Got these tags from @autisticzenitsu and decided to work on this aspect oooo ✍️✍️
It's not the best visual example but it was fun to draw!!! And I'll explain it properly anyway
Zenitsu knows how it is to have a good friend, cuz even though Kaigaku never saw him as an equal they’d still interact with no problem. He has no reason to be mean to “something” that’s not a threat to him. HOWEVER, even though he knows about the box of happiness and everything, deep down he still believes it was his fault that the box is broken.
“If I never asked gramps if I could join them, we’d still be friends.” that’s how he sees it. So now he’s extra careful with his relationships out of fear of triggering some emotion that’ll make them hate him.
Not only this but Zenitsu is in a never ending loop of wanting to be acknowledged but also not really. The last time they brought him back to his mom she insulted him, and the last time Jigoro gave him a chance his only friend turned out abusive. So it’s difficult to tell which one is “safer”.
Gramps is the only one he’s 100% sure about making him proud. Everyone else is a 50/50 where they can either admire him or be jealous and despise him to the core. So he’d rather to just have people by his side without talking about it for too long.
