~BRAVE~ (Tanjiro X Reader)

Butterflies

Movement caught my eye to the left of the road and I stopped moving. A small butterfly emerges from a bush and approaches me with its elegance. I simply blow at it, giving it more wind behind its wings. "Who's there?" I heard a voice. The rest of my group stopped to observe.

"Aoi? It's almost dark shouldn't you be inside for dinner?" Zenitsu questioned. The girl sighed in relief before straightening the white bedsheets on the ropes.

"Dinner doesn't start for another half hour. I'm glad you could make it in time. Your rooms are already set up. Let my show you to them." She offered.

Her movements stop when she realizes I'm with them. Her eyes scanned me over with curiosity. "Who's this?" The attitude was clear in her voice. I had a feeling it was just the way she spoke.

"This is (Y/n). She's our other S-class member." Zenitsu introduces me with his hand on my shoulder. I smiled at her.

"I'm assuming you don't remember me? That's alright. It was a year ago, so I understand. Nice to see you again Aoi. Tell me, do you know where Shinobu is? She said she wanted to see me?" Aoi's eyes widened with remembrance.

"You're (Y/n)?! You look nothing like you used to! You grew out your hair! Not to mention some other clear things. It's nice to see you again. Shinobu is in the kitchen making dinner. I'll show you to your room once you're done talking to her. Come with me boys." She gestured them to follow her, and the boys did as they were told. Leaving me in the field of drying sheets. The smell of medicine didn't go unnoticed.

The door of the kitchen slid open easily for my head to peek through. "I Hope you're not adding poison to the food, are you?"

"Not today but maybe tomorrow. I've made something new for intimidation purposes." She smiled while washing the dishes. Knowing her, she already knew I was there.

"What's for dinner? Looks like sukiyaki. Did you make enough for everyone?"

"Don't worry there is plenty for all of us, plus the patients." Shinobu dimmed down the heat, cooking the meat of the dish and grabbed my hands after wiping them from cutting down vegetables. "Before dinner, I will check up on your friends. But for now, I have something for you to give to your mother." She says, her smile  unwavering. She lead me down the hall
into an old storage closet. Then began to rummage around. "A couple of days ago, a distressed bird had flown in from the south holding... this." With struggle, she pulled out Diakokus's sword from the top shelf of a bookcase in the room. "The bird has been sent back to headquarters to be reassigned."

My eyes widened at the sight of the pastel pink sword. My brother always thought it was such a girly color. He never liked it. I thought it suited his bubbly personality. "I'm so glad this didn't get into any wrong hands. That could've been a disaster. Listen Shinobu. You must send a bird out to the master. I've found a demon who can possess."

Shinobu gasps. "Possess? Isn't that against demons in general? Are you sure it was a demon?" She came out of the room with me in tow, on the way back into the kitchen.

"No I'm not. It was out during the day. But I think that was just because of the human body inheritance."

"My my. Looks like we've got our hands full. Yes I'll send a letter to the master. Please set the table. I will go determine if your friends will join us for dinner tonight. Unless you have injuries too?" She questioned sending me a look of confirmation.

"Only a few scratches here and there."

"I'll have Aoi treat those for you. Sumi! Naho! Kiyo! Please set the table for me." Many little feet could be heard across the wooden floor.

"Yes ma'am!" They all said in unison. Their smiles faltered a bit at my presence, but I paid no mind to it. Shinobu led me over to a room before she peaked her head through the crack of the door.

"Excuse me Aoi, I will check these boys over, you help (Y/n) out okay?" Shinobu leaned forward as she talked to get a better look at the boys' conditions. They had already changed into their hospital wear. "Make sure to take Nezuko's box with you. We can set her up in the same room as (Y/n) so she's not cooped up in that box all the time." Protests could be heard from the boys and their lack of the special demon, as well as some slight complaints from Aoi of having to do more work.

"I only have a scratch but it might be of interest to you. Just this scratch here caused paralysis of my whole body." I pointed to the tiny but deep scratch on my cheek and her eyes widened.

"What kind of demon were you guys dealing with?"

"I'm not sure it was even a demon. It was abnormal. I'll leave it at that for now. I already informed Shinobu about it and she's taking care of it." We entered a separate room and she placed Nezuko's box down. She hadn't come out yet so she was probably sleeping. I couldn't blame her.

"Well, whatever that is I'm sure the Hashira's will take control of the situation." I sat on one of the beds in the room and she brung out a health kit from under the bed.

"Do you want to be a Hashira one day Aoi? You seem to look up to Shinobu a lot." I smiled at her as she blushed. She took out a Cotton swab from the kit.

"Of course I look up to her! She's my master after all. You know I specialize in health care right? You should be pretty informed on the subject yourself considering the fact that you've lived here for a while." Aoi shaved some of the tissue from the sides of the small wound causing me to wince in pain. The wound then started to bleed again.
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Original release date: May 6 2020