Chapter Text
Perhaps Tengen’s favorite part about being married to three beautiful women was the frequency he gets to brag. Whether it was public displays of affection or telling stories about their prowess, Tengen took every opportunity to make those around him jealous. His fellow Hashira were no exception.
Ignoring the exasperated look on Gyomei’s face and the irritation on Sanemi, Tengen takes his time saying goodbye to his girls, alternating between lifting them into bear hugs and scattering kisses on their faces. The bright afternoon at the mansion shrouded in sunshine and laughter, he almost forgets he’s here for a meeting.
Tengen starts to pull away, smiling at his wives. “Wait for me inside, alright? This meeting should be a quick one.”
He places a kiss on Hinatsuru and Makio’s lips while Suma holds him tighter, refusing to let him pull back. Tengen chuckles at his wife's antics, a knowing look on his face. No matter how far he had to go or how long he had to go away, Suma always dragged her goodbyes to keep him from leaving. She would latch onto him as he got out of their bed, or hang around his neck before he could take off on a mission. Ever the good husband, Tengen would always indulge her reassuring words and kisses, holding her that little bit longer to calm her fears.
Tengen wraps his arms around Suma and kisses her forehead, whispering in her ear. "This won't take long, Suma. I promise."
Satisfied, Suma pecks his lips and finally lets him pull away. Tengen walks to the garden, looking back one last time to blow them a kiss. The girls respond in kind, waving at him before going inside the mansion to keep the master’s wife company.
Tengen shakes hands with Gyomei and lifts Kanae into a hug, ignoring Sanemi's irritated face and Giyuu’s dead one. He’s excited they’re all back in one piece for their meeting.
“Tengen!” Kanae laughs as she returns to her feet. “How have you and girls been? I know you’ve had to cover more ground with Shinjuro’s absence.”
The comment sobers Tengen a little. Shinjuro lost his wife to illness years ago but never recovered from the loss. Of everyone, Tengen sympathizes with him the most. His wives are with him most of the time, but the moments they're apart leave him an anxious mess. The thought of them not coming back from a mission? Of losing them in a situation he was powerless to stop?
Tengen shakes off the thoughts and grins at Kanae, more than happy to talk about his girls. “We’ve been okay! Between the four us, we’ve been able to cover plenty of ground. Demons are growing more accustomed to the cities, so we’ve had the best luck focusing our efforts there.”
“Is that so?” Kanae hums. “I should start to investigate settlements more often then. There’s some remote villages and temples in my area, probably good places to start.”
“Oh before I forget, here’s that map of hot springs the girls made for you. The ones in red are the ones we liked the most.”
Kanae takes the map with a thank you and walks over to Sanemi, questioning him about his latest scar. Tengen looks at them with interest before looking at Giyuu, who shrugs off the interaction. Tengen scoffs, turning back to look at the couple.
Regardless of how heartless Sanemi appears, he knows the flower Hashira has won his heart. If anyone knows the look of a lovesick fool, it’s him. While Kanae can certainly handle herself, Tengen still thinks of her as a sister and watches the developing relationship closely. He and Sanemi may not see eye-to-eye, but he knows he has a soft spot for their fellow demon slayer. Unfortunately, until he proves it, his bet with Giyuu is still on.
Tengen takes his seat beside Gyomei and notices Hinatsuru walking past the open shōji, carrying one of Kaguya’s youngest children on her hip. She realizes he’s staring at her and smiles, grabbing the little girl’s wrist and mimicking a wave. The white-haired girl peeks at him shyly from Hinatsuru's shoulder, giving a little wave to everyone before hiding her face completely. The innocent gesture causes Tengen’s heart to flutter in his chest, a blush covering his cheeks as he waves and Kanae coos at the display.
Tengen sighs as they finally walk out of view, somehow happier than when he arrived. 'I can’t wait to give that to them one day.'
Composing himself, Tengen begins to talk to Gyomei about his latest battle with a lower moon when Sanemi interrupts him.
“Hey!” Sanemi shouts. “Why do you keep bringing them with you?”
Tengen shrugs uncaring, not really in the mood to argue. “If you’re jealous you can say it.”
"Jealousy got nothing to do with it.” Sanemi scoffs. “Have them make their potions and stay home.”
The mood in the garden changes, suddenly much colder. Justifying his decision to bring his wives on missions isn’t usually something he has to deal with, at least not among his peers. Theirs is a rare circumstance, one that Tengen is sure would have a more traditional person like Sanemi on edge. Tengen knows that Sanemi’s comment comes from a place of concern, even if Sanemi is trying to rile him up on purpose. His girls may not be Kanae, but that does not mean they're not good fighters. Hinatsuru was one of the best in their village even at a young age, and she trained Makio and Suma well to develop them into better kunoichi.
Trying his best not to overreact, Tengen glares at Sanemi and responds calmly. “My wives do more than make poisons, Sanemi. They fight by my side. The girls do better than many of our higher ranking members, and they aren’t even officially slayers.”
Sanemi ignores the anger rolling off Tengen and prods further. “Horseshit. You drag them around like accessories. You're gonna end up getting them killed.”
“My wives and I have fought as a team for years. You doubt I can protect them?”
"I’m saying you can’t be a demon slayer and play honeymoon at the same time. It only takes once and suddenly we have another Shinjuro.” Sanemi says, rolling his eyes
"Sanemi!" Kanae scolds. Mentioning their still grieving comrade was a low blow.
Tengen clinches his fist, and his vision goes red. In reality, he knows this life could kill them at any moment, but no less than the life they were living before. At least now they don’t feel like they have the throw their lives away for nothing or some insane need to die for a mission. He would never allow them to. Sanemi’s accusation that he can’t protect his girls, regardless of the reason, finally wears at his patience. Tengen moves forward quickly, ignoring Gyomei's attempt to hold him back.
“I’d never but them in danger!” Tengen shouts.
“Sanemi, Tengen-“ Gyomei warns.
Kanae looks between them concerned as Gyomei tries to deescalate the argument. His gentle voice does nothing to calm a seething Tengen, already walking toward Sanemi with the intent to kill. Sanemi refuses to back down, digging right where it hurts.
“Oh forgot. You’d save your little whores before any citizen. What kinda of-“
Sanemi doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before Tengen punches him in the jaw. Blood splatters onto the rocks as Sanemi staggers.
“Don’t you EVER call my wives that you understand?!" Tengen yells. "Corps rules be damned I’ll rip you apart!”
Sanemi wipes the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and steadies himself, pausing for a second before he charges, knocking Tengen to the ground. Tengen blocks his punches and headbutts him, his headband connecting with his nose. Sanemi falls back and Tengen lands on top of him, getting in a couple more punches before Sanemi kicks him in the stomach, knocking him off.
“Boys!”
Gyomei forces Tengen away from Sanemi by his collar, nearly throwing him to the ground. Tengen steadies himself and tries to reach Sanemi again but this is held back by Gyomei.
Kanae goes to help Sanemi up, but he pushes her away as he gets up on his own, spitting blood onto the ground. He readies a retort when Gyomei claps his hands once, bringing the garden to silence. The force causes both of them to recoil and ignore each other for the moment.
“Enough.” Gyomei booms. “Let us get through this meeting so we can adjourn. You can settle you differences later. Off mansion grounds.”
After separating them, Kanae and Gyomei ensure that the meeting goes forward without incident. If Master Ubuyashiki heard or cared about their fight, he didn’t mention it, letting them give their status updates while he listened patiently.
Tengen flexed his bruised hand and sighed. Even if he avoided a scolding from the Master, there was no way his wives hadn’t heard the commotion. Kaguya is a married man and knows that any scolding he could have done Hinasturu, Makio, and Suma would easily match. Tengen noticed Sanemi adamantly avoiding looking at Kanae, who was glaring daggers at him.
Reasons aside, both had some explaining to do.