Stone Cold | Tanjirou Kamado (old version)

9. Words that move mountains, actions that warm iced hearts

With Zenitsu's shaky breathing on one side and the strong grasp of Shoichi's hands by the other, Ayaka was starting to get annoyed.

Although it was only Zenitsu's nervousness, his fear was so irrational and uncontrollable that it got on her nerves. It wasn't enough to clutch to her as if his life depended on it, but he also sweated generously and didn't stop trembling, and that made Ayaka question how he had been able to survive the Final Selection, or even learning any kind of breathing.

He had said it himself, hadn't he? That not even he knew how he had made it. She didn't either.

She wasn't able to see not even a pinch of strength, nor mental nor physical, in Zenitsu Agatsuma.

At first it wasn't a problem, since it was easy to ignore him if she put effort into it, but Zenitsu's estate progressively moved from fear to panic, and from panic to terror.

And he didn't stop hugging her, which made her uncomfortable for two reasons. The first one was it greatly restricted her movements and if they ever encountered a demon that would be a disadvantage. The second one was that... he was hugging her as he leaned her head on her chest, which was weird, and he got all types of things on her uniform, snot, tears and sweat. She had to gather all her strength not to tense at the thought of her uniform, the one she had cleaned barely a few days before, to be covered in sticky substances.

Maybe not all her uniform, but it still sent shivers down her back.

Quite the contrary, Shoichi did everything he could to not get on her way. He obeyed without complaint and stuck to her side without hassle, maybe for fear of demons or for his respect for her. She chose to believe the latter.

He was just as exhausted of Zenitsu as she was, using Ayaka as protection so he wouldn't get too close to him.

"I think he's lost his mind," he had whispered into Ayaka's ear at some point.

Ayaka just gave him an apologetic smile, as she couldn't confirm nor deny his suspicions, but as they spent more time on the house, the more did Ayaka consider the possibility of those suspicions being true.

It would be funny if she were to see it from the outside, but with Zenitsu heavily breathing and by her side, it wasn't funny at all..

He was for sure worse than a little kid and Ayaka bet Teruko would have been a better civilian to protect in that kind of situation. She found herself unexpectedly missing Tanjirou's caring personality.

"Excuse me, Zenitsu-san," Shoichi called weakly, tiredness sweeping through his features.

Instantly, Zenitsu skipped a bit and fell to the floor in pure terror, giving high pitched yells and grabbing onto Ayaka's waist in desperation.

She only sighed and, with the only free hand she had left, pinched her nose in distress..

This would be a long, long mission.

She would make stew out of her crow when she defeated all the demons and she wouldn't even eat it, she would throw it to the wild animals in the forests for him to feel on his bones how it felt to be uselessly wasted.

"Signal! You need to give me a signal!" Zenitsu yelled in panic, tightening his grip around Ayaka's waist. "If you want to say something don't just suddenly say it! My heart nearly lept out of my mouth, if that actually happened, you would be a murderer! Got that!?"

"I'm sorry," Shoichi muttered, giving a step back to hide behind Ayaka's arm. "It's just that... no matter if it's your sweating or your erratic breathing... it's only getting worse so..."