Kimetsu no Yaiba doesn't belong to me. I decided to continue this story, so, here it is the twelfth chapter!
Tanjiro looked frustrated as he stared at the targets in front of him. At Kyojuro's request, Yuichiro had created an improvised training room for him. The idea was to improve his aim using his blood technique. Simple enough, but he hadn't managed to hit a single target. The wall behind the targets was riddled with holes, evidence of Tanjiro's failed attempts.
The boy grumbled and looked at the targets as if they had deeply offended him. His stomach growled at that moment. Tanjiro closed his eyes for a moment. Kyojuro had warned him that excessive use of his blood technique would have that result. The young demon shifted his attention to the wall and mentally counted the number of shots he had managed to take before that.
"Ten shots," he said to himself when he finished counting. "Not bad... I guess. But I can't use it so carelessly either."
Tanjiro turned around as he heard the door open. Mitsuri peeked in and smiled widely when she saw him.
"So, there you are, Tanjiro," she said cheerfully, approaching him.
"Yeah, hello, Mitsuri," the boy greeted. He couldn't help but let his discomfort show in his voice, and she noticed. She looked towards the wall and observed the charred holes. Tanjiro averted his gaze, feeling embarrassed.
"Kyojuro already told us that you managed to discover your blood technique," the woman commented, stopping in front of him, smiling understandingly. "Can I see it?"
The boy looked at her, unsure. "I don't have it fully mastered," he pointed out.
Mitsuri chuckled and observed him playfully. "Do you think we didn't go through the same thing?" she asked. "Blood techniques aren't mastered overnight, you know?"
"But Kyojuro handles his so well..."
"It took him time," Mitsuri confided. "You know something Giyuu told me?" The boy shook his head, and she continued speaking. "At first, Kagaya forbade him from using his technique if there was flammable material nearby."
"What happened?"
"He ended up causing several fires and sometimes even triggering highly flammable materials to explode."
Tanjiro raised his eyebrows slightly at hearing that and tried to imagine Kyojuro doing that, but he couldn't. At that moment, his stomach growled again, and Tanjiro's cheeks turned red. Mitsuri chuckled a bit and looked at him amused.
"I think Obanai and Sanemi went hunting," Mitsuri told him. "And Kagaya asked them to bring enough food for everyone."
Tanjiro nodded. That was a rule imposed by the Demon King himself. Once a week, they all had to eat together, as if they were a happy family.
"They must all be waiting by now," the woman commented, smiling happily.
Tanjiro licked his lips at the thought of the feast that would soon take place. His stomach, almost as if it were responding to that thought, growled again, this time louder.
Despite Rui's prior warning that the training was going to be hell, Nezuko hadn't expected something so awful.
Ume personally took care of helping them with the stretches. Nezuko suppressed a wince of pain as the slayer began assisting her with stretching her arms.
"Do you have to hurt me like this!?" Nezuko hissed, glaring at Ume, who returned an indifferent gaze.
"Your muscles are a bit stiff," Ume pointed out without further ado. She continued with the stretches, and Nezuko gritted her teeth as she felt the sympathetic gazes from Rui and Enmu directed towards her. The two boys were waiting, not particularly eager, for their turn to do the stretches.
On the other hand, Kaigaku was focused on his training, which consisted of trying to be faster than Gyutaro and successfully spilling the contents of some tea cups on the table they were at. Nezuko couldn't help but feel sorry for him when Gyutaro once again spilled the liquid from one of the cups onto him. Kaigaku glared furiously at the other hunter. His hair and uniform jacket were completely soaked with tea.
Gyutaro clicked his tongue and looked at him sternly. "You need to improve your reflexes," he advised, bluntly.
"I know," muttered Kaigaku through clenched teeth.
"Well, you're done," Ume said, apparently satisfied. She moved away from Nezuko and looked at Enmu and Rui. The two boys swallowed nervously and averted their gaze.
"Now what?" Nezuko asked, serious. Ume turned her attention back to her and observed her irritably.
"Do you see that girl over there?" Ume wanted to know, pointing to a girl with short dark hair wearing the demon hunter uniform. She was bouncing a ball, completely oblivious to her surroundings. "You'll have to dodge all the balls Susamaru throws at you, understood?"
Nezuko nodded and approached the other girl. Susamaru smiled playfully when she saw her. She stopped bouncing the ball and assessed Nezuko with her eyes.
"So, you're the rookie Ume was talking about, right?" the girl asked. Nezuko glanced sideways at the blonde-haired girl and stifled a sigh.
"I can imagine the things she must have been saying..." the girl muttered under her breath. "I'm Nezuko, nice to meet you, Susamaru."
Susamaru let out a sardonic laugh upon hearing that. "Don't pay attention to everything she says. Deep down, she means no harm."
"It's hard for me to believe that," Nezuko confessed.
"You two, less talking and more training!" Ume shouted at them, as she had started assisting Enmu with the stretches.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Nezuko," Susamaru said, preparing her right arm for the throw.
Nezuko nodded and got ready. But she couldn't keep up with the speed at which the other girl threw the ball. The next thing she knew, it hit her on the left hip. Nezuko suppressed a grimace of pain and locked eyes with Susamaru, determined.
"One more time," she requested, serious.
Tanjiro sat down near Kanao, Zenitsu, and Inosuke. The three boys were somewhat separated from the adults, doing their own thing.
"Hey, how are you guys?" Tanjiro asked, with a joyful smile.
"Fine, just here, you know," Zenitsu replied disinterestedly, glancing sideways at the group of adults. Kagaya was there too, talking with Yoriichi.
"Kyojuro told us that you discovered your demon blood technique," Kanao said, tearing off the right arm from a nearby body. She took a small bite and chewed slowly.
"Really?" Tanjiro asked, unable to hide a sense of disappointment. "I would have liked to have the chance to tell it myself," he lamented mentally. He glanced sideways at his mentor and saw him engrossed in conversation with Giyuu and Sanemi. The demon with platinum blonde hair had his arm around Giyuu's waist.
He quickly averted his gaze, afraid of seeming impolite and potentially angering Sanemi. Zenitsu, who noticed the direction in which Tanjiro had looked, gave him a somewhat mischievous smile.
"They've been dating for about fifty years now," Zenitsu whispered, conspiratorially, to Tanjiro. "Honestly, I don't know how they can stand each other."
"Oh..." Tanjiro murmured, unsure of what to say about it.
Kanao, who had overheard everything, elbowed Zenitsu in the side and glared at him. "It's none of your business what others do or don't do in their love lives."
"I'm just giving my opinion," Zenitsu defended himself quickly.
Tanjiro chuckled uncomfortably and decided to ignore them. He tore a piece of meat from the body in front of him and brought it to his mouth.
"I'm sure my demon blood technique is better than yours!" Inosuke exclaimed confidently, chewing with his mouth open.
"What is it?" Tanjiro asked, interested.
"I can turn any part of my body into a very hard and resistant material!" Inosuke proudly declared.
"That sounds impressive," Tanjiro acknowledged.
Inosuke laughed arrogantly upon hearing that, but Tanjiro had already stopped paying attention. "What are your blood demon techniques?" the boy asked, looking at his other two friends.
"I can shoot lightning," Zenitsu answered while chewing some meat.
"I can transform into any animal," Kanao said, giving a timid smile.
"I would love to see them someday," Tanjiro admitted, impressed. He looked at his food and took another bite. "There's nothing more delicious than this," the boy thought to himself. "I don't know what I used to eat before becoming a demon, but I don't think it was as tasty as human flesh."
Although Tanjiro was not aware of it, Kagaya's words had become a reality. He hadn't heard those voices begging him to stop anymore, nor had he made any efforts to remember who he was before. It wasn't something that mattered.
"The hunting season for humans is approaching," Kanao then commented, looking at Tanjiro, somewhat nervous. "I usually accompany the others on the hunts during that time. If you want, you can join us."
"Of course! I'd love to!" Tanjiro replied.
Kanao smiled happily after hearing that. Zenitsu looked at her curiously but didn't say anything.
Nezuko wiped the sweat off her forehead and locked eyes with Gyutaro. The young man smirked and observed her with amusement.
"Aren't you giving up yet, Mizunoto?" he condescendingly asked.
"No, of course not," the determined teenager replied.
"I must admit, you've got guts," Gyutaro acknowledged. "How many times have you tried already?"
"Just one more time," Nezuko requested, although it sounded more like a demand.
"As you wish," Gyutaro conceded.
A kakushi in the room, assigned to ensure everything went smoothly, approached when Gyutaro signaled and refilled the cups between the two with cold tea.
Nezuko tried to grab one to pour its contents on Gyutaro, but he prevented it and attempted to pour tea from another cup on her instead. However, Nezuko managed to stop him at the last moment. Although she couldn't prevent Gyutaro from succeeding shortly afterward, ending up soaked once again.
"You lack reaction speed," the young man reprimanded her. "You have to be able to anticipate my movements, brat."
"Sooner or later, I'll achieve it," she muttered through clenched teeth.
"Whatever you say," he replied, getting up. "Now it's time for you to train with Yahaba," he said, looking in the direction of the boy.
Yahaba was a young hunter with short black hair. Like Susamaru, he was part of Gyutaro and Ume's squad. At that moment, Kaigaku was training with him. Although he wasn't having much luck, every time he was close to catching Yahaba, the latter would easily escape and turn the situation around.
Enmu had been training with Susamaru, although he could hardly dodge the girl's throws, who couldn't stop laughing excitedly. Nezuko sighed a bit as she headed towards where Yahaba and Kaigaku were.
She stopped nearby and cleared her throat, catching the attention of the two males. "Gyutaro told me it's my turn now."
Kaigaku let out a sigh of relief and, without waiting for Yahaba's response, quickly stepped aside and dropped to the wooden floor a few meters away.
"Well, let's see how you do," Yahaba commented, smiling arrogantly. "Do you know how to play tag?"
"Of course," Nezuko replied, somewhat indignant. "Who doesn't know how to play that?" she wondered to herself.
"Perfect, that saves me from having to explain the rules of this test," Yahaba said, getting ready. "Let's see if you can catch me."
Nezuko lunged at him, but the boy easily evaded her.
Hakuji stopped in front of the house and let out a grunt. Muzan had tasked him with checking on the Wind Pillar, Hantengu Sato. He had already missed the last two meetings and showed no signs of life. So it was up to him to find out what was going on.
He knocked on the door several times, harder than he should have, and waited. He crossed his arms, let out a huff, and began pacing while he waited for Hantengu to come out and open the door.
"Who is it?" he finally heard from the other side of the door.
"Open up already, Hantengu, it's Hakuji," impatiently replied the Snow Pillar.
"We weren't expecting you," excused the Wind Pillar as he slowly opened the door. Hakuji grimaced at the sight of him.
His companion's black hair was tangled and dirty. Hantengu also smelled. Hakuji followed him inside the house and suppressed his displeasure as best he could.
"You missed the last two meetings," pointed out Hakuji. "Has something happened to you?"
"Oh, really?" murmured Hantengu, confused. "We could have sworn they hadn't happened yet."
"Why are you speaking in plural?" snapped Hakuji, starting to get angry.
Hantengu looked at him strangely and furrowed his brow slightly. "Did I just do that?" he asked, perplexed. "I didn't realize, I'm sorry."
"You still haven't answered the question," noted Hakuji, trying to gather all the patience he had.
"Haven't I already told you that it simply slipped my mind?" wondered Hantengu. "Would you like some tea? I was just preparing some for us."
"You've done it again!" exclaimed Hakuji. "This guy must be messing with me. Does he really think I'm so foolish that I won't notice he's doing it on purpose to annoy me?"
"Do you want it or not?" insisted Hantengu, completely ignoring what his companion had just said.
"No, in fact, I have to leave right away," excused Hakuji. "You should write to Muzan and inform him of the reason for your absence."
Hantengu let out a sarcastic laugh. "Do you really think I'm going to write to him to tell him I forgot?" he asked. "I'll have to come up with some excuse."
"Do whatever you want," said Hakuji, shrugging. "I don't care. I just came to see if you were alright."
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