February 2, 1914

Early in the morning, Shinobu was busy working out details regarding paths to the Swordsmith Village with Goto in a small office. "Okay," Shinobu explained to him as she pointed out a location on a rather large map. "This area right here near the train station will be our primary entrance point, and the Butterfly Estate will be our secondary entrance point. Regardless of which entry point is used, the first switch in Kakushi will be in the town of Nagatoro near this temple right here."

"Alright," Goto replied as he nodded. "Do you have the plans for the paths you've made?"

"I got them right here," Shinobu replied as she handed Goto a small booklet containing instructions for the paths she had designated. "Instead of the usual five, I put down seven possible paths. I spent all day yesterday and the day before plotting out as much as I could, but I still need to go out and do some more today, so these might change depending on what I spot or see."

"Sounds good to me. You're always really good at this when you're the one assigned to Swordsmith Village Path duty."

"Thank you," Shinobu replied with a smile. She then remembered something she wanted to talk about with Goto. "You know, I don't think we can keep the village hidden forever."

"What do you mean by that?"

"There's a big problem with it that we haven't had to worry about until now," Shinobu explained. "It can't be concealed from the air. Again, like I said, not much of an issue back in the day, but now, it very well could be soon."

"Are you talking about airplanes and balloons?"

"Yes," she confirmed with a nod. "It wasn't that long ago that the first airplane flew in Japan, but already, they've made a lot of advancement in flying. Hell, we've had hot air balloons for even longer. My fear is that one day, Muzan's gonna get the idea of simply flying over the countryside to find the village, and, pardon my rude language, but we'll be fucked. We will be so, so fucked if he flies a plane or balloon overhead. Even if he does it at night with Japanese demons, we don't have any protocols for darkening down all fires or electric lights at night, so he could spot it that way, and, like I said, we'll be fucked."

Goto nodded. "When you put it that way, it could actually feasibly work, and that's what scares me."

"We know that Muzan often committed self-sabotage by stifling new ideas and refusing to admit any form of weakness due to his incredibly massive ego. Susamaru and Mukago witnessed it more than a few times. Now, however, I fear that with the other Progenitors here, especially with the Jackson brothers here, he may be open to new ideas from them. The last thing we need is him accepting new technology."

"Yeah… You got a point, Kocho-sama."

Shinobu then got up from the table. "Well, I gotta go check in on our Breath of Thunder-using friend in Room Fifteen."

"I heard Agatsuma is going to be released soon, actually," Goto said to her.

"Indeed," she confirmed. "Tomorrow he'll be all set to go." As she left the room, she looked down at her stomach, which had developed a noticeable bump even with her uniform on, and smiled as she gently caressed it, telling her unborn child, "Hopefully you will grow up in a world where we don't have to do this anymore, little one." As she opened the door, she looked over at the bed and stopped as soon as she saw Zenitsu and Nezuko cuddling together, both of them fast asleep in each other's arms. Her eyes widened in shock as she contemplated what to say next.

Zenitsu woke up and adjusted his eyes to the light. He yawned and said to himself, "Ah… What a night…" He then noticed Shinobu staring at him from the entranceway and immediately panicked. "Oh shit! Hey, uh, Shinobu-san! How's it going… Uh…"

"Zenitsu-kun…" It was clear that Shinobu was not entirely happy seeing Nezuko sleep beside him. "What did you and Nezuko-chan do last night?"

Nezuko herself then woke up, and, adding to Zenitsu's woes, she sat up and stretched her arms as she yawned, unknowingly exposing her upper body for Shinobu to see. Not realizing she was in the room, she kissed Zenitsu on the cheek and told him, "Thanks for last night, Zenitsu."

Zenitsu replied, "I, um…"

Nezuko then turned over to the door and saw Shinobu staring at her. Her face immediately turned a bright red as she pulled up the sheets to cover herself as best as she could below the shoulders as she stammered out, "Shi- Shi- Shinobu-oneechan?!"

"Let me ask you again, Zenitsu-kun… What did you and Nezuko-chan do last night?"

Zenitsu finally admitted to her with a defeated look on his face, "We, uh… Okay, fine… We had sex, Shinobu-sama…"

"Sex… Well then…" Shinobu was, of course, concerned that Zenitsu had taken advantage of Nezuko.

Nezuko then told Shinobu to clarify, "Shinobu-oneechan, listen to me, please. Don't get mad at Zenitsu-san. I wanted this. I was the one who asked first." After a brief pause, she spelled it out more bluntly for Shinobu with, "I wanted to have sex with Zenitsu, and he wanted to have sex with me."

Shinobu's expression changed, surprised at Nezuko's admission. "Wait, you… You're saying you wanted it first?"

"Yes," Nezuko affirmed as she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. "I love Zenitsu. There's not another boy in the world I would have done anything like this with."

Shinobu sighed and sat down on the bed next to the two lovers. "I know you do, Nezuko-chan. Even so… You two really need to be careful."

Zenitsu replied, "About wha-?" He then realized what she was referring to when he looked down at her abdomen. "Oh…"

"Nezuko-chan," Shinobu said to her. "You know that demons who are treated with the blood from Colby-san can get pregnant, right?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Shinobu took a deep breath and told her, "I hate to sound selfish here, but… I really don't want you to become a mother just yet. I'm dealing with enough stress from Kanao as it is, and Tokito-san and Mukago can both tell you that it's stressful to be raising children at their respective ages."

"I know I don't want to be one just yet," Nezuko assured her.

"And that's why I want you to be careful," Shinobu replied. "I want you to keep track of when you get your periods, and I would like it if you two used condoms as much as you could, at least until you're a few years older, Nezuko-chan. Wait until you're seventeen or eighteen at the very earliest before you even think of having children, okay? Maybe even twenty or twenty-two. Please, be careful, for God's sake."

Shinobu's tone of voice as well as her downtrodden facial expression gave off the impression that she was stressed and emotional. Zenitsu asked her, "Shinobu-san, are you okay?"

She admitted as she began to wipe away tears from her eyes, "Okay, look, I've… I've been dealing with a lot of shit, and it's starting to really get to me. I thought that being pregnant would result in me doing less work since I wouldn't be going out on missions, but I'm actually getting busier and busier by the damn day."

Nezuko asked her, "Has Giyu-oniichan been doing anything about this?"

"Giyu's been doing his best," Shinobu assured them. "But with how busy I am, I can't see him as often as I would like, even though he's the father of our child. Hell, he's busy as Hell too, given that we're now missing three slayers, one of whom might retire."

"You mean Uzui-sama?"

"Yeah," Shinobu nodded. "He's thinking about it, which means we'll have an open spot. Me and Mitsuri-chan won't be able to go on missions until we have our children, which will take a few more months at best. Giyu's been running nonstop." She then began to go off about what she was dealing with, talking in a rather fast-paced way. "I gotta deal with the patients, I gotta deal with Tanjiro-kun still being in a fucking coma, I gotta deal with Kanao being pregnant with his child knowing that he could die at any moment, I gotta deal with other non-combat Pillar work, I gotta deal with the baby growing inside me, I gotta deal with the absences in the Pillar ranks, I gotta deal with manufacturing poisons, I gotta deal with even more shit on top of all that, and it's all just…" She then tried to collect her emotions as she remarked, "Fuck, this is so much harder than I thought. I'm so God damn burnt out."

Nezuko, feeling bad for her, reached over and patted Shinobu on the shoulder. "I had no idea, Shinobu-oneechan… I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she assured her. "I need to manage my time better with a baby on the way."

"Being a Pillar must be so hard," Zenitsu added. "We really take you guys for granted, do we?"

"If you need help with anything," Nezuko told Shinobu. "You can always tell me. I can help out."

"No," Shinobu replied to her, shaking her head. "You're a slayer, Nezuko. We need you out there."

"You are, too," Nezuko reminded her.

"I know, but… Right now, my skills are most needed here, especially since I really can't go on missions with my pregnancy going on."

"I'll still be sticking around here whenever I don't go on missions," Nezuko pointed out. "My brother still isn't awake, after all, and I intend on being beside him until he is."

"It wouldn't hurt," Zenitsu said, adding on to Nezuko's point. "She'll be here a lot until that day comes. Why not have her do things around the Butterfly Estate, Shinobu-san?"

Shinobu admitted, "You both bring up a fair point. I'll have to consider it. As of now, I don't really have many other options. Aoi is doing her best, too, but she's also getting overwhelmed quite a bit, not to mention she's really worried about Inosuke-kun since his body keeps rejecting most of the medicine we give him."

"I was worried about that, too," Nezuko replied. "Is he still bedridden?"

"For now. He's in better shape than your brother at least. Right now, we're just observing him to make sure the remnants of the poison in his body don't affect him."

"That's good to hear," Zenitsu replied. "I just hope Tanjiro wakes up soon."

…

As Shinobu, Nezuko, and Zenitsu all talked, Aoi was busy practicing with both a naginata and a regular sword outside, finally having some time to herself after a busy early morning. Swinging the naginata around, she focused all of her energy into her arms and hands as she sliced up a wooden dummy laid out in front of her. "Okay…" She then set the naginata down and picked up the sword. "Time for sword swings."

She began silently counting how many swings she did, having vowed to swing her sword at least two-hundred times that day. In her mind, she replayed not only the words of Tengen regarding her status, but also the words of Kagaya himself when Aoi had requested to be taken offline as a slayer soon after passing her Final Selection some years ago. For a long time, she had been reluctant to hold any weapon, but now, she was battling away the memories of her past and the trauma that came with it.

"Fifty, fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five…"

As she swung the sword, Inosuke watched her from his hospital room, having gotten out of bed to stare at her from the window. "She's getting a lot better," he admitted. "Still not as good as me, but she's getting there." In recent days, he had been finding himself looking at Aoi a lot more when she practiced outside, feeling a bond with her. "I wish I could be out there, but last time I tried that, they dragged my ass back in this damn room."

"Eighty, eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three, eighty-four, eighty-five…"

Kanao noticed Inosuke was out of bed and walked over to see what he was doing. "Inosuke, what's going o-?" She then saw Aoi practicing outside. "Oh… You're watching her, aren't you?"

Inosuke turned around and replied, "Wait, when the Hell did you walk in here?!"

Kanao, somewhat startled by his yelling, replied, "I, uh… I walked in here, Inosuke."

"Oh, I see…" He then turned back around. "Yeah, I've been watching her ever since she began practicing for the day."

Kanao said as she looked down at the floor, "I'm worried she's pushing herself too hard."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've seen her come back in with bloody hands before from practicing so hard," Kanao admitted. "She'll practice even when I tell her to take it easy due to the wounds on her hands."

"That shit doesn't sound too bad," Inosuke replied, confused. "Why are you so worried, Kanao?"

Kanao expressed to him, "She may not get… Well…"

A bit frustrated, Inosuke asked, "What? Spit it out already. What is it?"

"She may not get put back online," Kanao said. "Even if she practices this much and improves. Shinobu-sama… No, my sister doesn't want her to go back online. She's worried she'll get hurt or worse if she tries to hunt."

"You really think she'll be rejected?"

"Yeah," Kanao nodded.

Inosuke then got up and said to her, "Well I'll make sure she isn't. If she is, I'll have some words for whoever tells her no."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Inosuke."

"Bullshit, that's a great idea!"

Kanao then sighed. "Inosuke, I know you mean well, but sometimes, things just don't work out the way you wanted them to go. I want her to accept the likelihood that she will never be put online before she hurts herself with excessive exercise."

Inosuke went silent for a few seconds, trying to form a response to what Kanao had said to him about Aoi's status. "Well, I hope things change for her. That's about all I can say."

Kanao then walked out of the room, telling Inosuke, "I'm gonna head to Tanjiro's room."

"Tell Monjiro I said hello."

"I will," she replied.

"And tell him I can't wait to fight him when he wakes up."

Kanao chuckled. "Of course."

Now that Inosuke was left by himself in the room, he sighed and said to himself, "Please, wake up, Tanjiro." His use of Tanjiro's actual name was a sign of how serious he was taking his condition in private despite outwardly being more concerned about wanting to fight him when he woke up.

Outside, Aoi had completed her two-hundred sword swings. Having worked up a bit of a sweat, she put down her sword and then drank from a water gourd. "Okay, what next…?" She then picked up her naginata again and began to swing it. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…"

…

Meanwhile, at a rural house near Sendai, Emi Mochizuki was lying in a bed, having awoken rather late due to being kept up all night by her captors as they moved her to the safehouse. As she awoke, she saw one of her captors standing near her. "Huh… Ah…" The air was cold, and she could see snow in the ground as she looked out of a window next to her bed.

The captor turned around and told someone out of view in the rather plain-looking and barely furnished room in English, "She's awake, sir. Do you wanna talk to her?"

"Yes," replied another voice from the hallway. "Let me speak to her since I know Japanese."

Emi rubbed her eyes and then sighed, saying to herself, "This isn't a nightmare. This is real, isn't it?"

Then, an American demon dressed in a red officer's uniform walked in. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and seemed to have a more friendly and calm demeanor than her captors. He spoke to her in Japanese, telling her, "I imagine you must be very scared right now. Are you?"

Emi timidly replied, "Ye-… Yes…"

"Here is what is going to happen," the man explained. "We have informed your parents of your capture. Your parents are both still alive and are unharmed. We have asked them for monetary compensation, and if we are given it, we will release you into the care of your parents. In the meantime, we will not harm you. I have told my men here to not lay a hand on you under any circumstances as long as you do not attempt to escape. If you do, I cannot guarantee your safety or health. You are far more valuable to us unhurt than you are dead."

Emi was still scared of the man, and asked him as she tried to hide under the covers and peeked over them with her eyes, "Are… Are you sure?"

"Yes," the man replied. "You have my word as a Virginian and as Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army. We will take care of your basic needs as best as we can." He then turned around and told two other men in the room in English, "Fetch her some water and some rice. She hasn't eaten since we got her, and she's barely been drinking any water."

"Yes, sir," replied both of the men at the same time.

As they both left the room, the man told Emi, "We are getting you some water and rice. Stay put here, and do not go anywhere outside of this house unless me or my partner tell you otherwise. You may not like what happens if you leave this house without permission. Similar to what I said earlier, I cannot make any guarantees about your safety if you were to violate this order. Do you understand?"

"Yes…"

The man then left the room, once again leaving Emi alone in her thoughts. She curled up on the bed and said to herself in a quiet but desperate plea, "Somebody help me…"