Apathetic Demon slayer (KNY/Demon slayer x male reader)

XVI

"Tanjiro!" Y/n cooed and ran up behind him. "Hows it going?" he asked and smiled. 

"Oh, hello Y/n" Tanjiro greeted with a kind smile and put down the tea kettle he was carrying back onto the counter. 

"Pour me a cup, will you?" Y/n asked and slid over his own, small cup. The other boy nodded and carefully poured in the rest of the tea. 

"Enjoy" Tanjiro smiled gently and angelically, forcing Y/n to grin in return.  

"You're a ray of sunshine, you know that?" the e/c eyed boy chuckled and ruffled up his hair before skipping out of the room, carefully cupping his tea in his hands. 

"Uh... thanks..?" Tanjiro thanked awkwardly, a light blush dusting his cheeks. 

Y/n made his way down the halls to a small, secluded room. He closed the door behind him and exclaimed slightly when he spotted 2 other people there, Asahi and Shinobu. 

"Ah, Y/n!" Shinobu grinned. "Join us for tea, will you?" Y/n hummed in response and sat down cross-legged across from the female Hashira, next to his mentor. "Feel free to help yourself to some snacks" Y/n didn't have to be told twice. He immediately pounced on the spring rolls, stuffing 5 into his mouth at a time. Shinobu gazed at him in surprise. "Ara ara, how did someone as stoic as Asahi raise such a barbarian such as yourself?" she scolded. Y/n, who was sipping his tea, burst out laughing, making some dribble out of his mouth. He slapped his hand over his mouth. He replayed what she said in his head before laughing once again, this time his tea spewing out from between his fingers. He couldn't hold it in anymore, so he just laughed cheerfully. Asahi turned red with embarrassment. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Y/n panicked and immediately started using his sleeve to clean up the tea he spilled. "He's anything but!" he countered Shinobu. "I once played an emotional piece on the piano and he was a blubbering mess!"

"I did not raise you to humiliate me like this" Asahi muttered and crossed his arms across his chest. 

"You shut up, you did nothing but smack me around. Besides, I'm not complaining" Y/n shrugged. 

"Eh?"

"You're far more emotional than I am, which is comforting. It showed me that I have nothing to be embarrassed about when it comes to expression. Your wide range of emotions gave good feedback because you knew how you felt. It made me feel validated and that it was okay to have different opinions. Plus it was nice to have a parental role that felt something other than rage" Y/n looked up to find Asahi practically in tears. "E-eh?! I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he apologised repeatedly. 

"No, no" Asahi shook his head. "I'm just glad I raised such a good kid" he smiled softly. 

"Hm, how wholesome!" Shinobu cooed. 

"Anyhow" Y/n changed the subject. "I should go before I spill any more tea on you. I'll be on my way!" he waved and with that he was out the door. The boy skipped through the halls back to the infirmary where he and his friends spent most of their days. He opened the door to see Tanjiro talking to a familiar boy with black hair. Murata was his name probably. 

"Hey, Murobo" Y/n misspoke on purpose and plopped himself next to Tanjiro on his bed. The red headed boy leaned his head on the e/c eyed boys shoulder, who flinched and tensed up, but he soon relaxed when he realised it was someone familiar. 

"It's Murata!"

"Oh god, Inosuke's rubbing off in him..." Tanjiro sighed, honestly a little scared. 

"Anyway, the Hashira are scary!" Murata shivered. "They were all furious, talking about how the corp members are dropping in quality. Some of the soldiers on the mountain didn't obey orders, so they demanded the names of their trainers" he really just complained until Shinobu arrived.