If Only You Understood What I Didn't (Inosuke x Tanjiro / Inotan)

Late Nights and Early Mornings

General Notes: This is going to be a pretty safe read (in case you are worried about that), except for some (light) cursing. 

Please don't leave any links, mean comments (to me or others), or offensive things in the comments. There is no need for that. Thank you :) 

Please enjoy! 

"Total concentration...Water breathing first form..Water surface slash!"

A piercing shriek was let out as the demon's head rolled to the ground. Now behind the demon, Tanjiro carefully slid his katana back into its sheath. He looked over his shoulder, watching with pity in his eyes as the demon disintegrated. Maybe in another world they could have been friends. The young demon slayer patted the wooden box that rested on his back, "You alright Nezuko?" The only response was a sleepy hum. Content with that answer, Tanjiro began his journey back to the Butterfly Mansion.

It had only been a few days since he had become physically healed completely. For the most part, the events of the Mugen Train stopped haunting him. However, some nights the three girls had to shake him awake after a nightmare. Inosuke and Zenitsu seemed to be completely over it by now, no longer letting the event rattle them. Tanjiro wished it was that easy for him. He shook his head, thinking about it wouldn't do him any good. He tried to focus on something else, something else to think about.

He almost slapped himself with the next thought that appeared in his head. He stopped walking, standing dumbfounded at himself. Tanjiro felt an unfamiliar heat rise to his cheeks, out of everything he could've thought of, why was it Inosuke?

—------------------------------------------------------

Even though he had walked almost an hour after the incident, he still couldn't get the thought out of his head. The worst part was the fact he wasn't even sure what this new feeling in him was. It felt warm and comforting, something that he so deeply longed for. It reminded him of the feeling that he would get when he was allowed to sleep in late, when the comfort of his futon didn't leave him for a while. It reminded him of sitting down with his family and drinking a steaming cup of tea. This new feeling made him think of happy memories, thoughts that usually comforted him as he slept at night. It was a feeling so hard to describe, he probably would never be able to put it into words. And that's assuming he would find out what this strange attraction to Inosuke was.

The demon he was sent over was relatively easy to defeat, the only evidence that the battle had happened was the small amount of scratches that littered his skin from the demon's blood art. Being nothing major, Tanjiro decided he needed to focus on finding a place to sleep for the night. The sun was dipping lower and lower in the sky, before long demons would be back out to roam the hills in search of food. As he reached the peak of a hill, he saw a small town lying at the bottom. From his view point, he could see mothers conving their children inside for the last meal of the day as well as men gathering all of their various work tools. A tiny, but busy town.

It had to be only a few minutes from the hill to the village. Tanjiro looked around for any kind of lodging. His eyes landed on a sign that read "Rooms for rent" in faded red paint. Glancing at the sky once more, Tanjiro headed for the building.

A small bell sounded as he opened the door, alerting the woman at a desk of his presence. She smiled at the young demon slayer, "Hello sir, how can I help you?" He walked up to the woman with a kind smile on his face, "I would like to get a room please. Just for the night." The woman nodded as she grabbed a number card from a pile sitting on her desk, "End of the hall, to the left." Tanjirio accepted the card and gave her a handful of notes, and after bowing his head said, "Thank you very much!"

Finding his room, Tanjirio opened the sliding door and stepped inside. The room had a single futon in the top corner of the room as well as a table to the right of the door. Closing the door behind him, Tanjiro set down the dox which contained Nezuko next to the futon. He opened the door to the box to see his (tiny) sister. Slipping off his haori, he handed it to her for a bit of warmth. Nezuko never wanted to sleep on the futon, always silently insisting she was more comfortable in the box. The demon sleepily took the checkered piece of cloth and rested it over herself before silently shutting the door again.