Plum Season

Chapter 7

Of the three boys, Inosuke was in the worst shape. He had suffered a concussion, a partially ruptured Achilles tendon, and bruising around his neck. More minorly, his chest had been peppered with scrapes and scabs, and a friction burn had emerged between his first and second toes where his sandal strap had caught. As expected, he was unable to walk without assistance, and it was predicted that it would take months for him to be back to normal.

   Tanjiro left the scene with a severe corneal abrasion, gashes in his arm and upper eyelid, and puncture wounds in his legs. In his haste, he hadn't removed all of the shards during the fight, so they had to be dug out by the medics. His arm and eyelid had been stitched up and bandaged, and his injured eye had been medicated and covered with a patch to prevent him from touching it. He was instructed to flush it out twice a day.

   Zenitsu suffered severe bruising from the impact of the water. His left shoulder was sprained from being thrown while holding onto his sword; only worsened from being used directly after it had first been injured. His arm was secured in a sling for the time being, though he took it out to sleep on his stomach since the skin on his back was so raw.

   For a short while, Nezuko was bruised and bleeding internally. It didn't take her long at all to fully heal herself. She was delighted with spending time with her friends and helping out around the mansion in the evenings.

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   For the first couple days—despite Aoi's nagging for them to rest—Tanjiro and Zenitsu loitered around the Butterfly Mansion together. They tried to take it easy in bed, but somehow their aching, battered bodies were no match for their boredom. It was easier to strike up conversation beyond the confines of the infirmary. There was only so much to talk about in a white room, full of white sheets on identical beds. The infirmary was drab; somber at best. And since they weren't yet well enough for rehabilitation training, there was just about nothing to be done.

   Inosuke slept through the first two days of their stay, only waking up long enough to take drinks of water before quickly nodding off again. He could have stayed awake longer, had he put any effort into doing so, but he had no interest in fighting his exhaustion. Taking a moment to disconnect from reality was nice. Sleep was an easy distraction from his pain and humiliation. And no one intervened, as the medics felt that Inosuke's concussion would only benefit from the downtime.

   At the end of the second day, as he and Zenitsu sat awake in the soft lamplight of the infirmary, Tanjiro's worries began to weigh upon him greatly. He sat for a while, hugging his knees, watching Inosuke's chest rise and fall from the comfort of his own bed. He looked truly pitiful, all bandaged up; injured leg elevated with pillows. Starkly different from his usual self. But his face was still pretty as ever, and out on display as his mask was being laundered.

   "Zenitsu?" Tanjiro asked quietly, still gazing in Inosuke's direction.

   "What?" Zenitsu looked up from the book he was reading.

   "He's been sleeping a lot. Is that bad?"

   Zenitsu rested his index finger on the line of text he had been interrupted at so as not to lose his place. "I don't think so. His body's trying to heal. He's probably just really tired. They've got him all taken care of...and no one seems to be worried about him. I wouldn't sweat it."

   "...Right. I just hope he'll be better soon." He sighed.

   "Been pretty quiet without him, huh?" Zenitsu smiled understandingly.

   Tanjiro could feel his cheeks growing warm. "Yeah. I guess I'm just used to him being himself all the time."

   "Tanjiro?" Zenitsu folded the edge of the page and started to close his book.