Opposites - Inosuke x Zenitsu

30. Forget-me-nots and Buttercups

Zenitsu's POV:

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Am... Am I dead? Is this heaven?... Oh man, heaven is really damn bright... And somehow, heaven is also... soft... Was heaven exactly the spot on my bed where the morning sun shone through the half-open window... No, then I was more likely in hell... WAIT, AM I IN HELL?! WAS I REALLY SUCH A BAD PERSON MY ENTIRE LIFE THAT I NOW HAD TO ENDURE ETERNAL HELLISH TORTURES, WHICH CONSISTED OF FOREVER GLARING FROM THIS SPOT ON MY BED IN THE UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION OF ALL TIMES DIRECTLY INTO THE SUN?!.. ...Wait... was I completely restricted now... This is neither heaven nor hell nor the 'eternal paradise' (as those presumptuous two always said); this is a bed in a room in the Butterfly Estate... But this was still different from my previous room: the curtains in front of the closed windows were made of thick, dark blue fabric and partially hung over the windows, bathing the entire room in a pleasantly dim light.

Also, the bed I was lying in was the only one in the whole room, and where the other rooms usually had the other beds, there were instead several dark brown cabinets, on which strange glasses and some stuff with various liquids stood. Kind of creepy. Next to it was also a heavy desk (...or was it a table... hmm...), on which, however, open cans, bottles, and such stuff were standing. Next to it, there was also a large microscope set up with a liquid that looked like blood. Creepy!

There was also a dresser next to it, on which also lots of things stood... but there were no bottles. Medicines, or microscopes! They were... gifts... flowers... and cards! In the dim light, I recognized three small flower wreaths in different colors... a picture of a butterfly... a gold coin... a headband with glittering stones, next to a dagger in the shape of a blazing flame... a plate with a large mountain of Sakura Mochi... a white pinwheel... a hair clip in the shape of a blue butterfly... a... a bottle of water (?)... a fox mask that looked almost like Tanjiro's, which he wore during the last selection process... a stack of self-painted pictures... earrings that also looked like Tanjiro's, only with a different pattern and colors... a transparent snow globe, only without snow or anything else, but with mist, on which a note was attached, saying: 'Mist in the glass'... something that looked like a snake's tooth... a picture with a cat, with something written in Braille and next to it, again in Japanese characters, something that I couldn't make out from here in this light... a tooth that looked quite human... and so much more!

But... the strange thing is, so far, I could roughly assign each gift to a person, but now I also noticed a stack of gifts that I had no idea who they were from: There was a... a large plush spider with googly eyes... an ice sculpture (which, strangely enough, hadn't melted yet and showed no signs of doing so in the near future... and a small but very detailed model train!

Honestly, I had no idea who had given me these, but still, I was excited about each and every gift! Besides, there were also many bouquets of flowers and cards in various colors and shapes! I was also happy about the huge... but one of the bouquets caught my eye in particular; it stood right in the middle of all the other things, and its beauty almost overshadowed everything else! It was a bouquet that consisted half of almost perfectly and beautifully looking forget-me-not flowers and half of fresh, pretty buttercups. Even though the two types of flowers were completely different and almost the complete opposite of each other, they somehow seemed as if they were made for each other.

Suddenly, I felt some pressure on my hand and realized that someone had been holding it the whole time. Of course, it was none other than: "Inosuke." I whispered happily. He had leaned against the floor next to my bed and was holding my hand tightly. Also, he looked very, very tired... as if he hadn't slept for days. I turned my head slightly and gave him a kiss on his oak, fluffy, dark blue hair.

Then he suddenly moved and slowly opened his eyes. Then he saw me, and his eyes, surrounded by dark circles, widened. "Z-Zenitsu! You- You- You're awake!" He said with that happy smile on his lips and excited sparkle in his eyes. He looked so incredibly cute! (...Hehe... Somehow, he looked a bit like that girl from that manga with the pink hair, who had that hair accessory that looked like horns and goes 'WAKU WAKU'!.. What was her name again... Anni.. Anna... hmm, maybe I'll remember later!) Inosuke, in any case, suddenly seemed totally agitated. "Hey, of course, I'm awake! My head just hurts a bit, and I'm a bit tired, but-" He interrupted when he quickly took my face in both hands and kissed me directly on the lips. I fell silent, partly out of surprise, partly because I just wanted to enjoy the moment when our lips met again.

Oh God, I felt like our last kiss was already an eternity ago! But it was over as quickly as it had happened, and Inosuke pulled away from me to stare into my eyes. "How on earth did you manage to sleep for 3 days straight!?" Now it was me whose eyes widened. "Wait, stop!; THREE DAYS?" I SLEPT FOR THREE DAYS?!"

Inosuke nodded eagerly, but before I could say anything, he hugged me so tightly that it cracked loudly. "Never, never, never, never do that again, understood! I was so worried!!!" I laughed and hugged him back. "I..." But before I could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Inosuke jumped up with a leap and opened it. Behind it were Kanao, Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Frau Kocho... but also another person who kept a low profile.