his chest as he tried to breathe. He looked around, much-too-blinding daylight burning his eyes, and…
EyeS
HandS
Even though his eye patch was on Tengen could feel that he had two eyes again, his second one rolling wildly, and based on the limb flailing in front of him his arm had been restored.
“I didn't think the afterlife would be so damn bright…”
It was only when his words were drowned out by a weird, loud, obnoxious noise that he tried to sit up, though his attempt failed as he slouched back to the weirdly-textured ground, and the sound forced his attention to it. It reminded him vaguely of the goose-like honk a car had made when he saw one once during a mission in a huge city, the vehicle having what was called a ‘horn’, but this noise was different.
Sleeker
Smoother
Louder
Getting closer
Too close
“You idiot! Get the hell out of the road!”
From behind someone yanked him out of the road, their voice familiar, and the alpha's ass and back were scraped along the pavement as a car vroomed over the spot he had just been in. Had he stayed laying there he would have been hit, his body at too weird of an angle to have been spotted in time, and an icy wave of fear crashed over the former hashira. He tried to scramble up, but his legs wouldn’t obey him yet, and all he could do was flop awkwardly around like a fish out of water.
“Hold still!”
Tengen’s head lolled to the side as strong arms attempted to lift him, his fear muting to a more manageable level when he realized who had saved him.
“Shinazugawa! I would recognize that feral, barking voice anywhere! Where did Tanjiro go? He was just right in front of meeeeeeeee…!”
Before the alpha could properly finish his sentence he was slammed – hard – against a tall, metal object, a light at the top of it that had not been lit briefly flicking on from the impact.
“Who the fuck are you, and how DARE you address the young master in such an informal way!?”
Confusion furrowed Tengen’s brows, the alpha’s head aching from where it had thunked off of the light pole.
“What’re you on about? It’s me, Tengen Uzui! You know, the former Sound Hashira? God of Festivals? Flashiest man alive? Devoted husband of three wives?”
All the white-haired man gave him was a fierce glare, Sanemi’s hand still clenching the front of Tengen’s uniform like a dog unwilling to let go of a bone. With a snarl he pulled back his arm, jerking the alpha forward, and he clamped one hand around Tengen’s neck.
“Look, I don’t know where the fuck you found the balls to talk like this, but get your drunk ass home and don’t let me catch you outside the estate like this again. If you keep running your mouth in such a familiar way that shit is going to land your ass in trouble, and I don’t want to be there when Master Shinjuro takes your damn head off.”
Rather than intimidating him or scaring him away Sanemi’s words had the exact opposite effect, the former hashira’s face softening into something heartbreakingly sad at the mention of his beloved Kyojuro’s father. It caught Sanemi off guard, his fist unclenching as he pulled his hand back.
“The fuck? Who just shit in your cereal? You went from excited puppy to depressed cat in like…a second flat. Are you always this bipolar?”
Right, Sanemi didn't know about the exact relationship between him and Kyojuro…
Tengen shook his head, the beads on his gem-encrusted headband clacking loudly as his fingers gingerly rubbed the back of his skull where a nice little bump was starting to form.
“For the record I wasn’t drinking before the demon attacked, since I was on patrol, and even you must get sad when you think about Kyojuro’s death. I know you two weren’t close, but Genya swears up and down that you aren’t heartless, so you…”
Genuine concern softened Sanemi’s face just a fraction, the man’s foot sliding back as he relaxed his posture.
“That’s it, I’m taking your ass to a hospital. I’ve never heard anyone refer to a car as a demon before, and I don’t know what drugs you’ve got in your system but Master Kyojuro’s sure as shit not dead. I just saw him not even ten minutes ago, and he’s perfectly fine.”
Sanemi didn’t dare ask how this insane man knew his brother Genya, or why he had looked so absolutely certain that Kyojuro was dead, and since it only seemed like the crazy was going to get crazier he gripped the alpha by his forearm and began dragging him down the street.
“No, nonononono! Hold up, you unflashy bastard! What sick game are you playing at!? You, Giyu and I carried his body to the funeral pyre, and Senjuro lit the flame! How could you ever say something like that to me after I lost him!?”
Thwack
The punch landed squarely across his jaw, Sanemi’s eyes flashing as he glared up at Tengen.
“Keep my mate’s name the fuck out of your insane-ass mouth, and I’m pretty sure we’d remember if we carried Master Kyojuro’s dead fucking body to a…a what!? A funeral pyre? Do you even HEAR yourself!? Nothing you’re saying makes sense! You clearly need more help than I can give, and I draw the line at saving people’s asses from becoming roadkill…I sure as shit don’t do psych evals.”
From behind them soft, unhurried footsteps snagged Tengen’s attention, the men turning in tandem to see who had interrupted their shouting match.
“I think you’re wrong, love. I’ve been watching you two for the last several minutes, and he shows no signs of alcohol or drug consumption…though he may be slightly concussed after you slammed him against the street light like that.”
Giyu sidled over, the raven-haired man’s hand coming to rest on his mate's shoulder.
“Let him go: anyone who talks like this, especially in public about one of the country’s most influential families, probably should be taken care of on an INTERNAL level, don’t you think? Considering how much he seems to know he could very well be a threat, but it's above our paygrade to assess just how much of one he may be.”
Thanks to his beloved’s touch Sanemi instantly settled, his eyes narrowing into slits and his tone dropping lower as he stepped away from Tengen. Giyu approached, his eyes as calm as ever and his voice just as deadpan, although he looked more…happy? Relaxed? then Tengen had ever seen him.
“You said your name is Tengen Uzui, correct?”
The alpha nodded, his fingers finally taking a moment to reach up and slide off the now-unnecessary eye patch.
“Giyu, don't play around with me. You NEVER joke, so what's this about!? Could you two be any more disrespectful!? Wasn’t it enough to watch me break over him once!?”
Three genuinely confused people stood on that street, none of them wrong – but none of them situationally right either. Sapphire eyes gave a quick, flickering assessment, Giyu's earlier deduction correct when he still couldn't smell alcohol or see any indicators that this strange man was under the influence of other substances, and the stoic omega decided that proceeding by treating this Tengen character as if he weren’t off his rocker was the best course of action.
“Alright, Mr. Uzui, let’s start again. My name is Giyu Tomioka, this is my mate Sanemi Shinazugawa, and…”
Before he could keep going Tengen cut him off, the alpha increasingly bewildered and frustrated.
“I know who you two are! I fought, bled and nearly died beside you for YEARS! You lost Sabito, Makomo and Tustako…”
His finger swiveled from Giyu to Sanemi, the digit pointing as if it dared them to correct him.
“...you lost every sibling except Genya, you both are the most stubborn morons in existence just in very different ways, both of you forgot how to smile and laugh because you always have depression sticks shoved too far up your asses…”
He halted for just long enough to suck in a deep breath, not caring how shocked the two men looked, and he continued right on.
“AND, on top of all that, you fools like ohagi mochi and sake daikon! Oh, and Sanemi, you have a birthmark on your left shoulder, and you, Giyu, have one on the back of your right knee! Which, in case you’re wondering, I know because we’ve bathed in the communal baths at headquarters together and in the hot springs at the Swordsmith Village COUNTLESS times! Anything else I can tell you about yourselves to prove that I know you two!? I even know that you both like rainy days the most out of all of the weather types!”
He was nearly hysterical, Tengen’s voice high, cracking and unhinged. Yet, despite his seeming insanity, there was something about the way the silver-haired man’s stance, eerily accurate knowledge and determined gaze that forced Giyu and Sanemi to listen. The alpha was wrong about the status of their family members, each name he had listed belonging to someone still alive, but how had he still known so much?
Yup, this was definitely a whole bucket of weirdness that was above their paygrade.
Though he hated using his pheromones on someone without consent the situation was teetering on dangerous, so with a deep breath Giyu released a cloud of his scent. Omegas were naturally adapted to calm alphas down, to help ease their more commonly aggressive and temperamental mindsets into something softer, and that seemed to be exactly what this stranger needed. The moment he began to breathe them in, Giyu’s scent a mixture of ocean air and cedar, Tengen and Sanemi both visibly relaxed, the two men inhaling deeply. Sanemi crossed the space to Giyu’s side, his arms looping about his mate as he nuzzled his face into Giyu’s hair.
“I fucking hate sharing your scent with anyone else like this, but good call babe. We were getting a little worked up.”
Giyu hummed happily as Sanemi’s arms encircled him, and they both kept their sharp gazes trained on Tengen in case the crazy man made a move.
“Mr. Uzui, seeing as how you were looking very lost and laying in the road, am I correct in assuming you don’t have a place to stay at this moment?”
The alpha gave a short, jerky nod – he didn’t know what was going on, but assuming that this was the same spot he had been standing in when the demon’s blood art kicked in, then…well, if this one area looked so different, and some of the people who knew him best in the world didn’t recognize him…what were the chances that he had a home to return to? That his wives would know him? That they were even here? At least for the moment he would be better off sticking with these two, even if they were acting strange.
“I don’t think I do.”
That was about what Giyu had surmised, especially given how confused Tengen seemed to be about everything, so he made a careful offer.
“We don’t have final say, but since it seems like you’re very…keen, in a good way…on the master’s family I think we should bring you to the house. If you don’t act like a crazy threat then they may even offer you a place to stay for the night, but I’m warning you now that screaming and calling people dead when they aren’t will just land you in a jail drunk tank, or worse.”
Tengen had no idea what a ‘drunk tank’ was, but all the convincing he needed was being told that he could be brought to the house where – supposedly – his Kyojuro was…
He couldn’t even bring himself to think such a miraculous thought.
There was no way that the man who was the living embodiment of kindness and sunshine, the man who he spent every day of his life regretting not taking as his mate, the man whose lips he had only kissed once in a cold, dead farewell, was alive. Yet Giyu and Sanemi, two of the people he trusted most, were saying he was…
“I understand. I’ll do my best to calm down, and I appreciate the help Tomioka.”
Sanemi growled, low and laced with warning: it was an alpha-to-alpha unspoken cue to calm down, and Tengen offered a curt nod of understanding in response. All he could do now was trail behind the duo, and hope that, just maybe, he was really walking towards a Rengoku who was alive and well.