Kanao Can't Communicate

•~chapter forty-nine: the struggles of white day~•

Tanjiro stood before his bathroom mirror, giving his reflection an intense stare down. He was dressed in one of his nicest suits, but he just didn't move.

The redheaded boy was giving himself a hard reprimanding because he chickened out.

What did he chicken out of, you may ask?

He chickened out of giving Kanao the White Day gift yesterday, which was, coincidentally, Friday the Thirteenth... an unlucky day.

Instead of giving Kanao the very well chosen gift, at the last minute he was unable to do so and ended up going for ramen with Zenitsu and Inosuke.

So today, he had to go to Kanao's house and face an impending doom before he could actually approach Kanao herself.

Tanjiro's inner reflection was suddenly (and very rudely) interrupted when Nezuko tapped his shoulder and cooed, "Hey, don't get there too late, hmm nii-chan? You don't wanna keep her waiting~"

Tanjiro opened his mouth to protest, but by now, it was already too late. He was already more than knee deep in a mess that he got himself into, so he closed his mouth, much to Nezuko's concern.

As if he was being controlled by a remote, he trudged out the door, paper bag in hand, while all the while Nezuko was softly calling, "You got this, nii-chan~ Go get your girl!"

✧•✧•✧

Tanjiro looked up apprehensively at the apartment building he knew way too well. The last time he was here... was definitely not a great experience.

With a shaking finger, Tanjiro clicked the doorbell and immediately recoiled as if the button had shocked him. His eyes began to spin. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...

Ugh, how nerve-wracking... Tanjiro thought, clutching his stomach. He was oblivious to the neighbors' odd stares as he thought, Now that I think about it, the last time I visited a girl's house was back in grade school to pass out some hand-outs.... but yet, I made such an effort to come to Kanao's house, and I might cause some sort of bad misunderstanding!

But no, it's not like that. Tanjiro reprimanded himself. I'll just quickly give it to her at the entrance, no harm done in that!

Tanjiro's inner workings were suddenly interrupted by the buzz of the intercom.

"Hello? Who's this?" called the familiar, yet static voice of his teacher.

"A-ah!" Tanjiro exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his pants. "Er... is... K-kana- Tsuyuri-san here? I'm, uh, her f-friend from school, and my name is Kamado Tanjiro!"

For the longest time, the person on the other side of the buzzer remained silent. But when Tanjiro had the courage to ask, "Ano... are you still there?" he realized that they had, unfortunately, hung up.

Tanjiro's legs were about to go into autopilot and flee, but then, the door to the house creaked open ominously. Out stepped Kanae, and she was looking at Tanjiro with her "happy-hostess-how-can-i-help-you-dear-student" face.

"Oh, I know you! You're my student, Kamado!" Kanae exclaimed pleasantly. "You've come over to see Kanao?"

When Tanjiro nodded, Kanae sighed tragically and said, "Oh, I've just sent Kanao on an errand for me. You've just missed her."

"Well, I could always come back later..." Tanjiro tried suggesting, but then Kanae interrupted, demanding kindly that he should surely stay and wait for her.

That was how Tanjiro suddenly found himself sitting at Kanao's bedroom table. Kanae insisted that she should bring over some tea, but Tanjiro politely declined, and he was left alone in Kanao's room.

It was quite messy, so Tanjiro tried entertaining himself by playing with his fingers. However, Tanjiro was not left alone for long, for the door suddenly creaked open.

"Oh, hello Kana-" Tanjiro began, but then he was suddenly cut off out of fear.

Instead of Kanao, it was Shinobu that had entered the bedroom. She had her usual smile plastered across her face, but her petite figure was radiating with a very threatening aura.

She held a tray with one teacup and a pair of horrifyingly sharp cooking chopsticks. Unsure of the tea was him, Tanjiro started in a shaking voice, "Ehem... thank you for the tea...?"

Shinobu said nothing, which was very out of character for her, Tanjiro noticed. She sat down a reasonable distance away and took a sip from the teacup, not taking her eyes off Tanjiro, who was slowly beginning to freak out.

Since he couldn't take the pressure of the atmosphere any longer, Tanjiro started rattling off on a long conversation.

"I-I believe we've met before, but just in case you forgot me I'm Kamado Tanjiro!" he exclaimed shakily. "I'm friends with Kana- Tsuyur- your sister and I help her with studying every single day! She gave me a friend chocolate on Friendship Day last month and I wanted to, uh, return the favor!"

Shinobu said nothing, and Tanjiro was on the verge of passing out due to fear when the bedroom door slammed open.

Kanao came in, clearly panicking, and for a while the room was silent, Kanao's eyes darting back and forth at Tanjiro and her elder sister.

Out of pure shock and embarrassment, Kanao suddenly grabbed Shinobu by the wrist and dragged her out of the bedroom hurriedly. She came back looking a little more peaceful, but then she began silently screaming as she had just realized that her room was a complete and utter disaster.

As Kanao rushed around, fixing her messy futon and tidying her clothes, Tanjiro tried to mutter, "It's not that messy..." but she ignored it, and within seconds she was sitting down at the cushion her sister had once occupied, panting and going red-faced.

The room suddenly filled with a heavy silence. Tanjiro waited to see what Kanao would do, and as usual, she said nothing as she was still catching her breath. Tanjiro wanted to break the ice, but even after fixing his posture and waiting for Kanao to calm down (and fail at it) he just couldn't do it. On the other hand, Kanao knew it was White Day today and she knew Tanjiro's purpose in coming, but of course, she said nothing.

At last, Tanjiro spoke, startling Kanao again.

"Oh! I'm sorry." Tanjiro apologized. As he held out the paper bag to Kanao, he said, "I just, wanted to thank you for that Friendship Day gift, and well... here's something in return."

Kanao took the bag gratefully and just started at Tanjiro for a while. When he stated nervously that she could go ahead and look at what was inside, she obliged and found a little jar of Butterfly-brand lavender hand cream inside a box.

Kanao was immediately overjoyed, because she thought the little jar was so cute.

"The scent is probably out of season by now, but I thought you would like it." Tanjiro said. "It smelled really nice and seemed like it would fit you."

When Kanao peeked into the little box again, she seemed confused to find a tiny candy in a purple wrapper.

"And... um, yes, that's... a candy." Tanjiro mumbled, trying not to blush.

Kanao stared at the candy for what seemed like forever, but then her eyes began to widen in some sort of realization.

The pair immediately began blushing when their eyes suddenly met, and Tanjiro almost shrieked, "I should get going, I won't bother you anymore today! Thank you!"

Kanao nodded frantically, and after bowing Tanjiro out of her home she headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Sitting down delicately at the table, Kanao picked up the hand cream and stared at it a while. She slowly popped off the lid and applied a generous amount to her hands, and a small smile began forming on her lips.

The hand cream smelled very nice, and overall she had a pretty surprising, yet joyful, White Day all the same.