“Oh my! Tanjiro and Zenitsu, both here!” she said. “It’s good to see you. I’ll make some fresh tea right now. Please have a seat, Shinobu. Is anmitsu with cream and shiratama dumplings all right?”
“Yes.” Shinobu nodded. “Heavy on the brown sugar syrup.”
High school second-year Aoi was in the flower-arranging club. High school third-year Shinobu belonged to both the pharmacology club and the fencing team.
Both girls were beautiful, but Shinobu in particular was so gorgeous that she was constantly fielding offers from talent and modeling agencies. On top of that, her grades were always the best in her class. With her wins at fencing tournaments and other accomplishments, Shinobu was more than just a cute girl—she took the title of Miss Kimetsu every year.
On the other hand, there were also strange rumors. Things like how she made dangerous drugs with no taste or smell in pharmacology club, or how she had more than a few teachers essentially under her thumb, or how the Tomioka was one of those teachers.
The nickname a very few whispered was “Princess of Poison.” Naturally, Zenitsu didn’t take any of that talk seriously for one simple reason.
There’s no way someone this pretty could be a bad person.
“What’s the matter? You look blue. I’m here to listen if you want to talk,” Shinobu said with concern as she sat down at their table.
Zenitsu ogled her indiscreetly. There was no way someone this kind and gentle could be a scary person. Those rumors were just nonsense spread by people who were jealous of her looks and talents.
“The truth is …” He told her about his current struggle.
Shinobu listened attentively, nodding every so often. Then she said, “I think that Mr. Tomioka has really high hopes for you, Zenitsu.”
“High hopes?” He frowned.
Shinobu smiled gently. “Because Mr. Tomioka is the way he is, a lot of students misunderstand him. They even hate him, so the disciplinary committee is always shorthanded; people are constantly leaving it. You’ve really stuck by Mr. Tomioka, haven’t you, Zenitsu? I think, deep down, that makes him so happy.”
“No, but it’s not like I stayed because I want to.” He’d just been forced to do what the teacher told him to, bound by a collar called violence.
“Mr. Tomioka actually once said to me, ‘Agamatsu’s doing a good job,’” she told him.
“Um. Mr. Tomioka said that?” Zenitsu stared at Shinobu in disbelief.
Perhaps because of her beauty—or perhaps because the Tomioka she spoke of was somehow magnificent, like she was talking about an alter ego—Zenitsu was able to say the name without vomiting.
“I think that the work of the disciplinary committee is really difficult. But you and the others are out there doing it, keeping the peace at our school.” The goddess of the academy narrowed her eyes with a beautiful smile.
She gently placed her hand on Zenitsu’s. He wasn’t sure if it was her shampoo or some fragrance she wore, but she smelled indescribably good.
“Keep fighting the good fight, Zenitsu.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m cheering for you most of all.”
“Okaaaaaaay!!”
Zenitsu was so excited, blood nearly spurted from his nose.
“You just leave it to old Zenitsu here!” he assured her. In his mind, he shouted, Joy!! Aaaah, such bliss! and leaped up to the heavens.
Aoi came along with more tea and a bowl of anmitsu, and she eyed Shinobu and Zenitsu with a knowing look on her face.
“I don’t know if I should mention this,” she said in a quiet voice. “But you are the thirtieth person this month, Zenitsu, that Shinobu is cheering for most of all. I think it would be better for you if you were not to take it too seriously.”
Naturally, however, Zenitsu heard not a word of this.
“That’s great, huh, Zenitsu? You really are a good fit for the disciplinary committee. Good luck!” Tanjiro said with a grin, but Zenitsu didn’t hear this either.
Aoi let out an exasperated sigh.
Okay! I’ll do it! I’ll do it for her! Because I’m the boy Shinobu’s cheering for most of all!! Zenitsu, with his simple soul, vowed passionately in his heart.
“Mr. Tomioka!”
The next morning, when Zenitsu spotted Tomioka doing uniform checks in front of the school gates, he raced over to him with a smile on his face. Tomioka was wearing a tracksuit that day. His gym whistle hung around his neck, and his beloved bamboo sword was in hand.
“Mr. Tomioka! I made an appointment at the salon for Saturday!” Zenitsu announced in a loud voice, eyes shining like he had been reborn. “I’ll dye my hair black and work even harder as a member of the disciplinary committee! I hope I can count on your guidance and support—”
“Quiet, you!”
“Bu—?!”
Zenitsu took an impossible hit from Tomioka and went sailing through the air.
“No shouting at school,” the teacher told him.
This … It doesn’t make any sense.
Zenitsu crumpled to the ground, not even able to shed tears.
Later, at lunch …
“Tanjrooo! I want to quit the disciplinary committee already!” Zenitsu cried in anguish. “I hate it!! I mean, Tomi—hrk!”
“Zenitsu …” Tanjiro sighed.
Incidentally, a few days later …
“I stopped you from hemorrhaging committee members you so desperately need, so please give my team more gym space to use next month, okay, Mr. Tomioka?”
Shinobu reportedly threatened the teacher—or perhaps made a request of him with an extremely innocent look on her face. Hearing this, Zenitsu took to his bed for three whole days, but that is a different story.
All in all, it was another peaceful day at Kimetsu Academy Junior High and High School (except for one person).