Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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Creak.
Tanjiro's grip on Kaigaku's arm was so strong, you could almost hear the bone give in. "Let him go!" His expression was firm as he stared Kaigaku in the eyes.
"This is a hospital ward, and he is a patient!"
He said seriously, and the strength in his hand gradually increased.
"Kocho-san's diagnosis isn't over yet, you rude punk!"
During his stay and his chores at the Butterfly Mansion, Tanjiro has trained his body with the rehabilitation staff and, from time to time, received guidance from Shinobu and other Hashira that visit the mansion.
Tanjiro's physical strength has improved by leaps and bounds to start practicing breathing methods.
Tanjuro sat in the back, not interfering, as he watched Tanjiro step up. He smiles to himself, quite proud of his son.
"Why you bastard—" Kaigaku became even more pissed at the audacity of this kid.
He exerted more force on his hand to get away, but the grip didn't budge.
Tanjiro just kept his hand tightly wrapped around Kaigaku's wrist.
All of a sudden, a cane was swinging down on Kaigaku's head.
Bonk!
"Ow!"
Jigoro looked at his disciple with disappointment and continued to knock his head with the cane.
"What kind of manner have taught you,boy?! Show some respect!" He angrily scolds.
Jigoro knocked him again quite hard this time, and the pain made Kaigaku release his grip on Zenitsu's collar. "Now apologize!"
Tanjiro also released his grip on Kaigaku's arm, seeing that the guy was being punished already, but he didn't let his eyes move away from him.
Kaigaku rubbed his head in pain. He didn't dare to look at his master, but he glared at Tanjiro and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
Seeing this, Jigoro knocked his head again.
"That hurt, you old fart!"
"I said apologize!"
"...sorry." Kaigaku said through gritted teeth. With several bumps on his head, he bowed in apology to Tanjiro and Shinobu.
Tanjiro immediately smiled and patted Kaigaku on the shoulder. His seriousness was replaced by that Kamado-warmth attitude that tames people.
"That's good. Just don't do it again."
Kaikgau's eyebrows twitched. If his master wasn't here, he would have bristled under the condescension.
Kaigaku snorted coldly as he flicked his sleeves and moved out of the room to wait in the corridor.
Jigoro watched Kaigaku's back and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, that child is not usually like this." He said remorsefully.
Shinobu just smiled and nodded.
Her treatment and diagnosis continue undisturbed.
After a while,
"That's it." Shinobu slowly stood up from her chair. On the bed, Zenitsu had been wrapped tightly with bandages.
She treated Zenitsu's burns as she would any other injuries since those were the only wounds the boy had suffered.
"Thank you very much." Jigoro bowed his head to Shinobu.
But she quickly held him up. "It's the least I should do." She said softly.
With that, Shinobu left the room.
Jigoro sat on the chair beside Zenitsu with a worried look, his eyes occasionally looking at Kaigaku in the corridor.
Then, someone else came into the room.
"Nii-san?" Nezuko stopped at the door and called out. She saw that her brother was in this room when they had other chores to attend to. "What are you doing here?"
Her eyes swept across the room and saw Tanjuro sitting in front of the bed and against the wall, waving at her with a smile.
"Father, you're back!" She shouted with surprise.
She carefully walked fast to her father's location.
Zenitsu, who was lying unconscious, suddenly had his ears twitch at the sound.
Tanjiro turned to his sister and pointed at the patient on the bed. "This guy was struck by lightning, and Kocho-san was just done treating him."
Nezuko walked over after greeting her father and poked her head to look at Zenitsu. "Struck by lightning?"
She saw that Zenitsu was wrapped up like a mummy.
"...how pitiful..."
Those words seemed to work wonders as Zenitsu's closed eyes moved behind the eyelids.
His muddled mind finally came on again.
Am I... dead? Am I already dead?'
'I feel like... I heard something just now...'
His fingers twitched twice.
'A girl's voice...'
Zenitsu tried to open his eyes in this darkness.
'Are you the goddess who came to take me across the Sanzu River?'
'My eyelids... so heavy...'
Jigoro was the first to notice Zenitsu's movement and looked at Nezuko in surprise.
Finally, Zenitsu slowly opened his eyes... and stared at a ceiling he didn't recognize.
"He's awake!" Tanjiro exclaimed in amazement. "His eyes are open."
"Zenitsu? Zenitsu!" Jigoro immediately diverts his attention back to his disciple. "Can you hear me?"
Zenitsu was still in a daze as he stared at the ceiling.
...an unfamiliar ceiling.
'Is this heaven?'
His gaze looked down at the edge of the bed.
!!
Standing there, as she blinked her eyes, dumbfounded to see that the boy she pitied was awake.
Zenitsu's eyes snapped open in a flash. His dizziness suddenly disappears.
Tanjiro looked at Zenitsu's increasingly exaggerated expression, and he looked at his sister in confusion, who looked back at him the same.
Tanjuro sipped on his tea that was served when he sensed an ominous premonition.
With a whoosh, Zenitsu sat up strongly in bed.
His hand wrapped in bandages skillfully caresses Nezuko's hand like a prince.
His eyes were calm, and his expression was serious. He didn't look like someone who had just been struck by lightning.
"Please..." He said deeply.
"Please?" Tanjiro tilted his head.
Suddenly, Zenitsu bowed his head sharply and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Please marry me—!!!"
The scream was so loud it was heard through the entire wing of the hospital and outside, where there was a tree with some crows resting.
Clang!
Jigoro's cane and Tanjuro's teacup fell to the floor because of the randomness that happened in front of them.
Tanjuro's hand stiffened beyond belief.
---
On the courtyard,
The crows are roused by the scream and fly away in fright.
"Caw! Caw!"
"Huh?"
Muichiro raised his head in confusion at the crows, then at the direction of the hospital wing of the mansion.
"Brother, did you hear something strange just now?" He asked Yuichiro.