Work Text:
Tanjiro woke up feeling the icy air coming from the window hitting his face,he shrunk to the side trying to get some heat from the sheets and go back to sleep, but gave up when he realized that it was useless, since he was already totally awake. He sat down in his futon and looked to his side and could see Zenitsu sleeping deeply, not at all bothered by the cold wind that invaded the room.
It was better to get up to close the window, thought Tanjiro, they were there to rest and recover their energy after a stressful round of new missions, so they shouldn't end up sick for such a silly reason. Before that, however, he once again looked at the blond boy who remained still and breathing calmly, he could not help but smile, it was comforting to have returned to missions, it was not easy to do after losing Rengoku, but being able to follow in the steps of the pillar of the flames and defend his legacy slightly soothed Tanjiro's heart.
Dropping a murmur of discontent he stood up and went towards the window to finally close it, but before he could do so he found himself paralyzed looking at the white layer that covered the ground outside. He felt nauseous and could swear he would vomit, nothing came of course, there was nothing in his stomach that could be thrown out, yet his hand was glued to his lips as if he wanted to repress something. Maybe a scream, he would never know since a voice interrupted him.
"Tanjiro?"
He turned his head back so quickly that maybe he hurt his neck, he didn't know, nothing around him seemed real except for his bumpy heartbeats and his fast breathing. Agatsuma scratched his eyes trying to focus his vision on his friend in front of him, Tanjiro's always calm and warm expression now seemed different, disturbed. There was something wrong.
"Tanjiro? Is something wrong? ”
He tried again, now in the gentlest way he could, yet his words did not seem to reach Kamado. The cold that took over the environment seemed to be something insignificant between the two, the frightened expression of the always smiling boy was much more uncomfortable than any lack of warmth that surrounded them.
Zenitsu was not the most appropriate person to calm him down, at least he did not feel entitled to do so. Perhaps Nezuko would know what to do? No, nothing good would come of it, Tanjiro would not feel good about being exposed to the person to whom he most wanted to look strong, and the daylight that invaded the room did not collaborate with that plan either.
The blond boy saw himself with no way out and finally got up, he was not very good with words, and if he tried to express himself with them, he would possibly get too nervous and ruin everything, as he did every single time. His fingertips touched the other swordsman's icy cheeks, he seemed to try to retreat for an instant, perhaps by the shock of Zenitsu's warm fingers on his skin, but finally he snuggled up in that subtle touch.
Agatsuma's golden eyes did not leave Tanjiro's for an instant, they seemed to ask what was wrong, but they also seemed to say that it was okay not to want to talk about it. Without a second thought Kamado wrapped his arms around the smaller body in front of him, the other even caught by surprise corresponded to the act. One of Zenitsu's hands was intertwined in the reddish hair of the other, Tanjiro was a little bigger than him, but at that moment he can swear he was as small as a child.
"It was snowing like this that day... ”
Nothing more needed to be said for the blond to understand what he was talking about, so he squeezed Tanjiro's body a little tighter to his. There were no words that could take that pain away from his friend and he knew it, that suffering was what made Kamado not give up or hesitate for a second. As much as he knew that such a good person shouldn't have such a heavy burden, as much as he thought that pain didn't match Tanjiro's childish face at all, there was nothing he could do.
That's why he continued with his body glued to the other's while the snow fell outside, maybe the heat of his body could disguise the frigid pain that was inflicted on Tanjiro.