Saudade

Chapter 7

Previously

Tanjirou sighed with a small grin on his face as he texted a reply to his sister.

" Nezuko must be getting busier these days, after all she's a third year in junior high now and will be having lots of tests and exams. Maybe I should make something for her as a reward for her hard work at the end of the year? " Tanjirou mused as he slipped on his outdoor shoes and placed his indoor shoes back in the locker, " Let's see...maybe a strawberry treat? She likes those simple strawberry doughnuts, maybe I can give some to the others too-- "

Tanjirou stopped in his tracks as he spotted a figure a few feet away from him. That figure stared at him.

" T-Tomioka-sensei? " 

Present

" You are... " Tomioka-sensei trailed off as his eyes narrowed at Tanjirou.

Tanjirou waited with bated breath as he began to sweat nervously. He thought his dreams weren't going to affect him this much but it seems like he was wrong. 

" ...you're the boy with hanafuda earrings Agatsuma always pass through uniform checks. " Tomioka-sensei completed his sentence as Tanjirou released a sigh in relief.

Silence encompassed the two as Tomioka-sensei blatantly stared at Tanjirou, not even hiding it as his eyes roamed Tanjirou from head to toe. Tanjirou stood stock still, unsure of what he was supposed to do and uncomfortable with his situation. 

" Why won't you take off those earrings? " Tomioka-sensei asked.

" Eh?! Uh, " Tanjirou definitely wasn't expecting that question, " it's a family heirloom and is very precious so I need to keep it with me at all times. "

Tomioka-sensei's hardened slightly at that.

" Family heirloom, huh? " Tomioka-sensei pursed his lips for a moment, thinking before asking his next question, " Why were you on guard when you saw me? "

Tanjirou's eyes widened.

'Oh no, I didn't expect to encounter such a situation so fast, I didn't want to confront Tomioka-sensei about my dreams yet, OH WHAT DO I DO?!' Tanjirou's face scrunched up as he tried to come up with a way to get out of this predicament.

" I can tell if you're lying. " Tomioka-sensei pointed out, " You're a terrible liar just by looking at your facial expressions. Scrunching your face up tells me you have a reason for your actions that can or might cause negative response to your reason. "

Tanjirou's face morphed into shock.

" Seems like you aren't ready yet. You're still too weak. " Tomioka-sensei remarked as he walked past Tanjirou who tried to stutter out a response but failed to do so.

When he finally mustered the courage to say what he could come up with after a moment, he turned around only to find that Tomioka-sensei had disappeared into thin air.

'D-Does he have them too? The dreams?' Tanjirou wondered as he recalled Tomioka-sensei's words.

" Seems like you aren't ready yet. You're still too weak. "

'Ready for what exactly?' Tanjirou pondered before he gasped, 'Weak?! Did he actually call me weak?!'

" Tanjirou? " a voice called out.

Tanjirou whirled around to see Zenitsu staring at him, about to change his shoes at the lockers.

" Zenitsu! " Tanjirou smiled.