Tickle fight
Hello and welcome to another one-shot!
First of all, happy birthday to Lizzy (marchioness_elizabeth on AO3)! I hope you like this gift!
Without further ado, on with the one-shot!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.
I hope you enjoy!
'Sigh Much better.' Tanjiro thought after getting out of the bath, wearing the Butterfly Estate is patient clothes and using a towel to dry his hair. 'Shinobu-san said I should be able to go to missions again soon.' He looked at his right arm where a bandage is, covering the wound he got on his last mission. 'It doesn't hurt and I can move my arm without problem so I guess one or two days before I'm discharged… I wonder if it's bad that I can make these sorts of predictions about my body now?' He frowned but shrugged the thought away after a second.
"Tanjiro." The red haired teen stopped walking and turned to the voice.
"Oh, hi Kanao." He greeted with a smile. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, how are your wounds?"
"Almost healed." He moved his arm to emphasize the point. "Did you need something?"
"Not need but…" She trailed off and showed him two bottles she was holding in her hands. "Do you want to go blow bubbles together?"
"I'd love to." Giving her another smile, he grabbed the bottle she offered him and the two made their way to the backyard. "I heard you came back from a mission recently, did it go well?"
"Yes, it wasn't a particularly strong demon." The Tsuyuri answered. "You know… it feels like you always end up encountering the strong demons on your missions."
"…now that you mention it…" Tanjiro trailed off with a thoughtful expression. "I guess I do…"
"…please be careful."
"…yes." He assured her. "But enough about that, do you want to see who can make the biggest bubble?"
"Yes, let's." Kanao nodded with a smile.
…
"You're really good at this, Kanao." Tanjiro mentioned, seeing the bubbles she was making.
"I have a lot of practice." She answered as she prepared to make more. "You're good too, you were able to make them since the first time I asked."
"I used to do it from time to time with my siblings." The red haired teen answered with a fond smile. "Hanako was always the best at it, she used to do them for Rokuta to help calm him down."
"I… I'm sorry."
"Hm?"
"You looked sad just now…"
"Ah… yeah." He looked down with a small smile. "It's not that I'm sad, I like remembering the good memories we had together… but I do miss them."
"…can you tell me about your childhood?"
"Hm?"
"I… didn't have a good childhood, as I told you before."
"I remember." Tanjiro nodded with a small frown.
"So I'm a bit curious… about what a normal childhood is like." The black haired girl admitted. "Ah, but you don't have to tell me if it hurts." She quickly added.
"No, I'd be happy to tell you." The Kamado put down his bottle of soap and looked up. "Let's see, where should I start…? Ah, one of my first memories is of watching my father perform the Dance of the Fire God…"
Tanjiro told Kanao everything, how his parents were, how his father would perform the dance every year, how his mother would always look after him, how happy they all were when Nezuko and his siblings were born.
They talked for hours, Kanao listening intently to his stories and chiming in with a question or a comment every now and then.
"…so Shigeru tackled Takeo and began to tickle him, saying 'if I win then you have to take me to town' and Takeo started to retaliate but they were running around and causing a ruckus in the house; I had to get between them and then tickle the two until they gave up."
"Hehe." Kanao giggled as Tanjiro finished the story, a quiet and small laugh but a laugh nonetheless; it made the red haired teen's smile widen. "Did your siblings really settled things with a 'tickle fight' of all things?"
"Yeah, Nezuko started it one day with me, saying 'I'll have Nii-chan buy me a dessert!' before trying to tickle me until I accepted and it sort of rubbed off on everyone."
"Did she win?"
"Nope." Tanjiro grinned and hit his chest with his palm with an oddly proud expression. "As the eldest son, I am not allowed to lose a tickle fight."
"Hehe." Again, that sound that makes his smile widen. "It sounds like it was fun."
"It really was…" He trailed off.
"…are you okay?"
"Yeah, just… remembering." Tanjiro smiled sadly.
"Do you…"
"Hm?"
"Do you want to have a tickle fight?"
"…eh?"
"Do you?"
"…" The Kamado smiled. "Yeah."
"Hm… how do we…"
"Ah, we didn't have a signal or anything for it so… alright, have you ever been in a tickle fight before?"
"No."
"Then, here." He opened his arms. "You get the first move."
"R-right!" She nodded. 'What… what do I do?'
Tanjiro remained still while Kanao stared at him, as if trying to understand what she should do.
'He mentioned something about the neck and the sides, which do I go for?' A hand instinctively moved towards the pocket where she keeps her coin but stopped. 'No, just… alright!' Nodding to herself once more, she raised her hands and moved them to his sides.
"…you're supposed to move them if you want to tickle me, not just keep them there." Tanjiro mentioned with a smile.
"R-right." Awkwardly, she began to move her hands on Tanjiro's sides.
"Pff."
"Hm? Like this?" She began to press her fingers and got a chuckle out of the red haired teen.
With a bit more confidence at hearing the sound, she moved faster, getting Tanjiro to laugh out loud as she continued to tickle his sides.
"Hahahaha." The red haired teen didn't try to fight it and continued to laugh.
'He looks so happy.' Kanao thought idly as she looked at his smile, her hands continuing to tickle him.
Then suddenly, Tanjiro grabbed her wrists and moved her hands slightly away so she couldn't tickle him anymore.
"Tanjiro?"
The Kamado grinned.
"My turn." Immediately after saying those words, his right hand moved to her neck and the left one to her side and began to tickle her.
"Hahaha-" The Tsuyuri covered her mouth to stop her laugh, surprised that it came out so loudly.
"If you cover your mouth you can't tickle me back." Tanjiro said as he tickled her faster, her giggles been heard from behind her mouth.
Knowing he was right, Kanao moved her hands from her mouth, trying to keep it shut while tickling Tanjiro back.
"Hahaha." But she couldn't, a second after she stopped, she started laughing again, probably making the most sound since she arrived at the Butterfly Estate all those years ago.
'Wow…' Tanjiro couldn't help but stare, this was the first time he had heard her laugh like this, her giggles were already enough to make him smile, but this. "You have a beautiful laugh, Kanao." He said without thinking.
"Wh-hehaha."
The Kamado didn't let her answer as he continued to tickle her to the point she fell on her back and Tanjiro moved so she couldn't get away.
"Stop, I give! I give!" Kanao called out between her laughter.
"Ok." Tanjiro said simply, tickling her for a second longer before stopping, placing his hands at each side of Kanao so he doesn't fall on her. "What did you think?"
"I can… see why… you enjoyed it so much." She said while getting her breath back, it took her only a few seconds thanks to her training. "Even though I lost, I still enjoyed it… not sure why."
"I'm glad to hear that." Tanjiro is smile widened at her words. "…oh."
"What?"
"This position…" He trailed off with a blush.
Kanao looked down and realized what he meant.
"S-sorry."
"I-it's fine, it was because of the tickle fight." She assured him with a blush of her own.
"…"
"…"
Without any words, Tanjiro began to close the distance, stopping just before their lips would touch.
Kanao smiled and closed her eyes.
With that, Tanjiro finished closing the distance, gently kissing her on the lips and separating a minute later.
"…do you want to have another tickle fight?" The girl with the butterfly ornament asked.
"I'd love to." He answered before moving back and helping her up so they were back in a sitting position.
"But for now…" Tanjiro grabbed the bottle of soap to make bubbles once more. "We still haven't checked who can make the biggest bubble."
"Let's do it."
And done!
This is a headcanon I had for some time in my head and I'm quite happy I wrote it.
I hope you liked it, Lizzy! Once again, happy birthday!
To anyone else reading, I hope you liked it as well!
Until next time!