Am I Home? (Demon Slayer x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 23: Road Trip

It wasn't until the next morning were you told by Shinobu that the Demon Slayer you had sparred with was a fellow Hashira.

You were horrified by your actions towards someone of such a big standing. Don't get yourself wrong, you would not take back any of the words you've said, but you had respect for the order and chain of command.

What shocked you was when you had explained it all to Tanjiro and Inosuke, as they were wondering why Zentisu was blubbering around about you getting injured again. Tanjiro, who was someone who you haven't known for long, but understood that he was a kind hearted person, turned red. You could practically see the veins popping out of his neck.

"He has no regard towards anyone other than the master of the Demon Slayer Corps. First he stabs Nezuko, and now he's beating up a newly recruited member?" Your mouth dropped at the information. "He stabbed Nazuko?!" Your heart fell, even if she was still a demon right now, you knew that she was innocent. Not once, while you had spent time and time again around her during the night, had she ever approached you for your flesh.

Tanjiro angrily mumbled some more about something while Inosuke was an unnerving quiet. Almost all at once, you, Zenitsu and Tanjiro picked up on the rage that had overcome him. The three of you leaped up to grab a hold of him as he flailed his arms about screaming.

It didn't take as long as usual for him to be calmed down, which had surprised you all. The Inosuke you knew was a hot headed and stubborn person. All it took was a few words from you that had left him sitting back down huffing and puffing behind his mask.

As the four of you had just begun to relax the doors to the room slammed opened, and before you was Rengoku. He stood there for a moment with his eyes unblinking. Looking at you all, pausing on you for more than a moment, then moving back and stopping at Tanjiro.

"I recalled you wanting to learn about flame breathing techniques."

Tanjiro practically jumped up to his feet with rapt attention.

"Let us head to my estate, I'm sure my father has a book on that other breathing technique you asked about."

Then there were three. Tanjiro had jumped at the opportunity to go and see what else he could learn from Rengoku. Whatever books that they could find in the family archives. Albeit swift in their exit, Tanjiro and Rengoku had made sure to say their goodbyes to you before you watched their silhouettes get smaller and smaller the farther they got. Tanjiro held your hands for a moment or two, then released your hands only to show you that he was still wearing the lucky charm you had given him from what felt like many months ago. You had made sure you also got in a few words to Rengoku to keep looking after himself and to not strain his still healing injury. (He only smiled at you before turning and walking away with Tanjiro in tow.)

You, Inosuke, and Zenitsu had split off and wandered around the Butterfly Estate. It didn't take long for your crows to approach you with new missions. There was no way that you were going to wait around without being productive between missions. Any any point, anyone could find you running about the Butterfly Estate. If someone was looking for you, knowing that you were back from a mission of course, you would either be out in the yard training or in the hallways going back and forth between the wards helping fellow Demon Slayers with their injuries.

There wasn't a moment that passed when your thoughts would flash back to your fight with the Hashira. The words you had spoken to him, that you weren't a waste, rang in your head. For the whole time that you had been stuck here, hearing those words from someone that you've only met for less than a day, struck you hard. They were the thoughts that you had that had continued to darken your mind.