Requested by BlackKnightRadiant. Hope you enjoy!
Tanjiro really wanted to hold your hand.
But he couldn't.
Firstly because you were nothing to him other than a friend, and secondly, because he didn't want to hold your hand with his.
His hands were rough, callused. Too harsh to hold a delicate hand like yours.
He had never really thought about that until he started devoloping feelings for you, a few months ago. Now, he only wished that his hands weren't so rough to hold you.
But you needed to be his in order to Tanjiro to have the guts to do that.
He might be strong and brave when battling demons but when it came to you... it wasn't easy.
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro gets out of his mind when he heards your voice. "Stop doing that!"
Inosuke stops momentarily digging his hole to look at you. "No! I must do this!"
You try to pull his arm. "We have to keep going! It's still 2 days walking to the village and you are making us lose time! And you didn't even explain why you're doing this!"
He yanks back from you. "You wouldn't understand. Only bosses like me can!"
You sigh and get a hold of his hands, seeing his palms.
Tanjiro suddenly felt an unpleasant feeling growing in his chest. He had never felt it before and now it was only spreading, making him mad for some reason.
What is this?
"Your hands are all dirty and swollen. You are going to stop and we will continue." You say firmly as you shot him a glare.
Inosuke swallows loudly. "W-Well, I guess that I'm so great that I will allow you to fulfill your w-wish."
You smile inocently. "Thanks!"
I don't like this. What's this feeling?
"Tan-ji-ro." You say as your face suddenly appears in front of him, startling the boy. He blushes slightly.
"Y-Yes?"
"You weren't following us." You point at the boys ahead of you.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry, I was just... distracted."
You smile and his heart skips a beat. "Then let's get going!" You grab his hand, making him walk beside you.
You had no idea that just this small gesture was enough to make Tanjiro nearly faint.
*
The unpleasant feeling only grew.
When your hand brushed against Zenitsu's or Inosuke's body. When you touched them, for whatever reason. When you talked and laughed and smiled to them.
All of that was making him angry and he wanted to stop it.
He looks at his hands. Tanjiro could still recall your palm against his and that made his heart flutter.
But the boy was worried. What if you didn't like the feeling of his hand? What if you thought that it was just-
"You have been daydreaming alot." You comment as you sit behind him.
He was startled by your sudden appearance.
"O-Oh, hi, (Y/N)." Tanjiro says.
"Is everything okay?" You ask, concerned. "You don't seem like yourself this past few days."
"Y-Yes, I'm great. Just a bit tired that's all."
"We have been going on a lot of missions, indeed." You recognize, shifitng closer to the boy. His heart beat faster.
"You shloud rest if you need to. We'll be spending the night here after all." You gesture to the small camp you all had built.
Inosuke and Zenitsu were out hunting food and collecting wood while Nezuko was sleeping to recover her strenght.
"I want to stay awake a little longer." He says, enjoying your company.
"Then I'll stay here with you." You say softly.
After a few minutes of gazing at the stars, you feel your eyes getting heavy and you yawn.~
"Are you tired?" Tanjiro asks, looking at you.
You smile. "A bit. I have not been sleeping very well this days. It feels like I'm always on edge."
"I guess that is what our work does to us." He comments and you nod in agreement.
You yawn again and you place your hand on Tanjiro's cheek, startling the boy.
It was dark so you couldn't see his blush. But the fire cast light dancing on his face and you were just amazed.
"Tanjiro." You breath, barely thinking on what you were saying.
"Y-Yes?"
"Why are you constantly gazing at you hands and at mine?"
He blinks before almost yelling ."Y-You noticed it?!"
You nod, your movements slow because you were almost falling asleep. "I did. But I never really got the right time to ask about it."
"Will you tell me?" You continue.
Tanjiro liked you too much and was too honest to refuse anything that you asked him.
He looked down at his hands. "My hands... are ugly. They are harsh and callused. They are not fit to hold soft hands like yours."
"Why would you want to hold my hands?" You ask, barely noticing the rising in your heartbeat.
"Because... I like you, (Y/N)." The boy confesses, avoiding looking at you.
Instead of saying something, you grab one of his hands. Before Tanjiro could protest or retreat it, you lift his hand until it touched you forehead.
"I'm proud of your hands, Tanjiro." You say and Tanjiro looks at you, surprised. "The fact they are callused are signs of how hard you have been working. Signs of how much lives you have saves, signs of how many demons you've defeated. They are the proof that you continuously moving forward. That's one of the reasons I like you."
Before Tanjiro could react in any way, you lower his hand until your lips touched his knuckles. Tanjiro blushed madly.
"I'm so proud." You repeat before your body falls forward, Tanjiro catching you.
"What's wro-" He stops once he sees that you were sleeping.
Tanjiro smiles softly before laying in the ground, you in his arms. He places his head above yours, getting into a confortable position.
When Inosuke and Zenitsu returned, they found you two sleeping peacefully, one of your hands enveloped in one of Tanjiro's.
They look at each other before returning their gazes to you both.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Inosuke yells.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THING YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NEXT TO NEZUKO-CHAN?!" Zenitsu shouts.
Even so, neither of you woke up.