Seafoam and plum

Hug

Genya looked down at Muichiro, whose face was hidden.

"Uhhm, are you ok? Was that you?"

"Yeah... sorry."

Now Genya was freaking out. Why was Mui crying? Was it something Genya did? Yes, it had to be. What did he do wrong though? Mui was just thanking him for the paper airplane. Was that the problem? He had no idea.

"...what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. It's just been so long since I last had a hug."

That kind of broke Genya's heart. Poor guy. Genya hadn't had a hug in a long time either, but he wasn't exactly the hugging type. Muichiro definitely seemed like it, though.

"When was the last time?"

"Four years ago."

Wow, that was much longer the he expected. No wonder Mui was as sad as he was.

"I'm so sorry. Not even your family has hugged you?"

As soon as he said it, he felt instant regret. What if his family was abusive? Genya never wished he could take something back more, other than what he said to his brother all those years ago.

"......"

".....my family is dead."

Genya wanted to die.

Right then and there.

What a mistake that question was. Of course his family was dead! He had heard that the only hashira to have a living family were Rengoku and Kanroji, and the only hashira to have a good relationship with their family was Kanroji.

"I'm sorry. That's terrible."

"Yeah, but I'm so grateful for you. Thank you so much for bringing me here, and making me feel happy again."

That was definitely not what Genya was expecting. It might've even been more surprising than what Mui had said earlier. Genya felt his face grow hot.

"I-uh... thanks. Um, actually...."

Genya felt it was only fair to tell Mui about his past, or at least some of it. He hadn't ever even told Tanjiro the whole thing, especially not about his brother.

"I lost my siblings and mother about eight years ago now. Not that it would make you feel any better, but I at least have an idea of where you're coming from..."

"Really? You didn't have to share that with me, you know. I appreciate your bravery."

"Well, it's only fair. I'm glad I could help."

"Hey, at least we're tied now for just breaking down and crying randomly." Muichiro sniffed, then smiled.

"Yeah, I guess we are." A rare smile softly spread across Genya's face.

Genya told him a little bit about his brother, and how he could be hard to get along with, and Muichiro told Genya about his brother, and his past. The two boys bonded over a shared background, and Genya felt closer to someone than he had ever felt before.