Chapter Text
Nail polish, blush, eyeliner, false eyelashes, lipsticks, dresses, cute and feminine shoes ... Zenitsu was aware that these were expensive, he was aware, many times he had bought such accessories in the past for some girl he wanted to impress in the moment. The amount of money he had spent was monstrous, probably if his gramps found out he would kill him, he was a dead man walking! Do not, Zenitsu! He couldn't think that way! No one could know about his purchases, that was a secret that he would take to the grave. Neither gramps, nor Tanjirou, nor Genya, much less Kaigaku! Zenitsu could not even imagine what would happen if the latter found out what he planned to do. It was better not to think about it. He muttered a curse between his teeth, cursed Uzui Tengen and all his ancestors, that bastard who had told him that he could never look like a pretty girl in his life!
Zenitsu is a smart person you see! Nobody cannot argue much about it, his third place at the Kimetsu academy rank confirmed it, but in addition to that he was a hard working person, although to be honest, his dedication was never caused by himself, there was always a person behind his desire to standing out; his grades were the product of wanting to make gramps proud, in addition to not wanting to seem like a walking disgrace when compared to Kaigaku, his position as president of the council student had basically been self-imposed by Tomioka-sensei since other possible candidates had not been interested . Zenitsu hated having to deal with that kind of work! Please give him a break, wear the damn uniform properly! At this rate he was going to have gray hair before the age of 20, have some compassion! But, even so, he could not deny that gramps’s smile when he informed him of his position on the school board had almost made worthy the pain, the key word was almost. So yes, at this point it can be deduced that the person named Agatsuma Zenitsu is normally indirectly or directly influenced to do things that he normally would not do by himself.
The current situation facing Zenitsu, therefore, is nothing out of the ordinary. The scattered makeup in front of the mirror in his room, the pink dress, the shirt with a black bow on her neck and the brown wig that rested on his bed are not surprising, of course not, these elements are only necessary objects for his revenge. The hours and days he spent watching beauty tutorials on YouTube, the money he spent, all that led to the culmination of a plan - stupid idea - after he was humiliated in front of the art club by Uzui Tengen. Someone, please tell him how hated he is by Zenitsu!
Zenitsu finished putting the glow on his lips, a pink color, and then he observed himself for a full minute, the image was a bit disturbing, his face looked extremely feminine, even without clothes and the wig he was sure he could easily been mistaken for a girl ... probably ... But surely his makeup was better than the one Uzui had put on him! It was a fresh and feminine makeup, his lips looked soft and his false eyelashes make his eyes to look bigger that they already were. He rested a finger against his chin, he had even gone so far to make the nail polish, a pale pink, combine with his makeup and clothes, someone, please, be so gentle to praise him!
Agatsuma came out of reverie, he had to hurry, he didn't want to be late, he shouldn't waste time, gramps and Kaigaku had left in the morning to do something he didn't remember, the important thing is that they would return at night around 8:00 pm, that meant he had approximately 7 hours to enjoy in the city. Zenitsu put on a small short before putting on the outfit he had chosen very carefully, he tied his hair and delicately placed the wig in its place, it was dark brown, a tone similar to the color of his previous hair, the length of the wig was medium, it reached his shoulders. He delicately combed his bangs, he knew that his eyebrows were not very feminine so he had concluded that the best thing he could do was hide them with the wig’s bangs.
Zenitsu closed his eyes for a moment, his false eyelashes caused him tickles when they touched his cheeks full of soft blush, he opened his eyes again and watched himself fixedly, he looked different ... so different that if he saw a girl like that he would try to ask her out ...
“Now who is horrible, Uzui Tengen! Please, eat your words and ask for my forgiveness while you are on your knees!” A laugh, which normally the one who listened to it would catalog as unpleasant, left his lips.
Zenitsu stopped laughing when the alarm of his cell phone rang announcing that it was time to leave, he placed all his makeup in a bag that he then threw into the handbag he had bought for the occasion. Agatsuma hurried out of his room, bag hanging from his shoulder and shoes being balanced in one hand. He was calm, he could hear that his whole house was empty, so there was no way for someone to discover it before leaving his house, the least he wanted was for someone to see him leaving the place, for the first time in his life he was grateful for his enhanced hearing.
There weren't many setbacks to leave his house behind, the neighborhood he lives was quiet, his gramps likes that and he always says it as many times as he can. Zenitsu was sure that no one had seen him leaving the house, after walking for ten minutes his body finally relaxed, it was strange, he had not realized that he was so tense, but of course the action was justifiable! No one could find out what he was doing, nobody. Deep inside he knew that his acting or, rather, what he wanted to prove, was idiotic, but a small part, one that resided near his insecurities and self-loathing, a small part that strangely sounded like Tanjirou, wanted to prove that this was possible, that Zenitsu, crybaby and weak Zenitsu, could be seen with something else than repulsion.
Zenitsu cursed, not for the first time, his art teacher, the idiot had put makeup on him and then he placed him in the center of an art class to be used as a reference, like a circus freak. Everyone, with the exception of Genya and Murata, had laughed at him and usually he would have cried during the whole ordeal, but the sensation that was eating him inside did not allow him to do so, at least when Murata had told Tanjirou he had seemed angry in his behalf; the idiot had gone so far to say, "I don't understand anyway, I'm sure Zenitsu would be a pretty girl, of course not more than Nezuko!" His heart had performed a somersault due to Kamado's words, fucking hell, Tanjirou, have more consideration for Zenitsu's poor heart!
After that the rest was history, he just wanted to prove that he could go unnoticed as an ordinary girl, he didn't try to look exceptionally pretty, he just wanted not to stand out and that strangers saw him without disgust, Zenitsu knew that the color of his hair normally attracted attention and not in the best way, he suppressed a sigh by remembering just the slap Tomioka-sensei had given him just the day before. That was his natural hair color, for fucks sake!
For a moment he thanked his momentary distraction, he had already walked a lot and had reached the city center, in fact, he had nothing planned on what to do in the city, his planning had eradicated his outfit and makeup, he had even investigated an outfit that hid his lack of feminine curves! He paused for a moment on the sidewalk thinking about what to do, maybe he could go eat something, he had not had lunch because he was putting on makeup, he looked up, unconsciously his stare had been perched on the ground, and blinked at his image, the reflection of the shop window in front of him greeted him, his eyes looked big and bright, his cheeks were a healthy peach pink and his lips looked rosy and ready to be kissed. Zenitsu squeezed the skirt of his dress, for a moment he felt embarrassed, although a certain part of himself was still impressed by his makeup abilities.
Zenitsu left his stupor when he heard a whistle, he gave a little start and then turned in the direction of the sound, just across the street were a group of young people who could easily be classified as the stereotype of criminals.
"Hey, miss, you should keep us company!" Shouted the one Zenitsu could distinguish as the leader. Was he talking to him? His disbelief must have shown on his face because, not long after, the same guy added; "Yes, you, the one in the pink dress!"
Is that pig talking to me? Do you think I'm going to listen to you!? Of course no one would listen if you shout like crazy in middle of the day! Please have some awareness of your position! The disgust he felt was palpable and his desire to express it verbally was creeping up his throat, his cheeks were swollen from the air that had entered his lungs to start screaming, but someone else took his opportunity to scream at the guy.
"That is no way to speak to a person!" Zenitsu felt his heart shrink when he heard the voice, but more importantly the sound that came from the person, gentle and warm. A sound so pure and warm that he had never heard something similar in his life, one that could only be from Kamado Tanjirou.
I'm going to die! Without a doubt, I will die! I am too young to die and I have not yet get married! He should know that it's me! Damn my bad luck and the strong sense of smell of Tanjirou!
Zenitsu was so into his thoughts that he didn't notice how the other was approaching him with a kind smile on his face, one as sweet as the same sound that always accompanied the eldest son of the Kamado.
"You don't need to be scared anymore, miss, they're gone." Tanjirou was carrying a bag with his family's last name on it, he was probably making deliveries from his family's bakery.
Wait, he told me miss ... Doesn't he know it's me?! How is that possible?! ... Now that I remember, before I left I put on a lot of perfume, lots of it, maybe that means? ... Thank you, Gods, Buddha, I will start to pray more often!
“Miss?” Tanjirou's voice was full of concerned, the sound dulls Kamado's warm and usual sound a little, this managed to get him out of his reverie, it was true, he hadn't answered.
"A-ah yes, I'm fine, thank you ..." Zenitsu had practiced a lot for this, this meeting was just another litmus test! He had trained fervently to make his voice sound completely different, his hearing had helped incredibly, he knew he had managed to get his voice down some octaves and softer, he was that cool!
Tanjirou visibly relaxed at his words and smiled softly at him "I'm glad to hear that" and then he seemed to remember something, "Oh! I'd like to talk more, but I have a job, have a good day, miss!”
And just as Kamado Tanjirou appeared, he disappeared again, running in the direction Zenitsu had come from. Zenitsu released the air he had been holding and had not realized, "Damn it, give me a break, please."
The rest of the afternoon had been normal, he had gone to one of his favorite restaurants and bought a deserved dessert, some pride lodged in his chest when he noticed that no one had realized that he was really a man, also he could, almost, swear that there were men who had seen him with desire! Which had disgusted him and greatly frightened him, but the important thing about all this was that he had proved to Uzui Tengen that, although the man did not know it, he had achieved his goal.
Usually, the adventure of Zenitsu dressing as a woman, would have ended there, but clearly neither Buddha nor God love him; so of course just the next day the conversation that would complicate everything would take place.
"I'm just saying, Tanjirou, I sincerely believe that the only woman you consider attractive is Nezuko, and she is your sister!" Murata had recriminated while they were eating their lunch at their usual place. Just another regular Monday.
Tanjirou seemed insulted by the sentence, his frown was deep, but the only thing that caused such action was to make him look like a small child during a tantrum "Nezuko is beautiful!" He had expressed with conviction, usually, the conversation would have ended with that sentence, but this time Tanjirou did the unthinkable. “Besides, that's not true, just yesterday I talked to a very pretty girl, she had really beautiful eyes and a nice aura around her. She smelled like peaches."
And in that moment, almost choking on a piece of food, Zenitsu knew that his life no longer would be the same as it used to be.