PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT, FEED THE BEAST AKA. ME WITH COMMENTS! :D
(*)
Even her worrying for Nezuko and Tanjiro didn't stop Yua from falling asleep again. This showed how tiring the fight with the Spider Demon Child had been, if she couldn't stay awake to wait for them.
Her dreams were just a chaotic flashback of her fight with the Spider Demon, till she woke up, pain pulsing in her body. Carefully, she checked herself over.
Her right arm and both her legs were bandaged, but no bones were broken, so she surely ripped muscles.
Alright, muscles took time to heal, but better than a broken rib, it was!
Letting out a relieved breath, Yua checked the patient's room. Still no Tanjiro and Nezuko, just a softly snoring Zenitsu and a depressed Inosuke.
Yua was glad that Zenitsu was asleep; like this, he couldn't annoy her, just seeing Inosuke so gloomy is terrific!
It didn't fit him at all, however, Yua didn't know how to raise his spirits.
She wasn't good at this kind of thing, well, if you weren't a child.
So she just ignored him and made herself more comfortable in her bed. The Hinoto wondered how long she would need to stay here for the cures.
After six weeks spent in the Wisteria Mansion to heal her broken rib, who knew how long this time it would take to heal?
Grandfather had promised to give it to her if she returned home and hadn't achieved at least the rank of Kinoe, in light of all the time he believed she had wasted. She flexed her arms, uttering the secret password, and watched as the kanji appeared on her skin: Kinoto.
Two ranks she had raised. Normally, she would feel proud; however, all she could think about was how close she was to becoming a Kinoe. If she had just raised one more rank, she would have achieved that status.
So close and yet so far. How long would it take before she finally became a Kinoe? How long until they would offer her the position of a Hashira?
Yua missed her family, besides Grandfather, and the comfort of her own room, yet as Kinoto, she would never enter the Mochizuki Mansion. She didn't want to imagine what Grandfather would do to her if she dared.
As she lay there, afraid and anxious, she decided to direct her thoughts away from it to the Kamado-Siblings.
Wherever they were, Yua hoped with all her heart they were safe and sound. Hopeful they would rejoin them soon.
The midnight blue-haired beauty closed her eyes and sent a prayer to Tsukuyomi for Tanjiro and Nezuko to protect them.
After Yua ended her prayer, she heard a gentle knock on the door, before Aoi and little Ema, one of the four children who lived and worked in the Butterfly Mansion as assistants, entered. Ema had an orange butterfly clip in her ponytail and wore the same dress as the other little girls, only with an orange sash.
"Yua-Nee!" Ema said, holding a tablet with breakfast. "How are you?!"
"Yua-San, you already look better, good morning." Aoi diagnosed, while Yua noted she was holding some ice packs.
"Hello Ema-Chan, did you grow, sweetie? It's nice to see you again, Aoi-San." Yua greeted back.
Little Ema placed the tray of food on Yua's bedside table, and Aoi put the ice packs on her legs, which made their patient let out a relieved moan.
"I have grown 2 centimetres!", stated Ema proudly, making Yua laugh happily for her.
"Awesome Ema-Chan, soon you will be as tall as me."
Now Ema laughed, and Aoi shook her head in amusement.
"You have significant muscle strains all over your body.", Aoi told her, giving her a check-up, while Ema assisted her. "Your cousin, Sayako-San, said you used the 11th kata of the Moon-Breathing?
Yua nodded. "Yes, it has a risk of damaging the body. I could have broken bones, I'm glad it's just my muscles."
"It still did a number on you. You need rest." Aoi tutted. "As you noted, we bandaged your left arm and both your legs; there were the strains heaviest. The compression should help with the swelling. Also, the ice will help with the swelling. It should take more than a few weeks till you are good again. We will see."
"Okay, thanks, Aoi-San, Ema-Chan."
"Eat your breakfast before it gets cold, Yua-Nee.", Ema chirped, as Aoi added. "You need to get back to strength. You know how hard rehabilitation training is going to be."
Oh yeah, Yua knew damn well, but it was also fun. So she began to eat and asked the girls how the other inhabitants of the Butterfly Mansion were.
It made Yua happy to hear how Sumi, Kiyo and Naho were excelling in their medic training, only Kanao made her worry. Still the same, no changes.
Tsuyuri Kanao was Kocho-Sama tsuguko, a talented demon slayer and a worthy opponent during rehabilitation training. Yua had tried often to talk to Kanao, but the poor girl couldn't even make a decision without flipping a coin.
At least Kanao knew her now well enough to at least greet her alone.
Baby steps.
Aoi and Ema bid Yua goodbye for now and left her finishing her breakfast. It was good to have something in her belly; she was actually quite famished!
When Yua was done, she noted how tired she felt again.
Well, a nap sounded amazing now!
Yua put the tray away and cuddled up in her bed.
Soon she fell asleep again.
(*)
Zenitsu's creepy laughter suddenly awoke Yua from her pleasant dream about her beloved late mother. Angered, she grabbed her pillow and threw it at his face! That silenced him!
"AGATSUMA, STOP IT WITH THE LAUGH!" she screamed.
"Yua-Senpai!", Tanjiro called her.
Surprised, Yua rubbed her eyes to fully wake up.
There really was Tanjiro, kneeling beside Zenitsu's bed, and a Kakushi was also there, but that wasn't important.
"Kamado-San!" Yua called back a bit too happily for her taste.
She long ago decided that it would be bad to fall in love with Tanjiro, so why did she feel and sound so happy seeing him?
These feelings needed to die!
So she cleared her throat. "I mean, Kamado.San, good to see you. I assume Nezuko is alright too?"
Pointedly, she ignored the looks of the two boys, and no, she didn't think that a confused Tanjiro was cute!
Perish that thought!
Thankfully, Inosuke directed the attention to himself as he said in his crooked voice that they should forgive him for being weak.
"Hang in there, Inosuke!" Tanjiro encourages. "It's not like you to get depressed!"
"Come on, you did good! You're awesome!", Zenitsu added.
"Your aura is creeping me out, that's not like you Hashibira." Yua tried her best.
It showed how bad she was at this since Tanjiro and Zenitsu (Even the Kakushi!) gave her WTF-Looks. The young woman shrank a bit into her bed.
"What?" she croaked out. "It's the truth..."
"Anyway..." Tanjiro said into the awkward silence and turned back to Inosuke. "I'm just so happy that you're alive!"
All of a sudden Zenitsu screamed about whether he took his medicine, if someone had seen him taking it.
A vein popped up on Yua's forehead.
"You took it before I fell asleep the first time. Can I have my pillow back, please?"
Tanjiro was so nice to throw it back to her and the girl didn't waste time to put it over her head to block out the noises.
Could she get a single room?
Please?
(*)
The Kinoto had fallen asleep again, and the next thing she knew was that she needed to breathe. Fast, she pushed the pillow aside and looked around the room.
It was sunset, and beautiful red and orange light filled the patient's room. Zenitsu was snoring peacefully, and even Inosuke appeared to be asleep. The only one missing was Tanjiro.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, the red-haired boy entered the room.
"Ah Yua-Senpai, you are awake.", he greeted her as he made his way over to his bed.
"Kamado-San, where you you coming from?" she asked curiously.
"They were so nice to give Nezuko her own room. All dark so we don't have to worry sunlight will hurt her.", he explained, crawling into his bed.
Yua nodded.
It was probably for the best that the Demon Girl had her own room.
Relieved, she settled back into the cushion. Thank Tsukuyomi, the Kamado-Siblings were alright and had been taken care of!
When she could walk again, she would visit Nezuko, for now Yua just tried to hide her happiness in seeing Tanjiro.
She couldn't let herself get too attached or distracted from her goal of becoming a Hashira.
However, Yua would be lying if she said she didn't feel a bit attached to Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke and even the nuisance Zenitsu.
It was so strange...even if she didn't want to get too attached to people, they had somehow wormed their way into her heart.
Sure, most of the time she wanted to hit the boys for their stupidity, but...it was nice being with familiar people in the patient room.
This happens if you spend six weeks with the same people, she supposed.
In the middle of her musings, Tanjiro talked to her. "Yua-Senpai. You have fallen asleep before I could ask, but how are you feeling? How did the fight with the Spider Demon go?"
Having manners, she turned to face Tanjiro.
"It was tough, but I managed to defeat the Spider Demon with the help of my 11th kata, however, it did a number on me." The young woman gestured towards her bandaged arm and legs. "But I'll recover soon enough."
Tanjiro nodded in understanding before settling back into his bed.
"I'm glad. Inosuke and I were worried when we left you alone to face her."
"All is good, Kamado, don't worry so much. You will get grey hairs this way."
This made Tanjiro laugh, till he held his ribs with a pained expression.
"I have a feeling your fight was a whole other number.", Yua guessed.
And it was.
The red-haired boy told her how he managed to kill the Spider Mother, but had to leave Inosuke behind in the arms of the Spider Father. Then it turned out that the Spider Boy they had seen was one of the Demon King's Lower Moons.
Only with Nezuko's help and a new Breathing Style Tanjiro managed to keep fighting till the Water Hashira Tomioka Giyuu took care of the Lower Moon.
With only one technique.
Impressive.
Yet, Yua was more fixed on the new Breathing Style that Tanjiro had suddenly used.
"The Hinokami Kagura Dance?" she repeated, astonished. "And it's dedicated to the fire god? Huh..."
Cutely, Tanjiro tilted his head, and no, Yua didn't want to pet his hair.
No!
Forget it!
He was not cute at all!
"Have you heard of this Yua-Senpai?" Tanjiro asked.
The young woman got comfortable in her bed, crossing her arms. It hurt a bit, but she could manage. Anything to not feel these strange butterflies in her stomach!
"My family has something familiar. It's a dance called Jihibukai Tsukigami No Mai (Dance of the benevolent moon god). All children have to learn it.", she starts to explain. "It mimics Moon Breathing. If you learn the dance without problems, it means you are fit enough to learn Moon-Breathing."
"Huh, what a coincidence.", Tanjiro murmured.
"Kamado, I don't think that it's a coincidence," Yua stated.
"What you mean Yua-Senpai?"
"A dance that turns into a powerful Breathing Style? And you are really sure your family was only coal makers? This sounds more like an ancestor of yours wanted to hide his Breathing Style in the dance."
Tanjiro frowned and scratched his head.
"No, I'm pretty sure we were only coal makers, but I agree it's strange that that dance turned into a Breathing Style and then your family has something familiar for their Breathing Style..."
"Hey, don't try to crack it now.", Yua advises. "It mimics Flame-Breathing from what you told me, if I'm not mistaken, one of the Hashira uses it. You should talk with Shinobu-Sama about it. Maybe she knows more about this."
Now Tanjiro was smiling brightly, which did not make Yua blush, no matter how cute and handsome Tanjiro looked.
No!
She probably had a little fever, not more!
"When we are better, we can visit my home.", offered Yua, stroking one of her braids to distract herself from Tanjiro's damn handsome face. "The Mochizuki Mansion isn't far away from the Butterfly Mansion, but it will take us at least half a day. We need to get better first. Maybe we have something in our archive about the Hinokami Kagura Dance."
"Really, Yua-Senpai, you want to help me?"
Oh no, was he going to start to cry from thankfulness?
Yua's heart wouldn't take this!
"Now, no tears, even thankful one!" she admonished. "I'm not doing this out of the good of my heart or some sappy shit, I'm curious myself what's up with this dance."
This made Tanjiro only laugh quietly and send her a soft smile.
Okay, maybe she did blush now and felt shy.
Why did Tanjiro need to be so handsome and have a beautiful soul and heart?!
"You act all tough and rough, but I can smell how kindhearted you really are, Yua-Senpai." Tanjiro told, pointing at his nose. "Don't hide behind your anger, we are friends, you can be yourself around me."
"Be me?" she repeated, confused.
The midnight blue-haired beauty had to admit she didn't know who she really was.
She was what people wanted her to be, and when she didn't get what they wanted, she reacted with anger, sarcasm and homicidal tendencies.
Probably not sane, if one thinks about it.
Eager Tanjiro nodded.
"I can see and smell that you are confused, but...we are friends. I will help you to find out who Mochizuki Yua really is, like you will help me with the Hinokami Kagura Dance."
This made her snort.
"Seems like you got the worst deal. I'm a handful."
"Not for me...not when it's you."
Did... did Yua hear that correctly?!
Shocked, she looked up at his face. Was she imagining things, or was Tanjiro blushing? He was shyly playing with his blanket, which made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yua had never experienced feelings like this before.
In response, she fell back into her usual behaviour: avoid, ignore, and get annoyed.
"Enough with the mushy stuff, Kamado," she hissed as she let herself fall onto her bed. Closing her eyes, she tried not to see him or feel his aura. "Let's just sleep. I'm tired."
It was quiet for a few seconds until Tanjiro quietly agreed, and she heard him settle down on his bed.
The older girl let out a sigh and tried to ignore the burning sensation in her eyes.
Becoming a Hashira and bringing honour to her family was all that mattered, she reminded herself.
But why did those words taste like bitter medicine on her tongue?
(*)
Join my Tumblr for updates on stories and news!
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/empressofthesunwriter
Check my DeviantArt to see the art of the story!
https://www.deviantart.com/empressofthesun