Calm

Two days after the killing of the Demon King Muzan, Hiroto was joined by the others inside the Butterfly Estate. The majority of the Demon Slayers who were heavily injured are now all residing here.

The Hashira's were also out of commission currently, after having been severely wounded and barely just surviving Muzan's onslaught. The Demon Slayer Corps was still running, but many of the people do not know what to do anymore.

Everyone had one common goal when joining the Demon Slayer Corps, and that was to protect the common people against Demons and kill Muzan. Now that the goal was achieved, many people are still unsure of what to do.

They had dedicated their entire lives to hunting Demon's, giving no one a chance to think of the future or what if's.

Hiroto currently should be resting and recuperating but was stubborn. Seeing how the other Hashira's were in a worse state than he was, Hiroto wanted to help Kiriya with the aftermath of the events. However, everyone else had told him to just stay put.

Pouting her lips, Nezuko crossed her arms and scolded her elder brother, Hiroto, "Can't you just be good and stay put? Kiriya-Sama will be fine, he has the Rengoku family helping him already."

"She's right," Aoi said as she walked into the room, carrying a tray of food inside. "Although you're fine physically, you're still tired mentally. If you don't take care of your mental health, what will we do if you suddenly collapse from overworking and fatigue?"

Hiroto sighed and said, "Alright, I get it. I'm repenting already. But, that still doesn't explain why you have to tie me down onto the bed." Hiroto struggled to lift his body upwards, but couldn't under the numerous bindings that held him down onto the bed.

"That was Shinobu's decision. After she heard that you were caught sneaking out of the window last night, she had us strap you down." Aoi said as though it was no big deal.

"How is she?" Hiroto asked.

"She's doing better," Aoi answered, nodding her head. "She was severely injured, with her lungs having taken the most damage, but that can be healed with time. However, she has injected so much poison into her body that it will take quite some time to neutralize them all. It's doable, just a lengthy process."

Hiroto breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "How are the others?"

Nezuko passed a stool over to Aoi, who accepted with thanks and explained the situation. "A lot of them were on the verge of dying. Having so many Hashira's inside this estate at once is quite nerve-racking for us. We have to work overtime as there are still people who are in a critical state."

Aoi sighed and continued, "Tomioka, Tanjiro, Uzui, and Muichiro are all missing an arm. Kanao has cuts and some broken bones, but nothing too serious. She has said that her eyes sometimes hurt, but it seems to be lessening now. Zenitsu and Inosuke have multiple fractures and cuts all over their body. Kanroji… She's hurt as well, but she is still currently grieving. She took all of this a lot harder than the rest of us, which is to be expected of her as we all know her personality well."

Aoi turned to look at Hiroto and gave a wry smile. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see you for myself. I heard that someone saw your arm and leg was severed by Muzan, but then you regenerated them back when you were in your Demon episode."

Hiroto shook his head when he saw Nezuko's troubled look. "That's all in the past now. All that matters is that I'm alright now. Look, I still have all my limbs." Hiroto said, attempting to flaunt but was still held down.

Hiroto sighed and said, "Look, I know that you're all worried, but I really am fine. I promise I won't leave, but at least let me move around freely. How would the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps react when they find out the Flame Hashira is being held, hostage?"

Nezuko then spoke up, "Oh, they all know. When they found out that your first reaction was to leave this place and resume your duties everyone was worried for you. Kiriya-Sama even agreed to your current state."

Hiroto didn't know how to react. The Demon Slayer Corps he loved had betrayed him. Hiroto turned towards Aoi and gave her a sad look, pleading to her.

Aoi shook her head, "I'm not letting you go."

Hiroto clicked his tongue and softly muttered, "...how would Tanjiro react when he finds out you held me hostage."

"He was the biggest supporter behind it," Aoi said with a smile.

Nezuko turned to Aoi seeing how down Hiroto was and said, "I think we can let him go. Brother won't try and leave anymore."

Aoi thought to herself for a moment before sighing and said, "Fine. Whatever. We won't hold you down anymore."

"Yes!" Hiroto shouted in celebration, as he forced himself up, snapping the restraints on him. "Phew. It feels nice to move around again."

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" Aoi shook her head.

"It's a matter of principle," Hiroto said, massaging his arms. Sliding off the bed, Hiroto was in the standard white outfit that the patients of the Butterfly Estate wore.

"I'm going for a walk, it's still morning so I want to go see how the others are. You want to accompany your older brother, Nezuko?" Hiroto asked.

Nezuko nodded her head with a bright smile. Hiroto laughed. Facing away, Hiroto lowered himself and said to her, "Come on, hop on my back. It's been a while since I gave you a piggyback ride."

Nezuko acted unreserved and jumped onto Hiroto back with a laugh. Bidding farewell to Aoi, the two left the room and walked down the hallway, as people passed by the duo.

Many of the Kakushi and Demon Slayer's saw Hiroto and quickly went forward to greet him. Many started to talk with reverence and gratitude towards him.

Overwhelmed, Hiroto had to calm everyone down and greet them one by one to satisfy them.

As Hiroto greeted the other Demon Slayers and Kakushi who were running around the place, Nezuko just watched the side of Hiroto's face with a smile.

Thinking back to how Hiroto shouldered everything to help her and Tanjiro, Nezuko felt a wave of gratitude and thought about how lucky she was to have Hiroto as a brother.

Coming to Tanjiro's room, Hiroto saw Tanjiro currently sitting up on his bed while someone delivered food to his room.

"Brother, Nezuko!" Tanjiro smiled at the two as they approached him. Tanjiro has his right eye covered, while the rest of his body was bandaged in various places.

Nezuko hopped off of Hiroto's back and hugged Tanjiro before helping to feed him. Hiroto ruffled Tanjiro's hair and took a seat on the other side of his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Hiroto asked with worry.

Tanjiro smiled and said, "I still feel sore in a lot of places, but it's nothing that I can't manage. Although, I can't see out of my right eye anymore." Tanjiro pointed to his covered eye."

As Tanjiro said that, he examined the mark that was still on Hiroto's face when he gained his Hashira mark.

"What? Something on my face?" Hiroto touched his face as Tanjiro examined him.

"No… Well, sort of?" Tanjiro said, tilting his head. "I'm just wondering why your Hashira mark never disappeared."

On Hiroto's face was a flame pattern that stretched from the right side of his face, down his neck and arm into the scar on his right hand.

Hiroto shrugged and said, "Nothing I can do about that, it doesn't bother me anyway. I'm more worried about how you're coping."

Tanjiro laughed at his brother's excessive worry and said, "It's only been 2 days since that fight. Besides, I heard that there were still sightings of Demons around. Are the rumors right?"

Hiroto sighed and said, "There's still some remnant of Demon activity going around. The Demon Slayer's who are able-bodied are being sent out to deal with them. From what we gathered, these should be the Demons that went into hiding when Muzan gathered his Upper Moons to launch his attack against us."

"It's not a big deal, there shouldn't be any Lower or Upper Moon Demons, so the normal Demon Slayer would have trouble dealing with them. We couldn't afford the Hashira's to mobilize anyway, seeing how injured they are."

Tanjiro nodded and said, "That is troubling, but also reassuring. At Least the Demon's shouldn't be too difficult to fight against."

Nezuko, feeling left out, pouted and said, "Mm, that's not for you to worry about. Besides, we don't have to talk about that right now."

Hiroto and Tanjiro both gave a wry smile. Chatting for a little more, Hiroto got up and left the room to visit the others.

Seeing how chaotic the Butterfly Estate is, Hiroto shook his head and walked down the hallway. People would occasionally see him and get worked up, but were respectful to give him his distance, after what happened last time.