Work Text:
Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna took Hotaru to the park on a weekend, only to find Mitsuri and Nezuko bickering. Hotaru was quite puzzled at this sight, as Nezuko and Mitsuri were best friends. It was unlikely for them to bicker like this.
“Why did you lose that earring? Tanjiro treasures that one so much, and it’s the earring our late father passed down to us!” Shouted Nezuko, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, okay? I wanted to make a replica of it through resin as a gift for your birthday, since I thought it was coming up!” Argued Mitsuri.
It was also impossible to think that Mitsuri lost the earring through her artistic endeavors, as she had never lost a reference for her art.
“Tanjiro’s been so sad these days and it’s all your fault! I can’t believe I trusted you with such a precious piece like that.” Said Nezuko, pulling her hair.
“I’m really sorry! Please!” Pleaded Mitsuri.
“No! We’re through! Until you can find the earring, I have nothing to do with you!” Screamed Nezuko, as she marched out of the park.
“Are you ok?” Inquired Hotaru, as she went to comfort Mitsuri, who was now sobbing uncontrollably.
“I’m such a bad friend! I lost the one thing most precious to the Kamado family and I keep calling her a best friend! How can I do this to her?” Sobbed Mitsuri.
“How about you try looking for the earring? Surely it couldn’t have gone too far.” Said Hotaru.
“No! I also bring it to my studio and my apartment and these different places.” Sobbed Mitsuri. Honestly I don’t know how to help you at this point. Thought Hotaru, trying to hold in an eye roll.
“Hey, if you need help repairing a friendship, I can ask around!” Chirped Michiru.
“Michiru, you can’t just ASK how to prepare a friendship!” Complained Haruka. He knew Michiru was the kind to never give up on a friend, but her ways of solving problems was quite questionable sometimes, being the beautifully quirky violinist she is.
“It’s still worth trying. We can ask some people what they do with friendships.” Said Setsuna.
“Oh, thank you so much!” Said Mitsuri, bowing as far as she could to the four of them. And it begins, the quest to repair a friendship.
“Kanao! Shinobu! Over here!” Said Hotaru as she entered Shinobu’s classroom the next day at school.
She had gone to visit the high school class during her lunch break so she could talk to these two, as they were also quite close with Mitsuri and Nezuko.
“Mitsuri and Nezuko got into a fight and Nezuko declared that they were through. How can I repair a friendship?” Hotaru said.
“Really? I’m sorry. What are they fighting about?” Asked Shinobu, as she stood up from her desk and walked over.
“I think it was Tanjiro's earrings. Mitsuri claimed that she was going to make a sparkly replica for Nezuko as her present and borrowed Tanjiro’s earrings as a reference. But she lost it and Nezuko was furious, since the earring belonged to her late father and is really precious to her.” Said Hotaru, as the two began walking over to Kanao’s class.
“Kanao! Over here! You know, I would recommend those two girls to talk it over and ask for forgiveness. It’s not the most solid solution, as Nezuko feels strongly about these things, but it will show that Mitsuri is willing to try and reconcile things. Now make sure she doesn’t make too much of a deal giving her a forgiveness gift, because then Nezuko would think that Mitsuri got her a gift to bribe her into forgiving Mitsuri.” Said Shinobu, as she waved Kanao over and Kanao joined the two girls.
Shinobu quickly explained everything to Kanao and she thought for a moment before replying. “You know, these situations are actually pretty difficult to solve, but the most important thing is time. Give Nezuko some time to cool down, and then talk to her about this. She may be a bit calmer by then. And try to make the apology as genuine as possible and act like you’re offering your life to her. That’s how you make it truly genuine so she could see Mitsuri’s trying to prepare a friendship.” Said Kanao.
Hotaru left the high school as class was about to start again. Unfortunately, while she had gotten great advice, she now realized that repairing such a damaged friendship with such a deep bond would prove to be extremely difficult.
Meanwhile at Mitsuri’s apartment…
“Ohhh…. Where is it?” Stressed Mitsuri, as she turned over her couch cushions to look for the earring. “I’ve checked everywhere! Even my home studio! I even took a trip to the studio at the art center!” Cried Mitsuri, as Setsuna was carefully listening to her every detail through a video call.
“Where have you not looked?” Asked Setsuna.
“I’ve. Looked. EVERYWHERE!” Screamed Mitsuri, as she flopped back onto the couch. “If I don’t find it quick, me and Nezuko are through for good! That’s terrifying!” Sobbed Mitsuri. Just then one of Mitsuri’s four cats crawled into her lap and purred.
“Thank you. That makes me feel so much better.” As Mitsuri went to pat her cat. Setsuna smiled.
Having lots of cats around definitely eased Mitsuri’s spirits a little. Setsuna wouldn’t be surprised if the cat found the earrings for Mitsuri. Then the cat got up and urged Mitsuri to follow her. Mitsuri was led into the cat’s play area. The cat kept pointing in and meowing, so Mitsuri looked in. When she did, she saw the most shocking thing ever, and gasped in awe.
“Thank you for the bread!” Haruka said as he finished getting the toast he needed for tomorrow’s breakfast. He and Michiru occasionally visited the Kamado Bakery to pick up some bread.
“Hey, wait, Tanjiro, are you ok?” asked Michiru, as normally Tanjiro would be beaming after a customer made a purchase. But today, he seemed pale and slightly depressed.
“Yes. I’m fine. It’s just that Nezuko lost the earring my father handed down to me before he passed away.” Tanjiro replied.
“Nezuko’s been crying these days, too. She’s been feeling horrible for saying she and Mitsuri are through, and she acts like it was all her fault that I’m so depressed these days. Truth is, I can’t seem to find myself these at the sight of watching Mitsuri and Nezuko bicker,” said Tanjiro, as Haruka and Michiru listened closely.
“We’re trying to help with that. What do you do with your friends when this happens?” Haruka asked, as Zenitsu’s voice hollered through the back.
“Inosuke! Stop! You’re not supposed to eat the dough! It’s not baked, and the bread is for the customers, stupid!” Tanjiro jumped, as Zenitsu and Inosuke came out of the kitchen, covered in flour. This was a seemingly hilarious sight, and Haruka and Michiru looked like they were going to pass out from trying not to laugh.
“I heard what you asked. I’m so sad that Nezuko and Mitsuri are through. When Nezuko is sad, I’m sad too!” Wailed Zenitsu while Tanjiro tried (but failed successfully) to clean up all the flour stuck onto Zenitsu and Inosuke.
“You know, that’s actually a bit of a hard question to answer since we don’t really care that much about things. Nothing’s too personal.” Shrugged Zenitsu.
“Ha! I remember when I lost your favorite shirt!” Hollered Inosuke.
“What happened then?” asked Haruka. It seems they were closer to finding a solution to the friendship problem.
“We just shrugged it off. Besides, the shirt wasn’t exactly a limited edition, so we went out and got another one.” Said Tanjiro.
“No crazy breakups, no tears, no ‘We’re through?’” asked Michiru, who was slightly surprised.
“Nope!!! None of that emotional whining. Only the weak cry over this stupid stuff! Girls are so stupid!” Screamed Inosuke, as another teenage girl who was in the bakery scoffed.
Tanjiro apologized.
“Now to phrase it less meanly, we basically just picked up where we left off and didn’t care much. We forgot about it until now.” At this point, Michiru and Haruka were just confused. How do these boys not care?
“Remember when I broke your new TV?” Screamed Inosuke again.
“That was kind of funny. But it did take a while to reconcile things with my grandpa… ” Said Zenitsu, chuckling.
At this point, Haruka and Michiru were just in shock, almost horrified. How the heck are these boys so nonchalant?
“But my advice is to just tell them to get over it. You can't just whine over these problems. Anyways, gotta go. We have to help Tanjiro take out the bread from the oven.” Zenitsu added, as he and Inosuke walked off to the kitchen, while playfully slapping each other.
“Thanks for the advice. We’ll be off!” hollered Haruka as he exited the store.
“Wow. Such nonchalant boys!” Said Michiru as the two of them walked back home.
“Guy and girl friendships are so different.” Exclaimed Haruka.
“I know! We can ask Mitsuri and Nezuko to meet up, and get a small apology gift. And we will follow everybody’s advice and tell them to move on.” Said Michiru. Just then, Setsuna sent a frantic text. When Michiru and Haruka read it, their souls left their bodies in surprise.
“Hi, Nezuko!” Said Mitsuri, as she walked into the park carrying a box of homemade cookies.
“I’m so, SO sorry for misplacing your dad’s earring. I know how hard it is to get over the fact that such a precious piece is gone, but please. Dwelling on this in the present won’t positively affect the future. I wish for us to just keep carrying on and letting the past be our past!” Said Mitsuri. “Will you forgive me?” Said Mitsuri, as she bowed deeply to Nezuko, offering the cookies.
Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru were secretly hiding at the park entrance, cheering for Mitsuri. Then Nezuko started to cry. The four that were hiding got nervous. Is this even going to end well? They thought.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I was so blinded by rage and sadness that I didn’t even mean what I said. I just want to be friends with you forever, no matter what.” cried Nezuko, through tears. The two girls hugged each other.
“Oh wait! I forgot…” said Mitsuri, as she quickly dug through her pocket and opened a jewelry box.
“Oh. My. Gosh. No way! These are my father’s earrings! What– How… How did you find it?” Exclaimed Nezuko, hands shaking.
“I actually didn’t lose it. My cats just thought it was interesting and took it to play. Now it wasn’t damaged, but my cats knew I was looking for it and led me to it. When I looked, the cats were sleeping and holding the earring, which was adorable!” Squealed Mitsuri.
“I’m so glad you found it! I’m so sorry for making you worry so much.” Said Nezuko.
Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru smiled. They were glad this issue was resolved.
But at the end of the day, what Haruka and Michiru learnt wasn’t the true value of friendship, but rather how simple boy friendships were compared to girl friendships.