Work Text:
Zenitsu is in a crisis.
He doesn’t have any money to buy from the cafe’s menu, and the staff has been giving him weird looks for a while now.
But more importantly than that--
--he just got scouted? Somehow?
Looking at the address handed to him along with a business card, it definitely seems legit, but he still has his doubts.
He’s no stranger to being on stage. He's a member of an active dance group back in his university, where they perform openings for events. His adoptive grandfather was an old veteran singer, and now his older step brother is part of a well-known group nationwide.
Zenitsu wanted to follow in Kaigaku’s footsteps, but unfortunately for him, his brother has been gate-keeping any chances of success he has.
This is the first time a group has reached out to him without having Kaigaku as a buffer.
Shinobu Kochou, the lady who approached him with a mysterious smile, had sought him out backstage after a presentation for the dance club he was a part of. She had a way with her words, saying he was just the type she was looking for, and how he was so mesmerizing on the stage!
Admittedly, it did stroke his ego a bunch.
The final nail in the coffin was the mention of cute girls!! Her group has a bunch of cute girls he can partner up and dance with!!
Zenitsu sighs longingly. It wouldn’t hurt to try and take up her offer.
“Ah, sorry, is this seat taken?”
Zenitsu jolts back to reality, away from the dreamy state of imagining fluttering skirts, and notices the guy awkwardly leaning on the empty chair in front of him.
He's wearing earrings, Zenitsu notes as the redhead smiles down at him.
“Ah, no.” Zenitsu immediately stutters out, getting up from the chair out of impulse. Better make way for the guy who actually has money to buy from here. “Actually, I was on my way out--”
The guy makes a worried noise and stops him with a gentle hand, “You were?” He gazes down at the empty table, suspicious. “Have you ordered anything yet?”
Zenitsu winces, caught in the act of him just taking advantage of the free seats inside the café; he’s been trying so hard to ignore those glares from the staff too. “Uh. No.”
The redhead smiles at him. Zenitsu feels like he’s seen him somewhere around the internet, finding the expression familiar.
He doesn’t get to think about it further, though, since the guy’s suddenly proposing something ridiculous. “Let me at least treat you to something.”
Zenitsu panics, “What?! No! No, absolutely not--” He can't just let a stranger treat him to food!!
“Come on, it’ll be my treat, for offering me a seat!!” The redhead moves pats him on the shoulder, and then steers him to the counter.
Zenitsu vaguely wonders how offering a piece of furniture (that isn’t even his) got him free lunch.
[KANROJI LOG # 42] A NEW MEMBER!! (ft. the new member shhh)
633,840 views • 14 Sep 201X
By butterfly_effect ☑
[0:30]
“I was scammed, I’m telling you.” A blonde with a blurred face says behind Kanronji as she smiles at the camera, combing her bangs. The subtitles above his head says ‘just came from university’.
Kanroji laughs back at him, “I’m sorry!!” The blonde only whines some more. “We were low on members for the competition, so we had to get desperate!!”
The video then shows a montage of someone performing on stage, all shot from different angles with a smartphone. The subtitles, notably using Kanroji’s signature color and font, say ‘Who could this cutie be?!’
There’s a cheesy sparkle wipe and then Kanroji’s standing in front of a tall building, the wind audibly messing up her phone’s mic a bit. “Good morning! Welcome back to the headquarters!” She mimics a jingle cutely as she angles the camera to the building’s name, Butterfly Estate.
“Shinobu’s really kind and offered me breakfast when I told her I came by too early.” A small picture of Shinobu’s smiling face pops up on the screen as she giggles. “Or maybe she’s trying to make me attend practice early?!”
Her face squeezes back in frame, though it’s awfully close that it only catches her forehead and half her eyes. “Anyway let’s go, go, go!!”
[4:01]
“When is he coming over?” Kanroji has the camera propped up on the table, so it has a full view of the studio and most importantly, the door to the studio.
She’s laying down on her back as Aoi practices a routine beside her. Kanao is on the couch with Tamayo, asleep. Shinobu is on the floor with her, typing something on her laptop.
Shinobu idly looks at the clock, “His classes end at three, so we’ll have to wait a bit until he shows up.”
“If he even decides to.” Aoi cuts in with a snicker.
Kanroji pouts as Aoi laughs, a subtitle over her head reading ‘downer :(‘
[8:04]
The door suddenly clicks open, and a meek blonde head peeks out from the crack. The editing draws on small question marks floating on the top of his head.
“Ah?” Kanroji hops up from her position on the ground. “Ahh!! Is that him?!”
“Yes.” Kanroji dashes to the door in wild abandon at the confirmation from Shinobu. “Welcome Agatsuma--”
“Hello!!” Kanroji screeches, wrenching the door open and pulling in the blonde for a tight hug. “Welcome to the club!!”
Aoi hurries to pick up the camera from its place on the table and films the both of them, giggling. “Kanroji!! He can’t breathe!!”
She finally relents and loosens her hold. The blonde pulls back with a gasp of air, dizzy. It's Aoi's turn to pin him down with a headlock.
“Say hi to the camera!” She says, pointing the camera at the bewildered boy.
“Uh,” He starts, unsure where to look for the shot. “Good, Good afternoon!! I’m Zenitsu Agatsuma!!”
The video jump cuts to a similar clip from the intro, it shows his dance montage from earlier without the blur this time, with accompanying subtitles saying ‘Zenitsu Agatsuma, interpretative dancer at Ubuyashiki University! Shinobu found him through a performance of their dance club!! How lucky <3’
[10:23]
“And what made you think a guy could fit in here?!” Zenitsu complains, just as he finished watching a choreography sample Shinobu had assigned to him. He's just been briefed on the competition they plan on participating, and he was not happy imagining him dancing to such a-- “Don’t they have rules or something?!”
“They really don’t have rules.” Kanao says, stretching her shoulders as she faced the mirror. “All we needed was a theme.”
“And your theme was?”
“Femininity.”
Zenitsu collapses on the floor, comical dark lines edited over his head. “You’re all traitors.”
“But Zenitsu! When we saw your performance on stage, we were blown away!” Kanroji tries to motivate him, she shakes the blonde, who has become a pile of dead limbs on the floor. “You moved so gracefully on the dance floor, and your hips--!!”
Zenitsu groans, “Please. No comment on my hips.”
“You were very flexible.” Tamayo pipes up from her place on the sofa, scrolling through her phone.
“If you’re talking about flexibility, I have a classmate you’d like.” The blonde mutters, turning his head to acknowledge her. “Inosuke. He’s even got a feminine face.”
“Hashibira?” The blonde blinks in surprise when she recognizes the name. Are they fans of him? “Unfortunately, he’s already joined Sanemi’s--”
Zenitsu leaps from his lying position to sit, "How do you know him?!”
“Shinazugawa's group is one of the many we'll face in the KNY competition, you know.”
Zenitsu looks at the camera, disbelief etched on his face, mouthing 'what the fuck'.
“Alright you two. Back to your places.” Shinobu claps her hands, gaining their attention. “Zenitsu, I need you to run through that routine before the day ends.”
[VLOG] SHINAZUGAWA | Contest Preparations
1,233,840 views • 16 Sep 201X
By hashira dance studios ☑
[09:13]
A close-up of Genya chewing on some ohagi, looking at nowhere in particular is shown. A subtitle pops up from the corner of the video just as someone calls ‘Inosuke!!’ from the distance. He turns the camera to Inosuke, who’s looking at the direction of the sound.
“Who’s that?” He asks.
“Monitsu.” Inosuke mutters through a bite of fish. He stands up from his seat to scream at his friend. “What is it?!”
Genya turns the camera to a blonde, face blurred, running towards them with a plate full of food. A subtitle pops up, pointing at him saying ‘for privacy purposes, and so Kaigaku doesn’t kill us, we’re blurring his face’.
[12:11]
"So?" Inosuke says to the blonde, who’s currently sitting down with them for lunch, eyebrows raised as he shoves more food in his mouth. Genya is snickering behind the camera. "Don't you like those?"
The blonde scoffs, "What? Women?"
"No, those--" Inosuke attempts to do a body roll. The blonde reels back in disgust. Genya’s laughter grows louder and the camera shakes. "--things."
"On a girl? Yes! On me? Absolutely not." The blonde shrieks, flailing his arms in a firm ‘no’.
"Why didn’t you join us? You’d have a free pass, anyway." Genya asks this time as Inosuke busies himself with eating, “Isn’t Kaigaku like your big bro?”
The blonde sighs, "Because--"
"Because this brat's stamina is terrible." Genya turns the camera behind him and catches Kaigaku glaring at the blonde.
It pans back to the mystery boy when he speaks again. "Wha--I have great stamina!!"
Kaigaku sneers, pointing at the camera and then at Inosuke’s general direction. "You two, back to practice."
Inosuke only grumbles, taking some food out of the blonde’s plate before he dips. The blonde yelps, reaching for his friend to take it back, but Inosuke’s too fast for him. Genya snorts as he films Inosuke naruto-running away.
"You." He turns the camera back to where Kaigaku and the boy are talking. "Go back to your own f*cking group." Kaigaku is graciously censored.
The blonde grunts back, taking what's left of his lunch before taking off with a wave at Genya.
Genya waves the camera back in reply.
"And be back before 9, you hear?!" The camera shakes again as Genya laughs, possibly because Kaigaku sounds like a parent.
"It's not my fault she works us over time!!" The small blonde whines back.
"I don't fucking care! It's either 9, or I'm locking the gates!!" Kaigaku screams as the boy runs away. Small subtitles pop up with an arrow pointing towards him, saying ‘has a little brother complex’.
“Ah.” He mutters when he spots familiar earrings from the distance. It’s the guy from the cafe, looking around frantically in the streets. The get-up he's wearing is entirely different from the bubbly theme the redhead sported when they first met, now he's got a mask on, a hoodie, and has his forehead hidden by bangs.
He's probably trying to go for a stealthy look, but with his unique earrings, it's kinda hard not to recognize him at first glance.
There are even people already staring at him, holding their phones and talking among themselves. The guy’s causing a scene, from how suspicious he’s looking.
Zenitsu hesitates to help. He’s not one to usually like gaining the attention of others, but he did treat him to food the last time so..
“Um, excuse me." Zenitsu whispers when he approaches, hoping not to startle him.
The stranger stares at him, before breaking in a smile, Zenitsu can’t see it through the mask, but the way his eyes crinkle definitely make it obvious. "It's you again!" He exclaims happily, "How did you recognize me?"
Zenitsu taps his ears, and the redhead chuckles. “I should’ve guessed.”
They stare at each other for a good while, enough to make Zenitsu fidget from the nerves. The crowd continues discreetly taking photos, and he wonders what the big deal is. The redhead notices and immediately goes to take his hand, “Uh, let’s find somewhere more private--”
The blonde flinches in surprise, unable to reply as he’s dragged away. “--ah, hey!!”
The guy takes him to a restaurant this time, and it looks even more expensive than that dingy cafe they met at before. Zenitsu almost wants to ditch him then and there, but then he’s pulled inside by the eager redhead.
Is he being blackmailed? Or is this guy some kind of sugar daddy who gets off treating other dudes to lunch?
All of those thoughts are ridiculous, but Zenitsu just can't fathom this guy spending so much for a dude who offered him a seat in a cafe.
They get seated--holy hell these seats feel phenomenal--and the redhead gives an urging grin. “What would you like?”
Oh no he doesn’t, “I haven’t paid you back for last time, I don’t--!”
Like before, the redhead shrugs his words off and just laughs them off. “It’s fine, it’s fine! Come on, just choose something.”
Zenitsu hesitates. Rich or not, he doesn’t want to take advantage of the guy’s kindness--or wallet-- so he stands his ground against the redhead’s sunny smile with a firm shake of his head.
The guy falters a bit, unsure how to convince Zenitsu any further. The blonde thinks he’s just about to give up until his expression regains its liveliness.
“That’s right! I haven’t told you my name yet!” He chirps, as if that would change Zenitsu’s mind. “I’m Tanjirou Kamado.”
Zenitsu’s mind blanks. Suddenly, he understands why this guy's earrings bothered him so much in the first place.
So that’s who he is.
He catches himself staring for too long and immediately makes himself articulate a response. “Zenitsu. Agatsuma.”
“Great! Then your order?” Tanjirou tilts his head, his enthusiastic smile turning softer.
Zenitsu, amidst his crisis, can only nod and stutter in response. “I, whatever you’re having.”
Tanjirou hesitates, not satisfied, but inevitably gets up to walk over to the counter. The staff nearby panics, looking confused on why he’s not calling up a waiter to handle it for him. Zenitsu, on the other hand, immediately fishes his phone out of his pocket and opens up youtube to type ‘tanjirou kamado’.
He’s hit with a dazzling array of videos featuring compilations of Tanjirou’s smile, his performances on live tv, and how many times he’s said the name ‘Nezuko’.
But most important, is the channel featured at the top.
RISINGTIDE. 6 million subscribers.
Zenitsu nearly faints at the number. It’s nearly as much as Kaigaku’s group, who sits at 7 million and just over 2 million from butterfly effect’s 4 million. Not that butterfly effects is by any means unpopular, but the gap in numbers does make him jealous.
He doesn’t use the application often, so he’s only caught glimpses of Tanjirou’s face around social media. He mentally berates himself for not recognizing the guy at first glance. Or even at second glance.
When Tanjirou returns with their food, he resists his urge to slam the table; instead, he helps him steady the tray he held. “You didn’t tell me?!” He hisses as he supports Tanjirou’s grip.
“Tell you what?” Tanjirou asks in confusion, not really sure why Zenitsu’s giving him such a crude glare.
“That you’re famous?!”
Tanjirou blushes slightly at the accusation, and laughs shyly. “We’re not that famous--”
“You’ve performed live more than once, don’t you joke with me.” Zenitsu cuts him off. He has no business being so humble!! “No wonder you have enough money to splurge on a stranger! Which might I add is the stupidest thing you can ever do, you bet your ass I’m paying you back I’m not going to let myself have a debt to a superstar--”
Tanjirou laughs openly at his panic, “Calm down, Zenitsu.” He soothes, placing some tissues on his side of the table. “I’m not a superstar. It’s not a big deal.”
Zenitsu gapes at him, “What do you mean it isn’t a big deal?!” He flails his arms, gesturing to him. “This is a big deal! You’re obviously a big deal!!”
Tanjirou grins at his words, flattered. “You are too.”
Zenitsu makes a sound of confusion.
“You got scouted by butterfly effect.”
“Ah.” Zenitsu’s surprised he even knows. “You watch their videos?”
Tanjirou beams as he chews on a piece of steak. “Yeah! We’re subscribed to their channel.”
Zenitsu replies with a quiet hum, letting the conversation die out there. It would make sense for them to be, butterfly effect is still a pretty big name despite Rising Tide’s bigger following.
Tanjirou breaks the silence with a gentle laugh, scratching his cheek shyly. “But actually, I’ve watched you even before that.”
His tone makes Zenitsu blush too, but his confusion wins over. “What do you mean?” He doesn’t recall making any accounts in youtube. Is someone impersonating him?! “I don’t post any videos.”
“You don’t, but people do it for you.” Tanjirou replies, eyes sparkling in delight. “I’ve seen your presentations for school, they were cool!!”
Suddenly, the reason how he got scouted in the first place becomes clearer. He remembers the stupid april fools jokes they'd pull off in the middle of their set lists, where they'd dance to--
--he reminds himself to watch those videos later, for now he’ll think about how to repay this redhead for treating him to lunch twice now.
FEEL SPECIAL Cover [MEMBER INTRODUCTION]
629,011 views • 19 Sep 201X
By butterfly_effect ☑ ️
1,342 Comments
RISINGTIDE ☑ 16 hours ago
Amazing!!!!
👍 2.3k 👎
^ Hide replies
tokito’s toe 16 hours ago
AAAAHHH???
say 16 hours ago
anyone out of their group could’ve wrote this
HajimeCD 17 hours ago
literally anyone but muichiro
Zenitsu encounters the redhead again, this time at the park.
They’ve exchanged numbers and gotten pretty close already. As for frequent meet-ups, Tanjirou’s just got a knack for showing up at places Zenitsu decides to hang out in.
He’s also a pretty avid texter, always sending him good morning messages. Zenitsu finds it unfair that Tanjirou’s always the one greeting him, so it’s become somewhat of a competition for both of them to see who can say good morning first.
“They didn’t have peach anymore,” Tanjirou says sadly when he comes back and hands him a cone topped with green ice cream. “I hope you like matcha?”
“What about that one?” Zenitsu asks, gesturing to the cone Tanjirou has on his other grip. He accepts the ice cream offered anyway, it is free. He can't just deny free stuff.
Tanjirou chuckles as he plops down on the bench beside him. “I like mango.” He makes proves it by taking a large bite out of the scoop. Zenitsu shivers, unsure how he manages that without his teeth feeling weird. “Sorry.”
Zenitsu rolls his eyes, but doesn’t ask any more questions. “Thanks. You always seem to be treating me food whenever we meet.”
“Well, you look like you could use some.” The redhead pinches his arm gently. “You look pretty thin.”
“I’m plenty heavy!!”
“Wanna bet?”
Zenitsu suddenly gets flashbacks to that one video where Tanjirou managed to lift Rengoku off the floor, a man twice his size.
“I’m okay.” He mutters, feeling peeved.
“I saw your video by the way.” Blood rushes into Zenitsu's cheeks at the memory. “You looked very handsome in white.”
He buries his embarrassment deep inside him, inside focusing on how Tanjirou's words flatter him. “Aw, don’t compliment me all of a sudden!!” Zenitsu then immediately scoffs down his ice cream, hoping the cold would stop all the warmth in your gut.
AKAZA | live highlights
1,233,840 views • 20 Sep 201X
By hashira dance studios ☑
[5:02]
A comment from the livechat catches Akaza’s eye and he turns to Kaigaku with a chuckle.
"Oh right, isn't your brother officially part of Kochou's group now?"
Kaigaku doesn’t let his eyes wander from his own phone, but answers with a huff. "Yeah. Sh*tty blonde won't listen to me when I told him to stay out of this business."
Akaza takes his usual bluntness in stride, and only grins as he lays an arm over his shoulder. "Why are you even stopping him? I saw his intro on their channel. He's pretty good."
Kaigaku only clicks his tongue in reply, shrugging Akaza off to stand up and leave.
Akaza doesn't mind, turning to the camera and shaking his head with a grin. He angles the camera to record Kaigaku walking away, his profile is followed by the subtitle 'protective big bro'.
“Announcement!” Shinobu hollers from the door, looking frazzled. It’s the first time Zenitsu’s seen her like it, so he follows the others obediently and surround her in a circle.
She makes sure everyone’s listening before she heaves a sigh and speaks, “It’s possible that we may have to collaborate with another group.”
There’s choruses of surprised gasps and exclamations, Zenitsu just blinks in confusion. He never really bothered to ask the competition specifics, now that he thinks about it.
“Why?” Tamayo asks, the only one apart from Zenitsu with a calm response.
“They increased the general member minimum.” Shinobu looks like she’s reliving nightmares relaying it to the group, “It went from six to ten.”
“Why ten?!” Kanroji shouts almost right into Zenitsu’s ear. He winces at the ringing that follows
Shinobu just runs a hand down her face, looking exasperated.
“Look, we can’t do anything okay? We’ll just have to scrap the routine we had.”
Zenitsu ends up walking home gloomily after that. Shinobu didn’t divulge any further and scrambled out the studio, probably to see who she can contact to form alliances with. He had a thought to recruit Kaigaku’s group, but then remembers they already have enough members for the new rule.
He was sad to scrap all those efforts his team mates made for the competition, it was all near perfect too, and even worst of all--
--all those effort of memorizing the dance steps, gone!!
Zenitsu groans, purposefully dragging his own steps. He's got far too much energy to just sleep off, but at the same time, he wants to just collapse on bed.
"Zenitsu?"
What the hell, Zenitsu thinks as he whips his head around, is he imagining Tanjirou's voice now?!
Then he's greeted by a mask-wearing Kamado. The real deal.
"Tanjirou?" He notices his out fit looks cooler now, a bit more trendier than his last outfits. "What are you doing out so late?"
"I should be asking you that." And then Tanjirou links their arms, as if it was the most normal thing to do. "Where did you go?"
Zenitsu, already tired from practicing the whole day, doesn't bother getting worked up over their position. "Just came from practice.” He manages to say through a sleepy yawn. “How about you?”
“I visited hashira dance studios.” Tanjirou says proudly. “I guest starred in their dance practice today!!”
Zenitsu hums, genuinely amazed, but his lethargy prevents him from expressing it properly. “Cool! I’ll watch it later.”
“Yeah! For now, how about I--”
Zenitsu, already sensing Tanjirou’s usual suggestion, immediately takes the lead. “If anyone’s treating anyone to dinner, it should be me.” “Come on, let’s go.”
Tanjirou’s happy tone rings in his ears, “Okay.”
JOPPING [ft. Tanjirou from RISINGTIDE]
528,200 views • 22 Sep 201X
By hashira dance studio ☑ ️
971 Comments
Saychewy 6 hours ago
ugh tanjirou in black is 👌👌
👍 127 👎
i_no 7 hours ago (edited)
Everybody be talking about tanjirou but yall INOSUKE IS WEARING A SHIRT
👍 198 👎
^ Hide replies
annakim 8 hours ago
a monumental moment in hashira studios
MEETING NEW AND FAMILIAR FACES?! [#66 KNY VLOG]
1,393,000 views • 29 Sep 201X
By RISINGTIDE ☑ ️
[1:21]
“Ah! I’m nervous!!” Tanjirou says to the camera, opening a bag of chips with his other hand. “I watch their performances sometimes and they’re so good!!” He says to Muichiro, who’s sitting beside him playing a game.
“We’re better!!” Rengoku yells from somewhere, his seat a couple rows away. “Don’t sell yourself short Kamado!!”
Muichiro frowns, his voice probably managing to boom into his headphones. Tanjirou chuckles and pumps his fists. “Yeah!!” He laughs, and the video edits sparkles around him.
The video cuts to Rengoku’s point of view, the camera focused on his big grin. Beside him, Sabito tries to squeeze in the shot, but they end up nudging each other away from frame.
“They have a new member, don’t they?” Sabito says when they’ve calmed down from their little game. Rengoku hums in reply.
“They do?” He asks, pointing the camera too close to Sabito’s face, nearly sticking it on his cheek. Sabito swats him away. “Last time I counted, they were still five.”
Murata hollers a seat away, “Giyuu told me they picked up a new guy from the nearby university.”
“Guy?” It’s Muichiro this time, sounding curious.
“Oh, it’s a dude?!” Sabito exclaims, turning in his seat to look at Murata in surprise. “I’d never thought they’d ruin the girl streak.”
Tanjirou pipes up this time, “Didn’t Sanemi do the same with his group?” He’s waving his arms around, much to Muichiro’s displeasure. “He picked up Gyuutarou’s little sister too.”
“Yeah, and that shot up their popularity pretty fast.” Murata supplies.
The video cuts to clips of Daki performing on stage with Sanemi’s group, looking fierce as she flips her hair as she dances or enters the stage with a sudden beat drop.
It cuts back to Tanjirou’s cam as he laughs loudly, “Rengoku!! Pick some girls up for us!!”
The bus shakes with laughter as Rengoku pretends to call for the bus to stop so he can come down and do as told.
[8:01]
They step down from the bus one by one, with Rengoku taking the lead as he looks towards the plaza, looking for Shinobu and her group. “They they are!!” He shouts when he spots figures waving in the distance, “Hello!!”
“Ah!!” Tanjirou screams from the back, rushing past frame as he runs forwards. Rengoku laughs, despite being confused on what he’s so excited about. “Zenitsu!!”
[KANROJI LOG # 44] MEETING OUR NEW DANCE-MATES!! (ft. Zenitsu’s secret boyfriend?!)
901,120 views • 2 Oct 201X
By butterfly_effect ☑
[11:06]
“Zenitsu!!” Someone shouts from the distance as Kanroji’s making sure her make-up is on point, she blinks and looks somewhere behind the camera.
“Oh, who’s that--” A redhead runs past by her and she focuses the camera on him.
There’s a chorus of screams and shrieks as the redhead tackles Zenitsu into a hug, almost toppling them to the ground. “We finally get to work together!!” Tanjirou exclaims as he pulls back from the hug to smile at Zenitsu.
Kanroji’s scream turns into loud laughter, amused and surprised at the sudden display. Aoi hoots from somewhere off camera and Kanao is caught laughing behind her hand uncontrollably.
“What’s this?! What’s this about?!” Kanroji repeats, feeling giddy. As the camera shakes to focus on the two, it lingers for a while on Aoi’s face as she mouths ‘oh my god’ to the camera.
“Zenitsu!!” Kanao laughs, unable to continue her words without her voice shaking from mirth. “Don’t you have something to tell us?!”
Zenitsu’s voice is faint because he doesn’t have his mic on, “I can explain!!” He shouts at the girls. Shinobu snickers as she passes by the camera to greet the other group. “Tanjirou, let go already!!”
“Tanjirou?!” Kanroji choruses with Aoi in a shout, it melts back into laughter right after. Kanao vaguely screams 'first name basis already?!' in the background.
The video cuts to a dance practice of Sabito’s group, the focus immediately on the redhead named Tanjirou. It features parts of Tanjirou smiling and grinning at the camera, with the added subtitles ‘Living sunshine Kamado Tanjirou!!’ courtesy of Kanroji.
Then it cuts back to the chaos present time.
“You two know each other?!”
“He offered me lunch when I didn’t have money to buy s--!!” Another bout of screaming starts and Zenitsu furiously tries to get them to shut up with wild gestures. The camera shakes, as Kanroji jumps on her toes in excitement. “--ahh stop it already!!”
Tanjirou only laughs along with everyone and keeps an arm around Zenitsu’s shoulder, Kanroji notes this with subtitles over both of their heads saying ‘inseparable~’
[13:54]
“I think I know what you two are going to get already.” Kanao says, eyes on the sticks Shinobu had pulled out to assign them their roles in the set list of routines.
Aoi nods, “Yeah, literally no one has drawn the red sticks.”
“I’m calling it!” Kanroji helpfully adds.
Zenitsu sighs, already losing hope because yes, he will be apparently paired with Tanjirou for such a touchy routine. Tanjirou on the other hand, just seems to find everything amusing.
Shinobu smiles down at him in pity, but Zenitsu knows better than to think she even has pity for him in this situation. “There’s still the black sticks, for solos.” She gestures to the sticks Sabito and Kanao drew.
Zenitsu breathes in relief. “Oh, thank f*ck--”
Shinobu smiles, only to open her hands and reveal two red sticks.
“--but you don’t get them.”
The room erupts into chaos as Zenitsu practically melts to the floor, red-faced.
[16:32]
It’s Zenitsu’s turn to hold the camera for the vlog. "I feel so sorry for you." He’s visibly uncomfortable keeping the shot steady; it shakes and rises too high or low. Tanjirou helps him steady it as he grins at the screen.
"How come?" He asks, a smile still trained on the camera as he leans his head on Zenitsu’s.
The blonde doesn’t notice in the midst of his sulking, "You're stuck with a guy for such an intimate routine." He complains, waving the stick he got wildly around. "Wanna suggest we get solos instead?"
"I don't mind." Tanjirou hums. "Don't you think it's better to be partnered with a guy?"
Zenitsu gives him a look, "How come?"
"Well, you don't have to be embarrassed touching another girl's body, that's for sure."
"Yeah, but don't you want to know what a girl feels like?!"
Tanjirou looks like he's withholding his anger, and the subtitle ‘annoyed’ right over his head expresses this. "I'm sure they feel just like us."
Zenitsu gasps, looking wronged. "No, Tanjirou, you don't understand--"
A wild pillow comes out of nowhere and hits the blonde right on the back of his head. Aoi’s laughs are heard from afar as Zenitsu turns around to shouts back in pain. Tanjirou just keeps the camera steady and rubs the back of Zenitsu’s head with a grin.
HIT SOUND | cover
1,621,500 views • 5 Oct 201X
By hashira dance studio ☑
2,342 Comments
VALHALL 3 days ago
Im glad to see inosuke’s abs back
👍 967 👎
kaigastan 2 days ago
where’s kaigaku :(((
👍 2.9K 👎
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bichi 2 days ago
did u even read the description? He got an ankle injury
sanemi appreciation hours 3 days ago
instead can we talk about that blondie in the center bc ugh
k9 3 days ago
that’s his bby brother and kaigaku will probably kill you for that comment
Zenitsu’s been messing up the choreography for a while now, he’s aware. He’s also aware that Aoi’s growing more and more irritated by the second. Tanjirou keeps being a living piece of sunshine and whispers encouraging words in his ears when he messes up because he’s not used to close contact.
Everytime Tanjirou slides a hand on his body, he jerks away and laughs apologetically.
Aoi sighs for the nth time and turns back to him with an unreadable expression. "Zenitsu." She says, as Zenitsu apologizes to Tanjirou for suddenly jerking away again."Stop that."
"Stop what?" The blonde mutters. He actually thinks he did good this round, at least he didn’t outwardly jump out of Tanjirou’s grasp.
"You can't fool me. You're flinching." She scoffs.
"Hey, I can’t help it okay?!" Zenitsu shouts, unable to take the tone of her voice. “It’s just that I’m playing a girl’s role and--!”
"If you're worried about your masculinity, you've already lost it the moment you joined this group!!" Aoi shouts back just as loudly. Kanao stands up from the sofa, sensing that the conversation has steered to something serious.
Zenitsu grits his teeth. "I was forced to!!"
"Okay," Aoi inhales, as if gathering her strength to say her next words. "Leave then!!"
Zenitsu pauses, his anger dying down.
"We've technically got the minimum members down, so we don't need you anymore." Aoi says under her breath, but it’s still loud enough for everyone to hear in the silent room. "If your reason for staying is something as stupid as girls, then just leave."
They both don’t say anything for a while and the atmosphere in the room turns heavy. Beside him, Tanjirou gives his shoulder an encouraging nudge, subliminally telling Zenitsu to explain himself.
Kanao frets over the both of them, "Zenitsu." She murmurs, worried.
Zenitsu almost just wants to walk out then and there, her words stinging a little. But he gives it more thought and just chalks up Aoi’s outburst to her stress. They’ve been in this room for hours now, trying to get Zenitsu used to the routine, with everyone else leaving them behind to go home.
Obviously, Zenitsu could’ve just exchanged roles with someone else, but he was too stubborn for that and kept making excuses at Aoi to just wait for him to adjust.
The blonde sighs.
"I'm sorry." He finally breaks the silence, hoping his words sound sincere enough. "Just. We've never had partnered routines before and it feels weird."
For a moment, Zenitsu’s scared that she might just ignore him and walk out. Instead, Aoi turns back to face him, but they still don’t meet gazes. "...I'm sorry too." She says quietly, "For saying all that."
There’s another bout of silence and Kanao immediately takes the chance to break it.
"Alright, girls!!" She says, frantically waving her arms around. "How about we take a break?"
"I'm not a girl." Zenitsu petulantly mutters under his breath, walking out the door to get his food. He ducks under Aoi’s gaze, still a little jarred from the fight they had.
Zenitsu and Tanjirou silently walk home after that. He actually wasn’t supposed to walk with Tanjirou home, but the latter insisted, probably worried for him.
He’s not really feeling too bad about the whole thing; at least it was only Kanao who got to see the fight break out. If Shinobu was there, he’d probably be too scared to complain anyway.
"Hey." He says, hands tight on his bag’s strap. "I'm sorry for what happened back there."
Tanjirou hums, "You don't have to apologize. Aoi was just probably stressed, you know.”
“Yeah. From me.”
Tanjirou doesn’t reply to his comment. They both know it’s true.
"We can still go the solo route." The redhead suggests hesitantly.
Zenitsu closes his eyes at that. He really wants to, so he can just get over all of this, but… "Aoi's put a lot of work making that routine." And everyone’s already adjusted to their own choreographies. He can’t just ask for someone to replace him just like that. "I don't want to put it to waste."
Tanjirou frowns. "But you're uncomfortable."
"I really am." Zenitsu doesn’t deny it. It’s obvious from the way he was trying to jump away from Tanjirou’s hands earlier.
He likes to think it’s all because he hasn’t really had any affection in his life really, save for the occasional hugs he gets from his grandfather and the even more occasional hugs he gets from Kaigaku. His friends aren’t really touchy-feely either—Inosuke literally thinks hugs are a free pass for wrestling—and he’s never had a girlfriend.
And it clearly doesn’t help that Tanjirou’s a literal ball of kindness that makes him feel things.
He stops in his tracks and Tanjirou follows, head tilted in confusion. “But you know what--?!” The blonde screams, digging for any remains of determination inside him.
"What?" Tanjirou parrots back.
Zenitsu thrusts his arm forward, directly at Tanjirou’s face.
"Hold my hand."
Tanjirou blinks. He opens his mouth, debating on whether or not to ask anything, but he closes it and just slides his fingers along Zenitsu’s.
Zenitsu’s determination falters at his touch.
"You're shaking." Tanjirou notes, amused.
"This is part of the training!!"
The redhead only hums and tugs them forwards to walk again, "Has nobody held your hand before?"
"Yeah? I've never dated anyone."
"People can hold hands with friends."
"Well," Zenitsu wants to say he doesn't have those either, at least no one willing enough to hold hands, but that'll probably just make him look more pathetic.
Tanjirou seems to understand his silence and just squeezes his hand. "It's okay. Training, right?"
They try again the next day.
This time, Zenitsu doesn’t let the fact that Tanjirou’s running his hands on his body bother him, instead he focuses on refining his movements from earlier.
He steals at glance at Aoi and he notices that she’s being a little tentative with her partner too. He feels a little guilty for being too vocal earlier now, clearly she’s not used to it either, but she’s dealing with it for the sake of the group.
Plus, Tanjirou seems like he’s having fun, with the way he’s grinning every time they do a particular move that has their hands clasped together. He’ll just have to swallow his pride for now, he does owe the Kochou group a lot for picking him up and giving him a chance to hone his skills.
He helps Aoi with the cleanup later when it’s time to go home. It’s a bit awkward at first, since Zenitsu’s too scared to approach her and Aoi looks like she won’t be talking again for the next millennium, but when Zenitsu does something stupid again and gets his toe stubbed on the door, they’re back to their usual jabs and banter.
He also treats her some milk tea, for good measure.
[VLOG] HASHIBIRA | hit sound behind the scenes
928,761 views • 6 Oct 201X
By hashira dance studio ☑
[3:01]
"Boketsu!!" Inosuke screams at the door when he sees the familiar blonde silhouette through the foggy glass. Gyuutarou beside him startles awake, groaning about 'damned boar-heads'.
Zenitsu does finally enter, bowing slightly to greet everyone in the room.
"Hello." He says meekly, making a beeline for Inosuke who waves at him enthusiastically. The members only grunt their reply, already too tired from spending hours practicing the choreography.
"What's Agatsuma doing here?" The camera pans to Daki, who’s in the middle of fixing her ponytail.
“Kaigaku’s got an ankle injury, so he’ll be filling in for him in the video.” Sanemi answers for the blonde, sitting in front of the electric fan to cool off.
Daki raises a brow at this, “Really?” She drawls out, a sly grin on her pretty face. “You’ve got the steps memorized already?”
“I watch him dance it at home!!” Zenitsu defends himself, cheeks slightly pink. “I think I’ve got most of it.”
“We’ll see about that.” She giggles and then claps her hands loudly, hands on either side of her mouth to shout. “Come on guys!! One final run and we’re shooting the video!”
There’s a chorus of groans from everyone, save for Inosuke, who’s too busy introducing Zenitsu to his new shoes.
[6:21]
Sanemi huffs and goes to pat Zenitsu on the shoulder, “Good job kid.” He says.
Genya standing behind him makes a surprised face, profile slightly blurred from the camera’s focus, pleasantly surprised that his brother had managed to compliment another human being.
“Thank you!!” Zenitsu pants, a little winded at the fast-paced choreography.
Uzui passes by him next, ruffling his hair. “Not bad, but you should work on your expressions.”
“Kotetsu!!” Inosuke screams, suddenly jumping within frame and tackling the blonde down. “You have fast feet! But mine are faster!!!”
The camera zooms in on Genya, who’s currently wiping his face of sweat. “Genya, thoughts?” Akaza asks, manning the camera.
“We want to adopt him, but Kaigaku will probably murder us.” He chuckles.
“Oh yeah, totally.” The camera catches Gyuutaro slumped on the floor, with Daki nonchalantly fanning him. “I wanted to murder you guys when you suggested getting Daki in the group too.”
Akaza hums. “You know what, Kaigaku would probably kill us for posting this.”
“F*ck him.” Uzui says somewhere behind the camera and everyone agrees.
[AOI LOG #23] rising tide practice (and a proposal from tanjirou??)
2,905,294 views • 9 Oct 201X
By butterfly_effect☑
[8:02]
Tanjirou, in the middle of his solo in the song, pulls Zenitsu up from the floor to dance with him. There’s a chorus of cheers from the other members and the guys decide to forgo the choreography and dance around the two of them.
[9:31]
The camera trembles as Aoi gasps in laughter, the rest of Sabito’s team are still in an uproar from Tanjirou’s actions.
Zenitsu is red-faced and visibly angry as he chases Tanjirou around the studio, “Tanjirou, I’m going to f*cking kill you I swear--”
Tanjirou only laughs and waves at Aoi enthusiastically, “Did you get it?!”
“I did!!” Aoi laughs from behind the camera, and it shakes as she tries to run away from an embarrassed Zenitsu.
“Aoi!!” He yells, chasing her into the hallways. “Get back here and delete that!!”
“No way!! This is going live!!”
“AOI!!”
Zenitsu burst into laughter for the third time that day.
Aoi groans, her hands falling to her sides dramatically. She’s gotten a tad bit more tolerant of disruptions in mid-choreo, but she still looks plenty exasperated. “Zenitsu. Come on.”
“I’m sorry, okay?!” The blonde says between giggles, “Tanjirou’s face is just too--!” He breaks in to another fit of laughter, knees giving out on him as he slides down on the floor.
Tanjirou pouts, a little insulted to be implied to have a funny face. “Start it from the top!” He yells, still offended.
Zenitsu nods, clearing his throat to stop himself from laughing any more. They resume their places and wait for the music to start up again. The blonde steels himself, preparing to keep his laughter inside when he faces Tanjirou again in the routine.
When he does the sudden turn again, what he gets instead is a gaze he’s never seen Tanjirou use before, and it sends shivers down his spine. He nearly faints from the intensity.
Zenitsu shakes his head and pulls away, hiding his face in his hands as it starts to redden. “Oh, nope. Stop the music. I can’t.”
This time it’s Kanao who complains, “Zenitsu! What is it now?”
“It’s this guy’s stupid dumb face!!”
Tanjirou huffs, “Hey!!” He shouts, chasing after Zenitsu when he tries to avoid him.
“Make a normal expression!” Zenitsu shrieks, pointing an accusing finger at his friend as he inches away. “Don’t smile or do that!!”
“Do what?”
“That!!”
Muichiro clicks his tongue, slipping his headphones off his ears when they start screaming at each other. “He’s saying stop grinning like an idiot or giving him the bedroom ey--”
“And that’s enough out of you, Muichiro.” Sabito laughs, patting the boy in the back to stop him from exposing Tanjirou any further. “Alright, I call break. Your blondie needs it.” He says to Shinobu, who shrugs.
“Fine. Break. Zenitsu, sweetheart, work on whatever that was with Tanjirou.”
Everyone skitters out the practice room, chattering to each other as they do. Only Zenitsu and Tanjirou remain, the blonde too lazy to even stand up from his place on the couch and the redhead content to just standby in the room for a while longer.
It’s quiet for a moment, just the both of them soaking up their much needed rest.
That is, until Zenitsu sits up straight with a sudden shout. “Alright! We’re doing a staring contest.”
It’s a weird suggestion, and it’s obvious on Tanjirou’s face. “Why?”
“I’m already okay with your touch,” Zenitsu demonstrates this by sitting closer and putting one of Tanjirou’s hands on his waist. “So I just need to work on meeting gazes with you.”
Tanjirou, distractedly palming the ends of Zenitsu’s shirt, nods. “Okay.”
Zenitsu clicks his tongue and keeps Tanjirou’s gaze up on his face using both of his palms or either cheek. “Fo-cus.”
Tanjirou blinks.
“Right.”
Zenitsu heaves a breath and stares ahead with resolve. Tanjirou just keeps his usual serene smile, completely nonchalant as he looks into Zenitsu’s eyes.
They stare at each other for almost a minute until Zenitsu gives out, leaning down to press his face on Tanjirou's chest.
“Ow.” He mutters.
“Ah. Did we overdo it?”
“Nope. Nope. Just give me a second. My eyes got too dry.”
everytime zenitsu and tanjirou are flirting on screen
2,091,153 views • 11 Oct 201X
By zenichii
[1:01]
Tanjirou and Zenitsu in the background of one of Kanroji’s blogs, playing with each others hands. Zenitsu looks amazed as he prods Tanjirou’s hands, the redhead lets him, with a smile on his face.
[1:56]
Tanjirou pulls Zenitsu in the camera’s field of view while he’s lounging on the sofa, effectively trapping him in an embrace when he falls on him. Zenitsu struggles comically and Tanjirou laughs at his attempts to 'bite' down on his arms.
There’s a jumpcut and it shows the both of them asleep in each other’s arms when Shinobu sweeps the camera around the practice studio in one of her vlogs.
[2:16]
A clip of their dance practice with them dancing awfully close to each other. The camera shakes along with Kanroji’s screaming and Zenitsu breaks into laughter, much to Aoi’s exasperation.
[2:59]
Zenitsu and Tanjirou feeding each other cotton candy as they walk with Sabito and Giyuu somewhere around the city.
They also show Sabito and Giyuu in the same clip, leaning on each other as they gaze up at the buildings they pass by. A subtitle is squeezed from the corner, ‘some bonus sabigiyuu <3’
[3:42]
Tanjirou pulls Zenitsu up in the middle of their dance practice, dancing around with him. Rengoku’s the first one to stop dancing the choreo and proceeds to just jump around them and shout. The rest follow suite, though Muichiro does it a little lethargic. The camera shakes as Aoi laughs from behind when Zenitsu starts shouting in embarrassment.
[4:12]
Zenitsu stares at the comments flooding the screen as he does a live with Tanjirou. They're facing a table with an assortment of food, and take turns eating. Tanjirou doesn't say much during the clips shown, but he's noticeably giving Zenitsu all of his attention.
[6:32]
A shaky capture of Tanjirou tackling Zenitsu for a hug, the subtitle reads 'the moment that started this all!! >w<'
“Tanjirou?”
“Yes?”
“Are you aware that there are compilations about us?”
Tanjirou smiles, already in the process of scrolling through the comments of the said video. “Yes.”
everytime zenitsu and tanjirou are flirting on screen
3,138,691 views • 11 Oct 201X
By zenichii
1,342 Comments
kaigaku_official☑ 1 week ago
Who the fuck is Tanjirou and why is he hitting on my baby brother
👍 967 👎
kaigaku_official☑ 1 week ago (edited)
Who the fuck is Tanjirou and why is he hitting on my step-brother
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zenichii 1 week ago
HSDFKJHF I SAW THAT
brocongaku 1 week ago
kaigaku calling zenitsu his baby brother 😔👌