Chapter Text
Agatsuma Zenistu has great hearing abilities. He’s had them since birth, and going deaf when he grows old is off the menu for him. Shinobu’s made it clear that it’s close to impossible for deafness to ever happen to him.
Hearing well is a blessing. Zenistu can sense danger and run away before it gets to him. Zenitsu can hear gossip and laugh to himself. Zenitsu knows almost everything about everyone.
That said, hearing well is also very much a curse. He can hear when people are lying. He can hear when people talk shit about him behind his back. Worst of all, loud noises are, well, loud.
The first time Zenistu ever saw a firework, he was five. He was able to enjoy it for about 10 seconds before the loud explosion made him pass out.
If it was up to Zenitsu and the gods were on his side, he would be living in the woods somewhere, where the only sounds are the wind and grass and ants and the occasional bird. A very quiet, calm life where he didn’t have to worry about fireworks or explosions or loud noises.
Unfortunately, the gods are out to get Agatsuma Zenitsu.
“ASATGUMA!!!”
Zenitsu almost sobs at how loud Inosuke is this early in the morning. His ears are most sensitive in the morning, because he hasn’t really “heard” anything yet. That being said, Zenitsu refuses to cry infront of that horrendous brute and give that pig some sort of upper hand. He waits until the ringing in his ears is gone before he sits up in his bed, blinking himself awake.
”Hashibira,” he grunts, refusing to be on a first name basis with that disgusting creature. “Stop yelling at me first thing in the morning. Are we even supposed to be awake??”
“OF COURSE!!! IT’S THE MORNING, DUH,” Inosuke yells, completely ignoring Zenitsu’s ask, and pointing outside
The sun is peeking out from the window, almost taunting Zenistu. He groans. If Tanjiro were here, he would’ve calmly told Hashibira to calm down already, and the pig-head would’ve listened. Tanjiro can make anyone listen. But Tanjiro is gone.
Zenitsu blinks away the tears pricking at his eyes. Tanjiro isn’t dead, silly. He’s simply passed out.
But Zenistu knows better. Ever since Tanjiro came back from the Swordsmith Village, he’s been comatose. Worst of all, his heartbeat had been getting fainter by the day.
Hearing well is a curse because you can hear your friends slowly dying.
Zenitsu pushes that thought aside, pushes the tears aside, and gets up.
Being with Inosuke and only Inosuke all day will drive someone insane.
Pair that with being able to hear really well, and Zenitsu was about ready to jump off a cliff.
It had been his mistake, honestly, to even speak to Hashibira. You really do reap what you sow, huh?
Zenitsu did not remember when exactly he’d heard the Hashira talk about special training, but he’d heard. Not on purpose (when does he ever want to hear the Wind Hashira’s voice on purpose?) but it had happened. He’d made an offhand comment about it to Inosuke.
“Have you heard? That Hashira are planning something.”
Zenistu had heard a few other slayers talking about it. The other slayers had been normal, saying “oh, that sounds cool!” And things like that. But when had Hashibira ever been normal?
That is why, now, at the asscrack of dawn, Zenistu was getting pushed around like a ragdoll because Hashibira insisted on “being prepared” for whatever the Hashira had in store.
Ino-Hashibira was currently yelling something in the blonde’s ears, but Zenitsu’s ears were ringing so loud he couldn’t hear. He could only see the boar head bobbing up and down. He mumbled an “mhm” to whatever was being said.
He was then very much aware of a very calloused, hardened hand grabbing his wrist and dragging him somewhere new. Zenistu had been “training” with Hasbira for a few days, and mornings consisted of running 16 kilometers around on a path in the forest. Except this time, Zenistu wasn’t getting dragged to a forest.
Wait…what had he just agreed to again?
Inosuke Hashibira was easily excited. Gonpachiro had made a few comments on how that made him like a puppy. Inosuke had no idea what a puppy was, but very loudly explained to Gonpachiro that he was not acting like a puppy and simply acting like a proper boar.
That being said, Inosuke was excited right now. Asatguma had just agreed to go swimming with him!! Inosuke was very happy. Usually, they’d go running in the morning and exercise in the afternoon, but Insuke realized they could get exercise this morning by swimming.
Inosuke had always been able to feel really well. He was unsure if that had been an ability he had at birth or just something he’d picked up from being raised by a boar.
Anyway, right now, he was very much aware of the fact that Asatguma’s wrists were very, very soft. And squishy. And also very small. He’d always been aware that he was bigger than the dandelion-colored hair boy, in height and weight and stuff, but times like these really reminded him of how small Asatguma really was.
Being small, however, did not correlate with being calm.
Inosuke was also very much aware of a soft hand trying to push him off. Dandelion was telling something, and Inosuke blissfully decided to not listen. The other boy was probably crying. Asatguma was always crying, after all.
When they finally got to the lake Inosuke had felt a few days ago, the first thing he did was push Asatguma in.
The look on the other boy’s face was….what was the word again? Had no value? Oh, priceless! Yeah, that. Priceless.
It was a very hilarious face, and Inosuke burst out laughing.
”HA-HA-HA-HA! LOOK AT YOU, ATAGSAMU! YOU LOOK LIKE A CHIMPUNK.”
He was then splashed with water.
“SHUT UP!” Atagsamu wailed. “Now I’m all cold!”
”YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE AGREED TO DO THIS, THEN. HA-HA!”
Atagsamu pouted, his face scrunching up. It look all puffy now.
”I thought this was for training! You’re not even in the water! Was this all to torment me??”
Inosuke rolled his eyes. For someone who hates loud noises, this boy was awfully verbal.
Inosuke set his boar head on a nearby rock and jumped into the lake as Atagsamu squealed.
Zenistu regretted his words a lot. He regretted speaking to Hashibra about this. He regretted agreeing to something he didn’t even hear. Now, he was starting to regret telling Hashibira to get into the water.
Seeing Hashibira’s bare face always made Zenistu feel a little funny. Not “hee-hee, buff man with a girly face, lmao” kind of funny, either. It made him feel funny as in his breath would hitch and his tongue would go dry really fast.
Zenistu squeaked when Hashibira jumped in, backpedaling.
Pro-tip: Do not try to backpedal in water, or you will fall flat on your ass.
Pro Tip: Do not almost fall flat on your ass when there is someone in the water with you who can feel the wind change, or they will catch you.
Zenistu is now painfully aware of how close Hashibira’s face is to his own. The other boy’s soft breaths are tickling his nose. Usually, this would make Zenistu gag. Inosuke’s breath used to be horrendous. But, Tanjiro and Shinobu had been forcing him to better his hygiene, and so it didn’t bother Zenistu much now.
Hashibira says something, but Zenistu is only focused on the breathtakingly pretty face speaking to him right now.
It isn’t until Hasbira cocks his head to one side that Zenistu’s brain actually registers the question.
“IMFINETHANKYOUSOMUCHFORASKING,” he blurts, pushing Hashibira away.
Shit, was has gotten into me?
Zenistu Agatsuma did not call a hard-headed boy with an identity crisis a “breathtakingly pretty face.” Zenistu Agatsuma’s stomach most certainly did not do a flip when he felt Hashibira’s hardened hand press into the small of his back. And, Zenitsu Agatsuma did absolutely positively not like Hashibira Inosuke.
Zenistu could feel his face burning, and with how Hashibira was looking at him, he was about ready to throw out every possible lie he could to explain why his face was red.
He had expected Hashibira to say, “Why is your face so red?”
He had NOT expected Hashibira to say, “YOU LOOK LIKE A STRAWBERRY!”
Zenistu blinked. A strawberry? A tomato, maybe, but a strawberry?
”I DIDN’T KNOW YOU HAD SPOTS ON YOUR FACE, AGATSUMA!”
Zenistu’s brain clocks in 2 things.
1. His freckles are very faint, so it should not surprise him that Hashibira only realized they existed when his face was beet red.
2. Hashibira had not messed up on his last name’s pronunciation.
Zenistu huffs, trying to regain some sense of normalcy.
“They’re not ‘spots’, Hashibira, they’re called freckles, and-“
Zenitsu stops cold in his tracks when he feels teeth on his cheek. He pretty much short circuits.
Why is Inosuke biting me? Why did I just internally call him Inosuke? Why is my stomach doing a quadruple backflip?
Zenistu feels Hashibira’s tongue lap at his cheek and a very warm feeling pools in his abdomen.
Zenitsu immediately pushes Hashibira away so fast and so strongly the boy falls over.
”EW! ACTUALLY, NO, EW, HASHIBIRA WHAT THE FUCK! YOU CAN’T JUST FUCKING DO THAT! WHAT THE HELL??”
Hashibira does not seem to take in Zenitu’s embarrassment or humiliation at all, and simply laughs his ass off.
Zenistu is very glad that he has something to actually focus on instead of focusing on his thoughts. They’ve been swimming for an hour now, and they’re only halfway around the lake. Really, he’s halfway along the lake. This is Hashibira’s second lap. How he learned to swim so fast despite being raised by a wild pig, Zenistu has no idea.
Maybe Zenistu would be swimming faster if he wasn’t wracking his brain.
Agatsuma Zenistu does not like Hashibira Inosuke. Agatsuma Zenitsu likes Kamado Nezuko, of course! Nezuko-Chan makes him feel all warm and fuzzy and lightheaded. He wants to be with her and only her, and that’s that.
Repeating those words like a mantra did not help, so Zenistu tried again.
I like Nezuko-chan and ONLY Nezuko-chan because she’s pretty! She has a pretty face and soft, thick hair and she’s very strong and capable! Her voice is very sweet and she’s loving and she takes care of others. She is not some improper brute!
This mantra seems to work a little better. Zenitsu repeats this about five times and he’s now 3/4 of the way across the lake when he realizes something.
…pretty face, very strong…soft, thick hair.
Thick hair.
Kamado Nezuko does not have thick hair. The strands look heavy and all, but only because she’s got so many of them. Actually, Nezuko’s strands are quite thin. A person with thicker hair, for example, would be—
…
Shit.