Forbidden Love | 炭治郎

04| zenitsu

"I'm terribly sorry about him, ma'am. You can go on your way while we deal with him." I bowed to the woman with an apologetic smile.

"Alright. Thank you very much." She smiled and took her stuff and left.

"H-Hey! That girl was going to marry me—" The yellow-haired Demon Hunter stopped himself when I turned around to look at him. "Will you marry me?"

"E-Excuse me?" I felt my eyes widened a bit as the stranger pushed Tanjirou away and bent down on one knee and held my hand. "Wh-What are you—"

"Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?" He smirked at me. "So beautiful that you should be with a handsome fellow like me."

I laughed. "Nice try, lover boy, but those words don't work on me." I gently pushed myself away from him.

He stood back up, but still held onto my hand as he stared at me, his face a bit red. "Playing hard to get, I see. I like that."

I felt myself cringe a bit, but I kept up with my little act to make sure he doesn't bother anyone else.

"Say, I never got to hear your name, sir. Would you mind telling me?" I asked with a smile.

"My name's Zenitsu, but you can call me dear if you'd like."

"How about no." I chuckled. "Anyways, my name is (y/n) and this is Tanjirou."

"(Y/n) is a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl like you." He suddenly kissed the back of my hand.

I pulled it away awkwardly and backed up a bit. "Let's get to know each other before anything else, okay?" I said awkwardly as my crow landed on my shoulder, informing us to hurry to our destination.

I looked at Zenitsu and smiled at him. "Are you coming with us, Zenitsu?" I asked him.

"I-I-I'm not sure." He stuttered as his face was covered in fear.

"B-But..." I said in a disappointing and sad voice. "But what if I got kidnapped by demons...?"

His eyes widened and he placed his fist on his heart and showed me a braver look. "I'll come along to make sure that never happens!"

"R-Really?" I smiled widely and cupped his hands in mine as I smiled at him. "Thank you, Zenitsu! I'm sure I'll be safe in your hands!"

His face grew red as he grinned. "I'll go ahead to make sure there's no danger ahead!" He said and left afterwards.

I laughed and looked over at Tanjirou. Tanjirou had an angry look on his face and he didn't make eye contact with me on our way to our destination.

"Are you okay, Tanjirou?" I asked him worriedly. "You seem to be upset about something..."

"I-It's just... I kept feeling this weird anger coming out of nowhere when I saw you being so friendly to Zenitsu..." He mumbled shamefully.

"Are you jealous?" I said with a chuckle.

"J-Jealous?" His shoulders stiffened as he stared at me in shock. "I-Is that how this feeling feels like...?"

He was about to say something until we both heard a scream near by, so we both ran and stumbled into a house. I looked around and saw Zenitsu with two other kids next to him, huddled in a pile, looking scared. When Zenitsu saw me, he cleared his throat and stood up, trying to put on a brave aura.

"Y-You're safe now-!" His voice trembled, his face still having fear.

I look over at the kids who were still scared, but also confused by what Zenitsu said. I walked up to the kids and crouched down in front of them with a warm smile on my face.

"You two shouldn't be here." I said in a soft voice. "It's dangerous to be near a monster's property. Let's get you two home so you two won't get hurt."

"B-But our brother is in there!" They both exclaimed as their eyes formed tears.

"Is that so?" I smiled at them. "Then I'll promise to get your brother out of there, okay? You two need to go to somewhere safe so you two won't get injured first!"

"We're not going anywhere without our brother!" They both yelled.

I put my hands on their mouths as the sound of tsuzumi drums grew louder. Zenitsu was covering his ears and was hiding behind Tanjirou in fear. I looked at Tanjirou and smiled at him.

"Why don't you guys take care of the demon while I stay out here with the kids to keep them safe?" I said and petted the kid's heads gently to calm them down a bit.

"Ah, sure." Tanjirou said and handed me the box that Nezuko was in. "Can you make sure this is safe while we're gone?"

"Of course!" I chuckled. "I know how important this is to you, so of course I'll make sure it's safe!"

I grabbed the collar of his haori and pecked his cheek with a smile still on my face. "Make sure you guys come back safe, okay? Don't overwork yourself too much in there..."

His face grew a bit red as he smiled back at me with a nod before taking Zenitsu with him and went inside the house. I turn my attention back to the kid and saw them staring at the box in horror. Nezuko was scratching against the wood, so I went close to the opening.

"Nezuko-Chan," I whispered. "You should rest for a while since it's still day out and it's best not to make too much noise since we don't want to get in trouble or scare people."

Nezuko stopped scratching the box and I then heard soft breathing, meaning she must have fallen asleep. I smiled and looked at the kids.

"All better now." I said reassuringly. "I'm sorry if that scared you two. This is just a magic box that we carry around and it can sometimes do things it's not supposed to, but it's not dangerous!"

I stayed with them for a while until Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and a boy all came out. The kids embraced each other and I tended to all their wounds, especially Tanjirou's since his bones were still healing.

"Next time, you stay out of battle so you won't get hurt." I chuckled lightly and tightened the knot before standing up.

The kids left after we told them to go to someone and stay together and watch out for another. Zenitsu had a few scratches on him, but I helped make sure he doesn't get infected by diseases. Inosuke, who I soon learned the name of, followed us around and I'd always have to make sure he didn't attack Tanjirou as he somewhat had a weird grudge against him.

"These people are so weird..."