Nezuko watched her sister practice her sword swings worriedly. She'd been at that for almost three hours now. She'd gone up and down the mountain for the first time the day before and had been nothing but frustrated with her performance. Urokodaki-sensei had even told her she needed to be patient with herself, but that had only resulted with a stony nod, and once Hanako thought no one was looking, she broke down into tears. Was that something Rengoku-san had said?

The younger Kamado girl knew the breathing forms for the flame style, but could only seem to practice them for a couple of minutes at a time and she didn't seem to have the power she would need to truly cut off a demon's head. It was a stage Nezuko remembered vividly.

Hanako had also thrown herself into learning the Hinokami Kagura, but trying to move with that breathing form had knocked her out for an entire afternoon. She still practiced the stances along with the flame breathing, but hadn't tried the breathing style for the Sun Breath again, at least.

But now she was working herself to the bone…

Nezuko hadn't interfered before because who was she to discourage such dedicated effort, but… this wouldn't help in the long run, and they all knew it. Except for her little sister, apparently.

Sighing, she walked into view and smiled at Hanako, who didn't stop swinging. Nezuko knew her smile became slightly more strained.

"Hanako, can we talk?" she asked.

"Just… a sec…" the girl said, eyes narrowed in concentration. Her arms were shaking. Nezuko still waited for several more swings before the girl finally let her hands drop to her sides and turned to her sister wearily.

"What is it… Nee-chan?" She sounded so… well, somehow both emotionless and yet intense, both calm and angry. Part of that might have been her being so out of breath.

"I'm worried about you, Hanako," she said quietly.

The younger girl scowled. "Why?"

"Because of how hard you're pushing yourself."

The scowl deepened. "I thought that no one became a demon slayer without training nearly to death."

"Not when they're nine."

"What does my age have to do with it?!" Hanako asked angrily, stomping her foot on the ground.

Nezuko sighed. "Because if you push yourself too hard right now, you could hurt yourself to a point where you can't use a breathing form, or so permanently that you can't take a proper stance, or swing a sword right."

That seemed to get through to the girl as she looked horrified, and then away. "What does the difference between being nine and ten have to do with that?" she muttered and were those tears in her eyes?

The older girl wanted to groan, but refrained. "To be honest," she said as patiently and lovingly as she could, "I don't know. I just know that Rengoku-san had his reasons, and maybe we should listen to them."

Hanako shook her head defiantly. "I have to get stronger."

Nezuko closed her eyes. She'd thought that might be the reason. Hanako was blaming herself for Rengoku-san's death. She walked over and put her arms around her sister, who resisted for a moment before melting into the hug.

"It wasn't your fault," Nezuko whispered.

The younger girl shook her head. "If I'd been stronger—"

"Do you expect Rokuta to be able to run as quickly as you?"

That seemed to take Hanako by surprise as she pulled away to look up at her sister with wide eyes. "No, of course not! He's a baby."

"Well, I wouldn't count five years old as a baby, but I think my point still stands. If you don't expect strength from him, how can you expect yourself to measure up to Rengoku-san."

Hanako closed her mouth and looked down.

"It isn't your fault you were born when you were. It isn't anyone's fault, really. It just… is."

"B-but it isn't fair," Hanako cried.

Nezuko hugged her tighter. "No, it isn't. Nothing regarding demons is fair. And it's terrifying…"

The younger girl grabbed Nezuko's haori, clutching it tightly and sobbing. "He… he's gone and… it was for me. I don't want to lose anyone else."

Tears sprang to the older sister's eyes too. "I know. But that still doesn't make it your fault. That makes it Muzan's fault. And the Waxing Moon that attacked you. But never yours."

They sat like that for several minutes, with Hanako just sobbing into Nezuko's chest, practice sword lying forlornly on the ground next to them where the younger girl had dropped it.

"How about this," Nezuko said when Hanako had finally calmed a little. "You stop sneaking off to do more practice, and we'll push you harder in our training sessions. But you have to take time to play with Rokuta and Shigeru every day, at least. And if you don't want to play with them and just want to sit around for a while, that's fine too. Urokodaki-sensei has set up a shrine for Rengoku-san, too, you know, if you want to take time to pray.

She wasn't sure her sister knew that as she'd been that involved in her training. It was in the corner of the common room in the house, but Hanako was never inside except when she was half-asleep waking up or dead on her feet going to bed. She often even ate outside.

Sure enough, Hanako looked surprised. "He has?"

"Of course," Nezuko said, smiling. "Let me show you."

The younger girl nodded emphatically.

"Pick up your sword," Nezuko nodded towards the wooden sword on the ground.

Hanako nodded again, wiping the last of her tears away before grabbing her sword and then hurrying after her older sister.

For the first time since they'd returned to Mount Sagiri, Nezuko allowed herself to relax.

Hanako wasn't good now, but she would be alright eventually.

xXx

Shinazugawa Genya couldn't sleep. Not when he knew Kamado was in town. Probably in the same building, he realized with a shudder. It didn't help. He hated that he couldn't seem to relax because he'd worked hard that day, and his body begged for rest, but… how could he let himself relax when that thing was around, waiting for them to all lower their guards. Not that Himejima-sensei would lower his guard, but Himejima-sensei was also teaching the demon his style. Admittedly, that was under orders, but still… if Himejima-sensei had said no adamantly enough, he didn't think the Demon Slayer Corps would push him on it.

Genya had even spied on the training session today. (He'd avoid Kamado like Sensei had asked him to, but that didn't mean he couldn't do reconnaissance.) Kamado caught onto the earth style very, very quickly. It was… terrifying and he just couldn't understand why the corps was buying into all of this. The demon would probably have the style completely down in days. That was just…

He wanted to do something about it but… what? Short of sneaking in and killing Kamado while he slept…

The young demon slayer leaned up on one elbow and looked over at his Sensei sleeping calmly, body straight under his blanket. Then he sighed. Genya had tried sneaking out before, but had only ever succeeded when Sensei allowed it. He had no delusions that he'd be allowed outside of his room tonight.

He huffed and lay back on his futon.

Sensei's here. He told himself. He won't allow anything to happen.

Genya sighed and shook his head. Now if only I could truly believe that.

He didn't know how long he lay there looking up at the ceiling, heart pounding at the thought of a demon nearby – on the other side of the shoji? Could he really be so close? He sincerely hoped not.

He must have eventually drifted off because he woke up the next morning. What sleep he got didn't help him feel much better. He still forced himself to get up and begin his morning routine after which Sensei set him on his training for the day. Before he left to go train Kamado some more, the large man turned an ear to Genya.

"You know," he said, obviously listening carefully, "you'd probably get a lot more information about Kamado if you would treat him like a person."

"He's a demon."

"Yes. He can also speak and talk and would likely open up to you far more than he would to me."

Genya didn't say anything.

"Something to consider," his teacher said passively before he walked out.

The younger demon slayer grit his teeth and went about his training until lunch. Sensei never came to eat the portion he set out for him. Probably too busy with the demon. Well, that was fine. It wasn't like he needed his Sensei for everything.

He trained all afternoon and only when he'd finally almost collapsed from the exercises and the sun was well on its way to the horizon did he allow himself to pause and just look out at the town for a moment. They expected a demon attack here within a couple of days. Even now, the village looked to be half empty with everyone scurrying about to get all the equipment and supplies out of there.

Of course, that was all based on information provided by Kamado.

Genya sighed and turned to go to the hot springs. He didn't know when he'd be able to next use them after all, and he really needed it.

Unfortunately, he'd gotten undressed and stepped into the hot tub area only to turn around and see one Kamado Tanjiro half submerged in the pool relaxing against the stones containing the water. The demon looked up through the steam at the sound of the door opening, bright red eyes and kanji meeting Genya's dark purple. They both sat there looking at each other in shock for several seconds before Kamado stood up hurriedly.

"I'll go!"

He quickly got out of the hot spring and grabbed for what must have been his nearby towel.

Part of Genya wanted him to go. Very much. Part of him wanted to start a fight. But most of him remembered what his Sensei had said earlier that day. Did he want Genya to try and get information out of Kamado? And why did he think the demon would open up to him more than a… Hashira…

Oh.

Well, Genya wasn't sure what the kid would actually divulge to him but… if they could potentially get the information they needed…

"No," he forced himself to say through gritted teeth as Kamado went to rush by him. The demon stopped uncertainly.

"No?"

Genya took a deep breath. "You… can stay."

A troubled expression crossed the other boy's face. "I… was told to avoid you. I thought you wanted me to…" he thumbed over his shoulder.

The taller boy took a deep breath and shook his head. He really wasn't good at this, so he couldn't force a neutral expression, but he could at least not antagonize the demon.

"That's if… one of us was gonna start a fight. Are you gonna?"

Kamado blinked and turned more towards Genya. "No."

"Yeah, I won't either."

The kid suddenly looked far too hopeful. "Really?"

"I wouldn't say it otherwise!" Genya snarled, then turned and marched angrily towards the pool and got in, making sure he never once turned his back on the demon.

Reluctantly, Kamado lowered himself back into the pool and sat stiffly for several seconds before leaning his head back and exhaling, seeming to forcibly relax himself. Genya tried to do the same with only some success.

The silence between them felt awkward and heavy, but Genya didn't know what to say to try and break that. Kamado didn't seem to want to, just relaxing against the hot stones.

"I didn't know something like this would appeal to demons," the taller slayer finally said, and then immediately mentally kicked himself. That was not in any way cordial. Not that Genya – or any Shinazugawa as far as he could remember – was cordial, but still.

Kamado lifted his head (had he really been that open to attack? Was he that confident? That arrogant?) and peered at Genya with those glowing irises.

"Why wouldn't it?"

Because as far as he could tell, demons only cared about eating humans. To a point where they didn't seem like they could care about anything else sometimes. He could at least see that saying that wouldn't go over well, so he shrugged instead, hoping that any redness on his cheeks from embarrassment (he was screwing this up so badly) would be passed off as the heat from the pool.

Kamado studied him for a couple of seconds before smiling softly. "Demons can regenerate very quickly, and so we don't get muscle pains, but… it still feels good and is relaxing."

"Oh," was all Genya could say. No… he couldn't leave it there. At least they'd had something going. "It is relaxing." He really sucked at this.

They sat in that stilted silence for several more seconds. Kamado had leaned his head back against the stone again, closing his eyes. After a couple of minutes he opened one of them and saw Genya staring at him. The human looked away, probably too quickly.

Then Kamado sighed. "If you have questions, you can ask them. Just… don't insult my family and we'll be fine."

Genya glanced back again, eyes narrowed. Should he? Well, he was supposed to get information…

"You can burn selective things, right?" Kamado blinked, and then nodded in resignation, as if he knew where this was going. Well too bad. "Have you even tried to burn your cells out?"

"Of your brother?" Kamado asked hesitantly.

Genya grit his teeth and nodded, feeling proud of himself for not snarling again at the mention of Sanemi.

To his surprise, Kamado sighed and nodded. "Yeah. We did some tests. Sanemi – and every other demon I… turned," he looked sick. Good. "Well, we're resistant to Shinobu-san's poison. The first time I burnt the cells out of a demon, the sheer pain killed them. That was one of Muzan's demons. It would take me at least twice as long to burn the cells out of Sanemi. The cells are resistant to my powers seeing as they are my power…" He paused and looked down at his hand sadly.

After a couple of seconds, he looked up and grinned again. It looked real… that was… scary. "Fortunately, Shinobu-san is working on some more potent poisons that will incapacitate and not kill, so hopefully in a couple of months, that shouldn't be an issue. We can just knock Sanemi out, burn the cells out of him and he should be back to normal."

Genya just stared. Because really? He didn't want to get his hopes up but…

"Just like that?"

Kamado shrugged. "I hope so. If not, we'll find a way."

That… wasn't what he'd been expecting. (To be fair, he wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this guy, but still…)

"You'd… lose a demon… you know that, right?"

The red-eyed kid grinned (those teeth!) at Genya. "Yup!" And he sounded excited.

Genya was… getting nowhere fast. Right about then, he realized that this would take longer than he (and probably Himejima-Sensei) had thought it would.

xXx

"How was your visit to the hot springs?" Himejima-sensei asked when Genya got back to their shared room.

Instead of answering, the younger demon slayer stumbled past him and flopped onto his futon, face first, then groaned into the small, round pillow.

Himejima blinked, ear directly to Genya.

"Did you get injured?" he asked worriedly, tears already starting to drip down his cheeks. "You should have come to me directly! Don't put yourself through unnecessary pain—"

"No!" Genya said quickly, then sighed and slumped back down. "No, I didn't get hurt. I… did run into Kamado."

Instead of responding, the Stone Hashira whipped out his beads and began to say a mantra. Genya rolled his eyes and turned back down on the pillow.

"I am relieved you came out of the encounter unscathed," his Sensei finally said.

Genya frowned and turned to look at the man. "You thought he'd attack me?"

Himejima-sensei blinked. "No… I thought you'd attack him and he would respond in kind."

The younger slayer scowled. "Yeah, well I didn't. You said to treat him like a person so we could get information out of him."

His teacher paused, as if studying Genya. "Did you gain any insight or information?"

Genya huffed. "No. Nothing useful in any case. He insisted that he wants to help Sanemi and all his other demons become human again. He told me he wants to become human again. Then he told me the most ridiculous thing about waking up every time he died on the same day over and over again.

"At this point, I don't know what is real or not. I think he wanted to just confuse me."

He sighed and waited for words of wisdom from his teacher, a way to hopefully cut through the insanity and discover the actual truth. When only silence reached him, he looked at his teacher again.

"Sensei?"

"So, he told you."

Wait, what?!

"You know about that?"

Himejima nodded. "I do. He informed Oyakata-sama almost three years ago and has had proof that is… difficult to ignore."

Genya couldn't help but stare, open-mouthed. "Wait. It's actually true?"

The taller man nodded gravely. "We believe so."

"But… I… He…" What was Genya supposed to do with this information? It boggled the mind. He dropped his head into his hands.

"I have to admit, I am very proud of you for keeping your head when speaking with Kamado, Genya."

He didn't look up. "Thank you, Sensei."

"Hmm. I am curious, though. You seemed distressed when you entered." He was distressed now. "Why?"

Oh… yeah, that.

"He wanted to know if I wanted to experiment with eating his hair and nails and… stuff. See if that worked for me to eat him and his demons too…"

Ugh. The very idea made his stomach turn…

And yet.

The pair sat in silence for several seconds.

"Are you going to?" the blind man finally asked.

Genya sighed. "Yeah, probably. It'll be good to know if nothing else."

"I would like to oversee this… training."

Both he and Kamado had expected that, and neither one had a problem with it. Honestly, having his Sensei there would be a load off of his mind.

"That would be welcomed, Sensei."

The larger man nodded firmly, and then the silence returned.

"Sensei," Genya finally said quietly, "I don't think he's hiding anything."

He hated to admit it, and he'd still never forgive the guy for what he did to Sanemi, but…

"Hmm," Himejima-sensei replied thoughtfully. "We shall see, I suppose."

Genya let out a tired sigh. "Yeah. I guess."

"Let us go and eat. That will make you feel better," Himejima-sensei said as he stood up.

Well, Genya wasn't sure if he agreed, but it was something, he supposed. Ignoring his still sore body, he stood as well.

"Hai, Sensei."

xXx

AN: Thank you to Found, TimeLordTim, Kaylessa and Quathis! Luv you guys! And everyone reading this of course. :) Now, I'm at a family reunion, I'm tired, probably missed way too much of this and it's STILL late... so I'm going to bed. LOL Hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

Also, Discord: discord. gg/q4pkrymvvr (no spaces)