(Obvious filler chapter warning 😭 no it
Jk but yea you can skip this if you want)
The bus ride home is long and quiet, aside from the sound of cars passing by and the hushed murmurs of other passengers sitting around you
It was cold, so you laid your head gently on Tanjiro's shoulder. You stress that maybe the weight of your head is burdening him, but he doesn't complain
"...are we gonna go to the police?" You ask
Tanjiro sighs "If you want to. Personally, I think we should."
"I do, but I'm scared they'll think we did something," You frown "It's like Shinobu said. We fucked up."
"They won't think that," He says, and you tilt your head to look up at him
"and finding her is more important anyway. We can worry about the small details later" He adds
"Yeah." You nod in agreement
"Hey, wanna know something?' You ask, fumbling the chain in your pocket
"Sure. What's up?" Tanjiro wonders
"I think this chain you gave me is actually good luck." You smile and your cheeks warm up in embarrassment. It feels stupid saying it out loud.
"Yeah?" Tanjiro smiles with you "I knew you'd like it."
"Mhmm" You mumble, turning it over in your hand
The two of you sit in silence for a few minutes. You listen to the hum of the air conditioning in the bus while you wait, nearly falling asleep
You sit up quickly when Tanjiro pokes you in the shoulder
"Isn't this your stop?" He asks, pointing out the window
You look up and nod, then stand up quickly to brush yourself off
"Alright, I'll go with you," He says, standing as well
While walking toward the door, you feel something brushing lightly against your hand, but you thought it was Tanjiro so you didn't think twice about it
"No, no it's alright, I don't need you to walk me all the way there," You blush "You should try to get home. Your mom might worry."
Tanjiro goes silent, and you turn to see what he's doing
Behind you, a man stares at Tanjiro with wide eyes, his face is contorted into an expression of fear and resentment. Everyone is staring at the two of them because Tanjiro's gripping the stranger's wrist up so hard that his knuckles have gone white.
Your eyes go to the hand of this man and see your lucky chain in his hand
did someone just...try to steal that from me?!
You can't see Tanjiro's face but just by the way he's grabbing the thief you can tell he's frustrated
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Fuck off" The thief spat
Tanjiro snatches the object with his other hand and pushes him back
"Me?" Tanjiro sneers "You're the one stealing from people."
You look from him to the man frantically, and the bus driver even leans over his seat to watch the confrontation
"Tanjiro, c'mon" You frown, tugging him away by his sleeve. He won't turn away from the other, squaring his shoulders up slightly in an attempt to be threatening
"You think you're better than me!? You think you're better just because you don't have to stoop so low?" The pursuer yells "A stupid girl like her doesn't deserve to have that if she can't watch what the hell she's doing--"
Tanjiro lurches forward to slap him across the face, and your feet shuffle on the ground as you get yanked along with him
"AAH," He stumbles back
"RUN" You scream, grabbing Tanjiro and making a break for the door
by this point, bystanders have pulled out their phones to record the incident
you jump out of the bus with Tanjiro on your arm and run across the street, ducking away behind a tall tree
With his back against the tree, Tanjiro watches you with wide fearful eyes; he seems to have just realized what he's done. You place your hands on his chest and try to calm your breathing, looking him in the eye while you speak
"Don't move" You whisper
Tanjiro nods, pulling you into his arms. He did this to make you less visible, but you bury your blushing face into his chest anyway
"I'LL FIND YOU TWO," screams the attacker "MY NAME IS KAIGAKU."
Kaigaku...
"REMEMBER MY FACE, BECAUSE IT IS THE LAST THING YOU WILL SEE" he screams again before turning to retreat back to where he came from
You inhale deeply, tensing your shoulders
"Is he gone?" You open one eye
Tanjiro shifts over to look around the tree
"Yeah, he left" He sighs deeply, and you sigh with him, relaxing your shoulders
"It's always something with this town, I swear" You smile, raising the lucky keychain in front of Tanjiro "What would a thief want with something like this anyways? Is it valuable?"
"I don't know" He shrugs, his arms falling away from your sides "He probably just confused it for something else."
"Yeah I guess so" you tilt your head and adjust your backpack straps
The two of you compose yourselves once again and start walking along the path to your house
"I know you're capable of getting home on your own. I trust you," Tanjiro explains "But, I just don't trust other people. I've seen how strangers are, and how they've treated Nezuko"
you look at him while he talks. As you're walking up the path, dead leaves crunch under your shoes and birds chirp in the treetops
"People out there are desperate, they'll do anything to get their next meal. It's sad" Tanjiro continues "I don't care what happens to me, but you and Nezuko are--"
he pauses to make brief eye contact with you. His face then turns red and he looks away
"--well, sorry, I'm just rambling now. I'm just letting you know that as long as I'm here no harm will come to you. It's part of my promise, right?!"
You smile softly at him "I guess you could say that, thank you. I am in your debt."
"Hey, don't say that. Remember? we've been over this" he shrugs "don't think of it as paying off a debt"
You tilt your head "no?"
He shook his head "No. A debt is something I've always thought to be bad. Owing someone something means that they'll be angry if they don't get it."
"Just knowing that I've done something right, that's my payment." he adds
You jingle the chain in your pocket, contemplating his words
"So then when are you gonna tell me what it was you wanted me to do?" You ask
"I could tell you right now" he replies
you perk up "Yes, please!"
Tanjiro chuckles at your reaction, putting his hands in his pockets
"I wanna take you somewhere. We'll skip school, and go to this one place that's really special to me--if that's okay with you."
You guys reach the stretch of land the leads to your house, so you rush to ask him your next question
"That's so vague! What would you even get out of that??"
He places his hand on the back of his head sheepishly
"...a friend." he says
Friend? But, he could be friends with anyone he wants. Why would he put so much energy into being friends with me?
You stop in front of your house and turn to face him
"No tricks, okay?" You say sternly and hold out your pinky towards him "Promise me."
You've been taught not to trust most men if they want to 'take you somewhere', so you're skeptical
"No tricks," Tanjiro nods, wrapping his pinky around yours "I promise."
You take your hand away and giggle to yourself since he actually took a pinky promise so seriously
"Alright, be safe Tanjiro!" You say as he starts to walk off
He looks back at you and nods "I WILL!"
You start to open your front door, then pause and turn to yell one last thing after him
"OH! TEXT ME WHEN YOU GET HOME!!"
He turns, walking backwards so that he can yell back to you "I WILL! CHECK YOUR PHONE IN A BIT!"
You watch Tanjiro run off with a smile still lingering on your face, and then walk into your house and close the door behind you
Tanjiroo: GUESS WHO'S HOME!!!
You turn over in your bed quickly when you hear the notification ring. Smiling to yourself, you open your messages; you finally decided to change Tanjiro's contact name to something slightly off from his name, as to keep its integrity. But, since you don't have any photos of him yet, you put a picture of a cute animal you found on your Instagram feed instead that reminded you of him.
You: ABOUT TIME!! You took so long TwT I should've just let you go home by yourself
Tanjiroo: and leave you with that 'Kaigaku'? No
You: I CAN TAKE HIM! If he ever touches you just get behind me B)
Tanjiroo: Lol okay, I will. Thx for protecting me
You: heh heh B)
Tanjiroo: are you feeling any better since earlier today?
You: well
You: I don't know, honestly. I sort of feel numb but at least I get to talk to someone about it
You: What about you?
Tanjiroo: I'm the same
You stared at your phone in the dark, wrapped up underneath your blankets. You're trying to think of something that might lift both of your spirits
You: can I call you? Itsokayifyoudontwantto
Tanjiroo: yesssss
You: OKAY holdon
you call Tanjiro's number and it only rings for a bit before he picks up. You decided to facetime him; it's too dark for him to see your face, so it's fine right?
"Um--hi" Tanjiro's breath hitches in his throat and he ducks away from the phone screen
You place a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from laughing. From the looks of it, he's sitting on a bunk bed with his earbuds in
"Are you okay?" You ask
"Yeah," he says. You can hear some shuffling around but you can't see him anymore "sorry, I have to be quiet. My brother sleeps down there"
"It's okay, I'll be quiet too then" You lower your voice to a whisper to match his tone
"...do you miss Makomo?" You ask suddenly. The words seem to have just slipped out without warning
"I don't know," he admits, "I think...I think I just feel bad for her. I don't know her like you guys do"
"I get it" you sigh
"Sorry. Let's not talk about Makomo then...there's something I wanted to ask you anyways"
he leans to peek at you over the phone, and you smile a bit
"Is it true you're the oldest in our class?" you ask
Tanjiro tensed. He seems uncomfortable with this topic
"Yeah, I'm 17..."
you raise your eyebrows "17? You're old enough to be a Junior"
"I get that a lot" he agrees "and I understand. It's because I was held back in 3rd grade since I didn't meet the academic requirements. It was right after we left the countryside for the first time."
After that, you launched into a deep conversation about school. Tanjiro opened up to you about his old school experiences and how people treated him, and you told him things about your life before Makomo and Sabito.
You're still grieving. It isn't easy to just move on to the next topic, especially when Makomo takes up such a big space in your mind. But since Tanjiro seems to be the only person you can talk to that remains optimistic, you feel comfortable like this.
That night you passed out on the phone with him. Tanjiro didn't fall asleep; he just hung up because he felt strange about watching.
"goodnight (Y/n)" he mumbled to himself before turning his phone off