Donut Friendship – Chapter 26: How about a deal?
"Really? That's great! Enjoy the rest of the day, Nezuko! See you at home!" said the mother as she was talking to Nezuko on her phone
At the time, Nezuko was on her break and called her, telling her all about her new job and the people she was working with. Hearing that Nezuko was working with her friends made the mother happy.
"Tanjiro!" said the mother as she put down her phone and walked over to Tanjiro, who was sitting behind the counter
"Yes? What is it?" he asked
"Nezuko just called me! She said that she is working with her friends and that she is having a lot of fun!" the mother said happily
"Awesome! I am looking forward to working with her again!" Tanjiro replied, to which the mother smiled
"Anyway, I need to fill in some papers and make a few calls. Can I leave the bakery to you for the rest of the day?" the mother asked
"Sure! No problem at all!" Tanjiro replied and nodded
"Thank you. " the mother replied with a smile and went to the backroom, leaving Tanjiro alone in the bakery
…
…
The rest of the day went without any problems. Tanjiro was already used to working alone in the bakery, so he had no problems whatsoever. As always, he sold a lot of donuts and bread. Everything was going fine, but then a certain person entered the bakery…
The door of the bakery slowly opened, and a girl walked in. She faced the counter and slowly walked towards Tanjiro.
"Hello! Ah, it's good to see you again!" said Tanjiro with a big smile
"You…" the girl murmured as she walked closer to him
"Hmm? Is everything alright?" Tanjiro asked as his smile left him
"YOU…" the girl said and pointed at him
"Ehm… yes?" Tanjiro asked confused and pointed at himself
"YOU STUPID IDIOT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" the girl yelled at Tanjiro
In front of him, was Rui's older sister. Tanjiro previously managed to persuade her to join Shinobu's pharmacy department at the academy. She was against the idea at first, but after some arguing, he and Zenitsu managed to persuade her to join.
"Hahaha… I don't know what you're talking about…" Tanjiro laughed awkwardly
"Because of you, I joined the stupid pharmacy department!" the sister yelled
"Yes, I know that! But I don't know why you're so angry!" Tanjiro replied
"BECAUSE IT'S HELL!" the sister yelled at him again
"Oh… I am sorry…" Tanjiro replied
"Do you know what happened to me? Do you know?! Huh?!" the sister continued yelling at him, to which he shook his head
"That crazy girl used all kinds of different potions and poisons on me! One time, she used a potion on me that made my whole body twitch! She also used one on me that made me lose hair or even one that changed my skin color!" the sister yelled
"Oh dear…" Tanjiro replied
"Grrrr… I hate it! I really do!" the sister yelled again
Tanjiro could clearly see that she was in a really bad mood, so he chose his words carefully.
"I am sorry that I asked you to join the pharmacy department. I didn't know that you would hate it so much." he said, to which she glanced at him, still angry
"If you want, I can go talk to Shinobu and ask her if you can quit. If what you say is true, then I can fully understand why you don't like it there." he continued
The anger left the sister, and she stared at him.
"But before I do that, I give you your free monthly donut bag to lift up your mood! What do you say?" Tanjiro asked with a smile
Hearing that, the sister stared at him surprised. Since his childhood, Tanjiro had a talent for calming people down. After a few seconds, she took a deep breath and replied.
"Thanks, but… you don't need to ask her if I can quit. Just tell her that she should stop using me as her lab-rat… and I will manage somehow." the sister replied, to which Tanjiro smiled
"…and keep those free donuts bags coming…" she added and looked away, clearly a little bit embarrassed
Tanjiro nodded with a big smile and started preparing a bag for her.
…
…
"Donuts! Donuts! Doooonuts I am coming for youuuu!" sang a girl happily as she walked towards the bakery
It was Ume Shabana, a regular at the bakery. Since the day she found out about the donuts, she visited the bakery almost every day. This resulted in her spending a lot of money at the bakery, and slowly draining her savings.
As she stood in front of the bakery, she remembered something.
"Oh, right…" she murmured to herself and took out her wallet
After checking her wallet, her smile slowly left her as she realized her current status. She was pretty broke…
"Ugh… Looks like I will need to borrow some money from bro again…" she thought to herself and walked into the bakery
Right after she entered, she could see the donuts in the display shelf, and she began to drool a little.
"Welcome!" said Tanjiro as he stood behind the counter
Hearing the door open, the sister turned around and glanced at Ume. The two didn't know each other, but after seeing her uniform, the sister realized that she was also a student at the Kimetsu Academy.
"Hey! I came to buy some donuts!" Ume proclaimed and walked towards the counter, passing the sister
"Sure thing! But please, give me a second!" Tanjiro replied as he was putting donuts in a bag
Hearing that, Ume looked around and noticed the sister standing behind her.
"Oh… right. Sorry!" she said as she realized that she walked past her
"No problem." the sister replied and waited for her bag
After a few seconds, the bag was full and Tanjiro handed it to the sister.
"Here you go! Enjoy!" he said
"Thanks." the sister replied with a small smile and took it from him
This exchange cough Ume's attention.
"Wow… that's a lot of donuts…" she said, to which Tanjiro and the sister looked at her
"Yeah…" the sister replied
"How can you pay for that many donuts? Must be pretty expensive." Ume asked
"Oh, we made a deal and every month I get a bag of donuts for free." the sister explained and Tanjiro nodded
"REALLY?!" Ume asked surprised and stared at Tanjiro
"Y-Yes!" Tanjiro replied
"Hey! Hey! Can you make a deal with me too?! What kind of deal did you two make?! Tell me! Tell me!" Ume asked eagerly and leaned closer to Tanjiro
"Ehm…" the sister mumbled confused, as she didn't expect Ume to react like this
"Hahaha… Well, I needed her to do something, and she agreed to do it for a monthly free bag of donuts!" Tanjiro explained
"Do… something?" Ume asked and glanced at the sister
"Yes! It involves her body, but I don't want to say anything more!" Tanjiro added with a smile
"Body…?" Ume asked again and slowly faced the sister
Hearing that, the sister blinked a few times as she tried to process his words. Ume slowly scanned the sister with her eyes and then faced Tanjiro again.
"T-This is your type…?" Ume asked and pointed at the sister
"NOOOO! That's not it! Goddammit!" the sister yelled and Tanjiro looked at her confused
"WELL, YES. It has something to do with my body but… ARGH! I just had to join the stupid pharmacy department, and there is that crazy girl that uses all kinds of poisons on me! That's what he meant by body. Just to be clear, I AM NOT SELLING MY BODY TO HIM!" the sister cursed as she explained the situation
"Oh… that makes sense." Ume replied and blinked a few times as she heard her explanation
"Selling your body to me? What do you mean by that? I don't need your body for anything…" Tanjiro asked confused, as he had no idea what the two were talking about
As Tanjiro was thinking about her explanation, Ume faced Tanjiro again.
"Hey! I want a deal too!" she said
"Hm? But… I don't need anything. And you already have the friends-and-family discount." Tanjiro replied
"Yeah, but… I also want a free donut bag. Just like her!" she said and pointed at the sister, who was still standing next to her
"He can't give everyone a free bag." the sister explained annoyed
"But I want it! There has to be something I can do to get one!" Ume protested
"Ugh… what a child…" the sister murmured to herself as she heard her
"Hahaha… I am sorry, but she is right. I can't give everyone a free donut bag. If I do that, then the bakery would go out of business… and nobody would get any more donuts." Tanjiro laughed awkwardly and explained it to Ume
Hearing his explanation, Ume knew that he was right, but she still didn't want to accept the situation.
"Damn it all…" she cursed defeated
Seeing her sad, Tanjiro felt sorry for her. But thankfully, he got an idea. He smiled and looked at the sister, who was holding her bag.
"W-What?" she asked confused as she saw him smile
"…" he didn't say anything, just smiled at her
"What do you…" she asked again, but then she realized what he meant
"NO." she replied and hugged her donut bag more tightly
"…" he was still smiling
"NO. I am not doing it!" she said
"…" still smiling
"Ugh…" she said and looked at her bag and then at Ume
"Come on…" Tanjiro said with a soft voice and smile
"Ugh… AHHHH! ALRIGHT! But not the whole bag!" the sister said defeated and shook her head
She turned around and faced Ume.
"Hey…" she said in an annoyed voice
"Hm? What is it?" Ume asked curiously
The sister glanced annoyed at Tanjiro and shook her head again.
"Do you… want to take some donuts?" the sister asked
"Huh?" Ume asked surprised
"You look sad… so how about we share the donuts? I couldn't eat this many alone, so…" the sister continued
"R-Really?! You would give me some?! For free?!" Ume asked eagerly
The sister gulped and replied.
"Y-Yes… but only this time…" she said annoyed
"YES! I would love to! Thank you!" Ume replied, and a huge smile formed on her face
"Ugh… being so nice… I better get repaid for this one day somehow…" the sister murmured to herself as she glanced at Tanjiro, who was smiling and giving her a thumbs up
…
…
…
The two girls were sitting on a bench together, outside the bakery.
MUNCH* MUNCH*
"…"
MUNCH* MUNCH*
"…"
MUNCH* MUNCH* "SHOOOO GOOOOOD…" said Ume with a full mouth
"…you know…" the sister said annoyed as she held the bag
"Hmm?" MUNCH MUNCH* Ume stopped eating and looked at her
"I didn't eat a single donut yet…" said the sister, to which Ume just stared at her
"…and you already ate almost every single one." the sister added
Hearing that, Ume slowly peaked inside the bag and noticed that from the 15 or so donuts, only 2 were left.
"Oh…" she said embarrassed and looked at the donut in her hand
"S-Sorry…" she added and put the one donut she was holding in her hand back inside the bag
Now, with 3 donuts left, the sister shook her head once again as she thought about how she joined the pharmacy department, and got only 3 donuts for it for this month…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whenever I write these chapters, I imagine the characters in their Kimetsu Gakuen Chibi forms. Anyway, last Kimetsu Gakuen chapter, we got to see Kie Kamado and the bakery from the inside! Next time, Nezuko works hard and makes donuts with Muzan's employees!