My Instincts Never Lie || Demon Slayer Nezuko

17. Mount Natagumo

Night was winding down on another day of nothing. Zenitsu sat on his newly made mattress--which really wasn't so new--waiting for Nezuko to return when Tanjiro emerged from his box. No one, especially Zenitsu, knew what he was up to whilst the trio slept. Except maybe that monster granny who never seemed to behave normally would know. Perhaps she had seen him the night he caught a frog and brought it to Nezuko as a gift in the morning. The granny now kept Kae as a pet along with the resident stray cats and dogs.

He immediately sat up, hiding the ball he found behind his back. For what reason? No one knows. Perhaps he had stolen it.

"He-Hey Tanjiro... "So wanna hang out together? Like a- Like play a game or something?" he asked nervously, as Tanjiro grew to his full height. Thankfully, Zenitsu learned that this did not, in fact, make him any scarier. He simply stared at him wide-eyed, getting closer as if there were leaves in his hair. There weren't any this time. "Uhm..."

Tanjiro knelt before him with his head tilted to the side and his eyes squinted in a smile. Rokuta... Ni-chan is here, he said and absorbed Zenitsu into an embrace, ruffling his hair.

"Eh? What're you doing?" Zenitsu asked slowly. He almost melted in the warmth of Tanjiro's corpse-cold skin. Had he ever been truly hugged before this moment? Zenitsu couldn't be sure—even his gramps took years before coddling him like Tanjiro was, and if he was being honest, Zenitsu desperately needed this more often.

'This isn't bad... I can't describe it. Does this mean... I'm finally on Tanjiro's good side? He won't kill me?'

"Hey." Zenitsu pried Tanjiro off of him for a moment—admittedly a bit bummed that Nezuko wasn't there to witness it. "Wanna play Hanafuda or something? Yeah, like your earrings. I'll go ask the Wisteria people."

And so they did. Well, more accurately, Zenitsu got his ass handed to him by Tanjiro after he explained the game once and beat him in a practice round. Nevertheless, they were laughing and teasing for minutes on end, and Zenitsu found that he could rest easy in Tanjiro's company.

"I- Did you just... This is some kinda trick!"

Tanjiro huffed, petting his head like Zenitsu was a puppy and dispelled the sprites who were running about their room.

Zenitsu let him. After all, he had acquired approval and Zenitsu was going to guard it with his life. "Okay okay. Doing that kinda hurts y'know! Sorry, I take that back. I- I was- Y'know what let's play another game. Your sister isn't back yet. Your choice."

It took some thinking but the most brilliant idea came to mind.

Tanjiro, in fact, was quite the clever little shit and could smell the uneasiness Zenitsu gave off like a burning stove. But he knew his brothers well, and knew just the thing to dissipate it. Rokuta was usually too young for this type of thing, but now that he took on this teenage, dandelion-looking form, it couldn't have been better timing.

The ensuing silence as Tanjiro stared at Zenitsu blankly had him hurriedly gathering the cards into a messy stack. "'Kay, I guess we can play another round in the meantime," he said, failing to keep an eye on Tanjiro. His demonic friend took it upon himself to ready his attack in a low squat, fingers wiggling up and down, and a smirk formulating behind the bamboo muzzle. Poor Zenitsu, before he even had the chance to align the cards, Tanjiro tackled him to the ground!

"Kya! Tanjiro! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What did I do wrong?" Zenitsu struggled against Tanjiro. He was crying and breathless and laughing until his stomach suffered from more than Tanjiro's claws. He screamed for all the house to hear, like his soul was being ripped out of his body. But running was no use in the slightest. Tanjiro was having way too much fun for his own good. His cheers bounced off the walls chasing after Zenitsu to every corner of the room. It was all good fun--for Tanjiro at least.