Chapter Text
Chapter 16: Agatsuma Zenitsu
"PLEASE MARRY MEEEEEE!!!" Came a shout that could only properly be accompanied by the absolute saddest sob from the young, blonde boy that was just wanting to live to see the next sunrise tomorrow. All he wanted was to live a long, happy life-- And then he had to go and get adopted into this demon slaying business!! WHY HIM!?!?
GAUHK--
His whole body went limp, he felt like ribs were broken-- probably were --, and good gOD-- GOOD GOD-- COULD HE NOT CATCH A BREAAAAAK!?!?!?
"Thank you so much-- This poor guy just goes on and on--" The girl lightly dusted off her kimono and huffed. "He really needs to get a grip, huh?"
"HEY--" The guy that 'really needs to get a grip' sat up quick with a hand at his side and a wheeze. "Why'd you have to go and do that, huh?? I was about to get married and NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DYING ANY TIME SOON-- YOU RUINED IT, KID!!!"
Zenitsu. The boy's name was Zenitsu. A scaredy cat, no good, terrible demon slayer. He didn't even know one demon slaying form. And yet here he was... Somehow among the troops, holding a banner while his knees trembled, and his eyes threatened to roll back into his head.
Zenitsu... Poor Zenitsu.
Nezuko felt her eyebrow twitch. Before she could even do anything, she watched as a little sparrow flew into her field of vision, carrying on with panicked chirps. The poor thing's aura was concerned, wanting to do something about the boy who was carrying on so pathetically in the middle of the road.
Resolving to help not only the poor braided girl, but also the sparrow, Nezuko made her way to the blonde-haired boy with her hands on her hips, glaring down at him sharply.
"QUIT BOTHERING GIRLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!" Came the annoyed, rightfully frustrated shout of the swordswoman. "AND STOP UPSETTING YOUR SPARROW!"
Zenitsu sniffled but he stayed on the ground, finally taking in the uniform the girl in front of him was wearing. He didn't even notice the lightness to the girl's voice that would indicate who or what she was. To him, he was looking at a young boy with a pink bow (his heart was still beating a mile a minute from his adrenaline) and finally pointed.
"That uniform!! You were at the Final Selection-- I REMEMBER YOU!!" Zenitsu shrieked.
Nezuko blanched at that. "I DON'T KNOW ANYONE LIKE YOU!" Came her almost offended response, hands still resting upon her hips. Even if they were both at Final Selection, the girl would have remembered meeting a blonde boy with the most pitiful aura she had ever seen.
"Ugh." Shivering a bit, she finally turned on her heel to the braided stranger, giving a short bow.
"Sorry. Everything's alright now. You should go home." And hopefully, this weirdo wouldn't follow the poor girl out to her home.
Maybe Nezuko had to stay put, make sure the kid wasn't going to cause trouble.
The girl just rose a hand to her mouth to try and cover a small laugh despite her embarrassment over the situation... she literally only said hi to the poor guy and then he started to beg her for her hand in marriage... It was so uncomfortable.
"YES-YOU-DO!!! I REMEMBER YOU!" Zenitsu insisted. "I saw you at the Selection-- It's your memory problem and not mINE-- HEY WAIT THAT GIRL WAS GONNA MARRY ME--" Zenitsu began scrambling off the gravel and rose a hand up to try and grab the girl's sleeve again. "SHE LIKES ME!!"
And then the girl that had been accosted, nearly drug to the ground, and had her kimono sleeve nearly come apart from tears, fingers, and pleading... gave Zenitsu the most hateful glare...
Before proceeding to wail on him with an open hand.
Nezuko sharply gasped as the other girl started wailing on Zenitsu, causing even more awful cries to come from the boy. Dear gods. This was... This was just too much.
The swordswoman marched right over, grabbing the girl by the back of her kimono, pulling her away from the crouched and trembling form of the blonde swordsman.
"Alright, enough! Calm down!!" Placing herself between the boy and the girl, the Kamado girl narrowed her eyes. Distantly, she could sense Tanjirou waking up in his box. Not like he could do anything about it with the sun out.
"Just go home, ma'am. I'll handle it." Nezuko tried, speaking as gently and calmly as she could.
Zenitsu wailed and pleaded for the girl to stop-- He'd do anything-- HE'D MARRY ANOTHER GIRL--
And then he was safe. And bruised... maybe bleeding.
"YOU JACKASS I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU!!" The girl shouted, even as she was dragged away.
"Wha-?!" Zenitsu looked up with his eyes, once again, welling up with tears. "S-So you didn't stop because you liked me??"
"NO!! You were crouched on the side of the road-- I THOUGHT YOU WERE SICK!!!" The girl huffed and growled before straightening her kimono. "I'm already engaged, so just leave me alone, you creep!" She shouted as she walked away.
Zenitsu let out a soft cry when the girl stomped off... and then he looked over at the one that had ruined it all.
"Y-You-- Why did you do that?" Zenitsu's voice was just pathetic as he hiccupped. "Why did you interfere?"
After watching all of this unfold, the anger that Nezuko had been feeling had cooled into just... Disgust. She hadn't ever seen anybody as desperate and pathetic as this kid. Somehow he was part of the same corps as her, yet he was shivering like a leaf.
Instead of even responding, Nezuko found she couldn't. No, she just grimaced down at the boy, clear distaste written all over her pale face. What's more she inhaled through her teeth, making a sort of "tch" sound of displeasure.
"WHYAREYOULOOKINGATMELIKETHAT?!??!" Zenitsu cried-- literally --before he pointed at the girl. "WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE SOME POOR-- DISGUSTING LITTLE CREATURE, HUH!?!"
The pathetic boy huffed and rose off his knees with a grunt and a sob.
"I hold you responsible for this!! You just kept me from getting married-- I won't forgive you for this-- EVEN IF YOU ARE PRETTY FOR A BOY!!" Zenitsu shrieked, clearly still not aware of... a few things going on.
"Your cute hair-- Your cute face-- WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU, ANYWAYS?! DID YOU GET STRUCK BY CUTE LIGHTNING ON THE WAY HERE OR SOMETHING!?!?"
Nezuko was shocked out of her self-contained vow of silence once Zenitsu called her a boy. Huh?
"You think I'm a boy?" The girl asked, pointing to herself with her eyebrows thinned together. So far, there were plenty of demons and strangers who knew she was a girl on first viewing. Did this guy have bad eyes? Or was he just stupid?
Maybe it was because girls weren't supposed to kick boys in the guts... That could definitely be it. What a first introduction.
"I'm Kamado Nezuko, who the hell are you?" The swordswoman finally asked with a huff.
Zenitsu huffed and crossed his arms as he starred this Kamado Nezuko up and down like she was some girl-stealing, smooth-talking, cool-- c-cool guy!!
"My name is Agatsuma Zenitsu-- AND I'M GONNA DIE ON MY NEXT MISSION!!" He said it with such finality that anyone that heard him might just be inclined to believe it. He sniffled again and then clenched his jaw.
"I WANNA GET MARRIED BEFORE THAT HAPPENS-- THAT'LL SAVE ME! THEN I WON'T DIE AND BE A CORPSE B-BEFORE I Can even-- b-before--" Zenitsu grabbed at his too-blonde strands of hair and shouted.
"KAMADO NEZUKOOOOO--" Zenitsu was on his knees again, grappling at Nezuko's haori and crying into the sleeve. "PROTECT MEEE-- YOU HAVE TO PLEEEAAASE!!!!"
Once more, disgust filled the features of the girl. "Are you kidding me, Zenitsu?" No honorific, no, she was far too frustrated and confused over the strange boy to be polite anymore, or ever attempt to be.
"You're a swordsman, right? What's with this 'help me' stuff?! Why are you behaving like such a weakling?" Grabbing Zenitsu by the shoulder, she pushed him off her haori sleeve. She didn't have time to clean it, but well...
Oh. Yep. Her nose wrinkled as she stole a glance at the sleeve. There were visible tear and snot stains on the pink asohana fabric. Great.
"Gods damn it."
As Zenitsu was pushed away, he began to lean back and practically yowled his woes to the whole world... but mainly Nezuko who was standing right in front of him.
"A WOMAN TRICKED ME AND PUT ME INTO MOUNTAINS OF DEBT-- AND MY TRAINER TOOK ON THAT DEBT--" Zenitsu sniffled. "Now look at me!!"
It seemed that whatever shrill, cries of the damned Zenitsu spewed from his mouth, it would never end. His woes... His debts. All of his training was a roadblock for his life. And he believed he would truly die.
"All because of my trainer-- I've made it this far AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOOOOW!!!" Zenitsu was bent over backwards-- literally --with his hands on the ground and his face becoming redder by the second before he kicked his feet and flipped up to stand.
"I'M GONNA DIIIIIE-- He shrieked, more tears falling from his face.
Okay. The screaming was too much. Nezuko sighed, and walked around so she was properly facing Zenitsu. She crouched down, and very carefully, placed her hand over his mouth, silencing him or at least muffling the screaming.
"Hey! Hey." Getting his attention first, she then made her voice gentler, like she was talking to her siblings to soothe them after they had a blowout fight. It didn't always happen, but Hanako and Shigeru used to quarrel a bit after their father died...
"Calm down. Zenitsu-san, I can't promise to protect you. But let's keep walking. Clear our heads. You're upsetting your poor sparrow!!" Gesturing to the bird that had landed beside them. "I know you're upset, but we need to take a breath."
Zenitsu seemed to quiet down the moment he heard Nezuko's voice and felt her hand on his mouth. His nose picked up on a gentle smell and his ears, his very sensitive ears, were finally not pounding from the blood going to his brain to be able to listen... And he looked up at Nezuko with soft eyes, giving a gentle sniffle before nodding.
He could clearly hear that despite how quick Nezuko was to anger... she was quite nice and kind...
She--
Zenitsu sprang up to his feet and gave the girl a deep bow, a string of snot nearly touching the ground before he sneezed from his sudden movement to clear his nose--
"G-GOMEN--" He shouted and then remembered what Nezuko said before he sniffed again and bowed his head as he stood up straight. His hands messed with themselves and suddenly it was as if Zenitsu couldn't meet Nezuko's eyes.
"I'm sorry I... called you a boy, Nezuko-chan." Zenitsu whimpered a little. Oh, he was hungry... he just... wanted to sit down somewhere and go take a nap-- Eat some onigiri and not have to worry about anything.
Nezuko sighed, expression softening despite herself. She wanted to be irritated, to be upset with the boy who had caused her so much frustration and pain already. But hearing him apologize, she could tell from his trembling aura that he was being sincere. He probably was a good guy… Just kind of messed up somewhere.
“It’s fine.” Reaching into her haori, she produced the wrapped up onigiri she had managed to buy before leaving Asakusa. The rice still smelled fresh, and without even really thinking it through, she offered Zenitsu one of the rice balls.
“Here. You’ll need your strength after crying yourself into such a wreck.”
Zenitsu took the rice ball quietly, sniffling. Secretly, he was very grateful, just incredibly surprised that a girl would gift him such a thing without any ulterior motive. It was… Nice.
As they walked along the road, Nezuko was quiet. She didn’t say a word, just watching as her crow flew ahead, guiding them to their next mission. Flying below the crow was that little sparrow from before.
“I know you’re scared.” Nezuko finally broke the silence, even if she sensed she might regret it. “But if you cry so much, you’ll just upset your friend even more.”
“Friend?” Zenitsu asked, voice warbly still from how he had nearly screamed his vocal cords to pieces minutes earlier. “What friend?”
“Your sparrow.” The girl responded easily, looking over at the blonde. “He was really worried about you, you know. You have to consider other persons’ feelings before you call yourself worthless or try to upset others.”
Zenitsu gawked. His eyes went so wide it was almost comical, and he barely managed to swallow his last bite of rice before screeching.
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT THE SPARROW SAID?! BIRDS CAN’T TALK!”
Nezuko growled. (Yep. Should have kept my mouth shut.)
The sparrow seemed to be listening to their conversation, and flew down, landing on Nezuko’s hand. She carefully lifted it up, then pointed to the avian with her opposing hand.
“The bird’s emotions are strong enough for me to see. You just need to look.”
“QUICKLY, QUICKLY! CAWWW!” The crow had come back down to the humans’ level too, voice so loud it rivaled Zenitsu’s. “RUN, NEZUKO! ZENITSU!”
The blonde boy looked faint, flopping over with such a sharp cry, it probably could be heard for miles around. Thank goodness the streets were empty.
Countryside disappeared into numerous trees, brush obscuring their vision as they ran. Nezuko was surprised how agile the boy was, even if he whined for her to slow down so he could keep up. “Don’t leave me behind!” and “Waiiiiiit!” Blasted the Kamado daughter’s ears for miles.
It was still light out when they came upon the crow’s final destination- a very large, antiquated house, hidden in these woods. The birds and insects in the area seemed to whisper, speaking with one another of how terrible the contents of this mansion were.
Nezuko’s brows furrowed. All she could sense was pure red, a total symphony of demons. Was it another demon with multiple bodies? Or was it a troop of them, sharing the space? It was odd for demons to work together.
“Ne… Don’t you hear that? Huh? Nezuko-chan?” Zenitsu’s whimpering voice shook Nezuko from her thoughts. Whatever semblance of a battle plan she had was gone in an instant, leaving only dread and instinctive fear over facing a demon.
“Hear what?” The girl questioned softly, unsure why she was being quiet.
Nearby, the brush rustled. A little sob came from the bushes. Within seconds, Nezuko saw the source of the sound- a little boy and girl. Their eyes were wide and distant, staring right at the two slayers with such fear it was heartbreaking for the sisterly slayer.
“What are you two doing here?” Nezuko asked. The children shivered. No reply. The swordswoman sighed gently, walking as quietly as she could to the two kids, doing her best to not seem dangerous.
Kneeling down before the two kids, Nezuko smiled. “Hey. Look.” Gesturing a bit, she produced a couple of red thread loops from her pocket. She kept these on hand to keep her hands occupied while waiting, whether that waiting was for a mission or to get tired enough to sleep.
With the threads, she began to make shapes and little puzzles, winding the crimson threads along her skilled, slim fingers. Slowly but surely, the little boy and girl relaxed, before smiling just a little. Nezuko grinned.
“See? Isn’t that cool? My little brothers and sister used to love figuring out what we could do with these threads.”
Zenitsu stared at the scene before him, hand still raised to his ear to gather that strange rhythmic sound coming from within the mansion. Despite his fear, he felt warmth threatening to settle on his chest. A sound of gentleness came from his traveling companion… As well as a soft sound mixed with the shivering tone of demons.
Was… Was Nezuko carrying a demon?
“Now, can you tell me what happened?” Nezuko put the thread loops back in her pocket, still knelt on the forest floor. She did her best to speak softly, to keep her patience in check. The poor kids were terrified still, even if they were no longer frozen in their fear.
“That house… A demon came from that house!” The little boy sobbed. “We were walking with our big brother last night… And a big monster grabbed our brother! He got dragged all the way here!”
“Wow…” Nezuko began softly. “You followed that demon all the way here? I’m impressed. You’re two very brave kids.”
The boy sniffled. “Our brother… He’s hurt. We followed his blood.”
The elder girl stiffened a bit. “Wounded… Well.” Straightening up, she put on a determined smile. “My friend and I here will beat the bad guy and save your big brother. Promise.”
“Really?” The little girl whispered.
“Yes, really.” Nezuko beamed.
“Are you sure you don’t hear that, guys?” Zenitsu whined. “It’s really starting to bug me now… It sounds like a drum… Beating over and over…”
“A drum?” Nezuko turned away from the children, eyebrows shoved together so tightly her pale, scarred forehead wrinkled. “Zenitsu, what are you—”
DUN. DUN. DUN. DUNDUNDUNDUNDUN—
With a final DUN, the upper overhang porch of the mansion shuddered, the shoji doors snapping open. Flying from the building’s insides, like a projectile, was a man covered in blood. The man’s body slammed with a hearty SMACK against the ground, blood spraying even more from his already broken form.
The children screamed. Nezuko was quick to gather them both up, urging them to look away and face the forest instead.
With that taken care of, she ran as fast as she could to the man’s body, rose eyes panicked as they searched for any way to help the still breathing soul.
“Hey, just—Just hang on, sir, please--!” She begged, desperate to not witness someone else die. But the man just rattled as he breathed, eyes wide and unseeing.
“Sunlight… I…. I got out… Thank God… But… I-I’m dying, aren’t I? I’m dying—”
Eyes burning with tears she wouldn’t dare let go, Nezuko shuddered, wrapping her arms around the man’s torso in a tight embrace. At least he could die with some semblance of comfort, that someone saw what he had accomplished at the very end…
Zenitsu was frozen in fear. His body could only shake like a leaf, staring at the grisly scene. He, as well as Nezuko and the children, all flinched as a terrible roar of fury came rocketing from the mansion.
“That’s not our big brother,” The little boy suddenly piped up, “Our brother was wearing an orange kimono.”
Nezuko looked down at the dead body, then back at the children.
(I see. Multiple people were captured, then. I will try my best to save them. And when I get back, I’ll give this man a proper burial.)
Sitting up as fast as a bullet, Nezuko got to her feet. “Zenitsu, let’s go!”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! NO WAY!” Zenitsu roared, though not out of anger. Nope, it was just his usual pitiful wail in a higher volume.
The swordswoman decided then it would just be better if she went on ahead without the cowardly corps member.
“I see. Well, bye, Zenitsu-san.” Nezuko turned on a dime, headed towards the entrance of the mansion. And boy, did Zenitsu not like that reaction one bit.
“WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME WITH SUCH DISDAIN AND PITY?! FINE, I’LL GO, I’LL GO! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE, NEZUKO-CHAN!!” He clung to Nezuko’s box, and vaguely, she sensed her brother’s temper start to flare within it.
“I’m not forcing you to go, Zenitsu-san.” Before Zenitsu could protest, she had taken off the box, laying it carefully before the frightened children at the outskirts of the property. Her eyes were serious, yet full of gentle kindness that she still had for all children.
“I’m leaving this here with you. Protect it while I’m gone.” She sighed quietly. “That box’s contents… Mean more to me than life itself.”
Tanjirou’s aura grew upset. Grumpy, even. But he couldn’t leave the box while the sun was out. He couldn’t follow his twin sister into the mansion even if he tried. It killed him, not being able to protect his beloved sibling.
Nezuko just hoped her brother could smell her apologies.
Zenitsu frowned, tears still staining his sticky, snotty face. He looked from child to swordswoman and back, before coming to stand almost protectively by the box and the children.
“I-I’ll stay too and protect the k-kids. You can depend on me, okay, Nezuko-chan?” Smiling pathetically at the girl, Zenitsu seemed to be trying to get on the elder girl’s good side by protecting what mattered the most to her. Nezuko grimaced.
“Fine. But don’t cry for me if you get scared. You have to stand up for these kids, if not for yourself, Zenitsu-san.” Uttered like scolding from a parent, those rose eyes seemed full of the flare of sunlight itself. Zenitsu knew Nezuko wasn’t an ordinary girl, really, he did, but that look just helped seal that notion up permanently.
“Y-yes ma’am.” The blonde boy squeaked.
Satisfied, Nezuko smiled. “Good. Well. I’m off.”
With an almost dramatic turn, haori fluttering along her body, the swordswoman headed towards the drum filled mansion.