The boys were training as I hummed to myself, scribbling away in my sketch book. Between the screaming of Zenitsu, Inosuke's loud demands of harder training, and Tanjiro's cheers for his friends; I was pleasantly entertained by the background noise. For a couple weeks now, they had been at learning Total Concentration: Constant, and they were all very close to nailing the technique. Not only had the girls egged Tanjiro into starting the technique, and he then brought the other two into the learning process. They asked me if I was able to sit in and watch them while they trained, if I was feeling up to it, and make sure that they weren't doing any harm to themselves. To be completely honest, I wasn't the most qualified person to make sure no one hurt themselves, but I was still on 'bed rest' until Shinobu was finished with the new medicine I had requested.

For some reason, it was taking Shinobu a little bit longer than usual to concoct a medicine, and it was for a good reason. We talked about the fact that the dosage I had been using was something that would knock a regular person on their butt, and she wasn't too sure how high we could go from there. We didn't want the dosage to go as high as to affect my hand-eye coordination, but not low enough to not work at all.

And thus started the trial studies.

The last time we had gone through this, it had taken more than a few tries to get where we were, and I assumed that this time would be no different. Since it had already been a couple weeks, Shinobu assured me that we were almost done. As nice as relaxing is, it got very boring very fast because of my eagerness to go back into action.

Not too long ago, Kyojuro had been sent out on a mission by himself. Usually, it wasn't a big deal, but for some reason, I was on edge. Kyojuro was an amazing swordsman, so I shouldn't have been as worried as I was.

"Wow, Naoto-san, I didn't know that you were an artist! This is so amazing!" Tanjiro's voice snapped me from my thoughts. I had been so engrossed in my thinking to myself that I didn't even realize that they had finished their training for the morning. To be honest, I wasn't even sure of what I was drawing at this point. Looking down at the sketch book, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had started to draw out the different kinds of plants and insects that were in the nearby garden.

I hummed as the other two came over to see what Tanjiro was ogling at. "Ah, thank you, Tanjiro-kun. Drawing is just something that I picked up over the years of traveling. You get to see so many places while traveling during the day, so I just learned how to capture what I see. So, training is done for the day?"

Tanjiro nodded with a smile. "Aoi-san said that it was time for lunch, so we were going to wash up when Zenitsu said that you probably didn't hear her. Inosuke and Zenitsu already went on ahead of us."

"Well, he's not wrong. I didn't even notice how long it had been since you started you training." I huffed out a laugh as I put away my drawing utensils. "I swear, if I could, I would go days just drawing." Before we could go inside, a cawing caught our attention. Looking up, I immediately noticed that it was Mio coming down to land.

Putting out my arm, she landed with a huff. "Naoto, Naoto!"

"Good afternoon, Mio. It's nice to see you." I greeted her as I pulled out some grapes that the girls had given me for a snack.

"Thank you!" She cawed before she gobbled them down. "New orders! New orders! The Master would like to see you! And immediately!"

Without waiting for an answer, Mio took off into the sky once more. "Well, I suppose I should be on my way. Maybe we'll all be able to go back into active duty together."

Tanjiro's face lit up at the possibility. "Maybe so! If that's the case, then I hope we'll be able to see you in the future!"

"You're a very kind soul, Tanjiro." I commented with a smile from behind my mask, patting his sweaty hair. "Someone with your temperament is hard to come by nowadays, so continue doing your best, alright?" My actions almost seemed to take the boy aback, but he quickly nodded.

"Of course! I'll see if Sumi, Naho, and Kiyo can pack you some lunch for your trip back to the main headquarters, so you won't walk on an empty stomach."

"It's very good to see you better than the last we talked, Naoto." Oyakata-sama commented over tea. Amane was nice enough to bring us some after I had arrived to the manor. "Mio had made sure to keep me updated on your condition and what you did on your bedrest."

I scratched my cheek with a huff of a laugh, my mask left off to the side of the table once it was just the two of us. "Yes, Mio has been a very good companion these last years. But yes, I haven't had an episode like that since the Kamado trial. Shinobu-chan and I had gone through quite a few different tests, but we finally found something that works better."

"Did you dream of anything during your episodes? I know you said in a report that you had, but I was hoping you would go into more detail since you've had time to process what was seen."

"Yes.. Has Kyojuro gone on his mission recently?"

Oyakata-sama nodded. "He did. I plan on sending Tanjiro and his friends to the same mission, as backup."

"A very good idea. May I request that I accompany them from afar?"

"I imagine if you're asking me directly, that means you believe something bad will occur." He mused.

"That's correct. While I'm confident that Kyojuro can handle himself with this mission, but this is just a risk I'm not willing to take. Not just for him, but for his brother and father as well." I paused, thinking back to the children I had helped at the Butterfly Mansion. "I also wanted to make sure that Tanjiro and company are in good hands. You never know if any of the Twelve Kizuki could appear."

Oyakata-sama huffed out a laugh. "That is true, I suppose. I will make sure that Mio doesn't give you a different mission while you are attending this one. I pray that you find success, my child."

I lowered my head with respect. "Thank you, Master. With your blessing, I'm sure this will come with success."

I checked the map for the umpteenth time, making sure that I was on a trail close to the train tracks. The station master said that this schedule was the most recent and accurate, so there was little doubt that I would have missed a loud train passing me; especially with my hearing. Though I will admit, sometimes I do get very caught up with my thoughts and miss things when I hum my little songs, but I would hope that wouldn't be the case this time.

Humming to myself as I walked, I tucked the train schedule into my bag and solely focused on the map of the rural area round it. I had taken time to draw on the many train tracks and studied it while I had walked for the last few days, so I had little doubt that I would end up being on the wrong track.

A loud metallic noise made me pause, tilting my head in the direction I had believed I heard it. When I heard more screeching sounds, I haphazardly shoved the map into my bag and started running; controlling my breathing so I wouldn't tire myself out before I reached my destination. Within a few minutes, the metallic scrapping died down, bringing in new sounds that sounded very much like sword fighting.

Flashes of what I had dreamt of came to my mind, making me clench my teeth. Blood, tears, screams of anguish.

I refuse to see that come to fruition.

I could feel the ground crack under my feet as I pushed myself to go faster, my kitsune mask protecting my eyes from the wind and debris I was running through. There were three- no, four- figures that I paid no mind to as I shot past them, fully focused on the scene before me that I had seen once before.

'Melody Breathing, Second Form, Crescendo; Decrescendo.' Twisting my body around, I had my sword in my hand as I made eye contact with a demon whilst his arm was cut off of his body.

Jumping backwards, the demon came to a stop as his arm grew back in record time. "Interesting, I didn't even sense you coming."

"That was the point." I retorted, flicking the little blood off of my sword. Taking a peek behind me, I noticed Kyojuro heavily breathing with a wide eye. Blood trailed down his forehead and over his closed left eye, the socket looking more flat than it should be. "It isn't very often that your employer sends out his strongest. He must be getting antsy, it seems."

The pink haired demon narrowed his eyes at me. "What's your name, slayer?"

"It's polite of the person asking names to give theirs first, is it not?" When he didn't answer, gave a short laugh. "I am Kuze Naoto, Melody Hashira. And you?"

"I have a feeling that you already know who I am, Naoto." He gave a humorless smile at this information. "And you would also know that I don't fight people like you."

"Oh, don't worry." I reassured him, cracking my neck. "You will find that I do not fall under your little rules you give yourself. Kyojuro-" Calling out his name, I barely glanced behind me. "Please, let me take care of this while you care for your wounds and your wards." Not waiting for either demon or friend to answer, I lurched forward towards the one named Akaza.

"Melody Breathing, Third Form, Deafening Whistle." Sounding like a bullet piercing the air, a harsh whistle made the demon and slayers alike flinch at the sound. It seemed like the demon still held some apprehension while I continued flying towards him, but I had no qualms fighting him.

Even with the many slices and missing limbs, Akaza's wounds healed within the blink of an eye.

"I do not want to fight you, I don't kill people like you." He tried to reason again, sounding conflicted. Even if he didn't let it show on his face, he was extremely uncomfortable fighting me.

"I'm glad we don't feel the same way." Letting out a breath, sound faded from the scene and my opponent's movements slowed down ever so slightly. "If you survive this encounter, I do hope you tell him on how horribly you lost this battle. Your missions to eliminate Hashira will not come to fruition."

"You're almost as strong as you are talkative, Naoto." Akaza retorted, dodging most of my swings. "Makes me want to extend my invite from Kyojuro to you."

I laughed, spinning around as I jumped backwards. "He would like that, wouldn't he? I'm sure in another life, if I was less confident in myself and didn't have people that I'm protecting; I would accept. But in this lifetime, I will have to decline your... 'generous', offer, Akaza-san."

"That's too bad, if you won't accept, then you'll just have to die like Kyojuro and the weakling children behind him."

"Well, how about this!" I rushed forward again, his arms blocking my sword while we were face to face. "You've surely realized that the sun is coming up soon. I could sing you a little lullaby to guide you to the other side. There must be someone waiting for you there, everyone has loved ones that are patiently waiting for their living family. Who do you think is waiting for you on the other side of the rift?"

.o.o.

"Amazing... I can't even see him moving." Tanjiro was at a loss for words when he saw Naoto taking his turn against the Upper Moon Three. While the Flame Hashira was fast, it almost seemed like the masked swordsman was faster. To think that it was even possible to be faster than Rengoku..!

"Yes, Naoto-kun seems like he's even faster than he was the last time we had a mission together!" Kyojuro commented, his voice not as loud as it usually was. "It's quite a sight to see him in action, especially since a strong opponent."

Zenitsu took his attention away from Nezuko for a moment to comment on Naoto. "I didn't even hear him coming! I only heard a loud whistling right after he appeared!"

"Rengoku-san, how long have you known Naoto-san? You seem close to the same age."

"Well, we met when I was was a child, just starting to train with my father; so we trained together! It's been over ten years, I believe. He's five years older than me, don't let his height deceive you!"

"He sounds different than he did before, Tanjiro." Zenitsu said, his brows furrowed with confusion. "Back with at the Butterfly Manor, he sounded like a soft lullaby, but now; it sounds more like someone playing a shamisen like there's no tomorrow.. It's giving me goosebumps!"

Before anyone could comment on Zenitsu's insight, the air almost seemed to drop a few degrees when a haunting, yet peaceful lullaby reached their ears.

"Yukinasayo hatate,

yukinasayo hatate..

Yukibune yurashite, hatate."

"I've heard this before.." Tanjiro mumbled to himself, his attention back on the fight in front of him. "It's been years, but I know this lullaby anywhere."

Konokishi hiraite, hatate

Rourou miwatari kanokishini..

Shisei watashite nakuga teage.."

In the blink of an eye, or even shorter than that, Naoto's katana sliced through the demon's neck at the same time that a fist glanced the side of his kitsune mask.

.o.o.

"Eh?" The sudden brightness on the left side of my face startled me as I watched the pink haired demon's head fall to the ground. "Aw, I made this mask myself, and now it's starting to crack.."

Crouching down to the ground, I looked at Akaza with a sad smile as his body slowly started to fall from the shock of being separated from its head. The sun was already peeking over the horizon at this point, bringing a new day. "I'm sorry that it had to end this way, Akaza; but I have to protect my loved ones. I hope you're able to find the person who's waiting for you."

"And now a message for him." Dropping the smile, I reached out to poke the center of his forehead. "I know you know a little bit about me; so if you can see this from his eyes, know that you're only going to go downwards from here."

Standing up from my crouching position, I stretched my arms over my head and turned around as I tried to shake off the oncoming soreness from my rush to get to this battle.

"Kyojuro, are you alright? You look a little bit worse for wear right now." I reached out my hand for him to grab, aiming to help him up from the ground. He had a hand on his sternum, the lack of blood there was reassuring; but now that I was up close, I could see that his left eye was all but gone.

"I'm alright, thank you! If you wouldn't have showed up, then I would have been in trouble!" He responded in his booming voice, hauling himself up from the ground. "Well, I can't wait to tell you about the our mission on the way back to Headquarters!"

I smiled behind my mask, putting a hand on Kyojuro's shoulder. "Sounds like a plan. Looks like you did an amazing job protecting these four, as well as the passengers on the train; no one seems like they're too horribly shaken up." Walking over to the children, I took note of how Tanjiro seemed to be struggling to even sit up. "The Kakushi should be here soon, so let's see about getting ourselves all accounted for."

"Um, Naoto-san?" Tanjiro sounded nervous as he stood up with great difficulty. "What was that?"

"I'm assuming you mean the lullaby you heard.. It's part of the last form of my fighting style; 'Lullaby to The Other Side.' It's a song that I've known for a while now, I can tell you about you about it on your way back to the Butterfly Manor to rest up again."

"I see..." He looked down at the ground, seemingly sad. "I only ask because it sounds extremely similar to a lullaby our mother used to sing to us during snowstorms that woke us up."

I put a hand on his head, surprising him. "I know..." I barely whispered. Seeing his broken expression and the melancholic melody coming off of him in waves... Making me feel a certain sad that I hadn't felt in a long time. "I'm sorry, Tanjiro."

"You... know?"

Inhaling a shaky breath and exhaling, I reached up and carefully removed my cracked mask before pulling down the black scarf covering my hair. The child's eyes widened, obviously confused; yet hopeful. Before he could even talk-

"WHY IS THERE A BIGGER GENJIRO?!"

I'm alive I swear