Chapter Text
Zenitsu opens his eyes. There is no reason to do so, not when the sun has not even risen and the cold winter weather increases as the days go by. He hates waking up early, he can't do it without whining about it for at least half an hour, but today, on any given Sunday — not really — his eyes open automatically. A sound has woken him up. The darkness of the room causes a sensation of surrealism, he must be dreaming. There is no other explanation. It is a memory, a memory buried in the past, that is what he says to himself; but as the seconds go by the sound becomes louder. It gets closer as well.
He hates it, the cold sensation that spreads throughout his body as soon as his body leaves the warmth of his sheets. The heating works, but it is not enough to mitigate the cold December weather. His hands tentatively move on the table’s surface, the one which is next to his bed, after a few failed attempts he finally finds it, the rubber band he uses to hold his hair. His hair is tied in a messy bun, just a quick hairstyle.
When he leaves his room the sound becomes clearer, more real, but even so while walking in the direction of the door the feeling that he is in a dream does not leave him. For a moment it feels as if he were at high school once again.
He advances through the living room, gloom decorating his apartment, his feet generating a soft echo as he walks. Thump, thump, thump. His hand does not tremble when he reaches the door handle, but it is close to.
He knows he won't find anything on the other side, just a desolate and dark hallway, but he still opens the door. The slight light of the corridor sneaks into his apartment. There is no figure in the hallway as he expected, it must be a dream. The sound, the melody, all this must be a fantasy. Years have passed, he doesn't know why he’s thinking about it after so many years.
It must be because it is December 1st, he thinks sleepy. His body has relaxed again and thus his desire to sleep returns with great force. Zenitsu is about to close the door when he hears it, the sound of the elevator door at the end of the hall.
The metal doors open and Agatsuma's breath gets stuck in his throat.
Gentle, kind, warm.
Unique.
“Zenitsu!” Kamado Tanjirō is in front of the door of his apartment with two large suitcases in each of his arms and a backpack on his back.
The blond blinks again and again, but the image does not disappear. "I'm dreaming ..." his hoarse voice, due to waking up a few minutes ago, echoes in the hallway.
Tanjirō, no, the hallucination does not seem disturbed a bit by his comment.
The blond mentally counts to ten with the hope that Tanjirō would disappear, but the other boy is still standing in front of him with a happy expression on his face. Agatsuma moves with the intention of closing the door, but Tanjirō does not give in and puts his hand in front of the door to prevent him from doing so. Zenitsu tries again, but it is impossible. Kamado is stronger than him and the opportunity of using his speed is useless at this point.
"What the hell are you doing?!" shouts in whispers the blonde one. He can't scream, his neighbor had already complained about it and he didn't want to be kicked out, again, of a place because he was being too noisy.
Tanjirō does not seem a bit disturbed by it, there is not a single trace that he feels upset about it. "I'm stopping you from closing the door, Zenitsu!"
Agatsuma sighs audibly, it's not even 6 am, but Tanjirō is using his secret weapon. The puppy eyes. It's really unfair how a 32 year old guy can look like this. He curses in his mind and with an expression of pain he steps aside to let the other man to enter with his luggage.
The light illuminates, the apartment, seconds after Zenitsu presses the light switch. Both, he and Tanjirō, blink to adjust their eyes to the light of the place.
“Wow! You have a beautiful apartment, Zenitsu” Kamado flatters while he looks at the place, his shoes previously deposited in the genkan of the apartment.
The blond bites his lips, but he can't help it, a soft laugh leaves his lips. The corner of his lips rises and in a matter of seconds his face bears a smile.
"You can leave your suitcases wherever you want" Zenitsu decides to say after a moment.
The feeling is surreal, Kamado Tanjirō is in front of him, the same boy who was his best friend during high school and early college. The same person with whom he has not really spoken for five years. The amount of time bothers him, a sensation of wrongness sits in his stomach; have so many years gone by? His age is a reminder of that. Zenitsu is 33 years old, a lot has happened, he has lived a lot.
Tanjirō's luggage is deposited by him near the sofa in the living room. Zenitsu has a feeling that their talk is going to be a long one, it is an old sensation that awakens old memories in which Inosuke and Tanjirō are always present. It hurts a little. Even a little bit more that what he feels comfortable to accept.
"I'm going to make tea; you can sit on the sofa" the blond goes to the kitchen next to the living room.
“I can help!” This is of course the first thing Kamado says about Zenitsu's proposal.
The blond points it out with the spatula that rested on the washer. "Sit! I'm tire, I'm very sleepy and yesterday I worked until an inhuman hour. Don't try me, Tanjirō…” the blond muttered with a frown on his face.
Almost as if it were magic Tanjirō sat down again on the sofa. The blond nodded satisfied with the image and then proceeded to prepare the kettle. The clinking of the kettle was the only sound that flooded the house and so it remained for a couple of minutes until the tea was ready. He deposited the contents in two cups of tea and then put them on a tray to take them to the living room.
Zenitsu was about to make his way in the direction of the room, but the sound of Tanjirō, a few steps behind him, stopped him.
“Tanjirō! What did I tell you?! ”Agatsuma turned his body to face him. He blinked once when he noticed, there was something different about this Tanjirō, something that physically differentiated him from the Tanjirō he had last seen 5 years ago. "Did you cut your hair?" He asked strangely, his mouth had moved without thinking.
Kamado seemed taken aback for just a second, as fast as the expression adorned his face it was gone.
"And you let yours grow, Zenitsu," said the red-eyed one. “It's been 5 years, right?” Tanjirō's voice was reserved.
A bitter taste settled in Agatsuma's mouth.
He nodded; he knew his voice would fail him if he tried to speak.
“We saw each other for the last time at Nezuko and Inosuke's wedding, didn't we?” A soft smile adorned Tanjirō's lips as he resumed the word. His hands moved with agility and he took the tray with both drinks.
Zenitsu sighed in exasperation when he saw Kamado's action, but still said nothing about it and only decided to follow the other until he returned to the small living room. A cup is offered to Zenitsu and for a moment he feels like a guest in his own house. His hands move unconscious and he accepts the cup Tanjirō gives him.
Both of them sip the drink. The hot liquid descends through their throats and some warmth lodges in their bodies. For a moment everything seems fine and the distance that separates them disappears. However, this feeling disappears in a matter of seconds. They cannot be deceived; they are reliable proof of the time that has passed.
"What are you doing here, Tanjirō?" Zenitsu is the one who decides to ask.
Kamado aspires, the serious expression of a few moments ago disappears and instead there is only something less adult, a childish expression invades his face. "I am here to fulfill our promise!"
Promise?
Tanjirō seems to notice his confusion as his explanation continues. "You are 33 years old and I am 32 years old."
Zenitsu blinks.
Yes, he is 33 years old and Tanjirō is 32 years old. There is nothing particularly strange about it. The two are simply over their 30s and ...
Oh
The fact that Tanjirō is here only means one thing.
"You're single ..." the blond mutters absently.
The man in front of him nods. “I am and from what I saw on your social media you are too.”
It must be a joke…
"It has to be a joke! Are you crazy?! Why did you wait so long?! I turned 33 in September!” Zenitsu had stood up due to the impact of the other's words.
Tanjirō seemed embarrassed for a moment, but after taking a breath he gained the courage to answer the other's questions.
"The contract with the landlord of the apartment I rented ended yesterday, while I thought about whether to extend it or not, I remembered our promise" Kamado had a hard expression to decipher on his face.
Zenitsu turned calmly, took a cushion from the sofa and then put it on his face to later scream against it. Tanjirō jumped at the other's action.
"Zenitsu?" Inquired the one with dark hair.
“Don’t ‘Zenitsu’ me! Do you know in the position you put me in Tanjirō ?!” the blond was pecking the other's cheek, who had unfairly become much taller than him. Tanjirō was insufferable!
"But, Zenitsu-" anything that was going to be said by the other man died on his lips when Zenitsu silenced him with a loud shhh.
“You have no right to speak, Tanjirō! It's freezing outside, but you come with those light clothes, to the apartment of someone with whom you have no contact for years and the worst is that you think that everything will be fine due to a promise of 16 years ago ”Zenitsu looked furious.
Kamado's face contorted in a grimace of pain.
"You are rig-"
“I can't believe you're still like this! You're supposed to be a teacher, shouldn't you be an example to your students?”
"Yes, but-"
Zenitsu shook his head exasperated. "Okay, you don't have to beg, I will be generous and let you stay here just for December while you look for a new apartment."
And only with those words Tanjirō's face lit up, his eyes softened and something old but familiar was removed inside Agatsuma because of that stupid expression.
"Thank you, Zenitsu."
It would only be a month, they would simply spend December together, it was a short time considering how busy Zenitsu would be during the whole month. Probably he would not notice that Tanjirō would be living here, in the same apartment. There was also the possibility that everything was a dream caused for his lonely mind because he was going to be spending another Christmas by his own.
And…
There is also the fact that he’s weak, he has always been weak for Kamado Tanjirō and his sad face.
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The lights illuminated the faces of both teenagers, the scarf they shared hid their faces. The night had nothing special, but it still witnessed the promise Zenitsu had proposed in order to erase the lonely look on Tanjirō's face. His heart could not stand such expression in the face of his best friend. It hurts and Zenitsu hates it.