42. Butterfly Mansion

The sun shone brightly through the tall windows of the Butterfly Mansion. It was a quiet morning.

Hana sat up slowly in her own bed. Her ribs still ached, and her left arm was in a sling. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear the fog of sleep. She had been out for days.

To her left Tanjiro was still fast asleep in his bed. His face was calm, but his body was wrapped in many bandages. He had pushed himself the most during the battle, and his body needed time to heal.

Just as Hana started to reach for a glass of water on her bedside table, a loud crash echoed through the room.

"Finally!" a loud, gruff voice barked, shattering the silence of the room. "The weakling is awake!"

Hana jumped, nearly falling out of bed. She turned to see Inosuke standing on top of his own bed. He wasn't wearing his boar mask, and his chest was covered in bandages. He was pointing a finger at her and laughing loudly.

"You finally woke up, Hana-chan!" Zenitsu wailed from the bed across from her. He was crying, his face covered in snot and tears. "I thought you were going to sleep forever! It was so scary! I had to listen to Inosuke yell for two hours!"

"Shut up, Monitsu!" Inosuke barked. He leaped from his bed and landed right in front of Hana. He leaned in close, his eyes wide with excitement. "Did you see that, Lana? I woke up before you! I am the strongest!" He pointed a finger inches from her nose. "Look at me! Look at this greatness!" he bellowed. "I woke up two full days ago! That means I am the boss! I beat you, and I beat Gonpachiro, and I definitely beat this crying yellow coward!"

"Inosuke, keep it down!" Zenitsi cried.
"Tanjiro is still sleeping! Do you want the girls to kick us out again? Aoi-chan is terrifying when she's angry!"

​"Inosuke, please," Hana groaned, her voice still a bit raspy. "It's too early for.... whatever this is.."

"I don't care!" Inosuke puffed out his chest. "I woke up two days ago! That means I am stronger!"

"You only woke up because you were hungry!" Zenitsu shouted, throwing a pillow at him. "You woke up and immediately tried to eat the nurse's hand!"

"I was replenishing my energy!" Inosuke caught the pillow and tore it in half.

Inosuke shouted, puffing out his chest so hard a stitch in his side popped. He winced for a split second but immediately covered it with a loud laugh. "I woke up, I ate two bowls of tempura! I challenged three kakushi to a wrestling match and they all ran away in fear. Savana, look at me! I am basically fully healed! I can do one hundred push-ups right now!"

"Don't do push-ups," Hana said, her voice soft but firm. "You'll rip your stitches, you idiot."

Inosuke ignored her and dropped to the floor, starting to do fast, shaky push-ups. "One! Two! Seven! Ten! Forty-twelve!"

"He can't even count," Zenitsu whined, sinking into a chair next to Hana's bed. "Hana-chaaan, make him stop. He's been like this since he opened his eyes.
He wakes up, screams about being the King, gets chased by Aoi-chan, and then comes back here to poke Tanjiro. It's a nightmare, Hana-chan. I haven't had a single moment of peace to dream about my wedding."

Hana looked over at Tanjiro, who was still deeply unconscious. "Is Tanjiro okay?"

"Aoi-chan says he's fine," Zenitsu said. "He just pushed himself too far. He's going to be asleep for a while longer."

Hana sighed and felt a sense of relief wash over her as she looked at her friends. "Are you alright Zenitsu?" she asked and she reached out a hand toward him.

Zenitsu froze. His face turned a deep shade of crimson. He started blushing and his eyes turned into little hearts as he started squeaking and giggling. "I'm fine Hana-chaaaan." he said. "Seeing you awake made all my pain go away and I feel like I could fly to the moon and back just for one smile from you!" Zenitsu said.

He lunged forward, trying to grab her hand to press it to his cheek, but he tripped over his own oversized hospital gown and face-planted into the side of her mattress. ​"mmhm..." he muffled into the sheets.

​Hana laughed nervously, gently patting the back of his golden head. "Right. Good to know you're back to normal, Zenitsu."

Inosuke stopped his push-ups and stood up, breathing hard. He looked at Hana and grinned. "I beat you, Savanah! I beat the girl with the higher rank! I woke up first! Say it! Say I'm the best! Say it or I'll flip your bed over!"

Hana managed a small, tired smile. "Fine, Inosuke you're the best...Happy?"

Inosuke froze, his eyes widening he threw his head back and let out a roar of laughter that likely reached the Hashira training grounds. "HAHAHA! YES! She's ADMITTED DEFEAT TO THE LORD OF THE MOUNTAINS! PIG ASSAULT! I AM THE CHAMPION!"

The door to the infirmary slammed open. Aoi stood there, looking very angry. She held a tray of medicine and a wooden spoon.

"BE QUIET!" she screamed. "This is a hospital! If I hear one more shout, I am going to throw you out of here."

Inosuke immediately scrambled back into his bed and pulled the covers up to his nose. Zenitsu went completely silent and pretended to be a statue. Hana just sighed and leaned back against her pillow.

Aoi's eyes widened as she noticed Hana was awake and she quickly rushed towards her bed with the tray. "Hana you are finally awake." she said and her voice became much softer and kinder. "We were so worried about you and the Master has been asking for updates on your condition every day. He even sent a message saying you should take all the time you need. No missions. No training. Just rest."

​Hana smiled. "Thank you, Aoi. For taking care of us.

"You have been asleep for a very long time. Shinobu-sama was quite concerned about the internal damage from your ribs, but you seem to be mending well enough."

Hana tried to sit up a bit straighter, but a sharp flash of pain made her hiss and sink back.

Aoi frowned and pushed her gently back down. "Don't move so much. Your body is still very weak and you need to take this medicine immediately."

She picked up a small cup of dark, bitter-smelling liquid and handed it to Hana. Hana took it and stared at it with a look of slight disgust.

Zenitsu peaked over the edge of his bed, his eyes wide as he watched her. "It tastes horrible, Hana-chan! I had to drink three cups of it yesterday and I thought I was going to die!"

Inosuke snorted from under his covers, his voice muffled. "Weakling! I drank it in one gulp!

Aoi turned and glared at them both. "If you two don't stay quiet, I will double your dosage for the evening!" Both boys immediately ducked back under their blankets.

Hana took a deep breath and drank the medicine in one go. It was even worse than it smelled, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep from gagging. Aoi nodded in approval and took the empty cup back, her expression relaxing. "Good. Now you must rest. No talking to these two and no getting out of bed until I say so." Aoi left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Hana turned her head slightly to look at Tanjiro. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. She knew that it would take them a while to fully recover and the medicine Aoi had given her was already starting to make her feel heavy and tired.

Zenitsu had stopped his crying and was now snoring softly, and even Inosuke seemed to have finally settled down under his blankets, though his feet were sticking out the end. She closed her eyes, letting the exhaustion finally take over again. She hoped that when she next opened them, Tanjiro would be there, awake and smiling at her.