When the Kakushi arrived, it was to find an injured and passed out Hashira, while the other Hashira tried to calm five crying children. "Master Rengoku!" one Kakushi cried, rushing over to the man, while others moved to the other Demon Slayers and the civilian girl. "I have to go find our Sister's. Take care of Tanjiro and Hanako" Gyutaro said, moving to go find the two Demons. He found Nezuko in her box, on Zenitsu's back. "Gyutaro! Is Tanjiro safe? What about Hanako?" the blond Thunder-Breathing User asked. "They're fine. The Kakushi are here. Did Nezuko get burned at all?" Gyutaro asked. "No, she went into her box before the sun started to rise. But I haven't seen Ume anywhere. Oh, I found her box. Here" Zenitsu replied, handing him the Purple butterfly-patterned box.
"Thanks. Take care of Nezuko for me for a bit, and head on over to the Kakushi to get your injuries looked at" Gyutaro said, as he left again, while the masked people got to them, and began treating Zenitsu's head wound. Gyutaro looked around, 'If I were Ume, where would I hide before the sun came up?' he thought, before looking towards the forest. "Right" he said, running over to the trees.
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"Ume! I'm here, and I've got your box! You can come out now!" Gyutaro called, as he walked through the forest. As he got deeper, and less sunlight was able to get into the area, he gripped his weapon, just in case some other Demon found him before he found Ume. "Ume!" he called again, and there was a rustle in the foliage. Gyutaro turned to the sound, to see his little Sister walk out, "Gyutaro!" she cried, running over to hug her Older Brother. The green-haired young man sighed, "Ume, I'm glad you're okay. We were worried" he replied as he hugged Ume back. "Sorry, but I had to get out of the sun, and the forest seemed like the best option." The Demon woman explained.
Gyutaro pulled back and took the box off of his back, "you didn't happen to see an Upper Rank Demon run through here earlier, did you?" he asked. "I think so. He had pink hair and blue lines all over his body. He glanced at me as he ran past, but he didn't attack me or anything" Ume explained. Gyutaro sighed, "okay, well at least he's actually gone, and not waiting in here to kill me or anything" he muttered in relief. "Okay. Here you go Ume" he said, opening the box. Once his little Sister had climbed inside, the Oldest Kamado Sibling headed back to the site of the train crash.
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The treck back to the Butterfly Estate was a long one, most of the group was badly injured in some way, and had to be carried by the Kakushi. The Police had been notified of the train crash and had thankfully mobilized quickly to get everyone safely to different towns for treatment. It would have been horrible if everyone who was saved from Lower One and the train crash had been eaten by other Demons instead. The ones who were mostly injury-free, aside from Ume and Nezuko, were Inosuke, Gyutaro, Mitsuri and Hanako. Thankfully, the only one's who were badly injured were Zenitsu, who had a concussion, Tanjiro had a torn blood vessel, and Kyojuro's condition spoke for itself.
It took two days, and once they got there, they all immediately had a medical check-up. "Lower Rank 1, and Upper Rank 3 were both at the train. The Upper Rank only turned up after the Lower Rank died. We barely survived with two Hashira, and only because the sun rose, forcing the Demon to retreat" Mitsuri explained to Shinobu as her minor injuries were treated. "Well, I'd say you were all incredibly fortunate to only be as injured as you are, and not dead" the Insect Hashira replied cheerfully. "Ume and Nezuko both helped fight the Lower Rank Demon and protect the passengers. In fact, if it hadn't been for Nezuko's Blood Demon Art, we may not have woken up in time to save everyone" the Love Hashira said.
Gytaro heard all of this from where he was waiting outside the door for his own check-up. "I see. So, those Demons really do protect humans. Tanjiro said so, but I wasn't sure." There was a different look in Shinobu's eyes as she spoke. "Well, you seem to only have minor injuries Mitsuri. Go get some rest, and I'll see about getting you some food soon.
But I'm afraid that I can't get you too much, since we need enough food for all of our patients" The Insect Hashira said. The pink and green-haired young woman sighed, "I know, but I just get so hungry! You know that I need that much food to maintain my body and muscle density" she replied. "I know, and I certainly wouldn't want you to lose one of your biggest assets in fighting Demons, but we only have limited food you know. I'll see about going to town and buying some more soon, alright?" Shinobu asked. The Love Hashira nodded, "alright, I'll see you later then Shinobu!" she called. Gyutaro moved out of the way of the door just as it was slid open. "Oh! Gyutaro! Good to see you're up!" Mitsuri said cheerfully.
The green-haired young man nodded in greeting, before watching the Hashira leave. Gyutaro then looked in through the doorway at the Demon Slayer Corps Doctor, who smiled at him, "hello Gyutaro. Please come in" she said. The Oldest Kamado entered the room and shut the door. "What can I do for you? Your injuries were minimal and healing well the last time I checked" Shinobu said. Gyutaro took a deep breath, "do you have or know how to make a medicine to help people sleep without dreams?" he asked. The black and purple-haired teen nodded thoughtfully, "well yes, but why do you ask?" she wondered. Gyutaro looked away, "on the train, when I was fighting Lower 1, he put me into a nightmare. And it was worse than a normal nightmare, because it nearly happened in the past.
And now I can't get the image out of my head and I keep having nightmares about it. I was wondering if you could help me" he explained vaguely. The Insect-Breathing User stood from her chair and walked over to him, "I might be able to, but such medications have their own risks. Was this nightmare really so bad?" she asked. "My little Sister set on fire in a ditch" Gyutaro replied shakily. Shinobu froze, her eyes wide. "And it was even worse, because it nearly happened to her when she was 6. I was 10 at the time." The Eldest Kamado took a shaky breath, "I wasn't there. I had been out working. I only found out what happened, because the man who would became our adoptive Father came to find me and bring me to where he and his pregnant Wife were staying at the time, to reunite me with Ume.
When I found out what those monsters had tried to do to my baby Sister, I nearly snapped and killed them. Father stopped me and brought me to Ume. Many years have passed since then, and so much has happened, that I hardly even think about the 10 years we spent in the Entertainment District growing up. But sometimes thoughts and memories slip through. That nightmare-" Gyutaro clenched his eyes shut at the threat of tears, "that nightmare was one of the worst I've had since we left that place. And I don't want to have it again. So please-" he practically begged, gripping the white pants of his patient outfit with shaky hands.
"Alright," Shinobu replied softly, causing Gyutaro to open his eyes, "but I want you to be very careful with the dosage, understand? And if you start experiencing any other side-effects other than drowsiness at night, come tell me immediately. Alright?" she asked. Gyutaro rubbed his eyes, "yes Ma'am. Thank you very much. He took the prepared dosage and returned to his room.
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That night, Gyutaro took the pills and slept soundly for the first time in days. No nightmares at all.
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Eventually, the Kamado's were recovered enough to return home, where their younger Siblings were waiting to welcome them. "HANAKO!" Takeo cried at seeing his baby Sister walking with his two Older Brother's, their Older Sister's asleep in their boxes. The 13-year-old ran over to his Siblings, the younger Kamado's running after him. Suddenly, everyone was surrounding them and all talking and crying at once. "What were you THINKING Hanako?! You could have DIED! When we found out you were gone and nobody could find you, everyone was terrified! Rokuta cried for hours, and without any of our Older Siblings here, no one could calm him down!" Takeo ranted. "Thank God you're okay, I was so scared we'd never see you again Sis!" Shigeru cried, tears running down his cheeks.
"I thought the bad Demons had got you! *sob* Don't go away again big Sis!" Rokuta sobbed, clinging onto her Kimono. Hanako broke down crying, hugging as many of her Siblings back as she could, "I'm sorry, really!" she sobbed. Tanjiro and Gyutaro smiled slightly at each other. "Let's go inside everyone" Tanjiro said, as he guided all of his younger Siblings inside their house.
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In their house inside the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, surrounded by all of his younger Siblings, Gyutaro felt like he could relax at last. "So? What happened on the Mission? I'm assuming you got hurt again, since we got word that you were back, but you didn't return home for nearly a month" Takeo asked, as he and the other children sat around their older Brother's and younger Sister, as they waited for them to explain. Ume and Nezuko were already in bed sleeping again. Gyutaro took a deep breath, "well-" he began.
To Be Continued