▪Deadly Thorns and Violent Storms▪

Chapter 28

Inosuke's POV:

I have just gracefully arrived at Monjiros house and the reception could not be better!

They were all speechless when I came in.

"Your door was unlocked." How unsafe, even I lock doors!!

"I-I-Inosuke! What're you wearing??" Monichi looked frightened.

"Um clothes? Didn't Monjiro say to wear a tie??" I looked at Monichi's outfit, which was lacking in the style department. "More like what're you wearing! You look like you're going to a golf course!"

Monichi's face turned red from embarrassment. "W-well I didn't know we were dressing for royalty!"

Monjiro smiled awkwardly. "Okay guys... I think that's enough."

Then a woman who looked like a older Nutella came in. "Oh, it looks like all of our guests are here, now we can start dinner."

"I wanna set the table!" One of Monjiro's little siblings said.

"No I want to!" Another one exclaimed.

"Children, children, you already set the table earlier!" The old lady said.

"Oh yeah!"

"Well, I wanna bring Mr. Zenitsu to the table!" The tiniest one said.

Then they started fighting about who would get to bring Monichi to the table. I was slightly offended that no one was fighting over me.

Monjiro sighed then stepped in between his siblings and Monichi, "I'll take him." He grabbed his hand and led him into the dinning room with a herd of little children following them, complaing about what Monjiro just did.

I walked after them and I wanted to complain about it, too!

As we all entered the room the children were fighting again, but this time about who gets to sit next to Monichi. I don't see the appeal, well, not that much...

Monjiro sat on one side of him and I would've sat on the other side of Monichi, but he looked at me in a scared kind of way, and I just decided I didn't want to deal with it!

"Children, that's enough, please give our guest some space." The old lady sat down at the head of the table.

When their bickering ended the youngest kid was the one sitting next to Monichi. A girl and boy about the same height sat on either side of me, and kept staring me down.

Once dinner started Monjiro's mom started asking all sorts of annoying questions that Monichi was more than happy to answer, but I didn't bother answering most of them.

She was asking things like, 'how did you and Tanjiro meet?', 'how are your grades?', and 'what do you do outside of school?'

Zenitsu's POV:

Just as I was getting over how Inosuke totally showed me up with his tuxedo (which I totally think he stole, by the way) Tanjiro's mother had to make things awkward again by asking Tanjiro a embarrassing question.

"So, have any girls caught your eye yet?"

Nezuko, who had been contributing a lot to the conversation before, was now totally engrossed with her food.

Inosuke paid a little more attention to Tanjiro.

And I turned pink and looked down at my plate to avoid eye contact for some reason.

"Oh." The question seemed to catch Tanj off guard. "Uh."

Tanjiro's mother giggled then said. "You don't have to answer that." Then I felt her eyes land on me. "What about you, Zenitsu?"

WHAT DO I SAY??? I MEAN, I GUESS. BUT...

I glanced at Tanjiro then looked at his mom, who was staring intently at me. "Not exactly.."

"Is she playing hard to get?"

I laughed awkwardly.

"Huh, not much of a talker?"

"No way!" Inosuke butted in. "He is too much of a talker! We can't get him to be quiet!!"

"Oh really?" She asked. "Do you have any similar complaints about my Tanjiro?"

"Yeah! He spends way too much time with Monichi." Inosuke said while pointing at me.

Tanjiro's mother smirked a little at Tanjiro then asked, "Does Tanjiro hang out around any girls?"

Inosuke shook his head. "He only hangs out around boys."

Me and Tanjiro locked eyes awkwardly. Not even a dinner with Gramps would be this embarrassing.

She nodded skeptically, "Interesting. Now, what do you boys do after school? Tanjiro seems to be gone a lot."

This feels more like an interrogation than a dinner party...

"Nothing much, mother!!" Tanj said quickly before Inosuke could answer. "Just after-school activities!"

"I see." The rest of her thought was cut off when one of Tanjiro's siblings started to speak.

"I'm done eating!!!!" Hanako interupted.

"No, I finished before you!" Shigeru yelled.

"I can't eat any more, I'm full." Rokuta said.

"May I be excused from the table? I also finished!" Takeo asked politely.

Tanjiro's mother excused everyone and had her children clear the table.

When they were done cleaning we all went into the living room.

"Can we play a game, big brother?" Takeo asked Tanj.

"Of course. What do you guys wanna play?" He answered.

"Dance Dance Revolution!" Shigeru suggested.

"Not in tuxedos and dresses!! You might rip them or get them dirty!"

I still can't believe that even INOSUKE is wearing a tuxedo and I'm not!! Not that I even own any tuxedos... but I still could've worn one of Gramps' suits if I had known...

"What about chess?" Hanako offered.

"That's only for two people!"

"Why don't we play charades?" Tanjiro's mother asked.

"What a wonderful idea, mother!"

"Ooh-ooh! Can I be on Zenitsu's team?!" Hanako butted in.

"No, I wanna play with him!" Rokuta exclaimed politely.

"But, you got to sit next to him at the table!!" Shigeru shouted.

"Don't fight over our guest!" Tanjiro's mother frowned, "Since he's Tanjiro's friend, those two can be partners."

Inosuke grunted for some reason. Then Nezuko sighed, "I'll be your partner, Inosuke."

"YEAH! WE'RE GONNA KICK YOUR BUTTS!" He shouted to the rooftops.

Tanj gasped, "Inosuke!! Language!"

"Uh, sorry?" He looked confused.

I'm starting to get pretty nervous about the game. I don't wanna make a fool of myself infront of Tanjiro's mother.

After all, I want her to approve of me... of us.