Purple Lotus [Kimetsu no Yaiba]

~Thirty-Nine~

Giyuu Tomioka came barging through the doors of the Butterfly Mansion. "Where is she?" he demanded, trying no to lose his composure.

 The Kakushi passing by gave him a confused look."Oh, Tomioka-sama, how can I help you?" she asked him.

"Don't give me that crap! Tell me where she is!?" he spoke louder than he usually did, startling the poor girl.

"O-Oh! Do you mean Tsukishiro-sama? S-she's in the room farthest in the east wing," she reponded, realizing. "Would you like me to show you the..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the Water Pillar was gone. He knew where he was going after that piece of information. When at last he came to the door that concealed his beloved, he stood still and took a deep breath. He couldn't enter in a panicked state, it could affect her.When he got himself under control, he knocked twice before entering. Inside he found Shinobu, tending to her, Rengoku standing in a corner and Inosuke being restrained by the triplets.

The sight that met Giyuu's eyes was heartbreaking. Tsubasa. His beloved sister. Bandaged from head to toe, tubes of liquid connected to her delicate skin pumping kami know what into her body. Some blood seeped out of the badages on her abdomen. Her eyes were closed. She was barely breathing.

"Tsu-chan," he spoke her name, holding back tears. He rushed to the bedside. "Tell me she's okay." he looked at Shinobu and pleaded.

Shinobu gave him a sympathetic gaze. "The injuries she has are critucal. Not only did she reflect Regoku's wound but Tanjiro's and Zenitsu's as well. She...."

"Tell me. She. Is. Okay." Giyuu wasn't interested in explanations.

The Insect Pillar exhaled. "She's stable for now. So yes, she's okay."

Suddenly it felt like Giyuu could breathe again. "How long until she wakes up?"

"Well. It could be days, it could be months. We still don't know for sure."

"Okay," the Water Pillar said as he continued to stare at the child.

"Let me go to her," Inosuke spoke calmly even though he was struggling in the hold of the triplets. "Let me hold her. I can protect her from the pain."

"You can't hold her just yet," Kiyo said.

"Please understand, Inosuke," Sumi pleaded.

Still, he continued to fight with them. Meanwhile, Rengoku looked at his partner, full of remorse."I blame myself completely," he admitted to the Water Pillar. "If I had been more careful and not found myself in such a predicament. If I had somehow convinced her not to use her twelfth form...."

"Stop." Giyuu cut him off. "Don't wallow in self pity. It might affect her."

Rengoku hesitated. "Of coarse."

"The brat would've done it no matter what you said," Inosuke added, finally succumbing to his holds and giving the triplets a break. "She cares about you too much. Nothing you said could've made her change her mind about saving you."

"In any case," Giyuu spoke again. "It's not like it wouldn't affect her either way. She was in pain already. But..." He looked at the Insect Pillar. "There's no use dwelling on what-ifs when she's fine either way. She'll wake up, won't she?"

Shinobu could feel her heart break at the sight of Giyuu. There was but the faintest glint of hope in his eyes. She almost cried as she yet again had to shatter it. "Actually..."

Inosuke perked up. There wasn't supposed to be an actually! He was sure his brat was fine and would soon wake up. What was the Insect Pillar trying to say!?

"Tsu-chan lost a lot of blood from all the wounds. And because of that her heart had to word overtime to make up for it. But because she lost so much, some parts if her body weren't receiving a sufficient amount of blood, including her brain. When a person's brain doesn't receive enough oxygen, it stops functioning properly due to lack of it. What I'm trying to say is," she sighed, not ready for the reactions from all the men in the room.

"There is a slight chance that Tsu-chan is brain-dead. She's alive but if her brain stops working, she won't be able to survive. Eventually, if that happens, we'll have to let her go. But we don't know for sure, only time will tell."

Inosuke's jaw dropped. Rengoku's eyes widened. Giyuu felt like his whole world was fading away into nothing again. First Sabito. And now Tsubasa!? He was close enough to tears, but held his composure."How long until we know for sure?"

"Six months. If before that she shows any signs of coming too, she'll be dubbed okay. But if six months elapses..." Shinobu trailed off. They already knew the rest.

"Bull-crap." Inosuke wanted to yell. He so desperately wanted to beat up the thing closest to him. He didn't think there was a possibility he could lose Tsubasa. And quite frankly, he didn't believe it. "This is bull-crap. Tsubasa is strong. She's the strongets girl I've ever met. She wouldn't do something she knew would kill her. She's not that much of a dumb brat."

He glared at everyone in the room as if daring them to tell him otherwise. "She'll wake up. And when she does she'll cry about how we all felt like depressed balloons or whatever crap she says!"

Tears were streaming down his face now. "She's a brat! She's my brat! I refuse to let her die!! No way in hell will she leave me!! She'll wake up! Y'hear me brat!! You have six months to wake up or else you'll suffer the wrath of the King of the Mountains!! You..."

"Shut up. You're yelling." Giyuu silenced him. "You know Tsu-chan doesn't like it when people yell."

"I'm going to yell until she wakes up and tells me to shut up!" The boar sank to his knees. "No... I can't lose my brat. I refuse to lose her."

Giyuu turned on his heels and walked past everyone. "You should all leave. Tsu-chan needs to be alone to heal, remember."

"Of coarse, Tomioka," Shinobu smiled and ushered everyone out. "We'll all leave now."

He waited for everyone to file out of the room before he went out himself. He turned to leave, his back facing everyone. "Tsubasa will wake up. So don't be sad. You'll make her sad as well."

Without waiting for a response, he left. To everyone he was composed about it all. He was so sure. That's what he wanted them to think. No one needed to know of how he cried himself to sleep that same night. 

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~✨Blu<3✨