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2020-06-13
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2021-12-29
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Of Art, Medicine, and Technology

Chapter 2: Local gamer trialed for attempted murder

Notes:

did i have to include overwatch in the story? no.
but did i want to? yes

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Zenitsu spent the rest of the day animating characters from video games after finally finishing his commission. He was almost done graphing Princess Peach's dress when those obnoxious noises started up again. The blond pinched the bridge of his nose and pushed himself away from his desk; he refused to put up with this torture for another second, let alone the rest of the day. 

He quickly patted himself down to make sure he had his room key and phone before leaving and heading straight towards those sounds. Stopping in front of the same door as last night, he knocked twice and waited for it to open. 

There was a loud thud before the boy swiftly opened the door, looking suspiciously disheveled. "Ugh, you again, " he said.

Choosing to ignore that for his personal self-esteem's sake, Zenitsu took a short moment to study the other male. His hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, although there were multiple strands that had escaped. Despite his pale skin tone, there was a distinguishable redness to his cheeks and beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. Along with his erratic heartbeat, Zenitsu had a growing suspicion that he had been doing something physical for the past few minutes. 

"Inosuke, right? My name is Zenitsu, can I come in?" he asked. The other cocked an eyebrow but nevertheless let the blond in. He allowed his eyes to sweep the blue-haired boy's room, and noticed the game in queue on his TV. 

Completely forgetting the reason he came here in the first place, Zenitsu happily sat down in front of the TV and grabbed the Xbox controller. "Dude, you play Overwatch too? Who do you main?" 

Inosuke sat down next to the blond, his emerald eyes sparkling as he watched Zenitsu pick out a character. "I main Roadhog. He's amazing! It's so easy for me to control him--it's like second-nature." He quieted down a bit as he began to focus on the game. "Plus," he mumbled, "Roadhog is an embodiment of a boar." 

"And you like boars?" Zenitsu asked. 

"I love them. They're strong and never back down from a fight. I actually wanna get a tattoo of one on my thigh." Inosuke replied. 

The blond nodded in acknowledgment, and only turned to look at the other once his character died. "Wouldn't it be cooler if it was on your arm? You know, so people can see it." 

"It's not for them, it's for me. As long as I can see it, I don't care where it goes." 

"But why specifically on your thigh? There has to be a reason, Inosuke." Zenitsu inquired.

"Because it--wait that reminds me, why are you here?" the former demanded. 

"Oh yeah! I came here to ask what the hell you were doing in here." He couldn't believe he actually forgot the reason he asked to be in the boy's room; what weak resolve he has. His Grandpa would be disappointed.

"What do you mean? I was jus' chilling in my room." 

"No, no no no, you were jumping around like some chimpanzee. God, you were so loud, I thought I was going to die! You know I stayed up all night because of you?!" The blond screamed.

The paler boy squinted his eyes at the slightly older boy, and the two stared at each other while Inosuke tried to make sense of what Zenitsu was talking about. How did an idiot like him get into college? "OH!" the blue-haired boy loudly exclaimed, shocking the blond. "You mean when I was fighting!" 

"Who the fuck were you fighting? Your sleep paralysis demon?"

"Be real, Monitsu--"

"It's Zenitsu--"

"I slayed that wimp when I was 15!" the boisterous boy carried on. "I was practicing my fighting moves in case someone ever tries to ambush me. So yes, I was fighting."

"I don't think you'll ever get ambushed," Zenitsu deadpanned. "But if you do, I'm sure you'll defeat them with your amazing super human strength."

Inosuke let out a booming laugh as he smacked the other male on the back. "I know right?! I'm so cool and strong. You should be more like me, Monitsu."

"Wow, okay, I'm actually pretty strong. I bet I could take you down in a fight within seconds." 

"No way, I've been teaching myself martial arts my whole life. I'm the strongest person ever."

"So have I! My Grandpa made me learn Aikido all my life; he still teaches me."

The emerald eyed-boy waved him off, saying, "Aikido is stupid. Who doesn't want to hurt their opponent? Babies, that's who."

"Um, also people who care? " 

"Fine then, fight me and let's see who's stronger!" 

"Excuse me?" Zenitsu spluttered. This was not what he had planned for the day. 

"C'mon, fight me! Let's go!" 

Zenitsu quickly stood up and pushed past the wild boy, despite the latter's protests. There was no way he was fighting him. He might get killed! So he ran back to his own dorm and briskly entered the room. 

"OPEN UP, MONITSU! I WANT TO FIGHT!" Inosuke bellowed as he thumped on the door. "FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD!" 

"GO AWAY, YOU FREAK!" The blond shrieked. The banging on the door continued, as did Inosuke's cries. Zenitsu heard a couple people's doors open as they looked to see what in the world was going on. "Help me!" he cried to the others. "Get him away from me, he might kill me!"

After what felt like was hours but was really a few minutes, all the sounds ceased. The blond cautiously opened his door and peered through, where he saw the guy from the elevator talking to their RA. When he realized Inosuke was no where in sight, he flung himself at the boy and cried out in relief. 

"Tanjirouuuu! You saved me! Thank you, thank you. I really thought he was going to kill me."

The tan male chuckled as he gently patted Zenitsu's head. "Don't be silly, he would never kill you. And I'm not the one who helped you--he did," Tanjirou said as he pointed towards an upperclassmen with long dark hair. How he didn't see him before, Zenitsu had no idea. But a hero deserved proper recognition and so he moved forward to embrace the mysterious man.

Except just as his arms were going to wrap around him, he pulled back, causing the artistic boy to stumble as he fell down. 

"Now, now, Tomioka, don't be mean to the poor boy. This is why people don't like you," Shinobu remarked. 

The man's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the girl. "They do like me."

"They don't," she responded promptly.

"They do."

"They don't."

"They do."

"They don't."

"They do."

"They don't--"

Tanjirou turned to Zenitsu and helped him off the ground as the two continued to argue in the background. "Anyway, mind telling me why that guy was attempting to break down your door?" He asked.

The blond shivered as he thought back to the confrontation. "He wanted to prove he was stronger than me by fighting but I ran away 'cause I knew I was going to die." The maroon-haired boy laughed at that and shook his head. It was only then that Zenitsu noticed his hanafuda earrings. They shimmered beneath the artificial light and swung as he moved his head; it was quite mesmerizing. "I like your earrings," he blurted out.

Like instinct, Tanjirou's hand moved to touch them. He smiled sheepishly as he thanked the blond for the compliment. "They were my dad's," he told him. "He died when I was 14, though." 

"I'm sorry for your loss," the older replied. Tanjirou only smiled, and the two talked for a little more before the aspiring doctor asked for the other's number. They quickly inputted each other's digits before saying goodbye and going their own ways.

Zenitsu was heading towards the art studio to do some painting,--he had a map with him now, so he won't get lost again--and as he walked he remembered Uzui. Having nothing better to do, he decided to text and ask if he would like to tag along.

me: hey uzui wanna come w me to the art studio 6:54 pm

me: i'm gonna paint for a while, could use some company 6:54 pm

Uzui Tengen: sure 6:55 pm

Uzui Tengen: i'm already in studio 5, i'll see you there 6:55 pm

Zenitsu put away his phone and continued walking towards the aforementioned studio. He quickly arrived and knocked on the door which opened to reveal Uzui's face. 

"That was fast," he said, surprised. 

"I was already on my way when I texted you," the smaller responded. He entered the room and looked around. It was a fairly big studio with enough room for five painting easels. On one wall there were about seven or eight easels propped up, and next to them were canvases. He continued looking around and noticed an open drawer filled with various types of paints. Zenitsu grabbed a canvas and an easel and set them up for him to paint. "So what are you making?" He asked his companion. 

"I'm just practicing my calligraphy," he responded. "What about you? What are you gonna paint?" 

Zenitsu pondered on the question for a bit before he turned and smiled at the silver-haired man. "I'll paint you!"

Uzui laughed, taken aback. "Do what you like, kid. Just make sure not to make me ugly." 

The blond chuckled a bit before the two fell into comfortable silence as they worked on their art. Zenitsu first worked on sketching Uzui's side profile, although he struggled a bit with the nose. When he finally got it right, he went to the paint drawer to find the water colors, where he began to mix them to get his skin tone. This was fun, even though they weren't talking. The sounds around them made up for their silence; he could hear the soft scrape of Uzui's brush on the canvas and the satisfaction the man felt as he got the stroke right. He could hear the groan of the floorboards everytime either one of them would shift their weight. He could hear the birds chirping outside, the trees rustling in the wind, people laughing and talking as they explored the campus. He heard someone on their phone arguing. He could hear the sound of the wind howling as it pushed against people. All the different noises brought forth a sense of peace in Zenitsu as he began to apply the paint onto the canvas. The sun began to set, and its rays leaked in through the window, creating an orange hue inside the room. The blond allowed the sun's warmth to seep into his skin, into every pore. He focused on the sensation as he allowed himself to relax into the comforting heat. His wrist twisted to accommodate the curves and edges of the sketch as he brought warmth into the painting's skin. He dipped his brush into a more peach-pink tint to replicate Uzui's warm tone. As he stroked the brush upon the cheeks of the portrait he felt a presence looming over his shoulder. He chose to ignore it in favor of focusing his concentration on the task at hand. He continued applying the color on different sections of the face. He took a moment to analyze the coloring and found himself to be satisfied and dipped the brush into a more pink-red for the lips. As he layered the paint onto the drawn appendage, he felt Uzui's breath hit his ear in small exhales. 

"It's beautiful," he whispered in an awe-stricken voice. 

"Thank you," Zenitsu responded, his voice just as soft as the other, almost like they were afraid of leaving the haven they created for themselves. Alas, you can't stay hidden forever. He dropped his hand from the artwork and let the color drip from the brush onto the floor. "Is it time to go?" he asked, in an almost heart-wrenching tone; it was as if he was saddened to leave this place, like this was his retreat from the harsh reality of the world. 

"Yeah," Uzui responded, still speaking in that delicate tone, like he was aware of the suddenly fragile state Zenitsu was in. The younger allowed himself to be pulled up by the man's strong arms as they began to gather their things to leave.

The two looked back at the room as they stepped out and slowly closed the door behind them, stepping further and further away from their perfect world.

 

 

Notes:

hm i dont know why that got so melancholy at the end, but i assure you there is not any major angst in this story.

 

maybe