Chapter 16: Training and Moonlit Promises
Notes: Part 4 of the Rehabilitation Training Arc. Title is subject to change.
At the end of their first week in the Butterfly Estate, both Murata-san and Ozaki-san came to see them. They both looked tired, Murata-san with two fingers of his left hand bandaged, and Ozaki-san's right arm still in a sling.
"What happened?" Tanjirou asked, concerned.
"I jammed them." Murata-san shrugged.
"How are you three doing?" Ozaki-san asked.
"Recovering." Tanjirou smiled, "What happened to you afterwards?"
"Well, I found Murata and we had made it halfway out of the mountain when the Kakushi arrived." Ozaki-san explained, "Then we were called to the Pillar meeting."
"It was hell." Murata-san grumbled, "The Pillars are scary! They were all mad. They said the Slayers' quality was dropping these days. It seemed there were people who didn't obey orders at mountain Natagumo and they asked us their trainers. The Pillars terrify me."
"Hello, there." Shinobu-san greeted them, happily.
Murata-san stood up straight in fright.
"Ah! Kochou-sama! Hello! Goodbye!" he bowed and bolted, followed by Ozaki-san in a more sedate pace.
"I hope you get well soon." she said, bowing once more from the door, before leaving.
"Ah. Goodbye." Shinobu called after them, "Well then. How are you feeling?" she turned and asked her patients.
"A lot better, thank you." Tanjirou smiled at her.
"Then, it's time we started with your rehabilitation training."
"Rehabilitation training?" Tanjirou blinked.
He could smell Shinobu's amusement.
'That can't be too good, right?' he wondered, apprehensive.
The next morning, Tanjirou and Inosuke started their rehabilitation training.
They'd return looking haggard every day for the next week.
"What happened? What's wrong? Tell me!" Zenitsu would ask.
"Sorry. Super tired." Tanjirou would mumble before falling asleep each time.
Shinobu's training regime was harsh. More to their ego than their body – though it was physically challenging, too.
Aoi-san explained once more what would go down, when Zenitsu joined them.
"Since Zenitsu-san will be starting his training today…I'll explain again!" she said, seriously, "First off, the girls will loosen up your stiff muscles." she said showing Sumi-chan, Kiyo-chan and Naho-chan, "Then reflex training." she showed Kanao sitting behind a table with cups, "Each cup contains a medicinal tea that can be applied topically. You will compete to see who has to take the medicine. If your opponent holds down your cup before you can lift, that means you have to 'drink'. And finally, full-body training. In other words, we play tag. Your opponents are me and Kanao over there." Aoi explained.
Tanjirou had always found it amusing how Aoi-san reminded him of Shinobu, before Kanae-nee was taken from them.
"Excuse me." Zenitsu said with a deadpan voice, "Can we have a moment?"
"Do you have a question?"
"No, it's just… Come on, you two."
Tanjirou stared questioningly at his blonde friend.
"Not coming." Inosuke said.
"I'M TELLING YOU TO COME WITH ME!" Zenitsu screamed, shocking everyone, before grabbing the back of their patient's clothes, "COME ON! YOU SCUM! YOU TRASH!"
Once outside, he made them sit down.
"SIT DOWN AND LISTEN UP! YOU COMPLETE MORONS!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Inosuke exploded.
Zenitsu punched him.
"Zenitsu! Why did you do that for?! Apologise to Inosuke right now!" Tanjirou exclaimed.
"YOU APOLOGISE!" his blonde friend screamed, "WHY DID YOU COME BACK EVERYDAY LIKE YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH HELL WHEN YOU'VE BEEN IN HEAVEN?!" he demanded, "YOU WERE HAVING A JOLLY TIME PLAYING GAMES WITH GIRLS, EVERY DAY, AND YOU CAME LOOKING WRECKED! BOW DOWN AND APOLOGISE! OFFER TO COMMIT SEPPUKU!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Tanjirou said back, remembering how getting stretched still hurts, how he barely managed to win against Aoi the last two days, how he's yet to beat Kanao, both in the cups and tag.
"YOU SHUT UP, YOU STRAIGHT-LACED, SWEET-TALKING STICK-IN-THE-MUD! SHUT UP AND LISTEN! YOU GOT THAT?!"
Tanjirou was shocked by his friend's outburst.
"WE GET TO TOUCH GIRLS! THEY'RE GONNA MASSAGE OUR BODIES! WHEN WE PLAY WITH THE CUPS, OUR HANDS WILL TOUCH! WHEN PLAY TAG, WE GET TO GRAB THEM! THEY EACH HAVE NICE CHESTS, GREAT BUTTS AND STRONG THIGHS! WHEN THEY PASS BY, THE SMELL GOOD! IT'S A JOY JUST TO LOOK AT THEM!" he shook Tanjirou, "BLISS!"
"STOP TALKING NONSENSE!" Inosuke shouted, "IT'S EMBARRASSING LOSING TO THOSE TINY GIRLS!"
"Oh cry me a river! You were raised in the mountains, weren't you? So you haven't spent any time around girls and you never learnt! Aw, how sad!"
"HAAAAAAH?! I've stepped on plenty of girls!"
"THAT'S AWFUL!"
Suddenly Tanjirou stood behind Zenitsu and punched him.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Do you realise what you just told me?" he asked, with a deep frown, "About the girls that live in the Butterfly Estate? Girls I more or less grew up with?"
Zenitsu trembled realising what he had said and to whom.
"It's bad to train with such impure thoughts. Much less if they come from my friend towards people I consider family." Tanjirou continued, looking at Zenitsu with disappointment.
"I…I'm sorry." he bowed, wilting.
Nevertheless, Zenitsu seemed to enjoy himself when he joined them.
Tanjirou watched, resigned to his fate, as Zenitsu who tried pathetically to look cool and Inosuke who hated losing, win against Aoi-san, but that was all they managed.
Until the only one they couldn't beat was Kanao.
"Even with Monitsu here, we keep getting soaked." Inosuke said.
"Maybe I should change my name to Monitsu already…"
"We joined at the same time, so why is she so much better?" Tanjirou wondered aloud.
"If you think I have the answer, you are dumber than me." Zenitsu deadpanned.
Then, five days later, Inosuke and Zenitsu just gave up. Inosuke hated losing, so he took it hard and Zenitsu accepted his fate.
"Just you?!" Aoi-san exploded when he came alone, "I can't believe those two!"
"Sorry, Aoi-san." Tanjirou bowed his head, "Maybe they'll come tomorrow. Maybe."
"No! There's no need to bother with them any longer! If you don't want to come, you don't have to either!"
"I won't give up." he shook his head, "I can't."
He lost to Kanao for ten more days.
"Good work today…" he mumbled as he left the doujou.
'Why can't I beat her? What are the differences between us? What am I forgetting?' he thought as he walked down the corridors, 'Firstly, the speed of our reflexes is completely different. On my best days, I'd still lose. And then, her scent, it reminds me of father and Kanae-nee and Shinobu.'
"Tanjirou-san!" someone tugged at his arm, "Tanjirou-san!"
"Wagh! Ah, you surprised me!"
"Sorry." the three little aides were standing before him, looking apologetic.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Um…Here's a towel." Kiyo-chan said.
"Ah, thank you. How kind of you." he smiled softly at the girls.
"Um…Tanjirou-san? Do you do Total Concentration Breathing throughout the day?" she asked him.
Tanjirou stared, towel haphazardly draped over his head, realising what he had forgotten, why Kanao had that familiar scent.
"During morning, noon and night?" Kiyo-chan explained, thinking he didn't understand, "And even when you sleep? There's a dimensional difference between those who can and those who cannot."
"I-I forgot." he deadpanned, "Because Sun Breathing is already hard on my lungs and using Total Concentration: Constant even for a little while is hard, I haven't tried it. Using it all day would be…" he trailed off, "Some Pillar I am going to be."
"You were pretty banged up when you came in. And then you hadn't had the need to use Constant before." Shinobu said, appearing suddenly behind him, "I am not surprised you forgot."
"That's no excuse for me slacking off like that, though." Tanjirou said.
"Start working on your breath, Tanjirou-kun." she said, running her fingers through his hair, much to his surprise.
"I will!" he promised, determined.
And so, the next morning, he started focusing on mastering Total Concentration: Constant.
It was scary when he started it. He felt like he was gonna die; his lungs burnt, his head hurt and his ears pounded.
He suddenly cupped his ears in absolute fear, quickly checking them the next second.
'That was terrifying! I thought my heart was gonna come out from my ears!' he thought in tears. Quickly regaining his composure, he drew in a deep breath, 'When you're in trouble, go back to the beginning and start from the basics. Breathing starts in the lungs. If my lungs are bad, I can't do anything. I'll get up earlier and start running. Then I'll practice by holding my breath. I'll give it my all. That's all I ever was able to do – try my best! Hard work builds day by day, little by little. Just keep moving forward.'
He started running, until the girls called him over to the engawa for a quick snack. He thanked them for the rice balls and then noticed the gourds.
"Why did you bring gourds?" he asked.
"Shinobu-sama made Kanao-san blow into them during her training."
"Blow into them? Why?"
"You're supposed to burst them. And they are made harder than normal ones, too."
"And Kanao can burst them?" Tanjirou looked mildly surprised.
"They become bigger as the training progresses. Right now, Kanao-san is working on this gourd." Kiyo-chan said, as Sumi-chan and Naho-chan brought a gourd as big as them.
'So big! I have to keep trying!'
Two days in, he ran up to the three girls with three blanket beaters.
"Kiyo-chan! Naho-chan! Sumi-chan!" he called, "I need you to help me train! When I'm asleep, if I stop my Total Concentration breathing, I need you to beat me with these!"
The three girls stared for a moment before they beamed, taking the beaters.
"We will!" they said happily.
"Thank you!" he bowed at them.
For the next seven days – nine since he started training to master Total Concentration: Constant – Tanjirou's training was, to put it lightly, intense. Every other day, he would blow a bigger gourd from the previous one, to the girls' delight at his progress, all three of them cheering him on. Add to it the Rehabilitation training he still attended, and he was surprised he hadn't overworked himself to exhaustion.
During the nights, he would sit atop the Estate's roof and meditate.
He could smell Shinobu watching over him throughout his training.
"Will you join me up here, Shinobu?" he called that night, turning with a soft smile to see the Insect Pillar landing beside him.
"Your sense of scent makes sneaking up on you impossible." she huffed, with an amused smile.
"I know your scent better than most. It's…very dear to me." he blushed, looking away.
"Oh?" Shinobu leaned close, smiling teasingly.
Tanjirou blushed harder.
"Shinobu…" he started, "You know you are important to me, don't you?"
"I do. And so are you, Tanjirou. I couldn't bear it if I lost you."
There was a moment of silence.
"It's the same with me. You thought I wouldn't notice? Or that I'd assume it was your work with poisons and medicine?"
Shinobu sighed, shoulders shagging and turning away.
"Your nose is, indeed, a very troublesome thing sometimes."
"Kochou Shinobu." he called her, seriously, looking her in the eyes.
That surprised her. He hadn't called her by full name before. This was very important to him. She gave him her undivided attention.
"I promised Kanae-nee to become a Pillar and fight at her side." he started, "But I failed that promise."
"It wasn't your fault. Nee-san–"
"I know. Kanae-nee wouldn't think I failed making do on that promise."
"Then?"
"I made another promise with her. To look after you. I couldn't be at her side, to fight, but I can fight at yours." he said, "Fighting at Kanae-nee's side was what I thought would be expected of me, if I made it to the position of Sun Pillar in time. Follow in my father's footsteps, and continue as if nothing had changed. Even if I am not my father. The Sun Pillar and the Flower Pillar; an unbeatable team." he looked up at the night sky, "As well as we would have worked together, I think the one I would work best with is you."
"Tanjirou…"
"So! So, the Insect Pillar and the Sun Pillar; the unbeatable team. We're not really our predecessors, even if we are very similar to them. But for that to happen, I need to become the Sun Pillar and you, you must stay alive." he turned to look back at her, tears glistening in his eyes, "I don't want to lose you, so you have to live. I want to be your partner. So, I will become the Sun Pillar. Do you accept me?"
"You'd have to step up with your rehabilitation training if you wish to return to the field at least." she teased, trying to avoid this talk, "Let alone become a Pillar."
"I know how you feel. I can smell your anger and sorrow. I should have talked to you earlier. I had hoped you'd talk to me on your own time. But. I will fight with you to avenge Kanae-nee's death. I will have your back when the time comes. We lost her, too, that day, you know. She was your whole family, but she was important to us, too."
Shinobu looked away.
"Did they ask you…?"
"You know that they would never."
"Yes. I know. Kie-san is a very patient woman. Too patient when it comes to me." she smiled, sadly, "And Tanjuurou-san is a wise man, knowing his eldest son would one day ask to be my partner. I was expecting it, too, you know. Happened a little earlier than anticipated."
"I can't fail this promise, Shinobu. I just can't. But you also have to be very careful, even more from now on, and a little patient. Because I will be there, soon, to protect you while you protect me. So, do you accept me as your partner, Kochou Shinobu?"
Shinobu stared at him, a boy she grew up with, saw him mature into this dependable young man, and with a soft sigh, let her head rest on his shoulder.
"…Yes, Kamado Tanjirou. I accept you as my partner. I will be waiting for you to fulfill your promise." she says, entwining her right pinky finger with his left.
Notes: I know how this sounded, but no, Tanjirou was not proposing. (Spoiler alert – we have some time before that happens.) I also saved Murata-san's dignity.