"INOSUKE! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"

Zenitsu's voice rang through the pavilion, and he looked around hastily to see if anyone had heard. Luckily he and Inosuke were far enough from the neighborhood playground to avoid scaring little kids! It didn't help that the one person who could hear him at the moment wasn't listening. At all.

Inosuke snapped around, looking guilty. "Of course I am! You said something about me bringing out the cake!"

"No, I said I'm bringing out the cake! You're on decoration duty. I don't trust you to bring out the cake," Zenitsu squinted at Inosuke in suspicion.

"Why not?!" Inosuke grumbled. "I'm strong enough to carry it I swear!"

Zenitsu stomped up to Inosuke and pushed him to the side, revealing the refreshment table in all its glory. "It has nothing to do with your strength," he studied the refreshments and slowly turned his head towards Inosuke. "It has to do with the fact that YOU ALREADY ATE HALF THE DAMN COOKIES ON THIS TABLE! WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU WITH A CAKE?!"

"WATCH YOUR FUCKING LANGUAGE!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO MEEEEE?!"

Inosuke practically shrunk at the magnitude of Zenitsu's voice. "I said, I'll go put up the decorations now." He glared at Zenitsu and snatched the bag of balloons off of the table, ripping it open and blowing into a rubber shell of a balloon. Zenitsu did the 'I'm watching you' thing with his fingers and ran off to get the cake.

"Bleh. We all know I'm the one actually in charge here. Why does he get to boss me around?" Inosuke muttered and tied a balloon shut. The truth was very much the opposite. Zenitsu had at least a little bit of planning skills in him, so he was the one who organized the surprise party.

Inosuke probably wouldn't have even remembered it was Tanjiro's birthday without him.

Soon enough, Inosuke finished blowing up the balloons, and he tied them around the corners of the pavilion. They were an assortment of red and white with stars on them. Zenitsu had made sure the paper plates matched too! The whole arrangement didn't make sense to Inosuke. Why bother making everything perfect? he thought, shoving another cookie in his face.

"INOSUKE!"

The boy in question swallowed it as quickly as he could and watched Zenitsu sheepishly as he placed the cake on the table. 

"Heh. Well, if you didn't want me to eat them you shouldn't have left me with them!" Inosuke grinned and gestured to the balloons tied around the place. "Besides, I hung up the stupid decorations! I deserved a cookie."

At that, Zenitsu sighed. "Just, don't eat any more until Tanjiro gets here. The others should be arriving soon, anyway."

"Whatever."

The boys put up the finishing touches to the pavilion, adding a water pitcher and some streamers. Inosuke yawned and sat on the ground while Zenitsu brought out the cups. Everything was complete.

"NEZUKO!"

All thoughts of being a calm and collected party manager left Zenitsu's mind at the sight of her walking towards the pavilion. He dropped the stack of plastic cups he had been holding and dashed after her with his arms wide open. As soon as he reached her, though, she stepped to the side and he went flying onto the grass. 

"Idiot." The cups that Zenitsu had been holding dropped onto Inosuke's head and rolled into his lap. "These almost fell onto the cake!"

Zenitsu didn't hear him, though, as he sprung from the grass and looked at Nezuko dreamily. "You're looking extra fair today, Madame!"

Nezuko raised an eyebrow at him and went over to the pavilion, leaving him behind her. She nodded at the setup and gave the boys a thumbs up. At that, Zenitsu went into overdrive.

"DID YOU SEE THAT INOSUKE?! SHE GAVE ME A THUMBS UP!" Zenitsu skipped around the perimeter of the pavilion.

Inosuke face palmed. "I think she meant that for both of us..."

It took a few minutes for Zenitsu to calm down, and by then, Kanao had arrived.

"Hello Kanao! Glad you could make it!" Zenitsu waved as she made her way over. "All right, that's everyone! Take your places!"

Everyone but Zenitsu dived under a table to hide while he got out his phone to text Tanjiro.

Zen: TANJIRO! COME TO THE PARK I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

Tanjiro: Oh! You remembered? I'll be over.

Zenitsu put his phone in his pocket and grinned at the people he couldn't actually see under the tablecloth. "He's on his way! Thanks for keeping him occupied today, Nezuko~"

All he got in response was a groan from Inosuke.

The three under the tablecloth had to be squished for five minutes before they heard Zenitsu talking. 

"-and your gift is under the pavilion!"

Tanjiro's mouth dropped open. "You... did this for me?" He gazed at the food, the gifts on the table, and the decorations.

"Yup!"

"WHAT THE SHIT ARE YOU SAYING!? I HELPED TOO!" Inosuke popped out from under the table, revealing Kanao and Nezuko as he tackled Zenitsu to the ground. 

Zenitsu used his hands to shield his face. "THAT'S WHAT I MEANT! SOMEONE HELP HE'S GONNA KILL MEEEEEE!"

Tanjiro just stood back and laughed at them. "Wow, thanks guys! All of you!" He hugged Nezuko while Kanao went over to restrain Inosuke. She basically choked him, grabbing the neckline of his shirt to drag him backwards, him punching the air and all.

Zenitsu stared at her. "Wha- WHEN DID A GIRL GET STRONGER THAN ME?! I MEAN, OF COURSE SHE'S NOT! I WAS JUST TIRED FROM ALL THIS PLANNING!"

Nezuko rolled her eyes and went to the food. She narrowed her eyes at the lack of cookies, and instead took a vanilla cupcake. Inosuke followed her, taking a cupcake as well.

"Sorry about Monitsu," he jerked his thumb back towards the boy desperately trying to plead his case to Kanao and Tanjiro about being stronger than Kanao. "I know he's obnoxious sometimes, especially to you. But, he can be pretty cool, when he's not crying like a little baby."

Nezuko made an 'are you serious' face.

Inosuke chuckled at that. "Yeah, I know! Hard to believe. You've never seen him act normal, have you? Especially since he's always trying to get your attention." He looked Nezuko up and down. "I don't blame him."

A huff escaped from Nezuko's mouth and she glared at Inosuke.

"Don't look at me like that! I was just stating facts. You are really pretty." Inosuke waved his hand. He looked back at Zenitsu, frowning. "He's just a fucking simp."

Zenitsu was currently doing an arm-wrestling match with Kanao, with Tanjiro as the judge. Spoiler alert: Zenitsu lost.

Inosuke snickered at them and turned back to Nezuko. "He's an idiot. I would feel bad for you, but..."

He lowered his voice and made sure the others couldn't hear him. Nezuko looked, wide eyed as she listened.

"I'm jealous of you." Inosuke quietly admitted. "Don't tell the others, but Zenitsu was my aha moment when it came to my sexuality. I'm gay."

Nezuko patted him on the head, feeling glad that someone actually liked Zenitsu. She pulled her hand back and made the motion of zipping her lips.

Relief flooded Inosuke's body. "Thank you Jozuko. You're the first one I've told about this. Somehow I knew I could trust you."

"Trust Nezuko with what?! ARE YOU TELLING HER SECRETS ABOUT MEEEE?!" Zenitsu cried out and fell to the floor beside him, Tanjiro and Kanao approaching as well.

"SHUT UP! OF COURSE I WASN'T!"

"THEN WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HERRRR?!!!!"

Nezuko pouted and stomped on Zenitsu's back, then pointed at the refreshment table. He giggled and jumped right off the ground.

"Oh! He was telling you about how he ate all the cookies?" Zenitsu danced around her. "Isn't he the worst?"

Inosuke's eye twitched. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? I'LL KILL YOU!" He cracked his knuckles then chased Zenitsu out of the pavilion into the playground.

"Are they okay?" Kanao watched as Inosuke climbed up a slide to catch the screaming Zenitsu.

Tanjiro stared after them as well. "Uh. They'll be fine." He turned to look at Kanao. "Thank you for coming!"

Kanao blushed. "Oh! Of course I would come!" she gestured towards the pavilion. "This is your party, and I enjoy spending time with you!" 

"I enjoy spending time with you, too! It's nice to see all my friends in one spot." Tanjiro smiled. He was so oblivious. 

Trying again to flirt discreetly, Kanao said, "Well, of course everyone is here to celebrate you. You're the greatest, you know that?"

"Well, I wouldn't say greatest..." Tanjiro rubbed his neck humbly. "After all, I think Zenitsu organized this all!"

Kanao gave up for the day. 

"NEZUKO SAVE MEEE!!!!" Zenitsu ran full speed back towards Nezuko with Inosuke hot on his heels. Once again, Nezuko stepped to the side...

And Zenitsu crashed right into the cake.

Inosuke doubled over in laughter. "Ha! You were so fucking worried about that cake, and you just ruined it!"

Nezuko's eyes grew wide and she turned towards Tanjiro, who was laughing as well. 

"It's okay!" Tanjiro chuckled. "This is way funnier than eating cake."

Zenitsu didn't seem to think so. He climbed off of the table, sulking, with cake stuck all over his face and hair.

"Um.... presents then?" Zenitsu licked what he could off of his face and pointed to the gift table. 

Everyone else agreed and headed to the gift table, Kanao and Tanjiro grabbing a cupcake on the way. They all settled themselves around the table with the gifts in front of Tanjiro's seat. Zenitsu was frantically trying to wipe frosting off of his face so he could watch better as Tanjiro grabbed a watermelon-printed bag from the table.

"From... Nezuko!" Tanjiro announced and grinned at his sister before reaching his hand into the bag. Everyone leaned forward in anticipation as he pulled out the latest copy of his favorite manga. "Wow! Thank you so much Nezuko!" He reached over and hugged her from across the table. She smiled and patted him on the head.

Next, he opened a gift with orange and yellow wrapping paper from Zenitsu. As Tanjiro pulled out a shaving kit, he looked at Zenitsu. "Thanks..!"

"Hey! I know you have a baby face, but you might grow a stubble eventually!" Zenitsu defended himself while pushing a frosting covered hair out of his face.

Inosuke pulled a gift card for a gym membership out of his pocket and tossed it at Tanjiro. "Happy birthday, Tampichoru."

"It's Tanjiro... and thank you Inosuke!" He pocketed the gift card and reached for the last bag on the table. It was a plain red bag, no doubt from Kanao. She smiled at him and waited for him to open it. When he did, he grinned. 

It was two tickets to a Muzan Kibutsuji concert! Muzan was his favorite artist!

"Wow, thank you Kanao!" He almost hugged her, but decided that would be weird. He kept his hands to himself. "Does this mean you're going with me?"

She smiled. "Yes! I'm a fan of Muzan too! If you're free, I'd love to take you."

This time, he does hug her. He got up from his chair and went to Kanao to do so, and she almost gasped. She was glad he couldn't see the blush she felt crawling up her neck to her ears. 

"Thanks so much!" Tanjiro let go and grinned at the others. "I get to see Muzan guys!"

Inosuke gave him a thumbs up and Nezuko smiled. Zenitsu on the other hand...

"TANJIRO IS GOING TO A CONCERT WITH A GIRL? HES GOING TO HAVE A GIRLFRIEND BEFORE MEEEEEE!"

This brought a blush to Tanjiro's face and an even deeper one to Kanao's face. 

"Vinitsu!" Inosuke thwacked him on the back of the head. "NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT GIRLS YOU FUCKING SIMP!"

Zenitsu and Inosuke started bickering while Nezuko went to get another cupcake. Tanjiro snuck a glance at Kanao and saw her doing the same towards him. They both looked away, embarrassed. 

"-AND LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU MADE THEM NERVOUS!"

Zenitsu was yelling for Inosuke to let go of him as he was being scolded, and Kanao headed over and puled Inosuke off again. Zenitsu dramatically collapsed to the ground.

Nobody helped him up. 

Tanjiro walked to Nezuko and hugged her again. "Thanks again for the manga, sis."

As he looked around at his friends, he knew he never wanted this to end. Sure, it was super chaotic. Sure, there was always going to be a lot of yelling, but these were his best friends!

And they had made this his best birthday.