Paper Rings |Tanjiro x Muichiro|

realization

Muichiro lay in bed scrolling on his phone. It was all he could do nowadays. He felt lonely even though he and Tanjiro texted daily it just wasn't as nice as seeing each other face-to-face like they did in school. Muichiro wanted to see his friend but he was too embarrassed after the way he acted that he never asked, and Tanjiro was still trying to give him space like Kanao said.

He was looking through Instagram posts because it didn't take any energy, wrapped up in the covers of his blue comforter. Suddenly, he scrolled by a post that caught his eye and went back up. It was Tanjiro and Kanao smiling with a park in the background. Both of them were making peace signs. Even though from the picture it seemed like just a hang out between friends, Muichiro immediately convinced himself they were dating and a tear trickled down his face.

The photo had only been posted a few minutes prior so Tanjiro and Kanao were probably still together. Seeing the photo made him miss his friend even more but he didn't want to bother Tanjiro when he was already with someone else.

He wanted to comment but at the same time he didn't. The blue-haired boy ended up leaving the post without a like or comment because he just didn't know what to do anymore.

Tanjiro on the other hand was sitting on the park bench that was shown in the photo, as Kanao got them both ice cream from a truck that was driving around. There were other littler kids there and she had to wait in line but in the end she made it out with two chocolate cones, both with sprinkles.

Tanjiro was looking at his phone, a look of confusion mixed with something else in his eyes. He wanted to text Muichiro but he didn't know what to say. At the same time he thought it was wrong to be thinking about one person when he was on a date with another but he couldn't help it. Something about Muichiro was bothering him and he didn't know what to do.

"Tanjiro?" Kanao said gently as she sat down on the bench next to him. He was still looking at his phone, almost dazed as if he didn't hear her. She thought about it for a moment, knowing it was probably wrong, but then looked over at his phone anyway, seeing that he was looking at DMs with Muichiro.

"Ah" she mumbled mostly to herself, and licked her ice-cream thoughtfully. Tanjiro eventually put his phone away without sending anything, his mind lingering with anxious thoughts. He tried to be in the moment, and be happy with Kanao there to spend time with him but he just couldn't.

She handed him one of the cones and asked "You ok?" Tanjiro licked his ice cream cone thoughtfully before nodding silently.

"You don't have to lie to me you know. I know we don't know each other that well but I like you... And even if you don't feel the same way I want to be someone you can trust. Maybe I can help?"

Tanjiro looked up in surprise. He knew Kanao was a nice person but he hadn't expected something that deep from her on the first date. "Uh yeah. Sorry I wasn't really expecting that Kanao-chan" Tanjiro smiled at her, his eyes still clouded with that bothersome feeling.

"I just...Muichiro was acting strange last week and I can't shake this feeling like it's my fault" Tanjiro admitted. Kanao just nodded, motioning for him to continue if he was comfortable sharing more.

"Also... I know it sounds silly but he said something about a promise I made to him. I just wonder if maybe it was... well never mind. It's not important anyway" Tanjiro side tracked, not really sure what to think.

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me but I think that whatever it is that's bothering you is what's bothering him too. You know Tanjiro...I've seen the way you look at Muichiro with so much care...I think you know him better than you think you do." Kanao said knowing all too well that if she kept going she would probably lose what she wanted most.

Tanjiro nodded once more. "It's just that a lot of years ago I told Mui I was going to marry him one day. A pinky promise between two silly young kids. I totally forgot about that until he mentioned a promise last week. We even made rings out of paper and I still have the one he gave me. I'm not stupid for thinking that's what he meant right? I mean I've probably made so many promises to him since then. There's no chance that's what he was referring to. I'm probably the only one who remembers that..." Tanjiro laughed, a pained laugh.

Kanao's eyes widened, her suspicions confirmed. "Tanjiro... this is never gonna work out is it?" She asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" The red-haired boy asked in confusion.

"Us...Love...You know?" Kanao's eyes were tearing up but she knew there was no changing fate. "I think you've already found your person Tanjiro. But I'd like to be friends if that's fine with you" She smiled, a single tear fell from her eye as Tanjiro's eyes widened.

"hey..." He said quietly, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her into a hug. She was taken by surprise but hugged back, knowing she'd done the right thing. Kanao had always had good intuition and she was sure she knew that Tanjiro already had his heart set on someone else...Muichiro. Her crush since Kindergarten loved someone else.

"Thank you Kanao. You've opened my eyes"  She nodded, and walked away silently, leaving Tanjiro behind. She cried at home that day, but however broken she felt, the love of her life was going on to live out the fate that his life had set out for him, and that made her feel better.

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Muichiro was awakened from his daze of scrolling on his phone by the doorbell ringing. Surprised, he went to get the door and opened it to Tanjiro standing there with the ring from all those years ago on his finger, and a smile on his face.

He pulled Muichiro into a tight hug, and the blue-haired boy wasn't sure how to react but it felt nice. "How was my fiancé?" Tanjiro asked.

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I feel like I should make a sequel for Kanao x someone else because I feel bad for how I ended her part of the story... Lmk what you guys think tho :)