Yantober

The uncomfortable silence of just sitting there for hours was starting to wear on him.

Both his mind and body. He was uncomfortable from sitting there for what felt like forever. So not only was the hardwood seat making him uncomfortable and the silence was making him anxious. The only sounds being the murmer of voices around them and the clinking of dishes from the restaurant customers in the surrounding tables.

"Where ARE they?! They were supposed to be here hours ago!!"

Dark eyes looked up hopeful to the figure next to him. "Maybe we should just leave then. Obviously they changed their minds."

The protests fell silent when a glare that could silence a lion. "Shut up with your dam whimpering already! If you think you can drive off another one by acting like a depressed dog then I'll be sure to beat it out of you!"

"I just get why you keep insisting on this. It's not that important -"

"ENOUGH!!" A fist slammed down onto the table hard enough for many others to turn towards the noise, a hand pointed directly at his face. "Sanemi is already married with a child and both your sisters are engaged to be married! You're dragging your feet on a matter that's already decided! You're getting engaged and that's final!! Understand?!"

Yes. That's why he was here. He was meeting the girl his dad had engaged him off to. The entire idea of it made his stomach flip flop and a light feeling form in his feet. He supposed by societal standards it was pretty weird for him to be twenty four and still unmarried or at the very least engaged but it wasn't his fault! He's tried meeting people who he might like but nothing ever really clicked. Sanemi even tried to help by setting him up with his wife's baby sister but Kanao was already interested in his friend. But you try explaining that to his father who was stupidly stubborn and had an attitude that rivaled a stove in heat.

Sanemi was already married in his thirties with two kids and a baby on the way. Both his younger sisters and one of his younger brothers was already engaged to be married after highschool and his youngest sibling was currently being introduced to other parents with daughters of the same age for potential future marriages in mind. He was currently the only one avoiding the unspoken obligation of holy matrimony. At least until his father just turned up on his doorstep one day furiously pounding on the door until he answered to find the annoyed man standing there.

"I've made arrangements with a family and they accepted your engagement! You WILL meet their daughter two weeks from now and that's final!"

He was hoping he'd just cruz by until he was twenty six and then his parents would stop pestering him to be married by twenty five but his father's patience had run out to the point of taking matters into his own hands. Having found a random family with a daughter to just engage him off too.

So that was it.

Truth be told he was really dreading this entire thing. He never met this girl let alone a picture of her. He had no idea what she looked like, what she was like, if he liked her at all, or if they were even compatible! He didn't even know her name for crying out loud! And his father just expected him to go along with it.

Truth be told there was only one girl who he truly wouldn't mind marrying. The girl he had feelings on since highschool really. One of his old friends. She was so beautiful and sweet. A real beauty amongst the crowd, but unfortunately that was never to be either. She was engaged since fourteen to spend dam rich jerk and then she moved away for college shortly after graduation. He lost contact with her shortly after and hasn't been able to contact her since. Maybe it was for the best. Tanjiro had always seemed concerned about his jealousy but he was just a kid! It was normal to be jealous wasn't it?!

A sigh left his mouth as he just looked back at the empty plate that had been sitting in front of him for hours. He hadn't even been allowed to eat because 'it would be a bad example to eat when you guests hadn't even arrived yet'. Slouched down in the seat he just stared at the plate boredly in order to ignore the annoyed ramblings of his father next to him. If he was was lucky then maybe they'd miss the meeting and they could go home and forget about this entire thing. That hope was dashed as soon as two pairs of footsteps approached the table and out of the corner of his eye he saw two figures.

"Mr. Shinazugawa I presume?"

"Where have you been?! We've been waiting for over two hours here! It was embarrassing!"

"I apologize for our tardiness but one of our wheels got a flat," a man's voice sounded apologetic and guilty to his left.

"Then you should have called beforehand! Ugh. Nevermind any of that! We're here to finalize the details of our agreement."

"But of course." There was an uncomfortable pause as Genya could feel eyes fall upon him but he busied himself by staring at his plate still hoping that they would forget he was there. "And this must be your son. Hello, Young Man."

After a second he jumped when a painful smack to his shoulder was going. "Stop slouching! Sit up and greet your in-laws properly!"

The pain in his shoulder already throbbed as his head turned up to the voices ..and then he froze. An older man with a mustache smiled at him politely.

"It's very nice to meet you. You must be Genya! I've heard so much about you from my daughter." He turned to a younger girl to his side. "After all you two went to school together didn't you?"

He just stared. Not at the man but at the girl next to him. IT WAS HER!! You stood there looking awkward but smiling politely next to your father. She was..so beautiful. You didn't look any different from the day you graduated minus the longer hair and you've grown a few inches since then. You offered him a friendly wave and smile that caused him to form a lump in his throat he was forced to gulp down. His heart pounded in his chest with each second she sat down across from him.

"You remember Y/n don't you, Genya? It must've been quite a while ago."

"Wasn't she already engaged before however?"

"Oh yes...But I'm afraid something's come up." Her father spoke sitting across from his father. "I'm afraid my daughter's ex fiance was killed in a traffic accident last year which left her without a partner for some time. Once I heard you were looking for a match for your son, I thought the gods had blessed us. After all our families have history and our children are already acquainted."

"Yes, yes. But onto important matters. Uh...How much would her dowry be? Of course if we're supplying you a replacement son-in-law we would expect something in return."

Genya didn't pay any attention to him. Nor his father. He just stared intently at you. Red faced but intently. YOU were here. YOU were the one single. YOU had lost your fiance. And it was HE who was intended to replace the one in your life.

"Um. H-Hi, Genya," you greeted awkwardly rubbing your neck. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

He stiffly nodded, the stars he was giving you sending goosebumps down your arms. You hadn't seen your old school aquantance for nearly five years, not since you both graduated and you moved away for college. There was a reason you let the friendship die out. It wasn't that Genya was a bad person pursay but the.way he always interacted with you was awkward. You had been engaged before even meeting the then teenager but from the moment he saw you it was like a school girl around her crush. Awkward greetings. Multiple loving stares. Awkward gestures like taking your books out of your hands to carry them despite not wanting him too, and staring down the one guy who asked you if you wanted to go to the spring dance with him. He knew that you were already engaged but he still acted like you and him had feelings for each other.

"He's acting pretty weird around you y'know," as Zenitsu put it. And coming from Zenitsu that said something.

It was very easy to slowly wean him off before you stopped seeing or talking to him altogether. But now he was here in front of you and he was your maybe replacement fiance. You supposed you should be grateful for your father agreeing to someone whom you already knew but you couldn't help but feel that awkward feeling once more.

"-and I think we are still able to have her wedding next year. We haven't cancelled the venue and all the orders for flowers and catering are still in order. Unfortunately we just need to get a groom and redo the guest list and invitations. I understand if this is sudden and your son is apprehensive to marry within the next year. It's just we've already invested a lot of money into this already and would hate to loose the security deposits."

"I accept."

You could've heard a pin drop from the silence that rang out. Both fathers turning to Genya who had interrupted their conversation earlier.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Fists clenched at his sides as his gaze bore into you. You. His. Together. Finally.

"I-I accept your proposal."