He woke with a start and a gasp. It felt like he'd just fallen, and he couldn't breathe. Waking up from a nightmare was one thing, but waking up from a nightmare you didn't even remember was something else. Zenitsu closed his eyes again and tried to shake the feeling of dread away, calming himself the best he could.
'Must have been a bad nightmare or something,' he reasoned with himself. He felt sweaty and his hair was uncomfortably stuck to his forehead. He went to brush it away with his hand when he realized he couldn't. Finally opening his eyes he looked around; he was in a dark room with the window closed and heavy drapes covering it. He could see very well however with what little light was in the room. It seemed it was a simple room: a small side bed table, a chair, dressers, and a metal-framed bed. Apparently, he wasn't worth the time for whoever tossed him into the room to place him onto the bed as he woke on the floor, the bed still neatly made and ready for use.
He sat up and noticed that his arm restrictions were due to the full-body manacles he was currently wearing. His wrists were shackled with thick, heavy yet short chains to his side, which had an annoyingly tight metal band around his middle. His feet were pretty much in the same state, shackled and connected to the middle. However the most annoying and painful was the metal collar: It was thicker and while it did have a leather lining, it was extremely irritating to his skin and it slightly stank. He stood up, hating the weight of the metal chains, and how they pulled on his neck. He turned to look behind him (burning his neck in the process) and he saw that who'd ever chained him up, had jury-rigged together tail shackles in two locations so it was incapable of movement. He snorted at it. He went to go towards the door, figuring it would be locked but wanted to hear what was going on. However he noticed the foul smell of wisteria was particularly strong by the door, so he decided against approaching it.
He started to nervously wringing his hands. What had he done to get this kind of treatment? Were Tanjiro and Nezuko getting the same thing? He started to fidget with his chains, mostly trying to get the middle band in a more comfortable position. He finally noticed that his haori and sword were missing, he could understand that they would take his sword, but his haori was special to him. Gramps had given it to him the day he'd left home to replace the one he ruined while training. He'd ask for it back when someone would inevitably come for him. He sat on the edge of the bed and decided it best to wait.
As he waited, he thought about the previous (Was it still previous?) nights events. Perhaps that's why he had a nightmare. Everything from last night was so messed up, he couldn't even reach his head to hold it. To take his mind off of what happened, he decided if he couldn't listen at the door, he'd settle for just listening closely to his surroundings. It was muffled, but he could hear people having conversations and carrying out household duties much like a regular household just at a larger scale. He wondered where he was exactly. Was this headquarters? He had imagined...something like a temple, like Kiyomizudera in Kyoto or a strong fortress, but judging by the room he was in and from what he had heard...sounded more like he was in a large house. It was too hard and dull to pick up anything more specific, so he stopped listening.
Eventually, he could hear people approaching his room. He stood up nervously, then second-guessed his decision, should he stay seated? Before he could decide, the door opened and four people dressed in similar uniforms such as his except wearing protective face and head coverings entered the room.
'I've heard of these guys,' Zenitsu thought as he watch them nervously shuffle their way into the room, 'these guys are Kakushi; either retired Demon Slayers or people without sword skills who help clean up after large battles. What are they doing here?' The room was suddenly very cramped, and it didn't help how nervous everyone in the room was. The Kakushi's had thick rubber gloves and boots on, each had a wooden pole with a thick snap-hook at the ends of them. He wasn't sure what they had in mind, but apparently, they were all very reluctant in whatever they were told to do. They stared at him and he at them, overall: a very awkward situation. The door opened again and an angry young girl came swiftly inside wearing a white nurse dress, but he could see a blue-tinted Demon Slayer uniform underneath it.
"What is taking so long," she said looking harshly at the Kakushi, her hair twintails swinging as she looked quickly from side to side, "you know they're waiting!"
"W-We're sorry Miss Aoi," said one of the Kakushi, "we—we're just nervous!"
"Why," she asked, "is it being hostile?"
"I haven't said a word or moved from this spot," Zenitsu whined loudly, causing everyone to jump, "and I'm not an 'it', I have a name you know!" Aoi looked at him with firm resolve, but it only took an expert eye to see that her clenched hands were slightly shaking. She gave a resolved huff and quickly snatched one of the poles from a Kakushi.
"Come on now," she said to the others, "it's not that difficult." She began to approach him.
"Ah! Miss Aoi," said the Kakushi whose pole was taken, "please! You're not wearing the protective materials we were instructed to wear by Lady Kocho! And we haven't muzzled it yet!"
"Muzzled?" asked an ignored Zenitsu.
"It's not muzzled because you haven't properly restrained it yet," Aoi said gripping the pole tighter, clearly frustrated. She raised the pole up and Zenitsu yelped and flinched, thinking she was going to wack him with it. Instead, she took the round snap hook and connected it to a loop that was on the side of his collar.
"See, that wasn't so hard," she said to the others without taking her eyes off of Zenitsu, "we just have to show it that we're in charge."
"Again, I'm not an 'it'," Zenitsu said more frustrated, "my name is Zenitsu Agatsuma," he said looking hard at her, "and I—" He was caught short when he was suddenly jerked down by Aoi and had his face forced to the ground.
"Quiet," she said twisting the pole, making the collar rub harder into his skin causing a deeper burning sensation, "you don't backtalk—"
"You're so MEAN," Zenitsu loudly wailed face-first into the floor, at first causing everyone to jump but then when he continued to flail about as much as he could; they looked on with more curiosity than anything, "I was just telling you my NAME! SO MEAN!" Aoi wasn't sure what she was looking at, it certainly looked like a demon throwing a tantrum like a little kid but she wasn't sure. The other Kakushi seemed to have gotten a confidence boost from Aoi's show of force and the three others with poles approached and hooked theirs onto the remaining loops.
"Sit up," one ordered as they pulled up and hard on the poles, forcing him to sit.
"Okay okay," he said as he sat on his ankles on the floor, looking very sad, "you guys don't have to be so pushy! Just ask!" The Kakushi that Aoi had taken the pole from came around behind him and was doing something.
"Hey," Zenitsu said as he tried to look but was jerked sharply by the others for doing so, a clear sign not to look, "what are you doing?" His answer came quickly when something was quickly placed over his mouth and strapped around his head and chin.
"What are you doing?" he asked panicking, "Hey! Stop, I can't breathe with this thing on my face! You're gonna suffocate me!"
"You're doing a good job yelling your lungs out right now," Aoi said getting more and more exasperated with this demon, "so if you can do that, you're breathing just fine!" However the demon kept complaining and whimpering about the muzzle, it was even one of the nicer face masks that the Butterfly Estate had, rarely ever used!
"Stop whining," she said as the Kakushi finished fastening the last belt, "we're only looking out for the safety of all the humans on the estate! We can't have you biting anyone here, and I certainly won't allow such actions while you're under my supervision."
"I've never bitten anyone," he choked out as the Kakushi forced him to stand, "and I don't plan to!" Aoi seemed done arguing; she handed the pole back over to the other Kakushi and went for the door.
"We need to hurry," she said, "we've kept them waiting long enough as is."
"Who's waiting?" asked Zenitsu as he was forced through the door after Aoi, then followed by the Kakushi.
"The Hashira," Aoi said as she led on, causing Zenitsu to momentarily stop walking (and breathing) and forcing the Kakushi to drag him along, "They're here for their semiannual Hashira Meeting. They've already tried that Kamado person with his demon sister," she looked over her shoulder, "and now it's your turn."
"Wait," Zenitsu said as he stopped walking and refused to continue even with the Kakushi painfully pulling on him, "what happened to Tanjiro and Nezuko?! Are they all right? Did they let my friends go? What about Inosuke and—"
"Keep walking," Aoi finally said, "and I'll tell you! We're already late! It was only thanks to Master Ubuyashiki's generosity and reasoning that your so-called 'friends'," she said it as if she really didn't believe him, "are still alive. They are resting in the infirmary of the Butterfly Estate, where I will help take care of them."
"Is that where we are," Zenitsu asked looking around the electric lamp-lit hallways, "I can't hear them."
"No, we're inside the Demon Slayer Headquarters," she looked around, "even I've never been in here before until today. I'm only following orders to fetch you to bring you to the room where they'll hold the trial."
"T-Trial," Zenitsu shuddered, "trial for what? What did I do?!" Aoi didn't answer him but let out a deep and heavy sigh; she was quite done dealing with this demon. Soon they came up to large wooden double doors, and for whatever reason, those doors were the second most ominous thing he'd had ever come across in his sixteen years of life. Aoi knocked on the door and went inside.
"I severely apologize at our late arrival," he heard her say.
"Bring him in," said a calm voice.
"And make sure it's a grand and fabulous entrance," said a more booming voice. Zenitsu could hear at least a dozen different heartbeats within that room and nine of them sounded so intense that he did not want to even face the owners of them.
"Wait," Zenitsu said as he tried to back up, "I don't want to go in there! Tell them I got sick or something! Can't we re-schedule it!?"
"Move," one of the Kakushi said as she tried to force him in there.
"NO," he wailed, "It sounds scary in there! I don't want to go!" Meanwhile, everyone in the room could hear the commotion just outside the door as they patiently waited. They listened to the random shouts of 'stand up!' and 'come on' and 'NO!' but eventually the doors opened with the four Kakushi literally dragging a face down and seemingly lifeless demon in tow.
"This," said the owner of the booming voice as he looked down with disappointment, "is the exact opposite of what I had in mind." Once the Kakushi got to where they were supposed to be, the lone female started to violently shake him with her pole.
"For the love of God, sit up," she hissed at Zenitsu, "you're embarrassing all of us in front of all the Hashiras and Lord Ubuyashiki!" He finally looked up to see nine vastly different individuals staring down at him with varying intensity, ranging from actual looks that wished him to have a painful death to one that seemed lost in his own thoughts. Zenitsu sat on his ankles and looked around at each of the Hashiras and felt a weird mix of fear and awe.
"Well now my children," came the same calm voice from before, Zenitsu looked beyond the Hashiras to see a sickly blind man with a strange skin condition on his face who had two children, not unlike the ones at Final Selection at his side, "now that Agatsuma is here, we can now begin. Very much like Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko, I would like you all to accept that I have sanctioned his unfortunate situation and for all of you to accept Zenitsu Agatsuma as one of your fellow Demon Slayers." There was hardly a pause when a voice raised up:
"Forgive me in saying so Master," said a slightly muffled voice, Zenitsu looked to see a pale man with different eye colors, a black and white striped haori, and a white snake wrapped lazily around his neck, "while I may have been able to...tolerate the last trial but this one," he looked hard at Zenitsu, "surely this one is a joke! Why even go through such a farce? We can't allow this Esurient Demon to live. We all know how dangerous it is."
"Agreed," came an overpowering roaring voice that made Zenitsu jump, he looked over to see a man with what could only be described as fiery hair and gaze, "this is pointless! We all barely agreed with the last one! This one, I will not flinch nor back down! It has disgraced our Corps by continuing to associate itself with it! If it had an ounce of true honor, it would have sliced its head off the moment it realized it was a demon! This monstrosity is, and will forever be, my enemy!"
'Thanks, I love you too,' Zenitsu thought to himself.
"While normally I would agree with whatever Master Ubuyashiki would wish," said a soft-spoken woman with pink and green hair, she seemed very nervous about what she was saying, "but...in this case I can't agree with it. P-Please forgive me, Master," she said as she bowed low and was on the verge of tears, "but this goes against what everything the Corps is! I can understand the Kamado siblings; they have such a beautiful, loving bond and story but this," she looked at Zenitsu and gave a slight grimace, "isn't this one of those really-really dangerous kinds of demons? So I don't think it should live. I'm so sorry Master, please don't be upset with me!" here she started to cry hard for going against her Master's wishes.
"Poor miserable thing," said a looming man holding red ojuzu beads in his hands, tears streaming down his face. Zenitsu flinched a bit when he realized the man didn't have any irises or pupils...only white sclera, 'Must have been born like that' he thought, "please Master, allow us to end this creature's suffering. Why prolong it any further than necessary?"
"We all seem to agree that this demon needs to be put down," said a man with wild eyes and scars that littered his entire body, "unless," he turned with a cocky grin towards the mismatched haori swordsman from the other night who stood separate from the group, " you also pledge to commit seppuku for this thing, Giyu?" Zenitsu looked at the man, who didn't even turn towards the group.
"I was the one who allowed Nezuko Kamado to live, and was the one who pushed Tanjiro Kamado towards becoming a Demon Slayer," his voice and expression was flat yet soft, "so naturally if anything were to happen because of those two, I would ultimately be the one to blame. However," he turned and looked down at Zenitsu, "I have no qualms when it comes to the death of this demon."
"Then it's settled," said the same man with the wild eyes, unsheathing his sword and approaching the group of Kakushi and Zenitsu, "let's be done with it!"
"Be sure to behead it in a fabulous fashion Sanemi," said a large built man with golden armbands, a gemstone encrusted headband, and most bizarrely a single eye painted with a red marking, "to make up for that poor entrance! I want to see blood fly and paint the walls!" The Kakushi held onto their poles firm, some wrapping both arms around the poles just in case Zenitsu started to struggle. All he could do was look up briefly as Sanemi raised his sword at an angle with a manic grin, then snap his eyes close and hope it wouldn't hurt too much.
"Sanemi," Ubuyashiki said calmly yet firmly, causing Sanemi to stop and flinch as if the very tone of his voice had hurt him, "I truly hope you're not attempting to strike down one of my children in front of me?" Sanemi turned towards Ubuyashiki, kneeled, and while his voice was respectful, his face was full of frustration.
"Master Ubuyashiki," said Sanemi, "your kindness and generosity knows no bounds, but it goes to waste on this Esurient Demon," he turned towards the other Hashiras, "And what of you two, Shinobu and Muichiro? You're the only ones who haven't said anything yet, and Shinobu, weren't you the one who found it?"
"I was," she said with the same pleasant tone and smile she had in the woods, "and attempted to execute it. Being the second most dangerous of the seven kinds, it poses a serious threat to every human it comes in contact with."
"But didn't you say you wanted—" Zenitsu started but was hushed by the Kakushi as they twisted the collar and one hissed 'Quiet'.
"And you Muichiro," Sanemi said turning to a boy with long hair who couldn't have been older than Zenitsu was, "what do you think?" Muichiro at the moment was looking hard at the wood grain of the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the entire world. It took him a moment to even realize he'd been asked a question.
"Hmm? Oh," he finally said as he looked up, "yes...It should die, as all demons must." His attention then returned to the wood floor.
"You see Master Ubuyashiki," Sanemi said very respectfully, "this time, we all are in agreement in the execution of this demon."
"I also agree with Shinazugawa," the man with fiery hair said in his spirited voice, "and no story, letter, or anything you may have to say will sway our minds! We are all united and strong as the pillars we are!" He smiled brightly at his own words. There seemed to be a silent stand-off for a moment, but then Ubuyashiki simply smiled softly.
"I can see," he said in his gentle voice, "that you all are firm in your resolve." The Hashiras all nodded in agreement, even if Ubuyashiki couldn't see it.
'This is it,' Zenitsu thought bitterly, 'I didn't even get a chance to say anything.'
"In that case," Ubuyashiki said in the same calm voice, "Shinobu," he said turning towards her and she bowed, "I would like you to take Agatsuma here to your home and find him a place in one of the private rooms in the infirmary," for the first time Shinobu looked shocked and her constant smile was finally gone.
"B-But Master—" she started, but he simply raised his finger to his mouth in a hushing motion.
"Think of it this way my dear Shinobu," he said, "this is the perfect opportunity for you to make friends with a demon since you two will be working closely together as I would like you to gather data about him and the nature of his particular kind of demon. This is, after all, a rare opportunity to learn, is it not? That means," he said now fully addressing everyone in the room, "no harm is to come to him while she gathers the data, do I make myself clear?" Zenitsu looked around the room, everyone seemed either conflicted or angry about the order. He looked over at Shinobu, she looked like she had just swallowed a whole lemon and was trying to not show it.
'That's weird,' he thought, 'I thought she said she wanted to be friends. Was that a lie then?'
"Whatever you wish is fine with us, we will follow it whether we agree to it or not. I don't care either way," said Muichiro with a shrug.
"I'm glad you all agree," Ubuyashiki said gently, "and I know this isn't the outcome that all of you wanted, but I can see you all need time to understand. Though I wished to have resolved this matter with this meeting," he said as he raised his hands up and the two girls at his side took them, "however, I'm tired and need rest, and wish to end the meeting here for now. We will meet again soon to discuss this matter further."
"As you wish," said Giyu as he bowed. Zenitsu looked up at Ubuyashiki, who was slowly rising to his feet, he did look exhausted for whatever reason.
"Um, Thank you," Zenitsu quickly said thinking he'd be choked again, "for helping me Mr. Ubuyashiki." His assumption was right, he was quickly shaken from all sides.
"'M-Mister'?! You can't call the Master 'Mister'!" hissed one of the Kakushi.
"Apologize, apologize you idiot!" said another. However, Ubuyashiki smiled.
"Just," said Shinobu putting a hand to her forehead, "just take the Esurient to the Estate and to my private lab. I'll be there momentarily," she sighed.
"Yes, Lady Kocho," said the female Kakushi and the four Kakushi instantly began to drag Zenitsu out of the room as quickly as they could. As soon as they were far away from the room and down several halls, the Kakushi stopped dragging him and they all seemed to be having a crisis of some sort.
"Um...is something wro—" Zenitsu started, but stopped when the female Kakushi grabbed his horns and violently started shaking his head side to side.
"How dare you," she yelled, "you made us all look incompetent not only in front of the Hashiras but in front of Lord Ubuyashiki," she was pulling and pushing so hard on his horns he was worried she'd snap them right off his skull, "I hate you, and will never forgive you! I ought to throw you outside right into the sunlight!"
"What's going on," asked Aoi as she approached the group, Zenitsu was eternally grateful, it stopped the woman from thrashing his head around; he was about to be sick, "I thought it would have been dead by now."
"Why does everyone want me dead," Zenitsu whined, "I didn't do anything. I didn't even get a chance to say anything in my defense back there! You guys are the worst!"
"Lord Ubuyashiki has ordered Lady Kocho to study the demon," one of the Kakushi said to Aoi, "and has ordered its relocation to the Butterfly Estate and her lab." Aoi looked shocked, then thought about it.
"Hmm," she looked down at Zenitsu, "we need to find a way to transport it, the Estate is separate from Headquarters after all."
"Hey wait," Zenitsu said, "does that mean going outside? But I don't have my gear," he started to panic, "you're not gonna let me BURN now, ARE YOU?! Hey come on, ANSWER ME!"
"We could put it in a laundry basket with blankets," said a Kakushi, "that's similar to what the Kamado siblings did early on, at least that's what the Kamado boy told me."
That'll do," said Aoi, "go fetch a larger basket and thick sheets," she looked down at a wailing and crying Zenitsu, "and please hurry."
"Hey, are we almost there?" Zenitsu asked in the basket, "It's hot and stuffy in here! I'm suffocating! Suffocating I tell you! I don't like this! With this stupid muzzle, I'm DOUBLE suffocating!" Aoi rolled her eyes as she led the group into the Butterfly Estate as they all tried to block out Zenitsu's constant whining as best as they could. Once inside to a point where the sunlight wouldn't be an issue anymore, they opened the basket and he popped up like a jack-in-the-box and made everyone else jump.
"Finally," he wailed, "I thought I was gonna die in there!"
"Oh, no you wouldn't have," said Aoi sternly, as she waited for the Kakushi to relatch the poles to the collar. She continued to lead the strange group down the hallway until they reached a certain door.
"Here we are," said Aoi as she opened the door, "Shinobu's lab." Zenitsu looked around, the lab was very clean and spacious. There were several bookshelves, filled with what he assumed to be medical and probably books referring to poisons and demons. Metal shelves with glass beakers and other lab-like materials that he wasn't familiar with, but there was something that he knew he didn't like about the room.
"Why does it stink so bad in here," he asked, wishing he could pinch his nose.
"Lady Kocho works with wisteria poisons," said one of the Kakushi, "and she mixes most of them in this lab. I think it smells quite lovely in here."
"What should we do with the demon," asked another Kakushi.
"Strap it down to the bed," said Aoi, "then Shinobu can decide what to do with it after that."
"Okay, I'm tired of being referred to an 'it'," Zenitsu finally said, "I'm clearly a HE, and I've already told you my name is Zenitsu! So if you're gonna call me something," he said a little more sadly, his face falling and voice going softer, "at least call me by my name." Aoi closed her eyes and quietly sighed.
"Very well, put...Zenitsu on the bed and strap him down." The Kakushi went to do so, but they seemed surprised that Zenitsu was cooperating with them so well, even as to sit without being told to. They removed the chains from his body, but as soon as he laid down, they connected his arm and ankle shackles to some other parts of the bed. Then came two leather straps across his chest and legs, so he was effectively pinned on the bed, but not uncomfortably.
"There," said a Kakushi as they released the poles from the collar, "all finished. We shall leave you now Miss Aoi." The four bowed and left the room.
"So, now what,?" Zenitsu asked Aoi.
"I have other duties to attend to," she said looking down at him, "I'm sure she'll be here momentarily." She went to leave the room.
"Wait, before you go," Zenitsu said, grabbing her attention and by the look on her face it was her very last nerve with him, "if you happen to see Tanjiro or Inosuke...could you tell them I'm...at least alive?" She closed her eyes and sighed very deeply, but her expression softened slightly.
"I will, when I see them next," with that she left. With nothing much else to do, Zenitsu looked around the room until there was nothing else to look at, then eventually started to tap his claws against the metal frame of the bed. He was getting very bored, but then again...being bored wasn't so bad. Who knows what Shinobu had in mind for him. She was confusing; she didn't sound like she was lying the other night, but from what he saw at the trial she didn't want anything to do with him. He supposed he could ask? The door suddenly opened and he jumped at it. A quiet girl walked in, wearing a purple-tinted Demon Slayer uniform but instead of the usual hakama pants, she wore a knee-length pleated skirt. Over that she had a short white cloak, fastened on the one side by a pink triple knot. It didn't take Zenitsu long to realize that this girl was the same one from Final Selection; she was just as quiet then as now.
"Hi," he said to her, but she simply smiled down at him. It was eerily similar how Shinobu would constantly smile, but hers didn't seem nearly as forced.
"Um...do you, do you remember me," he finally said as she continued to look at him, "we took Final Selection together? You wore that cute pink and white out..fit.." he stopped when he realized how she was looking at him and it only made him feel awkward. It wasn't judgmental; if anything, that would have been more welcoming than that blank look. That's when he noticed the pink and green butterfly clip in her hair that held her ponytail.
"That's a pretty clip," he said, directing with his head to her clip as best he could, "so are you related to Shinobu? She's got the whole butterfly thing going on, it's only a guess." She still didn't respond to him, so he decided that she wasn't going to say anything to him and he stopped trying. After a bit, the door opened again and this time, Shinobu was the one to enter.
"Thank you Kanao for coming to assist me," Shinobu said in her airy voice, "let's start by getting the necessary materials."
"Materials for what," asked Zenitsu, he was just as curious as he was nervous. Shinobu looked down with that forced smile and said:
"Now don't you worry, we're only going to take pictures! Then after that, we'll go from there." He sighed in relief. That wasn't so bad.
"I've had my picture taken a few times," he said just to get his nerves to calm down, "my Gr—my Master who trained me took me and another one of his students to get a portrait taken once." He smiled at the memory, it was right before Kaigaku went to his Final Selection. It was more or less, just in case he didn't make it, but Gramps and Kaigaku weren't nervous in any way. Then Gramps had taken him again when it was his turn for Final Selection. He wondered if he still had them, most likely, since he still had Kaigaku's.
"That's good," Shinobu said without turning towards him, "then I don't have to explain the process to you and tell you to hold still." She gathered several rulers and whiteboards and a small handheld camera. He was actually excited, he'd seen them sold for quite a lot of money in stores and had always wanted one. The picture taking wasn't nearly bad as he thought it was going to be. It involved just taking pictures of things like his hands, body, head, and so on. It was similar to pictures of a medical book or even the Demon books he'd seen at Gramps and Uncle Sakonji's; only this time since he was so cooperative they were getting a lot of pictures. She even seemed confident enough with him to allow him to be unlocked from the bed, she didn't even put back on the stupid muzzle. He was very grateful for that.
"You seem to have a lot of markings on your body," Shinobu offhandedly remarked as she lightly traced one of the Lichtenberg markings on his exposed back with a pen, making him shiver, "I wonder if that indicates something or if it's merely decorative? I'll have to run some blood work."
"Blood work," he whined, "but I hate needles!" She ignored his whining, but only wrote down in her notebook about future experiments.
"Lay down now," she ordered, "I need to check on something," she pulled out an old book from one of the bookshelves and thumbed through it. He started to put his uniform back on when he was interrupted by Shinobu.
"You can put your shirt back on, but don't button it back up," she said without looking up at him.
"Uh...okay," he said. He sat on the side of the bed as he put his shirt back on, then noticed that the book that Shinobu was looking through was exclusively about the seven kinds of demons.
"Is there really," he started asking, "that much information about—"
"Not really," Shinobu said cutting him off, "this is merely all known information condensed into a single volume. The priority of the Demon Slayer's is really in the name, you know," she looked up at him and her eyes quickly flashed. He quietly whimpered at her implication. He thought about their first encounter and decided that now would be a good time to bring up his question.
"You know," he said as she put the book down with the page she wanted open and approached him making him back up, "last night—"
"That was a day and a half ago," she corrected.
"Uh, anyway, you-you said that," she took a hand and started to force him down onto the bed, he blushed a little bit, "that you wanted to be friends with demons, but today at the trial thing you sounded really angry," here, her smile fell a little and she paused, "when Mr. Ubuyashiki told you to do...uh, this..." he was blushing harder now, why was he making this weirder than it had to be?
"ANYWAY," he blurted out, covering his face with his hands, "my question is, were you serious about being...friends...with demons I mean!" he was completely embarrassed now. Of course he had to make it more awkward than it had to be, it didn't help she was so close. She leaned in closer and with that same smile and airy tone she answered:
"No, I don't think I could ever be friends with a demon," His embarrassment was replaced with confusion and curiosity. He moved his hands away and looked at her, even Kanao was looking at her with a strange, inquisitive look in her eyes.
"Why?" he asked, but seeing and even hearing her he knew he wasn't going to get an answer. He had pried too deep, there was a hurt in her that she wasn't going to share with him, at least not yet.
"That's enough about me for now," she said brightly, too brightly, "let's continue now, shall we?" She turned towards Kanao.
"Kanao, please come over here and observe, you need to learn about this for future reference." She moved in closer and Shinobu picked up the book to show her something out of his view.
"I've already shown you the easy visual cues of an Esurient Demon, such as the claws. Another easy telltale sign of one is the near-constant borborygmus when they haven't-"
"Borboruswhatnow?" interrupted Zenitsu. Shinobu put a finger to her lips, and he shrank back a bit.
"It means," she said tapping his nose, "your tummy is grumbly all the time." Zenitsu looked to the side.
"You don't have to talk to me like I'm five," he mumbled.
"Now then," Shinobu said, "if there'll be no further interruptions," she gave him a slightly hard look, "we can continue." She pointed to the book, showing Kanao something.
"As you can see from these crude drawings from the Hōreki era," she said, "Esurient Demons anatomy is vastly different than a normal human. The majority of organs have shrunk," here it caught Zenitsu's attention and he wanted to get a better look at the book, "and have shifted from their original—" she noticed that Zenitsu was trying to look in at the book from his seated perspective, and even surprising herself, she turned the book so he and Kanao could both look at the page, "positions. Here," she said pointing to the illustration, "you can see organs like the liver, and intestines have shrunk and shifted positions while the stomach itself has taken most of the space of the abdominal cavity."
"Weird, I wonder why," he asked as he took the book and looked at the drawing hard. It wasn't the best drawing, it looked like it had been done from memory, and to be perfectly honest he felt like he could have done a better job.
"Well, demons as you know," she said making him lay down again, "don't need, to put it delicately, 'use the facilities' as humans do. I'm sure you've noticed that."
"Can we change the subject please," Zenitsu quickly asked, covering his face with the open book.
"Moving on," Shinobu said, "because of that, the organs are usually repurposed for other functions; in Esurient cases, the intestines are theorized to store blood. I plan to find out."
"Wait," he said removing the book from his face and looking up at her, "you're going to cut me open?!"
"Not now," she said, feeling around his middle, "it'd be too risky to do so now. That demon is still alive; barely but alive."
"Oh, I-I completely forgot about that," he said looking down at her hands, "so it's been...two days?"
"Yes, I'm surprised it's still alive; but it might be dead by tomorrow, but then again maybe not. There isn't much information about Esurient Demons consuming other demons, so observing this has been mildly interesting. I suppose I can see the reason why you would," her tone stayed the same but he could hear the disdain in her voice, "after all, it does provide a longer meal."
"Hang on," he said, "you think I did that on purpose? Even I don't know what exactly happened!" She gave him another amused look, she obviously didn't believe him.
"Well, why don't you recap what happened," she turned to a blank page of her notebook. So Zenitsu started from the beginning of that night; from when they'd first entered that damned forest. As he was telling the story up to when he got up to the part when he met up with the creepy demon kid; he noticed that instead of her understanding his side, he could hear her become angrier and angrier. It only made it worse how her face never shifted from that pleasant smile of hers. She stayed completely quiet for the entire story, never interrupting him once. Once he finished, there was a tense pause in the air, he looked over at Kanao, who didn't look much different, but she sounded sad over something.
"I see," Shinobu said standing up, just a little too quickly and a little too brightly, "so the demon you encountered was the one responsible for creating the spiders who not only strung up other slayers," her eyes slightly squinted, "but used humans in their creation?"
"That's what he told me and from what I saw," he shuddered from the memory, "that one girl-"
"Nakano," Shinobu interrupted, "her name was Nakano. She had stayed here at the Estate only a few days before the mission. I did see her body after the Kakushi gathered everyone up." She walked over to a chemical cabinet and pulled out several containers, she was looking at several vials, then selected three of them. Then she got a small wooden box and took out a syringe.
"What are you doing," Zenitsu asked, he couldn't see what she was doing anymore, her back was blocking everything now. She didn't answer him, but he could hear how angry she was. Did he say something that made her mad? When she turned back to him, she had two syringes, one loaded with something and a cup. She handed him the cup.
"Drink this," she ordered flatly, not even in her airy tone.
"Um...are you sure?" She smiled at him, but he wasn't reassured at all. He did as told, he didn't want to get into any more trouble. He was worried that it would make him sick, but other than the extremely salty taste, nothing happened. He suddenly felt her hand searching for something inside him.
"What are you doing?" he asked panicked, he could see she was holding in her other hand was one of the syringes. She didn't answer him, but then stopped when she found whatever she was looking for and then stuck the needle right in the spot she found. He yelped at the pain and the suddenness of her actions.
"Excuse me," he yelled, "could you at least warn me that you're going to give me a shot, and in my gut no less! Could you at the very least tell me why?!"
"The injection wasn't for you," she said as she put the spent syringe into a sink, "it was for the demon inside you." That left him sputtering in confusion.
"Why," he asked, "I don't understand."
"Oh, it's quite simple," she said, "I'm reviving the demon. You see" she took the second syringe and stuck it into her arm and started to extract her blood, "while in the woods, I had not only come across cocoons from another demon, but several corpses very similar to what happened to Nakano. I had thought they were your leftover scraps," she gave him a smile that made him slightly nauseous, "and you just had specific tastes."
"Why would you do that," he asked, subconsciously backing up on the bed, "what good will that do anyone?" Her face, voice, and smile were still pleasant but her sound was of someone so angry that all he wanted to do was run away, and he wasn't sure if she was mad at him, the demon, or just everything in general.
"It hasn't suffered enough to be properly punished," she said in her same airy tone, making it all the worse, "for its sins to be forgiven, so it can be reborn. All of the victims need to be avenged, but we don't know the true number of victims. I can only imagine how everyone suffered; paralyzed...unable to move but aware of your surroundings and situation," she said in a low voice as she came closer to him as he moved back on the bed, "as they silently screamed in agony as they were slowly and painfully eaten from the inside. It must have been agonizing. You know the phrase, 'bachi ga ataru,' so don't feel too bad for it, it's only getting what it deserves. If you're uncomfortable with it, just think of it this way; you're getting an extended meal out of it." With that, she took the syringe with the blood and injected it into the same spot she had the other one.
"Right," she said brightly, sitting back up and slapping her hands together loudly making him jump, "I think that's enough for today! I'll go fetch the Kakushi to take you to your holding room! We'll continue tomorrow then. Kanao," she turned to her, "stay here while I'm gone and keep an eye on things, all right?" Kanao bowed as Shinobu put the last syringe in the sink and left the room. As soon as she left, Zenitsu lost his composure.
"She's INSANE! Completely and utterly INSANE! She's gonna KILL ME! WHAT-THE-HELL?! If not that, she'll TORTURE ME," he was too busy ranting to notice Kanao flipping a coin, "I haven't done ANYTHING to deserve to be GUTTED! I don't want to get GUTTED! HEY! I don't—" he was silenced when he felt Kanao gently grab his hand and squeeze it. He looked down at his grabbed hand, then up at Kanao. She still had that blank smile on her face, but her eyes were slightly softer.
"Do you remember, what you said to me the night of Final Selection?" Kanao asked him. He paused and had to think about it.
"Um...well," he said scratching his head sheepishly, "I said several things."
"Yes, you were the only person who spoke until you eventually fell silent, from embarrassment, I believe," she said. He blushed, that was true.
"However the one thing I clearly remember is when you offered to hold my hand, in case I was afraid, because as you said 'all you need is a bit of comfort to get through something scary'," Kanao said, making Zenitsu wish he could sink into the earth, "but I think it was more for you than it was for me. I didn't think you or I needed it then, but I think you need it now." She squeezed his hand again and let go. He looked up at her, these butterfly girls were...something else. Strange was the nicest way of putting it.
Back in his room, he pulled on the short-chain that connected from his collar to the metal hook that had been placed into the middle of the floor. It was most likely put there so it kept him from crawling around the ceiling or escaping somehow. It's not like they didn't have wisteria by the door or window. His bedroom was incredibly simple, a bed. That was it, nothing else. Even the other room had more to it than what he was currently in. He felt like he was in prison. Worst of all, he felt lonely. He was surrounded by people who knew about him for the first time in months, but the majority of them despised his existence and didn't want anything to do with him.
"I shouldn't have ever left the woods," he said to himself as he curled up tighter on the bed. He'd finally been given the Butterfly Estate's standard pajamas to wear, much more comfortable to lay down in, but he had to modify them for his tail on his own. The door of his room opened, he didn't even bother looking to see who it was; probably someone else ready to tug on his stupid collar or poke him in some other way. He felt the bed shift from someone sitting by his legs.
"Zenitsu," Tanjiro asked quietly, "are you all right? I finally got permission to visit—" he never got to finish, he was immediately jumped and tightly hugged by Zenitsu who buried his face into his chest.
"TANJIIIROOO~! You'll listen to me, won't you?! Everyone here has been really MEAN to me! They yell and pull and tug on me and want me dead! That really pretty butterfly Hashira Kocho lady is also crazy as she is pretty! I hate my life~!" He finally pulled away (oblivious to Tanjiro's slight disgust at the snot and tears he left on his shirt) and wiped his eyes. When he looked at Tanjiro he finally noticed the long cuts and bruises on his face, especially the one on his jaw and how swollen it was.
"What happened to you Tanjiro," he asked, now feeling a little bad about immediately jumping into his woes, "you look terrible." Tanjiro's hand went up to the swollen lump of his jaw, he tried to look pleasant, but a dark shadow clouded his eyes.
"When we separated, we soon came up to the Demon Slayers that Murata had spoken about. It was terrible, they were being puppeted by a demon, forced to fight with broken bones; then killed when no longer useful. Then there was this, large monstrous demon that nearly killed Inosuke after it tossed me away like I weighed nothing," he gripped the sheets of the bed tightly, "then Nezuko was nearly taken from me, strung up by one of the Twelve Demon Moons." All this was lost on Zenitsu, he had no idea what a demon moon was or anything, all he knew was apparently Nezuko, Inosuke, and Tanjiro nearly died.
"But," Zenitsu interrupted, "but you won right? Everyone is alive and you defeated the demon! So it's all good now? Right?" Tanjiro smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile.
"I had thought I killed the demon at one point. It took every ounce of strength in me, but," he looked at his calloused hands, "if it hadn't been for Giyu, I would have been killed."
"What about Inosuke," Zenitsu quickly asked, trying to change the subject, he didn't like thinking about his very first friend possibly dying, "I'm sure he's more than fine!"
"Well," Tanjiro said, as he rubbed the back of his neck, "something happened to his throat, but more than that happened to him," he looked at Zenitsu, "I think his fighting spirit's broken. He's hardly moved from bed, and is very still and quiet."
"That's not like the boar head at all," Zenitsu said putting a finger to his chin, "I wish I could come and visit, but as you can see," he said pulling on his chain, "I think they won't let me. Maybe you can convince them to let him come and...I don't know, let him pull my tail, he seems to like that." Tanjiro chuckled at that, but then seemed to fall quiet. He seemed to be struggling with something in his mind.
"Zenitsu," he finally asked, "I wanted to ask what happened to you after we separated. I've heard," he gave him a sideways glance, "different stories, and I wanted to get the truth." Zenitsu was slightly hurt, but he could understand that rumors would inevitably spring up. So he began the second retelling of the other nights' adventures. He went into greater detail than he did with Shinobu, feeling more at ease with Tanjiro; but when he got to 'that part' he was nervous about what Tanjiro would say and think. As he finished, he paused and wondered if Tanjiro hated him or something, the room was so quiet. But when he looked over at him, Tanjiro looked like he was in deep thought.
"Is something wrong Tanjiro," Zenitsu asked reluctantly, "are you upset with me?"
"No-no," he answered quickly, "I'm not! Really I'm not! It's just, I'm confused is all. I can tell you're telling the truth but," he gave him a concerned look "it's just your breath."
"My breath," Zenitsu asked holding a hand up, breathing into it to smell it, "what's wrong with it? Does it stink or something?"
"Actually yes," Tanjiro said, "it smells like pain, fear, and sadness, and...now I know why. I'm just confused why it's still so strong on your breath."
"Oh...I wasn't going to tell you but...you can thank that crazy Lady Kocho for that," he said as he scratched his chest, his hand settling on his stomach, "as I said earlier, she's nuts! She gave me shots that brought the stupid demon back from death. It was all but dead, but she wants it to suffer longer because I don't know why. It's subtle but I can feel it inside, it's really weird." He looked over at Tanjiro and saw the mixed look of horror and anger on his face. He shrank back a bit.
"Are you mad at me," he asked quietly, "It's not like I wanted it!" Instead of the 'Oh no I'm not mad' he expected from Tanjiro, Tanjiro shifted his gaze away and looked hard at the floor. This caused silent panic inside Zenitsu.
"Really," he said nearly panicking, "I really didn't even mean to do it in the first place! I don't know what happened; one minute I was awake, then the next...and the weird—please don't hate me! I already hate myself more than anyone else, even before everything, and I don't want you to hate me too!" Tanjiro finally looked over at him, not with that same look of anger he had on, but a blank one.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I'm just tired of these Hashira trampling on the pain of being a demon. They hold little to no regard to who they were as human," he gripped his knees so tightly that if he didn't have any coverings on them, he would have cut them with his nails, "it's like they forgot they were once human too." He stood up to leave the room.
"I'm not mad at you, not one bit," he looked at Zenitsu, "I need to speak with Lady Kocho and convince her that she's wrong and see if we can quickly end his suffering." Tanjiro quickly left the room before Zenitsu could question or even object to his idea. He huffed and laid down, covering up and deciding that sleeping was his best option for now. He was just happy that he didn't tell Tanjiro the worst of it: yes he knew that what was inside him was technically alive and in pain, but his body was completely content, and...he liked it. It was the first time in months, he didn't have that constant, painful need. Did that make him a bad person? He hoped not.
The door opened and closed again, irritating him; he did not want anyone else bothering him today. Perhaps if he just pretended to be asleep, they'd go away. However, he could hear whoever it was shifting a chair close to the bed (they must have brought it with them) and sat down on it. They weren't going away anytime soon. He sighed.
"Look," he said under the covers, "I'm having a very bad day and I don't want any more visitors, so I'm sorry if you paid money to see me and have a free poke at the wimpy demon; well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I—" he suddenly felt a heavy whack on the side of his head. He sat up with his hands on top of his head, growling fiercely.
"OUCH! That HURT! You miserable bastard, you're in big trouble now; nobody but Gramps can—" His voice died instantly in his throat when he saw who hit him.
"Well then, it's a good thing I'm who I am," said Jigoro Kuwajima tapping his cane in his hand with a small grin, "or else I might be 'in big trouble', eh?"
Taisho Secrets:
The camera Shinobu used was a Kodak No.1 Folding Pocket Kodak, 120 roll film camera, from 1912.
The mixture Shinobu made Zenitsu drink was magnesium carbonate, an antacid.
Shinobu isn't a psycho, she just really, really hates demons. She and Tanjiro haven't had their talk yet.