Chapter Text
The rooftop of Zenitsu’s school was almost always empty, save for lunch time, when he and his five friends would sit in a circle and eat together. Usually, he would be the last to arrive, but on that particular day, he was the first. He pulled his zip up hoodie tighter, shivering as a gust of wind hit his back.
“Just my luck,” he whined to himself. “No lunch AND I'm freezing c–”
He was cut off by his own scream of terror as Nezuko Kamado, the school’s infamous “door-kicker,” kicked open the door to the roof. Not alarmed by his shrieking at all, she turned to Zenitsu and waved, her eyes crinkling at the corners. It was the only indication that she was smiling, her mouth being obscured by the pink surgical mask she always wore.
“Seriously, Zenitsu?” Her eyebrows furrowed angrily as she approached and sat down next to him, lunchbox in hand. “No food again?”
“Hinatsuru-san’s still sick, apparently,” he whined as Nezuko unpacked her lunchbox with a fervor. “And Uzui-san’s other two wives still can't figure out how to cook.”
Nezuko placed various vegetables and a small helping of rice on a napkin and handed it to Zenitsu. “Then make your own lunch. You can't keep mooching off of Tanjiro just because he’s too nice to let you go hungry, so you can have some of mine today. But next week you're on your own. Quit being lazy.”
Zenitsu wilted a bit under Nezuko’s glare, but thanked her quietly for the food.
As Nezuko pulled down her mask and began eating, the door opened again and out walked Genya. He was very tall, and stronger than both Zenitsu and Nezuko combined, but he waved at them quietly. Despite his short temper and general standoffishness, he was pretty timid, especially around girls.
“Hey, Genya!” Nezuko waved back with enthusiasm and patted the concrete spot next to her, motioning for Genya to sit down.
Zenitsu paused his eating and giggled. The sound that Genya made was usually very steady, but Zenitsu could hear it wavering slightly.
“Did your brother yell at you again?”
Genya sighed, sitting down next to Nezuko. “Sanemi’s been on my ass about me not doing my math homework,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Oh, are you still having trouble with it?” Tanjiro, Nezuko’s older brother, said as he walked through the doorway and held it open, waiting for what sounded like two other people to finish climbing the stairs.
Tanjiro, much like Nezuko, was caring but strict. But unlike Nezuko, he doted on his friends far too much and couldn't tell a lie to save his life. Walking in behind him were Muichiro and Kanao. Muichiro was soft spoken, young, and very small, but he was hardly ever nice, except to Tanjiro. Kanao was smart and strong and often had to avoid running into the girl’s sports teams that were constantly trying to recruit her.
Tanjiro sat down on Genya’s other side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I could always help you out with your homework, you know.”
Muichiro and Kanao sat down, completing the circle. Zenitsu ended up sitting between Nezuko and Muichiro, which wasn't exactly ideal, but he figured if he didn't make eye contact with Muichiro it would work out.
Genya grabbed a tangerine from his lunch, picking at the peel. “As much as I want to accept your offer, Tanjiro–” he gave the boy in question a meaningful look “--my brother hasn't been very fond of you ever since that head butting incident. I don't think he’d approve of me going and studying with you instead of him.”
Tanjiro smiled guiltily, taking his hand off of Genya’s shoulder.
“The bakery’s always closed on Sundays, so we can do it there rather than at your house or school,” Nezuko offered. “You could always just tell him you’re just gonna get lunch with us.”
Tanjiro nodded. “We can also invite everyone else so if he gets suspicious and checks it out, it'll just look like we’re hanging out.” He turned to the other three. “What do you guys think?”
“I'm up for it if Nezuko will make us lunch,” Kanao said with a smile.
Muichiro shrugged. “I’ll go.”
“Actually,” Zenitsu rubbed the back of his neck, “I could probably also use some help with math, too.”
Nezuko clasped her hands together. “Alright! Since everyone’s coming over, how about I make some cupcakes?”
Even Muichiro perked up at that, though only slightly.
The 6 of them continued to discuss their plans for Sunday, though most of it was just an at-length discussion of how good Nezuko’s cooking was.
“By the way,” Tanjiro said, changing the topic, “how’s Inosuke?”
All eyes turned to Zenitsu, who grimaced. Inosuke was Zenitsu’s neighbor. None of his friends had ever properly met Inosuke, but Zenitsu would complain about him almost daily, which they found entertaining, as if they were listening to gossip.
“As annoying as always,” he said. He tried to sound bothered, but everyone could tell he liked complaining. “Yesterday, after school, he tried to walk into a store with a ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service,’ policy while barefoot and shirtless.” He sighed, his brows furrowing. “...as per usual. He tried arguing with the manager that he should be the sole exception.”
“Did you get to see his face yet?” Nezuko asked. She seemed to always be the most interested in what Inosuke’s face looked like hidden behind his boar helmet. It was likely the result of her reading one too many romance novels.
“Nope. I finally tried just asking him to take the boar helmet off like Tanjiro suggested–” he shot a withering glare at Tanjiro “--and he said I’d have to beat him in a fight first and punched me in the arm.” He leaned closer to Tanjiro. “Which is what I SAID would happen.”
Once again, Zenitsu let out a sigh, though this one was more sullen. “Worst of all, I doubt I'll ever get a girlfriend with a guy like him around me all the time.”
“Right. Because Inosuke is the reason girls don't like you.” Muichiro stared at Zenitsu judgmentally.
Zenitsu’s entire demeanor did a full 180 as he sat up straight and raised his voice. “As if girls like YOU?”
“I’m not pathetically desperate for a girlfriend. It’s different.”
“Sorry could you repeat that? I stopped listening when you said 'I'm not pathetic.’”
“Cut it out!” Nezuko shouted, and both boys did as they were told. Zenitsu could hear Kanao and Genya suppressing the urge to laugh. Nezuko rubbed her temples. “Zenitsu, why do you want a girlfriend so bad anyway? Do you have anyone in mind that you want to date?”
Zenitsu shook his head as if the answer was obvious. “Nope, any girl that likes me will do.”
They’d had this conversation before, but Nezuko made the same incredulous expression she did the first time. “Why are you so desperate to get a girlfriend if you'll just go for anyone anyway? You're just fine on your own.”
“But I'm not fine on my own! If I graduate high school and move out and I don't have a girlfriend with me, I'll surely die!” He squinted at Nezuko accusingly. “Is that what you want? For me to die?”
Nezuko opened her mouth to respond, but Tanjiro quickly cut her off. “Lunch is almost over,” he said nervously. “We should, uh, get going.”
Everyone made an almost relieved noise of agreement as they packed up their remaining food. Zenitsu crumpled up his napkin and smiled, a complete 180 once again.
“Thanks for the food, Nezuko!”
Nezuko's shoulders slumped, defeated, and she smiled back. “You’re welcome.”
As she watched Zenitsu leave, she turned to Tanjiro, slipping her mask back over her mouth.
“He really is shameless, isn't he?” She spoke as if she was just teasing, but Tanjiro could smell a hint of anger.
“What do you mean?”
Nezuko turned around, walking towards the exit. “Nevermind.”
Walking out the school doors with Tanjiro, Zenitsu came to a sudden stop when a familiar sound made itself apparent.
“Hi, Inosuke!” Tanjiro waved excitedly at the boar headed boy standing at the edge of the school grounds. The boar made no effort to respond, instead huffing and looking away. Tanjiro, undaunted, turned to Zenitsu with his usual grin.
“Well, I should wait here for Nezuko,” he said. “I’ll see you on Sunday?”
Zenitsu looked at Inosuke, clearly annoyed, but in a rare, shining moment, he kept his complaints to himself. “Yeah. See you.”
Inosuke’s gaze was hard to pinpoint due to his mask, but as Zenitsu got closer, he could tell that the boar was staring at Tanjiro. He sounded frustrated.
“What’s his deal?” Inosuke said as Zenitsu walked past him, towards their houses. Still talking, he followed suit. “He’s always waving at me all familiar-like, even though I don't know him! Stupid Shinjiro! Is he trying to fight me!?”
“He's trying to be polite, Inosuke.” No matter how hard he tried to ignore him, Zenitsu always found himself entertaining Inosuke's nonsensical, fight-centric rants. “Most normal people would wave back at him.”
“Is that so?” Inosuke paused, as if genuinely considering this fact. His bare feet made small tapping sounds on the concrete. “Well you said I’m not normal! So I don't have to!” He spoke as if he had just caught Zenitsu in a lie.
Zenitsu grit his teeth, resisting the urge to speed up, for he knew Inosuke would assume it was a race. “Being not normal isn't a good thing.”
“Still don’t have to wave back. I’m the king of the mountains, I don't follow the orders of mere humans.”
“JUST WAVE AT HIM!”
Nezuko watched the two boys walk away, arguing about pointless nonsense just for the sake of getting angry. She felt almost sympathetic.
“We should bail Zenitsu out from having to hang out with Inosuke all the time, shouldn't we?” She said to her brother.
Tanjiro shook his head, smiling self-assuredly. “No, I’m sure they'll be fine on their own.”
Nezuko knew her brother wasn't the type of person to leave someone hanging just to be petty. He certainly knew what he was talking about. Still, as she watched Zenitsu scream-lecture Inosuke about something or other and get punched in the arm as a result, all she could say was,
“....if you say so.”