Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

21. Lies

Inosuke's Pov:

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I couldn't believe it. She had completely caught me off guard, and now Aoi was standing there, kissing me! I wanted to push her away. I wanted her to stop! I love Zenitsu! I love him so much, and this girl knew more than just 'approximately' about it! Especially after today's incident, she should... "I...-Inosuke?"

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Zenitsu's Pov:

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Oh man. All alone. I just sat there, letting my legs dangle. "Boring... Boring..." I spoke my thoughts out loud. Man... Without Inosuke, it was suddenly so dead quiet... Somehow... kinda sad... This silence... No more than 10 seconds later, I couldn't help it, stood up, and followed Aoi and Inosuke.

I know it was wrong, but I already missed Inosuke terribly, and besides, I was incredibly curious!... even though I knew it was wrong. I tried to be as quiet as possible and focused on identifying the direction of the footsteps. Yeah... I know I should respect Aoi's and Inosuke's privacy among friends. Especially with Inosuke, I should trust him. After all, he was my friend! I briefly considered turning back, but there was that curiosity again!

Did Aoi want to tell Inosuke something? Something embarrassing? A woman's thing that she only confides in Inosuke? Did she have a quarrel with Kanao or Mrs. Kocho and ask Inosuke to help them make up?... Nah... Inosuke would probably give her tips on how to knock them both out... Oh man, I'm so curious!

But there must be a good reason why Aoi only wants to tell Inosuke... or maybe she's been pulling this off all day, maybe even the past few days, just to tell everyone something or whatever. Moreover, if Aoi tells Inosuke something, he'll 100% tell me too! That's for sure! We tell each other everything, and then it doesn't make any difference whether I listen in on the conversation now or hear it from Inosuke in a few minutes. Yes! That's a good excuse for what I'm doing right now! And with these, for me satisfying thoughts, I continued walking, always in the direction where the footsteps came from.

It was really hard to filter out Inosuke's and Aoi's footsteps among all the others, as quite a few people were walking around the Butterfly Estate at this moment. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, and I could hear Inosuke's voice, and it was very close! Just around this corner, and—my breath caught, and my heart stopped.

I stumbled back because there stood Inosuke and Aoi, kissing each other! "I...-Inosuke?" I asked, feeling my voice slowly but surely disappearing. Inosuke and Aoi separated, looking at me equally shocked. "Z-Zenitsu, listen, this—"

But I just turned around and ran away. I didn't think, I just wanted to get away. Tears ran down my cheeks. So, this is what it feels like when your heart is broken. Terrible feeling. I didn't even know where I was running to. I just wanted to get away! On the continuous full sprint, I bumped into Mr. Himejima, who was praying softly, Mr. Shinazugawa, who yelled at me, Genya, who was trying to hold back his brother, Muichiro, who couldn't even remember who I was anymore, and finally, with full force, Tanjiro and Nezuko.

This time, I even fell, and Tanjiro immediately asked what was wrong and tried to help me up, but I completely ignored the two and just kept running. Arriving at the exit, I simply ripped the door open and stormed out, towards the forest. In the estate with all the other people, I could still pull myself together, but now I couldn't anymore and started crying loudly as I walked deeper into the forest. I didn't even realize I had been running the whole time until it was too late. I had been crying and running, and now I was in the forest, in the middle of nowhere.

I stopped to look around when suddenly it cracked beneath me. Startled, I stopped crying and looked at my feet. DAMN IT! I'M STANDING ON A SLOPE!!!! THIS DOESN'T LOOK SAFE AT ALL! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE, OR—Too late. Before I could act, the ground beneath me gave way, and I plummeted into the depths.