"GYAAAAA!" Nezuko heard Zenitsu yell and looked ahead just as three people appeared on the road.
"Nii-san!" she said happily when she saw her brother and his fellow Pillars.
"Oh, it's you guys," the Lightning Breather said, relieved. "I just heard demons…"
Tanjiro's face fell a little and Shinazugawa turned away. The older Pillar seemed better than he had been, though. From the moment they'd set off, he'd practically radiated a sort of restless energy that had put most of their group on edge. Now, though, that energy had vanished… or at least calmed significantly. The white-haired demon seemed less like he would attack them at any moment in any case so… apparently their 'hunting' had worked.
He seemed more sullen though, and honestly, Nezuko couldn't blame him for that. She really pitied him. She also suspected that he'd hate that pity so she tried not to show it, focusing back on her brother.
"Welcome back," she said brightly, then realized she was being rude. "To Iguro-san and Shinazugawa-san as well."
Her ever amazing brother just smiled at her, so sweet and warm and genuine. "Glad to be back, Nezuko."
Before she could say anything, Inosuke burst forward. "How dare you guys go looking for fights without me?!"
Tanjiro just smiled placatingly. "Sorry, Inosuke, but it was kind of a personal hunt."
He harrumphed. Nezuko was a little surprised he seemed to understand that and back down. Maybe it was a boar thing? "Fine. But you owe me a fight!"
Her brother just laughed. "Okay. Once we get to Urokodaki-sensei's place and I greet my family, we'll talk with Urokodaki-sensei about training and sparring. This is a training trip, after all."
Still not pleased, Inosuke agreed with a sullen harrumph. Then something seemed to occur to him and he perked up. After that, there was no stopping him. Inosuke rushed ahead yelling about how they had to hurry and get there already! Tanjiro just sighed and shook his head fondly. Nezuko could relate.
"I guess that means we're running," her older brother said, voice amused. "Otherwise he'll get lost."
"WHAAAAAAAT?!" Zenitsu yelled, horrified.
"Inosuke has a very good sense of direction, Nii-san," Nezuko replied in defense of the aggressive boy, ignoring her other friend's outburst.
"True, but does he even know where to go?"
Well… he had her there.
"Besides, it's good training."
"B-but…" Zenitsu started, so Nezuko turned to him.
"Please? For me?" she asked quietly. She knew exactly what she was doing and felt a little bad for it, but if it worked and pushed him to try a little harder… so, just this once.
"Anything for you, Nezuko-chan!" he exclaimed. And that quickly, he was off.
Neither Iguro-san or Shinazugawa-san looked happy, but neither of them objected as the others began to use their breath styles to chase after the boar-headed boy.
xXx
They managed to make it to Urokodaki-sensei's place before night fell that day and Nezuko had been shocked to be reminded of her time spent there. The area felt like home, just as much as their little house on the mountain ever had. It set her heart at ease to know her family was here and safe and that she had somewhere to go back to again.
Having her younger siblings come running up to greet them didn't hurt in the slightest. The moment they saw them, she and Tanjiro rushed forward to throw their arms around Shigeru, Rokuta and – she noticed with pleased surprise – Hanako. The senior Rengoku must be visiting as well.
Their mother greeted them just as happily and later, when Senjuro and Takeo came back from training, they welcomed the newcomers just as enthusiastically. They were, of course, followed by the older Rengoku, who looked on at the family with a warm, if somewhat sad smile, although that sadness vanished when Hanako spoke of her training with flame breathing. Apparently one of her duties had been to stare at a fire and find different ways to describe aspects of it. She'd grown rather poetic when she spoke of flames in general. Apparently, though, she hadn't begun to go through some of the harsher aspects of training because of her age. She was nine now and would begin some of that training when she turned ten.
Nezuko couldn't help but be relieved that her sister wouldn't have to go through something equally as harsh as she'd had to go through at such a young age.
Takeo, on the other hand, had apparently reached a point where he could go to the Final Selection… as soon as they knew no Waxing Moons would show up to said selection, of course. The entire Corps was still wary of everything that had happened with her, Tanjiro and Mitsuri.
Apparently Urokodaki did not think Senjuro was ready for the final selection yet, though, and while a lot of that had to do with unlearning bad habits he'd gotten into without his brother or father's supervision (and thus, completely understandable), Nezuko could tell the boy was discouraged. However, he did seem to be more determined and stable than what she'd seen before, and he didn't have a problem voicing his opinions anymore, or at least not as much. It was nice to see him grow and she made a mental note to tell him how much he'd changed later.
Shinazugawa didn't even bother to come inside, instead leaping to the roof of the house and staying there while the Kamado and Rengoku families ate. Iguro did come in, but sat away from everyone in the far corner, watching the warm interactions warily. He didn't seem comfortable in large groups, but Nezuko also got a sense of fascination from him, as if he couldn't quite comprehend the image before him.
She did make a point to invite him over, but he declined looking half longing and half terrified.
She did not offer again that night.
More than one person noted that Tanjiro wasn't eating, and once Rokuta and Shigeru had been put to bed, he sat in front of everyone else and explained everything; how he had finished transforming into a demon by using his power to save Shinazugawa from Waxing One, how he had turned Shinazugawa into a demon to save his life, how neither of them could eat human food, etc.
Nezuko took it from there, explaining what had happened with the two Waxing Moons who had come after them on their way back from the Final Selection and how she was very likely resistant to demonic cells and the subsequent change now (not that she wanted to test that, but it was something she felt her family should know).
Then Tanjiro explained about Akaza (Akatsugi) – and that had been an awkward conversation – and how Iguro-san was accompanying his fellow Pillars because letting two demons of that strength go off on their own was not something anyone was comfortable with.
Once they finished, the assembled group sat in silence, seeming to digest that. Soon after, everyone retired to their beds, on their mother's insistence, but Nezuko was sure she wasn't the only one still awake and thinking late into the night.
Eventually, she did drift off, and she hoped the others in the household did as well.
xXx
The next day, they began training. Tanjiro, who had never trained in the flame style, seemed particularly excited to see what kind of training Rengoku Sr. decided to put him and the other slayers through. Once he'd finished with Hanako, leaving her to swing her sword a thousand times, he uncovered the trench he'd dug and filled with wood. Then he started it on fire and told the six current slayers – perhaps a little too gleefully – to give him a thousand push-ups, over the flames.
Inosuke took to this with relish.
Zenitsu almost fainted.
The rest of them nodded, determined, and began their chore. While they did so, Rengoku Sr. spoke of the inner flame and how one had to concentrate on that for any flame style. He talked about feeding one's energy to said flame and thus controlling the output of concentration and strength by the amount of energy one fed into it. It was a concept that Nezuko caught on to quickly, even as she struggled past two hundred push-ups over the heat. At least she'd had the foresight to put her hair up.
The next two weeks went on like that, pushing everyone to train as hard as they could and ending with Nezuko practically falling into bed every night. At least she wasn't the only one. The flame training seemed to tire out her fellow slayers as well. Even Shinazugawa came in at night and she'd seen him collapsed in a corner while heading to her own room, drained and so tired.
A lot of that may have had to do with Tanjiro taking him and Iguro-san after dinner every other day for a couple of hours to train as well. Those tended to be the hours when everyone else finished up chores for the day, and while part of Nezuko envied them for getting in extra training, part of her most certainly did not. She didn't know what kind of training they did, but she suspected it was something to do with their demon abilities. Her guess was confirmed when they came in one night, just before bed, with Tanjiro exclaiming excitedly. Nezuko, from where she sat on her futon, merely turned an ear to listen.
"… course you'd have a wind based blood art! It makes so much sense! Every demon I've known who has been a demon slayer has had a blood art that compliments their breathing style!"
Shinazugawa snorted, although he sounded both more tired and more upbeat than he had before. "And how many demons that used to be demon slayers have you known, exactly?"
A pause. "Well, three, if you include me. But I use the Sun Breathing style, and my blood art deals with flames and fire. Kokushibo's," he practically spat the name, "uses the moon-breathing style and his blood art is the ability to create – and to an extent control – blades much like his breathing style suggests. The third… was someone I've run across a few times, but he doesn't always become a demon, so I'll leave it at that, but yeah."
"Have you warned Ubuyashiki-sama about the potential defector?" Iguro asked, tone accusing.
"Oh. No… I… haven't. I'll do that tonight!" Tanjiro responded with the sound of one fist hitting into the palm of his hand.
"In any case, I wonder why that is," he continued just seconds later, going back to the previous topic. "Do demon transformations and breathing styles affect the same part of the human soul? Is that why breathing styles are far more effective against them?"
A snort from Shinazugawa. "It just gives the human the ability and speed to actually keep up with most demons. It's the blades that makes killing demons possible."
"You're right!" her brother responded almost immediately. "I should be looking into the blades and sunlight!"
Nezuko smiled as she finished getting ready for the night, allowing the three Pillars to walk by outside as they made their way to their own room, continuing to talk quietly, if excitedly. Her brother always had such a positive outlook.
She hoped she could be that strong one day.
xXx
Hanako wasn't really sure what to think. About more or less everything. Her life had changed so drastically since… well, since that day. The day her elder brother woke up not acting like himself at all. They'd run away from… well… something (Rengoku-san explained Muzan to her later and she'd been horrified) and then had ended up at Urokodaki's after long, hard days and nights on the road. And then her brother had trained and left while Nezuko began training, and then the Rengokus had come and she'd volunteered to train under a different style…
And that had been an adjustment. Rengoku-san apparently hadn't been one to cook or clean in quite a while and he'd admitted that he'd never had a daughter before – that he had no clue how to take care of a girl. (She'd giggled and told him to treat her like he would his sons, and she'd tell him if something needed to change.)
Eventually he'd hired some townspeople from a local village to come and help maintain the compound for a week out of the month as he didn't want to pressure Oyakata-sama by requesting for kakushi. They'd all been rather shocked and a bit scandalized when they'd found out that Rengoku-san had been teaching her swordplay, but none of them had dared speak against the head of the estate.
(They weren't part of the Corps for some reason.)
And so she'd continued training.
It had taken them a while to get into a pattern that worked, but eventually they had and now she couldn't help but be glad she'd chosen to go and learn the flame style instead of the water style. She felt stronger than ever and was very proud of her progress, even knowing she had a long way to go.
But she'd also missed so much. Like her brother becoming a Pillar (a Pillar!) and Nezuko going to the Final Selection, and then Tanjiro slowly becoming a demon, but being able to still act like his normal self with his memories intact and he didn't eat humans and apparently could turn other people into demons too…
It was just… so much.
Her family had written to her, of course, but they hadn't known everything, and even if they had, it was different actually seeing it. Seeing her brother look at her with bright red eyes that had kanji written in them… and smile with those fangs showing (even if it was the same smile in every other aspect) and his claws…
She'd never actually come across a demon before now and… it was terrifying. And this was her brother and another Pillar (who wasn't very nice, but also didn't tend to be around very often either), and not actually actively trying to kill her. She had no idea how she would react when she faced a real demon.
And so she wanted practice.
So one day, a couple of weeks into training, she walked up to her brother after he'd come out of his own flame training (and she had to admit, she both was and was not looking forward to that…).
"Nii-chan," she said, as seriously as she could. He turned those bright-red eyes on her in surprise and question. "Spar with me."
Silence.
He blinked. "Um… sure. Why though?" he asked.
She looked down, not wanting to hurt his feelings. He didn't like it when someone brought up his demon… ness. She didn't notice the others in the group turn to stare at him in shock.
"I… want practice," she finally went with. "I spar with Rengoku-san sometimes but… I want to see how well I'm doing compared to others." She looked back up, trying to seem firm and sure.
He softened and leaned down a bit. "It's because I'm a demon, isn't it."
She stiffened and looked away again, feeling her face heat up. She didn't answer, but apparently that was answer enough.
"I get it," he said, ruffling her hair. (She felt the claws scrape against her scalp gently and had to withhold a shudder – this was Tanjiro, after all.) "And if Rengoku-san thinks it's okay…" he faded off and turned to look at their teacher.
The man looked thoughtful. "I haven't had time to train her as much as I would like since getting here, and sparring against another style would certainly be beneficial… if you can hold back to her level."
Hanako hated that he had to stipulate that, but also understood that she needed to be patient with herself. (Didn't mean she was, but she did try to be.)
Tanjiro nodded. "I can. In either style."
Rengoku-san nodded firmly. "Then I approve!"
The youngest Kamado girl grinned.
xXx
Hanako had sparred a little against Rengoku-sensei, but she knew sparring with her brother would be different. She just hadn't realized how different. Rengoku-sensei and Nii-san both showered her with praise when she did something right, although her sensei would sternly but gently correct her when she misstepped or where she could do something better. Tanjiro would simply encourage her to try again, completely convinced she would do it right the next time. And the next time. And the next time.
But she found it so frustrating that, like Rengoku-sensei, he had absolutely no trouble outmatching her. Within minutes, she was breathing hard and working up a sweat, and she hadn't even come close to hitting him. Not that she thought her brother was any weaker than Rengoku-sensei, but…
Sensei told her that she needed to be patient; that comparing herself to a hashira – former or not – was like comparing a sapling to a tree. Expecting that sapling to shade as much ground as a giant tree was ridiculous. (He'd taken to calling her 'sapling' after that.) That didn't stop her inability to land a hit frustrating.
"You're doing so well, Hanako-chan!" Tanjiro said as he dodged yet another of her swings. "You'd definitely be able to defeat me back when I sold charcoal! And I was 13 then!" If he hadn't said it with such a genuine smile, his comment would have very much angered her. But it was Tanjiro and he meant it as a compliment. And it was. She was a girl, not even ten years of age, and he was confident she could beat children much older.
Still…
Not half-an-hour later, she found herself collapsed on the ground breathing hard with a grinning Tanjiro leaning over her and gushing about how good she was doing and how impressed he was.
"I'm so proud of you, Hanako! In no time, you'll be as good as Rengoku-san – as both of them! They're amazing, and you will be too!"
That brought her up short.
"Nii-san, have you… seen Rengoku-san… fight?" she asked through heavy breaths.
That brought Tanjiro up short and he looked up at her sensei, who seemed to be focusing on her question just as intently as she had.
"Well… yes. I've seen the current Flame Pillar fight. Akaza, actually. It was incredible. He saved so many lives that day…"
"What about Rengoku-sensei?" she asked, forcing herself to sit up. (It already hurt… tomorrow would not be pleasant.)
Tanjiro blinked and looked back up, almost apologetic. "No. I haven't."
The former Pillar caught onto where Hanako was going and smiled warmly down at her. "If you wanted a demonstration, Sapling, why didn't you just say so?"
She blushed a little as her teacher looked at her brother. "If you're amenable?"
Her brother looked very interested. "I am."
"Will you use your Sun-breathing style?"
Tanjiro blinked, taken aback. "Sure," he said after a moment with a shrug.
They proceeded to set boundaries behind which Hanako and the other demon slayers could watch. She was a little annoyed and thought the fight would be too far away… until they moved. Sparks flashed as their swords met and she could barely follow them as they danced across the clearing. She could swear she actually saw flames rising from their attacks in the air their swords passed through. Different colors even. Rengoku-sensei's were a bright yellow-orange, while Nii-san's were a dark, ruby red. There weren't actually flames, but… the entire display just took her breath away. Especially when Nii-san's sword ended at Rengoku-sensei's throat.
It took several seconds for Hanako to catch her breath. So… that was what she needed to aspire to be…
She knew she would never forget this day and, for once, began to look forward to the harsher training that would help her begin to achieve that level of skill.
xXx
Shinjuro blinked as he looked into the eyes of the demon he'd just sparred with. The boy hadn't even pushed himself, such was his power. It reminded him again of the single time he'd seen Waxing One and he realized he hadn't understood this boy's strength at all.
"Yield," the older man said, not willing to move with that sword to his throat. The boy grinned and stepped back, lowering his weapon and bowing, looking utterly sincere.
"Thank you for the spar, Rengoku-san."
The yellow-haired man nodded in affirmation as he rubbed his throat. "That was… impressive. That was your sun style? I'm positive I saw some flame style in that…"
The boy's face practically lit up. "Yes! That's the original breathing form that all other forms are derived from."
"Really?" the Rengoku head asked, surprised. "Interesting." Just where had he gotten that from? And was that the 'first style' the family texts spoke of? He'd have to look into that. However, he'd noticed a couple of the moves had seemed a little off (at least to him) and he was curious as to the discrepancies. "If… I could be so bold, I do think that while you use the style very well, you could use some tune-ups on some of the forms flame is derived from."
The younger boy blinked, eyes widening in surprise. "You think so?"
Shinjuro shrugged. "If what you say is true, and all other forms come from your original breathing form there should be some crossover, correct? How do you know this style? I've never seen it before."
"It was passed down in my family for centuries as a ceremonial dance celebrating Hinokami."
The older man's eyebrow raised in question. "As… a dance?"
Kamado nodded.
"Not as a fighting form?"
"Well, no," the boy replied thoughtfully.
"It would make sense that a dance would choose aesthetics over practicality," Shinjuro mused. "It is likely that some of the form's offense was lost during those years."
"I… never thought of that," Kamado admitted, but then his eyes lit up. "Could you show me?"
Shinjuro smiled at the boy's eagerness. He wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable teaching a demon though…
"Why do you need to get stronger?" he asked.
The boy's smile faded a little and he looked down. "Kokushibo beat me. I need to find a way to get stronger to never let that happen again!"
Waxing One.
Oh.
The Rengoku head completely understood that. He had, after all, seen the demon in action. He'd been one of the few in history to see such and survive.
And… knowing someone was on their side who could stand against that… monster…
"Very well! The first discrepancy I noticed…"
xXx
AN: Sooooo my computer crashed. Fortunately, I didn't lose any of this because I was in my 'rereading' phase, but I did lose notes, parts of chapters, and a couple of other things from some of my other fics. *sigh* A bit demoralized, but it is what it is. I'll recover, and have already written a new chapter for this story too. LOL So yeah. For those of you waiting for my SW fic, it's probably not coming out this month. Sorry.
Thanks to TimeLordTim, Kaylessa, Found and Quathis for their help on this! No, seriously. Thank you.
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)
