"Alright, we're gonna be done for the day!" Uzui-sensei called out in a cheery voice, earning a relieved groan from my current position of staring up at the sky. We had been training for about four hours at this point, the sun was finally peeking from behind the clouds that mostly covered the sky. It seemed like it was going to rain at some point today, but that didn't stop Uzui-sensei from quite literally beating his lessons into my mind.

I had been in Uzui-sensei's care for about two years now, his techniques were truly amazing to see in person. We had done a lot of talking about my goal to create a branch of his breathing technique, and we had come a long ways since the day we met. We had already come up with five forms, perfected them, and currently working on a sixth form. Training was everyday, and it had been like that since the day we started, and that didn't even falter when Uzui-sensei had missions. On those days, I trained with Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma; and they were truly amazing to see in action. Though, when Uzui-sensei came home, training would be delayed by a few hours so he and his wives could spend their time together. I respected the privacy of their relationship, but Uzui-sensei claimed that their marriage was an open book. Hell, multiple times, he asked me a few times if I wanted to join them!

Pushing myself from the ground to a sitting position, I waved at my teacher. "Thank you for another good day of training, Uzui-sensei~" Stretching my arms over my head, I sighed when I heard a few pops from my back. "Now that we're finished, I need to send a letter to Kyojuro-kun. I didn't get to congratulate him on becoming the Flame Hashira." I hadn't seen him in almost a year, the only way we've kept in touch during my time here were letters we sent back and forth two or three times a week. I'm sure our crows weren't the biggest fan of all the flying, but I always made sure that they got treats when they came to visit me. I had purposely left out some details of what I had been doing while under Uzui-sensei's care, mostly the creation of my breathing technique and some of the more dangerous missions I had gone through. Knowing Kyojuro, he would worry about me if I had told him about the injuries I had sustained while in the line of duty, then Senjuro would be worried about not only me, but Kyojuro too. I knew that it would be completely impossible to stop him from worrying, but making a hill out of a mountain of problems was something I had made myself good at.

"You can tell him at the next Hashira meeting; you're coming with me this time."

"Wait, what?" That made me whip my head at him with a confused expression, not that he could see behind my kitsune mask.

Uzui-sensei grinned ear to ear. "Yup! Oyakata-sama wanted me to bring you with me this time. I've been keeping him up to date on your progress with Melody Breathing, and with the results of your latest mission, I'm thinking he wants to make you a Hashira too!"

"I-" I was speechless. I really thought that it would take me so much longer to be noticed by Oyakata-sama, but I guess I was wrong. Then again, I did somehow slay a Lower Moon Six demon that had been terrorizing a bigger city for a whole generation. Flopping back on the ground, I tried to compose myself.

"Maybe when we get back, we can make a huge feast with the girls!" I heard Uzui-sensei walking my way, his usual happy voice even more happy than usual. Turning my head, I saw he had crouched down and held a hand out for me to grab. "We're gonna leave tomorrow morning so you can see your little boyfriend by the late afternoon."

I groaned as I grabbed his hand, his strength easily pulling up to stand. "I would ask you to stop saying that, but that's never gonna happen. Besides, he's-"

"'He's just a friend.' Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, Naoto-kun. Hell, even Kanroji-san could tell you that you two are some sickening lovebirds." He continued to tease, more than likely knowing that he was right.

Shaking my head, I started to make my way to my room to pack. "Kyojuro is too busy with his responsibilities to even consider a relationship." I more so muttered that to myself, but of course, Uzui-sensei heard me with his inhuman hearing.

"Well, we can just ask him when when we see him tomorrow, kiddo!"

"I'm older than you!" I yelled without pausing, rolling my eyes behind my mask.

I hummed, looking at the beautiful garden outside from my seat in the manor. Even with the snow on the ground and falling from the sky, the garden was nearly breathtaking. It was still early in the winter season, which meant that my birthday was just around the corner. "Did we get here before everyone else?" To be honest, I was nervous. Uzui-sensei and I had indeed left early in the morning, just a few minutes before the sunrise. Oyakata-sama's two children, twin girls, had led us inside to a simple yet beautiful tea room. It hadn't been more than a few minutes before I noticed that no one else was here, and more than likely weren't going to be here for a little while.

"Oyakata-sama wanted to speak to you first. Guess I forgot that part, huh?" The silver haired man responded, scratching his cheek. "I've been telling him everything about your progress and he wanted to formally meet you."

"Well, thanks for telling me beforehand. When is everyone else going to be here?"

"Later today, jeez, you can't wait a little bit longer to see your boyfriend?"

I huffed, turning to look up at my teacher. "He's not my-"

"The master has arrived." I stopped, my back becoming stiffer than a board. I've never seen Oyakata-sama face to face before, the only times I heard about him were when Uzui-sensei talked about the Hashira meetings he went to.

My eyes widened when I saw him, seeing the discolored skin that started from his hairline and ended just under his eyes. He was clearly blind, his eyes clouded over while his daughters guided him to the table we sat at.

"Tengen, thank you for coming here before the semiannual Hashira meeting, and you must be Naoto." He turned slightly to my direction with a soft smile on his face. "It's very nice to finally meet you."

I bowed my head out of respect. "Thank you, Oyakata-sama. I appreciate you taking your time to call me here with my teacher."

"Yes, your crow Mio had delivered me the results of your mission and Tengen told me about your training. To say I was impressed would be an understatement, Naoto."

"Again, thank you." I quietly responded, not used to the praise.

"Though I will announce this at the Hashira meeting later this afternoon, I have decided to promote you to Hashira status. Kyojuro had told me that you trained alongside him when his father was the Flame Hashira, but he retired before teaching you any of the Flame Breathing techniques. I understand that you've created your own breathing technique while training under Tengen."

"Yes, that's correct. Uzui-sensei is the only known Sound Breathing user, and even though it would have been an option to learn his techniques, I saw an opportunity to branch off his breathing style. Almost like Mitsuri-chan created Love Breathing as a branch off of Flame Breathing." I explained, keeping my hands clenched on my lap. I usually used my hands while I talked when I get excited, and even if Oyakata-sama couldn't see, I didn't want to be rude.

Oyakata-sama smiled, looking interested in the subject. "It's wonderful to see my children so passionate about slaying demons and saving humans. I'm truly grateful for all your hard work that you've put into the Demon Slayer Corps."

"Naoto Kuze, with the many missions you've completed, the passion you have to protect those who are unable to do so, and for the recent defeat one of Kibutsuji's Twelve Kizukis, I have decided to promote you to a Hashira of the breathing technique you have been creating; The Melody Hashira."

I bowed my head once again. "I'm honored to be gifted such a position within the Demon Slayer Corps and earning your recognition, Oyakata-sama. I will do my best to live up to your expectations and protect our people."

"Now, before our meeting is concluded, I have an announcement for you all." I silently sighed, wringing my hands together in nervousness. For a little bit now, I had heard different voices, some familiar and some new to me. Oyakata-sama had told me I could wait outside of the room they usually have their meetings, seemingly knowing that I was excited to see Kyojuro after all this time. "After a lot of consideration, I have decided to have another person join the ranks of you all. The amount of dedication and time they had put into our cause, the many successful missions they have accomplished, I believe it is time for another one of my children to help protect those under their care."

"You may come in now." Oyakata-sama called out, his calm voice knocking down my nervousness. The girls had opened the door from the inside of the room, giving me a view of who was in the room. "Tengen has been sending me regular updates of his student's progress, and with their last mission being the defeat of a Lower Moon Six, naming Kuze Naoto as a Hashira of the breathing technique he had created himself, Melody Breathing; I would like for you to accept him as the Melody Hashira."

I bowed my head, closing my eyes. "It is nice to meet you, I hope we can get along." Raising my head, I immediately saw Kyojuro looking at me in surprise before he gave a huge smile with excitement in his eyes. Uzui-sensei looked almost like a proud mother when he saw me standing in front of them, and little Mitsuri was fawning over the little announcement. Oyakata-sama introduced me to each of the Hashira and what they were Hashira of, to which I tried my best to remember, but I was a little too nervous to properly take notes of their names.

"And with that, you are all dismissed. Please feel free to stay as long as you would like." Oyakata-sama bid his farewell, leaving the room before us. For a moment, everything was silent before Uzui-sensei was up and slinging his arm around my shoulders.

"Alright! Look at you, kiddo! Joining our ranks!" He gushed, obviously eating up the attention more than me. A few Hashira had decided to leave after saying hello, notably the black haired boy in the mismatch haori, the tiny boy I almost didn't notice, and the the towering Hashira that politely excused himself. However, the white haired kid with all the scars didn't even spare me a glance before he left the room.

I felt my eye twitched, trying to not blow up in front of these new people. "Just because I'm shorter than you, that doesn't mean that you're magically older than me, Uzui-sensei." Lifting his arm off my shoulders, I sighed heavily.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Kuze-san, but I have to excuse myself for the night." The girl, Shinobu, nodded at me with a smile before she also left.

"Um, Kyojuro? May I talk to you for a moment? As excited as I am to see you again, Mitsuri-chan, but I haven't seen Kyojuro in a while."

"Oh, of course! We can talk later then! Obanai, let's go!" Mitsuri took the cue, bringing her friend with her. Uzui-sensei left with a wink, to which I rolled my eyes to.

Facing Kyojuro again, I swallowed nervously. "Would you like to talk somewhere else?"

"Of course!" Kyojuro agreed. "Oyakata-sama always has rooms assigned for us in case we would like to stay longer, so we can talk in my room!" I wasn't familiar with the layout of the manor, so I was thankful to have someone who knew their way around. The rays from the sunset outside lit the winding hallways of this headquarters. It wasn't too long before we ended up in Kyojuro's guest room, a few candles already lit.

Sitting down at the small tea table, I put my hands in my lap, all of a sudden nervous once again. Right as I was about to start talking, Kyojuro also opened his mouth to speak. We both paused before sharing a laugh. "You can go first, Kyojuro."

"Thank you, Naoto." He responded in a quieter voice than he usually used. "I must say, it's a surprise to see you here and to hear that you had created your own breathing technique, very impressive!"

I huffed a laugh. "I appreciate the praise, Kyojuro. I'm sorry I couldn't congratulate you on becoming Flame Hashira in person, or tell you what I had been up to all this time. I was too busy to travel, for obvious reasons. How have you and Senjuro been doing?"

"Very well, he's been appreciating your letters to him lately. Since I've been getting more missions, I'm only home for a short while before I'm gone again."

"I can imagine that it's a change for him, so I'm glad that I'm able to help in that aspect."

"So, how has training with Uzui-san been?"

"Very good, he was a little adamant to take me under his wing, but he has been a very good teacher to me. He's different than Shinjuro-sensei, and I think that's a good thing." I paused. "How is Shinjuro-sensei, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Father has been in a bad mood as of late, and he has been taking to leaving his room as little as possible." Kyojuro frowned, looking down at the table.

"I'm assuming he wasn't too impressed with your news of being the new Flame Hashira?"

He shook his head. "Even if he said that it doesn't matter, I'm doing my duty of protecting those who are unable to. That, and I know that you're on my side!"

"Of course I am! There's no other place I would rather be, Kyo." I said with a smile. "I'll be on your side for all of time!" In the faint candle light, I could see his cheeks grow rosy; most likely from the nickname. We had ended up talking for a couple more hours, and I had to come clean about the mission I had that made me a Hashira. He wasn't too happy to hear that I had come home with four broken ribs, a broken leg, and severe bruising on my neck and shoulders, but I still came home alive.

"I know I can't demand that you to not get injured on missions, but I will at least ask you to be careful, Naoto." He finally said, his troubled expression smile sadly behind my mask.

Getting up from my side of the table, I walked over to Kyojuro and sat down beside him to pull him into a hug. "I will always try my best to come back." He immediately returned the hug, some of the stress from his shoulders leaving as soon as I pulled him into my arms.

"Thank you, Naoto. I appreciate your honestly." Pulling away, he looked at me with his usual smile. "Your birthday is coming up, right? We'll have to make plans so you, me, and Senjuro can celebrate together!"

I smiled, holding my head up with my hand as I leaned on the table. "So long as I don't have to cook, then that will be fine with me. You're so kind to me, Kyojuro. Thank you so much for being my friend all this time." With my free hand, I reached up to brush some of his hair out of his face. "You look like you need a haircut soon, first thing I noticed when I saw you was how long it was."

He hummed in agreement, looking away sheepishly. "I've been neglecting it for a while now, since I've been busy with my duties, but I'll make a note to do so soon!"

"It seems like it's gotten quite late out while we were talking." I sighed, looking out the window to the night sky. "I do think that it's time to rest; Uzui-sensei probably left me here to go back to his home, so I guess I'll just stay in the guest room Oyakata-sama gave to me." Standing up, I looked down at Kyojuro before I pat his head. "Sleep well, Kyo-kun."

**Taisho Secret!**

Naoto's favorite food is tonkatsu! He's surprisingly picky, so tonkatsu is one of the few things that Naoto will actually eat. There's a specific tonkatsu stand that he likes to go to that he found in the beginning of his Demon Slayer career, stopping by every time he's in the area. When he doesn't eat tonkatsu, he'll eat sweet potatoes with with Kyojuro, but only if they're candied sweet potatoes. (Senjuro has often made remarks about his diet, but Naoto chooses not to listen.)