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Genya has known for a while that Tanjiro Kamado is the one he loves - or whatever label there is to describe his feelings. Tanjiro is kind, thoughtful, and to add to everything, he’s handsome. Genya is not ashamed of loving Tanjiro, he isn’t very secretive about it. Tanjiro is just too oblivious. However, the same thing can be said about Genya.
Tanjiro loves every little bit about Genya. He loves how soft he acts when he gets comfortable around people, he loves how Genya’s face scrunches with confusion when he’s confused in math or any of their shared classes. Tanjiro loves Genya’s smile and the way his laugh warms his chest. The only thing standing in his way is Genya’s older brother, Sanemi.
-
Sanemi didn’t know of either of their feelings. As he is harsh, as well as brash, he didn’t really pay attention to his little brother’s feelings, especially romantic ones. He hadn’t even considered him to be romantically interested
That was until Tanjiro had been coming over to their medium sized apartment every single day for the past month.
He had never really cared for his student. He often times found Tanjiro annoying and practically disliked him without any real reason. He found it.. odd that his brother had some interest in someone Tanjiro. Sanemi had realized -much to his disdain- that Genya had built a wall to protect himself. A harsh, rude wall that had been built because of their stupid ass father.
Their father, Kyogo, was an abusive, crazy, alcoholic, lunatic. He abused Sanemi and Genya’s whole family up until Sanemi was moved out and in college. After Sanemi had graduated and gotten the apartment he’s in now, was when Genya had moved in with him. Their dad had killed their family.
The family was in their car going to get some grocery shopping done. Kyogo was drunk while driving, already bad. He had gotten mad at something Sanemi’s mother had said and was driving erratically. Genya told Sanemi that he had begged Kyogo to calm down, but that only fueled his anger.
Kyogo had swerved off the road and their car flipped. Genya told him that their mom was the only one alive for a while. Genya said that he was crying a lot, that his mom was calm and talking him through everything, telling him it would all be okay. It wasn’t.
Genya was scarred to say the least. He didn’t eat or talk much when he first moved in with Sanemi. He was mostly in his room, sometimes he would sit next to Sanemi in the living room and watch TV with him. Sanemi tried many different ways to comfort his brother. Lay down in his bed with him, sit with him in silence, bring him out of his room and bake with him. It all lifted his spirit a little bit in the moment, but in the end he was still hurt.
After many, many months in therapy, along with the help of his new friends, he healed. It definitely took a while, but he’s the kind, happy kid he used to be, when he’s comfortable with you. Thankfully, his friends hadn’t given up on him after many harsh encounters, and Sanemi is very grateful for them to be helping Genya.
After the incident, Sanemi grew more protective of Genya than he already was. After he started getting suspicious of him and Tanjiro, he started to get stricter with him in class. One day he decided to ask him about it. About why he was seeing more of him than he wanted to. Why he was coming over every single day. Why he was spending more time with Genya than any other friend they have.
The bell rung, signaling the end of the day. Sanemi looked over at Tanjiro who was happily gathering his things, preparing to go to his locker. Sanemi had to do this quickly, before his younger brother showed up to his classroom, towing in the rest of his friends to hang out in Sanemi’s classroom before they went home.
”Kamado. Stay behind for a second,” Sanemi says, his voice stern. Tanjiro nods and Sanemi waits for the classroom to empty out. Once no more students are in the room, he gets up and closes the door. Sanemi walks over to Tanjiro’s desk and sits in the chair of the desk in front of Tanjiro.
”What did you need Mr. Shinazugawa?” Tanjiro asks, his voice as calm and gentle as it always is.
”What’s the deal with you and Genya?” “Sanemi asks giving him a look of suspicion. Tanjiro’s normal smile drops and his face bears a light shade of red.
”I- W-well..” Tanjiro stutters, trying to find a quick explanation for the sudden question. Sanemi now feels like he understands what’s going on with the two of them. Sanemi feels a rush of protectiveness run through his body. Logically, he knows he has nothing to worry about. Tanjiro is an amazing kid, perfect for Genya if he’s being completely honest. However, he’s still and older brother who wants to protect his younger brother. So for now, he’ll just.. lightly scare the kid.
”Ahh.. I see now. You guys like each other,” he states flatly. His eyes sharpen and he sees Tanjiro squirm uncomfortably. “Listen to me, and listen carefully. Genya will not be heartbroken over you. Ever. If he is, you don’t want to know what will happen,” Sanemi says lowly, staring into Tanjiro’s eyes.
“I would never! Genya is too precious for me to lose or hurt. He’s been through enough, I would never hurt him more than what has already been done,” Tanjiro defends himself quickly. Sanemi looks and Tanjiro closely, eyes squinting, trying to find any false impression in his words, finding nothing.
”Kamado, you better be telling the truth. When Genya decides he wants to tell me, we’ll have.. a deeper discussion,” Sanemi says as he stands up and goes back to his desk to grade papers. “You’re free to go,” Sanemi tells me Tanjiro. Tanjiro quickly gets up and starts making his way to the door.
”Are you coming over later?” Sanemi asks without looking up, his voice softer. Tanjiro looks over at him and smiles.
”Yes. Genya asked me to spend the night if that’s okay with you,” Tanjiro explains.
Sanemi hums. “..That’s fine. But you will sleep with the door open,” Sanemi says and glances up at Tanjiro’s once again flustered face. Sanemi lets out a quiet huff of amusement.
“Hey kid, what do you want for dinner?” Sanemi asks, not even thinking. Tanjiro looks at him surprised.
“Salmon daikon would be nice,” Tanjiro responds softly. Sanemi’s head turns at that.
”Giyuu’s favorite dish, huh?” he says out loud to himself.
”I didn’t know you and Giyuu-san were friends!” Tanjiro says excitedly and sees a faint hint of red on Sanemi’s face. “Ohhhh..”
Tanjiro chuckles and walks out of Sanemi’s classroom, finally walking to his locker and packing his stuff together.
A few minutes later Genya, Tanjiro, and all of their other friends (Nexuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Kanao) come filling into Sanemi’s classroom. Sanemi decides that he doesn’t want to grade papers and asks the kids what movie they want to watch. They bicker for a while until they decide on The Greatest showman. (Genya’s suggestion.)
Sanemi turns the lights off and turns his smart board on, turns the movie on and turns the volume up. The kids are talking while watching the movie and are on their chromebooks playing some game they’ve newly discovered.
He looks over at the group and he sees Tanjiro and Genya basically flirting with each other. They’re whispering to each other and laughing and being touchy with one another. Sanemi rolls his eyes and a small smile spreads across his face. His brother is lucky to have friends like these, and he’s lucky to have Tanjiro. Though he admits it begrudgingly, Tanjiro is a sweet kid. He’s not really bad, just annoying.
Sanemi continues to watch his brother and his friends interact, then he continues watching the movie.
‘You better treat his ass right Tanjiro.’