Recovery Training

When Hiroto finished his dance, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around the garden. 'So many people are here, I lost track of time I guess. Is there something on my face?' Hiroto thought, confused why so many were watching him.

The people around noticed that Hiroto finished, they quickly hid their embarrassment and walked away.

"Oh, good morning Kanao." Hiroto saw Kanao sitting on the step as she played with a butterfly looking at him.

She smiled back.

"You don't need instructions just to greet someone you know?" Hiroto said, walking over to sit next to her.

"... good morning." Kanao said.

Hiroto nodded his head as he took in the view of the garden. "You know… I don't think we ever had a proper talk, the first time I met you was at the Final Selection fighting Demons, and the second time I… restrained you."

Kanao tilted her head in confusion, she fumbled with the coin in her hand playing around with it.

Hiroto looked from the side but didn't say anything. Sometimes just being next to someone is a form of talking.

The two just sat in the garden for a while, not saying anything and looking at the garden, until.

*grumble* Hiroto grabbed his stomach, and said, "Well I haven't eaten breakfast yet, I'll go have some food then. See you later, Kanao."

Hiroto stood up and walked back inside. Kanao looked at his departing figure and then flipped her coin.

Back inside, Hiroto was wandering around after having some breakfast, he decided to visit the infirmary where Tanjiro and the rest were recovering. As he walked down the hallway, he saw Shinobu walk in.

"How are your bodies doing?" Shinobu said to the 3 who were in their beds.

"It's getting a lot better, thank you so much for your help." Tanjiro's voice rang out.

Hiroto turned the corner and came inside the room as well.

"Ah! Brother!" Tanjiro waved his hands towards Hiroto.

Hiroto nodded his head and looked at their wounds.

Shinobu clapped her hands and said with a smile, "So now let's go into our functional recovery training."

Tanjiro's face looked blank as he muttered, "... Functional recovery training?"

Hiroto saw Shinobu's smile and knew that something was up. 'Stay strong Tanjiro, whatever happens, your big brother will look after Nezuko when you depart from us.'

Hiroto was curious as to what Shinobu had in mind and decided to follow her with Tanjiro and Inosuke to a wide-open room.

Inside of the room, he saw Kanao kneeling in front of a table with various cups filled with tea. To the side were 3 little girls wearing nurse dresses, their eyes look similar, with the same black properties.

The girl with the twin tails was also standing off to the side, with a frown on her face. 'She always seems to have a frown for some reason.' Hiroto thought.

Shinobu then spoke up, "Zenitsu-san is unable to take part in the training currently, so only you two will be doing it. Aoi-chan can explain the rest to you." Shinobu then turned around, giving Hiroto a last glance before leaving.

'Something on my face? That's been happening since morning.' Hiroto touched his face to see if there was anything wrong.

Aoi, the girl with the twin tails then spoke up. "This training is meant to aid in your recovery, to help you get back to your previous strength. First over there." She then pointed towards the three girls to the side next to 2 mats.

"Those girls will massage your body which is stiff from lying in bed." She then gestured towards Kanao, "Then the reflex training. The teacups are filled with medicated broth. You will both compete to snatch the medicated broth. If your opponent restrains your teacup before you raise it, then you may not move the teacup."

"Then the final one, whole-body training. To put it frankly, it's tag. Kanao and I, Aoi, will be your opponents." Aoi concluded. Hiroto nodded his head and thought that this would be good for Tanjiro's recovery, at least he won't be inactive at all times.

Hiroto walked over to Kanao and greeted her, "Hey, Kanao. Did Shinobu put you up to this?"

Kanao was surprised for a second by how informal Hiroto was, but then ignored it and spoke up, "Yes, it was on her instructions that I am to aid them in reflex training."

Hiroto nodded his head. "So-"

"AGHhhhhh!" Before Hiroto could say what he wanted, he heard a scream from Tanjiro. Looking from the side, he saw the girls pull on his limbs into weird angles and positions. One of the girls was even standing on his back.

Hiroto sweated a bit seeing this, 'Those girls… Did Shinobu teach them to do this?'

Kanao just stared into space as she waited for them to finish.

Hiroto gave a silent prayer to Tanjiro before kneeling in front of Kanao and saying, "Do you mind if we try this reflex training for a bit?"

Kanao's mind was in disarray as she wasn't given instructions to help Hiroto.

"Don't think about it too much, just treat it as a game between us," Hiroto said.

"Game?" Kanao said.

"Yes, a game. Every time someone beats the opponent, they have to do whatever the other person wants. I used to play this a lot with my younger siblings, needless to say, I would win every time hahaha." Hiroto laughed out, reminiscing about the before he started to feel sad talking about his family.

Kanao noticed how the emotions in Hiroto's eyes changed from joy to sadness at the mention of his family but didn't speak up.

"Well, let's just get on with it." Hiroto casually reached for a cup and was curious as to what it tasted like.

Kanao reacted extremely quickly, putting her hand above Hiroto's and taking a cup from the side to splash it at his face.

Hiroto quickly reacted and dodged, but some managed to get onto the side of his face. "Whoa now, it's only a game. We don't need to throw the medicine at each other. I wouldn't want you to smell of medicine afterward." Hiroto said quickly.

Kanao paused for a second, before nodding and saying a small, "sorry…"

Hiroto waved his hands, indicating it was no big deal.

"Alright, let's properly start the game. The score is 1-0." Hiroto said, before moving his hands extremely fast, catching Kanao off guard. He lifted the cup off the table, smiling and said. "Score is now 1-1."

Kanao was surprised at how fast Hiroto could move. She knew that he was fast, but didn't know that he could be even faster.

Kanao's eyes seemed to narrow very slightly, still keeping the same smile on her face.

The two stared at each other, waiting for the first move. As if on cue, the two began to move at the same time, their hands creating after images.

*whoosh* *smack* "Ow. You don't have to smack my hand that hard." Hiroto complained, still moving extremely fast.

From the side, Aoi had her jaws wide open as she looked at the two. 'He's able to keep up with Kanao? Although Shinobu did say he was strong, I thought she was just exaggerating as always…'

The match continued, as the two began to pick up even more speed and then coming to an end after Tanjiro and Inosuke survi- *cough* got their massage.

Stopping at the same time, Hiroto smiled and said. "The score is 4-12, I win."

Kanao kept her same smile, but her eyes seemed to be in fighting spirit. "I'll tell you my request some other time, I'll let you get back to helping these two," Hiroto said, getting up.

"I'll be leaving now, see you later Kanao, Aoi and you three." Hiroto waved his hands and left. The girls waved their hands after him to bid him farewell.

'Kanao is an indecisive girl, I wonder what made her that way.' Hiroto thought as he went back outside. All this time, he never noticed that subconsciously he had maintained the Total Concentration Breathing technique without faltering once.

'I should go back to training. If I was stronger during the trial, that white-haired guy wouldn't have been able to hurt Nezuko like that.' Hiroto gripped his hands tightly.

Hiroto concentrated his breathing and directed the force into his eyes, activating the 'Amethyst eye' ability. Looking around, he realized that it was different from when he used it on Mt. Natagumo.

'Everything is clearer, I can see the movements of the butterfly wings so clearly as if It had slowed down.' Hiroto thought, looking around. He observed the insects, the plants, and the direction of the wind.

'If I train more with this, I wonder how much more I would be able to see.' Hiroto then began his same routine of training, by performing the Dance of the Fire God and occasionally running around the estate to improve his stamina.