"Ah...achoo!"
Tanjiro was sitting up in his bed, evidently not feeling very well. He had quite an awful fever on the last day of the winter break.
Nezuko was standing at the bedroom door, looking at her brother in concern. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder that was stuffed with clothes.
"Onii-chan...we're going to be at the hot spring for the whole day. Are you really sure that you're going to be alright here alone?" Nezuko asked. "If you won't be okay alone, just tell us before we go, so that one of us can stay home with you."
Tanjiro waved off his younger sister's protests. "Don't worry about me, Nezuko. I'll be fine, I promise."
A light of concern still shone brightly in Nezuko's eyes, but all the same, she said, "Well, if you say so Onii-chan. Stay safe!"
Tanjiro followed his family to the door of the apartment, and after he waved goodbye and locked the door behind them, he trudged dejectedly back to his bedroom.
Some day to get sick, Tanjiro grumbled in his mind, scooting back into his blankets. But I think I should be fine.
Tanjiro laid down in bed and he tried to take a nap. But after half an hour of tossing and turning, he gave up.
As if on cue, Tanjiro's stomach rumbled loudly. He got up from his bed and stumbled towards the kitchen.
Halfway down the hall, however, he stopped. He remembered that his mother and father didn't like when someone cooked while home alone.
Tanjiro still walked to the kitchen, but he ended up only getting a small glass of water.
Tanjiro walked back to his room, now with a glass of water in his warm hands. He sat back down on his bed, opened up his cell phone, and he began sipping water.
Perhaps he drank a little too fast, for he suddenly choked on the water and he spilled the water all over his blankets.
Tanjiro began coughing violently and he clutched his throat. He felt his hand touch something on his phone, but he was still coughing and he didn't realize...
...that he dialed Kanao because he had her number on the speed dial.
A minute later, Tanjiro took a deep breath in, as he was in desperate need of air. He massaged his already sore throat and he brought his empty glass to the sink and his damp blankets to the washing machine.
As he was bringing new blankets to his room, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Tanjiro, who was still recovering from his coughing fit, looked up in the direction of the front door. It could've been a trick because his ears might be ringing, but nevertheless, he went to go check who was at the door. After all, the bakery had the closed sign up, but it wasn't locked just in case someone wanted to visit.
Tanjiro walked up to the door and opened it. He was shocked beyond belief when he saw Kanao standing at the door, with a slightly steaming plastic bag in her hand.
He blinked quickly. Surely this was a hallucination, right? (He still didn't realize that he speed dialed Kanao.)
And, before Tanjiro could allow a thought to cross his mind, Kanao had already stepped over the threshold and invited herself inside.
Kanao led Tanjiro back into his room and she softly forced him back into the covers.
Do you want a drink? she wrote.
"Uh...if it's okay with you, then yes please..." Tanjiro muttered, turning even more red.
She held out a metal thermos to him, and he gladly took it from her hand.
Hmmm. It smells like ginger... he thought, as he took a nice, long, sip of the tea.
He was so intent on drinking his tea, that he didn't notice that Kanao had written another message in her notebook.
I'll be borrowing your kitchen, she wrote.
Tanjiro nodded, and with that seal of approval, Kanao set off.
Tanjiro listened to the sounds of quick chopping of vegetables and other ingredients coming from the kitchen. Within minutes, Kanao was back, now holding a tray of piping hot soup.
Do you think you can eat a bit? she wrote. Tanjiro nodded gratefully.
Kanao blew some steam off the thermos of soup, and she held out a spoonful close to Tanjiro's mouth.
It took him a few minutes to process that she was doing. Once he realized that Kanao was trying to actually feed him, he waved his hands around his face, saying "No, I can do it! It's fine, it's fine!"
Kanao suddenly realized how embarrassing her actions were just now. Her face was the same color as Tanjiro's hair as she quickly handed the bowl of soup over to him.
After he ate, he thanked Kanao. "Thank you very much Kanao, that soup was very nice."
Kanao nodded softly, and she wrote, I'm going to clean up now.
Tanjiro nodded, and he watched her as she left the room.
Kanao cleaned up her mess of vegetables and dishes in the kitchen. When she came back to Tanjiro's room, she saw that he had fallen asleep.
She sat of his bed quietly, being careful not to wake him. She noticed that his hand was exposed and it was not under the blankets.
After looking around cautiously (even there was nobody else in the house), she placed her hand on top of his.
She smiled softly, but she didn't get to enjoy the moment for long. She heard the door of Tanjiro's room slam open, and she whirled around in terror.
There was Zenitsu, standing at the door.
"Tanjiro, are you okay? I saw Nezuko-chan walking down the street with the rest of your family, but I didn't see you! So when I asked her where you were, she said you were sick at home! So, as her boyf- I mean, her best friend, I decided to come over here and check up on you!"
When he received no reply, he processed what he saw in the room; Kanao, holding Tanjiro's hand.
"Oh, Kanao-san, you're here too?" he mumbled, as realization dawned on him. "Well, I see how it is."
Kanao suddenly shook her head violently, completely shocking Zenitsu.
"K-kanao-san, you're going to break your neck if you keep doing that!"
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
A/N
Thanks guys, for continuing to read! Even though the updates are slow and hectic, you guys keep reading and I'm really thankful.
There's not much for me to say, except I'm disappearing off the face of the Earth again.
Haha, just kidding. The next update will take pretty long, so please hang in there.
Bye bye, everyone! Thanks again!
P.S. I love Lumine and Aether so much...but they're the second place pair of Genshin siblings in my heart....my favorites will always be Kamisato Ayato and Ayaka <3 also live laugh Rui <3
Word Count: 1165 Words <3