𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 | 𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙞𝙧𝙤 𝙠𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙤

𒆜 9 𒆜

      It was an odd feeling, being woken up by your hair lightly being tugged on. Somebody was sitting behind you, their small fingers carding through your hair loosely and styling it. Occasionally you'd feel nails accidentally dig into your scalp and a little gasp that followed, but it was soothed fairly quickly. You finally groan softly, your eyes peeking open and seeing Tanjiro sitting a a wooden desk while eating ramen in a bowl, but he was turned away. Then who was..?

"Good morning, [name]-san! Sorry, did we wake you up?" The familiar cheery voice rung through your ears, and you sat up, blinking slowly and examining your surroundings. Right, the hotel. You look over your shoulder, noticing Aurelie and Nezuko waving at you slightly before working back on braiding your hair. The light tugging continued, but they made sure to be careful not to pull any strands too harshly.

   Tanjiro looked back, his lips soon curling back into a grin. He grabbed his bowl and another, passing you the full one and a pair of chopsticks before sitting on the bed with you and continuing to eat before voice his words with a mouth full of noodles. 

"I grabbed these from a local soba stand. Really nice guy, but he sometimes smelled really angry. Heh... How'd you sleep?" His eyes wandered over you curiously, noticing your newly braided hair and picking one of them up to inspect before patting the girls' heads. "You two did good! It suits them well."

   You could feel your face heat up again, silently resolving to yourself that you'd keep your hair in braids more often then.. well, usual. Not everyday, that would hurt... "I slept fine. More comfortably than usual. What do we start on today?" Your tone fell flat while you slurped up your noodles, picking more up with the chopsticks, but his on the other hand still remained as lighthearted as when he spoke to you.

   "Well, we've got to be on our way to one of the Hashiras' estates. Which one would be best for Aurelie?" Tanjiro asked softly, smiling from ear to ear while he patiently waited for your opinion, tilting his head to the side. You watched as his earrings followed his movements, but quickly shook your head to clear your thoughts and answered him knowledgeably. "I'd say Kanroji would be best. Shinobu could also be an option, but I think she'd be too busy with those that are injured." Your hand moves to Aurelie's head, gently ruffling her hair and smoothing the soft strands. She giggled and leaned into you, nodding happily and pointing to 

"[Name]'s told me all about Kanroji-chan! I hope she'll accept me!" Aurelie cheered, and Nezuko spoke up with muffled noises of affirmation and nodding, both she and Aurelie fan-girling over Mitsuri. I gesture to them at Tanjiro, and he laughs, his head moving up and down in agreement before winking at you.

   Sudden knocking at the door startled the both of you, however, and you stood up from the bed, placing your empty ramen bowl on the desk on your way to the door.

   Zenitsu instantly came tumbling down on top of you, and you sigh while he scrambles to sit up, apologizing before pointing to Inosuke with a playfully confused and angry expression. "This big back had seven bowls of ramen! Four whole bowls!" Tanjiro just stared at him, a dumbfounded expression pulling at his features. "Big back..?"

   I could see Agatsuma visibly deflate while muttering under his breath, "I'm surrounded by idiots..."

   He earned a kick to his shin.

"Shall we get started? It'll take us at least a whole day to get to Mitsuri's estate with a steady pace." Tanjiro vocalized, a firm look now laced into his face. Inosuke smirked and rubbed his hands together before placing them on his hips confidently. "And if we went with a steady fast pace? Hmm?"