The One-Sided Wager

Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of Breath of the Rifleman! Now before we start, a quick announcement that I imagine some of you have been wondering about: I plan on resuming Team WA Vol. 2 next week, which means I'll be delaying one chapter for one of my other stories each week. At the moment I'm doing good to get almost two chapters out a week and I will not be able to tackle three chapters in that same time span. Hopefully this won't prove to be too big of an issue, but again, it's something we'll save for next week. In the meantime, I'll give the usual shout outs to LoneTaker, groche9655 and Noble Eight for their contributions to the story thus far. And to answer DCDGojira: I plan on resuming my Rising of the Shield Hero story shortly after the anime resumes(which I am VERY IMPATIENTLY WAITING FOR!) and I've got one or two other stories on the drawing board, though it's still a bit early to say which ones I'll do as of yet. Now then, onto the story!

Forest of the Swordsmith Village

'Come on,' thought Subaru as he focused more on the image in his mind, 'just try to keep it together for more than a few seconds this time.' The image he had in his head was very much like the one that Azakeru normally inhabited, a snowy wood. Currently, he had the little demon girl in his mind using all the available power of her blood demon art in an effort to recreate the 'Domain' ability they'd witnessed on their way back from Hokkaido. As much as the Matagi hated to admit it, having another powerful technique at his disposal would likely prove beneficial in bringing down Muzan and the remaining Upper Moons.

Unsurprisingly, however, trying to perform a technique you've only seen and know next to nothing about, is a bit challenging? Case in point, the image of the snowy woods he was trying to conjure only managed to last for about a full ten seconds before completely disappearing. "Ah, dammit," cursed Subaru as he opened his eyes, "that was the longest time yet but only because I'm sitting still and doing nothing. I still can't see myself using this thing in midbattle without some kind of help or preparation."

"You want my opinion, we should be happy we're even able to do this at all right now," Azakeru chimed in, "sure my blood demon arts have grown in strength but casting this Domain ability is supposed to be something only powerful demons are capable of achieving. And it's not like it's the only trick we can use."

"Admittedly," replied Subaru as he stood up and placed his eye patch back on, "your Willow's Windpath is really coming along and that demon mark thing we pulled off against Asir Reia is pretty useful too. I don't plan on neglecting either of them, I just think it wouldn't hurt to have another trick up our sleeve."

"As you've mentioned," said Azakeru, "for now let's just be glad that you can kind of summon the mark on command and I can use my Willow's Windpath without getting tired as easily."

"If we're being as optimistic as Tanjiro, any progress at all is good news," said Subaru as he began heading back towards the village, but not before stopping by the clearing where said friend had been training. The sound of sword clashing against wood had died down, leading the Matagi to believe that their session was either finished or Tanjiro simply couldn't move anymore. It turned out to be the latter when he showed up to find his friend collapsed on the ground, mumbling about needing water while Kotetsu had pulled a sleeping mat out of simply nowhere to get some sleep on his own. 'The kid really meant it when he said he'd get no food or water,' he thought with a sigh before pulling out a canteen and discreetly giving some to Tanjiro.

Shika had followed his instructions from earlier that day and had brought the canteen to him. He'd taken a short break from his training to fill it with water, just in case either he or his friend needed it. Though looking at the unconscious slayer right now, Subaru was fairly certain he'd need to bring a couple bites of food next time. But that was an issue for another time as the Rifleman took his cloak off and put it on Tanjiro, then proceeded to grab Nezuko's box before heading back to the village itself.

In truth, he would've liked to carry his friend back too, but he knew Tanjiro would decline such an offer if he was awake and he really didn't want to be dealing with a yelling kid like Kotetsu at any time of the day either. So he ventured back to the residence they were currently being allowed to lodge in and deposited his weapons in the nearby corner before collapsing to the floor as his exhaustion finally caught up to him. 'I guess those blood demon arts really take it out of me too if I use them carelessly,' he realized as he stared at the ceiling for a bit. Though his thoughts on the matter were cut short as the creaking sound of Nezuko's box opening drew his attention to the little demon girl.

"Hey Nezuko, did you rest well?" He asked as the girl curled up under his arm like a cat, mumbling a bit in response. "Yeah well some of that sitting around I did was surprisingly exhausting, though your brother's still probably getting the shorter end of the stick." The demon girl mumbled a couple more times in response to that. "Yeah I kind of left him in the woods with that kid and the mechanical doll. Hopefully the training won't take him too much longer, though I am gonna discreetly slip him food and water until he masters whatever it is he needs to master."

The demon girl nodded her head while still giving him a questioning look. "Yeah I can probably take you back up there tomorrow if you want. Though you'll have to wait 'til night if you're gonna cheer him on-." The two leapt up into fighting positions as a knock on the door was heard. "And just who is it at this hour?"

"It's me, Izayoi," said the Shinobi, "I was finally able to get Hidan here. May we come in?"

"Might as well since you're here," replied Subaru as he relaxed only slightly, "but can we keep this relatively short? Me and my friends have another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"This should only take a little bit," said Izayoi as he slid open the door, revealing Hidan who was writing on one of his cards with a small collection of firearms sitting near him, "we were mostly wondering if you'd come to a decision on any new firearms?"

"Well so far I'll probably be sticking with the Webley unless they come up with some other type of pistol," replied Subaru as he and Nezuko both moved to kneeling positions, "as for my main carry, still a bit hard to say. I've liked the feel of that Winchester for a while now and ever since I got used to the lever-action, I've had little trouble with it. The SMLE gun the British brought was admittedly smooth, but hipfiring it was more than a little awkward. If they had a lever-action variant of that Arisaka 44 rifle, I'd probably go with it thanks to that folding bayonet. It's a similar story for that Beretta M1918, it'd work out perfectly if not for that long magazine."

'The magazines come in varying sizes, as you may have guessed,' wrote Hidan, 'worse come to worse, we can have one custom-made with a five to eight round capacity. It shouldn't be in the way for your breath styles then.'

"You may as well leave off the full-auto in that case," said Subaru, "it's useful when you got a lot of ammo, but the range and accuracy is shit in comparison to precision shooting."

"The idea for that weapon's conception was to create a hail of bullets," informed Izayoi, "much like the BAR, but with the added feature of being compact and lightweight."

"Well I prefer precision to bullet hose myself," said Subaru, "something like that is useful against smaller demons, but nothing short of shots to the eyes or mouth is likely to bring down an Upper Moon."

'That reminds me,' wrote Hidan as he handed Subaru a few vials and a slip of paper, 'those are the ingredients to the demon poison used by Tengen Uzui and his kunoichi. They should prove useful in your battles to come.'

"Speaking of battles," said Subaru, "stop me if you don't want to answer, but you weren't always mute were you, Hidan?"

"Very astute," noted Izayoi, "how did you figure out that he wasn't?"

"The way his mouth moves under that cloth," replied Subaru, "he's never once licked his chops. And then I had Zenitsu, the yellow pansy, confirm it with his hearing. You don't have a tongue. What happened exactly?"

Hidan, instead of scribbling anything down, removed a few pieces of paper from his robes and handed them to Subaru, along with an old photo of a man with a large tattoo of a Kirin on his back, though not fully colored in. "He was once a member of a Yakuza family," explained Izayoi as Nezuko and Subaru read through the papers, "it was there that he discovered the firearms industry and how to operate several of the modern firearms we have today. However, the Yakuza family he followed was attacked and massacred by a demon, formerly Lower Moon 4, who was responsible for punching his face in during the attack and nearly destroying his mouth entirely."

"And let me guess, a demon slayer happened to stop by," said Subaru as he crossed his arms.

"Funnily enough, it was your Father and Urokodaki that showed up," said Izayoi, "They were too late to stop the attack, but it was Saburo who found Hidan and carried him back to one of the Corps's bases while Urokodaki dealt with the demon. One might call it fate, but it so happened that your father needed someone more familiar with the weapons he used and Hidan fit the bill."

'I have served the Demon Slayer Corps faithfully ever since they saved my life,' wrote Hidan, 'I have them and your father to thank for giving me a new purpose. And it is my honor to supply and aid Saburo's son as well.'

"Well I guess I can't really complain," said Subaru as he rubbed the back of his head, "Tanjiro wouldn't care that you're a former criminal now that you're helping people, so I won't make a fuss about it either. Though since we're on the subject, you do have some wisteria coated ammunition stored around here just in case, right?"

"We began the coating process as soon as we heard you would be coming here," answered Izayoi, "and before I forget, Miss Garand has just received another delivery that had been delayed. If possible, she'd like you to take a look at it tomorrow."

"I should be able to find the time during the second round of weapon testing," said Subaru, "but before that, do you guys happen to have some specific training equipment I can use?"

"What did you have in mind," asked Izayoi as Subaru got some paper and made a list.

The Next Morning

'And now try to increase speed just a little more,' thought Subaru as he spun around a weighted staff. Under normal circumstances, he'd have more difficulty twirling around a staff which basically had stones attached to both ends. But currently, he'd just managed to activate his demon mark with the help of Azakeru and had been going through one form after the other for a few hours now. He was honestly amazed at how much his stamina and strength were increased by the mark, and his speed was even greater than before.

Even so, however, he still needed to improve his technique and test the limits of the mark, as well as work more on Willow's Windpath and what he was now dubbing 'Domain Expansion Training'. He always saved that final one for last given that he still wasn't great at using it while mobile and he anticipated being somewhat tired by the time he would use it in combat. Though for the moment, he was just about finished with this form as he moved through a few more maneuvers before finally slamming one of the weighted ends against an extra thick tree, destroying the weights surrounding it. "And there goes another set," said Azakeru as the Matagi stopped and wiped some sweat from his brow, "it's a good thing we're working for someone with relatively deep pockets, I don't know how much weights like those cost."

"It's more the cost of labor, I think," said Subaru as he turned and sat with his back against one of the trees, pulling out a snack as he did so, "it takes time for someone to fashion these weights. Given that they're rocks, there's probably not a whole lot involved in gathering them."

"When you put it that way, I guess there's no harm in breaking a few more," said Azakeru as Subaru gave some of his meal to Shika who flew off to deliver the food to Tanjiro. He'd informed her to be discrete about it, mostly to avoid getting an upset reaction from Kotetsu. While he was very good at analyzing, he still had no idea how little time the body could go without food or water. Heck, even the amount Subaru was slipping him still might not be enough to sustain him for his training.

'I'd best check on him pretty soon,' he thought, 'I heard he was supposed to start working with real swords some time today.' Any further thoughts were interrupted, though, when he suddenly felt a presence nearby. He went to pull his revolver, only for a hand to stop him from drawing all the way. "Not bad," said Tokitou, "you actually sensed my presence, though not quite fast enough."

"Muichirou," said Subaru as he holstered his revolver, "so that's why I didn't recognize someone was here earlier, you got no maliciousness to your presence."

"I have no reason to be malicious towards you right now," said Tokitou, "I happened to see you here and thought you might be able to answer a question for me. Do you know the swordsmith Kanamori?"

"The guy who made Inosuke's swords, I've met him," said Subaru, "though from what I hear he's currently trying to find Haganezuka, so I got no idea where he is right now."

"Oh, okay," said Muichirou as he turned to leave, "I guess I'll go find him then."

"Why are you looking for him anyway?" Questioned Subaru, "Tanjiro mentioned you got a new sword from that doll after breaking your other one taking its sixth arm."

"I was informed that Kanamori is my new swordsmith," explained Tokitou, "and that he has another sword waiting for me. I might also get some training in while I'm at it."

"Are you planning on training against that doll again?" Questioned Subaru. He already knew that he couldn't stop the Mist Pillar if he really wanted too and Tanjiro was definitely in no shape to tell him 'no'. But, he had to try something in order to buy time for his friend.

"Why are you concerned about what I'm going to do for my training?" Questioned Muichirou as he glanced back his way.

"Because the doll is, well, in use at the moment," explained Subaru, "and it could take forever to find Kanamori unless we wait for him to return to his home."

"As I explained last time, I think," said Tokitou, "a hashira's time is valuable. I can't spend all day waiting for him."

"Perhaps we can help each other then," suggested Subaru, "as you can likely tell, I'm in the middle of training too. Maybe you can give me a few pointers and let me know some of the flaws in my technique. After all, helping other slayers get better seems a very valuable use of a Hashira's time, at least when it comes to their tsugukos."

"I don't have a tsuguko," informed Tokitou, "and I don't use guns, so unless you're deciding to pick up a sword, I don't think there's much I can teach you."

"I learned how to do more than just shoot things with my guns," replied Subaru as he picked up a wooden sword and his staff, tossing the former to the Mist Pillar, "but maybe we should make this interesting."

"How so?" Questioned Tokitou, still wearing his usual neutral expression.

"If I manage to land even a single blow on you," said Subaru, "then you have to help me train until I leave this village, and you promise not to interfere with Tanjiro's training."

"And should I succeed in pummeling you into submission?" Questioned Tokitou.

"Then I convince Tanjiro to work on some other training method, help you find Kanamori and fulfill any other request you have until you head back to your district," offered Subaru, "consider it compensation for wasting your time."

"If wasting my time is what you're concerned about, then perhaps we should alter the wager," suggested Muichirou, "since you'll never land a blow on me, I'll grant you a handicap: should you force me to use even a single one of my Breath Forms then I'll admit defeat and help you train."

"Well if nothing else, we both sound like arrogant jackasses now," said Subaru as he took a fighting stance, "so why not. Let's see if I can make a great Hashira take me seriously." Muichirou simply shrugged as he took a stance of his own. The two studied each other for a moment, looking for even the slightest twitch in their movements. In the end, it was Subaru who made the first attack, rushing forward with Breath of the Rifleman First Form: Soaring Thrusts!

The Mist Pillar tightened his stance a little, but otherwise showed no visible reaction as the hunter came within striking distance, only to withdraw his attack at the last second and switch to another form. 'Breath of the Rifleman Third Form: Bayonet Dance!' thought the Matagi as he continued moving forward while twirling the staff in his hand. Tokitou moved his sword horizontally across his body, expertly shifting his stance and sword position with each parry.

Subaru had developed this technique as a form of aggressive defense to deflect projectiles and other weapon attacks while also intending to carve up an unwary foe who got too close. Even better, with concentration he could advance towards his enemy, driving them back. At least that's how it had worked so far, but against an opponent like the Mist Pillar, he encountered a couple of issues. Mainly that he could dodge around any of the strikes he didn't block while also using more advanced footwork to circle around him, forcing Subaru to keep adjusting his own stance in order to keep him in view.

This made keeping the complex twirling maneuver going was more difficult and left openings which were readily exploited as Tokitou stabbed his sword forward with only one hand. Subaru moved his head to the side, feeling the air from the strike as it passed less than half an inch from his cheek before spinning with another strike which the Mist Pillar leapt over before delivering a quick kick to the Matagi's face. Subaru again found himself surprised by the amount of force someone of Tokitou's size could dish out as he was knocked to the ground from the strength of the blow. The slayer was quick to lash out with his staff which was swatted aside before the Hashira beared down on him with a downward stab.

Subaru managed to roll to his right just enough to avoid the blow, hearing the wood blade hit the dirt as he struck out with a kick towards his opponent. It succeeded in getting him to retreat a bit, mildly surprised by the sudden strength and speed of his counter. The Matagi managed to roll back up as he took a fighting stance again. "What is that?" Questioned the Hashira, "I thought your eye was out, and where did those other marks come from?"

"They're apparently called demon marks," explained Subaru as he noted that his eyepatch was off, "apparently descendants of powerful slayers have them. As for the eye patch, well, the scar made some people nervous, but I can see out of it just fine."

"Not that it matters," said a Kasugai crow as it landed in a nearby tree. It was a female apparently, at least judging by the eyelashes, "Tokitou Muichirou is a descendant of those who wield the Breath of the Sun. His talent far exceeds one who clearly hasn't ever wielded a sword."

"Oh, do you wield the Breath of the Sun?" Questioned Subaru with a quirked eyebrow. Tokitou was about to answer when the Matagi decided to interrupt. "On second thought, I'll just find out for myself. After all, you're the one who said I got to make you use a breath form, right?" The Mist Pillar nodded his head before resuming his stance.

As before, Subaru charged forward with Form 1: Soaring Thrusts, only this time he used feints at random intervals in an attempt to make the Hashira react at the wrong time. But Tokitou's speed and reflexes were too fast for him to fall for such a tactic as he bobbed, weaved, and parried the incoming strikes. 'Azakeru, now would be a good time to see how we've improved with your blood art,' thought the Matagi as he missed his latest strike. Unlike the other times, Muichirou leapt up and landed on the end of his weapon, balancing with both feet as if he was on a tightrope.

"Your endurance is better than I thought," he said, "I suppose I'll need to be a bit more direct. I have places to be after all." He ran forward along the staff then, swinging his sword in another single hand strike which Subaru only managed to block thanks to raising the other end of the staff over his head. The Mist Pillar leapt off the end, stepping on his fingers as he did, before tagging the Matagi on the back, causing him to stumble forward.

Subaru spun and struck back by swinging his staff around in front of him, aiming for where his opponent had just landed. The Mist Pillar simply leaned his body to the side, bending low to allow the strike to pass right over him before coming in with a thrust of his own. But the Matagi was ready this time, seeing the trajectory of his attack as he leaned slightly to the side, making the blow just graze his back as he brought the staff overhead and thrusted it towards his opponent's chest. The mildly surprised Hashira quickly fell back on his training, pulling back and raising his sword to parry the blow.

Subaru attempted to follow up on his strike, aiming his next attack at Tokitou's leg, making him slide back a couple steps before he countered with a downward diagonal strike that the Matagi blocked with his staff. The two would continue to trade blows for several seconds, the sound of numerous parried and blocked strikes filling the air around the clearing. Eventually, Tokitou managed to spin around another thrusting attack from Subaru and slam the back end of his handle against the Rifleman's ribs. The blow was powerful enough to send the Matagi tumbling where he just managed to right himself into a half-kneeling position.

"You have good eyes," noted Tokitou, "you can discern some of my movements, but your body is a bit slow to catch up. I feel like I know someone else with good eyes, but I can't recall."

"You must be thinking of Kanoe Tsuyuri," noted Subaru as he got shakily to his feet, breathing heavily from the both the fight and the surprisingly powerful blows he'd taken, "Shinobu says she has really good eyes."

"Oh yes, the girl who almost never speaks," said Tokitou, "but then again, I probably wouldn't have been able to recall her even if she spoke more."

"You really should work on memorizing things more," said Subaru as he took a different stance, "being a Hashira doesn't mean you can't be personable."

"Being a Hashira means I have a lot of responsibilities," replied Tokitou as he also took a stance, "there's not much time to be personable, nor is there a lot of time to humor requests from underlings. I'll grant that you've done better than expected, but it's time to end this."

"How about that, something we agree on," said Subaru as he readied his next breath form while also speaking with Azakeru. "Now's as good a time as any. Willow's Windpath has let me keep up with him to an extent and so has the demon mark, so might as well use that last one for a final strike."

"If you think it'll work," replied Azakeru with a shrug, "just remember, we can only use it for a couple seconds right about now."

"Better than nothing," Subaru thought back, "so let's give it everything we've got." His foot cracked the ground then as he rocketed forward, his weapon extended as he used his Fourth Form: Mountain Stride! Muichirou readied himself, apparently deciding whether or not to meet the blow head on, until something made his eyes widen. The sudden appearance of a snowy forest, with some of the flakes masking the presence of the one approaching him at highspeed.

Reacting on instinct, the Mist Pillar did the first thing that came to mind. "Breath of Mist Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash!" He swung his training sword in a circular arc as he said this, releasing a powerful wind that blew a mass of dust up as the snowy forest disappeared, also managing to break the Matagi's concentration on the Domain, ending it. Though his attack was still incoming. The Hashira then moved his head to the side just in time to avoid the end of the staff, though not without his cheek getting grazed.

At the same time, he shifted the position of his sword and advanced with another technique. "Breath of Mist Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash!" Subaru nearly wretched as he felt the sword impact his stomach, the Hashira moving by as if he'd just used a quickdrawing technique. The Matagi collapsed and rolled then, dropping his weapon as he clutched his now likely bruised stomach. In spite of that, however, he had a smile on his face and was even laughing a little.

"You seem awfully happy for someone who's on the ground and in pain," said Tokitou.

"D-Did you…...ow…...forget our wager…Breath of the Mist user?" Questioned Subaru with a pained smirk as he tried and failed to get up. At first, Muichirou seemed confused, until realization dawned on him. He'd altered the wager to say if he used a Breath Form, and now he'd just used not one but two Breath Forms! "Looks like I win our.…..*cough*…..little bet."

"I'll gouge out your eyes you disrespectful brat!" Exclaimed Tokitou's crow as it started pecking at the downed slayer. It was more annoying than painful, though Subaru didn't have to endure it for long as Shika flew in and chased the obnoxious crow away.

"Ginko, that's enough," said Muichirou, "we both agreed to the wager, and a Hashira honors their word. Tell me slayer, what was your name again?"

"Subaru Genjirou," said the Matagi as he succeeded in sitting up before clenching his fist to show his rank, "currently a Kanoe, not that I much care about the ranking system."

"Those were not the skills of a Kanoe," said Muichirou, "that final move, what was that?"

"First things first," said Subaru as he held up a finger, "you agreed to help me with my training. So before we do anything, let's get that straightened out."

"As you wish," said a mildly annoyed Mist Pillar, "where would you like to begin?"

Nighttime: Unknown Village

"Oh this is not good, oh we need to hurry," groaned the voice of an old sounding person as they seemed to drag themselves along the ground on all fours. They wore a bicolored kimono with crimson red on one side and a floral pattern on the other. But this was no ordinary person, in fact, if one got even a glimpe at his face they'd know in an instant, this was a demon. His forehead was massive, with a shape resembling an eggplant and the top of his head was bald while long black hair spilled out around the sides of his head.

The only decorations that could be found on his forehead was a pair of horns that curved upward. His clawed hands seemed to pull him along the ground as his currently red eyes darted about the ransacked village, turning out at one point to reveal the kanji for 'Upper Moon 4' in it. "You really are too much of a worrywart, you know that," said a higher pitched voice that sounded on the verge of cackling at any moment as a clay pot rolled into view, "we might not have found any information on the blue spider lily, but I might have found something." The pot suddenly coughed up a fair bit of water onto the ground with something else that was rather, misshapen.

It was a person, or rather it had been a person. Their body was now twisted and contorted with blood and water covering them. In spite of that, they still drew breath thanks to the demon's cruel manipulations with his blood art. "I happened to find something interesting on this one," said the pot as a humanoid mass emerged from the pot like some kind of genie, sporting a pale white body that was rather serpentine with multiple fish fins acting like hair on his head, mouths where his eyes should be while a large eye sat in the center of his forehead and another protruded from the 'regular' mouth on his face, both of which sported the kanji for 'Upper Moon Five.' Completing the look of this living horror were numerous small arms protruding from all parts of his body.

"Can he even speak right now, Gyokko?" Questioned Upper Moon Four, "how can you be sure what he has to say is even true?"

"I happened to find this little letter addressed to somewhere called the Swordsmith Village," explained Gyokko as one of his hands produced said letter, "It doesn't give the specific location, but after some prodding, I was able to find out which region this Kakushi was carrying it too. Do you know what this means?"

"It won't mean anything if we can't find it," replied Upper Moon Four, "what's more, I thought there was another person in black around here besides this Kakushi, where did he go?"

"The little shinobi gave me the slip with a few smoke bombs," explained Gyokko, "not that it matters. I doubt he knows that we know, so all we have to do now is narrow down the areas around the region and presto! No more swordmakers for the Demon Slayer Corps!"

"But if they know we're coming, won't they all be able to run away?" Questioned Upper Moon Four in a worried tone, "we need to go now if that's the case. If we don't hurry, they'll be gone and master will be unhappy."

"You worry too much, Hantengu," said Gyokko, "even if they do all pack up and leave, hiding that many traveling people won't be easy. So let's be on our way! You can't rush art but that doesn't mean you can't make a mad dash for supplies. Oh I can't wait to see what kind of art I'll create! The possibilities with a whole village are endless, HAHAHAHAHAHA!" His cackling would carry on into the night as the two Upper Moons began their search in earnest for the village of the Swordsmiths.

While the Slayers train, the demons draw ever closer. Will there be enough time to master their new techniques, or will the Upper Moons be upon them before that? We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and as always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Also, keep a lookout for the continuation of Team WA Vol. 2 starting next week! Oh, and be sure to stop in next time as the clock ticks down on training and the demon's arrival. 'Til then.