Butterflies (Tanjiro x Reader)

Chapter 6: Conviction

**Y/N POV**

Bright sunshine peeked beneath the curtains as you scrunched up your face and turned away from the light. You felt tired from sleeping so late. After a few minutes, Aoi, who was watching you this whole time, decided that it was about time you woke up.

She pulled the sheets away from you. You sat up and stared at her.

"That was uncalled for. I wanted to sleep." You said as you rubbed your eyes lazily.

"I'm sure that you're quite fine now. You're still a staff of this house, and you will resume your work as one today. Now, let me take your temperature again."

You let her put her hand over your forehead.

"Hmph. You're back to normal now. Don't overwork yourself this time, it freaked everyone out!"

Aoi accompanied that sentence with a sigh as she left the room. You rolled out of bed, still sleepy. You looked at the beds surrounding your own. They were empty. You assume that Tanjiro and everybody else left on a mission earlier that morning.

You went over to your room to dress in the mansion's uniform. Once you were done, you went over to organize the medicine in the cupboard. You were moving on to the liquid medicine side, you spotted Shinobu leaning on the doorway out of the corner of your eye. You turned to look at her. Shinobu was rarely around, as she was seemingly busy with hashira work (You learned this from Kanao).

Shinobu always had this peaceful smile, but you knew that deep down she was suppressing her feelings. You remember Kanae. There was no way you wouldn't. After all, she had saved you back when you were blinded by your emotions. That accident, you don't remember the details, but you certainly knew that it had changed you.

"Y/N, I need you to come with me. Go meet me in my room."

Shinobu left the scene before you could reply to her. A bit dazed, you set down the medicine in its correct place and went over to her room. Shinobu was sitting by a table. She motioned for you to come over. You took your seat across from her.

She put her hand in front of her. She smiled sweetly at you. You smiled back.

"Y/N, it's been a while since we've seen each other. I would have liked to come by more often, but work has made it difficult. Lately, demon sightings have been more active than ever."

You flinched a bit. You had heard of demons and their awful deeds through Kanao's conversations and Inosuke's rants. You had never encountered one yourself, but the word strangely made your palms sweaty and made your insides boil.

"Well, we've been having more injuries than ever, have you noticed that the patient income has increased lately? Well, that has taken a toll on the corps, seemingly it has weakened our manpower."

Shinobu looked down at her hands that were resting on the wooden table. She continued.

"I know this is quite sudden, but we need skilled people out on the field to treat our members during battle Y/N. Master Ubuyashiki has requested your presence during the next few missions, even if you are not strictly part of the organization."

You looked at her with wide eyes. She noticed this when she looked back at you.

"Oh, please don't get frightened. These missions will just be small ones. Consider them as a trial for your official admission. That is if you are willing to cooperate. I know you've been through a lot already, so please don't feel forced into this."

You opened your mouth to reply, but the words struggled to come out.

"Uh... well..." you mumbled.

"Don't worry. Take your time. You can answer whenever you wish to. I strongly recommend you think this over for a bit. If you agree, I need you to bear in mind that you will also be risking your life, not just the slayers."