Waves Of Despair (MuiTan - TanMui)

Chapter Four - The Fear Of Opening Up

Late upload, going through some personal stuff, hope you understand

Tanjiro's pov

"Mui, who is that?" Muichiro's brother asked and looked over at me, giving me a small wave. "My friend, his name is Tanjiro" Muichiro replied and Yuichiro smiled "it's nice to meet you Tanjiro!"

I chuckled "it's nice to meet you too, you are Yuichiro, am I right?" I asked and he nodded repeatedly "yup! That's me!"

I chuckled once again and followed Muichiro to the living room "is there anything you'd like to do..? Sorry I am just not really used to talking to people" he laughed slightly.

"Well, I'll do anything honestly, we can just talk" I said but before Muichiro could answer, Yuichiro walked over to me and handed me a small sketchbook "I drew these!" He smiled and sat down next to me.

I opened the sketchbook and flipped through the pages, complimenting his art, not even noticing that Muichiro left somewhere but when he was gone, I thought that it might be a chance to get to know something more.

"Hey Yuichiro? May I ask you something?" I asked and he nodded quickly. "Something about Muichiro, I feel like there's something wrong.. and I am worried, do you know about anything?"

I immediately saw his face fall as he shook his head "no.. he doesn't talk to me or mama about anything" he mumbled quietly "only thing that I realized is that he doesn't eat much.. I hear him crying a lot.."

"I see.. but hey, it's okay, I'll talk to him, we might know each other just for a couple days but he seems open to me, I'll tell you when I realize something, you deserve to know" I said and he smiled in response "thank you Tanjiro!"

I nodded and Muichiro suddenly walked into the living room, dressed in some more cozy clothes. "Do you want anything, Tanjiro? Food? Something to drink?" He asked, his voice filled with worry and nervousness.

"Muichiro please, you don't need to be so nervous, I'll ask if I'll need something, just sit down" I said reassuringly and he nodded a little, sitting down next to me and pulling his sleeves down to hide his hands.

We talked for a bit and played games, soon realizing that the time passed too quickly and it was already 9pm. "I am starving!" Yuichiro groaned and fell down on the couch.

"I'll make us something, is there anything specific you'd like, Tanjiro?" Muichiro asked quietly and I shook my head, letting him decide what he'll make.

...

"Woah Muichiro, this looks amazing!" I said excitedly and took a big bite. "It tastes amazing too!"

Muichiro smiled a little "thank you, how about you, Yui? Do you like it?"

Yuichiro excitedly nodded and looked at him, asking "you won't eat?"

"I ate at school" he replied but I shook my head "no you didn't"

Muichiro's eyes widened slightly as he looked back at Yuichiro who was staring at him as well "you lied again.." he mumbled quietly, about to leave but Muichiro stopped him "Yui please! I'll eat now, okay? Please don't leave" he said desperately and put some food on his plate.