Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was unusual that their school got new students that didn't come with the usual changing of years. Most students went to the prerequisite schools that allowed you into this high school. It wasn't hard to get into, it had low standards. Occasionally people would change high schools where they finished their first year at one school, and started their 2nd here at this school. Even rarer were the kids who transferred in the middle of the school year. So of course, when, at the end of May, it was announced class 2-B was going to get a new transfer student, people were a little surprised, and talked.

People always talked about things like this. People always debated gender. It was the main topic since they hoped they could make their tv drama fantasies of dating an attractive transfer student come true.

People's debates came to an end when class 2-B’s teacher revealed their long awaited answer along with some crucial bits of information that immediately split the school into two groups on the new kid 2 days before their arrival.

Or, Zenitsu supposed, his arrival. He got to hear all about the divide in school opinion.

There were the sympathizers, and the judges, they already didn't like the new boy when the information was revealed.

“I almost forgot, before class starts, there's some crucial information you should all be aware of when the transfer student arrives.” The teacher's words caused all who were listening to perk up, and they even caught the attention of those who weren't listening. Zenitsu was always listening, so of course he perked up, hoping they'd learn the new student’s gender. How he wished it was a girl. He was disappointed as the teacher continued. “First of all, this is his first time in a school, he had previously been taught by the director of the orphanage he's lived at for the past 11 years.”

Murmurs immediately erupted from the class. Zenitsu could hear all of them. This was just the beginning of the divide.

“First time in a school? The dude must be an idiot.”

“Dude's an orphan, loser.”

“Do you hear that? He was there for 11 years, so he was there since he was 5. That's a prime age to be adopted. How bad must he be to not get adopted for 11 years?”

“Wonder what it's like to not be wanted.”

“The dude's going to be so scared being in a school for the first time at 16.”

“I wonder what happened to his family.”

“I can only imagine he's got attachment issues having gone so long without being adopted.”

“We'll show him someone wants him around.”

Zenitsu raised his hand. He was called on. He asked the question he had heard at least 7 times throughout the class. “Miss, why was the boy at an orphanage? What happened to his family?” It was rather personal of a question before having even met the guy, but curiosity was strong.

The teacher shook her head. “While the school does know, as the director had shared that information with us, it's not my place to tell you. It's his past to tell to whom when he pleases. Do not bug him about it. Oftentimes, an orphan's background was traumatic for them and he may have triggers that set off some PTSD, so be respectful.”

A girl raised her hand. “What's PTSD,” she asked.

“Good question. PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's a condition in which someone has a hard time recovering from a traumatic event in their life. This can be something that carries with a person their whole life and can make life difficult at times. People may have triggers that cause memories of the event to resurface and they can cause them to display intense emotional and physical reactions. So let's. Be thoughtful and try not to trigger him.”

“How will I know how not to trigger him if I don't know what his triggers are?” The question was an honest one, but the tone in which it was was rude, and ignorant.

“The director didn't know them himself, so we haven't a clue either. According to the director, he's never shown obvious signs that something triggers him. But, he has shown interesting behaviors in terms of his sense of touch, so be careful when you're touching him.”

Some of the girls went quiet. Having interesting reactions to touch could mean a lot of things, two in particular, one of which the girls were not unfamiliar with.

“Moving on from that, we've also been informed he's dyslexic and has a severe difficulty in terms of reading and writing, so if you see him being given certain privileges that would not be given to you guys, don't question it. It's mainly until he's caught up with everything.”

There were groans, and protests, mainly from the boys. The girls were too busy being empathetic to even argue about that.

After class had ended Zenitsu approached his best friend, Tanjiro. They talked, mainly about the new student. Tanjiro had somewhat known this information already as he was a member of the student council. Zenitsu learned from Tanjiro that the new student's name was Inosuke Hashibira.

Damn, having dyslexia with a name like that? It’s only five kanji, but phonetically, it was an interesting name to spell. Zenitsu didn’t know much about dyslexia, but Tanjiro did and was willing to help fill in the gaps and even pulled up a video that gave a small simulation of what things looked like as a person with dyslexia.

As expected, they weren’t the only ones whose topic of conversation was the new kid. Word about him being an orphan and dyslexic spread like wildfire, and by the time the boy was to arrive two days later, the whole school knew.

As anticipated, the boy was to be introduced at 1st period. People murmured as they awaited the teacher to arrive. When she did, silence struck the room right behind her was the boy in question. Or girl? Were they positive this was a guy?

He was much too pretty to be a guy, but he had the muscles to prove it. His shirt was completely unbuttoned, most likely much to the teachers’ dismay. There had likely been various arguments about it, but they probably let it go due to his sensitivity to touch. His chest was nicely toned and his arms were the same. Everything about his body screamed man, his hands and everything else seemed so… feminine.

His hands were dainty and looked to be so silky smooth. His neck was so slim like something you’d find on a girl. His face was the most feminine bit to him. His chin and jaw were slim and not as rough looking as a guy’s. His nose was a perfect medium, not too big, not too small. His lips were a pale pink and the perfect size, though they looked a bit chapped. The prettiest parts though were his eyes, and the hair that framed his face.

His eyes were round and big like a girl, and his eyelashes were much more prominent than a guy’s. On top of that, they were a beautiful emerald green. They were the shade of new leaves on the trees in spring, or fields of grass as far as the naked eye could see. They held a sparkle to them that spoke solely of determination, maybe a little fear too. Couldn’t blame him. All eyes were on him and this was an entirely new setting for him.

His hair was about shoulder length and kind of wavy. He had messy bangs that went everywhere and encased his eyes beautifully. His hair was black at night but as one followed the length of his hair it was noticeable that it faded to a navy blue and a very light blue near the bottom that it was like the hair was glowing. It’s amazing they let him get away with a dyed color like that. Unless it was like Zenitsu’s yellow and orange hair, it was entirely natural. But it had to be dyed. Then again it looked super natural.

Zenitsu wasn’t the only one who thought it strange. Some of the boys even made verbal comments on the boy’s looks. Zenitsu for once didn’t hear what they were saying. The boy was just too… captivating.

Chapter Text

He had seen the world as gray and dull all his life with exceptions.

For the five years of his life, anything that was pure red, he saw red. The last red he saw was the red of lights that saved him from that house.

For the next 11 years, there was only one thing with color and it was the prismatic eyes that raised him. Those eyes had always been as void of emotion as his world had been void of color. Never once did those prismatic eyes fill with fury, no matter how many times adults yelled and complained about him. The last time he saw those prismatic eyes, they went white and all he saw was pink.

He’s only seen pink for a week. He thought he’d only see pink till he was 18. That changed today.

Today he saw the world in color. One color was brighter than all the rest.

Yellow.

And it was because of him.

Chapter Text

Zenitsu had never believed people when they said they disliked someone right off the bat of meeting them. That was stupid, you just met them. How could you know you don’t like them? Then the new boy spoke. Zenitsu could swear, if this was an anime with one of those likeability or expectations meters for the audience, it would have dropped so fast it shattered.

“The fuck are you laughing at, bitch?!” The voice was uncomfortable, like stepping on gravel barefoot. On top of that his volume and wording made it clear as day he was an easily agitated person, and a loud one at that. With him in the class, quiet and peace would no longer exist in their vocabularies.

The boys laughing at him only laughed harder which pissed the new boy off even more. He let out a sound like he was growling. Was he a fucking animal? Zenitsu was starting to hate this boy and he could hear whispers start around the room saying similar things. This boy was going to be so far down in the social ladder by the end of the day he wouldn't even be on the social ladder. He was going to be the target of bullying, the one everyone framed for shit, and got blamed for everything.

Zenitsu could hear people making predictions already.

“He’s gonna rape someone one day,” one girl said.

“Or murder someone,” her friend responded.

“Either way, if anyone in this school has a future of jail, it's him.”

People were predicting he’d start using illegal substances if he wasn't using them already. Predictions that he’d probably abuse anyone that got in a relationship with him, or that he’d be a horrible team mate. People were already making insults, and those who sat next to the only available seat were moving their desks as far as they could without getting in trouble. Probably the worst predictions Zenitsu heard were bets on the boy commiting suicide.

They were happening in the back right corner.

“He’s not going to survive highschool.”

“Absolutely not. 1,000 yen says he commits and jumps by mid terms.”

“Oh please. First of all, he’s definitely the type to hang himself. Second, with those guys as the bullies? 15 hundred yen says he’s gone by the end of summer break.”

Holy shit. Were people always this cruel? They’re even predicting how he’ll kill ¹himself. He doesn't like him either, but still, that’s harsh.

“Dude, pick a gender.”

“Yeah, are you sure you have a dick down there?” The boys in the front high fived each other as the new boy’s eyes turned into a blazing field of anger.

“You got a fucking problem with my face?!” His gravelly voice boomed in the room. Zenitsu had to cover his ears. This guy was beautiful, but obnoxious.

Zenitsu could see the boys were fully prepared to make another stab at the boy’s looks but they were cut off by the class rep, and Zenitsu’s best friend Tanjiro.

He stood and spoke. “No. In fact, the girlish shape, size, and complexion is quite attractive.” Zenitsu almost laughed. He forgot Tanjiro was a bisexual, so of course, someone with the body of a man but the face of a woman would be somewhere in his type range. Zenitsu could not argue with his friend if he started raving about how Pretty the new boy was later, he himself was bisexual and the boy's looks were undeniable. The new boy turned his attention to Tanjiro.

“Who are you?” He asked, his voice toning down a bit to mostly curiosity and his eyebrows knit together to create a somewhat confused look on his face.

“My name is Tanjiro Kamado. Please, feel free to refer to me as Tanjiro. I’m the class representative. I’d like to apologize for my peers’ behavior. You must be Inosuke Hashibira, correct? We’ve all been looking forward to having you join our class.” Inosuke’s eyebrows knit closer together. He was kind of cute when his face wasn’t contorted with anger. Maybe if he just didn’t speak he would actually be likeable.

He nodded slowly as if he was trying to process what Tanjiro had said. That he grinned and confusion left his expression. “You may call me your Great Lord Inosuke!”

Yup. He was gonna get bullied. If his life disadvantages, looks, and aggressive personality didn’t already set that in stone, it certainly was now.

The boys up front started laughing again and before chaos could ensue again, the teacher hushed them up and pointed Inosuke to his seat, which, to Zenitsu’s surprise, was not the one that was open, but instead the seat directly in front of him as it was right next to Tanjiro’s desk. The girl who had previously been sitting there got moved to the open seat. This had probably been decided because Tanjiro was the class rep and Inosuke was going to need all the help he could get.

Boy did he need it. The entirety of every class he had been fidgeting in his seat whether it be swaying side to side, tapping his foot to the floor, or tapping the desk with a pencil or his finger. He kept lookin around and looking at Zenitsu, not paying attention to the lectures at all. He kept playing with his hair by combing it with his free hand when he was trying to focus on something. Zenitsu noticed he would write with both hands, and when he glanced around the boy he could tell that, while the writing was messy with horrible grammar and spelling, he could write with equal quality on both sides. Neat. Zenitsu had never met someone who was ambidextrous before. Sure, his favorite male celebrity, Uzui, Tengen, was ambidextrous, but he had never known someone in person that was like that.

Other than that, the boy was horrible at anything. For Japanese and English, when he had been asked to read even just a sentence to the class it took him like three minutes. For Math he heard him do like every equation incorrectly except one which was the question the Math teacher would give them to be funny as it was something a first grader could do. The question was literally 2 + 3. It’s five, and yet the guy still took two minutes to solve it! At least he got it right. Either this guy was just incredibly stupid, or that Orphanage Director failed horribly at his job.

When lunch finally rolled around Zenitsu was so happy to go see and spend time around people he could tolerate. That included…

“Nezuko-chaaaan,” he called as he ran and threw himself at his best friend’s younger sister. He missed and fell to the floor when she stepped backwards so she wouldn’t fall when he landed on her. He wasn’t mad at her for it. He would want her to get hurt. He loved her too much. She giggled when his face planted to the floor.

She was only in her first year of high school compared to the rest of their friend group.There were 3 others among the group apart from Tanjiro, his sister Nezuko, and himself. There was also Kanao Tsuyuri-Kocho and Aoi Kanzaki-Kocho from class 2-A, they were adopted sisters of the same household and both decided to hyphen their last names with the surname of the house they had been adopted into. Lastly, There Was Genya Shinazugawa from class 2-C, he was being raised by his elder brother who scared Zenitsu shitless, but at the same time was the equivalent of a mom to the entire group which Zenitsu could only imagine was because he also took care of his and Genya’s five other little siblings. Zenitsu respected him for taking care of that many people at 22 while being single, he could never.

Zenitsu got off the school cafeteria floor to sit at the table with his friends. He tried to sit next to Nezuko, but Tanjiro sat in the space between the two; he wasn’t fond of his best friend’s constant attempts to hit on his little sister. He pouted to his best friend who just looked away. There was no way he was going to get Tanjiro to budge so he just pulled out his lunch so he could begin eating.

“So,” Aoi piped up. “What’s the new boy like? He was coming today, wasn’t he?” Zenitsu nodded and swallowed his bite of food before Tanjiro could be the first to reply.

“He’s horrible! The guy is so obnoxiously loud, and he’s no stranger to curse words, his voice is so uncomfortable to listen to, and he’s a fucking idiot. It took him like two minutes to solve 2 + 3, and 3 minutes to read a single sentence to the class. I get he’s dyslexic, but damn. He can’t wear a shirt properly, and he can't sit still to save his life! He yelled in class that it was too quiet during reading time. I like it being quiet, thank you! You know, maybe, I’d excuse his behavior if he looked the part for someone with that personality, but no! He’s gorgeous which is the worst part about it. Don’t even get me started on how he told us to refer to him as ‘the Great Lord Inosuke’. Who does he think he is?” Zenitsu took a frustrated bite of his egg salad sandwich that he brought for school and continued talking despite there being food in his mouth. “He’s going to get bullied so horribly, and I honestly don’t feel bad about it.”

Tanjiro sighed. “What Zenitsu is trying to say is that he’s having a rough time adjusting on his first day in school. He’s got a lot of energy and doesn’t seem to be good when he doesn’t have a way to vent that energy, he may also have a learning disability such as Autism or ADHD. I could smell the anxiety coming from him the entire time. He’ll get there, he just needs a little time to adjust to his surroundings. Zenitsu was lying about him being pretty though.”

“From how Zenitsu described him, he sounds awful, but, how pretty could he be,” Genya questioned. “We all know you both have somewhat low standards in terms of beauty. Zenitsu doesn’t have beauty standards for girls at all, just men.”

“That’s because I think all women are beautiful. Especially girls like Nezuko-chan.” Zenitsu smiled across Tanjiro at Nezuko, but she didn’t look at him as she ate a thing of bread probably from her family’s bakery. Zenitsu turned back to the rest of the group. “But he is unnaturally pretty. If you covered up chest and arms, he could easily pass for a girl, it’s insane.”

“He does have a rather feminine face,” Tanjiro added.

“Yeah, you called him attractive in front of the entire class!” The table laughed upon hearing this as Tanjiro blushed a bit.

“Can you blame me,” he fired back at Zenitsu. “You were ogling him the second he walked through the door, at least until he started speaking.”

“I never denied that he was pretty. I absolutely thought he was stunning and captivating. But when he started speaking, ugh, I lost any and all interest.” Tanjiro rolled his eyes.

“Now I kind of want to see him,” Nezuko spoke in her lovely angelic voice which was pure bliss to Zenitsu’s ears after they had been tortured all day by an animalistic boy.

“Is that him? I haven’t seen that face around school before.” Kanao, the ever so quiet lady, finally participated in the conversation as she looked at the door to the cafeteria.

Kanao guessed right when she noticed an unfamiliar face. Inosuke had entered the cafeteria with a pink bento box in hand and found an empty table to sit at, not even making an attempt to join a table of people. Maybe it had to do with the fact he was new and he didn’t know how to ask to be friends? Zenitsu couldn’t imagine a world where the boy would have friends at any point in his life. Tanjiro confirmed to the table that the boy was indeed Inosuke.

“Damn,” Genya stated in shock. “You two weren’t kidding that he was pretty. I’d have mistaken him for a girl if his chest wasn’t on display for everyone to see.” 4

While they were watching, which Zenitsu noticed a few other tables were doing the same, they got to witness the very start of the bullying Zenitsu had predicted earlier. One second Inosuke had been calmly eating some rice by himself, and the next, the boys from their class were next to him holding his bento in the air while standing on their tippy toes. Zenitsu knew that no one else at the table could hear what they were saying due to the distance and talking of the tables not watching the scene, but he could hear it loud and clear.

“What’ cha got here, Hashibira,” The tallest of boys, his name Akane, teased as he was taking the bento box from Inosuke.

“Is that fucking pink bento box? What are you? A girl?” Another boy, Kei, teased.

“Hey, look, it’s got a note from the bitch who took pity on him for being abandoned.” A third boy, Minamoto, picked up whatever note and started reading it in a mock old lady voice. “‘Dear Inosuke, I prepared you your favorite, Tempura, for your first day of school. Have a good day. I’ll see you later. With love, Granny.’” The boys laughed at the note. “Dude she even left a heart. What a fucking Mama’s boy.”

“Dude!” Akane laughed. “Did you forget? He’s an orphan. He doesn’t have a mom.”

“Give me back my fucking food, you’re my minions so you do what I tell you!” Inosuke stood from his seat to get his food back. Much to his dismay though it seemed Inosuke was on the shorter side while Akane reached a full 6 feet tall, so Inosuke was at a large disadvantage.

“What if I don’t? Are you going to run to your mommy and daddy’s graves? How would you find them if you can’t read?” Akane taunted. Inosuke got close to Akane and tried jumping and climbing him to get his food back, but right as he was finally about to touch the bottom of the box, Akane purposefully dumped Inosuke’s food onto Inosuke himself and the floor.

That’s when shit went downhill. Zenitsu watched in horror as Inosuke wasted no time balling his hands into fists and throwing the first punch.

Chapter Text

Food had always been one of his favorite things. He loved the feeling and taste on his tongue. He loved stuffing his face till he could no longer do so. He loved the different tastes and textures. It was the only thing that texture never bothered him with.

He was very protective of his food. If you tried to take it, he would fight you for it. However, he was a hypocrite. He loved taking other people’s food. Sometimes what was given to him was not enough, so if there was food in front of him somewhere, even if it was not meant for him, he would take it.

There was only one food he never touched unless it was for him, and that was birthday cakes. He hated his birthday cake getting touched, so why would he touch another’s cake? He was a hypocrite, but he wasn't evil. He had morals.

Either way, he loved food, and he would defend his food with his life. He doesn’t know why he was so possessive over food. He just was.

That was put on display when his food was taken while he was eating it. The fucker stole his food and wouldn’t give it back, and he wasn’t even trying to eat it. To him, that was a minor criminal offense.

But dumping it?

On his head, nonetheless?

That was a 3rd degree felony, and boy would the fucker pay for it.

Chapter Text

Zenitsu feels as though he shouldn't have been surprised when Inosuke wasn’t at school the next day, nor when the teacher told the class he had been suspended until the following day. He supposed he just hadn’t expected him to get suspended. Could you blame him? Who had ever heard of someone getting suspended on their first day of school? What he did expect was that Akane would have been suspended too, and yet the guy was in class like nothing had happened.

It didn’t make sense, why suspend the New kid for defending himself and not the kid who started it? He supposed it didn’t matter. He only had to deal with Inosuke in half a day’s worth of classes, and he was already grateful the walking definition of moron wasn’t sitting in front of him. He would not be able to listen to him be an idiot for another day.

The bell rang at noon, alerting the student body that it was time for lunch. Zenitsu packed up his belongings and grabbed his lunch. His group had gotten clearance to eat outside today and he was looking forward to seeing the lovely lady Nezuko bathed in sunlight. He couldn’t wait. But he had to wait for Tanjiro-...

He looked at Tanjiro’s seat, finding it empty. A note laid on his desk reading that he was out for Student council reasons and would meet with Zenitsu and the others midway through lunch. He had almost forgotten about that. He shrugged and walked through the halls, listening to the conversations going on in every classroom he passed.

He wasn’t a huge fan of gossip, nor rumors, but he enjoyed laughing to himself at the idiocy of his peers. Whether it be because they retold a stupid story, or were having a stupid conversation, he found it amusing.

His favorite conversation he had heard so far was a girl trying to spell ‘Orange’. She tried to spell it with a ‘D’. He had to give the girl credit, being that stupid was a talent, one he could appreciate when it wasn’t Inosuke being the culprit. Then again, he appreciated every female who crossed his path.

He continued to listen, catching wind of some rumors. Once again, he didn't like rumors. He had seen how horribly they can alter a person’s life. There were the occasional times where a rumor did good for someone, but they would always catch heat for it sooner or later. Very few were true which was even more of a reason he disliked them, putting a bad name on someone with false information just seemed cruel.

However, that didn’t stop him from knowing every rumor. Rumors had a tendency to make someone well known by the school for good or bad reasons, and if you were found interacting with someone that had a not good rumor about them, your life was basically doomed.

Zenitsu didn't want that, so he kept up on the rumors so he knew who to avoid and who not to avoid. It might have been mean to the other person, but at least he managed to stay away from being a social outcast because of it. There were some people who were immune to the effects of hanging out with an ill rumored person; Tanjiro and Nezuko were perfect examples.

He tuned into the rumors, but he missed the name that was being spoken about, nonetheless he listened in case it popped up again.

“You saw how aggressive he was, he has to be a part of some gang, right?” So they were bad rumors, definitely a guy to avoid interacting with.

“For sure. I heard he made the food fall on his own head so he would have a good reason to punch him.” Of course the rumors were about the new boy. Well, he didn’t need to listen to more, he knew who to avoid now, that’s all that mattered.

He continued walking. Admiring the girls that walked by, and listening to more conversations.

He tried to listen to different conversations all around but no matter what he listened to, a rumor about the new boy always popped up. Eventually the world around him got quieter, and what he heard were birds, bugs, hearts, cars, and more. There was still talking, but there were fewer voices, fewer conversations. He could relax, at least a little.

He approached the table his friends were sitting at, surprised to see two new faces. Though, part of him was becoming convinced that he had hit his head somewhere and was just seeing one face twice.

He sat to Genya’s right as Kanao was already on his left. Zenitsu’s seat was across from Nezuko’s. He would have sat next to Nezuko, but to her left sat Aoi, and to her right were the faces, or face? He still didn’t know.

He looked at them more, they had to be two different people. One of them seemed bitchy with an expression that made him seem as though he might be constipated. The other face was smiling, all happy as he chatted with Nezuko. Other than their expressions, there wasn't a single difference in their facial features. Their hair was even the same, with the exception that the happy one had his hair in a high ponytail.

“So, who are these people?” Zenitsu looked between the two newcomers, completely confused.

Genya was the first to respond. “They’re the Tokito twins. They’re in Nezuko’s class and supposedly her cousins. Don’t ask me to name them. I don’t know which is which.”

Zenitsu prepared to thank him but Aoi cut him off. “Muichiro is the one speaking with Nezuko. Yuichiro is the one who isn’t.”

Once again, he prepared to thank her, but, once again, he had been cut off, this time by the twins who had their attention grabbed by being named.

When the two spoke, they spoke in unison. Had it not been for the differences in tone of voice, Zenitsu would have assumed it was one person speaking. “Uh oh, you got it wrong.” The happy one looked around Nezuko at Aoi with a sing-song teasing tone to his voice, while the grumpy one kept his eyes on his food and spoke in monotone.

“No,” Aoi disagreed, looking at the twins. “ I know I'm right. You two may look alike, but you’re very different. Muichiro is usually a lot happier and more talkative than Yuichiro, plus, he’s the one with a ponytail. However, between the two of you, Yuichiro has the better grades because Muichiro has a shit memory.”

The twins looked at her then looked at each other. The silence at the lunch table was deafening, something Zenitsu could easily get used to.

The twins looked back at Aoi and one of them, Yuichiro, spoke. “You’re the first person not in our family to tell us apart. How?” His voice turned skeptical with his question and Aoi just turned to her food, shrugging.

“It becomes a simple skill when you live with identical triplets that act the same.” Kanao chuckled a little at her sister’s statement. Zenitsu was lucky he didn’t have to worry about identifying look-a-likes within his family since it was just him and his gramps. There used to be another who lived with them, but those were memories he preferred not to revisit.

Of the people at the table, Zenitsu was the only one not related to a set of twins or triplets. Genya had a set of younger siblings who were twins, however, he was not one that could relate to having difficulty telling them apart for one reason- they were Fraternal twins. It helped that the twins in question could not be more different. The blonde had only met the twins a handful of times but he knew that the girl of the twins was very sporty and almost the textbook definition of a popular preppy girl. On the other hand, her twin brother was next to the complete opposite as he preferred staying indoors, with a book, away from people.

It was always rather interesting meeting his friends' families. They were all so much bigger than his. He was almost jealous. He kind of wished sometimes that he had their lives. Someone to play with when he was younger. They all had experience with at least a parent in their lives. Zenitsu had never met his parents. It had always been him and Gramps against the world, just the two of them. He wished it could have been the three of them.

Now, however, Zenitsu had his friends. It was them all against the world.

It made him wonder though, did Inosuke have someone against the world with him? Was it the orphanage director? Another kid from the orphanage? Was it the person that adopted him? He wasn’t fond of the guy, but so far as Zenitsu could see, the world was against Inosuke. What had life been like for him?

Tanjiro’s presence snapped Zenitsu out of his thoughts.

“Sorry I’m late everyone.” The red haired boy finally joined the table, sitting next to Zenitsu. “Student council likes to keep me busy.”

Everyone looked at Tanjiro and greeted him. He was the reason everyone at the table were friends in the first place. Zenitsu knew for a fact that had Tanjiro not befriended all of them, Kanao and Aoi would only ever talk to each other, Genya would get into infinitely more trouble, and Zenitsu would have been a loner all his life. Nezuko would have been as perfect as she always is, and, considering he knew nothing about the twins, he couldn’t say how their lives would be impacted. Then again, if they are cousins with the Kamados, they probably would have been fine.

Zenitsu thought back to when he met Tanjiro. It had been their first year of highschool and Zenitsu had the ridiculously stupid idea of being a part of the disciplinary committee. While it had been nice to tell the troublemakers off for, well, making trouble, his inability to face conflicts that included himself made him susceptible to becoming the troublemakers' next target. When that happened, he lost all confidence and would do anything in his power to get away, which he usually succeeded at. However, there was one time, he had failed to get away. The trouble makers had him pinned and there was no escape route. He was sure he was done for. Then Tanjiro came over with a teacher and he was saved.

Zenitsu could still remember how Tanjiro’s gaze was ice cold as he watched the troublemakers follow the teacher, ashamed as they had been caught, only for his expression to change to the warmest and brightest smile he had ever seen when he looked at him. If Tengen Uzui hadn’t already been his bi awakening then, Tanjiro sure would have been. Zenitsu is still grateful for that a year later. He smiled at the thought and tuned back into the conversation, returning from his thoughts.

Genya was talking, more like complaining, about how his brother has a boyfriend now and the mood change his brother has with the guy around versus when he’s not around.

“I can’t complain too much, the guy is absurdly nice. He’s a teacher in training. He’s huge though. 7’2”. It’s insane. I don’t know what his parents fed him, but he is too damn big!” Zenitsu joined in as the table laughed. Nezuko and Kanao giggled rather than laughed but it was adorable. Especially Nezuko’s. He looked at her lovingly. She was perfect.

Hours went by and the school day finally ended. It was a nice and peaceful day, one that Zenitsu was glad was not tainted by an obnoxious pretty boy.He walked home with Tanjiro and Nezuko, something he did regularly as their house was on the way to his.

Occasionally, their walks would be sped up and consist of arguing between him and Tanjiro as he was overprotective of his little sister. During these walks they would rough house as Tanjiro worked to keep him away and Nezuko would just walk, paying them no mind.

Other days, Nezuko would, again, just pay them no mind, as Zenitsu and Tanjiro talked about their celebrity crushes, Tengen Uzui and Daki, or about Tanjiro’s realistic crush, Kanao. The poor guy was as down bad for her as the blonde was for his little sister. He loved talking about her. Particularly her sweet smile. It never came as a surprise to Zenitsu that the guy with the brightest smile loved his crush’s smile the most. It just made sense to Zenitsu, he couldn’t explain why.

When their walks after school inevitably came to an end, Zenitsu would have goodbye, blow Nezuko a kiss, and head off to his house, plugging his headphones in, and listening to music as he walked the rest of the way.

Normally, when he would arrive home, he would be greeted by Gramps’ Chihuahua Sir Arthur, or as they called him, Artie. However, when he made it home today, before he even had the chance to get inside, Zenitsu noticed something was off. There were two cars in the driveway. There was Gramps’ white Toyota 4Runner, per usual, but there was also a metallic pink Malibu Chevrolet. The blonde didn't’ recognize the latter of the two and it threw him off. Who was here?

He approached the side of the pink car and looked through the window. Inside was almost spotless and clutterless with the exception being a stuffed boar in the back seat. Was there someone with a child visiting? If so, who was Gramps friends with that had a child?

Confused, he continued inside, still expecting a small, old, shivering dog to come greet him, but that didn’t happen. The dog was in the living room where the front door was, but he was preoccupied with something else. No. He was preoccupied with someone else.

Artie was laying in the lap of a boy with black hair, lightly tanned skin, and big green eyes.

Zenitsu was stunned and managed to spit out only one sentence, “What the fuck?”

Chapter Text

Animals were great. He loved animals. He loved watching animals and getting to know them. He loved getting close to them, and for some reason, they liked to reciprocate the feelings. He was dumbfounded how stray cats or dogs, or owned cats and dogs, would willingly approach him. It confused him, but he liked it.

He liked animals for a multitude of reasons, one of such reasons was because they liked him. Others didn’t so it made him smile when something didn’t leave him just because he was him. Another reason he liked animals was because they were so interesting. So interesting to the point he actually bothered to learn more about them. He knew a lot about any animal. All you had to do was ask him a question and he probably had the answer to it. He was particularly knowledgeable about boars. They were his favorite animal. Could you blame him? They were fucking cool.

His third reason for liking them was that they always, with him at least, liked to cuddle up with him, and they were so soft. He loved kitties for this reason. He liked dogs because they were almost always in the mood to have fun. Some dogs, however, behaved more like cats. Not that he minded, he liked dog snuggles.

Now, was no exception. He had entered a house he didn’t know with the old hag as she wanted to meet with her friend. Upon entering, a small dog came up to him and barked at him till he sat down with his legs folded across each other. The dog, Arthur as the old hag’s friend called it, curled up in his lap almost immediately and closed its eyes to rest there. He petted the dog, showing it some gentle love as the adults talked and laughed about old people stuff in another room.

He stayed that way until someone walked in through the front door. He looked, almost blinded by the yellow as he heard the first thing that left the newcomer’s mouth.

“What the fuck?