Work Text:
Zenitsu didn’t know why he was roped into teaching Inosuke. Sure he had some formal schooling but surely Kanao was a better choice for this? Or even Shinobu? Why did he have to be the one to teach the stupid pig how to read?? Even Tanjirou —who learned practically everything from his dad— would’ve done a better job!
They had to start from the very basics as Inosuke didn’t even know how to hold a pencil. Kanji was far too complicated for him so Zenitsu stuck to hiragana.
“You’re not doing it right! You haven’t at all bothered to copy any of the letters I’ve told you to do!” Zenitsu said as he inspected the paper in despair. Inosuke’s handwriting was atrocious . It was worse than a five-year-old child’s attempt. Really, wasn’t this a lost cause?
Inosuke just growled in frustration. They had been at it for an hour now, and Inosuke’s writing hadn’t improved in the slightest. Zenitsu bit back a sigh. A part of his mind went back to his Gramps and how often the man would get mad at him for making mistakes. The feelings of being a failure were carved into his mind deeply—he couldn’t get any Thunder breathing form past the first one down. He loved his Gramps, he really did but Zenitsu wished that the old man would’ve been a bit kinder.
Couldn’t he be like that for Inosuke? Then again, teaching wasn’t at all Zenitsu’s forte (really, what was?). He didn’t want to be responsible for Inosuke’s learning. It was too much pressure!
“The letters look…..squiggly.” Inosuke muttered out.
Zenitsu blinked. “But, they’re supposed to?”
“No! The writing….they move!”
“I-” Zenitsu stared at the paper, trying to see what Inosuke was seeing. “The letters move?”
“Yes!” Inosuke’s voice made Zenitsu jump.
“What do you mean?”
“They move! They slide off the paper!”
“You’re making this up.” Zenitsu snorted.
“No, I’m not. The letters move.”
Did he have problems with his eyesight? Maybe that was the issue. If that was the case, then Zenitsu couldn’t really blame him for struggling with the words. But, Shinobu told him to teach Inosuke, and he couldn’t very disobey her now, could he? (He totally could, if Inosuke would give up!)
“I-I still have to teach you.” Zenitsu said and moved to give the paper back. The boy was looking strangely dejected. Then again, was it that strange? Inosuke had been down after his fight with the spiders as he had been unable to kill any demons at that time. It had been a huge blow to his ego but he had learned from it.
Inosuke kept staring at his paper, as though he was willing it to make sense. Zenitsu knew that feeling all too well. Gramps had taught him everything he knew and it would be hard to understand at times. One of his weakest subjects was math, mostly because the old man didn’t know how to properly teach him—he was rather weak in the subject himself.
Zenitsu shifted uncomfortably in his place. “M-maybe, we could just leave it for now?”
“What? Do you think that I can’t learn it??” And of course, suggesting to give up would set Inosuke off. It wasn’t his intention at all! Motivating him to study harder wouldn’t help if he was struggling with the basics! Inosuke needed a better teacher first. Maybe someone like...
“Wouldn’t you rather learn from Tanjirou or Shinobu-san?? They’re more patient than me!”
“No! I can do it! Do you think I can’t??”
“I didn’t say that, idiot!”
“You called me an idiot!”
“Because, you’re putting words into my mouth! I give up all the time, anyway. It’s really not that important to learn if we wanna fight demons.” Zenitsu could think of a few instances when it would be useful but couldn’t they send someone else in place of that?
“But you know how to do it….” Inosuke muttered under his breath. Of course, Zenitsu caught all of that. Was he feeling jealous or something? Maybe he felt left behind? Or maybe…..maybe he felt as though he was losing against Zenitsu?
It never felt good to lose—something a loser like Zenitsu could empathize with. He sighed as he racked his brains as to what he could do. He felt guilty about abandoning Inosuke. They barely made any progress but he had been trying hard! “Maybe...I could read to you? I have to teach you about history and stuff anyway.”
This piqued Inosuke’s interest. “You’ll read to me?”
“That’s what I just sa-”
“Like a subject reads to his king!”
Zenitsu sighed as he reached for a book. Talking Inosuke out of one of his moods was a pain so it was best to just go along with him. “Sure, whatever. Now sit down and listen, okay?!”
Inosuke complied. He flung himself onto the ground, and lay there, all sprawled out. His confidence in his body could not be mistaken. Everything Inosuke did—eating, fighting, even sleeping—had a feral, unrestrained self-assurance to it. He only appeared to be insecure in rare moments when his skills were completely thrown off balance,just as he had with writing and reading.
In some ways, he was the utter and total opposite of Zenitsu. Zenitsu, who was a coward (at best), had enough knowledge to get through life, but that itself didn’t feel like much of an accomplishment. It felt weird (wrong?) to be proud of something like knowing how to read. After all, it was as basic as breathing, wasn’t it? But knowing that Inosuke struggled with something that Zenitsu was good at—it didn’t feel like a victory.
Maybe he just wasn’t the competitive type. (He wasn’t. Competition had never crossed his mind with Kaigaku, so why would it now?) Having something over Inosuke just reminded Zenitsu that he had it better than others. He had been lucky to grow up in a house where he had been taught how to read and fight. Inosuke had to learn all of that on his own. And yet! Still, he whined about himself…
The blonde sighed as he flipped through the pages of the history textbook. All this self-pity was starting to annoy even him. Inosuke was still in front of him, stretching in a way that looked insanely painful. “Okay, well let’s start with the Meiji period since it wasn’t that long ago.”
Zenitsu began reading from the textbook, trying not to be bored by his own words. He could feel Inosuke’s eyes trained on him. His heartbeat was slowing down, but not so much that the other was falling asleep—something Zenitsu wouldn’t condone if he were to do that. This textbook was boring! Why was Inosuke watching him so intently? He wasn’t that interesting!
He sighed as he looked up, Inosuke’s green eyes seemingly drilling a hole into his head. (For once, he wasn’t wearing his boar head—mostly because Zenitsu insisted on it if they were to work right next to each other. He didn’t want to smell the old boar carcass while he was trying to teach the idiot how to read!)
“What are you so interested in!” It was less of a question and more of a statement. Zenitsu had no idea what Inosuke found riveting. Part of him was freaked out because he sounded...fond? No, that couldn’t be right. There was no way in hell that Inosuke was endeared by his reading. His voice was annoying, after all. (Many people had told him before)
“You.”
The simple statement knocked the wind out of Zenitsu. He buried his face in the book as he tried to process his emotions. Inosuke’s heartbeat was shifting and the blonde couldn’t read it.
“Wh-what’s that supposed to mean??”
“I’m listening to you. You told me to listen.”
“You never listen! That’s why...that’s why I’m shocked.”
Inosuke shrugged, as though he, himself, didn’t have an answer to why he was so attentive all of a sudden. “S’nice. Your voice.”
“Huh?! Have you gone deaf?! My voice is not nice!” Zenitsu exclaimed, caught off guard by the…..compliment? (Since when did Inosuke give compliments??)
“I’m not deaf! Stupid Monitsu doesn’t know anything….” Inosuke grumbled to himself. Zentisu had no idea what had upset him this time.
“W-why are you mad?” Oh, goddammit, he stuttered! Why was he so suddenly nervous?? It was just Inosuke….(then again, Inosuke’s screaming always put him on edge. But this was different, somehow.)
“You don’t understand anything. For someone so smart, you sure are stupid.”
Zenitsu just stared. “Smart?! I’m not smart! Maybe to an idiot like you, I am.” As soon as he said those words, he regretted it. Why was he so incapable of taking a compliment! But, wait, this was more of an insult, so maybe his comment was fine?? (He still felt guilty.)
“I’m good at other things! I can collect lots of acorns. More than you!”
“Then why don’t you go do that instead!” If Inosuke left on his own accord, maybe he didn’t have to teach the stupid pig-head.
“No. Keep reading to me.”
“Why do you want to hear me read so badly? Isn’t it boring you?” Truthfully, the blonde expected Inosuke to bail a lot sooner than this. He never had any interest in learning boring any of this.
“.....your voice is good.”
“You’re lying.” Zenitsu wasn’t sure why he was so convinced Inosuke was pulling his leg, truthfully. The faintest idea that….that he…..he liked—
Don’t get ahead of yourself, idiot! He doesn’t mean anything by it!
“I’m not lying! I never lie!” Inosuke was obviously annoyed by his accusation but it was such a dumb thing to get mad about! What was he supposed to do….accept the compliment??
“Okay! Okay!” Zenitsu cried out. He really didn’t want to argue about something so inane. What was it about Inosuke that set him off like this? “You’re not lying! My voice is-is…good.”
What on earth did that even mean??
“I’m right. Duh.” Inosuke said, shifting back into a more comfortable position.
Zenitsu just rolled his eyes and stared back at the boring page. He sighed. Fine, he’d keep at this stupid task. He didn’t want to push Inosuke into studying more but he also didn’t want to incur the wrath of Shinobu. Demon slayers didn’t have to know how to read, did they? All they had to do was cut down the demons. (A part of Zenitsu wondered what would happen after the demons were all gone but that idea felt too hopeful and unrealistic. Maybe, if that day ever came, he’d properly teach Inosuke how to read).
“Read! Read some more!” Inosuke demanded. Couldn’t he ask for anything nicely?
“Fine, fine.” Zenitsu sighed as he went back to the book. The facts were boring and they made Zenitsu slowly drift off. Even as he read the words aloud, none of the information was sticking at all. It was probably worse for Inosuke as he had no formal instruction or instruction at all. How did he learn how to fight so well? Was it innate talent? But no, Inosuke was a hard worker too. And he was so strong with such a pretty face and the nicest lips….
These thoughts swirled around Zenitsu’s head as his eyelids began to droop, bit by bit. He was being lulled to sleep, by the boring words on the page. Inosuke’s eyes were still on him and his heartbeat sounded strangely….fond?? He felt rough hands come touch his hair, rustling it. Zenitsu’s last thought before he slumped over the textbook was ‘is that sound for me?’
Shinobu laughed softly as Aoi nervously hovered behind her. They were looking into the room where Inosuke and Zenitsu were “studying.” She hadn’t had too many expectations for this endeavour—she had simply done it because it felt like Inosuke needed a bit more of a push. It wasn’t easy to explain why learning to read was important, but perhaps… perhaps if he had a chance to impress his crush, then maybe he’d be more motivated to study.
And she was right!
In the room, Zenitsu lay on the ground, the textbook a makeshift pillow. Inosuke was at the desk, hard at work. All he needed was the right push!