Argentum: Alright let's hope this chapter comes out much sooner. Thankfully I already have a pretty good idea on how to do this so I have hope.
Grel'Slyfer: Don't really have much else do you.
Argentum: Won't even comment on that.
Gyomei: Knowing this demon's antics that is probably for the best.
Iguro: I concur.
Grel'Slyfer: All of you are always so mean to me.
Iguro: I wonder why…
Argentum: I don't! You deserve it!
Grel'Slyfer: Aww.
Argentum: Ahem, a quick note to those who have stuck with us till now. Thanks for putting up with our antics and delayed publish times. That and thanks for dealing with our many mistakes. Though for the most part I blame autocorrect and our slightly dyslexic editor in the form of Slayer, that and our grammar is honestly pretty terrible.
Grel'Slyfer: Yep! Even after reading through a chapter twice we still find mistakes after putting the chapter up.
Argentum: So again thanks for continuing with us. I promise the story will only get more interesting as it goes along. We have a lot planned for it and hope you enjoy what we do.
Grel'Slyfer: On that note let's start the chapter.
Argentum: Gyomei mind starting us?
Gyomei: No I do not. We here at the Dark Guard production sorrowfully do not own any of the intellectual properties shown. We do however own many of the core story elements and original characters. Now without further delay…
Everyone: Here's the story!
Hello= Regular talk
Hello= Thoughts
[Hello]= Radio
(Hello)= Telepathy/Mind reading
Chapter Sixty: How I dealt with The Slap or… How I was sent out on a mission for Two…
Thankfully despite our scuffle Sanemi and I only needed a day to heal. Mostly thanks to the efforts of the wonderful medic squad! Who also threatened us for if we ever got into another random fist fight with each other. Quickly promised it wouldn't happen again, only to cross our fingers behind our backs. Bonded quite a bit over that wondrous moment. We then proceeded to beat each other up again, under the notion that it was sparring. Though seriously Sanemi was an absolute genius! Not only that but he happened to be a good teacher and taught me a few more tricks. Also yes no one was more surprised than the two of us on how well we actually got along.
Even spent the night at his estate simply training with him, it was as if fighting each other was second for me only to other dragons. The only other person who came close was Muichiro. It was pretty amazing all things considered. Of course I couldn't spend all my time training before the rest of my squad came back. No there was still something I needed to do, and with the advice I had gotten from Sanemi. I was emotionally prepared to talk to Eris. As luck would have it, Eris would find me first and drag me into the dining room along with Cassandra.
I will admit it was a silent and awkward first ten minutes. Hey! Give me a break! I was new to stuff like that back then! Thankfully Eris had prepared herself even better and spoke first after throwing her arms around me.
"I'm so, so, so! Sorry Michael!" Hearing this Cassandra and I smiled as I swiftly hugged her back, not saying anything as she continued. "I won't make excuses; I let my emotions get the better of me and slapped you when you were trying to help. It was wrong and I deeply regret it. I wish I could apologize better than this, but I can't think of anything else to say but I'm sorry." With a smile I put my budding romance skills to work and gently touched her cheeks.
As our eyes met I smiled gently. "How could I not forgive you? It was a mistake yes, and it did hurt yes. But! You understand all that and asked me forgiveness. So yes I do forgive you." Pulling her into a kiss I felt my goddess visibly and physically relax. It warmed my heart, as well as my pride, that I had said the right words and done the right actions. As cheesy as they might have been…
After pulling away I turned to Cassandra and held a hand out. "Come on princess~ you can join the hug to." My excitable elf promptly did so, tackling herself into my left side and sending us all to the floor. After a moment of recovery we all laughed before I kissed her to. "I love you both so much."
Again another point for me as they both brightened further, then they kissed me at the same time and shut down part of my brain. Still wasn't used to that quite yet. As they laughed at my expression I recovered and rolled my eyes, siting up with my two girls held snugly in my embrace. After a few moments I frowned and took a breath. Knowing that what I was about to ask would certainly destroy the mood.
"Eris?" She looked at me with those beautiful silver eyes of hers. "Ugh… While I really don't want to bring down the mood, or upset you. I need to ask." I could see both my girls grimace knowing already what I was about to ask. "What exactly was in that letter that made you so upset? If it's anything I can help with you know I will help." It took a few minutes but Eris eventually answered.
Gripping my haori tightly and burying her face into my chest she spoke. "It's gramps and Kaigaku; Gramps committed seppuku because Kaigaku decided to become a demon!" I was shocked at this news, for despite knowing Kaigaku was a jerk, I didn't think he would become a demon. I also didn't know what to think of the kindly old man's death. But as Eris explained further I too felt a righteous anger at what Kaigaku had done. It wasn't to the extent that Eris felt it, but even after just a day I had come to care about Iguro. He was a good man and a great teacher.
He didn't deserve this. Looking down at Eris who was crying lightly now, I kissed the top of her head. "I promise that we won't let Kaigaku get away with this." As she simply nodded into my chest I held both my girls closer as Cassandra and I both rubbed our goddess's back. For a while this was all we did until after letting out all of her stress, Eris fell asleep. Deciding I could also go for a nap I laid down holding both my girls.
It didn't take a genius to understand what I was doing, so Cassandra quickly followed Eris into dream land as I looked up at the ceiling. This was a new feeling I was experiencing. Yet while I had never felt it before I could tell what it was. It was the feeling of true betrayal. For while I had never directly interacted with the senior thunder user, he was still a member of the corps. That means he betrayed everyone who is and had fought against the demons. Back then I had wanted to do nothing more than to go out and hunt him down.
Yet I knew that if anyone deserved to beat the guy black and blue. It was Eris and Zenitsu, he was their sibling disciple, and I knew they would feel a duty to end him themselves. So as I closed my eyes I made a decision and simply hoped it was the right one. I would let Zenitsu and Eris fight Kaigaku, even if I really wanted to strangle the man myself. No one made any of my girls cry and got away with it! I would have to restrain myself. Something I didn't like doing.
The things I do for love… Honestly I still don't like my decision even after all these years.
Lesson! Lesson! I am the absolute teacher of all Linebreaks!
After that little moment the three of us spent time either talking, training, or more often than not. Cuddling like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately we only had four days before the rest of the Kamaboko squad came back. When they did we noticed Zenitsu fawning over Nezuko, Tanjiro looking proud, Kyojuro laughing, and the last three looking at demon girl a bit warily.
"So, I guess things were a success?" With a clap on my back my mentor answered.
"Of course it was! You should know how efficient your own team is by now!" Throwing his hand forward his eye sparkled. "Come! We must report our success to the others!" That's how we ended up in an even more crowded Hashira meeting room. With also Sanemi glaring at Genya, the later of whom was trying to avoid his gaze. Couldn't help but feel for the poor kid. Ignoring that bomb I narrowed my eyes at another occupant, one that caused Eris to grab hold of my hand to try to keep calm.
Sitting on her left was Cassandra who held her other hand as she glared. "Woo! Been a while since I've seen all of you little Hashira. Well little besides you Gyomei, you're still waaay too big to be called that." The stone Hashira shrugged as Judan cleared his throat. It seemed as if he was ready to be serious. "First of all congratulations on finding a cure for this faux demonism, with the cure on hand and with the reveal of Nezuko's sun immunity. We all decided it was finally time for the final phase of this war."
With a nod Amane continued. "Judan Dono has agreed to support us as we begin a mass training. He and those with him will deal with the demon attacks as we start a Hashira training."
That got Obanai to speak up. "Hashira training? Guessing that means we'll be preparing for the fight ahead then?" Judan shook his head.
"Yes and no, you'll be helping everyone in the corps train for the fight. Or at least most of you will." Trailing off he spoke to me and Tanjiro. "You two have an important mission before you can begin." I was quickly suspicious as he grinned and Amane turned away biting her lower lip.
Smiling Mitsuri raised a fist. "Yes! Another mission for tea-" And she was cut off.
"No just Tanjiro and Michael." My poor friend deflated at that.
"Oh…"
"Sorry but this is for their personal growth, and it needs to be them who complete this task." My paranoia was yelling from the back of my head as I narrowed my eyes.
"And what exactly are we doing? Cause I'll be honest after our last few encounters, as well as what we've learned about you. I don't trust you very much." My girls and the rest of the Kamaboko squad voiced their agreements. Surprising the rest of the Hashira as Amane looked at her lap and Judan grinned.
I wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth at his retort. "Oh is that so? And after all I've done for you young dragon! My heart truly bleeds at your distrust." Me and Cassandra had to hold Eris back as the demon lied through his teeth. "But enough of theoretical trust issues." There wasn't anything theoretical about my lack of trust. "You and Tanjiro thanks to your new found abilities have become extraordinarily powerful." His smirk widened as he shrugged. "And sure, you could both learn something from the rest of the Hashira. Especially young Tanjiro, but I do believe this will teach you something you sorely need for later."
Surprisingly it was Kanao that spoke up. "What could he possibly learn that the rest of us don't need to learn?" I was surprised at the distrustful scowl on her face as Judan pointed at her.
"Hah! Sorry little lady but based on what I've seen from all of you! They need this lesson the most. The rest of you… well you don't really need this." Sighing I knew that Judan would never directly answer our questions.
So instead I kissed my girls, even reaching over Eris to kiss Cassandra, and stood up. "Fine, not like we can really say no can we?" Looking up at me Tanjiro basically copied me, only kissing Kanao on the lips, despite Shinobu's angry twitch. With a clap Judan pointed to the door.
"Perfect~! Now let's talk outside before I send you two off~." I did not like this one bit, yet all I could do was sigh and follow as Judan left. Behind me was Tanjiro who quickly reassured Nezuko and Kanao. Looking back at my girls I gave a smile that showed more confidence than I had. Thankfully it calmed them down and they waved me goodbye before I closed the door behind us. Walking for a bit, I waited until we were out of ear shot before attempting to grab Judan by his coat.
I was unsuccesfull… "Nope~!" Popping the p Judan snapped his fingers as a portal opened up under me. Last thing I remembered were the equations I saw before hitting something hard. Then there was only darkness.
"San! Nii San! Michael wake up!" I shot up and immediately regretted it as a massive headache shot through my skull. "Are you alright?! Judan said he "accidentally" gave you a nasty fall." Even I could hear the sarcastic belief in the kid's voice. Still didn't want to worry him so I waved off his concern.
"I'll be fine, just need to wait out the headache. How long was I out?" As I blinked the lights from my eyes Tanjiro answered with a sigh.
"Only a couple of minutes, long enough for Judan to give me our orders, and then vanish after pushing me through that weird hole as well." Now that sounded exactly like something a disciple of chaos would do. As I motioned for him to continue I looked around the alley we happened to be in. "He said there have been a number of disapearances around this city, and our goal is to put a direct stop to it. Besides that he didn't give too many details, saying it would defeat the purpose of this "training"."
I could feel the headache returning. "Ugh, why am I not surprised? Toss us into a new dimension and ask us to complete a task. Not that I will complain about stopping a bunch of disapearances. But… well you know… mostly concerned about whatever twists this all will have." Standing up as he nodded I looked around with a frown. "Does something seem off about these buildings to you?" Humming Tanjiro took a sniff of the air before nodding.
"Now that you mention it, I do smell something off. Though I can't quite put my finger on it, what do you make of it?" It was then, in what could only be described as fate. I heard a sound I didn't think to hear any time soon. A familiar sound, yet also something that had become a bit alien to me despite the nostalgia it instilled. On instinct I ran towards it. "Nii San?!" Ignoring Tanjiro I continued on my path eventually reaching the end of the alley. Leaning on the brick building besides me I slumped to my knees. "Michael why did yo- What is that?!"
Taking a deep breath I answered. "That my pseudo younger brother… is a car." I could hear him ask me what a car was as I looked at the red vehicle in front of me. Yet I couldn't answer his questions. No I was stuck with a single thought in my head. Why did he send us back to modern times? Just what is Judan plotting?! Shaking my head I stood up shakily. And just what does he mean to teach us here? Oh if only I knew the answer back then. At least I got more magic and a good bow out of all of it.
Lesson! Lesson! I am the absolute teacher of all Linebreaks!
Argentum: And a twist! I wonder if any of you will be able to figure out where they are before the big reveal.
Grel'Slyfer: I mean you did drop a pretty obvious hint.
Argentum: Not really…
Judan: I'm just glad that my Character's true personality is shining through.
Eris: You mean you like being ambiguously dickheaded?
Judan: Whoa! Language little lady.
Eris: I'm-
Judan: Don't care how old you are I'm older.
Eris: … I hate you.
Judan: Aww I love you to~.
Argentum: Ugh, Tanjiro can you finish this before they start-
Eris: I will wear your entrails as sweat bands!
Argentum: Before that, please just finish.
Tanjiro: Okay, this has been a Dark Guard production now signing off!
Almost everyone: Goodbye!
Judan: Too slow~!
Eris: ARGHHH!
Argentum: Yeah I'm not touching that.
Judan: Hey your boy here! With April fools coming around thought I'd get one over on Argentum and Slayer. I made a poll on whether or not Tanjiro should get another girl. Whether or not he'll do whatever the votes come to I don't know. But we'll see now won't we? Will probably depend on how many people vote. Have fun!