First and foremost I wanted to thank everyone who supported me via reading, commenting, and/or giving this story a like! I really appreciate it all and I hope I can continue to entertain!

Secondly I wanted to try and get a Saturday Upload schedule so please enjoy this Chapter!

"You're late!"

The stern voice broke Tanjiro's concentration and the poor boy jumped in his seat.

"Wow, jumpy tonight are we?"

"Good evening, Dr. Kanzaki." His voice was kind as he wiped the tears away, sobering himself and putting on a brave front with a smile. "I hope your shift hasn't been too hard on you today."

The doctor scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I already told you to just call me Aoi." She said and returned his kind smile with one of her own. "You're normally not late. Did something happen on your way here?"

He thought about the eventful time he had at the dojo and smiled. "I just made a few friends is all."

"Tanjiro-Kun!" She spoke with genuine excitement. "That's great! I'm glad you're allowing yourself time to heal and enjoy your time outside of the Hospital. It's important to focus on your own health as well as hers."

"You still ignored my question." Tanjiro pointed out and the doctor groaned.

"Same old same old." She said and grabbed one of the spare chairs, dragging it to the other side of Nezuko's bed, and sat down, exhausted. "I understand this is my first year as a resident but I just wished they didn't start pushing their workload onto me. Seniority really sucks." She muttered and sighed.

Looking at the new flowers in the vase brought another smile to Aoi's lips, blue eyes filled with life once more.

"I see you went by my cousin's shop again. I'm glad you enjoy their products but make sure to not financially stress yourself out. Replacing the flowers every day isn't going to change much." Her voice was stern like a parent scolding their child out of care and love.

Tanjiro's eyes fell and his entire demeanor crumbled in front of his friend. "I just want her to have fresh flowers for when she wakes up. I want her to enjoy the beautiful scents and just… Just something else other than this room." he cried softly, resting his forehead against Nezuko's bed, her hand still in his.

Aoi's expression softened once again, saying nothing more. The room was filled with the quiet sobs of her friend and the repetitive beeping of the machines connected to the comatosed girl.

The Doctor stood up and slowly made her way to the young man once his sobbing calmed down and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a firm, comforting squeeze. "I have to get back to work now. It's always a pleasure to see you. Make sure you take care of yourself too, Tanjiro-kun."

"Thank you Aoi-San."

She gave him one last squeeze before fleeing from the room, her entire presence becoming that of a confident Doctor, leaving Tanjiro alone with his practically lifeless sister.

Tanjiro woke up slowly to the white ceiling of his tiny 1R apartment as his alarm blared off from his phone. Groggily rubbing his eyes, wishing he could sleep for longer from how late he had stayed up working on his essay, and sits up, fighting the desperate need to lay back down onto his comfortable futon.

The morning was a blur as he moved his groggy body to shower and get ready for work. How long had he slept? 3 hours? Maybe 4? He wasn't sure, he just knew that by the time that he went to bed sunlight was shining through the cracks of his closed curtains.

Yawning into the back of his hand the sleep deprived boy left his apartment, slowly adjusting to the brightness of the sunlight, before allowing it to help relieve the drowsiness from his body; it's warm rays feeling like a hug he has longed to receive for so long.

His work wasn't that far away. Simply down the street. He would work for a few hours to help with income and then the rest of the day was for school work and Nezuko. The full time university schedule was killing him but he was already close to getting his Bachelors. Maybe a few more semesters and he'll be out.

He needed to get out. He needed to escape the stress that engulfed his entire being. He needed his sister to wake up, to find a better life, to make more money, to get therapy. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. If his sister were to die tomorrow he was sure the heartbreak would kill him on the spot.

He didn't know how much longer he had the energy for this continuous battle against forces trying to drag him further and further into hell.

Tanjiro closed his notebook and sighed at the strenuous information that was shoved into him by his professor. At least it was the last class of the day and he could enjoy the weekend of homework, working, and Nezuko. He felt a darkness overwhelming his heart as he tilted his head back and looked up at the square paneling of the classroom ceiling, not really focusing on any one in particular, his mouth frowning. The stress of it all was eating away at him. Sure, it was bad before, but throwing full time college into the mix just made everything harder, and while he didn't complain about public transportation having to rely on it didn't help either.

Was he going to cry? He might as well. That's all he seemed to be capable of doing as of late.

Genya's face leaned over and he stared down at the sulking boy with a puzzling expression.

"Get up lazy ass. I thought you wanted to join the Dojo." He said and stood back up straight. "I'm not waiting around for you so either you hurry up or you figure out how to get back on your own."

As per usual, the taller of the two already started to head out the classroom but the idea of being at the Dojo gave him a sense of excitement and it helped suppress his most inner demons, even if only for a short time. Standing up quickly he scurried after his classmate.

"I don't want you to have to come back and get your bike" Tanjiro said apologetically. Maybe that's what he should do. Getting a good quality bike would help him commute faster instead of walking from location to train stop. As they left the building he mindlessly followed Genya out to the parking lot. "I can take the bus and meet you there. I'll be a little late but hopefully there will be en-"

A yellow helmet with black accents was shoved into Tanjiro's hands suddenly, cutting him off. He studied the heavy item and looked over to see… A motorcycle?!

"This is your bike?!" He asked, flabbergasted. He was expecting a simple bicycle, not this!

"Uhh.. Yeah?" Genya spoke, looking annoyed at his surprised acquaintance, before putting his own black helmet on his head and getting onto the motorcycle. "Hurry up and get on." His voice was a bit muffled.

Tanjiro sat down on the motorcycle behind his tall classmate and awkwardly put the helmet on, clicking the buckle in place. "I don't know what I'm doing!" he yelled out, panic in his voice.

"Just hold on!" Genya snapped and started the engine. The static machine came to life with a low growl, vibrating under the red head. He wrapped his arms around the black haired male and away they went.

Tanjiro was going fast. Too fast. They were going to crash! They were going to hurt someone else! He was going to accidentally let go and be flung away! Anxiety and panic filled him. He raised his head a bit to look at what it was like in front of the motorcycle and his eyes widened.

The speed, the air, the thrill. Feeling how the motorcycle moved and weaved around like it was water rushing down a river, it felt so natural, so beautiful, his adrenalyn kicking in and he smiled at the sensation. This was amazing! For a moment his entire being was stripped away from all worry and darkness and filled with the freeing sensation of his weightless body moving through the world.

He let out a cry of excitement as his lungs filled with what felt like pure life.

"This is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad this is-"

Zenitsu stumbled around his home looking for his helmet, continuously mumbling to himself, but he couldn't find it anywhere. What had happened to it? Was it taken? Did he lose it? He started to really panic. If he lost his helmet his Ojii-Sama was going to kill him. He could already imagine the angry glare in his piercing eyes. Shit, what should he do? Inosuke and Genya weren't here yet so how could it have gone missing?

He fell to his knees and whimpered, tearing up. If he wasn't able to ride anymore due to this…

A motorcycle engine filled the air before it finally died out abruptly. Inosuke? Genya? It has to be one of them!

Zenitsu ran out of his home, crying, as he made his way to see who arrived.

"Genya!" He cried. "I can't find my helmet anywhere! I don't k-"

His eyes landed on the other person wearing… His helmet?!

"What the fuck is this shit?!" He asked in an angry shrill.

"Oh shut up!" Genya snapped back. "I stopped by and picked it up while you were passed out! What's the big deal you weren't going to use it anyways!" He scoffed.

"That's not the point!"

The helmet came off and Tanjiro's red face was underneath it, shaking from the adrenalyn and excitement, his eyes wide, his mouth a huge grin.

"That was amazing!" He exclaimed

Zenitsu sat on the ground and groaned into his knees. He was upset but seeing their new friend happy over the experience helped subdue the inner anger. Now he just felt tired again.

"Oh, my god, okay! Fine!" Genya groaned and shoved the helmet back into Zenitsu's hands. "I'll ask next time, alright?"

Inosuke was right behind them riding in on a blue motorcycle, his helmet having so many animalistic designs and stickers on it. Taking it off he squinted at the scene of Genya looking like an exasperated kindergarten teacher while one student was hyped up on sugar and the other was having a tantrum in his knees.

"What the hell happened while I was gone?"

Zenitsu sat on the sidelines with Genya and Kuwajima Sensei still sniffling at the situation that had happened earlier.

On the floor was Tanjiro and Inosuke respectively awaiting instructions to start their match. This one would be hand to hand combat using whichever moved the individual decided to use.

"Beat his ass!" Genya hollered out. To who? No one knew.

The silence grew heavy between the two young men and they stared intently at one another.

"I'm going to fuck your shit up" Inosuke cackled with an animalistic grin.

"Begin!"

Inosuke was the first to attack. Instead of waiting on the defense he moved quickly and extended his arms, crouching, to get an attack out. Tanjiro jumped back, startled at the change in pace. He looked over at Kuwajima Sensei to see if this was somehow against the match rules but nothing came forth from the old man. He simply watched.

Shit. This is bad. He was taking this as a normal match one would expect in the professional field but what he walked into was a situation where all bets were off.

He dodged a few more of Inozuke's low attacks before the taller of the two was able to hit Tanjiro's ankle, knocking him back unexpectedly, and the initiator used this to his advantage by grabbing the red head's ankle and knocking him onto his back. Pinning the younger male down onto his back, Inosuke laughed with a confidence most wouldn't be able to match.

"I told you, didn't I? I was going to fuck you up!" He cackled.

Tanjiro yelled out in frustration, the green orbs of the man on top of him boring holes into his own red ones. Even with the limited movement Tanjiro forced his head up as hard as he could connecting his forehead with Inosuke's face. Fine. If they were going to fight dirty then he would fight dirty.

"What the fuck?!" The man exclaimed and sat up as blood poured out from his nose.

Before he could react Tanjiro was able to bring one knee to his chest and, pressing the sole of his foot against Inosuke's diaphragm, kicked him off with enough force to move him to barely slip out from under his grasp.

"Oh that's it! This is not over!" The man growled at Tanjiro.

"Yes it is!" Tanjiro yelled back and rushed up to Inosuke. The latter crouched and threw a fist but the offender was able to dodge it just enough while still feeling the knuckles graze against his cheek and wrap his own arms around Inosuke's forearm. Twisting his body quickly so his back was facing his opponents front Tanjiro used it to support the extra body weight. With all his strength he flung Inosuke over his shoulder and roughly onto his back.

The man let out a horrible grunt as he felt the pain seeping through his entire body. Cackling, he started to sit up but before he was able to say anything Tanjiro was on him instantly. He grabbed the arm that was beginning to extend out and slid his body onto the ground, holding Inosuke's arm flat against his own chest, gripping onto the thumb to prevent him from movement, and wrapped his legs up his upper torso and around his his shoulders locking Inosuke's head against his shoulder.

He tried to speak but nothing was coming out. The strength of Tanjiro's thigh muscles holding him in place. With a harsh grunt and his face flushing red from lack of oxygen Inosuke finally patted Tanjiro's outer thigh, accepting defeat.

With no hesitation Tanjiro relaxed his legs and Inosuke let in a sharp gasp for air, his breathing raspy and he coughed a bit, blood still dripping from his nose. Letting go of his opponent's arm the expected winner stood up and extended his own down for Inosuke to help him up.

The green eyes of the loser looked up at Tanjiro and sighed, accepting his extended hand, and once he got up kicked the unsuspecting winner down onto the ground but onto his stomach, hitting his chin hard and breathed in sharply from the pain, his teeth hurting from the force of them slamming into each other. "Ino-" He tried to get up but was caught off when he felt the larger males body roughly pin him against the ground and knocked the wind out of his lungs.

Inosuke wrapped his own legs around Tanjiro's to prevent him from moving and forced his arms against his back with a strong hand. "Got ya, ya little shit! Thought you could defeat me?! I'm the most powerful one of us here!" He said and cackled, once again, against his captor.

"What the hell!?" Tanjiro yelled out once he regained his breathing. He struggled, but nothing was happening. He really was stuck.

"That's enough. Inosuke wins!"

Kuwajima's voice rang through the Dojo and Inosuke released Tanjiro from his hold. The new loser shakingly got on his hands and knees and looked at the Sensei with an expression of betrayal, his chin throbbing from the pain as a bruise began to form.

"Why? I got him. He patted my leg to show that he was giving up!" He exclaimed, a feeling of frustration building up within his chest.

"Young Tanjiro." The Sensei started. "I don't train people to be good at playing around with their friends. I teach you how to defeat others and use those strengths to take down an opponent that's trying to take your own life. If you wanted someone to kiss your ass and hold your hand then be my guest, the door is right there, but in a real world situation if someone attempts to take your life and you release them without knocking them out or killing them first then you're dead." He spoke truth and experience with every single word that came out of his mouth and the young man lowered his head and stared down at the sleek floor below him.

He felt like giving up. He was supposed to prove himself and instead he lost. He felt the hot tears welling up in his eyes once again. His throat felt like it was closing up as he stifled a sob.

"We do training every Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday morning. If you don't show up for my training or if you're late, then you will no longer have a reason to show up." The Sensei spoke with a harsh but amused tone. "If you have work these days then figure it out, otherwise don't come if you aren't going to take this seriously."

With that the sensei got up and started to leave.

"Wait!" Tanjiro called out after him and the old man turned to see what it was he was called for. "So... Does that mean I made it?"

Kuwajima Sensei gave a genuine laugh. "If you ask me any more stupid questions I'll hang you on one of my trees and watch you flail around until you learn your lesson."

"Owww…"

Tanjiro whimpered as he slowly placed an ice pack on his chin. A gnarly bruise had formed there and he wasn't looking forward to the medical staff questioning him about it later that night.

"Hah! Sorry for wrecking your ass out there Tontaro! I guess you should've tried harder!" Inosuke cackled and somehow it made Tonjaro's pain worse.

"Why do you keep messing up my name? It's Tanjiro! Ta-n-ji-ro!" He enunciated, anger beginning to boil up within.

"Just stop." Genya spoke sternly at Tanjiro which made him shrink in his seat. The four of them were back sitting at the kotatsu like last time. Unlike last time, though, there was simple plain onigiri that Zenitsu had whipped up quickly for the group.

"Tanjiro.." Zenitsu spoke up and smiled kindly. "Please understand that he has a good reason. I know he's an annoying pig but-"

"Fuck you!"

"Shut up!" Genya snapped.

Tanjiro sank in his seat again. He looked at his uneaten onigiri and felt the same darkness eating at his soul.

"Hey!" Tanjiro looked up to see Inosuke glaring at him before he turned away and huffed. "You're really good, by the way." He complimented. It sounded like he had put the rest of his strength into that.

Tanjiro gave a small smile. "Thank you. You too!" which got the wild one frowning, flustered at the compliment, and grabbed his mask, quickly putting it back on. This got a laugh from everyone, even Tanjiro. He was beginning to understand their dynamic a little better.

"So how did you learn to fight?" Genya asked, his interest peaked.

"Oh! We have a family friend who taught me, and he really pushed me to my limit, but I haven't lived near him in a while so I think I got rusty." He admitted bashfully. He hadn't had to talk about himself in so long it was a little embarrassing.

"Did he have any other students?"

"Well, everything he taught me he also taught his grandson, from what I remember him saying, but we never trained together or anything. By the time he started teaching me the ropes his grandson had already moved out."

"Does anyone else in your family know any martial arts?" Inosuke asks.

"Yes!" Tanjiro says quickly before faltering back. "Umm… Well actually.."

"Who?" Genya interrupts his fumbling.

"Uhh.. My sister." Tanjiro answers awkwardly

"Huh?!" Zenitsu perks up again and smiles. "What does she do? How strong is she? Oh Tanjiro please show us a picture of her!" He pleads and is immediately hit by Genya. "Ow! What the hell?!"

"Stop being weird!"

Tanjiro chuckles. "Did your family friend teach her too?" Inosuke asked but he shook his head.

"No, actually! A Brazilian did!"

Genya gives him a puzzled look and Tanjiro quickly elaborates, flustered. "W-what I mean is she trained under a Brazilian for Brazilian Muay Thai! She was very cardio focused. She was actually the captain of the track team during her senior year of high school and Muay Thai just added to that type of leg dedication."

Zenitsu sighs with a smile. "I bet she has great legs!" He chuckles

"Why did you say 'was'?" Genya asked, a seriousness lining his tone, and Tanjiro flushed up again.

"Oh uh.. No reason!" He says quickly. Genya's eyes study his new friend for a moment before shrugging it off.

"You should bring her here!" Zenitsu piped up. "Have her prove herself with Ojii-Same! I bet he'll accept a beautiful young woman such as your sister!"

For once, no one hits Zenitsu.

"Good idea!" Inosuke barrels out. "I want to see if she can beat me in a fight!"

"Yeah!" Genya agrees. "I think she would like it here if she already has that much dedication."

"I'll… Think about it." Tanjiro groans. He grabs his untouched onigiri and finally begins to eat it if not to at least have an excuse not to talk. Would she ever be able to regain that kind of strength again? He wasn't sure if that was possible. They weren't sure how her body or mind would react. He had hopes of her regaining full consciousness but as easy it is for her to wake up it's just as easy for her to die.

"Tanjiro-san when are we going to meet her~?" Zenitsu asks with a blush and wiggles in his seat excitedly. His giddy attitude suddenly becomes rigid and his face is filled with concern. "Tanjiro… Why are you crying?"

Tanjiro looks up at Zenitsu and touches his own face. Shit, he was crying. He hadn't even realized. Quickly wiping his tears away and finishing his onigiri the young male stands up, giving them all a kind smile once again. "Speaking of which I actually have plans to meet up with her. I should head off before I'm late!"

"Oh! Let me give you a ride!" Zenitsu offers.

"You didn't like the idea of giving me a ride two days ago." Genya pointed out with a cocky grin.

"S-so?! That's because I wasn't the one offering!" He said defensively.

"No, it's because you're a simp." Inosuke interjected.

"S-stop calling me a simp!" He exclaims as Genya smirks at his friend.

"Thank you, Zenitsu-san, but I'm okay."

Tanjiro's voice broke Zenitsu away from the others and he smiled. "It really wouldn't be a problem!"

"If you're worried about how he'll treat your sister I can drive you." Genya interjects, receiving a glare from Zenitsu.

"I'm perfectly capable of behaving!"

"I said no!" Tanjiro snapped, his expression had hardened a bit, but seeing Zenitsu flinch at his sudden change in tone had him full of regret. "I'll… see you all Sunday for practice..." He said, giving them a quick wave, and heading off, escaping the looks the others were giving him.

Silence fills the room for a few moments before:

"Man… Do you think Tanjiro-san is okay?" Zenitsu asked quietly to the table.

"Normally I'd agree that not accepting rides from you when a girl is involved is a good thing but I'm surprised he rejected my offer too." Genya comments casually.

"Hey!"

"I'm serious. It's like he's avoiding something."

"It's probably because he's worried Zenitsu will embarrass him." Inosuke laughs but is immediately hit.

"Like you're one to talk!"

"I'm just saying! Maybe you should stop womanizing his sister is all! If I had a sister I think I'd hate it."

Zenitsu opened his mouth to complain at the comment but quickly closed it, and looked down at the table, deep in thought from what he was just told.

"Hey Genya!" The tall male looks over at Inosuke with a nod. "You should do a background check on him."

Genya's composed expression morphed into rage. "No! That's invading someone else's personal privacy! I'm not going to do something like that. What kind of person do you think I am?" He asks and throws his bottle at the boar mask. "Besides, if he doesn't want to tell us then we'll just have to wait until he's comfortable."

Inosuke sighs in agreement. "I guess you're right."

Zenitsu was laying down on his bed, cell phone in hand, deep in thought from what Inosuke had said to him earlier. Was he making Tanjiro uncomfortable with his constant banter with him regarding his new friend's sister? He didn't want to make him uncomfortable, he just was very excited at the idea of meeting her. If she was anything like her brother then he knew she would be an absolute pleasure to be around.

Rolling onto his side he looked at his cell phone screen, the only light source in the room, and looked at the time. 19:38. It wouldn't be too late to apologize, right?

He whined and turned his phone screen off, anxiety getting the better of him. Conflict freaked him out so badly. Did Tanjiro hate him? Did he lose a potential new friend? He really liked Tanjiro. He really didn't want to fuck this up. Tears welled up in his eyes as his head ran a million miles over all the different potential scenarios that would result in him bringing this topic up.

What if he had just fucked up?

What if he lost another friend?

"God dammit… I wish I wasn't so inconsiderate…" He whined to himself, the tears now falling. Insecurity filled him from deep within and his entire being began to crumble at his fears of how this entire situation would end.

BZZZBZZZ

His amber eyes opening wide at the feeling of his phone buzzing in his hand, the screen illuminating his face, and he looked at the notification for one new message. Wiping his tears away he unlocked his phone to see he had one new text message from…

1 new message(s) from Tanjiro Kamado

The blond recoiled as his eyes focused on the name, anxiety shooting back up through his body once again. He was sure this was an angry message. His breathing became slightly irregular and his panic increased. He was sure of it. This was an angry text.

No… Tanjiro wouldn't do that.. Would he? He was so kind, so gentle, he would never do something so cruel like this… Right? He remembered the way he snapped. That should have been a clear indication that his friend was upset at how he was acting; how he was disrespecting his sister by making such crude comments about affections he had no business feeling. He hadn't even met the poor woman and yet he was bombarding her brother with comments and words he had no place to say. Inosuke was right in calling him out on his behavior.

With a heavy heart, and a shaking hand, Zenitsu had finally clicked the text icon on his phone and opened the message from Tanjiro.

Tanjiro Kamado

- I'm sorry for my behavior today. It wasn't okay for me to snap at you. Can I stop by your work tomorrow morning to make up for it?

Zenitsu felt like his entire body deflated at those words. Was this real? Did he really apologize for rightfully getting upset at him for the way he was behaving? He knew Tanjiro, or, he liked to believe he knew him. He was a kind person, with a kind soul a gentle sound. He knew that Tanjiro would never lie to him just to be cruel or give the blond a false sense of security.

He smiled weakly, feeling vulnerability and relief wash over his body.

Me

- I'd like that. Thank you.

Fun Fact: I come from a family of Motorcycle lovers. My grandfather rode a motorcycle, and so did my mom, though theirs were Harley Davidson's and I imagine the motorcycles in this chapters to be more akin to a Yamaha.

I also used the 24hr clock for Zenitsu's phone because from what I found it's at least not uncommon in Japan for the cell phones to use 24 hr clocks (even though both 24hr and 12hr clocks are used throughout the country).

Thank you all again for your support!