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Tanjiro was the example of the perfect boy
People either envied him or praised him and sometimes both
He studied hard and most of his grades were well,he helps everyone with a kind smile he was everything everybody wanted to be
It was 8 in the morning at kimetsu academy,a public school that every student in town went to,although it wasn't the best
Kimetsu academy was once a great place,full of joy and warmth-atleast before criminal groups were on the rise again
Ever since the town split into two Yakuza groups,the shinkai crime group versus the Tsukikage-gumi crime group,both rivaling powerful crime gangs that cause destruction due to their gun fights
The shinkai crime gang was more violent and brawns over brains unlike the Tsukikage-gumi crime gang,however due to how reflexive the shinkai gang is-the rival gang had never managed to win
However each fight caused destruction and that destruction had inspired the young-wether for good or not,to pick and join a gang and side
With the crime activity a lot of teachers and workers in the area started quitting and moving to safer areas,prices started going low and everybody changed for the worse
By now kimetsu academy was nothing but a building full of teenagers that fell into the rabbit hole of addiction and crime,and neglective strict teachers who didn't give two shits about anything other than their paycheck
It was like tanjiro was the only one unaffected by the harsh conditions of this god foresaken small town,it was almost like tanjiro was a observing angel,unharmed by mankind and simply there to see the joy in life
It was another harsh day of life and stressful schools,the usual trio were seen walking to gym class-a class usually shared by 2 classes from different grades at once
Since tanjiro and inosuke were in the same class while zenitsu was in a different class and a year older than them,they had the same gym schedule
Although the second they entered the field in the left yard of the school,they noticed that the students were running free,no teacher or substitute in sight
"Huh?, where's Kobayashi-sensei?"tanjiro asked as he looked around the field full of energetic students,some were with their friends gossiping while some were vandalizing the field
"Bet the old fart had tripped and fell into my super awesome wet staircase prank!"inosuke was now laughing like a idiot beast
The yellow haired boy of the trio was walking away from the two,walking up to two girls named kanao and aoi -he and aoi shared a class and while he feared the strict bossy girl,she made good food
"Hey uhm,aoi?"zenitsu started nervously,he'd always been shy around ladies,but there was always this hint of fear around aoi,she was pretty strict and strong and she was good fighter,the boy was sure aoi was a former Jiu-Jitsu club participant
"What do you need now"the raven haired girl replied with a annoyed tone as she looked at him over her shoulder,she was clearly interrupted from her conversation with kanao,the quiet lilac eye colored girl
"Oh I was just wondering-"oi,pigtail girl!do you have food with you again"inosuke interrupted the nervous boy as he jumped over him,he was always known for his agility
"Ugh not you again"Aoi groaned as she covered kanao's presence discreetly after noting how uncomfortable the girl was with the loud noises,she covered the girl with her body and put her hands on her own hips in annoyance
"Look if you need something,ask quickly and leave!I'm not willing to deal with your bullshit!"aoi scolded and shoved inosuke away
"Sorry for my friend's behavior"a redheaded boy had inserted himself into the conversation,his presence light enough to the point aoi didn't even notice him approach her and the two idiots
"Tanjiro Kamado right?"aoi questioned with a raised brow,the boy had been here a week after the school term started yet she had avoided his class because of inosuke,so they haven't properly met, not like aoi cares but hopefully this one isn't a idiot like the rest
"Yup that's me!sorry for my friends behavior,but uhm..we were wondering where is Kobayashi-sensei?"tanjiro asked,he seemed to be the only one with manners,that alone caused aoi to calm down and now her hand rested at her side
"Oh you haven't heard?he got arrested since yesterday"aoi said in a bored tone as she was about to turn away and continue her recently interrupted conversation with her friend
"Arrested?!"zenitsu seemed scared,probably imagining the worst and even almost fainted,tanjiro however was the most logical one and decided to walk away and ask other people
Aoi already looked pissed off at them enough as it is,it would probably cause issues if they continued to bother her and her quiet friend
"Okay let's go ask questions,inosuke?zenitsu?"tanjiro looked behind him expecting to find the two boys acting casually only to see zenitsu panicking while crying as if his brother killed his grandpa and inosuke eating dirt
"Inosuke!don't eat that"tanjiro scolded and pulled inosuke by the arm,luckily the boar masked boy didn't seem to care or maybe he was still chewing on the last bite
"And zenitsu for god's sake please calm down!"tanjiro dragged the blonde boy with him,it was a odd sight,seeing the kind boy dragging the two most disliked boys in their school by the arm
After a while they finally calmed down due to it being lunch time already,inosuke was scarfing his and tanjiro's food while tanjiro was asking the student beside him questions
"Oh the gym teacher?,uhhh I think he was busted for being a pedo or something"a random student sat beside them had casually shrugged as he answered tanjiro,the boy was pretty sure his name was takuechi but he shared a chemistry class with tanjiro
"Oh…"zenitsu and tanjiro were now quiet,processing that sentence,hoping no girls were harmed but got reassured
"I'm pretty sure he got his ass beat by a bunch of seniors,I think one of them had a little sister who snitched,pretty sure her name was ume, she's hella pretty too"takuechi said as he grabbed his banana milk which ended up in inosuke's hands
Takuechi glared at him and just left their table,the bell was about to ring anyway
"That's gyutaro's sister"zenitsu said as he finished his juice off
"Who's gyutaro"tanjiro asked,tilting his head slightly in interest
"Oh,he's one of the bullied and a senior,tallest boy in school and a drug dealer,he's one of kaigaku-nii's friends"tanjiro almost forgot zenitsu had a older brother,all he knew was most seniors were a bunch of troublemakers
"Well it's good he has morals and beat up a pervert"tanjiro tried to be optimistic only to get a tired glare from zenitsu who shut him down"I doubt he cared,he only did it because his sister was harassed"
"Oh"tanjiro could manage to say as he was deep in thought,was the school that bad to the point students have to beat up teachers in self defense?
The bell ring snapped him out of his deep thinking,it was time for math class-a subject tanjiro wasn't really good at
To be fair,every student in her class hasn't got a 90 or above,the math teacher was a strict bitch who spoke too quick and refused to return to topics the students didn't understand
"Geez,no wonder her students are failing"zenitsu grumbled,even though they were in different classes,there were only two teachers for each subject in this damned school
The air conditioning system didn't even work properly and everybody was a asshole in this school,students blatantly smoke in the hallways and the teachers either quit or straight up killed themselves out if exhaustion and the conditions
But to be fair nobody could blame them
Tanjiro and inosuke soon entered after saying goodbye to zenitsu,although they would meet soon since they walk home together
"Kamado,hashibara-care to explain why you are late"Takahashi-sensei was immediately scolding them,this old hag never missed a day of school,even when there was a bad Storm and students were sent late to school
"I apologize sensei,there was a lot of students crowded in the hallway"tanjiro defended apologetically,he was too nice for his good yet the bitch never gave him a full mark
"Don't do it again or else you will receive a warning point"the teacher crossed her arms and turned back to the board as she started blabbering about the syllabus which nobody focused on
Math class was boring and the same as always,even inosuke fell asleep and that said a lot
Of course nothing was learnt from the boring lesson wich was said quickly yet took more than half the class time,after the explanation they were given homework they were bound to fail unless they had good siblings who would help them cheat or tutors for the people who assumed they wanted to live long enough for graduation
The next class was a double period in English,which was usually spent inside the classroom and read books if you have some or stay quiet,the teacher,a lady in her mid 30's named mei Akiyama was the highschool's English teacher,she simply teaches the vocabulary for about 5 minutes and then sleeps for the next 30 minutes,she was lazy but the students liked the free time
It was about 30 minutes into English class and half the class dozed off or were chatting with their friends in the class
Tanjiro was bored and inosuke had finally woken up from his nap,somehow more energetic after sleeping and already had left the classroom mid lesson
Tanjiro had given up on chasing the boar headed boy and decided to follow him-what harm could it do anyway?
At some point he bumped into someone who ignored his apologies,all what tanjiro saw was the back of a mullet structured messy and long mohawk,the person was pretty tall too
Tanjiro decided to ignore the occurance and follow inosuke who was in the kitchen storage,looking disappointed and annoyed at the lack of good food
"Ugh,all this food is dogshit!lord inosuke deserves better if you ask me.."inosuke huffed as tanjiro placed a hand on his shoulder
"It's alright inosuke,we'll get pastries from my family's bakery on our way home"tanjiro reasurred as he gave inosuke's shoulder a pat
Inosuke as much as he seemed disappointed had cheered up at the mention of food from the bakery
Before the boy could speak up,the bell had rang already
"Huh?did class really finish already"tanjiro questioned as he raised a eyebrow but inosuke was already sprinting out
"Inosuke!we should wait for zenitsu,and don't you have a bag?"tanjiro hurried after the boar headed boy who was now snickering loudly
"Lord inosuke doesn't need a bag!and minion 2 could catch up"the snickering boy was yelling loudly,seemingly not noticing the vice principal holding his hand out to pause inosuke who simply slammed into him while snickering
"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS"the vice principal yelled after them as he stood back up and rubbed his sore back
He merely received a quick mumble of a "sorry"from tanjiro who continued running after inosuke
Crowds of students were slowly forming out of their classes,ready to head home and seemingly excited a day of this hellish school was over
They reached zenitsu's class and found him chatting with a girl
Tanjiro could remember the girl being referred as kanao,she was quiet but had received straight A's in all her classes,even getting a B+ in math and that said a lot
It seemed as if zenitsu was begging her to tutor him before aoi had came and shoved the blonde haired boy away
That's when he noticed the two boys staring at him,inosuke was already snickering at him as the blonde haired boy strode over in annoyance,seemingly exhausted
"Ugh,that stupid math teacher is going to fail me,and then gramps will kill me"zenitsu huffed as he fixed his bag and posture
"Who's that girl with the pink eyes"tanjiro asked in curiosity,giving a glance to the girl who was now walking away with aoi and that tall boy from earlier
"Who?oh kanao?yeah she's a smart student and aoi's friends,if it wasn't for aoi butting in-kanao would've probably helped tutor me"zenitsu was now complaining and rambling about his failing grades
"Well I understand,you know how much of crime is on the rise,it's understandable for a girl,even boys to be scared at night"tanjiro sighed and shrugged as they walked out of the school gate
"Ugh it better not rain heavy today"zenitsu huffed as he looked up at the sky,which was full of clouds and it was clear that there will be rain and even a possible thunderstorm
"Well then I believe we should head home, preferably mine since I need to check on my siblings and I have a room of my own that's clean"tanjiro offered,it was true,he was the only one with a clean room that he sleeps in alone,its perfect for a hangout unlike inosuke's and zenitsu's rooms
Inosuke was the only child of a single mother named kotoha,the poor lady worked multiple jobs even though she receives money from her mother every month,inosuke slept on the couch to give his mother the good room
Zenitsu lived with his grandpa and adoptive brother kaigaku,his grandpa works in a farm yet he lived in a traditional japanese house,so zenitsu and his elder brother kaigaku shared a room
Tanjiro was the only one with a good house that had a private room for the three,afterall they didn't want to disturb tanjiro's family
"Besides,I should be free since we usually don't get customers in the rainy weather"tanjiro added with a reassuring smile
"I guess so,besides grandad is probably sleeping through the weather and kaigaku-nii is probably at his friends house,and if he isn't I doubt he would want me with him for the rest of the day"zenitsu shrugged ,meanwhile inosuke had simple cheered
"Good idea,gonpachiro!lord inosuke was just about to say that"inosuke yelled,his voice loud enough to catch attention of annoyed citizens hurrying back from school and work in the already worsening weather
"Okay maybe don't shout that loud-"tanjiro's words were ignored by inosuke who was already sprinting down the street
The walk from the bakery took maybe 15 minutes from school,a lot of the metro stations in that town weren't exactly the best,and now it's full of gang members which isn't the best sight for a citizen, especially a young one
Inosuke had reached before them due to him being a fast runner,zenitsu was slightly faster but he was still sulking about his math grades so he was a little behind
half way through the walk it started raining and since none of the boys had an umbrella they were forced to run into the bakery in the wet weather
Afterall it's best to reach faster and sneak in before tanjiro's mother kie,sees the wetness they brought into her shop,the whole family could probably be cleaning the wet floors by now
"Sure is the best option"zenitsu huffed as he rolled his eyes,tanjiro could only give a simple sheepish shrug and enter,inosuke was already inside and ordering food
The girl at the counter could be known as nezuko-tanjiro's little sister who also went to the same school
"Hi nezuko,how was your day today"tanjiro smiled at the younger girl as she started preparing inosuke's usual order
"I'm fine onii-chan,today was good"nezuko responded while giving her usual soft smile,she was a cute lady but overworked herself sometimes
Zenitsu could be seen foaming at the mouth at nezuko's presence yet she ignored him and continued talking to her older brother
After inosuke was served his food they headed upstairs to tanjiro's room,the room wasn't that big but not that small,it had the usual furniture alongside a old 90's computer and a few study notes spread around
"Do you guys want to watch a movie?I can load one on my computer"tanjiro offered the now two seated boys
Zenitsu was on the floor while inosuke was on a beanie,both boys nodded before they ended up starting a banter over which film they wanted to watch
"Chicken run is funny and has scary scenes!"zenitsu argued with the green eyed boy "well chicken run is for babies! American psycho is way more interesting"inosuke was seconds close from tackling the blonde boy
"Why don't we watch the lord's of the ring?it has adventure and fantasy so it's interesting with some funny scenes"tanjiro suggested as he showed them the cd
"I guess that's better than inosuke's pick"zenitsu grumbled as he picked up the CD's and placed them back on the shelf
By now tanjiro was inserting the movie cd into the raggedy computer which was vibrating as it opened,it was old yet worked perfectly somehow
"Okay,that's better!now while it loads I'm going to get snacks,don't argue and tear my room apart"tanjiro stood up and stretched-heading out before a word could be said back
The rain wasn't that heavy and the weather was still a bit cloudy,thank God not a lot of rain entered the shop since that would be a problem,due to there being a lot of wires beside the counter
"Hey mom,can I grab a few snacks-"tanjiro started to ask his mother who was now at counter duty,nezuko was probably on a break that she deserved,afterall she had spent half the day on counter duty and she was just a teenage girl that needed to have fun
Tanjiro noticed the girl from earlier,he now knew her name was kanao and that she was uncomfortable with talking a lot
She held a pink umbrella-now wet,in her hand and was still wearing the school uniform
beside her was the tall boy from earlier,he didn't seem that tall now,he also seemed to be wearing shoes that gave him extra height
Now that tanjiro paid attention,the boy looked skinny with only a few muscles,his messy mohawk now seemed a bit wet,revealing that the natural hair was curly,the bangs had a spiral curl on the boy's forehead-which looked good in tanjiro's opinion
The boy's skin looked soft with a bit of a tan,there was a scar that ran across his nose to his right cheek,and lavender colored eyes that contrasted between the soft color and the furrowed small eyebrows and glare on the boy's face
"Can we receive our order now"the boy huffed and decided to focus on the lady at the counter now,his tone was annoyed yet softer and held politeness,atleast he was respectful to women…
But tanjiro was still curious about the boy
"Here's your food dear,be careful in the rain"kie smiled at the two teenagers who were now leaving,both gave a nod and exited the shop
"Who was that?"tanjiro asked his mother while grabbing a few left over sweets,there were brownies,cheesecake bars and some tea cakes,tanjiro also grabbed a few sodas from the fridge
"New customers,although I am worried on why they are alone in the rain without any adult or older teenager"kie mumbled as she shook her head,now turning to face her son in the kitchen
"What are you doing sweetie?"his mother asked calmly-oh yeah he forgot to tell her about hus friend's visit
"Oh uh,zenitsu and inosuke are in my room right now,we are watching a movie and I wanted to grab snacks"tanjiro responded as he watched his mother nod
"Okay darling just make sure they leave by 8,I'm sure their parents are worried about them"kie replied as she wiped the counter
Tanjiro went back upstairs and entered his room,seeing that inosuke and zenitsu were still sat and that the movie was loaded "okay good we can start now!"tanjiro smiled as he sat and placed the snacks in the middle
The movie was half way through when they noticed that all the snacks were finished
"INOSUKE YOU FATASS!"zenitsu was immediately lunging at inosuke for finishing all the snacks
"OI! IT ISNT MY FAULT MONITSU"Inosuke yelled back as he threw hands with the blonde boy
After a while the two calmed down-noticing how late it was and that the rain stopped
There was a knock on the door and the door opened as tanjiro's sister -hanako peeked her head in
"zenitsu-san,your grandpa is here to take you home,and inosuke's mom is also here"the young girl stated
"Okay thanks,we'll head down soon"zenitsu
started packing up and saying his goodbyes,inosuke did the same
"See you guys tomorrow"tanjiro waved goodbye as he smiled and closed the door
Everything seemed normal and it was late