Sanemi sighed for the umpteenth time since having woken up. Rather than going back to the ex-hashira's dwelling, he had decided to cut short to the chase and drag the father-son duo directly to the corps' headquarters.

Easier said than done.

The brat had spent the first couple hours constantly screeching, not minding if he scratched the same hands that held him. And boy did those heinously long nails hurt. The only thing that had made him shut up was a mumble from the unconscious man draped over Sanemi's back. Sanemi was deadass stupefied; all it took was one random noise and the brat shut his trap.

Of course, Sanemi wasn't a heathen so he cleaned the wet face with his sleeve lest the idiot catches a cold and poses even more issues for Sanemi. He would rather deliver these two as quickly as possible so he could go back to his estate and fucking have time to register just what bizarre circumstances he was stuck in.

The kid, Nagi if Sanemi remembered correctly, but why the fuck give two shits for a demon anyway, wiggled around in the little pouch the wind hashira had fashioned out of a blanket he had found strewn about amongst the foliage, along with some other stuff he guessed had been what Tomioka had packed away for his stupid shenanigans.

"What the fuck, stop doing that!"

Yet the idiot demon didn't stop, becoming fussier and nearly causing him to tumble out and down to the ground.

No one could blame Sanemi if he nearly stabbed the idiot to death and be done with this shitfest. He hadn't signed up for babysitting Muzan's spawn.

And that was another thing that deeply troubled Sanemi.

Apparently Tomioka, a dude as far as Sanemi was aware somehow had a kid with Kibutsuji Muzan, also a dude. He just couldn't quite wrap his head around the biology of it all, much less why the fuck Tomioka Giyuu? Was there something he wasn't aware of? Was Tomioka secretly a chick? Or was Muzan? Now that seemed even weirder. Why would the progenitor of all demons grab Tomioka of all duds around to fu- nah uh uh Sanemi wasn't gonna tarnish his brain cells with the imagery.

He was brought out of his conspiracy theorist mode by the sound of an arriving cart. Looking down at himself and his bloody luggage he wondered if the cart person would even bother stopping, much less let them on his cart. They certainly painted a sinister picture.

He freed one hand from under the kid's sling-pouch, letting the cloth dangle solely from his neck and shoulder, and signaled for the cart to stop.

Luckily, it did. But the looks the middle-aged man was sending the lot of them was nothing less than suspicious.

Before Sanemi could bring himself to speak, the man cut in, "I'll drop you lot at the nearest town and nowhere else."

Weird, but not like Sanemi minded. They would just have to walk for a few hours from there. So he nodded, thanking the man.

Turning his back to the back of the cart, he lowered the deadweight off his back and onto some hay to cushion still-alive-Tomioka's descent. Once the other man was situated, he pulled himself up, taking care not to jostle the demon spawn too much. He would rather not have to hear those wretched cries ever again, thank you very much.

When he was satisfied that no one and nothing would tumble down off the cart, he gave a nod to the man who urged his horses to begin the journey.

And off they went.

Resting his tired back against a bale of hay, Sanemi mindlessly looked at the squirming bundle blowing spit bubbles by his side, looking all too entertained by the moving motion of the cart. Next, his eyes fell on his adult companion, who hadn't given any indications of waking up any time soon.

Well, better lug his weight on his back than having to go on another chase after the crazed duo, Sanemi thought tiredly. This was way too fucked up for him to sanely comprehend. A squeal jerked him out of his semi-relaxed state, his eyes immediately darting towards the kid who somehow had a butterfly sitting on his forehead. In autumn.

"What the…you know what? I'm done. Fuck it, do whatever crazy bullshit you want, I don't care."

He watched as the brat took his chubby fist and crudely attempted to, what appeared to Sanemi, grab the little insect. All that he managed to do was smack his own face.

Sanemi would deny the surprised snort of amusement that left his nose vehemently.

"What an idiot,"

He attempted again, this time nearly crushing the poor insect if not for Sanemi rescuing it first.

Nagi whined, waving his arms up in the air to try and hold whatever was up there, his eyes uselessly moving around.

"Is he your son?"

Sanemi jerked in surprise, again. He was way too keyed up from all the bizarreness he had experienced in the past twenty-four hours. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't even reply to the man before the other continued on, "How old is he? He sounds really active back there. Or is the kid a she? Ah, when my daughter was this small it was always a fun game with strangers who tried to guess the gender, she was so precious back th-,"

"Ah, no!"

"Hmm?"

"He is not my kid,"

The man nodded, making a humming sound, "Your companion's then?"

"Yeah, his son, yeah,"

"Sorry if it's out of place but, what happened? Do I need to take you to the guard station?"

Sanemi could feel the suspicious tone coating the sentence from a mile away. It was no wonder he was being thought of as a possible kidnapper-robber, maybe a murderer. Thank you scars.

"Oh thank you but we will be fine,"

"Hmm really?"

"Yeah, some people are expecting us,"

"I see,"

And the rest of the journey was spent in a terse, awkward silence punctuated by random soft snores from the napping baby.

By the time they reached the nearest town, it was already way past lunchtime. Nagi had woken up hungry, and cranky with a dirty diaper to boot. Luckily, or unluckily depending on the parties involved, Tomioka had woken up barely five minutes after the cart-man deposited them on a street near the center of the town, smack dab in the middle of the busiest area and left while sending meaningful looks towards Sanemi.

The moment Tomioka had woken up the first thing he did was literally scream as if someone had pressed the resume button on his body. The scream had, of course, set off the little heathen lying in the sling across Sanemi's torso, who began sobbing loudly.

The looks the people gave them had Sanemi dragging the two away to a somewhat secluded area, which just so happened to be a bench in an emptied out park. Tomioka was still breathing heavily, holding his dirty diapered, smelly baby as close to him as physically possible.

That sent a dull pang in ringing in Sanemi's chest, old memories trying to resurface that he ruthlessly squashed down before they ensnared him. "You should probably change his diaper,"

Tomioka looked at him with positively wet eyes, and Sanemi was loathed to admit that he would rather have the indifferent asshole back than seeing him look so- no time to be sappy. He thrust the bag towards the other man who took it with a trembling hand.

Sanemi stood to the side and watched as the other cleaned and changed the kid with practiced motions, quickly wrapping up the dirty diaper and dumping it in a trashcan that was conveniently situated right behind the bench.

That only left one target to achieve, food.

Looking at the impressive dark blue and black splotches covering huge expanses on Tomioka's neck, and the dirtied bandage Sanemi had haphazardly wrapped across his head to soak up the draining liquids from his ear; he didn't think the other would be able to ingest anything more than soup. Before the ex-water hashira could even begin to protest, Sanemi picked up the kid and motioned for the man to follow, "Quickly eat up something, we still have a fairly long distance to cover. I ain't risking you attempting another escape so he stays with me."

Sanemi ignored the hurt look aimed his way and began walking towards the exit, albeit slowly to let the other not feel like he was kidnapping his brat.

Sanemi was considerate like that. Hmph.

Giyuu wanted to cry.

He was tired, he was in pain, had thought his son had been killed, and now his Nagi was right there in front of him yet he wasn't allowed to hold him. He listlessly followed the white-haired man through the dense crowd, not letting him out of his sight.

He had become too used to the comfort and safety Urokodaki sensei had provided him and his son that he had nearly forgotten what it felt like to live in constant fear of death, that any moment his son would be snatched away from him and all he would be left with will be some handful of happy memories to remember the child by.

He twitched in surprise when a hand firmly gripped his wrist and pulled him away from the path of an oncoming horse cart, "What the fuck Tomioka, watch where you're going,"

The hand remained where it was even after the cart had safely driven past them, tugging him along through the crowded street and into a little eatery. The man behind the counter gave them a once over, looking a bit dubiously at them but nonetheless motioning towards an empty table near the counter. Giyuu let himself be guided towards the seat, the hand finally letting go when Sanemi, surprisingly enough, gently pulled Nagi out of the sling and plopped him down on the table in front of Giyuu.

Simply looking at the little curious face had Giyuu feeling so blessed. He caressed his son's cheek with his hand, letting the child recognize him from the scent of his hand and feel of his familiar hand. At once Nagi squealed with joy, waving his hands in the air till finally, he felt the two familiar guiding hands lead him towards the familiar face of his father. He traced his face with his hands, babbling happily. When Giyuu felt one of Nagi's hand inching a bit too close to the possibly dirty bandage, he gently guided him away.

Right then, Nagi sneezed. Right in Giyuu's face. Quickly followed by another one.

Giyuu was half sure he had heard a snort coming from their companion but deemed it too improbable to be true; must be his ruined hearing ability right now.

He rummaged through the bag before pulling out a cloth napkin, woolen beanie, and a bib. He would rather not have to change Nagi's clothes out in this cold weather without a proper bathroom.

"Oi, Tomioka, which one do you want?"

Giyuu looked behind Nagi and at the wind hashira who was showing him the soup menu. He simply pointed at the coconut corn one, getting a nod of acknowledgment from the other.

Oh, would you look at the rare sight, the ever so intimidating wind hashira was being so considerate to the person he claimed to hate the most.

"And the brat? Can he even eat normal food?" Again, Giyuu found the whole expanse of the menu in front of him, and he pointed at the boiled egg. Sanemi relayed the message to the man behind the counter who headed back into what must be the kitchen area.

Giyuu got occupied with getting Nagi situated, cleaning his face and making him wear warmed outer clothing. The baby, as all babies do, became instantly whiny the second he felt the wool beanie on his head. To distract him from potentially throwing the garment in their food, Giyuu tied the little anklet with the tinkling bell on his ankle, letting the kid entertain himself.

Nagi, his insanely adorable baby, was enamored by the fun sound that rang whenever he made his leg moved. He held onto Giyuu's sleeve in one tiny fist while with the other he tweaked the little bell around, giggling.

Soon their food was on their table and while his soup cooled down to drinkable temperature, Giyuu mashed the boiled egg for Nagi to eat. While they were staying with Urokodaki sensei, Giyuu had started slowly experimenting with the dietary limits Nagi had. Till now they had discovered that any kind of plant-produce sickened Nagi, after a particular incident with mashed potatoes, but animal produce or mixed ones were in marginally safe territory.

Perks of being only fifty percent demon, he guessed.

By the time their late lunch was done with, it was nearing three p.m. Sanemi stood up first, conveying his obvious intention of being the one to carry Nagi by slinging on the carrying pouch. Giyuu, obviously displeased but understanding, placed a gentle kiss on his son's forehead before lowering him down, not letting go till he was a hundred percent sure his baby was comfortable. As a last measure, he placed a pacifier in his mouth, inwardly cooing at the cute bobbing motions.

The three left the eatery to less crowded roads, but still noisy enough to worsen the painful ringing in Giyuu's head. He vaguely heard Sanemi grumbling and cursing something along the lines of "bothersome idiots" before he was forced to sit down on the bench outside the eatery while Sanemi rummaged around the bag for something. Soon Giyuu felt something wrapping around his head, effectively muffling the loud ruckus of the busy market as well as providing some relief from his pounding headache.

He opened his eyes to come face to face with the sleepy face of his son in the sling while the other man was still busy tying up whatever he had found in a secure knot. Once done, Sanemi stepped back, motioning for Giyuu to stand up and follow him.

It took him a few seconds to get used to the sudden weight but it was a small adjustment when compared to the immense relief it brought him.

And oh would you look at that, the hand was back on his arm, pulling him along.