The Butterfly Mansion Ward.
Zenitsu lay on the bed and yawned contentedly.
Aside from some abdominal pain, I'm able to lie in bed like this, with food to eat, clothes to wear, and the opportunity to see Nezuko for most of the day.
Such days... such days...
"It's like a dream!" Zenitsu couldn't help but exclaim.
"Huh? Were you dreaming while you were sleeping, Zenitsu?" Tanjiro looked at him suspiciously.
Zenitsu said, "I mean days like these!"
"What's wrong with this kind of life?" Tanjiro was still somewhat puzzled.
"These days are like a dream!" Zenitsu explained.
Tanjiro turned his head and looked around.
Only three people were lying in the large hospital room at that moment.
Since the demons have reduced their activity frequency, the beds in the Butterfly Mansion have gradually become vacant.
If Tanjiro and the others hadn't been injured and hospitalized together, there would only be one other team member in this ward right now.
Tanjiro laughed, "It feels like a dream. I've stayed in the Butterfly Mansion's wards several times, and this is the first time I've seen so few people!"
Zenitsu rolled his eyes at Tanjiro, turned away from Tanjiro, and ignored him.
Sure enough, there's no point in explaining anything to this kind of abnormal guy!
Even if I told Tanjiro, he wouldn't understand what I was saying, would he?
Click!
The door opened, Inosuke walked in, looking exhausted.
Tanjiro asked happily, " Inosuke, have you finished training today too?"
Inosuke nodded, not having the energy to say anything more, and went straight to his bed and lay down.
Zenitsu turned around, bypassing Tanjiro, and asked Inosuke:
" Inosuke, your injury isn't fully healed yet? You could have skipped training, so why did you go?"
Inosuke lay weakly on the bed, opening his mouth to utter, "Ugh... uh..."
"Huh? Inosuke, what are you saying?" Tanjiro didn't quite catch it.
"He said he was still too weak and needed to become stronger!" Zenitsu hearing was better, explained.
After listening to Zenitsu's explanation, Tanjiro immediately turned back and looked at Inosuke with excitement.
"Yeah! Inosuke! Once my injury heals a little better, I'll train with you guys! Let's get stronger together then!"
Upon hearing Tanjiro's words, Zenitsu immediately became anxious.
"Hey! Why are you doing this? Your injury isn't healed yet, so you should rest more and let it heal completely! Why are you training with this injury? What if it gets worse?"
Having said that, he looked at Tanjiro with a serious expression.
"Especially you, Tanjiro, your injury is affecting your bones! Don't go training before your injury has fully healed, or it will worsen and you'll be finished!"
Zenitsu genuinely believes this; isn't it common sense to treat injuries properly while they're still healing?
Of course, he wasn't that keen on training either.
Tanjiro lowered his head and began to think upon hearing this.
He wanted to resume training as soon as possible, but he was also worried about the situation Zenitsu described.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kato will arrange the training according to our injuries!" Inosuke said weakly, lying on the bed.
Tanjiro's spirits lifted immediately upon hearing this, and he nodded vigorously, "Yes! As expected of Mr. Kato!"
Zenitsu raised his hand upon seeing this, but didn't know what else to say.
His arm slowly drooped down, Zenitsu blankly at the snow-white ceiling.
Tanjiro and Inosuke both participated in training before their injuries had fully healed, and he felt that he might not escape the same treatment later.
"Hey! Zenitsu, didn't this battle make you feel weak?" Inosuke suddenly turned his head and asked Zenitsu.
"You can feel it, right? What's wrong?" Zenitsu asked.
"Then why don't you want to become stronger?" Inosuke asked.
Zenitsu said, "Is that even a question? Getting stronger is exhausting!"
Tanjiro tilted his head, somewhat puzzled, and said, "But it can make you stronger!"
"I know! But it's tiring! People don't like doing tiring things, isn't that normal?" Zenitsu said matter-of-factly.
"Huh? Really?" Tanjiro blinked, somewhat puzzled.
Inosuke nodded in agreement, "Ah! As long as I can become stronger, I'll do anything!"
Upon hearing this, Zenitsu let out a soft sigh and decided not to communicate with these two abnormal humans.
Just as he was about to lie back down on the bed, Tanjiro suddenly exclaimed in surprise:
" Zenitsu, you actually felt something this time?"
"Is it strange that I feel weak when fighting the Upper Rank?"
Zenitsu looked at Tanjiro strangely.
"We've only been in the team for six months! To achieve this level is already quite impressive! For ordinary team members..."
Zenitsu stopped halfway through his sentence.
He originally meant to say that ordinary team members might never reach his current level in their entire lives.
But then I suddenly remembered that there was another team member inside.
Although he truly felt that he was a genius who could already face the Upper Rank after only half a year in the team.
But it's best not to say it!
Tanjiro shook his head. "That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you say?" Zenitsu, somewhat puzzled.
"It's that..." Tanjiro thought for a moment, then rearranged his words, "Didn't you always faint during battles before? And then a really strong Zenitsu would come up and fight the demon instead!"
"Oh! You mean that?" Zenitsu said, showing little interest.
"Yes! Yes!" Tanjiro nodded seriously. "After that before, when you woke up, you always seemed to have amnesia and didn't remember what happened. But this time, you actually remember!"
Zenitsu lay back down and said, "Because I'm awake this time!"
Tanjiro was a little confused. "Huh? Why? You're not going to slay demons while you're asleep anymore? I thought you were so cool the way you were before!"
"That's just because I was afraid of ghosts in the past and didn't understand myself!" Zenitsu said frankly.
"You don't anymore?" Tanjiro asked.
"Ah! Now you finally understand yourself!" Zenitsu nodded.
"Then let's train together!" Tanjiro said excitedly.
Zenitsu immediately retorted, "Hey, hey, hey! These are two different things! Killing demons is killing demons, and training is training! My willingness to accept a mission to kill demons doesn't mean I've accepted training!"
"Huh? Aren't these the same?" Tanjiro, somewhat puzzled.
"How are these the same?! One is about killing demons, the other is about training. They don't even have the same name!" Zenitsu explained frantically.
"Isn't the purpose of training to kill demons?" Tanjiro asked.
Zenitsu roared, "Eating is for living, but do you live just to eat?"
"Ah! It's not impossible!"
Inosuke interrupted, then lay quietly on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, muttering to himself.
"Eat, eat..."
Zenitsu raised his hand to cover his face, utterly bewildered by the situation; it seemed those two couldn't be compared like that.
Oh well, if Tanjiro also goes to training before his injuries are fully healed, then I'll probably get the same treatment when it's my turn.
Training is like being haunted; you can't just refuse it if you want to!