Only friends?

Another idea I got from discord!

Thanks Sparkles for letting me write it!

I hope you all enjoy!

Two notes

Shinai: A wooden sword but it's more 'round' and looks more like a stick than an actual sword.

Tatami: The special floor in which one trains kendo.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.

Kimetsu School's Kendo club practice

"Alright everyone, gather up!" Rengoku, the Kendo instructor, called out.

"Hey, who are you betting for this time?"

"Yesterday Kanao won so I'm going for Tanjiro today."

"That's the safe bet."

"Because that's how it always is."

Several students murmured as they discussed who would win.

While they did, two students, both wearing the armor, the helmet held in one hand and with a shinai on their waists, moved to the middle of the tatami.

One is a boy with red hair combed back to reveal his forehead and the other is a girl with black hair tied in a side ponytail.

"Alright, same rules as always, you two ready?" Rengoku called out happily.

"Yes!" The two answered.

"Let's do our best, Kanao."

"Yes, Tanjiro."

The two smiled, put on the helmets and unsheathed their weapons.

"Ready? Begin!"

With the order given, the two lunged at each other and began to exchange blows.

This had become a tradition of the male and female kendo clubs since they joined.

A year ago.

"I'm Kamado Tanjiro, nice to meet you!" Tanjiro introduced himself to the instructor when he went to his first practice.

"Hm! I like your enthusiasm! I'm the instructor Rengoku Kyojuro, welcome to the Kendo Club Kamado, my boy!" He answered with a nod. "Do you have any prior experience?"

"Yes! I was part of the kendo club in middle school." Tanjiro answered.

"I see, alright, we have both a male and female club, I coach both of them and the trainings are all done together. The first day we have the new members have a duel against other new members at the end of practice, make sure to save some strength for it and not get burnout during normal training."

"Yes!"

With that, Tanjiro went to change into the kendo uniform and grabbed a shinai before coming back into the tatami.

"Ah, Kanao!" And spotting a familiar face.

"Tanjiro, good afternoon." The girl, Kanao, answered with a smile.

"Hm? You know each other?" Rengoku, who heard the exchange, asked.

"Yes, we've known each other since we were little." The Kamado answered.

"Our houses are next to each other." Kanao added.

"I see… Tsuyuri, correct?"

"Yes."

"You mentioned you've trained kendo before too, right?"

"I've been training at least as long as Tanjiro has." She answered.

"We both joined the kendo clubs in our previous school and trained with each other daily."

"Oh, would you two mind having a spar at the end of the day? I'm sure it would serve to see how good you really are if you face someone you've trained with for so long."

"I don't mind; Kanao?"

"I don't have a problem with that."

"Great!" Kyojuro exclaimed with a nod. "That will be at the end of the day, though, for now, start with the practice."

"Yes!" The two nodded and went to do just that.

Back to the present.

Ever since their first duel, which had everyone staring at them in astonishment, Tanjiro and Kanao having a spar at the end of each session had become something of a tradition.

It's not that anyone asked them to repeat it but the two always seek each other after training to spar; it was only the two of them at first, since almost everyone else had left by the time, but the few that stayed watched and told others about it.

It wasn't long before the entire kendo club, and even some people that are not members, had come to watch.

There was even a betting pool going on about who would win each day, although most people always put their money on whoever had lost the previous one.

For some reason, neither of them ever got two wins in a row.

If Kanao won one day, it was an almost guarantee that Tanjiro would win the next one; the only exceptions to this rule were the very rare draws, and those truly never happened twice in a row; the person who lost last wins the next time after a draw, every time.

Some people had even began to think the two were losing on purpose but anyone who thought that was quickly brought out of such thoughts when they saw them fight.

There was no way they could fake a loss that well.

"Stop!" Rengoku called out before another exchange could begin. "I'm afraid we're out of time, today's match ends in a draw."

"Wha- Really?!"

"I knew I should have bet on a draw today!"

Some more murmurs were heard but Tanjiro and Kanao ignored them as they worked on getting their breaths under control.

"Great match, Kanao." Tanjiro said with a smile after taking off his helmet.

"Likewise." The Tsuyuri answered, also smiling.

"Alright, everyone hit the showers, great work today!"

.

.

At the school gate

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tanjiro." Kanao said as she walked to him, wearing her school uniform and her hair slightly damped.

"Don't worry, shall we?" The Kamado answered.

The two then walked home together as they talked about their day.

The next day, classroom during lunch

"Wahh… why did this happen to me?"

"Cheer up Zenitsu." Tanjiro said, trying to get his friend out of his sour mood.

"Why is it that I can never get a girlfriend? Is there something wrong with me?"

"Of course there is, Monitsu."

"I don't want to hear that from you, stupid pig!" The blond yelled.

"What did you call me?! Are you looking for a fight?!"

"You two, calm down!" The Kamado got in the middle, trying to stop them from fighting, which he managed by giving Inosuke some bread he had brought from his home. "Don't worry Zenitsu, if you live honestly then I'm sure you find someone one day."

"Easy for you to say, you goody-goody forehead." The blond said through gritted teeth. "Not all of us is lucky enough to have a girlfriend, okay?!"

"Eh…? What do you mean? I don't have a girlfriend."

"He refers to Kanao." Genya chimed in, too used to the other two's antics to let it bother him.

"Wha… again with this, she is my childhood friend."

"Yeah, right!" Zenitsu scoffed.

"Oi, give me that Zenitsu." Inosuke demanded, already moving to grab some of the blonde's lunch.

"No!" He quickly moved his lunch away. "This is my food!"

The two then began another argument while Inosuke tried to get Zenitsu is food from him.

"They're gonna end up hungry if they keep arguing instead of eating." Tanjiro thought out loud, knowing that once they begin you only end up dragged into the argument if you try to stop them. "I really wish Zenitsu would stop saying that Kanao is my girlfriend."

"Isn't she, though?"

"Not you too, Genya." The Kamado said.

"No, I'm serious." He answered. "You two are in different classes and you usually eat lunch with us but in any other situation, you two are together; maybe with some of our group as well but you two are still always together in the same place." The black haired teen explained. "You always make it a point to include her, almost every story of your childhood includes her and you literally can't stop listing her, in your own words, 'many great qualities' or things you have noticed about her."

"That's…" The red haired teen trailed off, not having any way of answering.

"Look, I'm not going to give you a hard time about it but answer me this, can you really tell me that you never thought about Kanao being your girlfriend?"

"…" Tanjiro simply blushed and looked away.

"Guess I have my answer."

After school, Kamado household.

"Nezuko, do you have a minute?" Tanjiro asked, knocking on the door of his sister's room.

"Sure, come in." She answered and he did as told, seeing Nezuko sitting at a table in the middle of her room and doing what looked like homework. "I'm almost done, what's up?"

"…" Tanjiro just sat at the table, completely silent.

"Onii-chan?"

"…I like Kanao." He said, his face completely serious.

…

FWOOM

Nezuko literally threw her books from the table, something much more important just came up.

"Really?!"

"Yes." The Kamado answered.

"That's great! I always thought you two would be great together, oh, when do you plan on telling her-?!"

"That's just it." Tanjiro interrupted. "I'm not sure if I should tell her."

"Why not?" She asked, puzzled.

"We've been friends since forever, if I tell her and she doesn't feel the same then it would just be awkward between us." He answered, letting his head rest on the table. "You know her almost as well as I do so… I was wondering if you would know if I at least have a chance."

"That's… hmm…" The younger Kamado frowned in thought. "It's… hard to say."

"What do you mean?"

"When we talk and you come up in the conversation for whatever reason, she doesn't look like she has any problem talking about you, she has even sung your praises to me and Aoi-san many times; her eyes always seem to shine when talking about you." That bit of info brought a smile and a blush to Tanjiro's face. "But when anyone mentions you two together she… I mean, she blushes and looks flustered but… I'm not sure if that's because she would like that or it's just that the comment surprises her."

"I see…"

"I think you may need to take a leap of faith on this." Nezuko suggested.

"But I don't want to ruin my friendship with her, I'd prefer if things stay the same over losing her." Tanjiro countered.

"I can understand that too…" Nezuko nodded before smiling widely. "But it will be okay!"

"Huh?"

"You two have been friends for years! Sure, if she doesn't feel the same then it will be kind of awkward for a while but I'm sure things will get back to normal eventually!"

"You really think that?"

"I do." She nodded. "You care about each other far too much to stop seeing each other."

"…hehe, what did I do to deserve such a great little sister?" Tanjiro said with a chuckle as he reached over and patted her head.

"Maybe the same thing I did to deserve such a great big brother!" Nezuko answered with a giggle as she let him pat her head.

"Thanks Nezuko, I'll let you get back to your homework."

"Do your best, Onii-chan!"

The next day, before school.

Tanjiro waited outside Kanao's house for the two to go together; Nezuko would usually go with them but she had went ahead to give the two some time alone.

"Good morning." Kanao greeted him as she exited her home.

"Morning." The red haired teen answered as the two began to walk side by side.

They were talking like normal, which Tanjiro appreciated since he still wasn't sure how to confess to her; he knows Nezuko is right and he can only do it and hope for the best but that doesn't mean he will suddenly not be nervous about it.

"Hm… is something wrong, Kanao?" But before he could even ponder on that any longer, he noticed she kept glancing backwards.

"Well… do you see that boy that's following us?" She discretely motioned to a boy about their age with bleached blond hair, wearing the uniform of Kimetsu High.

"What about him?"

"He… asked me out a couple of days ago." She revealed with a slight blush. "I rejected him but… I've been seeing him around a lot since then and he keeps trying to ask me to places."

Tanjiro frowned at hearing that, noticing how uncomfortable she looked.

"I'm going to talk to him-"

"Wait, no!" Kanao quickly grabbed his hand to stop him before he even turned around. "I don't want to cause a scene and he does go away when I say no… eventually."

"…alright." The Kamado relented. "But please let me know if something happens, I don't like to see you upset."

The Tsuyuri smiled at him and nodded.

"I will, thank you."

"Anytime." Tanjiro gave her a reassuring smile.

"Ah!" Kanao suddenly yelped, noticing she was still holding his hand and letting go of it. "Sorry."

"It's okay, I don't mind." He assured her. 'The opposite actually.' That thought made him blush but he shook his head to get rid of it.

The rest of their walk to school was uneventful.

After school.

Tanjiro and Kanao had just left school together after club practice.

"Are you okay, Kanao? You didn't seem focused today." The red haired teen asked worriedly.

"It's… it's about what we talked this morning…" She confessed.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell the school about it? Or at least confront that guy?" The Kamado asked worriedly.

"I don't know…"

"I see… do you want to go to the park? It may help to get your mind off it." The Kamado proposed. "I can help you decide what to do if you want."

The Tsuyuri smiled widely at him, making his heart skip a beat.

"I'd like that, thank you."

"Don't mention it." He answered, quickly looking forward to hide his blush.

At the park.

The two had just ate an ice cream and were sitting in a bench, the people around doing their thing as they talked.

"I really don't know what to do." Kanao admitted. "I told him I'm not interested but he keeps insisting… it's creeping me out if I'm honest."

"Hmm…" Tanjiro frowned, doing his best to keep the anger he felt at that guy for making Kanao feel like that and focus on helping her out. "Maybe we should tell a teacher."

"Ah, Tsuyuri-san!" Their conversation got interrupted when that guy with bleached hair appeared. "I thought that was you." He approached the two and they both got up from the bench.

"Can I help you with something?" Kanao asked politely.

"I know this great restaurant that I think you'd love as well, I saw you and wanted to invite you." He answered, taking another step towards the girl with the butterfly ornament. "Come on, let's go."

"I'm not interested." She answered.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll love it." He took another step and moved a hand to her wrist. "Just come with me and-" Before he could touch her, Tanjiro grabbed his arm with his right hand, using his left arm to pull Kanao closer to him.

"I don't appreciate people making my girlfriend upset." The red haired teen said with a mostly neutral expression, the glare in his red eyes being the only giveaway as to how mad he really was.

"Wha- who the hell-agh!"

Tanjiro put more pressure in his grip, making the other male let out a yelp of pain.

"She said she is not interested, leave her alone." Tanjiro ordered before letting go of his arm.

"Y-you… grr." The teen growled and ran away while massaging his arm.

"Hmph, that should get him to leave you alone." Tanjiro huffed.

"Hmm… Tanjiro…" Kanao called out in a whisper, making him look at her.

His face immediately exploded in a blush when he noticed he was still hugging her with his left arm and how close their faces were.

"S-sorry!" He apologized, letting go of her.

"I-It's okay…" She assured him, her face also red. "Tanjiro… why did you say I was your girlfriend?"

"Ah, th-that's… I thought that if he thought you were already seeing someone he would leave you alone." The Kamado answered with a stutter. "No… sorry, that wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either."

"Tanjiro?"

"I like you, Kanao, more than as a friend I mean." He confessed. "When you mentioned that someone asked you out I… I was upset, just the thought of you with someone else is… sorry, you don't need this right now."

"N-no!" Kanao suddenly yelled, surprising the Kamado. "I… I like you too."

"…really?"

Kanao simply nodded.

Tanjiro is pretty sure that he had the biggest smile ever on his face at hearing those words and he couldn't stop himself from hugging her-

The Tsuyuri yelped in surprise but quickly hugged him back.

"Would you be my girlfriend Kanao?" He knew the answer, of course, but wanted to make it official.

"Yes!"

The two moved their heads back to look at each other in the eye, then began to move closer.

"Oh, my~" At the sudden voice, Kanao pulled away. "Oh, my apologies, it seems I ruined the moment."

The two then became aware of their surroundings once more; it seems the earlier exchange had drawn a lot of attention since almost everyone in the park was now looking at the two.

"Come on folks, let's give them some privacy." Someone else said, urging everyone to go back to their own business.

Tanjiro and Kanao stood in place, blushing like tomatoes, until everyone seemed to have gone away.

"S-sorry about that… I just got embarrassed when I noticed all the people around." The Tsuyuri said with a stutter.

"N-no, it's okay, I get it."

"L-let's go home."

"Y-yeah." The Kamado agreed and the two grabbed their things. "Um, Kanao."

"Yes?"

Tanjiro moved his hand and gently grabbed hers.

Kanao smiled, although still not looking at him, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze before moving a bit closer.

The two walked back to their homes like that.

Outside Kanao's house.

"We're here." Tanjiro said, still holding Kanao's hand.

"See you tomorrow." She smiled and walked towards her home but Tanjiro was still holding onto her hand. "Tanjiro?"

"Kanao… there is no people around here." He said with a gulp, looking straight into her eyes and moving a bit closer. "Is it okay?"

"…um." She nodded shyly, also moving closer.

Tanjiro moved his free hand to her cheek and slowly moved closer until their lips touched.

A few seconds later, they separated.

"See you tomorrow." Tanjiro said this time.

"Yes." Although she was still blushing, the smile she dedicated him was one of the brightest the red haired teen had seen.

The Tsuyuri turned around and entered her home, not before waving at him from the door before she closed it.

Tanjiro waited until she was in her home to begin to walk to his own.

A large grin plastered on his face.

Alright,done.

Thanks again to Sparkles for sharing the idea on Discord and letting me write it!

As always, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment.

Until next time.