Plum Season

Chapter 2

   Inosuke awoke, annoyed, to sunlight searing through his eyelids. If Monjiro just left my hair alone, I could've kept my mask on, he thought. Then again, it had felt pretty good. He glanced to his left.

   There lay Tanjiro—asleep on his belly—sunlit lashes gleaming as red as a fine claret. Only the very corner of Inosuke's pillow supported his head. It couldn't have been comfortable, what with his cheekbone pressed against the floor.

   Inosuke decided to ignore it. Why should he care? Tanjiro had chosen to lie there, and it was his own fault that he had nodded off before making it back to bed. As he tried to turn away from the window, his heart skipped a beat. Tanjiro's fingers were still snugly tangled in his hair.

Come on.

   At first, he froze. But as he eyed his friend once more, he couldn't help but feel responsible for his impending soreness. Was this guilt? He didn't feel it often. I'll just return the favor and be done, he told himself.

Sitting up slowly, so as not to wake him, he worked his hand from the snarls before drawing his blanket over Tanjiro instead. He slid his hand beneath his jaw as softly as he could manage, attempting to tuck his pillow further under him.

Tanjiro's eyelashes fluttered as his head was raised from the ground.

   Fuck, Inosuke thought, but continued anyway, thinking he could still get away with it if he worked quickly enough.

   His eyelids rose lazily. "Inosuke..?"

"I'm putting my pillow under your head, stupid. You fell asleep on the floor." He rolled his eyes.

"I did?" Tanjiro asked, more alert now. He began to worry about what position Inosuke had woken up to him in, being aware of his unconscious snuggling tendencies.

"Yup. You forgot your blanket, too. You're cold, aren't you?" Inosuke yawned without bothering to cover his mouth.

From that response, Tanjiro couldn't tell if nothing had happened or if Inosuke just didn't want to mention it. He decided against bringing it up. "I...I guess I'm a little cold." The blanket's warmth had already begun to settle into his skin.

   "That's what I thought. Keep mine. Go ahead and sleep more." He'd never be able to survive in the wild, Inosuke thought, scratching at the drool that had dried to his chin. I'd have to keep watch for him.

   "Thanks," Tanjiro said, wishing he could, "but I think we should get moving for the day. This mission is already a few days trip as it is."

He scanned the room. Zenitsu was bundled up with a pillow over his head; snores dampened by the feathery contents. Nezuko slept in the corner of the room that the sunlight couldn't reach, long hair draped over her like a blanket.

Tanjiro sat up and stretched his arms above his head with a satisfied sigh. Walking to his sister first, he reached down to place a hand atop her head. "Hey, Nezuko?" he murmured. "Hey, good morning."

   She opened her eyes to Tanjiro beaming down at her. "We're gonna get going soon if you want to get in your box. You can go back to sleep for now."

Nezuko softly acknowledged what he'd said through her bamboo muzzle. Savoring having the room to do so, she stretched her limbs out as far as they would go, then climbed into the box and shut it behind her.

Tanjiro heard her head thud against the side and knew she had fallen asleep again. He turned back to face Inosuke, who had been watching him quietly. "You wanna wake up Zenitsu?"