Elsewhere, Elsewhen - mhaxkny crossover fic

Wake Up

There was a noticeable bitter scent in the room. It smells like antiseptic and god awful artificial citrus scents that itched his nose. It smelled like sharp chemicals and a faint scent of fake sweetness that made his face scrunch up.

It lacked something familiar, something that he often takes for granted but was now something that can bring comfort.

It lacked the usual aroma of wisteria flowers right outside the window.

Tanjiro's eyes flutter open. He was met with bright fluorescent light, the type he only ever saw in a much more urban setting on his way to missions. It wasn't tinted yellow, it was a bright white that seemed to bathe the whole room with light. In fact, the ceiling above him was white, the walls were a very light pistachio color as well.

He focused on his other sensations.

He moved his finger tips, which twitched as he commanded, but everything felt heavy. His body doesn't feel that well rested. In fact he wanted to go under once more, but the unfamiliar place sparked a fight or flight response. His brain kicked him to be more alert.

He moved his arm, surprised to find it pinching with something. He turned his attention to the IV drip beside him, its large needle digging into his veins, supplying him with much needed nutrients while he was out. Tanjiro only ever had to experience it once, since according to Shinobu, IV drips weren't a commodity in their time. She hopes that in the future, medicine would advance enough for her to better save lives, but for now they have to make every equipment count since it wasn't cheap.

She only ever uses one when people are extremely injured.

Tanjiro must've been really injured during his fight with Muzan...

Wait...

"Muzan-?!"

Tanjiro was immediately assaulted by a loud beeping noise beside him. He turns to look at a box-like device with a screen showing lines. Every breath he took, sometimes the lines would follow.

He doesn't dwell on it and instead yanks the IV off his arm, yanks every weird thing connected to his body, hissing in pain as he yanks the blanket off of him.

He roughly throws himself off the floor, grunting in pain. He touched his forehead, surprised to find some gauze wrapped around his head.

He was assaulted with a steady single note beep that doesn't stop.

Where...?

The doors suddenly burst open. A strong scent of caffeine, ink (and a faint smell of cats) entered his nostrils as he looked up to see a gruff man looking down at him with a blank and calculating expression. His eyebrows furrowed a bit down, contemplating what to do.

(He smells worried. He smells angry, but not at him... He... He smells like his dad.)

The man looked tired, but he carried himself like a very experienced fighter. He has long unkempt black hair and black eyes that can pierce you with a single glare. He has some stubble on his chin. He wore this sort of bandage-like scarf around his neck that reminded Tanjiro a bit of Obanai.

Although the man paused to assess the situation, he didn't hesitate to drop down and support Tanjiro as he was in a vulnerable state.

But the eldest Kamado didn't let him.

Despite the fact that the man smelled and felt human...

Something tells him he isn't normal.

He isn't like Tanjiro.

For the first time he allows himself to be scared. He's in a new place with new smells. He doesn't know where everyone is, and he left Tomioka in the middle of fighting Muzan! He just left!