Doom & Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Xover

Chapter 21

Shinobu looked disappointed, looking away to stare at the wall as she responded, "I see… I suppose my sister was wrong after all… Thank you, Tanjiro, this will give me a bit of closure for what happened to her. Now all that's left is to find the one who did it."

Tanjiro and Rengoku looked towards each other before Rengoku elaborated, "You mean the one with the sharp fans, right? I remember that's what you told us before." Shinobu nodded and explained:

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Once I'm back on my feet, I'll continue my investigation. We'll find him, don't worry about it." Shinobu was partially flustered by the fact that her comrades would go to such lengths to help her out as she dismissed his gesture and told him:

"It's okay, you don't have to go out of your way to help me."

"Nonsense, that's what friends are for."

Shinobu couldn't help but smile at her comrade's generosity and simply said, "Thank you, Kyojuro." It was at that point when Kanao started to wake up due to all the commotion. She winced before her eyes creaked open. She was surprised to see everyone awake but once it fully registered that Shinobu was in front of her, she focused all of her energy into getting up right away.

Kanao apologized to the woman, "I apologize for my incompetence, master, I'll get back to work right away. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Shinobu stared at Kanao for a few seconds and watched as the girl yawned out of fatigue but remained at attention, ready to do her part. Shinobu told the girl, "Kanao, you can drop the formalities, we're not like that and you've done more than enough, thank you. You can go to your room and get some sleep, that'll make me happy." Kanao looked disappointed but nodded in acknowledgement of the woman's suggestion. Her face lit up once she saw Tanjiro who was unknowingly entranced by her. She gave a playful wave before departing, leaving the infirmary.

Rengoku commented on the situation, "She seems more lively than ever." Shinobu couldn't help but chuckle at the Hashira's statement before also commenting:

"She's been getting really close with me as of recently, though I still haven't gotten her to drop that master business. I don't blame her though, years of abuse does that to someone so it's a miracle at all that she's finally starting to open up like this." Shinobu then looked towards Tanjiro before telling him, "Thank you for helping Kanao, whatever you said to her before really helped her."

Tanjiro shook his head repeatedly as he didn't feel like he deserved praise for doing the right thing and commented, "It's no big deal! I was just doing what I thought I needed to do, that's all." Shinobu got up from the bed and began to take her leave as well before telling the boy the boy:

"Once you're able to move, the girls will help you get back into shape and it won't be long until you're back out. Also, a friend of yours showed up this morning and wanted to see you. I told him to wait until you had gotten enough rest, should I let him in?"

Tanjiro was trying to figure out who would come to see him, he began to wonder if either Inosuke or Zenitsu had returned and got excited at the prospect of seeing them. He exclaimed with excitement, "Yes, please!" Shinobu smiled and closed the door behind her. Tanjiro had to wait several minutes before he heard footsteps approaching the door once more and who came in was someone he was not expecting whatsoever.

A demon slayer he had befriended from Mount Natagumo, Murata, stepped into the room. He has his hair parted in the middle similar to an open bowl-cut. He has dark eyes that match his hair and he wears a standardized demon slayer uniform with no special modifications. The older boy walked towards Tanjiro before calling out, "Tanjiro! It's so good to see you! How are you doing, man?"