𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒 ➪ 𝖨𝗇𝗈𝖳𝖺𝗇𝖹𝖾𝗇.

Wᴇ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ...

Here's a cute pic of Enmu <3 It means absolutely nothing to the story but I felt like including it. :)

𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲

Third Person Pov:

Zenitsu crouched down to a teary-eyed Tanjiro. Inosuke's harsh treatment was evident on Tanjiro's body.

"Should I just break your legs? That way you can never, ever run away again." Zenitsu said, slowly trailing his hand up and down the younger male's leg.

Tanjiro flinched at Zenitsu's touch. He tried to curl into himself as much as he could with his remaining strength.

"Oh? You don't like that idea? I don't really like it either. Maybe a few days in isolation would do you well."

Tanjiro froze up at the mention of isolation. He hated being alone. As much as he hated Inosuke and Zenitsu's presence, it was the only thing keeping him sane.

Usually, he's able to get out of isolation by being good, but since he tried to escape, they weren't going to let it go.

"You haven't had a punishment like that in forever, huh? Maybe while you're stuck in here, alone, you'll learn your lesson." Zenitsu grinned, knowing how bad Tanjiro's desire for human interaction was.

They knew just how bad being isolated would fuck Tanjiro up. But they weren't that mean.

They still have him a tray of food, through the slit in the door, at least one time a day. Two if they thought he deserved it.

"N-No! P-Please! I'll d-do anything! J-Just don't l-leave m-me here!" Tanjiro begged, using as much strength as he could weakly grasp onto Zenitsu's shirt.

Inosuke smirked from the doorway. He had been watching the whole encounter. He absolutely loved it when Tanjiro got out of isolation.

Tanjiro would stick close to them, rarely leave their side, do everything they asked him, and be more affectionate towards them. Which was always their favorite part.

"It's a little too late for that sweetheart. You had your chance to be a good boy and stay put but you took advantage of us and tried to escape." Inosuke teased, loving how close they were to breaking him mentally and physically.

Inosuke walked over to the duo. He crouched down beside Zenitsu so that he was facing Tanjiro. He admired the harsh marks he had put on the boy. How Tanjiro begged him not to hurt him.

"How many times do we have to tell you before you get it into your fucking head? You're never going to escape! We're never going to let you go!" Inosuke yelled, startling the tear-struck boy even more.

"W-Why? Why won't y-you just let me leave?! I don't want to be here! I want to go h-home!" Tanjiro sobbed, he was exhausted. Tired of their mind tricks.

Zenitsu laughed while Inosuke's face displays a large grin.

"Why, you ask darling? Because we love you! We don't want you to love anyone else besides us. Which is why we had to take you and lock you up far away. So that you could learn to love us as we love you!" Zenitsu explained a love-struck expression now forming on his face.

"I'll never l-love you disgusting b-bastards." Tanjiro spat out, hatred growing as their sick faces. "I'll n-never love y-you after what you've done to me! Y-You took them away from me! Every last one of them! Do you bastards hav—"

SLAP

"Watch your fucking mouth. You think you can talk all that shit, huh? Yeah, we killed them, so what? What are you going to do?" Inosuke mocked, harshly gripping Tanjiro's face as he dug his nails into the bruised skin.

Zenitsu got up to prepare the room. Leaving Inosuke and Tanjiro to their own devices.

"Nothing. You could only do nothing but watch. You're really pathetic. They died because of your stupidity. We didn't kill them, you did." Inosuke said as he watched Tanjiro tremble before him, watching as he forced those words into Tanjiro's fragile mind.

"It's you're fault that they died."

"It's because you're too weak."

"Stupid."

"Naive."

"Poor little Tanjiro. Could only watch in shame as his friends were killed off. One by one."

"Them screaming at you to help them. Save them. But all you could do was sit there, watching them die. Pathetic."

Inosuke's harsh words repeated over and over again in Tanjiro's head like a broken record. He tried to remember it wasn't his fault but his broken mind couldn't do anything but take in those words.

"S-Stop! P-Please! I-I didn't mean to! It wasn't m-my f-fault! Stop!" Tanjiro begged, the voices getting louder and louder. Overpowering his voice.

"You didn't mean to what? What happened, baby? You can tell me." Inosuke asked softly. It was as if a switch was pulled and Inosuke turned into a whole different person.

"I-I didn't m-mean to! I— I-It's all my fault! My fault. My fault. My fault." Tanjiro scratched at himself. Nails digging into his skin as he tried to rid the memories flooding his head.

"What's your fault, baby? What did you do?" Inosuke's voice held faux care but, Tanjiro was too far gone to turn back.

"I-I was s-scared! I-I w-wanted to h-help them but I-I couldn't! A-And they w-won't s-stop! It h-hurts! They w-won't s-stop! M-Make them s-stop please!" Tanjiro whimpered, blood trailing down his arms.

Inosuke already knew how bad the boy's mental state was yet always pressed on and on until he couldn't handle it. He knew that 'they' were the supposed 'voices' that Tanjiro keeps hearing.

This wasn't the first time but it was way worse than any other time.

"Shh...shhh. It's alright, baby. We're here okay? How about we call off your punishment for another time okay? Instead, we'll run you a nice bath and you can sleep with us today, okay?" Inosuke soothed the boy as much as he could. He was actually starting to feel bad at this point. Which was pretty rare for him.

"Just let me go tell-"

"D-Don't l-leave! D-Don't l-leave m-me!" Tanjiro chanted over and over. Grasping onto Inosuke's pants leg.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. I'm not going to leave you. I'm right here. I'll take you with me okay? We have to go upstairs anyway." Inosuke said, gently lifting the bruised Tanjiro. Taking him bridal style up the stairs.

"You know we love you right? You know we only do this because we love you right?"

It took Tanjiro some time to process his words before he faintly responded.

"I...k-know," He mumbled. Because deep down he knew he could never escape. Never leave them. He knew that deep down he'd have to accept his fate one way or another.

The question is, will he take the hard way or the easy way?