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

5- Is this normal?

Inosuke was sitting between his two friends. He was munching happily on his lunch while observing his friends.

~Inosuke Vision~

The blond was ignoring the redhead. If you looked closer, he has beads of sweat on his face. He also looks somewhat annoyed? He's glaring at the food like it did something wrong to him. Then, he sweats bullets which is more visible than the beads. He tries to finish up quickly. He looks relieved now and slows down on eating.

Moving on to the redhead. He was sitting on the right side of Inosuke, smiling while inhaling the food? His face is flushed. What? Why? Is he drunk? Ah, he stops smiling all of a sudden and looks intently at Zenitsu while eating, wearing a serious expression on his face.

All in all, Inosuke's observation led him to the conclusion that Tanjirou was openly fawning over Zenitsu and at the next second, acts like it never happened. Zenitsu, however you look at it, noticed the smile on Tanjirou's face but thinks that maybe it's just his way of showing it when thoughts like 'life is easy when we take breaks, isn't it?', passes his mind.

Inosuke finished his lunch easily and stood up to leave the two on their little date. He went to retrieve his mask, and he swears that he will be successful.

He arrived in front of the room and opens it. He goes to the window and opens it slightly to let some light into the room. He saw his mask and put it on. He placed the folded futon in the cabinet. He saw Tanjirou do it. He can definitely do better than him.

Tanjirou's flirting skills are in the average level. And Inosuke thinks that maybe if he could flirt better and get together with someone first, he would be better than Tanjirou (at flirting) and be the best at dating.

It became a goal. A goal to be achieved just around the corner. He glanced at the box. He opened the box and dragged the girl out. He stood in front of Nezuko. He looked victorious. He looked proud of what he was about to do.

"From today onwards, you are now my fiancée. If your brother asks, say that we started out as... friends? Comrades? As long as you don't tell the truth."

He proposed. As straight forward as he can. He was grinning and thinking, 'Yeah, this is actually a good plan! Yes, let's do this.' But Nezuko refused with a bashful punch to Inosuke, which was very strong.

Nezuko removed the bamboo from her mouth. "I'm sorry, Inosuke... san. But i can't lie and with my brother's keen sense of smell, we'll be found out as soon as i show up. I'm really sorry!" She said, bowing to a full 45°, her hands clasped on her knees.

Inosuke flinched when she bowed. He didn't expect the girl to suddenly bow because she couldn't lie. Footsteps. Someone's coming. Inosuke pulled Nezuko to a hug. "Here's the plan. Someone's coming and it's probably your brother or Zetsuko."

"We'll hug like every loving couple does and i'll rest my face on your neck. Make sure to smile gently, and hold my head in place. Then when Kentaro comes in, he will agree to the two of us. Then i'll be the best!" Inosuke grinned and did what he said while he felt Nezuko do as he said.

Nezuko was smiling gently and holding his head, her face flushed lightly. The plan was going well but he miscalculated something. The two of them being seen together and in such a position, would invite someone's wild imaginations to life.

And Zenitsu was that someone. The poor soul that discovered their position. Their conversation, however, was heard minutes ago. Zenitsu didn't really misunderstand but the scene was quite a shock.

A blushing girl beneath a half naked boy, the two hugging and blushing. If he didn't know better, he would've thought he barged into the wrong room. Zenitsu was angry at Inosuke but stopped himself from beating up the guy. Tanjirou was just behind him and it would be bad if he saw his little sister under Inosuke.

Zenitsu slammed the doors closed and stood in front of it, not letting Tanjirou open the door. "T-t-t-tanjirou! Nice seeing you here!!" Zenitsu stuttered out with an awkward smile on his face.

"That's nice of you, Zenitsu. But weren't we together just this lunch?" Tanjirou asked, smiling brightly. Zenitsu began to sweat. He smiled back awkwardly. He pushed Tanjirou away from the room, leading him to the garden. "L-let's go for a stroll, shall we?"

°°°

Inosuke was wondering why they didn't enter the room? He removed himself from Nezuko. "Why did they leave? When i was in the brothel for the mission, from what i heard, if the brother catches his sister with a man, he will hesitate but would agree. Maybe it was Zenko that saw us."

Inosuke turned to Nezuko. "What do you think?" "Um, well, it was Zenitsu." Nezuko answered. She was still red in the face and she looked slightly disheveled. Inosuke looked away from the scene. He stood up and left the room as fast as he can with a red face.

Nezuko fixed herself and immediately covered her red face. She smiled foolishly and shook her head to clear her mind. But to no avail, her red face darkened as she remembered that very moment she was pulled into a hug by the half naked boy.

It wasn't uncommon for her to see someone half naked. She caught Tanjirou with his top hanging on his back a few times before and had even given her little brothers a bath. She also recieved hugs from her brothers.

She wonders how Inosuke does it to her. How he is able to make her blush like a tomato. How he can make her heart race and get her nervous.

She wasn't like that before. It wasn't like that before. She sighed and thought about it long and hard before going back to her box to hide away from any further embarrassments.

"Was I always like this before? Or is this normal?"

Nezuko thought audibly, voicing our her thoughts out loud. She shook her head again. No use on thinking about it now. She hurriedly entered her box but kept the door slightly open.

°°°

Inosuke was blushing beet red. He didn't know what to do anymore. Does he want something out of the plans he made? He didn't know. He wasn't ready yet. Does he like Nezuko? He doesn't know. Maybe?

His mind was beginning to corrupt. All thanks to those girls from the brothel. They taught him various things. The unforgetable one was about babies.

He knew about the basic stuff. They come from pregnant females. But that wasn't what they taught him. It was the process. The process of making babies. And it was chaotic!

He swore to Daki/Ume that he won't live down that moment. That very moment that had him feel weird around Nezuko.

"This isn't normal!"

Inosuke shouted. His shout resounded throughout the house, startling the others. Inosuke stormed out of the house and went to the forest to cool off.

•••

So how did I do? Is it bad or no? Let me know and I'll improve. Wrong spellings means I really need to improve! Please take care of me! And also today's Math fest in our school! Wish me luck!! I won't participate though! I've had enough yesterday with the math team quiz.

If you hadn't read the manga yet, there are some spoilers in this chapter.