Archive of Our Own ^beta

It’s December.

In the past Zenitsu used to dread this month every time it rolled around. In fact, he downright hated it. You see December meant Christmas and Christmas meant decorated trees, sparkling lights, catchy festive songs and colorfully wrapped presents. Now, Zenitsu didn’t dislike any of those things, he thought the lights were pretty, some of the songs even sounded nice and who didn’t like getting presents? What he despised was the way couples seemed to appear out of the woodworks every time this month popped up on the calendar.

So many couples! Too many!

They were everywhere this time of year, holding hands, acting lovey-dovey, going on cutesy Christmas dates, kissing under mistletoes and laughing as they exchanged gifts. It was torture watching people get filled with that fluffy fluffy pink aura of love. Zenitsu hated it; he’d foam at the mouth every time he saw the red and green tinsel get put up in the mall signaling the start of the holiday.

True, Christmas wasn’t as bad as Valentines but it was still pretty darn horrible! Especially for people who were single and alone! What was the point of mistletoe if you had no one to kiss! Why were there so many cafes having couple discounts!? And don’t get him started on those cutesy matching Christmas sweaters!! Did everyone think it was fun to shove their relationships in his face!? Awful! Terrible! He should just burn all those fancy sparkling Christmas trees down to the ground! Turn them all to ash! Leave nothing behin-

Ahem.

As was mentioned, in the past Zenitsu used to hate this month, dreaded Christmas.

But now in the present...now he is eagerly awaiting for the holiday to arrive!

Why might you ask? Well, the answer is simple, this year Zenitsu isn’t going to be alone, hiding under his covers and crying over having no one to kiss, whining about why the world hated him. No more binge eating by himself, stuffing cartons of ice cream and Kaigaku’s hidden pudding cups in his mouth (an act that would lead to a terrible beating afterward but hey, Zenitsu needed his comfort food). No more pain, no more suffering!

This year Zenitsu has a lover! How it happened he doesn’t know, but he has a person to celebrate the holiday with and that person is Tanjirou Kamado, a boy with a cute smile and the most beautiful heartbeat he has ever heard.

Truthfully, if Zenitsu were being honest, he used to think that he would be spending this holiday with a pretty girl, someone petite and adorable but the universe apparently had other plans. After a sexuality crisis that made Zenitsu realize, hey guys are hot too, the boy who feared he would be forever alone finally has a boyfriend. The world works in mysterious ways. Not that Zenitsu is complaining, he has someone to kiss, cuddle, and hold hands with, he is off the single list! Now he can enjoy the holidays without burning every mistletoe he sees in sight!

Yes, this Christmas will definitely be the best one yet! It will be amazing! Spectacular!

Nothing can go wrong!

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Zenitsu wakes up in the morning in a good mood. It is the start of December and instead of feeling that familiar sense of dread Zenitsu gets out of bed with a pep in his step. Christmas is coming and he is filled with nothing but excitement. Nothing can bring his mood down, not even waking up at the crack of dawn to go to school to put up a bunch of extremely heavy and way too glittery decorations. Before he would have moaned and groaned the whole time (an action that earned him a few whacks from Tomioka-sensei) but now instead he’s humming along to catchy Christmas songs as he performs his student council duties (songs that gave him many strange looks from Murata but Zenitsu doesn’t care, he is full of that Christmas spirit!)

Yes, he is in a very cheery and wonderful mood, nothing can ruin his high!

It takes hours to hang everything up and after it’s all done Zenitsu wearily lays his head on his desk, trying to rest a bit before the first lessons start. Unlike other mornings, Zenitsu doesn’t have to do uniform checks today since he helped decorate the school hallways. This might have caused happiness for past Zenitsu but present Zenitsu feels a little bit sad about not doing his early morning job. No uniform checks meant not seeing Tanjirou in the morning, and though the boy always defied his no earrings rule, seeing Tanjirou’s smile right before school started always filled Zenitsu with energy. Ah, the power of love!

At least he gets to see Tanjirou during lunch. Maybe if he’s lucky Tanjirou will let Zenitsu rest his head on his lap if he tells him how tired he is from working so early in the morning. Hehe, just thinking about it is making him grin like crazy.

Today is definitely going to be a good day!

“Have you thought about what you’re going to get your boyfriend this Christmas?”

From a few desks away Zenitsu hears someone mention the holiday he’s been thinking about all morning. His attention caught, Zenitsu looks over, his eyes falling on two of his female classmates.

“Isn’t it too early to think about that?” One of the girls replies, the super cute Yui-chan.

“Totally not!” The ultra-cool beauty Hana-chan says back. “It’s best to start thinking now! After all, stores tend to sell out of stuff if you wait too long.”

Before Zenitsu would have done everything to block this conversation out of his ears but now the blond can’t help but lean in closer, totally not eavesdropping so he can better hear the two girls amongst the boisterous noise around him. Is this true? Does he really need to think about gifts this early? Is this the right boyfriend thing to do? This is his first serious relationship so he has to get everything right!

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe I’ll get him a new jacket, the one he has is kind of old. That or maybe some new gloves, his hands get cold a lot.”

How thoughtful Yui-chan! Not only are you cute, but you’re caring too! How lucky your boyfriend is (not that he’s jealous, no siree. Tanjirou was cute and caring too, a total package deal!)

“That sounds nice, I hope my boyfriend gets me something good this year,” Hana-chan says. “My last boyfriend gave me a terrible gift, it was so awful I immediately dumped him.”

Zenitsu freezes in his seat.

...What?

“Really? You dumped him over a Christmas gift?”

“Totally, like boyfriends need to pick out something heartfelt. He just gave me a pair of socks and they were orange, I hate that color. Like I could instantly tell he wasn’t giving this relationship his all.”

Zenitsu feels horror grip his insides. He’s too shocked to pay attention to the rest of the conversation (“That seems harsh, to get dumped over something like that...” “Well he was also cheating on me, so of course I gave him the boot.”) His mind whirls over this bit of new information and he feels dread and panic surround his heart, clutching it tight.

You can really get dumped for giving a bad gift? That can happen?

He hasn’t even thought of what kind of gift to give Tanjirou this year, in fact he has no clue as to what the other boy could want. What happens if he gets Tanjirou something he hates? Will he dump him the same way Hana-chan did to her ex? Oh, no!!

Will his two-month long relationship come to an end because of a crappy Christmas gift!?

Will he be alone again!?

Suddenly his earlier good mood plummets and thoughts of having a happy Christmas get flushed down the toilet in his brain.

Maybe this Christmas won’t be as great as he thought.

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Nonsense! The upcoming holiday will definitely be amazing!

It takes hours but Zenitsu finally feels the dread that made his stomach turn like an out of control washing machine dissipate as he makes his way to his usual lunch spot, bento box in hand. He needs to think positive thoughts! That’s right, positive! This year you have a boyfriend! And he’s super cute! You’re not single! Not alone!

Tanjirou is so nice there is no way he would ever dump him over a Christmas gift! Nope definitely not! Even if he gave Tanjirou a bad gift he’s sure the boy would accept it with a smile. Maybe he’d think Zenitsu is a bad boyfriend for getting him a gift he doesn’t like, but he wouldn’t dump him then and there. He’d probably just have lowered expectations about their relationship and as time went on he’d think it wasn’t worth the trouble being in a relationship with a boy who doesn’t even know how to properly give a gift to someone and-

NO. STOP. STOP.

Please, his good mood was starting to return. He doesn't need it spiraling straight into the ground again!

No more thinking about Tanjirou eventually dumping him because Zenitsu is a terrible gift giver, no more thoughts of ending up alone and having to spend another Christmas by himself! No more thinking about not hearing Tanjirou’s kind sound and not having Tanjirou by his side! No more! Stop!

“Zenitsu?”

Zenitsu blinks and looks up, meeting kind red eyes, seeing Tanjirou standing in front of him. He quickly looks around and notices that he has somehow made it to their lunch spot while he was lost in his head. When Zenitsu doesn’t reply, Tanjirou reaches for his hand and Zenitsu, still not used to being so casually touched, jumps a little face turning red.

“Are you okay?” Tanjirou asks, sounding worried. “You smell a little distressed…”

Zenitsu wonders what distress smells like, probably stinky and unpleasant. Zenitsu wants to smell nice to Tanjirou, a scent that makes the other boy want to keep him around, so he pushes his earlier thoughts away. Stuffs them down into his brain cabinet to freak out about later and puts on what he hopes is his best and charming smile.

“I’m fine,” Zenitsu says. He squeezes Tanjirou’s hand back and he hears the boy’s worry start to ebb away, “I’m just a little tired. Tomioka-sensei made me put up the school decorations early this morning. I nearly fell twice putting up those giant stars in the hallway! They were so heavy! It was awful!”

Tanjirou’s smile softens and Zenitsu melts at the fond look his boyfriend gives him.

“You did all that?” Tanjirou asks as he leads Zenitsu over to their little spot under the tree in the courtyard.

“Yep, well Murata and Aoi helped too, but I was the one who put all the gold stars on the ceiling!” Zenitsu replies. It was a tough job too, being on a ladder was scary! Especially one that was old and rickety! He should get ten times more credit for that, Aoi and Murata just had to put tinsel on the walls, totally an easy job.

“It looks amazing, you did a really good job,” Tanjirou says and the praise leaves Zenitsu giggling, a big grin on his face.

“It does look nice, doesn’t it,” Zenitsu says. “Tomioka-sensei better give me a day off for all the work I put in!”

Tanjirou laughs and gently helps Zenitsu sit down on the ground, his bento box already in their spot. There’s no one under the tree but them. Today is Monday, which means it is the day Tanjirou and Zenitsu eat alone, spending some quality time with each other before eating with their friends the rest of the week. It feels nice to be together like this especially after not seeing each other during the weekend. Tanjirou’s family bakery always got super busy during their school days off, work taking up all the redhead’s time. Though Zenitsu does miss spending time with his boyfriend he does love eating all the leftover sweets Tanjirou brings him for lunch the next day.

Thinking of those sweets makes Zenitsu’s mouth water and he expectantly holds out his hand. The redhead laughs at Zenitsu’s eager expression and opens up the small container next to his bento taking out the sweet of the day. It’s a strawberry cake roll and Zenitsu’s eyes sparkle as he looks at the cavity inducing treat. He immediately reaches for it ready to take a bite but Tanjirou pulls it away before he can touch it.

“Eat it after you finish your lunch,” Tanjirou says, always the responsible one. “And make sure to not scarf it all down at once, you gave yourself a stomach ache last time.”

Zenitsu pouts but does as his boyfriend asks and sets the cake roll to the side to be carefully and slowly eaten later. He opens up his bento full of last night’s leftovers and gives Tanjirou the parts he likes to eat. Tanjirou does the same with his lunch and after equal amounts of food are exchanged both boys dig in.

The lunch period goes by relatively uneventful (though Zenitsu’s heart does skip a beat after Tanjirou wipes some rice off his cheek, so caring!) and after it’s done Tanjirou lets Zenitsu lay his head down on his lap, the blond content and happy stomach full of rice, tempura, and roll cake goodness. Tanjirou runs his hand through Zenitsu’s blond hair and Zenitsu leans into the touch. Tanjirou’s petting is so soft and so gentle, if Zenitsu were a cat he’d be purring. Tanjirou’s fingers move to lightly massage his temples and all the earlier tiredness Zenitsu felt in his bones floats away.

Ah, being in a relationship is so great, Zenitsu can’t get enough of this bliss.

He closes his eyes ready to drift off for a little bit. Maybe he can take a short nap, just five minutes...

“Oh my gosh, look at this bracelet, I’m totally asking my boyfriend to get me this for Christmas!”

Zenitsu’s eyes snap open, all thoughts of napping flying off at the speed of light.

At the mention of Christmas and gifts, Zenitsu’s earlier comfort disappears and he tenses up. Sometimes he wishes his ears weren’t so sensitive. Why do they always pick up the conversations he doesn’t want to hear? Zenitsu glances to the side and sees three students a few feet away looking at a fashion magazine and gushing over it’s content, nearly drooling at the sight of pretty rhinestones and diamonds.

“If Daiki doesn’t give me this necklace I am totally going to be so mad at him! I’ve been dying to have it!”

“Oh, I know how you feel! Eiji totally needs to give me these earrings like if he gets me another stupid keychain again I am totally throwing it away!”

Zenitsu frowns bad thoughts bursting free and coming to the forefront of his mind. Is it really possible to hate a gift so much you toss it in the trash? Zenitsu’s gotten bad gifts before. For example Kaigaku liked to give him mugs that were meant to be insulting ( “See that sobbing raincloud,” Kaigaku would say as he points to a crying cloud on a newly gifted coffee cup. “it’s what you look like everyday”). Zenitsu has no idea where he gets the mugs from but he is steadily growing a huge collection of them and even though the gifts make him angry (he does not look like a crying raincloud, shut up!) he’d never throw them away.

If Zenitsu gave Tanjirou something he hated would he toss it in the garbage? No! Tanjirou isn't like that at all! He would never do that! Still the image doesn’t leave his head and Zenitsu’s body grows even more rigid, hands tightly gripping the fabric of his school sweater.

“Zenitsu?”

Tanjirou stops running his fingers through Zenitsu’s hair and softly cups the blond’s cheek, gently turning his head so Zenitsu is looking up at him. Honey colored eyes meet red, and that earlier concern is shining back in Tanjirou’s eyes.

“Is something wrong? Why are you so tense?” Tanjirou asks. His calloused fingers lightly brush against Zenitsu’s cheek in a comforting motion and Zenitsu feels himself relax a little at the soft touch.

“I-I’m okay,” Zenitsu says, he releases his grip from his sweater and moves his hand to cover Tanjirou’s own against his cheek.

Why does he keep making Tanjirou worried? Why does his brain keep putting these horrible images in his head? Tanjirou is so kind! So amazing! He would never do any of the terrible things Zenitsu is thinking about! His brain needs to get with the program and stop turning a holiday that’s supposed to be great into one that’s awful!!

Think of good situations like going on Christmas dates! Not bad ones like watching Tanjirou’s face falling, smile getting replaced with a frown when he sees Zenitsu giving him a gift so terrible and awful that he doesn’t show an inch of joy, his sound shifting from that beautiful melody to one filled with disappoi- UGH.

Zenitsu groans and moves his hand away from Tanjirou, letting it cover his face. WHY? BRAIN, WHY? Tanjirou immediately panics at hearing the distressed noise and quickly looks Zenitsu over trying to spot any injuries on his boyfriend.

“Zenitsu!? What’s wrong? Do you have a headache? Should I take you to the nurse?” Tanjirou continues to fret and Zenitsu slides his hand off his face.

“It’s nothing,” Zenitsu says, voice strained. Nothing but my mind trying to kill me with horrific and terrible scenarios about you leaving me. “I’m fine, really.”

Tanjirou doesn’t look like he believes him and Zenitsu tries for a reassuring smile but unfortunately it comes out as more of a grimace. Damn it. Luckily the lunch bell rings signaling it’s time to get back to class and away from his worried boyfriend and what’s sure to be twenty more questions over the state of the blond’s health. Quickly seizing this opportunity of escape Zenitsu swiftly gets up and leans down to pick up his empty bento box. He can feel Tanjirou’s eyes on him as he cleans up, hearing his concern and Zenitsu can’t help but feel guilty that he’s making Tanjirou fret so much over him. Before they depart back to their respective classes he makes sure to give Tanjirou a big hug, arms moving to wrap around his slightly taller (by only an inch!..maybe two) boyfriend.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tanjirou asks hand lightly pressed against Zenitsu’s back, like he’s afraid he’ll hurt him if he uses too much strength.

Zenitsu rolls his eyes and squeezes Tanjirou harder, letting him know from the touch that he is A-okay. In response, Tanjirou holds Zenitsu a little tighter.

“Yes, I’m alright, now get to class,” Zenitsu says letting his boyfriend go. Tanjirou looks reluctant to leave but as the hall gets less crowded with students and the clock gets closer to class time he eventually moves away. Before he goes he leans down and gives Zenitsu a lingering kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll see you after school,” Tanjirou says softly against Zenitsu’s ear and the blond shivers from the way Tanjirou’s breath touches his skin.

When he leaves Zenitsu is left standing in place, hand against his cheek and face red. He stares dumbly at the spot Tanjirou used to occupy, heart pounding and dopey lovesick grin on his face as he recalls the feeling of Tanjirou’s lips against his skin. Really his boyfriend is too much, doing that in public. Hehe, Zenitsu will have to tell him later that kisses were only for private ti-

“Agatsuma get to class right this instant!”

Zenitsu yelps and jumps ten feet in the air. He immediately takes off Shinazugawa-sensei’s voice shooting fear like a bolt of lightning through his body. Scary! So scary! Why is that man such a demon!? He runs like the devil is after him, too scared to look back and crashes into his classroom, barely making it to his seat as the bell rings.

Time blurs together once his next lesson begins and the rest of the day passes quickly. The high from Tanjirou’s kiss dies down and despite his best efforts Zenitsu’s mind drifts towards Christmas and gift-giving as more and more of his classmates discuss the upcoming holiday. He worries and frets, hypothetical situations plaguing his brain. Most of the scenarios that play in his head end in disaster. He’s barely able to concentrate in class, all his notes filled with nothing but sad little mini doodles of himself surrounded by badly drawn rectangular gift boxes and question marks.

Eventually all the worries tormenting his mind become too much, his brain ready to explode. Zenitsu decides it needs to stop and when the school day ends he makes a swift decision. The only way he can give himself peace of mind is to make sure he gives Tanjirou the best gift ever!

He’s going to give his boyfriend a gift so amazing the boy will definitely never think of leaving him! What kind of gift that will be, Zenitsu doesn’t know but he will definitely find out! He has a whole month to prepare! Everything will turn out okay! When school finally ends Zenitsu feels himself brimming with determination. All he needs to do is sneakily find out what Tanjirou really wants. Once he’s got that down everything else will fall in place! Maybe when they walk home together Zenitsu can ask offhandedly what types of presents Tanjirou has received in the past and which were his favorite. That will surely give him some ideas!

It’s a brilliant plan!

Unfortunately, the plan is foiled before it even starts when Murata tells him right before he leaves that they have to redo some of the decorations they did this morning. Zenitsu’s stars and Murata’s and Aoi’s tinsel had been torn down by some no good delinquents. Fortunately (or unfortunately) they were caught by Shinazugawa-sensei and immediately punished (how Zenitsu doesn't want to think about, he’ll pray for their souls). Zenitsu has no choice but to stay after class to help clean up and repair the damages. Tanjirou is understanding and gives him another kiss on the cheek for good luck (a kiss that gives Zenitsu ten times more energy! Love is great!) before he leaves.

Zenitsu feels a little frustrated that he has to put his great plan on hold, but it’s fine. He has plenty more days to put it back into motion!

He’ll definitely do it next time!

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Next time doesn’t come.

Unsurprisingly the universe decides to conspire against Zenitsu, completely smashing his plans into tiny little microscopic pieces. The next day Tanjirou brings him the unfortunate news about how he won’t be able to walk home with him for a while. Unbelievably, somehow Tanjirou’s already busy schedule becomes even more packed to the point that he has no time to wait for his boyfriend afterschool.

It’s horrible! Does some god up there hate him!? What happened to Virgos being lucky this week!?

When Zenitsu learns why his boyfriend is so busy he nearly blows a gasket. For some awful reason people were starting holiday celebrations early and ordering tons of Christmas themed baked goods. Instead of waiting for Zenitsu to finish his student council duties, Tanjirou had to leave early to help his family with the overwhelming pastry orders.

Really what the hell is wrong with people! Christmas is weeks away, can’t they wait to stuff their faces!? Please, give his boyfriend a break!!

Zenitsu hates seeing how tired Tanjirou is when he greets him in the morning the rest of the week. Of course being the wonderful boyfriend he is, Zenitsu generously offers his lap to Tanjirou during lunch helping his boyfriend get a little shut eye. Not that he’s able to get much sleep with Inosuke’s loud laughter and his other friends' general rowdiness.

There is no time for gift talking, in fact there is barely any time for the two of them to do anything at all. Besides lunch the only other time Tanjirou and Zenitsu have for each other is between classes and those moments only last a few minutes. It’s terrible, the absolute worst. Zenitsu hasn’t had a decent hug in days, he’s so deprived it’s driving him crazy.

How he survived without the warm and comforting touch of his boyfriend he doesn't know. What he does know is that if it lasts much longer he will probably explode and he refuses to pass without at least one Christmas kiss!!

There is no other choice Zenitsu needs to come up with another plan. The clock is ticking down, the gift sales in the mall are starting and Zenitsu needs to get his butt in gear before it’s too late. He decides to enlist some help for this important and momentous task. As the last bell rings and students prepare to leave Zenitsu barges into the classroom next to his, sliding the door open with a loud clatter. Everyone left in the class jumps at the noise but Zenitsu pays them no mind, eyes searching the room for his most trusted confidant and friend. He spots them in the corner and opens his mouth ready to catch their attention.

“MURATA!!” He screeches, his voice booming in the small classroom.

Said boy nearly jumps ten feet in the air, head swinging around to stare in horror at the blonde who comes barreling straight into the room and right at him. He barely has time to react before Zenitsu is on him, body slamming into him. Zenitsu wraps his arms around the raven haired boy who sputters in bewilderment, clinging to him as he cries.

“PLEASE HELP ME!!” Zenitsu yells right into the other boy’s ear, teary eyes begging for assistance “MY FUTURE DEPENDS ON YOU!”

“W-what the hell!?” Murata says looking lost, confused, embarrassed and even annoyed (how rude!) He tries to pry the blond off him but Zenitsu has a tight grip around his waist. “Get off of me, everyone is staring!”

Zenitsu lets out an offended noise through his sniffles. Who cares if the whole class is looking at them? Can’t Murata see he’s going through a crisis!? Show some sympathy, dammit! He tightens his grip and Murata lets out a wheeze.

“PLEASE I’M BEGGING YOU I NEED YOUR HELP!” Zenitsu shouts again and Murata nearly falls out of his seat from the volume of his friend’s deafening wails. “PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE-”

“Okay!! Okay!! I’ll help now get off!” Murata shouts back. “Oh my god, I think you’re cracking my ribs!”

Zenitsu immediately stops his shouting and let’s go, arms falling away from his friend’s sides. Murata lets out a sigh of relief, hands moving to rub at his sides. Zenitsu dries the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and smiles widely at his friend, happy to have the help he so desperately needs.

“What is even going on?” Murata asks after he fixes up his rumpled clothes and gathers together his remaining things into his school bag. “Why are you freaking out so much?”

“I’ll tell you later, after we get to where we need to go,” Zenitsu answers back, grabbing his own bag that had been carelessly thrown on the ground. “We have to leave right now! Before it gets too packed!”

“Packed? What? Where are we goi-”

“No talking, only running!”

Zenitsu grabs Murata’s arm and hauls him out of his seat with a strength that surprises the raven-haired boy who lets out a loud squeak. He tugs Murata through the bustling hallways, past the many students and teachers. In the distance as they quickly make their way through the school, both boys hear a familiar angry (and very, very scary) voice yelling ‘NO RUNNING YOU BRATS!’ and that just causes them to rush faster, fear making their feet move at a record speed. It barely takes five minutes before they are off the school grounds and down the road.

Zenitsu tugs Murata to the nearest bus station and it isn’t until they are seated inside far off in the back that Zenitsu finally clues Murata in on what is going on. He explains his current woes and his giant dilemma and after it’s all over Murata looks at him as if he has lost his mind.

“Are you serious right now?” Murata asks, completely exasperated, head shaking in disbelief. “You really dragged me out of class for this?”

How dare his friend question his sanity? He is very serious! So extremely serious! Can’t he see this is a matter of life and death!

“Of course I’m serious,” Zenitsu says with a glare, arms crossing to show just how serious he is. “This is very important! I need to find the perfect gift for Tanjirou! If I don’t, who knows what will happen!?”

“I’m pretty sure nothing bad will happen at all. Tanjirou is a literal saint, there’s no way he’d hate anything you give him.” Murata replies looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

“You don’t know that for sure!” Zenitsu says. “What if I get him something really dumb, he’d probably regret ever agreeing to go out with me! Or maybe he’ll think I don’t care enough and his feelings get hurt and he decides he wants our relationship to end and-

“Okay stop right there!” Murata loudly cuts him off and Zenitsu’s mouth shuts close, voice dying out. “You’re overthinking this way too much! There’s no way Tanjirou would ever break up with you over a Christmas gift, how did you even get that idea in your head!?”

Zenitsu looks away and fiddles with the edges of his sweater.

“I heard that it can happen…” He mumbles and Murata lets out a very loud and long sigh.

“Well I’m pretty sure it won’t happen to you, stop thinking about it.” Murata says. “Tanjirou likes you alot.”

Zenitsu flushes at his friend’s words, fingers fumbling over the loose threads on his sleeve. He knows what Murata is saying is true. He really does, however these stupid feelings of doubt and insecurity refuse to leave sticking to his mind like used chewing gum.

“I just want to make sure I do everything right,” Zenitsu says after a beat of silence, his voice is softer than before, conflicted feelings keeping his tone muted. “This is my first Christmas with Tanjirou, it has to be perfect…”

Zenitsu doesn’t want Tanjirou to regret anything about their time together no matter how small. It might be unrealistic to think like this but he can’t help it. Is it so wrong to hope that everything goes smoothly?

Murata looks at Zenitsu’s face, takes in his worried expression and lets out another sigh, this time it sounds resigned. His tune softens, harsh tones turning to something more comforting. He presses his shoulder against Zenitsu’s and the blonde looks up.

“Fine, I’ll help you if it’ll get you to stop moping,” Murata says. Zenitsu's lips quirk up into a smile and Murata smiles back. “In return you have to help me find gifts for my family.”

Zenitsu’s smile grows bigger and he nods.

“Of course!”

He knew he could count on Murata!

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Despite rushing to leave school early the mall is still packed with people walking around everywhere. Christmas music blares from speakers above and the sound mixes in with the chatter of the people around him. Frankly it’s unpleasant, the loud noises clashing together in his head, but Zenitsu soldiers on. He has a mission to do and he is not going to let anything stop him.

He and Murata push their way through the waves of shoppers. Everyone around them is on the hunt for deals looking like a pack of predators searching for the best prey to sink their money into. It’s a bit intimidating. Zenitsu usually does his shopping online hating how crowded the malls get during this season, so this is the first time he’s witnessing the horror of Christmas shopping in person. A few feet away he watches as two women fight over the last remaining perfume gift set, acting like a pair of wolves fighting over a meal. As they screech, yelling words that no child should ever hear, Zenitsu moves closer to Murata’s side.

“Where should we start first?” Murata asks completely unfazed, ignoring the bloodshed next to them.

“I don’t know?” Zenitsu says, tearing his eyes away from the carnage. “I haven’t really thought about where to go from here.”

He looks around, taking in all the stores. Large signs displaying various deals and sales were plastered on every window and Zenitsu’s mind spins as he reads over each one, ‘buy one get one free!’ one said ‘fifty percent off!’ ‘Seventy! “Best deals of the year!’ It is too much.

“Do you have any idea on what you want to get him?” Murata asks.

“Not really,” Zenitsu says, shaking his head. His plan hadn’t really developed past the get to the mall stage. He thought gift ideas would hit him in the face once he got here, how naive his thinking had been.

Murata runs a hand through his hair and lets out a long breath.

“Wow, okay this is probably going to take longer than I thought…” He mumbles. He looks around a bit then points to a store a few feet away. “How about we start there and see if we find anything.”

Having no better ideas Zenitsu shrugs and follows his friend to the place he pointed at. They look around browsing knick knacks on shelves and various clothing items. Nothing really catches his eye and after they basically search through the entire store they move on, walking to another. Like before nothing screams out at him and their search ends in failure. This trend continues on and on, no luck in sight.

By the time they exit the eighth store both boys are exhausted, minds swirling from staring at various deals and bodies sore from pushing past customers who didn’t understand the definition of personal space. They make their way over to an empty bench and plop down into it. Once seated Zenitsu groans and buries his face into his hands feeling absolutely defeated.

“Ugh, this is a disaster!” He cries out. Three hours and nothing! Zilch! Why couldn’t he find a single thing!? Did the universe hate him that much!?

“I thought that watch we saw at that last store was nice,” Murata replies, putting his own shopping bags to the side. Unlike the blond, Murata had found some gifts for his family, in fact most of his shopping had basically ended by the third store.

How unfair! Why can’t his friend give him some of his luck?

“Tanjirou already owns a watch,” Zenitsu says, thinking of said object. It was a hand-me-down given to him by his father. Despite its rough shape and old age it was extremely special to his boyfriend. Zenitsu doubts a store-bought watch from some generic department store would be able to live up to it.

“Man, this is hard…” Murata replies and Zenitsu is glad his friend finally understands his plight. “Maybe you should just ask him?”

“I want it to be a surprise,” Zenitsu says with a frown that is definitely not a pout.

Murata rolls his eyes and Zenitsu’s not-pout grows.

“You’re so stubborn...well, whatever, I still believe that no matter what you get him, he’ll like it.”

Zenitsu is still a bit doubtful of that but he keeps his opinions to himself. He checks the time on his phone, just one more hour before he has to go home.

“Let’s try one more store,” Zenitsu says getting up. “If we don’t find anything we can try again tomorrow.” Murata makes a face looking like he doesn’t like that idea at all. Well, tough luck! There’s no way Zenitsu can do this alone!

They pick another random store and like before it turns out to be a bust, though not completely. Zenitsu is able to find a nice tea set for his grandpa, one that has little peaches decorating the sides. It even comes with a few packs of herbal peach tea that’s supposed to be good for the heart. It’s pricey but Zenitsu has a feeling that his grandpa will like it and he makes sure to hide it in the bottom of his school bag after he purchases it.

After leaving the last store both boys head their separate ways at the bus station. The ride back is uneventful and when Zenitsu makes it back home he quickly sneaks off to his room to hide the tea set in his closet. He debates if he should ask his family for gift advice when he joins them for dinner but that thought quickly gets squashed down. He’s pretty sure Kaigaku would ridicule him once the words come out of his mouth and asking his grandpa for love advice is just downright embarrassing.

Looks like it’s another day of no success. Gift giving is so stressful, he wouldn’t be surprised if he develops an ulcer by the time this all ends.

It’s okay, Zenitsu tells himself as he lays on his bed and stares at the ceiling, anxiety crawling all over his insides and creeping into his heart. He still has twenty-one days left, there’s still time! Don’t worry! He’s sure he and Murata will have more luck tomorrow!

Everything will be okay!

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Everything is totally, a hundred percent not okay!

Another day passes braving the wilderness of the mall and like before Zenitsu has zero luck finding a gift. This is ridiculous! Maybe he should see an exorcist or something because this kind of bad luck is definitely not normal! Someone must have definitely cursed him! Probably that delinquent who looked at him funny this morning after he wrote him up for not wearing his uniform correctly.

And to make matters worse Murata had somehow caught a cold after their second visit to the mall and was now unable to help him in his gift finding endeavors, too sick in bed to do anything but sneeze. Damn those winter germs! Now what is Zenitsu going to do!?

As the days pass with no Murata and no advice, Zenitsu feels his desperation rise, he needs help and he needs it now! He turns to his next closest friend during lunch, having no choice but to confide in someone else.

“A gift for Gonpachirou!?” Inosuke says around his mouthful of Yakisoba bread, food flying out of his mouth that Zenitsu skillfully dodges.

“SHH! DON’T BE SO LOUD!” Zenitsu yells out, voice ten times louder than Inosuke’s.

He looks around making sure that no one heard them and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees no other students around them. It’s just the two of them at their lunch spot, all their other friends were eating elsewhere except for Tanjirou who was luckily (or unluckily) out helping a teacher with a few tasks, being the overworking golden student he is at heart (Zenitsu is definitely going to have a few words with him later about that). Zenitsu doesn’t want anyone over hearing this super important conversation. Gossip spreads unbelievably fast at this school, it is horrible.

“What do you think I should get?” Zenitsu asks, desperate for help.

Inosuke swallows down his food in one big gulp and gives Zenitsu a look, as if the answer is obvious (well it’s not!). Inosuke opens his mouth and Zenitsu leans forward eager to hear what he has to say. The words that come out of his friend’s mouth are honestly what Zenitsu should have expected.

“A sword duh!” Inosuke loudly yells and Zenitsu sputters at the absurdity of his answer.

“What the hell!? Why would he want a sword!?”

“Who doesn’t want a sword!” Inosuke replies, waving his arms around for emphasis, nearly smacking Zenitsu in the face. “In fact you should get him two, just having one sword is boring!”

“I am not getting him a sword,” Zenitsu says completely exasperated.

Where the hell would he even find a sword!? Online? No, don't think about it! Tanjirou probably doesn’t even like swords, they’re way too pointy! And sharp! He tries to imagine Tanjirou handling a sword and-huh, that’s actually kind of hot, he'd look like one of those rogue warriors from that TV sho-no stop, there's no time for daydreaming! Damn it Inosuke is distracting him, he should have never come to this wild animal for advice, what was he thinking!?

“Why not?”Inosuke asks, making a face at being so abruptly shot down. “Swords are cool!”

“And dangerous! Tanjirou could poke his eye out or someone else’s! I am not getting him one, no way!” Zenitsu rapidly fires back. They might be cool but sharp objects were a no go!

“Lame,” Insouke says. “Then what are you getting him?”

“I don’t know!” Zenitsu shouts, feeling ready to pull his hair out. “That’s why I’m asking you for help! Oh my god, why did I think you’d give me good advice!”

“Excuse me, I give fucking amazing advice!!” Inosuke yells, puffing up his chest, looking extremely offended. “My advice skills are the best in the world! Your brain is just too dumb to handle it.”

Zenitsu feels the urge to strangle the other boy. Reign it in, he tells himself, reign it in.

“Okay, Mr. best advice giver, can you please give me an answer that doesn’t involve gifts that can potentially cause bodily harm to others!” Zenitsu asks, rubbing his forehead. Inosuke’s stupidity is giving him a terrible headache.

Inosuke narrows his eyes, looking like he’s thinking over a difficult math problem. Did he really have no options in his empty head that didn’t involve dangerous objects? Zenitsu is appalled. The raven haired boy hums over the bread in his mouth, actually taking his time to answer. Suddenly it’s like a light bulb turns on in his brain and Inosuke’s eyes brighten, his fist lands in his palm to signal he has another idea.

“All you can eat tickets to that ramen shop by the school!” Inosuke says looking proud of himself for coming up with a brilliant idea (which it isn’t, not at all!)

This time when Zenitsu clutches his hair in frustration he actually tugs a few blond strands out.

“That doesn’t exist!” He yells, rebuffing his answer and Inosuke immediately retaliates.

“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!?”

“I JUST DO, YOU IDIOT!”

“I AM NOT AN IDIOT! YOU ARE!”

“NO, YOU ARE!”

This back and forth continues on, drawing the attention of some nearby students who look at them like they have lost their marbles (which isn’t true at all, Zenitsu is perfectly sane, thank you very much!) After a few more minutes of senseless shouting Zenitsu decides he can’t take it anymore and he falls back onto the grass, giving up. His hands cover his face as he groans loudly, frustrated that he is getting absolutely nowhere. Inosuke lets out a victorious noise when he sees Zenitsu surrender and he goes to claim his prize, picking the meat out of Zenitsu’s half eaten bento box.

“This is ridiculous….” Zenitsu mumbles. “You are ridiculous and I am ridiculous for listening to you.”

Inosuke rolls his eyes, hands moving to steal all of Zenitsu’s remaining food.

“Don’t be such a baby,” He says. “Why are you even wasting your time thinking about this?”

“It’s important,” Zenitsu says, glaring at the boy. “Someone single and dumb like you wouldn’t understand!”

Inosuke glares back at the insult but surprisingly he doesn’t start another argument. He just munches on Zenitsu’s riceball (damn him, Zenitsu was saving that for later!) and stares hard at the blond like he’s trying to figure something out.

“It’s just Monjirou,” Inosuke says around the rice in his mouth, bits sticking to his mouth and chin. “I don’t get why you’re thinking so hard, he’s gonna like any kind of shit you get him.”

He says it like it's an obvious truth and Zenitsu can't help but gawk at the other boy completely taken aback.

Minus the profanity, those words rang very similar to the ones Murata offered him on the bus last week. Inosuke saying the same thing as Murata? Hard headed Inosuke who only thought of eating and fighting? If someone like him believed that, then it has to be true. Still, Zenitsu is having a hard time fully accepting it. Ugh, there must be something wrong with his brain...

“If you’re that worried about it, you should just ask Santa!” Inosuke suddenly blurts out and Zenitsu freezes all his earlier thoughts coming to a full and complete stop.

What?

“What?” Zenitsu asks, staring at his friend in disbelief. “What did you say?”

He didn’t really hear that right, Inosuke definitely didn’t sa-

“I said you should ask Santa!” Inosuke replies (and yep apparently he did say that, all right then). “That big guy always gives me the gifts I want!”

Inosuke sounds completely serious. There's no joke, no punchline. Zenitsu stares at him, then stares some more until his eyes feel dry. So this was a thing, okay. Everything Zenitsu thought he knew about his friend flies out of the window. He feels like he’s looking at a completely new species of animal, one full of the innocence of an unruined childhood. It almost touches something inside of Zenitsu, to think that Inosuke was still so pure, so untouched by the evils of the worl-

“And after you tell Santa you can help me catch him when he comes to deliver your present!” Inosuke shouts, pumping his fist in the air with a cackle. “That old geezer has avoided all my traps so far, but this year I swear I’ll catch him and make him fight me! KahAHAHAHA!”

Well, there’s the Inosuke Zenitsu knows. So much for being innocent inside, he’s just an idiot. If there was a Santa out there he hoped he never has the displeasure of running into this wild animal disguised as a human.

“I am not asking Santa…” Zenitsu says, tone flat, slowly shaking his head. He wasn’t that desperate to ask potentially make-believe characters to help in his love life. Not yet at least.

Inosuke pouts at him, then he brightens when he sees something behind Zenitsu.

“Then you should just ask Tontarou directly!"

Suddenly Inosuke stands up and he waves his arms wildly motioning to someone. Zenitsu turns around to see who he is waving at and his face pales when he sees Tanjirou walking over to them, a tired smile on his face as he waves back at Inosuke. The raven-haired boy smiles widely and opens his mouth, voice booming out words that nearly give Zenitsu a heart attack.

“MONJIROU GENITSU WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FOR-”

“NO, YOU IDIOT!!”

Inosuke doesn’t get to finish that sentence, voice petering out into a yelp as Zenitsu tackles him to the ground with a loud shriek. Insouke lets out a strangled noise as Zenitsu tries to cover his mouth to keep him from shouting out any other potentially heart-stopping words.

“What are you doing!?” Zenitsu hisses out. “This is supposed to be a secret!”

Inosuke’s only reply is an angry grunt. He struggles to get out of Zenitsu’s hold and suddenly it turns into some type of wrestling match. Inosuke tries to wrap his arms around Zenitsu’s waist but Zenitsu has him in a tight headlock. Even though Inosuke has the bigger muscles Zenitsu is no amateur in the wrestling department. Zenitsu has had tons of practice from his (very one sided) matches with Kaigaku, he’s not going down without a fight! He tightens his grip around Inosuke’s neck who is starting to turn a little purple and Tanjirou immediately rushes to their side. He tries to break up the fight before someone accidentally dies and the rest of the lunch period is spent in nothing but complete chaos. When it’s time to return to class Zenitsu is left feeling absolutely frustrated. He is not one step closer to solving his gift dilemma, in fact he hasn’t even crossed the starting line.

Zenitsu makes a mental note to never ever ask for advice from Inosuke ever again!

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

After the absolute disaster with Inosuke, Zenitsu decides to throw caution to the wind.

He goes down his friend list asking everyone he knows for advice. Time was running out at an alarmingly fast pace and Zenitsu needed to find a plan fast! He first goes to Genya for help and unfortunately that goes nowhere. Genya suggests gifts that deal with music and Zenitsu immediately stamps that idea with a big NO. Tanjirou is completely tone deaf, that boy doesn’t know one thing about music. In fact, he’s such a disaster in the musical department that Zenitsu still has nightmares from that one time he took Tanjirou to a karaoke place. His ears have never been the same.

After Genya Zenitsu asks Kanao and she suggests flowers or plants which also ends up being a no-go. Tanjirou is always so busy Zenitsu isn’t even sure he has time to take care of a plant, plus he’s pretty sure he has a sibling who is allergic to flowers. The last thing he wants is to accidentally send one of Tanjirou’s family members to the hospital, he’d never live that down. When Kanao’s idea doesn’t work Zenitsu goes to Aoi next who suggests practical gifts like kitchen gadgets or first aid items. Those gifts, though useful, don’t have enough flare and when Zenitsu tells this to her she whacks him in the arm. Zenitsu is left with not only a big bruise but nowhere closer to his goal.

It’s all a big bust.

Seriously what is going on with his luck!? Did Zenitsu lose it all when he got Tanjirou to like him!? What is going on!? Ahhh! He can’t take it anymore!

Zenitsu has no choice. In order to preserve his sanity he turns to his one final option.

He chooses to confront this person on a day when they have club activities. Instead of heading straight home after his student council meeting Zenitsu waits by the school gate, eyes frantically searching through the crowds of students who are leaving for the day. Finally he spots the person he desperately needs exiting the school building and Zenitsu takes off, making a beeline straight for them. He opens his mouth and yells, scaring several students nearby.

“NEZUUKOOOO-CHAAANNN!!”

Dear, beautiful Nezuko turns to look at him completely surprised by his sudden and loud call. Zenitsu can’t help but fall to his knees in front of her, hands gripping the edges of her skirt. He looks up at her with teary eyes, unable to keep the desperation off his face. Behind her Nezuko’s friends look at him like he’s some deranged animal and take a few steps back. Zenitsu doesn’t care. So what if he looks pathetic, Zenitsu is at his wits end here! Instead of looking at him with disgust Nezuko just smiles sweetly and gently pries his hands off her skirt, holding them in hers.

“What’s wrong?” Nezuko asks and Zenitsu nearly bawls at the sight of the kind look on her face.

Ah, Nezuko is so sweet, so understanding, so wonderful, just like her brother. If Tanjirou didn’t have his heart he would definitely be in love with her!

“I need your help, please,” Zenitsu begs, little sniffles escaping his nose. “Can you walk home with me?”

Nezuko tilts her head to the side, humming a little as she looks Zenitsu over. Immediately she hones in on what’s going on and smiles her wonderful Kamado brand megawatt smile.

“Do you need advice about my brother again?” She asks and Zenitsu nods.

“Yes, please,” He says, standing up when Nezuko tugs on his hands.

“Alright,” Nezuko says and Zenitsu brightens up immediately.

Nezuko is truly the best! Why in the world did he not come to her first!?

Nezuko turns to her friends, letting them know she is going back home with Zenitsu. They ask if she’s sure while giving Zenitsu various wary and suspicious looks, which are very insulting. Zenitsu isn’t some creep! He’d never do anything to hurt Nezuko-chan, Tanjirou would definitely break up with him if he did and Zenitsu would disintegrate into tiny pieces if that happened!

After Nezuko assures them she’ll be fine and that Zenitsu is a reliable friend, they leave the school grounds together. Nezuko suggests they talk at a nearby cafe and Zenitsu agrees without hesitation, willing to go wherever Nezuko wants. Along the way she makes a quick phone call to her brother letting him know that she’ll be home a little late. Naturally Tanjirou fretts like the overprotective big brother he is and Nezuko has to explain multiple times that she’s going to be fine and that ‘Yes she will get home before dark’ and ‘Yes, she still has her pepper spray in her backpack’ (Zenitsu scoots a little bit to the side when he hears that).

The phone call ends after a few more minutes of Tanjirou being an adorable worrywart and when it’s over they head inside to the cafe Nezuko mentioned. It’s a nice place and the vibe inside is cozy and warm, Zenitsu makes a reminder in his brain to bring Tanjirou here for a date one day...though that might not be possible if his gift plan doesn’t go smoothly.

No!! Zenitsu tells himself, chiding his bad, bad thoughts. It definitely will! He has the power of Nezuko-chan on his side! Her infinite wisdom on the subject of her brother will definitely be his guiding light!

“So what is it you need help with this time?” Nezuko asks after they have ordered something to drink and sit down in one of the cafe’s tiny booths.

Zenitsu unloads his current woes to her, and she nods along as he speaks, letting out little adorable ‘hums’ ‘ahs’ and ‘I sees’. Once the waterfall of words is over Zenitsu looks at her expectantly. Instead of looking exasperated (e.g: Murata) or confused (e.g: Inosuke), she looks extremely understanding. Zenitsu nearly tears up, she really is an angel! No, a goddess!

“I get it,” Nezuko says. “Tanjirou is a hard guy to find a gift for. Every year I have trouble getting him something because he never lets me know what he wants.”

Aha, so Zenitsu isn’t overthinking this! Take that Murata and Inosuke! They should be ashamed for doubting him!

“But,” Nezuko continues and Zenitsu’s smile instantly falls. “I don’t think you should worry too much about it. Tanjirou will honestly like whatever you get him. He’d never reject any gift he receives.”

Damn it. So Nezuko thought the same as everyone else, after all. Zenitsu can’t help the groan that leaves his mouth. He lets his head fall against the cold wooden surface of the table feeling defeated.

“I know…” And he does really, so many people have drilled it into his head, but the anxiety still stirs in his gut. “I just…” Zenitsu continues, sighing and running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just want to get him something really amazing...”

So amazing, it’ll cause Tanjirou to fall ten times more in love with him and make his boyfriend never think of breaking up ever. It’s a selfish, unrealistic wish, and Zenitsu doesn’t voice it out loud, but Nezuko must sense what he really means because her expression softens. She reaches over to pat his hand and Zenitsu relaxes a little, unable to resist the way her sweet sound, a sound so similar to Tanjirou’s, mimics the comforting motion.

“You’re really fretting over this,” Nezuko states and Zenitsu just lets out a pitiful whine as an answer. “Alright then, I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Nezuko leans over the table, voice lowering into a whisper and Zenitsu’s immediately perks up, ready to hear her knowledge.

“Tanjirou always gets really emotional over handmade gifts.”

Zenitsu blinks slowly, letting the words settle in his mind. It’s not an answer he expected but it makes sense. Tanjirou is a sentimental softy at heart, so of course he’d like things made by hand. Zenitsu latches onto Nezuko’s words like a fish on a hook.

“What kind?” Zenitsu immediately asks, quickly pulling out a pen and paper from his school bag ready to take notes.

“Any kind,” Nezuko replies. “Last year my younger siblings made him a picture frame out of macaroni and Tanjirou nearly cried. He keeps it in a special place in his room.”

How adorable! Zenitsu tries to imagine Tanjirou loving a gift he gives him so much that he designates a special spot for it in his home and the imagery makes butterflies erupt in his stomach, his face warming up. He quickly jots down the word ‘handmade’ in big letters in his notebook, circling it three times. He also adds little hearts around it to further emphasize its importance.

Now that he finally has a plan Zenitsu feels the gears begin to turn in his head. Never in his life has he made a gift by hand before, well except for that one time he made his gramps a box out of popsicle sticks, but that doesn’t count! He made that box to pass his 1st grade art class. This gift is different, it’s for the love of his life, so it has to be more than just brightly colored sticks slapped together with glue. It needs to be grand, amazing, the best thing ever create-

“Zenitsu,” Nezuko says, voice interrupting the blond’s stream of thoughts.

Zenitsu looks up from his furious scribbling, catching Nezuko’s eye. The expression on her face reminds Zenitsu of the one Tanjirou gives him when he feels like Zenitsu is about to rush headfirst into a plan without thinking (which doesn't happen often, not at all). She leans over the table to poke him in the forehead and Zenitsu sputters, cheeks turning red.

“You better not push yourself,” Nezuko continues. “Tanjirou is already overworking himself at home, I don’t want to see you doing it too. Just try to make it simple, I swear Tanjirou will love it.”

“Of course, Nezuko-chan,” Zenitsu answers back; a smile on his face as he rubs the red spot on his forehead. “I’ll do just that!”

He’s definitely going to make a gift Tanjiro will love, that’s a promise he’ll make, however will it be simple? Well...most definitely not!! Sorry, Nezuko-chan, but this is for the sake of his relationship!

He has no choice but to go all out!

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

After walking Nezuko to the train station and making sure she got on safely, Zenitsu quickly makes a detour to a nearby convenience store before going home. He carefully looks around, his eyes zeroing on the object he needs to get his plan in motion. Swallowing his pride Zenitsu heads straight to the display of dating magazines at the back of the store. Desperate times call for desperate measures! He needs the best advice there is and he’s positive that TruLove December edition will give him what he needs!

He flips through the magazines looking for any articles that talks about homemade or handmade gifts. Luckily, there are quite a few of them, apparently it’s all the rage for couples nowadays, who knew. Zenitsu goes through a few more magazines picking the ones that look the most promising and takes them to the front to pay. When he puts them on the counter the cashier gives him a weird look that makes Zenitsu blush and huff with indignation.

Hey, don’t judge! There’s nothing wrong with buying copious amounts of dating magazines! They are a gold mine of precious knowledge!

Thankfully, the cashier doesn't say anything choosing to silently judge and when it’s all paid for Zenitsu quickly exits the store running home. The moment he makes it to his house, Zenitsu immediately tries to head to his room eager to soak up the information inside the magazine’s glossy pages. Unfortunately before Zenitsu can even make it past the first step on the staircase his grandpa stops him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His gramps asks, arms crossed in front of his chest. “Dinner’s ready so get over here! You’re lucky that me and Kaigaku decided to wait for you instead of eating it all!”

Lucky? Zenitsu isn’t lucky at all! Sure maybe any other day he would be happy that his family didn’t eat everything before he got home but today’s different, he has some serious planning to do! There is no time for dinner!

“Sorry, gramps, I have something really important to do! I’ll eat later!” Zenitsu says and instead of being a very understanding family member his gramps just lets out a loud offended noise.

“Later!? Boy, there is no later you’re going to eat now! Dinner is a family affair, come here and sit down!”

“BUT-”

“NO BUTS YOU’RE EATING WITH YOUR FAMILY!!”

“BUUUT-”

“I SAID NO BUTS!!”

“OH MY GOD CAN YOU BOTH SHUT UP!!”

Kaigaku joins the shouting match and eventually it ends with Zenitsu as the loser. He gets dragged by an arm around his neck, courtesy of Kaigaku, to the kitchen and is forced to sit down at the table to eat. Zenitsu tries to stuff his food down as quickly as possible but his speed eating comes to a quick stop when he starts choking on a piece of fish. Kaigaku has to give him the heimlich maneuver, which nearly breaks his ribs. After his life is no longer in mortal danger, gramps gives him a very, very long lecture about food etiquette. Even when that horrible dinner is over Zenitsu is left with no time to head up to his room. He’s forced on dish duty and when he tries to speed through that he accidentally breaks a plate and cuts his finger open. Kaigaku gives him first aid by slapping a bandaid on him while he sobs (not gentle at all, the brute) and his gramps gives him another very long lecture.

It’s all one huge mess. By the time he is released from the clutches of his family it’s already time for bed. Instead of staying up at ungodly hours, Zenitsu decides to sleep, saving his brain power for tomorrow. Before he closes his eyes he takes a glance at the calendar on his phone. Two weeks till Christmas.

It’s okay. It’s fine. No need to worry, he has a plan now! Everything should go smoothly from now on….he hopes.

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Zenitsu isn’t able to go through the magazines until lunchtime the next day, too embarrassed to pull them out in class. Instead of eating in his usual lunch spot Zenitsu chooses to eat in the student council room since it’s not only private but also quiet, the perfect place to do some serious thinking. His other friends are off eating who knows where again and Zenitsu is left with just Tanjirou who is sleeping peacefully on his shoulder. Usually no one else but those involved in the student council are allowed in this room but Tanjirou is so well-liked by everyone, faculty and students alike, that he gets a free pass.

Even though Tanjirou isn’t awake Zenitsu still savors this bit of time together. Tanjirou looks extra cute today, hair slightly ruffled, uniform tie loosened and bits of crumbs stuck on his cheek from his earlier meal. It’s an adorable sight, Zenitsu feels like staring at him for hours. Sadly he can’t indulge in that urge, he has an important task to do and there’s no time to waste. He’ll just have to take a picture and stare at it later.

After snapping a quick pic and saving it on his phone, Zenitsu double checks to make sure his boyfriend is really asleep before pulling the magazines out of his school bag. He flips through each of them trying to find the best articles and after a few minutes of speed reading he eventually finds a good one that gives him a list of potential gift ideas. Unfortunately most of those ideas deal with cooking and Zenitsu has to cross them out with a big red pen. After causing one itsy-bitsy fire at his house trying to make popcorn, Zenitsu was banned from using the kitchen forever. He wasn’t allowed to touch the stove, or the microwave, or even the blender. It was kind of overkill, but it was a strict rule, the last time Zenitsu tried to break it by cooking ramen he nearly gave his family a heart attack.

Since the food ideas were a definite no-go, Zenitsu is left with only craft ideas, like sewing or knitting. It’s completely foreign territory. Zenitsu has never in his life touched knitting needles before, he isn’t even sure if there are any at his house. Still those ideas look doable. Knitting doesn’t seem that hard, and he can’t accidentally burn his house down if he tries.

Now that he knows what direction to go in, he just needs to find out what to make. A hat? Sweater? Gloves? There are suddenly too many options...

“What are you reading?”

It takes all of Zenitsu’s willpower to keep himself from jumping straight out of his seat. Instead of screaming like he wants to, he lets out a strangled little ‘meep’ and quickly looks to his side. Amber eyes catch red and Zenitsu sees Tanjirou staring at him curiously. Oh no! How long has he been awake!? Why didn’t he notice!? Was Tanjirou watching him read!? So embarrassing! Zenitsu flushes red and resists the urge to cover his face.

Tanjirou waits patiently for an answer to his question and Zenitsu flails around trying to find something to say. No way can he tell Tanjirou what he’s looking at! That will ruin his master plan!

“I-I just! Umm, this is, ahhh, umm…”

Damn it brain, think of something! Quick!

Suddenly Zenitsu’s eyes lock onto a picture on the next page and he quickly turns the magazine around, nearly smacking Tanjirou in the face. Zenitsu uses his hand to cover the article he was reading and points to an ad for a big and colorful Christmas cake that’s on special at a local cafe.

“I’m just looking at this Christmas cake!” Zenitsu says, his voice slightly squeaky as he forces a smile on his face. “It looks good, right? I’ve always wanted to try one of these!”

It’s not a total lie. Zenitsu had been looking at the Christmas cake earlier, though only for a second, and he did want to try it. In fact buying a Christmas cake and eating it with his lover has always been at the top of his romance to-do list. Too bad they were ridiculously expensive and always got sold out at the last minute. Damn all those other greedy couples keeping the tasty treat for themselves!

Tanjirou sits up and looks over the image. Zenitsu makes sure to fold the magazine in half so the article he was reading earlier is hidden from view.

“Really?” Tanjiro asks, staring intently at the ad. “You’ve never had one?”

“Well I mean, I have had a cake before but not a Christmas one,” Zenitsu says. “Those you have to eat on the holiday with someone special…'' When Zenitsu says the last part he looks up at Tanjirou who's already looking back at him. His boyfriend’s cheeks are slightly red just like his and Zenitsu looks away feeling embarrassed.

“O-or your family,” Zenitsu continues, pulling the magazine away to hug to his chest. “It’s not that big of a thing, I’ve just never bought one. Gramps and Kaigaku don’t really like sweets, so there was no point in me bringing one home...”

Tanjirou doesn’t say anything back, suddenly going quiet. His sound plays a strange note Zenitsu can’t put a name on and the blond’s face flushes even more. What’s with that sound? Why is Tanjirou so quiet? Does he think it’s lame that Zenitsu was hyping up a baked good? Could it be that Tanjirou is tired of thinking about cakes and pastries? He has been surrounded by them for weeks so it would make sense...damn it! Zenitsu should have picked something else to distract his boyfriend with, like that ad on socks!

Fortunately, before he can fully freak out over his poor distraction skills the lunch bell rings, shattering the earlier silence. Zenitsu quickly stuffs his magazines into his bag and picks up his empty bento. Tanjirou does the same and follows him out of the student council room and towards the staircase that leads to the second year classrooms. They both stop at the bottom to part ways.

“I’ll see you later,” Zenitsu says and Tanjirou nods, still looking lost in thought.

Zenitsu moves to give Tanjirou a quick hug. Though it lasts way too short for the blond’s liking, he tries to savor it as much as he can, after all, Zenitsu won’t see Tanjirou until tomorrow. It’s a bit frustrating but Zenitsu tries not to let it show on his face, focusing all his attention on the sound of Tanjirou’s heartbeat. When they part he gives Tanjirou what he hopes is a happy smile and tells him to give him a call later if he has time before heading off to his classroom.

The moment he makes it to his seat, Zenitsu can already feel the Tanjirou withdrawals begin, missing the warmth of his boyfriend’s presence. He tries to distract himself from his aching heart by thinking over his gift dilemma. During class he attempts to sneakily google what are the best knitting gifts but he barely makes it past the loading page before he gets caught by his teacher. Luckily it’s Rengoku-sensei who catches him in the act and instead of taking away his phone (like Tomioka) or murdering him on the spot (like Shinazugawa) he just makes him stand during class and read the text they are going over out loud. It’s embarrassing and Rengoku-sensei makes him repeat a lot of it since he thinks he’s not saying it enthusiastically enough but at least he still has his phone and his life by the end of the class period.

Unfortunately in his next class he doesn’t get the time to think of knitting or homemade gifts or anything at all. His beautiful biology teacher, Ms. Kochou decides that instead of talking about the thrilling adventures of the human body her class should perform a frog dissection. It’s terrible, absolutely horrible, the worst thing ever. Zenitsu’s poor brain can’t handle it and he ends up passing out the moment his lab partner cuts the frog wide open displaying it’s tiny organs.

It’s an image that will probably haunt his nightmares forever. Whichever school board member allowed this type of torture to take place should be fired! This had to be some type of animal cruelty!

As he sleeps on the floor Zenitsu hears his classmates freak out over his lifeless body and Ms. Kochou kindly asks one of her students to take him to the infirmary. Of course her request is instantly fulfilled (who can resist her beautiful face) and Zenitsu gets dragged non to kindly to the school infirmary and deposited on the bed like a sack of potatoes. He’s not sure how long he lays sleeping like there’s no tomorrow but when he does reach consciousness again, he hears the gentle sounds of a kind heartbeat and feels a hand gingerly running through his hair. It barely takes Zenitsu a second to figure out who the hand and sound belong to. He slowly opens his eyes and sees Tanjirou smiling softly down at him, red eyes shining with warmth.

Oh, what a wonderful sight to see! Tanjirou looks super cute right now, his smile so charming, so dashing! If this is a dream Zenitsu hopes he never wakes up!

Tanjirou laughs and the sound is so lovely Zenitsu’s heart skips a beat.

“It’s not a dream,” Tanjirou says, lightly poking Zenitsu on the nose. “And thanks, I think your smile looks super cute too!” Tanjirou’s smile turns a little bashful, his cheeks turning red and in turn Zenitsu’s face erupts in the same color because he realizes he just said all that out loud.

“T-Tanjirou!” Zenitsu squeaks out immediately sitting up. “W-what are you doing here? What time is it!?”

“The final bell rang about ten minutes ago,” Tanjirou replies. “Murata told me about what happened in your biology class and I came to check on you. How are you feeling?”

His tune changes to one full of concern and the redhead leans over the side of the bed to lightly press his forehead against Zenitsu’s to check his temperature. The blond lets out another much louder squeak, his face turning ten times redder. AH! What is his boyfriend doing!? This is way too much!! He just woke up! He cannot handle this high level of physical contact right now, his heart is not prepared!

“You don’t feel too warm,” Tanjirou says, moving away and giving Zenitsu’s poor heart some peace. “Just a little clammy. Does your head hurt? Genya told me you hit it against the floor.”

“I-I’m fine!” Zenitsu says, voice high and way too squeaky. “Totally, 100% Okay! A-Anyway shouldn’t you be heading home right now, don’t you have to help out at the bakery?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you at lunch but today I can walk home with you,” Tanjirou replies and Zenitsu instantly brightens up, his heart soaring in his chest as happiness takes over his earlier embarrassment.

“There weren’t too many orders today,” Tanjirou continues “...plus Nezuko told me I needed a break and made me promise not to come to work unless I wanted a stern scolding.” As he says the last part Tanjirou’s expression shifts, looking slightly abashed from having to be chided by his younger sister, meanwhile Zenitsu silently praises the other Kamada sibling for her good work.

Nezuko-chan truly is his one true goddess! Without her Tanjirou would never have been freed from the clutches of his own overbearing work ethic! Zenitsu needs to buy her a treat later! No ten treats! Or fifty! She deserves it!

“Really!?” Zenitsu asks, nearly vibrating on the bed from happiness. “We can walk home together!?”

Tanjirou nods and Zenitsu lets out a loud cheer, causing his boyfriend to turn red from his enthusiasm.

“Let’s get going then!” Zenitsu says, eager to leave the school and spend some quality time with his boyfriend. “Let me grab my bag from the classroom!”

He hops out of the infirmary bed and nearly skips down the hall to his class. Tanjirou walks with him, sounding both amused and endeared by his behavior. It’s not like Zenitsu can tone it down, he’s way too happy! Not only does he get to walk home with his boyfriend and maybe, hopefully be able to hold his hand but this also offers the perfect opportunity to stealthily find out what kind of gift Zenitsu should make. It’s hitting two birds with one stone! His love energy will be recharged and he can finally be one step closer to ending the problem that has been haunting him all month long.

His luck is finally starting to turn around!

Zenitsu quickly grabs his school bag and walks with Tanjirou to the lockers to change his shoes and put on his coat and scarf. The moment they walk out of the school entrance the chilly December air hits them and Zenitsu instantly shivers, stepping closer to Tanjirou. The weather is getting colder and Zenitsu absolutely detests it. He doesn’t understand how anyone could prefer the freezing temperature of winter versus warmer seasons. There is nothing appealing about it at all.

“Cold?” Tanjirou says when he notices Zenitsu shaking by his side. “Here, this should help.”

Tanjirou moves to grab Zenitsu’s hand, fingers interlocking with the blond’s. He pulls Zenitsu closer to his side so their arms are brushing together and puts their joined hands in one of his coat pockets. It’s such a smooth move Zenitsu can’t help but blush furiously, his cheeks turning rosy as butterflies erupt in his stomach from his boyfriend’s touch. When he looks at Tanjirou’s face, Zenitsu sees that he isn’t the only one affected. Tanjirou’s cheeks and the tips of his ears are also red and Zenitsu nearly melts on the spot.

Okay he takes it back. He can totally see the appeal of winter if it got Tanjirou to be this cute. In fact he’d brave ten snowstorms to see his boyfriend blush like this!

“Better?” Tanjirou says smiling at him, looking a little shy and Zenitsu swoons.

“Ugh, Tanjirou you can’t do surprise attacks like that!” Zenitsu says using his free hand to clutch at his chest, as he whines dramatically “It’s not good for my heart at all! Do you want me to die, huh!? Cause I definitely will the next time you try to be such a smooth guy!”

Tanjirou laughs and his grip tightens on Zenitsu’s hand causing the blond’s heart to skip a beat. Too much! Seriously his boyfriend is going to be the end of him!

“Sorry,” Tanjirou replies, not sounding sorry at all. “I just really wanted to hold your hand. Next time I’ll ask you before I do it!”

Zenitsu groans, clutching the fabric around his chest tighter. Another direct hit! His boyfriend was too honest! Too cute!

“Ack! There you go again! Striking my heart down! It’s definitely going to explode before I make it home!” Zenitsu says and Tanjirou laughs even more. The wonderful sound causes Zentisu's lips to tug into a dopey smile, his insides feeling warm and light.

“Don’t worry Zenitsu, if it explodes I’ll make it up to you!” Tanjirou answers back and Zenitsu’s smile grows even bigger.

“You better!” Zenitsu replies, trying to sound stern but failing miserably unable to contain the happiness that fills his heart. “Making my heart explode is a very serious offense! You need to repay me back with lots of hugs! And not just any hugs they have to be top quality hugs, the best of the best!! If you don’t my poor heart will never be repaired!”

“I’ll make sure to give you some everyday!” Tanjirou nods very seriously and Zenitsu can’t keep the giggles inside anymore. The laughter spills out into the air and Tanjirou soon joins him, both boys giggling uncontrollably, faces red and smiles full of happy affection.

God, Zenitsu misses this so much.

These little silly moments with Tanjirou that filled him with nothing but joy, that made him realize just how much space Tanjirou occupied in his heart. Zenitsu can’t help but soak up the affection that played so loudly in Tanjirou’s sound, ears fixating on the joyful tunes. He leans in closer to his boyfriend, who is so warm, arms pressed together and squeezes his hand like Tanjirou did to him earlier. Tanjirou’s cheeks glow even brighter and his smile turns so soft, so lovely, Zenitsu wants this moment to last forever.

Unfortunately it doesn’t.

The place they usually part ways is coming into view and Zenitsu instantly feels a mixture of disappointment, sadness and panic grip his heart. No! No! The walk was way too short! That was barely enough time! Zenitsu hasn’t gotten his fill of Tanjirou yet and also….he still hasn’t figured out what to make! He was so lost in his boyfriend’s warm presence (and smile, and eyes and laugh) that he forgot to sneakily find ways to progress his gift plans! Ahh! This is the worst!

Zenitsu suddenly stops walking, feet digging into the ground and Tanjirou turns to look at him curiously.

"Zenitsu?” He asks. “What’s wrong?”

Zenitsu tightens his grip on Tanjirou’s hand, staring at the sidewalk instead of meeting his boyfriend’s eyes. He shuffles his feet on the ground, teeth biting into his bottom lip for a moment. Uncertainty grips him yet he forces himself to speak.

“Can you stay with me just a little bit longer?” Zenitsu says, his voice barely audible, eyes tightly closing.

It feels selfish to ask this. Right after the words leave his mouth Zenitsu immediately wants to take them back. Tanjirou probably has to get home right away, has to do some big and important big brother duties and take care of his family. Zenitsu should be sending Tanjirou off with a smile acting like a mature boyfriend but instead he’s acting so lame and clingy. Tanjirou must be put off ugh why did he have to open his dumb mouth, he’s such a horrible and whiny boyfrie-

“Okay,” Tanjirou says, cutting off the blond’s stream of self-deprecating thoughts.

Zenitsu opens his eyes and sees Tanjirou smiling sweetly at him, sound playing that kind and lovely melody that makes Zenitsu instantly relax. Tanjirou gently pulls Zenitsu closer to his side and points over to a nearby park.

“Let’s go over there,” Tanjirou says and Zenitsu follows after his boyfriend, heart no longer feeling heavy but light now that he has just a little more of Tanjirou’s time.

The redhead leads him over to an empty bench and they both sit down. Zenitsu leans against Tanjirou’s side, soaking up his boyfriend’s warmth. Tanjirou runs his thumb across the side of Zenitus’s hand in a comforting motion and the blond melts into the touch, letting his head rest against Tanjirou’s shoulder. Normally Zenitsu isn’t so cuddly in public but right now he can’t help it. He’s been so deprived of Tanjirou lately that he needs to savor as much of his boyfriend’s presence as he can.

“I’m sorry for being so busy,” Tanjirou says, sounding sad and Zenitsu instantly frowns, not liking how his boyfriend is apologizing for something he can’t control.

“It’s not your fault,” Zenitsu answers back, turning a little so he can poke Tanjirou in the cheek causing the redhead to smile, which is what Zenitsu wants. “It’s not like you wished to be overwhelmed by thousands of pastry orders. Which by the way is super ridiculous! Sweets are great and all but there should be a law against ordering over more than five dozen cupcakes!”

“That’s true, but all the orders are good for business,” Tanjirou replies and Zenitsu huffs at the cheeky response poking his boyfriend even harder causing Tanjirou’s smile to grow.

“Well they’re not good for your health!” Zenitsu scolds. “One day you’re going to overwork yourself to death! And when that happens I’ll die from loneliness! My poor grieving heart will give out on me and I’ll have to follow my dumb boyfriend to the afterlife!”

“At least we'll be together in the spirit world,” Tanjirou says teasingly and this time instead of a poke he gets a pinch on his cheek. Hmph! How dare he joke about their doomed fates!

“Taaannjiirrouu!” Zenitsu whines and his boyfriend laughs, eyes twinkling and smile full of mirth. It’s so cute. Ugh damn it, now Zenitsu is starting to smile too. Curse his adorable boyfriend!

“Okay, okay!” Tanjirou concedes. “I’ll try not to overwork myself!”

“Good!” Zenitsu replies, releasing his grip on his boyfriend’s cheek. “I still have lots of plans you know! We still have lots of couple things we have to do and I need a perfectly healthy boyfriend to do them with!”

“What kind of couple things?” Tanjirou asks curiously, titling his head to the side.

“You know like exchanging Valentines chocolate, attending a festival together and going on dates to the amusement park or the aquarium. Oh and giving each other Chri-” Zenitsu’s mouth shuts close, his brain suddenly locking onto the whole reason he asked Tanjirou to stay.

He makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds like a cat when you step on its tail. The sound causes Tanjirou to jump and look at Zenitsu in alarm, having no clue as to what suddenly came over the older boy. Zenitsu has no time to placate his boyfriend; instead he chooses to silently freak out over his own stupidity.

Ah! That’s right, his Christmas plans! Damn it, he almost forgot! Again! His boyfriend is too distracting! He needs to find out what to make, but he has no clue how to go about it. He can’t just ask outright and give himself away but if he doesn’t say anything then he’ll never find the answer. This is probably his only chance to find out too! Damn it his brain needs to think of something! Anything!

“Zenitsu are you ok-Achoo!”

This time it’s Zenitsu who jumps when he hears Tanjirou let out a loud sneeze. He turns to his boyfriend and notices his slightly red nose and the way the younger boy brings the edges of his jacket collar closer to his neck, a neck that is lacking a familiar blue scarf. Now that he thinks about it Tanjirou wasn’t wearing his scarf this morning either. Zenitsu thought he had put it in his bag since it wasn’t that cold earlier but now he sees that Tanjirou just doesn’t have it with him.

It’s embarrassing that he’s noticing this now. His brain must have been too focused on soaking up his boyfriend’s love to notice his lack of winter clothing but now that it’s come to his attention Zenitsu immediately starts unraveling his own scarf so he can wrap it around Tanjirou’s neck. The redhead may run too hot but that doesn’t mean he can’t catch a cold! And that would be terrible! Zenitsu would see even less of Tanjirou and his heart couldn't take that at all!

“Where’s your scarf?” Zenitsu says, tone scolding. “You should be wearing it in this kind of weather! Do you want to get sick?”

“Shigeru has it,” Tanjirou replies, looking surprised by Zenitsu’s sudden actions, cheeks turning red. “He lost his so I gave him mine.”

Ugh, such a great big brother! Tanjirou really is a saint, the ideal family member. Zenitsu is sure that if he lost his scarf Kaigaku would laugh in his face instead of kindly handing him his own.

“Zenitsu, you don’t have to give me yours,” Tanjirou says trying to unravel the scarf around his neck, though the action proves futile since Zenitsu instantly batts his hands away. “I'm fine! I don’t want you to feel cold!”

“Fine? You just sneezed! And your nose is red! You’ve been working too hard, your immune system is probably shot! If there’s anyone who should be worried over feeling cold it should be you!” Zenitsu counters back, glaring at Tanjirou when he tries to tug the scarf off again.

He snatches Tanjirou’s hand and holds them in his own, causing his boyfriend to relent though he does it with a pout. No amount of cute faces will deter Zenitsu from keeping his boyfriend healthy! Really, Tanjirou needs to stop being so careless about his own wellbeing!

Zenitsu lets go of Tanjirou’s hands to properly fix the scarf around his neck. His boyfriend’s skin feels a little cold when he brushes against it and Zenitsu instantly starts fretting. He has only seen Tanjirou wearing that one scarf since last year so he probably doesn’t own another one. His boyfriend isn’t the type to spend money on himself either so he probably won’t buy another one, not when he can use that money on his other family members. The only way he’ll get a new one is if someone buys him one...or makes him one….AAHH!! THAT’S IT!!

Zenitsu lets out a triumphant cry as the epiphany hits him in the face and in his excitement he accidentally tightens the scarf around Tanjirou’s neck who lets out a startled wheeze. A scarf is perfect! It’s not as big as a sweater nor as small as a glove. It also doesn’t seem like it’d take too long to make, thus making it the perfect gift! Finally he could move past the starting point to his plan!

This is great! It seems the universe truly didn’t hate him after all!

“Z-Zenitsu?” Tanjirou squeaks out, hands moving to tug at the scarf currently restricting his airways.

At the panicked voice, Zenitsu’s attention flies away from his thoughts and shifts back to his boyfriend who is starting to look a little blue in the face. Realizing that he was accidentally about to murder his boyfriend via suffocation Zenitsu quickly lets go of the scarf scooting back to allow his boyfriend some breathing room. Tanjirou takes a big gulp of air, finally free to breathe again and Zenitsu immediately rubs his boyfriend’s back in apology.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Sorry!” Zenitsu says in a rush. “I umm just got excited by something I was thinking about! Sorry! Are you okay!?”

“I-I’m fine,” Tanjirou replies back after he finally catches his breath. He offers the blond a small smile though it’s still tinged with pain and Zenitsu immediately apologizes again, looking ready to jump off the bench and perform a dogeza on the snow, an action Tanjirou immediately stops with a hand on his elbow.

“I’m really fine!” Tanjirou repeats, trying to mollify the older boy, gently patting his arm to signal no harm was done. “What were you thinking about anyway?”

The question causes Zenitsu’s body to tense up and for his mind to flail around desperately looking for an answer that doesn’t completely expose his amazing new plan out into the open. Think! Think! Hurry choose something that will throw him off! Anything! Unfortunately at that exact moment his few remaining brain cells choose to completely shut down and he ends up blurting out the first incriminating word that comes to mind.

“I-I err Christmas!”

NO!! You idiot!!

Zenitsu immediately cringes wanting nothing more than to smack himself in the face for that slip of tongue. Christmas? Really!? That’s the best his brain could come up with!? He’s practically pointing a big neon sign right towards his master plan and Zenitsu refuses to let it be exposed right out into the open just like that. He did not spend weeks running himself ragged trying to find Tanjirou a gift for it to blow up in front of him at the last minute!

Desperate to find a way to save himself and throw his boyfriend off track Zenitsu quickly says the next thing that pops up into his head.

“I m-mean Christmas date!” The words are said with such a force it has Tanjirou leaning back a bit, eyes wide. The moment the sentence leaves his mouth Zenitsu’s entire face erupts into the color of a tomato. Instead of taking it back, he valiantly pushes forward, choosing to latch onto the save his brain provided him with (a save that nearly causes his heart to pound right out of his chest).

“We-we should go on one!’ Zenitsu continues, his voice growing shaky as his spontaneous courage dwindles. Tanjirou's eyes get even wider and Zenitsu’s gaze immediately darts down to the metal bench, too embarrassed to meet his boyfriend’s eyes.

Ah! Dammit! This is not the way he wanted to bring this up! He did want to go on a Christmas date, truly, it is at the top of his couple's to-do list, but he wanted to ask it in a much smoother and romantic fashion, preferably when his heart was more prepared and less stressed out. When Tanjirou doesn’t immediately say anything back, Zenitsu feels his anxiety spike.

Was that too forward? Should he take it back? Did Tanjirou already make plans with someone else? Maybe with his family? Did they even celebrate Christmas? Ah, what a mess! Zenitsu should have brought this up way earlier, maybe in October, that way they could have scheduled the date ahead of time and added it to their schedules so nothing could get in the way of their lovey-dovey ti-

“Okay,” Tanjirou’s voice breaks through Zenitsu’s stream of thoughts, a rough calloused hand moving to cover the blond’s and Zenitsu quickly looks up. His heart stutters in his chest, stomach fluttering when he catches sight of Tanjirou’s sweet smile and rose colored cheeks.

Tanjirou gently runs his fingers over Zenitsu’s knuckles and the blond feels himself swooning at the tender touch.

“I was actually going to ask you if we should go on a date too,” The redhead admits. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile.”

“Really?” The admission causes Zenitsu to instantly perk up, any feelings of anxiety vanishing into thin air as a smile tugs on his lips.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up but you managed to say it so easily,” Tanjirou replies and his smile turns a little sheepish, head shyly ducking down a little, it's all very incredibly cute.“Makes me feel a little embarrassed over how much I fretted over it, haha.”

The thought of Tanjirou worrying over how to ask Zenitsu out on a date makes the blond’s insides immediately turn into a gooey mush. His boyfriend really is too endearing, too adorable. His heart can barely handle it.

It’s impossible to contain the giggles that escape Zenitsu’s mouth, the mirth easily spilling out of him. At the sound, Tanjirou's cheeks dye into an even deeper red, but his smile grows brighter at the unabashed happiness he sees shining on the older boy’s face. After Zenitsu calms down, laughter petering out, the two of them lean into each other, their shoulders and sides pressing together and start discussing the details of their upcoming date.

Time passes quickly after that and soon it’s time for the two of them to head back to their parting spot. Unlike before, Zenitsu feels like he’s on cloud nine when he sees Tanjirou off. The high leaves Zenitsu feeling braver than normal and when Tanjirou gently wraps Zenitsu’s scarf back around his neck (refusing to to take it home and leave the blond’s neck defenseless to the cold) Zenitsu takes the chance to grab onto the edges of Tanjirou’s coat and tug him down. Tanjirou, caught by surprise, is easily pulled towards the other and Zenitsu surges upwards, his lips pressing against the other boy’s cheek in a goodbye kiss. Tanjirou lets out a strangled squeaking noise and his face erupts into an endearing blush. The kiss barely lasts a second but it’s enough to make both their hearts pound. When Zenitsu pulls away he smiles brightly at his boyfriend who stares at him dumbly looking dazed.

“See you tomorrow!” Zenitsu says and his boyfriend just nods, voice suddenly lost.

Zenitsu turns around and quickly heads off towards the direction of his house. He nearly skips the whole way home, practically floating in the air. He gets many strange stares from random people but none of those looks bother him in the slightest.

His month long mission is finally coming to an end! His gift giving problem is over and done with and not only that but he’s also scored a Christmas date! It’s great!

Zenitsu can already picture it in his head, the date and the present he’s going to give his boyfriend. He’s going to make a scarf so spectacular and amazing Tanjirou will definitely think Zenitsu is the greatest boyfriend ever! Just imagining the look on Tanjirou’s face when he receives his gift causes Zenitsu to giggle madly to himself which in turn causes the two women who are walking near him to whisper furiously behind their hands as they walk faster.

Finally things were starting to look up!

Before Zenitsu heads home he makes a detour to a crafts store to buy a pair of knitting needles and to get all the necessary materials he needs to create his masterpiece. While shopping he sees a few books on knitting but he decides not to purchase those choosing to just google information online instead of wasting his money.

Knitting a scarf doesn’t seem that difficult. It’s just a long piece of wool. Pretty simple! He’s sure he can do it all on his own!

He’s positive it will definitely turn out amazing!

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Zenitsu wishes he had a time machine so he could go back to the past and slap himself right in the face.

As he stares at the pieces of wool in front of him he realizes how stupid his past thinking had been. Three days. He’s been at it for three days, watching over thirty tutorial videos, pouring over multiple step by step guides, staring at copious amounts of patterns and knitting information and so far all that hard work has yielded...absolutely nothing!! His scarf (if you can even call this mess of black and green wool a scarf) is barely as long as his forearm and it looks like someone tossed a piece of fabric into a blender then ran over it with a car.

How in the world did he think this would be easy!? What is wrong with his brain!? It's super hard!

He's barely accomplished anything (besides stabbing himself multiple times with a pair of knitting needles) and Christmas is just right around the corner! There is no way he can get this done by then! It's impossible! His grandmaster plan is crumbling to pieces right before his eyes. Any excitement he had towards the upcoming holiday is zapped right out of him, getting replaced with dread.

What is he going to do now!? Should he start over? Give up?

No, no he can't give up! If he does he's just right back to square one, scrambling to find another gift idea! It took him ages to reach this point...but can he really push on? The more he works on this scarf the more horrible it looks...

Ugh!! He doesn't know what to do!!

Zenitsu lets out a loud groan throwing his hands in the air as he feels defeat, anger and disappointment stir inside him into one messy ball of negative emotions. He falls back onto the floor in his living room and grips his hair letting out another loud sound of despair.

This is the worst!! The absolute worst!! Why oh why is this happening!? Can't things just go right for once!? Is that too much to ask!? AHHHHH-

"WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"

Zenitsu stops his wailing and looks up from where he's been rolling back and forth on the ground to stare at Kaigaku who is glaring at him from the other side of the room. His brother walks over to him to give him a kick in the side (it doesn't really hurt, it's more of a hard tap than anything but it still makes Zenitsu let out a wounded squeaking noise).

"What the hell are whining about now, you idiot!? I'm trying to take a damn nap, so be quiet!" Kaigaku yells out, completely annoyed.

Zenitsu rubs his side and glares back at his older brother. Nap!? It's only 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Why the hell is he sleeping now!? And why is he still home!? It's a Sunday he should be out getting into whatever delinquent things Zenitsu is 100% sure he does and not here tormenting his younger brother and ruining Zenitsu's very important thinking session!

Zenitsu’s just about to think of a way he can get his brother out of the room when he notices Kaigaku’s attention shift from the blonde to the scarf the younger boy had carelessly tossed on the floor.

"What the hell is that thing?"

The blonde's eyes widen in panic and he quickly sits up. No! He can't let Kaigaku see that! He'll ridicule him for the rest of his life if he does!

"It's nothing!" Zenitsu shouts out, moving to grab the scarf off the ground. “Nothing at all!”

Kaigaku, using his terrible older sibling senses, realizes that Zenitsu is trying to hide something potentially embarrassing from him and immediately dives down at the same time Zenitsu does. Unfortunately, his freakishly quick reflexes overpower Zenitsu's and he grabs the piece of fabric before Zenitsu does, sweeping it off the ground to hold above his head. Before Zenitsu can get up and valiantly try (and most definitely fail) to get the scarf back from his monster of a brother, Kaigaku puts a foot on the blond's back and holds him down in place on the ground. The weight of his stupidly heavy body keeps the younger boy from getting up and Zenitsu can do nothing but wiggle around like a dying fish letting out tiny pitiful whines as his work in progress is scrutinized by the last person he wants to see it.

"What the fuck is this? Why are you bringing home trash?" Kaigaku says and Zenitsu lets out a very offended noise followed by an angry growl.

"What the hell!? That is not trash you jerk!" Zenitsu yells back. "Get your eyes checked! It's a scarf!"

"A scarf? This piece of shit is a scarf? What the hell, where the fuck did you get this garbage from…"

Kaigaku trails off, finally taking notice of the mess scattered across the floor. His eyes take in the green and black wool, the knitting needles and the paused video of a knitting tutorial on YouTube that’s on Zenitsu’s laptop. Zenitsu can hear the moment Kaigaku pieces it all together and he flushes red, burying his face in the carpet to try to hide his embarrassment and to also suffocate himself because he can already feel the heavy amount of ridicule that he is about to receive from this heartless beast.

"The fuck? Are you making a scarf?" Kaigaku asks in his oh-so very polite tone.

Zenitsu just groans into the carpet and doesn't answer, however his silence is enough of an answer on its own.

"Why the hell are you making a scarf?" Kaigaku questions. "Is this a gift? Wait don't tell me...are you making a scarf for your dumb boyfriend? Holy fuck, what kind of shoujo manga bullshit are you trying to pull?"

Zenitsu hates how easily Kaigaku puts the pieces together. His brother sounds both amused and surprised. Zenitsu understands the amusement, considering Kaigaku loves tormenting him on a regular basis but he doesn't get the surprise. Was it that shocking that Zenitsu was making something for Tanjirou? Did he really think that Zenitsu would never put his heart and soul into a gift for a loved one? How rude of him! If Zenitsu wasn't so mortified he'd give Kaigaku a piece of his mind.

"..Shut up," Zenitsu mumbles into the carpet. "Don't mock me."

Kaigaku lifts his foot off Zenitsu's back but the younger boy doesn't move from his position on the floor. He'd rather lie face-first on the carpet then look at Kaigaku's stupid judgmental face.

His brother is such a jerk! The worst sibling in the world!

"This looks like shit, you seriously have no talent for this type of thing," Kaigaku says and Zenitsu finally looks up to glare at him because those words sting.

"I know it looks awful, okay!" Zenitsu yells back both angry and hurt. "And I know I'm terrible at this! I've stabbed myself enough times to know I can't knit at all!"

"Why the fuck are you even doing this then if you suck so badly, just buy a gift like a normal person, you idiot," Kaigaku says with a scoff, tossing the scarf back at Zenitsu who barely catches it.

“I just wanted to, alright!” Zenitsu shouts out, hands clutching the scarf against his chest. “I wanted to make something special, a gift that would be really amazing...but...but now I see how stupid that whole idea was!” Zenitsu can’t help the tears that escape his eyes as his voice shakes. “I can’t give this thing to Tanjirou, you’re right it is garbage!”

Zenitsu throws the incomplete scarf to the ground as sobs begin to fall from his mouth. Damn it now he’s crying and Kaigaku is starting to look at him as if he’s grown three heads and four arms. His brother is the last person he wants to have a breakdown in front of but he can’t help it! Seeing all his effort end up in vain tears his heart apart, he worked so hard and it was all for nothing!

“I should just toss this in the trash and give up!” Zenitsu continues his voice rising in pitch the more his emotions spiral out of control. “What was I thinking trying to make a homemade gift!? Everything I touch just turns into a whole mess! I’m a horrible, terrible human being! I can’t do anything right!”

“Hey calm dow-”

“I’m the worst boyfriend ever! Now I don’t have a gift for Tanjirou! And now I have to start all over looking for one! All the stores are probably sold out of all the good stuff too! Whatever I end up getting will probably be terrible and Tanjirou won’t like it at all and then he’s going to break up with me-”

“Seriously you need to ca-”

“And I’ll be all alone again! And then I’m going to end up hating Christmas forever because the only thing I’ll remember on that stupid holiday is Tanjirou breaking up with me! I’ll never find love ever agai-”

“I SAID TO CALM THE FUCK DOWN YOU IDIOT!”

Kaigaku knocks a fist against Zenitsu’s head, stopping his long winded emotional rant. Zenitsu lets out a loud squawk and looks up at Kaigaku with teary red eyes, sniffling as he rubs the top of his head. Kaigaku scowls back at him, not looking sorry at all for potentially giving his younger brother a concussion.

“You’re starting to hyperventilate, you moron,” Kaigaku says. “Seriously you're such a goddamn mess.”

Zenitsu glares at his brother. Can’t he show at least an ounce of sympathy! He truly has no heart! Zenitsu tries to calm his breathing and Kaigaku reaches over across the nearby kotatsu to grab a box of tissues, tossing them towards Zenitsu’s face, who fumbles to catch it.

“Wipe your face, you look disgusting,” Kaigaku says and Zenitsu does as he’s told, grabbing a few tissues to wipe his eyes.

Kaigaku stares at him for a few seconds, his face scrunched up and sound conflicted. It sounds like he’s debating something in his head, thoughts jumping back and forth, warring with each other. Zenitsu stares at him confused and wonders what his brother is thinking so hard about and why he’s looking at him as if he’s just become the world’s greatest nuisance. A few more seconds pass before Kaigaku meets his eyes and comes to some sort of conclusion in his head. He closes his eyes and rubs his temples looking like he’s resigning himself to some horrible fate, letting out a very long and very annoyed sigh.

“God, I swear I’m going to fucking regret this...” Kaigaku mumbles to himself.

He opens his eyes and glares at Zenitsu pointing a finger at him.

“Hey shitstain,” Kaigaku continues, voice louder.

“Don’t call me that…” Zenitsu replies back with a pout.

“Shut up, show me what the hell you were trying to make.” Kaigaku answers back motioning to the scarf that’s on the ground. “You have a pattern picked out for it right.”

Zenitsu blinks and looks at his brother suspiciously wondering what the hell he was trying to do. Did Kaigaku want to see what Zenitsu was trying to make so he could ridicule him some more? It seems like the only logical answer.

“Don’t give me that dumb face, just show me the pattern!” Kaigaku yells out his patience thinning and Zenitsu jumps.

“Okay, okay, god you don't have to be such a jerk…” Zenitsu grumbles moving to his computer to bring up the pattern and scarf he was trying to emulate. “Here it is”

Kaigaku leans down to get a better look at the screen, nearly pushing Zenitsu out of the way. When he sees the image he lets out a loud noise of disdain and scowls as if the picture had personally offended him. What the hell? Did it look that bad? Since when was he a fashion expert!?

“This is the shit you were trying to make? Are you a fucking idiot? No wait, don't answer that of course you are,” Kaigaku says leaning back.

“What is your problem?” Zenitsu replies annoyed by the continuous stream of insults. Seriously what in the world bit Kaigaku in the butt? “This pattern looks nice!”

“It’s also looks super fucking complicated,” Kaigaku answers back. “No way a dumb beginner like you can make shit like this in a few days, it’s impossible.”

Zenitsu’s mouth shuts close, surprised by his brother’s words.

Complicated? What?

“Are these your knitting needles?” Kaigaku continues picking up the craft supplies off the floor. When he gets a good look at them the frown on his face grows even more. “These are way too big! No wonder that piece of crap you were making is barely put together! You need something smaller, idiot.”

Smaller what now? Zenitsu stares at his brother completely bewildered. Knitting needles come in different sizes? Since when does Kaigaku know this?

“Stay there.” Kaigaku says, ignoring the slack jawed look on Zenitsu’s face. “And you better not move a muscle! I’ll be right back.”

Kaigaku walks off and Zenitsu stares at the spot his brother used to occupy his brain trying to process what in the world is going on. He hears Kaigaku head up to his room and then listens to him moving around upstairs as if he’s looking for something. Eventually he finds what he needs and makes his way back down. When he comes back to the living room Zenitsu sees him holding a pair of knitting needles. They are smaller than the ones Zenitsu bought at the craft store and they also look more expensive. Zenitsu gawks at them eying the knitting needles as if they were some type of alien object.

Why the hell does his brother have knitting needles? What does he use them for? Wait..could they be weapons that Kaigaku uses to kill people!? Is his brother a murderer!? Was he going to kill him? Was he finally tired of Zenitsu annoying him all the time and decided to murder him in cold blood? Oh god is he going to DIE-

“Why the fuck are you moving away, you moron?” Kaigaku says with a glare as Zenitsu tries to scramble behind the kotatsu.

“Because you're going to kill me!” Zenitsu answers back with a wail. “OH GOD PLEASE AT LEAST MAKE IT PAINLESS!”

“SHUT UP YOU GIANT ASS BABY!” Kaigaku yells back and Zenitsu closes his mouth with an ‘eep’. “I’m not going to murder you, even though I should since you’re such a pain in the ass.”

“If you’re not going to kill me then why do you have those?” Zenitsu says pointing to the knitting needles. “Why do you even own knitting needles? Did you steal them?”

“What the fuck? What makes you think I stole them?I bought these myself, you imbecile,” Kaigaku answers back with a growl.

Those words surprise Zenitsu even more than if his brother admitted to being a murderer. Bought them? To do what? Knitting? There’s no way his horrible mean big brother would do something like that! It’s inconceivable! Impossible! His brother was a delinquent; he didn’t do cute things like knitting!

“Why?” Zenitsu asks, head reeling.

“That’s none of your fucking business” Kaigaku quickly replies, his face a little red. “Here take these.” He shoves the knitting needles in Zenitsu’s hands. “They should work better than the shitty ones you had before.”

Zenitsu stares at the knitting needles, holding them like a bomb about to go off.

“Umm,” He says.

“Now you better pick a pattern that someone with a pea sized brain like you can make,” Kaigaku says taking a seat behind Zenitsu on the couch.

“Umm,” Zenitsu says again, still not moving an inch.

Was this really his brother? Maybe this was some imposter. Could an alien have come and snatched his brother away and took his place? Though why would an extraterrestrial creature like knitt-

“I said to pick a pattern!!” Kaigaku yells out, making Zentisu jump and break away from his thoughts.

“Alright!” Zenitsu shouts back, moving towards his computer. “I’ll pick something!”

It takes a lot of searching online to find a pattern his older brother deems suitable. However, the minute he starts working on it Kaigaku lets out another noise of disapproval and snatches the knitting needles right out of Zenitsu’s hands.

“That’s not how you fucking hold them!” He yells out. “Are you trying to stab yourself in the arm?”

Zenitsu jumps when Kaigaku moves to sit next to him on the ground. He looks at Zenitsu, turquoise eyes meeting gold and the look he has on his face makes Zenitsu feel a deep sense of foreboding, like he’s just sealed his fate and is about to walk straight to his death.

“Fuck, If you’re going to do this you’re doing this right,” Kaigaku says with a glare that makes Zenitsu want to hide in a hole. “Now listen to everything I tell you, and I better not hear any back talk!”

Zenitsu nods his head and wonders what in the world he has just gotten himself into.

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

It’s like a knitting hell bootcamp.

Zenitsu is forced to endure Kaigaku’s horrid knitting sessions. It’s pure torture and Kaigaku works Zenitsu’s poor fingers to the bone.Those guides that described knitting as a relaxing hobby were nothing but lies. There is nothing relaxing about this at all.

Kaigaku yells out commands like some sort of military leader and smacks Zenitsu anytime he starts complaining about his terrible teaching methods. However, despite the absolute hell Kaigaku puts him through, he’s a surprisingly competent teacher and guides Zenitsu better than any of the tutorials he saw online. It’s a mystery as to where his brother acquired such skills and it will forever remain a mystery because when Zenitsu asked Kaigaku where he learned to knit his brother gave him such an icy glare full of death that the blond vowed to never bring up the question again in order to preserve his life. Some things were best left unknown.

It takes days of continuous hard work and all his friends give him concerned looks when they see his tired and soulless eyes at school (especially Nezuko who gives him a very pointed look that Zenitsu chooses to ignore). Somehow Zenitsu manages to complete the scarf without his arms falling off and his soul leaving his body and with barely any time to spare, right before the scheduled Christmas date.

It’s a miracle, a miracle that nearly killed him, but a miracle nonetheless.

When Zenitsu holds the finished product in his hands he nearly bursts into tears from pure relief. Finally, it is done.

Tanjirou’s gift is complete!

The scarf is a little uneven along the edges, and some parts look a tiny bit messy but it’s usable and doesn't look that far off from the ones he’s seen at the stores in the mall. The pattern is a little too plain for his liking (a solid green with little black checkered ends) but beggars can’t be choosers.

“You better not start bawling,” Kaigaku says, eyeing the teary eyed look on Zenitsu’s face with disdain.

He looks about as tired as Zenitsu does. Apparently teaching took a lot out of his older brother, Zenitsu thinks it must have taken a toll on his delinquent heart (a heart Zenitsu’s guesses is bigger than he thought, it must have grown three sizes when no one was looking.)

Zenitsu wipes his eyes and turns to his brother, a grateful smile on his face.

“Thank you Aniki,” Zenitsu says and he truly means it. Kaigaku blushes a little from the words but he immediately tries to cover it with a scowl, though the pleased little note of joy playing in his sound doesn’t bypass Zenitsu’s ears.

“Whatever,” Kaigaku gruffly replies back. “This is a one time thing, don’t think I’ll ever do something like this again, you brat. You are seriously a terrible student. I swear I aged like ten years trying to drill knowledge into your empty head.”

The insults do nothing to deter the relief and pure happiness Zenitsu feels flowing through his veins, his smile still firmly in place. He thinks about giving Kaigaku a hug but he’s sure any sort of tender physical contact will cause his brother to combust into flames so he settles with knocking his shoulders against the other’s.

“No really, thanks,” Zenitsu repeats. “If you didn’t help me I’d have probably lost it completely. Though I would have preferred your teaching methods to contain less yelling, I wouldn't have gotten it done without you.”

“Okay, seriously enough mushy gross feelings,” Kaigaku pushes Zenitsu away, though without any force to hurt him. “It’s getting annoying, I need to get away from you before you give me another headache.”

He moves to leave Zenitsu alone and finally get some rest after days of non-stop stress caused by one blond younger brother. Before he completely makes it out of the room he turns to look at Zenitsu over his shoulder. There’s a dangerous spark in his eyes that makes a scared shiver run down Zenitsu’s spine.

“Your dumb boyfriend better like it or else I’m going to kick his ass.”

He cracks his knuckle further driving that threat home and then leaves the room. Zenitsu doesn’t get time to really ponder if his brother is joking (though the blond doubts it, his brother probably doesn’t even know what a joke is), the sound of his ringtone goes off, catching his attention. Zenitsu checks to see who's calling and the moment he sees the caller I.D he immediately scrambles to answer it.

“Hello?” Zenitsu says and the voice he hears on the other end makes his heartbeat pick up pace.

“Hey,” Tanjirou responds back. He sounds so cheery and sweet and even though he’s not physically in the room, the space around Zenitsu instantly brightens up.

“I just wanted to check if we were still okay for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, ofcourse!” Zenitsu replies, a smile immediately blossoming on his face and his heart pounding with giddy excitement as he thinks of the upcoming date tomorrow. “Are we still meeting up by the station?”

“Yeah, we can meet closer to your house if you want to though, I don’t mind the extra walk there.”

“No, no, the station is fine, it’s closer to where we are going anyway.”

As they talk, Zenitsu's mind drifts over to the plans they had gone over together a few days before. A meet-up at the station then a short walk over to where a huge Christmas tree had been put up in the city. The tree is surrounded by gorgeous lights and big glowing stars and is a big hit for couples who want to enjoy a romantic mood. Before Zenitsu used to avoid that place like the plague, not wanting to catch one single glimpse of all those lovey-dovey couples but things are different now that he has his own wonderful boyfriend. Just imagining him and Tanjirou standing under the lights and holding hands fills him with warm fluffy feelings. After spending some time at the tree, the two of them planned to head back to Zenitsu’s house to hang out. No one is going to be home since Kaigaku and gramps were going to be out so it’s the perfect spot for them to spend some quality one on one time together (and maybe if Zenitsu is lucky, it will be the perfect opportunity for the two of them to progress their relationship hehe).

“I can’t wait to see you,” Tanjirou’s admits, his voice full of tender longing. The honest words make Zenitsu’s heart go into overdrive. The heat that takes over his face feels hot enough to fry an egg.

He bites his bottom lip trying to stop himself from giggling like a silly schoolgirl. His boyfriend is too much! Any more smooth words and Zenitsu is sure his heart will go into cardiac arrest!

“Me too,” Zenitsu responds back, his own courage to be honest back bolstered by Tanjirou’s heartfelt words. He can hear notes of happiness playing in Tanjirou’s sound through the cellphone and it makes his chest feel even lighter thinking about hearing that beautiful sound in person tomorrow.

“You better be prepared Kamado!” Zenitsu says, voice tinged with playfulness. “I’m going to demand so much affection from you, you’re going to be sick of it!”

“I could never get sick of you Zenitsu,” Tanjirou’s honestly answers back, another direct hit to Zenitsu’s poor heart. “And don’t worry I plan to make up for all the time I’ve been busy!”

“You better!” Zenitsu says with an over dramatic humph that Tanjirou instantly knows is just for show. “I expect lots of hugs!”

“Of course!”

“And you better hold my hand the entire time!’

“Definitely! I won’t let go!”

“And when we get to my house I want lots of cuddles! You can't leave my side!”

“I won’t! I swear it!’

“And then at the end I-I expect a k-kiss, okay! And not just a cheek kiss, a r-real one! And it can’t be short!”

“Ah, umm O-okay!”

The back and forth continues with Zenitsu making even more elaborate demands from his boyfriend and Tanjirou agreeing to meet them no matter how ridiculous. (“You can’t take your eyes off me for a second!” “Alright!” “No seriously, you better stare at nothing but me, you got it!” “But Zenitsu how am I supposed to see where I’m going if I just look at you?” “I’ll guide you, just trust me!” “Okay! My life is in your hands!”) Eventually as the time ticks on the conversation switches to idle and mundane chatter, both eager to listen to the other talk about anything, unwilling to hang up. (Nezuko got into that new drama you like.” “Really! Let me know what she thinks, the main lead is so handsome and cool.” “You think so..” “Ah, are you pouting? Hehe, don’t worry you’re just as handsome. “O-oh, thanks!”)

Zenitsu isn’t sure how long they talk for but he wishes it could last forever. Nothing is better than the sound of Tanjirou’s voice. He even debates asking Tanjirou to keep talking until he falls asleep. What a perfect lullaby his heartbeat will be to his ears, he’s sure no nightmare will ever reach him with that sound in the background. Unfortunately the request goes unsaid when Zenitus hears Kie calling Tanjirou’s name in the background, asking for his help with putting his younger siblings to bed.

Tanjirou never one to deny his mom anything, reluctantly tells Zenitsu he has to go.

“Alright,” Zenitsu says. “You better get lots of rest! Remember you’re going to give me all your undivided attention tomorrow!”

“Okay,” Tanjirou replies, a big smile evident in his voice. “Good night Zenitsu, hope you have good dreams!”

“Good night and you too,” Zenitsu says back and when the call is ended he feels that little sense of loss he always gets when Tanjirou goes away though the ache eases when Zenitsu remembers he’ll be seeing his boyfriend in person tomorrow. It makes a wide smile spread across his face.

He decides to head to bed early wanted to be fully charged for his long awaited Christmas date. Before he heads to his room he picks up the scarf he made that he had absentmindedly put down while he was talking to his boyfriend. Zenitsu runs his fingers across the woolen fabric and his thoughts switch from the date to when he inevitably hands his gift over to Tanjirou. He wonders what kind of face Tanjirou will make when he sees it. Will he be happy? What kind of sound will Tanjirou’s heart make? Will all his painstakingly hard work be worth it in the end?

He hopes so because if not his heart will surely be crushed to pieces and thinking back to Kaigaku’s earlier threat, so will Tanjirou’s bones.

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Zenitsu tries to get a good rest, he really does but thoughts of his Christmas date plague his mind all night long. One moment he dreams of him and Tanjirou holding hands under the Christmas lights, a giddy smile on his face, the next he imagines Tanjirou with a look of disdain when he holds Zenitsu’s gift, and that smile turns into a sad little frown. The back and forth throughout the night causes his brain to spiral and for sleep to evade him. When morning comes he feels like a zombie, body stiff, brain nonfunctional and barely alive.

One look in the mirror has him recoiling. Luckily Zenitsu doesn’t see Tanjirou until later in the day so it gives him time to recharge and look like an actual person again.

It takes a big cup of coffee and some breakfast in his belly for him to be able to form cohesive thoughts once more. With his mind more alert and body able to run on more than just fumes Zenitsu uses the rest of his morning to wrap Tanjirou’s gift up in a small bag and then begin the arduous task of choosing what to wear for the big date.

It’s not an easy task. Nothing in his closet looks good enough to wear for the incredibly special occasion.

It proves to be too momentous of a job just for himself alone, so he sends out an S.O.S to all his friends. Only a few answer back (Nezuko, Murata and Kanao), the rest choose to ignore his cry for help (something he will definitely remember in the future, see if he ever helps them with anything ever again!). He ends up upheaving his entire closet but after searching through everything he owns he eventually finds an outfit that gains the approval of all his friends (an approval that comes in the form of various thumbs up and heart emojis). He has a bit more time to spare after that and Zenitsu uses it to spend some time with his family.

The Kuwajimi household isn’t that big on Christmas celebrations but they still chose to exchange gifts for the fun of it. It doesn't come with a lot of fanfare and none of them are wrapped, still it’s the thought that counts.

Gramps is the first one to begin the gift exchange, giving Zenitsu some new headphones he’s been wanting and Kaigaku a new jacket. After him is Zenitsu and he gives Kaigaku a new pair of motorcycle glasses (something he picked out from his various trips to the mall) and Gramps the tea set he had hidden away in his closet. Both of them give pleased looks at the gifts and that causes a spark of happiness to light up inside the blond.

Kaigaku is the last one to pass his presents around. He gifts Zenitsu with a new mug, one that sports a picture of a fuzzy yellow cat tangled in string. It would be cute if Zenitsu didn’t get the secret meaning behind the image, something that makes him scowl (Kaigaku ofcourse gives Zenitsu an annoying smirk back, the jerk.) And finally he gives gramps a pair of cozy woolen gloves. He dismissively says he got them at some generic store but Zenitsu isn’t fooled by the lie. He remembers seeing that same wool color in Kaigaku’s knitting stash so he knows exactly where (or how) Kaigaku got them.

When his older brother sees Zenitsu’s knowing look he glares and gives him a ‘you-better-not-say-anything-unless-you-want-to-die-look and Zenitsu wisely keeps his mouth shut. He has no desire to be sent ten feet under before his big Christmas date.

After the small gift giving session, everyone goes their separate ways. Gramps to the party being hosted in the neighborhood and Kaigaku to his friend's place, probably to do something that involves alcohol (or knitting who knows anymore). Zenitsu’s the last one to leave, dashing out of the house and towards his date destination. The closer he gets to the meeting spot the more his nerves buzz with excitement.

When Tanjirou’s sound reaches Zenitsu’s ears as he nears the station, the excitement turns into that feeling he always gets when he sees his boyfriend. It’s like a bunch of butterflies have been released inside of him, his heart fluttering at the sight of red hair and hanafuda earrings.

Zenitsu picks up speed and Tanjirou turns in his direction, his nose catching a whiff of Zenitsu’s scent no doubt. When their eyes meet a wide smile breaks on both their faces, lighting up the space between them. Tanjirou moves closer in his direction and when he’s fully in view Zenitsu’s eyes catch sight of what he’s wearing.

Specifically what he's wearing around his neck.

The sight causes Zenitsu’s eyes to widen to the size of saucers and for his feet to decide that gravity no longer existed. He trips over air, spiraling downward straight into the snowy ground below. The pain doesn't even register in Zenitsu’s mind as his face plants into the snow, all his brain functions coming to a sudden halt, his neurons flashing on and off.

“Zenitsu!?” Tanjirou shouts, alarmed by the sight of his boyfriend falling down like a domino. He immediately rushes to his side, arms carefully picking the blond up who stares at him in a daze.

“Are you okay?” Tanjirou frets, looking the older boy over for injuries and gently brushing the snow off his hair. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Zenitsu doesn’t answer, eyes honing in on what caused his earlier demise. Now up close and personal he gets a full view of the offender.

It’s a scarf.

A scarf around Tanjirou’s neck. One he’s never seen before.

“Zenitsu?” Tanjirou says, looking even more worried than before. “If you're hurt we should-“

“You’re wearing a scarf,” Zenitsu cuts him off, stating the obvious, hand moving to point at the piece of fabric. He touches it and the cloth feels like a cloud, so soft and fluffy. It makes him frown, eyebrows pinching tightly together.

What. In. The. World. Is. This.

Tanjirou blinks, looking extremely lost, gaze moving from his scarf to the frown twisting his boyfriend’s features.

“I umm yes?”

“Where did you get it?” Is Zenitsu’s immediate reply his frown turning into a scowl.

He glares at the scarf, looking at it in the way one would glare at a person who had just ruined their entire life. Zenitsu's hand moves down the fluffy, fluffy fabric to the neatly knitted edges at the bottom and the scowl grows even more.

Tanjirou’s expression turns even more befuddled but he dutifully supplies Zenitsu with an answer, the ever honest and loyal boyfriend he is.

“My mom made it for me, she gave it to me this morning.”

The answer causes Zenitsu’s mood to plummet straight into the ground, knocking right into the earth's core. His entire expression goes blank and his hand listlessly falls to his side. Tanjirou’s words echoing throughout his brain over and over again.

A scarf. A handmade scarf. From his mother.

A scarf that looks…..500 hundred times better than his!!

Everything about the scarf looks perfect from the color to the pattern and stitching. It looks like it came right out of a designer boutique. Did Tanjirou’s mom really make this? By hand? What kind of superpowers did she have? Was she a crafting goddess? We’re all of Tanjirou’s family members amazingly gifted? How unfair! Zenitsu’s scarf looks like something an elementary school student made compared to the amazingly handcrafted one around Tanjirou’s neck.

Suddenly all his own scarf’s imperfections hit Zenitsu in the face. There’s no way he can give Tanjirou the one he made. It’ll be a major downgrade from his current one, like replacing a diamond with a piece of coal. It’s so obvious which one his boyfriend would prefer to wear.

A feeling of immense despair falls on the blond and he wants nothing more than to burst into tears right on the spot. His great gift giving plan is being smashed to smithereens right in front of him and there’s nothing he can do to fix it. Zenitsu feels the sting of tears at the edge of his eyes, his throat and chest feeling tight. Tanjirou instantly notices the switch in his demeanor and his eyes widen in alarm.

“Zenitsu!? What’s wrong!?” Tanjirou asks, voice full of nothing but concern. He reaches out towards the blond, ready to console Zenitsu from what Tanjirou guesses is an oncoming breakdown.

As he moves forward his foot knocks against Zenitsu’s discarded gift he had dropped during the fall. When Tanjirou sees it he bends down to pick it up, staring at it curiously. The moment Zenitsu sees the present in Tanjirou’s hands, he lets out a loud wheezing sound, a noise that makes Tanjirou jump and then quickly moves to snatch the gift right out of his boyfriend’s hands.

“Don’t touch that!’ Zenitsu hisses out, holding the present close to his chest and far away from his boyfriend. He grips it tight enough that the bag starts to bend nearly in half.

Zenitsu can tell from the wide-eyed look on Tanjirou’s face that the other is taken aback and immensely confused. Not wanting Tanjirou to inquire about the gift and why Zenitsu is guarding it so intensely (and acting like an insane person), the older boy immediately tries to come up with a lie about its existence.

“T-this is for gramps!” Zenitsu stutters out, flailing on the spot. “I-I forgot to leave it at home and accidentally took it with me!”

The words don’t sound an ounce believable and from the wrinkle of Tanjirou’s nose Zenitsu knows he caught on to his untruthfulness. Luckily his boyfriend has a heart of gold and doesn’t call him out on it, something Zenitsu is immensely grateful for. Instead, the redhead offers Zenitsu a kind smile, trying to placate whatever mood came over the other.

“Okay,” Tanjirou says in a gentle tone like he’s talking to a skittish animal. “Do you want me to carry it for you?”

“No!” Zenitsu quickly replies, shaking his head back and forth. “It’s not that heavy! I-I can hold it.”

“If you're sure…” Tanjirou trails off.

Both of them stare at each other, a feeling of awkwardness falling between them. Zenitsu internally curses at this horrible, completely rotten turn of events.

Why is this happening!? He was supposed to run straight into Tanjirou’s arms when he saw him. Tanjirou was supposed to lift him off the ground, maybe spin him around a few times. It was going to be romantic, super lovey dovey! Not this terrible mess! Zenitsu wants to blame Tanjirou’s new scarf for causing this extremely undesirable situation but it feels immensely wrong to blame Tanjirou’s kind and beautiful mom for anything so he chooses to blame the universe instead. It hates him. It truly does. There’s no other explanation as to why fate chooses to constantly work against him like this.

“We should get going,” Tanjirou says after another awkward beat of silence. “If we wait too long it might get too packed.”

“Ah okay…” Zenitsu replies. He tightly closes his eyes and takes a deep breath trying to brush off that thick feeling of gloom that settled over him and gripped his insides in a vice.

He’s on a date. A date with Tanjirou, the most amazing boyfriend in the world. Not just any date, but a Christmas date, something he’s always wanted to do. So what if his gift idea has been shattered to pieces? It's okay. Yeah, it’s fine. All his hard work has been flushed down the drain, but it’s whatever. He can manage. Zenitsu just needs to tell Tanjirou he doesn’t have a present for him, that he couldn’t get him anything, that he was too busy to find something for him. That he’ll get him something nicer later. Tanjirou will understand. Yeah, he definitely will. He has too. If he doesn’t, if he gets sad…if he…he-

A feeling of warmth enveloping Zenitsu’s hand causes the blond to jolt from his thoughts, body jumping and eyes flying open as he looks down at the hand covering his. Tanjirou’s thick calloused fingers interlock with Zenitsu’s softer ones, giving them a gentle squeeze. Zenitsu looks back up, eyes landing on Tanjirou’s face, the red head’s expression softened with affection, his eyes glowing with warmth and cheeks dusted with a red hue. The tender look he sends the blond’s way causes chips to appear in the rock that rests in the pit of Zenitsu’s stomach.

“I promised to hold your hand the entire time, remember?” Tanjirou says, his thumb rubbing gently against Zenitsu’s knuckles and his smile turning a tad bit shy.

Zenitsu feels his heart squeeze.

It’s so unfair.

Why did his boyfriend have to act so sweet, so perfect? It makes the thought of disappointing him in any way sting that much stronger.

“Yeah, I do,” Zenitsu gives Tanjirou’s hand a squeeze back and the redhead’s expression brightens up, smile growing wider. Zenitsu does his best to smile back.

Get a grip. Your gift turned into a bust but that doesn’t mean the date has to also. If you can give Tanjirou the best time of his life, then he’s sure to forgive you for anything. Maybe.

Feeling his resolve thicken, Zenitsu tugs Tanjirou’s hand leading him out of the station. He’s determined to make sure this date turns out perfect.

As they get closer to their destination, Zenitsu tries to lighten the mood by talking about anything his mind can think of. It works for a bit though every time Zenitsu’s eyes drift down to the scarf on his boyfriend’s neck his answers to whatever Tanjirou says get stilted and he loses track of the conversation more than once. Eventually after another topic peters out the two decide to walk in silence. It causes that earlier gloom to return and Zenitsu desperately prays that the atmosphere eases when they make it to their date spot. Maybe the pretty lights and decoration will get them back into that lovey dovey couple mood.

That wish is immediately squashed the moment they make it to the Christmas tree and all of Zenitsu’s hopes for a perfect date come crumbling apart.

The whole area is packed with people. So many couples everywhere they look. It looks like the whole city is here in this one spot. The scene makes Zenitsu want to pull his hair out in frustration. What the hell!? Where did all these people come from? Did everyone decide to get together this year? Was there something in the water that made everyone fall in love in a five mile radius? Unbelievable!! Why couldn’t they choose somewhere else to have their lovey-dovey time!?

All the sounds from so many people were starting to grate on Zenitsu’s nerves. Next to him Zenitsu can hear the spike of unease in Tanjirou’s sound and from the wrinkle of his nose Zenitsu guesses the redhead was going through a similar battle with his enhanced sense (he bets the smell of so many people and perfumes must stink like crazy).

Damn it so much for this spot being a romantic getaway. There is nothing romantic about all the people milling around packed together like anchovies.

“Do you want to go over there?” Tanjirou asks, pointing to an empty bench away from the crowd. Already feeling a headache incoming Zenitsu nods.

They both make their way over to the little haven; however before they can snag the seat another couple rudely plops down right in front of them, taking it for themselves. They don’t bother to give Zenitsu and Tanjirou a glance and instead immediately latch onto one another like a pair of octopuses. The two boys gape as the couple make out without a care in the world, nearly crawling right on top of each other.

The sight causes Zenitsu to gnash his teeth and his blood to boil. Really? They’re going to do this right in front of him? Where is their shame!? How dare they rub their horniness in his face when his date is going so bad!

The blond has half a mind to go over there and push the shameless couple right off the bench and into the snow, maybe a dip in the cold will calm them down. He almost does it but Tanjirou senses his boyfriend’s spike of annoyance and quickly steers him off into another direction (even as he leaves Zenitsu still continues to throw the horny couple an evil stink eye, wishing lightning will strike them down on the spot).

Unable to find any other empty seats, the two of them mindlessly walk around, skirting around the edges of the crowd. They aren’t able to get close enough to get a good look at the decorated Christmas tree and there’s nothing else to really do in the area. All the food stands have a huge line and the prices for everything around them have been spiked for the holidays (something Zenitsu finds extremely rude, those greedy bastards).

Eventually after being there for just half an hour the two of them decide to head out. Zenitsu’s earlier bad mood returns tenfold. So much for giving Tanjirou the best date of the century. They didn’t do anything besides make their feet ache. It’s all gone from bad to worst, the only plus to it all is that Tanjirou stayed true to his word and never let go of his hand. Still even that little small piece of joy doesn’t stave off the dejection Zenitsu feels heavily inside of him. Next to him Tanjirou sends him worried glances, sound playing a tune full of concern. Zenitsu knows he should try to ease Tanjirou's worries, be a good boyfriend, probably smile and laugh the whole situation away, but it’s not easy.

His gift giving plan went up in smoke and now his date plans are reaching a similar fate. It’s not something he can easily bounce back from. His heart isn’t that strong willed, it can only take so much and he’s already reaching his limit.

When they get to Zenitsu’s house, the older boy resists the urge to find a nice soft pillow to scream his frustrations into. Instead he guides Tanjirou to the living room and to the kotatsu set up in the center. Once they’re settled into the toasty warmth Zenitsu lets his head thunk against the smooth cool surface letting out the longest sigh he’s ever made.

“Sorry,” Zenitsu mumbles, face smooshed up against the wood. “I should have planned the timing better.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tanjirou consoles, his hand moving to rub comforting circles on Zenitsu’s back. “We honestly should have expected it.”

“Still, it was supposed to be more romantic than that,” Zenitsu complains with a pout. “We just walked around doing nothing! It was no different than when we walk home from school.”

“Well the date isn’t over yet,” Tanjirou replies voice still filled with cheerful optimism. “We can still make it plenty romantic.”

“How?” Zenitsu asks, perking up slightly at the words. He catches Tanjirou’s eyes and the blond notices the sparkle in the red orbs. Tanjirou smiles brightly at him and reaches into the small backpack he had been wearing throughout the beginning of the date.

“I got you something, um well more like I made you something,” Tanjirou says and Zenitsu instantly sits up straight, his interest now fully piqued.

Made something? For him? Tanjirou did?

Zenitsu watches with eager eyes as Tanjirou pulls out a small container. A sweet sugary smell instantly floats in the air and Zenitsu can feel his mouth water at the tantalizing scent. He leans forward staring intently as Tanjirou opens up the container bringing what’s inside into full view.

The sight makes Zenitsu gasp.

It’s a small Christmas cake. The sides of the dessert are intricately decorated with cute little snowman and Christmas trees and on top is a little Santa on a sleigh with tiny adorable reindeer. Behind the santa is a ribbon with chocolate writing drizzled on top spelling out the words ‘Merry Christmas Zenitsu!’. It’s so pretty, like something out of a food magazine, in fact it looks better than any store bought cake Zenitsu has ever seen.

“You made this?” Zenitsu asks in disbelief. The blond knew Tanjirou is good at making sweets but this cake is on a whole other level. How long did this take him?

“Yeah, you said that you never had a Christmas cake before, and I could tell from your scent that you really wanted to try one,” Tanjirou replies back, his blush getting a little darker. “And well I wanted to make that wish come true.”

“You remembered that?” The words were something Zenitsu threw out without much thought back then. However, to think that his boyfriend seriously latched onto them and actually tried his best to turn that thought into a reality, it fills Zenitsu with a tingling warmth, one that spreads throughout his entire body from head to toe.

“Of course I did,” Tanjirou’s answer is so sincere, it nearly brings tears to the blond’s eyes. “I want to do everything I can to make you happy, you deserve it.”

Zenitsu’s look of awe transforms into something much more softer and fragile, eyes quivering and cheeks dying into a deep, deep red. Tanjirou really is too good for him. Too wonderful. There’s no one else in the world who can possibly be this amazing.

To keep himself from choking up on the rush of emotions he feels taking over him, Zenitsu quickly picks up the fork next to the container and hesitantly dives into the cake (it almost feels like a crime to eat something so pretty). He brings it to his mouth and the moment the dessert touches his taste buds it’s like an explosion of flavor erupts in his mouth. It’s incredible. Literally the best thing Zenitsu has ever eaten in his entire life. It’s like heaven in his mouth. He can’t help the tiny moan that escapes his lips, a sound that causes Tanjirou’s face to resemble even more of a tomato.

“Ohm mym gotfj, thith ish soo goosh,” Zenitsu says around a mouthful of tasty cake goodness. He swallows and continues on. “How in the world did you create something so amazing? Did you sell your soul to a demon? Cause if you did I have to say it was worth it.” He takes another bite, and then another one and another, taste buds screaming at him to never stop.

Tanjirou laughs and leans forwards to gently wipe some cake that landed on Zenitsu’s cheek during his enthusiastic eating. Zenitsu’s too lost in the treat before him to feel embarrassed by the touch.

“No, I’m glad you like it. Honestly, It took a lot of trial and error to get the flavor just right.” Tanjirou admits rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “I used my family as taste testers and I have to admit all of them are pretty sick of cake right now.”

“How can you ever be sick of this! I could eat this everyday!” Zenitsu exclaims, taking another blessed bite. He nearly weeps from the spike in endorphins it gives him. “Also how you're not tired of baking by now, I’ll never know.”

“If it’s for you I don’t mind baking everyday for the rest of my life.”

If Zenitsu wasn’t savoring every bite of his heavenly treat, he would have probably choked from the shock of his boyfriends brazen words. Instead he just blushes even darker, trust Tanjirou to be just as sweet as his pastries.

He gets nearly halfway through before he notices he’s the only one eating.

“Aren’t you going to have some?” Zenitsu reluctantly asks, not quite willing to share his wonderful dessert. Luckily, Tanjirou shakes his head, mouth twisting into a little grimace.

“It’s for you, plus I don’t think I can stomach any more sweets for the rest of year.”

Zenitsu doesn’t offer again and continues to scarf down all that he can before his stomach starts to protest. He almost finishes the whole thing and Zenitsu makes a mental note to hide the few remaining pieces someplace Kaigaku will never find it. He refuses to share it, it’s too good, and Zenitsu doubts his brother’s unsophisticated taste buds will be able to appreciate it like he did.

Letting out a content sigh, Zenitsu leans back on his hands, his belly feeling full and satiated. He turns to his boyfriend, his lips quirking up into a small pleased smile.

“Thanks, that was literally the best cake I have ever eaten in my whole life, I now expect you to make it for me everyday.”

“You would get cavities if I do that, how about once a week?”

“You’re lucky I have a big fear of the dentist Kamado, fiiine then, once a week! You have to give me a big slice, okay! If it’s small, then I'm going to give you an earful, you’ll be scolded until your head falls off.”

“That would be bad! It’s a promise then!”

“You better not break it!”

“Never!”

The two of them share wide smiles and then erupt into giggles. The air feels so much lighter now, the earlier gloom that had completely settled around Zenitsu’s heart disperses and he feels himself relaxing. It isn’t the ideal romantic Christmas date he had planned and maybe it wasn’t that perfect, but still being surrounded by Tanjirou’s kind sound and his beautiful smile is enough to make Zenitsu content. It eases the worries that plagued his brain like a disease.

“Ah right, before I forgot this is also for you,” As the laughter dies down, Tanjirou reaches into his bag again and Zenitsu looks over at him curiously. He pulls out a small tiny box, presenting it to the older boy.

“Here, Merry Christmas!”

Zenitsu blinks down at the present, taken aback.

“You got me something?” Zenitsu asks, a little bewildered. It never occurred to him that Tanjirou would buy him something. For some reason Zenitsu assumed he’d be the only one who’d be giving a gift on this holiday, a thought he now realizes is kind of silly.

“Of course,” Tanjirou says. “How could I not get my boyfriend something.”

Zenitsu carefully takes the present from the redhead’s hands and brings it closer to himself. It doesn’t weigh a lot and he carefully unwraps the box and opens it, eyes widening at what he sees inside. Tanjirou watches him and there’s a nervous edge around his smile. The younger boy’s eyes dart down to his lap and his fingers fiddle with the scarf around his neck.

“It’s not that fancy, sorry I didn’t really have a lot of money.”

Zenitsu carefully pulls out a small silver necklace with a tiny little key pendant hanging off it. He lets it rest in his hand and gently runs his fingers over the simple design.

“It’s um part of a set,” Tanjirou continues. “I have the other one.”

Zenitsu looks up and watches as Tanjirou pulls out the second part of the pair that was hidden under his jacket. It looks exactly like the one Zenitsu has except instead of a key Tanjirou has a heart with a little hole in it.

“The key fits into the hole,” Tanjirou’s voice rises in pitch a little, his heartbeat rising in tempo. “It’s supposed to symbolize how you have the key to m-my heart.”

When Tanjirou says this he looks up, red eyes meeting honey-colored ones. His face is completely red, tips of his eyes burning but he gives Zenitsu a shy and tender smile.

“It’s cheesy, but it’s true.”

It’s a direct and critical hit straight to Zenitsu’s heart.

He nearly clutches his chest, his heart pounding so hard it’s probably seconds away from giving out. Words fail him and Zenitsu is too overcome with emotion to do anything but stare dumbly at his boyfriend, his face even redder than the others.

“I hope you like it, though it’s okay if you don’t!” Tanjirou says, sounding flustered by Zenitsu’s silence. “I-I really wasn’t sure what to get you honestly, nothing really seemed good enough but Nezuko told me couple jewelry seemed really popular right now. I know the design is really simple and not that flashy but if it’s too plain for you I promise that in the future when I get more money I’ll give you something much nicer!”

The more Tanjirou talks the more Zenitsu realizes how much the other thought about his gift for him. He fretted over what to get just like Zenitsu did, put so much thought and care into it and it makes Zenitsu’s heart clench in his chest, his eyes growing misty. Seems like they’re more alike than he thought.

"I love it…" Zenitsu says cutting off Tanjirou’s flustered rant. He gives the younger boy a big bright smile shining with nothing but adoration and sincerity.

“Really?” Tanjirou asks looking and sounding extremely relieved.

“Yeah! Can you put it on for me?”

“Sure,” Tanjirou gently takes the necklace out of Zenitsu’s hands and carefully puts it on, his fingers lightly brushing against the blond’s neck. Once it’s clasped on, Zenitsu turns back to his boyfriend showing it off, his smile going shy.

“How does it look?” He asks.

“Beautiful,” Tanjirou says without missing a beat. “It looks great on you.”

Zenitsu's smile grows and he looks away, unable to hold his boyfriend’s gaze after the honest and sweet answer. As he looks off to the side his eyes land on his own gift that had been discarded next to him. His smile morphs into a frown and the light and airy feeling that had taken over his heart, muddles. He stares at the gift, chewing on his bottom lip, hand moving to lightly trace the key pendant on his necklace.

Tanjirou told him he had the key to his heart, a heart he easily bared out to him. It feels wrong to not return the sentiment, to not give something back in return. Something that Zenitsu placed his own heart into. He reaches for the gift and brings it closer to his chest, tightly closing his eyes and swallowing back the lump of uncertainty in his throat.

It might not compare to Tanjirou's own gift and it might look terrible but…but he’s not going to leave his boyfriend empty handed not after everything he’s done for him.

"Me too…" Zenitsu says quietly, tightening his grip on the gift in his arms.

"Hmm?" Tanjirou asks, tilting his head curiously.

"I-I got you something too," Zenitsu takes a deep breath gathering his courage and then thrusts the gift straight into Tanjirou’s arms.

The other boy fumbles to catch it and once it’s in Tanjirou’s hands the blond immediately turns around and places his hands over his eyes, too afraid to see Tanjirou’s reaction to his gift.

“This isn’t for your grandpa?” Tanjirou asks as he stares at the present he’s holding.

"I-I lied it's really for you…sorry! Anyway hurry and open it! Do it quickly before I change my mind!”

“O-okay!”

Zenitsu can hear Tanjirou open the gift, the sound of the bag opening up causing the blond to tense. He hears Tanjirou take it out and then a sharp intake of breath.

Oh god, what kind of face is Tanjirou making? Should Zenitsu look? No, not yet! He’s still too scared!.

"A scarf?" Tanjirou asks after a moment of silence that leaves Zenitsu’s nerves on edge.

“Y-Yeah, look I know you already have one and I know it doesn’t compare to what your mom made you, b-but still I couldn’t just not give it to you. I-I mean I put in way too much work into it plus Kaigaku would probably skin me alive if he found out I never gave it to you.” Zenitsu feels his mouth running on autopilot, unable to stop the flow of words. “I know it looks ugly, and I’m sorry about that, knitting isn’t my forte. You don’t have to wear it, I wouldn’t. You can just stuff it in your closet if you want, that doesn’t bother me-”

“Wait, you made this? By hand?” Tanjirou suddenly cuts Zenitsu off and there’s a note of shock in his voice.

“Ah…yeah I did…”

“You knitted this?”

“Yes..well Kaigaku helped a little, but it was mostly me…”

“You made this for me?”

“Yeah…”

The shock in Tanjirou’s sound morphs into something else, a tune Zenitsu can’t name. It’s making him even more nervous. So nervous, he can’t help but look. He hesitantly turns around and peeks through his fingers trying to better gauge his boyfriend's reaction.

Tanjirou’s staring down at the scarf, his expression dazed. Zenitsu can’t read the look. Does he like it? Or hate it? Is he trying to find a way to tell Zenitsu he doesn’t want it? Ah, this really was a bad idea after all! He shouldn't have given it to him! Feeling regret churning in his gut, Zenitsu immediately tries to reach for the scarf intent on taking it back and hiding it away forever.

“O-On second thought, never mind, I’ll take it. It’s too ugly, give it to me. I’ll give you something much better later!”

Before he can grab it from his boyfriend’s hands Tanjirou breaks out of his daze, his eyes growing wide. He quickly reels back away from Zenitsu, clutching the scarf tightly to his chest where the blond can’t get it.

“No!” Tanjirou yells out, the strength of his voice making Zenitsu jump. “I want it!”

“I umm a-are you sure?” Zenitsu asks, not quite believing what he’s hearing. “It looks so awful…”

"It doesn't look awful! It looks amazing! Zenitsu, I love it! Really I do!”

The words cause a massive weight to be lifted from Zenitsu’s shoulders.

“Really? You’re not lying?”

“No, I’m not.”

He’s telling the truth, there’s not one ounce of insincerity in his sound. In fact he sounds happy, so incredibly happy and touched. The melody is so strong it completely fills Zenitsu’s ears.

Tanjirou runs his fingers gently over the scarf looking down at it reverently. After he runs his hand over it feeling all it’s imperfections and smiling at each one, he tries it on, taking off the scarf his mom made him and replacing it with Zenitsu’s. It doesn’t look as striking as the other one but still Tanjirou looks handsome in it. Zenitsu doubts there’s anything in the world the other boy couldn't pull off.

Once it’s fitted snugly around his neck Tanjirou buries his face into the wooly fabric taking a big inhale. His smile goes soft and a little goofy as he sniffs it.

“It smells like you,” Tanjirou says, closing his eyes as he takes another shameless whiff of it. “So sweet like preaches.”

“I umm errr, t-that’s a good thing?”

“Yeah,” Tanjirou cuddles into the fabric. “I love your scent.”

Zenitsu's brain nearly short circuits, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

“Y-you don’t have to wear it you know, I know it’s probably not as comfortable as the one your mom made.”

Tanjirou shakes his head, bringing the scarf closer to him as he snuggles it against his face.

“No, I’m going to wear it all the time!”

"What but your mom's-"

"Mom definitely won't mind! Plus if it ever gets too cold I can just wear two scarves!"

"Two scarves? Haha…are you ridiculous…hah…do..do you really like it that much?"

"Yes! Yes, I do! I love it with all my heart, Zenitsu!"

The words bring a smile to Zenitsu’s face, a smile that immediately turns wobbly as his eyes water. He sniffs once then twice before the dam breaks and he bursts into tears.

“WAHHHH I’M SO HAPPPPYYY!”

Tanjirou loves it. He loves it!

He loves the gift Zenitsu made. Loves it so much he wants to wear it forever! There’s no way Zenitsu can contain the waterworks! He suffered so much, stressed until it felt like his hair was going to fall off. It was awful, and yet knowing that he made his boyfriend happy with his gift made it all worth it.

He feels like he can cry for months. No years! Nothing is able to stop the immense relief he feels flowing through his body.

“Zenitsu!?” At the blond’s sudden outburst Tanjirou immediately grows alarmed. He moves to Zenitsu’s side, hands hovering uncertainly around him.

Zenitsu is the one who makes the next move and he throws himself into his boyfriend's arms. Tanjirou lets out a small ‘oomph’ at the impact but holds the blond close and lets him sob uncontrollably into his shoulder.

“I WASS *HIC* SOO WORRIED ABOUT WHAT TO GIVE YOU *HIC* IT WAS DRIVING ME *HIC* CRAZZYY! IT WAS A-AWFULL! WAHHH!’

“What? Really? Is that why you smelled so stressed this whole month?” Tanjirou asks as he gently pats the other boy’s back, rocking him back and forth. Zenitsu nods into his shoulder, hand rubbing to brush away some of the tears on his face. He takes a few calming breaths, sniffling like crazy before continuing.

"*Hic* yeah, y-you have no idea the pains I went through, *hic* so many sleepless nights."

"Zenitsu you really didn't have to go through all that trouble," Tanjirou chides, moving his hand to run through Zenitsu’s hair in a calming motion, it causes the blond to melt in his arms.

"Yes I did!" The blond replies with more little sniffles. "If I didn't give you a great gift you'd probably think about dumping me!"

Tanjirou lets out a bewildered noise at that, staring down at Zenitsu like he’s lost his marbles (which he probably has at this point).

"What dump you!?” Tanjirou says, completely flabbergasted. “Over a gift? No, that would never happen! How did you get that idea into your head?"

"I don't knowww my brain just hates me *hic* I'm sorry I'm such a mess."

"You're not a mess Zenitsu," Tanjirou denies with a shake of his head, his tone softening. “You're amazing and wonderful and the best boyfriend in the world! I would never think about dumping you!’

"R-Really?"

"Yeah!” Tanjirou sends him a bright and tender smile and it makes Zenitsu’s eyes water all over again. Truly he must have done something incredibly right in a past life to end up so lucky as to have Tanjirou as his boyfriend.

“Honestly, it makes me really happy that you thought so much about me but next time please try not to stress yourself to death,” Tanjirou says as he uses his sleeve to wipe the tears off Zenitus’s cheek and dab at his runny nose. “Your happiness is the ultimate gift to me, nothing makes me happier than seeing you smile.”

"Oh my god you're *hic* such a sap but o-okay I'll try.”

“Good!”

Zenitsu wraps his arms around Tanjirou and buries his face back into his shoulder. He continues to cry, all the pent up stress from the month finally being released in a flood of tears. Tanjirou doesn’t mind that his shoulder is getting thoroughly soaked and continues to say soothing words into his ear, telling him how much he adores him and how Zenitsu means the world to him. It’s enough to ease his crying.

"Calmed down?" Tanjirou asks as Zenitsu slowly relaxes in his hold, his breathing less erratic and more even.

“Yeah,” Zenitsu says. He reluctantly pulls himself away from his boyfriend’s warm and comforting embrace, moving far enough so there’s some space between them. “Sorry for being so dramatic.”

“Don’t apologize, really I’m glad you let it all out instead of keeping it inside.”

"But I ruined our date…" Zenitsu mumbles looking extremely put out.

Having a mental breakdown has to be the least romantic thing one can do during a date. Tanjirou’s a saint for putting up with him.

“No, you didn’t” Tanjirou says. “It’s not over, we still have some time left, so why not make the most of it. I still haven’t given you those cuddles I promised!”

Zenitsu smiles, giggling a little as Tanjirou opens his arms wide ready to take Zenitsu back into his arms once again. He falls back into his embrace, smile growing wider and face flushing as he presses his ear against Tanjirou’s chest, the sound of the heartbeat he loves so dearly playing loud and clear.

“Also, I-I did promise you a kiss too, remember,” At the words Zenitsu hears Tanjirou’s heart rate spike in his chest and his own heartbeat echoes the same rhythm. He shyly turns to look up at his boyfriend.

“I look really gross right now, are you sure you want to kiss me?” His face is sticky with tears and snot and he bets his mouth doesn’t taste that great either.

Tanjirou smiles softly at him and gently cups his cheek. The touch causes Zenitsu’s face to bloom into a deep cherry color. Tanjirou leans down, gently bumping his nose against the older boy’s. His cheeks are just as red as Zenitsu’s but there’s a determined spark in his eyes, one that makes Zenitsu weak inside. He’s sure that if he were standing he’s knees would have given out on him by now.

Too much. Tanjirou really is too much for him and his heart.

“You never look gross,” Tanjirou says, completely honest. “And yes, I want to kiss you, is that okay?”

How can Zenitsu ever say no to that?

Unable to form coherent words, the other’s close proximity making him feel dizzy, Zenitsu is only able to nod in response. Tanjirou leans down the few inches between them and gently presses his lips against Zenitsu’s.

It feels like fireworks are going off inside of his veins.

It’s not the first kiss they’ve ever shared but it’s much softer and sweeter than any of the simple pecks they’ve had thus far. Maybe it’s the Christmas spirit but it feels almost magical the way Tanjirou’s make his heart soar in his chest. Zenitsu clutches onto Tanjirou’s sleeve and eagerly moves his lips softly against the others. It’s not a long kiss but the touch still leaves them both breathless. When they pull apart they immediately dive back down for more. One kiss turns into two, then three and so on. Soon Tanjirou is peppering Zenitsu’s whole face with kisses and Zenitsu is a giggling mess, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt.

Once Tanjirou is done placing kisses everywhere he can reach, Zenitsu responds in kind and does the same for him. He presses his lip against Tanjirou’s cheeks, nose, eyelids and forehead, lips lingering on the scar there. When they pull away both boys' cheeks are as red as tomatoes however the happiness on their faces shines bright enough to light up a city.

It feels so wonderful.

Truly the best Christmas Zenitsu could have ever asked for.

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Tanjirou was not lying when he said he’d wear Zentisu’s scarf everyday.

After the holiday no matter where he went, Tanjirou always had Zenitsu’s scarf wrapped around his neck. The only time he ever parts with it is during school hours, and he always keeps it safely tucked away in his bag. Whenever anyone asks where he got it, Tanjirou proudly says it’s from his amazing boyfriend and then gushes over it for as long as he can.

It's honestly very embarrassing. His boyfriend truly had no sense of shame.

Though Zenitsu really can’t judge since he never takes off the necklace Tanjirou gave him either.

Still he wishes his boyfriend would tone it down a little! Everyone at school is starting to label Zenitsu as a sappy boyfriend and while that isn’t necessarily a lie, Zenitsu prefers that fact to not be an open secret among his peers, thank you very much!

However, despite the embarrassment Zenitsu can’t help but feel incredibly happy over how much his boyfriend loves the gift. Seeing that smile on Tanjirou’s face every time he puts on the scarf makes this month of hell worth it. In fact it even makes Zenitsu look forward to next year’s Christmas.

He wonders if he’ll be able to top this year's gift. It'll certainly be a difficult challenge but he isn't going to back down.

You gotta go all out for love!