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1. Words of affirmation
Shining. That was the easiest way to describe Tanjiro, Inosuke thought. Completely and utterly shining, from his bubbly and bright personality down to his smile, all of him was radiating with a shine so immersive it drew Inosuke in like a moth to a flame.
Inosuke loved Tanjiro’s shine, that much he was sure of, after all he wouldn’t be with someone if he didn’t like them for who they were. He is a very peculiar and specific character after all, if someone didn’t like him he simply wouldn’t like them back out of spite. Lucky for him Tanjiro has liked him since the beginning, despite finding him odd at first, and as a result has made the boar boy stick by his side throughout everything they’ve experienced regardless of them not having that much time under their belts together.
Their personalities clashed in the best of ways, bringing out parts the other didn’t display while remaining their authentic selves. Inosuke is a selfish person, except when it came to Tanjiro, with him he felt like a sane person and that someone could match his freak and bizarre nature. Tanjiro made Inosuke more determined than ever, while Inosuke drove Tanjiro to his fullest potential, they were a perfect match for each other or so Mitsuri had gushed to them about a thousand times by now.
Either way, he loved his boyfriend (even though he’ll never verbally say that) and wanted to show him that, in a way that wasn’t telling him directly - he may be the king of the mountains and fearless but even he gets slightly embarrassed by saying the ‘L’ word, granted it is just Tanjiro, the ball of sunshine himself, he’s afraid of telling. So alternatively he came up with a plan, a genius plan he believed, of complimenting Tanjiro instead of telling him that icky ‘L’ word. He wanted to see Tanjiro blush again, he’d only seen it once before and that was during their first (and only) official hug after the battle with Upper six duo Daki and Gyutaro. Since then he hasn’t been able to get that image out of his head; he decided he needed to strike soon in order to see it for a second time how cute Tanjiro all red was.
So that morning around 7am, when he saw Tanjiro training alone, he decided it would be the perfect time to pounce on his unsuspecting maroon haired victim. Watching as the boy landed hit after hit to the air he was sparring against with his beaten up bamboo sword, he slowly creeped up behind him. With the off-chance that his loving boyfriend hadn’t picked up his scent yet due to being too focused on his training, Inosuke took this as the chance to throttle him.
“AHAHAHAHA!” Inosuke cheered as he jumped onto Tanjiro’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around his petite waist.
“Ah! Inosuke, good morning!” His lover caught him with ease, his hand dropping the sword on the floor and moving to the underneath of his legs, holding him securely in place.
“Good morning to ya! Ahahaha!” He yelled directly into Tanjiro’s ear. He was definitely used to it at least a little bit but the scream still made him wince slightly, moving a hand to cover his ear.
“You’re as energetic as ever I see.” Tanjiro smiled, turning his head to look at Inosuke, who had now moved his arms to wave in the air in excitement.
“Yuh.” he responded before remembering his actual mission, not to jump on Tanjiro but to compliment him somehow.
It’s not that he’s short on things to compliment, Tanjiro is really annoyingly easy to say nice things about, at least in Inosuke’s eyes. But whether or not he has the confidence to share them is another story. Sure, Inosuke sounded ready and felt it when he thought of the idea, now actually being in the moment he’s quite stumped.
Alternatively he chooses to just stare at his boyfriend intensely, causing the hanafuda earring wearing boy to, with a curious yet slightly nervous gaze, stare right back at him while scratching his cheek in a shy way. Inosuke’s brain short circuits trying to think of something to say, with those pretty ruby eyes looking at him there’s no way he can be a smooth talker like he wanted, he’s ending up as the flustered one instead. For his first time giving the ‘easy to compliment’ Tanjiro Kamado words of affirmation he sure was struggling to think on the spot.
After some strained noises of him trying to get the gears turning in his head, as his lover waited oh so patiently, he lets out the only thing he can think of:-
“Shiny eyes… pretty eyes…”
“H-huh?” Tanjiro’s ears went a slight pink, looking at Inosuke wide eyed, “What was that Inosuke?”
“I said you have shiny and pretty eyes damn it!”
Silence.
Silence as Tanjiro went from slightly pink to full-on red, the tips of his ears burning with embarrassment over the innocent words said by his boyfriend. He couldn’t believe what he had heard Inosuke, the unconventional and very aggressive boar boy raised alone in the mountains, being all soft worded and compassionate, complimenting him? He had to pinch himself to prove he wasn’t dreaming and that Inosuke, his Inosuke, had just said a compliment to him - a very basic one yes, but from him it meant the world to Tanjiro.
With a beet coloured exterior, Tanjiro mumbled out a quiet, “You really mean that?”
“I don’t say anything I don’t mean!” Inosuke loudly proclaimed, proud to have this reaction out of the taller boy. His ego boosted, he decides to continue this train and give his boyfriend more words of affection, liking the results it’s giving him.
“Thank you… Thank you Inosuke-“
“And I think you’re a strong demon slayer, not as strong as me though! You’ll have to fight me for that title, haha!” He did in fact have to add that last part, otherwise Tanjiro might forget who the boss is around here, it was him after all, Insouke concluded to himself.
“- I think you’re pretty too.”
More silence.
“Wait- I mean your eyes, your eyes are really pretty! Not that I can see them with that mask- Well you are too, I didn’t mean- Well I do mean it but- Your eyes and you are always really pretty and-“
Inosuke burst into a flustered mess. Just as Tanjiro tried to explain himself, he was short circuiting again, this time though from being complimented by Tanjiro. Sure, Tanjiro said nice things often to everyone, Inosuke was no exception, but in this moment he was at a complete loss for words. He decides while Tanjiro is talking to get off his back, which causes the poor checkered haori wearing boy to start talking faster - more flustered than before (if that was even possible!). Tanjiro turns to face him, stuttering his way through an explanation as Inosuke is silent. In his embarrassed state, Inosuke decides to shut Tanjiro up with a hug, wrapping his arms loosely around the taller boys neck and digging his face into the side of his boyfriends neck, taking in his scent - charcoal and pine wood, he notes, inhaling deeply.
Tanjiro immediately hugs back, slinging his arms around the ombré boys waist and humming quietly in content. That certainly make him go quiet, but in a good way, as the two share a moment of silence where they’re both just pink to the tips of their ears awkwardly moulding together in a hug. They’ve only done this once before, but somehow they slotted together perfectly, almost as if they’d done this numerous times before.
“Thanks, Inosuke.” He whispers to the boar boy, who just hums in return, too busy enjoying the feeling of being held. They stay like that for a while, quietly in each others arms as they take in each other's smells and body heat - both comfortable in the position they’re in, neither dare to be the first to remove themselves.
Tanjiro thinks he could get used to this side of Inosuke, even if they haven’t been dating long, he knew deep down somewhere that Inosuke felt like the one for him, he couldn’t explain how he knew that if you asked him, he simply just knew. He felt as though he belong there, wrapped up in the hold of his strong boyfriend, his whole body tingling with happiness at the contact. Their first hug was more one of worry and fear, thinking Inosuke had died back there he felt no positive emotions while hugging him then, this time however was different. The sensation travelling all around his body, sending dopamine to every muscle and joint it felt like, he couldn’t begin to put into words how perfect this moment was, even if he was embarrassed to his core, he wanted more moments like this of just him and his boyfriend.
“You’re really pretty too, not just with your shiny eyes.” He hears clear as day despite it coming from a muffled voice in his neck, and he cannot stop the tooth-shining grin that comes across his face; he brings a hand to his face to cover the smile away, he was even more embarrassed than he thought he could be, but he was also radiating joy, as was Inosuke’s smell - one of pure happiness and content.
Just as he was about to respond, another familiar voice could be heard approaching the duo, “Do you two really have to be training so early- … INSOUKE GET OFF HIM, YOU CANNOT BITE TANJIRO!” the two boys jumped apart at the voice, ah Zenitsu, the poor confused boy can’t comprehend that Inosuke would hug someone and assumed he was biting Tanjiro’s neck instead.
“HEY! FIGHT ME MONITSU!” Inosuke yelled out, acting as if nothing had happened, the redness of his face completely dissipated as he charged Zenitsu full force.
“Ah no! I don’t want to die yet!” Zenitsu began clinging onto Tanjiro’s sleeve, crying for the maroon haired boy to help ‘save’ him from the ‘ugly boar’. Tanjiro, still flustered by all the events that passed tried to shake him off, he needed time to process what just happened.
Seeing he would be of no help, Zenitsu began running in circles away from Inosuke around the training field as his boyfriend cackled maniacally. Tanjiro let out a content sigh as he shakes his head smiling, of course they’d both be fighting, typical, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s sad the moment had passed so soon, but he was sure that many more were going to happen now that the seal had been broken; and for that he was feeling all giddy inside again.
2. Quality time
Now with that fiasco from the morning all over, Tanjiro decides it’s his chance to return the favour and give Inosuke a taste of his own medicine - in a nice way of course - when dinner time rolls around. Thanking Miss Aoi kindly with a bow, Tanjiro takes the box of food wrapped neatly in some purple cloth towards where Mister Himejima’s training regimen is stationed all the way across the demon slayer corps’ base. There he found Inosuke, trying to withstand the pressure of the waterfall flowing onto him, mumbling something incoherent while struggling to stay up straight. He smiled at the sight, proud of his boyfriend for being so resilient despite the hardships that came with hashira training, well it was Inosuke after all he’s always been a a strong-willed individual ever since they first met - which Tanjiro admires.
“Inosuke!” Tanjiro calls out, beads of sweat dripping from his head as he ran closer to the waterfall. He had ran the whole way here in hopes the rice balls would stay warm enough for Inosuke’s liking, something he learned about Inosuke very early on is that he likes his food warm since he always used to cook his own meals when he lived on the mountain, the warmer the better!
“Eh- oh Kompachiro!” He smiled as he let out a loud laugh, running away from the waterfall and over to the maroon haired boy.
“If you’re finished for dinner, do you want to come eat with me?” Tanjiro asked smiling back.
He displayed the box in his two hands, outstretching it to show Inosuke to entice and give him some incentive to join the checkered haori wearing boy. Earning one manic fit of laughter from the boar boy, he happily jumped at the invitation, vacating the waterfall with such high speed it almost winded Tanjiro just to watch. Once he was stood in front of his ruby eyed boyfriend, Inosuke let out another laugh and slung his arm around Tanjiro’s shoulder lazily.
“Let’s goooo!” He cheered turning both their bodies to walk away from the stone hashira’s training ground. In that moment, Tanjiro felt a strong gaze watching the two of them intently, and based off the scent, he determined it was Mister Himejima.
“Ah sorry- I forgot to ask, can I take Inosuke for dinner now or does he need to train more Mister Himejima?” Tanjiro asked polite as ever, looking up to the man in question hopefully. He wasn’t just going to steal Inosuke from training, that was bad. Bad Tanjiro! He should’ve remembered before waving his lover over to ask permission, he was too excited to spend some one-on-one time with Inosuke, he didn’t even think of asking.
“Don’t ask him like he’s my dad!-“
“Of course young Kamado, their training is over for now.” Mister Himejima replied, cutting the boar boy off.
A scoff was heard behind him as Tanjiro thanked the hashira with a bow. The stone hashira simply clasps his hands together in a praying motion, saying his usual prayer of ‘Namu Amida Butsu’ before turning away from the two. He was lucky that Mister Himejima respected him as a young demon slayer so much, otherwise he thinks he wouldn’t have been so lenient with the two lovebirds.
Once the stone hashira had turned away, Tanjiro takes Inosuke by the hand and quickly guides him to the water hashira's mansion - where he had gotten permission earlier that day from Mister Giyuu to infiltrate during the time for their final meal of the day, with promises to leave them be in peace. Making quick pace, Tanjiro drags Inosuke who’s a bit flustered at the sudden hand holding. No matter how many times they hold hands, both boys always end up with a pink hue dusting their cheeks from the contact, they really were just shy and inexperienced teenage boys after all, this was their first ever relationship for crying out loud!
Finally arriving at the water mansion after around five minutes (with it being on the opposite end Mister Himejima’s training ground) Tanjiro let go of Inosuke’s hand and moving to open the door, inside was a large yet vacant wooden room - where Mister Giyuu usually sits and contemplates, the perfect space for their little dinner date, Tanjiro decided.
Walking inside without a care in the world, Inosuke takes a seat in the direct centre of the room, throwing his arms up in the air in celebration for making it there unbothered. He was surprised Zenitsu or the butterfly triplets hadn’t asked to join the two while making their way over, not that they’d say yes or anything (Tanjiro would because, well, he’s Tanjiro, but Inosuke would’ve ran off holding Tanjiro in the air before their plans were faltered he’d like to think). Tanjiro, with a silent giggle, followed in tow and kneeled beside his crisscrossed boyfriend.
Sighing contently, the hanafuda earring wearing boy placed the cloth covered box between them both. Unwrapping it gently, the cloth falls to the floor and reveals the box that now displayed a plethora of rice balls made with care by Miss Aoi and the butterfly triplets, all with steam still radiating off the rice. Tanjiro sighs again but this time in relief, happy that his efforts to keep it warm weren’t in vein. His usual smile forming on his face as he tenderly picks up one of the rice balls and offers it over to his boyfriend, who at the present moment in time was staring at Tanjiro with a soft fondness not often seen; clearly, Inosuke was in some form of affectionate mood after the whole ordeal during the morning.
“So, where’s Pezuno?” Inosuke asks curious as he takes off his boar head mask and picks up a rice ball, eating it whole. It is rare for them to have alone time and when they do their alone time always included Nezuko without fail since she and Tanjiro were almost inseparable.
“With Miss Shinobu in her box, I asked her to take care of Nezuko for me… so we could have some quality time together.” he flushed embarrassed to admit it out loud, at least he was honest with his feelings - the events from the morning having given him a boost in confidence. They both continue to take rice balls and eat them (some more mindfully than others) all while conversation begins to flow, them enjoying each others company and relaxing all the tension from the day. It’s just them after all, and now for the first time being completely alone together, the two felt as though they could be their true selves without putting too much of a front on.
“Is she okay with that?” This is the side of Inosuke that Tanjiro met after they got together. The deeply caring side that he doesn’t often show to anyone, it’s adorable he thinks, seeing his usual chaotic boar boy all calm simply thanks to his influence.
“She was sleeping when I left her but when I asked her the night before she was extremely willing.” almost too willing, Tanjiro refrained from adding.
His sister was their biggest supporter, even if she didn’t trust Inosuke and his intentions not to kill Tanjiro in his sleep or something. In the beginning she was almost overbearingly weary, as any good sister would be, but over time she noticed the little things. From the small change in tone when talking to Tanjiro to Inosuke always fluffing her brothers pillow so his hard head doesn’t hurt from sleeping on the floor, she noticed it all and was more than willing to then take Inosuke as a brother-in-law (even though Tanjiro would flush, saying “it’s far too early to say things like that Nezuko!”).
“Hey, these are really good, did you make them?” Inosuke questions, letting the conversation diverge slightly from Nezuko because if he didn’t, Tanjiro would probably talk about her forever - not that it was a bad thing to Inosuke, he found it endearing whenever Tanjiro would rant about his sister and how protective he is over her, but it was their time right now.
“Ah no, Miss Aoi and the butterfly triplets made them for us, aren’t they the kindest?” Tanjiro smiles, wiping away excess rice from the corner of his mouth. Doing so made him realise Inosuke had some all around his mouth too, as usual since he was a very fast and messy eater.
Giggling to himself, Tanjiro leaned over and gently used the back of his fingers to wipe away the mess that Inosuke had made to his face. Startled slightly by the sudden contact, the smaller of the two flinched but didn’t move away, instead watched with wide eyes as his boyfriend softly got rid of the crumbs around his mouth. The moment was cute and intimate, with Tanjiro then deciding to cup Inosuke’s face and simply press their foreheads together in a quiet moment of appreciated silence.
“You’re so messy Inosuke” Tanjiro whispered, closing his eyes while keeping their foreheads together, his thumb stroking delicately traced circles into his cheek, causing him to turn slightly red in shyness.
“You like me messy.” He responded all confidently, copying Tanjiro and closing his eyes to simply enjoy the moment they were having - the rest of the rice balls slowly losing the heat to them Inosuke enjoyed oh so much. However it was worth leaving some cold rice balls to just have his time for a little while longer, both of them silently agreed to each other.
“Yeah, I like you messy” Tanjiro responded. “I like you just how you are.”
A pause.
Inosuke paused, slightly caught off guard by Tanjiro’s sincerity that laced in his voice, he could tell the taller boy truly meant what he was saying and that made his heart sore.
“I like you more just the way you are!” Inosuke pushes their foreheads together more, causing more pressure. “Beat that!” He somehow whispered and yelled simultaneously, leave it to Inosuke to somehow yell while also whispering.
“Okay… challenge accepted!” And with that Tanjiro began tickling Inosuke in the only place he was ticklish, his chin.
A funny place to be ticklish, but that’s why it’s so hard to believe, nobody would believe that Inosuke, the boy who practically throws his body at his enemies would be ticklish under that mask, yet as it turns out that’s exactly where to get him. As he starts tickling Inosuke, he lets out a cry of laughter and tries to pull his head away from Tanjiro who holds him firmly in place.
He continues to wail as Tanjiro keeps tickling, moving onto Inosuke’s lap so he can’t run away. The poor boar boy is crying as his chest heaves with laughs and giggles alongside little begs for his lover to stop, he wouldn’t listen though. Giggling himself, Tanjiro takes enjoyment seeing his boyfriend laugh from the bottom of his stomach, his heart soars seeing the smile and tears run down his face.
“Ahahaha- Tanjiro, stop it- I can’t breathe-” They’re both happy, truly happy just spending this one-on-one time with each other, nothing could break their spirits right now as they share a tender and wholesome moment full of laughs and smiles, with Inosuke trying (and failing) to push the taller boy away from him to stop this laughing fit he was having.
When Tanjiro finally stopped after what felt like forever to Inosuke (in reality it was like two minutes max), he pouted like a child, leaning back and crossing his arms childishly. They were both relishing in the feelings of happiness, despite Inosuke trying to play it off like he was mad at Tanjiro for the tickling, and subsequently getting more relaxed as they finally catch their breaths.
They stay like that for a moment, Inosuke’s hands on Tanjiro’s waist as he sits propped up in the smaller boys lap, and just feel their emotions quietly while in each others space - they’re learning that today they like being in each other's space quite a lot actually.
After a while, they move back to their original seating, with Tanjiro offering the last cold rice ball to Inosuke, who happily takes it without complaint. They begin to spur out random conversations from their experiences in the hashira training to defeating Muzan, they simply take pleasure in each other words and company with small giggles and laughs - they have a pleasant dinner just the two of them. With all the events of the day now dawning on them, they realise just how much progress they’ve made as a couple in just one day, they couldn’t be prouder, especially Tanjiro of Inosuke knowing stuff like this was out of his usual personality.
Having quality time together, especially after today, was going to become a more regular thing between the two of them, they could feel it. For now though, they just sat there being themselves with the person they loved the most, and until they had to go back to their separate training regimes, this was enough for now.
3. Receiving/Giving gifts
If you had told Tanjiro that the next day he would be awakened to shrimp tempura in bed, he wouldn’t have believed you. It was an unexpected surprise but not unwelcome.
He had originally awoken due to the strong smell of food, causing his stomach to growl, yet here he was, with a plate full of tempura shrimp sat right on his stomach all unsuspecting. Tanjiro was honestly barely functioning at this point, especially after only having just woken up, so he was sure he was dreaming when he saw the plate stacked up high with the tiny pieces of shrimp and his loving boyfriend Inosuke on the ceiling. He pinched himself, ouch - nope, he was definitely awake right now, even if it was just about… so his beloved Inosuke was on the roof, why exactly?
“Inosuke..?” His voice came out raspy, lifting both of his hands up to rub his eyes, surely he wasn’t on the roof again, right?
“Ahahahaha!” He jumped down from the ceiling to the side of Tanjiro’s bed, landing with a thud and posed while pointing his thumb to himself, after sticking the landing on two feet. It was extremely impressive that he could do that from such a height, but then again, it is Insouke we’re talking about, so nothing like that should be too surprising.
“What’s going on..?” Tanjiro asks, honestly confused in this moment. What does one do when their boyfriend jumps from the ceiling while they’re trying to balance a heaving plate full of food on their stomach from falling? Tanjiro wonders the same thing, clearly a bit dazed from having just woken up.
It was a cute reaction, Inosuke thought, seeing his other half in such a state, although he probably wouldn’t admit so out loud. Either way, he liked the calm and quiet version of Tanjiro you only see in the morning as he tries desperately to grab onto his bearings and actually become properly awake. He gestured to the meal in front of the boy with a smug look on his face, showing pride with the plate in front of Tanjiro:-
“Ahahahaha! You need to eat it all while it’s still warm, Tontaro, or else you’ll have to eat it cold!”
The shouting was a bit too loud for Tanjiro’s morning ears, but he was right, the food will get cold if he doesn’t eat it soon - the steam already being barely visible anymore, meaning it was in fact not even hot anymore, probably lukewarm if he had to guess.
Tanjiro sat up on his bed, holding the plate still with one hand while stretching with the other and letting out a small squeak as he did so. Another thing which Inosuke found to be too adorable to even put into words, his boyfriend was just the cutest sometimes - he loves to mentally gush over him, even if his pride didn’t let him verbalise it. As Tanjiro finally puts both hands on the plate, he simply stares at the food not touching it.
Confused, Inosuke stares at the boy who was only observing the food in front of him, not touching it, “Go on! The Great Inosuke made this just for you, ahaha!”
Even more confused, Tanjiro now stares at the boar headed boy in front of him, wide eyed. First of all, he appreciated the sentiment, of course he did, but he was utterly baffled at the fact that his Inosuke went out of the way to make him some of his favourite food when he could’ve eaten it all to himself like he usually does. Secondly, the boar boy looked so smug it felt almost suspicious - why had he made this for Tanjiro, not that he didn’t appreciate it, he was just curious what got his lovely boyfriend in such a kind and thoughtful mood today.
“Thanks Inosuke, what’s the occasion?” He asks, picking up one of the shrimp and taking a bite, careful to chew slowly and quietly, he was still only just waking up after all! He needs at least thirty minutes before he can function properly (unless of course he’s in a fight, in which case the adrenaline takes over).
With that, Insouke made his way to sit on the end of Tanjiro’s bed with his legs crisscrossed. He shrugs, making himself comfy by placing some of the blanket over his legs, and just lets out a hum which sounded like ‘I don’t know’, at least to Tanjiro it did. He lets out a mix between a sigh and a laugh, looking at his boyfriend dumbfounded, he did it just because? Now that was awfully sweet and not like Inosuke at all, but then again, the past day he had surprised him with things he didn’t expect Inosuke to ever do - so that was something to think about.
He’s not complaining though, shovelling more tempura shrimp into his mouth as he muffles out another thank you to Inosuke but with a full mouth this time. Wow, he didn’t realise just how hungry he actually was, and his boar boyfriend didn’t exactly do a bad job at the cooking the food - he assumed he must’ve gotten help from either Miss Aoi or the butterfly triplets while he was still sleeping… speaking of, what time even was it?
Tanjiro peered outside to see that the sun had barely risen yet, looking slightly concerned, he looks his lover in the eyes and asks a question that’s been sat on the tip of his tongue since he’d woken up.
“Why are you up before me anyway?” He questioned, since it was extremely unusual for the boar not to be snoring up a storm beside him rather than up and cooking breakfast.
“Oh, I had a mission, I got back like an hour ago. That demon didn’t stand a chance against the Great Inosuke! Ahahahaha!” Inosuke responded cheerfully as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Well, for them going on missions was normal, but Inosuke loved his beauty sleep more than anymore Tanjiro knew for crying out loud, so why hadn’t he just gotten to sleep when he got here?
Tanjiro decides that it’s far too early to deal with the excitable mood Inosuke was in and what questioning him would bring out, so instead he simply nods. He grabs the last of the shrimp and offers one out to Inosuke, if he was going to do a kind deed for Tanjiro, it’s only fair that he does one back. Taking it happily, they both munched on their food in silence. This is something Tanjiro liked in the morning, peace and quiet next to the one he cherishes most (after Nezuko of course, he tells himself) and some nice warm or should he say lukewarm food. He could get used to this, he smiles to himself.
~~
Lunch time came late when Tanjiro left out of the snake hashira's harsh training for his hour break, ‘no more and no less’ Mister Iguro says harshly, kicking the young sun breather out of his training room. Rushing towards the stone hashira's training regimen, he almost strips over himself clumsily as he isn’t properly looking where exactly his feet are landing as he runs. Luckily, it doesn’t take him long to get over there and he sees his boyfriend is nowhere in sight. Instead, just under the waterfall struggling to keep himself upright, was Zenitsu as he prays alongside his comrades as what Tanjiro can only assume is a form of communication.
“Inosuke!” He calls out with a large grin on his face, almost too excited to see his boyfriend despite not knowing where he was in that current moment.
“Hey! What about me?!” Zenitsu, who’s now moved on from Mister Sanemi’s training to Mister Himejima’s regime.
“Oh hi Zenitsu, I didn’t except you to be here!” Tanjiro flashes a smile his way with a small wave, causing Zenitsu to stutter and stumble over his words, not forming a coherent sentence.
“Well I am! I haven’t even had my lunch yet I’m starving Tanjiro… Oh, and if you’re looking for Inosuke-“ Didn’t he just hear him call for Insouke and get offended that he didn’t say hi to him instead? “-he’s in the woods over there, he’s been on guard not letting anyone nearby all lunch, weird if you ask me, that stupid boar!”
Ah, territorial Inosuke, they’ve met this once before when they had to take his swords from him to be remade after they broke, it was not a fun time. Tanjiro wonders if his swords has broken again and he’s hiding them away, or if something new has appeared that Inosuke is so eager to protect- ‘Oh, maybe it’s a baby boar or something!’ Tanjiro thinks to himself as he eagerly strolls over in the direction Zenitsu pointed. Upon entering the forest, he sees Inosuke huddled down on his feet, couched beside a tree with his back facing the maroon haired boy.
“Ah Inosuke, there you are!” He chirps, skipping over to his boyfriend who whipped his head around at record speed hearing his voice.
“Montano, I was waiting for you!”
“Sorry Inosuke, I got caught up with Mister Iguro!” The boar boy pouted and stood up, holding out his hand in a fist towards Tanjiro. Confused, the hanafuda earring wearing boy simply holds his hand out to Inosuke, curious as to what’s in his hand. Out came a rock.
Tanjiro deadpanned.
“What.”
“Hey! Don’t be like that! I got you this rock, I’ve been saving it for you!” Inosuke huffed, crossing his arms.
Now, he was flattered by any gift sure, but a rock? He was quite perplexed as to why he was given this as a gift but he’d be appreciated nonetheless, that was Tanjiro for you after all, forever kind and caring. Upon further inspection however, he noticed red speckles shining through the dirty rock, curious, he wiped the rock against his uniform. Showing a beautiful ruby-coloured rock, Tanjiro was now more surprised - it sure was a pretty rock, Inosuke knew how to pick them, not so much how to keep them clean though.
“It’s a good looking rock! It looks like your eyes… and I like them! So take it! Ahahaha!” Inosuke hollered, another smug look now covering his face; that damn smirk. If Tanjiro didn’t love the efforts he’d gone through to keep this rock safe, just for his eyes only to see and how that factor made him blush embarrassed as red as an apple, he’d try to counter attack with something to get even at Inosuke. However, too flushed to speak, he hugs the boy who's manically laughing at his victory over Tanjiro.
“I take it you like it then? The Great Inosuke never fails!” He sang his own praises, hugging Tanjiro back tightly, squishing the taller boy slightly too much for comfort.
For all that though, the moment was cut short due to a loud, boomingly deep voice shouting that training was starting again and that lunch was over. So much for spending lunch alone together again, Tanjiro would have to kindly ask Mister Iguro not to run over late again - not that he would listen, he still hates Tanjiro’s guts after the letter Miss Kanroji wrote to him. With a wave goodbye and a quick ‘woohoo!’, Insouke darted off back to training.
Tanjiro thinks it’s because he’s actually enjoying the training despite current lack of progress, he can’t blame his boyfriend though, two hours straight under a waterfall standing upright sounds very difficult. But he knows he’ll pull though in the end, he always does. For now, Tanjiro fidgets with the scarlet rock, rolling it between his fingers methodically as he takes a seat in the forest and begins eating his lunch, he can simply watch his boyfriend train while he eats, not the most ideal lunchtime plans but they're the ones he settles for.
~~
Now, after two instances of gift giving in one day, you’d think Insouke would be done, but no. In fact, he was saving the best until last, when they were completely alone in their bedroom, Zenitsu having gone to bathe without them after returning late from training, complaining that he’ll die if he has to train any harder than he already is (how he survived Mister Sanemi’s regime Tanjiro will never know).
Laying there neatly on his bed's pillow was the last surprise of the night, Inosuke had planted it while Tanjiro used the bathroom and then snuck back into his own bed, pretending to sleep. When Tanjiro returned, he didn’t notice it at first, no- not until when he went to lay his head down on the pillow did he notice the hard object bumping with his head. Upon further inspection, Tanjiro deduced that it was in fact a hairbrush made of bamboo - too wonky to be bought, but craftsmanly enough to tell this wasn’t a first-ever attempt of making one of these.
His face whips around to Inosuke, once again flushed pink by the gesture, and sees that he’s in fact sleeping - maybe he had taken too long in the bathroom, Tanjiro suspected, watching as the boar boys chest raised up and down slowly with snores following suit. He lets out a silent laugh, god he loved Inosuke and his vast different ways of showing his affection, even if it’s all a bit much when it’s all at once or all in one day.
Tanjiro stands up and walks over to a mirror before using his newly acquired item to softly brush the tangles and knots out of his hair, not that he has many due to how short it is, unlike Insouke, who would have matted hair if he wasn’t so particular about brushing it three times a day. He smiled to himself as he does so, feeling his hair before more of its fluffy and bouncy self.
He didn’t think of himself as ugly, in fact, Tanjiro didn’t think anyone was ugly, he finds that word only to be described to demons of terrifying physique or appearance. Tanjiro thought everyone had their own designed features which made them special and unique to look at, never in a bad way, but only meaning everyone has beauty in their own ways. Except for Inosuke, when he first saw that boy he was flabbergasted to say the least, that boy was prettier and more attractive than any girl he’d ever seen - that probably should’ve been his first sign that he didn’t like girls as much as boys, but Tanjiro never did, he took it to mean he did like people for how they looked, he just had a preference for one boar boy's looks in particular.
Okay, that’s it! Tanjiro had decided while looking himself in the mirror. He loves Inosuke, but all this gift giving had been too much for his little weak heart to take, he was gonna pass out from a love overdose at this rate! He adored everything, from the breakfast shrimp to this hairbrush on his pillow made just for him, he loved it all from the bottom of his heart just like he did his stupidly loving boyfriend - not that anyone other than Tanjiro noticed this side of him, it was almost like it was reserved solely for him, and he wasn’t complaining about that, it made him feel special.
But now he’s had enough! He needed to reciprocate these attempts at expressing love just like Inosuke was doing, he’s not sure how or what is driving him to do this, but he knows he wants to be in on it. For that to happen, there’s only one hashira that he can turn to for advice… to Miss Kanroji he goes!
4. Acts of service
Tanjiro has decided enough is enough and that he had to try a new approach to this clear love bombing war that was happening between him and his lover. Acts of service, that’s what Miss Kanroji had advised Tanjiro to try next, seeing as she believed Inosuke was making his way through the list of them. Although he wasn’t sure exactly what he could do to be of service to his boyfriend, he was definitely going to try his best!
He had to do something, that much was obvious from what he was told, do something nice for them… but do what exactly, Tanjiro wasn’t all that sure. It took him days of pondering to figure out what to do, he was completely stumped. If only comes to him when he meets with Mister Haganezuka about a week later that an idea finally struck him.
“Mister Haganezuka! Is that my sword you have?” Tanjiro asks excitedly seeing him approach, for once, he isn’t chasing Tanjiro down to his death and instead is holding his head up high, proud to give him the finished and polished sword found in that creepy training doll about a month back.
“Yes, now no chipping or breaking this one, not even serrating the edges like that pig-boy you hang out with does… you got that, Tanjiro?” Mister Haganezuka threatens, pulling out some knives from god knows where.
Tanjiro gulps with a nervous smile, “Yes of course, no breaking it this time, I’ll try my best!” At first his brain doesn’t make the connection, its not until Mister Haganezuka speaks again that his brain clicks.
“Speaking of that pig-boy, his sword-smith told me to pass along the message that they’ll be done within the next two days, so tell that to him for me, will you Tanjiro?”
Click.
An idea pops into his head.
“Uh… he’ll be busy uh.. on a mission! Yes, on a mission! So I’ll have to be the one to give the swords to him”
“Sure, I’ll tell the sword-smith.” He didn’t question it, and thankfully at that. Tanjiro’s excuse was weak and flawed at best, Inosuke couldn’t go on missions without his nichirin blades after all, how else is he meant to slay the demons. Knowing Insouke, he’d probably find a way to somehow kill them without beheading them. But that’s besides the point, he now knows exactly what act of service to do in order to fulfil his role as a loving partner and make him as flustered as possible!
His idea is set in stone when two days later, he gets ahold of the swords thanks to his previous mischievous self, he reminds himself to give him a well deserved pat on the back, if that was even possible. When he finally has the dual swords in his possession, he’s quick to make haste and retreat deep into the forest where he knows Inosuke won’t be.
Promptly, he begins the process of serrating the edges of the blades, firmly with a sharp rock in one hand and a blade in the other - just like how he’d watched Inosuke do it a handful of times by now. He makes sure to be careful of his fingers, hacking away at the blades for what felt like hours, this was a good workout for Tanjiro, but he isn’t doing it for that. He wants to see the look on Inosuke’s face when he shows the partly crafted blade he’d tailored to his specific taste. The boar boy complained about having to do it every time he got new swords (which was just about as frequently as Tanjiro if we were being honest), saying it was an unnecessary hassle and that they should already do for him. Perfect, this plan was utterly perfect Tanjiro believed, by the end of the day he’d have swords to show his boyfriend and he’ll be flustered at how much effort Tanjiro went through just to do this for him, yes, it was the best plan he could think of.
Once he had finished, which had taken him a lot less time than he originally envisioned, he frantically made his way back over to the butterfly mansion where he’d started his day. In hushed steps he sprinted towards the mansion, small beads of sweat dripping down his head. Really there was no rush, but he was desperate to see his plan fall into fruition and catch Inosuke in a flustered manner. He finds it endearing and heartwarming when his Inosuke, the crazy boar boy, is reduced down to a tiny flustered mess over something he did, it truly felt like some kind of small victory.
Arriving at the butterfly mansion, he strolls along the outskirts looking for the smaller of the two, he was bound to be outside since he hated being inside when he didn’t have to be - growing up in the wilderness of the mountains after all. He spots the boy in question working out, doing some form of arm muscle building exercise with heavy boulder looking rocks behind him, lifting them into the air by tugging at the rope tied around them. He looked hit and bothered, sweat dripping down his forehead as he yells out a scream of determination, he was clearly razor focused or he would’ve noticed the maroon haired boy stood in front of him shyly.
“Hi Inosuke” Tanjiro starts, nerves beginning to get the better of him, he wasn’t overly shy - quite the opposite actually, he was usually far more outgoing and relaxed - but this was Inosuke, his boyfriend, he was trying to impress here.
“Montaro! Did you see what I just did?! Pretty awesome right?” He stops exercising, releasing the string and boulders behind his back, his full attention now on Tanjiro.
“I have something for you, I did part of it all myself!” He begins, smiling down to his lover, “I hope you like it Inosuke.”
“Of course I will! I appreciate anything you give me.” There it was, the soft and caring side of Inosuke coming out and it couldn’t be at a better time, he’d be more susceptible to being caught off guard and flustered.
A bit flustered himself seeing this version of his boyfriend for one of the rare times he shows it, he pulls the blades from behind his back and displays them upwards to get a full view of the lacerations done to the swords. A gasp is heard, not a dramatic one, one of pure shock and excitement as he also lets out one of his maniac laughs. Taking the blades from his boyfriend’s hold, their fingers brush together causing Tanjiro’s ears to go pink - which the same happened to Inosuke (small victories everyone!). Tanjiro got even redder at the sight of his boyfriends pretty face decorated in that dusty pink, if that was even possible, the hue spreading to Tanjiro’s cheeks as he smiles with his teeth slightly on show. He was feeling as smug as Inosuke probably did with all the gift giving a while back, and he loved it, he loved making his boyfriend happy and doing acts of service - this was great!
“So I take it you like it? I got them earlier today and thought to make your edges serrated for you since you always complain about doing it!” He practically beams with joy as he talks.
“Yeah, I do, thank you, Kompachiro” and with that, Inosuke hugged him, wrapping his arms around his neck and burying his face in the taller boy’s shoulder. A pure moment, one which made Tanjiro’s heart skip a beat as he hugged the boar boy back with a squeeze.
Mission kind of successful, Tanjiro concluded to himself. While Inosuke definitely appreciated what he did, he can’t say that acts of service get the desired effect out of him as he was hoping. Sure, the hug was nice, he’d never say no to one, but he was hoping of a more flustered stumbling over his words type of mess that Tanjiro had been time and time again in front of him. Next time, he vows, next time he’ll have that cute image of Inosuke actualised, he swears to himself.
You don’t know what’s coming for you Inosuke Hashibira, you have no idea what’s Tanjiro is plotting (it’s nothing, he’s plotting nothing).
5. Physical touch
Zenitsu was away, Kanao was away, Genya was away - it felt like everyone had left for missions while he and Inosuke were left to keep training with the hashiras. At least they’ve both moved onto a new member of the hashira, with Inosuke under Mister Uzui’s regime now whereas Tanjiro was following Mister Giyuu around like a lost puppy until he gave in and trained with him. Heck, even Murata was away on a mission! How come everyone in the demon slayer corp was on a mission right now, nobody knew, but one thing was for sure, Tanjiro was missing the familiar company in his training regimes. Sure, he did have Inosuke, but they only had time to see each other at night when both were too exhausted to even function properly.
That was happening in this current moment actually, with Inosuke stumbling into the bedroom with an exhausted look to his face, clearly from all the training up the mountains Mister Uzui has put him through, but at least the efforts were paying off! Or so they both hoped, they’ve been putting their everything into this after all.
“I’m tired as piss!” Inosuke shouted, flopping his body onto the bed.
“Inosuke, what does that even mean-“
“I’m tired as piss, Kompachiro!” Inosuke repeated, voice muffed by the pillow his face was stuffed in. The days exercises had weighed heavy on him, the exhaustion obvious. Everyday for the past week had been like this, with the time the boys shared together now only involving sleeping a bed away from each other. Thinking about that, it gave Tanjiro an idea, one he wasn’t quite sure he could execute due to Inosuke’s stubbornness when tired, but he was sure to give it a try!
His idea was simple, it was to get Inosuke to cuddle with him. The intention behind it was to spend time close together without expending any unnecessary energy, a perfect plan - Tanjiro thinks. Although it wouldn’t be that easy, especially not with Inosuke practically already snoring two beds down.
He shuffled to make room on his own bed, calling over to Inosuke.”Inosuke, come over here.”
An incomprehensible grumble of a noise emanated from the bed. Inosuke showing no signs of moving, or any signs that he would in the future. Tanjiro sighed fondly, not too surprised by the turn of events.
“Come on, please?” Tanjiro said, sitting up to gaze over at the boar boy, who was laying in his stomach with his arms folded as he rested and cradled his head on them. In response he got a huff and another inaudible mumble of words strung together to sound like a sentence.
Right, so that clearly didn’t work as intended. He couldn’t blame the smaller of the two, training with the hashira’s is brutal in so many ways both mentally and physically, and any sane person (although for Inosuke that was debatable) would be utterly worn out at the strain it puts on a person. He let out a more exasperated sigh, realising his efforts were in vein he manoeuvres to the centre of his bed on his back and stares straight up at the ceiling, thinking to himself as to what to do now. He wasn’t ready to give in and end his plans to cuddle with Inosuke, deep down he really wanted that true couple moment that he knew others shared, it’s simple but effective in portraying the love they have for one another to each other.
He lays there and ponders for a while, so long he can hear the faint snores of Inosuke sleeping, proving his plan to be a fail. Or so he thought, as another idea manifested itself into his head, encouraging him to simply march his own way over to his boyfriend and squish himself beside him. That could work, Tanjiro thinks, as he then swiftly sits up and throws his legs over the side of the bed before waddling his way over sleepily to his ombré haired lover. He shoves his fast asleep boyfriend slightly, making some room in the bed for him to fit and squeezes his way in, awkwardly laying beside him. He stays still and stiff like that for a few moments, building up courage before he finally decides to cuddle his boyfriend.
Clingy. Tanjiro felt immediately clingy as he wraps all his available limps around Inosuke’s smaller stature. He also instantly felt the heat radiating off of him, immersing him in the experience of laying beside someone, it felt awfully domestic, not that Tanjiro would complain. He liked this, he decided, as slowly all his built up tension from the day prior began to fade; holding Inosuke in his arms and physically close is relaxing and brings him a sense of ease and contentment, almost like they belong together as two pieces to a puzzle. Having him there felt right in all the best ways, making his chest and fingertips feel all tingly at the contact.
A small kiss was pressed into Inosuke’s forehead, delicately as though he was a precious piece of glass.
That was a definite success for sure, Tanjiro cheered to himself mentally as he keeps ahold of his boyfriends sleeping form, basking in the warmth omitting from his soft skin. He thinks life couldn’t get any better than in this moment right here, all wrapped up cozy on a harshly cold night, right with his lover in his arms as though he belongs there - which Tanjiro has now decided he does, and that they’ll spend every night like this so long as Inosuke’s snoring doesn’t get too loud.
He’s happy, Inosuke’s presumably happy (it’s hard to tell as he frowns in his sleep), everyone important in this relationship is happy and nothing could beat this. This moment right here will last until dawn, and Tanjiro couldn’t be anymore grateful with how long nightfall lasts, hours staying like this?
Oh, he could get used to this.
6. Headbutts?
You would think that after everything, they’d both settle into some form of routine; finding what love language suits them best and sticking to it. Well, you’d be wrong, at least in Inosuke’s case.
Waking up in the arms of his boyfriend was not an unwelcome surprise, but a definite shocker nonetheless. Last thing he remembered from the night previous was Tanjiro asking him to do… something that he can’t remember, then dozing off without a second thought - having been exhausted from the night before. So when he wakes up, barely having the cogs in his brain turning yet, and feels an unfamiliar presence next to him he does what he can only assume is the most rational reaction to have:-
“AAAAAAHHHH” Inosuke quickly jumped up, pushing what he didn’t know was Tanjiro, and screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Ah Inosuke-“
“-AAAHHHHHH!” He continued to yell, his mind still half asleep.
In his fear and rage (he’s always in some form of angry state), Inosuke did the only logical thing he could think of… to head-butt Tanjiro in self defence.
BAM.
As their heads collided, Tanjiro had an even more concerned look to his face, trying to calm Inosuke down he says ‘Inosuke it’s me’ about fifty times before the boar boy decides to actually look at whom he attacked. He winced in pain as his eyes dart all over Tanjiro, a wave of relief washed over him followed by a wave of sadness, it would’ve been nice to pick a fight with someone straight away he thinks. A hand finds its way to scratch the back of his head as he now gazes at the maroon boy with a look of guilt knowing he was in the wrong.
“What was that for?!” Tanjiro exclaimed, not hurt by the incident at all; his skull far too thick for that, but annoyed that Inosuke was screaming and had woken him up from such a peaceful slumber.
“Well I didn’t know it was you!” He rebutted, crossing his arms angrily.
“Who else would be laying practically on top of you?!”
“An enemy or a demon!”
“…Really?” Tanjiro shakes his head.
“Plus, head butting is a sign of love, right?” A sigh follows, with a smile creeping its way onto the boy adorning hanafuda earrings.
“Only for us it is, Inosuke, only for us.”