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( — EIGHT ; LEAVE HIM ALONE, MUICHIRO )
WHEN I saw Muichiro inflict violence on the kid, I immediately jumped down from the tree, earning a yelp from Tanjiro and a few scratches from the tree bark on my legs. I grabbed Muichiro's wrist before he could speak, and I glared at him with all my might. My eyes were rarely like this, but now they conveyed only one message:
If you hurt him, you hurt me.
"What're you doing?" Muichiro mumbled, and although his eyes were holding a bored expression, there was a spark igniting behind them. "You're protecting this kid? He's being a hindrance to my training, you know."
My lower lip trembled, and I forcefully shoved the kid into Tanjiro's arms. "P-Please...go away."
It must've been the crack in my voice, because the swordsmith child pulled Tanjiro away with him, ignoring his complaints.
"W-What're you doing?" I asked, trying so hard not to scream and thrash around at him. Seeing demons hurt people was one thing; seeing people hurt their own kind was a whole new level. I could never do this to my brothers, let alone any random kid.
"You literally let him get away. You're disrespecting a Hashira."
"Excuse me? In my eyes, you're just a cowardly prick who can't even remember anything in his life."
This time, it was either the sudden loss of my stutter, or the toxic things that I just spouted to my friend. My very best friend, who'd I watched train, live, remember, and — of course — the one I'd watch hurt a fellow human. He was overstepping his boundaries.
"Huh." I didn't realize how much coldness a single huff could contain, and yet, Muichiro's voice. . .sounded like it wasn't him at all. "Never knew the time would come when you didn't stutter at me."
He was completely missing the point here. I wasn't trying to pick an argument, only to stop one that was brewing so heavily. Why couldn't he understand that?
