Giyu Awakens!

The morning light was clear and almost dazzling.

Giyu Tomioka's eyelids fluttered a few times before opening.

His ice-blue eyes were unfocused at first, reflecting the simple wood grain on the ceiling.

It took him nearly three seconds to confirm that he was looking at the medical department's ceiling, not the shattered night sky over the Blue Stone Town dojo, nor some soft light or darkness from a hallucination as he lay dying.

The sensations in his body soon came rushing back into focus.

A heavy sense of confinement gripped his torso and limbs, the result of layer upon layer of bandages wrapped around him.

I'm still alive...

The realization surfaced calmly in his mind. There was no overwhelming joy at having survived, only a sense of confirmation that was almost numb.

I survived... Lower Rank One. And I killed him.

Fragments of memory began to come together:

Cherry blossom petals, fist marks, a broken blade, a head flying through the air, demon blood spraying out, Senior Shinjuro's shoulder and the jostling all along the way... and finally, darkness.

He had succeeded.

A Mizunoto Rank had killed Lower Rank One single-handedly.

That should have been something he would remember for the rest of his life, something that might even change his fate.

But now Giyu's mind was blank.

The Hashira, his achievements, the future, his questions about the system... none of it could get through.

An unprecedented exhaustion that seeped into his bones smothered his mind like thick sludge.

For more than ten days straight, from Mount Fujikasane to Defiled Wood Mountain and then to Blue Stone Town, he had fought, bled, rushed from place to place, struggled on the brink of life and death, and pushed himself beyond his limits again and again...

His nerves had been stretched too taut, and he had worn himself down too much.

Now, everything was over for the time being.

The sunlight was warm, the bedding dry and soft, and the air carried the scent of soothing herbs and a faint fragrance of wisteria.

For once, Giyu thought about nothing at all. He simply kept his ice-blue eyes open,

quietly watching the wood grain on the ceiling as he let time drift slowly by with the moving beam of sunlight.

If only~~~ I could lie here like this every day, with nothing to do and nothing to think about~~~

A tiny, almost decadent thought slipped quietly through his mind.

For someone like him, who had always carried responsibilities on his back, the simple desire to rest felt as extravagant as a crime. Yet it was real enough to leave even him a little dazed.

After an unknown amount of time, footsteps came from the corridor outside the door, so faint that only his keen ears could have caught them.

The footsteps were light and brisk, with a hint of caution, and stopped outside the door.

Then came the soft swish of the door sliding open.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a figure slip through the opening.

It was a girl.

She looked very young, probably... about his age?

Around thirteen or fourteen.

She wore a nurse's uniform that had clearly been altered to fit her smaller frame, with a clean, light green smock over it and a little white nurse's cap on her head. Two playful locks of short chestnut hair peeked out from beneath the cap.

She was short and slender, and held a wooden tray with medicine bottles and gauze on it.

The girl had a round, babyish face, fair skin, and large amber eyes that shone with curiosity and energy.

She tiptoed inside and gently closed the door behind her, her movements full of the excitement of someone sneaking around doing something naughty.

Then she turned her head, her gaze going straight to the bed—

And met Giyu's ice-blue eyes, which had turned toward her at some point, perfectly calm and without a ripple of emotion.

"Wah!!"

Clearly not expecting her patient to be awake, the girl gave a little startled cry and nearly sent the tray flying.

She scrambled to steady it, then patted her flat chest, her big amber eyes wide and round, o(ﾟДﾟ)っ!

Two patches of red instantly appeared on her cheeks, whether from fright or something else.

But the next second, her fright turned into undisguised, sparkling excitement.

"You're awake! You're really awake! Mom was right, you really do recover amazingly fast!!"

The girl's voice was crisp, like a bird hopping through the woods, and she spoke rapidly.

In a few steps, she was at the bedside, bringing her face almost right up to Giyu's bandaged one and staring at him with her big amber eyes without blinking.

That look... it was less like she was looking at a gravely wounded patient and more like she was examining some extremely rare specimen waiting to be studied.

For some reason, Giyu's heart gave a jolt under her gaze, and an uneasy chill quietly crept over him.

He tried to ask something, but his desperately dry throat produced only a faint breath.

He tried to move a little, only to find that he was wrapped in bandages like a true mummy. Only his fingers and toes could move slightly; he couldn't put up any meaningful struggle or assume a defensive posture.

Their eyes met.

Giyu saw the obsession and desire to investigate growing stronger in the girl's eyes, almost taking tangible form.

In some ways, that look made him feel even more... at a loss than Lower Rank One's greedy gaze had.

"Hey, hey, you're Giyu Tomioka, right? The medical miracle who killed Lower Rank One all by himself!"

Completely ignoring Giyu's silent protest, the girl began chattering away, her voice full of wonder.

"Mom showed me the record of your injuries when you were brought in. Oh my God! More than thirty cracked or broken bones all over your body! Extensive muscle tears! Internal bleeding!"

"An ordinary swordsman... no, even a Hashira would have died already! But you really did stabilize in just a few hours, and now you can even open your eyes! Your recovery is the greatest of all time!"

She set down the tray, then actually pulled a little notebook and a charcoal pencil from her smock pocket and began scribbling away, talking all the while:

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Hanazawa Ichigo! I'm determined to become the best medic in the Demon Slayer Corps and develop the strongest medicine for injuries!"

"So—"

She looked up, her amber eyes frighteningly bright, and spoke in a tone that mixed pleading with a refusal to take no for an answer.

"Giyu, please let me study your body thoroughly!"

"What's going on with your recovery, anyway? Cellular activity? A special metabolism? Or is some hidden Breathing Style helping you?"

"Can I draw just a little blood for a sample? Just a tiny bit! Or could I check how your wounds are healing? I'm very gentle!"

Giyu: "..."

Inside: Study? Sample? Draw blood?

Looking at the girl with the burning gaze before him, he had a clear desire to keep his distance for the first time.

Unfortunately, bound up in bandages and unable to speak, he could only keep looking at her with his largely expressionless eyes, hoping his poker-faced aura would make her back off.

Clearly, that didn't work on the overly lively Ichigo.

Seeing that Giyu wasn't speaking and was only staring at her, Ichigo tilted her head, then clapped her hands as realization dawned.

"Ah! Right, you must be uncomfortable wrapped up like that. Mom also said we could start taking off some of the bandages today and check how you're healing. Perfect!"

She immediately put down her notebook and rubbed her hands together, excitement on her face. Taking the sterilized scissors from the tray, she carefully began cutting open the bandages around Giyu's chest and abdomen.

"Don't worry, don't worry. I've learned from Mom lots of times, so I'm very skilled!"

As Ichigo worked gently, she didn't forget to reassure Giyu.

"It might tickle a little, but your recovery is so strong that the wounds must be healing really well... Wow!!"

As layer after layer of bandages came off, Giyu's body was revealed beneath them.

The boy's body, tempered by long training and his Breathing Style, was lean and solid, with well-proportioned muscles that weren't exaggerated but seemed to conceal strength.

And once the bandages were removed, his sharply featured, handsome face was fully revealed, its cold, fragile appearance heightened by his exhaustion...

"Um..."

Ichigo's hands visibly froze, and the tips of her little ears turned red before his eyes. (/ω＼)

She quickly glanced at Giyu's expressionless face, then immediately lowered her head to stare at the bandages in her hands, her breathing seeming to falter.

The intense gaze she had fixed on him earlier, as though he were a specimen to be studied, was replaced by an evasive look mingled with shyness and even more curiosity.

Giyu saw every bit of her reaction.

Can I really trust this girl...?

Taking advantage of the slight improvement in his throat, he forced out a hoarse but clear voice and asked the question he'd had since she entered:

"...Are you... really... my attending physician?"

His tone held nothing but genuine curiosity, without a trace of mockery. Paired with his poker face and blunt question, though, the effect was maxed out.

Hanazawa Ichigo jerked her head up, and the flush on her face exploded, spreading down to the base of her neck.

Her big amber eyes instantly filled with flames of indignation and embarrassment at being underestimated. (#`Д´)ﾉ

"W-what do you mean by that?!?! Are you questioning my abilities?!"

"I may not be a full-fledged doctor yet, but I'm the daughter of the physician Shirakawa Sumie!"

"I've been learning to recognize medicinal herbs since I could walk! I know how to bandage wounds, change dressings, prepare decoctions, and keep medical records! Mom even praised me for being talented!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she glared at Giyu with puffed-out cheeks.

"And! And who told you I was your attending physician?!?!"

Giyu blinked, a rare hint of genuine confusion appearing in his ice-blue eyes.

"...You're not?"

"Of course not!!"

Ichigo planted her hands on her hips, her voice rising a little without her noticing. She immediately remembered that they were in a hospital room and hurriedly lowered it again, though her anger hadn't faded.

"Your attending physician is my mom! Doctor Shirakawa Sumie! She's one of the people in charge of the Demon Slayer Corps' medical department!"

"I just... just heard that Mom had taken on a patient whose injuries were ridiculously severe but whose recovery was as strong as a monster's, and I couldn't resist my curiosity, so... so I came to have a look!"

As she went on, her bluster noticeably weakened, and she glanced at the door with a guilty look.

Giyu: "..."

So he had just been gawked at like a rare specimen by a little girl with too much curiosity, and had almost been studied too?

He sighed silently and closed his eyes.

Although there was little expression on his face, the gesture fully conveyed how speechless he felt.

Seeing Giyu close his eyes, Ichigo thought he didn't believe her and grew even angrier, but she couldn't very well vent more anger on someone so badly hurt.

All she could do was puff out her cheeks even further and continue removing the remaining bandages with an indignant huff, though her hands remained careful.

Just then, the hospital room door slid open again.

A woman with a dashing, composed air walked in.

Her hair was arranged in a neat bun, and her face resembled Ichigo's somewhat, but her eyes and brows held a calm and wisdom left by time.

She immediately spotted her daughter removing bandages at the bedside with puffed-out cheeks, as well as Giyu resting with his eyes closed on the bed.

"Ichigo."

The doctor's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unmistakable seriousness.

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb seriously injured patients at will? Especially since Lord Giyu has only just woken up and needs absolute quiet."

"M-Mom!"

Ichigo trembled in fright and nearly dropped the scissors. She hurriedly stood straight, like an elementary schooler caught in the act of misbehaving.

"I-I just came to have a look... and help out while I was here..."

Doctor Shirakawa walked to the bedside and first bowed slightly to Giyu, who had opened his eyes. Her tone was gentle and professional.

"Lord Giyu, you're awake. How are you feeling? I'm your attending physician, Shirakawa Sumie."

"My daughter was thoughtless and disturbed your rest. I'm terribly sorry."

She glared at her daughter, and Ichigo immediately shrank back and obediently retreated to the side.

Giyu shook his head slightly to show it was all right.

His gaze fell on Doctor Shirakawa. Compared with the overly lively Ichigo, this mother was clearly much closer to his idea of a doctor.

"My... haori."

Giyu spoke hoarsely, asking the question that concerned him most.

"The red... one. Where is it?"

It was something his sister Tsutako had left behind, and was perhaps his most precious keepsake of her.

Doctor Shirakawa's face took on an apologetic look, and she explained in a soft voice:

"While you were unconscious, that haori was soaked through with blood and dirt, and it was also very badly damaged."

"For hygiene and to prevent infection, I had someone wash it carefully."

"But..."

She paused, seemingly considering how to put it.

"But the extent of the damage... was simply too severe."

"There are several tears and holes right through the shoulders, back, and cuffs. The fabric itself has also become very fragile from being soaked in blood and worn down in battle."

"Even after washing and some basic repairs, I'm afraid... it can't be worn anymore. I'm very sorry!!!"

It couldn't... be worn anymore?

Giyu froze.

His ice-blue eyes widened slightly as he stared blankly at Doctor Shirakawa.

The calm mask that hadn't changed even when faced with Ichigo's study and antics finally showed a crack.

It was as if he hadn't heard her clearly, or perhaps he had, but couldn't understand.

That red haori... the haori his sister had left behind, carrying her presence and her blessing... was ruined? It couldn't be worn anymore?

It was more than just a piece of clothing.

It was his connection to his departed family, a witness to his past, and a small, warm haven in his heart.

And now... it was ruined?

"I... what my sister..."

Giyu's voice was so low it was nearly inaudible, carrying a rare tremor, as though he were talking to himself.

"Left behind... I... ruined it?"

He didn't cry, and there wasn't even much of a dramatic change in his expression.

But his gaze had gone vacant in an instant, his lips pressed slightly together, and the air around him had suddenly sunk,

making Doctor Shirakawa's heart tighten and leaving Hanazawa Ichigo, who had still been quietly sulking, stunned. She looked uncertainly at the boy who had seemed as unapproachable as a block of ice just moments ago.

The hospital room fell quiet, with only the occasional birdcall coming from outside the window.

The sunlight remained bright, shining on Giyu's pale, vacant face...