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

Chapter 3: What, Where, Who

[Zenitsu]
Heavy.

Tanjiro, sorry to think like this but. "HEAVY!! Wait, Tanjiro. It's hard to breathe— Tanjiro, Oi, OII. Wake up! Are you okay?" I pat Tanjiro's head for a couple of times. Then gently shook his shoulders, hoping he would wake up. He was lying on top of me, from my chest to the rest. Should I wait for him to wake up or move him myself? Well, I think obviously it's to not wait for him to be awake since I don't know when he will wake up. I might've to wait for hours.

I feel bad moving Tanjiro since he was sleeping soundly. Was he tired from the fight, I wonder? That may be the case. Tanjiro's appearance was a mess and his face had a few scratches here and there. His haori is ripped in few places too. But still, where are we? Last time I remember we were in the forest and a demon blasts me off or something like that.

Hm, wait? Haori? Speaking of haori, where is my haori?! What?? I was just wearing it! I don't remember taking it off. I also don't remember walking to a town and going inside a dark alleyway like this! ! I feel really tired somehow. Well, considering how I was also beaten up here and there— That's not the point!

Could it be.. were we kidnapped? If that is true, this is bad. That also explains why I don't remember anything. Who kidnapped us? Demons?! Oh shiii— They're going to eat us! Is Chuntarou here with me? I mustered what's left of my strength to stand up slowly and lay Tanjiro on the floor, before squatting down and carrying Tanjiro on my arms. "Huph!"

As I thought, if him just lying on my chest was enough to make me hard to breathe, then what about carrying him. Ah, I can't do it. I'll lie him on the ground first.

It must be because of the box, though I have to admit it was lighter than I expected. Should I just drag him? No, I can't do that. Tanjiro is already beaten up and it looks like the floor is very rough. Tanjiro right now doesn't have anyone but me!

...

AH! That's right, the box! Nezuko! I beamed and immediately called out for Nezuko. No one answered. Is Nezuko still sleeping? I dragged Tanjiro so he can sleep beside the wall. I opened the box and to my surprise, no one was there. Now that I think about it, again, when I tried carrying him if Nezuko was inside it would've been heavier. Not that I'm saying Nezuko is heavy..

That means, all that pressure on my chest making me hard to breathe was all because of Tanjiro alone? Seriously? Does this have anything to do with Tanjiro's hard head? 

Suddenly above my head, I heard an unfamiliar voice. It sounds like, something is ...whirling? thrumming? I stared up at the night sky with only a few stars and a few visible clouds. My view was quite limited due to the tall buildings forming this alleyway. I don't know what I was waiting for but I waited and waited. The sound was getting louder and louder, making me suspect whatever was up there was coming towards us.

Until something entered my sight. It was really small and all black except for it's spinning blade or something like that. It was REALLY really small, I couldn't see it clearly. Even if I know how it looks like, I'm not sure if I can recognize the being. Is it a new type of demon? But I never saw any demon who can fly in the sky with spinning blades on top of it's head.

I stared at it curiously till it was blocked from my sight. I went back and stared at the empty box. Ever since I woke up, I've been getting a weird feeling. A really weird feeling, like I'm not supposed to be here. Then suddenly I heard some people chattering. I jumped and quickly find a place to hide. I look behind me and saw a pile of what might be trashes. Some was covered in black shiny thingies. 

There was no time to find other places to hide. I immediately drags Tanjiro into the piles of trashes and IT REEKS! Well of course, it's trash after all. I'd be surprised if there's a trash that smells good. I covered us both with enough trashes to avoid catching people's attention.

As expected, the people who chattered before came inside the alleyway. Could they be our kidnappers? No, let's not jump into conclusions. We need to hide first. I hear the people getting closer and closer, more inside the alleyway until they were probably in front of us. They stopped.

"Seriously? That's so crazy, bro."

"I know, right? I wish I can throw away that bitch. She keeps complaining about me playing games."

Games? What are they talking about? What's that?

"Ahh, I wanna go home. Wanna come, bro? I have beers."

"Nah, I can't. I have a university tomorrow in the morning."

"Whaat~? Seriously? Aren'tcha diligent now?"

"Shut up~ I have to work hard if I want to open a bakery. I want to become a patissier."

"I know, bro. But are you sure? If the customers see your face, they might leave, y'know? Lol, your face is scary after all! Maybe you should fix your face first. Get rid of the piercings and clean the tattoos."

"Ehh? But won't that make me look lame?"

"Having a patissier as you dream job already makes you lame enough. Why not add more?"

University? Bakery? Patissier? What do they mean? Aaagghh, I don't know. I wish they just hurry up and leave. It stinks here. I don't want to stay here any longer.

Suddenly, I can hear Tanjiro waking up. As he rubs his eyes, the trashes covering him rustles. "Huh? What's that?" I panicked. Right when Tanjiro was about to open his mouth, I covered it so he can't speak. But that made him more confused and moves more. "Hey, is there someone on the trash?"

Hee!! "Ta-Tanjiro. Wait, stay calm for a second. I'll explain everything to you later."

When I said that, he calmed down and stopped moving. I sighed of relief. But half. Because the people in front of us were heading towards us. Oh no, what should I do? Should I use my sword? But these two are ordinary humans. 

All of a sudden, my savior jumped out of the trashes. "Meoow~" "Oh, what. It's just a cat. Let's go home, bro."

After making sure they left for real, I stood up immediately and took a deep breath. It stinks so much, god. Tanjiro then stood up too. He looks at me, "Where are we?", demanding explanation. I nod at him,

"I'm not really sure too. When I woke up, we were already here. My hairo is gone and Nezuko isn't in your box."

"Nezuko?!"

Tanjiro went out from the pile of trash and put down his box. He fell on his knees and opens the box to see Nezuko nowhere. His face went pale. Uh-oh, I know what's he's feeling right now. "Don't worry! I'm sure somewhere fine! Maybe she's with Inosuke! ! After all, if I'm here with you then the only logical option is Nezuko with Inosuke, right?"

I don't know what the logic behind my reasoning but I hoped it's enough to not make Tanjiro go crazy and run around searching for Nezuko like an idiot. Wait, why do I feel like I'm dissing myself?

I stared at Tanjiro and waits for his response. With a soft voice, "That.. may be true." he agrees. Thank god! "We should focus on our biggest problem first." Tanjiro looked at me and once again was he confused. "Look around you. Are you familiar with this place?"

Tanjiro after hearing about my question, looked around his surroundings then looked back at me. He tilted his head, "This is an alleyway right?"

"That's right but I meant. Don't you think it's strange? We were in a forest before, you know."

Then Tanjiro came to a realization. "That's right! How did we get here?" Tanjiro looked at me, hoping I know but I shook my head, "Sorry, I don't know where we are too. All I know this is an alleyway."

...

"Hello?" A blinding light was shone upon us and we immediately screamed and covered our eyes. Once our eyes adjusted to the light, we were able to see quite fine but what we saw wasn't what we were expecting at all.

Tanjiro is beside me. And then there's Tanjiro, who's holding something that makes light, in some kind of weird clothing.

"What?"

"What?"