Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Slayer : Kimetsu no Yaiba or any of its characters/story.

VII: Welcome

"Class, please flip your textbooks to page 78. We're going to…"

Kanao listened as Shinobu droned on to the class about whatever set of math questions they were doing today. It was a bit odd for her to think that her sister would, in fact, teach regular classes alongside the Demon Slayer training. Actually, Kanao's entire class was filled with regular students. Apparently, the school doesn't have that many people that pass the Final Selection, so they bring in a bunch of normal people to fill that gap.

Eyeing the desk next to hers, she saw her seat partner Rose watching the lecture carefully. Shinobu had told Kanao that there was only one other Demon Slayer trainee in her class, and that she was a second-year. Supposedly, there were a ton of kids that passed the Final Selection last year, so all the second-year classes were full of Demon Slayers, not even having room for normal students to join them.

From what Kanao gathered, Rose was an interesting student. And that the two were polar opposites. While Rose is extroverted, friendly, and hardworking, she also nearly always found herself in some sort of trouble. The brunette wore her long hair up in twin pigtails, a streak of platinum blonde running through the right side. She was also, well, petite, only being around 4'11.

She also admired Kanao, even though they barely knew each other.

Somehow.

But she was the only other person in the class aside from Kanao who was a trainee, so it was only fair that the two were at least seated together.

Stifling a yawn, Kanao took out her supplies and did the worksheet she was given. After school, ideally, all the Demon Slayers had to stay behind to get to the 'real training'.

.

/-/ Four Hours Later /-/

"Alright. You are going to split into pairs, and practice your knife skills. Once you do a few rounds of that, the targets will be set up for shooting."

Kanao lined up with all the other trainees, listening as the twins from before told them their instructions Each student had gotten changed from their regular school uniform into the black shirt and pants/skirt of the Demon Slayers. They also had their weapons on them, ready for use. All years were there, 16, 17, and 18 year olds standing in the straight line.

She glanced around the room, if you could call it that. It was somehow even larger than the main hall, with soundproof walls and a polished hardwood floor. It was divided into several different sections by short padded barriers, each area seeming to be a different skill.

A teacher walked past the line, handing each person a small slip of paper. Once Kanao got hers, she unfolded it to reveal the number 26.

"Students, we have given you a slip of paper with a number. Your sparring partner is the one who has a number on their paper that matches yours. Now, pair up and begin the exercise."

All the people previously in a neat line proceeded to walk around, asking their peers if they have whatever number. Kanao was asked a few times by people if she had the matching number, but none of the people were a match.

Well, until one person came along.

"Hey again Kanao. Do you have this number?"

Tanjiro showed her his slip of paper. 26.

She turned hers around, showing the identical digit and nodding.

He smiled, putting the paper into his pocket. "I'm kind of glad I can be paired with someone I know, rather than a complete stranger." She nodded, wanting to express how oddly relieved she was that he was her partner, but saying nothing. It was unnecessary, and who'd really care anyway?

She pocketed the paper, and took out her knives. In her left hand was a standard-issue from the Final Selection, and in her right was Kanae's gift.

Tanjiro mirrored her, his blades flashing in the light as they were drawn.

A whistle was blown, and they started.

.

While Tanjiro was skilled, Kanao was superior with dual-wielding knives. The two fought on alongside all the other trainees for about 5 minutes straight, until she had him disarmed. During that decently long fight, neither of them had even broken much of a sweat.

I wonder if he trained as hard as I did with this. Everyone else is tired, but he doesn't seem to be at all. She watched as he picked up his weapons, which had fallen to the ground, and got in position for another round. She did the same, and they started once again.

.

This time, their battle went on for nearly 10 minutes straight, although it didn't feel nearly that long for her. She wondered why, and thought of something Kanae said once.

Time flies when you're having fun.

Was she enjoying herself? Fighting was never really considered fun for her. Just something she had to do. But when she sparred with Tanjiro, it was a bit different. She felt as though she could try new moves, and didn't have to care if they went wrong. Not that she did. Stick to what you know. Always something she went by, those words her subconscious mind would often repeat.

They had finally finished, Kanao being victorious once again. Tanjiro didn't seem to care at all, only asking her how to do certain moves. A flip of her coin had her teaching him a few.

Maybe she was having a bit of fun.

.

One change of partners, and a repeat of the chaotic number game later had Kanao up against Rose.

It was a long match, around 14 minutes of fast-paced fighting, until Kanao was beaten. Rose helped her pick up her knives, and proceeded to show her the move that beat her. Kanao hadn't even asked, but she had to admit it was a useful tidbit of information.

Another match later, and although Kanao was on the ground once again, the tip of Rose's blade pointed at her throat, it was a lot closer of a battle. Kanao had tried the maneuver Rose taught her just minutes before. What she didn't see coming was the counter that the brunette had up her sleeve.

Eventually all the students were ushered over to the next phase of the training, and gunshots were heard all over the room.

TTTTT

At the end of the day, Kanao was quite tired. Even though her stamina was considerable, it was still pretty exhausting to fight with people rather than targets.

Hence the car ride home with Shinobu being quiet.

She nearly fell asleep, but a voice in the back of her mind told her not to, just to stay awake rather than face the consequences.

Gazing out the window, she watched as buildings and trees passed by her view. She thought about different things, like how Tanjiro's family might be doing.

Eventually, she arrived home. Heading up to her room after eating dinner, she changed into a white long-sleeved nightgown and lay down in bed, pulling the covers over her and looking out her bedroom window.

After counting the stars for a while, she fell asleep.

TTTTT

Well, welcome back.

I hope you aren't mad at me for putting an OC into the story. Don't worry though, she won't be a huge part, just a necessary one. For most of the story, it's just going to be Kanao and Tanjiro, along with Zenitsu and Inosuke.

I read the last chapter of Demon Slayer. It was cute, I admit a tiny bit underwhelming, but I heard somewhere that the author is having family issues. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I did like the manga overall. It was pretty good, a little predictable but hey, it's a Shounen.

See you next week, if I don't have a severe writer's block. ;)