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English
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demon_slayer
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Published:
2020-06-13
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2021-12-29
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45,770
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22/22
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Of Art, Medicine, and Technology

Summary:

"Sorry..." the boy--Inosuke, was it?--mumbled out. "I'll keep it down next time." 

"Yeah, you will, you fiend. I've been trying to work for so long, but you keep making all these noises and I can't focus! What the hell are you even doing in there?!" Zenitsu screamed.

The boy's perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowed together, and he turned to glare at the blond boy. "I already said sorry, what more do you want?"

"I want you to shut the fuck up--"
. . .

Notes:

hello, thank you for taking time to read this story!! i know the summary didn't tell you much but reading the tags should give you a better insight for what this story has to offer. any and all feedback is tremendously appreciated!!

Chapter 1: Generic art boy cries in front of a stranger and meets two potential friends

Chapter Text

Zenitsu was pretty stressed out, having just started his first year in college. He was almost fully settled into his dorm, with all his personal furniture already in place with the help of his adoptive brother. However, the two had been waiting for the rest of his stuff to arrive for the past hour and a half, and he was starting to believe he wouldn't be getting his luggage. But he really needed them; all his art equipment was inside, and he still had a commission to finish animating. 

"Kaigaku?" He called out. His brother turned to him, and cocked an eyebrow in question. "Can't we just call Grandpa? Ask him to call the company?" 

Kaigaku huffed, his face twisted in a grimace. "I already asked. He said the movers were on their way." His face softened as he seemed to notice Zenitsu's distress. "Would you like me to call them again?" 

"Please." The older boy nodded and pulled out his phone to call. 

"Hello, this is Agatsuma. I'm calling to ask about the packages that were supposed to be delivered...you already dropped them off? Where? Oh, okay, thanks." Kaigaku ended the call and looked back at Zenitsu. "They said they left them at the school's office, and someone should come by to give them to you."

Zenitsu dragged his hands down his face, and screamed. "But they're not here!" As if on cue, there was a knock at his door and he shot up from where he was sitting to slam it open, where he saw a young man with fiery hair balancing a bunch of boxes on his arms.

"Are you Zenitsu?" He asked. "'Cause these are yours."

"Yes, thank you so much...uh...what's your name?" Zenitsu asked as he began to take the boxes from him.

The man smiled as he stepped inside to help the blond boy put down the packages. "Kyojuro Rengoku. I'm the third floor's RA. Your RA was busy so she asked me to help you out."

"Ah, well I really appreciate it, Rengoku. Are these all the boxes?"

"Yup. I carried them all. If you need anything else just ask, alright? I'll be in the halls helping out the rest of you young freshmen."

"Thank you, again. I'll see you around." Rengoku waved back as he left the room, immediately rushing towards some other freshmen who had called for him.

Kaigaku began opening the boxes, and upon realizing they were just Zenitsu's art things, left them alone. "You'll be fine on your own, right?"

Zenitsu nodded, already starting on organizing his materials. "You can go now, Kaigaku. Thanks for helping." Kaigaku bid his farewells and left, leaving Zenitsu alone to finish the commission.

 

About three hours in to animating, Zenitsu started to get tired. It was already pretty late at night and he really wanted to get some sleep so he could wake up early the next morning. But he couldn't think about that right now; he had to focus on his work so he could finish this dumb animation that was taking forever. God, Zenitsu was trying his best to focus, he really was, but there was so much fucking noise coming from outside his dorm. Why are people awake right now anyway? It's almost two in the morning, they should be sleeping. Then again, he wasn't asleep either. 

Zenitsu sighed and slammed his face down onto his desk. "The legs look like shit," he groaned out. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off. He was tired, so tired. He had been been doing hard labor all day, but now he just wanted to sleep. He was almost done with it anyway. Putting it off for a bit won't harm anyone...

A loud crashing noise came from one of the other doors, followed by an 'Oh fuck' and a couple people exiting their own rooms to check up on the source of the sound. Zenitsu was jolted awake, and the overall crappiness of the situation caused him to get frustrated. So, the blond boy got up from his seat, opened the door to his room, marched down the hall to the crowd of people that was forming, and pushed his way through them, where he saw the RA scolding a boy with dark hair and highlights. 

"Inosuke, you need to keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep." She said to him. Despite the smile on her face, it was clear that she was a tad bit agitated.

"Sorry..." the boy--Inosuke, was it?--mumbled out. "I'll keep it down next time." 

"Yeah, you will, you fiend. I've been trying to work for so long, but you keep making all these noises and I can't focus! What the hell are you even doing in there?!" Zenitsu screamed.

The boy's perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowed together, and he turned to glare at the blond boy. "I already said sorry, what more do you want?"

"I want you to shut the fuck up--"

"Okay, guys that's enough, " The RA interrupted. Wow, she looked gorgeous, even though she was mad. "He said sorry, and he won't do it again, right, Inosuke?" He nodded. "Then that's all. Everyone, go back to your dorms, everything is okay. Blondie, can I talk to you for a second?" 

Ah, shit. He pissed her off and now she'll tell him to leave his dorm, except he's not even from this state, so he'll have to live on the streets, and he'll be homeless, and his Grandpa will never know what happened to him and--

"I just want to know if there's a problem between you and that boy."

Oh. 

"Uh, no. H-he was just really loud and I couldn't study..."

She smiled at him, an actual sweet smile and wow Zenitsu couldn't help but admire her delicate beauty. "I see. Are you perhaps sensitive to sound?"

Zenitsu blinked at her. How did she know that? "Y-yes I am. How did you--"

She laughed and patted his head. "You're three rooms away from him but you spoke like you could hear everything. I know the walls are thin, but they're not that thin." She pulled her hand away and instead pulled out a pen. She took Zenitsu's hand and scribbled down a number. "If you ever need anything, or if the sounds get too much, just find my room or ask around for Shinobu and they'll lead you right to me, okay?" He nodded, attempting to ignore his burning cheeks. She patted his head once again before leaving for her own room. He looked down at his hand to see the number 209 scrawled in slanted writing.

Is it possible to be attracted to words? Because he really thinks he's about to ask this girl to marry him.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and reentered his room. He changed into pajamas and got ready for bed, but just as he rested his head on his pillow, the noises from the weird guy started up again. Zenitsu groaned, and cursed his keen hearing ability. 

Maybe if he ignores the sounds, they'll go away...

 

 

Surely the boy will get tired soon enough.

 

 

He'll stop in just a few more minutes.

 

 

Jesus Christ, he's not going to stop, is he? Zenitsu had enough of this torture, and just as he was getting out of bed to demand the boy stop whatever he's doing, his alarm went off.

And if Zenitsu cried while getting ready for the morning, well, no one was there to see it. Still crying, Zenitsu pulled on a green tracksuit and grabbed his keys and a water bottle, opened the door, and began walking down the hall to an elevator. He pretended people weren't staring at him and got inside the elevator. Just as it was about to close, a boy with maroon hair and a scar on his face walked in, and immediately began to just...stare at Zenitsu. Said boy tried not to squirm under his sharp gaze and instead focused on pressing the button for the ground floor.

"Are you sad?" the stranger asked. Zenitsu side-eyed him, and wondered if this guy was an idiot. No shit he was sad, there were tears rolling down his face.

"No, I'm not," he replied sarcastically. 

"Then why are you crying?"

Another round of just staring. "Dude, I was being sarcastic."

"I see...so then why are you sad?"

"Because I couldn't sleep all night! There was this guy making noise the entire time! I don't know how he didn't get tired, but he kept me up all night and I'm so tired--"

"Then why didn't you sleep in?" The guy asked.

Zenitsu sighed once more. "Because I have a routine; wake up, go on a thirty-minute jog, take a shower, work on any commissions, and if I don't have any, I skip to painting. It's a very delicate balance, my friend, that keeps me from having a breakdown."

"Well, sleeping is actually very important for your health. If you don't get enough sleep then your immune system will start to weaken, making you prone to diseases. It will increase your chances of getting cancer, diabetes, and even getting into car accidents. It'll also slow down your thinking, causing you to be sluggish and thus less efficient in your work. You don't want to fail your classes, do you?" 

The blond boy gave him a teasing smile, and said, "What, are you a doctor or something?"

The red-head returned the smile with a bright grin. Gosh, he almost blinded Zenitsu. What is this brilliant light? "I plan on being one, actually."

Zenitsu rolled his eyes jokingly. "Of course you are, Golden Child."

"My name is Tanjirou, actually."

"I didn't--"

"What's your name?"

Zenitsu sighed for nth time that day, mumbling out his response. "Zenitsu. Now tell me, Tanjirou, what are you doing up so early?"

Tanjirou shrugged. "I'm just going to explore the town, you know? It seems pretty cool."

"Yeah, I get that." The door to the elevator finally opened. That was a suspiciously long ride. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

"I hope so." 

The two waved to each other, and Zenitsu began his daily run after setting a timer on his phone. He let his mind wander, and found himself thinking of the boy from last night. What was he doing all night? He was extremely attractive--Zenitsu would even call him pretty--so maybe he had a girl over. Oh, but boys and girls aren't allowed to be in the same room at night, despite the dorm halls being co-ed. So then what exactly was he doing? It sounded like he was jumping around...was he jumping on the bed? That would take extreme stamina, and no one had stamina like that--

"Augh!" 

Oh my god, he just fell on his face in public, what are people going to think of him?! Zenitsu quickly got back up just as his timer went off. He stopped it, and was about to head back to the campus when he realized--

He had no idea where he was. Which is fine, he could just use his phone for directions...but of course it dies. How typical, just when he needs it, it becomes useless. Grumbling, Zenitsu shoved the device back inside his pocket and began formulating a plan for how to find his way back. He looked around, hoping to find someone he'd seen on campus. He continued to scan the crowd for a couple of minutes, trying to find anyone who may know the way back. Suddenly, he spotted a man with long hair wearing the college merch, and rushed over to him.

"Oh my god, dude--sir, do you--can you tell me how to get back to the campus. Please? I'm lost like a fucking idiot and my phone's dead, please!"

The man smiled down at him and pointed his finger in front of him. "I was just heading back, actually; you can tag along if you'd like."

Zenitsu bowed down at the man, thanking him profusely. The guy laughed him off and the two chatted a bit as they walked.

"So, what's your name?" The stranger asked.

"Zenitsu Agatsuma. What about you?" 

"Uzui Tengen, I major in fine arts," he told the blond.

"Oh, we're pretty similar then; I major in animation."

"So you want to be an animator, huh? What do you plan on animating? Cartoons?"

"Ah, no actually I want to animate for video games...I've always thought that was really cool," Zenitsu replied.

"Woah, that's awesome. That means you know computer graphics, right?"

"Yeah but it gives me a headache sometimes. I wish it was easier, but it's still really fun, you know?"

Uzui nodded his head as the two arrived back at the dorms. "So I'll see you in the art studio one day, right?" he asked.

"Probably. It was nice talking to you, Uzui, maybe we can hangout later?"

The older laughed and took out his phone. "Are you propositioning me, kid?" Zenitsu flushed deeply and hid his face in his hands.

"N-no I meant as friends!" Uzui clapped his shoulder happily, and extended his phone to the boy.

"I'm just teasing, bro. Put in your number so we can hangout." Zenitsu's face heated up once more as he dialed in his digits. After sending himself a text to make sure it worked, he shoved past the elder and ran up to his room. He slammed the door shut and banged his head against it as he silently berated himself for being an idiot. 

But hey, at least he made a friend.