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"If you don't get up right now, I'll shoot you."
Zenitsu swears 2019 is definitely the worst year.
"B-b-but I'm scared! What am I supposed to do inside?"
"I can't believe you're this dumb to be even in university not knowing what happens during a party."
Yup, definitely the worst year in history.
The blond whimpers, cowering beneath the cold and annoyed stare coming from his senior. He feels so small under that towering height of over 6 feet.
"Senpai, I'm not really good with parties."
"THEN WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU MORON?!"
"I DON'T WANNA BE LEFT ALONE IN THE DORM!"
Zenitsu watches as the dark haired male pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He couldn't blame himself for being so afraid of things in the dark and whatnot. That's just how he is.
"Kaigaku! Aren't you coming inside? The gang is looking for you."
Zenitsu looks at the mop of pink hair that came out from the door. He has seen this face before inside their dorm several times, along with his roommate's other friends. He looks just as terrifying as his dark haired senior.
"I'll be there in a minute or two, Akaza. I just need to handle something."
"Alright, don't take too long. We're at table 4. Make sure to catch up."
With that, the pink haired male disappeared, and Zenitsu is once again confronted by his senior with a menacing look that sent shivers to his spine. Before he could react, he felt a sharp pain coming from his left ear as he could feel it getting pulled.
"A'ight, you heard him. Table 4. Go there only when there is an emergency, okay? I'm seriously going to whack you if you'll show up there being a wuss. Now, get inside and live out, you big crybaby."
The moment the doors open, Zenistu feels himself blinded by the flashing disco lights, and in a split second, he's surrounded by wild teenagers in their drunken state. Kaigaku is nowhere to be found.
"Hey kid! Want some drink?"
Zenitsu resists the urge of puking from the strong smell of alcohol coming from the guy who just went straight up to him and shoved a glass of beer to his face.
"Uh, no, t-thank you."
"Come on now, don't be a killjoy!"
The blond could feel his knees shake as he gets pulled through countless sweaty bodies and breasts pressing his cheeks as he passes, not that he's complaining.
"Doma, where do you think you're going?"
"The others are looking for you. You shouldn't run off for too long. You're the host."
The duo came to a halt when a lady approaches them. She has long, silver hair that reaches her waist. Behind her is a man with droopy eyes and hair of an odd, lime green color. They had smiles on their faces and looks that indicated they are acquainted with the man who has been pulling Zenistu.
"Oh! Right! I almost forgot," the man named Doma chuckles before turning to Zenitsu. "Hey kid, can you hold this?"
Zenitsu was handed with a glass of beer that he had no choice but to hold it as the one named Doma sprinted to the dance floor and grabbed the mic, greeting all the people who attended the party. Zenitsu couldn't bear to listen to such noise, so instead, he places the glass on an empty table and went through the same process of squeezing between bodies of wild teenagers looking for an exit. If it was a normal day, he would praise the gods for giving him the chance to in the same room with all these women of beautiful bodies.
But, it is not a normal day. It's Christmas, and he's not about to spend his holiday getting muscle cramps from constantly wrestling with people.
After what felt like an eternity for him, Zenitsu finally finds himself enjoying fresh air outside the house. Although it doesn't look like the front door that he's looking for, it's better than the cramped space he was in minutes ago. It appears to be the exact opposite direction of the exit, but it's better than nothing.
He must say, this Doma person got some sense of style. Zenitsu observes his surroundings and noticed the place he's currently in is the house's garden. It's evening, but he though5 he just saw butterflies above the roses planted in a beautiful pattern.
Zenitsu takes a seat on one of the benches of the garden and closes his eyes, sighing. He's stressed. He regretted not staying at the dorm where he could've just enjoyed peaceful silence.
But his thoughts went back to what his senior has said.
'Live out'
He had been thinking about it since so long he had forgotten how he's supposed to do it. Zenitsu has always been this kind of person who would rather stare at people from afar rather than becoming part of their circle, which explains why he almost have no friends at uni and why he's always seen clinging to his senior like a lost child. Even though he's found himself interested in girls and their anatomy, he never had a single girlfriend at all. Thinking about his life, Zenitsu sighs.
"Why is it so difficult to live a normal life? Am I cursed or something?"
His gaze fell on the patterns of roses and saw a butterfly with blue wings. He was about to approach it, but he saw another one with sparkling purple wings heading towards it. Zenitsu heaves another sigh.
"Wish somebody that beautiful just gonna come up to me like that. Lucky butterfly."
"You're so boring!"
"I know. You don't need to rub salt on my wound.... eh?"
Zenitsu jumps on his seat, almost falling down out of shock. Did somebody just speak? A ghost? Yokai?
"I'm sorry, Su-chan. My brother forbade me from drinking without his presence, and I don't think I can dodge offers of alcohol if I go inside."
Zenitsu tries to find the owners of the voices while frantically looking around the garden area. Even if they were people whom he really doesn't know, it's still embarrassing if they were to find out he's talking over his insecurities to himself.
"Geez, your brother is such a pain in the butt. Alright then, we'll meet up with you when the hype is over. See ypu later, Nezuko."
Wait. Nezuko?
Standing not more than four meters away from his seat is Kamado Nezuko, the beauty of the night. Zenitsu knows her. In fact, he knows her too well with her brother in the same major as he, and whenever he hangs out her brother at their house, she would always prepare food for them. He had known her for so long, but he had never seen her as she is now.
Her hair is tied up into a high ponytail, and its orange tips dangled below her waist. She's wearing a fairly large black hoodie with sleeves almost covering her arms up to her fingertips. It matches her denim shorts, fishnet stockings and clog ankle boots. She looks like a goddess.
Zenitsu's soul instantly flies out of his own body as he takes in the beautiful sight of Nezuko, who has now situated herself in front of him with wide, curious eyes, and he sees Nezuko's friend Susamaru, giving them a knowing look. Zenitsu chokes.
"Ne-n-n-n-nezuko-chan!"
The girl tilts her head to the side, wondering why the blond seems to be shaking terribly just by her presence. She found it adorably cute but also weird. Her gaze lingers a bit on his before it shifts to the empty spot beside him.
"You're alone?" she asks, her voice resonating through his ears like an angel's call. To add up to the cause of his erratically beating heart, Nezuko takes the spot beside him and sits down.
"U-uh yeah. I mean, no. I'm with Kaigaku-senpai. He went out to his friends though."
Zenitsu badly wants to punch himself for sounding so negative. He needs to lighten up the mood. It's one of the few times he's involved himself in a conversation with Nezuko alone after all, besides the times when they greeted each other whenever the come across on the way to their respective buildings or whenever her brother is around (constantly popping everywhere, in other words).
He's hopelessly harboring feelings for the girl and had waited so long to enjoy a quality alone time with her to get to know her more, and he can't just let her deal with his depressive state and constant whining.
"How about you, Nezuko-chan? I see Tanjirou has let you off the hook today. I don't see him anywhere here."
Nezuko chuckles in acknowledgement of his attempt at humor as she looks down, kicking her feet as a habit. Zenitsu's heart stops for a moment.
"Ah, he's with Kanao today," Nezuko starts, twirling a few strands of her hair with her finger. "I think he got invited to their family dinner, and he was killing himself out of nervousness. He even apologized that I will be left alone at the house, but Yahaba gave me a call at that moment so I was able to ask Nii-chan's permission to go with them tonight. Although, parties aren't really my thing, especially when young adults just down every single glass in sight. So, I went out and found you here."
Half of what Nezuko said flew past Zenitsu's two ears as he could only focus at how ethereal the girl looked like while narrating her experience that night. He'd bet half of his fortune that this young Kamado is the most beautiful woman to ever exist.
Except, he has nothing to bid after his parents kicked him out for not wanting to pursue their dream of him becoming a lawyer. Lucky (or unluckily) for him, a generous old man who happens to be the landlord of the dorm he's staying with Kaigaku took him in and offered him a place to stay as he tries to live his university life with a bunch of student loans.
"Sounds tough for you, huh. Your friends shouldn't have left you if they were really your friends. If I was them, I would follow you anywhere and always be with you!"
Nezuko seems to be taken aback at the sudden declaration, and Zenitsu realizes how creepy his statement sounded. He flails, attempting to keep his face from bursting red out of embarrassment, to which Nezuko laughs at adorably.
"You sound like a really good friend, Zenitsu-kun. No wonder Nii-chan really likes your company."
I want to be more than just a friend, Nezuko-chan! Please tell me you enjoy my company too! Zenitsu internally screams.
"Heeeh, you look like you were enjoying yourselves."
The pair looks behind them and sees Susamaru, with her tube top, blushed cheeks and a glass gripped rather loosely in one hand. She gives a big smile to Zenitsu, a rather teasing one that reminds him of the day the girl bumped with him and picked up his things, as well as the perfectly done portrait sketch of Kamado Nezuko that slipped out of his bullet journal. Zenitsu's ears blazed.
"Su-chan. You look drunk."
"Aha, no, no I'm just getting started. And here you are, taking such romantic time with your man. Boy, I was worried for nothing."
Nezuko doesn't seem bothered by the lively girl's words, unlike Zenitsu who's about to pluck off every hair growing out of his body because of nervousness and mental debate on why Nezuko doesn't deny the accusation.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone. You guys can do something to kill time, but keep it PG-16, okay? There are minors here."
"Why would Douma-san invite minors in his place?" Nezuko wonders as she waves at Susamaru's retreating figure. "Isn't that weird, Zenitsu-kun?"
"YES! IT IS WEIRD! SUPER WEIRD! PROBABLY THE WEIRDEST THING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!"
Nezuko nods in agreement, completely missing the clue and the fact that Zenitsu is one snap away from hyperventilating.
"Anyway, I think Su-chan is right. We should do something to pass the time before we get bored."
As long as you're here, I'll never get bored.
"Sure! Anything for you, Nezuko-chan!"
And so, the two of them started the game of 20 questions. The two know a lot about each other already, especially Zenitsu. Half came from listening to Tanjirou's constant blabbering about his sister and half from his own research. Despite that, he pretends to not know the answer when asking about Nezuko's favorite food. Nezuko's questions were pretty simple as well. They consist of curiosities about Zenitsu's lifestyle, choice of classes, favorite hobbies and the idea of kissing.
"Have you heard of the countdown kisses?"
Zenitsu is not dumb. He has read way too many fictitious tale of people living the rest of their lives happy after sharing a kiss at exactly twelve midnight. He is also aware of the conditions to the said 'tradition' that people believed in.
"Don't they usually happen during New Year's Eve? They say you get lucky for the rest of the year if you kiss the one person that you love."
Why is she asking me these things? Does she want to kiss me?! Wait, no. Calm down, Zenitsu! Don't get too ahead of yourself, you spineless fool, or else Tanjirou will headbutt you to death!
"Eh? But I thought it happens during Christmas, too. Su-chan says so. She even told me to ask you about it."
Zenitsu smacks his forehead. Of course, it has to be that overly lively woman.
"Ah that's what she said. You seem curious about it Nezuko-chan. Do you wanna kiss someone?"
It was meant to be a joking question, but Zenitsu can't help but feel like a nervous wreck, waiting for the young girl's answer.
"Kissing doesn't sound so bad. I really want to be lucky next year and so on. I had it tough this year, you see."
Zenitsu notices her looking down. He feels a little disappointed not knowing her answer, but he smiles before giving her head a gentle pat.
"I'm sure everything will turn out great for you. Kissed or not, people will either make you happy or miserable. You just need to look for the right ones."
"Thank you. Looks like Su-chan is really correct about you knowing all these things."
Zenitsu reminds himself to infiltrate the school girls' dorm and blast off Susamaru's favorite temari ball. Bit first, he should try and explain things one by one to Nezuko while calming himself at the same time, as the kiss talk with the lady he's head over heels for is making it hard for him to breathe.
"Ah, Nezuko-chan. You shouldn't believe everything that Susamaru says. Besides, even if a countdown kiss happens during Christmas, or even on New Year's Eve, we can't tell for sure that we'll get lucky after that."
"Wanna see if it works?"
Things happened in a flash, fasting that a lightning boat traveling at an insane speed. The moment Zenitsu feels something soft pressed on his cheek, he freezes. He couldn't feel his entire body, and his heartbeat sounded the a beast roaring through his eardrums. It was soft, and it feels like it brought him to heaven. The small and innocent action of a kiss on the cheek from Nezuko has spread warmth all over his body. It was short and even over faster than the time it happened.
"Nezuko-chan..."
The girl looked anywhere but him, an unreadable expression written on her face. Zenitsu feels the fear of his feelings being made fun and he clenches his fist.
The tight grip on the air as shown by the whiteness of his knuckles soon disappeared as Nezuko looks up to him with a tinted cheeks and huge smile playing on her lips.
"I guess I just wanted to kiss you after all."
That night, Zenitsu realizes it wasn't even Christmas, nor was it an evening for a New Year countdown. It wasn't a night of chasing people or making a great escape from chaos.
It was a night from his dreams that came to reality.
And he was glad he got dragged to the party for the first time in his life.