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A young Zenitsu lets out a wheeze as he’s pushed back violently into a wall, before crumpling to the floor. Looking up at his tormentors, a brief flash of anger bubbles up to the surface before he sees the cruel looks in their eyes and is silenced.
“C’mon, we know you got some extra money to buy new shoes,” says their leader, the biggest and largest of the bunch. “Be nice and hand it over.”
Zenitsu wants to protest— how could they be lecturing him about being nice when they’re the ones taking his money! His shoes won’t last much longer, as beat up as they are, and soon they will become tight enough to hurt. But the sounds of their stomachs rumbling are too loud to bear. He grits his teeth, trying not to tear up as he hands over the money one of the ladies at the orphanage had given him. At least he understands why these kids are being so terrible. They’re hungry, he gets it, but they could have just asked.
No one wants to hang out with ‘that crybaby Zenitsu’ though.
The bully’s hand brushes against Zenitsu’s as he passes his coins over. As he hands it to the boy, his sleeve slides up a bit, and a flash of purple is revealed.
“Woa, wait! Is that a soulmark?” One of the little girls standing towards the back of the group walks forward excitedly, grabbing his hand forcefully and turning it over to look at his wrist. “You got yours already?! Lucky!”
The crowd pauses for a moment on the street. Footsteps slow, and the sound of people walking seems to drag on for longer than necessary. Zenitsu will later find out that talk of soulmarks always sparks curiosity, but for now he is simply confused.
“W-What?!” Zenitsu shouts loudly. What is up with this girl! Why is she so close? Does she like him or something? “What’s a soulmark? What are you looking at?”
“The writing on your arm, silly!” The little girl chides, rolling her eyes.
Looking down at his wrist, Zenitsu is shocked to see that she’s right. There is writing on his arm, and he didn’t put it there. Complicated characters that Zenitsu doesn’t know yet are interspersed with some familiar ones, and he struggles to make out what it says.
“How did that get there?” Zenitsu wonders, tilting his arm to get a better look. Holding it up to the sun, he can see that it’s a dark purple color. “Did somebody write it on me while I was sleeping? Is this a prank?!”
“Ugh, you don’t even know what soulmates are?” Another kid sighs, all hostility forgotten now that something interesting is involved.
“N-No? Tell me, I gotta know!” Zenitsu asks desperately, clinging to the kid’s arm. “C’mon, tell me! Am I gonna be okay? Am I dying?!”
“It’s the person you’re destined to fall in love with, stupid,” he replies, trying frantically to push Zenitsu off of his arm. “Whatever they write on their arm shows up on you, and the other way around. Now get off me! You’re annoying!”
“What?! But I can’t read this, it’s too complicated!” Zenitsu cries, “If I don’t respond, is she gonna hate me? Oh god, what if she thinks I’m ignoring her?”
“It could be a boy, though,” says the girl who first saw Zenitsu’s mark, and the other boy snickers. Zenitsu lets go of the kid he was clinging onto and looks back and forth at the other children, panicked. Why are they laughing at that? Why are they still hanging out near him? No one ever pays him any attention. This soulmate thing must be a big deal.
“Why would that be weird?” he asks, but his question is only met with more giggles. Zenitsu drops the topic. “Please, can one of you read this to me? I need to know!”
A quiet kid who hasn’t said anything yet suddenly speaks up.
“I know what that means,” He whispers, “It says…”
Nice to meet you, soulmate! Let me know if you get this message!
“... and I think that’s it.”
“What a boring message!”
The children leave soon after the initial shock wears off, leaving Zenitsu to his own devices.
That night, Zenitsu sits down at the orphanage’s now empty dinner table. In his best, cleanest handwriting (which isn’t very great, but no one’s ever taught him how to improve it) he begins to write out a message to his soulmate.
Hello, my name is Zenitsu. Nice to meet you too!
He sounds out each word, slowly and steadily. To his surprise, the minute he begins to write out his actual name the ink begins to drip off of his arm. He’s about to panic, thinking he broke the pen, when he sees those same purple letters begin to appear on his arm again.
There are even more complicated characters, and Zenitsu frowns. He quickly searches through the dictionary he grabbed for a translation. He can’t just admit to his soulmate that reading is difficult for him. She would think he was stupid!
Evidently, his soulmate had been explaining his name’s strange disappearance.
Oh! You can’t write any kind of information about your name or location. That way, fate will let us meet when the time is right! Or at least, that’s what my mom says.
His soulmate has a mom. It should have been obvious to Zenitsu, but it surprises him all the same. Will she think that he’s pitiful for not having one?
Actually, why wouldn’t she? Zenitsu knows he’s pretty pitiful in all senses of the word. He chews at the end of his pen, staring at the innocent purple words. Biting his lip nervously, he makes a decision.
Oh yeah. My mom said that, too. I just forgot.
That’s okay! Everyone forgets things sometimes.
The guilt pools in his stomach, but he ignores it. He has to make sure his soulmate likes him! If she knew what he was really like, she would definitely want nothing to do with him, he rationalizes.
He’ll have to convince his soulmate that he’s cool enough to like...
…maybe even if that means pretending he’s a completely different person.
Since meeting his soulmate at a young age, Tanjiro has come to realize that they are a bit of an odd person. Sometimes he forgets about that fact, but on nights like tonight he can’t help but remember.
“I just wish I could just meet them in person so I could understand them better, Dad.” Tanjiro mumbles, staring down at his arm. Today his soulmate is talking about how many friends they have.
His father chuckles from his spot in bed as he watches Tanjiro talk to his soulmate. Tanjiro’s dad always acts like he knows something about his soulmate that Tanjiro doesn’t. The eldest son frowns at his arm, not understanding his discomfort.
“It’s weird because I can’t smell them! I don’t get it, Dad!” He whines.
“Your soulmate really is one of the few people who can rile you up, aren’t they Tanjiro?” His father replies, chuckling. “Still, even if you can’t smell them, you should trust your instincts when it comes to your soulmate. It will serve you well.”
Tanjiro’s dad picks him up ever so gently and sets him in his lap. It’s cold outside, with winter rapidly approaching.
Small snowflakes fall in front of the young boy’s eyes, shining bright with wonder. He examines his hand and sees his soulmate’s newest message.
I have to go now, but I’ll talk to you soon! Don’t let anything bad happen to you while I’m gone, okay?! If you got hurt, I don’t know what I’d do! Don’t do that to me, alright?!
Tanjiro chuckles happily. He likes his soulmate best when they’re flustered.
Okay! Take care!
He replies, fondly. His father hums in approval, combing his hair with his calloused hands.
“Do not worry, Tanjiro. Your relationship with your soulmate does not have to be perfect right away.”
As it turns out, faking a different identity with Zenitsu’s own soulmate is a bit more difficult than it seems.
He keeps slipping up and saying weird things!
It’s just, his soulmate is so kind, and so patient… Zenitsu almost gives in and admits he’s been lying to them several times, but he’s dug himself into such a deep hole that he doesn’t know how to deal with it.
“Why am I so stupid!” He whines one night, crying into his pillow. “She’s gonna find out I’m a liar and pathetic and—“
“Shut up already! You’re being annoying!” one of the other kids from the orphanage yells. Zenitsu sits up rapidly from his bed on the floor. He didn’t realize anyone was still awake.
“I-I’m sorry!” He stutters, waiting until the boy shuffles under the covers and falls asleep again before laying back down. He stifles the hiccups and sobs in his hands, hoping no one else can hear him. The purple words from his soulmate bring him no comfort tonight; he just feels an immeasurable amount of guilt.
Picking up his pen, Zenitsu writes one last message to his soulmate before going to sleep.
“Tanjiro, are you going to write back to your soulmate soon? I think they’re trying to get your attention, sweetheart,” Tanjiro’s mother says innocently, pointing to the orange handwriting on his palm.
“Of course! I’ve just been busy these past few days.”
It’s been a few years since Tanjiro talked to his soulmate for the first time, but he can’t help but feel guilty every time they write. Normally he’s very good at getting along with most people, but he can’t seem to get a read on his soulmate, and it bothers him. At first, he thought it was just him getting used to having a soulmate. But the weird feeling remained…
“Keep this up and I’ll start to get worried, you know. When I was your age, I talked to your father all the time! Probably too often, to be honest!” His Mom laughs, smiling fondly at her son. He chuckles back, placing more coal into his bag.
His last conversation with his soulmate is staring up at him from his hand.
...I wonder how we’ll meet in person. I don’t travel much because I have to stay and help my family.
Yeah! I can’t wait until we meet! I’ll have to show you my house. My parents have a lot of money so it’s really big, you know! With a really pretty garden, too. You can bring your whole family.
He grimaces, thinking of how the hell he’s going to respond to that. His soulmate is a bit weird, and he often gets an odd feeling from them. Something’s not quite right with how they talk, and act. They’re kind, of course, and polite; but they’re incredibly boastful! Plus, it feels like over the years his soulmate has become more and more emotionally distant.
Tanjiro knows he’s supposed to accept his soulmate, flaws and all, but something feels wrong about the whole situation. It’s uncomfortable, jarring. He wouldn’t mind having a slightly boastful soulmate, but he can’t help but feel like his soulmate is hiding something from him, or putting on some kind of front to try and get Tanjiro to like them more.
They talk like an actor putting on a show.
But that can’t be right, Tanjiro’s their soulmate. Soulmates are destined to like each other, right? Why would his soulmate pretend to be someone they weren’t?
“Why don’t you just talk to him, Tanjiro?” Nezuko’s voice calls out. Tanjiro startles, dropping his basket of coal on the ground in surprise.
“When did you get here, Nezuko? You startled me!” Tanjiro laughs in surprise.
“I’ve been here the whole time. You were just thinking too much, again.” Nezuko teases him good naturedly. “Come on, It’s easy to tell that you’re having issues with your soulmate. I don’t know what it’s about, but you need to tell them how you feel! Just be honest.”
“That’s easier said than done!” He whines, laying down on the grass outside their small house with a sigh. Nezuko sits down next to him, folding her legs gently underneath her. He really has such a wonderful little sister, Tanjiro thinks. What would he do without Nezuko? Without any of his family? The clouds pass by above them, and Tanjiro smells and incoming rainstorm faintly. They’ll have to move inside, soon.
“How am I supposed to ask them, Nezuko?” He sighs, “I can’t just say ‘Hey, are you sure you haven’t been lying to me the whole time we’ve been talking?’ and expect them to reply ‘Oh yeah, sorry about that! I’ll stop now.’”
“What if you just asked if something was bothering them?” His sister suggests, plucking some nearby flowers absentmindedly.
“But what if I’m wrong? What if I just don’t like my soulmate, Nezuko?” He says, voicing his biggest fear.
“Then you just don’t like your soulmate, Tanjiro. That’s okay. You’ve got your family! We’re here for you no matter what.” Nezuko smiles, placing her hand on his shoulder. Tanjiro grins back at her softly.
“Okay, I’m going to do this!” Tanjiro says, sitting up with a new sense of determination.
Getting out his pen, he begins to write out a message.
Hey, I’m sorry for not writing to you recently. We need to talk.
Okay! About what? Not that I’m nervous or anything, I don’t really get nervous, but the way you worded that sounds almost like something’s wrong, haha!
I just wanted to make sure…
Tanjiro pauses. How does he word this? He doesn’t want to hurt his soulmates feelings, but he needs to know.
I just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel like you had to lie to me. Like you had to put up a front. I get the sense that maybe you’ve been hiding something from me?
Tanjiro takes a deep breath, nervously awaiting a response. Nezuko stands up, brushing the dust off her outfit.
“Do you need me to stay here with you?” She asks, and Tanjiro shakes his head. He can do this.
He silently waits for a reply, staring at his hand absentmindedly. It’s quiet outside, and the field is filled with the smells of spring. Wind flows around him lightly, and a few birds begin to sing above his head. The leaves shake in anticipation, a light and fluttery sound.
The sun starts to set, but still Tanjiro waits.
He waits for a very long time.
“I’m probably the worst person in the world, Gramps.” Zenitsu says one day, as they’re taking a quick break from training.
“Nah, you’re definitely better than a lot of people out there. Maybe fifty percent?” Gramps says resolutely, and Zenitsu stares blankly at him. Was that supposed to be an insult or an attempt to cheer him up? Zenitsu can’t tell anymore.
He eats a small portion of his rice, staring down at his arms, free of text. What he wouldn’t give to write a message to his soulmate right now, or to see a bit of that loving purple as it appeared so beautifully on his arms.
But Zenitsu’s ruined that now.
If you mess up once, people will abandon you. Zenitsu knows this for a fact.
Sure, his soulmate didn’t specifically say she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. It didn’t matter. She found out his secret, and that was essentially the same thing. Zenitsu was not going to go through that rejection again, and certainly not from someone as important to him as his soulmate. It had happened with people at the orphanage, other kids in his town, and with strangers on the street. After that incident, when Zenitsu was dating, it happened with the soulmark-less woman he thought he was going to build the rest of his life with, too. She took his money and left him to rot. There’s no way it wouldn’t have happened with his soulmate, too.
When Gramps took him in, he was sure he was going to mess things up again. This time, he didn’t try to hide any aspect of his personality like with his soulmate. He whined, cried, and ran away over and over again. Still, Gramps continued to bring him back.
He won’t do that again after Zenitsu admits what he did.
“A few years ago… I abandoned my soulmate, Gramps,” Zenitsu confesses, staring up at the older man. There’s silence at the dinner table, and Zenitsu grips the hems of his clothes to ease his nerves. “When we first started talking, I wanted them to think I was less pathetic than I actually am. I pretended I was a different person, with a fancy house and a huge family, and… When they called me out on it, I ran away, like the coward I am!”
Zenitsu chokes out the last words, hands shaking with emotion.
He should have finished his food first. Once Gramps kicks him out, he won’t have anything to eat.
“I know, Zenitsu.”
How is he going to live without Gramps? He doesn’t have any money, and he’s not a fully-fledged demon slayer yet so he— wait, what?
“I know, Zenitsu.” Gramps repeats, looking up at his disciple seriously, before hitting him over the head with a spoon. “The woman who took all your money was yelling about it when I found you, remember?”
Tears pool up in his eyes, making the world look fuzzy. He can only listen as his mentor continues to speak, wiping his tears away as they threaten to fall on their wooden table.
“It’s none of my business whether you talk to your soulmate or not. I haven’t talked to mine in years… Although for admittedly less petty reasons than you have, Zenitsu! You can’t act cool to save your life, and they still talked to you! They would not have abandoned you. You have no excuse!” The spoon descends on his now sore head yet again.
“Ow, gramps! That hurt! What if I got seriously injured!”
Despite the pain, Zenitsu can’t help but grin. He still doesn’t think he can face his soulmate, but no matter what, he has Gramps with him.
Zenitsu notices Tanjiro for the first time at the final selection. He’s still trembling in fear at first, whispering his fears about dying under his breath. Every breath he takes seems to make his chest feel a little tighter, and his eyes are going out of focus. Suddenly, he hears something incredibly beautiful.
It’s a person, a collection of sounds. Heartbeat, footsteps, breathing patterns. Each noise coming from the person next to him is incredible in its own way. Put them together, and Zenitsu can’t help but feel his own sounds yearn to resonate with that loving frequency.
The look in his eyes is determined and unwavering. Zenitsu’s heart flutters a little, and for the first time he wonders if he’s really so sure he’s destined to be with a girl. Zenitsu feels his eyes begin to water, how could one singular person have such an intense emotional impact on him?
The wisteria trees are in full bloom, and Zenitsu is scared out of his mind. Still, he feels strangely calm despite that.
Tanjiro is not exactly impressed when he first meets Zenitsu, clinging to a woman who happened to offer him help and desperately asking for her hand in marriage.
“Stop that!” he shouts immediately, rushing in to settle the situation. “Can’t you see she’s not interested?”
The boy looks upward, and Tanjiro is faced with the most lovely pair of honey brown eyes.
“You don’t understand! I’m going to die soon, you know?! I messed up with my soulmate, they’re sending me off to my death, and now I'm I’m never even going to get married!” He cries hysterically.
The moment fades, and Tanjiro raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Zenitsu pleads, suddenly clinging onto him instead of the woman. Now that the situation has diffused somewhat, he finally gets a read on his scent.
It’s surprising. Kind, and strong. Insecure, sure, but so incredibly soft . Perhaps Tanjiro was too quick to jump to conclusions.
They walk together for a while, Zenitsu wiping the last remnants of his tears away. They soon fall into step with each other, walking at a comfortable pace. It’s as though a magnet is pulling them together, inching them closer and closer to one another. The birds chirp and the gravel crunches beneath their feet. Suddenly, Zenitsu’s stomach growls, breaking the silence.
“Are you hungry?” Tanjiro asks, smiling fondly at the blonde-haired boy.
Zenitsu shares half of the rice ball Tanjiro offers him, and the two continue to walk in silence for a while longer. It simply seems wrong to part.
After defeating the demon in the tsuzumi mansion, Tanjiro runs outside to see Zenitsu holding the box containing Nezuko tight to his chest, as a boar-headed man kicks him relentlessly. A blinding rage boils up to the surface of Tabjiro’s emotions and he finds himself launching forward despite the pain in his ribs.
“Don’t touch him!” Tanjiro screams, attacking the man without an ounce of mercy. The sounds of bones breaking fills the air.
He can’t explain the boiling rage in his chest, all consuming and adrenaline boosting.
In an instant, Tanjiro can’t imagine going anywhere without the blond-haired boy beside him.
Zenitsu has a daily routine of sorts when it comes to contacting his soulmate, or rather his lack of contacting them.
Every night, he sits down with a pen in hand and stars at his arms. First, he starts groaning and whining for a few hours as he deliberates what to say. Then he places the pen down on his hand, ready to write! Suddenly, all the courage leaves his chest and he can’t bring himself to do it. He rolls around and around on his bed before shoving his head in a pillow and screaming, kicking his legs in the air.
The first night at the Wisteria house, Zenitsu is courteous to his fellow demon slayers and refrains from participating in this daily ritual. The second night, however, he can’t resist.
“What the hell are you doing?” Inosuke asks, watching Zenitsu writhe on the ground with a pen clutched tightly in his hand. Tanjiro tilts his head in confusion from his spot on the futon, before snapping his fingers in recognition.
“I think he’s trying to contact his soulmate? Probably?” Tanjiro says, watching his friend’s elaborate movements. There’s uncertainty in his voice.
“I just don’t know what to say!” Zenitsu shouts, clutching his head in his hands. Inosuke scratches his boar’s head in confusion.
“What the hell is a soulmate?” Inosuke asks suddenly.
Tanjiro immediately grows teary eyed, nodding his head in understanding. Inosuke grows angry at this, grabbing several pillows and throwing them at Tanjiro and Zenitsu.
“Just tell me what it is!”
The two of them go through a long winded explanation of exactly what soulmarks are and what they mean. Inosuke simply stares at the two of them, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. By the time they get to the end, he just has one question to ask.
“Sounds like a lot more trouble than it’s worth. Animals don’t have that; why not just wait until you find each other normally?”
Zenitsu and Tanjiro don’t have much to say in response to that.
It takes a quite frankly ridiculous amount of time for either of them to realize. Zenitsu is writing a letter back home to Gramps as they take refuge in the Wisteria house, quietly placing down sentence after sentence on the paper. He’s so wrapped up in the task at hand that he doesn’t even realize the second heartbeat in the room.
A bit awkwardly, Tanjiro clears his throat to get the boys attention.
“T-tanjiro?! When did you get here?!” Zenitsu cries out in surprise, limbs flailing and elbow knocking into the bottle of ink sitting next to him. He scrambled to grab it before it hits the floor, but only manages to catch it sideways, and the ink spills all over his hand.
“I’m sorry! I just wanted to tell you dinner was ready… Oh, here, I’ll help you clean that up!” Tanjiro apologizes, running to grab a towel.
As he reaches to pick one up from the bathroom, he pauses. On his hand is a black splotch of ink, but he doesn’t remember ever touching the stuff Zenitsu spilled. His brain processes that for a moment, before everything comes to an abrupt halt.
“What?” Tanjiro says dumbly, mouth agape. There is only one possible explanation for this, but it’s not connecting in his brain. That can’t be, can it? Tanjiro’s soulmate was conceited, full of fake confidence and bravado. Zenitsu is…
Zenitsu is what Tanjiro always wanted from a soulmate.
His heartbeat flutters, before a crushing realization comes to him.
He and his soulmate haven’t talked for years. At first, a sense of betrayal washes over Tanjiro like ice cold water. Then an image flashes in his mind, and he remembers the look on Zenitsu’s face as he tried to contact his soulmate each night. That uncertainty, confusion, the fear of being judged… Tanjiro can’t be mad at that. Still, he doesn’t feel right talking to Zenitsu first, before he’s worked up the courage to contact his soulmate.
“Tanjiro, did you grab that towel?” Zenitsu calls from the other room, and Tanjiro yells back a shaky reply before tearing a towel off the top of the stack and running back to where Zenitsu is. He shoves his inky hand in his sleeve, silently. He’ll have to think over this later.
Zenitsu never thought he would work up the courage to write a single word to his soulmate after that incident years ago. He tried, of course, but he simply never could.
Then Tanjiro walked in and changed that.
“Zenitsu, I’ve been wondering about some things.” Tanjiro says, looking at his friend and soulmate softly. It’s just past dinner, and they are staring up at the stars together. Each one seems to flicker the moment another one stops, a synchronized dance of sorts. “Why don’t you talk to your soulmate?”
He pauses, chewing on his bottom lip. Somehow, telling Tanjiro feels easier than telling Gramps. Despite knowing Tanjiro for such a short amount of time, he can’t help but feel like he’s known him his whole life.
“I messed up a long time ago, talking to them.” Zenitsu finally admits. He sighs, clutching his knees to his chest. “I was really insecure, so I pretended to be someone more confident. I told them that I was rich, that I had family, that I was cool and popular. They called me out on it, and I panicked.”
Tanjiro is quiet at this.
“I think you should talk to them. Who knows, maybe they’re just waiting for you?” He says, grinning softly at Zenitsu.
“But what if they hate me for it? What if they tell me to go away, or call me a coward, or ignore me?!” He cries, letting out his own insecurities one by one.
Tanjiro pauses, before placing a hand on Zenitsu’s. “If your soulmate doesn’t like you, then that’s okay. You’ve got us! We’re here for you no matter what.”
The two of them sit in silence for a bit after that. A warm feeling spreads through Zenitsu’s chest, as he contemplates Tanjiro’s words. Could it really be that simple? He’s filled with a new sense of purpose.
The next morning, two simple sentences show up on Tanjiro’s arm.
I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but you’re an incredible person, and you deserve a soulmate who at least tries to be the best they can, for you. Could you forgive me?
Tanjiro asks Zenitsu to come along with him on a short walk into town the next day. The busy streets are full of life, with carts of all sorts lining them, vendors yelling loudly to be heard in the crowd.
The nearby fruit trees let off a sweet scent, permeating the air in a dance of smells. Tanjiro takes Zenitsu’s hand gently and leads him to a food stand.
“What are we doing, Tanjiro? Shouldn’t we be training to get our strength back?” Zenitsu asks, looking at Tanjiro oddly. “Not that I don’t prefer this? Geez, why am I suddenly the one trying to be responsible?”
Tanjiro just laughs and hands Zenitsu his food. His smile is bright and cheery, and Zenitsu can’t find it in himself to say anything else.
After heading from shop to shop, looking at all the different things for sale, Zenitsu and Tanjiro sit down on a nearby bench underneath a Wisteria tree. The purple flowers remind Zenitsu of when he first met Tanjiro at the final selection, and the shade shields the two boys from the sun. The flowering tree’s leaves fall in front of the bench, hiding them from sight. It’s a picturesque scene, and Zenitsu can’t help but feel unworthy of something so beautiful.
“Zenitsu, I wanted to tell you something,” Tanjiro begins, the only indicator of any nerves being his slight fidgeting with his hands.
“What? Is something wrong?” he asks, looking up at his friend with caring eyes. Tanjiro has been uncharacteristically quiet all day, and he is starting to get a bit concerned.
“First of all, I want to apologize for not saying anything sooner,” he starts, scratching the side of his cheek sheepishly, “I wanted to give you the chance to go through with it first.”
Tanjiro pulls out a pen from his pocket, and rolls up his opposite sleeve.
There, on his arm, is the sentence Zenitsu wrote that night to his soulmate. Tanjiro uncaps the pen, and begins to write out a reply.
Of course I’ll forgive you.
Zenitsu rushes to push up his own sleeve, staring down at his arm in amazement as letters begin to appear.
“What? But— wait, what?” Zenitsu sputters incoherently, looking back and forth between their hands. “Does that mean today was a date?!”
Tanjiro laughs loudly, doubling over. He’s smiling widely. Zenitsu continues to panic, his brain still catching up to the scenario. Once Tanjiro’s caught his breath, he looks up at his soulmate with love in his eyes.
Reaching up to hold his cheek, Tanjiro leans forward and places a single kiss on Zenitsu’s face.
“I can’t believe you tried to act all cool just to get me to like you!” He chuckles, and Zenitsu turns bright red. “You’re incredible as you are, Zenitsu.”
Tears begin to form in the other boy’s eyes.
How often did he dream of something as wonderful as this? How often did he hope, sitting alone in that orphanage, that one day he would be able to experience such unconditional love?
“I’m so glad it was you!” Zenitsu cries, shoving himself into Tanjiro’s arms, “I’m so, so glad!”