"Mmmn..." Tanjiro rubbed his eyes, sitting up slowly. It was still relatively early, and outside was still just barely starting to get bright. He turned back on his side.
And he saw.. "Oh?" Inosuke? I wonder what he's doing in my bed.
He looked around him and saw they were just in the Butterfly Mansion, healing again. But.. Inosuke was in his bed. He tried his best to remember letting him last night, but no memories came back. Maybe he's a sleep walker. Glad he stumbled here then. Wouldn't want him to wander outside.
Tanjiro smiled. He's cute. I wonder why he doesn't take off his boar mask more. He giggled quietly to himself remembering when they first met, and when he accidentally gave him a concussion.
"Oops." He had laughed to loudly and Inosuke turned in his sleep. "Gonpachiro..." hm? Is he awake or just dreaming?
"Inosuke?" He whispered. He waited patiently for a response, and when there was none, he exhaled in relief. I'd feel so bad if I woke him up this early. He's not exactly a morning person.
Tanjiro thought to himself about all the nice things about Inosuke, and how they overwhelmingly outnumbered the few bad things. He may be a tsundere, but at least he's kind to me. Tanjiro paused. Wait... but aren't tsundere's kind to only the people they like? As in... romantically?
Inosuke mumbled something in his sleep, and Tanjiro's train of thought was stopped immediately. He reached over and patted his head gently, using his other to run circles into his back to try and calm him down. No, that's just something for teenage girls to swoon over. Inosuke's just special to me.
Just as he was thinking that, Inosuke said something coherent. "Mon.. jiro..." Tanjiro moved over on top of Inosuke to climb to the other side. "What is it Inosuke? Are you having a bad dream?" Inosuke tossed and turned but didn't speak again.
Is he alright? Is he in pain? Maybe I should wake him up. Whatever dream he's having doesn't seem pleasant.
Tanjiro took Inosuke's shoulders and shook them slightly, careful not to be too rough with him. Inosuke grumbled in his sleep and started shooing away Tanjiro's hands, something Tanjiro found extremely adorable.
"Hey Inosuke, it's time to wake up." Inosuke's eyes opened tiredly, and his eyes were still glossy from sleep. Tanjiro smiled. "Good morning Ino."
Inosuke groaned and pulled Tanjiro down onto the bed with him. "Too... early. More sleep." Tanjiro blushed and tried to pry away but Inosuke was surprisingly strong for someone half asleep.
"Ino, we have to get up. Breakfast is gonna be served in (probably) an hour and we need to get clean and dressed. Come on, let's get up." Inosuke just held onto him tighter, starting to drift off again. "Ino.. come on. I can help you get your things if you want. Remember we're leaving tomorrow?"
No matter what Tanjiro tried, Inosuke wouldn't get up. Until of course, Tanjiro tried his last two methods. He leaned over, brushing away strands of blue hair from his forehead. He lowered his head and kissed Inosuke gently, and smiled.
Tanjiro sat back up and saw Inosuke's face contorted and sleepiness and sudden awareness of his surroundings because of the small kiss. "W-What was that for Monjiro?" His face was slightly flushed and it made Tanjiro giggle.
"Oh I just wanted you to be up. It's time you know?" Inosuke sighed and sat up, engulfing Tanjiro in a bone crushing hug. "I don't wanna, but because you're gonna help me pack I guess I'll try."
"Thank you Ino." Tanjiro reached over and grabbed Inosuke's brush from the side table. He began to comb through Inosuke's blue hair, amazed at how soft it was.
"What was your dream about? Did you have a nightmare?" Inosuke sighed into the hug and held him tighter. "It was.. scary. I guess it was just... I dunno. A lot happened. I wasn't ready. And it was cold." Tanjiro nodded in understanding.
"Mhm. If you want to talk about it later I'm right here. And we can sleep together from now on if you'd like. I noticed you didn't toss and turn as much as when you slept in your own bed." Inosuke thanked him (surprising) and said he'd like that too. As much as Inosuke hated to admit it, he was starting to grow attached to Tanjiro.
"Hey Monjiro?"
"Hm? Yea Ino?"
"Why do you.. why are you so nice to me?"
Tanjiro laughed. "I'm nice to everyone. Why wouldn't I be nice to you? I have no reason not to."
"Oh.. yeah of course. That makes sense." Something about Inosuke's voice sounded defeated. Tanjiro noticed it.
"Is something bothering you?"
"It's just.. I'm not sure. I just feel a little strange. Different than usual."
"Hmm.. yes I can understand that. Things have changed a lot since when we first met, huh?" Inosuke laughed.
"Yeah, remember when you head butted me so hard I passed out?" Tanjiro giggled. "I still feel horrible about that Ino."
"It's fine, I deserved it. Plus, I got to have you close to m-" Inosuke stooped, realizing what he said. "A-Ah I mean I got to have you get closer to me because of that."
He couldn't see it, but he thought he felt Tanjiro's ears begin to get warm.
"Y-Yea. Haha, remember when you kept on stealing my food?"
They laughed together for half an hour, talking about small funny memories and plans for the day. By the time they were tired from laughing so much, Inosuke's hair was as smooth as Tanjiro's.
Tanjiro set down the brush and put his hands to cup Inosuke's face. He leaned in and collided their foreheads together, but gently this time, so they wouldn't get hurt. Inosuke giggled and did the same to Tanjiro.
They smiled, looking at each other.
Inosuke closed his eyes, and rested on Tanjiro's chest. "I love you."
Tanjiro's eyes widened.
"I- I love you too Ino."
A weight was lifted off of his shoulders, and he hugged the shorter boy. That feels so.. so much better. Who knew it'd be so simple?
They held each other for a while but then they heard Zenitsu sniffling behind them.
Inosuke looked up at him, grinning with his eyebrows knitted together.
"Ino?"
"Guess we should get up now, huh?"
Tanjiro stood up, getting off the bed, but before he could go to the door he was knocked down by Inosuke. "Nope! You're not getting away that easily Gonpachiro!"
Tanjiro laughed and playfully tried to push him off, but to no avail. Inosuke sat himself down and started yelling about everything, making Zenitsu wake up with a start. Tanjiro was laughing too hard to care, and Inosuke just kept on being Inosuke.
"Haha! Ino you're- haha-! You're squishing me!"
The morning was an interesting one for the sleep deprived Zenitsu.
Word Count: 1151 words
I hope this is ok, I'm working on a lot of things and the new quarter is starting and my architectural design class is so annoying.
But yea, this was more of a filler chapter. I'll try to post more on here and my other stories too, but I might have to take a week break.
Thanks,
Milo
