Chapter 31: The Black Sword
He thinks someone carried him.
When he regained consciousness, seven days later, he was in the familiar recovery wing of the Butterfly Estate, Shinobu and a Kakushi, holding a tray, at his side.
"Good morning, Tanjirou-kun!" Shinobu smiled.
"Good morning, Shinobu-san." he smiled, tiredly, "Good morning." he nodded at the Kakushi, "Sorry for the trouble."
Shinobu's smile didn't falter.
"A broken left leg. Concussion. Severe ear damage, but thankfully, nothing that can't be healed. Cracked your jaw, again. Numerous lacerations. And a lot of badly bruised bones, in general." she listed his injuries, "You'll be staying in here for a month or so, at most."
"Ah." he laid back on the bed, "Sorry."
Shinobu sighed, dropping her smile a little.
"Can't be helped, I guess. Oyakata-sama wanted to visit you, too."
"Eh? Why?"
"You do remember what taking down an Upper Moon means, right?" she asked, teasing glint in her eyes and a warm smile on her lips, that reminded him of the Shinobu of their younger years.
"What happened to the village and the swordsmiths?" he asked.
"We had to move them. The Demons knew the location of that village, so they were bound to come when night fell. We've made a number of 'dead villages', so if something like that happened they could move there." the Kakushi explained, as he handed him the tray, "They didn't have time to mourn those lost. They had to be moved quickly."
They quickly filled him in on what had happened and what he had missed, both during his fight and while he was knocked out.
"Oh, I see. They moved the village." he sighed, "We survived. What about Kanroji-san and Tokitou-kun?"
"They rested for a couple of days and they were back on their feet on the third." Shinobu replied.
"Ah, that's good." Tanjirou smiled, "Wait, how long was I out?"
"Seven days." Shinobu informed him, "Today being the eighth since your victory over Upper Moon Four."
"That's better than my previous run-in with an Upper Moon." Tanjirou commented, "I'll have to work on my speed and stamina. Shinobu-san, when do you think we can spar again?"
Shinobu chuckled softly.
"…Well, at least you're getting better quicker." the Kakushi sweatdropped.
"Yes?" Tanjirou smiled.
"I'm just so happy you all are alive." the Kakushi smiled, relieved, "And, uh, where are the three little girls? Aoi-chan ain't here either."
"None of the slayers are in serious condition now, so they are still out playing with Hanako, Shigeru and Rokuta. Nezuko and Takeo brought them to visit me earlier." Shinobu explained, "Which reminds, I should let them know you're awake, Tanjirou-kun."
There was a pause.
"I'll let them know." the Kakushi volunteered.
"Thank you." Tanjirou smiled.
"I'll take my leave." the Kakushi said, standing up and bowing at the two Slayers before leaving.
"How's Kagaya-sama?"
"…Worse." Shinobu said softly.
Tanjirou sighed.
"You know there is nothing anyone can do about his disease, right?"
Shinobu chuckled, mirthlessly.
"It is a sad thing for a doctor to be told she can't heal someone who is affected by an illness, Tanjirou-kun."
Tanjirou reached for her hand and held it tightly.
"Do you think I can go to him?"
"In a couple of days, we'll have an emergency Pillar meeting. I suspect, you will be joining us then. There are a couple of matters to discuss beside your promotion to a Pillar."
"My family?"
"Informed and are currently preparing you a celebration. Tamayo-san was also glad to hear about your accomplishments."
"Your drug?"
"Coming along. Thanks to your blood samples, we've come up with quite a few poisons and antidotes." she said.
"Is Yushirou still giving you the stink eye?" Tanjirou asked with a smile.
"Yushirou-kun is testing my patience." Shinobu smiled.
Tanjirou chuckled.
"I'm sorry." he said, "He doesn't mean bad, he's just very protective of Tamayo-san."
Suddenly, Tennouji flew in with a letter for Tanjirou.
"Ah, thank you, Tennouji." he smiled softly at his crow, giving him some seeds.
"Oh? Who's it from?"
"Uh… Tamayo-san. She says she has something important to tell me." he said seriously.
"Important?" Shinobu leaned closer.
"She says you and Oyakata-sama had talked about it, but never got the chance to fully discuss it, yet."
"About the first Sun Breath user." Shinobu realised.
"After the Pillar meeting, will you go with me to see her?" Tanjirou asked, "Someone will have to tell Oyakata-sama."
Just then, the same Kakushi from before came in, followed by Haganezuka-san and Tanjirou's siblings.
"Big brother!" the children said excitedly, running to his right side.
"Hello, everyone!" Tanjirou smiled, happily, "Haganezuka-san! Your wounds are healed?! Good! I'm glad to see you feeling better!" he exclaimed.
The swordsmith was standing there, panting.
Shinobu stood up and looked at the man worried.
"You sure don't look okay, though."
Haganezuka-san presented the sword.
"Ah, the katana…! Thank you very much." he said, taking it in his hands, "Rengoku-san's hilt. Thank you for keeping Kotetsu-kun safe." he teared up.
"Please, have a seat." the Kakushi offered a stool, "You okay there?"
Haganezuka-san sat down, still panting.
"Bl…Bla…Blade…"
"Blade? Ah, yeah, let's look at the blade itself." Tanjirou agreed, pulling the sword out from its sheath, "Ah… Amazing… There's a different depth of black here…" he said looking at the sword mesmerised.
"Wow…!" Tanjirou's siblings marveled at the sword's beauty.
"That's a beautiful black color." Shinobu agreed.
"And the steel is good quality, too. The previous wielder must have been a very strong swordsman." the swordsmith panted, "The character 'metsu' for destruction… The swordsmith who forged this blade made it to destroy all the demons. He didn't even leave a single clue about his identity. There was nothing but that single character. Apparently, the demon slayers hierarchy was established after this sword was made. And that's why only the Pillars get the characters for 'destroy all evil demons' on them." he explained.
"Oh… I see now. What an amazing sword…" Tanjirou said, looking at it, "I hadn't even noticed it was there when I used it last time during the fight…"
Haganezuka-san and Tanjirou stared at each other for a moment.
"That's because you are a careless swordsman! You're lucky I had just finished with it, you little goddamn dipshits. Otherwise, I would have killed you!"
"Sorry!" Tanjirou apologised.
Nezuko, Takeo and Shinobu covered the ears of Hanako, Shigeru and Rokuta when Haganezuka-san started cussing and threatening Tanjirou.
"The thought alone that you might have used it before I was done, is making cry waterfalls. The pain is physically killing me! It would have left irremovable scratches on this blade! I would have to restart the process from fucking scratch! I would have killed you if you had done that!"
"I'm so sorry!" Tanjirou exclaimed, as the swordsmith was pulling at his cheek.
"But this guy had some pretty bad wounds himself. There were broken bones all over his body." the Kakushi said, who was leaning on the wall by the teen's bed, defending Tanjirou to his swordsmith.
"I'mma kill you." Haganezuka-san deadpanned.
"He's not listening!" the Kakushi exclaimed shocked.
Tanjirou chuckled softly.
"Thank you. Both of you." he said with a kind smile.
"Listen, Tanjirou! You know you owe me almost a lifetime supply of mitarashi dango now, right?! You got that?" Haganezuka-san said, coming close to Tanjirou's face.
"Ow, ow, ow, your mask is poking me." the teen whined lightly, "Okay, I'll do that! I'll buy you some when I've recovered." he promised, "Thank you for bringing me the sword." he called after the swordsmith, who had turned to leave.
"Thank you very much!" the swordsmith called as he left.
"Get well soon!" the young teen called after him.
"I've only heard rumors about him, but… He's pretty intense."
"Actually, he was pretty calm today. It kinda looked like he was in some pain."
"You're kidding… Seriously?!"
"You people have been babbling on and on for a while there. You sure are noisy." Genya grumbled from the other bed, frowning over his shoulder at the gathered crowd.
"Oh. Sorry, Genya." Tanjirou apologised, "We're done now. Sorry about the commotion."
"Yeah, whatever, Sun Pillar."
"Not for two more days." Tanjirou chuckled.
Genya snorted. Tanjirou's siblings laughed.