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

XIX: Games

"Alright!" Aoi stood firmly in front of the five Demon Slayers, who were lined up in a row.

"Your rehabilitation training has begun. While Kanao has already done all this before," She turned her head briefly towards the raven-haired girl, "She still needs to participate in some way. This means that you'll be going up against her, along with the triplets and myself, in these games."

The Training Games: Being just what they sound like, these are stations across the training room of the butterfly estate. Each one will prove to strengthen the person's precision, speed, and skill, and rehabilitate them, all while being without weapon drills or anything else that the academy already teaches.

Aoi had already said those exact words, and furthermore explained the games themselves to the participants.

Once she was done with her speech, Kanao moved over to the side of the room where Shinobu was standing. "Looking for something to do while the others try to be good enough to beat you?" The purple-haired girl smirked. "You could run a station, you know."

Kanao nodded and headed off, taking that as an order.

Shinobu's smile faded as her adoptive sister turned her back. She's seen Kanao come up with ideas that were innovative and incredible, and having the coin just be a confirmation for them, a go-ahead of sorts. The plans themselves were hers, while the coin was simply a yes or no to the thoughts. I wonder what she'd be like if she wasn't restricted by, well, herself. Probably one of our finest Demon Slayers. It'll take years though, for her to break out of her past and start seeing life as something beautiful.

"Hey, Shinobu?"

The girl turned her head, Aoi coming into her vision. "Yes?"

"Are you going to stay here? Don't you have work?"

"Oh, right." Shinobu began getting her things together, sneaking one last glance at Kanao before she left the training room, the raven-haired girl playing a version of 'Tag' with a few of the other students. She dodged, ducked, and rolled out of the way of hands trying to reach her, already knowing precisely what she was doing since countless times she had practiced like that before.

She knew what she was doing, because she was practically ordered to do those drills as much as she could. Shinobu felt bad about it, since she was taking advantage of Kanao needing orders to do things. She knew this, and yet she didn't hesitate much to send orders flying in the girl's direction. Even Shinobu herself wasn't sure why she did it.

Ducking out of the room, she sighed and made her way outside. She had a job to do today.

.

"Kanao, how are you so good at this?" Zenitsu whined from his spot on the floor. They blonde boy had basically collapsed after 'too much running around'.

"That's true, you seem really comfortable. I know you've done this stuff before, but wow." Tanjiro added. While he wasn't on the floor like his fellow student, he seemed a bit tired.

They had all gone through the activities, Kanao easily defeating everyone else. Although, the whole point of the rehabilitation is to get better with reflexes, stamina and the like, so it makes sense to go up against someone who is more skilled than you.

"I want to go to bed…" Rose, like Zenitsu, was facedown on the floor and groaning. "I thought this was going to be more… I dunno, relaxing…"

Inosuke, meanwhile, didn't seem to have figured out that the group was taking a short break and was still dashing to each activity, yelling as he did. He wasn't actually getting much done. "Watch me, Gonpachiro! I'm going to get really strong then fight you!"

"Gonpachiro" looked mildly annoyed, as if that same situation has happened several times before and he just didn't want to deal with it anymore. Oh wait. It has happened before.

"Inosuke, how many times do I need to tell you that it's 'Tanjiro'?"

"Sure thing, Kentaro!"

From the ground, Rose and Zenitsu were clearly trying not to laugh at poor Tanjiro, who pretty much gave up. Kanao watched with silent amusement, before she went to get Aoi to call everyone back into action. Her adoptive little sister was better at that kind of thing than she was.

"Alright, cut the chatter! Break time's off, get back to your stations!"

Everyone collectively groaned, but went back to work at their rehabilitation.

.

A few days of this later…

"Tanjiro? Why are you the only one here?" Aoi raised an eyebrow. He was doing the best out of the others in her opinion, but that didn't mean the others don't get to come.

"They all quit, basically. I've been trying to convince them to come back, but they haven't agreed yet." He sighed. "I'm still here though, so please train me the best you can!"

Anyone could see his clear as day determination. For Kanao, it was almost inspiring. She watched quietly as he did all the stations, then walked up to her. "Hey Kanao. Let's go at it again, shall we?"

She nodded. Really, she did want him to get better.

.

"So what you're saying is, practice is the only thing I can do?"

Kanao just turned her head to the side, the answer obvious.

Tanjiro had asked her, after a training session, how she got so good. Sure, she did have a few small strategies. That doesn't mean, however, that they'd automatically click and start working for Tanjiro. So all she recommended was extra practice.

"Hm, well, thanks. I'll get to it." He smiled.

.

Kanao paced the edges of the yard, turning her head to look at the other four training. Somehow, Tanjiro had convinced them to start working again.

It looked like fun. Lots of enthusiasm and cheering. Lips upturned, she took out her coin and flipped it.

I can't wait to go and-

Heads.

Lowering her head, she walked away. She had some solo drills to do.

.

Cups set on the table and Tanjiro as her opponent. The two swiftly covered the tops of different cups, this being reflex training. The quicker and more accurate you are, the better you are.

Narrowing her eyes, Kanao tried again and again to be faster than the boy across from her, but she couldn't seem to get past his blocks. He must have been practicing a lot.

Suddenly, a weight was on her head. It took her a moment to realize that instead of splashing her with the tea like you should be doing, Tanjiro had placed the cup on top of her head. He looked kind of confused too, but explained. "I don't want to throw this hot tea onto Kanao, I already know how it feels and it's not fun to clean up afterwards-"

As he went on, Kanao blushed. Did he actually care whether or not she had tea thrown on her? It was part of training, and she had done it to him more times than she could count. How was it fair that he didn't do the same to her?

"You're my friend, Kanao."

She took the cup off of her head and placed it back on the table. Looks like she needed to start training again.

.

Soon enough, new missions were announced.

Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were to be sent on a mission with Rengoku, a skilled hashira that would lead and teach them.

Rose, due to personal circumstances Kanao didn't know, had to go to her home and therefore wasn't given a mission.

Kanao's assignment was to be announced, herself supposedly having to report to Shinobu to receive details.

Wanting some time alone to think over everything, she went to the porch in the backyard. It was calm and peaceful there, with little distraction. One of her favourite spots. She wasn't sure how many minutes passed, but eventually a certain boy turned the corner.

"There you are, Kanao. Shinobu told me you might be here." Tanjiro sat down next to her. "I'm just here to say goodbye, we're heading out. Thanks for everything!"

She couldn't tell why, but she could feel a cold hand around her heart, like an ice fortress was being built. She didn't… want to separate? Before she came here, she had decided with her coin to speak to anyone who may want to say their goodbyes. "There's no need for you to thank me, all I did was follow my orders. Goodbye." She didn't know the words came out of her mouth, she could only try to register the whirlwind of emotion that had suddenly appeared.

"Yeah, goodbye." He replied.

Some awkward silence, although Kanao was used to that happening to her. It did fluster Tanjiro a bit though.

Taking out her coin, she turned it around and around between her fingers. There wasn't much reason behind it, but it calms her nerves.

"What is that for, anyway?" Tanjiro was curious, leaning forward a bit so she could see the object better. "I mean, I know you flip it a lot, but why?"

"Goodbye." This was a subject she didn't like to talk about. Even with Tanjiro, who she's spoken with before and nothing went wrong. It was painful to think about.

"... I'm sorry if it's a touchy subject. Just curious, is all."

She closed her eyes tight, then opened them and flipped her coin. It didn't matter if she didn't like to talk about it. He deserved to know, after so long. Tails.

"This coin was given to me for when I don't have orders. When I need to make a decision on my own, I flip it. The outcome tells me what I do. Just now, I made the choice to answer your question, heads being 'don't answer', and tails being 'answer'." She waited for him to laugh, to taunt her, just like everyone else who knew what her coin did. Only the members of the butterfly estate didn't make fun of her.

But all he asked was, "Why not decide for yourself? What did you want to do, Kanao?"

"... It doesn't matter." Her opinions, her thoughts, her feelings. None of them are-

"I don't think there's anything in this world that doesn't matter." He grinned. "Hey, can I borrow that for a second?"

The question was unexpected, and she felt anxious about giving it to him, but she complied. "Sure."

Tanjiro took the coin, running out towards the yard. "Let's use this to decide!"

"Decide what?" She called. Now she was quite confused.

"Whether or not," He played around with the coin, flipping it between his hands, "You should listen hard to the voice in your heart from now on. How about… heads, let's make it heads!"

Eyes wide, Kanao watched as he flipped the coin high into the air. He'd bother doing that for her? Trying to… help her?

"Your eyes are sad. Please smile."

He stumbled around the yard. "Wait, where is it?" She almost wanted to laugh, but the voice in her head beat her down. Stupid girl. You were made for labour, nothing else. Earn us money, not 'feelings'.

It came down, and he managed to catch it. "I got it! I got it, Kanao! Okay, let's see what it is…"

She didn't realize she was holding her breath. Never seeing it when it came down, she couldn't tell what the outcome was. But deep down inside, she prayed it was-

"Heads! It's heads!" Tanjiro smiled brightly, laughing. Then, quick as lightning, he ran back over and grabbed Kanao's hand, making her gasp. "Good luck, Kanao." She felt her cheeks redden, but also felt oddly happy. "It's the heart that guides people, not belongings. No matter what, just remember that." He placed the coin between her fingers, standing up straight and beginning to turn. "I really should be going though. See you again soon!" With that, he began to run away. But she still had a question.

"H-how did you make it come up heads?" She shouted after him, for the first time in years raising her voice. He turned, the traces of his smile still not gone. "Just by chance. And even if it were tails, I would've kept flipping it over and over until it came up heads." She could see faint traces of pink on his cheeks. "Well, I'll see you around! We should go on more missions together!"

Too soon, he was around the corner and gone.

Left standing, Kanao took a moment to process what happened. She held as tightly as she could to the coin that still had traces of his warmth. Clutching it to her chest, she recalled something Kanae had told her, all those years ago.

"When you fall in love with some boy one day, you'll change too, Kanao."

Was she-? No. Even if she was, he wouldn't…

Uncertain, she sat back down on the porch. Memories whirled through her mind, each one reminding her of the same thing. Hiding together for the last bit of Final Selection, checking injuries inside the mansion on their first assignment, sitting on the wisteria house rooftop, going to the formal party and dancing, meeting at the hospital, so much more.

Now this was an issue. One that no coin or set of orders could fix. Because Kanao Tsuyuri may or may not be in love with Tanjiro Kamado.

TTTTT

Whoop whoop, she realized it! Or rather, she's in the denial stages. I'm a fan of slow burn, but I'm also a fan of not taking 50-or-so chapters just to realize (or not realize) your crush. And yet I also like writing ship scenes? Hm…

I'm sorry. School has started back up for me, and on top of that I got a new job over the summer. Between that and everything else that's going on in my life, I often can't figure out when to update. I absolutely hate having to make you guys wait for chapters though, so I decided to attempt to keep the weekly uploads. If I don't update one day (either Saturday or Sunday), then the next week I'll absolutely try to. I'm reading many stories that release one chapter every few months, and I don't want to be like that.

Anyways, since I feel terrible, I wrote quite a long chapter. I loved writing my semi-recreation of the basically iconic episode 26 scene from the anime, it'd help me to know what you think though (-cough cough- Review. -cough cough-)

With that, I'll see you either in one or two weeks from now!