Kanao's pov

I slowly turned to look at Tanjiro. "W-What did you say?" I said quietly, hoping I just heard bad. Tanjiro looked at me and laughed softly before looking back at Muichiro. "You... love Muichiro?" I asked him, clenching my fists.

Tanjiro laughed again and nodded "don't you dare tell him, understand?" he said smiling before pulling Muichiro closer to him. My heart sank "l-love him?... h-he really.. loves him?" I thought to myself before standing up and going to the bathroom.

I shut the door behind me and dropped on the floor. "no..no... no no no no!! This can't be happening! I tried so hard! And what was it for?! Nothing!" I thought to myself and leaned against the wall, burning my face in my knees. My eyes immediately filled with tears as I started sobbing.

Couple minutes later someone knocked on the bathroom door. "shit" I whispered to myself and wiped my tears off and opened the door to see Aoi there. "you okay? you've been here for a long time" she said. clearly worried.

I nodded and forced a big smile "yup! all good". Aoi sighed and crossed her arms "I know something happened, your eyes are all red and puffy, have you been crying?" she asked. I was caught awgard by the question and only looked at the floor without an answer.

Aoi pulled me closer into a hug and I returned the hug, sniffling quietly. "What happened?" she asked. I buried my face into her shoulder. "...it's Tanjiro again... isn't it?" Aoi asked as I nodded. "I just watched the movie and... I heard Tanjiro say "I love you" to Muichiro while he was asleep... I have enough of this... I am just a childhood friend... How could I've been so s-"

Aoi placed her finger on my lips to stop me "hey it's okay, you know... there is still a chance" "chance? what chance... he's clearly in love with that freak.." I said, trying to hold more tears from coming. Aoi sighed and said "yeah... love is a bitch.. sometimes you just don't get to date someone you want... it hurts but you can't do anything about it"

"it's easy to say for you... you are in love with Inosuke and he clearly likes you too... j-just.. leave me alone.. I don't want to talk about it" I said, looking away. "i understand.. just.. remember I am always here for you, okay? You can tell me anything... and please don't blame Muichiro for it, it's not his fault" Aoi said before walking away.

I clenched my fists and leaned against the wall "why is everyone is his fucking side!? I bet he's doing this on purpose! hiding behind his innocent face.. pff problem with talking... yeah right... it's just a facade"

"I tried everything... I thought that the thing at the party would separate them for good but.. they were just 7 minutes alone and talked it out... I don't know what to do anymore... but.. I can't give up... I won't give up"

Tanjiro's pov

When Aoi came back she immediately looked at me and pointed the other way, signaling me to go with her. I nodded and laid Muichiro down before following her.

We both went to the kitchen and Aoi leaned against the counter before saying "you love Muichiro huh?". My mouth opened slightly "H-how do you know!?" I almost yelled out.

"Kanao told me... you know... Kanao really likes you and it hurts her that you barely talk to her... I understand, love is love and I get that you want Muichiro to return your feelings but.. Kanao need some attention too you know... she's your childhood friend after all"

"I am not leaving her out that mu-" I started up was interrupted by Aoi "no you are, it hurts Kanao a lot you know, she... she has her own problems, okay? And you are the only thing that can get her mind off of things, please just... give her some attention" she said before walking away. I sighed and walked back to the living room, not wanting to think about it more.

When the movie ended it was around 2am so we all decided to go to sleep. Inosuke, Aoi, Yuichiro and Giyuu were all sleeping on the couch while Nezuko and Kanao slept together in her room.

I picked up Muichiro and carried him to my room while he still slept peacefully. I laid him down on the bed and layed down next to him, laying his head on my chest.

I smiled and ran my fingers through his hair. The talk with Aoi kept on repeating in my head, not allowing me to fall asleep. "Was I neglecting Kanao that much?" I thought to myself and sighed.

I looked back at Muichiro and smiled slightly "...she needs to understand that there's something more important now.." I thought and pulled Muichiro closer, holding him in my arms. "I'll talk it out with her tomorrow"

Next day

I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating my breakfast. Most of the people were still asleep so I was sitting there alone before someone came in. It was Kanao, she looked at me and then quickly looked away as if she was avoiding any interaction with me.

"Good morning," I said and smiled. Kanao started making some toasts for herself and only said "Y-Yeah... good morning" while still looking away from me.

"I want to talk to you about yesterday, Aoi said that I am not giving you at-" I said before being stopped by her "what all she said?!" She yelled out, almost as if she began to panic.

"She only said that I should give you more attention, that I was leaving you out" I said as Kanao sighed with relief "I am sorry about that... you know, it's just been a lot with Muichiro and as I said I am in love with him... I just want him to be close to me and with his problems I practically need to be with him 24/7"

Kanao smiled and looked at me "it's okay... I understand..'' Then I remembered something "o-oh do you remember the time you kissed me on the cheek? Muichiro thought we were dating, that's hilarious, am I right?"

Kanao's smile faced as she only nodded "yes... hilarious.. haha.." she said and grabbed her toast before leaving the room.

Kanao's pov

"hilarious.. HILARIOUS?!" I thought to myself and grabbed my hair looking at the floor, trying to keep myself from crying. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder, when I turned around I saw Muichiro. "What do you want?" I said, clearly annoyed.

He backed away a bit and looked at the floor before looking back at me "..a-are you... okay?" he asked. I was quite shocked by it, he never spoke to me before and when he does he asks if I am okay? How weird...

His expression suddenly changed to worry before he took out a tissue and handed it to me. "What is he doing?" I thought to myself and he probably noticed that I was confused so he pointed on his cheeks signaling something.

I touched my cheeks that were covered in tears. "Oh... now I understand.'' I thought to myself and wiped my tears with the tissue he gave me. "tsk.. why do you even care?" I asked him. He smiled slightly and said "that's w-what friends a-are for'' he said quietly, smiling.

"...friends?" I said, looking at him, clearly confused. He nodded slightly. I don't know why, but I felt myself wanting to smile. I stopped myself and looked away saying "friends?! You can't be serious, we are not friends and we never will be".

Tanjiro's pov

I was eating my food while scrolling on my phone before Muichiro walked into the room, with his whole face red. "Good morning," I said. He only hummed and sat down next to me, laying his head on the table in front of him.

"Something wrong?" I asked him, starting to get worried. He looked at me and nodded "yeah it's nothing but... I talked with Kanao because she.. was crying, so I wanted to comfort her somehow, but when she asked me why I was doing it... I said it's what friends do... but she immediately yelled that we are not friends... I got so embarrassed"

"That's not nice of her," I said. "No no it's understandable, we never talked to each other or anything like that... I was just being stupid"

I smiled and patted his head "no you did great Mui, she's just going through something I guess... I am glad you managed to force yourself to talk with her so you can comfort her" I said as he looked at me and smiled.

"Thank you" he thanked me and pulled me into a hug. I smiled and returned the hug and looked into his eyes after "I almost forgot, there's the trip I told you about, it'll be next week, will you go?"

"Ehm... I am not sure.. Yui and I talked about it too but...I am still not sure if I want to go.. it was enough to force myself to even go here" he said looking on the floor, playing with his fingers.

I smiled and took his chin to make him look at me "hey you don't need to go, it's fine but still... maybe it'll be a chance to get to know at least couple more people, there will be rooms of four so you will get to know at least two more"

He sighed "I'll think about it". I patted his head "it's your choice, just remember that if you do agree on going I'll be there by your side always" he nodded "thank you.."

Kanao's pov

"Hey where are you going?" I heard Nezuko call out for me. "Home" I said simply, taking my shoes on. "Already? We were thinking about ordering pizza and playing some more games" Nezuko said, probably trying to force me to stay.

I looked at the floor and grabbed my bag and opened the door, about to walk away but Nezuko grabbed my wrist and made me look at her. "Come on, did something happen?" She asked worriedly.

I groaned and pushed her hand away "I am fine!" I yelled out before going outside.

I walked home, crying. "Why... why can't he just like me back..." I thought to myself and started quietly sobbing. "...it's all M-Muichiro's fault.. if he didn't come here Tanjiro would at least pay attention to me... n-now he won't even look at me... it's just Muichiro, Muichiro and Muichiro... It's all his fault"

Muichiro's pov

I was eating my food while others were talking about something, I just ignored most of the conversations thinking about yesterday. The time when Tanjiro carried me to bed, he probably thought I was asleep the whole time but... I wasn't.

How he caressed my cheeks and how he ran his fingers through my hair made me feel somehow different. Just thinking about it made my heart beat faster.

"Muichiro!" Tanjiro yelled, waving his hand in front of my face. "H-Huh?" I let out and looked at him with a confused look. "You spaced out again, are you okay?"

"O-oh ehm.. Y-Yeah I am fine, just thinking" I said, smiling. "Okay, if you say so" he said and looked in front of him. I looked down and sighed. "What are these feelings? I-I never felt like this before... this is weird.. am I getting sick?" I thought to myself.

...

Later that day me and Yuichiro went back home. Before we did Tanjiro hugged me and said "alright bye bye now, I'll wait for you in front of your house before school again".

While we walked the whole time I thought about it, it felt so weird. "Is it still because of the thing at the party? Am I afraid of Tanjiro or something?" I kept on thinking before Yuichiro spoke up.

"Okay I am getting tired of this, what's wrong?" He asked. "H-huh? Oh it's nothing, just thinking" I said, forcing a smile. He rolled his eyes "don't lie".

I looked down "well I have this feeling... with Tanjiro.. with really weird". "Feeling huh? Tell me more about it" he said. "Well last night when he thought I was asleep and ran his fingers through my hair and caressed my cheeks... it made me feel nice.. I never felt like that before.. it made my heart beat faster... I don't know how else to explain... it's really weird..."

"I see... well if I tell you you might be in love with T-" he said before I interrupted him "i-in love?! What?!". "Hey chill, why are you so shocked about it?" He asked me.

"Well e-ehm.. I-I.. I.." I let out, not knowing what to say. "Well just think about it, it may be it, what do I know" he said and looked away from me. I nodded and looked down.

"F-feelings for Tanjiro?" I thought to myself and sighed.

...

Word count : 2220