ð‘´ð’–ð’Šð’„ð’‰ð’Šð’“ð’ ð‘·ð‘¶ð‘½:
“We’re screwed.” I hear my brother conclude as we sit in front of a lake, staring into the water hopelessly, watching our reflections stare back. “Yeah, yeah… You don’t say…” I mutter, spacing out. We could be trying to turn ourselves in to apologize, or maybe even try to wake that boy up, but no. We’re here. Somewhere in the stupid Kimetsu Park, staring at a stupid lake, running from our stupid problems. Who knows how long we’ll be safe now. Yui puts a hand on the top of my head, grabbing a fistful of my hair and thrashing my head around, screaming something at me. I don’t care, though. My life has already ended. If I could say heart emojis, I would. I wonder what Yui is saying, I’ve gone too far in my own thoughts, I can’t really snap out of it now- “HEY, OW!!!” I exclaim, rubbing the top of my head where Yui had hit me. “Brother, why’d you have to do that!?” I look at him with concern and shock.
“Why the FUCK did you call that man CUTE!?” Yui yells, grabbing my hair again. “Ow, ow! BROTHER!” I scream, tears falling from my eyes. “I WAS NERVOUS, OKAY!?” I try to reason. “WE HAVE A DEAL, I KNOW!” I bury my face in my own hands. “I know we’re supposed to only kill men who broke up with mom, but the way ma was crying in front of him made me scared she was getting hurt!” I explain, holding in my tears. “I didn’t realize we messed up that bad, but when I did, I freaked out and pretended like nothing was wrong!” “SO YOU CALLED HIM CUTE!?” Yui shouts at me harshly. He grips my hair tighter, his anger growing. “Don’t act innocent, you also agreed to kill him!” I argue. “You were the one who came up with the idea in the first place!” He growls. Eventually, he calms down and lets go of my hair. He growls. “You should’ve just killed him.” He narrows his eyes at me. “I can’t just kill some random guy!” I whine. He sighs, frowning. “Well, you refusing to kill him made the problem worse!” Yui points out. “We both know well that your little memory wiping spell doesn’t always work how it should work.” He mumbles. “Who knows if he’ll remember what we look like or not. That scary lookin’ rando might remember us and report us to the police!” He complains, glaring at me as I sniffle and wipe away my tears. “You’re lucky I’m not telling mom.” He mumbles, his eyes flickering back towards the lake. A moment of silence passes between us as I wipe away my last tear. “I don’t care if you do or not… I’d honestly rather hear mom whining and scolding us for ten hours straight then hear you speak one more time.” I mutter thoughtlessly. Before I can even process my own words, Yui turns to me again.
“What did you just say to me?” Yui asks, glaring at me, his eyebrows furrowed. I turn to face him, and the realization of my own words strikes me. “Wait, brother! I didn’t mean it!” I put my hands up in defense, shifting my body to back up slightly. He grabs my arm and pulls me closer again. He growls, baring his sharp teeth- wait. Is he going to BITE ME OR SOMETHING!? “KYAAAAH!?” BROTHER, BROTHER WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” I yell out, trying to push him away from me, but he keeps a firm grip. “You do NOT speak to me that way, Muichiro Kanroji!” He opens his mouth and gets ready to bite me, but luckily for me, a loud shout from the distance brings his actions to a halt.
“HEY, YOU!” A man from the distance yells. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP THERE!”
“SHIT!” Brother curses, and before I can react, Yui grabs onto my wrist tightly. “RUN. NOW.” He demands strictly, before tugging on me hard, pulling me along with him. “Yui, wait- wait!” I yell. “What the hell are you doing!?” “STOP RUNNING!” The voice yells again. I try to look back, but once I try to, Yui tugs my arm harder to catch my attention. “DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU.” He commands. “Wha-?” I stutter, but I stop myself before I finish. I don’t know what’s happening, but I know listening to him is the best option. I run with him, refusing to look behind myself, ignoring how much I want to. Eventually he tugs my wrist one last time, pulling us behind a tree. “Brother, what-” He puts a hand on my mouth. “SHUSH.” Yui whispers agitatedly, keeping me silent. “Just hide!” He demands under his own breath. We duck behind a bush, his hand still on my mouth. Footsteps from the guy that was chasing us stop momentarily, before they start again, growing louder. The leaves crunch along with the sound of footsteps. Eventually, the sound of footsteps stops completely. Silence passes, and my brother stands up, looking down at me. “Okay, I think we’re safe for now-” “Hey!” A man yells, and he reaches out to and grabs Yui’s wrist. “KYAAAAAAH!” Yui screams. “Brother!” I yell, standing up. I grab Yui’s arm and try to force it out of the man’s grasp, but he is too strong.
“Get off of-..!” I grunt, but I stopped. I look up at the man grabbing Yui. It’s an officer. A fucking police officer! I can’t fucking fight with an officer! It’ll just cause more God damn trouble. And it could cause my brother more trouble, too… I let go of Yui, putting my hands down to my sides. Yui gasps, looking over at me. “Muichiro!?” He cries out, his eyes darting between me and the hand grabbing his wrist. I stand in silence, before tears start falling from my eyes. I drop down onto my knees, sobbing. “WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY!” I cry out, burying my face in my own hands. They both stare at me. “I ADMIT TO MY PITIFUL SINS!! LOCK ME UP ALL YOU WANT, BUT PLEASE, SPARE MY BROTHER!” I scream out helplessly, holding out my wrists.”JUST PUT CUFFS ON ME AND THROW ME IN THE LOCKS!!” I trembled, my eyes squeezed shut tightly. Silence comes from both of them, and I can hear Yui grunting slightly, but not in a struggling way. I open my eyes seeing both of them stare at me, dumbfounded. “Hey, is this why you were running from me?” The officer asks. “You think I’m going to arrest you?” He asks, and Yui takes a step away from him to stand next to me, his wrist now released. “You’re not?” Yui questions him, glancing down at me as I continue to cower. “Then why were you chasing us?” He looks up at the officer again, putting a hand on his own hip. “Well first of all… You were about to bite him, I had to make sure he was safe.” He says, and Yui glances away, guilty. “And second, you’re Kanroji’s kids, right?” Me and my brother look at each other, puzzled, before looking back and nodding. “How’d you know?” I ask suspiciously, standing up straight again and holding onto my brother for comfort.
“I was friends with her in high school. I remember her, but I haven’t seen her in a while.” The officer explains. “I just wanted to ask how she’s doing.” “She’s fine.” Yui says with a sigh, his muscles relaxing, but his guard is still up, I can tell by the way his hand is in front of my stomach, blocking me from the officer. “Sorry, could you tell us who you are again?” Yui asks, his eyes narrowing. “Oh, how could I have forgotten something so simple.” He says, taking off his own officer cap and putting it up to his own chest in a greeting. “My name is Goto.” Goto says. “Goto, huh? Where have I heard that name…” Yui ponders, his voice trailing off. “Wait,” I begin. “You’re Kotetsu’s parent, right?” I examine. Ah, Kotetsu. He’s a little kid, only in… What, fourth, fifth grade now? One of the two. Me and Yui live on the same street as him, so we usually help him walk back to his house after school. “Oh, yeah.” Yui realizes. “He’s talked about you before. I knew I recognized that name.” He adds. “He talks about you two, also. He seems to have taken a liking to you.” Goto says. Even though it’s such a basic statement I can’t help but feel a little happy by those words.
Small author note: Reminder for anyone reading, Goto is a character from the original plotline, but I don’t expect anyone to remember him since he was mentioned only a small amount of times. Goto was originally the Kakushi who claimed to always have run into Tanjiro.
“Well, I apologize for scaring you.” Goto says, before turning away. “Make sure to get home safe, goodbye.” As he starts walking away, I can hear Yui sigh heavily. “Wait.” Brother says, holding his breath for a second as he momentarily looks at me. “Can you give us a ride home?” Yui asks. “We need to get back home, quick. Our mom must be worried sick about us…” He adds, his eyes flickering closed to regain his composure, before he opens them again. “Brother…” I mutter under my own breath. Goto looks at us, shrugging and nodding with a sigh. “Kanroji has always been a worrier, hasn’t she?” Goto sighs. “Okay, I’ll lead you back to my car.” We follow him out of the park, following the trail back. Once we’re back out to the parking lot, Goto unlocks the cop car. He opens the back car door for us as we approach the car. “Okay, let me know your address so I can drive you-” Goto tries to ask, but he’s quickly interrupted.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!!!” A distant, familiar voice yells, rushing in our direction. “WOAH, HEY!?” Goto yells.
A sharp slap sound becomes audible. My eyes finally focus on the motion, and- “MOM!?” Brother yells, taking a step back and pushing me back behind him. I can hear a few people yelling, but I can’t see since Yui is blocking the way. “What’s going on!?” I yell out, looking over my brother’s shoulder to see what’s happening. It’s mom, and she’s yelling and scolding Goto. Wow, I’ve never seen her this angry before. Why is mom even here, anyways!? Did she track us down somehow? “Yui, what the fuck is going on!?” I mutter to my brother, but he seems too shocked to respond verbally. Seeing Yui do nothing as the situation escalates to mom tugging on Goto’s hair, I rush up to mom and try to pull her off of him. “Mom, quit it! Please!” I cry out desperately, grabbing and yanking her hands away from the officer. “I’M NOT STOPPING UNTIL THIS MAN LEARNS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE TRIES TO ARREST MY BABY BOYS!” Mom yells, and I have to pull her away from Goto myself, but she keeps grasping and trying to swing at him. “Shit lady! I’ll have to God damn arrest you if you keep swinging around!” He yells, reaching down to grab a weapon on his belt. Seeing this, I reacted quickly. Too quickly. It freaked me out, so I ended up acting without thought. I raise my own hand. “STOP, PLEASE!” I scream.
“MUICHIRO-!” “GAAAAAAAHH!?” Thoughtlessly, I flip my own mother over. Goto and Yui both stop yelling, and stare at me, appalled. “What.” I hear Yui say. I shrug. That one, small word is the only sound made for several seconds, before I yelp and get onto my knees. “Ma!” I yell, helping her stand up. “I’m sorry! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!!” I cry out, hugging her tightly. I brush some dirt off her clothes, apologizing rapidly under my own breath. “MAMA!” I yell and wrap my arms around her. She groans slightly, obviously from having to endure the pain of me slamming her against the hard concrete. She stands up again, and looks at me, her eyes suddenly lighting up as she grasps tightly on my shoulders. “Oh my God, MUICHIRO!! You did that!? You’re such a strong boy!” Mom says happily, smiling widely at me. “Mama… But I just-…” I stutter. Before I can finish, she turns away from me and frowns at Goto, keeping one hand on my shoulder. “You see this, officer? My son is so strong, he can throw a grown adult to the ground!” Mom pouts. “He’ll beat you up if you try to arrest him again!” She turns her head away cockily, even though we both know I would never do that, not to an officer at least. Goto stares, getting out of a guarding stance. “Okay… I’ll keep that in mind.” Goto mutters. Suddenly, I feel Yui grab onto my hand, he tugs on it, pulling me into a hug. At first I was shocked, but I eventually gave in. “Aw, brother…” I say softly. I hugged him in response, and after a few seconds, I let go of the hug, but Yui didn’t. “Hey, Yui- Don’t you think it’s time to let go?” I ask awkwardly. Realizing what might be going on, though I sigh.
“Brother, are you getting emotional?” I ask, rubbing the back of Yuichiro’s head. “You don’t need to get worked up over such things, we’re safe now-” “Don’t you ever throw my own mother onto the ground again, you hear me?” My brother says quietly into my ear, gripping me tightly. Keeping my smile, I push away from him. “Okay! That’s enough hugs.” I say, glancing away nervously. He glares at me. Silence grows. Everyone is glaring at each other, but no words are said. “So…” I try to break the tension. “Who were those other people that were with you, Ma?” I ask. Mom looks at me, sighing. “Oh, those are-” she looks to the side where the car and the other people used to be, but no longer are. “…Did Tomioka leave me?” I hear mama mumble. “They left a while ago, didn’t you see?” Yui explains. “They went back into the car and drove off.” Ma stares at him, her mouth opened with disbelief. Goto walks up to her, sighing.
“Miss Kanroji, you’re very lucky.” He says. Ma yelps and turns around to face him. “How do you know my name!?” Ma asks, quickly grabbing me and Yui, wrapping us in her arms, trying to protect us. It’s not needed, but it’s comforting. “We’re friends from high school, remember?” He says. “If you don’t, the name is Goto.” Goto explains, and mom relaxes. “Oh, Goto!” She says, still keeping a hold on me and Yui, but her grip loosens enough for us to escape her arms. Yui, whose face was shoved straight into Mom’s boobs when she grabbed us, pulls away from her grasp. “Unnecessary…” Yui mutters. “How have you been?” Mom says, her mood changes quickly as she smiles brightly. “I’ve been doing fine, I suppose. I’m assuming you’ve been doing the same.” He says, and as any old friends do, they start chit-chatting. “Oh, quite fine!” Ma says. She happily extends her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again!” Goto takes her hand and shakes it in a greeting. “Okay, I’m bored.” Yui says, quickly sitting down on the ground. As they start a conversation with each other, I look down at my brother, kneeling next to him. “You think they’ll ever stop talking anytime soon?” I ask. “Dunno.” Yui responds, stretching out his arm and yawning. I stand up straight again, and luckily, Goto starts talking about something other than old friendships. “So, Kanroji. I’m not going to arrest you, despite the fact that you assaulted a police officer.” Goto says, and mom sighs. “Ah, really? Thank you so much!” She thanked. “You’re welcome. Don’t ever do this again, though. I just so happen to not be in the mood to arrest old friends… My boss will kill me for this….” Goto mutters the last part. “I’ll give you a ride home if you need it.” Goto suggests. Yui stands up, grabbing my hand and pulling me to his side again. “Oh, well… I think we could just walk home-” Ma tries to say, but Yui walks up and interrupts. “Yes, please. I’m so tired that I refuse to take one more step.” Yui admits, looking at Ma. Mom sighs. “I guess it wouldn’t be too bad if we did…” “Okay.” Goto says. “Hop on the back, then.”
We get in the back of Goto’s cop car, and we get back home soon enough. We get out of his car with a farewell, and we get back into our own house.
As we step inside, Yui is the first one to speak. “It’s so quiet here…” He says. Mom nods. “Kono isn’t here right now, he’s still at work…” Ma says. “So it’s just us right now.” She turns on the light, walking deeper inside of the house. “OOH!” Yuichiro exclaims, looking over at me with a smile. “I call the TV before he gets back!” He says. “HEYYY!” I whine back. “You’re just gonna watch My Little Pony all day!” I yell. He frowns. “Well if YOU get the TV, you would just blast that Hazbin Hotel show, or whatever it’s called!” He complains. “HELL IS FOREVER!!!” I yell at him.
Author note: Don’t worry, Genya will be talked about in the next episode
Total words: 2959
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