BUTTERFLY : SHINOBU KOCHO (PART ONE)

Intermission: Rehabilitation

*Present Day: Hospital Ward*

Before Zenitsu even realized it, the day had passed.

He only raised his head from the journal entries when he heard the sound of Tanjiro slamming the door open, looking like death itself and groaning incessantly.

His eyes shot open when he saw the redhead boy come into the room.

"WHA- TANJIRO WHY ARE YOU HERE SO EARLY, IT'S-

His eyes shot open even wider when he saw the orange glow of the sunset through the windows.

"W H A A A A A A -

"Zenitsu, please, keep your voice down..." Tanjiro murmured weakly, trudging towards his bed.

"B-B-B-B-B-But where did the time go?!"

"Ugh, what are you talking about?" Tanjiro furrowed his eyebrows as he flopped into bed.

Zenitsu honestly didn't know himself.

Had he been reading throughout the entire day?

"E-Erm, Tanjro," The golden-haired demon slayer muttered, "I think I was reading for the entire day..."

"Mhm, that's nice, Zen-Zen......"

"OI, ARE YOU FALLING ASLEEP ALREADY?!"

Zenitsu smacked Tanjiro on the head with the book in his hands, and the Kamado boy jolted back up with a yelp. "O-Oi, Zenitsu!" He cried, "What was that for?"

"I WAS JUST IN THE MIDDLE OF SPEAKING, AND YOU DECIDE TO FALL ASLEEP ON ME?!" He screeched.

All Tanjiro wanted to do after a long day of rehabilitation training, where he was forced to endure some of the worst exercises he had ever endured, was to head right back to sleep, so he decided to just play along with Zenitsu until the golden-haired crybaby would go away.

With a fake bright grin, Tanjiro asked, "Alright, Zenitsu, can you repeat what you were saying earlier for me?"

"Here, here!" Zenitsu reached over onto his bedside table and snagged the second book, which said: KARI, SAKUSA: ARCHANGEL MISSION on it, and handed it to the redhead boy.

"I was reading one of these mission logs about the Archangel mission Lady Shinobu and Master Kari went on!" He exclaimed, pointing to the label, "This one is Master Kari's though, I wasn't reading that one, I was reading Lady Shinobu's!"

Tanjiro stared with squinting eyes at the label, and although his stamina was completely drained, he still couldn't stop himself from turning the page.

"So......this would be Kari-san's record of their mission?" Tanjiro asked again. Zenitsu nodded excitedly and replied, "Yeah, yeah, it's really interesting! They apparently fought these guys called Seraphim, and it sounds like they fought a demon named Sephir who wanted to overthrow Kibutsuji as lord of the demons!"

"What?!"

Tanjiro's attention had been visibly taken by Zenitsu's claim. If Sakusa and Shinobu actually fought in a mission with a demon who was prepared to fight Muzan, maybe something, anything in these records would be able to help him get an edge on the demon lord, or better yet, maybe there was something in these records that would help him better understand how to turn his sister back into a human.

As much as he was exhausted, he couldn't calm his racing heart and he knew he had to at the very least start reading through these records.

So, he asked Zenitsu if he could borrow the book, to which the golden-haired boy shrugged, saying, "They're not mine, Tanjiro. Lady Shinobu simply brought them to me, so go ahead. Just don't break it, or she will probably get angry with you."