𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

I was more than relieved to be away from that hole of embarrassment. I don't think I'd ever want to end up in that garden again. It stripped me of my dignity. Maybe that was a little dramatic, but, I knew I was going to dwell on this years to come. Embarrassing memories always crept up on you as an unpleasant surprise. Yes, of course, remind me of how I slipped and fell down the stairs as I'm fighting a demon.

Half of the time I can keep my composure, the other half was not a pretty sight.

Now I was following the two Kakushi who were carrying Nezuko and Tanjiro. The female Kakushi, who was carrying Nezuko's box with her inside it, started to smack the older Kamado on the head. It was more than reasonable, they were shamed in front of all the pillars. I could relate to some extent.

"Maybe we don't hit the boy with clear injuries.." I chimed, reminding them I was still there. "Just a suggestion."

They apologized, not as much as they did to Tokito, but it was a respectable amount. The Kakushi were also an essential part of the Demon Slayer Corps, they cleaned up after battles and did a lot of the small chores that would overwhelm the swordsmen. All of their identities were concealed for protection, but we are sure to thank them for all they do.

At times, I was curious about becoming a Kakushi instead of a student. However, this trial proved my path more right.

I stayed behind the male attendant who was carrying Tanjiro, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just stood under a waterfall.." A sheepish smile spread across his face, "I'm just glad Nezuko is safe. We can continue our journey. Thank you, Y/n for vouching for us. We won't let you down."

"Yeah, you better not, otherwise I'm killing you and then myself." My hand reached to ruffle his red-hued locks, the same way Rengoku does to reassure me at times. "You'll be just fine. You and Nezuko are going to shape the future, I'm sure of it. Just.. not with your broken bones. After we get you patched up, you've got to tell me about that spider family."

"You got it!"

The butterfly mansion wasn't that far a walk. At least, for someone who travels over a hundred miles every night. Kocho's home was also known as the healing estate since everyone who needed major medical attention was brought here. They've got more helpers than I could remember.

It was a beautiful home, especially the garden. When I was in recovery, I'd spent most of my days there speeding up the process. I'd been told it would take a few months to repair the torn muscle in my leg, it was just that bad, but I managed to be back out in the field in four weeks.

Not ideal, maybe that's why I'm so off my game.

Either way, the downtime was nice. Whenever Kanao stayed at the mansion for long periods, we got to train like we did before. Of course, she had to go easy on me at times. It wasn't my proudest moment, not my worst either. I got to taste test a lot of the sweets Aoi, one of the butterfly girls made so there was no complaining.

"Kanao? Aoi? Are you guys home?!" I tried to call out to the silence, receiving nothing. "Weird.."

They were usually so attentive. However, they did have Inosuke and Zenitsu in their care, so I could suspect some things would go wrong.

"Should we go around back, Lady Y/n?" One of the Kakushi questioned.

I agreed, leading them past the garden gates and towards the back of the estate. Surely someone had to be there, and I, as always, was right.

Kanao stood there in her uniform, with her very stylish cape covering most of her torso. She was admiring the butterflies, and I was admiring her. Her skill is unmatched at most times, she has impeccable eye-sight and is able to predict moves in a split second. Not to mention she's beautiful.

"Kanao!" A greeting to catch her attention while I strode up to her, "Have you seen Aoi? We've got an injured boy who needs to be taken care of."

She flipped her coin in the air as she always did, catching it, and the side that showed was heads.

"Aoi is with a few disruptive patients." Kanao was always soft-spoken, it was a trait of hers I could adore all day long.

We spoke for a short while before the nurse we were just looking for came to greet us and get Tanjiro some real medical attention rather than just numbing water. I'm glad I was able to remind myself to grab more on my way out. That muscle tear kicked my ass sometimes.

I helped the Kamado siblings get to their private room since Nezuko was going to need shade and a closed-off space from everyone else.

"By the way, Zenitsu and Inosuke are in an open room, do you want to go see them?" I wouldn't mind getting told three different stories at once. Zenitsu complaining about getting trapped in poison, Inosuke talking about some huge demon that couldn't even be cut, and Tanjiro trying to correct their delusions about how cool they were.

That's exactly what was happening.

"And then me, boss Inosuke, took his two blades and started to saw at his tough skin!" The beast started to make wild gestures with his hands while trying to act out swinging his blade. "Then he bursted, and had even tougher skin! That's when Gompachiro got whacked into the air, and that cool haori guy found the mighty Inosuke battling the spider demon!"

"Tomioka found you, huh? He must've been impressed." I listened to all of their words with a smile. We were all situated around Zenitsu's bed since he couldn't exactly move too much.

"If anyone should be impressed about anyone, it's me!" His sleeves flapped as he complained, "That stupid spider was spitting poison at me! He only had a head and his body was so hairy! Seriously, what kind of a demon is that?! Inosuke and Tanjiro left me to fend for myself!"

"Is that so?" It seemed about right, he was probably too scared to go up the mountain and they had to leave him.

"You weren't going up the mountain!" The Kamado boy butted in and confirmed my suspicions.

"Inosuke and I fought a demon who was controlling tiny spiders, they would make threads and she would be able to control swordsmen. It was horrible. But, I did manage to free her from the torment. Then we found that huge spider guy. But that lower moon was the most terrifying, I thought I was going to die.."

That demon must've had one of those softer flesh sounds, then. Sometimes I forget that the creatures we fight were once human. They had all sorts of memories to keep. Kibutsuji was nothing but cruel for turning these people into beings we have to murder. At one point, thinking like that would've gotten me scolded, but everything was changing now.

The environment was changing, and to survive, you had to change with it.

Otherwise, I knew for sure, I was going to wilt and be carried away by the wind.

All three boys and I stayed there sharing stories for a long while. It was nice, just simple moments at the Crescent mansion when we first met. Aoi brought us food, scolding all four of us to not make a mess while we were granted permission to eat on the beds.

"You actually ate a bug?!"

Inosuke was telling us about how he had been on his own most of his life. Besides the faint image of his mother, and an old man who let him wander in the forest. Still, it made no sense how he found out about the demons and learned beast-breathing. Maybe it was something to do with nature.

"Of course I did! The mighty Inosuke isn't terrified of anything!"

"No wonder your Kasugai crow never comes around!"

Laughter, pure childish laughter constantly filled the room. This was how it was meant to be, not fighting for humanity every day, but being children. I felt like I had a family again like I was back in my small old fishing town that wasn't even on a map. Barely existed. But, that's what made it so beautiful.

"Okay, okay, why can't you tell a joke around glass?"

After a bit, we resorted to telling old dad jokes since Inosuke didn't know what they were. Three simple ones had him rolling on the floor, but only after we explained it. All of us couldn't help bursting out into laughing tears seeing him slowly start to understand.

"Why?" The boar replied, more anticipated by the second.

"It'll crack!"

This time, we didn't need to explain it. Inosuke let out a hearty laugh and fell off the bed for what felt like the fourth time now.

Kocho had finally returned from the pillar meeting to assess their injuries properly. She had to encourage Zenitsu to drink his medicine and trick Inosuke into finally resting.

I left her with the boys to explain rehabilitation training. Hearing the whole thing again would make my stomach churn, and I'd rather blow bubbles with Kanao. She likes them, and it's comfortable silence.

But, fate, or just simple coincidence always seemed to have it out for me.

My head bumped into something hard, I didn't have time to see what or who it was since we both hissed in pain. There was a red spot on my forehead now, "Oh for god's sake.." I mumbled, my hands on my forehead to do something about the stinging left.

"Do you not watch where you are going?" One on his too.

We stared at each other for more than a moment, same frown and everything.

"Why do I keep—"

"Why're you—"

And spoke at the same time, this couldn't get more irritating.

"Can you—"

"Let me—"

My expression soured.

His did too.

"Stop it!"

"Stop that!"

Out of all the pillars, the mist-user was the most annoying. And that was saying a lot. He was rude, and mean, and had a stupid bird.

My point was proven ten-fold when he held out a finger to talk first.

"Don't you know how to show respect to a pillar? And open your eyes once in a while, crazy girl."

"Crazy?! How am I crazy?!"

"You climbed over a wall."

"..no I didn't."

"You did."

"No way."

"Yes way??"

Tokito's brows were furrowed as he tried to make sense of my nonsense. He operated on logic way too much to be met with someone who barely thought before speaking.

"Are you here for a head injury or something?" He kept trying to insult me.

"No, but you must be."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Gods above, what was even happening right now? I was going back and forth with a pillar. A talented swordsman who could probably chop me into pieces right here and now if he wanted to. Not without consequences, of course.

"Just get out of my way." The mist-user pushed past me.

I just had to get the last say in it, though. "You have a dumb bird!"

He didn't reply. A huff came from my nose as my hand was still on my burning forehead. Maybe going to find Kanao now wasn't a good idea, she'd make me get an ice pack. I'd much rather go see Nezuko since the sun was setting and she'd be more active.

"Oh, hi Y/n!" Tanjiro greeted me as soon as I walked through the door.

The younger Kamado was up and about, in her smaller form. I'd imagine it was more comfortable to be like that. She was more adorable too.

"You look like a mummy." I snickered while sitting on the floor, braiding Nezuko's hair. Kanroji had taught me how to do hair in one too many styles, the young girl would look adorable in a french braid.

He could only smile at my laughter, "Yeah, the butterfly girls made sure I was going to make a full recovery. Also.. what is up with your forehead?"

An unpleasant recall of my encounter with Tokito a few minutes ago.

"The mist pillar. I accidentally ran into him and he thinks it's the end of the world! He can't lighten up for anything, and he fights like a child. Who bickers like that?! He called me crazy! I'm not crazy! If anyone is crazy, it's him!"

"..totally."

The topic quickly moved on from the boy with teal tips and pretty eyes. I couldn't stand thinking about him right now. My distaste for Tokito was long from wearing off.

"Kocho mentioned you going through rehabilitation training before, what's it like?"

And that sickly feeling came back.

"It's just to get you back into shape. You shouldn't have a tough time, besides with Kanao. She's a wonderful opponent, you'll learn a lot from her." I'd rather drift away from the problems I had during my time here. It wasn't anything horrible, but a torn muscle in a student of a pillar was not something to reminisce on.

"Who's Kanao?" Tanjiro questioned.

"She's Kocho's student, the girl we saw in the back of the garden on our arrival. Kanao is insanely fast, so you'll have to encourage the other two to keep up. I'm sure of it."

"Have some faith in them!"

"It's a little hard to.."

He stayed quiet for a long minute before spitting out a question he'd been meaning to ask. "Kocho said you were meant to heal for months, but you managed to get to full strength in just under four weeks. That's amazing, y'know!"

"Not really."

That made his smile disappear. "Not really? How is it not?"

I focused on playing with Nezuko's hair. It wasn't a question I wanted to answer, but, maybe getting it off my chest would ease some worries.

"I shouldn't have been there in the first place. Tearing a muscle isn't the same as breaking a bone or something along those lines. Now it's entirely messed up my forms." A heavy sigh was let out, "I can't turn my left leg sharply, otherwise I'll do more than risk tearing its muscle again."

I wasn't a water-breather. I couldn't adapt as easily, it was taking a large amount of time to come to the terms I wouldn't be a swordsman for much longer. It was never too late to become a Kakushi.

"So what?" That caught me off guard. "So what it messed up your forms? I've seen you Y/n! You're amazing! Plant Breathing is so much different from water, or thunder, even beast. The essence of it is to grow, right? You told me that yourself in the crescent mansion."

He was right. Between the meals and the time we got to talk, I explained my technique to them. It was weird being reminded of my own words. Why hadn't I believed them for myself when I said them? My shoulders relaxed, and instead of overthinking it, I took it piece by piece.

"You're right."

My frown turned into a smile, "You're more than right, Tanjiro."

"I'm glad you're smiling again. You had me nervous. Don't doubt yourself, you're strong. I mean, c'mon, you were expected to heal within months, not weeks! If that isn't something, I don't know what is."

Guess I just needed a small reminder. Something to fight for, to motivate me. I could almost cry.

Almost.

I couldn't do more than thank Tanjiro for his words. Hoshi had come by with another message from Kanroji, I had an assignment tonight, and she was patrolling as always. We'd most likely meet at home after daybreak. It was pure exhaustion sometimes.

But, that was alright. It was our duty, after all. So I prepared to head out. Now that the red spot on my forehead was gone, Kanao was my next stop before I left.

She had some regular spots I checked first before finding her on the walkway looking out to the garden. Kanao and I shared an interest in nature and blowing bubbles. One was more fun than the other, that's for sure.

It was the bubbles.

"Can I sit for a moment?"

Again, like clockwork, she tossed her coin up into the air and caught it. There was another pillar before Kocho, the Flower Pillar, which was the same breathing technique Kanao used. The former pillar's name was Kanae Kocho, the older sister of the two butterfly girls.

She passed to an upper moon, but when she was alive she had given Kanao this coin to make decisions. Every time I saw her flipping it, my heart ached. One day, she'd be able to make choices of her own. But it wasn't my place to butt into her life like that.

The flower user caught the coin in her palm, it read heads again, "Yes, you may."

I quietly sat beside her on the walkway, our legs dangling off the edge. Soon enough I broke the silence, "So, how have you been? I apologize for not coming around more often, Kanroji is cautious about sending me out on missions now."

"Good. I've been training. I managed to blow up another gourd again. And, it's more than alright. I hope your leg is feeling better."

We watched the butterflies swirl about, and the wind blew the leaves off the large tree off to the side of the garden, "It is, thank you. Also, that's amazing you managed another gourd! Sooner or later you'll definitely surpass me. You have a lot of potential. I'm a little envious."

"I heard you attended the trial in the pillar meeting. Now that, I'm envious of."

Great, word was already running about. The Kakushi were gossipers. "Attended is a nice way of putting it.. some of the pillars are terrifying, others are alright, some I just.. cannot stand."

"Shinobu told me about them, apparently the youngest there is the Mist Pillar."

"Oh, don't even get me started on that boy."

"You do tend to butt heads with someone every once in a while, Y/n."

"He deserves it."

"..totally."

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

their banter is my favorite

word count 3016

edited 1/13/25