Jealousy, Running Rampant
w/KNY (Shinazugawa Genya, Uzui Tengen, Giyu Tomioka, Shinazugawa Sanemi)
Jealous KNY!men, slight angst, Uzui's a bit of a jerk, misunderstandings, fluff, happy endings, proofread what is that a snack
He blinked once. Then twice. Rubbed his eyes harshly, blinking up at the sight in front of him. It was no use. You were still there, smile as bright as the daytime sun, and oh, how radiant you were, enough to light the way even for the proverbial blind man stuck in a proverbial cave. But your radiance wasn't directed at him. He wasn't the one to make you laugh that way, with such obvious infatuation.
No, it was a random civilian.
And get this, he touches your fucking shoulder.
It shouldn't have bothered him so much. But it pissed him off. He shouldn't have cared. But his fists were bulging, veins sticking out like venom. It should've been seen as a friendly gesture, with little to no meaning behind such a small, innocent act. Rage boiled dangerously in his blood.
When the man's hand met your shoulder, your head tilted upwards, eyes sparkling in a way that should've only been reserved for him, him alone, only him, and yetâ
His heart squeezed, heavy in his chest, nails digging into the palm of his hand. He turned away slowly, but--
Your eyes met his, and you went still, eyes flitting between him and the man, before your lips moved to say a few words to excuse yourself from the conversation.
Even as he heard you making your way over to him, he couldn't find it in himself to look your way. He suddenly felt so ashamed. Ashamed in how quickly his thoughts had spiraled, how possessively he wanted you for himself.
"Genya." Slowly, tentatively, he raises his eyes to meet your gaze. You tilt your head, eyes cautious, observing. "Good evening." And then you smile at him.
He nods curtly, throat bobbing as he swallows. He watches the way your lips purses, brows knitting together, head jerking down in what he can only interpret as concern. "Genya, are you okay?"
He blinks, feeling dumb all of a sudden. "What do you mean?"
"You seem..." you pause thoughtfully. "Mad?"
His mouth opens, then closes shut. No, he wasn't... he wasn't mad. Not at you. He's never been mad at you, and he thinks he never will be. So what was that feeling, if not anger? Why did his jaw clench impossibly tigher, shoulders stiffening imperceptibly?
"No. No, I'm not mad. I just..." his mouth moves before he can stop himself. "Who was that with you?"
He sees the shift in your mood immediately, your head tilting upwards, eyes glinting in understanding. "Genya, were you jealous?"
Heat rushes to his face, eyes suddenly looking at everything but you.
"Jealous? No... no, I wasn't--" his voice cuts off abruptly.
Oh, he thinks, mouth dry, that was jealousy.
He chances a glance in your direction only to find you grinning at him, almost smugly, laughing behind your hand, and he can't stop himself from staring, not when you sound like that.
Suddenly the warmth from his face spreads across his chest, and the heaviness lifts abruptly, easily.
"Oh, Genya," you say between quiet bursts of laughter, "you're so cute."
"Wha--" he feels hot, all of a sudden. So, so hot, he doesn't think an ice bath could extinguish this blazing fire within him. "I-- I'm not cute. Dogs are cute. You are--"
When he doesn't finish his sentence, you look up, curious, to find him glancing off to the side, a blushing mess. Your lips curl up into a teasing smile. "What was that? I'm what?"
He exhales softly, and takes a step toward you, something in him melting when you lean towards him. He wraps his hand around yours and brings it up to press against his lips.
"I said... that you're cute," he mumbles against your skin, relishing in your shiver when he brushes his lips against your knuckles to softly kiss, "so don't look at anyone but me, okay?"
Your eyes flit between your husbandâs face and the fish he was currently gutting the life out of.Â
If it wasnât for the fact that you and him were the only ones out here, catching fish and preparing them for dinner out by the river, with the sun low on the horizon, youâd think he was just mad at the fish for existing in this world.
But no. You knew something was wrong, and had a thought that made your stomach twist, a thought that made your hands wring together nervously, fidgeting.Â
It would make sense, considering he had barely uttered a single word to you during this entire fish endeavor. But you figured it was nothing, that he just needed a quiet evening without having to think, an evening spent enjoying the mild weather and warm water.Â
Still⊠still. You had to say something, had to make sure. You bite your lip for a moment, hesitating behind him. Then you speak up.
The knife slams down on the cutting board, and you flinch back, lifting wide eyes at the back of Uzuiâs head.Â
âAre you, uh, alright?â
He makes a sound, something between a laugh and a scoff, and it makes you shrink impossibly smaller. He glances back, frowning, and looks away, brandishing the knife in his hand again.
âOkay.â You stutter a moment. âWouldâ are you sure? You can talk to me if, you know, youâre feeling down.â You canât help the small smile on your lips, despite yourself. âThatâs what a wifeâs here for.â
He goes eerily still for a moment, and just when you consider calling out to him, he speaks. âA wife, huh?â He turns to you, caging you with his dark eyes. âYou mean someone who cozies up to someone else behind her husbandâs back?â
Youâre left stunned, shocked into silence. He continues, âsomeone who goes around touching anotherâs shoulder, giggling about who knows what?âÂ
You snap out of your trance. âTengen, what are you talking about?â
His voice lowers, eyes flashing with something dangerous. âSomeone who tries to deny it, playing dumb?â
Your defenses raise, arms crossing over your chest. Your voice takes on defiance, trying to keep the hurt from showing. âI really have no idea what youâre talking about. When did I everâ are you saying I cheated on you?â
He scoffs, and itâs not nice. âI wouldnât be surprised.â
Your brows furrow. âTengen. Will you stop your cryptic messages and tell me what all this is about already?â
Heâs silent another minute, and your confidence drops with each second that passes.
âThat rotten red-clothed scum, with the tan skin and small eyes.â He shakes his head in disgust.
Your eyes blink at the description. And then it hits you. The man you were talking to from earlier when you were shopping around in the market, who had asked you a few questions on the produce from one of the stands. Oh. Oh.Â
And then you smile, and you canât help the small giggles that leave your throat. Oh, you could almost cry in relief. Uzui seems to interpret this differently, because his face grows impossibly sour.
âDarlingâŠâ you return to your endearing nickname, sighing. âI wasnât flirting with him or anything, truly. He was just asking for directions.â
His face is unreadable. âCouldâve fooled me, with the way you wereâŠâ he trails off. You prob at him. âWere?â
His eyes meet yours, and this time theyâre filled with mournful sorrow masked with the heavy set of his jaw. âYou were smiling. Happy.â He curses, tearing his eyes away from you, sighing. âYou looked⊠happy. Happy enough to run away with him and leave me forever.â And then he mumbles something else that sounds like, âI wouldnât blame you,â and itâs enough to break your heart. You coo softly, closing the distance between you two to wrap your arms around his waist.
âIâd never leave you,â you whisper, because itâs true, and you know his tough exterior was only in place to cover up his inner insecurities of someday losing that which he found precious, irreplaceable.Â
It takes a moment, but then his heavy hand rests on your head, and then heâs leaning down to hold you tightly against his body. Itâs quiet for a moment, with the sun now set, and the river rushing softly, and his breaths mixed with yours. Finally, when he speaks, itâs low, and vulnerable, and heavy with emotion.
âSorry, âm sorry.â He takes a shaky breath. âJusâ didnât wanna lose you, thatâs all. I shouldnât have said that. I knew youâd never cheat on me.â He hugs you tighter. âNever.â
You smile, lifting your head, before he pushes it back into his chest. Your hand goes up to brush his cheek, and thatâs when you realise heâs crying.Â
âAw, âs okayâ donât, donât cry,â you plead softly, wanting to find a way to sooth his sadness. âIâm yours, okay? Always yours, and yours alone.â
He nods, and takes your hand in his, finally allowing you to look at him.Â
âThank you,â he whispers sincerely. âThank you.â
Giyu was quiet. Which, to be fair, he usually was. But this time, it was different. This time, there was something in his eyes that gave you the sneaking suspicion that something was bothering him. His eyes always seemed to carry the weight of the world, and you had tried your best to always be there to pull him out of the darkness, to remind him he was still here, and so were you, and that he was in the presentâ not in the past.Â
But today, he seemed to be avoiding you like the plague. And you wonderedâ did you do something wrong? Maybe you had said something that made him feel bad, or maybe he just decided he needed some time to himself? But no. Whenever he was down, you were always the first person he turned to for company, your presence seemingly enough to ail whatever bothered him.Â
But he was avoiding you. He was avoiding you, and you didnât like it.
The first chance you got to confront him, you took. Planting yourself between him and the door he was about to exit through to head out of his resting room, your eyes sought out his, but he wouldnât meet them. His gaze cast to the tatami floor, he silently asked what you wanted without saying a word.
âGiyu, are you avoiding me?â
His face doesnât change.Â
âGiyu.â You shift your weight. âDid I do something wrong?â Before you give him the chance, you speak up, âIâm sorry.â
He meets your eyes then, for the split second before heâs averting his eyes again.Â
âListen.â Your voice is softer this time, and when you take a step forward, he looks like heâs one second away from booking it, so you stay put. âWhatever I did, if you tell me⊠I promise I wonât do it next time, okay? So donât⊠donât be angry. Iâm sorryââ
You stop, waiting patiently as he seems to hesitate. He takes a breath. âYou⊠did nothing wrong. I just feelâŠâÂ
His eyes travel up to your face, and this time it stays there. âI was simply being selfish.â
You tilt your head, confused. âSelfish? About what?âÂ
He seems to consider this question. And like always, you wait. Youâll always wait for him, and sometimes you wish heâd understand how much he meant to you.
âAbout⊠who⊠you spend your time with.â He seems slightly unsatisfied with these words, as if it isnât quite what he wished to say, and his eyebrows furrow minutely.Â
You bite your lip. âDid I spend time with someone you didnât like, or⊠something?â
âYes,â he answers quickly, too quickly, and averts his gaze.
âOh.â You blink. âThen, who was it?â
âYou donât know?â You look at him incredulously, and it probably wasnât the right thing to do, because he retreats into his shell again, and tries to move past you, but you adjust your position, arms out to keep him from leaving. âWait, wait, wait.âÂ
Something about his expression right now makes you thinkâ
âGiyu.â You frown. âListen, if you think Iâm mad at you, or if you came to another crazy assumption like that, then Iâm not. I just wanted to know why you were avoiding me.â
He closes his eyes. âYou were talking to someone. Outside Shinobuâs residence.â
ShinobuâsâŠ? Oh. A memory resurfaces, one where youâre talking to Shinobuâs patient with a polite smile, persuading him with your charm to stay and receive her treatment after he vehemently shook his head, mumbling something or another about the âterrifying lady with the needles.â
You vaguely remember trying your best to be as friendly as possible, and how he eventually began to ask you, with feigned nonchalance, for your name.
âGiyuâŠâ his eyes trail upwards again, and you smile at him brightly. âI get it now. Donât worry. What youâre saying is⊠you were jealous.âÂ
âGiyu!â Heâs so fast in his escape you doubt youâd be able to keep up with him as he rounds the corner of a building twenty meters away.
âWait, get back here! Itâs okay! Your secretâs safe with me, alright? Uh, Giyu? Giyu?!â
I want to die, Giyu thinks as his face burns with embarrassment.Â
It wasnât exactly a secret that Sanemi had feelings for you. The other hashira knew it, other corps members knew it, Oyakata-sama knew it, and probably every demon he has ever sent to the afterlife knew it, too. It was as if his blade was swinging out the words I love you every time he fought.Â
But it seemed someone didnât know it. That, or else this person was a fool.
He had strayed from your side for a mere moment to join the line of a food stall after a passing comment you made, that looks so good, Sanemi, and when he came back with his purchased goods, there you were, with some dumb piece of filth standing far too close in front of you.Â
And the worst part? Your smile.Â
Sanemi liked to think he never cared about your smile, that the reason his heart skipped a beat was because he was suffering from asthma or whatever technical terms Shinobu always drilled into his brain that he filtered out. (He knew some type of condition made your heartbeat irregular, asthma or not.)
But now, with your smile not directed at him, with your eyes not gazing into his, without your presence close to his ownâŠ
Yeah, Sanemi was pissed.Â
But that wasnât important. Neither was that piece of trash next to you, acting as if he were some kind of royal emperor with the amount of gall he had to even think about approaching you.Â
Without thinking, he dropped the sweets wrapped in paper to the ground and approached you from behind, and the moment the scumbagâs vile eyes drifted up to him, they startle open, and he sputters some frantic excuse or another to you before scurrying away like a rat.
You tilt your head around, confused, before spotting him there: tall, menacing, and fuming.
âSanemiâ are you okay?â
The second he reaches you, heâs quickly, yet carefully, placing his hand on your shoulder and hauling you away.
âWhaâ Sanemi, whereâs the food you were going to buy?â
He scowls. âShut up and come with me. Weâll get something better in the next town.â
â...Aaand why are we leaving?â
âThis place is contaminated with a disgusting vermin. Itâll be better elsewhere.â His eyes, sharp and yet so, so soft, meet yours then. âIâll find somewhere better for us to go. Together.â