キミノカオリ ー Moonlight, Wisteria Petals, and Thunderclap

When Will You Be Able to Run Again?

"Eat a lot, Zenitsu. Your body needs to heal."

Tanjirou said so as he passed me a few more rice cakes over the table.

"Thanks, Tanjirou."

"Inosuke, how was your independent training today?"

"Haaahh?! It went bloody well! Without you guys! Hmph!"

"You seem like you're pretty annoyed...haha, I'll join you tomorrow."

"I don't need you, you Kamaboko Gonpachiro!!!!"

Inosuke slammed the table once, and all the dishes flew to the air once before settling down again. I thought the dishes were gonna break, seriously. Scary guy, Inosuke is.

"Zenituru. When will you be able to run again?" Inosuke asked me.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro screamed.

"Hah? I dunno, honestly."

I replied as if I didn't care, but I genuinely wondered myself. When will I be able to run again?

"Sorry, Zenitsu. You must be really tired...and Inosuke said that kind of thing to you...."

"It's ok." I replied, and looked up at the round moon.

We were sitting at the entrance of our bedroom with doors wide open to the outside scenery. There were long summer grass growing, but hints of cool autumn wind sometimes blew at us. I sensed the footsteps of squirrels storing their food for winter, and Tanjirou probably smelled the decaying leaves somewhere. Fall was approaching us from all directions.

Nonetheless, the silvery moon shone upon us as we chatted. That moment was so incredibly nice, I actually wanted to melt it into a stone or a gem and store it in my pocket.

"Zenitsu."

The sound of his voice actually startled me, since it was so sudden. He grew to know how to hide the slight noises of his breaths—that was impressive.

"Huh? What's up?"

"I have something to tell you."

Being bathed in the blue moonlight, he said so in a serious expression. I opened my eyes wide. Why do I have this uneasy feeling? Did...something bad happen?

The next moment, Tanjirou clasped both his hands on mine.

"Zenitsu, will you go out with me?!"

"...Ha?"

Tanjirou, you serious? Was this a joke? But judging from the sounds I was hearing from him, that was not the case. He was dead serious, in fact. I could hear his heartbeat drumming as loud as a thunder.

My face suddenly became swollen with this weird, undescribable feeling. Friendship to the extreme? Excitement? ...Love? I would never know, unless I tried to explore my emotions.

"...Okay." I replied in the smallest voice I could.

Tanjirou's face blossomed into the widest smile I had ever seen. His cheeks turned bright pink, eyes sparkled with joy, and corners of his lips were drawn toward the ceiling of the mansion. Ah, that's good. I'm glad I decided to honor my curiosity, I thought as I smiled along with him.