Zenitsu held up his index finger, trying to keep it as steady as possible, and put it to his lips to signal silence. The strange girl with a bamboo muzzle next to him simply nodded as the two continued hiding in a tight spot under something. They were trapped without any visible exits in the vicinity.
This girl that was with him was a tragic girl named Nezuko Kamado, whose entire family, save for her older brother Tanjiro, was slaughtered by a demon. As for her? Her fate was much worse than death. She was now a man-eating demon herself. But she's never consumed any human flesh nor tasted any human blood. It was an urge she intended to stave off, no matter how difficult it could be at times.
Normally, Zenitsu was terrified of demons. How he managed as a Demon Slayer was beyond anyone's comprehension, including his. He'd cry, he'd shout, and much like now, he would tremble in uncontrollable fear at the mere mention of them. Yet here he was, cramped in a tight space with one, and not even a flinch. In fact, the frightened Thunder Breather was extremely protective of her despite what she was. Her sound, though distorted, was just as kind as her brother's.
That was actually how he knew Tanjiro was carrying a demon all this time. Zenitsu had fantastic hearing, akin to Tanjiro's incredible sense of smell. The faintest noise could not get past him, and the heartbeats of any living creature had a certain rhythm to them that he could deduce lies, deceit, honesty, and intent.
As the floor boards creaked with slow, distant steps drawing ever closer, Zenitsu's teeth had begun to chatter and he could not stop his body from shaking. He wanted to remain as quiet as possible, but the noises in the distance sounded so much closer in his ears. Each step was precise, slow, heavy. Each time the foot lifted, he could hear a sticky sound, like when you peel something adhesive. A gentle touch to his hand immediately caused his body to freeze, his head whipping to the left to find Nezuko's pink eyes staring at him; her hand placed upon his. It was such a warm, soft touch.
Closing his eyes to steady his heartbeat, Zenitsu was able to take a deep breath. His hand gave hers a squeeze to acknowledge his appreciation. He was slightly embarrassed how clammy his hand must've felt. He sniffled a bit, but crying would make far too much noise, so he wiped that away and clutched the hilt of his blade.
The creaking continued approaching closer and closer. Slow, steady, the distance closing in as their location drew closer to its location. Nezuko visibly flinched when the demon's foot was now visibly in view. The strange sound that demons emit pounded incessantly in Zenitsu's ears, causing all sorts of alarm bells to go off inside his head and his chest. But the most heart stopping thing that happened was when the footsteps halted.
In view, they could only see its feet. Silence had engulfed the room. But not for Zenitsu - he could hear his heart, Nezuko's heart, and that thing's "heart" beating at his eardrums all at once. Nezuko's veins began to bulge out of her skin as her pupils slitted and her sharp nails grew in length.
Zenitsu took a breath, and then...
... everything went black.
His next conscience thought would be with his back laid against the floor, Nezuko looming over him as his vision tried to refocus, and splatters of demon blood disintegrating all around them.
Safe... they were safe now. It must have been Nezuko, he assumed, that tore that demon to shreds. Naturally, he would have passed out at the sight of it. Their hiding place was in shambles, after all.
As Zenitsu tried to mouth the words to thank her, he began coughing, forcing his body to sit up. Nezuko made a muffled noise of some sort, staring at his crimson-stained blade that soon would wipe away any evidence he had made the kill in the first place as the blood crumbled into dust.
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Prompt: Write a story or scene where two or more characters communicate without dialogue.