"So Oyakata-sama's orders are... to rest?" I asked, tilting my head as Mio stood on my lap while I sat up in bed.

"Correct! Take your time to rest! No missions until your migraines are under control!" She relayed quieter than she usually spoke, snacking at the almonds I had in my shaking hand. She was very good at reading my body language, since we had been partners for about five years now. I'm sure that she was also motivated to be quiet by the bribe of toasted almonds, but I would like to think we were good partners.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Well, I don't really have a choice, now do I?"

"Nope! Now stay put until called upon!" Mio ordered before she flew off to do whatever Kusagai crows do in their free time. I looked around the small room I was given, thankful to not be in the med bay with the loud mizunotos. Granted, this was my designated room for when I stayed at the Butterfly Mansion; since it seemed like I was here often. Shinobu liked to tease me about the amount of time I was here, but I always took her jokes with a laugh myself.

I adjusted the casual purple wisteria kimono that I kept in my travel bag, the girls wanted to take my uniform so it could be properly washed; alongside the younger boy's uniforms from their last mission on the mountain. While I was asleep, they had also taken the scarf I used to cover my head, I always had a spare alongside the kimono. I was lucky enough for them to have not taken my mask, since I usually put it under my pillow when I slept.

Not wanting to be alone, I made the questionable decision to go to the med bay to meet the three young Demon Slayers that had just come back from Mount Natagumo. Even though I was a good ways away from the med bay, I could hear the nonsensible screaming of a child who didn't want to take his medicine.

Coming up to the open door, I peeked into the room, spotting the person who had been yelling my whole walk here. I noted the silent boar-child (what?) and the red haired child from yesterday. Even with how quietly I made my way here, the screaming blond whipped his head to my direction with a face that looked like he had soiled his oversized pajamas.

"A monster, in here?! How is that even possible?!" He screeched, flopping down on his bed to flail around like a fish out of water.

"Zenitsu, calm down! He's not a monster, that's one of the Hashira!" Tanjiro held his hands out, trying to deescalate the situation.

"Oh, you're awake!" Shinobu exclaimed over the loud screaming of the kids. "I was wondering when you would make your way here."

I hummed. "Yes, Mio woke me up and told me the orders Oyakata-sama gave me this morning. That, and I needed to talk to you about my medicine."

"Please, have a seat, and ignore Zenitsu's screaming. That's what I've been doing this whole time." She said with a small laugh, motioning me to sit down on a stool closer to her medicinal cabinet. "It's been awhile since we talked about dosages; I think the last time we did was about a year ago."

"That sounds about right. I know that we talked about taking two capsules a day as needed for pain, but I've started talking four to five capsules because that's what barely helps. I'm sure Uzui-sensei said this already, but I suppose I was bedbound for four days. I'm not sure how many capsules the girls had helped me take, but I noticed that I don't have many doses yet."

She nodded, putting a hand to her chin. "Yes, I do remember that we agreed on a dose that was higher than what most people can tolerate, so I'm not too sure how much higher we can go with the doses. I can make a couple different tests and then we can go from there."

"That sounds good to me. Thank you, Shinobu-chan, I appreciate it. Since I'm going to be here for a little while, you don't need to rush with the medicine. But if you need help, please feel free to ask me."

"Oh Naoto-kun, you're a guest here, so I'm not expecting you to do work around here!" Shinobu responded, sounding more sarcastic than sincere. "Though, if you do feel like helping, I'm sure Ao-chan would appreciate it if you aided her with medicine calls. As you can hear, Zenitsu doesn't much care for his medicine."

"Yes, I almost heard it from my room on the other side of the mansion."

Zenitsu whimpered under his blankets. "It's so gross and bitter.. Tanjiro and Inosuke take their medicine so easily while I have to suffer!"

I hummed, almost agreeing with him. "Yes, sometimes Shinobu-chan's medicine is a little gross, but it's the best working medicine around. Besides, I would rather take gross medicine than stay tiny for the rest of my life." Standing up, I dusted off the imaginary dirt off my kimono. "Ah, I suppose I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Naoto Kuze, Melody Hashira. You must not really think that highly of me right now, since I made quite a bit of a scene at the trial yesterday, so I apologize for my rudeness." I sheepishly responded, fiddling with the edge of my spare scarf. "I'm not usually that bad about introductions, but as you probably heard, these chronic migraines have been a little much for me as of late."

Tanjiro's eyes widened, surprised with my apology. "No, there's no reason to apologize! My name is Tanjiro Kamado, this to my right is Zenitsu Agatsuma, and this is Inosuke Hashibira. It's very nice to meet you."

"You as well, Tanjiro-kun." I said with a smile. "You three look like you've been through a little bit of a struggle on your last mission." With that comment, I got a bit of a story time from Tanjiro and his loud friend, Zenitsu. The idea of a group of demons that lived together like a 'family; interested me a little bit. Hearing the complete story of their mission to the mountain was something almost unheard of.

"Interesting..." I mumbled to myself, rubbing the chin of my kitsune mask. "I'll be honest, I've never heard of something like that, since demons usually work alone because of the monster who made them. I would assume that some human urges can stay with a demon after they had been turned, even if they had been a demon for hundreds of years. Some human emotions are just to strong to let go of."

I hummed, turning around to Shinobu; who had been listening to our conversation. "Shinobu-chan, can I borrow Tanjiro-kun for a little bit? I'll make sure that he doesn't hurt himself too much."

"Well, I suppose. No running, no screaming and yelling, no training, and don't even think about trying to do those things because one of the girls will tell me~!" She responded with a sickly sweet voice, clearly trying to threaten me. Unfortunately, it had no affect on me; not as much as Tanjiro and Zenitsu.

"Of course, I'll be as gentle as the first snow in the winter season." I rolled my eyes, carefully helping the young boy out of his bed. Poor Tanjiro had no idea what was happening, only that he was being moved from his bed. "Sorry, I wanted to talk to you by myself. I also wanted to meet your sister, if that's alright with you."

His eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, yes! Kocho-san was nice enough to lend her a room to stay in, so she doesn't have to sleep in the box Urokodaki-san made for her Her room isn't far from the infirmary, just in case something unexpected happens."

With the small talk, it took almost no time to end up at the guest room the boy's sister was. The room was dark, having the curtains pulled and a spare sheet placed over the window so sunlight wouldn't have the chance to peek through. A girl was fast asleep in the bed, only waking up when she heard her brother calling out her name.

"This is Nezuko, Kuze-san." He introduced us with a smile on his face.

"Please, call me Naoto." I lightly corrected him, walking over to the bed. "Hi, Nezuko; it's nice to meet you. My name is Naoto Kuze." Obviously, she couldn't respond herself with the bamboo muzzle made by Giyuu, but it didn't stop her answering with a muffled hum. "I'm glad you trust me this much to meet her, considering that the last time she was in the presence of Hashira, she got injured by Shinazugawa-san."

Tanjiro shook his head with a smile. "You smell different that the Wind Hashira, you're honest and have good intentions."

"Ah, so you have a good sense of smelling? I remember Urokodaki-san has a similar ability to that. I'm assuming Giyuu-san sent you his way after finding you and your sister." I spoke fondly of the Water Hashira, since I was one of the few people that could get him to hold conversations. As I was reminiscing, Nezuko had gotten out from the blankets to investigate the kitsune mask I was wearing, but after a moment of looking, she plopped down on the bed next to me and messing with the sleeves on my kimono.

"Yes, he spared my sister instead of killing her when he easily had a chance." He responded with a fond smile on his face while he watched his sister fiddle with the silky fabric. "I'm happy to see that she's already taken a liking to you, she can also tell that you're not like that other Hashira."

I hummed. "Shinazugawa-san is a little bit... hot-headed, if you will. I don't know a lot about him before he became a Demon Slayer, but to be honest, a lot of us don't have pleasant reasons for being here." I started petting Nezuko's hair absentmindedly.

"That's true, isn't it.." Tanjiro looked down, sadness showing in his eyes. "What about you? What made you want to be a Demon Slayer and create your own breathing style? From what Urokodaki-san told me, your breathing technique branches from Sound Breathing."

"Truthfully, I don't have a family; they're either gone or don't know I'm still alive. I spent a lot of time with a friend and his family, learning how to hold a sword. As of right now, he and his brother are the closest thing to family I have. I'm happy to have them though, they've been amazing to me since I joined their family."

Tanjiro and I talked for quite some time before Aoi came to tell us that it was time for the younger of us to go back to bed for the night. After bidding each other good night, I told him that I would like to talk some more when he was feeling better; maybe even help train him. He perked up at that suggestion, letting me know that he would also ask his friends if they wanted to join him; if it was alright with me, of course.

It truly sounded like a lot of fun, I hadn't had anyone want to become my tsuguko before; no one had even requested to train under me because it seemed like they were intimidated by the mask I wore. If they didn't want to get to know me because of the way I looked, then it seemed like they shouldn't be in the Demon Slayer Corps. If you're afraid of someone in a kitsune mask, then there's no way that you could take on an actual demon.

I was surprised that Tanjiro noticed it, but nearing the end of our conversation; a headache started forming again. It wasn't too bad, it was more manageable than others that had happened in the last week or so.

Nezuko's muffled humming broke me out of my thoughts, her furrowed brows making me chuckle. "I'm sure you would have a lot to say if you were able to." I pat her head once again. "It was very nice to see you, Nezuko-chan. I hope we get to talk some more another day. Surely you're still tired from your wounds healing from the little trial, so you get some rest, alright?" I tucked her in, smiling as I remembered how my family took care of me the same way.

She closed her eyes, her soft breathing assuring me that she was already sleeping. I was almost jealous with how quickly she fell asleep; most nights it took me hours to fall asleep, and when I did, there were always interesting dreams or scary nightmares.

With a sigh, I quietly made my way back to my own room, exhaustion creeping up on me. It wasn't too hard to get back to my room, what was hard was going to sleep with the headache I had. Taking more than a few of the painkillers with a glass of water that was left on my bedside table, I flopped onto the bed after getting out of my kimono and mask.

I smiled, happy that I got to talk to Tanjiro and see his sister. They had been a little bit of a talk between all the Hashira, so naturally I was curious about him and their situation. With those nice thoughts in mind, I slipped into a little dream.

**Taisho Secret!**

Despite creating his own breathing style, Naoto does know a couple forms of Flame Breathing and Sound Breathing. He didn't commit fully to learning all forms of Flame Breathing because Kyojuro would be the one to rightfully learn Flame Breathing, due to it being passed down the Rengoku line for generations. He doesn't have much of a reason for learning Uzui-sensei's techniques, other than being stubborn.