Therefore, You and Me • TanZen × ZenTan | Highschool AU

Chapter 14: Doma

Rinngggg......

The school bell echoed throughout the hallway and inside the classes. That was the final bell for the day. All the students began cleaning their desk and packing their bags.

As the trio-Kamado, Agatsuma, and Inosuke-walked to the gate, they notice a familiar figure. They're leaning on the school front gate walls, greeting all the cute students that are waving at him. They take notice of the trio and began sprinting towards them. It happened so fast, the trio couldn't react properly. "Hii~", the man prolonged his greeting in a cute, playful manner. "I've been waiting for you guys! Mind if we talk privately for a bit?"

Looking at the man's face, Agatsuma was the first to scream.

"GYAAAAAA!!!!1!!!!!1!!11!!!!1! I-I-IT'S THE SCAMMER!!!"

"Wha—?! Scammer?? How rude! I'll have you know I'm very genuine in what I do for my work—"

"Who the hell is this guy?"

"Inosuke, don't you remember the person who was harassing Shinobu-senpai yesterday?"

"No."

"I believe his name is..."

The man cuts off Kamado, deliberately clearing his throat. "You can call me Doma. Nice to meet you guys", he flashes a business smile at them. He then grabs Kamado and Agatsuma's hands, waves "Bye byee~!!" at Inosuke, and left the school grounds. Inosuke stared in disbelief, unable to respond before angrily stomping the ground like he had been cheated.

◆◇◆

Doma drops Kamado and Agatsuma off in a random, dark alleyway. Wherever it was, he's sure no one will be able to eavesdrop-or even interfere.

Cautiously, Kamado asks him. "What do you plan to do to us?!"

Doma just hums in response, "Where do I begin?", then he snaps his finger, "Oh! Right... you two smell like demons," and he locks eyes with them. Kamado felt a chill run down his spine. It was an intense stare, the definition of "if looks could kill". A wave of fear began to engulf him, but when Agatsuma gripped the edge of his shirt, he quickly regained his composure. The anxiety washed away like sand on the sea. He knew instantly that one wrong move could be deadly. This person named 'Doma' must be one of the many tales Zenitsu has told them before... Or if they can even be called a 'person'.

What is the right response? Within a few miliseconds, Kamado decided he would play it safe and pretend not to know anything. "... Demons? Like in the fairytales?" He feels a knot in his stomach as he gulps. He watches closely for the other's reaction. But to his surprise, Doma just blinked and laughed out loud, making Kamado even more anxious.

"Okay, okay. I'll let you guys off for now. You can ask Shinobu-chan if you ever want to find me", Doma pats Kamado's tense shoulders and smiles at the pale Agatsuma. Then in a blink of an eye, he vanished as if he was never there to begin with.

Agatsuma's legs gave out, "Man, these demons business sure is real..."

"Yeah...", Kamado reaches out his hand for Agatsuma to grab on, "But this is the biggest clue that we've gotten so far. We need to let the others know. Are you alright, Agatsuma-san? Can you walk?"

Agatsuma held onto Kamado's hand but remained on the ground. "Just... give me one second."

Maybe it's because Kamado is the eldest in his family that when he was facing Doma, he was able to keep his ground. This makes him appreciate Agatsuma's presence even more, as he's sure if he had been alone, he would immediately crumble at the sheer pressure Doma can radiate just by staring at him.

Kamado stares at their hands, intertwining with each other, before quickly glancing away. Oddly, he feels his face heating up and his heart rate rising.

◆◇◆

"Doma?! Are you sure he said his name is Doma?", Zenitsu clutches Kamado's shoulders tightly, giving it a firm shake. Agatsuma's frowned, "Hey, take it easy on us, won't you? We literally just went through life and DEATH situation here!!", and takes off Zenitsu's grip on Kamado. He emphasizes the word 'death' loudly as his voice squealed a bit. Zenitsu looks down, dejected, recognizing his fault for being too aggressive.

Tanjiro tilts his head, "Who's Doma?"

"Tanjiro... He's that— Oh right, you were resting back at the Butterfly Mansion when we had a briefing. Uhm," Zenitsu glances between Kamado and Agatsuma, he's trying to pick the right words so he could kill two birds with one stone. In other words, he's trying to explain who Doma is to Tanjiro, but also to their other selves.

"To put it simply, he's the 2nd strongest out of the many underlings the final demon boss has.", and so he used the gaming terms he had learned. "That's why...", Zenitsu turns his head, "You guys are absolutely sure that guy is Doma? Including the demon part?"

Kamado and Agatsuma nod repeatedly, although Agatsuma in particular nodded several times faster than Kamado.

Zenitsu closes his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. He thinks to himself for a moment before letting out a long, heavy sigh. He turns to Tanjiro, "Tanjiro, what do you want to do?"

Tanjiro squeezes his fists, tightened with renewed motivation. "Nezuko is waiting for me. Let's confront him. Let's meet Doma."

When the morning sun rises once more, Tanjiro and Zenitsu are prepared to infiltrate the school as Kamado and Agatsuma. They tried their best to hide their most recognizing feature—Tanjiro covered his scar by wrapping it with a sport bandana, Zenitsu dyed his hair black momentarily.

Agatsuma asks them, full of anxious, "Are you guys sure you don't want us to be there with you?" Tanjiro smiles kindly at Agatsuma, "You already helped us out a lot when you didn't have to. We can't possibly ask for more."

Agatsuma's heart skips a beat. He slaps himself without missing a second, I'm loyal to Kamado-kun!!

Tanjiro opens the window's cover quietly, "I'll go down first. I'll ring Agatsuma-san's doorbell so you'll know when to follow." Then he proceeded to jump down, landing safely. He glanced around to confirm no one saw him, looked back at Zenitsu and Agatsuma who were staring at him in anticipation, and gave them a bright "Okay!" sign before hastily running to the front house.

As promised, he rang the bell and Zenitsu gets ready to head out. But of course as if fate had already arranged a date with his bad luck, the moment Zenitsu left Agatsuma's room, he found himself standing still, face to face with the one person he'd been hoping to avoid—Agatsuma's brother. The master's disciple. His senior.

Kaigaku.

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Next chapter will be longer.

Chapter 15: Confrontation.