(y/n)'s POV
I'm being carried... Where am I being taken?
Oh right, it's been a couple hours since I blacked out to my injures. Last thing I remember is seeing Tanjiro wounded as well.
I'm suddenly jolted awake from my half-conscious state after being thrown roughly onto the ground. On impulse, I try to get up, only to find out my arms have been tied behind my back.
"What the hell-" I say.
"Shush! Keep your head low!" Someone says to me.
I recognize the man by his attire, he's a Kakushi, one of the Demon Slayer Corp 'assistants', as some people call them.
"You're in the presence of the Hashira!" He then tells me, fear in every word. "One wrong move and you're dead!"
I sit up to the best of my abilities and see 9 figures in front of me. I notice Shinobu and the swordsman from Natagumo Mountain among them. Among them are 7 figures I don't recognize.
I also notice Tanjiro next to me. His hands are tied in a similar way to mine. He groggily wakes up and is immediately told to also keep his head low as well.
The Hashira start talking among themselves as to what our fate should be.
"I think they should be executed!" A bright-haired man loudly proclaims. "What both of them did violates what the Demon Slayer Corp does!"
"I agree." Another Hashira, who's dressed in a very, well... flamboyant manner, states. "But I shall kill them flamboyantly."
"B-But, should we really kill these 2 children?" A pink haired girl shyly says.
She mutters something about "adorable" but I couldn't hear anything else.
The Hashira continue to talk to each other, I overhear the swordsman at Natagumo Mountain is Giyuu, the Water Hashira. Other than that, I don't pay much attention. I do listen to Tanjiro's defense testimony about his past with Nezuko, but that's pretty much it. I let my mind wander after that.
Suddenly, a white-haired Hashira covered in scars snatches a wooden box next to Tanjiro. Tanjiro is visibly angered by this action and yells at him to give it back. I snap back to reality at the sudden move.
"Your claim is a total delusion." The white haired Hashira says. "A demon is a demon, and nothing can change that."
Shinobu suddenly stands up, furious at the Hashira.
"Don't step out of line Sanemi." Shinobu says.
"Me? Step out of line?" Sanemi says mockingly. "I'm doing what the Demon Slayer Corps is meant to do! Kill demons!"
Sanemi then draws his sword and stabs the box.
It's at that moment Tanjiro snaps.
"Stop it!" Tanjiro says, getting up.
However another Hashira who was sitting on a nearby tree with a covering over his mouth, pins Tanjiro down to the ground with his elbow.
"Don't move." He says in a cold voice. "Any attempt to use Total Concentration Breathing in this state will cause your lungs to rupture."
Angered by this too, I also get up in fury.
"If you don't stop by yourself, like a reasonable Demon Slayer Hashira, I'll have to intervene myself!" I loudly shout at him.
"Calm down (y/n)!" Shinobu says. "You're injured, if you try to use Total Concentration Breathing you could lose consciousness or worse! Don't try it!"
"Go ahead!" Sanemi says, completely ignoring Shinobu's pleas. "I'd like to see you try! I have every single advantage!"
"Try I shall!" I retort, taking in a deep breath of oxygen.
"Oh no you don't." The Hashira pinning down Tanjiro says, getting up with incredible speed and launching himself at me.
"Lightspeed!"
I quickly close the distance between us in a mere fraction of a second. The Hashira who was going to pin me down doesn't even notice I was gone until he face plants onto the dirt.
All the Hashira are in shock, Sanemi especially. However, I don't land a blow on Sanemi, as Tanjiro quickly took the opportunity to run towards him and headbutt Sanemi so hard he bleeds from his nose.
"I've heard of hard-headed, but this is on another level..." I say to myself.
All the Hashira are shocked. Expect for a couple, the pink haired one is trying her best not to burst out laughing. And the one who tried to tackle me to the ground has quickly gotten up and returned to the tree from which he jumped on Tanjiro from. Sanemi though, just wipes the blood dripping from his nose with his sleeve.
"That's enough Sanemi." A gentle and calm voice says.
The Hashira immediately bow down in front of the man. Tanjiro and I get pushed down to the ground as well by other Hashira, who clearly highly respect this man.
Sanemi, who was just acting brash and sadistic, now acts polite. Congratulating him for good health.
I don't get to hear much of the conversation though, as the repercussions start to hit me. I feel myself getting light-headed and dizzy as my ears ring, making every word spoken inaudible. Soon after, my consciousness fades as the last thing I see Sanemi standing up, with the box in one hand and a katana in the other.
When I wake up, I'm in an all too familiar infirmary bed. I'm in the Butterfly Mansion, again. This time however, I'm not alone. To my left is Inosuke, he remains unmoving, probably asleep. To might right, is an empty bed, but another bed down is someone I don't recognize. A boy with yellow hair, roughly the same age as me, sitting upright and with a face that has a "I just got killed by a demon but it was a nightmare" kind of look.
He notices me staring directly at him and somehow jumps the entire distance between his bed and mine in a single motion.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I yell silently, not wanting to disturb Inosuke.
"It's the medicine!" The boy yells directly in my face. "They must've mistook my medicine for poison! It tastes so bad!"
"Quiet down!" A stern and familiar voice calls out.
Aoi enters the room, followed by a Kakushi member carrying Tanjiro.
"What are you doing in (y/n)'s bed? Get over here!" Aoi demands.
The boy frantically shakes his head, so Aoi storms over to him, grabs him by the back of the hospital attire's collar, and drags him over to his bed. It lasts for only a couple short seconds, but the boy still yells for someone to 'save' him.
"Now listen here!" Aoi says to the quivering boy. "This medicine will slow down the effects of the spider poison before completely removing it from your system. Now, if you don't want to drink it and you instead want to become a spider, be my guest."
"Spider?" I question aloud. "He was on Natagumo Mountain too?"
"Yes. He was." Aoi says, now turning her wrath upon me as the boy recognizes Tanjiro. "And while I'm focused on you, why the hell are you back here?! Do you not recognize the fine line between being courageous and being plain stupid?!"
Before I even have a chance to move on, Aoi grabs a piece of paper lying on the bedside table and reads it to me.
"Here's your list of injures you sustained." Aoi says. "Fractured bones in your right arm and leg, torn and pulled muscles on both your legs, a ruptured liver, severe internal bleeding, minor damage to the spinal cord, dislocated left ankle, overexerted lungs and diaphragm, and an overall damaged circulatory and respiratory system."
Aoi finishes and the entire room goes dead silent, with both Tanjiro and the boy as well as the Kakushi looking at me as if I was dead, which I pretty much am supposed to be. Aoi is the one to break the silence.
"How the hell are you still alive?!" Aoi yells in the most furious tone I've ever heard. "Not only that, but able to use yet another Breathing Form?!"
"That is a very good question." I reply bluntly.
Aoi just sighs and exits the room and Tanjiro is laid down on his bed. Finally, with a proper chance to rest, I close my eyes and doze off.
A.N - The Hashira have been introduced! I cut down the meeting drastically, because I was feeling lazy. Sorry!