The Water Tsuguko

Chapter 14

     Takeo knocked twice on the door to Shinobu's office door, readying himself for an earful and some threatening glares. 

     It didn't take long for her to answer him, allowing him to walk in. As soon as he stepped in, he could see the shocked look on her face, before it fell back to her usual fake smile. 

     "Is there a reason that you are out of bed, Kamado-kun," she asked, her voice strained. 

     "I woke up and no one was there," he answered. "And I don't see the problem, as I haven't taken out the IV this time."

     "That is not the problem here," Shinobu pushed. Takeo could practically see a vein about to burst on her forehead. "The problem is that you were horribly poisoned by that Lower Moon that you fought and you should not be standing right now. You are in no condition to be up and moving around like this."

     She gestured for Takeo to take a seat on one of the chairs next to her desk. As he followed her instructions, she began rubbing her temple, similar to how she did when Kiyo and Sumi walked through the Butterfly Mansion with a stray cat that they had found in the gardens. 

     "I have to write a letter to Tomioka-san and let him know you're awake," she sighed, looking through her drawers for a piece of paper and her pen. "And since you are so hell bent on walking around with your injuries, you must be well enough to write a detailed report about what happened with the Lower Moon."

     Takeo let out a groan of frustration at that, not really in the mood to write about anything, but he knew better than to disobey Shinobu when she was already in a bad mood. He took the pen and paper that she offered him and began to write down all he remembered. 

     He racked his brain for any detail that may have been important, even going as far as to add some details that the master might not even have to know, like the dangos that he and Giyuu had as a small snack right before the battle. Though, he did make it a point to leave out any offensive language that he used against the demon. He knew the master didn't really like it when any of the slayers used that kind of language, and he knew that it was highly inappropriate to use those words directly in front of him. 

     It took him around thirty minutes to finally finish his report and send if off with Jizoku before Shinobu sent him back to the patient ward to get some rest. 

     He walked back through the halls, grudgingly back to the uniform hospital beds. He sat in the bed that he was in previously in, and leaned his head back against the pillows. Too bad the sun was still up because otherwise Nezuko could be in here with him and he wouldn't be entirely alone until Tanjiro came back from rehabilitation training. For now, though, he was stuck counting the wooden support beams that lined the ceiling. 

     "Tanjiroooooo."

     Takeo closed his eyes and grunted in frustration at the loud voice of one of his elder brother's friends rang through the previously quiet room. He didn't know how long it had been, but he did know that the sun was low in the sky, illuminating the room a bright orange. 

     "Zenitsu, you have to be quiet," he heard his brother tell his friend. "There are other patients here trying to heal and you being loud isn't going to help anything."

     As soon as Tanjiro saw his little brother, his eyes lit up. "Takeo! How are you feeling?"

     "I feel fine, Tanjiro-nii," Takeo replied. "Little sore from that Lower Moon, but it's nothing that I can't handle."

     He could see his older brother frown at that, but it was shortly replaced by a proud look. "I'm so glad that you were able to defeat one of the twelve Kizuki, Take," Tanjiro said, patting his little brother's head. If it weren't for the other two watching, he would have taken the time to enjoy it, but he had a reputation to uphold so he swatted his elder brother's hand away with a slight flush of embarrassment on his cheeks. 

     "I'm too old for that, Tanjiro-nii," he defended, looking away to hide the blush. "Plus! I'm a higher ranking slayer! Have some respect." He puffed his cheeks out in a way Tanjiro found adorable. It was very similar to the way he would puff his cheeks out when he was arguing with their siblings. Except now his face has slightly narrowed out, his features more defined than when he was ten. 

     Tanjiro just laughed at his little brother, ruffling his hair once more before sliding into the bed right next to him, pulling the covers over himself. 

     "It's getting late so we should all go to sleep," he said, activating the older brother in him. 

     "Sleep is for the weak," the boar head, Inosuke, claimed. "I wanna fight the mini Santaro!"

     "My name is Takeo," the boy said, glaring at his brother's loud friend. "And my brother's name is TANJIRO not Santaro."     "That is exactly what I said," Inosuke claimed, puffing his chest out. "I would never forget the name of one of my underlings!"

     "You mispronounce our names on the daily," Zenitsu said, exhaustion dripping into his voice.

     "What was that Monitsu," the boar yelled. 

     "You're doing nothing but proving my point, you brute," Zenitsu yelled. 

     Takeo covered his head with a pillow, wishing that these two would just pass out already. He has never been around people this loud in two years, and even then it was never constant, as his mother always intervened before Hanako and Shigeru could get too loud. He couldn't imagine what Tanjiro has to go through on a daily of dealing with this. He would probably snap after a day. 

     It was constant back and forth between the two of them with a few add-ins from Tanjiro before they were finally quiet and Takeo could finally rest. He drifted to sleep quite easily after it was quiet. He just hoped that he could get back to training in the morning. 

     The last thing he heard was his brother whispering 'goodnight' to him before he fell into unconsciousness. 

(A/N):  Hello!! I know it's been a hot minute since I have updated but writers block is a bitch. Plus, I have been getting everything in my life together and figuring stuff out between school and work and everything's been all over the place. I will try to update a little more regularly, though I can't make any promises with my wonky schedule. I want to throw out a quick thanks to all the nice comments that I've gotten and all the love that I have gotten for this story. Until next time!