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Zenitsu's going to break up with him.
Tanjirou gulps down the sake in his grasp, unable to take the realization sober. He usually didn't drink so recklessly, his extremely low alcohol tolerance hindering him from finishing even a single bottle. Not that he really wanted to before, anyways. The utter distraught of him having to live without Zenitsu holding him so intimately brought him to a point of confusion and sorrow. Did Zenitsu fall out of love? Did he figure out that being with him was too exhausting? That the rough callouses of his hand were too much of a pain to care for?
"H-Hey, don't cry!" He snaps his head up to see one of Uzui's wives- Suma, maybe? He was too drunk for this- placing a cloth on the wooden table. He nods, mustering a wobbly smile. Somehow, throughout the years of spending time together, Zenitsu's crying and whining had rubbed off on him. The irony of the situation makes him chuckle dryly.
Uzui, who left him in his misery to go outside for some fresh air, had been the one to suggest drinking. Well, not so 'suggest' but more like 'forcefully carry him to his mansion so he could stop sulking as he hung bedsheets'. For someone who had grave injuries, his muscles truly weren't something to scoff at. It took him several minutes to wriggle out of his arms- and he was the 26-years old sun hashira, please stop every mizunoto's eyes are bulging at how pathetic he was right now.
When they arrived, Hinatsuru welcomed them with three of the finest bottles of sake and a smile. He'd initially refused the offer with vehemence, stating particularly strong reasons that went in then out of all their ears. But then Makio appeared, loudly saying that the doors to the estate were now locked and only Uzui could possibly open it. Thus began the 30-minute-long argument and Tanjirou's eventual compromise.
"So, what's with you, Kamado?" Uzui's voice rang fresh in his ears, even after he'd left for an hour. "Aren't you the one usually comforting your whining husband?"
"He's not my husband-" yet. Tanjirou's tongue nearly slipped, causing Uzui to stare with a wolfish grin. Normally, he'd want to be accommodating when he was in another person's home, but the call of his shared (soon-to-be-not) bedroom was honestly tempting. Where was Matsuemon when he needed him?
Tanjirou shakes his head inwardly. His mother didn't raise him to be an undignified guest. "And, please, you don't have to worry about me," Knowing how he's somewhat concerned- or curious- he didn't want him to be when he had other problems overriding his life. Uzui slams a cup on the table and tells him to drink, so he does (albeit slower than the other).
By the fourth cup, he was already slurring his words. "It's just- Zenitsu's been avoiding me and I-I don't know what I did." Whoops. He didn't mean to let those words come out so leisurely, but the alcohol in his system made his lips a tad more loose than usual. "He's probably going to leave me."
"Or he won't." Uzui shrugs nonchalantly. He didn't know whether or not the sake had affected him, but he surely wasn't showing any signs. Large hands grip the bottle with a vengeance, pouring another bout of liquid into his cup. Eyes of fuchsia glint at him from his seat. "Or maybe he will."
Tanjirou can't help the frown that appears at the answer. Zenitsu had the freedom to do anything he wanted, including breaking up with him. This was a choice he couldn't interfere with, as much as he would've wanted to. He literally can't- Kaigaku would kill him if he did anything wrong to his little brother. Or anything in general. But, Zenitsu's choice was the only one that mattered, and he'd sadly have to accept anything that came his way.
"All I know is-" Oh, Uzui's speaking again, swishing the cup violently before drinking it in one gulp. He's sure it stings his throat, but the older man only smirks without a care. "-that wimp is blindly in love with you, braver when you're around and dare I say, flamboyant."
The flush that blooms to the tip of his ears are not because of the alcohol, that much he's sure of. "Zen's always been so strong and kind." He's not too keen as to why he's arguing, but he lets his thoughts drawl out. "Every time he uses his breath, he's... amazing." He doesn't pay any mind to the snide and indecent comment Uzui makes.
"He's like the moon." He blabbers, too drunk to notice how Uzui's sitting back and listening with mirth, "He shines so brightly, even when the night- the darkness tries to consume him. I just- I love him so much."
The rest of their talk is blurry, with mentions of laughter and promises bundled in his mind. Tanjirou hums, he can think about what happened tonight tomorrow. For now, he had to wait until Uzui came back from his walk outside. What's taking him so long anyway?
"Brat."
Uh oh. The nickname, the anger seeping out from his tone of voice, and the harsh scent of thunderstorms and peach orchards filling his nose can only mean one thing. Kaigaku was, somehow and unfortunately, here in Uzui's estate.
"Good evening, Kaigaku-san." Tanjirou turns to his left, spotting two figures in his hazy gaze. From their mingled scents, they were Kaigaku and Uzui standing near the entrance. If only his thoughts were still coherent, he would have seen the very miniscule hint of concern from his boyfriend's older brother.
"Thanks. Zenitsu's been screaming for him all night."
Zenitsu's worried about him? That's a good sign, right? Wait, no, focus- what time is it?
"He's been yapping about him the entire time." Uzui says in defense, but it doesn't sound as honorable as he would've liked. It sounds more like a complaint, but he's thankful for it nonetheless. At least Kaigaku wouldn't berate him for being out with another man.
All of a sudden, after a short exchange between the two other pillars, he's being lifted off the ground and told- commanded- to stand up straight for the journey home. He can't, legs too out of reach for his mind to fully control.
"Bullshit." Even if he was too drunk to even walk, Tanjirou could feel the immensely threatening glare at his forehead. A Kaigaku specialty, if he does say so himself. He often wonders how his sweet sunshine could be so clingy to a demon of an older brother, but he digresses. Father told him to look past appearances and he was going to honor that wish.
"Guess you have to carry him home." Uzui smells delightfully mischievous at the prospect, and it gets more pungent when Kaigaku mutters a 'fucking hell'.
When asked (or threatened was more like it) that hey, how about you carry him since you're the reason he's blackout drunk, Uzui's wives respond for him by clinging onto his sleeves drunkenly. "Sorry, have to take care of my ladies." It doesn't sound sorry to anyone in the room.
Subsequently, they're kicked out of the large mansion and through the high and very sharp gates.
"Hashiras think they can do whatever the fuck they want." Kaigaku mutters under his breath, and out of the kindness of his heart, he resists the urge to remind him that he was also a part of the hashiras.
(And also, he might let him fall to the cold, hard ground.)
Tanjirou's legs tighten around Kaigaku's waist. It must have been quite the scene for passersby; the second thunder hashira piggybacking a drunk and delirious sun hashira. He sinks into broad shoulders in shame.
The path back to the butterfly estate is a long and arduous one, but nothing two trained swordsmen couldn't handle. Plus, the demons after Muzan's defeat have been getting significantly weaker and have gone into hiding. It's a tiring yet safe way back to Zenitsu's arms.
That's if Zenitsu would even take him.
"Are you crying into my shoulder?" Tanjirou shakes his head fervently, but the sniffle that comes out says otherwise. Since when did he become such a crybaby?
Kaigaku's silent after his accusation, not one to touch on sensitive matters unless forced to. Well, Tanjirou, the emotional when drunk apparently Tanjirou, is about to change that.
"Is Zenitsu going to break up with me?" He asks, and despite not having access to see his face, he can see Kaigaku's eyes roll back farther into his head. He briefly wonders how this emotionally-constipated man dealt with an emotional mess of a sibling.
"Relax," The amusement trying to be hidden as a grumble doesn't sound relaxing in any shape or form, "He can barely stand on his own, you think he has the guts to break up with your stubborn ass?"
He strides over the remark about being stubborn (that was a fact he established since he was born) and clings onto his shoulders in a frenzy. What has Zenitsu done to him? "But I haven't talked to him in weeks! Every time I try to, he runs away!"
Tanjirou doesn't recognize his own strength until Kaigaku is actually about to fall over and is yelling at him. It's only then that he softens his grip, knowing how he's one slip away from faceplanting into the dirt.
After the crisis ends, his carrier- now sporting messy hair and a pissed off atmosphere- relents. He mumbles a string of typical curses before giving him a reply.
"The brat lost the promise ring you gave him on a mission, hasn't shut up about it ever since."
A look of astonishment dawned on Tanjirou's face.
"Oh."
Kaigaku snorts. His amusement is short-lived, however, when a loud "I have a plan!" cries into his ear with fiery determination.
It has officially been three weeks since Zenitsu Agatsuma started avoiding his boyfriend. That is to say, it has been three exhausting weeks spent rummaging and digging through piles upon piles of snow looking for a tiny silver band that meant the entire world to him.
He knew it had to be painful for Tanjirou, someone who had repeatedly- consistently tried to talk to him. His boyfriend was ignoring him for a reason so utterly stupid, he had every right to be get mad at him! But he didn't! How did he land himself such a saint!?
Don't get him wrong, avoiding Tanjirou who had the sparking eyes and pouting lips and that dumb puppy expression that made his heart flutter every damn time was excruciating.
How he'd long to have his hair be caressed, to have his ears be blessed by the sounds of his heartbeat, but nooo, he had to be careless enough to lose the precious ring around his finger while fighting not one- but three! Three separate demons!
So instead, Zenitsu was crying with his feet buried in a thick layer of snow. He's come back to the exact same location after missions, and his bad luck had somehow followed him every time. How long would it be until Tanjirou gets tired of his disappearances? He didn't want to know.
"You're telling him tomorrow." Kaigaku, twin thunder hashira and oh-so-beloved aniki who tailed him out of "pity" and not at all worry, bellows. He's on a stump, inches away, sitting down and watching him suffer in the snow.
"WHAT!??" Zenitsu's shriek echoes through the mountains, probably-no-definitely causing a avalanche. "B-But I can't tell him I lost our-!"
"Don't whine." He stops in his tracks. Kaigaku didn't use that tone- one received from the eternal wisdom of their gramps- unless he was being deadly serious. So, like, maybe ten times a year (a few used to intimidate him into training, others to comfort his anxiety). "You're going to tell him."
Weakly, Zenitsu steps on a fallen twig and mumbles a childlike "Yes, Aniki..."
The night falls over them like a cloak of a pure black cloth with pricks of white accompanying it. Zenitsu doesn't say anything when he gets into bed with Tanjirou, who sounds strangely less lonely. His heart sinks at the thought of why that happened.
"Love you, good night." He says into the empty room, pressing a peck on his cheek, and blowing out the oil lamp at their bedside.
When he awakens the next morning, Tanjirou is long gone. In his place is an envelope, signed with a scrawled out 'For Zen'. Warily, he opens it up and expects the worse.
'Meet me in the garden tonight at ten. Love, Tanjirou’
That's not what he was expecting. The words aren't ominous, but they aren't cheerful either. Wait, Zenitsu gasps in shock, this sounds like a break-up letter!
The rest of the day don't go as planned. Zenitsu, who wanted to shut himself inside and die slowly in bedsheets and pillows, was eventually dragged out by Inosuke. When he asks why, the boar says, "Eat! Eat and rest for today, Monitsu!" and that has never been a good sign.
"Inosuke, be quiet." Aoi scolds when they enter the dining area, gentler than normal way that has him reeling. She serves him a hearty meal of rice, miso soup, and vegetables. Inosuke doesn't steal anything. What the fuck.
Even worse than Inosuke is Nezuko. He's gotten rid of his abnormal crush on the girl, and they've communicated a lot better than before. He thinks he might have liked her again, but then Tanjirou rammed into him (literally and figuratively) and he never really went away.
"Zenitsu, hi!" She waves at him from her seat in the grass. Without anything better to do (not even a mission!), he sits down on the space beside her. They talk, a bit about her training with Urokodaki and his recent attempt at writing books, and throughout his span of years knowing the human Nezuko, she's always been a beauty with a wonderful air of bravery and charisma.
The two were being stripped away from her at this very moment.
"Um, sweets! I made them myself...?" Nezuko sounds unsure and that makes him very queasy. Was she nervous around him? Oh, or maybe she was feeling guilty because he was about to turn single in a span of eight hours. Either way, he feels tears incoming when he takes a bite of the admittedly delicious heart-shaped cookies.
"Nezuko, Zenitsu." Dainty footsteps approach him, and he turns around to see Kanao. She's unnerving with that smile, but beautiful in every way. "May I join you?"
An excited (and relieved??) shrill of "Kanao-chan!" from Nezuko accepts her into their little gathering. Thankfully, Kanao isn't acting weird today, but he can't exactly see when she's sitting behind him and fiddling with his hair.
"Do you mind if I braid it?" She says, and he desperately thinks oh crap, she's weird today too! is the world ending!?
He surrenders and nods, long blonde hair being played with Kanao and Nezuko, who happened to join in on the fun. It doesn't take long for them to finish, like six minutes?, and there are pink flowers and wisteria blossoms (where did they get that??) interlaced and tied with a red stringed ribbon.
The one time he spots Tanjirou for the whole day is when he crosses paths with the three of them. Zenitsu doesn't see the knowing looks between Kanao and Nezuko. "Huh? W-Wait, Tanjirou!" He stands, rashly abandoning the two women to catch up with his boyfriend who, for some ungodly reason, starts sprinting away the moment they lock eyes. "I wanna talk about-"
"LATER!" Tanjirou yelps, heartbeat erratic and face reenacting its own version of the Hinokami Kagura. It makes his skin stand; his own cheeks placated with pinpricks of pink. "Let’s... Let's talk later, okay?"
Even though he had grown and was now able to handle mature conversations without running away, he had to admit that a free pass was, well, a free pass. Besides, he couldn't even argue back when the redhead was running away in a very Agatsuma fashion.
Slumping his way towards their shared bedroom in confusion, he can only think of one basis for everyone's weird ass way of acting. He slams into the mattress, screaming into the pillow and sheets. Tanjirou was going to break up with him. Tonight.
The scenery surrounding the confines of the butterfly estate's garden is beautiful. Yet, even if he sat underneath the stars and fluttering petals of wisteria blossoms, it did nothing to relieve him of his underlying stress. Inosuke, who he's pretty sure is spying on him (along with everyone else) behind the bushes would be laughing at how uncool he looked right now.
Himejima-san's late advice gave him strength in a strange yet helpful way. He'd been reciting countless prayers and mantras, loud enough for the neighboring birds to fly away from.
"Stop clinging onto my-!"
"Kaigaku-nii! What if he's going to leave me!? I CAN'T SURVIVE THA-"
Tanjirou stiffened, mouth shut in a tight-lipped smile as he hears the two brothers arguing. It's time, and he was not about to back down from a sliver of a chance of happiness. He sure as hell looked awkward sitting there, though.
Then the intoxicating whiff of peaches, sweet and adorable, comes closer. Zenitsu was walking up to him, most likely hesitant to do so since they haven't talked properly in a while.
As soon as he turns around, his dark pupils dilate, staring in what he could only describe as awe. He watches as Zenitsu walks into the field of grass, each step steady and unnerved. In the moonlit sky, his beautiful golden hair could enrapture everyone's attention. He was no exception to this.
His hair is braided into large braids too, the red stringed ribbon he'd bought months ago tying it together. Like this afternoon, his heart maddeningly skipped beats.
He isn't wearing his normal haori either, instead swarmed in a pale white one with soft yellow accents. Tanjirou can't help but notice how lovely the white fit his lover.
"T-Tanjirou...!" The graceful image is broken by a loud wail of his name. Tanjirou is over there to meet him halfway in a flash. Zenitsu is sobbing when he nears him, unabashed tears falling from his eyes in succession. "I-I'm sorry! You'll never forgive me for this bu-"
"I know, Zen," Tanjirou stifles a laugh at the wide eyes blaring at him in response to his statement. Frail, trembling fingers are clutching onto his shoulders in a death grip, and the slobbering mess of a face really shouldn't be so alluring.
Tanjirou lifts his hand, cupping Zenitsu's cheek gently. His thumb traces and wipes away the tears that have yet to cease with as much care as he could muster. The latter nuzzles into his palm, sniffling.
"I actually..." He croaks, breath stolen away by how beautiful Zenitsu looked. "I have something for you."
A bright ring, as golden as his (future) husband's hair, stays heavy inside the pocket of Tanjirou's old checkered haori.