"I don't want to leave here"
Tanjirou was stunned. He never thought Sumihiko would say such a thing.
"You're not...kidding...right?" Tanjirou almost speechless.
"No" Sumihiko slowly shooked his head.
"Sumihiko, why did you say that?" Tanjirou almost unbelievable of what just he heard right now. "You can't live in here forever, this place is not a real world"
"What's the point to live in the real world when everyone hates you?" Sumihiko said with a sad tone.
"Hate you?" Tanjirou was confused.
Both of them then went silent for a minute.
"Just forget about it, I'm more comfortable in here" Sumihiko said again.
Tanjirou didn't understand, why did Sumihiko said such a thing?
"Well, I'm sorry to ask this but...is there any bad thing happened to you?" Tanjirou asked.
Sumihiko was silent at first, but he finally spoke, albeit in reluctant manner.
"Yes" Sumihiko slowly nodded.
Before Sumihiko could explain everything to him, there's a bus which stopped in front of them. Sumihiko then arose from his seat.
"See you later, Tanjirou" Sumihiko bid him a farewell before entered the bus.
Tanjirou took a deep sigh. Somehow, he felt pity for Sumihiko. And the hanafuda boy wished if he could help him with his problems.
...
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Zenitsu could heard Inosuke's laughter from the outside of the classroom. Perhaps Tanjirou or any of his classmates just told him funny stories, or maybe he was reading a comic.
However, when Zenitsu entered the classroom...
Zenitsu spotted Inosuke and Tanjirou were...reading a novel?
It was very unusual for Tanjirou and Inosuke to have an interest in reading novels. Especially Inosuke.
"Reading a novel?"
Tanjirou and Inosuke turned their attention towards Zenitsu.
"Ah, Zenitsu" Tanjirou greeted Zenitsu. "Good morning"
"Morning" Zenitsu greeted back.
"Woah! How could a dog could drive a car!?" Inosuke was excited as he read the novel. The title of the novel Inosuke was reading is "Mr. Gourmet's Bad Days", a comedy-genre novel by British novelist Paul Urchins.
"I don't remember if Inosuke loves to read novels in the first place" Zenitsu rolled his eyes towards Inosuke.
"Maybe it sounds weird sometimes but at least he enjoys it" Tanjirou said.
"Anyway, I want to ask you something" Zenitsu said.
"What's it?"
"Can I go out with your sister this weekend?" Zenitsu asked for Tanjirou's permission.
"You want to go out with Nezuko-chan? Well, I allow you but don't let her come home too late or you'll got scolded by my parents" Tanjirou replied.
"Thank you so much, Tanjirou!" Zenitsu squealed happily.
Zenitsu was excited when he got to spend his time with Nezuko tomorrow. And maybe the same thing Tanjirou could say to Nezuko either.
...
The time on the clock on the wall was 5:00PM. It was only Tanjirou in the living room as he watched a Russian sitcom on the TV.
The main character of the sitcom was arguing with his friend because he doesn't want to leave the arcade station.
"Come on, pal! It's 10PM now! They will close the arcade station soon!"
"No! This place is too great!"
"The ghost of Mr. Rastinov will crawl out from the arcade screen if you're still here in 12PM!"
"I don't care! I don't want to leave here!"
Wait a minute. That sentence. The same sentence Sumihiko told him.
Tanjirou mentally froze for a while.
Sumihiko told him that he refused to leave the Realm of Hypnos. And now he just suspected something. Perhaps there's something Sumihiko trying to hide from him, and Tanjirou must uncover it.
"Onii-chan!"
...
Deep in the woods in the Realm Of Hypnos, Tanjirou had found a large building made from stone, covered in moss. There's a rusted portcullis in the middle of the wall, possibly the main door of the building.
Tanjirou could heard faint inhuman screams from inside. Could this building actually a prison of monsters? Deep inside his heart, he was unsure if he should go inside there in case if the main entrance was opened.
"Tanjirou!"
Tanjirou just heard a familiar male voice called him. When he turned behind, it was Sumihiko who called him.
"Tanjirou, what are you doing here?" Sumihiko asked.
"Well, I'm just...take a walk around here" Tanjirou lied.
"Tanjirou, there's a place I want to show you! I'm sure you'll love it!" Sumihiko said happily.
"A place?" Tanjirou raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah!" Sumihiko nodded.
Tanjirou was uncertain at first since he was curious about this building, yet he couldn't say no to Sumihiko either.
"Alright" Tanjirou finally agreed.
"Come, let's go" Sumihiko said as Tanjirou followed him from behind.
But surely, Tanjirou will return again to that place. There's a big secret kept hidden inside there.
To be continued...