▪Deadly Thorns and Violent Storms▪

Chapter 59

Tanjiro's POV:

I can't believe I barely got any sleep last night! I mean- I will say it was worth it because I talked to Zenitsu all night...

But, still!

Because of it I look like a zombie... I have no clue how I got away with it without my mom noticing my face.

Well, maybe it's the fact that Nezuko covered my face in makeup, so it's just really well hidden.

After our mother finished dropping us all off at school Nezuko and I parted ways before class to find our friends.

I was standing by my locker for a while, there was still no sign of Zenitsu... Maybe he slept in because of me! Uh oh- what if he's late?!

I was shook out of my thoughts when a familiar voice said something behind me.

"Uh... Tanjiro, I think..?"

I turned around to see Giyu was standing awkwardly behind me, kind of like he was hiding from something.

"Oh, hi! Do you need something?"

He looked at my face for a few moments then spoke again, "You're in front of my locker."

I jumped and got out of the way, "Oops, sorry!"

Before he moved to his locker he stared at me sadly again, "Are you okay..?"

Huh? Why is he asking that... Oh, right. Darn it. Nezuko said that if you look really close you can see the makeup.

"Uh- yeah, why?" I questioned him about it anyways, there's a chance that he didn't even notice the m-

"You look like you got beaten up." Giyu expressed very plainly.

"I- what?"

He looked confused at the fact that I didn't understand. "You have two black eyes and covered them in makeup. I've done it before, too."

Oh goodness gracious... I forgot he was a bully victim...

"This is just from a lack of sleep, thank you for asking if I was okay, though!"

Now he just looks embarrassed, I definitely said the wrong thing, but was I supposed to lie and say I did get beaten up?

He dropped his gaze to the floor and murmured his next words, "Yeah, yeah... Sorry for wasting your time..." Then he walked away, not giving me any time to respond.

Well, that surely was... interesting to say the least.

After a few more minutes of me standing here I accepted that I wasn't going to be able to meet up with Zenitsu before class, and started heading off like everyone else was.

I made a beeline to my chair, looking around the classroom as I sat down.

I turned around to where Inosuke usually sits and he wasn't here, or, I thought he wasn't here

"HI MONJIRO!"

I jumped back, startled, "Inosuke, hi! Uh- what were you doing under my desk...?"

"Hiding." He said casually as he climbed out into the open.

"From what?"

"FNAF."

I facepalmed, "Inosuke, you shouldn't play stuff like that! It's too scary."

He grunted at me, "ME? THE KING OF THE MOUNTAINS SCARED? YOU'RE WRONG!"

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid someti-" As I was trying to explain it to Inosuke he slapped his hand over mouth.

"Class is starting, stop talking."

He jumped on top of his desk and fell backwards onto his chair, but stuck the landing and is now trying to act like none of that happened.

The school bell rang, signalling the start of class, just as Inosuke said. But Zenitsu was still no where to be seen, which doesn't make sense because his grandfather is a teacher here, so how could they not come in today?

Miss Tamayo began class quickly, but she was completely cut off mid thought by the door swinging open.

There stood Mr. Agatsuma and his grandson, Zenitsu.

"Excuse me dear!" He yelled, calling for the attention of our other teacher, "Please excuse my boy here, it was my fault we were late."

Though, by his tone of voice he was only making up an excuse for Zenitsu.

He whacked him on the back and told him, "Go on then, you need to apologize."

"Ah- er. Uh, sorry ma'am!" Zenitsu didn't make eye contact with anyone in the class and ran over to the open seat next to me.

"Right... Anyways-" Miss Tamayo tried to start teaching again. Emphasis on tried.

"SEE YOU LATER SONNY BOY! LOVE YOU!" Mr. Agatsuma shouted at the top of his lungs as everyone else started laughing to their friends about it.

"Gramps-!" Zenitsu brought his face down into his hands so he could hide the redness spread across his entire complexion.

His grandfather went speeding down the halls, not replying. I mean, after all, he had a class to go teach right now.

Our teacher looked very draught, at the interruptions, but then class actually began.

Zenitsu immediately leaned over to me and whispered, "Hey, did you get any sleep?"

I responded as quietly as I could, "An hour to be exact, what about you?"

He huffed, "Well, that's why we're late. Gramps didn't want to wake me because he said 'you look like a baby in your sleep!' I literally woke up with his face infront of mine, talk about terrifying!"

I nodded at him, "So you just slept in? That's good, then."

He looked suspiciously at me, "What do you mean?"

I felt my head reaching up towards my face as it grazed across the tired marks on my eyes.

"Nothing, really. I just talked to Giyu this morning and it really made me thi-" I really can't complete a sentence without being cut off can I?

Then Inosuke was leaning over both of our shoulders from his desk and spoke loudly in our ears.

"Ew, gross, Monjiro! Why is your face not pretty anymore?" He started aggressively poking away at my cheeks, attempting to get it out of me while Zenitsu's just staring intently at me, trying to figure out what's wrong with me.

Then Miss Tamayo walked over to us, already on her wits end about earlier, demanding that we got back to our schoolwork and quit fooling around.

I guess after class I'll just have to hide my face from my boyfriend and boar-friend for the rest of the day.

I hope I can pull this off...