Nezumi To Inoshishi (ねずミ と いのしし) || InoNezu

3- Demons, Rats, and Nezukos

"Good morning, Inosuke! Did you have a good rest?" Tanjirou greeted, smiling warmly

"Oi Manjuro!! What did you do to Tonkatsu!? He wasn't sleeping the whole night!! Tell me, tell me!!" Inosuke shouted in concern.

"What? He wasn't sleeping? But he slept before I did. That can't be right." Tanjirou said and looked at the blond's sleeping face, the dark bags under his eyes visible.

"Hmph! I'll let him skip the training today. But you will have to train twice as hard as you do everyday!"

"Yes!! I will do my best!" Tanjirou exclaimed in determination. Inosuke turned to leave the room. "Where are you going, Inosuke?" Tanjirou asked.

"I'm going to get my mask." Inosuke answered. He calmly entered the room and saw that the futons were folded and was on the corner of the room. Nezuko was about to enter her box when Inosuke entered.

She turned to the door to see the half naked boy. "Oi. Where is my mask?" Inosuke asked rudely. She tilted her head in confusion. Inosuke scanned the room again for his mask because the girl seemes to be clueless.

He went in and opened the closet. He looked for the other possible places it could be at. He started getting annoyed that the mask isn't the anywhere he looked.

He glared at the demon girl that just sat near her box, staring at his every move. "Are you hiding something? Something that is my mask?" He walked slowly to Nezuko. He was somewhat calm when he approached her.

Nezuko shook her head in a fluster. She was sweating bullets as Inosuke was nearing. She shielded her box from the boy's reach. "Oi, oi. So you really are hiding things from me!" Inosuke reached for the box but was stopped by Nezuko pushing him back.

Nezuko was in her small form and her arms as a kid will obviously be weak but stronger than most kids. She was about to strengthen her arms by making them grow when Tanjirou came in.

"Inosuke, it's dawn already. Aren't you taking too long to get your..... mask?" Tanjirou's smiling face turned to that of a protective brother's as he approahed the two. He threw Inosuke away and asked Nezuko if she was okay.

"Inosuke! Can't you see that Nezuko doesn't want to! Don't force her!" Tanjirou scolded. "Ponpoko! Nezumi is hiding my mask from me!"

'Nezumi? There isn't one here. Ne...zu... Nezu... Eh? Eh! Nezuko?!' Tanjirou thought.

"Nezuko isn't a rat!! She's perfectly human! Well, not exactly human but either way! She is not a rat!" Tanjirou shouted in defense.

"Who cares about that! She is hiding my mask!"

"No, no, no! It is important!"

The two started arguing with each other. At this time, it has been a week already since Nezuko can speak but still refrained in doing so freely.

Nezuko, already in her grown form, hastily removed the bamboo that covered her mouth from view. "Stop it!!" She shouted and shielded Inosuke from Tanjirou because the two was about to headbutt each other and it would obviously be Tanjirou's win.

"Nii-san! Are you trying to kill Inosuke! You know that your forehead is as hard as a rock and you want to headbutt Inosuke with full force? Are you out of your mind, nii-san?" Nezuko scolded Tanjirou.

"But he called you Nezumi!-"

"Which is normal because when did he ever remember the right name! And he isn't lying. I took his mask." Nezuko looked away guiltily.

"Nezuko... you shouldn't take other people's mask. That's not goo-" Tanjirou scolded.

"And you should just give me my mask already. Then we'll all be happy and get to training that should have happened minutes ago!!" Inosuke cut him off and ran to the box.

"W-wait!" Nezuko ran to shield her box and as a result, the two headbutted each other. Nezuko fell on her back because of the impact and Inosuke, being heavier and the one that ran head on, fell on top.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going!" Inosuke shouted at the blushing girl beneath him. When he finally realized their position, his face was beet red, like Zenitsu blushing red.

"Oi, Inosuke..." A deep voice called while a hand was placed on his shoulder. Inosuke turned around only to see Tanjirou making an ogre face that gave him goosebumps.

"It's time for training!!" Tanjirou smiled widely. Since Inosuke isn't too smart, he thought that Tanjirou wasn't really angry and was only joking around.

"Let me get my mask first." Inosuke reached for the box but was dragged away by a smiling Tanjirou. They were pretty far out but Inosuke's screams could still be heard. Nezuko opened her box and took out the boar mask. She placed it on top of a folded futon and went in the box to cool down her flushed face and sleep the whole day.

•••

And there ya have it! A chapter! Let me know if I made a mistake on anything at all.

Nezumi in japanese is mouse or rat. I learned from a game I played that teaches about basic japanese words.

Tonkatsu is fried pork cutlet. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't really know because I don't eat pork and I am not Japanese.

Anyways, here's a picture!!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!!