Gold and Bloodred Lichtenberg

The Butterfly Estate

He woke with a start and a gasp. It felt like he'd just fallen, and he couldn't breathe. Waking up from a nightmare was one thing, but waking up from a nightmare you didn't even remember was something else. Zenitsu closed his eyes again and tried to shake the feeling of dread away, calming himself the best he could.

'Must have been a bad nightmare or something,' he reasoned with himself. He felt sweaty and his hair was uncomfortably stuck to his forehead. He went to brush it away with his hand when he realized he couldn't. Finally opening his eyes he looked around; he was in a dark room with the window closed and heavy drapes covering it. He could see very well however with what little light was in the room. It seemed it was a simple room: a small side bed table, a chair, dressers, and a metal-framed bed. Apparently, he wasn't worth the time for whoever tossed him into the room to place him onto the bed as he woke on the floor, the bed still neatly made and ready for use.

He sat up and noticed that his arm restrictions were due to the full-body manacles he was currently wearing. His wrists were shackled with thick, heavy yet short chains to his side, which had an annoyingly tight metal band around his middle. His feet were pretty much in the same state, shackled and connected to the middle. However the most annoying and painful was the metal collar: It was thicker and while it did have a leather lining, it was extremely irritating to his skin and it slightly stank. He stood up, hating the weight of the metal chains, and how they pulled on his neck. He turned to look behind him (burning his neck in the process) and he saw that who'd ever chained him up, had jury-rigged together tail shackles in two locations so it was incapable of movement. He snorted at it. He went to go towards the door, figuring it would be locked but wanted to hear what was going on. However he noticed the foul smell of wisteria was particularly strong by the door, so he decided against approaching it.

He started to nervously wringing his hands. What had he done to get this kind of treatment? Were Tanjiro and Nezuko getting the same thing? He started to fidget with his chains, mostly trying to get the middle band in a more comfortable position. He finally noticed that his haori and sword were missing, he could understand that they would take his sword, but his haori was special to him. Gramps had given it to him the day he'd left home to replace the one he ruined while training. He'd ask for it back when someone would inevitably come for him. He sat on the edge of the bed and decided it best to wait.

As he waited, he thought about the previous (Was it still previous?) nights events. Perhaps that's why he had a nightmare. Everything from last night was so messed up, he couldn't even reach his head to hold it. To take his mind off of what happened, he decided if he couldn't listen at the door, he'd settle for just listening closely to his surroundings. It was muffled, but he could hear people having conversations and carrying out household duties much like a regular household just at a larger scale. He wondered where he was exactly. Was this headquarters? He had imagined...something like a temple, like Kiyomizudera in Kyoto or a strong fortress, but judging by the room he was in and from what he had heard...sounded more like he was in a large house. It was too hard and dull to pick up anything more specific, so he stopped listening.

Eventually, he could hear people approaching his room. He stood up nervously, then second-guessed his decision, should he stay seated? Before he could decide, the door opened and four people dressed in similar uniforms such as his except wearing protective face and head coverings entered the room.

'I've heard of these guys,' Zenitsu thought as he watch them nervously shuffle their way into the room, 'these guys are Kakushi; either retired Demon Slayers or people without sword skills who help clean up after large battles. What are they doing here?' The room was suddenly very cramped, and it didn't help how nervous everyone in the room was. The Kakushi's had thick rubber gloves and boots on, each had a wooden pole with a thick snap-hook at the ends of them. He wasn't sure what they had in mind, but apparently, they were all very reluctant in whatever they were told to do. They stared at him and he at them, overall: a very awkward situation. The door opened again and an angry young girl came swiftly inside wearing a white nurse dress, but he could see a blue-tinted Demon Slayer uniform underneath it.