Chapter Text
Inosuke was pretty satisfied with his current life.
He didn’t really like to think about the past. It was useless! A waste of time!
He had everything he needed in the present. Even if it was hard at first. Everything was a pain in the ass at first! Wasn't it?
Even though he didn’t remember most of his early childhood, Inosuke recalled the night his mom took him out of that man’s—His father, he hated to remember—house with an uncanny amount of detail.
He remembered he was carrying a small backpack full with all his clothes that night; Kotoha had been hiding it underneath his bed for over a month before that night along with a little boar plushie, which was the only toy he had. Kotoha had gotten it for him one day she went to get groceries and got lucky to find it for dirt cheap. Inosuke remembered he had hugged her so tight she had cried.
“Oh, don’t worry baby. They are happy tears! Mommy’s just glad to see you so happy!” She had said, quickly drying her cheeks with the palm of her hand.
His father had gotten really mad over it. Inosuke remembered he broke all the good china they had that day.
He didn’t really understand why he was so mad at them all the time. Did he not love them? What were they doing wrong? Every time he asked Kotoha, she broke down crying and apologizing for being stupid and weak.
“I'm so sorry mommy cannot protect you. I'm sorry for always failing you!”
But she wasn’t stupid, and she definitely was not weak! His mother was the strongest person he had ever met. She had never failed him, Inosuke didn't believe she could even be able to fail him. How could she think so low of herself?
‘The stupid one is him,’ he thought to himself while Kotoha carried him to the train station the night they left. She had him in one arm and a bag full with her own clothes in the other. She was singing one of her precious lullabies, and Inosuke didn’t know if it was to calm him or herself or both. ‘It’s his fault ma thinks those horrible lies about herself.’
Inosuke always knew that his mom was a very, very young mom. Most of the kids’ mothers in the kindergartner he attended were reaching their thirties while Kotoha was barely hitting her early twenties. His father was in his mid thirties.
After sleeping for hours in the train, eating a hella lot of preheated food (Inosuke found his love for tempura from that odyssey) and travelling for almost a day straight. Jumping from trains to buses non-stop, Kotoha and him finally got to the house of someone named Mrs. Hisa. He remembered it had already gotten dark again.
When they arrived at her door, Kotoha doubted knocking for a very long time. She just stood there, squeezing Inosuke’s tiny hand and looking at the latch as if it would burn her hand if he took it.
She directed her gaze at him, like looking into his eyes would give her the strength needed to knock. He didn't know why it surprised him when it did, she had always told him that he was ‘the light that guided her whenever she felt lost’.
“That's why your name is Inosuke. It means ‘The one who helps’!”
Kotoha knocked once, then twice, and then, when she was going for the third knock, the door opened abruptly.
Mrs. Hisa was a very, very, very old woman. While they were in the bus that would take them to her house, his mother had told him that she had been the closest thing she had to a mother in her childhood.
Inosuke wondered why his mom didn’t have a mom of her own.
Mrs. Hisa looked at them both as if they were covered in glitter. It was a mix between surprise, worry and relief.
Before Kotoha could say anything, the older woman pulled her into a desperate hug. His mother clinged to her clothes as if they were a lifeline, and they both fell to their knees right there in the doorway.
Inosuke remembered just standing there, looking at them both crying while hugging his boar plushie close to his chest. He wondered if it was the same kind of tears his father always caused his ma to shed. But then, he recalled what Kotoha had told him. “They’re happy tears, baby!”
Maybe they were just very glad to see each other.
After a moment of silence between the two women, Kotoha looked at him again and pulled him into the hug too.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, little Inosuke.” Mrs. Hisa had said, giving him a kind kiss in the top of the head. “This will be your new home. You’re safe now.”
After that, it had been a little hard for him to adapt to their new life
It was too silent, too peaceful. There were never broken plates, nor purple eyes. It was unnervingly nice.
It wasn’t like he missed his life back with his father. Hell no, he would rather eat dirt than to let that man anywhere near his mama ever again! But…
‘Maybe I don't know how to be safe…’ he thought one day. He was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something bad to happen. Sometimes he even misbehaved on purpose just to prove that he was not an easy prey.
The void on the mouth of his stomach and the cold sweat that overwhelmed him anytime the smallest thing ruffled his feathers frustrated him so bad it made him want to cry.
His mother on the other hand seemed a lot, and he meant a lot healthier. Her dark eye bags disappeared, she gained a little more weight, her skin became more pink and she started smiling more and more often.
The thing that changed the most after they moved was her voice. When she sang, she didn’t have to do it in a whisper anymore, fearing to make that man angry. She could make full on concerts in the living room, dancing and blasting music on the TV speakers. She sang like she was a nightingale and the world was hers and hers only.
It made Inosuke so, so, so happy. But it also made him feel so, so guilty.
“Is everything alright, baby?” Kotoha had asked him one day. “You know you can tell me everything. I feel something has been bothering you.”
“I… I think I'm bad, mama.” He confessed, holding back the urge to cry. “You're so happy and I— I don't know how to do it! The only thing I do is being scared!”
She caressed his cheek with all the love she had in her, just as she always did. “Why didn't you tell me before?”
“...I didn't want to make you sad.”
“Oh baby, you could never make me sad!” She picked him up in her arms. “You know, sometimes I am scared too. You're not bad for it.”
“But you're always singing and smiling,” He said as she dried his tears with the neck of her dress. “How can you do it when you're scared?”
“Because I have you, Inosuke.” She answered, putting their foreheads together. “I know I don't have anything to be scared of because I have the bravest and kindest baby in the whole world.”
She was holding him tightly, and suddenly, he did not feel scared anymore.
“I sing because I know that we will be alright as long as we are together."
As long as we are together. Yeah, he could do that.
If his mother trusted their new life so much, he would make the effort of believing too.
We will be alright as long as we are together.
In respect of Mrs. Hisa… He had a hard time adjusting to her as well.
He could never feel her coming! She was like a ninja, silent and fast and it was scary as hell.
However, Inosuke knew that the old woman had never meant any harm to him. Whenever she realized she had startled him, she would kindly offer to give him warm tea or to put a funny show on the TV. Along with being silent and fast, she was also… kind, and soft around the edges. Like his mama, but grayer.
He could see the resemblance between them.
With time, Inosuke started to feel the anticipation for pain disappear from his chest. It was gradual, just like how a bathtub starts getting warmer drop by drop, he found himself letting his guard down more often, getting less and less scared until the walls he had built to keep himself and his ma safe came down and let the love all the new people in his life wanted to give them in.
He started tagging along with Mrs. Hisa to buy groceries, to watch some of her weird soap operas together and discuss what would happen in the next chapter with way too much enthusiasm.
He started calling her Grandma Hisa. She was his ma’s mama, after all.
He started to go to a new school and met a quiet girl named Kanao, a kind boy named Tanjiro, a way-too-loud boy named Zenitsu and an angry boy named Genya. Kotoha was beaming with excitement when he told her he had made his first friends. The first time Tanjiro’s mom invited him over she and Grandma Hisa packed him with enough gifts to make up for at least eight birthdays. Mrs. Kie—That was Tanjiro’s mom’s name—had insisted that it was not necessary, but she still received the gifts happily. Her and his ma started getting along pretty well. His mama had made her first friend too.
After a lot of hesitation, and a lot more encouragement from Mrs. Kie, Grandma Hisa and Inosuke too, Kotoha went back to college. She graduated in accounting the same day Inosuke graduated from primary school.
See? His mama was not stupid! She never was!
The photo of them both with their graduation gowns and their diplomas hung in the entrance hall like the most precious trophy of them all. Grandma Hisa had cried while taking it, but Inosuke knew that all the tears shed that day were happy tears.
Most of the tears they shed these days were.
Yeah, obviously everything was not perfect.
After graduating from college, his mother found a job as a secretary that promised a very, very good pay.
“That way I could buy you all the toys you want! And we will be able to help Grandma Hisa with the bills!” She had told him happily while getting ready for her first day.
Unfortunately, the pay was the only thing good about that job.
Kotoha had to basically do everything around the office. She had to arrive half an hour before everyone else and sometimes leave way after the end of her shift in order to do everything that was needed to keep the place running.
There were days Inosuke couldn't even talk to her because she came home so tired she went straight to sleep. It was so unfair it made his blood boil!
“Your boss gets paid a lot more than you and doesn't do half of what you do! That’s stupid!” He had told her one day. “You should be the boss!”
“I know, baby. But we need the money.” She ruffled his hair kindly. Despite being tired to her bones after her shifts; looking like she had been in the eye of a hurricane and came back to finish her overtime, Kotoha always had infinite kindness left for her baby. “Someday, maybe they will promote me! And then I won't have to work so much, okay? Until then, I will keep working hard so I can give you and Grandma everything I can.”
“If you keep working hard, then I will too! I will help you so you don't have to do extra hours!” He said with conviction. His mother just laughed.
Kotoha’s laugh was just like her voice, harmonious and beautiful. Just like the prettiest of songs.
“For now, try to just focus on school, okay? Do your best so mommy can do her best too.” Kotoha interlocked their pinky fingers together. “Pinky promise!”
“Pinky promise.”
And he did. Of course he did! Pinky promises with mama were sacred! When he passed to middle school, he did everything in his power to be the best, for his ma!
Sadly, Inosuke discovered pretty soon that studying was not really… his thing, to put it somehow. No matter how much Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Kanao and Genya—and he was one of the teachers’ little brother!—tried to help him memorize the lessons, the information simply didn’t stay for a long time. He sucked at withholding things he did not care about. And fuck him if he cared about math or history. The only subject he actually liked and was good at was chemistry; He liked to see things blow up, and Ms. Shinobu was kind and scary cool at the same time. She had a whole collection of preserved insects hanging in her classroom, and despite most of the other kids finding it weird and unsanitary, for Inosuke it was the coolest thing he had ever seen.
But his lack of academic talent didn’t matter! He was good for a hella lot of other stuff!
Like, around that time, he realized that he was very, very good at sports. The discovery happened because Nezuko—Tanjiro’s sister—asked him for help with her football practice one day.
“My brother isn’t really good at it, so I need you to be the defense!” She had said. “Try not to let me score!”
“Alright, little sister. Bring it on!”
Despite Nezuko’s deathly kicks and quick reflexes, he was able to hold his ground to her for a whole game! He didn’t block all of her goals, that would have been impossible for anyone. But he still managed to slow her down and make her miss her goals a lot of times!
“You’re really good at this, Inosuke! Maybe you should join the team!” She smiled at him and patted his back after they went for water. If the best football attacker he had ever met thought he was good, how could he refuse her offer?! Of course he joined the team!
Yeah, not everything was perfect. But he was extremely happy with how his life was.
He had his mom, his grandma, his team, his friends! He didn’t need anything more.
——————
“Mr. Hashibira?”
“Mr. Hashibira!” He heard a distant voice call him, waking him from his daydreaming. Can’t one just space out looking at a window in peace anymore?!
“What?” He answered with annoyance. Just when he looked away from the window did he realize the classroom was already empty. Huh, he probably zooned out for most of the class. No wonder the teacher was so mad.
“Mr. Hashibira, there's something important I ought to discuss with you.” Mr. Himejima, his history teacher, said with his usual calm voice. “Come here, please.”
Inosuke complied, but not without taking a heavy sight before getting his backpack and walking towards Mr. Himejima’s desk.
“I'm sure that it isn't news for neither of us that your grades leave a lot to be desired.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” He mumbled. He kinda felt where the conversation was going, and he did not like it.
“Look— I know you do your best, you always present your homework and class activities on time. But since your recent notes have been… not very good,” He let out a long sigh. “I'm afraid I'll have to talk with your parents. If your grades keep dropping like this you risk getting suspended out of the football team. Could you tell them to come tomorrow after school?”
“Can't we just talk about this right now?” Inosuke entreated, starting to feel nervous. “I— I swear I'll do better. I can do extra homework, or- I don't know, I'll—”
“Mr. Hashibira.” Mr. Himejima interjected. Despite knowing he was totally blind, Inosuke felt the man was looking right through him. “I have nothing bad to say about you, don't stress yourself. I have no doubt that you're a good kid, but I really need to contact one of your parents. If they're not available tomorrow they can come any day of the week, you'll just have to tell me when, is that alright?” He finished with a kind smile that went all the way to his milky eyes. Inosuke found it a little bit comforting.
“I’ll… I'll tell my mom.” He said in defeat. Mr. Himejima sounded like he was genuinely concerned for his grades and his position on the football team. “I'm sorry.”
“You don't have to be,” The teacher stood from his desk and grabbed his own bag and white cane, walking towards the classroom’s door. “I understand you try your best… Now—”
He opened the door as fast as lightning and made Tanjiro, Nezuko and Zenitsu unceremoniously fall face first through the doorway.
Genya and Kanao were behind them, standing and now looking as if they were caught stealing gold.
“Mr. Himejima! Haha, how funny to find you here! We were- y’know, just passing, haha.” Genya laughed nervously. Kanao just said a quiet ‘hi’ to the teacher and offered her hand to Nezuko.
“We are sorry!” Zenitsu squealed, quickly sitting up as Tanjiro helped him.
“You are free to go. Your friends have been waiting for you for a while.” the teacher grinned, amused.
——————
“Ino! What are you doing awake so late?” Kotoha said, surprised to find him sitting on the couch way past nine p.m “You know you have school tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah… the thing is that I need to tell you something about it.” He started picking at the cloth of his pyjama pants.
Inosuke hated bothering his mom right after she came home from her shift. He knew she must be exhausted and craving to go to sleep, but Grandma Hisa and Tanjiro insisted that he needed to tell her to see if there was a way for him to do extra work or something to balance out his grades.
“What happened? Is there something wrong?” She quickly sat beside him on the couch, throwing her bag on the floor as if it was the least of her worries.
“... I'm failing history.” He admitted, not being able to look his mother in the eye. “I’m sorry, ma. My notes have been slipping and the teacher… He needs to talk to you. Could you go to the school tomorrow after classes?”
“Oh, baby… of course I will.” Kotoha hugged him, bringing Inosuke close to her chest, to her heart. “Don't be sad, I'm sure we will be able to solve this. You'll just have to work a little harder.”
“I swear to you I will, ma” He hugged her back. “I'm sorry for bothering you. I know you have a lot of work and—”
“Work will never be as important as you and you know that.” She took him from the shoulders firmly but delicately at the same time, making him finally look at her. “And don't say that you bother me. You are my baby, Ino. You never could!”
Inosuke allowed the soft feeling Kotoha’s words gave him to take over his chest, replacing the spiky one the idea of letting her down caused him to have all day. His mama’s words always felt like fresh rain when the drops fell over the leaves; peaceful and kind, they added, but never burdened.
He just hugged her again in silence, and Kotoha started stroking his long, tangled hair in response while humming one of her beautiful lullabies.
They stayed like that for a long, long time, ignoring the presence of the outside world as if he, his mom and her song were the only real things to ever exist.
Inosuke never felt so grateful for being able to be his mama’s son.
The next day arrived, and with it did the infamous reunion Mr. Himejima and Kotoha had scheduled for the afternoon.
Inosuke barely managed to put his nerves at ease for the rest of the night after his last conversation with his mother. While he and his friends were walking together to the school that morning, Tanjiro promised to help him with whatever extra work Mr. Himejima would assign him and Kanao offered her house as their meeting spot to do their homework that weekend.
It was kind of a tradition between the friend group: Every weekend they would gather in one of their houses and just do whatever homework or school project they had to do together.
Inosuke really liked doing his homework with them, they never made him feel bad for having a harder time understanding things than others. Whenever he got lost or frustrated, they helped him as much as they could. They were like a pack! They all had his back and he had all of theirs too! Once, Mrs. Kie had told them they looked like they had known each other forever, maybe from another life.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Genya said before being smacked in the back of the head by Nezuko.
The day passed as normally as always. He had his first classes, battled fiercely against sleep through Mr. Tomioka’s explanation about some type of… Gerund? He did not remember, sleep had come out victorious as always. He made a weird looking pot in Mr. Tengen’s art class and surprisingly moved him enough for the teacher to exhibit his… thing, in the classroom. The man had a weird concept of what “beautiful” was.
At lunch time, Kanao invited him to go and get food for her sisters because Tanjiro and Zenitsu were studying in the library and Genya was having lunch with his brother. They came back and ate together with Ms. Shinobu and Ms. Kanae as if he was part of the family as well, talking about their days and laughing together when Kanao told them how a boy tried to eliminate her in a game of dodgeball and the only thing he got was a ball in the face.
The Kocho family had always been extremely kind to him and his mother. After befriending Kanao in Kindergarten—She gave him a butterfly hairpin similar to hers because she thought he was a girl. Inosuke kept it anyway—the girls’ parents became the Hashibiras’ family doctors. Mrs and Mr. Kocho were always just a call away whenever Grandma Hisa had a bad headache or needed to refill her meds. His mother always said they were like angels.
When the school’s bell rang, indicating the end of the recess, Inosuke said his goodbyes to the sisters and went to have the rest of his classes before heading home. He shared Mr. Shinazugawa’s math class with Tanjiro and Zenitsu and did not understand anything he was saying,—he would ask Nezuko or Genya for help later—he helped Mrs. Kanroji to move some balls and jumping ropes from the sports closet to the gym and before he realized it, the bell rang again but now indicating the end of the school day.
Just remembering he hadn’t told Mr. Himejima at which time his mother would come to the school, Inosuke took his bag and went to search for him at the teachers’ office before heading home.
When he found him, the teacher was sitting at one of the room’s desks by Ms. Kanae’s side eating his bento.
Inosuke announced himself before entering and got a warm greeting from both of the teachers.
“Mr. Himejima, I forgot to tell you. My mother’s gonna come in maybe half an hour.” He said.
“Oh! Is Kotoha coming?” Ms. Kanae chirped and patted the other teacher on the shoulder. “I never thought you two would meet. She's the sweetest woman ever!”
“You know her? Huh, it is amazing how small the world is.” Mr. Himejima laughed while eating a spoon full of what looked like rice with vegetables.
“But of course, mom and dad are their doctors.” Ms. Kanae said, clapping her hands. “Oh my god, maybe you could ask her out!”
That made Mr. Himejima’s face get as red as a tomato and cough, choking on his food. Ms. Kanae nervously patted his back to help him catch his breath.
Inosuke could not be more confused.
“Ask her out to where?” He questioned.
Ms. Kanae looked up at him when the other teacher stopped coughing. “Ah, sorry Inosuke. I shouldn't have said—”
“Ino! What are you doing here? Your friends are outside.” Someone interjected from the hall. When he turned at the familiar voice, he found himself wrapped in Kotoha’s embrace.
“Ma!” He said with surprise. “You arrived early.”
“Yeah, I ran a little!” She raised her hand to show him her working heels. Inosuke separated a bit from her and looked down, his mother had changed to a more comfortable pair of shoes. “It's been a while since I exercised though. I wanna sit down so bad.”
“Kotoha!” Ms. Kanae ran towards her and basically picked her up in a hug. “It's been so long!”
“Kanae! Ino, why didn't you tell me Ms. Kanae was your history teacher?”
“Oh no, I'm not.” She replied with a smile. “That would be Mr. Gyomei over there.”
Kotoha turned towards the room and finally saw him.
Mr. Himejima stood from the desk way too quickly and extended his hand at her more stiffly than he usually did with others. He looked… nervous? Inosuke couldn't pinpoint what expression his face was making. He looked tense, was he scared of his mother? “G-Good afternoon, Ms. Hashibira!”
“Well hi! I'm glad to finally meet you.” She took his hand in hers and shaked it with that smile of hers that could out-shine the sun. Mr. Himejima’s face looked like it was going to explode by how red it turned. Ms. Kanae just let out a little giggle. “You sure are tall!”
Inosuke, as usual, didn’t know what the hell was going on.
“Y-Yeah, I was– always like this. I was a big kid, haha… What am I saying? I heard you said you're tired! Please, take a seat.”
“Oh, thank you Mr… Gyomei, was it?” Kotoha sat down in the chair in front of the teacher’s desk. Mr. Himejima let out a nervous laugh.
“Well, Gyomei is actually my given name.” He smiled shyly. “B-But it's okay if you wanna call me that. I don’t mind.”
Kotoha let out a little giggle, and Inosuke couldn’t help but notice how her cheeks were pinker than before. It was probably because she had run. “I guess you can call me just Kotoha then.”
“Inosuke, what if I accompany you to the entrance? Your mom said your friends are waiting for you.” Ms. Kanae said, almost pushing him out of the room before he could say anything.
“Ma! See you at home!” He said when they were already in the hallway. “Love you!”
“Me too, baby! See you at home!”
——————
“Wait. What do you mean by stealing your mom?!” Tanjiro squeaked with worry. “How can you steal another human being?”
“He’s trying to kidnap Ms. Kotoha?” Kanao asked over Tanjiro’s shoulder. “That doesn’t sound like something he would do...”
“Nonsense! He would never do such a thing!” Genya slammed his fist on the table, making it rumble.
“God, he means that he’s flirting with Ms. Kotoha!” Zenitsu deadpanned, looking tired but not surprised by his friends’ stupidity. Both Kanao and Tanjiro let out a long ‘oh’ in response and Genya just looked completely lost. Zenitsu slammed a hand over his face. “How are you so ridiculously dense?”
“Yes! Monitzu’s right!” Inosuke shouted loudly, making Tanjiro and Kanao wince and Zenitsu to straight up cover his ears.
Genya pinched him in the arm and told him to shut up, and Nezuko just kept eating her lunch as if nothing had happened. She was always unbothered by even the weirdest stuff. “He’s been taking her out on weekends and late at night after she gets out of work! I’ve already lost count of how many times she has come back later than usual!”
“So that’s why you have been looking at him like he committed a capital crime.” Nezuko giggled. Tanjiro offered her an onigiri after seeing her bento box empty, she received it gladly. “I thought it was because he left you extra homework last week. Why didn’t you tell us the first time?”
“Because it was weird!” Inosuke growled in response. He wasn’t really angry with Nezuko, it was just… It was weird! The whole situation made him feel weird and it made him feel angry! “At first, they just talked about how to improve my notes and shit. But then ma started going out more and more often and coming back home with flowers and chocolate and she never told me who she was going out with!”
Nezuko patted him kindly in the back. Of course she knew it wasn’t personal.
“Why are you so sure she went out with Mr. Himejima if she didn't tell you?” Genya asked with his mouth full.
“Because I fucking saw him outside my house yesterday night! It was late, for real late, and my mom gave him a kiss on the cheek, THE CHEEK!”
“How scandalous...” Zenitsu muttered, rolling his eyes.
“I'm sure your mom didn't mean to hurt you by keeping her dates with Mr. Himejima a secret, Inosuke.” Tanjiro added with that empathetic look on his eyes that used to enervate him. When they had first met, Inosuke thought the other boy pitied him or something akin to that. He was just— too kind, too patient and Inosuke was too angry at the time. He now knew that all that look meant was genuine concern and will to help. “She loves you very much, and you know that! But… This is probably something new to her too. Maybe she didn't want to tell you until she knew it was something serious.”
“I hope they both find happiness in each other." Kanao said softly, lost in her own lunch. “Mr. Himejima is a very kind man. This is his first time dating someone.”
“How do you know?” Zenitsu questioned her.
“He’s a family friend. When he worked as a social worker, he was the one that presented me with my family—”
Out of nowhere, Inosuke jumped and landed soundingly over the lunch table in front of Kanao. She paused her spoon half way to her mouth in confusion. “That’s it! Tell me everything you know about him! Now!—”
He made a motion to try and grab her by the shoulders, but she skillfully moved before he could even reach her. He fell face down straight to the floor like a pancake over a pan. Everyone in the school was so used to their weirdness they just turned their heads towards the sound of him hitting the ground, made a face that said ‘Oh, it’s them’ and kept talking as if nothing had happened.
“What the heck were you thinking?!” Genya scolded Inosuke as Tanjiro kneeled to help him.
“Are you okay?” Kanao asked, looking regretful. “I didn’t mean to make you fall, you scared me for a second.”
“I’m good.” Inosuke said, dusting his uniform pants off. “Sorry.”
“What’s up with you today? You’re more annoying than usual.” Zenitsu questioned as he gave him a hand to help him stand up.
“It’s nothing! It’s just— I feel weird, ok?!” Inosuke whinged, taking his friend’s hand. “I… I don’t know if he’s good enough for my ma!”
“Aww, is that what this is all about?” Tanjiro patted him in the back just like Nezuko did before. They surely were two birds of a feather. “Don’t worry, Inosuke! I don’t know Mr. Himejima that well, but you should trust Kanao’s judgement!”
“He can’t be that bad of a guy. He always forgives us when we’re late or when we forget our homework. Also, you have seen him feeding the stray cats outside the school!” Zenitsu added. “That man’s a saint.”
“Yeah, don’t you dare disrespect him in front of me, dumbass,” Genya aggressively poked his finger on Inosuke’s forehead. “He fought with claws and teeth for us to stay with our mom after my dad went to prison! If you wanna say something bad about him, you gotta fight me first.”
“I like him a lot! He always wakes me up kindly when I fall asleep in his classes!” Nezuko beamed with her mouth full. She had already finished the onigiri Tanjiro gave her.
The whole group nodded their heads in agreement, and Inosuke only grunted and hid his face in his hands in response.
“But that’s the thing! He’s too good!” He groused. “What if— what if he’s— Ugh, I don’t know!” He rubbed his hands harder against his face. His head hurt from so much thinking.
Why was he so bothered by the idea of his ma dating someone he didn’t know? She was the smartest and strongest woman he had ever met, she would totally know better than to go out with an asshole! So why? Why did it make him feel so—
“Would it put you at ease if we sneaked on one of their dates?” Kanao asked, looking at her bento like she was trying to decode it. “So you will see with your own eyes that he is good for your mom… Irrefutable proof is always the best way to convince.”
“Kanao!” Everyone else at the table looked at her in shock except for Inosuke, he seemed to be deep in thought.
“What? Am I wrong?” She questioned.
“Yes! We cannot just— Sneak on their dates!” Genya argued, feeling his face going red. “They’re private for a reason! What if— What if they catch us?!”
“Well…” Tanjiro added after a moment of thought.
“Hell no, Tanjiro, I know that face! It’s the one you make when feeding into everyone’s crazy ideas!” Zenitsu squeaked from his chair.
“I think it’s worth a shot.” Nezuko smiled. “Mr. Sabito is out of town visiting his father, so we won’t have football practice until next week. That would be a good way to pass the time!”
“Don’t say it as if it’s a walk along the park!” Genya looked like one of his veins was on its way to pop. “Tanjiro! What the hell you’re doing catering to their madness?!”
“C’mon, Genya! They won’t catch us if we’re careful.” Nezuko patted his shoulder. Despite being the youngest out of all of them, she was always the most chaotic of the bunch. “It’ll be just to help Inosuke—”
“I’m… sorry, for doubting Mr. Himejima.” Inosuke said softly, calling everyone’s attention. He was not the kind to speak so softly. He was always screaming his thoughts or not saying anything at all, nothing in between. “I know he means a lot to you… B-But my mom does so for me too. I wouldn’t be at peace if I didn't know she'll be alright. I— I just need to know.”
The thing is, Genya had always had this weird thing where unexpected demonstrations of kindness and sincerity left him speechless, as if all the anger wrapped up inside of him suddenly dissipated. That’s how they had ended up being his friends, after all. And that’s how now he had ended up begrudgingly accepting their stupid plan.
“Alright, damn it! I’m only going in case you dumbasses end up getting in trouble! If we get grounded for this shit, I’m never helping you with geometry homework ever again Hashibira, is that clear?!”
“As clear as water!” He chuckled. They all knew perfectly well that Genya’s aggressiveness was never serious enough to be real hate. It was just— His weird way of showing how much he cared. His very, very weird way.
Genya knew he could have just let them go on their own and call it a day. He didn’t necessarily have to risk getting grounded just because his dumb friends wanted to spy on Inosuke’s mom and their teacher’s love life. But at the end of the day they were like a pack, right? He just couldn’t even consider leaving them. The thought just didn’t cross his mind.
Damn, maybe Mrs. Kie was right after all.