We're back children. Its Musashi's birthday! I think. Idk I saw something on twitter.
The next chapter launches us into the plotline. We're gonna move fast through that because two arcs are getting skipped since it has nothing to do with Musashi. Spoilers, Muzan is a bad man but Oni are cooler.
RedBurningDragon: That is something that you will certainly see later. A certain Upper Moon's gonna get the taste of her NP for sure.
Tashio: (I refrained from writing a whole essay, but this is a bit lengthy and I cut out a good majority of what I had originally) I'm sorry but if you don't find the story interesting because of the choices I chose to make, then I'm obligated to say don't read it. If you find OP crossovers fun, props to you, but I don't so I don't write that way. I'm not writing an Isekai where Rin/Sakura dies and gets transported to the Taishou Era— I don't like Rin or Sakura that much so you won't ever see me writing them or Shirou, for that matter. I wanted to use Musashi because I like her. I'm allowed to write stories about characters I like. Canon divergence is still going to happen, Musashi isn't going to be everywhere at once— Musashi's not going to be fighting Rui, the outcome of the infinity fortress will be different, and so is Ubuyashiki's fate. Once again, this is also a character study for me. I wrote this knowing that not everyone would agree to how I write: I can't be the one to make everyone happy and still be happy with my work as well. In short, I'm sorry you don't like how I write.
Musashi ended up naming her crow 'Ritsuka' and it was a year later, when the summer heat reached its peak, that found Musashi lazily brushing through Kyojuro's mess of hair. Her hands picking leaves out of it while Kocho wrapped his wrist in bandages. All three Pillars had their haori discarded (Kyojuro's tossed, Musashi's half-folded, and Kocho's neatly folded) on the engawa next to them. Despite the normal Demon Slayer uniform able to help regulate temperature, it seemed that even the heavy heat from the dead of summer was too much for it. Musashi was glad that she didn't have to wear it all the time, only having to do so if she was specifically ordered to. Kyojuro and Kocho, however, were less fortunate. The black-colored fabric was just soaking in heat and Kocho's dark-colored hair was no different than her uniform, but she was stubborn and kept it fully on with only one or two buttons undone. Kyojuro, however, had taken the jacket off. The Flame Pillar had returned from a mission up north and considering his already abnormal body temperature?
Yeah, the temperature change was a bitch.
Nonetheless, he had shown up to the Butterfly Estate to get his, while minor, wounds checked on. He had been met with Musashi helping keep Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo entertained. Summer was slower for the Slayers— days were longer, nights fell later. Aside from the residents, Kyojuro was the only one at the Estate aside from Musashi, who wasn't there for injuries.
Speaking of which, there had been three Pillar Meetings since Musashi had first arrived in the Taisho Period and Musashi had officially been instated as the Tenth Pillar— the Void Pillar. She and Shinazugawa had gotten into a fight immediately after and though it had been called as a draw, Kanroji had told her that she had won. Definitely. Shinazugawa had been quite bruised physically and in pride.
Of course, that was after the first Pillar Meeting she had gone to and she didn't exactly fault the others who didn't know her to be wary. Even though Kocho had given her a rundown on all the terms she needed to know, the whole 'Style' business was a bit odd to her. Her style was Niten Ichi-Ryuu but apparently that wasn't acceptable, as Kocho explained there were elements involved. The way she fought, moved, and even breathed was odd to them.
'Void' just wasn't something they knew.
Her abnormality was further solidified by the fact that she had four nichirin blades and a blade that wasn't that could cut down demons without fail. All of the nichirin blades that she owned had also been engraved with the four base elements, not changing in color like the others but instead igniting a flame of the respective hue. That had thrown off the Pillars and the Sword Smiths alike.
Once the initial shock wore off, Tomioka then asked if she was planning on taking over as the Water Pillar position and Kyojuro had acted offended (though both of them knew that he was just being an idiot) at the idea of someone taking his spot as Flame Pillar. Shinazugawa had bristled at the thought and Himejima had said silent, but before things got out of hand Ubuyashiki had revealed that she was a tenth Pillar— not one that was replacing one of the nine.
She was the Void Pillar and that was that.
And then the fact that she was actually a Dimension Hopper dropped. Kanroji, Kocho, and Kyojuro obviously took it very well (since they knew already), but there had been varying degrees of disbelief and wariness. Some wondered if it was worth it if she was just going to vanish. Others wanted to know about other worlds. She tried her best to answer all of them, explaining about Servants and Shimousa, and how she was an abnormality in that she was on the cusp of being a Servant, but not one exactly. While magic arts did exist in this world, the concept of Servants was new territory. Magic arts were rare and hardly used, associated with demons or shamans. Explaining that had been a trial in and of itself, considering how not even she knew everything about Servants.
Luckily, the other meetings had ended better than the first and Musashi slowly got to know the rest of the Pillars through missions and training. True to Kyojuro's words, Tokito had forgotten who she was when they met again at the first Pillar Meeting.
Stretching a bit as she set the brush down, she let out a small huff as Kyojuro flopped his head back into her stomach. She still lived on his roof out of spite of Shinjuro Rengoku, the elder man and her often exchanging profanities and flipping each other off whenever they were in sight of the other.
She had managed one civil conversation with the man, though it was clipped and laced with threat when she told him that he should be proud of his sons. At least they were boys, she had snapped, telling him how her father had tossed her out after her mother had died. With no possibility of a son from the woman and left with a 'useless' daughter, he had cut his losses. Easier to get remarried if there wasn't a child around. Of course, she left out the part where she had been almost a newborn when it had happened.
Despite the tense and volatile relationship between the elder Rengoku and herself, Kyojuro and her ended up quite close. The two were often working together on a number of missions, or just ending up in the same area afterwards.
Once the two of them had been given orders to team up with Himejima. She jokingly told the two afterwards that they might have scared not only the village but the other demons with how relentless they ended up being. Himejima admitted that hearing Musashi's laugh and taunts in the middle of a demon horde was a strange. The three of them made a strange, but not unwelcome team.
"Anyways," Kyojuro yawned, "I hear that only one person made it out of the final selection this year," he sighed, shaking his head. "I worry about the corps."
"That's the final test, right? To make sure that you're ready to be a Demon Slayer?" Musashi asked as Kyojuro sat up again, nodding.
"Mhm," he said, "Usually it's just kids, a couple adults take it, but mostly kids."
She blinked. "Wow, kick ass kids then… who passed?" she asked, leaning back on her hands, her feet dangling off the edge of the engawa as they chatted. Kocho joined them again a moment later.
"Dunno, but apparently it was through a technicality," the Flame Pillar sighed. "He hid the entire time. Didn't slay a single demon."
"Oh my…" Kocho said, frowning. "How did you come by this information so quickly? Normally we wouldn't get the results until the day after."
"I was reporting to Oyakata-sama!" he said jovially, flopping back against Musashi again, who shoved him lightly with another huff. "Kyojuro, you're a walking furnace, if you lay on me again, I'll kill you," she grumbled and he laughed, sitting back up. The pillar's outer jacket to his uniform was unbuttoned, the white undershirt had a few buttons undone but it seemed as if the heat wasn't affecting his jovial disposition.
"Well," the duel wielding woman said with a sigh, "It's great that he passed, but will he be able to go out in the field?"
"That's what we're worried about," Kyojuro said with a shrug. "Hopefully next year will be better! I'm looking forwards to finding another Tsuguko!"
"As long as you don't scare them away with your yelling," Kocho hummed, nodding as she mended a tear in one of the girls' uniforms. All of the girls at the Butterfly Estate were off doing who knows what, leaving the Three Pillars to await orders.
"If my voice scares them then they wont be able to handle Tengen!" Kyojuro countered.
"Much less Shinazugawa and Mitsuri," Musashi added. "And myself as well— I'm not exactly the picture of quiet. That's Giyuu."
Kocho twitched a bit. "Speaking of Tomioka," she hummed, "He got attacked by a dog when we were on our mission."
Musashi turned, giving her a look. "Are you serious?"
"Oh yes," the other woman said with a smile, nodding. "Poor Tomioka, not even dogs like him."
"Yikes," she snorted, shaking her head. "Poor Giyuu. I do wish he'd open up more, but oh well."
"He's a bit of an awkward man but he's got spirit, I think!" Kyojuro agreed.
"Oh my," Kocho hummed, "Since when were you on a first name basis with Tomioka, Musashi?"
She blinked, tilting her head. "Save Iguro and Shinazugawa, I'm on a first name basis with all the Pillars." "Well, now I'm jealous," Kocho teased, "I thought that Mitsuri and I were special cases~" Musashi bowed dramatically. "My darling Shinobu, I would gladly lay my life down for you!"
"Hey! Not if I die first!" Kyojuro joked and the three laughed again as Kocho finished mending the uniform.
"Though, that does beg the question," she hummed, "Why are you still here, Rengoku? Usually you rush off to bother Uzui or find your brother."
"Are you trying to get rid of me so quickly? So mean, Kocho!" the man laughed. "Tengen's not back from his mission and Senjuro is busy! So I'm here because friends hang out together!"
"I'm the friend," Musashi supplied from where she had laid back on the wooden engawa. "Plus, I haven't gotten around to building a hut in front of the Rengoku household just to spite Shinjuro. I don't have a place to crash aside from here or a hot ass roof." "Aw, don't do that!" he huffed, poking her cheek, "I told you that you can use one of the spare rooms in the estate!"
"Nope," she hummed before she sat up, "I've actually been meaning to go look around for a house… ahh, but If I suddenly end up Spirited Away that'll be a pain…" she shrugged, "Eh. We'll figure that out later."
"Speaking of which," Kocho hummed, glancing over to the duo. "This is the longest that you've staid in one place right? Do you think that this 'Spiriting Away' has stopped?" she asked and Musashi shrugged again.
"I'm not sure," she admitted, "I mean, I've been in a place for upwards of a month, but we're what, a year and a few months in? So who knows. In Shimousa the pulling feeling I always had settled, and when I got here I didn't really feel it, so maybe it's all over? To be honest, it'd be nice to be able to settle down." she sighed before she twitched frowning. "Not like a wife though, I'd be an awful mother! I'm more of a wanderer and brawler than proper lady!"
She laughed at that, making Kocho laugh gently as well. The Insect Pillar glanced at the Flame Pillar, who was giving Musashi an interesting look. "Brawler?" he asked after a moment and she nodded.
"I'd fight Shinazugawa with my fists!" she declared, "To be honest, I'd fight anyone who asks if they ask when I'm up for a fight!"
"So uncouth," Kocho teased and the three Pillars laughed a bit again.
Shinobu shifted a bit, her eyes opening just a sliver as she glanced at Rengoku and Musashi— she insisted on being called her given name, not her family name, though Kocho understood why when she heard that her father all but tossed her out when her mother passed.
There certainly was something interesting going on between the two. Something that neither of them even realized.
She would have to observe further.
But she had a feeling that no matter the outcome it would be interesting.
Okay, the cross-ship is a bit obvious at this point. Yes, it's Musashi and Rengoku. Two of my favorites together is Good Civ. Also like, once again, character study (My excuse for everything at this point). Anyways, don't like? Don't read.