"Su Chen, where did you go?"
Having just arrived at the Butterfly Mansion, Su Chen was met with a concerned question from Shinobu Kocho when she saw him return.
"It's nothing. I just stayed a little longer at the Demon Slayer Corps' Oyakata-sama's house."
Su Chen looked up at Muichiro Tokito beside Shinobu Kocho.
At that moment, Muichiro Tokito was lying quietly in a hospital bed.
His expression was peaceful.
And apart from a few Butterfly Mansion staff members nearby, not a single person had come to see him.
Su Chen asked, "How is he doing?"
Shinobu Kocho shook her head. "I'm not sure. He still hasn't woken up."
Shinobu Kocho continued, "But I've already treated all his external injuries and such."
Then concern appeared on Shinobu Kocho's face. "Su Chen, do you think young Tokito might really end up in a vegetative state?"
Shinobu Kocho was a doctor too.
She also understood Muichiro Tokito's condition very well.
Even as a doctor, she couldn't be certain of his chances of waking up.
His chances of survival could be called one in ten.
But Su Chen shook his head. "No. He's just lost. He'll definitely wake up once along the way. I believe in him."
"No one who becomes a Hashira is that simple. They all have strong wills, don't they?"
"They do."
Shinobu Kocho smiled, then, as though something had occurred to him, asked Su Chen another question. "I heard from Lady Amane that Hashira-level Training will be starting soon."
"That's right," Su Chen replied.
He hadn't expected Shinobu Kocho to receive the news so quickly.
Before Su Chen could even mention it, the Dish Crow's message had reached this place ahead of him.
Then Shinobu Kocho asked Su Chen, barely able to contain herself, "What will your training be?"