Blossoming Fissure | Tanjirou Kamado

18. Conference with the demon

Aya has been braiding Nezuko's hair for thirty minutes now.

Well, Tanjirou wouldn't call it 'braiding' because everytime Aya leaves his sister's hair tied into a tidy perfect braid, she unmades it without a blink and starts again. And, frankly, he's starting to get worried. The fourth time he calls her, Aya finally hears him and lets Nezuko go, who admires her half made braid with a frown.

"Are you okay?" He asks. She's sitting very close to him, knees touching, and Tanjirou entertains the idea of holding her hand but ultimately drops it.

"Yeah," Aya swallows nervously and tries to laugh it off, but when Tanjirou's careful glare doesn't change she sighs and flops back against the wall. "I'm just worried."

"What about?"

She shrugs. "Yuu, I guess. You know... his parents got killed.... It's strange." She suddenly sits again and Tanjirou jumps a little bit. "He lost everything, and now he thinks miss Tamayo killed his parents, how am I supposed to...?" She does a strange gesture with her hands and groans. "I'm just worried about how he's doing. Despite everything, he's still Yuu."

I still care about him, Tanjirou hears instead, and he smiles.

"I think he'll be fine," he says. "After all, it's Tamayo." His voice sounds a little bit strained. "She couldn't have."

Aya silently eyes Nezuko's hair and her hand twitches, as if thinking about starting her endless braiding again. "It's not Tamayo the one I'm worried about. They've been talking for a while now, it's so boring."

Tanjirou looks at the wall that separates them from the room Tamayo and Yuu went into and then looks at her.

"Can you really see that?" He tries not to, but ends up stifling a laugh. Aya tries not to laugh either but Tanjirou's muffled chuckles are contagious.

"I mean, it's a little bit weird," she tugs a strand of hair behind her ear and smiles a little. Tanjirou does too.

"It is a little bit weird," he says. "But I could smell you from a mile away, I guess I understand." He's lying, if it were Aya he would be able to smell her from much further away, but he doesn't say that.

"I've never asked," Aya suddenly turns to him and pokes his cheek. "How does it work? Your nose."

"Oh." Tanjirou tries to think about a proper answer while Aya looks at him with curious eyes. "I smell things more intensely than other people, for example," he points at what surely must be the kitchen. "I can smell the tea Yushiro's boiling," then he points at the window, where Aya curiously peeks to see a bright garden, "and the flowers outside."

"What kind are they?" She asks.

"Some chamomile," he ponders, focusing a little bit before answering. "Lavender too."

"That's so cool!" Aya chuckles like a little kid. "What do demons smell like?"

"Um," Tanjirou staggers. "Ashes."

"Whenever I look at demons they look like this strange... black void," Aya says, "It would make sense if they smelled like ash. Your sense of smell is so cool."

"Eh, it is a little bit troubling sometimes. Smells can be overwhelming." Tanjirou thinks about blood and how it's permanently latched at the back of his tongue no matter how many times he washes his teeth or drinks water, but prefers to go for something softer. "Zenitsu buys this expensive cologne he puts on all the time because he says girls will like him but it just smells so awful to me."

Aya laughs and gets just a little bit closer, stopping only a second to see if Tanjirou's expression sours before settling a hand on his knee. "And me? What about my smell?"