A Split in The River of Time

Part 14.5: The date

(Tanjiro and Kanao have a date to a festival in a town over, where the boy tries to get Kanao out of her comfort zone and out of her protective shell. This is more of an awkward teenage date experience then a demon slaying adventure, but the main story is getting to that so shush)

The pair of young slayers walk side by side down a road, the hustle and bustle of the lively town providing background noise as the day draws nearer to its close. Tanjiro had left his sister as well as her box in the care of the butterfly estate, as she was still sleeping after a large-scale battle with lower moons 1 and 2 several days prior. Silence had long since settled between the two, both being too inexperienced and too anxious to start the conversation. Suddenly, the boy breathed in heavily, and began to speak.
"S-so, Kanao!" Tanjiro turned to the girl beside him who jumped at the sudden loudness of his voice.
"Yes?" She responded quietly, looking around the block of stores and restaurants, watching couples walk by them, arm and arm linked.
"Have you eaten today? It would be good to eat before we get to the festival, in case we can't find anything other than sweets." He said confidently, smiling at her before looking at the restaurant to his left.  Tanjiro's mind trailed off after he finished his sentence, thinking of the very girl walking beside him.

She looks very beautiful today... He thought as he awaited an answer.

"I haven't eaten yet..." Kanao replied hesitantly. Normally she wouldn't be this shy, but in a situation like a date? It was stressing me out to talk about this earlier, let alone going on an actual date! I can't believe I agreed to this... Was this a bad idea? Her train of self doubting thoughts was cut off by the boy as he continued speaking.

"Alright! We should find something to eat. Do you have any preferences?" They locked eyes as Kanao was deep in thought. He's so nice. She stared at him intently, unaware that she and him had been staring at each other for so long when suddenly he tripped and fell onto the road.

"Tanjiro!" she shouted, putting her own hand over her mouth to muffle her voice. She lowered her hand, saying a gentle,

"Sorry..." He stood up quickly, brushing his clothes off before resuming his place beside her.

She's still fairly shy I guess. Maybe she just has trouble making choices! He grabbed Kanao by her hand, much to her surprise, and began to briskly walk towards a restaurant. She followed calmly, although she was a bit embarrassed rushing through semi-crowded streets. She looked up as the boy pushed through a door, the smell of fresh fish and rice flooding her senses. After letting go of her hand, (He had completely forgotten they were even holding hands) the two made their way to a table and sat. Tanjiro ordered a plate of tempura, and Kanao, after trying several bites off of his plate, decided to get her own.

"If you are that hungry, I could get us a third plate to split?" Tanjiro said as the normally reserved girl scarfed down her food with reckless abandon. She quickly halted in her tracks, wiping some crumbs off of her face.

"I'd like that, thank you." She said, staring intently at the table. She really was hungry, but she didn't mean to be so improper.

What if he doesn't like how I act? She thought. She looked at the man sitting across from her at the table, as he merely ordered another plate of the deep fried fish. Looking down at her, he smiled and opened his mouth to speak.

"We need to leave here before the sun goes below..." He leaned across the table and looked out the window.
"That building there!" He pointed his finger in the direction of a small bar, Kanao turning and looking. She calculated that they should have another 15 minutes based on how fast the sun was falling. They could take their food to go if need be, of course.