Chapter Text
Three months were not enough for the Demon Slaying Corps to completely recover from the intense and bloody battle that ensued to put an end to Kibutsuji Muzan’s reign over the human world. Many lives were lost; countless corpses, bodies dismantled, some never recovered, and what both frightened the corps members away from the front lines the most was the deaths of the Pillars themselves. When only Giyū and Sanemi made it back alive while still sustaining heavy injuries and missing limbs, the kakushi and residents of the Butterfly Mansion were nonetheless horrified to quickly realize the reality that the others are long gone.
Kiriya’s twin sisters, Kuina and Kanata, were mostly mortified to discover what had happened to Muichirō in particular and refused to take a swift glance at his mutilated corpse lest they grow sick at the sight. The kakushi wasted no time in bringing the survivors to the Butterfly Mansion. Kanzaki Aoi, who has been preparing for their return, searched expectantly for Tanjiro and his friends, most especially Kanao. When she learned of Shinobu’s demise, Aoi also suffered the same emotional turmoil burdening the others. She shed tears right then and there after hearing the news, in front of Kanao, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Nezuko.
Yushirō temporarily took over her tasks—along with Naho, Kiyo, and Sumi—as she retreated back to her room to compose herself. Added the mistake of her miscalculating the number of casualties after the battle, along with Shinobu’s death (and the fact that she will never get the chance to visit her tombstone), made things even more difficult for her. However, after doing her utmost best to strengthen her resolve, Aoi recognized that mourning while the others were injured and perhaps near death will not bring progress at all.
To keep her mind off of things, Aoi settled on preparing food for everyone. The plan seemed to be effective, as busying herself in the kitchen made her accurately focused on her chore at hand. Assorted food were laid out on the table, equally separated by trays to ensure that everyone will get equal share. One plate in particular, however, stood out among the rest. It had nothing extravagant but the contents were visibly different from the rest. Rice balls, tamagoyaki, and several pieces of tempura were neatly prepared on the round plate. Aoi separated the plate from the rest and continued to cut vegetables.
“I’m hungry.” During the onslaught brought by Uzui and his three wives while visiting Tanjiro and the rest, Inosuke managed to sneak out of the flock by crawling his way out of the room and pranced towards the kitchen. His movements ceased any ostentatious movements the moment he arrived by the kitchen, seeing the table full of trays of food. Inosuke’s stomach grumbled in anticipation, so he crouched and slowly made his way to the table. Lifting his boar head mask, he eyed Aoi first before snatching any food that came in contact with his hand and quickly stuffing them inside his mouth.
Yet before he could even finish the tray, Aoi turned around to call him out. “Ah! You’re stealing food again!” Inosuke, still with his mouth full, denied the allegation, but he was not dense enough to rile her up. Not with the kitchen knife on her hand and her feisty temperament. “I wasn’t!”, he yelled back, only to be left speechless when Aoi retorted with “You say that with your mouth full of food!” Inosuke then wondered how she was able to detect him so quickly, and he didn’t even feel the vibrations of her movements. “Is she actually strong?” he thought to himself. Aoi could only sigh at his behavior, then proceeded to hand over the round plate over to him.
“Here. If you are hungry, you can always eat from here. I made this plate exclusively for you, so don’t steal anymore!” Despite her kind gesture, Aoi lightly reprimands Inosuke before going back to her previous task interrupted by none other than him. Inosuke simply watched her back as she began to chop some vegetables again, then stared down at one of the rice balls she made for him.
”I made this plate exclusively for you…”
Something about what Aoi said made Inosuke feel giddy inside, smiling widely at the thought of her preparing food for him that is different from the others. Aoi also put his favorite food, tempura, in the mix, causing him to feel even more elated than he already was. Inosuke devoured the food (excitedly consuming the tempura) and when he was left with only one rice ball left, he approached Aoi from behind. “Aoshi, I want more.” Aoi merely rolled her eyes and turned to him, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s Aoi, and no! You have to understand that our supplies are limited so no more.” Inosuke stuffed the last rice ball and swallowed it after two or three chews. “Not a problem, what do you need? Rice? Seaweeds? Fish? I’ll get them all with no problem! Hahahaha!”
Aoi’s eye twitched in annoyance and crossed her arms on her chest. “None of those things. Your top priority is to take some rest and recover.” Taking it as an offense to his capabilities, a vein protruded on his forehead. “Ha?! I can do all those things even while injured, I’ll show you!” Aoi grabbed Inosuke by the ear before he even got the chance to leave, knowing all too well that his competitive nature always gets him into trouble.
Inosuke waved his arms comically while demanding her to release him, but Aoi grew even more stern. “I’ll knock you out myself and bring you back to your hospital bed if I have to! Not just because you already have food in your stomach doesn’t mean you’re already fit to go outside!” Inosuke, hardheaded as ever, refused to listen and jumped away from her. He opened his mouth to speak, but Aoi spoke one more time, cutting him off before he could even begin.
“Besides…” she turned her back on him. “I’ve seen enough deaths and injuries in one day.”
Inosuke blinked twice and remained silent, waiting for Aoi to speak up again, but no other words came out of her mouth. Instead, he could hear stifled cries from her. Panicking, Inosuke attempted to break off the tension. “Oi, Yui, stop crying! Nobody would want to eat food with tears in them!” Apparently, he made the situation worse. Comforting someone, let alone a crying girl, was extremely foreign for him. “Y-You never get any names right…!” Aoi sniffled. “And sure, nobody would want to eat food with tears. Nobody except you!”
With a grin plastered on his face, Inosuke puffed his chest out in pride. “Of course! You seem to know the extent of my powers, so starting today, you’ll be my minion!” His remark aggravated Aoi even further, which resulted in another argument between the two.
Out of the blue, Inosuke said something odd that made Aoi stop.
“Look, if you’re not feeling well, you should take a rest, too. You were crying earlier too when you heard about Shizuko’s death. Also…” He put his boar mask on to conceal his face. More particularly his smiling expression. “You still have to make food for me again in the morning, Cooking Minion Shiki.”
“It’s Aoi!”
...
Two years have passed since the recovery of the brave soldiers who survived until the very end. Although the Demon Slaying Corps was officially disbanded by Kiriya himself, he is amiable enough to let Aoi and the others stay in the Butterfly Mansion until they are ready to set out. The estate which was once erected as the main center for recovery slowly changed into a greenhouse where various greenery and flowers are cultivated. Aoi grew an interest in botany and spent her two years studying about plants and the like.
“Aoi?” Kiriya calls out to Aoi, who is tending to the echinaceas. The young master—now with shorter hair and wears a male kimono in contrast to his appearance years ago—hands over a letter to her, slightly crumpled and haphazardly enveloped. “There is no name, but the crow said it’s addressed to you. I even had to correct the crow because it said a multitude of other names… I believe you already know who sent it.” Kiriya gives Aoi a small smile before departing. Aoi, on the other hand, holds the enveloped letter close to her chest before opening it and reading the poor penmanship.
“Yuki (scratched with lines over),”
“Yuri (scratched with lines over),”
“Aiki (scratched with lines over),”
“Best Cooking Minion,”
The greeting part already made Aoi cringe and mutter “idiot” under her breath.
“This is Hashibira Inosuke. How are you? I now trying to write a letter for you after teaching me kanji last years. What do you think? It’s great, right? Great like me! I also learn more things from reading simple books. Monitsu tell me I visit you in Dragonfly Estate. I’ll be there in two weeks, okay? Meet me.”
The letter consists nothing of relevant information. It does not even state where he is, plus, the numerous grammar errors in the short letter are truly a sore for the eyesight of any literalist. He also got the mansion’s name wrong. Nonetheless, Aoi holds the letter close to her heart once more, resisting the urge to smile at how he even remembered writing a simple letter to her. Perhaps she’ll teach him more things to learn about proper writing and grammar in two weeks.
“Coming through!”
“I-Inosuke?!”
Aoi’s heart instantaneously beats rapidly upon hearing Kiriya cry out his name from afar. Her legs freeze, trapping her within the confines of the plants and flowers in the vicinity. After making remarks about Kiriya’s more boyish appearance and calling his name five times incorrectly, Inosuke rushes further in the Butterfly Mansion and is honestly surprised to see it replaced with healthy foliage. There, he sees Aoi standing in between the flowers and trees, wide azure eyes fixated at his very presence. There is a pregnant silence between the two, then Inosuke breaks it with an exclamation.
“Ah, your hair!” he points at Aoi. “Is it longer? Or is it because your ponytails are lower now?” Over the years, Aoi had taken advantage of time to pay more attention to herself. She had noticed that the twin ponytails make her look young, so she lowered them down to look more mature. Aoi once tried to let her hair down, but she disliked the idea of her hair getting in the way of her chores.
Seemingly out of words, Aoi responds with a quick “Both”, not noticing that Inosuke is already making his way to her. “Oi.” Inosuke takes his boar mask off, revealing a manlier look than Aoi could ever remember. His hair is shorter by the back of his head, and although he still has the “pretty face” look, his features grew more defined. Plus, he is wearing a shirt now, albeit unbuttoned halfway. For some odd reason, Inosuke also has a large backpack made from leather with him. “What’s up with you, Miki?” It didn’t take long for Aoi to recover, so she replies with “You wrote in your letter that you’ll be here in two weeks!”
“Ha?! I wrote that letter two weeks ago so now I’m here. Stupid slow messenger crow!”
Aoi invites Inosuke for tea, but demands to have food and water instead, although Aoi is able to convince him to drink tea with her after their meal. Much to his surprise, Aoi prepared the same food on the same plate as she did two years ago during his recovery after the fight against Muzan. This caused Inosuke to blush a tiny bit and stuffs himself with the food, hoping that the growing butterflies in his stomach would go away.
After exchanging pleasantries, Aoi cannot help but ask something about what he mentioned in the letter. “Inosuke-san, you mentioned that Zenitsu-san told you to come here. Why is that?” As if on cue, Inosuke grunts loudly, expressing his frustration out in the open. “I talked to Monitsu about… something.” His hesitation piqued Aoi’s curiosity but allows him to finish first. “You know how Monitsu…” Inosuke looks away and props his chin in the palm of his hand, staring at the cherry blossom tree outside. “…has Nariko, right? And Tontaro has Kazao. They go out, eat, laugh, hold hands. Stuff like that.”
Aoi stops herself from ruminating about what Inosuke is trying to hint, despite it being painfully obvious.
“So I waited for him and listened to him, but he made fun of me instead!” Inosuke grits his teeth, evidently agitated at the memory. “He said they do stuff like that to someone they want to spend the rest of their lives with.” Aoi’s heart rate increases once more, and she places her hands under the table then clenches them into fists. “And I thought long and hard about that. Why don’t I have someone to spend the rest of my life with?!” The innocence and naiveté are still prominent in his behavior, but he does show maturity as well. After all, he no longer lives in isolation. He has friends to talk to and teach him different and simple principles about human interaction.
“Don’t you think that’s unfair?! Then, you came into my mind. Weird, right?” Aoi swallows nervously as she listens to him. He then turns to look at her straight in the eyes, green meeting blue. “If Kentaro and Yoritsu get to have girls, then I have, too!” What Inosuke said crushed Aoi’s heart into little pieces, misunderstanding his intention. Before he can speak again, Aoi interrupts him, her voice louder than usual. “So, you came here for another competition, is that it? You’re going to use me of all people.” She suddenly feels a lump in her throat. “Sorry, but go find someone else.” As she is about to stand up and leave, Inosuke grabs her by the arm, firmly but gently.
“But that’s the problem, there’s no one else.”
Aoi’s eyes grow wide, feeling some tears prickling by the edges around them.
“There’s no one else but you. You know what, just get your ass back on the chair and hear me out.” She does what she was told but refuses to make eye contact with him. “I want to beat Gonpachiro and Monitsu, and to do that, I have to look for the best, and for me, you are the best.” A single tear rolls down her cheek. “Your medicines always work even though they taste shitty sometimes. Your training regimens are a pain in the ass but they’re super effective. Not to mention how great your damn cooking is, I think I’ll punch anyone in the face who gets to eat them. Nobody deserves to eat your food except for me!” She’s about to say something but Inosuke forestalls her one more time. “And don’t tell me to find someone else, because I’m staying here!”
Aoi wipes her cheeks and eyes with the sleeve of her shirt when the tears ceased to fall, surprised by his abrupt and straightforward explanations. “Wait, don’t tell me that bag of yours…” Inosuke lifts the said backpack and places it on the table. “This? My clothes and other stuff. Say, you’ll teach me how to read and write more complicated characters, right? You have to, since I’ll be staying here with you!” Although assertive with what he wants, Aoi does not mind at all. In fact, feeling his presence in the mansion and simply imagining him residing with her made her excited, ecstatic even.
The Butterfly Mansion has been tranquil for the past few years after the Slayers’ full recovery. The calm truly hit the estate after the storm, yet at the same time, Aoi sometimes suffers from bouts of loneliness from the agonizing silence of the area. Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho are still residents of the mansion, but are most of the time outside to run errands for her and themselves. Aoi misses the disorder and boisterous noises some years ago and, even if hesitant to admit, she had wondered how Inosuke had been doing. And now here he is, seated across from her in the flesh, still decorated with scars from the previous battles. “Seriously, you!” she says, trying to sound stern. “At least give me time to prepare before barging in here. Don’t expect any special treatment in the early days. Tonight, you may have to sleep on an old hospital bed and just put your things somewhere inside.”
“Hey, I did say I will visit in two weeks!”
“But your letter arrived after two weeks!”
“Not my problem anymore, blame the damn crow!”
“Why do you still even have the crow, anyway?”
“Because I’m the Great Hashibira Inosuke, that’s why!”
Aoi grunts and facepalms. If there is one thing that didn’t change in Inosuke, it has to be his pride and competitiveness. Nonetheless, Aoi is more comfortable talking with him now—needless to say, Inosuke is more tolerable and less obtuse compared to his younger self. Inosuke leans forward over the table and reaches out for her hands, clasping them in between his larger ones. He grins at her expectantly, to which Aoi responds with a dumbfounded expression on her face. “And as your new boss, I want you to teach me how to read and write more, cook food for me, wash my boar head mask and clothes—” Aoi pulls her hands away from Inosuke’s grip and interrupts him. “You're not my boss and I’m definitely not your maid! No, I will teach you household chores and you will wash your clothes yourself! Or are you too weak to even do your own laundry?”
She takes advantage of his aggressive nature to get him to do house chores, too. Fortunately, it worked, as familiar veins of annoyance pop out from the temples of his head. “Shut up, of course I can wash my clothes! In fact, I can wash more clothes than you at any day! Besides, you’re not just here to clean and cook. You also have to give me little minions!” Aoi tilts her head, confused at first about what he meant. She thinks perhaps he’s referring to Sumi and the others, but after replaying what he said in her mind, a blush instantly creeps on her face and ears, the heat reaching up to the tips of her hair. “W-What are you talking about, stupid boar?!”, she stutters.
Inosuke replies with no hesitation. “You’ll give me minions.” He points at himself with his thumb. “I can’t be known as the Great King without minions! We’ll take over the mountains, the cities, and the forests!” He then points outside, at the large garden with lush abundance of plants, trees, and flowers. “My minions will also have minions after some years, and one of my great grandkids will discover something that nobody ever had. He will take over the world and the great Hashibira bloodline will take over the world in the years beyond!” Scoffing, Aoi counters Inosuke’s hopes for the future, feeling a little mischievous herself. “That is, if you can beat me.”
Aoi retreats from her seat and runs outside, back to the greenhouse as she drags Inosuke along with her. Inosuke, thrilled from the anticipation of a good challenge, stands proud in front of Aoi. He has his chest puffed out with his hands on hips, smirking while he waits for her instructions. “All right, here we go,” she says, but does not pose any danger towards the other. Instead, she challenges him to a simple yet taxing match that Inosuke may have difficulties beating.
“Say my full name correctly.”
He grits his teeth in vexation. He’s well-aware of his weakness in remembering names correctly, yet he’s too proud to admit this weakness of his. “However, I will give you three chances.” Hearing Aoi instruct him on what to do takes him back to those years when he and his friends stayed in the Butterfly Estate to recover under her care. Not wanting to lose the little challenge (and her along with his absurd dream of “taking over the world” with his bloodline), Inosuke sputters two pairs of incorrect names, giving Aoi difficulties breathing from stifling her laughter.
“Karakuri Ami!”
“Wrong.”
“Kazumasa Asami!”
“No.”
One more chance…
“Ka…” Inosuke hesitates and looks to the side, actually pondering how to say her complete name correctly. His eyes catch sight of the hydrangea and forget-me-nots adorning the left side of the garden. He stares at the blue flowers for a long while, only to be interrupted by Aoi who cleared her throat, still waiting for him to answer with his final chance. Inosuke takes a glance at the flowers one last time, marvelling at the blue hue. He scoffs to cover his worry of getting the wrong answer for the third time and says proudly,
“Kanda Aoi!”
At that moment, Aoi bursts out laughing. In turn, Inosuke makes a shrill cry of frustration, but his shriek comes to an abrupt halt after noticing that Aoi is laughing. Thinking back, he had never seen her laugh or smile, always with a frown on her face and, although he never paid much attention to her in their younger years, he comes to a realization that perhaps nobody truly appreciated her work as a helper and a doctor in the mansion. She always seemed agitated—almost similar to him but less vibrant. Inosuke looks around the greenhouse, thinking that her sudden shift in nature has something to do with the ambiance of the place, not completely understanding that a big part of the reason is him.
“You were… almost there” she says, with small snickers in between. “Very well, since you got my given name correctly, I’ll give you permission to stay here as long as you wish. In one condition, of course. You have to do your part in the mansion!” Inosuke laughs in an imposing manner, praising himself for the half-victory he just earned. Aoi, however, lightly chastises him, lest he grows even more proud of himself. “Don’t celebrate yet, Inosuke-san! You only got my given name correctly, not my last name.”
“Who cares?” he retorts. “It’ll be replaced with Hashibira anyway, so there’s no point in me getting it right.”
Blood rushes to Aoi’s face once more, catching her off-guard with his straightforward remark for the second time.
“You’ll cook food for me and only for me, teach me many things, I’ll wash more clothes than you and clean the house faster than you! I’ll look for jobs outside and make more money than you, and you’ll give me minions to take over the world! We’ll be together forever and you’ll be the Second-Great Ruler of the World, Queen Aoi to the Mighty King Inosuke!”
Aoi rolls her eyes at his childish outburst, as usual, but finds it quite charming as to how Inosuke expressed his desire to settle in with her. Naive and competitive as he may be, his words are always accompanied with unbending sincerity.
And being crowned as Queen of his little world of healthy dreams does not sound like a bad idea at all.