Chapter 53: Wounds
Hiroto and the others were waiting for the Kakushi to arrive and tend to the wounded. When they came and saw the state of Rengoku and Hiroto, they couldn't help but feel respect towards the two people who put their lives on the line to save these people.
Rengoku was in a critical state as his arm was ripped off, and Hiroto was in a similar condition, having lost a lot of blood. Needless to say, when Zenitsu saw them, he cried. A lot.
The wounded passengers had their wounds tended to while Rengoku and Hiroto were to be taken back to the headquarters as fast as they could to be treated.
Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu were also wounded but not as severely. Nezuko was already back in her box with Tanjiro carrying it.
Meanwhile, each of the Hashira's got a message from their crows, stating that the Flame Hashira, Rengoku, and his Tsuguko, Hiroto, were severely wounded in a fight against an Upper Moon Demon.
Most of the Hashira's were surprised and in disbelief that Rengoku was injured from the fight. Shinobu and Kanao had a complicated expression on their face as they heard the news.
----
After a day of rushing to the Butterfly estate, the Kakushi finally arrived late in the afternoon with the wounded. Aoi and the other girls were doing chores around the estate. Shinobu and Kanao weren't in the estate as they were away on a mission.
Hearing the door pushed open abruptly, Aoi turned to the entrance with a frown and was about to shout but her mouth was left open at what she saw. Hiroto and Rengoku were both unconscious as they were being carried on a stretcher.
"Ge-Get them inside! Quickly!" Aoi shouted, before running off to grab her medical supplies. She turned to a crow off to the side and asked it to request for Shinobu to return so she can treat the severely wounded.
"Ah! Hiroto-Sama!" "WAhh!" The 3 little girls each cried out when they saw who was brought in and started to panic before getting their act together.
The next few hours went by in a blur, as countless surgeries and operations needed to be made to stabilize the two people.
----
An unknown amount of days had passed by, the Butterfly Estate had calmed down but the situation in the Demon Slayer Corps was still tense as people were anxious about the condition of the Flame Hashira.
Hiroto was bandaged up, his shoulder was wrapped tightly and had countless stitches. His left eye was also covered.
Hiroto groggily woke up slowly, dazed and feeling weak. "Ughh, where am I?" Hiroto muttered, feeling that his throat was dry.
"You woke up!" Tanjiro's voice came from the side. Hiroto slowly turned his head and saw Tanjiro sitting beside his bed. He seemed to be in good condition, aside from the heavy bags below his eyes.
"Ah, Tanjiro whe- *cough cough*" Before Hiroto could finish his sentence, he started coughing dryly.
"Here, have some water. I need to go tell the others that you're awake." Tanjiro said, handing him a cup of water before leaving.
Hiroto lifted the cup, but his left shoulder felt stiff as he moved it. Hiroto looked down and saw it was covered in bandages, as well as the rest of his body. Reaching up, he touched his left eye which was wrapped around with bandages.
He felt the need to rip it off and see it's condition, but when he was about to he hand was grabbed.
"You shouldn't do that Hiroto, your eye was heavily injured in your fight." A familiar voice came from the side. Turning, Hiroto saw Shinobu was standing over him, clutching his wrist before he reached for his eye.
"How bad was it?" Hiroto asked.
Shinobu looked down sadly before saying in a low tone, "Your left eye was smashed completely from what I saw. It will take a while for it to heal up, I'm not sure how much permanent damage there is but don't expect too much…"
*sigh* Hiroto sighed as he listened and leaned back in his bed looking at the ceiling.
"How's Rengoku?" He asked Shinobu.
"Rengoku-san is… I'm afraid the damage caused to him this time was extremely severe. He lost his right arm, and the bones in his left arm were shattered. It would take months before it can properly heal, but that would still restrict him to only the menial of tasks." Shinobu said with a sad smile.
Hiroto stayed silent, then spoke up. "Can you let go of my wrist now?"
"Ah, sorry. But just so you know, we weren't even sure if you were going to live. If you arrived any later than when you were brought in, it could've resulted in your death." Shinobu said with a smile.
*sigh "What's going to happen now?" Hiroto asked.
"Nothing, since you're too injured. You need to recover your strength back, which means no excessive movement or training yet. After you can move around by yourself, we can start your physical recovery training, similar to what your brother went through." Shinobu stated.
"What will happen to Rengoku?" Hiroto asked, looking at her.
"He will most likely have to retire from being a Demon Slayer and the Flame Hashira. Since you're his Tsuguko, that means that you will be next in line." Shinobu recounted what Oyakata-Sama had told them.
"Next in line? But we lost in that battle." Hiroto stated.
"Yes, but you were up against an Upper Moon Three, any Hashira would struggle against him. But not only did you two survive, but you also saved 200 passengers and wounded one of the Twelve Kizuki. We heard from Tanjiro that your sword can stop a Demon's regenerative power, and since he said you cut the Demon's arm off you already reduced his fighting capabilities." Shinobu reassured Hiroto.
Hiroto stayed silent and just looked out the window. "He was strong. Stronger than any of the other Demon's we had faced so far. There were two of us, but all we could do was wound him." Hiroto said quietly.
"The most important thing is that you're alive," Shinobu said with a sincere smile.
Hiroto felt calm seeing her smile and spoke up. "Shino-"
"SAMABOKO SHINTARO!" Insouke's loud voice shouted out, as he raced down the hallway into his room with Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Kanao behind them.
Hiroto smiled at them as they crowded around his bed. "Wahhhhh, Hirotoooo!! Don't die on us!!" Zenitsu cried, kneeling beside Hiroto's bed.
"Oi, Zenitsu, it's bad luck to talk about death right next to a patient," Tanjiro stated.
"It's fine. I won't die. I'm quite strong, so how can I die so easily? Besides, if I'm gone then who's going to keep you away from Nezuko?" Hiroto said, glancing at Zenitsu.
Inosuke pointed at Hiroto and shouted, "You better recover quickly! After seeing your fight, I have decided to promote you to vice-captain of the minion!"
"Who wants to be your vice-captain, you boar." Zenitsu retorted back at Inosuke.
Hiroto looked past them and saw Kanao shifting anxiously in her place. He smiled at her to indicate that he was ok.
Kanao saw his smile and started to relax more, going back to her same smiling face she always wore.
Hiroto then asked, "By the way, where is Rengoku?" He looked around the room and saw that besides the empty beds next to him, he was the only one who was resting here.
"He's being kept in his own room. He is a Hashira, so preferential treatment." Shinobu said with her same usual smile.
At the mention of Rengoku, the room became silent when they thought back to his condition.
"Rengoku's little brother came to visit his brother the day before, but Rengoku was still unconscious so he went back," Tanjiro said.
"Ah, Senjuro. What about his father? Did he come?" Hiroto asked with a serious tone.
Shinobu answered, "No. Only his brother."
Hiroto gripped the bedsheets and wore a frown on his face when he heard this.
"He must be too busy," Tanjiro said, seeing how his brother reacted.
"Yea… he must be…" Hiroto stated. 'Drinking his alcohol…' The last sentence he kept to himself.
"Brother, I'm going to visit Rengoku's father. I heard from Senjuro that when you wake up, I should go and tell him." Tanjiro said to Hiroto.
Hiroto nodded, "Alright, but do you know what he wants?"
"He didn't tell me. Just to go find him." Tanjiro said, shaking his head.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Did anything else happen while I was unconscious?" Hiroto said.
"Well, not much happened. You were unconscious for about 2 days, and most of that time was focused on making sure you lived through your injuries." Shinobu spoke up.
"When I saw you, I could barely hear your heart beating," Zenitsu said, remembering back to when he arrived at where Hiroto and Rengoku laid down after fighting Akaza.
"Alright, we should leave you to rest. You shouldn't even be talking so much right now. Me and Kanao will have to leave for a mission since we came back quickly due to an emergency that Oyakata-Sama summoned us for." Shinobu said, before guiding the rest to leave the room.
Kanao had a reluctant look from in her eyes, but when she looked at the bandaged up Hiroto, she resolved that he needed to rest more to recover quickly and left with the others.
Hiroto was now alone in the room, staring at the door where the others left. He muttered out quietly to himself.
"...I need to pee…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Suploly
Suploly Time for Hiroto to recuperate! I'll do a timeskip here and there in the next chapter since he needs to heal up and recover his strength.
Don't worry, this won't be a nerf. Rather, think of it that he learned from this past battle not to underestimate his opponents in the future, and correct his mistakes.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Peace out!
Weekly Power Status
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