Work Text:
“I know you’ve been working hard for us, but please don’t push yourself too far.” Nezuko says through the phone. “You’ve been sounding so tired lately.”
Tanjirou sighs as he scratches his head, he’s heard this too many times to count. He knows Nezuko’s just worried about him, as she always is, but he’s doing great.
He might be eating instant ramen everyday, but he’s okay.
“I’m fine, Nezuko.” He reassures her, “As long as you guys eat three times a day, I’m happy.”
“Do you eat three times a day?”
Tanjirou doesn’t answer.
“Big brother.”
Already feeling guilty about not doing as he preaches, he tries to end the conversation early. “I’ll do my best!!” And he will, but he can’t promise it, with how hectic his schedule has been recently. “Now go to sleep! You still have work tomorrow!”
Nezuko can’t do anything more but say goodbye and remind him to visit for the holidays. How could Tanjirou forget? That’s the one thing he looks forward to when his boss finally lets him off for the winter.
He sighs and pockets his phone.
It’s a grueling task, working here in the city. Unlike the rural province that he came from, the city’s all about being fast and efficient, which Tanjirou is fully capable of, but doing it nearly everyday of every week for twelve hours can kill you inside.
Sometimes all he asks for is a break, just a nice time in his home, eating three meals like his sister has been stressing to him and maybe even a partner to do all of those with. Unfortunately, the gods have been turning a blind eye at him. Because no matter how much he prays on the new years, nothing seems to change.
Tanjirou sighs, walking up the stairs sluggishly to his apartment. Might as well try again next year.
He opens the door, with the full intent to just collapse on the floor and sleep then and there--
“Ah.”
--but he’s surprised by the sudden aroma of a home-cooked meal and a man standing in his kitchen, cooking.
“Ah, um--” The blonde stutters, looking just as surprised as he is.
Tanjirou closes the door.
A hallucination? Was he hallucinating right now? That can be the only explanation, suddenly seeing a man cooking in his apartment. He didn’t even leave his spare keys under the mat, and he’s pretty sure he has the original with him at all times, so the guy couldn't have possibly used that to enter.
Did they break in? No, if they broke in they wouldn’t be cooking dinner in the first place, they run and get whatever they want.
So he is hallucinating.
He tries to open the door again, but the sight doesn’t change. There’s still a blonde man wearing traditional kimono garbs with fox ears and a tail, cooking something in his kitchen that smells heavenly.
The blonde tilts his head, the fox ears twitching and tail swishing curiously. “Welcome home?” He greets more properly this time.
Tanjirou closes the door again.
Why was he hallucinating about a cosplayer? Was it a deep dark fetish of his? More importantly, was he that lonely to the point that his mind is making him imagine a loving husband cooking dinner for him?
This time for sure, Tanjirou tells himself, I’m perfectly fine on my own, so you don’t have to do this, mind!!
He opens the door with more vigor, determined to get the visions out of his head.
It doesn’t.
“Um, welcome home. Again.” The blonde says, looking exasperated. He must’ve been annoyed with Tanjirou repeatedly slamming the door open and closed. “How was work? I made you dinner, we can eat it together.” The fox says, approaching Tanjirou with a hesitant smile, looking like he expects the redhead to close the door on him again.
Tanjirou must be dreaming in the train, that’s the only logical reason he can provide for this dreamy experience.
He has to wake up!! “Excuse me but!!” Tanjirou slams both hands on the blonde’s shoulders, startling both of them; Tanjirou half expected his hands to go phase through the fox like a ghost. What a scarily realistic dream!! “Please punch me in the face!!”
The blonde squawks, alarmed at his violent request. “Why would I want to do that?!”
“You’re very pretty but I’d like to wake up now!!” Tanjirou screams honestly, watching the sudden rush of color that fills the blonde’s cheeks. Cute. “I’ll miss my stop!!” Truthfully, he’d like to stay in this dreamscape a little longer--a cute fox husband? What a mind he has-- but he’s got to make sure he’s at home while he’s living out his fantasies first.
The blonde doesn’t punch him, much to Tanjirou’s disappointment, but he does get a pretty hefty slap to the face. “Stop screaming!! This isn’t a dream you idiot!!” Maybe he's right, Tanjirou thinks as he cradles his burning cheek, that hurt like real pain. “You’ll wake up the neighbors!!”
“Then wha--!!” He’s cut off as the pouting blonde hauls him inside.
“Geez just, shut up and get in!!” The stranger hisses, pushing him in the direction of the bathroom. “Go take a bath while I finish up here!!”
He knows where the bathroom is? “But--”
“Get going!!”
Tanjirou ends up obeying orders from some weird cosplayer who has apparently invaded his house now.
The cosplayer was a divine fox god named Zenitsu.
At least that’s how the blonde in front of him had introduced himself, as Tanjirou ate the healthiest meal he has probably had in centuries.
“I answered a call from your little sister.” He explained, watching Tanjirou eat with a keen gaze. He’s probably making sure the redhead finishes it all. “Nezuko-chan!” He drawls, a dreamy look on the blonde's face.
Tanjirou ignores the affectionate way he declares his little sister’s name. Nezuko has always attracted many weird admirers. “Nezuko?” He parrots back with a full mouth. “What did she say?”
“That her brother was apparently killing himself working too hard in the city.” Zenitsu admonishes with a squinted eye. “She was crying on my shrine as she prayed you know?! How cruel!! Making such a pretty girl cry!!”
Tanjirou frowns at the thought of Nezuko crying. “Nezuko…” It seems that he’s really troubled her.
“Yeah!!” The blonde doesn’t even bother comforting him, instead standing up from his seat and asserting dominance. “So I’ll be taking care of you from now on!!”
Taking care? Is he planning to live here? “Me?” He’s flattered that the blonde wants to help, but if he’s going to have to live here, that means he’d have to work twice as hard for the additional expenses another living being has to cover. “Zenitsu, you don’t need to--”
Zenitsu turns his head with a huff, ignoring him. “Yes I do!! For your sister’s sake!!”
Tanjirou doesn’t really get another word in as the blonde urges him to continue eating with a swish of his tail. “First we need to fix your sleeping schedule.” He states, motioning to the bed. “So finish that up quick and go to sleep!!”
“Isn’t it bad to sleep right after a meal--”
“Sleep!!”
Tanjirou ends up being nursed to bed by surprisingly soft caresses through his hair, a contrast from the fox’s abrasive personality he’s seen so far.
There’s a weight on his stomach when he wakes up to gentle shaking.
“Good morning!!” The voice that shouts in his ear isn’t gentle though, and he wakes up in a start.
He finds Zenitsu nonchalantly looming over him, situated on his middle and his long hair falling over his shoulders.
“Ze-Zenitsu?!” Tanjirou croaks out, flabbergasted to wake up to such a sight early in the morning. “It’s six am in the morning why did you--”
The blonde jumps off him and pulls him up, “You’re eating breakfast before you go, that’s what!!” He tugs the redhead forcefully out of bed and onto the table, where there’s a new bout of delicious dishes waiting for him. “I’ve already ironed out your clothes for you and got your bath ready, so chop chop!!”
Tanjirou, still in the middle of waking up from his sleep, complies like a ragdoll and repeatedly shoves rice into his mouth mechanically. The sound of Zenitsu pattering around the house as he does comforts him, it’s like he’s back at home with Nezuko with nothing to worry about.
When Zenitsu comes back from hanging the laundry, he finds a teary eyed Tanjirou finishing up the rest of his rice. He pushes him to the bathroom not before wiping his tears away and reassuring him that he’ll be able to visit his little sister soon.
After a short shower and a quick grooming session from Zenitsu, he’s ready to go to work with enough time to spare.
“Hey!! Aren’t you forgetting something?!” Zenitsu calls when Tanjirou’s about to open the door. “After all I’ve done for you?!”
Confused, Tanjirou can only stare at him. “I’ll--” Oh, his manners. “I’ll be going now?”
Zenitsu huffs proudly, satisfied. “Take care!”
Tanjirou leaves feeling a little lighter than he usually would, having someone to say goodbye to made him feel all warm inside.
“I’m back.” Tanjirou rasps when he comes home, feeling heavy as usual. Despite the lightness he feels after he leaves the house, work is still troublesome as ever.
Zenitsu notices and takes the lead in slipping his suit jacket off, at the same time levitating his suitcase somewhere into his room. “Welcome back.” He mutters in a soft voice, afraid to trouble Tanjirou more with noise. “We have meat stew tonight, go and eat your fill.”
Tanjirou nods apathetically, sitting down on the table and almost inhaling the food in front of him. When he finishes, he immediately goes to the bathroom for a shower and a soak, not waiting for Zenitsu to scold him into doing so.
He doesn’t expect Zenitsu suddenly barging in, but he’s too tired to react properly when the blonde takes a stool to sit behind him. “Zenitsu?”
“You clearly look like you’re about to pass out,” He says, rolling up his sleeves and lathering both his hands with shampoo. “I’ll help you wash your back and your hair!!”
Tanjirou hums when he feels the blonde’s hands on his hair. “You’re really nice, Zenitsu.” He mutters, almost sleeping right then and there, Zenitsu’s hands giving his scalp a little scratch here and there keeping him awake. “You’re doing all of this for a stranger like me.”
“I’m only doing this for Nezuko!!” Tanjirou can hear the embarrassment in the fox’s voice.
His chuckles earn him one bucket full of water over his head.
After spending a good minute in the baths, Tanjirou comes out to find Zenitsu fluffing up the pillows on his bed.
He’s suddenly reminded that he’s been such a bad host to the fox god that has decided to visit him, “Where did you sleep last night, Zenitsu?”
“Over at the sofa?” Zenitsu replies, oblivious to the heart attack his reply gives Tanjirou.
“I have extra futons!!” The redhead screams, scrambling through his closet. He can’t just let the guy who’s basically helping him keep his life in order just sleep on some dingy sofa!!
Zenitsu, confused on his fussing, slips off the bed once the pillows are looking plumped and ready to be slept on. “I’ll be fine, Tanjirou. I don’t need a futon.”
“No, I’ll be the one taking the futon!!” Tanjirou declares, dumping the white roll on the floor with a grunt.
Zenitsu doesn’t take kindly to his decision and scrambles to pick the futon back up, “Are you stupid?! You own this place, why would you sleep on the floor?!”
“So you can sleep on the bed!!” Tanjirou reasons, flailing his arms around to hopefully help emphasize his point. “Zenitsu, with your age, your back is--”
Zenitsu bristles, his tail fluffing up at the accusation of being old. “I’m not that old!!” He huffs and kicks the rolled futon softly with a socked foot. “And I’m perfectly capable of adapting to my surroundings!! I don’t need the bed!!”
“Then!!” Tanjirou, in an attempt to reach a compromise, screams out his next offer. “We’re sleeping on the bed together!!”
Pretty red fills the blonde's cheeks again as he gapes at him, “Wha--What makes you think I’ll even agree to that?!”
Zenitsu ends up agreeing to it.
Tanjirou, fully exploiting how stubborn he can be, successfully annoyed Zenitsu to sleep with him on the bed. If the blonde can get a free pass on waking him up so early, then he gets a free pass on pulling the fox in the bed to sleep with him.
The redhead blinks in thought. It could be worded in a better way.
Nevertheless, they’re on the bed now, with Tanjirou enjoying the sight of an otherwise unworldly being sleeping on his bed. He’s never really gotten the chance to take his time and actually observe Zenitsu, usually because he’s either too sleepy from waking up or too tired from work.
In this moment he can appreciate watching his eyelashes flutter, and even feel through the strands of his hair. He didn’t know if all the shrine gods were this pretty, but he can say with confidence that Zenitsu’s the prettiest being he’d ever seen.
“What are you staring at?”
Tanjirou blinks, watching the blonde’s eyes flit open.
“Oh. You’re still awake?” Zenitsu balks at his question, pulling himself up slightly to glare down at him.
“Of course I am!! I can’t sleep with you examining me like I’m some sort of rare animal!!”
“But you are technically an anima--”
Zenitsu plops back down at pulls the blanket over Tanjirou.
“Sleep!!”
Tanjirou obeys with a small smile, pulling down the blanket to his shoulders.
Tanjirou opens his eyes and he’s in the forest, reliving a memory of him lost and searching for his mom.
With a stick in his feeble little hand, he runs through the dirt path, screaming aimlessly for his mother to come pick him up. He didn’t mean to stray off the path, he just got distracted by a pretty flower he wanted to give to his mom.
But when he turned around, his mom was gone.
Suddenly, he bumps into a figure in front of him, hitting something soft before staggering backwards in confusion.
He’s met with golden eyes and a golden blonde hair, the beauty enough to mesmerize him on the spot.
The fox man doesn’t seem like he enjoys being stared at, as he shrinks on himself with a scowl. “What are you doing over here?!” The blonde hisses, waving for him to go away. “Go back home!!”
Tanjirou, suddenly remembering that he doesn’t know where home is, breaks down crying. “I got lost!!” He whimpers through tears, “I don’t know where mom is and I--”
“St-Stop that!!” The fox man in front of him flinches and looks around frantically, trying to find something to calm him down. Tanjirou’s cries grow louder the more he’s ignored.
The blonde, at a loss for what to do, waves his tail in front of the young boy, dangling it above him teasingly. “Lo-Look!! Follow the fluffy tail!!”
And Tanjirou does, eyes stuck to the golden fur as it shimmered in the sunset lights. The man leads him down the path, and Tanjirou knows he shouldn’t follow strangers, but with the utter feeling of warmness and safety the man gives off he just can’t help but follow.
He doesn’t know how long he follows, but the next thing he knows, he’s in front of his mother who’s waiting with open arms. “Tanjirou!" She exclaims in relief.
“Mama!!” Tanjirou tearfully dives in her embrace, sniffling softly. She shushes him with a familiar song, cradling him in her arms gently.
“Next time, don’t wander so far, okay?” She warns as she pulls away, giving his plump cheeks a little squeeze. Tanjirou nods and rushes back into her hold, nuzzling her shoulder.
A sudden guts of wind forces him to open his eyes, and before him stands a lone fox statue, battered and worn with age, but the scarf on its neck remains ever yellow.
Tail.
Is the fleeting thought Tanjirou has when he wakes up from his dreams.
Tanjirou knows that the vision he had seen in the dream was important. It meant Zenitsu wasn’t a stranger at all, that in fact, he’s been there watching their family for years now, probably. But along with the epiphany he got from the dream, he remembers wanting to touch the blonde’s tail so much that he’d use their poor old house cat as a substitute; always face planting into it, getting him scratches on the face.
So his mission for today, touch Zenitsu’s tail.
Much to his dismay, Tanjirou wakes up to an empty bed. He'll tell the blonde later that he's welcome to spend waking moments with him on a Sunday. So he ventures out the bedroom, finding Zenitsu already working on breakfast, humming softly to himself as he stirred something in the pot.
Tanjirou approaches with steady steps, determined. “Zenitsu!! Please let me touch your tail!!”
As expected, Zenitsu startles at the question, looking up at him in shock. “Wh-What?!” He squeaks, stepping back from the redhead in worry.
Tanjirou holds gazes with him and Zenitsu's ear twitch in unease. “That’s, is this some weird kink I didn’t know about?” Zenitsu mutters to himself, looking away in thought.
“Please!!” The curiosity is killing him!! Will it be as soft as their old cat’s? Or will it feel even softer?! “I promise to sleep a full eight hours if you let me touch it!!” Tanjirou wagers, almost getting down and kneeling on the floor.
Zenitsu only stares at him, vaguely unsettled, but decides to swing his tail towards him anyway while looking exasperated. Tanjirou immediately goes to grab it with both hands, and he’s rewarded with a feeling he’s never known before. It’s extraordinarily fluffy!! Tanjirou screams in his mind as pats and squeezes at the fur. He feels his childhood desires satisfied by the time he’s done groping around the tail.
Zenitsu on the other hand, has stopped his cooking in favor of clinging onto the counter, red-faced and trembling slightly. Tanjirou immediately let’s go, worried he might have overstepped boundaries.
“Sorry, is it ticklish?”
Zenitsu only replies with a kick to the shin, and a loud hiss, “Take a shower!! I’ll prepare your dinner for you!!”
Tanjirou obeys with a grin on his face, both from having his one of his childhood mysteries solved and from seeing Zenitsu’s flustered face.
“Zenitsu?” They’re eating dinner together when Tanjirou remembers another significant thought his dream had brought him. Zenitsu only acknowledges him with a small nod, focused on removing the bones from his fish.
“I’m glad to have met you again.” He says to the blonde, remembering the times he’d go out to the woods just to find that statue again and offering it food. “Don’t let me stray too far again, okay?”
“Of course I will, for Nezuko!!” Zenitsu always makes it a point to remind him, at this point Tanjirou thinks it’s a running gag of theirs. “You worry her too much so now I’m here to make sure she’s not crying herself to sleep!!”
Tanjirou beams at him, taking another bite of Zenitsu’s delicious cooking. “Thank you for that too.”
“Big brother?” Nezuko asks again one night as he’s on his way home.
Tanjirou hums as he makes his way up the apartment’s stairs, wondering what she has to say.
“You sound happier these days.” Her voice sounds happier too. Tanjirou makes sure to keep her happy, lest Zenitsu would bury him alive.
He chuckles into the receiver as he opens the door to his block, already knowing it’s not locked. “Yeah. It’s all thanks to you, Nezuko.”
“Ah.” She giggles. “Did my wish come true?”
It’s at that moment that Zenitsu chooses to show up, blinking up at him curiously as he held a bundle of laundry in his hands. He mouths a greeting to Tanjirou, not wanting to disturb the redhead with his call.
Tanjirou smiles at him, and replies back to Nezuko with just as much warmth as he feels right now. “Yeah. Mine did too.”