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"Since I met you, life is much more beautiful. You give me energy to keep going, to get up when I fall, to dare with whatever comes from the front… A smile of yours is enough to not be afraid of death.
Every time I look at you, a new world I discover, because my life has changed with your deep love." -RK
The red-haired slayer held the letter tightly to his chest, he had closed his eyes with emotion. He listened mentally to the voice of his beloved who gently recited in his ear everything he had written in his letter. A strong blush took over his face, giving him a tender and a very much in love appearance, because precisely, Tanjiro was more than in love with his mate.
He smiled, staring at the sky as he lightly bit his lip, trying not to let out a scream of excitement. He already knew what he would answer to his mate in the letter he would send with his crow. Not being able to see him for as long as he wanted made him feel sad, but his heart was filled with joy at receiving the sweet letters from his beloved. They gave him the strength he needed to successfully complete his assigned missions.
“Tanjiro!”
Hearing that he was called, he quickly hid the letter in his clothes and turned to show a dazzling smile. “What is it, Zenitsu?”
"Nothing, I just came looking for you. You went far away and thought you had abandoned me along with that pig," he sighed dramatically.
“I would never do something like that,” he said calmly. “Let's go back.”
The blond had noticed a peculiar sound coming from Tanjiro as he approached a few minutes ago. It was as if his whole being exuded absolute happiness, and that seemed very strange to Zenitsu since he had noticed the same thing in previous missions before. And it was always when Tanjiro was alone -far from him, Inosuke, and even Nezuko- the rest of the day his sound was the same as always. Zenitsu couldn't help but feel curious about that fact, but he was embarrassed to ask his friend directly, so he just let it pass, as he had done on other occasions.
The three Mizunoto and Nezuko were on their way to an inn for the night, they felt exhausted but content with their hard work’s result. They ate together and shared random comments, although most of them turned into scolding by Tanjiro when he saw that Inosuke did not behave and acted aggressive towards Zenitsu.
When it was time to sleep, Tanjiro stayed awake until he made sure his friends were already asleep, so he proceeded to take out paper and a brush with ink to write his love letter, which would be sent at dawn by his crow. Moreover, in his concentration, he did not realize that a certain blond still remained awake and looked at him with great curiosity.
The next morning, the slayers left the inn to head for their next mission. They were very lively as always, trying in vain to calm the craving for struggle that Inosuke possessed. It was in a moment of rest when Zenitsu finally dared to ask his burgundy friend about the actions of the previous day.
"Were you awake?" the redhead asked with embarrassment.
"Yes, I noticed you were acting… strange, and I waited a while before going to sleep to see if everything was okay. So I watched as our friend Tanjiro wrote a letter passionately at night.”
“What are you talking about, Monitsu?”
"I'm saying that Tanjiro has a secret girlfriend to whom he writes love letters and hasn't told us about her. And worst of all, how come you already have a girlfriend and I don't? This is so frustrating! Nezuko doesn't want to accept me.”
“Zenitsu, calm down.”
"I'll help you calm him down, Kentaro," said a very lively Inosuke before running after Zenitsu, generating a small chase.
“Hey, that’s enough. Inosuke, stop it.”
“But you said you wanted to calm him down.”
"Not like that," he sighed, staring down and playing with his fingers. "It's true, I have a mate, but I still want to keep it a secret, okay?"
“Will you introduce her to us?”
“Easy, Zenitsu. I might do it.”
“At least tell us what she looks like.”
“I can’t say much, but their mane is blonde and soft.”
“Is she strong?” Inosuke dared to ask, feeling excited. “I want to fight her!”
"I don't think that's a good idea," Tanjiro sighed but then smiled at his friends.
They continued walking normally, which made the redhead very happy. By the time it was, he could be sure that his letter had already been delivered and read.
“No one can give me the kind of happiness you give me, the joy I feel when I am in your arms I have never felt before.
Never stop loving me as you do, don't stop showing me what happiness is.
I love your smile, I love the way you look at me, but much more I love loving you every day of my life. I give you my heart because it will always beat, only united with yours, love and life will have." -TK
The Flame Hashira smiled when he read the letter his beloved had sent him that morning. He couldn't help the unbridled beating of his heart, not even the loud blush that now decorated his face. His image was the description of pure happiness and joy.
He was on Rengoku Estate, sitting next to the futon with the letter still between his fingers. He covered his face with his free hand and let out a sigh in love, because he was truly crazy in love.
Months ago he had developed romantic feelings for the slayer with hanafuda earrings. At first, he felt confused because they both spent a lot of time together and saw the younger one as a brother, or at least tried to convince himself of that, until his being could no longer handle it and he openly accepted that he was in love with Tanjiro. He didn't intend to reveal such feelings because that would be odd, but the situation took a tremendous plot twist when accidentally -Tengen’s fault- he discovered that the redhead felt the same way. It was the perfect opportunity to talk properly with Tanjiro and everything turned out to be better than he expected. By reciprocating with each other, they started a relationship, which was still secret from others, except for Tengen of course. Tanjiro wanted to keep the secret of his relationship even to his friends, he didn't want them to be alarmed or feel repulsion towards him and Kyojuro.
The blond loved the kindness that existed in Tanjiro’s heart, it was one of the virtues he loved the most in him.
That afternoon, Kyojuro would have to go on a mission, so he was getting ready, and looking for paper and ink so he could write his respective letter to Tanjiro. He knew that on that day, Tanjiro and his friends had been assigned to a new mission, so they could not see each other or spend time together. Kyojuro was saddened by this fact, but his heart felt enormous joy at receiving the beautiful phrases that came from the heart of the redhead he loved so much.
His day passed normally, until it was time to go out on his mission, which ended up being successful. Before going to sleep that night, he wrote another beautiful letter to his partner, in which he showed all the love he felt for him. He placed the letter near his futon to give it to his crow early in the morning. With that happiness embodied in his face, he went to sleep.
Two days had passed since Kyojuro's successful mission, now he was slowly making his way to his estate to rest. He was a little discouraged, since that morning he had not received the letter from his beloved. He drew possible conclusions from that fact, and the one that worried him the most was that the mission might have been more dangerous than it appeared and Tanjiro had been wounded, or perhaps the mission had not yet concluded. Whatever the reason was, Kyojuro was worried, he wanted to run towards Tanjiro and help him.
He stopped abruptly when he heard Tanjiro's crow in the distance shouting something at him. It looked desperate, which could mean that something bad had happened to Tanjiro.
"Butterfly Estate, he is at the Butterfly Estate," the crow blurted out quickly before landing on Rengoku's blond hair, it was breathing heavily due to effort.
The blond didn't need to listen to anything else, he ran as fast as he could to get to the estate. He had to hurry and make sure his boyfriend was okay. He noticed that the crow had settled on his head but did not claim anything, it must be exhausted.
With desperation dominating his entire being, Kyojuro arrived faster than expected. He barely stopped to greet the girls on the estate as he usually did, at that moment Tanjiro was the only thing he could think of. His footsteps were heard throughout the long corridor, but he was stopped by a voice he knew very well.
“Ara, ara. Rengoku, is something wrong?”
"Kocho! I'm sorry to get to the estate like this but I heard that Kamado is here. Is he alright?”
"I see," said the Insect Hashira when she noticed Tanjiro’s crow resting on the blond's head. "I assume this little friend informed you. Don’t worry, he is fine. Agatsuma and Hashibira are here as well, they all have minor injuries and cuts but they will recover soon. Right now they are in the room at the end of the hall, you can pass if you want but do not interrupt their rest, okay?”
"Thank you, Kocho, you're the best," the blond blurted out before heading to the aforementioned room. He slid the door gently, avoiding waking up the boys, he peeked out a little to visualize the redhead and found him at the end of the room, right in the middle of Zenitsu and Inosuke.
He slowly approached Kamado's bed, instantly feeling relieved to see that he was safe and without so many injuries. He slid his hand to touch Tanjiro's, feeling its warmth. "I'm glad you're okay.”
"Rengoku?" asked a sleepy Tanjiro, who was completely awakened when he realized he wasn't dreaming. His boyfriend was there with him.
"Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was so worried and your crow informed me that you were here," whispered the blond, feeling the crow finally abandon his hair, making them laugh softly.
"I didn't mean to worry you, that demon was very strong but we could handle him," said the redhead as he slowly sat on the bed, making Kyojuro lean a little to be closer to him. "I'm really sorry I didn't reply to your letter, it was beautiful and I kept it very well.”
"You don't have to worry about that, my boy," he calmed him, gently caressing Tanjiro's cheeks. "For now you have to rest.”
“I will, but first…" Tanjiro said, cheeks tenderly flushed. "I'll rest well if you kiss me."
"Oh, are you trying to make it up to me for the letter?" Kyojuro replied with amusement.
“Y-yes, that too.”
"Fine, I'll do everything my boy asks me to do." The blonde said sweetly before bringing his face closer to the contrary, tenderly kissing those pink lips that drove him crazy. He had missed that glorious feeling and now he was finally kissing his beloved Tanjiro again, after weeks without seeing each other. "I love you, Tanjiro.”
“Love you too.”
"I'll come see you later." The blond placed a kiss on the redhead's forehead before saying goodbye and leaving the room to let his boyfriend rest properly.
" So aniki was Tanjiro's girlfriend all this time? " thought an exalted Zenitsu, who had woken up since he heard the Hashira's strong footsteps when he entered the estate. His mind was blank now, trying to connect the dots. “ Are they a couple? Why can they be happy and I can't?” He kept thinking to himself as he tried not to panic. At least he already knew who his friend's mysterious "girlfriend" was and to whom he was sending those letters to.
Zenitsu was still deep in thought, so he didn't notice the big smile that graced Tanjiro's face before he closed his eyes and rested. The redhead couldn't help his growing happiness at having been visited by his boyfriend, it gave him the strength he needed to recover. He recalled the beautiful words that the blond had dedicated to him in his previous letter:
"Tanjiro, you can't imagine how much I miss having you with me; I miss your beautiful eyes that shine every time you look at me; I miss your soft hair and placing my hand there, caressing it; I miss your sweet lips, which I will kiss like never before when we see each other again; I miss your whole being; your warmth that surrounds me every time we hug. I will wait patiently for our meeting, because I know that all the sacrifice will be worth it if in the end the reward is to see you happy.
I love you with all my being, my sweet boy." -RK