How to scare

Welcome to another one-shot!

Theme for day 17 is 'Haunted House'

I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to be able to write for this one, I couldn't come up with something… until I did, haha.

Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.

Tsuyuri Kanao let out a sigh as she let her body fall on top of her school desk.

"What's wrong, Kanao?" Tanjiro asked her, sitting in a desk in front of hers.

"Do you remember how Kanae-nee-san asked me to work on a haunted house for Halloween?"

"Yes."

"I ended up accepting but…" She trailed off and let out another sigh.

"But?"

"I need to scare people that go in… but I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that."

"I see…" Tanjiro trailed off and frowned in thought. "Do you want to meet after school and try to come up with something?"

"I'd like that, thank you." Kanao smiled at him.

After school.

Tanjiro and Kanao went to Aoi's restaurant to think while they ate.

"So, what exactly does Kanae-san want you to do?" The Kamado asked as they waited for their food.

"I'm going to be a ghost that appears near the mid-way point and scares people into following the path." She answered. "I've been practicing with some people that are testing the house this past week but I haven't managed to scare them, they say my attempts at scaring them are too 'plain'."

"Well, if they know they're supposed to be scared then it's no surprise that they don't get scared." Tanjiro mentioned.

"No, I know that, but it's like… specifically with me, they don't get scared." Kanao explained.

"Hmm, I see..." He muttered with a frown. "Well, how do you try to scare them?"

"I put on a white robe and some make-up to make me look more 'ghostly', then when someone walks in I jump and make ghostly sounds to make them go where they're supposed to."

"That sounds like it should be effective enough."

"I thought the same but it doesn't work." Kanao let out a sigh. "Aoi came by to test it yesterday and told me that I'm too… 'boring? Like, the way I appear and make sounds is so textbook haunted house that she could tell exactly when I was going to try to scare her."

"Aoi-san certainly doesn't mince words." Tanjiro chuckled, earning a giggle from Kanao.

"Hehe, she really doesn't, I like that about her."

"Same, but going back to you scaring people… maybe you should try to make it less obvious when you're gonna appear. Like, use something to make a sound in one place and then appear from another one."

"Hmm, maybe…" The purple eyed girl trailed off in thought. "Ne, Tanjiro, if I had to scare you how do you think I could do it?"

"Me? Well…" Tanjiro trailed off as he thought but, after around a minute, he simply sighed and offered a small smile. "Sorry Kanao, it's just… I can't be scared of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I love being with you so I just can't imagine myself being scared by something you do." He explained while scratching his cheek with his index finger and a small blush.

"I-I see." Kanao blushed at his words and looked down.

"Here is your order." Aoi said, quickly leaving the food down on the table and going to take another client's order.

"Well, let's eat, we can think more once we have a full stomach."

"Yes."

"Thanks for the food." The two said in unison.

…

"That was delicious." Kanao said with a smile after wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"It was." Tanjiro nodded. "Oh, and I think I got an idea that could help you."

"What is it?"

"You see, instead of trying to make yourself scarier, how about making the place scarier?"

"Oh, like, make it so there is mist or something?"

"Yeah, that, I don't know if it's possible but making your voice sound from different places could help as well."

"I think… I still have my old cellphone, if I use that one and my current one, record my voice or some scary noises and make them play at certain points."

"That's great!" The red eyed teen exclaimed.

"I'll have to ask Kanae-nee-san if it's possible but it should work."

"Let's go ask her, I'm sure she'll agree."

Kanao nodded and the two paid for their meal before leaving towards Kanao's home.

Luckily, Kanae was very happy with the idea, the mist thing wasn't really possible but they found a good alternative in preparing a few lights that could be turned on and off on a timer to make shadows appear in certain places.

There was luckily no issue with the phone idea, only real problem would be that it may not be as loud as necessary but that was easily solved with a pair of loudspeakers.

The next day.

"Kanae-nee-san said that everything should be ready about three days before we have to open." Kanao said to Tanjiro as the two walked home from school.

"That's great, you'll have a bit of time to try it out too." The Kamado said happily. "I'll make sure to go see it once it's ready."

"But you said that you couldn't get scared from me." Kanao mentioned.

"That doesn't mean I can't go to see you."

"Hehe, true." She let out a giggle making Tanjiro's smile widen. "…hmm."

"What?"

Suddenly, Kanao stood on her tiptoes and kissed Tanjiro's cheek.

"Eh?" Tanjiro blinked a few times before moving his hand to the spot Kanao just kissed.

"I may not be able to scare you… but I can surprise you, can't I?" The Tsuyuri let out a giggle.

Tanjiro soon chuckled along.

"True." He moved in front of her and pecked her on the lips.

"Hm?!"

"I could say the same." Tanjiro whispered, gently resting his forehead against hers.

The two smiled before closing the distance and sharing another kiss.

Phew, alright, pulled an all-nighter to finish this.

WORTH IT!

I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave a comment~

Until next time.