𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 | 𝙐𝙯𝙪𝙯𝙚𝙣

𝟚.

"EH?!", Zenitsu shrieked loudly, voice cracking a little bit as if he got sent back to the beginning of puberty. Uzui was certain that everyone in the building had heard the boy's shrill voice, and, like so often with the blond involved, his face contorted into a sour grimace. Zenitsu's voice was once again proven as a source of discomfort to Uzui's sensitive ears, while the student started blushing in a relatively pretty shade of pink. "Pervert!", he screamed, his tone rising yet another octave which would've impressed the teacher if he wasn't so annoyed and fed up already. Clicking his tongue, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and raised a thin brow at the younger man. "Who are you calling a pervert, brat? You're clearly the one thinking something indecent.". Feeling called out, Zenitsu gasped quietly in offend, leaving his mouth open in shock with the damn blush unwilling to fade.
Looking like an idiot, feeling like one, he had to admit that, yes, Uzui kind of had a point. But, to be fair, Zenitsu was a young adult in his adolescence, perhaps not even entirely out of puberty yet, and he definitely had had his fair share of porn in his life. So, of course, listening to his crush wanting a favor in return for his help, left much room for interpretation. It had been up for Zenitsu to decide it's more suggestive nature and no one tried to stop him. He clearly wasn't at fault here if his teacher didn't put down any borders. Uzui, probably reading his thoughts like an open book, chuckled lowly at him. Great.

Maybe he was the only one to blame, after all.

Zenitsu thoughts found an abrupt end after Uzui suddenly hit him with his clipboard, unnecessarily hard. One day he'd absolutely report Uzui-sensei for bullying his students, especially the helpless, innocent blond crybaby ones.

Letting a few seconds of silence pass, the irritated student took in a heavy breath of air, swelling up his chest to retort something, only to huff it out and deflate again. Silently, almost sounding bashful except for that hint of frustration, he muttered: "What do you want in return?". Again, the freshly faded blush reappeared, signaling him that he really should do something about this NSFW mindset of his and touch some more grass.
Satisfied to be the one with more leverage again, Uzui hit him once more, this time resting the clipboard on the blond's head. As his fingers returned to his chin and the thoughtful humming resumed, Zenitsu was pretty content with looking to their feet, his cheeks still feeling uncomfortably hot. He hadn't noticed before, but now he could clearly smell it - Uzui's perfume, mixed in with the scent of laundry detergent, fabric softener and... yep, menthol gum. As a teacher in school, at that. The blond tried to not inhale the alluring combination of scents too deeply, fearing he'd start hyperventilating and fainting, ending up to further embarrass himself in front of his biggest bully slash inappropriate crush.

While Zenitsu's thoughts dared to spiral, Uzui came to a decision. He started nodding his head slowly and humming in agreement to himself. "I know what you will do.". Unpractically, Zenitsu couldn't focus on anything else than his teachers scent. How he didn't get caught up in it before will remain a mystery forever, but it was a fact that the blond was absolutely intoxicated by it. The man smelled masculine, which, considering the fact that he was indeed a man, seemed pretty fitting. But there was also something else, Zenitsu couldn't put his finger on. The scent was comforting and reminded him of warmth, of safety. It reminded him of Tanjirou's personality. Ironic, considering the fact Uzui-sensei was a bully at heart, a polar opposite to his best friend.
"Ouch-!". Again, he was hit with the clipboard. "Oi, brat, listen to me.", Uzui muttered, sounding even more fed up, clicking his tongue once more, which Zenitsu could understand completely. This conversation had been quite rocky to begin with, but claiming a favor one-sidedly was a whole different kind of factor. Reluctantly, he raised his face and looked up at his art teacher. Honeyed eyes met fuchsia once before his gaze shied away again. Today wasn't the best interaction with his crush and it was honestly becoming pathetic rather fast.

Uzui sighed in irritation and crossed his arms, the clipboard in his hand moving slightly with his impatience. Zenitsu desperately tried to ignore the now more than prominent musculature of the other man's arms, not to mention his big hands and oh, that vein is much more prominent when he flexes his fingers like this. He was positive Uzui could choke him with a single-handed grip- and that was a thought he shouldn't elaborate on, or he'd risk a very inappropriate boner right before his crush and teacher.
His train of thoughts got broken up once again, this time by Uzui's finger poking his forehead, most likely searching for his non-existent brain.
Finally, Zenitsu decided to actually concentrate on the man before him and not just smell him while think NSFW stuff about him like the creep he was, and locked eyes with Uzui. The man watched his face intensely, and the blond wasn't sure how to interpret that gaze.Especially in situations like this, he was very jealous of Tanjirou's social skills. Damn it, if only Tanjirou was here, then he wouldn't have to endure his constant bi panic over and over again!

Uzui cleared his throat, having the blond's attention finally focused fully on him. White hair swayed a bit, as Uzui scratched the back of his neck and glanced around the room. His gaze then went back to Zenitsu's face, which still had a little, adorable flush on it. 'What a flamboyant look.', he thought to himself, his own face giving nothing away, before he spoke up again with the made decision. "You will help me out the next few weeks after school. My students always leave a mess and don't clean their brushes and desks properly. It's annoying and not flamboyant at all.".
For a second time at this hour, Zenitsu looked like a dumb fish, his mouth hanging open in disbelief as he blinked. Once, twice. A short silence fell upon the room, a clock ticked exactly three times before he screamed with that shrill voice of his: "HAH?!".

Uzui made that familiar annoyed face again and had to resist the urge to cover his ears for the umpteenth time that day. "IMPOSSIBLE!", screeched Zenitsu, "I'm not doing your dirty work! Do your job yourself, old man!". Now it was Uzui's turn to gasp, thin brows furrowed angrily. "Who are you calling old, you brat?!", another whack with the clipboard assaulted the blond's head. Zenitsu, in return, screamed again: "IMPOSSIBLE! ASSAULT! I'M BEING ASSAULTED-!". Before he could take in another breath to continue his loud tirade, a big hand clasped around his mouth, squishing his lips in a malicious manner. "Shut up, you're annoying! Not flamboyant at all!". Uzui locked the blond in a strong hold against his chest, successfully shutting him up while also preventing him from wiggling and shuffling around. The older man would never admit it out loud, that he found the other's squirming against him not only amusing, but also quite intriguing with the implied indecency of it. He, too, was only a man, what else should he think about when he had a young man rubbing his plump peach against his groin? Sue him, karma had other plans already. Right after Zenitsu managed to get his mouth free from Uzui's hold, only God knows how considering his strength is a joke compared to the taller man, he bit down on the finger nearest to his teeth. Hard.

The teacher let out a cut scream by shock and pulled away from the blond by instinct alone. Zenitsu stuck his tongue out in a childish manner of triumph as it was now his turn to cross his arms, face once again red and lips pulling into a pout. "What the fuck was that-?", started his teacher, but the blond interrupted him promptly. "I'll help you out until the festival is over, three days a week max.". Fuchsia eyes squinted at the young man, clicking his tongue he nodded reluctantly: "Fine, fine. Monday, Wednesday and Friday after your classes. We'll meet here and do whatever needs to be done. Deal?". Zenitsu's eyes met his, the pout unchanging until he sighed and willed his face to return back to normal. Well, Zenitsu's normal, anyway. "Deal.", he agreed, grumbling.

'Seeing Uzui-sensei at least three times each week? Not just that, but being alone with him as well? What did I get myself into?! I'm so going to die!!', Zenitsu's brain short-circuited, his flight instinct soon winning as he made haste to get out, glad to finally get some much needed fresh air in his remaining break time.

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