"Is..." I stared at the uniform in my hand questionably, "Is this my uniform?"

"Yes, Miyasha-chan." the bespectacled Kakushi replied tentatively, his eyes strangely roaming on my body before focusing on the uniform in my hand, "All female uniforms are li—"

"Please do not lie to me," I cut him off, feeling ridiculous for forgetting this part of the manga, "I have not only met many of the female slayers, but have also met the Hashiras. I assure you when I say I've seen many females wearing pants."

"Those are custom made and need to be told beforehand if anyone needs one like that." the Kakushi began to sweat in front of me as he averted his eyes from my unimpressed look.

"And may I ask why I was not told this when I sent my measurements to the sewing department a week prior?" I asked tiredly as I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Look, Kakushi-san, I need to be completely covered to avoid any kind of contact with demon blood, if possible. Skirts, I'm afraid, do not aid in that objective."

"I—" he started, but I cut him off before he could say anything more.

"I understand that this is literally your department and job, and that I am not a professional in all this," I respectfully stated, "But that does not mean I'm stupid. I have already consulted Shinobu-san as well as Oyakata-sama about my uniform and I would highly prefer if you make me a new one with proper coverage."

I glared at him as I noticed him stiffening upon hearing Oyakata-sama's name, "If needed, I'll give you a detailed description of exactly how I need my uniform to be made, alright? If you find any issue with it, please talk to Oyakata-sama or Shinobu-san about it."

I gave him a tight smile and left the room as he gulped while rubbing his forehead littered with nervous sweat.

'This is ridiculous.' I bitterly thought as I looked down at the offending uniform in my hands, 'The train mission can pop up any day now and this bloody idiot decided to mess up—' I shook my head and sighed as I entered the yard; I could feel a headache coming with all the stress I was feeling right now.

'I still don't get why the train arc didn't happen yet.' I immediately frowned at my own thought, 'I'm glad it didn't yet because Rengoku is alive and all, but why didn't it? Didn't he went to investigate about it a week ago? Has he not started that yet or just decided to observe and investigate before actually jumping in?'

Did Rengoku even know what train it was at this point of time?

I shook my head again, feeling lost as I tried to recount the timeline of the manga as much as I could.

As far as I did remember, the boys were done with their rehabilitation training by the time the mission popped up, which meant that—

'I still have time...' I felt relieved at the realisation; however, I could also feel the knot of dread growing in my lower abdomen, 'This means I still have a choice to make too, though.'

"That's a very serious face you're making, Sarota-chan!" A familiar voice echoed in the estate's yard, "Is it your weapons you are worried about? Because if it is, then I have a lot of good news for you!"

I chuckled as the cheery man literally hopped up to me, "Don't worry, Hassaku-san," I smiled as he started unwrapping the weapons he brought while sitting on the porch beside me, "It's not the weapons that worries me because I have complete faith in you and your skilful hands." I felt my smile widen as the older man beamed at me— even his pale orange mask couldn't hide his sunshine expression.

"I appreciate your faith in me, Sarota-chan!" I chuckled as he emotionally exclaimed while handing me the smaller pair of the wrapped weapons, "Here! Check these fans first and then we'll move to the swords!"

I nodded wordlessly as I slowly unwrapped the fans; I really hoped they turned out well or else I wouldn't be able to train enough in time for the next mission.

I felt my heart skip a beat as I observed the design of the fans; my smile widened from ear to ear as I hopped off the porch and immediately opened those beauties.

My old fans were nothing more than nine blades of nichirin swords assembled in the basic structure of a typical Japanese fan; with the end two (base) swords being blunt in nature to avoid any kind of injure after being closed.

However, my new fans had a completely different structure— the middle seven blades sharpened and reshaped into thinner structure with elongated tips and a beautiful black cloth stitched in between the gaps of the blades that was not present in my last pair.

"Oh Lord," I breathlessly chuckled as examined my new and improved swords in awe, "These... these look phenomenal, Hassaku-san! I swear to Lord, it literally took my breath away!"

He chuckled as I caressed the base blades— they were blunt like my old fans but in this one, they were polished and had wisteria flowers engraved on them with the kanji for 'protect' on the right base blade.

"I'm very glad they are up to your expectations!" He chuckled again as I nodded enthusiastically, "Oh, and try opening it fully."

"Eh? Fully?" I asked rhetorically as I examined the fans; there were small indents near the tips of the base— were those for...?

"Push the hilt, Sarota-chan." Hassaku instructed as he watched me mule over, "Push the hilt a bit and then spread the fans like you usually do. You'll hear a click once it opens fully!"

I nodded as I followed his instructions; my eyes widening as the fans extended beyond the 180° angle threshold of my old fans.

I gasped as I finally heard the click— the so-called sound originating from the indents on the base blades connecting with the thick hilt of the fan, making the fan open about a 270° angle.

"Oh, sweet Jesus..." I unknowingly reverted back to English, my eyes sparkling as I swung around my fans to test how the felt in my grip, "You seriously made it!"

And goddamn they felt so badass!

"Did you like it?" The older man asked curiously, snapping me out of my inner fangirling as I nodded vigorously, "I'm glad you do! Although, I must warn you— the structure of this fan is not as sturdy as your old ones! Don't use too much force on them, if possible!"

"Understood." I nodded as I 'unclicked' the fans and closed them off swiftly, "Anything else I should know about these beauties?"

"The hilt of both the fans can be opened!" The older man informed as he showed me the small compartment on the bottom of the hilt, "You can insert your blood or any kind of poison there; no need to spread it over your fans anymore! And the cloth between the fans is also removable!"

"Ooh, nice." I nodded, "You've done such a marvellous job, Hassaku-san! I literally have no words to describe how impressed and amazed I am."

"Oh, your reaction was telling enough, child!" The masked man beamed at me, "I'm very proud of these creations too! In fact, these are one of my best forged weapons yet!"

I laughed at his enthusiasm, my body feeling lighter than ever as I expressed how these are the best weapons I had ever seen as well.

"Now, onto your swords!" Hassaku handed me the longer pair of wrapped weapons as soon as I placed the fans down, "The chief forged them just as we had discussed!"

I nodded along to his explanation as I inspected the swords, "The swords have a similar compartment for insertion of blood and poison like your fans! It's at the base of the blade where it thins out!"

I caressed the thin end of the sword as he explained how to actually insert my blood— the basic layout of the swords was similar to Shinobu's but with a wider blade that thinned out at the few inches originating from the hilt... which was almost opposite to how Shinobu's sword was, now that I thought about it.

"So," I started once I was satisfied with the inspection, "To insert any kind of fluid in it, I'll have to I insert the liquid in the sheath first?"

"Yep! The sheath has a compartment where you can store your poison and blood for a good while!"

"It won't leak, right?" I asked as he assured me it won't, "Okay, but what if the, uh, fluid runs out mid-fight?"

"Just insert the swords once into the sheath and the compartment will refill it automatically!"

"Ah, that's actually very clever." I nodded, feeling very satisfied and happy with the end results, "You and Chief did a phenomenal work on these weapons, Hassaku-san." I bowed low as I thanked him for all his hardwork, "I have no words to truly express how—"

"Oh, no need, child!" The older lightly patted my back, making me blink up in surprise, "This is us, Swordsmith's way to contribute in killing the demons! Use these weapons and slash that fucker Kibutsuji's neck in half for me!"

I snorted out at his last statement, my face blooming with amusement as I heard the bright-as-sunshine man curse, "As you may wish, Hassaku-san!"

"That's my girl!" He patted my shoulder again, "It's really nice to see you smile again! You looked so worried when I first arrived!"

"Oh," I rubbed my neck, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden, "Sorry for worrying you like that."

The masked man shook his head, "No issues! Although, you can share with me if you have any issues! After all, I am a wise old man!"

I smiled at his confidence, wondering if I really could. Well, what harm would it be anyway?

"I..." I started, snapping the older man's attention back to me, "Um, it's just... I can't decide on something. I mean, I... have, um, anticipated that something might happen, but I'm not sure if I should intervene?"

He nodded and motioned for me to continue which I did, "I mean, I know something bad would happen if I don't intervene, but I'm scared that something even worse might happen if I do. I mean, it's... it's not my place to even be there but, I just... it's so confusing."

"Have you told anyone about it?" He serenely asked, making me surprised at his serious tone.

"Um, no? I... really can't tell anyone about that. They won't believe me."

The older man hummed, "What does your heart says?"

"Eh?"

"What you told me till now," he gestured to my head, "Is what your head says. What about your heart? What do you really want to do, regardless of the consequences?"

"I... I don't know." I admitted after a beat of silence, "I just... I don't know what I should do."

"Hm, heart or head— isn't that always the question?" Hassaku got up from the porch beside me, "In the end, there's no right answer, child! Sometimes one is best, sometimes the other. My advice, for what it's worth, is to be true to your own self. Do what you feel is right and should be done."

"Thank you for your advice, Hassaku-san." I thanked him as I looked at him in conflict, knowing exactly how I was gonna be all over the place.

"If it helps," the masked man turned to me one last time before departing, "Then flip a coin."

"E-Eh?"

"Flip a coin," he repeated, tilting his head slightly as he explained, "And when the coin is in the air, you'll know exactly which side you are rooting for."


I sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror. The uniform was not exactly bad looking, if I were to be honest.

Yes, the skirt was quite short and the measurements around my chest were more than just off, but the whole look wasn't bad... at least in the fashion sense.

"In fact," I mumbled to myself as I tried one final time to adjust the buttons around my bust, "It looks almost identical to Mitsuri's uniform."

And ironically enough, it didn't look bad on my body either.

I shook my head at my last thought— fashion had no place in an occupation like this. Though, even I couldn't deny how this body of mine was naturally attractive, to say the least.

I adjusted the binding around chest, musing how — out of all the damn things — my breast size in this life was almost identical to my past one.

Which was low-key a curse, considering how bras weren't exactly a thing in this era.

I shook my head again as stared at my reflection in the mirror— my hair was already past my shoulder now and with my open-chest uniform, I looked like an unholy fusion of Shinobu and Mitsuri.

I almost laughed out loud at my thought process before a loud pair of knocking interrupted my strange musings.

"Um, who is it?" I asked softly, praying internally for the person on the other side of the door to be anyone but the twins.

"What do you think?" I heard Hitoshi reply sarcastically, "Open the door, right now! We have a lot to catch up on, Miya!"

'Drats. Looks like all the good luck I had for the past week has finally run out.'

"I'm changing right now." I replied back, instantly working to remove my uniform as I continued, "I was, um, trying the new uniform right now; you'll have to wait outside for a few minutes."

"Wait a second," Hitoshi interrupted, "You got your uniform?! Cool! Don't change then! Show us how you look in it, please?"

"Um," I honestly hesitated; no matter how good this uniform looked, it wasn't exactly decent looking in any sense— even after I bound my chest with a thick violet cloth.

"Please?" Hitoshi pressed on, "Even Hiroshi wants to see it!"

"Mmhm." Hiroshi loudly hummed in agreement, making me gulp and give in.

"Just..." I called out before opening the door, "Just don't freak out, okay?"

"Why?" Hitoshi asked just as I opened the door, "What is there to frea—"

I watched silently as the twins zoomed in on my uniform, their eyes widening comically as they noticed the rather bold fashion I had on.

Hitoshi's eyes immediately snapped back to mine after he looked over once— a bright blush blooming over his face while Hiroshi continued to stare at my legs with a disapproving frown.

"Mi-Miyasha—"

"Are you serious with this uniform?" Hiroshi cut off his twin, looking at me with a mixture of disappointment and confusion, "Please tell me you're not."

"I am not, trust me." I replied back immediately, backing away a bit to let the twins enter, "There was some... miscommunication at the sewing department about my uniform." I chose my words carefully, knowing full well how bad this can turn out if I didn't, "Don't worry, I made sure I cleared up all the confusion."

"This is a very stupid confusion then," Hitoshi commented, "It could literally cost your life!"

"True," Hiroshi agreed as he finally looked up to my face, "Though, your legs do look good in the skirt."

I snorted as Hitoshi gasped scandalously at his twin, making me chuckle loudly as Hiroshi asked where he was wrong.

"Saying such indecent things to a woman is very wrong, Hiro!"

Hiroshi shrugged non-chalantly, "Well, I was just telling the truth."

"And I appreciate that." I interrupted Hitoshi's comeback, smiling mischievously at the twins, "I really thought I couldn't pull this off, since I wasn't as beautiful as Mitsuri-san."

"Mitsuri has her own charm," Hiroshi commented as he flopped down on my bed, "And you have your own. No need to compare the two."

"That's very well said, Kinomiya-san!" A female voice interrupted our conversation, making me jump at its suddenness, "But Miyasha-san, I thought you had sent your exact measurements, didn't you~?" Shinobu asked sweetly from the doorway, her eyes closed with a noticeably forced smile on her lips.

"I-I did..." I cleared my throat, trying towards her fully, "There was, um, some miscommu—"

"It was Maeda-san who gave you this uniform, wasn't it?" Shinobu asked point black, "The bespectacled Kakushi?"

"I—"

Shinobu shook her head as she entered the room, "You should have come to me with the uniform, Miyasha-san! I would have lent you my matches and oil that I lent to Aoi and Kanao as well when he did the same with us!"

"He," Hiroshi's voice sharpened as he got up from the bed, "Did this before too?"

"Hai, Kinomiya-san." Shinobu readily answered, giving me no chance to even pitch in, "His name is Maeda Masao and he is from the sewing division! You'll find his chamber at the east wing, near the—"

"Shi-Shinobu-san!" I finally intervened, "There's no harm done! I talked with him and—"

"I think he needs a little more talking to," Hitoshi started, his brows furrowed as he looked at me, "Especially if that idiot has been doing this for literally years."

"Well said, Kinomiya-san!" Shinobu cheered, giving the twins space as they instantly left to 'talk' with the Kakushi, "And don't worry about anything happening. We have a lot of space in the medical wing!"

"Shinobu-san, please don't encourage them!"

.
...

"I really hope you haven't injured anyone." I huffed at the twins, finally wearing one of my other kimonos again, "Not only would it be going too extreme, but it would also go against the rules!"

"Yeah, yeah." Hitsohi dismissively replied, "We didn't harm him or anything, just gave him a little warning."

"He won't repeat such behaviour ever again." Hiroshi conveyed, making Shinobu nod in appreciation.

"If he does, you can always tell us, Kocho." Hitoshi offered, making Shinobu smile in gratitude.

"Of course, I will!"

"You don't need to go that far..." I mumbled out as a final form of protest, feeling absolutely strange with how I was being coddled and protected instead of me doing it in the first place.

"We did, Miya-chan." Hitoshi caressed my hair with a gentle smile, "We can't let anyone just jeopardise your life like that."

"Not to mention there's enough people worshipping you already." Hiroshi pipped in, "Can't let you create a cult now, wearing all that publicly."

"I... What?" I stared at him incredulously; Cult? Worship? What?

"Do you have any idea how many slayers are calling you a celestial nymph?" Hitoshi explained, "There's even some rumour going around in the lower ranks that a 'Goddess' had healed and blessed the slayers—"

"What?!"

"Oh?" Shinobu piped in as well, "I've actually heard that one as well."

"I... Where the hell are y'all hearing all this from?!" I finally asked, feeling embarrassed, confused and ridiculous all at once, "And why the hell have I not heard about this?"

"Because," Hiroshi reasoned, "You were too busy either being unconscious or out at missions where we were supposed to accompany you." He deadpanned, making me glower at him.

"Oi, no one said you were supposed to go with me! And I had literally asked Oyakata-sama's permission before leaving!"

"Yeah, right." He shook his head while Hitsohi hugged me and dramatically sniffled.

"I thought you said you'll be going with us, Miya-chan!"

"I didn't say anything like that." I shot back, "I only said that we'll see. It's not my fault I was done early."

"We didn't think you'll be done so quick though." Hiroshi confessed, eyeing his twin in disbelief, "We thought we'll be back by the time you're done..."

"I told you I will be done fast." I commented before looking away, "I wanted to finish with that work as soon as possible too."

'I was extremely lucky this time, though.' I thought to myself, 'Or else I'd have had to explain and justify myself a shit ton if these two had come along with me instead.'

Especially with the types of informants I actually had.

I shook my head as I remembered visiting the red district area with Tomioka. He had surprisingly asked me no questions when I had told him to stay behind; waiting for me just outside the area as I sneaked in as an unknown courtesan.

The twins would have killed me if they knew I did that.

"Who did you went to the mission with, Miyasha?" Hitoshi suddenly asked, making me snap out of my thoughts.

"Uh, Tomioka-senpai."

"Senpai?" Hitoshi cried as he looked at me with another one of his dramatic looks, "I thought we were your only senpai, Miya-chan~!"

I gave him the flattest look possible as Hiroshi shook his head; both of us almost done with his dramatic ass at this point.

"Senpai is literally an honorific for those who are on a higher position than you." I explained, "So, in that sense, almost all the Hashiras are my senpai in one way or another— not to mention, it was getting very tedious calling him 'Hashira-sama' again and again."

"Tomioka-san didn't mind you calling him senpai?" Shinobu asked in, her eyes studying me with an unknown emotion.

"He didn't." I replied confidently, "I asked him many a times too if he is uncomfortable with it, but he said he had no issues."

"Wow," Hitoshi breathed out, "Didn't know Tomioka was such a chill guy. He always looked like those very uptight ones who don't like to go outta their familiar zones."

"Those are some very bold statements you got there, Toshi-senpai." I half-jokingly replied, "Regardless of that, I don't think it should exactly stand as an issue if I call him my senpai, does it?"

"Not... really." Shinobu confirmed, her expression relaxing as she smiled at me, "It was just surprising for me how Tomioka-san managed to be so social with you!"

"Yeah," I consciously started, not exactly liking her tone of voice at the moment, "He is a bit... socially awkward. However, I've met many people with such tendencies and honestly? He isn't the worst of them. All he needs is a bit of patience and explanations, I guess."

"Ah, so you mean you mothering him?" Hitoshi joked, making me smack his arm as we all chuckled at his analogy.

"Oh, shush you." I said as I shook my head, making the twins joke more about my 'motherly' nature before Shinobu decided to leave.

"Oh, Shinobu-san?"

"Hm?"

"Were you here for something important?" I asked softly.

"Oh," she shook her head, "I was only here to ask about your uniform and weapons."

"Wait, you got your weapons today, too?" Hitoshi excitedly sat up, "If yes, then let's spar!"

"I need a bit more training though, Toshi-senpai." I relied quickly before he made any plans, "In fact, it's been more than six years since I last trained with a sword, so—"

"Why not just a mock one then?" Hiroshi replied off-handedly, "We'll go easy on you too and you'll get to see where you're lacking as well."

"That..."

"Sounds like a good idea." Shinobu added, "Miyasha-san, you really should try it once. It might help you with your breathing style as well!"

'Well, they are not wrong...' I slowly nodded as the three of them brightened at my acceptance, 'What's the worse that could happen, anyway?'


"You sure it's a good idea doing it here?" I asked sceptically as we entered the backyard of the Butterfly estate.

"Of course, it is." Hitoshi looked at me strangely, "Do you really think we are that destructive?"

"Not really," I confessed as I unwrapped my newly made weapons before removing my haori, "But your strength does makes me worry a bit."

"We trained enough to control it perfectly now." Hitoshi proudly stated while Hiroshi continued after him, "And we both are not fighting you at once."

"Eh?"

"We are Hashiras after all." Hitoshi shrugged as he noticed Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke flop onto the porch, "You can't take us on your own, no matter what."

Well, that's true. But still— "Bold of you to assume you can handle me all on your own either." I shot back cheekily, making the twins grin at me mischievously while the younger slayers cheered on for me.

"We'll see." Hitoshi winked back, making me shake my head, "Hiro?"

Hiroshi nodded as he backed down and walked up to the porch; looks like I'll be fighting Hitoshi first.

"So, I can't use my fans, right?" I asked one last time as I took out my swords.

"Not till you fight with them at least once." Hitoshi replied, his eyes following my weapons as he got his own sword out, "It'll help us evaluate how to help you train, so."

I hummed back as we took our positions, my eyes focusing on his wide sword— its width was a good six inches or so, if I had to guess.

'Suits them.' I thought briefly as glanced at Hiroshi to notice him having a similar one as his brother.

"Start?" I asked tentatively as Hitoshi nodded.

"Start."

I immediately jumped away as I felt his aura shift— his sword coming down at the exact position I was standing before.

"Don't run away, Miya-chan~" Hitoshi teased as swung his sword at me again; his speed remarkably more than I ever remembered it to be.

'Oh shi—' I blocked his thick sword with my two thinner ones, his strength pushing me a few inches back as he levelled his eyes with mine.

I could see the excitement in his blue-green eyes— but I could also feel a strange sense of... seriousness radiating off of him that I never felt before.

Hitoshi twisted his sword, making my defense loose as he exerted more strength and pushed me back. He was intentionally keeping his strength in check; he as well as I knew that I couldn't handle him at his whole strength.

Contemplating on what to do, I immediately took a few steps back and ducked, making Hitoshi stumble at its suddenness as I moved to the side-lines and attacked.

He recovered almost instantly and took an offensive position— surprising me as he almost plunged the thick sword near my neck.

"Wh-What—" I stood frozen at the slightest touch of his sword on my neck, all my focus fixed on the cold metal just above my right shoulder blade.

"Take this seriously, Miyasha." Hitoshi called out, his eyes narrowing as they met mine, "Is this how you'll be fighting a demon?"

I huffed and glared at him in answer; moving away as soon as possible.

'So, they are testing me, huh?'

"You should always keep your—" I interrupted Hitoshi by attacking him up front, using my small stature and his distraction to get out of that tedious situation.

'He has larger surface area than me.' I thought absent-mindedly as Hitoshi blocked all my quick stabs with his swords, his speed almost matching with mine, 'The only advantage I have over him is my small stature—' Hitoshi swung his sword at a lightning speed, making me duck, '—and somewhat my speed.'

My eyes widened as I noticed Hitoshi's foot arriving; however, I didn't have much time to dodge as it connected with my arms that I raised to block at the very last second.

The strength of his foot connecting with my crossed arms sent me sprawling; however, I quickly dug my swords on the ground and used the momentum of the force to stabilize myself instead.

"Nice one." Hitoshi commented as he grinned down on me, "But not fast enough. And you sure seem very unsure about using your swords, Miya-chan."

"Last I used swords," I spat irritatingly as I stood up, "Was when I was still training with Master. Of course, I'll be 'unsure' using them!"

"A pity then," Hitoshi commented, taking his position to strike, "Because I won't be going easy on you!" He leapt towards me, swinging his sword in a circular motion which seemed almost impossible to block for me.

So, what did I do? I dodged.

Hitoshi deadpanned at me as he attacked again— which I dodged, again.

"Do you seriously wanna do that now?" Hitoshi asked half-jokingly, "You do know that I can easily attack you continuously?"

"Yeah."

"And the only reason I'm not doing that because you are so shit with your swords?"

"Yep," I grinned, "And who said I can't use that to my advantage?"

Hitoshi deadpanned before breathing in, "Fine," His lips stretched out to give me a wicked smirk, "I'll take that advantage away from you then."

My eyes widened as he started muttering for his breathing style, "Snow Breathing, Second form," he glided through the yard, his steps light and movements in a strange but strong flow, "Frost formation!"

'Oh, Shi—' I tried dodging again, but he instantly caught up to me; his speed and flow easily matching with mine as I kept dodging and blocking the quick glides of his sword with my own.

'This is not good,' I thought as his sword almost cut through the kimono near my chest, 'He is not even giving me the time to attack.' And it wasn't like he was a demon on whom I could just inject my blood and be done with.

I jumped over the walls of the estate, hopping off with a high speed to use the momentum to attack him from the top, but he blocked me with ease and pushed me aside with his inhumane strength.

I huffed as I skidded on the ground, my irritation with the almost one-sided fight was increasing with each incoming attack.

"You can do it, Aniki!" Tanjiro suddenly called out, making me snap out of my thoughts, "You are doing wonderful!"

My heart warmed as Zenitsu and the triplets called out similar encouragements as Tanjiro, while Inosuke shouted how even he could fight better than me.

A grin spread on my face as I stood up; it was nice being cheered for, once in a while.

"Hiro!" Hitoshi suddenly called his twin out as he approached him, "Your turn now—"

"W-Wait, Toshi-senpai!" I looked at him bewildered, "You're not continuing?"

"With your current fighting skills, I think it's better you practice a bit more before going any serious with me." Hitoshi simply stated.

"Ouch, my poor pride!" I jokingly held my hand over my heart, making Hiroshi snort as approached me.

"Your pride won't be the only thing hurt if you don't get your game together." Hiroshi quietly commented, his eyes looking at me with a strange calmness, "You're not giving your whole."

"Maybe because I can't?" I sarcastically replied as I took a defensive position right off the bat, "Swords ain't my primary weapons, remember Hiro-senpai?"

"Indeed, but you'll need to be fluent in them as well if you want to practice any kind of breathing technique." He pointed out, "Although, you can always make your own."

I shrugged and grinned as he looked at me suspiciously, "Yeah, yeah. Now start."

"Why not." He said before standing there leisurely.

"Start?" I asked confusingly while he gave me a shit-eating grin.

"Yeah, why not."

'Oh Lord, is he gonna make me attack him?' I glared at him as I quickly changed my stance and inflated my aura, 'If he wants me to attack, then I sure bloody will.' I quickly encircled him several times as fast as I could, using my inflated aura to confuse him as I forced him to sharpen his senses.

'While Hitoshi practices more defence out of the duo despite his superhuman strength,' I mused as I watched his eyes widen involuntarily, 'Hiroshi is solely about attack due to his near perfection in the forms.'

I leapt to attack the older slayer; however, he quickly dodged, making my swords slash at empty air.

He wasted no time to twist his wrist and swing his thick sword at me; surprising me in the worst way possible.

My swords blocked him immediately— though the twin swords did a very shitty job at it, which was technically a given since they weren't even made for defense in the first place.

Since Hiroshi didn't possess as much strength as his other twin, he relied more on his skill— which showed as he fluidly twisted his whole upper torso to get his sword out of the deadlock formed, making me lose my balance as he moved away in a lightning speed and glided the wider portion of his sword to... smack my arm?

I looked at him strangely as he tossed his sword in the air and grinned at me. He wasn't taking me seriously, was he?

'Was this how Hitoshi felt when we were sparring?' I thought fleetingly and tried attacking him again— the keyword being 'tried' as he continuously either dodged or blocked them with ease.

The fluidity with which he brushed off my attacks grated my nerves; I glared at him and pressed my right-hand sword against his with all the force I could gather while attempting to slash him with my other one.

He simply angled his sword in a way to block both my weapons and grinned at me infuriatingly.

I silently moved away from the position with a huff, my annoyance now at the top of its scale. He didn't even stop nor attack me as I walked towards the porch.

"Giving up so soon?" He asked cheekily, his eyes daring me to deny him.

And that was the last straw for me.

'He wants a challenge, huh?' I raged internally as discarded my swords near a tree in the yard and took out my fans out of the holsters from the porch, 'Let me give him a real challenge then.'

"Ooh, you're taking your fans out, now?" Hitoshi asked as I passed him on the porch, "Let's see how—"

I didn't hear what he said after that; my whole focus zeroing on Hiroshi as I completely shut all my senses and attacked him.


(~×~)


Hiroshi's instinct screamed at him the moment Miyasha turned to him with the fans in her hands— he never realized how big a pair of fans could be till she opened hers.

Two pair of sharp-bladed fans stared at his face as he quickly jumped away, his instincts in a complete frenzy as Miyasha's aura almost completely changed while she swung her fans at him again— when did she approach him!?

He couldn't analyze her new fighting style with the speed she was attacking; her movements smooth and practiced as she danced after him while all he could do was block her attacks and back away.

He could see the familiar fire in her eyes— she was finally irritated enough to actually rose up to the challenge.

Which was a good thing in general, but not essentially for him; especially since her speed had gone up a notch while using what she had called her 'primary' weapons.

Her fans clashed with his thicker sword again; its metallic sound making him internally flinch as he tried to force her back like Hitoshi had done before during their spar.

But unlike then, she had almost little to no hesitation to dislodge one of her weapons from the deadlock and slide it through the area just in front of his face.

He stumbled back in surprise at her attack which she took full advantage of as she leapt to glide her fans in unison.

He side-stepped as quickly as he could, making her almost crash with the wall— which was partially a hopeful thinking on his part since: 1) it would've been funny and 2) he could have at least gathered some to time to collect his wits.

But no, she used the momentum of her already high speed to jump by the wall by pressing on of her leg mid-running to create a trajectory path.

Hiroshi would have applauded her quick thinking if her fucking fans weren't on his face the very next second.

He tried using his wide sword as a mean to defend him, but she quickly encircled him and attacked him from almost every direction she could.

And with her double fans and his single sword, it was bloody hard blocking her. Her goddamn speed and small mouse-like body wasn't helping him spotting her either. Not to mention, her attacks were unfamiliar and too random for him at this point.

How was he a Hashira, again?

He could hear the other's cheering for Miyasha and Hitoshi panicking on the porch as he jumped back once again when her fans almost touched his cheek, trying desperately to block her which he unfortunately wasn't much good at.

"Woah, woah!" He heard his twin shout, "This is a friendly spar! Don't kill him, Miya!" And honestly, Hiroshi would have laughed if he genuinely didn't feel like she was gonna cut his head off.

"Is it?" Miyasha finally replied as their weapons clashed again, her bluish-violet eyes sharply looking into his, "And here I thought you both wanted me to be serious." She spat as she fluidly twisted her whole body and brought her fans down in a circular motion, "And to up my game."

Hiroshi leapt a few meters back as the sharp edges of her fans almost cut his bangs, his eyes narrowing as she smiled sweetly at him.

He could feel a shiver go up his spine— though out of fear or excitement, he wasn't sure. And she didn't even give him the time to be sure as she followed him through the yard with her attacks, her endurance almost surprising him.

He ducked as she slid her fans horizontally towards his torso and seeing the perfect chance, he glided his own weapon horizontally towards her own chest.

However, instead of dodging like any normal person would do, she jumped— his eyes widening when he felt her left hand (with her closed fan?) on his right shoulder as she used him as a leverage and made her body glide through the air in a trajectory motion just above his head.

He quickly moved away as he heard her fans open again; instantly blocking her attack which would've definitely hit him if he was even a second late to defend himself.

Using her still airborne position, he pushed her with all his might. He watched in satisfaction as she skidded a few meters away, her posture on a completely attack mode as she rapidly approached him.

He backed away in a defensive position again before noticing Hitoshi approach behind Miyasha as he almost thrusted his sword at her back.

She quickly dodged and moved away while his twin approached him without any hesitation; finally giving Hiroshi some breathing space as she stared at them with an analyzing look.

He could hear his heartbeat loudly as he stared back at her; she had improved significantly from the last time they had sparred like this— and even though it was evident in the way she was even able to react on time with their attacks before, it was crystal clear now with the way she had attacked him relentlessly.

And no matter how unfair it may seem with the both of them sparring against her at once, it was absolutely necessary so; because only one of them was not enough to stand against her when she was fighting with her fans— at least not if they didn't want to kill her, which they obviously didn't.

Hiroshi shook his head as he finally stepped beside his twin, his sword ready to attack as he looked at her sharply.


(~×~)


I shivered as I felt the twin's aura flare and merge into one; their expression telling me enough about how this time, they weren't gonna cut me any slack.

'Should I attack then?' I mused as I looked over the yard once more, 'I have plenty of space to actually use my fifth form, but with the both of them together...'

It was going to be near impossible.
Especially since the twins completely overshadowed the flaws in their individual fighting technique with the other's strength when they fought together— making their technique almost flawless.

I internally shook my head as I gripped my fans harder; I knew I couldn't win against them. So, all I could really do now was either overpower them or give up.

'And since I would have to give up either way,' I smiled mischievously at them as I relaxed my posture, 'Why not give them a taste of my breathing technique?'

Even though I had not planned out all the forms completely yet, I did write some down that I knew I sure as hell wanted to count in them.

I watched gleefully as the twins looked at me suspiciously; though, Hitoshi's face expressed pride more than anything while Hiroshi looked exhausted with me overall.

"Blood Breathing," my voice breathily called out as I watched the twin's gasp, "Tenth form, War Dance."

And I danced.
This form was based on the Japanese form of fan dance— one that I was taught by Oka-san when my body was still very young.

I grinned as the older twin stepped forward to block me while the younger one leaped to attack and break my stance; however, I twisted my body to dodge his incoming attack.

I jumped a step back and the twins took the opportunity to simultaneously swing their swords at me in a circular motion; the blades swiftly moving past me with a strange rush of cold air as I dodged swiftly, my movements still in the dance flow as I equipped my fans as some sort of shield in front of me.

Hitoshi laughed wholeheartedly as I kneeled down in front of them, my stance no different than a dancer in those street shows.

I swiftly got up and approached them, making the twins snap back into position as they expertly blocked my attacked turn by turn.

I could find no flaw in their defense — which was quite frankly expected — as I danced through the yard and tried attacking them.

However, it was quite surprising for me how they were even allowing me to attack instead of—

I jumped as Hiroshi swung his sword at me again; making sure to step out the tip of his sword to imbalance his stance a bit.

I watched amusingly as he stumbled a bit, his eyes looking at me bewildered as I stood on top of his weapon. Unfortunately, Hitoshi attacked me from the side, for which I had to let go of his sword.

I dodged Hitoshi's sword while Hiroshi took the chance and attacked me from the other side; almost catching me in between their swords if I had not twisted my posture and caught his sword in between the gaps of the blades of my fan.

I then proceeded to close my fan and jerk it off with all my strength, making Hiroshi lose his balance and stance too. But, unfortunately, I wasn't able to yank his sword off of him as my fan harmlessly slid off his thick sword.

We three stared at each other for a solid few seconds while our brains caught up to the situation; Hiroshi was the first one who snorted and moved away from his awkward (and rather weirdly angled) position and flopped down on the ground, his chuckle soon echoed by Hitoshi who did the same.

I sat down in front them as well when we heard a series of applause from the porch— everyone, including Shinobu, was smiling at us brightly as they approached as excitedly.

Tanjiro and Zenitsu were all stars and sparkles— even Inosuke was huffing and challenging me to fight him, which got me chuckling.

"You held your ground pretty well, Miyasha-san!" Shinobu smiled down at me before turning to the twins, "Although, you two were holding back a lot, I noticed."

"Of course, we were," Hitoshi confessed, "We weren't out to kill, after all."

"And I'm sure Miyasha held back quite a bit too." Hiroshi commented as he gave me a half-smile tiredly, "Especially in the end when Hito intervened."

"Hey, you desperately needed it," Hitoshi shot back, "With riling up Miyasha like that, she sure looked like she was gonna kill you and dance on your grave."

"I was ready for that, too." I replied half-jokingly, glaring at the twin Hashiras, "You both had said we were gonna do a friendly spar, and then kept on taunting and behaving like I was the one slacking off! I told you I wasn't good with swords, but no, you wanted me to do some Hashira level moves with those things." I huffed and glared as those two as well as Shinobu laughed beside me.

"Ah, sorry about that." Hiroshi apologized as he finally gave in and laid flat on the ground, "We just, uh, wanted to see your true level with them, y'know?"

"I hope you found it then."

Hitoshi hummed affirmatively while Hiroshi pitched in, "You are unnaturally good with your fans though."

"Are you insulting me or complimenting me?" I jokingly asked and Tanjiro jumped in to assure me how it was a compliment and how amazing I actually was.

"It was like you were dancing on water!" Tanjiro explained, his eyes sparkling as he wildly moved his hands for the imagery.

"Hai, Aniki!" Zenitsu added, "Even your footsteps were so light! I could barely hear them when you dan— uh, fought!"

"That's true," Hiroshi agreed, "You sure incorporated your aura and individual characteristics well in your... breathing style."

Hitoshi immediately got up as he heard his twin say that, "Yeah, Miyasha! Why didn't you tell us you had already made a breathing style for yourself?!"

I shrugged as I noticed Shinobu leave silently, "Because I haven't completely formed it, yet?"

"Eh? Why so?" Zenitsu naively asked, making me instinctively pat the younger boy.

"Because I only got back my weapons today," I replied gently as I started getting up after patting the blond boy, "After almost half a month of them being away from me."

"That's some nice progress then." Hitoshi commented as he got up too, "And I like the name of that form too! Can't wait to see your other forms!"

"Eh, why not." I winked as I took my swords which were still lying near the tree, "Maybe I'll show you one day."

"Oi, fight me first, woman!" I turned to look at Inosuke, arching a brow up at his previous statement as he continued, "After you're done with your dumb style!"

"Yeah, will do." I gave him a two-finger salute as I approached the triplets on the porch, they congratulated me on my performance as asked if they could help me in any way.

"Of course, dearies," I patted the three of them one by one as I handed them by weapons, "Please take these to my room and, uh, can you ask Aoi if I can take a quick nap before dinner and all?"

The triplets nodded as they quickly dispersed to do their tasks while I stretched as I started making my way towards the washroom to take a quick bath.

'Looks like I got my work cut out for me, in the end.' I wryly thought as I passed through the empty hallways, 'At my current position, I can't even fight a lower moon on my own... Let alone someone like Akaza, who is one of the top three upper moons.' I shook my head and stretched my arms again, hearing the satisfactory pop as my muscles relaxed.

'So much to do and yet, so little time left.' I sighed as I continued walking, wishing for a little more time even though I knew it was all in vain.

'Let's hope my influence is enough to actually change the course of things as I intend them to be.'


(~End of Recovery Training Arc~)


Happy New year, folks!
And I'm sorry for not posting this chapter last year xD

Tbh, I did plan to upload this one by the end of last year, but the fighting scene took way more time than I expected it to. Not to mention, I was never good at original fighting scenes anyway xD

Though, I really hope it was good? I low-key gave y'all a taste of it so that you don't get surprised in the next arc... which is the Demon train one

Taishou Secret
The snow breathing originally has 6 forms while the twins had incorporated 3 more forms into their style— two of which need both of them to combine their attacks! Blood breathing style, however, is supposed to have 10 forms which can be performed both on swords and fans as Miyasha is still planning them out to be!

Now, onto our review replies!

Kayumeee: Hahaha! I'm glad you ship her with Giyuu cause I don't like that curly hair bitch either xD And I hope you like the fighting scene in this chapter! I'm not very good with those, so this one almost killed me :V

Alalaes: Aw, thank you so much for you kind and constructive comment! I'm glad you liked how I portrayed him; and yes, I feel the same that he needs to be extremely familiar to someone before seeing them in that light— in fact, since he has so low self esteem too, he is far from ready to even like himself, let alone others. He won't even understand what is love with all the self-hatred that poor fella has. That's why, I'll slowly discover those aspects of his before even thinking of diving into hardcore love and all.

natonatonii: First of all, you have no idea how much I appreciate your comments and how much they make me smile as I struggle through my chapters xD And second, I'm glad you liked the fluff! xD There's gonna be a lot of it in the future, so I hope you can wait till then! And yep, Giyuu is one of my comfort characters as well— in fact, he will be portrayed as such here too, since I feel like it is truly how he will actually behave, if he was real. And yeah, 2020 sure was a storm xD My exams, thankfully, went amazing! I'm sorry for worrying y'all and the slow updates! Hopefully, I can get a good grip on my schedule now, since my new sem is yet to start.

lizyeh2000: Thank you for your review, sweetie! And I'm so sorry for the late updates ;-; Hopefully, 2021 is a bit less harsher on me and my writing hobby!

Tsuki: Absolutely! This is a GiyuuXOC fanfic after all xD I know, I didn't give much hint throughout the story, but since it's a slow burn, it will take time. And thank you for your wishes! My exams went really well and I hope you like this update!

And that's it for this chapter, folks!
Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D And do check out my other book on KNY named The Typo Pillar for a short, crack-fic with male OC, if you want to!

Stay safe and stay healthy!