"Miyasha, you need to be strong!" Rengoku encouraged me as I curled in on the chair beside his bed, "You can't let some mere compliments defeat you!"

"...may Lord have mercy on my soul..."

"Come on, Miyasha! Say with me!" He poked me gently on my arm, "I can sing well! I'm an amazing demon slayer and I can—"

"Ren-senpai, please shut up!"

"Not before you say your achievements out loud!" I groaned as I buried my face in my hands again, wishing for some miracle to instantly kill me.

It has hardly been a day since I sang a few songs for the three stooges at their request — and since then, what I thought might be a one-time ordeal, became a huge gossiping topic as some passing Kakushis heard my voice.

And while I didn't care enough what people thought about my singing, the language I was singing in wasn't exactly familiar to many and that got me worried. And rightly so, since it got a shit ton of people curious and interested in me and I was already done with this.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about admitting your achievements, Miyasha!" Rengoku encouraged enthusiastically as I felt his warm hand patting my cold arms, "You are so talented! You even developed a way to fight demons despite your blood's condition! Incredible!"

I groaned again, "I don't want praises, Ren-senpai, I just want my peace of mind back."

"You should accept the compliments gracefully, kouhai!" At this point, I wasn't even sure if he was genuinely encouraging me or teasing the hell outta me, "After all, it just means you are doing well! Nothing to be embarrassed about, there!"

"I know?" I sighed as I continued, "But... I just, I don't exactly mind the praises, but rather the attention and people being curious and nosy and asking me questions..."

I sighed again as I felt rather ashamed of myself — I felt like I was bragging like this and I really didn't like or want to show off. Especially since there wasn't anything to even brag about.

"You are surprisingly intolerant of compliments, Miyasha!" I groaned again as Rengoku hit the final nail on my coffin, "You should be proud of your achievements!"

"Ren-senpai, please stop. I'm literally begging you at this point."

I felt his aura shift to a brighter, warmer tone — confirming my suspicions of him teasing me instead of innocently encouraging me like he was claiming to do. I swear to Lord, I never expected him, out of all the people out there, to be this cheeky.

However, before I could hear his reply, I felt another aura approach us — and with how strong and familiar it was, it made me wonder if it was a Hashira.

'Is it Uzui?' I frowned as my head involuntarily turned towards the yet-to-be opened door, 'No, his aura shouldn't be this fuzzy? I think I felt it during the Hashira meeting?'

"Miyasha?"

"Hm?" I turned back to Rengoku, giving him an apologetic smile as I explained my actions, "I apologize, I actually felt a very strong aura just pass through and—"

A knock interrupted me, confirming my statement as Rengoku loudly called out to the person outside.

"Oh!" A feminine voice greeted my ears as soon as the door opened, "I'm sorry, I didn't know someone was visiting—"

I turned to her as she suddenly stopped speaking but before I could ask anything, I felt two arms wrap around me in a tight hug.

"Miyasha-chan!" I squeaked as I felt Mitsuri's fuzzy soft aura surround me from all sides, "I'm so glad to see you awake! You had everyone so worried!"

My heart skipped a beat as her words finally registered, "Y-You were worried?"

"Of course, we were!" I felt her shift as she hugged me again, my cheeks brushing briefly against her skin, "We thought you were gonna die after fighting with an Upper moon!"

"I'm sorry to make you feel that way..." her grip loosened around me as I patted her arms softly, "I apologize for my rash thinking and for worrying everyone so—"

"You did nothing like that," I felt Rengoku's hand on my head, "Stop apologizing!"

"Rengoku-san is right," I felt myself blush a bit as I finally realised it was her breasts area that was brushing with my cheek for this long, "You did what you felt right. Even Oyakata-sama was so surprised and happy to hear that everyone was fine!"

"Oyakata-sama...?" I managed to ask as I slowly started detaching myself from her sweet yet suffocating hug.

"Ume!" Mitsuri finally let me out of her hug as Rengoku explained, "Oyakata-sama was very surprised at no casualties in our encounter with the Demon moons!"

That he sure must have been.

"That's understandable," I nodded as I felt Mitsuri take a seat beside me, "If I were to be honest, I was a bit too. However, I can't say I have much to complain about." I smiled involuntarily towards him, "Especially since you are with us here."

"Y-You were the one who was severely injured, Miyasha!"

"Eh," I shrugged off-handedly, "I'll recover. My eyes are not an essential part of my demon hunting technique since I can simply sense their auras instead. Meanwhile, your own injuries are nothing to ignore, senpai."

"Eh?" Mitsuri started from beside me, "You can sense auras, Miyasha-chan?"

"Hai, I do," I smiled at the elder female beside me, "I think I did explain about that in my, uh, last meeting with Oyakata-sama?"

"Oh! Yes, you did!" I heard her giggle, making me smile too, "I remember, now!"

"Ume!" Rengoku added, "She could tell you were outside the room a few seconds before you knocked!"

"Wait, really?" I heard her clasping her hands loudly, "That's amazing! Can you tell us how you differentiate our auras, Miyasha-chan?"

"Uh," I took a moment to think how to explain it to them without sounding like a stupid idiot, "Each person's aura is different, I guess? What I mean to say is that every individual has a unique aura and it feels different to me, like with how varied each may feel temperature or texture-wise."

"Temperature? Texture?" I could hear the curiosity dripping from Mitsuri's voice as Rengoku asked me to elaborate further.

"Like, for example," I signed towards Rengoku's general direction, "Ren-senpai's aura feels like a warm light; as if I'm laying in the warm sunlight on a beach or a field."

As I turned to Mitsuri, "While yours, uh, Mitsuri-san, feels like a fuzzy soft... blanket. One that is so comfortable and warm that it can make anyone feel very comfortable."

I nodded to myself as I felt satisfied with my explanations, "You both have very prominent auras, too — widespread and very present that can be detected from quite far away, if I focus properly. But since I'm still quite unaccustomed to solely depending on my aura-sensing, I'm yet to be able to use it to detect my surroundings properly."

"That honestly sounds so amazing." Mitsuri breathed out, making me blush at her praise, "You are really talented, Miyasha-chan. And you explained really well too!"

"Mm!" I heard Rengoku agree with her, "You explain really well, I must say!"

I chuckled shyly, "You both are too kind," I rubbed my cheeks, hoping I wasn't blushing as much as I felt I was doing, "It's an ability I had inherently, so I can't take credit for—"

I was cut off by a loud noise of disagreement from both Rengoku and Mitsuri as they pushed me to simply accept the compliment as it was given.

"No need to be afraid of our praises!" Rengoku started with our previous conversation again, making me feel shyer as he turned to explain to Mitsuri how he was 'helping' me with accepting compliments gracefully.

"Oh, Miyasha-chan, that's so cute and tragic!" I heard Mitsuri call out, "I didn't know you were the shy kind!"

"I'm not cute..." I mumbled in misery, "I'm not shy..."

"Don't worry Miyasha-chan, we'll help you get used to praises!"

"Oh Lord, please just kill me now."

"You shouldn't say things like that, Miyasha!"

"Please."

Rengoku and Mitsuri together were a force to be reckoned with — especially when they were determined enough to do something.

The whole morning was spent with them complimenting me on everything and anything, trying to get me over my apparent 'shyness' while I tried to curl into a ball because they weren't letting me leave.

What was even worse was that Shinobu visited us once during that 'session' to give us our medicines — and instead of helping me, as I was half-expecting, she went ahead and encouraged them.

That sly butterfly went as far as to tease me, making me blush and want to die even more, of embarrassment while the other two were busy highlighting how 'cute' and 'adorable' I was being.

I'm never visiting Rengoku after this.

"Are you okay, Aneki?" Zenitsu softly asked me, "You seem red there—"

"I'm alright, Itsu-kun," I groaned, "It's just, I've been relentlessly teased by everyone around me, and I'm this close to jumping off the window."

"Y-You shouldn't do that, Miyasha-aneki!" Tanjiro instantly jumped in at my confession, "If they are bothering you, then let me talk to them. I'm sure they'll stop!"

"Oh, dear—"

"Or," Inosuke pitched in, "We can threaten them into submission!"

"Please, no." I chuckled as Inosuke loudly made his displeasure known, "They are doing it all in good nature, I assure you, Ino-chan. I'm just embarrassed since I don't normally take teasing well."

"Then you should train!" Inosuke claimed naively, making me smile at his innocence, "Beat them in teasing! Don't let them dominate you!"

"It doesn't work like that, eyelashes." Zenitsu deadpanned near me, making me burst out in laughter at the whole conversation.

"Oh dearie," I tried calming down before I started, "I'll try my best to defeat them, Ino-chan. However, it indeed doesn't work like that, you know? It's more like... it's more like having fun among friends, where you are the one who the jokes are directed at — all in good humour, of course."

"Haaah?" I could literally hear Inosuke frowning, "Good humour?"

"It's jokes with good intention." Tanjiro tried explaining, "Friends make jokes just to have fun and not hurt each other's feelings. So that's good humour, Inosuke!"

"Mmhm," I nodded as I turned to Inosuke's direction, who was sitting just at the end of my bed, "It's just to have fun, as Jiro-kun said. In my case though, it just makes me really embarrassed since I'm yet to be used to it."

"It doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?" Tanjiro asked tentatively, making me smile softly at him as I reached out to pat him.

"No, dearie, it doesn't. Trust me when I say I can tell them upfront to stop it if it ever turns uncomfortable. Besides, I don't think Ren-senpai would ever let it be as such."

A knock on the door distracted us, making me realize how much I was wrapped in these three's intense aura to not even feel someone arrive in my own room.

I really need to train my aura-sensing ability soon or else I'm going to be left behind. Again.

"Moshi, moshi~" Shinobu's voice made the boys call out her name, "It's time for your medicines!"

"Me too?" I frowned, remembering that my next dosage wasn't supposed to be until after dinner.

"Ah, not yours this time, Miyasha-san~"

"Lucky you." I heard Zenitsu mumble as the boys shuffled out of the room, "I don't like my medicines, at all."

"But they make your injuries heal better, Zenitsu-kun~"

"But I still don't like them." I heard him whine as they left the room, making me chuckle a bit when his whining reminded me of how he didn't even remember receiving those injuries in the first place.

"Poor boy," I shook my head, feeling Shinobu's aura still lingering near the doorway, "I hope you can handle him well. If not, please do tell me — maybe I would be of some help, eh?"

"I will, then." My smile stretched as I recognised Shinobu's teasing tone, "Though, I don't think he takes it as bad with the medicines as you do with compliments, Miyasha-san~"

I groaned at her statement, already feeling a blush creeping on my face and she wasn't even going deep yet, "Shinobu-san, please give me a rest — I beg of you."

I heard her chuckling as her aura shifted to come near me, "There, there, Miyasha-san. I'm just teasing you!"

"I know you are," I replied back casually as I felt her take a seat on the chair at the right side of the bed, "But that doesn't mean I'm not tired of... y'know, hearing false praises."

"They are not false praises, Miyasha-san—"

"I know!" I interrupted her immediately, not being in the mood to get another lecture on this topic, "I know they were genuine from your side, and even Ren-senpai and Mitsuri-san's side. But that doesn't mean I... feel they were particularly called for. I mean, it's just, I didn't do anything to deserve them and you guy's being kind enough to praise the things I didn't even have a hand in, was just..."

I trailed off and sighed as a small hand slowly rubbed my back.

"Ara, ara, you're a little too hard on yourself, Miyasha-san." A shiver ran through my body as I felt her teasing yet serious tone quite near my ear, "Give it a rest. No need to think about it too much~"

"Hai, Shinobu-san," I sighed as I gave up, "I'm sorry for the incon—"

"Shh," I instantly shut my mouth when I felt her hand lightly squeeze my shoulder, "What did I say? No need to think too much about it. You really need to give your brain a break, Miyasha-san!"

"Yeah... maybe." I sighed again, "It's way easier said than done, when you have nothing to do but sit at one place and not even have the sight to do any other activities."

I heard Shinobu hum as I shifted my position slightly, making me face her more comfortably than before, "While I do understand your dilemma, Miyasha-san, your physical health is not yet at a stage where I can let you leave the Mansion unsupervised."

"I... understand."

"I'm sorry for not being able to help you," I felt her hands on my shoulders again, "But if anyone's willing to accompany you out, I wouldn't stop you, alright?"

I nodded gratefully, knowing full well that currently there wasn't anyone present or healthy enough to help with that. Especially considering the trouble trio were injured — so was Rengoku, and Shinobu was busy enough herself with her hands full with me, Rengoku and the three stooges being severely injured.

'Not to mention,' I quirked a smile at something Shinobu said, 'She has her own missions too. I really can't ask for her help with this. Even Tomioka is out on a mission — so are the twins, but I ain't gonna ask for assistance from them.'

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves as I remembered my fight with those two when Rengoku visited.

And while the fight hadn't seemed anything serious, it ran way deeper than that and I didn't fucking know how to even talk or convince them that I knew what I was doing.

What further infuriated me was that they didn't even consult me before deciding it among themselves that I won't be fighting any longer — not only was that incredibly rude and controlling but also out of their power.

'I don't even know how to talk to them about it anymore.' I internally admitted as my mind went back to when I had tried to approach the topic with them after Rengoku left; however, Hitoshi absolutely avoided the topic, brushing it off casually while the quieter twin just left without saying a word.

'Maybe I should push a bit harder?' I thought absent-mindedly as my train of thought got interrupted when I detected a familiar aura just at the edge of my awareness, 'Wait, is that Tomioka?'

"Shinobu-san," I decided to ask as I felt his aura approaching nearer and nearer with each passing moment, "Is Tomioka-senpai back from his, uh, mission?"

"Hm? I don't think so?" She replied hesitantly, confusing me even more, "Why are you asking so, Miyasha-san?"

"Ah," I could feel my lips spreading into an involuntary smile as I thought about that sweet cinnamon bun, "I think I felt his aura? Here? Do you think he is back?"

I heard her hum and give out an unsure 'maybe' before there was a knock on the door — answering the question itself.

"Is it Tomioka-senpai?" I asked with an unexpected amount of excitement as I felt his warm soothing aura enter the room, "Senpai! Welcome back from your mission!"

I didn't exactly hear his reply as I continued blindly, feeling Shinobu get up from her position beside me, "Did you just return from your mission? Wait, please tell me you went back to change and rest up a bit before showing up here."

"...I wanted to see you," I heard his unsure voice from the doorway, making my heart melt as the weightage of his words settled in, "I couldn't come to see you when you woke up."

"Oh Lord," I facepalmed and shook my head as I felt his aura approach me, "Senpai... you do know I'm not gonna run away, right?" I asked amusingly as I heard him flop on the chair near my bed that Shinobu had occupied previously.

"I wanted to see you when you woke up," he repeated, making me realize how actually soft and deep his voice sounded when you completely focused on it, "But I had to go and I couldn't..."

I didn't know how to react to his genuinely adorable words.
I honestly didn't.

"I don't know what to say," I replied back honestly, shaking my head to disperse all my thoughts of hugging this huge sweetheart, "You are too sweet to handle for me, right now, you know?"

I chuckled as I felt his aura transform to a lighter note, observing how his overall aura seemed more expressive than his actual expressions.

'Most likely since he is not used to expressing his emotions much.' The thought fleetingly passed my mind as I heard the door close, finally making me notice how Shinobu's aura had just departed.

"Did Shinobu-san leave?" I asked Tomioka in disbelief, frowning as I didn't receive any answer in return, "Tomioka-senpai...?"

"Yes," he finally answered, making me wonder at the reason for his silence before it clicked in.

"Senpai," I heard him hum back in reply, "Did you just nod a few moments earlier to answer me instead of saying it out loud?"

"...sorry."

Oh my Lord, this poor little innocent creature.

"So, currently I can't remove the bandages from my eyes," I explained to Tomioka, "Since my eyes are still quite sensitive and the doctors aren't sure if opening them is safe or not."

It's been a good while since he first came in to visit, and while initially we were discussing just the usual topics, it soon diverted to how I was feeling and how my injuries were doing — particularly my eyes.

"Is there any chance that you can see after the bandages," I felt his hand softly brush on my temple as he asked, "Are removed?"

"Not sure, to be honest." I answered honestly as I felt him brush back my bangs behind my ear, "In fact, no one is. We are just keeping the bandages in case my eyes are not damaged beyond repair. If they are, then they are. But if they aren't, then they need quite a few weeks to heal and it'll be way better to not expose them to any light, in case they are a little too sensitive."

"Wouldn't light be good for them?"

"Eh," I shrugged as I adjusted my position a bit, "That's debatable. Our eyes are a kind of muscle too — the cornea, which is a kind of a lens in our eyes, is attached to a few muscles that primarily helps us zoom in and out of objects that are near or far away. The presence of light often affects them and the other parts of our eyes a lot, so it's just better to give them rest than anything."

I shrugged again when I felt him remove his hands back to himself, "I mean, that's the only thing we can do right now, anyway — considering how little to no other option we have right now to treat it."

"...what will you do now?" Tomioka bluntly asked, making me hum as I contemplated asking him what I wanted to initially.

"Well, you remember how I can sense auras around me, right?" I continued as I heard him hum affirmatively, "Well, I'm planning to... train my aura sensing abilities, I guess? I mean, if I concentrate enough, I can draw a mental map of the things around me by sensing their aura — however, they are only limited to the living beings, so I'm not that good at the actual mapping part, I guess."

"Do you think you can sense inanimate objects too if you train?"

"Maybe?" Tomioka's tentative question threw me off the rails, "To be honest, the only option I can see right now is to hone my abilities better since I most likely won't be getting my sight back. And since my hearing isn't yet that well-developed as the other, more experienced blind people, I want to rely more on my aura-sensing ability, if you get what I mean?"

I heard him hum in reply before he started, "Do you know someone with the same ability as yours?"

"Unfortunately, no." I shook my head as I answered, "In fact, I never met anyone with such ability either, so I don't know."

"But," I continued after a beat of silence, "I do think I can detect non-living objects too, as long as there's a lingering aura on it. Like, residue aura — in fact, I still can sense them right at this stage, but my ability for that isn't strong enough yet for me to detect it without giving it proper concentration. So, yeah, I think I can use that to my advantage? Since at this point, the only reason I don't run into a door is because I felt my way through the hallways for days and now am somewhat used to it."

"Do you," I could hear the hesitation in his voice as he continued, "Need my help?"

God, I wanna hug him so bad, right now.

"Yes, please." I literally begged as I leaned my head on my hands, "I can't get out of here without anyone to look after me since, well, my apparent medical condition, and I desperately need your help to... I don't know, help me practice my weapons? Meditate? Walk outside? Well, of course not in that particular order, but yeah."

I cleared my throat once I realized I was ranting, "I apologize for my rant but, uh, I really, desperately need your help and I'm really sorry for asking for your help again and again and not doing anything in retu—"

I stuttered as a warm hand covered my lips, making me blush slightly once I realized whose hand it was.

"You don't need to apologise," I almost felt his voice on my skin with how near he was, "I asked to help you, and I like doing it."

I silently nodded as he slowly removed his hand away from my lips, "You said before that we were going to train together," he softly reminded me, "So don't apologize for something we already decided."

"But I can't even see, let alone fight properly right no—"

"I'll help you." I felt his hand on mine as he gently separated my fingers which I was twisting together, "Please, let me help you?"

My heart stuttered as he asked that, making me almost want to cry with how considerate he was.

"You're too kind, senpai." I chuckled softly, trying my best to not cry as I nodded, "I... uh, thank you so much for all this. You have no idea how much this means to me."

I squeezed his hands softly, smiling as he squeezed mine back in the same gentle manner that he talked.

"Will you like to start tomorrow?" He asked softly, his body still close enough for me to be completely surrounded by his aura.

And honestly, I loved the feeling of it.

"If you are free, then why not?" I smiled as I finally detached my hands from his own, feeling a bit shy as I knew he was staring at me still with those blue eyes of his, "I hope it's not an issue with you?"

I almost chuckled as I felt him nod once before he gave me a verbal confirmation, his sweet, adorable ways coming off as a breath of fresh air with all the teasing I faced today.

"Thank you, Tomioka-senpai." I genuinely thanked him, feeling better than I did the past few days.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Tomioka fleetingly as he guided me out the Butterfly Estate the next morning, his hands softly gripping my wrists as he walked beside me at a slower pace, "Are we going to the forest, again?"

"No," I heard his voice softly state, "It's dangerous to go there with your injury. We are going to my Estate."

"Woah, wait," All my thoughts came to a halt as he spoke his last statement, "Your Estate?!"

"Yes."

I almost burst out at his vague reply, immediately realizing that I myself hadn't asked the right question, to begin with.

Well, how offensive would it be for me to say that I didn't know if he even had a place to stay? I mean, it's not my fault that the manga didn't cover all the details!

'But I sure am dumb enough to not fill in the details myself, oof.'

To be honest, in hindsight, that should've been obvious — with how handsomely the Hashiras were apparently paid. Not to mention, Water Hashiras were the generational ones, weren't they? Just like the Flame Hashiras.

"You don't mind me going the-there?" I stuttered in surprise as I almost stumbled over something, resulting in Tomioka to stop immediately and check me for injuries, "I'm fine, don't worry. I just stumbled because I'm not used to going out with my eyes closed like this."

"I don't mind." I heard him reply before he hummed and suddenly, out of all the possible things that could happen, I was lifted up in the air.

"Wh-what?!" I flapped my arms out stupidly before my common sense kicked in and I finally clutched my arms around Tomioka's neck, "What the hell, senpai?!"

"Sorry," I almost shivered at how close his voice was to me and how I could literally feel his chest vibrate when he breathed, "I don't want you to get hurt."

...how can I even be angry at this innocent bean, what the hell?

"Can you please ask me before you do this again?" I blushed heavily as I felt him readjust me in his arms, the feeling of being carried like this was quite new to me, "I'm not used to being carried like this."

"I carried you like this before?" I could hear the confusion in his voice as he finally started moving.

I avoided answering his obvious question as I honestly wanted to bury myself somewhere at this point, but with Tomioka's chest being the only current option, I abandoned that train of thought altogether.

'Oh God, what is wrong with me?!' I internally groaned, 'He is a real-life person! Not a character anymore — get your shit together and stop fangirling.'

God, why me.

"Are you okay, Miyasha?"

"Please, don't ask."

And fortunately enough, he didn't. However, I was no longer sure of this being a good decision anymore.

May Lord give me enough strength to survive this. Because I'm sure if not the demons, then Tomioka definitely is going to be the end of me.

Or the twins. Or the three stooges. Maybe even Rengoku and Mitsuri—

Why did I get involved in all this, again?

Our poor Miyasha, slowly descending into madness as she tries to somehow juggle her own emotions while being considerate towards another.

Well, to be honest, I wrote this as a crack chapter of some kind, so you are free to go crazy in the comments.

Meanwhile, the heavy stuff is from the next chapter onwards and I'm gonna touch on depression and some other mental issues — maybe I should give a warning of some kind in the next chapter?

For those who are wondering how Miyasha was sad in the last chapter and suddenly preppy in this one — the simple answer is that she is not. She is just avoiding her emotions; trying to keep herself occupied with other things to not actually deal with them.

That's why she seems preppy but in reality, she's only avoiding the inevitable.

》Taishou Secrets《
While Miyasha was unconscious, Oyakata-sama visited after his Report meeting with the Hashiras — he knows about her medical issue and also keeps tabs on her with help of the other Hashiras.

Now, onto the review replies!

Nozomi Akiyama: And thank you for your review~! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

jadeisa31: Hello, dearie! Thanks for your review! I have no words to portray how honoured I am, tbh — but unfortunately, we can't post duplicated or repeated work on this website, dear. It's against the rules and can apparently get the story deleted! So, while I do very much appreciate your offer, I'll have to deny it!

MehScrewIt: Haha, I'm glad you recognized the song! It's one of my personal favourites! And I'm glad you love the overall relationship development they are having— after all, that was the main reason I started this fanfic in the first place, lol

starrat: Thank you for your review and I hope you like this chapter as well!

Guest 1: You noticed well! She indeed didn't like singing before due to all her insecurities!

And that'll be all for this chapter! Thank you so much for your kind reviews and please review this one as well if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other ^^

Stay safe and stay healthy!