Unforgiving World (Tanjiro x OC)

Chapter 12

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"Delicious!"

...

"Delicious!"

...

"DELICIOUS!"

Amaya rubbed her temples in pure irritation, a sigh escaping her lips as she tried to block out the loudness of the Pillar across from her. They were seated inside the Mugen Train, the prime objective of their mission being put into action. Rengoku had started eating the bentos he had bought from the people back at the train station, though instead of using his inside voice to express his delights, he continued to scream out loud how much he enjoyed the food. "Rengoku-san... people are staring", complained Amaya, though her voice was left unheard to the man in front of her, not even thinking of letting his enjoyment go without notice. It continued like that for a while, since the sun was still setting at that moment, so there was barely any chance that a demon would show up for now.

The girl decided to let it be, knowing how Rengoku probably wouldn't stop anytime soon, so she decided to try and get some rest before they had to get started with their actual mission. Though she was quickly interrupted by yet another person disturbing her peace. "Amaya? Rengoku-san?" sounded a gentle voice from Amaya's left, making the girl groan in annoyance before cracking an eye open, not expecting to be met with Tanjiro's elated smile. She shot up from her seat, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the sight of not only him, but Zenitsu and Inosuke as well. The straw-blonde was cowering behind Tanjiro at the sight of Rengoku's odd appearance and behavior, though Inosuke was very obviously enjoying himself by looking out the train's window.

"Tanjiro? What are you guys doing here?" asked Amaya curiously, genuinely confused as to why her previous companions were with her on the train. The redhead smiled at her, gesturing to his other two friends before answering her question. "We received an order from a Kasugai crow. "The casualties of the Mugen Train are increasing. Join Rengoku and Katsumi on sight", he said. That's why we're here", explained Tanjiro, making Amaya nod her head in understanding. She chose to leave it at that, but Tanjiro still managed to swoop in and steal the seat next to Amaya, giving her another sweet smile, yet it seemed a tiny bit hesitant. "Uhm, is Rengoku-san always like... this?" asked Tanjiro as he glanced at said man in the seat opposite of them, still eating his bento and screaming loudly how much he enjoyed it.

Amaya nodded her head with a sigh, glancing at Zenitsu and Inosuke who were messing with each other as always. "Pretty much. Rengoku-san is a very honest man, but that also means he can be pretty stubborn or loud. He's very strong, though. I look up to him", answered Amaya truthfully, Rengoku's loud exclamations having stopped along the way. "What are you three doing here? A mission?" asked Rengoku as he crossed his arms over his chest, a few maidens coming over to clear the area of any bentos that were still around. Tanjiro nodded his head, smiling at Rengoku before gesturing to his other companions. "We were called her by a Kasugai crow. My name is Tanjiro Kamado, those two are Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira."

Rengoku hummed as he stared forward, not sparing Tanjiro a single glance. Amaya knew why that was, it wasn't to be mean. But she thought Rengoku still remembered him from the trial they held about Tanjiro and his sister, which is probably why he was kind of ignoring him in his own way. "Right! And in that box is...?" proceeded the Hashira, to which Tanjiro hummed and laid his hand on top of the box in between his legs. "Yes. In this box is Nezuko, my sister", responded Tanjiro kindly, while Rengoku smiled in return. "Yes! I see now! Understood!" exclaimed Rengoku, making it clear that he wasn't looking to continue their conversation. "Right... Also, there's one more thing. Something I wanted to ask you", spoke Tanjiro unexpectedly, unknowingly raising Amaya's curiosity.

"What is it? Let's hear it!" approved the Hashira, to which Tanjiro tensed up next to Amaya, getting ready to ask his question. "About my father.. he was really frail. But even if it was cold enough to freeze your lungs, he could still perform a Kagura dance in the snow", started Tanjiro, Rengoku adding in his own pieces that showed his interest along the way. Kagura dance? What was that? Amaya figured it had to be something to do with fire, judging by the way Tanjiro spoke about his father, but it was odd to her. Tanjiro used Water breathing, not Flame breathing, so what would he have to do with fire? She decided to leave her questions for later, choosing to listen in on their conversation a little while longer.