#sentan

Soft, muffled voices from out in the hall left Akaza cracking an eye open. Sleep stubbornly tugged at him, as it always did during the day, but he valiantly fought against it. He shifted, lifting his head to rest it on Kyojuro’s chest instead of being half covered by a pillow and bed sheets, wanting to better hear who was speaking. 

The voices were easily recognizable, voices Akaza had heard a hundred times before by now. Senjuro’s in particular has grown incredibly familiar. He didn’t see or interact with him nearly as often as Kyojuro of course, but Senjuro was easily the second person he spent the most time around. It’d taken Akaza some time to get used to the kid, he was so soft-spoken and easily spooked, it carved up an old revulsion for weakness that Akaza did his best to smother out. But he liked Senjuro well enough, and of course, he was important to Kyojuro. 

That made him important to Akaza. 

“Kanroji-san gave me a new recipe I want to try baking,” he was saying. “Would you like to help?” 

“Oh, of course!” the second voice exclaimed, far louder and far more emotive. 

It was a voice that Akaza had heard more and more as of late. 

After the final battle against Muzan, Tanjiro Kamado had made himself a rather familiar presence at the Rengoku residence. At first, Akaza had been rather irritated over the prospect. He didn’t like the brat, found him annoying, and didn’t want to look at him, even if the instinctive desire to tear him limb from limb had faded long ago with broken curses. But now, he didn’t mind him too much. 

Mostly because it was obvious to see how much Senjuro liked him, despite how much that baffled Akaza. That, and due to spending so much time with Senjuro, Tanjiro stayed out of Akaza’s way for the most part, and left Kyojuro alone, meaning Akaza got to keep him just how he liked him. 

All to himself. 

It’d be nice if he could talk a little quieter though. 

“Oh?” Kyojuro shifted upon realizing Akaza had fully woken up and wasn’t just half-awake to better cling onto him. “You’re up early.” 

“Brats in the hall woke me up,” he muttered as he let his eye slip closed once again. “It’s barely noon, isn’t it?” 

Kyojuro chuckled. “I honestly have no idea how you manage to tell the time so accurately without seeing the sky or a clock.” 

Akaza rubbed his face against Kyojuro’s chest with a content hum. “Instinct.” 

Kyojuro set aside the book he’d been reading, and laid a hand on Akaza’s head to card his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry they woke you. If you would like, I can tell them to be a bit quieter when they’re in the halls.” 

“Nah. It’s fine.” He leaned into Kyojuro’s hand. “I can fall back asleep easy enough. Let Senjuro have his alone time with the brat.” 

“Alone time?” Kyojuro echoed, the confusion obvious in his voice. “What do you mean? They get left alone all the time.” 

Akaza sighed, and forced his eyes open to look up at the utterly lost expression on Kyojuro’s face. “Seriously?” 

Kyojuro tilted his head. “Seriously…what?” 

“Have you honestly not noticed how flustered Senjuro gets around him?” 

Kyojuro frowned. “Senjuro gets flustered around pretty much everyone. That’s nothing so strange.” 

“Not like that. It’s different,” Akaza insisted. Was Kyojuro honestly so clueless? Then again, perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised… Kyojuro was not exactly the best when it came to emotional awareness, his own or anyone else’s. “He gets anxious around other people. I can smell it. But with Tanjiro, he likes him so much he doesn’t know what to do about it, and that makes him flustered.” 

Honestly, Akaza had no idea why. The kid could do a lot better, but that wasn’t his business. 

Kyojuro’s frown deepened. “You’re implying that he…” 

“Yes,” Akaza confirmed. 

“Father won’t be pleased…” Kyojuro murmured as his brows furrowed in worry. 

That was enough to chase off the drowsiness, at least for now. A soft growl rumbled from Akaza’s chest at the mention of that man, and he forced himself to sit up, despite not wanting to abandon his warm, comfortable place nestled against Kyojuro’s side. “Fuck him.” He might not like Tanjiro Kamado and think that Senjuro could do leagues better, but he disliked Shinjuro Rengoku far more. “What’s his opinion fucking matter?” 

Kyojuro shook his head. “I don’t mean in that sense. I just mean…” 

“Ah.” 

“Yeah.” 

“If he starts shit, I’ll kill him.” 

“Akaza…” 

“What? He doesn’t get a fucking opinion on this,” he said. 

“I know! It’s just… both his sons preferring men… Not to mention he already dislikes Kamado-san,” he worried. 

“Who cares if you both like men?” he said. 

“Most people!” Kyojuro exclaimed. “It was a bit different with Corps members, but at large…” 

Akaza sighed, deciding to drop that particular topic for now. He supposed it wasn’t as easy for someone like Kyojuro to simply not care about what others thought as it was for Akaza. And perhaps he had a point… with how anxious Senjuro could be, there was no way he hadn’t had these thoughts himself. 

And likely spiraled much further over them. 

“I doubt he’d ever say anything to Tanjiro about it,” Akaza realized. “For all the reasons you just said.” 

“You’re probably right,” Kyojuro agreed with a defeated sigh. “Especially because you and I already… I suppose the pressure of having an heir would be on him now.” 

Akaza fought not to roll his eyes. He knew the Rengoku name and family line was important to Kyojuro, but Akaza found it so… stifling to think that way. To consider that Senjuro was putting all that extra pressure on himself, just like Kyojuro had done for so long, just like Kyojuro still did at times… Well, he didn’t like it. 

“I’ll talk some sense into him about it later,” he decided as he settled down next to Kyojuro once more, deciding to resume his sleep for now. He wasn’t stupid or cruel enough to embarrass Senjuro by speaking to him about this in front of Tanjiro, or where the other boy could possibly hear, and drowsy as he was, Akaza doubted it would be a good conversation at that. So he would wait until nightfall, when Tanjiro (hopefully) will have left, and he could actually focus on something other than wanting to lie down and pass out. 

It wasn’t that he cared all that much about Senjuro. Of course not. It was just that Kyojuro would appreciate it if he did so, and Akaza lived to make Kyojuro happy. Being a pain in Shinjuro’s ass was also an added bonus. 

“You will?” Kyojuro demanded as he nudged at Akaza’s shoulder, clearly trying to get him back up to continue the conversation. “I don’t know if that is the best course of action! He’d likely be more open to something like this coming from me.” 

Akaza shook his head, still making himself comfortable and nestling down into the sheets and blankets once more. “You won’t mean to, but because of how he looks up to you, you’ll likely put pressure on him one way or the other. That won’t happen if I’m the one who talks to him.” 

Kyojuro opened his mouth to argue, before he seemed to think better of it, and sighed. “I suppose you’re right… But please be gentle with him. Especially about something like this.” 

Akaza waved him off with a tired groan. “He’s not that breakable. Trust me, Kyojuro, I can handle this.” 

Kyojuro’s mouth pressed into a thin line, but eventually, he nodded. “Okay. I trust you. Perhaps I should talk to Kamado-san though…” 

Akaza let his eyes slip closed. “Maybe. Don’t do it until after I speak to Senjuro, though. You’re going to end up revealing it to Tanjiro, and I don’t think that he knows.” 

“Ah. That makes sense.” 

“‘M going back to sleep,” Akaza muttered, already on the brink of drifting off. 

Kyojuro chuckled. “Sleep well, Akaza.” 

---------

Akaza found Senjuro tidying up the kitchen just after sunset. On the counter, there was some western style sweet that Akaza wasn’t quite sure of the name of, but it had definitely come from one of Mitsuri’s recipes. She loved that stuff, and pawned the sweets she baked off onto Kyojuro more and more often these days. 

“Tanjiro leave for the day?” he asked. 

Senjuro jumped, not having noticed his silent approach, and turned to face him. “Oh! Um, yeah… yeah, he did. Why? Did you need him for something, Akaza-san?” 

Akaza crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. “No. Just wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“Me?” Senjuro demanded as he gently set down a pan he had just finished cleaning. 

“Well, it has to do with Tanjiro,” Akaza said. “Figured I spare you from this conversation with your brother.” 

A fierce blush bloomed on Senjuro’s cheeks as he turned his head away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…” 

“I haven’t even said anything yet.” 

“Aniue knows…?” 

“I told him. Why do you think he would care? Or did you forget about me?” he asked with a grin. 

Senjuro still refused to look towards Akaza, and hurriedly grabbed the next of the dishes that needed cleaning, clearly wanting something to distract himself with. 

“Honestly, Kyojuro did you a favor,” Akaza continued. “No matter who you might like or end up with, they’ll always be better than me. Unless you also have a thing for demons.” 

“You’re not funny,” Senjuro muttered. 

Akaza blinked, taken aback by the statement. It wasn’t that he found himself particularly amusing, but he hadn’t expected Senjuro to be so blunt with him. 

“Aniue put a lot at stake for you,” he said. “Please don’t take it so lightly.” 

Despite his promises, Akaza could not help the growl that escaped him, angry at the mere insinuation. “I do not take Kyojuro nor the risks he took for my sake lightly.” 

Senjuro’s entire body tensed up, before he took a long, deep breath, clearly forcing himself to relax the best he could manage. “Okay, Akaza-san.” 

Shit. This was already going great, wasn’t it? It wasn’t that Akaza had exactly expected this to be an easy conversation, but he’d mostly expected it to be a bit awkward and tense. Not… hostile. 

Well, as hostile as someone like Senjuro could be. 

He pushed himself off the doorframe and let his arms fall to his sides, doing his best to look casual, but also as if he actually cared and was taking this seriously. Because he did! He did take this seriously. Kyojuro would have his hide if he didn’t, and this kid deserved better than to be terrified of everything for the rest of his life. 

“I just mean that I know the significance of Kyojuro taking a chance on me,” he said. “Not only that, revealing he took a chance on me. He put his life at stake, and believe me, that is not something I could ever take lightly.” 

Senjuro’s shoulders once again began to tense. “I said okay, Akaza-san. I’m sorry I said otherwise.” 

Fuck, he was such a difficult person. Not in the sense that most people were difficult, he wasn’t trying to be, but that was the problem, wasn’t it? Senjuro tried so hard to not be difficult that it circled back around to being extremely difficult. 

“That’s not the point,” Akaza said with a shake of his head, deciding to drop that topic of conversation altogether. If some part of Senjuro was angry and bitter with Akaza for what had transpired between him and Kyojuro, it was a conversation that could happen another day. Actually, that was one conversation that would likely go better with Kyojuro himself, because nothing Akaza said was going to help his case. “The point is, you like the Tanjiro brat—”

“He’s not a brat,” Senjuro interrupted as he scrubbed the pan harder, still refusing to look in Akaza’s direction. 

Oh my gods. “Tanjiro kid,” he amended. “But we figured you wouldn’t say anything about it to him, right?” 

Though he hesitated, Senjuro offered a tiny shrug. “Probably not… Why would I?” 

“Because you like him.” 

“That’s not a good enough reason.” 

“Yes it is. I told Kyojuro I liked him.” Long before Kyojuro had even tolerated him, Akaza had made it very obvious he liked him. And look where they were now! It worked out fine. And Tanjiro and Senjuro were nowhere near as messed up as they were. 

“It’s different,” Senjuro insisted. “I doubt he likes me like that, and I don’t want to mess things up with the first actual friend I’ve ever had. Besides, even if he did like me, he’s going to go back to where he grew up when he’s completely done with all the rehabilitation training, so we’ll hardly ever see each other. And… And with Aniue already with you…” 

And there it was. Just like he and Kyojuro had suspected. 

“You know that doesn’t matter, right?” 

“Yes, it does,” Senjuro said. 

Akaza shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. Do you even like girls?” 

Senjuro shrugged again, still scrubbing at the pan though it had long since been cleaned. “How would I know? It’s not like I’m ever around girls.” 

Akaza raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment further on that. He hadn’t exactly been around a lot of girls as a kid, but he still damn well knew that he liked them. Then again, Senjuro was obviously repressed to hell and back. He might even be worse than Kyojuro was when they met. 

This fucking family was a disaster. 

“Also not the point,” he said as he risked a step closer. “The point is, family names and lines die out all the time. It’s not a big deal. You don’t have to marry a woman just for the sake of that. Trust me, this is an argument I’ve had with Kyojuro before. Is this because of your piece of shit dad? Because his opinion doesn’t matter.” 

“That’s easy for you to say!” 

“That might be true, but that doesn’t make it less true for you,” he said. “Why do you care about what he says?” 

“I don’t! Not really! But he can make my life miserable if he wants to!” Senjuro’s voice wobbled as his voice raised, as if he were trying not to cry. 

Oh, if he made Senjuro cry, especially over this, Kyojuro was going to kill him. 

“No, he can’t. Not with Kyojuro and me here,” he said. “Kyojuro doesn’t have to leave for long periods of time anymore, and despite how he acts, that bastard knows better than to genuinely get into it with me. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.” 

Kyojuro was convinced that with enough time, he could get through to their father. That eventually, he could get Shinjuro to stop being so fucking horrendous and actually be a decent member of the family. Akaza wasn’t sure if he believed that, but he knew there was no point in convincing Kyojuro otherwise. But even if Kyojuro never managed something like that, they could still protect Senjuro from him until he was old enough to handle himself. Or got the hell out of here one day and then never had to worry about it at all. 

“Besides, Tanjiro likes you,” Akaza said. 

Finally, Senjuro glanced at him out of the corner of his head. “How could you possibly know that?” 

He tapped his nose. “I can smell it. Scent gives away a lot more than you humans realize.” 

Senjuro’s went wide, something almost panicked in his gaze. “But Tanjiro has a really good sense of smell! If you can really tell something like that—” 

“If his nose is half as good as a demon’s, yeah, he probably can,” Akaza interrupted. “Is that such a bad thing? He’s probably just waiting for you to say something. He’s probably worried about all the same things you are, except it’s not his place to push, right?” He sighed. “You humans make everything so damn difficult. I liked Kyojuro, so I made it obvious. It didn’t matter that there were issues and problems, we could figure those out later. The same is true for you, and your issues aren’t even actual issues. They’re things everyone is making up.” 

The expectations, family heirs, it was all so fucking stupid. 

Akaza had to bite his tongue to keep from being quite so blunt. It probably wouldn’t help. He was being incredibly pushy as things were. 

Senjuro set the very clean pan off to the side. “You make it sound so easy…” 

“Because it is. It can be. Never mind all that, you’re like ten—” 

“I’m fourteen,” Senjuro interrupted, his voice flat and irritated. 

“Whatever. The point is, you’re young. You shouldn’t even be worried about family responsibility.” 

Akaza had spent his entire childhood worried about his family, being his father’s sole caretaker and his stealing the only genuine source of income. Taking care of Koyuki, helping Keizo with the dojo. Akaza did not regret those things. How could he? But he could admit… He sometimes wondered what his life might have been like if he hadn’t had to be so worried with those things. 

“Kyojuro is around to worry about that,” he continued. “That’s on him, not you.” 

That wasn’t true, it wasn’t his problem either, (because it wasn’t a problem at all) but for the sake of this conversation, Akaza could pretend it was. 

“But he’s not going to get married or have an heir or—” 

“We’ve established that it doesn’t matter, but if we just really need a kid, I’m sure we could find one somewhere,” Akaza said with a flippant wave of his hand. “Either way, like I said, not your responsibility.” 

Senjuro’s eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth, before he seemed to think better about whatever it was he was going to say, and closed it. 

“I’ll think about it,” was what he eventually said instead. 

That was probably the best Akaza was going to get, wasn’t it? “Fine. I’ll take that for now.” 

“Why do you even care?” Senjuro asked. “You don’t seem to care about anything. Except Aniue…” 

“Because he cares about you, so I care about you. Also, I don’t like being around people who keep things hidden,” he said. “It’d be better if you upfront with Tanjiro about this before it becomes a bigger problem for you two because you’re both hiding it. Does it really matter why I care?” 

“I guess not…” 

“Exactly.” Akaza turned to go, and waved over his shoulder. “You better actually think about it.” 

Senjuro sighed. “Okay, Akaza-san. I will.” 

When he got back to their room, he found Kyojuro anxiously pacing the length of it, and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Why are you so worked up over this? It was just a conversation.” 

“How’d it go?” Kyojuro demanded rather than genuinely answering. 

“Fine,” Akaza said with an easy smile. “He said he would think about it.” 

Kyojuro stared at him for a second, as if he wasn’t quite sure what that meant. “It really went okay?” 

“I know how to talk to other people, Kyo,” Akaza teased. 

“It’s not that! It’s just—!” 

“I know. But I think I somewhat got through to him. Give him a few days, and then maybe you could say something,” he suggested. 

Kyojuro took a long, slow breath. “Okay.” 

“Come on.” Akaza took his hand, and tugged him towards the cracked open door that led to the engawa. “Try not to worry about it. How about we spar for a little bit, hm?” 

“I’m still going to talk to Tanjiro about it,” Kyojuro insisted. “The next time he’s here.” 

Akaza couldn’t help but laugh, already imagining how such a conversation was likely to go. “If you insist.” 

“I do! Kamado-san is a fine young man, but Senjuro is still my brother and I have to be sure that Kamado-san has good intentions!”