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"Good evening!" His red eyes beaming, his voice polite and friendly. Tanjiro walking inside the diner without an ounce of worry or any type of negativity floating through his head. He planned to take a quick jog around, get a little something for himself at the nearest diner he knew about that was near his area, then go back home.
It was getting dark very fast. The clouds in the sky had been painted with bright reddish pink that contrasted harshly with the fading blues. Yes, it seemed like both the season and weather were changing.
Tanjiro took a seat by himself after he gave his order. He melodically tapped his fingers on the table as he looked at the window beside him, patiently waiting for his food to arrive. The glee and sparkling almost gave out of Tanjiro's eyes when they spotted a very certain someone. A very peculiar person was approaching the diner.
A man who wasn't very liked in this town. Tanjiro was quite familiar with him, making the boy grow cautious once the man shamelessly walked in and passed by him.
"I hope he's just here to get something to eat." thought Tanjiro. He carefully watched the man, taking a seat at the table behind where the boy was. It was clear that the weirdo still haven't noticed that Tanjiro was keeping an eye on him in case something inappropriate happened. Tanjiro was ready to either call the police, or tackle him, just in case.
A waitress walked by Tanjiro's table, politely handing him the food that he had ordered. The young lad thanked the waitress, beaming with joy, almost overwhelming the waitress.
Before he could freely dive in, Tanjiro looked back at the man as a second waitress approached him, asking if he's gonna order something. The weirdo murmured something under his breath, quiet enough for Tanjiro to not understand him at all.
"If only Zenitsu was here to decipher what he said just now.." the boy sighed.
After the waitress wrote down the order and walking away, the man grumbled something under his breath while impatiently tapping his fingers on the table. Tanjiro assumed this impatience came from the man wanting to get his food as quickly as possible, making Tanjiro just want to get up and tell him to be patient. But the boy kept his cool.
The boy began to eat, completely calm, not rushing or anything, just casually enjoying the food that he ordered for himself. Then the sound of the entrance door opening, with the scent of another person coming in, had distracted Tanjiro from finishing his quick meal.
Looking up, with one brow raised, it took few seconds for Tanjiro to recognise the man that just entered. The two were neighbours, yet they barely spoke. Last time they saw each other, in one way or another, it ended up with a one-sided beef from the man's side that lasted like half a year. Since then the two haven't spoken like normal neighbours.
That man was known as Midori. And that's about all that Tanjiro knew about him. He wasn't really interested in learning more about his neighbour.
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Midori gave Tanjiro a quick glance, with a hint of unnecessary hatred, before looking away and passing him over. Confused, the boy just continued to eat his food.
"Ayy, my man, Ryuhei!! So glad to see you've waited for me!"
Tanjiro paused again, tilting his head slightly to the side to hear better what these two were going to be talking about. And also, Midori apparently knew who that weird man was? That surprised him a little.
"Please keep your voice down when you're talking to me in a public space." The weird guy, Ryuhei, did not seem as enthusiastic as Midori when it came to starting a conversation. Midori just sat right beside him. "Now can you tell me what was so important, that you had to make me walk and wait all the way here?!"
"Damn, i just wanted to see you, Ryuhei!"
Tanjiro did not want to eavesdrop by sound after that little exchange, he sat in a more comfortable position in order to get a look at the two without being seen by them. The boy was curious now, just how did the local weirdo seemed to be befriended by his neighbour? Good question, really.
Tanjiro tried his best to have his eyes and ears fixated on their conversation.
"A whole month has passed, you know?" The previous enthusiasm has toned down from Midori's voice. He rested his arms on the table as Ryuhei kept his own crossed. "I barely see you, we rarely talk. And god forbid i try to call you or message you to hang out!"
For a second things went quiet as the waitress walked by with Ryuhei's order. She left as the man mouthed a "Thanks" so quietly that the poor lady definitely thought he cursed her out or something.
"All i'm trying to say, is that i'd love to hang around with you again. Nothing too crazy!"
"How can you wanna hang around a guy like.. him..?" Tanjiro thought as he continued to eavesdrop.
Ryuhei did not respond to any of Midori's words yet. Scoffing and murmuring under his breath with an attitude, he started eating his food. This unresponsive state from Ryuhei irritated Midori. Something that even Tanjiro could notice, and smell.
"God damn it. Damn it, Ryuhei?!" he slammed a fist on the table. Not too hard though, as to not get the attention of the waitresses. "If there's something on your mind, then tell me! I don't give a fuck if you curse me or something, just- Respond to me in someway!"
"Midori." His brows furrowed enough to hide his upper eyelids. Veins of irritation had popped on Ryuhei's forehead. "Can you fuck off?"
"Oh?!" Back at his own table, Tanjiro resisted the urge to jump up and try to get in between the two and cool off their conversation. Instead he paused the eavesdropping to continue eating his food. It was starting to get cold anyway.
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After eating all of the food that he had ordered, Tanjiro politely called for the waitress and proceeded to pay her. His following action was originally intended to be going back home.. but since his odd neighbour and the weirdo were still here, Tanjiro kinda wanted to hear them talk a little more.
He definitely missed some moments of their conversation when he was focusing on his food though. Fortunately, it seemed like the two had cooled down than earlier.
"Right, so you stopped seeing me for some cheap, dirty skirt chasing?" The disappointment of Midori's tone was unmistakable. "My god, just how low can you get?"
Tanjiro on the other side thought to himself, "I wouldn't call what that weirdo's doing a "skirt chasing", but whatever you say."
"Sometimes, a man's gotta pursue stuff that are objectively more important to him than some buddies, okay?"
"More important?!" Both Midori and Tanjiro had the same thought. Just one of them could respond out loud though. "Ryuhei, do you hear yourself!?"
"True, exactly!" Tanjiro repeated in his head. "Does he really hear himself?! In what world do you pursue a hobby that bothers the people around you, over hanging out with your own friends?! Who does that?"
Not even a blink from his red eyes, and their conversation evolved into an argument. Tanjiro was on the brink to get up and break them off, until Midori looked like he quieted down, Ryuhei seemed to dominate the argument, for a second or two things looked like they were going nowhere. Until Tanjiro subconsciously stopped his tracks, seeing how Midori grabbed the weirdo by the shoulders in what looked like an instant and headbutted him on the head unhesitatingly.
"?!" Tanjiro did not expect this outcome.
Wait, this headbutt stayed longer than the usual. Did Midori accidentally knock both of them out..? As Tanjiro moved to take one very very careful look, he realised what the outcome actually was.
What Midori went for, it wasn't a headbutt like the boy thought. That was a kiss. An outcome that surprised Tanjiro even more than the first time.
Tanjiro could smell passion, urge to not let go, from Midori, even if the boy did not really want to. From Ryuhei however, there was a hint of hesitance, yet a second feeling that was acceptance of the situation. Just because.
Starting to feel awkward, Tanjiro nervously looked around the mostly empty diner. Seeing only the two men who went from straight up arguing, to full on making out. And also one waitress, who felt clearly as awkward as Tanjiro did, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything, so she decided it'd be better to walk away.
After seeing her decision, Tanjiro thought that it'd be the right thing for him to do the same.
"I'll schedule a hangout for next week." was what Tanjiro heard from Midori right before he exited the diner. The boy paused, incase Ryuhei responded.
"Sigh, just do whatever you want. I couldn't care less!"
Deciding in his head that the two made up, Tanjiro calmly went outside of the diner, heading right back to his home, happy that at least those two could stop arguing.
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