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They have been helping around the Butterfly state for some months as part of their recovery. Neither Tanjiro, Inosuke nor Zenitsu are allowed to do hard training yet. Zenitsu doesn't mind because the girls have been taking care of him. He loves to talk to them and that it's enough to kill his boredom.
But Tanjiro and Inosuke needed something to do.
The first days were nice having some time to themselves, so they could finally rest together (it was really weird for them to sleep a whole night together because they needed to take shifts to watch over their camp).
But then Inosuke's feral nature was urging him to explore and Tanjiro himself wasn't able to stay resting for much longer. So Aoi suggested they helped with the chores and they've been doing that.
Helping clean, sweeping, washing clothes, cooking…
"Damn it!" Tanjiro almost releases the plate with food on his hands at Inosuke's complaint. He turns his head around quickly to find his forearm burned, in an angry red color and smelling like roasted turkey. "You fucking fire! That's unfair!" he yells, trying not to touch the tender skin.
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro now leaves the plate on the table "What happened?!" he walks towards him quickly, to assess the wound. Thankfully, it's just a superficial burn.
"It bit me!" he growls but immediately changes it to a whine when Tanjiro tries to touch him "Don't touch me!" he hisses and Tanjiro can smell the pain.
"Sorry, sorry! Did I hurt you?" he sounds worried and even when Inosuke is about to cry, he shakes his head.
"Of course not, stupid Gonpachiro! I-I just don't want you to touch me" a lie. Tanjiro perfected smelling lies from the time he had to take care of his younger siblings. He still decides not to tell Inosuke that lying is bad, because he won't care.
"Ok, let me-" he extends Inosuke's arm, but tries not to touch him. "When I prepared charcoal, sometimes I got burn too. I know a remedy to draw the heat out. Do you want me to-?"
"Do whatever you want, Monjuro!" he yells, but Tanjiro knows he's reacting to his pain.
Tanjiro looks for some butter and starts to rub it on Inosuke's arm. He must be feeling better, because he remains silent. Tanjiro offers him a soft smile before he keeps rubbing the butter on him.
It's an intimate moment, even when it's just first aid care.
"Hey guys, what's for dinner?" Zenitsu gets in the kitchen to find Tanjiro rubbing butter on Inosuke. Tanjiro smells him changing from cheerful to terrified for no reason. He keeps on his task or Inosuke will start to complain again. The blond stares at them for a second, before slowly backing away.
Inosuke and Tanjiro only tilt their heads in confusion.
"Are you feeling better?" Inosuke nods before Tanjiro leans in for a quick peck. In the background, Zenitsu is yelling that the red haired had gone mad and he's trying to cook his boyfriend.