Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Slayer : Kimetsu no Yaiba or any of its characters/story.

Author's note is up here this time. I'm just too impatient to wait until I write enough actual story to do said author's note. Sorry for it being pretty long.

Welcome to the new arc! If you watched the anime, you'll know that this is technically the Recovery Arc. It's going to be a bit different, since I threw some self-made content in here and also mixed it with another (... self-made) arc since both were too small on their own to be considered full arcs. Also, just to let you know, there will be some manga content later on in the story, which means spoilers are bound to happen. Mind you, my versions won't be identical to the canon content. It's really just names of characters and certain big events, the rest is pretty much my take on it. For example, the end of the Mugen Train arc (manga readers and spoiled anime watchers, I think you know what I mean) will be in this story. Not directly, but it will be mentioned a few times.

One more thing, I know I'm droning on but still, we're almost at 100 follows! I don't know how to feel about that. Fun fact, when I released the first chapter of this story, I wasn't planning on continuing it. Really, I have the motivation (sometimes I don't have the motivation, but my point still stands) to write thanks to all of you who favourited/followed/reviewed this story. We've also hit over 16,000 views, which scares me. I don't want to feel like I'm disappointing people when their favourite part comes up and what I write ends up being a bad representation. I guess that's why I like reading reviews so much, it makes me feel better about my works.

Thanks for allowing me (unless you skipped the author's note. Then I suppose you didn't) to talk for a while. Let's get on with chapter 18.

XVIII: Packing

About a week had passed, and most of the Demon Slayers were allowed to leave the hospital. Kanao, Tanjiro and Nezuko were walking out the doors, when suddenly Nezuko fell to the ground. Nurses took the girl (who was deemed unconscious) back to her room, with Tanjiro and Kanao following them worriedly. It turned out that Nezuko was back in her coma, and that she was very lucky to have gotten out of it in the first place.

Hesitantly leaving her in the doctor's care, the two Demon Slayers left to go back to the school.

.

"Kanao! I'm so glad you're okay!" Rose barreled into the raven-haired girl, hugging her fiercely. Kanao just blinked, not sure what to do about her situation.

Supposedly Rose, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were admitted to a different hospital than Kanao, Nezuko, and Tanjiro were. The sheer amount of Demon Slayers that went on the mission in the first place meant that there had to be people placed in either hospital to avoid confusion as to why there are a ton of youth being admitted to the hospital all at one time.

"We've been stuck with her the entire time you were in the hospital." Inosuke walked up to Tanjiro, walking far around the brunette. "She's not human! She's more of a small and pesky dog!"

At that, Rose turned her head, glaring at him. "What. Was. That?"

The two began arguing loudly, with Rose no longer clinging to Kanao (much to the girl's relief, actually). It didn't help matters that Zenitsu tackled Tanjiro out of nowhere, yelling about how he didn't want to die and how happy he was that the boy was alive.

Kanao watched the whole scene unfold with bewilderment, until a hand landed on her shoulder.

"May I talk with you, Kanao?" Shinobu was behind her. Kanao nodded, and the two left to head over to Shinobu's office.

.

Ping.

"Why should we invite them over?" Kanao's soft voice was filled with curiosity.

"It should prove as a sort of private training course, and I know that you'd prefer to have people you know come instead of complete strangers. It would also help you, you know." Her sister smiled.

The idea was to invite Tanjiro, Rose, Zenitsu, and Inosuke to Kanao and Shinobu's home. Not the apartment, but the second house that acts more like a cottage of sorts. A summer home. Kanao had gone there many times, but she wasn't sure how she felt about others coming over.

But her feelings didn't matter that much, so she simply nodded.

"They'll be coming in just a few days, so we should head there first in order to prepare." Shinobu stood from her chair and walked to the door. "You should go to your classes now. Afterwards, go home and pack your supplies."

.

A few hours later…

Kanao pushed open the door to her room, and took out a bag from her closet. After packing up what she needed, she went to inform Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho of the trip taking place. The four girls were excited, immediately going to grab their own supplies.

Instead of following them, Kanao went down to the training room and practiced her skills until late at night when Shinobu came and stopped her, saying she had done enough for now. Then, she showered and went to sleep.

.

A few days passed, with pretty much the same thing happening each day. Go to school, come home, train, pack extra things, and go to sleep. But today would be different, since the semester was officially over and they'd be leaving.

Instead of her and Rose diverging to go to their respective houses, they both walked to Kanao's apartment to meet up with the others.

"So? What's your place like?" The brunette turned her head from Kanao to the sky, not really minding that the other girl was silent. "It's your summer home, right? That sounds so cool…"

A few moments passed before Rose spoke again, this time more serious. "You're lucky, Kanao. To have such a kind family, and nice things. I don't think you know just how fortunate you are." She smiled, almost sadly.

I know. I know how lucky I am. I'm grateful for everything that Shinobu and Kanae have done for me, even though I don't know why they did it. I shouldn't be alive, yet I am. I don't deserve that. Kanao looks over at Rose, whose face is still staring upward. You almost sounded like you knew what it's like to not have much when you said that. Is there something you're hiding?

The two arrived at the house, Shinobu standing nearby. "Come on, the others are waiting." The three made their way to a car, the familiarity of the whole scene giving Kanao a sense of déjà vu. Inside were Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke, who seemed to be arguing over something. Rose immediately jumped into the fray. She just seems to enjoy that. Kanao climbed into the passenger seat next to Shinobu, who was driving.

They began the ride, with the others' argument shifting from whatever it was before to what kind of music they should play on the radio. Kanao didn't really care what kind, but she couldn't help but enjoy spectating them throwing their opinions out in the open, and wondering how they did it.

.

An hour or two later…

The butterfly estate came into view. It was designed to be a reference to the traditional aspect of Japan, so it was simple but elegant. Cherry blossom trees were scattered around the yard, which was covered in grass, stone sculptures, and small waterfalls, all of it enclosed with large walls. The mansion itself was light in colour, with dark wood accents and a black roof. Many trees lined the road, giving a sense of peaceful nature to the whole place.

Shinobu's lips upturned a little. While the estate was beautiful, it was sad. Kanae loved it there, she'd always be pestering Shinobu to go together. Looking behind her, she saw the four students looking at the place with awe. "Welcome to the butterfly estate. Your new training has begun."

TTTTT

Author's note was up there. See you next week, and apologies for writing this chapter late.