𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖘 [Tanjiro Kamado X Reader] (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

~chapter twenty-two~

3rd Person Pov:

"What are you guys doing?!" asked Inosuke, his voice as loud as always. Tanjiro looked at him dumbfounded, replying: "Burying the dead, of course. Inosuke, you should come and help, too. There was a bunch of people killed in that house." Inosuke immediately started to scream again: "It's pointless to bury the remains of living organisms! Who would even think to do that?! I'm not helping you! Compared to that, how about you with me!"

"Is that so..." trailed Tanjiro off. He was about to give up, as (Y/N) got an idea. She had to contain herself from grinning as she put on a worried expression, saying: "I bet you're heavily injured. I get it, really. Pain is just awful, so it's fine if you don't want to push yourself even further."

Inosuke just stopped, an extremely annoyed expression on his face. Did he understand that girl right? Tanjiro, not quite understanding what (Y/N) was on about, decided to chimp in by saying: "It's okay. Everybody has different levels of pain tolerance. We need to dig holes after carrying the dead out of the house. Burying people is a really tiring job. Zenitsu and these kids are all very capable, so it's okay."

"You can just rest and watch, Inosuke." added (Y/N), a sweet smile on her lips. At that, Inosuke lost it. "Huuuh?! Don't underestimate me! No matter if it's a hundred or two hundred people, I'll bury them all! I'm a better grave-digger than anybody else!" And, with Inosuke helping out, too, the dead were buried in just another hour.

Time skip: a few hours later

(Y/N) Pov:

I sighed as Tanjiro had to smack Zenitsu. He just wouldn't let go of poor Shoichi. "Can't you see that Shoichi-kun is unwilling?!" asked Tanjiro, watching as Zenitsu sunk to the ground. Seriously, that boy has way too much energy for his own good...

After we separated from the siblings, and after hearing a bit of Inosuke's life-story, Tanjiro's and mine crow led us to a strange compound. On the gate we were standing in front of was a Wisteria crest drawn on. I eyed the symbol as our crow suddenly said: "Caw! Rest, rest! The injured will rest until fully healed!"

I turned to face the crow that sat down on my shoulder as Tanjiro asked: "Eh? We can rest? Even though we did fight against Demons with wounds this time..." "Kekeke." "'Kekeke' you say..." The door suddenly opened, revealing an older woman. "Coming..." she muttered, bowing down to us immediately.

"Ah! So sorry for disturbing so late at night." said Tanjiro quickly. Zenitsu screeched: "It's a monster... A monster?!" "Hey, you!" called Tanjiro, turning to glare at the blonde male. "You are Demon Slayers, right?" asked the old lady, making me nod, saying: "Yes, we are." in a polite tone.

"Please, come in..." she suggested, leading us inside. As we were walking after her, with Tanjiro having to help me, I flinched, having accidentally taken a step with my injured leg. "Are you alright?" asked Tanjiro, clear worry in his voice. I nodded, smiling reassuringly at him. "Yeah. Thank you for helping me." He returned my smile, saying: "Anything for you." I quickly turned away, a blush appearing on my face.

"Your meal is already prepared for you. Your bed is already prepared for you." announced the old lady, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Tanjiro, that's a monster... That old lady is a monster. She moves too fast to be normal! She's a monster! Old monster lady-" Before Zenitsu could continue his stupid rant, Tanjiro hit him once more, silencing him.

As we were lying on our beds, me on the left, Tanjiro next to me, Zenitsu next to Tanjiro, and Inosuke on the far right, Tanjiro noted: "All four of us have broken ribs..." "Yeah..." I muttered out, barely able to stay awake. Inosuke had four broken ribs, Zenitsu had two, Tanjiro had three, and I have two, too.

But my arm and ankle are way worse than my broken ribs. And to be honest, it just hurts. I'm so glad we got to finally rest. "My bump really hurts." noted Inosuke, making Tanjiro apologize. However, Inosuke himself didn't apologize to me. And that pissed both, Tanjiro and Zenitsu, off.

They kept on demanding that he finally apologized to me. I eventually told them to drop it, saying that Inosuke wouldn't comply anyway. Probably out of spite. While the other three went eating, I stayed in bed. I just couldn't get up. I was way too exhausted.

"Hey, (Y/N)?" I opened my eyes as soon as I heard Tanjiro's voice. He sat down next to me, handing me a bowl of food. I smiled sweetly at him, slowly sitting up. "Thank you, Tanjiro. You're so kind, really." "Oh, it's fine. I told you already, I'd do anything for you." he said, making me smile even wider. As I ate, Tanjiro told me what they had talked about during dinner.

I really enjoyed the alone time with him. Maybe we shouldn't have taken Zenitsu and Inosuke along... No, what am I thinking about? They're our friends now. "What's wrong?" asked Tanjiro, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Ah, nothing." I replied quickly. Tanjiro shook his head, a sweet smile on his face.

"I can tell when you're feeling down. I've been with you for quite some time now, after all." he said, making me sigh lightly. "You're right. Fine, I'll tell you." I took a short breath, saying: "I was just thinking about how peaceful it is like this. Without Zenitsu and Inosuke around. I... I kind of miss the time we spend just with each other." It was silent for a moment, making me regret saying what I did. What was I even thinking?

"I feel the same. Even though we mostly trained all day long, it was nice to have so much time just for the both of us." he said honestly, surprising me. Then, he did something that surprised me even more. He pulled me into a tight hug, saying: "(Y/N), I... I really..." For some reason, he couldn't continue his sentence.

"Wh-What is it?" I asked, quite flustered at the fact that he was still hugging me. I obviously returned the hug, waiting for him to continue. "I really- I can't say it, it's too embarrassing!" So, instead of saying anything else, Tanjiro put his lips on mine.

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Picture from:

https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/692358142715022193/