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A strong gust of wind has Tanjirou staggering on his feet, and he had to clutch the circular tray in his hands before the carefully balanced cups of tea tumbled to a tragic death. After a second, he was able to walk again, though his steps were careful on the diagonal line of the hill. The wind still blew with great fury, but Tanjirou was ready for it this time, and treaded on without too much trouble.
He could see the branches of the cherry blossom tree peeking down at him, always watchful; reaching the top of the hill, however, brought him face to face with the dancing pink petals, carried over by the wind. One almost flew straight into his eye, but Tanjirou was lucky enough to successfully step out of its direct trajectory.
It was a beautiful day, he had to admit--though ould do without the wind--, as the sky was perfectly clear, the few passing clouds being small, fluffy ones hurrying along. There were flowers blooming everywhere, and their fragrant scent reached Tanjirou's nose in every turn he made. He thought he could smell lavender in the distance, but he wasn't sure (Tanjirou never got the hang of differentiating between flowers).
It wasn't the scenery that caught his attention, however, but the sleeping body of a man sprawled gracelessly on the grass. His hair was a mess of long locks all around him, and his chest rose and fell with the serenity of someone deep in their dreams.
Tanjirou set the tray down, then lowered himself to crouch next to the man, observing the shift of the faded scars across his chest.
"You're going to catch a cold if you don't cover yourself, Inosuke," Tanjirou chided to his sleeping partner. "Not that you ever listen to me when I say that."
When his voice didn't succeed in alerting Inosuke to his presence, Tanjirou proceeded to poke his cheek once, then again, and just one more time for good measure. Inosuke grumbled and, instead of opening his eyes, rolled to the side away from Tanjirou's fingers.
"Don't think you'll escape from me that easily. You made a grave mistake, you know," Tanjirou said as he bent down until his lips were close to Inosuke's left ear.
Now within the perfect range, Tanjirou proceeded to blow harshly into the ear, causing Inosuke to jump back and scramble to sit up at the same time, looking like a graceless chicken trying to escape.
Tanjirou laughed as Inosuke blinked at him in confusion.
"Sleeping outside again, I see," Tanjirou commented innocently.
"What's the problem with that? The house is too hot," Inosuke replied, rubbing at his ear with some aggravation.
Tanjirou shuffled closer to pluck a twig out of Inosuke's hair, and a flower petal fell along with it. There were still blades of grass and leaves in it as well, and Tanjirou raised his eyebrows at it meaningfully.
"You could at least bring a blanket, or put on a shirt. I wouldn't be surprised if you got sick in this wind."
Inosuke clicked his tongue. "I don't need it, I don't get sick anyways."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't!"
Tanjirou stared at him for a long moment. "Then next time I'll leave you to puke all over himself without any assistance, as you're obviously not sick."
Another long pause.
Inosuke silently extended his hand, and Tanjirou didn't hesitate to take off his own haori and hand it to him, smiling all too smugly. Inosuke didn't bother putting his arms through the holes, but at least he had it wrapped around his shoulders.
"There, happy? I'm going back to sleep," Inosuke grumbled and fell back on his side, not even waiting for a reply.
"Ah, wait, wait, I brought us some tea!" Tanjirou nudged the tray a bit closer. "Don't you want some?"
Inosuke took a glance at it over his shoulder and promptly lost interest, closing his eyes. "Nah." He paused, then perked up once more. "Did you bring honey?"
As a matter of fact, he did; Inosuke had taken the habit of filling one third of his tea with honey before drinking any of it, to the concern of Tanjirou and the disgust of literally every single one of their friends.
"I did, so you'll have some?"
Inosuke hummed, appearing to think it over. Then, before Tanjirou could do anything about it, he quickly snatched the honey bottle and the dipper, coating the latter in a generous amount of honey to then shove it directly into his mouth. Tanjirou cringed at the sight.
"Are you trying to get yourself to puke?" Tanjirou asked.
"No, I'm eating, can't you see?" Inosuke waved to dipper in his face to make his point. "You're being naggy today, it's annoying."
"Naggy?! I'm trying to look out for you!"
"Nagging old man."
"I'm the same age as you!"
They stared down at each other, but Inosuke was the one to look away first: not because he was backing down, but because he most likely got bored. He even had the audacity to drop his head on his arms and shuffle around like he was getting ready to fall back asleep.
Tanjirou opened his mouth to complain, but let it go with a sigh, instead leaning his back on Inosuke's body and looking up at the sky. Since Inosuke didn't stir, he assumed he actually went through with his desire to take a nap.
Tanjirou retrieved his own teacup and cradled it into his hands, blowing the steam away and taking a hearty sip. Alone with his thoughts, he found himself sighing again before taking another sip.
"Are you gonna tell me what's bugging you or what?" Inosuke suddenly asked, voice low and laced with exasperation.
"Oh, uhm. Is it that obvious?"
"No shit it is."
Tanjirou bent his leg up at the knee to rest his elbow on top and lean his cheek into it, head tilted to the side so he could see just the edge of Inosuke's profile.
"You do know me really well, Inosuke. How couldn't you, it's been a long time since we've met each other, after all."
Inosuke hummed a low "uh huh", which might seem rude to anyone else, but Tanjirou knew well it was an invitation to keep going.
"We were pretty young, weren't we? You, me, and Nezuko and Zenitsu, not to mention everyone else like Genya and Kanao." Tanjirou scratched at his cheek at the same time Inosuke let out a jaw cracking yawn.
"Yeah, you were really small then. Like an ant."
"Inosuke, I was taller than you."
"It was only one centimeter, plus the one who didn't grow more than that was you, so you stay at ant size." Inosuke poked his side. "Ant."
"Oh, shush, that's besides the point! I'm trying tell you about a memory of mine here...." Inosuke gestured for him to keep going, so Tanjirou cleared his throat to do just so. "When we were even younger, and Nezuko was just a tiny child, she would get scared by the shadows of the trees outside, or the noise of them shaking in the wind. With dad sick, she didn't want to bother him, or mom for that measure."
Tanjirourotated his teacup, watching the ripples appearing on the surface of the liquid. "So she'd come to me instead, and I'd hold her hand and tell her a story, or sing her a lullaby. Her hand was so was small, I could hold all of it in my palm."
Tanjirou fell back, spine curved around Inosuke's body, his teacup raised high above his head. A stray flower petal made its way into it.
"Sometimes I realize I still think her hand is that small."
Inosuke raised himself up to his elbow, twisting to the side in what looked like a painful position to get at look Tanjirou. His eyebrows were raised, almost comically so.
"You really are the sentimental type," Inosuke pointed out. "Are you freaking out about the wedding again?"
"I'm not freaking out!" Tanjirou protested, sitting up to level a glare at Inosuke. "Just because I'm thinking about it doesn't mean I'm freaking out. It's just that Nezuko is so happy and it's all she talks about, so it gets me thinking about… Stuff."
Inosuke snorted. "You're trying not to cry about it, aren't you?"
Tanjirou vehemently slammed his teacup back on the tray. "I'm not! I'm not crying about it!" He huffed and crossed his arms. "Listen, just because Nezuko will look the most beautiful she's ever looked in her wedding attire, and her smile will be all big and bright, and she's getting the happiness she deserves after suffering through being a demon, and… And…"
Tanjirou paused. His voice was wobbling. "Inosuke?"
"What?"
"I'm crying about it."
Inosuke shot up, murmuring curses under his breath, frantically reaching for whatever he could find of Tanjirou first (which turned out to be his right pants leg) to tug him closer. Inosuke rubbed his palms against Tanjirou's cheek, getting rid of each year that fell from his eyes.
"She's all grown up now…"
"Yup."
"And she found someone to love her like she deserves."
"Uh huh."
"She really is gonna be the prettiest, you know?"
"Sure."
They continued to go back and forth like this for a few minutes until Tanjirou had gotten the tears out of system. He was grateful for Inosuke's attempt to help, though his cheeks were starting to get red from all the rubbing.
"Thinking about 'small hands', what the hell is that even supposed to mean?" Inosuke grumbled in irritation. "You can just hold her hand now, can't you?"
Tanjirou nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right."
"Dumbass."
"Don't call me a dumbass."
"Dumbass."
Tanjirou narrowed his eyes at him. "If I'm being naggy, you're being a petulant child. I won't pat or kiss you if you're being like that, you know?"
"Like I care," Inosuke huffed. He crossed his arms and looked the other side, feigning indifference. The facade didn't last long, however. "...Not even one?"
"Not even one."
"You play dirty, you... Don't think think there won't be payback!"
Tanjirou winced, remembering the last time when Inosuke pretended Tanjirou didn't exist just to watch him get more flustered each time for the entire day.
As they went quiet, however, Tanjirou was back to thinking about the issue at hand, and his shoulders sagged despite his best effort not to let it show.
Tanjirou chewed on his bottom lip. "I wish mom was here to see how much Nezuko grew," he confessed, something he rarely let himself say out loud in fear that the sadness might consume him whole. "She'd be so proud of her..."
When he felt like new tears might fall from his eyes, Inosuke roughly pulled on both his cheeks, stretching it far enough that Tanjirou couldn't even speak through it.
"Don't be an idiot, she's already proud. Just like my mom," Tanjirou gasped at that, but Inosuke didn't relent. "They're watching over us, everyone is, because they live on here," Inosuke touched his fist to his chest. "You told me that yourself, remember? Don't be a wimp about it now."
Tanjirou nodded as much as he could when Inosuke was still pulling on his cheek; he had, in fact, said that to Inosuke many years ago, murmured against the curve of his shoulder. That night, Tanjirou had given one of his earrings to Inosuke, who never took it off since then. He smiled at the memory, and that was what made Inosuke let go.
"You're right. We're here now, so we stand together, for as long as as our hearts allow it," Tanjirou said, repeating the words he had said back then, whispered like a promise. Tanjirou pressed their foreheads together, then their noses, gently nuzzling against the other. "Sorry for the sudden freak out."
"Hah! Called it, you were totally freaking out! Just like I said."
Tanjirou hit him lightly on the chest. "Shut up," he ordered, but the laughter in it wasn't in any way persuasive.