Chapter Text
Zenitsu; 4 PM
—
It was fascinating watching the dance studio do their thing. Zenitsu could almost get lost in the sea of their movements forever. Even though his ears could barely take the loud squeaking of rubber soles on the polished flooring, he still found it entrancing to watch the dance students get into their element.
Now, you couldn’t blame him if he was sitting here, watching these students with the excuse of ‘finding out what the people like to dance to’, as an excuse to catch even a glimpse of the gorgeous dark-red-haired boy with the pink eyes. He found himself burying his face in his notebook at the thought. He hadn’t really done anything but absentmindedly doodle in the pages this whole time, eyes failing to do much more than trace the movements of the dancer- dancers. Dancers, plural.
With that final thought, he was sick of himself. He gathered his bag and left as quickly as he could, trying his hardest to get his face to stop heating up. Get yourself together, Zenitsu. Seriously. He rushed to the music studio, eager to get his mind off of those pink eyes, that cabernet hair. It was hard, to say the least. He snuck into one of the empty practice rooms and immediately sat down and slouched over a piano, elbows resting on the keys with an ugly sound of defiance. He winced.
His fingers threaded through his blond hair for a moment, tugging lightly, before they fell from his scalp and he straightened his back, looking down at the white and black in front of him. He frowned, staring at it as if willing it to play itself, before his fingers finally reached the keys.
It came naturally to him, now, playing instruments. He’d always had a good ear, and so it was only a matter of time before he drifted to music. He practiced as much as he could, especially when he was younger, desperate to do anything he was good at, which… wasn’t very much.
His fingers danced along the keys, muscle memory kicking in as a familiar melody fluttering from the ivory and into his ears. His eyes closed, his breathing steadied, and he did his very best to drown everything out from around him. That was until he heard the door slam open. Obnoxiously.
“Hey, you forgot your book!” A voice chimed, huffing and puffing as if they’d run a marathon.
Zenitsu looked up, startled, and his brown eyes were met with a gentle pink. It was as if all the irritation from being interrupted melted from his body and was replaced with the warmest feeling he’d ever had in his life.
“Sorry to just burst in on you, that sounded beautiful. I was a little hesitant to even come in, but I thought your property was a little more important.” The boy in front of him grinned, arm outstretched holding his yellow, triangle-dotted notebook.
Snapping out of what felt like a trance, Zenitsu remembered he had to be an actual human being and communicate with people.
“Ah- Thank you.” He mumbled out, taking his book from the boy, feeling himself get nervous.
“I saw you in the dance studio earlier and noticed you holding it until you left, so I scouted you out to return it!”
Zenitsu let out a weak chuckle.
“Well, thank you, again, uhh…”
“Kamado Tanjiro. And you?” Tanjiro tilted his head with a warm smile.
“Zenitsu- Agatsuma Zenitsu. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it was missing until about midnight, so I’m glad you had half a mind to look for me,” He offered a small smile back.
“Well, it’s my pleasure, Zenitsu! Say, as a reward for returning your property, why don’t you play me something on that?” He gestured towards the piano in front of him.
Zenitsu felt his cheeks burn. He was a little embarrassed to share his playing with others. It felt a bit personal, as it was really the only thing he was good at, and he didn’t want anyone to tell him he wasn’t good at it. Alas, Tanjiro seemed nice. Hopefully, nice enough to not let him know if his playing wasn’t as good as he thought.
“If that’s really what you want, I guess,”
He shrugged, turning his attention back to the instrument and readying his shivering fingers. He closed his eyes tight, and let his ears guide his digits towards the correct keys as he began playing whatever came to mind first. His chest rose and fell with absolute precision, matching his playing down to the beat, and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Although he was nervous, he always felt a lot more calm when he was indulging in music, letting the melodies toy with his emotions instead of his stubborn, stupid brain. It was always a comfort to him, to know he could let go and let the music do the thinking for him. For a few moments, he even forgot there was anyone watching him, until his ears perked up as he heard a gentle gasp and the sweetest sounds wafting towards him from the boy in the room with him. He accidentally skipped a key trying to commit the sound to memory and it threw him off completely.
Embarrassed, he quickly released the keys from under his fingers and muttered apologies as fast as his mouth would move.
“Sorry- I got distracted- I hope it wasn’t that bad.. I’m sorry!” He stumbled over each word like his tongue was tied in knots.
He heard Tanjiro giggle behind him.
“That was amazing, Zenitsu. Don’t get yourself so worked up, okay?” His head tilted once more with a sunny grin. He sounded like the comforting crackling of firewood and a gentle lullaby after a nightmare. It was unlike anything Zenitsu had ever heard from another person before. He was awe-stricken immediately.
He couldn’t help but giggle at the praise, looking at the boy shyly, before turning his attention to literally anything else to keep his face from going as red as a tomato.
“You don’t have to compliment me, you know. I’m sure it’s not anything you haven’t heard before,”
“No, really! It was great. Don’t sell yourself short!”
Zenitsu needed to leave before he squealed. In fact, it was too late to leave. He heard a squeak from his chest and then squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. Stupid body making stupid sounds. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He couldn’t even trust himself to not do anything to embarrass him further. It was like everything was moving against him in tandem.
“Well, I- Um, I’m not even supposed to be in here at the moment. I haven’t booked the room or anything, so we probably better go. It was… nice to meet you, Tanjiro. Thank you, again.” He gestured nervously to his notebook before he snatched up his bag and rushed out the door, leaving Tanjiro alone before the boy could say anything back. Good. He couldn’t trust himself to not reply if he said anything more.