"So, are you the new girl?" he asked, staring into her smiling face.
At least, he hoped she was smiling.
Her pink eyes were lit up with happiness, but there was no response from her. Not even so much as a nod.
"Ah." he swallowed awkwardly.
"Nezuko!" Tanjiro waved her over. Lighting up, she walked over to Tanjiro, and Zenitsu watched, jealously boiling in his veins as he watched his best friend put his arm around the cutest girl in school.
She gently rubbed her face against his hand, and he laughed at her behavior.
How endearing.
He couldn't help but boil in rage.
"Tanjiro, I-"
"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro smiled, as if finally noticing Zenitsu was with them at the moment, "this is my s-"
"Your what, Tanjiro? Concubine?"
All happiness disappeared from Tanjiro's face.
"Zenitsu, I think you misunderstood..." Tanjiro was cut off abruptly.
"How could you defile this beautiful girl here with your dirty hands! You are already dating Kanao! I'm going to tell her!"
Tanjiro didn't react.
"Zenitsu, wait-"
"And another thing! How come you get all the girls! There are several girls after you and Inosuke. So let me have this one! What's so wrong with that?!" Zenitsu had burst.
That's it, Tanjiro thought, Zenitsu had finally lost it.
"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro rolled his eyes in frustration.
"What?!" he screeched.
"Nezuko is my sister!" Tanjiro yelled.
Ohhhhhhhhhh.
That made quite a bit of sense.
Zenitsu turned red. Red as a cherry jellybean.
"Nezuko-chan is... your sister..." Zenitsu finally put two and two together.
Oops.
...
"Zenitsu, is it?" a harmonious voice asked, as she gazed at the uneven pavement in front of Kimetsu No Yaiba Academy.
He watched as Shinobu-senpai walked past with Tomioka-senpai on her arm. They were laughing.
"Yes." he didn't bother turning around. He was sure it was just another girl waiting to tease him. Or maybe it was Tanjiro.
Nah, Tanjiro's voice isn't that high-pitched.
He genuinely felt bad about how he had treated Tanjiro and Nezuko earlier today.
The girl sat beside him, but he turned away, facing the red pole.
"I apologize."
"For what?" he didn't look at her.
"For my earlier behavior."
"Have we met?"
"You mean you don't remember me, Zenitsu-san?" her voice teased. Still not facing her, he shook his head.
She laughed to herself.
"I can't believe you don't remember me, Zenitsu-chan!" she giggled. Her voice was like bells tinkling in the breeze.
He blinked.
Did she just call him cute? Or a lover?
He was so tempted to turn towards her, but he was afraid that the illusion they were under would be broken. She must have him mistaken for someone else.
Another Zenitsu Agatsuma, who was confident, smart, kind, and endearing.
"If you don't want to talk to me, then I'll leave." he could almost feel her smile.
You might not get this chance again, his brain chided.
He closed his eyes as if seeing her would break the mirage. Grasping her hand, she turned around to face him and she smiled at his attempt to protect himself from fangirling.
"Zenitsu-chan..." he didn't open his eyes as she begged, "look at me. Please."
Slowly, he opened his eyes, preserving her voice in his head.
"Nezuko?"
