"Is it easy for me? It's not easy for me. I was cheated by a woman and owed debts. The old man who paid off my debts happened to be a cultivator, and every day was hellish training..."
Zenitsu, curled up on the ground, was talking to himself, not caring whether Tanjiro and Takeshi were listening or not.
"I originally thought I would die in the Final Selection, but I was lucky enough to survive. So now, every day is still like being in hell, it's so scary, it's so scary..."
Hearing so much, Tanjiro began to feel a little sympathetic towards the boy in front of him. He was just scared.
"Hey, Zenitsu, get up, let's travel together!"
Zenitsu on the ground suddenly had a flower-like smile on his face, jumping up from the ground in a flash, grabbing Tanjiro's hand.
"Really? You've decided to protect me, right! Protect me until I get married."
"Uh..."
Tanjiro regretted what he had just said.
"Senior Takeshi... help me..."
He cast a look for help towards Senior Aoyama. He really couldn't pull away the hand that Zenitsu was grabbing on his arm.
Seeing Tanjiro calling out, Zenitsu let go instantly, instead, hugging Takeshi's arm.
"Senior Aoyama, you have to save me, please don't let those demons suck the marrow out of my ears before I die!!!"
His body trembled, and his face turned ashen.
Takeshi, seeing this, took back the words that were already at the tip of his tongue. This kid was so scared, if he said something about demons, he might directly scare him unconscious.
Okay, he would be kind for now~
On the way, Takeshi suddenly stopped, his expression somewhat serious.
"What's wrong? Senior Takeshi!"
Zenitsu subconsciously hid behind Tanjiro, the tears on his face hadn't dried yet, and now tears were about to flow from his eyes again.
"My stomach hurts a little, you guys wait here for a while, I'm going to relieve myself."
Takeshi left these words, quickly leaving the small path in the field, running towards the woods on the side.
Confirming that there was no danger, Zenitsu came out from behind Tanjiro, and at the same time, his stomach rumbled.
"Didn't you bring any dry food?" Tanjiro asked.
Zenitsu, with tears in his eyes, sniffed, "No..."
Although he felt like he was going to die, he didn't have the mood to bring food. He couldn't even protect his life, so what was the point of bringing food?
"Here, this is for you to eat."
Tanjiro took out a rice ball, handing it to him.
Zenitsu took a bite of the rice ball, seeing that Tanjiro wasn't taking out any more food, asking, "Tanjiro, aren't you going to eat?"
"Well, because this is all I have." Tanjiro's face showed difficulty.
Zenitsu hesitated for a second, breaking the rice ball in his hand in half, handing one half to Tanjiro.
After the two of them finished eating half a rice ball, Takeshi still hadn't returned. After waiting for a while, finally, he came back, slowly returning, with an unusual sheen on his lips.
Seeing the two of them staring at his mouth, Takeshi quickly wiped his mouth again.
"Hehe, what's, what's wrong?"
Tanjiro's sense of smell was very sharp, and he smelled the scent of grilled meat on Senior Aoyama.
Takeshi, knowing that he couldn't hide it from Tanjiro, reached his hand into his sleeve, taking out a chicken leg wrapped in oiled paper, saying, "Oh right! I just met someone in the woods who insisted on giving me a wild chicken leg, but I couldn't bear to eat it."
"Th-There's such a good deed???" Zenitsu asked in disbelief.
"Of course there is! You might encounter it in the future too." Takeshi said seriously, putting the warm wild chicken leg in his hand on Tanjiro's hand.
"Then what about mine?" Zenitsu reached out his hand. Now that he smelled the scent of meat, his stomach was rumbling again.
Takeshi once again reached his hand into his clothes, searching left and right, taking out a half-eaten rice ball, placing it in Zenitsu's hand.
He let out an untimely burp. He had just caught a wild chicken in the woods and grilled it. Eating a whole chicken by himself was a bit too filling.
"Eh!!!? Mine is a rice ball, why is his a chicken leg!!!" Zenitsu shouted loudly in confusion. The difference was too big!
Tanjiro's was a chicken leg, and his was a rice ball, and it was even a half-eaten rice ball!!!
Takeshi raised his hand, patting Zenitsu's head. "Zenitsu, Tanjiro is my junior brother, you understand our relationship, right?"
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
Zenitsu was speechless.
Tanjiro, holding the chicken leg, felt ripples in his heart. This must be what it felt like to be moved! Although Senior Aoyama was sometimes a bit of a trickster, he was still good to him.
Meeting Tanjiro's gaze, Takeshi nodded affirmatively. "Eat! Caring for junior brothers starts with me! Starting from this moment!"
"Senior Takeshi..."
Hearing these words, Tanjiro was so moved that he forgot to question the true origin of the chicken leg.
Zenitsu, who was on the side, reluctantly chewed on the rice ball. How great would it be if he had a senior brother like Senior Aoyama~
Recalling his fellow disciples, they all disliked him for being timid, embarrassing him, and they also disliked him for being a burden to the master, each of them wanting him to leave the sect as soon as possible.
With a thud, he knelt on the ground. "Senior Aoyama! Please, from now on, treat me like you treat your junior brother!"
A smile curved on Takeshi's lips, and a glint of light appeared in his eyes.
"Are you sure?"
What a silly kid...
A cold wind blew across Zenitsu's heart.
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