“Tokito! Himejima! It’s nice to see you two!” Tanjiro cooed. From his left, Genya offered them a small wave, munching on a grilled rice ball. “Do you want one? I made them myself!” When the boy flashed them that signature, blinding smile, neither pillar could deny his request.
Kneeling at the tiny table—which looked doll-sized for the giant hashira—the two males murmured a ‘thanks for the food’ before graciously accepting the grilled rice ball.
“Is it good?” Inquired the mist hashira, squeezing it between his thumb and forefinger.
The red-haired slayer looked to the one next to him with a giddy smile. “Well… Genya?”
“It’s edible,” the older slayer answered, finishing his third one. A small smile tugged at the side of his lips.
“Hey!” Tanjiro whined.
It really did smell incredible, the sent of furikake blessing their noses. “Such high praise. Don’t flatter him too much,” Gyomei joked, taking a bite. He hummed in satisfaction as the delicious flavor hit his lips. “It’s wonderful, Young Kamado.”
“Really?!”
A whine of protest left Genya when his hand was slapped away from the plate. Muichiro gave him a death glare, casually chewing on his own meal. “Hey, you little shit, what gives?!”
“Language,” Gyomei scolded, finishing his rice ball after only the second bite.
“I’m seventeen! I’m not a baby,” Genya grumbled, trying to reach for another, only to be smacked again.
The stone pillar was allowed, however. He picked up two with ease of access by Muichiro. “Precisely. You must set an example for your subordinates.”
“Yeah, Shinazugawa, watch your language. There’s young ears present,” the blue-eyed boy ordered in a casual voice. He hummed happily. “Tanjiro, these are yummy.”
“Hey! You may be my superior, but you’re still three years younger than me. Don’t you go ordering me around.”
“Oh yeah?” The mist pillar hummed. “Which of us is the hashira again?”
“You little—!”
Gyomei exhaled, preparing to step in, but instead of hearing Genya screaming from Muichiro easily overtaking him, it was Muichiro that made noise instead… laughter?
“Agh! Hehehehehey!” yelped the mist hashira as Genya sat on his waist, tickling his sides. “Whahahat ahahahare yohohou dohohohoing?”
“Waaaaah! Tokito is ticklish? Ha-ha! Soo cute!” Tanjiro hummed with that bright smile.
“I may not be a hashira, but I am a big brother, so I know a great way to make bratty kids shut their mouths!”
“How rude! Genya, you should not speak to Tokito that way!” Tanjiro scolded.
“Oh well.”
“Gyeheheheahahahaha— Gehehehenyahaha!”
“Tokito!”
“Yohohou’rehehe suhuhuch a— NONONONOHOHOHOHO! NAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHERE!” Muichiro squealed out. Genya’s working fingers had gone up and begun to attack his ribs with pinpoint accuracy. “GAHAHAHA! GEHEHEHENY—EHEHEHEHE! GEHEHEHENYAHAHAHA!”
The smaller Shinaguzawa gaped at the younger boy with a bright smile. “Wo-hoah! I must’ve found a great spot, huh? Tickle tickle tickle, Tokito!”
The hashira tossed his head back against the mats, squirming to try to break free. No matter how he twisted, Genya’s iron grip kept his body pinned to the floor.
Gyomei felt a sudden weight against his side, and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t send a jolt through his body. How did he not sense it?
“Oh wow! He’s keeping Tokito pinned to the floor! Isn’t that impressive?” Oh. That’s why. Tanjiro holds zero bloodlust in his body, so of course he cannot sense him during these happy times. Nonetheless, he opened his arm and let the boy rest on him.
“Big bro taught me this one. You put your full weight into one area, and your body weight keeps the other person down no matter what they—“ A loud, squeal of pure ticklish agony escaped the youngest in the room when Genya’s fingers found his underarms. “I’ve used it on demons before; let me blow their heads clean off.”
Oh gods… Muichiro was in for it now. Maybe Gyomei would protect him from the inevitable, hellish torment he was about to endure.
“Tokito here is like super ticklish! I did the sitting trick, just like you taught me, and he totally lost it,” the younger Shinazugawa reported with a triumphant grin.
“Ticklish, huh?” Sanemi mused. He then blinked and looked at his little brother. “You were the one who found out? By showing him ‘the sitting thing?’”
“Yep! I put my full weight into my butt, and he was stuck on the floor! He laughs like a cute little— GYEHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHO!”
Tanjiro and Muichiro look up to see the wind hashira relentlessly murdering his baby brother with intense tickles. His heavy hands squeezed so gently at Genya’s hips, the boy thought he might die. Sanemi was seated atop of his brother’s lower back, effectively pinning him to the mats.
“Didn’t I teach you to respect your higher-ups?! Tokito here is a hashira; you ought to be ashamed for trying something so bold.”
“BIHIHIHIG BROHOHOHO, WAHAHAHAIT! IHIHIHIT WAHAHAHASNT BOHOHOHOLD!” Genya cried, trying to squirm out of Sanemi’s grip—or sit, in this case.
“Should’ve stopped and assessed. Surely, you know that whenever a situation arises where I can tickle my baby brother til’ he begs for mercy, I’m going to take that chance.”
“NOHOHOHO! IHIHIHIM SOHOHOHORRY! IHIHIHIM SAHAHAHAHARR—EHEHEHEHYAHAHAHAHA!” Genya croaked, struggling to catch his breath.
“You should be apologizing to Muichiro.”
“So this must be where he learned his technique from…! Mr. Shinazugawa is such a good older brother!” Tanjiro chirped from his position on Gyomei’s side, munching on another rice ball.
Gyomei could all but hear Sanemi’s malicious gaze flick toward the younger boy. He tightened his arm subconsciously. “Not while he’s eating, Sanemi. You know how dangerous that is.”
Meanwhile, Genya pressed his warm face to the mats, panting through residual laughter. “You are evil… absolutely devilish.”
“You call that evil? Oh, Genya. You’re still so naive…” With a quick turn of his body, the wind pillar pivoted, now facing the other side of his brother’s body. “Die.” Two, heavy, squeezing hands began to relentlessly squeeze at the backs of Genya’s thighs.
Tanjiro was glad Zenitsu or Mr. Uzui weren’t here… the loud screaming squeal that Genya let out was amusing, but ear-splitting.
“No way. You were so proud to tell me about your discovery. Now, these guys need to discover something about you too.”
“IHIHIHIHIHIHI CAHAHAHAHAN’T!! NOHOHOHO MOHOHOHORE!” Genya tried to move his legs, but the only moving he could do was his upper-body. If only he were like Inosuke and could move his bones around. “OHOHOHO GOHOHOHOHODS! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP STOP STAHAHAHAHAHAP”
“Oh man… he’s so cruel. Genya’s asked him to stop like three times now. He would make me pass out if he tickled me like that.”
“So you’re ticklish too, hm…? Interesting.”
A new voice entered their ears—well, as much as it could over the sound of Genya’s laughter. “What in the hell is that awful noise?”
“It’s called laughter, Iguro. I’m sure you’ve heard of it before,” Sanemi rebutted over his brother’s screaming mirth.
“No way. You’ve got an audience now; no way I’m stopping.”
Tears streamed down the poor boy’s face as he belly-laughed himself hoarse. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE!”
“Ohoho! Begging now? How low of you, Genya—“
“STAHAHAHAHAHAP! BIHIHIHIG B— SANEMI!”
Uh oh. That’s the signal for sure. The wind hashira immediately stopped his squeezing, running his hands over his baby brother’s legs. “Alright, alright, shut up… calm down.”
Genya gasped for air as he slumped against the floor. “Despicable… You’re—“ As Sanemi climbed off of him, he rolled onto his back, taking deep breaths from his stomach. “I’m— you’re—“
“Just hush and breathe, idiot,” the wind pillar murmured, putting a hand on his chest. When Genya was still gasping deeply, Sanemi frowned, helping to sit his brother up. “Breathe, Genya… There you go, moron.”
“Genya,” Muichiro’s voice sounded suddenly.
“W-What—? You better n-not be making some sm-smartass—“
“Your brother is terrifying. Keep him away from me.”
“Oh yeah. He’s super scary! I never want to come across him when he’s in a bad mood!” Tanjiro cried.
“He’s always in a bad mood,” quipped Muichiro.
“Haha! Very true!”
“Well,” Gyomei hummed. “It appears these two need to learn about respecting their higher-ups…”
“Gyomei,”
“Sanemi,”
Muichiro and Tanjiro’s laughter filled the room as Genya fully caught his breath. At least it wasn’t him this time…
