Donut Friendship - Chapter 1: Ume Shabana
"Thank you! Please, come again!" said Tanjiro with a big smile as he handed a customer his order
"Thank you, young boy!" replied the old man
Tanjiro Kamado was a student at Kimetsu Academy. He was a young, friendly boy who loved helping people. His family also owned a bakery, where he often helped his mother. He really enjoyed doing that, because it made his mother's work much easier, and he got to see the smiles of all the customers.
This time, it was a bit different. His mother got sick and was bedridden. At first, she planned to close the store for a few days, but Tanjiro offered her to take over the store for the time being. He would do all the work, and he knew, it wouldn't be easy, but he was a reliable boy, and he got stuff done. His mother agreed and Tanjiro took care of the store, while his other siblings took care of their mother.
The first two days were pretty hard, but Tanjiro managed it somehow. He took care of the baking, cleaning and selling and in the end, he managed to get the hang of it. Customers often told him that he was a good boy, and that they wished that more people were like him.
After a few days, Tanjiro noticed something. With him in charge, people were buying less bread, but more and more of his store's donuts. Previously his mother and sister were making both the bread and the donuts, but now while he was in charge, he was the one making them. People were more interested in his donuts than his bread, and the customers could confirm it.
"Your donuts here are the best! Do you really make them?" a young boy asked as he ate one
"Yes! We make all sorts of stuff here every day!" Tanjiro replied
"Awesome! I tell my friends about your store!" said the young boy as he left, which made Tanjiro smile
Because of his baking and store management, he had many customers every day. He also got new customers… and some of them were pretty interesting.
…
One day, Tanjiro was sitting behind the counter and waiting for customers. He had many, but there were times when the store was empty, and this was one of them. As he was sitting, he heard a voice coming from outside. It was a girl's voice, cheerfully singing.
"Doooonuts! Dooooonuts! Dooooonuts, I'm coming for youuuuuuu!"
As she got to the store, she opened the door and walked in.
"Hey! Is this the store with the do-" as she was talking, she suddenly stopped as she saw Tanjiro sitting behind the counter
Tanjiro´s smile also left as he realized who just walked into his store.
"You!? What the hell are you doing here, ugly boy!?" shouted the girl
"Hey! You're one of the Shabana siblings!" said Tanjirou as he pointed a finger at the girl
The girl in front of him was Ume Shabana. She was a girl with white hair, a small body and at the time she was wearing a school uniform. She and her brother were known as the Shabana gangsters and were infamous for their delinquent behavior at the academy.
Right now, both Tanjiro and Ume were pointing at each other. After a few seconds, Tanjiro spoke up.
"Why are you here?! Are you here to steal our sweets?! I won't let that happen!"
"Shut up, stupid! I just heard that this store has some good donuts!" Ume replied, still pointing a finger at him
"Oh, really? Alright, what can I get you?" Tanjiro asked with a smile and his attitude changed immediately
…
…
"…huh?" Ume murmured as she didn't know what to say
"What can I get you?" he asked again, still smiling
"What? You just let me buy stuff?" Ume asked confused
"Sure! If you're here to buy and not to cause any mischief, then I'm happy to sell to you!" he explained
Hearing that, Ume became suspicious. They were not friends and in the past, she and her brother did some bad stuff to him and his friends. She slowly walked to the counter and spoke up.
"Really? You don't mind me buying from you?" she asked
"Of course I don't mind." he replied
Ume was still suspicious, so she carefully looked at the different donuts.
"Hmpf! I don't think that I want to buy from you, BOY." she said with a teasing smile
"Are you sure? They are really delicious! I can give you one as a free sample." Tanjiro offered
Hearing that, Ume glanced at him.
"Free sample…?"
"Yeah! Pick one!" he said with a big smile as he pointed at the donuts in the display shelf
Hearing that, Ume looked at the different donuts and carefully picked one.
"I don't even think that they taste that good." she said as she pointed at a pink one
"They are great, here!" said Tanjiro as he gave her the donut
Taking it from his hand, Ume carefully inspected it. After inspecting it, she took a bite out of it.
"HUH?!" she gulped
"So?! What do you think?!" Tanjiro asked eagerly
Ignoring him, Ume took another bite… and another… and another one… and she ate the whole donut. After finishing it, she looked at Tanjiro.
"It was… delicious…" she murmured as she couldn't believe how good it was
"That's great! I'm glad you liked it!" Tanjiro replied with a happy face
"Where… where did you get these?" Ume asked confused
"We make them here every day, so you can get fresh ones here daily!" he explained
"Huh…Well… they are not bad… I guess." Ume murmured, to which Tanjiro smiled at her again
"Anyway… I would like to buy some…" she murmured again
"Awesome! But before that, could I ask you something?" Tanjiro asked
"W-What?" Ume replied confused
"Do you want to become friends with me?" he asked with a bright smile
That cough Ume off guard.
"Huh?! W-Why do you think I would want to become friends with you, boy?"
"Because I give friends and family a discount, and if we were friends, then you would get a discount too!" he explained
Thinking about that, Ume wasn't sure. In the past, she and her brother did a lot of bad stuff to Tanjiro, but even after all that, he was offering her to become friends. She had a lot of friends already… but that discount sure sounded tempting.
Looking back at Tanjiro, who was waiting for her response, she replied.
"A-Alright… But I will get a discount, right?!"
"Of course! I don't think we ever introduced! My name is Tanjiro Kamado, it's nice to meet you!" he said with enthusiasm
"…I'm Ume Shabana… nice to meet ya…" she replied, a bit embarrassed
"Ume? Oh, that reminds me! I heard some people call you Daki." said Tanjiro
"Oh yeah… That's a nickname… B-but you can't call me that! Well… not yet…anyway..." she replied
Hearing that, Tanjiro smiled again and pointed at the donuts.
"Well, you said you wanted to buy donuts, which ones do you want?" he asked, to which Ume smiled
After picking a few, Ume got her bag with the donuts. Seeing the price, her good mood left her for a little while, but came back right after seeing the price drop after getting her discount.
"Wow… You're not that bad bo-… I mean, Tanjiro…"
"Enjoy the donuts! And thanks for becoming friends with me! See you at school." he replied with a big smile
Hearing that, a small smile formed on Ume's lips, and she waved him goodbye as she left the store.
After she left, Tanjiro leaned back and thought about what to do next.
"Hmmm… I wonder if I can befriend more people with the donuts."
Author's note: Thank you for reading the first chapter of my new fanfic series, Donut Friendship! Next chapter, Tanjiro is going to befriend a secret agent who works for an evil politician…