"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
When Tanjiro awoke the next day, the first sound to bless his ears was not the birds chirping, nor was it the sound of breakfast being prepared, no,
it was Zenitsu once again complaining about his medecine.
"I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS FILTH!" The blonde-haired boy screeched right in Aoi's face.
"WELL YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A STUBBBY LITTLE BOY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!" She barked back.
The black-haired maid rolled her eyes at the boy, grumbling under her breath as she walked over to Tanjiro to check up on him.
"Good Morning, Tanjiro," Aoi said as the boy rose from his bed, "You feeling any better?"
The redhead boy flashed his signature smile and said, "I feel alot better, Kanzaki, thank you!"
Even in bed, the boy managed to brighten up someone's day with just a look. Aoi couldn't help but feel in a better mood simply from seeing the boy's smile.
"Well, here, I have your medicine right here for you, Tanjiro."
Aoi handed the boy a cup from her tray and with an ecstatic thanks, the boy downed the elixir, beaming and humming to himself as he handed back the cup.
"OI, TANJIRO'S MEDICINE GOES DOWN SMOOTH, DOESN'T IT?! IT'S DIFFERENT THAN MINE! I CALL FAVORITISM, YOU GUYS LIKE TANJIRO MORE THAN ME!"
"OF COURSE WE DO, BECAUSE YOU SCREAM LIKE A TODDLER HALF THE DAY!" Aoi barked back.
"HOW CRUEL-
"Z-Zenitsu!" Tanjiro piped up, "This is a hospital ward, Inosuke is still asleep! Please, keep your voice down!"
Just as Tanjiro was about to hop off his bed and help Aoi with restraining a screeching Lighting Breather, a familiar silhouette appeared in the hospital ward entryway.
"Well, looks like you lot are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, huh?"
Tanjiro took a glance over at the door and exclaimed,
"Murata!"
"Hey, Tanjiro!" the older demon slayer waved.
The basic-looking young man with the black middle part pulled up a seat right next to Tanjiro's bedside, sparking up a conversation between the two slayers who worked together on Mt. Natagumo.
"How are you feeling, Murata?" Tanjiro asked with a smile.
"I came this close to being melted and turned into jelly," The young man sheepishly replied, "But I somehow made it!"
"But, I did hear you guys got banged up pretty bad, how are you doing?"
Tanjiro scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly saying, "IIIIt's gonna take some time for us, hehe, but I think we'll recover just fine."
"Tanjiro?" Zenitsu chimed in with a flat expression, "Who....is this guy?"
"This right here is Murata, Zenitsu!"
"My name's Murata, nice to meet you!" The young man introduced himself, before taking notice of the golden-haired boy's short limbs.
"Hey, what's the matter with your arms?"
"I almost got turned into a spider," Zenitsu replied glumly, "So my limbs are still all stubby-
"Which is why you should be taking your medicine!" Aoi suddenly burst into the room, holding a cup.
" N O IT'S SO ICKY-
"THEN DON'T COME BACK TO ME CRYING WHEN YOUR LEGS DON'T GROW BACK THE RIGHT LENGTH!"
"HOW CAN A WOMAN BE SO CRUEL?!"
"Ugh, you're such a child." Aoi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "You don't realize how good you have it, you know. I've had to deal with way worse conditions than what you're in, so kindly pipe down before I stick a roll of bandages in your mouth!"
"N O! THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH ICKINESS A BOY CAN TAKE BEFORE DYING OF IT!"
Zenitsu hopped from bed to bed, bouncing until he reached Tanjiro's, and ducked behind the redhead boy with tears in his eyes.
"NO ICKY, I SAY, N O I C K Y-
"Ah, so you only have to drink a nasty little medicine, hm?" A cold, chilling voice spat like venom, "lucky y o u~"
Tanjiro and Zenitsu both got chills up their spine as they turned towards the source of the voice, flinching in fright when they saw a ghastly-looking Murata staring at them right in the face.
"I HAD TO TURN UP TO A HASHIRA MEETING TO HAND IN A REPORT OF THE EVENTS AT MT. NATAGUMO, DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIFYING THAT WAS?!"
Both teenagers violently shook their heads, their teeth beginning to chatter in terror.
"WELL GUESS WHAT, YOU TURDS!" Murtata screamed, leaping from his seat with fury, "I HAD TO HANDLE TEN SCARY-LOOKING HASHIRA ALL STARING AT ME, ALREADY ANGERED OVER HOW POOR QUALITY THE DEMON SLAYERS HAD BECOME! I HAD SHINAZUGAWA, IGURO, UZUI AND KARI WITH COLD, HATE-FILLED EYES ON ME! DO YOU KNOW HOW HORRIFYING IT IS TO SEE FOUR MEN WITH MORE MUSCLES IN THEIR PINKY TOES THAN YOU DO IN YOUR ENTIRE BODY GLARING AT YOU LIKE YOU'RE A PILE OF SHIT?! NEWFLASH, DUMMIES, IT'S PRETTY GODDAMN HORRIFYING!!!"
As the door slid open and a petite, smiling figure entered the room, Murata continued his ramblings.
"I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THE HASHIRA ARE SCARY!"
"And what's so scary about us, Mister Murata~?"
Murata practically jumped out of his skin when Shinobu appeared behind him, flinching under her touch on his arm and leaping ten feet away.
"H-H-H-HASHIRA! L-LADY KOCHO!"
"Hello, Murata." The elegant Hashira greeted the man.
"H-HELLO!" Murata bowed so fast he almost hit his head against the ground, before sprinting out the door, only to hit the one man he never wished to anger in his entire existence, for fear of immediate and certain death.
"Oi, the fuck you think you're doing, shithead?"
Murata had never screamed so loud when he jerked his head up, and staring right back at him with a burning crimson eye was none other than Sakusa Kari.
"EEEEEEEEEEP! RAGE HASHIRA!"
Frozen in place, the crimson-tipped man clicked his tongue at the young man, shoving past him and walking up towards the three boys in the beds, with Murata running as fast he could out of the Butterfly mansion.
"Ugh, weak demon slayers are gross." Sakusa grumbled to himself.
"Maybe be more supportive of them, and they can go big and strong like you, Saku-san!" Shinobu exclaimed cheerfully, taking the seat Murata left behind before the trio of teenagers.
The Insect Hashira turned her head towards a blushing Zenitsu and said, "You've been taking your medicine, right, Zenitsu? I really hope it's not too hard to swallow, the herbs do have quite the strong taste!"
"N-No, no, it's perfect!" The golden-haired boy blurted out with a giggly tone, "It's delicious, I look forward to taking it everyday!"
"Really?" Shinobu's smile grew even wider, "I'm so glad to hear that!"
"B-But, Zenitsu, you were literally complaining about how bad it-mmmhpmhpmphhmh"
"Not now, Tanjiro, shut up."
After Zenitsu's eyes drifted away from the beauty sitting before them, his cheerful mood shot right down the drain when the figure of a massive, intimidating man with an eyepatch came into view. "IS THAT A MONSTER?!"
Tanjiro's attention was drawn away from the Insect Hashira and towards the direction of where Zenitsu was screeching, and his smile burst to life when Sakusa approached them.
"Kari-san!"
"Hey there, brat." Sakusa limply raised his hand, acknowledging the boy.
"....my name's still Tanjiro, you know..."
"B r a t ."
"Hmph, in any case,"
Tanjiro turned his attention back to a shivering Zenitsu, shaking under the Rage Hashira's penetrating eyes, mumbling "Scary, scary, scaryyyy" under his breath. "Zenitsu," He said, "This is Sakusa Kari, the Rage Hashira who protected my sister."
"Hey there, yellow brat."
"Y-Y-Y-Y-You, protected Nezuko?" Zenitsu whimpered, pointing at the taller man with a shaky finger.
Sakusa shrugged in reply, "If that's what you want to call it."
Just as Tanjiro was about to speak, he was interrupted by the sound of scurrying footsteps and hushed murmurs from the halls, before three little assistants peaked around the corner, all of their eyes on Sakusa.
"So Miss Aoi was telling the truth!" The girls beamed.
The trio all made a break for the man standing next to Shinobu and tackled him over, giggling and laughing as they sprawled over top of him.
"Yay, Saku's back! It's been so long!"
"S-....Saku?" Tanjiro murmured in surprise, watching as the girls all nuzzled themselves into his neck.
"Oh, that's the just nickname the girls have for Saku-san." Shinobu chuckled, "It's quite sweet, seeing them act this way around him."
"O-Oh, I see."
Tanjiro watched as Sumi, the girl with the sky blue hair ties in her pigtails, pulled a necklace made of acorns and other trinkets out of her pocket and hung it around Sakusa's neck with a joyful grin on her cheeks. "I made this for you while you were away, Saku! I missed you tons, so I did this to keep myself company!"
The redhead boy's heart warmed at the sight of the girls so excited, but fear took over when he realized who they were acting so friendly with.
Wait, what if Kari-san gets mad, and hurts these poor girls? This is bad, this is very, very ba-
"Thank you so much, Sumi, I missed you too!"
Tanjiro flinched in pleasant surprise when he took a curious glance at the girls and the man on the floor, and a softened expression returned to his face when he saw a sight to behold,
Sakusa Kari, in all his intimidating glory, smiling with the girls as he patted their heads.
"I-I made something for you too, Saku!" Kiyo, the girl with the sparse loose strands of hair coming down over her forehead said, "But it's not as nice as Sumi's necklace."
The little girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a small origami dragon, slightly crinkled around the edges.
"I worked really hard on it in my free time, a-and I know it's not the best, but-
"It's perfect, Kiyo." Sakusa interrupted the girl with a bright smile and a chuckle, "As long as it was made by your hands, it will always have a special place in my heart."
Tanjiro and Zenitsu were utterly speechless as the Rage Hashira enveloped the trio of girls in a tight embrace, laughing with them as if there wasn't a care in his mind.
When Tanjiro first met him, he was a cold, ruthless man with a scowl on his lips that refused to leave, as he threatened, injured and degraded his fellow Hashira. Now, on the other hand, it was almost like watching a father reuniting with his three daughters after a long trip away.
He didn't know whether to be confused or touched by the heartwarming moment between them.
Shinobu leaned into the boy's ear with a teasing smile and whispered, "Saku-san has a soft spot for kids, if you were wondering~"
Zenitsu, on the other hand, decided the best course of action was to ruin everything.
"OI, WHY ARE YOU SO GIDDY WHEN IT COMES TO THESE GIRLS, HUH?! WHY DO YOU LOOK SO BIG AND TERRIFYING, WHEN YOU'RE JUST A HUGE SOFTIE ON THE INSIDE?!"
"OI, CALL ME A SOFTIE AGAIN, AND I'LL RIP YOUR BALLS OFF AND STICK THEM TO YOUR FOREHEAD WITH MY BLADE, FUCKHEAD!" Sakusa barked back in retaliation. He flinched, however, when Shinobu stifled a chuckle behind her hand and intervened, teasing, "Oh, but you are a softie, Saku-san~"
Tanjiro's eyebrows furrowed when he saw a light pink tint glow on the young man's cheeks, as he darted his head away with a "hmph", one word popping into his mind.
......Tsundere. A big, scary Tsundere.
"Hey, and I told you to watch your language when you're around the girls, Saku-san." Shinobu continued, her tone growing serious, "I may be alright with it because I'm a Hashira, but Miss Aoi, Miss Sumi, Miss Kiyo and Miss Naho are all young women who don't need to hear your vulgar words."
"Ugh, fine, whatever..."
Once again, Tanjiro felt himself grow confused.
All the time he had known Sakusa, the man seemed to be bitter, callous and unshakable, and yet, here he was, smiling and playing with the children and conceding to Shinobu.
What was the reason for Sakusa shifting his behavior so much, when in the face of this woman?
He had to find out.
"S-So, Kari-san." Tanjiro called out to the man with the girls on the floor.
"What, brat?" Sakusa spat back harshly.
"Erm, c-can I ask you something?"
The man tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows and replied, "Depends on what it is."
Even as the three assistants began putting crowns of flowers and braids in the man's crimson-tipped hair, the daggers fired at Tanjiro still intimidated him as much as a demon would, and he felt a cold sweat come over him the longer he tried to sputter out his question.
"U-Uhm, s-so, you know how you like-uh, y-you-
"Spit it out, brat, what's the matter, hm~?"
H-He's scaring me on purpose, isn't he....
The practical bloodlust burning off the Hashira halted immediately, though, when Shinobu smacked Sakusa right across the top of the head.
"Oi!"
"Remember what I said about your glare scaring people, Saku-san?" Shinobu scolded the man on the floor as the three girls giggled at him, "My, my, someone sure does have a lot to learn about people skills, huh~?"
"Hey, I said I hate it when you say things like that!"
"Meh, it's not like you could ever hate me~"
"S-Stop it!"
"U-Uhm, I have my question now!" Tanjiro blurted out.
Both Hashira turned to him in unison, their curiosity showing on their faces.
"Yes, Tanjiro?" Shinobu replied.
"S-So, I know this is super personal, and you both are my superiors, but I have to ask...."
"Who are you to each other? W-Why do you know Kari-san has a soft spot for children, Lady Shinobu-
"I DO NOT-
"And why do you always listen to whatever Lady Shinobu says, Kari-san, when you don't listen to any of the other Hashira?"
As Tanjiro's ramblings continued on, the smirks on the two Hashira only grew as their relationship began to become known in the young boy's mind.
"And why are you two so close when all the Hashira bickered when I first saw them, and why did you both come to the Butterfly Mansion after your Hashira meeting, and-
"......o h."
A smirking Sakusa said, "So, you finally figured it out, huh~?"
"What is it, Tanjiro?!" Zenitsu shook the boy beside him, "I wanna know too!"
Tanjiro pointed at the duo with a shaky finger, sputtering in his excitement, "A-A-A-A-Are you guys....like.....w-what I think you are?!"
His theory was proven when Sakusa leaned into the girl by his side, and shook the room with a single action.
Planting a kiss on Shinobu's cheek, and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"You're looking at my fiancée right now, brat, so make sure you give her the respect she's due, alright~?" Sakusa said with a smirk.
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, even Inosuke and Shinobu all screamed in unison.
"HUHHHHHH?!?!?!"
"HASHIRA CAN MARRY EACH OTHER?!" Zenitsu shrieked.
"S-S-S-S-Saku-san, d-don't kiss me in public!" Shinobu sputtered, her fair skin growing red by the second. She pressed her hands to her cheeks and squealed in her embarrassment, something that made both Sakusa and Zenitsu's heart flutter for a brief moment.
Inosuke, however, jumped out of his bed and stared them down with his boar head. "OI, WHAT THE HECK'S A FINACHEE?!"
"Fiancée, Inosuke." Tanjiro chuckled, "It means that Lady Shinobu and Kari-san are getting married."
The redhead boy turned to the couple and said, "It's so nice to hear that Demon Slayers can have some sense of a normal life, even if it's only a little bit. I'm happy for you two."
"Thank you so much, Tanjiro!" Shinobu exclaimed.
"O-Oi, what the HELL does married mean?!" Inosuke barked again. The fact that Tanjiro was completely knowledgeable on the situation while he was clueless annoyed him greatly, he didn't want to be behind his rival in any way, including intelligence and understanding.
"Oh, right, Inosuke's got no idea what love is because he was raised by boars! Haha!" Zenitsu snickered, unknowingly piquing Sakusa's interest.
The crimson-tipped man took a glance over at the boar headed teen with a suspicious look on his face, and pointed his finger at him. "You. Boar boy."
The second he saw Sakusa's finger pointed at him, Inosuke got defensive. "Oi, what you want, Shakuto Ari?"
"You were raised by boars?"
"Yeah! What's it to you?!"
"Hm. Interesting."
The man stood up straight, and motioned for the door with his head. "Let's go."
"Huh?!" Inosuke retorted, "Where?!"
"I'm gonna talk to you for a second, dummy." Sakusa rolled his eyes at the stubborn boy, before breaking out into a smirk when an idea came to his head.
"It's about a secret training method only Inosuke Hashibira can handle~"
The instant the words 'Only' and 'Inosuke' paired together in succession, his ego went through the roof and he stomped onto the bed with his hands on his hips. "Ho, ho, ho! Secret training you say?! Say no more, Asuka Michi, show me the way!"
"That's not even fucking close to my real name, you dumbass...."
As the two boys left the room, Shinobu couldn't help but let out a small giggle.
"My, my, my fiancé really grows so fast, it would've taken months for him to even start warming up to a boy like Inosuke before we fell in love!"
"Speaking of that, if you don't mind me asking, Lady Shinobu." Zenitsu piped up, "How did someone like you fall in love with someone so....."
"Large, scary, and overwhelmingly intimidating?"
"Y-Yeah."
Shinobu sighed with a smile, clicking her tongue, before replying,
"Have you boys ever heard of the Archangel mission?"
Both boys shook their heads, their attention snatched away in an instant.
"What's the Archangel mission, Lady Shinobu?" Tanjiro asked, tilting his head.
"It's the longest mission ever recorded by the Demon Slayer Corps." She explained, "It was only completed around ten months or so ago, and it began around two years ago. It took over a year to finish, and required four Hashira and an entire squadron of Kinoe and Kinoto to deal with. Saku-san and I were the main contributors in the mission, and because we were together for so long, I got to see a beautiful side of him nobody else had ever seen. And so, I fell in love, and we decided that we would get married once the demons were eradicated, so now,"
The Insect Hashira reached into her haori and pulled out an elegant looking ring with a single ruby on the top,
"I have this."
"Wooooow....." Both boys were utterly mesmerized by the beauty of the gem on the ring in the sunlight, watching the rays glisten and sparkle within the sizeable ruby.
"How did Kari-san manage to afford this....." Tanjiro thought out loud.
"My Saku-san is a member of the Kari family, Tanjiro." Shinobu replied. She began to look longingly into the ruby as her tone softened and her smile grew larger, "He's the heir to the Kari clan, a well-established family that specialize in medicine, competitive sport, but most importantly, combat."
"Saku-san himself can tell you more, but I can still give you a brief explanation of his family if you'd like."
Both boys nodded their head in excitement.
"Perfect!" The girl exclaimed, "So, starting around two thousand years ago, the Kari family members had become bred to be powerful in every sense of the word. Fast, strong, agile, genius, capable of learning even the most difficult of martial arts with ease. The members, both daughters and sons, were offered to rival families as potential marriage candidates, sold to other families, and sometimes simply fell in love with other strong clan members, all with the goal of strengthening the family bloodline. Because of this constant connection to fellow families, they've been able to amass a fair amount of wealth simply from marriage settlements alone. From every family they joined with, they siphoned generations' worth of secrets, martial arts, and techniques."
Shinobu broke out into a giggle as she continued, "But even so, there is one thing that makes the Kari stand out more than anything else!"
"W-What do you mean, Lady Shinobu?" Tanjiro asked.
"Kari members are famous for having very short tempers, getting angry at everything, all the time. They're very passionate and tend to scream and shout quite a bit, but luckily I've been teaching Saku-san how to control himself to the best of his abilities."
"Buuut as Tanjiro saw when Saku-san attacked Shinazugawa, sometimes his anger gets the better of him." Shinobu sheepishly said.
Tanjiro and Zenitsu were in awe. "A-Amazing..."
So, Kari-san is a byproduct of centuries worth of strategic breeding, Tanjiro thought to himself, that's incredible....
"Lady Shinobu," Zenitsu asked, "Does that mean Master Kari is strong?"
"Oh, definitely." Shinobu replied bluntly, "He's the second-strongest Hashira in the corps, only statistically behind Master Himejima. Although, on a good day, when he's at his strongest, I firmly believe my Saku-san can kill an Upper Moon one-on-one."
Both boys flinched in surprise at the Insect Hashira's bold statement. However, any doubts they may have had in their minds of the validity of Shinobu's claim was instantly put to rest, as she said,
"Well, to be honest, it's not much of a surprise, considering every Kari member is born being able to breathe using Full Concentration Breathing, after all!"
"WHAT?!"
The thought of breathing is such a structured and difficult way from birth was not even imaginable for the two boys, and they shrieked in shock. It took Tanjiro years of training, and even now, he was unable to do something as hard as using the Full Concentration Breathing for even a couple dozen minutes at a time, let alone from birth.
"H-H-How is that even possible?" Zenitsu mumbled in his disbelief.
"Like I said, selective breeding." Shinobu shrugged, before standing up from her seat and flashing a bright smile towards Tanjiro.
"Tanjiro, are you ready to start your rehabilitation?"
"R-Rehabilitation?" The redhead boy stuttered.
"Yes! You need to get stronger if you want to beat one of the Twelve Kizuki like Oyakata-sama ordered you to!"
Tanjiro completely forgot about having to beat one of the Twelve Kizuki, to be honest. But now that he remembered his goal, his glare hardened and his determination was written all over his face. "Right! I'll train as hard as I need to!" He cried.
"Perfect!" Shinobu exclaimed, "Come with me!"
"Yes, Lady Shinobu!"
The Insect Hashira, just before she exited the room with Tanjiro, turned to Zenitsu and said with a grin, "You rest up, I'll be coming back to you with something you might be interested in~!"