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Tanjirou, on a normal day, awakens before both Zenitsu and Inosuke.
Maybe he’s simply used to it, but as the sun trickles in through the barely opened cracks in the window, he’s risen approximately thirty minutes before. On some days, he doesn’t quite get out of bed yet, but he’s always awake before those two.
Zenitsu rises when awoken, when the birds chirp loudly or Tanjirou’s footsteps are a little too loud. They act as his alarm clock, so Tanjirou is never surprised when Zenitsu is up right after him.
Inosuke, for whatever reason, sleeps deeply and sleeps in . It’s a good day if he awakens before nine in the morning, and any time after he should be considered dead to the world. Which is why Tanjirou ( or Zenitsu, more often nowadays, he notices ) wakes him up at nine specifically, or he’ll never wake up.
On mission days, they all wake up at a specific time, but not without serious complaints from both Zenitsu and Inosuke - but Zenitsu more for actually having to go on a mission rather than waking up early.
So when he wakes up the next morning, same time as usual, he looks over at where Zenitsu and Inosuke should be laying in their futons and instead finds them empty.
His first thought is that they’re in trouble, but he’s long known by now that both of them can take care of themselves. And even if they were, he knows very well there is no scenario in which he would’ve been spared. Squinting his eyes blearily, he sniffs ( albeit pathetically, he’s just woken up, after all ) and identifies their smells coming from outside.
Outside . Meaning they’re both….awake? It’s early, early even on the scale for Tanjirou, and he knows both of them went to bed last night.
Standing up, he finds himself drifting towards the door. Now that he’s more alert, he hears their voices, softened from a distance. He can’t decipher any words, but he can hear them talking to each other ( no yelling, surprisingly ).
Wait. They’re not yelling. What?
Instinctively, he’s insanely happy because they’re getting along, and god knows how long he’s been trying to get them to engage in one singular conversation without getting angry at each other. But the happiness, while still there, delves into confusion. ( Because he can’t think of what reason they would be awake at this hour, talking peacefully. )
Feeling bad for eavesdropping but leaning in out of curiosity anyway, he hears Zenitsu’s voice trickle through the crack in the doorway. “Dumb boar….”
“Hey,” Inosuke scowls back in offense, but it’s softer than normal and even borderline affectionate in an Inosuke way. “Who’re you calling dumb, Monitsu?!”
“Stop pretending you don’t know my name.” Zenitsu scoffs, his tone similar to Inosuke’s, but masked a little more, affection hidden behind layers of disguise.
This supplies an angry snort from Inosuke, and the silence that comes next is piercing to Tanjirou. Somehow, he can tell they’ve sensed his presence, and so he slowly sneaks away, suddenly feeling very exposed and quite confused.
It’s not as if the second he snuck up on them they wouldn’t have sensed it, with Inosuke’s awareness of what’s around him and Zenitsu’s hearing. But he’s still puzzled on what’s going on in the first place, why they’re outside talking to each other at the crack of dawn, when neither of them are necessarily early birds.
He doesn’t get it, but he lets himself be pleased about it anyway. Because if they’re getting along, who is he to complain?
------------
“Hey, Tanjirou.”
A hesitant voice calls out to him, just about a week after the previous incident. Tanjirou pauses from his running down the path to turn and look at Zenitsu, humming curiously, “Hmm?”
“Do you…uh… I’m being forced to give someone a gift.” He blurts out suddenly, and Tanjirou has never heard his voice so abashed before. He’s also incredibly confused about the part where he’s being forced. The aroma of embarrassment lingers in the air as Tanjirou patiently waits for Zenitsu to continue. “And I don’t know what to get them.”
It comes out as a complaint, Zenitsu style, as usual, but this time it’s tinted with more of a genuine question. He tilts his head - he can’t remember the last time he had received an actual gift , much less given one. Sure, he has birthdays and all, but most of the time they just eat in peace, and peace alone is a gift enough. But he’s determined to help Zenitsu, whose scent is getting borderline desperate, so he recites his minimal knowledge anyway. “Oh! Well, most times, it’s personalized to the person you wanna give it to.”
Zenitsu snorts, “I’m not sure there’s anything personalized that Ino- I mean, that this person would like.”
Tanjirou frowns at him at his slip up, Inosuke?, but he pushes the thought out of his head. Whether it’s for their wild boar friend or someone with the same syllables or even someone who’s name doesn’t even start with ‘ino’, he’ll help Zenitsu nonetheless. It’s not really much of his business anyway.
“Well.” He continues slowly, “Make something heartfelt. Most times people like homemade gifts that you put something of yourself into.”
“I can’t make anything though.” Zenitsu mutters under his breath. “I’m really bad at making things. I’m pretty hopeless, aren’t I, Tanjirou?”
“Don’t give up!” Tanjirou snaps suddenly, a wide grin on his face as he holds up his fist. “You know there are things you’re good at.”
“Like whaaat.” Zenitsu drones, flopping onto the futon next to his own. He notices casually that it’s Inosuke’s futon, which is (surprisingly) empty, but is distracted by his other thoughts.
“You can make flower crowns, right?” Tanjirou speaks from experience, knowing how he and Zenitsu have made flower crowns together in the past for fun, right after a particularly stressful mission as Inosuke got patched up.
“Yeah but….”
His voice trails off, before perking up instantaneously. “Wait, maybe! Thank you, Tanjirou!”
Zenitsu gives him some sort of awkward bow as he stands, before running out the door. Tanjirou doesn’t have the heart to tell him that it’s practically midnight and that going outside right now and picking out flowers will surely ensure their death much sooner.
Somehow, he feels satisfied in himself. He helped Zenitsu, which, while was something he found himself doing quite often, he always felt quite proud when his efforts weren’t in vain. Laying down on his futon, he decided to get some sleep. He’s tired, and he plans to wake up early tomorrow to train anyway.
His eyes slide shut, and he feels as if he's drifting in and out of consciousness when he suddenly smells a very strong, earthly scent. Rolling around, he blinks his eyes slowly to see the beholder of such a smell, of which he’s known and memorized - Inosuke.
His eyes shoot open widely, yanked abruptly out of his sleepiness as he stares up at the boar mask hanging above him. He’s not quite sure how late it is, but late enough for Zenitsu to be in his own futon, sleeping peacefully.
Uncomfortably shifting around from Inosuke’s sudden closeness, he mutters slowly, “I-Inosuke….?”
“Monjirou!” Inosuke shouts, so loud it hurts his ears. With Zenitsu’s sensitive ears, he quickly shushes him, not wanting to wake up the blonde. Beckoning for Inosuke to continue, he says, volume lowered but not too much, “I need your help!”
You’re the second one today, He doesn’t say. Right after Zenitsu, huh? He also doesn’t say. Are you and Zenitsu planning something? He also doesn’t say. Instead, he sits up, rubbing the oncoming sleep out of his eyes. “What do you need?”
“What’s a good gift for that Monitsu guy?” Inosuke asks, pointing a finger continuously at where Zenitsu lays asleep. With eight words, he confirms all of Tanjirou’s suspicions, but adds so many more questions. Why do Inosuke and Zenitsu want to get each other presents in the first place? Is he forgetting some sort of holiday coming up soon?
“Ah, what for, again?” He queries abashedly, almost embarrassed, knowing he’s likely forgotten something important that somehow Inosuke has known and remembers. ( Or possibly something entirely different than the two, but he’s too tired to consider that option right now. )
“Uh.” Inosuke pauses. “Valentine’s day! Aren’t you meant to get people gifts for that?”
Tanjirou freezes. V - Valentine's day…..?
A small blush spreads on his face. It is the middle of February when he thinks about it, but…none of them have ever celebrated it, because, well, to what Inosuke seems to not know, is that Valentine’s day is a day for couples in particular (although he considers that one could celebrate it platonically, too). And he knows very well none of them have ever met anyone they seemed to take any attraction to.
Did Inosuke and Zenitsu pick something up from Giyuu or Genya? He can’t imagine either of the two telling them about Valentine’s day, or even knowing about it ( neither of them were very well suited for that sort of conversation ).
“Valentine’s day…...is normally for people you romantically love.”
Inosuke tilts his head angrily. “I don’t have time for that bullshit. What’s a good gift for that?”
“What do you mean?!” Tanjirou blurted out in confusion.
“Heh?! I’m getting a gift for Monitsu for Valentine’s day, that’s what I’m doing!” Inosuke puffs up his chest, and Tanjirou sighs. It’s past midnight and somehow both Zenitsu and Inosuke believe that Valentine’s day is a holiday it’s not.
“And who told you you should do that?”
“Uzui!”
Ah. Of course. The man with three wives would advise this to them, and he now understands why Zenitsu used the word choice of force. If Inosuke had heard about a chance to get gifts, he imagines that he would be eager for such a thing. ( Little did he know what really transpired, when he looks back on it, but. )
He decides he’s not gonna do anything about this, because they’re getting along and they don’t seem too upset about the results. Nor does he have the energy to try and educate him on what Valentine’s day even is. Tanjirou probably couldn’t describe it well anyway. “Hmm. I think Zenitsu was talking about wanting a bracelet a while back? Something about the hashira having them and them looking cool.”
Inosuke nods aggressively, “I’ll make the best goddamn bracelet in the world!”
And with that, he storms out.
Tanjirou flops down in the futon, feeling an increasing headache coming on. He hopes that they really figure it out themselves soon. Maybe one day he’ll understand what happens when he’s not with those two.
For now, he decides to lay satisfied that he helped the both of them.
( And if he walks outside two days later to see Inosuke with a flower crown on his head and Zenitsu with bracelet tied around his wrist, fighting loudly in the yard about who-knows-what, he prides himself in knowing he did that. )
------------
Tanjirou particularly likes sparring with Inosuke on a good day.
Today is one of those days.
The sun is slowly going down, a time that would be best described as golden hour, and so far he feels confident within himself and his abilities. Inosuke challenges him in ways he normally doesn’t expect, with his unique fighting style, but isn’t difficult enough for him to feel the surge of needing to get better.
The burst of indestructible feeling is a good thing, on the days when he needs it, that is. Sometimes, he wants to pretend the burden of needing to be the best he possibly can be doesn’t exist.
They’re on Inosuke’s training grounds, an open dirt pathway leading into a clearing - which is honestly quite pretty, considering what it’s used for. Wisteria dangled from the tree branches in order to ward off demons, but it fit so well in the environment it felt natural.
It’s a place he treasures, Inosuke told him once, and so he holds it close to his heart.
So when the tree branches are aggressively pushed away, a voice he has come to memorize muttering complaints loudly, he freezes in the middle of their fight and lets Inosuke slam the wooden stick straight into his chest.
“And the great Inosuke wins again!” Inosuke gloats proudly.
Tanjirou wonders whether he will have to point out that Zenitsu is standing right there.
He seems to be searching for something, eyes slowly tracing the rim of the opening where the branches steep low enough to step on. Muttering something under his breath, he begins to walk around, kicking at the dirt under their feet.
Inosuke still manages to not acknowledge him, cackling in pride from his victory. Tanjirou decides not to remind him that he won the last two fights.
“Uh, hi Zenitsu!” He greets awkwardly, unsure if he should be saying anything.
“Hey.” He responds shortly, before returning back to scouring the area and exclaiming to himself about how this should not have been that easy to lose.
Tanjirou is never one to demand an explanation, but he’s this close to doing so now. Zenitsu, one who hates sparring practice and certainly avoids one with Inosuke, is searching the spot Inosuke uses specifically for sparring himself as if he’s been there before. Inosuke isn’t acknowledging his presence in the slightest.
“Did you lose something?” He asks curiously, hoping this warrants more of an explanation.
It doesn’t. Zenitsu just nods, looking increasingly more frustrated.
“Oi, I put it over there by the tree stump.” Inosuke huffs out of nowhere.
“Oh, really? Damn, I thought I lost it.” Zenitsu sighs in relief as he heads over to the tree stump, a small little stump that both Inosuke and Tanjirou have propelled off of more than once.
“Well, don’t lose it again! I made it very specially for you.” Inosuke reminds him.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Had to ask both Uzui and Himejima for the beads! They’re so cool!”
“You say that every time.”
Tanjirou whips his head back and forth. He’s not sure if he’s hallucinating or something, or having visions, or maybe this is another dream.
There is only one thought on his mind at first - if they can be this civil, why do they decide that giving hell to Tanjirou everyday is the best idea in the world?!
It slowly dawns on him more and more that Zenitsu and Inosuke have been suspiciously close recently, at least, in subtle ways. He’s still not sure what the hell is going on or why they’re closer, but this fuels his determination to find out.
Why is an important question. Because Zenitsu and Inosuke before never willingly went anywhere alone without complaints, insults, and some good ol’ breaking of the demon slayer corps rules by fighting each other.
As he muses, he tunes back into their conversation, only to find they’re both staring at him with wide eyes.
“Tanjirou, are you okay?” Zenitsu queries.
“Eh?”
“You looked really out of it there for a second! My defeat really got to you, huh? Quiver in fear before me!” Inosuke howls excitedly, prancing around as he waved his swords.
“Hey, can you be quieter?” Zenitsu scolds, except, it’s less of a scolding, more of a gentle request.
“Sorry.” Inosuke grumbles, although it’s less of a grumble and more of a genuine apology.
“It’s alright. Hey, do you want tea…? Aoi was offering some.”
“Tea is disgusting.”
“Thought you’d say so.”
Tanjirou feels like he might pass out.
He knows Inosuke is fully capable of apologizing and feeling sorry for things, but this is the easiest it’s ever been to weasel an apology out of him. He can’t even call it weaseling because it was such a willing one as well.
Also, tea? Did they normally drink tea together? Did Aoi know more about this than he did? His head spins, unable to fit together the pieces that feel like they should fall together instantaneously.
Zenitsu and Inosuke’s odd relationship remained a mystery and just got more confusing by the second. He was sure he would’ve been able to notice if there was some shell shocking event that caused them to get closer and be better friends. Is he just a shit friend for not knowing these things?
“Tanjirou!” Zenitsu pulls him out of his whirling thoughts, “He looks like he’s going to pass out!”
“Tanjirou, did I really hit you that hard!?” Inosuke chimes in next, extremely unhelpfully, but with a tint of worry in his voice that makes a twang of something fond ring in his chest.
“Ah, no, I’m okay! Just, uh, thinking, I guess.” He says lightheartedly, “Anyways, uh, did you find what you needed, Zenitsu?”
“Oh.” Zenitsu’s eyes flick towards his wrist to the indigo colored beads resting around his arm. “Yeah.”
“How did you even lose it in the first place?” Inosuke asks, voice somewhat aggressive but not quite there . He knows what an angry Inosuke sounds like, the one emotion Inosuke channeled the most, and this was not it, surely.
“I didn’t try to, it just happened. You were pretty harsh, ya know.”
“You’re just weaker than me.” Inosuke poked lightly at Zenitsu’s head.
“Uh - do you all want to train right now?” Tanjirou interrupts, feeling oddly out of place.
“Training! Tanjirou, my legs hurt all over from yesterday’s mission and you all are so mean! So mean! I ask you to stop and you charge at me full force!”
“Demons won’t stop when you ask them to.” Inosuke argues, “So why should we?”
“It’s always worth a try!” Zenitsu shrieks, and things seem to fall into place again as Tanjirou wheezes out loud. Zenitsu in turn doesn’t hesitate to shoot him a glare. “You all are so rude! So aggressive!”
“You’d never survive on your own in the wild!”
“I don’t plan to, you stupid boar!”
Inosuke’s eyes widened. “Let’s try it.”
“Huh?!” Zenitsu says, sounding scandalized.
“You.” Inosuke points at Zenitsu with this.
“Me,” Pointing at himself, and -
“Live outside on our own with no other resources! It’ll be a competition!”
“Absolutely not!” Zenitsu yells, so loud Tanjirou’s surpised no one has noticed they’re here yet. The Hashira constantly prowl this area for training spots, and with them being so loud he’s surprised none of them have found it yet.
Somehow, he wonders if they do already know about this place, but choose not to come.
The two bicker in front of him for a while, and Tanjirou lets himself enjoy it after the maddeningly confusing civil conversation they had earlier. He’s not complaining about either, really.
But he hopes they decide to be civil in front of him more often. ( He’ll make sure to tell them so, now he knows they’re capable of that. )
------------
Zenitsu peeks into Nezuko’s room one cloudy afternoon, opening the door just a crack as he enters. “Hey, Tanjirou.”
“Hey!” Tanjirou chirps, “Did you come to see Nezuko? She’s asleep right now, but…”
Tanjirou has not gone unaware of Zenitsu’s obvious attraction to his younger sister. Now, he’s not exactly sure how he feels about that yet. But he’s not going to stop him, because really what could he do?
So it surprises him when Zenitsu descends into some sort of blush as he mutters out, “Ah, no. I was wondering if she had a …. hairbrush I could borrow?”
Tanjirou nods in understanding - since the three of them made a deal to grow their hair out, it’s gotten increasingly harder to keep neat. He’s not sure how Muichirou does it, keeping his hair in perfect condition no matter the occasion. “I think I have one you could borrow!”
Digging into the small bedside drawer (one of the only pieces of furniture in the entire room) he whipped out a large, flower decorated brush, wielding it up like a sword. “Nezuko’s super de-tangle brush! It gets out every tangle!”
Zenitsu nodded, taking the brush into his hands delicately. “Thank you Tanjirou!”
“You’re welcome!” He echoed proudly as Zenitsu exited the room, hairbrush firmly in hand.
Tanjirou turned back to Nezuko’s, sighing at her asleep form. “Zenitsu and Inosuke have been getting closer, Nezuko! It’s a good thing, really, I’m just not sure where it came from…”
Because he didn’t. What had changed behind his back? Those two didn’t go on dual missions together, in fact, more so outright refused to. Their strange behavior was almost suspicious, if Tanjirou wasn’t one hundred percent sure they were still themselves. Their scents hadn’t changed, after all.
“Hmm. Do you think I should ask them? Maybe they’ll tell me - ”
A pained shriek echoed through the air - Inosuke . Tanjirou darted out the door, hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword. Sniffing the air, he didn’t smell a demon in the area, so maybe they were outside…?
Tracing Inosuke’s scent, he instantly skidded to a pause. Zenitsu. His scent mingled with Inosuke’s the whole way down the hallway. And hey, didn’t he take a hairbrush…?
He paused and thought. When was the last time he saw Inosuke brush his hair?
He curses, which isn’t something he does often but god damnit , as he sinks to the ground, facepalming aggressively. There’s no way the screech of pain he’d heard was….?
Sighing, he strolled this time towards the door, and slowly opened it, to which he saw Zenitsu and Inosuke sitting outside, Zenitsu trying to pull the hairbrush out of Inosuke’s hair.
“When was the last time you brushed your hair?!”
“Brushing hair is for pussies!”
Please save me, Tanjirou begged to the gods, Please.
The gods, to his chagrin, did not save him.
Reassessing the scene in front of him, he noticed a bobby pin hanging out of Zenitsu’s mouth, hair tie placed like a bracelet on his wrist. “Please sit still!”
Inosuke squirms, but sits still as Zenitsu weaves the brush through Inosuke’s hair again. “This fucking hurts.”
“Wouldn’t hurt if you took care of it.”
“Uh, hey. So, everything’s okay, then?” He asked. He couldn’t bring himself to be mad for long, because the more he studied the scene the more adorable it became.
“Oh, sorry, Tanjirou….” Zenitsu said abashedly, but didn’t bother to look his way as he carded through Inosuke’s hair. “Do you see this? It’s so thick…”
There was something about the entire scheme, from this scene to the past few that felt like he should know what was going on right now. But, meanwhile, he decides that this isn’t quite as important. “Whoa….Inosuke, this is really why you should brush your hair now.”
“Shut up! Isn’t that what Monitsu’s doing now, anyway?”
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop pretending you don’t know my name! Dumbass!” Zenitsu yells, smacking the side of Inosuke’s head.
“You pretend to not know our names….?” Tanjirou asks, and he vaguely, just vaguely, remembers the talk he eavesdropped on before.
“He’s so used to calling us other names, apparently, that he can’t stop.” Zenitsu complains irritably, voice low as he yanks at a tangle.
Inosuke attempts to turn his head, looking at Zenitsu with a glance that Tanjirou can’t place as a single emotion. “Do you really mind that much…?”
“No.” Zenitsu hisses instantly, almost as if all the words he said before didn’t happen anymore. “No, I don’t. Stop being all soft and weird.”
Soft. Tanjirou felt like he was intruding, all of a sudden, so he gave them a thumbs up and went to exit, but Zenitsu asked before he could leave, “Hey, Tanjirou. Do ya have a crush on Kanao?”
Tanjirou felt his cheeks go aflame at the mention of him having a crush on Kanao , of all people, not that it was a bad thing, of course, but, “Uh, no, why?”
Zenitsu scoffed, “That’s a lie.”
“If you have a crush on her, that's completely okay, Zenitsu! I’m not gonna get in the way of anything, I promise!” Tanjirou decided to take a different route, and felt instantly threatened by the look on Zenitsu’s ( and Inosuke’s, for some reason? ) face at that implication.
“No, I don’t. But I wanted to know, that's all. I was going to offer advice or whatever.”
This time, it was Tanjirou’s face that morphed into a distasteful expression. He wasn’t quite sure what grounds Zenitsu assumed he was good at giving advice.
“Tanjirou! You’re usually so nice to me.” Zenitsu whines. “I just wanted to help , you know.”
He feels another set of eyes on him, and he’s met with Inosuke’s green eyes piercing his ( has Inosuke been wearing the boar head less? ). He’s not sure what he expects, but what comes out of Inosuke’s mouth next is nothing less than shocking. “Hey, what about that angry guy who’s brothers with Sanemi?”
Tanjirou can feel the wind knocked out of him. “Wha-? No, no, it’s not like that.”
“Denial isn't a good look on you.” Zenitsu muses whilst snickering, and Tanjirou feels his face get impossibly redder.
“So I was right!” Inosuke claims smugly. “Knew it wasn't Shinobu’s kouhai.”
“That was what I was gonna say next, you know that.” Zenitsu whispers, almost as if he expects Tanjirou to not hear. Well, it’s not as if he was paying attention too much because Inosuke and Zenitsu talk about his love life behind his back?!
“And technically,” Zenitsu tacked on, “He said pretty much the exact same thing to both.”
“We can just ask him! Tanjirou! Genya or Kanao?” Both their eyes darted to him immediately, almost as if they expected him to answer this question.
He stutters out, “Neither!” and runs.
( He almost forgets about the whole what-do-Inosuke-and-Zenitsu-have-going-on question in his embarrassment. )
( Oh, and by the end of that whole ordeal, Zenitsu’s hands are threading through Inosuke’s hair, tangle free. )
------------
“The moon is lovely, tonight.”
“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it, idiot! And I know Shinobu-san taught you that!”
“I do mean it, though.” And his eyes are staring into Zenitsu’s own and his heartbeat skips one two three one two three. He says such sappy things, lately, probably having picked them up from somewhere, maybe Sanemi-san and Tomioka-san? Nonetheless, it doesn’t fail to bring heat to his face.
“Yeah.” He whispers in the dull moonlight, “I know.”
Because he does know. He’s known, for a while now, and it makes his head spin until he’s dizzy.
“Mmm.” Inosuke’s head falls onto his chest, and Zenitsu weaves his hands through his hair, a habit adapted not long ago but one he didn’t see himself stopping for a while.
“Rengoku-san talked to me today.” Zenitsu murmurs, “At least, Rengoku’s dad did.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me that he was thankful I assisted his…..son. I didn’t do anything, though.”
“Hey.” Inosuke huffs, almost as if he took personal offense to Zenitsu’s statement. “You helped.”
“I was in the train doing a job that if Rengoku were at full power he could’ve done himself.” He mutters, continuing on because it’s true that he was useless, he knows it himself, “He only wanted to make me feel better by allowing me to do it.”
“No.” Inosuke insists, “You were actually helpful! You were super cool, Zenitsu.”
“Don’t say stuff you don’t mean.” Zenitsu lectures again, but this time it warrants a harsh hit from Inosuke. “Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow .”
“It didn’t hurt that bad.” Inosuke says gruffly. “You were helpful. Believe me for once.”
Believe me for once . Zenitsu knows Inosuke is harsh, blunt above all things and always straight to the point honest. If he doesn’t understand something, doesn’t get what’s going on, is offended by something - he immediately will say so.
So, for now, Zenitsu accepts Inosuke’s words and chooses to believe he was helpful. Because it feels good to know you were helpful, and reassurance, especially from Inosuke, is meaningful above all else. “Okay.”
Inosuke doesn’t say anything, likely unsure of how to respond.
He’s gotten better at human mannerisms - asking for things, words of encouragement, respecting people - all things that Zenitsu has helped him with, and he feels accomplished for that - but still remains Inosuke . It’s wonderful and all too nice, when they settle down and Inosuke doesn’t feel the need to pretend to be so incredibly wild.
Inosuke’s a good pretender, he’s realized. He pretends he’s so carefree and incapable of human emotions and wants, but Zenitsu knows more than anyone else that Inosuke likes being treated human the best.
After all, the boar mask is only a mask.
“Do you think the stars are jealous of the sun?” He blurts out, hazy with thoughts about Inosuke and insecurities.
“Heh? Why would stars be jealous of the sun ?!”
He feels the instant need to defend his point, “The sun is so much bigger….everyone recognizes the sun as an individual star.”
Inosuke’s looking at him with the most disbelieving look on his face, and Zenitsu’s about to drop the topic when he says, “You can’t look at the sun. You can admire the stars all you want.”
Oh. That’s…. a good point. Zenitsu’s tempted to hit him, for making him think like that. “You’re so sentimental inside!”
“Huh?!” Inosuke fumes, but says no other words of denial. Hmm, maybe he is sentimental - Zenitsu was shooting for the long shot there, and he didn’t expect it to hit right on the mark. Inosuke’s silence normally translates into a solid yes.
He mutters, “See, you are.” under his breath and is utterly prepared to dodge the angry swipe at his legs that Inosuke gives, albeit given half-heartedly.
“Tanjirou’s been giving us a lot of weird looks recently.” He offers, in an effort to change the topic. While they’ve been getting closer, there are still some things they don’t like talking about. Zenitsu assumes this is one of them for Inosuke, so he doesn’t press.
Inosuke laughs, a sound that’s like a blessing to Zenitsu’s ears. There’s nothing special about it, but when Inosuke laughs without murderous intent, it’s always nice to hear. It’s like it’s reserved for him, he supposed. “Do ya think it’s got anything to do with this?
He points to their intertwined hands - and when did that happen? - and Zenitsu thinks about it. Yeah, possibly. It could be that. But Tanjirou is not dense, and if he were to make any assumption of the romantic sort then he surely would’ve said something about it by now. “I don’t think he suspects anything yet. Might wanna stop being so obvious about it, though.”
“Since when are you trying to hide it? It’s always your fault!” Inosuke scowls, “The whole brushing hair thing-”
“That doesn’t count!” Zenitsu shrieks, “We basically accused him of liking both Genya and Kanao! That was embarrassing!”
“Not my fault! You brought it up!”
“Because you wanted to ask!”
Inosuke cuts him off by slotting their lips together, and he’s pretty sure he likes that more than any other method that Inosuke’s ever shut him up by. Pressing himself into the kiss, he finds his senses dimming, the usual loud buzzing in his ears are lost as he directs all his senses to focusing solely on the pair of lips moving against his own.
It’s nice, he thinks, to make out with Inosuke like this in private. Perhaps he’d want to tell Tanjirou one day, because it’s shocking enough that he hasn’t figured it out yet, and it’s nice to not have to hide. Although, he wouldn’t want Tanjirou sitting behind him when he and Inosuke did things like this, either.
He puts it aside for now, deepening the kiss and focusing on the here, the now, and that’s Inosuke, who’s turned over to press his back against the roof.
Besides, he’s pretty sure Tanjirou didn’t know anything.
( And finally closing the door to the outside of the patio, Tanjirou smiled softly as he finally understood their closeness. He’d let them have their peace, now truly alone with each other for the night. )