Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

20. Embarrassing

Zenitsu's Pov:

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Exactly! Inosuke is right! I won't be a victim for others! So, I had no reason to look away!

I should face my fears and the uncomfortable situations in life and not run away anymore! (In that moment, I definitely felt cooler than the whole situation actually was...)

The fact that I haven't remembered such important words (especially considering that something wise and mature came from Inosuke,) even once during the whole time! So, I swallowed once and then looked up... and regretted it seconds later immediately...

Everyone was looking at us. They tried to do it inconspicuously (some more and some less), but I noticed every single gaze.

Whether it was a long stare or a quick glance. I noticed it immediately. The worst part, however, was this awkward silence that lingered in the air the entire time! Before we pushed open the door, we could already hear the animated conversations through the walls!

(...Okay, the walls here were as thin as paper, but it was about the principle!) The only thing you could hear was a quiet whispering coming from the three little girls from the Butterfly Estate. Okay, Zenitsu... You have no idea what's going on right now, but the most important thing is just not to find this whole thing super embarrassing and just pretend they're not there... just as if- And in that moment, I felt myself slowly turning bright red. When Tengen saw that, he almost burst out laughing again, but Rengoku threw him a devastating look.

The anger flared in his eyes like flames that could burn the whole world (including Tengen) to ashes in a second. I had never seen him so angry before... Somehow frightening to know how angry some of the Pillars could get, for example, Lady Kocho. The happiest ones were always the ones who could switch from 0 to 180 the fastest if you just gave them a good reason.

Tengen seemed to see it that way too because when he saw that expression on his best friend (or whatever they are now), his smile instantly froze, and he fell silent. Rengoku seemed satisfied and gave both of us a (albeit somewhat nervous) smile. No matter what everyone is pretending here, Mr. Rengoku can definitely handle it the best. I don't know if I should be happy about that or find it scary.

Tanjiro and Nezuko followed us, and the four of us sat between Mr. Rengoku and Mrs. Kanroji. By the way, Tanjiro sat next to Mr. Rengoku, Nezuko next to her, next to Nezuko me, and between me and Mr. Iguro with Mrs. Kanroji on his lap sat Inosuke. The conversations started again (which I was very relieved about), and everyone started eating again. Even Inosuke just turned off his brain and turned on his stomach. Eventually, he piled up 4 small sushi rolls and 5 onigiris on his plate and started devouring them.

Mrs. Kanroji was also in good spirits again (probably mainly because she now had a free pass to sit on Mr. Iguro's lap), and happily ate sakura mochis. She tried to get Mr. Iguro to eat some too, but he refused to eat anything, let alone take off his bandages around his mouth.

Finally, she gave up and just rejoiced that there was more for her because no one liked those pink things, where if you take a bite, it feels like dying of diabetes, as much as she did. Tengen also preferred to talk to Rengoku, who really enjoyed the food. If he had a hobby, it was clearly eating.

He could eat unbelievably much. Even Inosuke couldn't eat that much! But... those fleeting glances that everyone threw at us, hoping we wouldn't notice... And if it was only the Pillars or little girls!

NO! The whole table seemed to be hiding something from us! Even Nezuko and Tanjiro 'behaved like that, and they were our best friends! Also, the pulse of everyone present (except for Inosuke and me) had clearly risen since we entered the room.