Chapter Text
The can of hot chocolate drops down the bottom of the vending machine with an ugly clunk. Muichiro tries his best not to appear too annoyed when he picks it up and hands it over to Nezuko, but there’s a smug glint in her eyes as she takes it from him with a polite thank you.
Yeah, she’s enjoying this too much, he grumbles to himself as she opens up the can with a sharp nail. No-one should be this thrilled drinking icky vending machine chocolate, especially not someone who cooks a lot of sweets for their family business. Yet here she is, even giving a delightful squeak after her first long victory sip.
“Don’t look so angry,” she tells him, sharp teeth glinting with her smile. “You don’t have to make those bets with me, you know. I don’t think you’ll ever win.”
“Whatever. I’m not done messing with you yet.”
She hums. “I guess I’m getting a free drink everyday until the end of the term. Thanks, Mui!”
He blows a raspberry in her direction, and she returns it with much enthusiasm.
Those ‘bets’ aren’t even supposed to be bets in the first place. If Tanjiro, Yuichiro, and Senjuro didn’t get on his case about it, he wouldn’t owe Nezuko anything for trying to mess with her. But after his first couple of attempts, those guys came up with this system to hold him accountable for his mischief.
So far, his plots to fool Nezuko into thinking that he’s Yuichiro have failed spectacularly. He’s done this scheme to other people for the past years, fooling his classmates and teachers and neighbors who don’t know any better. One time he even managed to fool Senjuro into thinking that he was Yui, so that he ended up getting two shares of the coveted extra sweet potatoes that his older brother Kyojuro makes specifically for his friends. Senjuro always felt a little ashamed for that, and Yui never quite forgave him for that incident either.
But Nezuko--Little Miss Sunshine Kamado Nezuko, who transferred to their school just last semester--has never gotten the twins confused, not even once. And he doesn’t know how she does it.
It’s not from a lack of trying. Being the one person in the world who knows Yuichiro the best, he also knows how to talk, walk, and look as perpetually constipated as his older brother does. After his first failed attempt, Muichiro took to studying even more of Yuichiro’s subtle mannerisms, mimicking the way he scowled whenever someone did better than him at anything.
But Nezuko always sees through his act, staring at him oddly and immediately saying things like, “Are you feeling okay, Mui? You’re acting weird again” while the rest of their classmates sputter stupidly about how could you get them wrong, Nezuko-chan, obviously you’re talking to Yuichiro, the nicer one of the Tokito Twins!
Even so--even when Muichiro would blink innocently and tell her that she indeed got the wrong twin--she’d laugh it off and tell him calmly that of course not, you’re Mui, it’s so obvious that it’s you. And before the deception can be salvaged, Yuichiro would manifest from the back like the Creature from the Mists to confirm just how the little minx got it right, as always.
For today, he failed as usual. She didn’t bite when he tried to collect Nezuko’s math homework as Yuichiro. And then the giggling Senjuro reminded him to kindly buy another drink for Nezuko after school, so there he was, begrudgingly watching her drink another fraction of his allowance away.
His friends may be blabbermouths who enjoyed seeing Muichiro lose, but Nezuko is worse because she's a weirdo. And it’s not just ‘cause she knows too much about him either, it’s everything else about her too. Her sharp teeth, her stumpy legs, her crazy hair with carrot tips. The weird baguette that’s always in her mouth when she doesn’t need to talk. The unnatural sparkle around her that makes it hard to stare at her directly whenever he and Yuichiro run into her on the way to school. Her big eyes the color of candy that makes her look like a demon sometimes.
And the sound of her laugh. Her voice is about as average as her grades, but he hears that sound clearly even in the most crowded of hallways. Something about the tinkling sound of it catches at the edge of his mind and makes him feel itchy.
She stretches her hand out. “Here. Have some.”
At the suspicious look in his eyes, she rolls hers. “I didn’t spit in it, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not as gross as you.”
“Yuck. You’re such a weirdo, Nezuko.”
He hesitates seeing Nezuko’s offering, knowing full well that her mouth has touched the same thing. It's gross, but t hen again, only babies fret about drinking from the same can, and germophobes.
Muichiro isn’t either of those, so he takes one big gulp.
The chocolate isn’t as warm or sweet enough to make his cheeks feel warm, but all the same they kinda start tingling when he mutters his thanks and hands the can back to Nezuko. She smiles, calmly takes another sip like it wasn't gross.
“Move your radish legs a little faster, won’t you? Tanjiro’ll kill me if you get home late.”
She gives an offended humph at his remark, but also smiles slyly. “He’s already going to kill you, since we had that indirect kiss and all.”
“Yuck. I’d rather kiss a rat. I'm gonna throw up.”
That laugh again. It makes his head ache and his stomach hurt and he kind of really wants to throw up, but he chortles instead. He had asked Yuichiro one time if he needed to go see Kanae about it. Did Nezuko have a virus? Because he always has this urge to bother her, even though it should be boring by now. Even though she never seems bothered by anything he does.
Yuichiro told him simply that he was an idiot.
“You know, you don’t have to make those bets with me, Mui.”
He blinks out of a reverie, and finds himself standing right next to Nezuko at an intersection. The pink ribbon in her head flutters along with the wind.
“I’m just saying. You don’t have to mess with me to hang out with me,” she says with a puff of her cheeks. “I think this is okay.”
The colors of her hair and her eyes are just like the sunset, he thinks idly. Her cheeks too, although the pink on them might be the sun staining her skin.
“What are you talking about?”
She shrugs. “Nothing. I said you were stupid. Let’s go home.”
Stupid , Muichiro thinks, as she walks ahead of him, stumpy legs stomping ahead and suddenly too shy to look back. He isn’t sure if he’s imagining it, but the tips of her ears are as pink as her ribbon. He can almost feel the burn of them over his own ears, across his cheeks, making his heart race.
All this just from walking this girl home. Haha. Maybe he was stupid.
All the same, he absolutely has to mess with her anyway. She might not always allow that to happen, but Muichiro is nothing but patient. He can power through these weird, gross afternoons of buying Nezuko cheap vending machine goods and seeing the brightness of her eyes up close, if it meant that one day he can look at her straight in the eyes and say, I finally got you.
That is... if Tanjiro doesn’t kill him first.