A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad that people are excited for this fic. Someone asked about shipping and I just want to say that this would be mostly a gen fic, so there won't be much romance. There is one pairing I'm planning to develop at the moment (probably two, but I'm not sure yet) but it will only be shipping if you squint. And you probably have to squint very, very hard. ^^;

Chapter Eight: Like Water, Like Sun

Nezuko was furious with being informed only after everything was all said and done. She was furious at Tanjirou for apparently not sleeping, and then she was furious at Urokodaki for not telling her. She was furious that Urokodaki saw fit to test Tanjirou's self-control like that with the threat of killing him hanging over his head, furious that Tanjirou had been okay with it. She was grumpy and angry all throughout the day they told her, but Tanjirou wasn't fooled. Nezuko was not really angry at them, who she was angry at was really herself— for not realizing Tanjirou's predicament, for not being there for him. Tanjirou's heart reached out to her and he gave her a big hug, wanting to tell her that everything was okay. Wanting to tell her that he was fine now, that there was no longer anything to worry about.

When Nezuko saw Urokodaki's bandaged arm, she stated that she should have been the one there to offer her blood to Tanjirou. Urokodaki disagreed. According to him, there was no point in the test if it was Nezuko's life on the line. Tanjirou would never hurt her. And Tanjirou knew he was right. In a way, he was glad it was Urokodaki who was there that night and not Nezuko— it only proved to him that as flimsy his self-restraint felt sometimes, he was still in control.

Either way, Tanjirou was glad to have chosen the third option. He was already feeling infinitely better. He was no longer tired or lethargic, no longer felt like blinking too long was going to put him in another month-long coma. He felt lively, energized. He had even thrown caution to the wind and attempted to sleep the next day, relieved to find out that he woke up only after a few hours without any trouble. The fear of sleeping through the rest of Nezuko's life was finally removed from his shoulders, and he couldn't be any happier. The only thing left to do was decide on how to go about implementing this new development into their lives, into their routine.

One day, a talking crow came to Urokodaki's hut, carrying a package in its claws. Urokodaki took it carefully and told the two kids to sit down as he needed to talk to them both. Nezuko and Tanjirou watched as Urokodaki opened the package and procured a small wooden box, saying that it was something he had requested from a place he called the "Butterfly Mansion". Inside was a fairly large syringe made of glass and metal, along with a collection of empty vials and needles. Urokodaki taught both of them how to draw someone's blood, how to screw and sharpen the needles, how to sterilize the syringe and the vials after use, as well as the dangers of messing up. The two of them learned eagerly, promising to keep everything in mind. Urokodaki told Tanjirou that they were going to have to observe him for now, see how much blood he needed to sustain him, how often he needed to feed. This observation period would go on for months. In the meantime, Tanjirou was to keep a journal, writing on it religiously about his hunger, his mood, and his physical condition. Tanjirou didn't mind— he had nothing to do in the day but sleep anyways. Whenever he gets bored, he'd just whip out his journal and write.

At night though, Urokodaki had stayed true to his word. He had started training Tanjirou in the way of the sword— teaching him the proper grip, the proper aim, the proper stance. He was a strict teacher, but he was not as brutal to Tanjirou as he was to Nezuko, claiming that what he was giving Tanjirou was not demon slayer training, that it was nothing more than an extra-curricular activity. He taught him the basics of Total Concentration Breathing, and while he did not teach him the Water Breathing Forms, he did take some time to help him figure out and incorporate the forms of the Hinokami Kagura. Nezuko was thrilled to be learning breathing forms alongside her brother. Dinner times became filled with chatter that— even though Tanjirou could not participate— he immensely enjoyed. Tanjirou couldn't help but feel like Urokodaki's hut had become like a second home.

And just like that, the seasons passed.

A year into their stay at Mt. Sagiri, Tanjirou found Nezuko sitting at the clearing where he first performed the Hinokami Kagura, sitting on the very same log, staring up in the sky, contemplative. Tanjirou had very much expected her to be still up the mountain, running through loads of traps like the usual, so he was surprised to see her there. She had a worried, slightly hopeless look on her face, glaring at the moon as if it had done her a personal offense. Her hands were still clutching the blade she uses for training, the dull steel reflecting the moonlight. Tanjirou sat beside her silently, catching her attention. The demon boy tilted his head at her questioningly, silently asking what she was doing here, why she looked so forlorn.

"Urokodaki-san told me he had nothing left to teach me anymore," Nezuko confessed. She reached her hand out to take his, basking in the comfort of the shared heat. Tanjirou noted how Nezuko's once-soft hand was now rough and filled with calluses, brought upon by an entire year of hard work and harsh treatment. He traced each one with his finger, thinking about the story of each of them, still amazed with how much work Nezuko was willing to do for his sake. Even now, a year later, her resolve remained unshaken. "He told me whether or not I can improve to the next level is up to me. And then he showed me this huge, huge boulder and told me— if I could slice through that boulder, he would allow me to enter the Final Selection." She squeezed his hand. "This is it, Onii-chan, the finish line is so close but— is a boulder even something you can slice with a sword? I tried and tried and… I don't think I'm doing this right."

Tanjirou squeezed her hand back. He gave her an encouraging smile as he gestured at himself. About a month ago, Urokodaki had chosen to stop teaching Tanjirou as well. He had told him pretty much the same thing— that it was up to him now, that there was no more knowledge he could impart— and to this day Tanjirou still wasn't sure what he meant. Tanjirou was a decent swordsman now, but certainly not on par with Urokodaki, or even Giyuu. He wasn't sure what he needed to do to continue to improve, either. Nezuko knew this. They were both in the same rut. Though the matter was not as dire to him given that he had no Final Selection to pass and no boulder to slice, it was still the same, in a sense.

Nezuko gave Tanjirou a soft smile. "I guess this is just one more thing we need to overcome together."

An idea sprung to Tanjirou's mind. He immediately stood up, smiled at Nezuko, lifted a finger up as if to say wait a minute, and ran back into the hut. Nezuko let out a small sound of surprise at his sudden action but Tanjirou paid her no heed. He immediately went inside the house, bowed to Urokodaki in greeting, before taking two of the wooden swords from the cabinet, bowed to Urokodaki again, and hurried back out into the clearing. By the time he arrived back, Nezuko was already standing up and staring at him openmouthed, asking, "Onii-chan?"

Tanjirou brandished the two wooden swords proudly and tossed one towards Nezuko. He then walked to the middle of the clearing, took a deep breath, and positioned himself in a fighting stance. At first Nezuko seemed confused, but then she started to get it. Her face lit up with delight as she stood in front of Tanjirou with the same stance, face set in a determined expression.

A mock battle.

Tanjirou and Nezuko had started sparring early on in their training. Sometimes, after Nezuko had gone back from the mountain and Tanjirou had finished his nightly drills, Urokodaki would tell them to grab some wooden swords and fight each other as if it was to the death. He said he always did it whenever he had more than one student around, as fighting with an opponent on the same level could prove fruitful in gaining experience and learning your own bad habits and weaknesses. At first both of them had been very reluctant. They were raised in the type of family that discouraged fighting between siblings, whether verbal or physical. Neither Nezuko nor Tanjirou had a competitive bone in their body, and they both worried they would hurt the other too much. With a little coaxing though, they managed to ease into it, their mock battles becoming more and more intense over time, as each of them wanted to prove to Urokodaki that they had learned something, that they were getting stronger.

These days, their sparring has become almost like another bonding activity, something to do when you're wanting to have some fun. There's the added bonus of it being educational.

The two of them stood face to face, wooden swords at the ready, watching each other intently as they waited for the other to make the first move. This time, Tanjirou thought he would go on the offensive. That plan was foiled though, when as soon as he braced to attack, Nezuko lunged, bringing down her sword with force onto his face.

Tanjirou took a step back, lifting his sword to parry her blow with the handle. He twisted his body to try and make Nezuko lose her balance, but Nezuko dropped to the ground, sweeping her foot down to try and trip him. Tanjirou jumped back, letting out a low growl at the dirty trick, trying to get some distance, but Nezuko was back in his face again, forcefully attacking him with blow after blow, seemingly pouring the frustration she felt over not being able to cut the boulder down onto her older brother. Tanjirou met all her blows, stepping back all the while, until he finally decided he wanted none of it and took a deep breath.

Hinokami Kagura. First Form, he thought, dodging one of Nezuko's blows and twisting his body to give momentum to a high-powered vertical slash. Dance!

For a moment, it seemed like he could smell something, a thread of sorts, lingering in the air. It was connected from his wooden sword to Nezuko's opening, growing taut— but then he blinked and it was gone. To his surprise, Nezuko saw through his attack. She took one step back to avoid the blow, before jumping and twisting her body in a flowing fashion. Tanjirou did not need to hear her whisper to know which form it was. He had sparred with her enough to know.

"Water Breathing. Fourth Form: Striking Tide!" She made multiple consecutive slashes at Tanjirou, who avoided it with Hinokami Kagura Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow. They parried some more, both starting to get out of breath, but neither folding to the other's will.

At one point Tanjirou had started jumping around from tree to tree with his demon body (an unfair advantage, but one that Nezuko calls him out on when he does not use it), attacking Nezuko from different angles, which she counteracted by using the swift footwork of Water Breathing. Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow. She moved around the clearing, avoiding each of his attacks seamlessly, before then using Third Form: Flowing Dance to follow him around, moving like waves on the surface of the water, swinging her blade around to hit both his arms and legs, the hits causing him to fall on his back.

Had she been using a real blade, he would have been delimbed completely. As it happens, she was not, and he was not human, so her blows would not even bruise. Still, he didn't think it was fair for him to continue without calling it, as it was his little sister's achievement, so he raised his hand in a gesture for: I yield.

Nezuko looked out of breath, but her face lit up in a smile. "I won? I got you, didn't I, Onii-chan?" she said excitedly, reaching down a hand to help him get up. Tanjirou smiled with his eyes and nodded. He was out of breath too, using his sleeve to wipe away some of his sweat. He thought back to the fight, as he always did after one, thinking about what he could have done better, how he could have won.

He remembered the scent of the thread, as it was not the first time he had seen it. He wondered what was that all about.

Nezuko at least seemed to have cheered up, no longer discouraged now that she had evidence of her improvement. She stared at her hands, clenching them tight as she declared. "I'm gonna train even harder tomorrow, and the next day… and the next! I'll slice that boulder, Onii-chan. One day— I'm sure of it!"

Tanjirou smiled at her and nodded, patting her head affectionately. She smiled back as they gathered the swords and started walking back home in better spirits. Nezuko chattered about the fight, what she noticed in her own stances, and Tanjirou made grunting noises to point out what he thinks she's done wrong in her footwork or swordplay. It was a one-sided talk, but she did not have much trouble deciphering his grunts and growls, having had a year of experience of dealing with it. Nezuko was so patient in trying to understand Tanjirou, never irritated or annoyed, and Tanjirou had to thank the gods for giving him such an understanding little sister.

For a moment, just a single moment, Tanjirou thought he saw someone standing behind one of the trees, but when he turned his head to really look, he was gone. Strange. There weren't any scents of other people around though, so he supposed it must have been his imagination.

Still, even as he settled into the night, he couldn't help but think of a boy with peach-colored hair and a scarred fox mask.

She was there, among the restless spirits that live in the forests near their beloved mentor's home, sitting down on top of a large boulder that was placed in the middle of the clearing: the final hurdle. The only thing keeping the latest demon slayer candidate from participating in the dreaded Final Selection. The girl was wearing a flowery kimono, her deep cyan eyes staring out into the distance as she hummed, hands absentmindedly weaving a crown of flowers. In the distance, the shadows shifted, and without missing a beat she smiled at the newcomer, her greatest friend.

"How was it, Sabito?" she asked. The masked boy walked closer to the boulder, seemingly deep in thought.

"Makomo, I don't think we're going to be needed," Sabito confessed.

Makomo's eyes widened, surprised. "Oh?"

"Yes…" Sabito replied as he took off his mask, looking up with his lavender eyes and giving Makomo a relieved smile. "Tanjirou and Nezuko, I think… they're going to be alright."

At that, Makomo smiled, looking up into the sky as she raised the crown of flowers she was weaving onto her head. "Really? That's a relief." She closed her eyes. "We were worried for nothing."

The shadows of the forest seemed to shift. There were twelve other souls here aside from them, all restless, all waiting for the moment their deaths were given justice. They all loved Urokodaki very much, that's why they're here— but in the end, all deceased souls must eventually depart. Makomo and Sabito, too. She opened her eyes.

"I hope she beats that person, too. And then… everyone will be in peace."

Taisho Secret: Despite deciding that they won't be needed, Sabito and Makomo still watches Tanjirou and Nezuko train from time to time. They were happy to see the siblings working very hard, pleased that they were pushing each other not to give up.