Unforgiving World (Tanjiro x OC)

Chapter 17

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Amaya nervously bounced her leg up and down as she sat alone outside, waiting for Tanjiro to return. He'd told her to take a seat and a breather to try and relax, because with this new theory she came up with, a whole bunch of old emotions and memories had been forced back open. Amaya was very upset and worried, though being so used to hiding her emotions, at a single glance, one wouldn't say she was distressed. Her eyebrows looked relaxed, yet she felt as if she were frowning. Her lips weren't pulled into a frown, but Amaya thought she'd cramp up her cheeks if she kept sitting like this.

She was close to panicking at the thought of the demon they were sent to kill being her long lost older brother. It was just too much for her. So, Tanjiro being the perceptive boy he is, told her to take a seat while he went to tell the woman they were talking to that they'd be leaving and after that he'd go get something for them to eat. It was nearing noon now, and even though Amaya was anything but hungry at that moment, she needed food. She'd honestly pass out from how much energy she utilized by simply panicking.

Soon enough, Tanjiro waltzed back towards her, two wooden bowls of steaming udon sitting in his hands. He shot Amaya a reassuring smile as she glanced up at him, wordlessly grasping one of the bowls and placing it in her lap. Tanjiro didn't say a single word, only sitting down and beginning to eat from his noodles. The boy was confused and disturbed to say the least. Amaya's explanation had been all over the place so he had trouble understanding what she was talking about. All he knew was that her massacred family was involved in some way.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he spotted her still staring in front of her, not moving a single muscle while only biting the inside of her cheek. Tanjiro frowned and chose to reach out and place a hand on Amaya's shoulder. Much to his surprise, it didn't make her jump. She only spared him a single glance as if to ask him what was up, making Tanjiro sigh before speaking. "You should eat", was all he said before Amaya slowly nodded, reaching her fingers around the chopsticks in her bowl and beginning to eat.

Tanjiro's eyebrows furrowed in worry. She was being extraordinarily quiet now, it was concerning. Tanjiro knew Amaya was freaking the hell out, he could smell it. But it scared him just how calm and collected she actually looked. She didn't grumble after telling her what to do, she didn't glare at his hand when he placed it on her shoulder and she didn't roll her eyes when Tanjiro sat beside her. It was unusual to say the least, but the boy didn't want to push Amaya to speak about these personal stuff.

Don't get him wrong, he'd love nothing more than getting to know Amaya on a more individual level, but it always felt like she was forced to speak about it instead of honestly opening up. Firstly the demon from the train exposed the fact that her family had died, then Rengoku's death had triggered those burrowed emotions once again without her own control and lastly, Ichiro had explained everything on a large scale. All those times, Amaya never personally opened up to him and it was disappointing to say the least.

Tanjiro had been hoping to have been getting closer to her, judging from their odd moment last night, but after thinking about it, they didn't get as far as he had originally felt. But Tanjiro knew how difficult and painful it was to speak about stuff like that, he experienced it himself after all. Amaya had handled it very differently than he did, maybe a bit worse, and Tanjiro knew this so he never ever wanted to push her into a conversation she didn't want to have. It had taken him a good while to adapt to her difficult personality at times, but Tanjiro liked and understood her, so he'd stand by her side no matter what.

After their udon was finished, it still remained quiet, Amaya having reverted back to staring at nothing in particular and Tanjiro stealing worried glances at her. She was very deep in thought, noticed Tanjiro, so he wasn't gonna interrupt her train of thought just yet. It was very silent, the only sound being birds flapping around the area and chirping loudly. Tanjiro along with Amaya enjoyed scenery like this, they'd found a place that was a bit more separated from the village, so both of them could get back to their senses.