Honestly Tanjiro didn't have a clue what he'd find when he opened the door to their shared room. But seeing Zenitsu and Inosuke having some sort of tug-a-war with a blanket was definitely not one of them.

When they saw him they both looked like two kids caught doing something they shouldn't. Inosuke let go of the blanket causing Zenitsu the stumble back and fall back on his pile of blankets, and he grumbled under his breath.

"Gompachiro! Tell Sonitsu to give me the blankets so I can show him what a real nest looks like! No eggs are gonna be comfy in that mess!"

"Stupid boar! I don't need you to show me! It's how I make it not you! AND I'M NOT LAYING EGGS!!!"

"Inosuke, Zenitsu's right, it's how he likes it not you" Tanjiro says, he walks to Zenitsu's futon. He places the new blankets down and sees Zenitsu give Inosuke a smug, victorious look. The latter pouted and returned to his futon to cover himself.

"Well she gave me a lot, and they have different colors and textures" Tanjiro shows this by picking up a fluffy white blanket in one hand and a more smooth lime green one in the other.

"See"

Zenitsu looks over the pile happily, and reaches for the green blanket in Tanjiro's hand first. Zenitsu thanks him again. Tanjiro nods with a pleased hum. A feeling inside him told him he accomplished something really good.

Zenitsu immediately got started in re-fixing his nest, so Tanjiro went back to his own futon as to not disturb him. He got under his blanket and laid down.

It had seemed Zenitsu had finished his nest because he laid there snug in his nest pile for awhile as a comfortable silence passed by.

Zenitsu was the first one to break the silence.

"Who would've guessed that all three of us had broken ribs?"

"This knot hurts more then my ribs"

Inosuke reached over to part the hair on his forehead showing the bruised bump where Tanjiro had headbutted him. But Zenitsu feels like most of the bruises where from him headbutting trees all day long.

"Gomen" Tanjiro apologizes.

Zenitsu's a little irked at Tanjiro's apology, Inosuke was the one who initiated the fight, he deserved what he got! Why would he be sorry?

Oh, that reminds him. He deserves an apology too.

"Hey, you'd better apologize. It hurt you know, getting pounded to a pulp like that" Zenitsu says.

"Say your sorry"

"I'll pass"

Zenitsu furrows his brows at the unwanted answer.

"Say you're sorry!"

"I'll pass!"

"Just say you're sorry!" Tanjiro insists as well. But Inosuke doesn't budge.

"If your gonna be like that, were not going to eat with you anymore"

"Hah?" Inosuke turns his head to look at Zenitsu.

"What's up with that?"

"Meals always taste better when you eat together, you know"

"He's right about that"

Inosuke gives them a look like their crazy.

"Did you guys hurt your heads or something?"

"Who are you to talk!" Zenitsu seethes at him. Suddenly the old hag shows up, out of nowhere, and Zenitsu flinches when he sees her shadow against the shoji doors.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

She's just as scarily quiet as before! And what was she doing up at this time too? He knew it! She's waiting for them to fall asleep so she could eat them!

"AHH! MONSTER!!" Zenitsu cries as he buries himself deeper into his nest to hide.

"HEY!" Tanjiro yells.

"Sorry ma'am! But we're alright, thank you for checking up on us!"

"Why do you think the old lady took us in so willingly?" Zenitsu inquires. He's sure it's some sort of trap to lure people in and then eat them when they least expect it.

"My crow told me that this house with the Wisteria Family Crest belongs to a family that was once rescued by demon hunters" Tanjiro says.

"And that's why they take care of people if they're demon hunters. That's what I was told, but I didn't think they'd show us this much hospitality"

"Just how great is the Demon Slayer Corps?"

"Now that you mention it, Inosuke, why did you join the Corps?" The kind Alpha asks. Zenitsu turns his head to listen as well.

"Ah?"

"You had some kind of reason, didn't you?" Tanjiro asks again, waiting for an answer.

"A member of the Demon Slayer Corps barged in on me on my mountain one day, so we competed to see who was stronger, and I seized his sword"

Zenitsu stares, shocked by the story. This guy was ruthless! He felt bad for the people that may have bumped into Inosuke.

What an unfortunate soul, Zenitsu pity's.

"And then, I heard there was something called "Final Selection" and the fact that demons do exist"

"So that's why you joined the Demon Slayer Corps? And hey, you and I both grew up in the mountains, huh?"

"Don't lump me in with you! I don't have any parents or siblings, testing my strength against other living creatures is my only pleasure!" Inosuke says while he puts his boar mask on.

"Is that right? Is that right?" Tanjiro answers empathetically. Zenitsu can hear the sympathy coming from Tanjiro. Again hearing that kind sound he's never heard before. Zenitsu glances to his right where the box Tanjiro carries a demon inside lays.

He could hear the demon inside shift once in a while but nothing more. Zenitsu sits up in his nest of blankets and looks at the box from where he sits.

"Tanjiro, no one else is asking so I'll just ask myself, why are you traveling with a demon?"

Zenitsu turns his head to look at the burgundy haired Alpha. Tanjiro shows surprise but he sits up as well, the sound of his earrings jingling. Tanjiro smiles and Zenitsu feels something. He's not able to think what it is when Tanjiro starts talking.

He hears something familiar before Tanjiro says it.

"Zenitsu you knew about that and still protected the box, huh? You really are a great guy you know that? Thanks!" Tanjiro gives Zenitsu one of his brightest smiles and Zenitsu then recognizes the sound as an upcoming praise.

"Y-you! You shouldn't heap so much praise on me!" He blushes madly and grabs a pillow to hug and roll with in his nest as he giggles like a schoolgirl.

"I've got a keen sense of smell, and I knew it from the start, how kind you are, Zenitsu and how strong"

Zenitsu stops his rolling when Tanjiro says he's strong.

"No, I'm not strong, don't give me that. Don't you remember what the Doctor said too? And i haven't forgiven you for stopping me from bringing Shoichi along either"

Tanjiro makes a weird sound like he doesn't know what to say, and before he could say something else Zenitsu hears the demon in the box shift, but it scratches at the door this time.

"Ehh! EEE! It's trying to come out! It's trying to come out!"

Zenitsu jumps straight out of his nest of comfort and safety and onto his feet from fear. Tanjiro moves his hands in a gesture to try and calm down Zenitsu, he didn't want him to freak out again. He was so easily distressed and his scent showed that in seconds.

"How can it be alright! Huh? Huh?!"

"Shhhh, it's the middle of the night, Zenitsu!"

The door to the box opens without any warning and Zenitsu is officially off on a panic when he realized the thing didn't even have a lock or latch anywhere to keep it locked.

"AHHH! OH MY GOSH IT'S NOT EVEN LOCKED?!" He screams.

"Shhhhh" Tanjiro tries to shush him, nervous of waking the lady up so rudely. Were Omega's also this panicky? He'd have to ask at some point about the details.

"P-P-PROTCT ME! SOMEONE PLEASE PROTECT ME! EVEN YOU'LL DO, INOSUKE!!"

"Stay away from me!" Inosuke shouted as he shoved Zenitsu away roughly with his foot. Zenitsu falls to the floor and next to the box.

Tanjiro doesn't know what to do as everything happens so quickly he can barely process what's going on at once.

The door creaks open more and Zenitsu sees a hand come out. He is on his feet once again as he runs somewhere to get away.

"IT'S OUT! I GOTTA HIDE! I'M SO SCARED!" Zenitsu cried as he shoves the closet door open to presumably climb into it, but he stops when he sees a girl come out her eyes a bright pink and some sort of bamboo muzzle? Was that girl really a demon?

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro said fondly as he got up to talk to the young girl. Zenitsu watches as the girl called Nezuko crawls out of the box to stand, and then grow in height and appearance.

When Nezuko seamed to be finished, Zenitsu's gaped.

"Eh? That's too much thinking" He heard Inosuke start to snore.

This girl had to be around their age! Was she Tanjiro's girlfriend? That must be why Tanjiro had said that the box was more precious than his own. Zenitsu felt anger build up at the thought. He couldn't believe it. Tanjiro was that type of guy?

"Zenitsu, Nezuko's my-"

"Tanjiro"

Tanjiro turned to look at the Omega when his voice had dropped. His head hung low and his hair covered his face, so he couldn't see his expression, but Tanjiro could feel and smell the anger radiating off Zenitsu like sparks of electricity.

"Listen to me..."

Tanjiro looked at him with confusion, why was he upset all of a sudden?

"Z-zenitsu?"

"Listen to me" his voice lowered even more and Tanjiro could hear a growl under his next words.

"Just who do you think you are?!"

"You've been traveling with a girl this cute? With a girl this cute in tow, day after day you've been traveling, and you've been on cloud nine the whole time, huh?"

"N-no Zenitsu, it's not like-"

"GIVE ME ALL THE BLOOD I SHED!!" Zenitsu screams, giant blobs of tears dripping down his cheeks. Tanjiro honestly worried Zenitsu would become dehydrated from all the crying he's done in a single day.

"I LISTEN I,...I DIDN'T GIVE IT MY ALL JUST SO YOU COULD SPEND TIME IN LA LA LAND MAKING OUT WITH A GIRL!" Zenitsu expresses with some silly kissy faces.

"THAT'S NOT WHY I GOT PUMMELED AND KICKED BY THAT WEIRD WILD BOAR, RIGHT?!"

"Zenitsu, calm down! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"THE DEMON SLAYER CORP IS NOT SOMETHING YOU'D JOIN FOR FUN! GUYS LIKE YOU GOTTA BE PURGED! IMMEDIATELY!"

Zenitsu suddenly turns away, burying the top half of his body into the closet to grab something. That something being Zenitsu's sword.

Tanjiro waves his arms in front of him in hopes that Zenitsu would settle down before anything rash happens.

"Come to think of it, there's also the crime of thwarting my marriage, and sending Shoichi home..." Zenitsu says as he unsheathed his blade.

"PURGED IMMEDIATELY!" Zenitsu shouted as he thrusted his blade towards him. Tanjiro dodged swiftly avoiding the blade that had a golden lightning bolt on it.

"DON'T EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE CORP!" Zenitsu cried as he went for another swing "A GUY LIKE YOU! A GUY LIKE YOU!"

"AH! Zenitsu, cut it out!" Tanjiro said as he moved out of the way, stepping back quickly.

"Mock the demon slayers corp AND YOU'LL GET SENT TO HELL!"

Tanjiro stepped back more and bumped into the box on accident, making the wooden thing fall over with a thud. He almost tripped over it when he got out of the way of another swing.

"YOU SHALL FEEL MY WRATH!!!"

Nezuko could only watch with confusion and worry as her brother was chased around the room.

"Z-Zenitsu! Stop that's really dangerous! please put the sword down!" Tanjiro pleaded as he ducked. Zenitsu didn't bother to listen as he continued his chase.

"HOW CRUEL TANJIRO! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME! NOW IT'S EVEN MORE AWKWARD THAT WE SCENTED!" He yelled angrily, now swinging the sword everywhere he could.

"Dammit Zenitsu, she's my sister!" Tanjiro shouted when the blade got really close to him. Too close. And thankfully this halted Zenitsu's actions for a few seconds slower.

Zenitsu had did a forceful thrust over Tanjiro's shoulder but the momentum carried him forward, he lost his footing over one of the blankets that had been disturbed from its place on his futon from their running. He fell forward and the grip on his sword loosened when he fell.

He didn't fall hard but that was probably mostly due to the fact that Tanjiro had cushioned the fall. The fall didn't hesitate to irritate both of their ribs though. Mostly Tanjiro's as Zenitsu fell straight on him.

Zenitsu lifted his head and looked down at Tanjiro. The Burgundy haired male wincing from his wounds and his sword beside his head on the ground. Zenitsu felt a bit of guilt but it was replaced with skepticism as he fully registered Tanjiro's words.

"Are you being serious?" Zenitsu asked. Tanjiro nodded a little out of breath from all the running around

"Of course"

And Zenitsu heard it. The honesty. He also noticed the position they were in and he nervously tried getting up and off.

"S-sorry"

He crawled backwards and he sits on his legs in front of Tanjiro, hands on his knees. Then Tanjiro in turn sat up criss cross.

"It's fine" Tanjiro replied with a small smile. Zenitsu felt that Tanjiro was dismissing what Zenitsu was actually apologizing for, and that was for falling on him.

Tanjiro grabbed Zenitsu's nichiren blade that was next to him on the floor and took a good look at it this time without it swinging around him.

"Your sword is really cool Zenitsu"

Zenitsu only watched as Tanjiro flipped the blade to look at the other side and trace the lightning bolt that reached from the hilt to the end with his fingers.

"Mmm"

Nezuko makes a sound against her bamboo muzzle and this brings Tanjiro's attention to her. He looks her way as he had nearly forgotten her presence due to his admiration for Zenitsu's blade.

"Ah, Nezuko sorry, come here" he pats the floor next to him, motioning for her to sit next to him. Zenitsu watches as the girl walks over in an almost trot like way. It was really cute.

She came over but she didn't sit down immediately, her gaze just turns to Zenitsu with big round eyes, they glowed a nice hue of pink with the warm colors that the lamp gave off. She tilted her head at him and reached an arm out. Zenitsu flinched but he didn't move away.

She places her hand on his head and making a brushing motion with her soft fingers. She makes a pleased hum. Zenitsu doesn't know what to do as he watches.

"Nezuko! Sorry she might think your someone in our family" Tanjiro says nervously.

"Family?" Zenitsu questioned. Nezuko didn't stop with her actions.

"Yeah, it's kinda difficult to explain but, she's been put under a sort of spell so she won't harm people"

"So your sister is a demon, but why you're traveling with her?"

"I'm going to find the cure to turn her back, she hasn't eaten anyone for two years now so you shouldn't worry, I promise"

Zenitsu nodded his head. He trusted Tanjiro, he hasn't lied to him thus far, and he doubts he would in the future. Nezuko's scent was super faint that he almost didn't catch it when she pulled away a small amount of air passing his nose.

Zenitsu wrinkled his nose.

He's never smelled anything so bland.

It was weird. Almost like she didn't have a scent, but if he smelled carefully he could smell a hint of cinnamon and cherry wood.

"Mmmh"

Nezuko moves to show her wrist to Zenitsu and both males look at her confused. She doesn't wait for them to figure out what it was that she wanted. She grabbed Zenitsu's arm and started rubbing their wrists together. Zenitsu made a shocked squeak.

"N-nezkuo no! Wait don't do that!" Tanjiro says worriedly, he puts Zenitsu's sword down and goes to pull her away. She lets go without any hassle, but gives her brother a confused look.

"Mmmp!" Nezuko huff behind her bamboo.

She then connects her wrists with Tanjiro's and rubs them together instead. Happily doing so.

Tanjiro realizes that Nezuko just wanted to scent, it was very faded after all.

"If you just wanted that you should've asked me, Zenitsu's very particular about it"

"Mmm"

"I'm right here you know?"

Tanjiro smiled at him and then Nezuko when she finished. She pointed at Zenitsu and Tanjiro tilted his head to the side.

"What is it?"

"Mmhm" She pointed again to Zenitsu but then to Tanjiro's wrist.

"Are you wondering why Zenitsu smells like me?"

"Mmm"

"Oh, well Zenitsu's an Omega and he calms under my scent so we scented a little, like i would do for Takeo"

"I'm still here you know, geez" Zenitsu says with a blush. He gets up, picking up his blade to put it back in its sheath before he goes and flops onto his disheveled nest again, not bothering to fix it this time. He narrows his eyes at Inosuke's star fish form, blanket hardly on the Alpha. "I'm going to sleep" Zenitsu mumbles tiredly as he pull a blanket over him, turning his back to the red haired Alpha

"Goodnight" Tanjiro says as he combs his fingers through Nezuko's hair.

"Goodnight" Zenitsu replies. He rubs his wrist gland, the one Nezuko had touched, with his thumb passing the digit over it lightly in thought.

______

Sorry its a bit short, I had to end it here or it would have been a super long chapter. The next one will be longer promise :) Also they ruined Inosuke's English voice actor, like- why just why, he sounds like a snotty 9 year old kid. They really have to stop selecting Bryce Papenbrook for so many voices. First Silver (my baby ToT) Now Inosuke! They did him so dirty... but anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!