Chapter Text
Hashibira Inosuke was not hurt.
That's what the Breath of the Beast user would say every time he was sent to the Butterfly State because of an injury and every time, it would be a complete lie.
Injuries were not uncommon for Demon Slayers and when they were sent to the Insect Pillar's home, the corps' unofficial hospital, it's because those injuries require serious treatment and not something that any doctor could treat; at least not to the level or the speed that the members of the Butterfly State could.
"For the last time, you need to stay in bed and rest." Then there was the other issue, this girl that thought she could order him around.
"You can't tell me what to do." Inosuke answered glaring at her from behind the eyes of his boar mask.
Kanzaki Aoi, the head nurse, according to Monitsu, of this place.
Whenever he was here she tried to make him stay in bed to recover with varying levels of success.
There was one time she physically tied him to the bed, it took a while due to the injury at the time but he managed to break free and continue being his usual boisterous self.
So far, the only time he had obediently shut up and listened to her, that time after the Natagumo Mountain notwithstanding, was when she had taken his boar mask at night to wash it because 'it smelled terrible', her words, and after constantly repeating to her to give it back she said that she would give it back when it's washed and he has had a proper rest to recover from his injuries.
Inosuke did try to kick up a fuss about it but she said that he either agrees or she'll hide his mask in a place he will never find it so he ended up listening.
"For the love of… you do realize that you have at least five broken ribs and some internal bleeding that we just stopped, right?" Aoi questioned while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"If my bleeding is internal then I'm fine, that's where blood is supposed to be!" He countered, smiling smugly behind his mask.
"Not like that!" She yelled back before sighing. "Do I have to take your mask from you so you will listen?"
"…what makes you think I'd let you?" He said, trying to sound challenging and if anyone had to guess, they would say he was narrowing his eyes behind his mask.
"The fact that if you try to run, I just have to chase you until your wounds act up to take it, then I will have to check your injuries again and apply treatment depending on how bad they've gotten because you refused to rest." The black haired girl answered with a glare before sighing. "Just… please don't hurt yourself anymore and rest, you already get enough injuries in battle." She added with a softer expression.
Inosuke stood still after hearing that and, for a second, Aoi thought that he would ignore her warnings and try to get away from her, she was already in position to try and grab his mask before he could run too far so he wouldn't worsen his condition; although he will probably just try to catch her and she would need to run until his wounds acted up, therefore making the entire thing pointless but if there was a chance of losing him quickly and hiding the mask so he would listen and not injure himself, then Kanzaki Aoi would do her best to take it.
About thirty seconds passed when Inosuke began to move but instead of jumping out of bed, as Aoi expected, he instead moved his arms and removed his mask before extending his arms towards her.
The girl with the twin tails stared at it for a moment and raised an eyebrow.
"Can you wash it?" He said simply.
"…sure." She replied, accepting the offered item. "Call me or one of the girls if you need something."
Inosuke nodded with an 'Nn' and lay down.
Aoi took her leave.
"Can I at least walk around? I'll die of boredom if I have to stay on this bed with nothing to do."
She stopped on her tracks, turning her head around to look at him from the corner of her eyes.
"…not today, I'd say you'll need at least three days of rest before you can move around without worry and even then I would just authorize you to walk, not train or anything of the sort." She answered, prepared for another round of arguments.
"Oh, alright."
Aoi actually had to do a double take, this was the first time he was so obedient since the time he was depressed the first time he came here.
"If there is nothing else…" The Kanzaki trailed off and when there was no answer, she looked back towards the door and left the room.
.
After Aoi left, Inosuke lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling in silence… for about zero point three seconds.
He then groaned and grabbed his head with both hands in frustration.
'Why is she so nice, dammit!' He thought. 'She is like Monjiro but I don't feel the same way as when he worries about me, what the hell is this?!'
Most people that know Inosuke think of him as the 'wild and loud guy that is always trying to prove how strong he is', and that would be an accurate assessment, but only the people that can actually call him a friend know that there is more to it.
For example, he is not entirely sure of how to deal with other people showing him kindness as evidenced by those times Tanjiro showed him nothing but and he just kept questioning it and telling him to stop 'making him feel fuzzy'.
It was a similar case with Aoi.
Maybe thanks to his abnormally good sense of touch he can tell when someone is genuinely worried or is just being polite by the way their gazes feel on his skin; when someone is just being polite he doesn't really feel anything, not a twinge on his skin or well… anything.
When someone is genuinely worried, on the other hand, it makes him feel warm, sometimes on the place of the injury and sometimes on his entire body, depending on how worried they really are.
One Kanzaki Aoi, always made him feel warm all over and 'fuzzy' but it was always a different type of warmth than when Tanjiro worried about him and he couldn't begin to understand why it was different.
Heck, he doesn't even know why he gave her his mask, the only thing she can really use to make him behave!
Sometimes, he wished he could just Pig Assault Aoi in a similar way he does so to Gonpachiro and Monitsu, just to treat her the same way as those two, but whenever he imagines that he ends up feeling weird and frowns before dismissing the idea.
'Nnggh, three days in bed.' He let out another groan as he remembered that part. 'Stupid bones, stop breaking and causing me trouble!' He would spend the rest of the day trying to make his ribs heal faster.
By mentally yelling at them.
Despite his initial sour mood, those three days weren't that bad, not that he will ever admit it.
Nor will he admit that having Aoi check on him and keep him company was a big part of that.
"Alright, you seem to be better." She said as she finished checking his wounds. "You can walk around if you want but remember not to overstrain yourself and I do mean walk no training or running or anything weird."
"I get it, I get it." Inosuke answered, getting up from the bed to enjoy his recently regained freedom. "I'm gonna go stretch my legs; I'll be back in a while." And with that, he was gone.
'It's weird that he behaved so much.' Aoi thought, genuinely puzzled at the way he is acting. 'Well, I'm not about to look a gift horse on the mouth.' She shrugged, taking her things and preparing to continue with her duties. 'I already checked on everyone so I should check the laundry next… his mask should be done by now.' A small smile found its way on her lips. 'He's been behaving… I'll give it back to him.'
"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!" That scream stopped her train of thought and had her run in the direction of the noise.
.
.
Inosuke was resisting the urge to jump around the Butterfly State as he looked around the house, he is not the type to worry too much about where he lives, his homes were usually wherever he decided to rest for the day, but he will admit (to himself) that if he ever got a house, he would like for it to be something like this place.
He continued to enjoy his walk, glad to finally be out of that bed. Even with Aoi helping to keep his spirit up, his nature made him someone that almost needed to move lest he goes crazy.
"That demon really did a number on me." He heard someone say and turned to look.
Sitting on the porch that lead to the garden were two young men, both had short black hair and were wearing the same clothes as him, the clothes for patients the Butterfly State give, meaning that they're Demon Slayers that are recovering here just as he is.
"Yeah, having your arm broken is not fun." The other one said.
Inosuke was just about to tune them out and continue walking until their next sentence.
"Still, that Kanzaki girl should stop acting all high and mighty."
That made him stop on his tracks, his eyes shooting open as he remained rooted in place.
"Seriously, who does she think she is? I have a broken arm, not a broken leg and she still confines me to the bed."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." The other one answered. "She could at least smile a bit instead of having that permanent scowl; she might actually be cute if she did."
"For a coward that can't even bring herself to hold a sword she sure likes to act like she owns the place when we are injured. She should grow a spine and-"
"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Inosuke yelled, having silently made his way right behind them.
"Wha-?!"
"The he-?!"
Out of nowhere, he grabbed the one that didn't have a broken arm from the collar of his shirt and threw him towards the garden before head-butting the other in the chest to similar effect.
"I DARE YOU TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, YOU BASTARDS!"
"What is going on?!" Aoi yelled as she rushed towards them.
"This guy just started attacking us out of nowhere!" Broken arm said, pointing at Inosuke with his good arm.
"Oh, that wasn't attacking, let me show yough-!" Suddenly, Inosuke held his side and frowned in pain.
"I told you not to overexert yourself." The black haired girl said even as she began to check his wounds before turning to the other two. "Go back to your rooms, I'll check your wounds later."
The two demon slayers reluctantly nodded and walked away as Aoi guided Inosuke to a room and made him sit on a chair before beginning to treat him.
.
.
'I screwed up so bad.' Inosuke realized as he felt his skin twinge under Aoi's stare.
She was still treating his wounds with as much care as any other time but he could feel it, the anger boiling inside that seemed about to explode at any moment and, while he will die before saying it out loud, it scared the living crap out of him.
He couldn't help but compare it to that time on the mountains against the spider demons when the one that was controlling the other Demon Slayers snapped their necks after Gonpachiro and he managed to immobilize them.
Before that, he thought that his red haired friend wasn't capable of truly being angry but the downright murderous fury that made his entire body shiver in fear made him quickly realize how wrong he was.
This one was worse, though.
Aoi may not be nearly as imposing as the Kamado can be but having her anger directed at him made him feel as if he should try to escape.
He won't do that, of course, his pride wouldn't allow him to.
While these thoughts occupied his mind, Aoi finished treating his wounds again and took a step back.
"What were you thinking?!" Before the aforementioned boiling anger exploded.
Inosuke narrowed his eyes and turned his head away from her.
"I told you not to overexert yourself and the first thing you do as soon as I give you the ok to walk around is pick a fight with other patients?!"
The Hashibira visibly flinched at this but gave no other response.
"What?! Were you so bored that you decided to start hitting the first person you come across?! What the hell would make you think that fighting against injured people, not to mention the fact that you are also injured, was a good idea-?!"
"Because they were talking crap about you!" Inosuke yelled, interrupting her tirade.
"E-eh?" The black haired girl blinked twice as if trying to process his words but he continued.
"You're always taking care of everyone, making sure to be as gentle as possible so that we can heal as fast as possible and these two assholes think they can complain?! Oh no, I refuse to let them get away with it! Because every time you come check on me or treat a wound it makes me feel warm and fuzzy and if they can't see how kind you are and that any instructions you give is for our benefit then you can be sure I will beat it into their skulls until they learn!"
Usually, she would mention how Inosuke is the last person that should be telling others to listen to her warnings about treatment but, this time, she could only stare in astonishment as Inosuke continued… complimenting her, for lack of a better word.
He even began to go into detail about how he likes the feeling of her hands or how focused she looks when she is treating a wound and makes sure to be careful to not cause him unnecessary pain.
"In any case, if I hear those jerks, or anyone, talking crap about you again I will teach them a lesson; even if my arms and legs are broken I will bite them until they learn!"
With that, he exited the room, closing the door surprisingly quietly considering his earlier outburst, leaving a stupefied and blushing Aoi.
.
On the other side of the door, Inosuke did something truly uncharacteristic of him.
He hid his face on his hands.
'Gaahh! Why did I say all that?! And why do I feel embarrassed about it?!' He thought, maintaining his position for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and begin the walk to his room. Sleeping the day away sounded like an amazing idea for once.
.
.
At night.
Inosuke was lying down on his bed, the once dreaded object giving him some strange sense of comfort.
He was still raking his brain about why he reacted the way he did; he meant every word he said to Aoi but why should he care what other people say about her?
The answer still eluded him and had kept him up for a good part of the night and the rest of the day since he came back to his room.
Letting out a groan, he tried to go back to sleep.
.
A few minutes later, he heard the door of his room open and moved to a sitting position to see who it was.
"Oh… you're awake." Aoi said, averting her gaze.
Inosuke just nodded.
"I just…" She trailed off, closing the distance to his bed with her hands behind her back. "…here." The Kanzaki said as she moved her hands in front of her, revealing Inosuke's boar mask. "Thank you for defending me."
"Sure." The teen said, taking his mask from her hands.
"That doesn't mean it was alright for you to get into a fight." The black haired girl added.
"I know." He answered.
"I'll give you back your mask but please don't get into any more fights while you are injured… or with other demon slayers in general." She hastily added the last part.
"If they say crap about you I'll punch them." The green eyed teen said, his glare saying that there would be no argument about this.
"…thank you." Aoi said, giving him a small smile. "Good night."
"Good night."
With that, she turned on her heels and went to her room to sleep while Inosuke lay back down on his bed.
The two fell into unconsciousness with a smile on their faces.