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When Tanjiro stopped him after the final class bell with an urgent request to go to the Kamado family bakery after school, this… certainly wasn’t what Genya expected.
“You want me to taste test your new sweet?”
Tanjiro nodded his head with vigorous enthusiasm, donning his baker’s apron. “Everyone knows you have the best taste buds in town, so it’s perfect.”
Genya found himself blushing at the compliment as his mouth curled into a smile. “I- uh, well. Okay, sure. So, what is it?”
Tanjiro grinned. “That’s a secret. Besides, I still need to bake it.”
The smile fell from Genya’s face in an instant. “You mean you haven’t made it yet.”
Tanjiro shook his head.
“Then why did you call me here?” Genya snapped. “I skipped shooting practice! For this!”
“It will be worth it! Trust me!” Tanjiro called, already heading for the back room. “This will take an hour, tops!”
“Tanjiro, wait-”
“Make yourself comfortable,” Tanjiro said, peeking his head out. “Mom will be back from picking up our little siblings soon, and we pretty much all do our homework here. Just pick a table.”
Genya grumbled, slinging his backpack down at the nearest table. The bakery was closed until 3:30, when Kie was due to return with the youngest Kamado children. With fifteen minutes to kill, Genya slowly took out the day’s math assignment. He glared at the textbook, as if he could disintegrate with his eyes alone. Math was… scary, the fact that the subject was taught by his rather emotionally distant older brother not helping things.
Procrastination took hold of him. Math could wait. Genya sighed, taking in the familiar sight of the bakery. It has become a please for him to frequent when he wanted to be away from his brother. The Kamado family was so nice and welcoming, Tanjiro most of all. It almost felt like a second family at times. The walls were a warm orange brown in color, covered in the amateur drawings the younger Kamados made. It created a welcoming, homey feeling; fitting, considering the family lived on the second floor of the building.
Genya sighed again, glancing down at the assignment once more. The numbers didn’t make any sense. It made his head spin.
“Maybe Tanjiro can help me with it once I do his taste test thing,” he thought to himself, setting the math textbook aside with a distasteful groan. History, biology, chemistry. Any subject was better than math.
The bell on the door jingled, indicating that the door opened. As if the clamor of voices calling his name weren’t enough enough of an indicator. Genya turned around to find a wave of children running towards him, Kie closing the door behind her and flipping the sign over to “Open.”
“Hi, Genya!” Shigeru yelled. “Did Tanjiro invite you over?”
“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen,” Genya said. “I’m just doing some homework while I wait.”
“Wait for what?” Suddenly, Shigeru’s face took on a sneaky, knowing look. “Oh, it’s that .”
“It’s what? What is it?”
“Not telling!” Shigeru proclaimed, running up the stairs. Rokuta and Hanako were quick to follow with giggles. Takeo grumbled with a roll of his eyes, murmuring something about his little siblings being “immature” as he sat down at an empty table to do his own homework. Nezuko, still chewing on a loaf of French bread, also took a seat.
“How are you, Genya?” Kie asked, moving towards the counter.
“Fine. Thank you, Mrs. Kamado,” Genya replied.
The Kamados had seemingly become used to Genya taking refuge in their bakery. It was common for the menagerie of Tanjiro’s friends to take control of the entire shop, much to the dismay of the other customers. Though, it looked as though Zenitsu and Inosuke wouldn’t be making an appearance today. If they planned to, they would have been here already. Kanao still had a chance, since she often arrived late due to flower arranging club meetings.
Genya simply worked through the history worksheet Rengoku assigned. Once he finished this, he decided to work on the biology assignment. Procrastinate on math. Chemistry required math, so procrastinate on that, too.
“Why do the two subjects that require math have to be taught by the two scariest teachers?”
He was thankful Tanjiro was good in math, and was more than willing to tutor him. He’d ask his brother… but his patience was so worn thin he couldn’t get through a single problem under his guidance.
A few customers came in, buying the pastries and cookies in the display sills. They exchanged pleasant greetings with Kie. The three children did not mind them and worked on their assignments.
“Maybe I should get some ohagi for ‘Nemi.”
The smell wafting through the bakery was sweet, somewhat fruity. Genya found himself slacking off on the problem set to take in the scent. It was nice…
A finger tapped him on the shoulder. Genya snapped out his daze, looking up. Nezuko was peering at him, the loaf of French bread still in her mouth. She silently pointed to the back kitchen door. Tanjiro was peeking out of it, looking in their direction expectantly.
Trying to look as inconspicuous as he could, Genya gathered up his things and got to his feet, walking over to Tanjiro. He spotted Nezuko give her brother a single thumbs up. That was odd.
“Is it ready?” Genya asked. The sweet scent was much stronger here. He wondered if it was overwhelming for Tanjiro with his unusually strong sense of smell. It couldn’t be that bad, or he must have found some way to deal with it if he could stand being here for hours at a time every day.
“Yeah,” Tanjiro said with a smile. He took Genya by the hand and dragged him to the counter, promptly ignoring the taller boy’s panicked protests at the sudden contact.
“Okay, but you need to close your eyes,” Tanjiro insisted. “I want you to guess what it is.”
Genya wore a perplexed expression, but he complied with Tanjiro’s wishes, letting his eyes flutter close. Now, he was grateful for Tanjiro’s hand - even though he was sure his face was still flushed red - guiding him through the kitchen in complete darkness. Was that part of Tanjiro’s plan?
“And… here we are!” Tanjiro’s voice cut in as they abruptly came to a stop. He let go of Genya’s hand. The sound of something being cut into by a knife reached his ears.
“Okay, open wide, Genya!”
Genya felt something squishy press up against his lips. The texture was a dead giveaway.
“It’s ohagi, isn’t it?”
“Aww, taste it!” Tanjiro insisted, his voice becoming whiny in tone. “Pleeease?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Genya bit into the sweet and chewed. He could feel Tanjiro’s puppy eyes boring into him.
“Yeah, definitely ohagi… topped with sesame seeds, right? The adzuki bean paste tastes a bit different… is there matcha mixed in? That’s matcha, right? So, it’s ohagi with adzuki bean and matcha paste and sesame seeds. There, that’s my guess.”
“Yeah yeah yeah!” Tanjiro said. Even with his eyes closed, Genya could sense the vigorous bobbing of the other boy’s head. “But, what else?”
“What else?” Genya took another nibble. A familiar, sweet taste hit his tongue. “Is that… watermelon drizzle?”
“You got it! You can open your eyes now!”
Genya’s eyes opened to the sight of Tanjiro’s bright eager smile. “Here, look at them,” he proclaimed, holding out a plate. The upper two thirds of the ohagi was shaped with the usual red bean paste, while the bottom third was colored green from the matcha. Sesame seeds decorated the red section. A soft pink paste was swirled over it. A scooped empty green rind sat abandoned on the counter.
“Watermelon ohagi?” Genya asked the obvious. He was smiling to himself. It really was… adorable.
Tanjiro beamed. “What do you think? Good enough to sell?”
“Yeah, it’s perfect,” Genya said. “Still, don’t see why you needed me to taste test it. You’re the baker here, so your expertise should have more weight.”
“Well, like I said, you have the best tongue in town,” Tanjiro said. “And, I wanted to make you happy.”
“Huh?”
“I know how much you like watermelon, and so I thought I’d do something watermelon themed,” Tanjiro said. “So BOOM! Watermelon ohagi!”
Tanjiro wanted to make him happy. Genya felt himself blush. He reached for the half eaten ohagi he had tasted. He bit into it again. “Thank you, Tanjiro. Really. That’s… sweet of you, I guess.”
“The perfect sweet to ask you out with, right?”
Genya almost choked on his half chewed through ohagi. “A-as-ask me out w-with!”
He looked at the innocently smiling Tanjiro. How could he look so calm and put together when he just asked him out?! Genya was sure his own face was as pink as the watermelon he loved so much.
“Yep! I really like you,” Tanjiro said. “And I’m wondering if you want to be my boyfriend.”
So that’s what Nezuko’s thumbs up was all about. Still, how blunt of Tanjiro… in truth, Genya was grateful. He wouldn’t have had the confidence to confide his own feelings.
“I-I-I- well- I… re-really like y-you, too,” he stuttered out, barely able to form a coherent sentence. “I- I guess I’d l-like to be your boyfriend.”
Tanjiro smiled wider, if it was even possible. “That makes me so happy, Genya.” It was only now that a hint of bashfulness shined through. “Sorry if that was very… forward of me. I didn’t know how else to say it so I thought it’d be best to get it all out.”
“It-it’s fine,” Genya assured him. “It was… sweet, honestly. So, boyfriends now?”
“Boyfriends now!” Tanjiro repeated.
Genya glanced at the clock. It was getting late. “I should get home, or aniki will be mad. Thanks for the watermelon ohagi.”
“Take the rest of them home,” Tanjiro offered. “I know you liked them.”
“I-it’s fine,” Genya tried to protest. “Your little siblings probably want to taste them, right?”
“As your new boyfriend I insist!” Tanjiro proclaimed, already packaging the ohagi into a small box.
Genya didn’t try to protest further. Arguing with Tanjiro was pointless, for he was as stubborn as he was selfless. And… he did really like the watermelon ohagi.
Genya left the bakery with a wave goodbye to Kie and Nezuko, the latter of which shot him a knowing look. He cradled the package of ohagi in his arms, his backpack with the uncompleted math homework over his shoulder. He forgot to ask Tanjiro for help. Maybe he could call him later.
Tanjiro… just thinking of his name made him feel giddy.
Genya carefully opened the box and fished out one of the ohagi. He bit into it. Still so sweet.
“Sorry, ‘Nemi. You’re not getting any this time. Don’t plan on sharing these.”
