Comfort {Tanjiro x Giyuu} -NOT ORIGINAL-

Chapter 3

Tanjiro's POV

The next morning, I awoke to the sun shining through the blinds and slowly sat up, stretching. I looked around, noticing the empty room before I stood and yawned. 'I guess Zenitsu and Inosuke took their rowdiness somewhere else, this morning....I must say that I do feel a little more rested than usual, though....' I smiled as I put on my slippers. I began making my way, down the hall, finding it completely empty. I wondered where everyone possibly could've gone but then I heard two familiar sounds: Inosuke's loud rage and Zenitsu's screams of terror. And I couldn't help but chuckle, knowing full well that the girls were most likely trying to tear Inosuke off of Zenitsu.

And sure enough, that's exactly what they were doing. Just outside the back door lay Sumi, Kiyo and Naho lay on the ground, pulling on Zenitsu's arms while Aoi was pulling on Inosuke's ankles.

"TAnJiRoOoOOoOoOOooOoOO....!" Zenitsu wailed, eventually escaping Inosuke's grip and dashing behind me, "iNoSuKe iS bEiNg sO mEaN....!" I pat his head, sighing, as I turned my attention to the energetic male before me, "Inosuke. That's no way to act on my birthday." I paused as I thought to myself, 'Oh yeah....Today is my birthday.' I then smiled, "Please, Inosuke? Will you try to be nice today? It would make me really happy." He thought for a moment before nodding, "Okay...." Then he suddenly ran off which made me start to panic, "Crap. I didn't hurt his feelings, did I?"

"Kinda looks that way...." Sumi mumbled. 

But to our surprise, Inosuke was soon running toward us. He stopped before me and held out a box that was messily wrapped in a navy blue cloth. I took it, untied the cloth, and opened the box to see a few lumps of rice wrapped in seaweed strips as I chuckled, "Are these rice balls?" The black-haired male nodded. "Thank you so much, Inosuke. These look delicious," I smiled, grabbing one and beginning to eat it.

"What's that?" Zenitsu asked, pointing to a piece of paper poking out from underneath the rice balls. I finished chewing and pulled out the paper, reading it aloud, "Gift."

"Gift?" Kiyo asked, looking at Inosuke. "Gonpachiro gets to pick...." he mumbled. I was a little caught off guard by this, "I get to pick?" Inosuke nodded and I took a moment to think, "Ooooh, I know! What if you keep your mask off for the whole day?"

"You get to choose basically anything and you choose that?" Zenitsu asked, seemingly a little shocked at my response. I nodded, beaming, "Yeah. I like being able to see Inosuke's face. It's unusual for him to have his mask off and he's nice to look at." The yellow-haired boy rolled his eyes, "It's not like he's actually gonna do it anywa-" But when his eyes landed on Inosuke, his mask was long gone, causing him to fall silent, all the while I couldn't stop smiling.

"Thank you, Inosuke. I love the gifts." And probably before anyone else knew it, I was sitting on the floor, with Inosuke's head in my lap as I began patting the male's head over and over. Inosuke didn't mind at all. If anything, he liked it just as much as me.

"It's really sad that I'm Inosuke's soulmate, and yet he only listens to Tanjiro," Aoi mumbled, crossing her arms. My smile quickly disappeared as I became silent.

"Tanjiro?" Zenitsu mumbled sitting beside us. "What's wrong, Tanjiro?" Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho seemed to ask in unison, bending down to my level.

"What am I gonna do.....? I'm not ready to meet my soulmate yet.....I'm afraid of what will happen....." I mumbled, silence filling the air.

"How pathetic," Inosuke mumbled. "INOSUKE! STOP BEING SO RUDE!" Aoi and Zenitsu yelled, getting ready to punch him in his pretty face. Oddly enough, he completely ignored them and looked up me, "Where's Gonpachiro? He's not afraid of anything. Not of getting eaten by a demon or carrying his demon sister everywhere, so he's not afraid of meeting some random bastard." We were all stunned.  A few moments later, the boar began to pat my head over and over just as I normally did to him. And he watched as the I slowly closed my eyes and began to smile, as I enjoyed the sensation, of Inosuke running his fingers through my hair, "Thanks, Inosuke."

Just as I was beginning to become lost in the sensation, Inosuke stopped and asked me to continue to pat his head, instead. Of course, I smiled and agreed. "I didn't know Inosuke had the capability of being able to think that many thoughts...." Zenitsu mumbled. I chuckled and looked back down at my green-eyed friend, "Inosuke? Do you have any pointers for me? About finding my soulmate? What's it like when you catch their scent?" To say that Inosuke didn't sugarcoat it, was an understatement, "It's like a punch to the face. And it'll be even worse because of your weirdly strong smell."

"Do you mean his weirdy strong sense of smell?" Aoi interrupted. "Whatever! Go away! All of you!" I sighed and watched as Sumi, Kiyo, Naho, Aoi, and Zenitsu reluctantly left, leaving me and Inosuke alone.

"I thought you were going to be nicer for today?" Inosuke scoffed, "This is me being nicer! Anyways- your soulmate's smell will be like a punch to the face, no matter who it is. And it doesn't matter who it is because if you don't like them, then they're just another random bastard."

"Did you think that when you found out your soulmate is Aoi?" I asked, chuckling. Inosuke nodded, "Yeah. A little bit- She's bossy. But I could already kind of deal with her. So I stopped thinking of her as another random bastard....." I sat and listened as I began to braid the green-eyed boy's hair, "So you actually do care about her?" Inosuke nodded, his cheeks flushing a bit, "Yeah...."

"Who do you think my soulmate will be? Out of everyone we've met?"

"I don't know. None of them are worthy anyway. You're too nice."

"Could you imagine if you and I were soulmates instead of you and Aoi?" The boar took a moment, "Maybe. I like you more than anybody. But I don't wanna kiss you." I laughed, "Yeah, I don't think I wanna kiss you, either. But out of everyone I've met, you're one of the people I like the most. Nezuko is first and you and Zenitsu tie for second. Sorry. But I can't imagine what my life would be like if I never met you. I'm really glad we're friends, Inosuke."

Inosuke's cheeks flushed slightly, "Shut up." Of course, I found this amusing but decided not to push further. This time. "Speaking of kissing.....Have you and Aoi kissed yet? I have no idea how to kiss and I'm worried if my soulmate will be upset about that....."

"Uhm- yeah....." Inosuke mumbled, his cheeks turning redder by the second. "We bumped foreheads- and then we tried again. Her lips were soft and my heart was beating super fast. You just go like this," he paused and puckered his lips, "and you make your lips touch theirs."

"Well I knew that but if you only kissed her once, you're almost as clueless as I am."

"Yeah."

"Thank you for helping me, Inosuke. I feel a bit better about meeting my soulmate, now. We'll still be friends after I meet them, right?" Inosuke seemed to be a bit dumbfounded, "Yeah. And I'm going to kidnap them if they screw anything up." I laughed, "Kidnap? Not kill?" The boar nodded, "Yeah. If they die, you'll die. And you're not allowed to die yet. You still have to make Nezuko human again."

Suddenly I was pulling Inosuke into a hug as I beamed, "Yeah, you're right. By the way- you should let me play with your hair more often. You look good with a braid." The green-eyed male mumbled, crossing his arms, "Fine......Hey, you better eat all your rice balls."

"Of course I will. Thanks again, Inosuke. They're delicious," I responded, smiling, "Now, why don't we go eat breakfast and get dressed?" I stood and walked away, Inosuke following close behind.

~~~~

No one's POV

Inosuke was right. It was similar to a punch to the face. But in Tanjiro's case, it was more like a fucking tsunami as wave after wave of someone's scent washed over him. The scent was so powerful, that Tanjiro crumpled to ground, the instant he stepped a foot out the front door. He hastily covered his mouth and nose in a desperate attempt to muffle the overpowering scent. Although others came rushing to his aid, yelling, he didn't hear a damn thing. His mind went blank when blue eyes met his.......

".....Tomioka......?"