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Chapter Text

Inosuke Hashibira did not have many desires. One very strong and powerful desire was to be the best and the absolute best at anything and everything, especially when someone deemed he was not the best at it. He had to! Who would the King of the Mountain be if he was not the best at everything in order to be rightfully praised by his subjects and all that he meet? Which is why he was currently chasing down a certain blonde haired boy through the gardens of the Butterfly Estate, swords raised and cackling like the savage he was while the latter screamed at the top of his lungs.

"HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE! A MAD MAN IS GOING TO KILL ME! I'M GONNA DIE! DIE I TELL YOU!" yelled a rightly terrified Zenitsu as he barely rounded a rock protruding from the ground in order to hide behind it. But such an obstacle was trivial in the face of the King of the Mountain who simply leaped over the rock and twisted himself mid air to land facing Zenitsu, his boar mask and raised blades sure to look intimidating if Zenitsu's petrified state was any indication. This was one of the many times the boar-headed boy had cornered the blonde during the hours he had been chasing him and it looked like the hunter had finally caught his prey.

"You thought you could escape the great Lord Inosuke huh? Fight me! Fight me! Or do I have to knock you out first?" Inosuke shouted with vigor at the older demon slayer who was practically quivering in fear, covering his sensitive ears probably due to Inosuke's shouting. He was forced to listen to this boy's cackling for hours but Inosuke did not think it would prompt such a reaction.

"My ears are going to EXPLODE at this point!" The blonde whined at him with a violent shake of his head, clearly wanting to run away but Inosuke had him properly cornered this time, sinking his blades into the ground on either side of Zenitsu. "Just let me go!" Zenitsu whimpered defiantly.

"Eh? Come on, don't be a wuss!" Inosuke tilts his head in confusion, wondering if the blonde could hear him despite the hands still cupped very tightly over his ears. Irritated at the furious shake of a quivering head, Inosuke promptly grips the male's hair in order to shake the blonde. "OI! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" he asks loudly.

What had started this chase and merciless provocation of the blonde? It was on one of their more recent missions where Inosuke had witnessed firsthand the might Zenitsu could no longer hide when he fell unconscious. Ever since their return and recovery, the only thing that had been on Inosuke's mind was challenging Zenitsu in that state in order to see who would best who. It excited him to no end to think that Zenitsu was capable of such skilled movements and attacks, even more so than when the boy had fought Tanjiro because Zenitsu was unconscious during the whole ordeal. The boar child promptly stopped shaking the poor blonde's surprisingly soft hair when he heard the sigh of a girl who was normally situated in a box, snoozing throughout the day. 

"Hm..." Nezuko hummed, surprisingly outside of her box and watching them from where the manor exited onto the garden area. Inosuke had not realized that he had chased and chased Zenitsu well into the afternoon and the sun was now just barely still there, allowing Nezuko to safely walk around. But where was Tanjiro? He normally never let his sister or her box out of his sight. Inosuke watched as the girl approached the two of them, still thinking as to how she could have gotten to the garden. "Mmph!" she makes an indignant sound as she reaches them and promptly smacks Inosuke's hand from where it was still gripping Zenitsu's hair.

"Oi! That-Eh? Monitsu?" Inosuke's emerald orbs were about to direct a glare at the demon girl but widened slightly in surprise to see that Zenitsu was biting his lip hard, silent tears flowing freely from his eyes. How long was he holding and shaking the older boy for? 

"N-NEZUKO-CHAN!" Zenitsu all but bawled into the demon girl's embrace as she pat his head, giving Inosuke a pointed look. What? How was he supposed to know he was hurting the blonde too much?! "Save me... please Nezuko-chan..." the wails of the blonde boy slowly turned into sniffles. Insouke could feel it, that the boy was exhausted. It just now had dawned on the boar child that they had literally just finished recovering the night prior, and he had spent the whole day chasing the boy around only to grip his hair and shake him around. 

"Chuitsu I-I..." Inosuke trailed off, not exactly willing to apologize so easily. The guy had taken a beating before to protect Nezuko! And he was more than strong enough to handle a demon thrashing let alone a simple chase around the Butterfly Estate. He could feel Nezuko's stare on him, as if expecting him to be the one to say something to Zenitsu to get him to calm down. "You shoulda just fought me, you wimp!" he huffs loudly and that clearly was not what Nezuko wanted him to say if the narrowing of her eyes was any proof of her disapproval at his choice of words.

What happens next is not something Inosuke expects or wants to see. Nezuko lifts the blonde up the way he had been told men would carry their brides and it sends a stab of something dark into his stomach. Grip now strong on the hilts of his blades to the point his knuckles turn white and boar mask hiding the absolute feral look of his face, he watches Zenitsu's exhausted face relax slightly as he leans into Nezuko's chest.

One would think the blonde was playing it off but Inosuke was sure that both he and Nezuko could sense that he was truly tired and could not possibly get up even if he wanted to. A cold dread slides down his spine as Nezuko gives the blonde slayer a soft look before she presses her muzzle onto his forehead in a gentle manner. A caring and sweet manner that took the dark feeling in Inosuke's gut and have it splinter to the rest of his body. That action, Inosuke had heard of it somewhere before. It was some sort of form of endearment that required the use of one's lips but he never really bothered to pay attention to the details. But he did recall it was shared by two individuals who regarded each other as special and very important. These facts make him step forward threateningly, out of some sort of instinct, blades unsheathing themselves from the ground as he did.

'Monitsu is no child! How could he let Nezuko carry him when I'm right here and can do it better!' he seethes mentally, unable to really compete with the soft look Nezuko is giving the barely awake blonde. She promptly turns with him in his arms as Inosuke picks up on a panicked voice and hurried footsteps approaching. 

Tanjiro burst from the doors, worry and concern in his eyes instantly fading at the sight of Nezuko but do not completely leave his eyes as he sees that Zenitsu is very much passed out in her arms. All it takes is one glance at the motionless boar-headed boy for Inosuke to know Tanjiro had confirmed that he was the culprit. Harsh. Taking Zenitsu from the arms of his sister, they walk off back into the manor, most likely to take Zenitsu either to the Doctor or their shared room to rest. Inosuke does not follow them. But he wants to.

He wanted to challenge the blonde, to feel the excitement he felt when Zenitsu went all out on the demon they had been tasked to end. Instead he wore the boy down and shook him like a rag doll the day after he had just fully recovered. He didn't like the feeling of realizing he did that to Zenitsu. But what he didn't like more was that he didn't even get to properly apologize or help the blonde, Nezuko promptly stepping in to take care of it.

That was all fine and dandy, Inosuke was not good at being gentle and sweet like she was most evidently capable of displaying. But it was that action, touching her muzzle affectionately to the blonde boy's forehead. It rattled Inosuke down to the bone and it made him want to rip Zenitsu out of the girl's arms in order to resume their chase or just keep the blonde away from her in general. Letting out a frustrated roar, he kicks the rock Zenitsu had hid behind.

*

Later that night, Inosuke lay awake on his futon, looking up at the ceiling with a powerful glare. Tanjiro was sleeping in between his and Zenitsu's futons, Nezuko's box like a sentry with it's position next to the sleeping blonde. Zenitsu hadn't suffered any real injuries but he was driven to exhaustion and would most likely have sore legs tomorrow. Inosuke breathed a sigh of relief at that but there was still the dark feeling he could not shake, especially when he realized Tanjiro and Nezuko had promptly made sure to keep as much distance between him and the blonde slayer as much as was politely possible. How foolish were they to think he'd challenge a downed opponent?

He grit his teeth, head tilting to the side to see the small peek of blonde hair he could see that was not obscured by the sleeping Tanjiro. He let out a low, quiet growl. He'd much sooner take on both Tanjiro and Nezuko for daring to keep him away from the blonde.

Chapter Text

Inosuke had tried not to think of the whole chasing Zenitsu thing as such a big deal. After all, he had begrudgingly apologized to the blonde the next day, if only to stop the fearful look he kept sending his way and he hoped it had been left at that.

But even the boar boy was not dense enough to notice the change in the behavior of his friends. Over the past three days Tanjiro had consecutively humored all of his requests to be challenged and Inosuke, though thoroughly entertained, felt that something was off with how compliant the other boy was being. 

It was only when he noticed the complete and utter lack of Zenitsu's presence, even during meals that Inosuke confronted the burgundy haired boy about it, catching him braiding Nezuko's hair in their shared room. Now that he thought about it, Zenitsu barely showed up here as well. Was he avoiding Inosuke to the point he would sleep when he was asleep and wake up before he could wake up? Who did that wimp think he was, trying to hide from the great Inosuke?

"Gonpachiro!" Inosuke yelled, pointing at the now wide eyed duo. Sighing, as if resigning himself, Tanjiro stood up and nodded, offering the male one of his signature gentle smiles.

"Another challenge Inosuke? You've won every single one so far."

"Of course I have! I'm me!" Inosuke boasts at Tanjiro's statement, sticking his thumb on his chest and grinning proudly under his mask. Wait! No! He had come to interrogate the other demon slayer! He could be praised later! "Grr, No challenge! Where's Monitsu?"

Tanjiro's smile seemed to falter at the question. Inosuke has witnessed the burgundy haired boy try to lie in the past and frankly, he thought a child could do a better job. "Outside somewhere... It's not like I know exactly where." as if taking the cue that Inosuke did not want a challenge, he sat back down to continue his work on Nezuko's hair.

Inosuke glowered at him, face obscured by the boar mask but his threatening step forward surely got the message across that he was not happy with that answer. Tanjiro did not technically lie but neither did he give Inosuke the information he wanted.

"GRAAH! You KNOW! TELL ME!" Inosuke all but seethes in front of the male, foot stomping and prompting Nezuko to give him an indignant 'Hmph!' from her box, due to all the noise he was making and interrupting her brother. Tanjiro frowns slightly at the mini outburst and he gives Inosuke a perplexed look. Was he questioning Inosuke? For simply wanting to know where Zenitsu was?

Green eyes watch as the brotherly demon slayer opens his mouth in slight hesitation before letting out a sigh. "You won't chase him around again?" he asks, as if he really did not trust Inosuke with Zenitsu's whereabouts. The nerve!

"Yea, yea, yea! Now tell me!" Inosuke huffs, impatient but glad he was finally getting the information that he wanted despite the concerned look on Tanjiro's face that he saw as an insult. Was Inosuke not a man of his word or something? However his angry thoughts immediately shift away from Tanjiro as the burgundy haired slayer relays to him exactly where Zenitsu has been spending his time.

Ang who he has been spending that time with.

*

Inosuke marches through the halls of the Butterfly Estate, smiling wildly under his boar mask, pleased with himself. He kept glancing from side to side, confident he would eventually find Zenitsu although not entirely sure where to find him.

"He's been helping Aoi-chan out with her chores. You might find him in the halls or maybe around the garden." Tanjiro had so generously told him after Inosuke had proven to the burgundy haired slayer that he would not push Zenitsu into another chase. But what exactly would he do once he found Zenitsu?

He had not thought about that yet. All the boar masked male knew was that he did not like the feeling that bubbled in his stomach at the fact that Zenitsu was actively trying to avoid him despite his apology, and roping in Tanjiro to (albeit pathetically) cover for him. Why was the blonde out doing chores with Aoi when he could be hanging out with Inosuke and Tanjiro anyway? 

And that brings up another irritating train of thought while the male quickened his pace. What were 'chores'? Tanjiro said Zenitsu had been helping Aoi out with them but what were they? Special missions? Food? Were chores something he could fight?

If all Zenitsu wanted was something to do then why not let Inosuke chase him? If they were food, Inosuke had a LOT of shiny acorns! He could not give away the shiniest one but Inosuke could spare a few for the sake of someone as lowly as Zenitsu. And if it was something to fight, why would Zenitsu prefer these chores over him? Did the blonde dare think the King of the Mountain was not good enough for the likes of him?!

"Grr..." lowly growling under his mask now, Inosuke all but ran around the estate, looking through almost every room and window to see if he could spot the uniquely dandelion yellow head that only Zenitsu could own. And sure enough, he did find him, laughing and conversing with Aoi.

"Chuitsu." Inosuke silently huffs from where he is watching them from the open window of one of the hallways on the second floor. Zenitsu had probably not heard him despite his enhanced hearing due to the fact he was solely focused on Aoi, his golden eyes fixed on her as he rambled on about something Inosuke was too far away to hear. The two were well into the garden, watering the shrubbery and flowers that were kept well maintained by the servants.

This was what chores were? Watering plants? Inosuke felt insulted that Zenitsu had chosen to do work instead of spending his time with Tanjiro and, more importantly, Inosuke.

However Inosuke's thoughts are quickly shifted from how angry he felt at being chosen over flowers when he notices Aoi was actually rewarding Zenitsu with a small smile and the occasional reply and chuckle. Was pigtails humoring the blonde boy? Inosuke, from this distance, could not tell if she was simply going along with it or actually enjoying their conversation.

But there was one thing the boar could tell for sure. It was that he did not like the dark feeling like roots gripping at his stomach and lungs upon seeing them inch closer and closer to each other. His grip on the windowsill tightens to the point it splinters under the force he is applying.

Zenitsu's laughs are done that was for sure and he could clearly see the redness covering the males face as Aoi placed a hand on his shoulder. Was she thanking him? Inosuke was not sure but that was what it looked like. The masked boy thinks it is over when Zenitsu replies to her but he was horribly mistaken.

As Aoi leans in to land a small peck on Zenitsu's cheek, all sense of the dark feeling leaves Inosuke's gut and comes straight for his lungs. He rips out chunks of wood from the windowsill and crushes them into bits with his bare hands. He watches Aoi pull away, a smirk on her lips before she leaves the flustered Zenitsu paralyzed and alone.

Unable to contain his frustration and the dark feeling he knows not what to call, Inosuke leaps out of the window and promptly lands behind Zenitsu. The blonde instantly snaps out of his daze upon hearing his landing and the second he turns around, Inosuke removes his boar mask just so Zenitsu could see the anger in his green eyes.

"Nenitsu! Shame!" Inosuke all but shouts at the blonde who immediately has his hands over his ears again, giving Inosuke a look that's nearly as frustrated as his own.

"Could you be any louder?! And what do you mean 'shame'?" Zenitsu asks, or more accurately, whines. Inosuke could feel the dark feeling recede ever so slightly upon the sight of Zenitsu's flustered face. The difference being the face was turned towards him.

"Shame! Shame on you! You are AVOIDING ME! ME!" Inosuke growls, not understanding how Zenitsu could not realize the error of his ways and simply apologize to him already! Especially for letting that Aoi girl make a move on him. Wasn't Zenitsu himself supposed to be the one strongly making moves on women?

"And for something as boring as these chores?" Inosuke adds with a bark.

"And that's odd how? Are you not used to this reaction?" Zenitsu asks him with irritation now joining the quickly rising annoyance in his expression. Inosuke didn't get it. Did Zenitsu think people avoided Inosuke all the time? What could have possibly gave him that idea? What an idiot. "I'd rather do all of Aoi's chores if you'd just shut up." he adds in with a huff, looking away from the beast boy. Yes. Definitely an IDIOT!

A deep frown sets on Inosuke's face at the thought of Zenitsu genuinely not wanting to be anywhere near him. Why did he want him to shut up so much either? He was the one with his hands over his ears, he should take them off if he did not want Inosuke to have to constantly shout! Ah! Maybe he was still mad about the chase! That's it!

"I apologized didn't I? I've been good!" Inosuke asks, mustering enough of his previously high anger to shout it at the male. Considering Zenitsu still had his hands over his ears, Inosuke would not stop shouting his words.

"Yes, thank you. But that doesn't mean I have to constantly be around you until it happens again. You're supposed to be good anyway!" Zenitsu retorts but there is a waver to it. Inosuke however, does not pick up on this and feels it sting his chest despite the lighter jab at the end.

"But... wha?!" He growls, tempted to kick at a nearby bush in frustration but remembers Zenitsu had just watered them... with Aoi. "Aren't we... Friends?" Inosuke asks. With nowhere convenient to dump his anger, it leaves as he brings up his emerald eyes to genuinely question Zenitsu. Zenitsu was dumb. He was a wimp. But he could not possibly be sick of Inosuke... right?

The blonde seems to take a second to register his words, mouth opening to retort before closing shut as if to consider his words. His eyes shone with reluctance and something Inosuke cannot quite place but there is an exasperated sigh and Zenitsu shakes his head. Was this it? Zenitsu was going to shut the feral boy out? Inosuke did not want that. he definitely did not.

But before he can say anything, Zenitsu gives him a glare and what was most definitely a pout.

"Yes you are. A big, lumbering moron of a friend." Zenitsu replies before placing a fist on top of Inosuke's head. This shocks the blue haired boy enough for him to smile brightly with eyes wide... before the words Zenitsu used clicks in his head.

"EH? SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!" Inosuke all but roars as he proceeds to slash at Zenitsu, donning his boar mask once again in fury. This time however, instead of bawling and running away in fear, Zenitsu shakes his head as if in resignation before narrowly dodging another irritated slash.

"A loud one too." Zenitsu sticks his tongue out at him and Inosuke decides he would chase Zenitsu after all. He would just have to apologize to Tanjiro for it later.

*

From the entrance to the garden, Aoi cannot help but raise her eyebrow at the scene of a blonde boy being chased by a boar head wearing savage.  

Chapter Text

“Use. Your. CHOPSTICKS!” Zenitsu cries out, only for his plea to fall on the deaf ears of the green eyed boy sitting across from him. Inosuke was never one to pass up on a good meal. Considering he usually had to hunt for food, anything that was cooked for him was a blessing that he would gladly stuff his mouth with, chew thoroughly and swallow.

“If you’re that hungry fill up some more,” Tanjiro chides from beside the irritated blonde. “We still have about a day’s travel after all.” He says as he nudges over another bunch of the sakura mochi they had packed to eat on the journey.

With a food muffled thanks, Inosuke swipes them from the burgundy haired slayer and begins to down them as well.

It had been just a day after they had been deemed healed and ready for their next mission, and on that same day that annoying crow had yapped about a demon threat to the south. Eager for another fight and sated after Zenitsu had forgiven him, Inosuke was rearing to go.

“Tsk, a boar mask makes complete sense if you eat like that.” Zenitsu huffs as he bites into a rice ball. Inosuke had currently had his mask off in order to eat so the irritation in his eyes at being scolded by the blonde was clear as day.

“So? It’s not-“ he takes another bite. “my fwault ‘s good.” He replies with a mouthful. Tanjiro offers a chuckle and Zenitsu gives him a hopeless look. But he knows the male does not truly hold any hard feelings for him. Over that one day of chasing the blonde a second time, Inosuke had made some observations.

Zenitsu seemed to be more lenient with him and cut back on his insults to a point Inosuke found them playful. The change was so sudden, Inosuke wondered if Aoi had tampered with his brain during the days he avoided the boar-masked demon slayer. A quick few pokes and prods at the male’s head during their journey however, showed no signs of any changes. If anything, Zenitsu was still as irritable and easy to startle as ever, but his whines and screams had turned into looks of defeat or simply powerful glares.

As for himself, he enjoyed getting on the blonde’s nerves and keeping his attention all for himself, in whatever form he could take it. He found that whatever dark feeling that was coursing through his gut seemed to disappear when Zenitsu was around. And who else would be the best at manipulating people’s emotions other than himself? He was obviously great at everything!

“Here, try it!” Inosuke offers a piece of sakura mochi, pressing the treat to the lips of a now surprised Zenitsu, showing him a reward for serving and amusing Inosuke well. The blonde promptly turns red and backs away, glaring daggers at the now confused green eyed boy. “Oi, eat some!” he grunts as he moves closer, holding the treat in an almost threatening manner at the cheese-stick now.

The blonde glowers before promptly swallowing what he still has in his mouth.

“I-I can eat some myself!” Zenitsu argues as he continues to back away from the approaching Inosuke, waving his hands as if to show that he could indeed use them. Inosuke found that he liked the now rose colored cheeks Zenitsu had but the fact he was still backing away with a fearful look tainted the amusement bubbling up within him. Could he not see he was trying to feed him? He could show some gratitude!

Inosuke continues to crawl towards him, face growing more feral and menacing each time Zenitsu shakes his head and backs away. Ungracious minion! They continue this for about a minute around the spot they were eating under a tree before Zenitsu promptly backs away right into Tanjiro who had been watching the whole ordeal with little interest as he ate.

“T-T-Tanjiro! Stop him!” the blonde begs as he feels that he had bumped into the water breathing user. Inosuke stops in his tracks like a predator that had just cornered its prey, smirking at the defenseless cheese-stick… or perhaps, not so defenseless.

“Inosuke.” Tanjiro says strictly after a slight pause, wrapping one hand around Zenitsu’s waist to pull him into his lap and the other would rise to rest atop the blonde head. Zenitsu is all but putty in Tanjiro’s arms from surprise and Inosuke has half a mind not to crush the sakura mochi in his hand.

“Just give it to him. We don’t exactly have all day to spend trying to put food in Zenitsu’s mouth.” Tanjiro says in that big brother voice Inosuke has come to respect, making him more susceptible to simply conform and hand it over to the golden boy. But the way Zenitsu seemed to look so protected in Tanjiro’s hands and the way he smiled up at the male in gratitude rubbed Inosuke the wrong way.

“Fine,” the green eyed demon slayer huffs, settling himself in front of the smugly smiling blonde boy and settling the treat in his outstretched hand. Hmph! The blonde could have just accepted the food from Inosuke’s hand! He should have been grateful, perhaps even apologizing for refusing his gift!

“Thank you.” The blonde says with a teasing smile as he now moves to leave Tanjiro’s grasp but the burgundy haired slayer does not let him move, keeping Zenitsu’s back pressed against his chest, his chin resting on the golden boy’s shoulder. Inosuke sees red for a split second but he blames it on the pink that blooms up to Zenitsu’s ears. Zenitsu no longer needed his help… why were his arms still embracing the older boy?

“Inosuke, you clean up. Zenitsu’s eating the treat you gave him, let him finish it.” Tanjiro states before he leans back against the tree to get more comfortable with Zenitsu on his lap, a calm smile settling itself on his face. Inosuke averts his eyes, not understanding why the dark feeling was coming back and with a vengeance. Tanjiro was a great rival and had his respect!

But… the way he had just swept in and kept Zenitsu in his arms. It seemed like a platonic action that he would not put past Tanjiro of all people for doing. However it had something to do with the way Tanjiro was basically coddling the blonde that irritated Inosuke. But why?

Inosuke had lost their little game sure but he did not think that required such an ugly feeling to rise within him. He felt like prying Zenitsu away from his fellow demon slayer. Ah! It was most likely because Inosuke could do it better! Or perhaps, he thought he was in the right…? He huffs, hiding his growing frustration and confusion with his mask.

Begrudgingly he cleans up their little set-up, glaring daggers at whatever he looks at from underneath his mask, not liking how Tanjiro was chuckling at Zenitsu struggling to be free and insisting it was okay now. Inosuke could think on why later. But right now, he just wanted to be angry from under his mask.

*

After they had continued on their path, Inosuke had set a much faster pace than what they had been following before their break. The green eyed slayer could blame it on his eagerness to get to the fight as quickly as possible but he was pretty sure that he would not want to sleep in the woods tonight.

Tanjiro had made sure to keep Zenitsu as close to himself as possible, even if while keeping up with Inosuke. He could not seem to put a finger on it. This was natural for someone as caring as  the burgundy haired slayer but… there was just something about the way Tanjiro seemed to hover over Zenitsu that made Inosuke’s blood boil. He could feel how close they were from all the way in front of them! The stupid cheese-stick needed to get a clue and put some space between them!

But again, he could not get mad! It was normal! It was just Tanjiro! ‘But why does it feel so wrong?!’ he thinks angrily at himself. This vicious cycle of trying to reason with himself that it was normal before stooping to hating Tanjiro and going back again continued for what felt like hours to Inosuke. And it did indeed last hours as he found himself jumping straight into a tree after around the sixth cycle of his repetitive train of thought.

“Pfft-Hahaha!” laughter erupted from behind him, adding in more irritation to his now disoriented self. Inosuke turned around and shook his head, not noticing his boar head slowly sliding off until it hit the ground with a cushioned thud.

The source of the laughter was Zenitsu while Tanjiro was already stepping towards him in concern. However Inosuke could not focus much on the throbbing of his forehead, not when he could see Zenitsu laughing and looking away from him as if to hide his amusement. It looked right to Inosuke. It felt right. Zenitsu’s attention on him, smiling because of him. It felt like finding an extremely shiny acorn. No… better.

He could feel its soft vibrations through the air and it made him stand up straighter only to relax as it reverberated through him.  The way Zenitsu’s face crinkled ever so slightly and his hand coming up to hide his smile was an endearing sight to the boar. What was he doing? He was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open just as wide as his eyes were but he could not help but gawk at what was probably his first sight of a truly at ease Zenitsu.

The laugh was short lived however as the two quickly recovered, walking up to Inosuke with golden eyes shining with amusement and burgundy orbs silently chiding him for his carelessness.

“At least you were going in the right direction.” Tanjiro offered and picked up the boar mask to offer back to the feral male, smiling as if he knew something Inosuke would threaten to fight him to know too. Still at a loss due to Zenitsu’s laugh however, his brain was pulled towards Tanjiro’s words “We’re here.” He announces as he walks forward. Inosuke had just now noticed that they had arrived right outside a village, Tanjiro’s crow waiting for them on a nearby fence.

Settling in was a blur for the boar masked boy, especially after getting a face full of tree trunk , but he felt it had less to do with the tree and more to do with the way Zenitsu’s attention had shifted to him in a positive light. ‘Like a honey covered acorn…’ Inosuke thought with his own sense of enlightenment as he watched Zenitsu sweep around the room they had been offered to stay in until night came.

“Oi, Zenitsu…” Inosuke started, watching as Zenitsu shifted Nezuko’s box to the side of what would be Tanjiro’s futon. And speaking of the burgundy haired slayer, he was not present, choosing to ask around the village for information on the recent demon attacks. Zenitsu seems to jolt as if startled and slowly turns to look at Inosuke with an expression of curiosity and something Inosuke could not quite put a finger on.

“It’s-… wait you actually got it right…” Zentisu suddenly says, as if he was talking to pillar of stone that had just begin to wiggle around, eyes wide and disbelieving. Ah! Inosuke had actually gotten his name right! “You must have really hit your head hard.” The cheese-stick regrettably adds, taking a step closer to the male and teasingly knocking his fist against the top of his mask covered head. "What is it?" he then asks, turning to set the broom he had borrowed back into the closet.

Inosuke watches him move, wondering how this pathetic excuse for a demon slayer managed to catch his attention outside of his electrifying state during sleep. It was frustrating to think about and before he knew it, he let out a small, irritated growl at the blonde before standing up abruptly. The blonde turns, startled but is slow to react to Inosuke promptly picking him up and tossing him onto the futon.

"Laugh." Inosuke demands after practically pinning the blonde boy to the futon and eliciting a sound entirely different from a laugh from him. The cheese-stick screamed right before Inosuke huffed and used a single hand to hold the male's hands over his head by the wrists and then used his now free one to squish Zenitsu's cheeks in order to shut the blonde up. Had he not heard Inosuke? The boar-masked slayer was pretty sure he had asked the male to laugh, not scream for dear life.

The green eyed slayer lowered his still masked face, pressing the nose of the boar hide onto the nose of the petrified Zenitsu. Ha! Sometimes the cheese-stick was far too easy to intimidate! "I said laugh." Inosuke repeated, tone much more demanding this time but he was smiling with satisfaction under his mask. He removes his hand from the blondes cheeks and slowly, the blonde's lips twitch upwards but then he winces and it falls into a tight line as Inosuke hears him gritting his teeth. 

The door to their room opens and before Inosuke can raise his head to growl at the intruder, his hand is pried off of Zenitsu's arms and he is flung back. A thud sounds as he hits the wall and he grunts. The impact did not hurt but he glares fiercely through his mask at the boy who had just cut into his and Zenitsu's interaction. He almost got the male to laugh! 

"Inosuke." Tanjiro's still and commanding voice hits his ears and he freezes in place. Nezuko's head was peeping out of her box, looking at him with a worried expression. Slowly, his eyes drift back to Zenitsu and Tanjiro and all he sees is blue and purple.

"T-Thanks Tanjiro..." Zenitsu mutters as he rubs his now bruised wrists. In his excitement and impatience, Inosuke had not realized he had gripped the blonde's arms far too tightly and even if Zenitsu had wanted to laugh, he would probably have been in too much pain to do so. Inosuke instantly regrets it when he sees Tanjiro's burgundy eyes flash with something. 

Then, as if in slow motion, Tanjiro slowly raises the male's wrists towards his face and Zenitsu does barely anything to stop the kisses that Tanjiro places on each of them. All while his eyes stare Inosuke down, as if challenging him, provoking him, telling him to do something about it. And Inosuke would have.

"Gonpa-" his rage filled yell of the boy's name was abruptly cut off by the screams coming from outside. Tanjiro had left the door slightly ajar in his rush to pry Inosuke's arms off of Zenitsu and in the process, had allowed the moonlight to pour in, informing Inosuke that sunset had just ended. Which meant that whatever demon they were sent here to deal with was finally on the move. Not wasting anymore time, despite the dark feeling creeping all the way to his heart and lungs, he picks up his nichirin blades and looks to his fellow slayers.

Zenitsu looks hesitant and distant at the same time as he picks up his blade. He was not even acknowledging Inosuke's burning gaze towards him. Promptly, the green orbs switch their focus to Tanjiro who is looking at him as if he was disappointed in him. 

"Let's go." the scarred boy says before picking up Nezuko's box. Zenitsu is surprisingly the first of the three of them to exit at a speed that showed he did not intend to cower this time. "You know, the more impatient you are, the more confused he's going to be" Tanjiro says, just as Inosuke is about to move to chase after the blonde. Inosuke tilts his head slightly, already frustrated and now confused at Tanjiro.

"I thought if I made it feel like a competition..." Tanjiro sighs and offers him a smile that Inosuke could not help but associate with pity. "It's nothing." he reasons and then takes off as well. Now, being deprived of Zenitsu's laugh, witnessing yet another one's lips touch the blonde and then promptly needing to deal with a demon... it all left Inosuke considerably riled up. Fighting a powerful demon seemed just like what he needed to let off steam on right now and thankfully, that's what they traveled here to do.

Chapter Text

Now Inosuke was never one to shy away from a fight. They helped him test his worth and showed him any areas he needed to work on in order to improve. It was survival of the fittest on his mountain and being the best at everything really mattered there. So when faced with an opponent whose presence alone was enough to send his, Tanjiro’s and Zenitsu’s bodies rigid, he knew this fight would definitely test his worth.

The village they came to had a large lake where the people fished and even their children swam occasionally. In the brief time they had taken to get to the site, Tanjiro had taken the liberty of informing the two on the situation. The lake was where the demon was dwelling after having appeared one night two weeks ago. The lake was deep and had underwater caves, allowing the demon to survive even in the day and a river directly flowed into it, where people speculated the demon came from.

Zenitsu was passive but tense as he watched spiralling pillars of water erupt from the lake. Did Inosuke perhaps really push him over the edge for him to not even flinch at the sight of the demon? Usually he would be cowering behind both him and Tanjiro at the sight of such a powerful foe. Speaking of the scarred demon slayer, he did not even so much as glance at Inosuke, even during his short run-down of the situation. Was he so terribly in the wrong here!?

All he wanted to do was make Zenitsu laugh after all; it was not his fault the blonde was too petrified to tell him he was already hurting him… though now that he thought about it he really should have been paying attention to his grip. He had gotten so caught up in the thought of finally getting what he wanted that he was probably thinking even less than usual, especially after Tanjiro practically caught the blonde’s attention in a vacuum the whole afternoon.

Snapping out of the slightly hazy state of mind he was in while looking at Zenitsu’s unreadable expression, he realized the blonde had been talking to Tanjiro. Focusing on his words instead of trying to figure out what the hell the blonde’s expression meant, he heard worry.

“I can hear gurgling Tanjiro… she has people in those pillars.” Zenitsu explains and it makes the redhead tighten his grip on his sword. Inosuke in turn shifts his eyes to the massive lake. A few yards from the shore, he could make out the very dainty shape of a woman in a deep black kimono with a pattern of yellow lilies on it. Her black hair seemed very wet and sunk into the water whereas she seemed to stand on its surface. She was most definitely the demon… unless Inosuke was unaware that people had developed the ability to walk on water.

The water pillars were closer to the shore than the demon woman and were spinning, bubbles and the like obscuring the people Zenitsu claimed to be trapped within. That seemed odd to Inosuke. She was toying with her food before going for the kill? It seemed unnecessary given how much stronger she was than the humans, what satisfaction did it give her?

“There’s this really foul smell coming off of her… almost like on the mountain…” Tanjiro replies and it makes every hair on Inosuke’s body stand in anticipation while Zenitsu on the other hand visibly pales even further and audibly gulps. They had heard about Tanjiro’s fight with the Lower Demon Moon on Mount Natagumo and each found it terrifying after encountering and almost dying against his subordinates. So if this demon was on some similar power level as the Demon Moon there… they were in for one very long night. Good.

“Well what are we waiting for then!? Let’s take her down!” Inosuke declares, pumped and ready to jump into action. Of course this time they were much stronger than they had been on Mount Natagumo and all three of them were here to face the demon at once, unlike when Tanjiro and Nezuko had to defeat the Lower Moon by themselves. But a strong grip on his shoulder stops him and he turns to look at Tanjiro who in turn had his gaze on the lake.

The demon seemed to have a sad look on her face as she inspected each individual pillar of water. Each one she turned away from decreased in momentum until the pillar eventually fell and the person held within in was held aloft by the water to be sent back to shore. “She’s letting them go?”  Zenitsu questions incredulously, some of the usual loudness re-entering his demeanour and Inouske found his heart lightening up a bit at the notion.

“No.” Tanjiro corrects as he points to two pillars that still remained standing. “She’s choosing her prey.” The scarred demon slayer states and grits his teeth as he watches the terrified people released from the pillars swim to shore and run for their lives, not even bothering with the remaining two in the pillars. Well, why would they? To Inosuke, they were not strong so they had to flee and leave it up to them! But Tanjiro did not seem to feel that way given his somewhat disappointed look at the retreating people. Or was he still just disappointed from earlier?

“Humph! Choosing or not we still gotta save their hides!” Inosuke shrugs the arm on his shoulder off and proceeds to charge forward, yelling in confidence. Perhaps if he showed Zenitsu he was not as affected by the earlier altercation as he seemed to be, the mood would lighten and it would be forgotten. That was a great plan!

“Inosuke!” he heard Tanjiro call from behind him but he was already running along the shore of the lake toward where the demon was standing. Turning in response to their shouts was the demon, staring with wide bright gold eyes that looked… injured? In an instant Inosuke was sent tumbling away and into a tree by a wave from the lake. “Inosuke? Are you alright?” Tanjiro asked as he arrived next to the tree the masked boy was now slumped against, soaking wet.

Grunting in response, Inosuke growled at the demon for playing such a dirty trick. Caught in his little plan to make Zenitsu think he was unbothered by what happened earlier, he failed to remember the demon had control over water. Zenitsu arrived a mere moment after Tanjiro and seeing as how they were a good ways away from the shore now, the demon went back to looking at the two remaining pillars that moved to flank her. She was facing away from them, inspecting the two pillars.

“Look…” Zenitsu says, the fear in his voice evident as the masses of water morph and change shape as if they were large water droplets, two heads poking out from the masses. One was a male teen while the other was an old man. She shifted to give the old man attention first and seemed to be talking to him. That was even weirder to Inosuke than playing with her prey. Why did she feel the need to talk to prey obviously so much weaker than her and needed nearly none of her effort to catch?

Seeing as the blob of water the old man was suspended in was now moving him closer to the demon woman Tanjiro acted swiftly, charging towards the water with a loud shout of “Stop that!” being sent towards her. However she seemed to pay no heed to Tanjiro and simply placed her hand on the old man’s head. Tanjiro screamed some more and Inosuke charged right after him. He could feel more than see Zenitsu not moving out of sheer panic but there was no time to console the blonde now.

Water from the lake instantly was at their feat, seeming to move in a serpentine like manner. Tanjiro tripped over one that got his leg but quickly recovered and Inosuke, seeing as how he was farther behind, managed to avoid them with his quick reflexes and flexible body. However, slowed down by her distraction, they were helpless to stop her from pulling the old man from the water by the head and then violently ripping his heart straight from his chest. With the precision and accuracy she did it, it was not hard to imagine that she had done it more than enough times to do so.

As he and Tanjiro dealt with the streams of water simply keeping them at bay, the demon woman ate the heart and slowly rested the old man into the water. Then, as if through sheer will, Tanjiro sliced through the streams of water with his nifty techniques and then was airborne, heading straight for the demon woman. Turning in response to Tanjiro announcing the technique he was using (something about Rain?) she simply waved her hand with a frown set on her face. A large volume of water rose from the lake and flicked Tanjiro away as if he were a bug. So she did know how to deal with breath style users. Peachy.

Inosuke winced from under his mask, knowing full well what it felt like to land straight into water, or in Tanjiro’s case, have the water strike him at full force. Turning to Zenitsu, he called out, “Monitsu! Get a grip! This hag’s a tough-WOAH!!” he was instantly sent flying as one of the streams of water finally seized his leg, taking advantage of his distraction. As he was thrown away from the shore of the lake again, he saw something white flash between himself and the lake for just a moment, in the direction Tanjiro was thrown.

Caught in mid-air, the seemingly unconscious Tanjiro was saved by none other than the one-armed retired Sound Pillar Uzui Tengen. Grunting as Inosuke hit another tree; he winced and watched as Uzui descended before letting the limp demon slayer down as gently as he could. Inosuke imagined it would not be easy with just one arm plus the box on Tanjiro’s back but the man was a former Pillar, Inosuke has seen first-hand what was hard and not for the him.

“What a flamboyant Blood Demon Art!” the self-proclaimed God of Festivities states as he points at the demon woman who can only give him a perplexed look in return. The child in the blob of water behind her seemed frozen in fear, staring at the water the woman was stepping on turned blood red from her dropping the old man into it. “However, I am far mo-Eh?” the man pauses, hand rising to move to his back but then as if just then realising he was unarmed, he carried Tanjiro once again.

“YOU ABSOLUTE BLOCKHEAD!” Zenitsu screams from behind Inosuke and the boar masked boy covers his ears. Yep, the sudden entrance of the Pillar had definitely slapped some sense back into the blonde… why did Inosuke not like that? He and Tanjiro literally just charged in to begin the fight while he stayed back and cowered in fear as usual. Now he was livid because a Pillar appeared unarmed and obviously not ready for battle.

“Eh? Oh it’s you three.” Tengen nods and seems to just now get a look at Tanjiro before abruptly shifting and jumping away from a wave of water sent at them. Two leaps and a bound were all it took for Tengen to avoid another set of waves and close the distance between himself, Inosuke and Zenitsu.

“Of course demon slayers are here! What’re you doing here?” Inosuke asks as he gets up, not about to let the second time he was flung into a tree take him down. He was however a bit deterred Tanjiro went down so easily.

“Ah, this place has the best Cod around.” Tengen says with a dopey smile and Inosuke can feel the glare Zenitsu is sending him. So this seemed to be a coincidence? … Exactly how good was the Cod here then?

“Unarmed, and literally with one arm you rush in to help fight a demon?!” Zenitsu asks in an incredulous tone, as if he did not think even the Uzui Tengen would be that reckless. The reply to the blonde’s livid question was a pat and then a point towards the demon, sizing them up from the river. Her eyes seemed particularly trained on the blonde. Inosuke did not like that.

“She still has a hostage, fights at a range and has a flamboyant Blood Demon Art for a...” Tengen’s eyes widen slightly and Inosuke quickly turns to look at the demon once again. He was not mistaken earlier when he thought he saw an injury on one of the woman’s gold eyes… an injury over… Oh crap. “She’s a former Lower Moon… number 4…” Tengen observes as he takes Tanjiro’s blade, setting the boy down against the tree.

“A-Another Lower Moon… B-But she should be weaker than the others right?” Zenitsu asks, genuine fear returning to his voice after the brief bout of fury he showed for Tengen’s reckless actions.

“We don’t know how powerful she has become after losing her status…” Tengen reminds and readies the blade, looking to Inosuke then Zenitsu. Inosuke huffs, seeing being looked over as a challenge and he readies his nichirin blades. Nodding in what felt like approval, Tengen was off first at a breakneck pace, followed by Inosuke. Unlike Tanjiro and himself who struggled with the streams of water, Tengen slashed through them, carving a path straight through the fray.

“The kid is our priority; try to get him out of the water. Flamboyantly!” Tengen announces as he makes it to the lake’s shore and leaps toward the demon, blade in hand. The woman seemed to not make a move, glaring furiously at Tengen as if she were offended by his very existence. Inosuke was not sure what techniques the former pillar could use with only one arm and blade but he did not have much reason to underestimate him.

“Disgusting.” He catches the demon woman spit venomously before she drops into the lake, as if it were never solid to her in the first place. Inosuke stops in his tracks, unsure as to why she suddenly chose to retreat. Even the blob holding the kid had deformed and now the terrified boy was swimming toward shore because, his life definitely depended on it. Tengen lands where the water is still slightly shallow, enough for it to just barely reach the tall man’s knees.

He was tense, as if knowing the demon had not given up just yet. Upon reaching the shore, the kid bolted away from the sight, most likely traumatised and would never go late night swimming again. They waited for a few heartbeats for something to happen, Zenitsu finally mustering the courage to approach the shoreline just a few feet behind Inosuke. Then there it was.

From the center of the lake came a surge of water that was heading straight towards Tengen and even he could feel the pressure of the mound of water from here. Tengen readies his blade and leaps into the air to escape the water that started receding from the shoreline, revealing wet rocks and mad.

“S-She keeps calling Uzui-san disgusting…” Zenitsu suddenly pipes up in a panicked voice from behind him and he has half a mind not to turn around and instead focus on the mound of water heading for them. Uzui lands just short of the shoreline but his stance is confident and his form looks just as clean as it did when he was still with the corps. “Tengen!”

Zenitsu’s voice cuts through the roar of the water just as water seeped from the mud behind Tengen to catch him by surprise, keeping him in place to be hit by the large volume of water. It was too sudden and Inosuke could barely react. However, just as quickly the sound of thunder echoed through the area and light flashed as Tengen was hit. Or rather, hit by the person that was hit.

The former pillar and blonde were pushed from the shore back to the treeline and Inosuke blinks, not sure how it only sent them back that far when it looked like it could have drove them straight through the ground. But he had no time to question why the demon suddenly held back! The demon seemed slightly stunned as the water pulled back to reveal her, as if even she herself did not know what was going on. Ha! This time he would be the one to catch her off guard… or so he thought.

As he came bounding with his blade, a stream of high pressure water was instantly there to block his strike… but he was Hashibira Inosuke after all, and thus his strikes were relentless, continuously striking against the water in hopes of getting through and landing a hit on the demon but she kept back away after each stream he cut. Soon enough they were on the shore and Inosuke could see her face looking at him as if in confusion.

“What the hell are you staring at!?” he asks in frustration, steam coming from the boar mask’s nostrils as he speeds up his constant attacks. However they are simply blocked by the water guarding the woman who keeps looking at him as if she does not understand him.

“You... think so differently…” she speaks and then his attacks falter for a second, allowing her to get a good whip of that highly pressurized water on his side. Holy Shit that stung like hell and he could feel the side of his abdomen burn with intense pain and what was probably a flesh wound.

“So? The hell does that have to do with anything?!” he asks, incredulous as he tries to go at her again. However the moment he had recoiled from the pain was enough for her to gather the water to let it impact his stomach, knocking the air right out of him and sending him a few feet into the air.

“It’s sad… I don’t know whether to kill you or not…” the demon finishes as Inosuke’s vision fails him for a second. Tsk! This was not good at all. Tilting his head slightly upward to see if Tengen had at least gotten up, they widen and dilate when he sees the man crouched over a soaking wet Zenitsu, their lips attached. Rage fills his very being and the demon seemed to make a decision in that split second. “There is it is… you’re spared.” She states before a powerful blast of water from behind him sends him flying toward the treeline once again.

As he lands with a thud, his head hitting the tree hard, Tengen finally gets up. Inosuke feels anger, and tears rolling down his eyes despite how much he wants to believe it’s just water. Zenitsu had apparently rushed in to take the hit for the guy and there the blonde was, lying limp and coughing up water because of it. Inosuke grips the dirt hard as he tries to stand up but he can’t. The sudden surge of emotions combined with the pain did not help at all. The kicker was when Zenitsu’s eyes scrunched up then open only to land on him.

All Inosuke sees is a blinding light before the world goes black.

Chapter Text

Zenitsu’s whole body aches. He attempts to move but his sopping wet clothes are heavy and the force of the blow had completely knocked the wind out of him, and he did not even start with the coughing he had to do to get the water out of his system. Was it possible to develop hydrophobia in less than 5 minutes?

Forcing his eyes open, Zenitsu lets the water that had been forced down his throat trail out of his mouth. The first thing he sees is that his head is tilted to the side… other than the weakness and heaviness he feels across his body. But it’s what the male sees that make the golden orbs go wide.

He sees blood. He sees tears that aren’t his. He sees the absolute miserable face of Inosuke and his mind goes blank and suddenly, he feels like he can stand again.

-

Zenitsu was not a quiet person. He was either super cheery, whined a lot, cried a lot, and was generally all over the place unless he was recovering from an feeling an excessive amount of any of the aforementioned emotions. And he had grown to not like himself because of it. He was naïve and let people he could obviously tell were lying use him, all because he was a sucker for affection.

When Jigoro swept in to save his sorry behind, he was grateful, then terrified at the price he had to pay. Being a successor was not easy! Especially when one was literally picked off the streets and thrust into training, and accompanied by a bad-mouthed and entitled “step-brother” to boot! But Zenitsu had no choice in the matter. Jigoro never abandoned him.

Zenitsu had dreamed of making the man who took him in proud, to become so strong he could help everybody and make use of everyday the man spent beating his lessons into his body. But now, now that he was in a situation that obviously called for him to be strong and prove his worth, he found himself running. “HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE! A MAD MAN IS GOING TO KILL ME! I’M GOING TO DIE! DIE I TELL YOU!”

For some reason – one he was perfectly aware of – Inosuke had started chasing him the instance they had finished breakfast. Today, he and his masked friend had just fully recovered from their last mission; one where Inosuke claims Zenitsu had singlehandedly taken care of the demon himself! In his SLEEP no less! “NONSENSE! UTTER NONSENSE!”

Is what Zenitsu would have said but Tanjiro had helpfully confirmed the boar boy’s claims and had shattered Zentisu’s perception of reality. Him? Singlehandedly take down the demon that had been giving all three of them trouble with its plant related blood demon art? He found it very hard to believe. But Zenitsu did indeed remember passing out during that mission due to the pollen the demon used in combat. Was it that hard to believe?

The fact he was still running away from Inosuke made him think it definitely was. His legs were sore, he was out of breath, and neither of them had eaten since breakfast. Barely rounding a large rock, he hid behind it to try and catch his breath. But like a madman – which he most definitely WAS – Inosuke leaped over it, spinning mid-air and landing face to face with the now petrified blonde.

Oh yes! Zenitsu had forgotten to mention one very important detail as to why he had been particularly persistent about avoiding the masked boy. “Want! Want! Want! Want!” went the thump of the wild child’s heart and Zentisu had all the common self in him to cover his ears tight lest he start turning red from something other than his exhaustion. Inosuke was saying something, yes; Zentisu could see his lips moving but the thumps of the male’s heart drowned the words out.

He sat there, quivering from the vibrations Inosuke’s sound was sending throughout his body. He knew he could associate the “Want! Want! Want!” with several feelings Inosuke could possess; the want to beat him, the want to prove himself, the want to be the best. However he found it hard to do when it was something he never heard before. For instance, he would definitely hear the aforementioned sounds when Inosuke was trying to rile Tanjiro up, however this time, with him, it felt different.

“So primal, so rapt with excitement and…” something he just could not put his finger on! He barely even felt it when Inosuke had gripped his hair and had started shaking his head. If anything, the connection simply increased the volume of Inosuke’s sound and sent it through Zenitsu’s entire body. He felt himself shed several tears and for the umpteenth time in his life, he wished he could not hear so well.

Then suddenly, the motions stopped and the primal sound faded almost instantly to confusion. He was whimpering and biting his lip hard, silent tears trailing down his cheeks as he kept his hands firmly placed on his ears, pressing so hard they had begun to hurt. He felt the grip on his hair disappear and he clung to the closest thing that was not Inosuke; Nezuko.

He bawled into her embrace, so put off by the force of the sound that shook his body to its very core. “Save me… Please Nezuko-chan…” he felt so exhausted and her sound was barely enough, being drowned out by Inosuk- Huh? Suddenly, Inosuke’s sound had quieted down to almost nothing, as if it were barely even there… he does not like it. He decides then and there he hates it far more than the primal sound but it’s at least so quiet he could ignore it!

He feels himself slowly succumb to exhaustion as Inosuke tries to make some form of conversation with Zenitsu. As the blonde feels a pressure on his forehead however, the quiet sound Inosuke is making instantly becomes eerie, as if there were hidden, terrible intentions behind it but had no idea why they had come to be. But Zenitsu was too tired to ponder this at the moment, settling for sleep instead with a reminder sent to his conscience to not avoid Insouke at all costs when he woke up.

-

The plan was to avoid him as much as possible when he woke up. But that had instantly been chucked out the window considering the blue haired male had been right there by his cot when he did so. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there and Zenitsu had no trouble hearing the indignant sound Inosuke’s heart was making. “… m’sorry.” He had said and Zenitsu was pretty sure his jaw fell off.

Even when Inosuke’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink and the thumps of his sound turned embarrassed causing him to leave, Zenitsu sat there paralysed, unable to comprehend how ‘Inosuke’ and ‘Apologized’ worked in a sentence without the words ‘Will not’ in between them. It was decided, until the boar started acting like his normal – well as normal as an Inosuke could get – Zenitsu was going to steer clear of him. Like the Plague.

When Tanjiro and Aoi walked into his room a moment after, probably because Inosuke had informed them Zenitsu had woken up, his eyes practically glowed with a plan. Aoi raised a brow at the determined look he gave while Tanjiro was smiling in relief that Zenitsu was feeling better. “I need to avoid Inosuke. Aoi, let me help do chore-” and she was out the door before he could finish his sentence, leaving the tray of food she had brought in Tanjiro’s hands. Ouch.

As Zenitsu let a hopeless look sink onto his face, he looks up at Tanjiro miserably. The burgundy haired male looks patiently at him and Zenitsu thinks there is still hope for him yet. “Why the sudden want to avoid Inosuke? I mean, he did go a bit too far but doesn’t he always?” Tanjiro asks in his usual big brother tone as he sets the tray on Zenitsu’s lap. It was a few rice balls and a peach on the side. Zenitsu took the peach first and fumbled with it in his hands.

“His sound has changed…” Zenitsu mutters before placing the peach back on the tray. “Remember when I mentioned those? The sounds?” he asks Tanjiro who had gotten a stool in order to sit next to his cot, his expression as if he were remembering.

“Hmm, oh yes. It’s how you could tell I was carrying Nezuko in my box when we first met.” Tanjiro answered, earning a nod from the blonde.

“Well Inosuke’s… is different. It’s hard to hear when he’s around because his is drowning out everything around me. It was super scary Tanjiro! My ear drums felt like they were about to explode!” Zenitsu exaggerates, looking like he’s about to faint from the mere thought of it. Tanjiro did indeed give him a doubting look but Zenitsu knew he would not smell any lies.

It truly did scare Zenitsu. The sound was so strong and coursed through his body like Inosuke was infecting him with some sort of sound disease. After a brief discussion on how they would approach the matter and Tanjiro’s generous offer to keep Inosuke busy “It’ll be like some sort of extra training” the burgundy haired male said; Zenitsu had set his plan to avoid Inosuke for as long as possible into motion.

It was easy to find something else to do around the butterfly estate other than train. Well, he was still training, but sort of doing chores at the same time. Lugging water from one place to another, lugging vegetables and other ingredients into the kitchen, fetching some firewood here and there and practicing his sword swinging… with a carpet beater. Not all of them were good substitutes for training but they were at least something!

Tanjiro, as the saint he was, pitched in by making sure he and Inosuke had their “competitions” outside of the estate or at least somewhere Tanjiro knew Zenitsu would not be. Inosuke would be too preoccupied with their little duels to even notice Zenitsu’s absence. Even during meals it was easy to avoid them because all Zenitsu had to do was help Aoi and the girls cook and eat with them.

But for how long could this go on? Sure Zenitsu believed Inosuke was in no way intelligent whatsoever, but he still had a brain. He’d figure it out eventually but for now, he would enjoy being far away from that sound as much as possible… or would he? Three days into the avoiding Inosuke game and Zenitsu had a lot of time to think… or rather, stay up at night trying to ignore Inosuke’s sound. He could not exactly sleep in another room! What if other slayers suddenly arrived to seek rest?

He listened to the gentle calm his sound made while asleep, still somehow able to drown out every other sound within the room. He wondered what Inosuke was thinking when that primal beat came up. It was so all over the place that Zenitsu did not have the slightest idea as to what Inosuke would be thinking when he produced it. All Zenitsu knew was that it was a deep, almost instinctual feeling and that Inosuke’s sound became several times more intense and loud.

“Want! Want! Want!” he remembers the thumps going and Zenitsu blushes, burying his face into his blanket. Listening to the sound now, he could not comprehend how it could make the sound it did three days ago. Inosuke was definitely some sort of monster! Or probably had a weird body that made weird sounds! But no matter how much Zenitsu tried to come up with different reasons, he knew that the sound was just that, “Want!” and it scared Zenitsu.

He has never heard a sound like that before, not from the people who swindled him, Jigoro or Kaigaku, or any of the pillars. What the hell kind of want was so primal and needy that Inosuke felt it was right to grace Zenitsu with it? It felt embarrassing but also endearing at the same time but the boar-masked boy was so all over the place all the time that he could barely comprehend just why the sound was being made!

The next day, he kept zoning out. After all, that had been the third night straight thought of Inosuke had kept him up well past midnight. He had moved to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast but it turned out he had woken up just a little bit later than usual and the girls were almost done. All he had to do was serve the meals and he joined the girls for their own.

“Zenitsu-san…” Kiyo asks from her seat at the table and Zenitsu tilts his head at her to show that she had gotten his attention. “For how much longer will you keep eating with us?” she asks. Zenitsu tears up a bit.

“For as long as you’ll have me Kiyo-chan!” he chirps, offering her a smile but in response, he receives a frown. Eh!? So mean!

“He’ll only be staying until Inosuke stops making some sort of odd sound.” Aoi clarifies as she sips her tea, looking much calmer than she usually would. After all, they had basically had a new pair of hands to help around the estate in the form of Zenitsu and it did indeed significantly decrease the workload. Zenitsu would like to think Aoi appreciated his efforts but was still not pleased with his reasons. Well was that not the point? They were his reasons!

“Odd sound?” it was Naho’s question and Aoi looked to Zenitsu, as if to prompt him to explain to the three curious girls.

 “Mhm, Zenitsu-san has really good hearing and can hear all sorts of sounds from different people.” Sumi explains with a nod towards Naho who looked like she was learning so much. After all, the three girls had spent much more time with Tanjiro when they first came here so they probably knew just surface information about Zenitsu.

“Yes and… I can’t really explain it. Ever since we got back from our last mission, he’s been making this really loud sound around me.” Zenitsu pales at the memory from three days ago. “It felt like an earthquake shaking me from the inside out.” He explains, earning ‘Woah!’ expressions from the three girls while Aoi looks like she was still analysing his words.

“Your last mission?” Aoi asks, clearly wanting him to continue elaborating.

“Well, Tanjiro and Inosuke say that the demon was able to knock me out… and that I took care of everything in my sleep…” he continues, his face scrunching up at the preposterous notion of himself being so ridiculously strong while unconscious. “But that seems too farfetched and it still does not explain the sound!” he quickly brings back the point of his hiding!

Giving him a look as if she were deeply considering his words, Zenitsu shivers slightly. Aoi had never really taken him seriously before, unless it was avoiding him at all costs during full body training. The topic had passed after that and the four quickly finished their breakfast so they could start with the day's chores.

Aoi had explained to him the night before that Kanao had gone on a mission yesterday and the duty of tending to the garden today would fall on his and her hands. He was fine with that. He’d be hauling dirt and fertilizer around as well as water from the well and Aoi would do all the work that actually required skill. Zenitsu had lived with a cultivator after all, he did not know much about plants that were not peach trees.

Suddenly however, Aoi had spoken up while they were watering. “Inosuke has not shown any odd symptoms during his check-ups.” She suddenly said, causing Zenitsu’s hand to falter but he quickly steadies it. “And if I remember correctly, he kept doing the same thing to Tanjiro before you became the target right?” he knew he meant the ‘challenging’ thing.

“Yes…” Zenitsu nods, placing the water can down and standing just a little bit straighter. “But the sound he makes when he started wanting to challenge me… it’s overwhelming.” Zenitsu explains, trying to figure out the right words to use to get his point across. “It’s primal and raw, like an animal trying to corner his prey and all he can think about is how much he wants it.” Zenitsu says as a slight pink coming onto his cheeks as he tries to laugh the meaning of his words off.

“An aimal huh. You aren’t too far off then.” Aoi quips back and it earns a genuine chuckle from both herself and the blonde. Aoi gives him a contemplative look before her eyes seem to zone in on something behind him. “You know, the thing he wants may not exactly be ‘prey’ you know. Animals have all sorts of ways of expressing themselves.” She says, pulling his attention back to her just as he was about to turn.

Zenitsu is still trying to contain a few more laughs from her joke but they quickly die down at her next sentence and he goes silent when she places a hand on his shoulder. The world seems to freeze when she comes in closer and suddenly he hears a sound like a drum being struck at a chillingly slow interval. It makes him feel scared, like what he’s doing is wrong but it happens to fast and he feels a warm pressure on his cheek before it disappears just as quickly.

He can tell she does not mean it, but he’s too trapped by the ominous sound to do anything. The smirk she gives him afterwards makes him want to cry and scream at the  same time but then she leaves and the sound of the drums pick up in speed and suddenly someone is behind him. Turning around, Zenitsu’s eyes widen to see an irritated looking Inosuke. “Nenitsu! Shame!”

Instantly, Zenitsu’s hands shoot up to his ears and he believes he has found the source of the ominous sound, albeit it has become less chilling to hear now. “Can you be any louder? And what do you mean ‘shame’?” he calls back, not going to just take that from the dumb boar.

“Shame! Shame on you! You are AVOIDING ME! ME!” the green eyed slayer growls and Zentisu has half a mind to press harder on his ears. The primal sound was not there but currently, Inosuke was making some sort of weird mix of different tunes and beats and notes that he could not tell at all what the male was feeling or thinking other than it being too loud and unorganised. Was it even possible to have a sound this conflicted? “And for something as boring as these chores?” he adds.

Zenitsu feels a vein pop from both the stupidity of Inosuke and his sound. “And that’s odd how? Are you not used to this reaction?” Zenitsu says before he can catch himself. Damn it! That was such a low blow, especially to use on Inosuke! But, seeing as how Inosuke’s expression did not change, “He’s way too dense to understand what I meant” he thinks. However that did not stop him from feeling annoyed and embarrassed at himself for saying such a thing and it prompts him to turn away from the other male. “I’d rather do all of Aoi’s chores if you’d just shut up.” He adds with a huff.

But at that very instant, the chaos of sound coming from Inosuke shifts from total chaos to that sole focus once again. Thump thump thump, “Want! Want! Want!” and Zenitsu had half a mind to scream then and there. “I apologized didn’t I? I’ve been good!” Inosuke says, to Zenitsu’s bewilderment. Now he figures out why Zenitsu has been avoiding him?

“Yes, thank you. But that doesn’t mean I have to constantly be around you until it happens again. You’re supposed to be good anyway!” the blonde retorts but he knows he’s wavering. The sound is keeping him from thinking straight and is not doing any favours for the light blush on his cheeks.

“But… wha?!” growled the blue haired boy and Zenitsu thanked the gods that that somehow made the sound quiet down – wait – THE HELL?! Yes the sound had diminished to something akin to just a whisper but he could still feel the intensity of Inosuke’s want, his want for… “ME?!” he thinks incredulously. “Aren’t we… Friends?” the wild child asks and it sends a spear straight through Zenitsu’s heart. He could not bring himself to fight that sound, he might as well cry!

Zenitsu’s mouth opened and closed by itself as if he had some sort of retort to make when in fact he was speechless! He was too tired to deal with these emotions and he could not just stand here and wait to process everything while this selfish Inosuke stood here sulking and doubting their friendship. He sighs in exasperation before a fierce pout he cannot control comes onto his face and he glares at Inosuke. “Yes you are. A big, lumbering moron of a friend.”

Zenitsu says this with as much irritation and annoyance he can put into his voice but it only sounds soft and genuine to his ears. He places a fist on the other male’s head and it seems to sate him… for all of two seconds. As soon as the gears turned in that empty head and registered what Zentisu had said, the blonde snorted.

“EH? SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!” Inosuke all but roars, slashing at him as he dons his boar mask once again. As Zenitsu avoids the slash, he cannot help but smile. “This is the wild child I know.” He thinks in satisfaction as he shakes his head in resignation.

“A loud one too.” He adds before narrowly dodging another slash before proceeding to run away from the feral boy. He had a feeling he owed his legs an apology for this.

-

Zenitsu did not know whether to count what he did yesterday as a good thing or a bad thing. The good that came from it was Inosuke seemed to have stopped making that “Want! Want! Want!” sound, or rather, it had quieted down a whole lot in the span of just a day. But he counted that as a blessing because he could now stay within the vicinity of his friends without pulling his hair out from the sound coursing through his very veins.

The bad news was that, though his sound did not express it, Inosuke seemed much clingier to him than ever before! Constant prods and pokes and an excessive amount of teasing, Zenitsu thought he would not be able to stand another day of it! He refused!

However, the blonde simply seemed to have a knack for prompting the oddest reactions from the feral boy. They had literally just been eating, after having stopped under a shady tree on their way to their next mission, and Inosuke had easily found reasons to rile Zenitsu up only for him to send them back towards the wild child.

“Here, try it!” and Zenitsu regretted even letting the green eyed male think they were on such good terms because now, for reasons unknown to the blonde, the “Want! Want! Want” sound was back at full volume and it sent vibrations straight through his spine to then course through his body. He promptly turns red, feeling the heat on his face and backs away. “Oi! Eat some!”

The feral boy insits and Zenitsu glowers before swallowing the piece of rice ball still in his mouth. He gives a fearful look at the threatening manner Inosuke is holding the poor sakura mochi and looks back to the feminine faced male. “I-I can eat some myself!” he states but then deems it a mistake as the sound Inosuke is making turns slightly sour and becomes more primal.

“Why does God hate me?” Zenitsu asks himself as he backs away from the approaching fellow slayer whose face looked like he was about to murder him! This goes on for a good minute; him shuffling backwards in fear while Inosuke crawls toward him with that menacing face. “Like that stupid demon from the Tsuzumi house! WAAAAAAAAH!”

Suddenly, he feels himself bump into something and registers it as Tanjiro due to the checkered sleeve covering the arm that wraps itself around his waist. “Inosuke” the burgundy haired demon slayer uses his big brother voice and Zenitsu turns into putty in his arms in compliance, knowing he would be protected. “Just give it to him. We don’t exactly have all day to spend trying to put food in Zenitsu’s mouth.”

As the wild child complied and the sakura mocha was handed to him, he quickly took it and smiled up at Tanjiro in thanks for saving him. “Thank you.” Zenitsu tells Inosuke, the teasing smile on his lips hopefully doing a number on the wild child’s ego. Taking a bite of the sakura mocha, he notices that Inosuke’s sound had reverted back to that eerie quiet it did when he seemed to not be pleased. Good! Repent in silence!

He moves to leave Tanjiro’s lap but he finds himself unable to move and Tanjiro resting his chin on his shoulder. Eh? What was with this compromising position?! His back presses against Tanjiro’s chest and he can feel the heat rush to his face in embarrassment. “Inosuke, you clean up. Zenitsu’s eating the treat you gave him, let him finish it.” Tanjiro states before he leans back against the tree to get more comfortable with Zenitsu on his lap, a calm smile settling itself on his face.

SMUG! MUCH TOO SMUG! What on earth had possessed Tanjiro’s brain? This was much too affectionate, even for the brotherly boy who grew up in the mountains! He struggles and tries to politely tell Tanjiro he is fine now and he did not need to be held like something precious in his lap, especially because he did not hear the usual kind Tanjiro sound. It was as if the burgundy haired male was planning something. “What on earth could Tanjiro of all people be planning.”

He shivers at the thought.

-

The affectionate behaviour did not stop there and had been present for the rest of the trip to the village they had been sent to. Tanjiro just would not let him get too far, and Inosuke in all his silent sound, seemed to always keep moving fast enough to remain too far from both himself and Tanjiro. But Zenitsu could not just ignore the fact Tanjiro’s sound did not reflect his actions at all. He was acting all sweet and even more platonic than usual but Zenitsu could hear only a gentle quiet from his sound, not like how it usually is at all.

Inosuke seemed out of it too and his sound clearly reflected that. It was silent yes, so that meant something bad. However there was also some underlying confusion and doubts that stirred up the silence from within. He found it incredibly odd. Tanjiro’s coddling seemed to stop when Zenitsu began observing Inosuke, trying to figure out just what the boar-masked male could be thinking to create sounds like that. And that was when it happened.

Zenitsu saw it in slow motion, the way Inosuke jumped as if there was nothing in front of him when in fact he had practically body slammed a tree. It shook the whole thing and the male made such a weird sound upon doing so, his boar mask falling off when he shook his head. Zenitsu could not help but go “Pfft-Hahaha!”

He laughed, because he would be damned if that was not one of the funniest things he had ever seen happen to the green eyed male. It was downright hilarious yet classic at the same time, stupid but also endearing. “Adorable.” He thinks as he tries to calm down the blush on his face and his laughter while turning away from Inosuke, not noticing the gawking expression being sent his way.

But then there it was again, the “Want! Want! Want!” but Zenitsu found it different from before. It was much warmer and more enticing, causing his laughter to die down and his face to flush more. It sounded desperate, like Inosuke was looking at something he considered precious, something beautiful, something he wanted.

“At least you were going in the right direction.” Tanjiro interrupts his train of thought, offering Inosuke’s mask back to him and announcing, “We’re here.” Zenitsu let’s one last weak chuckle trail out before he follows the dazed Inosuke and Tanjiro into the village. They were easily able to settle in, with a villager offering his home as a place for them to stay during the night. Tanjiro had declared he would go around the village a bit more to ask about the demon and had left Nezuko in their care.

Placing her box down in the corner farthest from the windows and door, Zenitsu looked to Inosuke who was setting up the futons with a blank expression. Sighing slightly, Zenitsu begins to sweep as he ponders Inosuke’s sound from earlier. It had not gone away and he could not bring himself to cover his ears because it sounded so nice. It filled him and coursed through his body just like the primal version, but this one made him feel soft and like jelly.

But then the sound shifted and suddenly he heard “Hey Zenitsu.”

“It’s-… wait, you actually got it right…” Zentisu says, turning to the boy and wondering what on earth had given him the gift of memory. But the warm sound, it was slowly turning primal again and Zenitsu wanted it to stop. Why was it turning that way again? What did it mean?! “You must have really hit your head hard.” He states, wanting the sound to stay warm, he moves toward Inosuke and bonks his mask teasingly. “What is it?” he then asks, hoping that had stopped the transition.

It did not.

He turns, calmly and slowly to put the broom back in the closet but he was internally panicking. The sound filled, the room, it was so loud and it felt like I was getting louder, faster until finally, “Oh shit.” He thinks as he turns around at the sound of a growl before being promptly thrown toward a futon and pinned down, hands above his head. “Laugh.” Inosuke threateningly spat into his face.

He did the only thing he knew how to do best, he cried in terror. But it seemed like Inosuke was not having any of it and had promptly squeezed his cheeks to shut him up. “I said laugh.” The wild child repeated before slowly removing his hands from the blonde’s face. He tries, to smile, to try and get the male to stop but then he winces, the grip on his hands too tight.

It hurt. The grip on his hands, this position, and especially the sound coming from Inosuke. It was terrifying, intimidating, as if it wanted Zenitsu to submit fully to the green eyed male and did whatever he was told to do. If Inosuke wanted a laugh, the sound told Zenitsu he needed to give him the laugh… but Zenitsu did not want it to be this way. Why could not Inosuke just be normal! Stupid Inosuke!

Suddenly, the weight is lifted off him and a fierce sound cuts through Inosuke’s orchestra of noise. “Inosuke.” He hears Tanjiro’s voice and Nezuko’s box open. He had really good friends… Inosuke… he was a friend too. But right now, he looked like a cornered and angry animal. Why? What did Zenitsu ever do to deserve this? What did Inosuke want from him? Zenitsu was terrified to find out.

He found the “Want! Want! Want!” sounds surged through his body, demanding a response. Inosuke wanted him but why? There were times it was silent, there were times it was warm but Zenitsu had been assaulted the most by the loud and chaotic variety. It was confusion and he did not know how to respond to them!

“T-Thanks Tanjiro…” he mutters, rubbing his now bruised wrists. In slow motion, Zenitsu feels Tanjiro’s heart quicken as he holds Zenitsu’s hands and places kisses on each one of them. Zenitsu feels like he should blush, feels like he should be embarrassed. But the silence that takes over Inosuke’s sound is deafening. He finds that Tanjiro’s sound is determined and… riddled with guilt?

Zenitsu does not know anymore. Sounds used to tell him what was real and what was not, but with Inosuke, they were shaking up his whole world. He heard the start of a yell from Inouske – why? He could not possibly know – but then a scream interrupts it. He hesitates, terrified as he saw the moonlight creeping in from the ajar door. Inosuke’s sound is still silent and Tanjiro is now alert. He did not want to think about it right now.

He wanted to get out of the room and for once, that took precedence over avoiding a fight with a demon, in a rush. Distantly, hesitantly, he picks up his blade and leaves the room. Maybe the terror of fighting a demon would be more comforting than the chaotic symphony he is forced to listen to when around Inosuke. He needed to get his mind straight.

-

Yes, Zenitsu needed to get his mind straight. However, perhaps fighting a demon was not one of the best choices in order to do so. There they had gone; heading to the lake where the demon was supposed to be and Zenitsu was already terrified. He could feel the burn of Inosuke’s gaze on his back and it would have sent chills up his spine if not for the situation at hand. “I can hear gurgling Tanjiro… she has people in those pillars.” He explains.

If that was not enough to petrify him, Zenitsu could clearly see her standing on the water and it seemed the pillars she was forming took little effort. “She fights on extremely unsteady terrain and can bend it to her will” he thinks in terror. And she was pretty to boot! With pale skin, long flowing dark hair that seemed soaked and a beautiful kimono with yellow lilies on it, it was hard not to imagine her as a normal girl…if not for the fangs in her mouth and a horn protruding from her forehead.

“There’s this really foul smell coming off of her… almost like on the mountain…” Tanjiro states and if Zenitsu was petrified earlier, he could very well have been turned into stone at that comment. Zenitsu had barely survived fighting that demon’s underling! What on earth would he be able to do against a demon that held similar power to one even Tanjiro could not beat? He heard fear, but he also heard determination, not from himself but from his companions… if only he could be like them.

“Well what are we waiting for then!? Let’s take her down!” Inosuke declares, pumped and ready to jump into action. Of course he was. He’s Inosuke. But he could indeed count on Tanjiro to stop the male from moving any further with a firm hand on his shoulder. Zenitsu tries not to look directly into Inosuke’s eyes and in the process, sees what the demon was doing.

She seemed to have a sad look on her face as she inspected each individual pillar of water. Each one she turned away from decreased in momentum until the pillar eventually fell and the person held within in was held aloft by the water to be sent back to shore. “She’s letting them go?” he asks in disbelief, not taking demons for the catch and release type.

“No.” Tanjiro corrects as he points to two pillars that still remained standing. “She’s choosing her prey.” The scarred demon slayer states and grits his teeth as he watches the terrified people released from the pillars swim to shore and run for their lives, not even bothering with the remaining two pillars which definitely still had captives in them. It seemed reasonable for Zenitsu, how the villagers ran away the instant they were free. But he knew Tanjiro did not feel that way, if his sound was any indication.

“Humph! Choosing or not we still gotta save their hides!” Inosuke shrugs Tamnjiro’s arm on his shoulder off and proceeds to charge forward, yelling in confidence as he closed in on the lake. That bumbling idiot, he was charging in so recklessly, so brashly… just like his stupid sound.

“Inosuke!” Tanjiro calls, but it was too late and instantly Inosuke was washed away by a wave from the lake, sending him flying before a tree blocked his flight. Visibly wincing, Zenitsu deemed that would have knocked out any other person. “Inosuke? Are you alright?” Tanjiro asks as he arrives before Zenitsu. It was clear Inosuke was indeed unharmed other than probably a sore head and the fact he was soaking wet.

Zenitsu had arrived a moment after Tanjiro did. He did not take his eyes off of the demon, watching her turn away from them in order to give her attention back to the two pillars that had moved to flank her. “Look…” his voice rings out in horror at the scene. The two pillars morphed and pressed in on themselves until they were the shape of water droplets with two heads poking out of them to face the demon, one a male teen and the other an old man.

And then, she started talking to them, and Zenitsu… could hear everything. “You poor souls, so much love in your hearts for somebody and yet you refuse to acknowledge it.” She states, her voice sounding genuinely disappointed in them, as if she was scolding them. She turned to the old man first and he could hear the terror coming from him as if his ear was pressed against his chest.

“You’ve kept yours hidden away for such a long time… so long that their gone and that love is now forever unsaid. Pitiful.” She sounds like she is about to sob as the water blob pushes the old man over to her and she grabs him by the head. Zenitsu is frozen, he cannot move due to the fear of what she was about to do and what he was hearing. “Let me drown your pain.”

“Stop that!” Tanjiro’s shout snaps him back into reality and he watches as he an Inosuke scream and charge at the demon woman, only for her to send streams of water to subdue them, moving in a serpentine like manner as they intercepted the charge of the two boys. Zenitsu watched, trying to think of how much the woman’s words spoke to him, how much she meant every singl one.

He could not hear a single shred of doubt or falsehood coming from her sound and the old man… he sounded accepting. He was tearing up but his sound did not deny what she was saying whatsoever. Zenitsu watched in horror as she pulled him from the blob of water and ripped his heart out. She then ate it and slowly, mournfully placed the old man into the water to let him sink. Zenitsu found it miserable.

Then it happened, through sheer will, Tanjiro broke through the streams of water keeping Inosuke and him at bay and leapt into the air, his stance perfect for beheading the woman once he would intercept her. He announced his move, “Water Breathing, Fifth Form; Blessed Rain after the Drought.” Zenitsu heard and his eyes widen even more if possible. Tanjiro had mentioned the water forms to them during training and this particular one was a merciful strike. Could Tanjiro perhaps also smell the despair coming from the demon as she feasted?

However the blow would never land as just as the demon heard him, all it took was a powerful surge of water from the lake to send Tanjiro flying away as if he were a mere insect. “Monitsu! Get a grip! This hag’s a tough-WOAH!!” his gaze was forced to look toward Inosuke who was just then sent flying by the streams of water attacking him into the same tree he hit earlier. And then a booming sound made itself known.

Or rather, a flamboyant sound.

Zenitsu looks in shock as Tanjiro is caught mid-air by none other than the retired Sound Hashira himself, Uzui Tengen. The blonde watches as the male lands gracefully despite having the unconscious Tanjiro in his only arm before placing him down on the ground gently. “What a flamboyant Blood Demon Art!” the self-proclaimed God of Festivities states as he points at the demon woman who can only give him a perplexed look in return. “However, I am far mo-Eh?” the man pauses, hand rising to move to his back but then as if just then realising he was unarmed, he carried Tanjiro once again.

“YOU ABSOLUTE BLOCKHEAD!” Zenitsu screams. What was this overconfident moron thinking, simply jumping into battle with one arm AND one eye and no weapon?! No, scratch that! WHY WAS HE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?! Not that Zenitsu was complaining considering that demon knocked Tanjiro of all people out in one blow but still! His heart could only take so much at once! He’d hold them all responsible for his death by shock!

“Eh? Oh it’s you three.” Tengen nods and seems to just now get a look at Tanjiro before abruptly shifting and jumping away from a wave of water sent at them. Two leaps and a bound were all it took for Tengen to avoid another set of waves and close the distance between himself, Inosuke and himself.

“Of course demon slayers are here! What’re you doing here?” Inosuke asks, clearly irritated that he had been thrown away too easily while Tengen dodged the demons attacks as if they were nothing. Zenitsu then briefly hears it again, but is rather thrown off. He can hear the “Want! Want! Want!” but this time it was accompanied by the eerie silence. The hell was Inosuke thinking to make those two damned sounds at once? The hell was he doing CARING when they could very well die in the next few minutes?!

“Focus on the task at hand!” Zenitsu scolded himself and luckily had Tengen’s dopey smile to take his mind off of the sound. “Ah, this place has the best Cod around.” Tengen says and Zenitsu can feel his face shift to send the man a glare worthy of taking down anyone who was not a complete and utter blockhead.

“Unarmed, and literally with one arm you rush in to help fight a demon?!” Zenitsu asks in an incredulous tone, not thinking even the Uzui Tengen would be as reckless as to do such a thing. The reply to the blonde’s livid question was a pat and then a point towards the demon, sizing them up from the river. He turns to look as well but then finds the demon’s eyes locked on him. “I am so dead.” He thinks as chills run down his spine. But then Zenitsu sees it.

“She still has a hostage, fights at a range and has a flamboyant Blood Demon Art for a...” Tengen’s eyes widen slightly and Zenitsu cannot blame him. One of her eyes was injured but what used to be there was clear as day. “She’s a former Lower Moon… number 4…” Tengen observes as he takes Tanjiro’s blade, setting the boy down against the tree. So now he was taking this seriously?

“A-Another Lower Moon… B-But she should be weaker than the others right?” Zenitsu asks, cursing the genuine fear returning to his voice after the brief bout of fury he showed for Tengen’s reckless actions. He could not even stay mad long enough to drown out his fear of such a powerful demon damn it!

“We don’t know how powerful she has become after losing her status…” Tengen reminds and readies the blade, looking to Inosuke then himself. Inosuke readies himself and Tengen nods in approval (which Zenitsu found highly odd considering he thought Inosuke was gross to him) and they rush off. Unlike Tanjiro and Inosuke who struggled with the streams of water, Tengen slashed through them, carving a path straight through the fray and towards the demon.

“The kid is our priority; try to get him out of the water. Flamboyantly!” Tengen announces as he makes it to the lake’s shore and leaps toward the demon, blade in hand, confident as ever. From where he was, Zentisu could see the demon not bother to not make a move, glaring furiously at Tengen as if she were offended by his very existence. Based on what she said to the old man earlier, Zenitsu could guess a man with three wives would indeed infuriate her. Finally someone knows how he feels but it has to be a damned demon!

“Disgusting.” Zenitsu catches the demon woman spit venomously before she drops into the lake, as if it were never solid to her in the first place. The water stops hindering Inosuke and even the blob holding the kid had deformed which allowed the terrified boy to swim toward shore. Tengen lands where the water is still slightly shallow, enough for it to just barely reach the tall man’s knees. But they were far from safe.

If Zenitsu could hear it, Tengen could too and it was evident in the man’s tense posture. The demon was not swimming, more like the water was pushing her through its mass. It was silent but he could still make out the sound of it and it increased in volume as she moved toward the surface and – she was heading straight for Tengen!

A mass of surging water originates from the center of the lake and is dead set on hitting the former pillar, even causing the water at the shoreline to recede due to how much the demon had gathered, revealing wet rocks and mud. “S-She keeps calling Uzui-san disgusting…” he pipes up, his panic finally bursting through his throat. “Tengen!” he finds himself saying.

He could heart it. Despite Tengen having jumped back just short of the shoreline, the water never stopped moving and he saw the man jerk, as if unable to move. “She can still control the water in the mud!” he thinks in terror and his body moves before he can think any further. He does not know why but he hears the sound of thunder and suddenly he is in front of Tengen, face to face with the surging mass of water that seems to cave in on itself at his arrival.

Zentisu could not have just stood idly by while the man who had saved them from Daki and Gyuutaro, losing his eye and arm in the process, took another massive hit just for them. He felt the water strike his body and it hurt. It hurt so much but he could not possibly regret trying to protect a former hashira. Everything turns black and he feels the coldness of the water seep into him.

-

Zenitsu feels like he can stand again. His body is sore and he is soaking wet. His wrists are bruised but he does not care because Inosuke is lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious and it’s all that demon’s fault… and his own too. He should have been paying more attention, been helping, been strong. He was not then, but now, he suddenly felt he could be.

“Why the hell did you have to go and faint.” He shoves the green eyed male against the tree and looks to Tengen still engaged with the demon. The former pillar was fast and powerful indeed but even he would most definitely have trouble against a former lower moon with the ability to control such a powerful element. A drop lands on his cheek and he realizes it’s not from his hair. Looking up, the blonde saw that it had started raining.

A sense of calm seems to wash over him, reassured by the faint sound Inosuke is making. Drawing his blade, he glares down at the woman who seemed to need very little effort to keep Tengen at bay, especially now that she had additional water from the rain. There is a grunt to his left and Zenitsu sees the teen who had tried to escape earlier on the ground, the mud and rain restraining him. This demon was indeed very powerful. But still, her sound held despair and irritation.

Placing a hand on the hilt of his sword, he looks toward her and glares fiercely. “Oi hag!” he calls, and it earns the attention of both her and Tengen, the latter looking at him as if he were crazy for trying to talk to the demon who had made quick work of his allies. “Pick on someone who can match your sound.” He continues before leaning forward onto his right leg and taking in a breath through his teeth. “Thunder Breathing, First Form; Thunder Clap and Flash!”

He thinks this as he pushes off the ground and surges forward, cutting straight through the water that was protecting her and slicing at a high speed. Zenitsu grit his teeth, “It’s not enough!” he told himself as the demon is pulled away from him and back towards the lake by the water. He watches her hand fall to the ground and sees her materialize another one from the water.

“Such a poor soul… all that love locked away with hesitation and doubts… let me drown them for you…” She says, as if she knows exactly how he’s feeling, as if she knows just what he’s going through. She’s even letting out silent tears but Zenitsu tries not to be swayed.

“Uzui-san, please bring them to safety. I’ll keep her busy.” Zenitsu states, earning a look of utter objection from the man. Damn it! He knew it was very out of character for him to do this, but then he remembers Inosuke’s bleeding, crying and miserable face and the sound the accompanied it. A desperate and sad “Want! Want! Want!” that broke Zenitsu’s heart to hear.

“I don’t think leaving you alone with her would be a good idea. And what kind of man would I be to leave a child alone to fight?” is what the sound pillar replies with and Zenitu does not know if he feels like crying out of irritation or out of gratitude. But then he hears a small “Hmph!” and turns to see Nezuko with Tanjiro slung over her shoulder and Inosuke carried in her free arm.

“Nezuko-chan!” Zenitsu says, feeling so grateful that she was there. She only gives him a look of acknowledgement before taking off with her brother and the wild child.

“Why don’t you want to drown?” Zenitsu’s attention is forced back to the demon and he finds her wiping at her tears before looking to the teen still being held down by the water and mud. “Does it not hurt? Feeling so much love and affection for someone, and not being able to set it free?” she continues speaking as the water drags the other teen back to the lake and Zenitsu is quick to move in order to stop it. However he was intercepted by a wave of water he had to avoid. “Don’t you just want to drown it all?” she asks as that is exactly what she does to the teen the second he reaches the water, screaming in terror until it is drowned out by the water.

“No! Never in a million years!” Zenitsu answers in anger as he steadies himself. He finds that Tengen had moved to avoid a wave of his own and was somewhere to his right. Judging from the small craters in the ground, the demon’s emotional state was making her attacks more powerful and fast. Great! Just great!

“That’s such a cowardly mentality! Keeping your feelings hidden away and then letting them die out. Pathetic.” Tengen chips in, glowering at the demon with disapproval shining in his eyes. “You have to speak your feelings! Show them with maximum flamboyance!” he adds but that only serves to make the demon growl and return his glare tenfold.

“Of course you would say that! You’re full of love and affection and confidence! It’s sickening!” she spits, venom in each word and loathing clear in her eyes. Whoever this woman was in life, Zenitsu had no trouble believing she lived miserably and that was what led her down the path of becoming a demon moon. “But he knows how it feels… he knows how much it hurts.” She points to Zenitsu. “The agony of confusion and doubt…” she adds.

What? Why? Why him? Zenitsu’s grip on the handle of his blade tightens as he takes that instance to ponder the woman’s words. He had always been so open with his affection, not a single moment of hesitation and yet… it was true. Even if he knew the people he chased did not feel the same way about him, he tried and tried in the hopes of hearing their sound respond to his own in a positive light. But it was never possible.

It came close with Jigoro! His gramps made a thundering sound at the sight of Zenitsu that was both intimidating and felt just like home. It felt right to hear but he guessed the woman was not talking about that. Then he remembers.

“Want! Want! Want!”

And then it all clicks. He had no say in the matter of rejecting or accepting it because it was already fact. That sound from Inosuke, the sound that drove him crazy and drowned out everything else. That was the wild child’s declaration of love for him and Zenitsu had unknowingly been bottling up the urge to respond with how much the sound made him feel loved and wanted to cry.

It shook his very being and confused him because the entirety of the sound was for him. He then realizes that the empty sound was also because of him, was because he was just too stubborn to realize what Inosuke felt for him. Zenitsu could not complain. He always wanted someone to love him and to protect him… Inosuke was all but submitting himself for the job but Zenitsu was too dense and unaccepting to see it.

“That stupid boar!” he feels a sob shake his body and he looks back up to the demon.

“There! You feel it right? The terror and the anxiety?” she asks, spreading her arms as if to welcome him in an embrace. “Drown it all! You’ll feel better, I promise!” she states, crying despite sounding so confident in her words. Well, her voice did. Her sound promised whatever she was feeling; it was definitely not ‘better’.

“Enough with the yapping!” Tengen calls and points his sword toward her with a glare. “Get it over with already Zenitsu.” The former pillar says before charging in, earning a frustrated growl from the woman who then sent several streams of water to intercept him. Zenitsu does not move, instead, he takes his stance.

“Ugh! I’ll drown all that love in you, you bastard!” she announces as her hands move frantically to allow her waves to keep up with Tengen’s movements. The pressure of the water had greatly increased and Zenitsu could hear the difficulty Tengen had in slashing through them… but Zenitsu did not feel threatened.

This woman, this demon had just given him a very good reason to survive this night. Tears slowly trailing down his eyes, he grips the hilt of his nichirin blade and lightning surround his body. “No, I don’t think I will drown these feelings…” he announces, both the demon and Tengen stopping in their fight to look at the glowing boy with wide eyes. “They’ll breach the surface and reach him.” He adds.

“Thunder Breathing, First Form; Thunder Clap and Flash! Tenfold!” Zenitsu announces and he is sure he hears the sound of thunder and lightning strike the ground each time he dashes, cutting through each powerful stream of wave before he sees that he is closing in on the demon who had taken on a terrified expression right before she came face to face with him. He does not know what expression he is making but it puts a smile full of anything but happiness on her face.

He drops into the water, suddenly exhausted and unable to move but he somehow managed to sheathe his blade before landing anyway. He floats, seeing the demon’s head floating not too far away from himself as her body sank. She was crying, that miserable smile still plastered on her face. “Tell him… tell him for me please…” he hears her cry before the head sinks and her pleas turn into gurgles.

Zenitsu thinks he will. He definitely will.

-

Inosuke wakes up in the infirmary with a start. He feels a lot of cloth around his head and concludes he has no boar mask on. They were fighting a demon right? Was it over? Did they win? But most importantly where was – a bright yellow by the window instantly puts his heart at ease. “You’re awake?” Zenitsu asks and all he can do is nod.

All Inosuke remembers is seeing Zenitsu’s unconscious form waking up and looking at him with disbelief. He felt weak. He was weak. And Zenitsu had witnessed it first-hand. The instance he woke up, terror arose for what could have happened to the blonde and relief flood his lungs just to see him by the window with barely any injuries. “Yeah…”

He finds himself sad. He had failed Tanjiro and this time, it was Zenitsu. Some king of the mountain he was. “Don’t beat yourself up. I’m glad you’re fine, good thing you’ve got a really hard head.” Zenitsu tells him as he moves from the window and towards his cot. He’s making an expression of absolute relief and Inosuke feels like he never wants to see Zenitsu like this again. He can see the dry tears on the male’s cheeks and it makes his heart clench.

“I’m still too weak, I couldn’t even-” the green eyed male finds himself unable to continue his sentence because there is something warm and right pressing against his lips. Zenitsu’s crying again. And it’s his fault, again.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You are not weak!” Zentisu beats his chest and presses his forehead against his shoulder but Inosuke cannot find the strength to get mad. Zenitsu had kissed him. Zenitsu had picked him. “I was too weak; it took me this long to just do that.” Zenitsu adds before coming in to give him another peck.

Inosuke can’t help himself, he pulls the male in and deepens it… however because he himself does not know how it works he ends up just crushing Zenitsu. “Ha! I kiss better!” Inosuke praises himself, elated, happy and Zenitsu was blushing but irritation was still clear in his eyes. And Inosuke thinks it’s perfect. He can’t possibly make an expression better than that.

“You sound better too.” Zenitsu eventually says, face turning soft as he leans forward to press his ear against Inosuke’s chest. “I like how much your sound wants me.” The blonde admits nd Inosuke smiles proudly.

“Then get an earful! It’s all for you so be grateful Zenitsu!” Inosuke states then mentally praises himself again for getting the name right, placing a hand on Zenitsu’s head to keep him positioned well. But then, he remembers he never got that laugh he wanted. About to demand it from the blonde, he’s cut off by the door opening.

“Finally.” Aoi walks in with a tray full of food and a dopey smiling Tanjiro with bandages on his head trailing behind her. “We were beginning to think you’d grow old not saying anything.” She announces before placing the tray on the table next to Inosuke’s bed.

Tanjiro nods, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. “Sorry for hogging Zenitsu from you yesterday Inosuke! Aoi made me promise not to tell either of you.” The burgundy haired slayer apologizes, genuinely guilty about the whole ordeal.

“Eh?! That was all part of some plan?! Tanjiro, the betrayal! Repent!” Zenitsu wails as he pushes off of Inosuke, glaring and blushing like mad at the notion of Tanjiro being so sly as to be affectionate with him just to provoke Inosuke. In Tanjiro’s defence, Inosuke thought it had been quite effective. But he did not want to think about now, nor did he want anyone taking Zenitsu’s attention away from him.

“Leave!” he then announces, as if the room were a sacred dwelling places before pulling Zentisu back into his embrace. “You’re ruining Benitsu’s listening.” He states and it causes Zentisu to throw a fit in his arms and Aoi to roll her eyes. He’s pretty sure Tanjiro could not smile any wider too. But Inosuke does not care, he is content and he finally has the blonde all to himself.