Chapter Text
"Tanjirooo" wailed Zenitsu who was dragging his feet and letting his arms hang in front of him, swaying as he walks. They had been walking for the whole day with only short stops as they head to their next mission which was in a small village which was going to take them days to get to. The mission, according to Tanjiro's crow, was to slay a demon that apparently shows up once every year at the same date to steal someone in the village, only to disappear for another year. The date just so happened to be next week which meant they had to get there quickly.
"What's the matter Zenitsu?" Tanjiro asked kindly.
"I'm so tired Tanjiro. And my feet hurt. Look! It's almost night time." Zenitsu points to the fading sun which cast a golden glow on the small group. Tanjiro turns around to look but stops and looks at Zenitsu without saying anything. "Tanjiro? Are you ok?" he asked. He has noticed that Tanjiro can do that sometimes, get distracted and stare at Zenitsu and Inosuke for a while.
"Huh?" Tanjiro blinks a couple times before smiling and saying "Oh! I'm fine, sorry I got distracted for a second." He seems to remember what Zenitsu was talking about and shakes himself out of daze "Yeah it is getting pretty late, we should probably find a campground."
"What the fuck are you two doing!?" Suddenly shouted Inosuke who was far ahead of the two as he was trying to prove earlier that he was the fastest and therefore the leader. "Can't you two keep up or are you that weak!" Even from the distance, Zenitsu can hear him chuckling to himself. Inosuke finally comes over to see what they're doing and Tanjiro says "It's getting dark so we need to find a safe place to sleep." Inosuke makes a noise of confusion and no doubt a face as well but is hidden from his boar mask. "Why can't we just sleep here? Hashabira Inosuke can sleep anywhere! HAHAHA."
Tanjiro nods understandably, "But we have to find a safe place to sleep or else one of us could get hurt. And the leader should always make sure that everyone stays safe, Inosuke." This gives Inosuke pause as he thinks about what Tanjiro said and finally he huffs, steam puffing out of the boars nostrils. "Safe? I can keep any of my followers safe! Just you wait i'll be back after I find us the safest part of the forest!" he yells, already running off with a cloud of dust left behind him.
"how do you do that?" Zenitsu asks in awe of Tanjiro's way of getting Inosuke to cooperate.
"Hm? Do what?" Tanjiro asks, genuinely confused.
"Ah nothin." Zenitsu mumbles, taken aback from Tanjiro's obliviousness of his way around the beastly boy.
They both sat down for maybe 20 minutes while waiting for Inosuke to finish doing whatever he was doing. Zenitsu sat close to Tanjiro as it was getting dark and scary because he couldn’t see if anything was around him and kept hearing creaks and cracks throughout the forest which could be demons or even wild animals it could really be anything and he was going to die out here! Suddenly Zenitsu is drawn out of his spiraling thoughts by an arm thrown over his shoulders drawing him in close. He jumped and turned around to Tanjiro who said “It’s alright Zenitsu, there’s nothing to worry about.” he ended with a smile. It actually did calm him down a little bit from the reassurance in Tanjiro’s voice.
Suddenly he realises how close they are and he can’t look away from the red head’s eyes. He has really pretty eyes, he thought.
“HEY!” Tanjiro and Zenitsu both jolt and turn around to see Inosuke standing over them looking triumphant. “I found a den for us! So hurry up, it’s more difficult to keep you safe at night.” He says holding out his dual swords while looking around on alert. Wow he really must have taken what Tanjiro said very seriously, Zenitsu thought as he got up from the ground dusting himself off. “Come on, I’ll lead.” He declares before leading them through a long winding path.
It was pretty dark at that point and Zenitsu kept tripping over loose branches and rocks, but every time before he could face-plant, Tanjiro who was walking behind him would quickly right Zenitsu by grabbing his arms or waist. “I’ve got you, clumsy.” he giggled after stabilising Zenitsu for maybe the fifth time. “Th-thankyou” he stuttered back with a red face. Thank god it was dark or else they might have seen him blushing. “We’re nearly there, try not to die would you.” Inosuke grumbled even though he would twitch every time Zenitsu tripped, like he was holding back from grabbing Zenitsu himself.
They finally made it to a clearing which already had a fire pit dug out with sticks that Inosuke had already gathered thrown on. They were standing at the base of a small cliff where the trees made a sort of semi-circle around the mouth of a cave that went into the cliff. It was a perfect place for them to stay the night, they didn’t have to watch their backs from every direction and the trees left the area shaded and secluded from the forest. Zenitsu could hear a stream not far away which would be perfect for them to bathe the next day adn to fill up their water pouches.
“Wow! This is the best Inosuke! You’ve found the best spot to stay for us. Thank you!” Tanjiro exclaims looking around, clearly pleased with the boars skills of survival in the wilderness. Inosuke hearing the compliments put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out with a happy grunt making Zenitsu smile and say “Yeah, even I feel safer here, thanks Inosuke.”
Soon they had lit the fire and had eaten some of their packed food, even Nezuko came and sat with them for a while and Tanjiro brushed her hair before she decided she was going back to sleep in her box. He’s so caring Zenitsu thought watching Tanjiro interact with his sister.
Suddenly food was shoved into Zenitsu’s face blocking his view. “Here!” Inosuke yelled, “You haven’t eaten enough tonight, if you do not eat enough you will become weak and die.” Zenitsu, wide-eyed, carefully took the rice ball from Inosuke, oddly touched at his thought of him. Although Inosuke makes fun of Zenitsu for being weak, he does care for him in his weird wild way, like how a pack would look after each other. Zenitsu thanked him and kept eating, all the while Tanjiro sat across from them, watching with a smile on his face from the two’s interactions.
Zenitsu suddenly yawned, only now remembering just how tired he was from the grewling hours of walking they had done during the day. Zenitsu started to lie down on the gorund when Inosuke springs up and asks “What are you doing?” while pointing down at the blonde boy. “Uh going to sleep?” he replies confused. Inosuke had removed his boar mask earlier while eating dinner so they, for once, can actually see the confusion on his face when he says “But I made us a den” he indicates towards the cave “for us to sleep in.”
Zenitsu looks towards Tanjiro who looks as surprised as Zenitsu feels. “A den? You made us a den?” Tanjiro quietly asks. “Yes! A den. Are you two going deaf? I guess I must speak louder” before either of them could stop Inosuke starts shouting “I MADE US A DEN TO KEEP YOU GUYS SAFE WHILE WE SLEEP!” The two jolted “Inosuke! Stop! We can hear you fine, ok i’ll go to the den, ok?” Zenitsu says while covering his sensitive ears and starts getting up to head over to the apparent den Inosuke made for their safety which he has now made his top priority. Tanjiro chuckles to himself at Inosuke’s antics and starts heading over to the den as well.
Inosuke heards them over and Zenitsu crawls in through the small opening to the bigger inside where he can stand up. His shoes are no longer scraping the stones of the cave and he curiously looks down to see piles and grass and flax covering most of the floor. Wow, Inosuke must have picked all of this and made a bed for us to sleep on Zenitsu thought, once again struck hard by Inosuke’s consideration of them. Tanjiro made it inside and gently places Nezuko’s box with her inside down on the floor. Something must have switched in Inosuke’s mind as he suddenly decided he wanted the other two down in the nest he created. He grabbed Tanjiro’s arm directing him to the left side of the nest and gruffly said “lie down.” and then walking behind Zenitsu and pushing him forward by his shoulders until he was in the middle, next to Tanjiro. Zenitsu could feel Inosuke start to push him down to the floor by his shoulders and didn’t resist it and went down, albeit a little confused as to what Inosuke wanted.
Inosuke then came to lie down on the other side of Zenitsu. Zenitsu shrugged and lay down and suddenly realised he was in between Inosuke and Tanjiro. Inosuke placed his boar head and swords down while Tanjiro and Zenitsu did the same as sleeping with swords on was very uncomfortable. Zenitsu lay down on his side and realised he was facing Tanjiro who was looking at him. Zenitsu shivered and Tanjiro saw and concernedly asked “Are you cold? Here” before wrapping his right arm around Zenitsu’s shoulders pulling him towards Tanjiro’s chest where he placed his chin on top of Zenitsu’s head. Zenitsu was frozen, shocked and of course blushing like mad at the gesture.
Suddenly behind Zenitsu he felt Inosuke shuffling forward until his bare chest was pressed up against Zenitu’s back with his left arm slung over his hip. Zenitsu could feel Inosuke snuffling the back of his neck causing him to squeak and give him goosebumps all over and to shiver once more. What is happening right now?! Zenitsu thought panicked to himself while sandwiched between his two closest friends. Both Tanjiro and Inosuke both seemed content in their positions as they were both protecting Zenitsu from both sides. This is actually pretty comfy he thought to himself and started drifting off to sleep and for once not afraid.