guess who's on april break ;)
been spending almost the whole break working on a speech for a state competition, burnt out asf 😭
i've revised/edited two more of the earlier chapters as well, go take a look at those if you want!
WARNING : Swearing
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With another week passing, you still hadn't been able to see Sōta yet. You begged and begged Aoi to free you out of your room, but she stubbornly refused.
She claimed it was karma for what you did.
However, one day, she suddenly came to your room. She politely greeted Akio, who stood watch at the door, "Good afternoon, Akio!" The man hummed in acknowledgement, "Afternoon, Aoi-san."
She then simply walked up to you, sitting down. You, who was rambling to Hoshi about god knows what, turned your attention to the ravenette. You widened your eyes, "Aoi! Perfect timing. I'm hungry.. what's for lunch—"
She sighed, "It's been almost three weeks, I'm tired of hearing you bother Akio." She met her eyes with yours, "Have you learned your lesson? Genuinely?"
You shot up from your laid position, your eyes widening even wider than before. You nodded your head vigorously, your volume increasing, "YES!"
The sudden yelling caused Aoi to flinch, and even caused poor Akio to jump out of his chair. He peered in the room - his eyes zeroing in on you before hissing, "Do you mind!?"
You slapped a hand over your mouth, before lowering your tone, "I mean.." You coughed into your fist, "Yes! Yes, I have!" You waved a finger back in forth in front of you, "I solemnly swear to never, ever, ever.. sneak out again! I'll take the time to rest!"
Even though you 'solemnly swore', you truly didn't mean it. It wasn't that you were selfish, or just a bitch in general — you just didn't know if you'd suddenly get ill again, right before a big mission.
Speaking of, you had a month or two to get back into shape - right before the Swordsmith Village Arc. At the very least, the kakushi were able to find your sword in the aftermath of the Red Light District.
You inwardly thanked them for that; unlike Tanjirou, you at least wouldn't be going into the next arc swordless.
Aoi spoke up once more, "Promise me that you're feeling completely better." You immediately launched your pinky out, intertwining yours with hers, "Pinky promise."
She blinked, "Er- what?"
You also blinked, before realizing almost immediately after, "Oh, sorry! Pinky promise! That's what I said." She squinted her eyes at you, scanning your face to see if you were lying. After determining you weren't, her features softened, "Okay. If you want to, I'll allow you to—"
"Can I visit Sōta?"
She raised a brow, "Somebody's excited, huh?" You stood to your feet, pettily turning away from the girl, "You were the one who forced me to stay in this room! I have a perfectly good reason to be excited!"
You rushed out of the room, pumping your fists up in excitement as Hoshi scurried after you, "FREE! FINALLY FREEE!! HAHAHA!!"
You turned to Akio, shaking him by the shoulders, "I'M OUT OF ROOM ARREST!! FUCK, YEAH! WOOHOO!!" The poor man swatted you away as if you were an insect, "(Y/N), LET GO OF ME!"
You feigned ignorance, before skipping down the hallway, continuing your cheers. You then screeched to a stop, abruptly going silent. You sweatdropped, turning around to face Akio and Aoi, "Which room are they all in, again?"
Aoi blinked owlishly, facepalming, "Second door to your right." You nodded, before beginning to skip and cheer once more.
『✦』
You slammed the door open, locking eyes with Zenitsu and Sōta, who were conversing. You smiled, rushing to Sōta, "YOU'RE OKAY, SŌTA! HAHAHA!" His mood lightened as he returned your smile in the process, "(Y/N)!!"
You tackled him into a hug, laughing to yourself. You pulled back, examining his figure. After two and a half weeks of him waking up, he didn't look too bad. Bandages were wrapped around his head, as well as his arms.
You began to ramble to him, accidentally ignoring Zenitsu, who was trying to gain your attention, "How do you feel? Are you okay? I'm so sorry for not coming by sooner! Aoi and Shinobu put me on goddamn room arrest, I couldn't do anything for weeks!"
He laughed, waving his hands dismissively while answering you, one question at a time, "I'm feeling pretty good, but these bandages are starting to itch. But yes, I'm okay. Don't worry about that last part, Zenitsu already told me."
You snapped your head, facing the yellow haired boy. Your once lighthearted face slowly contorted into one of pure frustration. You gritted your teeth, wiggling your fingers angrily, "ZENITSU..."
The boy jumped backwards on his bed, his face paling, "WAGH! (Y/N)-CHAN! I'M SORRRYYY! I HAD NO CHOICE, SHINOBU WAS GOING TO KILL MEE! PLEASEE, DON'T HURT MEEE!!"
You lowered your fingers, snickering into your fist, "PFFT— baha! You made it up to me by just almost pissing your pants—! Bahahah!"
He simply stared at you, sniffling, "W-What—?" You dismissively waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, you're off the hook, this time."
You cracked your knuckles, your tone lowering. He shuddered, "Wha— eek—!" You then shook your head, your typical demeanor coming back.
Sōta snorted, "Man, I've missed seeing Zenitsu cower and piss his pants like a baby." He then shuddered, hugging himself, "When I saw him actually being a badass last mission... it's as if the whole world around me went crashing down.."
He shook his head, clenching his fist as a comical teardrop slid down his face, "Never again.. will I want to see that. Never.. again."
Zenitsu chucked a pillow in his direction, "YOU—! SHUT UP—! YOU'RE NOT AS FUNNY AS YOU THINK YOU ARREE!" You laughed into your shoulder, "I mean.. that was pretty funny to me—!"
Zenitsu shot you a look of pure and utter betrayal, and before he could speak any more, you turned to Sōta, "Speaking of last mission.."
You awkwardly clapped your hands together, before swinging your arms by your side, "How are you after.. you know.. like.. towards the ennd—"
He let out a sigh, "You remember that? Did you.. even process what had happened?" You shrugged, taking a seat down at the foot of Eli's bed, where his unconscious figure laid, "Well, yeah. Is everything okay?"
Zenitsu raised a brow, "Eh? What happened? I wasn't there." Sōta rolled his eyes, "Hugh and I.. got into a small fight. Nothing more. We're fine, I'm fine — everything's fine."
You raised a brow as well, "Man, as someone who lied about their," You clenched your teeth together, "..mental well-being," You switched back to Japanese, "..I see right through you."
You put your hands up, glancing at Eli's sleeping figure - bandages wrapped all over his body, "If you don't want to talk, you don't want to talk! I get it, seriously.."
You offered him a reassuring smile, "Just don't lie about it. It'll only make things worse." Sōta locked eyes with you, before averting his gaze down to his hands.
The three of you sat within a tense silence, you and Zenitsu making direct eye contact. He pressed his lips into a thin line, mouthing to you, 'What now?' You furrowed your brows, lightly shrugging, 'I don't know!'
Sōta spoke in a low tone, glancing at Eli, "I.. didn't really mean what I said. I was just.. stressed? Overwhelmed? I took it out on him, when I shouldn't have."
He then looked at you, "I was mad — I thought you were going to die.. again. Which made me feel even worse. I shouldn't have made it all about me, when you,"
He shifted his vision to Eli, Tanjirou and Inosuke, before looking to Zenitsu, "..and everyone else were clearly in pain."
He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry. I really am. I.. shouldn't have gotten so riled up." You got up from your seat on Eli's bed, placing a reassuring hand on Sōta's shoulder, "It's okay. You didn't mean to.."
You swung your arms by your side once more, "Plus.. since you and Eli have known eachother for so long, I'm sure he knows you didn't mean it either. He's stubborn as fuck, but deep down, he has to know."
Zenitsu chimed in, "I mean.. it'd be weird if you and Hugh never had a genuine fight. It's normal to have one with your best friends." He raised his index finger, "Even though Hugh and I fight all the time, and every time he talks I want to blow my own brains out—"
You stifled your laughter, "Ohhh-kay, Zenitsu." You then smiled, "I've been Eli's best friend since what, we were five? We've gotten into so many pointless fights, it's not even funny!"
Despite what you said, you chuckled, "One time, we genuinely fought for almost a week because we couldn't agree on which ice cream flavor was the best - chocolate or vanilla." You muttered under your breath, "My answer: chocolate.. was obviously right but-"
You shook your head vigorously, "Getting sidetracked!" You dramatically raised a fist, "It was an all-out war between the flavors: Chocolate vs. Vanilla. We each fought valiantly—" Sōta deadpanned, "You're sidetracking again."
You sweat dropped, scratching your cheek, "Anyways, we ignored each other for about four days, until my-" You briefly paused, hesitantly continuing, "..brother.. knocked some sense into the two of us, so we agreed to disagree. We found the whole situation funny later, and we still laugh at it."
You turned to Sōta, gesturing with your hands, "What we're trying to say is.." You raised a finger for each point you made, "Number one: it's normal to fight every now and again. Number two: it's okay to feel how you feel. I mean, it's normal human emotions. It'd be worse if you were apathetic entirely - like a robot."
You then raised a third finger, "Number three: chocolate ice cream is definitely better than vanilla!"
You felt their stares on you, making you sweat drop, "Ahem. Number three: you guys will be fine. You'll probably laugh about this in the future. I'm one hundred percent sure that he'll understand - even if he's a stubborn little shit at first."
Sōta nodded his head, his mood slowly lightening, "Y-Yeah. Yeah you're right. I'm sure.. once I apologize.. he'll understand." He nodded his head confidently, "Yeah! He will, I know he will."
His mood then deflated, "But.. what if he doesn't wake up? What if.. none of them wake up..?" With that, your mood popped like a balloon, making you furrow your brows, "Well.. I'm sure- they'll- yeah.. they'll wake up."
See, with Tanjirou and Inosuke you were definitely sure they'd wake up. However, with Eli - that worried you. He wasn't apart of the original timeline — what if he never woke up again? What if he was going to stay in a coma forever?
You stuffed that feeling down, you were going to cross that bridge if you had to. But now, it was unnecessary to think like that, especially when you didn't know his fate for certain.
You repeated louder, and more confidently, "Yeah. They'll wake up soon. I'm sure of it!"
Sōta turned to you, "Thank you. Sorry for burdening you with this—" You placed your hands over your ears, raising your voice, "LA, LA, LA~! I CAN'T HEAR YOU~!"
You nudged him playfully by the shoulder, careful of not worsening his injuries, "You're not a burden, dumbass." He raised his brows, before reciprocating your gesture as he smiled, "For future purposes, you aren't either— dumbass."
Zenitsu shot the two of you an enthusiastic thumbs up, "Yeah, what the two of you said!" He crossed his arms, "Don't forget about me..!"
You chuckled, waving him off dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. We didn't forget about you!" You then locked eyes with Sōta, whispering, "I definitely forgot he was there for a second." Sōta nodded, whispering back, "Yeah.. yeah, I did too."
Zenitsu screeched at the two of you, "HEY, HEEY!! I CAN HEAR YOU TWO!! HOW DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!? THAT'S SO CRUEL!"
You each snickered to each other, ignoring the poor blonde's complaints in the background. You then heard the door burst open, a familiar yet angered voice being yelled, "Hey! Some of us are trying to sleep! Shut the fuc—"
You turned to face the source of the voice, locking eyes with a certain semi-buzzcutted boy. You perked up, "Whaa- Genya?!"
He abruptly stopped his yelling, his cheeks tinted a light pink, "(Y-Y/N)!" He awkwardly scratched his cheek, "I.. didn't know you were in here.. sorry.." He then slightly bowed, "I'll be going now—"
You stood up, waving your hands frantically, "E-Eh?! Wait! Why don't you come and meet my friends!" You waved him over, to which he groaned. He narrowed his eyes on Zenitsu, making him squeak and curl into a ball.
He rocked back and forth, pointing a shaky finger at the purple eyes boy, "AIIEE!! Y-YOU'RE THE SCARY ONE!! FROM FINAL SELECTION!! Y-YOU.." He turned his vision to you, before reverting it back to Genya. He snickered into his hand, "PFFT— SHE-! SHE KICKED—!"
Sōta finally processed just who this guy was, causing him to bury his face within his palms, "PFFTTT—!!" You glanced at Genya, whose veins were popping out of his skin as he vibrated in anger.
You flailed your hands around, attempting to save the interaction, "HUH?! Come on, guys—! Don't be like that!" Despite your words, you fought back the urge to laugh - for the sake of the poor boy.
You pointed to Zenitsu, "Genya, meet Zenitsu, Zenitsu, meet Genya!" You then pointed to Sōta, "Genya, meet Sōta, Sōta, meet Genya!" You sweat dropped, clapping your hands together, "I think we'll all get along just perfectly- EEP!"
You flinched at the slam of a door. You peered back to where Genya stood, emptiness filling his place. You seethed awkwardly, before glaring at the two boys who were still laughing, "Great job! Now he probably hates us even more!"
You waved them off, scooping Hoshi into your palms, "I'll be back." You then exited the room, chasing after the angered teen.
You followed closely behind him, nervously side glancing Hoshi. After a few moments, you called out to him, "Wait, Genya!!"
He abruptly stopped in his place, turning to you with a furious expression, "What!?" You bit your lip, before slightly bowing, "I'm sorry for their behavior! I'm also sorry again for obliterating your balls! I'm sorry!"
You raised your head, clasping your hands together, "I just wanted all of us to be somewhat friendly with each other.. but.. they're just overtired from our last mission. It was super intense.. but they clearly need to recover more!"
You felt a slight tinge of guilt for taking another blow to his ego - even if it was accidental, "I'm really sorry. Really sorry. I didn't think they'd act like that!"
You awkwardly scratched your cheek, "They just need to adjust, a little. That's all. I hope you understand. I'm sorry."
You bowed apologetically once more, hearing Genya speak, "Don't apologize.. please raise your head." You looked up, being met with his now somewhat calm face, "I know you meant well. I just.."
He sighed, averting his eyes to the floor, "..don't think your friends and I would get along well, that's it. I'm sorry."
You widened your eyes, taken aback, "Huh?! Why are you sorry!? You don't have anything to be sorry for!"
"I burst in through the door, and I was about to cuss out all of you!" You fired back at him, "So!? We were being loud! Once you realized it was us, you stopped!"
He retaliated quickly, "Okay.. but why are you sorry?" You gestured with your hands as you rambled once more, "Well.. because I dragged you in there!"
"You didn't know what was going to happen, how is that your fault??"
You blinked, "Oh. You're right."
A comfortable silence fell between the two of you.
You then reached your hand out to shake, "Let's make a deal then - we don't have to be sorry about anything, and can just move on! Deal?" Genya hesitantly took your hand, his blush growing deeper, "D-Deal!"
He then pointed down the hallway, "I need to get some rest. I'll see you later, (Y/N)." You shot him a thumbs up in return, "Okay!" You then waved him goodbye, "See you later, Genya! Hope to see you soon!"
At this point, his cheeks were a bright red. He quickly turned on his feet, before walking away.
You exasperatedly sighed once he was out of sight, "Okay. Note to self — do not try to make everyone else be friends with him. That'll end badly."
With that, you turned your heels, walking back to the boy's shared room. As you walked back, you thought about how they brought up you kicking him in the balls.
Since he wasn't there, you let a small chuckle escape your lips, "Yeeaahh.. that was kind of funny though."
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Word Count: 2920
me when i actually consistently update for a week?? woah?2&;7
also, swordsmith village arc won! will be writing that arc after all the upcoming filler chapters! (which will be a pain to write, i have barely any ideas :,) )
see you in the next update!
(hopefully soon)