Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

17. Under the mask

Inosuke's Pov:

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AHHH DAMN IT, SUN EVERYWHERE! I'M BLINDING! I'M BLINDING!!! When I woke up, the first thing I saw was white, as the sun shining in from the window completely blinded me. I squinted my eyes, quickly turned my head to the side, and almost bumped into the still-sleeping Zenitsu.

He lay with his head on my chest, and had wrapped both arms around my upper body... Man, Zenitsu is really stronger than I thought. I also had both arms wrapped around him, and rested my head on his yellow, soft hair... and somehow, they smelled a little like butterflowers.

The images from last night came back to me, and I felt the blood rushing to my face. I rarely blushed, but Zenitsu... he's really cute...

...My God, I'm really weird... it's exactly as I thought. I've become a totally smitten softie... but... if the trade-off is having his cute, warm, sleeping Zenitsu in my arms, I'll gladly take the consequences.

I gently stroked him and gave him a cautious kiss on the forehead. Unlike Zenitsu yesterday, I wasn't clumsy, and he didn't wake up. All he did was grip my arm even tighter. So... if this continues, my arm is going to fall off.

"Hey... Zenitsu... Ouch..." I whispered in his ear. Unfortunately, Zenitsu showed no signs of letting go. Suddenly, something occurred to me, and I quickly turned my head towards Tanjiro's bed. (...Wow... it's a miracle I finally remembered his name...) There he was, peacefully sleeping with a smile.

One hand rested on his chest, and the other on the box containing his sleeping demon sister (...damn... what was her name again...). Anyway, I felt his inner peace almost reaching me and Zenitsu.

Wait... after Zenitsu and I... made out last night, we fell asleep arm in arm and didn't realize when Tanjiro and that... Nezuko (...right, that was her name...) came back to the guest room... that means they saw us sleeping and... DAMN! WE'RE NOT WEARING ANYTHING!!! Even more blood rushed to my face as I realized that. WHAT MUST THEY HAVE THOUGHT?! DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!!

Quickly, I turned back to Zenitsu, who still seemed to be sleeping peacefully. I gently shook him a bit to wake him up and whispered carefully in his ear, "...Pssst... Zenitsu... wake up... please!"

I tried to lower my voice as much as possible so that Tanjiro and his demon sister (...great... now I forgot the name again...) wouldn't hear anything and wake up. Zenitsu stirred a bit but didn't wake up.

However, as if he had understood what I was trying to do in his sleep, he loosened his grip and rolled a bit cautiously off my arm. "Thanks, Zenitsu!" I whispered in his ear, trying to suppress a cry of joy. Damn... I just love this little rascal so incredibly much!

I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then stood up cautiously. The mattress squeaked loudly, making me flinch, but Tanjiro just stretched once in his sleep and luckily didn't wake up. Phew. Close call.

Zenitsu didn't do much either. But he turned once more, contorted his face a bit, bit his lower lip once, and reached with his hands into the empty space. Right where I had been lying before. Is he already missing me?! What a softie... but somehow extremely cute.

Man! Not this warm feeling again! I couldn't even describe this feeling! It somehow feels like... like I'm floating on a cloud, or as if... Zenitsu is hugging me tightly. Well... I better not get distracted by such things and take care of what to wear... where was it... Oh, there!

My pants were just a few meters away from me. I had thrown them carelessly on the floor yesterday without really thinking about what I was doing. Speaking of 'not thinking': What had come over me yesterday?!

I was completely... out of it... I mean-... Is this what they call the side effects of 'love'? Well, I better quickly put on my stuff, then wake Zenitsu up, tell him to get dressed too, and then make a run for it with him... Man, thinking so much gives me a headache. Not a good idea.

I had put on my dark blue pants in a matter of seconds and now walked slowly towards Zenitsu. "Hey, Zenitsu! Wake up... please!" I still tried to wake up the still-sleeping Zenitsu as quietly as possible. In addition, I lightly nudged him on the cheek. Fortunately, Zenitsu sleepily opened his eyes.

"I-Inosuke, what-?" "Shhh! Tanjiro and that girl (...damn, I hate my short-term memory...) are here! They might wake up!" I had taken Zenitsu's clothes with me and threw them in his face. (As silly as it may sound; That was a sign of how much I loved him.)

"Here, put this on." Zenitsu was gradually waking up and probably wanted to protest angrily, but then he pulled himself together and just nodded determinedly. He had a slight blush on his face. Probably because he had also realized that he had been naked the whole time and what Tanjiro and Nezuko must have thought of him and us.

He crawled under the blanket with his clothes and got dressed. I stood somewhat dazed next to the bed and had no idea what to do. My gaze wandered to my mask, which I hadn't worn in over a week.

I used to wear this mask so I wouldn't have to show my feelings, and no one else would have to see them either because the best way to prevent someone from breaking your heart was to pretend not to have one. When Zenitsu kissed me, it was pretty much the first time I had acted emotionally, embracing him.

That was probably also the reason why I felt so miserable and shitty afterward. I had shown someone my emotional side once and got hurt. That hurt like hell. But now everything was okay again, and I was as happy as ever.

I had decided that I would wear the mask almost only in battle and also, out of love for Zenitsu, not put it on too often.... Because now I had nothing to hide!

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