Returning Home

Kamado Akina’s POV

“You really think Hashira Rengoku is still alive, Hashira Kamado?” Genya asks, his fingers still quietly pinching my haori, miles later, but I look over my shoulder to him. He continues to look to the ground, and I gently cup his chin to raise his face to me - my grip is careful not to close around him, my fingers and palm stay away from his mouth, I keep my heartbeat low, and my breathing even. “H-Hashira-”

“If Rengoku were dead, I would know.” I tell Genya firmly, staying into his bloodshot eyes, “I would feel it just as easily as I feel your skin against the palm of my hand, your fingers against my coat, the wind in my hair. I would know if he was dead.”

(-I swoop out from the corner, snatching Kyojuoro up, shrieking, into my arms, and he laughs as I place a giant, wet, lip-gloss-covered kiss on his temple. An iris blooms, then fades into his skin-)

“How?” Genya asks, and his lip wobbles, his eyes filled with tears. I place a kiss on his temple.

(Ah. A cherry blossom. That’s so sweet.)

“Let’s just say, Death can tie a deal - any deal - with a kiss.”

We walk from dawn until several hours after sundown, and I offer to carry Genya, but he looks nervous, so I make camp for us.

He falls asleep terrifyingly easily.

(When I get my hands on Sanemi, he won’t be able to walk for a year!)

“What would have happened to you? If I wasn’t around?” I gently brush a hand through Genya's hair, adjusting his blanket with the other hand. I sigh heavily as I settle down against a tree, but I don’t relax, keeping a sword on each side of me - within easy reach, their sheathes ‘unlocked’.

(Why the Western World insists on those stupid straps on everything, I have no idea, but it’s saved my younger siblings enough, that I’m not getting rid of them yet.)

I lean against the tree gently, far too exhausted and tense as I wait for the familiar presence to return. He’s been checking on us regularly for the past…three? Four? Hours. His paranoia has grown as much as mine has, apparently.

“Hello, Obito.” I murmur gently into the night, I hear a sharp inhale nearby, “Do you care to crawl out of whatever God-forsaken hiding place you’ve been using? Or do I have to drag you?”

“...well, at least the kid was fooled,” Obito grumbles, and his mask has changed, but it’s been over twenty years since I saw him last. I smile as he steps silently into the ring of firelight, and he moves the mask onto the top of his head, returning the smile sheepishly. “Hey, Akina-ane.”

Uchiha Obito’s POV

(I can’t risk telling her the truth.)

“Care to tell me why you’re stalking me and my son?” Akina asks casually, reaching into her backpack and dragging out more food. I settle down across the fire from her as she sets about warming it up for me.

“In my defense, your son looks an awful lot like one of those creatures Sensei and you used to use as ‘target practice’ and would tell me that if I ever saw one, to scream as loud as I can for you, specifically.” I deadpan as quietly as possible, knowing that she could hear me, regardless, but wary of her ‘son’. She raises an eyebrow at me sternly. “Akina, I watched one of those things try to rip your throat out with its teeth. Excuse me for being a little suspicious.”

“There are called demons for a reason, but Genya…we haven’t had time to talk about specifics, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he was turned by accident at best, if not against his will outright.”

(Oh, God.)

“Ironically enough, we probably fell through the same portal you once did,” Akina smirks a little, but her knuckles are white as she turns a tinfoil package over in the fire. “Poor Genya got a little freaked out over the effects of my migraine, and the other Hashira we were traveling with-”

“Hold up!” I hiss, my brain almost whiting out with pride and happiness and shock, “Which one of you is the Hashira!?”

Akina looks up at me and smiles-

I tackle my sister in a hug.

“OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod-” I gush as I remember what her Sensei - I only called him Sensei out of respect, honestly, I still respect the man - told me about the Hashira in their world. “You’re a Hashira?! Oh my God, Akina~”

I bury my face in her hair as my eyes well up, and she huffs a warm, affectionate laugh in my ear. She hugs me, warm and tight and it feels like all the broken shards in my chest get dulled - not quite healed, not quite shoved back together, but God, her hugs always make me feel so much better.

“What’s this Hashira’s name?! Maybe I can help!” I gush, and she laughs as we sit up, and I’m practically in her lap as she knocks our heads together. “I’m serious, Ane-chan! The last time I saw you, we were seventeen! Let’s do this! I could use the exercise!”

“Oh, I could totally see that!” Akina snorts, poking my stomach, and I look down, noticing my compression shirt is not helping my argument. “Just say you’re avoiding something, Tobi, I’ll help you ditch work if you’re that desperate. ‘Family Emergency’ isn’t too much of a stretch.”

I smile at her, but my stomach immediately flips.

(Kisame, Itachi, Sasori, Konan, and Pain all think I’m Madara. I don’t know what Deidara thinks ‘Tobi’s’ situation is, but I don’t think I could pull that off there, either. Zetsu is a hardass about this on the best of days…)

Akina gently butts her head against my jaw again, sighing quietly.

“What did you do?”

“...what are you talking about?” I ask nervously,

“You only get this kind of quiet when you’re in trouble - so what did you do?”

(Oh, shit.)

“...uh, n-nothing?” I attempt, and she raises an eyebrow. “Okay, but you’re going to have to be ready for a long explanation.”

“As long as it’s thorough, I don’t care how long it is.”

Akina gets fussy during the part with Madara, and I don’t understand why. It’s not like it was kidnapping, or holding me against my will, or…

(...could I have left?)

Shinazugawa Genya’s POV

I wake up, near dawn, to the smell of cooking food, and Hashira Kamado humming softly.

“Hashira Kamado?” I question as I sit up,

“You don’t have to use my title, and I don’t mind you using my given name, Genya.” She smiles at me warmly, I sniff again, but the strange smell remains. “Can you smell him?”

(Him?)

Hope blooms in my chest, unbound and bright-

“It wasn’t Rengoku, I’m sorry.” She apologizes, and it feels like a pit opens up in my stomach. “It was an old friend of mine, from my training days. Honestly, for a while, I thought he worked with Dr Tamayo, or with Ubuyashiki-san’s more scientifically-minded research division of Kocho-san’s Butterfly Mansion, but…ah…”

“But he’s here?” I frown, and she places a bowl of blood in my lap, a small, mysterious smile is on her face as she sits back. “Hash-ah, Akina? Wh-what is he doing here? You said we’re in a different dimension…”

“We are.” She smiles a little wider, I sip the blood, and it’s human. “And he knew.”

I drop the bowl, my entire body locking up as my fangs elongate - out of the corner of my eyes, I notice her catch said bowl, blood still inside it - and I feel panic grow in my chest, but she places a hand on my head and-

“Two birds on a wire~” Everything gets heavy, and the world seems to dim, “One tries to fly away~ And the other-”

I crumple mid-line, fainting in the middle of her lullaby.

“-ya! Genya!?” I groan weakly, but a warm, soft hand cradles my jaw, and I open my heavy, heavy eyes. “Genya?! Are you okay?!”

“Tired…” I groan, staring into worried brown eyes with mild confusion, “Wha’s wrong, Mom?”

She smiles briefly, but there’s a pinch mark between her eyebrows, and her cheeks are pale.

“I just meant to calm you, but you dropped like a sack of rocks under my Song of Illusion.” She sighs gently, pushing her hands under my back and my head to pull me back upright. “I was worried I’d killed you, Genya, I thought I’d put too much power into it-”

“‘Song of Illusion’?” I question, leaning into her heavily, still slurring, still sleepy, and she lets out a weak laugh as she gently kisses my forehead. “Mo-om!”

“Oh, Genya!” She laughs quietly, “You’re so adorable when you’re sleepy~”

“MOM!” I shout indignantly, and flounder, but it’s impossible to wake up when she’s hugging me and cooing like that and can I please just go back to sleep?! “I’m not adorable! I’m almost an adult!”

“Aw! Of course, you are~” She lifts me up and plants me in her lap, “Seventeen is practically an adult~ You’re so grown-up, Genya~ Soon I won’t be able to hold you anymore, please indulge a little bit more, won’t you?~”

“S-sure?”

(So warm…so soft…and we’re gonna be walking all day again, aren’t we…)

She wakes me up a little bit later, and - SOMEHOW - the entire camp has been packed up while I was sleeping. I don’t smell anyone else around us, but I’m still sitting in her lap, and I still smell breakfast, and we’re still cuddling?!

(This is why she’s the ‘Hashira of Death’ isn’t it?)

“Ready to get walking, son? Or shall I carry you to Konohagakure?”

“Akina!” I shout, heat flooding my face, she laughs and kisses the top of my head as she stands up. I feel my eyes go dinner-plate-size as I stare down. “Uh, i-is, is everyone in your family th-this…tall?!”

(There’s like, six to nine inches between my feet and the ground my head isn’t even level with her chin!)

“Aw~ Genya, don’t worry, I’m pretty sure you’ll be the tallest brother in our family.” She teases me but places me down gently, “I’m adopted too, after all.”

“You are!?”

“Why do you think there’s such an age gap between me and Tanjiro?” She questions, and I wilt slightly, immediately she looks gleeful, “Oh no, I WAS a problem child, don’t get me wrong, but they were also freshly married, and my mother had two jobs. Don’t  get that wrong, Genya!”

She laughs as we get our backpacks on.

“What did I get into?” I whine to no one in particular, with no significant regret, and she bounces over to thump me on the back strongly.

“Trouble and mischief and far too much spoiling, according to Tanjiro and Nezuko - but they’re biased.”