Giyu Tomioka carried Kazama Aoi back to the Master's estate. She was fast asleep, a dark red scab still clinging to the cut on her forehead.
"Tomioka-san!" Tanjiro Kamado's enthusiastic voice rang out from behind him.
Giyu paused, turning slightly to look at him.
Only then did Tanjiro clearly see Aoi cradled carefully in his arms. The smile instantly vanished from his face, replaced by overwhelming concern. "What happened? Why did Aoi-chan collapse!"
Giyu's fingertips unconsciously brushed against the scab on Aoi's forehead. "Overuse of her Breathing Style. She exhausted her stamina."
As they spoke, Sanemi Shinazugawa stepped out from around a corner. He immediately glimpsed the figure in Giyu's arms, and a surge of inexplicable fury rushed to his head.
He strode over to Giyu, stretching out both hands. "Give her to me!"
Giyu raised his eyes to meet Sanemi's glare. He didn't intend to argue; he simply shifted Aoi deeper into his embrace, protecting her. "No."
"Tch!"
Sanemi grabbed Aoi's hand, trying to wrench her toward himself. Just as his fingertips touched her cool wrist, Giyu clamped down on Sanemi's hand.
"Let go," Giyu said, his voice dropping dangerously low.
"You're the one who should let go!" Sanemi shot back.
While the two were deadlocked, Aoi's eyelids fluttered, opening just a crack. Her consciousness was still hazy, her vision blurred. She only vaguely saw two familiar figures pulling at each other, and the slight pressure on her wrist made her instinctively murmur, "You guys... are too noisy..."
Sanemi's hand froze. The force holding Aoi's wrist vanished instantly, the anger receding from his face to leave only a trace of awkward rigidity.
He released his grip and glared fiercely at Giyu. "Hmph!"
Giyu lowered his gaze to the person in his arms, his voice becoming incredibly soft. "No more noise."
Aoi didn't hear him clearly. She only felt the arguing by her ear stop and the pressure on her wrist disappear, so she snuggled deeper into his arms, her brow smoothing as she fell back into a peaceful, deep sleep.
Tanjiro breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. "Shinazugawa-san, Tomioka-san, Aoi-chan needs quiet rest. Let's take her to the Butterfly Mansion first."
Sanemi didn't say anything, which was a silent acquiescence.
Giyu said no more either. He turned, holding Aoi, and walked toward the Butterfly Mansion.
...
Who knows how much time passed before Aoi was awakened by a faint scent of herbs.
She strained to open her eyes, only to be met by two enormously enlarged faces: Mitsuri and Kanao. The two girls' eyes were perfectly round, staring at her without blinking, and they were breathing so softly as if terrified of disturbing her.
"Aoi-chan, you're awake!" Mitsuri Kanroji reacted first, her voice full of irrepressible joy.
"How long have I been asleep?" Aoi's voice was still a bit raspy. She raised a hand to touch her forehead; the wound there had completely recovered.
"Two days!" Mitsuri replied. "Giyu-san came to watch over you every day, standing there for most of the night! He was just here; it took Shinobu making him go back to rest before he would leave, quite reluctantly. And Shinazugawa-san—don't look at how fierce he was then, he actually cares about you a lot too!"
Aoi doubted her own ears. Who cared about her? Sanemi Shinazugawa?
Just as Aoi was questioning her reality, the door to the Butterfly Mansion room was opened.
It wasn't Giyu, nor was it Shinobu, but the fierce Sanemi Shinazugawa.
He stood at the doorway, his gaze sweeping across the room before landing on Aoi's face. "Awake?" His tone was stiff, but the previous fury was gone. "Good, as long as you're not dead. Sparing me from certain people constantly guarding the doorway, being a huge eyesore."
Aoi instinctively sat up a little straighter, temporarily at a loss for words, only able to nod dazedly. "I understand, Shinazugawa-san. And... thank you for coming to see me."
Sanemi's body jerked as if he were a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He practically fled in retreat. Upon exiting, he didn't forget to drop a final command: "Recover well!"
Mitsuri finally couldn't hold it in anymore, covering her mouth as she giggled. "Haha, Shinazugawa-san is way too easily embarrassed!"
Kanao Tsuyuri also curved her eyes, nodding gently.
Aoi found it a bit amusing as well, watching the direction where Sanemi had departed.
During the days she spent recovering, many people came to visit. The Butterfly Mansion sometimes became very lively.
"Aoi-chan! I heard you collapsed, I thought I'd never see you again! If anything happened to you, what would I do!" Zenitsu was holding her hand, wailing.
Aoi was caught between tears and laughter. She raised her hand to gently pat his back, comforting him. "I'm fine, Zenitsu. It was just a bit of stamina exhaustion."
"Really?" Zenitsu raised his head, sniffling, his eyes red from crying. "Then you aren't allowed to be so reckless ever again! It's too terrifying!"
Beside them, Inosuke had long since grown impatient. He directly yanked Zenitsu's hand away. "Woman! You are way too weak!"
"Inosuke, don't cause trouble," Tanjiro glanced at him helplessly. "Aoi-chan just woke up, she needs to rest properly."
"Che," Inosuke smacked his lips but didn't approach any further, just standing there stubbornly.
Leaning against her pillow, Aoi looked at the noisy yet deeply caring group of people in the room. Suddenly, she felt that moments like these were truly wonderful.
——Time Skip——
"Urgh, so hungry." Aoi rubbed her empty stomach as she walked into the kitchen.
She immediately noticed the large 'owl' in the center of the kitchen, and her ear was filled with his ringing voice.
"Tasty!"
"Tasty!"
"Rengoku-san?" Aoi spoke hesitantly.
"Umu! Young lady, want to eat together?" Kyojuro Rengoku invited enthusiastically.
On the stove in front of him were two large, steaming bowls of miso soup, and next to them was a pile of freshly grilled rice balls. The golden nori sheets were curving slightly from the heat.
Aoi's stomach betrayed her with a loud rumble. She smiled somewhat embarrassedly. "Then, thank you very much, Rengoku-san."
Aoi took a bite of a rice ball. The savory saltiness of the nori mixed with the sweet, clean taste of the rice spread through her mouth, and she squinted her eyes contentedly.
[Ding! New Mission Triggered: Say ten pick-up lines to Kyojuro Rengoku.] [Reward: One Rejuvenation Pill (Can cure any disease).] [Penalty for Failure: Obliteration.]
Aoi's chewing motion froze abruptly. The mechanical voice that suddenly rang in her mind almost made her choke on the rice ball. She started coughing violently, her cheeks turning bright red.
Dog System, please do not issue missions while I am eating, okay!
Seeing this, Kyojuro immediately put down his bowl, his large hand steadily rubbing her back to help her. "Cough, cough... Th-thank you, Rengoku-san..."
Aoi bit her lower lip, desperately scouring her mind for any usable "corny pick-up lines."
She raised her eyes to look at Kyojuro's bright, cheerful face and took a deep breath. "Rengoku-san, do you know what my favorite kind of fruit is?"
Kyojuro blinked, not finding Aoi's sudden jump in logic strange. Instead, he seriously pondered it. "Strawberries? Apples? Or perhaps grapes?"
Aoi shook her head. "None of those! It's you, my 'sweet-heart' pistachio."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could bury her face in her bowl.
Too corny! It was truly too corny! She could practically imagine herself cringing so hard she'd dig out three whole apartments with her toes.
Yet Kyojuro didn't catch any of the flirtatious undertones. Instead, his eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Pistachio! Well said! To be able to make you happy is my honor!"
He waved his large hand, stuffing another rice ball into hers. "Eat more! After eating, let's go train together. I guarantee you'll be happy every day!"
Aoi: "..."
Help, how did he completely miss the point!