Until We Meet Again (Tanjiro x Kanao)

Reunion

Tanjiro sat in the hospital bed, quietly tracing the bandages that were wrapped tightly around his arm.

"Tanjiro," Aoi nodded, walking into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," He shrugged.

"Good, I brought you soup and onigiri, will that be ok for today's breakfast?" She asked, holding a tray of food in front of her.

"It's perfectly fine, thank you Aoi!" Tanjiro smiled, setting the tray on his lap.

Aoi nodded before walking out, shutting the door tightly behind her.

After Tanjiro finished his breakfast, he decided that a walk around the butterfly estate would most likely help his leg feel better.

He walked out with his head held high, taking in the sweet smell. He hadn't been outside of his hospital room since his first official demon fight outside of Urokodaki's training.

He trudged through the silent halls, dragging his hand lazily across the tiled wall. Tanjiro began to feel tired, his eyes becoming half lidded and his head dropping down to look at his socks.

He began to smell quite a familiar scent, though he couldn't put his finger on who it was.

He kept his head held down until he felt his shoulder collide with someone else's, causing him to let out a loud grunting sound.

Tanjiro looked up to see Genya, the same boy who grabbed that girls hair at final selection. "Hey! Genya, right? You were at final selection!" Tanjiro smiled, turning his head back. Genya had undoubtedly already rounded the corner, and was out of sight.

Tanjiro sighed and continued walking, clutching onto his shoulder tightly. He raised his head, careful to not bump into anyone this time. He stepped outside, taking a big inhale of the scent of freshly cut grass.

He walked over to a bench that was lined perfectly under a tall tree with bright pink leaves. Upon sitting on the bench, Tanjiro noticed the black haired girl from final selection making her way over to where he was sitting.

He cleared his throat before shifting over to the other side of the bench, giving her room to sit if she wanted to.

Before she reached the bench, Tanjiro saw her pull a coin out of her pocket, before flipping it high in the air. Once it landing back in her hand, she began making her way over to where Tanjiro sat.

"Hey!" Tanjiro smiled, waving his hand.

"Hello," She spoke quietly, sitting next to him.

"I'm Tanjiro Kamado! I'm sure you remember me from final selection," He said, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"Kanao Tsuyuri," she smiled softly.

"Nice to meet you, Kanao!" Tanjiro practically shouted, grabbing a hold of her hand gently before shaking it.

"How are you today?" Kanao asked reluctantly. She didn't want to ask him that, she would rather save the embarrassment. But it felt as if her body had forced her to.

"Oh!" Tanjiro yelled, quite surprised by her sudden boldness. "I mean.. I'm doing pretty good today, and you?"

"I'm.." Kanao began. "I'm ok. I don't like sunny days." She continued, turning her gaze up towards the bright sun. A bright pink flower glided from the tree branch, landing gently on her nose.

"Kanao," Tanjiro said, causing her to shift her gaze back over to his eyes. "Can I ask you something?" He continued, fidgeting with his hands.

"Yes," Kanao stated, clasping her hands together before setting them on her lap.

"Why are you at the butterfly estate? It seems you have no injuries," Tanjiro spoke, careful with his words.

"I'm training under Shinobu Kocho, the insect hashira," Kanao smiled softly.

"Ha-hashira?!" Tanjiro asked out loud.

"Mhm! I don't doubt that we'll meet again soon, because if you choose to do rehabilitation training then I will be there to help train you!" She spoke, way more confident then before.

Although Tanjiro was planning to go to rehabilitation training anyways, this made him want to go way more then before, but he couldn't figure out why.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Kanao." Tanjiro smiled.

After Tanjiro had already walked back to the butterfly estate, Kanao had spoke the words that were on her mind as she watched him leave.

"Tanjiro, you make me happy."

Kanao had always struggled with feeling true emotions, especially happiness and excitement. If anything, anger was easiest for her to express.

But Tanjiro made her feel something that she was not so familiar with, something that she remembered feeling way back when she was very young.

"Thank you, Tanjiro Kamado."