Everchanging

Grape Vine

!!TW!! Panic Attacks, slight mentions of vomit, Injuries/Fighting, Bullying, slight self-harm

Tanjiro, honestly, didn't know what to do. Something burning hot like vitriol seared his insides and everything in him wanted nothing more than to rip Gyutaro apart. And it was terrifying, how demanding and intimidating the emotion was. Tanjiro prided himself off of his maturity, protecting his friends in a safe and healthy manner. And, yeah, sure he slipped up every now and then, but it was nothing like this .

Looking at Gyutaro's bloody smile made Tanjiro want to hurt him, despite how well of a job Kaigaku was already doing. He listened to the gross snaps and cracks, fists meeting skin and something inside giving beneath its weight, and Tanjiro felt pleased. He felt vindicated, like Gyutaro deserved every bit of this and more .

And it was terrifying. It wasn't like him.

Tanjiro wondered if Genya felt this all-consuming rage when he had strangled Miyano. Had Genya been fearful of it as well?

Forcing himself to turn away from the brutal scene, Tanjiro made himself kneel beside his friend. Zenitsu was speaking in quick hushed tumbles that seemed to completely miss Genya entirely. He just shook his head, eyes pinched shut and his chest unmoving.

It was weird, how Genya liked to not breathe when he was having a panic attack. From what Tanjiro knew, panic attacks tended to include too much breathing. But Genya was holding his breath, hands cutting off his airflow. And Tanjiro wanted nothing more than to pull those hands away, but he was too scared to touch him.

"Genya, it's gonna be okay. We'll fix this." Zenitsu sounded like he was seconds away from begging his friend and something about the tone shattered Tanjiro's heart. "You have to breathe, Gen. You have to breathe."

Instead of a verbal response, Genya wetly choked as he leaned closer to the wall. Tanjiro quickly pressed his hand on the wall as a buffer, scared that his friend would try to hit his head. Both Tanjiro and Zenitsu turned at the sound of steps coming quickly closer, prepared to defend their friend but relaxing slightly when they saw it was just Inosuke.

Nezuko kept her distance, choosing to focus on steering other students away from the scene. But her bright eyes kept returning to her friend and her brother could recognize the heart-shattering emotion breaking through her teary eyes.

"I should fucking kill him. I would, I can." Inosuke muttered to himself, but surprisingly made no move to join the fight. Instead, he took a knee next to the heaving boy and shot the panicking blond a look. "Go stop your brother before he kills the bastard. Me 'n Tenjuro will handle Genya. No problem."

"Yeah...no problem." Zenitsu seemed hesitant but slowly rose, eyes staying on his crying friend for a moment longer. "He won't breathe."

"I know."

"He needs to breathe."

"Yeah, he does." Inosuke roughly patted his friend on the calf, jostling Zenitsu enough to take a deep breath and turn away. His big green eyes followed the blond for a few more seconds before they sharply turned back, and Tanjiro was honestly surprised to be awarded with a stare of his own.

They both looked scared, and it was funny for a second, but that realization was tossed away when Inosuke spoke.

"What do I do?"

"Huh?" That wasn't what Tanjiro was expecting and, to be frank, the question was a little disappointing.

"What do I do? I don't know how to fix this." Inosuke looked physically pained when he glanced down at the other boy, his hands minutely trembling as they grabbed the soiled green sucker and tossed it to the side. Tanjiro noticed how Genya's eyes followed the motion of the candy, lingering on where it fell for a few more seconds before shutting his eyes once more. "How do I fix this?"