title: springtime love

genre: romance, hurt/comfort

pairing: Kanao/Tanjiro

notes: I wrote in my other fic that Tanjiro called Kanao his springtime love, and I stand by that statement. I want to read/write more for this pairing, but ZenNezu has my heart right now.

When spring came, Tanjiro gifted her a bouquet of tsubaki and sumire.

They were springtime flowers, not unseasonal, not rare, but beautifully arranged and bound together with a ribbon Nezuko might have otherwise used for her hair. It was a lovely set. The scent of them blossomed beautifully under her keen eye, no spots or browning on a single petal.

It was a dewy morning, the kind that only come in early spring, chilly mornings that give way to warm afternoons. The sun was just cresting over the woods that dominated the back of the Butterfly Mansion; the sky was the color sunrise orange with pale tendrils of blue and purple. The cool prickled her skin with goosebumps.

Tanjiro seemed to be noting the training grounds too. Eyes skipping anywhere but her face after handing her the flowers. The realization made her toes curl.

"These are for . . . me?" She asked, looking from the riotous beauty of the flowers to Tanjiro. He had a bit of a tussled quality to him, as if he had just come back from training. The skin of his neck was pink with exertion; sweat dampened his training shirt from where it stuck to his back and opened at the front. She herself had just finished her morning training; her hair still wet from her bath.

"Or?" The dip in her inclination seemed to spark panic in him.

"Oh, no. No! They're for you, of course! I—" His eyes cut away, brown with a hint red that turned them amber in the rising light. His ears darkened at the tips. "They're for you. I got them for you."

"Oh," she said, surprised by the quiver in her own voice, "I, uh, why?"

Tanjiro's ears were very pink now. "Why?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, uh," Tanjiro looked nervous.

Tanjiro, who had fought demons and Upper Moons, Pillars and the very laws that defined their world, looked nervous. Kanao was jarred. She was not quite sure why she even asked, but it seemed fitting, a natural step. He gave her flowers. She wanted to know why. There had to be an underscore, some context she might be missing, but she needed to know, blatantly, or it might slip through her fingers.

She couldn't sit across from him at breakfast without knowing.

"Well, I saw them and I thought of you—or, well." He twisted his heel in the dirt. "Not that you look like a flower, but I saw them and I thought you might like them. Don't boys give girls flowers?" He looked at her, eyes beseeching.

Normal girls might get flowers, yes. She thought, though she could not be sure. She had not been normal in any sense, ever. She had seen such exchanges though, Kanae used to receive flowers en masse at the Mansion, from Pillars to Kakushi, everyone had been transfixed by her gentle beauty and calm manner. Shinobu had too, for a time.

Not her though.

Her fingers twisted the edge of the ribbon, needing something between her fingers.

Kanae had always speculated that someday someone would come around and break down her walls. She had not agreed with the notion the older she got. She had not wanted to change, or be changed, or let another person have such influence over her life. She was who she was because it helped her to survive passed childhood.

No. She would never tolerate anyone breaking down her walls and changing her.

She had known the kindness of the Kocho sisters. She had a life out of the slums and pride to her name. That was enough.

Still, she found herself stepping down from the walkway to stand beside Tanjiro. It struck her then, that they had been standing here together before, when he left on the train mission, when he took Kanae's coin and tossed it higher than she ever had.

She thought he cheated at first.

How dare he try to change her?

Tanjiro had come into her life, unpreceded by a coin toss or order from her Master, and he had—not broken, not plowed—but shifted something in her. Something crucial. And, he had done it so gently she had not noticed until it was already happening.

It was gradual, like all monumental things, like the shift from winter to spring. His presence in her life. Her smiles she lost count of. The instances like glances, conversations, injuries that made those feelings wheedle into her heart like seeds through soil.

He had grown taller since the train mission. Bigger, in general, especially around the shoulders.

Tanjiro was looking down at the bouquet in her hands, cheeks darkening like his ears and neck.

She was surprised to think he looked cute like that.

"Thank you," she said, clutching the flowers tighter to her chest. She would need to put them down. Put them down, or put them aside if she really wanted to.

In her mind, a coin tossed. Heads over tails, tails over heads. Her stomach clenched with butterflies and the nerves that worked their way into her voice. "I-I really like them."

Tanjiro looked at her then, and smiled. That all bright sunshine grin that could melt ice with its rays.

It was all she needed before she leaned forward and kissed him. On the cheek, because she was nervous. However, once she pulled away, too quick, too fast. Tanjiro's eyes were wide.

His smile had gone. His lips parted.

Kanao felt a knock of anxiety lodge in her throat.

"I, uh, I'm sor—" Tanjiro closed the space between them and pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth. The two of them were frozen for a moment, too nervous and inexperienced to do much more, but the heat from Tanjiro's skin seemed to rub off on her, leaving her rosy and light.

She thought she might burst.

"I'm happy you like them." Tanjiro said, eyes lowering to the flowers crushed between them. He had taken a step back, but he was holding her hand now, which was nice. Their fingers interlocked, palm to palm. His palms had thick callouses like hers, working hands, hands of dedication.

"I like them a lot," she admitted, unable to stop herself.

"I like them too."

Neither of them were talking about the flowers.

and my 3rd kny fic!

i've been kinda obsessed with ZenNezu lately, but these two are a nice change of pace. they're less angsty. but, if you're into angst, feel free to check out my ZenNezu fics.

i'm not a fluffy person. i wish i could, but unfortunately, i have a brand. angst and adventure and neck-breaking romance is more my speed, and, if i'm being honest, "Kiwi" by Harry Styles actually feels like a KanTan song to me too. might try something with that if the mood takes me.

i'm thinking my next victims might be repeat offenders ZenNezu, or even Kanae and Sanemi because i saw that man and my brain went, "is anyone gonna eat that?"

song(s): Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson & Love Scenario by iKON

- cafeanna